Hello again my awesome readers! I finally got this chapter published. Sorry about the wait, I've been working since Wednesday. :( Anyway, there are a few people I need to thank for reviewing since the last chapter update: EvansXAlburn, MeMyselfAndZafir, and sharkswillruledaWORLD.
Alright, I must say that this chapter seemed a bit rushed, but I can always come back and retype those parts if need be. It was also a fairly emotional chapter because of what happened in the previous one.
One more thing! This is the longest chapter I've written so far! And it cracks the 20,000 mark! YEAH!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto... :(
~ Façade-sama
(Updated 6/11/14) This new version is just a better, edited version of the previous one. Only a few things were taken out.
Sakura's sleep was riddled with nightmares. She kept seeing flashes of that night throughout her normally dreamless sleep. There was her brother's face smiling down at her when she was younger suddenly mutilated with the wound and the blood pooling around his body. Her parents had tried to fight off the attacker, the forensic evidence had proven it. But both were dead anyway.
She saw the police and heard the sirens coming because she had called them with the news. A nice policewoman had helped her as she had gone into shock from the occurrence. But now she was also seeing her grandmother among the dead. The body sagged lifeless next to the other three as if it had belonged there all along.
And then there was a voice swirling around her form. All the flashes stopped at it remained just the voice and her own awareness. I killed your family. What's to stop me from coming after you? It mocked in a dark baritone. The faceless assassin was suddenly upon her. There was a knife and a gun, and then there was nothingness, black and mind-numbing.
Sakura started as she shot up in bed. The only sound for a long while was her racing heart beat and the panting of her own breaths. Tears streamed down the pinkette's face as she had once again relived that night, with an added sadistic twist at the end.
The pinkette shook as she sobbed. It seemed that all the events from yesterday were finally sinking in. This had been the weirdest week of her life, and it was still not over.
Just a few more days. Got to get past today and tomorrow so I can think everything over on Saturday.
Shouldn't you schedule the funeral for Saturday?
I don't need a reminder right now, Inner. She pushed her face into her pillow and let out several deep breaths. When she was sure she had control over herself once more the pink-haired girl sat up.
She heaved herself out of the bed and turned on her computer. The clock on her nightstand said 5:38 am so she had about a half hour before she'd have to get dressed and go downstairs for breakfast. It was just enough time to compose herself so that Karin and her aunt would have no way to mock her for her swollen reddened face.
The pinkette ended up surfing YouTube for the most part. She found that whenever something upset her it was easier to get it out of her mind when she had something else to do. So she watched various funny videos until her clock said 6:12. Then she reluctantly shut down the laptop and proceeded to pull on a comfy pair of skinnies and a red shirt that she had gotten from Hot Topic with Ino this last summer. She ran a brush through her shoulder-length hair and gave herself a small smile in the mirror as a way to prepare herself for the day ahead.
She was met downstairs by a frowning aunt and a scowling Karin. They both pointed her towards the front room. In the living room there were two men accompanied by one of the men who had spoken to her yesterday. Yamato, I think. But why are they here this early in the morning?
It seemed that her aunt had the same thoughts. Her shrill voiced broke the silence coating the room. "What can we do for you gentlemen? Perhaps you would be willing to tell us now that Sakura is here." She had put on that stupid fake smile in an attempt to look nicer than normal.
The two unknown men shifted rather uncomfortably. One had longish blond hair the other had blood red. They were both rather scrawny, but Sakura was observant enough to notice the subtle cords of muscle along their arms. So both of them are experienced in some sort of martial arts. Possibly more than one. And now that she knew that snippet of information she saw several more indicators proving her thoughts. They held themselves with confidence and the blond guy's arm twitched subtly as if they were grabbing for a weapon at his waist.
Yamato dissolved the icy atmosphere as he spoke to the pinkette. "I was planning on meeting you at the funeral. However, it has come to the attention of the board that both your grandmother, the former leader of Haruno Manufacturing, and your brother, the previous heir to the company, have both been targeted by the same individual or individuals. Thus, we have proposed a plan to keep the current heir – you, Haruno Sakura – safe from harm."
Sakura looked at the man she had met yesterday incredulously. He had never actually proven he was part of her grandfather's company but these two men beside him had had profiles in the police files. They were officers who worked in a special group that included the elder Uchiha brother and several others. She just couldn't remember their names to save her life.
Granted, my memory usually picks up codes and tricks way better than it does people's names.
"And this plan does what exactly?" Sakura asked him.
Yamato smiled at the three of them before continuing. "These two are part of the Akatsuki, a special faction of the police force. Until the person or persons responsible for the recent string of murders is found, you will have a pair of them tailing you wherever you go."
"You're saying that my grandmother's murder coincides with the murder of Sakamoto-san and my family?" Sakura asked. Though he had said yesterday that the blood found at the scene was Sakamoto-san's, I still wonder why the culprit would target my family as well as someone I have never met before.
"Yes, well, there is evidence supporting that theory." Yamato gestured to the two men beside him. "This is Akasuna no Sasori," he said motioning to the red head. "And this is Iwa Diedara. They will be guarding you today to and from school."
Karin almost exploded at the notion. "But what about me! Don't I need body guards too?" she asked in her screechy voice. "Sakura's parents and brother were already killed, I could be next!" Sakura could see the obvious signs of jealousy in her cousin's eyes at the prospect of not getting 'a sexy guard' of her own.
Why does our whore of a cousin need a guard?
Sakura sighed at her Inner's language but looked over at the two Akatsuki members for the reaction almost everyone gave off when dealing with her cousin. They backed away minutely from the red-head and glanced appraisingly her way to see if she'd react to Karin.
"I'm sure you'll be safe for the time being," Yamato said, trying his best to defuse the bomb that was Karin. "I'll leave these two in your capable hands, Haruno-sama." He – for lack of a better word – fled out of the house. Sakura couldn't blame him. The day she turned eighteen she was packing and leaving this place as fast as she could. Now that she technically owned her grandmother's company she could probably push for emancipation. Her aunt might insist actually.
Sakura sighed as she glanced over the pair before her. She'd have to go behind their back to contact Itachi tonight. There was no way she was missing the information exchange.
There's no way you're missing the chance to talk to Itachi. Just admit that you like him, it'll be easier for the both of us.
Sakura refused to answer her Inner self. Instead she pondered Itachi's question yesterday at the café when he had caught her researching her parent's murder. He asked about someone by the name of Orochimaru. That guy that was Kabuto's guardian. But I still have no idea why.
This case just keeps getting more and more complicated by the day.
Yes it does.
She was snapped out of her reverie by two very nervous guys and one annoyed Karin. Her cousin had most likely tried to play the 'slut' card she had picked up from her first few years in high school. And it looked like she had been unsuccessful.
The pinkette just sighed in exasperation at her cousin's idiocy. While that approach may work on most of the high school guys it most certainly did not work on men. Well, most men aren't affected.
She gestured for the two guards to follow her out to her car. I guess I'll just buy lunch today. And breakfast is just gonna get skipped.
The two guys practically ran out after her to her car. The blond grudgingly accepted the other man's call of 'shotgun'. Sasori settled down in the passenger's seat with Diedara in the back. The pinkette started the Honda Accord and headed off to school.
Just imagine what Ino'll think of this whole situation.
The pinkette groaned with that realization. Thanks, Inner. Like I needed a reminder for these sort of things.
Her thoughts lapsed into silence just as they rolled into the school parking lot. The pair of Akatsuki officers trailed after her as she entered the building. Principal Tsunade greeted them at the doors with a smile and a wave.
"Sakura!" she said with a smile.
Funny, I was always one of the students whose names she could never remember.
Well it looks like people will always remember you now. You'll be taking over the family company soon. Might as well get used to the attention.
Sakura shook hands with Tsunade and shot her a fake smile. The blond principal smiled back. "I'm terribly sorry for your loss, Sakura."
The pinkette saw the sincerity in her eyes, but she was still wary. Like she will ever know how much it hurts. Everyone always says their sorry. Sorry for what? That a person that was close to me died?
"My grandmother was an amazing woman," Sakura remarked finally after a couple of seconds that become awkwardly silent.
Tsunade nodded her head in agreement as if Sakura had said something profound. "We – the board of the school and I – are aware of the situation, Sakura, and we hoped to be of help if you ever needed anything."
Sakura's lips curved into a wry smile before she, too, nodded in agreement. "I will keep that in mind, Tsunade-sama."
The principal turned to Sakura's pair of body guards. "As for you two," she began. "You may sit at the back of Sakura's classes. Don't disrupt the teachings. I have heard great things about your branch of the police force so please don't disappoint me." Then she turned and swept back into her office.
"She's intimidating, yeah," the blond guard said with a sigh. "Not as bad as Itachi though, yeah."
The red head grunted in agreement to the blonde's statement before he spoke up. "Come on, any more waiting around and we'll be late." He turned to his ward for the day and prompted her to head to her first period class.
Sakura complied with his wishes and lead them to her class, history. It was there that she was greeted by a less-than enthusiastic Gaara. He had taken a single glance at Sasori and almost groaned out loud in frustration. "What are you doing here?" he practically growled at the older male.
For his part, Sasori blinked in surprise but took it in stride. "Today I will be accompanying Haruno-san to her classes," he answered gruffly in return.
"Who's this kid, danna, yeah?" Diedara asked his friend in a voice reminiscent of Naruto when he had tried to whisper. But it seemed, from Sasori's slightly smirking expression, that the blond guard had done it on purpose.
"Diedara, meet my cousin, Subaku no Gaara," Sasori drawled as if the conversation was boring him. Sakura just looked on in amusement at the 'introduction'. The little conversation had distracted her just enough to become blissfully ignorant for a few seconds as to why the Akasuki members were with her for the day. But, of course, like most things, it came crashing back to her after only a moment.
"And why will you be accompanying Sakura?" Gaara asked as he eyed his cousin with annoyance.
"We were asked by Sakura-chan's company to keep her safe for the day, yeah!" Deidara answered confidently.
Sakura twitched at the familiar way he had used her name but she let it slide. "Her company?" Gaara asked in surprise – if by surprise one means only the minute widening of one's eyes and the small, inaudible intake of breath.
"Yes," Sasori confirmed, dancing around the topic of exactly why and how the company had gone to Sakura. The pinkette noted the subtle glance Sasori shot her way, as if to make sure she was alright.
Maybe these body guards aren't so bad, Inner.
Yeah, and at least they're hot. I mean, it would have been a total waste if we had had to spend the whole day with ugly guys.
Sakura chose to ignore the spiel of her Inner in favor of taking out her things for history class. She didn't want the conversation to go any farther than it already had, and she was sure that Gaara had now figured out exactly why the company was now hers. If she could help it there would be no way for the others of her group to find out about what had occurred. But she knew that with these guys tailing her every move the whole school would know by lunch time.
It'll probably be on the news tonight as well. It was nice of the company to hold back the news crews for a day, but with a story like this one there is no way they'll be able to do that twice.
At least it's a Friday tomorrow. I'll have the whole weekend to acclimate to the role my grandmother left for me to fill.
Sakura stopped the shudder from wracking her body. There was no way she was going to cry at the mere thought of her grandmother, especially not in class in front of all these people. She shifted the weight of the computer on her back and took comfort in the normal atmosphere that was school. Not that she really enjoyed being here, but it was a good way to get her mind off of everything and focus on the droning of the teacher.
It took a few minutes, but Sakura finally gave up on pretending to listen. Her first period teacher was so boring that he almost put Gaara to sleep. And the guy's an insomniac!
She tuned into her Inner's rant about how school should be a fun place to learn, not a 'prison that sucks out souls'. To distract her wayward Inner she began to think of what would be taking place later that day.
I have to contact Itachi without the guards noticing. Do you have any idea how to accomplish that?
I have no idea. Why'd you ask me? You're the one who comes up with all the important thoughts.
Well, I've only got until the end of the school day to figure it out. I should be able to think of something by then.
"Hey, Sakura-chan, yeah!" Deidara shouted excitedly. "You're done with boring old history class now, yeah. Where are we off to next, yeah?"
Sakura's response was said with a small smile at the blond, "AP Honors English, Iwa-san." She walked out the door with a smirking Sasori, leaving Deidara to wonder why she had been so formal with him.
"Hey, Sakura-chan, yeah." He said, scrambling after the pair. "Don't call me 'Iwa-san', it makes me feel old, yeah. Just call me Deidara, yeah."
Sakura nodded. "Alright, Deidara-san. If that is what you want."
She was trailed by the two of them into her English class. She had none of her friends in this class period as all the rest of them had it during her fifth period class. Sakura – and Ino – had been horrified when they had realized they wouldn't be sharing any classes for junior year. But they had agreed to always have lunch together.
She zoned out throughout all of English, already knowledgeable of the curriculum for this class. There was no way she was going to listen to something she already knew, no matter how many times the teacher shot her dirty looks from across the room. All she did was sigh at his immature way of acting. Sasori and Deidara looked on with smirks. Who would really ever know that despite what most of the student body thought, Haruno Sakura was by no means a teacher's pet?
Sakura lead the strangely silent guards to Kurenai-sensei's French III classroom. Her third period was slow and boring, unlike yesterday, and was filled with conversations between the students – in French of course – about all manner of things. But her mind was on other things, and, to be honest, she didn't really even want to speak French today. "Do you guys speak French?" she asked the pair of guards.
"Maybe," He said softly from behind her. Sakura nodded and went back to ignoring her work. She wasn't going to get anything out of the stoic red-haired boy.
The blond looked over at his partner curiously. Apparently even he hadn't known that Sasori spoke French.
I guess you learn something new every day…
The bell rang and Sakura gave a grateful sigh. The class period had been so utterly boring she was happy there'd be no more of it, at least for today. Sakura exited the classroom with her pair of guards in tow.
She made her way to the lunch table and plopped down, Sasori and Deidara steeling a couple of chairs for the surrounding tables to place near hers. Ino, who had made it to the table before Sakura today, looked between the new pair of guys and the pinkette they had followed here. She twitched when Sakura looked up without saying anything about the new additions.
"Sakura-chan, who are these guys," Ino all but demanded an explanation.
"Oh, sorry I'm being rude," the pinkette spoke before she glanced over at her body guards. "The red head is Akasuna Sasori, and the blond is Iwa Deidara. They've been…looking out for me today."
Ino gave her best friend a piercing look that asked for further explanation. When she wasn't given one she introduced herself. "Hello, I'm Yamanaka Ino, Sakura's best friend." She had stressed the last two words as if to get some sort of point across to the two uncaring males.
It went on like that all throughout lunch, with the exception of an incredulous Naruto and an annoyed Sasuke, no one seemed to comment about why the two where there. Sakura's best guess was that Gaara had informed the group about the conversation in first period. He wasn't one to talk so openly with others, and that was probably one of the factors as to why everyone was acting as if there was nothing wrong. They didn't want their pink-haired friend to start crying. And Sakura didn't cry. Even more disturbing though was the effort she put in to make everything seem more normal. She laughed at Naruto's jokes and conversed a little with Hinata, Ino, and Tenten about shopping later on the weekend. And every time she brought out her false smile her guards frowned a little. Only a few at the table could see how much everything was really hurting her: those being Sasuke, Shikamaru, Neji, Gaara, and her guards. Naruto seemed oblivious to the whole situation, and no one was going to tell him otherwise.
Sakura followed Shikamaru to her fourth period class and settled in her normal spot. She pulled out her silver laptop in preparation and was pleasantly surprised when the teacher walked in and announced that they would be working on a group coding project. Not many of the students in the class knew how to code, even though all of them were utter computer geeks. But Sakura being Sakura was thoroughly excited for the change of pace.
Shikamaru paired up with her automatically. They were the only two out of their group of friends in the class so it was only natural. Plus, Shikamaru always knew that she could code amazing programs if given the time. He was too lazy to do it himself.
So Sakura followed the teacher's instructions to make a simple program in her Java Compiler. As soon as he explained what they were to make she was off. It was to be a small program that gave off data on a person if their name was in the program. She also needed to have a function where someone could add a new set of data strings to the code without going into the coding itself. It was actually the basis used for a contacts list on a cell phone.
She completed the task in several minutes, reveling in the fact that everyone else would probably have this as homework tonight. And then she remembered the pair behind her that were 'watching out for her' today. They were arguing about something at the moment and had not noticed she had finished her work prematurely. So she pretended that it was really hard and took the whole class time to code it.
Why'd you do that?
I don't need my skills getting back to Uchiha-san because those two guys decided to tell about how I coded a program as if it were nothing.
I see. You don't want to give the genius Uchiha too much information on yourself now that he's approached you about the case you're working on.
Yes. There's no doubt in my mind that he's going to ask these two about me when they return for their report.
I think you're becoming paranoid.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully, except for art class where Sasori and Deidara got into a spat about whether or not art should be eternal or fleeting. It was like listening to two five-year-olds fighting over their favorite toy.
You're telling me.
And then Sakura was I her car on the way home. She was skipping the café today because of what had happened there yesterday. Sakura was also hoping that she could convince the guys to go once she had made it safely back to her house. And then one of their cell phones rang, and Sakura was thanking fate.
She pulled into the driveway just as Sasori answered it, speaking in a low voice to the person on the other end of the line. He glanced up sharply at Sakura as she exited the car, followed by the blond and himself. She watched as he mumbled a goodbye and peered over at them for a couple of seconds. "It was Leader-sama," he finally said with a sigh. "He needs us back at HQ right now. He's sending Hidan to pick us up."
Deidara cursed under his breath. "Must be urgent if he's sending Hidan, yeah," the blond commented. "Looks like we're leaving you here, Sakura-chan, yeah."
Sakura tried her best not to look relieved that she wouldn't have to try and do her hacking while they weren't looking. But if their leader had called them urgently then maybe Uchiha-san had been called in as well.
I'll just drop the information onto his hard drive if he doesn't answer. It's not like he wouldn't find it, especially if I label it correctly like he did to me the other day.
Yeah. Let's give this guy a run for his money!
Sakura absentmindedly waved to the two guys who had followed her that day. They got into a slate black car with a guy that had silver hair and weirdly colored eyes. When they had driven off down the block she charged into the house and up to her room where she'd be away from prying eyes. There was no way that Uchiha-san could find her 'accidentally' today, unlike the previous afternoon.
She settled comfortably on her bed and pulled her laptop from her bag with a small, sincere smile gracing her lips. She always missed the feeling of the keys beneath her fingers whenever she wasn't hacking. She felt powerful when she was able to span the globe in a few seconds without moving an inch from her location.
Sakura traced the Uchiha's IP address when she couldn't find him at his apartment. She grew a bit discouraged when she didn't find it right away.
This must be another test.
Yeah, like the last one wasn't enough. Now he's playing on your ego.
And he's winning. I don't plan on letting that continue.
So she let out an IP scanner to find the one computer IP address she was searching for amongst the thousands in the Konoha area. There was no way she was letting that insufferable Uchiha get the better of her.
When her computer pinged that the Uchiha was found she smirked and looked at his location. It was a small warehouse near the ports.
Now why would he be there?
For whatever the leader called Deidara and Sasori for?
Then why would he bring his laptop. There are no other computers connected to the wireless in that location.
Dunno. Do I look like a seer to you?
Stop with the sarcasm, Inner.
Sakura hacked her way into the web camera on his laptop first, and then she hacked the microphone hooked to Itachi's computer. She really needed to get her own microphone one of these days.
Once she had access to sound and sight she shoved a word document on the screen knowing it'd be a moment before he saw it.
True to her thoughts, the Uchiha saw it after a moment. "Leader-sama, Ryuu has contacted me once again."
So he had told this 'leader-sama' about having been contacted before. And here she was hoping this was just a game set between the two of them. At least with more people in this little game of ours it will become more interesting.
She typed out: Nice microphone. Now I can hear what you say.
"The hell! Who is this b –" Someone blocked the mouth of the guy who was about to speak.
"That is Ryuu, the most infamous hacker in the world. Be respectful, Hidan," a red-head with a lot of piercings chided the silver-haired guy.
"Sorry, Leader-sama," Hidan mumbled.
Hello Hidan. She typed. Nice to meet you too.
Hidan's eyes widened, but the reproachful look from the leader made him stop himself from answering the jab. Sasori and Deidara moved into the view of the camera after a moment to see what she had written.
"That's who's been contacting Itachi, yeah?" Deidara asked with a frown. "How'd you bump into Ryuu, yeah?" The second question was directed at the stoic Uchiha, but Sakura answered for him.
I was hacking in the area and Itachi-san decided it would be a good idea to try to hack my computer. As you can already tell, that didn't work out so well.
She saw the Uchiha minutely bite his lip in annoyance as she downplayed his skills as a fellow hacker. This was just her way of getting back at him for making her track his IP address down like a fricken' computer scent hound.
Leader cleared his throat to stop any of the chuckles her answer had received. "I was under the impression that you had information for Itachi-san today. Perhaps you would be willing to advance your findings to us now."
I do not appreciate being ordered to do something, remember that, Leader-sama. However, here are the suspects so far: Wantanabe Satomi, Takahashi Itsuki, Sarutobi Rin, Shimura Danzo, Kobayashi Aoi, Yakushi Kabuto, and Kinuta Dosu. I want you to gather your own information on the suspects as I gather mine.
Leader nodded his head as he read my message. Then he spoke up. "Why won't you give us all your information?"
Would you give all your information to a stranger, Leader-sama?
He grunted in acknowledgment of that statement. And then Sakura went on.
I'll leave those names with you. And now I'll focus on searching for a connection between the murdered victims. When will you be next available to talk to, Leader?
Leader pondered that question for a long moment. "I'll talk to you again in another two days at this same time." He turned his back on Sakura and she decided to give him a special goodbye present.
Don't ever turn your back on me. You just might find out how much I can do in such a short amount of time.
Sakura left him with a very potent virus that began to attack the Uchiha's computer immediately. She knew he'd be able to diffuse it. It was similar to the virus he had tried to place via file on her computer the other day.
So she quickly exited the system and made it back to her own network. Without the distraction of the internet there were tears now gathering in her eyes. She wiped them away quickly. With a sigh she curled up in a ball on her bed and tried not to cry any more over her grandmother's death.
Time will help with the pain.
No. Time leaves scars where the pain still resonates. I'll never truly heal.
YESH! Another chapter complete... and ENTER AKATSUKI! :) I now have 27 followers (minions...) and I shall rule the world very soon... yeah right that's just my ego talking... XD Until next time my awesome readers! O.O