AHH! I am SO SO SO sorry for not updating recently...I just lost a lot of interest in Naruto. But I am BACK! MWAHAHA!
Alright, I just wanna thank my reviewers, and all of the people that took the time to read my story. Because you guys just pwn. Completely and utterly.
-Ahem- moving on...Go! GO AND READ, MY PRETTIES!
(seriously. I am HYPER right now. and I really don't know why...hmmm...)
Tsunade, more commonly known by her code-names, 'the fifth', Godaime, and (courtesy of Naruto) 'baa-chan', rested her head on her hands, observing a small section of pictures on her wall.
Her own grandfather, known as the First, or the Shodai, the founder of the resistance.
Her great uncle, known as "the Second", or Nidaime, the resistances second leader.
Then, the Sandaime, student of both of the leaders before him.
The Yondaime, Minato Namikaze, the fourth, and father of one of the resistance's most valuable members, though that certain member didn't know it.
All of them murdered, dead within months of their leadership, by the damnable Sound and Orochimaru. Hell, she didn't even know if Minato was alive or not; he had simply gone out once for a mission, and had never returned. His body was never found
Then there was the Uchiha clan, the Hyuugas, the Nara family, the Yamanakas, The Inuzukas, the Aburames, the Akimichis…all vital members of the secret organization.
She closed her eyes slightly, thinking them over. She had an insecurity; an insecurity that she shared with next to no one. She feared that she would never be able to as much for her organization as those who came before her did. She sighed, and turned around, picking up her small up of sake off of a cluttered desk. Before she held it to her lips, she quietly voiced her fear to herself.
"This resistance will fail," She muttered, and took a sip of sake.
"No," A deep voice said behind her, and she spun to look at the door. Her old teammate stood there, along with Shizune. "This resistance has prospered under you Tsunade."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "You're never serious like this, Jiraiya." She responded, and the white-haired man shrugged.
"Give a guy some credit- I cant be perverted all the time." He said defensively, and Tsunade rolled her eyes.
"I grew up with you- I know you always have something perverted running through that thick skull of yours. Why are you here?" She asked, and he held out a scroll.
"The Akatsuki dropped this off- they said that their informant had discovered something." Tsunade sighed again. Another thing she was worried about. She didn't trust the Akatsuki- but internally, she knew the group would never betray the resistance. They had a common goal. Or close to it.
The Akatsuki was betrayed by Orochimaru, the Sound leader, and they wanted him…preferably dead over alive.
The resistance's home country had been taken over by Orochimaru, and they wanted it back. Honestly, Tsunade didn't care what the Akatsuki did with him- she held no warm feelings towards her other teammate.
"Right," She muttered, taking it from his hand. She had broken the seal, and had begun unrolling it, when there was a loud pounding on the door.
"Tsunade! Tsunade-baa-chan! Open up!" Tsunade closed her eyes, and mentally groaned. Without waiting for slightest go-ahead from the Godaime, Naruto kicked open the door, and Tsunade rubbed her temples.
"Naruto, could you please, please, attempt to learn some subtlety and manners? It's only a matter of time before that door breaks!" She snapped, but Naruto didn't grin cheekily as he usually did. Instead, he threw her a worried glance.
"Tsunade-sama, this is serious!" he shouted, and Tsunade raised an eyebrow, resting her chin on her hands again.
"Serious, eh?" She asked, and he nodded urgently.
"Y-yeah…remember Sakura? The girl I live with, kinda like my sister? Well, S-sasuke and I were staying with her, cause we didn't want to lead them to headquarters, and I thought we lost them, but I guess we didn't, and they lit her apartment on fire, and Ayaka…Ayaka s-she ….she died." He said quickly, ending in a whisper. Tsunade nodded.
"And where is this Saku-" Her eyes were drawn to the door as Sasuke Uchiha carefully stepped through, a pink-haired girl hanging limply in his arms. "Ah, I'm assuming this is her?" She asked, motioning for him to set the girl on the table. "What did she do, jump through a fire?"
Sasuke made a noise, sounding like 'hn', which she took for a yes. "What is she, stupid?"
Sasuke shook his head. "Stupid? No. Hallucinating with grief? Yes." He said shortly. Tsunade simply shrugged; she'd get the details later. Truning to the dark-haired woman, she tossed a pair of keys.
"Get the medical room ready, Shizune." She ordered, and she took off.
-x-x-x-x
The little pink-haired girl panted, after she shouldered the mattress against the wall. She seemed to be about twelve years old.
"Papa!" She called up the stairs. "I got the mattress up! What now?"
The Harunos were moving; away from this war-torn city, away from the horror. The man she called papa yelled down to her.
"Try and take apart the rest of it, and pack it." She smiled and returned to her job, not minding the increasingly loud sounds of booms; they were normal, now-a-days. She continued to pay them no mind, humming over the roar of the engines.
That is, she ignored it until an explosion rocked her house.
She screamed as the window, along with the wall blew inward, scratching the poor girls with shards of stone and glass. The entire world was shaking it seemed, and falling apart at the seams. Then the mattress fell on top of her, and everything went dark.
--
Wincing, she opened her eyes to bright sunlight shining down on her, blinding her, as she struggled to get out from underneath the mattress. With an aggravated curse, she kicked it, sucessfully stubbing her toe, before shoving it upward.
Wait…Sunlight? Why in the world was there sunlight in her basement? She gaped as she saw her surroundings; the ceiling had been all but torn off, and piles of brick and stone scattered across her basement. Where the rest of her house had once stood, there was nothing except piles of debris. The surrounding houses were the same way.
Struggling to climb up the remains of the stairs (which was, essentially, three steps missing for every step that remained.) she pulled herself up out of the basement, hissing as shards of glass dug into her hands. Standing up, she stared around in wonder; all the building for at least a block had been torn apart and strewn around. Various furniture pieces had been blasted across the streets. In a daze, she leaned down and picked up a singed teddy-bear. It had been Tsuki's, her adorable three-year old neighbor.
Dust hung in the air, creating mesmerizing patterns in the dying sun. Her throat hurt, she noticed vaguely, beginning to cough. And her shirt was ripped; mama would be so disappointed. It was her favorite.
Only then did she notice the people; or the lack of people, and the presence of corpses.
"Papa?" She whispered softly, her eyes wide. "Arere-san? Yamanaka-san? Ino-pig?" There was no answer. She began to walk, wincing as she put weight on her left foot, not noticing the blood running down her arms and legs. "Mama?" Her foot collided with something soft, and she screamed, jumping back. There was a man staring upward, his body cold and unmoving. With a sharp intake of breath she stepped back, her emerald eyes wide.
"Arere-san?" She whispered softly, her lower-lip trembling. "Arere-san?!" He didn't answer, as shook turned, tears streaming down her face and began to run.
"Papa! Papa, please, answer me! Papa!" Her desperate cries echoed throughout the empty block, lost in the dusty air.
Finally, she found him. He was lying outside their apartment building, a large gash made by a sharp piece of metal in his chest. His glassy eyes stared at the blood-soaked road, as his hand clutched a screwdriver. Even in death, he was smiling, though his mouth was open in the beginning of an expression of shock.
Her breath coming out in pained gasps, she fell to her knees beside him, crying.
"Papa?" She asked again, her voice soft, hopeless as she wrapped her arms around him, not noticing his blood seeping through her shirt. "Papa!" He was gone, dead; she realized, burying her head with its peculiar pink hair into his neck, sobbing.
She didn't know how long she remained that way, barely noticed as night fell. She didn't look up when footsteps approached her. She simply continued to hold her father's cold body, ont listening to the voices behind her.
"Is…is she okay?" a voice asked uncertainly. There was the sound of someone snorting.
"Of course not, idiot. She's crying, isn't she?" Another, deeper voice. The first one began to argue with the second, when a third, feminine voice cut in sharply.
"Enough, Kakashi, Obito." She snapped, "This isn't the time." There was a silence, and then the first voice sighed.
"Yes, Rin-chan…" the one known as Obito murmured. 'Kakashi' said nothing.
"Are you alright?" the girl, Rin, murmured, resting her hand on Sakura's shoulder. Gulping nervously, Sakura turned around, staring up at the woman. She was astonishingly pretty, with short brown hair and kind brown eyes. Her features were delicate, and on either side of her face were two purple stripes. She was equipped in the uniform of the Konoha Disaster Unit, and with an insignia that identified her as a medic. Sakura shook her head, gripping her father's hand. Rin kneeled down, disregarding the blood, and gently took Sakura's other hand.
"Hey…hey, it's okay. You're safe, now." She whispered, discreetly attempting to loosen the young girl's grip on her father's hand.
"Rin-chan…" One of the men, Obito, who wore a strange pair of orange-tinted goggles, interrupted her. His eyebrows were drawn together in worry. "They're here. We gotta get out of here, 'fore they see us." Rin snapped her eyes to the horizon, and gasped silently. Approaching was a dark mass of soldiers, holding the flag of the Sound over their heads.
"Kami…oh Kami…" she groaned. "When will it stop?" She returned her attention to Sakura, her eyes pleading. "Please, kid, get up. We have to go." With a small whimper, Sakura stood, trembling.
"Kakashi, carry her please," Rin said, "Obito, can you grab my bag?" She withdrew something from her bag that resembled Sakura's idea of an explosive. Her tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth as she poked a few buttons on it, before forcefully sticking it onto a wall of debris. The silver-haired young man, Kakashi, picked her up, as Obito swung a large bag over his shoulder, wincing.
"Let's go."
They began to run, Rin a few seconds behind them. She swore loudly as she tripped over pile of rubble, and rubbed her ankle. Obito stopped and spun around.
"Rin-chan!" He called. She glowered, struggling to her feet.
"I'm fine, keep going!" He nodded his head and she followed, a limp slowing her down. They boys gained ground as she lost it at an alarming speed. Sakura could clearly hear her ragged breathing. Obito stopped again.
"Rin, stop! I'll carry you-" He was stopped as bullets tore through the air; Sakura looked back briefly, and screamed as the bullets ripped through Rin's abdomen, spraying blood everywhere. Her scream was cut short as she fell to the ground, her eyes wide, blood leaking out of her mouth, unmoving. Kakashi gaped in horror, before he was reminded of his duty, and clamped a hand over Sakura's mouth, effectively silencing her.
"No! Rin!" Obito yelled beginning to run towards her body, when Kakashi grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him forward.
"We've gotta go, idiot! Rin knew this could happen, and she still volunteered! Would she really want you dead too?" Obito struggled for a moment before resigning himself to his friend's logic, tears streaming down his face.
0/0/0/0/0
"PAPA! RIN!" Sakura screamed, jolting upright in her bed. Her sheets were twisted around her body, and she was sweating. Her breath shaking, she wrapped her arms around herself for comfort, tears dripping onto the white sheets.
When she screamed, a figure sitting in a chair in the corner near the bed had jerked awake, instinctively gripping the weapon hidden in his shirt. Watching as she trembled like a leaf in the wind, Sasuke ran a hand through his dark hair. Rin. Why was that name familiar to him? He glanced up again as a sob escaped the girl's lips.
"Hey, you okay?" He asked softly, uncharacteristic of his personality. She looked up at him through puffy green eyes, biting her lip.
"No." She responded hoarsely, and he smirked slightly, noticing how dry her lips and mouth seemed to be. He filled a cup with water from a sink and handed it to her silently. She nodded her thanks, downing it in seconds, before examining the bandages on her arms and legs. Finally, she looked at him, where he was leaning against the faded white wall.
"Where am I?" He pushed off the wall, and peeked out the door, waiting for Naruto to show his face.
"A medical room." He said, "The resistance headquarters." She took the information rather well, he thought. She didn't scream, at least; this may have been due to the fact that she was drinking. However, she did choke on the water, and spray it from her mouth in shock. He chuckled slightly, tossing her a towel for her to wipe her face.
The events from before rushed through her mind, and she moaned, resting her chin in her hands. Her mother…dead…She bit her lip before the tears could come, and glanced up at Sasuke.
"I-…I'm really sorry about what happened in my apartment…I was acting like a total ass…" She muttered, fiddling with a strand of pink hair, avoiding his soul-peircing eyes. He simply nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets. "But…Sasuke? What were you guys doing in my house, after all?" He tensed, turning his head away from her.
"Naruto and I…we had some things to do. Some people….they don't agree with what we weree doing." Okay, so Sasuke wasn't quite the next Shakespeare, but could he be any more confusing? Sakura opened her mouth to ask a question, but the door slammed open.
"Sakura-chhaaaaannn! You're awake!" Naruto voice yelled as he vaulted on top of her bed, engulfing her in a bone-crushing hug. Sakura grinned, attempting to pry his hands off of her.
"Nice to see you too, Naruto-kun," She said dryly. Naruto had an irremovable grin on his face, and Sakura ruffled the blonde's hair.
"You were out for five days, Sakura-chan! Five days! Five friggin' days!" He cried, waving his arms around for emphasis. Sakura laughed, and hugged him again; glad to see her adoptive brother. Sasuke smirked slightly, settling himself in the chair beside her bed, as Sakura reached over to a table and grabbed an elastic sitting there, tying her hair into a messy bun.
"So, what were you saying, Sasuke-san?" Sakura asked, cocking her head to the side, her bangs falling over her eyes. He cleared his throat.
"He and Naruto were on a mission, for me." A new voice said, and all three of them turned to see a beautiful blonde woman in the doorway. Her eyes were a piercing amber, trained on Sakura. "Against the Sound Government. They thought they were being followed, so they couldn't lead them back to the Resistance Headquarters." Sakura blinked for a moment, before narrowing her eyes in a sudden rush of anger.
"So they lead them back to my apartment, so the Sound can burn it down and kill my mother?" Sakura spat, crossing her arms across her chest. "What the hell does that accomplish?" The woman raised an eyebrow.
"Do you think Naruto wanted to kill your mother, Sakura?" She asked, and Sakura faltered, her anger fading already. What the hell is up with me? I'm losing an argument this fast? Something told her that it probably wasn't a good idea to mess with this woman though…
"Who are you?" Sakura asked, as Naruto comfortingly wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"Tsunade. Leader of the Resistance." Sakura's eyes widened, and she was suddenly glad that she hadn't flipped on this particular woman.
"O-oh…"She trailed off for a moment. "I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama." Tsunade brushed it off, setting a clipboard down on the table.
"Now, Miss Haruno, you have a few choices." Tsunade said. "You can leave our headquarters. We'll escort you out- you'll be knocked out of course- and if we hear of you spreading tales of us, we will personally send someone out to kill you, before Orochimaru can get you. Or, you can stay with us, and join our cause."
Sakura mulled over the offer in her mind. She could see a few outcomes; If she left, she would be put out on the street, scrounging for food and a job. Possibly becoming a prostitute, getting AIDS and dying, from pneumonia because she didn't have a coat. Or she could stay with the Resistance…here, she would have a bed, food, and friends. Most likely, she would die if the Sound ever discovered the Resistance, but, hey, there was a downside to everything.
She chewed on her thumbnail absentmindedly, pondering the choices, before looking back up at the Godaime.
"I'll stay. I'll join." She murmured, and Naruto let out a holler of joy, tackling her in another hug. Tsunade grinned, and even Sasuke let out a small smile. Tsunade retreated to another chair in the room, picking up a pile of clothes off of it, and tossing them to the pinkette. Sakura looked at her curiously, holding up the baggy black cameo pants, white shirt, and black vest. Tsunade shrugged.
"They looked like they'd fit." She explained, and Sakura nodded, returning her attention to Naruto, who was chattering happily.
"…and you really gotta meet the people here they're really, really cool, and me an' Sasuke can teach you how to fight and stuff, so you can go on missions and you said you were gonna go to medical school, so you can help baa-chan and then…" She tuned him out again, smiling slightly as she looked at Tsunade, Sasuke and Naruto.
Maybe the Resistance wasn't so bad….
Haha, I loved writing the dream/flashback. I'll admit it; I'm a shameless Obito/Rin, Sasu/Saku fan. Sue me :)
R and R guys!
On a quick note, although the Akatsuki are bad in the manga...I just love them too much to make them bad in here. I can't quite beleive that they'll side with Oro-perve. and besides, has anyone read Manga chapter 399-401? It's epic. Haha, therefore, I can't, in my right mind, make them evil.
-Feareth