Reincarnation AU. Sasori was quite satisfied living alone in his flat, working in a huge hospital, and saving people's lives in the Operating Room. He was living in the present time, in the modern world, but he remembered his life and identity in the past like as if he was trapped to it. And now, he has to solve the mystery of remembering his cruel past and start all over again.

ABOUT

Trapped is a dystopian Naruto Shippuden alternate universe in which Akasuna no Sasori is a doctor in the modern world who remembers his life and identity as a shinobi. Some of the events or references used to describe and explain the backstory of the characters did not occur in the original plot of the manga/anime series.

SYNOPSIS

Sasori remembered his life as an orphan, a shinobi, a puppet master, and a member of Akatsuki. But it was never easy to live a present life remembering all of those memories stuck in his mind – the blood shed of innocent civilians and countless shinobi that he'd murdered, the rank S missions, the death of his subordinates and comrades, and the moment when he lost the person he once cared so much. He was quite satisfied of what has been happening in his present life as a 35-year old doctor working in a huge hospital, but it wasn't the same anymore when he met her – the lady doctor who resembled the medical kunoichi he was most affectionate with during his shinobi days. He could tell the number of days that gone through since he figured out why he was reminded of his past. After much anticipation, he reckoned it was that mysterious old woman's fault when he happened to pass by an alley across the hospital. But it was all too late. He seemed to be trapped in the past and there was no way he could be able to move on from it, now that he has to find that old woman and made her explain everything that's going on. However, he wanted to do something new for his sake in order to move on from the guilt and regret that has been killing him inside, to live a good kind of life, and to start all over again.

DISCLAIMER

All characters and references of Naruto Shippuden belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

I do not own the cover image.

GENRES

Romance, Humor, Mystery, Hurt/Comfort

01 | Cursed

"You are cursed, Akasuna no Sasori."

He still couldn't get it out of his mind. That old hag across the street must be disturbed, he thought. But he couldn't help thinking about it because nightmares started to freak him at night ever since that notable encounter happened.

It has been two weeks since Sasori was approached by an old woman after a long day of saving lives in the operating room. He's been a busy surgeon and he only left his workplace when he has to buy food across the street and go home. That late afternoon was no different from any other ordinary day he's been through, or at least that's just what he thought, but it was actually the opposite.

"Hey, young man." An old woman called out.

Sasori pretended he didn't hear anything and continued walking as he passed by an alley where the old woman and her products were settled subtly.

"You! The redhead surgeon in black shirt!"

He halted on his feet when she described him accurately. How the hell-?

The old woman smirked. "Come here and check out my little gems. I'm sure you'll like my miniature puppet."

There was really an interesting tiny, human-figure puppet on the rack that he caught sight when he passed by. So, he went to check the materials used aside from his attempt to find out how she knew that he was a surgeon. He never saw her in the hospital. But he anticipated that maybe she saw him on TV when he was interviewed in a certain health program last week.

The old woman was a typical one – gray, long braided hair, wrinkled skin, dull eyes; but her products were quite peculiar. There were accessories that seemed to be out of fashion, different shapes and sizes of handy blades, and some tiny bottles that looked like herbal medicines and antidotes. When he touched a vile of antidote to inspect it, he felt dizzy and a cold aura seemed to start covering his whole body. The strange feelings suddenly stopped when he dropped it back on the rack. The sweat that was formed on his forehead slid from his temple down to his jawline. He suddenly felt like trembling.

What the hell happened to me? He asked himself as he glared at the old woman who was comfortably sitting on her small stool. She was looking directly in his eyes.

"You are cursed, Akasuna no Sasori." said the old woman impassively.

A cold wind brushed through his cheeks and felt a chill down his spine. He really wanted to scowl at her but he has to live the life of being a well-respected doctor.

He's got no clue of what she was saying but it's quite threatening. To make it clear, he looked at her eyes and said, "What do you mean?"

"Don't make me repeat it, young man. You've had enough regret to suffer in your lifetime."

Sasori's weary vibe was suddenly changed. "I don't understand what you're saying." He said bluntly, regretting that he treated her politely despite of the strange feeling that threatened him.

He stood and continued on pacing the crowded sidewalk.

"Regret is better than paying a higher price with the person you once cared about." said the old woman, making sure he heard it clearly.

That's rubbish. He thought.

Before he could get further, he turned to glance back at her but she was gone, much to his surprise and bewilderment. He never believed in spirit guides his whole life. There was no way in this world that old woman would be his spirit guide, he thought while cooking dinner.

He was always alone in his huge, expensive flat except when the beagles barged in whenever they wanted to ruin his night.

"How stupid." He muttered. It's been his favorite expression all this time.

There was a sudden knock on the door that pulled him back to his senses. He let out a muffled swear, quite irritated, as he made his way towards the door. It was already half past eight and he didn't want to entertain visitors, not that he's asocial or a loner; he's just not in the mood. When he looked through the peephole, his sight stumbled upon long blond hair tied in a high ponytail, a short black haired lad with a face mask who's always clinging on the blond one, and a tall guy with white-bleached hair. Sasori let out an exasperated sigh and opened the door. It's the beagles.

"Sup, redhead?" the tall guy with white-bleached hair greeted.

Sasori ignored him and went straight back to the kitchen.

"Looks like our noble doctor is having a rough day, huh." There was sarcasm in his voice.

"What brings you here, idiots?" Sasori finally spoke and leaned his back on the counter, crossing his arms over his chest, after turning off the stove.

Hidan smirked and tapped the blond's head. "Deidara and Toby missed you so muc-"

Deidara hit his head with a throw pillow that made him swear. "We got kicked out, Sir. Thanks to Toby."

"You're welcome." replied the responsible one who got a kick on the shin by Deidara while Hidan started cursing the two with swears only he could understand.

The room was filled with noise and swearing and it's starting to disturb the neighbors. They're also getting on Sasori's nerves, especially when he saw Toby grabbed one of his human-figure puppet collections from the living room's wall to serve as protection from Deidara.

"You three, out." said Sasori when he's done watching them.

"But-" complained the three men who were currently lounging on the long couch.

He scowled at them. "I don't accept freeloaders."

"But Toby is a good boy!" Toby reasoned out and frantically placed the puppet back on its proper place.

Sasori's eyes rolled when they gave him a please-have-mercy look in their eyes. It seemed that he's got no choice but to take them in for the night.

"How stupid." said Sasori and prepared a bowl of ramen for himself.

"Aren't you going to feed your hungry friends?" asked Hidan and sat across him on the counter.

Sasori gestured his head towards the cabinet. "Serve yourself, freeloader."

Hidan walked towards the cabinet and opened it, only to find out a plastic bag of cup noodles and two packs of instant ramen. He shot Sasori a criticizing glare, "Come on, I thought you're advocating that healthy fucking living on TV. Whatever, it doesn't matter."

Sasori shot him a get-out-of-my-place-if-you-don't-want-noodles glare.

Hidan went to open the fridge, carrying the plastic bag of noodles lazily, and grinned upon seeing a bottle of wine. "Now this is so darn interesting."

Deidara snatched the plastic bag of noodles on Hidan's hand and smirked. "If you're not eating it, we will. Right, Toby?"

"Yes, Sir. Because Toby is a good boy."

They all rolled their eyes on the latter.

Morning sunshine sneaked on their sheets through the window and Sasori was just ready to leave. He watched them sleeping soundly on the carpet of his living room for a moment before intentionally sliding the curtains on the side to lighten up the room.

"Fuck it! Where the hell is that darn light coming from? Oh lord Jashin, this is unforgivable!" Hidan swore early in the morning when sunlight hit his eyes. But he stopped muttering when he saw the redhead standing before them, arms crossed over his chest. "Are you leaving already?" he asked and checked the time.

"Bring the defibrillator, idiots." Deidara mumbled on his sleep while Toby kept on snoring.

Sasori gave them a bored look. "I don't want to see your faces when I get back. And tell Deidara to go back to work before I kick the hell out of him in my department." He said in one breath and slammed the door.

His head was throbbing on his temple as he drove all the way to the hospital. There were too much stuffs to handle and he couldn't focus on his job recently. He got another nightmare last night. It was too dramatic and heartbreaking to be considered a nightmare compared to the ones he'd dreamed from the past few days. He decided to brush away the thought when he arrived in the hospital. As usual, he received greetings from the female nurses and residents when he dropped by the nurse station.

"Hey, Dr. Sasori, did you meet the new fellow in your department?" asked the head nurse named Shizune curiously.

He didn't always talk to the nurses and that was the first time he's got a bit of interest on what they were saying. "No." he answered plainly.

"It's only her first day but she got a patient already." one of the residents muttered.

"Oh, she's here." said Shizune and waved at the lady doctor who was coming their way.

Sasori looked to the direction where the nurse was looking at and saw a lovely lady with chestnut brown hair in full fringe. Her shoulder length hair was tied up in a high ponytail. She has silver orbs that seemed to be somewhat piercing. She's wearing a white coat like that of him.

Keiko Masaharu, Sasori mentally read on the tag that was embroidered on the upper pocket of her coat.

She greeted everyone and had a brief eye contact with Sasori. He suddenly felt odd, he couldn't explain what he just felt, but remained impassive.

"Dr. Masaharu, this is Dr. Akasuna from your department. He's a senior." Shizune introduced Sasori.

Keiko bowed to him in respect. "I'm looking forward to work with you, Dr. Akasuna."

He just nodded but he couldn't turn his eyes away from her. That scenario was familiar. It appeared in one of his dreams right before nightmare occurred. Those kind of dreams were like 'the calm before the storm' in his sleeps.

"I have to check on my patient. If you will excuse me." said Keiko, giving Sasori a faint smile and bowed again before leaving.

Keiko Masaharu, huh. Sasori told himself and went to his office. He arranged some papers and sorted it in his drawers.

He has two surgerical operations booked in the Operation Room (OR) that day. He would be assisted by the younger fellows – Karin and Suigetsu (because Deidara was slacking off since yesterday). Those two were actually the subordinates of his fellow senior surgeon, Orochimaru. But when Orochimaru was imprisoned due to malpractice, Dr. Tsunade Senju took Sasori in-charge of them. They were talented fellows but they sometimes got on his nerves.

He let out a sigh of resignation before jolting the doorknob when there was a sudden flash of memories in his mind. It seemed to be an ancient memory when he was fourteen and he's wearing a black sleeveless undershirt underneath a flak jacket. He was a highly appraised shinobi and a modelling specialist of the Puppet Brigade. He was standing behind the wall while secretly watching a kunoichi performing something that required an amount of some bluish energy called chakra. The kunoichi, about age thirteen, stopped and threw a kunai towards Sasori's direction but he dodged it effortlessly. She grinned.

"I know it's you, Sasori-sama."

"What are you doing?" he asked and revealed himself.

"Another medical jutsu that I learned from Elder Chiyo." shereplied with a smile. "I think your grandma is getting fond of teaching me some strange medical jutsu."

"You've been sticking with her since you become a jounin, huh."

She raised her hand pulsed in determination. "Because I told her that my dream is to be the greatest medical kunoichi of Suna. So you should better wait and watch." she said and winked.

He raised a brow. "How lame. I hate waiting and you are noisy."

"You're mean."

He patted her head and walked away, but she followed him and talked about the medical jutsu that she'd learned from his grandmother.

Before Sasori was pulled back to his senses, he was perplexed in his thoughts while standing by the door. He didn't even notice when the door suddenly opened and Keiko, whose eyes were fixed on the floor, accidentally bumped her forehead on his chest.

"Aw." She mumbled but was surprised to see him standing in front of her. "Oh, sorry. I barged in." She apologized but got no response. Sasori was spacing out.

She blinked at him. "Dr. Akasuna?"

He slightly shook his head and blinked before looking at her, surprised to see her waving a hand right before his face.

"What are you doing?" asked Sasori with twitched eyebrows.

"Uh…" she quickly hid her hands behind and smiled faintly. "I thought you're spacing out."

He let out a sigh. "What brings you here, anyway?" He asked, dodging glances.

"I was tasked to call you because you're not answering Dr. Senju's calls. We're having a meeting in the conference hall." replied Keiko, matter-of-factly.

They both walked through the corridors but nobody dared to speak. Sasori was in deep thought about the sudden flashback while Keiko was contemplating about the recent awkward scenario she had with her senior.

"Hey, Dr. Sasori." A red-haired lady with glasses greeted before asking a question about the CT scan of their patient but Sasori didn't notice her. "What's with him?"

Her phone suddenly vibrated in her coat's pocket. Suigetsu was calling.

"What is it?"

"Karin! Dr. Senju arranged a meeting at the conference hall." Suigetsu announced in a hurry. He was running through the corridors from the other side of the hospital.

"When?" she asked, quite surprised.

"Now."

Sasori opened the conference hall's door and let Keiko entered first. He was greeted by Tsunade Senju, head of their department and apparently the vice president of the hospital.

"You're just in time, Director." said Tsunade as she watched Sasori and Keiko walked through the aisle.

He sat on the front seat with bored eyes. "You know how much I hate waiting and making people wait, Vice President." He replied, shooting Keiko a look and a slight smirk.

Karin and Suigetsu entered the hall as well and sat on the back seat.

Tsunade smiled faintly, not bothering to extend their absurd conversation. "Everyone! I anticipated that you already have an idea why I called you for a short meeting. So to start, let's welcome the new fellow in our department, Keiko Masaharu."

Everybody welcomed Keiko with a smile, except for Sasori, Suigetsu and Karin who were all but staring at the new fellow. Much to her observation, Tsunade didn't fail to notice it.

"Dr. Masaharu, you will be working with Dr. Sasori in his surgeries. Make your arrangements later." she said and looked at Sasori, "I'm giving your bet a shot this time. We need to work efficiently in the OR."

"Pretty much." Sasori commented wearily after shooting Karin and Suigetsu a criticizing glance.

Tsunade then shifted her gaze at the two. "You two will be working with Dr. Deidara when he gets back."

"I don't mind working with anyone." Karin seemed passive on Tsunade's decision.

Suigetsu remained silent but was mumbling complains on his mind.

Tsunade proceeded to her main agenda. The meeting didn't last long when it finally adjorned. Keiko approached Sasori when he was about to leave the hall.

"Dr. Akasuna." She called. He halted on his pace and looked at her. "About the arrangement..." she added.

He gestured his head towards the direction of his office.

They were silent on the elevator. Keiko wasn't bothered by the silence hovering around them as she hymned a song in her head. It was comfortable, at least to her. But Sasori couldn't contain the silence that seemed to be awkward for him, he couldn't figure out the reason why.

"What medical school did you attend, Dr. Masaharu?" he asked, out of the blue.

She didn't shoot him a glance. "Suna Medical School, Sir."

He was a bit surprised. "Interesting."

His expression made her look at him, merely puzzled.

"I also attended Suna Medical School."

"Oh." She paused for a moment. "I see. Maybe that's why you seemed familiar to me." She said, her face lit up a bit.

He looked at her through their reflection on the elevator's door. You are also familiar to me, woman. He said at the back of his mind.

She slightly twitched her eyebrows when curiosity hit her. "But why did you choose to work here? Suna has advance medical technology than Konoha."

The elevator finally opened. They both walked out and headed towards his office.

"I worked there during my first few years but shit happened so I moved here." He opened the door and they entered his neat office. "Tea?" he offered.

"Sure." replied Keiko and sat on the client's chair.

While Sasori was pouring the tea on the cups, it was his turn to ask, "So what brought you here in Konoha Medical Center?"

A frown instantly creased on her face, much to Sasori's curiosity. "It's something personal."

He gave her the cup of tea with an impassive look on his face, holding back himself to prompt her from answering the questions in his mind. They talked about the arrangements of the surgeries that they'd be working ahead, expecting that Deidara would go back to work soon.

"I'm going. Thank you for the tea, it's fancy." said Keiko when they finished their work arrangements and bowed before leaving.

"I'll see you later in the OR." He told her.

She nodded and left his office.

Later that morning, Sasori's surgical operation began with Karin assisting him. It lasted for two and a half hours. Sasori told the patient's relatives that the surgery was successful but they still have to wait for the patient to gain back consciousness. Sometimes he felt tired of telling the same thing to people who emotionally waited outside the OR but he also liked seeing them that way. For him, it showed how much they cared for his patients and others were depending their lives on him.

It's another long day when he started the engine of his car later at around seven in the evening. He worked on two more emergency surgical operations after his scheduled one with Suigetsu's assistance. Keiko assisted him in his two emergency surgical operations and he could tell that she's a talented fellow. Her hands and sight were meticulous and she showed relaxed or minimal emotions despite of their patient's acute condition. He admitted that they would make a great team for successful surgical operations in the future.

"Let's call it a day. Good job." said Sasori when they walked out of the OR. It's been his line everytime he got to work with younger doctors for the first time and found them impressive.

She gave him a grateful smile and they parted.

Sasori's mind was drifting from one thought to another while he was driving down the wide road of the capital. He wondered if the beagles were still in his flat since Deidara didn't go to work that day. Before he went home, he decided to buy groceries because the beagles might have eaten his stocks in the fridge. When he's done buying groceries, he went straight home only to find them lounging on the living room with a huge mess of potato chips, fries and wine bottles on the center table. They were noisy yelling in front of the television while watching basketball.

"Deidara, Hidan, Toby!" he yelled with twitched eyebrows but nobody paid attention.

He got the remote and turned off the TV.

"Fuck! Darn this useless TV-" Hidan stopped swearing when Sasori stood in front of them while holding the remote.

Hidan grinned. "Welcome back, redhead."

"Hey, Sir! How's it going in the OR?" asked Deidara with a sly grin.

Toby waved a hand on him. "Nice to see you again! Oh, you bought foods!"

Sasori twitched his eyebrows and pointed his index finger towards the door. "OUT!"

Trapped | to be continued…