The Calling

By ShinobiSpirit

"S-Sasuke-kun…" Sakura choked out his name as if it were foreign to her lips. At times like these one usually speculates the sudden arrival of a teammate, but in this case, she didn't need to question. It was almost a feeling, a sense of knowing by just being in his presence that let any doubts of his reality fade away. It was him, and she was absolutely tongue-tied.

Sasuke on the other hand wasn't so much speechless as he was furious. For one, Naruto should have never left Sakura to fend for herself, knowing the way she was. For another, the bruises, scruffs, and mild scraps lingering on the pink-haired girls flesh triggered an overwhelming bout of anger welling inside of his gut. The fact that it was caused by her made him even angrier, and it reflected in his voice. "Get up, we're leaving."

"But… what about—" Sasuke cut her off abruptly by shooting her a sharp glare from over his shoulder. "Naruto is waiting. Now hurry up, we don't have any time to waste."

Sakura blinked heavily at the level of ferocity in her teammate's voice. What had she done to make him so angry? 'Maybe Naruto made him mad, and now he's taking it out on me?' As she pondered in her own world, she self consciously obeyed Sasuke's demands and stood. Without a word, she began to follow a few feet behind him with her head up in the clouds. 'I just don't get it.'

By the time they reached their destination the sun was already high in the sky, its intense rays blocked by the foliage of the island's tropical trees. Rock Lee, Hyuuga Neji, TenTen, and Naruto were all scattered about along the shore, each in a specific location in case of an attack. Sakura would have been more than happy to see all their faces, were her back, feet, and sides not pounding with immense pain. It was bad enough that she really, really wanted to go home and soak in a bath for the rest of her life.

"You're late, Uchiha." Neji muttered as he approached them. He motioned towards the shore, where a small wooden boat was pulled up along the sand and tied to the trunk of a nearby tree. "Hurry up and get her in. After we've checked the premises one last time, we'll join you." Sakura bent her head to hide her embarrassment—she had been the one slowing them down, after all. And as Neji passed by her, he gave her a look that made her quite aware that he knew who was to blame, as well.

Tired and engrossed in meaningless thoughts, Sakura trudged over to the waiting boat and stepped in carefully. After she was in, Sasuke soon followed, taking a seat at the opposite end. She felt a frown tugging at her lips, but she refused to give him the satisfaction and simply cast her gaze out towards the ocean. Somehow it felt like an eternity since she last saw the ocean. Everything seemed like it was happening so fast now that they were almost home free, but there was also something very unsettling about it all. Why would Orochimaru just let Naruto and her escape, without any kind of retaliation at all? Did he do something to Naruto, too, or was it just her? And what exactly did he do to her? Who was Saijou? All of these unanswered questions buzzed around inside her head like butterflies in your stomach right before a test you didn't study for. 'No matter what happens, I have to make sure no one finds out about it.' She told herself as she watched the others climb into the boat one after the other. Her eyes centered more specifically on Naruto as he took the remaining seat beside her. 'Now isn't the time to ask him, but as soon as we get home, it'll be my first priority.'

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The journey home took a lot longer than expected. Minor delays included choppy waters during their trip across the ocean, troubles at the harbor concerning the condition of the boat once they returned it to the rental, lack of sleep and proper nourishment, running into the occasional thief or bandit. Despite such, throughout the whole ordeal, Orochimaru never once attacked, leaving the two teams drenched in immense speculation.

Sasuke lingered at the window of his spacious apartment. His eyes followed the contours of the buildings' roofs', to the clear moon-lit sky above, all the while thinking of his encounters in a restless stupor. Orochimaru, Sakura, Naruto, his brother—they all seemed to be on his mind at once—leaving him plagued with brief memory flashes of the past few days and beyond. He felt confused and dismayed for several reasons he would rather die than admit to openly. It was just a matter of time before it all became too much to bare, he guessed, but he was willing to take that risk.

Since their safe return home, Sasuke hadn't said a word to either one of his teammates. Naruto wasn't much of a surprise—he rarely engaged in conversation with the blonde anyway—but with Sakura there seemed to be a hidden reason he didn't quite understand. It almost felt wrong to be around her, as if her very essence made his skin crawl. He wondered briefly if that was his own instinct warning him to stay away from the girl who would die to remain by his side. Either way, he avoided any contact with her as much as he could during the daily missions requested of them as a team. It didn't stop her from casting brief glances at him every chance she got, however, and he didn't have to see the sadness in them to know it was there.

Closing his eyes he turned and wandered aimlessly around various objects in his room until he came to his welcoming bed. Falling onto his back, he stared up at the ceiling with blank eyes and released an apathetic sigh past his parted lips. 'I can't keep running away from her.' He told himself as his eyelids suddenly began to feel weighted. 'I have questions only she may have the answers to.'

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"Sakura, it's time for you to get up!" Sakura's mother's commanding voice echoed past deaf ears as Sakura pulled her comforter up over her head to block out both the sound and the intense beams of light shining through the cracks of her blinds. "Just a few more minutes," She groaned into her pillow. Her mother called a final time before Sakura finally shot up from under her covers and forced herself out of bed. Wavering on unstable feet, she tripped over what was the remains of an alarm clock before successfully entering her bathroom.

Fifteen minutes passed and Sakura emerged clad in her traditional red dress, her hair neatly brushed and her breath fresh as she flung her door open and headed downstairs to greet her mother in the kitchen. "Good morning," she said nonchalantly, plopping down in a chair at the dining room table.

It was a typical spring morning in Konoha. Taking the first bite of her smoked salmon, Sakura savored the fresh taste of her mother's cooking and pondered on the events of the past week. Miraculously, the Hokage was able to keep the village in the dark in regard to their little escapade surrounding Orochimaru. As expected, when ANBU officials were sent in after their departure, he had already fled without leaving a trace behind. It bothered Sakura to a certain degree, but she let it slide. 'At least Saijou's gone.'

"Sakura, are you finished yet?"

"Uh… yes, mother." She answered with her gaze toward the window adjacent to the dining room table. Though it was a comforting thought, she knew that Saijou wasn't gone at all. He was there, lingering in her dreams when she slept, whispering incoherent nothings in her ear whenever the wind around her uncharacteristically brushed by her face. The only thing that had changed was he no longer directly addressed her in her thoughts. Briefly she wondered if she should have mentioned her illusions in the report the others and her were asked to fill out following their arrival home. At the very least mentioning something, anything about her encounter with Orochimaru, but a feeling told her it wasn't a wise decision. In some ways, Sakura was even willing to take it to her grave, though she doubted it was that serious.

"Have a nice day," Her mother said cheerfully. Sakura smiled and waved to her mother as she walked out the door and down the street to the bridge where Team Seven always met. These days it was rather quiet among the three of them. Sasuke wouldn't even look her way and always avoided her at any cost. Naruto wasn't himself, either, but he still had a tendency to shout whenever Sasuke managed to do something to piss him off. Sakura was like the background; she was just there, nothing more, nothing less. Kakashi himself had nothing to say in regard to their odd behavior, but the looks he often shot their way let them know that it wasn't going unnoticed by all means.

"Sakura-san!"

"Huh?" Sakura turned around to find Lee running towards her with a paper clenched in his wrapped fist. He stopped in front of her and bent over to catch his breath—apparently he had been running for quite a distance. "Sakura-san, I'm so glad I was able to catch up with you!" He exclaimed in between breaths. He extended the paper out to her with his head bowed. "This is for you."

Hesitantly, Sakura reached out and took the offending paper from Lee's grasp. Despite being somewhat wrinkled and torn, the letter was concealed in a fancy rice paper envelope, her name neatly written in calligraphy. "Uh... thank you, Lee-san. But, who's it from?"

Lee shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I found it in the forest—you know, near the area where I usually train with Neji and TenTen." He rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly. "It looked important so I ran as fast as I could to your house, but your Mom said I had just missed you, so…" His words trailed off as a smile formed on his lips. "Work hard, Sakura-san! I have to be going now. Gai-sensei is probably already upset with me for not being there!" Lee took off before Sakura had the chance to reply, so she waved after him, a light chuckle rippling through her throat as she imagined the look on Gai's face when he found out Lee was off giving letters to girls instead of focusing on his training.

'Should I open it now?' Sakura examined the envelope curiously. If it weren't for her last name, she would have thought it was for someone else. She wandered off to the side of the street so as not to be in other people's way and began carefully peeling the envelope open. As soon as she broke the seal, however, she jolted forwards and bent over, the air knocked from her lungs like some invisible force had punched her in the stomach. Sakura felt her legs moving in a frenzy to get away from the street; should anyone see her like this, she'd have no explanation for it.

As soon as she was clear of the steadily growing crowds, Sakura collapsed against a nearby wall and panted heavily in search of air. "What… the hell?" She managed to say between gasps. [Relax, Sakura. It was just Genjutsu.] Saijou's voice echoed past the pounding of her heart, ringing in her ears. She gritted her teeth at the sound of his haunting words. 'Great, you're back.' She thought harshly and crushed the letter in her grip. [I was never gone. I just thought you might need a break.] Saijou flashed a smile that lingered in her vision just long enough for her to get the picture. [By the way, someone's here.]

Sakura abruptly moved from the wall, her gaze following the impulses coursing through her body to find a shadowed figure standing some odd feet away. The figure seemed laid back enough, with their hands in their pockets and their shoulders set at an angle in the perfect pose. "Who's there?"

Even in the poor lighting of the alley, she could plainly see the satisfied smirk gracing the figure's face. It made her entire body stiffen with underlying fear. "Answer me!" She shouted in frustration, anger flaring in her usually calm, jade green eyes. "I'm sick of all of these games! If you want to kill me then go ahead and get it over with, but I won't tolerate being toyed with anymore!"

"You're scared." A soft voice replied. "Of death, or of me?"

Sakura blinked, confusion lingering behind her eyes like a fog. "What kind of question is that?"

"A valid one," the figure shifted just enough to make Sakura jump, "you definitely aren't what I expected."

"What do you mean?" She asked skeptically. Despite the situation there was something strangely calming about the stranger that made her even more confused.

The figure shook its head and spread its arms out wide. "As you can see, I am not here to harm you. I have no weapons of any kind on me at this moment." With a heavy sigh, "Anyway, let's just get this over with before anything else happens." Slowly, the figure moved towards Sakura with its arms still spread far apart and fingers separated, insuring her that no jutsu would be usable, either. Sakura's eyes widened and she slowly stepped back as the figure came closer. 'What do I do? Scream? Run?'

"It's okay," the figures smooth voice reminded Sakura of Saijou's, "I only wish to show you who I am, and to get a better look at you." There was no danger lingering in the air, no sense of death surrounding the person before her. She usually had good judgment concerning such things, so with a silent prayer, Sakura held her place and allowed the figure to approach her.

As it got closer, she realized that the stranger was a boy—not looking much older than she—with fire-red hair and dazzling golden eyes. He was clad in all black, his arms and legs wrapped in the same manner Sasuke had once fashioned, but he wore no headband or any kind of indication of where he was from. 'He has to be from some other country, with hair and eyes like that.' She thought, mesmerized by the boys appearance above all else. He stopped a safe distance from her and bowed his head formally.

"My name is Obunai."