Chapter 7 : Inside the moon


-Five years before chapter 6-

The first time she had met Sai was because she hadn't followed one of Kakashi's golden rules. Don't go inside his apartment without permission. The moment she walked inside and two heads turned she knew she was in trouble. Kakashi looked disapproving at her. Behind him stood a blond woman with keen eyes. But what had caught the most attention was the light skinned emaciated … thing that the woman was holding currently. It looked inhuman. Savage, like an animal. His eyes were the scariest part. Pitch black. There was nothing in it, besides a hint of wariness. She knew that Kakashi had been more distant than usual but this situation wasn't even close to normal. There had been so many questions that she had wanted to ask.

"Who is he?"

"Who is she?"

"What are you getting yourself involved in?"

"Do you not trust me?"

"Did you ever let me in?"

The chance to react to the situation was interrupted by the sound of a woman yelling in surprise. The ghost like creature had bitten her and was currently running in Sakura's direction. Sakura was still gaping with her mouth wide open when Kakashi made a sprint and jumped on the guy. There was a short struggle before the creature made an animal like sound of defeat. Kakashi looked at her and said "OUT, Sakura … This is not a good moment."

Sakura was still trying to process what was happening when the woman responded: "Let her stay". Her aura had a certain form of authority in it. Apparently Kakashi thought so too because he silently agreed. Ten months after that Sakura would know the official name of the mysterious woman. Tsunade.

Despite the initial hostility in the apartment, she had many fond memories of that day. The smell of green tea in the kitchen. Tsunade's stern face. The small bathroom of Kakashi in which they tried to make the best out of the emotionless boy. Tsunade explained bit by bit all the medical procedures that Sai probably had gone through. Tsunade was clearly passionate about what was allowed and what wasn't allowed in the medical field. The entire evening Sakura was pulled between wariness for the mysterious boy in the bathtub and admiration for Tsunade. That evening was the start of her dream to become a medic as good as Tsunade was.

Thinking about it afterwards, it had been the perfect bittersweet autumn night.


-10 months after meeting Sai and Tsunade-

"There you are, little girl." Her heartbeat increased while she made a step back. Two men in blue uniform made a step forward. It was night and again she was completely on her own.

"Don't be afraid, candy-chan. We will take care of you". The man with the moustache grinned and grabbed her left arm tightly.

"LEAVE ME ALONE". Sakura swinged her fist at Moustache-san, kicked the other guy in his nuts before running away as hard as she could.

She knew she had no time yet she couldn't stop from looking behind her. It became as instinctive as breathing was. Suddenly someone else grabbed her arm and pulled her in a narrow ally. "Stop it, you asshole! Let me go!". She struggled, trying to get loose again when someone pushed a calloused finger on her lip. "Shh Sakura-san" whispered a male voice. Sakura stilled and looked the stranger in his eyes. He didn't seem to be Moustache-san, nor was he wearing a blue uniform. The man pulled her deeper inside the alley "Follow me". Sakura might have questioned who he was if she hadn't been so desperate. Worst case scenario she could try to escape again.

While they were walking she could see different angles from his face. There was something familiar about his posture. Dark hair, dark eyes, skin the color of freshly washed sheets … a ghost like skin. "You are that boy!"

"I can confirm that I am a boy." He looked on ahead while increasing their speed.

"No, that is not what I mean. You are that boy that Kakashi brought home". Sai looked at her quickly. She eyed him up "and you look so much better than last time".

"I can't say the same about you, you look uglier than usual".

Sakura took a quick look at her own body and saw the disheveled clothes and the dirt on her arms. "There were special circumstances you know. Besides, you should never say that to a lady".

"Well, you are no lady". Sakura forgot about the situation they were currently in and responded with a short but powerful hit on his shoulders. "See, ladies are never aggressive".

"You really have no manners." Sakura frowned and retorted "Besides, I wasn't the one biting strangers ten months ago."

"As you said, there are special circumstances."

It felt like they had walked for ages in the abyss of alleys before Sai stopped in front of a wooden door. He knocked twice before the door squeaked open. In the doorstep stood an old lady. She looked with squinting eyes at Sakura shortly, before letting them both in.

There were three doors in the small room besides the front door. Sai took the one in the middle. "Walk close to me" Sai tightened his grip on her hand. Sakura looked back and saw the old lady still staring at them. Sai pulled her a little kept om walking inside the narrow corridor before stopping in front of an elevator. He ticked in a code before they both stepped inside.

"Welcome in the underground building of Tsuki. Please state your floor."

"Floor -13, please." responded Sai in his usual monotone voice.

"Floor -13, registered."

"Hold on to the handrail, it goes faster than it looks."

When Sakura put her hand on the handrail she could see that her hands were still shaking. Now that she finally felt safe she noticed how tired she felt. This dreadful week had felt like forever. The ghost like figure seemed quite unnerved himself. He stood still as a soldier but somehow ... there was this hint of excitement and anger. Sai grabbed his phone and dialed a number. "I found her."

"Yes, we're close by"

Sakura took another long look at Sai. He looked quite trustworthy and she knew that Kakashi had saved his life. But what if ? The reason why she was currently in this situation was because she had trusted someone Kakashi knew. Wasn't it irony that she trusted this ghost like boy for the very same reason? Sakura's doubts were interrupted when the elevator stopped on level -13. When the doors opened Sai walked out of the elevator and made a quick sign that she should follow.

"We are almost there."

The room was pitch black expect for a small light in the distance. Sakure looked carefully around, searching after other hints before asking "What is this place?"

"It will become clear later on, just follow me for now."

The next door they opened gave access to a circular room that was about 3 floors high. The most eye catching thing was the water underneath the see-through floor. The light that shone underneath made it look similar to the moon. Sakura would have liked to explore this room further but Sai didn't seem to share her thoughts. He walked steadily to a side door and stepped inside. A corridor. Sai opened the door nearest by and they entered another badly lid room. Seems like Sai really did like the mysterious atmosphere, didn't he? The moment the door closed behind her she could see a vague person sitting behind a surprisingly boring desk with a bottle of alcohol on it.

A familiar female voice spoke up "I'm glad to see you are alive. Kakashi would not have forgiven me if I hadn't found you on time." Tsunade stood up and closed the distance inbetween. Carefully she put her hand on Sakura's shoulder. By instinct Sakura pushed the hand off and tried to step back. Tsunade's stern eyes softened while she said "From today on onwards you are one of us. I'm sorry girl, there is no going back."


When Sai came back from bringing Sakura to her new room Tsunade had already filled another glass with sake. Number 89 had learned not to speak, not to ask, not to question. But Sai had secretly always found her a strange woman, she drank as if she was a sailor but at the same time she gave clear instructions towards their health. In some wicked way her drinking habits made him feel safe, if Tsunade betrayed him he could use every advantage he could get. He didn't trust her, even drunk she had a sharp look inside her eyes.

"I still can't believe we misjudged the situation that badly" Tsunade drank the glass down to the bottom and filled another two glasses with sake. "Here kid, bottoms up. We need it."

"I don't drink, Tsunade-sama"

"Kabuto sure teaches his men how to become party poopers." she sighted and took a sip of the new glass. "What do you think?"

Sai shifted uncomfortably. Alcohol is a weakness and can be easily drugged. The function of her additional questions made no sense to him. No matter how he thought about it, he failed to see its purpose.

"Speak up, kid. I don't bite." Honestly, Sai was less and less sure about that.

"Kakashi failed to fulfill his mission." Facts are safe.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes, apparently he gave the wrong answer. Tsunade took another big sip and looked at a picture that stood on her desk. "Sai, this is more than a mission. Yes, we dedicate our lives in order to attempt to create the ideal we have. Yes, we can die tomorrow. But we are more than killing machines. That's what makes us different."

Sai still didn't understand the whole ordeal but decided to nod. Tsunade looked satisfied with the response. As he said, a strange woman.


-present: after chapter six-

Sasuke woke up in an uncomfortable position. Some days felt like a garbage truck drove twice over you. Today was one of those days. There was an unrecognizable pain in the backside of his head and his hands were cuffed for some reason. The red haired girl had really done a number on him. Sasuke would die of embarrassement if his family ever found out how he got kidnapped. Generations of Yakuza, to be ended by a cocky girl. She fooled him good. Sasuke tried to loosen the cufs while he could hear two men passing by.

"How much do you think they will give us?"

"For that piece of trash? If rumors are true, they will give quite a lot"

Why did this never happened to Dobe?


Authors note:

-i apologize for updating so late. Life happens.

-i think the story has three main story lines. The first one is what happened between Kakashi and Sakura (past). The second one is what happened between Shisui and Sakura (present). The third one is between Itachi and Sakura (future).