A/N: So this chapter contains the fight scene that inspired the rest of the story, I have this habit of getting a scene stuck in my head and just writing around it. Where will it go from here? Don't know! Enjoy!
In The Middle Of The Night
Sasuke sighed harshly, staring at the unconscious girl of his past in his arms.
This was utterly ridiculous.
She shouldn't be here. Orochimaru's lair was no place for Sakura Haruno. She was light and fragile against his chest, kind and honest. She didn't belong in this place of experimentation.
He cursed Orochimaru then, he couldn't have just left it alone, leave him alone. Her presence makes everything even more complicated now, how could he possibly focus on taking down the Snake Sannin with her whimpering and fumbling about. He's worked so hard to forget them and leave his past right where it was and the madman who calls himself Sasuke's teacher just plucks her out of Konoha on a whim.
He looked down again at the girl and realized that, like an imbecile, he had played right into Orochimaru's game. He couldn't help his natural reaction to protect her, despite the claim of having broken those bonds. The mere thought of her in the hands of one of them made him angry.
Sasuke glared ahead, he was so close. And here he was, reverting back to his old genin habits.
Pathetic.
Sakura had awoken for the second time in a matter of days with a pounding headache and zero recollection of how she came to be in her new holding room. This one, unfortunately, did not have an unlocked door - she had checked.
There was no way to tell just how long she had been missing, though knowing her teacher the Hokage would have sent a search party the second day her student hadn't returned. Sakura was punctual, she was good at what she did, Orochimaru and his croons must have been watching her for weeks to have been able to ambush her so effectively.
Soon after she had woken up two random men had come to collect her from her cell to drag her through the corridors. Sakura fought to stay as alert as possible, mapping out the base as best as she could now that she was actually conscious. They rounded a corner and hauled her up crumbling stairs to throw her outside. Her heart fluttered as she considered the possibility that she was being set free.
For a brief moment, as she closed her eyes and she inhaled the fresh earthy scent of the grass, Sakura felt as if she was home. Only for a moment.
As Sakura stood swiftly to her feet she felt a disturbance in the air, on instinct her hand shot out to catch the kunai thrown at her head. The blade pit painfully into her fingers but the feeling was almost welcomed, a relief to feel anything.
Her eyes raised to watch the crimson blood roll down her pale skin and drip from her wrist. Her eyes shifted to see Sasuke standing beside Kabuto and Orochimaru, the second time she has seen him since her arrival to this hell and they haven't said a word to each other. She supposed that it was nothing new, Sasuke had always been so close and yet so unreachable.
"Sakura-chan," Kabuto spoke, a mocking smile spreading across his face. "Some colleagues have agreed to a friendly spar with you, do try not to be injured too badly."
Beside him Orochimaru hissed, his eyes narrowed as a long tongue slipped past his sickening grin.
"Run, girl."
Her attention was immediately pulled to the tree line in front of her where she saw a group of men emerging from the forest. Sakura grimaced, this was what the snake wanted? A Grecian battle to the death with a knife for her only protection? And he expected her to flee?
The kunoichi took a deep breath, willing away her own doubts in her abilities as she prepared herself to face the small army that was approaching. She flicked her hand holding the kunai so it flipped and the hilt landed comfortably back into her bloody palm, fingers tightening around her only weapon.
Sakura quickly analyzed the situation at hand as the men drew closer. Running wasn't an option, obviously, there wasn't a chance that she could escape without being captured once more in her weakened state let alone somehow get back home. But if that was the case then how well could she hold her own against these opponents? Her chakra was nowhere near full capacity and her body already felt strained from the days of malnourishment. She would have to be careful, not an ounce of energy could be wasted.
Sakura spared a glance in Sasuke's direction to see his eyes already fixated on her, forcing a chill to run down her spine.
I'll show you Sasuke, you could have found your strength in Konoha.
Gripping the kunai tighter she turned and sprinted away, the sound of Orochimaru's laughter echoing in her mind as he thought he had gotten what he expected, a wild goose chase. A sly smile came across Sakura's face as she sensed the small army running after her. She wasn't evading at all, only giving her audience a front row seat to view her abilities.
She reached the opposite side of the clearing and jumped into the nearest tree, from her new vantage point she could see the men attacking her only amassed to a little less than twenty, not great odds but better than she was anticipating. They seemed normal enough, unlike the sick experiments she knew the snake Sannin conducted. Sakura supposed she should have been grateful in their underestimation of her strength, instead she only felt insulted.
Without a second thought she launched from her position in the tree, soaring through the air and back to the middle of the clearing, her heel connecting harshly with the ground. As the sound of an explosion met her ears she couldn't help the smirk that widened across her lips. It's been a while since she's felt her own power, the feeling of chakra coursing through her limbs was liberating.
Amidst the perfectly calculated destruction Sakura could hear the confused painful shouts of her enemy, disorientated from the thick layer of dust, she could only hope the flying debris had taken out some of them. As expected they blindly threw weapons in her general direction and she only had to raise her kunai to block a few. As the haze cleared her eyes focused to assess the battlefield, a handful of men lay sprawled around the jagged edges of the ground, some unconscious and barely breathing and others crushed beneath chunks of earth.
The remaining opponents were quick to locate her and even quicker to begin their attacks. She dodged and countered swiftly, the lone kunai in her possession serving as her execution weapon. Sakura reasoned that being Orochimaru's lackeys the lot of them were hardly innocent, that this was about survival and it was her or them. But, a part of her chest clenched at the thought of taking their lives, senseless killing for the entertainment of a mad man.
It became clear that these men were no ninjas, their movements were unrefined, reactions slow. Even in her current state, relying on taijutsu to reserve chakra, the only challenge was dealing with the sheer number of all of them. It was obvious that she had been underestimated before stepping a foot outside her confinement, and that would ultimately lead to her victory.
"Sakura!" Her body lurched to a halt, head snapping to her left as Naruto's blonde head appeared.
"Naruto..?" She whispered, disbelief clouding her voice, clutching her weapon closer to her body.
"We finally found you!" He was running towards her but she found herself taking a step back, eyes wide. This was not real. "What are you waiting for? I'm here to bring you back home. Don't you want to come home?" His face fell. "We miss you, Sakura."
The medic shook her head, willing herself to stay calm, the genjutsu was far too obvious to be having such an affect on her. "Kai… Kai!" She shouted, the illusion breaking instantly as Naruto's form blew away with the wind. Before Sakura had a chance to mourn the lost image of her teammate her incoming assailant pounced on her, the pair tumbling to the ground and rolling until the man had her throat in his grasp.
"Ready to die, kunoichi?" He spat, black spots dotting her vision as she clawed at his hands. She thrashed, wracking her brain for a plan. An explosive tag would be useful at the moment, something to draw his attention away from her if only for a moment. But she didn't have any tags, she didn't have senbon or throwing stars or her poisons, nothing. She had one knife, stained in the blood of numerous men already, and her chakra.
Sakura's hand quickly wrapped around the man's wrist, twisting until a loud snap echoed through the air and the man withdrew his fingers from her neck, wailing. In his distraction the medic lunged further to the side to reunite with her weapon, grabbing it hastily to plunge the knife into her enemy's jugular.
Drops of fresh blood covered her porcelain skin as she frantically shoved the man's writhing body off of her and struggled to sit up, coughing and gasping for air. A quick scan of the battle ground told her that the man who attempted to strangle her had been the last of the attackers. Relieved, she shakily stood to her feet, dizzy from lack of oxygen and the sudden physical exertion after days of mistreatment .
"My, my…" Orochimaru started, drawing her attention to the forgotten spectators. "How impressive." Sakura glowered.
"Impressive?" She questioned, taking a step forward as she gathered energy into her palm. "You sick, manipulative bastard!"
"Ah," He was a step in front of her in an instant, his tongue slithering across his bottom lip. "She speaks."
Gasping, Sakura scrambled backwards to put some much needed distance between herself and the Sannin.
"Hmm. In hindsight, I should have expected you to put up more of a fight, after all I do believe that you are one of the only ninja to face an Akatsuki and live to tell the tale. At such a tender, impressionable age as well." Sakura gulped, the yellow eyed stare of Orochimaru sending chills over her skin.
"Tsunade certainly has done well with you. I wonder, has she also passed down the Strength of a Hundred seal to her young protégé? What will you be capable of once you can fight with full force, hm?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, not at all surprised that Orochimaru knew of the seal but bothered nonetheless. Could he somehow use this as a weakness against her, now that he knew she wasn't at her full capabilities?
"Kabuto. Take Sakura-chan back to base, make sure she is comfortable."
"Comfortable, Orochimaru-sama?"
"Yes, clean her up, get her into a room." Orochimaru turned from her, beginning to walk out of the clearing. "Bound her chakra though. There's no telling what kind of destruction she could cause now that it's confirmed she has mastered Tsunade-chan's super strength."
Behind him Kabuto adjusted his glasses, glancing at Sakura's small form. "It would be my pleasure."
"Sasuke-kun, come." Her green eyes snapped to the young Uchiha, but he was already looking at her, assessing, his hand lazily draped over the hilt of his sword. Sakura could never tell what Sasuke was thinking and this instance was no different. She held his gaze until he turned to trail after the Sannin.
She sighed, holding the kunai closer to her person as she followed Kabuto back to her prison, throwing one more hopeless glance at the trees that stood between her and home.
A/N: I've probably edited this about twenty times and I'm still not 100% pleased with it, but hopefully it didn't feel rushed!
