Senko: Uhm...attempts to duck various weapons being thrown at her o.O;
I'm gonna skip this and go right on to the review replies and the story. Please read all the notes at the end T.T I know you guys are more interested in the story :D
Disclaimer: Me no own. Duh.
Chapter 14
The sun's rays and warmth crept through the slightly opened window and made its way into the small hotel room. The cheerful chirping of the birds could be heard amongst the busy chattering of the civilians. In her lone hotel room, Sakura stood in the bathroom. Her pale and depressed image reflected on the clear mirror. This was what she and many others would define as a perfect day. But to her, it was now sickening.
She hated it. She hated it because it was too happy, as if the entire world was completely oblivious to the pain and suffering deep within each individual. She wanted a rainy day, a gloomy day, so that the sky and world would mourn with the sadness that lingered within them.
A couple of knocks on the hotel room stole her attention from her mind
"Sakura...?" Ino's soft voice murmured from outside the door.
Sakura took one last glance at her fragile figure before calling out, "Coming" and quickly slipping into her shoes to answer the door.
Once outside, she was greeting with a small smile from Ino. "So, Naruto and Neji says that they are searching the southern area of the town and we'll take the outskirts of the village. Once they're done, they'll meet up with us to help us explore. We'll be communicating through Neji's wireless radios."
Sakura remained silent, taking in the information and quietly walking through the halls of the hotel.
"Here is your change, sir, and please have a nice day," the cashier girl handed Itachi his change, receipt, and bag of food. Itachi took it and marched out of the grocery shop followed by a sulking Kisame.
For the millionth time that morning, Kisame groaned, "Itachi...why must we pay for food?" Itachi kept his gaze straight up ahead on the road, not bothering to answer Kisame. A glare almost formed on Kisame's face and annoyance was clear in his tone of voice. "Really, we're Akatasuki! The Akatsuki thing to is...is...is to go in that store and just take the food! Then...then we threaten to kill them and leave with free food. Good idea?"
There was still no answer from the elder Uchiha boy and Kisame assumed Itachi had probably ignored him again.
"Violence and destruction should not be initiated when it is unnecessary," Itachi stated. He looked over to Kisame from the corner of his eyes. Kisame, noticing this, felt a tinge of uneasiness rise inside him for fear that he had annoyed Itachi too much. "Besides..."
Kisame's steps slowed down drastically as Itachi continued to walk ahead of him.
"It was your money anyway."
Kisame inwardly growled and cursed and inside his head he was joyfully kicking and abusing little chibi Itachis everywhere.
Sakura walked beside her blond rival, trying her best to maintain her focus and do her job. Still, though, deep down she knew she was troubled by the recent events of the wish book. In a way, she felt almost...almost as if she yearned to return to that realm. Almost.
She knew it was awful going into some fantasy world and falling in love with one of her enemies. Yet at the same time, she despised her current life. She should be happy to return to her own life, but truth be told she did not like to live pretending as though her love for that particular enemy never existed.
Her inner self, which reflected her true thoughts and desires, clearly missed that other world, the peace in it and more importantly the love she shared with the more mature and old Uchiha boy. How she wished she could return to see the smiling faces of her friends. There would be no pain. Sasuke would be a happy child and he wouldn't have gone to Orochimaru and her fiancee...she longed to hear his gentle voice and be beside him.
But this was her real world.
And in this world, Sasuke would never be like that. Ever. And in this world, it was forbidden of her to even think about Itachi in that way.
"Sakura? Sakuraaaaa?"
Sakura blinked, returning to reality. She turned to Ino, "Huh?"
"Uh..." Ino began, "in case you haven't noticed, the road splits here?"
Sakura quickly surveyed her surroundings and Ino was indeed correct. The road had diverged into two seperate paths and, lost in her thoughts, she had unconsciously began walking to the the path at right. "Oh, uh..."
Ino sighed. "You seriously need to focus, forehead girl. Oh well, I'll head left then. Contact me if you find anything."
"Alright! Time to eat!" Kisame exclaimed in joy when they returned to their hotel room.
"No," the Uchiha boy said, setting the food down on a nearby table.
"W-What?" Kisame stuttered. "Then why buy food when you won't eat it?"
"We shall eat after completing our task," Itachi replied.
In his mind, Kisame gleefully murdered the chibi Itachis.
Sakura gulped. The road ahead definitely did not seem to be a pleasant one. The flowers and butterflies and all the neat things that had once accompanied her seemed to have disappeared. There was a foreboding feeling of darkness that did not go unnoticed by Sakura and the cold breeze gave her goosebumps.
She shook her head, pushing away the fear that had started to rise within her. Her inner self encouraged her to go forth and stay strong and obeying her inner self, she walked forwards.
Her steps stopped after only a while of walking. A regular civilian who stumbled upon this path would turn around (if they haven't already). In front of her, the road narrowed and thorns stretched everywhere to cover it.
She took a deep breath before entering the path of thorns.
"So where shall we start?" Kisame asked as they exited the hotel and faced the city.
Itachi stopped for a couple seconds before replying, "You search the city and I'll search outskirts."
The various thorns produced small cuts and scrapes on her frail skin, but Sakura shoved away the stinging pain and moved on. After all, she was a shinobi and as a shinobi she would not allow such trivial wounds to affect her performance.
Soon, she was out of the narrow path that had been covered with bushes and thorns and she found herself in front of a cave entrance. Deciding to investigate more before contacting Ino, she took a deep breath before entering the dark cave.
Itachi examined the path before him which had separated into two different roads. Which road should he take now? Had he known something like this would happen, he would have made Kisame come with him so that they could both each take a road. Not knowing which path to take, he decided to let his intruition take over.
To the right?
Or to the left?
After standing in front of the separation of the road for a few more seconds, his feet lead him to what it felt should be the correct road. To the right.
Ino continued walking on, carefully taking her time to examine her surroundings. It was beautiful. The trees provided much shade and beautiful flowers bloomed everywhere. When she came to a open field, she stopped and sat down and finally decided to check up on Sakura.
"Sakura? Forehead giiirrll," she drawled into the wireless radio. "Are you there? Neji? Naruto? Anyone?"
Neji and Naruto stood at the southern exit of the town.
"Sakura? Forehead giiirrl. Are you there? Neji? Naruto? Anyone?"
The two boys clearly heard her over the wireless radio and glanced at each other before Neji replied, "Ino, its Neji and Naruto. We found nothing. We're about to come to you and Sakura now, just hang on."
Torches were set up alongside the cavern walls and kept the dark path lit enough for Sakura to see where she was headed. She found it odd for what seemed to be an abandoned cave to be set up as though it was a secret hideout.
Her pace slowed down just a little. Her inner self screamed at her, 'DUH, Sakura! This could be the hideout! Hurry and call the others now!'
Sakura nodded slightly in agreement with her inner self and opened her mouth to speak into the wireless radio. Then she stopped abruptly.
A faint sound of footsteps could be heard echoing through the halls and she lifted her head to look up ahead. She waited a few moments and finally a figure came from around the corner.
Her breath quickened and her inner self gasped.
The figure much resembled someone she held dear to her heart. He was a young boy and his dark-colored eyes stared right through her. His rather long dark hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail.
She knew it wasn't any of the Uchiha boys.
Yet…yet this extreme similarity to the elder Uchiha made her freeze where she stood. She was unaware that she had been standing there simply staring at him as he came towards her.
"Sakura? Forehead giiirrl. Are you there? Neji? Naruto? Anyone?"
She heard Ino's voice over the wireless radio but gave no reply. Her breath only quickened as the boy's walk stopped in front of her and his dark eyes stared straight into her emerald orbs.
"Ino, its Neji and Naruto. We found nothing. We're about to come to you and Sakura now, just hang on."
The sound of Neji's voice rang in her ears but again she unintentionally ignored it all.
"Miss…" he started.
She blinked. "Ah…I, uh…"
"Please help me," he shot himself straight at her and embraced her tightly, his silent sobs quietly made echoes that rang throughout the halls.
Sakura's eyes quickly widened in surprise at first from the instant hug, but they soon softened as she realized he could just be a poor victim caught in all of this. Her hands reached out and held him close, until she felt a burning pain in her side.
She gasped at the intense pain. The boy stepped back from her and she grabbed her side, feeling the blood ooze out of her body.
"Sakura-chan? Sakura-chaaann? Are you okay? Were you stuttering? Did you see something? Sakura-chaaannn?"
At this point, she couldn't even bring herself to answer Naruto. She looked straight at the boy questioning his actions only to be answered with an evil smirk and a bloody kunai in his hand. He launched himself at her again, but she was quick enough to jump back.
Inwardly, she cursed herself for having let her guard down. Reaching into her holster she brought out a few shurikens and aimed it at the boy, which he managed to dodge.
"Sakura-chan! Sakuraaa-chaaann!"
She lunged at him, gathering chakra into her fist. Unfortunately, he quickly jumped to the side and barely dodged that attack as well and rapidly appeared behind her. Sakura instantly turned around to be met with him.
"Sakura-chan, please answer us now. Say something, anything? Are you okay?"
He let out a chuckle and his young form instantly transformed into an older man with pale skin, dark eyes and messy dark hair. "Fool, you let your guard down. What a weakling."
Sakura gritted her teeth in anger. "Are you the one killing innocent people?"
"Huh? Who? Me? I'm killing innocent people? Nooooooo, I'm killing people! I'm corrupted!"
"You idiot! She could be talking to someone else!"
"Sigh…what a freaken idiot…"
"Killing innocent people? I simply remove the existence of those who annoy me," he stated coolly, as though he had every right to.
"You disgust me!" she growled and focused chakra into her fist and lunged at him again.
"Oh, no! Sakura-chan is disgusted that I'm an idiot!"
"Shut up, you idiot!"
He smirked once again and…
Her attack stopped an inch before him.
Her deep breaths were the only sounds.
In front of her stood the figure of Sasuke and, caught off guard, the Sasuke stabbed her stomach causing her to falter and fall on her back. She knew it wasn't the Sasuke she had known. Yet no matter who it really was, she couldn't bring herself to harm Sasuke.
He stalked up to her and stopped in front of her, "I am a genjutsu specialist, born from a strong line of shinobi with the ability to read the heart of others. How pathetic…in your heart, someone takes this form and he means a lot to you…so much you can't even attack even though you know I'm not him. What has the world come to, allowing weaklings like you to become a shinobi?"
Sakura glared up at him, defiant at him for daring to take the form of Sasuke. Slowly getting up, she watched as he prepared to strike her again. But the sound of foreign footsteps grabbed both of their attention. The man turned around and Sakura could see the familiar shape of a black cloak with the red cloud patterns.
It wasn't just that cloak she could identify. It was that long dark hair held in a ponytail. It was that same stoic expression that adorned his face. It was that purple nail polish that decorated his finger nails. It was…those same crimson eyes she remembered all too well, terrifying and mesmerizing.
"Naruto! Neji!" Ino called out to the boys who had finally caught up. She had walked back from the road she took until she came to the spot where the path had begun to part and waited there for them.
"The roads part here!" Naruto stated in shock.
Ino nodded. "I went left and Sakura went right. There's nothing in the left, just a bunch of trees and flowers and open fields."
"Then...perhaps with what we heard from Sakura over the wireless radio, she could have found the villain," Neji deducted.
"Lets go!" Naruto exclaimed, dashing into the direction at right.
"I assume you are the one who has been secretly hiring shinobi to assassinate Akatsuki members?" Itachi asked.
The figure of Sasuke faded and returned to the original villain's shape. "And you'll be my next victim."
Itachi drew out a few shurikens into his fingers and launched it at the man and Sakura, seeing this as an opportunity to also attack him, quickly gathered chakra into her fist and lunged at him from his other side. He was lucky to be able to dodge Sakura's attack and he quickly stepped to the side to catch her in an open position and deliver a punch to her stomach. However, although he was able to evade Sakura, he was hit by a couple of Itachi's shurikens. Being a strong shinobi, he quickly ignored the pain. After all, it was much more wise to take the hit from shurikens than from Sakura's strength.
Sakura fell to her knees. Stabbed in the side and then in the stomach and now punched in the stomach where the wound was. She cursed herself for not being stronger. Now that Itachi was there to occupy the villian, she figured she could finally heal herself and she gathered the greenish chakra to her hands.
Distance away from Sakura, the man and Itachi stood face to face. He chuckled. "Let's see if you are stronger than that pathetic kunoichi. Lets see...if you can handle fighting a person you hold dear to you!"
Itachi watched expressionless as the man's form began to change. Then his eyes narrowed at the form.
Sakura placed her hand over her wound, allowing the chakra to work its magic and heal her wounds. Lifting her head to see the fight, her eyes widened in surprise, in shock...in disbelief.
A clone of her stood yards away from her and in front of Itachi.
And the words rang in her head.
Let's see if you are stronger than that pathetic kunoichi. Lets see...if you can handle fighting a person you hold dear to you!
Instantly, her focus drew away from her healing and the green chakra, as soon as it had appeared, disappeared.
But how could this be?
How could this Itachi hold her dear to him?
Wouldn't...only...the Wish Book Itachi be the one to do that?
"It almost seems to be a dead end," Ino said, surveying the path of thorns.
'But if Sakura-chan was talking..." Naruto's sentence drifted away.
"It would only mean she went through this path, and we must do the same," Neji finished.
The trio glanced at one another before struggling through the road, the obstacles scratching at them in every direction.
"Foolishness," Itachi said. "Why bother transforming into a clone of what is already in front of me...better yet, why even take the form of something I do not care about?"
Sakura looked away in disappointment. She knew it, she knew he couldn't have cared about her. Perhaps this villain was just joking. She was a fool, she was so stupid to even had thought for a second that this Itachi would be the same as the one she had fallen in love with.
"Your mouth says things your heart cannot deny," he chuckled. "You can't trick me. You worthless and pathetic shinobi! I SEE ALL IN THE HEART!"
Itachi closed his eyes. "The absurdity of all of this," and he opened them again to reveal a different pattern within his pupils, the Mangekyou Sharingan.
The man's screech filled the entire area and Sakura dared not to look up to see the scene. She remained down on her knees, her hand clutching her wound and the green chakra gone.
"Only weak shinobi would be pathetic enough to fall for his feeble genjutsu," she heard Itachi's voice continue.
Sakura struggled to get herself up, watching the back of the Akatsuki member as he walked away. "I-Itachi."
"You are unworthy of anything," he stated, turning his head slightly to the side.
And that was the last she could handle. Those words, she even that even though this was not the Itachi she fell for...still, those words hurt so much. For so long she had fought and strove to improve so that others would deem her adequate.
Those words, especially from the one who took the appearance of the man she loved...
Hurt her so badly.
And her world went dark.
PLEASE READ.
Senko: Okeii everyone! I'm sure that many of you might be going "SENKO WTF IS YOUR PROBLEM!! You didn't update for AGESSS!" and I admit it's all my fault v.v I am guilty of it.
And my lame excuse is...Maple Story has ruined me T.T heck, my grades for this past semester decreased because I was too obsessed over Maple Story and my goal of leveling up D: and it is my fault. In addition, I skipped out on many Naruto episodes and I even stopped reading the manga because I was too involved in Maple Story o.O; originally I had planned to finish Worlds Apart during summer, but I just got lazy. I got so lazy I hardly even trained in Maple Story! I just woke up, got on the computer and did random crap.
The reason why I am writing this tonight isn't because I decided that I would quit Maple Story...it's cause Maple Story got boring without uhm...certain things o.O; and I feel very unmovitated to watch other anime :\ so I decided to finally log onto and I realized I still keep getting reviews ;O and then it hit me...
You loyal readers have still sent me reviews telling me to update and that shows that you guys havent given up on me. Therefore, I must not give up on anime, on manga, on Naruto, on fanfiction...ON THIS STORY! D:
Okeii that sounded gay...O.O; but you get the point...erm...hopefully xD
I sincerely and deeply apologize to all of you, my wonderful readers/reviewers. Please forgive Shmenko...T.T
kenseikan weirdo: AWWW! Thank you so much! That comment is sooo nice!
ApplelyApple: Your wonderful review was the review that made me realize all this and that I shouldn't give up! ;) THANKIES TO YOOH!
Thanks to Emriel, sillymail teej, SweetAssassin, Starfire1, Narutofan462, starwishes, XxHotBloodySirenxX, Rhonda21, ninjaxbunny, Tri17, Heartless Ghostie, bubbleyum, Soul of AquaBlue, msblacsakura, theoneandonlydarkpowderpuff, Skullcandy, Mistress DragonFlame, Doctor Meowzie, Itachi's CherryBlossom, konohaGirl, yourdarkdesire, Hyousetsu, Sakura0777, RoseMcGee, animemistress419, Hao'sAnjul, nmun, Super Blahblahblah, Okami15 Lina Mistress of Elements, Lady Tsunade, RozenMaiden14, SatuAka, shadow miko, MomoiroNeko, T34rSoFBlOoD, animevivverz, chakrastrings, Anime-Fan, ItaSaku lover, Vu-girl, Coeur Casse, carefree and lovely, BlackElement7, horse-angel, pheonixshadows, Glass.DOLLS, looky it super woman, InuKeifer, CosenAngel, dueless33396, hiri, LenoreHepburn, Tari Shiro, and thequietwriter for reviewing! I LOVE YOU GUYS!
To alphadale: Hiya! Uhm...yea I know I've been a terrible author T.T and I haven't even checked my mails at all...cause of...-points to Maple Story- o.O but yes :D and sorry I couldn't get you to beta this chappie :( I just started typing out of the blue and decided that I should release this chappie asap for all the readers :D but you can beta the other ones! Reply please?