Reflection

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"She won't make a sound
Alone in this fight with herself and the fears whispering if she stands she'll fall down."

Stand In The Rain – SuperChick

XXXXXXXXXX

"You slept with Orochimaru?"

She shook her head frantically, her body beginning to tremble desperately.

"No, no, Naruto... It wasn't like that..."

"Then what was it like, Sakura?" His eyes were frozen pools of sapphire, gazing at her with contempt and disgust. She tentatively reached out to touch his hand but he flinched and drew in back as if her flesh was diseased and rotting.

"He... I... he forced me."

The derisive laughter that echoed hollowly in the dark room made Sakura wince and draw back. The sound was almost physically painful as it scraped her raw with hurt from the inside out.

"Are you trying to tell me he raped you Sakura?" The laughter subsided but a cold, amused smirk lingered on his lips, "Why steal what you can take for free, you whore."

She flinched at the word, her eyes growing glassy with tears.

"You're the Hokage's apprentice, the third-ranked ANBU captain in all of Konoha and you couldn't fend him off? It's because you wanted it, you stupid slut."

"S-Stop Naruto... that's... that's not true... I... I... couldn't stop him..."

"Don't pull your horseshit excuses on me. And besides," he raised a golden eyebrow, "Isn't that why Kakashi-sensei taught us those suicide jutsus?"

Her mouth fell open, dumbfounded shock flitting across her face. "You don't mean that Naruto..."

"Every fucking word."

Whore.

Stupid slut.

I'm so sorry Naruto...

XXXXXXXXXX

Who the FUCK was Sai?

A brief memory flashed through his mind: A black eyed boy with equally dark hair and an amusingly gay way of dressing. Sasuke almost winced; did he really look so much like that fruit?

You do quite resemble that vampiric homosexual. Sasuke almost scowled as his inner voice stated its opinion.

There were more important things at hand then arguing with himself. He settled Sakura more comfortably in his arms. Her half-open eyes were as dark as his and they continued to regard him with warm affection. Sasuke felt a fierce stab of jealousy tear through his chest for this 'Sai' who she obviously cared for so much. What was their relationship? Was she intimate with him? Was she in love with him?

You're turning green, pretty boy that same annoying voice muttered in the back of his head.

He wondered for the millionth time whether he was indeed going insane before shaking the thoughts out of his head. Sakura was just a temporary annoyance that he was obligated to deal with. As soon as he could, he would return her to Konoha.

Keep telling yourself that. If evil little voices could roll their eyes then Sasuke was sure that his would be falling out of their sockets.

And why were her eyes black?

Sakura's eyes had always been the light, pure green of malachite. Aren't we getting poetic, the voice snickered. 'Shut up, before I shut you up', Sasuke thought fiercely and surprisingly the voice quieted.

This was getting far too strange. Why would Orochimaru even want Sakura? He already knew that even Tsunade could not heal his arms so he couldn't have needed her for her healing ability. Her strength was probably chuunin level at best, so it wasn't likely he wanted to craft her into a weapon.

For sex?

His eyes darkened further as the thought crossed his mind. Yes, he knew that Orochimaru had raped her; his chakra-powered nose could smell the snake-sannin's stench oozing from her body. But kidnapping someone just for sex wasn't Orochimaru's style. He wanted something more from her and her body was just a nice bonus on the side.

The question was...

What did Orochimaru want?

XXXXXXXXXX

"Let me get straight to the point, Orochimaru's dead..."

Tsunade cocked a mildly amused eyebrow as each member of the Clan Council reacted in a different manner. Akimichi Chouza's mouth fell open; a hunk of half-chewed sashimi flopped out of wide-open hole and fell on the polished oak table below. Nara Shikato's eyes became so large that Tsunade entertained the thought that he looked like a 'deer caught in a light-flare jutsu'. Yamanaka Inoichi leaned forward, lost his balance and promptly fell out of his chair. Hyuuga Hiashi scoffed and flipped his long hair back, a look of disbelief on his face. Aburame Shibi stayed silent and unmoving but his bugs began to buzz in an agitated cloud around him. The other various clan heads looked on the verge of fainting or tossing their oatmeal-raisin cookies. The only member that seemed composed was Morino Ibiki, who leaned back in his chair, hid his smirk as Yamanaka Inoichi clambered as ungracefully as a ninja could back into his chair.

As the men regained their composure, Tsunade allowed her eyes to flick to the empty chairs around the long table. It was a hierarchical system, with the oldest and most powerful clans sitting closest to her and the newly formed clans residing at the end of the table. Hyuuga was, of course, seated on her right. On her left, an empty chair clothed in dark blue and speckled with tiny white and red fans. A chair between Ibiki and Shikato's was marked with the tiny birds representing the 'Raikiri'. A beautiful red clothed chair was on the left of the empty Uchiha chair, marked with brushed blue swirls, 'Rasengan'.

"Orochimaru cannot be dead. He has developed that body-snatch jutsu to perfection and the Sound village has grown to rival the power of the Five Great Shinobi nations. It is highly, I stress highly, unlikely that Orochimaru has succumbed to death." Murmurs of agreement whispered around the table as Hyuuga Hiashi allowed a smug smile to grace his thin, bloodless lips.

Tsunade smashed a delicate fist down on the table, hairline cracks spread like a spider web across the glossy lacquer. Her eyes flashed with anger.

Nara Shikato raised his hands in a placating manner as the fierce ruler of the country eyed Hiashi like she would like nothing more than to thrust a fist through his skull. "I'm sure what Hyuuga-san means is that we thought Orochimaru was as close to immortal as a human can get. It is hard to believe that he could have died so suddenly."

The first female Hokage flicked her eyes back to the table-top as unwanted emotions bubbled within her. Orochimaru was dead. Memories of Team Sarutobi rose from that forbidden box in the back of her mind but fiercely, she shoved down the lid. He was her enemy and the enemy of her people. He was a traitor not the little boy that had once been her teammate.

Tsunade closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath as a comforting hand came to rest on her shoulder, reminding her that she was not alone. Jiraiya squeezed her reassuringly before taking a seat in the red chair marked with the Rasengan pattern.

Instantly, a gasp resounded all around the table. Two men shot to their feet, glaring at the toad-sannin with venom in their eyes.

"What are you even doing here? You are not a member of the Clan Council, Jiraiya," Shirinai Daisuke said with a tepid glare, his voice creaking with his great age.

"That seat is reserved for a member of the 'Namikaze' clan. It is considered a great disrespect for you to defile it with your presence," Hyuuga Hiashi's pale skin was flushed a very slight red with anger.

Jiraiya raised one white eyebrow and leaned back comfortably in his seat. "I am here as the Hokage's personal advisor." He turned mildly amused eyes on the Hyuuga leader, "I am merely keeping it warm for my student."

Hyuuga scoffed, "That demon brat should have been whelped as a child. It shows how far our great nation has fallen that we let even monsters become shinobi."

Jiraiya smiled at the arrogant man but his eyes flashed with cold anger. "I'm feeling generous today, Hyuuga-sama, so I'll let that one pass. But the next time, I'll be happy to cut your tongue out of your head for you."

The Hyuuga wisely shut his mouth. Something in the firm set of Jiraiya's chin told him that he would be more than ecstatic to carry out with his threat.

The Yamanaka Clan leader cleared his throat to break away some of the tension. "So how do we know for sure that the snake-bastard is dead for good?"

"Sound shinobi have approached Mist, Grass and even Hoshi, claiming they are now homeless Nins and seeking refugee status." When a ninja village is destroyed, its occupants trade their village symbol for a piece of blank metal. This signifies they are ninja that are searching for a new home. Because many countries held a vendetta against Sound, it was in the best interest of its remaining ninja to assimilate themselves into other countries so their enemies cannot take revenge on them for past crimes.

Murmurs of glee and disbelief erupted around the table, drowning the room in a cacophony of chaos.

"Silence," Tsunade pounded the poor table twice with her formidable fist, instantly re-gaining order. Jiraiya decided that as soon as this meeting was over, he would talk to Kotetsu about getting Tsunade's furniture reinforced with steel bars.

"So what will we do, Hokage-sama?" Aburame Shibi's deep voice cut through the penetrating silence.

Tsunade cast a side-long glance to the toad-master two chairs down from her. "Jiraiya will send a message to the squad that has already started in that direction. They will be asked to investigate these events along with continuing their prior mission."

Jiraiya nodded and jabbed his thumb with a senbon he had been toying with. He easily summoned Gamichi right on the table-top, ignoring the incensed murmurs of some of the more conservative clan members.

He leaned in to whisper into the toad's tiny ears. "Yes Boss," the creature mock-saluted him with a webbed front-leg before leaping out the window with one kick of its powerful hind legs.

"And now?" The Hyuuga asked in his maddeningly superior way.

"Now... we wait."

XXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke hands twisted into the last seal 'hebi' and a shimmering, semi-permeable barrier formed over the mouth of the cave. It was a particularly useful jutsu that kept the wind and the rain out while freely allowing fresh oxygen to breeze in the cave.

Job finished, Sasuke let out a very slight sigh. This cave had been an amazing find. Not only was it sheltered and protected by underbrush but it seemed to be connected to an underground, geothermal source. In the back of the cave was a slow moving stream of hot water that disappeared under the wall to flow into what he assumed was a nearby hot spring.

The first thing that Sasuke decided was on his agenda was removing the thin collar that circled her throat. With precise control, he formed his chakra into a hot scalpel, cutting through the enchanted adornment easily. He tossed the twisted scrap-metal to the side of the cave, ignoring the loud clang.

The sheets that had been twisted around Sakura's body were now dirty and blood-encrusted. He needed to clean the wounds to ensure that they would not get infected.

He removed his clothes with the exception of his boxers and lifted the limp girl into his arms. Then, he slowly stepped into the waist-length water. It was deliciously warm and lightly steaming, flowing sluggishly around his form. He removed Sakura's sheet from her body before he gently lowered her into the depths while keeping her head carefully above water. Instantly the water clouded pinkish red with her blood.

She moaned and her body tensed hard against him. Pained mumbles fell freely from her lips and Sasuke felt her chakra shrivel in her anguish. For emotionally powered people such as Sakura and Naruto, chakra was directly connected to their feelings.

Securing his grasp around her limp body with one arm, he tilted her head to wet her hair. His fingers gently weaved through the strands and removed the traces of blood and sweat. Then he cupped water in his palm and washed the dried tear stains from her face.

The pink cloud finally dissipated to reveal raw, still-bleeding flesh. The pale skin was covered in curling asterisk flowers and twisted vines, starting from her collarbone and trailing down her chest and stomach. The lines were smooth and deliberate, morbidly beautiful. On her right hip was a name signed in kanji; an artist, marking his masterpiece proudly.

Orochimaru.

Black eyes bled to crimson once more and his body began to shake with anger. That fucking son of a bitch. The curse seal began to spread like a throbbing cancer, trailing up his pale shoulders and caressing his cheekbones. The shaking subsided and the fierce rage turned to cold fury that burned dryly in the pit of his stomach. The hatred that filled him to the brim was like hot, molten fire, Sasuke felt like screaming and hitting something until his hands were worn to bloody stubs. Sasuke closed his eyes and indulged himself in a calming breath, the mark receded reluctantly back into its source. He should have made that snake bastard's death much more painful for daring to mark what was his.

Wait... when did he start thinking of her as his?

Come to think of it, he had always thought of her as his. Naruto and Sakura both belonged to Sasuke; they had belonged to him for what seemed like eons. They were his, pure and simple. No questions asked.

He rose from the water and stepped back on dry ground. Rivulets of water trailed down his battle hardened body, skimming over his hard muscles and pooling on the ground. He flared his chakra around him and the pink-haired girl, infusing it with a tiny bit of his fire affinity. The water evaporated easily off their skin and rose into the air in the form of curling wisps of steam. Even his boxers returned to their former dry state.

A flash of lightening briefly bathed the cave in a brilliant flash of light. Thunder soon followed, shaking the earth with its tremulous might. The rain pounded the ground with punishing force, unhindered by the shrieking wind.

As if reacting to the wrath of the storm, her stiff body began to convulse violently. She was shaking so hard Sasuke had to clamp his arms tightly around her to keep her from escaping his grasp.

"Please stop... no... NO... don't please... Naruto I'm sorry... Sai, Neji it hurts please stop him... Shikamaru please... I need you... Sasuke... SASUKE... SASUKE!"

"Shhh, I'm right here Sakura..."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Neji!"

A pink flash barreled into him at the speed of light, knocking him down like a bowling pin.

Neji mentally snorted and blinked the dust out of his eyes, it wasn't even nine a.m. And he could already feel a migraine building behind his eyes.

Frantic green eyes stared down at the mildly annoyed shinobi, merely three inches from his face. The emerald-eyed Tasmanian devil sat up, straddling his stomach, hands braced on his shoulders. Her face was flushed from her run and strands of pink clung wildly to her sweaty face as she tried to catch her breath.

"Neji," the girl repeated, digging short nails into the material of his standard, dark blue jounin shirt.

The dark-haired shinobi merely quirked an eyebrow at her, waiting for the dramatic out-burst that was sure to happen.

Three

Two.

One.

"I THINK KIBA'S GAY!"

See, told yo- wait... what the fuck?!

"An hour ago, Kiba got home from that B-Rank mission he was sent on and he came over to surprise me. He woke me up and we started making-out, nothing too hot and heavy. But when I was kissing down his throat, he... he... HE STARTED MOANING SHIKAMARU'S NAME!" She punctuated every word by shaking Neji by the shoulder, unknowingly using some of her super-human strength. With every shake his head would slam into the ground, making a deeper and deeper crater with each hit. Neji did not bother to stop her, just closed his eyes and wondered if he had any pain-meds at home to deal with his worsening headache.

When she seemed to notice that she was actually harming her white-eyed friend, the seventeen year-old blinked. "Sorry," she passed a glowing hand over the back of his head and instantly Neji felt cool relief flood his senses.

Half-laughing and half-sobbing, she toppled off him and collapsed next to him, lying spread-eagled on the ground. "What is with me? Am I the biggest fruit fly in Konoha or do I just turn men gay?"

Neji blinked, "Fruit fly?"

Sakura tapped a finger against her chin as she explained, "You know, a girl only attracted to fruity, gay men..." A wicked gleam flashed through her expressive eyes, "But then again, I'm not attracted to you at all so maybe there's hope for me yet."

Neji's right eye twitched.

She sighed and her eyes fluttered shut, "I mean that bastard went off to get anal-ed by the snake-pedo. Ranmaru told me straight out that he would much rather fuck men then even touch me. And now Kiba is moaning Shikamaru's name. I swear to god, I'm freaking cursed."

Neji tried to keep the amusement from filtering onto his face but he was unable to keep it from dancing in his eyes.

Shikamaru, Sai and himself had been responsible for the second male she had 'turned' gay. Ranmaru had been a terrible womanizer known as a 'walking STD' by many of the male shinobi. Sai had overheard him drunkenly boasting that he had finally gotten that 'hot pink-haired medic chick' to go out with him. He went on to say that he was going to 'get that bitch drunk off her ass' and named a few dozen sexual acts he would act out with her including: 'I'm going to get that bitch on her knees and force-feed her some tube-steak'. Sai had reported back to Neji and Shikamaru and the three had formed a plan to knock some sense into the jounin... and maybe some teeth out of him. Neji still remembered the look on his face as himself and his teammates cornered the man in an alley. Shikamaru had explained with a warm smile on his face that the 'hot pink-haired medic chick' was currently unavailable and that she would be unavailable for sometime to come. The friendly way Shikamaru spoke to Ranmaru was easily disputed by Neji and Sai. The former of which was spinning a sharp kunai on his thumb by the ring and the latter was twirling multiple thick senbon between his fingers. The scared-shitless jounin had booked it to Sakura's house, muttered some bullshit excuse about being gay and had then fled to the Hokage's office to put in a request for a two year border mission.

"Think of this logically Sakura, are you sure it wasn't just a misunderstanding?"

Said girl huffed and pushed herself into a seated position so she could look into his eyes. "He said, and I quote," her voice mimicked Kiba's deep tone, "'Mmm Shikamaru... that feels so good, do it just like that baby'. Does that seem like a misunderstanding to you?"

Neji looked up at the girl and the amusement faded away from him. Though her face was a blasé mask, he saw the raw pain swimming in her eyes. This was an old hurt for her, something that she had never been able to overcome: The fear that she was inferior, weak and ugly. That no one would ever genuinely want her.

"Come here," he grasped her hand and pulled her down to the ground again, gently but firmly. She gasped in surprise but allowed him to do as he wished. He then tucked her against his side comfortably and threw an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. She snuggled against him, closed her eyes and buried her face in his shirt.

They stayed like that for more than an hour, just basking in the warmth of the other's presence. Sakura took comfort from the solid, unmovable male against her, a unchanging constant in her life. Neji appreciated this woman who liked him for who he was, not a Hyuuga, not a respected jounin, not one of the strongest Nin in the village but a friend, a true friend.

"Hey guys, am I interrupting something?"

The two jounin glanced up at the spiky-haired ninja who was slouching carelessly against a nearby tree.

"Nope," Sakura extended a hand on her free side, beckoning her friend. The brown-eyed male sighed quietly and took her hand, lying down beside her. The three friends gazed up at the clouds, partially hidden by the leafy trees of training ground thirteen.

"So... what's going on?"

Both Sakura and Neji snorted; though Neji's was softer and much more elegant (how the Hyuuga could manage to make a snort 'elegant' was still a mystery).

"My boyfriend wishes I was you, Shikamaru."

"Oh okay..." He closed his eyes and settled more comfortably against the tree. Neji and Sakura exchanged a slightly amused, mostly exasperated glance. He knew that Sakura was hurting, not because she felt deeply for Kiba but because betrayal was a sensitive issue for the pink-haired beauty. However, he knew that this would not stop her from having her fun at the expense of the Nara. Sakura held up a hand and silently counted down her fingers, 'five, four, three, two, one.'

"What?!" The words finally snapped in the ninja's usually lightening quick mind and his mouth fell open.

Sakura worried her bottom lip between her teeth. "I should have known our relationship was falling apart when he got me toilet paper printed with corny jokes for Valentine's Day."

"Oh that's where you got that stuff... I find it quite amusing to read," Neji said thoughtfully.

"So that's what you were doing when you were in my bathroom for an hour. Silly me, I thought you were helping yourself to my plethora of hair products."

"My hair is one hundred percent natural, you jealous female."

"Surrrrreeeee Neji, that's why Hinata keeps complaining that her favourite peach-scented frizz-serum disappears every time she buys it." She leant closer to the Hyuuga and made a huge show of sniffing his hair.

Neji decided to put his faith into the most effective trick in the book, distraction. "Shikamaru, you look like you're going to throw up."

Sakura turned her head to glance at the genius who was slowly turning a pretty, sea-foam green shade. "Hey Homo-cake, relax a little. I mean, shouldn't I be the one turning fucking rainbow colours?"

Shikamaru physically flinched at the word homo-cake. Sakuras brow frowned slightly with worry, he didn't usually respond to her homo-jokes at all. "Honey, is everything okay?"

Shikamaru turned haunted coffee eyes to meet softened green, "Ì just remembered... I have dinner with Kiba tonight."

And in the background, there was an ominous flash of lightening.

Neji started awake, his all-seeing eyes blinked open and then shut tight with grief. He realized that dreaming about her had just increased the pain, the swirling amonia burning his insides.

The Hyuuga shoved off the cloak that had been draped over his body and let himself out of the tent, careful not to wake the slumbering Lee. When the vicious storm had started, they had been forced to set up camp and wait out the storm.

Three steps away from his tent and the rain had already drenched his to the core, plastering mahogany locks uncomfortably to the back of his neck.

"Can't sleep either?" Shikamaru's lazy drawl held more than a hint of bitterness.

The Hyuuga flicked his eyes to the genius who was standing under an oak tree, he had used his wind affinity chakra to create an invisible air-sheild to protect himself from the rain. Neji scowled lightly and made for his friend. Shikamaru obliging stretched the shield to cover the Hyuuga as his comrade came to stand beside him.

"I miss her," was Neji's only answer.

Shikamaru flicked open his lighter and tentatively lit a cigarette, cupping the precious stick with one hand as he waited for the tabacco to light.

They settled into a silence, watching the rain pound the grass and forcing it to bend to it's will. There were no cynical jokes or sarcastic quips lightening the heavy air, nor was there the tinkle of a jaded laugh to break the gloom.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke watched, transfixed, as the fire-light played on her pain-drawn face. In the safety of this cave, sheltered from the rest of the world, Sasuke allowed himself to fully examine the girl he had saved. His eyes greedily drank in the way pastel strands feathered over her forehead. The way her dark, sooty lashes, fanned out against pale cheeks, the delicate arch of her nose and the determined curve of her jaw. The way her chapped lips parted slightly to reveal a glimmer of pearly teeth. The way her rosette eyebrows formed straight, severe lines as pain wracked her form. The slight indents in her cheeks that hinted at shallow dimples.

She turned her head sharply to the right and the cool compress flopped to the floor. Sasuke picked it up and bathed it in more cooled water before placing it back on her forehead. He brushed his fingers lightly against his skin and was pleased to find that her skin was cooling. Her fever had broken and now was passing out of her body in the beads of sweat that rolled down her face and neck.

She was such a flash from the past that just gazing at her ungodly bright hair was enough to transport him back to the year he became a genin, the year when he had been placed in a team with the dead last and the annoying fan girl. The year he had learned to form lightening into a deadly sword of destruction. The year he had learned that the world wasn't just pain, desperation, anger and guilt. The year he had learned to smile and laugh again, the year that he learned to love.

Love?

Yes love. He did love the three annoyances that made up Team Seven. He loved Naruto the way he would love a brother. Kakashi was more of a father than the one he had lost so many years ago. But he could never love them in the classic sense of the word, his view of both relationships were far too skewed, far too twisted by life and tragedies.

And Sakura?

She was not a sister to him that was for sure. Nor could she be described as a friend. She was the annoying girl from his three man cell that he had somehow come to care about. She was an unwanted link to the past he could not forget but just looking at her made him feel... something. He could not describe the tightness in his chest and the clenching fist around his stomach.

'Stupid girl,' he thought as he stared down at her sleeping face, 'I was just trying to protect you.'

Sasuke's hand brushed against her fingers as he was tucking her more securely into the blanket. Panic flooded through his body, her fingers were as cold as ice. He gently moved the blanket up and felt the rest of her arm; it too was freezing under his touch. He recognized that her body was reacting violently to the curse seal and hypothermia was quickly setting in. Already her fingers were turning a chalky colour; the blood had retreated to keep her extremities warm. Sasuke tugged the girl once more into his lap and tucked the blanket around her, trying to warm her body. Soon, imperceptible shivers had turned to violent tremors. She was shaking like a leaf in his arms. Sasuke knew that he needed to share his body heat with her.

Placing the girl back on the blanket he had spread on the floor, Sasuke quickly stripped back down to his boxers. He dragged the girl and the blanket close to the fire but still far enough to avoid burns and sparks. Then swiftly, he slipped under the covers and spooned her against him. Her icy back was flush against his chest and his arms came around to rest on her stomach. He gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the blissful feeling of silken skin against him. But it was harder to ignore her satisfied little sigh and she snuggled deeper into his embrace. Her body still shivered violently but he could tell that his warmth was a big relief to the pink-haired shinobi in his arm. Even with his heat combined with the fire at her front, Sasuke worried that it would not be enough to bring her body out of hypothermia's grip. Gently, he flared his chakra around her and infused it with his fire affinity. His energy tingled over her body, focusing on her hands and feet that were blue with lack of blood.

"You can't fucking die on me now," he whispered softly into the shell of her ear.

Because I don't know what I'll do if you do.

XXXXXXXXXX

Her eyelids felt hot and she could see the red glow of light through the thin flap of skin. Sakura opened her eyes, only to be blinded by the warm brilliance of the sun. Quickly, the kunoichi shut them and allowed the abused retinas to bask in the darkness for a few moments. Then slowly, she blinked them open again and shielded her gaze with her hand.

The view that surrounded her took her breath away. Early morning sunbeams danced on the tips of dewy grass blades, setting the whole meadow aglitter. Puffy marshmallow clouds floated in the sky, so delicious looking that she felt the fleeting urge to grab one and pop it in her mouth. She could see all around her for miles because no trees blocked her vision. The occasional crimson poppy and silky forget-me-nots peppered the smooth monotony of green. She could smell the scent of grass and the perfume of wild-flowers. The warmth of the sun kissed her face while the damp, earth was cool under her fingers.

She blinked too clear her vision, there was no place this beautiful on Earth, no place so calm, serene and perfect. It was almost like being encased in a living, three-dimensional painting.

"Where am I?" the sound of her voice seemed out of place in this ethereal place.

"Within yourself, my dear."

She started and jumped to her feet, instinctively reaching for a kunai but finding her pouch gone. Sakura lowered herself into a defensive position instead and narrowed her eyes.

She was met by glittering black eyes watching her with mild amusement.

"Inner Sakura?"

"The one and only."

Sakura gaped at the girl across in utter shock. They were identical, from the lengthy-pink hair to the long slender legs. The only real difference was instead of the customary green, inner Sakura had black pupil-less eyes that seemed to absorb the very light around them.

"What the fuck... is going on?" Sakura's baffled look was so Naruto-esque that it was almost scary.

"This," Inner Sakura waved a flighty hand to indicate their surroundings, "Is the world your mind has created."

"I don't... know what you mean..."

"Don't you remember, Sakura," Inner Sakura smiled sadly, forlornly tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "You are no longer a Haruno."

A bright flash of red streaked through Sakura's vision. Yellow eyes and the glint of sharp canines filtered fuzzily through her memory. She fell to her knees, clutching her head as the pictures continued to fuzzily swim in her mind's eye. It was painful, reliving her time at Orochimaru's lair. She could almost feel his hand trailing lazily up her thigh, his knife sliding easily across her skin. The recollections of his hot breath streaming across her cheek and his long tongue made bile rise viciously in her throat.

The green-eyed kunoichi leaned over and dry-heaved into the pristine grass. The urge to purge every bit of him out of her body was so intense that her whole body shook with the effort. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes but she refused to let them spill over her cheeks.

Slowly, two strong arms wrapped around the poor kunoichi, cradling her as if she was a child. Sakura tucked her face into the warm crook of the other woman's neck and threw her arms around her, her heart-wrenching sobs wracking her entire body. Inner Sakura murmured little words of comfort as she rocked the woman in her arms, her heart breaking for her other-self.

"Shh, you're okay now," the black-eyed woman said softly, feeling cool tears slide down her throat. When Sakura finally stopped trembling, her tired body limp in her alter-ego's arms, Inner Sakura began to speak.

"You have to know the truth and we don't have much time left in this place before you wake up."

Sakura nodded weakly and dragged her body into a sitting position, removing herself from her black-eyed inner.

"So do you remember your life with the Kurohoshi clan and the time you spent with Orochimaru after he abducted you?"

Again Sakura nodded, she remembered the child that she had once been.

A lonely pink-haired girl with a big imagination and an even bigger forehead; She was not a golden child filled with potential to be great like Naruto nor was she the serious, broody child filled with the will to excel like Sasuke. No, Sakura was an introverted child with a sweet disposition and quiet intelligence. She had a penchant for wandering into the wildflower fields near her house to gaze up at the sky, just thinking.

She remembered the cold-quirk of her mother's smile and the harsh laugh that always resonated from her father. She remembered the cold land that was her home and the large mansion she had lived in for such a short period of time. But most of all she remembered her brother's smile. He had been a young teenager when she was six with long, dark-pink hair that he kept tied back with a strip of leather. Her parents had been so disappointed when he had shown no signs of having inherited the 'Kurohoshi no Arashi' 'The Storm of the Black Star', the kekkai genkai of their clan. They looked down upon their only son and instead put pressure on their twin girls, Setsuna and Yumi, to unlock their kekkai genkai. In all of this, their youngest was virtually ignored and shoved in the background.

'Kaiya,' Sakura vaguely recalled through the haze of looking into the past, 'My birth name was Kaiya.'

And then, she remembered the day that Kurohoshi blood stained every surface in that forsaken house. She remembered her mother's stiff cry of surprise as a tall, snake-like shinobi thrust a sharp katana through her stomach cavity. She died slowly as the acid started to eat her alive from the inside, an excruciatingly painful way to die. Her father had died in a much more merciful fashion, a single slice with a kunai and he had bled out from his jugular in less than three minutes. Her sisters had been raped by the snake-man's men, their screams rising in crescendo until finally they were cut short with twin slits across their throats. Her brother had been beaten to a death and lay prone on the floor, his body resembling a broken rag-doll thrown aside by a brooding child.

She remembered cold arms lifting her out of her hiding place in the kitchen cupboard and darkened yellow eyes examining her like a piece of meat.

Hello little flower, you belong to me now.

The memory of his deep voice, stained deeper with pleasure sent a shiver of disgust through her body.

Things went fuzzy after that but she clearly remembered waking up shackled like a farm animal to the wall. A collar around her neck kept her chakra suppressed and needle-pricks on her arm marked the place that blood had been drawn from her body.

She remembered the desperate hunger that had curled in her stomach and the fierce desire to eat anything, anything at all, and the constant ache that had driven her past insanity and into the world of delirium. She remembered crying, raging and throwing herself against the weight of her chains, screaming and wishing to die, until she only had the energy left to lie limply and gaze at the ceiling.

She remembered a tall, masked man step through the doors of her cage. When he saw her blatant fear and shaking body he had removed the stark white face-covering. He was a silver-haired angel, almost glowing in this dark and dirty room, so beautiful, she could have cried. His uncovered eye was wide with shock and his froze and just stared at her. She remembered that she should be wary, he could merely be a genjustu designed by Orochimaru.

She remembered the dark-haired teen that traveled with her silver-haired angel, his black eyes like twin tunnels. She remembered seeing the darkness within him, as clear as the morning sun to her childish gaze.

Everything after that was a blur but she vaguely recalled being taken to Konoha and stepping in to the Sandaime's office. She remembered a tall, white haired man spreading kanji over her body and around the floor in a large pentagon. She remembered his hand, cool against the burning skin of her stomach, spreading chakra into her body. And after that, there was nothing.

"Jiraiya sealed my memories?" Sakura said softly to Inner-Sakura, "And Kakashi-sensei was the man who saved me from Orochimaru so long ago?"

"Yes," Inner Sakura smiled sadly and closed her black eyes, "And you know why they did it because you know all about your Kekkai Genkai now."

And Sakura did.

She knew she would probably not live to see thirty. She knew she was a danger to everyone she loved because of the volatility of her blood-lust. She knew she could lose herself so easily that it scared her.

"Now you must know what I really am," Inner Sakura said softly. "When something as powerful and volatile as your kekkai genkai is sealed away the residual power that leaks from the seal must go somewhere. I am a manifestation of your power, the entity that was created from those power leaks."

Being the smart kunoichi that Sakura was, she immediately figured out the implications of this new development. "That means now that my powers are unlocked, you have to disappear..." Sakura felt tears sting behind her eyes at the thought of her long-time friend leaving her.

"Yes," Inner Sakura's eyes were slightly watery but then they hardened to determined diamonds once more, "But not yet, your power has not been fully released yet. The cursed seal Orochimaru gave you along with the full power of the unleashed Kurohoshi no Arashi would be enough to kill you instantly."

"So what must I do?" Sakura sat up straighter and the will to live filled her.

"The cursed seal will test you and try to bend you to its will. It will immerse you in a terrible illusion or show you visions of things you have always wanted. You must not give in, Sakura; you must not accept the dark power."

The two girls clasped hands and smiled at each other, enjoying their last moment of piece in the beautiful oasis of Sakura's mind.

Inner Sakura leaned in to peck her on the cheek, her black eyes sparkling with just a tiny bit of the mischievousness that Sakura knew was her dominant quality.

"Kick ass sweetheart and make me fucking proud. And make sure you don't lose to Ino in any of those drinking contests. Take care of Naruto, Shikamaru, Neji and Sai and punch Sasuke hard in the mouth for me when you find that fucker."

Sakura's smile turned lopsided, "Done."

Inner Sakura nodded, satisfied, "That's my girl."

And then she was gone.

For a few seconds silence washed over the lovely plains of Sakura's mind. The very blades of glass seemed to tremble in anticipation, the clouds freezing in the azure sky.

And then her mind-world flickered out, like a candle blown out on a birthday cake.

And then the onslaught began.

The raw emotion flooding through her sluggish body could be equated to a defibrillator sending currents of electricity through a corpse. She wanted to laugh, cry, dance, sing, jump, fly, scream and break into a million pieces. She wanted to stab a hole in herself to release the emotions filling her like an overstretched balloon. She wanted to sever her spinal cord to stop the neurons from firing in her brain, stop the overwhelming tsunami of feelings. She wanted to crack her head against the stone wall until it was a bloodied mess of shattered bone and squished brain-matter.

She wanted to die.

Then suddenly the rush of emotions stopped and she felt the swirling mass of emotions, much resembling a huge version of Naruto's Rasengan, dissipate. There was no relief, just the hollowness that came from being filled and then left empty and cracked around the edges.

She slowly opened her eyes, blinking furiously to clear her blurred vision. The sight that met her newly un-hazed sight was two dark emerald eyes staring straight back at her.

She blinked again and realized that she was once again staring at another version of herself. Embedded in the thick glass of the dark mirror she was gazing into, the other Sakura let a slow smirk lift one corner of her mouth tauntingly. This other Sakura's hair crackled around her form, as if tossed around by an unnatural wind. Her eyes were dark with apathy and a hint of malicious intent. But the thing that shocked Sakura most about her mirror-image were the curse marks, curling spirals trailing from her left cheek, down her neck and over the curve of her shoulder.

With frantic eyes, she quickly flicked her eyes to her own body to make sure that her body was still curse mark free. A heavy sigh of relief exited her lips when she realized that her skin was still unblemished by the ugly black brands.

"Scared of your future sweetheart?"

Sakura's eyes quickly flipped back to her reflection as the dark image started speaking.

"That is not my future," she growled, "I would never sell out for power."

Her reflection sneered, placing one hand on a cocked hip, "Weak idiot, you're not worth anyone's time. Even after all these years, you're still that stupid little girl that everyone left crying in the dust."

"Shut up!" Sakura growled, her hands clenching into fists that could easily bring down mountains.

"Oh did I hit a nerve?" the smirking reflection lifted her hand and began to examine black-painted nails, "Face it, you're weak and you always have been. You've never been able to protect those you love and you never will be unless you embrace the cursed seal."

The mirror flashed blisteringly bright, causing viridian eyes to squint, and a new scene replaced her proxy. It was a battlefield, highlighted by the sun dipping coyly under the horizon. The field was razed to the ground, littered with holes and splintered trees, no doubt caused by all the jutsu the shinobi had just recently used. Sakura noticed thick, acrid smoke still rising from a few areas and she smelt the fresh odor of blood, sweat, tears, regret and death.

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto called so softly, she barely heard the tired whisper.

With a strangled sob, she pushed against the slab of cool glass, and to her surprise, she passed through. Now she was in the world of the battle-field, the sights and smells much more intense to her senses. She stumbled over to her fallen bestfriend, tumbling to her knees by his side.

"Sakura..." his voice was so raspy it was as if someone had rubbed his throat raw with sand-paper. Her medic-senses kicked in and she quickly took in his injuries. His arms had been popped violently out of their sockets and know lay thrown haphazardly across the ground in disgusting angles. He had been slit open from his sternum to his pelvis and his intestines were oozing out of the open cavity, surrounded by a thick coating of black blood, flies were already settling in the wound. Bile rose thickly in her throat and she summoned healing chakra swiftly to her hands placing them firmly on her broken friend's chest. But the healing chakra was not coming to her finger-tips, no matter how hard she summoned it.

"Sakura-chan..." Her name left his lips on his last breath, life leaving his beautiful azure eyes.

She screamed and screamed and screamed, tearing her nails into her scalp and sobbing tearlessly while laying against his corpse. She was dying, she was flying, and she was shattering like a glass figurine.

A another group of bodies drew her attention and her tear-blurred eyes caught a sight of chocolate locks, pineapple hair and dark, bottomless eyes.

"Neji, Sai, Shikamaru," their names were foreign on her lips, as if she had forgotten how to speak, how to feel.

Neji was already drained of life-force. His head tilted back showcasing the very deep slash over his jugular, congealed blood clinging like blackened dew-drops to his skin. His pearl eyes were half-open, glazed with milky-film like a dead fish.

Shikamaru's skin, usually bronzed by all his cloud-watching sessions, was the colour of fresh snow with a deep blue tone. His hands were loosely curled around his throat and his tongue lolled out of his mouth, pitch black. Poison, Sakura recognized immediately, deeply painful venom that causes every red-blood cell to explode and renders the blood as thin as water. Asphyxiation: such an unfitting death for such a brave shinobi.

Sai lay by his side; another life cut heart-breakingly short. His body was spread-eagled, black voids still frozen in an eternity of intense pain. His pants had been pulled down to his ankles, along with his black boxers. Sakura's eyes averted with a sob as she observed his humiliation, Sai had been castrated. His genital roughly hewn off with what Sakura hypothesized was a kunai, leaving a bloody stump. She turned away from the sight of his body, emptying her stomach so violently, stars burst in front of her eyes.

She wiped her mouth wretchedly on the back of her hand, the acid burning her cracked and broken lips.

Her deadened eyes cast one more look around the battle-field and some subconscious part of her understood that this was just an illusion. But it seemed so real, every sight, sound and smell seamlessly blended to drive her mind in a chaotic whirlwind of hurt.

All around her were the twisted bodies of those she held close to her heart.

Anko's head had been detached from her body, laying face-up in a puddle of vomit and blood just a few paces away from where Sakura stood.

Hinata, Tenten and Ino had suffered much the same fate, their panties pooled around their ankles and their thighs bloody. Their eyes all held the same sightless relief, they had wanted to die.

Tsunade-shishou, her strong and gorgeous mentor, was a mess of blood, gore and bones. Her face had been beaten so badly that her teeth were visible from areas her cheeks had been torn out.

And Kakashi-sensei, her tall, aloof father figure, back always as straight as he led the way to their next mission. He would never walk again, his spine just a splintered mass of bone chips from what she could see of his back.

Genma would never use his silver-tongue to woo women again, the muscle had been hacked out of his mouth. The kunai through his right-eye had sunk into his brain, ending his life.

She closed her eyes and ignored the soft chuckle that resounded behind her. She felt a hand start to play with her hair, twirling pink locks around pale fingers.

"Poor thing couldn't even save her friends with her pitiful medical ninjutsu," a dark voice whispered in her ear, "If only you were powerful enough to stop their needless deaths." The hand in her hair fisted tightly and she was jerked backwards to stare up into her reflection's mildly amused jade eyes.

"Join me," she said, "Embrace the power and you'll never be weak again."

For a moment that seemed like an eternity, Sakura was tempted.

She saw the dead bodies of her friends flash through her mind like a slideshow from hell.

'Sasuke...'

With a smile on her face, she lifted her eyes to meet those of her reflection.

"I. Am. Not. Weak."

Then Sakura cocked back her arm and punched her alternate self in the mouth.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: (Wide eyed look) I'm SORRY!! (Random line of excuses)

All those stupid culminating essays I had to do...

It was exam week!! Math was killlerrr...

I have this creepy girl that thinks she's my best friend and she's gonna commit suicide if don't talk to her for atleast twenty minutes a day... blah she's so awkward... (and a few days ago she told me she was a lesbian (which would not be so weird if I wasn't worried she was gonna jump my bones.)

My cousins favourite fish 'Hitler' died... now we only have 'Stalein'...

I had soo many hours at work, damn coffee shop...

I lost my favourite hair-tie...

Sakura refused to be put in certain situations... she was only happy after I stuck her with a nearly naked Sasuke cuddling her... D

My friend Twisted Harmony and I have been dealing with much drama between our friends...

(Random line of excuses is now finished...)

Blah, before I forget, the Sakura vs. Her reflection scene is inspired by a certain friend of mine... let's call him 'Shadow'. Shadow's going through some tough times right now but I want him to know I'm here for him, even if I keep ditching his movie trips and soccer games (sorry sirr).

Thanks as always, to Twisted Harmony, for making this fic readable (I DON'T EVEN HAVE SPELLCHECK BLAHHH). She's just a whole bundle of awesome amazingness. Goodluck with getting the Garbage Truck to grow balls, love.

Some of Sasuke's feelings for Sakura are revealed, as is Sakura's true history. Tensions seem to be on a rise at the camp of our beloved rescuers and animosity will just keep on increasing.

THANK YOU so much, loyal reviewers. I luff cho.

Please review, reviews are my sunshine on a dark and dreary day. (Glomps reviewers to death. SQUEEE!)

Ahem (regains composure), well, now that school is over, updating will be more frequent.

'Spank choo.

-Tempest.

Final Pretty Lyric: It takes my pain away. It's a lie, a kiss with open eyes and she's not breathing back.