I don't think anyone actually reads this so skip right to the story, I'll give my report of excuses at the end of the chapter :3
Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto.
Monster
Sasuke heard his door creak open, he sighed and buried his head in his pillow. It's been almost a week since Shura came to live with them and she was starting to get on his nerves. Mainly because Sakura send her to wake him up instead of coming to wake him up herself, killing the chances of his morning kiss. And also cause Shura calls him-
"Chicken ass, get up. Sakura-nee's done with breakfast"
Sasuke twitched, if he could just reach for his holster by his bed side and just fling it at the little twerp standing beside his bed, he just might be able to pass it off as a misfire.
But Sakura is going to make a big deal out of it and she is going to further neglect him for the raven-haired girl. He then made a mental note to never have kids when he and Sakura get married. When he refused to get up, she just stood there. Staring at him with those eyes that don't fit the body of a child; it creeped him out to no end.
He sighed and eventually got up, shooting a glare at Shura. As usual the girl seemed unaffected; his glares were well known because even grown men cower in fear from the intensity. He sometimes wonders if that girl was actually a demon in disguise. Then a thought hit him.
Was it a male demon or a female demon?
Because it sleeps in the same bed as Sakura. Yeah, the bed that he only had the pleasure of sleeping in, once. It was so unfair how Sakura only knew the girl for less than a day and she already offered her bed to... it.
Sasuke was going to keep a close eye on Shura.
He came downstairs, to find Shura already seated and stuffing her face with bacon. The girl had a weird addiction for anything that came from animals. 'Definitely demon' Sasuke thought. Sakura came out of the kitchen with two plates, his mood was immediately lifted. "Morning, Sasuke" she greeted him and placed the two plates down before walking up to him and giving him a peck on the cheek.
He caught Shura rolling her eyes- then smirked.
After breakfast, Sakura left for the hospital with Sasuke accompanying him. Shura didn't like leaving the house so Sakura got permission from Sasuke to let her read in the manor's archive.
Sakura had just reached the hospital when she bumped into someone familiar outside the hospital entrance. "O-Oh, hey... Sakura-chan"
Naruto and Kakashi's were bodies beaten up, bruised and scratched everywhere. They had to borrow Chouji and Shikamaru's shoulders to be able to walk, though Kakashi was beaten up so badly he had to thrown over Chouji's shoulder in order to be transported. Sakura looked at the other, Chouji, Shikamaru and Ino. They looked like they had been in a battle but their injuries weren't serious. Where the hell had they been, and why were Sasuke and her left behind?!
"Naruto! Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura said, sharply. Sasuke smirked, looking rather amused. Where ever they've been looks like they paid for it. Sakura was not going to take this well.
Naruto and Kakashi found themselves being brutally bandaged by Sakura. Kakashi had just finished his part of the torture and was now lying soullessly on the hospital bed across Naruto's. Sasuke watched with a smirk on his lips as he watched his teammate and teacher get lectured by his girlfriend.
Sakura grumbled something under her breath about not taking her and being inconsiderate jerks. She gave his bandage a hard tug "Ow ow ow be a little more gentle, Sakura-chan!" whined Naruto, gripping his shoulder as Sakura wrapped his arm. Sakura grumbled something before shouting "How could you even think of leaving the village without a direct order?!"
"I guess we didn't have time to think about the consequences" said Naruto, sheepishly. "No wonder I felt something was wrong when I didn't see you two for two whole days! I thought perhaps you were training at some secret place or something" said Sakura, she lit her palm with chakra and proceeded to heal the massive bruise on Naruto's lower back.
"You should've at least told me, I would've went and talked to Tsunade-sama about it. Then at least we'll know if we needed to send a backup team to you guys" said Sakura. She always worries too much when people keep things from her. "Instead of popping out of nowhere, half dead and on the brink of collapsing. I scares me to think what would happen if you didn't return and no one would know what happened to you guys" Sakura's tone softened. Kakashi glanced at her with his sharingan eyes closed. Naruto turned his head to catch a glimpse of her stressed out features.
Anger struck her eyes once more as she turned her head furiously to Kakashi, who tensed at her glare. "And you! Sensei! How dare you sneak out of the hospital and into battle when you weren't due to leave the hospital till another week later!" she yelled at him. "W-Well, you see Sakura. I-I heard that Shikamaru and the other wanted to leave to get revenge on a pair of Akatsuki members and I couldn't let them go without an adult supervision" Kakashi quickly said,
Sakura's eyes narrowed at him then she sighed "I know you're angry about what the Akatsuki did to Asuma-sensei as well" said Sakura, she scowled at him again "But that doesn't mean you can go risk yourself as well" she snapped.
Kakashi smiled, his little kunoichi was growing up so fast. "Especially when you're my patient" she scowled at him. His face turned green with fear when he remembered the rough treatment Sakura gave to his dislocated shoulder, he gulped- maybe too fast.
Sasuke walked over to the door and slide it open only to have Ino, Chouji and Shikamaru stumble in. They had heard everything. "Hey, Sakura" said Ino from the floor. "Why are you guys standing out there?" asked Sakura. "Yeah, I wonder" said Sasuke, sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. Ino shot him a look then stood up, dusting herself. Laughing nervously she said "Oh, you know...I just happened to be leaning against your door when I was..." she glanced over at her two teammates getting up. "Talking to Shikamaru and Chouji! We weren't eavesdropping or anything" she added a little too loudly. "Oh... How strange, you all fell in together" said Sakura with a slight giggle.
Ino let out another nervous laugh. 'Thank god Sakura's a complete trusting idiot'
Sasuke wondered if Sakura actually had a disorder where she believes whatever she's told. Ino's face fell serious, she looked rather relieved. "E-Erm... Sakura." she began. Sakura stopped healing Naruto's injury, she was actually done. The bruise had nearly completely faded. "Is there something on your mind? Ino-chan?" asked Sakura. "Thank you... all of you" she muttered. "For saving my teacher and avenging him" she said "Ino..." muttered Chouji. Shikamaru looked at his blonde teammate, her words were genuine and her tone was grateful but a little frustrated. As if she didn't know how to expression how grateful she was to them. Ino's eyes started to water but before Sakura could say anything about it she wiped it away with the back of her hand and sucked in "I'll definitely pay you guys back. So be prepared" she gave them a quick smile before proceeding out the door with Shikamaru and Chouji.
Sakura just watched for a moment before a thought hit her "Ah, Ino-chan!" she called out, earning back their attention. "Asuma-sensei is awake, why not we all pay him a visit" Sakura smiled. Sasuke could see everyone's eyes widen, after all they had been gone for two days. In fact he was one of the first few to see Asuma wake from his week-long coma.
With permission from Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi were allowed to come along- though she was rather reluctant to let them move at all. They found themselves gathered outside of Room 206, Sakura told them to wait as she went in.
Sakura slid the door open only to see Kurenai and her slightly bulging stomach, sitting at Asuma's bedside. Their hands joint as they turned and look over at her. She gave an acknowledging bow of her head to Kurenai and the woman responded with a smile. "Asuma-sensei, you have visitors" she said before stepping aside and letting Ino, Chouji and Shikmaru in.
Asuma's eyes widened slightly before they squinted slightly as he smiled at them. "Yo"
Chouji immediately broke into tears as he rushed to his bedside, wrapping his arms around Asuma's torso before crying into it like a child. Ino walked in slow steps towards her sensei, hands clench as she looked down. Asuma was giving Chouji a one-arm hug as he smiled at his childishness; he looked up at his blonde student. "Ino..." he muttered, then slipped his hands out of Kurenai's and reached out to ruffle Ino's hair. Ino looked up slightly as she was biting her lower lip as tears continued to trickle down her face. "You did well"
Catching his word's deeper meaning, Ino's face scrunched up as she dove in and hugged Asuma the same way Chouji did, sobbing into his hospital robe. Shikamaru stood in front of Asuma's bed, with his hands in his pockets and giving his sensei a smirk. "Glad you're doing well" he said, but four words were enough for him. Anymore would be 'troublesome' to him. "Yeah..." said Asuma.
"Asuma ossan!" called Naruto, loudly. "Hey, Naruto" Asuma greeted the hyperactive blond. "How're ya doing" he asked with a his signature grin. "Well, better than you" joked Asuma, noticing Naruto's wrapped up injuries all over his body. Naruto laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.
"I heard you guys went against Tsunade's order to avenge me" said Asuma. Ino and Chouji sniffled and wiped their tears, knowing that their sensei was really alive. "Yeah..." answered Shikamaru, rumors do travel fast in the village, he had probably heard it from Kurenai who had arrived awhile before they came. They came out pretty lucky actually; Shikamaru didn't have any injuries besides that bruise on his arm when he fell from dodging Hidan's spear. Ino had a small scratch on her cheek and Chouji had a bruised palm. Naruto and Kakashi were the ones that had gotten themselves beaten up by all six of Kakuzu's heart but they made sure to returned the favor with 3 times the interest rate.
"You should know that I didn't want that, you could've died" said Asuma, his voice was stern as his students stayed silent, was he angry that they had risked their lives to avenge him? Well he should be, they knew Asuma wasn't one to hold grudges. But this was completely decided by their free will, they were ready to accept any punishment for it.
"But thanks" Asuma smiled at them and ruffled Chouji and Ino's hair. The two smiled at each other then looked at Shikamaru, giving him the 'I just got permission to go to the theme park' look of a child. Shikamaru had a small grin on his face. "Sure" he told his teacher. Asuma's eyes glanced over at Kakashi, the silver haired jounin was in his sleeveless shirt that clung tightly to his body and it came with a mask. "Looks like you got yourself battered up pretty badly, Kakashi" said Asuma. The two chuckled and rubbed the back of their heads identically.
They were both really similar, but different in their own way. They got along well and they looked out for each other. "I owe you one for taking care of my team while I was-" he paused and thought for the right word "Out of commission"
Kakashi chuckled "Well, Someone has to keep an eye on the kids" said Kakashi. "We are so not kids anymore!" retorted Ino and they laughed. "I owe your team for coming to our rescue as well, you've trained these kids well, Kakashi" said Asuma. Kakashi was beaming with pride. Finally Asuma turned to Sakura, who was standing shyly in a corner with Sasuke. "Sakura" he said. The pink-haired kunoichi heard her name being called and approached the jounin's bedside, Chouji stepped aside.
Sakura hadn't been particularly close to Asuma, the first time they had spoken was when Tsunade sent Sakura on an errand to deliver a mission de-briefing report to Asuma when she was still studying under the Sannin.
When Ino had started her apprenticeship under Tsunade as well, Sakura began to see more of Asuma. Although it was more like she watched from the sidelines as Ino talked to her teacher, since they always walk home together. Ino said it was dangerous for girls their age to be walking around after sunset alone.
And when Ino bumps into her sensei on the way home she'd stop him for a chat before going home, and by listening to their conversation, Sakura had a clear image of the kind of person Asuma was like.
"I never got my chance to thank you" said Asuma "So, thank you. I really owe you my life" his eyes unconsciously glanced at Kurenai then to her stomach. Sakura smiled "You're welcome, really I should be apologizing for using an unstable technique on you. It was supposed to completely heal your body but instead you were placed into a coma, I guess I still can't control it" said Sakura.
"But it was thanks to your brave decision that I'm here, alive" said Asuma, chuckling lightly. "I guess so" Sakura beamed, linking her hands behind her. "Right, out with the children" said Kurenai, shooing everyone out. Kakashi snorted "Children?" he said, outrageously. He wasn't about to let himself be classified as someone like them. Kurenai gave him a shove on the back as she pushed him out the room. "Family members only" said Kurenai.
Chouji turned back from the door "Then how come you're not leaving, Kurenai-sensei" he said. Shikamaru sighed at his friend's slowness. Kurenai gave him a grin "Like I said, Family members only" she gave them a warm smile. Realization hit them, but before they could react she had already closed the door on them.
"Those two must be doing something dirty in there" snickered Ino. Shikamaru and Chouji turned red, imagining the teacher they both looked up to, doing dirty things with Kurenai-sensei was rather disturbing as they never really knew he could do something like that. More like they just didn't want to imagine it.
"I wonder if it's a boy or a girl" Sakura wondered out loud. Ino clasped her hands together "I hope it's a girl" she squealed. "Well I hope it's a boy!" said Naruto. Shikamaru smirked, remembering Asuma 'last words' to him. His king. He had entrusted his unborn child to him.
Just then an ANBU member appeared out of nowhere "Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke. The Hokage desires your presence"
Sakura and Sasuke looked at each other then nodded. "Kakashi-sensei, Naruto. Go back to your room and rest. If I catch you out of bed and I'll make it so that you stay here for another week" threatened Sakura with a smile. It's usually the ones that can smile as they threaten that are dangerous- because you know they are fully capable of doing so. A shiver went down their spine as they nodded.
Sakura and Sasuke disappeared along with the ANBU.
They were at the Hokage's office in a few minutes; the ANBU opened the door for them and allowed them in. He left after closing the door. "You wanted to see us? Tsunade-sama" said Sakura. "Yes, it's regarding Shura" said Tsunade. Sakura's heart raced at the topic. She had grown rather attached to the little raven head; she even went to the extent of buying her a few outfits instead of that torn up yukata.
At the same time Sakura's been keeping her word about the reports every day, though she had yet to hand in a report for today. She had found out various things about Shura, like the fact that she was actually a girl from a village that had been destroyed by loan sharks 7 years ago, she alone survived. A passing shaman found her and raised her in his village.
She didn't talk about the beast much, but she said she remembered that a man with long hair killed the shaman and then when she thought he was going to kill her, he grabbed her head and that's all she remembered.
Sakura guess that she must've sensed her life in danger and the seal holding her back was triggered, kind of like Naruto's seal. Maybe she was going to find out what exactly was in Shura.
"After we've carefully analyzed her medical data, the damage on her epithelial tissues were the same as the ones on Naruto when he went into his four-tails. "So she's a Jinchuuriki?" asked Sakura, she had suspected that since the chakra of the beast was destructive like Naruto's Kyuubi chakra. "No, we believe that she is a Pseudo-Jinchuuriki with the chakra mixture of three bijuus, even though the amount couldn't be anything significantly high, as it was sealed in a 10 year old girl. However this just shows how terrifying the bijuu's chakra can be if fallen into the wrong hands" said Tsunade.
Sakura looked down, "Pseudo-Jinchuuriki huh?" she muttered. She knew how tough it was to be a Pseudo-Jinchuuriki, they had no official seal to hold the bijuu's chakra back. The release of the bijuu's chakra solely relies on their emotions; if the Pseudo-Jinchuuriki has an emotional breakdown they won't be able to stop the beast chakra from taking over. Maybe that was why Shura had acted so emotionless, maybe she already knew what was inside of her and tried to prevent it. Sakura had seen what was it like for a Pseudo-Jinchuuriki to lose themselves, she had nearly been a victim too if Sasuke and Naruto hadn't shielded her from his lunge. Sora...
Sakura wondered how was he doing, it was a little over half a year that they had last seen Sora in the fire temple.
"And? I don't think you would drag both of us here just to tell us that" said Sasuke. "You're right, I have a mission for you two" said Tsunade. Sakura felt her heart tighten, she knew where this was going. "I need you two to escort Shura out of the village" said Tsunade, her voice was grave as her eyes narrowed "I'll bet the word has already gotten out to the other villages about a chakra beast attacking Konoha. And no doubt they'll instantly assume it's a bijuu and they'll come for Shura." said Tsunade.
"But where will we move her to? Won't it be the same no matter where we try to hide her? She'll be safer behind the walls of Konoha" said Sakura. "The Fire Temple" Tsunade stated. Sakura looked like she withdrew her previous argument. "If she stays she will be endangering both Konoha and herself, and not only that but the next time she snaps we might not be so lucky to have you around to suppress her chakra. The village doesn't have the techniques to seal her chakra." said Tsunade.
Then Sakura remembered that the fire temple had scrolls filled with different types of ancient sealing techniques, they were currently teaching Sora how to control his chakra and training him to handle his bijuu chakra. The seal that had sealed the bijuu's chakra into Sora had come from the Fire Temple's archive as well.
Shura may have Bijuu chakra in her veins but unlike Naruto she couldn't do anything to protect herself. But in the Fire Temple she'll be able to learn how to use that power and she'll be hidden from the other villages. The Fire Temple was one of the most secure places in the Fire Country. Sakura had nothing to object about.
"This is an A - rank escort mission" said Tsunade. Sakura and Sasuke nodded, straightening. "Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura. Your mission is to escort Shura to the Fire Temple, I will assign Sasuke as the leader of this mission." Tsunade's eyes hardened "Failure is not an option" said Tsunade. They nodded and made their way back.
This was their first pair mission, since both their sensei and Naruto were out of commission. Sakura wondered why Tsunade was in such a hurry to get Shura out of the village, they could've waited till their team had recovered before sending them off to the mission. Then at least Sakura would have a little longer with Shura.
Sakura wondered if Shura would go willingly. What if she doesn't want to? What would she do?
She was supposed to return to the hospital to complete her shift but Tsunade gave her a day off with Shura before they leave for the mission tomorrow morning.
"Do you think she would agree to go? Sasuke" asked Sakura. There was a pause "It's not like she has a choice, Sakura" said Sasuke. "I know" Sakura muttered "But I don't want to think she's being forced out of the village" said Sakura.
Honestly Sasuke was pretty happy with kicking the little dweeb out of the house (cause he didn't like sharing Sakura) but he doesn't want Sakura troubled either- because he won't know what to do to comfort her.
They walked up the front porch of the Uchiha Manor, when Sakura opened the door. She found Shura standing at the doorstep, ready to greet her. "Welcome back, Sakura-nee" she said, there was a rather obvious ring of excitement in her voice even though she kept her face neutral as she always did. Shura didn't bother to even look at Sasuke, Sakura gave her a smile and as soon as the she stepped into the house, Shura latched herself as close as possible to Sakura.
"You're back early, is there something wrong?" she asked. For a 10 year old, she was awfully sharp. Sakura glanced over at Sasuke, who gave her a reassuring nod. Sakura knelt down to Shura's level "Shura... there's some-"
"You're going to send me away, aren't you" Shura cut her off immediately
Sakura was surprised when Shura cut her off, and guilty that she let the fact that she was, in a way sending Shura off show so obviously on her face. Sakura swallowed "N-No! That's not it, the Hokage has found you a new home in the fire country. It's a very safe place, and you'll-" Sakura paused for a moment "You'll be able to learn how to control your chakra there" she said. Shura stared at her with that blank expression; no matter how hard Sakura tried she could never read that little girl's expression. Even Sasuke wasn't this hard to read.
She bit her lower lip and waited for a reaction.
"So you're leaving me?" Shura muttered though it sounded off as more of a statement than a question. Sakura couldn't look her in the eye any longer "It's too dangerous for you to be in the village, Shura. When the shinobis from the other village arrives, I might not be around to protect you. But the Fire Temple would be able to hide you, the monks there are very strong, and I also have a friend there. He's just like you" Sakura poked Shura's chest. "He has a very strong chakra infesting in him too, but he's working hard to learn to control it" said Sakura.
"A-Are you going to take me there...?" said Shura. Sakura could see, her eyes were watering and her pupils wavering. "Every step"
The next day, they stood at the gate of the village for a brief moment. It was about a day's run to the Fire temple, but with Shura it's going to take about a 3 day's walk. "Are you ready?" asked Sakura. Shura looked up at her then nodded. Sakura took her hand and walked out of the village with her, she snuck a few glances at the younger girl only to catch her looking back at the village multiple times.
"It's been awhile since we've visited Sora-kun" said Sakura. Sasuke snorted "We never visited him" said Sasuke. "Exactly! I wonder how he's doing" said Sakura. Sasuke scowled, he hadn't forgiven Sora for attacking Sakura and he didn't exactly get along with the foul mouthed twit either. The pair literally cannot start a conversation with each other. One moment they're looking at each other then the next, they're throwing insults at each other like their life is on the line.
Sakura felt Shura tug at her hand and she looked down to meet her eyes "What is this, Sora person like?" asked Shura, sounding almost hesitant. Sakura smiled "Let's see... how would I describe Sora-kun" Sakura placed a thoughtful finger on her chin.
Sasuke made a scoffing sound "Arrogant, whiny little bastard" spat Sasuke. "Sasuke! Just because you don't get along with him doesn't mean he's actually like that" scolded Sakura. Sasuke didn't say anything. "Don't listen to him, Shura" said Sakura, laughing meekly. "Sora-kun is a very dedicated monk in training. Though he doesn't seem like it, he actually very nice" said Sakura, she glanced at Sasuke "Like a certain someone I know" said Sakura, in a louder tone. Sasuke snorted and continued being silent throughout the journey as Sakura laid out all the details of the Fire Temple "And then if you look around the buddha statue, you'll see a secret trapdoor around the back. The head monk keeps all of Sora-kun's manga there. Though it's our secret, don't tell Sora-kun" Sakura said with a sheepish grin.
Shura looked up at her with those blank but innocent eyes then nodded.
The day passed quickly and dusk came. Sasuke stopped and looked up at the sky. "We'll set out camp here and continue tomorrow" said Sasuke.
They headed into the forest and off the track as to no attract attention to themselves, when they've found a small clearing they set up a camp fire in which Sasuke ignited with chakra and volunteered to stay on guard for the first half of the night before jumping off, he didn't trail far. Sakura could feel his chakra lingering on a nearby tree.
The kunoichi dug into her pack and pulled out a bento that had been buried in the bottom of her pack. "Dinner" she said happily before opening the small box. Shura's eyes immediately lit up at the sight of onigiris lined neatly in the box.
She picked out the one in the middle and made a huge bite mark on the riceball. Sakura herself took one. In the end they ended up finishing the whole thing on their own and Sakura laid out sleeping back for Shura to lie in and sat right next to her as the raven haired girl slept. Sakura found herself dosing off at some point and she groggily looked up at the sky, it was a softer shade of dark blue and the moon is on the west, meaning it should be time to change shifts with Sasuke.
Sasuke had just finished his rice ball, he licked the pad of his thumb as his eyes trailed along the forest, picking up each and every detail and sound the forest makes. He was sitting on the tree a row deeper in from the campsite, in the direction opposite of the wind. If there were to be someone closing in he would catch their scent, a skill he had inherited from Kakashi when he was still training under the lazy jounin, though it's not as sensitive as Kiba's nose.
He sat on the branch with a leg up and his hand draped on his knee as he dangled the other leg and leaned on his other hand. "Sasuke"
His ears pricked at the sound of Sakura's voice and he turned his head to look at her. "I'll take over" she told him, he nodded and got on his feet and leaping off the branch and headed for the camp site. Sakura took his place and sat on the same spot as Sasuke did. She inwardly smiled as the spot was still warm with his scent.
Sasuke returned to the campsite and sat against a tree closest to Shura, his eyes staring intently at the sleeping bag heaving up and down by the little girl's breathing before eventually he decided to rest his eyes for a moment.
He woke up to the smell of the damp morning air, when he looked up there was dawn. Standing up and stretching his body he walked over to his pack by the smoldered campfire and pulled out a canteen of water and poured it into his mouth. He managed to get in 2 mouthfuls before Sakura landed swiftly beside him.
"Morning" she greeted him with a smile. "Any suspicious movements?" asked Sasuke, screwing the cap back on his canteen. Sakura shook her head, "You know I would've woken you up if there was" said Sakura. Sasuke shrugged "You tend to do stupid things" said Sasuke. Sakura chuckled before they both paused.
Then looked towards where Shura was lying, except she wasn't lying down anymore. She was very much awake, and staring at them. "Don't try to do anything weird around me" said Shura but her eyes were mainly focused on Sasuke. As she stood up and dusted herself and rubbed her eyes Sasuke twitched 'Un-cute kid'
They gathered their things and started off early, the second day is always the most important. If they manage to travel the main distance then the third day would go smoothly. They hoped that there wouldn't be any interference.
They got back on track and walked, though it would be a longer route but it was the easiest route to walk and since they've got a 10 year old with them, they might as well make it easy for her to travel. It wasn't like they were in any urgent hurry. As usual Sasuke took the lead; his senses were always on guard for any surprise attacks or signs of presence.
Hour after hour passed and they were still walking in the same pace, at some point Sakura played a word game with Shura and even tried to make Sasuke play. In the end he didn't because that would tarnish his pride to play such a childish game on such an important mission.
It was already mid noon; they had been walking for 6 hours without break and surprisingly Shura didn't whine or even speak a word of complain. "Are you tired, Shura?" asked Sakura. The little girl shook her head quietly and Sakura smiled before her expression turned grave.
"Sasuke" she said in a loud whisper. The Uchiha didn't flinch but simply replied with a "Yeah..."
Sakura inched herself close to Shura as they moved towards Sasuke who had already stopped walking. In a blink of an eye, they were surrounded by a dozen shinobi with white masks on clinging on their faces. "Kusa-ANBU (Grass ANBU)" said Sasuke, recognizing the symbols tattooed on their arms and hitai-ate.
They hadn't realized that they had neared the border of the Land of Grass. These ANBU had probably just left for an assassination mission and noticed their presence nearing their village and took precautions.
"Speak your purpose, Konoha Shinobi" said the one who seemed to be the team leader. "We're on an escort mission to the Fire Temple" Sasuke answered calmly, refusing to show any signs of openings to the enemy. Well they weren't exactly their enemies, yet. Perhaps they'll decide to kill them for fun for all they know, better to treat them like enemies now than to regret it later.
The team captain glanced between Sasuke and Sakura then down to Shura. He lifted his head back up to level with Sasuke before giving the Uchiha a slight nod of acknowledgment "Very well" he said and the whole team disappeared.
Sakura let out a breath of relief. "We must be near the Kusa border, we must be halfway there" said Sakura. "Though something seems wrong" said Sasuke. "What is?" asked Sakura. "ANBU shinobi don't just stop by and question shinobi from other villages like some kind of officers, and they never take the tracks so it's no way they bumped into us" said Sasuke. "So you're saying something happened in the village that put them on alert?" asked Sakura. "Could be, or they're hunting an unknown target" said Sasuke, maybe he was just thinking too much into it. He shook off the uneasy feeling and decided to continue. It was none of their business anyway. "Let's go, we'll try to reach the temple with the rest of the day" said Sasuke.
Sakura nodded, though she knew Sasuke wasn't looking but it was just a way to boost her determination. She started to walk but someone caught hold of her hand, she felt the small fingers wrap around her hand and squeeze. Shura had a weird look on her face, but something tells Sakura that the stoic little girl is scared. If only they had known what she felt.
Sakura held on "It's okay, they were just checking" said Sakura. Though that didn't seem to make Shura feel any better.
Around half an hour later, Sakura paused and a cold shiver went down her spine. That empty chakra feeling could only mean one thing. Sasuke seemed to have picked it up in the wind too, the smell of blood in the air. They knew that their Kusa ANBU friends were no eyes widened as he whipped his head around to look at his teammate and escort. Sakura had a look of fear in her eyes "They're coming in our direction" she said. They need to run, now.
Sasuke dove for Shura and scooped her up like a bag before nodding at Sakura and then jumping off. They dodged through the branches as fast as they could they were already halfway, they weren't going to be caught up in this mess. 'Failure is not an option'
Sakura's body went numb, the enemy was fast. Too fast.
Sasuke's eyes widened and he ducked to safely dodge a kunai, covering the back of Shura's head with his hand before tossing her at Sakura. The pink haired kunoichi caught the little figure with ease before jumping to a high branch to avoid being caught up in the fight. Sasuke knelt down to a squat, both his hands on the branch as he pushed his body up. Kicking both the attackers up the chin and throwing them off balance then he flipped over and decided to take the lower stage.
More attacks went after him, just half a second after he landed on the ground one of the attackers came shooting down with a katana. His blade was impaled deep into the ground and Sasuke took this chance to land a hard kick to his chest before pulling his Kusanagi out to slash him across the chest as he flew. Sasuke spun around and crossed swords with one of them that tried to sneak up on him.
Another one came swinging a kunai at him. Sasuke activated his sharingan and sent a stream of chidori at his attack on the left however it didn't connect; instead the masked shinobi had disappeared.
"Sasuke!" a voice shouted at him, he turned his head and found himself a surprise attack from the above by the same shinobi that dodged his Chidori Nagashi. A wild look in his obsidian eyes as he held a glowing kunai above his head, his body arched and ready to plunge it down on Sasuke who was currently occupied by the sword wielding shinobi. Sasuke pulled his body to the left just slightly allowing the kunai to come down to nothing just missing his shoulder by a millimeter.
He loosened his hold on the sword he was blocking but came back with a violent jerk to the front, making the shinobi stumble and jump back before Sasuke lifted his kusanagi over the shinobi that tried to stab him with a kunai with a swing of his arm he sent the head rolling. Wasting no time for remorse he moved on to his next target.
He lunged at the shinobi with the sword only to be interfered by a raid of kunais, his eyes narrowed in on the kunai with the explosive tag wrapped around it and send a raid of his own to counter it, the kunai with the tag had unfortunately been knocked in front of the swordsman shinobi and exploded, taking out yet another one.
Sasuke flung his kusanagi at the shinobi that threw the kunais at him, it missed him of course. However Sasuke was hoping to catch him in midair where there was no way for him to dodge. He raided the man with shurikens and formed a handseal "Katon, Housenka Tsumabeni (Fire style, Pheonix Fire Shuriken Jutsu)" flames wrapped themselves around the shurikens that Sasuke had sent at the man he didn't waste another moment as he formed more seals "Katon, Goukakyuu no Jutsu"
That ended yet another life. Without realizing Sasuke had activated his seal, his body began to emit a dark coat of chakra. He jumped and just barely dodged a Sound wave technique, though it managed to catch his left shoulder. His eyes scanned the area for the shinobi and when he locked his eyes on him, he formed a few seals before it was cut off by an immense pain growing from his left shoulder. He fell on one knee and clutched his shoulder.
"Raiton, Rairyuu no Tatsumaki!"
He heard his comrade shout and made himself look for Sakura when he finally found his teammate and Shura backed up against a tree as Sakura tried to keep off all of the enemy shinobi. For some reasons there were so many of them it didn't feel like killing them made any difference. Sasuke struggled on his feet and stumbled towards Sakura, he felt an incoming attack, and he pushed himself to leap forward a few steps, avoiding another round of the sound wave.
If he wanted to get to Sakura he was going to have to kill that guy first and he wasn't about to allow some douche to interfere when Sakura was in danger.
Sasuke threw the thoughts of the pain to the back of his mind and widened his sharingan activated eyes as his chakra overflowed from him and power surged into his body. He disappeared and reappeared behind his target with a kunai. He stabbed the kunai with the explosive tag deep into the target's back then jumped off and let the magic happen.
His attention was immediately turned to Sakura, he glanced over at his kusanagi before pulling it out and going to Sakura's rescue.
So far the pink haired kunoichi hadn't killed anybody yet, but she just had the feeling she didn't want to. She couldn't do much with Shura hiding behind her; all she could do was throw as many attacks at them to make them keep their distance their kunais and shurikens were always deflected by her barrier. Basically she was doing fine, but she was only stalling so Sasuke could take over.
But when her eyes landed on her teammate, her body went numb. His eyes weren't the same not only because he had his sharingan on but they looked so cold, so distant. So bloodthirsty.
Sakura mentally slapped herself for having even the slightest thought of fear for Sasuke because she knew no matter how deep Sasuke fell in; she has to be the one to pull him out. Sasuke worked fast, well he was always fast but with his cursed seal at full power he could harness a lot more chakra and energy.
There was also another thing different about Sasuke.
He killed unmercifully.
Sakura was beginning to worry, the usual Sasuke always showed small hints of remorse for every one of his kills but they all knew this was the path of a shinobi. It's either kill or be killed.
The last standing shinobi was send tumbling onto the ground, his neck had been slit and the blood sprayed onto Sasuke a little. Sakura was glad it was over, but she had an uncomfortable feeling rumbling in her guts. And she wasn't hungry.
Sakura's eyes widened when Sasuke swung his kusanagi around at her, causing her to throw herself back with the blade slicing the tips of a few strands of her hair. Sakura ducked and brought Shura down with her to avoid the sudden chidori extension of Sasuke's kusanagi. Sakura grabbed Shura and jumped down the tree only to be pursued by her very own teammate. She didn't understand why Sasuke was doing this. Was it because of the cursed seal, but he's never gone berserk like this after killing a few men.
Then it hit her, no wonder those techniques looked familiar. They were just like those techniques those sound shinobi used at the chuunin exams. Those masked shinobi were from the sound. She could sense more of them coming, they just never end.
Now she understood how they managed to take out a whole team of ANBU without leaving any survivors or carrying any loss. Because those 'shinobi' weren't real people. They were moving corpses; they must've had some jutsu placed on them, triggering bloodthirsty impulses throughout the body once you've killed them. They were like a drug and soon the impulses will take over the body and cause you to attack your own comrades.
They didn't kill the Kusa ANBU, the ANBU fought themselves to the death and that event was going to repeat itself if Sakura didn't do anything about Sasuke.
"Sasuke! You're being controlled!" Sakura cried helplessly as she dodged Sasuke's blows as she held on to Shura who was clinging onto Sakura like a child on a mother , she had her head buried in Sakura's chest, as if she was scared to look at Sasuke.
Sakura gritted her teeth and jumped up, landing swiftly on the branch, when Sasuke came chasing after her she winced and muttered "Sorry, Sasuke" before she flipped down, slamming her leg down onto the incoming Sasuke, sending him back to the ground.
She landed in front of him, "Sasuke...?" she asked. The rampaging Sasuke sat up, shaking his head. "Sa...kura?" he groaned. Sakura however, approached him cautiously when she sensed a sudden increase in the number of presence around them. She paused then let Shura down, as she straightened.
They were trapped, what's worst was that she sensed a particularly annoying chakra signature. "Orochimaru" she spat.
The long haired man chuckled and Shura's hands clenched a fistful of Sakura's apron skirt. "I should've known it was you, only a sick bastard like you would do something like this!" Sakura shouted- she was angry now. Shura looked up at Sakura; her furious green eyes were glaring right at Orochimaru.
"I suggest you watch your tone around Orochimaru-sama, Haruno Sakura" hissed Kabuto. Orochimaru raised a hand "It's all right, Kabuto" he said, licking his lips and looking particularly at Sasuke who was still at war with himself, his body was trembling heavily as his ominous chakra leaked out from his body. "I was just walking my dogs and look what flew my way" Orochimaru chuckled darkly "I didn't expect to meet you here, Sasuke-kun, what a surprise" he gave a creepy grin and looked from Sasuke to Sakura, his eyes landing on the small figure holding on to Sakura.
Shura was scared now, she was really scared. She had recognized that voice, that sinister chuckle and that creepy tone. He was the same bastard that wreaked her village and killed the only person that ever meant anything to her. She didn't dare to look at him, afraid that he'd recognize her- too late.
"Oh? What do we have here? This day just keeps getting better and better" said Orochimaru. "Shura"
The little girl was startled by the call of her name, but it wasn't Orochimaru who called her. It was Sakura. "It's going to be okay" she whispered to her.
Orochimaru pointed at Shura, Sakura's eyes widened "That" he said. Sakura placed her hand on Shura's shoulder. "If you hand that monster over to me, I will return your precious Sasuke-kun to you" said Orochimaru. Sakura snapped "She's not a monster!"
"Oh? I do believe that you've seen what kind of monster she is, now hand her over"
"And If I don't?" she said rudely.
Orochimaru's eyes grasped a wild look as they widened "Then you may die by the sword of your lover as I rip the little beast out of your bloody hands" he said in the most sadistic manner. This time Sakura did flinch, but not because she was afraid of Orochimaru but because Sasuke had just let out a piercing shriek of pain.
"S-Sasuke...!" gasped Sakura as she tried to reach out to him, but he was in a dangerous state and it wasn't a very smart move to approach him but that wasn't the main reason, Sakura had a responsibility to take care of Shura as well, asking her to choose between Sasuke and Shura was cruel.
Sasuke shot her a painful look, his hand clutching the side of his neck. Sakura bit her lip and her face looked sympathetic look. "You'll have to kill me first" Sakura gave Orochimaru a smug look, not one of her brightest ideas. Orochimaru grinned "So be it"
And Sasuke stood, his body looked limp as if he was possessed by something, then he lifted his head to look at her. Sakura released her Kaiho and built up her barrier, however it was interfered with when Sasuke flung a raid of kunais at her and she had no choice but to dodge it.
Sasuke wasn't going to give her a chance to bring up her barrier and Sakura knew he was fully capable of doing just that. Amidst the fight Sakura had no choice but to leave Shura by the tree and lead Sasuke's attacks away from her. She threw punches at him but she could never bring herself to fight Sasuke whole-heartedly, every time she spotted an opening she went for it, but halfway she would pull out and miss on purpose.
Sasuke on the other hand had no control left over his body, he was doing exactly what Orochimaru wanted him to do and he wasn't even conscious to rage about it. Sakura flipped back and jumped onto the branch, they brought their fight to the air and all you could see was the spark ignited by the clashing of metal and the loud clanging sound.
Caught off guard, Sakura made a misstep and Sasuke ended up behind her. He thrusted his kusanagi at her, catching her side. Blood spurted and Sakura forced herself to block the sideways slash that came with it by blocking the sword with a kunai and letting him swipe her to the side like a doll. She blasted through a tree and stayed there for a moment before her fingers twitched. By the time her nerves restarted and she was able to move again, Sasuke had caught her by the neck and raised her off the ground.
His sharingan pierced into her green eyes. She lifted one of her hands but Sasuke just gave her neck a tight squeeze and she brought her hand to hold his wrist. Sasuke seemed irritated by this and swung her around and slammed her back against a tree, his kusanagi's tip pressing at her chest.
Pain ran up her spine and if Sasuke hadn't been holding so tightly to her neck she would've shrieked. She had her palm against the tree as her fingers nervously feeling the bark on the tree. Past Sasuke's head she could see Kabuto casting a genjutsu on Shura, making her fall asleep and giving one of the corpse shinobi the opportunity to grab her and throw her over his shoulder.
Sakura panicked, she couldn't let them take her. She made a promise, Shura was going to be good friends with Sora she would be happy. Even though she wanted to move, she wanted to keep fighting till she had won but her body said otherwise, she could barely move her hands. Sasuke's last attack might've messed up her nerves.
But instead of worrying for her life, she was more afraid of what would happen once Sasuke snaps out of it and sees her dead with his sword stabbed through her. She knew Sasuke was the type to hold on to the past. He would regret it, then he'd seek revenge on Orochimaru and devote his whole life on vengeance, the mere thought of Sasuke wasting away his life like that because she was too weak to defend herself against him scared her. She tried to move one of her hands and when they twitched she knew she had a chance. She brought her hand up to Sasuke's wrist once more. "Sasuke"
Her voice was no louder than a hoarse whisper but Sasuke could hear her fine. She tightened her hold on his wrist; she injected some of her chakra into Sasuke. Passing through his nerves and freeing one side of his body from the chakra that entered him when he killed those corpse shinobi.
His sharingan didn't look that intense, Sakura hadn't been sure if that was enough to bring him back completely. "Finish it, Sasuke-kun" said Orochimaru.
Sasuke's eyes widened and he pulled back, he seemed to be struggling with himself as his sharingan flashed on and off in his eyes. Orochimaru had an amused look plastered on his face as Sasuke bounded off with Sakura. He nodded and the corpse army went hunting for them as he left with Shura and Kabuto.
Sakura's brain had yet to process what had happened as it all happened in a blur and her senses were dulled by the pain. Her vision cleared up and the first thing that she saw was Sasuke's bright red eyes, concentrated on the path ahead, he looked terrified, his expression was hard and his jaw was clenched and his cursed marks had yet to reside.
Next came the unsettling feel in her stomach as she could feel the forest slowly being filled by more of those corpse shinobis, they were in pursuit of them and they were closing in fast. Sakura strained her eyes to look for a hiding spot, but in the speed they were travelling at it was impossible in her condition so she figured she could try to come up with a plan with Sasuke.
"S-Sasuke" she said, hoarsely. She was surprised at how weak she sounded. Sasuke immediately silenced her "Shut up, Sakura" he said. He seemed angry, his eyes showed but Sakura knew his anger wasn't directed at her but at himself.
Sasuke's sharingan eyes scanned the area, taking in every single little detail. He couldn't afford any more mistakes, they lost Shura and he wasn't about to lose Sakura.
He saw the opening and he jumped, landing on the rippling water of the waterfall. He had ran himself all the way to the border of Takigakure (Waterfall Village) without realizing, the best thing about Takigakure was that it was filled with waterfalls off different shapes and with waterfalls comes water, and water just so happens to be able to cut off the scent for even the best of shinobi and where there's a waterfall there's bound to be an inward cave behind the waterfall.
This is where Sasuke had leapt into after taking a step on the water to knock them off the scent then into the waterfall where they got briefly soaked to give them a temporary scent of the water from the waterfall. Sasuke panted as he held onto Sakura, standing in the middle of the never ending darkness of the cave.
His marks refused to go away and if they don't go away he couldn't release his sharingan, he'll have to deal with it later, and right now he had to take care of Sakura's injuries. Injuries that he had inflicted on her himself.
He set her down gently on the floor and was about to leave to get some water for her when she refused to let him leave. "Stay" she said and he did. At first he sat leaning against the wall, watching over her but panicked when she tried to get up. "Sakura...!" he hissed at her, lunging to set her down again but she took a handful of his shirt and wrapped her arms around him, making him lean against the wall again, this time his body lay more slanted against the wall as he had Sakura lying on his chest and between his legs.
He didn't dare move a muscle; he laid motionlessly still as Sakura rested on his chest. He was afraid he'd kill her himself but he didn't want to let go, his conscious was screaming at him to let her go, before he does something that'll make her disappear completely.
Sakura didn't speak; her mind went hopelessly blank as she felt the heaving of Sasuke's chest against her cheek. She could feel his disturbed chakra flow, meaning that his seal was still activated. She brought out a little chakra and inserted it into Sasuke's chest without moving. Sasuke groaned as he felt his own chakra being pushed back by Sakura's, it didn't feel very good but slowly he could feel his control on his body returning.
His marks resided and his sharingan automatically turned itself off. He dared himself to move and when he did, he immediately wrapped his arms around Sakura; holding her tightly, and silently.
He stared at the opposite wall for what seemed like ages, his head felt dizzy as he was unsure of whether his eyes were closed or opened. The running water was all they heard and when he started to sense the existence of a hostile presence, quite a few in fact. He saw red once more. His protectiveness of the girl in arms riled him up, he wanted the world to just disappear and leave them alone, if he had to massacre the whole world to achieve it. He thought he really would.
If Sakura hadn't stop his manifesting seal. His chakra seeped out of his body and his seal was released. Sakura's small fist tightened a little on his chest before she murmured "It's okay, Sasuke"
His body tensed again as he forced the marks back down, his breathing heaving his chest once again. Sakura's hands clenched "It's okay..." she croaked in a much weaker voice before she drifted into sobs in Sasuke's chest. Sasuke stroke her hair before kissing her on top of her head "We'll get her back" he said.
Next Chapter
"Don't worry about it, right?"
"Won't be long now"
"I'll send the hounds on them"
"Hey Sasuke, what's with the long haired queer with the makeup that looks like a pedophile"
"I don't like kids."
Oh you're done! Great! I personally really like this chapter when I was going grammar hunting. And also I'm actually having a bad case of author's block at the moment so I'd really appreciate it if you can be patient with me as I try to overcome it :D
Also I have noticed that some of you don't know the prequel for this story. For those of you that don't know, the prequel is called Red Thread but was previously known as A Different Story. Currently the prequel is undergoing some revising so you can check that out, I do apologize for those of you that are confused. I will try to post the prequel's chapters as soon as possible.
Here's the question of the chapter.
Who do you think is the most badass character in the series?