-000-

Chapter 18

-000-

White and Red

-000-

-00000-

-000-

"Slept soundly last night?" Sasori said casually from the other line.

"How did you know I'm here?"

"Didn't know you'll be spending time with that bastard. And out of town, nonetheless." He grunted. He was trying to sound relaxed. "Saw you in the news last night. It was all blurry but I know it was you. Didn't know he has a thing for redheads. Thought just the pink ones."

I tried to conceal again that sting of jealousy from my voice. "Saw that, did you. Well, as if he's not popular enough."

"I know that place so I called in to check how you're doing. Didn't actually expect to see you in national television. I've been looking for you since yesterday."

"I didn't either, but I'm fine. I'm not supposed to be here, anyway. It's sort of unplanned."

"How long will you be staying there?"

"I'm going back home today."

"So is he there? I bet he's itching to speak with me."

"No, he's not here since I woke up."

"You actually share a room together?!" I could imagine his irritated expression now.

"It doesn't matter, Sasori." I sighed. It's a nice morning to be spoiled with their bantering. "I'll be going back after breakfast, anyway. He can stay here if he wants to. I have to be home this christmas eve. What've you been up to?"

"Just… rogue student duty." He said dully.

There was a short pause from the other line.

"He's not as great as you think he is, Sakura." Sasori mumbled.

"Don't you think I know that by now?" I joked.

"I'm serious." He said. "I bet he didn't even care to tell you, did he?"

I watched the patterned gray wallpaper in front of me as I listened to him. "Care to tell me what?"

"He's keeping you entertained, I'm guessing."

"Well, kinda. The cameramen last night were unexpected, though. If that's what you mean by entertainment."

"And he spoke of nothing else more." It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"Should I need to know something?" I clutched the receiver more closely. "Did you call for something, Sasori?"

"First, promise me you'll be home with your parents tonight." he said.

"Okay, promise." I knew it was going to be a lie before I even spoke it, but I wanted to know what he had to say quickly.

"As a rogue student, I shouldn't be sharing this info to you... but I think you ought to know." He spoke. "I knew he's too much of a Mortis Org pet to even care to tell you something. It would be breaking the rules, anyway. Like he's even got some image to keep clean."

"What is it?"

"Your team had the task before to retrieve the files that's been hacked from the Mortis Guild, right?" said Sasori. "We had a meeting just the other day about it. Both rogue students of Ame and Konoha."

Of course, I wasn't a rogue student yet and I had no purpose nor right to attend such official meetings. I could only attend those with tasks assigned to me as an applicant of the org.

"Well, it seems like a hefty part of those hacked info were about your grandfather, First Class Commander Sarutobi."

"What?"

"They're targeting him, Sakura. The demi-humans want him dead. The info were mostly about his profile and past records. They didn't get everything, but they had a good look at it before your teammates were able to retrieve them back."

I started to recall my grandfather's whereabouts that day. I started to guess where he might be at this very moment. I realized again he never tells me his whereabouts at all.

"Do you know where Sarutobi is right now, then?" I asked in a rising alarm. I knew this was a huge possibility. Sarutobi was a noted rogue. Instinctively, the enemies would want him dead. But knowing it was actually happening still felt like a slap of reality on the face.

"Don't panic, okay? As far as I know he's with the guild this morning." Sasori said calmly.

"I'm not panicking. They're not going to leave him somewhere alone, right? The rogues?" I asked anxiously, looking out the window as if hoping someone would show up.

"I think not." said Sasori. "They have a plan about it and it's what I think you should at least know as his only relative related in the underworld."

I listened silently.

"Turns out that bastard's brother, Itachi, is working for the guild undercover." He continued.

I knew about this already from Sasuke.

"Tsunade made it clear to us during the assembly. Itachi proposed the idea of turning over Sarutobi-sama to Orochimaru tonight at the Lantern Festival near the east harbor. There'll be too many people there to notice them. Orochimaru wouldn't agree on some deserted place to meet since he'll know for sure that's it's going to be an ambush. He knows rogues don't like creating mess in public and involving victims. But the snake creep wants to get his hands on Sarutobi himself. He thinks Itachi is doing undercover work for him, instead of the other way around. I was too occupied to even think he's a double agent. Itachi promised him he'll be meeting Sarutobi there for a mission, and the demi-humans can make an ambush attack there instead and get a hold of him. But in truth, the rogues will all be hidden securely there and they'll catch them without expecting it."

Tonight was christmas eve. So I guessed Sarutobi was not planning to spend it with us at all…

"And automatically, grandpa agreed to it." I murmured.

"Yeah. It's a risky move for him." Sasori said. "That's why I think you should at least know about it. I don't want you knowing about it in the last minute if… you know… it all gets out of control."

"You'll be there tonight at the mission and the festival?" I asked.

"Yeah, and so is that cocky teammate of yours." He said. "Should've known he's not gonna blabber that to you. He's too selfish and too loyal. He's good at pretending in front of you."

I was glowering at the wall in front of me now.

Yes, Sasuke was really good in hiding his feelings. He was unpredictable, actually. He could kiss you so deeply that the world would feel like it was only revolving around him, and he could as easily torment you that you'd wish you had never known him at all.

"Now, go home and keep safe in your house tonight, all right? Don't do anything stupid. I'll keep you updated as soon as the mission's over."

That's a useless idea.

"Looks like rogues don't get christmas holidays." I said lightly over the phone, trying to appear at ease. "Thanks, Sasori. I'm glad you told me."

"Who else will?" he yawned over the phone. Guessed he stayed up late last night, too. "I'll see you soon."

"See you."

He hung up the phone, but I still kept the receiver against the side of my face, pondering… It took me a minute to move from where I stood.

-000-

-00000-

-000-

I needed to get my head off the clouds. I could still imagine his warm kisses on my lips last night.

My grandfather's in danger and yet here I was, stupidly enjoying the holidays. Guilt suddenly rose inside me.

Sasuke trusted me enough before to say that hidden task about his brother, but I should've expected he won't be saying a thing about this other one. He was too engrossed with his job. He liked looking for trouble and making Tsunade's head explode every now and then, but not at this kind of matter. I was closely related to the one involved.

Sharing info with individuals not included in an underworld mission was an official offense. A rogue student's level would be affected. It was a different matter if it was a mess outside the org and within the org's terms.

I wondered if his family even already knew that his brother was a double agent as of that day.

Sasuke found me in a nearby cafeteria half an hour later, alone at a corner while hurriedly eating scrambled eggs and drinking tea for breakfast. I tried to look as composed as I could, trying not to think about what Sasori just told me this morning. He looked well rested despite being up early. I didn't want to act troubled at all, at least not on the outside.

"Been looking for you in the inn the whole morning." He said as he dropped a big box of pastries on the small wooden table and sat opposite me. He wore a black jacket. "And since I bought you breakfast, you're also gonna eat it now."

"I was already hungry. It took you too long." I said, only looking down at my plate.

"I had to look for another exit. The damn inn was swarming with psychos at the lobby." he said.

Seemed like his maniac fan girls found out where he was. Just like how Sasori found out where I was.

"I'm going home after this, anyway."

"I'll take you home." He said, taking my cup of tea and drinking from it again. I noticed he liked taking my food even if he had his own. He just ignores his most of the time.

"Aren't you going to stay? Thought you don't want to spend christmas alone in your place. You seemed to have enjoyed the snowboarding and that little CPR yesterday." I said, trying to sound comfortable and ignoring his glare. I was trying to check how he was going to react. If he was going to lie about his mission tonight which Sasori had spoken about.

"Got something to take care of." He said, no trace of guilt there. Oh, he was really good at keeping things to himself.

"What something?"

"Motorbike orders." He shrugged. He was really good in keeping a vacant expression that it became his skill now.

On the other hand, he looked comfy with me that morning. We didn't speak about last night nor how we got along. He was not the type who likes talking much about relationships, anyway. He preferred setting them into action. In a weird, quite not understandable way. He just wanted to do whatever he wants. He was still impatient waiting for me to finish my meal but he didn't argue further. He even held my hand as we got out of the coffee shop. I was too full and he threw the remainders of the pastries he bought in a trash bin. It still had a lot of left overs. I had to retrieve it quickly from there and fed it to the stray cats near the shop, instead. He just watched me as I did so.

I let him drove me back to the city that morning. The loud metal music from the stereo was clamoring again inside the speeding vehicle. I didn't feel like getting in a fight with him on the way back and he didn't speak much either. I assumed he must be thinking about their task tonight. Probably figuring out the tactics while trying not to say a word about it. He was keeping silent about his thoughts. No wonder he seemed to be having trouble getting some sleep last night. I was thinking about it as we drove back, too.

I asked him to drop me off the comic store where I used to go after school. He didn't agree to it at first.

"I told your mother I'll bring you back home safe and sound, and I will." He said.

"I'm going to buy them books as christmas gifts." I lied.

"I'll come with you, then."

"You'll be late with your motorbike orders." I insisted.

He thought about it for a moment. I knew he was thinking about their mission tonight. He'd probably be needing something to prepare for it this afternoon and he needed to get started soon. They probably had an early assembly. He couldn't be with me all day long. He was bound by his responsibilities, no matter how much he tried to ignore it.

He exhaled in a frustrated manner and turned to the nearest street towards the comic store. He didn't say a word anymore until we stopped in front of the shop.

"Don't fall on your face, nerd." He said as I hopped out of the vehicle. He looked at me for a moment, as if wondering something to himself. I knew, from the way he was regarding me there as I stood at the sidewalk, that he wanted to kiss me. I could feel he wanted to pull me back in the car. And I knew he was trying to conceal it. He remained unfaltering. "This won't be our last date."

"When you say date, would that always mean out of town?" I wrinkled my face. He just chuckled. "Well… thanks, somewhat. I did enjoy the place. And just go home, Uchiha."

He drew his tongue out to me before I pushed the car door closed and turned to the shop. I stopped myself from wanting to embrace him so much as a farewell and a thank you. Actually, I didn't know how I truly feel. The vehicle swiftly sped away again and was gone before I reached the door of the store.

I spotted a poster taped on the glass wall outside the comic shop before I walked in. It was a children's story contest poster. What got my attention was the location of the studio which was sponsoring the event. The studio was located in Hokkaido, my hometown. The end of submission of entries was still early next year. The small posting took me out of my problems for a minute as I read the terms of the contest. I had some story plots already in my mind and I suddenly felt excited about the idea of submitting my story lines to them. The prize was a cash check and a chance to work for one of the top publishing studios in the country.

By afternoon, I was out of the store and visited the nearest clothing shop. I bought the best and cheapest clothes for concealing myself. It was a dark blue coat, a green muffler and a bonnet. I didn't come home that afternoon. I knew I won't be able to go out again until the next day after christmas if my folks saw me today. They'd make me stay and help with the celebration with our other relatives for tonight.

It would be my first time to miss christmas eve with my family. It was one of the things I didn't expect to be having this year. I never wanted to miss it, but in the situation that I was in, things had changed a lot and I had come to accept that everything would be gradually changing. And I wanted to keep an eye on Sarutobi tonight. He was my relative closest to me.

I waited until sundown in a coffee shop to keep myself warm from the cold air. I thought and wondered about things while I waited for the sun to sink as I sat there. I didn't want to think about Sasuke. I wanted to think about what I had to do tonight. It was going to be a rushed move. And the risk was high.

There were no falling snowflakes that day. The streets were freshly cleaned and there were hardly any piles of snow along the sidewalks. I put on the special black gloves that were given to me by Kakashi before I left the place. It had become customary for me to bring it always wherever I go. I kept it in the small bag with me where my clothes yesterday were.

I considered all the possibilities that may happen tonight in the festival. It was a dangerous task considering all the people who'd be there to watch the little parade. I would want to watch them from afar, not getting into trouble as much as I could. After all, I wasn't invited in that assignment.

-000-

-00000-

-000-

The parks in east harbor are located fifteen kilometers away from the coffee shop. This was one of the usual peaceful sides of the city. The seaside was just beside the harbor. The enormous colored lanterns could be seen from the bus stop where I got off. There were crowds of people there. Hundreds of them. The festival and parade was starting.

The night sky was clear tonight and the streets and parks were shimmering with colorful lights as I walked to the parade. I stepped aside as two kids chased after a snowman mascot in front of me.

I didn't get why Itachi had to proposed to turn over Sarutobi here at this event. A lot of families were here including children and elderlies. Was he confident that the rogues would be able to control the crowd and the appearance of demi-humans?

There were lanterns shaped in animals, christmas trees and parachutes displayed at the center of the streets as the parade marched down. There were christmas bands playing and singing carols on small floats. Food carts were set on the sidewalks, selling variety of treats.

My hair was pulled back inside the bonnet and my muffler covered my mouth. I watched the parade and the crowd. There were too many people to identify rogues and demi-humans. I continued to walk along the parade, surrounding myself with the throng and observing all sides of the event. The sounds of the drums and the orchestra were mixing together with the cries and laughs of people.

The first thing I noticed as I observed were the hooded figures among the crowds. I spotted one in a brown cloak among the people. There was also a hooded figure far across the street from me and it was looking at the floats that were marching down.

I kept in mind where their exact posts were as I surveyed the other areas with my eyes. No familiar face yet.

Is Sasori certain about this?

And I remembered forgetting to ask him one tiny question over the phone this morning: I wasn't able to ask where he'd be posted in that damn assignment. It wasn't a good idea to ask him, anyhow. He'd get suspicious as to why I would want to know.

I walked past a huge lantern float of a golden temple, searching for recognizable figures. I saw the hooded person across the street again, and it began to move between the spectators. I followed him, keeping my eye on him. It disappeared behind the people and I hurriedly ran across the street, nearly hitting a trumpeter in front of another float. I kept my head down as I did.

It took me a minute to find the one I was following. It was moving quietly opposite the crowd, going to the other end of the park. That was when I saw a familiar black cloak standing several meters away from me at my ten o'clock. I'd lost the hooded figure I was following before as I watched the one in the black cloak now. I had a feeling it was Itachi. I saw that cloak before during one of our missions. I tried to move a bit with the crowd to conceal myself.

-000-

-00000-

-000-

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood beside a booth that was selling takoyaki. He saw Itachi arriving at the spot behind the people as what they'd planned before, his black cloak covering his face.

He should feel nervous, but he'd been in the underworld business for too long it was rare for him to feel that now. He knew it would come to this sooner or later. The snake psychopath has been longing to put his head on a stick for years.

Maybe he'd succeed this time. After all, there's a first in everything. He was not certain if they'd planned the whole task well enough. He was not worried about himself, but about the people in that location. Orochimaru wouldn't agree to get his hands on him in an empty place. It would be easy for them to capture him.

Doing this kind of stunt in that exact date was a pain in the ass. It was an eventful season.

But it was time…

Sarutobi took a step forward and moved through the crowd. He wore a brown coat that night and the hood was up over his head to hid his face. His katana was hidden under his coat. He arrived next to Itachi and saw that he wasn't using his Sharinggan tonight. That enviable bloodline of his. Tch.

"Are you anxious, old man?" he spoke to him. His face impassive.

The corners of Sarutobi's lips curled up in a small grin. He looked at him with bleary eyes, as if he had seen enough of the world and he was nothing but a child.

"I'm actually feeling kind of hungry." He grunted.

Itachi removed his hood with his hand, revealing his face. Uchihas have been known for their tall, dark and mysterious looks. Anyway, they'd talked about this before. He'd be the first person Orochimaru would be looking for that night in order to find the old Commander, so he would need to expose where he was by showing that goddamn bad boy face of his.

As he did so, Sarutobi expected a bullet to run through him at the very moment. Or any kind of assault.

But there was no such attack. They just stood there for a while, not speaking and merely feeling the crowd around them. The demi-humans were watching them, he knew it. They were thinking about their next move.

"Do you think you'll die tonight?" Itachi asked. He'd always been frank about his questions. He was not someone who likes to linger around things, which was probably why he'd been on that level despite his young age.

"Well, let's just hope I can still get a smoke or two." Sarutobi said, pulling out a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it between his lips, under the hood.

"You're not the only one he'll be glad to kill tonight."

Sarutobi watched the parade far from where they stood. They could see the backs of the spectators, but there were still some walking and passing by them.

"It's a lovely night, isn't it?" he mused.

"It is." A hissing voice sounded behind him. "Good evening, old Commander Sarutobi."

His skin was as pale as the snow and his eyes were golden yellow. Reptile like. His cheekbones were like hollows on his thin face. He wore a gray hood that covered him from head to foot.

It had been a long time since Sarutobi heard that disturbing hiss. He didn't have to turn around to know he was right behind him. His mouth next to his ear. He didn't feel any edge of a blade pressing against his lower back.

That was what he was scared of at that moment. Not feeling anything.

Orochimaru stood there behind him, unmoving.

"Surprise to see me?" he said. "You don't look too happy."

"You know, I've never really considered snakes as welcoming creatures either." said Sarutobi.

Orochimaru sniggered. "Don't worry, soon enough your rotting body will be part of the soil they'd be slithering over."

Sarutobi wielded his katana under his coat and it pierced through Orochimaru's stomach in one swing. He turned to him as he gripped the hilt tightly. Orochimaru's face twisted in a spooky grin and his whole body dissolved like a pile of sand, being blown away by the wind and eventually disappearing in front of him.

It was a clone?

Sarutobi had read about that technique long ago, during the ages of the witches and alchemists. They couldn't be true.

Then, that means…

A woman screamed a few feet away from him, seeing what he just did. It immediately got the attention of some of the parade viewers.

In a sudden whisp of the wind, Orochimaru appeared from above. He swung a long blade down and it clashed against Sarutobi's weapon.

"I see you're still feisty like before." Orochimaru hissed.

Itachi pulled a round glass object from under his cloak and smashed it hard on the ground below them. White smoke instantly filled the area, covering them. And then, chaos errupted. Terrified screams and cries echoed in the park.

-000-

-00000-

-000-

I ran to the sound of the scream the moment I heard it. It wasn't that far from me. I looked ahead, seeing a cloud of smoke fill the other side of the park. I knew it was a smoke bomb from the rogues. People were now running and crying, terrified that it might be a terrorist attack.

I spotted a man standing at the edge of the street. It was Iruka. He was standing there and yelling directions to the frightened people.

"OVER HERE! Move toward this direction!" he was shouting above the commotion.

The festival was soon in disarray. People stumbled on the floats and the showmen were being ran and bumped over. I nearly tumbled backward when a woman collided against my shoulder.

I hurriedly sprinted toward the white smoke.

I recognized Sarutobi at once when I got closer. Even through the smoke, I could see he was sparring with three demi-humans. One of them was someone I came to known through my experiences with the org. With his faded skin, long hair and bony structure, I knew he was the one they called Orochimaru. And for once, I felt a deep fear seeing him attacking my grandfather. I was so close to them in the suffocating smoke.

It was the first time I saw him. He really looked like a monster. His movements were fast. I was frightened seeing them fight. Judging by his fast swings of the long sword he was holding, it was a neck to neck fight.

There was also Sasuke's brother, Itachi. He was slicing the heads off a number of demi-humans. The mutated humans vary in sizes and he anticipated their every hasty attack. The way he struck them reminded me of Sasuke.

The number of demi-humans were multiplying fast. I was worried about how many were there. The screams didn't subside. What if everyone in that event saw the demi-humans? Would the guild be able to control them? What if we were outnumbered?

I saw a set of kunais rained on Itachi and Sarutobi, then a short blade came zooming in and went through a demi-human's forehead behind them. Sasuke was there in a blink. He wore a black coat that fell down to his sneakers and there was another long katana on his hold. He pulled out and retrieved the shorter blade off the murdered monster, his foot crushing its face, and targeted another horde that just emerged from the smoke.

"I've always known you're a fucking rat, Uchiha Itachi!" I heard Orochimaru snarled.

He struck his blade towards the neck of Sarutobi. He dodged it. Sasuke aimed one of his blades at Orochimaru and missed.

That was when I felt heavy movements behind me. I span around and a massive arm struck me to the side and I stumbled on the ground. I felt the rough ground scraped the side of my face, my bonnet falling off and my hair sprawling around my face. I looked up and there was a tall demi-human before me.

Its skin was decaying. Its mouth was big and filled with sharp fangs. It looked like a human transforming into a beast.

I balled my fists tightly as I stood up and bashed it hard on the side of its face. It fell on its knees and I delivered another blow again, feeling its neck snapped as my knuckles collided against its cheekbones.

There was another howl and a demi-human lunged at me from behind, its fangs aiming at my chest. I covered my head with my forearms.

Two kunais flew in fast and hit it on the neck. It rolled over the ground with a roaring howl.

"Sakura!"

For a brief a moment, I was relieved to hear a familiar voice.

Sasori's red hair was the first thing I recognized from the clearing smoke. He sprinted to my side, wearing a dark maroon coat and holding a katana. There was a smudge of dark blood on the side of his forehead.

"Sasori!" I cried, enveloping my arms around him for a second. "Are you hurt?"

"No, it's demi-human blood." He panted, wiping the blood off his forehead with the back of his gloved hand. His eyes suddenly flashed in anger. "What the hell are you doing here, Sakura?! I warned you not to be here! You promised me!" He gripped my forearm furiously.

"I had to! I can't stay away knowing Sarutobi's in danger, Sasori! I'm sorry." I said, looking urgently at his round brown eyes as it glowered at me. It was the first time I saw him furious at me. A look of worry and alarm were written all over his face.

"Stay close to me, all right? There're dozens of them!" he gripped my arm tighter, yelling over the clamor.

"I need to help Sarutobi!"

"It's too dangerous!"

"I have to do something than stay here!" I sad worriedly, trying to move again.

He held me there for a moment, looking at me with worried eyes. He was having second thoughts. I knew he only meant well for me, but it was unavoidable. Missions tend to get out of hand, especially as perilous as this. And this was the most chaotic one I'd seen so far.

"I'll keep the path clear." said Sasori, pushing me back behind him as we jogged to the spot where Orochimaru was.

The surroundings were still covered with white smoke, but it was clearing slowly. I also noticed the screams of the spectators earlier had died down. I wondered what was going on the street where the parade had been.

"Get down!" Sasori ordered as he slashed an approaching demi-human across the throat in front of us. "Where're all these fucking things coming from? We didn't see any earlier!"

The smoke thinned and I spotted the rogues again ahead of us. Kakashi was already there. He was wrestling with Orochimaru's arms from behind, trying to get him to drop the long blade he was holding. Sarutobi was holding a tight rope on one hand and his katana on the other, trying to get a good aim to unarm Orochimaru. Sasuke was being pinned down on the ground with another distinctive demi-human, holding his katana on top of his face as it was being clashed against a much bigger and broader sword. I had seen the demi-human on top of him before. It was Kisame. Itachi, on the other hand, was being surrounded with more demi-humans at the other end. He was in a killing spree.

And then, I felt a hand encircled around my foot. I suddenly slipped down as it dragged me.

"You filthy rogues… I will annihilate your troops one by one." I heard a voice said sourly.

I turned around as I was being dragged and met a pair of bespectacled eyes. It was Kabuto.

"Let go of me!" I shouted, trying to get a good grip of something on the ground.

I heard he had escaped the confinement of the interrogation unit.

He pulled me by my foot and flung me across the other side. I instictively covered my head as I toppled around, earning gashes over my arms and legs.

"SAKURA!" I heard Sasori cried. He was being crushed down by another demi-human and was trapped on his post.

I coughed for a moment before getting up again feebly. I saw Kabuto walking towards me, holding a kunai. His eyes were murderously fixed on me. And I had this sudden feeling that he must already knew that I was related to Sarutobi.

Sasori's call seemed to had gotten the attention of the others, because I noticed the change of movements of the rogues from my peripheral vision. I turned my eyes to them.

It was one of those things that I had truly feared of for tonight. It was Sarutobi's dreaded expression on his face. He saw me then and he was staring at me in horror, dawning on him that I was there. My wreckless plan was indeed a bad idea. I wasn't supposed to be involved after all.

He saw Kabuto drawing near me, his kunai ready. Sasuke saw me, too. His face looked infuriated the minute his eyes found me as he was still wrestling on the ground with Kisame.

I got up at once, trying to ignore the pain I was feeling. I stepped forward and aimed my fist at Kabuto's jaw. He dodged it and elbowed me hard on the stomach. There was a sudden sharp pain. I stepped back for a minute, gripping my abdomen.

He was quick. I should've known he had higher fighting skills than me. He was Orochimaru's left hand, in any case. I hardly had a chance.

I remembered one of the techniques Kakashi taught me during one of our trainings. I stood and held my forearms before me. Kabuto attacked with his kunai and I countered it with double punches. I succeeded on one and my fist struck his face, making him stepped backward.

He pulled and threw aside his broken glasses. There was blood trickling down his nose bridge now. He smiled at me waywardly.

"You little skank." He cursed with a twisted smile, drawing near to me again. "I should've killed you the first time I saw you."

And then, he vanished from where he stood.

I was suddenly held inches off the ground, his hand gripping my neck from behind, the tips of his fingers crushing my throat. I couldn't see him as he held me. I was choking and squirming violently as I tried to remove his enclosed fingers around my neck. He was holding me too firmly.

A kunai shot directly to Kabuto's right shoulder and he lost his grip on me, dropping me on the ground. I coughed and turned up my head. Kabuto yanked the kunai piercing his shoulder and threw it on the side as he cursed ferociously. Blood started dripping down his arm now.

I took my chance in that brief moment. I built up my chakra on my right fist and punched him hard on the chest. He flew a few yards away and crashed against a foot of a tree across from me, his head hitting the hard trunk.

I searched for the direction where the kunai came from, and found Sarutobi standing several feet away from me. The tight rope was still on his hold. He was looking at me in a troubled manner.

Then, in atrocity, I only watched as a sharp blade went through his ribs from his back. Orochimaru was there and he stood behind him. He kicked Sarutobi to the side after yanking his blade out of him.

"GRANDPA!" I screamed, running towards them.

"The deed is done." Orochimaru murmured, retrieving his katana back under his cloak.

He turned into a pile of sand, and the wind blew him one by one, vanishing in the night before I could even get there. Kakashi came to where he stood just a second before, trying to aim his blade at him but was too late. He had a bloody wound on the side of his face.

He rushed to where my grandfather was lying down, a pool of blood was already piling on the snowy ground.

"Sarutobi!" he cried in alarm, gripping his wound tightly.

The air was cleared out of smoke but I wasn't able to notice our surroundings anymore. I was only eyeing one spot in the area: the spot where Sarutobi was lying down in red ink.

I ran to them, but before I could reach my destination, a pair of hands abruptly pinned me down to the ground. The side of my face hit the cold surface and my arms were pulled up behind me securely in an arresting position. One hand held my crossed arms, and another hand pushed my back down, keeping me tightly in place.

"HALT!" a gruff voice ordered. "Your profile is not in the Rogue Mission List!"

I tried to look up and found a senior staff from the Mortis Guild Interrogation Unit holding me down. I recognized his uniform and the logo with a shield symbol with letters IU stitched on the side of his midnight blue sleeves.

"LET ME GO! Can't you see one of your Commander's hurt?" I cried, trying to break free but his grip was too heavy.

"Stay down! You've just violated Code 401 as an unidentified rogue in this assignment." he commanded firmly.

"HE'S MY GRANDFATHER!" I shouted desperately.

The park was cleared out of smoke now and I could see no parade spectators there in our area anymore. There were only dead bodies of demi-humans in different directions. I couldn't tell how many rogues were hurt that night. I only saw Sasuke and a bruised Rock Lee trying to revive one of their blonde companions, lying unconscious on the ground. Soon enough, I realized it was Naruto. He was lying still on the other side of the street.

The situation dawned on me. The mission went out of hand. Some of the people close to me were hurt. Sarutobi saved me and that was why he was dying.

The Interrogation Unit staff didn't move and just held me there until some of the members of the unit came and started taking me away. I tried to break free furiously but more members of the unit held me securely, moving me toward one of their big black vans which just arrived and was parked on the side.

"Let me go!" I screamed.

"Sakura." I heard Sasori's voice. He was about to come near when a hand pulled his elbow lightly from behind him, stopping him.

Deidara was there. He had a bruise on his face. They knew it was an offense to come in between the Interrogation Unit's task.

My teammates saw me. Sasori, Sasuke, Kakashi, Rock Lee… even the other staff who were there. But they didn't move and just watched me helplessly as I was being pulled away. They remained there, aiding their comrades as the medical staff started rushing in.

I saw Sasuke's face… and there was a heartbreaking air all over it as I disappeared in one of the vehicles of the guild.

-000-

-00000-

-000-