Chapter 1: The Creation
"Some Succeed Because They Are Destined To, But Most Succeed Because They Are Determined To."
-Unknown
/\
\/
START FLASHBACK – PRE-WAR
It took months, but finally it was finished. Haruno Sakura took a step back from her work desk to get a better view of the seal that she had modified and created. The idea originated from Tsunade's Reserve Seal and its use of storing chakra for later use. If the seal that Sakura created worked, it would be a total game changer.
With one last bright smile at the scroll that contained the literal blood, sweat, and tears of her hardwork, Sakura rolled it up and started the process of cleaning up her area. Her workstation was located in the lower levels of the Hokage tower, one of the many empty offices that had yet to be filled with new administration members despite the number of years since the beginning of Tsunade's reign.
Usually, Sakura considered herself a neatfreak when it came to keeping her small office clean, but since the beginning of her research, all neatness disappeared under an avalanche of scrolls and books that she used to create her seal. The only clear spots clean of any clutter in the entire room was the desk and chair, but even those suffered the tragic state of Sakura's pursuit of knowledge. The poor desk was originally a nice oak desk with little wear or damage, but now it was covered in ink and gouges from a frustrated writing utensil. The chair was one of the nice full back rolling chairs that she managed to steal from one of the nicer offices, but now it had a permanent indention in the shape of Sakura's butt, and several mysterious stains in its leather upholstery.
However, in Sakura's somewhat humble opinion, the disaster that is her office was only a necessary sacrifice in the long run of unseen geniusness. Gently shoving one precarious pile of research material out of the way with her foot, Sakura picked up her scroll and hurried out of her office. Taking steps two at a time to reach the Hokage's office, Sakura wiped her ink stained fingers off on her study cloths to at least make herself look somewhat presentable for an appearance in the highest office in the village.
The staircase that Sakura was using is available only for those who have the highed clearance from the Hokage. The cards used to grant clearance levels are unique to every individual who happens to have one, and only opens the door for those who's chakra was had the proper clearance. It allowed the Hokage to assign access levels for whoever they wanted. The access level that Sakura has, happens to be of the group with the highest clearance. Theoretically, she can go into any room in the tower, but ultimately, the Hokage has the decision to deny clearance as it's being asked for entrance in a room.
Normal shinobi only had basic clearance; their clearance included access to the Hokage's presentation room, the mission office, and rotation room. Those with almost unlimited access to the whole building were the ANBU members hiding out in the walls of the tower, protecting not only the Hokage, but the valuable information contained within the building.
It only took minutes for Sakura to travel from her office on the lower levels, up to the floor leading to the Hokage's office. The door to the staircase was basically hidden from plain view, and was only visible once a key card was flashed in front of the key reader. Which made for some interesting times, since the door seemed to change positions hourly leading to some spectacularly hilarious reactions from people passing in front of a previously innocuous wall that changed shape, seemingly at random.
Pausing in front of the Hokage's office, Sakura made one more attempt at straightening out her appearance before she stepped in front of her Master. Looking down at her appearance, Sakura grimaced. Maybe it would have been better to delay her presentation so that she could have taken a quick shower and changed her clothes. The current outfit she had on was a modified set of pajamas that was made up of training shorts and a faded Konoha Academy t-shirt from her academy days.
"Stop dallying and come in, Sakura." Tsunade's sharp voice broke Sakura out of her self-assessment, taking the decision of cleaning up out of her hands.
Taking a deep breath to contain the sudden excitement that overcame her, Sakura grabbed the door knob and pushed open the heavy wood door, while taking a step into the room.
"Master, I've finally finished the project that I started months ago."
END FLASHBACK
/\
\/
The strong stench of blood and death hung heavy in the air, blocking out the usual scent of trees and fresh air that would usually be in the forest. Currently, the numerous trees that took up residence in the forest were knocked down to make way for the various medical tents that were set up to support the war against the Zetsu and its allies.
The medics manning the medical site had no more than a few hours of rest, before they had to jump back into the task of healing shinobi. The medical site was the backbone of the war effort, it could not stop functioning without bringing about the end of the entire Shinobi Alliance.
At the heart of the site sat one of the largest tents. The tent served as both the communication area and the meeting space for those in charge. Currently, the two apprentices of the Fifth Hokage hovered over a map that took up most of the space of the room that it was in. It was marked with the teleportation seals that were used for transporting the injured and the healed from the medical site to the battlefield, and back.
Shizune's face looked as if it aged greatly since the beginning of the war. Deep bags sat under her eyes and the frown lines around her mouth seemed as if they wanted to take up permanent residence. She pointed at one area where an array was written.
"The last correspondence we received from headquarters says that we lost this seal array." Taking another glance at the correspondence, she sat back with a tired sigh. "Everyone there is allegedly KIA."
The frown on Sakura's face almost matched Shizune's in its intensity. She clenched her fist, causing the pen that she had in her hand to break in half, sending plastic across the map. With a scowl, Sakura threw the pen into a small trashcan of similarly destroyed pens sitting next to the map table. A frustrated sound escaped her throat at having to cross out another array, but she still picked up another pen and crossed out the now terminated site.
"The White Zetsu are taking out the sites almost as soon as we create another one. We're just lucky that they haven't managed to use the sealing arrays yet." Sakura growled.
The whole situation was making her mad. As soon as they heal one batch of shinobi, another batch arrives, leaving no respite for those with the best healing abilities. The only reason Sakura and Shizune weren't out in the mayhem lending their services, was because of the arrival of the correspondence from headquarters. The two were in charge the site as a whole, but more specifically making sure that the people in charge of the sealing array at the medical site, was aware of any changes outside of their bubble. If the White Zetsu were able to mimic a group with a sealing array, and the sealers brought them into the camp, all kinds of hell would be raised.
Sakura leaned back in her chair heavily and looked up blearily at the ceiling of the tent. The last time she had a decent amount of sleep, was the day before Pein's attack on Konoha. Since then, every day afterward was a race against death. Healing those who suffered, both shinobi and civilian alike. But it seemed like for every person she healed, she had to seal another into a preservation scroll after they died. She didn't want to imagine how many scrolls had been used up so far since the war itself began. She just knew that Konoha was going very quickly through its stockpile of preservation scrolls that had accumulated since the last war.
On the other side of the table, Shizune forced herself to her feet with a weary huff. "There's no use worrying about it Sakura, we have others to focus on."
Sighing, Sakura stood up from her chair as well. "I know."
Sakura placed the pen over the position of the newly destroyed site on the map and followed Shizune out of the tent.
/\
\/
The ground shook, causing many people to try to find its source. A piercing sound came from one of the smaller tents, a signal that all was well, making a sigh of relief be breathed out by tense medic-nin and shinobi. It would be disastrous if the main healing site was overtaken.
Inside of the tent, Sakura removed her fist from the White Zetsu that had managed to infiltrate the medical site with the appearance of a Konoha shinobi.
"Go prepare an examination room." Sakura snapped at the wide eyed genin who was assigned to help around the medical site. The genin turned wide eyes from the small crater in the tent to Sakura's angry green eyes. With a startled yelp, the genin turned around and darted off to do as instructed.
Tsking, Sakura squatted next to the corpse of the White Zetsu. Other than the whole in its chest, it was in perfect condition. Maybe they'll finally be able to gain an advantage against the White menaces.
The flap to the tent parted, showing Shizune standing in the gap with a questioning look on her face. When she caught sight of the corpse, surprise flew across her features. She hurried forward to lean over the corpse for a closer look. Sighing, she looked over at Sakura.
"This is both a blessing and a curse." Shizune started. "We can figure out how the White Zetsu work, but we also have to figure out how they got in."
It seemed like everyday provided a new and stressful event for the medical site to overcome. Sakura didn't know how much more the medic-nins could take before they broke completely. Already, Shizune had to deal with several medics who had breakdowns because of the work and death. From their point of view, it seemed like the war was a never-ending monster that would never stop chewing up and spitting out young shinobi.
Sakura herself didn't know how much her or Shizune could take before they too need a complete break from their duty, especially with the slow progress of news reaching their location. She doesn't know the status of anyone that she is familiar with. She doesn't know if everyone survived, or if someone died. She doesn't know if Sasuke and Naruto managed to kill each other yet, or if they are fighting side-by-side. She doesn't know if Tsunade and the other Kages are alive, or if they are on their death beds. If the information does not pertain to the upkeep of the medical site, then the Yamanaka's in charge of distributing information won't share that information unless there is a lull in the fights.
Sakura just knew that something had to change if they didn't want the war to drag on forever.
lol, hey ya'll it sure has been awhile. The last time I uploaded anything was back in 2015 and it was also a new story. HOPEFULLY, I'll be able to finish this story, as well as Strength because man I suck at being consistent. Check my profile for more information, also I'm over on Tumblr as ByeByeSanity, so come bother me so that I know people actually read this stuff.