All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

For the first part of the chapter, listen to SALES by renee. For the second part, listen to The Distance by Cake.

Enjoy!

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The building blew up in flames, rubble shooting up in every direction.

She turned her eyes back to face the old institution that was now just a giant cloud of grey, black and fire. Her right eye was covered in blood, reminding her that she still needed to treat her head injury. Breathing heavily, she took a hold of his arm and helped him limp away from the explosion. He was half-conscious, worrying her that his wounds would not let him make it for much longer.

The number of victims from this was unimaginable. She could not help but think that she might have known some of the innocent people killed. Still, now was not the time to stay back and mourn for the lost. She had to keep going to save her life. To save his life.

And to think of how it all came down to the destruction of what she once thought was familiar.

KURAYAMI

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One year ago.

"Phew."

Sakura wiped her forehead as she looked over at her new room. She was back at Konoha U for her third year of medical studies, meaning that she had to once again organize her new room at the university residence building. From outside of her dorm, she could hear the exciting voices of new and returning students as they were reuniting with old friends or finding where their rooms were.

Standing from the door frame of her room, she did a scan over what she had just finished organizing. Starting from the right side, her single bed was now covered with a simple gray duvet cover. She knew that it was too dull for her taste, but she wasn't going to buy a new one while her current duvet was still in good condition. Not to mention that her aunt Tsunade would not be happy of her spending money on things she didn't need. Beside her bed was her night table, already decorated with her favourite textbooks, a picture of her with aunt Tsunade and her assistant Shizune, and a small lamp light.

Her eyes moved towards the computer table. Her laptop was the only thing occupying it, but Sakura took note of how disorganized her table would get in the next few weeks as third-year notes on the health sciences conquered every bare corner. Her desk chair was comfortable enough to endure long and arduous hours of studying during the weekends. Yes, she had made sure that her chair was the only real investment in her room because of how much she used it.

She wasn't weird at all.

Next to her desk was the closet behind a sliding door. It was still bare, as she hadn't gotten around to unpack her clothing yet. Nevertheless, she already knew that there would be enough room in her closet for all of her stuff. Sakura thought about how much Ino's closet was going to suffer with her ever-growing collection of clothes, and whether her friend would once again ask her to share some of her own space to store her stuff. The door that led to the shared bathroom was right beside her closet. It was equipped with all the necessities needed for her and her next-door-neighbour.

"Perfect," she concluded, fully satisfied with her work around the room and completely ignoring the fact that she still had to empty out her luggage. She would leave that for another time. After all, it was one of her least favourite activities for some odd reason.

Sakura exited her room, locking the door after closing it, and headed towards the staircase that would lead her to the main lobby of the building. She was grateful for all the opportunities that had come to her life. If it wasn't because of the hard work that she'd put during her high school years, she would not have gotten a scholarship to get into Konoha U and pursue her dream of becoming a doctor. It was an ambition that blossomed due to her admiration of all the great deeds that her aunt and Shizune accomplished at the hospitals across the nation. Sakura wanted to make a name for herself, and medicine was the right career that would make her shine.

And Konoha U was the best -and probably most affordable place- that could teach her all she needed to know. As the one of the few universities in the Fire country, she'd been given the opportunity to do a summer abroad in the Sand country where more than just studying happened. It had been a summer that she was never going to forget; nineteen, with a summer infatuation, and a mind filled with knowledge.

But that was another story to tell.

She waved at some familiar faces passing by the lobby and went through the entrance, taking in the late summer sun touching her skin as she headed towards the bicycle parking. She was twenty now, turning twenty one quite soon, and ready for another year of knowledge and crazy shenanigans along with her friends.

Sakura unlocked her bike and prepared to take a nice stroll across campus before meeting up with her best friend.

"You're so weird biking around everywhere!" Ino would make that comment at the beginning of every term.

Yes, Sakura liked biking even in the winter term, when the sidewalks were covered in snow and ice. But then again, Ino would always be late for class because she didn't have reliable transportation. Call that karma if you'd like.

She sat on her bike and took off, heading towards the main building of Konoha U. This was one of her favourite activities. Nothing felt like looking at her campus, filled with luscious green trees, with students playing games at the main stadium.

She giggled under her breath, remembering that one time in first year when Naruto and the boys were so drunk that they broke into the stadium and began playing soccer with an empty can and made ridiculous bets such as playing around without their pants on.

Oh, those were the days...

She caught her reflection in the large pond that had been built near the university's entrance as she passed by it. Her pink hair had grown a few inches but it wasn't time for a haircut yet. In a few months' time she would ask Ino to snip some of it to maintain it at the shoulder length. Her green shirt matched her eyes, making Sakura feel like she was one with all the nature colours surrounding her in the background.

Past the large pond was a small gondola. Now, that was her favourite place in all of campus. She would often buy a cup of coffee and head over the gondola to sit down, enjoy her drink, and look over her lecture notes without the interruption of her friends. Though the few times they interrupted she welcomed them and their bottles of stolen wine with open arms.

This was definitely going to be the best year-

BEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

"Ouch!"

Never mind.

"Hn. Watch where you're going."

Sakura's bum felt sore after having hit the concrete street. Her bike had fallen along with her, landing on her left leg and it shot up a sharp pain on her side. She held her head, thinking that it was going to start spinning, before she paid attention to what had just happened.

The sports car that had almost hit her was black as night, with a sun roof, and a very, very loud honk.

BEEEEEP!

It was that same honk that surprised her and sent her straight to the ground before the car got close enough to hit her.

"Would you just stop honking!?" Sakura spat. She stood up from the ground, wiped some of the dirt off her clothes, and looked at the driver behind that fucking stupid car.

And there she saw him.

BEEEP!

"No."

Behind the aerodynamic lines of the sports car sat the asshole who almost killed her. She paid attention to the hand holding the steering wheel before she found a face behind aviator style sunglasses. His hair was just as black as the colour of his car, his pale skin contrasting against it. If it wasn't because of the fury that was building up inside of her, Sakura would have given this jerk a second look and confessed that he was, in fact, way too attractive to be a living creature.

BEEP!

"Get out of the way." His voice was deep. Although he wasn't screaming at her, she could hear him loud and clear.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

"Holy shit, man, this is a pedestrian friendly street! Learn how to drive!"

Sakura picked up her bike and took decisive steps towards the driver window, which was fully opened. She threw daggers at the young man without caring if bystanders were watching her make a scene. She had to make a point clear that safety came first!

"Hn. You say pedestrian yet you're on a puny bicycle," he shot back. Sakura couldn't see his eyes but she was sure that he was glaring at her with the same intensity.

"Hey, don't you-!

Too late, he had already sped off, far, far away from her. Sakura bit her tongue holding in her anger. Her mind was still wrapping around what had just happened like it always did when she encountered assholes on the road. How dare he insult her only form of transportation!? Not everyone had rich parents to buy stupid sports cars and show off before school even started!

There were too many things she wished to say to that jerkasshole with nice black hair, muscular arms, and defined features.

'Jerkasshole' wasn't even a real word yet it fit him perfectly.

Fucking. Insolent. Sports car driver.

She took it back. This was not going to be the best year ever.

"So there I was, biking around school like I always do before classes start-

"You're so weird for biking around school. Like, who does that nowadays?"

Ino took a sip of her iced coffee and then put her elbows on the table. She and Sakura sat beside one of the panel windows inside Amaguriama, Konoha U's main coffee and sweets shop located in the largest building.

"Quiet, Ino. Let me finish my story," Sakura also took a sip of her own iced drink and continued. "So I was biking around before coming here, and this asshole almost hits me with his car!"

"Oh, Sakura. You know how often those kinds of accidents happen," shrugged Ino nonchalantly, flipping her long blonde ponytail behind her shoulder.

"That's not the point! Then he blamed me for almost hitting his car!"

Yamanaka Ino was one of her older and closest friends. They've known each other since kindergarten and had found a common interest in medicine. To say that Ino was her sort of rival was an understatement. In spite of having different personalities and likes, the two girls shared a long history that was fermented on an underlying competitive relationship. It kept them on their toes, and strengthened their friendship rather than broke it.

Sakura's friend decided to pursue the same career as her after volunteering for aunt Tsunade five summers ago. They saw each other almost every day of the week, whether in class, after class, or at one of the parties thrown by their guy friends. Ino felt more like a sister as Tsunade felt like her real mother, though Sakura knew that she had no blood connection to neither of them.

Unlike Sakura, Ino was fortunate to still live with her parents since their house and flower shop was only fifteen minutes away from the university by bus. Though she saved money in accommodations, she never afforded to make it in time for their morning classes because the bus would 'come too early before she was ready to leave her house.' The Yamanakas had been nice enough to offer their guest room to Sakura, but the girl preferred the advantage of living on campus. Besides, her friends always crashed at her place after a party or a long night of exam cramming.

Her aunt Tsunade and Shizune were constantly traveling around and out of the country, which gave her Sakura the sort of independence that many of her friends didn't achieve until they entered university. When she was younger and still lived with her adopted aunt, Sakura would often travel along with her and many times had to transfer schools. Nevertheless, her friendship with the people from Konoha never faltered and the city felt like her real home.

"Yeah, he sounds like a real asshole," Ino agreed.

There were many things that she and her friends didn't have in common, such as her constant moving around or adoption story. But at the end it didn't matter; they felt like a real family.

"Thank you, Ino, for understanding. I swear that next time I see him I will break his nose!"

"We've got another assignment for you," spoke Jūgo on the other side of the line.

"What is it?"

Sasuke held his cellphone on his ear with one hand while the other held on to the steering wheel. His arrival in Konoha could only mean that the snake wanted him to do here what he had done back in Otogakure with the people who had opposed him.

Jūgo, who was most likely sitting in some rundown apartment, gave him instructions on where, when, and who Sasuke had to take care of. His lifestyle wasn't necessarily the most convenient, though the pay often gave him luxuries he otherwise wouldn't be able to afford, but circumstances have led him to make choices that set him apart from ninety nine percent of the people in the world.

Very few knew about his profession and purpose in life. In fact, very few people knew he even existed. Sasuke's identity had turned into a myth in the underground world of many cities across countries. His talent, his past, and his goals were what defined him to the people he encountered. Even the people who worked alongside him weren't even aware of his real story and only made certain assumptions about his abilities.

It didn't bother him, though. They could talk all the wanted; it never faltered with Sasuke's perception of himself.

"Give me until midnight," Sasuke said before hanging up.

The sky was already changing from orange to black as he drove around his old city. Konoha had changed a lot since he defected from it. He had changed a lot since that night that still haunted him in his sleep.

Returning to this town, after about ten years of his absence, only meant one thing. The organization was here, and Orochimaru found it convenient how perfect the timing was to make a name in the streets of underground Konoha.

Sasuke tightened his grip on the steering wheel, speeding up past a changing light. His reflexes had been sharpened in the last ten years; now he was twenty, strong and fast enough to kill without being noticed. In other words, he was ready to kill the person who had taken everything from him when he was merely nine years old.

That night, the Night of Amaterasu, was still talked about in every form of media that he could get his hands on. A reminder always crept up behind his mind every time he opened a newspaper or heard a radio show. The night when the sky was so dark and the flames so intense that they looked black; wild, furious, destroying everything in their path.

Sasuke wondered if that part of town was left bare after his old house had been burned to the ground and the flames had taken over the entire block, killing along more innocent souls. Or maybe the whole ordeal had been turned into a legend, much like himself and the reasons as to how he lost his entire family during that night. And how nobody knew who or what caused the fire.

But he knew. He knew all too well. And he was back in town to catch that person and kill him.

In Otogakure Uchiha Sasuke was known as the Avenger. The teenage boy who worked under Orochimaru and was trained to kill any man who crossed the under snake's path. There were many stories behind Sasuke's arrival in Otogakure. Some said he ran from Konoha to Oto seeking power after he'd heard that Orochimaru planned to take over every business in the underground world of organized crime. Others said that he arrived in a motorcycle, already knowing how to kill with an ancient katana that he had stolen from his parents' safe.

None of the stories were right. Only Sasuke knew how he had arrived in Oto, why he was trained by Orochimaru, and what his purpose was with his secret profession.

His cellphone rang. It was Jūgo once again.

"Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that this man is well-known for spreading private information of other underground individuals. And Orochimaru wants it done before midnight."

"Tell him to fuck off then," replied Sasuke and hung up.

It was nighttime. That was when his real life began. Sasuke often wondered if other people in his position would confuse their real identities with the disguise they needed to put on in daylight. Naruto had left this lifestyle five years ago, decided to come back to Konoha, and lead a normal life after achieving his goal. Sasuke, on the other hand, was still caught in the spiderweb of secret organizations and silent murders. His goal was getting closer by the day and he couldn't afford mixing up his real self with his fake one.

Yet sometimes he confused both. He would this that his fake personality was the one that roamed around during the nighttime, killing those who have done harm to innocent people. Other times, he would often pretend that his falsehood was only present during the daytime, when he needed to pretend doing mundane things like the rest of the world.

Coming back to Konoha meant adopting a new persona. Orochimaru had told him to enroll in Konoha U because that was where he would find most of the information in the underground business, and where Sasuke's target would most likely be found. He thought about how corrupt this city must be that its residents can't even see what is really holding it all up together.

Sasuke reached his arriving point. It was a late-night club that was still closed but had a faint light flickering in its second floor. His assignment was an easy task. Go in, shed some blood without killing, make a threat. It was Orochimaru's simplest form of making his name well-known. In extension, it was Sasuke's way of making himself known in the underground world and to indirectly announce that he had returned to charge the killer of his family for what he owed.

He sneaked in between the shadows, his katana hanging across his back. Years of passing off as a shadow had turned that ability into his second nature. It came in handy whenever he needed to escape from Orochimaru and his team when they were getting on his nerves, or when he needed to make a quick kill without leaving any traces of blood or his presence.

Sasuke was slightly amused at how easy it had been to sneak up on this group of mobsters. They had been sitting around a table playing poker. All of them with a cigarette in between their lips and a bottle of whisky on the side. He unsheathed his katana and grabbed the nearest man by the neck, his weapon grazing the skin.

The rest of the group jumped in surprise and, Sasuke noticed, struggled in getting their guns out in a drunken manner. This was borderline pathetic. The mobster group was definitely on the lower scale. Amateurs who were trying to make a name in a business that would only bring them a ridiculous death and no remembrance.

"Orochimaru sends a message," Sasuke started. His voice was deep and frightening to the amateur mobsters, who were looking at him with deer light eyes and shaking hands. "He wants you to go around and announce that he's back in town."

With a swift move that the other men barely registered, Sasuke raised his katana and swung it across the hanging light above the poker table. The whole room went dark, and the mobsters began to roar in fear knowing that was coming next. However, Sasuke already knew that no fatal blows would happen tonight and used his diversion to sneak out of the building.

He put his weapon in the back seat of his black Audi, sat on the driver seat, and took off. His cellphone rang for the third time that night.

"It's done," he announced before the other side of the line could say anything.

"Very well done," replied a hissing voice. Orochimaru let out a low chuckle, clearly amused at something Sasuke had no intention to find out. "Ah, Sasuke-kun. Don't forget to behave well when you go back to school. We don't want any unnecessary attention while you're looking for Itachi, don't we?"

Sasuke hung up at hearing the name of his main target come out of Orochimaru's mouth. Anger began to boil in his blood as he drove back to the headquarters and he had to maintain his control. He didn't want to almost hit another stupid girl who crossed his path. Trying to divert his mind, Sasuke thought if he would see that idiot biking around campus once the school year started.

He was five days away from coming back to the normal world. The world where the people his age actually studied to achieve something useful and ethical with their lives. The world Naruto had joined five years ago after taking his place back as his parents' legitimate son.

To its students, Konoha U was a well-known university in the Fire country that had produced more successful alumni than the other great universities combined. It boasted about its privilege and long history of well deeds for the world. To Uchiha Sasuke, who knew the real Konoha U, the university was on the brink of bankruptcy and its administration had turned to the underground business to look for funds to stay open. A moral end with immoral means, in other words. Orochimaru had learned of this piece of information and decided that moving back to Konoha to take its underground world would mean that he had the upper hand in every decision made by the academic institution. In turn, he would have all the power needed to rule the city and the country from the underground.

It was a brilliant plan, Sasuke had to admit, but it was what interested him the least of returning to Konoha and making himself known as a Konoha U student and the best assassin under Orochimaru's wing.

Itachi was in town too, along with his own organization that brought the death of everyone he once loved.

Uchiha Itachi would pay for the death of their parents.

Orochimaru sat on a deep red velvet chair. He had his snake pet on his lap and was stroking its head. His near white skin contrasted with the darkness of his long, straight, black hair. Kabuto stood on his right side, his arms crossed behind his back. His round shaped glasses reflected the artificial light glowing from the room's ceiling. Its grey walls were bare, aside from the chair Orochimaru was currently sitting in.

"Sasuke-kun," the underground lord started,"you must feel just as excited as me to come back to our hometown. Brings back many memories, no?"

The young man kept silent. He was familiar with Orochimaru's manner of speech. He liked to snake around a subject before getting on with what he wanted to say.

"I take it your new room accommodations are well-suited. It's a lovely place that will soon be under my control, indeed," Orochimaru continued. "There will be more than just studying for you, Sasuke-kun. I have a special assignment just for you, and my expectations are no lower than A plus. Kabuto, if you will do the honours."

Orochimaru's personal assistance uncrossed his arms and Sasuke saw how he handed over a white folder. It was exactly like all the ones he'd seen in the past; documents attached to a mugshot picture of who was his next victim or who he had to spy on. The things Sasuke had to do in the past might have been considered impossible to other people, but not many realized that he kept a moral code.

Sasuke would only kill those who had done harm to innocents, and Orochimaru knew that well. He would only shed the blood of perpetrators who have ruined victims who were in a vulnerable state. It was a code that worked perfectly with Orochimaru's goals; many people he wanted to get rid of were unethical to begin with.

"Your new assignment will be to keep an eye on one individual," announced Orochimaru. "This is one of your main tasks as you pretend to be a student at the university. You will not have to kill this person. In fact, if somebody poses a threat, you can have all the fun you want. However, the person you are assigned to look after must, by all means, remain in safety."

The crooked smile that Orochimaru gave him was enough for Sasuke know that there was much more behind his plan. Sasuke never cared about his master's main goals; he had his own and as long as his code was followed then he didn't have a problem with whatever Orochimaru asked him to do. Sometimes it was killing people, infiltrating organizations, or simply following one person around.

"Here is the file. It is just a simple task of keeping tabs on her. You will report to me or Kabuto about her whereabouts and what she is up to."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, wondering why the snake was giving him such a simple assignment. Spying on people, yes, he had done, and for good reason. He'd never had such an easy job as babysitting a girl and there was probably more than Orochimaru was willing to say. Nevertheless, Orochimaru extended the white folder he was holding for Sasuke to take. When the younger man reached out for it the pet snake made a hissing noise, as if it was partaking in the secret meeting the three men were having.

"You must be certain that she never finds out what your true purpose is, Sasuke-kun. This is just a small favour I am doing for someone." The creeping crooked smile on his white face told Sasuke otherwise, but he didn't think too much of it. Orochimaru was well-known for his questioning characteristics.

Sasuke opened the file, looking first a zoomed in photograph of a girl holding a cellphone in one hand and a thick textbook in another. A part of him thought the universe was going against his character, as he emphasized his eyes in the most noticeable trait of his assignment. Pink hair was hard to miss.

Full Name: Haruno Sakura

So here I am starting with another little project. It will be completely different from what I have ever written before, and I am excited to see what your reactions are :)

The next chapter will be up next week. Take care until then!

MSM