You guys totally blew me away with your love! Le awesome! 8 reviews for the previous chapter! I was grinning from ear to ear the whole day and skipping around happily like a girl on crack... And I think I shopped too much because of the happiness, buying almost everything I saw.
And now, on to the next chapter! ~flies away happily~
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Sakura woke with a start, her hands gripping the white sheets tucked neatly around her. Doing a quick scan of her surroundings, she realised she was in a relatively large room, the white walls occasionally furnished with red oak to give a simple, abstract feel. A brown door lay to the left of the white bed she was currently lying in, followed by a simple table of an ash colour with a black swivel chair at the corner of the room. To her right lay a large cupboard and an empty shelf, and finally - just beside her bed – lay a white door with a swirling frosted glass design.
Sakura closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to stabilise her heart rate. Recalling what Kurama had said afterwards was not pleasant at all.
"Sakura," he intoned deeply, looking almost regretful. "I myself am unsure what Naruto has been doing these two years, not bothering to meet you. However, If you do meet him… You must be careful, because he knows who you harbour. And… although I regret to say this," he continued, his expression turning forlorn, "He may not even be Naruto anymore."
Sakura's knees had buckled under the weight of the shocking news, causing her to kneel on the rocky ground, her heart beating so loudly that she could hear it. Her hand clutched at her chest in an attempt to calm herself. She stared at him with her widened eyes, unable to answer him. A million thoughts raced through her mind at the same time, propelling her mind into utter chaos in a span of twenty seconds.
She would be happy of the fact that he was alive, but her mind was already working through the idea and finding possible reasons of how he managed to be alive, and they weren't pleasant at all. Kurama was right in warning her. How will she react to a different Naruto? Quickly she blocked that particularly nasty train of thought. She'd handled enough drama in a day, enough shit, and she did not want to drive herself insane.
Closing her eyes momentarily, she gathered the tears threatening to fall from the pools of her eyes and willed them away. It only took a few seconds before her jade eyes snapped open, her expression different this time. Sucking a deep breath, she placed a hand on the floor to propel her body up gracefully and stood before the fox demon with a hard, resolute expression.
"I need some time to myself," she said, her voice an epitome of calm.
The fox nodded, and her vision swirled into darkness.
That was when she woke up.
The girl ran through a hand through her pink locks, sighing. She really needed to meditate soon, the exercise was long overdue. Now was neither the time or place for it, recalling that she was in Akatsuki's headquarters. She wondered how she ended up in that particular room.
A very recent memory came to her then.
"I accept." With those words, she knew her fate was sealed. It was a new, terrifying chapter in her life and she had no choice but to face it. Her face adopted a calm, albeit slightly defeatist expression, but beneath her façade lay a stricken Sakura desperately trying to quell her panic.
The orange-haired man gave her another of his unreadable, intense looks with his violet eyes and nodded, as if it was to be expected. He turned away from her form, placing his hands clasped behind his back as he began to walk.
"Follow me," he instructed calmly. Itachi, who noticed his leader's movements, proceeded to walk out of the room, knowing his dismissal when he saw it. He shot her an intense gaze before he went out the door.
Sakura had a feeling that out of all the organization's members, she especially had to tiptoe around these two men who never showed their emotions on their sleeve. It was difficult to know what they were thinking.
She couldn't help but feel extremely screwed.
Nausea overcame her, wracking her body with cold chills. Sakura fought the dizziness, swallowing her saliva as she followed the man at a respectable distance.
He led her down a white corridor, passing by rows and rows of doors until he came to a stop at the end. A large oak door stood tall, and Sakura shivered as a foreboding feeling ran down her spine.
Pein gave her a quick glance before pressing his hands against the doorknob. A resounding click echoed through the silent corridor before the door slid open with a loud creak. "This is the-"
Her world suddenly started to spin precariously. Sakura's eyes rolled before she even noticed anything in the room, proceeding to topple over in a dead faint. Acting based on instinct, Pein's arms shot out towards her to catch her body before she landed unceremoniously on the ground.
"-kitchen," he continued flatly.
Her body refused to obey her; the dizziness was overwhelming, and Sakura only vaguely noticed Pein scooping her into his arms with a weary sigh, taking a long look at her features as her world slowly faded into black.
Sakura's hands flew up to her mouth to stifle a scream. He had carried her! An ugly croak tore from her raspy throat, an equal combination of shock, confusion and fear. The man was a sensor and one of the best to be able to track and detect chakra from far away. And now, her stupid body reactions had allowed him to touch her.
She really hoped her backup –an extremely strong chakra-sealing jutsu concocted by her- had worked, because if it hadn't, there would be no way the Kyuubi's chakra would be able to escape him. That said, the fact that she still was alive meant that he hadn't sensed it.
The kunoichi calmed considerably and decided it was time for her to explore the room. Sliding her legs across the bed quite sluggishly –and noticing to her horror that her kunoichi outfit was gone, leaving her in a simple white sleeveless nightgown – she almost screamed again. Mortified, she peeked at her bindings and underwear, noting with relief they were still intact, though slightly bloody from the events in the past three or four days. Her hands were caked with grime and dried blood. Trying not to think about who changed her outfit, she headed hastily for the white door and slammed it open, suspecting it was a toilet and a bathroom.
A lavish bathroom it was. Though slightly small, it consisted of a shower, a tub, a sink and a toilet. She proceeded to stare above the sink where a large mirror stood, stretching all the way to the top where it stopped at the ceiling.
The girl before her was definitely skinnier, wearier-looking and dirtier. There were brown, blue and black bruises dotting her arms, her face was caked with grime while her hands and fingernails were brown with dried blood.
With that assessment done, Sakura decided she definitely needed a shower.
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It was thirty, long minutes until she came out of the shower, smelling significantly more pleasant and having healed most bruises. She was already feeling much better and more capable of handling the precarious situation she had landed herself in. Darting out of the bathroom, she reached for her pack lying innocently on the table, attacking it with fervour until she found her essentials. Putting her kunoichi outfit on – a black sleeveless tank top and her black skirt and shorts – she braided her long hair into a plait, finding her pink hair weird now that she had no reason to continue her Saya appearance. In fact, it was rather unpleasant. Seeing her pink hair and her jade eyes in the mirror of the bathroom reminded her of how much Sakura had lost, and she just wanted to remain in the shell that was Saya.
It was unfortunate, but she would deal with it. Taking a deep breath, the roseate-haired girl turned the doorknob of the oak door and opened it.
Only to come face to face with a familiar blonde nin.
Her blood had started rushing almost angrily in her veins and her left eye twitched. "You." A guttural growl resounded from her throat as she stalked closer.
The blonde nin swallowed nervously, his hands placed in a placating gesture as he backed away from her. "Hey… Sakura huh?" he laughed nervously. "Listen, I can explain, yeah!"
"You have one minute," she hissed through gritted teeth, glaring daggers at him.
"I didn't say anything! Tobi brought it up with Leader the same week we saw you exposed without your henge," his words came out in a rush as he looked at her threatening form.
He knew he was definitely going to be castrated if he were to reveal his thoughts about her at that moment. When he had seen her, half-buried in the pile of rubble he eventually knew she'd caused afterwards, his heart had raced for so many reasons. The real Saya or Sakura- was ethereal. Her hair was a shocking pink, her skin was slightly fairer and her lips were a pretty shade of pink. For a long moment, he had stood there, dumbstruck, while Tobi had fallen silent as well.
The second reason came soon after when he discovered she had made the crater. With her bare hands. That single, slender-looking fist could cause such a bang and he had never known about it until much later.
It was also exhilarating to know that the expressions of the real Saya –or Sakura- totally fit his idea of art. There she stood, looking calm when she opened the door until she saw him. In a split second she was filled to the brim with anger and killing intent, her green eyes practically spitting fire as she prepared to explode on the thing closest to her which was him.
Overall, he decided he preferred her with pink hair and jade eyes to the boring black hair and brown eyes.
He noted with disappointment that she finally seemed to calm, then realised it was supposed to be that way unless he wanted to lose his life.
The object of his thoughts then spoke, her feminine voice echoing through the hallway. "My henge deactivated?" she asked, a worried frown marring her perfect features.
Holy shit.
'Did I just think she was perfect?' Deidara thought exasperatedly, mentally slapping a hand to his forehead. Kisame was right when he said he truly was a glutton for punishment. He was fucking doomed.
Outwardly, his expression did not seem to waver. He raised his eyebrows and grinned. "You were dead to the world and out of chakra, yeah. Of course your henge stopped," he explained, folding his arms as he watched the kunoichi, amused.
A myriad of emotions – confusion, fear, panic and shock – reflected on her face, and Deidara winced, knowing he was partly at fault for them. After all, it was Tobi's damn mouth that got her into this hellish organization. Tobi was his partner and he should have tried to keep his partner's mouth shut.
"I'm really sorry, yeah. Tobi kind of rattled on you because he thought you will be useful. I was actually kind of shocked seeing your face in the bingo book, yeah. Hokage's apprentice? Never expected it. Plus the amount of bounty for your head… " he let out a whistle. "Your old village wants you bad."
The girl became forlorn at the mention of her village, so he decided to change the subject. "Say, you want a tour?" he asked.
Visibly perking up, she nodded, shooting him a grateful, dimpled smile which made Deidara's insides lurch. "I am famished. Just show me where the kitchen is," she replied evenly, wincing as her stomach growled.
Deidara snorted. "You sure you're not a man?"
Two seconds later, there was a big dent in the wall and a man slumped in an undignified heap below it, nursing his head as his attacker stalked off, intent on finding the kitchen on her own.
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And I know you know you are dying to know who changed her clothes. (I am dying to know too. LOL.) Next chapter includes a conversation with the rest of the members.
Let me know your thoughts (or squeals, if there are any) in the review!
Here's another interesting poll!
Which Sakura pairing has produced the BEST STORY in naruto fanfiction?
ItaSaku
HidanSaku
DeiSaku
ZetsuSaku
PeinSaku
KisameSaku
OrochimaruSaku (err…)
KakaSaku
SasuSaku
NaruSaku
ShikaSaku
SaiSaku
I fiercely love one of those pairings because of two particular authors that have made this pairing come to life. They are Silvershine and Leafygirl, the first two authors I absolutely love. Anyway, results will be revealed in the next chappie! Till then, adieu, my lovelies. Thanks for reading!
Star
P.S. I can't believe it's already chapter 5. Yay!