Disclaimer: No. I'm not writing this again. I obviously don't own Naruto

Chapter 8

6 Months later

I clenched my fists as I looked down at the ground, refusing to show any signs of weakness. My upper arm continued to throb, almost drawing tears from my eyes.

'How un-humerus.' I thought dryly. Eh, I'd survive. I grew immune to certain amounts of pain quickly. You wouldn't understand it's a root thing. At least it was over for today, maybe. Sometimes the root anbu would attack us 'trainees' in our sleep. At least it improved my skills, I could now beat a few of the other 'trainees'. It was a fluke most of the time if I'm being completely honest. I'm not arrogant enough to think I could win against anyone else with just pure skill, that mission was purely dumb luck.

Today was the day we were getting partners. I hoped my partner was already socially constipated, it would be easier to kill them that way. I would still drown in guilt. I dreaded the day that would come when would fight to the death, and I didn't even know who my partner was yet. Troublesome. But there's no way I'm abandoning Nee-san and everyone else, even if it means selling my soul to the devil. I will do anything to make it out alive.

"Team 1, Akira, and Sayuri. Your living quarters will be in room one. Team 2..."

I swallowed down the vomit that slowly made it's way up my throat and put on the trademark poker face that every root agent was famous for.

"Hello~!" Akira waved his hand in front of my face, waiting for a response. I chose to stay silent, continuing to eye the ceiling from my 'bed' which was really just a spot in the corner of our room with a thin blanket.

"Man, you're really weird and boring. Who even has pink hair like that?" He sighed in disappointment, shaking his head. My eye twitched. Akira brightened immediately.

"I got a reaction from you! Ha! You're not emotionless after all!" He laughed, pointing at me. I glared.

"What do you want?" I grumbled, rolling on my face.

"I want to know your name! My name is Akira!" He declared, holding his hand out for a handshake and pouting when I didn't accept it. I rolled my eyes and rubbed my arm in irritation, before wincing. Note to self, don't rub your broken arm.

"Sayuri." I responded lazily, not moving from my current spot. Akira nodded, smiling before shouting about how cool a name that was.

I glanced up at him in annoyance. That attitude was just asking to go to the torture room, and I wanted nothing to do with it. I wanted to come out of this as mentally stable as possible and at least with some emotions left.

"Hey Sayuri?"

"What?" I hissed.

"Want to be friends? You seem like a cool person." Akira grinned excitedly, vibrating with energy. His grin was so wide I thought his face was going to tear open. It reminded me of someone.

'I wonder how they are doing. I hope they got over my "death".'

"You just said I was boring and weird. And no. We are acquaintances at most." I replied, slightly smirking at the slightly disappointed expression on his face.

"But we're partners now, so we have to be friends." Akira corrected, waving his hands in the air.

"No. And stop waving your arms around, you might possibly poke my eye out." I disagreed, more than just slightly irritated by now. I crossed my arms.

'I can't kill a friend.'

Hazel green eyes narrowed in a serious expression. Akira stared at me with a curious expression, before smiling softly.

"I see. You don't want to get close to me, in order to make it easier to kill me. I understand."

I stared up at him in shock. How the hell did he change personalities so fast?! Why does he care?

"I'll take your silence as a yes."

I nodded silently. Troublesome. Denying it would not help in this situation, he already knew the truth.

'What the hell does he want? I'm not going to let him kill me.'

"Ne, ne, have you ever thought of escaping?" Akira grinned dangerously, waiting for an answer. Crazy. Slightly possible, almost impossible. And crazy.

"You're crazy. We could be tracked by our seals, we can't even say anything because of our seals. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm not that great at combat," I glared down at my fists, "and my strategy isn't very good. I'm slightly good at stealth, but that's all."

"Well then, I'd guess we would have to find someone who would know about our seals and be willing to help us." He replied.

'The only people who would know, besides the Hokage- No that's very bad.'

"I guess you already know who I'm talking about, Sayuri," he conjectured, eyes analyzing my every move and facial expression.

"You seriously want to go to Orochimaru. Why? You could turn up being a sacrifice for a lab experiment. Why bring me? You don't even know me. Who are you? No, you're a spy, aren't you?" I asked as I ran my fingers through my hair, getting my hands tangled up in knots.

Akira chuckled darkly. "No. I'm not a spy. I just want to get revenge on Danzo, no matter what. And why would I bring you, we're friends now, and friend's don't abandon each other."

I frowned. I don't remember saying we were friends. And I swear everyone in this damn anime had a bad childhood. I mean, I can't really say anything either, which just proves my point even further.

"And what if I don't want to escape?" I questioned, observing his expression carefully. Akira smirked slightly.

"I know you do, you're pretending to be loyal and once you gain trust you're ditching here, aren't you?"

'Actually, I'm just waiting for duckbutt-teme to kill the bastard, but close enough. That was plan c if Duckbutt chickened out. Plan b was killing Danzo myself. How? I don't know.'

I sighed, pinching my nose. "Ok, how so do you plan on having us escape? We're not even at chunin level, during missions there's a chance we'll be watched. And if we escape, how do we know where to find Orochimaru and if he will kill us or not. The smartest choice would be to get stronger be the most loyal to Danzo, and kill him when he least expects it. And that's forgetting the fact that we have to fight to the death." I rambled under my breath, tapping my forehead in thought.

"You're smarter than you think. You just found a bunch of holes in my strategy and possible even more, underestimating yourself is you weakness, Sayuri-chan." Akira chirped excitedly, switching personalities again. "But, I already have a plan."

"Tell me, but first, promise on your freaking life that you won't abandon or kill me." I ordered sternly, holding out my hand.

"Of course, I promise on my life that I won't kill or abandon you."

We shook hands.

I just want to apologize for not updating. Writer's block, ya know? Lol there's a cliffhanger, I'm such a troll UwU.

Question: Favorite color?

My answer: red or black.

Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Ja Ne!