Fade In

Fade In

Chapter Thirteen – Kunai

…

A midnight breeze swept through her hair, made the shadowed pink locks sway to the right as it went rushing by and into the trees. She felt them approach before she ever heard their footsteps fall on dead leaves. Their chakra signatures were unmistakable, unforgettable and both immensely powerful.

Sakura fastened the buckles of her arm guards, tightened the ties on her flat black knee high boots and straightened in her ANBU uniform. The lightweight material would make movements easier and truth be told, fighting in anything else just wouldn’t be the same since she was so used to the skintight gear. But she had left the porcelain mask at the apartment. It wasn’t needed.

Tonight it was just Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke.

She heard them stop a few feet behind her, could sense the questions, the slight confusion. After all, she did tape a scribbled note on each of their apartment windows, telling them to meet her here on training ground three, come prepared. Pulling out her black gloves in silence, Sakura slid them on and flexed her fingers to loosen them up.

“No Sharingan. No fancy jutsus or techniques and chakra to a minimum. Just the basics. Weapons I’ll leave up to you. I need a good old fashioned spar just between the three of us tonight.” Sakura turned around and faced them, watched as understanding dawned on their faces and acquiescence color their eyes.

“Alright.” Naruto whispered as he unzipped his orange jacket and tossed it to the ground, leaving him in a thin long sleeved white shirt and his black pants.

Sasuke pulled out two kunai, rolled his left shoulder to loosen it a little and nodded. His loose gray pants fluttered in the breeze and the navy blue shirt lightly hugged his narrow hips.

‘They must’ve broke some hearts during their five years of traveling…’ She suppressed a smirk as the thought was quickly dashed. Unsheathing her ninjaken from its place on her back, Sakura readied herself.

“Don’t go easy on me.” And with that she was off, the sharp end of her blade glinting in the light of the crescent moon.

…

“Tsunade-sama?”

“Training ground three is fine Shizune.”

“But—”

“Would you like to get in the middle of it?”

The medic paused, thought it over, and then sighed. “Never mind.”

…

They were steaks against the darkness, against the trees that swayed and the dead leaves that shook, fell to the shadowed ground. Sakura heard the airy hiss of several shuriken hitting the trunk of the tree she passed, narrowly missing her head. A sudden shuffle from the bush to her left and she was deftly evading a kunai strike from Sasuke. His dark eyes flashed before he came at her again.

Sakura met him head on, sword brandished in front of her and sparking against his weapon. But they both jumped away from each other when two Narutos spiraled down from above them and let loose several metal stars in both their directions. Sakura grasped two mid air and deftly, with a flick of her wrist, flung it back at him, dispelling the clone as she leaped back. A deadly whisper of air on her right and she was sent flying by Sasuke’s kick to her side. Damn he was fast. She dug her fingers into the ground to keep her balance as she slid and slowly straightening, ignored the numerous throbbing aches and kept her guard up.

Dashing through the forest all three burst from the line of trees and into the clearing. And as if they’d never stopped, they engaged each other, moving with a fluidity that told of much experience, spoke with a style each their own and how natural sparring came to them.

Sakura’s blade swung through the air, thrust forward with silent force towards Naruto but Sasuke intervened, his kunai sliding along the sharp edge and with a flick of his wrist, dislodged it from her grip. Naruto took the opportunity to punch the Sharingan user in the face, letting him know exactly what he thought about his interference. But the blonde didn’t see Sakura’s own fist whistling through the breeze until it was too late and he was hitting the ground.

Breath coming out in harsh pants, Sakura quickly parried Sasuke’s kicks and punches with her own. Naruto dashed in from their right, feigned a right hook towards Sakura and instead sent a roundhouse kick at Sasuke, but the dark haired shinobi easily jumped away from the attack and dashed forward again.

The pink haired kunoichi rapidly dropped to the ground and swept the blonde’s legs out from under him and using his falling body like a step ladder, pulled out the senbon hidden beneath her white ANBU vest and uncrossing her arms, let them sail through the space separating her and Sasuke. A bloom of satisfaction filled her when one grazed his cheek and another sunk into his shoulder. She didn’t have time to pat herself on the back though cause a second later, she was narrowly dodging Naruto’s kunai. She felt the sharp point tear through her uniform, felt his follow up blow to her chest even more as she crashed into the ground and coughed up blood.

Sakura quickly swiped the trail of red away with a brush of her gloved hand and sensing Sasuke, rapidly rolled out of the way as his foot came crashing down where she’d just been. Flipping upward, she flared her legs and delivered a spinning kick upward, catching her dark headed ex-teammate across the jaw.

Naruto jumped into the air and grinning, jerked his wrists and watched as several kunai darted at each of them, the resounding explosions rocking the clearing a second later with twin clouds of dust and earth. The blonde dropped back down and cautiously waited.

And after it all cleared, neither Sakura nor Sasuke were anywhere to be found. That is until both materialized behind him and if he wasn’t so used to Sasuke doing that, he would’ve been eating dirt right about now. Spinning around he blocked each of their attacks, weaving from side to side and twisting as a barrage of double edged kunai sailed like quicksilver at him, exploding on impact.

But all too soon, a roaring ball of fire lit a path and spiraled towards Naruto and Sakura who’d darted past the Kyuubi container when she eyed the glint of her forgotten ninjaken just behind him. Rolling on the ground, she quickly snatched it up and just barely managed to evade the powerful flame. But she failed to notice the thin wires that Sasuke unleashed right after his fire jutsu and instantly felt them wrap around her body and tightly bind her. She winced as it cut into her skin, drawing thin lines of crimson. A shuriken silently slipped from her right arm guard and with the sharp edges in hand, she effortlessly cut through them.

Sasuke hid a smirk as he discarded what was left of the wires and waited. They all stood watching each other, panting and singed, with their blood pumping through their veins and heart pounding in their ears. And not a moment later, after a thin wispy cloud had finished passing over the crescent moon, all three disappeared and met in the middle in a flurry of soaring limbs making harsh connections and shiny steel upon shiny steel, the last of their energy swirling vibrantly around them.

Left and right her feet moved, arms came up to block and soon the breath was knocked out of her as Naruto’s foot connected with her gut. Muscles strained against the pressure of Sasuke’s force as he bore down on her from the left. Her arm flew forward, but he caught it, bent it at the wrist and attempted to twist it but she twirled sideways through the air, her legs spinning in a cyclone before easily landing on her feet, now free from his hold.

Sakura arched her body backward to avoid an incoming strike from the blonde before going up in a poof of white when Sasuke struck her from behind. His eyes widened as he abruptly turned around and was promptly met with the receiving end of a very real right hook. He staggered back from the pain, feeling blood dribble from the corner of his lips.

Sword extended behind her, Sakura flew at him and wasn’t surprised to see him disappear before she could get to him. But then the ground combusted in front of her and she cursed when Naruto’s fist none too gently impacted under her chin and sent her soaring. She righted herself in the air just as Sasuke appeared above her, kunai bearing down on her. She blocked his attack with her ninjaken, very aware that if she didn’t do something quick she’d be eating dirt with Sasuke on top of her.

So she fisted the neckline of his shirt and forcefully brought him underneath her so he would take the brunt of the rapid fall. Her knee dug into his chest as they hit the ground. That was until she realized that the Sasuke beneath her was just a clone. When had he made one? She sprung away from the small crater and the blossom of dust, landing catlike on the ground before instantly spinning to a stand, only to be met with a sharp point to the small of her back and a kunai to her throat.

Sakura smirked as she stilled, chest heaving from the exertion of the spar. Emerald irises danced vibrantly as she stared into Sasuke’s deeply amused eyes, her own kunai just shy of slicing clean through his jugular and her ninjaken positioned behind her and so very close to puncturing Naruto’s heart.

Another breeze whispered by, sighed in her ear and laughed away.

Sakura lowered her weapons as her former teammates did the same. Sheathing her sword and finding it painful to even do that motion, she stepped away from them. She was bleeding and very bruised. Her whole body hurt like hell and the cuts from the wires were stinging like crazy. But letting her gaze fall on Naruto and Sasuke, she couldn’t help the smile that surfaced. Torn and dirty, bruised and disheveled. Sure they weren’t as beat up as her, but she’d got in some pretty damn good hits and blows and that was more than enough to let her know that yes, she, Haruno Sakura, had come a long way and that everything had been worth it.

Naruto threw her a lopsided grin only to grimace seconds later as the pain in his jaw bloomed to life. “Your right hooks are still as painful as ever. Good thing you said only a little chakra.” He gently patted his cheek.

“Yeah…” She laughed softly. Yes, she could heal them, but knowing they were in pain she personally inflicted was doing wonders for her ego, not to mention the satisfaction bubbling within her.

“You’ve gotten stronger…better than before.” Sasuke remarked quietly as he pocketed his many kunai.

Sakura turned to him, saw the slight lift of the corner of his mouth. “I had no choice.” A wistful smile touched her lips soon after and she looked away, breathed.

It was then that Naruto decided to close the distance between them and, whether she liked it or not, pulled her into a hug. “You were never weak Sakura.” And his finger lightly tapped the area over her heart. “Never in here where it mattered most.”

And she really wanted to cry right then and there, could feel her throat tighten and eyes sting. She let his simple and heartfelt words drift all around her, feeling a little lighter, a little less burdened from all the memories. She had needed this, this fight that had begun with many loose ends, filled with many of her rampant emotions. This had provided her with an outlet in which to unleash the pent up past. She knew they understood, perhaps all too well, that even though she knew she was strong, even though she was an ANBU captain, her strength, her growth as a shinobi had to be affirmed by the two people who’d started the change, who’d been there and seen her meager and weak beginnings.

It wasn’t acceptance she was seeking. It was understanding…just understanding. And while they could never go back, while some things could never be forgiven, maybe they could slowly move forward, leave all the ghosts and burned bridges behind, let go of all the anger, the guilt and regret that consumed the soul, made it hard and tiring to live life and breathe it.

“Thank you Sasuke…Naruto…for everything…”

A beautiful smile of gratitude. A glimpse of the Sakura they’d once known so many years ago. And it assured the both of them that while she had indeed changed, there was still some of the old Sakura left, bits and pieces here and there that hadn’t faded, that were still present if not hidden underneath the ANBU exterior and behind the walls surrounding her heart.

…

In the depths of another compound, under the express wishes of the man who hired him, Akai impassively continued his torture as another scream tore through the air of the dark and dingy cell.

“Quiet now or your tongue will be next.” He said in an overly bored tone as a razor sharp kunai traced a jagged path down his victim’s dirty face, as crimson broke the surface and flowed like a small broken waterfall down and down.

The poor unfortunate shinobi promptly passed out, body going limp against the rusting metal table. His dark eyes narrowed in annoyance before he pulled away, black braid swaying behind him. The weak ones were never fun to toy with, were always much too easy to break.

He always thrived on challenges, lived for the next amusement that would catch and hold his attention. Killing and torturing were just part of the motions, a means to an end that he had no problem in executing along the way. But it was something that only temporarily satisfied him, quelled the hunger from deep inside for but a moment.

He liked to think he wasn’t always such a monster, such a handsomely cruel shadow of a medic who decided to utilize his skills in unconventional ways. He also liked to think he was one of those darker products of a shinobi nation, the ones they tried to wipe off the face of the earth but failed, the rejects and the rebels and the ones that wore out their usefulness. He’d been one of those, maybe even all of them. He’d been a boy once, even been a man once. He was a torturer, a killer, hired help, a medic, poison maker. He could just as well be a gentlemen, care for the old and dying, but he derived a sick sort of pleasure from ending lives, prolonging pain until it became absolutely unbearable. And when it all came down to it, he liked to think that he encompassed what it meant to be a shinobi. That being a ninja wasn’t white, but moving shades of gray against the blackest black.

Not even bothering to spare the dying body a last glance, Akai swiftly exited the cell, climbed up the stone steps and swept through a shabby wooden door and into a courtyard covered in snow. He inhaled the night air, long and deep, almost tasting the death and suffering wrought by the crazed man who’d hired him. Silly, bent on destruction, power hungry fools. They made others do the dirty work while they basked in the after glory.

Irritation hummed all around him as restlessness settled within. The wind was calling him. A change of scenery was no doubt in order. A place where the leaves were falling and the early morning would be crisp.

‘Pink…’ A sadistic smile curved the contours of his lips and he could feel the heady anticipation, watch it color his vision red.

If ever there was a woman he craved more, who brought him to the brink of obsession, it’d be his cherry blossom. With her exotic pink hair and emeralds for eyes that shone with such a deep hatred and fury, that fueled his desire for her, fanned the flame until it was a raging inferno.

She would always be the one that got away. The only one who managed to escape his clutches before he could violate her and break her down until she was only just a shell of her former self. Her defiance in the face of death, her look of utter horror and pain when he broke her beloved captain, the helpless tears and the bitter sobs, the promise of his death by her hands, they were all what captivated him, made him crave to kill her. To be able to end all that, all that she was and had become (because she had become something so much more when he saw her on that island, something so angry and beautifully tragic it made his blood rush), to able to snuff out her existence would be like reaching out and touching a tangible heaven.

“I’m on my way Pink…” He whispered to the bitter cold winds as he threw on his dark crimson cloak and easily trekked through the snow, like a slithering drop of blood on a blanket of white.

“So enjoy what little time you have left…”


…to be continued…


A/N: Happy Holidays!


-hasu86