Haruno Sakura and the War of Two Worlds
By Inner Self
I feel like everyone's in a hurry. Aside from tense checking, I did not beta this. I'm anxious to get to the point, but I must not just bang words out.
About Sakura's characteristics: I like the Sakura depicted by Lady Hanaka better than the original. Kishimoto-san said in an interview that he was, basically, at a loss as to how to make a heroine. So he made Sakura a tag along. I'm trying to characterize her as a good heroine. If you don't like my slow updates (college student, my apologies), I suggest A Ripple in a Pond. I like the sequels better. It has a cliché start, but she's the best ItachixSakura writer out there. The end of the 1st book on is superb.
FYI REDID BOGGART SCENE IN CH 6.
Going as fast as I can, readers… IN FACT, at 2am on 1/6/11, I have FINISHED ch8, "Dreams and Memories". I will update on Friday if I get 10 reviews. That's not asking for much. Let me know what confuses you, what's well written, what's an example in my story of how I should always write, etc. Thanks.
Chapter 7: "Yuletide and Dreams"
Sakura blushed furiously. Was that her thought? Was that her thought? There was absolutely no way she'd allow herself to dream up Itachi ever. Except for that one time after rescuing Gaara. She had accidentally glanced into Itachi's eyes, and was lucky enough he had not noticed. Or if he had, she was not his target. Her life could easily have been snuffed that day. She fantasized of a tragic villain a few nights in a row and had one foggy dream about the encounter, but she never spoke of them, not even to Ino.
… … … … …
Sakura was too exhausted and somber to scale down the Grand Staircase again, so she requested a bed of the Room. She slept in and missed her opportunity for breakfast. Luckily, twenty minutes was plenty to grab her books from the dungeons, change her clothes, and be on time for double potions. She opened the door carelessly while rubbing her eyes, and immediately was confronted by the Gryffindor Trio.
"Were you looking for us again?" Hermione initiated the interrogation. "It must be difficult to steak out a night in there hoping someone will show up."
"I don't know what your talking about."
"Well, we don't buy it. What were you doing in there?" Harry demanded. "Did Draco put you up to it? Or the Head Toad herself?"
"My loyalties are not to 'The Toad'. "
"You're a Slytherin. There aren't any Slytherins in the, er, club."
"Ah, so this is an exclusive club?" she asked testily. "Oh dear! Miss Granger, I never would have thought you prejudiced, but I guess no one's perfect. "
"Well, if their were Slytherins willing to fight on the side of good, that we could trust, we'd be more than happy to oblige," she preached with hands poised on her hips.
"Mione! Don't give away the, er, club's purpose!"
"Oh, for heavens sake, Ronald, don't doubt her intelligence-Doubt her reflexes." Hermione whipped out her wand and Sakura, fine tuned in her reaction timing, drew hers as well. They stared each other down, wands pointed at each others throats. Hermione blinked. "Merlin, I thought that would have worked. Still the game is three to one odds."
Harry and Ron pulled out their wands as well. Harry ordered, "You're coming back to the Room with us. We just want to talk. I told them you could be trusted, but now I just think that was you doing your job, making those potions. That has nothing to do with you spying on us."
"Please move aside. I don't want to go anywhere. My matters are my own. I will respect your privacy if you lot respect mine," Sakura said, voice dangerously low and falsely polite. "Good morning to you all. Now if you'll excuse me."
The Trio begrudgingly stepped out of her path. She left without one hex being thrown. So Sakura called the Trio's bluff as Draco had never done, which surprised them. A metaphorical light switched on in Harry's head. He called out to her, "I told Ron and Hermione what you did for the students, but I never thanked you. It is your oath that makes you do it, but still… thanks."
Sakura slowly turned around, fists clenched. She was part Gryffindor and he part Slytherin. They Boy-Who-Lived played the part of the kissass quite well.
Ron and Hermione shared calculating looks.
Sakura relented. "You Griffindors are so insistent." And so they retreated to the Room of Requirement.
… … … … …
They transfigured the furniture into that suitable in a parlor. The color scheme was neutral, creams and blues. They ordered tea into what seemed to be midair and the house elves brought their orders moments later. Easing into the sofa cushions cut some of the tension. Harry, Ron, and Hermione occupied one sofa and Sakura the other. A coffee table lay between them.
"Thank-you for what you did for me," Harry started, his voice hinting at sincerity. "for the students, for making all those potions. I heard some of the younger Slytherins were sent to her office as well. The younger half-bloods."
Sakura cast her gaze on her pearl-colored teacup, eyes hardening into emeralds. "Yes. I heard Umbridge was a Hufflepuff during her schooling. She considers purebloods to be her kind. Slytherins consider House first and blood second."
"We want you to join our cause. As a potion maker. Umbridge has you in her pocket. I don't think you like that."
"Harry?" Hermione and Ron asked collectively. If Harry was ready to accept a Slytherin into their den, it was the end of the world.
Ron started to whisper into Harry's ear, "Um, mate, you said…"
"I know what I said Ron, but we can't rely only on Hermione. Two potion makers is twice the manpower-er, well, you know what I mean. We'd lose a ton of members if she were introduced to the club, but she's not rotten like the rest. She does things that are highly questionable, but she's not English. She can't possibly be involved in our war."
Not all or nearly half the Slytherins are rotten, you dumbass! Sakura thought, but kept quiet.
"You do make better potions than the seventh years," Hermione confessed. "And I'm always so competitive with your work in Professor Snape's classroom. Would you help us? We'll collect the ingredients, and we could pay you an apprentice's hourly wage."
"That's a good deal. I'm in," Sakura said.
"Thanks again. You are the best choice for a second pair of hands."
"Harry…what about…?" Hermione weakly questioned.
Harry stopped her mid sentence. "No way, Mione. She's the best choice for our personal stores."
Sakura eyed them shiftily. Was there a third potion maker? Of course. Professor Snape. Harry didn't even want him helping with the counter-curse to Umbridge's quills.
"Mione should get you a special coin for organizing meeting times for potion orders before the holidays."
"It's a brilliant little trick," Ron added. "It called a Protean charm. The galleon warms when there's a new message is sent. It's way safer than word of mouth. Umbridge never has knows where or when we're meeting."
Hermione reached into her pocket and pulled out a sickle. She worked her charm on it. Next she pulled out parchment and ink and pen. She wrote up a contract. It was simple and failsafe. "First I need you to sign this. It's a yearly contract. It says you won't tell or show anyone that you are helping us. This sickle will receive only messages specific to you."
Sakura signed the contract in her English scrawl. Hermione handed her the silver trick coin. "Be careful with it, and keep it on you always. If the magic gets traced back to me within the year, you are in breach of contract."
… … … … …
Midterms and Finals had flown by fast. Before the Hogwarts scholars knew it, Yuletide was upon the Wizarding World. The castle was decked out in holly and fairy lights, all centered around the masterpiece, the colossal Christmas tree. Students were lugging their trunks with gusto to find that special window seat on the ride back to King's Cross Station. Sakura had shrunk her personal items and clothing and packed only her Konoha medic bag. She was walking out the Great Hall when the coin in her robe pocket heated up. Sakura jumped a little in ignorance. She'd expect messages from now on. Sakura inconspicuously slipped the sickle out of her robe pocket: See you after the holidays! Those idiots thought they could suck up to her. She knew they didn't mean it. After all, she's a Slytherin. Not that she cared what they thought. She had Draco. Snape. Dumbledore. That was about it. Sakura picked up her bag. She continued onward with a huff of irritated disbelief, which turned into an 'oof' when she ran into Draco's shoulder. She banged her nose and stopped to rub it.
"Honestly, quit daydreaming, we got a train to catch," he said, rolling his eyes. "I almost resorted to waiting on you."
"Nice to see you care," she said. "…thanks for letting me stay with you. It is either awfully considerate or highly egotistical."
"What were you doing back there?"
"Just checking the time," she lied expertly.
He nodded in response. "We're early. I just want to make sure I get my window seat. I don't bother to keep track of Crabbe and Goyle nowadays with you here to fight the fights."
"Gee, don't I feel special? You know, I ran into the Gryffindorks. If you don't hex, they won't."
"Is that so? Well, let's commandeer that window seat, shall we?" Window seat, my ass. Maybe he's just anxious to see his mommy. Sakura thought, smiling to herself. The duo found a cabin to Draco's liking around the middle row of cars. He quickly fell into sleep, the easiest way to pass time, forehead to window pane. And Sakura was close behind him. She secured her cargo in the above compartment and took a seat next to him. The lull of the train rolling along the tracks soon had her dozing off as well.
… … … … …
He stood before her, calculating and as cold as she's pictured him since her academy years. But his bloodlust was not as prevalent as from snippets of conversations she'd heard over the years since the massacre. Ki no korosu. Eyes that killed her spirit. There was no need for Mangekyou. She was already frozen like stone.
She couldn't help herself. She thought he was distracted. She thought she was too lowly for his notice. She wanted one glance. Just to see if there was any similarity between Sasuke and his clan's murderer, his brother (blood traitor). One glance at the eyes of the Uchiha clan's murderer. She would die anyway. Mangekyou could only be survived by another Sharingan-wielder. But she could hold onto hope that they all survived. Her kunoichi training had not yet turned her into a full-blown pessimist.
How she wanted that one glance; one less thing to go through life fearing. Now she might die a pathetic kunoichi, alone and afraid. She had wanted one more thing that could help her understand Sasuke's agenda. She wanted to understand, just a little, and she wanted to cheat the face of death, the face of a Mangekyou wielder, and she wanted to be strong. She had dared herself, and now she regretted it.
Sakura felt a pull on the back of her head. She fell dizzily to the ground. When she regained her footing, she was all alone. The trees at the forest's edge rustled with the warm air current. It blew against Sakura's back. And then she heard his voice.
"Do not cower in your fear, kunoichi. It is unbecoming."
"Where are you?" she growled, suddenly unafraid. She didn't question it. The atmosphere was inviting and invigorating; a stark contrast to his visage. It calmed her shivering skin, then heated it. She clenched her fists, blood on fire, but muscles relaxed, mind sharp. She was trained and ready for a struggle.
A burst of feathers morphed into the raven-haired shinobi. There he stood. Uchiha Itachi, Akatsuki cloak and all. Sharingan retracted. Eyes a rich onyx, but not necessarily warm. Cool. Buisinesslike. She unconsciously felt it.
"Where are you, really? I'm usually good at unveiling genjutsu," she ground out, wary to feel wounded pride.
"I am relaxing on the cliffside, watching Naruto and yourself fight a clone of mine. He shall extend the genjutsu for a few more seconds. But you will find that seconds pass like minutes here."
"And hours if he were to use Mangekyou…What do you want? I'm not going down without a fight!"
"You are not strong enough yet."
"Oh, yeah? I know I'm pissed off enough. Surely I can take down a clone!"
He smiled. Sakura tensed. He said obscurely, "To fight for your purpose. To fulfill your destiny. We are not going to fight."
"Then what do you call this?" Sakura motioned through a complex set of seals and concentrated her energy on finding a hole in his technique, some place to mentally slip out of his grasp.
Itachi appeared behind her and broke her hand signaling. Sakura's body went numb. "This is a memory, or it will be. A memory for the next time we meet. So you know this is not a dream."
"Nice try. I know this isn't a dream, and you aren't going anywhere. I'm going to get out of this genjutsu and then Naruto and I are going to kick your ass."
"I believe you have a purpose that I can exploit," Itachi said, returning the conversation to its original point.
"I do not easily trust missing-nin, especially ones who intend to exploit," she spat. She still couldn't feel her limbs and it was infuriating.
"Oh, they don't? I guess I'm not good then. Nor am I evil. I am shinobi, and I follow a code. As long as I follow the code, at least, I am just. What is your code? Sakura-san, we will cross paths again soon. Fear not."
A sardonic "ha" was on her lips as she was thrown out of the genjutsu. She gasped. Returned to the forest edge, lying on her side, she blinked and tried to shake off the vertigo. She saw Naruto collapse ahead of her, yelling himself hoarse. The yell morphed into a rally cry as he quickly recovered and engaged in a furious battle of ninjutsu with the Uchiha Clan killer. Sakura couldn't think. The genjutsu left her with a massive headache and the sense that something was eluding her.
… … … … …
"Code…my code? Kuno…medi…OUCH!" Sakura's head hit the wall opposite of the windows. She promptly fell off the seat. Rubbing the back of her head, she sat up and cast a tempus charm. The students would reach King's Cross within the hour. Miraculously, Draco was sleeping heavier than she was.
'If that dream WERE a memory, why would Itachi be my boggart? Why not Madara? Did the Room do something to the boggart?' She pondered. 'Well, I don't have any other UNTRUE memories, so it must be just a creepy ass dream! Sha!' Alone with her thoughts, she let Draco alone and went to the loo to change out of her school robes. She nudged him when she came back. "Hey, Draco, we have ten minutes left on this train ride," to which he replied with a light snore. "Come on-We're almost to King's Cross!" Sakura said as she gently nudged his shoulder again. He stirred, and she pushed her bizarre dream to the back of her mind.
Exiting the train with Draco, Sakura spotted a blond, aristocratic pair. Draco waved to them and their groups met each other half-way. "Mother, Father, this is Sakura Haruno," he introduced them. "Sakura, these are my parents, Lord and Lady Malfoy. Do you remember each other from Madam Malkin's?"
Sakura gave a slow, short bow, but never took her eyes off the pair, as shinobi experience dictated. "Please to meet you. Thank-you for accepting me into your home."
Lucius, poised with cane and cape, returned courteously, "It is no trouble at all. A friend of Draco's is a friend of ours. We know Draco only extends his hand to the right sorts."
"But you are his girlfriend," his mother said, voice soft yet firm and confidant, "so we will make exceptions."
Sakura smiled charmingly in answer, tongue in cheek. Exceptions…More severe, not less. She knew well of Draco's prejudice against mud-er, muggleborns, and he never used the politically correct term. With a charming smile, Sakura asked Lord and Lady Malfoy to lead the way. Lucius Malfoy gripped his son's shoulder and popped out of sight. Sakura was too shocked to actually show it. She held her stony appearance so as not to appear of muggle ancestry. If she was. How did one equate her status in Konoha to that of wizarding folk? My parents were civilians, but my mother's parents were shinobi, warrior class.
"Take my arm," Narcissa Malfoy instructed, breaking Sakura out of her reverie. Sakura did so. She felt a strange sensation, like trying to crawl through a mousehole. When they landed in the parlor, Sakura had to still her stomach. Lucius Malfoy started right away with mapping out the manor. "…and if you have any questions, just floo Draco. He lives in the East wing. You will be staying in the North Wing, which overlooks the rose bush labyrinth in our garden. It receives the least sunlight so our house elves will see to it that it is properly lit during your stay. Our lands extend as far as the eye can see. The labyrinth marks the outskirts of the gardens. Fishing ponds and hunting grounds lie beyond that. We do hope you enjoy your visit during the Yule season."
Narcissa Malfoy added, "Dinner is at five o' clock sharp. A lady does not eat after six if she wants to watch her figure." She retreated towards the sun room, and Draco led Sakura to her quarters.
The house elves had long unpacked her clothes. She told Draco she would be alright by herself if he had anything to take care of. "I'll see you later, I guess," said Sakura. She offered a sincere grin. Draco nodded and left.
As soon as Draco shut the door, Sakura whipped out her wand and began a thorough search of the quarters. She had read up on revelio spells right before coming and brought the book to double-check herself. She used everything in her arsenal that did not sabotage the alarm system she expected to be in place. 'I really should have told Dumbledore-san that I was coming here.' She found several listening spells, but that was it. She concluded the room had nothing important nor dark in it. Perhaps all the dark items had been removed from the wing itself. So they'd be at the Southern end; as far away as possible. The Malfoys, she reasoned, could have done it just as much as a safety precaution. Why would they wish her harm? Well, they were death eaters and she was "close" to the minister. They could obliviate her if she touched what did not belong to her. And if Voldemort wanted, he'd get them to brainwash her for the prospect of inside information.
No, she mustn't think the worst of her hosts. But be alert, yes.
… … … … …
On the Fourth day of her visit to the Manor, Sakura felt a weird vibe. She followed her keen sense to the downstairs dining room, as if following her breakfast routine. She tiptoed to the edge of the room. There she heard two men conversing, one being Malfoy, Sr. Malfoy senior wasn't sounding his usual aristocratic self. Sakura debated going in and ultimately trusted her instincts. She fled. Undetected, she sped back up to her guest quarters.
She reached the door, hand clasped on the door handle. She felt a hand clap her on the shoulder and nearly jumped ten feet in the air.
"Erm-Morning." It was just Draco. "Let's go into town for breakfast today. We can use my floo network."
Draco and Sakura returned at noon for lunch. The Manor, to Sakura's surprise, seemed to be its usual self. The visitor must have left while they were out. Which was most definitely Draco's plan, so Sakura thought. She must tell Dumbledore somehow. Sakura doubted she'd have access to the owlery though. Draco knew she didn't have many friends. Sakura kept to herself. And Umbridge, high inquisitor discouraged meeting in groups. It wasn't the best year to make friends anyway.
'Tonight I'll go to the owlery,' she swore. 'If I get caught, I'll make something up. It's not much info, but every bit helps.'
Once again, Sakura made her way to the dining room. The strange feeling didn't creep up her spine this time. She spotted a new guest though. It was Professor Snape, seated with Lord and Lady Malfoy in the middle. Draco and Sakura joined them on the other side of the table. The two greeted their Head of House cordially. He nodded and bid them a good afternoon.
After lunch, Lucius Malfoy asked Professor Snape to join him in the parlor.
"Professor Snape," Sakura called, practically staring him down. "Is there anything I could get you to wish you happy holidays? It's the least I can do. Honestly."
His black eyes bore into hers. He said, "I suppose I could use more bergamot seeds and ground bicorn."
"Potions ingredients it is. Happy Christmas, Professor."
Draco and Sakura went back to Diagon Alley for a bit after lunch. They stopped by the apothecary before returning.
"I also need some parchment from Florish and Blott's," Sakura tentatively lied. She made sure to smile convincingly. "I want to write him a thank-you letter as well. I used all mine last semester. Now would be a good time to stock up."
When they got back, Sakura wrote a quick note to Dumbledore: A man came to the Manor today. His presence sent chills down my spine. I just wanted to let you know. Don't reply (and there's no need to). She found envelopes stocked in the desk in her room and some sealing wax. She folded the missive into itself and turned it over. For Dumbledore, she wrote. She put it in an envelope. She wrote another letter wishing Snape happy holidays. She put it into the envelope, heated the wax with a low level spell, and sealed it.
At eleven that night, she knocked on Draco's door.
"Yeah?" he answered. He was shirtless and his hair was touselled.
Sakura would have averted her eyes girlishly but not for her medical training. "Oh, sorry. Can you just tell me where the owlery is? You seem busy."
"Yeah, I was sleeping. If I don't get ten hours, my skin pales and I look like a vampire with a case of dragon pocks. Also, Mother says we need to look sharp tomorrow for the Christmas Eve party."
Sakura was taken aback. "I forgot what day it was… and she expects me to dress up? I didn't bring anything decent! All my festival kimonos were left in Japan!"
"Nah, she probably found you something already. Wear it and please her. It's in your best interest. Never displease Narcissa Malfoy."
Sakura nodded and took the advice at face value. "So point me in the right direction? I want to mail Professor Snape's present early to make sure he gets it in time, which, I hope 24 hours is enough."
"The owlery is in the furthermost tower of the West Wing, all the way on the other side of the manor. I hope you're in the mood for a walk in the dark castle all on your lonesome. Turn left at the coat of arms and follow the second spiraling staircase you come across. The other is just storage."
Draco sluggishly shut his door and went back to bed.
Sakura walked and walked and grumbled as more and more time passed. "I can't believe this house. It's almost as big as the hokage towers. No one's looking. Why don't I just use chakra? What if I set off the alarms? I need to ask Dumbledore about wizard security systems…" She passed the coat of arms. With a sigh of relief, she walked a little faster. She started twirling the envelope along the back of her knuckles like a kunai knife.
As Sakura passed the first flight of stairs, she felt a sense of unease. Eyebrow quirked, she looked over her shoulder. "Nobody's following me," she remarked to herself. "Would anyone even be stupid enough to break into this fortress?" Her hand edged towards her wand. She'd practiced the reducto spell enough to trust her wand and life with the spell, but she hadn't learned any counters. Sakura was a hit first, dodge later sort. She figured dodging was as good as shielding or countering. Her motto: Never get hit, hit first, and heal if you somehow get injured.
Sakura, knowing she could pull of the 'I got lost' excuse without an escort, ventured up the stairwell to the storage tower. She cast a lumos at the top of the steps. Wand in one hand, poisoned kunai in the other, she looked around the tower base for a while. It was huge and filled with junk the wealthy family had accumulated over the centuries. She recognized the shape of the room to be like the common rooms at Hogwarts. The manor was probably built in the same era as Hogwarts.
Honing her senses, Sakura checked through the memorabilia and the chests of expensive junk, tarnished silver and the likes. Nothing spiked the feeling of unease in her gut. Nothing cautioned her to refine her rough search. Nothing screamed, "Don't put your hands on me or I'll burn them off." Or some such dark artifact defense mechanism. Interest not satisfied after scanning the contents of the common room of the tower, Sakura looked for a stairwell. She found one in the back corner, a winding iron staircase with intricate designs on the safty railing. She ascended the stairwell.
She felt the unease in her gut double. She felt cold sweat form on her brow. She waved her light slowly over the tower attic. In it she found books. Harmless looking books, and a few pieces of jewelry. Everything was neatly organized, unlike the floor below. She walked past bookcases and a worn, decorated workspace. No spike in her senses. She turned to the jewelry. She put one foot in front of the other and inched across the floorboards. This was it. It was something on the dresser. The mirror spoke when she got close enough.
"What lovely bedclothes! I hope you do not plan the leave the Manor in such a manner!"
Sakura, having been exposed to magic mirrors at Hogwarts, replied with a simple 'Ha ha'. "Have you anything bothering you?"
"Why yes. Your face. And your petite form. You look ill. If I were so pale, I'd kill myself for fear of a far worse, slow and painful death by cancer!"
Sakura was taken aback. "Excuse me?"
"You really got your father's looks."*
"Pardon?" Sakura asked, getting angry now. "Aren't you supposed to compliment people?"
"You know what I like best about people? They die!"*
"You have a dark artifact, don't you?"
"You seem like a very nice person. I kill nice people, you know."*
"Well, I'm not going to get anything out of this stupid mirror." The mirror kept insulting her. Sakura took a mental note of the jewelry on the dresser with the horrid mounted mirror. There wasn't much: an expensive set of diamond rings, a chain necklace with sapphires and emeralds, and a woman's crown, of platinum frame, with diamonds and sapphires. Alarms went off in her head. Sakura had never encountered such an aura. It reminded her of Orochimaru that time in the Shinomori, the Forest of Death. Only somehow the object's aura was more tainted than his. It chilled her to the bone and made her hairs stand on end. She ran as fast as she could from the tower. She'd had enough of her own curiosities.
… … … … …
Sakura posted the letter in the next day, early in the morning. The rest of her stay with the Malfoys was uneventful compared to her first encounter with a dark artifact. The Christmas ball was a quiet, yet grand get together of Draco's parents and their friends and associates at the Ministry. Even the Minister attended and it did nothing to spice up the party. Sakura concealed herself from him with a targeted genjutsu. No matter how many times she was thrust into conversation with him, he simply could not match her name to her face. Sakura spent most of her time eating. Draco said his formalities, ate, and chatted with the Slytherin sons and daughters. Pansy bothered Sakura about the attention Draco was giving her, but Sakura ignored her and kept eating. She retired early. Uneventful.
Christmas Day, she received the dress she wore, the accessories, and a Nimbus 2000 from the Malfoys. She saw that Draco received nothing. Knowingly, he told her that he always got what he wanted and did not wait around for Christmas Day. His mother replied that he also was not on The Nice List.
The morning before Draco and her return, the family had a full English breakfast, followed by tea and biscuts in the parlor. At tea, they asked her with a Slytherin approach, basically, the basics of the hierarchy back home. Her blood status in short.
Sakura sat with Draco on one parlor sofa. The tea and biscuts sat untouched on a silver platter on the engraved oak table. The Lord and Lady Malfoy sat in sofa on the opposite side. Sakura had no clear answer to give them. The longer she stalled, the more intrigued the Malfoys became. It was as if they were interrogating her. Subtly, of course. A light bulb lit up in her head. She could have laughed at the ridiculous notion. And then she wanted to face-palm. Draco had said they were dating.
Sakura started with a disclaimer. "Draco and I decided we are better off as friends, but I'm sure you are curious regardless to the history of the-er-Japanese Wizarding Society." The Malfoys visibly, by shinobi standards, relaxed.
Sakura started her tale. "Well, the Wizarding Society of Japan," she bluffed, "is highly secretive. It is made up of Five Great Nations and surrounding nations. The Five Great Nations are the only ones that have ever called for war. I am from the Land of Fire, or Konoha. I live in the shinobi village that provides all the protection for the Land of Fire, The Village Hidden in the Leaves. Everyone in the village except a rare few use chakra, our magic, to fight.
"Before the Five Great Nations, centuries ago, there was a feudal system in place, with similarities and a few differences to the one mentioned during Professor Binn's lectures on the goblin wars in Europe. The system classified citizens as, from most power to least, Emperor, Lords, Kage, warriors, artisans, peasants, and merchants. We had a caste, like yours. The only difference is our merchants' less equal power to the farmers. Supposedly their job was not honorable in any way.
"Anyway, the warrior class had its own leaders. The warlords grew their clans in power and numbers. Mine was the Haruno Clan, which has been reduced within the past two decades to a civilian clan. Clans like mine were payed to serve the feudal lords, daimyos, in their regions. Warlords and the feudal lords rapidly entered a power stuggle.
"The Warring class rose above the feudal lords about one hundred and fifty years ago. They started contending more heavily amongst each other. Smarter warlords knew to ally themselves with other clans and share the contracts feudal lords offered. The Five Great Nations all had leaders they chose to make their regions prosper. Smaller nations not so much. The Warriors created subclasses as their numbers grew: Kage, the title given to the multi-clan leader, the Clan Leader, and then ANBU, Jonin, Chunin, and Genin warriors. The only title given by blood is Clan Leader. Anyone who is strong enough can lead our villages. Any artisan, peasant, or merchant can ascend to the warrior class.
"The Daimyos have economic and some political power, but the Kage controls the military and majority of political power. Lords and ladies are born, clan leaders are born, but any other citizen is respected for his or her personal strength and class. It's that simple."
"Simple," Draco mused aloud.
Lucius Malfoy queried, "Do your common folk have any magic?"
"Rarely."
"How is it that they can improve their social standing then?"
"They enroll in the Shinobi Academy. They are allowed onto genin teams when their skills are suitable enough. I've never heard of a student sticking out the academy past their fourteenth birthday. If they haven't learned to channel or use chakra by then, they are considered 'muggle'." She explained the last with a wizard term.
"For instance, my parents were civilians by choice, but my father was from the Haruno Clan. So I was able to enter the Academy and leave a genin. I am now a chunin and a fourth rank medic out of eight ranks. I was going to take the Jonin exam with a friend of mine, but I came here instead."
"So you are considered muggleborn?" he drawled.
"Lord and Lady Malfoy, I know how you associate the term in this society. In our world, the only difference between the warrior and civilian classes is respect and honor. Everyone is respected for their role, but we honor the warrior class because they protect the civilians. Our nations are young. We do not know peace like you do. The civilian classes grow in times of peace. The warrior class peaks during prolonged wartime. I reinstated myself in the warrior class, against my father's wishes, because of a boy. It was foolish, but because of that decision, I am who I am."
She finished her monologue with a sad recollection. She laughs once, sardonically to herself. In an indirect way, Sasuke had set his death in motion. Still, it was her fault that he was dead. It was her decision. It was the best one she could make on such short notice. He had killed that girl or left her for dead, so ruthlessly, in order to take down Danzo. Enough was enough. He had become a monster and she'd made him pay for his crimes. Still she felt guilt. Naruto would have settled it peacefully. That's what bothered her most. If only she could have another chance. She sighed.
Narcissa smoothly consoled her. "The only man a girl can count on is her father. That's what my father said many a time to me. That is why I went along with the marriage my father arranged for me. It saved me heartbreak like what you may have experienced. I wish you the best, but it is past ten o'clock, and we must be heading for King's Cross."
… … … … …
"Mother and father really liked your tale. It also kept them from focusing on the fact that we are now 'broken up'. "
"Please, we were never 'together'. I still don't understand why I went along with the nonsense."
"Let's not mention it. The school doesn't need to bother with our business."
"And you don't need to bother with my pathetic love life. I'm quite glad it's nonexistent and I intend to keep it that way indefinitely."
"You just like to beat people off with a stick. Does summer seem to be getting closer or farther away now that the break is over?"
Sakura paused thoughfully. "Hmm…I'll sleep on it."
… … … … …
Well, wow, I'm amazed. I thought the story was going to go on hiatus. This chapter was hard to write until I looked at my notes and realized. OMG. Only two chapters until the part that made me want to write this story in the first place!
(*) Quotes from the evil, possessed lawn gnomes in Fable III.
Question: Should I write about the chapter: "The Beetle at Bay"? Review if you care or could care less.
Next chapter: "Dreams and Memories".
Please read and review.