Disclaimer: I do not own NARUTO.

WILL OF STONE

CHAPTER FOUR: "Enshogan"

Sakura was not sure what to expect when she walked into the hospital room. Would Asuma-sama be angry with her? Would he be fully awake, fully rational? The Bakudan blast he'd taken had brought him so close to death that it was miracle he'd survived at all. Brain trauma or injury would not be unexpected.

She would never have guessed the truth.

The decorated shinobi Sarutobi Asuma, sensei of Team 10, was, of all things…

… reading a pornographic novel.

The latest edition of the Icha Icha series had just come out. It must have been pretty good, because Asuma was giggling like a schoolgirl gossip as he flipped through the pages. Evidently he was well on his way to making a full recovery in all respects. Asuma rubbed the back of his head when he saw Sakura enter, looking much embarrassed—his face had turned beet red. "Ah, Sakura. You caught me."

"I'm just glad you're alive to be read dirty books." She sat down by the bed and bowed her head. "Thank you, Asuma-sama. For saving my life."

"Tsunade would be angry with me if I didn't. I made that mistake once and, well, it was… unpleasant." He grinned. "Thank you for saving my life."

Sakura nodded. She'd let Ino and Chouji pay their respects to their sensei first, wanting to have a private conversation with Asuma. There were certain things she needed to discuss.

Questions that only Asuma could answer.

"Do you… know about what happened?"

"Tsunade debriefed me earlier today." Sarutobi Asuma suddenly grew very serious. He even leaned up in his hospital bed, grimacing as he did so. The leaf-nin jounin was dressed in a white hospital gown, bandages still covering most of his body. It might be a week or two before he left the hospital. "Sakura. Can I ask you a question? You must tell me the truth now."

She braced herself for a withering critique. "Of course."

"You won't tell Kurenai about my Icha Icha books, will you?"

The absurd gravity of Asuma's question caused Sakura to burst into giggling laughter. "No!"

"That's good. Because if you did, I would, of course, have to break off all contact with you forever." Asuma grinned, scratching at his beard. "That would be an unforgivable offense. All other things, I can forgive."

There was something in that last sentence—a shift in the tone. Sakura caught it, but she did not quite understand it. There's something he's not telling me. Sakura could see it in his downcast glances; in the way his smile did not quite reach his eyes. Asuma-sama is hiding his grief behind a smile.

But why?

"Asuma-sama… the Hokage, she—"

"I know. She is being a fool."

"I disobeyed your direct orders."

"You did." Asuma's eyes flashed. "I ordered all three of you to stay back because there was no way to know how dangerous the situation was, what kind of enemies we faced. You came running in anyway… and what's worse, you dragged Ino and Chouji along with you. Ino and Chouji! What were you thinking, Sakura? We're supposed to protect the sheep from the lion's den, not throw them into it. If you are to be a chuunin, you must understand what it means to lead. To think before you act."

"I'm sorry."

Asuma sighed. "You deserve a demerit for disobeying orders in this situation. I might even dock your pay. Yet there was no reason for the Hokage to suspend you. I don't know what Tsunade is thinking."

Sakura shook her head. "People died because of what I did."

"That's not true. Did you blow up Honjo Laboratory? Did you attack Konoha? Nobody died because of you. It wasn't you… it was them." Asuma's voice darkened. "Tell me, Sakura. Do you know who attacked Honjo Laboratory?"

"Akatsuki. Zetsu, that freaky plant-thing. He said he was the Akatsuki second-in-command." She paused. "And—"

"You hesitate."

"The other three shinobi who attacked us—the masked ones. I… don't think they were part of Akatsuki."

"You're right." Asuma was truly serious now. "And did you recognize the jutsu they used?"

Sakura knew. Of course she knew it. The sudden explosion from out of nowhere, the golden steam that lingered after the explosion, the wave of heat. There was only one jutsu that could do something like that. One of the most infamous and deadly techniques in the ninja world. "It was Bakudan," she said. "One of the bloodline techniques of the Enshogan."

The Enshogan.

The Heat Seeing Eye.

The Enshogan was one of the three great doujutsu of the world, along with the Sharingan and the Byakugan. It was the bloodline power of the Sougon clan of Iwagakure, the village hidden in the stones. Those Sougon who possessed the Enshogan eye had the power to see heat itself, the power to control the heat around them.

Of all the jutsu granted by the Enshogan, one of them was especially infamous. A jutsu which allowed the Enshogan user to so rapidly raise the temperature of a chosen target that all the target's molecules were ripped apart at once. The ultimate assassination jutsu, Bakudan. It was nearly instantaneous, uncounterable, requiring only the user to be within visual range of the target. There was no possible defense except to be fast enough to dodge, or to evade the explosion in the first place. Sakura had been too slow.

The ANBU Pug had been too slow.

"Yes. The Enshogan of the Sougon clan. And have you wondered why three members of such an illustrious clan might be in cahoots with Akatsuki?"

"They broke into Konoha's most secure research facility. They stole that crystal thing." Sakura remembered the way the crystal glowed in the metal suitcase, shimmering and pulsing, like a seething heart. "That was obviously the objective of the mission."

"And who sent them?"

Sakura hesitated. She was edging into dangerous territory now, she knew. "Well… the Sougon ninjas were masked. That means they didn't want their identities to be known. I mean, it's obvious which clan they're from… but we can't prove it. So whoever sent them can have plausible deniability. Someone who really wanted to steal the crystal, but didn't want to start an official war."

"Who?" Asuma pressed.

"Sougon Sawar the Sun Breaker." She paused. "Sawar is the head of the Sougon clan… and the Fourth Tsuchikage."

"The leader of Iwa. A bold accusation, Sakura. No doubt Sawar would deny it." Asuma scratched his beard again. "Yet I fear you are right. It was no accident that these Sougon showed up now, right when Konoha is preparing to go to Iwa for the chuunin exam. The Tsuchikage wanted to send a message. And he sent his most powerful clan members to deliver it."

"Who were they?" Sakura asked.

"Two of them I don't know. But the one you fought… he was very strong. An S-rank ninja." Asuma frowned. "There are only four ninjas in the Sougon clan considered S-rank ninjas. The Fourth Tsuchikage himself, of course. His two younger brothers. And his son. A genin boy, only a few years older than you."

"How can a genin be S-rank?" That was the same rank as Tsunade-sensei herself.

"It's not unheard of. Gaara was nearly an S-rank ninja during the Konoha chuunin exam, and now he is the Kazekage. The Tsuchikage's son, Sosano, called the Prince of Dawn, is a prodigy genius. Like Gaara, he was held back from promotion for political reasons—to save his strength for the most competitive and prestigious chuunin exams, like this one. But was it Sosano who attacked us? No. I've fought our attacker before, and I know him."

"One of the Tsuchikage's brothers?"

"Yes, Sougon Charasu. He is utterly loyal to his brother Sawar, an experienced commander and leader. Charasu of the Inferno, he's called, for his mastery of the destructive power of the Enshogan. There was a rumor recently that Charasu had fallen ill… that he could no longer fight. It appears that his illness was actually just a cover for the real mission."

So it was Sougon Charasu that killed Pug.

And the Tsuchikage that was ultimately responsible for his death.

Sakura felt a chill go through her.

"But why?" she asked. "I don't understand. Iwa and Konoha are at peace. We even want to be allies… that's what the United Countries Embassy is all about. So why did the Tsuchikage attack us? And what was that crystal thing he was trying to steal?"

"Ah. That's… complicated." Sarutobi Asuma shook his head. "You must ask Tsunade."

Sakura had not seen the Hokage since their encounter in the bowels of Konoha's hospital three days ago. She still remembered her sensei's tears… her pained face as she took Sakura's forehead protector. Tsunade-sensei doesn't want me to die, she wants to protect me. Was that so wrong? Sakura had gotten Pug killed because of a stupid mistake.

Because she thought she was stronger than she was.

"What's the point?" Sakura asked. She could not keep the bitterness from her voice. "What's the point of any of this? So what if I know that Sougon Charasu killed Pug? I can't do anything about it. I'm not even a ninja anymore."

"Tsunade suspended you from active duty. You are still a shinobi by rank."

"Oh, that's helpful."

"Believe me, Sakura, this is only a temporary situation. The High Council is already breathing down Tsunade's neck about it. Ask Tsunade to give you a second chance. Konoha is already stretched past the breaking point between the December 7th attack and all the resources being diverted to the UC Embassy. We badly need more strong shinobi. She can't refuse you, Sakura. You can still be a ninja."

I can still be a ninja.

Sakura did not speak for a long moment. "And what if I don't want to be, Asuma-sama?"

She turned to go.

"Wait," said the Leaf jounin. "You can't just quit now."

"Why can't I?"

"You made a mistake on the mission. That mistake will be with you for the rest of your life. As it is with mine. As it with the life of every shinobi in this village. You aren't the first. If the Founders had given up every time they made a mistake Konoha wouldn't even exist. Sakura… you can't just run away now. Not at the very moment Konoha needs you the most." Asuma's voice had a deadly edge to it, sharp with grief. "Sakura… don't make me regret it when I saved your life."

Then, suddenly, she knew.

She knew what Sarutobi Asuma was hiding.

"Who was he?" Sakura blurted out.

Asuma stared at her.

"Pug… the ANBU boy who died in the Forest of Death. Who was he?"

Sarutobi Asuma paused. The Leaf jounin considered her for a long moment before answering. Then he said, softly, "He was my little brother."

His brother.

Sakura felt sick to her soul.

I killed Asuma-sama's brother.

Next: CHAPTER FIVE: "The First Lesson"