Chapter 11: Heroes and Memories

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A/N: So sorry about the wait but life happens… This chapter is pretty heavy in author's notes, so fair warning and I don't mind if you skip parts. It is more or less there to give people a technical explanation while I try to keep all the technical stuff out of the story. Sorta… Rant starting…Now!

Confession time!

I made a mistake in the timeline, in my own author's note no less, so please forgive me as I attempt to fix it. My earlier comment saying Sakura had been training for over a year with her mother was false. From the way I wrote it I can't expect more than a few months to even a few weeks have passed. I will stretch it out as far as possible and say it took a grand total of six to eight months therefore Sakura is still eight but close enough to nine she is able to safely call herself that age.

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Another rather large discrepancy my interpretation on water style jutsu… I was horribly wrong about the way it is used to kill things. From what I have gathered by searching the Naruto wiki page water style is incredibly dangerous and almost as lethal and versatile as lighting style. I have found the style mainly focuses on strengthening the molecular bonds between water molecules to increase the density of the water and 'harden' the water while maintaining its flexibility and firing it off with large amounts of pressure. The easiest example to show what kind of effect this would have on a normal body is to point to the fact most of the jutsu under water style have 'bullet' in their title. This may be a stretch, but I feel it pretty certain that a master water style user would be able to create water that is as heavy as say lead and fire it at approximately the same velocity as a gun. This would mean that the water has the same 'hardness' as lead and it becomes all the more horrifying. Suddenly the move titled simply 'gun-shot' has a lot more meaning. It also makes the water prison and water wall much more imposing and compelling structures to be used on the battle-field.

However, water style is not without weaknesses. Chakra laced water is never going to be as hard or heavy as chakra laced stone and thus Earth style can defend against it pretty darn well. Also, the chakra in the water might make it more conductive to electricity since the water is now incredibly dense and would theoretically be able to pass Lightning style jutsu across it as if it were a conductive metal. I am still new to chakra theory, but I believe the 'hardening' and 'loosening' of water chakra can be due to the Yin and Yang elements. Yin constricts and 'hardens' the electromagnetic bonds between the very atoms of the water where the Yang chakra weakens them by expanding and 'weakens' it but since it is the force of motion it 'shoots' the water faster and gives it movement.

Thank you for reading my mini rant. I will attempt to make this really good…

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Sakura slammed her throwing knives into the trees despite her terrible aim as of late. It wasn't because she couldn't see well. Sakura was just starting to feel a blinding headache. Sakura eventually needed to cover her eyes and rest. Sakura was getting pretty annoyed at her 'super power'. Sakura thought she was going to be able to power through any wound! She thought she was going to be able to heal from practically anything! There was something she didn't take into account.

She could still feel pain.

Also, it took time to heal each wound.

A large gash or a deep cut would be healed in about a minute. This would be phenomenal healing but that meant she could still be taken down. A blow to the head…that could still kill her…maybe… Sakura slammed her fist into the tree she was leaning up against. If she was going to have a bloodline or body modification or whatever at the cost of her parents being gone she demanded she get something better. Worse her chakra was slowly fading. This had scared Sakura immensely. She had even gone through the jutsu her mother said never to use without her presence, just so she could prove she could still do them. This had depleted her chakra even further and now she was worried about her chances of becoming a ninja. She was hungry, tired and had a splitting headache. Normally she would just go home but she didn't have a home, or even a mother to look after her. Sakura winced feeling bad about that. Anko tried so hard to be like a replacement mother for her…but she just wasn't her mom, and she never would be, and she should never have tried to replace her. She had made her breakfast the first day at the apartment, when she had nightmares she offered to stay up and talk to her about it, Sakura could see she didn't want to make her uncomfortable or overstep her personal boundaries, but Anko still rubbed her the wrong way. She just didn't know what to think of the woman.

Sakura…she hated Anko. She hated that Anko was the one to administer the thing that was changing her into a pale-splotchy monstrosity. She hated that Anko seemed to be trying to replace her parents. She hated the fact that she could tell Anko still thought her a freak. She hated that she was so Spirts damned nice all the time despite it all! It made her so hard to hate that Sakura latched on to the nearest blames she could think of. Honestly?! How hard was it to show a little weakness! Was Anko capable of being mean or insensitive about something? Sakura wanted to hate Anko's guts…but she couldn't because Sakura couldn't find anything wrong with her!

Some small part of Sakura understood that Anko was exactly like herself when she had lied to Ino. Now Ino wouldn't talk to her. She hadn't even visited the hospital in three weeks. Sakura had left a note with Dr. Yakushi to tell Ino her new address if she came by the hospital when she was gone but Sakura didn't see the point anymore. Sakura had messed up. She had lied, gotten her parent's killed and ruined the life of her best and only friend in a single swoop. It was all her fault.

No. Sakura didn't hate Anko because she had saved the girl. She hated Anko because even her greatest screw ups were better then her. Anko had done all that damage saving her life and being upfront and honest. Sakura ruined lives and was a lying snitch. Anko, as her mother would put it, was a damn goody two shoes bitch!

Sakura picked herself up and thought of an exercise she could do without the use of her eyes. The throbbing between them told her it wasn't a tension headache. If she could just rest them. That would be enough. Sakura sat down cross legged and immediately bruised her behind on a tree root. Cursing like a sailor she tried to get situated to meditate and just tried to center herself.

As Sakura focused she homed in on the memory of her mother telling her how to do this.

'Mommy!' Sakura whined, 'Why don't we do something cool instead of just sitting around.'

'Ninja don't whine.' Her mother admonished. 'We do whatever we need to, to defend the village and achieve the mission objective. Meditation helps your focus.'

'By not focusing on anything? Wouldn't training be better for that?'

Sakura got a smack to the head for that one. She should have known better…

'No idiot! I told you! We are doing this to help maintain your chakra levels.' Her mother said sipping her 'soda' before going into 'lecture mode'. 'Meditation is all about focus! The idea is that you are to clear your mind of everything except for one thing. Not just focus on nothing. Nobody can really think of nothing. Even your subconscious can accept this as it still "thinks" about running your heart and lungs and other involuntary functions. But you can focus on something and regain your focus on the world. This is extremely difficult, especially for a ninja who can get pretty paranoid. It is all about stretching the limits of your mind. This in turn increases your chakra through enhancing your focus and will. Why do you think we say chakra is made by combining Yin and Yang? Yin is the mind one!' her mother barked when Sakura had raised a hand during her rant. 'You try to do that jutsu I showed you without your will, imagination, emotion and spirit totally on board you will never pull it off. You need to be totally focused. Athletes would call it being 'In the Zone'. This is the state you need to be in to use Ninjutsu effectively. Without it your attacks will be sloppy, uncoordinated, and if you are using Ninjutsu, underpowered. Why do you think Genjutsu is a thing? It can weaken someone's Ninjutsu to the point where, though they're a Jonin they are completely unable to use Ninjutsu because you put their spirit out of balance, their Yin.'

Her mother took another drink.

'Meditation also serves to keep the mind healthy. Ninja…they see a lot of shit okay? They see friend and foe alike killed in horrible ways. Many ninja, because they put literally everything they ARE into fighting an opponent, cannot help but develop complexes in being defeated. Think about it. Your body, mind and spirit was thrown at the opponent, but he stops you. You use all your weapons and your strategies, but he stops you. You throw your heart, emotions your very BEING into killing this foe, but he stops you… and then humiliates you by not killing you, death is a sweet release compared to that level of having destroyed you so utterly. Many ninja either go the route of depression "I wasn't able to defeat so-and-so. I must be a crap ninja. Why do I even try? He is just so much stronger than I am." Or they go into mania, "How dare they make me feel weak! I will do everything in my power to never feel like that again. I'll become stronger. I will become better than him! I will kill so-and-so! Muwahahahaha!" You see? You would be basing your own strength, self-worth, as a person and as a ninja, against one encounter and you would let so-and-so have power over you. Suicide is the end of the first path and insanity is the end of the second. Both would be made prone to self-destructive behaviors and both are idiots.

'The first sees his opponent as an obstacle he can never overcome and thus even his physical training suffers when he is thinking he can never measure up. The second sees his opponent as an obstacle and will try to remove him by any means necessary and over trains. Both fail, even if they do by some miracle defeat their opponent, because when you are training you are trying to defeat this imaginary opponent who may be stronger than the skills he showed when he beat you. This kind of psychology is the entire reason the concept of a 'finishing move' has been invented. It is usually made by the second as he thinks he will finally be able to kill his foe or by the depressed first thinking he will finally be able to prove his worth as a ninja. He comes up with an insane jutsu that can…I don't know…slice the tops of mountains off just by the air pressure coming off his sword or be able to catch one of the Nine-tail's attacks. He forgot his opponent is only so much meat with a pulse! You just need to get through the guy's armor if he is wearing any and go for the head. Not many ninja can operate without their frontal lobe so jab the knife in there if you can but otherwise go for the brainstem.

'Anyways meditation! Meditation helps! It makes you re-focus not on obsessing over this guy but on serving your village. If he is an enemy than he is not mutually exclusive. You will have other enemies. You will have a partner- er teammates too. They will be able to back you up against an enemy, so no need to try to come up with some crazy new ninjutsu when a knife or a sword will work.' Her mother finished lamely having lost her point somewhere in the rant.

'Will you teach me how to use a sword then?' Sakura asked.

'After you finish the Water Wave and Hiding in Mist jutsu.' Her mom said smiling at her. 'I have a feeling you will be able to take on most swordsmen when you grow older-'

Sakura looked down. 'How do you…you know feel better when you get sad? Like the first guy I mean…'

Her mother thought a moment. 'I don't think you are a gets sad type though. I actually think you would be more of a manic. You seem to have the single-minded determination of one.'

Sakura pouted at her mother's dig and waited for he to continue.

'Manic's are a forced to be reckoned with when they are on the ball, but many suffer from a weird combination of inferiority and superiority complexes. You cannot accept that you are weaker then you make yourself out to be but cannot help but feel threatened when someone IS stronger than you. The answer to the manic's problem is to let it go. Take all your feelings about the guy who beat you and throw it out. You may meet him again and when you do you might find him an ally or even a friend. If he is still your enemy do not give him the pleasure of beating you once again, and don't let him win a second time by being psyched out. To do this you need to be in the right state of mind in the first place. Hence meditation.' Her mother said. 'To meditate you need to have a focus. This can be anything, a thought, a feeling… When you have your focus slowly let go of everything other than your focus. Harsh feelings; let them go. Worries, let them go. Anger; let it pass. When you do this, you are not allowing what happened hurt you despite the fact that it did happen. It isn't forgiveness, but something else. Accepting the world as it is a working with what you have. You live in a world of liars and thieves. Doesn't mean you are a thief. Doesn't mean you are a victim, because you don't allow yourself to be. Make sense?'

Sakura just stared owlishly at her mother.

'You didn't listen to a word I just said, did you?'

'But how do you do that!?' Sakura whined.

'Meditation! Letting everything go! Not being a whiny ninja bitch! What do I keep telling you! Life isn't fair! Get over it! Shit is going to happen! It happens to everyone! You are not the only one the universe shits on! You are not special in that regard! It happens more to some and less to others but that doesn't mean you don't look up at the sky when it is not raining shit on the world and say it is a horrible day! Now get cross legged and meditating before I smack you cross-eyed!' Her mother said, and Sakura obeyed quickly. 'Now focus on your secret base. Now imagine a candle or a pool of water. Focus on it. Any feelings you feel or things you see acknowledge them and move on.'

As Sakura obeyed her mother muttered something like, 'I need another drink…'

Sakura took a deep breath and let it go. This repeated she didn't know how many times. She did her best to let everything go and just focus on a single feeling. One that did not really denote right or wrong. One that grounded her and made her focused at the matter at hand.

Sakura felt hungry.

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Danzo standing before him was one thing. Danzo standing before him so nonchalantly, working under the guise of a seemingly harmless old man was rather…repulsive. With a stamp of his cane the blinds shut, and seals activated in the room, effectively making the whole office into a bug free zone. Anyone not authorized to be here would mentally halted and experience a brief lapse in concentration. Their minds put to sleep and in stasis while the seals were activated.

"Cut the shit Danzo." Hiruzen growled. "We both know you aren't fooling anyone."

Danzo merely smirked however. "'The most important tool for a ninja is that your foes underestimate you, that you catch them off guard and like a phantom end them.' Have you forgot everything Master Tobirama taught you?"

"I need you assistance on a matter." Hiruzen said ignoring his old friend's jab.

Danzo immediately became solemn and bowed his head. "How may I assist Konoha?"

Hiruzen motioned for him to sit down and laid out the field report for what was quickly becoming the Bad Blood incident. As Danzo read his scowl deepened before looking up sharply at Hiruzen.

"What the literal hell Hiruzen?" Danzo said. "Why weren't the guard around the village able to detect this intruder?"

"Well…someone thought it would be a good idea to kill off all of our military police and half the ANBU." Hiruzen said not taking any of Danzo's crap. "Recent reports from the girl's caretaker suggests that her parents were Mist shinobi. This could have been a hit."

Danzo looked at him with widened eyes having come to the same conclusion he had. "Hiruzen… As a former member of your cabinet and friend I must insist that we not get involved with this…We cannot risk a provocation from Yagura. He is too dangerous and our Jinchuriki is untrained… Please Hiruzen, I know you disapprove of my methods but let me protect Konoha just once more…"

"You are not taking my surrogate grandson. That is not negotiable. You will not steal away anymore clan children. You will help me solve this and there is going to be no ulterior motive." Hiruzen said with a harsh voice. "Stray from the lines I set, and I will be forced to remind you why I am called 'The God of Shinobi'. Are we clear?"

Danzo was silent but shaking with anger. "I know we crossed lines but what I did was the best for-"

"I said…are we clear?" Hiruzen said ready to end him then and there if he didn't agree. Killing intent radiating off him in harsh waves.

Danzo's scowl deepened but ultimately gave in to the will of his Kage. "Fine. We are clear. What do you want?"

"Defense operations in case everything goes to hell in a hand basket, what do we have?" Hiruzen fired off.

Danzo glared at the floor. "The one who calls himself Tenzo should be able to suppress Yagura. Until the Jinchuriki matures he is our best line of defense short of risking Kakashi using his eye or letting Guy open the gates. My suggestion: Recall Tenzo to the village. He can double as a guard for the Jinchuriki and even give the boy a place to stay since he is your oh so important grandson. Keep Yagura busy with the civil war by giving support to the rebels without Yagura knowing or letting the rebels win the war. I recommend allowing access to the Land of Waves, Sea, and Fish to a man named Gato. He is a trader and runs a massive shipping operation. We increase revenue through him by using basic tariffs and keep him under our thumbs by offering him access to these lands, so he doesn't have to go through the ports of Mist as often and the black market in those areas will flourish enough to allow the rebels support. There is talk of a massive bridge set to be built in the next few years that will in the long run increase the amount of goods flowing through the town of the Land of Waves stabilizing the economy there and allow access to goods coming from the Continent.

"The few of my operatives who have decided to stay with me can be used to help cover the borders and I can give you access to the labs I know of." Danzo looked up with a glare. "These will not be made known to the public. All hell would break loose if their existence was known. Not even Orochimaru's pet may know of these."

"Have the labs been used recently?" Hiruzen said choosing to ignore the disrespect towards Anko. If Danzo had his way she would be executed.

Danzo weighed his options. "Yes…some of my men have decided that they will do anything in their power to survive. Mainly body modifications have been performed though and not anything super serious. Soft Physic modification, a former Aburame attempting to splice his insects with more dangerous ones, and one surviving case of a genetic deformity which allows one to absorb chakra. In the case of the later he only used it to stabilize himself as the absorption of chakra is quite the…unholy ability. I don't allow it in my ranks for the obvious reasons but allow this child to use the lab in exchange for information."

"What would you do in the case of a Sakura Haruno?"

"Train her. Make sure her mentality is suitable for the missions she will be required to do. She seems passive and once housebroken will be able to follow orders." Danzo said. "I knew she had a healing ability from my informants at the Hospital but this… This is extraordinary. If you like I can give the one who calls himself Ryuzaki a copy of the medical files that the labs under my control contain in exchange for her training to fall to me."

Hiruzen hesitated. This was the Danzo he had come to expect. Talking to Danzo was like talking to your own shadow. He was everything that was wrong with the world and more, but he was also trying to protect Konoha in his own way.

"No. No brainwashing. I will not allow it to happen to more children." Hiruzen said firmly but in reality, he was very tempted just to give her to him. It would solve so much paper work and would keep him village safe.

"Isn't it practically what we do to children anyway?" Danzo said icily. "We train children at the academy to kill starting at age six. How is this any different? Do we not give them that dogma 'The Will of Fire' to follow and work for and breathe out as their final breath when we both know that the village is not great not truly, that is full of weak fools, and would have been destroyed hundreds of times if it wasn't for the things you forced me to do?"

"You chose to do those things of your own free will." Hiruzen said quietly. "Someone not programmed but will do what they have to, to save this village of their own accord... Sakura is a sweet and broken child…one that has already been the subject of an attack on the village. Please…allow me to keep this small bud in the light a bit longer."

Danzo looked at his friend solemnly. "Will you save all of them? Some of them will turn to darkness even in times of peace. If you were going to save them you'd raise the age of graduation to sixteen like I recommended but no. Your keeping them together form a young age, doing missions together at age twelve to inspire bonds between, them has done more to brainwash and kill children than I have."

"Danzo what do you want in exchange?" Hiruzen said. Danzo had a price for his services like any other shinobi. Even as Hokage he got a small stipend. Danzo however only worked for favors. This was not going to be pretty.

"Three things. First, I would like you to allow me to restock my soldiers. The Land of Artisans had a recent rebellion and many children are orphaned and would starve without a place to go. Would that be sufficient?" Danzo asked. Hiruzen grimaced before nodding guilt already rising. He just sold the souls of those children to this demon... "Second I would like spies to be stationed around the Land of Rain. There has been a deep quiet. Even more quiet than usual and I believe they have entered into a trade deal with the Land of Snow for their iron and technology trade. Third I would like to be in the loop with Itachi. I know he is your spy and I know he hates me, but he has information I need. Finally, if you really care for this girl make it so only the Head Medic, the council, yourself, and her caretaker know of her condition. Inoichi can repress the young Yamanaka's memories and he himself can make himself forget any specifics…"

Hiruzen shook his head. "Subliminal psych tests Ryuzaki performed in her month-long stay suggests that Sakura isn't so much loyal to the village but to Ms. Yamanaka. You take the girl away from her you will end up turning her against us."

"I meant make her forget about Sakura's modifications." Danzo said with a frown. "It is dangerous for her to know anything too particular."

"Oh. Well yes…of course." Hiruzen said a little embarrassed he jumped the gun. Danzo was a monster but he had an infuriating habit of playing by the rules.

"Do you have any other questions for me about how to do your job?" Danzo said with a bit of a sneer.

"None. Get out and do exactly as we have agreed and like always…this never happened." Hiruzen said.

Danzo got up and turned to leave before stopping and turning to him in a mild-mannered way. "Oh yes. I almost forgot. Sakura's DNA structure has a small mistake in it. One of my spies at the hospital tells me Ryuzaki has not yet identified the fourth strand and asked me to pass on a message. 'Run database scan for similarities amongst the Genin as several have similar structures to the fourth strand.'"

With that Danzo turned and left.

The Hokage shut off the seals and sighed before picking up the phone and giving Ryuzaki his instructions. Spirits he hoped Danzo could be trusted on this…

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Ryuzaki Yakushi otherwise known as Dr. Yakushi was going over the instructions over and over in his head. His computer whirred as the data scrolled across the screen on a simple black and green screen. It was lucky that the village could afford to have computers like this otherwise it would have taken Dr. Yakushi hours to compare and look for similarities in the fourth strand amongst the populous.

It made sense that if it was Orochimaru's experiment that some of the DNA came from Konoha itself, now it was just a matter of waiting for the answers to come. Suddenly the screen stopped, and four names appeared. As Genin with any sort of genetic deformity were usually oddities and thus had their blood tests in the database to compare incase it was a developing bloodline that needed to be monitored. Anything could happen in bloodlines. Dr. Yakushi had seen one ninja who was nicknamed 'The Human Centipede' and was a conjoined triplet that all could retract and lengthen their torso and sprout arms all over their body in a writhing mass of limbs and death. That had just been his bloodline. Another allowed for the growth of a third eye and multiple functioning arms. There were no end to the oddities chakra could cause on the genetic code.

Dr. Yakushi saw the results and fell out of his chair onto the floor. He didn't remain there however as he began to double check the computer's work.

SHIT…

"Mokuba! Mokuba you idiot get over here! Get someone to collect Sakura Haruno right now and bring her back at the hospital before she becomes a threat to herself and others!" Dr. Yakushi began shouting. "And get me some more coffee!"

He was going to need it.

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Sakura was walking back home when Anko suddenly appeared right in front of her wearing an old brown trench coat and what looked like... oh spirits… Sakura averted her eyes from her torso as the woman was quite literally topless except for the coat and wearing a skimpy orange skirt.

"Sakura! Hospital! Were going now!" Anko said. Sakura noticed she wasn't wearing make-up either and slowly backed away. Enemy.

"Pervert!" Sakura shouted and started to run.

"Wait, what?!" Anko shouted suddenly appearing right before her again in a swirl of leaves.

"You're a pervert after little girls! Ms. Anko doesn't dress that way!" Sakura shouted as her mind raced to try and come up a plan, but she had a blinding headache despite her time spent meditating. She needed to-

"I don't have time for this! Sakura you're in danger and we need to get the hospital now!" Fake Anko roared before making a hand sign and paralyzed her instantly before throwing Sakura over her shoulder. Sakura yelped weakly but felt like she was covered in chains as she struggled.

Her mind was panicking, and she was hyperventilating as the jutsu restraining her was making her only capable of taking fast shallow breaths.

Sakura passed out.

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Anko made it quickly to the hospital already regretting every life decision she had ever made up to this point for the ninth time. Anko had been doing laundry when she got a call on her landline telling her Sakura was in danger and needed to be sent to the hospital. Anko panicked and put on the only things she had clean and ran out the door tying up her hair with her headband.

Anko groaned as she remembered the look of shock on Sakura's face seeing her in her 'normal clothes' calling her a pervert. Anko wanted to scream at that moment. NO! She had worked hard to have a good image and all of her work with Sakura to help her recognize her as a certified adult was now totally dashed to pieces!

She didn't have time for this! No pity party! Sakura was in danger and needed to go to the hospital! Nothing else matters!

Despite this Anko relished the feeling of less clothing… but it wasn't because Anko was a pervert or even a loose woman! She didn't get off on people seeing her exposed body or have a lack of modesty as Kurenai seemed to think…the explanation was actually a little silly…

Anko couldn't regulate her own body temperature… another one of her former master's dabbling's.

The trench coat… flapping it some could help her body cool down if she was too hot, as was usually the case, and if she was cold she could wrap herself up in it a bit more and use a fire style jutsu she invented just for the purpose of keeping herself warm. It was quite the handy cap…

Upside was she was invisible to those who tracked by heat signature… like snakes…that were usually already on her side… yay… especially since now she sweat only to release toxins from her body when she was poisoned… and shivering did absolutely nothing for her…

Anko had been avoiding going out mid-day and usually stuck to being inside and in the shade where there was a merciful amount of air conditioning while wearing her 'Sakura Safe' wardrobe.

The relish Anko felt currently was being the perfect temperature…her movement giving her just enough breeze while the late day held just enough warm humid air to keep her warm… sweet blessed perfect temperatures… If she wasn't in such a hurry she would spend the rest of the night on the stone monument after it had soaked up the last of the day light…

Anko noticed that Sakura had stopped struggling against her jutsu and had passed out. Anko of course panicked and ran faster carrying the unconscious child tighter.

Sakura would not die on her watch!

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Shikamaru had been minding his own business when suddenly a woman carrying what looked like his classmate Sakura over her shoulder. That would normally have caught his interest the most but in this case, he couldn't help but get an eyeful of the woman's topless form with trench coat flapping in the wind.

It was over just as quickly as it had begun but the damage was done, and the image was permanently burned into the poor nine-year-old's mind.

Shikamaru grunted. He was too young for this shit! He was sure his teenage self wouldn't mind so much but still! Photographic memory with perfect recall! Geeze!

"Troublesome woman..."

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The Hokage had been summoned to the hospital with the notice saying it was urgent and had moved quickly only to go to the room to see Dr. Yakushi sitting calmly drinking coffee.

"Sup." The doctor said.

"You said this was-"

The Hokage was interrupted by the sound of breaking glass and suddenly Anko was standing in the door carrying an unconscious Sakura. Anko was giving all present an eyeful, for which the Hokage was appreciative, but the twigs and broken glass in her hair as well as the panting and panicked look painted a look that was anything but sexy.

"Hokage! Yakushi! Fix her now!" Anko said rushing over to the bed to lay Sakura down and immediately noticed the broken glass on the child and started cussing and fussing over the girl. Dr. Yakushi began to check her vitals and other basics while he filled them in.

"Sakura's genetic code revealed another very important catch to her healing abilities. They require chakra." Dr. Yakushi said.

"No duh." Anko said in a flat voice finally convinced that 'her' kid was alright and just resting. "Don't most healing factors?"

Dr. Yakushi actually pinched the bridge of his nose. "No. They work by- you know what? That doesn't matter right now! Summed up, Sakura needs to eat chakra to live."

There was silence.

"Elaborate." The Hokage ordered.

"Okay. Pretty much the fourth strand is congruent with her fifth and sixth strand-"

"I thought there was only four!" Anko interrupted only to be met with a glare from Dr. Yakushi.

"Don't. Interrupt. Me." Dr. Yakushi said slowly. Anko gulped. "The fifth and sixth strand of course stand for her own. The alleles she got from her biological parents match the fourth strand. They were close enough together they were actually hard to differentiate. Orochimaru's strand was the most intact so I thought it would be the most dominant and we could see her skin turning a similar shade to his. The next dominant would be the strand from the First Lord Hokage but those were severely damaged and needed to be repaired. This is where the Kidnapper's strand comes in as it was perfect for joining together the strands of both DNA and taking out the defective parts of the cells with my splicing. All three of those however make up only about fifty percent of her DNA. The rest was her own and the fourth strand. That is why her hair is still the same. Orochimaru and the First Lord have straight black hair. Sakura's is fluffy and pink. At first, I chalked it up to genetic diversity, but it was the fourth strand all along… She can effectively be called a member of the Gurru clan…"

"How does this relate to the whole chakra eating thing?!" Anko barked.

"Because that is the strand that governs the creation and-" Dr. Yakushi made a frustrated noise. "Look, the BBC's take chakra to function. Normally this would not be a problem, Orochimaru and the First Lord had massive reserves and stamina regeneration. A little chakra to run this was a drop in the bucket to them but to Sakura her body can't keep up. This is where the fourth strand comes in. Sakura's body awakened the ability to absorb chakra via contact. Her body needs this chakra to function properly."

"So, her body was overburdened by its own healing ability and seeks out nourishment." The Hokage summed up having already seen where this was going.

"Then how would she be a danger to herself and others like you said over the phone?" Anko asked.

"Sakura would naturally seek this out." The Hokage said gravely. "If what Dr. Yakushi is implying is correct Sakura would seek out the chakra herself and absorb it with or without the consent of the donor. There is a reason the ability to absorb chakra is considered 'unholy' or 'demonic'. One becomes unable to process normal food; the body finds chakra is more sustaining and adapts. Next one becomes addicted to the feeling of chakra; nothing is more exhilarating. Finally, the person will succumb to their baser desires and either go mad with their desire or after attacking and most likely killing their friends and families they commit suicide to release themselves from what they perceive as an unholy curse going against everything they hold dear."

"The Gurru Clan… they had this ability as their bloodline…" Dr. Yakushi said quietly. "The Second Hokage tried to help them once upon a time. Anything to stop that unending drive. He was unsuccessful…"

Dr. Yakushi let out a tired sigh. "Sir. How may I be of assistance? Sakura is quite possibly better off dead. I can try to cut out that part of her genetics but anymore will possibly destabilize her."

Anko looked horrified as the Hokage merely bowed his and obscured his face with his hat. "Screw that! She can have my chakra if it comes to it! We can control it."

"Anko!" The Hokage barked. "You do not know what you ask. The Gurru clan tried. They tried to overcome their weakness but the drive…the hunger… it is not something one merely controls. However, there are ways we can help her. There is still a place for someone like her in my ranks. I have a solution, don't you worry… but I'm afraid you will not like it."

"What could be worse than what Dr. Yakushi described?" Anko asked close to breaking into tears. It was like she was at that damn laboratory once again. Scared, not sure if she was doing the right thing, and worried about a little girl who was depending on her to get this right.

"A clan jutsu. It was made forbidden back in the time of the founding of the village." The Hokage said pressing forward. "A seal called 'The Demon Choker'. It does what you imagine. It is applied to the neck and stops the flow of chakra completely to the brain. The brain can survive for a few moments, but prolonged use will kill the one it is under. It was inspired by a legend of Son Wuk Kong's shrinking crown from the great epic 'A Journey to the West', and the Hyuuga clan's Caged Bird seal. It will give her an 'off button'. It will allow us to control how much she 'eats' and if she is about to attack someone it will give us a way to stop her before she can do something she will regret."

"I don't see how this fixes things!" Anko said. "We can't just give her a seal just like-"

The look in the Hokage's eyes made her stop. He looked at her like he knew. He knew already the pain that the seal would give Sakura, and he knew the pain that such a seal would give herself and him as well, and he accepted it. This had to be done, his eyes said and Anko hated it. "We can train her to attack only the enemy and only when we command with conditioned responses and we have a source of food for her when she is 'off the clock' so to speak."

"She won't change all at once." Dr. Yakushi said looking down. "I know how hard it is to raise a child with…special needs. But if I gave up on my son Kabuto… both of us wouldn't be around today…"

Anko glared at the floor. Tears fell defying her ability to control them.

It was all her fault.

She should have let her die.

She was a freak before.

Now…she was going to become a monster.

A monster most would kill out of pity.

Sakura was asleep right now.

It would be so easy…

She could just give this little girl release and wash her hands of this…

But here she was, prolonging the life of one who by all rights should be allowed to die honorably because of the want to try and make it up to her.

She couldn't let this girl die without giving her a chance to live.

"Do it. I'll take care of the rest." Anko said finally defeated.

"You did the right thing…" The Hokage said watching as the young woman wept for this girl and watched as he applied the hellish seal around the girl's throat.

Spirits help them.

:

:

"I couldn't do it. I couldn't help her…she died in my arms and…what have I done?'

-Lab 45 audio log, cassette #9 -the Abnormal's report

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: A/N: This one was a doozy. I took a whole month to decide whether or not to do this but… the show must go on.

Stuff I'd like to rant about but will try to keep quick:

-Chakra absorption abilities: Why I chose them, why they get such a bad wrap and what can we expect from this?

- The Demon Choker.

-Anko's clothing choices and why.

- The Abnormal's report.

-Mysterious story plot B.

-Dr. Yakushi.

- How Anko really screwed the pooch…

-Gurru Clan

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Awhile ago I mentioned that I had originally planned on giving Sakura chakra absorbing abilities. This idea was halted by a story called 'Pink Parasite' by 88mph. I tried to contact him and waited for months but received no reply. The stories however were dissimilar enough that I no longer felt that giving her these abilities were 'story stealing'.

Chakra absorption in cannon are called by Orochimaru of all people 'unholy'. This is the man who gives out curse marks like candy, has a boy who is a conjoined twin who can body hop into other bodies and destroy them from the inside out, and works with Kimimaro who posses the Dead Bone Pulse which is arguably the most freaky ability in the Naruto-verse.

Something must be incredibly wrong here to make this happen, so I gave it a bit of a backstory based once again on Soul Eater and Tokyo Ghoul. This is the Tokyo Ghoul part. Ghouls in that story eat people for sustenance. I do not think the cannibal or even blood drinking route was appropriate for a T rated story, so this was changed to chakra absorption. This also plays into Soul Eater as those with Black Blood in the show all 'eat souls' to become stronger. I chose to interpret this as being able to eat chakra rather than souls or human flesh.

Chakra absorption should be given a bad wrap but not so bad a wrap people want to kill her on sight… she is about Naruto level discrimination with the 'no speaking of it' law if they find out about it. Definitely something to consider but not enough to warrant a 'kill immediately'…maybe a 'approach with extreme caution' or 'avoid like the plague' after finding out about it… real friends however will stay…

Chakra absorption has a natural self-healing effect as shown by both Kisame and later the reanimated Pein that when one got their ribcage destroyed and the other self-healed his emancipated form and fixed years of damage to his legs all while absorbing chakra. I was originally going for the full chakra absorption thing as it is actually pretty rare to see it outside of movie villains and thought it would be interesting to make a story based off this, but as mentioned above the other story and moral dilemmas stopped me for a considerable time before I felt I was safe to do this.

What you can expect is some more of the technical crap I usually write. I love me so Naruto theory, but I will also make sure that this has a purpose to the plot… For example, besides the obligatory poking fun at cannon, the explanation on why meditation is important is actually some world building and will be incredibly important later on.

Sakura is also going to be slightly over powered…okay a lot over powered…but remember she needs to keep up with the incredibly huge chakra monsters of Naruto and Sasuke! Giving her super powers is both fun and great for character development as nothing says character development better than killing the parents, giving a super power which is a cursed/unholy/monstrous ability from the yonder elder gods, stick them into life threatening or morally compromising situations and have them all figure it out like normal people rather than have all their problems magically go away because 'Like, super powers! Who needs parents, emotional stability and consequences! I got these super powers that are slowly driving me insane! It's all good Fam!'

Really.

My approach to the story was to actually have things in the story matter to the character. Not so much that they break down into long term emo cycles but enough that they would actually present a problem on a mental and emotional level. Granted this is a battle Shounen and emotionally driven arcs are the norm but not in the touchy feely way and more in the 'I must save Asuna!' or 'He was my best friend!' way… but there is a reason the ones who do it right are usually some of the best in the genre. Hunter X Hunter, My Hero Academia, Soul Eater, Full Metal Alchemist, Death Note, all of them have an emotional element and world building that feels real. All of them could be considered 'Shounen'.

To those who think I am being a little too harsh on Sakura or that I am 'adding too many super powers to try and make her interesting' I'm not really. I am developing the character by breaking her down and seeing how she ticks. Sakura is a very normal girl with self esteem issues in cannon. Sakura in this story is being rebuilt to become a hero. A true hero, not a perfect one, not wish fulfillment fodder, or even an edgy edgelord, just a person given the opportunity to become greater than herself and one who takes it while breaking down the barriers that control her thinking.

:

The Demon choker as explained is a cursed seal developed by the Sarutobi clan that cuts off the chakra flow to the brain causing extreme pain then black outs.

It was originally used by the clan as a way to secure war prisoners or insane clansmen and was usually branded on the forehead or neck. The purpose of the seal on Sakura is to give her a leash. She is allowed to attack and even encouraged to do so but only when the master of the seal says.

The original legend was about the keeping of an oath not to kill. Any time the Monkey King Sun Wu Kong tried to use lethal force or killed someone the crown became tighter and tighter. Sakura is going to have a similar use for the seal, but it will also be a way for people to control her.

:

A fan favorite but not one of mine is the idea of a slutty and or psychotically sadistic Anko. This cannot be farther from the real Anko if you tried. The creepiness and even the banner and blood licking while making an impression on Naruto looks to be all an act to scare the kids and the Chunin Exams. This can even be seen in the cringe worthy filler arcs. She only really puts the act on when she is around Naruto to mess with him and is serious during missions.

Anko's character actually seems incredibly responsible and even self-loathing much like Kakashi, so in my story I decided to dispense with the bullshit and just have 'Anko'. Problem was her mode of dress seemed to contradict this and I ran across the idea that perhaps she doesn't wear it by choice anymore but more of a necessity much like nobody would recognize Kankuro without his face paint.

Anko not being able to control her own body temperature is a reasonable explanation given that I already made her immune to most drugs and toxins… I wondered if Orochimaru has similar problems… maybe that's why he spends most of his time underground or in labs…

:

The Abnormal's report was originally an idea to get people hyped about the upcoming chapter and give an exposition dump but it quickly evolved into a running C plot. This will be important later on but my question to you is this…

Who's lab report is it?

:

There have been times when I cut to what is going on in the Kiri rebellion. This is going to be explained soon. It has a lot to do with the story and is going to be one of the biggest changes I make.

All you need to know right now is that stuff is going down and Konoha will become involved pretty quickly.

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Dr. Yakushi is an OC but also a character in the story. He is Kabuto's adoptive father and a medic in cannon. When writing him there was only two lines about him and both were in reference to Kabuto.

'He is a medic's son' and 'He takes after his father playing around with dead bodies like this.'

These are not actual quotes, but they change from viz translation to scan translations that I can do research on, so they were close enough.

My brain popped out the character of Dr. Ryuzaki Yakushi rather quickly as Kabuto's adoptive father. As we know from Kabuto's back story he is an orphan and would normally have no last name and certainly not Nono Yakushi's (Kabuto's adoptive mother from his back story arc) name so there is a relation there I can play with.

He job is supposed to be the reason why Hunter Nin exist as he can reverse engineer bloodlines and make hard and fast counters to them, he also makes the perfect exposition person for this Sakura story. That's basically his job. He is also the Head Medic since Tsunade left as I always wondered who that fell to after she left. His job before that is morgue keeper for the Konoha police department. He was about twelve then. He is around twenty in this cannon and twenty-three at the 'start' of Naruto.

On a related note he is also the one to invent the 'Dead Soul Reanimation' where you control a dead body with your chakra and also the teacher who taught Kabuto how to do genetic stuff.

On a slightly off topic note this is how I do OC's:

-They must be an existing character in the story or at least a character that is inconsequential and not given much thought but needs to exist to make the story happen such as Dr. Yakushi and some could even argue Shiho (Cipher division, Pein arc, trying to decipher Jiraiya's code and has the hots for Shikamaru.)

- Flesh out these characters as fun little easter eggs with surprisingly fitting characters from my favorite shows, movies, or video games.

-Give them a job to do that makes sense and kill them before they become too important and steal the spot light from the other 'main characters'.

I'm looking at you Shiho you Shikamaru x Temari ship ruiner…

:

Anko really screwed the pooch.

'Nuff said.

Basically, Anko is back to square zero with Sakura…more like square negative thirty.

Sakura has trust issues because she feels like her parents abandoned her and forced her to do stuff she didn't want to do. She understands Anko was trying her hardest, but it still doesn't sit well with her. Now this would be only a minor problem at best if Anko stayed away, now Sakura is spending a lot of time with her and Sakura is getting irritated with her coddling and 'perfectness'.

Mebuki and Kizashi were loving if neglectful parents. Sakura in cannon mentions that they would get mad her if she got into trouble but never mentions them again until the Naruto Road to Ninja arc. Sakura in that is annoyed that they are making her do chores on her day off when she is about to go to war again the next day and it is played off like 'Check your privilege Sakura! I have no parents!' both times and both by Naruto.

I get it. Naruto is an orphan but still man… talk about a sore spot…

Anyways Anko screwed the pooch and now has to adopt the weird hybrid babies… Wolf Children? You know what, this analogy is breaking down…so…

Pretty much Anko broke her trust and that isn't going to go over well in the next chapter.

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The Gurru clan is not really a blood related clan but one made up of stragglers from all nations that could absorb chakra in some form or another. They were dispersed after the second hokage failed to help them and many were hunted down and exterminated. Many are still around though, and they can be found among all nations.

Gurru= Gullu= Ghoul. Gurru is a term stolen from the Tokyo Ghoul Manga that means 'Eater species'.

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Anyways thank you for reading and please review if you have any questions!