Thanks for the revieiwing, favoriting and the alerts people!
Disclaimer: Ok, there is no way over the cotton pickin rainbow that I will ever own Naruto.
Chapter 12
She looked out to the moonlight, all around her fire flies, Hotaru, yes at the moment that was what she was the only ANBU operative who would dare to dress in all of this white, a hat over her head. She was a wanderer, taking any job, from anyone who requested it. But, the thing that most fascinated her, were seals they were the shields that separated, Hotaru wasn't a fighting ANBU operative, although she could, when need be, but one who undid the most complicated seals, on boxes, doors, and anything that could have a seal on it. It was a puzzle and a mind stimulant that she just couldn't resist; at least it was more interesting than any of the loud court affairs could give her.
And that very curious nature and proficiency in her job made her an efficient ANBU operative. Her neutral-ness from being a wandering nin is what made her able to stay alone, in quiet solitude where people could often find her amongst the fireflies looking up at the moon. Those who wanted to request for a job where to leave a letter at a place where she frequented, and she would find them, after. She sighed as she got up, she had a job tonight. She had to unseal a treasure box said to have jewels from the bottom of the ocean.
She jumped off the rock she had been seated on enjoying the night moon and began to run as she touched ground toward the destination of her job. Things hadn't been going well in court, and the crowding of the people was suffocating. All of the social scandals and fake smiles in hopes to tip the tables in each other's favor, all of it made her increasingly tired and she found that she rarely had time to be alone. That was the purpose of Hotaru, since accepting her Lords offer to be his advisor she had been beating people back with a bat, or so it felt like and she needed a rest.
Sururi and the others could manage in court for a while without her, they had done it before and they could do it again, not only that but in order for them to protect the Lord as they wished they needed to think on their toes on their own for once. There was no guarantee that Sakura would work with them forever, after all as someone who worked as a nin her life was always in danger. Although she would always fight to her last breath to live, she knew the high possibility of her dying on a mission, and she had ordered any of those under her that if she weren't to return in two weeks time, without any form of communication, they were to assume that she was dead.
Although she was the top of her field in seals, she was also a protector, a feeling and emotion that had transferred itself from her courtly job of protecting the Fire Lord. She began to slow down as she reached her destination going at a steady walk. She protected people, seals weren't her only occupation in this mask, but she was also a being that couldn't help but save people, of course she would only save them for the just reasons, she never let loose criminals, that was something that went greatly against her policy as a nin in general.
She felt all around her as the waiting ANBU spotted her and let her pass, she could hear their soft whispers in the dark, all of them in speculation. She didn't mind though, this was no different from court, if she merely ignored them they wouldn't approach that was human nature. She came to a gate which parted the second she stepped forward, a door not unlike many she had broken in before with her other many forms. She folded her hand together as she walked through noticing the increase in security; it was quite often that the palaces did this
It just proved that the lords were chicken, then again anyone in power always feared for their lives, even Sakura did, but she had the confidence to protect herself at any costs. She knew when to run and she knew when to fight, if you survived as long as she had in the nin world you had to, or you would have been long dead by now, lucky or not. He showed her the box, and she looked at it, it was beautiful white ivory carvings in the sides with emeralds and sapphires to brighten the look, all of them weaved together from what seemed to be white gold. Beside it he set the money down, a bag of gold coin, she picked it up for a moment the dropped it back in its place making sure that it was diffused of all tracking or listening devices, letting her chakra resonate with the metal to assure her that she was getting her fair cut of money.
Metals she found had their own chakra resonance; it applied to everything around them, sort of like a symbiosis of the world that everything was alive. Satisfied that nothing was wrong with the money she began to proceed with work.
She held a hand over the box, and the seal peeled off of it into the air, it wasn't enough to tear the seal off. No, she wasn't foolish; some seals have been rigged so that if someone were to violently take it off, it would take said person's life in a cosmic explosion. She had seen it happen before to others and she didn't want to follow after their example. She pushed her chakra into the seal in a steady stream making the words slowly peel off the paper in a process of unsealing they flew into her hand, as she memorized its contents keeping it for further use, in case she needed to use a seal like that again.
The moment the words all soaked into her palm the paper it had been written on fell off the box, she touched the smooth enamel surface, and stroked the worn jewels that lined the sides, it truly was a treasure. She scanned the box for any other underlying seal that might violently explode of she were to open it, finding none she opened the box to show its contents. In the middle sat a silver tiara with dark blue stones and pearls, if she had remembered correctly. It was called 'The Mermaids Crown'. She turned to her employer, "It is done." She watched his expression through her mask carefully as his facial expressions turned from friendly to malicious.
On cue all of the ANBU around her positioned themselves for an all out attack it seemed that she was in for a little exercise with her little job. "I thank you for your great services Hotaru-san, unfortunately I can't let you leave this place, you're too valuable to let go, you have quite the bounty on your head you see." She already knew that fact, since she always rejected an offer to work for long periods of time, and those scorned Lords aimed for her life. She disappeared the moment he shouted for the attack to proceed. She put her hands out and let the wind collect in them. Letting them to wildly lash out at any who approached her, it wasn't uncommon for someone to try and take her this way.
ANBU operative who wanted to make their name known would foolishly flock to the places she went, as one of the less fearsome and scary ANBU 9, what people called her individual selves; she was seen as an easy target. They didn't know how wrong they were, although she never killed anyone, she always won hands down. She hit the ground her legs crushing the earth beneath them, the wildly whipping air around her hitting any who didn't catch their balance fast enough. She watched as the box with the treasure she had unsealed, and the commission for the job go up in the air.
With one quick moment she had them in her grasp, and was on her way out. She made it as a policy that if she were to be attacked as compensation they had to give her both the money and whatever the job had been about. When she was outside the gates, she looked back at the destruction she had wreaked. They had been lucky, so much so that they didn't know. If she had been any of her other selves, they probably wouldn't have gotten away with just a couple of bruises and scrapes. The anger of her other selves were after all much more prominent then the person she was at the moment.
She leapt from the ground, into the trees; it was time to go back to the fireflies and her lovely solitude.
-
-
Sakura woke from her dream of the past; it had been a while since she had that one. Then again Hotaru didn't vie for attention like her other selves did. In fact Hotaru was one of those who wished to possibly blend with the moon and never been seen or disturbed. Another part of herself, that wasn't completely her. In a way she missed that silent solitude, the way that Hotaru could be left to brood in her thoughts, about life, about the world. A true philosopher, it was what Hotaru's existence was, the ability to think calmly asses without problems, and probably the most un-human in emotions of her ANBU operatives. At the same time, Sakura didn't want to submerge into that neutral state, but it didn't make her love that side of herself any less.
Hotaru was still in there curious as ever. Like the moment Sakura had laid eyes upon Naruto Hotaru felt the Kyuubi inside of him, and had wanted to look at the seal, a twitch she had to suppress that was one thing she would deny her other self, curiosity did after all kill the cat, whether satisfaction had really brought it back was a yet-to-be proven theory. She lazily opened her eyes, at first she had expected to see the apartment she had lived in for a considerable amount of time. That is until reality came crashing down on her groggy head to remind her that she was back in the political ring.
She looked at the tatami doors; it seemed that it was dawn. Early, but it was time for her to wake. She sent out her chakra to scan the area, when she was sure it was safe, she parted the veiling that hid her in her sleep, and slipped to the floor. She had a meeting with her ANBU group, which was going to take place in a nearby safety zone of the palace. Tiredly she yawned; she stopped noticing one thing that was missing. Itachi was nowhere on the premises.
~(Itachi)~
Itachi stood in the standard battle clothes of the court, walking up to the training ring they seemed to have. It was decent sized, but there was no forestry, no ground, it was possibly the most un idealistic for a nin to fight. Then again, this was a samurai protected state, Sakura's ANBU Corps aside. The nobles here practiced with swords, and archery, both of which Itachi was proficient with. As he walked by many who came to train themselves, they whispered, almost like the women in the market he speculated.
It was a good chance to prove his standing, force was always the most efficient method to show dominance. He held a long katana opposed to his shorter one used for quick kills. He held it one hand rather than putting it in his belt, he walked easily like a panther waiting for anyone to challenge him, knowing that someone would. At that particular moment the Fire Lord came walking in, he himself to Itachi's disappointment in normal clothes, it seemed that he would just be watching. They met eyes for a moment, a silent standoff between men. "Hey, pretty boy! You're supposed to wear that sword on your belt! Holding it makes you look weak!" He turned toward the source of the noise.
It was a man who towered over him, wearing a samurai outfit, probably one of the palace guards. It seemed that there were some stupid and foolish enough to challenge him. From the lack of his commanding posture he was not too high of a high ranking officer. It was below his standard but for now it would have to do. "Do you honestly think my beloved would choose someone weaker than her? It would explain why she would never look in your direction." Itachi knew that blow hurt, the moment he laid eyes on all of them he felt the prickle of jealousy coming off of them in waves.
Itachi had the distinct feeling that Sakura was the object of affection among many men. Although she hid her face effectively, her delicate looking hands, and gentle manner was enough to turn any man's head. Her down to earth and non catty demeanor separated her from the rest, not only that but she was the epitome of power in the country whether people knew of the other side's or not. If that wasn't enough of a turn on for a man he didn't know what was, what more if she was as pretty as she was? Really, it made Itachi speculate that she was a completely clueless child when it came to many things, he was sure that she wasn't thick. Even so the thought that any of these men wanted her, was enough to want to hide her from any prying eyes.
Possessive? Yes, it was. Obsessive? Extremely so, but those were emotions that he would never show. She was a free spirit and if he tried to catch her too suddenly she would bolt for the nearest exit door and he would never see her again. "What was that?" Itachi was slightly amused at his infuriated face, since he had met Sakura he found teasing a very fun thing to do. It seemed that he was developing 'a sense of humor' as his little brother had called it one evening when they were around the fire and Sakura had gone off to get some water from a nearby stream.
Itachi smoothly pulled out the katana, leveling it at his opponent. "Are you deaf along with overly persistent and annoying? I am very sure you heard me." The opposing man pulled out his sword, and shouted signaling his attack. Itachi would show the court what nin politics were about, it was a mind game, and it was a great show of dominance.
If you only had one trait of those traits you were made into a puppet regardless of standing in the family, only the strong survived in the Uchiha family. He was sure that here was no different. First to subdue to non-intelligent before tackling the political mind games, by doing it that way it would save him a considerable amount of time. When he beats all of the strong fighters, there would be no one to disturb him while he battled the intelligent elite.
Always save the best for last, not only that but by battling first the intelligent would think he didn't know much and underestimate his abilities. It was a system of elimination, and he would defeat all of them, all for the dominance in Sakura's attention. He disappeared before the big man's view and struck him in the legs, many could say it was dirty but before the man could completely fall, Itachi had the sword sliding back into his sheath.
He looked once more toward the Fire Lord who had an eyebrow raised; they looked at each other for a while. Itachi would have stared the man down but, he felt Sakura's chakra heading toward them. He looked toward the entrance where she would enter. Many followed his suit, and within three seconds Sakura turned the corner. She waved a beckoning hand to him, he straightened his shoulders and approached her chakra was slightly uneasy.
She pulled him down to her level, and whispered quietly in his ear. "New, information from my organization, it seems that a few Akatsuki members are here in the palace." Gently he took her hand and placed it on his arm, another sign of dominance but she was brooding too much to notice. "Tell me more."
~(Sakura)~
"It seems that they came in last night while we were sleeping, my men only found traces of their quiet entry this morning," She sat at their dining table, Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi, and Itachi listened to her patiently. "How will we deal with this?" Sasuke asked, he said it calmly but she could feel the slight underlying tension. "We'll have to investigate a bit more, but this also means that we have to speed things up a bit." She closed her eyes organizing her thoughts and what tasks needed to be split up.
She looked to Naruto, ready to receive her orders, "Naruto, you go with Sasuke and try to get back to Konoha, with word about the Akatsuki. I doubt that any of my messengers will get out of the palace alive. Leave, as soon as possible." They nodded, she turned to Kakashi, "Begin developing seals that can hold them down, assume that they have powers as strong as Naruto at his greatest. At all costs we must protect the Fire Lord and prevent Naruto or Sasuke from falling into enemy hands, is that clear?" She could see that two of the members were about to protest, but she already saw that coming.
"I need you two in Konoha, where I know you guys can keep everyone else safe. Do you expect a bunch of women and children to protect the village if any of the other nin fall? You are aware that Tsunade cannot protect 24/7 right? According to my reports only four have infiltrated the palace, and because it's the palace they won't try anything loud limiting their movements. Whereas, there are supposed to be 10 members in total, do you think the nin in Konoha in all confidence can fend off full force fighting enemy nin?"
It was silent which meant that she won the argument, "You leave immediately." They nodded and got up to get their stuff. She turned to Kakashi who was looking at her patiently. "There is a workshop somewhere in the back of this garden under the waterfall shrine that will be able to hide you from view, it's a chakra safe room that will snuff out any trace of your existence I will have my ANBU members bring you what you need. We don't want the Akatsuki to know that you're still here with us, you'll have to send a bunshin with Naruto and Sasuke to make it seem as if you left, and Itachi and I will hold down the forte."
He looked at her for a moment, "Well prepared aren't you?" She looked at the older man, scanning his facial expression, which was hard because of his half mask "Be ready for anything I say." She saw the flash of understanding behind his lone eye, and nodded. She was ready for anything, she was even ready to take this all on her own, but she was glad she had friends to back her up. As Naruto and Sasuke re-entered the room, she went up to them, and hugged them, something she rarely partook in. "Kami's speed, and may it bring you both back to Konoha safely."
The two hugged her back, Naruto with a little too much force and Sasuke a bit hesitantly at first but he returned the favor. "Tell your mother, to go into my apartment, third drawer to the left, she knows the inscription, if she doesn't remember just tell her 'think of our favorite pet name' and she'll know after that. It's a backup plan me and Itachi have devised that is only to be used in dire situation, am I clear? I'll leave it in the Uchiha hands for now." She looked at them as the nodded, "There is one of my trusted ANBU operatives outside ready to escort you to the gates of Konoha in case you need help. He might not be the best of fighters but I guarantee that he'll get you out of any sort of mess you run into."
They began to leave, "When this is all over, I want to talk to you guys a little more, is that alright?" Naruto smiled at her, "Yeah! You bet!" Sasuke just looked away; she now knew that it was a sign of embarrassment. When this was all over she would compensate them all handsomely it would only be right. The moment the door closed, she turned to a waiting Itachi, and Kakashi, she switched to the Lady Haruno who was the leader of the ANBU Corporation under her wing. "Now then, shall we begin?"
Finally! Next chapter! Sorry guys, I'm busy with college registration and trying to find a good college for me… And I've been buries by, letters, and emails, so much so that it really is getting annoying…. That and I've been working on a BLEACHXNaruto crossover cool right? XD And my Seirei ki story, I think the well of imagination isn't as generous on this story XD. And I'm working on Finding Humanity… which reminds me my Prince of Tennnis story isn't progressing at all either…. sigh
(Too many projects might just kill me XD)
To my anonymous
To: Megami_Tsunami
It is as you wished you go another glimpse of her past selves^.^ Just to tell you if I think there needs to be a story separator I probably will throw in her past from time to time, because it really is a great interest to a lot of people ya know what I mean? ^.^ Thanks for reviewing!
TO Midnight Azure:
I know that you're not really an anonymous reviewer since you sent me a pm, but I'm happy you like this story so much ^.^. Welcome to the world of authoring where any idea is free game(well except for the over used and already used). To be honest I wanted to contact you on a more personal means, but how am I supposed to do that when your pming is disabled? XD Anyway, thanks for the compliment it makes me really happy. To the point where you really have no idea ^.^ It goes for all of the people who say that about my story, when you gather fans like that, if you have social problems and awkwardness with people, it really lifts you up. Ideas? Anything will do, you just need to send your message across to everyone.
What ever intrigues you in a story, or an idea that has been circulating in your head for a while will do, as long as you like it enough to chase after it. Good luck with your stories, and, may you prosper! ^.^
