Chapter ONE
A creaking sound signaled the door opening. It was so quiet, only those with very keen hearing would have heard it.
Faint moonlight shone through the gap. Then it was gone as the door was closed just as quietly.
A shadow appeared in the candlelit space, a plate in one hand.
"Toneri?" A girl's voice broke the silence of the cave. It sounded very innocent, almost childish.
The person who had just entered the chamber, Toneri, smiled. "Hello, Sakura-sama." He stepped through deeper and stopped in front of a sacrifice altar. Placing the plate on the ground, he got onto his knees. "How are you feeling, Sakura-sama?" He asked gently. Respect, as well as a hint of amusement and adoration, lit his tone.
"Very well, thank you very much." A girl was sitting on the stone altar, wearing a white high-collared kimono. Bright green eyes blinked back at him. Pink hair sprawled over her shoulders, reaching the floor, uncut since who-knows-when. A pale grey-green sash was tied over her right shoulder. She jumped off the altar as he came closer and ran to the edge of the stone circle. She smiled down at him from the slightly raised ledge.
Toneri smiled and sat down in front of the girl. "Are you hungry?" When the girl nodded, Toneri reached for the plate he had brought and held it up to the girl. "Here."
The male watched the girl eat with an air of posh clan upbringing.
"The Hokage is slowly catching a whiff of something going on in this area. He will no doubt send out a team soon. According to plan, please head to Konoha. From there, everything will go along the flow." He smiled. "Please do not worry."
The girl nodded again. "Do not worry." She repeated.
Toneri stood up. "I will come early tomorrow." He told her. "We can continue our lesson then. For now, please rest?"
"Understood." Sakura smiled up at him.
Toneri smiled back. "You are learning much quicker than I thought you would, Sakura-sama. We can soon move on to the next stage."
Toneri visited Sakura everyday, not that she would know. She had never stepped foot outside the cave. Her whole life had been spent surrounded by rocks and darkness.
Toneri had made sure that Sakura's knowledge on the outside world was as small as possible. That was so that no one would suspect anything of her once she had actually stepped foot outside the cave. That was one of the main reasons as to why the Haruno clan kept to themselves, and all children before the Heir choosing ceremony were not allowed to go outside. They spent their entire childhood underground, never having seen the sun. If said child died during the ceremony, they died without seeing the sun once. There was a lot of things Sakura did not know about the world.
However, Sakura was very knowledgeable about the Ōtsutsuki clan and its system. She knew nearly everything there was to know about their history, and as a direct descendant of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, she would be able to sense the reincarnations of the previous members of the clan.
Toneri taught Sakura often. As a member of the Ōtsutsuki clan, she had an affinity for all five Elemental chakra. Though she had not shown any signs yet, Toneri guessed that she would have an affinity for Yin and Yang release as well. He would not be surprised it she awakened the Tomogoroshi no Haikotsu sometime in the future.
He felt a stab in his chest. A girl so young, forced to shoulder the weight of responsibilities as the head of the Ōtsutsuki clan. And the girl would not know half of it.
And so, he did his best to prepare her while keeping her as innocent as possible.
He taught her katas and other basic form of Taijutsu, explained the theories of a few E and D rank jutsus, and taught her to release genjutsus. He told her about the Suiryu dan no jutsu, the water Dragon technique, something which he regretted, as she talked nonstop about it. For two days straight, she did not stop saying the forty four hand signs.
"Ushi, Saru, U, Ne, I, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Tori, Ne, Tora, Inu, Tora, Mi, Ushi, Hitsuji, Mi, I, Hitsuji, Ne, Jin, Saru, Tori, Tatsu, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Hitsuji, Tora, Mi, Ne, Saru, U, I, Tatsu, Hitsuji, Ne, Ushi, Saru, Tori, Jin, Ne, I, Tori..."
He also taught her the theory of the shunshin. Though she had very good chakra control, she still had not managed to pick it up. Well, she was still five.
However, Sakura had been the most interested when Toneri had talked about the chakra scalpel. Though he could create and use chakra scalpels, he was not very advanced with it. Still, he taught her the basics of the technique, explaining everything precisely.
When she was not trying to do the shunshin, Sakura seemed to be spending her time atop the altar practicing forming the chakra blade.
"We should head deeper in today." Toneri said. He waited as Sakura got enthusiastically to her feet and jump down the stone circle. He then led them further into the cave. "We wil work on your taijutsu, okay?"
The door opened, and Toneri appeared at the entrance. He had a few of his puppets floating behind him, each carrying a person. A plate was balanced on his hands. Like usual, he waited patiently as the girl finished eating. He flicked his fingers and the first puppet dropped the person it had been carrying.
"I was lucky enough to come across a team of Konoha Shinobi." Toneri said. "And I was even more lucky that there was a Hyuga on the team." He crouched down, and smiling, he flipped the man's eyelid with his finger, revealing white eyes. His smile widened. "The Byakugan gives one the power to see chakra, nearly 360° vision, as well as the ability to see vast distances and the chakra pathway system." He dragged the man over. "However, combined with Ōtsutsuki chakra, the Byakugan matures into the Tenseigan." Toneri shifted into a more comfortable position.
"The Hokage is planning to send in a ANBU team in a few days. I will be gone by then, and they will find you here. I suggest playing the innocent card." His puppets each dropped the person they had been carrying. At second glance, one could tell that they were all dead. Their necks had been neatly slit.
"Toneri?"
"Yes?"
"This...outside you mentioned before. Is it...big? What is it like?" Sakura's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
Toneri stopped, his hand hovering over the Hyuga's face. "Yes, it is. It is so big that you cannot see the ends of it."
She grinned. "I cannot wait to see this 'outside'." She paused, and opened her mouth again. "Toneri?"
Toneri raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"What is a Hokage?"
Toneri chuckled and placed a hand on the pinkette's head. "It is better if you do not know, Sakura-sama. It will save you the effort of trying to pretend that you do not know." He said. "Once you get out of here, there will be a lot of things you will probably find very interesting. For example, apart from speech, people can communicate through writing."
"Writing?"
Toneri smiled. "You will find out soon." He indicated the girl closer. "Let us get this started. With this, you can regain the Tenseigan."
"How are you feeling?" Toneri asked. "Your eyes?"
Sakura blinked her eyes. "I feel fine." She told him. With a pulse of chakra, she activated her Byakugan. "No problems."
Toneri let out a sigh of relief. "It is a good thing that your green eyes still showed up after the transplantation. I wonder why that is."
Sakura shrugged. "I see no reason to questions something that will be advantageous for us."
Toneri nodded. "Remember the amount of chakra you insert into your eyes will decide whether or not your Byakugan or your Tenseigan activates."
"Do not fret too much." She paused, frowning. "Toneri?"
Toneri turned to face the girl.
"Do you not want eyes?" She asked. "This...Konoha place you mentioned. Do they not have plenty of Byakugan eyes?"
Toneri smiled. "I cannot move yet. If we act to rashly, it will ruin all the plans we have so carefully set up." He told her. "I have come this long without seeing. I can last a bit more."
"Oh." Sakura bit her lip. "Okay."
Toneri nodded. "Now, where were we up to yesterday?"
"The Puppet-Cursing sphere." Sakura said enthusiastically. She held up her hand, face scrunching up in concentration. Green chakra flared in her hand, molding itself into a sphere. "I can form it." She said. "But it is only momentary and it does bnot do anything, because it is not very stable yet." On cue, the chakra ball vanished. "So I can only use it for straightforward attacks. I can bashing it into an enemy, but that is all it can manage."
Sensing the chakra, Toneri smiled. "Right." He summoned his own. "You are going to have to learn to stabilize the chakra current running through it. As I was saying yesterday, the Puppet-Cursing spheres had multiple uses. Apart from being able to absorb techniques and chakra, it can also..."
"Kakashi, Itachi, Yugao, Tenzo." Namikaze Minato nodded in greeting. The ANBU team took off their masks and bowed in front of the Hokage.
"Hokage-sama." Hatake Kakashi, leader of Team Ro, stood up, his team following.
"I have a mission for you." Minato turned to his desk and passed a scroll to Kakashi .
"There have been reports of suspicious activity on the border between the Fire country and the River country. Also, a team that had a mission around that area have not come back." Minato said. "I want you to check it out." He nodded. "You are to leave at noon."
"Yes, Hokage-sama." The ANBU team bowed once more before vanishing.
"They are rapidly approaching." Toneri crouched by the altar.
"Okay." Sakura fiddled with the hem of her sleeve. She was dressed in a cleaner set of the white kimono she had been wearing all this time.
Sakura slowly stood up. She activated her Byakugan and frowned in the direction Toneri had pointed out to her. She blinked and her eyes turned green again. "Where are you going to be until 'time' comes?"
Toneri looked up and smiled. "Here and there. If I have a chance, I may come visit you once or twice." He said. "Do not forget to practice what I have taught you, and to learn more whenever you have the chance."
"Thank you, Toneri." Sakura murmured. "I await the day we meet again."
Toneri dipped his head. "Stay safe, Sakura-sama."
She nodded. "Likewise, Toneri."
Toneri stood up and straightened his posture. "I will always be with you, Sakura-sama."
Sakura crouched, lowering her neck. She closed her eyes.
Toneri, regret and guilt eating at him, knocked Sakura out with a neat, painless blow to the back of her neck. Catching her, he gently lowered her to the ground and watched the peaceful expression Sakura had on her face, looking as though she was asleep. Once he was sure that she would not be waking up, he grasped her arm. He then reached into his robes and pulled out several objects.
He then set to carving the summoning tattoo on the girl's pale right arm. He had put everything he had into this tattoo, including a seal he had spent nearly all his time away from Sakura creating. A seal that worked only with her Inner. The seal locked up all of Sakura's knowledge and memories of him from other people, including herself.
Only she could access them. This was in case someone from the Yamanaka clan was ordered to go through her memories. To them, it would seem like a gap in the girl's memory. This was also in preparation for the quickly approaching team. This was necessary in order to make the team believe that Sakura was a victim, and that she needed to be taken back to Konoha for protection.
Once Sakura's Inner had deemed it safe, it would drop the barrier in Sakura's memories.
Toneri had also drawn out another seal and had added to the tattoo. This one would store some of his memories within the girl's mind, which would be unlocked one by one when the circumstances were met.
The memories would be triggered when they were necessary, in a life or death situation.
The summoning tattoo was connected to the scrolls he had. Through the tattoo and the correct memory, Sakura would even be able to summon the Statue of the Ōtsutsuki Clan.
The memory of the seal itself would be unlocked as she grew up. For now, she would have to try her best with everything she knew at this point.
Once he was done, he carefully wrapped the tattoo with a clean piece of cloth and gently tied it on. He then pulled out a kunai and roughly shook the girl awake.
Green eyes slowly blinked open, instantly flinching as his fingers dug into her shoulders. He cruelly gripped her pink locks and dragged her to her feet.
The blankness, the confusion and the fear he saw in the young clan head's eyes nearly tore Toneri apart. However, this was necessary. Her Inner would unlock her memories sometime later, and she would probably be furious at him for treating her like this. 'It's necessary.' He told himself.
"Now, girl, stay still if you value your life."
"Two chakra signals, coming from a few kilometers north." Uzuki Yugao reported. Kakashi nodded to indicate that he had heard.
"We'll check it out first." He said. "Any others?"
Yugao shook her head after a pause. "Those are the only two I can sense."
The ANBU team soon came across a huge rock structure.
"Genjutsu." Uchiha Itachi murmured.
Kakashi turned to the 12 year old.
"It is very detailed. The person who cast must be very experienced." The Uchiha continued. At Kakashi's order, he reached out and touched the face of a especially large boulder. A few seconds later, the boulder shimmered, before it vanished, revealing a set of stone stairs that led deep underground.
"The Chakra Signal is coming from down there." Yugao confirmed.
"Don't let your guard down." Kakashi stepped through first, and his team followed.
The ANBU team were halfway down the stairs when the faint smell of rotting flesh and dried blood hit their noses. Without a word, Kakashi quickened his pace. The stairs were lit with candles, casting eerie shadows all over the place. When they finally reached the bottom, they were greeted by a huge door.
"I think we are at least thirty meters underground." Tenzo said.
Kakashi frowned behind his mask and inspected the door. He looked at Itachi.
"No Genjutsu." The Uchiha confirmed.
The ANBU team pushed the doors open, entering the huge cave. Weapons were drawn, ready to attack or defend. The walls glowed a pale green from small stones emitting light. Candles littered the area.
Yugao stiffened and pointed to the foot of a pillar.
"Is that..."
Kakashi was perched by one of the pillars in the next second. Scanning his eyes over the four Konoha shinobi, he turned to his team and shook his head. They were long dead.
"The chakra signals are coming from further in." Ordering Tenzo so see if there were any clues, Kakashi took the lead and led his team deeper into the cave. They soon came out in a open clearing. The green glowing intensified. The ANBU team automatically dropped into position when they sensed someone just ahead. Not a heartbeat later, they caught sight of white haired person facing them. Kakashi narrowed his eyes under his mask. A hostage...?
Now that he looked properly, the white haired guy looked pretty young. His captive looked even younger. He inwardly frowned. 'The Hokage hadn't said anything about a hostage. The white haired teen had one hand buried in the girl's pink hair. The other was gripping a kunai, which was pressed against the girl's throat.
"Do not come any closer."
Kakashi flicked his hand and his teammates stopped.
Kakashi slowly took a step forward. "We're an ANBU team sent here to investigate by the Hokage." He said. "Release the girl."
The teen flicked his hand dismissively. "This one?" He tugged on the girl's hair. The girl let out a pained gasp, hands grasping desperately at the teen's bigger ones. "This one is pretty rare. A Haruno, probably the last."
"Haruno." Yugao murmured. "I've heard that name somewhere."
The teen smiled. The girl whimpered as he shifted.
Kakashi made a few signs behind his back. Itachi noted the part meant for him and readied himself for combat.
The teen didn't make signs of moving anytime soon. He kept a fixed grip on the girl and raised his head for the first time. He looked very calm, and a small smile was plastered on his face.
Kakashi stiffened when he noticed that the teen had no eyes.
Still, they were ANBU, and none of them showed any discomfort at this sudden realization.
Itachi narrowed his eyes. This person must be very used to combat. He must also be very confident of his skills. He probably was the person that had placed the genjutsu at the cave entrance.
A tiny step. That was all Kakashi allowed the enemy to see before all four ANBU vanished in a puff of smoke and a spark of chakra.
The teen smirked.
Kakashi and Itachi attacked first. Kakashi reappeared in front of the teen while Itachi appeared behind. Both their Sharingans seemed to glow in the faint light. The teen dodged Kakashi's first attack and landed a neat kick on the captain. Kakashi raised his arms to block, but was surprised by the force behind the kick. He went with the kick as to not break his arms. He was slightly impressed. To be able to fend of ANBU level ninja without sight...
Itachi brought down his kunai just as the teen whirled around. The girl let out a scream of fear. The teen had met Itachi's strike with the kunai around the girl's neck. Itachi's blade was just a few millimeters from the girl's face.
Itachi inwardly winced and gritted his teeth. Kakashi came at the white haired teen from behind. Itachi pressed back on his blade and jumped backwards. Kakashi and Itachi attack together this time. The teen, even with the weight of the girl, was very fast and very strong.
However, with Kakashi and Itachi's constant, in sync attacks, the teen was forced to use both hands. In that moment, Yugao appeared, snatching the girl from the teen's loosened grasp. Kakashi and Tenzo jumped back to cover her while she gently settled the girl onto the ground. Itachi quickly joined them. Yugao nudged Itachi towards the girl then joined her teammates.
The white haired teen clicked his tongue in annoyance. Before anyone of them could react, there was a surge of chakra, followed by an explosion. The rocks above them cracked, falling down towards them.
Itachi threw himself over the young girl, who let out another soft wail of fear. Itachi clutched the girl to him, shielding her from the debris caused by the explosion.
He sensed movement above him, followed by a cracking sound. Small rocks fell onto him. Someone must have destroyed a slab of rock coming towards them. Judging from the chakra, it was Yugao.
Once the rain of rocks had stopped, Itachi slowly looked up. Nodding at the older kunoichi, he slowly helped the girl to her feet. The girl stumbled, and Itachi carefully wrapped his arm around her shoulder, stabilizing her. Compared to his brother, this girl's limbs were very thin. Her skin was also very pale, as if it had never basked under the sun.
"Uh...the man...is he..." The girl stuttered. She had shuffled away from Itachi and was now cowering in the shadows of the altar.
"He's gone." Yugao announced. "I can't sense him."
Kakashi nodded, then turned to the girl. "Can you tell us what happened?" He indicated to the dead shinobi.
The girl shifted into a even smaller position, eyes flickering with fear.
Yugao stepped forwards in a leave-this-to-me kind of way. "We wont hurt you." She said gently. "Do you know what happened to these people here?" Yugao asked in a softer tone, pointing at the dead Konoha shinobi.
The girl flinched. "No. The man from before...he...I do not now. They were just...there." She gasped out in one breath.
Itachi realized that the girl was no older than his five year old brother, and that thought sent a stab of pain through him.
"What you said earlier. What is a...a...Hokage?" The girl asked softly.
Yugao shot Kakashi a sharp look. "You don't have to worry about that right now." She said reassuringly.
The girl slowly nodded. "O-okay."
"Why don't you come with us?" Yugao asked. "We can take you to Konoha, and you can tell us everything. We'll catch that man, okay?"
"Konoha..." The girl lowered her gaze.
Yugao stepped towards the girl, who quickly flinched away. After receiving a nod from Kakashi, Yugao took off her mask. "I'm...Yugao." She said, deciding to say her name instead of her code name as an ANBU. "These are my teammates, Itachi, Tenzo, and our captain, Kakashi." She pointed to each of them in that order. "What's your name?"
"Haruno Sakura." The girl sank even lower into the ground.
"Sakura." Yugao smiled reassuringly. "Do you know where your parents are? Family?"
Sakura shook her head. "Everyone's dead." She said. "All the adults were dead when I came out. All the children of age are dead too. I killed them."
"You...killed them?"
Sakura slowly nodded. "It is a part of the ceremony." She said. "Held under the name of the new clan head."
"The adults were dead-"
"The Haruno clan, the clan found to have been massacred in Kiri two years ago." Tenzo, who had been inspecting the corpses, spoke from behind them.
Itachi's eyes widened in realization. He quickly nodded, remembering his father saying something about it.
However, nothing about a Haruno clan 'ceremony' popped up in his mind. The Haruno clan were very secretive. The names of the shinobi the clan had produced were barely known. However, these kind of questions could be asked later.
Kakashi turned to Tenzo.
"Their throats have been cut." Tenzo said. "Very cleanly, with the strokes of a veteran."
Kakashi nodded.
"Also, the Hyuga is missing eyes." Tenzo added.
Itachi thought back to the teen. He did not have any eyes.
"We'll bring the girl back to Konoha and report to the Hokage. We'll have to keep a look out for the white haired guy." Kakashi decided. He indicated towards the corpses.
Sakura seemed to quickly warm up to Yugao.
"Come with us to Konoha." Yugao said, beckoning the girl towards her. They all knew the girl didn't have a choice.
The girl struggled to her feet and took a few shy steps towards them. "Where is this...'Konoha'?"
"Konoha is where we come from. It's our home." Yugao reached out and gently helped the girl off the stone circle. "Do you know anything about the guy from before?" She asked.
Sakura shook her head. "But I have seen something following him around." She said.
"What did this person look like." Yugao gently pressed.
Sakura bit her lower lip, then raised her arms, as if mimicking a ghost. "It was like this." She said, swaying from side to said. "It floated. And made these clattering noises when it moved."
Kakashi shared a look with his teammates. "Did you see anything attached to this...thing?"
"Blue stuff." Sakura replied. "Long blue stuff. Blue strings."
She fiddled with her long pink locks. Itachi wondered if she had ever tripped over it. The girl's hair was very long, reaching the floor and dragging behind her as she stepped slightly closer to them.
"Chakra strings." Yugao muttered. "It's most likely a puppet, then. So, a puppet master?"
Kakashi frowned. "He was pretty skilled at close combat." He said. "We should get ready to head back. It'll take us a few days to reach Konoha."
"Um..." Sakura slowly opened her mouth. "Is it true that there are dark times and light times in a day?" She asked.
Yugao slowly crouched in front of the girl. "Can you repeat that?" She slowly asked.
"Are there dark times and light times in a day?" Sakura repeated.
Yugao shot her captain a sharp look, to which he responded with narrowed eyes.
"Yes." Yugao finally answered. "Night times are when the sky is dark. Day time is when it is light."
"Night is when the ball of fire sleeps, right?" Sakura asked, excitement in her voice. "Day is when it is awake."
Yugao nodded.
"One of the kids, a cousin of mine, he stepped beyond the walls when he heard his parents talking about it. He told me." Sakura said. "But then he was taken away. I don't know where he went after that. I never saw him again. Not even at the ceremony."
Yugao gently petted Sakura on the head. "Don't worry about that for now." She said. "We need to check a few thing. Itachi will look after you."
At Kakashi's orders, Tenzo and Yugao began searching for clues, leaving Itachi with the girl.
"How long have you been in this cave for?" Itachi asked as gently as he could, voicing the question that had been nudging at him. It was pretty obvious the girl hadn't cut her hair in some time. The length of the girl's hair must have had at least five ears worth of growing. And though she could speak, she didn't seem to know anything about the outside world.
"Cave?" Sakura asked.
"Have you never been outside?"
"Outside?" She repeated. "I believe I have heard that word before, but I cannot recall where exactly. What is an outside?"
Itachi narrowed his eyes just slightly behind his mask. "It is something beyond the rocks here." He explained, trying to explain as simply as possible.
"Oh. I have never...been there." Sakura finally said. "Children were not allowed outside. When I came here, the man did this thing where we moved very fast. I did not get to see."
Kakashi called out to them. "We'll first look further into the cave and see if we can find any more clues." He said. "Then we'll head back."
"To Konoha?" Sakura asked.
Kakashi nodded.
Sakura smiled hesitantly.
Uchiha Itachi was a genius, a prodigy. Everyone that knew him would agree. He knew a lot of things that many people did not know and could understand things most people did not understand.
However, Uchiha Itachi did not understand why he had been put in charge of babysitting Sakura. Would Yugao not be a better option?
At Kakashi's order, they had brought Sakura along as they headed further into the cave, in search of some kind of clue. Itachi himself had been uncomfortable with the idea of leaving the girl behind.
"Do you know how deep this cave goes?" Yugao asked.
Sakura shrugged. "I do not know. I was never allowed to leave the altar. When the man was not here, the edges gave off this spark. When I tried to step off, there was this zap. It hurt. Then the man would come back and..." She frowned, her face scrunching up. "But it goes very far." She paused. "I believe the man would sometimes go in, and he would come back for a while."
Itachi had a lot of things he wanted to ask, but kept his mouth shut. They had plenty of time for questions in Konoha.
However, not much later, the girl had begun to tire. After a moment of staring at the girl, he had crouched and offered her his back, expecting her to understand and climb on, just like Sasuke always did.
Sakura blinked at him in confusion.
"Climb on." Itachi prompted, looking over his shoulder.
"Climb...on?" Sakura stared at Itachi, then at his back.
Itachi nodded. Hesitantly, Sakura stepped towards him. Itachi softly guided Sakura, instructing her on where to place her arms and legs. Once he had a firm grip on her, he stood up.
Sakura squealed at the sudden height and gripped Itachi's hair.
Kakashi inwardly chuckled at the scene occurring behind him.
Sakura had taken a fascination with Itachi's hair, claiming that it was 'unnaturally soft' and that 'boys should not have such soft hair'. When Itachi had asked her where she had heard that, Sakura had gone quiet. "Someone from the clan, I think." She had said. Itachi hadn't pressed it any further.
Itachi inwardly winced at the extra harsh tug on his hair. Still, he did not complain, and instead, shifted his arms so that Sakura didn't slip off his back. The girl was five, and she was much lighter that Sasuke. That thought worried him just slightly.
"Okay, let's head out." Kakashi ordered. Apparently he, Yugao and Tenzo had finished checking the rest of the cave. The path of rocks led much deeper than Itachi originally thought.
Shifting the girl's weight, Itachi stepped up behind his teammates as they made their way up to the entrance.
"Ready?" Itachi asked quietly. "Just outside, is a world I doubt you have seen before."
Sakura let out a soft breath.
Itachi stepped out after Tenzo, with Yugao at his feet. Sakura's hands flew from Itachi's hair to her eyes. The rest of the team waited patiently for the girl to get used to the change in her surroundings. After a while, she removed her hands and slowly blinked, before groaning and closing them again. "It is so..." She trailed off.
She looked so confused that Itachi could not help it. "Bright?"
"Bright? What is bright?"
Itachi winced. "It is when something gives out or reflects light."
"Light..."
Itachi pointed towards the sky . "Light is something that helps us see. Without light, we would not be able to see anything."
Sakura slowly nodded. "I know that one." And she looked up. Her eyes widened and she slowly reach upwards, grasping at a cloud. "What is that?"
"A cloud." Itachi said.
"And that...big blue thing. What uis that?"
"That is the sky. It goes on forever. Sometimes, the clouds cover it and we cannot see it, but it is always there." Itachi felt like he was teaching his brother again, just at a much quicker pace.
Sakura seemed satisfied for the moment.
The journey back to Konoha went very smoothly. Yugao kept a constant look out, but the white haired teen didn't make an appearance. Itachi and Yugao took turns carrying Sakura, who kept her eyes peeled to take in everything. Even Kakashi agreed to slow down just a bit in order to let her look at things.
Sakura asked about almost everything. She asked about the moon and the stars. She asked about the waterfall they had rested by, and about the trees they flew through. She declared that the shadows they cast across the ground during sunrise and sunset were scary.
She even asked about the food passed to her during their first break. She had only ever eaten rice, which, according to the girl, had been a tradition of her clan. Adults got to eat 'green leaves' (vegetables) and 'brown, roundish things' (meat). 'Ceremony candidates only ate rice', she had said. She had also told them that the heir would be given 'Adult food' once he had been announced. Everyone around her was slowly putting the pieces together, but they didn't want to believe it.
Had it been that in the Haruno clan, the heir was chosen through pitting the children together? Did the winner become the next head?
That didn't seem real, as if that were the case, there would be no children left. Also, it seemed too cruel, even for a shinobi clan. How would children kill one another anyways?
At night, Yugao shared her sleeping bag with the young girl. The closer they got to Konoha, the more questions Sakura asked. Everyone tried their best to answer her questions. In three days, they had reached Konoha gates. Kakashi led his team through the gates after talking to the guards, then took them straight to the Hokage's office.
The secretary quickly sent a message to the Hokage, and they were soon permitted to enter the office. Kakashi went first, to give the Hokage a brief story of what had happened, and to explain Sakura's presence.
Sakura was settled on Itachi's back. She had her nose buried in the Uchiha's hair, trying to hide from the looks everyone who passed by gave her.
There was a second call, and the rest of Team Ro entered the office. Sakura, who was clutching onto Itachi's hair, looked up.
Namikaze Minato smiled gently at the girl. "Hello, Sakura-chan." He said. "I am Namikaze Minato, the Hokage of Konohagakure."
Sakura-sama, you are the heir I have long awaited for.
You are the key part in the revenge that we will soon unleash on all of humanity.
Sooooo...chapter one!
Tell us what you think, okay? The last quarter was rushed, so there may be a few errors. Also, the ending was sort of lame. We didn't know how else to end it.
Darque: We'll try and keep the word count for each chapter at 5000.
Raven: However the updates will be slightly slower, I guess.
Darque: Now, what you think about this story? Raven is a type of person that can do things when he actually wants to.
Raven:...Er...thanks?
Ideas and suggestions are welcome!
Read and review~