Sakura felt as if her head was once again submerged in the bubble of water used to torture her when she first arrived at the Root hideout. The roaring in her ears would not quiet and her heart thumped wildly with adrenaline. With her lungs feeling like they were made of lead, she struggled to breathe as her eyes glued themselves to Sachie.
The young brunette stood in a defensive stance, one arm clenched in a fist while the other still hung in its sling. Her eyes were steeled as she faced her opponent, a boy not much older than her. But Sakura could see through her facade. There was a slight tremble where her feet dug into the dirt floor and a quiver to her tense lips that gave away Sachie's nerves. Her eyes darted apprehensively as she surveyed the Root members surrounding the ring. To Sakura's side, she could feel Souta stiffen, mirroring his sister's body language.
When the captain's menacing voice announced the beginning of the match, Sakura's mouth ran dry. She didn't dare take her eyes off Sachie as she began to circle the boy with her fists raised protectively, the sling now abandoned by her feet. Sakura found the smallest amount of relief in the fact that she had the foresight to completely heal the girl's arm two nights ago. She didn't want to think about how this fight would fair had Sachie's arm not been healed.
As Sakura picked the skin of her fingertips raw, she repeated to herself that she should not underestimate Sachie. Timid as she was, the girl still had nerves of steel and Sakura herself had witnessed the immense progress she made during their spars. Sachie will win, Sakura assured herself. They were so close to freedom, Sachie had to win.
In the blink of an eye, Sachie's opponent made his first move, charging her at neck-breaking speed. He feigned right and Sakura had to suppress an approving smirk when Sachie didn't fall for his trickery. Just like Souta and Sakura had shown her, she ducked and faked a hit towards his midsection. As he focused his attention on blocking her punch, Sachie instead swept her feet under him, knocking him to the ground. Beside her, Sakura could hear Souta release a ragged breath.
As the battle continued, Sakura didn't dare look away, her eyes stinging with strain. Sachie was once again circling her opponent with a threatening prowl. There was a different aura about Sachie now, Sakura observed. It was as if she had adopted an entirely different personality, one that seized her body and controlled her movements to ensure survival. Nostalgia bloomed at the back of Sakura's mind at the thought: sometimes in a fight, your body just moves on its own.
The boy attacked Sachie again, throwing rapid punches into her forearms which were crossed in front of her face and chest in defense. However, her opponent took this to his advantage. While she focused on protecting her upper body, she left her abdomen entirely open, allowing him to drive a hard knee into her middle. When the attack made contact, the breath knocked out of Sachie was audible.
To Sakura's relief, she bounced back quickly, staggering only briefly on her feet before regaining her balance. Sachie dug her heel into the dirt and almost immediately had to continue countering punches thrown her way. She was smarter this time, moving her arms across her body to block as she predicted the boy's moves. She continued the delicate dance just as Souta had taught her. Rather than simply react to the attacks as they came, she was anticipating them, allowing her to stay one step ahead of the enemy.
Despite being able to foresee the boy's assault, Sachie didn't make any moves to switch to an offensive position. Sakura concentrated on the scene before her and imagined herself in Sachie's position. The boy's strikes were strong, albeit clumsy and slow. His movements were easy to block but doing so for too long wouldn't do her any favors as she could still risk damage to the body parts he was able to hit. She needed to find an opening, a weakness.
Just then, Sachie made her first move since her opponent began the barrage of attacks. With the side of her hand, she sliced into an area on his neck. When he dodged, she went for another strike to his temple. Sakura realized then what Sachie was doing. She was finding his pressure points. Sachie was trying to end the fight in the least brutal way possible: by simply knocking him out.
It was a risky plan, but seemed to work in her favor. Due to Sachie's small stature, she excelled in litheness where she lacked in strength. She was quick, able to maneuver between cracks in the enemy's defense. By concentrating on pressure points, she could conserve her energy and make the most of each strike by capitalizing on her opponent's weaker spots. Sakura couldn't help the pride that washed over her as she followed Sachie's movements. It was a brilliant battle strategy.
Sachie's punch to the boy's temple connected with a dull thud and he stumbled back, dazed. She began to advance again, but he recovered quickly, countering her next movements with a series of his own. When his next punch met the side of Sachie's face, Sakura drew in a sharp breath that almost left her choking on her own saliva.
But Sachie was tougher than Sakura gave her credit for. She recouped from the hit so quickly it was as if it never happened. The only indication that it did was the small trickle of blood down her chin where her teeth cut into the inside of her cheek. Sakura gritted her teeth as the fighting duo continued exchanging blows again, countering each other almost perfectly. Sachie, Sakura observed with satisfaction, was still doing well.
When she dared to take her eyes off the match for the first time since it began, she saw Souta clench his fists with so much vigor that he shook. As if feeling her eyes on him, he briefly glanced over to meet her gaze. Fear then anger flashed across his expression. Have faith, she wished she could tell him but settled with the hope that he could read the message in her eyes.
A loud grunt pulled her from her train of thought and she whipped her head forwards once again. Dust from the disturbed ground below swirled in the air, obscuring Sakura's view of the fight. Her heart seemed to stop beating until she was finally able to catch a glimpse of Sachie, pinning the boy to the ground. Her knees were on either side of him, her small fists continuing to target the pressure points of his body in measured, confident strikes. However, it wasn't long before he was able to push Sachie away.
As disappointed as Sakura was that he was able to escape Sachie's grasp, she was elated to see him panting. He was desperately fighting to catch his breath while Sachie stood with confidence, breathing heavily but showing no signs of slowing down. It was subtle but Sakura knew: Sachie was finally beginning to lead the match.
The young brunette was advancing on him now, all traces of the small and vulnerable girl gone. And for the first time since the captain announced the beginning of the match, Sakura saw fear in the boy's eyes. He knew he was running out of time. A couple more hits from Sachie could knock him unconscious and Sakura found herself leaning on her toes with anticipation, her confidence in Sachie rising with every step she took towards the opponent.
The boy staggered backwards as Sachie continued to approach him. Tottering dangerously close to the ring's edge where Root guards stood in attention. he was trapped. Sachie only needed one strong, calculated move and she could win this match, Sakura thought, just one more and they could regroup until their escape tonight.
Regretfully, Sakura chastised herself for not teaching Sachie the basics of charging her hits with chakra. It was unlikely that Sachie would have been able to do much due to her inexperience with taijutsu but even a little bit of chakra control could have provided her with an advantage. Sakura made a mental note to train the siblings once they escaped. Sachie was more than capable of protecting her family and it was about time Souta stopped being the only one with combat training.
A change in the boy's movements ripped Sakura from her internal monologue. He glanced nervously behind himself and at the guard standing at the edge of the ring. There was a twitch in his hand and Sakura realized in dread what he was planning to do. To her dismay, Sachie was oblivious to what would happen next as she stood right in his line of attack.
When the boy's hand wrapped around the hilt of the unsuspecting guard's sword, Sakura's body moved on its own, something she knew she would regret later on. Mere seconds passed but Sakura saw everything as if in slow motion. There was no time to think. In a flash, Sakura placed herself between the two combatants, with her back facing the boy. Eyes closed, she braced herself and prepared for the inevitable pain of a sword slicing down her back. But the feeling never came.
Turning herself around, she found that Souta had tackled the boy, knocking the weapon several feet away from him and to the outskirts of the ring. The struggle was quick, with Souta immediately knocking him unconscious before straightening up and standing between the women and the Root guards who were now advancing with their weapons drawn. Sakura channeled her chakra to her fists, readying herself for combat. It looked like they would have to escape with force after all.
All heads whipped to face the captain when he stepped between the trio and the guards, his head shaking slowly and his hand on his chin. Sakura immediately pushed Sachie and Souta behind her, shielding them with her body. She felt Souta resist but could imagine his look of surprise when her chakra-lined strength gave him no chance to push her away and he relented.
"It's a shame, Souta." The captain spoke slowly, his voice drawing out each syllable in a way that sent a chill down Sakura's spine. "You were our most promising recruit."
Souta didn't speak, only stiffened when the captain's eyes settled on his figure behind Sakura before trailing to face the kunoichi.
"And you, I knew there was something about you. We'll find out in no time in Re-education." He flicked his hands towards the guards and continued monotonously. "Get them."
Sakura sprang into action, her trained reflexes blocking and hitting without a second thought. Four Root guards were nothing to her and she easily defeated each one who dared to challenge her. However, when the captain barked orders for the thirty recruits to join the fight, she knew she was in trouble.
She could easily fight them all with one blast to the ground but she had to hold back. Sachie and Souta may be more skilled than the average civilian in combat but she doubted their ability to hold their own during her destructive movesets. She needed a way to fight that wouldn't inadvertently injure the twins. She needed a diversion.
As much as Sakura and Souta seemed to be at odds with each other, it was as if he could read her thoughts. With a quick nod, he reached into his pocket and retrieved the paper bomb Sakura had handed him the night before. Sakura did the same. As if on cue, the duo set the explosions off before leaping into action once again.
In the commotion of the blast and hidden beneath the thick layer of smoke and dust that formed around them, Sakura and Souta summoned shadow clones and sent them running in opposite directions. Satisfied when the recruits split up to chase the clones, Sakura grasped the twins by each of their wrists and pulled them in the direction of the exit that Lady Katsuyu had discovered. She could feel them struggle to match her speed but she paid it no mind. They needed to move fast and she didn't care how roughly she needed to drag them.
When they reached the entrance of the supply room, Sachie jerked her hand from Sakura's grasp and immediately doubled over. Hands on her knees, she panted raggedly, sweat pooling on her forehead and dripping to the ground. Souta beside her breathed just as heavily but his eyes were alert, scanning the corridor behind them for intruders.
Fortunately, it looked like their pursuers had fallen for Sakura and Souta's trick and Sakura couldn't sense any chakra following them. Knowing this, she allowed Sachie and Souta to catch their breaths as she concentrated on what awaited them behind the door of the supply room. Six chakra signatures, she sensed, and readied herself for another battle.
Turning to Souta, she caught his eye and held up six fingers, indicating the number of enemies he should expect. With a nod, he fell into position beside her and pushed Sachie behind himself protectively. In a line, the trio advanced to the door. With her fingers again, Sakura signaled a countdown as she wrapped her hand around the knob.
Channeling her strength, she pushed the door open with such force that the wood snapped off its hinges. Sakura used this to her advantage, shoving the large object in the direction of where she sensed a chakra signature. She spared the Root member a quick glance, satisfied that the impact had knocked him out before scanning the room for additional opponents.
Sachie, Souta, and Sakura stood with their backs together as the remaining guards surrounded them. Souta was the first to spring into action, charging the guard standing directly in front of him. Sakura was next, ramming her fist into the cheek of one guard before twisting her hips to throw a kick towards another.
As the adrenaline pumped in her veins, Sakura couldn't help but smirk at the thrill that traveled through her body. Other than when she performed medical ninjutsu, she felt almost at home when she fought. Despite the quick pace of a battle, Sakura's body moved with grace and engaged in maneuvers so familiar, it left the taste of nostalgia on her tongue. She felt best this way, exhilarated by her show of strength. Sakura was humble, that was for sure, but there was a part of her ego that was prideful of how far she had come as a shinobi.
Sakura fought with only a quarter of her strength, saving up her chakra in case she needed to break through concrete to create an opening for escape. At the corner of her eye, she could see Souta exchanging blows with a guard, another one lying unconscious at his feet. As she searched the room for Sachie, a foot connecting with her chest left Sakura stumbling backwards. A painful crack resounded in her ear followed by a burning in her ribcage. Sakura cursed under her breath at her fractured bone before directing some chakra to the injury to heal it. Simultaneously, she delivered a final uppercut to her assailant, knocking the guard unconscious.
Souta was at a standstill with the guard he was fighting, their fists locked together in a battle of brute strength. When Sakura searched for Sachie again, her heart dropped. The small girl was lying in a heap on the floor, her brown locks obscuring her face. Hoping she was simply out of chakra from her previous fight, Sakura rushed to her side. She quickly ran a chakra-lined hand across the girl's body, finding poison in her bloodstream. Someone had injected her with a drug.
Sakura realized then that there was one guard still unaccounted for and by the looks of it, that guard was stronger than the rest. This Root member in particular could suppress their chakra. No matter how much she concentrated, she couldn't locate them but she knew better than to assume she was safe. This guard was waiting for an opening to take them down one by one and she needed to act fast if she wanted to avoid a surprise attack.
She checked the possible locations: first to her left, then to her right. There was no way for the guard to bury themselves underground so it only left one possible answer. As soon as Sakura made her move towards the figure clinging to the ceiling, it dropped down straight towards Souta's back.
With only a fraction of a second to react, Sakura once again placed herself in between her comrade and incoming danger. Souta, noticing the commotion behind him, quickly disarmed the guard he was fighting and shoved him against the wall, knocking him out with a hard slam of his skull to the wood. However, it was too late.
Sakura felt a prick in her neck as the poison was injected into her veins. With the remaining strength she had before the substance took effect, she grasped the guard's arm and flipped him over her shoulder before slamming his head into the ground. The sudden motion caused her head to spin and she collapsed, falling right beside Sachie.
When Souta hovered above them, Sakura could tell that he was shouting but she couldn't make out the words—couldn't move her limbs to signal to him to take Sachie and run. The poison, she realized, had a paralyzing effect and it was taking over her body at a rapid pace. She wanted to curse when her muscles began to freeze. Typically, Sakura would have been immune to poison but this one was unfamiliar. Just like the poison that the man in the forest used on himself, this substance was completely novel and Sakura could no longer fight it.
Behind Souta, she could see the guard who injected her get up and ready a needle in his hand. She strained herself to shout at Souta to turn around but her body no longer listened to commands. Her mind was screaming and she desperately willed herself to move but only succeeded in digging her nails into the palm of her hands. The last thing she saw was Souta's shocked expression as the needle plunged into his throat. Then, the world turned black.
The first thing she heard was the rattling noise of wheels rolling across a rugged cobblestone path. As her senses came back to her one by one, Sakura could tell that she was lying on her side on the floor, her arms tied behind her back and feet bound together. As her body shook from the rough terrain, she also deduced that she was in some sort of horse-drawn wagon likely heading towards Re-education.
The second thought that came to her mind revolved around the whereabouts of Sachie and Souta. Concentrating, she willed chakra to flood to the front of her brain but found none. She pulled again, straining against whatever mental block stood in her way but to no avail. The poison was still in her system, suppressing her chakra supply and preventing her from sensing if the twins were nearby. With her strength unavailable to her, Sakura could only continue pretending to be unconscious as she faced her dreadful fate.
At least an hour passed by the time Sakura felt the wagon stop. Judging by the sound of crickets that met her ears, even more time had gone by since she was first injected with the drug. She deduced that she had been out for at least three hours as it was barely after lunch that the battles at the training grounds took place. Wherever she was, it was evening now.
Sakura had to suppress jumping in surprise when a loud noise sounded right by her ear. Eyes closed and limbs restrained, she used the only other senses available to her. The air smelled dry and dense but earthy, as if it had recently rained. When she concentrated on the sounds, she realized that bodies beside her were being dragged off the wagon and heaved away. She hoped silently that if the twins somehow did not miraculously escape without her that they would be brought to the same place. At least that way, she could help them escape together.
It took almost all her energy to keep her body limp and pretend to still be unconscious when it was her turn to be relocated. Rough arms grabbed her by the legs and pulled her out of the wagon, causing her body to fall ungracefully to the ground. She landed face-first in the dirt and fought the urge to turn herself upright as she bought herself time to think of an escape plan.
She tried again to channel her chakra but it felt like a lid she couldn't quite grasp the handle of. Her chakra was about to boil over and leak past the cracks, she could feel it, but it wasn't enough. The small tendrils of chakra that she managed to hold onto dissipated in her hands before she was able to break her restraints. Frustrated, she felt the back of her eyes burn as angry tears threatened to spill.
As inconspicuous as she could, Sakura took several calming breaths. She needed to face it now. There was no way her chakra control would return to her in time for her to break herself out. The only left for her to do was to capitalize on the fact that they thought she was still unconscious and gather as much intel as she could. If she was going to break out this time, she needed to be smarter and more prepared than she was before.
Sakura felt strong arms violently grasp her body before throwing her over their shoulder. As she was carried, Sakura counted each step and turn they made, creating a mental map of their route. When the smell of the night air evaporated and morphed into an earthy, humid scent, she knew she was being brought underground.
She could tell that they were being brought down a narrow corridor when the footsteps she originally heard to her side were now only concentrated in front and behind whoever was carrying her. Confident that no one would see her as her head hung upside on the person's back, Sakura dared to peek down at their heels. There, she found that they were walking along rough dirt, illuminated only by what she could assume was torchlight.
Her mental map of the area grew and she committed the route to memory. While the rough terrain did not change, Sakura could see that they eventually arrived at a wider corridor after taking several twists and turns. On either side, she could scarcely make out the junction between several doors and the ground. That was when she realized they were being brought to a jail cell.
When she felt her weight shift, Sakura squeezed her eyes shut once again. The groan of a cell door opening confirmed her suspicions about where they were headed. Re-education was just as she expected: some sort of prison to punish those who were deemed unworthy of continuing the Root recruitment process. She had to suppress a shudder when her mind drifted to ponder exactly what punishment this facility had in store.
Violently, she was dropped to the ground, landing harshly on her shoulder. She was glad that her years of shinobi training had left her fairly invincible to pain or else she would have winced and given her consciousness away. The same arms that carried her before tugged painfully at her wrists, pulling her body by the ropes binding her hands. As she was dragged across the gravel, friction left stinging rashes on her cheek.
She felt additional restraints on her wrists and the hollow sound of metal clanking together alerted her to the fact that she was being chained to some sort of object; a pole or a wall perhaps. Around her, additional noises resounded and she deduced that whoever was dragged here with her were also being restrained the same way. She wondered if it was Souta and Sachie but a small part of her still held onto the fraction of hope that they somehow made it out.
As the cell door closed with a whining creak, Sakura waited silently for the receding footsteps to fade. When silence met her, she waited some more just to be sure. Finally, she dared to peek at her surroundings. With a quick glance, she drank in the sight as much as she could in the darkness, just enough to confirm that there were no more guards nearby.
Slowly and not making a sound, Sakura pushed herself up to a sitting position, finding that her wrists were indeed bound to a pipe on the wall behind her. As she rested her back against the surface, she blinked rapidly to adjust her eyes to the murkiness of the cell. After several seconds, her vision cleared and she found herself in a large, square jail cell, the only light source coming from a small barred window at the very top of the door.
Sakura almost cried with relief when she saw Sachie, motionless but alive and lying several feet in front of her. An ounce of guilt and sadness then followed when she realized that it meant the twins had not escaped after all. Looking around again, her eyes finally settled on a body to her left and another sense of gratitude washed over her. It was Souta. A black eye was forming on his face and dried blood collected on his chin, but the stable rise and fall of his chest assured Sakura that he was at least still breathing.
Leaning her head against the wall, Sakura shut her eyes and exhaled steadily, coaxing her heart rate to slow. They were safe at least for now. As she recalled Sachie's words to her over the past several days, her heart clenched with misery. She had assured Sachie that she wouldn't be selected to battle and yet here they were. Sachie had so much faith in her plan to keep them safe and she failed them. But she knew there was no use in her dwelling on their defeat. The only thing left for her to do was to wait for them to wake up and then she can begin their escape plan again. This time, she was determined to succeed.
The clanking of chains to her right caused her to straighten up with surprise as her eyes flew open to locate the source of the noise. In her relief from finding Sachie and Souta, she had forgotten entirely to survey the rest of the cell. There was someone else here with them, chained to the far left of the room. The darkness made it difficult to see but she strained at the strange figure until she could finally make out their features.
As her eyes traveled from his feet upwards, she took note of the man's tattered shoes and clothing. There were punctured holes in his shirt right above his abdomen and mysterious stains decorated the fabric in a disturbing manner. His chest rose and fell raggedly as if he was struggling to breathe. When she finally settled on his face, an audible gasp slipped past her lips, the first sound she made since being brought into the cell.
His features were ones she had spent a lifetime memorizing. He was thinner and paler and the look of utter defeat didn't suit him, but she would recognize him anywhere. Eyes trailing his face, she desperately drank in the sight of his wild hair as if she had been parched for an eternity. Her lips parted in the familiar shape of his name although no sound was emitted. The man was Sasuke Uchiha.
Author Note
Welcome back to another chapter! I know this is the moment you all have been waiting for (I know I was personally really anxious to write it!). As always, please feel free to contact me on Twitter or Tumblr (username on both: ArtfullyPoetic) if you have any questions either about this fic or anything else. I'm always happy to interact with readers!
Just a warning: there may be a slight delay in the next update (sorry!). I have the chapter written but I'm just not happy with it so I would like to take time to rework some things. I appreciate your patience with me!
Please let me know what you all think of this chapter! I look forward to reading all your comments and review :)