Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Way Of The Shinobi: Destruction ❯ Chapter II: Darkness In Her Soul ( Chapter 2 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Way Of The Shinobi: Destruction

By Crimson Drop

Rated M for the angst and harsh content and possible lemon content, not for the younger audiences

Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto World at all

Chapter II
Darkness In Her Soul

Brown orbs darkened dramatically as he stared at the assassin before him. It had been a long time since anyone in the outside world had called him by that name, more importantly, he never figured that the Shadow Stalker would know him. How she knew, he had no idea, but he wasn’t going to let her escape without figuring out how she figured him out, and more importantly, who she was. Falling into a battle stance, he waited patiently, watching as she just stood there, staring at him, almost like he had three heads. Just when he was about to give up on her attacking him and throw himself at her, he saw her take a step forward before growling and charging at him.

Blocking a kick to his right, with his hand, he bit down on the senbon in his mouth, ready to spit it at her. Trained jade orbs though watched him thoroughly, and he knew it was going to be a hard battle, probably one of the hardest ones he had to date. Jumping away from her, he spat the senbon, the force behind it ready to pierce her flesh but she was faster and manage to change the trajectory with her own senbon, both flying into frozen trees. Pausing in his steps he felt her rush at him, but that wasn’t what held him in his spot, the chakra in her hands did, something about the chakra was throwing him off. Frowning he jumped back again, her fist narrowly missing him, causing pain to serge through his right arm, but that wasn’t the worst deal. A crater had formed right where he had once been standing, do to the force of her punch, or maybe, something a little more.

When she came at him again, everything clicked in place, and he rolled away from the next hit and stood up, his eyes upon her as he held up a hand. Her lips turned down at the corners and his gaze stayed steady upon her as she lowered her hands. It wasn’t a stand still they were at, she could easily destroy him, no it was something else, now it was about information. That was when a breeze swept back and her hood fell away from her head pink bangs falling onto her forehead, the rest of her pale pink hair thrown into a braid. Once ten years and more ago, he remembered a Hokage’s apprentice with the same colored hair, and if he had to guess, he’d say that this was the same person.

Letting his eyes wash over her form, he noticed the black silk ribbon around her neck, and the tops of lines that could only be a barcode. Eyes widening he felt his heart squeeze, the woman before him was a slave, had probably been a slave for ten long years. What she had been through, he didn’t know, but the cold calculating look in her eyes told him that whatever had happened, had not been good.

“Haruno Sakura,” he murmured softly, but she heard his words and flinched back.

A hand rose and pulled her hood back over her head as she back away from the shinobi, her jade orbs darkening, “She’s dead,” came her hoarse voice, “she’s been dead ten long years.”

Frowning he took a step forward, “You are her, she’s not dead.”

Wiping a kunai at him she turned and made to leap away but at that moment he was faster, and had grabbed a hold of her arm. Scowling she quickly turned and threw him off before charging at him, her fist raised, this time chakraless, and filled with fury. Blocking her punch with his left arm, he couldn’t help but wince before throwing her over his shoulder and turning quickly a senbon in his hand. Throwing it at her he already had another one in hand and raced towards where she had landed, her body in a crouch as she deflected the senbon and used her feet to send her body flying at him. They hit at the same moment then flew past each other, stopping not far from where they had first started.

Turning around quickly, both faced the other, panting hard, Genma holding his shoulder, and Sakura holding her side before she fell to her knees, surprise lighting her features. He walked forward, knowing her body was numb from the paralyzing formula that had been on the end of the senbon. She glared up at him, but he knew she felt none of the emotions she was showing, she was confused, and probably begging for her death. All slaves did, especially those raised well, because they knew without a doubt that they could never be free, could never escape from their cages.

It was a pity for those who had given up their lives after becoming a slave for the enemy, and he knew that Haruno Sakura would be no different. Hell, he was sure the woman in front of him was begging him to finish her off, to take her away from her dark life, but he wouldn’t. So kneeling before her in the snow, he watched the range of emotions shadow her face before her blank eyes closed, waiting for release. A release he would not give her as he raised a hand and tugged at the ribbon around her throat. When it fell away he could easily see the slaving brand that had been inked with chakra upon her skin. Damn the ones who had taken their country from them, damn them for turning innocent sweet girls into grown dangerous tools.

“Sakura,” he whispered to her, “I know someone who can release you, someone who can free you from your cage.”

Blinking her eyes open, brilliant jade orbs caught his dark ones and they stared before she opened her mouth, her voice hoarse with disbelief, “How?” She whispered, “How can I ever be free, how can someone free me.” She looked down upon her hands, “These hands were meant for healing,” she whispered darkly, “now they’re hands made to kill.” Gazing up into his eyes she nearly sobbed but no tears, no moisture would come to her stinging eyes, “How can you save me...How can you want to save me after all the death I’ve caused, after I tried to take your life?”

“Because,” he grabbed her shoulder, “you are a shinobi of Konoha, we never leave one of our own behind.”

Before she could retort or say anything back, the sound of someone racing towards them gave them pause, Genma taking out another senbon, and Sakura quickly working her chakra to get rid of the paralyzing formula. Neither action was needed when Genma spotted a head of blonde enter the clearing, sad blue eyes connecting with his own, not even noticing the other in the clearing. On the other hand, Sakura stopped her actions, every part of her body freezing on the spot as she recognized the man before her. Though he didn’t wear orange anymore, instead sticking with plain black, she could easily tell it was the kyuubi holder and her best friend.

“Genma, obaa-chan needs you back, we just got word that our informant wasn’t real, it was all a trick to lure you out.”

“To lure me out and to send the assassin Shadow Stalker, am I right?” he asked humoring the man while Sakura frowned, realization striking her.

“Your eyes, they are breath taking in their familiarity,” he murmured in deep thought, “we’ve met before.” It was a statement of obviousness, but she knew he couldn’t figure it out, figure her out, and it only made her sneer at him in contempt.

“I am dead to the world,” she hissed, “which means whoever you think I am, no longer exists.” Staring him down now, she ground out her next words in anger, “Now let me go.” Each word punctuated with her fury.

“Hn,” he mocked, his gaze filled with twisted amusement, “don’t like being held? Don’t like it when the man has the upper hand? Don’t worry, soon enough, once your debt is repaid to Mitsukake, you’ll be mine.”

Malicious jade watched as he back away from her, his cocky smirk still in place as he did so, tempting to incur her wrath upon him, to see what kind of woman she really is. The bait was easily laid out, but she didn’t bite, she refused to be underhanded by the mongrel and only smirked back, her vision twisting with disgust and ire. Uchiha Itachi knew how to push the right buttons it seemed, but there was something there that his gaze wasn’t telling her, it was like he already had everything figured out.

“Uchiha Itachi,” she murmured, “what is it you know?”

His eyes widened before he closed them, his lips pressed in a thin line before he opened then and stared hard at her, “I don’t answer to the likes of you.”

It had been a trap, he knew all along who she was, and was willing to let her kill one of her own on purpose. More then that, she suspected that he would have sent her off to kill more shinobi of Konoha if she had succeeded to do as he had asked. Closing her eyes in thought she didn’t notice the blue eyes that locked on her form, nor the widening of eyes as they landed on her head of pink. Instead she thought of what would happen now that she had been caught, and in some way she was thankful. Or she had been until the sudden burning in her neck told her otherwise and she winced before letting out a ragged breath.

Genma had noticed the blonde’s look when he caught sight of the pink haired woman, but what he hadn’t been expecting was the glistening tears that fell from the man’s eyes. For a long time the man had been silent, instead of boisterous and filled with life. Now that he had seen the woman, it was almost like a dam had broken and every feeling that had been hidden came pouring out. Unfortunately though, he noticed Sakura’s sudden uneven breathing, actually to be more specific both of them had, and it wasn’t getting better. She seemed to be in pain, and the only reason he could think that could be was the sign on the side of her neck that the younger man had obviously missed when watching her.

“What happened?” he demanded, blue eyes hard and demanding, “What’s wrong with her?”

Giving a sigh he turned towards her, “Get Tsunade-sama here as soon as you can, she has the slave mark, which means we are going to need Kakashi as well.”

“A slave mark?” The once brilliant blue orbs darkened a shade and fury had now entered the man’s eyes, “She has a slave mark. Can you tell me how long she’s had it?”

“Dammit Naruto!” Genma snapped, “At this moment it doesn’t matter, if we keep stalling more pain is going to go through her system and she’ll go into shock. If the increase keeps up, you know damn well what will happen to her body and her system.”

“Chikuso.” Naruto uttered a few more oaths as he turned and raced away quickly.

Letting a couple more minutes pass, Genma then turned towards the shaking form, her eyes closed tight, and her arms wrapped around her torso. It was horrible to watch, and even worse to feel as he lifted her small body into his arms. All the victims he had seen because of that cursed mark, had suffered when they disobeyed a command, this occurrence wasn’t different, but somehow he felt as if there was something unusual about it. That moment wasn’t the right one to contemplate it, no, instead he had to get her as far from that area as possible. If there was one thing he knew, it was that slaves were never left alone for long, assassins or not, and if she was a well treated one, one who always obeyed, there would be no doubt someone would come.

Heading in the same direction that Naruto had gone in, Genma kept a steady pace until he was a good distance away. He couldn’t afford to get too close nor too far away, or else the pain would be severe for her, and not just that, he couldn’t afford to lead the enemy close to the base. Closing his eyes he held Sakura a little closer to his body, keeping her warm and steady as he did so until help came. He didn’t have long to wait though as two heads of blonde came rushing towards him, and a head of silver not far behind. When the elder blonde stopped before him, her amber burning deeply into their forms, he felt himself loosen his hold upon the woman before laying her upon the cold frozen ground.

All three of the figures before him stared openly at the pale pink haired woman, none able to believe their eyes, that she was there before them, now. What was bad about the situation though, was when Sakura’s body started to twitch and them squirm around. She was in agony, her body wracked with pain from the damnable barcode upon her neck. Both the blonde woman and the silver haired male kneeled. A black bandage covered the male’s left eye, and his baggy clothes hide most of his small frame from sight, but that wasn’t the most interesting thing about him. When he moved the bandage from his left eye, a red orb resided where a coal black one should have been.

Tears escaped Sakura’s eyes as the pain got worse, it was searing through her, heating up her body and creating a never ending fire. It had been such a long time since she had felt this sort of agony, since she had allowed herself to miss behave. Clenching her fists she cracked an eye open training her gaze upon the silver haired man who was performing seals while muttering under his breath. She couldn’t understand just quite what he was doing, there was no possible way to counteract the dark chakra flowing through her body. Sweat accumulated on her brow while she turned her dark gaze upon the female blonde, her hands glowing green as she placed them over Sakura’s body. Relief nearly bulled her over as she felt the woman’s energy sweep through her system, causing her body to semi relax, but the pain wasn’t even close to being a distant memory.

Despite the cool feeling of the medical chakra, the pain was still wracking her body and filling her up more then she would like, “Kakashi,” the blonde growled out, amber eyes locking with mismatched ones, “if you don’t hurry up and seal the damn thing, her body is going to shut down.”

“How long?” he croaked.

“You have less then a minute, better make use of it.” She hissed angrily.

Of course he didn’t need to be told twice as he placed his hands upon her neck were the black lines were inked into her pale skin. Groaning she tired to twist away from his heated touch but someone was holding her down. Looking around she made another noise before shutting her eyes, correction, make that two someone’s holding her down. She felt as if she was being torn in two as Kakashi’s chakra entered her body and pulled all the dark chakra into the mark of which he was quickly sealing. After another couple of seconds, she found her body relaxing and her mind drifting as she tried in vain to open her eyes. She hadn’t fallen asleep but she knew her body was too exhausted from pain to even move let alone allow her to open her eyes. Instead she heard voices around her, voices she had waited ten long years to hear again. Ten years.

“Obaa-chan, will she be alright?” If Sakura could have smiled she would have, maybe even smirked, she remembered her shishou’s ire and frustration at being called that.

“Naruto,” Tsunade murmured softly with a soft scolding undertone, “her body will no longer deal with the pain from the mark, but...” the woman trailed off.

Vaguely aware of what was going on around her, she could feel her body being picked up, by who she didn’t know, but it definitely hadn’t been Tsunade. Of course being carried didn’t last long when she felt herself being dropped into the snow and the shuffling of feet heard close to her fallen body. That wasn’t what surprised her the most though, instead it was the growling that came from her left and laughter from somewhere a head of them. If she could be sure it was ahead. Struggling, she barely got her eyes open before tilting her head to the side and spotting a figure dressed in a black cloak. It wasn’t the cloak though that clued her in, it was those dark navy eyes that penetrated her soul and make her cringe.

“Tsunade,” her master spat the name as if it was a foul curse, “I should have known you’d somehow interfere. What are you going to do with my slave?”

The growling from earlier had become louder and she shifted her gaze a bit before her sight landed on Naruto who was crouched low to the ground, his eyes blood red. A shudder ran up her spine as she gazed upon her long time friend, time had changed both of them, that much was obvious. Now she could see the man that he had become, without the haze of agony to block her sight. Though his hair was short, she could see that he had grown much taller and more muscular over the years, but it was his face that made her heart break. It was clear that sorrow had been a dominant part of his life as the pinch lines at the corner of his eyes indicated stress and hardship. A light scar adorned his right cheek, darker then his whisker marks, but still light enough to be considered distinguishing.

“Calm the boy Tsunade before I make sure he is silenced,” Ryouma hissed.

Naruto snapped his jaw at the man before Kakashi’s calming hand rested upon the kyuubi holder’s arm. If she could speak she would have told Mitsukake Ryouma that Uzumaki Naruto was no more a boy then himself, but that would lead to more torment then she really needed. Right now concentrating on staying awake and eyes open, was hard enough, uttering words would be more then a little difficult.

“It is of little concern to you what we do with her.” Kakashi spoke, his words like ice.

A snort of laughter came from Ryouma as he stared down the White Fang’s son with darkening eyes, “Oh but I disagree, it is of great concern, she still has a debt to finish paying. I’m not about to let her go now, especially not when Itachi-sama requests her presence.”

Letting out a low guttural growl Naruto leapt towards her master, and all she could do was watch, not able to make a noise. Mitsukake Ryouma was a dangerous man, not someone to be trifled with, let alone attack when he had his guard up. She knew from experience that it was useless to go against him, he was a master shinobi, a high classed assassin and would even be consider an S-class. Dangerous, deadly, those were the words to describe him, those were the words that told what he is and will always be until his death. A death she wished more then ever to be the cause of.

Watching as he calmly and slowly, moved out of Naruto’s way, she couldn’t but note the graceful way he moved, nor the way he elegantly tilted his head out of the way of the blow. It was like watching a dance, Naruto being the clumsy town folk, and Ryouma being the king who swept beautiful woman off their feet. It was agonizing to watch, but she could not move her eyes away, even when she opened her mouth to cry out his name, to protect him from her master. If she didn’t say something soon, then Naruto would die, Ryouma was the master, a high classed master, one that would’ve killed her if he didn’t find her so damn alluring.

“Nar...u....to.” Her broken whispered words didn’t catch on the wind, and she continued to wake, frightened for her long time friend. She hadn’t seen him just to lose him all over again, especially not to her master. Struggling, she found a sudden will to try and stand up, even upon her weak body, still recovering from the agony it had just gone through.

Every limb seemed to shake, as her legs nearly collapse under her struggling body, but she wasn’t going to let it bet her. She was a powerful assassin for a reason, she was the Shadow Stalker, not a weak little girl like she once had been. Even though her dark eyes stayed locked on the continuous movement of her best friend, she couldn’t help the coldness that washed through her heart to block out the feelings once more. Despite everything that had happened she couldn’t let him die.

Suddenly Ryouma made a quick decisive movement and rammed his fist into Naruto’s stomach while the kyuubi container flew back into a tree cracking it on impact. Struggling to raise blood eyes glared furiously at the approaching man, making his way to finish him off.

“You should have known better boy, now,” Ryouma hissed, “it’s time to die.”

“Naruto!” Sakura screamed out collapsing to her knees.

But she needn’t worry as Kakashi stepped in between the two, his hand clutching Ryouma’s wrist tightly, holding the older male in place. A sneer formed on his lips, twisting his golden features beneath the black hood, making him appear almost feral. Something burned in her stomach as she watched, her dark jade eyes focused on the men, non making a move. Genma and Tsunade both helped her to her feet as they watched the scene, her arms wrapped around their shoulders to keep her weak body from collapsing more. Swallowing she rounded her eyes on Ryouma, and his dark gaze quickly meet hers in a test of wills and something else entirely that she couldn’t quite put a finger on. His sneer only seemed to deepen into a scowl, anger burning in his eyes, and then she knew, knew why he seemed so angered.

“Damn you all to hell,” he hissed darkly spitting at their feet as he wrenched his wrist away from Kakashi, “Damn you all. She was mine! She is mine, and when you least expect it she’ll be back in my folds, because even if she doesn’t seek me out, Itachi will find her.”

Growling low in her throat she felt the two at her sides stiffen in surprise, and Naruto’s gaze seemed to change as blood red changed to bright sapphire, “Making others do your work for you,” she said in a bored tone, but her eyes said it all, “So a waste of space you have become. And here I had once looked up to you.” She taunted him, hoping he’d take the bait and try to attack. If he had, she would have struck him down, for the slave had out mastered the master, she was nothing to him anymore.

But her insides twisted when a smirk took the place of his scowl, “You’ll regret those words, Hyourin, I can grantee that. What do these pathetic shinobi know, what can they do for you that I can’t? Remember, you’re not one of them anymore, instead you’re something better, you’ve surpassed them my little moon. And soon, sooner then you think, you’ll come crawling back to me. Don’t worry I will forgive you, but it’ll come with a price my sweet.”

Taking a step away from them all, a sadistic and malicious smile appeared before he disappeared. Her body shook, her eyes closed and she felt as if the weight of the world had just fallen upon her shoulders as she sagged against the ones holding her. Everything he said had come to hit her in the face, she was no longer innocent, she was a killer, her healer hands no more. Instead the blood of thousands hung above her head, drowning her in the thick metallic substance and only Ryouma had seen it. The others were oblivious, unknowing of the suffering that hung about her, non of them could ever know. He was right, sooner or later she would go crawling back him on hands and knees, begging him to take her back.

Blackness took over and she sunk into the depths of her mind, never once noticing as she was lifted into strong arms, nor noticing the change in pace as they took her far away from the place. She would never be able to escape the darkness, she would never be able to escape him.

12th Moon: Unknown

“Kakashi, do you think she’ll awake soon?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know. Her body was under a lot of stress when I removed the controlling chakra from her, it may take a little while for everything in her to reset.”

A sigh escaped from the other speaker before speaking again, “What do you think happened to her, it’s obvious that whatever it was, hadn’t been good.”

Whispered voices reached her ears, but all she could do was lay in the darkness of her mind wallowing in the sorrow that seemed to cover her wholly. Why her, why did it have to be her and not someone else, but then, what she had been through she would never wish on another soul. Heh, her soul was dark and unforgiving, there was nothing of the old her there, all she was, is a killer, a cold blooded killer. Non of her old friends would be able to accept that, she knew that, could see it already forming in her mind, the reactions everyone would give her. All this though, only made her crawl deeper into the darkness, make her feel more dampened and weak, they made her feel weak.

“You should get some rest Naruto.”

A sharp intake of breath was heard before a snapped reply echoed about the walls, “I won’t leave her side until she wakes up. She’ll need someone there when she does and I’m going to be that someone.”

“She won’t be the same Sakura you remember,” Kakashi warned his voice hard causing her insides to bunch. She was right, they wouldn’t be accepting of what she had done, they were already more then likely regretting bringing her there, taking her under their wing. Probably only did to get back at Itachi and Ryouma both powerful men in the saddened and shadowed world. If anything, when she was feeling better and completely healed, they would ship her off, away from them, and make sure they never cross paths again. She had been wishing to hear their voices, to see them once last time, maybe in some twisted way, the gods were granting her one last reprieve before releasing her to her hell made world.

Letting a groan escape her lips her eyes fluttered open and two faces met her sight causing her eyes to close rapidly before opening once more. It definitely hadn’t been a dream, which meant that she had come face to face with her past once more, only everyone appeared much older. One face consumed her though, as saddened blue eyes met her cold jade ones. Both were weapons, both were powerful, but one had feelings while the other had lost them all to the darkness, her darkness. Yet she couldn’t help but marvel at his beauty and wonder if the quiet spoken girl had caught his attention finally in the last ten years.

“Naruto,” she whispered hoarsely.

A grin formed on the golden face of a boy she had once admired long ago, it was no wonder Ryouma had though him to be nothing more then a young child. While taller then her by far, he still had that childlike appearance about him, even in his travel weary face. She wished all those years had not been stolen from them and that she could go back and make sure she had stayed by his side through it all. But she would never be able to. They were as different as night and day now, they would never be able to go back to what they once were, and she knew that so well. A killer in the night, the one that stalks her prey from the shadows, that was all she would ever be, the caged hunter playing the slave to her master forever. Even when her bonds are released.

Callused hands cupped her cheek and she couldn’t help but meet those beautiful eyes once more, his name escaping from her lips again. If she hadn’t been able to keep her emotions completely under wraps she would have spilled everything to them, would have taken his face between her satin hands and kissed him recklessly. The face of her salvation, the same face she had dreamt of for years and had kept her going even when all she wanted to do was die. A strong slave she had been, fighting the will of her master everyday while still obeying his every command, she was a good slave, and obedient slave in appearance only.

“I missed you,” came his soft and emotion filled words. She could already see the liquid forming in his eyes and would have attempted to comfort him had Kakashi not stepped in the way. Damn the man and his well traveled past, damn him and his mismatched eyes. Couldn’t he have let her bask in the moment for a least a little while before the world closed in on her once more? No, instead he had decided enough was enough and to almost forcefully shove Naruto out of the white room she resided in. Why leave her alone to her already morbid thoughts? Surely they would want to see her, right? Right!?

No, he knew who she was, knew exactly what she had done, so why did it come as a surprise that he had left her to her thoughts? Why was she in pain at the thought that they, he, didn’t trust her enough? Was it because of the stories that people had been telling about the Shadow Stalker who killed in the night? Was it because she had been merciless in every death she had given, and more then likely to some of their own? Her throat tightened and tears threatened to spill over but she pushed them all back as she attempted to sit up. How long had she been kept in that room, laying upon the bed motionless? Curiosity was never her friend, that much she knew, because in that way she was similar to a cat, but instead of satisfaction bringing her back, it was the pain of the knowledge.

Clenching her fist she managed to sit herself upon the bed swinging her body around to let her legs fall over the side as she examined the small room. The only thing in the room was the bed, other then that there was nothing in that room. Closing her eyes she let out a breath and slipped onto the floor her bare feet touching the cold stone causing a shiver to rush up her spine. Sighing she looked down and found herself wearing a black shirt with black shorts, other then that, there was nothing residing upon her pale skin. Groaning she made her way to the door and turned the handle only to find it locked and a curse worked its way upon her lips. Finally unable to take it anymore she screamed out, her anger flying through the walls.

“Dammit all to hell!” She screamed, “Am I really that frightening!? Do you all fear me that much that you must lock me away!? You’re no better then him the bastard himself!”

Falling to her knees she choked out more curses tears ready to spill from her eyes but that seemed next to impossible for the pale pink haired woman. She hadn’t cried since the day she was sold to Mitsukake Ryouma, but now her emotions overwhelmed her, and she found wetness rolling down her cheeks. Shock registered upon her face as she placed a hand there and pulled it away looking had her palm smudged with her tears. It was strange seeing the tears, feeling them fall down her cheeks, it was like a whole new person was there inside of her. But it wasn’t new, this was her, her old self trying to release itself from the cage she had put her in.

Suddenly she frowned and her eyes narrowed as she looked up at the door before her, a sound coming from the door before something clicked. It took her a moment to realize that the lock had been released and the door was opening. Shock was the first thing that entered her mind before fury welled up inside her, damn them, damn them all to hell she thought as she stood up angrily. Cold jade met silver and it was all she could do not to rush past him and onto the other side of the door where she knew others would be waiting.

“Come,” he said, his words hard, “Tsunade wishes to speak to you.”