Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. This is just fan work for other fans and not for profit in any way.


Chronicle One: Shinobi in the Mist (Version 1.93)

Chapter 7

Sakura smiled, satisfied at the fight's outcome. Tucking a strand of wet hair behind her ear, she turned her attention to the locked room and the hidden plans inside. Building up her chakra, she punched the door three times in rapid succession. The steel door buckled but did not yield. Gritting her teeth, Sakura jumped up and delivered a whirlwind kick at the reinforced door. The blow finally knocked the door off its hinges and it fell to the ground. After waiting awhile to catch her breath, the ninja girl peered cautiously into the room. A table was inside and on top of it was a scroll. Sakura quickly walked towards the table but a sound behind her made her pause. She quickly stepped aside, just as a shuriken whistled through the air and slammed into the wooden table. Turning around, Sakura's eyes widened at what she saw. Kane had gotten up and was now wearing a weapon belt taken from the unconscious chuunin.

The mist ninja stared at her, a grim smile on his lips. "Most impressive, but then again, I'd expect nothing less from the Hokage's apprentice." The man slowly inched a few steps forward. "Sakura Haruno, Jounin of the leaf and one of the legendary Konoha Eleven. I'm pleased to finally make your formal acquaintance."

"Kane Shikara of the mist," Sakura returned the greeting. "You're not too bad yourself. Not many people can recover so quickly after suffering one of my attacks and you've managed to withstand two of them."

"Well, I'm quite skilled at using my chakra to deflect attacks. And that last attack you made wasn't even a direct hit on me."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "How did you know I was disguised?" she asked.

"Kiara seemed a bit different to me," Kane replied. "Also when you were helping me walk, I noticed that your scent was very familiar. It was the same fragrance as the girl from the bar; wildflowers with a hint of cherry blossom. Naturally, I placed your pink hair with your powerful attacks and put two and two together."

"I should've finished you off when you were unconscious."

"Yes you should have," the mist Jounin replied with a hard stare. "Because that will be the only chance that you'll ever have of landing a clean blow on me. Now that I know who you are, your capture here is inevitable."

The Konoha Jounin smiled at the other ninja. "Try me," Sakura replied and with that, she kicked out at the fallen door on the floor. The force of her kick was such that the metal door sliced through the doorframe and out into the corridor. Kane immediately dropped to the ground just as the door flew over him in a spray of debris. As it slammed into the back wall, Sakura turned and lunged at the table, grabbing both the embedded shuriken and the scroll. She twisted aside and sent the shuriken flying back at her opponent. The spinning weapon collided with a kunai that Kane had sent her way. Sakura quickly ducked to the side of the room where the other Jounin couldn't see her.


Kane slowly picked himself off the floor. The girl was very good, that was for sure. However, she was now trapped in a reinforced room with only one exit. He now had her cornered. Creeping quietly up to the doorway, Kane stuck to the wall to provide himself with maximum cover. All of a sudden, a kick out of nowhere came at his head. He desperately threw himself onto the floor. A heeled boot flew past and skimmed his hair. Kane turned quickly and looked up. Sakura was running across the ceiling, upside down. She had come at him from an angle that he didn't expect and it had nearly cost him his head. Suddenly, two more shurikens were sent back towards him. Kane leapt to the side, the two projectiles barely missing him.

When he looked up, he saw the back of the ninja girl as she turned the corridor and ran off. Swearing, he quickly picked himself up and gave chase. Luckily, the hallway was long and by the time he had rounded the corner, Sakura was only halfway along it. Taking out two shurikens, he sent them flying at the girl. Somehow, the other Jounin was able to sense their coming and at the last possible moment, she jumped onto the wall just as the two spinning projectiles flew by.

Kane eyed his adversary. She was standing on the wall, her excellent chakra control allowing her to stay there as if it was the ground instead. He had to admit it was rather disconcerting seeing the pink haired girl stick to the side of the hallway as if nothing was amiss. All of a sudden, the girl shuffled higher up the wall. In one punch she broke a hole into the ceiling and an instant later, she had climbed through. Kane swore again and quickly ran towards the hole. However as he approached, he could hear the sound of fighting. A mist ninja also appeared at the other end of the hallway, an urgent look upon his face. The commotion that they had caused in their fight had attracted attention. Kane smiled as he reached the breach in the ceiling.

"I'm going to catch you Sakura," he whispered to himself before jumping through.

Kane emerged into a large training hall. As he looked around, he located the leaf Jounin. She was in close combat with seven other mist ninja. By the looks of it, she had already knocked three unconscious. However, the rest were slowly overwhelming her.

Kane swiftly approached them, ready to enter the fray. But then, Sakura leapt up into the air. Her hands began flashing, forming a sequence of seals as she flew above them. Kane swore and quickly took out a kunai, preparing to throw it at the enemy shinobi. However, petals of cherry blossoms suddenly obscured his view. The mist Jounin's stomach turned as he looked around him. The training hall was no longer there. Instead, he found himself in a windswept snowy field with thousands of flower petals. He was trapped in a genjutsu, an illusionary technique.

Through the mass of pink, he could see the other mist ninjas running around, trying in vain to find the Leaf Jounin. Suddenly, they all stopped and started to cry out in panic. The wind had subsided a bit and Kane was able to make out what was happening. The other ninja were rooted to the ground and slowly turning into cherry trees. He looked hastily down at his own feet and discovered that they too had become wooden roots. Kane slowly felt his body stiffen as he began to transform.

The man steadied himself. This was an illusion, none of it is real. He moved to bring his hands together but found that they resisted him. Gritting his teeth, he put all his effort behind it. Kane began to feel his arms cracking like branches but he pressed on. He screamed out loud as he slowly, agonizingly brought his hands together. His palms finally slapped against each other and Kane took a deep breath. Gathering his chakra, he prepared to fight the illusion.


Sakura's brow furrowed in concentration, Kane was still fighting her genjutsu. Standing up, the girl moved out into the open. She slowly made her way across the snowy field, passing by numerous cherry trees as she walked. Pink petals fluttered around her before parting to allow her passage.

The kunoichi approached one particular tree which still had the semblances of a man. Kane's once handsome face was now a woody visage upon the trunk of the tree. His two arms had become twisted woody branches, entwined against each other.

Sakura stared at him, her eyes narrowing as she willed him to submit to her illusion. Kane's wooden face stared back, still resolutely defying her. Suddenly, it began to rain. Sakura looked around in bewilderment, the clouds had turned dark and it was raining on the snowy field. This was not part of her illusion. She turned back to Kane and found him smiling grimly as he tried to subvert her illusion.

"You can't turn my illusion against me," she told him. "You would have been better off if you had tried to escape it instead."

Kane's only response was to continue to stare at her. It began to rain down harder and Sakura felt water lapping at her feet. She looked down to find that she was standing ankle deep in water. Grimacing, the pink haired girl brought her hands together and refocused her mind on maintaining her illusion.

It was a lot easier to escape someone's illusion than to turn it against them. Either Kane was an idiot or just plane arrogant. Sakura suspected the latter. From what little she had experienced of him, he seemed to be the type to honestly believe that he could subvert another Jounin's genjutsu.

The rain began to falter and the last vestiges of Kane's face began to turn to wood. However, he continued to fight and the storm clouds gathered again, threatening to spill more rain. Clenching her teeth, Sakura redoubled her efforts and finally, Kane's face turned into wood and his resistance stopped.

The girl's arms dropped to her side in exhaustion. She was breathing heavily, that last struggle with Kane had taken a lot of her remaining energy. She hoped that she had enough strength to get to the ceiling and punch a hole through to get out. However, something felt amiss to her.

Suddenly, she sensed someone's presence right behind her. Sakura executed a spin kick aimed at whoever was there. Her attack suddenly came to a jarring halt as a hand caught her leg. Weary from her fight, her attack which should've smashed through the hand, was instead stopped. Looking past her leg, the girl saw the cold eyed stare of another mist ninja. A Jounin. With lightning speed, the man's other hand shot out and grabbed her by the throat. Releasing her ankle, the man lifted her above the floor. Sakura's hands flew to her neck, desperately trying to pry the cold hands open.

The mist Jounin smiled wickedly at her futile attempts. "A most impressive illusion," he complimented her. "If only you hadn't focused all your attention on those that were caught within it." Suddenly, a knee slammed into Sakura's exposed stomach and she instantly blacked out.