DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any other characters belonging to the Anime series. However, I do own the characters that were created by me – they will make their appearances in the later chapters.
Summary: Sakura and Tenten – both FBI Agents – are on a vital mission to eradicate one of America's largest and most feared Mafia Gangs. Sakura has no memory of her past. What happens as she finds the missing pieces when she encounters the mesmerizing, drop-dead attractive, Sasuke Uchiha, leader of the gang? PAIRINGS: Sasuke/Sakura with an equal share of Neji/Tenten. More pairings are included.
WARNING: This Fan-fiction contains VERY explicit content in later chapters. If sexual content, mild violence and aggressive language bother you, then it is advised that you discontinue reading this fiction immediately.
NOTE: 'Inner Sakura
'Thoughts' (Except for the short preface at the beginning of each chapter & Flashbacks)
Narrator's POV
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Withdrawing From the World…
The stillness of the night was disturbed by unearthly cries, and the scent of blood tainted the air. Her milky cheeks became damped with hot tears. She swallowed her sobs and hesitated for a moment to get over the pain that coursed throughout her entire body before pleading, "Please…stop…"
Kimimaro smirked.
"I'm sorry Sakura, but that's the price you have to pay if you refuse to cooperate. That's just the way things are in these harsh times. I'm sorry that you had to learn that the hard way," he said to her, sadistically.
Sakura glanced down at her abdomen, where the unknown of her stomach was once hidden to many. After processing the amount of damage that had been inflicted in that area, she was pretty sure that it was no more; so there was no point in pleading now. She felt hollow. Suddenly she did not care anymore. She hated herself more than she knew Sasuke would; she hated herself the point where she did not care if she lived or died.
Depression, guilt and hatred which she directed to herself, began to reign over all the physical pain. She closed her eyes and felt the breath of the demon against her ear. He spoke.
"This mission is worth a million U.S Dollars. I have been given half the amount – that means once my mission has been completed I'll receive the other half; and all it takes for the completion is your signature on a document. If you do exactly that, I'll let you go free. Understood?"
Her response was simple and to the pointing, meaning exactly what was said.
"Do as you wish…"
Neji clenched his hand over the wound that was centimeters away from his heart, as he stumbled down the deserted street. His injury was bleeding profusely, making him weaker by the minute. His feet were almost numb and his vision was blurred. Disposing of Kabuto's corpse was physically hard enough. Suddenly, he moved his hand to his mouth and coughed, bringing up blood; and losing his balance, he fell to the floor length ways.
'It doesn't seem that I will survive either,' he thought to himself. He winced. The pain seemed to be never-ending and felt as if one was being stabbed by a thousand katana blades.
Although he had gotten revenge for his clan, Neji did not seem to feel satisfied. Instead he was rather relived. It was too bad that he would not be able to assure Hinata and Hanabi that they would be safe, himself. Along with his very few emotions, he felt remorse and regret.
'She might never forgive me...I've failed her as her 'Guardian Angel' it seems…'
He closed his eyes and conjured up an image of her, memorizing every inch of he; every detail: the way her dark eyes when in shade turned light brown in the sun; the way she would seem at peace as she dreamt; the way her smiles drove away storms of anger, hatred, depression and pains. Dying with a memory of her would make his death beautiful in his eyes, even with his clothes torn and messy with blood. At this point, everything else was not worth remembering.
Neji had never feared death. As a child he brought himself to understand that every living thing shares the same destiny – death. Everyone had the power to shape their character; become their own person and reach their own goals, but no human could attain immortality.
Then, under the black skies, in the starless night, Neji found himself unconsciously smiling…
Nearly clinging to Kakashi, Ino followed the escorts down the path leading to the mansion of Sasuke Uchiha. Tenten had promised an arrangement for her and Kakashi to meet with Onikage on the next day, but the Uchiha insisted on meeting much earlier. From the way he spoke over the phone, Sasuke sounded furious. It was obvious that he did not like the idea of working with FBI Agents and there was something about his tone of voice that told her Sasuke already knew of her involvement. It was no doubt that Sakura had informed him about her chance encounter with Ino.
As they entered the house, Ino's eyes fell on a familiar face. His charcoal eyes looked everywhere, except where she stood. It became clear to her that he was avoiding any form of contact with her. He was standing near a man, about his height, with spiky blond hair and tired to appear as if he was speaking to the blond about something. Ino drew her attention back to current situation, discarding Sai from her memory…temporarily.
Finally they were brought into a large room which contained a long oval-topped wooden table in the center. The table was surrounded by chairs – enough to seat about thirty people.
"This is the Assembly Room. Please wait here…Mr. Uchiha and the others will be with you shortly," said the escort.
"Thank you," Kakashi said to the man who bowed respectfully before leaving the room.
Shortly after the man left, the large doors creaked open, revealing four men.
The Onikage members took their seats opposite the FBI Agents. Then, the discussion began…
"Well…I guess we'll start off by introducing ourselves," Kakashi began, "I'm Kakashi Hatake." He extended a hand to greet Sasuke, followed by Sai, Shikamaru and Naruto and then beckoned Ino to give her introduction as well.
"I'm Ino Yamanaka," she said.
"So you weren't lying about your name," Sai said to Ino in monotone.
Sasuke shot him a questioning glare, but Sai did not respond.
"You both are probably aware of the whole situation," Shikamaru began. He received a nod from both agents. "And from what we were told, you both want to assist us in finding Sakura…am I right?"
"That is correct," Ino responded.
"But are you both aware that your colleague's action was one of betrayal?" Sasuke spoke for the first time.
Kakashi turned toward Onikage's leader. "There is something you've clearly failed to realize, Sasuke Uchiha," Kakashi began, "For the past few years that I've been working with Sakura; I've come to understand that she does nothing without reason. If you asked any other agent about her, they'd say the same thing."
Everyone's attention averted to the sound of opening doors. Both Ino and Kakashi's hearts skipped a beat as they saw the female figure make her way to the table.
"I'm sorry that I'm late," Tenten said, finding a space near Naruto.
A long, detailed discussion was carried out about Sakura's past. The story was told by Sasuke, who put it in the shortest and most understandable form possible. Then, Tenten explained Sakura's current situation, leaving out a most important part. For a moment she contemplated on whether the truth should be spoken or not, thinking that maybe it would ease Sasuke's anger toward Sakura. But then, she gave her contemplation a more careful second thought, before concluding that it would only anger Sasuke even more; he could end up killing Sakura…if she was, hopefully, still alive…
Then suddenly, the door opened. Now standing before the meeting was a teary-eyed Hinata Hyuuga…
Kimimaro kicked her again and again, on the same spot on her stomach, driven by anger. Who was she to tell him what to do? Why was he not afraid of death? For every blow she received, Sakura made no sound of agony or discomfort. Her eyes remained lifeless, her face pale and blank. Then suddenly all motion stopped when Kimimaro's cell phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Have you gotten her to sign the documents?" Orochimaru's voice was heard on the other line.
"No…she refuses to cooperate. She even said that she'd rather die," Kimimaro replied.
"No…I need her alive. Just keep her under security until I get back. I lost Guren…it's no use continuing my search. I'll be there in an hour," Orochimaru informed, and the call was disconnected…
"Hinata…what's wrong?" Naruto asked her as she cried into his chest. Everyone was staring quietly, waiting for the woman to respond.
"I-It's…N-Nej-ji…" Hinata said in between hiccups and sobs.
"Hn…what did that fool get himself into?" Sasuke asked.
There was a long pause, in which Tenten shot a vicious glare at Sasuke who ignorantly discarded it. She was worried about Neji. She was impatient and tense inside. She could hear and feel her heart pounding as if it would burst through her chest.
"That mission Hyuuga took on was his own business," Sasuke began, "If he gets into trouble, I will not intervene –"
"HE'S DEAD! HE CALLED ME, TELLING ME HIS LAST WORDS!!! HE'S GONE, SASUKE!!"
Hinata's screams echoed throughout the room…
Tenten's legs felt numb. There seemed to be a coldness circulating all around her. Her mouth felt dry.
Her head ached…and so did her heart…
She seemed to have forgotten how to cry; she was so confused. The feelings inside her were not easy to comprehend. Depressed did not even begin to describe her state.
'Dead?' she thought, 'How could he be dead…that's not possible…right?'
Her lips curved into a smile…then a small chuckle escaped from the back of her throat.
"What are you talking about, Hinata? Neji is here…he's probably still asleep…c'mon, I'll show you," Tenten said and began to walk in the direction of the bedroom she shared with Neji.
Everyone looked at each other, shocked at Tenten's reaction. Even Hinata had stopped crying and Sasuke revealed the confused expression on his face that usually concealed his emotions.
Hinata stood from where she was seated and followed Tenten out of the Assembly Hall.
As she made her way to the bedroom, she thought about how she could bring Tenten to realize the reality of the situation; to break her out of the shock. She did not know that something such as Neji's death, would affect Tenten like this. She did not know that the two were this close.
When Hinata arrived at the bedroom, she met Tenten screaming into one of Neji's pillows. Reality had struck…and it hit her hard…
Hinata did the only thing she could think of to comfort her. She separated Tenten from the pillow and cuddled her.
Sasuke stepped out of the room to answer a call.
"Sasuke Uchiha?" the man asked.
"Who are you?" Sasuke asked, noting that the voice sounded familiar.
"I have no time to explain. We've met before…at the race. If you wanna get back the Hyuuga alive and in one piece, go to the West Wing Hospital in Oakwood City..."
The call was disconnected…
Without wasting any time, he informed Tenten, Hinata and the other Onikage members…
Sakura squinted as she took several more kicks to the stomach. Then suddenly, he stopped. Sakura coughed up some blood into her palms. Even with the difficulty of breathing, she listened to the sounds of murmuring coming from outside the room. From what they sounded like, it appeared that Kimimaro was talking to someone over the phone again.
Within five minutes he was back in the room. He did not resume his previous actions. Instead, she sat on the chair opposite her, and brought his hands to his head as if he was stressed.
Sakura swallowed some blood. "What's the matter? Can't bring yourself to kill me yet?" Sakura asked provokingly, "You've killed so many FBI Agents before…why so hesitant now?"
"Just SHUT THE FUCK UP!" he shouted. He took a few deep breaths in before continuing.
"That woman you were with earlier has my fiancée under hostage." He got up and moved over to Sakura, delivering one nasty punch to her left cheek.
"And you know what she said?" he asked, breathing into her ear. Sakura did not respond.
"She said if I don't return you to a certain destination, she'll kill Tayuya," he continued.
After being injected with a particular substance several times before, Sakura found that she could no longer feel pain from the wounds inflicted by Kimimaro. She was beginning to feel rather light headed and her senses were starting to feel as though they were corrupted. Soon she realized that her chest was still, her stomach doing no work at all. She could not feel any air passing through her nostrils.
Then, slowly everything faded to darkness…
Out of everyone that went to the Hospital, Tenten and Hinata were the first to find the Operating Room in which Neji was being attended to. They were all informed that he was in critical condition and needed to get into surgery immediately.
After an hour, the head doctor returned from the room with news that Neji would survive and just needed a lot of rest.
Tenten sat in the waiting room, thinking of how she almost lost her mind. It was almost unbelievable. She questioned how much she could handle mentally. At least she did not break down after catching a glance at Neji's condition. His chest area was bandaged and the bloodstains from the small wounds on his face were cleaned. For the first time, Neji appeared to vulnerable. But she did not care. The only thing that mattered was that Neji had survived.
Sasuke signed Neji's Medical Forms as he was his superior. Even though he did not genuinely care about Neji, Sasuke knew that he was an important asset to Onikage which is why he took the initiative to pay the Medical fees.
"Tch…annoying…" he muttered as he felt his phone. He looked at the unknown caller ID and remembered the anonymous caller from before, who told him about Neji. But this caller's number seemed different.
"Who is this?" he asked on answering the call.
"I'm a friend of Sakura. I'm sure that by now you must have realized her intentions…I take all responsibility for Sakura's actions. My organization threatened to kill her associates and family if she didn't respond the way we wanted her to…" a woman explained.
Sasuke hid the fact that he was shocked. But still, he was not sure about what the woman said. To him, she sounded as if she was covering up for Sakura; as if Sakura had done something wrong. He decided to figure out the situation without asking direct questions.
"You still haven't answered my question – who are you?" Sasuke asked, keeping his cool.
"My name is Guren…that's all you'll need to know," she answered.
"And what other business did you have with Sakura?" Sasuke pressed on.
"I'm not obliged to tell you that. All I'm gonna say is that she willfully agreed to work with my organization in secrecy. If you want to know more then ask your wife when she wakes up –"
"What does that mean?"
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but Sakura was severely wounded. And she…well…I hold myself responsible for her condition. I should have known better –"
"Where is Sakura now?" Sasuke asked, almost in a panicked tone.
"Ward #6 of the third floor of West Wing Hospital, Oakwood City," Guren answered…
With that info in mind, Sasuke swiftly made his way out of the waiting room, relieved that he would reach Sakura soon, as he was at the hospital already.
'Sakura's in a coma…' he recited. Nothing in the world ever made him feel as worried and shock before as he was now. He put aside what he had just learned about Sakura's decision. His thoughts were now all focused on her life.
Why was it that every time Sakura was in danger, he could do nothing about it? Why was it that she always seemed to be out of his reach? Why did he feel as if he was losing her all over again?
When he arrived at the ward, he immediately identified himself to the nurses in charge and questioned about Sakura's condition.
"I'm sorry Mr. Uchiha, but you'll have to wait until the doctors have fully examined her," one of them replied.
As Sasuke waited outside the ward, on the corridor, he counted the minutes that went by. They seemed like hours.
It had been two minutes since he spoke to the nurse…
Then three…
Three minutes, fifteen seconds…
Five minutes…
The door to Sakura's ward clicked open.
"You must be my patient's husband…am I correct?" the doctor asked as he stepped out of the ward.
"Hn…" Sasuke said nothing more, gesturing for the doctor to continue.
"I'm Dr. Matsuda. After a thorough examination of your wife, we have come across some bad news…"
His heart sank.
Yes.
Yes, he was losing her again.
This time, she was withdrawing from the world…
End of Chapter 25! This also brings us to the end of yet another Arc. I know this Arc was rather short, but that's how I planned it. It feels good to know that everything is going according to plan.
I just want to thank everyone who still took the time to review. For that, I gave you a gift (a surprise chapter: Chapter 25). If I receive 15 reviews or more for this Chapter, I'll surprise you guys with another update! XD (420+15= 435)
And guys don't get discouraged by the manga about SasuSaku. I read that Kishimoto said that Sakura still has feelings for Sasuke (and that was expressed in an interview for what's going to happen in 2010!)
Thanks for reading! And please excuse my errors…I'm really tied up with school stuff etc. Enjoy!
--Iz.