Shall We?

Living in the Shadows

(Paranoid: Part Two)

Sakura felt her breathing grow heavier as something flew by behind her. She tried to force her eyes to adjust faster but it was taking a painfully long time for her to see in the dark. And worst, she had no clue where Sasuke had disappeared. One minute he had her hand and was dragging her through the wilted field, the next she felt him being pulled away from her. Desperately she latched herself to his arm but whoever was pulling was stronger than her determination.

She crouched down low and kept her ears open even though she wasn't sure if she'd be able to hear anything over the sound of her own heart racing inside her chest.

Keep calm Sakura and remember your training.

It's dark and Sasuke's gone to who knows where.

Then you have to first find out how to get to some light then go find Sasuke.

Easier said than done.

Stay low and go in the direction you were going. We were headed towards that door you came in through.

That was still a long ways off.

Just go.

Taking a deep breath and forcing her heart to calm down she began crawling in the direction they had been running towards at first. She was going to find some light first if she wanted to rescue Sasuke. Running around in the dark during a rescue mission wouldn't be too smart.

Slowly she crept forward conscious of the loud crackling noise the dead flowers made underneath her footsteps.

"Going somewhere," a voice echoed in the dark.

Sakura froze.

"Why don't you stay for a little bit longer? You were having fun just a few minutes ago weren't you? You could still be having fun if you hadn't ruined the genjutsu Itachi had so graciously created.

"Where's Sasuke?" Sakura shouted into the dark.

"Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke, that's all you people ever talk about."

"Fine than, who are you?" Sakura asked squinting, thinking she saw a figure in the blackness.

"I am the current helper of Itachi. You met my brother Blaze ninja of the Flames, but unlike him I'm not so easy to defeat. They usually call me Blizzard, ninja of the Ice. And boy is my game colder."

Sakura shuddered as if on cue. She could almost feel his smirk resonating through out her body. Remember Blaze's game was to either smash her into rocks or burn her skin off she went on guard. "So who's jutsu are you going to imitate?" she asked hoping he'd at least give her a hint.

"Oh I'm insulted. I'll only use my very unique jutsu's. I don't have to imitate. My power is more than enough. Are you ready to play?"

Sakura remained silent.

"I'll take that as a yes."

You know…I'm beginning to hate games. Whatever happened to a simple hide and seek game? OH! I have an idea! How about we hide and he doesn't seek!?

Sarcasm isn't going to keep us alive here stupid.

Just trying to help. Hey, by the way, is it getting a little chilly?

Snapping out of her conversation with inner Sakura she suddenly felt something soft and cold floating down and hitting her skin. A little after it made contact it melted to ice cold liquid.

"Is it…snowing?" Sakura asked sticking her hand out.

Blizzard laughed and suddenly the lights snapped on. Sakura found herself standing in a field of wilted flowers covered with white. The eerie scene made her uncomfortable. She looked up and saw Blizzard standing a few yards in front of her looking even more eerie than the scene itself.

Startling handsome he stood a good six feet tall with long white hair that reached down past his back. His pale skin was a startling contrast to the black cape covering black pants and half shirt. His pale pink lips held a knowing grin. But what caught her attention most were the empty pale, pale, baby blue eyes that were even more deadly looking than Neji's pale eyes when he was furious.

"You look at me as if I were a ghost." He said smiling at her sweetly.

Sakura stood confused. Even though she was sure he meant her harm she couldn't feel any tension; couldn't sense the danger in his aura. He looked dangerously appealing to her and if she didn't know better she'd have though he meant her no harm. The thought quickly vanished when something sharp hit her burned arm. Snapping to reality she darted out of the way as another ice shard zoomed past her.

"Yay! Yes! Yes! Yes!" Ino squealed swimming on shore. She pulled herself out of the thick water and onto solid concrete.

Shikamaru and Lee followed and did the same. Shikamaru sighed and took a deep breath. He instantly regretted it as he inhaled the foul scent. Wringing out his shirt he coughed. "I'm happy we're out. Swimming has never been a strong feat of mine. I was getting worn out."

Ino nodded in agreement shaking her head in an attempt to rid it of the murky liquid. "And it didn't help that it was so thick." She said watching the water fall in thick drops on the floor with a loud "plop".

Lee stretched and grinned. "What a wonderful exercise! It taught us endurance against the smell, trained our bodies in long distance, and added challenge with the extra weight of the water. Gai! You would be proud!"

Shikamaru sighed and opened his mouth to say something sarcastic but froze.

"Something's here." Lee whispered stepping forward to get a better hearing.

A small chill ran down all their spines as they sensed rather than saw whatever was coming at them. The bloodlust that suddenly filled the air was far worst than the putrid smell of the sewer water gurgling behind them.

"We need to get a move on before it finds us." Shikamaru said. "We need to find Naruto and Hinata."

"And Sasuke!" Ino shouted.

"And Sakura!" Lee added.

"Yea, pretty much everyone. Stick close." Shikamaru began ascending the ramp that led up and probably out of the sewer's tunnels. The farther out they got the less he could sense whatever had been coming at them. He began to relax when he saw light and couldn't sense it anymore at all.

"Light? Oh my gosh are we almost there?" Ino said sighing. She had been dragging her feet for the last twenty minutes as they started to ache. "You know this mission is becoming more of an extreme exercise program if anything. It's defiantly not a rescue mission…"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and ignored Ino. He stepped into the light and squinted. The light was flooding out of a square a few feet above him. "I guess that's our exit." He said stretching his hand up to see if he could reach. "Too short."

Ino laughed. "Shorty!" she teased laughing. Shikamaru frowned and glared at her. "You're not too tall yourself Ino." He retorted with a little venom.

Lee nodded in agreement. "Well what should we do?" Lee said looking up at the opening.

"Boost me up and I'll pull you and Ino in." Shikamaru said.

Lee folded his hands so that they were a foot hold. Shikamaru climbed on and Lee easily pushed him up until he reached the ledge. Pulling himself in he squinted trying to judge how much room they had. It was a pretty large tunnel. Two people could crawl next to each other if they wanted.

Leaning over Shikamaru took Ino's out reached hand and pulled her up next to him. Together they pulled Lee up. With their lids half closed in an attempt to protect their eyes from the intense light they began crawling through the tunnel. They crawled for a good ten minutes before Ino began sighing again. "Oh my gosh this is like a damn obstacle course! My knees hurt!" she whined.

"Ino please, we are all not too comfortable at the moment. Please endure a little longer." Lee said giving her a weak "nice guy" pose.

She turned around but continued crawling. "How do you do it Lee? Still grinning like an—"

"Ino stop crawling!"

"Wh—"

"Crap!"

"AHH!"

Ino reached out her hand and grabbed at Shikamaru's sleeve as she went falling over the edge. Shikamaru reached out and grabbed at Lee. The extra weight strained and they all went tumbling over. Landing in a tangled heap on the floor they all groaned in pain. Grabbing his back Shikamaru stood up. Ino sat up tightening her ponytail and watching Lee rub his arm.

"Ow, thank goodness that wasn't a long fall." Ino said helping Lee up and dusting herself off.

Shikamaru made a low rumbling noise in his throat out of pure frustration. "This is some bull…" he mumbled looking around.

Now taking notice of her surrounding Ino squealed. "NO WAY!" she yelled. Lee just stood silent looking around frustrated.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Sakura sucked in deep breaths of air trying to catch her breath. She felt herself shivering as the snow fell in thick blankets around her. She could see her breath forming in front of her in a cloud of frost. Her hand was barely gripping on the kunai. Blizzard gave her a heart stopping smile before laughing.

"Can't stand the cold?" he teased holding out his hand and catching the snowflakes falling from the ceiling.

Sakura felt her lungs tightening. The frigid cold was making it hard to breath and she was already working on over load. She could tell from the way her vision occasionally blurred and the way her body had become numb, no longer able to feel the burns or newly acquired cuts from the ice shards she had been trying to dodge for the past half hour. She knew by now he was a long distance fighter because he wouldn't let her get any closer than 15 feet. She tried to form a plan but the cold seemed to be freezing her brain also. She forced herself to focus. She wouldn't make it too much longer in the snow storm.

S…S…S…Sa…Kura.

Y..Yea?

It's too…C…cold.

No, it t…t…too…wa…warm.

We can…t be…beat…hi…him in the…sn…ow. It's too…c…cold in here.

Sakura nodded trying to get her body to stop shaking. She had trained in snow before. As a matter of fact the cold had never bothered her anymore than any other weather. But this cold was chilling her right down to her soul. It was literally too cold. Her thought process was being affected along with her reaction time. She was becoming worn out and hadn't even landed a hit on Blizzard.

So this is….wh…where…he gets….his…c…corny….name.

Blizzard threw another shard at Sakura. Snapping to attention she flung herself into the snow that had now become so thick she could no longer see the field of dead roses. Her mind told her to get back up but her body refused. She laid there shivering, her pink hair frosting over with streaks of ice. Her pale pink lips now turned to a light blue/purple shivered against her will. She tried to close her hand into a fist in an attempt to get a grip on her kunai but her hand remained in its position no longer under her control but answering to the cold.

Blizzard walked towards her seeming to glow in the backdrop of snow. He glided over to her looking darkly angelic in his all black. He knelt down beside her and kissed her forehead. Pushing her bangs out of her face he smiled sweetly. "It's such a shame that cherry blossoms die." He said almost as if he were reminiscing. "They're so unique, beautiful, delicate. But the winter months always claim them…always." A shard of ice formed in his hand and glimmered threateningly.

"I wish you wouldn't have come, all we wanted was Sasuke."

How'd you like it? Letme know RnR