-Set at the beginning of Shippuden, the Elders send Sakura off as a hunter-nin, wishing for her death as a way to weaken Tsunade's political powers. Sakura agrees to prove them wrong, but what she didn't know was that Orochimaru's involved! Oh, god… Just what did she get herself into?
Yippie! A new chapter! Okay, so it's a bit rushed… But I really wanted to get this out of the way because I was getting nowhere with Mirrorcle World since I needed this part to be finished so that I could start thinking about how I should go along with this plot of mine. (Can you believe I never thought past the last chapter?) And so yeah… Here's the chapter that corresponds with Mirrorcle World's Episode Ten!
Episode Eleven
~ Her State of Anger and Hinata's Advice~
Everything happened so quickly, almost within a blink of the eye. Before Sasuke could finish his hand signs for an undoubtedly powerful jutsu, Yamato again used his Wood Style. This time, he aimed for where the Uchiha stood. And right afterwards, Sai drew up a large hawk. Seeing it fly towards her ex-teammate, Sakura's instincts immediately took over. She didn't even give it any thought as she fused her chakra into a kunai and threw it at the painting. The kunai caused a flux in Sai's jutsu and, as the ANBU Root member tried to keep everything under control, Sakura saw this as an opening and readied her fist. When Sai's bird came close enough, she punched it, sending Sai along with it down into the crater Sasuke had created. However, she hadn't planned out her attack that far when she realized she had jumped into midair when on the offense. But before she could even fall a slight amount, she felt a hard tug on her arm, and suddenly she was thrown back onto the precipice. And when she looked up to glare at the Uchiha, her eyes could only widen when she saw Orochimaru and Kabuto there.
The Sannin chuckled. "I think that's enough fun for now."
"NO! WAIT! DON'T YOU DARE! SASUKE!"
Naruto's desperate pleads grew quieter and quieter as Sakura saw a whirlwind of color and heard a whirlwind of sound. It was a transportation jutsu, she realized. And in a second, all of her thoughts were focused on trying to stop her tears from coming out and trying to force herself not to run away from her ex-teammate to the teammate she had left behind in Konoha. It took all of her willpower just to do so and, when she touched solid ground again, for some reason, she could still hear Naruto's cries—those horrid pleas she wished to forget…
In a swift motion, she was on her feet again, her fists shaking at her sides. She refused to let her gaze meet the Uchiha's.
"And where do you think you're going, Sakura-san?"
In her anguish, Sakura couldn't figure out at first who had asked that question. On instinct, she knew it couldn't have been Sasuke, so it must have been one of the other two. She didn't answer the question, though—hell, it wouldn't even have mattered even if it had been Sasuke who had asked. She was just focused on leaving, her thoughts again distracted, as she continued walking towards the exit, trying to think of an excuse. Anything to get her away from him.
"I need to go back and get Kiki." The answer came flying out of her mouth, almost as if she were threatening someone. Ignoring the almost growling sound her voice had, she realized her answer was not without reason. Kiki had not been at the battle site. As such, she was left behind when Orochimaru or whoever transported them out of that hideout and into this not-so-much-better one. (She had already been to this one, she realized once she had put some distance between her and the three men. It was the one she was brought to first when she had been brought as an "honored guest.")
Her hand was on the door handle when Kabuto chose to speak up. "There's no need for you to do that. I went and picked her up just before I arrived at the battle site."
At first, Sakura saw no reason to believe him but, when Kiki's whining reached her ears, she did an about-face, her whole body not just her head turned around. "Kiki!" Until that little scream, she didn't realize she was so worried about the dog.
Kiki's ears perked up at her mistress's voice, and she began struggling in Kabuto's grasp. The silver-haired medic released his hold, and Kiki landed on all fours. She wasted no time running to Sakura's side. But when Sakura held the dog in her arms, her anger returned. This time, it wasn't directed at him but at Kabuto.
"YOU BASTARD! YOU MUZZLED HER?"
Right after that, before he could even retort, Kabuto found himself dodging a dislodged door. Sakura didn't stay to see if her aim was ten-ten. Immediately after she had ripped the door off its hinges and out of her way, she stomped out of the room—the clicking of her high-heeled shoes echoed in the silence. It was only when she slid to the ground, her back to the door she had left intact, that she realized her fatigue. Kiki slid out of her arms, wondering what was wrong with the kunoichi.
They both heard Orochimaru chuckle again. "Looks like you have your hands full tonight. You've gotten your teammate upset again."
They both knew who he was speaking to, and frankly Sakura didn't want to hear him answer. Instead, she got back on her feet and shrieked, "OH, I'M NOT UPSET! I'M JUST PEACHY! HAPPY AS CAN BE!" She didn't wait for any response, running as fast as she could away from him.
When she got to the room, she slammed the door close so hard and so fast that Kiki almost didn't make it into the chambers in time. In her distress, Sakura didn't notice that as she threw herself onto the bed, burying her head in the pillow. She didn't care if any of the Oto nin heard her. She just wanted to cry herself to sleep. She wanted to forget that the battle had ever taken place, to forget Sasuke's killing intent, and to forget that hurt look on Naruto's face when he realized he again couldn't keep his promise. Most of all, she wanted to stop her heart from aching.
✿。.:**:.。✿
When the door came flying at Kabuto, Sasuke began to regret the decision of ever continuing that battle. He should've stopped when he realized Sakura had been watching the whole thing. It would've saved him a whole lot of trouble. (He ignored the small voice in the back of his head when it told him that he could've also save the girl all those tears she was probably crying right now.)
The Sannin chuckled. "Looks like you have your hands full tonight. You've gotten your teammate upset again."
The Uchiha almost rolled his eyes. Of course, he knew that. Of course, he knew that his ex-teammate was again upset. He was no fool—heck, anyone who didn't realize that Haruno Sakura was angry now would have been dead in just a few short seconds if they crossed her path. But of course, he didn't realize how angry she actually was until she screamed to the whole entire world, "OH, I'M NOT UPSET! I'M JUST PEACHY! HAPPY AS CAN BE!"
Oh, yes… He had his hands full tonight…
✿。.:**:.。✿
Kiki had watched as Sakura cried into the pillow, and she continued to watch the kunoichi until her loud weeping had finally stopped, signalizing that the girl had fallen asleep. The dog gave a low whine, her equivalent to a human sigh. She really had no idea why Sakura was so upset, but she knew there was only one person who could really make her cry like this.
And when the door gave way, she glared at him.
Seeing the pathetic excuse of a glare, Sasuke just ignored the pup, his attention on the door that led into his room. It was broken, he realized. The hinges were barely holding it up, and the door itself seemed to have taken a hard impact of some sort. It didn't take long for him to put two and two together—in this case, two and two meant the condition the door was in and how angry Sakura had been—and deduced that the kunoichi must have slammed it shut with that inhuman strength of hers. He made a mental note to himself to tell the Snake Sannin that he now had two doors he needed to have fixed instead of one.
His eyes made their way back to the figure on the bed as he walked into his room. He glanced down at his ex-teammate, her face buried in a pillow. Though he had prepared himself for some kind of verbal bashing, he was a bit grateful that she was asleep now. He really didn't want to deal with her right now.
He sighed, sitting into a nearby chair. He thought back to the events that happened earlier that day. He cursed under his breath. Honestly, he really didn't realize Sakura was there, watching the whole thing, until she revealed herself. When she came out of the shadows, he had grown angry, not at her but at himself. He didn't want her to see that, that side of him. Plus, the fact that she had risked exposing herself to Naruto and Hinata when they obviously thought she was elsewhere was not something she would do on any normal basis… She must have been worried, he concluded, maybe not for him but for the dobe and that Hyuga girl.
Another sigh escaped his mouth. He didn't know why he helped her conceal the fact that she was with him, that she was the cloaked girl. Perhaps it was because of that look in Naruto's eyes at the Valley of Death… For some reason, he figured Sakura would never be able to live that down if Naruto were to look at her in the same way… He glanced over to the sleeping girl again. Given her emotional state just now, that conclusion he came to was indeed a very close estimate.
He sighed once again, rubbing his forehead. He could not fathom how the girl didn't see how annoying she was. No matter what he did, he had to worry about her reaction, if she'd be mad or if she'd be sad. Sometimes, he wondered why he put up with her.
When Kiki gave a whimper, he gazed back at the female duo. The dog was snuggling next to the kunoichi and, once she was comfortable, she licked the girl's cheek—most likely a show of affection to show that she really indeed loved the girl. Kiki then proceeded to give the Uchiha a sneer before drifting off to sleep. It wasn't before long that Sasuke's eyes wandered to Sakura's arm, the one that was decorated with that black tattoo-like mark. He sighed again. The question wasn't why he had to deal with her but how. That mark, that constant reminder, proved it. He didn't brood over it, though, as he threw his head back, ready to go to sleep. Tomorrow was a new day, and Sakura would have most likely calmed down by then.
✿。.:**:.。✿
A week… He had given her almost a week, and still she was fuming! Of course, Sasuke didn't think anything of it at first—he had just known that a whole lot of breakable things were going to be coming his way and, hopefully, not a chakra-infused fist—but what he didn't anticipate was Sakura completely locking him out of his own room! Okay, so the girl was furious… But it could've been worse, and getting locked out wasn't really that bad. He just had to wait until she cooled down but, of course, this did not happen, and the Uchiha was forced to share a room with Kabuto. (For some reason which will not be written out, Sasuke really didn't want to bunk with Orochimaru. And for that same unwritten reason, Kabuto had calmly allowed it.)
Today, however, he was not going to let the girl have her way anymore. It was his room, after all. And he'd be damned if he had to deal with an irate Sakura during the transition to another hideout. As he neared the room, he heard Kiki bark through the door (which remained broken since no one dared to come near the enraged kunoichi).
"Oh, Kiki…" Sakura's voice was harsh and not even a whisper. Had she been crying that whole week? "I really don't know what to do anymore…" she continued on. "Am I just wasting my time staying here? Should I just leave?"
On that last word she spoke, Sasuke felt an unknown emotion. It took almost all of his resolution to stop himself from rushing into the room, but regardless he found himself in it anyway.
Sakura sat up when she saw him, her eyes glaring daggers. Ever since he had tried to kill Naruto, she had doubts about him now. Would he try and kill her too?
He smirked at the fearful look in Sakura's eyes. It was about time she knew how dangerous he was. But there was this small part of him that was disgusted by the look she was giving him. It was almost as if she thought he'd kill her. And it almost hurt him that this possibility could very well be true.
The two just stared at each other, each unmoving from their frozen stances. Kiki, too, stayed quiet, wondering what would happen. She dared hope that a fight wouldn't break out, but the awkward silence in the room was thick enough to suffocate a small child. It took a while, but Sasuke finally left to take a shower. "Go to sleep," he had told her. However, in the few short seconds before he left, Sakura could have sworn his eyes softened.
She sighed, her hand caressed her arm—the one that was decorated with that weird pattern. It still hurt… But she knew that, as long as she had the curse mark, Sasuke had power over her. And being that, he had use for her… He wouldn't harm her in any way until she had finally outlived her usefulness. But for some reason, some part of her believed that there was another reason as to why she was allowed live… Was there something she was missing? She didn't try to think about it—in fact, she didn't want to think about it. She was grateful when a fog seemed to cloud her mind, and her eyelids began to droop.
✿。.:**:.。✿
When Naruto opened the door to his apartment, the first thing he noticed was that his room was actually clean for the first time since Sakura had left. He could actually see the floor again! His first thought was that Sakura was back but, when his eyes landed on Hinata's sleeping form, his eyes softened. So she was the one who cleaned this place up…
He felt bad for her. She was the Hyuga heiress, after all. She probably had maidservants to do the cleaning at her house. She probably had never even picked up a broom before. So now that she cleaned his room…
Naruto almost groaned. He had been looking for her all over the village! How could he forget to check right under his nose? If he had gotten here sooner then she wouldn't have needed to trouble herself especially since she thought he was still mad at her… (Plus, he didn't want Neji on his tail for making his cousin do something she had no obligations to do. The Hyuga was almost as bad as Tsunade when he was angry!)
Naruto sighed as he sat on his bed beside the sleeping girl. The little movement caused her to stir. And in a few moments, her eyes fluttered open, and they immediately began to search the room. But when she saw Naruto, she smiled.
"Naruto-kun…"
". . . Gomennasai, Hinata-chan…"
His sentence left the groggy girl confused. "Huh? Wh-what do you mean, Naruto-kun? Why are you apologizing?"
"For getting mad at you… I had no reason to be mad at you."
"That's . . . that's okay, Naruto-kun!" she said as she sat up, a bit relieved too. A small part of her had been frightened. She had thought that he wanted her off of his team. "It was my fault anyway! I made that horrible implication without anything to go on. It should be me who's apologizing, not you! I—"
But Naruto just shook his head. "It's not your fault… I thought the same thing too when I saw that girl's eyes… I just . . . I just didn't want to believe it… I didn't want to believe both of my teammates have…" He couldn't even bring himself to finish that sentence.
"Naruto-kun…" Hinata hugged him, embracing him tightly. "You don't need to believe it… That girl… She wasn't Sakura… Sakura could never leave you… Sakura would never betray us… You know that, don't you?"
"But . . . she loves him, Hinata… She loves him! She always has…"
"Well then, if you . . . if you really think that . . . and if you really love her then you'll bring Sasuke back for her… Never give up, Naruto-kun… Sasuke will come home one day… And we'll wait together with him for Sakura to come back, too."
"But Sasuke's—"
"Don't you ever give up on bringing him back! Because he will come back one day!" Hinata snapped, her eyes bore into Naruto's. "He'll . . . he'll come back, and you'll become Hokage, and he and Sakura will get together, and Sai won't be such an ass anymore, and everyone can get the happy ending they want! Don't give up, Naruto-kun… Never give up!"
Naruto smiled and returned Hinata's hug. "Arigato, Hinata-chan…"
And throughout this whole conversation, Hinata didn't faint, not even once.
✿。.:**:.。✿
As Sai sat in his apartment, he did nothing but stare at the words he had written on his last mission. Friends…
"Do you even know what the word 'companion' means?" Naruto had asked as he released Sai.
"Of course, I know." Sai said as he wrote the word on one of his scrolls. "What about it?"
He put down the scroll, smiling. Companions… Such a strange thing… They came in so many different forms… The first picture that came to his mind was that of his brother, and the second picture was of Team Kakashi—Yamato, Hinata, and Naruto. They . . . they were his companions…
However, his thoughts went back to his meeting with Danzo earlier that day.
"Oh, and another thing… Did you meet up with Tsunade's apprentice? That Sakura girl?"
"No, I didn't…"
He didn't know why he lied to his superior. After all, what did he owe that girl? They didn't even get off to a good start. If he remembered correctly, they both aspired to kill each other. Hm… Perhaps, he did it for Naruto's sake… After all, he had betrayed the ramen-loving shinobi. Maybe this would be his way of repaying his debt.
"I don't understand you at all…" Sakura said, glaring at the boy in front of her. She took off the hood of her cloak. "First, you're recruited by Danzo to be Naruto's new teammate. Then, you stage a betrayal… And now what are you doing? Are you just leading Naruto and them on or something? Are you trying to get them killed?"
"I don't need to answer to you," he said. "I thought I owed you a death…"
The kunoichi stopped in her tracks. ". . . You didn't betray Naruto completely… But if you continue to work under Danzo's influence and wind up hurting either him or Hinata,"—she turned back to glare at him—"I won't let you go next time…"
And as Sai picked up his paintbrush, his smile continued to stay on his face. Well, it looks like you won't be able to hold anything against me anymore, Sakura-san…
"Hey! Sai!"
"Hm?" He looked out the window to see Team Kakashi there.
""Come on!" Naruto yelled out to him. "We have a team meeting! Hurry it up!"
And Sai was out of the room in minutes. But if you were to look around his room, the scroll with the word "companions" or rather "friends" on it was sitting right below the window sill. And if you were to look out that window then you'd see Sai walking over to where his friends were waiting for him.
Okay, that's done! So . . . I probably won't be able to update for a while. I got a few other fanfics to work on, besides Mirrorcle World. I don't know how I want to do it, though… Hopefully, after I finish my three-part Akatsuki no Kuruma series, I'll have more time… Thank you and please enjoy!
POLLS!
How should Sakura forgive Sasuke? Should Sasuke ask for her forgiveness somehow?
Should I make Jiraiya somehow figure out that Sakura's trapped in Orochimaru's clutches?
Should I have Pakkun jump in at another random time and see Sasuke?
And should I have him realize that she is indeed Konoha's hunter nin?
Also, we all know that Naruto doesn't meet up with Sasuke again after this, but SPOILER ALERT: I'm changing that. All I need is a mission for Naruto to go on. So as readers, I'm giving you all the chance to voice out any of your opinions. What mission should Naruto go on that places him in the same vicinity as Sasuke? Keep in mind, this will happen after Asuma's death.
