Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! Only the parts that I'm adapting into the original story line.
Fated Encounter
CHAPTER 19
Sakura's distaste was obviously growing the closer to the they got to the Southern Hideout.
She felt her body start to itch more and more the closer they got. For most of her captivity she was kept at the Southern Hideout where Karin resided, at the moment. It wasn't that she had bad feelings towards the other girl, but the things that she had to experience there were anything but pleasant.
If she could just skip this part all together and let Sasuke and Suigetsu go and get Karin, she definitely would do just that.
But, unfortunately, Sasuke had stated before that it was too dangerous to leave her alone in a nearby village alone to wait for them to return. Konoha's Elders were still a problem in the background even if no one had attacked them.
Both were sure that they wouldn't give up on Sakura. They wanted her dead and if there wasn't any foolproof evidence of her passing then they weren't going to stop.
Every encounter with a shinobi from another Hidden Village was a risk especially if that village had connections to the Hidden Leaf. It was nerve-wracking to think that anyone could be the enemy. There weren't any information going around of demands on her head, at least for now.
"So, Sasuke, you knew I was going to ask you about the sword, right? And you must have known that the sword wouldn't be at the grave." Suigetsu's voice broke through Sakura's thoughts. She peeked over Sasuke's shoulder at the white-haired man.
He looked a lot happier now that he had his sword with him.
"And it must have been you, who caused all the mercenaries to gather at Daikoku Tenzei's house. Were you testing me?" Suigetsu came to his own conclusion looking confused at Sasuke.
Sasuke didn't look least bit interested with Suigetsu's words and let him continue his rant.
"What a weird.." Suigetsu mumbled, "What if I had gotten hurt or worse!? Well, at least I know what kind of a person you are. Actually, you're the kind of Sasuke I always imagined. And now that I got my sword, I'll keep my word and lend you my strength."
Suigetsu seemed happy with his own thoughts for a while.
"Are we going to pick up Karin now?" He finally said after a too short period of silence.
"Yeah." Sasuke finally answered.
"Well, Pinky, what about you?" Suigetsu glanced at her from behind Sasuke's body.
"What about me?"
"What is actually your talent? So far you haven't shown anything. Can you even do anything?"
"You're awfully interested. Are you scared?" Sakura teased him back.
"Scared? Me? No!"
Sakura squinted in his direction, "You are. You have no idea what I'm capable of and that's why you want to know."
Suigetsu's brows raised in interest, "Are you stronger than Sasuke?"
"Maybe." She shrugged her shoulders, but was blatantly lying. In her condition, right now, she wouldn't stand a chance against the Uchiha. She needed a few more pounds and time to recover to be on her full potential. And even after that she doubted she could win him.
Sasuke had improved so much that it almost seems inhuman. Either Orochimaru was some god at training people, or then something else was used on him. But Sasuke never mentioned anything. He was immune to most poisons, but other than that he didn't talk much about his training with Orochimaru. Not that Sakura even wanted to know, because if it involved anything gross, she much rather stayed oblivious.
Who knows what kind of techniques a man like Orochimaru would use when training a highly skilled teenager such as Sasuke. And in the end, it was obvious that the student had won the master.
"If you're avoiding the question then that means you're weaker than him." Suigetsu said thoughtfully.
"You're making a lot of assumptions."
Something flashed in Suigetsu's eyes as he suddenly pointed a finger at Sasuke, "I won the bet!"
Both Sakura and Sasuke stopped walking and stared back at him.
"We never established what I would get if I won!" He continued. "I want to know how strong she is!"
"You can't go deciding the prize on your own." Sakura scolded him with a scowl on her face.
"But Sasuke never said anything about it! And that's what I want."
"You want to spend your win on a small fact like that?" This time it was Sasuke talking with a raised brow.
"I think it's important to know whom I'm traveling with and trusting my life on." Suigetsu was grinning with his hands crossed.
Sakura shook her head in annoyance probably for the hundredth time that day. Suigetsu was a real character.
"You really don't want Sasuke to buy you food?" Sakura offered from the sidelines as she shrugged her shoulder. Suigetsu seemed to love his food, and going by the reaction to her words she wasn't wrong.
"Hm.." He huffed loudly and rubbed his chin, "That does sound actually quite good. But I don't know." Suigetsu continued his pondering in silence as he regarded the two people in front of him.
Sakura huffed, "I'm a medical nin, taught by the Fifth Hokage herself." Sakura explained.
"I know that! You said it yourself back in the hideout! I want to know something more useful. Are you actually really strong? Because if I recollect correctly the Fifth Hokage is known for her monstrous strength. So, are you as strong as her?"
"Close." Sakura nodded proudly. "And I have better chakra control than Sasuke."
"Now you're joking?" Suigetsu laughed.
"No, I'm not. I was the first of our team to climb a tree by using chakra."
"I would have thought that Sasuke was the prodigy in everything. This is unheard of!"
"Let's keep going." Sasuke said and Sakura didn't miss the slight grumble in his tone. Suigetsu might not have caught it but Sakura did.
She remembers how shocked both Naruto and Sasuke were when she was the one to climb the tree trunk first. They couldn't believe that she was the one to beat them. She was always behind them, hiding and trying to stay alive while watching those two grow stronger with every passing day.
And that day she finally found out something she's better than either of them. Naruto was a clutch when it came to chakra control and Sasuke, of course, was better than average. But she still beat them both, and she was very proud of herself.
"Karin's already such a pain in the ass." Suigetsu whined as they stepped from the water and on to the rock.
Sakura felt exactly the same as him. She didn't want to be here. This place gave her the creeps and not in a good way. She was glad Sasuke had taken her away from here and with him to Orochimaru's other hideout.
The double doors to the hideout were closed tightly and Sasuke glanced at Suigetsu.
"But you have one, too!" He whined again surprised and pointed at kusanagi.
"You do too." Sasuke said back.
Huffing, Suigetsu peeked a look over his shoulder at his sword. It was much more capable at breaking doors than Sasuke's flimsy looking katana. Begrudgingly he grabbed the hilt and pulled the blade away from his back.
Suigetsu easily swung the large sword around slicing the metal door to pieces.
"Open sesame!" He shouted at the same time as the door crumbled in front of the group.
The place hadn't changed at all. The cool air blowing in the hallways brushed Sakura's hair back as they stepped inside. Air was still filled with that rocky, musty scent that was too familiar to Sakura. Right away near the entrance to the hideout were the cells and the silence surrounding them made Sakura's hairs stand. She was more used to the yelling, shouting and screams.
This silence was too eerie to be normal.
Sakura did her best to avoid looking through the bars and into the cells as they passed by them. She could feel everyone's eyes on them the whole time.
The silence was finally broken by a prisoner, "That's Uchiha Sasuke!"
People started gathering closer to the bars and involuntarily Sakura took a step closer to Sasuke. Who knew what these people might do if allowed close enough. Even though, Sakura spend few months in here, she was more than used to the prisoners and test subjects running around and attacking everyone and everything that moved. Giving them her trust of standing near them was out of the question.
Whispers now filled the halls as everyone started to speculate the situation.
This kind of restlessness in this place wasn't good.
Soon soft steps were walking towards them and Sakura recognized them immediately. Karin came from around the corner with an unimpressed look on her face as she leaned her weight on her right leg. Her eyes scanned the group, "So, it's you after all..." The red-head's eyes were instantly on Sakura as they widened from surprise.
"You?" She mumbled.
Sakura wasn't surprised by that reaction. She looked quite different now than few months back. Her hair was now plain pink as it was normally, instead of the muddy brown that was supposed to cover her identity, and her body looked a lot more healthier.
Karin's surprised looked turned soon in to a scowl, "Did Orochimaru approve of this, Sasuke?"
"This is none of his problem."
"It is if you let her run around freely! She's a test! An experiment!"
Sakura crossed her arms, "Stop talking as if I don't exist! I've been walking freely for months now, Karin. And so far your master hasn't said anything about it." She knew she was aggravating the other girl with her words. Karin adored Orochimaru, but calling him her master wasn't a good idea. That only meant Karin wasn't a comrade to Orochimaru, someone who he could trust, and instead it labeled her as a dog, a blind follower.
But Sakura couldn't help herself. After being forced to experience the things she had, she wasn't going to let Karin walk over her.
"Karin, quit it." Sasuke said this time with a stern voice.
"Hmph!" This time Karin crossed her arms, "Well, since you came without any notification I take it that the rumors are true then."
"Giving me the cold shoulder, eh?" Suigetsu grumbled unhappily with a tint of amusement.
"Why did you come here then?" Karin asked Sasuke.
Sakura must admit it that she found Karin's attitude quite entertaining. After the first glance of Suigetsu, she seemed more than happy to completely ignore the white-haired nin. Sakura had no idea what had happened between the two of them exactly, but with the way they interacted it wasn't worth reminiscing over.
"Sasuke wanted to talk to you, you know. But standing here is a real drag so can't we go anywhere else?" Suigetsu answered and scratched his head.
Sakura wanted to smile. She clearly wasn't the only one affected by the eerie silence that had once again fallen over them.
"We've been walking for hours now, and I really want to sit." He continued to rant.
Instead of answering Suigetsu Karin leaned to the side and looked behind Suigetsu at Sasuke, "What do want to talk about?"
Suigetsu looked annoyed beyond compare. He pounded with his long legs right in front of the red-head, "That's why I said we should go somewhere else, Karin! I know you don't give a shit about me, but for fuck's sake!"
Karin leaned a bit closer to Suigetsu, "You give me the creeps!"
"Watch your mouth, bitch!"
Sakura rolled her eyes and turned to Sasuke, "Can we go somewhere to sit?"
Sasuke's eyes instantly scanned all through her body looking for any signs of exhaustion and need of rest. What he saw seemed to have pleased him since he walked next to bickering Karin and Suigetsu.
"Quit it, Karin. Take us to another room."
"Fine." She flipped her hair and storm down the hallway.
Sakura hadn't realized how exhausted she was until she finally was able to sit down. The small sitting room was near the lab where she was kept, but Sakura hadn't spent even a minute in it. It was mostly a bare room with only on L-shaped couch covering the two walls of the room.
"Karin, I want you to join me." Sasuke started.
"Why would I go with you? I have to guard this place."
"Orochimaru's dead."
"What about the prisoners?"
"Oh, yeah. They were quite silent back there. The rumor of Orochimaru's death must have spread all the way here already." Suigetsu interjected with a laugh.
"The number of prisoners have decreased in just few months since the last time I was here. And there were holes dug into the sand near the beach. You must have a lot of information about this place and its inhabitants."
"Isn't that a bit brutal way to take care of a problem, Karin?" Sakura asked with a raised brow. "Killing people just to keep the rumor and uprisings down."
"That's none of your business."
"Keeping a peace in this place was only means for you to save yourself." Sasuke said dully.
"Don't talk shit about me!" Karin spat furiously.
Sakura would have been surprised if it wasn't for her knowledge of Karin adoring the ground Orochimaru walked on. It was clear that her adoration was much stronger than the feelings she harbored for Sasuke.
"You're definitely a woman trained by Orochimaru. How scary.." Suigetsu scratched his head. "You must have sensed we were coming a while ago, right? And if we were weak, you would have killed us, too?"
"I would have killed you, were you alone."
"But not Sasuke or Pinky?" Suigetsu looked surprised.
"That's not what I said! Sasuke is my colleague! And I also wanted to know if the rumors were true." Karin explained with a loud voice. She was obviously not liking Suigetsu at all.
"But what about Pinky?" This time Suigetsu pointed at Sakura.
Before Karin could answer Sakura cut her off, "How's you rib?"
That made her earn a glare from the red-head and a booming laugh from Suigetsu. Sakura easily remembered the kick she sent to Karin when she escaped the hideout. The crack was so loud that for a moment Sakura thought she broke her own foot. Luckily enough she survived without many injuries and she was able to escape from the island. But soon Sasuke came and dragged her back.
"I did kill him." Sasuke said truthfully after a moment of Karin glaring Sakura.
"How can yo admit it so easily!" She yelled at him.
"Suigetsu, release all the prisoner that are in this hideout." Sasuke looked towards the white-haired man.
Sakura stood up and earned everyone eyes on her, "I'll join him."
"Y-you can't!" Karin stuttered in shock.
"Ordering me around as always," Suigetsu sighed to himself, "I'll go just because Pinky goes."
Sasuke was openly staring at Sakura with a disapproving look in his eyes.
"I'm not gonna drop dead." Sakura said to him with a shrug. The room was getting suffocating to be in. The thought that Karin had disposed of innocent people because of a rumor didn't sit well with her. And she knew leaving Karin's presence was much better option then attacking her.
"You can't just go around and do whatever you like! Do you know how hard it is to contain them!" Karin was backing towards the door as if trying to stop Sakura and Suigetsu from leaving the room.
"If all the prisoners are gone then there is no need for a warden. Which leaves you the option of joining us." Karin was literally placed in a situation she didn't want to be in. The troubled look and small bead of sweat that fell down the side of head head were signs of distress. Being in this hideout was literally her life. There was no life outside its walls, but there was no Orochimaru anymore.
No one was going to come here and continue his projects. She was going to wither here alone slowly with everyone else.
"Suigetsu, let's go." Sakura wanted to get out of the suffocating room.
The last thing they heard from the room was Karin saying she refused. But as the door closed and Suigetsu started babbling as usual, Sakura didn't miss the way the lock was turned on that door.
Sakura hoped Sasuke could turn Karin's head around of joining them. If she was so powerful and very useful to them, Sakura much rather wanted Karin to join them at their quest. But she also couldn't help the tiny bit of fear that surrounded her at the sound of the lock which meant leaving Karin and Sasuke alone in the room.
Thank you for reading this!
It's a day late, but I have a very lousy reason for it. I made a curtain for my apartment and making it took a lot longer than I thought. Next chapter will be up next weekend as usual.
Thanks for reviewers:
ILoveSxS
ShikamaiNara
IheartSasuSakuIta
Peppei
Lady Rini
severito
Meech Macko
Uchiha Misaki
Sakurabeam
Guest
Guest
Guest
Guest
Guest
Guest
Guest
guest
There will be a cute SasuSaku moment in the next chapter. I promise!
- Jakura