SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE! LONG STORY SHORT. PIANO EXAM, 1 MONTH, MUM BANNED ME. END OF STORY! I'm like secretly typing :P review please! I FINISHED A CHAPTER IN ONE NIGHT! PLEASE REVIEW! THIS WAS THE LONGEST CHAPTER I HAVE EVER WRITTEN!
Chapter 11
The men all looked at her in surprise and shock.
"Orochimaru? But isn't he dead?" asked Kankuro. "Sasuke killed him... right?" Sasuke nodded.
"Well apparently not as he is the only one I can think of that could make an invisible blanket that big is Orochimaru." Gaara leaned back in his seat, thinking about which action to take.
"Sakura, do you know where we can find Orochimaru?"
"How should I know where to find him?" She mumbled, looking away. Baki looked at her.
"Didn't you tell Gaara a few months ago about how you discovered that Orochimaru killed..." Sakura silenced him with a glare. He stopped in his tracks. Sasuke looked between the two people. Orochimaru is killed who?
"Anyway, I don't know where to find that creep. I'm going" With that she walked out and slammed the door. Sasuke turned back and looked at the other two men in confusion.
"What's her problem?"
"She's had it tough, let's just say that much." Sasuke had given up. He officially knew nothing about Sakura. Sakura still acted like she didn't trust Sasuke. What happened to the innocent annoying fan girl who pestered him all day?
SHE DIED
Very funny, I don't have time for you
I'M SERIOUS, SHE LITERALLY DIED
You don't honestly expect me to believe you
SHE DID SOMETHING TO HER INNER
What did she do?
I'M NOT SURE BUT NOW HER INNER HAS TREMENDOUS POWER! IF A INNER GAINS MORE POWER THAN THE HOLDER THEN IT STARTS TO TAKE OVER THE HOLDERS SOUL!
How is this related to me gaining her trust?
THE POWER TO KEEP THE INNER AT BAY IS EMOTIONS. RIGHT NOW ALL SAKURA HAS IS POWER WHICH IS ONLY JUST STRONG ENOUGH TO KEEP THE INNER AT BAY. LOVE, TRUST AND BONDS, ONCE SHE HAS THESE KEEPING THE INNER AT BAY WOULDN'T BE A PROBLEM
How come you know this?
ONE, I AM A INNER AND TWO, EVEN IF I AM YOU INNER I'M STILL YOU WHICH MEANS I'M SMART TOO.
Oh... WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS SOONER!?
YOU DIDN'T ASK.
ARGHH!
While Sasuke was fighting with his inner, he didn't realise that he had reached Sakura's room. He paused for a minute and was about to go but he heard a weird sound. It was like something going into wood and then footsteps. This repeated over and over again. He opened Sakura's door and because he is an Uchiha and he has fast reflexes, he narrowly dodged a whizzing kunai. Sakura was lying against the post of her bed and she didn't move a muscle
"Have you lost your manners too Uchiha?" Sasuke realised he has forgotten to knock.
"Hn, sorry" He questioned himself When does a Uchiha ever apologize? Sakura was equally as confused, Sasuke never apologizes...ever. She shook if off. Sasuke looked at her door which had many holes in it. On it was a picture of Orochimaru and several kunais sticking out of it. Sasuke took it off and looked at it. Not a bad picture of him...
"Why are you throw-"Sasuke was interrupted when the picture was snatched out of his hands. Sakura scrunched it up and threw it in the bin.
"It's none of your business" She sat back at her desk quite roughly which caused something to knock down on her desk, she quickly sat the picture frame right up. Sasuke leaned a bit closer to see the picture which he realised seemed to be the only ornament in her room. He expected to see the old Team 7 photo, the one which she valued so much but to his shock, it wasn't... He nearly fell over from the surprise. It was a picture of Sakura who smiled a little bit and man who had his arms slung over her shoulder. Sasuke could depict a slight blush in her cheeks. Something inside of Sasuke boiled, from the picture it looked as if Sakura and the man were quite close. He didn't like it.
"I'm surprised" he said. Without turning around, she asked
"About?"
"The picture frame" Sakura stiffened at this.
"What about it?" her voice was barely a whisper but Sasuke paid no attention.
"I would have thought that you would have the Team 7 picture because I was in there" Sakura got up swiftly and slapped him across the cheek...hard. Sasuke stood there shocked, no girl has ever and I mean EVER slapped him before, but as they say, there's always a first. Sakura looked up into his eyes, her eyes were filled with a dark and dangerous glint.
"Don't get cocky..." Sakura whispered.
"That hurt Haruno"
"Why?" Sakura looked down, "Why did you provoke me like that?" Sasuke's eyes widened a bit. So she realised...
"Ok the real reason is because I want to know who that guy in the picture is, I'm not surprised that you don't have my picture but not even Naruto?" Sakura's eyes were kept covered.
"Naruto doesn't have time for me anymore, he and Hinata got together after you left. Sai trains with Kakashi most of the time. I grew distant from them and they think it's my fault?! Well they can just kiss my ass. They were the ones who pushed me away and I didn't complain." Sasuke stared at her little speech. He didn't think that Naruto would do that.
"And there's you Sasuke. Why do you want to know who that man is anyway? You never cared about me or my life before so why care now? Please keep on minding your own business. It has been heaven without your nosy nose butting into other people's business" Sakura said quite harshly. She even surprised herself; she was angry and unconsciously took it out on Sasuke.
"Fine, I'll stop 'caring'. Just so you know, I never have and never will care about you; I take back what I thought. You haven't grown stronger at all; you are still that weak girl from the past. Don't worry, I won't care about you anymore. I'll let you keep your peace. Even if you beg for my care, I won't disturb your peace" he sneered. With that he stormed out and slammed the door shut up.
Sakura's arms lay limply at her sides as she smiled weakly. So he thinks I'm still weak huh? Thought so... I failed again...why do I always push people away? Am I really that afraid of getting hurt again after what happened to Kenji? She sat down at her desk again and looked at the picture frame. She touched the man's face. Kenji... Then everything went black
*Flash black/dream
"I must become stronger, I must become stronger" A pink haired girl was training like there was no tomorrow. She was pouring with sweat. Kakashi was always too busy training Naruto and Sai, so Sakura trained herself and sometimes obtaining injuries that sometimes put her in near-death situations.
"I have to become stronger, I have to become stronger. The hell Naruto and Kakashi, I can become stronger by myself" She kept on training.
"If you train that much, you'll die missy" a deep voice said. Sakura whipped around and said
"Whose there?" a young man emerged from the bushes. He was tall well-built man. He had blonde hair and was quite handsome. He could match to Sasuke. Sakura was unaffected after what happened with Sasuke.
"Who are you and why are you here?" she got into a fighting pose. He put his hands in front of him.
"I'm not here to fight. I'm Kenji Masato and I'm a new ninja to Konoha, I transferred from the Rain country" Sakura relaxed and put her kunai away. Kenji walked closer. She stiffened a bit but relaxed at his smiling face. He stuck his hand out which she accepted after hesitating a bit.
"Sakura Haruno" Kenji smiled... and kept smiling...and kept smiling. Sakura's eyebrow twitched and she punched his head, not hard enough to give him a concussion but hard enough to give him a big bump.
"What was that for Sakura-chan?" Kenji whined.
"Stop smiling, it's annoy-" Sakura stopped mid-sentence. She was about to say annoying. That word brought back locked memories; memories about a certain man. She shook her head, if she became like him, she would never forgive herself.
"It's distracting and don't call me that"
"Is my smile too charming for you?" Sakura old emotions resurfaced and for moment she was about to laugh and hit him again but she stopped herself in time.
"Stop dreaming, I can't be charmed"
"Hm... I see. Hey Sakura-chan, why are you training so hard? I don't know much about Konoha but I do know that you are put into teams. Where's the rest of your team?"
"Don't call me that. My team are too busy training for me" A question appeared on top of Kenji's head.
"Then why don't you train together?" Despite his Casanova look, he was surprising clueless.
"Because they consider me weak and a waste of time" Kenji's eyes grew into the size of saucers.
"WHAT?! ARE YOUR TEAMATES GODS?!"
"What.. No why would they be?"
"I mean, I've just seen you train and you are as strong as some of the strongest rain ninjas and believe me they are strong, so if your teammates consider you weak then they must be gods." Sakura couldn't help but release a small giggle and smile at his statement. Kenji smiled at her reaction.
"That's good, you smiled" Sakura stopped and looked at him
"What?" Kenji continued smiling.
"Nothing, I just realised that when I started talking to you, you never smiled, not once." Sakura felt something that she hadn't felt in a while; trust and friendship. Kenji slung his arm around her shoulders.
"Well to celebrate out new friendship, can you show me around town Sakura-chan?" Sakura punched him in the gut.
"One, don't touch me. Two, don't call me that" Kenji slowly recovered and got up. Sakura started walking away.
"Eh where are you going?"
"To show you around town, didn't you ask me to?" Kenji smiled and caught up with her. And that's how Sakura's heart slowly began to heal
*A few months later
"Come one Sakura-chan"
"No, Kenji. I refuse to go in there and take those creepy pink photos"
"What's wrong with pink?"
"Just no" Kenji begged her
"Please! I won't ask you for anything for a month."
"Nah I'm good"
"I give you anything"
"No" Kenji smirked, he knew how to get her.
"I'll teach you a new jutsu" This spiked Sakura's interest.
"What type of jutsu?"
"Teleportation using shadows and black cherry blossoms" Sakura's eyes widened, she was a sucker for shadow and black blossom jutsus.
"Fine..." she grumbled. Kenji jumped up with joy.
"Smile!" After the photos were taken, Kenji gave one to Sakura who said
"I don't need this"
"I want you to have it" Kenji held her hands.
"It's our picture" Sakura's blushed. She punched Kenji in the stomach.
"Don't touch me so familiarly" She ran back to her house. Kenji got up and shouted
"SEE YOU TOMORROW!"
Sakura ran home, and went straight to her room. Since Naruto and everyone left her, her room had been bare, she removed every picture of them. She dug around for an old picture frame and put her newly received picture in. She put it on her bedside. Sakura stared at the picture and thought
"Our picture..."
*Few months later
Sakura asked Tsunade if she could pull out of Team 7 for a while and team up with Kenji. However, she told her not to tell anyone. Tsunade agreed as she also thought Kenji was helping her.
"Kenji, Sakura, you will got to Orochimaru's hide out and collect information. Be careful" Sakura wasn't feeling especially good. Orochimaru was where that jerk was. Kenji noticed her change in behaviour but didn't want to pry. After they left for the mission, Sakura often spaced out and Kenji had to shake her to focus. They stopped for the night and Kenji decided to ask what's wrong.
"Sakura-chan what's wrong? You've been spacing out all day." Sakura stiffened.
"N-nothing's wrong, just tired I guess" She avoided his eyes.
"Sakura... we both know you suck at lying" Sakura cursed under her breath. It was worth a try. She didn't' say anything for a while.
"Don't you trust me?" asked Kenji.
"Of course I do" she burst out. Her face reddened and she retracted into her shell. Kenji smirked.
"I do trust you but I'm scared I'm going to break down"
"Don't worry, break down if you want to." Sakura couldn't take it anymore. She let everything out. She cried and cried into Kenji's chest while telling him everything; everything about Sasuke, and Naruto and their relationships, her parents and just everything. Kenji just listened and patted her back occasionally. Sakura eventually fell asleep and Kenji kissed her on her hair.
"Sleep well Sakura" he thought.
*The next morning
Sakura felt much better after spilling all that to Kenji. They found Orochimaru's hide out and started to collect information. But they got separated. Kenji and Sakura tried to look for each other but couldn't. Sakura was ambushed. A group of Orochimaru's men came out and started attacking her. She could manage them but she was distracted my thinking about Kenji, that she didn't sense an attacker behind her. He slashed at her back and she collapsed. She tried to defend herself but was doing a horrible job.
Kenji sniffed the air and he could smell fresh blood. His eyes widened as he recognised the scent. It was Sakura's blood. He ran as fast as he could towards the direction that it was coming from. He came to a clearing and from Sakura with kunai sticking out of her legs and arms. He would have gasped but he didn't that the time as kunai was whizzing straight for her body. He ran and intercepted... the kunai hitting his arm instead. He winced but ignored it. He picked up Sakura and ran away. When he was sure that the place he has stopped was safe, he put Sakura down and collapsed. He treated his arm and went over to Sakura. She was barely conscious. He didn't want to but he knew he had to take those kunais out of her body or they could get infected.
Sakura woke up and found her body covered in bandages. Kenji's face was lying a few centimetres away from her face. She sat up quickly, flustered. But her blush retracted when she remembered what happened. She was ambushed. Did Kenji save her? She looked at the sleeping figure of Kenji. She kissed his forehead. And to her surprise, he smiled. He opened one eye and she screamed.
"W-w-were you awake?"
"Yep" and he stuck his tongue out. Sakura's face turned totally red. She got up to run but Kenji pulled her into a hug.
"Sakura, I care about you so much, I was so stressed to see you in that state. Don't scare me like that again." Sakura slowly returned the hug.
"Kenji..."
"Sorry to disturb this lovely dovey scene but seriously it's disgusting" The pair turned around and found Orochimaru. Sakura was about to stand up but Kenji beat her and he stood in front of Sakura.
"Again" she thought. "I'm watching the back of my teammate again." An image of Sasuke and Naruto's backs came into her mind when they use to protect her. She detested it but in her mind she knew she was in no condition to fight. She was so engrossed with Kenji's swift movements and precision that she didn't see a kunai flying towards her. Kenji sensed something and looked at Sakura. He saw the kunai and ran towards her. Orochimaru stopped attacking and smiled. Sakura looked in confusion at Kenji racing towards her. She turned to see the kunai but was too late. She waited for the impact...it never came. She opened her eyes saw Kenji's face. He released her and coughed out blood. The kunai had hit his heart. Sakura's eyes widened with disbelief.
"N-n-no...this can't be happening...this is a dream right Kenji..." Orochimaru smiled evilly and melted into the shadows.
"Yes that's right Sakura. Lock away your heart once more. I have great plans for you."
Kenji collapsed onto the ground. Blood seeped through his shirt. Sakura was still in shock but her emerald eyes were brimmed with tears. She gasped and pumped chakra into Kenji.
"I can make it...Kenji will make it...come on" Kenji opened her eyes with much effort.
"Sakura...stop..." Sakura was now crying...something she hadn't done since Sasuke left.
"NO...you'll make it...you'll make it..."
"Sakura..." Sakura's hands weakened. Even she knew it was too late now.
"No... No... No..." she cried. Kenji lifted his hand until he reached Sakura's cheek.
"Sakura... I love you... I have since the first time I laid my eyes on you when you were training your ass off." Sakura grabbed his hand and sobbed.
"Sakura I love you...don't forget that." His hand became slack. Sakura looked at his face in panic.
"Kenji...Kenji?!" Kenji's eyes closed and they didn't open again.
"KENJI!" she screamed. White light overcame her.
*End of dream/flashback
"NO! KENJI!" Sakura sat up straight, her face streaked with tears. She looked at her surroundings and her mind returned. Suna, mission, Uchiha, sleeping. She looked at the picture of Kenji and herself. Been a while since I've had that dream... I miss you Kenji...