There is a reason

Chapter 9: figuring out the seal and nightmares

Koomahana

I'm so sorry, accsadently posted ten as Nine and then reposed ten!

Here's the real chapter nin :)

Again, I'm so sorry, I'll give you an extra chapter at the end of the day for you :)

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site

Thoughts

Paragraphs are memories


Recap


"So I take it your back with your parent's now," Yagura stated more then asked, he recalled the girl talking about her parents. She must have gotten home fast; her parents were most likely well connected.

"Yes," Sakura agreed softly. "Which is why I'm scared that he might come back for me."

"Why? Didn't your savor get them all?"

"No," Sakura answered shifting from her place uncomfortably, the pad of braded grass fringing at the edges. "Not everyone was there. Ki-chan said that they took her away from the base when they went out to 'collect' more girls. She said that the ring leader didn't trust all of his men, so she always left the base when they went out 'hunting'."

"But you never made it to the base," Yagura summed up, making Sakura nod with a small smile. "That means that those men don't know about you. With luck they won't try again for you."

"I hope so," Sakura sighed, relaxing as the grass pad fell apart. "I don't ever want to meet those mean men again."


End Recap


"How's it going?" Tsunade questioned as she walked into the Mizukage's room with both his and her own appetencies' behind her. Jiraya, Inoichi and Fugaku were huddled up in the corner surrounding a table and whispering together almost excitedly.

"Did any of you three idiots sleep?" Tsunade asked, knowing that the three men most likely hadn't. she shirk her head as they continued to ignore her, fussing over the seal that Inoichi had been able to recreate perfectly three days ago. Tsunade sighed and continued on to the young Mizukage's side. She lifted the blankets over him and went about her job moving the young man's limbs so the blood would flow correctly and not create any problems for when he reawakened.

"When will Sensei awaken?" Yuriko asked softly, Yuriko had been Yagura's student since she was ten and was currently the only living member of her team; Yagura was in a coma and her two other teammates were dead.

"Most likely soon," Tsunade answered softly. "My teammates have been working like crazy for the past three days; they should come up with a solution soon."

"Before or after they pass out?" Shizune asked as she lifted a leg and rubbed the blood down the limb. Before Tsunade could reply, a loud crash sounded behind her, making her spin around with a glowing kunai held up at the ready. Much to Tsunade's embarrassment, the three men had merely passed out in a heap around the table, knocking down their cups of water and other various items.

"After," Yuriko giggled, her bright blue eyes lighting up in amusement before they dulled again and she returned to her task of moving the blood flow in her teacher's arm. "I hope he wakes up soon..."

"How's the council handling his coma?" Tsunade asked as she returned to her work, ignoring her passed out teammates.

"Not well," Yuriko answered. "They're thinking about replacing him if he doesn't wake up at the end of the year."

"Well... we'll just... have to..." Everyone turned to see Jiraya laying upside down on the floor, one leg propped up on his chair. "Wake him up... by the... end of the-the year..." The three women stared as Jiraya's eyes rolled dizzily in his head before he finally succumbed to unconsciousness.

"I have to move him now don't I?" Tsunade grumbled as she turned towards her teammates and approached Jiraya first. "Up-a-daisy!" Tsunade grunted as she grabbed Jiraya and threw one of his arms over her shoulder. "Shizune, Yukiko will you two help Fugaku and Inoichi to their feet please?"

"Yes Ma'am," the two teens murmured together, walking around the Mizukage's bed and approached the two men in question. Tsunade chuckled as the girls huffed and puffed for a few minuets before they gave up and called for a few guards to help them.


"Happy birthday to you~! Happy birthday to you~!" Sakura giggled excitedly as her parents sang, her mother walking forward slowly with a white cake alight with two green and blue candles. "Happy birthday Sa~ku~ra~! Happy birthday to you!"

"Thank you!" Sakura shouted as she wrapped her arms around her father, her mother laughed and set the cake before Sakura, before quickly grabbing a camera and snapping a picture of Sakura and Kizashi hugging before the cake.

"Blow out the candles sweetie," Kizashi cooed to Sakura, the pinkette giggled and took in a deep breath. Just as she let it out on the candles, a loud crack of thunder and lightening sounded out side. Sakura's deep breath turned into a scream and she scrambled away from the table, she ignored her parent's startled calls to her and she quickly climbed into the nearest closet—the hallway closet close to the front door.

Thunder and lightning shook the room, making the walls shiver and the roof shake. The two girls cringed and clutched each other tightly, tears spilling from their eyes. The man jumped from his seat, his black eyes swinging back in forth as if searching for something that shouldn't be there. Snarling the man turned his furious black eyes onto the two girls and roughly picked them both up by their arms. He marched down a small hall to the bathroom and stopped half way down the hall. He threw them both in, ignoring their cries of pain and whimpering.

"Stay here brats and don't move!" the man slammed the door on them, the older girl hissed and pulled her close.

The darkness of the small room was suffocating and the older girl's grip was tight but reassuring in the deep black darkness. The darkness never ended, it was deep and ever lasting. It was protecting them from the monsters outside the tiny room but it was also hurting their eyes, blinding them from the outside world.

It would be hours before anyone would find them and by then they were used to the darkness and felt safe within it. When the door finally opened, a bright blinding light fell upon their eyes, making both girls scream out in pain and hide their faces in each other's shoulders.


"You called for me Lord Hokage?" Kakashi asked as he stepped into the crimson office, immanently noting the distressed blonde sitting just across from the old man.

"Ah, Inu-kun you finally arrived," Hiruzen said with a slight jab at his content lateness. Kakashi didn't mind, Hiruzen only did it when he was stressed. "Do you remember that mission from five months ago?"

"The kidnapped-slave ring?" Kakashi asked tilting his head curiously; the blonde sitting in the chair jumped up and swiveled to look at him. Her searching, tearful gaze was only slightly disturbing, making Kakashi briefly wonder if the woman could see his face behind his Anbu mask.

"Were you the one who saved my daughter?" the woman asked, her hands twining together in front of her. Ah, now it made sense—she was the mother of the pinkette he saved five months ago. Why was she here?

"Yes," Kakashi answered blandly. Did something happen to Sakura?

"Please speak to her!" the blonde shouted, forcing herself into a low bow. "I don't know why but the storm has frightened her. She's hiding in our closet and she won't come out! She went so far as scratching and biting us, as if she doesn't recognize us!" The woman thrust her hands out, still in her deep bow, and showed the scratches and bite marks made by her newly three-year-old daughter.

Kakashi glanced at Hiruzen briefly before he examined the storm just beyond the windows. He had found the two pink haired girls hidden in a half destroyed hut, huddled in a deep and dark closet. When he opened the door, the girls screamed and huddled their faces together as if the little light from the lightning outside was blinding to them. They were horrifyingly pale and dressed in matching white kimono's and bright red coats. It had taken him an hour to calm the both of them down enough to speak and it took another hour for him to gain their trust enough to leave with him.

When he returned to the camp with both girls in hand, they had immanently left his side to join the oldest pinkette, glade that she hadn't died when she was dropped off the cliff. However, that didn't mean he missed how they both flinch with each flash of lightning and boom of thunder. When they settled down for the first night of freedom, the girls slept in a pile together, letting him and a kunochi sleep on either side of them, keeping the youngest pinkette between them protectively. Kakashi had actually found it difficult to sleep when every sound had awakened all three of the girls and forced the oldest to a protective crouch over the younger two.

"She is afraid of the storm?" Kakashi murmured, tilting his head towards the panicky mother.

"Yes," she agreed straightening shakily. "My husband is still with her, trying to calm her down but it's like she can't hear our words."

"That's because she can't" Kakashi answered. "In that kind of state the only one who can get close to her is the girl who was trapped with her—Tayuya of rice patty country."

"Do you know if she's been returned to her village yet?" Hiruzen asked, Kakashi's answer sigh didn't reassure him.

"The girl was an orphan, some of the other captains from the other villages are trying to convince her to return with them." Kakashi answered lowly, not seeming to like the information. "I don't think she's given an answer yet, she wanted to stay with Sakura and Fubuki. She was convinced they were safer together."

"Fubuki?" The woman questioned, her head tilted to the side. "How old is she?"

"Fubuki is ten and Tayuya is eight." Kakashi answered

"They're both old enough to know how to read..." the blonde mumbled thoughtfully, unintentionally making Kakashi snort.

"Fubuki can read, Tayuya can't." Kakashi informed her. "Why is that important?"

"Sakura-chan told me that a girl was teaching her how to read," the woman informed them both. "She didn't elaborate so I thought that it might have been one of the girls she was with from... from that time..."

"It's passable..." Kakashi murmured thoughtfully. "Fubuki was overly protective of both Tayuya and Sakura. She didn't sleep or relax when they were away from her and she barely slept when they were with her."

"We don't have time to go all the way to the border of ogres to find her," Hiruzen sighed, reminding the two about the reason for Kakashi's summoning. "Could you try to calm the girl Inu-kun? I'm sure you're curious about her well-faire as well."

"Very well," Kakashi sighed. "There's no harm in trying."


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