Light Shaded Dream
Chapter 3 – Beginning
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
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Sakura was woken by Hinata early the next morning. The other members of the mission had already packed up the camp and made sure that no traces of them being there were left. She noticed they had let her sleep in longer than the others; she was grateful. She noticed that many of them avoided talking to her - understandable due to the ranking of the mission, but misunderstood due to their close friendship. She quickly got ready and put on her mask. They were on their way. Little did they know, that they had left Sakura's mattress scattered around the area - a sure but quiet sign of their existence.
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A man with raven colored hair and onyx eyes walked into a forest clearing. Around him was dense forest; but this clearing was well hidden to the world. He scanned the area, and noticed the disturbance in the ground and around the air. He held his head up high, and began to inhale the air. People have been here, he thought to himself. Noises behind him made him quickly turn around, and faced one of his "comrades".
"People were here," He gruffly said.
"Know how many?" His comrade asked him, readjusting the position of his glasses on his face.
"Looks like a complete ANBU squad. Looks like one didn't do a great job of cleaning up this makeshift mattress. Seems like...it's been...roughly three hours since they have been here," He said.
His comrade scanned the area, and smirked.
"Probably another one of Konoha's attempts to get you."
The onyx-eyed man glared at his comrade and turned away from the clearing.
"Those ninja won't leave me alone," He said, irritation flowing through his voice.
"You expect their last Uchiha to be let off so easily? You know very well that your clan is one the strongest, along with the Hyuuga. You being the last they have, they probably want the Sharingan to strengthen their forces."
The man glared at his comrade, and his comrade quickly backed off. The man's onyx orbs glistened with unimaginable anger, hate, confusion, and sorrow, and his comrade saw this and found the flaw of his statements.
"That makes them no different than Orochimaru," He hissed.
His comrade stared at him, and shook his head.
"Betray Lord Orochimaru, and I'm sure you'll get your freedom," His comrade mocked.
"Maybe I will," He hissed back.
The man began to walk back to where he came, his comrade slowly following. I better warn Lord Orochimaru of Sasuke's attempts... His comrade thought. The man turned around and faced him, and smirked.
"Go ahead, tell Orochimaru that I might betray him...sooner or later, he'll bring it upon himself if his death is due to me, Kabuto."
"Watch it, Sasuke..." Kabuto said, closely eyeing Sasuke.
"Hn. You as well."
Their anger flared within them the whole way back.
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The Konoha ANBU squad perched at the edge of the forest, looking again and again at the same spot, making sure that they were not looking at a hallucination. Neji and Hinata both had their Byakugan activated, making sure that no enemies could sneak up on them while they were distracted.
"I don't see him anywhere," Hinata said.
Everyone turned to face Neji, who nodded in agreement with Hinata's statement. The two continued to search, while the others pondered about how it was possible.
"He's not there? But that's definitely Sound. Can you two sense Orochimaru?" Shikamaru asked.
Everyone remained silent while the two concentrated hard on finding their targets.
"Yes, I see him," Hinata said.
"Agreed."
The squad looked at each other, and nodded.
"Is it time to undergo our transformation?" Tenten asked.
Everyone nodded, and did a special jutsu that changed their appearances. Tsunade had taught them this technique since it would prove to be helpful due to its minimal chakra absorption. Naruto's hair stayed up and spiky, but had turned black in the process. Shikamaru's appearance did not change, Hinata and Neji's eyes became onyx colored (but they could still use their Byakugan), Ino's hair turned black and stayed down, and Tenten's hair turned into a darker shade and flowed past her shoulders. Sakura's appearance, however, was the most changed. Her hair was short and black, her eyes a deep shade of onyx. All wore the typical Sound clothing - grey with cow attire (socks, gloves, collars, scarves). They hid their Konoha headbands, and wore nothing to protect their foreheads; Neji's curse mark was covered due to the jutsu.
"Wow, Sakura, he wouldn't be able to recognize you," Ino said, looking over her friend.
"Good, I don't want him to," Sakura said.
Everyone remained silent and entered the village, surprisingly not halted by the ANBU.
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"Lord Orochimaru, sir, new villagers have been sighted. However, we are unfamiliar with them, but are wearing our clothing. No headbands from any other villages, however they are equipped with scrolls, kunai, senbon, shuriken..."
"Is that so...put them under close observation. They may be Konoha ANBU...scratch that, they are Konoha ANBU. Do not let them run-in with Sasuke..."
"Yes sir. However, they are not recognized to be Konoha ninja, they have not been seen before."
"They may be using a jutsu my dear old friend Tsunade taught them...she does specialize in beauty jutsu..."
"Understood."
Orochimaru's pawn disappeared before him, and he was left thinking to himself, maniacally laughing his head off.
"Sasuke, Sasuke. How amusing this time around will be!"
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The squad had found an inn to stay in, and decided to each monitor a certain section of the village to reduce the chances of them missing Sasuke. They split up in groups; Neji and Tenten, Shikamaru and Ino, Hinata and Naruto, and Sakura. Sakura had pleaded them to let her monitor alone; she was positive she could handle it. With huge persuasion, they allowed her, and had gone their separate ways.
Sakura's section where the outskirts of the village, basically the forest outside the gates. She silently walked around the forest; knowing Sasuke's habits very well. She knew he would be training somewhere, just...where?
Thwack! Thwack!
Sakura heard constant hits on a trunk, and took a deep breath. She followed the sound, and found herself watching a man with dark spiky hair throw kicks and punches at the stationery tree. She hid behind a tree, still watching him. He hasn't changed, she thought. The man turned around, sensing her chakra presence.
"Who's there?" He asked.
Shit... Sakura took a deep breath, and stepped out.
"Only me."
"Your chakra levels and voice seem familiar. Do I know you from somewhere? You aren't a fan girl from the village, are you?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.
So he still remembers me, huh?
"No, I'm new to your village. I was only taking a stroll in the forest when it was interrupted by your constant pounding."
"Hn. I'm trying to train. So leave, you're annoying."
Sakura winced as the words annoying reached her ears, but hid her emotions with a smirk.
"You'll need more training, then."
With that, she turned around, and left. When Sasuke was sure she was going back to the village, he stopped momentarily and wiped his sweat.
"Hn, she's familiar somehow..."
He smirked to himself, and resumed his training.
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The day soon ended, and the squad was back at the inn. Sakura decided to keep the incident to herself, but wasn't sure how long it would be until one of the girls would figure out something had happened.
"If our names are asked, do not give out last names. Just the first names...but if they are extremely persistent, improvise and make one up," Neji said.
Everyone nodded. The Hyuuga clan was well known, and it was possible their cover could be blown if any of the Sound villagers knew of them.
"Talk about a boring day! It was even worse than sitting with Shikamaru watching clouds!" Ino said, irritated that they had yet to make progress on their mission.
"Ino, use your common sense, will you? We've only been here for a day. Like anyone could find Sasuke at the snap of their fingers! Man, you are so troublesome..." Shikamaru said, rubbing his temples in irritation.
"Well sorry, Mr. Lazy-assed genius!" Ino yelled, her anger losing control.
"Ino, just calm down, don't worry, we'll find him!" Hinata said, putting a hand on Ino's shoulder.
Ino still fumed, but discontinued her threat to kill Shikamaru.
"Reports," Neji said.
"We didn't find anything. But we found a ramen stand! I can't wait to try them out!" Naruto said, excitement obvious.
Neji nodded, and turned to Sakura. He did not need a mission report from Ino and Shikamaru, since Ino was irritated already due to the day's boredom. Sakura didn't notice this, and continued to stare out of the inn's window.
"Sakura? Helllooo? Sakura? Zoning out again? Come on!" Tenten said, waving her hand in front of Sakura's face.
Sakura still hadn't noticed this, and Tenten left and let Ino handle the situation. Ino poked Sakura's forehead (which wasn't as large anymore since she had grown into it), and leant down to eye level.
"FOREHEAD GIRL! GET OUT OF LALA LAND AND GIVE US THE REPORT!"
Sakura turned and saw a very pissed off Ino, and questioning stares from Naruto, Shikamaru, Neji, Hinata, and Tenten.
"Huh...oh...nothing happened today," Sakura said.
She hated lying to her friends all the time. But this was her problem; her living nightmare. She wouldn't let anyone else get involved; she could never hold her head up high and call herself the top medic nin in all of Konoha if she got others involved in her little problem. Sakura noticed Tenten and Hinata ushering the others out, yes, including Ino due to her still fuming rage, and saw them come back to her and sit next to her.
"You're lying, Sakura," Hinata said.
"Yeah, Sakura. You're getting...emotionless," Tenten said.
Sakura stared at them wide-eyed, and sighed.
"Fine, I will tell you what's wrong with me, but you will swear you will not tell anyone else about this! Not even Ino! She's my best friend, but you can tell her later. Her fuming temper won't help us, not right now," Sakura said.
The two looked at her with eyes as big as plates, and nodded.
"I'm sure both of you understand my confusion about Sasuke...I love him, but then I hate him. My love for him will probably overpower my hate, but that's only guessing in the near future. I realize that you guys have noticed my eyes have become a dull emerald. It is because, on the night before this mission was started, I sat under the cherry blossom tree where I had so many memories of him...and I realized how much I missed him, how much I needed him. I zone out a lot now, because well...I'm thinking, that's all. Today on my 'patrol', I saw him. We had a cold conversation with each other," She said.
"Did he recognize you?" Tenten asked.
"No, but he recognized my chakra levels. And he still called me annoying..."
"You know he didn't mean it when he called you annoying before, Sakura," Hinata said.
Hinata and Tenten gave Sakura comforting smiles, and hugged her. They then walked out of the room to leave Sakura alone.
"Can we go back in yet, Shikamaru! I'm tired!" Ino whined.
"Troublesome..." Shikamaru said, muttering under his breath.
"WHAT WAS THAT!" Ino screamed.
Hinata and Tenten softly closed the door behind them, and Ino gave them pleading eyes. They shook their heads.
"No, she needs time alone," Tenten said.
Ino understood. Naruto and Hinata went off to try out the ramen stand, Shikamaru and Ino went outside to cloud watch, and Neji and Tenten left to spar.
Sakura continued to gaze out of her window, when she saw a figure walk by down the streets. He seemed to notice someone looking at him, and saw her. Her habits kicked inn, and she quickly ran out to greet him.
"Sasuke?" She called, running out of the inn.
She found him, still staring at the window. Damn...that girl...she reminds me of someone...He thought to himself. His trail of thought was interrupted when he heard the girl's familiar voice.
"Oh, it's you. How did you know my name?"
He looked at Sakura suspiciously, and Sakura gasped. She forgot she was in disguise.
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Thanks for reading! I'm really sorry these chapters aren't all that pleasing yet, but the next chapter will be better. Maybe some SasukeSakura bonding. :D Also, I wasn't exactly sure what the Sound village looked like...so...xD;