Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto.

When Broken

You need to move on.

Chapter Three: Birth of the Darkness

Sakura was standing outside on an open field. The sky was cloudy. It was going to rain soon. Still, she stood as a statue, unmoving. In front of her was a man she had sworn allegiance to, for power. He is still weak from the recent body change, but still unbelievably powerful. He can kill her in an instant, and she knows that.

Orochimaru has a smirk on his face as he paces, and Sakura eyes him carefully. It was early in the morning, and the few birds that had been singing, left at their arrival. They feared the serpent.

Orochimaru had decided to train Sakura before Sasuke. Sakura didn't know why, but she was grateful. She was weaker than Sasuke, she needed all the advantage she could get. She wanted to be strong. Strong enough to stand on her own and do what she needs to help Sasuke. Every effort she'd give would be foundation for the future. She was ready.

Finally Orochimaru stops his pacing and turns to Sakura. "Well, well, Sakura. You too, have come to me seeking power."

Sakura nods.

"And your loyalty. Will your loyalty be with me?" He hisses.

"As long as Sasuke is with you. I will be." She assures.

Orochimaru laughs, entertained. "Show me what you can do, girl."

Sakura did as he asked. She showed him every ninjutsu she knew, every attack, all her chakra. She gave it her all, but she knew it wasn't enough. She was breathing heavily when she was done. Would she be accepted? Would Orochimaru still train her despite her being so weak? Or would she be thrown away as trash?

It was impossible to tell with the face Orochimaru had on. His face was indifferent, uncaring, and all the amusement and interest had been flushed away. "You're weak." He says blandly.

Sakura doesn't reply. There was no need to deny the truth.

"Your chakra level is decent, but it is messy. You don't know how to concentrate it, you're a healer. Like that woman." Orochimaru seethes. "You would be better suited training with Tsunade. You're just like when she was young, she would know just how to deal with you."

Sakura remained silent.

"But you have potential like her. I once recognized her as my equal you know. If she had considered more of the power she could have got when she was like you… and went with me… Then perhaps she would be powerful today." Orochimaru murmurs to himself. "But anyhow, what you need to do, Sakura, is use more concentrated bundles of chakra. That is Tsunade's secret, and with my help, you can surpass that old woman with the technique."

Orochimaru takes a few steps closer to Sakura and holds out his hand. "Expel your chakra out like this." Chakra, like flames emerges from Orochimaru's hand.

Sakura did the same.

"Now let it take the form of the wind, in flow, without restraint." Orochimaru waves his hand around, in elegance that didn't suit him. Nonetheless, Sakura mimicks his movements. "Once you have complete control over this free-flowing chakra, launch it. This is called the shinideau. It is the 'encounter of death'. This attack is specifically used for targeting living things. It does not work on anything not inert." Orochimaru continues then to let his hand flow around him, the chakra flowed freely around him. And then, swiftly, he snaps it past Sakura and something, like lightning flies by inches from her head.

Sakura lowers her own hand and turns to look. A tree had been hit by the shinideau, blue chakra flowed beautifully around it. It looked enchanting for the few seconds it stood, before the leaves starts to blacken, and fade to dust. The tree was left bare. It wasn't anything obvious, but the tree had died.

"Everything living owns chakra, even if just a small morsel. You can take that chakra inside a living being and use that chakra to destroy a person. Chakra is different for every person, and it's their own chakra that has the greatest capability of killing them. Their strength is their greatest weakness, their weakness their greatest strength."

Sakura swallows and repeats Orochimaru's actions. When she flung her arm aside, her chakra left her hand in a small harmless flame, and disappeared the next instant.

"I don't expect this to be mastered today." Orochimaru hisses. "I don't expect this to be mastered in a week. You may take a year on this, it is a difficult move. But I do remember you from the Chuunin Exams. You are smart, and that is your strength if anything. You will find a way to master this faster than the average ninja."

With that, Orochimaru disappears, leaving Sakura alone on the meadow. The sky darkened as Sakura repeated Orochimaru's steps over and over again. She didn't give a damn about Orochimaru's expectations. She had her own expectations to live up to. So she kept at it, she didn't stop. Shinideau would be hers.

It starts to rain after an hour. Sakura looks up to the sky and wonders if she should stop. She shakes the thought away as quickly as it came. She wouldn't stop trying, she would never, not until her limbs were all torn from her body. Sakura allows both her arms to flow and let her chakra build up. Water starts to gather around her arms as well, and drops sprays from them. Then Sakura flings her arms, and she saw it. A short, clear, streak of lightning shoots in front of her.

It wasn't long enough to reach anything, but it was there. It was concentrated and Sakura knew it was deadly. She suddenly figures it out. Orochimaru had said the shinideau was like the wind, but it wasn't. The wind had its flow, but the shinideau was a more controlled power. It was the water. Its flow wasn't like the wind, but a stream. When she dipped her hands in the shinideau, it bound itself to her like water. Wet, dripping with anticipation.

Sakura tries again and controlls the chakra like water. It was better, but it wasn't good enough. Sakura spends the rest of the day, practicing. She wasn't satisfied at the end. She went back to have some bread, and went back to the meadow. The rain had gotten heavier, it had turned into an ugly storm. The water flows around her and somehow she feels empowered. The water was shinideau's strength, and the more water Sakura had around her, the better control she seemed to have. She practices through the night and onto the next day.

Finally, Sakura throws her arm toward the nearest tree and it's long and stable enough to hit the thing. The tree sparks for a minute with her chakra but then her chakra is washed away with the rain. Sakura yells in frustration. Two days had passed and she'd only barely made progress. She wonders how much stronger Sasuke had gotten. His training must have begun as well.

Sakura picks herself up and continues. Her mind slowly starts to deteriorate as she practices. She becomes more and more mindless with her training, and didn't leave the field for anything outside living essentials. The first week passes with her hitting a tree and killing it, but it had no grace and she knew it wouldn't be approved by Orochimaru.

She kept practicing. Her mind, her soul, went into her training. This was what she wanted, a chance to become stronger, and she knew what she had to do. The training was harder without the rain, but she had more control and could manage without the water. Sakura starts to run around to gain momentum and improve her control of the shinideau, and it wasn't until a month later when she finally felt that she could approach Orochimaru.

Kabuto leads Orochimaru out into the field. Orochimaru eyes Sakura with interest. "A month is too long. You have already exhausted my interest Sakura. If it takes you this long to learn such a move, then you should leave."

Sakura stares at Orochimaru from a few yards away.

"I don't care if you have learned the move now." He adds with mild amusement. She was an outlived toy. He turns from Sakura.

The old Sakura would have trembled, cried, maybe reduce to groveling. The Sakura that was standing now, began to run towards the snake man. Chakra built around her arms, and the shinideau gave a loud screeching before it took a wondrous form. Sakura let the chakra build, and let all of it be sent to prove herself. She was worthy, worthy of Sasuke's attention. She was worthy of Orochimaru's.

Orochimaru turns just in time to see what shinideau had turned into within a month's time. The chakra around Sakura's arms took a faint shape. They were like dragons, and they screeched loudly as they neared him. Sakura flung her arms at him, and the dragons instantly disappear into lightning, and shoots towards him.

Orochimaru flings his arms in front of him creating a small barrier. His eyes widens as the two lightning bolts split in front of him and circles him. They shoot into his body and he screams. Sakura's chakra hovers around him, threatening to eat his life away.

Orochimaru begins laughing. "Excellent! Just excellent! You've taken shinideau to an entirely new level. I suppose you're not the useless little girl I assumed you were. I am pleased, so very pleased."

Sakura's chakra disappears around him.

"Now the real training can begin." Orochimaru hisses.

To be continued…

Author's Note

People actually left me a few reviews ;_; I'm so thankful. Those who are actually enjoying this little made-up story, I hope you liked this chapter! I'll try my best to give you what you want to read, but it's always hard since I'm aiming for such weird audiences. Anyways, thank you my readers for being here for me, until the next chapter guys!

-creativename

Next time on "Severed": Orochimaru begins to train Sakura to a higher level. Sakura indeed proves herself worthy of the training, but she still does not have Orochimaru's entire trust. What will he make Sakura do to prove herself? Will her resolve crush with his request, or will it strengthen and prove itself true? Read the next chapter to find out!