Transition
Chapter 1
White Eyes
Through the Eyes of a Stoic Jounin, a Prodigy and a Cloud Watching Boy
The Stoic Jounin, Yuuhi Kurenai
A night walk had been a perfect choice. The silence filled her and the Elite nin strolled around on the quiet streets of Konohagakure. She had just gotten home from a month long mission in Sunagakure, and her skin had tanned a bit, to her own dismay. Reconnecting the ties between Suna and Konoha had not been as hard as she had imagined at first. By allowing her to oversee and give points of development to their curriculum of Suna Chunin, she had gradually gained approval from their Council.
Kurenai felt the need to sigh, but she didn't. Her porcelain features were to, at all times, remain emotionless. The humid air made her clothes cling intimately to her skin, but it wasn't uncomfortable. She was home.
The black haired woman with red eyes caught a flicker of an outrageous pink colour at the stream in her peripheral vision. The Jounin shinobi absentmindedly wondered what the girl was doing, shuffling around at the shore at such a late hour. She recognised the girl, since the colour of her hair preceded her abilities and efforts. Her name was Haruno Sakura, the Genin child who had been on Team Seven. She remembered the girl's fight with the Yamanaka. The recollection made her frown slightly, almost unnoticeably. She showed nothing, but deep inside she pitied the girl with speckles of disdain.
When Kurenai was about to pass the girl over the bridge, she heard a sob. A sob that rang through her mind and she tilted her head to look at the girl again. The young teenager had fallen to her knees and sobbed quietly, her small shoulders shaking. Then she hit the ground with her fist in anger, so weakly, Kurenai thought, and she wobbled only to stand up again. The pinkette went through a few finger signs, ox, pig, dragon, bird, pig… Then she collapsed again, obviously failing with the chakra distribution and a light sheen of sweat was visible on her thin arms. Kurenai recognised the hand seals.
"It's difficult to practice genjutsus on your own, Haruno Sakura." She let her voice reach the girl calmly, and the girl jerked right up as her voice was so near. Kurenai had jumped from the bridge down to the stream and stood in front of the girl who had slumped down on the ground. Haruno Sakura looked up at the older woman who stared down at her. The teenage girl bit her lip and shook her head, stood up and bowed respectfully.
"Kurenai-sensei. Good evening." She said politely, her hands clenching the hem of her red Qipao dress.
"We'll see about that. Rain will come soon." Kurenai said curtly and looked at the approaching clouds in the dark sky.
"How do you know it will rain?" She asked, trying to hide the fact that she had been crying, which deemed a difficult task since her eyes were red and puffy.
"The humidity in the air and the darker clouds a distance away tells me there will be a down pour. Now, what were you trying to do?" She asked sharply. "Without supervision from a teacher, trying to train on your own with genjutsu is strictly forbidden for Genin. You know that."
"I… I'm sorry, but Kakashi-sensei left me. He tried to teach me the Shunshin, but I didn't have enough chakra to achieve it. I have good control over my chakra, enough to precisely augment the muscle mass in my legs, but I... Didn't have enough muscle mass to augment. I saw how disappointed he was in me. He said... That Team Seven had disbanded, so we needed to realise that there no longer was an 'us' and we had to- we had to accept that. There's no... Ties between us anymore, he said. He left me." Her lip quivered. Kurenai frowned. Such display of emotion, such childish words. If Sakura had been her pupil, there would have been no emotions visible on her face. She was like an open book and spewed her feelings at Kurenai, and the older woman almost frowned.
"So that's why you're practicing genjutsu techniques? They don't require as much chakra as most other techniques, but they're more complex. And could also end very badly." Kurenai assessed calmly.
"I just want Kakashi-sensei to come back, if I proved to him I could do something... I want... I want all of them to come back." Sakura said and stifled another sob.
"Weak." Kurenai scoffed. Sakura's eyes widened and instead of sadness anger took its place.
"I am not! I'm so tired of hearing that. I'm not weak!" She shouted childishly and her eyes became a darker shade of moss green, her fits clenching the hem of her dress even harder.
"But you are." Kurenai deadpanned. "You're crying over the fact that you're left childishly stomping on the same spot on your own, while your former teammates are making progress and walks further and further away from you."
"You're mean." Sakura whispered under her breath, tears gathering in her green eyes and a blush crept onto her cheeks.
"I am simply telling you the truth." Kurenai said blatantly and entwined her fingers in her spiky hair, drawing it out, smoothing it down. The spikes shot right up again after her fingers left the dark mess.
"I know all that." The pinkette said almost inaudibly and her eyes lowered to the ground in defeat. "But I can't do anything about it. I don't have enough chakra and my body is weak. I can't do anything... I'm unimportant. But I don't...", she bit her lip.
"You don't what?" Kurenai prodded irritably. Why couldn't the girl speak up?
"I don't want to feel like this." She said haughtily. "Kakashi-sensei said I should try to be a Medic instead. That since I don't have the raw power, it's a better suited profession for me. Maybe it is. I could help them if they got hurt, heal them… But they're gone. Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun." The pink haired girl quivered again and tears streamed down her rosy cheeks. "They're gone." She sniffed.
"Kakashi is spitting bullshit again." Kurenai chuckled quietly and made no move to comfort the crying girl. "Who says you can only be strong if you have a lot of chakra? Being strong is a subjective word. And being in control of that little chakra you do have could actually be more dangerous than a person without control over his large powers."
"Is that true?" Sakura looked up at the taller woman and she sniffed again.
"Let's see. You were going for the Pig in the Barn genjutsu, right? It's the easiest genjutsu they teach at the Academy." Kurenai scoffed. "And it's ridiculously unuseful. The most common genjutsu in the shinobi world wouldn't even make a Chuunin blink in surprise at the illusion of a squealing pig rushing towards him."
"It's the only one I know the hand seals for. Genjutsus are hard. I hate them." Sakura said quietly. Kurenai silently observed the girl, then made up her mind spontaneously.
"Since Kakashi is not here to oversee your genjutsu training, I'll do it this once. I'll show you one of my genjutsus and tell you how it works. Are you prepared for some real genjutsu, girl?"
"Y-yes, I think so." Sakura stuttered.
"Hm?"
"Yes, Kurenai-sensei!" Sakura stood straighter and looked at Kurenai as if she was heading into a bull fight. Kurenai felt almost mischievous as she stood in front of the girl, she admitted to herself that it might be wrong of her to show a Genin girl one of her more established genjutsus which functioned as a paralyzer, but she felt the need to. The girl needed to know not to take genjutsus lightly.
"But first, tell me what you know about genjutsus."
"Okay... Let's see. Genjutsu is created when a ninja controls the chakra flow of the opponent's cerebral nervous system, thereby affecting their five senses. Genjutsu affects activity throughout the prosencephalon structure of the brain, humans, dogs and other species of mammal are therefore all affected by genjutsu. It's illusions that could stall an enemy and even cause them imaginary pain. Genjutsu can also be used for other supplementary purposes such as interrogating an individual by breaking their will." Sakura said and Kurenai nodded, silently praising the girl's memorization ability. The Jounin recognised the words to be the exact same explanation that was written in the Genjutsu Basics Scroll they studied at the Academy.
"And how does one dispel a genjutsu?"
"Um, the ninja needs to stop the flow of chakra in their body, and then apply an even stronger power to disrupt the flow of the caster's chakra."
"Is that the only way?"
"No. Another way is through intense pain not caused by the genjutsu and utilising the resulting pain to bring their senses back in order, but of the first two options, the latter seems more effective in most situations, or at least is the easiest. I think."
"Textbook correct, Haruno. Now, are there any Clans in Konoha who can dispel genjutsu in another manner?"
"Yes. The Uchiha Clan, Sharingan wielders, are the only ones who has another accessible option. Members of the Uchiha Clan can break or see through genjutsu using their Sharingan." Sakura said something flashed in the greens of her eyes, similar to pain. Kurenai didn't prod further.
"Yes. However, heightened senses can eventually be a weakness inside an illusion. No matter how good your sense of smell is, no matter how much your eyes can capture, it's ultimately the brain which interprets information. The mind is a vast and intricate network of impulses. There's a lot of room for error. Our brain perceives the phenomena of an illusion to be real and that's why it's so dangerous. Illusions can be used to turn enemies against each other, to paralyze an opponent which is essential in giving the time to deal the final blow, it can be used to simply stall an opponent stronger than you so you have some time to get away. Illusions are one of the most handy ninjutsus, but it's just as dangerous to use. Since it craves intelligence, correct hand signs and explicit chakra control, many fail in casting genjutsus. The chakra coils and can blow up from the inside if used incorrectly. I will now show you one of my own developed genjutsus, based on floral life." Kurenai said as she slowly went through the hand signs. Sakura's eyes were full of wonder and she watched carefully. The tears had dried on her cheek.
Kurenai saw the ghost image of the illusion she cast upon Sakura, as thick and dark green roots shot off from the ground and swirled around the girl's feet, sprinkling gravel around. Kurenai also saw the red flower petals cover her own body, hiding her from view, and Sakura saw Kurenai disappearing inside a storm of flowers. The flowers withered, became rotten and fell in a heap to the ground. Sakura now no longer saw Kurenai. The roots soon had the girl trapped, tightly clenching around her body and Sakura yelped loudly.
"Kurenai-sensei!" Sakura shouted in paralysed fear, her fingers shaking. "I can't move!" She struggled against the restraining roots, clawing against the skin, tightening around her.
"Let me loose, please!" She cried. Kurenai was about to release the genjutsu on the girl as she thought the lesson had been enough, but then her ears picked up on calmer words from the girl trapped in her illusion.
"This... These aren't real. Are they, Kurenai-sensei?" Sakura roughly said and her green eyes showed plain determination to prove herself. "Kai", she whispered and the illusion was dispelled. The roots disappeared back into the ground. Kurenai caught her breath and saw Sakura fall into a pile of petal hued hair.
"Well done, Haruno." Kurenai congratulated the girl. She looked up and breathed heavily, her cheeks still rosy, a deeper shade and it would be the same hue as her hair.
"You gave me a warning, so I figured it couldn't be real. One must realise that he or she is under the effects of genjutsu before attempting to break out of it. This can be done by observing the changes in one's own chakra, is what I know from the Academy." Sakura said as she gasped for air. The Jounin nodded approvingly, but the girl stilled and only watched the black haired woman.
"Your expression, Kurenai-sensei. I can't read it." She said lowly, her voice muffled by her hand covering it hesitantly.
"Oh, well, for exercise on a blank expression try charcoal-walking with a smile on your face. I am the master of my emotions and therefore the master of my expression. You should try hiding your emotions, or you won't survive long as a kunoichi."
"But, Kurenai-sensei, I am a shinobi."
"So you decided?" She asked amusedly.
"What?"
"To not give up. And become a true nin of Konoha?"
"Yes! I did, sensei I-I.. I did." Sakura displayed a heart wrenching smile and Kurenai found herself liking the girl. A sudden jump, and then the pinkette hugged Kurenai happily, nuzzling her little pink bob into the Jounin's chest.
Kurenai felt something flash inside the girl's mind as she hugged her. The sudden intimacy made Kurenai subconsciously slip inside the girl's mindscape, her red eyes swindling.
She fell.
Falling through slivers of movement, of memories, deep into the girl's core, she tumbled around helplessly, breaking down walls. Kurenai couldn't breath. She had never fallen so far before while visiting someone's mind, and she had never fallen into someone else's mind in years. Then she abruptly stopped falling and was left to hover inside a black void. There was no light.
A shadow appeared before her, disfigured at first, then its features formed an exact replica of Sakura, but it was monochromatic. No colours, no pink hair. No sweet green eyes, yet it wasn't a ghastly spectre. Only a face full of attitude and self confidence, observing Kurenai amusedly.
Kurenai trembled as she was reminded of Yakumo, the girl she had once trained in genjutsu but who had proven to have an id, a split personality in her psyche, that destroyed her own Clan in flames. She had turned into a demon, Kurenai had seen it happen. Was Sakura...
"Who are you?" Kurenai cautiously asked the monochromatic appearance who stilled, then raised a hand in a greeting. Friendly.
"I'm Kaira, but Sakura only calls me Inner. I am Sakura, but I am not. I'm the yin to Sakura's yang, yadayada. Thanks for showing us the genjutsu, by the way. Kakashi was a total asscrack to leave us behind. Shannaro!" The spectre grumbled and fisted the air.
"What are your intentions?" Kurenai demanded to know. The appearance was nothing like the timid Sakura Kurenai had gotten to know.
"To kick some ass? I don't know. What are your intentions? What are you doing inside our mind?" The monochromatic Sakura squinted her black eyes at Kurenai, eyeing her suspiciously.
"I see. I... Slipped inside. Sorry for disturbing you, I'll leave right away."
"No, it's cool. Gets lonely in here sometimes, especially when Sakura's ignoring me, which is like all the time, so I'm glad you visited. Hope you come back someday. Yeah. Shannaro!" Kaira, was that her name?, waved and grinned at the kunoichi inside the alien black void.
"Yes… Farewell." Kurenai said hesitantly, then climbed out of the girl's mind, leaving quickly the black void behind her. Breathless, she came to, widening her red eyes as the real dark world was once again visible in front of her. Sakura was still hugging her.
"Enough." Kurenai said through gritted teeth, not so gentle as she had tried to sound, and lightly pushed away the girl. Confusion and hurt was momentarily visible in the depths of Sakura's green eyes, but she recuperated quickly.
"I need to go home, it's late and dad is probably worried sick. Thanks, Kurenai-sensei. I won't forget what you showed me. Good night!" She said happily and bounced off into the night, not hearing Kurenai's soft words of farewell. The girl had been unaware of Kurenai's visit, it seemed.
The Powerful Alcoholic, Senju Tsunade
"Godaime."
"Why, good morning to you." Tsunade said, not sounding as gleeful as she had tried to. This hangover was killing her, the new Hokage work was killing her, and now a red eyed beauty called Yuuhi Kurenai had requested an early morning audience with her regarding a little pink haired girl named Haruno Sakura. Said woman bowed at her knees in front of Tsunade's desk, respectfully not meeting her eyes.
"I'm a bit busy, so what is this business you called me for?" Tsunade clipped, and she found Kurenai's red eyes quite unsettling as she looked up, so the blonde busied herself with some papers at the desk.
"We cannot teach the Haruno any genjutsu, at all." The black haired woman said plainly, her jaw visibly clenching.
"Why is that, Kurenai-san?" Tsunade raised one finely plucked eyebrow at the kunoichi's demand.
"She has the power to do excellent genjutsus and she can dispel them easily, but... The girl has a split mind. I don't know if you have heard of Kurama Yakumo... she was a student of mine."
"Ah, the Kurama Clan that was obliterated by an attacker a year or so back?"
"Yes. The attacker was a demon - it was Kurama Yakumo herself. She was a fragile girl with health issues and had no abilities that a shinobi had except her chakra, but she had an unique kekkei genkai. And her prowess in genjutsu was outstanding. But she had an id, a part of her psyche, that was a demon like part of her. And she killed her own family in a genjutsu as the demon part of her took over her body. I think Sakura has accumulated a split personality, I don't know if she's aware of it yet. Her id is an instinctual and dark part of her mind, mirroring the destructive impulses she feels."
"Is Haruno Sakura an offspring of the Kurama lineage?"
"No, but-"
"Was there any malicious intent from her split personality?"
"No, none that I could sense in the shadow of her soul."
"Then, we will not kill her. She does not have the kekkei genkai of the Kurama Clan, so her powers are not that great. But in addition, I will allow none to teach her genjutsu."
"That's... Good. Actually, I said she should try to be a Medic."
"Really?"
"Yes. She has the chakra control for it."
"Thank you for informing me of this. I think you might have been scarred by that incident with Kurama Yakumo, so don't overreact now. I have seen the pink haired girl, and she is too weak to even kill a fly. I will keep her under surveillance, however. Now, dismissed."
"Yes, Tsunade-sama."
Tsunade stared at the closed door for a while, then shuffled to the bookshelf beside her desk. Her fingers trailed the spines of the medical books she had brought with her, searching for the loose one which had the purpose of hiding her addiction from Shizune's sharp eyes.
"Saké, saké, where are you my love?" She mumbled, foolhardy risking Shizune shaving her jugular if the apprentice found her with the forbidden bottle.
The Flower Girl, Yamanaka Ino
Ino had come to have a daily routine with her team: train, take up small missions, and help out at her mother's flower shop, all while scolding Choji and Shika, as usual. When she heard Sakura was accepted as an apprentice of the Hokage, jealousy clouded the blond's mind for a few months, leading her to completely ignore the Haruno girl. She would never be weaker than her former rival, so she occupied herself with training and didn't even glance at the pink haired girl when they met on the street. She distantly noticed that the pinkette didn't take good care of her untrimmed hair any longer, and the clothes she wore didn't fit her at all. She had abandoned her usual red Qipao and now donned a red top together with a beige skirt. But the nagging conscious of the Yamanaka made her look more closely at the Haruno when she spotted her the next time in the grocery shop.
Ino saw it where none else saw. The pinkette picked up an orange from the fruits section in the grocery shop and that was it. Forehead was lonely; Ino could recognise loneliness on Sakura's face two miles away. She occupied herself with the training at Tsunade's office, helping to file stacks of papers, then helping out at the hospital as an apprenticed nurse and then training by herself. Sakura strained her limits so as not to feel the emptiness consuming her. With a wrinkle of her nose, Ino saw that the usually manicured and green-painted nails of the Haruno girl were now nonexistent and had been cut far too low. Ino bit down her sizzling jealousy and tried to talk with the lonely girl at times, but the Yamanaka herself didn't have much time on her hands to re-befriend the pink haired girl, because she had training and missions of her own.
One cloudy day, the forehead was waiting for her in front of the Yamanaka flower shop.
"What's up, forehead?" Ino greeted in her usual manner, casting her blond hair to one side. She was trying to grow it out again.
"Good evening Ino. I have a... bold request, but I don't know how to ask this of you." The pink haired girl shyly looked down at the ground. Ino sniffed with a frown; this wasn't like the boisterous, loud girl she knew. The loneliness had shaven off parts of her personality, it seemed.
"Just spit it out, I need to help mom with the shop soon. There's a large order of flower arrangements to the Ouboro wedding." Ino sneered, but she waited patiently for her former rival to gather up the courage. She hid a smile. It was the first time in a long while that the pinkette had approached her and not the other way around.
"Could I... possibly join your team for your next mission?" Sakura blurted and blushed. Ino raised one eye brow and couldn't help herself not to laugh at the pink haired girl's expression. Ino remembered that the Haruno didn't have any teammates anymore, and felt almost guilty for not having considered this fact before. She decided then.
"I don't have a problem with it. I'll just ask Asuma-sensei the next time I see him and then we can file a request to the Hokage." Ino complied and smiled crookedly. She had thought that the girl was looking for date advice or fashion advice, but she hadn't expected this. She saw how her former rival's face broke into a heart-wrenching grin and how her eyes glittered. It was then that Ino realised just how lonely she had been. And not for the first time, Ino cursed that idiot Naruto and that backstabbing Sasuke for leaving the girl like this.
The Sakura-joins-Team-Asuma-temporarily request was accepted with a bit of help from Tsunade, since she was Sakura's teacher after all, and Sakura joined their team for a few training sessions to better understand Team Asuma's dynamics. Shika wasn't that interested, as always, and Choji was happy when she gave him a bit of her food. The cohesiveness of the team was good and Sakura adapted quickly, so Asuma-sensei requested a mission from the Hokage. Their first mission together was scheduled: a C-rank mission. Sakura's position in the team was as a medic and she seemed as glad as ever.
Their first mission together had gone exceptionally well. It had been an escort mission, and the client had happily paid a bit more than necessary. Ino had noticed the look in the client's eyes as he had watched the forehead. Sakura didn't seem to notice.
Several other missions later, they succeeded in upgrading from C-rank to their first B-rank mission. Sakura's medic abilities had improved quickly, and sometimes, the forehead taught Ino medical jutsu. The bookworm proved to be of some use after all. Ino didn't like to admit it, but she was comfortable with the big forehead in their team. The Haruno hadn't imposed on hers, Choji's and Shika's close friendship, and Sakura had been really nice to her for a change. Ino saw sometimes how she suppressed her Inner from mouthing her thoughts loudly. Ino was proud of her (she only called her this when no one could hear her) friend.
On the day of their first B-rank mission, Ino was excited. Their mission was to deliver a scroll to a hidden village bordering to Konohagakure's territory, so it would take at least a week. Jumping from tree to tree, they made it to their destination without trouble, but on the way back they had absentmindedly slipped into a dangerous area of the forest. Shika had been the first to notice when he looked at the map, and yelled that they had to retrace their steps immediately.
"This is missing-nin territory. Shit. They usually set dangerous traps and there might be tripwires everywhere; since this could be a hideout - watch your step! We need to get out of here, now."
They abruptly turned around, only to a hear a shriek come from their sturdy friend. Choji had fallen to the ground in a broken heap and a large shuriken was stuck to his chest, blood spurting out of the large wound. He had activated a tripwire when jumping past a branch and several large shurikens had been released. He had evaded all of them except for one. Ino's heart bled and she felt tears gathering in her eyes as she stood on a branch above her dying, spluttering friend. The forehead was just as shocked beside her and seemed to be paralysed for a moment, but then Shika yelled at her for help and she came to. Sakura dropped down to join Shikamaru, who spread out a medic field kit on the forest floor for her use.
Ino noticed a flare of chakra behind her and she saw three Konoha Jounin come into her vision, quickly tree-hopping. The Yamanaka screamed for them to come to their aid. The Konoha ninja who had been on an A-class mission turned around to find a blond, fifteen-year-old kunoichi standing on a tree branch, crying unashamedly over a fallen and bloody teammate on the ground below.
Sakura tried to save Choji all while this was going on. With great effort, she eased the shuriken out of his chest cavity, and a gurgling sound was produced from Choji's throat. Sakura was fast to bandage his chest, but blood was leaking through her hands as she tried to stop the blood flow. She was stressed, shocked and huffing when Choji wouldn't stop screaming in pain. Ino thought she could see a tear glisten on Sakura's cheek, but she couldn't be sure as she joined Sakura and Choji on the ground. It could've been sweat. The team of three Konoha Jounin arrived, and their field medic pushed Sakura violently to the side, toppling the inexperienced girl over. The field medic started healing with his hands over Choji's chest and instantly suppressed the blood flow. Choji's screams halted abruptly; he was unconscious now. Ino glimpsed a light fading in her former rival's green eyes.
They made their way home to Konoha with the three Jounin in silence. When they returned, Choji was admitted to the hospital. Ino didn't see her pink-haired friend for a long time after that, and she heard from Asuma-sensei that the Haruno had requested to be dismissed from the team.
The Prodigy, Hyuuga Neji
Within the murmurs of the Hyuuga Clan's main house, Neji overheard gossip about a mission that had gone awry the other week, where the heir of the Akimichi clan had almost died. According to the rumours of the Hyuuga maids, it had been a terrible injury, a deep laceration that damaged organs and caused heavy internal bleeding, but he had survived. Neji didn't think much of it and continued to the training grounds inside the Hyuuga compound. He was to meet Hiashi Hyuuga and receive special training.
One day, he was called to the Hokage's office for his first B-class mission. He was somewhat excited and believed this would prove to be good experience, as well as give him a superior lead to the other Main house members of his clan. He was assigned to a temporary team that consisted of Nara Shikamaru and Haruno Sakura, since Lee was away on a short training mission with Gai-sensei, and Tenten was in Sunagakure. As a result of Choji still being in the hospital, Shikamaru's team was still out of commission. However, as Shikamaru was completely well, he was placed on mission rosters. Neji knew the Nara was excellent in analytical planning, strategy and leading a group, so he was satisfied with having Shikamaru on his team. The only thing bothering him about the Nara was his lax attitude towards missions and the strange habit of watching clouds in the sky.
When he stood next to the pink haired girl to receive further information about the mission, he noted that something had gone amiss in the kunoichi's eyes, but he didn't think much of it. This mission was his first B-class mission and the Nara's second. He didn't know about the Haruno, only that she was a medic under the tutelage of Tsunade, and distantly remembered that she had been on the same team as Akimichi Choji, who was still at the hospital. It had been a B-class mission, he recalled, so at least she had some experience, even if it was quite traumatic. The Hyuuga allowed himself to let out a small, small huff of exasperation; he hoped she would not hold the team back. From what he knew of the medic, she was weak and prone to useless emotional outbursts. And the fight she had had at the Chuunin exams with the Yamanaka girl had been laughable. He'd talk to the Nara about having her trail the team, so as not to risk her getting injured (or them whilst protecting her, if under attack).
The next day, the day of the mission, was a sunny day with no clouds in the sky; a warm breeze from the south seeped into the atmosphere. In the morning they started their travels to a nearby civilian village where their assigned client waited. He was a wealthy merchant that they were to guard on a trip to a village near Cha no Kuni, the Land of Tea, where he had some business, and then escort him all the way back. During the walk to their client's village, the Nara wouldn't stop complaining and muttering under his breath about how troublesome everything was and the Haruno girl silently walked behind them; as if she unconsciously found her place in the back. A twig broke nearby; Neji saw that it had been a frightened rabbit hopping off into the forest after noticing their approach, but it had snapped the medic's attention. Neji, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, saw a change in the girl as she stopped.
With big, green eyes, she regarded in shock the backs of his and the Nara's as they walked in front of her. They were leaving her behind as she stood there, and Neji turned around to give her a questioning look; still walking ahead. A light in her eyes, the one he noticed had been missing before, was lit. But this time the light was burning, almost feverishly. In a few swift steps she was walking besides him. The Nara hadn't noticed her change, he only grumpily strolled on, muttering curses under his breath. But Neji had seen her change. If that was not steely determination to not be left behind in her burning eyes, he didn't know what was.
When they arrived at the village they were met at the grand iron gates by the personal guards of the merchant, who introduced himself as Tajima. He was a tall man who had aged well and moved with elegance while walking towards them. His features were handsome and his greying black hair didn't seem out of place. He clothed himself in a traditional black yukata, hemmed with white silk, and had a katana in a black scabbard blatantly strapped at his hip. He greeted them and told them a few details about the mission, which they were already aware of.
Sakura was the first to go up and greet him with a bow of her head, following up by presenting her team and then asked for further information regarding his enemies in the trade and possible threats on the way to Tea. Neji blinked. Was she actually making herself useful? Or was it just for show? Neji's eyes wandered over to Tajima and he stated to himself that one had to be blind to miss Tajima's widening grey eyes as he took in the kunoichi's outrageous pink hair colour and her shining green eyes.
Neji found that he did not particularly like the look in Tajima's eyes, nor the body language he now showed the kunoichi as he made her laugh lightly. Exchanging a look with the Nara, as he had also noticed, a silent agreement between the two of them was made; they would not leave Haruno alone with Tajima. They feared their client would break protocol regarding the fact that customers of Konoha's services were never to touch an assigned ninja inappropriately. It would most certainly not end well for the client.
When they were on their way to their destination, Neji accompanied the Haruno girl and walked behind Tajima for a better rear view of the group so that in the case of attack, he would be able to detect enemies from any direction. Shikamaru was walking in the front of the group, yawning. Tajima had guards of his own that surrounded them in groups, in their steps and movement the Hyuuga prodigy saw that they were experienced in battle and had had military training.
Neji wondered why a man like Tajima needed shinobi when he seemed to have great personal military assets at hand. There were at least ten of his guards, and considering how expensive good mercenary guards were, Tajima did not need so many if he wasn't of great importance. And from what Neji knew of Tajima, all he was famous for was his flourishing empire of trade in Hi no Kuni and Cha no Kuni. He also could not see Tajima as someone flashy, only showing the number of guards to impress; no, he was not that shallow. There were always background checks done on clients that comissioned E, C, B, A, and S-rank missions in Konoha and they had not found anything out of the ordinary with the merchant nor the mission.
Neji was so deep in his train of thought that he didn't notice the missing nin until it was too late. He saw and counted in a flash that twenty one kunai had been thrown and hit six out of the ten guards surrounding Tajima. The six guards fell and crumpled to the ground, with blood the colour of red wine gushing out of vital arteries. Neji knew the next attack would come soon, without mercy. He was not disappointed. In a whirl, he made use of the Gentle Fist style that he knew to the core of his bones. With chakra coating his hands, he successfully averted all of the kunai directed at him, managing to intercept a couple of blades in the process and add them to his own weapon supply. Neji, with the tiniest smirk, was placing the the high-grade steel weapons he caught into one of his storage pouches when, suddenly, he was reminded of his client.
Glancing at the spot Tajima had been standing, he was both surprised and unsurprised to see that the merchant was not there. A flash of pink in his peripheral vision told him the kunoichi had survived; if she had not, she would not have been worthy of the title kunoichi. But what he had not expected was that she was holding an unharmed Tajima with one hand as she searched her pockets for a weapon with the other, appearing to not have found any. The Hyuuga had thought that the Nara had saved their client, but he was a yard away, already battling a shinobi clothed in a black harness. From the looks of it, Shikamaru had already lured him into his shadow.
"There are more coming!" Sakura yelled at the Hyuuga, simultaneously evading several kunai thrown at her, as well as carrying a flustered Tajima behind her. The mercenary guards were not as lucky, however. The strength in her arms did not match her physical build; her arms were slender and did not contain the muscle necessary for such a feat. Slightly puzzled, and too curious to wait, Neji used his byakugan to view the chakra flow in the arm Sakura used to hold Tajima. He was somewhat taken aback when he concluded that the Haruno's chakra control was absolutely flawless, but quickly began to scan for the other attackers she'd warned about. The Hyuuga found them within one second and flash stepped into their zone. He was swift, he knew, and he started with the one in the closest tree. Compared to the missing nin from Mizu no Kuni, Neji's speed was far superior, and all too soon, he was within the mercenary's guard, close enough to feel body heat. His bloodline limit was already activated. Chakra fueling Neji's eyes, the tenketsu at his would-be attacker's heart revealed themselves to him. And as if Neji's hand was guided by fate itself, the blow to stop the missing nin's heart seemed too gentle, was too precise. Too fast. One more heart stopped beating in the forest clearing. No one would have been able to guess it was his first kill.
But Neji had no more time to think or ponder about it as he was attacked from behind, a sword swinging down with enough force to cleave his head in two. He evaded the deadly weapon with a slight step to the right and then pummelled the other missing nin with not-so-gentle fists. He didn't aim at the man's heart this time. A third, fourth, and fifth shinobi attacked him, coming in through thick foliage, and Neji was soon consumed in his one-on-three battle. A scream broke through his focus, coming out of many bushes and leaves. He identified the source as someone on the main road and spared a second to look down from the tree branch he stood on. Sakura stood casually in front of Tajima, several shinobi bodies sprawled on the ground in front of her that soiled the dirt path with currents of blood. The Haruno girl held a bloodied katana in her hands. Neji noticed swiftly that their client's exquisite katana was absent from its scabbard at his hip. It was apparent that the scream had not been the girl's. The Hyuuga quickly finished his last attacker with another round of the Gentle Fist, sweat seeping into his eyes. He breathed heavily and, atop a tree branch, rested for a few seconds. After a deep breath, he sprinted to the ground to stand beside Sakura.
When he jumped down to stand beside her, he had to duck hastily to avoid the katana in her hands severing his head. In shock, he looked at the medic, backing away. Her eyes were blank and expressionless, and there were blood splatters on her face, trickling down under her chin and tracing paths on her neck and collarbones. Tajima trembled in a slumped heap on the ground behind her, covering his mouth with a quivering hand. Looking closely at the Haruno, Neji saw her eyes flash... white?
"Wait. Haruno. It's me!" he called when Sakura was about to raise the katana against him a second time, and her eyes changed in colour, into those piercingly green eyes. She had heard him. The white colour seemed to be absorbed into her black pupil, leaving them a verdant celadon.
"Oh," was all she whispered to him. No apology as he had expected, no tears of realisation. Her now-green eyes went back to the katana in her hand. It gleamed, slick with blood.
Tajima whimpered.
The Hyuuga quickly assessed the situation; Haruno had taken the lives of five missing nin, as he saw on the ground. The bodies lay toppled over one another, like dominoes. Two were missing their heads and showed only their unbecoming severed necks, and one missing nin lay on his back; his internal organs spilled out from the hideous gash in his abdomen. The last two had slashes at their throats, blood still pouring out of thin, red necklaces that decorated dead flesh. That alone surprised him, her macabre way of changing the cause of death, instead of the standard kill of shinobi. It disgusted him to a certain point as well, but he dismissed it, since he had no time to think of it.
Shikamaru had succeeded in knocking out three Mizu no Kuni ninja without actually harming them. He was sweating, flustered, and was not used to physical strain, it seemed. It also took a lot to not accidentally kill someone when all of one's training told one to do so. Neji himself had taken out four and killed one. The Hyuuga, pumping more chakra into his eyes, widened the range of his Byakugan and detected no chakra signatures in the near vicinity. They were safe for now. But this was an attack unlike any other he had experienced in his mission should have been classified as an A, if not S-ranked, mission; the merchant would pay for this. A group of twelve missing-nin from Mizu no Kuni attacking their client had to be of importance, and to think it would be omitted...
Damn those background checks.
"Shikamaru. Damage report." The Hyuuga asked, catching the attention of the huffing Nara who turned around.
"A growing headache perhaps, but what -" Shikamaru slightly flinched as he assessed the situation, the blood and the lifeless bodies on the ground. He quickly looked at Neji and Sakura and deduced with his analytical mind that Neji was not the one who had done it. In a few seconds, the Nara stood in front of their medic, and stared at her with a frown.
"Haruno, are you injured?" he asked, as he had seen the blood splatter on her face, her clothes and the unknown katana in her grip.
"No. This is not... my blood." She answered with a hint of emptiness in her voice, her eyes traveling back to the katana in her hand, turning paler as she did, as if something was leeching the color out of them. It was then that Neji noticed it, with his byakugan activated, he perceived the problem as it was: the katana. How had he not detected it before? There was some kind of chakra alive in it - something that shouldn't be possible. Something that shouldn't be there. He had never seen chakra live on its own in an inanimate object before. It was a black, billowing chakra that looked like thick smoke from a large fire.
"Haruno, let the katana go," Neji ordered her blankly as he took in the smoke-like chakra and saw how it ominously reached for Sakura's body, swirling. Only he could see it; it felt like the manifestation of evil itself, and he wished in that moment that he had never been born a Hyuuga. He didn't want to see it.
"I-I can't..." Her voice sounded like the rustle of leaves blowing in wind, and it scared Neji. Never before had he felt that kind of fear gather in the pit of his stomach, like ice seeping into his veins. Sudden authority, strengthened by his fear, made his voice sound years older and more experienced than he actually was.
"Let it go."
With a clank, the sword fell to the dirty ground. As it fell, so did Sakura. Exhaustion seemed to overwhelm her and glistening tears gathered in her eyes as she sobbed. Neji felt the tension in his shoulders disappear, deactivating his byakugan, and he reached for her. She was human again, a girl. A gentle hand squeezed her shoulder the same time as his did, and he saw Shikamaru doing the same as him; both of the young men were not used to comforting others, especially kunoichi having just had their first kill. A kill of five shinobi, with her leaving the battle unscathed. The girl shuddered, snivelled, and then looked up at the two of them with teary eyes. At that time when she saw their pitying expressions, Neji noted that the burning in her eyes came back with full force. The fire even stronger this time. She sniffed one last time and stopped crying, wiping the last tears away with the sleeve of her shirt. She stood up and they let go of their comforting hands on her shoulders.
"The hell...", Shikamaru mumbled, looking over the dead corpses.
Sounds of scuffling steps on the road made Neji turn around in one swift movement, and he saw Tajima scrambling to his feet. Without thinking, Neji activated his eyes again, which he knew made him look even more dangerous, and was fast to take hold of the merchant's black yukata and yank him back. Tajima fell to the ground with a helpless yelp. Neji closed his eyes, then spoke without hesitation.
"Tell us everything you did not, or I will rip out your lying tongue."
Shikamaru was fast to imprison Tajima with his shadow binding and Sakura stood still to watch, with pale green eyes somewhat alert. The Hyuuga prodigy saw how she stole a quick look at the abandoned sword, but she didn't pick it up. That relieved him to some extent.
"No. I won't. I can't," Tajima squealed, all of his pride and prettiness gone. Neji's eye twitched with disgust. Shikamaru growled.
"Sure as hell you will. This was not what we signed up for and it's troublesome as shit. Having missing nin attacking us was not in the contract details," Shikamaru rebuked, and his black intelligent eyes darted to the merchant's grey ones.
"It's classified," the man stuttered and looked defiantly away into the forest.
Neji wondered how he would best threaten the merchant without killing him in the process when in an instant, the abandoned sword was kicked towards Tajima's feet. It slid to a stop right in front of the merchant who blanched at the sight. Neji looked wide-eyed at his female team member and saw Sakura staring at the man. Pale, green eyes.
"Pick it up." Her voice was cold and it cut through the silence like a sword through flesh.
"N-no!" The man's eyes lit up with an emotion Neji just had lived through and never wanted to experience again. Fear.
"Pick it up." She repeated as she walked up to him and looked down on him, watching how he shivered and violently shook his head when the sword was blaring in front of him. Bare. It was then that Neji saw the scabbard at Tajima's hip. With narrowing eyes, the Hyuuga peeked inside it with his byakugan and saw that there were seals over seals over seals inside. Old yet high level chakra-restraining seals.
"It's the sword." Sakura looked back at her two temporary teammates over her shoulder and smiled with her chapped bloody lips closed. It was a smile that left a bad taste in Neji's mouth, and he wanted to see anything but that slanted smirk, so he looked at the blood-smeared katana on the ground instead. Shikamaru waved with his hand, having not seen her feral grin.
"What about it? Is it valuable? It looks ancient and unusable. Dusty." The Nara cocked his head sideways and raised one eyebrow. Tajima shivered again, trying to fight the shadow binding power Shikamaru had over him, to get further away from the bloody sword. He didn't, couldn't, budge.
"It's cursed." Neji blurted, taking in the full extent of the dark chakra covering the sword. Sakura briefly looked at him with pale green eyes, then stared at the sword again. She knew, Neji realised. She knew already.
"Cursed, really? So you were going to sell it to the highest bidder with a cursed-sword fetish huh? What a scam." Shikamaru drawled and bent down to pick up the hilt of the sword to study it. Before Neji even had the time to blink, Sakura had her grip on Shikamaru's hand, preventing him from taking the katana.
"Believe me, you do not want to do that." That coldness in her voice was back with a hint of knowing, yet it caressed the wind and was gentle in its frigidness.
"Ara, Sakura-san. Okay, okay." Shikamaru seemed surprised, but backed away. "Wait. You don't actually believe it's cursed, do you?" he snorted. The Haruno girl only observed him, not saying anything. The silence was broken by the clearing of a throat, which turned out to belong to Tajima. His eyes nervously flicked from the sword to the kunoichi and back. He had the full attention of three pairs of eyes, and the bobbing of his throat as he gulped was fully visible to everyone present.
"Now that you know, I might as well tell you. I thought the legend of the katana was just a bluff at first, but then she -" Tajima stopped and peered warily at Haruno. Then he gulped and continued, eyes on the blood-soiled ground. "I was going to sell it off in Cha no Kuni (Tea Country) to a powerful Daimyo from Iwagakure for a lesser fortune, but it seems word got around. I suspect that one military asset betrayed me and informed others of our route to Cha no Kuni. I know that Kirigakure has always liked powerful swords, and then these missing nin from Mizu no Kuni... I never expected this, though. It's an abomination..." he trailed off, leaving the three Konohagakure shinobi staring at him intensely. How could the administration in Konoha have missed this vital piece of information?
Suddenly, Neji's survival instincts screamed for him to turn around. As he did, something hit him in the back of his head. Hard. A brooding darkness seeped into his mind, and the world around him became blurry, tilting on it's axis and fading as he heard a scream. The Hyuuga prodigy lost consciousness before he even hit the ground.
The Cloud Watching Boy, Nara Shikamaru
Dread filled Shikamaru's lungs as he watched Neji sprawl onto the ground, knocked unconscious from a quick blow administered to him with the back of a bandaged and ridiculously huge sword. He hadn't even noticed the chakra presence, which was now somehow overwhelming. Towering before himself, Sakura, and Tajima, a grey-skinned man stood lackadaisically, a black coat covering him from head to toe. He was large and bulky, with strange tattoos on his face. He was also the most fearsome creature Shikamaru had ever happened upon. Tajima was screaming once again, and when he abruptly stopped his screaming, no one bothered to check on him. Shikamaru guessed he had passed out.
The newcomer, an infamous missing nin, glanced around, as if he was searching for Monster of Kirigakure - Hoshigaki Kisame - was there to claim the cursed sword, Shikamaru concluded almost instantaneously. This was the monster he had only heard of in children's horror stories. However, the infamous monster who swung the legendary sword Samehada like it was a twig was very real, and his sharp teeth glinted in the late afternoon sunlight, right in front of the Nara. The swell of his chest muscles was clearly visible underneath the cloak, rippling like a predator's, ready to attack. Shikamaru felt as if someone had caught him in his own binding shadow, but he was just simply paralysed with fear. He couldn't move an inch. Dread pooling in his gut, his heart pounded loudly in his ears.
In his mind, he knew exactly what he should do, what he was supposed to do in this situation. Kick the sword to the monster and apologise for existing, hopefully keep the monster busy with it, take the unconscious Hyuuga and the Haruno and run for his life to the nearest village - and when there, report to the Godaime about the dangerous presence of the missing nin, Hoshigaki Kisame, near the border of Hi no Kuni. He didn't care about that troublesome guy Tajima anymore than he had before, but now he had even more reason to not care. He was the one who had gotten them into this troublesome shitstorm of a mess in the first place. Somewhere during the process of that bundle of panic welling up in his chest and all of that thinking, Sakura disappeared.
The very tall and huge shark-like man in front of him seemed to not have taken an interest in the Nara boy; instead, the monster moved his small, white, and round eyes to a point behind Shikamaru and stayed there. Shikamaru was still paralysed by fear, so when the monster moved to walk past him, past Neji's unconscious body, he couldn't roll out of the way. Irritably, the monster swung the sword towards Shikamaru, as if swatting away an irritating fly, and he just knew; this is the moment I die. But when he closed his eyes to take the hit with a tear in his eye, he didn't feel anything. There was a whoosh of air, but nothing more nor less. Something wet splattered on his left cheek.
When he opened his eyes he saw that Sakura stood before him like a shield, facing the monster towering over her petite form. Red was suddenly overpowering his vision, blood dripping down onto the forest floor from his protector's ravaged shoulder, creating a small pool at her feet. Sakura was holding the cursed katana defensively, somehow pushing back the bandaged blade of Samehada. Logically, that was impossible; even with the chakra aiding in the Haruno's strength, the Monster of Kirigakure was an S-ranked missing nin, in possession of immense chakra reserves as well as one of the Seven Swords. It was apparent that she was still breathing because of the cursed katana.
Shikamaru almost scoffed at himself for being able to think so intensely at such a crucial moment of fear, yet still being unable to move. A breeze lightly ruffled Sakura's mussed pink hair, flecked with blood at the ragged strands that ended near her neck. Shikamaru could plainly see tendons sticking out of her right shoulder in a gory mess of muscles and blood, where Samehada had forced the cursed katana into bony flesh. Acutely, Shikamaru's subconscious noted that the edge that had cut into her shoulder was the dull edge, and if the battle didn't end soon, Sakura was going to bleed out.
"I am here solely to claim that sword you're holding, pipsqueak girl. But I've changed my mind. You seem like you might turn out to be a fun challenge in the future, so I'll leave her to you. I will come to claim her later, though, so take good care of her." The tall man grinned a sickening grin, with those razor-sharp teeth sticking out, and then he turned around so his black coat fluttered in the wind. As he did, the parting words of the monster were carried to Shikamaru's ears by a frosty breeze.
"Be content, pipsqueak girl. I just gave you a purpose, a place in this world. So go slice some meat and keep her sharp. See you 'round."
There were red clouds sewn at the hem of the cloak, Shikamaru noted absentmindedly, as the monster sauntered briskly away on the road. Within moments, the Monster of Kirigakure was gone. As was the figure behind him.
Shikamaru felt the killing intent fade. He was finally released from the hand of death that had gripped his throat and he savoured every second of freedom from the pressure. Sakura trembled, but didn't fall. They had survived due to a whim of the monster, who kept them around only for entertainment. Claim it later?
The Nara shook his head; they were still breathing, and that was what mattered.
The Haruno stood in the exact same defensive position she was in before, despite the threat having left. Shikamaru breathed deeply, turned to spit the vomit taste away and wiped his mouth. He staggered when he got up from the ground and walked up to Sakura. When he got to her, he paled. Her eyes weren't pale green anymore; they were almost a startling white, the color of a marble gravestone. Her complexion was frigid and her white eyes stared into thin air. Her clothes had dried, the blood still staining the cloth, and her face was pale, contrasting the copious amount of blood splatter. She gripped the cursed katana as if her life depended on it.
Sakura's right shoulder was nearly destroyed, with muscles and tendons sticking out and blood still flowing freely (though it was more of a trickle than a stream, thankfully), but it seemed not to bother her. Like she couldn't feel pain. As he looked at the katana, Shikamaru could not deny the fact that it was cursed; it actually hummed with suppressed power. While his eyes weren't of the Hyuuga's, and thus did not have their kekkei genkai, even he could see that there was something off with the sword, that there was a movement within it which could be likened to chakra. It was malevolent, completely otherwordly in its turpitude. And that monster had come to claim it.
"Please, drop the sword. Please."
It was a sincere sentence and Shikamaru noticed that he was begging, but to hell with pride. Those creepy white eyes travelled to his own and it took all his will not to swallow, to not show that he was scared as shit.
"No. Izanami-sama won't allow me to to let her go. We're bound. We have a contract." Like frost, her words froze in his ears. White eyes.
"Who?" Shikamaru asked when the kunoichi, seemingly without thinking, stroked the bloody sword with her index finger, making the digit bleed shallowly. Sakura didn't flinch. The drops of her blood travelled down the length of the sword and then fell to the ground with a sense of finality. There was a stronger hum from the katana when the blood of the kunoichi slid down on the blank surface, as if it accepted the red liquid. As if it sealed a contract. Shikamaru shuddered and started to say something, but he was cut off by the girl who now looked at him. Really looked at him now, as if she saw him through the whiteness of her eyes.
"She... The katana, I -" she breathed, and then yelped. Shikamaru watched Sakura's eyes flood with viridian, the white disappearing into her pupil, and her eyes began to burn - she was back. The Haruno dropped the katana as if it was on fire; it fell, but within a second, Sakura had her foot underneath the flat side of the blade, balancing it, and then she gently put it down on the ground. Gently.
"Sakura-san?" he asked, incredulous. He had lived through more than he had ever expected this day. All he wanted to do was to sit on the veranda of his clan's compound and play shogi with his father, sip on his recently-brewed hot tea, and watch the clouds drift through the sky.
He knew he needed to ask her what exactly had happened when she had taken a hold of the bloody and chakra-possessed sword. He needed to know how it changed her. How she knew it was cursed. What she meant by a contract. And who exactly Izanami was. He, however, figured that it was most likely the name of the sword. But he decided to take the burden of questioning Sakura about the sword later, when they were going to write the mission report. A headache started to pound at his temples and he pinched the bridge of his nose.
The Haruno girl looked at the sword on the ground with disgust blended with admiration, suddenly seeming to realise that her shoulder was in shreds and blood was still dripping down her body, dyeing her already red top a deep vermillion colour. Shikamaru expected her to cry again and fall; that shoulder wound seemed to hurt like hell and if not taken care of, it would be life threatening. He was half-amazed she hadn't already fainted or died of blood loss.
The kunoichi wrinkled her nose and brought her healthy arm up, hand hovering against her wounded shoulder. Startling green chakra swirled around the wound from her outstretched hand, healing the ragged and inflamed skin within seconds, muscle and fat and skin coming together. No tears, no crumpled heap. She surprised him again. She had found some kind of resolve, it seemed, to improve and get stronger. She clung tightly onto that resolve.
Shikamaru only stared at her in disbelief. Sakura noticed his questioning look as she continued to heal her shoulder, a slight grimace visible in her features.
"I'm just healing it shallowly now, I'll need to break the bone again later and reattach a few tendons when we're back in Konoha. It's been a long time since I've gotten a proper amount of sleep. I've been training on dying fish every day since last month, and then, when I was ready, I tested medical procedures and techniques on myself. I couldn't save Choji... So I decided I'd be able to next time." She explained and smiled tiredly. Only now could he see it: the sleep deprivation visible in her petite features.
The dark circles under her green eyes, the glassy gleam in them. Shikamaru decided then that this girl was one of the most troublesome he had ever met, topping Ino's number one position. Even so, he found himself not being able to look away from her. She had trained on herself? Had she broken her own bones to then heal them again? He couldn't fathom the pain and concentration needed for that task.
"I see," he stated and shrugged his shoulders. "Haruno, do you know how to play shogi?" he asked, steering the conversation away from swords and monsters, as he went a bit unsteadily to the Hyuuga to pick him up. The prodigy was still unconscious. When Shikamaru slung Neji over his shoulder with a grunt, he felt silky brunette hair run like a waterfall down his back.
"Yes, I do. Not very well though. Why?" The kunoichi asked this as she finished up healing her shoulder. She then limped to Tajima, hunched down and poked at his cheek curiously. No reaction - he was out cold. Her eyes fastened on the scabbard at his hip.
"Up for a game sometime?" Shikamaru offered as he straightened. A game of shogi was the perfect excuse for him to further question Sakura about the bloody katana. The girl stood up and turned around in a flash to look at him with big eyes. Then she smiled, truly. One of her hands held the merchant's black scabbard protectively at her side.
"I'd like that, Nara-san."
Shikamaru couldn't for the life of him muster up the will to tell her not to take sword with her, but all the same he knew it was a valuable piece of weaponry and, at the very least, needed to be studied in the laboratories of Konoha. In the back of his mind, however, he knew she wouldn't give it away that easily. He decided then to keep quiet about it as she slid the sword into its scabbard. The powerful humming emanating from the katana stopped.
They left Tajima on the ground, circled by the bodies of his hired mercenaries as well the missing nin from Mizu no Kuni. Shikamaru really couldn't care less for the merchant as he saw scavenger crows flap in the nearby trees. They dragged themselves with an unconscious Hyuuga to the nearest village a mile away and sent a report to the Godaime in silence. There was no need for words between the two.
They spent some time in the village recuperating, and the Hyuuga awoke when Sakura healed the near-fatal injury inflicted on his head. the injury caused by a blow from the bandaged part of Samehada. He had received a skull fracture, and, according to the pink haired medic, it was simply plain luck that she had recently learned how to identify fractures in the skull and how to heal them accordingly. If she hadn't healed the fracture, however shallow it was, the Hyuuga might never have woken up. They told him of what had happened and that the Monster of Kirigakure had been the one to inflict damage onto the Hyuuga. Shikamaru saw how the prideful Hyuuga twitched at this as he sat on the inn's bed, since it meant he owed his life to a pink haired girl. But Shikamaru didn't think any less of Sakura after this mission, he thought as they scribbled down mission details after a fast dinner; in fact, he regarded her with more respect and dread combined. She had changed, that was for sure. Mostly, probably, due to the demon sword.
When they reached Konohagakure, a mere day after the incident, the Hokage herself met them at the gates with a medical team on standby. The team immediately took the Hyuuga to the hospital, since he had overstrained his eyes by flooding them with too much chakra much too quickly, and had also sustained a partially-healed skull fracture. Sakura and Shikamaru were left at the gates since they "only had scratches and were suffering from exhaustion," one of the medics stated with a quick look. When the Godaime saw the Haruno girl walking towards her, seemingly unharmed, she sighed in relief.
Shikamaru pushed Sakura up to the Godaime, explaining the wound on her shoulder that she had shallowly healed so only the outer skin looked fine. The Hokage's apprentice almost blushed, seemingly ashamed of her medical abilities, but the Godaime only patted the girl on the head, saying well done, then healing the damaged shoulder on the inside within minutes, leaving the Haruno girl in an amazed daze when she looked up. After patting her student's head, Tsunade went back to her office to tackle more stacks of paperwork.
Ino was there as well, gripping her white coat so hard her knuckles turned pale. She had started taking her training at the hospital more seriously after Choji's near-death experience, and she had since been promoted in the hospital. The blonde had been standing aside and only sprinted toward her friends when Tsunade had left. The white coat she wore flared in the wind as she sprinted to jump-hug both Shikamaru and Sakura. Ino didn't cry, since she often told her lazy friend it would ruin her makeup if she did, but she beamed and hugged them tightly. The hug was warm.
"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered in Ino's blond hair, but he was ignored. Sakura greeted her friend with a muffled hello.
"You two!" Ino pinched both Sakura's and Shikamaru's cheeks in a motherly, scolding gesture. Shikamaru winced and Sakura looked stunned. "Be more careful next time, will you?" She grinned and regarded the two with her concerned cerulean eyes.
"Yes sir," they chorused at the same time, and Shikamaru saw a smile flash on the Haruno's face. She was dirty, exhausted, caked in blood, and had a cursed katana hidden in her backpack, but Shikamaru hadn't seen her like that in nearly a year. She actually smiled genuinely.
Author's Note
Hey! I've updated Transition a bit. Hope you'll re-read the first chapter! Sorry for my absence as well, lot of things have happened.
Cheers!
fascalia