Chapter 11: Twists and Turns
A/N: Sorry, it's been a while! So… in the next few days, two chappies will be coming up, woohoo. I don't know if I told you guys enough, but I really really appreciate your comments, even if they're just telling me to hurry up and get on with this, haha. Seriously. I've actually read all 131 of them so far. Hoping to read more too. *Wink wink nudge nudge* Jokes, you guys. I'll be grateful if you even want to continue reading the story.
In summary, thanks so so much for your support!
-0O0-
"Scary lady! Water man! Mr. Emo Bastard!" Katin screeched, racing into the apartment. "I healed it! All by myself!" Katin pointed to the bird shrieking around the room as he barged into all the rooms, one by one.
No one was home.
Stunned, Katin stood in the middle of the hallway as Sakura, behind him, gracefully carried a bag of groceries unto the table. "That was absolutely amazing, Katin. I can't believe that you healed a living bird in one try. And Lady Tsunade thought I was gifted. Honestly. Wow." She said, then stopped.
"Where… did they all go?" The little boy asked, turning to Sakura.
The pink-haired girl glanced at the empty rooms, walking around and into each room.
"Did they leave early?" She frowned. "That's sudden. This doesn't make any sense. Something must've…Katin?"
The boy was trembling on the floor. His small frame was silently shaking violently.
"Katin!" She gasped. "Are you OK? I should've know the healing would drain his chakra, but…"
The door slammed open, and a red-headed girl raced in.
"Sakura! Come fast! You need to help Sasuke!"
"What's wrong? What happened?"
Karin swallowed, then said rapidly, "It's Sasuke-kun. Something's wrong. He collapsed, and we took him into a healer's hut. But he can't do anything for him, so you, you're a healer, and he didn't want me to ask you, but…"
A tear dropped down from Karin's lashes.
Sakura stared at her, then glanced back at Katin shaking less violently now on the carpet. She turned and approached the boy. Shaking her head, Sakura took a deep breath and put a hand on his shoulder.
An eyelid fluttered open.
"It's OK, Katin. You're just exhausted from the healing. I should've thought of this, but you seemed find right after. So you just need to rest for a bit, and eat something else besides ramen."
"Don't worry about me, Sakura-neechan. You should go see him. If I have a problem, I'll shout or something. You'll be close, right?"
Sakura patted his hair gently. "Yes. Don't worry."
Quickly fumbling through a hand sign, Sakura made two shadow clones of herself.
"Take care of him, guys. Get him unto a bed, and fetch a glass of water." Sakura instructed. "Go out and buy some vegetables, and a chicken. Make him some soup."
-0O0-
"You summoned me, Madame?" A small figure knelt by the door of the dark room.
"Yes, dear. I'm sure you're aware of the constant surveillance your side has been under, but I would like to hear your side of the story. Was it easy sneaking out?"
"Piece of cake." He smirked. "They suspect nothing. I just had to destroy the clones watching me before I could come meet you, Madame. The plan is going perfectly."
"Yes, but the girl." A slight dimple appeared near her lips, betraying her worry. "She is quite a character. Not only does she have the Uchiha in her palm, but also the others. Even the redhead, who clearly has an attitude problem, is developing respect for her." Silver fingernails stroked across a pale chin.
"Let me think. We will have to do something about her. Or even better, use her connections with every member of Hebi to our advantage. We won't kill her unless necessary, of course. She would be a valuable part of our army, if she survives the conversion to one of us."
The small figure stirred.
"What is it?" The lady asked sharply.
"Nothing, Madame."
"Don't lie, Katin. You're a part of me."
The little boy hesitated. "Is it truly necessary to captivate the rest of Hebi for Sasuke Uchiha alone? All we need are his Sharigan eyes, to empower our clones. We have no need for extra people, and the process of modifying their cells is deeply costly to us."
"My dear Katin, are you trying to spare their lives?" A cold chuckle echoed across the long room. "Were you were thinking of quitting us, and joining them? Abandoning ship, perhaps?"
Her amused tone didn't betray the mysterious glint in her eyes.
In the shadows, Katin frowned. "Never, Madame. My life is given by you, and it is yours to take. I only do not see it worthwhile to take their lives, as—"
"But I do." The graceful woman rose from her seat, long silver hair trailing on the cold, marble floor. "We went through all this work, carefully planning and hiding ourselves, for Sasuke Uchiha's eyes. We dressed up as false Konoha ninja, and lost many members to him. The moment your senbon pierced his skin, he should have been under our control. But his instinct to protect the girl and get her to safety overpowered the drug…" She sighed dramatically, "Now we have to get rid of the girl before the drug slowly destroys him, from inside out. We planted eyes near the hotel too. All this work, so we can obtain the Sharigan without causing war throughout the country. And when we have it, along with our other abilities, our new clones will be unstoppable. Isn't that right, Katin?"
"Yes, Madame."
"Come here, dear boy."
Katin stood up, and walked over to her.
Mechanically.
Emotionlessly.
"Yes, if only the other Uchiha we obtained years ago wasn't so fragile and died so easily, perhaps you would've had the ability by now." She glanced down sorrowfully at him, then smiled. "But if the rest of the clones turn out as sweet as the first bunch, like you, I can't be more grateful."
"Now, the most important part of the plan is underway. Your part in this is over, Katin. Proceed to the underground labs."
"Yes, Madame." Katin bowed.
-o0o0o0o-
"I'm afraid there's nothing else I can do for him, though you're welcome to let him stay in this room for as long as you want. Such a pity, I'm sorry." The healer bowed his head, "I think it's time to say your last words."
Suigetsu grabbed his collar, slamming him against the wall. "What kind of a diagnosis is that? Listen up, man! You're a healer! Isn't healing people what you're supposed to do?"
The man glanced back feebly at the pale ninja. "Not when the patient is this sick. If I was a specialist and highly trained healer with a few miracles up my sleeve, then it may have been possible a few days ago. I'm sorry."
"Damn straight you're sorry! Is that all you can say?" He let go of the man in exasperation, and turned to the patient on the bed.
Fists clenched on the sheet, veil of sweat covering his face, the young man's skin was pale white.
Juugo looked on worriedly from the side.
"How can one hour do this to you, man? What's wrong with you? What about all those—OK, that one goal? Killing your bro? What about world domination? How're you going to do that when you're cold and freezing under a grave?" Suigetsu paced around.
"Suigetsu." Sasuke hissed from the bed. "I'm not going to die. Get Karin back here"—he coughed uncontrollably— "and leave Sakura out of this."
"Then get up and do me a jig, why don't you, if you're so tough?" Suigetsu snorted, as the sound of footsteps crashed through the door.
Throat parched, Sakura felt her eyes expand upon seeing the sight of Sasuke, who stared back at her in shock.
Sakura felt her hands tremble, and balled them into fists.
She turned to Karin. "Did you say this was the right house? 'Cause this can't be Sasuke."
"Go. Away." Sasuke spat out, turning to face the wall. "I don't need help."
"OK, that's him all right." Sakura tried to sound nonchalant. "And you're in no position to refuse treatment."
After conferring with the healer, Sakura took a deep breath. To Sasuke's back, she declared, "It seems you might just get your wish of never seeing anyone you care about again." She said bitterly, before kneeling down beside the bed. "But we'll see."
-0O0-
"There's a toxin inside your body, and it came from the senbon wound, judging by the way it inflated and the bruise has spread all over your back within the course of one night!" Sakura said sarcastically, covering up her bubbling, confusing pool of emotions inside. Fear, worry, sadness? She wasn't so sure.
Pale, Sakura glanced distastefully at the large wound on his back, and her eyebrows knitted together with worry.
As Sasuke coughed violently in reply, she handed him a handkerchief. When he pushed it back roughly, she was astonished to notice blood on the back of his hand, from covering up his cough.
The healer's right. Without knowing what this toxin is, it's almost impossible to heal him. His body is deteriorating with the effect of the drug, so there's no time to do tests and identify it. I don't see any other way to keep his life.
Unless…
"You're going to have to sit up." She instructed. When he made no movement to do so, Sakura and Karin moved him into a sitting position.
"I can do it myself." He grumbled, but made no movement to stop them.
"We can see that. You're perfectly healthy." Sakura replied sarcastically.
Sasuke coughed furiously.
"It's great how you two are so friendly, even on the brink of death." Suigetsu retorted, "Just hurry up already!"
Sitting down directly behind him, Sakura took a deep breath. I'll heal what I can, then I'll use the jutsu.
She placed her palms on his back, and concentrated.
A soft green glow radiated from long, pale fingers.
-0O0-
"Much better." She smiled down at Sasuke, dozing peacefully on the pillow.
She found herself staring at his face, now less of an unhealthy chalky colour. Before she could filter her actions, Sakura reached out and gently pushed away a lock of dark hair from his face.
He looks so serene, like an angel. She thought fondly, and then mentally smacked herself. NO! Bad Sakura! Gah! Stop!
Suddenly, she felt an excruciating pain up her back. Gasping and clutching the small of her back, Sakura collapsed on the floor. Swiftly passing a glowing hand over her back, the pain lessened as the skin underneath healed temporarily.
Breathing hard, she glanced back at Sasuke's calm face.
"He's so not worth it." She sighed. "So why did you do this again, Sakura?"
Holding unto the edge of the bed to steady herself, the petite pink-haired girl gave one final glance at the figure on the bed, now with a small smile on his lips.
"He looks so smug, even in his sleep." She rolled her eyes. With that, she left the room.
Walking outside to where Karin and Suigetsu were waiting, the pinkette commented, "Interesting how my healing skills, during this whole trip during which I can usually complete two missions, only benefited one person."
"Saved one life, you mean." Karin added softly. "That's one more life than I can ever save."
Sakura smiled. "Don't worry about that, at least you didn't waste five years of your life in front of books. And I'm not going to stay long, I promise."
The red-headed girl shook her head. "That's not it. I…I want you to stay, Sakura. I…I think Hebi need you. You're a part of us now."
Sakura's eyes widened.
"Finally, the crazy red-head speaks something sensible." Suigetsu declared from beside Karin, throwing his hands up to the heavens. "Thank goodness."
She jabbed him in the stomach. "I don't remember saying I want you to stay, Suigetsu."
He shrugged. "You don't have to say it," He wiggled his eyebrows, "I know you all are secretly in love with me."
Karin and Sakura exchanged an amused look.
"So what'd you do, exactly?" Karin asked Sakura. "I'm not much of a healer, but I've studied a bit of anatomy before. That jutsu looked really familiar."
"Well, nothing much." Sakura replied uneasily, tucking a strand of pink hair behind a ear, "Just a jutsu my sensei taught me."
Just a forbidden jutsu, you know, no big deal. She added mentally.
Karin nodded. "And would she be the Hokage of Konoha?"
Sakura reeled, asking, "How did you know?" Then, realizing her mistake, Sakura smiled sheepishly. "That was a lucky guess, wasn't it? I just gave it away."
The red-head laughed. "Not so smart for once, girl. She's a great healer, we've all heard about her."
Sakura nodded. "Yeah, she is. You and Suigetsu stay here and look after Sasuke. I'm going to go back and check on Katin."
She started to leave, then turned around. "I really appreciate you guys considering me part of the group, but I think I've going to leave for Konoha tomorrow."
She nodded at them, and disappeared in a puff of pink smoke.
"Katin? I'm back!" Sakura called, trying to sound cheerful despite the heavy coat of weary that was enveloping her.
There was no answer.
Pale hands started to tremble again as a smashed bowl came into her vision.
A messy bed.
A broken window.
Smashed doors.
No sign of life.
Dashing madly around the hotel room, Sakura gasped for air, fear boiling up her lungs.
She wrenched a piece of paper off the kitchen wall.
She swore loudly.
Meet us at the Ichiraku ramen shop at midnight. Bring Sasuke Uchiha, if you want to see the boy alive again.
Don't be late, darling.
The note was unsigned.
Goosebumps rose on her pale skin. The note seemed to taunt her, reminding her of a blotched mission and her abandoned teammates.
My stupid, young love for Sasuke kept me here.
My stupid emotions made me lose Katin.
My stupid conscience is now making me pay the price.
She didn't understand the reason why the note was there, or what they wanted with Katin. She didn't care if they murdered her outside of Naruto's favourite restaurant.
"I'll be there." She said to the note.
"Sa. Ku. Ra." Sasuke mumbled in his slumber, twisting the bed sheets under his fingers.
Karin, on the chair next to his bed, awoke to his moans, raising a mane of red hair groggily.
"Sasuke-kun?" She asked sleepily. "What is it?"
He twisted and turned, caught in an unspeakable nightmare. Clenching the sheets, his forehead covered in sweat.
"Sasuke-kun!" Karin tried to restrain him, so he wouldn't hurt himself.
She touched his forehead.
It was burning hot.
"It seems you have a fever too, Sasuke-kun. I'll go and call—"
A pale hand suddenly captured her wrist.
"Sakura."
"Don't leave me."
Karin tensed.
Then, she gently pulled her wrist away from his hand.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
"She won't."
-o0o0o0o0o0o-
It was 11:55 am.
Sakura hugged her arms around her small body, trying to capture some of the escaping body heat. She shivered.
The ramen restaurant was closed. The streets were dark and empty. The wind blew noisily, scattering leaves and dust.
Perfect for a horror movie. She thought grimly.
A cloud of dust rose up, engulfing her vision. The wind howled in her ears, robbing her of sight and hearing.
When it died down, she saw two figures standing on the street.
"K-Katin?" She gasped, hands flying to her mouth.
The boy who looked like the one she had tried to protect and teach didn't reply. Even in the dim light, she could clearly see the void of emotions in his eyes.
"No, dear, that's not the Katin you know. This is Thirty-Six." A tall, graceful woman with silvery hair smiled.
"I beg your pardon?"
"The one you knew was one of the few we gave names to. The name Katin originated from the name of my only love. It's a good name for such a darling, smart young boy."
Sakura frowned. "What are you saying? They're boys, not—" Her eyes widened, and cherry pink lips opened to form a shocked expression.
The beautiful woman smiled, folding her arms behind her back through the long, flowing robe. "Yes, Sakura. They're clones. The one you met was the best of the bunch."
Pale hands started to shake, the third time that day.
"I-if Katin was a clone, then why—mph!"
A tendril of silvery hair lashed out, and covered her mouth.
"Please listen to your elders when they speak, my dear Sakura." The lady smiled soothingly, despite Sakura's best efforts to break loose of the gag.
"Now, I see that you failed to bring Sasuke Uchiha." She smiled sadly. "And here I was thinking of leaving Team Snake out of this, and just taking him and you."
"No matter, we'll go fetch him after we've capture you, Sakura darling. It seems we will have to bring the rest of the famous Hebi crew along too. They were your friends, weren't they? And what about the Konoha bunch who's chasing after you right now? I hear they're quite close with you too."
Sakura turned, whipped a kunai out of her pouch and sliced the hair off, freeing her mouth to talk.
"You're not getting close to them." She snarled, holding the weapon in front of her protectively. "Not over my dead body."
Glancing down absently at perfect, silvery nails, the glowing lady sighed. "Pity. I was going to save your traits for the clones too. You have a very nice figure and face features, they'll look great on the new girl clones. I wonder if you'll survive the change, though." She murmured, smiling slyly.
The pink-haired girl glanced up to the heavens. "Why do I get to meet all the psychos in this country?" Sakura pleaded. "Why is it always me, why?"
"Realize that I only spared you this long because your lifelong dedication to one boy warms my heart. You're one of the little people who almost make me believe in a possible true love again." She laughed, a twinkling sound that echoed across the empty space. "Only for a second, though."
Sakura clenched her teeth. "Well, I'm finally met a stalker and a creeper. Two in one. You're amazing."
The lady glanced up at her, perfect almond eyes glittering mischievously. "Most underlings don't understand. All right, enough talk, I suppose you're not going to come without force, dear."
"Force? Right. What do you take me for, a twelve year old?"
"No, just a deeply sentimental girl, trying to protect herself with words." She smiled. "When you feel it's too much and want to join us, let me know."
"Only when pigs start to fly." Sakura snapped, and whipped two kunai in her direction.
While easily catching the weapons, the woman's hair stretched out towards Sakura, shaping themselves into sharp points.
Pink hair flying, Sakura flipped back into the bushes to avoid the tips, throwing another two kunai on the way.
"Please." The woman smirked. "Make an effort."
A tendril of white hair snaked into the bush unnoticed, creeping toward Sakura's feet. Before the girl could respond, it snaked up her body and bounded her hands. The tendril was joined by another mass of silver hair, and slowly tightened around her mouth, nose, legs, and pink hair.
Poof! The Sakura-clone exploded.
The woman looked up uninterestedly to glimpse the real Sakura coming down from the sky, fist raised in a chakra-enhanced punch.
Placing her hands up in the air, she made as if to smooth out a piece of fabric in mid-air.
Sakura's eyes widened as she hit the shield. She didn't know exactly what it was, but she was sure of one thing.
The woman just made a sheet of lightning appear out of thin air.
Gasping and shaking on the ground, Sakura felt as if her body was on fire.
"And that was just a level one shield. Really, I'm disappointed."
Emerald green eyes glared back in fury. Trembling, Sakura's teeth chattered. She slowly got up, the electricity fading from her body.
Clutching her bloody knuckle, the pink-haired girl rose, on shaking knees.
The woman smiled. "Are you going to change your mind?"
"After I kick your ass all the way to Suna!"
Sakura gritted her teeth, determination burning through her body, helping her regain movement.
Crap, I've already spent too much chakra on Sasuk'e healing. And this woman's crazy. Short range attacks don't work, and long range doesn't too well either. Is my plan even going to work?
Lifting her eyes, Sakura grabbed two kunai and whipped them at the silver-haired beauty. The explosion tags at the back of the kunai forced her to take a step back, right into a pile of smoke bombs and explosion tags she planted earlier.
Kaboom! A bright cloud rose up outside the clearing beside Ichiraku, scattering the scarce wildlife away.
Taking advantage of her opponent's temporarily blindness, Sakura reached up with her left hand and punched the ground with all her might, leaving a long, thick scar into the ground.
Resting her hands on her knees, the girl doubled over, panting. Through the curtain of her shoulder-length pink hair and the dull pain on her back from healing Sasuke, Sakura peered at the bright cloud of explosions.
She straightened up a moment later, frowning slightly.
Leaping back just in time, another wave of lightning bolts barely missed Sakura, revealing underneath the cloud the glittering shield of lightning which protected the woman.
"Not bad. Not exactly what I'd expect, though. Of course, I have taken into consideration that you're short of chakra and sleep, and you have just used a forbidden jutsu."
Sakura tensed involuntarily, then relaxed.
Then, she smiled. "I'm just not surprised anymore at what you know. You're good at what you do."
The woman frowned, a wrinkle sitting between her perfect, silver eyebrows. "Don't you know the jutsu just cost you five years of your life? You're young, beautiful, smart and powerful. Why did you give up five years for him?"
Pink hair fluttering in front of her face, Sakura seemed to consider the question. Then, she replied with a smile, "None of your business."
The beautiful lady looked amused. "It's been a while since I've seen anyone so selfless. Sure, young people in love say it all the time. But who really means it? If only my love did. Then maybe none of this would've started."
"I'm not in love with him." Sakura snapped. "Whatever you do to him, I wouldn't care."
"Denial. Classic." The lady regained her cool composture. "No matter, what's done is done. I would've liked to try more of your abilities, but I think we should get you back now."
Sakura twisted her right heel in the dirt, creating a small crater. "Bring it on."
"Oh no, not me. Thirty-Six can do that for me. Tell me when it's too much."
"You're using child labour? Hey, we're not done yet! What—"
The small boy suddenly appeared in front of Sakura, his cold face not showing a trace of emotion.
"I'm sorry, boy-who-looks-like-Katin, but if she thought your look alike could charm me into surrendering, it's not going to work!" Sakura murmured, swapping away the boy in one shot.
She charged at the silver-haired lady, left fist raised. In a flash, Sakura felt wind behind her, and swipe her fist back.
She heard a surprised sound as the silvery haired lady flew back toward a tree. Her body vanished in mid-air with a poof!
Swerving around, Sakura dodged a lightning charged fist from the real version and shot out her foot, landing in a roundhouse kick. Bending her head back, she narrowly missed a strand of lightning hair.
Suddenly, the lady disappeared.
A pair of red eyes replaced her, and Sakura was forced to stare into the eyes of Thirty-Six.
"Take a look into the future." Thirty-Six said.
Oh crap. Sakura thought. He has the Sharigan.
She had a vision of a rain of kunai and senbon.
"This isn't real! It's fake! Ow!" She clutched her bleeding arm, caught by a senbon. Moving behind a tree, she froze as she saw dark orange hair inside a large pool of blood.
Juugo, covered in blood. Dark marks slowly retreated over his still body, and Sakura gasped at his multiple wounds.
"No." She whispered. "This isn't true. It's an illusion."
Then she saw Naruto, three feet away.
Lying on the ground.
"Sakura-chan!" He gasped for air, eyes widening in surprise. "We went out to look for you! But we were ambushed. Why… why did you leave with him?" He gasped before a dark, maroon liquid pooled out of his mouth and he fell back.
"I didn't…Naruto!" Sakura gasped.
Hinata sudden charged out of the undergrowth.
"Naruto-kun!" Weeping over Naruto, the pale-eyed heiress put herself directly in the line of fire.
"Hinata! Move out of the—" Sakura screamed, tears now streaming down her face, watching the Hyugga heiress's dark hair turn maroon with blood as kunai and senbon found their target.
"No… no, this, this is fake. It's an illusion." Sakura repeated to herself, covering her ears with her hands.
Eyes squeezed shut, the vision still appeared fresh and clear.
Shikamaru battled a crowd of Katin-look-alikes beside Suigetsu, his oversized sword weaving in and out of the crowd.
"This should be illegal." The water nin muttered. "I know they're clones, but this is like hurting loads of children. That you played hide-and-seek with."
Shikamaru spared him a glance. "This is the most troublesome part, actually. Once we're clear of this, we can rescue them."
"Hmn. If we get past this crapload of children and traps, we'll see." A familiar redhead muttered from beside the water nin, weaving webs of chakra around her.
"This shouldn't be a problem, we've kicked bigger asses than this before!" Ino shouted over to them.
The lazy genius smirked, the expression suddenly freezing on his face.
A look of shock came across Ino's face as she stared at Shikamaru, with two kunai buried in his chest.
Her invisible opponent took this opportunity to hit a vital point. All Sakura could see was Ino falling back unto the ground, the look of shock still on her face.
With no one to protect his sides, Suigetsu shouted, buried under the swarm of little boys.
Karin swerved around, but not before an invisible blow knocked her into the ground, creating a deep crater.
"Hungry for more, dear? Or did you change your mind, and wanted to come with us?" A soothing voice asked.
Sakura, still stuck on the battlefield, no longer paid attention to her. Her throat ached with screaming, tears ran freely down her face. Her knuckles were beaten and bloody from punching the earth repeatedly.
"This isn't real. Stop. Make it stop!"
"It is, dear. It's as real as you imagine it to be." The voice replied smugly.
Suddenly, on the battlefield, she glimpsed a familiar figure.
"No. Not him too. Please."
"Do I hear you begging, my dear Sakura?"
"I…I…"Sakura bit her lip, watching Sasuke's figure come closer.
You're being predictable. She told herself, no longer feeling the tears raining down from her thick lashes. Stop being so predictable.
"Of course I don't care about him. Why would I?" She gathered up her wits. "I only pretended to care, so I could lure him back to Konoha. Did you know that was my other secret mission? To get Sasuke, at all costs, back to Konoha? He's going to be awarded a snug little cell for political prisoners when he gets back. He's too powerful to be left alone." She said quietly.
"Is that really so?" The voice sounded doubtful. The battlefield scene stopped suddenly, but Sakura barely noticed.
"I don't like to talk about it much, since it's top secret. But it's true. Get your people to check the Konoha top secret files, if you can get them. They're in there."
"It's true, mistress." A small voice, the same as Katin's, replied. "We found a file like that from a year ago."
"Well, then, it's a pity he came all the way, sick and delirious, to rescue you, isn't it?"
The illusion faded.
Sakura blinked her eyes, and standing two meters away from her was Sasuke. Pale, with hollow cheeks.
Dark circles under his eyes.
Unkempt dark hair fluttering with the wind.
He looked like a marble statue, carved to perfection. Thick, heavy lashes covered his deep, dark eyes.
"You're wrong." He replied. "I'm not here to save her."
