Paranoid: Part Two

(Living in the Shadows)

Sasuke felt the room spin. He suddenly felt sick to his stomach as the name ran through his head. He backed away from the now lifeless charred body and walked toward the metal door hardly noticing Sakura following stiffly behind him. He sucked in a deep breath and felt pain. He wasn't too sure if it was from the wound or just the shock. He looked at Sakura and froze suddenly feeling even worst. His heart dropped. Her emerald eyes had always been like glass. Revealing herself to him so easily. But what he saw made him want to drop dead. He saw her look at him like this once a few months back when he had appeared at her window a few minutes after Naruto.

She was terrified. She was scared of getting hurt, of Itatchi, of him. She was staring into his deep onyx eyes. His long black bangs that almost looked blue, his creamy skin, his taut, muscular body was like him. He cursed himself. Even though he was shorter and younger he could easily be passed off as Itatchi. It pained him to see her piecing them together so easily. Her eyes so easily comparing them and making him and his damned brother one. The intense fear in her beautiful green eyes aimed at him tore him apart. He wanted nothing more then to grab her by her shoulders and shake her. Scream at the top of his lungs how she had no reason to fear him, how he wasn't him, how he was different, different, different….

Suppressing his emotions he tore his eyes from her and lightly pushed on the door. The metal door groaned and swung open. A gust of stale warm air rushed to greet them followed by a sickening odor. Sasuke felt his bloodlust and anger erupt inside him, their cravings whispering dark wants into his ear. You're so close now, as soon as his lifeless body is spilling blood at your feet you can have whatever you want… Unconsciously Sasuke's eyes drifted to Sakura who was visibly shaking next to him. Whatever you want, you're so close….

Grabbing Sakura by the wrist he stepped into the dark hall that seemed to keep going on and on. He felt Sakura resist at first but then hesitantly follow. He carefully walked forward wary of any possible traps. Anticipation seemed to be closing around him. The bitter taste of vengeance was lingering on the tip of his tongue. So close…

Sakura allowed Sasuke to tow her along. She was terrified. She didn't know what had came over her but suddenly she had watched Sasuke transform into Itatchi before her eyes. Her sight was back to normal and it was her Sasuke grabbing on her wrist now but before…it was clear. Too clear. She shivered at the thought. Something was terrible wrong.

You're freezing up. And you were doing so well. Pansy

Sorry, hearing that the guy who beat the crap out of me might be in the same building tends to make me nervous.

Now lets not get smart-assed here.

I'm terrified.

Sasuke's here.

He can still hurt me…

Well with you freezing up and acting like a baby I can think of another person who's going to get hurt EVEN MORE. You're like a damn bad luck charm.

No, I'm just weak.

Well how about dropping the habit and stepping up.

How about you just drop dead and shut up.

Even as Sakura argued with herself though she felt a new resolve. It always took seeing a friend get hurt or almost killed before she stepped up. This time she wouldn't wait till Sasuke was down to his last breath. If she had to she'd step up right away. Whether she was facing Itatchi or Satan himself. She was sure she wouldn't be able to do much but she'd do something. Anything.

Sasuke felt Sakura suddenly begin to walk by herself. He was no longer dragging her through the hall. He felt a strange electric charge fill around him and turned to see Sakura smiling at him. "Sakura?"

She shrugged. "I'm not afraid anymore." she said simply continuing to walk.

He gave her smirk and continued walking too. They walked forever through the hall. Both the Konoha ninja were feeling nostalgia as they kept walking. It felt like they were repeating their walk through the tunnel. Except there was no cheerful Naruto to light up everything with his idiocy, no Ino with lustful appraising blue eyes, and no Kakashi with his laid back aura that they were sure he would have kept if they were walking through a tunnel of fire. It was just them.

Sasuke was snapped out of his thoughts as he saw a blinding light ahead of them. His caution had wavered but now he was on full alert again. Sakura stayed inches behind him as they neared the light. They squinted as they got close enough. The light was coming from a room on the other side of the opening. Sasuke took the first step into the opening and the light seemed to dim. The irony almost knocked Sakura off her feet.

They walked out of the dark stale hall into a beautiful garden in full bloom. Roses were growing every where, their colors and thorns making them look dangerously beautiful. Sasuke was sure they were underground but yet the air was fresh and clean. He took a deep breath savoring the feeling. The garden went on forever in all directions.

"Where are we?" Sakura asked stepping out further. Sasuke pulled her back. "It might look beautiful but we're not safe yet." he reminding her taking the lead again.

She looked around at the rose garden inhaling deeply. It was hard to believe such a place was harboring evil but Sasuke was right. They weren't out of the danger zone yet. Now that the gardens trance was wearing off she felt something dark lingering beyond the flowers. She tensed as the thorns of the roses suddenly became a lot more clearer than the actual flower.

"Bad omen." she whispered.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Hm? Oh, nothing."

He stared at her for a moment but kept walking. She followed behind him watching how agile and elegant he moved through the rows of colorful petals. He looked inhuman. She felt her caution slipping, and she sensed Sasuke relaxing the deeper they got into the garden. They weren't trying to, but it seemed useless to fight it. There was something magical about this place. The thorns suddenly became unnoticeable again. They walked in silence for the next half hour. Sakura was enjoying herself by now. The aroma and cleanliness of the air mingled in her lungs and she felt light headed.

"Sasuke," she said her voice sounding unusually light.

He turned around and she smiled. His eyes seemed liquid and lit up. His body posture was now completely relaxed. She couldn't see or sense any tension. His calmness magnified his beauty all the more.

"I'm tired." she said.

He looked around and thought for a moment before nodding. "Aright, there's a clearing ahead. We could rest there for a moment."

They walked a little further to the clearing of grass ahead of them. Sakura had a fleeting thought that it was a little convenient for a clear area of soft grass to appear out of no where when there had been nothing but roses right when she complained of being tired but the thought was shoved to the back of her mind quickly. Sakura collapsed onto the grass and Sasuke sat down beside her. She felt like she should be remembering something but it was being suppressed. Like something was fighting it and trying to keep it from coming up. She saw Sasuke's face tense for a few seconds to as if he was fighting the same thing. But as soon as she looked away to the roses she relaxed again. She laid down in the grass inhaling the scent.

"It's so beautiful." she whispered dreamily.

Sasuke sighed and laid down next to her apparently giving up on his fight too. "We'll rest for only a little bit." he said, his voice low.

She smiled and turned toward him, her green eyes sparkling. "Sasuke," she said. "You want to know something?"

He slightly turned his head towards her but kept looking above them at the white light. "Tell me."

She moved herself closer to him and put her arm around his chest. "I love you." she whispered in his ear.

He smirked. "I know." he said.

"And you still want me to wait right?"

His eyes turned to meet hers. "For what?" he asked his voice a bit teasing.

She laughed. "I remember. I hold it in my heart. As soon as you reach your goal you can love me. And I'll wait. I'll wait forever and ever and ever." she smiled feeling as if she were on cloud nine.

Sasuke smirked again. Something was tugging at the back of his mind but never before had he felt so free. He was flying and was savoring the moment. He only had felt like this twice, before the Uchiha Tragedy and now. He was sure that if he let whatever was tugging at his mind pass that it would ruin this feeling. And it was so addictive that he didn't want that to happen. He wasn't so sure he'd be able to handle being pulled down from his high. His hand wrapped around the soft hand that was resting on his chest. He was expecting her to go into a spasm and act like a fanatic groupie but she didn't. She simply smiled and moved closer so that there was no space between them. She was at ease with him. His eyes were staring into her very being. Never had she seen him like this. This was forbidden, this was him with all his guards shed, him with his vengeance stripped from his mind. What he would have been if life hadn't been so cruel. She relished in the feeling of being able to experience this.

He smiled, not a smirk, he smiled at her, his eyes bright and alive. "Just wait for me." he whispered his lips tickling her ear. She closed her eyes as he rolled them both to their sides, his smooth body pressed against her soft one. His hands ran down her curves and a strange urge ran over him. He leaned in and kissed her. She kept her eyes shut but just about drowned in the taste of his lips.

In the distance two dark eyes watched with satisfaction.

"Sir, it's working just as you said."

"Of course…now we wait."

Naruto followed Shikamaru who had been made the team leader. A strange dark feeling fell over him like a shadow. Even though he'd never admit it out loud Sasuke was able to protect himself and Sakura but something felt especially wrong. As if some foul play was going on. He gritted his teeth and tried to calm himself down as the feeling grew. He picked up his pace. Wasn't it only a few months ago that he was rushing against this same feeling to save his friend? "History has a way of repeating itself one way or another." he thought bitterly.

Hinata watched Naruto closely seeing him notably tense. She could see why though. There was something dark in the atmosphere. She wasn't exactly close to Sakura or Sasuke but they were teammates, fellow ninja, and friends. She felt she had an obligation to their safety. She saw Lee right behind Naruto also picking up pace, his big eyes ablaze with determination. Shikamaru appeared cool for the most part but she picked up the slight worry in his eyes. Ino was the only one oblivious to the veil of anxiety. As a matter of fact she was complaining about their pace.

"The labyrinth isn't that far! We don't need to be going this fast! We'll get there in plenty of time!" she began falling behind.

"Ino," Hinata said slowing only slightly. She didn't want to be left behind. "They could be in danger. We need to hurry."

"But Sasuke is there!" she said smiling. "They're fine."

Shikamaru stopped abruptly and turned around. "Stop the complaining Ino." he snapped. "Something is wrong." his voice was low and dark. "We don't have time."

Lee nodded and took off after Naruto who hadn't bothered to stop. Shikamaru turned and followed. Hinata turned to look at Ino who had turned red with embarrassment and anger. She was sulking. Not sure what to say Hinata turned and followed after the rest of the team. It took a few minutes after Hinata had caught up before Ino did.