Chapter 21: Blind Side of Truth

Little Falcon: I've finally risen from my ashes! I can't update these past few months because my laptop, Viper, broke and now that he's at top condition again, I can write to my heart's content so watch out. Oh just like always, read and review please.

Standard Disclaimer: I don't own anything just the idea. If I did, I'd be the happiest person on earth.

Forked lightning split the moonless night sky, followed by the roaring thunder that echoed in his dark office. His phone was still in his hand. It had been hours since his last conversation with the person on the other line but he still holds it as if expecting a call.

Leaning back on his high chair, another blinding flash illuminated the room. For a moment, his onyx eyes caught a glimpse on the broken picture frame on the carpeted floor. No one was allowed to go inside this room without his permission, even the maids, so it was no surprise that the picture he threw and shot still lies untouched on the spot where it fell.

As the darkness reclaimed the place, his crimson eyes remained fastened on the photo where three kids were smiling enthusiastically with no care in the world. But one of them… was erased in the picture with a bullet hole in the face.

Flashback…

"We eliminated the target. The mission was carried out!" a teenager with spiky raven black hair and onyx eyes talked to the group of elders without fear. His entire body shook as he stood in between the people who trained them and the door that led to the torture chamber.

"Wrong! You may have disposed of the kid but your teammates showed absolute disobedience by hesitating to take the shot," Sasuke's blood froze as he realized that the possibility of defeating the elders with reason became unreachable. An assassin should never hesitate. There should only be the mission and nothing more that would trigger their actions. What his teammates did was sympathizing with the enemy… probably the worst thing a killer should do. "And now because of those insolent fools, the world knows 'we' exists! No sugar-coated rationalization can ever erase that and therefore their punishment will be the worst there is!" Their superior proclaimed as the others agreed in unison.

"The one who failed to kill will be put out in the manner that everyone in this organization will never forget," Sasuke's arms were restrained by older members as the elders continued. "As for the other one… she will share the same fate,"

"Do you really plan on killing this organization's top assassin?" Another pair of crimson eyes glowed as its owner step out of the darkness.

"Stay out of this, Itachi! You may be a candidate to be part of the council but you're overstepping your bounds,"

"I'm simply making you understand the consequences of what you are about to carry out," his gaze calmly passed his little brother before he looked at the council head on. "This team has had the first and only 100% success rate in fulfilling their mission. Their loss leaves a crucial impact," just from this implication the council grew restless.

"If we leave them as they are, other members would think this act is forgivable. We MUST make an example out of them!" Danzo, one of the council members, tapped his cane on the floor making the others agree reluctantly. "However, I see the point of your opposition,"

In all this argument, Sasuke found his voice trapped in his throat. He was left with no option but to listen as their fate was decided before his eyes.

In the end it was a decision made by their elected superior, Nagato that remained absolute. "Tainted Sun also known as Uzumaki Naruto will experience every level of pain. If he survives within three days, he will be left to live. Blood Countess, Haruno Sakura, would watch his torture until she realize the fault in her views and return to that cold hearted assassin she once were. And as for you Broken Blood," everyone faced the now pale faced teenager who struggled to look brave. "You are to witness everything while standing by their side. If you so much as bat an eyelash, she too will die,"

Just with that Naruto's fate was decided. No one had ever survived that punishment for even a few hours how much more for three days? However, his and Sakura's are different. He may not have done anything to save his whiskered teammate but he would do everything to let her live.

Only an hour has passed since the order was given yet it felt like forever in his personal hell. His best friend was almost cut open in front of him while Sakura cursed and begged at him to help them. Right then and there, Sasuke knew these sounds will be the ones he will be hearing every moment of his life, like a haunted conscience he can never block out.

When his brother intervened for his friends' sake, he was thankful that they were given a chance to live after the punishment was over but now that it was taking place, he wished that he should've let them to die. Death was a hundred times better than this.

As the door closed behind him, his insides turned as his legs shook before they gave way. Leaning on his hands, Sasuke felt the bitter bile build up on his mouth before throwing up. He thought he had seen enough to have an iron gut but he thought wrong. The last thing he remembered was hearing Sakura yell the whiskered blond's name before everything turned dark.

"NARUTO!" Instantly, he shot out of bed and ran into the holding cell to find it empty. His pupils dilated as he dashed for the council's meeting room.

His jaw tightened upon seeing Danzo casually walking towards him with a spine-chilling smile on his face. "WHERE ARE THEY?" Sasuke gripped the old man's shoulders and shook them violently.

"The council was extremely displeased with the effect of the punishment on them and therefore deemed it ineffective, so they finally realized the only way to strike fear into the heart of the organization's members,"

Soon after hearing the horrifying details, he raced for the cemetery. Rain poured in blankets of water over the town as he dug on the wet, compact earth with his bare hands. "Sakura, hang on," Was it rainwater that trickled down his cheeks or were they tears? He didn't bother to answer or to even feel his fingernails tearing from his nail beds with every handful of earth he scrapped out.

"I'm sorry, little brother," a voice said from behind before he felt a hit on his nape. A handful of dirt remained in his closed fists as he was carried back. The new marble tombstone watched as the two figures disappear.

End of Flashback…

A boy with unruly sun-yellow hair and bright blue eyes smiled so widely that whisker-like folds appeared on his cheeks. At his side was a girl with long pink hair that made her emerald eyes more dazzling with the radiant light. And at the other side was another boy… his face was taken by the bullet but his arms were crossed arrogantly and tips of his spiky raven black hair remained on the edges of the hole.

Quietly, the only person in the room picked up his coat, walked over the photo and shut the door.

"Would you like to know where 'he' is buried?" She thought she had prepared herself against anything her former teammate can throw but she was gravely mistaken. She found herself speechless, not a smart retort or even an innocent syllable out of her mouth. "I'll send you a message where," within hours after that conversation, her marble tombstone was found on the gates of the manor.

Just like a repeated scene, blankets of rain poured relentlessly as Sakura dug continuously. Her porcelain skin covered with grime and dirt and her long pink hair sticking to her neck and body with every movement. Her emerald eyes widened in surprised to hear her shovel hit something other than dirt. With difficulty, she swallowed as she cleared out the earth covering the wooden casket.

Her hands were shaking and her eyes were misted with tears as she took a long pain breath before she opened the lid. Her heart fell together with her tears as she looked at an empty casket. She bit her lower lip so hard that it bled. Her tears didn't show any signs of stopping so she shut her eyes and let the hard rain wash them away.

"I never knew you would stoop so low as to use 'him' to get to me," she didn't have to open her eyes to know who was watching her. They have been at each other's company enough to feel each other's presence.

"This was the only way I can talk to you," his tone was sincere as he offered his hand to pull her out of the ditch.

Slapping his hand away, Sakura crawled out of the hole without looking away from his eyes. "Too late, no matter what you say now will all be lies to me. There's no trust left in me to believe in you," she muttered as she stepped back.

The pain in her eyes was the same pain he saw years back, when she was tied on a chair begging him to help them. His helplessness back then paralyzed him now. He knew what she said was true, she would never believe him now. "If you won't listen voluntarily, then I'll just have to make you listen,"

Gunshots created a barrier in between them as another player entered the scene. "You didn't think I would make it that easy, did you?" his jade eyes glared at him ferociously as his unoccupied arm held Sakura tightly.

Little Falcon: Read and review please…