Yes, this is a bit embarrassing to admit, but I am finally getting around to the rewrite of my older works I still deem worthy plots. Actually, I lied. I didn't even have a plot for this when I first started. It was my first time writing for Deidara/Sakura and all this story was was a bunch of fluff. Nothing wrong with fluff, but I thought it could be so much more.
So, taking the time, I composed this first chapter. I've been trying to write the next chapter, which is almost finished, but I like having feed back to properly write my stuff- even things I've already written thirteen chapters to. Surprisingly enough as well, I felt like this had some of the shortest chapters out of all of my work (other than a drabble/oneshot series I write for Dragon Ball Z).
Yes, I am re-uploading the new chapters onto an already existing story, but that is more for the people who added this to their update alert, so they know what is happening and that this is in fact the same story they've been reading.
I changed a few facts and totally rewrote the story-telling. It'll be the same, yet different as I go along now that this story actually has a plot line I am hoping to follow.
I am going to keep my author notes to a minimum, hopefully only at the beginning or if I end with a cliff ender in one chapter, I'll switch my author notes to the bottom so that the flow of the story isn't interrupted. If you have questions, I will try to answer them IF you have an account that I can reply to. I love to listen to your comments and answer anything I can without giving away the plot. If you have suggestions, I would love to hear them. If I feel that it works into the story line, I will give you a special thanks in the opening or my author's notes and give you the respect you deserve. However, that doesn't mean it will happen all the time or if that was the way my story was originally heading, I will inform you of that and thank you nonetheless in a private message.
As I have always requested of you, -bows- please take good care of my story.
-Volleys-chan
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters
New snow had fallen earlier that day and because of the low population of humans this far out at the end of the known world, there was nary a footprint to be seen, no sounds to be heard, and nothing to smell but the pine trees that littered to area and made everything placid around it. It was the type of place that really made a person sit and wonder why others prefer to be in the busy metropolises or villages that were loud, crowded with people, filled with alarming feelings, and various other unsettling sensations.
Here, there was only one person in that whole area that even bothered to be around n' about the placid wonderland and that was because the land was her property. Covered head to toe in all articles of clothing, she silently wandered through the area without a sound or leaving any noticeable trail behind her. She was enjoying the clear view from behind her tinted goggles, reflecting on how her life had changed so drastically in the last few years, no doubt different from the lifestyle she had before.
Breathing in, she was able to smell the crisp smell of the pine trees and let a faint smile cross her lips behind the scarf that was keeping her lips from cracking in the extreme cold. Nothing could beat the smell of the forest. To her, it was comforting since her birthplace had just as many- if not more- trees in its forest that surrounded her village and kept it safe.
She glanced about quickly with trained eyes, quickly assessing the area about her. It was a habit that she had formed as a child and had never seen the reason to drop even though her life had gone from extremely active to almost standstill. She still had enemies about the world and though the sightings were few and far between, she didn't feel the need to let them get the drop on her.
She had a reputation to protect after all.
And she'd rather go to hell first than to look like an old has-been.
She was also known for her temper. It didn't take much in the old days to flare it and her teammates- bless their souls- knew exactly how to make her go into a rampage not all too different from her shishou's.
She mused on how they were doing. She didn't keep too good of contact with them to know who was still kicking and who had added their name to the sacred monument of the Yoinokuchi. The monument that her sensei once stood at for hours upon hours was still lying in Konoha, the place that was overrun by Ne and led by that cretin Danzo.
She pulled her mind from such thoughts. It wouldn't do to get worked up about a place that she would never return to. A place that no longer held up the morals she had sworn by, killing off her loved ones and sending them into a early grave.
Bitterness crept up her throat, leaving a bad taste in her mouth. She felt like getting wasted at the pub and carry on her shishou's tradition of never being sober. It hurt to think straight sometimes and she could feel the effects of coherent thoughts right now.
It was a dog barking in the distance that brought her from her morbid thoughts. She jerked her head in the direction of the barking, counting the barks as they came long, short, short, long, long, short, and so on.
She lifted her green jade eyes to the sky above and noticed the accumulation of clouds. There was going to be a storm tonight and it looked bad already.
She pulled a silver whistle from her pocket and blew on it with a series of short blows and long blows, pausing to hear the response. Though she could hear nothing from her own whistle, the recipient had heard all the sounds perfectly and responded accordingly in Morse code.
'SAKURA, BIG STORM BLOWINGING IN, STOP. RETURN NOW, STOP.' She spelled out from the code the dog was barking.
She returned it with 'ALRIGHT, RETURNING NOW, STOP. THANKS FOR THE HEADS UP, STOP.'
'SEE YOU IN HOUR. STOP.' Was what was replied.
She put away the whistle, taking one last look about before heading off towards the dog that had barked her the warning. Her pace quickened easily from the slow pace it had been, dashing towards the place she knew that would shelter her from the storm. It was amazing the speed she was still able to hold even though she technically was out of practice, or suppose to be anyways.
Soon there was a home front that appeared on the horizon, she quickened her pace to make it to the front door in order to see those that had been waiting for her. There were six pure blood dogs all large and powerful, two bigger than the rest. One was the lead dog of her sled. He was the eldest and wisest of all six of them.
The next biggest was a hunting dog. She was still young, but was barely smaller than her superior even though he had to be twenty years her senior. She was skilled and even though she was big, her massive paws made her mistress predict her getting even larger.
She loved the rest as well, but those two were her favorites. The other four were apart of the sled team.
"Welcome back Sakura-chan," the eldest dog greeted in the human tongue, "You managed to beat the storm that was heading in."
The woman let a sweet smile grace her unseen lips, standing at the threshold as she spoke. The weather outside was getting bad and pretty fast so she would need to corral her dogs inside quickly.
"Yes, I did Akamaru-kun, but I think I just barely did it." She told him, scratching his ear with a loving stroke before moving on to her other dogs, "Hey there guys. Head in, the storm looks bad."
Her pets turned, heading inside with her behind them, shutting the door and sealing it before the heat leaked from the room any further than it already had. She went around the house, putting thick furs in front of the windows and making sure that her home was secure before the howling wind hit her roof with a barge of snow.
Quickly she added firewood to her fireplace and turned her oven on in order to keep the house warm.
"Thanks for the heads up Akamaru-kun, I didn't even sense the storm rolling in." Sakura called out from the kitchen as she began to put the heated oven to use as she made dinner for herself and her dogs.
"It was Reimei actually," Akamaru told her with a chuckle, "she's gotten good at predicting the weather. By the way, her kills are in the cooler in the skinning room. She brought down a deer today."
"Oh good, that means we don't have to worry about food for a while," Sakura said with a smile, "I'll skin it later and we'll have some game to eat. I think I'll make some stew with the meat."
"As long as we get some," Akamaru agreed, lying down near the entrance to the kitchen, "The pups have been doing well."
"I noticed, Reimei caught some good game and it looks like you worked the others out quite a bit Akamaru. Am I going to get complaints that you're a tyrant?"
"Nah," the old dog yawned, "Cruel and unusual, maybe, but I haven't hit the tyrant level just yet. The pups need to learn to be faster, just incase. Sai-san did send you the letter about the increase of Root lookouts. You must be careful Sakura-chan, with your appearance, you stand out more than the rest."
"Yeah, yeah," Sakura waved her hand dismissively, "I'd like to see them try and find me in this frozen hell. I'm use to the cold and snow, they aren't. They'll be the ones who are sorry."
"Not if Danzou sends more than you can handle," Akamaru argued before letting his head down to rest.
"I'll fight them all, Akamaru," Sakura told him darkly, "After what they did to Kiba, I'd fight them all."
There was silence, thick tension in the air as she spoke of the dead, the ones who had been killed in their sleep the night of the invasion and never woke to see the morrow. Her team might still be alive, but many of the older generations had passed away. Kakashi, Gai, and Tsunade made it so they could escape. Tenten soon joined her sensei, leaving Neji alone with their three year old daughter. Lee sacrificed himself for half the civilians. Chouji didn't make it either, leaving Shikamaru and Ino heading off in their own directions alone. Naruto… no one knows where he disappeared to and their only contact was Sai. He knew where they all hid, but at the same time was impossible to find and if he ever was found, they'd never get it out of him.
Kiba had been her lover. They had actually been planning on settling down and having 'pups' of their own in a year or two, but that plan never lasted. He had been killed in his sleep while she had been running back to Konoha to warn all of them what one of Jiraya's contact had told her and her team…
Hana gave her the dogs that she and Kiba had been raising for a mission in Snow as well as Akamaru- as something to remember her lover by. Last she heard, Hana was doing well for herself in the outskirts some unknown village as a hunter, selling furs whenever she was in town.
Sasuke, the traitor, was still out there with a new team- team Hebi or something- still hunting down his brother and dodging the newest toys of Orochimaru who was still quite irked his beloved host got away.
As for Akatsuki, who had been after Naruto when he was 15, they withdrew from hunting Jinchuuriki. A lot of the members split once the true leader was inadvertently killed apparently. Most of them stayed in contact but some went right along their way like Akatsuki had never happened.
"I would too," Akamaru sighed, looking at her with a sad gleam in his eyes, "But I know Kiba would have wanted you to be happy, go on with life, and still fall in love and have pups."
She sniffed hotly as she pulled out the cutting board and pulled some meat out of the fridge to make their meal, "That dream was killed along with him, Akamaru. I will never love again, not like that…"
Akamaru chuckled lightly whispering, "You can never love a person the way you love another. You'll love them for different reasons and be involved in different ways. That's what makes you human."
"Sure," Sakura sighed, giving up the notion to try and outwit Akamaru. She concentrated on making dinner, putting enough in for all the residents of the house as the wind slowly howled louder.
Once dinner was ready, she and her dogs ate in silence in her home as the storm continued on. It wasn't the most extravagant place, but it was a home that did her well. It was times like these, however, when she was alone that she wished to drown herself in a bottle of sake and never come out. Yet she knew that there were a few who knew where she was and if they ever needed her, she best be sober.
She washed the dishes, put away the leftovers, and turned the oven off as well as the kitchen light. Sakura then went to work checking up on her dogs, grooming them, checking their paws from cuts and abrasions, and checked their teeth. Once she was done taking care of her dogs, she quickly double checked her supplies as well as looking at the deer Reimei had caught.
Quickly skinning the creature with practiced ease of a hunter and medic, she divided up the meat quickly and stretched the hide to dry, preparing to tan it as soon as the weather was better.
All the while, Akamaru kept her company, her other dogs, finding one of the many rooms that her home had, to sleep in. Reimei always managed to get the spot by the fireplace while Kurai usually claimed the kitchen since the oven was still hot from their meal. Akari slept in her medical lab, Hakumei slept usually on her bed until Akamaru kicked him out, and Yuumei usually found herself company sleeping in one of the spare rooms when Hakumei was forced to move.
She was readying herself for bed that night when she peaked out of her window. Unlike some of her fellow shinobi, she was highly sensitive to other chakra signatures. Most masked their chakra, making it hard to sense them, but Sakura, over the years, had become sensitive to certain signatures- like Sai's and Naruto's. She had worked on them for so many years that they were forever burned into her memory. Even if they were to mask their chakra, she could still feel them.
She stretched lightly as she entered her room, feeling the happy burn of her muscles as she pulled at them. Standing on her tippy toes, she threw her hands into the air and allowed her entire body to feel the tingling burn of being used. She was about to change as Akamaru was chasing out Hakumei and relaxing on the spot the pup had kept warm, but something captured her attention.
Though she knew not who's chakra it was, it burned through her senses like no other. She could see a brilliant light flashing even from behind her thick hides that barricaded her house from the cold air that tried to seep in on nights such as these. She almost flew to the window, pulling the hide out of the way to catch the beautiful anomaly that attacked the outside sky. Her eyes wide that the pure tower of light that cascaded from a spot deep within her property. To a normal person, they would have thought it nothing more than light, but to Sakura- a trained ex-med-nin- that the tall structure of light was the most amazing display of chakra she had ever seen. And she had seen a lot.
Morbid curiosity was one of Sakura's weaknesses. Ever since she had become a medic nin she had a great fascination for things that most people would cringe at or things that were strange, like Naruto's healing abilities. When the poor guy had just come back after his long training mission, she had cornered him and conducted experiments on his personnel to see if he really would heal. Nothing too terrible, but she did once break a bone to see how fast it would heal (with his permission of course).
Right now the very same curiosity was making her ache with interest as she hurried to put on her outside clothes in order to go to the scene where the light was emanating from. A mind numbing sound rumbled through the air only moments later after the light first appeared in the sky.
That only made her move faster.
Sakura called for Reimei, who had just about fallen asleep near the fire, and Akamaru, who had been right behind her the whole time, to come as her backup. Both barked in response and flanked her sides as she dashed outside and into the direction of the light that still was towering in the heavens, burning its fleeting beauty into her mind.
"Do you think it's Ne?" Akamaru asked, as he kept pace with her hurried movements, heading towards the slowly dissolving display that still thundered and roared with its power.
"No, Ne would never be that flamboyant. It's nothing I've ever seen before, but at the same time, I feel as though I know that signature."
Reimei let out a few barks, which Sakura understood completely- just like Kiba had understood Akamaru before he learned to speak the tongue of man.
"No, I don't think its one of our direct allies." She shook her head, "I would recognize the chakra. Nor do I think it's a definite enemy. An enigma." Sakura told her.
Enigmas were neither good nor bad. That usually meant they had yet to pick a side. Or perhaps the side they picked didn't effect either party in the silent war that Sakura was in against Ne. So, perhaps she'd gain an ally, or perhaps she'd gain a face and a name to an enemy.
But the only real thoughts that Sakura was thinking were what the light charka was and who had created it.
