Chapter 4: Abduction
A light knocking filled the house as Sakura was changing into her pink nightgown. She listened carefully to see if she heard right, and there it went again. She tensed as the hairs in the back of her neck began to slowly stand up. The knocking was not hard, nor was it inviting. But nonetheless she had to go answer it, or else they would continue knocking and wake the children. She looked at the clock: twelve thirty in the morning. Something about the time gave her a sigh of relief. Certainly it had to be Naruto knocking, trying to see if he could still take the children to the midnight ramen at the Ichiraku. She ran over to her closet to grab something to cover herself, finding her silk robe. As she tied it around her waist she slowly smiled to herself thinking that paranoia was getting the better of her.
She walked down as quietly as she could, careful not to wake up Daichi and Akemi. Carefully she tip-toed down the stairs like a child wanting to spy on Santa Claus. She approached her door as casually as she always did and quietly opened the door.
"Naruto do you really think-" a tight hand came across her throat as she looked into an orange mask. The mask covered everything but a right eye, but Sakura was close enough to see inside it: a red sharingan eye that blazed gleefully. Madara Uchiha was grabbing her by the throat, in his Akatsuki uniform of black and red clouds all over. Without thinking she gazed at him for at least a second and quickly closed her eyes, careful not to fall into a genjutsu spell. His grip tightened on her as she kept everything shut; her eyes, her mouth, anything that would draw attention. Akemi and Daichi were still asleep, or else they would have been down here by now. All that was going trough her head was her children. The last thing she needs is her children being traumatized by this crazed man. She has shielded them for so long. And she wasn't stopping now. Madara wouldn't have that though. If she thought he wouldn't wake up the children, Madara slammed that idea into the ground.
"You should never answer the door to strangers you know." He scolded her quietly only seconds before he threw her back inside the house, having her smash straight into the kitchen. Sakura practically blacked out the minute she touched the sink, being buried in the broken cabinets.
By the time Sakura was sprawled on the floor, Akemi was awake with such a start that she threw the blankets off her and was in her brother's room within seconds. Daichi was already going down the steps to see a semi destroyed kitchen with his mother inside the debris.
"Mom!" Daichi ran towards her, trying to see what was wrong, what happened, and how bad the damage was. He cradled her head, feeling a warm spot in the back. She had a concussion.
"Daichi! What happened to mommy!?" Akemi screamed, rushing to hold her mother's head. She saw the blood on Daichi's hands and started looking at the back of her head. It was miniscule but still enough to knock her out. "Who did this?!" she cried.
"I'm sorry," the man responsible for it all broke the silence. "But that was all my fault. I wanted to meet you two. And she just would not budge." Madara said, his tone almost humorous. Daichi and Akemi froze. They both took a good look at the man who threw their mother from the door to the kitchen. This was a man to fear greatly. Neither one could see who he was, his mask hiding his true face, except for the hole in his right eye. Akemi cradled her mother, her bottom lip trembling, trying to hold in tears that were already falling. She kept calling her mother trying to see if that would do anything.
Sakura heard a ringing in her ears but could not make out words. She knew it was her children that were standing by her asking what was wrong with her. and she knew that it was Madara's voice that explained the situation to them. She wanted to move, but couldn't. She wanted to stand up and protect her children, but she didn't even know where they were.
It was Daichi who stood up, standing in front of Akemi and his mother, balling up his hands into tiny fists. He had no idea what he was doing, but he knew that he was not going to go down without a fight. Just like Ken would always say, he was fighting that which he cared for most. Madara saw the look in his eyes and was more than amused. He wanted to see the skills this child had. He wanted to test him to see if they are mature for their age. He started by taking a step closer to the tiny beings and the unconscious beauty that was their mother.
Akemi snapped out of whatever possessed her as she saw that Madara was walking closer to them. She wiped the silent tears from her face as she knew what she had to do.
One step closer.
She placed both of her hands behind her mother's hands and closed her eyes, trying to remember what her mother told her to heal cuts and bruises.
Two steps closer.
She scrunched her eyes together as she felt the chakra slowly flow to her tiny hands, glowing a bright neon green. Madara stopped pacing and stared at what the child was doing. She was healing her mother's concussion?
"Medical jutsu? It is not possible."
But it was, clear as day. Sakura had trained her daughter in medical ninjutsu. It was amateur, and not its normal color of green, but it was enough to work and indeed heal, as she was doing. He wanted to see more of it only to remember there was another kid ready to fight.
"Hope you're ready 'cus here I come!" Daichi yelled, sprinting toward the masked stranger. Madara however, was already waiting for him to run toward him as he threw a kunai the second he sprinted toward him. It hit Daichi straight through his head, throwing him back into a wall. Before he hit the wall however, there was a huge cloud of smoke where he threw the kunai.
"Kage Bunshin?" Madara said also sounding impressed. He looked around to see where the real Daichi was only to feel a tiny prick in his lower back. He tensed as a kunai was placed on his back. Daichi smiled at his tiny diversion as he waited for his mother to regain consciousness.
'I can't say I'm not impressed. These two have developed in ways I never thought possible.' Madara happily thought to himself. He decided to wait with them to see if the young girl could indeed wake up her mother.
"Mommy! Wake up!" Akemi yelled.
Sakura felt the tiny hands on the back of her head as she came into focus. Her vision was still blurry but she knew that it was Akemi by the pink blur she was focusing on. Everything in her body was sore as if she ran a triathlon, but what hurt the most was her children; the pain that she was seeing in her charcoal eyes. She shut out all the pain that was radiating in her body to assure her children that she would be okay.
"A…kemi" she said hoarsely. Her throat was damaged severely as well. She brought her hand up behind her head and began helping her daughter with the concussion while her other hand was working on her throat. She didn't feel anything broken, which was a good thing. She stared straight at her daughter, smiling to her to assure that she would be fine.
"Daichi! Mommy's okay!" Akemi screamed through her tears.
"Not for long." Madara turned around catching Daichi off guard grabbing him the same way he did to his mother. Daichi was so close to his mask that he saw the little red that was known as a Sharingan. He was a member of the Uchiha clan? Then he had to be…
Sakura was conscious enough to hear her son scream and try to break free.
"LET HIM GO!" she went head first into Madara's abdomen, taking him down on the floor. She mustered up all her strength and punched, breaking the ground as he managed to collect himself at the last minute. Sakura got up on her feet and turned around, ready to punch anything that got in her way that was the color orange.
"MOM!" Daichi's voice rung clear in her head. Sakura stopped dead as she heard her son scream greatly, greater than any time she ever heard him before.
She turned around and saw her son cradled over, covering his eyes. She ran toward him, taking his hands away from his face to see what he was trying to shield away: his eyes were a dark luminous red.
"Sharingan?!" Sakura questioned. "How is that possible!?" But she had a feeling she knew who did it. Madara did not move from where he last stood, trying to look over Sakura's shoulders to see if his jutsu was a success. His sharingan was strong. Madara had succeeded in awakening her young son's Sharingan.
"Just as expected, from a prominent line in the Uchiha clan. They are indeed Sasuke's children." With that Sakura heard another scream, coming from behind her and much higher.
Akemi struggled against Madara, closing her eyes from any contact with his. Madara gave the child credit; she was smart to catch on that by looking at his eyes he would do the same thing to her as he did to her brother. It broke Sakura's heart to break away from her son who was in such pain, but she didn't want Akemi to go through it as well. She ran toward Madara again, only this time he anticipated it, throwing Akemi toward the ground and grabbing Sakura by the hair. Sakura gasped at the pain; this man was practically trying to rip her hair right out of her scalp. And the concussion wasn't getting any better.
"Say goodbye mommy." Madara instructed.
"I will not leave, no matter what you do to me." Sakura said.
Madara had to laugh. "Who ever said that I was going to take you?" he simply said. Sakura was unsure of what he meant. Surely he was going to take her and her children, or just herself. Then it sunk in. His mask was inches away from her face to see the fear that swept through her eyes. He was not here to take her, and the realization of what he was really after was greater than anything she ever felt before. He was going to take that which she loved, which she nurtured by herself. He was planning on taking that which she had a reason to live for.
He was going to take her children.
"NO!" Sakura yelled as he once again threw her on the floor. Sakura coughed up blood, trying to stay focused. Anymore damage to her head and she would most likely suffer brain damage. But her instincts as a mother kept her awake and conscious of everything around her that concerned her children. She ran toward Akemi who clutched her mother as tight as if it were the only thing she knew how to do. All Sakura could think was run, run far away from here. Take Akemi and Daichi and just go wherever they could hide. She would find Sasuke and they would be safe. Anything to protect her children. Anything to keep her children safe. She would not let Madara take them.
Sakura didn't need to think about it twice. After securing Akemi, she ran towards Daichi.
"Run Daichi!" she yelled grabbing his hand. Daichi was severely disoriented as he kept trying to shield his eyes from the Sharingan. He was not used to the way he was seeing everything in movement, he could see which way his mother was trying to go before she even went that way. This power was something he never felt before. But he was slowly growing to like it.
"Mom-"
"Just keep running!" Sakura yelled. But she knew the only way she was going to escape this hell would be if Sasuke was here to help. And she herself didn't know how much longer she would last.
"Mommy!" Akemi cried. By then Sakura felt no pressure on her back and turned around in horror to see she was not even ten feet from the door and that Madara had Akemi by the throat as well and staring at her eyes just as he had done to Daichi. Akemi's screams tore through Sakura's heart as she realized there was nothing she could do to make her stop from screaming. She felt as useless as the night that Sasuke first left.
"Sasuke-kun…" she quietly prayed for.
As if on cue, a white looking blade broke through the dark and into Madara's chest. He dropped Akemi on the floor who could not stop crying from the pain. Sakura slid her to her lap and did all she could to make the pain less painful. She lightly put her hand over her daughter's eyes, who was trying to control her screams at the pain. Sasuke came from the direction of the blade, his sharingan seething with anger.
"Thinking you came in time?" Madara cooed.
"In time to kill you." Sasuke answered.
Sakura slipped their children a safe distance away from the fight to heal whatever it was that they had. Daichi however was standing up, his screams were nonexistent. She wondered frighteningly what was wrong. She saw his eyes; stronger and redder, practically pulsating.
"Daichi?" Sakura asked.
"Mom…" Daichi answered. "What is this? This power?"
"Sharingan. It is your birth right." Sakura answered, still holding Akemi in her arms. She saw Daichi turn his attention to the older men ready to fight.
"That man, he awoke it. I should go and thank him."
"What? Thank him? Daichi no!" Sakura got up and grabbed her son. What was going on?
"You really should stay put Sakura" Daichi spoke, his voice sending chills down her spine. It was not her son's voice, not even close. She cried in disbelief, knowing full well what was going on.
"Genjutsu." She uttured.
"Quick to catch on I see." Daichi smiled, his voice still the same deafening tone. "But you caught on too late. Like father, like mother."
Sakura brought her hands together to release the genjutsu, having the Daichi that was standing there disappear, the Akemi in the bushes fade as well. All she saw was the dark forest, turning around to see her house with the lights on. She shuddered as she felt that she was indeed too late. She ignored all the feelings that were clouding her mind and ran to her house, seeing the door wide open, a handprint full of blood. She stopped right at the front of the door to see the hand was way too small to be her own.
Her mind went clear, too scared to even continue to see what she would see. But it was her mind that was on the brink of insanity that told her to keep going.
All inside, the house was a mess. Blood stains were all over the place. She had to make sure, she said to herself as she bolted up the stairs. It was there in the hallway that she let out her screams.
Daichi was sprawled on the floor beside Akemi, his eyes wide while hers were covered in her pink red stained hair. Daichi held a kunai in his hand, trying to protect his sister no doubt. She cradled his head toward her breast as she let out another pained yell into the air. It was then that the door to her bedroom opened. Sakura tensed again expecting Madara there. But she didn't care anymore, he took her children away from her, she was more than ready to join them.
Only it wasn't Madara that appeared through the doorway. She saw his bloodstained hands and knew that it was him that did it. He killed her children. He killed his children. He killed their flesh and blood!?
"SASUKE!?!" Sakura yelled at the top of her voice.
Sasuke pulled out his blade, aiming it at Sakura's heart. "It was the only way to make sure he wouldn't get them… Now I'll make sure he won't get you either." The knife pierced her heart with such force; she knew that she would be dead within seconds. As long as she would be amongst her children, she wouldn't have it any other way. She cradled Akemi and Daichi's little heads as she slowly was losing consciousness, feeling arms lifting her up to sanctuary.
"Sasuke-kun…" she muttered in her last breath…
A/N: Okay guys here is chapter 4. Hope you guys like it because I had a hard time writing it. It was like the hairball that didn't want to come out. Don't worry about the cliffhanger, I like keeping suspense, I'm not evil... Or am I? Updates will be soon so stay tuned!! Please leave your review I love hearing feedback on what you guys think!!
