A/N: I would like to extend my thanks to all those who read, and sent reviews for this story. You guys are the best. Keep sending some love! This one's for you!
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Chapter 3: Kidnapped
Sakura woke up the next day with her cheeks pressed firmly on the kitchen table.
At first she wondered why she was there. Was she that tired so as not to reach the confines of her bed? And her dream? She remembered having a dream about a man with raven colored hair, and jet black eyes...
What was that all about? She thought as she blinked her eyes several times just to will the grogginess away—but the moment her eyes cleared and her gaze focused on the medicine kit with a basin of water on the side, she swore so hard that she even fell down on her chair because of utter shock.
Last night wasn't a dream. It was real. She thought as she stared at the water spots on the ceiling of her home with the toppled chair lying beside her.
A week passed and Sakura subconsciously searched for the man named Sasuke.
Whenever a customer enters the ramen shop, her shoulders visibly sagged upon seeing that it wasn't the man she was looking for. This behavior of hers earned her a lot of concerned looks from the ramen shop owner, and his daughter, but they were too wary to ask her what's wrong. They knew this because it was in her nature to tell them that everything was okay, so they just let her be. Teuchi just made sure that he extended all the help he can offer through other things, hoping that one day, Sakura would decide to share what was bothering her.
But Sakura's search for the mysterious man didn't end at the ramen shop, she even made sure to check the alley way where they first met whenever she goes home from work. What's even worse was, during her morning classes, her mind drifted towards those dark eyes of his...and his lips...
'Waaaah! What's happening to me?! I need to stop daydreaming!' She mentally screamed as she slapped herself, not realizing that her friends were there, and they were watching her.
After class...
"Sakura, you okay?" Tenten asked while they waited for their orders inside a quaint ice cream shop near the school.
"Y-yeah, Sakura. Is something bothering you? You know you can tell us." Said her other friend, Hinata.
"I'm okay! Really. It's just...there's a guy."
Hinata and Tenten looked at each other and simultaneously blurted...
"A guy?!"
"Who?"
Sakura sighed as she decided to let some of it spill because thoughts of this mysterious man kept bothering her. She knew she needed to share it with someone to let some of it off, and Tenten and Hinata were her friends since elementary school, so maybe it was okay...
"That's the problem. I don't know who he is. I only know his first name but that's all."
"Is he enrolled in our school?" Tenten asked, but Sakura shook her head.
"How about the internet?" Hinata asked afterwards.
"I tried. But I couldn't find the time to go to the computer lab to do a search...and you know I can't go to a shop, even if you just take up a minute, you pay the entire hour! And don't even ask about my phone." Sakura said as she brought out the small flip phone she had, handing it over to Tenten when her friend stretched out her palm.
Tenten studied the flip phone and spoke.
"Amazing, I thought these models had been wiped out already."
"T-Then let's use my phone!" Hinata chirped as she began rummaging inside her bag for the device.
Unlike Sakura and Tenten who got into the University through a scholarship, Hinata was among the students who was born rich and could afford the expensive tuition fees.
"Are you sure?" Sakura asked as she watched Hinata bring her phone out. The screen glowed at her face when she tapped on it.
"Of course! What's his name?"
"Here, let me type it."
Hinata handed her smart phone over to Sakura when their orders came up. She started typing the character's for Sasuke's name in the search engine, when Tenten spoke.
"Wait. Is he even that famous for his name to appear on the internet?"
Sakura's mind wandered back to her memories of Sasuke during that night in her kitchen. If she remembered it correctly, he said his status was close to royalty so maybe he's really famous. But she kept that thought to herself as she pressed enter and stared at the rotating blue circle on the middle of the screen.
"Tenten, even if this guy's not famous, if he has a facebook or something, then he'd surely appear." Hinata explained.
"Here!" Sakura suddenly blurted when the search engine showed results. She was so engrossed on the picture which appeared that she tapped on it, oblivious of all the other articles that were previously shown.
The picture was extremely pixelated but she was sure that it was Sasuke because she could make out his black hair and pale complexion on the photo.
"Let me see! Let me see!" Hinata grabbed the phone from her, and stared at the screen. Tenten also joined her but there was a frown on her face as she took a peek.
"I can't see a thing. The wi-fi here is too slow."
"Wait. Look closely! It's rendering. Who's he in this picture, Sakura?" Hinata asked.
"The one in the middle."
"I can make out four more people other than your mystery guy." Tenten noticed while she squinted her eyes, trying to make out the faces on the blurred picture.
"Maybe he's a part of a boy band? Not that I know much about boy bands. How'd you know him, Sakura? What's his name?"
Sakura contemplated for a minute whether she'd tell them or not, and upon realizing that there's a great chance that she won't even ever see Sasuke again, she decided to share.
"Well, his name is Sas-"
"H-hey!"
Hinata suddenly exclaimed when a man clad in a black suit and tie grabbed her phone and tinkered with it. Tenten, being the feisty one in the group was already out of her seat, yelling at the man.
"Hey! Give that back! You don't have the right to do that! That's not yours!"
The man just looked at her fuming face through heavily tinted sun glasses before returning the phone to Hinata.
The screen said: Browsing history cleared.
Then another man in an identical suit appeared, facing Sakura.
"Are you Haruno Sakura?"
Sakura was tempted to lie but the way these men looked at her gave her such an uncomfortable feeling that she ended up blurring the truth.
"Y-yes. Why?"
"Come with us." The man said, as he grabbed her arm and tugged her out of the chair, forcefully dragging her away. Sakura tried to fight back.
"Hey! Wait! Let me go! Tenten! Hinata!" She screamed.
"What are you doing?! That's our friend! Why are you taking her away!" Tenten demanded while Hinata scrambled her way to the counter to ask the cashier to call the police, but another man clad in a suit beat her to it.
"I suggest you girls shut your mouths and stay out of this. The same goes for everyone in this shop." Another man said after appearing out of nowhere.
He was also clad in black, but unlike the others, his was more of a trench coat, and there was an air of authority in him. And his face...it was a face that only appeared in nightmares. One you couldn't forget no matter how hard you try. Tenten and Hinata couldn't do anything but to bite their lips and tremble in fear.
The man towered over them because of his height, and the multiple scars on his face was enough to send chills down their spines. It was only thanks to one of the suit-clad men that they were able to escape his chilling scrutiny.
"Ibiki-san, the girl's already in the car. It's time to go."
Upon hearing what he said. The man named Ibiki turned, brought out a wad of cash, and threw it towards the cashier, and left.
"W-what just happened? T-they just took Sakura! Hinata we have to do something!" Tenten exclaimed, turning to her equally shocked friend.
When Hinata was able to calm her breathing, the only thing she could do was to shake her head in defeat.
"W-we can't do anything, Tenten. And I think that even the authorities can't do anything about them."
"Why? Who are they even to hold so much power over people?"
"I've seen guys like them before. I—I think they're loan sharks."
"Loan sharks?!"
Tenten couldn't do anything but to slump herself on the booth and stare at nothingness. She knew that their friend had incurred debts, but she had no idea that Sakura was so deep in them that even the big boss had decided to take her away.
"B-but she's working day and night just to pay for them." Tenten muttered. Disbelief lacing her trembling voice.
"I-I know. But it isn't enough." Hinata whispered as she stared at the toppled cup of ice cream that was previously held by Sakura.
TBC
