Knight of Wands
Opposition of this card indicates frustrations, delays, and the need to compensate for something that you lack control over.
Up: action, adventure, fearlessness
Reversed: Anger, Impulsivity, recklessness
"First day of class!" An enthusiastic voice calls as hands forcefully shake the snoozing body that's happily cocooned in a pile of blankets.
Rather than dignifying the rude awakening with a response, Sakura flips over and pulls the duvet over her head. Magic school or no, early mornings are not her thing, especially after the late-night private session with her partner.
"Come on, Sakura," an exasperated Ino whines as she settles for ripping the entire set of bedding off her very annoyed roommate. "What type of friend would I be if I let you sleep through your first class."
Realizing that it's time to admit defeat, Sakura begrudgingly rises from the mattress and begins shuffling around the room to get ready. "Fine…" she lets a sigh escape her, "do you have a spell that can magically cause caffeine to enter my body?"
"Tough out of luck, sweetie," Ino responds as she begins brushing out her golden strands of hair. "That sounds like the job for your Match."
Sakura's stomach begins to turn in knots at the mention of her partner. Last night was an obvious disaster and just further provoked her unease of their whole situation. The thought of how quickly July approaches gnaws at her, causing her fingers to tremble and making it extremely difficult to apply any make up.
Once both girls are ready, they set out to their first class. "How was last night by the way?" Ino asks, a sense of wariness in her voice. The more experienced witch is obviously still hesitant when it comes to the Uchiha boy, though she tries to hide it.
"I don't think he likes me very much," Sakura states, thinking of all their interactions to date. Though their attitudes towards each other dance the line of hot and cold, it's obvious there is a wall between them. She would be lying if she claimed to not have contributed to that, especially after her conversation with the Hokage, which did little to quell her fears of the situation. Dark magic or no, her Match's last partner is still dead.
"Sasuke doesn't like anybody," Ino responds with a snort, "he never really has."
Sakura lets out a humorless chuckle at her roommate's words. Though, she's not sure if they are meant to comfort her or if the other girl is simply stating a fact.
"Isn't the whole Match thing supposed to mean he has to like me?" she questions, everything about their situation is still so confusing.
"Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way," Ino responds as she ushers Sakura into the classroom. It's less than magnificent with ordinary black tables for the students to sit at and a dirty, freestanding chalkboard at the front of the room.
"Like any type of relationship you still have to build up trust and grow with each other," she continues, taking a seat next to Sai who is already prepared for class with a notebook and pen sitting in front of him. "It can just be easier with the bond since you guys have a deeper understanding of each other. Being able pick up on the other's thoughts and feelings does have that advantage."
"Well a whole lot of good this bond is doing," Sakura mutters to herself as she thinks back to the lack of connection last night. Apparently, Sasuke is trying to keep her out of his head. Maybe he's just not ready for a new Match yet.
"Good morning."
Sakura turns to see Hinata settling into the seat on her opposite side, pushing a travel mug in her direction.
"Witches brew?" Sakura questions jokingly as she accepts the offering.
Hinata gives a small smile in response. "Coffee," she corrects, "You wouldn't want to fall asleep on your first day, you could miss something important." A lavender-eyed wink causes Sakura to smile, she's discovering that she really likes the clairvoyant witch regardless of her cryptic words and apparent ability to read her mind.
She takes a big gulp from the warm tumbler, whose contents has been perfectly sweetened to her liking, as the classroom begins to fill with students. Though it's a small area, more people than she's seen in her entire time here occupy it. Magicians of all shapes and sizes joke and laugh, more than one of the pairs holding hands or snuggling close to one another. She almost wants to laugh at the mundanity of it all, despite the few floating objects and periodic puffs of smoke it feels like any other classroom.
The commotion begins to settle down when the professor saunters in lazily, throwing his lesson plan down on the desk with a unceremonious flop. Sakura recognizes the silver hair and masked face of Kakashi Hatake, the man that greeted her when she had been teleported from the train station.
"DILF" Ino whispers to her as the last of the whispers around them quiet.
Sakura ignores her and prepares to listen to the lecture but a shadow in the corner of her eye causes her attention to turn back to the doorway.
Silently, Sasuke slips into the room and settles into a chair in the very back. He catches Sakura's gaze so she gives him an awkward wave. Of course, he turns away without any acknowledgement of her presence.
This is hopeless, Sakura thinks, resting her chin in her hand. She takes comfort in the fact that Ino's not wrong about the attractiveness of Professor Hatake, well what little you can actually see of him. As he begins to write on the board, Sakura notices the slender yet well-toned muscles flexing beneath his tight sleeves.
While Ino barely pays attention to the lesson, settling for absentmindedly poofing small flowers of various size and color in and out of existence, Sakura finds herself very intrigued. Today's lesson is about the fourth Hokage and how he and his Match had to sacrifice themselves in order to slay a great beast created from magic. Hinata lets out a slight shudder at the mention of its name, Kyuubi. It's hard for Sakura to grasp that this is truly is the history of her kind as it sounds much more like the plot to a movie.
"But how did the Kyuubi even come to be in the first place?" Asks a female student sitting directly behind Sakura, "You said that it's a manifestation of extremely powerful dark magic."
The instructor pauses at the question, before answering in a very deliberate tone. "A man who was blinded by the lust for more power forced his partner to embody the darkness and in the end it consumed her completely."
A shiver wracks itself up Sakura's spine. She turns to ask Hinata what it means to be consumed by magic only to see wide, opalescent eyes staring at her, unfocused. "Hinata?" she questions the dazed girl, her gaze causing unease to gnaw at Sakura's stomach. After just a moment longer, her eyelids flutter with a couple blinks and she turns back to the front of the room as if nothing had happened.
"Sorry, Sakura," Hinata whispers without looking at her pink-haired friend. "Just a vision."
With that, Sakura returns her attention to the lecture, trying to pay attention to the logistics of how the third Hokage made laws to reform the use of dark magic after the death of his successor, but her mind keeps wandering to the story of the Kyuubi. How could a Match turn his partner into something so animalistic? But then again, how could one cause the death of their Match, accidentally or not?
Sakura shakes her head, she shouldn't dwell on these thoughts. Everybody said what happened was an accident, it's not like Sasuke directly murdered Karin, right? Nobody has actually revealed the full details of the event, it could have been anything that caused the girl to die. Getting lost in her thoughts of worst-case scenarios, she doesn't notice the pair of dark eyes fixated on the back of her head.
Sasuke stares at his pink-haired partner in the front of the room, he can tell she's not paying attention to the lesson, probably lost in her head about the complicated history she's never heard before. As for himself, he could practically recite the story in his sleep, having grown up learning the more detailed version of it. The Kyuubi has always been the "boogieman" of the magical world, a warning to misbehaving children and the Fourth Hokage is their version of Superman, the hero among them willing to sacrifice himself to save them all.
Soon enough, class is dismissed, and he smoothly slips out the door heading towards a meeting with Orochimaru. However, as he is about to turn the corner a gentle hand clasps over his arm. He takes great care to keep his skin covered, but the simple brush of the stranger's bare pinky against the exposed sliver of flesh between his glove and sleeve is all it takes.
He feels a chilling sensation wash through his veins as if he's being viewed from the inside out. Gooseflesh breaks out over his body and he quickly jerks away from the offending limb. Turning to confront whoever dare touch him, assuming it's his nuisance of a Match, he's shocked to find the Hyuga girl staring at him instead.
"If you don't change your course of action, history will repeat itself," she tells him, her usually gentle voice sharp and severe.
Anger washes his face in red, but instead of dignifying this with a response he turns to leave. He intends to ignore the clairvoyant's prophecy, but the last of the girl's words leave him feeling rattled.
"In more ways than one."
Not wanting to be near the young psychic anymore he quickens his walk to Orochimaru's office, silently cursing the whole way. How dare she read him, how dare she try and tell him what to do. It doesn't matter if she's gifted with the Sight, she doesn't know anything about him.
Thankfully, the distance between his destination and the classroom is minimal, giving him less time to dwell on the haunting prophecy and his anger that's threatening to boil over. Without bothering to knock, he opens the door to the professor's office.
It's dark, the natural light from the windows blocked out by thick, black curtains. Furnishings in the office are sparse, consisting only of the necessities: a black desk with various chalked runes scribbled over the surface, a small wooden cabinet containing ancient scrolls and dusty jars. A single orb emitting an eerie white light slightly bobs from its position above the desk, the slow bouncing causing the dark shadows of the room to dance with slow, purposeful movements.
"Ah, young Sasuke," a voice purrs from behind, despite the space being empty beforehand. "Thank you for stopping by."
"You wanted a meeting," the boy states, wanting to quickly finish this so he can be alone after what had just occurred with the young psychic.
"Yes," he pauses, pacing around the room until he eventually settles at the desk. "It's concerning our last private session with Miss Haruno." When Sasuke only continues to stare at the professor with a bored expression, he continues. "You've completely blocked the connection between you," Orochimaru fiddles with a blunted piece of chalk, adding small corrections to the sketched-out designs on the surface of the furniture. "This is not acceptable."
"She doesn't need to know anything about me," Sasuke snaps, impatient with everybody trying to tell him what to do with his Match.
"Now, Sasuke," Orochimaru tuts, an exacerbating belittlement lacing his tone. "You know it doesn't work that way. How can you expect either of your powers to flourish under those circumstances?"
"I can call upon her magic when I need it," he responds, wishing this conversation would come to an end.
"While you may want to simply tap into her reservoir, it will just diminish if there's no compatibility prompting it to thrive," he flourishes his hands in the air, emphasizing each of his words. "You can't just continuously harvest a crop and expect it to always be ripe. You must nurture it."
Sasuke's thoughts go to the outcasts of the magic community, people who never find Matches. Their magic wastes away, the source of balance to sustain it never discovered. In some severe cases, the loss of that piece of their life drives them to insanity, leaving them as less than the normal humans.
"How do you expect to complete the Soul Baring?" The professor continues, his yellow eyes raising to lock with Sasuke's.
The student remains silent, not fully sure how to phrase his turbulent thoughts. He can't imagine going through a Soul Baring with Sakura. Her naivety of the magical world and cloudy understanding of how Matches work make her so complicated. How would she react if she really saw what was in his soul, his past? There are things in it she would never witness, even in her worst nightmares. She wouldn't be able to handle it.
"Just keep the end goal in mind," Orochimaru rouses him from the dark path his thoughts are swirling. "Determination alone is not enough to achieve what you need to."
Sakura runs down the hallway, an impromptu nap causing her to be late for an evening session with the Hokage. Stray hairs fly behind her, the quick messy bun she pulled back jostling free with the commotion. After making a couple wrong turns and having to backtrack, she finally bursts into the practice room.
"I made it!" she puffs out, trying to catch her breath. Surprisingly, she notices that she's not the only one running late as there's no sign of the instructor meant to guide their session. The lone occupant of the room seems to stop mid-step when she enters.
Expecting her partner to simply ignore her presence until necessity warrants it, Sakura quietly moves to the center of the room. She can't stop the automatic jump of surprise her body does when a firm hand spins her around.
Green eyes widen at both the rough action and the proximity of his face.
"Sasuke what are-"
"You should stay away from the Hyuga girl," he states, close enough that Sakura can feel the warmth of his breath as it hits her cheek.
A dark expression cloaks his face, the severity taking her off guard. It takes her a moment to process his words, but quickly, her surprise is overtaken by anger.
"Who do you think you are?" she practically yells as she shakes his grip off her. Never being one to control her temper, she knows her eyes must be burning with a viridian fire. "You don't get to just ignore me all day then try to bark orders at me."
He doesn't attempt to respond, settling for staring at her blankly, either not taking her outburst seriously or too stunned to know what to do next. Reasoning that the former is far more likely than the latter, the wave of Sakura's fury comes to a crest. Her hands shake and she briefly notices a tingling sensation around her fingertips.
Ever since they met Sasuke dismisses her attempts to be friendly, avoids her questions, refrains from any unnecessary interactions, and now he's trying to tell her to leave one of the few people that have been sympathetic to her situation. How dare he think he has any say over who she gets to associate with. She opens her mouth to yell at him again but is cut off by the entry of the Hokage.
Timing as impeccable as ever, Tsunade takes in the aura of the room with the raise of an incredulous eyebrow. "Good to see you too getting along better," she mutters sarcastically, half-debating summoning a bottle of sake to get her through what's bound to be an interesting lesson.
Neither of the students try to answer nor attempt to move from their stare-down, as if the first to break eye contact is admitting defeat.
"Well," the Hokage begins, "strong emotions can lead to some intense chakra merging, however, I do need the both of you to starting listening, now." At the last word, a gripping force washes over the two, pushing their bodies downward so that they are made to sit across from each other. This compulsion causes the tension to break and each looks away from the other. "Now, take a deep breath and grasp each other's hands."
Sakura begrudgingly takes off her gloves. The voice of the Hokage seems to have a calming effect on her, however, she still feels the electric sensation dancing in her fingertips. She makes no move to actually reach for her asshole of a partner's hands.
Sasuke seems to have a similar mindset taking his sweet time pulling the dark gloves leisurely off each finger.
"I said, now."
At Tsunade's voice, the stubborn will of both students evaporates, as magic prompts each to grasp the others' palm firmly.
Upon making contact, Sasuke quickly jolts his hands away, for a brief moment a look of distraught flickering on his face.
"Come now, Sasuke," Tsunade tuts impatiently, "do not make me compel you for the entire lesson."
The boy doesn't respond, but scowls at his hand for a moment before extending it once again. Hesitantly, he wraps his fingers around Sakura's wrist.
"Very good," Tsunade mutters, annoyance and sarcasm interwoven in her tone. "Now we can actually begin." With a wave of her fingers, a hazy figure forms in the air before plopping into her open palm.
"A lightbulb?" Sakura questions as she stares at the object.
"Make it glow," Tsunade instructs as she suspends the bulb in the air. "This exercise focuses on both drawing upon each other's power and controlling it at the same time. If you try to simply overpower one another, the glass will shatter. If you are unable to summon enough power, it won't light."
Finding this a lot more interesting than just attempting to push thoughts into Sasuke's head, Sakura excitedly looks to her partner. Unsurprisingly, she's met only with bored exasperation.
Glad we're on the same page, you arrogant asshole.
"Focus guys," Tsunade prompts, indicating back to the bulb.
Trying to stamp down her annoyance, Sakura stares at the frosted glass above them. She imagines the coils within burning with her power, her energy, her anger…
Pop!
The glass shatters, raining down around them.
"Okay, that's a start at least," Tsunade says before producing another lightbulb. "Instead of each of you trying to do it on your own, try cooperate. You won't need to summon nearly as much individual energy."
Sakura turns to face the new lightbulb but Tsunade gently press her hand to her face, forcing her to look at Sasuke instead.
"Look at each other, not the light. Focus on each other and your common goal, the rest will follow. "
Looking at his face, she sees only the superiority of somebody that doesn't believe she fits in this world. His deep eyes stare down at her, his sharp nose lifted in arrogance. The crackling energy in her fingers returns but instead of Sasuke pulling away she notices the metallic tinge in the air as his own power errupts.
"Careful," Tsunade orders calmly as she observes the opposing electric sparks of energy exploding around the teenagers. Green and black flashes of light begin to war with each other, the shiny new bulb left forgotten above as the power struggle takes place on the ground. While it would take no effort on her part to stop the teenagers, she simply stands back to observed, interested in where this will go. Perhaps some conflict is exactly what their relationship needs to grow.
Sakura feels her hair standing on end with the friction in the air, senses her power climbing as she challenges Sasuke. He can look down on her all he wants, but he needs to learn that she will not roll over so easily. Tightening her grip on his wrist, she pushes harder against the resistance between them. He needs to know that she will fight him tooth and nail before she yields to his every whim.
"When everybody thought all was lost, the hero stepped in and saved the villagers from the Kyuubi, sealing the foul beast away forever."
Sakura shakes her head as the strange voice drifts through the room. A woman?
"Someday I'm going to be the hero that saves everybody!" an enthusiastic voice of a young boy responds.
Sakura sees onyx eyes widen slightly as Sasuke's stubborn façade begins to crack. He hears it too and he doesn't like it.
"I'm sure you will." The woman's voice returns, a happy chuckle lacing her words. "Goodnight. I love you very much, Sasuke."
Sasuke begins to try and pull his hands from Sakura's trying to make his memory go away, but she clings tighter as she realizes that she's finally broken through his defenses; she's in his thoughts, listening to a memory from long ago.
"I love you too, mommy."
The energy in the room mounts, reaching its peak as each of the young magician's emotions rise Sakura's anger and determination mixing with Sasuke's pain and stubbornness. With a jolt, the pink-haired girl finds herself being tossed across the room, her back hitting the marble wall with a painful crack before she crumbles to the ground. It takes her a minute to muster up the energy to push herself up, her head rushing in protest after it's forceful impact.
"Your mother," she chokes out, feeling as if she just got beat up. Her partner lays sprawled on the floor on the opposite side of the room, slowly rising to his own shaky legs. "I heard her reading to you."
With enough malice to curdle blood, dark eyes pin her in place, daring her to move another inch. "You heard nothing."
He stumbles past the Hokage, who has been quietly observing this interaction, before practically falling out of the room.
"What just happened?" Sakura asks the blonde woman who appears to be in deep contemplation.
"You two were fighting against each other, but since your magic knows it's meant to be compatible it forced you to merge. You were in his head, but that's not what caused you to break out of it so violently."
"I forced him to let me see more," Sakura mutters slightly, realizing that it was the catalyst to their pushback. She was so determined to learn the rest of the memory, to complete her glimpse into his childhood.
"Sasuke is… difficult," the Hokage continues, her tone firm. "But you can't pry into his mind. Your Match has to be willing to let you in."
"So is what just happened bad?" She questions wondering what this means for the progress in their relationship.
"No, but I don't necessarily think it's positive either." Tsunade's gaze lifts to above where the teenagers had been sitting. "Your merged power is something very curious. Go get some rest, we still have a lot of work to do."
Sakura exits the training room, not even noticing the bright emerald illumination now being cast from the forgotten lightbulb still suspended in the air.