Chapter 17

Her mind raced like time was running out, there was more about these people that she knew about – or remembered.

She could not predict what will happen next, it was a completely unexpected turn of events. She could not stomach the rest of the conversation, so she stayed quiet.

Listening and observing.

With her chin high and shoulders squared, she waited patiently for the room to fill with those who she knew nothing of. Those men who brought her to the traditional wooden and paper panels that surrounded her were quite observant of her. Every breath she took, they noticed; for each cautious bite she took of the delicious meal, they studied.

Her hands did not tremble, she would not give them the power over her fear. Calmly, she pushed the bowl in front of her, the tallest took the plates away, leaving her alone with the man who smiled at her like he knew everything about her identity.

- "Haruno Sakura. I have waited a very long time for this." – her eyes narrowed at his statement, sharp green knives cutting every word he spoke. – "Now, now." – he smiled even wider, tilting his chin in amusement to her demeanour. – "It's nothing to worry about. But I must say…" – those chocolate eyes hardened, studying the slightest movements of the soft breeze coming from the window as it waves her long strands of pink around her hear-shaped face.

Their staring contest was interrupted by the soft push of the sliding door. A tall figure approached. Dark onyx eyes with a hint of red stared right at her, Sakura kept her body as still as she could. Those sun rays were turning into bleeding orange hues that blended with purple and blue on the horizon. Lean muscle covered by those dark velvet robes of the Soul Rippers; a blade neatly tucked to his side.

The pale complexion of the man in front of her only caused his features to become more prominent. V-shaped jaw and a straight nose made him seem more like royalty than she has ever seen before. Long dark lashes belonging to sharp eyes. His features adorned by long and straight strands of hair lazily held by a low ponytail.

He stared her down – not like an enemy – but like a measly commoner who held no power over him. A little annoying for her taste. He seemed to study her just like the other man in the room. Sakura felt like some animal in a laboratory. She did her best not to shift in her sitting position. Her legs neatly folded under her for support as her back stayed as straight as a board.

She was nervous under the scrutiny of his eyes. But she did not cower. Never. – "Did I interrupt your beauty sleep?" – mocked the redhead. – "We just couldn't wait to summon you." – those chocolate eyes stayed on her, his posture relaxed as ever as he kept a small distance next to her, at the end of the room. His back to the wall as he sat cross-legged with his chin resting on his hand, slumped forward like he wanted to get closer.

She was only glad they kept a distance. The new arrival replied with a short "Hn" before glancing to the other side of the room and took a seat, his eyes finding hers once more. – "You are one of the Rioca." – another voice gasped. Her attention was pulled to the entrance, the doors still open.

Big bright blue eyes that reminded her of the sky caught her by surprise. Sakura loved the blue sky to a point she would catch a sunburn by laying on the roof staring at the sky, occasionally counting clouds like she would when she was a child.

His soft boy-ish features only stood out by the fact he wore his uniform a little more revealing than the rest. A strong chest exposed by the opening of his clothing. If it wasn't for this detail, Sakura would have confused him with a woman. His dark lined cat-like eyes along with the long blonde hair held halfway up was confusing her. By all means he would win in a contest against her with such eye-catching features.

Soft lips curled in a mischievous smile directed at her. Again, she reminded herself to stay put, not speak and absolutely not – under any circumstance – show how her nerves rise by the second.

Half of his features were almost completely covered by his long bangs of blonde hair, but she could still see his amazement. – "I did not expect you to arrive like this. Tell me! Are the others anyone we know?" – he continued as he walked with heavier footsteps than the previous man. His excitement clear as day, those waves of gold strands bounced with his sudden movement into sitting cross-legged right in front of her – only a few feet apart. That smile never wavering while his eyes scanned her.

The pinket stayed quiet, not even flinching of leaning back when he leaned forward.

- "Where are the rest?" – spoke the redhead. – "I called for everyone." – his annoyed tone was obviously ignored by the others.

Before anyone could answer, the taller redhead entered the room. – "We are in the middle of a Rioca invasion, in case you have forgotten." – he answered and took a seat far away from her, next to the door after he slid it closed. The last rays of sun falling out of existence in the now cramped space.

- "Hmm" – Sasori grumbled. – "This was going to be a fun evening. It's their loss." – his smile returned, wider. – "This little cherry blossom fell from the sky in a very interesting way." –

- "They all fell from the sky. I saw the explosion! It was amazing." – spoke the blonde. – "How did you do that?" – he leaned even closer.

Sakura was confused, she had no idea what the blonde was talking about, she did not cause any explosion… did she? Her brows scrunched ever so slightly at him. Blue expecting eyes awaiting her answer. – "Who are you?" – she finally spoke.

The blonde backed away in surprise. – "How can you say that? I was famous!" – he protested.

- "Oh." – Sasori spoke, interrupting the blonde. – "I forgot to mention. She had no memory of our world." – her gaze turned to him, daggers digging at the man who found the circumstances amusing.

Sakura was not amused.

- "Then we are wasting time." – spoke the man at her side, those dark eyes losing all interest in her. – "Why call us?" – his attention turned to the amused redhead.

Exactly her question, why call these men she did not know? – "I know you all remember that kids friends, team 7 was a constant topic for us since he belonged with that team." – he lifted his chin from his resting hand and turned to the men, finally averting his intense gaze from her. – "She is Haruno Sakura, the prodigy that trained under the great Tsunade Senju and." – he turned back to her. – "She is the woman who killed me." – his eyes shined with something she could not understand.

Her eyes widened at his statement; her breath caught by him. Every word he spoke echoed in her mind, her brain trying to reject the idea of being some prodigy and worst of all, a killer. But her hear rang in her ears, telling her he did not lie, telling her she was that woman.

Her heart sang with the melody of memories her mind tried to crush and erase. Her robe covered her body for the most part, but it now felt like a heavy burden she could not bear. Sakura wouldn't seal it back as it protected her, but now she felt incredibly vulnerable.

Movement caught her eye, she turned to the blonde, his eyes now narrowed at her with something close to hatred. – "Deidara, I don't mind." – the redhead tried to calm the man down, she now knew his name.

But- she still did not know who the other man in the room staring at her was. – "Itachi, you must remember she was in the same group as your little brother." – Sasori continued without showing anything against her, he spoke like he was completely without worry or hatred against her – the woman he just accused of killing her.

Itachi just stared at her before turning to the blonde. – "Deidara, it was a long time ago." – the blonde blinked those emotions away, gathering his thoughts in front of her, she fought the urge to tell him words of forgiveness, to try and tell them how she did not remember anything, and her heart filled with remorse.

It's not like she can just go back and change things. Besides… for all she knows, they could be the ones that tried to kill her first.

Either it was self-defence or offence by her part, she did not know, much less know what they had planned. Who they were.

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- "You really don't remember anything, do you?" – he asked, eating up those surprised emeralds of hers. It did surprise him to see a pink haired woman from their world, since it had been so long ago, he almost forgot about the girl who always stuck behind the boy who held a demon in his body. That same girl would fight with everything she had even as her smaller body was inferior by her nature.

The girl from a civilian family that held no special abilities other than her strong mind, she pushed herself constantly to find a spot in the team she was placed in. it was expected of her to die during the exams, then it was predicted her life would be crucial in the awakening of the demon. Becoming a pillar in the life of a boy with an unfortunate fate was a catalyst in their plans.

If she died, he would unleash the beast and that was not something anyone wanted. They had planned on taking the boy before her inevitable death, but those brats persisted and became stronger each day.

Even as she was pushed aside constantly, the little girl grew to become a strong fighter before he also died. Deidara was not happy to admit he did not survive his own creation. He did plan his whole life to be and end with a bang.

But then he woke up, just like everyone in this room did. Alive and completely surprised by the turn of events. First, he wondered if this was the idea of hell once he learned about the harsh living conditions in the district he found himself in, district 70 was huge and filled with old grumpy souls that had nothing better to do than push others around.

Not much had changed in his reality, people still hated those with lesser things in life – in this weird after life – and those with rags for clothing would turn to crime just to make something out of their day.

The blonde was surprised to find his body was intact as it had ever been. His arms were his own, slightly missing his old palms, but he could live without the constant itch they caused when he did not use them. His chest was just clear and soft skin over muscle. His artistic eye however, never stopped. With clay being so easy to find in the wild terrains near his district.

He would disappear from the busy streets and spend most time in the forest, looking and searching for something to do. Until he felt hunger. Clay did not have a nice taste.

Joining the academy brought him memories he tried to push away, it's not like he really missed much from his previous life, he still had to be better than others to graduate and be placed in one of the 11 court guards. Another stupid hierarchy he would rather not be part of.

He sucked it up when he found out he would be fighting creatures he had never seen before, strong, and angry with the need to feed themselves, almost like him, but not quite.

Deidara finally saw a purpose in his new life other than wielding a sword to get fed meals every day and sleep on a comfortable bed. When he caught the eyes of those he remembered very well and some he did not – but he knew he was famous back in his world – I mean, his face was plastered in the most wanted posters in all the land.

Proudly sporting his signature smile to throw off his enemies and toy with them as he tested his creations. He found out they all did not change much, other than having to learn the arts of sword wielding rather than the short weapons and techniques from their land, their souls still sang to the same tune.

Their past lives forming into a sword unique to each individual.

Sasori insisted they should keep an eye out for any other soul from their world, it was like some kind of invisible pull they could not explain. A familiarity that hit them if they were ever near anyone who came from his world.

That same pull was strong with the woman in front of him, she was odd, but who wasn't? she dressed in that soft light grey robe adorned with pale white feathers on her shoulders. Shoulders that stiffened at the words his old friend spoke.

Yes, they were friends – even if they threatened to kill each other at every corner. Her body language was on guard when he entered, trying her best not to react to his outspoken personality. He could tell her mind was fighting with something, either she rather live in denial or she was toying with them.

Deidara loved to play games.

She shook her head, only slightly as to answer his question. A shaky "no" escaping her lips. His anger had obviously caught her off guard. It was only natural to reach in some way to one who once became his sworn enemy after his friend died. By her hand.

But, just like the calm Uchiha stated, that was a long time ago. They were no longer enemies – well, except for the fact that she was one of the Rioca they had explicit orders to defeat and take in. that reminds him. – "Sasori, did you know our orders have changed?" – he kept eye contact with the pinket. – "We are not allowed to kill them anymore." – her eyes shifted, had she not known the recent news? After all… they were the first suspects. – "After the death of a captain, we are to take them in… alive." –

Sasori hummed in response. – "So, the Rioca are strong enough to defeat a captain?" – the pinket turned to him, understanding the insinuation in his words.

- "I didn't kill anyone." – she swallowed. – "Not in this life." – she almost but whispered the last words, she had accepted the accusation of her responsibility over Sasori's death – even as it seemed she could not remember it.

- "Haruno. Who else is here with you?" – spoke the other redhead in the back, Deidara had forgotten about him since he was so quiet.

She turned to him, biting her lip in thought. It was clear she wanted to protect them. – "They have nothing to do with this." – she finally spoke. – "We aren't here to kill anyone." – her voice was stronger with determination. – "All we want is to stop the execution." – that wasn't news to their ears.

Rumours run fast in this place. Deidara could barely hold his laughter. – "You must be crazy if you think you can pull that off!" – he laughed. The pinket turned to him, those green eyes filled with a fire that caught his eye.

He found himself liking her anger. – "Say what you want. I won't let it happen. She is innocent." – the pinket defended. She had no idea what they could do with their swords…

That got him thinking… if she had no sword, how was the pinket going to defend herself?

His intense blue gaze scrutinized her, from her soft hands that definitely did not held weapons to her small frame with no protruding sharp weapons or anything resembling a defensive object. Did she arrive here with one and lost it? Did it break or did she just skip through the cracks with nothing but her will power in one of the most guarded places there is?

No wonder she was easy to capture by the red head duo, he thought. He ignored her slight shifts, taking the opportunity to stare at the opening of her robe, not a single sharp object.

Nothing. – "You seriously came here with no weapons?" – the blonde blurted out, unable to hold his snort. – "I heard all the other Rioca had at least some trick up their sleeves." – he continued, oblivious to her calm demeanour.

The pinket was not faced at all by his accusations and humour about the situation. He only stopped when he heard his friend laughing, at him. – "You idiot." – Sasori shook his head, smirking at the blonde.

But there was something mischievous about the redheads smile and the shine in his eyes as he stared at the pinket. Deidara knew they had to leave behind all the bad blood their harsh world created in their hearts, especially knowing and training under their new life as Soul Rippers. Discipline was expected by all subordinates, but not all captains cared about that, some were more in tune with their squads to a point they only used their position and title when they had to deal with official business – the rest of the time, captains and lieutenants barely even showed their face.

There were better things to do or bigger problems to deal with other than to supervise the massive amount of Soul Rippers in the Seireitei.

Deidara could count with his hand alone the number of times his captain ever took disciplinary action over anyone. Not to mention, being part of Division 10 only made things more awkward if he ever angered his captain – no one wanted to be yelled by the young prodigy.

The respect they all had for the young man who became one of the strongest in record time was obvious, Deidara himself understood the scrutiny of older members over the young ones who had way more to show than a shiny weapon.

Remembering those times when he was seen as the future of his people, a new standard on young generations that felt the immense pressure to excel at everything - no matter what – it felt like your entire life was taken away from you only to be pushed to a path of power. But at the same time, they did not want you to be too strong, control over those who were different was a must.

It's almost laughable how his people pushed him to becoming what they feared he would – a criminal. They wanted him in a cage, fighting and training the next kids into other versions of himself and taking his freedom from having an opinion over what is right and what is wrong.

So, he was pushed into the breaking point at such a young age. Literally exploding from the pressure. – "What's next? She won't give us anything useful." – grumbled the blonde, pushing away those thoughts.

- "And what exactly is useful for you? Soul Ripper." – she spoke back, ager showing on her soft features, those green eyes filled with fire.

He was intrigued. – "Not a fan of us? Pinky?" – he teased, finally getting some kind of reaction from her. Her eyes flashed with annoyance at the nickname, it was obvious she did not take a liking to it.

- "Enough." – spoke the Uchiha, his calm semblance shifting slightly. Usually, he would move away from disagreements and fights because "It was none of his business". But today was different. – "It is clear you believe in the prospect of another world we belonged to before arriving here." – he noted, the pinked gave a small nod, as if she tried to reject those words but her body knew better.

But she stayed quiet, afraid to speak and be seen as a crazed woman – not like their life was considered "normal". Honestly… Deidara found that word an offensive one.

- "Most of those we have found remember everything except for their last moments, that is usually a blur." – the Uchiha continued, very diplomatically. – "What is your experience?" – he was always so sure about his words, as if he knew full well how to make people talk – and trust him.

The blonde snorted, he was just about to berate the Uchiha into being realistic, the woman was not speaking. But she surprised him. – "It's not easy to explain." – she stated. Fumbling with her hands. – "Do you ever…" – she hesitated. – "Dream about people you feel like you've known your entire life – But can't place a name or a memory of them?" – those green eyes now shined with questions.

What a weird woman, he thought.

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The conversation had turned from confusing aspects to statements she could not understand why she believed them and to an almost fight. Until that man spoke, the way his deep voice echoed in her mind, telling her she would be fine and there was nothing to fear – it clashed with how she had lived her life up until now.

She was always thought to be wary of everyone, to keep a distance, to look behind her back at every turn – everything just to be able to run once she felt danger that lurked nearby.

The only other people that made her feel even the slightest semblance of comfort was that weird shopkeeper and his workers – even as they seemed to have a dysfunctional but functional dynamic.

His soft gaze made her take in a deep breath to calm her nerves and his confident words caused her lips to blurt out her thoughts. – "Ever since I remember, I've had these dreams. But I never dowelled on them too much until recently." – the room stayed quiet, as if they could understand the nightmares that they all faced. Something they might have in common. – "They weren't pleasant. Until I turned to the other side and found someone." – she kept her gaze on those dark red jewels that encouraged her to continue. – "They all seemed to know me. Fist it was a field, then a lighthouse, then other places I can't pinpoint. But they are always under the bright moonlight." –

Something shifted in the man, his eyes shined with a slight recognition, only just for a second. – "What do they say?" – encouraged the redhead at the back, calm and warming towards her.

She glanced at him, trying to read whatever he was thinking about her words. – "One of them said." – she took a deep breath. – "This is my Infinite Tsukuyomi." – she quoted those words, just as she remembered them. – "I still don't know what that means. I haven't been able to find him-" –

- "Sakura." – Gaara stopped her nervous rambling, her words were starting to mash together, and she took another deep breath and held it. – "What did he look like?" – her eyes searched the room, only to land on the man who caused her soul to sing her truths. – "He looked a lot like you." –

The man did not say a word for a few breaths, he seemed to be in a battle within, deciding if she was saying the truth or not.

Guilt gripped at her throat; did she say something wrong? Was he angered at her? … Did he know the man she dreamt of that one time?

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