Whispers in the Dark
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! I write for pure entertainment with no intentions or whatsoever to breach any copyrights!
A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I know that some of you is still pretty much confused, don't worry. Sakura is confused too (giggle). There is a small part of this chapter that 'tries' to clarify what is going on. But, of course, I cannot give everything away! (winks)
I still hope that you will enjoy it,
As always, thanks for reading!
Her jaded-green eyes lazily fluttered open. It was at that very moment as she finally opened her eyes that she was very and unrealistically aware of her surroundings. Her senses were overwhelmed with confusion as the soft silk sheets surrounded and molded to her slender body, at the same time her whole body seemed numb with the memories that she could not conjure up. Her brows were pressed together as she took in a deep and relieved breathe.
The pink-haired kunoichi tilted her head to the left and stared at the empty chair next to her bed, her eyes then paused at the forgotten bottle of sake that was lying on the white floor. Memories of what happened came to her at once. She remembered Naruto knocking at her door… she remembered Tsunade breaking in and the strange sensation on forehead.
Then, Sakura suddenly gasped as her hands moved upwards.
The necklace was still there and it clearly was not a fragment of her imagination. The dreams… and his request echoed inside her head making her wince in displeasure. She slowly turned around and buried her face on the white pillow muffling her scream.
Somewhere in the distance, she heard a door open and then close. Sakura immediately sat up in the bed and bit her lip as she stared at the door of her hospital room. Tsunade was going to question her and was probably not going to allow Sakura to leave the hospital until she was satisfied with acceptable answers. Quickly, Sakura shoved the blankets away and stood up. Her right hand was still clutching tightly to the necklace as she made her way towards the window. Sakura shot a last wavering look at the closed door before she leaned forward through the window and finally jumped.
Sakura stared at the empty streets grateful that the sun was yet to come. Her heartbeat was like one thousand of drums playing in her ears. Her rosy lips parted as she dashed forwards. She was scared, more scared than she
can remember. The medic-nin possessed a determinate and piercing look in her green orbs that would make one think twice before crossing her way.
Her legs finally faltered as she arrived to the tall gates of Konoha. The two chuunin that were guarding the gate, shot her a curious look as she remained in the middle of the gates staring at the dark vast green forest.
The weight of the necklace seemed to have increased as if it was reminding her.
"I… I'm not sure if I-"
"Do you not wish to save my little brother? I assure you that I am the only one that can save him now,"
She was going to do it, for Sasuke, for Naruto and more importantly for team seven.
Slowly, she walked forward completely ignoring the two chuunin. Sakura took a deep breathe as she stepped away from Konoha, her heart breaking with a new each step. She fought back tears that threatened to fall down at any moment as the horrible feeling of betrayal sunk down in her stomach. Swallowing dry, she pondered if she should take the headband that she no longer deserved for what she was about to do was unforgivable.
The animals of the beautiful green forest hurried to their shelters, their eyes wide and alert to the walking stranger. Sakura felt her heart squeeze as a familiar pair of blue eyes came to her mind.
"I'm sorry…" she whispered as she jumped to a tree branch. Sakura half-turned around and stared at her village, her home, "But… I will bring him back… I'll bring Sasuke back and everything will be alright," she muttered to herself as she turned back around. Her feet gathered chakra and she finally sprung forward.
"So… you're not dead?"
"Not yet, kunoichi,"
Surprised, sheer impulse drove her to take a deep breath of the nasty air and she choked. Shock hit her, too. She froze. It did not matter which emotion had control. She could not believe what she saw. The room was empty.
Shizune eyes widened at the open window. She quickly ran towards it and looked outside. The sun was already high in the sky, illuminating the village. The gentle breeze caressed her worried features as she turned around. She
quickly reached the door and only then did she release the breathe she had been holding.
She closed the door behind her and roamed through the hospital halls. She needed to inform Tsunade. As she made her way towards the Hokage Tower, Shizune pondered on the blonde-haired woman words.
"She is hiding something from us. You should have seen her face… she looked so committed… I don't think she'll let us know what is troubling her,"
Shizune was finally in front of the Hokage's office door. She turned the knob and pulled at the door, before it creaked and slowly swung open. Gulping, she took a moment before stepping inside. Once inside she could not help the chills that traveled down her spine as she walked towards the desk where a blonde-haired woman pretended to be doing some work.
Tsunade shot her a wondering look as she placed a few sheets of paper down on the desk. Shizune gulped as the Sannin eyes stopped on her.
"Well? What the hell do you want?" asked Tsunade as she crossed her arms around her chest, "I'm working here," she said raising her eyebrows.
Normally, Shizune would roll her eyes at such obvious lies.
"Tsunade-sama," Shizune started, the strange feeling swam through her body as she stared directly at the other woman honey eyes, "It's about Sakura-"
"Oh? Did she wake up?" asked Tsunade, her arms dropped to the sides.
Shizune slowly shook her head, "Tsunade-sama… Sakura has disappeared,"
Tsunade tilted her head and blinked a couple of times, "What do you mean she disappeared?"
"I… I… just came from the hospital… h-her room was empty… t-the window was opened and-"
Tsunade brows furrowed together like two ominous storms, "Sakura…" she gritted her teeth together, "This isn't something you would do..." Tsunade paused and stared at Shizune, "Gather a small searching party, she can't be far,"
"H-Hai!" Shizune nodded promptly.
The pouring rain, which had been hammering before dawn as if the heavens were leaking had abated and then stopped, but the dawn sky was still overcastting. Sakura gulped as she stopped on a tall tree branch, waking
and scaring the birds away. Her gaze fell on the mass destruction in front of her. The pink-haired girl could hear her hasty heartbeat in the middle of the sound of the bird's wings flapping.
She quickly jumped down with a silent thud. On the rocky and irregular ground, she slowed down, cautious of where she put her feet, her eyes constantly on the lookout, sweeping left and then right to widen her field of vision. She was wary of the slightest shudder of leaves.
As Sakura looked around, she could not help to notice at how familiar the surroundings were to her. The burnt scent was very real and still so present in the air as if it was marking what had happened, a solid memory of that day. The pink-haired girl took a deep breathe as she tried to ignore the strange feeling on her stomach.
She had no idea how much time went by. Sakura kept changing her position, standing up and stretching, then crouching and looking around. Her knee joints ached.
The drizzling rain hissed on the leaves overhead. She gazed up and became furious at the empty ground in front of her. She was sure this was the right place! She had been here before… in her dreams. Sakura snorted at her own thoughts, she still found the whole thing surreal.
The medic-nin pulled her hair away from her eyes and stared at her feet. Her eyes widened at the sight of blood. She quickly crouched and scrutinized it closer. She bit her lower lip in irritation as she realized that the stupid rain had washed most of the blood away.
"Just great!" she growled at herself.
How long was it since she had left home? The thought came to her for the first time. The strange feeling on her stomach increased and the weight of the necklace became heavier. Guilt quickly took over her frustrated features. She had left everyone behind without a word or even a note. Sakura lips trembled as she fought back tears. She had a new mission now, she could only hope, from the bottom of her heart, that the people that she loved, the same ones she left behind would find the space for forgiveness in their hearts.
"Are you lost?"
Sakura quickly spun around and got in a stance ready to attack. Her emerald eyes spotted a tall strange man fully dressed in a simple white kimono. She relaxed and straightened herself as soon as she took a closer look at the man in front of her. Nothing about him indicated that he was a threat.
The pink-haired girl bowed slightly, "Gomennasai," Sakura said politely; her emerald eyes met his cat-like golden ones.
The man smiled softly and raised a hand, "There is nothing to apologize for. One has to be always alert and cautious these days,"
Sakura offered him a small smile and nodded, "Hai,"
"Come," the tall man, whispered. He turned his back on her and walked towards the forest.
Sakura eyes widened as she recognized the voice.
"Come…"
It was with no doubt the same voice. The same voice had urged her to follow into the darkness. Sakura gulped, her hands had started to tremble. Her lips shivered uncontrollably. Her heart was beating so wildly it seemed to be about to leap out of her chest.
The man stopped and stared behind his shoulder. His big golden eyes gazed at the unmoving pink-haired girl. He smiled, this time his smile was a wide one that many would have considered a beautiful, honest and cheerful smile. However, Sakura felt that was something wrong with the man's smile. Her eyes fixed themselves on his flawless white teeth and she suddenly felt terribly cold, as if she was running a fever.
"Don't you want to see him?"
Sakura lips parted in shock. She could only nod as if her brain had switched to automatic, dragging her legs towards the strange man.
"Y-you… found his body? Is he… is he-"
The man tilted his head to stare at the young medic-nin. His mid-long dark hair flew along with the breeze giving him a mystical look. Sakura found herself spellbound in his big cat-like eyes. She had never seen those types of eyes before. His lips formed a simple smile, "He is not waking up anytime soon,"
Somehow, Sakura felt relieved. She was not sure if she wanted to face Itachi in reality. In her dreams was already scary enough.
"Your voice… I recognized it from my dreams," Sakura gasped and placed a hand on her mouth. She was surprised that she had voiced her thoughts. She tried to look away from his mysterious eyes but found that she could not do so.
The dark-haired man rose an elegant eyebrow, "Aha, I'm glad you did," he answered breaking his gaze away from her.
"How is that possible?" Sakura asked, stopping walking noticing that they were no longer in the forest, "How can I see him… how can I hear you in my dreams?!"
"Tea?" the man asked as he carried on walking, ignoring the fact, that she stayed behind.
Sakura blinked, perplexed at the man's attitude. Her emerald eyes widened as she stared at the small house in front of her.
As hard as Naruto tried to swallow, the solid lump in his throat would not go away. His breathing almost stopped. His heart felt as heavy as if it was being crushed under a slab of stone. Pain and sadness made him shake so violently that he was almost unable to control himself. He let out a sharp groan of pain, which sounded like the call of some wild animal.
The dark-haired boy watched unperturbed as Naruto fell on his knees. Three ANBU, including Kakashi and Captain Yamato were trying to calm down the blonde-haired boy.
"Kakashi-sensei!" exclaimed Naruto as he lowered his head; his bright blue eyes stared at the ground, "Why?"
The masked nin let out a long exasperated sigh as he stared down at Naruto.
"We still don't know if Sakura really left us," said Kakashi as he crouched in front of his remaining student, "We will wait for now,"
Naruto shook his head slowly, "I don't want to wait," he whispered so softly that made Sai shift uncomfortably from where he was standing.
"Come on…" said Kakashi as he pulled Naruto up, "We will talk this over with the Hokage, okay?"
How many times had they spoken with Tsunade now? Many times, she had denied them to look for the pink-haired girl. Tsunade believed that Sakura was close and that she would return on her own. Kakashi had tried to counter-argue, that Sakura would not leave without leaving at least a note.
Naruto was not going to wait.
The blonde-haired boy nodded as he stood up, his lips formed a small smile, "Now Sai!"
Everyone gasped in surprise as they turned around and stared at the dark-haired boy dash between the Konoha's gates.
"Don't take too long, dickless!"
Naruto's deep blue eyes sparkled as the three ANBU finally moved and ran after Sai.
"Don't even think about it!" Naruto exclaimed, breaking free from Kakashi's grip, "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
The pink-haired girl could hear her own footsteps on the cracking wooden floor. She stared at every detail of the small yet cozy house. The hallway was well illuminated but what had caught her devoted attention were the paintings that were hanging on the walls. There was a painting of Konoha. The only thing that she recognized was the Hokage tower and the two Hokage's stoned faces. The painting was old. Most of the houses were still inexistent.
There was another painting that caught her attention; it was one that portrayed a cat-like eye.
Was that a symbol of this man's clan?
"You must be hungry," the man said, stopping to look at her.
Sakura jumped startled and looked back at him, "H-hai," she said surprised that she had told him the truth. She was going to tell him that she was not hungry at all, but the truth just came out as soon as she stared at his eyes.
The man nodded, "This way," He led her to the kitchen. It was a very small kitchen and there was a small square table and two chairs, "The fridge is full with fresh food. Feel free to eat whenever you want,"
Sakura nodded as he threw an apple at her, "Tea?" he asked, smiling widely.
"Yes, please," said Sakura as she took a seat.
"My name is Akito," he said casually as he prepared the tea.
"Sakura," the pink-haired girl said as she looked around. She was starting to feel more at ease around the strange man. However, there was something in the back of her mind that carried on nudging her all the time.
She wanted to see him.
Akito placed the tea down and took the other seat, "You wanted to know how…" he started as he took a sip of his own tea, "If I hadn't found him when I did, he would have died. You see, I closed his superficial wounds but there is nothing that I can do with his internal ones,"
"You are a medic-nin?" asked Sakura leaning forward, she pressed her elbows on the table and her hands supported her chin. He had her full attention.
Akito shook his head while he smiled, "No, I'm not a nin, but I do possess healing knowledge…" Akito paused to look straight at the pink-haired girl green orbs, "you can say it's more like a genetic inheritance,"
Sakura eyes widened, "Ano, then why-"
"Why can't I heal him?" Akito asked knowingly, "I can hold one person life during an amount of time," he paused to see that her face twisted in confusion, "It's like a coma. I pushed my chakra in his wounded body, enough to keep him alive,"
"I see," said Sakura with an awe look plastered on her face, "But I still don't understand how-"
"Aha, I used an ancient jutsu that is passed down to the future generations. It holds the power to summon a person through their dreams. I must say that it was hard to do it against you," Akito finished and stood up, "Do you want to see him?"
Sakura quickly stood up slightly irritated that the man in front of her could anticipate all of her questions, "But why me?"
"You're the famous Sannin apprentice," Akito answered with a shrug of his shoulders, "Besides; it seems that you and the Uchiha share a similar goal,"
Sakura furrowed her eyebrows as she followed the dark-haired man to a dark room. The medic-nin gulped as she stepped inside the room, her vision adapted to the darkness and she could see his form lying on the bed. As she approached the bed she noticed that he did not have a scratch on him.
"It's simple, I will continue to perform the jutsu and you will heal him," Akito said as he stood next to the bed. He stared down at Itachi and smiled the same smile that had scared her back in the forest, "You'll be good as new, ne Itachi-kun?"
Sakura bit her lip as she stared at both of them.
She could not help to feel like a sacrificial pawn in a chess game.