Dark Paradise

Chapter 7 – Brick by Boring Brick

'If it's not real, you can't hold it in your hand. You can't feel it with your heart. And I won't believe it."

The next afternoon, Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi found themselves in the Hokage's office. Minato was seated at his desk and Naruto was leaning against it casually when Sakura entered. Both Sasuke and Kakashi were already there.

"I've called you all here because Konoha has a rogue ninja that needs to be brought in for questioning." Minato explained, his face grave. "Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin, has defected from Konoha."

Kakashi was the first to react, "Minato-sensei, how is this possible?"

"Well believe that Orochimaru suddenly developed some kind of psychological disorder, he was conducting horrible experiments down below in the tunnels that we believe to be connected, not only to the first Hokage, but also to his disorder."

"What do you want us to do, pops?"

"First you need to find one of the other Sannin, who might have information of where Orochimaru could have gone."

"You mean Ero-Sannin?" Naruto asked, turning his head to look at his father.

"No, Jiraiya-sensei is currently visiting Mount Myoboku, but we have managed to locate the other Sannin."

"You mean Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked before she could stop herself. The Hokage looked slightly bemused. "Yes, Tsunade-sama, the slug Sannin. Have you met her before, Sakura-chan?"

Everyone in the room was looking at her at this point and Sakura just wanted the floor to swallow her whole. "No, Hokage-sama," she said with what she hoped was a straight, innocent face. "She's a legendary medic. I've read about her."

The Hokage accepted her answer. "Well, Tsunade-sama was last seen in Tanzuka Town yesterday." He paused and looked uneasy. "Whether she'll help you…is another story."

"You want us to get information from her on Orochimaru's possible location." Sasuke asked in his abrupt way and the Hokage nodded.

"I want you to investigate whatever information Lady Tsunade can provide as soon as possible. You leave immediately."

All of the Shinobi bowed to the Hokage before leaving the room.

"We'll meet at the main gate in 30 minutes," Kakashi told them before going to gather his supplies. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura split ways and Sakura headed home.

Who was it Itachi had meant? Tsunade or Orochimaru? If she made a mistake it could cost her.

Not that she could ask Itachi, he'd left on a mission that morning, which meant she was on her own.

It would have to be a game of elimination. They'd find Tsunade first, so Sakura could drop some hints and see how her old master reacted, although she didn't feel nearly as comfortable talking to Orochimaru.

Sakura pushed open the door to her house, but she hadn't taken two steps when her father ambushed her. "Haruno Sakura! Please, tell me it isn't true!"

"Dad…?"

"That little punk! Did he ask you to marry him!?"

Sakura paled, technically – Sasuke hadn't proposed, but the fact of the matter was that they were indeed engaged to be married. "I…"

Her father grabbed hold of her hand and looked like he was about to faint. Her mother chose that moment to come around the corner. "Oh, Sakura, it's lovely."

It was lovely, but this hadn't been the moment for her mother to say it. Her father looked about ready to flip a table.

"I actually have to get ready for a mission so…." She trailed off, hoping they would get the hint. They didn't.

"The Hokage isn't your father, I am." Her father exploded and Sakura nearly groaned.

"Are you pregnant?!" he demanded. Sakura's mother gasped and slapped him gently with the dish rag.

"Dad! What?!"

"You can tell me!" he insisted and Sakura pushed past him.

"I cannot believe you would think so low of me!" she rushed upstairs and slammed the door shut. Angrily, Sakura pulled her clothes off and pulled on her mission clothes. She packed her supplies and weapons quickly. Sakura appraised herself in the mirror as she tied her forehead protector around her head and after a quick decision, she pushed her bed away and stuffed the Shinobi Alliance forehead protector in her pocket. It could help later on.

Instead of going out the front door, Sakura hopped out of the window – mostly to avoid another scene with her father, and then she rushed to the main gate. Where Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke were already waiting.

"Sakura," Kakashi drawled, "I hope you don't make being late a habit."

Sakura flushed in embarrassment and Sasuke snorted, and for the first time in a long, long time – their eyes met in total understanding. Kakashi was one to talk.

The moment was over as soon as it started and the two of them turned away almost at the same time.

Kakashi, very tactfully, pretended not to notice the tension between them as they set out. Naruto, on the other hand, was not tactful at all.

"What's up with you two?"

Of course, Sasuke ignored him, so it fell to Sakura to give him (and Kakashi, whom she knew was listening) an answer. So, instead of telling him the gory details, Sakura simply lifted her left hand.

Naruto's steps stilled completely. He blinked as if he wondered if what he was seeing was right.

Kakashi was the first to recover. "Congratulations, you two." And he sounded genuinely happy.

Sasuke said nothing and Sakura nodded, unsmiling.

"I can't believe this." Naruto said, "How can you get married before me?" he demanded to Sasuke.

Sakura tensed, she knew she'd pushed Sasuke by going on the offensive against him, but Sakura knew that Sasuke wasn't the kind of guy you could go against without consequences. Serious consequences. But she doubted (hoped) that he wouldn't self-destruct in the process.

"I'm the better man, dobe. Get out of my face." Sasuke stepped past him and walked on, and after a moment of staring after him, Sakura followed.

"The better man?" Naruto asked, clearly getting his panties in a bunch. "Are you hearing this, Sakura-chan?"

"Sorry, Naruto. I can't openly disagree with my husband to be."

Naruto opened his mouth to complain, but he must've realized what she said because he smiled slyly and fell into step behind her.

Sakura could feel Sasuke's glare on her as they walked on.

x-x-x-x-

They reached Tanzuka Town before nightfall and Kakashi decided that they should all set out and look for Tsunade.

"Why don't we split up?" Sakura suggested and she could feel Sasuke's eyes flip to her. He knew she was up to something. Sakura needed to get Tsunade alone in order to find out if Tsunade was the person Itachi had mentioned. But Sasuke didn't know that and he couldn't either.

"I'll go with Sakura-" he began but Sakura put a hand up. "Now is not the time to get overprotective, Sasuke-kun. We need to cover as much ground as possible. Time is of the essence."

"I agree with Sakura-chan, we need to find this old lady before she skips town." Naruto said with a nod.

"Hmm." Was all Kakashi said in agreement.

"So, uhm, does anyone know what she looks like?" Naruto asked, looking between the four of them.

Sakura kept her mouth firmly shut this time. If they were confused on what Tsunade looked liked, it could buy her more time.

"Hmm," Kakashi mused, "The last time I saw her was nearly ten years ago. Blond hair, brown eyes, blue diamond-shaped seal on her forehead. And of course, huge breasts." Kakashi gave a low laugh and Sakura rolled her eyes.

"But she must have aged quite a bit." He added.

"We'll keep that in mind," Sakura said, turning away and as she did – her eyes clashed with Sasuke's. His eyes had a clear challenge in them – he would find Tsunade first. And in most cases - he probably would have, but not this time. Sakura knew her teacher very well. She knew what restaurants her shishou preferred, what casinos and which types of inns. So, instead of sticking her tongue out at him, Sakura simply smiled and walked off. She made sure he wasn't following her before she ran off, and as expected – she found Tsunade fairly quickly. And unsurprisingly, Tsunade was drunk.

Shizune was giving the drunk-Tsunade worried glances as Tsunade complained loudly about poor service. Sakura approached tentatively, and before she'd even reached the table, Tsunade's brown eyes turned to her in a glare.

"Konoha shinobi?" she asked. "What do you want?!"

Sakura swallowed. "Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade blinked and narrowed her eyes on Sakura, she took a drink from her sake glass and smacked her lips. "What do you want?"

"Do you recognize me, Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked, feeling a rush of hope.

Tsunade sighed heavily. "Why would I? I haven't been in Konoha for ten years." Tsunade snapped.
"Tsunade-sama, please calm down." Shizune said – her usual worried self.

"May I?" Sakura asked, indicating to the open seat in the booth. Tsunade gave Sakura a long look, her eyes skewering Sakura, and then she nodded, one very small movement.

Sakura slid into the booth and taking a chance, she slid the forehead protector into her lap.

"I was wondering….if either of you have seen this before." In a flash, she set it down on the table and quickly looked up at their faces. Tsunade just stared and Shizune frowned down at it.

"I've never seen anything like that before." The brunet admitted and Tsunade snorted. "Peace between the Shinobi? Doubtful."

Sakura put it away. "The real reason I'm here, Tsunade-sama, is because one of your old teammates has gone rogue."

Something flashed in Tsunade's eyes. "And? What do you want me to do about it?"

"We were hoping you could tell us where he went." Came Kakashi's voice from behind Sakura. Sasuke and Naruto stood with him.

"More Konoha Shinobi? Why can't you just leave me alone?!" Tsunade snapped and pushed to get out of the booth.

"Tsunade-baa, please, Konoha needs your help." Naruto said and Tsunade stared at the table. "What did you call me?!" Tsunade reached across the table and grabbed Naruto by his collar. "Where do you get off calling me old, you brat?"

Naruto seemed to choke on his own spit as he sputtered an apology. Tsunade shoved him away and slumped back down in the booth, taking a long drink.

"But, isn't she, like, fifty?" Naruto whispered to Sasuke and Sakura saw Tsunade's eyes snap up.

"Please, Tsunade-sama." Sakura pleaded and Tsunade gave Sakura a long look before she sighed. "What do you want to know?"

Kakashi stepped in then. "We were wondering if you knew of any locations where he might be hiding out. Somewhere that no one would know of. Anything would be helpful."

Tsunade took another drink and over the rim of her glass, Sakura was damn sure her brown eyes went to Sasuke for a second before she refocused on Kakashi.

"Do you have a map?"

Kakashi produced one from his pocket as well as a black marker.

Tsunade made several X's on the map and pushed it back to Kakashi. "There. Now go away."

They thanked Tsunade profusely before heading out.

"Why did Tsunade leave Konoha?" Sakura asked, speaking to Kakashi. "Tsunade lost both her brother and her lover to enemy ninja."

Sakura frowned. That was weird. As far as she knew, the Infinite Tsukuyomi brought everyone that was dead back. So why was Tsunade's brother and boyfriend dead here?

The four of them booked into an inn. Naruto and Kakashi shared a room and of course, Sasuke and Sakura had one all to themselves.

They headed to a nearby ramen restaurant, as per Naruto's demand. Sasuke had then insisted that Naruto pay – and then the two of them began to argue about it. Obviously, Naruto won, because here they were. What he didn't know was that they were planning to leave the bill to him anyway.

"Can we really trust that Baa-chan with this?" Naruto asked, looking at the map with Kakashi.

"I don't think that Tsunade-sama would lead us astray." Kakashi answered.

"Can I have a look at it?" Sakura asked and Kakashi slid the map over to her. She could tell that Sasuke had leaned in closer and was looking at it with her. All the X's that Tsunade had marked were all known Hideouts of the snake Sannin. At least, they had been back in the real world. Slowly, Sakura turned to look at Sasuke. He had his poker face on and looked vaguely interested in the map. Hah, yeah right, Sasuke-kun.

"It's accurate." Sakura told her teammates.

"How do you know?" Naruto asked, "That baa-chan was drunk."

"Call it woman's intuition."

Next to her Sasuke scoffed.

Their meals came then and Naruto polished off five bowls before he'd finally had enough. Of course, Kakashi had left first and Sasuke and Sakura had taken his lead so Naruto couldn't dump the bill on them. Of course, as Sakura's bad luck would have it – their room had a couple's bed. It looked like a honeymooner's room.

"I'll take a shower first." She told Sasuke and slipped into the bathroom. Sakura showered quickly and then let Sasuke have the bathroom while she dressed.

Sakura was sitting on the bed when Sasuke came out of the bathroom, the towel loose around his hips and his upper body totally visible to her. Sakura averted her eyes, flushing with embarrassment while Sasuke dressed. "Ne, Sasuke-kun, can I ask you a question?"

Sasuke didn't answer and appeared to be ignoring her.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura insisted. "It's about the Infinite Tsukuyomi."

Still, he ignored her and Sakura huffed as she walked around the bed and climbed in. "Come on." No answer. Sasuke climbed in next to her.

"Why is Tsunade-sama's brother and boyfriend still dead? I thought the jutsu brought them back."

"Stop wasting my time with useless questions. The answer is simple if you just think about it." Sasuke snapped, turning away from her.

"Just tell me, will you?!"

"Madara hates the Senju. Obviously the jutsu was designed to make her miserable instead of happy." Sasuke told her. "Now, leave me alone."

She did. Sakura settled into bed. She wasn't completely convinced that Tsunade was completely as ignorant as she pretended to be, but she had no proof of that. Sakura would have to bet everything on Orochimaru.

x-x-x-x-

Of course, the first hideout didn't even exist, which Sakura found really suspicious. For Tsunade to have marked it, there should have at the very least been something. She was also watching Sasuke very carefully, unfortunately – he was aware of it, and worked extra hard at masking his emotions from her. When they reached the second location – Sasuke's face was perfectly blank. Too blank. This time there was actually something underground, and when they stepped below, it looked exactly like the type of secret bunker creepy Orochimaru would have. Sasuke continued to look bored. They walked along the narrow hallway, candles burned and flickered around them, creating a dim, ominous lighting. They walked for maybe thirty minutes until the hallway broke off in two.

"I don't think we should split up." Naruto said. Sakura watched Sasuke. He looked annoyed now, which wasn't really off from how he usually acted.

"I think we should split up." She said and Sasuke shrugged as if it were no big deal.

"We should split off into two groups from here on out." Kakashi said, "I'll go with-"

"Sasuke." Sakura said, "And I'll team with Naruto for a change." Sakura didn't miss the glare Sasuke threw her.

Sakura eyed the two hallways and picked the one on the left. She saw, as Sasuke was turning away, the almost unnoticeable clenching of his jaw. Which meant that she and Naruto were definitely taking the right hallway, and suddenly – she stopped. No. Sasuke wouldn't have given any reaction at all. But the fact that she saw that meant that Sasuke had intended for her to. To make her believe that she'd taken the correct one.

"Stop." Sakura said, "Let's switch hallways."

Kakashi sighed. "Sakura, what is this about?"

Sakura grabbed Naruto's wrist and dragged him along and past Sasuke and Kakashi. Her gut told her that she'd chosen right this time. She didn't even look at Sasuke. "My woman's intuition is acting up again." She said, walking down the hallway quickly.

"I'm really glad you asked to team with me, Sakura-chan."

"Hmm." She said absently, looking around the hallway.

"The three of us used to be so close, but with me – off training to be Hokage with my dad and you and Sasuke off doing whatever. We rarely get to spend any time together."

"Weren't you dating Hinata?" Sakura asked.

Naruto frowned slightly. "Hinata? Hyuuga Hinata? No. Why would you think that?"

Sakura shrugged a shoulder. "I don't know. Just thought you two had a thing for each other."

Naruto shut up then, lost in his own thoughts, which gave Sakura plenty of time to look around. The wall was solid and ongoing for miles. Annoyingly so. It just went on and on and on. Sakura had just began to regret her decision when a row of doors started. She flattened herself on one side on the wall next to the door and Naruto on the other. She set a hand on the doorknob and Naruto mouthed, "Three, two, one."

She pushed the door open and both of them leapt inside. It was an empty bedroom. The next doors held more of the same. Finally, the hallway came to an end and beyond that door was a large room – that very peculiarly resembled a throne room. Sakura found herself glaring, until she saw a door on the other side of the room. Slowly, she walked over to it and Naruto caught up quickly. At Naruto's signal, she pushed the door open – and inside, in a large chair, Orochimaru sat waiting for them. His angry expression turned to one of shock as he saw them. And Sakura knew that she'd come to the right place.

"Naruto! Get back!" she yelled, catching him off guard. Sakura shoved him back using all of her strength and he flew from the room, hitting the wall outside, and then she drew her fist back and slammed it into the wall, caving her in with Orochimaru.

x-x-x-x-

Just wanted to thank each and every single one of you who reviewed. I get this huge smile on my face every time I read one. Love you all!

There you go! Your Monday update~~

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Zana-Lee

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