"Never to have suffered would never to have been blessed." –Edgar Allen Poe
"Dear eyes!--do not my heart forsake,
Shine, like the stars within the lake, --
Shine, and the darksome shadows break."
- Augustine J.H. Dugane
The clang of metal parrying metal, grunts and shouts echoing forth through the darkened woods, the quiet sound of metallic crimson falling to the ground. This was how shinobi made war, battles; this was what they trained for. This was what they born to do, what they lived for. They were good, in a way only years of training could bring. They were shinobi of the hidden leaf.
Their task had been simple, watch and garner information about their enemy. No contact was to be made; no notice was to be taken of them. It didn't work out that way. They had been going along according to the regular flow of guard transitions, that was their opening to get into position, but this night they changed the schedule. It took only one moment for weeks of work to be blown. They were forced to retreat. A four man team against the might of Orochimaru was laughable at best especially when ill prepared. They were to be ghosts with ears. They failed and fell a week short of the scheduled departure.
They had retreated; Shogi in front leading them just as he had done in the mission, Ramen was behind him serving to pack a punch should they run into anyone head on and to protect the medic who was appropriately called Medic, and Eyes wrapped up their small procession as the bounded away from their incomplete mission.
They had run into resistance on their way out of the land of the sound, it had been promptly taken care of, but after a few hours of the continuous fighting and running it had taken its toll.
Activating the Byakugan Eyes attacked the nin that had been foolish enough to charge head on with only katana. Moving quickly to the side Eyes knocked the weapon from his hold with a kunai. The nin slumped to the ground gore oozing from a wound to the neck. Without batting an eyelash behind the anbu mask the killer turned and progressed to his next victim effectively shutting them down with Hakkeshou: Rokujuu Yonshou. The rest were taken out with shuriken primarily, they were easy opponents with numbers.
Medic was to stay back and keep safe only rocketing out when a teammate was injured, on one of these excursions she was drawn aside. Using chakra enhanced fists to smash her way through the mediocre ninjas she tried to navigate back to her team but her efforts were only reworded with wounds that otherwise could have been deflected had she been paying her whole attention.
She cut through the enemy nin as if they were little more than paper dolls. With every one that fell she could see their attempts become more desperate; no longer to kill but to preserve their lives.
With perspiration dripping freely and rolling down her warm flesh Medic regarded the last 'obstacle' yet to be taken care of. With keen eyes she could distinguish that the nin was female, young, and scared out of her mind if the shaking were anything to go by. Gritting her teeth against the small amount of pity that welled within her at the sight she produced a kunai from seemingly nowhere and charged.
When Medic thought back on the incident later she would remember the slight shifting of eye color, the way the shaking had stopped as if the girl were an addict and had her hit, she would recall the shimmering powder that was shot into her eyes unable to move enough to get out of the way with the momentum she had built. She would recall the blinding pain that pounded its way into her skull leaving a hot trail of pain that she could feel as it worked its way to her brain, she would remember the brief flash of darkness that lifted itself momentarily, Medic could also recollect the squelch that the nin's body as it gave as she drove the kunai and by extension, her hand through the enemies sternum no longer feeling so sorry for her.
Medic sent a wave of chakra to her eyes to access the damage that had been done. Nothing too serious, it was gone in a heartbeat. Sensing her comrades' chakra a mile northeast she was off mentally berating herself for her separation the whole way back to them.
They traveled, covering their passing well enough that even the woodland creatures were left to wonder if they had truly seen anything out of the norm. Darkness fell heavily and quickly, a new moon left little light to squander as they plowed further into the inky blackness while fighting off the claws of trees. When Shogi gave a slight nod of his head they simultaneously stopped and set to work making camp. With ease the small tents were erected, carefully hidden, and they gathered around the nonexistent fire sharing a cold meal before heading to bed.
Medic all but crumpled into the comfort of her sleeping bag after dragging her sore and protesting body to it. Healing herself and the others was tiring work, rubbing lazily at her itchy eyes she drew the covers up around her not even bothering to kick off her boots.
The floor was littered in pink blossoms; they seemed to expand into the sky as they swayed in the nonexistent breeze. Trees, majestic in both height and the silver they were wrought from shinned enticing Sakura to climb them though she knew the razor sharp leaves would leave their mark. Turning her back on the silver orchard lest she be tempted further she surveyed her surroundings. "Eternity." The word echoed from both nowhere and everywhere, soft and booming, soothing and frightening. A contradiction that sent chills down her spine in anticipation.
"This place is messed up!" With that the tranquility was shattered as the harsh outline of inner Sakura faded into existence.
"Where are we?" Sakura wondered aloud nonplussed at the appearance of her alter self.
"Hell of I know!" Inner Sakura peered around comically as if doing so would enable her to find the answer.
"You are in my realm." It was the voice again and no less potent.
"Well that just clears everything up!" Inner Sakura spoke scathingly as she angrily shook her fist at the petal infested sky, mentally Sakura agreed but kept quiet favoring staying alert instead.
"How amusing you are." That was just great, they (whoever 'they' were) were laughing at her. It did nothing to settle Sakura's rattled nerves. Inner Sakura shouted obscenities at the unknown observer. Sensing a presence behind her Sakura whipped around to behold if not the then one of the most beautiful people she had ever seen. The woman's skin was like alabaster, her hair was intricately piled atop her head decorated with ornaments of precious metals and stones, her robe whispered as she moved towards them, the sunlight making the golden embroidery shimmer.
"I require you're services." Her voice was softy and breathy as if the slightest breeze would carry it away.
"Why? What do you need?" Sakura spoke haltingly pondering over ever word that passed her mouth. Even Inner Sakura seemed to realize the gravity of the situation as the quietly pouted off to the side.
"I need you to accomplish an end. Your objectives align with mine; you would make the perfect vessel." Hands clasped together formally the woman regarded Sakura shrewdly as if stripping away her every defense and laying siege to her very soul.
"We're not cryptic in the least." Inner Sakura declared wildly leveling the woman with a cold glare.
Disregarding her counter part Sakura spoke, "What objectives would these be?" Her mind was aflame with all the possibilities.
"To kill a snake." With that one utterance Sakura's mind ground to a halt.
"Now we're talking, cha!" Inner Sakura pumped her fist into the air excitedly.
"Wha…what will I get in return?" She fought to regain control of her composure. What would this cost her? Why would she align herself with her? What would she get for this? What had 'the snake' done to this woman? Her mind was overflowing with questions.
A brief smile flickered across the strange woman's face. "What you have lost you shall regain tenfold." Inner Sakura was right; she was cryptic as all hell. Racking her brain for something that she had lost she found nothing.
"What did I lose?" It was a terrible thing to admit being unknowledgeable, it was worse to admit it when making a bargain.
Once again the woman hosted a smile. "Nothing that can't be fixed, improved. What have you to lose? I help you against the snake and give you a gift all in exchange for something you're already going to do. All is gain."
Sakura didn't like this, to many variables, too many hidden possibilities. "No." Inner Sakura promptly fainted.
"We shall see if you retain your answer. Awaken." Her mouth was a hard line and with a wave of her delicate hand Sakura fell down into the thick cushion of flowers, lulled into slumber by the heady perfume that seemed to wrap her in itself.
Blearily Sakura opened her eyes, to nothing. Her sleep laden mind tried to figure the reason. New moon. Somewhere in her mind like an annoying insect a little piece of knowledge was fighting to the forefront. Pushing it back Sakura wormed her way out of her sleeping roll and felt her way over to her lamp. With a flip of the switch Sakura could hear the lamp turn on but she still saw black. Something was wrong, drastically, unmistakably wrong. The annoying piece of information was finally recognized. Even if it was a new moon there would still be starlight. Frantically Sakura fumbled for another light source as she sent probing chakra to try and find the problem. Fighting down a panic attack she only faintly heard inner Sakura, "Holy shit! We're blind! How the hell are we supposed to look at the hotties now?" Against all logic Sakura waved her hand before her face hoping against hope that magically she would regain her sight. Nothing, only the air on her face and the knowledge that she was blind. The panic attack that she had fought off earlier was back with vengeance.
"Sakura?" A slightly hesitant voice asked from outside of her tent. Naruto. Fighting back tears she stumbled her way to the door needing human contact to soothe her. Tears trickled from her sightless eyes as she tried to unzip the flap to no avail. Luckily Naruto could tell there was obviously something wrong with her as soon enough the flap was open and she held her arms out piteously needing a hug but unable to initiate it.
Almost timidly strong arms wrapped around her every so often rubbing soothing circles in her back. "What's wrong?" Muttering unintelligently into his chest she steeled herself to tell him and to hear it aloud herself. "Sakura?"
"Don't rush us!" Inner Sakura joined in Sakura's sobbing as she wailed loudly while flinging away a Naruto plushie.
"I...I can't see." At that admission Sakura tightened her hold on the shocked man.
That was the start of it. The start of her relative uselessness. The beginning of the pitying looks that she could feel burning themselves through to her very soul. The initiate of having to be carried on their backs because it would have taken far too long for those capable of sight to guide her over the treacherous grounds. It initiated the examination by the Hokage that deemed her unable to go on real missions. However she would still be usable in the hospital where she could pour her chakra into the patient to 'see,' it was a small comfort at best.
It tore at her, ate at her. She had dedicated her life to gaining strength, to catch up to the powerhouses she called teammates. Dashed. Depression hovered ever near to the surface like a dark depth that threatened to swallow her alive. Inner Sakura attempted to beat the darkness away with a broom screeching like a banshee all the while. Sakura couldn't be sure if it was just Inner Sakura's way of lightening the mood or if perhaps it was in actuality what was going on in her mind.
Sighing tiredly she kicked the covers off of her squirming around for a while before falling into a restless sleep.
"Ah back again." Sakura said dryly no longer captivated by the flowers.
"Now what does the psycho want?" Inner Sakura demanded angrily which she took out on the flowers by uprooting them before tossing them carelessly over her shoulder.
"I would appreciate it if you stopped your mindless destruction." The woman was back with a frown marring her face.
"Well I would appreciate it if you died and left us the bloody hell alone but we don't always get what we want now do we?" Inner Sakura retorted sharply after which she stuck out the tongue at the woman. If the situation wasn't so serious Sakura would have laughed, as it was though she just allowed a small smile to appear.
The woman's frown deepened but ultimately she ignored inner Sakura. "Have you rethought my proposal?" Just like that Sakura understood. What you have lost you shall regain tenfold. The words echoed through her head, tauntingly.
"How would you be able to make my sight ten times stronger when even the Hokage couldn't repair it?" Sakura challenged her somewhat snidely.
"A goddess transcends a mere Hokage." Was the calmly smug response. Mentally the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together. Both Sakura and her inner self shared an open mouthed look of shock.
"Shit, I just insulted a goddess, I'm gonna die!" Inner Sakura wailed tugging at her hair worriedly.
"Why me?" Sakura asked dubiously, ignoring inner Sakura altogether.
"We immortals can only act through mortals to 'fight' for if we were to battle in person the consequences would be terrible and far reaching. Only a handful of mortals are capable of being vessels. Orochimaru and his minions have been chosen by another god to be his champions." She explained calmly as if she had all the time in the world which Sakura reminder herself that she probably did.
"You would make the best vessel due to your nature." At Sakura's questioning look she elaborated. "I am Ko-no-Hana." Sakura's mouth formed a perfect 'O' as she took all the information in.
"And who…?" The rest of the question wasn't needed.
"Susanowa. Now that you have the information you desired what is your answer?" Ko-no-Hana inquired her eyes dancing with knowledge privy only to herself.
There were tales of selling your soul for useless things, Sakura had heard them as a child but she never did leach the knowledge of how to distinguish if it truly was a hollow thing or if it held value. It was easy to see the decision that should be made when she was sitting on her mother's lap listening. Now that she was in the situation it didn't seem as obvious as she once thought.
"I'll do it." Maybe she would regret this, maybe she would curse herself, and maybe she would rejoice. There were more than enough maybe's to make her stomach squirm in uncertainty.
Just like that Ko-no-Hana was directly in front of her gently closing Sakura's eyes with dexterous fingers. Sakura could feel the warm breathe enveloping her face putting a warm pressure on her eyes that lasted past the goddess withdrawing her hands and stayed even after Sakura crumbled to the ground.
Alright kiddies, I'm off on another fic and we'll see how this goes. This will be multi-chaptered so you're in for a long haul. For those of you confused Ko-no-Hana is the Japanese Blossom Princess ("child-flower"), the symbol of delicate earthly life. She makes the flowers blossom.
Susanowa is the Japanese Shinto god of the winds, the storms, and the ocean, also the god of snakes. Susanowa is the personification of evil, but also a brave, if lawless and impetuous, god.
Hakkeshou: Rokujuu Yonshou means 'Hand of the eight divinations: Sixty-four palms'
Hopefully that cleared up most of the confusion but if you have any questions or would just like to make my day you're more than encouraged to review! –Cloey Marie-
Edited 3/1/07 to fix some minor mistakes.