A/N: Thanks for the Reviews! Hehe I spent all day working on this chapter, well more like5ush hours, but same diff. The important thing is..It's a fast update!
Warnings: The part with Koizumi actually ended up taking more space than I had thought, sorry about that!
Disclaimer: If I owned the Naruto series…you would know lol.
Enjoy!
Behind The Smile
Chapter 20: Past Revelations Pt. II : A Closing to the Story of Radiant Garden!
Sakura's Decision?
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A pink layer of chakra surrouned her body like a second layer of skin, its amount also creating a small translucent circle underneath her. Her locks and pink hair and and the tressess of her elegant, yet dirtily ruined white dress were greatly dancing in the wind being created by the force of her energy. Emerald and pink fought for superiority color in her eyes, the battle constantly switching the shades of her eyes, and as her chakra level steadily increased, pink took over, glowing vibrantly in the fire-lighted night sky.
"What the hell?" All of the Sound ninja had their arms up, trying to stand against the wind.
Koizumi had slightly lifted his head off the ground, looking ahead at the amazing chakra show.
"This is ridiculous! Men, attack!" All of the sound charged, not only towards Sakura, but to Koizumi as well. But when it looked like they made contact with the younger man, a pink chakra barrier appeared, knocking them a few feet away, and burning them in the process. Koizumi was surprised as he looked all around him. The fires all around were slowly being covered by pink chakra, immediately dissapearing. Sakura was doing all of this…was there no limit to her chakra?
Sakura looked at all the hundreds of men advancing on her. She let out a battle cry, using the sheer force of her chakra to push them away. Immediately she closed her eyes. A pink circle of chakra appeared on the ground around her, flaring around her as it spinned. She started spinning slowly, gracefully, it was an amazing sight. She crossed her arms against her chest as she spun.
The little girl started spinning a little faster. She slowly stuck her arms out in front of her, intertwining them. The chakra circle under her started creating Sakura petals. They spun along with her. After a while she lifted her arms above her, reaching up to the heavens. She kept them intertwined. One hand rose a little higher than the other as she opened her palm up.
A strange beaming noise could be heard as staticky lights appeared near her hand, shooting straight to the center of her palm. It started creating a pinkish-red chakra ball, Sakura petals were flaring around with it, a part of the chakra ball. It was getting bigger by the second. As it reached it's peak, the ball stopped forming and just spun with the Sakura petals in her hand. She instantly stopped spinning, her eyes shooting open. She looked graceful, beautiful but deadly as her eyes shot open, training themselves on the Sound ninja ahead of her. The chakra below her, along with the wind and everything else dispersed as she stopped.
Her Shiyuki eyes were trained on the man who had stabbed the sword through Koizumi. He was a little ahead of the group, standing in the middle. Sakura brought her hand down to her right side, using her other hand to support the arm. With amazing speed, she advanced on the Sound ninja. She was too fast for him to react. Letting out a battle cry, Sakura shot her arm forward making contact with the Sound ninja. As soon as it did a huge explosion of chakra was created. It started right where Sakura's fist was, flaring out around the whole group of Sound ninja.
When the explosion died out, and the smoke subsided, all that could be seen was a barren land. There wasn't a single soul left alive. The little girl stood in the same position, her arm out in front of her, breathing heavily. Her eyes switched back to their normal emerald color. As soon as it did, Sakura's eyelids closed, and her little body began to fall to the ground.
Koizumi was there to catch her.
..ooo000ooo000ooo..
Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep.
The sound of light beeping filled the little girl's ears. It wasn't loud, it was rather lulling actually, but all the little girl was thinking was, it wouldn't stop. She slowly opened her eyes, and looked around the room. Her view was blurry, hazy. She had to keep blinking her eyes slowly to clear the blurriness. She did not feel good at all. She was exhausted, sore, the whole package.
Where was she?
The pink-haired girl looked around the room. White walls, white tiled floors that looked like they had been polished. She observed the open windows that caused curtains to flow gently with the wind. She observed a table standing next to her, adorned with flowers. She looked down noticing the IV that was attached from her wrist. It led to a bag of fluids just above her. She was in a Hospital.
"It's been two weeks.. are you sure she's ok?." The little girl heard whispered chatter. She opened her eyes again to see three figures standing at the foot of the bed she was lying on. One was a woman, she had light green hair, and emerald eyes. The other figure was another woman, she seemed to be wearing a Nurse outfit.
The other figure was a man, he looked very young. Maybe around the age of Seventeen. He had long emerald hair that was tied back in a ponytail. The color of his eyes were weird. They were pink. She felt a blush rising to her cheeks as she saw him. He was very handsome. Yet he was very quiet, it was only the two women who were speaking.
"She'll be fine after a little more rest…although I'm afraid there might be some memory loss..be careful, don't try and force her to remember. If that trauma is as bad as you say it is… it'd be best for her not to remember...If you choose to stay in Konoha, a place can be set up for you. Have a nice day Mrs.Mira-san." The Nurse spoke. She nodded to the man as well, but he said nothing.The other woman nodded quickly, it looked as if she was about to cry. She watched as the Nurse exited the room.
She didn't recognize either of them. Who were they? And where was she? She saw as both their eyes traveled to her small form. She shut her eyes immediately, pretending she was still asleep.
"Do you really have to go? She'll be heartbroken..you know that..Stay a little longer, let these people treat your wounds..Konoha seems like a good place." The woman was trying to make that young man stay..Were they talking about her?
"I can't, I have to find them, make sure they are all gone. I don't care how many there are, I will kill them all." Sakura peeked her eyes open to look at the younger man. His eyes were flashing. He held such anger, such hurt. Determination and regret were in his eyes. He wanted revenge.
"We can just rebuild Radiant Garden!If not, Konoha seems like a great place,please don't leave!"
"…They call themselves shinobi, preying on the weak, hurting those who do nothing to them. Those Sound don't deserve to live." His voice was calm, the little girl figured he wasn't the type who yelled or got any easily. Even though he seemed furious now. She watched as the woman's eyes widened.
"What's wrong with you? Why are you acting so strange!" She couldn't contain her voice any longer. The man was starting to scare her.
"They don't deserve to be forgiven. What they've done to Radiant Garden..Sakura-."
"What about Sakura-sama!..What about Sakura-sama! Are you taking her feelings into consideration!" The woman yelled.
"Don't call her that." The young man cut her off. His voice was cold and stern. "Her name is Sakura, she doesn't like that formality." Sakura closed her eyes again as she saw the man look in her direction. She could hear his light footsteps, and feel his body heat and he got close to her.
"Be a good girl, Sakura-san. We will meet again, I promise." For some reason Sakura felt sad, extremely sad, she did her best to look as if she was still sleeping. It was hard to do so when she felt the warm touch of his lips on her forehead. She felt something else as well, it was wet. She was shocked when she realized what it was. Tears. Was he crying?
She didn't even know him, yet, she felt like crying. She couldn't stop the lone tear that fell from her closed eye. She felt him pause as he must have seen that tear. She felt him use a hand to wipe her tear away.
"We will meet again, I promise." With that she felt his body heat leave her, she felt extremely cold now. When she heard the small clicking of the closed door Sakura opened her eyes. The woman was on the ground now, crying. It was then that Sakura found herself wanting to cry even more. This unbearable pain wouldn't leave her. She felt like she had just lost something. Lost a piece of her. Why did she feel this way? The little girl, Sakura, couldn't help from crying. She bawled her eyes out.
A name unconsciously came to her mind.
Koizumi-kun
End Of Radiant Garden's Story
"Koizumi-kun.." Her wide emerald eyes started to glimmer with the sparkle of tears, however they did not fall. A rising sickeness started to situation in her stomach as the impending threat of suffocation labored her slow breaths.
How could she have forgotten? Her childhood, her clan.
Him.
The man in front of her. He was Haruno Koizumi - the man she had considered her life, her joy. Her idle; her hero.
Now, he was the leader of the Akatsuki.
"So you remember." His monotone voice interupted her thoughts. "I apologize if the memory came all to suddenly."
"Koizumi-kun-."
"I have something important to discuss with you, that is why I called you here." Her eyes slightly twitched in surprise as he cut her off; she was surprised at how lightly he had taken their reunion - this was the first time they had talked in years - the first time she remembered him in her life. She remained quiet, paying no heed to Hidan as he continued to hold her arm, causing it to hang from his grasp in an upward position as she remained on the ground.
"You and I.. are the only ones, from our whole clan who can use the Shiyuki, our bloodlimit. You, however, were able to use it at such a young age. The first time I witnessed it was back in Radiant Garden, do you recall?" Sakura let her eyes waver amidst the ground.
"..I-I don't know what happened..I remember..I had no control over my feelings..or actions..but it's all blank."
"That night..at the age oftwelve, you comepletley obliterated an army ofshinobi.You unconsciously activated the Shiyuki. You healed a wound that couldn't possibly be healed, certainly not by a girl of your age."His voice still remained emotionless."You are special, Sakura. You have amazing powers, hiding under the surface, limitless…if only you could tap into it."
Sakura's eyes widened at the newfound information. "It can't be..I'm weak.."
"Have you ever had moments where you've had completely no idea how you survived? Do you remember what happened after wards? After you woke up?" Her eyes continued to waver as she looked at him, her mind writing an affirmative. "Did you really believe that all the times you won battles were from luck? From any others who may have been there to help you?"
"How come I can't-."
"How come you can't use this power? It's quite simple. You know not how to use it. Your body certainly isn't in tune or able wo withstand the strain, nothing conditioning and training can't reverse." The way he continued to speak, so coldly, factually, it was like he was a completley different person from the man she remembered. "I could teach you, Sakura-sama. It would be both beneficial to you and I"
A breif silence ensued as Sakura lowered her head to the ground, obscuring her face from view.
Something wasn't right. The sick, feeling of dread never left the pit of her stomach, only escalated. Koizumi..he seemed different..everything, it was all different, all..wrong. She didn't feel the joy that she ought to have felt. She didn't feel like hugging this man, telling him how much she missed him, how she wanted to catch up. Was this the same man who she had once considered her entire life? The man from her memories? Her idle? Could he still be called that?
No. He was a complete stranger.
He was the leader of the Akatsuki, a criminal organization consisting of the countries' top S-class criminals- all defineable in the bingo book.
"What happened to you.." Her inaudible whisper was only discernable to herself as continued to dwell on the situation before her. What had happened to him? What series of events led him to turn out like this? What happened as to make him totally disregard life as he did? Lose that light in his eyes, that tender tone to his voice?
She finally brought her head up, her sorrowful emerald orbs transitioning to meet his. There was a sort of resolvment withing her gaze.
"Your not Koizumi…" Her voice was quiet, loud enough for him to hear.
"I can guarantee this is me, Sakura-san." He made sure to enunciate the name clearly. "Did I not tell you we would meet again?"
Sakura-san, we will meet again, I promise."
She let her face obscure from view once again.
This wasn't Koizumi. This wasn't the man who she had sworn she couldn't live without. This was not the man she had known all those years ago. The warm, joyous man. The one who loved everything, loved her. The one who would do anything to protect her, to protect life..even her feelings. The handsome, brave, loyal, heroic man.
Image One
Koizumi had his eyes closed as he was in the motion of laughing. Sakura had splashed him with water from the river, the crystakkube sprinkles of water having yet made contact with his face. Little Sakura was laughing too, her eyes wide with happiness as she looked at him.
Image Two
Sakura was being held high in the air by Koizumi, her arms outspread like an airplane. Her eyes were sparkling with excitement. Koizumi was smiling, the warmest of smiles.
Image Three
The sparks could still be seen from the moment that Koizumi's kunai had clashed with a Sound shinobi, his emerald eyes stern and serious as he glared into the opposing man's eyes. The differentiating lights of the flames surrounding them lighted up their skin, created an certain redish hue, complemented by the rays of moonlight and darkness of the night sky. Behind him, on the ground, emerald eyes wide in shock sat Sakura, her body covered in blood.
Image Four
Koizumi's eyes were slightly open wide in surprise. Sakura's eyes were closed, her lips planted on his lips in a kiss. She was blushing wildly.
Image Five
Koizumi had his eyes closed, as his lips were planted on Sakura's forehead. A stray tear from his closed eye had just touched Sakura's forehead. The little girl had her eyes closed, she looked to be sleeping. A lone tear had made it's way halfway down her face.
Her hands clenched tightly on the ground underneath her.
Image Six
Koizumi had turned halfway around to give Sakura one last look before he left. His eyes were closed happily and the most beautiful smile graced his lips. A few leaves from a tree nearby had just passed his face. The light from the sun was lighting up his features. It was an amazing sight.
It was then that the first tear fell to the ground.
"You may look like him.." Her head still hung low as her calm, yet wavering voice sounded the silent room. "You may even have all of his memories.." She finally brought her head up, her stern, glimmering emerald eyes transitioning to the leader of the Akatsuki.
"But you..are NOT..Koizumi-kun." Even as the slight cry sounded in her voice, the stern, underlying tone was heard as she harshly whispered those last words, at a volume loud enough to be heard. There was determinatioin in her gaze at the same time that there was despair; it was obvious the strain taken in an effort to keep her emotions under control- also, the dissapointment cloaked her like a second skin. This man standing a distance in front of her, this cold, indifferent man; the one who no longer held that certain spark in his eyes, who wore that precious smile, he was not Koizumi. The man who loved life, advocated peace. This was not the man she fell in love with as a little girl.
Her gaze fell downcast again.
"Maybe the man I knew..maybe's he still in that void shell..but to me, the Koizumi I knew died a long time ago." As she finished her mutter, her gaze transitioned to meet the imposter's. And it was for that split second upon doing so that she caught a flicker of something amidst his eyes, something that had gone as soon as it had come. Sorrow.
"Sakura-san, We will meet again, I promise."
"That day, you lied to me. We haven't met again..we won't meet again.." She clenched her fists on the concrete ground asshe let out a deep breath; however itdid nothing to stop thetears."And I'd rather have you as a memory than have you as a fake."
"I see.." Koizumi started, his voice calm, silent with his reply. It was after his first words that he spoke louder, his tone emotionless. "Then you can treat me as a new aquaintance, with an offer that will greatly benefit you. I can train you, in exhange for your service to the Akatsuki. What is it you decide? Be careful your answer..it is not my intention to keep you alive should you refuse..I cannot take the risk of you becoming a liability to my causes in the future." Her emerald eyes remained on him a moment longer, wavering before falling downcast and to the side in avoidance.
"I want nothing from you.." Her voice was very calm and stern.
"Very well."
As if one que the sounding of the large double doors on the far side of the large, basement-like area echoed throughout the room. All eyes snapped to its direction, fixating on Itachi, who stood at its entrance, his gaze finding them amidst the very large room. All was silent at the Uchiha seemed to assess the sitution, his sharingan eyes transitioning to Sakura and Hidan, who was still holding him arm, and lastly to Koizumi. His gaze then traveled back to Hidan, calm, yet intimidating.
"Release her." The only words spoken to the Akatsuki member. However calm and emotionless he was, when he issued a command, there was no room for inaction. He was not asking in a light manner. It wasn't obvious, his disliking of the situation.
Hidan looked to Koizumi, who nodded his head in affirmation. With a constrained, however audible frustrated grunt, Hidan obeyed, slightly throwing Sakura's arm down; this motion resulted in the already weak kunoichi falling over from her position on the ground, her hands catching the fall of her upper body right before he head made contact. She stayed like that, pink locks of hair splaying all over the ground, completley hiding her face from view as it was positioned parallel to the ground.
Itachi's eyes followed her in her fall, and although his eyes reflected no emotion, the fact that they stayed upon her for a long moment signified he was concerned, and waiting for her to lift her head up; the fact that she didn't signified something was wrong. It was the slight shaking of her shoulders as she seemed to prevent herself from crying that finally transitioned his eyes to Koizumi - on time to his words.
"Itachi, why have you interupted? You know of the consequences to doing such a thing."
"I came for her." His voice was calm as he spoke casually, emotionlessly to the leader of the Akatsuki.
At his words Sakuraslowly pushed her upper body up, defeated, yet slightly suprised emerald orbs transitioning to Itachi. As she held her arms out in front of her to support her weight, the distinct trembling of her arms was easily noticed.
"Oh?" Koizumi started. "I never did ask you, Itachi, why you brought her here- it slipped my mind as I realized who see was. Though now, perhaps it doesn't matter. I want you to kill her, seeing as how you brought on this waste of my time."
There was another small moment of silence.
"I see no reason in killing her."
"I recall I did not ask you for a reason...You wouldn't think to disobey my orders, would you, Uchiha Itachi?" There was another bated silence as Itachi and Koizumi wordlessly fixed their gazes, as if challenging the other.
"No," Itachi started, voice emotionless, demeanor stoic. "I do not follow your orders..therefore I cannot disobey."
Kakuzu appeared next to Hidan, and the two remained alert, as if in expectance of something.
"She will bea threat to this orginization in the future, her survival I cannot allow." Koizumi seemed very much eager to carry out the deed..as if he could change his mind at any moment. "You, will watch then, as someone more capable does so. Interfere and you will be dealt with as an enemy." He finally looked away from Itachi, fixating his gaze on Sakura, who seemed defeated, uncaring for her well-fare.
"Hidan, kill her."
"With pleasure." The said Akatsuki member armed himself with a kunai before casually making his way towards Sakura, a sick gin implanted on his face, eyes lustful with the thought of cutting her.
Sakura looked at the Akatsuki member advancing on her with no trace of fear. She wasn't scared to die. She was more ready to die than she was ready to protect herself- she was lacking in the enery to protect herself, the motivation.She was staring death in the face, and she felt no bit of remorse. Was something wrong with her?
Thanks for Reading! I hope ya liked!
Yea sorry about the false hope of the whole Itachi, Sasuke thing getting started this chapter, i just had to make it more dramatic! Though i didn't think it would stretch out that long. But o well, that just means more room for them without leaving such a big cliffhanger! Again, i promise to update soon, definately within this week! Meep!
