So if you don't know by now, I'm a name-dropper. With that said, I'd like to say thanks to TeenageCrisis, AnimaniacXOX, LadyNorth76, CassyRose, and InARealPickle, for the review-love. As always, thanks to everyone for reading and making my traffic stats soar :) Just a FYI, I probably won't be updating again until for like another two weeks since I have to focus on my final papers and exam :( But once that unpleasantness is done, I'll give all my attention to this fic over Winter Break.
Anyways, I don't own Naruto...probably never will and I'm okay with that.
Enjoy and review!
Tell Them Everything
"What's happening to her?" Naruto asked, never taking his eyes from the unconscious kunoichi lying on her stomach next to him. He was amazed at how his former teammate had progressed in her medical skills. Although unconscious, her chakra was working on healing the giant slash across her back. She had been lucky, if Kisame had put anymore force into the blow, he would have severed her spine.
"Troublesome, we don't exactly understand it ourselves," started Shikamaru with a sigh. "We noticed that her personality changes correlate to a change in her chakra."
"I noticed that, too. Sakura-chan didn't feel normal to me," Naruto confessed. He pulled his gaze away from the pink haired medic to look at Shikamaru. "Is it permanent?"
"It's getting worse," answered Neji. His Byakugan was turned on as he gazed at the medic analytically. "This is the worse that her behavior has been, and I guarantee it won't get better anytime soon. Her chakra flow has become so distorted that even her healing chakra has been corrupted. There might be a permanent personality change."
Naruto nodded his head in understanding, and turned a pleading but cold glare to Sai. "You're going to tell me everything that happened while I was gone."
Sakura, time to wake up, came a voice in a sing-song tone.
"Just let me sleep for a little longer, Mommy," Sakura mumbled.
I'm not your Mommy silly, the voice was followed by the sound of grating laughter, and Sakura bolted upright. She looked around to decipher her surroundings, but could only see darkness.
"Where am I?" Sakura asked in a shaky voice.
Sakura felt strong arms wrap around her from behind and pull her against a very feminine physique. You're with me, answered the now all too familiar voice.
"Let go of me! Why can't I see?" Sakura struggled against her capturer.
If you wanted to see so badly, all you had to do was ask silly, Inner Sakura giggled and snapped her fingers. A soft glowing light illuminated their surroundings, and Sakura discovered that she was sitting in a giant golden cage. The cage was spacious and elaborately decorated with a hand-carved dark oak bed that looked as if it was big enough to comfortably hold four people, a small but elegant two-seater table, a large armoire that looked to be carved from the same dark oak as the bed, and silken curtains covering the gilded bars. Next to the broken gate was a carefully polished glass case. Sakura stared at it curiously, wondering why it was practically empty until her gaze rested on Kisame's still grinning decapitated head on display in the glass enclosure.
Like my trophy display? Inner Sakura asked bubbling with laughter at the horrified expression on Sakura's face.
"You're a monster," Sakura cried as she jumped to her feet and distanced herself from her subconscious.
I'm not the one that chopped off Kisame's pretty little head now am I? smirked Inner Sakura walking calmly to the small table and taking a seat. She motioned for Sakura to join her. Would you like some tea?
Sakura joined her subconscious but declined the tea, causing Inner Sakura to immediately pout.
You know it's rude to refuse one's hospitality, she began still pouting, Besides, I never receive guests in here.
"Fine, just give me the damn tea," Sakura snapped with an exasperated sigh.
Inner Sakura squealed in triumph and snapped her fingers. Instantly, a teapot filled with hot water accompanied by a sugar dish, a small box of teabags, and two teacups complete with saucers and spoons appeared on the table.
Oh, but now we're hardly dressed for the occasion, she frowned at their matching tattered jounin vests and shredded shorts. With another snap of her fingers Sakura was instantly elegantly dressed in a long white silk dress complete with a red corset top cinched tightly around her waist to exaggerate her curves. White velvet elbow-length gloves, white satin flats, and a large ridiculously feathered white hat completed her outfit. Her short pink hair had been pulled back into a bun that hid securely under the hat.
Sakura immediately felt silly, like she was five years old again and playing dress-up for an imaginary tea party. However, she considered her outfit less ridiculous by comparison when she saw her subconscious' attire. Inner Sakura was regally dressed in a black Elizabethan-styled gown complete with high collar and matching black slippers. Her usually unruly hair was intricately coiled and piled at the top of her head. A large oval cut onyx, as black as her eyes, set on a silver band encircling the middle finger on her right hand.
"Don't you think this is a little much?" asked Sakura, wiping the satisfied smile off of her subconscious' face.
Honestly Sakura, you're losing your sense of fun, Inner Sakura bristled and began to pour the two of them hot water and handed Sakura a teabag before dunking her own in her teacup.
Sakura ignored her subconscious' comment and took a cautious sip. To her pleasant surprise, it was chai. "So where exactly am I?" she asked, putting her cup down.
I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet, sniped Inner Sakura as she took a sip of her tea. This is where the Old Bitch trapped me when she sealed me away inside of your mind. But as you know well by now, she continued pointing to the broken gate, I'm not trapped anymore.
"How did I get here?" Sakura added a few spoonfuls of sugar to her tea.
I brought you here when you fell unconscious so I could heal you, Inner Sakura sent a cold glare in the direction of the trophy case. Kisame hurt us worse than I thought. You're teammates are alright, she added before Sakura could ask. They're watching over you. I can hear their annoying chatter, she delicately pinched the bridge of her nose as if she felt the beginnings of a migraine.
"I'm going to have to answer their questions when I wake up," Sakura sighed, biting her lip worriedly.
What are you going to tell them? Inner Sakura leaned forward and fixed Sakura with an intense gaze, her dark eyes hardening to match the onyx stone that rested on her hand.
"What do you want me to tell them?" the question came out in a fearful whisper.
Inner Sakura smiled sinisterly and reach across the table, grasping Sakura's hand in a mock comforting gesture. Tell them everything…
"Her chakra flow is stabilizing!" exclaimed Neji, stopping Sai before her could respond to Naruto and drawing everyone's attention back to Sakura.
Naruto instantly dashed to Sakura's side marveling at the thin white scar that marred her back, the only reminder of the incapacitating wound. He watched Sakura slowly stir and gingerly touch her back as she sat up on all fours. It didn't take long for Naruto to scoop her up in a bone crushing bear hug.
"Naruto-kun…if you don't let go…I'm going to pass out again…" she squeezed out between desperate gasps for air.
"Sorry Sakura-chan, I'm just glad that you're okay," Naruto smiled sheepishly, loosening his grip but keeping the kunoichi in an embrace.
"That's the problem, Naruto, I'm not okay," Sakura said sadly. "I haven't been okay for awhile." She gently broke out of Naruto's secure embrace and faced all of her teammates. Her eyes locked with Sai's knowing gaze.
"Tell me what's wrong," Naruto coaxed, grasping her head and threading his fingers with hers. "I want to help you."
Sakura stared at their interlocked hands and felt the corners of her lips twitch into a small smile. She hoped he would still be holding her hand when she was done explaining. "To be honest Naruto, I don't exactly understand it all myself," Sakura began keeping her gaze on their hands. "I didn't have anyone to talk to, so she talked to me. I've always been able to hear her, ever since I was a little girl."
The four shinobi exchanged glances before turning their attention back to the pink-haired kunoichi. "Who have you always been able to hear, Sakura-chan?" asked Naruto.
"I thought she was my conscience," Sakura continued, oblivious to the exchange and Naruto's question. "You know how they always used to tell us as children that we should follow that tiny voice in our heads that tells us what's right and what's wrong? That's what I thought she was," her tone began to sound more and more pleading, as if begging her small audience for mercy as the judged her. "If I had known how twisted her ideas of right and wrong were, I never would have listened to her. I would have ignored her when Amie-"
"Amie?" interrupted Shikamaru. "You mean that girl back at the academy that always used to tease you for your looks?"
Sakura nodded and kept her gaze on her and Naruto's hands. "She had a puppy," she took a deep breath and squeezed Naruto's hand. Naruto squeezed back encouragingly and Sakura continued. "I just wanted her to stop making fun of me. I just wanted to stop hurting," she reasoned. "She told me she would help me, and told me I had to do it if I wanted Amie to leave me alone. So I gutted her puppy and strung it up in the woods I knew Amie used to take to get home—"
Sakura's voice broke off and she risked a glance up at her teammates. Shikamaru and Neji wore identical looks of surprised horror. Even Sai's normally emotionless visage held traces of disgust and terror. She didn't look at Naruto's face. She couldn't bear to see him look at her with a look like that.
"I told Amie that if she didn't back off, I would do the same thing to her," Sakura rushed on, returning her gaze to her and Naruto's hands. She was surprised that they were still so firmly interlocked. "She told me to say it so I did, and it worked. The next day Ino gave me that headband so it looked like Amie stopped teasing me because I changed my appearance. I felt so bad though, but she told me it was necessary, that sometimes you have to take extreme measures to get results. I was lonely and I felt like she was my protector. I thought that she was encouraging me to stand up for myself. I thought that the incident with Amie was just an extreme case because she didn't tell me to do anything like that again for awhile. It wasn't until," she took another pause to take a deep breath, but this time for another reason. This part of her story was more painful than it was shameful.
"When Sasuke left and you went to study with Jiraiya, I was all alone," Sakura began again. "I know you had to go, you had to get stronger and so did I," Naruto squeezed her hand comfortingly again. "It was her idea to ask Shishou to take me on as her student. I learned medical ninjutsu, and I gained better control of my chakra as well as made some improvement in taijutsu. Shishou was so hard on me, but she needed to be. Kakashi-sama had been so lenient with me that I lacked discipline. She didn't like Shishou being so harsh with me, and one day she just…took over. I don't know exactly what happened, it was like I just blacked out," Sakura looked up in time to catch her teammates exchange another glance with each other, and she looked back down at her hand still holding Naruto's although there was now some noticeable slack.
Sakura began to panic, but she couldn't work up the courage to look Naruto in the face. She couldn't bear to see him look at her and think she was crazy. "Shishou sealed her away, but this time she's not going to help me. She can't because I listened to her again and now Shishou is dead and it's all my fault!" Sakura was on the verge of being hysterical. Tears fell uncontrollably from her eyes as she began to ramble incoherently. "I wish Sasuke had killed me! Then I wouldn't have had to do what I did. I wouldn't have ended up in the hospital because I would have been dead. That hospital was hell and I could stay there anymore. I wanted to escape so badly that I had to listen to her again. She helped me get out but this time I had to pay a price. I can't control her anymore. I can't control her, I can't control her!"
Sakura broke down completely as she felt Naruto release her hand. She fell to her hands and knees, bowing her head in shame as she continued to cry. She wanted her teammates to stop exchanging that look every time she did or said something crazy, she wanted to stop hurting, but more importantly, she wanted Naruto to hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay, even if it really wasn't. As if her wish had been granted she felt two strong arms embrace her and pull her against a rock hard chest. She looked up and found Sai's face staring down at her concernedly. She turned her head frantically until she saw Naruto's retreating back. He didn't look back as he walked away from the kunoichi.
Sakura knew her heart was breaking, even though she was too numb to feel it. She also knew that the words Sai was murmuring in her ear and the looks that Shikamaru and Neji were giving her were supposed to be comforting, but she just couldn't feel it. She couldn't feel anything until she felt Sai's lips brush against her temple. With that simple, almost accidental, touch Sakura felt something inside of her snap. Suddenly she wanted to feel Sai's lips all over her body just so she could convince herself that she could still feel. As soon as the idea formed in her head she began to feel guilty. Sai had just forgiven her for a rather embarrassing, rather awkward, attempt to use him as her Sasuke substitute. She thought he wouldn't appreciate it if she used him as her Naruto substitute as well. Her cheeks flushed as she remembered the violent way Sai had kissed her as he demanded to be seen as an individual and not a replacement. She didn't want a repeat, especially with Shikamaru and Neji watching.
"Sakura Haruno," a voice called, snapping her out of her reminiscence. Sakura lifted her gaze to find Yamato and Pakkun standing over her, a scroll held in the nin-dog's mouth.
"Yes?" she asked, looking up at her former taichou confusedly as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.
"You're wanted for questioning in the attempted murder of the Hokage," Yamato said formally, grabbing the scroll that held her arrest warrant from Pakkun and handing it to Shikamaru.
"Kakashi-sama was attacked?" questioned Shikamaru grabbing the scroll and looking it over closely. He almost dropped it when he saw who had signed the warrant.
Neji looked over the lazy genius's shoulder to inspect the warrant. His eyes widened as he read the signature. "The warrant was issued by Tsunade-sama?"
Thanks again for reading, now it's time for the reviewing ;) I just want to give another special shout out to InARealPickle for kindly reminding me that this is supposed to be a romance as well so I'll make sure the next chapter has a little more love in it...cross my heart.
