A/N: Hi guys, I'd like to address a concern someone brought up in a review of the last chapter. They stated that they believed Sakura ran out of chakra rather quickly at the end but I did have reasoning for it. She had just spent over two days using chakra at a near constant rate, be it hiding or running, to survive in the forest of death, which if you remember was pretty damn dangerous without the addition of numerous ANBU agents running around it. I'm also trying to portray Sakura at a somewhat realistic power level. Of course, during the time of constant war, she would improve but she would never be up to the standards of her powerhouse teammates, that with the assumption that her greater chakra control led to a smaller general pool of chakra led me to believe that after a survival situation that lasted as long as this one did and an all-out battle when she was already exhausted would end up with her feeling depleted. I'm sorry if I made anyone feel as if I were making her seem under powered.
That being said please feel free to ask me any questions in a review or a pm and I will be more than glad to discuss my reasoning with you, as long as it won't spoil the ending.
Anyways I'm sorry for the ramble. Enjoy the next chapter of RUTH.
Chapter 10: It's You and Me
There was no celebration for her acceptance into ANBU, although that was to be expected of the black ops. There was only a single unadorned black box left on her counter the next morning when she got up for her shift at the hospital. Silently commending the stealth of the agent who dropped it off while simultaneously deciding she needed to up her security she made her way to the kitchen.
She had purposefully avoided it while she made her tea, leery and a bit afraid of the answer that was tucked beneath the shiny lid. Shaking herself free of her childish fright she put down the now empty tea cup and ripped the top free from its equally glossy bottom. The beautifully lacquered wood landed with a soft thump as she took in the sight before her.
A bone white mask was nestled within layers of satin, the flat porcelain drinking in light rather than reflecting it. Large black markings encompassed the eyes, ringing them and drooping down towards the side edges of the guise before tapering to a point and two pointed ears at the top had small horizontal stripes lining them.
After staring at the mask for a few moments in wonder she glanced over at a clock only to growl at the time. Slamming the lid back onto the box she quickly dashed back to her room and changed into work clothes. As she was running through the living room her eyes strayed towards the container again and after shaking her head slightly at her own actions she grabbed the black wood and left the apartment.
It was a good thing they had lockers at the hospital.
-xxxxx-
"I like it." Inoichi stated as he lightly traced the black marks that stood out in stark contrast against the white. He had been painting the florist shop when a flustered Sakura came storming in after her shift, throwing a very elegant box down and grumbling to herself about getting shafted.
"Well good for you, but it's not like you are the one who has to walk around with a mask that represents an animal that scrounges around in trash and gives people rabies." She muttered as she went back to angrily painting the wall, and because he didn't want to lose his help he tried his best to not laugh at the paint splotch that flicked onto her cheek.
Deciding to spare her new uniform from any rogue splatters he tucked the mask back into its box before closing the lid. "That's not the only thing that raccoons are known for," he started, waiting for her to turn her full attention to him so the words would soak in. "They are also known for dexterity and disguise," he stated and she cut him off before he could continue.
"Yeah, things that a kunoichi are supposed to be, big surprise." She mumbled. It may have only been around a couple of months since he had been introduced to the pinkette but he could already tell that something deeper than the mask design was bothering her.
"You didn't let me finish, it also means generous protector. I think it fits you very well." He concluded. She gave him a questioning look unable to rationalize the connection. "You gave up your future to fix the past, and you are doing your damnedest to protect us all from making the same mistakes again." As he finished he watched as her eyes misted over and she gave him the look that he came to associate with her remembering his would-be daughter.
"Thanks" she sniffled and he could see that she needed a bit more prodding to open up completely.
"Now are you ready to tell me what's really bothering you?" he chided gently before giving a small chuckle at her muttering of 'Stupid Yamanaka mind readers'
She gave a huff as her frame slumped. "The exams were challenging. I mean they weren't hard but it wasn't a cakewalk either. It took time and I felt exhausted afterwards like I had been run through the ringer and yet from all of my calculations and plans that was the easy part." She rambled quickly before fixing him with a look that screamed self-depreciation. "How do I know I can even do this?" she asked voice suddenly small and quivering.
As soon as he heard the question he had the answer for her ready, something he knew deep within his bones. "You can do this because every single person who has met you, truly gotten to know you, has complete faith that you can do anything you put your mind to." As he finished her eyes teared up again with what he hoped was happy tears.
When the sniffles started in he fumbled to change the subject, still unable to deal with crying women even after his years in intelligence. He watched as she turned back to the wall, her arm flexing as it spread paint upon the canvas. The movement drew his eyes to a large purplish bruise that spread up her arm and over her shoulder. He suddenly felt hot and flush with shame, remembering how he had betrayed her trust so absolutely. There hadn't been any tension between the two when she had first shown up to the florist shop and he was thankful, however the knowledge that things may be unsaid between them permeated the air around him, leaving him feeling claustrophobic and on edge.
"Hey, umm," he coughed drawing her attention before suddenly falling silent unsure of what to say. She eyed him warily yet patiently waiting for him to continue. "Are we okay?" he finally choked out. She stared at him blankly and he motioned to the discoloration decorating her arm.
She glanced down questioningly before a realization brought light to her eyes. "You mean are we alright after you betrayed me by drugging me and letting some unknown faceless goons drop me off into a forest where I had to battle through a simulation where my life was on the line for three days?" She asked blithely and he blanched at her words and wilted underneath the glare that she had directed his way.
"Yeah?" he answered her and nearly hit himself with how weak and questioning he sounded. 'Man up damn it, you are a shinobi.' He thought to himself before squaring his shoulders and waiting for her to tell him that their friendship was over.
A sudden laugh echoed throughout the empty store, full and hearty and so joyous that he felt his spirits lift as he watched her wipe small happy tears from her eyes. When she finally calmed from the joke that only she knew she turned her gaze back to him. "Inoichi," she started with a seriousness that belayed her earlier laughter. "I understand why you did what you did and I'm not upset with you about it. You were given an order and you did your duty. It's what shinobi do."
He gave a sigh of relief at her words before she continued in a now somber tone. "However that concoction tasted horrible and I'm not sure I can ever forgive you for ruining a perfectly good bottle of sake like that."
-xxxxx-
"This her?" questioned a man with exceptionally long white hair as soon as she entered the great doors to the Hokages office. Sakura fixed him with a glare at the unbelieving tone he used. "Oh ho ho," he chuckled at her look before continuing "Never mind I can clearly see the similarities now. You have a glare that could easily rival Tsunade-hime's there." As he finished she focused her attention to Sarutobi waiting for him to tell her why she was summoned. There were no introductions, and for that she was grateful, he had obviously been informed of who she was and thus would know she knew of him. Nonetheless she was supremely relieved to see Jiraiya there, his knowledge of fuinjutsu was impressive and he always managed to bring a sense of levity to the situation at hand.
Hiruzen calmly cleared his throat, a habit that she learned meant he was wishing he had his pipe, before starting the meeting. "I've already briefed Jiraiya on the particulars and we were just discussing the plausibility of your theory on how you came to be here when you came in."
"It certainly seems possible, and crazier has happened," the toad sage started before he leaned in "but first I need to see what you've got hidden underneath that shirt of yours." He finished, grinning in an overly lecherous way and she resisted the very strong temptation to punch him in his smug face.
She gave a soft grumble about perverted old men and peeled her shirt up and off, leaving her in her chest bindings, feeling uncomfortable but glad her small size was easily covered by the cloth.
Jiraiya's large frame crossed the room in two strides and suddenly he was eye level with the pattern tattooed on her torso, fingers almost tracing the lines on a reverent manner. "This is beautifully done, every line is spaced correctly and all of the intersections are neat. This must have taken forever to do yourself" she found her cheeks flushing a bit at the compliments while nodding to his assessment.
"It took a while to gather the ink, and even longer to store enough chakra within it to make the seal viable." Her heart felt a sudden slash of pain at the thought of Sai giving up some of his ink for her. Filing away the stirrings of a plan to make sure he was well taken care of she continued. "Honestly it was only ready for about a week before the final battle."
There was no declaration that it had been the final battle really, no grandstanding from either side but she and almost everyone else knew that after two years and countless losses they simply didn't have the military force to hold up against Madara any longer.
She still had doubts that he had ever been Madara but he never revealed himself to be anyone else.
She was ripped from her thoughts as the sage leaned away from her quickly, his wooden geta meeting the floor with a clack that echoed off the high ceilings. His brow was furrowed thoughtfully and he gestured to the lilac diamond on her forehead.
"It's obvious that you can store chakra correctly, and I see nothing wrong wrong with the seal work either. Unless I know what the other jutsu was I can't help you much, can you tell me anything about it?" he asked, making himself comfortable by sitting on a clear spot of Sarutobi's desk, pointedly ignoring the incredulous looks shot towards him by both her and the Hokage.
She thought back, placing herself within the war torn landscape that had been that epic battle. "It was some sort of dodging technique, you would think that you could land a hit on him but then you would miss. It wasn't that he was suddenly not there, it was more like you would just pass right on through him. None of us knew what it was nor had we seen it before." she said forcing herself to remember those next final moments.
"I used the hiraishin seal to block a hit that was sure to land on Naruto and when I got there I felt an impact on my back, not like some attack but like someone ran into me. I looked down and Naruto's arm was passing through me like it would do on Madara, there was a bright light and I woke up here." She finished shrugging her shoulders, she had come to terms with what had happened, even without knowing the exact how. "But that's not why you're here." she stated attempting to direct the conversation to a different matter.
He grinned at her before having the audacity to feign embarrassment. "Well no it's not, but I can't pass up a good puzzle, or a good reason to get a girl's shirt off." she fumed at his words but chose to fix him with a frosty glare in lieu of reprimand.
Sarutobi finally decided to interject, sensing the new hostile environment. "She is correct, I asked you here to help reinforce the seal on Kushina as well as develop a new sufficient seal for her eventual child. Sakura informed me that the nine tails was released during her childbirth." he concluded, allowing the information to seep into the now stunned toad sage.
Despite the sannin's now shell shocked appearance Sakura felt a subtle weight lift, he was a master with seal theory and technique and with his help they would surely find an answer. She grabbed a spare scroll from the Hokage's desk and snatched one of his pens and started slowly drawing what she could remember of the design that would occasionally be visible on Naruto's stomach. As she meticulously drew the swirls she began to speak. "I know you helped develop the seal for Naruto in my timeline and I mostly remember what it looks like but I'm hoping with your help and with more planning and knowledge of what happened we can make something more effective, and hopefully save Kushina's in case it happens again." As she finished speaking she slid the now completed paper towards the white haired man, his eyes hungry and grave as they took in the inked lines.
"This is definitely Minato's work, he's taken to basing his seals on Uzumaki techniques." Jiraiya concluded before swiftly standing from his folded position on Hiruzen's large desk. As he stalked towards the door she felt worry settled deep within her bones, what if he had decided not to help after all?
"Where are you going?" she called after him as the heavy door swung open, small tremors of indignation welling up in her voice. Just moments before she was feeling light hearted, the depression that had lingered with her finally clearing at the mere thought of accomplishing something other than getting into ANBU. They were finally making progress, actually setting plans into place as to avoid the Kyuubi massacre and her key to that was leaving them.
He turned back, determined eyes locking with hers. "Whirlpool. I need to do some research." he said with such seriousness and lacking any of the lecherous tendencies he used when normally saying that word that she felt herself smile.
As she watched the red haori disappear from sight she felt her heart soar, her biggest obstacle was well on its way to being taken care of.
-xxxxx-
The wind was rustling the trees as she broke from her meditation. After having successfully created the ByakugÅ no In once she found that it was easier to reserve chakra into it than before. While she wouldn't be able to use the benefits of the seal for some time she could already feel her reservoir filling back up.
She gave a cat like stretch unfolding herself from her seated position on the ground and tugged uselessly at the high necked collar of her new uniform. It still had the uncomfortable crispness of new clothing that had yet to be broken in and the molded chestplate still felt awkward against her even though it was designed to fit seamlessly.
She had been meditating to pass the time while waiting for the members of her new team to appear yet the windy day kept falsely leading her to believe her companions had arrived. She pivoted as she felt a presence behind her her gaze landing on a slim woman with bluish black hair and a feline mask strapped to her face.
The other anbu agent seemed to be content to wait silently so Sakura felt no need to make small talk or do anything more than give a small nod in response to the nod of greeting she received. Sakura found herself taking long glances at the kunoichi, shuffling through her memories to see if she had met her before. She had very noticeable earrings, pearls the same vivid red color of fresh blood and she wondered if they were stained or had always been that shade.
Her scrutiny was interrupted once more by the remaining two members of her group arriving. The first was a male with a visage of inverted colors where the base was black and the markings white and in the style similar to a frog. Next was the tall crane masked man who had delivered messages to her before.
He was the one to step forward, and she recalled her paperwork saying he was her squad captain. Long almost bony fingers reached up to pull of the disguise off of his face in one quick motion and she was met with a man she couldn't recognize. His face was full of sharp features, broken up by a long bang of brown hair covering the right side of his face and he spoke with a smooth voice that was very calming. "Good morning my name is Kisuke Maboroshi, and I will be the leader of this squad. My specialties include espionage and tracking as well as trap use."
The other male took his turn and stepped forward as he removed the dark mask that matched his equally dark blade she easily recognized him by the rippled welted scar that tore across his left cheek and over his nose. His tone was still the deep baritone she remembered from the many times they had interacted when he was Tsunade's bodyguard. "I am Raido Namiashi. I am proficient in poisons and kenjutsu. I function mostly as an assassin" as he finished Sakura was honestly surprised, she had never known that about him but supposed that the best way to protect an official from possible assassinations was to have one on the payroll.
As she readied herself to move forward the woman swiftly took her place. Removing the cat shaped porcelain and revealing a doll like face. Her steely eyes were at total odds with her soft appearance and Sakura felt the stirrings of distrust growing within her. With the way the woman looked at her she felt as if something about her was inherently off. "I'm Hinoto," she spoke with clipped tones and offered no last name, "I specialize in stealth and the Bo staff." her bluish hair was kept tied up in a high tail that swept her mid back as she stepped back and focused those hard eyes on Sakura.
She suddenly felt small within this circle of ANBU who had certainly earned their place more honorably than she had, like she was a fake and only playing ninja like a little girl. She stood in uniform, a regulation tanto strapped to her back and arm mildly sore from the new swirl that decorated the skin yet she was little more than a farce in a costume. Her racoon mask may have been snug against her face but she suddenly felt an overwhelming connection to it, something she could hide behind that wouldn't reveal her for the counterfeit agent she felt so very deep in her bones.
'You are one of them now, whether you believe it or not. Now get over yourself and act like it.' the thought bounced and echoed around her head in a voice eerily similar to the one she once called Inner Sakura so very long ago. However her inner had been absent for many years now.
They were staring now, eyes questioning, yet she still stood masked, struggling to find the words to describe herself. What was her specialty? What was she good at? She could heal and she could punch things yet it suddenly felt like it wasn't enough. She took a deep breath and steeled her resolve finally speaking. "My name is Sakura Unmeiko, I will be your medic and I am best with close combat." they seemed satisfied with her answer and Kisuke gave a quick nod.
"Right, now that we have introduced ourselves I want to start this training session by going over a few formations." he announced followed by a chorus of 'Yes Taichou'
"Welcome to Team Crane"
-xxxxx-
"Good job Rin, just like that," Sakura commented as she coached the brunette on how to heal the burn that ran the length of her calf. Although she had been feeling stretched thin between the hospital and her duties with ANBU she still tried her hardest to make time for her student. One of the easiest ways she had found to do so was to drop by Rins home on her way home from training sessions with her team so that the girl could practice her jutsu healing Sakura's wounds.
Sakura had quickly discovered that Rin had known the basics, at least to the point that most of the other nurses in the hospital knew however the girl lacked a certain finesse that Tsunade would never had deemed acceptable and Sakura was confident she could one day teach her all she knew.
The burn that they had currently been working on was from a particularly challenging two on two session in which she managed to step into one of Kisuke's traps that resulted in a tongue of fire licking up her calf for a short moment. It had been just enough to destroy her uniform boots (although she wasn't too bent out of shape out about that, now she had an excuse to wear her broken in combat pair) and inflict second degree burns. It had been a few weeks since the creation of Team Crane and they had only completed one mission, a delivery of a very important scroll to Suna, but they had certainly trained excessively.
Kisuke would always have some new formation to try, or it would be a spar that ranged anywhere from one-on-one to three-on-one. Some days they would have teamwork exercises where they would face off another team in its entirety and she always found that times that they would be pitted against Minato and Choza's team to be her favorite times. It reminded her of a time when she was a young genin of Team 7 in a way that made her equally excited and morose.
A feeling that was akin to a small pinch drew her from her reverie as she looked down towards her leg where Rin's hands were glowing green in an attempt to heal the damage. "Rin," she started waiting until the girls attentions were brought back to her. "You need to think of it less like stitching someone back together. Stitching is all hard edges and tugging, think of it more like you are melding the edges back together. Use your chakra to encourage the flesh to smoothly knit and you will find far less scarring." as she finished the brunette gave her a nod in acceptance and tried again, this time taking her lesson to heart as Sakura could hardly feel the healing chakra.
A sharp tap at the bedroom window drew both females attention and Sakura caught sight of the white frog markings from Raido's mask and quickly made to excuse herself. Taking care to slide the window open she trekked her way to the roof where he was now waiting in full gear. "We have a mission, pack for travel and meet at the Hokage's office" as always he was direct and to the point before disappearing into the darkness.
Sakura retreated back down to the bedroom, taking a few moments to fully heal her leg so that Rin could see and learn from it. "Rin I need to head out, I've got a mission." she was once again startled by the maturity her protege showed when she nodded willingly, understanding that this was the way things were.
"I'll have kaa-san pack up your dinner." the girl replied before Sakura shook her head and told her no need. Sakura felt a small smile pull her lips, thinking about all of the bonds she was making in this time, this place that was so very far away from home yet so close.
This time she left from the front door, taking time to say farewell to Rin's parents, who had almost taken her in like a second daughter despite her age, before rushing home and grabbing one of her premade med packs and tossing it into a stocked backpack. Her trusted boots replaced the half charred remains of her standard pair and she took the time to quickly grab both a hood and temporary hair dye, unsure of what she had time for.
The city lights flew by like stars as she dashed from rooftop to rooftop and she was suddenly struck with how much of a connection she now felt to this village that once felt so alien. The moment she had truly understood where she was she gave up all pretenses of ever returning to her time, yet it had taken until just now that she really felt at home. She had a home now, and she was leaving on a mission to protect that home and it struck her that even after weeks training as ANBU she finally felt as if she was one too.
Yet all of those feelings of acceptance and belonging rushed out of her like a great flood the second she was standing in Sarutobi's office and he showed her the picture of the missing nin they were being sent out to take care of.
-xxxxx-
They weren't moving fast enough. They had received word that a distress flare had been seen from the location of her team and they were just not moving fast enough. Sakura felt tree branches break beneath her as she jumped with too much force, the brittle drought ridden wood cracking from excess chakra being pushed into them with abandon, but she couldn't bring herself to care. All she knew was something had gone horribly wrong and she was too far away. She was praying to Kami-sama, a broken repeating mantra in her head that they wouldn't be too late.
But when they got close enough to hear the agonizing cries and moans from the injured she knew that that wish just would not be granted. They broke through the tree line, a squad of combat and medic nins rested and ready to join the fray, yet there was no battle to join. There was only visceral death littering the landscape and she choked down a sob at the sight.
She felt like the world dropped out from beneath her when she spotted strands of pale blond hair and rushed towards the prone body it belonged to. "No" she sobbed as she dropped to her knees and started pumping healing chakra into a rapidly cooling body. "No" she whispered eyes focusing on a glinting ninja wire slicing through Ino's slim neck. A feature she had always been so proud of.
The others voices were muddled, a quiet cacophony of names and resignation of death. A name cut through her grief struck haze and she turned towards the nin citing a time of death for Choji, the kind giant's body resembling a pin cushion littered with kunai, his armor having been destroyed long ago. She felt herself spiral into confusion, how could this happen. How could a platoon of fifteen shinobi be destroyed in such a way. They knew the enemy was strong but this was unthinkable.
"Haruno-san," she could hear the call, yet didn't want to respond. She wanted to stay here with her closest friend until she came back to her, yet she was the leader of the squad and knew it wasn't something the could allow to happen. Giving the unnaturally pale blond one last longing look she turned to the owner of the voice. "We've got a live one!" her feet were moving in sync with her now quickly beating heart and a happy sob gurgled its way from her lips as she came across a very alive Shikamaru, a very treatable wound to his abdomen and exhaustion seeming to be his only injuries.
She skid to her knees hands already glowing and roaming his body for any unseen wounds and she could feel her heartbreak once again at the look of sheer devastation that he fixed her with. He pointed towards a decapitated body that lie to his side, a blady she knew he was clumsy with between them. "I got him Sakura," he said, his voice drained and broken.
She took in the green hair, short and close to the unattached head and the headband with the symbol for water cleanly slashed through easily recognizing him as Nuru, a missing nin with the ability to disrupt the ability to use chakra within an area. The pieces of the puzzle fell together for her as she realized that it had been an ambush they had seen before. The shinobi alliance forces would be led into a small skirmish only to be overwhelmed with opposing forces and a mysterious man who made all jutsus ineffective.
They had been led into a slaughter, and it had happened many times before.
"I got him," he repeated pulling her attention back to his tired eyes. She gave him a watery smile and nodded. They had achieved a small victory, but as she slid her eyes back to her patients dead teammates she couldn't help but wonder at what cost.
-xxxxx-
She knew she had been uncharacteristically stoic since they had received mission orders yet she refused to crack. To her teammates this may have been a simply target but to her this was a vendetta, her own personal revenge for a crime yet uncommitted. After her squadron had been dismissed from the briefing she found herself hanging behind, "Are you sure we can handle this?" she had asked the Hokage doubtful they could handle the monster that killed so many of her comrades.
His reply had been simple, they had too. Information on missing nin was always hard to come by and they had to take action when they could.
It was because of this they were quickly speeding towards one of the small villages on the border of fire well known for its tourism and women of the night. Nuru had been reported heading that way and they were on a short time table. As the trees started to thin Sakura quickly pulled her chakra inward, as did the rest of her team, leaving a subtle amount to mimic a common civilian. A signal was flashed from Kisuke and they had all dropped to the ground before he gave one last run through of the plan while handing out small comm units.
"Alight, we know he can neutralize chakra so we need to surprise him. Hinoto, Sakura, I want both of you to pose as prostitutes at different bars, as soon as you spot him let us know and we will meet there." he paused to wait for questions yet only received nods of affirmation. "Once you have eyes on him I want you to get him alone, we don't need any civilians hurt during this. I want you to lead him back to the tavern, and we will take care of him there." as he finished Sakura started digging through her pack, dragging out a short yukata she had tightly rolled up for missions such as these and grabbing the black dye.
"Wait," the word hung in the now still air, her eyes turned questioningly towards Raido and he pointed to her hair "leave it." seeing that her captain agreed she quickly excused herself only to reappear moments later tugging uselessly on a purposefully badly tied yukata. She ran nervous fingers through her hair in an attempt to brush it into place and watched as Hinoto came back from the forest with her long hair down and wearing a sultry dress that hugged curves in a way that Sakura would have once dreamed she could pull off.
Leaving their packs with the remaining two members of the team both kunoichi took off towards the tourist town in different directions.
-xxxxx-
It had been surprisingly easy to find him considering his glassy eyed face was forever seared into her memory. His green hair was longer and pulled into some sort of topknot and his face was considerably younger, handsome even. She couldn't bring herself to approach him, fearing that her temper would get the best of her so she settled herself into stool across the way sending him sultry looks whenever she caught his eye.
He was overly arrogant as he strode towards her, his mannerisms doing little to conceal that he believed himself to be a god, and a newly free one at that. The scratch through his headband looked new and she found herself hoping that his bloodline wasn't nearly as developed as it was in the future.
He slid himself next to her and she did her best to reign in any disgust at the stench of sake wafting around him. "I can't say I've ever seen hair that color before." She gave a gentle humm at the pick up line, doing her best to stay calm and not blow her cover, but found her resolve wavering as an overly friendly hand found its way to her bare let.
"The name is Nuru, care to tell me yours."
She looked up from her drink, careful to catch his gaze "Sakura Haruno," the name tumbled from her lips like a caress and even though it was to an enemy and someone she was hoping to kill it still felt so freeing to finally say her true name. Like she was claiming a part of her long lost.
His hand slithered further upward, stopping just below the hem of her skirt and she let her hand twitch the slightest bit. "That's a very fitting name, but I'm sure you get that a lot." he continued and she forced a girlish giggle, something that she suddenly felt dirty inside doing. There was a sudden clamor of some barfight that she was sure one of her team had started and as he turned to look towards it she stilled her hands from reaching up and snapping his smug neck.
She held herself back, knowing that those were not her orders and drew his attention back to her using the commotion to further the mission. "Do you mind if we go somewhere quieter?" she asked and he answered her with a smile before holding out a hand for her to use to get off of the tall stool. He was trying to be charming and it made her want to stab him in the eye with a toothpick, because deep down she knew that if he wasn't the enemy Ino would have loved him. He had the kind of eyes she would have gone on and on about on one of their lunch dates and Sakura forced herself the quash the small rebellion that once more told her to end this now.
He led them toward the tavern and she tried to do her best to act unsure while she followed him up the creaking stairs towards a surprisingly clean room. Gathering all of her courage she pushed him towards the door he had just closed, initiating what she hoped to be a searing kiss. He in turn reciprocated with vigor, picking up her light form and carrying both of them towards the bed.
She felt dirty inside, like she was betraying Ino's memory and couldn't bring herself to wait for her team any longer. She quickly channeled enough chakra to create a tiny scapple and poised it at the back of his neck before she was roughly thrown across the room, her head slamming into the wall with enough force to momentarily disorient her.
Nuru was suddenly across the room, fingers twisting into unknown handsigns before she felt an odd shimmer in the air and realized he had effectively cut off access to her chakra. "I should have known." he grumbled, his voice devoid of any charm. Gone was the suave twenty something who was looking for a night of fun, in his place stood a warrior at the ready who now had a leg up on her.
She immediately knew she had chosen poorly, she should have waited for her team and that if she managed to survive this she was going to be in serious trouble with her taichou, yet she couldn't shake the thought of revenge, that this was her fight.
And now she had what she wanted, just her and him. He started towards her and she was on her feet in a second, the lingering disorientation from the impact to the wall gone and her hand reaching for a senbon hidden in the back folds of her obi. He swung for her and she easily dodged, stepping to the side and landing a hit in his ribs that still caused a crack without her chakra.
He turned and ground out some insult to her while grabbing something from the pocket of his pants. A glinting wire was now stretched between his fists and she felt herself go numb. A flash of Ino's body with the thin red line dripping ruby droplets took over her vision and she launched herself towards him full of rage. She was swinging uncontrollably, a being of pure anger and no thought but she couldn't find it in herself to think rationally. In the fray she vaguely recognized her senbon being knocked free.
She felt the wire slice into her fist as she managed to grab it and throw it across the room leaving him weaponless. She knew she was fighting primally, all training long gone and replaced by fury, blood splattering the walls from the deep cuts inflicted upon herself with every swing. He was a close range fighter as well and due to her erratic swing had finally managed to knock her to the ground.
Strong fingers were around her neck, pressing down and his knees were on her hands his weight distributed in a way that suddenly she felt small and frail. Gone was the fire and rage, and she wondered where her team was, and if they even knew where she had gone. She was supposed to have a tail, they were supposed to be here by now.
Frantic thoughts rushed through her head as the air started to leave her lungs. She finally wrangled a hand free and grasped desperately for anything within reach. She felt the sharp edge of her senbon nick a finger and grasped it like a lifeline, swinging it up and plunging it deep within the green haired shinobi's unprotected neck.
His gaze so full of hatred swiftly turned to one of shock, and she watched as the life drained from them while his blood dripped on her face. Unclenching his fingers she pushed him off of her and slid back until she hit the bed. She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, momentarily noticing the rips in her yukata sleeves but paying them no mind. Thundering steps came running down the hall and the door was thrown inward, her team coming in at the ready yet she didn't react.
Instead she stared at the corpse in front of her and let the tears fall. She had gotten her revenge.
-xxxxx-
A/N: I just want to point out that every member of Sakura's ANBU team are real characters from Naruto, and some of them were even in ANBU. I don't generally like making OC's so I try to pull as many canon characters as possible. Points to anyone who knows the origin of all of the team members without looking it up. That being said Nuru is obviously an OC and I hope he didn't seem to unrealistic.
Anyways, please review. Goodnight all.