Okay I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I hope you guys like it. However, I would like to warn you that this chapter is mostly [to me at least] a filler. But I would say it is important to read before the next one.
Chapter 7
Let go of your insecurities. Let go of your pain. You are limitless. Nothing is holding you back. You are perfect. You are infinite. Smile. Love. Laugh. Don't forget to live.
Sakura stared at the little card that came with the flowers. She wanted to laugh, so many lies on one sheet. Who would send this to her? Who knew her so little that they thought this was her? But something about the little gift unnerved her. Her friends wouldn't send her this, and on the off chance that they did she knew they would have left their name on the card. So why was she, the hunter, feeling like prey?
"Sakura," a voiced called from behind her. It was soft, motherly.
"Tsunade," The rosette said without turning around.
"You got flowers," Sakura cringed. Their conversation seemed so forced. She hated it. This woman, for all purposes, was a mother to her. So why didn't this conversation flow like all the others before it?
"I did," Sakura looked behind her. "Why state the obvious?" She wasn't trying to be rude. Tsunade just wasn't a person she knew to state the obvious.
"It is an indirect question asking what was on the card, Sakura." Tsunade shot her a look as if chiding her.
Sakura snorted. "Not everything is clear cut, Shishou." She responded.
Tsunade gave her a half-hearted glare. The pinkette caught the message and began to recite the phrase on the card. She ended it with a snort.
"They obviously don't know me," She told the older woman.
"On the contrary I would say they know you better than you think." Sakura's eyes widened at what the almond-eyed beauty next to her said.
"Explain," her voice got rougher. She disagreed, but her curiosity must be sated. She needed to know what her Shishou thought was so true about that note.
"Sakura look at your history. You have lost your parents when you were young. That loss has held you at a distance from everyone even Sasuke and Naruto. Your pain far exceeds that of a normal girl your age. Until you met Ino you wouldn't ever whisper a phrase to someone because you feared they would make fun of you. There isn't a wall you haven't climbed, not a mountain you can't-"
"Enough! That's just changes, nothing more. People change to fit their survival needs. My parents were killed in front of me; of course I will keep people at a distance. I lost two already why the hell would I want to lose more? And of course I didn't speak to people before I met Ino. I lost my parents! Just the fact that I witnessed it is more than enough reason to put me into a psychosis! Which you well know is one of the top reasons why kids either go crazy or turn into a selective mute. And yes, I have overcome obstacles. What kid hasn't? But all of that can be explained. The person who sent this does not know me!"
"You can't expect this to be a coincidence, Sakura. You just can't." Tsunade told her. The older woman resisted the urge to raise her voice an octave. Maybe Jiriaya was right, maybe she had let this go too far. "I…I don't want to lose you Sakura. I already lost too many, Sakura."
I can't lose you. The blonde didn't need to vocalize that message. Tsunade took a deep breath. She didn't know what she would do if that happened. The older woman noticed how the rosette's emerald eyes softened. "You won't…I promise," She heard Sakura whisper.
God, I hope you are right Sakura. I just hope you are right.
Itachi looked at the sheet of paper. He had taken out all but the underlined words. But these hints didn't help. Not in the slightest.
Remember,you, I, cherry tree, love, wind.
How the hell was that supposed to help him guess her name? Also where was the other riddle answer? He had received 6 riddles that had answers to them. There were only five underlined that were his answers. But what was Cherry tree?
Itachi took a breath and attempted to rack his brain for all of the riddle answers prior to this one. He couldn't remember the last one.
"Struggling?" A female voice called out.
"What are you doing back?" Itachi snarled, not bothering to look at who entered his room.
"Last time I checked I was your mother and could see you any damn time I pleased!" The voice barked.
Itachi's eyes widened slightly. He didn't expect his mother to come waltzing into his room at the base. He expected her.
"Sorry I thought you were someone else." Itachi muttered an apology.
"Oh? Who? Obviously a woman if you snapped at me. But why were you expecting a woman? Are you having sex with her? I sure hope not! You need to at least have a ring on her finger! Oh what would your father say of your promiscuous behavior! …Well actually he would probably ask if you have been satisfying her. But I forbid you from sleeping with her! Have you at least been using protection?" Mikoto asked.
Itachi turned to face his mother. The only response he could even conjure up was, "What?"
"Well why else would you be expecting a woman? I mean I know I have hounded you for grandkids but I at least expected you to be engaged. I don't need my son to turn into a common whore!"
"Mother-"
"I mean really Itachi, where did you meet her? Is there more than one? Please tell me you have at least been getting tes-''
"Mother!" Itachi interrupted. His mother looked at him in shock. Never has he interrupted her before. "I am not sleeping around like a common whore as you so bluntly put it."
"Oh…" Mikoto blinked and said nothing for a moment. "Then why were you expecting a woman to come into your room?"
"The one giving me problems is female," Itachi said. He saw his mother open her mouth to speak. "No I have not been sleeping with her. She has just decided to invade my room whenever she feels the need to."
Mikoto's mouth closed. She was stunned to say the least. Who would have guessed that the one causing her son trouble? "It's a girl?" she asked. Itachi just nodded his head in response. He cringed when he noticed his mother's eyes light up and a grin appear on her face.
"Well what are you struggling with?"
Itachi debated on whether or not he should tell his mother. But after a few minutes, he decided to. "The last riddle she gave me. I can't think what it would be."
"Well then let's get to work!" Mikoto responded.
"Does that person know me?" Sakura murmured to herself. Unconsciously the girl brought her knees to her chest. Tsunade's words continued to echo in her head. The more she thought about it, that letter did sound right. In fact it almost sounded familiar.
"But I am not insecure anymore. I couldn't afford to be insecure. Life is fleeting,"
"Like art, un." Sakura jumped at the male voice. Her body tensed as she turned around.
"It's you," she told the blonde.
"It is." He replied.
"Aren't you supposed to attack me? Fight for your gang, or whatever you think secures your masculinity?" Sakura asked.
"I am in a good mood, be happy I don't feel like spilling blood on my uniform." Deidara growled. He let out a sigh; the woman was a pain to deal with. Why did the organization not end her existence earlier?
"So what brings you here?" Sakura asked, her hands motioning to the canyon's cliff.
"It's a good location to handle my art." Deidara said with a shrug. He didn't tell her the real reason though; if he did she would leave before he could execute it.
"Oh right, you're the Akatsuki's bomb technician…" Sakura murmured more to herself than to her current company.
Deidara ignored her statement and asked a question. "So what brought you here?" He noticed how she was hesitant to respond. But to his surprise, she did.
"I was just out here to think," She told the older man. "I kind of needed a reality check; fear is contagious, but strength is intoxicating, you know?"
"So you think you are strong for going against us?" Deidara questioned. Maybe he did know why she wasn't dead yet. She had spunk, not many had that now a days.
"Strength leads to courage; courage is the drug of idiots." Sakura said.
Deidara thought over what she said. "So you are claiming stupidity?" This girl continued to surprise him.
Sakura sighed. "Everyone has their blonde moments. Mine was going against you. However, I do not regret all that I have done. Life is short; this was how I am living it." Sakura explained.
"So you are saying that this was something you had to do to feel alive?" Deidara asked.
"In a sense," Sakura admitted. It was strange that the only way for her to feel alive was for her to seek out a death sentence.
"Why?" Deidara asked. Sakura noticed how his eyes sparkled with something akin to curiosity. The rosette resisted the urge to snort. She seemed to captivate many lately.
"My parents use to tell me to reach for the stars because you never know when your time is over. They would always say that life is short, live it. Love is rare, grab it. Anger is bad, dump it. Fear is awful, face it. Memories are sweet, cherish them." Sakura continued to explain. "So I lived. Briefly I loved. I faced my fears. And I cherish the memories of my past."
"What about anger?" Deidara questioned.
"I'm not known for my good temper. Still working on it though," The rosette said.
"That still doesn't explain why you decided to go after us." Deidara told her. Sakura shot him a glare; clearly disagree with why she 'attacked' them.
"Life is a mystery waiting to be told, and you are the author." The green eyed vixen said.
"So what made you seek out us in your novel?" Deidara asked. He figured asking her more questions wouldn't really hurt. Sasori would be here soon, and maybe with the two of them they could take her to the base and have leader deal with her once and for all.
"My tale was starting to go cold. A furtive with no lead is no mystery at all." Sakura stated. "Now why don't you tell me what you are still doing here? You have not once touched your bombs. Which if you were here for the bombs you would have used them by now, neh?" Sakura asked him. He noticed how her green eyes twinkled.
"We are here to take you to the base," another voice, from behind her, said.
The two males were shocked that the vindictive rosette came with them willingly. They were expecting a fight; an exhausting brawl that might have cost one of them their lives. But no, she came without even a disgruntled response against it. The two males couldn't help but think the same thing.
What is she thinking?
"What are you doing?" Sakura snapped them out of their reveries.
"We should be asking you that." Deidara said, eyeing the pink haired vixen. She was currently sitting on their living room couch.
"I am sitting here, waiting for you two to tell me why you brought me here." Sakura stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"We are waiting for—" Deidara was cut off by another's voice.
"What is she doing here?" Sakura looked over her shoulder to see Itachi.
"Well hello, my red-eyed friend." Sakura said cheekily.
Itachi shot her a glare before turning his attention to Sasori. He didn't expect Deidara to answer his question…well not with a simple answer.
"We figured Leader can dispose of her once and for all and then this little problem." The red head said.
"Excuse me!" Sakura growled out. "You can make fun of my hair color, or my eye color, or my weight but you do not insult my height!" She snarled.
"What is going on here?" Another voice boomed.
"Oh great, what is this? A freaking party? Don't you people have things to do to keep this organization running?" Sakura fumed.
"Who is sh—Sakura?" the new voice spoke. Sakura froze as her name was uttered. Her body whirled towards the direction of the voice and saw Pain. Her eyes widened in surprise. This wasn't what she expected when she had agreed to come here.
"Well you just killed my fun, brother."
Okay like I said this was just a filler, but I think it kind of needed to happen. Tell me what you think in a review! Also I would like to say thanks for all of those that Story Alerted: 116, Favorite Story-ed it: 102, and everyone that helped it get 10k+ hits!
Not to mention all of those that reviewed it! Thank you very much!
-Kori.
