Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Sakura wakes up in a white room.
Her hands and feet are bound with the shiny metal that she had seen on Kanzu in the alley.
Testing them, she moves her limbs, trying to get them off but the hold, keeping her down on the bed they have left her on. Frustrated tears come to Sakura's eyes and she gives a yowl of rage as she thrashes against the cutting metal.
She tries to reach her energy levels but she growls as she finds that they have cut that off—somehow—and left her dizzy and unstable. Sakura's eyes search for something that has done it but comes up empty and irritated.
Her eyes twitch in anger as she gives the shiny metal another shake. Some part of her hopes, deep down, that they will give way but Sakura knows that it is highly unlikely.
Sakura waits for hours.
She screams and cries and thrashes against the restraints. The room is too bright and too clean and it bothers her. She has never been in a place so clean or meticulous and it grates against her senses. The smell of the barely-there antiseptic, the way the lights flickered on the ceiling and how the floor shined under them.
It was quiet too. Too quiet and quaint and Sakura hates it. Green eyes rove over the door and she clenches her teeth as she prepares to bunch up her deadened muscles and hurl herself at it.
She is beside herself with worry, anger, and frustration when the door opens quietly.
Immediately, Sakura stiffens and draws her mouth into a snarl.
The man is tall and lithe, yet scarred, as he glides closer to her. She feels his inquisitive gaze on her and she growls low in her throat. In the Hole, it was a warning.
Here, it meant she was an animal.
The man lifted an eyebrow and the edge of his mouth quirked up. "Well, we've got a firecracker here don't we?"
Sakura continues to glare and thrash against the restraints. The barely-scabbed wounds open again and Sakura can smell the sharp tang of blood against the metal.
"Where is my family?" She spits out.
The man comes closer and stops right before her bed, a finger tracing the thin sheet. His knuckles are gnarled and broken and Sakura swallows.
This man has seen war.
"Your….family?" Blank onyx eyes follow her bright ones. "I was not aware that street rats had family."
Sakura growls low in her throat and her fingers dig into her palms. It will be no good if she erupts now. Her energy levels are still low and she has little to no mobility because of the restraints—the man could get away with anything.
"I wasn't aware war veterans did either." She spits back and her eyes gleam with victory when she sees his jaw tense. She has a feeling this man is difficult to frustrate.
He leans forward and Sakura jumps backwards, head smacking against the wall. Sharp teeth peek out of thin lips and she swallows again with difficulty. She should've known better than to provoke but she has been left alone for hours.
She wants to see where Kanzu, Tatsuro and Emika are—wanted to see them safe. And she would hunt down whoever had given away their position, strip the skin from their bones and relish in their screams.
Her bet was on the Lemon Man. He had looked suspiciously tense tonight.
"Why should I tell you?"
Sakura narrows her eyes.
"Why shouldn't you?"
The shinobi chuckles and his dark eyes gleam. "You would take them and run."
"And that is a problem because?"
"I think you know."
Sakura grits her teeth and curses her natural aptitude for controlling her energy levels. She had known, ever since she was little, that what she could see, control, work on –was not normal for a girl her age. She also knows that whomever can control them as well as her would be sent to the shinobi.
"I see." She says.
A terrible smile crawls onto the man's lips but Sakura isn't as intimidated as she should be. She has seen many more horrible sights in the Okiya and the streets than this man's smile.
"Who taught you?" The man whispers close to her. She can feel his breath on her hair and face and resists the urge to flinch.
He smells of metal and blood.
"Why should I tell you?" She juts out her jaw, using his words against him.
The scarred man's eyes positively gleam and Sakura wonders if she should've just given in to his questioning. He is looking like he has found a diamond in the rough and Sakura does not like this at all.
"Why shouldn't you?" And Sakura curses the intellect of shinobi and their ability to piss off the majority of humanity.
Sakura gives him a particularly nasty smile and leans forward. Her hair touches his hands on the bedsheets and his eyes watch her through a film of concealed curiosity.
"Where are they?"
The man smiles.
They make her wait another two hours (Sakura counts down the seconds) before the door bursts open. Kanzu is thrust in, feet stumbling from the throw, Emika and Tatsuro clinging to his neck.
His dark eyes search the room and Sakura immediately thrashes against the restraints they have her in. Her sore wounds protest but Sakura doesn't care, continuing to struggle against the bonds.
"Kanzu—"
"—Sakura—"
"—Nee-chan—"
And then they are whisked away by a tall, lithe woman with long dark hair and the burnt eyes. Their scared faces burn into her memory and Sakura howls, the rubbing of the restraints creating new wounds. Frustrated tears pile at the edges of her eyes and her chest burns with rage.
The man steps in, smiling jovially as he watches her.
"Give me them, now—"
"Hmmm…little girl—"
"—Bastard—"
"—that was not the deal."
Sakura stills against the frame of her bed and her once bound hair, snaps from the hairband and tumbles down, reaching the tops of her thighs. Green eyes narrow in anger and a low sound comes out of her throat.
"You have used my words for your favor." She spits.
"Have I? You have only asked where they were. And they were here." The man leans against the door, and those blank eyes watch her carefully.
"…You have no honor." Sakura finally manages to get out of clenched teeth.
The man's face twists savagely, in another, horrible, terrible grin and Sakura feels a shiver go up her spine.
"I don't expect a street rat to know about honor." He replies, eyes burning with something feral.
"I know enough." Sakura growls back. Her hands clench and her nails dig so hard into her skin that they create shallow pools of blood. She wipes them down on the white sheets, hoping that they will never be able to get it out.
They look at each other in oppressive silence.
It lasts for almost an hour when Sakura finally breaks.
"What do you even want from us?" She says quietly.
Her heart is beating loudly in her chest and she vaguely wonders if little Miyuka was as scared as she is when she was taken. Little Miyuka who Sakura didn't even know if she was alive. Sakura watches the man slide away from the door and languidly walks stalks over to her, expression blank.
His eyes are burning though, and Sakura does not trust them.
"I don't want anything." The man's voice rumbles out from his chest and Sakura can feel the vibrations from the metal bedframe.
She narrows his eyes and the man laughs.
"Smart rat you are."
"What does the Hokage want from us?"
The man straightens and then leans against the wall, next to her.
"To integrate you into normal society."
There are several seconds of silence before Sakura lets herself react. "Integrate us into society?"
Her jaw tightens and Sakura's mind spins. It is highly unlikely that the Hokage would want such a giant portion of the Underworld working next to the pretty flower sellers or the popular hubs. No, the Hokage wants other things and Sakura has an inkling to what it might be.
"His ninja force has declined from the attack ten years ago—along with the increase in missing-nin—he is worried he won't have an army when he needs one." Sakura concludes and the man next to her grins again.
"Oh you are a smart one." He muses.
Sakura grits her teeth again, to keep from spitting at him.
"Someone needs to foster us."
"Someone needs to foster you."
Sakura stills.
"…My family?"
The man looks up at the ceiling, blank eyes inspecting a crooked lightbulb.
Sakura's breath comes short.
"It is to be decided."
Sakura snarls and leaps for his throat.
The man gives her a wave and walks out of range, ignoring her howls and thrashing, slipping out the white door.
Enjoy! Tell me your thoughts :)