Yo. Sorry for being so late. I'd blame it on finals' week, but then i'd be lying. ;) Enjoy!
Naruto (c) Masashi Kishimoto
Her heart was still going crazy 30 minutes after he left. She placed her hand on her chest, as if that would somehow calm the frantic organ. Taking deep breaths, the pink-haired girl weighed his words in her mind.
'This is your new home now..?'
What did he mean by that? What did he want with her? What use could she possibly serve, other than to heal? She'd already ruled out that possibility, for now, anyways, since he did not ask her to, but that didn't mean he wouldn't. There were other things, portentous things, that he might want her for, things she really didn't want to contemplate.
Thinking about it made her head swim, so she shifted her thoughts to the rest of their conversation.
"You will remain here, whether you like it or not, and you will do as i say. I have drained your chakra, and escaping is futile. Even if you somehow managed to navigate the halls and come to the right exit, and leave, i would just hunt you down." His hawk-like eyes pierced into hers.
She fidgeted uncomfortably under his heavy gaze, wishing more than anything that he would leave. He watched her squirm for a few more seconds before turning silently towards the door, and out, shutting it with a creak.
Sakura trembled.
The Sasuke in her memory was just as scary as the Sasuke in real life.
Shizune gathered the required medicines up miserably. She'd hoped that Naruto wouldn't have asked that question so soon. That he'd ask how Tsunade baa-chan was doing, or if things were going alright, or...
...anything, really.
So that he wouldn't have to suffer one blow after another, at least for little bit. Then she'd try to break it to him as gently as humanely possible.
Of course, that did not happen.
Now knowing the undetermined fate of his beloved teammate, he laid, unmoving, on the bed like a zombie. For the rest of the day, he ignored Hinata's attempts to get him to move, talk, or eat, and gazed, unseeing, into space. But they could see in his eyes, a spark hidden in his cerulean depths, that the first chance he got, he'd slip away and look for Sakura on his own.
He couldn't stand lose a teammate. Not again.
Shizune herself believed that somewhere, Sakura could still be out there, alive. She clung to the hope that Sakura would be found, breathing and whole, but she did not disregard the ominous feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Having everything she needing for the time being, the black-haired medic left to treat every patient that she could.
His light footsteps echoed throughout the empty, un-lit passageways, and beyond. He walked in complete darkness. A torch was useless, because with sharingan, came night vision, and even without it, he could see pretty well in the dark. Not to mention he knew this hideout like the back of his hand.
There was no way she could escape.
He thought quite certainly. She probably wouldn't even be able to see her hand if it was right in front of her face. Though he knew it was unwise to underestimate her. She was a top kunoichi, a kick-ass fighter with monstrous strength, the pupil of the fifth hokage. Undoubtedly, she would attempt to escape.
But not right now. She knew it was futile to run, and rightly so. He had been watching her, and the little bit of chakra that she still possessed flickered nervously. Good. She was still shaken from their earlier encounter. He planned to scare her into compliance. Fear would seize her mind, and cloud her judgement.
He would keep her as part of a two-man squad. He would stay low, move from hideout to hideout when he felt they were close to being detected. She was one of the best healers in all of the five great nations, and the only one he deemed even half-trustworthy enough to tend to his eyes.
Also, she would not kill him. She couldn't.
He did not know how he knew this, but it wouldn't leave his thoughts. If it were any other person, he would not trust them as much as he did her. He didn't trust anyone.
Yet, looking at the small, fragile kunoichi, he suddenly got the thought that she would not kill him.
...It's because she's weak, he decided.
The echoes bouncing off the walls got fainter and fainter, until, they disappeared entirely.
Tsunade sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. She was still recovering, but her wounds did not hurt as much as they did. Upon awakening in the middle of the battlefield, she found that the war was over, that they had won, and Obito was dead. Oh, and, Sakura was missing.
Well, wasn't that just fucking great.
She was disgruntled, since there were papers to be written, documents to be signed, talks to be made with the other Hokages, and she just couldn't get a break. Though, despite her angry demeanor, she was secretly lamenting. Sakura could still be out there, and not... she shuddered.
When they had enough Shinobi to spare, she would immediately send out a small tracking team for her. If she didn't do anything, Naruto would.
Sakura was a prize medic, and a valuable asset to the leaf. She also had knowledge of all the weaknesses, hidden entrances, passwords to restricted information, and even the deepest, darkest secrets of ROOT.
Losing her would be catastrophic.
She awaited Sakura's return with bated breath, but something, a nagging feeling in her gut, told her that the trackers would not find her, that she would not return. Tsunade had a hunch that Sakura was not on the battlefield, or anywhere near here...
...And there was nothing she could do about it, at the moment. She cursed under her breath. She was going crazy, not knowing where her student was, and it set her on edge.
In the large medical tent she was in, there were empty sake bottles littering the floor around her makeshift desk. She downed half a bottle's contents in one go, losing herself, and her worries, in liquor.
And for once, Shizune did not object.
Pain stabbed at her heart when she thought of her comrades. Were they alright? Was Kakashi-sensei alive? And Lady Tsunade? And everyone else? Worry infected her thoughts like the plague.
She didn't know what Sasuke wanted with her, and she didn't intend to stick around and find out, either. This new Sasuke was so different than the quiet boy she always followed. He practically radiated dark power and beauty. So much that he awed and terrified her at the same time.
But she was always awed by him, wasn't she?
No matter. The past was past, even if she yearned for the days when they were a team, when they moved in perfect sync, when she knew him. Or thought she did.
Her thoughts returned to the present. She needed a plan of action, and fast. There would be no telling what happened to her if she stayed. But for now, she would have to bide her time, and recover as much chakra as she could. The thoughts of her friends, of Konoha, filled her eyes with determination.
"Hold on, guys. I'll find a way out of here soon."
-TBC
A lot of stuff going on. I switched POVs a little too often for my liking...:(
Even Sasuke himself doesn't seem to know exactly what he wants with Sakura. Interesting.
Leave a review, and give me some ideas! ;)