Shadow Man
Koomahana
chapter 1: and so the secret spills
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She sat nervously in the seat beside her friend, Naruto in all of his oblivious enthusiasm continued chattering and swinging his feet. She remained at his side, head bowed, eyes shadowed, body shaking and her right hand clapping Naruto's like it was a life line. She could feel the Hokage's eyes on her, feel the weight of the questions he had, feel the weight of his guards hiding in the room, feel the weight of the situation at hand baring down on her like a mountain. She was scared, terrified, of this man she hasn't yet met but was also related to her friend; how dangerous was the Hokage anyways?
"Jiji!" Naruto whined loudly, "you're not listening!" The old man chuckled and straightened in his seat, his folded hands dropping from in front of his face to reveal the gentle smile he was previously bidding.
"Sorry Naruto-kun," she glanced up briefly to look at her friend, watching his bright blue eyes light up with his grandfather's attention. "I was wondering if little Sakura-Chan was feeling okay." Sakura jumped as Naruto's attention was instantly on her, eyes wide and scared as he examined her face carefully. He raised a hand and lifted her bangs carefully, knowing full well she didn't like people seeing her forehead.
"Sakura-Chan!" Naruto's voice cracked in worry, his big blue eyes widening as his face neared her own. "Are you feeling sick again?! You want me to get you some water?!"
"N-Naruto-kun," Sakura stuttered, her cheeks pinkening as she shook her head. Naruto pulled his hand back slowly, letting her hide behind her wall of pink once more. He knew it was her way of protecting herself from others, she was sensitive to others emotions and knew that just looking into someone's eyes often made her feel ill. "J-just... Just a little," Sakura stuttered out, her cheeks still pink beneath her matching hair. Naruto gave a small reassuring smile before hopping off the chair. "Ah! N-Naruto-kun!" She didn't want him to leave her, there was something truly scary about his grandfather.
"Don't worry Sakura-Chan!" Naruto smiled up at her, "I trust jiji! And you trust me so there's no problem!"
"Huh?" Sakura tilted her head to the side, her fear remained strong as her grip on his hand has yet to loosen.
"A shinobi can't serve someone they can't trust, right?" Naruto asked, laughter seemed to shimmer his summer blue eyes. Sakura nodded purely, wondering what he was trying to get at. "Well I'm gonna be the best Hokage in history! So if I say you can trust him then you can!" Sakura took in a deep breath, her eyes widening behind her pink fringe. "When I become the Hokage, you'll be my best shinobi! That means you trust me lots and lots!" Sakura nodded quickly, just to reassure this truth she hadn't noticed taking place. "Well I trust jiji and you trust me, so you can trust jiji too!" Sakura looked hesitantly through her bangs up at the old man sitting before them. His arms were resting on the desk in comfort, his smile was gentle even as his eyes glittered in amusement, even his face seemed to relax as he stared fondly at Naruto. She couldn't sense him anymore, that darkness she felt when she entered was gone, like a leaf on the wind. Slowly Sakura returned her attention back to Naruto, staring into his bright glittering eyes like she could find a support beam to hold on to. Taking in a deep steadying breath, Sakura slowly nodded her consent and released Naruto's hand; resting both of her own in her lap.
"Great! I'll be right back Sakura-Chan!" Naruto cheered and dashed for the door. "Oh yeah!" Naruto stumbled to a stop, turning he looked back at the chair containing his friend, his smile widened as he saw that she was already leaning halfway out of the seat to watch him go. "Crow-San is here! So you're really, really, super safe!" As if to make a point, the ANBU agent appeared crouching beside the chair Sakura remained in. The man chuckled as Sakura exclaimed excitedly and dived into his arms, feeling comfort and safety in the agent's warm embrace. There were few people Sakura trusted outside of her parents and best friend. The others happened to be the guards of said best friend and of the two rotating teams, Crow was her favorite. Naruto laughed as he dashed out of the room, another guard named Raven appeared before following the excited blonde out of the room. Raven was the leader of the second team that protects Naruto, she was relaxed and calm enough to not care who sees her and who doesn't. Sakura respected the woman greatly as she never hesitated to make her presence known when a threat was nearby but she didn't interfere in their scuffles and only observed their reactions to the threat at hand. Crow was Sakura's favorite because he didn't hesitate to protect them or randomly grab them up and start roof hopping for the fun of it.
"Sakura-Chan," Crow's voice was soft and gentle, reminding her to focus on the meeting she was participating in. "Remember your manners and everything will be okay." Sakura sighed as Crow stood and took the two steps it requires to sit in the chair comfortably. Sakura snugged closer to him and kept a tight hold around his neck, she was scared to look at the Hokage.
"Sakura-Chan," Hiruzen called gently, trying to relax for her benefit. "I would like you to tell me how you did what you did." Sakura didn't respond, instead she remained statue still in Crow's hold, face hidden in the crook of his neck. The room fell silent as the men waited patiently for the girl to answer the question, after a minute and a half a soft snore was heard from the pinket.
"Sakura!" Crow barked, he pushed her away and snatched up both of her cheeks, pulling them apart as he scolded her. "That is very rude! Pay attention when someone is speaking to you! Don't fall asleep!"
"Swawee!" Sakura cried, tears rolling down her cheeks as Crow continued to stretch her cheeks as punishment. "Weelee! Eas et o!" Crow released her cheeks and she immediately slapped both hands over them protectively.
"It's very rude to ignore someone who's speaking, young lady," Crow told her sternly. "Now answer Hokage-sama's questions." Without acknowledging the girls pout, he lifted her into the air, spun her around and sat her down in his lap again. This time she was forced to face Hiruzen, unable to escape his curious black eyes.
"Sakura-Chan, can you tell me how old you are?" Hiruzen smiled at her, hoping it would put her at ease.
"...five," she answered, her pout not lessening as her hidden gaze slipped to the floor. Hiruzen nodded, he already knew everything about her: from her blood type to the pointed time she had been born, even who her parents were and their relation to the village. Her father was a simple merchant, he traveled with his family before settling in Konoha with his chosen wife. He continued being a merchant but he simply supplied the storefront for it instead of accompanying the merchandise around the continent like he used to. Her mother was a civilian baker, a seventh generation konohanian whose family moved into the valley as a support civilian family while the village was under construction. Sakura Haruno: an eighth generation konohagakure resident, blood type o negative, chakra level nearly undetectable, appearance average for her father's family tree, age five years three days ago.
"Can you tell me if you can use chakra like Naruto-kun says?" The little girl straightened in Crows lap, as if she was surprised by the question. But then her shoulders slumped, her head tilted to the side and her bangs parted just enough to guess her expression. He had the distinct impression that the girl was staring at him dully, like he just asked her what color the sky was. Crow sighed and shifted his legs, reminding the girl to use her voice instead of staring like a fish.
"Yes," Sakura answered, sighing heavily as if she thought the question was an obvious one.
"Can you tell me how you managed to save children a few days ago?" Hiruzen watched as the girl's spine straightened, her hidden eyes rising to look in his direction but he couldn't tell where her eyes were locked. The little girl seemed to be staring at him in consideration, as if weighing the pros and cons of telling him her knowledge. Finally, after what felt like a moment too soon, the girl slumped against Crow's breast plate and let her bangs part to reveal one closed eye.
"I... I felt something," Sakura whispered. "Like... darkness but a different kind, like it wished bad things and wanted bad things. I didn't know where it was going but I knew... I knew my friend was in danger so I moved."
"Can you tell me what that dark thing wanted?" Hiruzen asked, Sakura's closed eye opened and he regretted asking the question. The little girl's eye was dull and lifeless, lost in a memory she wanted to forget but didn't know how. It was a strange shade of green, like the early morning mists of the springs were dyed apple green and left to drift aimlessly amongst the still pools of the hot springs.
"He wanted things dyed in red," Sakura whispered, "he... He wanted..." Sakura's face scrunched up, shaking her head again, Sakura maneuvered her bangs back over her eyes. "He wanted bad things," she turned away from Hiruzen, laying her head against Crow's shoulder and pretending to disappear in his tightening embrace. Hiruzen remained silent for a moment, he could guess what she meant by that and a part of him was angry that a little could sense the negative emotions of the kidnapper. But what made him madder was that the agents protecting Naruto hadn't been able to sense him until the intruder appeared in the park and made a b-line straight for the children. Sakura and Naruto had the misfortune to be near several bloodline carrying children; such as Hinata Hyuga and Sasuke Uchiha. Their a pointed guards had been nearby and closing in fast but it was Sakura who appeared before Sasuke and Hinata. According to the guards of the two heirs, Sakura's practice Kunai reached up to block the fist of the intruder. The man paused briefly and it gave Sakura the needed amount of time to slice open his wrist and send her free fist into his jaw. The two guards had their respectful bloodlines activated so neither one missed how bright Sakura's fist was glowing, they also hadn't missed how the girl immediately fainted. The two guards were able to retreat with the children to the hospital, several chunins rushed forward to help carry the children while they left the Anbu agents to deal with the wounded intruder.
"Sakura-Chan, can you tell me how you got in front of the man so quickly?" Hiruzen asked, he tried to be as gentle as he could but he could see how the question wasn't appreciated.
"I read it in a book," Sakura grumbled. "The ninja dash is something lots of older ninja do. But the book didn't tell me how to do it so I watched lots of older ninja to see what they did. I caught sight of a hand sign and started practicing it. It took me a long time to get it... but I'm still bad at it."
"How so?" Hiruzen asked, "other children your age can't perform that jutsu. I think you did beautiful in that situation."
"I went too far in front of them," Sakura turned to look at Hiruzen, her face twisting into a grumpy look. "I wanted to get behind them, grab them and retreat back to Naruto-kun. Instead I ended up in front of him and had to ruin my birthday present."
"Your birthday present?" Hiruzen asked curiously, the girl sighed heavily.
"Aunty made me a dress and I got blood on it." Sakura explained sullenly. "And Naruto-kun gave me the wooden kunai to play with. I broke that one too."
"A wooden kunai?" Hiruzen questioned. Crow shifted in discomfort, a harsh cough cleared his throat and gave him the opportunity to sign the word that explained what she meant. Sakura didn't have any blunted, lightweight, old shinobi weapons on her at the time of the attack. She only had the single wooden practice kunai; to which she used to sever a major artery in the man's wrist. A cut from something so dull would surely be painful, at least a blunted metallic kunai would've cut the skin cleanly. A wooden kunai shouldn't have done anything to the man, unless it was severely damaged and had fried edges but even then the man wouldn't have gotten anything more than a sliver.
"I..." Sakura hesitated, "I put chakra in it... and it broke." Hiruzen flinched, no wonder the intruder needed surgery. The girl accidentally sharpened a wooden toy to a lethal extent but didn't have the chakra control to keep its form so the wooden kunai exploded, which of course created even more damage to the exposed artery.
"What book did you read about the ninja-dash from?" Hiruzen asked, again he sensed that she was giving him a dull look as if she thought the answer was obvious.
"'Chakra Knowledge for Dummies'," Sakura answered dully. "Amongst others I found in the library." Crow cleared his throat, trying to stifle his laughter before it surfaced, Hiruzen found himself giving the young man an amused smirk.
"Can you tell me any other skills you've picked up from the library?" Hiruzen asked curiously
"Yes," Sakura answered truthfully but when she didn't elaborate, Hiruzen realized the verbal trap he walked into.
"Will you tell me about your skills?" Hiruzen questioned
"I...I can only do the basics," Sakura answered stiffly. "Wall walking is easy so long as it doesn't move. Pushing chakra to hands is super easy but the real challenge is injecting my chakra into something else. It's really hard because if I don't do it right I can hurt the recipient."
"Recipient?" Hiruzen raised an eyebrow at the girl, "are you trying to be a medic Sakura-Chan?" The little girl sighed heavily, as if resigning herself to a fate of twenty-questions.
"No I want to be the best ninja so I can stand at Naruto's side when he becomes Hokage." She huffed and looked at Hiruzen, her lips twisting once more into the pout he was starting to get used to seeing on her face. "Naruto-kun gets hurt a lot so I have to know how to heal if I want to see him reach his dream."
"Why do you want to Naruto-kun to reach his dream?" Hiruzen asked curiously. No one else believed the blonde would be able to reach his final goal, other than himself and a handful of anbu agents. "No one else believes he'll make it that far, no one else believes in Naruto-kun. Why do y-"
"Because the shadow man said he'd be Hokage!" She sounded so angry and frustrated that she hadn't realized just what she said. "I trust Naruto because he protected me! I trust him because he's always at my side! He doesn't leave me behind! He doesn't hurt me! He doesn't-"
"Who's the shadow man, Sakura-Chan?" Hiruzen interrupted, the girl fell silent, her face paling as realization and fear filling her being. With a gasp Sakura buried her face into Crow's chest, her tiny fists shaking as she gripped at his arm fearfully.
"Sakura," Crow murmured, his voice was cold and hard, making the trembling little girl freeze in his lap. "Who is the shadow man? Is he a threat? Will he hurt-"
"No!" Sakura's voice broke as she pushed away from Crow's chest to look earnestly in his eyes or at least into the eye-holes of his mask. "I swear Crow-San! The shadow man is trying to protect us! He wants to keep safe!"
"Safe from what?" Hiruzen asked stiffly, Sakura bows her head in shame.
"From the war that's coming," Sakura answered softly. She carefully turned towards Hiruzen, her head bowed and her hands in her lap. "Shadow man says that in ten years a new war will rage. If we don't do something in time, then the five great nations will shatter into ashes and dust." She lifts her face enough to look at Hiruzen through her wall of bubblegum pink locks.
"Why tell you this? Why didn't he come to me?" Hiruzen asked, his eyes narrowed in thought.
"...you... you wouldn't believe him." Sakura answered weakly. "You would treat him like a trick of the light or an illusion from an enemy." She hesitates again, "you... you wouldn't believe anything he has to say..."
"But why would he go to you, Sakura-Chan?" Crow asks, "why'd he chose you?"
"B-b-b-because," Sakura blushed and bowed her head in shame. "Be-because... I-I'm th-the key..." She looks weakly up at Hiruzen before turning to look at Crow. "Shadow man says that I'm the one who finds the sun and moon. He says that their strength is my strength. So if I'm not strong enough then neither are they and they HAVE to be strong. If they're not, then the war will end in embers and cries."
"But... How does he know? How does he know you're the key? How does he know about the war? How does he know about its end?" Hiruzen asked, there a thousand other questions rushing through his mind. None of the answers he could come up with painted a very pleasant picture and he wanted all of the information available before he made any decisions.
"Because," Sakura huffed at him, "he's not from our world."
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okay, I wrote out this whole chapter on my phone. so some words or names might've been auto corrected into something else.
PLEASE tell me about the mistakes I might've made. I tried really hard to make sure all the names were correct.
anyways. thank you all for reading!
