The Calling
By ShinobiSpirit
Chapter Twenty Four
"Sakura has been banned from this village."
The Hokage's words rang through Kakashi's ears like a distant dream. He had witnessed many accounts of such events—it certainly hadn't been the first time a ninja had been banned from the village—but somehow this particular incident hit way too close to home. And as he waited at the bridge for his remaining team to arrive, he was baffled as to how he would repeat the Hokage's final words on Sakura's fate.
A sad smile touched his lips at the thought of Naruto's reaction. He would undoubtedly be the most reactive of the two, but what of Sasuke? The boy had never shown much emotion towards Sakura, despite her persistence; could it be possible that for once, Kakashi would find a crack in his mask?
"Kakashi-sensei!"
'Here we go,' he thought mildly. Turning towards the approaching duo, he gave a slight wave and forced a small smile. "Good morning."
Sasuke stopped short of the bridge and stood beneath the pillars. He could feel something was up—especially considering Kakashi's apparent promptness. It made him want to turn right back around and leave.
Naruto stomped past Sasuke and faced the taller man directly, his eyebrows furrowed in frustration. "You're on time," he pointed out in mild disbelief. "Where's Sakura-chan?"
"You don't miss a thing, do you?" Kakashi said nonchalantly, ruffling the blonde boy's hair. Naruto shoved his hand away and glared directly into his eye.
"Where is she, Kakashi-sensei?"
Kakashi sighed inwardly and brought his hand up to his forehead. There was no good way to break this kind of news and not have it fall apart in a million pieces. He'd have to give it to them straight. They were ninja's, he reminded himself. No matter how much they avoided things in the past, eventually they'd have to face the harsh reality of what it truly meant to be a great ninja.
"Sakura didn't kill them," he said in a matter-of-fact tone. "But, there wasn't enough proof to satisfy the council, and as a result they demanded her execution."
"What?" Naruto's jaw dropped. "What the hell? There's no way! There's no way you can let them do that!" He shouted, his eyes burning with anger. "How…"
"I'm not finished," Kakashi interrupted. He shifted his attention from Naruto to Sasuke, who remained still and seemingly apathetic about it all. "The Hokage was able to reason with them. Sakura will live, but under one condition."
Relief washed over Naruto and he relaxed his position a little. "What condition?"
"She…" he began hesitantly, having a difficult time putting the words together in his mind. "She may no longer be apart of this village."
Naruto's arms fell to his sides and his mouth twisted into a frown. He felt like his heart had just fallen into his stomach. 'Sakura-chan…' So that was it? She was gone, just like that? It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair to have someone that important in his life taken away because of something she didn't even do. "What… what's the point in being strong if I can't even save one person?" He asked no one in particular. Tears burned in his eyes and he turned from his teacher to where Sasuke stood silently—his face blank and unchanging—which only further infuriated Naruto.
Kakashi reached out and grasped Naruto by the shoulder before he could do anything he'd regret later. "Strength has nothing to do with it. There was nothing any of us could do to help her." He paused long enough to make sure he understood the truth behind his words. "The only thing you can do now is believe in her. After all, she'll be in very good hands wherever she goes."
"That isn't good enough!" He clamored and yanked away from Kakashi's grip. Naruto found it hard to breathe let alone say everything he had to say at that moment. It was like they were all stuck in some intolerable ring of unfortunate events that never ceased. One thing after another kept happening and, once again, the realization of his limited powers added to the collection of wounds on his failing pride.
Silently, Naruto turned his back to Kakashi and took off past Sasuke without so much as a glance. It was out of character, but something had to be done, and the blond boy had enough sense to know that arguing with his sensei was pointless. So he'd go directly to the source—The Hokage himself.
Kakashi sighed and ran a gloved hand through his hair. "He's going to get it now."
'It's your fault,' Sasuke thought to himself and closed his eyes. He had no reason to discuss anything further with Kakashi. Unlike Naruto, he knew that if Kakashi had no effect on the outcome of Sakura's fate, there was little chance he or anyone else could, either. Regretfully, he turned a cold shoulder and followed the path to his home.
"Powerless…" echoed inside his head.
All he could do was smile.
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Akimoto stretched his arms above his head and resettled back in his chair. It hadn't been 24 hours since his "assignment" had entered his life and he was already regretting his actions. Tired eyes fell upon the girl lying on his bed. 'She has no appeal at all.' He thought with a sigh. 'Damn that stupid old man.'
Shaking his perversion aside, he crossed his arms and began to think more seriously. He was concerned that perhaps she had locked herself up inside and refused to come out, thanks to his brothers' meddling. At the same time, however, he doubted that was the effect Obunai had been aiming for. It was highly unlikely that he had made a mistake; his brother didn't make mistakes.
Aki inhaled and shifted again. There was so much that could go wrong with this whole arrangement. He was a loner by nature, as well, and having a girl tag along for the next few years wasn't in his plans—especially one with a 'condition' as unique as hers.
"You'll never see, Akimoto."
He stirred at the familiar tone of his brother.
"You'll never see."
"God damn it," he muttered breathlessly and stood abruptly, knocking the chair over in the process. It landed on the wooden floor with a loud crack that caused Sakura to stir. He glared at her obscenely as if Obunai were in her place, his hands clenched tightly by his sides in an effort to control himself.
A few deep breaths later, Aki calmed and retrieved his chair. Sitting back down, he scooted closer to Sakura's side and felt her forehead with the back of his hand.
'She's burning up.' He pulled the covers down a bit and rested his hands in his lap. 'It looks like she's trying to escape.'
His meaning hardly went without saying. Aki was well aware of what was happening to Sakura. He knew what she was going through and he knew just how sly inner beasts could be. Twisting, bending, molding you into anything they wanted. They were you, you were them, but they had the upper hand for more than the obvious reasons.
As ninjas, emotions are considered weapons in the eyes of both the enemy and themselves. Without them, however, you're nothing but a shell and easily invaded by other more devious demons. Too much makes you open for mistakes that are often fatal or add insult to injury. There's no such thing as a median between those two extremes, Aki knew, but he had his doubts when he first heard of Sakura's case. Now he was more sure than ever.
'First Orochimaru, then my brother, and now she's in my hands. It all fits. Sakura must have that balance. But how? Could it be a hidden bloodline limit?' The more Akimoto thought about it, the more he began to wonder if perhaps the Hokage knew all along, but never spoke of it.
A frown found its way across his face. Sakura had spent all of her life wondering why she couldn't get stronger, no matter how hard she trained. The Hokage had spoken briefly of her assumed mindset, her attraction to Uchiha Sasuke, and her knowledge of chakra. There had even been a summary of everything known about her parents and her origin that resided in the confines of his desk drawer in the next room, but he didn't need it to know her family was traditional with no specialties other than in fields of science and medicine. Aki imagined Sakura must have questioned her role in Team 7 quite a bit; did the Hokage really plan not to tell her why? It made absolutely no sense to him.
Then again, after everything he had seen, facts seemed farther from the truth every day.
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Saijou opened his eyes to the warmth of the suns' rays leaking in through the trees. At his side, Sakura lay curled on her side with her back facing him. He knew she was awake, but when he greeted her, she remained silent and unmoving under his watchful gaze.
His eyebrow raised in suspicion. "Sakura, are you alright?"
"Why am I still here?" She asked quietly, weakly. Saijou propped himself up on an elbow and turned to face her back.
"Because you want to be," he said, "why question it now?"
Sakura sighed and tried to curl up tighter into herself. He had a good point—why would she want to leave such a peaceful place? Sasuke and Naruto were more than capable of handling things on their own. She only held them back. It was best if she just stayed here and allowed them to grow to their full potential.
'Is it?' The logical part of her mind barked back at her. She frowned and attempted to bury her face further. 'It is. It has to be. Why else would this place exist?'
"Sakura?" Saijou inquired, interrupting her thoughts. "You never answered me. Are you alright?"
"Yeah," she replied hesitantly. "I'm just feeling a bit… drained right now."
At her choice of words a twinkle of something darker appeared in Saijou's eyes. "Then you should rest. I'll go get something to eat for us." He said and stood up quickly, exiting before she got a chance to thank him.
After he was gone, Sakura sat up and observed herself for a moment. Just about everything on her was covered in some form of dirt—which could more or less be blamed on the fact that she had been lying on it all night, but she ignored that thought and stood up to stretch her legs out.
She didn't know why, but every time Saijou left her side she felt a lot better; even stronger, somehow. Whether or not it was because he was so infinitely bigger than her that in his presence she felt small and inferior, or because of another, more deeper issue, she didn't know. The thought was dropped completely when she found herself at what appeared to be the end of the forest and the beginning of… nothing?
Sakura blinked at the darkness inches from her face. There wasn't any other word for it; darkness and nothing more, like a painting that was never finished. Was there a limit to the existence of this world, or was she still dreaming? 'Only one way to find out…'
As she took those last steps forward, she could just barely hear the sound of Saijou's voice cutting through the void she had willingly tumbled into. Suddenly she didn't know what was up or down, left or right. Her eyes felt heavy and fear ruptured through her body as she continued to fall.
At that moment, Sakura was positive that her life was over, even as her eyes began to close and everything abruptly stopped. The air felt like it had been knocked from her lungs, but it rushed right back when she took a hesitant breath. She felt something soft under head and a warmth foreign to the world she had previously inhabited. Slowly, her eyes opened and all she could do for the longest time was stare at the unfamiliar ceiling.
A noise caught her attention and Sakura turned her head to get a better look. Green clashed with Emerald and she let out a gasp of surprise. Yet another young, relatively attractive man was sitting beside her bed, looking at her like she had just grown another set of heads.
Akimoto's expression softened after a brief lapse of shock and he bowed his head respectfully. "I apologize for frightening you. My name is Hisashi Akimoto, but you can just call me Aki, if you want."
Sakura felt something wet on her cheeks before she realized they were tears. She sat up and allowed them to fall freely, staring at Akimoto all the while as if shame was no longer any of her concern. "Is this…"
"Yes," he answered before she finished. "You're finally awake. I was beginning to wonder if you ever would." Aki admitted, a smile on his face. He got up and retrieved a box of tissue on a nearby table. She took one and wiped her tears away quickly before she faced him again.
"Aki," she started, "what happened to me?"
He blinked at how desperate her voice sounded to his ears. For a moment he wondered whether or not he should tell her the truth. However, he decided she had been lied to enough; you can only leave someone in the dark for so long.
"You were framed. Those men they assumed you killed were not slain by your hands and you have no reason to suspect otherwise." Aki said in a tone that made Sakura listen more closely than she probably would had. "It wasn't your fault." He added after considering thoughts that might pop up in her head.
Sakura didn't have a clue what he was talking about. Brief pictures flashed before her eyes, but they were all blurred and red she couldn't make out a single thing. Instead of letting Akimoto know her lack of knowledge on the situation she simply nodded obediently and kept her mouth shut.
"Good," Aki said with a sigh. He was just glad she wasn't flipping out. It made telling her the rest a lot easier. "As for why you're here, I'm afraid, well, you've been banned from Konoha until further notice."
Now, Sakura had heard some pretty absurd things in her life, but what Aki had just said took the cake and the oven too. "What?" She demanded. "How.. why… what are you talking about?"
He winced at the look on her face and tried his best to elaborate. "The fact of the matter is, Sakura, you're lucky to be alive. It was either you be banned or you be executed. As of now, I'd be counting my blessings if I were you." He took a deep breath and met her gaze with a reassuring smile. "You don't have to worry. I'm responsible for you now, and I won't let anything happen to you." With his hand extended. "I promise."
Sakura briefly recalled Saijou's similar gesture but she decided that it didn't matter. Suddenly nothing much did matter to her. Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi, her friends, her family, they were all gone. She clutched the blanket to her chest and forced herself not to cry—not in front of him, anyway.
Hesitantly, she placed her free hand in his. Aki's smile widened and he closed his fingers around hers and gave her hand a firm friendly shake. "Don't give up yet," he said after a moment of observing her inner battle.
"The adventure's just starting, after all."
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Thanks for being patient.
SS
