This one would be like all of the others, with Mitarashi Anko or some
other unspeakable horror lurking behind it, ready to set her heart
hammering anew as they continued the twisted game of cat and mouse
they'd been playing since Sakura had woken hours earlier, naked and
alone in an empty room somewhere deep within the bowels of ANBU's
torture and interrogation facility.

Naked and alone is good. Bowels and torture, not so good. 

Really? Taken out of context, i would have figured more approval of 'naked' and 'torture' than 'naked' and 'alone'...

Unfortunately, Anko wasn't giving her a lot of options. Sitting still
was probably about as effective as moving, but she wasn't the _only_
thing loose down here, it seemed. *Ugh- it's a good thing they had
eyes,* the pink haired girl mused with a shudder, rubbing the very
real-looking sucker marks on her arm.

"The better to see you with while we're tentacle-raping you, my dear!" 

Indeed -_-;...

*This sucks!

*groan* 

That one was unintentional ^_^;...

She would just have to confront the demon, then... but how? She wasn't a
genius ninja; she was barely even mediocre. She didn't have any special
techniques, and she had to assume that Anko controlled the environment
completely, so elaborate traps would be useless. It always came back to
control- Anko had her hooks in Sakura's mind, and Sakura wasn't good
enough to dig them out. *Maybe a counterattack of some sort- but she's
a _jounin_! I wouldn't even know where to start!*

Start by going down on her. She won't be expecting THAT. 

You never know; she _did_ train with Orochimaru...

"To hell with it! I've had enough!" Shoving doubt and worry for her
mortal soul aside, the young genin stepped away from the wall and took
a bold stance in front of the door. Anko was probably waiting for her
behind it; the sadistic bitch hadn't shown her face in a while. Sakura
was almost starting to forget how humiliating it was, having that
woman's mocking laugher chasing after her as she ran away. *Enough
running; from now on, the only people who see my back are those I've
sworn to protect, as a ninja.*

And those who take her from behind, as a sex toy. 

The 'see my back' line is either from the anime or manga; i can't remember which. _This_ one's not my fault... :P

*I just kissed a woman who was eating a rat.*

That's not as disgusting as the things Ino has in her mouth when you kiss
*her*, Sakura-chan... 

I don't think Ino and Sakura are quite close enough anymore that Ino could get away with not brushing first...

The one part of the Shintenshin that had given Sakura the most headaches
over the last three weeks was how the mind was projected out of the
body. She just couldn't figure out how so much information could be
moved around safely without some sort of conduit. This meant that, for
the improvised version that she'd kludged together, she had to actually
_touch_ Anko for it to work. Contact between parts that had a major
concentration of chakra gates seemed like her best shot; hands, mouths
or... elsewhere.

Awww, should've been the 'elsewhere'. XD 

I knew you would say that O_o;...

That it had hurt at all was definitely a bad sign; she'd probably done
serious injury to herself, but that was too big to take in at the
moment. Instead, she concentrated on the metallic tang of blood in her
mouth. *...she was eating a _rat._*

GET OFF THE DAMN RAT ALREADY, PINKY! 

"But Brain, she's so soft, and she smells so nice- NARF!"

When Sakura's gaze finally returned to the examiner, Anko had looked up,
and was now staring at her in confusion. Setting her jaw, Sakura glared
right back and rolled into a low crouch, preparing to defend herself.
She'd made her bed so she'd better be ready to sleep in it, even if
there was still a snake in the sheets.

Man, every fic that sticks Sakura with Anko involves snakes in the
bedding. 

This chapter of Suiren first came out in 2003. I claim prior art! Lawsuit no Jutsu!

"What the hell did I ever do to you to deserve this!" Sakura roared,
nerves and weariness finally getting the better of her. 
The examiner's good mood seemed to evaporate instantly, and after
simmering for all of two seconds she was as red in the face as Sakura.
"What did ya do ta me?! Ya tried ta (&$in' _kill_ me for trippin' over
yer fat ass and knockin' ya inta the mud, and _then_ ya locked me in
yer private sicko fantasy land for four hours just so ya could $%#(&
with my head until I went as nuts as you!" Anko declared, stabbing an
accusing finger at the pink-haired kunoichi. "And lemmie tell ya, that
is seriously (%)&$in' nuts! I mean, what the hell was with the (#$&in'
bagpipes in the room with the giant pudding thing that tried ta eat
me!?"

...oooooooh shit, Inner Sakura's OUT. @_@ *RUNS FOR THE HILLS* 

She's not _that_ scary ^_^;... yet...

The tall woman shot an indignant look at her, accompanied an obscene
gesture. "Damn straight I'm not (#&$in' Mitarashi Anko!" 
"Then who the hell are you?!" 
"Who else could I possibly (%&)$in' be?! I'm Haruno Sakura!"

And we have EVIL TWIN SIGN. XD 

But Inner Sakura doesn't have a goatee...

"What color underwear were ya wearing the first time you saw Sasuke?" 
Sakura thought for a moment, then frowned. "That's a trick question." 
"And why's that?" 
"Because I wasn't wearing any underwear."

H_H;;; 

I knew you would say that too!

To be fair, though, the _intentional_ innuendo in Suiren only increases from this point onward...

Despite herself, the petal-tressed girl had to break a weak smile. "And
is this anything like what we had planned?" 
"We're completely in control, ain't we?"

Can't fault logic like *that*... 

Inner Sakura is a bit more 'ends justify the means' oriented than Outer Sakura tends to be ^_^;...

"Heh, don't worry about it!" she scoffed brashly, which of course only
served to make Sakura worry even more. "Just leave everythin' ta me!"

Oh hell. XD 

Amazingly, she didn't draw the Eye of Sauron or something down upon her head this time...

*Well, that was quick. No point in pretending now...* Still, Sakura
began by cautiously cracking an eyelid and peering to the side. She was
greeted by the sight of a masked ANBU ninja straddling a backwards
chair and leaning forward with his arms on the back rest, staring right
at her.

"Flippin' pervert..." 

Well, he _is_ a Hyuuga...

*I AM NOT A TROUBLEMAKER, DAMMIT!* Sakura could _tell_ the man was
grinning like an idiot behind that monkey-mask he was wearing. Gods-
she could just see this spreading around the village like wildfire.
She'd have a rep as bad as Naruto's before she knew it.

Worse. Naruto never got picked up by ANBU. 
...well, okay, the whole "demon that raped the village" stigma might trump
an embarassing ANBU run-in, but... 

Let us not forget the 'associated with Mitarashi Anko' scandal multiplier that will soon come into effect...

Of course this probably was furthest from the case, she told herself,
but it was still quite shocking to see the two jounin chatting like old
friends, as if nothing at all was amiss. Had the jutsu ended? Was
Mitarashi Anko back- and if so, what had happened to the other 'her?'
She was suddenly glad for the mask, and what little anonymity it
offered her, given that she was one of only two people she'd ever met
with hair the color of cherry blossoms, the other being her
grandmother.

"I bet Utena-baachan never got into a mess like THIS, though..." 

Now there's an idea i've never heard before: Post-Revolutionary Girl Sakura...

"Huh?" Blinking, the short-haired brunette straightened and turned
around to see Yuuhi Kurenai standing in the restaurant's back door. Her
friend of several years was only partially successful in hiding the
shocked look on her face, covering it half-heartedly with a mysterious
smile.

I'm guessing she only got there as soon as the 'passionate kiss' part. 

You would guess right.

"Shikamaru," Ino prompted, gross disbelief making her voice faint and
airy, "after Mitarashi-san kissed her, how did Sakura look to you?"

"Troublesome." 

Well, that's a given. _Everything_ is troublesome to Shikamaru...

"She looked... relieved, to me- happy, almost," the blonde girl finally
declared, shaking her head. *Who would have thought that- that
_Sakura_... no _wonder_ she hasn't made any progress with Sasuke...*

No, that'd be because he's an emofag. 

Except both Ino and Sakura are too blind to see this just yet, sadly...

Frowning, Ino bit her lower lip and began walking, not really caring
where her legs took her. "What's going on with you, Sakura...?"

Very Strange Things. 

You haven't heard the half of it yet -_-;...

To be continued...

And we'll be here waiting! 

Will try to get the next couple chapters to the list this weekend...

~Eimii

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