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.Heaven's Gate: Princess.
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Five: Keepers.
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"He's what?!" Sasuke asked her, shock in his voice and expression.
Sakura looked at him and sat on her bed, the three other guys stood around her at once. The screams were over and the sand started to move away.
"He's Suzaku," Sakura repeated again. "He's one of my Keepers."
"Your Keepers?" Sasuke looked at her, confused. "Then, these guys are…" he looked at the three others.
Sakura nodded. "They are my Keepers." She turned at Naruto who just came back, a big smile on his face.
"That is what you call refreshing," he smiled. But the smile was gone as he saw the shock on Sasuke's face. "Oh." He said and he stood next to Sakura along with his friends.
"Lee is Genbu, Gaara is Seiryuu, and Neji is Byakko," Sakura gestured to each of them. "They are the ones that keep me alive."
Sasuke was unable to say anything, he just stared at her. So she continued.
"After I was born, a big war happened; my father and his –err- frog friends chased the enemies away from our country. People think the Fire Country is already too big and too dangerous to keep on growing, they wanted to change the way our government works," Sakura said.
"The war started because people wanted to kill me while I was still a baby," she continued and Sasuke shuddered at the image he imagined; a big grown man with a katana holding a baby with pink hair. "I am the only heir, and my father is afraid. The way our government works is okay. People are just jealous at how wealthy our country is. We do not steal. We just happen to have the Gods and Goddesses on our side."
Sasuke thought back at what Matsuo Tabi said about Fire Country and the Princess: "The country is corrupt, I won't do anything about it but I will do something with the Princess. The power she has within could kill us all if she wants to use them for destruction. We have to kill her before she realizes what she could do with her power."
"Other countries also have the blessings of the Gods and Goddesses, they just stopped believing and stopped working. Once they fell into a pit of darkness, they just stop forcing their way out. Our Country once fell as well, but we keep on believing that we could do it and we can. This is where the effort of decades ago brought us." She looked at her Keepers and then out the window.
"My father asked for their help, they took care of Heaven's four different parts; North, East, South, and West. They agreed because they know how hard we work to be in this position and how unfair it would be if I am killed only for the sake of people like Hideyoshi Kuno." Sakura continued. "Although once they arrived on Earth and into me, they lost their power of knowing the real face behind the mask. This is why they become even more protective over me."
She smiled at them and looked back at Sasuke who was listening tentatively. Who should he believe? Matsuo Tabi who had raised him since he was eight? Or the Princess that looked so innocent and sounded so wise that it was hard to believe she was lying?
He cursed the mission now. He should've refused if he knew this is how it was going to turn out.
"But the next problem is where you come in," she said and he blinked, back to reality as she mentioned him. "I don't have the energy to let them outside my body for long. The longest is only for two nights and that's it. I can also only have them out for twice a week."
Sasuke remembered Jiraiya's warning.
"If I pass the limit, the biggest possibility that could happen is death," she said. "But threats are coming almost everyday now; some of the threats the ANBU are unable to deal with. They would be too busy taking care of both me and the villagers. And like today, the enemies are too much. With that happens, and with no personal bodyguard around," Sakura narrowed her eyes and Sasuke remembered what happened earlier today, and suddenly he felt a pang of guilt ran over him. "They would automatically come out, even if I don't want to let them out," Sakura said.
"We can sense danger," Lee said. "Even with most of our super cool powers gone, we could still sense danger when she's in one." He patted Sakura's head.
"This is why," Neji looked at Sasuke. "You need to be around her. This is the second time we come out this week and she won't be able to let us out if she want to anymore. We won't come out even if we can."
"We could kill her if we do," Gaara added.
Naruto only looked at Sasuke, and with only that, the guilt was almost too big to bear now.
"What about the girl?" Sasuke asked after a while of uncomfortable silence. Other than to chase away the tension, he was curious. He looked around and the girl was gone already.
"She's my sister," Gaara said. "She's the Goddess that controls the wind, every time I come out, she and Kankurou would also come to help us protect Sakura." He looked at Sakura as he squeezed her shoulder lightly.
"Kankurou?" Sasuke looked at Gaara.
"My brother, he predicts the future since he always plays with humans," Gaara explained. "He has puppets of every human on Earth. He don't always play with them of course, he just keep tracks on what humans do everyday." He looked at Sasuke and narrowed his eyes.
Sasuke felt like screaming now. Then they must have known what his mission is!
"Although my brother is impossibly dumb and with hundreds of thousands of millions of puppets from around the world, it is really hard for him to keep track," Gaara said, he shook his head with disappointment. "So what he's done to help us is mostly see whether a big war is coming or not, and that's it. Even that is already too much work for him."
So basically, he's not that useful. And the chance of him spotting my mission is 0.000000001%.
"You are here to take care of the Princess," Neji said. "You should do your duty well, unlike—"
"It's almost time for them to go," Sakura cut him. Sasuke looked at her, confused. And then he looked at Neji who had a guilty expression on his face. Sakura's face looked calm but the hurt in her eyes were impossible to hide… from him. "Can you do your job, Uchiha Sasuke?"
Sasuke looked at them and sighed. Now he knows the truth about her, how she's dangerous. Now he could kill her anytime he wanted to since these Keepers were unable to come out after they're gone.
Suigetsu was right.
"Yes." He answered.
The four Keepers smiled at him and knelt in front of him as they bowed.
"Thank you," they said. And then they were gone. Sasuke's eyes were still wide even after a few moments. He didn't realize Sakura was already on her feet and was walking toward him.
It was when her lips touched his forehead did he realize she was in front of him. He looked into her eyes and saw the longing. The longing for his brother, for he resemblance Itachi far too much, and the fact hurt him.
"Can I trust you?" she asked. He looked back at her and she smiled. The answer was already written and spoken clearly in his eyes.
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Any confusions? If there are, please feel free to tell me anytime (^o^)
Sorry if it ends sort of badly, I just come home from the beach (hahaha) and is feeling sort of disordered, not to forget I still need to edit my story for Personal Project.
And for those who had no idea who or what Suzaku, Genbu, Byakko, and Seiryuu are I'm gonna sort of briefly tell. They're like those who take care of the four sides of China I think. They're from China, yeap^^
Anyways and anyhows, I promise more romance in the later chapters (=^^=)
Again, thanks for all the reviews. And of course, more reviews are appreciated,
~ButterCan'tFly.
