Chapter 21

A New Sensei

This story isn't dead yet! I know it's been a while since I updated, sorry but I kinda had some things that had to be dealt with before I could continue the writing. Anyway I'm back now so let's get this show on the road.

...

Sakura squirmed. It seemed that every question that Tayuya and Karin asked her, made her feel even more embarrassed and awkward. It started simple enough, but it got worse as it went on. The worst part of it though was when Tayuya described, in extreme detail, the night she got pregnant.

After what seemed to be hours, Naruto finally walked through the door again with Lucien right behind him. Naruto looked flustered while Lucien looked tired.

"Aw there goes my fun," Karin said.

Naruto switched his gaze to Tayuya. His sister started out by looking at him with her angelic face, but Naruto kept his impatient glare at his sister. "Well, we got the answers that we needed and we were bored."

"I was gone for ten minutes."

"Really? Damn I didn't think we had that much time." Tayuya shrugged. "If I knew we had that much time, I could have finished my story. So I'm there pressed against the window."

Sakura looked down with her face completely red. She didn't want to hear the rest of this story whether Tayuya was making it up or not. Either way, she couldn't help but blush every time she looked at the redhead. It was as if the story put a constant mental picture in her head, and it didn't help that Karin cast a genjutsu around the room showing her the images as well. The worst part of it was that Sakura's chakra was low and she couldn't get rid of it.

"ENOUGH!" Naruto shouted.

"Party pooper."

"Alright, now that we've had our fun it's time to get to business. Sakura, we are going to train you."

Sakura was perplexed. She was taken captive by these ninja yet now they were willing to train her. It made no sense. "Who are you trying to fool here? Look you and I both know that I'm only here because I have to be. Why train me just so I can escape!"

Tayuya laughed, and it made Sakura even more angry. "Pinky, no amount of training you get will ever make you able to kick my ass got it? Fact is, we know shit about you that pisses us all off. In time, you'll see for yourself all the messed up shit that happened to you, and when that happens you'll join us."

"What kind of things?" Sakura was concerned. Lucien had mentioned something about it, as had Karin, but they hadn't told her anything at all. That and Sakura could tell that Naruto was visibly angry about something, but she assumed it was Sasuke's words to her.

"It's not my place to say. Look Sakura, Konoha has a lot of dark secrets," Tayuya said.

"As do all villages."

"Yeah but we are talking about some serious messed up shit here. And speaking of messed up shit, it's about time we introduce you to your new sensei."

On cue the door opened up and in walked a woman with shoulder length black hair and onyx eyes. She stood at medium height and wore a black long sleeved shirt and black ninja pants. A Tanebi forehead protector hung from her neck. Sakura knew that she had seen this woman before, but she didn't know where. She looked so familiar.

"Sakura, it's nice to see you again. I haven't seen you since my little boy was just two." The woman began to tear up.

"I … we … have we met?" Sakura was confused. This woman looked certainly old enough to be her mother. Perhaps I know one of her kids maybe? Let's see, black hair, onyx eyes, she looks like. Sakura widened her eyes. She can't be. I mean, she did disappear years ago, but how could she?

"Yes, my name is Mikoto Uchiha, Sasuke's mother. I am so sorry about Sasuke's conduct. I'm afraid he takes after his father." Mikoto bowed to Sakura.

"How could you? How could you just go and abandon your child!"

"It's … a long story. I didn't want to ..." Mikota turned her head down to the ground, while Tayuya smacked Sakura in the back of the head.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Tayuya whispered harshly. "Damn she's been through some serious shit too you know?"

"But she left her child."

"No he was taken from her. Same as me. She'll open up eventually, but until then shut your mouth and do what she says."

Sakura glared at Tayuya but thought about what she said. She opened her mouth to say something, but when she did, she felt Tayuya's gaze at her so she kept quiet. Looking at Mikoto though, Sakura could tell she'd been through a lot. She and Kushina were close to the same age, but Mikoto looked much older and more tired.

"I'm sorry. I know it will be hard to train with a woman as horrible as me, but I'd appreciate it if you would train under me. Please go to training ground eight tomorrow morning. If you don't, I understand." With that Mikoto left, leaving Sakura confused and everyone else feeling sick.

"She blames herself for everything," Tayuya said. "All her dead friends, Sasuke, our father, mother, all of them. She thinks that all their suffering is her fault and she's placed the responsibility on herself for all these years. That bastard."

"What happened?"

"It's not our place to say," Naruto said. "She's not normally like that but there are some times where she'll just be out of it, in a void where nothing can get through to her."

"Why is she training me though? Surely there are stronger people than her here. She doesn't seem that strong."

"Our enemies are Uchiha. Did you know that the main line of Uchiha are inbred?" Lucien paused and Sakura shook her head. "They hold a tournament for all Uchiha girls whenever the next clan head becomes of age. Because bloodlines can only be transferred from women, they want the strongest Sharingan possible to give birth to the next clan head. Mikoto won, and based on what Kushina-sama says, it wasn't close. She knows things that few can understand and even fewer can replicate. That will be only a third of your regiment."

"Yeah, the other part will be training with Baa-chan." Naruto said.

"Your mother?"

Everyone in the room laughed. "Not quite my mother, but her temper is just as bad."

Sakura paled when a thought came to her. Karin, Tayuya, Kushina, Mikoto, and now this baa-chan? Is there a normal woman in this village?

…

"I don't understand Lord Hokage. Why enlist the help of Iwa?" Inochi asked the Hokage.

"Although we are allies, I hardly trust them, as they do us. There's still so much about Iwa that eludes us and I'm uncertain what their motives are. By pairing our Root agents with the shinobi Iwa will be sending us, I'll be closer to ascertain what their motives are."

Inochi looked at Fugaku blankly, trying to analyze him. In other words, he wants to know if Iwa knows about Sakura. He distrusts Root as well and thus he's giving both of them a chance to show their true colors. He wants me there as well. Does that mean he distrusts me as well?

"Do you have a dossier about the shinobi Iwa will send us?"

Fugaku opened up his desk and took out three scrolls. He then passed them over to Fugaku. Inochi opened the first one and saw a man wearing glasses. "Yakushi Kabuto. Age, 19 rank gennin? They're sending us a gennin?"

"Obviously a ploy. I was surprised to when I saw this. They either mean to insult us or have us see this as an obvious trap. He was one of the medics at the exam three years ago, but even then he had no hand to hand ninja skill. Still though, medical ninjutsu takes a lot of precision and control to perfect. With that kind of skill at his disposal ..."

"Also, with the chunin exams no longer in effect those ranking are no more than titles. He could be the strongest of them for all we know. I should keep a very close eye on this one. What of the others?"

Fugaku passed the other two scrolls over. The next one Inochi saw made him double take. "This man has 4 arms? I've never heard of a bloodline like that. And this one looks far to big and bulky to be considered efficient."

"I too have never heard of a bloodline that sprouts four arms. The Uchiha, and Konoha records don't show it. As far as the big one, it could be a clan like the Akimichi. Desertion fits them perfectly." Fugaku said.

"All gennin too. What of the shinobi sent by Root?"

"Danzo has yet to inform me. He likes to keep his shinobi hidden."

"I see, so in other words I'm traveling with six shinobi who all may want me dead. Will I have any shinobi under my direct command?"

"You will be leading this joint mission Inochi. All these men are yours."

"With all do respect my lord, from information gathered Root reports to Danzou and not you. Iwa, responds to their leader and not you. It would be easy for an accident to happen and the mission to either fall apart or not go the way desired."

"This is a simple rescue mission Inochi. What good would Iwa do with a kunoichi whose hardly considered useful?"

"Why would Iwa, Root, and yourself send such a large force to rescue such a useless girl? Surely Iwa wouldn't send such a force without asking that question."

Fugaku looked quizzically at Inochi. He wondered now just what Inochi really knew. "Already we are sending seven shinobi. Such a large force will warrant a lot of attention. Sending more would almost guarantee detection and failure."

"Only sending one of your own shinobi would do the same my lord. Should Root and Iwa decide to ignore your orders, I will wind up dead and the mission a certain failure. I need more shinobi to enforce your will."

Fugaku smiled. He normally didn't smile when he was disagreed with but this was an exception. "Very well. I'll give you one Konoha shinobi of your choice among our active roster. However, I expect results Inochi. Fail me here and I will not give you a chance to fail again."

With that Inochi got up, bowed and walked away. Shortly after, another Uchiha ninja entered the room. "You called for me Hokage-sama?"

"Yes, thank you for coming Tachi. It seems that loyalty among certain shinobi had wavered. I need to reenforce my authority among a certain clan. In 3 days a team will go out in search of Sakura Haruno. I want you to detain Ino Yamanaka that night by all means necessary."

…

Sakura had trouble sleeping at night. Recently the horrible dreams left her sick and scared. Even though she knew they were only dreams, they were so realistic, cruel, and in an odd way familiar. The punishment dealt to her in the dreams felt real as if her body remembered everything that happened. Suddenly, Sakura heard a creak in the door and pretended to be asleep. Underneath her blanket she grabbed a kunai.

"You can stop faking. I know you're awake."

Tayuya. What she was doing at this hour Sakura didn't know. "What are you doing awake?" Sakura let out a breath that she had been holding.

"Just finished fucking my husband and I'm hungry. Not the best sex we've had but with Lacus due to arrive soon we had to stop after only the second time. Normally ..."

"That's … quite enough." Sakura pulled her blanket over her head to hide her face. "I take it that you're here to talk about more than just your sex life."

Tayuya chuckled. "Yeah, but if you want, I can just talk about your sex life. I mean you and my brother seem pretty close if you ask me." Sakura pulled her blanket tighter around her body. "You know, you're so fun to tease."

"Look, I want to talk woman to woman. It's about everything since you've been here." Sakura pulled the blankets back to over her legs and sat up on the bed.

"Listen Sakura, I want to apologize to you."

"You mean for all the teasing and sex talk?"

"No that was funny and I stand behind that all the way. It's more on behalf of my husband." Sakura grunted and turned her face. Lucien was not a topic she wanted to talk about. "I know you haven't forgiven him yet, and I'm not sure you ever will. But I want you to know something. You can trust him. Lucien, Karin, myself and especially Naruto. You can trust all of us. Whatever you decide we'll support."

"What do you mean? What's going on?"

"Sakura, has anyone ever told you about my sixth sense?" Sakura shook her head. "Every time something really bad is about to happen I can sense it. I'm feeling that now more than anything. I have no idea what will happen, but I know something bad will happen soon and I want you to know that you can trust us."

"You could always let me go. If you guys say that I'm so important that everyone wants me, wouldn't it be safer to just let me …"

"THAT WON'T HAPPEN!" Tayuya yelled as she stood up and punched the wall before a small bit of pain took over. Sakura tried to get up and help her but Tayuya silenced her with her hand. "Sorry, but I'm not letting you back into those bastard's hands. They've fucked with you too much."

"What did they do? It's like you all know but I don't. What could possibly be so bad that nobody can tell me what happened to me? What did the Hokage do?" Sakura grabbed at her sheets again and started to cry.

"It's not my place to say. It's better that you figure it out yourself. Hell you may even remember it on your own."

"What can I possibly remember? How can I remember something if I have no idea what it is!" Sakura paused and widened her eyes. The sick she got after her dreams came back. But there was no way that could be possible though.

Tayuya looked at Sakura with a curious look. She saw the look of realization followed by a look of pain which probably meant that she realized something important and by the way she clutched her stomach, it was probably something about her past. Tayuya would have to let Karin know about this.

After a few moments of silence, Tayuya yawned. Sakura nearly giggled. Even when she yawned, Tayuya still looked ready to kill somebody. As she got up, Tayuya winced a bit and muttered something that sounded a bit like the word bitch.

"Are you okay?" Sakura said.

"She kicked me."

"Ohhh can I feel?" Initially the question earned a glare from the redhead. That glare however turned into a smile as she lifted her shirt past her belly and motioned for Sakura to feel her stomach. After a few seconds of waiting, Sakura felt it. Sure enough, when that happened Tayuya winced a bit, but she also saw something else in her face. She saw that Tayuya looked happy. Her face was warm and full of life. Sakura also smiled. She realized that this was the way Tayuya really was beneath her tough exterior.

Tayuya looked down at Sakura and saw her face. For really the first time since she came here Sakura looked happy. Sakura's eyes which had been mostly blank and tired suddenly began to begin to show some life.

"I think she kicks like her mom," Sakura said.

"You mention this to anyone and you'll relive just how hard I kick." Tayuya said changing her face to the customary scowl as she pulled her shirt back down over belly.

"Now, if you don't mind me, I think that Lucien is ready for the next round. Night."

As Tayuya left Sakura was left back to her thoughts. Initially, it was about how Tayuya was just trying to make her feel uncomfortable, but she couldn't tell if she was serious or not. However as those thoughts faded, she was brought back to the harsh reality of her nightmares. Perhaps, those nightmares were truths about the stuff that happened to her. Sakura took a deep breath and fell asleep. Only this night was different. As opposed to previous nights, this time she could feel a protector around her. She couldn't see his face, but she did see his pleasant blue eyes.

…...

Alright there we go another chapter down. I at least wanted to get this one up before Thanksgiving and I'm pleased to have met my goal.

Hope you guys liked this chapter because the next chapter the action is really going to pick up.

Thank you for reading.

Next Chapter, Mikoto's Riddle

Please review.