SUMMARY

There was another surprise waiting in the Chuunin Exams. A mysterious woman chooses Sakura and forces an ultimatum: hunt me down, or I'll kill everyone you love.

RATING

High T

LENGTH

1723 words

FOREWORD

Now we can finally begin to move forward! I know I've been boring you lately.

いたこ

I-TA-KO

Eleven

Bargaining

LEAF VILLAGE, HOSPITAL; KONOHA

Dr. Edogawa stood across from her with a small chart in his hands at the foot of her bed, furiously scribbling down notes. The Hokage sat to her left, perched on the chair that normally rested by the window. When her doctor had come into her room with armfuls of paper, Sakura hadn't been surprised, but when the Hokage himself followed, her pink eyebrows shot up to the highest they could go. Clueless, she silently watched them as they made themselves comfortable in her new home, taking in the sight of their leader with her new eyes. His aura matched the scarlet coloring of the robes he wore, and for some reason the gennin felt nervous about this.

There was absolutely no way she could say anything—what if she caused the Hokage to spontaneously combust, much akin to the bird? Perhaps that only happened if their auras were gray—but she wasn't sure. Maybe certain people's glow had a different pattern? But what if she could somehow lighten the color? Would that do the opposite and make it darker, or would it only provoke the aura to turn to black? Too many uncertainties, so Sakura kept her mouth quiet, trying to reassure her that it was not her responsibility to help people.

No, right now, though the Hokage's aura was perturbing, Sakura was the one who felt like she was dying. She was the one who needed help right now. She was.

"Sakura-san," Dr. Edogawa broke into her spoiled thoughts, now using her first name due to their friendship during her extended stay. "Hokage-sama and I have come to discuss your future." In the back of her mind, the girl wondered what kind of future she had left. "Due to some recent… Incidents, your choices are restricted."

"I apologize for your loss, Sakura-chan," the Hokage muttered, placing an aged hand on her pale one. Resisting the urge to pull away and get angry, Sakura kept her eyes on Dr. Edogawa. She hoped that once she left the hospital, not everyone would feel the need to pity the new orphan.

Orphan. The word felt bitter in her mouth. What she would give, right now, just to wake up from this nightmare.

"What choices do I have, Edogawa-san?" her voice sounded strange and flat. The blond played with the paper stack, flipping them at the corners. His guilt and the Hokage's sympathy weighed down on her shoulders, adding to the hopelessness she already felt.

"It depends on your preference. At this point in time, you are near fully healed. Your stomach and its organs have checked out okay, and any other injuries are gone. Your eyes are not exhibiting any strange characteristics…" Other than the obvious one, she heard him continue silently mentally, and she nodded. "We've decided that a course to reinstitute you in a civilian lifestyle would be best."

The various thoughts floating around in her head fell still. She recoiled into her bed, ripping her hand away from the Hokage.

"What." She hoped she sounded as furious and hysteric as she was.

"Of course, we have a suitable civilian family ready to receive you, but if you'd like to live alone instead, we can arrange it—"

"No!" she cut him off shrilly. "Why are you doing this? You… You don't—can't understand!" Sakura could not be a civilian. She had molded herself already into a ninja-mindset; she would forever feel alienated. Her family was dead—why would she want a new one so quickly? Responses such as these flitted through her mind, but one in particular caught her in a nauseous whirl.

Takae. Takae wanted her to hunt her down and kill her. Civilians could not freely cross country borders—they weren't even allowed to train in the ninja arts! She needed to be a ninja to follow Takae's orders; if she didn't everyone… Everyone…!

"I," she cried out, desperate to make them change their minds, "I can't be a civillian. I won't be a civilian… I need this!" The Hokage seemed startled by her sudden shift from emotionless to raving, but her doctor was already used to such outbursts.

"Listen, Sakura-san, there's a lot happening right now, and we know that it'll be hard at first, but…"

"No," she bit out, rubbing circles in her temples. "Please, please, I'll do anything for this. I need this." The unchanging steel of an experienced doctor choked her, and Sakura felt her body curl into a ball. She couldn't change his mind. Sakura would be forced to become a regular person, unable to do anything but count off the number of people yet to die. Her heart pained her, and somewhere in the lucid part of her consciousness, she wondered if this was an oncoming heart attack. "I'll do anything."

"You're that desperate, Sakura-chan?" the Hokage asked, his face crinkling into a kind, approving smile. Everything churning inside her body quieted, and she could breathe again. "If you are really serious about continuing as a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf, then…" Sakura glanced at him, making sure his eyes held only honesty.

They did.

"Oh," she wept though no tears fell, "thank you so much, Hokage-sama. Thank you." This time, it was Sakura that reached out for his hands, taking them in a fierce grip. She looked to her despicable doctor, only to see a huge grin on his face. Confused, she looked to the Hokage for an answer.

"During the investigation of your home, the ANBU found a note addressed to you, Sakura-chan," Sarutobi began, reaching into his robes. A moment later, he pulled out a starch white note, pinched between his fingers. He handed it to the gennin, continuing. "We needed to be sure of your conviction before making any further plans." With shaking hands, Sakura flipped open the letter, only to nearly tear it half right then.

Please do not forget about my promise, Haruno Sakura-san. I'll be waiting.

Shuddering, Sakura closed the note, quickly handing back to its deliverer. She had known that Takae was the one to kill her parents, and this note only cemented it. Takae was a woman of her word, perhaps the only positive thing Sakura could attribute to the woman.

"What does this have to do with my future?" asked Sakura, pressing the heel of her palm into her forehead. "Why did you think this letter changed anything?"

"Simple." The Hokage gently rubbed the paper between his fingers, watching the paper bend to the fold. "We have strong suspicion that Kaihou Takae is your parents' murderer, and we believe that you are her next target, in case what she did at the Prelims was actually meant to finish you." Sakura snorted, hiding her upper face in the curve of her hand.

"I wish she was after me," Sakura mumbled, leaning back into her raised bed. If Takae was aiming for her, everything would have been so much simpler.

"What do you mean?" The Hokage leaned forward, his voice low. Sakura peeked an eye at him, startling in its whiteness.

'Will telling him about her true targets instantly kill them?' the pinkette wondered. Would speaking generally somehow register as her changing fate, and suddenly all her friends would be bloody messes? Maybe she could only change death by direct contact? Bottling her anger at not knowing anything, Sakura decided it probably wouldn't hurt as long as she didn't use specifics.

"Takae promised me that she would kill everyone I loved unless I hunted her," Sakura told them quietly, as if sharing a secret. "My parents must have been a warning, showing that she's serious." It was unsettling to speak of her parents so unfamiliarly. "I have to be a ninja so that I can kill her…"

"Sakura-chan." The Hokage pulled her pale hand away so that she could see his serious face clearly. Wrinkles gained from long years of tiring politics bent to highlight his downturned lips and furrowed brow. "You must understand that running after this woman will not solve anything."

"If I don't, then what? She'll just kill everyone!"

"Don't worry about that," Dr. Edogawa spoke up, putting his paperwork down. "The Hokage is going to set up ANBU patrols to watch for suspicious activity, so the chances of Kaihou coming anywhere close to Konoha citizens are slim." Nonplussed by his mollification, Sakura stared out the window listlessly, burned out from all this talk of Takae.

"If you say so." Shaking his blond head, Dr. Edogawa picked up a sheet of paper, flicking it with his index finger.

"Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about your training as a ninja." Sakura shifted her eyesight to her doctor's relaxed form, analyzing the paper that seemed to be her patient file. Immediately, the bold red word, "BLIND," caught her attention.

"Hey, why does it say—" she began, only to be swiftly cut off.

"It's the most logical choice right now," he answered, tapping the paper twice. "You mentioned to me once that it was horrible seeing what you see—" a quick glance at the Hokage told Sakura he was already partial to her new ability "—so if we put you down as a blind ninja, you have an excuse to cover your eyes." The rosette pondered this, wondering how successful this ploy would be. True, she had desperately wished for an opportunity to continue like normal, but a ninja without sight?

"Most of your colleagues," the Hokage picked up secretively, "also believe you to have lost your vision as well. When your teammates visited you a week ago, they seemed convinced." Sakura ignored the bitter clenching of her stomach at the mention of that awful day. "While I'm sure it does seem unbelievable right now, there are generous amounts of shinobi that manage to fight despite a handicap."

"I'm not worried about something like that," Sakura said, staring at the two men determinedly. "I'll make it work. I just want to know when I can start training again." 'But this time,' she added mentally, a resolution to keep herself on the right path, 'it'll be serious.'

The Hokage's thin lips pulled upward, pleased with the will of fire his ninja could express, even during difficult times. "Don't worry about that, dear. We have the perfect teacher already chosen for you."

Where'd all my reviewers go? I'm thankful for you guys that try to review every chapter. I hope finally moving past the hospital will be a nice March gift.

SanDavis687

Angry Paradox

crazycherry459

Black-footed

Waiting for 00Sakura00 to contact me again... Until then, any problems?

EDITED 3/2/12; noticed a rather obvious error