Death Of A Soul (3)

[wicked]

Disclaimer: Applicable?still.

<b>Death Of A Soul: Chapter Three</b>
by Wicked Child

Everything around her was black, even though she could clearly hear birds chirping in the early morning light. She felt the sun?s rays beating upon her already, promising that today was going to be a grueling hot one. Not that it was going to be any different since she had come in contact with the man she had dubbed Nobnaf as he had yet to tell her his name. She hadn?t even seen him or his associates, as he had, none too kindly, told her to use her forehead protector as a blindfold.

She of course obliged, only because she felt how intimidating Nobnaf truly was. She heard it in his associate?s voices, the way they trembled when around him, or came close to her. It had been a week since the forest. A week since she?d heard <i>his</i> cruel words, even though that small girlish hope inside told her that it was out of concern he berated her. Her, benefactor for lack of a better term, had begun testing her and her skills. Overall he seemed sorely disappointed. This pissed her off and she took every opportunity to let him know, making it harder for him to train her if that was in fact what he was doing.

Sakura heard him approach in that slow yet deliberate way he chose to walk. More often than not, that alone pissed her off. Had the pink haired kunoichi known that she was easily pissed off by one of Akatsuki?s most feared members, she may have reconsidered many things.

?You?re late,? she said, cocking her head to the side. She felt, rather than heard, him scowl. However having a sensei named Hatake Kakashi made her ever more time conscious and punctuality was something she desired.

?The world does not revolve around you kunoichi,? he answered in that same smooth, lulling voice. She often times wondered if he practiced that voice in the mirror but decided against it. Or at least she decided against mentioning that wonderment to him.

She scoffed at his answer. ?You?re not the first one to point that out to me.? <i>No, it?s always the ones that think the world revolved around themselves that let me know I?m nothing in the grand scheme of things.</i>

Itachi looked at the girl. She had a certain air about her that made one notice even if she herself wasn?t really worth acknowledging. ?You are poor in taijutsu, ninjutsu, and are mediocre in genjutsu. It is amazing that you have made it this far in your career. Then again your teammates have more than made up for it.?

He smiled when he saw her visibly flinch at the continued mention of her weakness. Again, Sakura felt his change in emotion, if one could call him an emotional being. <i>Why don?t you just give me a paper cut and pour lemon juice and salt in it why don?t you? she thought angrily.</i>

Aloud she said, ?We can?t all be perfect Nobnaf now can we?? She felt him scowl at her nickname for him. <i>Hell yeah!</i> But it was his own damn fault for not informing her of a proper name. Nobnaf would have to do until then.

?You will now be retrained in all aspects of your duty as a shinobi. You will have to excuse my absence as I have my own duties to attend. I have arranged to have some of my more capable associates teach you until I have returned.? With that Itachi walked away, motioning for some of the missing-nin?s at his disposal to take care of the girl.

One of the nin?s walked up to the girl and smirked. This was going to be a fun day. ?All right Pinky, let?s see how well you do against little old me.?

Sakura could feel the murderous intent in the man standing in front of her and she cringed inwardly at their close proximity. ?All right Smelly. Just bring it.?

The man, now dubbed Smelly, backhanded the girl sending her flying across the clearing. He looked back to see Itachi?s response but was only met with a fading figure who didn?t bother to turn around. Today was going to be a good day indeed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ino sat facing the wall opposite her bed, a red ribbon clutched in her hand. The news had spread like wild fire: Haruno Sakura was dead. She couldn?t believe it. She refused to believe it until she saw Naruto, seemingly broken, crying unabashedly at the memorial. Her hand instinctively gripped the ribbon tighter, in an attempt to hold on to something that was no longer there.

?The memorial,? she whispered to herself as tears began to slip freely from their blue prison.

<i>The boy who loved the pink-haired girl and swore to protect her refused to be consoled. He slapped away his sensei?s hand and glared at the tall, gray haired Jounin for even attempting to touch him. Ino didn?t want to admit it, but the vibes whether it was chakra or just raw emotion that Naruto emitted scared the hell out of her.

She turned her attention to Sasuke who was silent as ever which was nothing unusual, but Ino knew that Sakura?s death meant something to him. As she watched him now he looked more hollow than any other time she had seen him. He didn?t take notice of anyone around him; his eyes just stared at the picture her parents had given the Hokage to use for the memorial. Normally something like this would elicit a form of jealous in Ino but somehow she knew that it was only right.

The sounds of someone else crying turned her attention to her right. Rock Lee was crying his heart out, but seemed slightly more subdued than Naruto. His teammate TenTen hugged him in an effort to placate the boy but to no avail. Not even his sensei, Gai, could do anything to quiet the boy. Ino sighed inwardly. She knew Sakura would feel guilty if she knew how people were reacting to her death. She?d ultimately blame herself and sink into a deep depression.

After the memorial she watched as Sakura?s mother walked toward Sasuke and thanked him for informing her of Sakura?s death.

?I know how much you meant to her Sasuke-kun, so it seemed only fitting that you told me about her?? Sakura?s mother could no longer continue as fresh tears overcame the woman.

Sasuke looked lost. ?I?m sorry I couldn?t protect her the way I should have,? was all that he could say before the woman was led away by the Godaime.

Ino watched as everyone left the memorial except Sasuke and Naruto who remained behind, both staring at the picture. Ino half wondered who carved Sakura?s name into the memorial. She assumed it to be Kakashi-sensei and left it at that. She wanted to say something to the remaining members of Team Seven but her throat constricted.

?Ino.?

The blonde looked toward the source of the voice calling her. Shikamaru stood off to the side, waiting for her to join him. She nodded and walked over, allowing him to take her arm as he escorted her back to her home. As they left the memorial she thought she heard the boys talking to each other. Once on the streets of Konoha Shikamaru looked over at the silent kunoichi.

?Ino. How are you holding up?? A part of him hoped she wouldn?t open up to him and spill her thoughts regarding the situation because it?d be troublesome but then another part of him didn?t care if she did.

The girl looked over at her teammate and buried her face into his neck, the sobs overtaking her body that could no longer hold back the anguish. For the first time in her life, Yamanako Ino wanted to be called Ino-pig. Shikamaru looked toward the sky and watched the clouds pass by lazily. He then closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around the girl and held her tight.

Later that night, Ino had gone back to the memorial to take one last look at the smiling pink-haired girl who had been, despite rivalries, her best friend. The area had been dark but she detected another presence, an unidentifiable one at that. She tried to push it out of her mind and focus on the picture of Sakura surrounded by sakura blossoms, and even a few daisies with one cosmopolitan thrown into the mix.

A noise sounded to her left and Ino whipped her head in that direction. The presence was closer to her now but still undetectable. Her eyes searched the darkness to no avail. She sighed and turned her head back to the memorial only to find something was missing.</i>

Ino closed her eyes and brought the ribbon up to her lips. <i>Who would take your picture Sakura-chan?</i> she thought angrily. <i>Who would defile your memorial by stealing from it?</i>

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sakura lay on her bed unmoving. The pain was unbearable but there really wasn?t anything she could do about that other than sucking it up. It hurt to breathe, but that was one of the drawbacks to being alive. The men Nobnaf had left her with took delight in breaking her spirit that day. Time after time they displayed their superiority over the young girl. The man dubbed Smelly enjoyed taunting her, and in her mind?s eye she envisioned Zabuza, as he was really one of the only missing-nin?s she had ever encountered.

The ?training? sessions had been going on for the past three days with no benefactor in sight. No medic-nin came to tend to her wounds, a fact that Sakura determined to be due to Nobnaf?s absence. She tended to her own wounds to the best of her ability, but she had only gotten so far with Tsunade-sama?s teachings. The little bits she did know weren?t awfully helpful and that pissed the girl off. Right then all she wanted was to hear her mother?s voice calling her from downstairs, reminding her of some appointment with her team or asking for help with chores around the house.

Sakura bit back her tears. She didn?t want to think about her mother. The two were extremely close and thinking about the older woman would only bring out about a horrible depression Sakura wasn?t sure she would be able to overcome. But no matter how much she didn?t want it to, her mind brought up images of her home, Konoha, Ino-pig, Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei, the Academy, and so many other memories.

She wondered if they missed her. Undoubtedly her mother missed her little girl, but what about the others? She was more than certain Naruto missed her, but what about Sasuke? His last words to her stung, no matter how many times she tried to convince herself otherwise. No matter how she tried to tilt her head at a different angle and squint, they still rang with the truth of his feelings toward her.

He despised her presence in the field.

Before she could control her emotions, her body painfully shook with the sobs that sent her into a dreamless sleep.

Sakura felt a pain in her side. It was there, and then it would go away only to reappear moments later. She didn?t understand what was going on and tried to swat the offending pain away. Her body was beaten as it was, it didn?t need anything more done to it.

For several moments it seemed as though the swatting effect worked as nothing came after and the girl contented herself into snuggling further into the bed. It was an unwise decision on her part.

Suddenly her body was slammed against the stonewall, pain bursting throughout her body. A hand closed its way around her throat and a specific scent lingered in the air.

?Get your ass up Pinky. Just because he?s not here doesn?t mean you can get away with not training.?

The man smiled viciously. She wasn?t wearing her damned hitai-ate and he clearly saw the color of her eyes. The girl was a pretty little thing, but he wasn?t interested in kid pussy. However, beating the living shit out of her proved much more pleasurable than making her a little fuck toy. Why Itachi brought her home with him remained a mystery, but Smelly figured that even a fucked up young man like him must want to get banged every now and again.

He moved closer to the girl and whispered, ?You?ve got three minutes to get your sorry ass out in the field. The rest of us are waiting to train.? He then dropped the girl and strode out of the room leaving Sakura desperately trying to catch her breath. He absently wondered if she would defy him and not show up, but he dismissed that idea immediately. The girl was weak and would do what she was told. He did however, miss the murderous look she gave his retreating figure.

Three minutes later, hitai-ate blindfold in place, the girl limped her way into the field where Smelly and his band of merry missing-nin?s waited to beat the shit out of her. <i>If this is Nobnaf?s way of training me I?d be better off going up against Orochimaru. At least he might give me a chance to land some hits instead of degrading me like this.</i>

?Okay kunoichi, let?s see what you?ve got today.?

Sakura scowled. <i>What I have today? How about a sore body asshole! I swear to God you broke my arm the other day. This morning has given me a sore throat, so much so it hurts even more to breathe. I smell and I need to take a shower. I hate you. And I will kill you when this is over. Hell yeah!</i> Aloud Sakura said, ?Whatever, Just hurry up and beat me already.?

?Giving up so soon Pinky?? Smelly taunted her, much to amusement of his fellow nin?s.

?What?s there for me to give up? You aren?t doing your job of training me asshole. I doubt WhatHisFace actually wanted you to get your rocks off by beating me.?

?How can you be so sure??

?He has plans for me. I doubt a beat up kunoichi is what he had in mind. So now, if you?re done with the chit chat, just bring it.? Despite her words, Sakura crouched into a defensive position. She knew she couldn?t beat these men, no matter what she did. But upon further reflection, she?d be damned if they humiliated her just for the sake of their perverse amusement.

Smelly grinned maliciously. ?If you so desire your death, then who I am I to deny you??

?Just bring it you smelly oaf.?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Itachi breathed in the familiar forest. It wasn?t home to him, but then no place was home to him. Every safe house, headquarters, meeting place, and inn was merely a place for him to rest during missions. Even when he did have a home, he never thought of it as such. He knew his partner felt the same, which could have been one of the reasons they tolerated one another.

The sound of fighting not far off in the distance caught their attention.

Kisame grinned, the scent of blood in the air. ?It sounds as though your little kunoichi is working hard.?

Itachi said nothing but tilted his head to acknowledge Kisame?s words. The two could definitely hear a young woman?s grunts and even screams of rage at some points. They walked toward the clearing, slow, and deliberate, as they never rushed unless it was called for.

The scene that greeted them was not what either expected. The pink-haired kunoichi was facing off with one of Akatsuki?s underlings, his proper name escaping both Kisame and Itachi. <i>Sakura named him Smelly if I remember correctly,</i> Itachi thought absently.

Smelly had just kicked the girl, propelling her into a tree trunk several yards away. The girl slammed into the tree before falling to the ground, coughing up blood. Her hitai-ate slipped off, falling unceremoniously to the ground. Her eyes glossed over as they stared at the ground.

Her body was badly bruised and cut. To Itachi, she looked as though her left arm was broken. It had only been three days since his departure; he didn?t expect to return to find her in this condition. Either the girl was truly weak beyond help or the fools hadn?t been doing their proper duties as he had described.

?Come on Pinky. Don?t tell me you?re already tired. We barely started.? Smelly taunted the girl and laugh cruelly as she coughed up more blood.

Sakura hated this man. He never laid a finger on her in a sexual manner, but she felt as though he had defiled her in some manner. She was being laughed at. Taunted. He degraded not only her, but all kunoichi with his words and actions. She coughed again, bringing a little more blood than previously. She heard him laughing obscenely at her broken body. Something inside finally snapped.

Emerald green eyes hardened as they moved their gaze from the ground to the missing-nin that decided to torment her ruthlessly. A mixture of blood and saliva trailed down her chin to the ground, pooling on the forgotten hitai-ate.

?I will kill you.?

The missing-nin stopped laughing. Her words were soft and barely carried across the distance between them, but everyone in the field heard her perfectly.

?What did you say you little bitch?? Smelly began to move forward but stopped when a grayish-blue hand landed on his shoulder preventing any further movement.

?I don?t think so,? Kisame said, grinningly menacingly. Smelly?s eyes widened with fear before nodding dumbly.

Itachi walked toward the girl who had not once taken her eyes off her tormentor. That alone pleased him greatly. Murderous intent radiated from her very soul. She certainly did not like the man he had left her with. Seeing her stare at the missing-nin, with the blood dripping down her chin moved him in ways Itachi thought were not possible. <i>How else will you surprise me Haruno Sakura?</i>

The prodigy stopped in front of the girl, his cloak blocking her view. She made no move to see around him. She made no noise. He knelt in front of her, lifting her chin so their eyes would meet. He hadn?t activated his Sharingan upon returning home. He let her gaze into the black depths that were his eyes before allowing her to see his Sharingan. Her eyes widened and she attempted to shrink back in fear but his grip on her chin tightened considerably.

?I do not think so kunoichi. You are bound to me. You will obey me.? That smooth, lulling voice reached her ears and Sakura blanched.

<i>No, it can?t be. He can?t be Nobnaf. Please say this isn?t reality. Tell me I didn?t bind myself to this man of all people. Please God!</i>

?U?Uchiha,? she whispered, fear clearly heard in that lone statement. ?Uchiha Itachi.?

Itachi merely closed his eyes and reopened them in response. The Sharingan was gone, replaced by the natural color God had given him. The girl before him tried to shake her head in disbelief. The murderous intent that had permeated the air surrounding her was replaced by cold fear.

?Do you now wish I was Orochimaru?? He lifted his free hand and tapped her forehead, rendering the girl unconscious. He watched as her eyes closed and her body slumped. Her arm was definitely broken. He carefully took the girl into his arms before turning around and addressing the missing-nin.

?You had a simple task. You were ordered to train her.?

?Itachi-sama, forgive me.? Smelly attempted to kneel but Kisame?s grip on his shoulder prevented movement of any kind save for his mouth. ?I misunderstood your orders.?

Itachi narrowed his eyes before turning away. ?Come Kisame. Leave the missing-nin and his entourage.?

Kisame looked at his partner in surprise. ?What? No punishment Itachi?? He?d been looking forward to some excessive killing.

The younger man stopped and turned his head slightly. ?They will be punished. I am going to hold this girl to her words.? He looked toward the building that had become home. ?She will kill him.?

Kisame grinned. ?It?s your lucky day. Itachi is gonna let his new toy kill you. Your death will be a lot less painful that way.? He left the man to follow his partner. These men had disobeyed the Uchiha prodigy and failed in their mini-mission to train the girl. Kisame knew that the young man did not trust a failure and would therefore resort to training the girl himself.

<i>What have you gotten yourself into Uchiha?</i> He wondered. <i>What plans do you really have for the girl?</i>

Itachi brought the girl to her room and summoned a medic-nin. He hadn?t ordered one to watch over her, as he hadn?t expected her to be in such a state. Then again he knew he shouldn?t have been all that surprised. The men that worked for him were of the unsavory sort. Leaving the girl in their ?care? was a foolish mistake on his part. Now the girl would be useless until she properly healed. There weren?t many that he felt he could justifiably trust in training the girl which meant he would have to work with her personally.

He stepped back as the medic-nin began to examine the girl. The man frowned when he noticed the girl?s arm. ?Her arm?s broken. I may have to re-break it if it doesn?t begin to heal properly.?

Itachi merely nodded. The girl really was in poor condition.

?When was the last time she?s eaten?? The medic-nin looked back to his master.

?I?ve been away for three days. If no one has brought her food since then, I would think that was the last time she ate.? Itachi?s brow furrowed at that thought. No one had bothered to care for the girl in his absence, despite his warnings. <i>Perhaps they do not take my requests regarding her seriously. I will have to rectify that. After all, she will be the final nail in my foolish little brother?s coffin.</i>


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
<b>AN:</b> I now know for a fact that there will be some form of ItaSaku in this fic though I think that was rather obvious. Other pairings will be seen at some point or another throughout as well. Some will be permanent pairings while others will be transitional pairings (i.e. rebound!).

[csmlee]

Not that it was going to be any different since she had come in contact with the man she had dubbed Nobnaf as he had yet to tell her his name.

It took me 2 seconds to realize what "Nobnaf" stands for. And once I did, I couldn't stop giggling. It's so Sakura to be making up names for her enemies.

?The world does not revolve around you kunoichi,? he answered in that same smooth, lulling voice. She often times wondered if he practiced that voice in the mirror but decided against it.

But I bet he practices tossing his hair in the wind (like in episode 82... or was it 83?) in front of the mirror!!!

The man, now dubbed Smelly, backhanded the girl sending her flying across the clearing.

*uppercuts Smelly*

Ino didn?t want to admit it, but the vibes whether it was chakra or just raw emotion that Naruto emitted scared the hell out of her.

*imagines Kyuubi Naruto going "rawwwrrrr" and then biting Kakashi for abandoning Sakura*

She turned her attention to Sasuke who was silent as ever which was nothing unusual, but Ino knew that Sakura?s death meant something to him. As she watched him now he looked more hollow than any other time she had seen him.

Aww... poor Sasuke. Okay, okay, so it's fun to pick on him but I'm feeling kinda sorry for him.

The sounds of someone else crying turned her attention to her right. Rock Lee was crying his heart out, but seemed slightly more subdued than Naruto. His teammate TenTen hugged him in an effort to placate the boy but to no avail.

LeeTenten~~~!!!!! *heart heart*

The girl looked over at her teammate and buried her face into his neck, the sobs overtaking her body that could no longer hold back the anguish. For the first time in her life, Yamanako Ino wanted to be called Ino-pig. Shikamaru looked toward the sky and watched the clouds pass by lazily. He then closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around the girl and held her tight.

ShikaIno!!! I'm not a very big fan of this pairing but it's cute when it's done right. And it is done very right here.

Ino closed her eyes and brought the ribbon up to her lips. Who would take your picture Sakura-chan? she thought angrily. Who would defile your memorial by stealing from it?

Hmm... I can see either Naruto or Sasuke coming back to steal the picture, in hoping to have one last thing to remember her by.

Why Itachi brought her home with him remained a mystery, but Smelly figured that even a fucked up young man like him must want to get banged every now and again.

Yeah well, Itachi is a guy afterall. *snickers*

Emerald green eyes hardened as they moved their gaze from the ground to the missing-nin that decided to torment her ruthlessly. A mixture of blood and saliva trailed down her chin to the ground, pooling on the forgotten hitai-ate.
?I will kill you.?

Uh oh... Sakura-chan is turning scary.

?Do you now wish I was Orochimaru??

NO! Because Orochimaru is not hot and he has an overly annoying stupid tongue that should be cut off!!!

Perhaps they do not take my requests regarding her seriously. I will have to rectify that. After all, she will be the final nail in my foolish little brother?s coffin.

Come on, you're SO setting this up for ItaSaku and SasuSaku. There's no point in torturing Sasuke with Sakura if he feels nothing more than just camaraderie for Sakura!

Wicked: Weren't you the one who asked me to stop the Sasuke torture?
Cheryl: Did I?

[jasx316]

great story keep up the good job


and damm itachi is one hell of a cool dude