The Calling
By ShinobiSpirit
With so much left unsaid, and so much left undone, Sakura felt lost.
Naruto heard her screaming. It wasn't a dream like she had first thought—or, rather, hoped. Lying wasn't one of her best traits, nor was it something she enjoyed doing, but she wasn't much in the mood for discussing it. Also, making her teammate worry about her anymore than he already was seemed wasteful. 'It was the only thing to do...' She told herself as she followed the blonde boy down a seemingly endless hallway. 'I have to just drop it for now, or I won't be able to help Naruto if we run into trouble.'
"Sakura-chan, where's Sasuke?"
'That's right... Sasuke-kun is gone.' Sakura clenched her fists. He was gone. They had been separated back at the Inn, and that was all she remembered. Whether Sasuke had gone for help, or simply left the two of them to die in this horrible place, she didn't know. Part of her hoped for the latter, simply because that would at least ensure his safety above all else. Another, more distant and hollow side of her hoped that maybe, just maybe, she'd see him again. When had that part of her become so buried within her being? 'I'm… I'm changing.'
"Naruto!" Sakura clamored desperately. Naruto immediately halted and turned to find the pink haired girl down on her knees with her arms tightly wrapped around herself, as if she'd fall apart without them. "Sakura-chan, what's wrong?"
"He..." She managed to say through clenched teeth. "He… did something!" Her fingernails dug into her skin, a sharp pain clouding her vision enough to bring tears to her eyes. 'What is it?! What did he do? Why? Why me? It's too much! I'm too scared!' So many thoughts raced through her head at once. Her anxiety attack, fueled by fear and adrenaline, brought the illusion of Saijou standing before her. Suddenly, she realized that perhaps she couldn't judge reality from a nightmare, or maybe Saijou was just as real as her and Naruto. She was too frightened of the answer, too frightened of the outcome. All she wanted was…
"Sakura-chan! Run!" It was Naruto's voice who spoke from Saijou's perfect mouth. "Yes, Sakura. Run like the coward you are."
'Coward?' Her eyes widened as she looked up at Saijou's looming form.
"You coward." He said harshly, while maintaining a charming grin that always seemed to grace his features. "Stand up and fight for yourself."
'I can't... .'
"Yes, you can."
'No… I'm too weak.'
"Then get stronger."
'How?'
"Your friend's are in danger."
'….'
"Do something, Sakura." Saijou said. "Make yourself worthy of my equal." He extended his hand out to her in the same fashion he had earlier, a smirk replacing his grin. "You underestimate yourself far too much."
Sakura simply gazed up at him like a lost child. For the first time she realized that it wasn't because she had no talent that she was weak. It was because she had no faith in herself to win. Up until now, everything she had done was based on the hope that if she stood out, Sasuke would notice her. If only she could be strong like him and Naruto, then maybe she wouldn't be so weak. But she'd never get stronger thinking like that. If she wanted to be proud like the both of them, then she'd have to be better than her teammates, not equal. Why had it taken so long for her to realize that?
"Sakura.." Naruto's voice echoed past Saijou's lips as the vision of him slowly began to blur into the blonde boy crouched above her. She blinked several times to ward the disoriented feeling away before she was able to sit up. "Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked. "Are you okay now?"
"I think so." She responded quietly. The ground beneath her was a lot softer than she had previously been sitting on. Looking down in the dark, she ran her fingers along the dew-tipped grasses and knew that whatever had happened while she was disillusioned, Naruto had found a way outside. After a few moments of pondering, she raised her tired gaze and met the blonde boy's worried-filled eyes. "Where are we?"
Naruto grinned smugly. "When you screamed like that, guards came running after us. I picked you up and ran as fast as I could until I came to a door. I busted through it and bolted out into the forest until I couldn't hear them anymore." He explained. "Pretty good, huh? Not even a scratch." Sakura felt the urge to smile, but she knew now wasn't the time for celebrating. They were still trapped on an island notorious for booby traps and large, man-eating predators.
Rising to her feet, Sakura started rummaging through a patch of vines nearby. Naruto blinked and watched her tug on various vines until they broke free from the lesser branches above. "Ne, Sakura-chan. What are you doing?"
"You'll see."
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"Is that it?" TenTen whispered, peeking out from the foliage of the trees. "It's huge…" She commented. The landscape of the island supplied more secretive locations for shinobi to hide than most training facilities, but there are some things easier found than others. Looking out from their makeshift screen, the four Genin observed the large stone castle with concealed anticipation.
The castle itself resembled the traditional Japanese style with an Aztec twist. Vines and roots of nearby trees were entwined around the solid, earthen rock, giving off the impression of age beyond the young shinobi's comprehension. "It looks like something out of story books." Lee said admiringly. "Do you really think this is where they are?"
'He's there alright.' Sasuke thought, his hand sub-consciously squeezing the junction at his shoulder. He frowned despite himself as he gazed at what could very well be a deciding factor in the completion of his ambition. "I'm going." He said, dropping from the safety of the foliage to land softly on the ground. As he began to walk away, however, Lee called out from above. "Sasuke-kun, you don't have to do this alo…"
"It's my battle." Sasuke interrupted. "Stay out of it." He commanded, never stopping to make his point. Up until this moment, everything he had done with the three Genin was an obligation to serve someone of one's own Village. However, the situation wasn't that simplistic anymore, and he was left with the responsibility of his team's safety. After all, it was his fault that Sakura had been taken. Why he felt the need to redeem such a failure, he wasn't sure, but it needed to be done.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he approached the murky depths of the pit in which the castle was built within. Observing the castle above and from a distance gave the illusion of it being above ground level, leaving Sasuke temporarily immobile. 'Genjutsu?' He questioned, observing the castle suspiciously. 'Damn. I can't use Sharingan without being sensed by Orochimaru. But I also can't completely trust the fact that if I take one step closer, I won't fall into a trap.' His jaw tightened in aggravation. 'What do I do? I can't afford any mistakes.'
Not a second later, Sasuke heard something rattling off to his right. 'What the? Did they hear me?' He thought suspiciously, his eyes searching the area as he turned around in a full circle. 'Nothing… did they end up following me after all?'
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Sakura sat with her back to Naruto, her hands deftly tying vine after vine together in permanent knots. Each link added to the length, and before she knew it, she had a good sized rope circled around her arm.
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto quirked a brow and pointed at the rope. "What's that for?"
"Give me your hand." She demanded, purposely ignoring his question. After a second of hesitation, Naruto extended his hand out to her. With skillful fingers, she quickly looped one end of the vine around his wrist and jerked it into a tight grip. She had already tied the other to her own wrist. "This is so we don't lose each other. I made it long enough to where if we're attacked, we can still move around enough to fight." She explained. "If the rope is broken during battle for any reason, then you're on your own." Raising her eyes to meet his alarmed blue ones, she said, "It's the only way to ensure that at least one of us has a chance of getting back alive."
Naruto frowned at the seriousness in her tone. "You're talkin' crazy, Sakura-chan! Did you bump your head or something?" He tugged on his end of the rope hard enough to bring Sakura to him. "There's no way I'm going to let that happen. We all go or no one goes at all!"
"Enough, Naruto!" Sakura shouted in his face. "Do you have any idea where we are? This isn't a game! Stop trying to play the hero and grow up! We're in serious danger!" She jerked the rope from his grip and turned away. "It's just me here with you, Naruto. Sasuke isn't coming to steal your 'moment'! So for once, be a man and accept the situation so we can get out of here, okay?"
A cold chill went down Naruto's spine. 'That's the first time she's said Sasuke's name without –kun.' He thought, his eyes centered on the pink-haired girl's back. "Sakura-chan…"
Sakura turned around at the sound of concern in Naruto's hushed voice. "Don't start acting all weird on me, Naruto." She snapped. "Let's go. We've got …" [STOP!] 'Saijou?' Sakura immediately turned around, her shoulders tense in alarm at the sound of Saijou's scream ringing through her mind. 'I feel it.' She thought, her eyes searching blindly in the dark for the cause of alarm. It didn't take long for Naruto to pick up on what his wayward teammate had felt.
"What the hell is that?" Naruto thought aloud, his heart suddenly beating faster with pent up excitement and a touch of fear. "I can't see a thing! Damnit!" He cursed and turned to Sakura. "Can you see it? Do you know what it is?"
"No." She answered breathily, her own heart pounding in her ears. [Calm down, Sakura.] Saijou's voice echoed in the back of her mind. [This is part of your problem.] He let out a sigh and rubbed at the crook in his neck in irritation. [You're smart, right? Panicking in a situation such as this only aids your opponent in the deciding victor.] Sakura clenched her fists at her side and gritted her teeth. Despite Saijou's advice, she couldn't calm herself down. After all, she was up against enemies that far surpassed a mere Genin such as herself and Naruto. Even if they both had extraordinary talents, they were still out classed and totally out of their league.
A swish sounded off to her right and her body reacted almost instantly falling to the ground. She rolled over as another sweep of the enormous blade came crashing down in the very spot she had just occupied a second before. She couldn't see the enemy, but for the first time, she could feel them.
Meanwhile, Naruto was having troubles of his own. Ducking another fierce blow to the head, he lashed out, kunai in hand, and swiped at the arm of his attacker just as they were delivering a blow from over head. The kunai connected and drove into the enemies' flesh, blood spraying on Naruto's face. With his assailant temporarily stunned, he pushed off his feet and turned around to find Sakura rolling around on the ground, dodging each swipe of the blade threatening to chop her in half.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out, his blood boiling in anger. "You bastards! Leave her alone!" He shouted in rage and turned in time to block a fist from nailing him in the side with his own crashing down on the man's arm. Naruto brought his other fist right up into the man's jaw while the other snatched a kunai from his pouch. There was no time to use any jutsu, and for a brief moment, Naruto pondered the possibility that maybe it was planned that way from the start.
[Sakura, what are you doing?] Sakura tumbled over and smacked into the trunk of a nearby tree, knocking the wind from her lungs. She lied still among the roots, her chest heaving with each forced breath. 'Saijou, I can't do this.' She thought and squeezed her eyes shut, painfully aware that the rope had been severed ages ago. The heavy steps of her attacker caused the ground beneath her to vibrate and quaver like the aftershocks of an earthquake. To her it was like death knocking against the door of life, and unfortunately for her, the door wasn't properly mounted on its hinges. [Sakura, get up. If you don't, you're going to die.] Saijou was getting impatient with her. She could tell by the head ache she was suddenly starting to have, and it caused her lips to twitch into a small smile. 'I'm sorry, Saijou. I guess I can't be your equal.' She thought dejectedly. 'At least you'll be free now, right?'
Saijou didn't answer right away. In fact, for the longest time all Sakura could hear were the sounds of death slowly coming towards her and the beat of her own heart. After a few breathless moments, Saijou stirred to life and literally began to pound his words into her brain like nails in a wall. [If you die, I die, Sakura. I've been alive for longer than you ever will, and I don't plan on dying because some selfish brat can't get her act together!] He was furious, and he wanted her to feel just how much. [Get your ass up and fight or I'm going to do it for you!]
Wincing at the pounding in her head, Sakura suddenly realized that she couldn't hear the footsteps of her attacker. Slowly opening her eyes brought her face to face with a pair of blue sandals, and with a hesitant release of breath, she raised her gaze inch by inch up the familiar legs of none other than the one person she had been longing to see the entire time she had spent on the island.
"S… Sasuke-kun!"
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Kind of long. Thanks for your patience.
SS
