Chapter 11
Sakura woke to the sound of someone unlocking her door. She couldn't remember falling asleep on the bed and this troubled her greatly. She did not like to be at the mercy of captors and was angry with herself for letting her guard down at all. The person who had done the knocking now entered the room and Sakura immediately huffed in annoyance.
"Miss. We are to get you dressed into nice clothes and take you to see the Master. He wishes for you to dine with him." The two girls who had helped her previously had returned with a very intricate silk dress in their hands. Sakura eyed the dress with a disgusted scowl that was usually reserved for when she found creepy crawly things in her house.
"Miss please step into here." The smaller girl said quietly, motioning for Sakura to step into the dress they had laid out on the floor.
Sakura obliged with a permanent scowl on her features. She knew the girls were most likely prisoners like her so she wasn't angry at them for the dress, she wouldn't make their lives more difficult, but she refused to put on a happy face while she wore it. She stepped into the mass of silk as the girls pulled the dress up and over her shoulders before securing the straps around the back of her neck.
The dress was in a halter style and was long and gathered at the back. It was a pale blue that made her bright pink hair and green eyes stand out against the color. It wasn't unpleasant and would have been beautiful had it not revolted her to think her captors were making her wear it. She felt sick at the prospect of having to have dinner with the girl's "Master." Angrily she wondered if the small cell she had previously been in would have truly been a worse fate than this. At least then she would have felt like a true prisoner instead of some pampered slave.
"Miss we are finished please follow us now." Sakura nodded deftly as a tug on the bracelets left her knees feeling weak. She let the girls help to guide her out into the hall where the guards and the man from earlier stood waiting for her.
The man looked her over with a lecherous grin that made her feel like an animal being looked over for slaughter. It also made her want to pound his face into the side of a cliff. "Well look at that, you're a real beauty aren't you Doll?" Sakura glared but could do nothing in her weakened condition.
"I'd be more appealing if I had the strength to stand on my own." The man's brow furrowed and he looked at her with a strange look.
"Are you sure you're actually the famous Pink Blossom of Konoha? I heard she was strong enough to bring down an entire village with a single punch." Sakura glared again as the man raised an eyebrow. "The girl who fought and killed a famous Akatsuki member? The same girl who could kill squadrons of men and was renowned everywhere for being as strong as the great Slug Sannin herself?"
"Even she can lose strength when she's been put in chakra restricting cuffs when she's in a condition such as this." He raised an eyebrow but said nothing else.
"That's understandable. Regardless the chakra cuffs stay on. Sorry but we can't risk you getting that monstrous strength of yours back." He held out an arm for her and the girls let go forcing Sakura to link her arm with the man's in order to be able to walk properly. He held her up firmly as they walked forwards with Sakura seething at his touch.
They eventually came to a door at the end of a corridor that had a high archway and very intricate carvings adorning it. The door swung open and Sakura found herself in a large dining room with a long table set for four. The man let her sit in one of the chairs at the head of the table and took the chair on the side of the table. The door opened behind her and she saw a young man in ANBU clothing walk to the other head of the table and sit before her with a smile.
"Haruno-sama, how nice to see you again." His voice was very familiar but she didn't recognize it, at least she didn't until he placed a red cat mask with a blue diamond on the forehead down on the table.
"You traitorous rat!" Sakura screeched as she attempted to stand upwards out of her chair, two strong hands were on her in an instant, forcing her back down as she clenched her teeth tightly together.
This man was supposed to be one of the ANBU that had been escorting her. Neko was his code name, what his real name was she didn't know. He was, up until this point, just another ANBU member. But now she questioned everything. ANBU were constantly scanned and it was nearly impossible to impersonate one but this man had obviously managed it. This man couldn't have posed as the ANBU Neko before the squad left Konoha so that begged the question of how he had managed to take his place.
Now this man, who had most likely killed and assumed the place of an ANBU member, sat smiling at her smugly as she sat helplessly as his prisoner.
Oh how she wanted to punch him square in the jaw and beat him within an inch of his life. He chuckled at her seething face and motioned for the waiters standing by the sides of the room to bring forward the drinks they were holding. A cup of wine and a glass of water were set before her but Sakura paid them no mind.
"Well I assume you're surprised, that's to be expected, but I must say you're showing considerable restraint for someone renowned for her short temper and extraordinary strength." He sipped his wine and then furrowed his brow slightly. "Ah my apologies for the chakra cuffs but I couldn't take any chances you see." Sakura merely glared at him with a hatred that reached her very being.
"You're lucky I'm wearing them. If I wasn't in this position you wouldn't be here right now." Neko chuckled and shook his head.
"Now, now be polite. I've heard stories about your monstrous temper you know. You're famous for it." He set his glass back down as his eyes moved back to her. "Besides, I wouldn't want my guest to leave now that I've finally caught her attention." He grinned and Sakura stood up suddenly, glaring daggers at him.
"You took me away from my mission and my home and you expect me to be polite?! I just wanted to help the village, what the hell is it to you anyways?!" She couldn't help it. She was yelling now, her exhausted body pushing itself to the max to keep her standing as she leaned heavily against the table. Neko was looking a little miffed. The other man sitting to her left was looking rather worried as Sakura's hand was dangerously close to the knife at her place setting.
"Please sit. You are in no condition to be standing when you're so obviously weakened." Neko murmured calmly, obviously choosing his words carefully. Sakura was shaking in anger and exhaustion now as she launched the knife quickly at Neko's head making him duck as it hit right where his head had previously been with a considerable amount of force. He looked at her and chuckled before taking the knife out of his chair and motioning for the guards to make her sit down once more.
She sank into the chair reluctantly as the man who had called her doll guffawed.
"Jeez she's one tough cookie!" Neko laughed as well as Sakura gave them her most vicious glare.
"Indeed. Now please let us enjoy a nice civilized meal as I explain my plan for you." He snapped his fingers and the waiters brought forward trays laden with sushi and meat as well as vegetables and fruit. Sakura's eyes scanned across the food warily as her instincts told her not to eat any of it while her mind told her to gather her strength.
The man next to her had dug into his plate and Neko had as well, leaving Sakura to stare at her empty plate. One of the waiters saw her not moving towards the food and took her plate from her place setting. Meat was placed on it along with a pear and some vegetables and rice. The waiter set it before her and gave her a pitying look before leaving.
The two men continued eating their food as Sakura sat staring at hers. She looked at the plate and then up to Neko who was watching her like a hawk. After a while of this she sighed and decided that her brain was right. She was going to need to eat to gain her strength back. Neko smiled when he saw her give in and begin to eat the food, what very little chakra she had left scanning for any toxins, not that she could do anything about them if there were any.
"Does the food please you?" He asked and Sakura merely shot him a glare that would send most people running. "Good. Now as for what I plan to use you for isn't it obvious? The wife of the Kazekage, the Kazehime herself, is a great bargaining chip. Not to mention the fact that you are the adoptive daughter of the Hokage so I might be able to get a double deal out of this little exchange." He laughed and Sakura's eyes narrowed. Of course she was a bargaining chip. How unoriginal could this guy get? The lavish quarters and food, the snooty voice and theatrics, even the way he looked at her was predictable. This angered her more than anything, she had been captured by a stereotypical idiot! What was she, a damsel in distress? Right there she vowed to train more when she got out of this situation, this was insultingly embarrassing.
This aside, her mind immediately knew what his plan was. He would no doubt demand her life for Suna and possibly Konoha. He was a sick bastard indeed for thinking he could get away with it. It was just so cliché. She had been on countless missions with hostages demanding money or land or a multitude of things. She had no doubt he would be caught and she would be home to Suna in no time.
"You can try." She said simply and Neko raised an eyebrow as Sakura went back to her eating in silence.
Back in the village where the mission had taken place there was absolute chaos. The ANBU had all been knocked unconscious by the fog and had only just woken up to a foggy town with no Sakura in sight. After checking everywhere there was an outbreak of chaos as the townspeople were ordered inside and the Konoha ANBU rushed to Neji for guidance as he was their de-facto squad leader.
Not only was Sakura missing but another ANBU member was as well, none of them had been killed, just injured, and this made Neji extremely confused and very agitated. Sakura was his responsibility and if the Kazekage got wind of his wife's kidnapping, Neji's job, his life, and the fate of Suna could be on the line.
For this reason, a damp and angry Neji called the ANBU together in the middle of the town to issue an order that would be going against all other orders he had been given.
"This village is to be isolated. Not a word of this gets out to anyone understand? The fate of Suna and possibly the Kazehime is at stake here. We cannot let the Kazekage become aware of her capture, it will make things worse." A young Suna ANBU member tried to speak up but Neji cut him off viciously.
"No questions! I know Suna ANBU do not report to me, but this will fall on your heads more than it does mine. If any one of you breathes a word of this, I will end your career and possibly your lives. End of story." He glanced at the Suna ANBU captain who nodded from behind his mask, agreeing with Neji's assessment of the situation.
"These are orders. Stick to them. Now two of you will stay here on patrol, the rest of you will come with me. Gather your things. We're going to get the Kazehime back." Neji turned on his heel and without a word the others followed him, leaving one Suna and one Konoha ANBU member behind. They all couldn't risk having anything go wrong at this point. The situation was dire and delicate.
Back in the place where Sakura had been captured things were much less frantic but a tension still hung about the room. Sakura had finished the meal with no more incidents and was brought back to her room as Neko stated that she was "very tired and needed rest." Sakura glared at him but was secretly thankful to be leaving his presence and going back to the nice soft bed where she could rest and gain her strength back.
The chakra cuffs were really draining her of energy and she knew deep down that they had the possibility to harm the developing fetus. A part of her was deeply concerned about this and it unnerved her to know that she already cared about the wellbeing of a child she had not even been able to properly think or care about.
Once she was in her room she moved to the bed with the help of the two servant girls who helped her dress into a nightgown before crawling under the covers. She closed her eyes immediately and fell into a deep sleep.
Neji was running his team thin, fanned out across a large area of trees as they scanned the ground. He had his Byakugan activated and was searching tirelessly, knowing the base was in Rain and close enough to the village that the attackers were comfortable enough to make an attack in daylight and take Sakura. The rain that fell in heavy drops around them only added to their frustration. It was so damn difficult to pick out anomalies on the ground when everything was saturated with water.
One thought was pulling at Neji's mind as they ran. The ANBU member that had disappeared had left behind no signs of a struggle. It was clear their target was Sakura and that the ANBU were just guards that needed to be dealt with. The fact that the attackers had not killed any of them meant that they were in a hurry and were not interested in them in the slightest. Why then had they taken one of their members? It didn't make logical sense.
He furrowed his brow and continued to scan the ground with his Byakugan, not bothering to care about the darkness or the other ANBU member's slowing speeds as they began to tire.
After an hour, Neji thought he caught a glimpse of a chakra signature and stopped the ANBU members with a single signal. All of the ANBU immediately convened in the trees around him and waited for his instructions.
Faintly, Neji could see the chakra signature he was looking for. It was wavering and was barely there, but it was enough. There were multiple other signatures as well, all very strong and healthy but heavily masked. It was only thanks to the Byakugan that he could faintly make them out. He couldn't make out who any of the signatures belonged to, apart from Sakura's, but he knew he had found something that seemed promising.
"We'll stay here tonight. Take turns with guard. I'll take first watch. Get some rest but don't leave your trees." The other ANBU members nodded in the dark as Neji turned his Byakugan off and switched to using pure chakra to see in the darkness of the forest. He scanned the ground constantly and didn't notice the hours ticking by until a hand on his shoulder told him his watch was over. With a final glance he nodded to the ANBU member and moved out of his way.
Morning came all too quickly as Sakura woke to the sound of a large crash in the hall and her door being thrust open roughly. She sat up like a rocket, inducing a little bit of vertigo as she blinked in the sudden brightness.
The two servants from before had been shoved into her room and both looked terrified as they rushed to her side and urged her to hurry and stand. Sakura complied quickly, listening to their frantic pleas as they stuck her in her usual clothing without the weapon pouches and slid her shoes on her feet. She let them do this as she heard the terror in their voices as they said they had to leave and needed to be quick. After she was all dressed the girls backed away and two guards along with Neko and the other man barged into the room.
Neko glared at her and Sakura immediately wondered what had happened and simultaneously gained quite a bit of hope. She didn't have long to wait for an explanation as Neko began to speak as they were rushed down the hall.
"Our dear ANBU have somehow found our hideout and are currently attempting to get to you. Not to worry though! We have a way out that they don't know about." Sakura's mind was immediately whirring as her eyes lit up like firecrackers. They had found her!
"Here!" She yelled as loud as she could before Neko spun around and hit her squarely in the jaw, staggering her slightly as her vision swam for a moment.
"Keep quiet!" He growled, seeming more panicked and hurried as a cloth was tied tightly onto her mouth to gag her. Sakura found herself being thrust through the halls to a door that undoubtedly led to the forest outside.
The door was flung open and the dim morning light filled Sakura's vision. She had only a moment to adjust before she was being forced to run through the trees, the grip of the guards keeping her righted and moving.
She only hoped Neji could see them leaving or had at least heard her yell.
A muffled feminine shout had Neji's head jerking upwards and his Byakugan scanning quickly through the base. With a barked order to the others they pulled out of the crumbling rubble and fighting they were engaged in and all made a beeline for the place Neji was directing them to.
"The Kazehime is alright! They're taking her that way!" With a burst of speed, they took off running across the brittle ground, sticks and dirt flying beneath their feet as they took to the trees. Neji's eyes were fixated on Sakura's almost transparent chakra signature. He knew immediately that they had chakra cuffed her as all of the other signatures were strong but hers.
All thoughts were on Sakura now, both good and bad. The guards had long since given up on attempting to make her run faster and had instead fused her chakra cuffs together and hoisted her over one shoulder in typical kidnapper fashion. From her current position bouncing on the back of the guard she caught a glimpse of a figure in an ANBU uniform.
Neji now had a clear view of them and had caught a glimpse of Sakura on the back of a guard being hurriedly carried through the trees. He pushed forwards and urged his team to begin to cage them in, fanning out in a semi-circle around them as they ran. They were gaining on them and only a little room between them prevented them from closing the gap.
With her fury and will to fight sufficiently renewed, Sakura summoned all of her remaining strength and shoved her knee into the side of the guard. He stumbled and loosened his grip on Sakura enough for her to push herself off of his shoulder, propelling her backwards and down towards the ground.
Immediately she scanned for something to grab on to, but finding nothing.
She landed hard on what she thought was the ground until she felt herself being suddenly lifting her into the air. Her confusion turned to shock as the seething face of Neko flashed into view just before her head was violently kicked and her vision went dark.
Neji saw Sakura fall and pushed forwards to catch her at the same time a huge white object blocked his line of vision and a massive bird-like creature caught Sakura on its back and moved upwards.
Bright lights flashed in the darkness as Sakura found herself hovering in the hazy border between consciousness and unconsciousness. She could make out sounds of what sounded like air rushing past her and the feeling of being pinned down. Suddenly the air that had been blowing on her face increased ten-fold and soon a sudden jolt shook her roughly into the area of consciousness that had her blinking in the bright lights.
The sensation of falling followed by a surprisingly soft thud and a sudden harsh impact had her completely and forcefully returned to the land of the conscious.
Her green eyes blinked as she willed her mind and vision to focus and find out what had happened. With a sudden fear of recapture and the horrendous feeling of being completely vulnerable, she scanned where she had landed, still gagged and bound and now dirty and damp from the muddy ground.
She was in a clearing in a place she didn't recognize as the forest was definitely not the sparse forest she was previously in but a lush and fertile one that reminded her of the forests of Konoha, just much soggier. She could see the form of Neko lying face down on the ground just a few feet away, burned, disfigured, and surrounded by red blood. She barely had time to register all of this as the feeling of the tip of a blade against the side of her throat had her turn her eyes to the new arrivals in the clearing just as her mind reminded her she was vulnerable, drained of chakra, and very much at the mercy of the new arrivals.
Her frantic eyes looked at her attackers finding them standing above her in the form of two masked men with weapons at her throat and a woman with black hair and yellow eyes staring at her with a slight crease in her brow. Sakura looked up at her and raised her bound hands in surrender, knowing she was cornered and had no way of fighting back.
"I don't think she's with him. She looks like a prisoner. Nevertheless, we can't take chances. Pick her up and we'll take her back to the village. I have all of the packs he had." The woman turned away from her and Sakura found herself lifted up by the two men as they helped support her. Her clothes were singed and filthy and her left leg throbbed considerably.
She was glad to know Neko had taken her packs with him as they contained all of her weapons and medical supplies, along with her headband that she had seen one of Neko's guards carrying earlier, but was positively mortified at the idea of having been captured again.
They walked away from the scene of the fight leaving Sakura still, bound, gagged and utterly bewildered as to where she was, who these strange rescuers/capturers were, and where they were going. Her main confusing concern was about how Neji and the other ANBU had lost her and where they could possibly be.
They walked for what seemed like an hour before reaching a dirt path leading to a small village that was built into a large hill, surrounded by dense marshy greenery making it incredibly secluded and hidden from view.
They walked into the town in an authoritative procession with the woman taking the lead and her playing the role of the captured prisoner dutifully following the orders of the guards holding her arms. The residents stared at her as she was forced past them while Sakura couldn't shake the feeling that each and every one of them was sizing her up like a possible opponent.
What set her even more on edge was when she noticed that every person she passed was dressed in obvious shinobi attire, most with weapon pouches or swords strapped to them and some with bizarre coverings over their faces or bodies that were obviously not something a civilian would wear. There were many people coming to and fro in the town buying things from the vendors on the street, all of whom also had the look of shinobi about them.
Sakura's mind immediately jumped to the conclusion that this was a town for bounty hunters, deserters, rogues, and generally for shinobi she wouldn't want to run in to. She had been to a town like this before to weed out some shinobi wanted for bounty and had always been told towns like these were for those with no loyalty to any of the hidden villages or any village at all for that matter.
This town did seem different from the ones she had visited before, however, as she saw none of the tell-tale signs of a "deserter town" as they were called, other than the population of only shinobi or people who looked like they were once shinobi.
Most deserter towns were filthy places, usually falling apart or tucked away within sections of poor towns with high crime rates, brothels, bars, and a general bad aura.
As far as she could see, this town looked clean and just about the opposite of every deserter town she had ever been to. This town looked even nicer than some of the port cities she had been to and nothing about it seemed to scream 'criminal'. There were shops and vendors in the streets and everything about it seemed rather normal. What shocked her the most was a small medical clinic that they passed, and not far from it a ramen stand where a group of men were laughing and talking only stopping to stare at her as she was marched past them. This painfully familiar sight threw her mind for a complete loop. Nothing was adding up at all.
"Hey Jera! What's going on?" A male voice called out to their group as their leader, the black haired woman, abruptly halted and looked over her shoulder at whoever had called out to them.
"We found her with that one that was flying over. We think she's a prisoner of his but we're bringing her to Jiro just in case." The man, who Sakura couldn't see as the guards had her facing forwards, must have accepted this answer and went back to his buddies at the ramen stand as their little group began walking again, the guards practically dragging Sakura along.
The woman, who she now knew was called Jera, looked back at her once and seemed to scan her face before turning forwards once more, walking up a set of stairs they had come to.
A small temple-like building sat at the top of the stairs with shinobi walking in and out of it on the pathway. All were staring and giving her and the two men holding her a large birth as they went on their way. Sakura's mind was reeling, this all seemed so normal and yet so…wrong.
Upon entering the building Sakura was led to a room. Jera motioned for the guards to set Sakura down and untie her gag as Jera walked over to a large chair facing the windows overlooking a garden.
She heard Jera whispering incoherently as one of the men worked on untying her gag and the other set her packs on the desk. Sakura wanted nothing more than to cry out the moment she was released from her gag but was stopped as an older looking man stood out of the chair and walked towards her. She was silent as she oserved him, chosing to take in everything about him before doing anything rash.
His eyes were a deep brown and his hair was chestnut with streaks of grey pulled back into a short ponytail. His skin was tan and his clothing was simple, a light colored tunic and loose black pants with standard sandals. All in all, he didn't look like an intimidating man and would have seemed almost like a friendly neighbor had her eyes not immediately noticed his strong frame that pegged him as a shinobi.
"So Jera tells me you were with the man Tono on the large bird when he was brought down am I correct?" Sakura nodded remembering her place and showing her respect to her saviors, as that was what they were, in a strange way. "So were you this man's prisoner?" His voice was soft and probing, not at all what Sakura expected when she thought of being questioned. Her confusion was growing even as her mind began to formulate a new idea of where she was. Surely this couldn't be a rogue village, could it? It just seemed so…so much like her home in a way.
Sakura looked up at the man, feeling just a bit less anxious but still confused.
"Yes." Jiro nodded and looked down at Sakura's hands, picking them up in his own and gripping them slightly as her instinct made her attempt to jerk them out of his grasp. His eyes met hers as his grip loosened in a silent show of his intention to not harm her.
Reluctantly, she surrendered her hands to him and watched as he removed the chakra cuffs still on her wrists. She breathed a sigh of relief the moment they were gone, watching as his eyes scanned where the chakra cuffs had bit into her skin, the flesh irritated and slightly bloody.
He let go of her hands and observed her forehead where Sakura could feel a throbbing headache from where Neko, or maybe Tono had kicked her. The man reached out and touched her swollen jaw lightly, sending pain through Sakura's face and causing her to twitch back from his touch in another instinctive reaction.
She was silent throughout this entire process, knowing speaking could still be dangerous despite his kind demeanor, and instead resorted to tolerating his assessment of her injuries. His eyes looked down at her leg where a large, dark bruise had begun to surface, most likely caused by her fall.
"You certainly have been treated roughly haven't you?" The man's face had softened as he turned to Jera. "From what I can see she seems to have simply been a prisoner but, given her obvious shinobi attire, I would like to talk to her and learn her story after she has been cleaned up and her wounds attended to. Take her to the clinic and tell them to take good care of her. She's a guest of mine from now on." He smiled at Sakura and she looked at him completely bewildered and exceedingly grateful.
Jera bowed to him and the men helped Sakura up once more as they left and walked back through the village and into the clinic where she was handed to a nurse in a medic's uniform. The woman had her remove her clothes and put on a hospital gown so that she could do a full body check. Sakura did so slowly, realizing that she had also hit her shoulder hard on the way down as her muscles screamed at her the moment she moved her right arm.
The woman gave her a sorry glance as she examined her. Sakura twitched away from the feeling of foreign chakra but caved in when she remembered that she wouldn't be healing herself anytime soon. The nurse informed her that she had a mild concussion, large contusions in her right shoulder and leg, a swollen and bruised jaw, scratches and chakra burns from the cuffs and a few assorted cuts as well.
Sakura already knew what the damage was and it was trivial. She got off easy, very easy considering everything that had happened.
The nurse left the room for a moment, returning with bandages, alcohol swabs, salve and gloves, all of which she set out preparing before alerting Sakura that she would heal the swelling in her jaw and head with chakra before attending to the other injuries. Sakura was silent as the feeling of cool healing chakra entered her head and immediately she felt the throbbing headache recede and the aching tight pain in her jaw dissipate. The nurse then stopped the swelling in her shoulder and leg before cleaning the cuts on her wrists and leg with swabs and then applied bandages to both. The nurse also applied a cold salve to her shoulder which Sakura recognized as something to help heal muscle contusions.
Sakura felt her strength returning during the time she was being healed, having had the chakra cuffs completely removed. Though she knew it would be a day or two until her chakra was completely recovered, she was comforted in knowing she would be alright. Her mind suddenly turned to the pregnancy and, in a move that surprised her and the nurse, she reached out a hand to the nurse who was about to leave the room and stopped her.
"Please, can you check something else for me?" The nurse looked baffled as Sakura sat up and lifted up the hospital gown she was wearing. "I would do it myself but my chakra hasn't returned." The nurse looked at Sakura with confusion.
"I don't understand Miss, what do you want me to check? Is your stomach in pain, do you have internal injuries?" Sakura shook her head.
"I'm a medic like you and I would like to check to see if the chakra cuffs affected my current situation but, as you can tell, I have very little chakra at the current moment." She was a bit irritated as she gave the nurse a pointed look and received, at first, only a confused expression. As Sakura gestured to her stomach and raised her eyebrows again, the nurses' hand flew to her mouth and her eyes grew impossibly wide.
"I'm so sorry! I had no idea, you were wearing a uniform so I didn't think… Here of course I'll check." She laid her hands on Sakura's stomach and Sakura laid completely still, subconsciously holding her breath. When a smile graced the nurses' face Sakura knew that nothing had changed, and wondered if she had been hoping something had…
"The signature is a little weak but fine. I'll bring you some food to help you gain your strength back and tell Jera you'll be fine to go in an hour or two." Sakura thanked her as the nurse left in a hurry to bring her food.
As she pondered over everything that had happened, she came to the conclusion that she would have to start to think about her condition, as much as it still frightened her to think of it as such. It was early and she was still scared, angry at herself and didn't even begin to know how to break the news to Gaara but she knew she would have to think about it now.
The nurse returned with the food and Sakura was all too happy to eat it. Regaining chakra required energy and lots of it so any food was important.
As she sat eating she heard the sound of footsteps and looked up from her food just as Jera entered the room with a more concerned and somewhat friendly expression. Sakura stared at her as the woman leaned against the door jam. Her expression was different from what it was when she had captured Sakura and it was simply adding to the intrigue and confusion of the entire situation Sakura found herself in.
"I heard from the nurse that the little prisoner we found is in the family way. That's certainly unusual." Sakura squared her shoulders as she stared at the woman in front of her.
"It is unusual, yes." Jera walked over to her bed and sat down on the chair next to her but luckily didn't seem to want to probe her with more questions, at least not yet.
"Honestly, it makes you even more intriguing. As if your appearance didn't already do that." She gave Sakura's hair a pointed look that the kunoichi was used to receiving from people who had first met her. "I'm looking forward to hearing your entire story but Jiro said to wait until you could see him and explain. He sent me down to give you your packs back as a token of us trusting you." Sakura took the packs from her and looked at her with a confused, but grateful glance.
"Is it wrong for me to say that I am confused as to where I am, who you all are, what that guy was doing to make you shoot him down, and why the hell you are all being so nice to me?" Jera looked at her with a furrowed brow, obviously confused herself.
"What, you mean you don't know any of that? You were a prisoner of Tono right? Didn't he tell you what he was planning?"
"He told me he was planning to use me but that was it. Honestly, so many things have happened in the past 48 hours." Jera rubbed her forehead with one hand and stood up, looking at Sakura.
"Well I'm sure Jiro will help answer your questions, but as to where you are, you're in Mito Village, in Rain. We're not well known and, for the most part, we're off the map completely." Sakura's simply nodded her thanks. Jera gave her a slight jerk of her head and then stood and left without saying anything more.
A few hours later, Sakura was dressed in her usual clothes, now clean thanks to the nurse, and had all of her packs and pouches in their usual place on her person. She was already feeling much stronger and comfortable knowing she was healing and was in the presence of people who weren't trying to kill her or use her to their own ends.
She was told to make her way back to the temple-like building with one of the men as her guide and soon entered back into the room where Jiro sat waiting for her. He smiled when she walked in and motioned for her to sit in front of him. She did so with a small bow, showing her gratitude and respect for his hospitality and kindness.
"I'm glad to see you are better. Now maybe we can figure out where you came from and what exactly happened to make you a prisoner of Tono." Sakura nodded. "First, I think I should know your name."
Sakura wondered if she should give him her real name for just a moment before deciding that it would be alright and that she owed it to him for being so kind to her. "Sabaku no Sakura."
He looked at her with raised eyebrows and then laughed a hearty laugh. "Well I think that answers my questions as to why you looked familiar and also as to why you were taken by Tono." Sakura nodded again.
"He planned to use me as a bargaining chip for something but I'm not exactly sure what." Jiro nodded and she continued. "A village on the edge of Wind Country sent a distress call and a plea for a diplomat and a medic to help them with an illness that had spread through the town and to negotiate with supposed attackers on terms of surrender. They were being attacked by Mist shinobi, or what we believe now to be Mist rogues that were working with Tono on a plan to lure me in and capture me. Other than that I don't know their motives at all." Jiro's eyes closed for a moment before he spoke again.
"So you were captured and I assume the people with you found the base and went to take you back?" Sakura nodded again.
"Yes there were ANBU with me and they went to retrieve me. Tono took me and fled and somehow I landed on that bird and was knocked unconscious. That's pretty much what landed me here." Jiro leaned back in his chair and sighed.
"Well as to Tono's motives, we've been tracking him for a while. He was planning an attack on some of the main villages in order to take control. I believe he was after Suna in particular seeing how he was allied with the man who attacked you a while ago. We've been infiltrating and trying to stop him ever since we found out." Jiro stood and walked to the window on the far wall that overlooked the town.
"This town is a refuge for shinobi who are wanted by specific groups of rogues. We are basically a pit stop for shinobi from all over Fire Country and Wind as well. We have shinobi coming in from Suna, Konoha, and small underlying villages. There are freelancers and private forces who stop here as well as those who are working on specific missions dealing with rogues. We help them and in return, this town stays a secret. The only way you can become affiliated with us is if you have been sent here by one of the people who work for me and live here. Think of us as a safe-haven for those loyal to Suna and Konoha or simply to the Fire and Wind Country Alliance." Sakura let the information sink in and couldn't help but stare at the man in utter disbelief. This man was helping them under the radar and seemed to expect nothing in return other than to be a secret from the villages who could help him and pay him for his services.
"But why be a secret? Why not let us know so we can work together?" Jiro laughed and smiled at her.
"It's difficult for a shinobi from a large village to understand. We wanted to do things our own way I suppose, but we are relatively new. Only about 10 years old. We have yet to reach out to the villages for fear they would regard us as a hub for unlawful activity that could be deemed dangerous to the overall peace of both Fire and Wind. We don't ask many questions here you see, but unlawful activity is strictly prohibited and very well enforced." Sakura nodded and shook her head slightly with a small smile.
"I'll be sure to make connections for you in both Suna and Konoha if you wish or keep you under the radar if you wish that as well. I have to do something to show you my immense gratitude for helping me as well as my villages." Jiro looked at her for a moment and grinned.
"Maybe we can find an arrangement that suits us both."
End of Chapter 11
