Lurking Within
(Part 1 of the trilogy)
-
Chapter 05: Pure thy blood; tainted thy sanity
The door slammed open, dissipating the awkward staring contest the occupants of the room had fell into. On pure instinct, regardless of his location, Neji pulled out a kunai and his byukugan ready. In marched troops of ANBUs, with Ibiki in the lead, flooding the once empty room with occupants. His cape billowing and his face set into a blank slate, Morino Ibiki was not someone to be reckon with. Ignoring the two standing jounins, his piercing gaze focused solemnly on the lying kounichi. "Haruno Sakura, the council has requested for your presence as you are to stand in trail for murdering four civilians." He paused, expecting an outburst from the woman in front of him but, to his surprise, she only gave a bored yawn as a reply. "Haruno Sakura, you are charged for the murder of a fellow jounin, Yamamoto Masuyo, his twin six-year old daughters, Hanako and Hiroko, and another fellow jounin, Sugazaki Sho."
Still, she gave no answer, only a blank stare with a smirk. "Hyuuga, Sabaku, you are to join us." The group filtered out of the room, with Ibiki in the front, Sakura in the middle held by two ANBUs, followed by Neji and Gaara in the back. She paid no heed to her surroundings, her eyes dazing out as the demon in her screamed to be let out from his confinements. She ignored Itzal and stared at the back of Ibiki's head, hoping to burn a hole through it. Suddenly, she burst out laughing at the image of it. The surrounding ANBUs turned back with their weapons out, eying her through their various masks as she continued to laugh hysterically. Straightening herself up once she found that they were nearing the great wooden doors, Sakura smirked at the man next to her. She could smell the fear that he radiated and she basked in it.
It was dark inside, with the curtains pulled tight in a hospital room, the make-shift interrogation room. Everyone took separate corners and spaces in the room; even Neji and Gaara took a specific spot near the front. Emerald eyes scanned the room and locked eyes with every single one she called a 'friend'. Friends she cared about, she sneered, and yet here they are doing nothing but watching. "Haruno Sakura, you are called before the council today for the interrogation of manslaughter." Tsunade, in front of her, said. The 'council' consisted of the current Hokage, Tsunade, and several high jounins. She stared down at Kakashi until he looked away from her unnerving glare.
"Do you have anything to say before we begin?"
They were giving her a chance, an excuse or something to explain for what had happened; but she had none.
If she were the old Sakura, she would be crying and screaming for some sort of reasoning but that was the old her. The new Sakura, now, would merely stare back. What use was it to explain herself if they would never listen. Yet, a part of her still clung on to a glitter of hope. Perhaps they would take her back. She wanted to belong again, to have a sense of comfort and to be offered protection. She missed them, they were part of her pack. Sakura tried to reach out to everyone of them in the room; pleading through her eyes with Naruto, TenTen, Kiba, Kakashi, Tsunade, Iruka, Ino, Shikamaru, etc. She plead for them to understand and believe her. "I didn't do it." Call her naïve to think that they'll scoop her back up in their arms and believe her if you want, but that wouldn't stop her from wishing and praying. Funny how God doesn't listen, at times like these, to her.
The blond woman sighed, turned around and nodded towards someone in the room. "Akane, proceed."
The two jounins, at her side, pushed her shoulders down and her knees buckled under her. They instantly strapped her wrists to the ground, and at that moment, she noticed a weird seal drawn on the ground. With her knees bent, on either side of her, and her wrists strapped down, Sakura felt every bit of a prisoner. Out of the crowd of black, a tall girl walked into the open and towards her. Emerald locked with amethyst and everything seemed to melt away. Then, right there, she knew what was happening. They were asking this girl to enter her mind and go through her memories. The Shadow Demon in her laughed, mocking the humans for their stupidity of daring to trespass in her, no, their territory.
From the void of nothingness, a tiny glimmer of light flickered and Akane called for it. Slowly, what seemed like mini televisions, appeared. Sakura looked up and she realized these were all her precious memories, now exploited to a stranger. "He's pretty cute, who is he?" Sakura swiveled her head to see what had caught the girl's attention and she growled low in her throat. "Uchiha Sasuke." Sakura replied and she looked away quickly. Those onyx eyes and raven locks still had a hold on her, tugging at her heart strings painfully. She had not forgotten the day he left her behind, or the day she had officially left him behind; or at least tried to. She had given up on him, just like he had given up on her.
"So this is the infamous Uchiha Sasuke?" Akane smirked a little and her eyes darken at the thought of snatching him up.
"Who is he to you?"
Sakura looked up tiredly and gave a bored glance at the girl, "None of your business." The brunette instantly puffed up and sneered. Slowly, her sneer became a smirk and she focused her attention to the mini televisions instead of Sakura. "Well then, we'll just have to find out don't we?" Sakura narrowed her eyes in anger. That woman was actually thinking of going to all her memories for it? Growling, Sakura struggled to free herself from her confinement. "Find what you need and leave!" Akane watched her struggle briefly, the smirk never leaving her face, before she turned towards the mini television and searched for the most recent one with him in it. "Ah, here we are."
Sakura snapped her head up, attention rapt when she heard the sound of rain falling. It was that day. The one she hated and cherished, for two different reasons, and she was reliving it again.
Flashback
The heavens opened and spilled cold tears down the village of Konoha feverishly. The streets were deserted and the rain ran freely down the cracks of the cobble paths without a detour. However, that peace was momentary as a young boy ran down the streets to his destination. Seeing his goal in sight, he added more chakra in his feet and upped his speed. Slowing down near the Konoha gates, he turned around for one last memorizing glimpse of the village he had grown up in and had found a place of belonging. If only he didn't need to go on with his vow, maybe he can just stay... no! The boy shook himself awake from such a thought, he came this far and with such an opportunity in front of him, he can not pass it up.
"Sasuke-kun?"
He knew that voice, but he stopped himself from turning around to see her there, looking at him with eyes so emerald that the jewels would envy her. "You're leaving aren't you?" Sasuke gave in and looked at her from beneath his bangs, plastered on his face from the rain, dismissing her. "Go home." He faced away from her, determined to leave behind everything, his past, present, and future. "Stay in Konoha, don't leave. You have Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, and me; please don't go Sasuke-kun." He ignored her plea, letting it fall on deaf ears. His patience was withering. "Is revenge that important to you? Is nothing here in Konoha important to you?" In a soft whisper, he heard her add, "Am I not important to you?"
For a girl whom had followed him throughout most of his life, she was not as understanding as he thought she would be. "I live only to avenge my clan's death. I must kill Itachi." He glanced back at her from his shoulder and glared. "Anything else means nothing to me, including you." That comment hit home and Sakura closed her eyes as if that would make this a nightmare; trying with all her might to block the image of him walking away from her. His figure became smaller and she ran to be in equal distant from him. "If you do have to go, then take me with you, Sasuke-kun. If you're going to become a missing-nin, then at least have me by your side!" The rain continued to pelt down on the two humans, exposed to Mother Nature's wrath, maybe even sorrow, and did nothing to protect themselves. They stood there, one with his back turned in mid stride and another with her hand outstretched.
"Hn, you're annoying."
She froze at his bluntness, though she heard him saw it thousands of times, it always hurt each and every time. Even with her eyes pooling with tears, she paid no heed to it and continued to shadow him. "I will try hard, Sasuke-kun, to become stronger. Just, take me with you." She heard him growl with annoyance, but she stood her ground. She couldn't watch him leave, it was too much to bear. He scoffed at her and continued down the path in the rain, not bothering to acknowledge what his teammate had just said. He can't understand why she's going through all the trouble. He knew of her infatuation with him, but that will soon wear down once he's gone. "Can't you see, Sasuke-kun, I love you so much!" Love? That certainly stopped him in his tracks and he turned slightly to glance over his shoulders. The rain had weighed down her hair and had soaked her entire being. It was hard to tell if she was crying or if the rivers coursing down the contours of her face, were tears. But he knew, boy did he know, she was crying for him like she always did. That thought made his heart ache and clench for some reason. Knowing Sakura's stubborn nature, he placed his freshly thought plan into action. Moving quickly behind her, he pressed on a pressure point.
"Thank you, Sakura." And the world faded into a void of black.
End of Flashback
-
Sakura kept her head bowed and took in deep breaths to calm herself. When she had woken up that day, she didn't cry. She merely went home and stared at her prized possession, her framed Team 7's picture. She had always thought she understood a part of him, not all, but just a small fraction. She had been so proud of that. She knew how important avenging his brother was to him, but she wanted so badly to be the reason for him to stay. Sakura gave a bitter laugh, how naïve she was then.
"What is there to laugh about?"
Akane's voice jolted the young girl to remember she had an intruder in her mind and she was none too please with it. Whisperings, that only she seemed to hear, echoed from the corners of her mind and she laughed at all the wicked suggestions. Images of detailed gore and bloody screams of murder rang in her head as she pictured each event happening to the prying ANBU. Finding a particular scene she liked, she asked her dear wolf to take his place. "Tell me, have you ever seen yourself get decapitated?"
A/N; REWRITTEN!