Lurking Within
(Part 1 of the trilogy)
Chapter 03: A graveyard marked by the full moon
"It's the full moon tonight, I need you to do something for me." The Copy-nin from Konoha looked up from his shocking orange book, Ichi Ichi Paradise, and glanced lazily at the Hokage. She refused to meet his gaze, instead opting to concentrate deeply towards the papers in front of her. "It's been months, I know, and there has been no disturbances but I need to be sure. Kakashi, watch over her carefully tonight. If something does happen, well, then do what you must." Narrowing his eyes, he asked her with dead seriousness, leaving no tone for jokes. "Do you mean kill her?" The papers stopped rustling about and the room became pin-drop silent. The breeze gently swayed the shades and only the sounds of nature echoed in the room. "I have asked Jiraiya to accompany you, in case any... difficulties appear. Kakashi, Konoha is where your first priority lies." Once more the Sharingan holder gave no answer, but to Tsunade, his silence spoke more than enough. "Hatake Kakashi, you are a Jounin and an ANBU, your life lies and serves Konoha – never forget that." Giving the silver-hair man once more a look over, she returned her attention to the piles of paperwork in front of her. "Dismissed." Her tone left no room for discussion and Kakashi gave none, only turning to leave. "We're not all tools." There was a slight pause of sounds before once more, it resumed.
Firmly closing the door behind him, Kakashi turned and found himself staring at the perverted legendary sannin. "Naruto will never forgive you if you hurt her." The legendary sannin gave no reply and walked on, "I'm visiting the bathing area for inspiration. I'll meet you at Ichiraku Ramen in half an hour." Kakashi wasn't even able to utter a reply, merely staring at Jiraiya leave for another of his pervert book inspiration, Ichi Ichi Paradise. Shrugging, he started on his way to look for the noisy nin from Konoha and the cherry blossom; fully knowing exactly where they'll be at this time of the day. It wasn't hard, actually, to find them. Around noon, at this time, Naruto had made it an everyday mission to bring the scattered team 7 together for lunch. It was in his way, a means of connecting the bonds that Sasuke had broken when he left. Even now, years after one of his most promising charge left, he still felt remorse at not being able to stop Sasuke from paving the way to his doom. "Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto screamed and waved from the booth of Ichiraku Ramen, "Coming to join us?" Sluggishly, he made his way to the noisy blond. Though his eyes were trained on Naruto, he couldn't help but direct his thoughts to the girl sitting quietly next to him.
Haruno Sakura, it's been approximately five months since the 'accident' – as many now call it – and the once close bond between them had disappeared. Each day the distance would widen and the ex-sensei was at a loss of what he could possibly do. She had certainly grown up in those last couple of months, that he was sure, but she had also lost the trait that was uniquely her. No longer was she the overly cheerful girl whom had been part of his team, or the over infatuated love teenager, but now an empty shell of who she once was. It was Naruto who tried the hardest to get her back together, try to turn her back into the Sakura he once knew and loved. But there is only so much a man can do, and Naruto had already done enough. Naruto had simply threw down the towel after three months of non-response, merely living with the fact that that Sakura would not be returning anytime soon. Instead, he turned his attention to preserving the friendship that he cherished.
"It's a full moon tonight."
He hadn't meant to say it, but the statement slipped out of his mouth before he could stop himself. The young girl's reaction didn't go unnoticed to the Sharingan user, and he made a mental note of it. "So it is." Those was the only words she spoke of since he arrived; no more were there ever going to be a joyous girl greeting him, no more of her bubbly happiness... she was no more. "I almost forgot!" Naruto spoke, with his mouth full of the beef ramen he had ordered, "you're coming to the party, right Sakura?" Sakura paused and nodded slowly, "I promised Naruto. I'll show up tonight at Hyuuga's estates at 6." Kakashi leaned back and his eyes widen, he'd almost forgotten that it was the young Hyuuga heiress's birthday today. "Alright, remember Sakura! I'm going to go, the old hag asked me to see her today. I'll see you later Sakura; bye Kakashi!" A puff of smoke laid where the boy had once stood and Sakura sighed wearily. She stood and made her way out of the restaurant – Naruto had paid before he left. "Sakura!" She didn't even have time to turn before she tumbled back by the sheer force of a crushing hug. "It's been so long since I've basked in your beauty!" The victimized girl growled and smacked the man on the head, "Jiraiya-sama, you're such a pervert!" Laughing, Jiraiya pulled away and gave a wink at the flustered girl.
"Sorry, I'm going to borrow your sensei for a minute." Emerald eyes turned and widen slightly, as if she had not notice the copy-nin's presence before. "I didn't see you there." Her only reply before turning to make her way to the hospital, where she was needed as Tsunade's apprentice and top medic. The Ichi Ichi Paradise owner whistled softly under his breath, "She still holding a grudge against you?" "She's going to the Hyuuga's party tonight." Blinking once, twice, Jiraiya scratched his chin and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. "Well, I guess we're going." Walking away, Jiraiya lifted his hand in a sort of a wave, "See you there Kakashi!" Once more the perverted nin left him in the dust and Kakashi shook his head, reaching for his entertainment; it was going to be a long night.
Time passed swiftly, too swiftly in Sakura's case, and she soon found herself staring at her bathroom mirror. She had just gotten out of the showers after a day's work and she stood in front of her mirror wrapped in a white terrycloth towel. Her ivory flesh glisten, still wet from the bath, and she shivered slightly at the breeze that blew at her skin. Damp pink tresses clung to her face and back, her reflected eyes stared through her. It's been how long since her trust for others had been shattered? A month? Two months? Time seemed nonexistent to her now, she only lived for the next day that always came. Everyone, everything, was a blur to her and the only constant person in her life was Naruto – her dear ex-teammate. They were no longer team 7, having that one of their teammate had left. Though she had been unresponsive to Naruto's attempt of changing her back to who she use to be, he never gave up contact with her. Everyday he would seek her out, he would try to not change her – he stopped a little while ago – but to at least see her smile or laugh. She was waiting for the day he'd give up on her completely and leave her, just like he had. However, Naruto kept appearing, day after day. He kept her safe, protected and found it his responsibility to steer her away from the people of Konoha. Nevertheless, she still heard them; whispering – she was not deaf – and saw their extra glances – nor was she blind – at her.
Memories are hard to erase and forget. She'd definitely not forgotten the cautious look her former senpai had given her when he stepped into the room with the Godaime. She was not slow, she saw his hands linger near his kunai pouch and though he tried to show that he was just lounging around, his posture was stiff and on guard. It hurts, that one of her closest friend would think of her as a danger – a monster. It also wasn't much of a help when she caught an ANBU following her around. She'd literally tore Tsunade's office apart in fury when she learned that she was being 'analyzed' and tagged like an animal; did they not trust her? It was silly and childish, of course, that she gave in to her temper of being followed; but at that time, she was hurt beyond repair. How could they do this to her? It took a while before the 5th Hokage dismissed that ANBU from watching her, mostly due to her damage to the office and anger. After that little 'episode', she started to change. She wasn't their Sakura anymore, she knew it and they knew it. She was the new Sakura, one who can rival Sasuke for his coldness. Gone with the old and in with the new, or so they say.
Turning away from the critical analysis she gave herself, she made her way into her bedroom in search for proper wear. Those voices, those dreams – the core of how everything came to be – was gone after she woke up, sitting with her back pressed to her front door, with the scroll clutched in her hand. There were no funny glow from the scroll and there were no demonic voices in her head whenever she stared at it. It seemed like a dream, a nightmare that she woke up from, though she hid the scroll at the bottom of her weapon chest. Sakura threw some choices of clothing on to her bed and wrapped her hair up with the towel, keeping it away from her dry clothes. Picking up a black dress, Sakura stared at it before dumping it back to the pile of clothes on her bed. She made her way to a mahogany chest at the corner of her room and she lifted the top up. Her hands closed around delicate fabric and she freed it from its confinement of the dark chest. She gave no glance to the cloth in her hand, merely turning to head for the bathroom once more. Tonight, she'll stun them with the new Sakura.
"Naruto-kun, are you sure Sakura said she's coming tonight?" The Hyuuga heiress asked for the fifth time that night when a certain pink-hair, green-eye girl failed to show up. Naruto nodded and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend in assurance, though his blue eyes were scanning the crowd. "She promised, Hinata, and no matter how much Sakura-chan changed, she'll never break a promise." Directing his eyes from the crowd to the woman in his arms, he smiled and gave her a quick kiss. Naruto couldn't help but laugh at the blush on Hinata's face, even after a month of dating – and countless accounts of kissing – she was still timid about it. It had taken him years to realize that the girl he'd ever wanted was in front of him all along. Don't get him wrong, he did love Sakura, but it was more on the line of sister and brother love. His crush on the bubblegum girl shifted to another kind of love and he found himself attracted to the quiet girl in front of him now; not that he was complaining. "Naruto!" Hinata hissed from his side, "Sakura!"
Pale blue eyes locked with deep green eyes and his mouth dropped; never mind the informality of it all. The girl he considered a younger sister was dressed in a beautifully woven kimono. It was a unique shade of midnight blue, with some strands of silver thread – only on a more closer inspection can one see it – and the designs were phenomenal. On the bottom of her kimono were tiny silver butterflies that gathered together in a bunch at the lower left corner and then sparsely scattered on the way up – giving the illusion of the them flying. The obi was a darker blue and the color of the kimono enhanced her unique pink hair – tied into intricate knots with a sapphire trinket hanging from the side. Her eyes were lined with Kohl and the greenness of her eyes popped at him. The kimono seemed plain, but on her, it looked as if it was made for the sole purpose for Sakura to adorn it. Her red tinted lips curved into a smile and she made her way to them, the crowd parting as she went. "Naruto." She greeted before turning her attention to the woman next to him. "Hinata, happy birthday."
Snapping out of whatever reverie she was in, the raven hair girl smiled and hugged Sakura. She'd certainly come out of her shell from hanging around Naruto a bit too much. "Thanks Sakura, I'm happy you can make it." Smiling – something she hadn't done in months – Sakura nodded, "Wouldn't miss it for the world."
The rest of the night was spent with drinks, chattering, and dancing. The night wore on and the party was still livid with commotion. Sakura found herself leaning against a rail, away from the crowd, and staring at the beautiful couple dancing in the middle of the ballroom floor. She always found that those two matched, terribly so, and it bothered her that she couldn't find someone like that. However, that didn't stop her from being happy for her friends – Naruto in particular. If there was anyone in the world who deserved love, the kind that only the Hyuuga successor could give, it was Naruto. "You've been standing there staring at that the dance floor for quite some time, Haruno." Sakura wouldn't deny that she almost jumped out of her skin when a voice suddenly disturbed her thoughts, but she would rather die than admit it. "Hyuuga-san," she greeted before replying, "I was merely thinking." Hyuuga Neji, an accomplished Jounin and a soon to be ANBU Captain, stood out from his corner of the balcony and made his way towards her. He stood tall, perhaps even a good foot taller than her, and his towering form loomed over her. Thick silky locks of warm chocolate brown hair, tied in a low ponytail, streamed over his back; and pale white eyes of the Hyuuga bloodline stared at her.
"You're not here under Tsunade-sama's orders are you? Because if you are, you're doing a bad job of keeping yourself undetected." She said jokingly. The intimidating Jounin continued to stare her down and she swiftly shifted her gaze somewhere else. Her eyes immediately pinpointed to two particular men, Kakashi and Jiraiya. Although there were other ex-sensei standing around, enjoying the party, Sakura wasn't deceived – not even for one second – that that wasn't the reason why they were there. They were here to keep watch over her. "Look at those two over there, they're doing a better job of being undetected than you are." She hissed and glared with every ounce of fury in her, "They think I'm stupid or something, thinking that they can fool me. Trying to make me think that the only reason they're here is to enjoy the party, they think I don't know the real reason. Of course I know! They're here because of Tsunade-sama, she's meddling again."
"You're too full of yourself."
Neji's emotionless statement cut her short of her rambling and Sakura stared shocked at Neji, "Excuse me?" Narrowing her eyes at his lack of response, she made a move to leave. "You're just another Sasuke." She muttered under her breath softly. A hand shot out and grabbed on to her wrist painfully, "Don't compare me to that Uchiha." He gave her a look over and scoffed, throwing her words back at her. "You're just another weak kunoichi." Her response was not one he expected and he gave her a look that told her so. With strength that had appeared out of nowhere, she had pushed him away from her. His hold on her disappeared and he found himself holding his left cheek, where she had hit him. "Watch what you say Hyuuga." She hissed at him and her emerald eyes flashed with contained anger. "Or the next time, I'm cutting off your tongue." A tinkle from her trinket and a twirl of her kimono, she was gone. Lowering his hand, his palm was stained with some blood. Wincing, Neji turned to the window and saw a deep gash on his face. His fist tightened and he tried to suppress the sudden urge to strangle the girl, a task that was proving to be hard.
Her footsteps stomped the lawn outside as she walked around the garden. She had come outside for a breath of fresh air and in hopes of cooling down, though in vain. It's been so long since she'd shown any type of anger, or emotion, and that bastard had gotten a rise out of her. Pulling the jeweled chopstick from her hair, a curtain of silky pink fell around her. A gust of breezy winter wind swept through her hair and she breathed in the cool air. The anger simmered down a little and she opened her eyes to a dark sky. That's right, she mused, it's a full moon tonight. Sighing, Sakura turned to head back in before Naruto came looking for her; but she felt something, something strange churning inside of her.
"Kill him, free me..."
Voices, they were back and Sakura clutched her head as a wave of migraine began. Her eyes were shrewd shut and her lips were parted in a silent scream as she felt herself fall to the green grass. Her fingers curled around the blades of grass and she pulled as another attack of pain wracked through her body. It felt as if her whole body was blazing with fire and yet frozen with ice at the same time. It was a strange, and painful, feeling.
"Free me, Sakura, unleash me from my prison."
She groaned as she fell to her side, the pain was too much. Her body was pulled into a fetal position and her lips were stained red from biting her lips too harshly. "Sakura?" She could barely make out who it was, but she was certain it wasn't the raspy voice inside her head. "Alert Naruto and tell him to get Tsunade here!" Another voice, this one was different also; who was it? "Kakashi?" She whimpered and clutched her head more as she went into another painful shudder. "It's okay Sakura, you're doing fine. Fight it." Fight? What did she have to fight? Her emerald eyes cracked open and she found herself staring into the eyes of her ex-sensei, Kakashi. "Jiraiya, perform the seal!" From the corner of her eyes, she saw the legendary sannin pull a scroll from seemingly nowhere and a stab of pain went through her.
"They're going to kill you, free me!"
Sakura whimpered again as she saw Jiraiya make his way closer, his hands starting to perform a jutsu. Above her, Kakashi had a kunai positioned on her throat; the cold blade skimming her neck, meant to keep her in place. "Everything will be okay Sakura."
"FREE ME!"
Opening her mouth into a scream, an unknown force slammed into the man above her, forcing him to release his hold on her. Jiraiya stopped in mid-step and cursed loudly, "Get up Kakashi!" The copy-nin wasted no time in following that order and his kunai was positioned in front of him. "What's going on? I thought you were going to seal it!" Kakashi demanded, his eyes never leaving the still form on the floor. Pounding footsteps came louder and his visible eye turned to see a group of people behind the 5th Hokage. "Sakura-chan!" Naruto, ever present, yelled in concern and made a move to her side but Tsunade held on. "What do you think you're doing you old hag!" The comment was ignored and Neji activated his Byakugan, "I don't recognize her chakra." The ANBUs behind him held a kunai in their hands and tensed up as a groan echoed throughout the garden. The young girl rolled on to her stomach and she stretched, arching her back like that of a cat.
A purr rumbled from her and she opened her eyes to reveal narrow amber eyes behind messy pink hair. "The gang is all here?" Her voice was like liquid vodka, it dripped with bitterness and poison. She stood up on her feet, stumbling a bit, and a breeze swept her hair into a frenzy dance of twists and turns. A pair of black wolf ear was on top of her head and it twitched slightly from the breeze. A symbol glowed on her forehead, contrasting with her pale alabaster skin. It was a cross with a circle around the intersection and two curved lines pointed down from the lower half of the cross. She sniffed the air and took in a deep whiff, cool and soothing. "It's been so long since I've been freed." Fangs peaked out from her mouth and a pink tongue darted to lick her lips, a hungry look gleaming in her eyes. "My desire to see blood run is tempting also," A wicked laugh shot forth from her throat and she gave a seducing look from behind her curtain of hair. Her eyes locked with the Godaime and she winked, "My dearest Godaime, I will paint your town red tonight."
An ANBU – Neji – made a move forth with his bloodline activated and chakra at his fingertips, ready for a fight. Her lips curled into a snarl and she bared her fangs, hissing at him. "I do not mean you, you are nothing to me, mortal!" From underneath her kimono of beautiful blue, came seven fluffy tails. One tail had some strands of white and her hands reached out to hold it close to her. Her nails had shifted to claws and it flashed dangerously. "Do not challenge me, you do not stand a chance." She paused and growled in annoyance, "You are in Lady Luck's grace. My mistress does not wish for me to spill any unnecessary blood tonight, perhaps another time mortal." No one could reply before their eyes widen considerably. Where Sakura once stood, now stood a demon.
"It's truly a treasure to be free." The wolf demon bared his fangs and snarled, "I am Itzal, the Shadow Wolf, remember my name well." Annoyed that no one made a move, Neji threw his kunai at the demon; only to be met with air. The one known as 'Itzal' had disappeared into the shadows and a kimono laid on the ground, the only evidence that Sakura was ever there and that indeed, a monster was loose.
"Kakashi."
Answering to his name, he turned to face Tsunade – like the rest of the group – who were still speechless, and nodded for her to continue. "I have a new mission for you. Head immediately to Suna and get me Sabaku no Gaara, we are in need of his assistance."
A/N: Hello Loves, thanks for those who reviewed! This is extremely long, 5 pages on Office, so enjoy and review! Due to some very encouraging reviews, I'm going to move this fiction higher on my priority list. Keep them coming!