Naruto 1. The Club

_'Trust is a dangerous gamble. Placed in the right person, it can put you on top of the world. However, if it's broken, it can bring you to your knees.'_

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><p>"Hey, forehead, let's go." Sakura cringed at the voice that echoed throughout her tiny 2 bedroom apartment. "We're going to be standing here for years waiting for you to try and look some what attractive."<p>

"Oh shove off, Pig!" Sakura shouted back at her friend absentmindedly, but for the moment she was too busy trying to find where she had put her wallet to throw back a decent insult.

'_Let's burn her useless 'kiss me, I'm famous' shirt' that'll teach her, and it's god damn hideous'_ Sakura let a small smirk form on her lips at her inner personality's thoughts. She had come to refer to these thoughts as, 'inner Sakura' and had grown up with having these thoughts that were not exactly her own her whole life. Now it was so natural to her that she wasn't sure what she would do with out the second commentary always going on in her head.

Ino always referred to it has some kind of multiple personality disorder, because on occasion inner Sakura's thoughts and actions had a tendency to show themselves to the outside world and Sakura never really remembered what happened those times when her inner took over.

"I swear to god I need to put a beeper on that thing." She muttered. This had been the second time that day she had misplaced her wallet.

"a-HAH!" walking over to some scattered clothes on the floor, Sakura lifted a shirt off of the floor that had been partly covering her purple wallet. Turning and heading for her bedroom door, she stopped before the mirror that hung to the left of her door, giving herself a once over.

Her pink hair fell around her reaching her mid back, straightened to Sakura's liking instead of the normal waves that took over her head. She wore a simple tight black sleeveless shirt with a sleeveless jean vest that was shorter than the shirt in length, ending a couple of inches beneath her breasts. Light blue jeans clung to her legs, with intentional cuts running up the front, and at the tops of her knees began her half an inch heeled black boots.

Sakura wasn't sure if this could be completely considered club attire, but it felt comfortable enough to her and that's all that she really cared about.

Sighing for the long evening she had ahead of her, Sakura opened her door and headed down the hall to her and Ino's entrance. There Ino stood with their close friend, Hinata.

"Jesus Christ, finally! I swear you take longer than me- what the hell is that?" Sakura abruptly stopped, wide eyed, looking down at herself at the panic she heard in her friend's voice.

"What? Is there a stain?" She heard a scoff from Ino and looked back up at her friend.

"No a stain might actually look inviting. You're dressed like you're ready to fight someone. Not exactly and inviting outfit." Sakura and her inner both stared at Ino, dumbfounded. "I mean the only skin you're showing is your arms!"

"That's the point you simple fool. I don't do clubs, Ino. And you know this." Sakura had been to a club on two other occasions in her 23 years of life and both of them were uncomfortable counts of being groped and verbally harassed. Although she sometimes enjoyed the music, she never ended up completely relaxed at a club unless she had many drinks in her. Really, she acted more like a body guard for her friends when she went. Shaking her head, Sakura started past the two girls in the doorway while Ino reached for Hinata's overly large jacked and pulled it open.

"Look! Even Hinata knows how to show off her goodies!" The said girl, blushing madly, glared at Ino and closed her jacket once more.

"That's because Hinata has goodies to show." Sakura shouted over her shoulder, as she headed down their stairway.

"I think you look wonderful Sakura!" Smiling down at her friend that had caught up to her, Sakura threw her right arm around Hinata's shoulders, glad for the girl's shorter height that made the action comfortable.

"Well, that black dress your wearing looks beautiful on you Hinata, I'm going to be fighting back Naruto all night long!" Sakura chuckled as the girl started turning red. "It always amazes me how you can show off your body without looking like a complete slut." At this last part, Sakura turned her head back a little to land a glare on the trailing blonde behind them.

"Why you-" Ino was interrupted as a figure started towards them.

"Finally. It's almost ten." Sakura shrugged at Shikamaru as she walked past him.

"Talk to your girlfriend, she's the one that couldn't find her wallet and rudely made us wait up there. Honestly, Ino, you should be more organized." Sakura made a disapproving sound at Ino before opening up Shikamaru's back door and making her way into the back seat, with Hinata getting in on the other side giggling.

"Typical." Frowning, Shikamaru headed for the drivers seat, while Ino headed for the passenger door yelling about Sakura and lies.

**XxXxXx**

"They should already be here. I mean, we're late ourselves." Sakura nodded in agreement with Ino, mirroring the girl and looking around the crowd that surrounded the club they were in front of.

"Well, I'm sure Naruto got hungry, which doesn't help with Sasuke's need to look perfect. Thus, resulting in their being late" Sakura stated, giving up on looking around the crowd and pulling out her phone.

"Maybe we should just go in. The line's going to get longer and I just want to sit down already." Sakura smiled at her phone as she listened to Shikamaru.

'_I swear, this man's the laziest genius I have ever met.'_ Mentally nodding at her inner's voice, Sakura sent a text to Naruto and shoved her phone back in her pocket.

"Well," Sakura started, digging in her back pocket where she had shoved some money and her I.D., having left her wallet in Shikamaru's car. "Shall we go in? I mean they can always text us when they get here and meet up with us?" Ino glanced around nervously, not really liking the idea but was torn by the music that was blasting from inside the club.

The girl loved to dance.

"Is that okay with you, Hinata?" Ino looked at the smaller girl.

"Yes, I just hope they will be able to find us."

"I'm sure it will be fine." Ino smiled, then looked at the girl's jacket. "Aren't you hot? It's mid summer and you're going to have to carry that inside, Hinata. Do you want us to put it back in the car?" Shaking her head, Hinata smiled.

"I'm used to it." Nodding, Ino started for the line.

They almost didn't get past the bouncer with Sakura wearing what she was wearing and Shikamaru's attitude. However, Ino's blossoming personality and assets seemed to be enough to get them through.

"I swear you guys would be able to have no fun with out me!" Ino shouted back at her friends as she pushed through people crowding the hallway leading to the main dance floor. Her stature was changing as she became more excited getting closer to the main area.

Sakura smiled as she looked at the back of her friend, who was holding her hand and dragging her forward. Hinata was behind them with Shikamaru trailing behind her.

Although Sakura didn't prefer clubs, she didn't mind seeing her friends enjoy themselves and having fun.

When they entered through an archway leading to the main part of the club that held the dance floor, it was chaos. It was the only word that could truly describe the crowd that lay in front of her. On the floor in front of the stage where the DJ played, bodies were stuck together, moving in unison. And although that kind of closeness could make someone feel claustrophobic, it could also make someone feel on top and in sync with the world.

Sakura nearly ran into Ino's back when the girl stopped abruptly, turning to yell into her ear.

"We probably won't find a table until Sasuke gets here and pulls some strings for us. So for now we'll just go to the bar!" Sakura nodded to her since yelling yes to her would be unnecessary. Turning to face Hinata while Ino started pulling her, she had to grab her friends arm to pull her attention away from the dance floor, were her own attention had been moments before.

'Bar.' Was what Sakura mouthed to answer Hinata's confusing stare, in which the girl nodded in understanding and turned to, what Sakura assumed, relay the message to Shikamaru.

Who shrugged. Shaking her head and chcuking, Sakura allowed herself to be dragged by Ino, looking over the people surrounding them as they past.

She got approving looks from both men and women, which Sakura didn't mind. It was when they touched her, or her friends for that manner, inappropriately and unnecessarily that really had the tendency to set her off.

'_Let's dance with them ALLLLL!'_ Sakura shook her head as her inner's thoughts were screamed in her mind.

'_No.'_ She answered, trying to silence her now hyper personality.

'_Come ooonnn! I know you feel this music, it's natural to want to move to it. So just move to it! Don't care about anything else!'_ As much as her inner might be right, Sakura was simply too self-conscious and self-aware to allow herself to do those things so freely, especially in front of a crowd this big. Maybe if her friends wanted to dance with her, and maybe with a couple of drinks in her system, she would be able to. But by that time Ino will have forced Shikamaru or some other poor soul onto the dance floor and Naruto will have stolen Hinata away.

As they reached the far end of the long bar, the music was a little less loud there and Ino immediately grabbed one of the bar tenders attention and got some drinks going. Sakura pulled out her phone to see if Naruto had answered her from earlier, but he had not.

"I don't know if they're coming, Ino." Sakura, who was leaning against the bar facing the rest of the club, voiced her thoughts to Ino, who shook her head in disagreement.

"There is no way Naruto would pass this opportunity and miss Hinata looking like this. " Ino's blonde hair, in a high ponytail, fell to the left of her face as she leaned towards Sakura talking. She took this moment to really take in her friend's outfit.

Where Sakura wore tight pants and a shirt, Ino wore a baby blue short sleeve dress. The only place it really fit snuggly was around her breasts and it stopped a couple of inches before her knees. Her white heals were only about three inches high with a gold lock on the front of them; they laced to about half way up her calf and fit nicely on her legs.

Sakura leaned towards her friend, smiling, "You know I was joking before, you look really good tonight." Her friend, who had been lightly bouncing on her feet and looking at the crowd on the dance floor, looked at Sakura from the corner of her eyes, smiling.

"Yeah, I know." Sakura nodded her head at her friend and turned to face the bar as their drinks were prepared for them. Ino shot down two short glasses of whatever vodka she felt like enjoying for the night and started towards Shikamaru. Sakura grabbed her Amaretto Sour and turned back to face the dance floor. She didn't have a clear view of it though because the dance floor was surrounded on three sides by the higher-level floor they were on with a railing surrounding it where people could just watch the D.J. play on the stage at the back wall of the club and people dance on the dance floor. She turned when Ino started to wine and head to the dance floor by herself, which meant Shikamaru refused to dance with her.

'_Typical, that's my cue.'_ Sakura pushed herself off the bar and leaned towards Hinata and Shikamaru, "I'm going to go keep an eye on her." In which her friends nodded and Sakura headed towards an empty space that over looked the dance floor, a couple of feet from the stairway entrances that lead to the main floor. Which was good in case she needed to make a quick rescue of her blonde friend.

She leaned forward against the railing and sighted her friend immediately. Sakura took a sip of her drink, thinking of Ino and her boyfriend. Wondering how Shikamaru was okay with Ino dancing with whomever she wanted to, instead of him.

'_It's his fault, Sakura. He brings her here and then refuses to entertain her.'_ Inner Sakura stated.

'_Yeah but… that must suck.'_ Sakura thought, watching Ino as she chose to dance with a female partner as a new song started up.

'_He might be confident enough in their relationship that it doesn't matter to him. He's just letting her have fun.'_ Sakura nodded her head, bringing her eyes away from Ino to overlook the rest of the people below her.

'_This isn't bad. This aura is nice. It's interesting to watch everybody, and this music puts me in a trance. This is a different feel than the other clubs we've been to.'_ Sakura thought to herself, looking over the crowd.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, her body stiffened. An over whelming feeling started to fill her, almost like she was being suffocated. But just as swiftly as it came, it disappeared.

'_That was really weird.'_ Inner Sakura stated.

''_Yeah, it felt like we were being watch. But that's typical, we're in a club….. but something does feel off.'_ Scoping out the dance floor to make sure Ino was fine, Sakura spotted her friend now closer to the stage, enjoying the music. Satisfied, she started scoping out the rest of the dance floor, searching to see if anyone was paying particular attention to her, which could have caused her previous reaction. She got occasional glances but nothing that made her feel like she had moments ago.

'_Maybe they aren't on the dance floor,'_ Sakura thought to herself, _'Maybe-'_ Her thoughts were halted as her eyes met with jade. Standing directly across from her on the other side of the dance floor was a man with spikey red hair, starring right at her. Or maybe he wasn't? But it sure felt like his eyes were directly on her.

Then he Smirked.

'_Yup, definitely looking at us. I don't mind, he looks super fine!_' Sakura ignored herself and swallowed. She didn't like being singled out, and he was doing it in a completely unsubtle way. He was blatantly starring at her without any care. What was also weird was that normally someone would have looked away if you caught them starring.

The stare coming from the man seemed to shift to something more… predatory as his head tilted forward. It felt like he was demanding her attention.

"Naruto's here." Sakura jumped and whipped around to face Hinata, panic in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, Sakura!" Hinata shouted. Sakura shook her head, trying to reassure her friend.

"No, you're fine Hinata, I was…" She turned to look behind her at the man who was starring at her before. But of course, he was not longer there. "I was just distracted." She yelled back at her friend, doing her best to offer a smile.

Nodding, Hinata motioned for Sakura to come with her to the bar, which she did gladly. However, not before taking one more glance back to make sure the stranger was still no longer there; he wasn't.

"Sakura!" Sakura laughed as she prepared for her friend's hug. It had been a while since she had last seen Naruto. Going from seeing someone everyday of your life since being little to seeing them every once in a while wasn't something Sakura was sure she'd ever get used to. Her and Naruto had grown up in a foster home together, basically becoming like a real brother and sister. But now they had grown up with their own lives leading them in separate directions, naturally leading to less time spent together.

"You're late, idiot!" Naruto looked slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah I know, but stupid over there had to go over to this store and then I got hungry-" Sakura held her hand up.

"I don't care to hear your long journey of how you came to be late. Where is Sasuke anyways?" Sakura asked, looking behind Naruto for any traces of their mutual friend. Naruto pointed to Sakura's left to the area where they had entered. There was Sasuke, speaking to a bouncer, girls waiting patiently behind him for the moment they could grab his attention. Sakura shook her head, some things never changed. She looked back at the bar and noticed Shikamaru was now gone, probably to find a better place to watch Ino. Hinata was standing there by herself, looking a bit out of place.

"Hey, why don't you ask Hinata to dance." Sakura stated, rolling her eyes as Naruto's skin tone started to darken. "Stop blushing and go help her. She looks so nervous and maybe seeing you flail around on the dance floor like a fish will help her." Naruto nodded, seeming unsure of himself.

She smiled as Hinata and Naruto came towards her, placing a hand on Hinata's shoulder as they past by her. Sakura took her spot at the bar where Hinata had previously stood and turned to watch the awkward couple.

'_I wonder if they will ever get through this phase and act comfortably around each other.'_ Her inner's thoughts sounded annoyed and Sakura laughed. _'I'm serious; their little crush fest has been going on for years. Someone just needs to make a move already. I'm so tired of waiting!'_

'_I hope no one makes a move, this is simply too entertaining.'_ She put an elbow behind herself on the bar, smiling at the two on the dance floor when she felt eyes on her. Sakura turned her head to the right when she saw a body moving in her direction out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey." She shouted as Sasuke took a position to her left, leaning on the bar next to her and ordering a drink. "What did he need from you?" Sakura questioned, motioning her head back to where the bouncer was that Sasuke was talking to.

"I'm trying to get a table in the VIP section so we aren't bothered so much." Sasuke glared at the girls that were standing in the area he just walked from. One of them winked at him and Sakura chuckled.

"So _we_ aren't bothered so much? Do you mean you?" Sasuke turned to lean against the bar next to Sakura.

"Yeah, whatever. Where's Naruto." He asked, glancing around to see if he could spot his spikey haired blonde friend in the groups of people standing around them.

"There." Sakura nodded her head in the direction of where one of the entrances to the dance floor was, except there were now people standing in the way of seeing Naruto and Hinata. "You're friend decided he wanted a dance with Hinata."

Sasuke looked shocked for about two seconds before he nodded, "Your doing I assume?" A smile was the only answer he received.

She was nodding her head to the song that was playing when Sakura felt Sasuke's gaze on her. Turning her body to face Sasuke, Sakura looked up at him.

"What?" She asked.

"You look good." It was a simple compliment but Sakura couldn't help but be a little taken back by it.

"T-Thanks. Ino said I looked unapproachable." Sakura offered a small smile and turned back towards the dance floor, taking a sip of her drink.

"Good." Sasuke mumbled.

"What?" Sakura, yelled.

"Nothing. Do you…" Instead of actually asking her to dance, Sasuke just motioned towards the dance floor. Sakura looked at the dance floor and then back at Sasuke, unable to hold back the laugh that escaped her.

"With you? No thank you. Remember last time I tried at Kiba's birthday? No way. I'd definitely need like, ten more drinks in me." Sakura stated, finishing off her current drink and placing it on the bar behind her.

"How about a shot." Sasuke said, motioning to the bartender to order them something that would be 'smooth' going down but hit hard. However, Sakura had yet to taste any kind of hard alcohol that was smooth when she drank it. Shots sucked.

"No- no Sasuke-"

"Just be quiet and take it. They say I'm up tight but you're more high strung then ever. You're not driving home, Shikamaru is. Just have fun with your friends, Sakura. Stop making things more complicated than they are." Sakura stared at Sasuke wide eyed, a little surprised that he was saying that to her. Maybe even slightly offended.

There had been a point in her life where she would have jumped at the thought of dancing with Sasuke, who had been her high school crush. However, she was older now, and though she still might find him physically attractive, his personality wasn't something she would prefer in a significant other.

'_Geez, you know it's bad when stick-in-the-ass calls you out. He's right, let's have fun! When was the last time we really danced?'_ Sakura mentally throttled her inner.

'_We've never really danced before, precisely because we can't dance. Stupid.'_ She looked down at the shot that was placed in front of her and then back at Sasuke.

"I can't really dance to this music." Sakura stated. She couldn't really dance to any music but she wasn't going to say that to him out loud. Especially since he already figured that, she was sure.

"Look around, Sakura," Sasuke started, offering her a smirk, "No one can. That's why clubs are the perfect place to get lost. There are just enough people to not be noticed and let go. You just move. Feel the music, the alcohol, and move." He took back his shot, placed the glass on the bar and looked at Sakura expectantly.

"Fine." And with that she did her best to take down her shot. She couldn't help the disgusted face she made as it ran down her throat, burning like nothing else could when Sasuke began to drag her to the stairs leading to the dance floor.

They weaved their way through some bodies standing around the stairs and started down. Sakura was looking for Ino when she spotted her, dancing away like it was something she was born to do. Next to her stood Hinata and Naruto, smiling and dancing with one another. Sakura tapped Sasuke shoulder and simply pointed towards her friends.

Coming up to Ino, she wasn't surprised when the girl jumped on her. Smelling the alcohol on her breath, Sakura wondered whom she scored more drinks from and in such a short time.

"I'M SO GLAD YOU CAME DOWN HERE!" Ino screamed, causing Sakura to cringe and nod at her. However, Sasuke pulled her away from Ino and into his embrace, placing his mouth near her ear.

"Just remember, move to the music." Sakura nodded, feeling a little bit awkward. As the song continued she felt her cheeks warm slightly, the shot was beginning to hit her. This was to be expected since her and her friends hadn't really eaten anything before starting their night out.

She found moving to this type of music easier than she had thought it would be. The music that was being played was some mixture of dub step and electric dance music, and she had to admit, she enjoyed those drops in the songs. As she looked around at the bodies moving in sync next to them, she realized just how little everyone cared about what they were doing. They were just enjoying themselves. Sasuke was right.

That's when she felt it again, that same feeling like she couldn't breath and she moved to the side of Sasuke, still facing him, trying to get a view of the crowd behind him.

'_Sakura…'_ Sakura ignored her inner's voice as her eyes connected with jade for the second time that night. Sasuke had moved to stand behind her now as the next song was starting and she was now fully in the line of sight of the red haired man from before. He was only about 20 feet away from her. For the first time, Sakura was appreciative for all of the bodies pressed against one another standing between her and the man. But even as those bodies moved between them, it felt like he was right in front of her.

'_Sakura, I have a really bad feeling about this.'_ Sakura ignored her inner, yet again. Captivated by the man before her and why he seemed to be seeking her out. Normally, when someone was starring at her or giving her unwanted attention, Sakura would shoot a glare at whoever the said person was and that generally got them away from her. But for some reason, though she was glad for the space between them, she was curious.

Suddenly the song began to pick up it's pace and as it did, so did Sakura's heart beat. Though the song was picking up speed, everything seemed to be happening in slow motion around her.

Sasuke moving behind her, pulling her to him and placing his face in the crook of her neck as he moved her body along with his to the song.

'_Sakura!'_

The bodies moving in unison around her.

'_Sakua!'_

And the red haired man. His lips began moving and as Sakura watched them move she felt something click inside of her.

And then came the drop.

'_SAKURA!'_

It came out of nowhere and felt like electricity. Suddenly, Sakura didn't care about anything; she just wanted to move. She flung her head back and felt it land on the top of Sasuke's shoulder as she moved her body against his in perfect unison to the beat of the song, no longer needing him to guide her.

All at once she felt drunk. She felt alive. She felt everything.

And she didn't want it to stop, not ever.

A body was pressed to the front of hers, a female she didn't know. Sakura left the embrace of Sasuke as the female pulled her closer, meshing their bodies into one solid movement.

'_What a beautiful feeling.' _Was she high? Did Sasuke drop something in that drink? She wasn't sure. But she didn't really care. At the moment, she felt like she was glowing.

And looking back at the situation, she would have realized it was because she was.

'**Sakura' **The voice inside her head was foreign, something she had never heard before, and it was radiating power. Her attention was pulled elsewhere though as someone came behind her to join her and her new female friend in their movements.

'_God, this song. This music.' _Sakura slid her eyes closed, still moving. As she did she found herself faced with a pair of gold and red eyes starring at her inside of her head.

And some how, everything froze. Sakura's eyes immediately shot open as the music was silenced and the trance she was in was broken.

Her eyes widened at the scene before her. She was still in the club, dim lights and all. But everyone was frozen. The people that had been surrounding her were now in the air, like they were being flung backwards. However, they too were frozen.

"What…" Sakura couldn't help it when her breathing began to pick up as she turned to look at her friends, who were also frozen in whatever dance position they had been in moments ago. What was happening?

'_Maybe I really was high. But I got too high…. And everyone's in slow motion. Is there a drug that does that?'_ Sakura asked herself, trying to make sense of the situation at hand.

"Gaara, you were supposed to prevent a scene. Not create one." Whipping her head around, Sakura looked for the owner of the voice in the now quiet club.

There was a man standing on the higher level of the club that over looked the dance floor to her left. He was dressed in a black suit, long hair looked to be pulled back in a ponytail behind him. His black stare was directed solely on Sakura.

"I was. However, someone decided they wanted a scene to happen. Deidara?" Sakura turned her head to face the front of the club where another voice came from; it was the red head from before. He was also standing on the higher level that over looked the dance floor.

'_He was 20 feet away from me like 5 seconds ago.'_ Sakura thought to herself. Why were they moving but no one else was. Why were the people that were touching her body only seconds ago, now frozen in mid air around her?

"I wanted to see if it was the real deal, yeah. I mean, how long have we been waiting for this? Man, you don't disappoint." Sakura's head turned to the right to land on a blonde male that was sitting on the railing that ran along the upper level floor. His gaze was excited, as he looked her over. "If Sasori had been here, he would have marveled at the sight of you."

'_Sakura…'_ Sakura's gaze shot to the wooden floor in front of her as her inner finally spoke up. _'Sakura, I'm going to need to do something you won't like.'_ She felt like she was going to hyperventilate.

"What is going on!" Sakura demanded, done with the confusion she was feeling. She was looking at the blonde to her right as she demanded an answer, but it was the black haired man to her left that spoke.

"Miss, I'm sure you are terribly confused at the moment. However, there is not enough time for an explanation. I'm going to need you to come with us. It is not safe for us to remain here." Sakura gaped at him unbelievingly. Did she really think she was just going to do that?

"Like hell." Sakura spat, taking a step back. It was at that time the red hai- Gaara was it? Began to speak.

"It wasn't a suggestion." Sakura watched as he gripped the rail in front of himself and jumped over it, landing on the dance floor and heading for Sakura; shoving bodies out of his way as he went. "You'll be coming with us whether you would like to or not."

Sakura couldn't help the fear that shot through her as he got closer.

"It would be easier on everyone if you didn't try to fight, yeah. We don't want to hurt you." Sakura heard the blonde man but her eyes didn't leave Gaara. Contrary to the blonde man's words, he looked as if he would love to hurt her.

'_Sakura, there's something I need to tell you. But right now is not the time. I need to get us out of here and the only way to do that is if you let me gain control of our body.'_ Sakura was panicking as her inner spoke, backing up as much as she could before she came into contact with a frozen body.

'_What do you mean? What is happening? Do you know them some how?'_ Sakura asked herself, feeling like she was in some sort of dream.

'_There is not time!'_ Her inner self screamed.

"AH!" Sakura grunted and fell to the floor on her knees, unknown pain filling her. She placed a hand on the floor in front of her and looked to her left at the man who hadn't left his position on the higher level. His eyes widened as her breathing slowed and her body began to feel extremely hot. Suddenly he was on the dance floor with her, trying to get to her, like Gaara.

'_You have complete control of my body. Please, please, please, help me!'_ Sakura screamed in her mind, scared of what was going to happen when the strangers got to her. As Gaara entered the small clearing surrounding her, Sakura felt her body arch and a scream escaped her mouth.

And then she felt nothing.

* * *

><p><strong>Writer's Note:<strong> Hi! If you've come this far, I'm sure you've become aware that this story isn't placed in the typical time period of Naruto. I also will not cross languages throughout the story because I feel like that leaves my writing scattered. I do not know how to speak Japanese properly, so I'd rather not insult those that do. Gaara will have his traditional tattoo on his forehead though! This story concept randomly popped into my head, so here's the beginning of it. It's been a while since I've tried to write an in depth story for Naruto so I apologize if the characters seem off. But I do like to add my own little touch to them.

Any feedback helps, it makes me feel pushed to continue to update stories as well as excited! So, if you enjoyed it, please let me know!

~Chey


	2. The Conflict

_"The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. So why is it that history always manages to repeat itself?"_

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><p>"It-" Gaara's voice was cut short as the hand around his throat squeezed harder, making the simple of act of breathing extremely difficult.<p>

When he had rushed their target only moments ago, Gaara had gained far too much momentum in trying to prevent the Clavis inside of the girl from completely awakening. When she did change, he had already been in the process of reaching for her with his right arm. The girl had leaned to her left, avoiding him easily. She used Gaara's own weight against himself forcing him to fall forward. Instead of connecting with the ground like he was preparing for, the girl had slipped her right hand under his head, pulling him up by his throat and holding him in front of her.

His feet were only slightly off the ground due to her shorter height in comparison to his. Trying as hard as he could to pull the one hand from his throat that held him, Gaara realized he wasn't getting very far.

'_This is almost embarrassing.'_ He thought to himself. Jade eyes looked down into the girls face to clash with her now gold and dark red eyes. They reminded him of cat eyes. The pupils were oval shaped with a thick dark red color outlining them and gold filled the rest of the area that would normally be white. Looking at them almost made him uncomfortable to some degree because of how alien they appeared.

"We did not come here to fight, Clavis. We are here on behalf of our people. We would like you to come with us. You will be safer, now that your presence has been… realized." Gaara watched as the girl's eyes shifted to his right towards the area were Itachi was. She held no emotion on her face as she spoke.

"My presence is realized now because your kind is too foolish to mind their place. Do you think I do not know what you are, Guardian?" The girl waited for Itachi's response, but it was Deidara who spoke.

"What of the Hunters, Clavis? What will you do when they start coming for you? They will have felt that little blast you just let out easily, yeah." Deidara was standing to Gaara's left. However, Deidara was too far behind Gaara for him to see him in his peripheral.

"They would have found you eventually, even without our interference. We tracked you to this general area from the little bursts of chakra that you have been releasing over the past year. It seems as though your host's emotions are channeling your chakra." The girl, still holding him, looked up at Gaara as she listened to Itachi. Her expression was that of boredom and he could tell that she felt no ounce of fear in regards to him and his teammates; probably having already scanned their chakra levels.

"They will hunt you down, Clavis. The Hunters of this age know no mercy." The girl's gaze shot towards Itachi, something in his words catching her attention. Gaara took that moment to make his escape from her grasp. He lifted his left leg to land on the girl's right shoulder, aiming a kick at her head with his other foot.

She was too fast. Before he could land his blow; he was thrown backwards. Maneuvering himself into a backflip, Gaara easily landed on his feet crouching down and looking up at the girl that was now about 20 feet away from him. What was peculiar to him was the lack of force she used in throwing him. _'Maybe a fight isn't exactly what she is looking for either.'_

"Sakura." She said simply. "In this body, I am referred to as Sakura." She was staring at Gaara as she spoke. Sakura looked him over as if he were a bug she just flicked away, brushing the unseen dirt from her shoulder where he had placed his foot.

He took this moment to take in the physical features that had changed on Sakura since the Clavis took over. She was glowing but it wasn't a bright glow. Instead of it emitting from her skin it was more like a faint gold light was floating about a quarter of an inch off of her skin. Her pink hair now held random strands of white throughout it. At the top of the girl's shirt on her chest was the beginning of a tattoo that had not been there before.

"Hunter or Guardian, you are all the same to me. Both of your namesakes are stained with innocent blood, shed for pointless and selfish reasons. Neither one of you are to be trusted. I know this from personal experience." Her head shifted back to Itachi. "Do you think because I have not come to the surface for many years that I would forget my history with your kind." Her voice remained void of any emotion. Gaara wondered if her lengthy existence in their world played a part in the apathy she displayed.

Then he felt it. The air around them was thickening, filling with the power that Sakura was allowing to slowly seep out of herself. She was doing it intentionally, trying to intimidate them.

'_Itachi needs to get the seal on that girl before she completely recovers her strength.' _Gaara thought to himself, glancing at the said teammate to see if he had felt the change in the air as well. However, his teammates face revealed nothing.

"The Hunters will have as much of an affect on me as you have had. Which is none. You say you did not come here for a fight, but how could you have expected anything other than that?" Sakura started forward, shadows from the dim light of the club were shifted away from her path as her glow reached them. She stopped in the middle of the three men, which formed a triangle shape around her.

"We were hoping to run across you before your shift, but that's my fault, yeah. You should understand that times are different now. It has been a while since you have come to the surface… Cla- Sakura." Deidara started. Gaara watched as his teammates armed twitched and looked down at the man's hands; they were in a fist. He was in the process of creating something; Deidara was definitely preparing for a fight. "Many things are around now that were not before. Things you may not be so prepared for. We can not risk you falling into the wrong hands."

Sakura looked over at Deidara, and he immediately stilled as to not gain suspicion from her. As she gave Deidara her attention, Itachi started his own preparation on the seal they were to use to subdue the Clavis back inside of Sakura. It was a powerful seal, which would require almost all of Itachi's chakra taking him out of the fight, if one should occur.

"Do you think time stood still when I lay dormant in the other bodies that held me for years at a time before being awoken like you have awoken me now? Did you think their own abilities did not advance with time? And where are they now? Where are those men that sought me out as you seek me out now?" She turned completely to face Deidara, tilting her head to the left as a dark gaze fell on her face.

"They are on picture frames or have been written into stories, I assume. Lining the walls of the Guardian's base as a distant memory. Because that is all that was left of them. I am warning you now, allow my departure without your interference and I will allow you to live." She took a step towards Deidara, continuing. "Because I promise you, no text book, tales of my legend, nor special techniques, will have prepared you enough for what I will actually do to you."

Gaara's eyes met with Itachi, who nodded at him for them to go forward with plan B. Plan A had been to capture Sakura before she shifted, however that was no longer an option.

Gaara felt for his sand that lay in a pouch that was tied around his waist. He only had a little bit of it with him since they had been relying on plan A to work out. He would have to be strategic with his hits. Not only did he have to be strategic, they were to complete their mission without any casualties of the civilians around them if the Clavis did awaken. Thankfully, although the girl was powerful, they had one thing that might be able to ensure their survival of encountering her; she was highly underestimating them.

'_This will be interesting.'_ He couldn't help the slight increase of his heart beat as excitement started to fill him. This was the legendary Clavis, the being they had heard stories of but that no one alive today had ever come into contact with it. They would be the first of their generation. And if the legends were true, they would be lucky to even survive a fight with it, let alone walk away. It had been a while since Gaara had faced true power, and technically speaking they had all been preparing their whole lives in case this moment were to happen.

Now to grab her attention and keep it on him and Deidara while Itachi worked on the seal.

"You sure do like to hear the sound of your own voice don't you?" Gaara's own voice was calm as he spoke. He watched with calculating eyes as she stopped moving towards Deidara and turned her head to look at him. "Maybe it's because you've been hiding out for a while now and have had no one else to boast to. You know, they speak of you with such respect, but really aren't you just a child that has been hiding out from your responsibilities?"

"A child berating me about responsibilities?" A dark smile formed on her face, the first real change in her facial features, a part from boredom, that Gaara had seen. "You should be more careful with your words, boy. You look a lot like a Guardian I once came across. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to finish the kill. I'll be sure to make up for it with you."

Without another warning, the girl was in front of him aiming a punch at his head. Gaara instinctively let his weight go as he went to fall into a crouching position. However, he was to slow and his legs were suddenly kicked out from under him. As he landed on the floor he put a force of chakra into his left hand to push himself into a role away from the foot that was coming down towards his head. He was crouching on his feet again as he looked over the hole in the floor where his head had just been moments ago.

She was aiming to kill, which made the situation a little more delicate since they could not risk her death. She needed to be brought back alive. Sakura started to rush him again and Gaara didn't even have to think as his sand was suddenly manipulated to his control and heading straight for her.

She stumbled backwards as Gaara landed a slap to her face, leaving a red mark in their trail. He had only needed enough force in his blow to put her in a better position to carry out their plan.

Sakura, who started forward, was stopped as a little piece of clay, shaped to look like a bird, landed on her right shoulder. She looked over at Deidara, which was the direction it had come from.

"Think of it as a welcoming gift, yeah!" The man didn't seem to be taking the situation seriously as he smiled at Sakura while kissing his palm and sending a kiss in the girls direction. Sakura brought her left hand up to flick the useless object away from her, unimpressed. However, as her finger connected with the bird it set off a small explosion on her shoulder, sending her flying into the unaware bodies behind her.

When the girl opened her eyes again, emerald green orb were looking around in confusion. Gaara hesitated, unsure of why the Clavis was no longer in control of the girl's body. Was it the explosion that brought the real Sakura back to her senses? Was that even possible?

Before anything could be questioned, Itachi took that moment to act, knowing they might not get another chance to lay the seal if the Clavis took control again. He launched at Sakura, who looked up at his approaching form with fear. She began to crawl backwards, trying to get away from his reach.

Inches away from Sakura's forearm, Itachi watched as the girls eyes shifted back to the dark red and gold they had been seconds before. His hand was only able to graze her forearm before he was interrupted with his task. The Clavis, realizing what he was doing, had landed an extremely powerful punch to Itachi's face, knocking him off of her and back in the direction he had come from.

Standing, the girl looked down at her arm, assessing the damage. There was a faint blue circle on it now. She looked over at Itachi, who was slowly getting up.

"You thought it would be so easy? Your ignorance has cost you a very valuable sense, Guardian." That was all the attention Sakura gave Itachi as her sights seemed to be set back on Deidara. She was glowing a little more brightly now, her shirt and vest ripped in different places to match her jeans because of Deidara's little welcoming gift.

Gaara watched as the two of them began fighting and contemplated his next move. Although Sakura was fast, and Deidara's strengths didn't generally lay in close quarter combat, he was able to keep up defensively with her hits. But Deidara couldn't last forever, especially with the power behind Sakura. Beginning to use the little sand he had, he began to head towards the two of them.

He manipulated the sand to slide around Sakura's wrists, which he then forced behind her back. The girl turned towards him at the interruption, ready to launch. Taking advantage of her distraction, Deidara aimed a kick at the back of Sakura's right knee, forcing her to the ground.

Deidara started to lean his head down to Sakura's. He was about to say something completely unnecessary, Gaara was sure, when the back of Sakura's head connected with Deidara's nose. Gaara almost winced at the crunching sound that promised a broken nose.

'_Serves the fool right.'_

Sakura looked up at Gaara and began to move. He blocked a sidekick to his abdomen and held on to Sakura's leg, trying to knock her off balance. Using her own momentum and the hold Gaara had on her right leg, Sakura twisted her body around so her left leg also came off of the ground. She landed a hard blow to the left side of Gaara's face. It knocked him off of his feet and sent him a relative distance away from her with the amount of chakra the girl had laced in the kick.

Landing back on her feet and breaking through the sand that held her arms behind her back, Sakura turned back to face Deidara. He was on one knee holding his nose that she had broken.

Gaara was making his way to his knees, watching them as the ringing sound in his head from the girls kick refused to go away. Sakura reached for Deidara's throat with her left hand, instinctively stopping his right hand inches from her face as he tried to land a punch.

Something slimy landed on the right side of Sakura's cheek. Disgust her face at whatever substance was now on it and she slowly turned to look at Deidara's hand that was inches from her head. There sat probably one of the oddest deformities Sakura had ever seen, a mouth. And it was smiling at her. Furious that he had the nerve to lick her, Sakura looked down at Deidara. He was grinning up at her, showing no remorse for his action.

"Didn't your Guardians ever tell you? Respect your elders." Without wasting another breath, she landed a blow straight to Deidara's head, knocking him out cold.

Sakura stood their frowning at Deidara's body and then looked at her own arm, confusion on her face. Gaara wondered if it was the seal that held the girl's confusion. However, he didn't have a chance to question it as the club and everything in it came back to life.

He started to panic as people in the club began filling the empty spaces on the dance floor they had created in their short little battle, separating him from Sakura. In all honesty, everyone had probably only been frozen for a total of seven minutes. Confusion filled those that unfroze on the ground when they had been standing up a second before.

"She's gone, I can no longer feel her chakra." Gaara frowned at his teammates statement, still searching the people around him. "And unfortunately, I'm now blind. When she landed her punch, her chakra went straight for my eyes. Where is Deidara?" Itachi didn't look around as he spoke, knowing it would be useless.

"She knocked him out after he licked her face." Itachi sighed, shaking his head at his teammates statement.

"One of the people she was with was my brother. Grab Deidara. When he wakes he will get the information from Sakura's friends on where she might be heading. I need to get to Tsunade." Gaara nodded and turned to head into the sea of bodies surrounding them with Itachi behind him. Gaara took his frustration out on the people around them, pushing bodies out of his way with unnecessary force. He was pissed and he was definitely not looking forward to the screaming from his boss that lay ahead of them.

**XxXxXx**

Strong hands slammed on the desk in front of the three boys. Gaara noticed Deidara out of his peripheral, standing to his left, had taken a small step backwards.

'_No amount of distance will save us.'_ Gaara thought.

Itachi was standing on the other side of Deidara, unaffected by the lash of anger that came from the powerful female in front of them.

"You had one job! One fucking job and you couldn't do it! Not only could you not do it, one of you was almost killed!" Deidara looked at the floor knowing that statement was directed at him. "And another was blinded. Almost permanently if it weren't for me! Most of you have been training your entire life for this exact moment!"

Tsunade, who had been standing up and leaning over her desk to yell at them, slowly let out a breath. She grabbed the chair behind her and sat down, now glaring at the three in front of her.

"I know Deidara is a new body to the two of you, but this does not excuse such an unacceptable failure. Now we have no leads, the Clavis has been awaken, and I'm sure every Hunter in the area felt her awakening." She shook her head and leaned forward on her desk.

"If I may interrupt, ma'am." Itachi's voice was calm, and he stared at Tsunade, waiting for her to allow him to continue. With a reluctant sigh, she waved her hand forward.

"It was not a complete failure. My seal grazed her arm, which meant that it touched her. Although, simply touching her does nothing permanent, the power of the seal is enough that it will subdue her for at least a little while." Itachi finished, watching as Tsunade held a calculating look.

"I saw it when I licked her, yeah. When I sent my little spider on her, I noticed a glow out of the corner of my eye. There was a faint blue circle. It might also explain my survival. If the seal was beginning to work, it would affect the amount of power in the Clavis' chakra." Deidara nodded as he finished.

"What… spider." Tsunade's voice was darker. Gaara, who had been looking at Deidara as he spoke, glanced back at Tsunade, noticing the change in her tone.

"uh… I deployed a spider on to her when she was distracted so we could track her." Tsunade shot back up and grabbed the nearest thing to her, chucking it at Deidara.

"Is that not information you thought valuable for me to hear!" The woman was seriously about to lose her shit.

"You literally told us to shut up when you asked us where the Clavis was and found out we didn't have it, yeah!" Deidara was holding his head where the stapler landed that Tsunade had thrown at him. He held another hand out in defense as he continued, thinking she was going to attack him. "When we were about to give you a briefing you started freaking out, yeah!" Glaring at the blonde, Tsunade took a deep breath and smoothed out the front of her clothing, trying to compose herself.

"Fair enough. Itachi, let's start with your report." She walked back to her chair and sat.

Each of the three men gave a report of what they had seen from the beginning to the end of their mission with Deidara being the last to speak. Though Tsunade almost killed Deidara again when he talked about his hand licking Sakura, overall she seemed slightly less pissed. He finished with the information he had also gained from talking to the group of people that Sakura had walked into the club with, and trailing them when they left the club.

"Although we do not have control of the Clavis, at least we have some way of finding it. Deidara, can you still feel your bug on her." The said man nodded and Tsunade continued, "Good. Use the information you gained from her acquaintances and scout out the area where she may be. Though the Clavis may be sealed at the moment, it does not mean it can't still detect the chakra in the spider that you left behind on her host. I apologize for my out burst before." Tsunade stood up and walked around her desk to lean on the front of it, facing the three men and crossing her arms.

"Obviously we do not have the advantage. Our kind has not found the Clavis for a very long time now. Though stories and documentation of what it can do are useful and your training helps immensely, you could not have been fully prepared to go up against something we have no recent information about. But the seal, even though temporary, can be used. If we find it now, the only thing you will be facing physically is the actual girl. Bring her back here so Itachi can place a more accurate seal on her." Tsunade looked over the three of them and continued.

"You're all healed now, but you must be careful. Her hits on you were chakra infused and she pushed that chakra into each of your bodies, poisoning you. Deidara, she almost killed you. Itachi, I almost couldn't heal your eyes. On you specifically it was like she saw that your eyes were your biggest disadvantage and went for them immediately. What you also must be aware of is that you will probably run into Hunters now." They all nodded at her.

"Go now. Grab what you need and head out. There isn't any time to be wasted." With another unison of nods, the team before her started out of the door behind them. Tsunade sighed as her door shut. She placed a hand to her head as she felt a headache coming on.

"Is it wise to send them again. It might have gone better the first time if you had people that were actually compatible, working together." Tsunade nodded at the voice that came from behind her.

"Maybe, Kakashi, but those three boys hold the most potential. We do not have time to invest in team building exercises. They will have to work out any combat issues they have as they go along. The Clavis has been awoken." She pushed off of her desk and turned to face her friend behind her.

"And I fear that this time, with this awakening, has triggered the beginning of the prophecy." Kakashi, who had been leaning on one of Tsunade's bookcases reading, looked up immediately.

"How can you be sure?" His tone was serious as he spoke.

"Because in their report they spoke of the girl breaking the Clavis' hold in the middle of their fight. That is unheard of in any encounters our kind has previously had with the Clavis. Once it is triggered, it has complete control of the body it is in until it has run it's sources dry and moves to the next host, laying dormant until it is awoken again. Now, thanks to advances, we have the possibilities of the seal to allow the host to regain control of their body for a time, but even then Itachi said the girl gained control of her body before he touched her with his seal."

"What will you have me do, Tsunade?" Kakashi stood straight up now, waiting for orders

"Trail them to ensure everything goes smoothly. But there is nothing that can be done until we have her in our protection. If this is the beginning of the old prophecy, if the hunters get a hold of the Clavis, I fear our worst nightmares are to come. If the girl can control the Clavis, then there may be hope. So get the girl." Kakashi nodded at Tsunade, heading for her door. He paused before exiting and turned back towards Tsunade.

"What is the girls name." Tsunade walked back around her desk and pulled out a bottle from a drawer, holding some form of alcohol, and a glass. She poured some of the liquid into her cup and put the bottle to the side. She sat down and looked at the contents in her glass before taking a drink.

"Her name is Sakura."

* * *

><p><strong>Writer Note: <strong>This chapter took a while, even had to re-write the first part of it. I don't normally write fighting scenes so I apologize for any inconsistencies. Note that any confusion on what Sakura really is or even what 'Clavis' means, will be explained in later chapters. Though you can look up the meaning to that word as well. I do appreciate any feedback!

~Cheye


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