Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. That's pretty much a gimme, right?
Ghost of Love: Chapter Three
Sakura twitched uncomfortably, her skin flinching from the silent burn of the ice-cold Matsumori chakra. The foreign power seemed to be brimming just below the surface dermal layer, pushing at it, swelling outwards as though it was eager to break free from the confines her body imposed on it. The two Sound ninja, who had hold of her upper arms, shot her identical scathing glances as they pulled her along, obviously disdainful of her apparent weakness. Sakura fought to control the intense urge to roll her eyes at their ignorant superiority. Their pace was punishing; they leaped with characteristic shinobi grace from tree branch to tree branch, dragging their prize along with them, heedless of the scratches and bruises she was receiving as she struggled to match them. Ordinarily, Sakura would easily keep pace with the Sound ninja, but the imbalance of chakra in her system was overloading her synapses, leaving her reaction times slow and her strides clumsy. Damn. I thought by now my body would have adjusted. How am I going to fight when I can hardly control my muscles enough to keep up with these idiots? Sakura cried out as she stumbled, her feet slipping off the edge of a moss-slick branch. She was only saved by the immensely tight grips of the two lackeys who held her, though her shoulders were nearly wrenched free from their sockets in the process. I guess thinking and moving at the same time is out of the question at the moment.
"Shin, Masao, get her up and keep moving," the leader of the small Sound squad called.
The pair nodded and hauled the dead weight of Sakura's unresponsive body back up onto the treacherous bough that had caused her fall.
"Stupid girl," one of them muttered. The other just rolled his eyes and grunted in agreement.
The pretty young chunin bristled slightly, her sea-green eyes narrowing with anger.
Don't be an idiot, Sakura.
She released a long breath, pushing her thoughts away from the rather attractive prospect of jerking free of the two lackeys and beating them into two red, pulpy messes.
"We're almost there. You two got a hold of her?" the leader asked quietly.
The pair nodded and grunted their assent, their hands tightening further around her biceps.
"Good. We don't want her getting loose and running back to her village, yeah?"
Grunt. Nod.
Sakura bit her lip as a particularly intense burst of chakra momentarily robbed her of oxygen. Ugh, that hurts... Tiny waves of cold blue energy flickered over her skin, minute amounts leaking from every pore and forming an almost invisible film of power over the entirety of her body. The two Sound ninja flinched and snarled, their hands burning where they touched her skin, though their words were beyond Sakura's ability to comprehend as her whole being was suffused with chakra. She floated blissfully on a wave of airy, unconcerned euphoria. The pain she had felt before was completely numbed, almost like every nerve in her body was being submerged in ice, as her cells became used to the sensation. She gratefully relinquished control to the ghosts, letting their will guide her.
This beatific state was swiftly broken by shouts and the distant sensation of something hot trickling slowly down her neck. Sakura reluctantly gathered up her willpower and forced herself to reign in the Matsumori's dead energy, pulling it back into her body. Abruptly she snapped back to reality and the sting of steel against her throat brought her up short. "What..?"
The leader of the Sound squad held his katana to her neck in a trembling grasp, his face contorted with confused anxiety. "What the hell are you?" he snarled, pressing the tip of his sword harder into her skin.
"…uh, a kunoichi?"
Apparently he wasn't in the mood to appreciate levity. "Do that – whatever that was – again, and I will kill you on the spot. Do you understand?"
Sakura swallowed heavily, very aware of the trickle of warm blood that eased down her throat. "Okay. Understood."
"Good," he removed his katana from its resting place at her neck and motioned for his subordinates to take hold of her again. He didn't re-sheathe his sword this time.
They set off again, even faster now, the trio obviously eager to be rid of their dangerous burden. Sakura breathed deeply, in and out, trying to watch where her feet landed while at the same time exerting every ounce of her not inconsiderable willpower on the rebellious chakra overwhelming her system. Every second that passed she descended further from discomfort and into downright agony as she battled to hold onto the last faint threads of control. I don't think my body was ever meant to contain this much chakra. She barely noticed when they landed on solid ground, only distantly aware when grass gave way to concrete and branches to manmade stairs. She was jerked briefly back to reality when she tripped and almost tumbled head-first down a flight of steps, only to be saved once again by the vicelike grips of her captors.
"Watch it! You blind or something?" One of them growled, yanking her back to her feet.
Sakura shook her head and ground out a whimpered "Sorry."
Whatever response the Sound ninja gave was lost amidst the roaring of her accelerated heartbeat in her ears. Vaguely, Sakura caught sounds and sights through the haze of pain and energy; voices and doors and knocking. The hands left her arms and she almost found herself missing the anchor to reality that they had provided. Now she was adrift, alone in the dark. Overwhelmed.
She existed like this for an indeterminate amount of time that could have been days or could have been seconds, wrapped in a fog of numbing pain. Until one voice made itself known, clearly and without flaw. Sakura shuddered, overwhelming relief washing over her as the sound of another human voice pierced the never ending darkness. Raspy and unfamiliar, it tugged at her, pulling her through the shadows and leading her back to reality. It moulded itself around the chakra that numbed her senses, thrumming comfortingly along the same wavelength until she found her way out and life flooded back in.
Sight returned to Sakura with blinding clarity and she hungrily fed her eyes on the world around her, desperate to reassure herself that she was, indeed, free. Shadows and candlelight, an indistinct figure hovering off to her right. And before her a being so tangibly, absolutely, undeniably real that her eyes practically burned for seeing him. That's… is that… Orochimaru? Pale skin, gold eyes, long dark hair. Sakura squinted slightly, trying to lessen the impact he had on her vision. Is he… glowing? With chakra? I've never seen anything like that before.
"Hmm, who do we have here, Kabuto?"
AN: Rewritten 17/12/2010 more details added.
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