Until You

Shattered Hearts

...cold...

...dark...

...disturbing sound of a sharp object brushing against a rock...

And...a quiet whistle...

As her consciousness slowly came back to her, Sakura became aware of her surrounding even though her eyes were still closed. Her bare feet were on the forest floor and the cold wind blowing from time to time passed through the fibers of her thin dress with ease, threatening to freeze her bones. She found herself unable to move as there was a strong firm rope tying her upper body and arms with something which she assumed was a tree. Sakura kept pretending to be asleep as it was clear that she wasn't alone. A strange chakra signature of someone, which, as far as she could remember, no one in her village owns, and judging by the whistling sound, it was no doubt a man.
Her head hurt as she tried to remember why she was here in the first place. Just a few hours ago, she was having dinner with Kakashi. Then he went home... and...Ah...yes... Hinata showed up and now here she was. Sakura knew well about her friend. That woman was even afraid to hurt small animals, let alone hurting innocent people or her own friends. She should have known earlier that something was wrong with Hinata.
Sakura slowly opened her eyes only to find darkness and there was a figure sitting a few yards away from her. The moon was nowhere to be seen, hiding under the clouds, and with only the fade light of stars, she couldn't make out who her enemy was. It doesn't matter who it is. She's gonna break all his bones.

Sakura tried to break free from the rope tying her up. It should be a piece of cake for a strong kunoichi like her. But to her dismay, the rope went tighter as she moved as if it was somehow alive, not allowing her to make any move and showed no sign of being ripped off. The more she struggled, the more she became tired. It was only then she realized that her chakra was being drained with each movement of her body.

"Thought you'd be smarter than this Haruno," the man in the dark spoke, a hint of scoff was obvious in his voice.

"Who are you?" Sakura responded aggressively, clenching her jaw.

"Relax. You look like an angry kitty. Being tied down and have no power to fight back. Tsk Tsk," he said with a fake concern, "I wonder if you really are the strongest kunoichi like people say. Famous people's reputations are not exactly true, I guess."

Sakura felt her blood boil, "Why don't you let me go then? You'll see if I meet your expectations or not."

"Aha! What an offer. But I'll pass."

"Coward!"

"It's called being wise. I must admit that you sure are an impressive kunoichi. But don't think too high of yourself either. I will not waste my chakra fighting someone like you."

"I swear I will break every single rib of yours," Sakura said through gritted teeth, anger gliding up her insides.

"Haha. Good luck with that. But try to untie yourself first lady," he laughed. "Oh yeah. Now that you're awake, you might want to know who I am." Then, with a snap, a fire was lit up between Sakura and the man.

She felt a little relieved as the heat of fire gave the much needed warmth her body had been desperately asking for. The man finally stood up and walked to her. Sakura lifted her eyes to see him and wasn't surprised to find Kazuo standing there. She had already guessed who it was during their conversation.

"You don't seem surprised to see me," Kazuo muttered, tilting his head slightly.

"What can I say? Your voice is pretty easy to recognize," she said, scowling.

"I'll take that as a compliment," he replied, folding his arms. Sakura noticed that he was wearing like a ninja, with pouches of weapon attached to his body rather than his usual shirt and jeans.