Chapter Text
Sakura kept her mouth shut even as her cheeks smarted from the smacks. Her head hurt too and her arms and her legs. They’d kicked her when she’s fallen, hard, and bent her fingers back until she screamed. Sakura did nothing but scream and cry and keep her mouth shut for real words.
“She’s useless,” Gato scoffed, “No training and no information. Get rid of her.”
“Can we take her downstairs boss,” the man with the toque asked, leering at Sakura.
“I don’t care, just kill her after. I don’t want any trace of Konoha ninja tied to me,” Gato waved a hand dismissively.
The man with the toque grabbed her shoulders and gave Sakura a smile that had her freeze in terror. Sakura focused her eyes on the ground and clenched her hem so hard the material started to cut into her hands. She was pushed towards the door, about to be led to…. It would take one quick kick to collapse his throat. One kick to get his hands off of her. She could do it. She could.
But… but then she’d have ten other thugs to get through. And…in the corner…
A rough hand grabbed her around one of her wrists as she passed by the couch set up near the door. The hands on her shoulders left. Sakura stared hard at the ground, not daring to look up at the silent looming presence that had been sitting in the corner of the room until now.
“I want this one,” Momochi Zabuza said roughly.
Sakura felt tears spring to her eyes but valiantly tried to stop them. They gathered on her lashes but no further as her wrist bones were grinded together. She was pulled forward, her arm smarting from the tug and tried not to fall. Momochi Zabuza looked at her with narrowed dark eyes, a scowl apparent even under his mask.
“Hmph,” Gato said, eyeing Zabuza with contempt and a sliver of fear, “Fine. Consider her yours. Make sure she stays put or put her down.”
Zabuza gave a grunt and pulled her again. Sakura stumbled into his knees and he gave a growl of annoyance before pulling her between his spread legs. Sakura stood stiff as a board as he pushed her down. And then…and then he did nothing, simply kept a tight grip on her arm and made her sit like a dog at his feet. Sakura focused on the carpet, focused on counting the threads as Gato started to talk again. She blocked out the words, tried to block out the feeling of the hand on her wrist, tried to block out thoughts of-
There were eighty three threads of blue in the swirl, she thought faintly with terror. Now count the white ones she told herself.
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Sakura followed on Momochi’s heel knowing she had little choice when her wrist was still firm in his grip. The room he led her to was one of the nicer ones, with a real bed, a bathroom, a chair, and most importantly a large window. Momochi grumbled something under his breath as they entered and harshly kicked the door shut.
He finally let go of her wrist and Sakura’s eyes immediately darted to the window. The door was a no-go with too many people between her and the exit but the window…it was only the third story, she could do that if she landed it right.
“If you try to go out the window you won’t even make it out the yard,” Momochi snapped and Sakura froze.
He gave a growl and pushed her towards the window, one hand now tangled in her collar. He stood her before the window and grunted.
“Look.”
She did.
The house, or manor really was…on an island, she realized with despair. Wave was an island nation, with a smattering of smaller ones around it and this was one of the small private ones. Sakura looked at the distance to the shore and knew if she swam they’d catch her in a boat long before she made it.
“Do you understand?” Momochi said giving her a faint shake, “You try to escape, you die.”
She nodded once, head jerking.
“Do you understand what happened today as well?” He asked, voice rough as he turned her to look at him.
He’d used his free hand to pull his mask down, the bandages loose at his throat, and baring his sharp teeth. Sakura stared at him, throat closing up. He let go of her collar and looked at her with narrowed eyes before he threw himself down in the armchair. He pinned her with his gaze as if considering a trembling mouse before a cat.
“Come here,” he demanded.
But Sakura couldn’t. She trembled and gripped her hem again and tried to breathe.
“I said,” Momochi said, voice dark, “Come here.”
Sakura took one step forward on trembling legs. And then another. When her knees touched his he grunted, satisfied.
“Do you understand what has happened here?” he asked again.
“I…” she stuttered, “Gato gave me…”
“Gato gave you to me,” Momochi nodded sharply, “To do whatever I want with.”
Sakura swallowed. And he watched her, eyes narrowed and a scowl twitching at his lips, but he didn’t seem displeased; that must just be his normal look she thought a tad hysterical.
“Do you know what those men would have done to you if I hadn’t taken you?”
She nodded once, a jerky motion.
“Good. Not ignorant then,” he grunted.
He reached out again and this time Sakura couldn’t stop the fear or instincts any long. Her hand came up in a block even as she spun to throw a kick at him. He caught the leg easily, grabbing the block with his other hand. Sakura was jerked forwards onto his lap.
“Not completely untrained either,” he said.
Sakura froze as he let go of her leg his hand sliding up her side to tangle in the back of her hair.
“Where is your sensei, girl?”
She clamped her mouth shut. They’d…Kakashi-sensei and Naruto and Sasuke were safe. Sakura wasn’t but she comforted herself knowing the others were okay. Kakashi-sensei had still been unconscious when they’d been ambushed and while Naruto and his clones had carried him to safety, Sakura and Sasuke had been forced to split up and lead the thugs away while Tazuna and his family got to safety. Sakura didn’t remember much of the chase to be honest. She had thought the danger over when they reached Tazuna’s house, like it was a checkpoint or something. Instead, Gato had heard Momochi hadn’t been able to stop the bridge-builders return and had set up an ambush at his home for when he arrived. Sakura supposed they were lucky none of them had died.
And Sakura…well Sakura was a good newly graduated student, but she was just that; she had no experience or training under her belt. She was still a ninja and it had enabled her to beat one thug. Two, three even, but the fourth after that had been her downfall. Sakura was a good student but even she couldn’t do much when she had fully grown men (civilian fighters even) holding her down. She’d had no leverage, no jutsu, just above average strength that was useless against so many opponents.
“Loyal, eh?” Momochi grunted, cutting off her thoughts, “Well, no skin off my back.”
He pulled her forward by her hair, by her wrist, and Sakura stiffened with fear as his breath washed over her. This close she could see the spots of green in his dark eyes.
“Hmm. I see why that bastard wanted you. You’re a pretty thing aren’t you,” he said as if stating a fact.
Sakura swallowed thickly and tried to fall back on kunoichi training. She looked to the side and started to count the grains she could see in the wood wall. It didn’t work when teeth made contact with her neck. She whimpered, terrified as teeth scraped over her skin, hot breath on her throat.
“Sit still,” Momochi growled into her skin.
She stiffened as he dragged his teeth across her neck, nearly bruising with the force of them. He focused on one spot a moment, teeth working, as he kept her pinned to her lap. He grunted when she tried to jerk out of his hold and she was left trembling. He tugged at her hair harshly and she couldn’t stop the yelp.
She was nearly in tears when he abruptly stopped. He pulled back growling and let go of her wrist but not her hair.
“Not good at listening to instructions,” he grunted, “Well, you’ll learn.”
He stood, hand still tangled in her hair and half led, half dragged her to the bed. Sakura gave a whine deep in her throat and gripped at his wrist, trying to alleviate the pressure of the grip. He tossed her on the bed effortlessly.
“Don’t move from here,” he ordered pointedly, “I will know if you have.”
She stared at him with terror and he gave a grunt before turning his back on her. Sakura pushed herself back until her back hit the wall. She curled her arms around her knees and didn’t dare take her eyes off Momochi as he started to take his bandages and arm warmers off. His headband followed into the pile and finally he tugged his pants down. He turned back to her and Sakura was barely breathing.
“Stay,” he ordered like she was a dog.
And then he was slamming the bathroom door behind him. The sound of the shower started a moment later and Sakura allowed a small sob to escape her lips. The sound was muffled as she buried her face in her knees.
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Sakura peered at Momochi through her bangs as he came out of the bathroom scrubbing at his hair with a towel. He blatantly ignored her and nudged his pile of bandages. Sakura’s eyes were drawn to his neck as he started to wrap it. He had…wounds. They must have been from the senbon. They had thought the senbon had killed him and at first Sakura had thought he survived by sheer toughness. But now, as she stared at the small puncture wounds done up with a stitch or two each, she remembered her lessons.
Senbon were for incapacitating or poisons. They were killing tools only in trying circumstances. The Hunter-nin who had ‘killed’ Momochi had used them first. He had never meant to kill the man, just make it appear so. Sakura shook as she realized there was another missing-nin somewhere around here in disguise as a kiri hunter-nin. Momochi had a partner and Sakura’s chances of survival and escape had just dwindled exponentially.
Sakura watched the stiff way Momochi moved, suddenly realizing he did indeed look stiff. He was moving slowly for how fast she knew he could. She thought of Kakashi-sensei unconscious after the fight and knew Momochi would be feeling much the same. It hadn’t been a long battle but Sakura had recognized the power in it. The jutsu that had been used had looked easy in their hands, but Sakura was sure even if she knew jutsu like the Hidden Mist one, she’d have never been able to cover such a large area so densely. And that Water-Prison would have taken a great deal of effort to maintain against someone like Kakashi-sensei. Not even including the high-level water manipulation dragon. The battle hadn’t been long or flashy but Sakura knew both men had used more chakra in it than she’d probably ever have in her life. And being knocked out by senbon, well enough to fool Kakashi-sensei, would have taken a toll.
Sakura watched Momochi and knew he was as weak as he would ever be. She still knew she had no chance.
Momochi grunted and abandoned the rest of his stuff, his neck wrapped and his boxers still in place, and then he turned to her. Sakura stiffened under his look and he sneered before striding over. She tried to shrink into herself.
“You didn’t move,” he eyed her, “Good.”
Sakura didn’t bother to nod or anything, just sat perfectly still.
“What’s you name kid?”
She kept her mouth shut. He waited. And waited. And waited. Finally he rolled his eyes with a grunt and grabbed her arm, tugging her away from the wall.
“I’m just going to call you brat if you don’t tell me.”
Sakura still kept her mouth shut. Momochi manhandled her away from where she’d been curled up and shoved her out of the way so he could flop down onto the bed.
“You can call me Zabuza,” he yawned.
Sakura stared at him, waiting for the other shoe to drop as he pulled a pillow under his head. He reached out and grabbed her wrist.
“If you try anything, I’ll know, and you’ll regret it. Ya hear me?”
Sakura stared at him and he seemed to take that as agreement because he grunted and turned his face away from her. Sakura sat perfectly still on her side of the bed, her wrists still held loosely in his grip. A minute later Zabuza’s breathing evened out and Sakura was left staring. She knew that hadn’t been an idle threat. He was asleep but it was probably, like most shinobi, a light sleep. She’d have to kill him in one blow and hope he didn’t wake up at her movement if she wanted to chance it. Not that she had the speed or decisiveness for that. And there was still the question of second ninja somewhere nearby.
Sakura laid down and stared at the ceiling. Sleep didn’t come.
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