Hello everyone! I'm so sorry that I haven't updated this in so long! Please forgive me! ^^; I've been working on And The World Stood Still. My next projects are to update Shizuku Oite Hana and Worlds Apart, Yet So Close because you've all been so patient with me! Thank you all!
And I'd like to extend a big thanks to everyone who clicked on my DragCave eggs! Right now, I have four dragon eggs (with will soon be hatchlings) and they need clicks or they'll die! While they're eggs, they have seven days to get enough clicks and views to hatch, and when they become hatchlings, they need so many more in seven days to mature into adults. Every click counts! There are links to all four AND my scroll page on my profile. Please help! :)
And please read and review! I hope you all like it!
Sakura glanced up from the Slytherin table and locked eyes with Deidara, sending him a meaningful look. She tilted her head slightly towards Dumbledore, and he and Kisame nodded. All three stood from the two tables at once.
"Hm?" Amy murmured in surprise. "Is something wrong, Sakura?"
Draco watched her like a hawk; he had returned from Madam Pomfrey's office only seconds earlier. Sakura sent a fake smile to her new friend, not sparing the boy so much as a glance.
"Oh, nothing's wrong, Amy-chan," she promised. "I'll be back in a minute."
Amy stared blankly after the rosette, while Draco studied her every move.
"...'chan'?"
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny exchanged confused looks as Deidara and Kisame followed Sakura's lead. The three shinobi stood before Dumbledore at the head of the Great Hall.
"Dumbledore-sama," Sakura began. "Would you happen to still have the message port-key?" Kami, I hope that wasn't the one Itachi took...
There were two port-keys that Dumbledore had to their world, as he had told them. One was for sending messages in scrolls to Madara and Pein, and those scrolls would appear on Madara's desk with the port-key. The other was simply a back-up for if one of them needed to be transported back to Amegakure for an emergency. If Itachi had taken the scroll port-key and shown up on Madara's desk, Madara would waste no time in disposing of him.
Her mind wandered to the Uchiha, but she forced herself to banish all thoughts of him.
"I do," the Headmaster replied calmly. "Do you, perhaps, require it?"
"Hai," Sakura confirmed, nodding. "Madara will be awaiting our first report within the week, and it's better to send it early rather than never."
"Very well." Dumbledore pulled out something wrapped in newspaper. "I had a feeling you would need this." He smiled warmly. "Merely tie your scroll to this and remove the newspaper. It will transport your scroll, and it will only return when Mr. Madara delivers another scroll. Be very careful not to touch the port-key once the newspaper has been removed, though, or you might find yourself going with the scroll."
"Arigatou," Sakura murmured, bowing. "She took the paper-wrapped port-key from him. "And, Dumbledore-sama..."
The teachers waited for her to continue.
"...could you please refrain from mentioning Itachi's departure to Madara?"
Understanding shone in his eyes.
"Of course," he murmured. "It is not my place to say such a thing."
Relief washed through Sakura, and she bowed again. "Arigatou."
"One last thing," Dumbledore continued. "When you return, I would like to speak with you three regarding some troubling information Professor Trelawney has told me."
"Which is...?"
"She said that you told her you were unable to read the books."
"Oh, that," Sakura mumbled. "Yes, we've had...difficulties reading the books. I don't believe your spell affects reading and writing, as we thought it did." The long-haired wizard nodded, frowning slightly.
"I was afraid of that," he said. "Very well. I will have copies of every text book translated into Japanese, seeing as it appears to be your native language. Until then, please do not hesitate to ask the professors for aid."
Sakura sent him a small nod, turning and walking away from the table. The three Akatsuki strode out of the Great Hall, stirring up confused conversations from every table. Kisame kept a look-out to make sure none of the students followed them as they entered an empty classroom.
"We've got about ten minutes before breakfast ends and our first class begins," Sakura mumbled. "That should give us enough time to construct a report." The other two nodded as she nabbed a strange quill pen from the professor's desk. "Is there anything you think Madara should know about Harry-san or this Voldemort character?"
All three thought for a moment.
"Maybe that thing with the dementor, yeah," Deidara suggested.
"What about it?"
"Well,... I don't know, that thing seemed interested in him, yeah."
"You could say that the dementor didn't go after the others," Kisame agreed. "It was like the thing singled him out."
Sakura nodded slowly, tapping the end of the pen against her bottom lip. "Yeah; I see what you're saying." She scribbled something down in small, neat kanji. "Anything else?"
"That Draco kid looks suspicious," Kisame offered. "And so does Snape. You think that's got anything to do with the mission?"
Sakura mulled it over. "I was thinking the same thing actually," the kunoichi admitted, writing another short string of characters. "Draco's dislike of Harry-san seems a bit over the top to me; I can't possibly imagine why he hates him so much."
"And don't forget his weird fortune from yesterday, yeah," Deidara continued.
"I forgot about that." She wrote it down. "You, me, and he were the only ones to get 'bad' predictions."
"Alright, what the hell are you two going on about?" Kisame cut in, looking lost.
"It was our first class yesterday," Sakura explained. "Which means you will have it with us tomorrow, since you switched to Gryffindor."
"Joy, yeah," Deidara muttered. "That lady's a freak'n nut, yeah."
Sakura sighed.
"We didn't really find out much, but that's to be expected. This is— what? Our second, maybe third, day here?"
Deidara and Kisame peered at the scroll to see what she meant.
"He told us to use the whole scroll, yeah," the blond pointed out blankly. "He's gonna get pissed if we leave it at four and a half lines, yeah."
"Well, he can bite my ass," Sakura retorted.
Kisame snorted. "Akatsuki has changed since he stepped out of the shadows," the Kiri missing-nin grunted. "It's not about catching the jinchuriki and using their power to force peace on the world any more. Now we're just a group of thugs that kill people who oppose Madara and burn down villages."
"Where'd our shinobi honor go, yeah?" Deidara wondered quietly.
"Madara needs to die."
The other two glanced at their shorter companion in shock.
"What?" she demanded. "You're both thinking it as well, but you're just too chicken shit to admit it." Kisame's eyes narrowed and Deidara scowled.
"Oi," the normally-blue-skinned man objected. "I ain't afraid of anything, kitten."
"Me neither, yeah," the Iwa missing-nin agreed indignantly.
"Then say it," she challenged. "Say what you think."
Kisame and Deidara exchanged a long look, but their expressions were firm.
"He needs to be taken down."
o o o O O O o o o
The dull clang of a rusty bell attracted the attention of the few customers in the small café. A tall man with long brown hair and icy blue eyes entered quietly, emitting a cold aura. The other twelve occupants of the little eating place stared at him as he made his way to an empty table, unconsciously shying away when he passed them. The man paid them no heed, pulling out a chair and sitting down without a word. It took only a moment for one of the waitresses to approach him.
"G-good morning, sir," she stammered, nervously tucking a strand of (dyed) blond hair behind her ear. "What can I get for you?"
The man barely spared her a glance, not seeming to care.
"Bocchan dango," he murmured. "And hot green tea."
The girl swallowed, nodding, and stumbled back to the kitchen to deliver the order. The man turned his head and stared out the large wall-sized window, deep in thought. And then, a single drop of rain fell from the sky. His eyes narrowed. Rain began to pour down on the cold, metallic village of Amegakure.
Damn. The man didn't even look at the waitress as she set down his plate and cup. The rain has started. I won't be able to leave until it stops.
He took a small drink of his considerably warm tea, popping one of the colored dumplings off the dango stick with his teeth and chewing quietly.
I suppose I'll be here for a while.
o o o O O O o o o
Seven people sat in a mildly dim room, very little words being exchanged between them. One of the figures — a male with short, dark hair — spoke to quiet the murmurs from the trio on either side of him.
"Madara," he said quietly. "I work for no one. Taka will help Akatsuki with its plans, but not as subordinates; as partners. And in return, you will give me what I need to destroy Konoha."
The masked Akatsuki member chuckled inwardly, wickedly amused, while Pein and Konan studied the younger man closely.
I wonder what he would do if he knew Itachi was still alive. He smirked behind his mask. "Very well, Sasuke," he agreed. "I will accept those terms."
The younger Uchiha nodded, grunting. "Fine. What do you need Taka's help with?"
"Capture the hachibi," Madara replied easily, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He has alluded us for some time now, and we need to go after the kyubi as well." He paused, reconsidering. "On second though, you close a close relationship with the kitsune jinchuriki, no? Capture him instead; he will be the most difficult."
Sasuke could care less that he was being sent to catch and aid in the murder of his best friend and almost-brother. "Hn. I'll have him here in five days."
His three companions exchanged uncertain looks, the silver-white-haired one tightening his grip on his (or Zabuza's, to be exact) sword. Madara's smirk widened.
"Then, we have a deal."
o o o O O O o o o
Sakura sighed as she sent the portkey to deliver her scroll to Madara, staring absently for a moment at the place where it had disappeared. Then, she turned to Kisame and Deidara.
"Now that the report is out of the way, we need to get down to business," she murmured. "We all agree about Madara, right?" They both nodded. "And I'm sure Itachi feels the same." She paused for a moment before continuing, seeming to debate whether or not to speak her next words. "In fact...we've often discussed this very matter and what to do if Madara became out of control."
"For how long?" Kisame demanded. "Why did you talk to us sooner?"
Sakura refused to meet either of their indignant gazes. "We were hesitant to speak to you, because we thought you might take his side."
"Are you crazy, yeah?" Deidara choked out, staring at her in disbelief.
"What were we to think?" the Yukigakure kunoichi countered. "You were his partner, and he was once Kisame's Mizukage."
"Kitten, if I wanted to take orders from Madara, I would've hunted him down a long time ago and killed the people that threw him out of office," the Kiri missing-nin retorted.
"Do you know who many times I nearly blew him up, yeah?!" Deidara exclaimed. "I've been trying to kill him since day one, yeah!"
Sakura grunted, crossing her arms. "Whatever; its all in the past now. We've got bigger problems to deal with."
Neither noticed that she had neglected to say how long she and Itachi knew Tobi was really Madara. "How are we going to do this?" Kisame asked seriously. "There's four of us and who-knows-how-many of them."
Sakura smirked. "Why, we'll do it shinobi-style, of course."
"But we're going up against both Akatsuki Leaders and the other half of Akatsuki, yeah," the blond objected, even as his lips twisted up and adrenaline coursed through his veins.
"It's a suicide mission," Kisame agreed, unable to hold in his grin.
"So?" Sakura shot back, almost playfully. "When are our lives not in danger?"
They all smirked at one another. "Then ir's settled," Kisame announced.
"Operation: Take Down Akatsuki is a go."
o o o O O O o o o
"Orochimaru."
The pale, black-haired sennin turned to lock eyes with his partner in crime.
"Ah. Voldemort-san. What can I do for you?"
A bald man with a flat, slitted nose studied him sharply. "Are you sure this will work?" he asked, his voice cool and etched with a rich accent. He gazed pointedly at something behind Orochimaru. "This will not fail?"
"But, of course," the Oto-nin replied smoothly, a large golden-brown snake slithering its way up his side to rest its head on his shoulder. Its beady black eyes pierced Voldemort, its tongue slowly sliding out to taste the air. "This will not fail. The wizards of your world have never encountered shinobi before, so they will be defenseless; they won't know what to do." He smiled widely, darkly. "And once I've helped you kill off this Potter boy and take control of the wizardry world, you and your Death Eaters will help me destroy Akatsuki and take over every Hidden Village of the shinobi world."
o o o O O O o o o
The soft 'tak tak' of sandals on the dirt road and quiet murmuring from every direction were the only sounds that filled the air. No birds chirped. No crickets chattered. No dogs or cats cast pitiful whimpers and mews toward naive civilians. An unbearable stillness was tangible in the air; every person — both shinobi and civilian — knew something was horribly wrong.
A nineteen-year-old boy walked quietly toward a large building, not uttering a sound; it was unnatural for him to be so silent, and everyone around him noticed. Strange looks were cast in his direction, but he couldn't see any of them. His mind was focused on something far away; on someone.
"Naruto-kun!!"
His foot twitched and he finally stopped, his blue eyes troubled. The other member of his former genin team — the one that hadn't abandoned the village — ran up to him, invading his personal space. His blond eyebrows furrowed slightly as he unconsciously scooted away.
"Oh," he mumbled. "...hey, Satoko."
She smiled widely at him, stepping closer as he took a step back. Satoko giggled, leaning forward just a bit to make a display of her scarily small outfit: a pale pink sleeveless top that showed off a bit of her stomach and a shockingly short dark violet skirt. She twirled a lock of her chin-length honey-blond hair.
"Ohayou, Naruto-kun," she bubbled, practically on top of him as she came nearer. "Where ya going?"
Naruto cleared his throat as he stepped back again, eyes shifting toward his destination.
"...look, Satoko," he finally said. "I've got to go. I'll, uh...talk to you later, okay?"
She pouted openly, stubbornly following as he attempted to leave her behind. "Go where?" she demanded.
"Just...somewhere."
Satoko latched onto his arm, pressing her chest against his elbow. "Where?"
Naruto held in a grimace as he shook her off. "...I've got a mission."
Her face lit up and her whining stopped. "I want to come!"
Naruto had never really liked his teammate; she was more annoying that the Ino girl, and she was awfully scary when she failed to bring someone under her charms. He wasn't flattered that she was flirting with him, because she flirted with everyone. He halting, becoming irritated.
"You can't," he replied flatly. "Stop following me." Before she could object, Naruto disappeared in a puff of white smoke. Satoko blinked stupidly before scowling and stomping her foot.
.
Naruto appeared in his Hokage's office, standing nervously before a woman with long pale blond hair pulled into two low pigtails. Her hazel eyes studied him for a moment.
"Naruto," the woman finally said. "You cannot refuse the mission I am about to assign you. Is that clear?" He nodded, stomach twisting with dread. "Yamato, kakashi, Sai, Nara Shikamaru, and Hyuga Neji will accompany you; no complaints. You are to track down Uchiha Sasuke and go to whatever means necessary to bring him back, dead or alive."
Naruto swallowed the sudden lump in his throat, trying to steel himself. He had known she would order it sooner or later. "G-got it, Baa-chan."
Usually, Tsunade would scold him for his comment, but not this time; she could see how hard this was for him. "Good. Be ready at the gates in twenty minutes to depart." He nodded again, staring down sadly at his feet. "Now, go." The younger blond disappeared from her office without a word.
Tsunade sighed and turned her chair around, gazing out the large window to peer down at her village. Her eyes grew distant as old memories surfaced in her mind. She distinctly remembered a young girl she had trained in Yukigakure fourteen years earlier.
I wonder if she's still out there...if she's still alive. Her heartstrings pulled. That poor girl. To be alone at such a young age, Just like Naruto. Her eyes took upon a thoughtful light. I wonder...what would've happened if she and Naruto had met? If she had agreed to come with me back to Konoha when I finished her training? After a long moment, Tsunade sighed again. I just hope she's safe.
o o o O O O o o o
A hand went into the air. "Professor Snape-san?"
The dark-haired man paused in annoyance, glancing down at the familiar pink-haired girl. She gave no sign that she had noticed his irritation. Only when he acknowledged her did her hand go down. "Yes?"
Sakura pointed to a line of text in her potions book. "What does this say?" She ignored the snickers around her, keeping her eyes locked on the man. Kisame and Deidara watched his as well, waiting for an explanation. He glared.
"I would appreciate," he murmured, "if you would cease to disrupt my class."
Sakura didn't even blink as she replied smoothly. "And I would appreciate if you would explain the assignment so I can complete it. Or is there some reason why you are unable to do so? Have I offended you in some way because I am Japanese?" Referring to herself as Japanese had become rather easy since her arrival.
The class seemed to hold its breath as Snape cast her a sharp look. "Miss Haruno," he said tightly, "perhaps you should ask Mr. Malfoy. I'm sure he would be glad to answer any questions you may have."
"Very well," the rosette agreed easily. "I suppose you are unable to. My apologies."
A few students gasped at her comment. Snape glowered. "Another word like that, any you might just find yourself in detention."
Sakura sent him a fake, dazzling smile. "Oh, but of course." When Snape finally turned around, she looked at Draco on her right, sliding her book toward him. "What does this say, Draco-san?"
He paused, glancing up at Snape's back before following her finger to a couple sentences.
"Er...it says 'Add in one ounce of mountain troll blood and stir slowly. When the concoction turns a deep violet, throw in a two fluxweed leaves'."
Sakura smiled brightly at the boy. "Arigatou, Draco-san."
He blinked, eyebrows furrowing before he shook his head. He watched as she studied each of the ingredients lying on their shared table. After just a second, she picked up a small vile of thick red-violet liquid and a couple dark leaves. Her lips curved slightly upwards, and the kunoichi poured the troll blood slowly into a measuring cup. When it reached the 'one ounce' line, she dumped it into their potion. A puff of lavender-gray smoke burst from the cauldron, but she didn't flinch or cough. Sakura grabbed a wooden spoon and began stirring the potion laxly, mint-green eyes focused on her work. Draco gazed in wonder as the brew began swirling into a rich purple, blinking again when the spoon was removed. She tossed in the two fluxweed leaves, pausing before she attempted to do anything else.
"What's next?" she asked.
Draco looked down hastily at the book, unwillingly to be caught staring stupidly at her. "Uh...next you push the leaves into the potion and let them soak." He peered up at her as she did so. "And then, uh...and then you add flobberworm mucus, bubotuber pus, and bundimun secretion.
"How much of each?"
"It says just a dash."
"Thank you."
He studied her again as she mixed in the three ingredients. She didn't look up from the potion as she spoke.
"Draco-san...?"
His eyes flew to her face before traveling back down to the potion. "What?"
"Why are you staring at me?"
He managed to scowl at her, but a small tinge of red dusted his face. "I'm not staring at you!" he bit out, turning his head away.
Sakura swallowed back an amused smirk, not having to look at the pale blond to know he was acting like a child. Oh, but weren't you?
Kisame snorted quietly at the table he shared with Deidara on her left, both of them exchanging a look. Sakura simply smiled as she asked what the next strange item needed for the potion was. This wouldn't be such a long day after all.