A/N: I received a PM asking what I planned for the story in terms of length and continuation and I haven't really planned to have a sequel for the story though that may change in the future. Right now, the story still in early stages of character development and introduction and it will have many chapters in the future so depending on how it ends will show if it qualifies a sequel or not. I do want to thank you all for continuing to read this story, and I hope that you guys will still enjoy it down the line. And as for the end of the previous chapter, you'll be surprised what will happen in the future. Sorry for the long AN.
On a sidenote: This story is now officially two years old! April 1st was the day of its birth. Holy Cow!
DISCLAIMER: I REALLY THINK THIS IS A THING NOW WHERE I JUST YELL THE OBVIOUS FACT THAT I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! WHICH IS ALSO NOW IMPOSSIBLE SINCE THE SERIES ENDED! THOUGH IN A WORLD OR MAYBE SOME ALTERNATE REALITY, I DO...OR NOT. BUT YES, THIS STORY MAKES NO PROFIT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM SO...YEAH... ONWARD MY FELLOW FRIENDS!
Without further ado, here is chapter 9.
Enjoy.
~Siralia-Old.
Chapter Nine: I'm in Here
Mebuki Haruno rushed around the kitchen, donning on her favorite yellow apron that clashed with her hair very nicely. She heard very good news through the mouths' of some civilian couple that a certain group of ninja had finally returned to the village, a group that disappeared for four months without a peep. Most thought that they had died while on the mission but Mebuki knew better. She knew her husband would not just up and die so easy. Taking a dish out of the oven, she placed it on the table, blowing on her hands that suffered the brunt of the heat of the pan before going about her 'housewifely' duties. Not that she liked taking on the role regularly due to her type of expertise, but she was still a mother and wife, damn it and it just happened to be a special occasion today anyway.
Hearing a knock on the door, she rushed over to it, quickly opening it to who she thought was her husband.
Instead, a figure that seemed to be shrouded in shadows stepped in the house roughly pushing as Mebuki who stumbled to catch her balance, approached the unknown man with fire in her eyes.
"Who the hell do you think you are just waltzing in my house like you own it?" The blonde woman spat at the man.
The stranger spared the woman a glance before taking a step towards her, releasing a strong amount of killing intent into the room, in an attempt to intimidate her.
"Who are you?"
"Does it matter? I live here so I ask the damn questions." Mebuki spat back, shaking under the pressure but meeting his gaze with a ferocity that betrayed the fear that took over. "So let me ask again, who the hell are you?"
"Does it matter? You won't remember me for long." He said spitting her words back at her as his sleeves shifted, showing pale hands stuck together in a sign. Mebuki's glare widen to a fearful gaze when she saw his hands before she saw a flash of pink, pain then darkness.
Three hours.
It had been three hours since she had came home from the hospital and ever since then the girl had been drowning in cleaning products as she scrubbed at the green carpet. With bright yellow kitchen gloves, she set herself the task of cleaning the carpet, the very spot her mother laid not even hours before she was rushed to the hospital. Sitting back for a minute to wipe the faint sweat that slithered across her forehead and pasted her bangs to said forehead, she gave a sigh. While she had accomplished getting up much of the blood, she couldn't help the pale yellowish-green that the cleaning products gave the carpet.
Rubbing at her arms that had been splashed with the bleach and whatever else sh had used, she got up to clean the suds off the floor before leaving it to dry, when she heard a knock on the door. Snatching off the gloves and tossing them on the nearest table, she opened her door to see no one other than her sensei standing there, his hand rubbing at the back of his neck as he lifted his lone eye to meet the curious and worried gaze of his student.
"How is she?" Sakura said, her voice betraying the calm expression she held as she motioned for Kakashi to come inside. Kakashi obliged as he eyed his student, if it were anyone else, he might have been worried about how calm they seemed in a situation like this, but it wasn't. It was Sakura and he knew she was tearing up inside about this.
Kakashi didn't know much about the relationship between mother and daughter, but he knew it was a rocky one due to the bad moods Sakura would possess during training. When asked, she wouldn't provided much of an answer despite a mumbling under her breath about her mother. Despite this though, Kakashi knew that she loved her mother deeply.
"Sensei?' She asked, drawing the older male out of his thoughts.
"Oh, sorry Sakura." He said, rubbing the back of his neck again. "Your mother is...okay for the most part. The doctor told me that she hadn't woken up yet, but they were able to do a successful blood transfusion and she is recovering slowly but surely."
Sakura gave a sigh of relief as her fear drained out of her, leaving nothing else behind but exhaustion, which clearly showed on the young girl's pale face. "Thank you, sensei." she said as she looked up towards the elder man.
"Of course, Pastel, but I do have a question for you."
"What?"
"Do you know who might have done this to your mother?"
"No, I don't know anybody that had a vendetta against her but she is a merchant so I would think she might of found some enemies along the way but even then..." she trailed off, trying to wrack her brain of anything or anyone that she had come across in the past that could have been out for blood.
"What about your father?"
Sakura stayed in silence when he asked that question, looking back at the carpet.
Kakashi nodded in response. "Well, everything checks out." he muttered, low enough that the girl in front of him couldn't hear. Kakashi had stopped by the Hokage's office before he came to see how his student was faring. Since he was put over the young girl, he had been the first person that the Hokage talked to about the unusual incident and so close to the Chuunin Exams too? Kakashi gave a little sigh and took a note out of the Naras' book. This was troublesome.
Silence had fallen back over the pair and Kakashi noticed that at some point of his musings, Sakura had went back to cleaning the stain on the floor. He watched the girl clean, silently wondering why she hadn't gone to see her mother. After she was discharged from the hospital, she had dipped out and headed straight home, at least that's what the nurse told him.
"Sakura...if I may ask, why did you not go see your mother?"
Sakura stopped her scrubbing, but kept her eyes glued to the floor. "My father is there..." she said softly, sobs trying to break her voice. "He needs some time with mother."
"Understandable, but you don't need to be alone." Kakashi said, rubbing his chin. "You are a very emotional child but don't know how to release them and it's not safe to let them boil inside like that."
"Why not?"
"It can break a person, Pastel." he said, ruffling her hair though his tone seemed to carry a shadow to it as he said it.
"How can someone release emotions?" She asked, looking at Kakashi with wide eyes.
With a smile, Kakashi motioned with his hand. "Follow me."
.
..
.
"Spar me. Use whatever method you want and just attack with all you have." Kakashi said, pocketing the book and looking at Sakura with his lone eye, testing and taunting her. Sakura bristled at the gaze and immediately tossed a hand of kunai at her sensei, before flipping away from her sensei.
"Now Pastel, I said all that you have. Pleas don't tell me that was it?" Sakura sent a glare at Kakashi and opened her mouth to retort but before a word was uttered, she felt herself change from a stationary position to an airborne one, flying several feet away from her spot. She turned her body at the last minute, lessening the impact she made with the ground.
"What the hell was that for?" Sakura cursed, glaring daggers at her silver-haired teacher which worsened when he sent her a smile and wave.
"This is a spar, my little student, get up and get ready." Kakashi motioned with his hand. Sakura quickly got to her feet, slipping into a stance that Gai had shown her during her training with his team, and charged at her sensei. Kakashi shushined behind Sakura, who barely missed a blow to the head. She ducked down and swept her foot at Kakashi, who jumped over her attack.
Flipping backwards, Sakura studied her sensei for a moment before having to dodge three kunai aimed straight in her direction. Looking over her shoulder, she quickly eyed the tree that they did mark and shuddered at how deep the kunai went into the tree. Glancing back at Kakashi, he shook his head.
"Now Pastel, this just won't do. You just don't seem to be bringing your all, in fact, you seem very distracted."
"I wonder why?" Sakura spit back.
"That is an excuse. Would you let whatever is bothering you affect your position on a mission? No, you wouldn't because the uncertainty of what could happen when you are out of the gates of the village requires full focus on the objective at hand. A distracted mind can lead to possible failure of the mission or worse." Kakashi said, looking at his female student."I'm not saying that you shouldn't be feeling the way you are about your mother, it is natural to feel that way, and this is only a spar but it still stands, you have to remain focused despite your emotions."
Sakura could only stare at her sensei with wide eyes as she digested what he had thrown at her.
"Now, Pastel, again."
Kizashi Haruno slipped out of the hospital room as he felt a sense of drowsiness come over him, as much as he didn't want to leave his wife's side, he still had a daughter to look out for, especially now that he didn't know how long his wife was going to be in the hospital.
Neither did the doctor.
He sighed, running his hands through his fading pink hair which was pulled back and no longer resembled the star shape that he would usually wear. Leaving the hospital with a quick goodbye to the receptionist, he went on his way home, hoping for nothing more than a peaceful-or as peaceful as it could be- night with his daughter and just go through things each day at a time.
Though that plan was stopped when Kizashi ran into a familiar figure.
"Ichiru." Kizashi nodded, giving a small smile to the man he immediately recognized as his brother.
"Ah, Aniki. Long time no see, huh?" Ichiru smiled, turning to face his older brother. Kizashi nodded in response.
"I would lean in for a hug, but I am still covered in my mission so..."
"Understandable, brother. Don't forget I was a shinobi once."
"Ah, how could I forget. The Legendary Pinkie from Kumo."
"Is that seriously my legacy? The hair?" Ichiru said, with a slight pout.
"It's bound to be with any Haruno shinobi, otoutou." He chuckled a bit, before his face turned into a curious expression. "If I can ask, what brings you to Konoha?"
"I was finishing up some business here in the Fire Country and thought that I could stop in and see my family." Ichiru answered, looking at his brother with another wide grin.
How could I forget? Kizashi thought as he stared at his brother. Ichiru, while the youngest of the two, was at one point a very skilled shinobi. During his career, he met a Kumo kunoichi by the name of Aki and immediately fell in love with her. Choosing to follow Aki back to her home village with the blessing of their father, he had begun a life with her and became a father of two children. What was his downfall though was an injury to the left side of his body that left him blind in one eye and a prosthetic leg. While most shinobi would continue on despite the injuries, Ichiru decided to renounce his shinobi status and instead became an ambassador for Kumo.
"So how are the wife and child doing?" Ichiru asked, snapping Kizashi out of his thoughts. Kizashi looked at his brother, smile slipping off his face and his blue eyes darkening a fraction.
"Not so good." Kizashi answered, his voice quiet.
"What do you mean?"
"Mebuki is in the hospital...someone attacked her in our home and left without a trace. If it wasn't for Sakura coming home in time, I don't know what would have happened." Kizashi broke, tears streaming down his eyes as he avoided his brother's gaze.
"Oh, Aniki." Ichiru slipped his arms around his brother for comfort as Kizashi silently wept, something that he didn't get to do since he stepped foot in the village.
"Why would someone do this to my wife? My family? Why was I not there to protect her? What if Sakura was home as well?" Kizashi cried out, wrapping his arms around his brother.
"I understand how hard this could be for you, but don't not be hard on yourself. At least Mebuki-chan survived right? And Sakura remained unharmed." He stopped speaking for a minute, pulling back to look into brother's eyes, the same as his own. "You couldn't do anything because you were not there but you're back so you can protect your family now and I am here too, I won't let any harm come to my niece and sister-in-law."
Kizashi looked at his brother with a silent thank-you.
"Ichiru, where are you staying right now?"
"Oh, I have these nice quarters arranged for me in a hotel not too far from the village."
"Why not stay with us for the time being?" Kizashi asked, hoping Ichiru would accept the offer.
"I don't see why not. I'll send for my belongings in the morning."
"I see you have gotten used to the pampered life, huh?" Kizashi chuckled a bit, drying his eyes with a clean part of his sleeve.
"It does have its benefits." Ichiru said with a laugh. "Shall we head home then, Aniki?"
"Of course." With that the two brothers went home, not noticing the dark figure that stood in the shadows watching them.
A/N: And there is chapter nine, probably one of the hardest chapters that I have written yet. I hope I was able to shed some light on the situation that ended the previous chapter, though it probably wasn't much. Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I do promise that the story will pick up pace after this or the next chapter and as the do the chapters made end up longer as well. We'll just have to wait and see.
Until next time,
~Siralia-Old.