Chapter 3: Crescent
The ember of the fire crackled as Kakashi carefully added more twigs and sticks to the growing pile. He looked at his two students, around the other side of the fire, leaning against each other on the trunk of a tree, blankets wrapped around their shoulders. A lonely sleeping Genma was seated by the trunk that was near his sleeping bag, his toothpick nowhere to be seen.
He noticed a presence and turned his head to see Sakura's eyes slowly opening. He grabbed a small towel from his pack and crawled to her side, and added water to the towel, placing it on her forehead. She turned her head as she smiled faintly, the pale color of her face, glowing in the dark.
"Sensei," She whispered, greeting him softly. He smiled in return and nodded, helping her sit up by placing a gloved hand on the small of her back. Her structure crumpled as she let out a small cry of pain, her eyes tightly shut. A hand darted to her left shoulder, squeezing it as she fell against his chest.
"Easy, easy," He softly reassured, carrying her so that she would be able to lean against the trunk near his sleeping bag. He brought her blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders, his warmth coming off him.
"How long have I been sleeping?" She asked, looking up at him with pained eyes. Drops of sweat slid down the side of her face as she continued to hold her throbbing shoulder. He gave her the small towel and sat down in front of her, a serious look on his face.
"Since noon Sakura, we have to let the Fifth Hokage know what's happened here." He said, reaching for his pack for a scroll. However, Sakura stopped him by grabbing his wrist quickly. He turned his head, surprised that she'd do that.
"No! Don't. She'll take us off this mission, and I won't be able to heal those shinobi from the Country of Lightning." She countered, her voice rising sharply. Kakashi stared back at her, his expression serious and nothing like it was before: friendly and cheerful.
"Your safety and health is much more important than those on the mission Sakura," He made a point, his right eye narrowing in silence.
"I know that, but those people are depending on us to get there and to heal their people; I can't just leave injured shinobi like that! They'll die before they get a chance of getting healed by me if we don't make it there in time." The pink haired girl determinedly retorted, her eyes blazing with intensity.
"But your own safety is much of importance as well," He quietly said, releasing his grip from his pack to listen to her words.
"There was a reason that they chose me to go and heal their people: I'm the apprentice of the Fifth Hokage, they know that they need me to heal them. What will happen if I'm not there? They'll send a complaint to her and anger will rise on both sides, all because I didn't show up." Sakura added on, meeting her teacher's gaze. Kakashi sighed and ran a hand down his face, about to say something when a soft rustle met their ears behind them.
In a second, everyone was up on their feet, kunai's poised as they surrounded Sakura, worried of her health. Sasuke's onyx eyes bore holes into the bushes while Kakashi stood beside Sakura, his fingers slightly twitching just in case they had to run. A pale figure stepped out of the darkness and into the light of the fire, revealing who he was. At that moment, Naruto put back his kunai and sighed, yawning in exhaustion, crawling back to his messed up sleeping bag.
"Sai, do whatever you need to do and get the hell out of here," Naruto mumbled, pulling the blanket over his shoulders and flipping over to his side, away from the fire, soon falling asleep in seconds. The ANBU gave Kakashi a faint smile and handed a scroll to Genma.
"I am sorry to disturb everyone's sleep but the Hokage wishes to see all the Chunins for an urgent meeting. I am to be Genma-san's substitute for now." Sai quietly said, meeting Kakashi's gaze. He nodded in approval and looked over at Genma who was now reading the scroll by the fire, reading its contents. Sasuke rolled his eyes and sheathed his katana once more, somewhat happy that Genma was leaving. But now, he was annoyed that his apparent "look alike" is now here with them on this mission.
Turning his head, he met Sakura's pained gaze for a minute and walked back to his sleeping bag, moving it away from Naruto and down on the ground where he could sleep peacefully. Sakura traced a small hint of pain in his onyx eyes before he left, realizing how worried they all must've been. She met Kakashi's eyes and nodded, watching him go to his sleeping bag to take a short nap. He pulled the blanket over his shoulders and fell asleep silently.
"I'll be keeping the first watch Sakura-san so why don't you get your sleep?" Sai suddenly said beside her, setting his stuff down next to her. She made a move to sit, but a burning pain hit her shoulder once more, and her knees hit the ground. Already, an arm was in front of her, stopping her from falling. Lifting her head, she saw Sai down on his knees, a concerned look on his pale face.
"Sakura-san?" He asked, carefully moving her to lean against the trunk. She took in deep breaths as throbbing took place of the burning in her shoulder. She met Sai's eyes and let out a sigh, pulling the blanket around her tighter.
"Something happened when we were in town, I was injected with something, and now-"She widened her eyes and dropped her head as something burned once more in her shoulder. Trying not to yell in pain, she bit her bottom lip till she drew blood, sweat dripping down her face. She gasped, as she took her hand away from her shoulder, seeing a crescent mark in her palm.
Sai was on her other side, taking a look at whatever it was in an instant, careful not to touch it. He pushed away the fabric of her uniform slowly and narrowed his eyes as he saw two crescent moons, the edge in the space of another. It was in black ink and it looked familiar to him. Widening his eyes, he realized instantly what it was.
"It appears that you have a curse mark," He stated, his soft fingers pulling away from her skin. Sakura widened her eyes in shock as she stared down at her lap, astonished. Sai walked back to her side, leaning on the trunk.
"A curse mark," She whispered, taking a glance at Sasuke; who used to have one of his own. The words of that Sound ninja came flashing back, her pretty face embedded in her mind. "Experiment?" She asked with a furrow of her brows.
"Kakashi-san told me to send a message to the Hokage, for that to happen, I need to know what went on here and with that mark." Sai calmly said, rolling a blank scroll out on the grass, taking his brush and ink out, ready for writing. Sakura met his eyes quietly and nodded, taking a deep breath. She told him about the fight in that abandoned town and about the Sound ninja that was Orochimaru's apprentice other than Sasuke. Sai opened another scroll and drew a bird, using his jutsu to bring it to life. Attaching the scroll to its leg, he sent it off into the starry night, its wings flapping in silence.
Sakura sighed softly and closed her eyes, making a hand seal. Sai watched her quietly, seeing what she was doing, not really knowing what it was yet. With a drop of sweat rolling down her face, she concentrated her chakra to the curse mark in her shoulder, hoping to ease the pain. Seeing the outcome, her left side no longer felt like it was on fire like it was before. Now it felt normal, that uninjured feeling.
She finished the seal and stood up without a problem, flexing her fingers, slipping her gloves on. Sai looked up at her in curiosity, wondering what she had done. Sakura looked up to the sky and saw a part of the darkness, getting lighter.
"I temporarily placed a seal on the mark, taking the pain away for just a bit. So we need to get to the Country of Lightning soon." She explained, packing her things up. Sai stuffed his scrolls back in his pack and stood up, slipping it on.
"Oh! You can get your rest Sai; I'll take this watch till everyone wakes up." She volunteered, waving her hand for him to sit down. He blinked in astonishment but shook his head, declining.
"I'm fine Sakura-san; I had my rest before I left the village. I'll just take a look around, why don't you wake those three up?" He pointed his thumb towards her three sleeping friends and then hopped on a branch, scouting the place for any traps. Sakura smiled and walked over to her teacher, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Out of instinct, he whipped out a kunai and clashed against Sakura's elbow pad, alarming the two sleeping friends to their feet. Kakashi immediately regretted it and gave his student a cheeky grin of apology. Sakura chuckled and shook her head.
"I asked Sai to send a message to the Hokage-sama, filled with what happened here; to me." She said, handing her teammates their packs as they rolled up their sleeping bags.
"Wait, Sakura-chan-how are you standing up?" Naruto asked as he slipped on his pack, adjusting his headband with a simple twist. She grinned and clasped the buckle of the straps, standing in front of the blonde ninja.
"Just a simple chakra concentration; however it won't last long so we have to get to the Country of Lightning as soon as we can, the seal I placed on the…" She trailed off; realizing that Sasuke, Naruto nor Kakashi knew that it formed into a curse mark…
"Placed on what Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, curiosity getting the better of him. She blinked and sighed, realizing that it was right to tell them. She shouldn't keep it from them any longer.
"My curse mark Naruto," She stated bluntly, meeting Sasuke's surprised eyes instantly. Kakashi stepped forward in caution, confusion in the atmosphere.
"From the injection?" He asked, an eyebrow raised in question. Sakura nodded and placed a hand on the crescent curse mark, not feeling the pain for now.
"I put a chakra seal on the mark so as to ease the pain so we can get going on this mission," She explained with a nod, taking her hand away from her shoulder.
"Wait-"Naruto said before Kakashi placed his hand over his mouth, muffling his questions.
"I'll explain what happened to you two on the way. Sakura, I assume you know where to go since you've got the scroll?" He asked, meeting her green eyes. She nodded and pulled out the scroll from her pack, reading the directions quickly before stuffing it back in.
Sasuke kept watching her though, his eyes on the spot where she placed her hand last, that wretched curse mark. Now she's got one too, he thought bitterly, his mind wandering back to Orochimaru who was still alive out there somewhere. Naruto had found him, changed his mind and chose to leave Orochimaru of his own free will. However, to know that his old teacher had another student? That surprised him, but now that his own teammate had a curse mark from Orochimaru's student?
That, he couldn't take.
He knew what it was like to have a curse mark. Anko did as well. They were both students of one of the legendary Sannin, some of Orochimaru's chakra running through their veins. From the pain that he felt, back when he was still a genin, it would be nothing compared to the one that Sakura has. That mark of his got stronger on its own, but Sakura's is different…it was already strong when it formed so the outcome of that would possibly be pain filled screaming coming from her. He clenched his fist, angry that someone decided to use her as an experiment. I'll beat Orochimaru if it's the last thing I do. He thought as the team rejoined each other, Sai jumping down from the branches.
"Are we ready to go, Sakura-san?" He asked with a small smile on his face. She nodded and jumped forward, leading the team on to its destination; the Country of Lightning.
Crescent
The inked bird's white wings gave the signal that something was wrong to the Fifth Hokage. It flew into the messaging center where all the other bird carriers were, a scroll from Sai attached to its foot. As soon as Shizune detached the scroll, the jutsu wore off and ink splattered against the table.
Tsunade watched from her window as Shizune released the seal, reading the scroll to herself. Seeing her apprentice's eyes widen with fear, a terror gripped at the Hokage's heart, worried for her other precious student.
"TSUNADE-SAMA!" Shizune cried out as she ran into the room, a stricken look on her face as she handed her teacher the scroll from Sai. Tsunade took it but kept her eyes away from it, watching Shizune.
"Is it bad?" She asked, her hand tightening around the bond of the scroll. Shizune closed her eyes, her eyebrows furrowed and nodded. She sighed, and laid out the scroll in front of her, hands on both sides of it, eyes reading down slowly. They narrowed as they ran over the last few lines and finally came to a close as she read Sai's name.
"So…my own student now has a curse mark of her own?" She asked herself quietly, trying to keep her boiling temper and rage from reaching its peak. Shizune knew what was going to happen next and braced herself for the worst…but it didn't come. Peeking out from her squeezed eyes, she saw the Hokage's form completely calm, eyes closed and breathing, quiet. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open and she stood up from her chair, slamming her hands down on the wooden table.
"SHIZUNE!" She bellowed, her eyes flashing dangerously at her student. The medic shook under her gaze, a twitching smile upon her lips.
"H-hai?" She asked, mortified. Tsunade jabbed her finger in the air, pointing at the door.
"GET ANKO IN THIS OFFICE AT THIS INSTANT!" She yelled once more, throwing her clipboard at the now closing door, Shizune's footsteps quickly receding to find the Jounin. Tsunade sighed and placed a hand to her forehead, extremely worried for her apprentice.
"I do hope she knows how to do a chakra seal…" She murmured, turning to the window, watching the villagers living their normal lives, while her shinobi out there are fighting for peace. The door opened and she whirled around to see Anko saunter in with a plate of dango.
"Yo," She said with a mouth full of dango, waving the stick of dango around. Tsunade leaned forward on her desk and narrowed her eyes. In a flash, she swiped the stick of dango from her hand and smashed it into the wall. Anko stood there, her eyes slowly meeting the squished yummy food.
"THIS IS NO TIME FOR DANGO ANKO!" Tsunade bellowed, shaking her by the collar of her jacket, getting some sense into her. Anko grabbed her wrist and backed up a bit.
"Okay okay, chill. You didn't have to knock my dango away." She said sadly, gazing at her snack. Tsunade rubbed her temple and sat down in her chair.
"Anko, Sakura was injected with something on her mission and now has a curse mark on her shoulder."She explained, finally getting the Jounin's attention. Anko clenched her fists at the mention of that wretched curse mark.
"Orochimaru," She hissed, her pupil less eyes narrowing down to slits. Tsunade nodded, now completely serious.
"Exactly. Now, what I want you to do is follow Team Kakashi on their mission, meet up with Sakura and give her some tips on what the curse mark does and help her out somehow. She also has Sasuke Uchiha, but….he's worried with something else so I need you to do it.
"Alright, I get it. You want to prevent Sakura from getting closer to Orochimaru right?" Anko asked as she turned for the door. Tsunade nodded and met the Jounin's eyes for a minute.
"I can trust you on this right Anko?" She suspiciously inquired, linked her fingers together on top of the desk. The Higher Jounin grinned and gave the Hokage a thumbs up, grinning.
"Of course!" She said, making her way out the door. Shutting it behind her, her lips frowned as her past floated up to the surface of her mind, images of herself as a little girl, almost dying from the power of the Heavenly curse mark. Clenching her fists, she walked down the hallway, passing a quiet Shizune thinking.
I won't let that happen to Sakura, she thought, completely true on her words. She'd hunt down Orochimaru herself if it was the last thing she'd do. To completely rid him of this world will be better for everyone else. It was her duty as being his former student.
Crescent
"So, what you're saying is that Sakura now has a curse mark?" Naruto asked once more, following beside Kakashi with Sasuke on his other side, completely silent.
"Yes, why wouldn't it be if he's been saying yes for the past ten minutes?" Sasuke said under his breath, not even wanting to deal with the hyper-active ninja right now. His thoughts were as of this moment on the pink haired kunoichi who was talking quietly next to a pale faced Sai.
What are they talking about? He asked, suspicious. The team continued jumping when he noticed Sakura's form stiffen. She suddenly took a large jump forward, leaning on a tree with a hand to her shoulder, arm shaking. Sai stood in front of her as the three of them stopped behind her, concerned. Sasuke already knew what was happening though; the mark was eating off the chakra seal she placed, slowly devouring the rest of it.
"Sakura-san," He heard Sai quietly say, his arm reaching out to help her if she needed it. Sasuke looked away from the scene, feeling envious of him. He was a better Sasuke than he himself had ever been to her. Looking back on it, the others had done some bad things too her too.
"It's okay," She replied, struggling. Instead of putting another seal, she took a breath and wiped the sweat from her forehead, turning to face the others.
"We have to keep going. We're almost there." She said, looking at Kakashi. He looked unsure but nodded anyways, needing to trust his student. In seconds, they were back in the rhythm of jumping, silence filling the air, except for Sakura's and Sai's quiet chatter. Sasuke silently wondered what it would take to rekindle the friendship that the three of them had before.
Maybe he'd ask her.
Crescent
"Say, do you like hot springs?" Sakura asked Sai out of the blue. He blinked back at her, tilting his head to the side in confusion.
"Why wouldn't I?" He replied, shrugging. The pink haired kunoichi chuckled slightly and was a bit relieved that he was here to interrupt the tension.
"I was just wondering if you wanted to go to one in the Country of Lightning," She explained, keeping her eyes straight on the path. A hand touched her shoulder and she saw Sai looking at her with such kindness that she though he had never even learned to mask his emotions.
"That would be nice," He commented, giving her a smile. Sakura was about to say something else when she saw something down below, breaking her train of thought. Putting her hand up, everyone stopped around her, curious.
"What's up Sakura?" Kakashi asked, jumping to the branch close to her. She lifted her head and put a finger to her lips, signaling to be quiet. She also signaled them to spread out. Following that order, they could see her from all sides, keeping watch.
Sakura hung down from the branch, trying to get a better look at what was down there. She spotted rusted metal, but couldn't make out anymore in the shadows of the leaves. Jumping down, she looked around and sensed that no one was around.
Suddenly, the scent of blood hit her square in the nose, making her widen her eyes as the sight she saw, froze her in her spot. The others were in the shadows, but couldn't see exactly what she was seeing. Everything froze around her, her eyes only fixated on the figure in front of her.
(Warning: a bit bloody here…)
An awkwardly bent arm stuck out of the cage, the long black hair of the girl spread out behind her, her neck snapped to the side, eyes open yet without any light. Spikes came out of her stomach and punctured her arms and legs, drawing blood.
A trap.
That's what she got caught in; a brutally held trap. Coming closer to the dead girl, Sakura bent down to her knees and took a look inside the cage. Judging from the recent spillage of blood on the grass…it was about a few hours ago.
Her head snapping up, she looked at the trunks of the trees, staring at each one with widened eyes. Placing her hands together, she made a seal and met her teammate's concerned eyes.
"Kai!" She called out, the genjustu disappearing in front of her eyes. Flicking her eyes back to the trunks, paper bombs revealed itself, its time close to an end. Drawing a kunai out, she got up to her knees, and saw everyone disperse from the scene. As she was about to jump away a little white bird perched itself on top of the cage, chirping.
Sakura cocked her head at it before realizing that it was too late. The bird met her eyes and opened its beak, exploding on top of the cage. The paper bombs reacted to this and went off, adding more explosions to her flight.
"SAKURA!" She heard her teammate's yell in a muffled voice. Landing on her side from the force of the explosion, she opened her eyes to see from distance; black robes with red clouds on them. Instantly she got up to her feet, leaping away from that man, jumping up into the trees to see her teammates.
"Are you okay Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as the others stopped behind him. Wiping blood off the side of her head, she nodded and looked down in the shadows to clarify that it was that person she had just seen. Seeing that it was truly him, she turned to her sensei and gave him a serious look.
"Kakashi-sensei, it's Deidara," She stated quietly, seeing his eye widen in astonishment.
"Time's up Sakura-san," A snake-like voice whispered in her head, making her grow still. At that moment, the seal on her curse mark dissipated and the fire on her left side returned, this time adding a horrible headache to her temples. Clutching her head, she fell against the only person who was beside her, Sasuke.
He caught her by the arms, her head leaning on his shoulder. Her whole body was shaking and that pale clamminess returned to her face. Kakashi put a hand to her forehead and narrowed his eye. He took a glance at Sai and nodded.
"Sasuke, follow Sai and he'll bring you and Naruto to the Country of Lightning, we're almost there anyway. I'll go see what this Akatsuki member wants and follow you there." He said, moving past him to go down.
"Wait, can we guarantee that you'll come back?" He asked, his eyes changing into the Sharingan. Kakashi grinned and waved him off, drawing a kunai out from his pouch.
"Always! I'm your sensei after all, and I did say before that I'd protect you three with my life." He said, looking at his three students carefully.
"But we're Jounin now Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto quietly countered, his eyes holding a confused look in them. Their teacher turned to them and gave them a small smile.
"I'm still true to my word Naruto," He replied before disappearing into the shadows. Naruto stepped forward but was stopped when Sai placed a hand on his shoulder, making him turn around.
"Naruto-kun, we must follow his order. He will come back just like he promised." Sai calmly reassured, looking at his other teammates.
"And you," He said, meeting Sasuke's eyes. "Don't let her go,"
Turning he led the rest of the team off, jumping through the branches at Kakashi's normal speed. Sasuke and Naruto followed quietly still worried for Sakura, but now for their own teacher.
About thirty minutes away from them, shot past a Jounin with a tan overcoat and a mesh body suit, moving at about five kilometers per second. She wasn't even using that much chakra and yet, she was getting closer to the strong chakra presence that was overpowering everyone else's. Narrowing her light brown pupil less eyes, she gritted her teeth and increased her speed, blowing splinters off the branch.
"Akatsuki," She hissed, the anger in her blood rising and mixing with the part of Orochimaru's chakra. Although it was sealed by the Third Hokage, she could still use forbidden jutsu's that he had taught her.
Will she make it in time to assist Kakashi?
End of Chapter 3
Hey guys! Thanks for looking at this again! I'm really happy you read it! Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! If there are any spelling errors I apologize, but if you point it out, I shall go and correct it! Know what? I'll correct it soon! So you can all fully understand what I am trying to incorperate. Haha! Well, please leave a review!
-FallenWing21