The Calling
By ShinobiSpirit
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Italics - Dream/Illusion
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"Hey.." A soft voice beckoned, "Hey, wake up."
"Mn.." Sakura groaned, turning over onto her back and bringing a hand up to shield her eyes from the gleaming sun overhead. The outline of a shadowed figure stood above her, a hand extended courteously to help her up. She hesitated, looking up into a pair of the most beautiful set of blue eyes she had ever seen. "Who.. are you?"
The young man blinked his long, black lashes, staring at her intently. "I'm Saijou." He responded politely, his voice as smooth and soft as velvet, causing a shiver to run down Sakura's spine. "What are you doing out here all by yourself?" Saijou asked, a mixture of concern and speculation in his large blue eyes.
"Here?" Sakura questioned, taking his hand and allowing him to gently pull her to her feet. His hand lingered around hers until he was sure she was steady, causing her to blush and look down at her feet. She hadn't gotten a good look at his face yet, but from the way his long chestnut strands of hair framed the contours of his defined chin, she was certain he was absolutely gorgeous.
"What is your name, if I may ask?" Saijou inquired kindly, looming beside the pink-headed girl in a slightly protective manner.
"Sakura.. Haruno Sakura." She replied bashfully, quite aware of Saijou's close proximity. She fiddled with the edges of her dress nervously, too embarrassed to look him directly in the eye.
"Haruno Sakura." He repeated thoughtfully. "Beautiful name," he added sincerely, a charming smile outlining his lips. "What brings you here?"
Sakura blinked and shook her head in an effort to clear her senses. "I don't know where 'here' is. I think I'm lost." She responded somewhat solemnly, as if it were something to be ashamed of. "Can you tell me which way it is back to Leaf Village?" She asked hopefully, her gaze raised to meet his.
"Leaf Village?" Saijou raised a questioning brow at her. "I'm sorry, I've never heard of a such a place."
"What?" Sakura started, suddenly feeling a sense of dread and something else she couldn't quite place. Confusion? Fear? Perhaps even both. "What about the Mist Village? Wave Country?"
Saijou shook his head at her, somewhat alarmed at the fear in her soft jade eyes. "I have never heard of any of those places."
'Okay..' Sakura inhaled deeply in attempt to calm herself down. 'There's got to be a logical answer to all of this. If he hasn't heard of them, maybe I somehow ended up in another country?' She inquired in her mind. 'No, no, that couldn't possibly happen. It'd help if I could recall what I was doing before I ended up here! What was I doing?'
"Sakura?"
"Saijou, can you tell me where we are?" Sakura somewhat demanded, rather than asked. He crooked his neck to look at her as if she had slapped him. "I'm sorry. I don't know why, but something tells me I need to get back there as soon as possible." She explained as nicely as she could given the circumstances. "Please, Saijou."
Saijou straightened, his face suddenly going blank as he turned his head away from her. "I'm afraid.. I can't let you leave, Sakura." He said, a hint of sadness and guilt entwined with his soft words.
"W.. What? Why?" Sakura asked, taking a step backward to make distance between them. "Why can't you let me leave?"
"I've waited so long for you to come. Why would I let you leave just as soon as you got here?" He was looking at her now, his charming face dark with desire and need.
It was in that moment, that brief exchange of glances, that everything came back to her in a rush of visions. There was a look in Saijou's eyes that made her cringe--could Death's face really be so handsome? She wasn't sure she wanted to find out. "Orochimaru.. you're him, aren't you?"
Saijou looked at her quietly a moment before tilting his head back in laughter, as if she had made a cruel joke. "Orochimaru? No, no, Sakura." A smile slipped across his perfect lips. "Although, I'm very grateful to him for weakening that damn barrier I was trapped behind. Now the only thing standing in my way is you."
A horrified expression spread like a forest fire across Sakura's feature's as she watched Saijou's eyes intensify with a burning rage she felt in the back of her mind. What the hell was happening to her? "I don't understand. Why me? I've never even met you before. I don't know who you are!" She clamored in her haste to find an explanation. She felt trapped in a windowless room full of smoke with no escape. "Tell me! Tell me who you are!"
He blinked at her slowly, as if everything he said were as harmless as a casual conversation on a mid-afternoon walk through the park. "I'm Saijou." He repeated, inclining his head to the side. "I feel your fear, Sakura. You have no need to fear me."
"No need?!" Anger was sometimes a beautiful thing, especially when used to cancel out fear and get the adrenalin pumping. And at the moment, it was the only advantage she had. "I have no idea where I am, who you are, or if my friends.. my friends! Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi! I don't know if they're safe or not!" She was on the brink of tears, but she bit her lip and held it in as best she could. "And.. you're telling me I have no reason to fear you?"
Saijou nodded, a smile charming his scrumptious face. "You and I are one and the same. The most I can do to rid you of my path is to take over your body. Without you, I would perish, or be significantly weaker. And vice versa." He explained casually, his voice as tangible as a caress to her ears. "So, there is no reason you should fear me."
Sakura remained silent, her head swarming with false assumptions and other things that caused exhaustion to her mental state of mind. "I must be dreaming.." She thought aloud, a laugh escaping her parted lips. Saijou moved to place a firm hand on either of her shoulders, steadying her before she fell. "I'm afraid it's not, Sakura."
With a breathy sigh, Sakura slumped against Saijou and inhaled his scent. She was tired, in pain, and on the verge of tears all at once. Her friend's were in danger, she was in danger, and she was at a loss of what to do. The best course of action she could think of at the moment was to sleep on it.
And she did.
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Naruto carefully stepped over the unconscious guard to come face to face with the tall wooden door which separated him from his female teammate. Common sense told him to open the door and face whatever may be on the other side. Instinct told him he couldn't afford to screw this up with someone as dangerous as Orochimaru lurking around, especially if Sakura were being held hostage.
His fist clenched at his side as he tried to piece together a proper plan. What would be safe, cautious, but also effective? What course of action could he possibly take without the knowledge of what's behind door number one? For all he knew, it could just be a trap and Sakura wouldn't even be in there. He also couldn't afford to take that kind of risk if her life was on the line. So what should he do?
'Damn, damn.. I hate things like this.' He thought angrily. 'Why does it always have to be so complicated?' At the moment he wanted nothing more than to assure Sakura's safety. But if he should be wrong with his decision, he might get captured again, and if that happened, there was a chance he wouldn't be able to escape in time to help her. Either way, both options open to him had a down side that outweighed the up.
With a gulp and a shaky hand, Naruto slowly wrapped his fingers around the cold handle of the door. His hand lingered there for what felt like centuries before he inhaled deeply and twisted, pulling the door ajar and slipping in to face whatever horrors await him.
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Been a while. Nice to be back.
SS
