Fire: People are still reading… (sniff) I'm so happy…
Sasuke: (looking closely with a contorted expression on his face) Are you trying to cry?
Fire: (sniff) What makes you think that?
Sasuke: You don't cry.
Fire: (lightening up again) Oh! Right!
Sasuke: (sigh) Now, when are you planning to put Naruto and me back into the story? It's taking forever! (fuming in anger)
Fire: (holding up hands in defense) Soon, I swear!
Sasuke: (looking speculatively at Fire) How soon is "soon?"
Fire: (thinks for a little while) I think about chapter 6…
Sasuke: (annoyed anger) That's not soon enough.
Fire: Well…I have to explain how you come back. You're dead, Sasuke!
Sasuke: (grabs the Bag of Reviews from Kakashi and hands a review to Fire) Here. Read the reviews so we can get on with the story.
Fire: (scans over the window) Sasuke…did you write me a review?
Sasuke: What makes you think that?
Fire: This says Sasuke.
Sasuke: …
Fire: I already told you that you're not going to be back yet!
Kakashi: (grabs the Bag of Reviews back from Sasuke) Real reviews only, Sasuke. (hands Fire a real review)
Fire: (looks at the window) And this window is blank… (shouts) Kakashi! You're playing around too!
Kakashi: (smiling mischievously) I couldn't resist. (hands Fire a real review, really this time)
Fire: (reads the window with an annoyed sigh) Kakashi, I thought you'd be more mature.
Kakashi: Is that what the review says?
Fire: No. The reviewer says that she likes reading about Sakura for a change, without turning her into a villain since it's a SasuNaru.
Kakashi: The reviewer's a girl?
Fire: That's what it says on the reviewer's user profile.
Kakashi: Nothing about me?
Fire: Nope.
Kakashi: (slumps) What?
Fire: Well, I'm sure you don't want to see Kakashi sulk, so read the next chapter!
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Disclaimer: Read the previous chapters' disclaimers. I want to stop writing these. They're redundant.
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Chapter 3: Tears of the Sakura
Anko looked up suddenly at Kakashi. She was only listening to him passingly until he said the one word that made her ears perk up in attention. "What? What did you say about Orochimaru?" Her old sensei... What did Kakashi want to do to her old sensei?
Kakashi sighed slightly. He had walked all over Konoha looking for the people he knew would be an asset to his team, and he had spent the better part of fifteen minutes explaining to Anko what the mission was and what they needed to do, and why they needed to do it. And she hadn't heard a word he had said.
"I'm forming a team for a reconnaissance mission to Otogakure. Orochimaru's going to be there, so I need someone who knows him well." The one visible eye on the grey-haired jounin's face was serious as he looked at Anko. He needed someone who knew how Orochimaru thought, especially since they were avoiding him. "You were a former student of his, so I thought of you, naturally. But, this isn't mandatory. If you don't want to come, I won't force you." She knew the Orochimaru of almost two decades ago. Was that even the same man?
Anko took another bite of a dango ball and slid it off its stick. "Who else is coming?" She was coming–of course she was coming–but she wanted to know who was there for backup. She wanted to kill Orochimaru with her own two hands, even if it was unlikely that she would get that chance now.
'If I'm going to fight him, I'll need a good team to back me up in case...' Her hand flew up to her neck. It wasn't there at the moment, but if she was to go near Orochimaru again, the cursed seal might...
But Anko was getting ahead of herself. She wasn't going to be there to kill Orochimaru, and she reminded herself that as she looked at Kakashi again. She still wanted to know who was coming, and she didn't want to miss a single name.
"Sarutobi Asuma and the legendary Sannin, Jiraiya," Kakashi said slowly. He had run into Jiraiya right outside the Hokage office, and he had offered to go with them. "Can't fight a Sannin without a Sannin," was what he had said. Kakashi was just repeating it for Anko.
And Asuma... Orochimaru killed his father. Of course, he would want to come.
"Asuma and Jiraiya...?" Anko was beginning to think that perhaps, they could handle Orochimaru. With backup like that, there was no way that they could fail.
Sakura crouched low in her cage. That was what it was, even if it didn't look like one. In fact, it looked more like a room without windows, a very dark room with only a few lamps to see by. It wasn't a very strong cage with strong bars. With her hands, she could easily break down one of those crumbling walls and escape, but she couldn't do that just yet.
"Sakura-sama?"
The pink-haired girl turned her eyes from the scrolls open on the floor to the grey-haired shinobi. "Kabuto-san?" Sakura remembered him from her first chuunin exam...and she hadn't forgotten that he was working for Orochimaru. She couldn't trust him, no matter what he said. "Nan des-ka?" She was going to kill him as well.
Kabuto stood at the very edge of the room assigned to Sakura, but he could still feel the tension that surrounded it so thoroughly. This girl... Something had happened to bring her here. Her answer to Orochimaru's question... Destruction. That word had never rung with so much murderous intent before.
And not only that, Orochimaru-sama's curiosity had only increased as he learned more about her...
Orochimaru sat back in his chair at her answer. Destruction. That was adequate...for now.
He eyed the girl with the same mild interest that a man eyed a prospective pet at a pet store. She looked healthy enough, and she seemed eager to be his pet, but did she have the qualifications? How did he know that she wasn't just going to bite him in the hand and run away after he bought her?
"Tell me why I should lend you this power?" Sasuke had betrayed him once before. Orochimaru wasn't going to just hand another batch of power and knowledge to another useless shinobi who was just going to betray him later. "What can you offer me?" Because he certainly wasn't going to use a girl for a container. The idea almost made him want to vomit.
Sakura stared at the man. What can she offer him? "I can..." She couldn't think of anything.
She had to think of something! Quick!
Sakura could see that he was disinterested. She had gotten hold of his attention for a moment, but it was quickly fading away. "I have seen and I understand secret ninjutsu only known in Konoha." She had read those scrolls up in Hokage tower. She remembered them perfectly.
"Girl, I am a Sannin of Konoha. I also know those techniques." He guessed that he was wrong. He couldn't use her after all.
"I am an excellent medic-nin."
Orochimaru turned away. Kabuto was also an excellent medic-nin, and he told her that with the same disinterest that was quickly spreading through his mind.
"I was trained by Tsunade-shishou herself! I am a much better medic-nin th–"
Sakura stopped as she saw Orochimaru's eyes widen. She knew about this man's previous relationship with her shishou, but...
She was regretting it.
"You and Tsunade...are close?" His voice was soft, as if deep in memory.
"Uh...yes?" She wasn't sure what he meant by close, but they shared a bond. There was the bond that could only be shared between a sensei and student.
The man leaned back in his chair, a wide grin on his face to wipe away the brief humanity that had appeared there. "Of course," he said slowly as he closed his eyes momentarily. A plan was forming in his mind. "Kabuto, take the girl to her room." He was keeping her. This was a pet he couldn't afford not to get.
Kabuto didn't know what Orochimaru was thinking when he allowed the girl to stay, but he had a feeling that it couldn't be good. That smile on his face was too bright. His master would never allow someone into his compound without a good reason.
"I was wondering if you would like anything in particular. If you need anything at all, feel free to ask." Kabuto smiled, although beneath it, there was the uneasiness that lay in his chest. Compared to this girl, Uchiha Sasuke was nothing. At least they knew what Sasuke wanted. Sakura's motives were hidden beneath layers upon layers of a feminine mind that Kabuto didn't want to go anywhere near. He would never be able to understand it, even if he had all eternity.
And that reaction which Orochimaru had, the expression on the man's face... That image haunted the grey-haired shinobi. He could only imagine what Orochimaru was thinking as he saw this girl...this little Tsunade, asking him for help, for power.
"I don't need anything at the moment, Kabuto-san," the girl said as she turned away from him, her eyes trailing to the walls where strange maps of powerful seals and techniques were pinned up for her to see, to read, to memorize, and to learn. These were the first of a series of techniques in written form that Orochimaru had deemed fit for her to learn–although the more interesting and powerful techniques would have to be learned directly from him since he refused to write them down; these were all just things that Sasuke had used before–and the rest of the scrolls lay on a table nearby. There were no windows in this room, so she was thankful for them. They gave her something to look at in her boredom. "I'll call you if I need anything."
'That's strange,' Kabuto thought as he backed out of the room. Those words...that voice...all of it resounded with an energy that didn't fit this girl. It was flat, and dead. 'The girl I had met so long ago had a much happier voice.'
"Yes, of course. I'll take my leave," Kabuto said as he closed the door after him. He didn't know why, but his body felt frozen. The girl... She was definitely different now, and he wanted to know why. Why did she come here to see his master? Why was she here in Oto no Sato? Her cold words before...destruction...the immensely sorrowful killer intent that filled her room...all these things just didn't add up. There was definitely an underlying motive there. And he needed to find out what it was before she could put her plan in action.
And as Kabuto left the room, Sakura was left alone to contemplate those same questions. She didn't want to answer them though. If she had asked them, she might have changed her mind. She might have decided that this path, which would ultimately lead to her death, was not the path that she wanted.
But...the kunoichi never allowed herself to think about it for a moment. Those questions...those dangerous questions...were best left unanswered.
'I will try my best to live a life without regrets. It's my way of the ninja!'
That was what Naruto always said... She would try to live up to it.
Kakashi's hands were restless, folding and unfolding the orders he had received from Tsunade earlier that day. Gather a team of however many people he deemed necessary for the task. Gather as much information about this cloaked figure as possible. Return alive. Those were Tsunade's three points. That and...return in two weeks.
Two weeks! That was how long she expected this task to take. Granted it didn't take that long to get to Otogakure...and usually recon-missions were around this long, but...it was obvious that the Hokage was too worried about his emotional well-being. This was Oto. Oto! It was going to take much longer than two weeks! But–Kakashi sighed–there was no way around it. He was just going to have to finish this in two weeks.
"Huh?" Kakashi stopped as he saw the extra person waiting for them with the rest of the group. "Kurenai?"
"Kakashi," the red-eyed woman said as she saw the grey-haired jounin. "I can't just let you all go alone. I request permission to join your party."
"A pleasant surprise, but...no," Kakashi said as he stopped in front of the team. "We have all the people we need."
"Well, I for one wouldn't mind having another woman on the team!" Jiraiya said as he eyed Kurenai. 'The woman sure is built well... Curvy...' A slight pinkish colour rose in the white-haired man's cheeks.
"It's too dangerous!" Anko complained. 'Orochimaru will kill all of you in an instant if he had the chance!' The woman's eyes burned with intense determination.
Asuma was only silent. He wasn't too sure if he wanted to cross Kurenai at the moment. He could see that she was determined. Deciding to go to Orochimaru...that wasn't just a passing thought. This required long contemplation. Orochimaru wasn't just anyone. He was a Sannin.
Kakashi looked at the silent Asuma. Out of everyone, he had said nothing, and Kakashi had to respect the man's opinions, even if he didn't voice them. "Maa...I guess you could come...as backup..."
Kurenai's mouth curved into a slight smile. 'It seems as if Kakashi really does think sometimes!'
"If you get killed, it's not my fault," Anko said as she turned from Kurenai. 'Another person, another potential casualty.'
"Hey, what do you think about older men?" Jiraiya asked as soon as Anko walked away. His attempts toward that woman had only earned him slaps to the head, and punches in his stomach, but this one looked prettier anyway.
"I think they're idiots," Kurenai said coldly.
Jiraiya's expression froze as her words reached his ears. Idiots... She meant him.
"We should focus on the task at hand, Jiraiya-sama," Kakashi said as he walked away from him. "We are headed for a dangerous place." Otogakure. They were lucky that Sasuke returned with the location of that mysterious village...and unlucky that Sakura had discovered the location from him as well.
"Yes...yes, I know." The white haired man followed after the rest of the group. It seemed as if the whole group was dull. "Let's just get going."
From where she lay, Sakura looked up at the incredibly dull ceiling of her room. Everything was dull here, not just the ceiling. But it seemed as if the ceiling was the worst. At least the walls could be decorated with scrolls and...
"Sakura-sama?" Kabuto walked into the kunoichi's room with a small bundle in his hand. "Orochimaru-sama said to give this to you."
The kunoichi sat up and looked at the blue bundle in the spectacled nin's hands. "What is it?" She couldn't be too cautious. She hadn't been here for long, and she didn't know Orochimaru that well. He was supposed to be evil. He could be trying to poison her, or kill her in some way that she couldn't quite imagine or understand. She had to be cautious.
And even if it was an innocent thing, she had to refuse to accept it. She hated Orochimaru too much to want anything from him. He took Sasuke from her. That was how she saw it, even though the man who had ultimately taken Sasuke's life–Uchiha Itachi–was dead.
"He said that it is a gift...to welcome you to the village."
Sakura took the bundle from the grey-haired shinobi and laid it in her lap. It was light...and small. It didn't seem too dangerous.
Slowly, the pink-haired kunoichi unfolded each corner of the bundle, her hands ready at any moment to destroy it, or to throw it at Kabuto, or to rise to any part of her body to heal herself, if the need arose. But, it wasn't anything dangerous.
It was only a hitai-ate...a sound hitai-ate.
Sakura lifted the small band in her hand. She had left her Konoha hitai-ate with Kakashi. She hadn't thought that she would actually replace it.
"I don't need this." Sakura held it out to Kabuto. "Tell him that I don't want it." A sound nin... She didn't come here to be a sound nin!
Kabuto stared at the girl. "But Orochimaru-sama..."
"Tell him that I don't want it!" Never! Never would she wear something like that!
"But it would please Orochimaru-sama greatly if you wore it." Kabuto looked straight at her now, a sly look on his face as he waved the hitai-ate at her. "If you displease him, he may decide that you're not worth teaching." The girl was letting her guard down.
"Nonsense!" Sakura snatched the hitai-ate from the shinobi's hand. "Orochimaru isn't such a fool!" She looked down at the tiny band of cloth and metal. It was such a small thing...and she didn't know Orochimaru that well. She could be wrong.
So, just in case...
Sakura tied the hitai-ate around her hair, the same place that the crest of Konoha had rested not too long ago. "Is that all?"
A small smile crept over Kabuto's face. It seemed as if she was easier to see through than he had initially thought. "Yes." He sank back into the hall, closing the door after him. "If there is anything else you need..."
"Shut up and leave me alone!" Sakura snapped. She didn't remember Kabuto being so annoying. But even so...
The pink-haired kunoichi reached into her kunai pouch and pulled out a half-crumpled square of folded paper. She unfolded it slowly, taking great care not to wrinkle it any further than it already had. Her hands shook a little as she looked into the familiar faces that looked out from the small photograph, then, crumpled in her hands.
That photo... It seemed like so long ago...
Sakura clenched her chest with one hand as she stared at the small mismatched ball of paper in the other. Her chest was tight again.
With motions even slower than before, she unfolded the photograph, smoothed it over her chest and looked at the four people there. Sasuke-kun... Kakashi-sensei... Naruto... And a smiling Sakura... People she had lost...
'Ano-sa! Ano-sa! Sakura-chan, want to eat lunch with me?' The image of Naruto's smiling face filled her vision.
'Are you going too, Sasuke-kun?' Sakura heard herself call to the dark-haired shinobi at Naruto's side.
'Hn.'
With a heavy heart, the girl folded the photo carefully again and pressed it deep into her kunai pouch. She had forgotten how to cry a while ago...not since her heart had broken–once...twice...three times?–otherwise she knew she would have probably cried now. She had given herself the opportunity to do it, but there was only the overwhelming sadness...and the knowledge that she had cried all her tears long ago.
End Chapter 3
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Fire's English tidbits for those who care:
I don't remember if I've explained this before, but since there were some concerns about Naruto and Sasuke being dead, I'm going to explain this anyway. I know that it's a little late, but I have to do this, so don't hate me if it's obvious to you. A prologue is supposed to explain something that happens outside the timeline of the story. Generally, it's to make sure that the reader is caught up with the general situation so that they don't get confused when they read the book. A prologue should be short, but it doesn't really tell you what is going to happen in the story. So when I said that Naruto and Sasuke were dead in the prologue of this story, that's just to get you up to date, so that you don't wonder where they are, and so that it doesn't come as a big shock when you find out. It doesn't mean that they're going to stay dead. If your prologue is too long, then you should write it as a separate story, typically called a prequel. The prequel to this story would be Wait for Me: Leaving. But I write a prologue so that you don't have to read the first book to read this book. Aren't I nice? Next chapter, epilogues, and sequels.
Fire's babbling:
Sakura: Cried all my tears long ago! What do you mean by that! It was only a month ago!
Fire: (cringes) But it's supposed to be a figure of speech. It feels like a long time ago to you! (waving hands apologetically) I don't mean it literally.
Sakura: I can cry! I'll show you I can cry!
Fire: I'm not saying that you can't…
Kakashi: I brought her back since you were wondering where she went.
Fire: (unenthusiastic) Wow…thanks.
Kakashi: You seem unhappy about it.
Fire: (monotone) I don't care anymore. Write your own story. (turns around)
Sakura: No! Fine! I can't cry!
Fire: That's not what I said!
Kakashi: Sakura! I've found you!
Sakura: Yeah. You found me in the first chapter.
Kakashi: Now I'm bringing you home! (lunges for Sakura)
Sakura: Waah! (smacks Kakashi into the ground, jumps out of the way and runs away)
Fire: (staring at Kakashi) For a moment, I thought you were Jiraiya.
Kakashi: What makes you say that? (drags himself from the ground)
Fire: Oh, nothing.
Kakashi: So will I bring Sakura home or not?
Fire: Don't ask me that!
Kakashi: Why not?
Fire: You'll ruin the story for everyone else.
Kakashi: Oh. (thinks for a moment) Tell me anyway.
Fire: No!
Kakashi: How mean… (slumps sadly)
Fire: (ignoring Kakashi's attempts at emotional blackmail) Find out what Orochimaru was thinking about when he allowed Sakura to stay with him. Find out what Kabuto is up to. And does Kakashi actually find Sakura? What about Sakura? Most of that will be in the next chapter. The rest will be in the rest of the story. Till then, review! Anonymous reviewers are welcome although I want to be able to reply to you too so write down an email. I do prefer signed-in reviews.
Kakashi: Are you done yet? Sasuke always said you go on and on and on, but I thought he was exaggerating.
Fire: Yes. I'm done. Has anyone ever told you that you're high maintenance?
Kakashi: No. What does that mean?
Fire: Never mind. (turns away from Kakashi and back to the audience) See you next chapter!
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