OMG I am so excited for where this story is going you have nooo idea!

STANDARD DISCLAIMER APPLIES.

Chapter Ten: Fade

Home.

To some it is a place.

To others it is the people whom they love.

It is the warmth of love and friendship.

The place one grew up and spent their innocence.

Home.

I have none.

This meaning has faded.

I am a tool of destruction.

My master's weapon.

There is no home.

{*~*~*}

We probably shouldn't talk,
'cause talking leads to thinking and
eyes wide open blank in the dark.

We probably shouldn't think,
'cause thinking leads to questioning and
circles you right back to the start

If we don't leave now, we will break,
We will falter, we will fade.
If we don't leave now, we will harm,
We'll regret what we've done to ourselves

{*~*~*}

"Your blood is Haruno. You are Haruno. Do not forget your allegiance."

"I won't, oba-sama."

"You know what to do."

It was almost surreal to feel nothing but emptiness as Sakura approached the gates of Konohagakure. For the first time in three and a half years, she allowed the memories to the forefront of her mind, reliving them in her mind's eye the whole trek to Konoha. Memories of people and places, feelings and thoughts drifted through her head like stray thoughts, no longer holding the strength that they once did. The girl who had been Sakura of Konoha and the Sakura of the Haruno Clan were two completely separate people now. But the new Sakura was a true shinobi, a master of the arts of deception. Like slipping on an old familiar mask, her disguise settle over her like a second skin. Flawless.

A grin stretched across her face as she approached the gate, and Sakura almost winced at the unfamiliarity of it, the muscles of her mouth protesting at the alien expression. "Izumo! Kotetsu!"

The guards at the gate snapped their heads up at the voice they had not heard in so long. "Sakura!" They both greeted her in unison, eyeing her new outfit. Though Sakura had slipped back into her Konoha persona, she had kept her Haruno mission outfit, giving Anko a run for her money on sexiest kunoichi. Her red scarf was pulled down to reveal her face, and her Blodrhun was hidden within her backpack which carried her traveling necessities.

Much to her amusement, the guards began to blush at the tight leggings and fish net of her outfit. Sakura winked playfully at them as she walked passed and through the gates of Konoha. She was pretty sure she heard Izumo and Kotetsu arguing 'dibs' behind her as she continued on. The faces of villagers around her shifted from confusion to recognition and welcome as she walked through the streets, and greetings were soon rising up around her. Ninja on the rooftops paused at the sight of pink hair, most throwing her a wave or two, but a few taking the time to come down and greet her. One in particular.

"FOREHEAD!"

Haruno instincts made her dodge the incoming projectile before she even remembered that voice. Sakura looked down at the platinum blonde sprawled indignantly on the street, her bangs falling over her eyes. Sakura giggled. "Nice try, Pig."

"Get back here you baka!" Ino laughed as she propelled herself off the ground and engulfed Sakura in a monster hug. "Where the hell have you been?! Goddammit, why the hell did I get no fucking 'goodbye'?! I, of all people, deserve your warning before you decide to disappear for three years! Almost four! You better not have had your sixteenth birthday without me!"

Sakura was choking blue from lack of air when another voice entered the fray. "Ino, you're killing her."

Shikamaru's eyes shimmered with amusement as he literally peeled the blonde off of Sakura. "Welcome back, Haruno."

The pinkette shot him a watery smile as she caught her breath, clearing her throat before returning his greeting. "Hey Shikamaru! It's good to see both of you again! And I'm sorry, Pig, I was barely given any time to pack my things let alone say any goodbyes. However, I did not celebrate my birthday, since I figured you would want to do that when I get back."

Ino gasped, her eyes sparkling dramatically. "Yes! I am totally combining a Sweet 16 and Welcome Home party!"

"Alright, alright." Shikamaru sighed, dragging Ino down from her cloud nine. "Before you start getting any ideas, please remember that we do have a mission to go on."

Ino pouted.

"Where is Choji, anyway?" Sakura asked.

"Right behind you, actually." The words were followed by the sound of something crunching, and Sakura twirled around to see the large shinobi smiling at her from around whatever it was that he had just eaten, his cheeks rounded with food.

After Team Ten left for their mission, practically dragging Ino out by her ponytail, Sakura continued her trek to the Hokage tower. A soft smile appeared on her face as she greeted the countless villages that remembered her. The welcoming increased as she entered the Hokage tower, more ninja than villagers recognizing her. As she opened the door to the Hokage's office, there was an excited squeal, and this time Sakura didn't bother to dodge the embrace aimed her way.

"Shizune." Sakura smiled at the familiar raven strands poking her cheek and patted the woman's back. Tonton oinked in resentment at being dropped by the Hokage's assistant. "It's good to see you too, Tonton."

"Give the girl room to breathe, Shizune." A gruff female voice spoke up from the desk. Shizune pulled back, beaming at Sakura, before picking her pig back up and going to stand by Tsunade's side. The blonde Hokage had not aged a day, her hazel eyes regarding Sakura with careful scrutiny.

Sakura smiled at the old kunoichi. "I'm home, Tsunade-Shisou!"

Tsunade smiled softly at Sakura and beckoned her to take a seat in front of the desk, to which the pinkette complied. "How was training with your clan?"

Sakura dropped her backpack to the floor to lean against the chair's leg. "Wow, where do I begin? Well first, they were appalled by my emotional vulnerability."

Tsunade's lips quirked at that.

"So we worked on controlling my emotions a bit, though I vow never to be a stick-up-the-ass like Neji or Sai." The three women chuckled at that before Sakura continued, "But I can keep my calm better under stressful situations and I would like to think that I've matured. We worked on several secret clan techniques, which unfortunately I am not allowed to tell you about. I perfected my chakra control though! And you should have seen my physical training regime; you would have been proud, Shisou! I swear the first year all they had me do was training, training, training!"

Tsunade and Shizune smiled as Sakura talked excitedly about her years among the Haruno Clan. To them, the clan sounded like a normal shinobi clan, training their children in family jutsu and chakra and emotional control. It was not unheard of that some clans refuse to join with a Hidden Village, instead either finding their own place to settle or living like nomads.

"So, Sakura, do you think you're ready for the Chunnin Exams?" Tsunade suddenly asked.

The light flashed ominously across Sakura's eyes before a surprised and excited expression settled on her face. "Oh wow! I totally forgot that this was one of those years! Yes, I am totally ready!"

"I'm glad to hear it." Tsunade said while nodding her head. "You may choose either Team Ten or Team Gai to be you team in upcoming the Chunnin Exams, which will be held in Suna three months from now."

Sakura started in surprise. "But they already have three people."

Tsunade winked at her. "Neji and Shikamaru are Jounin now."

"What?!" Sakura gasped, momentarily slipping out of her chair comically, causing Shizune to chuckle. Well, she wasn't actually that surprised if she thought about it. Everyone knew Neji was a prodigy, of course, intelligent, strong, a natural leader. Shikamaru was a genius beyond any seen in recent generations, though it was his lack of determination that made it a surprise that he was now one of the leading figures of their generation. "Wow."

Tsunade nodded. "So what team will you have?"

Sakura tilted her head down so that the shadows covered her face as she thought. The choice was easy, actually. Team Gai. While Team Ten was strong, it was not as strong as Team Gai. And a Haruno liked power. The biggest drawback of Team Ten was Ino, however. That Yamanaka girl was too close to the original Sakura, and it would be an unnecessary risk should the blonde start getting suspicious in Sakura's change of attitude. Lee had always been too infatuated with Sakura to ever get to know the 'real' her, and Tenten and Sakura had never been more than friendly acquaintances.

"Team Gai."

Tsunade did a double-take. "I would have thought you would want to be with Ino?"

Sakura shook her head. "Ino and I are best friends, but we would not function well on a team. She and I argue too much, the two of us are too headstrong."

"Ah, I see." Tsunade she realized the chaos Sakura and Ino would probably cause together. Her pen scratched on paper as she assigned Sakura to her new temporary team. "Well then, you will start accompanying Team Gai on their missions from now until the Chunnin Exams. Are you okay with that?"

Sakura nodded.

"Very good. Shizune, if you would please deliver the information to the members of Team Gai; tell them that they can begin training with her in two days. That should be enough time for Sakura to recover from her travels, right Sakura?" The Hokage turned to Sakura.

The pinkette smiled. "More than enough. Thank you so much for this, Shisou!"

Tsunade chuckled as Shizune left the office. "Now on to other matters. Before you left for your clan, you were apprenticed to me. You never finished that training. I assume you would like to continue your studies?"

"Of course!"

The Hokage nodded. "Come in tomorrow morning so that I can review everything you do or do not remember from when I first taught you. Depending on your score, I will assign you a part-time job at the hospital. Personal training with me will be on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 6:00 AM to noon. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Shisou!" Sakura grinned at Tsunade.

"Do you still have all the textbooks I leant to you at your home?"

Sakura nodded.

"Read up on those, then. Dismissed." Tsunade paused before reaching over the desk and ruffling Sakura's hair. "Welcome home, kid."

"It's good to be back."

{*~*~*}

Upon entering her old, dusty apartment, something deep within Sakura shook. It was a presence briefly awakened, one eye opening, before she quickly shoved it back down. Sakura swallowed the feeling in her throat and walked through the doorway, her feet leaving slight footsteps in the dust. She sneezed as she dropped her pack on beside the door and shut it behind.

Rubbing her nose and squinting in annoyance, Sakura's first order of business was to set of shields around her apartment. Her modest apartment had two bedrooms and one bathroom, one of the bedrooms converted into an office with a desk and futon. She rummaged around in that room until she found a spare ink well and brush, and then began the arduous task of warding her apartment. The ink glowed slightly with chakra as she coated complicated seals which blocked out all ninja senses from spying on her, even kekkei genkai. When she had completed this, Sakura raised two fingers in front of her face and dispersed her chakra, the ink fading into the walls and leaving no trace.

Now she began to unpack, not having much since the Haruno were not a very materialistic family. Or much of a family to begin with. After finishing this Sakura fixed herself a small meal from what was still edible in her pantry and ate in silence, washing her food down with tea. Then she set to work cleaning the apartment, opening all the windows and the front door, sweeping out the dust and airing out the smell of chemicals.

When this was done she sat down in the main living room, a traditional low table and cushions atop a tatami mat making up the extent of her furniture. Rolling out a blank scroll, Sakura sliced open her palm with a kunai and used the same brush to paint kanji upon the scroll. Two seconds elapsed before a figure flickered into sight before her, a basic human shape of black smoke with glowing green eyes.

"It is safe to talk, Etsuyo-sama. The wards have been set in place." Sakura said blandly.

The figure nodded. "Very good. Everything is in order, I hope?"

"No one suspects any change. I am to take the Chunnin Exams in three months and return to an apprenticeship with the Hokage."

"Perfect. You are given permission to use your Blodrhun during the Chunnin Exam, but not in front of your teammates, whoever they may be." Sakura nodded as Etsuyo continued, "And as for your apprenticeship, be extremely careful with the Hokage. One slip up and she will have grounds to investigate us. Stay in her good graces."

"Hai, Etsuyo-sama."

Without a farewell the figure flickered out of sight, and the blood on the scroll faded into the paper until nothing was left. Sakura quickly rolled up the parchment and walked over to her bookshelf, hiding it in a small wooden box on the top shelf behind some novels. She took the rest of the day off to sleep, knowing that the next day would be back to training.

{*~*~*}

Training with Team Gai was incredibly taxing.

While her training with Tsunade went smoothly (it was just a matter of memorizing the medical texts that Tsunade gave her and mimicking their techniques), Team Gai strained her patience. Half the time Sakura was one more "Lee!" "Gai-sensei!" "Lee!" "Gai-sensei!" away from releasing her homicidal tendencies and teaching the two 'green beasts' a lesson on the meaning of pain. She had no doubt that her clan would be more than happy to put the enraging idiots out of their misery.

But back to the training. Though the Haruno training made her physically fit, training with Gai pushed her strengths to their limits. She and Tenten became close (at least Tenten thought they did- Sakura was just acting), and the two kunoichi often sparred together, leaving the green beasts to their, er, sunsets. Sakura wore weights on her arms and legs and often raced against Lee, and had targeting contest with Tenten. Though she rarely ever defeated Lee in speed, Sakura and Tenten were now equally talented in weapons.

Sakura's favorite training, however, was the illegal kind. She spent the first month or so sneaking into the Konoha archives to steal scrolls of powerful jutsu, taking two at a time, and mastering them before returning for more. As her chakra control perfected with the medical ninjutsu, she began mastering justu faster and faster. Even if her element was water, Sakura's chakra control allowed her to use jutsu of all other elements as well, although they were not as effective.

Soon I'll beat Kakashi. She thought wryly after she had mastered the last jutsu in the archives. All this was done in the course of two months. After she had exhausted the archives, Sakura set her sights on the Hokage tower, where the forbidden jutsu were kept. The security of Konoha was truly laughable, and she easily continued to steal two jutsu at a time, each one more powerful and terrible than the next.

Thankfully teamwork was not an issue with her current teammates for the Chunnin Exams. Or rather, they were individually strong enough that teamwork really was not a factor. Tenten and Lee worked together flawlessly (unless Lee did something rash) , and she supposed herself and Tenten worked well enough, both weapon mistresses and training together enough to coordinate their battle tactics.

The third month had come.

They would soon be heading out to Suna for the Chunnin Exams.

Sakura sat on her windowsill, a forbidden scroll in one hand while cold jade eyes regarded the moon. She was moving up. She was gaining strength. A cold grin stretched across her lips.

Bloodlust.

{*~*~*}

There was only one way to get into the Akatsuki: You had to be invited.

It was easier said than done. Mika knew she had a long way ahead of her. She was to take on an alias, make a name for herself as a mercenary and assassin.

So she became Kikyo: a missing-nin from Kusa. It was a simple matter of capturing some third-rate Grass rogue ninja and extracting every memory he had of growing up in Kusagakure, then burying the body and taking the slashed hitai-ate. With his memory, she knew how to act and behave as a Kusa shinobi. She became less rash, reigning in her temper in favor of a more calculating approach. Kusa-nin were analysts and manipulative, their strengths lay in drawing out their enemy and tiring them out before going in for the kill. She studied herbology and botany, since Grass was famous for its overgrown fauna, as well as poison masters (thank kami Sakura had leant her notes on poisons).

For the next year or two Mika spent her days crossing borders and dodging hunter-nin (most of which were pathetically easy to dispatch). She was ruthless and efficient, emotionless with no room for foolishness. Assassinations were her forte, as she had no qualms about killing. She also kidnapped, tortured, and spied, anything that did not require a conscious. Her fame as Kikyo grew rapidly.

Soon, everything would fall into place.

Quick Question: Do you guys want me to skip over the Chunnin Exams (and therefore the next chapter will be the end of the extended flashback) or do you want me to go ahead and write the Chunnin Exams?

Also, I have a new drabble series called An Umbra History that I implore you to go check out. It's Bayonetta, but even if you don't know the game, just go read&review and tell me you love me! ( -thirsty much?). But seriously, even if you don't know the world of Bayonetta, the drabble series will basically explain everything to you, since I'm actually fleshing out the background story of the game.

Checklist for your review:

Did you answer my quick question about the Chunnin Exams?

Are you going to read my drabble series (say yes)?

If you did all that, I love you forever!

Lots O' Love,

~Lilithia