Hi! It's Shadow Quil here! Sorry I haven't been updating but I've been really busy with school work. Anyway, Monday the 11th of May marks the first day of my exams, meaning that I won't be done until the 17th of June. I wanted to update once before I sat my exams, so I wrote this. Sorry it's so short, but I don't have a lot of time between revising and relaxing. Too much! Anyway, once my GCSEs are over, I'll try to update more often, since after my Prom (26th of June!) I'll have a really long holiday...well, two months...but that's the longest school holiday I've ever had! (If you didn't know, summer holidays are the longest holidays we get in British schools and it only lasts for six weeks, so this is a long holiday for me lol)

Anyway, I hope none of you hate me *cries*

Enjoy the chapter :D

Quil~

Chapter Twenty Two

"Haruno Sakura." Ibiki called. The girl in question did nothing to acknowledge him. "Haruno!" He called again, striding over to the preteen and pulling her hair so that she faced him. The almost scared look in her eyes made Ibiki hesitate, but he pulled her up and pushed her into a metal chair. He nodded towards another man, who then turned on the lights.

"Ibiki-sensei, did you want anything else?" The man asked. Ibiki shook his head and the man left, closing the door behind him. The interrogator looked back at the pinkette and sighed.

'How is this possible?' He thought. 'Just a few days ago, she was another kid taking the exams; now she's in here, ready to have any useful information tortured out of her. She's just a kid.' He sighed mentally.

"Number 79!" Ibiki called. "Is there a problem?" He asked almost sincerely, but anyone with half a brain could tell that he was mocking the person he called.

"No, sir." Sakura replied, flipping her long bangs away from her face.

"Stand when you're speaking to me." Ibiki ordered, smirking. Sakura sighed, rolled her eyes and stood up, feeling the eyes of everyone in the room on her. "Now; is there a problem?"

"Sir, no, sir." Sakura replied as if she were a cadet in a military academy.

"Then what did you say that numbers 78 and 80 found so amusing?" He probed. The boys on either side of Sakura gulped, but the pinkette just put her left hand on her forehead and her right on her hip.

"You don't want to know." She assured.

"Oh, but I do." He replied firmly, crossing his arms. Sakura sighed and stood straight.

"I said; someone has a pole shoved up his ass, sir." Sakura told him, causing everyone to burst out laughing…well, some laughed while others just smirked and/or sniggered, even the sentinels.

"Repeat that!" Ibiki yelled, frowning at her.

"Sir, I merely stated that someone has a whole grip on this class, sir." She smirked, covering up her words. More laughter went around the room.

"That's what I thought you said." Ibiki muttered. "Now, sit down." He ordered, Sakura doing as she was told.

Shaking his head again, Ibiki looked right at the girl, who was once again staring at the ground. Her breathing was evened out, but he knew she wasn't unconscious or sleeping. Ibiki took a scroll out of his kunai pouch and read through the contents, his frown becoming prominent until he was almost digging his nails into the paper.

"Calm down, Ibi-chan, before you break the scroll." Her voice drifted to his eyes. Ibiki looked down at her and noticed that she had a small, almost accepting smile on her face. "Before you ask me anything, I should tell you that I'm in no position to answer. So, therefore, I'm not going to talk anymore for this moment on." She declared.

"We'll see about that." Ibiki sighed as she, true to her word, ignored him and remained silent. "The report states that you have been caught, on tape, conversing with more than one member of the Akatsuki. Do you deny this?"

"…"

"Do you deny this?" He repeated. Once again, no answer. Ibiki closed his eyes and mentally sighed before he tied her wrists to the arms of the chair. "We'll see if you're willing to talk more after a few days of solitude."

--

"Inari-kun! Someone's here to pick you up!"

"Neesan!" Inari called as the kind old woman he was staying with called him. When he saw who was at the door, he paused and frowned. "You're not Sakura-neesan."

"Thanks for stating the obvious, brat." Naruto glared. "Now grab your junk; you're staying with me for a few days."

"No! Not without Neesan!" The younger boy rejected, crossing his arms and turning away from the irritated blonde. Naruto bowed to the old woman before entering her home and going straight to the room Inari was staying in, picking up a back and shoving everything that belonged to the ten-year-old inside. Inari followed him and began kicking at the Genin.

"Stop that!" Naruto ordered, his voice full of rage. Inari stopped instantly, his eyes showing fear. "Finish packing. I'll explain when we get to my apartment, okay?"

"O-Okay." Inari agreed, taking the bag and finishing his packing.

--

Sasuke sat in his hospital bed, bored out of his mind. He knew that the preliminaries would be over by now and he was hoping that Sakura or Naruto would visit him, but for no other reason that to put a stop to his boredom. The door slid open and he looked over to see who his visitor was, only to sigh when he saw a nurse. However, behind the nurse was his sensei, looking weary and slightly angry.

"Sensei." Sasuke nodded in greeting. Kakashi just pulled up a stool and sat next to Sasuke's bed, looking hard into his pupil's eyes.

"Has Sakura ever said anything to you about her personal life?" Kakashi questioned in a serious tone. Sasuke was shocked at first but he soon relaxed and shook his head.

"No. Naruto would have been the only one to know that kind of stuff; either him or those three from Yukigakure." Sasuke replied.

"Your parents were probably the same." He muttered, glaring at her.

"No! My mother was killed because she didn't inherit the bloodline trait and my father…he only saw me as a tool. I wasn't his daughter. I was a weapon that he could use against his enemies. Why do you think I ran away from Yukigakure and came here? Because I was from one big, happy family?" She asked.

"Wait. She did tell me about her family." Sasuke remembered. "Her mother was killed for not having the Kanjoo Jiyuu and her father treated her like a weapon."

"Was her father a criminal?" Kakashi continued. Sasuke shrugged.

"She only spoke about him once. That's all I know." The Uchiha said, frowning. "Why? Did something happen?"

"No. It doesn't matter." Kakashi sighed, getting up and leaving the room; Sasuke's frown deepened.

"What's he keeping from me?"

--

"There's no point in stay, you know." Taiyoo voiced. He and Juhi were tired of humouring his twin, who kept insisting that there was a very important reason to stay, but he just couldn't tell them.

"Yeah, he right." Juhi agreed. "Either tell us what's going on, or we're going to pack up and leave tonight. All of the other contestants have gone home already, why don't we?"

"We need to stay!" Tsuki claimed for the umpteenth time that day. He looked out of the window and sighed. "We can leave yet."

"Why not?" His twin sighed. "They're gonna get suspicious and kick us outta Konoha soon, anyway. Yukigakure and Konohagakure aren't on very good terms at the moment, you know."

"I know, I know." He waved off.

"If this is about Sakura—"

"It's not!" Tsuki cut Juhi off in a panic. The older boy's eyes widened at the denil in his team mate's voice and he grabbed Tsuki's collar, pushing the preteen into the wall.

"What the hell is going on?" He hissed. Taiyoo stepped forwards to help, but a look from Tsuki stopped him. "Tell me!"

"Alright!" Tsuki caved in. "Sakura…Sakura-chan has been arrested."

"What?!" Both the other boys yelled.

"This is why I kept it from you!" Tsuki shouted back. "I knew that—!" He was cut off by a fist in his face. He fell to the floor, clutching his broken nose as Juhi rubbed his knuckles and left the hotel room.

"You idiot!" Taiyoo scolded his twin.

"What did I do?!" Tsuki demanded. The sun-named boy glared at him.

"Juhi-san is Sakura-chan's brother! He has a right to know! And…And I'm your brother, not to mention Sakura-chan's friend. I had a right to know too!" Taiyoo yelled at him. "Why can't you trust us with these things—or me, at the very least."

"I do trust you…but Sakura-chan…I love her." Tsuki confessed.

"I know you do…so does Juhi-san, and I'm willing to bet Sakura-chan knows it too. And, while I wouldn't mind having her as my sister-in-law, she belongs here." Taiyoo sighed. "Just like we belong in Yuki."

"Didn't you hear me?!"

"You love her?"

"No! Well, yes, but no! Sakura-chan has been taken into custody! Put in the slammer! A-R-R-E-S-T-E-D! Does that mean anything to you?" He stressed the point.

"Yes, and I want to help her, I really do. But, let's be realistic. We know nothing about Konoha, or at least not enough to fight the system of power here to free her. There's only three of us. And, let's face it, that Naruto-guy will kick all of their asses before we can say 'hault'!"

"Yeah…I hate it when you're right." Tsuki winced. "I just wish I could do something to help her!"

"You can." Juhi told him, appearing at the window. "We're staying. In time, that Naruto-kid will come looking for us, and he'll find us. Then, we'll rescue my sister."

--

Inari had spent five days with Naruto and it was driving him insane. If the blonde was his usual, hyper, funny self, it wouldn't have been too bad—but the Uzumaki boy was seriously depressed. Hey, having your girlfriend seemingly betray you can do that to a guy! He had, however, opted not to tell Inari what had happened.

To save the boy's feelings and thoughts towards his 'big sister', he told Inari that Sakura had gone away to train with her brother and old team mates for a while. Inari had accepted this excuse, although not without some suspicion. He knew that his Oneesan cared for him, but she did deserve to train, after all. He just wished that she had stopped to say goodbye first.

"Oneesan…"

--

'Is this my punishment?' Sakura wondered with a careless smile. 'If this is all I have to do to protect Naruto-kun, I'll be willing to take a bit of pain or torture. Hell, they could just be testing my loyalties. While I may not be loyal to them as people, I do sort-of believe in what they're doing. A new world, without conflict…bliss.'

Ibiki re-entered the cell Sakura was being kept in after she had been left alone for a week with no food or water. He was sure she would be willing to talk now, but when he entered the room he saw that she had not moved since he left her seven days ago. She was still in the chair, her head down and her arms crossed. Ibiki shook his head and looked at her, waiting for some sort of reaction. Her eyes flicked towards him, but other than that she showed no signs of acknowledgement.

"Are you ready to talk, Haruno?"

'Of course not, you idiot.' She wanted to say, but she knew that she had told him that she wouldn't speak, and so Sakura simply bit her tongue and remained quiet. Ibiki sighed, shaking his head.

"Look, you're just a kid. Tell me—what do they have over you? Are they blackmailing you? If so, then you have no reason to be loyal to them. We here in Konoha can protect you. All you have to do is answer my questions, and everything will be over in no time." He assured. Sakura bit her lip and shook her head, turning away from him.

'Never.' She said mentally. 'I will never betray anyone! No matter how much I hate the Akatsuki, I refuse to sink to their level.'

"Tell me! Just answer my questions and you can leave—today!" Ibiki promised. Shaking his head again, he pulled a scroll out of his vest pocket and showed it to her. "I have permission to use force and even violence to get the information I want. This is your last chance, Haruno."

"Che." She scoffed. Ibiki narrowed his eyes and raised his hand to hit her, but she showed no signs of caring. He then remembered how protective she was of the blonde boy and mentally smirked.

"Uzumaki Naruto." He stated, watching her shoulders tense. "I could always have him brought in too. Charge him with assisting a criminal, or being an accessory to your crimes, or even—"

"Naruto-kun has nothing to do with this." Sakura cut him off, not wanting to drag her boyfriend down with her. "Leave him out of this!"

"Oh, so he can loosen your lips, huh?" Ibiki mused. He smirked at her and walked out of the room, heading to the front office. "Call Anko." He told the man at the desk. "Tell her to bring Uzumaki Naruto to the interrogation unit."

"Which cell, sensei?" The man asked.

"Cell seven."