So sorry for the wait you guys. I was tied up with taking care of my baby nephew, and my sister is having twin nieces on the way. I was able to finish this update, it's a bit long, but I think you might like it; and... well, that's all I have to say, here you go! Enjoy.
The Sociopathism of Trees; No, I'm not going to end the first story, I'm just taking my time of updating it.
cool44; I'm glad you liked this story, and you'll find out about Sakura and who she'll end up with.
1-complicated-girl; Glad you reviewed but I can't tell you that yet. Maybe next time.
sakurarocksyoursocks; I'm really glad you liked it. Hope you enjoy this update.
musicmiss18; Thanks for your review, and enjoy this update.
Dun!-Dun!-Duuuuun!!! Sakura has finally meet Lord Akeeba face-to-face, after being chased off and bitten by those demons she saw. Not to mention that Sasuke, Kiba and Arkamaru are still dealing with Ibate and Dujobe, as they're in one hell of trouble with these two. Until, an unexpected outburst interfered, causing Ibate's golden marks retreat and Dujobe to form back to his human from. As for Naruto, he's…
Sakura and Akeeba…
With shockness in her eyes she couldn't take another step, because of the strange man looking straight at her with bright yellow eyes. He chuckled, and said, "Ah… Sakura Haruno, at last we finally meet," Sakura nearly flinched when she was about to take a step back. "Oh no please, don't leave yet… have a seat," Akeeba said then he snapped his fingers and… a boulder merged out of the ground right under Sakura's feet. Yet it was form as a chair, when it appeared it made Sakura lost balance and sat on it. Then the boulder/chair started moving as it's under Akeeba's control, pulling Sakura to him as the boulder/chair stopped right in front of him.
"There's nothing to be afraid of my dear… I'm a friend," Akeeba said with a friendly smile, Sakura just sat there quietly while looking at him. "Allow me…" Akeeba took off his hat, "To introduce myself…" he slowly bowed to her, like a gentlemen whenever they introduce themselves to a lady, "I'm Akeeba Ronakasbi, or as the children called me which is known as, Lord Akeeba," he said then laughed a bit. Sakura still haven't said a word as Akeeba stood back up and put his hat back on, he noticed her hand is covered in blood while it's on her lower torso, "I see that Ibate was able to pursue and used that forbidden jutsu I taught him," he said, "Forbidden jutsu?" Sakura thought. "Would you like for me to take a look at that injury?" he asked he led his hand towards her bleeding torso, except Sakura gasped a bit as she turned her upper body away from his hand. Akeeba stopped as he noticed her reaction towards him, so he pulled back his hand. "Oh… but of course, you had a callused day getting all the way here, ever since the beginning when my children were escorting you out of the village, those Leaf ninjas try to take you away and almost harmed you as they harmed the children. Luckily, Ibate was able to save you by the time those Leaf ninjas would've…" he said until Sakura interrupted him, "What?! No!" she finally speaks as she's now upset. "Now I have you know that your children never escorted me, they kidnapped me and took me away from my home, also, that Ibate was hitting on me and almost seduce me when he was in my mind. And I have you know that those Leaf ninjas are my friends, and they never try to harm me because they're out to rescue me…" she began to get off the chair/boulder, "And it's all because of… Ah!" she mumbled as she nearly forgot that she sprang her ankle. Because of it, she sat back down on the chair/boulder as she responded the pain.
"Now-now, there's no need to be meticulous," he said then he double-clapped his hand. Then two men appeared beside Sakura, as she's between two strangers, both have paled eyes like Ibate's and his group, but have different eye and hair colors. It made Sakura stuttered a bit when she's surrounded by two strange men, "You just got here…" Akeeba said then another chair/boulder appeared behind him as he sat on it. "Relax, and have some refreshment," he said, then two men held their platters to Sakura, as one of them held out some warm fresh dumplings, and the other have three sweets on a stick with a cup of herbal tea on the side. "I know these sweets are your favorites, so I was able to have my servants make them just for you," Akeeba said while looking at her as she looked at the two platters.
Then she slowly turned back to Akeeba, "Why is he being so nice to me? Is this some kind of trick?" she thought, then he said, "And don't worry about that little injury of yours…" he 'snapped' his fingers, "It's already taken care of." Sakura was confused at the moment, until she noticed her lower right torso is no longer hurting, when she checked on it, it also stopped bleeding and those bite marks from the demon disappeared. "H-how…" she was surprised that her wound is gone, "Surprised? I can do more than just that my dear," he said then he 'snapped' his other fingers. Then…
A table appeared, made of stones from the ground, in front and between Sakura and Akeeba, and Sakura noticed her sprang ankle is gone, as if he took her pain away.
"How about some music?" he said as he 'double-clapped' his hands, then three people appeared, two women with their violins and a man with his cello, as they started playing some music around her.
Sakura made an awkward look and slowly shook her head,
"Yeah, I think it's a bit too much," Akeeba said ordered his servants to stop, then they vanished,
"Now then… let's get to know each other," he said as the two men place both platters in front of Sakura,
"Help yourself, it's homemade," he said.
Sakura looked at the fresh bake dumplings, she hasn't eaten anything for hours, so she slowly took one dumpling… and took a bite of it. When she chewed it, her eyes became widen, her cheeks turned pink, and her mind sparks with excitement.
"WOW! THIS IS GREAT STUFF! CHA!" Inner Sakura cheered, as beyond every dumplings she tasted, it's nothing compared to this, so she started eating more dumplings, and some sweets, while Akeeba just watched her enjoy herself. He just smiled as he had himself a glass of red wine,
"Now then…" he started then drank some wine.
Naruto vs. Akeeba…
Naruto is surrounded by crows as he Akeeba stood among him with an evil smile on his face, "Listen boy, why don't we call it quits of you surrendering to me now and I'll let you walk off scuff-free," Akeeba said. "And let a bastard like you harm a hair on my comrade, never!" Naruto yelled, Akeeba chuckled then said, "Suit yourself… but don't you forget that I gave you the easy way out." Naruto pulled out his kunai knife, "Well don't you forget that I'll never give up," he yelled. Then he gathered up his chakra,
"Shadow Clone jutsu," he said as dozen of clones appeared, and spring into action of attacking Akeeba. Akeeba saw them coming at him, as he smirk, "Tough," he said then… the crows started flying towards the clones and made the first attack. Each and every clone were attacked by his crows, and 'poofed' away after the other, leaving the real Naruto by himself being attacked by the crows. He fell back to the ground as the crows flew back on the trees by Akeeba, he laughed as Naruto got back up, "You sure have much back-bone… for mere demon child," he said. Naruto nearly froze after what he just said, "Demon child," he thought, among what the villagers called him when he was young, such as 'Monster' or 'Freak', he never heard someone called him 'Demon child' before.
"Since you like to play rough, I'll give you something to play with," Akeeba said as crows started flying away from the trees again and into the air. Naruto saw them fly around in the sky above him, and Akeeba… started levitating to the air as if he's flying or floating while the crows are still flying around him. He looked down at Naruto, "You don't know who you're dealing with boy," he said and then…
'Kaw!' 'KaW!' 'kAw!' 'kaW!' 'KAW!'
The crows dove down at Naruto, "Shit!" he said as each and every crow dove at him to attack, so…
Scratch!
One of the crows just scratched his left cheek with it's beak…
Rip! Scratch!
Another crow ripped his jacket and scratched his right shoulder with it's claws…
'KAW!'
Another crow started peaking and scratching his face, and scratched off his head-protector, Naruto tried to get it off his face but more crows kept on coming, peaking and scratching him everywhere. Akeeba smirked while watching the Genin being attacked by his crows...
Sasuke vs. Ibate…
Ibate was sore inside, after an unexpected attack, he lost control of his jutsu on Sakura. "Hopefully, Ms. Haruno reached to Lord Akeeba in time," he thought then turned his attention to Sasuke, except… he's not there. He can still sense his presence, as he's coming from…
"Fire Stlye; Fireball jutsu!" he heard his voice as he quickly turned and saw an amount of fireball charging at him. With no time to dodge it, he defended himself, taking the hit from the attack.
Sasuke stood on the tree after he used his secret technique, he saw him took the hit as there's flames everywhere,
"I still don't get what just happened," he thought. As he remembered, not too long ago, there were gold marks spread all over Ibate, that he grew stronger and faster than him, and almost took him out; until an unexpected outburst came out of nowhere that made him returned to his original stage. He got out of his thoughts as he noticed the fire dying out, except… there's no sign of Ibate, "He vanished?! Where did he disappear to?" he said, and then…
"That's for me to know and for you to find out Uchiha…" Sasuke heard his voice and sensed his chakra, except he can't tell whether he's close or far away from him. But little did he expect… he somehow felt something merging under his feet, he quickly looked down but… the branch of the tree merged a form of a hand as it struck out… grabbed Sasuke by the neck and pinned him against the tree. Sasuke tried to struggle free but the tree came alive as it used it's branches to grab both his arms and legs, and made them submerge in it's trunk. Then… another form of the tree merge, with the hand still holding Sasuke's neck, as it merge to a human figure, and… the figure turned out to be Ibate as he merged out of the tree and have his hand on Sasuke's neck.
"You almost had me Uchiha, if it wasn't for that outburst interference, you would be dead by now," Ibate said as gazed at Sasuke with his paled blue eyes as Sasuke just glare at him with his Sharingan; Both face to face with each other…
Kiba and Arkamaru vs. Dujobe…
Dujobe is also sore inside, because of that unexpected attack, he won't be able to use his 'Transformation' again. Kiba and Arkamaru are still hiding from him, though he's back to his human form.
"I don't know what just happened, but I think it's enough for us to escape," Kiba whispered then he was about to take Arkamaru away from here, but… Arkamaru stopped him by biting his hand, and growled,
"Arkamaru," Kiba communicates, Arkamaru growled even more, "Are you crazy, he almost killed us back there, even if we used that jutsu that won't stop him," Kiba whispered. "R-ruff, ruff-ruff," Arkamaru said while still biting Kiba's hand, "Are you even sure you can still fight with those injuries?" he asked. "Ruff!" Arkamaru answered as he stopped biting him, Kiba turned to Dujobe at he got back on his feet, he's still worried they might not make it out of here alive, but they must finish the mission, otherwise, they might never catch up with the others to rescue Sakura. Kiba sighed, "Alright then Arkamaru, let's give it our best," he said as he and Arkamaru are about to gather up their charka to…
Sakura and Akeeba…
"Sakura-chan," Akeeba said while holding his wine glass, as it reflect to Sakura, Sakura looked up to him, "I know in some predicament that you're not much like everyone else in your village," he said. Sakura swallowed her dumpling, and became silent when he mentioned her friends back in her village, "That you're hardly known for your technique as a ninja, and yet felt belittled by those who are among you, such as… you're fellow comrades," he explained as he set his wine down. "That's not true, I mean… I-I do sometimes felt left behind, but it doesn't mean that… they…" Sakura couldn't find the words, Akeeba got up from his chair, "Now-now, there's no need to restrain yourself of sticking up to your so called friends, they failed to realize your special gift hidden within you," he said.
"Gift?!" she asked,
"Why yes my child, a very special gift that a unique child, such as yourself, born with a powerful source that is waiting to be unleash from within," he explained, Sakura became speechless and confused as to whether or not to believe what he said is true. So she asked,
"W-well, if I'm so you unique, why is that you wanted me on your team?"
There was silence between them, as Akeeba let go of his smile as his eyes are hidden under his hat, "Now that my dear… is not a hard one, but a simple explanation of your trouble getting here," he said. Sakura sat quietly and drank some herbal tea, she listens to him,
"By the time I heard about you, I knew immediately that you couldn't put up with your emotions stirring in the way," he started walking away from his chair, "That you couldn't help your fellow comrades, and ended up being the damsel in distress," he slowly walk around the table. "I knew that deep down, you wanted to become just like them, that they should acknowledge you as a head-strong kunoichi and not some weakling being the third-wheel in the team," he said. Sakura doesn't know what to say when he mention her feelings about her being like her teammates, then he said,
"I know what you're going through… because I've been through the same thing when I was your age."
Naruto vs. Akeeba…
Akeeba still watched Naruto being attacked by crows for awhile, then he call out his crows to see if the Genin is still alive or not. He lower himself down, until his feet touched the ground, he walked over to the Genin, ignoring every black feather the crows left behind everywhere. He stood in front of him, and chuckled, "You poor, pathetic demon child, you should've taken my offer if you had the chance," he said as he looked down at him. Then suddenly…
Poof!
A log appeared! As he realized that he was messing with and talking to a clone, "A Substitution jutsu, ah," Akeeba said as he's not surprised, then he looked around to see where he's hiding. He can sensed his chakra nearby, then…
"Akeeba!" he heard his voice, as he turned around and saw the blonde Genin… with a shadow clone… gathering up some chakra on his hand.
"There's no way in hell I'll let you lay a hand on Sakura-chan," Naruto said as his clone gather up some chakra to form… Rasengan,
"Hn…"Akeeba responded as he's intrigued on Naruto's power,
"I'm gonna wipe that grin off your face," he said before his clone spun him and threw him at Akeeba, then 'poof' away after that.
Akeeba turned his body as he saw Naruto coming with his…
"Rasengan!" he yelled as he engaged his attack Akeeba…
BAM!!!
He hit him right to the center, and then…
BOOM!!!
An explosion was made from the Rasengan… and Akeeba was flying in the opposite direction, breaking through every tree behind him. Naruto was panting as he used up half his chakra, then he left his area to see if he really took him out…
Sasuke vs. Ibate…
"You're not even worthy…" Ibate said to him, Sasuke doesn't understand what he's saying until he explains, "You're maybe from a famous clan, but not even a weakling like you deserve a female such as Ms. Haruno. I rather not know what she sees in you, of course under some predicament, she'll forget you even exist." "And just what the hell makes you think that…? Is it because of this Lord Akeeba you kept mentioning?" Sasuke asked, "Precisely… and when that time comes, you're the first one in my list," he said and answered. Sasuke lift his left eyebrow when he mention him being in his list, he doesn't even know him, then Ibate gripped over his neck,
"Now you listen here Uchiha, because I'm giving you your first and only warning… don't you even think about going anywhere near my mate…" "Mate?! Is he referring Sakura as his mate?!" Sasuke thought as he's surprised to hear what Ibate said. He continues, "You should've find your own mate, she's already taken, since the fact that she doesn't want you anymore because she has me, 'She's mine,' " he said and thought as he remember that very day…
Flashback, few days ago…
Ibate and Akeeba are alone in a cave, inside the mountains, with crystallized shallow water, surrounded by rare crystals, all in different sizes and shapes. They're discussing a certain matter of…
"Years had passed you Ibate, and it's around this season in search for a mate; have you chosen a female?" Akeeba asked.
"I have not, my Lord," Ibate answered,
"Not even one of the females in certain clans?" he asked,
"I find them unappealing," he answered,
"Are you sure…? I mean, there are lovely young females from village to village," Akeeba said as grabbed a small crystal and placed where the light beamed from a crack, from outside. It reflected to crystal to crystal as they all started glowing, until the beam reached to the last crystal on the ceiling, as it reflected it's light on the water; as it sparkles, the water particles formed into beings of young, beautiful teens, maidens, and kunoichis as if they're really there. All the girls are in white cloth, some in dresses, and some in gowns.
"Just look at them, there are plenty of lovely females who would be suitable as your mate," Akeeba said, as the 'girls' started blushing and giggling when they looked at Ibate, Ibate didn't show any response whatsoever.
"Neither of them are worthy for me," Ibate stated, Akeeba looked at the 'girls', and asked,
"What about that cute blonde girl, from the Land of Lightening? She's from a wealthy clan, very healthy, and well-educated from her Academy." The blonde 'girl', which is wavy and curled, waved at Ibate,
"She's suffered a mental illness," Ibate answered, Akeeba looked at the other 'girls', and asked,
"Then, what about that lovely red-head girl from the Grass village? She's a vegetarian, has an IQ of 177, and a volunteer of child services." The red-head 'girl', which is straight and long, winked at him while smiling,
"She's emotionally disturbed," Ibate answered. Akeeba looked at twin 'girls', and asked,
"Perhaps, that sweet brunette girl from the Stone village? She's a kunoichi in a Chunin level, she's headstrong, and born in a famous clan with a Kekkai Genkai." One of the identical twin 'girls', both hairs short, blew a kiss at him, and the other is still giggly and blushing while waving at him,
"She's homosexual," he said,
"What about her twin?"
"She's bisexual."
"She committed a felony," he said to the blue, short haired girl with freckles,
"She's claustrophobic," he said to the hair braided, brunette girl with glasses.
"She's autistic," he said to the medium, dark-green haired girl, wearing braces,
"She's a drug-addict," he said to the short red-head with black highlights girl, wearing mascara.
"She inherited some rare disease," he said to the long, black haired girl, in a long ponytail, and has one blue on her left eye and brown on her right,
"And she has STDs," he said to the blonde curled girl, with a beauty mark on her cheek,
"None of these women are for me," Ibate stated.
"My-my Ibate, even for someone with no emotions, you sure can be picky; so what I see so far that neither of these girls aren't worthy being your mate, because some are from powerful and well-known clans," Akeeba explained.
"I do not require a female from neither powerful nor well-known clan… but a female who seemed rare and valuable, out of the ordinary," Ibate described, "Hm…" Akeeba took a moment to think, then said with a smirk, "I believe I know just the girl you're looking for." He turned back to the small crystal and did some adjustment to it, which cause the 'girls' to form back into the water. Then another water particle slowly formed a single being, of a beautiful female, in a white silk gown, with long pink hair and green emerald eyes, and a sweet smile for Ibate, with a cute blush in her cheeks. Ibate still show no expression for her, but he glanced at her in full view for a moment… then he started walking over the water towards her, she stood still as he walked up to her and took a good look at her, from top to bottom, and around. She giggled by the time he walked around her, Ibate looked at her as she kept her sweet smile on her face. He even noticed that with the crystals around her, it sparkles the emeralds in her eyes and made her skin look like she's glowing, as if she bright up the whole cave; like an angel.
They didn't took their eyes off each other, as the pink-haired 'girl' slowly placed her hand on his cheek, Ibate can tell she's heartwarming and pure, as she's filled with love and kindness in her heart. So he touched 'her' hand, still on his cheek, and held it as he's holding 'her' other hand, then he slowly moved his face towards 'hers', and placed his forehead against her 'huge' forehead. If only she's not made out of water, otherwise, he would've touched those lovely lips of hers.
"I believe we have a winner," Akeeba said with a smile, then the sun from outside was blocked by clouds, as the light beam in the cave slowly disappeared, the crystals stopped glowing, and the pink-haired 'girl' immediately form back into the water, leaving Ibate standing in the middle of the water alone.
"She's perfect," Ibate said,
"She'll be a perfect mate for you Ibate… although I better keep a lookout for this… Sasuke Uchiha person," Akeeba said, Ibate turned to him, "At least that's what Kilala explained to me about him… being an interference between you and your mate. But I'm sure you can handle it," Akeeba said then he left Ibate in the cave.
Ibate still stood in the center of the water thinking about what Akeeba said to him, "Sasuke Uchiha," he said 'his' name, knowing who he's competing against, then he pictured his pink-haired mate over his reflection on the water, with her sweet smile on her face. "I will not allow," he said as he's not going to let anyone, not even Sasuke Uchiha, take his mate from him… not without a fight he won't.
Flashback over…
"She's my mate Uchiha, don't you forget that," then Sasuke eyes became widen as he noticed Ibate have… fangs in his teeth, "He really isn't human," he thought then felt the tree slowly submerging his body inside it. Ibate let go of his neck and stepped away from him as he's now attached to the tree, "At first I could've let you live so I can make you my slave, but then I'll be seeing your face where ever I go… that I won't allow," he said then he gathered up his chakra on his right hand as it slowly forms… a sword, keen enough to cut anything and anyone in one shot. He has Sasuke right where he wants him; just one swing should finish the job…
Kiba and Arkamaru vs. Dujobe…
"Something must've happened to Lord Akeeba," Dujobe thought as he stood back on his bare feet, since he reverted back to his human form, some of his clothes were a bit torn due from his transformation that nearly tore apart his clothes. Besides that, he has to find the Leaf ninjas as they're still here… somewhere… until…
POOF!
He turned to where he saw smoke at the other side, and can smell their scent there. He turned his body as he saw something within the smoke, but knows that it's those Leaf ninjas except they formed… together. By the time the smoke cleared up, he saw…
"Man Beast Combination Transformation: Double-Headed Wolf," he heard Kiba's voice as he faced… the Double-Headed Wolf of Kiba and Arkamaru's combination, as they're about ready to attack. "So you both were able to become beasts by combining eachother… if it wasn't for that unexpected outcome, I would've still be in my beast transformation, and we could've faced eachother, beast to beasts," Dujobe said while the double-headed wolf growl at him.
"Let show this freak how we do it Arkamaru," Kiba said,
"Ruff!" Arkamaru barked as they're more than ready to fight once again. The double-headed wolf took action as it charged at Dujobe, Dujobe saw them coming as he stood to take the hit. As they're about to…
"Wolf Fang over Fang!"
The wolf started spinning in full speed, targeting Dujobe, Dujobe stood his ground, positioning himself as…
BAM!
They hit him in the front, as they pushed him, still spinning, hitting stones and boulders behind Dujobe until…
CRASH!
They crashed into the stone wall, made a huge crater on it so the wolf jumped away from it,
"Haha! That outta finish 'em," Kiba said as he and Arkamaru were able to get him. But little did they expect…
They saw Dujobe… merging out of the crumbled rocks in the crater, and sensed a strange power of his chakra, as if converge to something… demonic. They noticed some of his bones in his body were broken from their attack, but…
Dujobe started moving his body as, 'crack' 'c-crack-crack' 'crackle', his bones started cracking from top to bottom; as he's fixing his cracked skull, along with his twisted neck; his twisted shoulders, along with his broken arm; his disconnected spine, along with his rib cage that nearly broke apart; his broken hip, along with his twisted leg and smashed ankle. It shocked both Kiba and Arkamaru,
"He really is some freak of nature," Kiba thought, as Dujobe stood back up after fixing the inside of her broken bones. He lifted his head towards the double-headed wolf,
"I'm gonna tear you both apart," he said as in a blink of an eye…
He appeared right in front of them and grabbed one of their heads, "Starting with this!" he said as…
Slam!
He slammed them both to the ground, then double-headed wolf started struggling as the second head tried to bite him. Dujobe dodged it then… lift them up with both hands over his head,
"Hey! Put us down," Kiba yelled, then Dujobe spun them around and around, and around and around and around. Until he threw them to the stone wall, by the time the double-headed wolf hit the stone…
POOF!
They form back to their original, separate, state, as they both got hurt big time, Dujobe stood in front of them, "It's time to end this," he said as his nails grew into claws, and ready to charge at them,
"So this is it, huh?" Kiba thought as this the end for him and Arkamaru…
Sakura and Akeeba…
There was silence between them, until Sakura spoke out, "You mean you were…"
"A Genin? Why yes my dear, I was a ninja myself when I was a child; young, handsome, intelligent, active, motivated… and a little hot-headed during my time 'chuckled'." Then he leaned against the stone close to Sakura, "I was one of the best advanced students in my Academy, I learned every category of jutsus and passed all three in every course and exams. Pretty much like you did in your Academy," he said while looking at Sakura, still didn't say a word as he continues, "I've even been put in one of the best squad members in my team, we completed every mission, passed every exam, and become known to the entire village," he said.
"… But wait, if you were famous, how come I never heard of you?" Sakura asked, then his smile slowly turned upside down when she asked him that question, he was silent at the moment as he took off his hat again, he placed it on the stone and answered, "Alas, that's a different story, but much dominant to your question and the subject. My team was known to the entire village over the next, but I wasn't an exception of being noticed to everyone, even when I'm with my own comrades, people saw me as no one. At first I was given an opportunity of becoming the best shinobi in my village… but it turned out to be a pitiful outcome of being filled with petty, lack of respect, and completely shunned by everyone over to more genuine shinobis. My own comrades want nothing to do with me, in fact… they never needed me from the very beginning, that they're way better off going to missions and training without me. So by that time, I given up being a ninja and left my home village because of my hopes and dreams were shattered, along with my crushed spirit," he said as he looked sad.
Sakura couldn't help but look at him, as she slowly felt sorry for him, "…I'm so sorry," she said, Akeeba smiled again, "No need to apologize my child, nobody's born perfect, after what I experienced from my childhood, I learned to move on and develop my own ability as I travel over the past few years. That is… when I've came crossed unique children who went through the same route as I did. The first child I met was… Ibate," Sakura nearly stuttered when he said Ibate's name, "As you already know, he can make living things and non-living things come to life, he had such powerful abilities that not only did I made him my apprentice, but also my right hand man 'chuckled again' I taught him everything I know," he said.
Then Sakura thought about her time with Ibate, despite the whole kidnapping and almost seduced her in her mind, when he danced with her in the ballroom, drift together on a canal at the river, and held her in his arms to comfort her. She even blushed when once glanced at his handsome face, despite his paled skin, blue hair, and paled blue eyes, and hardly expressed any emotions whatsoever. She got back to reality as Akeeba said, "I do apologize for his behavior on you earlier, even though he doesn't express his emotion, it's just his way of saying… he likes you,"
"We kind of noticed that," Inner Sakura said, as they recalled the 'kiss' he almost gave them. "And he finds you very valuable to him," he said, Sakura blushed after that, "Oh," she whispered and looked away for a moment, "I never knew that," she thought. Then Akeeba continued the subject,
"Then after Ibate, I met… Dujobe, you might not know that he's been attacked by wild animals constantly through his childhood, but he developed much strength among them, not very much like human, oh no, but a beast himself. By the time after that, I met a lovely young girl… Kilala, even with her unfortunate blindness by an accident she had from her childhood, she can foretell the future and learned the pressure point of blocking chakras."
"I thought Kilala was born blind," Inner Sakura said,
"Me too," she thought, then Akeeba continued,
"Then a time after that, I met the Zukato brothers, Myazo and Fuzca, those twins were inseparable, even with completely different abilities they both fought in comeback together; that's something that I liked about those two. And lastly, I met little Uki, I find it very impress that a very young girl develop such ability, especially with her own voodoo dolls," he said.
"So… what leaves me, why is it that you wanted to meet me?" she asked, as she really want to know, Akeeba's smile disappeared again,
"I may not give a straight answer, but a simple question. Has it ever occurred to you that no matter how much you trained, how hard you accomplished, or how much you're willing to put your life on the line, they continue to look down on you?" he asked,
"Eh!" Sakura responded when he asked her that. "I mean, they are coming to your rescue, no? They all risked their lives for your safety, yet you couldn't do the same for them," he said as Sakura eyes became sadden. He continues, "They become stronger every day, as they all surpassed you, leaving you on the sideline," her eyes slowly filled with tears, "As of now, they might care about your safety, but in the next few years or so, you'll just be an interference from completing their missions," tears overflow, as they fall down on her cheeks. "You may consider your so called friends coming to your rescue, but from my point of view, they're only doing it to complete their mission; they are ninjas after all. Are you?" he said. Sakura couldn't answer as her eyes overflow with tears and slowly broke down in despair; Akeeba watched her weep and slowly turned his frown upside down. He kneeled down to her, and lifted her chin up to him,
"There-there sweet flower," he said comforting her, then he pulled out a handkerchief for her. "There's no need for any tears my dear, you're not alone," he said as he gave Sakura the handkerchief, that she used it to wiped away her tears, "I see much potential in you, and surely you didn't work yourself up to become a kunoichi all for nothing, are you?" he asked. She blew her nose, then shook her head, "Of course not, that's why people like you and I must stick together," Sakura look at him as she's being comfort once again, "That's why I--I mean, we wanted you part of our team, so we can show people they shouldn't judge us on the outside; but what we all have inside," he said. Sakura was about to say something, until she noticed something in his teeth, for some reason, they're all sharp and longer than an original set of teeth, more like… fangs. She snapped out of it for a moment as she thought she's imagining things, then Akeeba said,
"You have a gift waiting to be unleashed inside you… and I know how to unlock it," he said.
Naruto vs. Akeeba…
Naruto made it to other side where he hit Akeeba, passing every damaged trees, until reached towards the pile. He stopped at the pile where Akeeba is, except… he noticed some black feathers around it, he went closer to it as he saw… a crow…on the pile… but dead. "What the hell?! How did it…" he said as he took a moment to think… and then he remembered…
Flashback…
…crows flying out from under Akeeba's cape, but that's not all. More crows kept on flying out him, but this time, each part of his body started to disappear as more crows kept on flying out of him…
…he never seen these many crows flying everywhere, and Akeeba slowly disappear as the crows flew out of him as the only things that were left behind were the shurikens that was plunged in his body. After that… the shurikens were on the ground, Akeeba disappeared right in front of him and now see crows flying around the sky. Naruto saw them as he and his clones are being circled around by flying crows, as they 'kaw' at them.
Little did he know… one of the crows flew away from the rest through the forest, before the rest of the crows flew down and landed on the trees around Naruto and his clones.
Flashback over…
After that flashback, Naruto realized that he was fighting against a 'clone' from one of Akeeba's crows the whole time, Akeeba must have used a jutsu on the crow, in order to distract him from…
He gasped, "Oh no! Sakura-chan!" he said as he quickly left the area and back to finding Sakura before it's too late.
Sasuke vs. Ibate…
"Any last words before I cut you in half?" Ibate asked as he position himself to kill Sasuke, and for some reason… he made a smirk on his face,
"Like I said… there's always a counter-attack," he said. Ibate doesn't know what he meant… until he heard something lit-up, he looked up and saw… more than five or seven paper-bombs attached on trees, and they're lit-up! Then…
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
They all exploded, as damaged trees and branches started falling down on both Sasuke and Ibate, Ibate saw them coming as he quickly got of the way before huge branch broke through every branches all the way down. By the time he dodge them, he turned to where Sasuke is as he's… not there!
"It was a clone," Ibate thought as discovered Sasuke's trick, and then… Sasuke appeared above, "It's over!" he said while falling towards Ibate, he grabbed his back and took him down with him. Except setting him upside down, and cross his foot under his neck while his head is taking a hit from every tree branch all the way…
BAM!!!
Down to the ground, Ibate's head was hit to the ground very hard, hard enough to break his skull through his entire vertebrate, Sasuke got off of him as his body fell on the ground. Sasuke looked at the body, "I still don't get why he called Sakura his mate," he thought, speaking of it, he better catch up to Naruto to rescue their teammate. So he quickly left the body and the area to go help Naruto.
Right after he left… the body started moving, as it's 'cracking' some broken bones back into place, and Ibate… slowly got back on his feet, he cracked his neck to adjust the damaged along with his cracked skull. He turned to where Sasuke left, still show no expression whatsoever, "This is far from over, Uchiha," he said as his blue paled eyes turned paler, as he got tricks up his sleeves, "Just as according to plan," he thought.
Kiba and Arkamaru vs. Dujobe…
Dujobe charged them and about to claw them, until suddenly… his entire body frozen, he was so close on clawing Kiba and Arkamaru yet he can't move a muscle, "A jutsu," he thought as someone's controlling him.
"Just in time," they heard a voice, so Kiba and Arkamaru turned and saw…
"Shikamaru," Kiba said as he's glad to see him again.
"I figured you guys needed a hand, so I was able to find the time to use my jutsu on this big guy," Shikamaru said as he used his 'Shadow Possession' jutsu on Dujobe, and saved Kiba and Arkamaru,
"A few minutes ago would've been nice," Kiba complained,
"Bark! Bark!" Arkamaru barked,
"Well you're welcome," Shikamaru said, ignoring their complaint. Then suddenly…
Seven shurikens were thrown, as they're all attached to strong thin strings, at the same time, they spun around Dujobe, still under Shikamaru's jutsu, as he's been captured. Shikamaru quickly released his jutsu by the time Dujobe got tied up, four shurikens around his top and three around his legs, which cause him to lose balance and fell to the ground.
"Fifth one captured," they all turned and saw… seven Anbu Black Ops appeared,
"Take him to the village," the captain ordered as five Anbus jumped off the cliff and got around Dujobe.
"Don't get near him, he's a vicious animal," Kiba said to warn them,
"No worries, we got him under control," one of the Anbus said as three of them got Dujobe up, then they put handcuffs on him.
"Be sure to place him with the others," the captain ordered,
"Others? You mean the other thugs?" Shikamaru asked,
"We captured all four of them; a little girl, twin boys, and a blind girl. We're placing each of them under interrogation; as for your comrades, the medical-nins are taking care them as we speak. All in the orders of the Fifth Hokage," the captain explained, then he asked, "Are there any others?"
"Just one, I don't know where but my guess is that he's somewhere in forest around the mountains," Shikamaru answered,
"I'll send some back-up there, by then, you should stay with your friend until the medical-nins get here," he said,
"Tsk… troublesome," Shikamaru said thinking the whole thing is such a drag.
Little did they know, "Everything's according to plan," Dujobe thought by the time the Anbus took him away from the area.
"R-ruff-ruff!" Arkamaru barked, "What's that?" Kiba asked, "Ruff-ruff! Ruff!" Arkamaru barked, "Now that you mention it, I kind of find it acquired too," he said, "Something's not right," Kiba thought as he turned to Dujobe before the Anbus took him away.
Sakura and Akeeba…
"Unlock it?" she said,
"Yes, I can unlock your hidden ability with one…" he held out his hand, "Simple…" red particles of chakra appeared on his hand, as it slowly formed… "Feather," he said as he showed Sakura a red feather levitating over his hand. Sakura was speechless as she never seen a red feather like this one.
"With this feather, it'll not only unlock your hidden ability but also… absorb away your emotions," Akeeba explained, Sakura hesitated a bit as she almost forgot about whether to keep her emotions or not. "It's up to you Ms. Haruno, the time is now for you to choose; would you rather be a complete different person with incredible powers and become known to everyone, or stay as you are now, an average kunoichi being a burden to everyone around you and received nothing but their pity?" he asked. Sakura became silent again, as she's thinking through her thoughts…
Flashbacks…
"You're worse than Naruto," Sasuke said,
"If I had you as a teammate, I would surely die," Kabuto said,
"Face it Sakura, you'll never become strong like me," Ino said,
"You need to put your act together and become a ninja for once," Tenten said,
"I'm sorry Sakura, I can't take you on this mission, you'll just… get in the way," Shikamaru said.
"Ninjas don't show emotions whenever they're in battle," Kakashi said,
"It'll be best if you lay out missions for awhile due to your last mission," Tsunade said,
"Sorry kid, from what you been through, I don't think you're cut out being a true shinobi," one the Jounin said.
Flashbacks over…
The wind blew, as her eyes are hidden under her bangs, every word she heard from everyone, everybody she knew, she suddenly felt shun by their ability and overshadowed by their pity. She imagine herself standing alone while her friends are a few distant away from her, she couldn't help but watched them as they don't have a clue that she's even there; as if she's invisible or she doesn't exist. Then saw them slowly turned their backs on her, and walking away, Sakura wanted to call out for them, but couldn't get any words out her mouth, and her friends… disappeared. After what she's been through, even from the very start, she wind-up being the weakest from the rest of the Genins; and above all, her friends are coming to her rescue, like they always do. She can hardly rescue herself, from every mission, every fights, and she's the only victim that holds everyone back. She even doubts that her own teammates ever wanted her, otherwise, they wouldn't put up to this rescue mission if it wasn't for her. Plus worried she'll end up like Akeeba from his childhood, so she started thinking about what Ibate said to her…
Flashbacks…
"With no emotions, you can do whatever you want."
"If you keep hold of your emotions any longer… then you'll never become strong."
"Having emotions only get in the way, it won't help you become strong nor help you survive."
"Forget your emotions… forget your friends… become one of us so you can no longer be weak."
"There's still hope yet to come to you Ms. Haruno, there is a way for you to become strong… The only way that you'll never be weak again is by Lord Akeeba, he will take away all your emotions so you will never suffer the pain and heartache ever again… All you need to say is 'I don't want to be weak anymore', and then Lord Akeeba will take away your emotions,"
"With all your emotions gone, you will never feel any pain, heartache, happiness, sadness, anger, confusion, loneliness, hatred… or love."
"I promise you Ms. Haruno, once you say those words, everything is going to be okay."
Flashbacks over…
Could everything Ibate said to her was true? Is this the only way to end her suffering of being the weakest ninja in her village? Even if it cost her to lose everything and everyone she loved?
There was absolute silence between her and Akeeba. Akeeba stare at her as kept that evil smirk on his face, he can tell that she's thinking deeply through her thoughts. Sakura on the other hand, couldn't help but picture her friends in her mind, everyone in Team 8, 10, and Gai, but mostly Team 7, since they're the only people that protected her the most than she ever protected anyone; let alone herself. She slowly clenched her left hand as she remembers the difficulties she's been through; the first A-rank mission in the Land of Waves, the Chunin Exams through the Preliminaries, the Invasion from the Sand and Sound village, and above all… her own comrades nearly fought to the death back in the hospital. She clenched her hand more thinking about her comrades, and how she couldn't able to stop them because of her emotions. Then she slowly looked at the red feather, still levitating on Akeeba's hand, glancing at it's unique features yet sensed it's powerful source around it. Then Akeeba turned his smirk into a smile as she has kept her eyes on the red feather, and not noticing his fangs in his teeth, for real.
"Go ahead," he said to her as he slowly handed it to her, Sakura kept her eyes on the red feather as she slowly felt the intensity of it's energy and the urge to touch it. So her hand started moving on it's own as she's reaching for the feather, only a few meters from it until her fingers are closing in within an inch.
"I…" she said as…
Forest…
Naruto ran through the forest as fast as he can, "I better hurry before…" he thought until…
KABOOOM!!!
He heard a loud explosion, as he can see smoke coming from over the edge ahead, "No…" he said as he feared he's might be too late.
To be continued…
Phew! That almost took me forever to finish this, hopefully you enjoyed it. Please review to me since it's been awhile since I last heard from some of you. By then, I might work on another update for this as soon as I can. Thanks, and see you later.