Well, well ,well. Shorter than the last update, no? I hope you like it better than the last one. I do. It's longer too! Aren't you happy?
Anyway, I'll let you get to reading. Have fun!
Disclaimer - Holy crap, I don't own it already! 'Kay? I mean,if I owned it, THIS is what would be happening right now! Maybe...
Sakura found herself in a field of beautiful wild flowers. She felt so happy that she couldn't help but dance and twirl around among the flowers. Her father had brought her here to get away from the yelling of her mother giving orders to the servants in the house. This garden of flowers was her safe-haven. A place only her family knew about. Apparently, it was a custom on her father's side of the family to tell your spouse about this place. It was a sign of complete trust because this place was the ultimate defence. Nobody could get here unless they've been shown from someone who's already been there. If someone with ill intentions came to this place, Sakura feared all of the pretty flowers would wither and die, for this was a place of the heart.
A cruel and chilling wind swept across the garden and Sakura stopped in mid-twirl.
It seemed that out of nowhere her mother came running to her. Five year-old Sakura was nervous. Her mother looked looked really angry about something and she was known to have a very bad temper. "Sakura, let's go right now." She grabbed her daughter's wrist roughly, pulling her along. "Nira!" Her father appeared but her mother didn't stop. Then, her voice sounded, "That's Nira-sama to you, monster!"
Little Sakura managed to crane her neck just enough to see her father stop running after them and his heart shatter. "Don't look at him, Sakura!" But she couldn't help it. She had never seen him look so sad and broken. She was used to the strong, always smiling man she called father.
Suddenly, she found herself back in the halls of her home. Her mother was still running, pulling Sakura and her sore wrist. "Mother, plese stop. You're hurting me..." She was ignored.
Finally, her mother stopped running. Sakura realized it a little too late and stumbled but managed to catch herself from falling completely. She then felt her mother let go of her tiny, bruised arm. She looked up to see a sight one as small as her shouldn't have ever seen. Her father pointing his katana at her mother's throat. She may have been young, but she knew the sight was wrong. It scared her so much that she started to cry. "Daddy...?" she looked for something in his eyes to tell her that this was just some bad dream. "Stand behind me, Sakura," her father commanded and she obeyed without question. When her father used anything but Saku-chan, he was dead serious.
"You wont get away with this," her mother hissed out, "This nation wont stop searching for her. And they wont rest until you're dead." Sakura cried some more. Her parents, as far as she knew, were never really "close", but this was... there wasn't even a word in her vocabulary for it. "You wont find her. I'll make sure of that." He sheathed his blade, turned around quickly, picked his crying daughter up, and ran out of the building.
Then, a sudden wave of déja-vu wracked her body; Like she's been through this before.
She heard her mother order soldiers to go after them and even more tears fell from her innocent eyes and down her flushed cheeks. "Hush," her father cooed, "Every thing's alright."
---
Her father had been running non-stop for days on end now. He had managed to put Sakura into a sleep-like state so that her small body used up less energy. When she finally came to, she noticed her father had stopped running. Were they okay now? Then she heard yells and curses. She heard metal clashing and flesh on flesh. She also noticed that she was being moved into somebody else's arms, gently, so as not to wake her. There seemed to be some kind of battle going on and her mind barely registered that her father just joined in the fray. "Da-" "Don't worry. You're safe." This new voice sounded old, but strong. The voice of a leader with many years of wisdom.
It was over in a flash. So quickly that Sakura thought she had imagined it. Her mind raced to catch up to the present situation, but once it got there she regretted ever waking up. Her mind told her 'it's over, it's over.'
a lance had been thrown in his direction as he was blocking another incoming attack. The lance was embedded through his mid-section. And she saw blood. Lots of it. And then he fell to the ground. Still as death.
Several more weapons found their way into his body. Shining emerald eyes widened with fear and shock and anger. The other fighters, the ones on their side, fought off the bad guys who did this. But that wouldn't help her father now.
"No... No!!" She struggled to get out of the elder man's arms. He let go and she made her way towards the too still body. "Daddy... Daddy! Wake up! Wake up, wake up, wake up!" The elder man sat beside her and put an old hand on her shoulder. "He's gone now, child." "No! Stop lying to me!" Sakura shook off his hand. "Daddy! Wake up! Please wake up! Don't leave me alone! I'm scared... Please wake up!"
The old man beside her said something to the others that were there and she noticed her father's body being moved away from her. She wanted so badly to latch onto her father and never let go. However, no matter how hard she tried, her body did not move to her will. So, she did the only thing she could do at the moment; Vent.
---
"Ah!!!!!!!!"
Jiraya's team snapped their heads up towards the screeching sound. "Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled first. He was about to take of when, "Naruto! Hold on! This could be a trap to lure you in by the Akatsuki. We're not even near the blast site yet." The blonde shinobi stopped for a minute, head down in thought. Even Sasuke didn't know what his former teammate was thinking. He knew what he was going to do, though. If it was a trap set up by the Akatsuki, then his brother would most likely be there.
"It's worth the risk. If Sakura isn't there, then it wont matter. We'll leave and go somewhere else. But, if she is there, and we just go right by them, I'd never forgive myself." Jiraya, though a little reluctant, agreed. "There's no stopping you, is there then?" Naruto grinned and took off. The others close behind.
---
"Give in yet?" Sakura didn't answer. "It ends when you say the words." Still only silence came from the girl. This was because she was still partially shocked that she was stark naked in this world of his, which disturbed her greatly. "You know, it's pitiful that when a young woman, like you, has a fear this great about her body." She shivered inwardly and wrapped her arms around herself, covering parts of her the best she could. She began to shake heavily when he scrutinized her without mercy. "Maybe my little brother was right about you. You are pathetic," he spat out at her. At this point she snapped her eyes shut and she covered her ears, trying to shut him out. It made no difference. "This is my world, Sakura-chan. You can't get rid of me, no matter how hard you try." Panic gripped her heart, so much so that it hurt. A lot. It got harder to breathe as she realized that she really was trapped in here with no way of getting out. No matter how good she was at genjutsu she would never be able to break free from here. From him. "Crying is a weakness, Sakura." Oh... She didn't even notice the tears.
Even though her eyes were shut she could still see the red and black of his world start to spin. The two colours blurred and mixed together making Sakura feel sick, but no matter how much she wanted to be sick, she couldn't. Then images passed through her head.
First, it was Sasuke she saw.
"Perhaps you should focus less on flirting and more on training."
"Leave me alone, you're annoying."
Sasuke-kun...
Then Naruto.
"Don't worry! I'll protect you, Sakura-chan!"
Naruto... No... I can protect myself...
"Sakura-chan, I'll bring Sasuke back. I promise!"
Ahhh! No! Stop it!
Then random images and insults she received as a child. Some more recent.
"Look at that forehead! It's huge! Not to mention u-g-l-y!"
"Haha, look! She has no chest at all!"
"Flat!"
"What the-? Pink hair? It's hideous!"
No.. Make it stop!
"This is where we part ways..."
Oh no... Not again! Stop it!! Stop!!! Sasuke-kun, don't... Please don't!
"Arigatou..."
The images stopped and she fell to the ground, huffing and crying.
"St...op... P-please..." She hiccuped a couple of times before he spoke. "All you have to do is agree." "No... I can't... I-I'd betray-?" "Who," She never saw Itachi as one to get angry, but that's what he sounded like at the moment. "Who would you betray? Sasuke? Please try to come up with something better. He hates you anyway. He left Konoha because you couldn't stop him, because you weren't good enough. He doesn't care. And Naruto? He left you all alone for two years. Don't you think he knew enough to know what you were going through after Sasuke? That he would understand enough not to leave you alone? Is that what you call a friend?" "B-but he left to g-get strong-" "They didn't need to leave their home to get stronger. You've gotten stronger there, haven't you? Or, maybe you haven't. But, they weren't the only ones that left you. Even Kakashi left. He was never at the village for more that a couple days at a time. You were alone and nobody cared." She had no reply. It was so easy to believe him. She supposed that part of her knew there was some truth in what he said. It hurt her to even think that, but what he said wasn't exactly a lie...
"So, will you fix my eyes?" She seemed to think over it, and he waited patiently for a reply.
"No." She heard him sigh. "Why?" Her voice sounded more monotonous than before, and Itachi knew it was only a matter of time now. "Countless more people will die... Innocent people..." "They don't even know who you are. They wouldn't care anyway. They don't care. Nobody cares." "I still do." There was tone in her voice, but it still held strong.
"Looks like you still need a little more persuasion." She tried to brace herself before the next onslaught began.
---
Naruto and Sasuke led their team through the forest, but there seemed to be a slight panic that hung through the air. Naruto didn't hear anymore screaming. He wasn't sure if it was a bad thing, or a good thing. It could mean that her torture had stopped... but was it because she was dead?
If it was the latter, he didn't know what he should do. It was frustrating! He had no clue where she might me without any sound. "Naruto, you need to keep a cool head." "How can I keep a cool head!?" he stopped suddenly, "How can I keep calm in a situation like this? Sakura could have di-" He didn't finish it. "That's only the worst outcome. She could still be alive, and this could still be a trap. Who knows? We could be being watched right now."
For some reason, that provided no relief for the teenager. "I don't think she's dead." All eyes landed on Sasuke and he was uncomfortable with the sudden attention but he ignored it pretty well. "Tsukiyomi doesn't kill." Hope shimmered in his friend's blue eyes. "Physically, anyway." Confusion. "Ugh! You're so dense! I can't believe you were a former member on Sasuke-kun's team!" A glare was sent her way in more than one direction. "Her body may appear to be fine and unscathed, but her mind could be screwed beyond all repair."
"Kinda like what happened to Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei before?" He went stiff at the memory. He had to travel with Jiraya to find Tsunade to fix the team seven members. "Shit." He doubled his pace and sent out shadow clones in his frantic search to find he female teammate.
"Kakashi, we might need some back up. Sakura could be in a bad situation and who knows what Naruto'll do. Stay put for now and be ready to back us up."
"Yeah, I copy," he replied.
On the other end, Kakashi was more than a little worried. They seemed to be on the trail to Sakura's where abouts and she seemed to be in trouble. He'd never forgive himself if something bad happened to one of his students... And his only female one at that.
---
Sakura had decided that this was, officially, hell. Even though Itachi had used tsukiyomi he still had more than enough strength to beat Sakura around like a doll. Even if she was able to fight back, she'd still be no match for the sharingan user. Right now, she was backed into the corner of the room she was in before her tsukiyomi experience. Her legs were so badly bruised she could move them, and that meant it was alot harder for her to get away, or at least avoid some of his brutal attacks.
"It stops when you want it to. Just say the words." She moved her face away from his direction. This move earned her a back-handed slap across her cheek. She ended biting her tung. She swished the blood in her mouth a couple times before spitting it at him. Some of it managed to get on his cloak. She was flung into the middle of the room, landing on her back. She tried to sit up but cried out in pain at the top of her lungs when her captor's foot crashed down on her arm, successfully breaking it. "How many more bones must I break before you comply?" Her reply was another cry of pain. His other foot found it's way onto her chest and they both heard soft, but sound, crack. More screaming erupted from her dry, scratched throat. She was sure that people all the people in Suna heard her cries from the leaking air of her now punctured lungs.
She barely registered Itachi getting off of her, the pain was so intense. Her vision began to fade. Her life was slowly draining away. She was going to die here and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. She wanted to cry but there was nothing left in her to do anything, much less cry.
"As a parting gift, Sakura, part of your mind will still be trapped in tsukiyomi. I'll be able to hear your every thought, see your location, and if I'm feeling up to it, control your body." She thought, because she didn't have the strength to speak, It wont matter. I'm already dead.
"Not necessarily. Your comrades are almost here." Normally, Sakura would have been ecstatic, but she was in too much pain to really care. "Until we meet again, Sakura-chan..." Her last thought was I'm useless and pathetic... I can never do anything... right.
---
At long last the team of five came to a clearing with a stone cabin of some sort. They all felt a certain chakra, but it wasn't who they were expecting. They saw who it was when it stepped out of the house. "Kisame." Sasuke noted. Naruto looked closer at the man. He appeared to be holding something. "Oh no..." Juugo was the one to speak this time. "Sakura-san... Has pink hair, right?" Jiraya nodded.
After what seemed like an eternity, the blue man dropped what he was holding.
In one hundredth of a second Naruto's eyes turned crimson and his chakra burned in anger as he sped towards Kisame. Within that small time-frame Naruto had put his hand right through his chest. It took another moment, but he dissapeared in a cloud of smoke. A bunshin.
Naruto turned quickly after the smoke cleared and knelt down to his friend. She wasn't breathing.
Sasuke couldn't take his eyes off of the limp body that Naruto fell to his knees by. It was Sakura all right. But he only just barely recognized her. Her normally pink hair was red with blood. Her face, normally peaceful, was twisted with pain and dark from the welts she received. Her right arm was twisted at a wrong angle, broken (or shattered) and her legs, or what he could make of them, were cut and also dark from her beatings. He returned to normal when he heard Naruto scream her name.
"Sakura-chan! Wake up!" His eyes were still red, he noticed, but he was crying. Jiraya walked over as he did. Karin and Juugo kept their distance. Karin, because she really didn't care for the girl and was slightly disturbed when Sasuke made his way over to her, and Juugo because he didn't want to interfere with them. For all he knew, she was dead and didn't want to interrupt the sad moment.
"She's not breathing! She's not breathing, Jiraya!" An older hand made it's way to her neck and felt for a pulse. He got one, but it was faint, and growing even more so as they sat there.
Sasuke could do nothing but look at her, bloody and broken. What was he supposed to do? He was supposed to break all bonds with every one of them, but there was something there that even he couldn't deny. It was something he felt when his family died, though he couldn't recall exactly what.
Naruto picked Sakura up and hugged her while he cried. She coughed up blood. Wait- She coughed! "Naruto, don't move!" He did what the Sannin told him, he didn't move. It seemed that in this position she was able to breath, albeit rough and heavy.
Unknown to Sasuke, he took a small breath of relief.
"Kakashi." Jiraya waited for the jounin's voice.
"Here."
"Send one of your dogs to Tsunade immediately. We need her out here fast."
"I take it you found her."
"Yes, but she's in bad shape and probably won't last the rest of the day."
The line went dead. Kakashi had done what he was instructed to do. Now it was only a matter of time. Hang in there kiddo.
---
Tsunade was in the middle of "signing some papers" when Pakkun appeared in a cloud of smoke right in the middle of her desk. There was a sound of a bottle dropping to the floor and then the sound of liquid pouring out. "Damn it! This had better be good..." "Sakura's dying." The bottle shattered. Pakkun assumed it was a delayed reaction. The small dog was about to tell her where they were located but the Hokage was already out the door. His duty was done and he returned to Kakashi.
"Ah, I see. She'll be here soon by the looks of it." "Let's just hope Sakura holds out until then." "Aa."
---
"How long now, do you think?" Juugo looked at Karin. "I don't know. Not long, I imagine." Karin decided to sit against the base of a tree. If the girl held out out the hour she'd be surprised.
"Her breathing's slowed down." Jiraya stated. Naruto's gaze didn't move from the spot on the ground he's been staring at for the past five minutes. His stare only hardened when the words left his sensei's mouth. Sasuke sat down on the other side of her and only looked. at her. Naruto would have smiled at this slight show of understanding had it not been a serious situation concerning Sakura's survival. Right now they were both feeling the same thing; They were on the brink of losing a friend. Even if Sasuke tried to deny it before.
Ah... I kind of liked this chapter! Even though it's kind of... how should I put it? Sad? Meh. Tell me what you think, okay?
