Vanishing into Thin Air - Chapter 3

Sakura woke up screaming as a searing pain spread over her stomach. Eyes wide open; she could see a man kneeling next to her.

"The pain should recede in a few minutes," said Endou Masazumi gently. As Sakura calmed down, he started explaining how the seal worked. "So, it's sad to say, but you will be in the service of Endou family for the rest of your life," he concluded.

'As if a stupid seal is going to keep me here!' thought Sakura, clenching her jaw painfully in an effort not to speak.

Finally, he unlocked and removed the chakra limiter from around her neck, knowing she couldn't harm him. His work done, he stood to leave.

He glanced at her once more, noting her angry expression. "Since you're a ninja, your life here may be easier than the common slave," he offered in an attempt to console her.

"Although your words are gentle, Masazumi, the reality is that her life is ours to do what we will," said Endou Kenichi from the entrance of her cell. "Did you hear that little girl? You belong to me!"

Before either brother could blink, Sakura had leaped forward and aimed a punch into the bars next to Endou Kenichi. As her fist made contact with the structure, the bars twisted making a huge hole.

Endou Kenichi could only stare at the destruction that had occurred not even two feet away from him.

Sakura approached Kenichi, until she was close enough to see the droplets of sweat forming on his forehead. "Don't underestimate me, master" said Sakura menacingly.

Surprised, he tripped backwards and fell on his behind in the dirt.

"Hahaha…" Endou Masazumi was laughing so hard, he was doubled over with tears running down his cheeks as he stared at the scene in front of him.

"Serves you right brother! You should be nicer sometimes," said Masazumi after he had regained his composure.

"How dare you!" Kenichi screamed.

"Come on brother, she is new. Give her a chance to adjust," said Masazumi as he herded his brother towards the dungeon's entrance. "I'll handle this," he assured him as he shut the door behind him.

"You're quite the surprise! Strong and bright, I see. I had barely explained the rules and you had already figured out how close you could aim an attack without activating the seal," said Masazumi. "You may have a bright future here after all, but be careful not to upset my brother or he will punish you ruthlessly."

Masazumi was now leaning into the bars of the cell opposite to hers. "Just look at what he did to this disobedient slave," he said, nodding towards to the bloody figure that was sprawled on floor of his cell.

"Kenichi went a little overboard this time. Lucky for this slave that I had business with you this morning or he would have continued hanging from the ceiling in intense pain," Masazumi continued as he studied her face. He could read shock and sorrow as her eyes found the person he was referring to.

Sakura was struggling to hide her emotions. She was remembering her 'dream' of Sasuke being tortured, only to now find out that she had actually witnessed it!

"I'm glad that this is shocking to you. I wouldn't want you to suffer the same fate as him."

Masazumi started making his way towards the door leading out of the dungeon.

"Come! There's no point in leaving you here, if you're only going to destroy your cell anyway. I'll show you where you will live from now on."

Sakura forced herself to look away from Sasuke and walk out the door with Masazumi.

A million questions seemed to be revolving in her mind as she followed her new master.


Sasuke woke up on the floor of his cell. To his surprise his wounds had been dressed and the door was unlocked. Groaning from pain, he dragged himself to his feet and made his way out of the dungeon.

Sasuke took the stairs and headed to the upper levels of the mansion. Unlike the slaves with no special ability that lived in the servant house, ninjas caught in the Endou's forbidden jutsu lived in a wing of the mansion. There were several large rooms that could accommodate four people each. Sasuke was currently living with two other male ninjas.

Using the servants' common areas and stairways, Sasuke tried to avoid the Endou family members. He had made it past the slaves working in the kitchen and was just turning a corner when he ran into someone else.

He saw a flash of pink and knew exactly who it was before he even got a good look at the person who had been in his way.

"Look who the cat dragged in," said Endou Masazumi. "Sasuke, I was just giving a tour to our newest ninja. Her name is Katou Shizune."

'Smooth, Sakura. You couldn't think of another name except Tsunade's other apprentice,' he thought sarcastically.

"Nice to meet you, Shizune. My name is Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura nodded politely.

"I'm glad you two ran into each other. Shizune will join your team to replace Kamiyama."

Sasuke nodded. Kamiyama was killed a few weeks ago when Sasuke's team was stealing a scroll from the hidden village of Suna. Since then, the team was working twice as hard to make up for the loss of his teammate.

'It might be easier to keep her out of trouble this way,' he thought.

"Well, Shizune. This is the end of my tour. I suggest you go back with Sasuke to your room and make yourself comfortable until you are needed."

"Thanks you," said Sakura, as Masazumi walked away.


When Sakura turned to face Sasuke, he was already heading up the stairs towards their room. 'As talkative as ever,' she thought sarcastically.

Sakura quickly caught up to him in the stairs. It wasn't too hard since he was injured. He was climbing the stair slowly, shoulders stiffly hunched over with an iron grip on the guard rail and a grimace on his face.

"Do you think you're going to make it?" she asked in a concerned but slightly teasing manner.

Sasuke gave her his infamous glare and Sakura couldn't help but smirk back at him.

'Some things never change,' she thought.

Finally, Sasuke made it to the room. He slid the door open and walked into a fairly large room with a traditional tatami floor.

Sakura entered behind him, noting that it looked like an empty room except for a rack that held different types of weapons near the doorway.

Sasuke walked to a large closet. "There are futons in the cabinet, along with other things."

He pulled out a futon and gingerly bent over to spread it out. "Since you don't know anything about this place, don't leave this room without a member of our team."

With that, Sasuke lay down and closed his eyes.

Sakura knew she should feel annoyed with him, but she remembered watching him screaming from pain in the dungeon. It was clear that he was in pain and exhausted. 'Life seemed to one painful experience after another for Sasuke', she mused. 'I wonder how I would have turned out if I had been through even half of what he has.'

She sat down on the tatami floor and leaned against the wall. Surprised by the twinge of pain, she remembered the injuries she sustained in the Land of Rivers.

Sakura closed her eyes and made the hand signals to mould her chakra into a healing force. She directed to slowly flow through her entire body, healing all of her injuries.

'Ah…I feel so much better!'

Sakura got up and sat on the window sill peering at the activity outside. She could see children playing on the grounds, slaves tending the fields and guards patrolling the perimeter of the property.

She noted that the Endou compound had no fences or ditches to prevent people from entering or escaping. 'Who needs a fence when you have a house full of ninjas protecting you and the Whirlpool seal keeping slaves from escaping?'

Sakura continued to study the activities occurring on the grounds of the compound all day. She had met her two other teammates in the early evening and had gotten to know them better over a quick dinner in the servant's kitchen. Tanaka Kouji and Omura Shin were in their mid-twenties and had been with Endou since their teenage years.

"I'm glad you joined us. It hasn't been the same without Kamiyama and it will be a nice change to have a woman on the team," said Kouji.

"Just be careful not to anger any of the Endou family members. You'll only cause yourself unnecessary pain," said Shin.

"I'll do my best," answered Sakura doubtfully.

"Well, you can't do any worse than that Uchiha! He's been punished so often for disobeying that you would think he's masochistic!" continued a laughing Shin.

'Sasuke…a masochist?! Are we talking of the same guy?' thought Sakura.

Sakura humored them for a while longer, getting as much information as possible. It appeared that the Endou's had been a prominent ninja clan in the hidden village of Whirlpool. They had been renowned for their binding and sealing abilities. When the village was destroyed, only a few members of the clan had managed to survive and escape. Since that time, the remaining members had relocated to Ishi and still held a deep grudge against most of the hidden villages. In fact, the Endou family's took great pleasure in stirring up trouble with other hidden villages and between them.

'I'm so tired,' thought Sakura as she followed the rest of her team up to their room. Sasuke was awake and reading a scroll when they walked in.

"We already have a mission. We're leaving in less than hour. Get your gear ready."

Sasuke paused for a second, while considering Sakura. "The Endou's have a storage area with lots of extra gear. I'll take you there right now. Follow me."

Sakura sighed. 'No sleep for me then', she thought while following Sasuke.

"Why don't you let me take a look at your back before we go? I could heal you."

A flicker of surprise showed on his face, before his stoic expression reappeared. "So that's why you're not in pain. You've already healed yourself."

"Yeah, that's right. I'm not helpless or weak!"

'Not anymore,' she couldn't help thinking. Suddenly, Sakura smirked behind Sasuke's back. As he walked through the door of the storage room, she hit his back hard enough to cause him enough pain to distract him. Before Sasuke had the time to react, Sakura had already slipped her hands under his shirt and was healing his back.

The tense Sasuke, slowly relax and let her finish her work.

As Sakura's hands slipped down his back and out from under his shirt, Sasuke quickly turned around and caught both her hands. "Don't sneak up on me or I might kill you by accident," he growled.

Sakura smiled, "Sasuke, I won't be the girl that follows you blindly. If I want to sneak up on you, I will. And even if you try to kill me, you won't be able to."

I hope you enjoyed it :)