Me: Time to clear some doubts! Enjoy ^_^
CHAPTER 14-Orochimaru
"What do you mean she's gone forever?" Shikaku demanded.
Suigetsu shook his head and handed him a note. Shikaku read it and he cursed under his breath. "What is it?" asked Hiashi.
"A note from Sakura." Shikaku replied trying to sound calm.
"Well what does it say?" asked Ino.
"Forgive me," Shikamaru read out. "But I've decided to go elsewhere, away from Konoha, to do some research and I won't be returning back, ever. Thank you for all that you have done for me . . . but this is the end. Signed, Sakura."
Sasuke clenched his fists. He knew Sakura would leave sooner or later and she had. He wanted to punch something badly for not being able to stop her.
Judging by what Sakura had written, she was out looking for her mother's killer. He didn't know what to do. He could take the presidents to Sakura's research room and track her down.
But he swore not to tell anyone about it. He reached for the necklace around his neck; the one Sakura gave him. The Yang pendant hung around the chain. He stared at it for a while. Then, he made up his mind.
"What is that girl thinking?" Fugaku said in disbelief. "She knows the situation we're in and now she's just quitting?"
"What kind of research any way?" Minato said softly.
'Sorry Sakura . . . but this is for your own good.' Sasuke thought with a smirk.
"She's doing research on her mother's death." Sasuke spoke up. Everyone turned to look at him.
"Sasuke." Suigetsu warned.
"It's for the best Suigetsu," Sasuke replied. "For Sakura's safety."
"How do you know . . ." Inoichi started to say.
Itachi answered to this, "Otouto here knows the truth about Sakura."
After a brief silence, Hizashi chuckled, "As expected of your boy, Fugaku."
"What are you talking about?" asked Hinata.
The presidents looked at each other and nodded. Hiashi put a hand on his daughter's shoulder, "You know the story about the Matsumotos?"
"Yes." Hinata replied.
"The last survivor was a woman named Matsumoto Yuki," said Neji. Then his eyes widened. "Don't tell me she's-"
"Yes," said Fugaku. "She is Sakura's mother."
There was another silence.
"But," Tenten started to say. "She died in a gang attack, didn't she?"
"Sakura never believed that," Suigetsu said grimly. "She's been tracking Orochimaru for her own reasons as well; to track her mother's killer."
"We have to find her before she gets herself into further danger!" said Minato.
"How do we track her?" asked Ino.
"Simple," said Sasuke. Everyone looked at him. "We go to her house; there is something you need to see."
The cave led through a long tunnel that smelled like acids and damp moss. Sakura kept walking. It was weird that there were no guards there but that just made Sakura's job easier.
She came to the end of the tunnel and found a door. Slowly, she opened the door and what she saw inside shocked her. Different types of machinery were there and there were large glass cases with dead bodies in it. Sakura wanted to vomit but she held on.
She hid behind different machines and kept moving. She peered from the machine she was hiding behind. She was a man conducting some tests with the chemicals that were laid out on the table. The man had long and oily black hair and was wearing a lab coat; Orochimaru.
Sakura clenched her fists and readied her katana. But suddenly, Orochimaru started to laugh, "My dear Matsumoto, I know you're there."
Sakura smirked and stepped out of hiding, "And I thought you were plain dumb."
Orochimaru turned around. He had deathly pale skin and snake-like yellow eyes with silted pupils. He licked his lips revealing his long snake-like tongue. Sakura really wanted to throw up because that was just way too weird.
"Let me guess," Orochimaru taunted. "You think I killed your mother and now you're here for revenge."
"Well that's what I thought," Sakura said with a glare. "But right now I'm here to talk to you about my mother's killer."
Orochimaru's eyes widened slightly but then he gave a snake-like grin, "You've come this far just for your deceased mother. And you know that I didn't kill your mother?"
"If you were the one," said Sakura. "You'd be dead by now. Besides, I know that you were the one who helped my mother's killer get what he wanted; her death."
"What a smart girl!" Orochimaru boomed. "Would you like a round of applause?"
"Stop kidding around," Sakura said as she held the tip of her katana under Orochimaru's chin. "If you don't want me to slice your throat, you will talk."
Orochimaru sighed, "I guess you have a right to know. You're right; I injected an empty syringe into your mother's neck to finish her off. She put up a good fight but she was out numbered."
"And who was the one you were helping?" Sakura demanded as she held the tip closer.
"I would tell you," Orochimaru said slowly. "If you weren't going TO DIE!" Orochimaru pulled out a katana of his own from the sleeve of his lab coat and knocked Sakura's katana out of her hand.
He came running towards her; to stab her directly in the heart but Sakura deflected the jab with a kunai. She then released her poisoned senbons from her hair and threw them towards Orochimaru who deflected it. She threw more weapons at him. While he was busy dodging them, she kicked his legs to send him off balance.
Orochimaru grunted and shakily stood up; two poisoned kunais were in his left leg and a shuriken was in his right forearm. Sakura smirked. 'The snake wouldn't be able to move now.' She thought.
"Good," said Orochimaru. "But not good enough!" He came charging towards her and caught her off guard. He punched her in the stomach making her hurl backwards. Her back hit the wall.
"How did you . . ." Sakura started to say as she stood up.
Orochimaru cackled, "I'm a mad scientist, child. I work with poison and chemicals. I have antibodies in my body which neutralize the poison. Therefore, your weapons are useless against me."
Sakura cursed under her breath and grabbed another kunai from her pouch. She refused to go down without a fight. And with that, she charged towards Orochimaru.
Sasuke knew he was toast once they found Sakura but right now, all he wanted was Sakura safe and sound.
The presidents and the heirs pulled up in front of Sakura's house and got out of their cars. Fugaku looked at Sasuke, "Lead the way, son."
Sasuke dug up the key from the flower pot that was in front of Sakura's door and opened the door to the house. They stepped inside and looked around.
Naruto whistled, "Wow! Sakura-chan's house is sweet!"
"It seems she's not home." Neji said as he looked around.
"She's not," said Sasuke. "We're here to find something that might lead us to where she is. Follow me." He led them upstairs and opened the door to Sakura's room.
"Hold on," said Ino. She put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at Sasuke. "How do you know this is her room?"
"I've been here before." Sasuke replied calmly.
"For what?" asked Tenten.
"A lot of different reasons. Look, does that really matter right now?" Sasuke said, annoyed. The presidents, Neji and Shikamaru smirked while Naruto, Ino and Tenten snickered. Hinata simply smiled. Sasuke inwardly groaned.
Sasuke led them to her closet and opened the door.
"Troublesome," said Shikamaru. "Now we're invading her closet."
Sasuke moved her raincoats away to reveal the Rinnegan.
Minato's eyes widened, "Is that-"
"Yes, it is; the Rinnegan," said Sasuke. "But this isn't what I wanted to show you."
He pressed the pattern and the passage opened up. Everyone was baffled. Sasuke sighed, "Sakura's gonna kill me for this but . . . do I have a choice?"
They walked down the corridor and finally they came to the door of the secret room. Sasuke opened them and what the presidents and the heirs saw left them baffled.
"What is this?" Fugaku said slowly.
"This," Sasuke said as he gestured to the room. "This is Sakura's research room. She told me that she discovered this room when she was seven and she's been doing her own investigation here, ever since."
The presidents and the heirs looked around. Shikaku read one of the notes that was hanging from the ceiling and his eyes widened, "Sakura got more information than the whole ANBU."
"Look at this," said Suigetsu pointing to the computer screen. There were pictures of a woman's dead body; the woman was Matsumoto Yuki. "How do you think that got there?"
Hiashi shook his head in disbelief, "Those pictures were ANBU protected. Does that mean Sakura stole from headquarters?"
"No," Sasuke cut in harshly. "She told me Madara gave them to her to help her in her investigation. She said he was the only one who believed that her mother wasn't killed by a gang."
"I knew." Suigetsu said childishly.
"Yes but you though she was tracking the so-called 'gang,'" said Neji. "When in reality, she was tracking Orochimaru to get to the real killer."
Suddenly, they heard a banging sound in the darker side of the room. The sound got louder and finally, someone stumbled forward.
"K-Kabuto?" Tenten said in disbelief.
It was Kabuto. He was all tied up with ropes on a chair and had a cloth tied around his mouth. He glared up to the heirs and presidents.
"I thought you died!" Ino exclaimed.
"Well you thought wrong." Kabuto managed to say.
Itachi picked him up from the floor, placed the chair on the ground, so it was facing him, and removed the cloth in Kabuto's mouth. He glared at him, "Who brought you here?"
"What makes you think I'd co-operate and talk to you?" Kabuto said with a smirk.
Itachi had had it; Sakura was like his little sister and was the daughter of his godmother. She was missing and now this rat, Kabuto, refused to tell him where she was.
Itachi clenched his fist and was about to punch Kabuto in the face but a blur of yellow stepped in front him and stopped his hand; it was Minato.
Everyone, except the presidents, was baffled. Minato was about a few meters far away from Itachi. How did he get in front of him so quickly?
Minato looked at Itachi, "I don't think violence will get us anywhere, Itachi."
Itachi retrieved his hand and bowed his head, "Forgive me."
Minato smiled, "Don't worry about it."
"Dad . . ." Naruto started to say.
Minato looked back at his son, "What's wrong?"
"How did you . . . you were . . ." Ino started to say.
Kabuto chuckled, "So it's true, what Orochimaru-sama said. The traits of the Sacred Clans live on."
"Naruto," said Shikaku. "Do you remember what capabilities the Namikazes had?"
Naruto scratched his head, "Um . . . I can't remember."
"The Namikazes could control the elements of water and wind and could release enormous amount of chakra from their bodies and use it as a dangerous weapon," explained Hiashi. "They were also said to have inhuman speed and strength.
Although chakra manipulation cannot be done anymore, some of the other capabilities like speed and strength can still be performed. Your father perfected both."
"We served as ANBU for a few years when we were young," said Inoichi. "Back then, your father was known as the 'Yellow Flash of Konoha' for his speed."
Minato smiled sheepishly and scratched his cheek, "Oh, quit it. You're making me blush."
"Dad, you're awesome!" Naruto beamed. "Ne, can you teach me how to do that too?"
Minato smiled and nodded, "How about after this case is closed?" Naruto nodded happily.
Fugaku looked at Kabuto and glared coldly, "Talk."
Sakura cursed under her breath; she was out of weapons. She and Orochimaru were fighting for quite some time. She tried to punch Orochimaru in the face but he grabbed her fist and kneed her in the stomach. Sakura coughed blood and fell to the ground.
Orochimaru chuckled darkly, "You fought well . . . but in the end it wasn't enough."
Sakura tried to get up but Orochimaru stepped on her stomach and pushed her back on the floor. He grabbed an empty syringe from the table and readied it.
"Don't worry," he said with a snake-like grin. "I'll kill just like the way I killed your mother."
Sakura's vision became hazy. She had no energy left to fight. But then, she saw images; faces of her mother, her friends and Sasuke. They wouldn't be happy if she died and let them down. She saw her katana, lying not so far away from her. That's when she thought of a plan.
Sakura, with all her might, kicked Orochimaru where the sun doesn't shine.
Orochimaru cried out in pain and dropped the syringe. As Orochimaru was in pain, Sakura scrambled away from him and grabbed her katana. Before Orochimaru could do anything, Sakura stabbed him straight through his heart.
Orochimaru's eyes widened as blood trickled down the corner of his mouth, "This wasn't . . . supposed to happen . . ."
"I am a Matsumoto by blood," said Sakura. "Your fate was sealed the moment I entered your lair; you would die by my hands."
Orochimaru fell to the ground. He gave a dry chuckle, "Now that I'm going to die, you would never know your mother's real killer . . . nor would you be able to save Konoha from being destroyed tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Sakura asked, baffled.
"That's right," Orochimaru said with a smug smirk. "The lord is going to . . . destroy the whole town tomorrow . . . at noon and you can't do anything . . ." and with that, Orochimaru died.
Sakura punched the wall in frustration. She left the ANBU and now no one was there to help her. The town was going to get destroyed the next day and she could do nothing.
She heard her mother's voice in her head, 'Sakura dear, you still have time. Don't waste it . . . you have to save this town!'
Sakura knew her mother was right but she didn't know where to go. She had no clue or evidence to help her solve the case.
Suddenly, a ringing caused her to turn to Orochimaru's dead body. She searched his pockets and found a phone. The name and number on the screen made her eyes widen in horror.
Sakura was beyond shocked seeing the name and number that was appearing on Orochimaru's, Orochimaru's phone.
"No . . ." she whispered.
She remembered Kisame's words from long ago, 'The face of your enemy can be the face of your best friend.'
Sasuke told her the same thing too but she refused to believe it; she ignored it. But now, she couldn't ignore what was in front of her.
She shakily answered the phone.
"Hello . . . Sakura." Madara's voice rang out from the other end of the phone.
Me: Well I think we all saw that coming but wait! More suspense and excitement are coming up and trust me, you'd never see it coming.
Suigetsu: Find out what Psy-chan means in Chapter 15!
Itachi: We'll update ASAP!
Ita, Sui and Me: Please review! ^_^