Orichimaru and Sakura - My Hollow Soul
written by smile-ookii
Ooh. I liked that last one, and I hope the rest of you did as well. I tried not to go overly-lushy with the mushiness; it's still Orichimaru. I just made him a bit more open, that's all. Okay, so now Sasuke sees Sakura and Orichimaru, but doesn't recognize him because of the blonde hair. Seems Sakura forgot to mention that one small fact...oh well, she's obviously benefited from it. Naruto is still moping about; the death of Kohi and the appearance of Orichimaru is putting quite a stress on him; hope he doesn't collapse. Sakura and Orichimaru have all but pledged their love to one another, and plan to escape by having Sakura pose as his hostage. Nice plan, huh? But I'm thinking...do things ever go quite as planned?
Chapter Four - Jigoku Kimi No Me De ( Hell In Your Eyes )
"C'mon, Sakura. It's time." Sakura stayed where she was for a moment longer, and hung even further over the railing. She took a large breath, and opened her eyes. She stood staight up, and turned to face Naruto.
"Okay." He nodded, and opening her door, he stepped outside and began walking down the hall. She followed him slowly, her body heavy. I don't want to fight you, Orichimaru. I know someone is going to get hurt. But will it be me...or you? Sakura, head down, nearly bumped into Naruto's back.
"Sakura...are you okay? I mean, you seem totally out of it."
She looked at his eyes, and tried to hide the sorrow in her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine, Naruto. Just distracted, you know? I mean, we're going up against Orichimaru...that'd make anyone have a bit of a moment." Naruto only looked at her, then shook his head.
"I hope he kills me." He continued to walk, and Sakura's heart began to ache for both her love and his. Kohi's death is tearing him apart, she thought. If he's not into it like usual, he just may get killed. She walked a bit faster, eager to see Orichimaru as soon as she could. She didn't want anyone to die, not today, not ever. But that couldn't ever be formed into a promise. Someone was always ready to die.
Always.
- - - -
Running. I can't breathe! I can't breathe...!
Sakura threw a couple of stars behind her as she ran, making the hand seals for fire. She heard screams behind her, and a small smile curved her lips. She quickly glanced to her left, where Orichimaru was using both water and fire jutsu to push back the attacking nin. Just a few minutes ago, Orichimaru had been savagely attacking Sasuke, Naruto, and herself. As soon as they had exited the inn, Orichimaru had shown himself, a cold smile on his lips.
- - - -
"Oh, so I see you got my message from darling S-s-s-akura," Orichimaru drawled, holding on to the 's' as long as he could.
"Yeah, you creepy bastard, we did. Now where do you want to settle this? I'm not going to have any part in destroying this place, so pick somewhere else."Naruto stepped forward, arms crossed.
"All right, all right, no need to rush me," he said, and brought his hands up in a gesture of peace. "I've already picked it out, and no one will be disturbing us. Come on..." And with that, he leaped off into the night, and they followed. It took them nearly an hour to get to Orichimaru's spot. It was deep in the forests of Yuruba, and near pitch-black from all the towering trees. Sakura...use the darkness, understand what this is for. Orichimaru stood straight, with his back to them. "I want the scroll. Are you going to give it to me, like good little chunin?" He laughed softly, and Naruto stiffened, and stood in an attack stance.
"Orichimaru, I thought you were smarter than that! Why would we ever just give you a scroll? Now either you come with us like how you are now...alive...or we take you another way...your choice." It seemed that the air grew more tense, more crisp. Is Orichimaru actually considering this? Sakura thought, and took a small step forward. She had almost taken another one when Orichimaru turned suddenly. His blonde hair flew around his body, encircling him gently. His golden eyes were narrowed, and his slits were frigid, nearly impossible to see in the darkness. His thin fingers folded like origami, into the shape of the dragon, of the rat, and of the snake.
"Kaze no jutsu!" His strong wind ninjutsu blew them off their feet, and before Sakura had time to react, he was above her, firing down multiple fire spheres. His thick red sash flew out behind him, making him seem like an angel with bloody wings. She dodged them, and was quickly on her feet, retaliating with her ice crystal ninjutsu.
"Byakugan!"
Sakura heard Sasuke cry out, and she broke out in a cold sweat. Oh shit, oh shit! Can't he see chakra points with that? And it'll also make it easier to see Orichimaru! Sakura cursed silently, wishing Neji had never let Sasuke copy his signature move. Shooting a few stars in Orichimaru's direction, she swept by him, whispering, "He can see you now...be careful," before being punched in the jaw. "Umph!" She fell to the ground, and her head snapped around wildly. As she lay there dazed, she thought she heard a soft-spoken "Sumimasen, Sakura," before Orichimaru leapt away, rushing towards Naruto.
"Sakura!" Naruto tapped into a small portion of the nine-tailed fox demon's chakra, and held out his hand, the fingers slightly curved. "Inazuma no yonju akuma!" A large bolt of lighting twisted from his hand, and split into 40 branches, each one sending sparks of electricity into the night sky. Orichimaru was surprised (What is that?), but did not stop his advancement.
"Shadow clone jutsu hangeki suru!" Shadow clones formed at his sides, one for each bolt of lighting. The bolts began to throw themselves at the clones as the clones leapt towards Naruto, each with an expression of hate etched on its face. Naruto stood there calmly, as his bolts destroyed the clones one by one. Finally, he withdrew the fox's chakra, and stood still.
"Hehe...that was quite impressive, Naruto-kun," said a gentle voice in his ears. Naruto's eyes widened, and before he could turn around, or leap away, or do anything, he felt a hand on his back, and a whisper.
"Chi no genjutsu." Naruto's body fell into himself from the pain. Blood spurted from his mouth as he fell to his knees, holding the hole from which gallons of blood was pouring.
"No..it's just an illusion! I have to get in control of myself1 I have to...!" But Naruto was weak from using so much chakra in his attack against the shadow clones, and he allowed the illusion to engulf him, finally fainting from the illusionary blood loss.
Orichimaru looked at the boy a moment longer before jumping onto a branch above him. Glancing at the trunk of the tree, he saw at least 20 specks of silver embedded in the tree. "My, Sasuke, your shuriken throwing skills just keep getting better and better."
"I won't take that as a compliment." Sasuke stepped into what weak light there was, and stared hard at Orichimaru. "What's wrong with Naruto?" The person in question moaned, and he looked extremely pale, making his yellow hair stand out ridiculously.
"Seems he used too much chakra on whatever attack he just used on me," Orichimaru replied, and began to swing his legs. "So I simply used a genjutsu on him, and he collapsed. Guess he wasn't up to it, huh?" He jumped higher as a kunai flashed by him. "Ooh, but what have I done, Sasuke?"
Sasuke stood there in a near imitation of Orichimaru, like when Sakura had seen him walking in the early morning. He was about to reply when all of a sudden, thousands of shurikens and kunai knives flew in from the darkness behind him. "Hey! We're not the enemy! Cease fire!" Sasuke ran to Naruto, and hefted him onto his shoulders. "Sakura! Are you up, because it seems we have a problem!"
Sakura had been up, leaning against a tree for a bit of support. "What's wrong?" she called out, and got her answer when a kunai pierced her thigh. "Aah! DAMN IT!" She hesitantly touched it, and reeled back, hitting her head on the tree. "Sasuke, I've got the answer in my leg," she yelled, and looked down at it. Blood was running in a thin line down her leg, and she shivered. She didn't like that kind of warmth. Pushing herself away from the tree, she limped to where Sasuke had been, and leaped high into the trees. Landing hard, she muffled a cry, and Orichimaru's head jerked towards her.
"Sasuke, how about we hold off on our personal issue for a moment? These nin don't seem to be targeting anyone specific." Sasuke glanced at Orichimaru, and nodded.
"We need to leave this area. Sakura, how's your leg?"
"It'll be all right for now, but I need to wrap ---" Sakura stopped mid-sentence as she heard a small ripping sound, and a piece of yellow cloth was placed in her hands. She looked up, and saw Orichimaru looking at her, the smallest bit of worry visible in his eyes.
"Pull it out right now. Wrap it as tight as it'll go, and then we'll be ready." Sakura continued to look at Orichimaru, and saw that his eyes had lightened. "I can't have low-class nin killing Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzamaki Naruto. I leave your deaths to me." He stood, and smiled. "Kiri!" The entire forest in front of them disappeared into thick fog. Sasuke afforded Orichimaru one small nod, and then leapt off the branch, running at full speed. "Sakura!" Orichimaru knelt near her, and tied the cloth for her. "You're so...pale. Are you alright?"
"...Yes, of course. I'm Haruno Sakura. I can do..." She paused for breath, then laughing softly, gave Orichimaru a apologetic glance. "Carry me? Just until I have breath." Orichimaru laughed, then hoisted Sakura gently into his arms.
"Continue to do your ninjutsu until you are well," he said. "I'll try not to make you dizzy...my speed is considered inhuman, sometimes." She nodded, and unsheathed a few of her shuriken.
"Let's go."
- - - - - - -
kaze no jutsu - wind jutsu
sumimasen - I'm sorry
inazuma no yonju akuma - "lightning of forty devils." I made this move up.
shadow clone jutsu hangeki suru - "shadow clune jutsu counterattack." Another make-up.
chi no genjutsu - "blood illusion jutsu." This one as well.
shuriken - throwing stars
kunai - a knife. round at the base, then gets super-sharp at the point.
kiri - fog
Whoooa. Not a bad chapter, I think. I wish I could do a chapter every day this week; we'd be up to nine by Saturday. Oh well; school.