Icewater

Chapter 18: Caught In the Fisherman's Net

Disclaimer: I wish I were Kishi, then I'd be rich!

Dedicated to the lovely Animelover351, for always posing questions and being honest! :) Glad ya like the story!

Thanks for reading! Enjoy!

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Sakura clamped her hands over her mouth, mortified.

My one secret...!

We blew it! groaned her Inner.

She saw Madara raise an amused eyebrow.

"You are naive." He paused, chuckling darkly to himself. "But useful."

Sakura said nothing, instead choosing to glare at his feet. She didn't dare look into his eyes; doing so would betray her terror.

I'm so scared, she admitted to herself. I... Now he knows!

"It is a pity you have turned out much like your mother before you."

Sakura bristled. His insult hit home; she met his eyes in time to see them narrow victoriously.

He's just egging you on, Inner Sakura said. He wants to elicit a response!

Two can play at that, though, Sakura thought back.

Smugly, she smirked.

Madara frowned.

"It is of no importance," he continued dismissively. "The crucial thing is for you to express your approval of sending hunters out to sea."

He stood and stretched his hand out toward her; instinctively, she slid into a defensive stance. He waved his fingers in a flourish, and then a piece of parchment appeared before her, along with a feather. Startled, Sakura reached out and grabbed both, then looked up, both perplexed and suspicious.

Madara waved dismissively.

"Sign it," he said.

Sakura stared blankly at the parchment.

Now what...? she thought, examining the feather. What do I do with this?

After a few moments, Sakura shook her head, tossing the items on the ground. They landed, one after the other, first the parchment, then the feather.

Whatever it is he wants, she thought, he won't get from me!

She whirled around and made to leave.

"You're not underwater anymore, little Princess."

Suddenly she felt her body stiffen, and recognized the feel of an alien chakra invading her body. She fought back, spinning hers to clash with it; she struggled painfully to turn around.

"You thought you had the upper hand?" She blinked, and suddenly Madara materialized in front of her. Before she could let out a scream of surprise, his left hand grabbed her chin, yanking it up so he could look into her green eyes with his own.

They flashed a dangerous red, and it was all she could do not to shiver.

"I'll admit, when you used your chi in the tent, I was taken aback." She yanked her chin from his grip, stumbling back a few steps, and he smirked. "But you were rash. It was careless to reveal such a thing..." His own hand glowed a bright gold, then sputtered into a black so deep she felt it pull at her like the deepest parts of the sea pulled sunken ships.

"However, it is useful to me." The chakra dissipated into the air around them, and suddenly breathing was hard. Everything was suddenly heavier; she prayed the newly added weight wouldn't drag the veil off her head as she felt her knees beginning to shake from the effort required to remain standing.

No! she screamed internally. We can't lose to him!

Of course not, replied her Inner hotly, venomously. Not to someone like him!

Slowly, her knees began to buckle.

What do we do? She was desperate. If we go to the ground, he can overpower us! It'll all be over!

Fight it! her Inner yelled. Don't give up!

Sakura gritted her teeth and pushed chakra into her leg muscles, pumping them as best she could. It became easier to stand again; she let the chakra in her legs free into the surrounding air, replenishing it just as it left so she would continue to stand.

The air became lighter around her.

But it was taking a lot of work.

She felt her breaking quicken slightly. It did not go unnoticed by the King. He simply stood, arms crossed now, as he watched her struggle against his released chakra. The blackness was thinner in the air, but it was so strong still that it was visible, like a heavy fog.

Her eyes widened.

Fog!

Pumping chakra into her hands, she reached forward.

We can't keep this up forever, her Inner advised. We're wasting a lot of chakra!

That's his intention, Sakura replied. Weaken us into submission.

She flexed her fingers.

Ha! She laughed triumphantly inside her head. Too bad for him!

Sakura let the chakra slide into the tips of her fingers, then dribbled it into the surrounding air. As this happened, she stroked her arms back and forth, as if she were wading through water.

In a way, it's not so different, Inner Sakura acknowledged.

Madara's eyes turned red again. To her surprise, they stayed that way. He quickly crossed the distance she'd created between them and grabbed her arms, holding her tightly. She wriggled, but couldn't get free; his grip on her shoulders only seemed to tighten.

Chakra, she realized. He's holding me with chakra! Just like he immobilized me earlier!

She let out a yelp.

"You won't win this war," he hissed at her. She glanced into his eyes, unwilling to show how frightened she was.

Cold red met seaweed green.

And then his eyes spun, and with them, the room.

Sakura tumbled to the ground.

"Now," Madara said. "Now you wi-"

The doors slammed open.

Sasuke walked in quickly, looking around. At least, that's what she thought; her vision was blurry, the world spinning around her in a dizzying manner. A blob that appeared to be Sasuke crouched down to her level, lifted her up.

"Are you all right?"

No; that was not Sasuke.

It was Itachi.

"Lady Sakura!"

Suddenly Ino was there, lifting her from Itachi's arms.

"How are you today, Father?" Itachi asked Madara.

He's not your Father, Sakura felt like saying. She tried to open her mouth, but a wave of nausea washed over her, and she cringed instead.

"Leave me," Madara said. "She is of no use today."

Sakura felt her body grow colder at Madara's words.

And yet, just as Itachi closed the double doors behind them, Sakura managed to glance backward in time to see Madara lifting the items she'd thrown on the ground. Bathed in the golden light streaming through the windows, Madara tipped his head back and let out a howlish laughter.

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"He WHAT?"

Ino looked on in horror. Sakura nodded, dusting off another book from the library. Light streamed happily through the open windows, and birds chirped outside.

"That... Th-That..." Ino gulped. "And you said he tried to...?"

"Kill me," Sakura breathed softly. She closed the book she'd just opened. Then she stared out of one of the open windows. "He tried to kill me."

"Tried," Ino repeated. "How do you know he... Wanted to take your life?"

Sakura turned and glanced at her friend, mustering a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry for now," she told Ino.

We SHOULD worry, her Inner replied.

Sakura sighed inwardly.

Look, it's not like Ino could help, she rationalized. Besides, I don't want to involve her too much.

She glanced over at her friend, who was bushing herself dusting the library yet again.

I don't want to put Ino in danger.

Her Inner scoffed.

Then you shouldn't have talked to her, she said.

Sakura inwardly winced.

"I-I can explain," Sakura automatically responded.

For a few agonizing moments, there was dead silence.

And then Ino screamed.

"Shhhh!" Sakura shushed Ino hurriedly.

"But-But you just-"

"I can explain!" Sakura said quickly. "Just... Let me... Please." Her voice became a whisper. "Please let me explain..."

Ino calmed down, taking a deep breath.

"Okay," said the blonde, "Shoot."

Sakura took a deep breath herself.

"It starts with a legend where I come from..." she began.

It just slipped out! she protested. A-And anyway, it doesn't matter now, I-

Ya got that right, muttered her Inner darkly.

Hey!

Look, said Inner Sakura pointedly, I'm gonna be frank with you. He said we were not useful. She paused for emphasis, and when Sakura began to sputter, she cut her off.

That means we're disposable. Our life's on the line.

Sakura frowned, crossing her arms as she conceded to her Inner self.

"Sakura?"

Green eyes shot open to meet concerned blue ones. Ino held a stack of books in her arms, her head tilted to the side as she regarded Sakura worriedly.

"Are you all right?"

Smiling helplessly, Sakura shook her head.

"Orochimaru's net is full, but the humans is empty."

"I'm a fool," she whispered to herself. A breeze rattled trough the open windows, whirling papers around as the breath of her words caught in the wind and drifted swiftly away, into the gardens and into the great expanse of sky above and ocean below.

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A/N: Dun-dun-DUUUUUUN! Next chapter, folks, we'll find out what Sakura meant about Sasuke's ship! :P

I got a dog! His name's Iggy. If you mixed Toto with a Yorkie, you'd get Iggy. He's this cute hybrid that's maybe a foot tall and a foot and a half long. He's from the Barrio (aka Mexican ghetto! XD) and he's already settled into our family!

And thanks for your well-wishes on the audition, everyone! Wish me luck again, because I'm going on to the final round, and I need all the help I can get!

On a side note, sorry for the pitsy updates. I know. I'm sorry. I'm awful. I'm also a student preparing for college. So. Have pity. Leave a review. If you do, I'll PM you magical sparkly stars! :)

Check out my collab with Chelty-chan also, chapter 4's up! :D it's on her account, so look for it there.

Anyways...

Happy New Years, and welcome to the party called 2013! :D