The Best Possible Outcome
Prologue:
Time has never been a straight line. In fact, it acts more like the parting branches of a tree, in a forest of trees. In the case of time, the branches can have very different configurations but there is a limit to the configurations that can occur, when you can only go as far back as one point. So what happens when everything you stem from is based on corrupted and rotten roots? Obviously the branches won't fare much better, because sometimes, you are just too late, and time stops for no one.
She has come to this grave conclusion, her tree, her dimension, is utterly rotten. She has exhausted all the options, but no matter which course is taken the best possible outcome will never happen, because her dimension is meant to fail.
Unless...well maybe that will work. It will mean the end of this world and everything that every existed here but it might just give them a fighting chance. This time, maybe, she'll finally reach "The Best Possible Outcome".
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Chapter 1: When Life Gives You Lemons
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Saku Haruno was born March 28th 5 years before Naruto's birth, to Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno. Her birth was a surprise to both of her parents. When the doctors told them that Mebuki's mild abdominal pains were actually labor pains, the couple refused to believe it. There was not even an inkling of Mebuki being pregnant. After all, she never showed any symptoms, nor a belly, and Mebuki had been so sure that she had her period normally. The doctors told them that although seemingly unlikely, it was possible for her to be pregnant. Regular but light bleeding was often confused with a period, some mothers don't show, and not all pregnancies have symptoms. What really seemed to strike the doctors as abnormal was that Mebuki's labor pains were so mild. Mebuki looked towards Kizashi, so much doubt clouding her eyes. Kizashi gave her a strained smile. "We'll figure this out, don't worry." He said as he held her hand.
Despite their terror at suddenly being thrust into parenthood, when Mebuki held Saku, she felt as if it was the first time she had breathed fresh air. When it was Kizashi's turn to hold her, he didn't hesitate, even covered in blood Saku was magical, like a miracle, so unexpected but welcomed. They named her Saku because to them, she was like a flower that bloomed on a day when the trees where bare. On a day they didn't even know they would be expecting a child. In that moment, only Mebuki and Kizashi realized how dire it was for Saku to be born.
As the weeks flew by and their love for the baby grew to expanses they had never experienced before; Saku started to grow some hair and open her eyes for longer. Kizashi never doubted that Saku was their daughter but when Saku's hair started to settle to a bright pink and her eyes to a spring green, their was no denying her parentage. She was a perfect mix of the two.
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At first, Saku-chan was a well behaved and bubbly infant, but a few weeks before her first birthday, the child became inconsolable during the night. Although she was still happy throughout the day and often spent her time napping, playing and attempting to walk and talk she often spent her nights wailing and crying for no apparent reason. Kizashi and Mebuki spent long nights trying to soothe little Saku back to sleep, before trying to speak to a professional. Unfortunately, said professional did not find anything wrong with the child, even after some extensive tests. She was as healthy as she could be and was even showing signs of chakra coil development. The physician had explained that this meant she will probably be able to easily control her chakra early in life. The physician also made it known to them that their child was developing her motor control and simplified speech much faster then normal. The few cognitive tests that were done for her age weren't the most comprehensive, but it was obvious that Saku was ahead of her peers. This didn't come to much of a surprise to the two parents. They knew their child was exceptional, or at least not the most normal considering how she was born.
Since there was nothing physically wrong with her, and they had nothing better to go on, Mebuki and Kazashi figured it must be nightmares. They will just had to deal with it somehow. Kizashi and Mebuki never found out the cause of their daughter's nightmares, but strangely it did coincide with one particular event.
The Third Shinobi World War had started.
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As time passed, Saku's first birthday came and went. The nightmares didn't stop but they became manageable. Now she would only wake once every month in a crying, desperate state in which she would only sleep when between her parents. Saku would never remember her dreams upon waking up, but even at the young age of one, she knew that it involved a lot of suffering.
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The day Saku turned two was a very happy occasion at the Haruno household. Saku went to bed that night the happiest she ever remembers being. Her parents spent the whole day with her! They went out to eat at her favorite food place that had the yummy desserts and she got the one toy she's been wanting since forever. She also got to go to the library for the first time and couldn't wait to read all the colorful picture books she brought back. It was literally the best day ever!
Coincidentally, that night she also had a nightmare. When she woke up in cold sweat and covered in tears and mucus, she clenched her jaw and cried as silently as she could. This dream was not only vivid, but a sad, miserable, nightmare. Maybe because it was the first she had ever remembered, but if that was the case, she could only feel glad she was too young to remember the others. She didn't sleep that night, instead she decided to try to read the books and attempted to ignore the red eyes from her dream. Saku will never forgot this dream, because it was the first time she realized that her parents couldn't help her feel safe anymore. It was what made her realize how weak and vulnerable she was. The body she was in, the feeling of blood and life leaving her, watching people she couldn't see but knew she loved with everything in her being, killed before her eyes, that felt more real than she was comfortable admitting to even herself. Once the sun rose she finally gave into exhaustion and slept for a few hours before Mebuki called her for breakfast. This will soon become a habit, Saku spending most of her nights reading what she could before falling asleep from exhaustion. During breakfast, Saku asked to go to the library again. Mama had said yesterday it's where you can find answers to things you don't understand.
Saku didn't understand why she felt so weak.
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She quickly got her answer when she started to notice that every story seemed to have a hero and a villain. The villain was usually really strong and evil while the hero, well it depended but for the most part they were nice. All the heroes in the books could do all kinds special things, even if they couldn't do them right away. Her favorite stories were the ones where the hero wasn't very strong at first, but they become strong, and that gave her hope that maybe she could do the same.
So at the tender age of two, the day just after her 2nd birthday, Saku told herself that she would be strong. She will be strong for mama and papa and herself. If she didn't feel safe, then she will have to work hard to protect her family and herself.
Unfortunately, she also had no clue how to do so. After all she was only two. How can a two-year-old be strong? She's still having issues with her motor control, speech, and can barely read and write! These things didn't really become apparent to Saku till she opened a thick 'big kids book' from the library, thinking that it must have the answer on how to become stronger. Saku realized that she can't read a little more than a few words and then promptly tripped and banged her head on said book. Mebuki came running after that and Saku realized she needed help. But at least for this, she knew just who to ask. "Mama, tweach me read book? Pwease?" Mebuki wasn't surprised by her request, not in the least, and happily agreed.
With that out of the way, Saku now had to figure out how to move right so she wont suddenly trip if she was to handle said books, that, she was so sure would have the answer on how to be strong. So she did what any little girl would do. She asked her dad for help, since she'd never seen him fall or trip before. Much to Saku's annoyance he laughed and then explained that she just needed to practice more. "Tweach me papa, pwease!" Kizashi reflected on her comment for a moment.
'Well I was planning to teach her how to defend herself eventually, nothing wrong with starting a few key habits a little early right? Guess we can start with lots of running and playing.'
Saku spend the rest of her 2nd year of life learning to read and coordinate herself. Saku's parents where happy to note that her nightmares had pretty much up and disappeared the day she started her new routine. They didn't know that Saku just stopped going to them for comfort. She loved her parents, so she didn't want to bother or worry them anymore. This was something they could do nothing about. Her dreams did get better though. Saku found the more physically and mentally exhausted her body was, the better she slept. Saku also found it was strangely easy to pick up things like reading, writing, speaking, and movement, almost as if she had done it all before.
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By the time Saku's third birthday was only a month away she already had an advanced reading level, having lost her lisp after spending so much time reading both by herself and with her mother. She was also happy to note that she rarely ever fell or tripped and could even land a few decent play punches on her dad! She got good at avoiding projectiles too, ever since she started 'playing' with the neighborhood kids. Saku if anything was an optimist and an opportunist. The fact that the neighborhood kids like to pick on her for her hair, huge forehead, and advanced vocabulary by throwing rocks at her, gave her the opportunity to learn how to avoid things. At first like any child she was confused and hurt both emotionally and physically and of course her parents worried for her but after Saku asked them the basic questions she turned it into a positive experience for herself.
"Is what they say true?" "Why do they not like me?", "Am I strange?". Mebuki and Kizashi confidently stated that there was nothing wrong with her, the bullies were just looking for someone to pick on and since she was more special than them, they were acting out in jealousy. "You're not strange Saku-chan. You are yourself and very special to us."
Saku was able to overcome the initial fear of not only her bullies but also the nightmares, with the love and acceptance of her parents. Their love made her brave. She didn't have time to be scared anymore. No, she had to get stronger, if not that dream might come back or worse come true.
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The nightmares came back with a vengeance the day after her 3rd birthday in the form of a deformed man with red eyes. His red eyes were different from the ones she had previously dreamed of, but no less scary. The dream had a lot to do with boulders and the ground giving out. Although, terrifying, it confused her more than anything, because it wasn't as, well, 'straight forward' as the last one. The last one made it painfully clear how weak she was. This one just made her anxious that the ground would give out, but something told her, that wasn't the only thing it was supposed to warn her about. Plus, it didn't make sense. Growing up in the village hidden in the leaves often had her interacting with nature. The earth, the forestry surrounding the village, the ground which she stood and practiced playing ninja on had always been a faithful companion which she felt a keen connection with. After what seemed like such a long time she was honestly surprised she was having such bad nightmares again. Maybe it meant that she wasn't trying hard enough, so does that mean she should start doing more? She had long ago realized that she had lost her trust in her parents' ability to protect her because one of her dreams. Does this mean she can't even trust the very ground she stood on anymore? And don't even get her started about trusting other adults. Her parents where honest with her but the trust in other adults became rare after her mother read her that book about a kidnapped child. Her mom had even told her that she should always be wary of strangers. So now this dream was telling her she couldn't even trust the ground she stood on?
Saku was confused but her parents were at work, as they had consistently been, more often than not, as of late. With nothing else to guide her, she went to the library, as she always did when she didn't understand something. When she got there, she wasn't sure what to look for, and her earlier questions still needed to be answered. Now that she thought about it, she still hasn't exactly figured out how to get stronger yet either. She decided to ask the shinobi that sometimes ran the front desk of the restricted part of the library. At first Saku had been weary of him. After all he was a little scary with the peg leg and sling on his arm, plus, he was a stranger and an adult, and that was a bad combination. He had always been nice to her, though, and always answered questions that other adults never answered honestly. He was truthful and honest, so he wasn' t the worst. Just in case, Saku made sure her mama approved. Too bad he refuses to tell her his name, always saying he won't be staying here for long.
"Um...Shinobi-san can I ask you a question?" Saku had to stand a little farther from the front desk and raise her head up high to meet the shinobi's brown eyes.
"Oh, it's you again. What do you want now? I already told you, I can't let you in this side of the library." He said slightly exasperated. Every day she came up to him and asked him questions, most varied depending on what subject she was reading on but almost every day, without fail, she also asked if she could go read the restricted scrolls. He had to admit she was a smart, well-read kid for being so young and although he was impressed, he is not willing to break the rules for her and let her see any of the Genin scrolls just yet. Considering the state of the world right now, he was doing he a favor.
Meanwhile Saku took her time trying to find the right question.
"Do you blindly trust that everything will be ok, Shinobi-san?"
The shinobi knew they were in the middle of war and figure the child will learn this eventually, so he answered honestly.
"I don't kid. For shinobi, life rarely ever goes our way. We learn early on we can't trust in much but ourselves."
Saku nodded "What about the ground we stand on?" At his confused expressing Saku added "Are you allowed to blindly trust in the ground we stand on?"
He gave her a pained expression, remnants of a memory not too long ago. "What's brought this on kid? Were you somehow attacked by an Iwa shinobi?" At her confused face he sighed in relief. Such a young child shouldn't have to come face to face with war, much less Iwa shinobi this deep in the village.
"What do you mean Shinobi-san? Aren't all shinobi, shinobi? And does that mean I can or can't trust in the ground we stand on?"
The shinobi looked exasperated again and took a deep breath.
"I don't know what to tell you kid. In the end, it's up to you what you want to put your trust in. Shinobi differ based on what they trust. Leaf shinobi follow the ideals of the Hokage while other shinobi from other villages follow and trust in their Kage. As for trusting the ground that we stand on, I really don't know what to tell you. Some shinobi are paranoid and won't, but, to be fair, those shinobi tend to live longer. Still you can't just not trust in anything or anyone either, that's too lonely of a life."
"Then how does one decide what and who to trust in?" This time Saku had the exasperated face.
"Experience I guess."
Saku still didn't completely understand what he meant by experience, but she decided that she trusted and loved her parents. Then she remembered that that wasn't completely true since she didn't trust them to protect her from the nightmares anymore. She trusted her parents but not blindly so if that was the case..."Shinobi-san is it ok to trust in someone or somethings but not trust blindly or completely?"
"Yeah...that's probably the safest route to go. Everyone has at least one secret they aren't comfortable sharing, even to their most precious person, but what brought this on? Is there someone bothering you kid?"
Saku shook her head "No, nothing like that! I just had a weird dream last night and I couldn't ask my parents about it because they're at work."
Shinobi-san laughed thinking she had a different kind of dream, one more normal "Kid you should probably stop reading all those crappy romances, they're probably getting to you. You do know that they don't literally have the ground cave in under them when their lover is with some one else right?"
Saku's face turned red and puffed up. She felt highly insulted. Of course she knew what a metaphor was. What was she supposed to do? She just finished the last textbook in the non restricted area last week! If she was going to reread books then of course she would reread all the adventure and romance ones. She enjoyed them a lot the first time, thank you very much!
"Well I would read different books if there were any left for me to read, but there's no way I'm rereading the textbooks." She huffed. She initially thought the textbooks must have had all the answers since they were so huge, so she not only carefully read them all, but even took notes. But when they didn't tell her how she was supposed to get stronger she felt so cheated.
"No way you read all the textbooks. There were at least three huge medical texts in there." He said in disbelief.
Saku huffed again and crossed her arms the image of a perfectly upset child "Yes and I thought that using the Yin nature of chakra to simulate rapid cellular division at a microscopic scale was both brilliant and dangerous considering where the energy to do that would have to come from, the imbalance left over in the body, the complexity of the process, and the unfortunate limit to that division since cells can only produce a certain amount of copies in one life time before said copy or copies are not good enough to function as needed."
Saku smirked at Shinobi-san's dropped jaw. To say he was amazed is an understatement, he knew she was smart, but he wasn't even sure what the hell she was saying. After all it wasn't every day that a three-year-old would try to prove that she read, or even could read, a medical textbook.
"Why the hell would you even want to read those textbooks anyway? If you're that bored you can always go out and run or play or do whatever you kids do nowadays"
Saku looked ready to yell at the man. He just looked at her slightly amused. She was not doing this because she was bored! She was doing this because…
Saku's whole demeanor changed, the shinobi quickly lost his amused face. His facial expression sobering up to something more serious in response to the look in Saku's eyes.
"I...I have to figure out how to get stronger so I can protect my parents and myself. I...I thought those books would have the answer so I read them all, really carefully, but they didn't have an answer."
The shinobi looked at her sadly. "There's no need for you to be strong kid. That's what the adults are for. They're the ones that are supposed to be protecting you, not the other way around."
Saku looked at him sadly her smile wasn't genuine.
"I love my parents. If there ever comes a time were we get attacked, I don't want to sit there and watch them die. And I don't want them dying to save me either. So I have to be strong."
There was silence for a little while, before the shinobi sighed.
"Tell me kid, do you know how to use chakra yet?"
Saku looked up at him and shook her head. "I don't know how. There aren't any books that go farther than chakra theory. I might be able to, but I don't know what I should even do with it."
"Makes sense. All chakra practical application materials are in the restricted side of the library after all. Only accessible once one was of rank or in the academy. Can't have just anyone getting information after all."
Shinobi-san paused for a minute and smiled. 'There was no way this pink haired munchkin really understood all that stuff and even if she did she won't be able to use it anyway, but if she's serious abou this...'. There's no harm in teasing and testing her is there?
"Alright kid, come with me let's see if you can put what you've learned to practice."
So, Shinobi-san took his break and they headed outside. He led her to a clearing not too far from the library near some boulders and a lot of big trees surrounding it. Once they were at the center of the clearing, he smirked and proceeded to walk up a tree. Saku couldn't help but look on in pure amazement. How did he do that?
He walked up the length of the tree and then jumped back down and laughed, amused at the face she made
"Well kid, if you're serious about getting stronger, you have to at least be able to do that."
"How did you do that?" Saku gasped in amazement her green eyes opened as wide as they can go.
"You tell me kid. How about this, if you get it right, I might even let you sneak into the restricted section."
Alighted by new found determination, Saku thought about it. From what she saw and understood chakra was concentrated between the feet and trunk of the tree. The big mystery was more how something is even able to stick to a tree. She got closer and examined the trunk. There were no obvious markings indicating that chakra was embedded onto the trunk, so he wasn't making cleats with his chakra. Wait maybe he was but they were just too small to see. She touched the trunk and closed her eyes in concentration. No weirder than normal groves, but smaller than needle thin spikes of chakra were still a possibility. A squirrel suddenly came out of no were to her right. She squeaked and jumped a little, eyes suddenly alert and scared. Ignoring Shinobi-san's constant and loud laughter with a small pout Saku went back to thinking. Seeing the squirrel reminded her some animal books she read. There where creatures that could walk across surfaces by using weak intermolecular bonds or using material surface tension to their advantage. Keeping those two things in mind Saku had a good idea on how the technique worked so she smiled at shinobi-san. Ready to receive her prize she excitedly explained her logic"
"You concentrated a specific amount of chakra to your feet. Just enough to simulate the necessary weak intermolecular bonding needed to hold your specific weight against the tree's. Too much chakra and the bonding breaks causing a release of energy that would probably harm the tree. Too little chakra and the bonds don't form at all. For a better grip the amount of chakra is evenly distributed along your feet in a manner that allows for the most surface area to weight ratio. Depending on the material the chakra distribution changes but because a tree is sturdy and has a fairly standard non-changing surface, an even distribution of chakra along the feet is likely the best."
Shinobi-san was giving her a weird confused face, does this mean she's wrong? She could have sworn this was a correct answer.
"I have no clue what you're saying kid. How old are you again? Two?"
"Hey! I'm three"
"Like it matters, speak simply! Why don't you just try doing it, then we'll know if you really got it or not."
Saku pouted. She'd never used chakra before, so she knew this part was going to be mostly trial and error. Why couldn't he just tell her if she was right or not? With a grumble and a glare or two sent towards Shinobi-san she tried to think back to what chakra theory she had read. Finding her reserves took her a good 30 mins. She then tried to move the chakra, but it wouldn't even twitch. After another 10 minutes with no results, she tried to ask Shinobi-san how to do it, only to find he wasn't there anymore. In his place was a takeout bag and a note.
Figured you'd be here a while so I got you some lunch. You know my shifts at the library. Come get me when you can do it.
Good luck kid.
'Well he was no help at all but at least he got me some lunch.'
After 2 hours of failed attempts of trying to coax the ball of energy out of her Saku decided to take a break and eat the lunch Shinobi-san left for her. She laid down on the grass and relaxed for a bit once her belly was full. 'I'll have to go home for dinner eventually. I hope mama and papa are back by then.' The wind ruffled the leaves of the tree she was under. Subconsciously, she reached her hand out to the leaves. 'If only calling to my chakra was as easy as picking a leaf off a tree.'
Not two seconds later Saku smacked herself in the face. Of course, she couldn't mold her chakra right, she was trying to mold the whole thing! She tried to mold her chakra again, this time she imagined unwinding the ball at her center until she felt herself moving a long thin piece rather than the whole ball. Saku then sent the strand to her arm and down to her hand allowing for an even distribution of chakra to envelop her arm and hand. To her surprise when she opened her eyes there were a few leaves stuck to her arm and hand. She tried shaking them off but no matter how erratic the movements the leaves stayed on. She was ecstatic! It was a small amount of progress, but it was something! With renewed vigor, she set about trying to do it again. After a few more test runs on separate parts of her body she was going to try going up the tree only for her to lose consciousness instead.
By the time she woke up again Saku had ended up staying at the clearing far longer than she intended and she hadn't even tried walking up the tree yet! How frustrating! But before she could even attempt to get up the tree again, she had to make sure she didn't fall unconscious and potentially hurt herself. She was right in thinking it probably had something to do with how much chakra she was using. Just great, another thing I needed to figure out how to do! That's when she realized it was already dark! Saku quickly got up and raced home. 'I hope mama and papa won't be too mad at me!'
Even if she was disappointed that she didn't even get to try it and even if her mom might scold her, Saku still ran home with a happy, fulfilled smile on her face. Mebuki did scold her too, but it was ok, tomorrow she would master the tree walking technique.
It wasn't until bedtime came around that she remembered her most recent nightmare. 'I'll just have to be stronger. Strong enough that I'll be able to trust that the earth won't kill me or hurt my parents. Strong enough to trust myself to protect my most precious people.' Saku knew she wasn't anywhere near that yet but she promised herself she would be, some day. So Saku decided that she will trust the ground she stepped on for now and she also decided to trust Shinobi-san, at least for now.
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Saku soon found out her biggest issue was not figuring out how the technique worked nor drawing and molding her chakra but more how low her reserved seemed to be. After falling unconscious two more times she finally asked Shinobi-san why she kept fainting. It seemed like no matter how litle she grabbed she will still end up unconscious. The shinobi took her to the hospital, just in case, and they learned that she was using too much chakra. Given her age she had appropreate reserves, but they just weren't big enough for her to be able to do much of anything. She was warned that chakra exhaustion like this was a big no-no and that she could potentially get herself killed. Shinobi-san tried to stop her at that point, but Saku figured 'nothing ventured nothing gained'. But she did start to be a bit more careful about it, and the shinobi kept a closer eye on her. He even lent her scrolls from the restricted section that helped her learn how to expand her reserves. It took her about a week or so of practice and a lot of extra "secret" research on how to best expand her reserves before she was able to bring out chakra repeatedly without fainting. It took a second week to get enough chakra to cover a hand in chakra for an hour, and a third to cover a foot for three hours. Once she was satisfied that she could call enough of her chakra she had to practice distributing and maintaining a flow correctly along her foot. Saku decided to spend a month honing this skill until she could distribute and maintain a flow along every part of her body. At that point, calling chakra to different areas at certain rates became second nature. She didn't even need hand signs to help funnel her chakra. In fact, she never even using them to begin with. After she was confident in her control she finally decided it was time to attempt to walk up the tree. So, she excitedly went to go get Shinobi-san, just in case she fell and needed someone to catch her.
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'I shouldn't have trusted.' Tears mixed with blood were falling from her face as she looked at the almost corpse of Shinobi-san. He had used his body as a shield because she was here. He was dying because she was weak. How did this happen? This morning everything was normal; she was happy, she was learning, she was going to walk up the tree, and she was so excited to show Shinobi-san that she could do it. She should have never trusted the ground she stood on. She should have never cohered Shinobi-san to come to the clearing to show him. She should have never trusted Shinobi-san's words. As the ninja with the stone headband was about to deal the finishing blow with the boulder her body moved on its own; it got in the way, it bled, and she roared in fury. As she felt her chakra surge, a dream came to mind of blond hair and boulders crushed to dust. It felt almost as if it was a fleeing memory, but like the chime of a bell it left as quickly as it came. She hadn't meant to do it but something in her broke through at that moment and her small fist smashed through the large bolder. The resonating sound was nothing short of an explosion and her vision blurred. 'I'm going to die.' 'I wish I would have been stronger. Mama, Papa, I'm so sorry' And with that last thought darkness consumed her.
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Saku's first conscious thought was 'Dying hurts' followed by 'its loud too'. Her eyes opened to see a white ceiling 'Death feels and looks a lot like waking up from a nightmare…Wait!' Saku shot up to a sitting position, only to groan, wince, and fall back onto the bed. Her parents were instantly by her side.
"Saku!" When she felt her mother's embrace she finally realized she wasn't dead. "Oh, thank goodness!" Mebuki cried on her shoulder. As her father kept asking her if she was ok, or if anything hurt.
"I'm...I'm alive." Saku was still in shock. Suddenly she remembered shinobi-san and her senses kicked back into gear. Focusing on the threat at the foot of her small cot.
Before Saku had woken up, Kizashi had been talking to a person with a mask at the foot of her bed, Anbu, she would later come to recognize them as. Saku didn't know who he was, but he scared her. Saku grabbed both her parent's hands, grip tight as she motioned them away from the man. Green eyes and childish features showed their distrust and apprehension. The masked man felt too much like the shinobi with the stone headbands. Mebuki frowned and Kizashi's eyes grew sad, but Saku was distrustful and she was not going to hide it. The masked man decided to stay at the foot of her hospital bed.
"I need you to tell us what happened. Immediately."
"She just woke up!" Mebuki spoke up. The masked man interrupted before she could continue.
"Considering the fact that an Iwa shinobi team somehow made it through to the inner confines of the village, we cannot allow this child to go on unquestioned. We are in the middle of war. One child's discomfort is not worth the death of many." There was a moment of silence.
"Who are you?"
"Anbu, my team and I recovered you and brought you here."
Sakus grip on her parents slightly lessened.
"Hospital?"
the Anbu nodded.
"How long was I?" Saku rasped. Her eyes were unfocused; she barely looked conscious. The small bit of adrenaline she felt upon waking up quickly dissipating. Her head was in pain and every part of her body was uncomfortably sore, but she was alive. "Less than an hour." He responded.
"Is Shinobi-san dead?" Saku's eyes darkened, she knew, but asked the question anyway, because she desperately hoped she was wrong.
"One of the Iwa shinobi is dead, the other two are in custody." She shakes her head and takes a deep breath.
"Is Shinobi-san from the library…Is…Is he alive?" Tears started to stream down her face.
"No."
It physically hurt her to hear the response. Tears were now accompanied by sobs. When her breaths could no longer keep up with her cries, she started to hyperventilate. Her parents holding her close and mumbling words of comfort onto deaf ears. 'He's dead. I…I couldn't…but they...they need…speak!'
It took a while before she could form words again.
"They…came... ground." Saku tried to compose herself before trying to speak again.
"Three. They came out of the ground." her voice was weak but steady.
"The thing they did to come out of the ground, it, it has a time limit. They didn't stay underground very long, I don't think they can. Shinobi-san hurt one of them badly, so he tried escaping underground but didn't get very far before he came back up."
Saku had to stop to compose herself again as she let out another sob.
"Shinobi-san lied to me for the first time today." she whispered as the tears kept trailing down her face.
"He said, "we'll be just fine I'll take care of them." It was three against one and I was nothing more than a sitting duck." She clenched her hands.
"I knew we were going to die, but I trusted Shinobi-san anyway. I was scared for Shinobi-san. I was no help to him, and we were surrounded. I...wasn't strong enough to do anything" Saku couldn't even raise her voice above a whisper without it cracking. Her features contorted to something so painful that Mebuki and Kizashi couldn't help but cry silently with her and encase her in their arms.
Between her sniffles, hiccups, and shortness of breath Saku continued.
"Shinobi-san was very strong and brave...He took them all on. At one point it even looked like he might win."
"One of the stone headband people was injured and the one that went underground stopped moving after Shinobi-san kicked him in the stomach. The last one was a lady that kept hurling boulders in his direction. I think they realized their friend was dead, because after that they started to aim all their attacks at me."
"The injured one threw all kinds of weapons and I remember the lady threw smaller bolders, but they didn't touch me because Shinobi-san, he... protected me." Saku looked away from everyone in the room, staring down at her hands.
"If I wasn't there he would have won, but he protected me. It cost him his life. I wasn't fast enough to avoid it, so Shinobi-san had to save me. He told me that we'll be fine again. I knew it was a lie again, but I kept hoping that maybe..." the sobs came back but this time quieter. Her head hurt from crying, it felt like she had no more tears to cry but they kept coming.
"I kept trying to convince him to run with me. I told him he wasn't allowed to leave me. The injured one started throwing even more knives at us, so he used his own body to protect me again. He was bleeding so much." Her voice was breaking, and she was a sobbing crying mess, but she needed to finish.
Saku had to take a moment to calm herself and her hiccups.
"The last thing I remember is the boulder. She was going to kill Shinobi-san. I don't remember what happened, but the boulder exploded. After that I couldn't see right. I was sure I was going to die. In the end, I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even protect myself. Shinobi-san died because of me." Saku finished and lowered her head again. Her parents at her side tried to comfort her but nothing could stop the hole forming on her heart.
"You broke the bolder."
Both Saku and her parents looked up at that. Surprise written clearly on their faces. Saku eyes quickly turned somber as she whispered under her breath.
"I don't even remember doing it."
"It wasn't enough...I wasn't strong enough."
"What you were doing in that area to begin with?" The Anbu asked, forcing her attention back to him. The Anbu noticed her eyes had a faded spark behind the haunted look. "I had read all the books that I could at the library, so Shinobi-san was teaching me how to do this tree walking trick with chakra. That clearing was the place he first showed me, and the place where I had been practicing using chakra for the past month. I thought I was finally going to be able to do it, so I went to get him. When we went to the area those people came."
"And were you able to do any tree walking?" he asked more out of personal curiosity.
Saku shook her head "I never even got the chance to try. I went to get Shinobi-san in case I fell while trying."
The masked shinobi nodded, accepting her account. He made to leave but suddenly turned back to her.
"If you wish to be strong enough to protect those dear to you, I suggest going to the academy. Remember this experience and grow stronger from it, don't let it end you." With that he left. The Anbu had seen the end of it, how she crushed a boulder with her bare fists and then promptly fainted. Their dead comrade's body folded over as if trying to protect something, or in this case someone. Thanks to the surprise and noise of Saku's sudden prowess, he and his team were able to quickly regroup and take down the two enemies, after landing a few lethal hits with kunai at the seemingly dead body of the last Iwa shinobi, of course. With the two Iwa shinobi in interrogation, this little tidbit about a jutsu that lets them move underground will give the interrogators something to start on. Honestly, he was more surprised that the child was able to describe the situation so well. Originally he had been given the task to interrogate the child as more of a punishment, he didn't expect to get any useful information out of it. It was suspicious. He took a quick stop to get more information on the child.
A few days later Saku's story was confirmed. With the information Saku had provided, they were not only able induce pure memories, but they learned valuable information about the two techniques used to infiltrate the village. The good news was that the second technique that they used to try to locate important bases had partly failed. The jutsu was supposed to identify main bases and normally unvisited sections of the village by the quality and quantity of the trace chakra in the area. Apparently, Saku had a good enough handle on her chakra that she left little to no traces of it in the surrounding area. This made the clearing seem like a generally unvisited location, and with it's proximity to a hidden Anbu base it was a perfect spot. They had planned to infiltrate the base when there was no activity and set up traps. The other technique had a time limit to it, like Saku thought. The time limit depended on how much chakra a user had. It was pure luck, or maybe just plain unlucky chance in Saku's case, that she and that shinobi happened to go there when they had to come above ground. Unfortunately, that was also the only information they got out of the prisoners, before they exploded. It was a good thing Inoichi realized it and got out in time, but it was a close call. The Anbu had examined Saku's files as an extra precaution against her being a spy of some kind. According to her medical file, her speech and overall development isn't very far fetched, based on the cognitive and medical exams that were done when she was just one year old. Saku wouldn't be the first genius to come around in the hidden leaf, but they were rare. It wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on her, especially if she can become an asset to the village. He made sure not to mention that she was able to break a bolder with her bare fist, just in case they decided to throw her into something before she fully developed her true capabilities. War was no place for children.
I'll keep an eye on her for now. We don't need any more children dead because of this war. Especially not one with so much potential.
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It turned out that physically, Saku was mostly fine. Just a little banged up. Not much but a few bruises and scratches here and there, most of the blood wasn't even hers. The real issue was her chakra reserves. They were significantly developed for someone her age but there was very little there at the time. The doctors and nurses wrote it off as normal levels since she was a three-year-old child, and they had more important things to worry about. So she was released from the hospital almost right away.
After being released, Saku spent the next weeks training herself harder then she ever had before. Her parents had refused to enroll her in the academy early. They reasoned with her that she was still too young. But more importantly they weren't willing to lose their child so soon. Especially after they almost actually lost her. She was only 3! Saku threw her first real tantrum at that. It took another nightmare in which she was so easily killed, after drawing attention to herself, that she realized that they were right. She wasn't strong enough yet. It will only bring bad things to her family and herself if she tried to go to the academy early. They didn't want to lose her, and she didn't want to die but she had to get stronger somehow. So she had resorted to serious taijutsu training. Countless hours of continuous nonstop physical excersies. Sometimes she only stopped when she couldn't move anymore. He parents were not happy about that, and would force her to stop and take breaks. Saku would end up useing the time to read more into chakra and human anatomy. She wanted to try to do the bolder breaking on purpose. She would also often even sneak into the restricted section of the library whenever the new librarian would go to the bathroom. She always felt bad about it, but at the same time, she wasn't keen on potentially losing more precious people, or dying, anytime soon.
Saku refused to fall into depression, refused to sit and do nothing. She won't become that useless weak person that could only bleed out as her loved ones were slaughtered right before her eyes. But she also realized that she needed some help and direction, like how Shinobi-san did with the tree walking. She asked her parents to get her books on Kata forms, chakra practical applications, and medical books that where not at the library. Kizashi was hesitant at first but the haunted look in Saku's eyes made him agree. He then proceeded to help her with the Kata and chakra applications as best as he could. Her mother helped her with the reading when she didn't understand things with similar persuasion. In a sense they understood what their daughter was doing. They also understood that the best thing they could do now was support her. At least now she wasn't trying to get herself killed by going to the academy while the village was in the middle of war or by over training herself. She was too young to experience a life or death situation, but it happened. They knew if they restricted her too much it will do more harm than good. All they can do now is help pick up the pieces and support her in any way they could.
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Months into her self-training she felt she was doing better. Molding her chakra to her will has become easier and easier with the more she practiced walking up trees, roofs, ceilings, and pretty much any solid surface she could find in the village. At the beginning she had been very careful going up the tree in a nearby forest and even put pillows on the ground so that she wouldn't hurt herself. He dad right by her side in case anything happened. Once walking up solid surfaces had become second nature she had started water walking. Her mornings became dedicated to doing runs around the village, strength training and practicing kata forms. She had to start eating double what she normally did to keep her energy up. With her rigorus workouts she even gained at good amount of muscle. During her more kata practice and time spent at home, she would train her mind trying to understand the medical jargon in her new books until she didn't need to ask her mother or look in a dictionary. The medical text ended up helping her work out the most efficient way to exercise to optimize her strength without compromising her speed and agility. Despite all her progress she did not attempt to break boulders yet. It wasn't until weeks after the incident, that she vagely remembered what she did, but even then, something was off about that moment. It was as if she wasn't herself but still herself at the same time. The more she learned from the medical texts the more she realized how lucky she was that day. If she had sent too much chakra to her hand she would have damaged her chakra pathways and coils resulting in never being able to mold or harness chakra again, too little and she would have died.
Her busy schedule kept her tired most days which was good since her nightmares had become repetitive. The boulders and the red eyes were haunting her. Sometimes Shinobi-san was there too. Some nights she couldn't stand to close her eyes, instead she spent her time practicing meditation. It was in an attempt to increase her chakra reserves, but she also found it calming to do in general. Mostly though she worked hard until she was too exhausted to dream.
But then it got to the point where even deep exhaustion no longer helped her sleep at night. No matter how exhausted she was they would haunt her. It was still the same dreams as the ones that she had dreamed before Shinobi-san died, the same red eyes and hard earth and stone dreams that had her questioning what and who she trusted and had her judging her ability to be anything more than a weak child. The same ones that she couldn't bear to see after Shinobi-san's death. The same ones that turned out to be some kind of sick prophecy that she should have paid more attention to. She cried again.
As she meditated late into the night, Saku realized something I'm never going to forgive myself for Shinobi-san's death. Never. But she was getting tired of crying. If she had time to sit there and dream and cry, then she had time to put in more training. Just like that she changed her sorrow to determination, because she still had precious people to protect. From that point on whenever she would experience a nightmare she would push herself harder and harder. She made sure that she went to bed more than completely and utterly exhausted both mentally and physically by the day's end.
Her parents were worried. Saku knew. She heard them talking downstairs one time when they thought she was sleeping.
"I worry about her Kizashi. I worry so much, there must be something we can do for her maybe take her to the doctor again? Have someone try to help her through this, anything!"
"Mebuki, you know we are in the middle of war. Even if we did find someone to help her, at her age they wouldn't give her the priority that she needs and deserves, you know that."
"Then how can we help her Kizashi! We can't just sit by and watch our daughter suffer! I can't remember the last time she did anything besides train and read her books. I can't even remember when she last truly smiled." Kizashi hugged his wife.
"You know, Saku is a strong girl. She's every special and very intelligent for her age but she still comes to us about her troubles when it becomes too much. Any other child faced with what she experienced would fall to depression and shut everybody out, but she hasn't. Instead she's determined to grow stronger to protect her loved ones. She's not shutting us out and instead has asked our help. Did you know that she promised me that she would protect us no matter what?" Mebuki stared at her husband in shock.
"Really that child!"
"And she's determined and equally stubborn to do so. She got that from you." He chuckled and Mebuki pouted. Kizashi became serious again.
"I'm worried about her too. I always am and always will be, she's our little girl, but that also means I trust her. She hasn't shut us out and I'm determined to keep it that way. The best we can do right now is support her with equal determination and stubbornness. She wants to be stronger so that she can protect the people she loves, it's not a bad goal to have." Mebuki's smiled sadly. "You're right. I just wish she didn't have to grow up so fast."
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Her parents where always her most loyal and determined teachers. When Saku expressed a need for a teacher to show her medical techniques Mebuki took her to the hospital every afternoon and harassed the staff until someone was willing to at least let her daughter see the workings of a hospital. When everyone was busy, Mebuki did her best to help Saku study and even observed operations with her when she wasn't allowed to go alone. She was surprised when she realized her daughter knew so much about the human body, but it only made her more determined to help fill in the gaps. Since it was war time and the hospital was usually flooded with patients, it was a struggle to try to get anyone to explain anything. Fortunately, Saku seemed to understand the procedures, and was picking everything up fairly quickly. The one good thing that came out of being in a hospital during war time was that they were pretty desperate when it came to helping hands. The second Saku showed an ability to heal small flesh wounds, the nurses and staff quickly took a liking to her. Mebuki realized she couldn't be much help with the medical stuff, but she quickly made up for it by making sure Saku was always well fed, had everything she would ever need, and more importantly she made sure she was present. Even if Mebuki couldn't help her learn certain things she would always be there for Saku.
Kizashi was not one to be outdone and showed equal determination in helping Saku with her strength training, speed, and taijutsu. At first, he was her only sparring partner and needless to say, once she started to use chakra with her punches and kicks Kizashi was quick to get her new sparring partners. Don't get him wrong, it wasn't because he was scared of the damage. In fact he was more proud and impressed than anything, but his daughter was showing a level of skill far above what he can help her with. He had just recognized that she needed more variety in her training, more experience with different people's type of movement.
Once he taught her everything he knew he started bringing her some retired, although crippled, shinobi sparring partners. Although the retirees didn't have their full range of motion it was a good learning experience for Saku, as she learned that some times a disability can be used as an advantage. On the few times an able bodied friend would be available, Kizashi would often bet them that his 3 year old daughter would get them on the ground within a minute. Those sessions would often start with Saku easily dominating because they aren't expecting it, but then as they got more serious, Saku would get in some good practice. Kizashi would sit near by and watch with tea. He was always ready to intervene when needed but if he got a nice laugh and some money out of it Saku didn't seem to mind. Kizashi learned a lot from Saku herself, she didn't exactly follow a specific style or flow yet and a lot of her moves were creatively made based on the situations she found herself in. He would often asked her question and test her on forms as well. He bought new scrolls whenever he could and tried to get her as much taijutsu material as possible. Later the two would go through the piles of literature together and made new taijutsu workout plans. That turned into a fun father daughter bonding activity, a habit that continued well into the future.
Since both parents where with her every step of the way, neither noticed just how fast Saku seemed to retain everything. Sometimes, even they forgot their baby was still only three.
That winter, as the year came to an end; Saku looked up at the stars and thanked whoever was out there, because despite everything that had happened: the death, the blood, the nightmares. Despite the painful empty feeling she still sometimes felt, she couldn't help but be happy that her parents are there for her.
"Then how does one decide what and who to trust in?" Another exasperated face.
"Experience I guess."
'I trust my parents and they trust in me.'
Saku still didn't understand her nightmares. She didn't know why she had them or what they meant but by now she knew they were a part of her. If her parents could trust in her so wholly even when they didn't understand her very well, then she could accept her nightmares. Next time she won't ignore them. Next time she'll take their warning seriously.
