We got to number ten – I wouldn't have been able to get this far without your support :-)
Lots of action in this chapter
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Sakura stood on wobbling knees heaving a choked breath, her assailant had finally made his appearance. The man stood tall in a dark cape that swallowed him whole, his face covered by a large hood. The man walked towards Sakura and stopped just where the full moon's light shone through the branches. He pulled his hands out, Sakura readied herself in a fighting stance but the man simply chuckled and clapped his hands, Sakura didn't release her stance.
'Not bad. Konoha nin are always so dramatic when protecting people.' The man spoke
His voice was hallowed and deep, almost haunting.
'What business do you have here?' Sakura gritted
'Is it a crime for a man wanting to take an evening stroll?'
'Don't mess with me fool.' Sakura growled in a low voice, 'you were intending to kill the boy, and if I heard right you were planning to kill me too.'
'Not much of a conversationalist are you?' The man quipped, 'I guess it does help with the task at hand. I am here to kill you; I guess the boy would have been an added bonus.' The man said nonchalantly
Sakura's blood was boiling and she quivered with pure rage, 'If you're here for me, don't involve anyone but me.'
'My, you don't seem the slightest fazed that I am here to kill you, don't you want to know why?' The man spoke lightly, he moved closer, this time simply circling Sakura in a predatorial-like manner.
'You aren't the first' she simply spoke
'That I am not. But I plan to be your last.' The man humored, 'You see you are a little pesky thing. I wouldn't be here if you were just content the way things were.'
Sakura's eye flickered with question.
The man laughed, 'Ah child, child, child, everything we do has a consequence. Like your parents' pleads to make you live, they lost their own sight and hearing and their lives.'
Sakura stood deathly still, her stance faltered slightly, 'Who are you' she growled.
The man ignored her, 'Your grandfather, poor man really, the one you thought that was doing you disfavor by sealing you chakra away, was in fact protecting you.'
A gust of wind passed and the leaves rustled, 'Haven't you ever wondered why your grandfather sealed your chakra away, or better yet why you can activate your chakra by absorbing someone's blood?'
The man stopped and stood a meter away from her now, 'I've been watching you little miss. You are far too dangerous to be allowed access to chakra. You're going to ruin my plans. That chakra paired with your ties in this village.'
The man looked away from her, 'As an incentive for attacking your little friend I'll answer one question, any question you wish to have answered. I assure you I'm probably the only person who can answer your questions, but you must only pick one. Think carefully.'
Sakura was bewildered. How did this man know so much about her? Something inside her was nagging her and pleading her to ask the question she had always mulled over the many years; she'd have to word it correctly if she wanted to get as many answers out of the one question. She peered at the man and stood up straight, 'How is the source of my life connected to this so called 'ability' I have?'
'Oh and how do you know they are connected?' The man spoke smugly
'You suggested this theory just moments ago.' Sakura spoke confidently
'You are a perceptive one. I guess I can give you the peace of mind of dying with this knowledge.
'You have two minutes before I blow you to smithereens' Sakura crossed her arms.
'That is plenty enough. It starts with your parents. Your parents made a contract with a self-proclaimed prophet who promised your life in exchange for giving themselves to a religion. This religion's god is called Jashin. To give you life the prophet had requested the help of Jashin.' The man paused for a moment, the woman before him looking taken aback about this information, 'Jashin gave you life, and so you became one of his prophets, but of course your stupid parents knew nothing of this. They made a blood contract with the prophet, and they went against it. They lost their sight and hearing as a warning and then their lives because they showed no evidence of being disciples of the religion.'
'How is this related with my chakra ability?'
'I was getting there; wouldn't you want to coax me into speaking longer to prolong your life?' He received no response, 'Your grandfather wasn't as brainless as your parents. He knew what it meant to be a prophet of Jashin. When you are a prophet of Jashin, you have a particular ability that is revolved around using another individual's blood against them. Your ability can be used to leech onto someone's chakra network. If you come into contact with even a drop of someone's blood you can tap into someone's chakra and use it as your own, draining that person's chakra. Are you following?'
Sakura nodded slowly.
'Your ability is a blessing to any shinobi, infinite chakra; you are the ultimate killing machine. You could kill every single one of your enemies without running out of chakra. Your grandfather knew this, knew that you would be thrown around and fought over by Konoha and Suna like a commodity, you would start wars. So he decided to seal your chakra in hopes of stopping this future from happening. Still you became a valiant ninja and yet you were not content with that much. You were still able to access your ability but in a very limited manner, nothing as drastic if you were to have access to all your chakra.'
At that moment the man sprinted towards Sakura grapping hold of her throat and she clawed at his hands gasping for air, 'And that's where I come in. You were miscalculation in my plans I shouldn't have overlooked the plausibility of you retaining all you chakra again. I need to dispose of you before all my hard work goes to waste. I did not spend a hundred years of waiting in this world for you to ruin all of this for me.'
'A hundred years?!' Sakura choked
The man chuckled, 'That's right.'
'Im-imortal?' Sakura wheezed
'It's such a shame that I have to kill such a smart girl, I'll try and make it as painless as possible. That is if you don't die of suffocation first.'
The man lifted her higher above the ground, her hands now resting at her side. He pulled out a short blade from his cloak and thrust it into her chest, 'Sleep well and say hello to your grandfather for me.'
Her eyes widened, 'Yo-you killed him?' she whispered
'Only because I can.'
Her blood started to coat her body and trickle down the man's arm, 'The colour red suits you.'
Sakura grimaced and bit her lip; the man threw her to the ground. He moved to drive the blade deeper into her with the heel of his foot, when he did he was assaulted with a cloud of smoke.
'You think I would let you get to me so easily. Think again.' Sakura spoke from behind the man.
The man moved away immediately allowing the smoke to dissipate and reveal an unharmed Sakura.
'I would think for all the years you've lived that you'd be able to notice a clone. Beginners mistake.' Her eyes burnt with fire.
'Forgive me for thinking so lowly of you.' The man growled
Sakura cracked her knuckles and went through a torrent of hand signs and slammed her palm into the ground, 'You're not going anywhere, not until I kill you. I'm not going to let you kill another person for your own interest. '
A chakra barrier erected itself around them restricting them in a ten meter square space.
The man laughed menacingly, 'Do you know what it means to be immortal? I cannot die.'
'But I can exhaust your chakra.'
'That is if you can get a drop of my blood.'
The challenge was set. Sakura held the blade that had once impaled her clone, 'I hate people who underestimate me.'
'That my dear is something we have in common.'
They began to exchange blows in a mad frenzy, Sakura dodging with ease. She attempted to find an opening and attack the man with the blade, but it proved futile as he matched her speed and ability to dodge.
It was then finally when she got a chance, she drove the blade towards the man's opening near his shoulder, though she did not meet flesh, but air. The man flashed through her, her eyes widened. He now stood behind her, 'I am not a force to be reckoned with.'
He elbowed her back harshly, knocking out the air in her lungs, she tried to meet him blow for blow, but each time she threw a punch it would meet the air where the man once stood.
'You should have just let me kill you when you had the chance. Though this is a bit more fun I must say, Konoha ninja are the most fun to kill.'
The man tore away at his cloak and pulled away at a mask that covered his face.
Sakura's mouth stood agape, 'Y-You're an Uchiha.' Her blood ran cold as she stared into his spinning red eyes.
'You know what they say about Uchiha's and their eyes' the man drawled
Sakura's heart rate quickened with anxiety, 'Genjutsu won't work on me.' She spoke
The man smirked, 'Don't humble yourself so much, sharingan isn't just used for genjutsu, there are other means of immobilizing our opponents.'
Unconsciously Sakura's knees sank to the ground; she gripped her head in agony as she began to hyperventilate, 'Get out of my head dammit.'
She was losing sense of reality and idealism; the man began to paint pictures in her mind and manipulate her memories, 'I'm afraid a slow death for you is in order.' The man smirked
He stepped before her and gripped her chin; her body was limp and wouldn't move in spite of her attempts. She began to shiver in horror.
'I call this Kyōzō (Mirror image) genjutsu. I first capture your subconscious mind in genjutsu and soon enough your body will react as though it's in the genjustu. Your conscious mind is aware then at that moment that you are in a genjutsu and then soon enough the lines are blurred subconscious and conscious minds and you can't tell the difference.'
The man then kneed her in the stomach and she coughed up blood, her body still did not respond.
'You could say it's a blessing in disguise is the fact that you can't feel pain. Though if you do survive the genjutsu, then you will die of the physical damage that I'll inflict on you.'
The chakra barrier she placed had begun to falter, her eyes were lulling shut.
The man smirked and pulled Sakura by her hair and dragged her towards a tree
He took the blade that lay on the ground, and began to carve into the tree bark:
The one who died The one who calls himself the martyr 100 years wrinkle his blood He is the dark horse Look to your brother May the heavens bless us with mercy For on the day yonder the 9th spirit is born
Has lied
To the red nights he is tied
And to his people a great demise
But of this world, he is no 'departer'
And blood he will see to it to flood
Who has gone off course
And his heart beats with no remorse
And you will know his mother
For the future it will foresee
The land of this country will be scorn.
And the babe from its mother's womb will be torn.
He sheathed the blade and looked down at an unconscious Sakura, 'Let your mind be your prison.'
'Let this be an example to Konoha and the world to not cross paths with me.'
He kicked at Sakura's limp legs, and gave her a glare, 'You won't even be able to crawl back to your petty village.' He laughed with malice.
The barrier has been released at that moment and he smiled with satisfaction. He went and grabbed his cloak and mask and disappeared into the black night.
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'Pakkun have you picked up her scent yet.' Kakashi bristled. His eyes were livid.
'Your lady friend should be just up ahead.' Pakkun reported. He gave a worried glance at his partner as he saw him increase his already hastened pace.
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There was banging at the door. Kushina eyes opened slowly looking to her slumbering husband; she brushed away at the locks that covered his eyes. His hands caught hers at that moment as he turned to look at her, 'Someone's at the door she whispered.'
He nodded knowingly and placed a light kiss on her hand before he stood and shuffled towards the door. When he opened the door of his home he was taken aback by the two people that stood before him at that late hour.
'Hokage-sama Sakura-chan was attacked she told me to get help.' Itachi whispered
'Wh-what' Minato spoke clearly off guard.
'She was retrieved by Kakashi and she's been admitted into intensive care. At this point it's believed she's under genjustu as she won't respond to any stimuli.' An Anbu spoke
Kushina was at the door at that moment, her hand to her mouth, her face laden with anguish. Her husband gripped her frame.
'We are taking this as a threat from an outside source, as we found no other person on premises, but found a 'note' of some sorts. It doesn't look good. We've put the village under lock down until further notice.' The Anbu spoke.
Itachi began to sniffle at that point, the Anbu regarded him for a moment, 'Sakura-san and Itachi were together when they were attacked, and Sakura used a teleportation seal on Itachi and teleported him back to the Uchiha estate.'
Minato and Kushina looked at the distraught boy with worry. Kushina pulled the boy close to her, 'You're a brave boy Itachi. You have to stay strong for Sakura-chan ok?' She rubbed at his back.
Itachi's bottom lip wobbled, 'B-but what if Saku-chan doesn't wake up?'
'She will' Kushina looked him in the eye with conviction, 'She's a shinobi of the leaf.'
'Please escort the boy home; I'll be down at the hospital as soon as I can.' Minato spoke at the moment.
The Anbu moved to take Itachi's hand, Minato grabbed at their shoulder, 'I'd like you to come back here afterwards and make sure my wife stays safe while I'm gone. I'm not taking any chances.'
'You have my word.'
Minato closed the door, 'Kami-sama' he sighed. His wife hugged him tightly and he could only return the embrace, 'Is this the world my son will be born into?'
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That night a girl named Sakura Haruno was born.
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I don't know I feel like I could have written this chapter better
But I wrote it
So yeah
I think it because I'm writing this at night rather than the morning which I usually do
Oh well
Hope you liked it
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Much love
OXZA