Chapter 4: The talk between adult and youth
Sakura had slumped down on the floor, but it was not loud enough for Sheska to hear and get worried. This was due to the voices that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The unusual voice of her friend Ino came booming into the kitchen room. Sakura's breaths were sharp and short. She could not breathe because of the sudden event that just happened. Inhaling and exhaling she got herself together, something unbelievable happened just now. Clearing her throat she whispered, "Ino is that really you…?"
What she didn't expect was Ino's voice booming at her. "Haruno Sakura! I am so going to kill you! How could you get us so worried? You know what you put Hinata through?! The poor girl is scared to death that this was all her fault! Sakura I'll-"
Suddenly the voice changed to none other than Rock Lee's. "Sakura-san! Are you hurt? Are you okay? Is everything fine?!"
Sakura closed her eyes and began to recollect her thoughts. Here were the voices of Ino and Lee, who were currently residing in Konoha. Sakura slowly picked herself up from the floor. Her green eyes stared at the kettle that was steaming, and she turned the stove off. She tiptoed towards the door and she glanced if Sheska had heard anything. Noticing that the brunette had not heard a thing, Sakura whispered once again. "I'm alright, but why is it that I can hear you?"
A few minutes passed and Sakura, without being answered, prepared the tea and snacks for the hard working Sheska. She searched for a teacup and a plate to put in some cookies on it. She opened a cabinet and found all kinds of fragile tea sets. Picking up a beige with golden flowers cup, she poured the hot water inside of it. Sighing, she wondered if that would be the last time she would hear Inos' annoying voice that she missed. Not knowing what to do now, she picked up a small tray near the kitchen table and she placed the tea cup there. Now she went on for her search on where Sheska had kept the cookies she once gave to Sakura yesterday. Trying to remember Sheskas' footsteps something disruptive caused her to suddenly stop her steps.
"SAKURA-SAN, WE WILL SAVE YOU!" was the voice of none other than Rock Lee.
"Lee-san…" muttered Sakura feeling light headed from the memories of her dear friends. She was missing them more and more. Another voice came in.
"Sakura it seems that we can connect with you due to my headband and Hinata's, I'm not exactly sure why Ino, Choji, and Lee's do not work. Listen we'll find a way to bring you back. It will take some time to figure it out, but we'll find a way as soon as possible. So far I have a plan to make others believe that you're still here in Konoha, so don't worry about the lessons with the Hokage."
That reassuring voice was none other than Nara Shikamaru. Sakura silently thanked Shikamaru inside her head. It was an unusual mission for them, but she knew that they will find a way to bring her back. They could not leave her here in an unknown place she did not recognized and it was not even in Konoha at all.
"Shikamaru, please tell me what is your plan? Will it also work on deceiving my parents?"
There was a short pause. "Yeah, it'll deceive your parents. It seems that we will have to inform all of the Genins that we know about this current situation to help out. Our main illusionist will be Kiba and Akamaru, so have some trust in them. Look, whatever you do try to not get yourself caught in a sticky situation. Do not tell people about your residence, so far as I know you've told one person. Try to make something up about your origin."
Sakura bit her lip, but nodded at nothing. "Yes. Sheska had told me something about a country named Xing that is not far away from this strange country. I'll just say I'm a Xing citizen."
"Great just make something up, but remember keep your origin a secret."
"Yes!"
Sakura patted her chest, which was pounding rather hard in her conversation with Shikamaru. Suddenly thoughts of a worried Hinata flashed into her mind. She had left the blue head terrified back in the library. Sakura clutched her shirt. "Hinata?"
Nothing came out of the Hyuuga heiress. Sakura sighed and blamed herself for scaring the Byakugan user. "I'm sorry Hinata, please don't blame yourself. You did help me Hinata. Remember that."
With that she knew that the conversation between her friends was long gone. The connection was probably temporarily, so she will at least once a day talk to them if she could. Finally remembering where the cookies were, she dashed to the wooden cabinet near the refrigerator. Taking out a brown bag with a picture of a hazelnut cookie, she took some cookies out and set it on a small plate that matched the teacups design. Putting the plate on the tray, she picked it up and began to walk towards Sheskas' desk where she was currently at. Setting it on the hard wooden table, she looked over at her work. More than a thousand pages were set. Sakura's emerald eyes bulged, Sheska was a very hard working person unlike the Hokage of Konoha. It was a scary thought for Sakura.
"S-Sheska-san…y-you did all this?" Sakura asked surprised as she picked a few parchments. She noticed that Sheska had a grin on her face.
"Of course! I remember everything from this book from the cover to the back cover!" she exclaimed and then muttered to herself. "Although I'm useless human being…"
Sakura was amazed by this skill. If Konoha had more people with this special ability then there would be fewer missions for the Anbu and Jounin. Sakura praised Sheskas' ability to memorize a whole text book by reading it just once. It was a great ability and a very special skill. Giving her praise, Sheska bashfully rubbed her head and thanked Sakura. Quickly the day passed for Sheska as she still kept writing while Sakura was attending her health.
Sakura yawned as she read a random book from Sheskas' stack of library books. She was having trouble understanding the text, the language was just too new to her to get. So it almost took her an hour to fully understand three pages containing small text. Flipping a page she began to slowly read it out loud. Of course she did not want to disturb Sheska, so she whispered. Finally two hours passed and the clock began to ring, telling the two of them that it was ten o'clock. Sheska glanced over at the window and noticed how dark it was; slowly turning her head to Sakura, she noticed that the young girl was in deep slumber. Smiling, Sheska stopped her work and went up stairs getting a blanket to cover Sakuras' figure. Getting a green blanket from her drawer, Sheska headed downstairs and covered the pink haired kunochi.
"Good night Sakura," whispered Sheska taking off the blue head band that was on the kunochis' head. Feeling the cold metal on the head band, Sheska wondered where the young girl had come from. Where was this Konoha city? She was no Xing citizen and she knew that. She had a different aura than other Xing people. It felt more matured and logical. This was coming from a girl no less than fourteen year old!
"I wonder where Konoha is…" the brunette muttered as she placed the headband on the coffee table next to where Sakura was sleeping.
The next day Sakura rubbed her eyes as she woke up due to the sunlight hitting her face. Yawning and stretching her arms, she noticed that last night Sheska was taking care of her by putting a blanket over her. Giving her a mental appreciation, she wondered if Sheska was still working. Noticing that she was not at her desk, she wondered where the brunette had left.
"Sakura! You're awake."
Startled by the sound, the pink haired girl turned her head to see Sheska at the living room dressed nicely. It was as if she was going on a date with someone.
"Sakura go eat breakfast that I made for you, and then I kind of have some errands for you to do."
"Okay."
It took a while for Sakura to finish her breakfast because she was trying to remember the chores that Sheska was giving her. Finally done with her meal, she grabbed her headband and began to put it on. "Anything else Sheska-san?"
"Umm … since I'm waiting for the Elric brothers, I can't really visit my mom…"
Sheska was feeling a bit down from that comment, so cheering her up Sakura took the opportunity to talk.
"I'll go visit her."
"What? But… are you sure?"
"I'll say Sheska-san is busy with work, but wanted to come visit really bad."
"Thank you Sakura!"
A big crushing hug came her way. The kunochi felt that this woman could take on a fight with her Hokage. She wasn't kidding! Finally after the release of the hug, Sakura put on her blue sandals and left running to the hospital. Of course she bid a farewell to Sheska. She passed people who were looking at her pink bubblegum hair in a weird expression. Sakura paid no heed and decided to get to the hospital soon, so that she may get the other errands done later on.
Within ten to fifteen minutes she was right in front of the hospital. Walking up the stairs, her body suddenly felt alert. It was as if someone was spying on her or was going to make their move to attack her.
She ignored it, so that the person following her would not notice. She stayed calm and opened the hospital door. Taking a small glance at the door, she noticed that nobody was following her. The person would either make a move once she got out or had left. This person most likely had not left at all because she was still sensing the presence nearby.
"Miss?"
She stopped thinking of her stalker and paid her attention to the nurse. "Yes?"
The nurse bends down a little to have a better look at the pink haired girl. "Are you lost?"
"No, I'm visiting a … friend."
"Oh, then please just sign your name at the front desk and give the room number that you're visiting."
"Okay."
She did what the nurse had told her, but had left the room number blank. Sakura had not remembered the room number the Sheskas' mom was staying at. Besides her mind was still on the person that was following her. Moving at a fast pace, Sakura was right in front of the patients door. Slowly entering the room trying not to make any noise, Sakura saw Lily eating her breakfast. Next to Lily was a nurse checking her blood pressure. The nurse looked up to the young girl in front of the door and frowned.
"Who are you?" the nurse asked sharply. "We don't allow strangers in patient's room. Are you lost?"
Sakura stood frozen, she had no idea what the nurse had just said due to the sudden surprise she was having. Finally the voice of Lily calmed her down.
"It's alright, she is my niece," Lily said smiling at Sakura and motioning her to sit down next to her. Sakura did as she was told and sat next to Lily. "I'm finished with my meal, Ms. Wilson."
"Very well, I'll come back and check up on you in two hours," the rude nurse picked up the tray and left Sakura and Lily alone. There was a silence, but Lily had broken it down.
"Hello Sakura. How are you?"
Sakura stared at the woman and her bright blue eyes. "I'm fine. Sheska-san has told me to meet you today, since she is very busy with work."
She heard a giggle from the older woman. "That Sheska is always working so hard… I wish she would take a break sometimes. I miss her dearly… A mother will always miss their child and know if something is wrong."
Sakura gave Lily a small smile. If her words were true, then Sakuras' mom would already know that she was in trouble or not. Hopefully her mother won't get as worried as she thinks. Sakura felt the soft touch of Lily on her cheek. Green eyes stared into ocean blue. Blue ones were worried, while green gave it a reassuring feeling.
"You are keeping a lot of secrets from Sheska and I… it is okay to trust us Sakura… I feel that Sheska has adopted a young sister to protect. You can see us as family, even if it is too soon for you. But please don't keep the sadness in your eyes… it will make people worried about you. Please trust us…"
Her pleads were making Sakura feel insecure. She did not want to spill the truth this soon. Shikamaru had told her yesterday not to tell anyone. She wanted to make something up, but the feeling of Lily says that she is speaking the truth and wanted to help her. So she gave in…
"I…"
"It's okay, I won't tell Sheska."
Sakura sighed and began her story. "I-I'm not from here. I mean … I'm not from this world, I think. I'm from a world where ninja's have their own style of living. I'm a ninja myself. I graduated from the Ninja Academy and here's the proof of it."
Taking off her head band she passed it on to Lily. "That is proof of my ninja occupation. The sign is the symbol that represents Konohagakure. The Hidden Village of the Leaf. There are also other countries near ours like, Sunagakure, Kirigakure, Amegakure, and Kumogakure. Those countries also have a large amount of ninjas, then there are other countries that are rather small not big like the seven other countries that I mentioned. That is the world that I live in; I'm the first ninja of my family. So I'm quite important for my mom and dads' pride. I love being a ninja, although I'm just a genin still… There are different kinds of ranks: genin, chunin, jounin, anbu, and kage. I'm soon taking my Chunin exam to be in that rank."
"Anyway, I come from a completely different world than this one. I was walking to the library to begin a research on improving my hand on hand combat, so I asked a friend of mine Hinata, who is also a ninja, to help me find a book. Then we entered a room and suddenly a red book fell on the floor. All of a sudden a circle was engraved on the floor and I think I was sucked in. Right now I think my friends are finding a way back for me to go back home… I'm sorry… I'm really sorry…" Sakura sighed and looked down at her folded hands.
Lily patted the young girl on the head and gave her headband back to her. "I believe you Sakura, but you mustn't be sorry. This was not your fault. I think alchemy brought you here…"
Sakura lifted her head up and stared at Lily. "Alchemy?"
"Yes… Alchemy. My husband was in to it for a while, but …" Lily frowned at mentioning of her husband to Sakura. It was a bad memory for her to have.
"What is alchemy?" Sakura asked trying to change the topic.
"I see, in your world... there is no Alchemy… let's see…" Lily folded her hands and began to think of a away to explain things. "It is to transmute, to join together or to separate... I'm sorry, but my profession is not Alchemy. So this is as far as I can explain. "
"Thank you, I think I have a better understanding of Alchemy,"
"Oh I did not help with anything at all, but I'm glad that you opened up to me Sakura."
Sakura felt relieved of the sudden touch maybe Sheskas' mom. It sort of reminded her of when her mother used to stroke her cheeks when she used to cry. The touch of a mother can have a great affect on young ones. Smiling and talking more to Lily, Sakura was forgetting about the other errands that Sheska had given her. When she remembered, about twenty minutes later, she bid farewell and thanked Lily for keeping her secrete a secret. Stepping outside the hospital, she felt no danger so she ran to the store that Sheska had told her to go to. It was about six blocks away from the Hospital that Lily resided in, so it took her no less than eight minutes. Of course she was still getting strange expressions from the people around her as she passed by. Entering a small store, Sakura began to look for the milk and bread. Lurking around the store she also bought beef, rice, and some seasoning. She would make rice balls for Sheska, so that she would try a handmade snack from Konoha. Paying the store clerk, she ran as fast as she could. Not so fast that people would notice that she was a ninja, but fast enough for people in this world to know that she was in a hurry.
"Hopefully Sheska-san got paid well today," she muttered in her home language. "She worked so hard on remaking an entire book."
Not noticing where she was going, she didn't see a huge piece of armor standing near Sheskas' house. Suddenly the bread, milk, and other ingredients were on the floor, just like her small figure too. "Ittai..." she mumbled as she rubbed her back.
"Oh no!" cried an unfamiliar voice. Sakura looked up to see a monster right in front of her. Mouth open and terrified to death, Sakura could do the only thing a normal kunochi would do. She did a back flip then a sudden kick on the chest was the next attack. All of a sudden the head of the monster just dropped. Now as a girl, she would do this:
"KYAAA!!" Sakura cried out loud on the street. Something like this happened on the first day she had training with Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto. She once saw the head of Sasuke on the ground. That terrified her and it still does.
"No wait! Please don't scream!" said the metallic monster putting his head back on and frantically looking for someone to help him. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"Al!?" cried out a voice inside a house. Frantically a blond haired boy came out of Sheskas' house. Being a girl, Sakura ran to the boy and hid behind his back. "Daikaiju!" She screamed pointing at the metallic figure.
"Dai-ka what? Hey Al what happened here?" asked the blond haired short boy who was questioning the 'monster'. He then looked back at the pink haired girl.
"I-I scared her…" said the 'monster', Al. "I said sorry… and for her not to be scared… but-"
"Sakura?!" cried Sheska coming out of the house and hugging the thirteen year old, who was shaking from the scare. "Sakura what happened?"
"I scared her, Miss Sheska," Al said apologetically, afraid to be near the girl right now. He didn't want to make her scream again.
Sheska frowned and headed inside the house with Sakura right beside her. Sakura was clenching on Sheska's right arm and wondered why nobody was doing anything to attack the monster made out of metal. Feeling reassured because of Sheskas' touch, Sakura had calmed down in the kitchen. Sheska had told her to wait inside and that she would be back soon.
Sakura began to recollect her thoughts about the past. She had fought something like this in the past with Naruto and Shikamaru not too long ago. The only difference about this metallic monster than the others she had faced was that there was no body inside. When she had kicked the armor, she noticed that it was hollow. Everything was empty inside; the thought just terrified her even more. Shaking her head she wondered what was going on. Why was it that this world, there were suit of armors that could walk and talk, while they have no body at all. Standing up from the chair that Sheska had told her to sit on; she silently walked to the kitchen door that was connected to the living room. Taking a small peak, she saw two people wearing a blue uniform, the metallic monster, and a blond hair boy with a red cape.
"I'm sorry. Umm … Sakura is from Xing and I don't think she has seen a suit of armor back home…" explained Sheska bowing down for an apologize stance.
"Oh! Xing?" said one of the people wearing a blue uniform. "No wonder she looked rather foreign. But … She almost looks Amestrian because of her eyes. Very unusual for a Xing citizen to have green eyes."
"Brosh, that's rude," said another person wearing the blue uniform. Her hair was rather short and to Sakura the woman could be mistaken as a male. However, he voice made her tell the difference. "We apologize Miss Sheska."
"Oh! No need really! It's okay," said Sheska getting a little bit uncomfortable.
"I could have sworn she spoke a different language than the Xing language…" said the blond haired boy putting his arms on his back, making him look 'cool'. Sakura and Sheska jumped from the statement.
"No!" cried Sheska getting nervous. "She's just speaking it more … uh…"
"Hey, I don't know the Xing language, besides its just one word I heard. Da-eh-ku-ju? Whatever… Anyway thanks for rewriting the whole book Ms. Bookworm."
"Brother!" cried the armor. "Don't say rude things brother…"
"Brother…?" whispered a confused Sakura.
"Well … for helping us," the boy was searching something in his coat. Once he got a piece of parchment and began to write something in it then handed it to the woman. Then he was walking towards the main door. "Second Lieutenant Ross! Here's my registration code, signature, and my watch as proof of my identity. Go to the National Alchemist Division at the President's Office, withdraw my annual research funds the sum of money that I wrote and give it all to Sheska. Oh thanks a lot Sheska, bye!"
With that the blond haired boy with golden eyes let the house along with the man Brosh, and his brother Al. Sheska and Lieutenant Ross looked at the piece of parchment and just stared at it.
"WHAT KIND OF KID CAN PULL THAT MUCH MONEY!?" cried Lieutenant Ross.
"KYAA! WHY SO MUCH MONEY!?" cried Sheska not believing what she was seeing.
Sakura was startled by the sudden shout of the two women and she got out of the kitchen door then headed towards them. She gave a questioning look at Sheska and Ross. What could have gotten them so shocked?
Ino sighed as she read the book to the others while the group of genin was searching for their other teammates. They were currently residing near a training ground that Team Eight always trained. Hinata had just left to go get Kiba and Shino, while Lee went to get Neji and Tenten. Inos' blue eyes searched for the Hyuug, but she saw no one but her teammates.
"Continue reading the book Ino," ordered Shikamaru while he waited for Hinata, Lee, and the others. Choji was next to Ino, who was currently fuming by being ordered from her teammate.
"I'm not reading this out loud for your entertainment Shikamaru!"
Shikamaru sighed and gave an expression that he was annoyed. "Just read it so we know what's going on with Sakura."
"She disobeyed you and told the ill woman who she was and where she was from," grunted Ino not being pleased by reading the scene. "Sakura you bit idiot!"
"She may have her reasons Ino, I mean to keep a big secrete and not to mention being all alone in a strange place," said Choji eating another potato chip from the bag. "I would have done the same, at least it's just one person. I don't think she's going to tell other people."
"I think Sakura lost her touch as a ninja," muttered Ino and then began to read out loud. However before she started to say anything, she was rudely interrupted by Kiba and Akamaru.
"Yo! Shikamaru!" cried Kiba. Not far behind were Hinata and Shino. Then a few seconds later Lee, Tenten, and Neji appeared.
"Hey," greeted the Chunin Nara putting his hands on his pants pockets. "Hinata, Lee, did you tell them the situation?"
"What situation?" asked Tenten speaking up from the confused boy's.
"Sakura-san has been kidnapped Tenten!" cried Lee. "She was sucked in by the floor and transported into another world!"
"What the heck are you blabbing about Lee?" asked a serious Neji, his arms folded looking rather sophisticated. "What's going on?"
Shikamaru sighed and asked Tenten to calm Rock Lee down. She obeyed and kicked the look alike Gai-sensei to the ground.
"Be quiet Lee!" growled Tenten being in a serious mood.
"Scary…" muttered Kiba. Akamaru whined as he hid behind Kiba's legs.
"All women are scary," said Shikamaru scratching his head, feeling guilty for bringing up some pain to Lee. "Alright Tenten stop, we need him alive."
"Yeah, yeah," she said back away from an injured Lee.
"T-Thank you Shikamaru-san…" said Lee who was out of breath.
"Yeah…Anyway, Hinata why don't we start with your story first?" Shikamaru looked at the female Hyuuga. She suddenly looked startled, but nodded.
Neji and the others looked interested and carefully paid attention to her story. Hinata being watched by everybody made her s little nervous, but knew that she needed to tell everyone the truth.
"I-I was at the library returning a book," she started to speak. "I noticed that Sakura started to greet me so I did the same. Then she had asked if I could help her in some way to understand Taijutsu, so we then started to find a book that could help her. We didn't notice that we were entering a restricted area, but we began to search in there and all of a sudden…" Hinata took a deep breath and continued. "A strange book fell from the shelf. Then a circle began to appear beneath Sakura and sucked her in. I didn't know what to do and everything was too late. She disappeared and then I went to go get help…"
"Whoa… Hinata you're kidding right...?" asked Kiba wide eyed as he heard the story.
"A Hinata-sama would not lie," snapped Neji at Kiba. Before Kiba made a comment back Shino hold him back from saying anything.
"The proof is the book that Ino is currently reading right now," interrupted Shikamaru and motioning for everyone to notice where Ino was. She was sitting on the ground reading a red book. "No we may not have enough information how she got there. But we got something."
Hinata and the others listen closely to a word he was saying. Shikamaru stood silent, and then gave them a serious expression.
"Alchemy."
DONE. Within a week! Happy? Yes? No? Well hopefully there will be reviews? Yes? No? Saaad. Haha, well midterms are coming and I'm going to be super busy studying. Yeah, sucks. Oh well. Hopefully everybody liked.
