02
How long has it been since she stepped into this warm land? Why did she suddenly feel the urge to come back?
Knowing that her mentor will be gone for a while, Sakura sped through the forests. With the information she received on the border patrols, the kunoichi easily avoided them and passed the borders. Since their current hideout was at the border of Iwagakure, it didn't take long to cross the small land of Kusagakure. Taking a deep breath of the summery air, in contrast to the cold winter air at other countries, a smile crept onto her lips. It was as if the oxygen gave her a surge of energy. She picked up her pace, a blur to the untrained eye. When she spotted the enormous red walls, Sakura masked her chakra and jumped on top of the gates with ease.
Her emerald orbs were mesmerized by the view.
In a short distance, past the colorful roofs, stood the familiar Hokage monument. She could see her favorite food stands, and the streets that were surely filled with children, running around with their paper shurikens. The kunoichi's brought her hands in front of her face, looking at her slender fingers shake. The memories of her childhood flooded her mind, a time filled with innocence.
This was the place that she had unconsciously avoided since that night.
Did three years pass so fast? For three years, has she forgotten her origins? Her prideful mother who always pressured her to study and become the best student? Her soft-hearted father who always worried about his pretty daughter getting scars from her shinobi training? She could still remember the blonde girl named Ino - the girl that made fun of her wide forehead. Of course, she could remember her first love, Sasuke-kun.
Did three years make her forget the innocent corpses laying on the streets of the Uchiha compound? As the memories rushed back, it felt as if a barrier in her mind was lifted. She could see the images clear as day, and the horror brought shivers throughout her whole body.
A sudden pang of disgust hit her like a ton of bricks.
How could she allow herself to become close to a cold-blooded murderer?
"Who's there?" Her thoughts were cut short by the yell. She looked down and quickly pinpointed the shinobi at the bottom of the walls, a hand reaching into his weapon holster. With most of her face hidden behind the high collar of her cloak, Sakura casted a genjutsu. She knocked out the guard silently and disappeared from her location, hiding amidst the thick trees in the nearby forest.
Making sure that no one came after her, the kunoichi ran off, with only one thought in mind: Answers.
The young girl buried herself under the thick covers, her small body quivering nonstop. It was nothing like she felt before. It was like torture, even worse than her daily training sessions. It felt like hell froze over, yet she was drenched in her own sweat. Her brain screamed for sleep, but the hammer-like pounding in her head refused to let her enter dreamland. She couldn't hold back the warm salty liquid filling the rims of her tightly squeezed shut eyes. They poured freely, tickling her face and mixing with her drops of sweat.
Was this caused by the white things falling from the sky?
"Sakura." The familiar deep voice said sternly. The light footsteps resonated in time with the rhythmic pounding within her skull. As the blanket was lift, the girl curled tighter into her fetus position, wincing as the biting breeze hit her fragile skin like thousands of needles. Icy cold fingers brushed the damp pink locks away from her face and placed themselves on her overheating forehead. Her body unconsciously relaxed under the cool touch.
The young girl finally opened her heavy eyelids cautiously, finding herself staring into deep pools of scarlet.
"…Go away…" She managed to say, not forgetting that this was a murderer in front of her. As if he wasn't intending to stay in the first place, the Sharing user stood up and walked out of the room. She buried herself under the thick blankets once again, closing her eyes in attempt to rest, hoping that these torturous symptoms will go away soon.
As if waking up from a nightmare, the young girl's eyes snapped open. She squinted at the sudden intake of light, letting her vision slowly regain itself. She pushed up her weak body, and watched in confusion as a damp towel fell from her forehead onto her lap. Looking around, she realized that she was in different clothing. They were obviously too big for her, since merely the shirt went down to her thighs.
There was only one other person in this place.
At the thought, all the blood drained from her face before coming back and turning her into a shade that matched her bright pink locks. Ignoring the dizziness from standing up suddenly, the girl ran into the Sharingan user's room, only to find the place empty. After more searching, she found that she was inside the hideout by herself.
"Where did he go..." Unconsciously, a frown crept onto her lips, wondering whether he had abandoned her here. Her small feet carried her into the kitchen, where several plates were covered. Her eyes sparked at the sight, discovering her unknown hunger. "Itadakimaaaasu!" The plates were emptied within minutes, so fast that she could barely remember what she had ate. The kunoichi leaned back on the wooden chair and patted her stomach in satisfactory. When she felt a chilly breeze make its way to the kitchen, she jumped off the chair to find him.
Without speaking a word, he walked over and placed a frozen hand against her forehead. "Drink this and wear these from now on." Itachi placed a bottle along with a set of neatly folded clothes and a cream white cloak on the kitchen table.
"What are the white things covering the ground? It's really beautiful." The young girl asked, looking out the window while opening the bottle and sniffing it. She drew her head back at the revolting smell.
"It is called snow." He answered simply, looking out the same direction as she.
"Snow…" She repeated the word hesitantly. Holding her small nose shut with two fingers, she drank the whole bottle without complaint.
Somehow, the bitter medicine left a sweet aftertaste in her mouth.
She grinned widely, feeling a sense of warmth in her stomach. Was this the effect of the medicine?
"Itachi… san. Arigatou." She turned around and smiled, only to find him already gone.
Was that when she started to forget that this person was a cold-blooded murderer? Was that when she started to get used to his company? The kunoichi twirled her pen between her fingers.
"Uchiha Itachi's most powerful genjutsu is called Tsukuyomi. He performs it using his Mangekyou Sharingan. Even if you manage to combat other genjutsu, this one is impossible." Sakura explained, snapping out of her sudden memory and finishing the eye sketch in her notebook. She added the pin wheel shaped pupils into the eye and stared at it as if she was looking at the real thing. "The key to fighting his eyes is to not look into them. Once you're caught, it's over."
The blonde artist sat next to the desk, leaning against it with an arm plopping up his head and looking at the drawing intently.
"Why did you suddenly decide to tell me all this? I thought you were on his side, un." Deidara mumbled.
"Don't get the wrong idea. You will never beat him even if I give you all this information." The kunoichi replied plainly with slight mockery. He sent her a glare, but there was no menacing intent behind it. "I was just curious…" She trailed off, receiving a confused look from the blonde.
…whether anyone could defeat this perfect shinobi.
"Deidara." The voice cut off their conversation. At the door was the puppet master, his wooden face staring at the two. "It's time to leave."
"We're leaving Sakura here alone, un?" Deidara asked, getting up from his seat.
"You talk as if I need protection. Worry about yourself first. I hope you survive long enough for us to meet again." She said bitterly, followed by a mocking smirk. "Sasori-san, it was nice meeting you too."
Although the words were unspoken, Sakura knew that she and the other two members became closer over the past week. They weren't friends, but certainly not bitter strangers like a week ago. In an organization like Akatsuki, this much was already considered a "close bond". She stood at the end of the hallway, watching the two walk casually out from the other end, without sparing a look back at her.
For all she knew, this could be the last time they meet. In this place, life and death did not have a big difference.
The young girl's eyes widened as she saw the katana. She could see the silver blade glistening in the moonlight, dripping with the blood of those it slaughtered. One by one. The screams got louder, and louder.
The sword triggered the horrifying memories.
"Stay away…" She back away, shaking in fear uncontrollably. She clutched her head with her sweaty hands, attempting to shake away the nightmare.
"Sakura." The voice called out to her, the katana still held in one hand while the other reached out to touch her shoulder.
"You killed them… all of them… and Sasuke-kun… GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU MURDERER!" She screamed as she caught sight of his scarlet eyes, trying to escape from his grasp.
"Look at me." The moment she looked into his eyes, her own rolled back and closed, falling limp into his arms.
When she woke up from the ordeal the next morning, her mind had been calm. Rather, she couldn't even quite remember why she had reacted so violently.
Sakura jolt up at the sounds of footsteps. As a natural reflex, a hand reached into her weapon holster. She sat silently, analyzing the sounds. There were two pairs of footsteps, one obviously heavier than the other. Relaxing at the familiar rhythms of the footsteps, she stood from her futon and slid open the shoji door. Her emerald orbs locked with the scarlet ones, completely overlooking his partner walking behind him.
"Stayed up to welcome us? How sweet." The shark non teased with his trademark toothy smirk. As if comprehending the tensing atmosphere, he walked into his room without another word.
Itachi, on the other hand, passed by the kunoichi and walked into his room. She followed, knowing he was expecting her to. Sakura closed the door behind her, but her gaze never leaving the figure that sat himself down in the wooden chair. Placing a cardboard container on the table, the aroma of anko dumplings hit her nostrils. However, tonight, the smell disgusted her.
It reminded her of all those times that she felt happy to receive these gifts from hands filled with blood.
"Did you enjoy your trip back to Konoha?" Sakura stiffened at the question. "If you want to kill me, you should have greeted me like your normally would and do it when I am off guard. You will not be able to win by emitting such a murderous intent so bluntly."
"…I want to know why you killed them..." She mustered the courage to ask, knowing that he understood who them was. After all this time, she felt as if she had forgotten about the reason she decided to stay with him in the first place.
She wanted to avenge Sasuke and his family.
"To test my capabilities." He answered with no signs of remorse. Her stomach churned from the disappointment - she had hoped there was a reason. How could she think there was a justified reason for a person to murder his whole family?
"Just for that reason, you killed them? Even the innocent children? Sasuke-kun…" Her voice trailed off as she remembered the last scene she saw in this Tsukuyomi that night. The handsome boy who bursted through the doors. The look of pure horror on his face when he saw the couple laying in their pools of crimson blood.
"My pathetic little brother was not worth killing." He muttered.
A sigh of relief escaped her lips, until the words fully processed into her mind.
How could she not have guessed? They looked so similar. It never crossed her mind that this murderer was so closely related to her first love. Now that she think back, how could she have forgotten the times when the teachers would compliment Sasuke, but never failing to mention "his brother", the prodigy who graduated from the academy at the mere age of seven and became an ANBU captain at thirteen.
Uchiha Itachi was every girl's fantasy, every boy's dream.
"Brother…?" Even though she knew now, a small part of her wanted to deny the fact that they were related. Itachi only looked at her, silently confirming the fact. The kunoichi's hands clenched into fists, her knuckles turning white and her hands shaking from anger.
"Go to sleep." He got up from his seat, deciding that this would be the end of their conversation. Overtaken by the surge of anger, a kunai left the her hand. As if in slow motion, she watched as Itachi stood in place, unmoving, and the blade grazed his arm. His shirt sleeve ripped open. The dark blue fabric soon turned a deep purple color. Her eyes widened as the warm liquid made a trail down his porcelain skin, staining the wooden floor with drops of red.
"W-Why didn't you dodge… You could've easily…" Sakura asked in confusion, thrown out of her rage at the sight of his blood.
Why was she so nervous for wounding him?
"Seems like you will need more training. This cut is not enough to kill. You need to aim for the vital spots. Here, here, and…" With each 'here', his fingers pointed to his forehead, then his jugular, and finally stopped at his chest. "Here."
The kunoichi hardened herself and sent him one last glare, walking out of his room with a slam on the door.
"Great job, Sasuke!" The teacher ruffled the young boy's raven hair. "You're the top of the class again."
The pink-haired girl watched silently from a distance and smiled, proud that her crush once again ranked first on the exams. She was, of course, close behind him at second. Surely, she will be getting a scolding from mother when she gets home, for making a small mistake on one question. But it didn't matter. She was happy that her name appeared next to the boy's on the black board.
It made her feel closer to him.
"I'm not surprised though. Nothing less expected from the little brother of a prodigy. You have to work hard to catch up!" For a second, she caught a frown on the boy's face, but it soon turned into a proud grin. She was angry at the teacher for always comparing him to his brother.
Just how amazing could that annoying brother of his be anyway? Even though she's never met his brother, she could already feel that it wasn't someone she would like.
Sasuke-kun is much cuter!
A/N: Dumdum... I guess this is where the conflicts finally begin. Hehe~
Thank you for reading! :)
