The Renaissance of a Blossom

Arc 1 - The Rings

Chapter No. 2

Teal

"My scorpion," she whispered to him through the darkness of the night. They watched as the clouds bypassed the moon, only to exceed further across the spacious sky. Stars shined brightly in the gaps of the clouds, creating the constellations into intricate designs.

She could barely feel the chilling grass on her back, nor could she really comprehend its existence when she had a warmly cloaked man beside her, distracting her from the discomfort. She could really only focus on him at that moment.

He laid beside her, and for the most part, his gaze only left hers when she had nothing left to say, ask, or even announce. He usually listened to her for whatever she had to say. There were instances when he would barely even react though. The sudden narrow in his eyes, or the sudden twitch in his lips being the only indication for a reaction for her to notice, and then progress by. However, that was all that she really needed. There were times for her when she would simply speak so she could see his lips slowly curve into a smirk, or even when she was lucky, a small smile. She cherished those moments.

He hadn't been looking at her for a few minutes or more, but when she had said that, his gaze left the sky to travel to hers. She didn't know why she suddenly took in a breath. Maybe it was the way his eyes seemed to sparkle at the night hours far more than in the daylight ones. Maybe it was the way his hair moved so slowly with the wind that encircled them relentlessly, and with the sky behind him looking wonderous. Perhaps it was just that it was him. Him. Her lovely scorpion.

They had both been laying on their backs, but then he turned on his side completely, and put an arm out to put his head in. She could see that a few strands fell between his fingers. His expression didn't change. It was relatively blank. It was his eyes though that she saw everything. She had seen those amber eyes sparkle whenever he merely glanced at her, but this was different. His eyes displayed a love that went beyond any before. She could feel her heart race faster, and her emotions go wild.

She could never understand how in the world this could've ever happened in the first place, and yet the facts presented themselves time and time again. To have the scorpion fall for a descending blossom was a miracle. That scorpion had caught the blossom, and kept it, and then began to love it, and that in turn, had only created a strength to emerge from the darkness. Him and her were and undeniable opposition. But even as she thought over it all, she wouldn't have altered it.

Her face must have gone a light scarlet for he smirked slightly in pure amusement. Just as always, her heart raced erratically, and she wished that it would simply beat gradually as when she's with the others. He had always caused her emotions to go berserk since the first time they had met, but nothing like what she felt in their recent business with one another. From hatred to love. She had felt everything because of this man. Everything.

Then he spoke a phrase that just made her want to kiss him, "My blossom."

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"What the hell is this thing?" Sakura yelled loathingly, punching it with her chalkra-enhanced fists relentlessly. It just wouldn't shatter, and it drove her mad.

The moment she had spoken the word 'Jewel' something utterly unexplained happened to Sakura. A light appeared from the ring. It started her as it gleamed so brightly that white was all that she could distinguish. It blinded her.

It only took moments for her to open her eyes again and notice just what had captured her. Literally capture her inside, it's small spacing. It was barely over her head though.

Shades, tones, and tints of violet transformed into a perfectly symmetrical sphere around her, letting her see the world in those vivid colors. The colors moved freely, like liquid paint as it globed and roamed around a once white canvas. She could see through it. The transparency was as if she were looking through plain glass, only colored violet.

The sphere unnerved her for a very terrifying reason. She could sense all too distinctly a dark and menacing aura while it trapped her inside its very contents. It reminded her of Akasuna no Sasori himself. That terrible aura that was so murderous and yet the personification of calm and composed. She could feel his very life force and she loathed having to be exposed to those feelings for a second time.

It was all too soon before that very darkness became the very center of her projectile-like anger as she released it with various kicks and punches, but to no avail it would not allow her to exit.

Movement struck the sphere, causing her balance to displace itself. She nearly fell over as the motion became a swift one as it practically buzzed with life. It moved from the cavern and it confused Sakura, rocking her backward from the momentum until she couldn't find it in herself to stand for any long period of time.

It raced from the cave and rose far above it to where she could touch the clouds with her fingertips had she not had been encased so securely. The ground below looked more like a game-board than vast agriculture and churning water from where she was located.

She then felt a weight on her left thumb, and she stared at her hand questionatively. Loathingly she found that Sasori's ring, Sasori's ring was on her thumb, shining triumphantly as the sun's rays shown through the sphere and onto the silver-banded ring. She really felt like killing someone then.

"What the hell is going on?" Sakura seethed through her teeth. "Where is this thing taking me? Why is this damn ring on my hand?"

It was almost as if she actually expected a response to emerge out of nowhere. But she knew then her situation was futile; she was at the mercy of whoever captured her.

She went over in her mind just what could have caused such an odd thing to occur. The war was over, the countries were at peace, the world was having no absurd or unorthodox troubles. What would have caused someone to replicate or even leave the original ring that Sasori wore on the rubble of a past battleground? The problem was, what happened was an act of war if one of the country's diplomatic leaders pushed for Sasuke's death and for her capture. If it was ever even from another country in the first place.

She wanted answers.

Sakura could hear the wind scrape against the exterior as the sphere traveled to its set destination. The wind from the outside was all that she could hear, but thankfully the thing muffled it for the most part, it allowed her ear-drums to remain intact. Small mercies, she supposed.

Then she asked flatly and in a rather demanding tone, "Where are you taking me?" As if she would get an answer.

She was met with silence.

Giving a growl in frustration, Sakura gave the ever-changing violet sphere a deathly glare before she tensed as she readied herself for whatever was intended for her.

She gazed below her, and watched as the scenery changed drastically, and very quickly. It went from the forestry of Fire Country to the seas that flowed around Water Country. Curiosity mixed with horror at the pure and unadulterated power the thing upheld so easily.

Who created it? And why? She wondered. She hoped to Kami that it wasn't meant to be constructed for another break-out war. The mere thought gave a rush of fear as it ran incessantly throughout her veins. The hastiness of adrenaline pulsed throughout her then. She would die for her country if she had to to conclude an act of war before it became such an issue that the only thing to transpire was war. That didn't mean she desired to die though. She would fight for her life.

Then the sphere overlooked what seemed to Amegakure. She let out a gasp as the sight and her eyes widened like saucers. The village was pouring with gray rain as it fell from a darkened sky, one that clearly promised a tragic storm to emerge. She was told that the rain, the endless rain had stopped after Konan had gave her full trust to the village to Naruto. The village was said to never rain again like it had after that day.

Sakura had felt drawn from the moment she had first seen the gleams that demanded her attention, and even as she sat there wide-eyed and distraught, she could still identify the raging desire to be somewhere else. Yet the exact location was beyond her capabilities to comprehend knowledgeably. She shouldn't have ever given into her desire to search for something. The result of desire was never a profitable one, she knew. She's always known that, and yet she had outright ignored that intelligence that she thought she always had.

She was a kunoichi damn it! Confusion flushed with anger, and she pounded once more on the sphere, unknowingly breaking the thing once and for all. The sound of shattered glass rang in her ears, but the realization that she was falling from the sky was unexpected. The world rushed passed her almost at an unearthly rate. She flailed her arms, drawing in a breath as the world became more reality than a chessboard sized replica of the lands.

Water felt like pins and needles on her skin. She wrenched her hands toward her, as if it could help.

Even with her shinobi skills the height at which she was falling, with the extra velocity that she manipulated was practically impossible to not create a scene within the village. She could already imagine that some people on the ground or buildings could see her as she descended like the rain entrapping the village.

Now they probably think that I'm the one to suddenly start a battle for a war!

She looked desperately to ring attached to her thumb. It gleamed brightly even though there was no light shining directly upon it. It was as if the thing was enchanted or perhaps, cursed. It was the only thing that could probably save her and the traitorous thoughts of others.

"Save me," Sakura whispered as she watched it for a reaction.

Light. Pure light, untouched by shadows as it encased her once more in it's warm rays.

Then darkness.

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A column of light struck the middle of Amegakure. It buzzed with life as it lit up the city. It glowed like the angels, unlike anything he's ever seen.

His amber eyes widened as his brows furrowed. He shielded his orbs with his arm. He halfway protected himself with it, while at the same time he wanted to see just what was transpiring, and all too quickly.

He certainly hadn't quite expected such a scene to appear.

He had just been sitting on the edge of the mountainous Akatsuki compound, the very middle of Ame. The column could be seen for miles around and it annoyed him, quite absurdly so. The power was not meant for the eyes of citizens, very least so early in the process. It was not suppose to happen that way.

He wasn't sure why he could see the body at the distance he was at, but he could identify her through the light that blazed miraculously throughout the city. It went into the clouds, and they spun from some force that he himself barely understood. The forces they were playing with were far more beyond what he had ever known. A power that he wanted for his own at a time. That motivation however had passed deep into the sands of time; it twirled within its mighty wind, discarded and unwanted as far as memory goes.

From wide to narrow his eyes went as they watched her from afar. He could remember that girl more than practically any other. Although he had only encountered her once, years before, his mind never forgot that firey pink haired girl with eyes of emeralds that demanded life.

She had aged accordingly, he noted. Even her pink locks had grown in length, passing barely beyond her waist in ideal straight lines. Her unconscious body floated within the column of pure light, her arms outstretch at her sides with a ring that was perfectly placed on her left thumb.

Then a gleam appeared from it one that told him that the only thing, the only thing, he would ever truly desire again was a thing that he never wanted before. Never even remotely cared for in a past life. His past ambitions were lost, but they had led him to another that his mind told him not to ever crave.

"You had unknowingly kept me waiting, girl," he whispered. "Now it's time for the real quietus game to begin."

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Sakura awoke to a drop of rain. Many, to be frank. She was drenched from head to toe in clear puddle of water. Her eyes blinked, as she adjusted her position so that she was halfway to sitting forward. Her hand without the ring kept her up right, and water surrounded it, chilling her even further. She was freezing from laying there for who knows how long, and it angered her beyond belief.

She growled, frustrated as she lifted the hand that held the ring. She clenched her hand into a fist so tightly that she could see white in her knuckles. She shook in fury at the events that she had unintentionally allowed to happen, and she threw her hand back, hitting the cold water at her sides, whipping a portion of water back into a small, dark wave.

She wouldn't allow her anger to change to a different course, one that involved breaking down and her losing her resolve to continue on. She refused to let that happen, and at the very least while she was in enemy territory, while she still remained unknowing to what was going on. She still needed answers.

But then again, answers meant nothing if she didn't have her life. She must remain cautious while she was there.

In one quick motion she was onto her feet once more. She then realized that she was far more energized than she thought when she awoke. Was it that white light that she saw before she blacked out? She didn't understand anything.

Why did you bring me here, huh? Jewel?

The middle of Ame was where she was located. A vast mountain of a building rose above her, like a giant. What she was standing before was Pein's Tower, the very building where Nagato watched over his citizens, along with Yahiko and Konan, but as she knew, it was also the home of Pein, while he was alive anyway.

The mask-like face at the very top was tinted purple, almost lavender, with eyes of the Rinnegan and a long scarlet tongue, discolored from age and rain-wear. A hand held itself out from the building, as if was holding out something for another. There were also many rusted pipes that went from its face and down toward the building. Other than the phantom-like face and hands that marred the top, it was held the same concept as the other buildings, only much, much larger than the rest. Sakura found it to be rather creepy, although she supposed that she shouldn't expect anything less, or more so extravagant.

The odd feeling of being drawn remained attached to her mind, creeping its way into a full on motivation. Whatever lied within the building of a past Akatsuki member shouldn't exactly be her cup of tea. However, there was obviously no way of turning back, simply explaining to Naruto that she had up and left without a rhyme or even a fair minded reason would even gain her trouble.

Cold streaks from the rain fell down her face. She didn't know just how dull and dreary Ame really was; it really was a rather depressing scene to behold. It was one that she didn't care to see. Oh how her mind drew her to Konoha, while her heart had somehow led her to Ame, along with the help of that sphere. Perhaps what she was about to do wouldn't destroy her, perhaps it was to help her...

Sakura shook her head, she needed to remain ready for anything. With a hard look of determination, she walked along, ready for whatever was to occur.

The front doors to the building were windowless and black, only having a double set of doors that were closed and without a doorknob, and from what she assumed was a seal, marked with ten kanji that she swore she's seen before. It only took her a moment to figure out that one of them was the Kanji for Jewel, the one she wore.

"Can it really be that easy to access the tower?" Sakura mumbled worriedly as she gazed at the glaring violet ring, dressed with black ink.

Slowly her hand ascended to the set of kanji, the colorings whitened from age, but nonetheless there. Hers was set at the last one in the set of ten, and when touched to the lavender character, the doors opened faster than she thought they would, but blackness awaited her in a void of nothingness.

Her slight steps practically echoed in her ear as she worked her way forward, cautiously. When her fully body was inside, the doors slammed closed, and a dim light made her eyes adjust to her settings. Blinking rapidly, she took in the surrounding area. All that was there was a huge, obsidian, spiral-staircase that either led up to the way beyond, or to a floor below her.

Sakura could already tell that just whatever she had gotten herself into had to have been constructed by some lunatic that was out for revenge for some dead Akatsuki member or by some random rebel group set up in Ame for some Kami-forsaken reason. At least, that was her mind; her heart told her something else, that she was somehow meant to be in Ame, but the reason remained anonymous to her.

She didn't understand what she there for. All logic was lost to her heart when she left Konoha.

As she gulped, she took the downward route, spiraling down until darkness captivated her in its unknown presence. However, after what seemed to be ten steps downward, bright and flaming torches lit the way. The moving flames danced across the blank walls, giving her dark shadows across her body, but also a warming orange tint to some parts of her skin. She found that she liked them.

With a small smile, she pulled a long, wet strand of pink behind her ear.

She continued on until she couldn't even see the entrance any longer.

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She knew she finally met the end of her destination when a door, painted with bloody red clouds, faced her. The thing was though, her heart hadn't begun to waver, it remained the same.

Without remorse, she ambled toward it, and before she could even touch it, it opened. Someone must know I'm here. But it didn't frighten her, instead she clenched her fists determinedly. She grinned, feeling more battle ready than she thought she should be.

At first the room held darkness, but lights from far above emitted, one by one, until the room was shown in it's full glory. The thing was though, it didn't even look like a room. Grass rose merely inches above the ground, as emerald as her eyes, with a sky soaring high above, with moving clouds. The room was scattered with different landscapes, as if it was a map of the world, only much much smaller. Even gigantic trees ascended high above her, shining green. A small rift of mountain shown in the distance, a waterfall spraying azure liquid from it's very summit.

"Welcome to Pein's Tower, little girl," said a voice that sent chills down her spine. It was one she hadn't heard from in seven years, but even in her nightmares the smooth and mysterious that told of past murders, haunted her soul, even despite her knowledge that he was dead. She had woken up screaming because of him before.

And yet, she, at the same time, had dreamed about his lips touching hers. Had dreamed about his warm embrace. Had dreamed about loving him with so much feeling that it ached. To the point where it scared the living daylights out of her.

He was dead. But he wasn't in her dreams. Never had he been. He was always, forever and always, alive.

Her body went ridged. Terror swept though her, engulfing her in it's cold hearth of unpleasant flames. Her heart raced, and she felt her resolve diminishing into nothing but cinders. Yet there was still determination there, at the very corners of her heart, very nearly breaching though to her.

"It's been far too long, has it not?" He spoke conversationally, and it worsened her remorse. His words felt frozen, icy and they burned something into her. Something she's never felt before, and ache of pure feeling so intense that not even Sasuke, after many years had made her feel that way. Why was it so different?

Would she ever understand anything?

"Come now," It was a whisper behind her back that escaped to the very nape of her neck, and it made her shiver. "You've kept me waiting for far to long."

She hadn't even known she had her hands clenched until she twisted around and threw a chalkra-enhanced punch toward him. However, it hadn't even grazed him for he had thrown himself back into the trees to gracefully that it mesmerized her. It was as if he had flown.

He could hear him chuckle darkly, and it echoed so morbidly as wind struck the trees that kept him hidden from her line of vision.

Was he real?

Sakura pursed her lips grimly, still shaking from the encounter, and hardly ready for a fight. She felt like she was inside one of her dreams, but perhaps that was a good thing, because whenever Akasuna no Sasori was there, in her horrid delusions of the night, she felt as light and pure as a feather. As she stood there, she felt that way.

It gave her enough resolve to figure out just whether or not she was inside a morbid fantasy or reality. She would at least figure that one out.

The sound of churning sand sound made her remember the last time she really encountered Akasuna no Sasori. The noise was like a thousand insects, but she felt certain that what she was hearing was iron scraping against iron.

How?

She had destroyed that forsaken contraption of a human-puppet years ago. There was no way in hell that that man-thing was had risen from the rocky grave when it was in shattered remains when she last saw it. Shattered remains. She freaking dismantled that thing.

Sakura was no longer frightened, no, she was downright angry!

"You God-dammed puppet-master," Sakura breathed in awe, barely able to contain the rage that crashed so suddenly through her. Then she seethed, "This is your very last day that you haunt me."

She sprinted into the undergrowth.

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The last day I haunt you, huh? The last day of that will be when one of us dies girl, and that won't happen for a very long perceived amount of time. You can't kill me and I certainly can't kill you, so really, the only point of this battle is to see just how much you've grown. Not that you know that.

Sasori smirked in amusement at her words. How he loved having the intelligence that others couldn't even imagine having. If only the girl could comprehend what was transpiring in the world. He honestly couldn't wait until he saw the expression of horror cross her face when she learned. Oh, he would enjoy the battle though.

His fingers slashed to the side before he retreated from the area, leaving not a trace of him ever being there. The scroll had emerged, forming the very puppet he had created from a Kage of large notoriety, decades ago, but only recently had he completed a new feat, one that was far more brilliant than the last.

When he had first been revived the realization that he was give a third chance at life puzzled him greatly. He awoke at the very bottom of Pein's Tower, the very bottom, with the rest of the members. The majority of them felt more depressed than relief, with far too many regrets and faults with being alive again without valid reason again. The others, such as Deidara, and Hidan were bursting with joy, although with certain aspects of them being changed, such as their moral values. They eventually found out that the entire organization was officially mortal, quite literally. The transition stage was the hardest for everyone though, especially for the number of them who were considered immortal in their first past life.

The Third Kazekage floated above the ground, held by glowing chalkra-threads. He hadn't used him in over seven years, since the first time his soul left his own body. Far too long, he's waited far too long, far too long for that pinkette so show up for a second time around.

He went far above the trees then, flying on top of his masterful puppet, trails of pyramids morphed from sand, flowed behind him a ways. The wind whipped at his face and it tumbled his scarlet tendrils. Only when he was met with the waterfall did he fall from the Kazekage. He landed safely above the water, hardly creating a splash to be heard.

Then he waited, impatiently, but waited nonetheless for her arrival to his area. When she did, she raced up the waterfall at her maximum speed.

His fingers fluttered, and sand flew across the river at a raging speed.

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Sakura dodged, kicked, and thrashed about. By the time she was even close to the puppet, she was beginning to run low on her chalkra reserves. Thankfully, she still had a large amounts stored not only in the one diamond engraved into her forehead, but also along her two backhands. She had been storing up massive amounts of chalkra since after the shinobi world war, but the ones that appeared on her hands had yet to be released. She had hoped to save those for a later date, but apparently she would have to use them against Sasori.

Release!

Unaccountable power surged throughout her chalkra system, she laughed at the energy she received, and it felt amazing. Even during her time during the 4th Shinobi World War, she hadn't released that much; at the time it had only allowed one. She was practically overcharged with chalkra.

She could see Sasori's expression turn curious at her laughter, but it soon turned to a look of understanding. He could apprehend almost anything with that mind of his, but even Akasuna no Sasori wasn't perfect. She's seen him waver before, however that had been with completely different circumstances. She wondered if she could make him waver again, in a different method though.

Sand flew in vertical and horizontal patterns, sometimes they stuck out like pitchforks, and it looked like a maze of moving grey. She was lucky that she hadn't gotten nicked by it yet, for that would be the end of her. There was no surviving when she had no antidote to cure herself. Once cut and Sasori will have ended her.

She ran like hell toward him, racing at a speed that far exceeded any adequate shinobi. Sasori didn't even change his calculative gaze.

The puppet danced in front of her, moving around her so fast that she could hardly identify which specific direction it moved from. The sword that it handled slashed toward her, startling her so that she barely had nanoseconds to unsheathe her katana from her back.

Smack!

Metal slammed against metal, Sakura's held above her with two hands, the puppet with one. That had been her mistake, for the other arm had a spinning cutter attached to it. She gave in a sudden breath, before slipping one arm out of the holder of her katana, to the other one on her back, and she whipped the other so that she stopped both attacks.

Sakura gritted her teeth in grim determination, knowing that if she hadn't gotten a chalkra charge, she would've died, for one arm alone against something inhuman probably would've broken her arm from the strength necessary to uphold strength.

Then with one clean motion, she threw her hands down, her katanas screeching against the metal she had previously met with.

"My," Sasori drawled. "How impressive, but how are you going to handle this?"

The sand gathered itself together into one gigantic pyramid, so huge that it shadowed much of the ground, herself included. As she had seen that, she sheathed her katana once more, so that her hands were ready to deflect anything that was thrown at her.

"As I always do," Sakura whispered to her self, as she glared above her.

It dropped.

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The Renaissance of a Blossom

Updated: December 26, 2013

Author's Note: On my dear Lord...I cannot even begin to apologize for the lateness of this update... The thing is though, I have never ever forgotten about this story. Never. It's been pestering my mind ever since I last published it. One of my reasons is simply because writing this story is a pain in the butt, it's unbelievably long and relatively annoying. I wouldn't be surprised if this became my longest fanfic by the time I complete it.

Anyways, Late Merry Christmas! And have a Happy New Year guys! I will probably update another story by New Years, so keep posted.

Also, please, please, please review! I really need not only inspiration to write this story, but also confidence. I really worry about Renaissance. I really do. I just don't know if I write it good or not... After hours of laboring myself at a computer really fries the brain so I can't even read it until like a week afterward.

Anyways! I am actually very excited to continue this battle between Sasori and Sakura. As for the recreation of it, some parts, such as the Akatsuki Base will and have been changed to create better imagery.

Ja-ne!

-Cassandra