Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! Saori, other OCs, and plotline by me ^_^
Chapter Three Saori
"THAT'S HOW I LANDED in Iwa's prison. I could have fought my way out somehow, but I… didn't. Sora didn't even put up a fight, she just… gave up," Sakura continued as Hinata nodded understandingly. "After we escaped, Saori told me her side of the story. The way she talked about Toyotomi… I think why she did not fight had something to do with him…"
"I agree. Is that where you found Sasori?"
SAKURA SLUMPED IN HER cell, staring dumbfounded at the inhabitant of the cell adjacent to hers. His red hair was unmistakable, as was his hardened but, dare she say, beautiful face. Those eerie feelings she had were not just random. HE was alive - He, Akasuna no Sasori. Sakura's heart pounded against her rib cage. He was just about as close to her as he could get, an irritable smirk on his face as he watched Sakura with piqued curiosity. She refused to meet those haunting brown eyes, favoring to stare at his bared chest. Her keen eyes picked out the faint grain of wood. His heart chamber was out of sight, as was the strange panel he had on his right breast, leaving his chest unmarked by any abnormalities. For a moment, he seemed human. As that moment fleeted away, she found herself replaying Sasori's death over and over in her head. If she could just touch his face, then she would know if her horror was true -
"You are not dreaming," he said all of a sudden. So he recognized her. Figured, he seemed quite an intellectual and Sakura's naturally pink hair was hard to forget. Especially if the owner of that pink hair killed you. Or tried to.
"But… how…?" When he didn't respond, she figured it was a "not your business" kind of thing. Across the hall, the genin girl began to budge. Sakura's maternal instincts began to tug at her heart when she finished evaluating the damage done. Right away from her capture, Sakura had been placed in a holding cell; the female genin who had tried to save Sakura was taken elsewhere, which Sakura now concluded was an interrogation room for some sort of torture interrogation. Sakura was then moved to the bottom most floor of the underground prison, where she was now, Sasori and the female genin already there; it was a floor meant for the most fearsome and worst criminals, because of its highly defensive features. The female genin had cuts and bruises, but the damage didn't seem critical, much to Sakura's relief. She turned back to her own side of the hallway, where the relief was snatched right back out of her, her eyes glued to the neat but perfectly mussed red hair of the man she thought she helped kill.
The only possible explanation for his return was: (A) that someone used a jutsu like that of Chiyo's which brought back the Kazekage, Gaara, to life, or (B) Chiyo hadn't really killed him. Sakura would never want to dishonor Chiyo's memory by accusing the elder of treason, but the thought couldn't help but sink in her mind. In actuality, if Sakura was not with Chiyo, there was no way she could have won against Sasori. Sakura had worn him down; Chiyo had killed him. And Sakura had no way of knowing if he was actually dead like he should have been. She guiltily swallowed her accusations. Maybe he might tell her something if she acted as if nothing happened, that she hadn't had a hand in his death. "Did they torture her?"
"What do you think?" Sasori responded with boredom. Sakura sighed in disappointment at her failed attempt, rebuking herself for asking such an obvious question that she had already answered herself just minutes ago. The Iwa government probably believed the girl was a spy for Konoha now. Espionage was one of the worse kinds of punishable treasons.
Another try. "Where's your partner, the blonde?"
"Getting the same treatment." Right! thought Sakura. Sasori's partner is also an Iwa fugitive. He was proven for serious treasonous actions against the state, and is an Akatsuki, an internationally wanted criminal with a large bounty on his head. He's probably getting the worst treatment out of us all! Despite knowing he was an S-Rank criminal, Sakura found herself pitying the man who tried to kill her best friend, Uzumaki Naruto.
"Wait, why aren't you…?"
"Because no one is foolish enough to bother." Sakura had figured that was so. Sasori was a puppet and therefore felt no pain. Torture would have been pointless on Iwa's part. Iwa soldiers seemed to be scarily efficient in the way they had captured her, in the way they had cornered the Iwa genin slumbering across the hall - everything, right down to how they had built a specially built cell personalized to counter Sakura's strengths in just a day. Speaking of which, she couldn't imagine a single way out of. Warily glancing at the Iwa genin and Sasori, she knew she would have to get over her differences and ask for their help. If only a little thing called pride would allow her to do so.
It was another full day before anyone of significance came. They had given Sakura, Sasori, oddly enough, and the genin girl a piece of bread and a bowl of water, meant to last the entire day. Though her stomach protested, Sakura saved large chunks of her loaf of bread for the escape she was planning to make. Unexpectedly, an untouched loaf of bread rolled to her feet. She stared in disbelief at Sasori, who remained calmly impassive without a hint of emotion. "Save it. Deidara and she will need it.," Sasori ordered without glancing her way. So Sasori hadn't exactly had selfless intentions, but the fact that he had thought of Deidara's and the genin's welfare at all was enough to put a little smile on Sakura's face. She didn't catch Sasori staring oddly at her from the corner of his eye as she stowed the said item away.
Loud grunts echoed from down the hall as a massive bulk was dragged to its cell. That must be Sasori's partner, Deidara of the Akatsuki! Sakura's heart was already immersed with further pity by the time he was thrown into his cell, adjacent to the Iwa genin's. The said girl was butted by the hilt of a katana. "We know you're awake. The Tsuchikage has come to talk to you, so be respectful, you runt." Sakura barely could keep her surprise in check; this couldn't lead to anything good. The Tsuchikage, a man, was surprisingly short - about Sakura's height if she was on her knees - and reeked of old age. Slowly, the genin raised her head. Her face was bloody, swollen, and bruised, but like the damage to the rest of her body, it was not critical. Perhaps these Iwa folk had some sort of morals against the common belief.
The Tsuchikage sighed. "Sora. I welcomed you into my village, raised you from a crying whelp to a young kunoichi. All you have done is deceive, you runt!"
"I was misinformed of my duty," the Iwa genin, Sora, replied. It was pointless, but it was better than ignoring the Tsuchikage. The man, who was far past his prime, had a short temper and clung to old customs like gum on the bottom of a shoe. He viewed the younger generations with utmost disgust, often complaining about the lack discipline.
"You knew you had to tread carefully. Now, how can even a half-witted fool not believe you were in cohorts with Konoha? Or the Akatsuki?"
"I have no relations to the Akatsuki."
"For all these years, you have slept in his bed, ate in his room, and you mean to yet again lie and say you have no relations to the scum of their kind?" the Tsuchikage snapped accusingly, pointing at Deidara, who was phasing in and out between consciousness and the black void.
"I have not…"
"She has not!" the Tsuchikage mocked. "Stop with your lies, runt, starting with your name. Did you think I had no idea of the past you lied about, the past you hid? Hah! What kind of fool do you take me for, taking in arsonists in my own village? As if I didn't already know! You burned your clan alive, Ookamika Saori!" There was a slight flash of shock in Sora's eyes before they quickly gave way to anger, to murderous intent. Sakura's breath hitched while Sasori remained unsurprised, Deidara still in slumber. The Ookamika Clan! thought Sakura. They had been an odd little clan, living away from the Hidden Sand Village in preference of their own little village east of Suna in the middle of the Wind Country desert. The clan had been in civil war for decades, practically since the beginning of its existence, when a wildfire had consumed them, or so the Suna authorities had claimed. Sakura was only seven or eight then, worrying more about Uchiha Sasuke and his clan's sudden massacre. The explanation seemed truthful, anyhow; with another searing hot day in the desert, a fire was bound to start!
But now this bold accusation? She had never heard of Ookamika Saori before this day. Not only that, Sora seemed unlikely to be at fault. She must have only been five or six then. She probably couldn't even manipulate chakra, let alone a fire jutsu, especially if it isn't her chakra's natural elemental affinity. But to set a fire manually would have been easy for someone her age, despite the running around she must've done to really cause an unstoppable disaster.
Sora seemed to be in firm belief of the opposite. "I did not kill my family."
"Who will believe you now? Your deceit never ends."
"I can't force anybody to believe anything. It's your choice to be the fool." This was rewarded with a painful sword-butt to the head. The Tsuchikage scoffed, signaling his leave.
"Runts will be runts. They'll never change, no matter what you do!"
"Hold it." The Tsuchikage stared wide-eyed at the speaker, none other than Akasuna no Sasori. "That fool you've brought here and I are members of the Akatsuki."
"You think I don't know?" the Tsuchikage snapped.
"Then you should know you are violating the terms of our agreement. The Akatsuki joined many nations in a peace agreement for alliance; Iwa was one of those who agreed to it. The terms include that the Akatsuki are not to be captured; you have violated the terms." Sakura frowned immediately. Many nations had allied themselves with the Akatsuki? She glanced at Sora, who didn't seem the slightest surprised. If she wasn't, it meant she knew of this alliance, which meant Sasori wasn't lying.
"In a month, those terms won't apply here, or anywhere," growled the Tsuchikage, whose back disappeared in the darkness of the corridor.
The moment they were out of earshot, Sakura burst. "What are they talking about? What's this alliance?"
Sasori appeared to have no interest in informing his former enemy. Sora, or rather Saori, replied in his place, "Just as he said it. The Akatsuki formed a peace agreement with most of the countries."
"Why? Oh and you! You were too young to -!"
"Because I didn't," Saori responded. "I'm not the only one misinformed."
"If you hadn't run…," Sasori added ambiguously. Sakura and Saori stared at him in disbelief. For Saori, it was a matter of how he hinted he knew much more than he should. For Sakura, it was just the ambiguous part. Sasori, it should seem, was always straightforward and precise, a no-nonsense sort of man. Suddenly, the alliance dropped in priority on Sakura's list of things to find out.
"What do you know of it? You never came back. I hoped in vain that you were not Sasori-sama."
Sakura resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow to the honorific Saori had tagged to Sasori's name. He, however, was not the slightest bit bothered, as if he had demanded that she add it. "Do not expect an apology from me. I taught you to utilize your chakra and I warned you about your father. You chose not to listen. You are too blind. Were it not for Jigoku and I you would have been on the list of the dead. Regardless, what do you think might be believed when the Genyou Senshi, a known agent of the Ookamika Clan, was looking for you? How could it not be believed you were criminalized and wanted by the Ookamika? And who do you think a smart, efficient girl like her might ask first? Naomi, your mother, of course. Because what kind of runt doesn't run to mommy first? Naomi contacted my spies, the ones I used to keep an eye on you. She asked me to find you. Don't believe me? I have known Naomi for a long time. I was present at your birth. She asked me to steal you, actually. To take you from your father's custody."
"But you didn't."
"The Akatsuki had recently acquired me. It had my hands full, and what time I wasn't spending on commissions I spent on my puppets. Mind you, eight years earlier, I was quite ready to murder your father. I had already killed the Third Kazekage for giving Naomi to your father as a peace offering. Such a rare piece, I couldn't risk losing the man and his Satetsu, his Iron Sand while fighting your father. He took awhile for me to refine. I hope you understand."
"You sick and vile old man!" roared Sakura, leaping to her feet. "You could have saved her! She could have lived a better life!" Inner Sakura had different opinions, all of which she poked at Sakura in their head.
Sasori, on the other hand, stared at Sakura with annoyance. "And then what? Have her grow up to my tastes, to suffer the horrors of growing up without knowing your parents? Mind you, I hold no sympathies. However, I have suffered more than you or Chiyo could have ever imagined. That girl would have ended no more than useless, inferior puppet I was bound to discard. I do not do useless things, girl."
"Christ, would you all shut up, hmm?" growled Deidara, who struggled to sit up. Saori reached to help him as much as she could before the cuffs began digging into her skin. "The hell is this screaming about, anyhow, hmm? You look like you're ready to piss your pants, hmm, Sasori-danna." Sasori sent a menacing glare worthy of the grand prize. "Damn, they really did a number on me." Peering at Saori's hitai-ate, or ninja headband, he was surprised to find a fellow traitor. "What did they do to you?"
"Punched and slapped mostly," she responded.
"I guess you were marked 'fragile,' hmm?" he chuckled. Sakura muttered "sexist" under her breath.
"No, I just told them what they suspected me of."
"How do you know what they think you did, hmm? I've been an Iwa shinobi long enough to know they don't want to force out what they want to hear from you, but the truth."
Hesitation. "I just know."
"That's a lame cover-up, hmm."
"She can read minds," Sasori contributed. Saori shot daggers at the puppet master, but quickly looked back down. Deidara raised his eyebrows in mild curiosity; Sakura, however, wasn't as willing to believe it, deeming it an impossibility. Reading minds was the kind of thing people like Hatake Kakashi and Hyuuga Neji pretended to be able to do, but neither of which could actually do. "So naïve."
"Why you -!" A glaring match ensued between the Hokage's apprentice and the puppet master.
"Can you really, hmm?" Deidara whispered as Sasori and Sakura glared each other down. "Show me, hmm! Tell me what they're thinking." No was almost firmly on Saori's tongue when Deidara offered her a dazzling but crooked grin. Saori froze, eyes widening the slightest bit on its own volition. He had the most evilly powerful smile she had ever seen. For a bit, she was a little envious of it. Clearing her head, she pulled together the bits of chakra yet untouched by the chakra-draining cuffs on her wrists. Quietly, she activated her clan's bloodline limit, the Mind's Eye, to the first state, which fortunately required very little chakra, though she was probably draining her supply dangerously near zero. Deidara watched with piqued interest and fascination as black swallowed her pupil and her irises. The gold of her irises became the whites of her eyes. It had an overall freaky appearance, but neat to watch regardless.
"Sasori is thinking that Sakura's eyes are a nice shade of green. He wants to see it under better lighting. He also notes that Sakura's chest and butt have grown larger since she killed him but thinks that if she keeps on maturing she won't make for an ideal three hundredth puppet because of… balance issues…?" Sakura turned a light shade of pink but continued glaring at Sasori's impassive and unashamed doll face, all the while resisting the urge to scream at Deidara, who was having a field day although he was beginning to hurt his ribcage from laughing. "Sakura is trying very pathetically to hide something from me, but it's pointless… let's see… Sakura is trying to stop herself from admiring Sasori's hair and wants to know how soft Sasori's lips are. She was imagining Sasori sanding his lips in the bathroom. You should've seen it!"
"Damn, I wish I could, hmm!" The two could scarcely hold their laughter for more than a moment. Sasori blinked inquisitively at Sakura before turning away. Glad the glaring match was over, Sakura turned her back to the three of them in complete embarrassment.
"Did I mention how much they both want to kill us?"
Deidara snorted amidst laughter. "Shame they can't, hmm!"
"SASORI PRETTY MUCH KNEW I thought he was attractive since then. He had gotten an older-looking body, too, and that made it ten times worse," Sakura continued. Then laughing, she added, "Later, I came to find out he had gotten rid of the creepier stuff, like this coil he used to keep where his stomach should be and stuff. He pretty much looked like a normal nineteen-year-old underneath." Aside her, Hinata giggled.
"That girl reading your mind sounds much more embarrassing than brother Neji reading his opponents," the Hyuuga princess replied.
"Ooh, yes, much worse!"
"Did Saori take a liking in the other Akatsuki?"
"His name was Deidara, the one who blew himself up in his fight against Sasuke. In our escape, they became very close friends, but Saori always had her heart elsewhere. She reminded me a little of how I had loved Sasuke, except I think the guy she liked also liked her, just that he didn't know it until she had gone."
"And what was his name? Was it the boy who tried to buy her time?"
"Yes; he was supposed to be the next Tsuchikage, but, you've probably heard, that's no longer true. His name is Ootowari Toyotomi."
LAUGHING SO HARD AND for so long had taken an obvious toll on Deidara in the following weeks, who phased through states of consciousness and slumber more frequently than before. He received little medical attention, to Sakura's disgust. Sakura tried to assist him from across the hall the best she could, instructing Saori how to help him, but now without chakra, little good could be done. Saori reached for Deidara's shredded Akatsuki cloak again, tearing off a strip to replace the blood soaked one that went around his head. As she began peeling the soiled cloth away, he took a extremely long, discomforting, and inquisitive look at her. For what felt like the umpteenth time, she froze. "Do I… know you?"
Instantly her instincts kicked in as she nearly snapped a quick "No!" Sasori raised his eyebrow, but Deidara seemed too tired to ask further.
"No, I do… from somewhere, hmm. Like, recently. Whatever, hmm. That's not important." With her help, he leaned against the side of his cell, exhausted, and in pain. "Have you thought of a plan yet, hmmm, Sasori-danna?"
Sasori stared blankly at him. "No." Shortly after, he returned glaring at Sakura, who promptly glared back at him. They had been throwing insults previously, but now they made an unspoken agreement that stare downs were better than wasting their breaths.
"Hey, idiots, I don't know if you've noticed something, but if we don't help each other, we're never going to get out of here. This long-haired blonde over here and I are probably dead by tomorrow morning," piped Saori.
Sasori shrugged, "I have no problems getting out of here on my own. Why do I need your help?"
She snorted. "Let me see you try to break out."
Sasori inquisitively raised an eyebrow. "Do you have such high regards of this place, held together with only a few degradable materials?"
"So maybe you can get out of your cell. You still have to get out of this prison, and then figure out how to get out of Iwa. The mountains and forests surrounding Iwa are not easy to navigate. The landscape has been changed multiple times in the past few years, simply to prevent convicts from escaping. The only unchanged area is the Ootowari Estate, west of Iwa. A canyon and river divides Iwa from the Ootowari Estate, and one stone bridge connects the two. The area has high security. You'll be dead before you can say 'you were right.'"
Sasori smirked. "Clearly, your simpleton mind cannot comprehend the art of eternal beauty."
"Don't kid me. I may look stupid, but I'm not that idiotic. Nothing lasts forever." Deidara peered at her at the corner of his eye before smirking at Sasori, apparently thinking Saori agreed with his point of view of art.
"Looks like they've changed a bunch of things since I was here, hmm."
"I would think so, you left shortly before I came to Iwa. Your name, by the way?" Saori half-asked.
"Wow, you're really up to date with bingo book, yeah? Deidara, hmm. I would shake your hand if, gee, I didn't have broken arms right now."
"Addicted to sarcasm, are you?"
"Of course, hmm."
"And you?" Saori asked, tilting her head towards Sakura.
"Haruno Sakura, of the clan, Haruno, apprentice of the Godaime Hokage," Sakura proudly recited. Saori seemed to be bothered by something but made no mention of it.
"Don't you think you're leaving someone out, hmm?" Deidara asked, his back to hers.
"I know Sasori….san…" Sasori shot her a discomforting look. "…sama… already."
"Speech impairment, yeah?"
"No," Saori replied, not too appreciative of what he was implying. "Unless you have an imaginary friend, who else is there to ask to introduce?"
"I don't know, how about you, hmm?"
"Sasori and Sakura already know who I am."
"What about me, hmm? Don't I get to know? Or will I have to charm it out of you, hmm?" Deidara smirked.
With some miraculous luck, a blush did not form. "My name is Sora."
"How about your other name, hmm?"
"It's irrelevant."
"That's not irrelevant, hmm. Now, seriously, introduce yourself to me. Like, list all your crap like little cherry blossom over there did, hmm, because I'm bored," yawned Deidara, who was beginning to lose consciousness. Saori gently pushed him onto his back for more comfort as he closed his eyes, looking a bit peaceful for once. The tips of Saori's lips twitched upward the slightest bit, but soon vanished just as quickly. Shouts and yells erupted from the end of the hallway, apparently from some sort of argument. A few moments later, an all-too-familiar boy, surrounded by escorts and guards who were bickering with each other, stopped in front of Saori's cell.
"Toyotomi," said Saori in a voice the said boy couldn't tell was relief or despair.
"And Sora. Or, is Saori better suited?" Toyotomi half-sneered. Turning to his bodyguards, he added, "You're all dismissed."
"But – " protested a guard.
Toyotomi glared at them. "I'm the next Tsuchikage."
"Right. Our apologies, honorable grandnephew!" The escorts relocated themselves at the end of the hallway, prepared to save the future Tsuchikage at a moment's notice.
"What are you doing here, Ootowari?" Saori asked, not bothering to look at him. There was a visible twitch of distaste at the sudden switch to his family name but Saori did not notice it.
"To talk to you. Why did you let that Konoha scum go?" Toyotomi snapped like a disappointed father of sorts. "You didn't know the details of our mission. You should've just followed me, stayed out of the way!"
"And why do you care?" Saori was up on her feet, chains rattling noisily.
"I have my reasons. I don't want brainless nitwits in my village when I'm Tsuchikage. I want talent. You have a smidgeon of talent; small as it is, that's all I have."
She scowled at the apathetic boy. "Of course, why did I even ask. You've said that before. You only want a tool."
He shrugged in response. "Take it as you will. So, tell me, can that pea brain of yours think of some excuse for your traitorous actions?"
"Of course not. It's simple. I thought it was wrong, so I set Haruno free. Of course, I could blame it on Mikaiyo and you for not telling me about the mission, but, funny, I don't think that will fly well." Toyotomi let out a frustrated yell, which his bodyguards down the hall seemed to have mistaken for a cry of help. He told them to back off with a gesture, nursing his bruised and blooded knuckles while the wall he had hit was hardly marred. "Toyotomi…" He glanced up at her, ignoring the signs of red peeking through the black of her hair. What was that in her voice? Some kind of annoyance? Or worry? He must have been imagining things. This was Sora, or Saori, or whatever her real name was. He'd given her a hell of a time - she had no reason to care over his bloodied knuckles. That was the kind of thing his mother did.
Quickly looking back down when he realized he'd been staring, he muttered, "You have to give me something better than that."
"And what if I don't feel like being your tool, Ootowari?" The hardness of her voice returned, with her seething anger, perhaps at herself for reasons he did not know.
"Look, you want your life or not?"
"Iwa is my home, Ootowari. I have no where else to go." This time she would not meet his gaze, which hid an immense amount of shock but only showed the least bit of it.
"Sora…"
"Oi, Toyotomi! Fraternizing with the enemy, are you? Gramps won't look on that too well," teased a young, black-haired woman. She was usually accompanied by her brother, a rather tall and round young man. Today, she was alone, save a few bodyguards. That kind of thing was standard with the Ootowari's most promising offspring.
"Very funny, Kurotsuchi," he returned the remark, immediately leaving his post by Saori's cell. "What the hell are you doing here? Deidara was never your teammate or lover or what other crap you want to claim him as."
The young woman, Kurotsuchi, threw her hands up as a playful sign of surrender. "Hey, hey, I didn't say he was anything to me. And watch your language. I may be your cousin, but I'm still older than you. You're just seventeen. It's not your time to have a potty mouth yet."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. We're clearing out."
Toyotomi stalked past his cousin, thoroughly annoyed at her. Kurotsuchi always came off as light-hearted and playful, but Toyotomi was no such idiot. Her red eyes were always analyzing, always deceiving, always berating him. "Well, well, look at you, Mr. Toyotomi, ordering others around because he thinks he's the next Tsuchikage-"
"He will be."
Much to the surprise of all of the occupants in the hallway, Saori dared to venture to the very edge of her cell so that Kurotsuchi could see her. She had a fierce look about her, as if she thoroughly and firmly believed in her statement. She was not sure, but it felt as though her heart dropped a few floors when Toyotomi only briefly stopped before continuing his way, not even looking at her. Kurotsuchi snorted, and while adding a laugh, "Looks like you have a little fan girl, Toyotomi. I guess that fraternizing got you somewhere - support from a traitor." Her unrestrained laughter echoed even after she had left with her bodyguards. Saori sunk back to her knees, her chains clinking as they went down with her. Where that sudden outburst had come from, she was not sure.
"Tch, Ootowari Toyotomi. He could have at least left his ego back at home. It reeks of it here, hmm!" Deidara mumbled drowsily.
"Don't say that," Saori half-heartedly rose to her former teammate's defense.
"You're defending that prick? The Ootowari are the worse of 'em, hmm!"
"He's a good person, Deidara! Anyone of us can see that. You can't. You betrayed us." Chain rattled again as Deidara struggled to face her.
"What the hell is wrong with you, hmm? They're planning on removing your head soon. How can you still count yourself as one of them, hmm? Are you dumb or something?"
"I had a place here."
"You are dumb, hmm! These people, they're all dipshits. You don't belong here; you don't belong anywhere, hmm." Deidara slumped, turning his back to her again. The anger and animosity in his voice showed a bad relationship with Iwa in his past, but why or what, Saori did not know, and did not bother to ask. Possibly it had something to do with the Ootowari family; for years, they had ruled the political, economical, and social aspects of life in Iwagakure. Instead of helping the village prosper, they had stunted the growth of the village, and created a lush area called the Ootowari Estate, the home of all Ootowari. This place was the one of few places in Iwa that had soil good enough to use for planting; it allowed the Ootowari to monopolize the markets, as importing from other countries was costly, sometimes just as costly as purchasing food from the Ootowari Family. Saori herself never quite favored the Ootowari; it drove her insane that the current Tsuchikage, an Ootowari, insisted on having ninjas play a ninja battle for the Tsuchikage's entertainment.
Toyotomi, though, she believed, was different from the other Ootowari. Toyotomi had actual talent, woven from a different bolt of cloth. He was a good leader, and though he mostly saw her as a tool, he made her feel like a somebody. Toyotomi could be the turnaround Iwa desperately needed, she had concluded. She stubbornly shook her head. No, Toyotomi is the turnaround Iwa desperately needs.
"HE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING about how he came back to life?" queried Hinata. Sakura slowly shook her head.
"Sasori… he was very closed off, even to me. He didn't share a lot with me, most things I had to assume. I think his heart was just healed, but I… won't ever know. Sometimes, I wonder why I thought I loved him," Sakura muttered, half to herself, half to Hinata. Sometimes, she added, I wonder if I still do love him. She could only stare guiltily down at her stomach, now flat.
"The question is will you be able to forgive yourself and move on?" The question caught Sakura off guard, and she offered no response, as she herself did not know the answer to it. Her mind was a confusing mess in its current state, from several nights of no sleep and constant worry. "Is Saori still alive?"
"…No."
Hinata frowned. "What happened?"
"A few weeks ago, I was told she killed herself. Apparently, she was fighting Deidara, and decided to give up and die instead." Hinata found it was unnecessary to attempt to comfort the young medic nin, as Sakura seemed to refuse any advances. "Hinata, how can I become myself again? I liked my old self, the one that still worried over Sasuke-kun, the one who would punch Naruto and Sai, but still love them. I want my old self back… I want to forget."
"Well, I'm not very sure how to revert yourself, but I'm sure that it will help if learn to forgive. You can't forget your child. He or she's been born and you would never truly be your old self again if you abandoned him or her. The Sakura I knew would never do that, not even if that child is the child of a criminal. She'd love him or her all the same. I'm sure if Saori was here, she would tell you the same thing." Sakura nodded as Hinata spoke, a small smile on her lips upon recalling the days of the original Team Seven. Memories of her wild escape, of Saori and Deidara's stunts, of her intimate moments with Sasori flooded her mind. Hinata slowly got up, most likely to inform Yamato and Sai of the situation. "And Sakura?"
"Hmm?"
"I like your old self, too." Hinata smiled.
"Thank you… Hinata."
Author's Note: Review please! Thank you ^_^