Five Star Seals: Breaking the Chain That is Love
Chapter One
Um, How do I begin to say this… I apologize for my absence. If you've read my profile update a few months ago, you know why, if not, it isn't extremely important… but it would tell you why I'm re-writing and revising this story
I figured that; for those who didn't read that update, I should tell you here to save the trip. I hated this story, I didn't put enough detail, and found myself going through it and cursing at all the holes and mistakes, so I decided to re-write all of it and finish it out before continuing on with the other stories, well, that's why I'm re-writing it anyway.
At the moment I'm thinking about posting the story in 5 chapter intervals, to give you all a lot of reading material at one time; the only downfall is that there could be as much as three months of downtime between updates, so for safety I've decided to catalog day started and day finished.
Started 9:45 PM 12/20/2010
Finished 1:52 AM 12/26/2010
The Naruto copyright is not mine, The one and only time I'll say it
She tipped the glass and drained the remaining spirits, pausing to force down the burning sensation in her throat. She turned to the bartender with a devilish smile, to see him shaking his head. She sighed; this was the third time tonight that she would have to get up and find another place to take her money. She checked her watch, 11:30 PM, she had thirty minutes to hit the bottle before this nightmare would end and the 9th of November would arrive.
She grabbed her bag and walked shakily outside. She giggled, she was drunk, but not drunk enough if she could walk. She hailed a cab and gave him the address of a small bar in the Southern district that she only frequented this night every year, as she had done for the last four years.
He shook his head, but accepted her money and dropped her off, she thanked him and stepped inside. She smiled at the bartender and sat down.
1:55 AM November 9th…
Sakura enjoyed her walks down the Southern district boulevard after her night shifts at the hospital. Everyone said she was always so gung ho about everything in her life, well, these walks were her thinking time, not that she'd let anyone but Shino know that, and the only reason he knew was because she was sick of sneaking past him this early in the morning when he came to pick her up.
She sighed as she passed an old jewelry shop and a small theater that had been shut down. This part of the city was old, and slowly falling apart. She stopped at the alleyway beside the theater, in between it and an old bar that used to be owned by her friend Choji Akimichi's family, before he died and they sold to leave the village for a countryside tea shop in the Northern region of Fire Country.
A figure was lying by the alley door to the bar, a soft moan betrayed the identity of the woman, Ino Yamanaka, lying drunk at the foot of the steps.
"Ey Sak-ra… Wassup?" Ino hiccupped feebly. "Funny seein' you out here."
"Oh, Ino" Sakura sighed "You've drank too much again." she stooped down by her friend and gathered herself to lift the woman.
"You c'n never drink to mu-" Ino started before turning away from her friend and emptying her body of all the alcohol it couldn't handle.
Sakura sighed again. "Yes, you can. Are you all right?"
Ino heaved one last time, then turned to her friend and nodded. Grunting under the weight of her friend, Sakura began to make her way home.
Her apartment was a tiny duplex about three miles from the hospital. The garage was barely big enough to be called a garage, luckily Shino drove a motorcycle, because she would have been surprised if even the smallest compact could fit in it with room to open the doors. It was a one bedroom with a living room/ kitchen and a small bathroom. Her family said it was too small, but since she and Shino had put most of their money back for the child on the way, the newlyweds considered it a perfect fix, a least until the need for ninja picked up again.
The business of ninja is all about war and conflict; and due to her old teammate Naruto, most of both had been eradicated. The Sound Village hadn't resurfaced since Naruto had ran it's leader Orochimaru through with his own sword. Not long after, Naruto began hunting down the remaining members of the Akatsuki; an almost two year conquest that spanned the continent, in the end, the deed had been done and Naruto had returned home.
And about two years ago, Naruto vanished from her sight, as well as from everyone else's.
"Sak-ra, it's rully cold outside. C'n we go in?" Ino mumbled with her head drooping. She had somehow lost her coat the night before and was in her usual shinobi attire. Why she had to walk around in early November in fishnet and a short skirt Sakura had no clue, but it snapped her back into reality long enough to get her inside.
"Sorry Ino, I just got caught up daydreaming." Sakura apologized as she helped her friend out of her sandals.
"S'it about yur kid?" Ino asked, voice still slurred. Apparently, she had drunk enough that even a two and a half mile walk in the cold couldn't begin to sober her.
Sakura bit her lip, "A little of it, yes, Mother thinks that we should have put less money into the trust and bought a better place; but I don't want the risk of something happening to Shino and I, and not having enough to keep her alive."
Ino nodded. Even drunk, she was a shinobi, and as such she knew that her life could end at any time. "Ya did the right thung…Mama Har'no should know that."
Sakura gave Ino a smile, Sakura's parents were retired Chunin, they knew the risks their daughter took, as Sakura had reminded them many times in the past few months.
"Yea, but remember, Mother retired before I was born, and Papa retired when I made Genin." Sakura said quietly. "They believe that we only need one shinobi in the family, and they're happy to toss that all on Shino. They want me to retire."
Ino chuckled at that, "Sak'ra Har'no? Retire? Tha's the funnies' thing I've heard all night." she hiccupped, losing her balance. Sakura barely had time to catch her before she broke her neck.
Sakura smiled and began walking her friend to the couch, not an easy feat when Ino couldn't even stand by herself. She was relieved when she felt Shino step to the other side of Ino and relieve her of her burden.
"She can sleep in our room tonight." He said nonchalantly as he maneuvered Ino down the hall and into the bedroom. Sakura nodded as he gently laid Ino down on the bed.
They shut the door and walked back to the living room. Sakura made some tea, bringing two steaming cups into the living room, she handed Shino one before curling up next to him on the couch.
"The Akimichi Bar?" he asked.
"Yea, well, it's to be expected, it's the day he died, she does it every year." Sakura replied with a sigh.
"Hmm."
Sakura smiled; not many people had approved of her seeing Shino at first. They were polar opposites, he quiet and collected where she was brash and loud, he took his time where she hurried, but she knew that there was a soft heart in him somewhere, and it took her a while, but she found it, she prided herself on finding it. She had found what she had been looking for at last, after a couple bad turns with some of the others, including a horrible three weeks with Lee.
"And what does that mean?" she giggled
"It means I'm about ready to give that intervention guy a call, before her liver decides to beat the living shit out of her." He replied gruffly.
She snorted, humor was never one of Shino's strong points, but that one wasn't too bad. But instead of voicing that, she just said, "She doesn't need that much help."
"I know, but in four years, I've only seen her sober twice, and both times it was only because we were attending funerals." he stated.
"Kiba's and Choji's…yea, that's about it, maybe once or twice fighting with Inoichi as well." Sakura sighed, Ino's father had been just as devastated by Choji's death as Ino herself was, and it came out to be a father like daughter situation, Inoichi dived deeper into the bottle than he already was, and Ino was matching him cup for cup and shot for shot. Inoichi blamed himself for Choji, and had began to take it out on Ino. The two weren't talking, and Ino had packed her things and left, in the end, the only friends that had been able to take her in at the time had been Shikamaru and Temari, who had been living together since Naruto had returned from his crusade.
"Something needs to be done. I've been talking to Shikamaru; Temari doesn't like Ino living there anymore, Ino pulls her weight, mostly, but Temari can't stand watching her destroy herself anymore." he said, to anyone other than Sakura, his voice sounded as emotionless as ever, but she could detect the feeling of worry in it.
"Let's talk about it more in the morning." She said as she ran a finger across his cheek. "It was a long shift and I've got another one tomorrow, besides, it's been a while since we cuddled on the couch."
He smiled and took off his glasses, the warm look in his light brown eyes showing he liked the idea, she moved closer to him and burrowed herself deeper into the blanket he had set out. He shut off the lamp beside the couch and they slept.
Ino slept as well, but hers was a fitful sleep, plagued by memories that were her darkest nightmares, and she was pulled four years into the past.
The missive Hinata carried in her pack was the mission, get that safely to Suna and return with the reply. Normally this sort of courier mission would only require one Jonin, this one required two full teams.
This missive was a battle plan designed by the Hokage and the head of the Anbu, Naruto had only recently killed Orochimaru, but the Sound village was still fighting, they had taken hold of a large portion of the Fire country before his death, and unfortunately, their path lay through that territory.
The missive had the location of all of Konoha's forces, as well as where Tsunade was going to station any reinforcements. It also had request for Suna ninja at the weak points. If any of that info fell into the hands of the Sound village, Konoha would be under siege before the change of the season.
Ino had point, with Shika on her right and Choji on the left. Behind Ino was Hinata, guarded closely by Shino. Kiba brought up the rear with Akimaru. Ino shifted her eyes to the right; Shikamaru was gazing lazily at the sky just beyond the foliage as he jumped from branch to branch. Good there, she shifted them to the right; Choji had a bag of chips out and slipped one into his mouth every few seconds, chewing slowly to savor each chip, but eyes always alert to his surroundings…one hundred percent there as well. They were halfway through enemy territory. A few more kilometers and they would be nearing the border to Wind country.
She relaxed just a little. In a few days she would be home, and then a few weeks after that and she'd be wearing that beautiful white dress. Her eyes shifted back to the left, wondering if her large fiancé had the same thought.
Her eyes caught the flash of metal moving at high speed and she brought a kunai up just in time to deflect the shuriken that would have buried itself in her throat.
"Combat!" she yelled dropping back to take up a defensive stance by Hinata, who already had her Byakugan activated and was searching through the foliage restlessly. Shino threw up a cloud of bugs to circle above them. Shika had already begun stretching his shadow. All encircled Hinata in a defensive stance.
"Kiba. How many, and who?" Shino whispered only a small shift of his eyebrows indicated that his eyes were roaming over the area in his line of vision.
Kiba and Akimaru began sniffing, turning their head to one side and then the other. Kiba's eyes suddenly popped open and Akimaru began growling angrily. He snarled one word. "Sasuke."
Ino gripped her kunai so hard her knuckles turned white. This wasn't what she needed, not now. "Any others?"
Kiba shook his head. A sinister chuckling began resonating from everywhere around them. The ninja settled deeper into their stances and gripped their weapons harder.
Sasuke had openly declared himself the new leader of the Sound village, and had fought with Suna and Konoha as much, or more vehemently than Orochimaru had, proving himself to be an even more brilliant schemer and strategist, as well as a better fighter. He was the worst of all of Konoha's rogue ninja, surpassing his brother in both casualties and crimes.
The sinister chuckle turned to a hissing taunt. "Look at all of you Leaf ninja, shaking in your boots. I bet it must be terrifying to know that your life, along with those around you, will end here." Sasuke taunted, his voice echoing through the trees.
"Show yourself Sasuke, and we will show you why your village should fear Konoha." Ino Said, trying to keep her voice level.
I've been right here the whole time." Came Sasuke's voice beside her.
Instantly the group scattered, Shino's bugs wove a cocoon of their bodies around Hinata, effectively keeping the missive and the konoichi from harm. Sasuke stood on the branch, calmly waiting for the ninja to compose themselves and face their enemy.
"Now, now, Shino," He began, "Release your bugs so Hinata can give me that missive. You know as well as I do that if I get hold of that, the war between our villages will be over." Sasuke had turned his voice sweet, like honey covered poison.
"The war will only end your way if every single living being in Konoha is eradicated." Shino said gruffly, raising a kunai. "I'm prepared to kill you to stop that."
"Ah, I'm beginning to realize why I enjoy being in conflict with Konoha, not only do I get to enjoy tearing you apart; but I also get to enjoy every little step I make towards THE KILL!" Sasuke shouted as he lunged toward Shino.
Before Sasuke could make it to him, Kiba and Akimaru shot forward, attacking him from both sides. He slipped under Akimaru, then spun and brought up the handle of his sword, the pommel connected with Kiba's face with force enough to send the ninja spiraling backward.
Akimaru growled and lunged at Sasuke again. Sasuke nimbly dodged to the side and slammed his sheath into the massive dog's ches. Akimaru let out a pained whine and collapsed.
"Pathetic." Sasuke sighed, he slid the blade out of its sheath in a graceful arc before pointing it straight at Shikamaru. "Your turn to show me what you can do. I hope it's better than the mindless dog I just put down."
Shikamaru smirked and formed the rat seal, only to see a swirl of leaves where Sasuke had been, he cursed and swung around and threw up his arm to block the axe kick Sasuke had let loose, but the moment he brought up his arm Sasuke changed his position midair to deliver a crushing blow to the stomach. Shikamaru was sent backward.
Shikamaru was still flying back when Sasuke landed, reaching into his kimono and flinging a few kunai in Shika's direction. Shikamaru winced and threw his arms over his face and torso; letting the knives pierce deep into his arms.
Sasuke chuckled and spun around to deflect a kick to the head by an angry Kiba. Sasuke ducked under him and laid the sheath of his sword across Kiba's back. Kiba dropped face first, struggling to get up. Sasuke lifted his sword to plunge it into the injured man's back, only to feel his hand caught in the mouth of a giant ninja dog. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the dog .
"Aki…maru…" he began as Akimaru began growling; he brought his other hand to his side. "BAD DOG!" he roared as his fist came upwards across his chest and into the dogs jaw.
Akimaru released Sasuke and staggered dumbfounded before Sasuke's heel made contact with his temple, and then he dropped like a sack of grain. Kiba roared and charged at the sound ninja, swinging for all he was worth, but never managing to hit the bastard.
Sasuke smirked as Kiba's temper began taking the best of him, he began attacking wildly, leaving himself open, and every time, Sasuke's sword would flash, and Kiba would be bleeding from yet another cut.
To the two ninja locked in combat, time seemed to slow, and that one battle seemed to go on forever, but less than thirty seconds after Kiba began attacking, he was on his knees, dizzy from blood loss. A sharp pain sprung from the top of his head when Sasuke buried the pommel into it.
To Kiba, there was a blinding flash of white light, and then he slipped into unconsciousness.
Sasuke turned when he heard a deafening roar accompanied by a large shape blocking the sun behind him.
"PARTIAL EXPANSION JUTSU!" Roared Choji as his right arm became larger than a bus. He brought it forward at blinding speed; aimed straight at Sasuke, who stood as if bored.
As the fist closed in he began to chuckle, his Sharingan activated and he brought his sword up in front of his face. "Chidori Nagashi." he muttered, and his sword began chirping and humming with a surge of chakra conceived electricity.
Ino didn't stop to think. Shino HAD to guard Hinata, she couldn't last very long against Sasuke's Sharingan, even with her own dojutsu and taijutsu style. So she had to help Choji drive off that bastard. Maybe with the two of them, they would succeed where everyone else had failed singly.
She rushed in with a kunai, distracting Sasuke from the oncoming mammoth-sized fist. She was about twenty feet away when she flicked her wrist and sent the kunai whistling towards his shoulder, he brought his sword up to deflect and launched a bolt of electricity at her. Ino ducked and just barely managed to dodge it and keep up her course, barreling toward the Sound ninja, her hand went to her pouch and suddenly there was a dozen shuriken heading in the same direction she was, all launched within a second, flying at different heights and trajectories.
Sasuke smirked, his sword became a blur of motion. The kunai fell harmlessly at his feet. "Foolish little bitch." he growled and launched himself in her direction.
Suddenly, it was all taijutsu. She was no expert, but over the last few years; being friends with Hinata and Sakura, whose taijutsu skills were their only battle worthy ninja arts, she had trained with them and had become proficient enough at it to contend with a Hyuuga for a short amount of time.
But the moment she blocked Sasuke's first punch, she knew she was outmatched. He anticipated her every move, those red eyes flickering dangerously as he used it to pinpoint her every flaw and weakness in her form.
She was immediately on the defense, and Choji was still barreling towards them wielding his oversize arm like a club, his fingers as long as Ino was tall. Sasuke seemed intent on her, but she knew he had already calculated how long it would take for that fist to connect, and had already found a way to counter it..
She waited for the right moment, and as soon as she deflected a high right punch, she flung herself away from Sasuke and towards Choji. She felt the air rush over her as the fist passed no more than an inch above her.
Sasuke was caught off guard long enough for Choji to wrap his hand around him. "Ino! Now!" Choji hollered as he squeezed the Sound ninja tight in his palm.
Ino nodded and formed the seal for mind destruction jutsu. She launched it at Sasuke; the rest happened in slow motion.
She felt her jutsu connect with Sasuke, felt the penetration into his mind, and felt him completely destroy the jutsu, she heard him form his favorite jutsu, and she watched as he broke the grip of her huge comrade.
"CHIDORI!" he roared as he ran the length of Choji's massive arm at blinding speed. He reached Choji's shoiulder and threw himself against his chest, impaling the bulky warrior through his left breast.
Choji gave a sickly weak cough. "Ino." he coughed, "I'm sorry I couldn't get you to that altar."
He grabbed a firm hold on Sasuke's arm protruding from his chest, and jabbed with a kunai hidden in his left hand. Sasuke seen the move and altered his body just enough so that when the blade bit into his flesh, it didn't hit anything vitsal.
As Choji's body lost muscle control and began falling, he yanked his arm free and jumped to a nearby branch. "You may have stopped me from getting those messages, but you won't be able to stop me from crushing all of you in your pathetic little village., be sure of that." he hissed.
Ino woke to the sound of birds chirping. She wasn't in her bedroom at Shika's, she was somewhere she hadn't been before. Last night came back to her slowly, and she realized she must be in Sakura's new apartment, and morning was just coming into full swing.
Several Hours Before
The man sat cross-legged atop the Fourth Hokage's head in a sour mood. The last mission was no fun at all. Seven rogue Cloud ninja's holding a regional lord hostage. The lord's manor having fifteen foot tall stone walls that were about four foot thick, with no trees close enough to provide cover. All Jonin, all ready to kill the lord at any sign of trouble. He took out one when the man had stopped to take a piss, a kunai through the spinal cord and a full grown man would drop like a sack of potatoes. He disguised himself and got close enough to another of them to put his machete across the man's jugular.
He liked using a machete over a ninjato, the blade may be a little shorter, but it was broader and thicker, and could be used just as effectively. He only carried it to counter any sword wielding opponent he faced, preferring to use kunai or daggers, he liked being inches from his enemies when he cut them.
The third ninja proved to be a little tougher, actually fighting back when he noticed the disguise. He made the mistake of trying to punch, and had his arm caught and his body dragged forward, close enough that his neck could be snapped without much trouble.
The fourth ninja fell from a well placed senbon from thirty feet away. The fifth and sixth never even knew they were being attacked, and the leader had fallen with his own sword through his chest.
The man stood. He had long black hair that hung past his shoulders, his hair had been died black, the evidence of so being the inch of golden blond roots. He wore a dark grey trench coat with a golden Konoha symbol emblazoned on the shoulders with matching gold buckles with the insignia running down one side. Under the coat a black muscle shirt clung to an extremely muscled chest, gray cargo pants a shade darker than his coat were tucked into black steel toe boots with a silver Leaf insignia on the toe. He wore a Konoha headband on his forehead; but he gazed down upon the city with contempt.
This mission had been too easy, not worth the A-level ranking it had received. The world was too peaceful to satisfy his lust for blood anymore. He sighed, the only person he could blame for that was himself.
He was, after all, Naruto Uzumaki; hero and Demon of the Hidden Leaf Village.
He opened his slate gray eyes to view the city from a street side view, the pupils resembling shattered glass.
He had about four hours of night left to enjoy
And he needed to debrief with his Master and the Hokage. He jumped down into the night, lost in the memory of how he acquired such an unholy and lofty title.
End of chapter one people. It's a little short, but it would be way too long if I had put the full chapter one into this. So what didn't go into this one will go into chapter two, I hope the five chapters I post this first time will be enough to satisfy you guys/gals for a few months, if I don't have another set of five done by that time, I'll just post what I have so that you don't have to wait for the remaining chapters to be finished to get a little further into the story.
And yes, I was up all night, the 25th to get this to you. Trust me, I didn't mind at all. I'd be happy to get some feedback, so don't be afraid to tell me your opinions.
Peace.
