Sakura knew she had to get up, and her muscles were perfectly able to move after the intensive healing session she had as soon as she arrived, but she was too exhausted to even lift her arm. Liesel and Jung had been declared missing in action because they hadn't been able to retrieve their bodies, but she had heard their deaths with her very own ears. Her own weakness had put her in that perilous situation and in the end it was them who ended up paying for her mistakes with their own lives. She had grown complacent, believing that she was the best of the best, that she couldn't die because she was an iryo-nin and talented kunoichi by her own rights, but in the end her worth lied in her abilities as a sensor and not as a soldier.
What a fucking surprise.
A firm knock interrupted her thoughts and she moaned, stretching the bedsheets to cover her head. She wasn't even grieving to begin with. She wasn't even proving that their sacrifice was worth it by doing something with her life, anything to show that their deaths hadn't been in vain. What would she tell Liesel's parents? Oh, it would be delightful to let them know that they lost both their son and daughter in only three months. Ah, and she forgot to add that their future son-in-law (well, by the sounds of it) was gone too. What a great family reunion that would be.
"Sakura! We know you're there!" Amina yelled, her voice annoyed.
"Please, open the door for us!" Petra continued, her pleading much more gentle but no less worried.
She groaned, "Go away." Ugh, her voice sounded like shit; now they wouldn't leave her alone.
"We won't leave you there moping!"
Her eyes narrowed and her expression grew murderous, though no one was around to see it. "Oh, I don't know, Amina, maybe I'm grieving because half of my fucking team died. Just maybe."
She heard what sounded like a scold and an annoyed mutter. "Fine, fine, sorry for being insensitive. Still, this is the second day you've spent locked in your room. You have to go outside and eat something."
"The only ones that can give me orders are the Captain, Squad Leaders, and Commander Erwin, and they haven't requested that I go outside. So no, I don't have to go outside and eat something."
"Are you really going to pull that?"
"Yes, Petra, I am. Now, if you're done, you––"
"No! We're not done. You have to let us in, at least. Please… You can't do this to yourself."
Sakura resisted the urge to tell her that she deserved this, but that wouldn't exactly help her chances in convincing Petra that she was perfectly sane. She sat up, her joints popping, and stood up slowly afterwards, taking her sweet time to reach the door. Sh knew that they would give her some time before approaching her, but she didn't think they would try sosoon. She took a hold of the knob and turned, revealing a hopeful Petra and disgruntled Amina, and stared at them with raised eyebrows. The two girls scrunched their noses at Sakura's odor, and Sakura almost slammed the door on them had Amina not put her foot in and stopped it.
"Ouch! Damn you!"
"Amina!" Petra growled. "You're not helping!"
Sakura stared on impassively, her expression neither more sympathetic or annoyed. "What are you two doing here?"
"Dragging you to take a bath, that's what," Amina growled.
She thought that Petra would protest to that, but she barged in and strolled to her closet, choosing the warmest clothes in her wardrobe and taking her bathrobe. Sakura was about to protest but Amina gave her one of the iciest stares she had ever seen. "Don't even think about it. You smell horrible. I'm surprised Captain Levi even let you get away looking like that."
"I haven't seen him," she replied rather weakly.
Petra ambled by and signaled for both of them to follow her, which Sakura begrudgingly did. She was thankful that the Special Operations Squad's wing was isolated from the rest of headquarters, because she didn't think she would be able to handle being seen in this sad state. It was one thing to look like mourner behind closed doors, but once she went outside and let the world see just how defeated she looked, she couldn't help but feel the shame burning inside of her.
At least Liesel was angry; she was just mopey and pathetic.
Luckily they didn't come across anyone else during their little walk, and the bath was already drawn up, meaning that they had already planned on getting her out of the room to begin with.
"Undress," Amina ordered.
Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Right now?"
"No, tomorrow. Of course right now."
"With you two inside?"
"Do you have something that we don't?"
"Um, no," Sakura replied slowly. "But I can take my own bath."
Petra sighed and shook her head. "It's a favor, Sakura. Besides, this is not the first time we see each other naked. There were many incidents back in––"
"Back in camp, yeah, I remember," Sakura pitched in, recalling with fondness all those embarrassing times when girls walked on each other because the door's lock was broken and no one came around to fix it in their stay. It was dubbed the "Peek-a-Boob Bathroom" for that reason, but yet girls still used it.
Amina scoffed and went behind the bathtub, picking up a bottle with a liquid and a bar of soap. "My mother sent me this a few weeks ago. I haven't gotten around to using it, but I thought today might be a good day."
She didn't need more coaxing and Sakura abandoned the layers of her uniform that she still hadn't taken off from two days ago. The muscles in her body instantly relaxed once she got in the water and she let out a contented sigh. Amina massaged her scalp with that liquid her mother sent meanwhile Petra washed her back, relaxing the tense muscles. No one commented about the lack of scars and marks on her body except from the imprints of the body belt, which everyone had.
The three women mostly chatted about Amina's family back inside Wall Sina, how they were begging her to come back but she kept refusing. In fact, she thought they would soon stoop low enough to ask Commander Erwin to persuade her, but both Petra and Sakura doubted that he would pay attention to the wants of the Burgeis family.
"They died because of me," Sakura confessed quietly. "I got distracted and that's what happened. I wasn't the one who paid anything for my mistakes. How am I supposed to tell their parents that their children died to protect… me?"
Petra gentled in her kneading. "You don't have to tell their parents anything. You're a soldier. Casualties happen all the time… Are you going to start apologizing for every death?"
"This death could've been avoided if I––"
"Did you murder them?" Amina questioned, her voice rough, yet her hands still soft in her ministrations.
"W-What? No! Titans ate them."
"Then don't feel guilty."
Petra chuckled a bit forcefully. "I think that what Amina is trying to say is that you can't blame yourself for their deaths when the titans are the actual enemies. You didn't push them into their mouths, you didn't stab them with your blades. You should mourn for their deaths, but you shouldn't feel guilty."
Sakura stared ahead at the stone wall, processing their words. They were right, one hundred percent, and her mind had accepted that from the beginning, but her heart had refused to take her reasoning in. It had closed off, barring logic and evidence, and insisted on beating her up, constricting her throat and her lungs.
But their words did make her feel better. It no longer hurt to breathe, she felt better about herself, and all the turmoil that had kept her awake the last two nights started fading.
The quiet and their heavenly hands lulled her into a light sleep, her body finally surrendering itself to the tiredness that weighed her down.
Her sleep was about to deepen when three harsh knocks snapped her wide awake, her body jerking awake violently. Petra was accidentally splashed, but she was too surprised to complain.
"Sakura," Levi called, his voice a bit less indifferent that usual.
She gulped and stared at Petra questioningly. She shrugged, her expression as confused as hers. "Y-Yes?"
"We're having a meeting in my office in ten minutes. Don't be late."
"Yessir."
Sakura sent some chakra to her auditory system and heard Levi walk away. She frowned and got out of the bathtub, completely losing her previous embarrassment over nudity. Sakura dried herself with her robe and quickly dressed herself in her warm uniform before she caught a cold meanwhile Amina and Petra finished cleaning the bathroom.
Her two best friends were about to leave when Sakura spontaneously caught them by the shoulder, whipped them around, and enveloped them in a bone-crushing hug. "I know I don't say this enough, but thank you… I don't want to think what I would do without you two."
Petra hugged her back tightly. "Don't worry about those things. I know that we can't make any promises, but we're very good. Our chances of dying have significantly decreased since we graduated."
Amina chuckled and untangled herself from the embrace. "Yeah, even I feel a bit foolish for saying those things back in May. Look how far we've come."
"You better go, Sakura. Captain Levi sounds scary."
"Eh, you get used to him. But you're right, I'll be going now."
Before going to whatever meeting her captain had planned, she dropped her clothes off in her bed and combed her hair. The strands had grown longer, now reaching past her chin, and she might need to cut it soon but honestly she was starting to like the length.
She felt two chakra signatures before knocking on the door. If she had to give an educated guess, she would go with Eld, only because she had gotten used to his presence before. She knocked the door and waited for Levi to let her through. She opened the door, saluted, and sat down on the vacant seat across his desk.
"There will be some changes to the Special Operations Squad," Levi stated, his usually casual voice tinged with seriousness. "Since its inception eighteen months ago, around four teams have been completely wiped off. That's sixteen of the best gone in just a year and a half. However, neither Erwin nor I can deny the usefulness of my squad. I used to have only five members because it could be divided into two pairs and me, since I work solo. We have decided to add a new spot to the team, bringing it up to six members.
"At first this seems like it is a small, but it will bring another big change to the dynamic in the team. There will now be three pairs, and two teams of three. I have to get used to working with someone else, and we all will have to get used to working with three new members. I have decided to put the Special Operations Squad on standby until we get used to these new changes. The purpose is to reduce the amount of deaths."
He stared at them impassively and raised an eyebrow. "Well, any questions?"
"Who are the candidates for the new positions?" Eld asked, stealing the question right out of her mouth.
"There are none; I have already chosen."
"Who are they?" she asked, the curiosity killing her. Last time he had taken two days to choose a candidate, so it shouldn't come off as a surprise for him to have chosen already, but this time he had picked three, not one. She didn't want to doubt his skills, but two days was too little to select those she would trust with her life, in her opinion.
"Gunther Schultz, Petra Ral, and Oluo Bozado. You should know Gunther, Eld, meanwhile the other two of are in the 102nd Class, actually. You must know them, right? …Hey, are you even listening?"
Oh, she was, but the words weren't exactly registering in her mind. Petra and Oluo… part of the Special Operations Squad? They might die pitiful deaths like Liesel and Jung's? No, they were supposed to be safe, rise the ranks in the teams that had less casualties!
Then again, this gave her the perfect opportunity to keep them safe. If something went wrong, she could always body-flicker and get them out of harm's way. But for that she would need to combine her taijutsu and other ninja skills with her 3DMG, because an emergency wouldn't exactly happen in the most opportune moments.
She felt something nudge her ribs and she jolted, shooting Eld a confused stare. He nervously beckoned at Levi with his head and Sakura turned to him with an embarrassed smile.
He did not look amused.
"Yeah, I know them. They're… Friends."
He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing about it. "Well, at least that means I won't have to spend too much time looking for them. The other reason why I called you two is to clear a small mess. Usually the next senior member takes the role of second-in-command, but you have seniority in the Survey Corps" —he tilted his head towards Eld–– "meanwhile you have seniority of a day in the Special Operations Squad," he finished, looking at Sakura meaningfully. "I don't want to get involved with this shit so you two choose who wants to be second-in-command."
"Eld is more than qualified."
"I believe Sakura deserves it."
Levi's eyes glinted, as if something had caught his interest, and he got up from his seat to go stand beside Eld. "Oh? This is interesting. Well, I guess it's not important right now considering that we won't be going on this month's expedition, but since you two are incapable of reaching a conclusion, then I will deal with this."
Well, she knew for sure she wouldn't get it because he didn't trust her with a leadership position.
He sat back down and leaned forwards. "Don't tell your comrades what I just told you; I will be the one to talk to them about this. If you have no further questions, you are dismissed."
Sakura stood up rather stiffly and quickly exited the office, heading to the training forest with brisk steps. The news her captain had just told her changed the game. Now more than ever she was directly linked to the survival and safety of two of her precious people.
Their membership in the Special Operations Squad had heavy implications for her training. She needed to find a way to become stronger than what she already was (without outright revealing her chakra) and she needed to devise a last resort plan that merged her chakra with her 3DMG skills. She hoped she would never have to reveal her kunoichi status, but she had to admit she wouldn't keep her stupid secret at the expense of Petra or Oluo's life; she had chosen to keep her chakra a secret to protect them, after all.
What happened with Liesel and Jung was a rude wakeup call to chakra's limitations. She was nigh invincible against another human, and perhaps could easily take down a titan or two with her chakra, but the horde she had experienced had left her with an empty sense of uselessness. Sakura thought of herself as special, wielding godly power in a world without gods, but her current repertoire of jutsu didn't help her at all. Her super strength couldn't kill ten meter tall monsters that would just generate a head later on. Her jutsu wouldn't be able to distract titans who may or may not feel pain, and if they did, they did not feel it in the same level as humans.
The chakra scalpel had worked, but only because she was downing one titan; if it had been more than one, she would've had to body-flicker out of the way to avoid the other titan, and she still would've had a problem cutting all of titans. In short, she didn't feel like such a one-man army anymore, and it was a humbling feeling.
The forest sported taller than average trees, the Survey Corps's attempt to recreate the giant trees in Wall Maria and beyond. Wall Rose used to have trees as tall as these, but that was before the population explosion inside Wall Rose, which prompted the government to cut down many forests and use the lumber to build new houses. The titan course for the Special Operations Squad was bigger than the others, as well as much harder to clear because titans were positioned in tricky places that required a lot of skill to reach.
She went to the supply's cabin and got an older-looking 3DMG. After attaching it, she fired the hook to the nearest tree and started adapting to the kinks of the older model to avoid any accident. She really should've used her own 3DMG, tailored to her own style of maneuverability over speed, but she didn't want to go to her room at the moment.
Once she located the first titan, she put her plan to work.
The first time she had discovered the body-flicker technique, she had thought it was a transportation technique. After trying it a few more times, Sakura realized it was simply quick burst of chakra that moved the body at such high speeds that it almost looked like teleportation. That meant that body-flicker couldn't be done in mid-air, where there was nothing to use as initial momentum. It could, however, be done in mid-air after clashing with another person, because the clash provided momentum that could then be used to release chakra and move away.
However, that didn't mean that the two-dimensional body-flicker couldn't be used in conjunction with the 3DMG.
She attached a hook at the nape of the titan and as soon as she had finished slashing, she let go of the hooks and body-flickered away. Sakura got her first real surprise when she over-estimated the amount of chakra needed to land in the next tree branch and appeared too far away from both the previous and next branch, relying on her 3DMG to get back in the game and not fall.
Still, that kill had taken less than five seconds. She had sent her hook to the titan, slashed the nape, and had gotten around three meters away, all in less than five seconds. If she conserved her chakra wisely and used the chakra burst mixed with 3DMG, she could kill more than ten titans in a single minute. Of course, then there was the question of how long she could keep that fighting style without tiring herself too much, and she did rely a lot on the presence of trees, but still, it was incredible.
Sakura laughed and body-flickered, her heart dropping at the feeling of falling, but feeling comfortable once she sent a hook to another high tree branch. She continued going this way, chakra burst quickly followed by attaching herself to another tree branch, until she accidentally crashed against a rather thick branch she had overlooked meanwhile she body-flickered.
The hit was mostly focused on her upper abdomen, and it knocked the wind out of her, leaving her breathless and dizzy. She immediately started falling headfirst into the ground, and the panic that encompassed her being was so overwhelming she almost froze. Luckily, her kunoichi instincts kicked in, and she righted herself enough to send a hook to a lower tree branch and carefully descend to the ground.
Once she was safe, she sheathed her swords and put her hands on her stomach, letting her healing chakra alleviate her pain. That had been risky, and if she had been around ten centimeters lower, she may have hit her neck, killing her instantly. Body-flickering was excellent, but actually using it as a means of traveling was extremely dangerous. The speeds she went in covered such large distances in such little time that it virtually left her with zero reaction time, even if her reflexes were less than a split second fast. The worse thing was that even if she honed her mind to increase her reaction time, she still wouldn't be able to change the trajectory because of the velocity behind her movement.
This posed a risk to titan-killing, because titans, unlike trees, weren't stagnant and moved with almost no predictability. She needed to practice a lot before she became proficient at combining 3DMG with taijutsu, but how could she practice if people would be able to see her?
She hated leaving things to chance, preferring to not have to experiment and improvise in the middle of the battlefield, but this time she didn't have any other choice. At least she knew that it was possible to combine taijutsu and 3DMG, something that had nagged her for a while.
Sakura frowned and looked down at her glowing hands. Seeing the glow reminded her of another pressing matter she had almost completely forgotten about. She stopped the healing process and got out her blades, carefully studying the steel. It was strong, yes, but that wasn't exactly the question. She applied some of her chakra to it and a jagged line of blue chakra surrounded the steel. She knew it wasn't perfect right now and could smooth the chakra, but for now this would do. She approached a tree and slashed with all her might.
The trunk was completely cut, and in seconds the tree started falling down. However, the pressure from the chakra as well as Sakura's strength made the steel break in two. She sighed, removed the broken blades, and reattached new ones. Perhaps if she didn't use all her force the blades would survive?
The tree was now cut halfway, but the blades ended up breaking slightly. The steel wasn't compatible with chakra, it seemed, but it shattered after the first hit. Still, titan flesh wasn't as strong as wood, so maybe she could get a couple kills before they finally broke under the pressure of chakra.
Sakura sheathed her blades and headed back to the Special Operations hall, intent on getting some rest. Her experiments had mostly been successful, a nice surprise for what started as a pathetic day. She couldn't wait to see how the squad's teamwork would improve having Petra and Oluo as her comrades, and was intent on perfecting some of the co-op maneuvers they had devised back in their trainee days, when they thought they would be inseparable.
She vowed to herself that she would never let anything happen to either of them, her secret be damned. If she could sacrifice her life for them, she sure as well could give up her freedom for them as well.
An incessant person knocking on her door woke her from her dreams. Her stomach growled, berating her for not eating dinner yesterday, and she forced her bleary eyes shut, hoping that whoever was outside her room would take the hint and leave her alone. However, either there was an important message waiting for her or the person was obtuse because it continued for what seemed like a minute.
With a growl she got out of the bed and violently opened the door, looking down on an annoyed woman with an unamused stare. She was ready for a spar, since she was wearing her shorts and a simple white shirt. "The sun's not even out, Petra."
"When were you going to tell me?"
She groaned and leaned her head on the doorframe. "Really? You seriously woke me up for––"
"You didn't tell me that I got into the freaking Special Operations Squad."
"Captain told me not to tell you because he was."
"Oh, so mean Captain Levi followed you everywhere and just made sure you followed his instructions."
Sakura frowned at her. "Your sarcasm is not appreciated. And I quite frankly don't know what the problem is. You found out, didn't you?"
"I made a fool out of myself," she hissed at the kunoichi, going past her and entering her room. "I just stared at him like a fish out of the water for like five minutes! He must think I'm an idiot! Hey, don't laugh!"
She continued chuckling, unable to get the image of a dumbstruck Petra and a deadpan Levi out of her head. Maybe she should've given Petra a heads up that big news were coming her way, but now it was too late. She walked towards Petra with her arms raised in a placating manner. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's just…"
Surprisingly, her eyes softened and the shorter female let out a breathless chuckle. "Yeah, I tend to give excellent first impressions to my superiors. Remember when I soiled my pants the first expedition?"
"Unfortunately I didn't get to see, but I did hear about it."
"So I'm used to living with embarrassment. It's just that Captain Levi is… Well, he's in an another league."
"You're in another league as well, you know."
Petra smiled and observed the room, as if measuring something. "Well, so we're back to sharing rooms, huh?"
"What?"
"Our hallways only has five rooms, but now that there's six of us… I told Captain Levi you wouldn't mind sharing room with me. Is that alright?"
Sakura grinned. "Of course I don't mind! We'll move your bed and things after training today."
The younger woman sighed audibly. "I don't know if I'll ever get used to those training times. Seven-thirty through three with a one hour lunch? Are you guys crazy?"
She shrugged. "The first couple of days you feel the heat, but after that you get used to it. First half hour is just warmup, just like before. The next hour is sparring, but this is because we observe each other's spars to better understand fighting styles and weaknesses that influence 3DMG. Half hour break and we change out of our sparring clothes, one hour of exercise, running laps and lifting weights, half hour of planning a new strategy to implement during the titan course, an hour of individual 3DMG practice in the forest, lunch, and the last three hours we go through different titan courses, once individually, a couple of times with previous strategies, once with the new strategy we came up with before lunch, and the last time in pairs. Of course, not every day is like this, but that's the usual."
"Wow, it sounds like a lot."
"We're a team that usually kills more than ten titans per expedition, guaranteed, because we encounter the most amount of titans."
"We'll clear the way for the expedition, right?"
Sakura nodded and started looking through her wardrobe for the day's clothes. Even though she had complained about being awakened early, she had to wake up to eat breakfast anyway. She chose a dark blue shirt, almost the exact shade of the dark wing on the Survey Corps's insignia and a pair of black shorts. "We're supposed to make sure the first ten kilometers are clear for the expedition. Before I joined this happened the day before so that we could resupply, but now it happens on the same day. The Commander simply added another supply cart, even though it was a bit risky but he said it was necessary." She removed her nightgown and started putting on her sparring clothes.
"Not going to lie, this is really exciting. We're doing something big."
She put on her dark blue shirt first. "It's big and dangerous, Petra. Much more dangerous. My teammates…"
"I know, I know," she replied, much more somber. "But if you think about it, the survival rate is roughly the same."
"Petra, Liesel Sommer and Jung Busch were amazing soldiers. They were extremely talented and they were gone, just like that. Survival rate doesn't mean anything when people like that are just killed off."
"What are you trying to say?"
"There are no guarantees in here. No matter how much you train, no matter how good you are, no matter how excellent your chemistry with the team is, we're not guaranteed to survive the next expedition. We can only hope to be lucky."
Petra's normally jovial eyes narrowed in seriousness. "I know what I was chosen for, Sakura. I have been given a chance to do something great, and I won't just throw it away. You won't convince me to quit this."
She shook her head animatedly and started putting on her shoes with a secret smile. "No, no, I'm not trying to convince you to quit. I'm actually happy that you and Oluo are with me. I'm just making sure you know what you signed up for."
"I do, so can we go have breakfast now?"
The kunoichi laughed and put on her shorts. "We should eat nutritiously because I have a strange feeling we're going to have a harsh day."
The two women entered the empty mess hall and sat next to a tousled Oluo, annoying him by eating from his plate. In all honesty, Sakura was doing him a favor, because with his large portion he wouldn't go through the day without throwing up. Unlike normal training, where people ate a heavy breakfast and light lunch, the Special Ops members should eat a breakfast easy on the stomach and a full lunch, simply because the first half of the day was full of acrobatics and movement.
She had learned this the hard way.
Oluo grumbled all the way to the training fields about how unfair we had been, but a sunny smile from Petra shut him up immediately and made his eyes sparkle, causing Sakura to gag a little.
Eld and a black-haired man, probably Gunther, were already on the warm-up field, but the Captain was nowhere in sight. That was strange, since he was usually as punctual as he was neat, but she didn't think much of it.
"Hello," she greeted the newcomer with a friendly smile. "I'm Sakura. You must be Gunther, right?"
Gunther nodded and grinned back. "Eld has told me a lot about you. Good job with Rosalind," he finished with a wink, causing Eld to blush furiously and her two best friends to simply stare ahead in confusion. He turned his head and acknowledged Petra and Oluo with a tilt of his head. "You must be Petra Ral and Oluo Bozado, right?" The two nodded back eagerly, causing an amused smile to graze his features. "I'm Gunther Schultz, and this is Eld Jinn. I'm new to the squad, like you two."
Sakura felt her superior's chakra approaching them. She turned and saluted him, and the rest of the team followed suit. "Good morning, Captain," they said in unison.
"You sound like fresh meat this morning," he replied in his usual calm tone. There were dark bags under his eyes and his face was ashen, giving her a strange sense of déjà vu. He was also wearing a white shirt and long shorts, which was also weird. Was he fighting? "I haven't heard that in a while…" he murmured, and Sakura was sure everyone but her missed that. "I hope introductions are over. If you don't know each other, you soon will, anyway. Let's warmup."
Just like Sakura had told Petra over, they followed the schedule completely. By the end of the exercise, Sakura felt her muscles fully awake and ready to start the training session.
Though spars were usually boring to her, it was quite exciting today because she would see completely new fights. Gunther was paired up with Eld, and, surprisingly, Gunther won by sheer strength. It was very apparent that they had fought beforehand, because there were some moves the blond had tried to pull that Gunther had easily blocked, and the only explanation was experience. She could already detect that the two of them would make an excellent pair, simply because Eld's agility and quickness went well with Gunther's sturdiness and brawn.
Next was Oluo and Petra, and it felt like a trip down memory lane, considering she had watched this numerous time in the 102nd Squad and in her early months in the Survey Corps. Petra took complete advantage of her petiteness and mostly focused on retaliating, but in the end Oluo won by making her lose her balance and placing her under a chokehold. Sakura had to hold in a laugh at how destroyed Oluo looked after winning, since he was probably beating himself up for hurting his precious Petra. She, on the other hand, was all sun and smiles, happy that she had fought with him after months, apparently.
She started walking to the next field, thinking they were done with the spar, but the Captain cleared his throat and stared at her with a raised eyebrow. She tilted her head to the side, confused that he had put on his sparring gloves, and asked, "Aren't we running laps?"
"You're sparring against me."
Sparring against the Captain? That had never happened. The Captain usually just observed and taught his Squad, but he never actually trained with them, since he got his practice with the Commander. However, now it made sense for him to fight with them, since there was an even number of members.
Sakura approached the Captain with a certain hesitation and put on her sparring gloves. Well, that was slightly unfair; he knew her fighting style, but she knew next to nothing from his. Maybe she should lose this spar to not make it look suspicious? But then again, it might look suspicious if she purposely lost, so what was the correct answer?
Levi lunged at her, and Sakura made her decision; she would make this as hard as she could for him. He aimed a punch at her jaw, but she stepped aside to completely avoid the attack. She targeted his chest, launching a kick, but he grabbed her foot with one hand, much to her surprise, forcing her to stand on one leg. She knew he was going to try to knock her foot now that her balance was shaky, so she hopped closer to him, putting force behind her trapped foot, causing him to lose his grip and let her go.
He was put immediately on the defensive, so Sakura used this to her advantage by aiming a roundhouse kick with her right foot, but Levi anticipated this, blocking her kick slightly but letting it continue, then blocking her off-target kick to his shoulders, and grabbing her right leg and kicking her lost her balance but clutched his shoulders tightly, taking him with her to the ground.
The wind was knocked out of her lungs, but with the Captain straddling her hips and going for the chokehold, she couldn't let herself breathe for too long. She used her abdominal and thigh muscles to pivot her hips, making the Captain lose his control and lose balance. Sakura shifted their bodies and now straddled his thighs and covered his upper body with her own, using her weight and strength to keep him down.
Levi, however, was determined to not lose and took her by surprise by removing his arms from underneath her body, immediately going for the chokehold. Sakura squirmed and lightly punched Levi repeatedly in the ribs, hoping to escape his hold, and managed to weaken it slightly. She took advantage of this opportunity and moved her thighs upwards to now straddle his abdomen and buried her face in his neck meanwhile their bodies fought for the top position.
He released her neck, grabbed her shoulders, and flipped her so that he was now on top in her exact same position, straddling her abdomen. She knew she wasn't going to be able to win this fight like this, deciding to finish it with her signature taijutsu once they were both standing. Sakura rebelled against his hold and even with his light punches she managed to turn her body around and get on her knees with her hands on the ground, like a dog.
Now she could just stand up and throw Levi off, but before she could even put force on her lower body he grabbed her arms and used his muscular legs to roll them forward, with Sakura facing the sky and the Captain underneath her, keeping her neck in a chokehold. He wrapped his legs around her hips to keep her thrashing under control, but she wasn't making any progress; his grasp was very tight and she was physically weaker than him without her chakra.
"Give up," he breathed harshly against her ear, his pants tickling her sweaty neck.
Sakura grunted and tried to shake her head, but the Captain's grip made it hard. In response to her jerking he tightened his legs and pushed down whenever she moved around.
She could almost feel the bruises forming on her neck, and even though it hurt her pride, she reluctantly tapped out. The Captain immediately released his hold on her neck and hips and Sakura rolled away to lie almost next to him, panting harshly.
Levi sat up and then stood up, making a noise of disapproval when he saw all the grass stains on his shorts. "We have a break now. Return in half an hour and meet in the gym." With that he left the training field, followed by Gunther and Eld, who were chatting animatedly about their fight.
Petra approached her with a smile and extended her hand towards her. Sakura smiled weakly and took it, letting herself be hoisted up. "That was so good. Captain Levi must be insanely strong to beat you."
"He did something on his first try that I haven't done for the past three years," Oluo grumbled.
Sakura huffed and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "He had the advantage of forcing me to play his game. I was doomed to lose the moment the fight turned into one of strength. And he knew my moves."
But even though Levi had won the fight, Sakura had managed to keep her kunoichi power and reflexes under control, making the loss bittersweet.
"Still, I know your moves and still can't stop him."
"Alright, alright, yeah, he's damn good; makes me more comfortable knowing that he's our leader."
"The Strength of a Hundred Seal suits and complements our role. What were the four rules I taught you when you first became my apprentice?"
"First, no medic ninja shall ever stop medical treatment until the lives of their party members have come to an end. Second, no medic ninja shall ever stand on the front lines. Third, no medic ninja shall ever die until they are the last of their platoon. Fourth, only those medic ninja who have mastered the Strength of a Hundred Technique of the ninja art Creation Rebirth are permitted to discard the above-mentioned laws."
"Your memorization skills are quite impressive. Anyway, yes, as you can see, this technique basically allows you to discard these rules because they would become a hindrance at our level. The Creation Rebirth technique is a regeneration technique. By releasing the chakra stored in the Strength of a Hundred Seal, we can speed up the mitosis of our cells, healing any wounds we've sustained. The child technique of the Creation Rebirth, the Strength of a Hundred Technique, regenerates wounds automatically, but this will take time to master.
"I trust in your aptitude with chakra control and estimate that once you gather enough chakra in your Strength of a Hundred Seal, you'll be able to automatically use Remote Healing and Chakra Rebirth. These are last resort techniques, making it a bit hard to train in, but we're going to run some chakra control exercises that will prepare you when the time comes."
"Yes, Shisou."
A red-haired woman opened the door, looking ecstatic from her vantage point on the wheelchair. "Ah, Sakura-chan, what a surprise! Come in, come in!"
She bowed to her elder and gave her a bright smile. "Good afternoon, Kushina-san. My mother sends her regards and wants me to warn you that she'll be taking you out later today."
Kushina backed off, letting Sakura pass, and maneuvered her wheelchair to close the door. She led Sakura through their house and looked up at her with a mischievous smile."Is she? Mebuki should know that when I get out I don't come back until very late."
The younger kunoichi giggled, suddenly remembering her mother's interesting drunken moments late at night. "Luckily she doesn't have a mission any time soon, so I'm sure she can take a little time off."
"That's good to hear! But enough about your mother; I'll hear about her soon enough. How are your lessons with Tsunade-sama coming along?"
"Very well. Shisou is teaching me her Seal of a Hundred Technique."
Her violet eyes widened, completely taken off guard. "The Seal of a Hundred Technique? Wow, Sakura, that is a great honor. Only two people in the world know how to achieve it, and only one is able to actually use it, that of course being Tsunade-sama. She must see great potential in you. Do you want water or tea?" she asked when the they reached their dining room.
"Water is fine. Mother and Father are very proud. Suguru can't really say that a Sannin is training him."
Kushina handed her the cup and Sakura murmured her thanks when she saw the disapproving look in the older kunoichi's eyes. "Now, Sakura, you know it's not good for you to compare yourself with Suguru-kun. You each have your strengths and weaknesses."
"My Academy years left a lasting impression."
"Ah, you were young! Naruto-chan also didn't do as well as we'd hoped but look where he is now! Look where you are now."
"Well, he did have a chakra monster locked inside of him, making his chakra control absolutely horrible. And his rivalry with… him didn't make matters any better."
"Naruto-chan was hell-bent on being normal. He skipped our Kurama-talking sessions in favor of going out and playing, so maybe you're giving him too much credit. Either way, the Academy is good for basics, but the real test is coming back from missions alive, so you and Suguru-kun are tied in that area."
A ring on the doorbell interrupted whatever Sakura wanted to reply. At hearing Kushina's annoyed sigh, Sakura said, "Don't worry, Kushina-san, I got it." She walked through the small hallway, trying to pinpoint the identity of the person's chakra. It was very familiar, but she couldn't quite tell who it belonged to.
She opened the door and stiffened immediately when she gazed into obsidian eyes. Her body switched to fight-mode and she had to force herself to calm down. Sakura gulped and wordlessly stepped aside to let the man in.
They walked back into the kitchen in silence, and even Kushina tensed when she saw her guest, but she had much easier time disguising her initial reaction and not acting upon it. "Itachi-kun! It's good to see you! What brings you here?"
"Tsunade-sama asked me to deliver this to you." He reached for one of the pockets in his jounin jacket and got out a letter.
Kushina grinned brightly and took it from him. "Naruto-chan is a bit absentminded and forgets to write his mother every once in a while. Thank you for bringing this to me, Itachi-kun. Tell me, how is the search for Sasuke-kun going?"
Sakura became rigid at the mention of her ex-teammate, but Itachi didn't seem to be affected by his brother's name. "Nothing, still. Orochimaru hid well, even from me."
"Either way, he'll come to you."
"Yes, but I rather not have him come to me with the urge to kill me," he replied with a wistful smile.
Sakura woke up with a tight feeling on her chest. It was invigorating and filled her with power, but it was also very weird. It was Sunday, their day off, so Petra was still asleep on her bed across from hers. Very quietly she got up and went to the wardrobe she shared with her and chose some civilian clothes to put on for her outing.
Spring had come and passed along with their first expedition together as a team, in which they had done admirably well and with zero injuries. The 39th Expedition would be that Thursday (the expedition where Levi would supposedly choose his second-in-command), but Sakura had asked to be able to leave that Sunday a month ago, so her request had been upheld.
She had to hold in her gasp when she saw the strange purple rhombus resting slightly above her left breast. It wasn't huge, but it wasn't small, either. She could feel it slightly pulsing, as if it were alive, mostly because of the chakra concentrated in that area.
It didn't appear malign, and as much as the rhombus intrigued her, she couldn't remember anything about it. She was more than positive that the answer was locked away inside her forgotten memories, but her amnesia wouldn't let her remember. She had already resigned herself to never getting back her recollections, but the appearance of this rhombus made her feel irritated that she couldn't remember something so important.
She finished buttoning her yellow shirt and slid on her long white skirt that almost completely covered her black boots. Today was the first day of the month break for the cadets of the 104th Trainee Squad, who would now graduate next year. Though usually the trainees went back to their homes, neither of her three wards had a home to return to. That's why she had used a good portion of her saved money to rent them a small house in the outskirts of Trost for their break. Last year she had wanted to do this, but she had been penniless and busy with the sensor business, but now that she had more than enough, she could take the hit.
Besides, who else was she going to spend money on?
Petra moaned in her sleep and murmured, "Sakura? Is that you?"
"Yeah, I'm going out. I'll be back tonight," she whispered.
"Okay. Have fun," she muttered before going back to sleep.
Sakura passed by the stables on her way to Trost and looked longingly at the horses that might shorten her ride. Still, Haruto belonged to the Survey Corps, and he couldn't be used for personal outings such as this one. She definitely understood why, but she still wished she had an easier way to commute to Trost.
The half hour walk was impossibly long with the prospect of seeing Mikasa, Eren, and Armin firmly lodged in her head. She hadn't seen them in almost two years, and though they exchanged letters weekly, she still missed them terribly. They were the reason she had kept herself alive for so long, after all.
A little wooden house by the windmill in the east side of Trost. That's the description she had gotten when she rented the house. It used to be owned by a family of three, but they had abruptly moved mid-spring and hadn't had enough time to sell it. Sakura, being the benevolent sweetheart that she was, offered to rent the house from them at a dirt cheap price meanwhile they sold it. If she hadn't haggled the price to a criminally low level, she would've never been able to afford it for a whole month, after all.
Luckily, the Survey Corps was located east of Trost, so she didn't have to cross the whole district to get to the house. She saw the windmill in the distance and, after making sure the road was clear of humans for at least the next three kilometers, she sped away with her kunoichi speed.
She could feel three chakra signatures inside the household and her excitement grew tenfold. She knocked twice and started tapping her foot as her sensitive ears heard the approaching footsteps. When the door opened and revealed a disheveled blond head, Sakura threw her arms around the shorter boy and squealed. "Armin! Look at you!"
Armin chuckled and hugged her back tightly, which made her inwardly happy to know that he was as comfortable around her, considering they didn't have as much history. They exchanged letters as much as she did for Eren and Mikasa, which definitely helped their relationship progress.
"You certainly outdid yourself with his house."
Sakura released him and observed him, noting the healthy glow of his skin and how much muscular he had become compared to the boy she had seen two years ago. "I'm glad you think so. I thought you guys might enjoy this."
"Armin!" Eren hollered from somewhere inside. "Is Sakura here?"
"Yeah!" he yelled back and flashed her a grin. "Come on in."
The house was made out of wood and had a small dinner table at the left, a kitchen further back, and a hallway in the right that led to the two bedrooms. Eren appeared out of the hallway and crushed her in a bear hug. "You've got to tell me everything about the Survey Corps!"
"Oh, I missed you too, Eren," she grumbled good-naturedly, "but I sure will. Look at how tall you've gotten! You're taller than me!"
"To be honest, you're not much of a challenge in the height department," he replied after he released her from his embrace. "Ow!" he complained when she punched him in the arm. "What was that for?"
"Respect your elders."
"You're not exactly my elder."
"Where's Mikasa?"
"Out gathering wood."
"You leave Mikasa to do all the housework?"
"Eren and I cook and Mikasa gets the fire for us to cook," Armin replied. "She's not very good at cooking."
That was certainly true; no matter how much Mikoto tried when she was younger, Mikasa was never able to make the more complicated dishes. "Oh, I forgot about that. Well, what are you two thinking about cooking?"
"We're tired of Training Corps food, but we only have enough to make a stew."
Mikasa opened the door and stopped momentarily before putting the firewood away and hugging Sakura, though a bit more distantly than she was accustomed to. She was beautiful and taller than Eren, but Sakura still saw her as the little girl to whom she bought a dollhouse for. "I missed you," she murmured.
The kunoichi smiled and soothingly rubbed her back. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?" She released her and stared at her three wards meaningfully. "In a year we'll all be together."
They all looked excited by the prospect, but there was something dark behind Eren's eagerness, something not entirely benign, and Sakura analyzed it as his bloodlust.
If he continued on this road, he may become a monster.
"Hmm, I have a busy day planned for us today. No stew shit; we're eating real food. Let's go to the market and cook a good meal."
"Can we practice your fighting style afterwards?" Eren asked in a hopeful voice. "They're teaching us in a completely different way than what you know."
"That's because taijutsu is from my homeland. Besides us four, I don't think anyone knows about it. But sure, after we've relaxed, we'll go out to the forest."
Days she spent with her three wards always ranked as the best days of the year. She asked more about their friends, because they never had enough time or space to write a letter fully detailing their lives. She learned more about Sasha Braus, their hungry and ingenious friend; Connie Springer, short but very agile; Krista Lenz, the dubbed goddess of the group; Reiner Braun, the older brother; Bertolt Hoover, the shy giant; Annie Leonhart, the combat expert; Jean Kirstein, a charismatic boy bent on joining the Military Police (much to Eren's annoyance); Marco Bott, a kind boy who got along with almost everybody. The 104th Class came alive before her all thanks to their stories and she couldn't help but look forward to meeting them, though that was unlikely considering no one joined the Survey Corps unless he was an idealistic fool or the Garrison couldn't accept more recruits.
In return, Sakura told them all about her life as a member of the Special Operations Squad and her role as sensor for the Corps. She found one more thing about Eren, that being his complete adoration of Captain Levi and Commander Erwin. Levi was cool and extremely strong, meanwhile Erwin was charismatic and a near genius. She thought that a small reality check would help lower Levi's high standing ("Captain Levi is an irritable, violent, unapproachable man who happens to be shorter than me… Alright, one centimeter shorter but still"), yet she only managed to make him "more human" in his eyes; he couldn't wait to work with him.
Armin idolized Commander Erwin ––though not nearly to the same degree as Eren–– meanwhile Mikasa was more apathetic about the Survey Corps. Indeed, just as how Grisha had told her years ago, Mikasa would follow wherever Eren went, and there was nothing that could stop her, not even her own unhappiness.
"How are expeditions? Do you kill many titans?"
"We do, but we don't celebrate."
"Why not?"
"There is more to mourn about than to celebrate after expeditions," Sakura replied quite somberly, making Eren's excited demeanor change drastically. "Even if you survived, you still have nothing to be happy about."
The blond looked up at the canopy of the trees, a thoughtful expression on his sweaty face. He was the one most tired after their training session, but Sakura had to keep herself from beaming in pride at how far Armin had gotten. Eren had taken Annie's fighting techniques to heart and even showed her one or two, and Mikasa remembered the earlier forms she had practiced back in the Ackerman household.
"This is the life that waits us, right?" Armin asked quietly.
"It's not too late to change your mind," she returned.
"No, it's too late. It's four years too late," Eren answered, his words burning with hatred and passion. Had Sakura not been accustomed to his emotions, she would've flinched. "They need to pay for what they've done, and I won't stop until I've exterminated every last one of them."
"Love is better motivation than hate and revenge," she quoted, finally understanding the meaning behind Helsa's dying words. She must've been angry at life for taking away her husband and son, just like how Eren was angry, and the years had passed and she still didn't move on.
"Hate keeps me alive," Eren answered and got up from his spot against the tree trunk to better look at Sakura, who was perched on a tree branch. "Hate will change the world."
Sakura looked down on Mikasa for help to dissuade Eren's violent feelings about titans, but she was leaning against the tree, lost in her own thoughts. People must think that Mikasa neither hated nor loved, but with that expression she knew that the girl was just as damaged as any of them four and had very deep feelings about things.
Misfits usually changed things, and with four misfits in the group, who knew what exactly would come out of them?
I don't know if it was clear or not, but the SnK world uses MMA style fighting meanwhile Sakura uses the taijutsu she has honed over her ninja years. The only reason why she lost was because Levi had intel on her and forced her to play by his rules. Otherwise she would've won, even without her chakra.
Is it just me or has anyone noticed how fucking scary Eren is, both in canon and in this story? I still remember what he told Reiner and Bert and Ymir when they were outside Wall Maria... Sheesh. That type of Eren is the inspiration for this story.
Earlier in the story I made a mistake about everyone's heights and for that I sincerely apologize, but these are the official stats (sans the 104th Corps since they're still growing boys and girls), mostly from the wikis, that I will be using from now on:
Sakura: 161 cm, 56 kg (this is the only thing that is different from the wikia, since she cannot be 45 kg in the SnK world), biologically 24 years old, on paper 23.
Levi: 160 cm , 65 kg, ? years old (28)
Petra: 158 cm, 55 kg, 20 years old
Oluo: 173 cm, 61 kg, 21 years old
Eld: 182 cm, 75 kg, ? years old (24)
Gunther: 183 cm, 82 kg, ? years old (24)
Hange: 170 cm, 60 kg, ? years old (26)
Erwin: 188 cm, 92 kg, ? years old (30)
The ages in question marks are those that haven't been confirmed and haven't been assigned. The parenthesis are the ages I personally assign them when I write, but to each their own and quite frankly I don't mind as long as they aren't 70 or something.
Yet again, apologies for the confusion, and if you see something that doesn't make sense or doesn't go with what I've written before, please do tell me. I accidentally change somethings, even if I don't mean it.
As always, my sincerest thanks to Sincerely Athena, anima, Basia Orci, FairiesDescent, Atsirk Enoh, mun3litKnight, cj1of4, naremon, AmeRaSora, Sakura19Haruno95 , catxangel, cherryblossom1423, Sithmor, Guest, Ikillatfirstsight, Boingy, alien7676, Love Remedy, MiniRoonie, brokenmaelstrom , No Name, Sky65 , Lady Light, Darling, and Mayflowerz 411 for being so awesome and leaving reviews. Your words are always such a delight to read. Also, many thanks to those who added this story to their alerts and favorites! It makes me happy knowing that The Vessel entertains you.
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