The Black Cherry Blossom
Chapter Four: Loyalty
Itachi led her through the compound, showing her where all the training rooms were located, along with the Medic's Station. She was allowed to do whatever she wanted to the station as long as it was kept clean and tidy, something she already knew. As he showed her to her rooms, she caught the scent of roses. The smell made her come to a halt; trying to figure out where, and why, she'd smelled freshly-cut roses.
"Itachi? Why do I smell roses?"
"That would be Deidara's doing, he got excited when he learned a new member was coming. Poor guy's been saddled with Tobi as an apprentice, so it makes sense he'd go a little insane over the thought of someone his age joining us."
His age? When did he join then?
I wouldn't know. Although when he tried to take the Kyuubi from Naruto, he was supposed to be around eighteen, maybe twenty.
That young? Begs to wonder if maybe he was forced to...
He seemed pretty gleeful to me Hannya...
They always do.
Her comment made Sakura re-think her opinion of him, maybe Hannya was right. Maybe Deidara didn't want to do what he did, deep down inside. Her thoughts snapped back to reality when Itachi stopped in front of a pair of double doors, and for a moment Sakura was genuinely confused. Why did her room have double doors? Did all of them have doubles? Or perhaps just the important members did... But that would make her important, wouldn't it? He opened one of the doors to her new room and stood there for a moment, before shaking his head and closing it again. Walking past her, he turned and gave Sakura a smirk.
"Good luck with that..."
"Okay?"
She turned and pushed open both of the rose-wood doors, staring in shock at the dozens of roses in her room. The majority of them were in the basic shades, about a dozen each. Blue, red, white, orange, pink, red, yellow, purple. The colors made the room look like a living rainbow, and as she scanned the room, a single rose caught her eye. On the bedside table, a strange-looking black-red rose in a pink marble vase stood alone beside her bed. She found herself staring at the beautiful intricacy of the petals, the crimson color began at the stem before fading into a deep onyx.
The edges of the petals were tinged with a light yellow-orange, in truth, it looked like someone had harnessed fire into the beauty of the rose.
She tore her eyes away from the rose and looked around the rest of the room, smiling to herself. The style was simple yet luxurious, her bed was elevated onto a platform, the black silk bedding was complimented by a pale pink comforter/pillowcase scheme. Everything was a beautiful rose-wood finish, silver handles and fittings easily accentuating the rest of the room. The chandelier above her was in the shape of a six-pointed star, pink-painted cherry-blossom petals adorned the fragile glass of the fixtures, casting gorgeous shadows on the wall as the golden light filled the room.
Sakura smiled, she felt very relaxed here, very calm.
She took notice of the Akatsuki cloak on her bed, folded nicely, and on top of it lay her silver ring. Gingerly, she picked it up and turned it about, seeing everything there was to see. The center was white, clear in color. Frowning she turned it again, a quick flash of something small and thin on the inner band making her pause. As she studied it, it showed to be a short needle, very thin, but long enough for it to pierce the bone of ones finger.
Suddenly she understood.
The ring was bare because it didn't know her, it needed her flesh and blood to know who and what she would be. She had a choice, she could leave the ring now, leave it empty and bare. Or, she could slip the ring onto her finger, forever marking herself as a member of the Akatsuki. She stared at it for what seemed like an eternity, pondering. Then without really feeling anything, she pushed the ring up her heart-line finger.
And immediately shrieked in agony.
Sakura dropped to the floor of her room, screaming in pain. She felt the needle slowly puncture her flesh and fit itself into the bone of her finger, she felt her memories push forward into her mind, flashing like a movie before her terrified eyes. She was vaguely aware of her doors opening to reveal the other members, but her vision soon turned black as she slipped into pain-induced unconsciousness. When she woke again, she laid on the plush softness of her new bed. Her hand reached up to touch her head, but stopped as she caught sight of the center of her ring. Where it had once been crystal-clear, it was now as gray as the clouds during a midnight thunderstorm. Her heart broke, it had become what she loved, what she needed when her chest ached and tears stained her cheeks.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Her dark green eyes shot toward the woman sitting on her bed's raised platform, identifying her as Konan. The bluenette regarded her with eyes the color of honey, silently sizing her up. Sakura had never met Konan before, so she was surprised to see she had a piercing, like Pein did. Hers was tucked just below her lip, a silver barbell that glinted slightly in the light.
"Its different from the ones I've seen, the darkest one I can recall was Orochimaru's, his was a deep brown."
"What color is yours?"
"White, like fresh snow."
"Is it different for everyone? Do their ring's take after what they love? Or is it just us?"
Konan laughed, the sound like tinkling bells.
"No, mine is white because I am pure of heart. I kill because I must, and rarely so. Yahiko barely ever comes into contact with the enemy, which is good really. He wouldn't survive any kind of fight. Why do you say it became what you loved?"
Sakura felt her finger rub the smooth surface of the ring, marveling at how she could no longer feel the needle in her bone. She thought for a moment, carefully calculating how she thought it was.
"I love the night sky during a storm, more specifically a thunderstorm. I can tell you the exact shade the sky turns when Lightning is about to strike, I live for them. The ring is that exact color, the color of the coming strike."
"I see, in a way, you are right. But mostly you are wrong. It is that color because it reflects your mind, your temper and your personality. I suppose it means you are a storm, so quiet and calm on the surface, until you decide to strike. But we won't know for certain until you fight, which will be in about half an hour. You're expected to be in the training room so we can see how good you are. You might want to get dressed, the cloak is yours, feel free to adjust it how you want."
With that, Konan left. Sakura shrugged and grabbed the cloak, modeling it in the mirror. She frowned, the sleeves were much too long and the hem touched the floor. She stared at it a bit, realizing she looked like a toddler playing dress up.
She did say we could change it... I'm thinking fishnets.
What about a hood?
I like the way you think Pinky, get to it.
Smirking to herself, she found a needle and thread kit in the desk, apparently it was mandatory that everyone had one. She grabbed some scissors and got to work. Twenty minutes later, the sleeves were gone and replaced by full-length finger-less fishnet gloves. The high neckline that hid a very generous portion of her face, revealing nothing but her hairline, was replaced by a low-sitting hood. She left the hem long, letting it drag just a little bit. She had done her makeup, giving her dark smokey eyes and red lips to compliment her tanned skin. Then brushed and straightened her hair, it was easy since her hair had been short most of her life, but now it had grown out to just barely caress her collarbone.
She felt, and looked, kinda sexy.
Her ninja attire was still visible with the cloak left open, but if she closed it the only things that could be seen were her lips, hands, and a bit of her pale pink hair. She wore a black form-fitting halter top and a matching skirt, underneath that were fishnet shorts secured to the belt on her skirt. She wore heels similar to her ex-sensei's, but the heel was a tad thicker to allow easier running.
We should head down, its almost time.
Checking the clock, Sakura cursed to herself. If she didn't hurry, she'd be late. Grabbing her tool bag she quickly secured it to her upper left thigh, smirking as the cloak opened slightly in a seductive way. Sakura shut her door and headed down to the training room, the soft click of her heels giving her a confidence boost. She rounded the corner and smirked when she noticed they were all talking in a huddle, not yet aware of her.
Suddenly Konan looked up, a playful grin on her face.
"Oh my... Love the look Sakura-chan, very sultry."
Nine pairs of eyes simultaneously looked at her, each one gaining a different expression. She saw surprise, shock, lust, confusion, wariness, and even a little bit of fear from the one in an orange mask. A soft smile turned her crimson lips upward, forming a gentle smirk.
"So, who's the poor bastard that gets to play with me?"
Hey guys!
I finished chapter four this morning, but like a bad bitch I forgot to upload it.
My bad!
I want to thank everyone for the awesome reviews, they mean alot guys, they really do.
Much Love,
BlackRose999