LD Note: Been sitting on this for months now because I didn't like how it ended,I prefered the last chapter so I apologise for the wait. I can't seem to edit my document as there are no editing tools in sight. I can only see to lines of text too but I hope you like this chapter. I will try and edit it later. Thank you for your support.
THE DEVIL YOU KNOW
'Coming home was definitely going to be hard for Sakura but she never expected it to get this tough,' she thought as she stared at three masks in a dimly lit room. Her wrists bound with chakra strings that had long cut deeply into her skin, she had no idea what time it was and what day it was but even a roach would know that this interrogation had been taken a notch too high. The fact that they had purposely abducted her from her hospital bed in the dead of night when not many would have noticed, trapped her in a genjutsu, starved her and made threats towards her mother's life made her question whether the ANBU unit become a pack of blood thirsty wolves since she left?
A splash of cold water roused her from her head bent position.
"Who are you working for?" one of the masks asked.
"I've told you several times, no one. I have never worked for anyone but Konoha." She replied for the umpteenth time.
"You faked your death and have been missing for five years and you expect us to believe that you haven't been rendering your skills and knowledge to other shinobi countries?"
"I have kept the oath I made when we graduated from Ninja school." The strings wrung tighter, cutting deeper into her already swollen and possibly now festered wrists as a painful groan escaped her chapped lips.
The three figures retreated to the back of the room and spoke in hushed tones before one of them relayed, "This is far from over." With that they took their leave leaving her wishing for a hero, any one would do but deep down, she knew who she wanted.
"It's been three days and she isn't letting up. Taichou, maybe she's telling the truth." One of the masked nins confided once they were out of the interrogation room.
"She used a jutsu to block her memories when we tried to do a memory search before. Would an innocent person do that? We'll have to bring in Ibiki Taichou if we want her to crack." The masks hid the mixed expressions of the junior subordinates but it didn't take a genius to see the gulp of fear as soon as his name had been said.
Ibiki Taichou, head of the ANBU Ops had a commendable career as the Hokage's right ear of information but a more powerful and fearful reputation for his sadistic and excruciating interrogation methods. Sakura wasn't new to them, her virgin experience being during the Chuunin exams when Konoha had been invaded by Orochimaru in collaboration with the Hidden village of the Sand and the next when she had been assigned to the ANBU some time in the past to assist in the medical treatment of prisoners when some of those very interrogations went too far. Though he was her superior then, she still thought that his methods were inhumane and drove the human mind to the point of suicide and it didn't even take a Medic nin to know that.
The sound of his footsteps alone would make any enemy's skin crawl; they carried a weight of ill intention almost like Shinigami-sama walking right over your shoulder.
And the sound of the same footsteps echoed in the damp room, the candle in the far corner quivered as if in fear threatening to give out. She had been prepared for this to happen since the Ops had abducted her from the hospital and as brief flare of fear rose in her heart,she could feel the wrath in her consciousness begin to unlock. 'It's your funeral,' she thought to herself as the flame quivered once more before finally extinguishing.
SOMEWHERE IN THE FIRE COUNTRY
Naruto had been dispatched on a training retreat with a couple of jounins for the last three days and with each passing day, his anxiety to see Sakura had grown. 'Hopefully we'll have completed this thing by today, I'm fed up already,' he angrily thought as he ran a hand through his blonde mane.
"Oi, Naruto! It's your turn on clean-up duty," Shikamaru called from the small cove that they were using as a kitchen area.
"Crap! I completely forgot," he exclaimed as he dashed to gather the cooking pots.
"You know, I would like to forget too. Remembering stuff can be troublesome at times," came the nonchalant response.
Naruto irritatingly glared at Shikamaru, pots clanging against each other, " I have learnt with time that those aren't normal responses,Shikamaru."
"Really? I had no idea forming a sentence was abnormal nowadays."
"You know what I mean. I can tell whether its satire, irony, sarcasm or ridicule with you."
"Uhmm…Naruto, satire is a general term for all the other….you know what never mind, just hurry up with the pots, will you?"
"Leave it to me!" he gleefully replied before making off with the pots.
Under his breath, he muttered, "That's why I did." After all, this training camp had been set up to get Naruto out of Konoha or he might have gotten mad. He just hoped that the Godaime knew what she was doing.
At the stream, Naruto was swiftly washing away hoping to get an inkling ill-feeling off his mind. He couldn't put a finger on it but he wanted to see Sakura more than ever. "Ouch!" he instinctively slapped his arm and turned his palm to see if he had caught the six-legged culprit but instead he was filled with shock when he noticed something that looked like a scratch on his arm that he didn't recall getting. Already inflamed and swollen, it burned furiously in contrast to his cool hands that had just been dipped into the stream making him uncomfortable. Placing the sponge aside, he leaned into the stream and poured some cool water on it but the sensation only seemed to intensify and to make matters worse, it was starting to itch. He had a bit of basic training in first aid and he knew that scratching without any cleaning and disinfection was bad. Shielding the sore spot he abandoned his previous activity and made his way back to camp passing Shikamaru the chef on the way who didn't fail to notice the arm clutch.
"Naruto, what's wrong?"
"I think I scraped myself against something. Its starting to fester, I think."
"Okay, I'll call someone else to finish up. Get yourself to Tomeo-san coz you're starting to become pale."
Naruto nodded weakly and walked towards the Medic tent. Tomeo-san was a an auburn haired medic-nin who was perhaps the same age as Naruto and skillful but perhaps his most notable trait was his really gentle approach on patients and tough exterior towards noisy visitors. He was folding some bandages when Naruto made his way in.
"Naruto-san! You're pale, do you have a fever?" he exclaimed as soon as he noticed him.
"Tomeo-san, do you have a minute? I think I might have scraped against something poisonous."
"Sit down, lemme have a look then." Naruto slumped to the ground and revealed the sore spot. Tomoe winced and donned a pair of surgical gloves before moving his arm from side to side examining it.
"When did you notice it?" he asked.
"Less than five minutes ago."
"The cleaning will sting a bit but bear with it, okay?"
He placed a scroll on Naruto's forehead to cool his temperature and proceeded to clean the wound and the young shinobi winced in pain but soon a nice cool sensation soon after and his temperature was dropping back to normal which meant that he would be fine. The grip on Naruto's right arm got tighter though.
"Naruto-san, did you get a tattoo?"
"No, I don't recall getting one. Why?"
Tomeo-san turned his arm to show him the spot he had been dabbing with the antibiotic lotion. Naruto gasped as soon as he saw the thorny vine, "When? How?" As he stared at it, the image of Sakura encompassed in a sinister green glow as the thorny vines snaked round her body filled his mind and now that same glow being emitted on his arm. Was this tattoo somehow connected to Sakura? Was this a signal of some sort that this retreat had gone on for way too long? Swiftly getting to his feet, a little too swiftly since he almost made the tent collapse, he scurried out as Tomoe-san called him back. The tattoo continued to throb albeit not as fiercely as before as he donned his fish net undershirt tied his jersey round his waist and donned the sleeveless jounin vest in his tent. Shikamaru lifted the tent flap and waltzed in, taking note of Naruto's hasty endeavors.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
Naruto was struggling to get the zip out of the fabric of his vest. "Something's not right, Shikamaru. I have to get back to Konoha."
Shikamaru simply looked on as Naruto continued to throw stuff into his rack sack. Even though it was primarily his duty to keep Naruto in the dark, it had been getting really troublesome to shoulder over the last three days.
"How are you going to explain this to Tsunade-sama then?" he asked nonchalantly.
"Not everything I do needs an explanation," Naruto replied in fury before flinging the tent flap open and dashing out hastily.
BACK IN KONOHA
"Tsunade-sama, criticality has reached level 3!!" Shizune's voice rang before she burst through the door almost tripping in her pumps.
Tsunade had predicted as much making her as usual two steps ahead of Shizune; controlling whatever was currently possessing Sakura who was primarily a genjutsu type was going to be tough. So much damage had been caused already and most of the medic nins were already at or close to their limit.
She turned the pages of the medical journal faster but nothing came up. With finality, she shut the big journal and looked at Shizune for the first time since she'd walked in. "Shizune, bring me the Forbidden scroll."
Shizune stared in horror, "Tsunade-sama, you possibly can't be thinking of…."
"This is the only card I have left. Now, bring me the scroll."
"But those techniques are forbidden for a purpose and there is a possibility that Sakura might die….for that to happen, I…"
"Shizune, I am ordering you as the Fifth Hokage of Konoha."
Kakashi had returned from a mission only to the news that the ANBU HQ had been almost brought down to rubble by Sakura. He rushed to Naruto's place but it was locked, he reached under the lining of the doormat outside his door and found the spare key. Naruto's apartment was neat, running a finger on the drawer; his finger drew up a hint of fine dust indicating that he clearly had not been home or maybe Konoha for a while.
Something was not right and being an ex-ANBU, he knew all too well the conterminous of discretion. He locked the apartment and placed the key back under the mat, he needed some answers fast.
AT THE HOSPITAL
"Where have you taken her?!! Answer me!!" Ino screamed.
"Ino, not now." One of the nurses cooed.
"Shut up! Where have you taken her, you bastard?!" The ANBU captain looked at her unfazed by her emotional outburst.
In fury, she grabbed his neck, "You sick, sadistic, low life….I'm gonna kill you if you don't tell me where she is.
"Ino! What do you think you're doing?" called one of the nurses who moved to stop her but the look in Ino's eyes stopped her dead in her tracks. She tightened the grip round Ibiki Taichou's neck, "Answer me, you scum!"
Ibiki could see the desperation in her eyes, the will that had driven her to what she was now and although he was to blame for it, he could not find the space in his non-existent heart to offer her an olive branch. Her fingers were cold against his neck, her nails dug deeper, sinking their hold on his trachea but her hands and her body were shaking.
"Give me back my best friend…" she breathed as tears ran down her face, "Don't take Sakura away from me again…" the grip on his neck loosened and she collapsed to the ground.
Hinoe stood above her form with the now empty syringe in her hand, "I'm sorry, Ino."
APPROXIMATELY SIX HOURS PRIOR
Ibiki circled the wrist bound bleeding kuniochi staring at her wan form as she fought for breath after a voltage had been channeled through her system, "Are you finally going to tell me what you know?"
"How…many times… must…. I say… this," a raspy cough escaped her lips shaking her body. Her chest was aching intensely as a result of her chocking on a concoction that was forced down her throat but made its way down the wrong hole, most likely a truth serum.
"You have been in contact with Sasuke Uchiha, haven't you?"
Her lips cracked from dehydration, her hands had since long gone to sleep a probable result of blood circulation no longer reaching her finger tips let alone her elbow.
"It would be wise for you to answer the question, Haruno-san." His polite speech got on her nerves, almost like he was making up for the hell he was putting her through. He leaned close to her ear and in a hushed tone said, "You and I both know how ruthless these things can get. All I'm asking for is co-operation so that I can do my job and you can get the bed rest you need to recover and catch up with your shinobi boyfriend or have you been frolicking with Uchiha Sasuke on the side?"
The voice rose from the recesses of her throat or what was left of it startling Ibiki, "Don't say that name to my face ever again!"
His tone turned into one of amusement, "I see. So you have been in contact with him, what happened? Did he use you and toss you away like a rug?"
Her numb fingers sprung to life as she tightened her fists in anger at the notion of being used by her natural born enemy even for the slightest thing.
"The Uchiha clan you see are a very greedy breed of people. Never easily satisfied with what they have even If it's the best. No matter how many generations, their blood forever remains tainted and no one will ever change that, not Naruto and certainly not you."
His last statement triggered an intense hatred within her fragile body awakening the sleeping guardian that she had sealed out of fear that things might have gotten out of hand. What did he know? He didn't know how hard it was and still is for Naruto, always chasing and never backing down. No matter how many times people tell him its useless and how Sasuke's vengeance knows no bounds…she felt the vines slowly snake their way across her back intent on marking her, the counsel slowly taking over, her will at its limit. She balled her fists tight as pain seared across her back from limiting their movement, a trickle of blood rolled down her hand from the imprints her nails had caused and muttered before she lost her last ounce of self control, "You better run while you can." Her body went limp against the hold on the strings as she lost consciousness.
Ibiki was stared at her unconscious form, not sure what to make of her last statement which didn't bother him. He had been to hell and back, a useless remark from a kunoichi could hardly faze him.
A loud snap of metal being broken forced him to take back his words.
Deep in the recesses of the Hokage tower, a shrill, inhuman cry could be heard. As Tsunade neared the door, she swallowed any emotions she might feel because what she was about to see was painful enough. One of the chuunins who was guarding the entrance pushed the door open for her. Her heels clacked against the floor crisply, almost sounding too loud for her own ears but then another scream bounced off the walls in the narrow hallway, she stopped at the final door where a green light illuminated from the space at the bottom. She pushed the door open and her eyes couldn't look anywhere else but at the figure that writhed back and forth at the centre of the sealing circle. The teams were doing their best to control the entity that had somehow taken over Sakura's conscience, she still wasn't sure what it was but it had posed a great threat to Konoha, 'was this the reason you disappeared, Sakura?'
She let out another panged scream that resonated with her heart strings; she had to put an end to this.
Outside the door, a commotion could be heard,'Hey, you can't go in there?!'
'Outta my way!'
The door flew open revealing a worn out, heavily panting Naruto, "What the hell is going on?"
"Naruto, what are you doing here?" a shocked Tsunade asked.
He made his way into the room, flames of fury burning in his eyes, "There was something bothering me the entire time I was training, a nagging feeling I couldn't shake off. What the hell have you done to Sakura?"
Sakura let out another piercing scream, her body tattooed in thorny vines as a sinister green light emitted causing her to writhe and twist in agony. Naruto ignored Tsunade and ran towards the circle but was thrown back by the barrier around her. He tried again but was pushed back by the barrier; he turned to Tsunade, "Release her."
"Even for you, Naruto I will not. I won't endanger the people of Konoha."
"You drove her to this, you created your own threat and now you want to cover up your mistake," his outburst was filled with emotion. Sakura broke the chakra strings free and jumped at the barrier like an animal attempting to destroy its cage but was flung back twice as violently. Naruto watched as she kept bashing against the barrier with the intention of getting out, her eyes were a blazing green curled with blood lust and a hint of recognition; her voice rang each time she got thrown back.
Naruto walked closer to the barrier, "Sakura! Can you hear me?"
She continued bashing the wall, mumbling something as she did so prompting Naruto to look closer. As soon as he realized what she was saying, he turned back to a flabbergasted Tsunade, "Please release her, I'm begging you."
Tsunade looked away, giving his request a deaf ear.
The mumbling reached a crescendo and soon her yells vibrated from the walls as she still made attempts to break free from her prison all the while screaming Naruto's name.
"Tsunade-baachan, please release her."
For the longest time, Tsunade had believed this young shinobi's dream. Every time, he had gone to great lengths to prove that he would fulfill his promise to her. It was only right that she put her faith in him again, "Release her."
The medic-nins round the barrier circle gasped in shock but released their hold and stopped the incantations. Naruto ran towards Sakura and embraced her frail glowing figure. She held onto him still mumbling his name.
"It's alright, Sakura. I'm here." Lifting her into his arms, he stared as her eyes returned to normal and the vines disappeared., the glowing dimmed, making her look almost like a firefly on its last glowing day.
She reached up with a bruised hand and gently touched his face, "Na…Naruto, really?"
Smiling, he nodded, "I'm sorry I took so long."
A weak smile formed from the corner of her mouth, "I missed you."
Naruto held tightly as he put his head on the crown of her unkempt hair, " I missed you too but its alright now. Just rest, I won't let anyone hurt you ever again."
Her free hand grabbed the lapel of his vest as he lifted her and walked out of the room filled with exhausted yet gob smacked medic-nins. Tsunade's heart lightened and waved the chuunins away as they tried to stop him, "Leave them. It's better this way."
Last notes :Finally got to edit! Yay!