A/N: Thanks to everyone who continues to read, review and add. It's all very much appreciated by this authoress.
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Naruto or Blizzard's World of Warcraft Sin'dorei, or the few Thalassian words I've borrowed for this fic. I am just not that much of a genius people.
Summary: The Great Ninja Wars had ended more than a decade ago. But that wouldn't stop a country supposedly in a state of peace from searching for greater power to hold over other countries, or even a clan from another. Itachi Uchiha, a cold and calculating ANBU captain, and prominent and rising prodigy of the Uchiha Clan, captures Sakura Haruno an elusive "Sin'dorei", something many believed to be nothing but a childhood fairytale.
Thanks to the betas: Pyrodarkangel; HarmonyRose
Suggested Listenings: "Rose Colored Stained Glass Windows" –Jars of Clay
Chapter 13:
Luminescent malachite orbs followed the softly swinging motion of a dual colored pendant dangling from the Hokage's outstretched fingers. Immediately Sakura felt the jarring reaction in her soul as recognition skittered up her spine. In all her days, Sakura would never forget the hues of viridian and onyx, always together, yet forever divided. For even when it was shaken, the colors did not intertwine. Her lips whispered softly in her own language, "The Well of Eternity…"
Stormy eyes met honey brown, her breath a confused rasp, "Where did you get that?"
"Never mind that," Tsunade smiled at the distraught girl, ignoring the silent suspicious gleam in Itachi's intense onyx orbs.
"I will be willing to let you have this if you do me one more little favor," the Hokage stopped swinging the pendant and snatched it up out of Sakura's sight, her eyes boring into the Sin'dorei's.
The pinkette tilted her head, unable to keep the skepticism from her own gaze as she replied with narrowed eyes, "And what would that be…?"
"Well you see… I found this document…. Which I believe is written in your language. None of my scholars have been able to figure out what this text means…" Tsunade let the gravity of her words seep into the young woman and then continued, "If you are able to translate this for me, I will let you have the pendant."
Tilting her chin at the Hokage, Sakura peered deeply into the Gondaime's eyes as if trying to read into her very soul. The intensity of the pinkette's gaze caused Tsunade shift uncomfortably. Itachi said nothing during this entire exchange and instead he watched everything like a hawk, recording the event into his mind, wondering what it could all mean. A move like this on the Hokage's part was a gamble at best. Who would know if Sakura chose to read the document, and make something up? His mind reminded him quickly, every emotion that Sakura felt had the tendency to pass over her face for the whole world to see. This added onto the fact that Tsunade upped the ante with the pendant, deliberately throwing the girl into emotional turmoil. It would make it even harder for the girl to hide a direct lie. As was per usual, Tsunade was three steps ahead, the male grimaced inwardly at his deductive thoughts.
Slowly, nearly imperceptibly Sakura gave a nod of agreement, "Alright I'll do it."
The Hokage handed the battered document to Sakura and watched as the girl's eyes widened with what seemed to be deep and utter shock. Intrigued by the Sin'dorei's significant change in body language, Tsunade asked softly, keeping the triumph from her eyes, "You can read it…"
"Yes," Sakura's voice cracked with emotion, "This seems to be a very old document written by a Sin'dorei to a Broken."
"Broken?" Itachi couldn't help but ask.
"Yes, during the Great Separation, when Sin'dorei made their decision to remove themselves from the rest of the world… there were those whom my kin dubbed Broken… they were those born of trysts between human and Sin'dorei. Because of their human blood they were not allowed to join the rest of their full-blooded kin into the sacred city of Silvermoon," there was a deep and lonely sadness that flickered in the depths of Sakura's eyes.
"So I would be considered a Broken?" Tsunade asked astutely.
Sakura nodded and then asked softly, "Your grandmother…? She had white hair and glowing blue eyes didn't she?"
"Yes she did…" the Hokage answered slowly confusion etching her features.
Sakura tilted her head, "Well you see," the girl paused, for the first time emotion was utterly washed away from the Sin'dorei's face as she explained coolly, "I am actually quite the oddity amongst my fellow kin. The majority of the Sin'dorei have white hair and blue eyes. There are a few exceptions, some have the color gold in their hair, or reddish hues in their eyes, but for the most part everyone looks quite… similar. It was often said that I had come from a lineage that was dirtied with the blood of humans…" The melancholy slowly contorting the girl's features spoke volumes. Revealing so much more than mere words could ever say.
"So you believe this document is not from the City of Silvermoon?" Tsunade asked directly, realizing there was so much more to this young woman than meets the average eye.
Itachi was thinking along the same train of thoughts as the Hokage.
"And if this document is to be believed, neither is the pendant…" Sakura nodded, her eyes earnest and deep in thought.
"What does it actually say?" Itachi broke in, mulling over the things that Sakura had explained.
"It looks like a letter from a father to a daughter. It reads: My dearest daughter, Lucia. I deeply regret leaving you at such a young age. I have been summoned by Alah'ni to return to the haven of my kin to serve for the greater good of all. Forgive me for leaving you and your mother behind. I love you both dearly, however humans and Sin'dorei can no longer co-exist and I have no choice but to help the old ones build a new city, to protect the ancient gods from the eyes of humankind. I wish that I could bring you with me, but it is for the best that you stay with your mother, so that she won't be lonely. Remember that I love you very much, and I am leaving you this pendant so that you will never forget me, and so that you will always be protected. Your father, Valdar Silversky," Sakura finished, a sad note lacing her somber voice.
"But… I thought your kin separated themselves from humans thousands of years ago," Tsunade said amazed. There was no way paper would stay in such good shape for such a long time.
"Yes… this document is very old. If I'm correct at least about what the content indicates…"
Sakura lifted the parchment up, and snapping her fingers, she murmured a few words under her breath, a flame flickered above her index finger, much like a struck match. Then to the horror of both nin, Sakura placed the document over the fire. At first Tsunade was about to protest, but then clicked her mouth shut when the paper was unaffected by the flame.
The girl met both of their eyes and explained, "The author of this letter must have placed a preserving enchantment on it so that it couldn't be destroyed by normal means. See how it's battered though? He truly meant for his daughter to get it," at their nods the Sin'dorei continued explaining, "It looks like someone tried destroying it with chakra but was unable to do so…. And the pendant was created by a very talented silversmith and enchanter…"
Tsunade began to hand the pendant to Sakura but the pinkette shook her head, "Somehow these things found their way to you… I think you should keep them…" the girl sighed, a heartrending visage painting her face, "I had never really given any of the old stories much thought… So many loved ones forcefully separated."
The Sin'dorei contemplated morosely, was that what you really wanted Alah'ni?
The Hokage waved her hand dismissing the subject, realizing that it deeply pained the young girl in front of her, and though she was loathed to admit it, she herself didn't like the sharp feeling in the region of her heart. The sadness that was present in the girl's eyes reminded the Hokage starkly of the look that Naruto had often carried before he had graduated the Academy.
Sakura felt startled when the male behind her placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, giving it a brief squeeze. Sakura realized that it was such a quick movement the Hokage hadn't even caught it. Tears burned her eyes, her throat constricted at the thoughtful touch from the often silent male behind her. His silent reassurance meant more to her then sweetly coated words ever could.
"I am going to finalize your citizenship and have it filed right away," the Hokage paused and leaned forward, "However due to the circumstances of today, I realized that placing you under normal civilian status just won't work."
Itachi protested immediately, his eyes narrowing, "But she's not a shinobi…"
"I realize that, however Itachi you've got to realize… to any nin, even one fresh out of the Academy is going to wonder about that chakra of hers… it's very glaringly obvious she's not from Konoha, or one of it's clans…" Tsunade's brown eyes blazed into his, irritated with his insubordination. He was an alpha ANBU captain for kami's sake.
At her sharply delivered words, and being sufficiently told off, the younger male nodded, "Yes, you are right… of course."
That was as close to an apology as she was going to get, Tsunade realized. That was the trademark insufferable Uchiha attitude for you. Even after all these years, she didn't think she'd ever actually heard one apologize for anything.
Sakura was obviously confused, "What do you mean by you're not going to place me under civilian status…?"
The Hokage smiled at the girl, "What that means is what I said… you are not going to be a civilian… but," Tsunade sent Itachi a look, and was pleased when he chose not to speak, "It would be stupid of me not to put those unique abilities of yours to use…"
"You're going to place me under shinobi status?" Sakura queried, still baffled by the strange turn of events.
"Yes… at first I wasn't going to do so, but after that display you put on with Kakashi. I realized that having you trying to run around in Konoha as a simple little civilian was just not going to work… So I've decided to put you under special status," the Hokage paused, "I will roster you in as an individual, a one woman clan if you will, under a lifetime contract to Konoha."
"I see…" Itachi spoke softly, catching onto the Hokage's vein of thought. It was clearly evident that the Hokage wanted to keep Sakura out of the Konoha elder's sharp radar. It made perfect sense, and it was for certain that the Gondaime was using a loophole in the laws to successfully integrate Sakura into the community, by making as little of a splash as possible. If Sakura was placed in as a civilian and something happened with her abilities, the elders would definitely notice and wonder why the Hokage had permitted an outsider in with such a vast amount of chakra with just a civilian's status. It would seem very suspicious. However, if something happened, and the files had her down as an active duty shinobi, then the problems resulting from it would be far less.
The Hokage nodded, "Your abilities would be wasted if I just put you in the hospital as a nurse or whatever it was that you were planning on doing…"
"But… from what I was able to ascertain from my time in Konoha was that it takes years for someone to become a shinobi. They are trained from childhood to learn that way of life," Sakura protested, her eyes wide. She never in her wildest dreams thought the Hokage would do something like this!
"You are correct Sakura," the Gondaime paused and leaned forward on her desk, "That's why I'm going to have someone train you. Not only will someone teach you how to read the language, but someone will also teach you how shinobi fight and utilize their chakra. And I do recall that you were a medic in your cell… originally… so I will have Shizune tutor you in the ways of the medical field to see where your abilities lie there."
"But… but," Sakura stuttered, her eyes still wide.
"I know you more than have the capability to learn the ways of our village Sakura…" the Hokage stood up and looked down at the girl, "for you to stand up to a jonin with absolutely no training whatsoever and to come out the victor is nearly unheard of. I realized your techniques are much different than ours, and for you to comprehend the nature of a shinobi by just observing them for two months and put it into use… indicates to me that I would be an absolute moron not to integrate you into the community as a kunoichi."
"I'm not the violent type," the girl let out one more weak protest.
Both of the nin present looked at each other, understanding passing between their locked gazes and then back to the somewhat frightened girl. Itachi strode over to her and looked deeply into her bewildered and troubled gaze, "The life of a shinobi is not about violence and death. Although there will many occasions that you won't be able to escape that reality. It is a harsh life, I will be the first to admit that… however there is a greater good that comes from what we do. We've chosen to use our abilities to give not only our families and comrades a better quality of life, but also for the innocent civilians as well, and of course to protect our home, Konoha."
The Hokage nodded at his words, "This village isn't perfect, it's partaken in a lot of mistakes and failures and things that it's too ashamed to admit out loud. We've had our useless wars and this village's beginnings weren't built from the humblest of desires. However this new generation that guards Konoha with their fierce loyalty and love, works hard to make a better future for everyone. I know you made the decision to turn around and come back to Konoha and become a citizen out of your own desire to stay with those you came to care about…."
The Sin'dorei carefully contemplated their words and as she did so, her heart acknowledging their abject sincerity. Their words made sense. When she thought about it, she would hate sitting here in Konoha afraid that someday Itachi would be taken from her forever due to a mission gone sour. Sakura knew deep in her heart that she didn't want to feel useless. It was for that same reason that she had studied as hard as she could to become a Farstrider. Everyone believed she would be worthless to their society. To them her blood was dirty. Her fiancé was ashamed of ever having formed an alliance to her family. There were times that even her parents had shunned her, after it was obvious that her baby pink hair was not going to fade into silver.
Even still, her parents had loved her in their own way, as she was their only child. But her existence had caused an irreparable rift in their now shell of a marriage. Here she had chosen to start all over again, forge a new path for herself and her future. Although apart of herself, the part of her heart that still resided in Silvermoon was never truly silent. That indecisive, small voice still spoke in the deepest recesses of her at the best of times, and also at the worst of times, would forever exist, she recognized somewhat saddened at the realization.
Slowly the girl nodded in agreement her proud green eyes meeting theirs, "I understand… I will train as you request, but I want you to realize that I will always be a Farstrider… never a true kunoichi…"
"You are what you are Sakura. I cannot deny you that small respite," Tsunade nodded at the girl's proud visage, "However you will have to be documented as a non-ranked kunoichi, and your fellow citizens and shinobis will recognize and accept you as one of them…"
The girl tilted her head, her eyes taking on an unusual hard quality, "I know… I just don't want you to forget…"
Tsunade frowned at the girl's cryptic words and then said, ignoring her declaration, "I'm going to need you to sign here…"
The Hokage handed her a piece of paper with indecipherable writing on it along with the registry, "This is how you spell your name."
Sakura bent taking the pen from Tsunade's hand and quickly signed the registry, doing her best to copy the symbols that were her name in their language. Tsunade smiled at the childish looking signature. If anyone saw it, it would look something like what a first year student in the Academy would have written.
Wordlessly Sakura went over to Itachi's weapon pack and he watched inquisitively as she took the kunai from it. Curious he watched her grab a handful of her soft luscious waist length hair and set the edge of the blade above the curve of her hand, obviously getting ready to cut her hair to shoulder's length. His posture stiffened with displeasure as she spoke somewhat dramatically, "Alshara T'sa'e is no more."
Oh hell no! Itachi roared mentally, deeply irritated by the girl's actions. Before Sakura could cut her beautifully long cotton candy hued tresses, the kunai was snatched from her hand. The girl whirled on the male and demanded, "Hey! Give that back to me!"
One word issued from his lips, "No…"
His eyebrow shot up when the girl childishly kicked his shin in an unusual fit of temper. The male didn't move with his eyes rock hard. It was if it never happened, which infuriated Sakura further, "You are forbidden to cut your hair… I do not care who this Alshara T'sa'e is…"
Sakura's mouth thinned. How dare he order around her like that? Just because she harbored feelings for him and he knew it didn't make him her master, "By the light of the sun Itachi! You have no right to order me around like that!"
"Who is Alshara T'sa'e?" the Hokage interrupted, her eyes alight with curiosity. She was trying her best to keep amusement from upturning the corners of her lips. The Uchiha would definitely not appreciate the mirth threatening to bubble over at his expense.
Sakura stopped and gaped at the Hokage like a fish for a moment. Snapping her jaw shut, she closed her eyes a second and then replied rather stiffly, "… That's my real name…"
The pair of them stopped and looked at her in confusion. Itachi was the first to speak, "Your real name…?"
The girl nodded, somewhat sadly, "When Itachi captured me I just offered the rough translation in your language as my name. In reality other than the family surname, it's really just the same thing…"
The name suited her, the Hokage thought absently, "Well whatever the case may be. You are Sakura to us…" and pausing, "And for goodness sake Sakura, don't be cutting that sinfully beautiful hair of yours for no reason. It would truly be a waste… and a mess on my floors…"
Sakura snuck a glance at Itachi, whose arms was folded over his chest in masculine displeasure. He looked foreboding she decided, and she realized it would be better not to push it. Slowly the girl nodded her acquiesce, her shoulders drooping, "I guess… you're right."
Silence ensued for several moments and finally Itachi broke the silence, "So whose going to be training Sakura…?"
Before the Hokage could reply a tentative knock sounded at the door. Smiling apologetically, thinking absently that she hadn't had her morning cap yet, the Gondaime called out tiredly, "Come in…"
Kakashi entered the office, waving jovially at the bunch. The smile never left the jonin's face, even with the frosty look the ANBU captain graced him with, "So… you wished to speak with me Hokage-sama?"
Tsunade fixed Itachi with a look. Itachi caught on quickly and asked incredulously, his voice like a half snarl, "Him?"
Kakashi was thoroughly confused. Why was Sakura looking at him like he had just sprouted three heads? Something in his gut lurched. He had a bad feeling about this.
"Yes… him…" Tsunade ignored the simmering male and gave the silver haired male a saccharinely sweet smile that made the alarm bells go off in his head.
-oOo-
"You can't be serious," Kakashi said outright, his face nearly as pale as Sakura's. So that was why that girl had those strange abilities. She wasn't even human. This was quite the secret the Hokage had been keeping the past couple of months. It would also explain the girl's rather unique social habits.
"I'm more than serious. There's no one other than you that can do it, because of Sakura's unique heritage. Your amazingly apt abilities of deduction make you the only likely candidate for this undertaking. I believe that you are the best man for this unique job. The renowned patient guidance that you have with your students qualifies you perfectly for something like this," the Hokage replied, and by the look on her face, Kakashi knew there was no use in trying to argue with her.
"How many people know about her?" Kakashi asked outright. If he was going to undertake such a huge project, he needed to know what could be said, and what couldn't, and around who. It was going to be hard enough as it was not to draw suspicion to her with her exotically odd behaviorisms.
"You, me, Itachi, Shizune, and Neji Hyuga," The Hokage replied immediately and then added as an after thought, "And possibly Gaara…"
"Neji?" Kakashi asked, more than a little surprised by that name. He wasn't even going to ask about the Kazikage.
"He got a little too nosy with that Byakugan of his… and of course with his intelligence, he quickly deduced that Sakura… wasn't normal," Tsunade shrugged and then continued, "Now that we have that all settled… you all are dismissed. Itachi, I need you to report tomorrow morning. You will resume active duty immediately."
"Yes Hokage-sama," Itachi replied, his voice rather stiff.
As they left, and once out in the hall, Kakashi told the girl, "I will meet you at the training grounds tomorrow as well, to go over what you do actually know, so that I know where to even begin."
"Okay Kakashi-sensei," Sakura smiled weakly. She might as well make the best of the situation. The Hokage would know who would be the best person to teach her. And Naruto had spoken highly of Kakashi the few times that he had brought up his former teacher. She couldn't let the past between them weigh her down. But by the eye of the phoenix if he tried anything funny with her, her inner self made a threatening fist, he would pay dearly.
Kakashi slightly winced at the honorific but quickly took his exit, more than eager to leave the claustrophobic atmosphere of the hallway, with one very irritated Uchiha and a suddenly very disturbing looking Sakura. Before either of them could blink, Kakashi was gone.
As they made their way back home, Sakura kept glancing at Itachi. His face was stony, but his eyes gave away his disgruntled feelings. She realized she couldn't leave him feeling that way.
Taking initiative the woman tugged gently on his hand. Sakura looked up into Itachi's face as he glanced down at her and she smiled softly, "Why are you so irritated?"
"I am not irritated," the male denied coldly.
Sakura's eyes narrowed, not caring for the tone he was taking with her. She stopped in her tracks and put her hands on her hips and glared at the obtuse male, "Don't tell me you're jealous."
A nearly imperceptible twitch gave him away immediately even though he quickly refuted it, "Do not be ridiculous…"
"Itachi," Sakura spoke softly, beguiling. In the midst of the milling crowds, the darkly brooding and stoic male stopped to give sideway glance at the girl, his face a mask of practiced detachment.
Oh no you don't! Sakura thought to herself. Marching up to him like a miniature soldier, her posture stiff and correct, she gazed straight up into his eyes. He was about to demand that she stopped acting so silly. Before he could do so however, the pinkette smiled up at him mischievously grabbing his shirtfront, and planted a ravishing kiss on his lips.
Unbeknownst to them Sasuke had seen his brother's familiar tall figure in the crowd and had begun to make his way over to him. It was a somewhat horrified Sasuke that caught the sight of his brother kissing that little strange Sakura girl in public. Even though his brother didn't give a damn about Uchiha clan politics, he had for the most part always behaved properly in public, as to not bring shame to his clan. However the thought about his sibling acting like that in public didn't really bother Sasuke's as much as watching his brother make out in general did. It faintly disturbed him. The spiky dark-haired male sighed as he really needed to talk to his brother. Unfortunately he was going to have to interrupt them. The younger sibling ambled down the street.
Sakura punished Itachi's lower lip with her sharp teeth, earning a raspy grunt of displeasure from the male. Nearby a person cleared their throat and Sakura immediately broke away from the disgruntled male towering over her.
Itachi blinked and found his little brother watching them with a miffed expression on his face. Sakura was the first to speak, red flagging her cheeks, "I thought that you were supposed to be on a mission today…"
"Sai and I weren't assigned to leave. Naruto was placed in another group that had a sick member that couldn't go," Sasuke explained dryly and then pivoted his nearly black eyes on his elder brother.
"What did you want Sasuke?" Itachi asked coolly. By his brother's dismissive tone it was obvious his brother didn't like to be interrupted, public or not.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed but he ignored his brother's tersely delivered words, "Are you going to the family meeting tomorrow?"
"No," Itachi replied just as icily.
"You know you can't ignore them forever brother. As much as you'd like to… Hell as much as I would like to," Sasuke's lips pursed at the last part.
"Sakura, go on home, I'll be there soon," Itachi looked down at the confused pinkette.
Sakura's eyes narrowed. There he was ordering her around again. However she realized that they deserved privacy and so she nodded obediently, for now anyways, giving his cheek a quick chaste kiss, "I'll go home and make us some lunch. Just come straight to my apartment."
Sasuke's eyes widened, but he politely didn't comment as his brother nodded at the slender, tiny female. Itachi watched her leave and then turned his attention back to his sibling, "It's best to make your own path in Konoha, if you heed them in even the slightest, they will do their absolute best to control you and your life."
The younger brother sighed and shook his head at Itachi, "Yet if you continue to ignore them, they will do their best to butt into your business. What do you think is going to happen when they find out about Sakura?"
"Don't worry about that little brother… father and mother already know about her. Father was not happy about it, we exchanged words, but he has done nothing thus far to stop me. I believe he already considers me a lost cause and has for years," the upturned lips on Itachi's face could only be described as a parody of a smile.
Sasuke smirked at his elder brother, crossing his arms, "I just suggest you reconsider and come to the clan functions every once and awhile. If only to see what hair-brained schemes those old fossils are cooking up. It might do you some good and… mother misses you… if anything you should at least visit her…"
Itachi tilted his head, and gave a short curt nod, "I think your right little brother," the older male paused, "I should visit mother. I think she would like to properly meet Sakura…"
With a defeated sigh, Sasuke shook his head. He couldn't help but ask, "What do you see in her Itachi? I mean, if you're going to be a rebel, and take any woman you wanted… Why her? She's definitely not the usual type that you used to pursue…she doesn't even have… much of a figure."
And with that the older male met his younger brother's eye and replied effectively infuriating his seventeen year old brother, his masculine tone smug, "Someday when you become a man Sasuke… you'll understand…"
Without waiting for a response, Itachi left his younger sibling steaming red-faced in the middle of the street.
-oOo-
Sakura turned abruptly when she heard the key grate in the door and it swung open. The pinkette smiled invitingly at the dark-clad male, "You're just in time…"
Placing a plate of steaming fried vegetables and rice on the table. She was about to hand him a pair of chopsticks when he grabbed her around the waist pulling her flush against his hard body. Wriggling in his arms, Sakura glared up at him, "What are you doing?!"
"Finishing what you started…" was the haughty masculine reply.
"What… erff…" Sakura had started to protest, worried about the food getting cold, when the male bent his head and caught her lips in his. He gave her several slow drugging kisses before releasing her.
Dazed for several seconds and still thrown off kilter by his intoxicating scent, eyes dilated with passion, Sakura stood there for several moments unsure of just what had actually happened. Turning surprised eyes at the now self-satisfied male sitting at the table, silently eating the prepared food. Itachi paused mid bite, his chopsticks poised mid-air, "You probably should hurry up and eat before it gets cold."
Itachi's superior grin set the girl off. Sakura loudly made herself a plate and sat down at the table in a feminine huff, her cheeks still red with a string of words that came from her mouth that were in that peculiar language of hers and Itachi knew that he was somehow being insulted. It somewhat bothered him that he didn't know what she was saying.
"Would you be against teaching me the Sin'dorei language?" Itachi asked the fuming girl.
Immediately Sakura's anger drained from her, her eyes were wide with shock, "You want to learn my language…?"
"Yes," Itachi met the girl's eyes, his own dancing with mirth, "I find myself curious to know what insults you lay upon my head so daringly."
"What makes you think I was talking about you?" Sakura's eyes narrowed at his arrogance.
The male shrugged around a bite, "Just a… hunch."
Cheeks flushed, Sakura was silent a moment, "If you really want to learn… I would be more than happy to teach it to you…"
"After I come back from my assignment I'd like to start learning," Itachi nodded at her, "I'm sure the Hokage will give me a week or two of light assignments in Konoha after we come back…"
"You think she's going to send you on a mission tomorrow?" Sakura asked curiously.
The male nodded pushing his empty plate aside, "Yes, more than likely. She's been itching to send my team out. And it's just as well, because you'll start your training…"
Suddenly Sakura wasn't hungry anymore, "Are you really alright with me becoming a kunoichi? It's a very dangerous… um… occupation…"
"I think it will be good for you," the male replied honestly, "Don't get me wrong… I'd like to see you safely at home more than anything, but even when you think you are safe at home something could happen. No one knows what the future holds. I'd prefer that you were trained in our ways, to at least have you prepared and not helpless when the occasion arises."
Sakura flared at that, her glowing green eyes shooting daggers at the stoic male, "I'm not helpless…"
"No… you're not," Itachi agreed and continued coolly, "However, you need to realize that even though you did well in that test against Kakashi… he was not coming at you with everything he had. You have the will to get things done. The Hokage's right, it would be a waste not to at least hone your abilities. Once trained, you don't have to necessarily go out on field missions if you don't want to, but instead stay within Konoha and help keep intruders out. This city is very well established and many countries try to send in spies because they are jealous of Konoha's success. I noticed that you were easily able to locate Kakashi even though he masked his chakra… just for that simple fact, I'm sure you could talk to the Hokage about staying in the city exclusively, and join the Konoha Guard. With your unique talents, it would prove quite a valuable asset."
Sakura rolled her eyes at his mention of her finding Kakashi so easily, "Did the Hokage ever really explain to you what the Sin'dorei really are?"
"The embodiment of chakra," Itachi replied immediately.
Sakura nodded but then said, "That's partially correct. I know that you humans have created your own religions and have completely deviated away from your origins. So I will explain this as simply as possible. My people were created from the tears of the phoenix, humans came up out of the earth by the claws of Neph'o, the dragon of the void."
"So…?" Itachi didn't see what that had to do with anything.
"Give me your hand," Sakura demanded.
Curious the male put his wrist out, and watched as Sakura placed his hand above her chest. This immediately distracted him, as the edge of his pinky lay merrily on the swell of her soft breast. Blushing Sakura asked him, "Can you feel the flow of chakra within me?"
The male closed his eyes, pushing away the pleasurable thoughts that began to filter into his brain, and began to concentrate on the task given to him. As he did so, he consciously went past her chakra signature feeling along as he did so mentally. It was a simple concentration exercise. Soon he was able to feel the flow of her chakra, which was indeed very different from a human's normal pathways.
Slowly he nodded, "I do."
"Now…." She removed his hand from her beguiling warmth and put it on the marred wooden surface, "Now… do you feel the chakra in this table?"
The male's eyes shot open and he looked at her as if she had lost her marbles, "Tables do not have… chakra… Sakura."
Sighing the female shook her head, "What was this table once?"
Itachi tilted his head at her, his brain immediately clicking in what she was trying to say, "A tree?"
The male didn't like the enthusiastic way she smiled and nodded at him. She was acting like she was explaining this to a three year old. It wasn't a normal feeling for Itachi to be talked to in this manner. He was a prodigy dammit!
"Yes, and once, not too long ago, the wood in this table was living. Of course it's dead now… but even still… a minimal amount of chakra has been left behind… and if you truly concentrate on that realization, and try to connect with the chakra left in the wood. You can feel it," Sakura explained wisely.
"So what does this have to do with you being able to find Kakashi, even though he had hidden his chakra signature well?" Itachi knew the connection was there, he just couldn't quite wrap his brain around it.
Sighing with frustration she acted as if she were dealing with an abnormally slow child. Itachi's eyes narrowed at the sound, but yet he waited patiently for the girl to continue with her little thesis, "Because Itachi… chakra is in all living things around us. Why do you think we are able to call the elements to our aid? Because it flows through every vein of life… look at the Kyuubi for example. He is by all rights a spirit of fire, who should be flowing freely through the earth, be apart of it, as is his birthright. Yet once pulled into this plane of existence, though he takes on the form of a fox… what is he made up of?"
The pieces of her explanation began to snap together, "Chakra…."
"Alright, take me finding Kakashi for example… What was he standing on?" Sakura prodded the male forward on the right track.
"A tree," the male replied slowly, completely intrigued despite himself by this little impromptu lesson.
"Because chakra is essentially living energy you can't just blank it out. You can mask it, but you can't completely erase it, because you just can't. So when you mask your chakra it will break the natural flow of everything around you, leaving a blank spot. So of course when Kakashi was hiding, the best thing he could have done was try to meld his chakra flow in with the rhythm of the tree's, effectively making it much harder for me to find him… however because he did not, he was just like a big blank hole sitting on top of a living tree…Also I am Sin'dorei and I am essentially tied to chakra by nature very similarly to the nine-tails. The natural flow of the earth, its spirit, its essence," Sakura took a deep breath pausing before adding softly, "These are things we are taught when we are very little. It's as natural as breathing to my kin."
"So what you are saying to me is that… every living thing contains some sort of chakra… even a rock for example thought it's not really living but it's apart of the element of earth, trees, the dirt beneath your feet, a leaf, a bird…" the male stated having assessed all this quickly from her explanation. The Hokage did say that Sakura's people were tied to the rhythms of the earth. He hadn't paid much mind to it before, but her strange little lesson did make some sort of sense, although he didn't quite buy it.
Sakura nodded smiling, "Yes. We are trained at a very young age to recognize all the chakra signatures of nature. Or at least as much as we possibly can. I must admit I've never gone out and tried to put my hand on a tiger…"
Itachi smirked at her, "So if what you say is true then why doesn't everyone have the ability to become a shinobi if they wanted to…?"
Tilting her head at the male she replied easily, "Having chakra and having the gift to utilize it are two completely different things. Take Rock Lee for example. He has nearly no ability to use chakra. It's very slim, if any at all. But it's there inside him, just like it is in all of us, if it wasn't then he simply wouldn't exist. And through a certain jutsu that he was taught he can tap into it if need be."
Itachi's eyes widened at the woman in front of him. Sakura was an incredibly perceptive little thing. She had gathered quite a bit of information during her first couple months here, just by merely observing. He suddenly wished that his subordinates were as observant as Sakura seemed to be. The male watched as she got to her feet and gathered their plates to take to the sink. He mulled over her words while she scraped the plates clean and began to wash them.
He couldn't help himself, curiosity quickly won out. He placed his palm flat on the table, even though he thought Sakura was half-crazy. However she was able to detect a well-trained jonin, an ex-ANBU within moments. She had even caught Kakashi off guard. There had to be some legitimacy in her words. Shutting his eyes, he began to concentrate, delving his own chakra strands, similar to the style of a medic examining a patient, into the core of the table searching for any traces of chakra.
Itachi felt startled his onyx eyes shooting open when Sakura placed a warm, damp feminine hand over his. He had been so deeply concentrating on this experiment; he hadn't even heard her walk over to him. Suddenly the soothing feel of her chakra actually wrapped around his comfortingly and once more he shut his eyes trying to concentrate. He had never felt anything like this before in his entire life. He had felt other people's chakra sure; it was common procedure for a medic to delve their own chakra into their patient's body, leaving behind a warm tingling feeling.
But this was different it was extraordinarily intimate. Her warm pink tendrils enfolded around his wispy chakra lovingly patiently and immensely gentle. Slowly she guided his inky gray strands inside the grain of the wood. Eventually her chakra stopped, letting his search the premises on it's own, letting it seek on it's own what it was looking for, like a mother bear with her cub ambling outside of the den for the first time. And sure enough within moments, he felt it. By kami, it was there, his amazement ran so deep he nearly lost the connection, but Sakura kept him there with her, aiding him in his concentration. It was so faint that you nearly couldn't feel it. If he were to describe this feeling, even though he had never felt such a thing himself, it would probably be like one's last heartbeat, forever caught in that moment in time.
Immediately he understood what she had been trying to explain to him all along. It was sort of like having an inner eye. At that moment, he felt like a little kid again with a new piece of interesting knowledge. He wanted to touch everything and feel for the fingerprint of the living life flowing through it. He wanted to understand what a blank spot felt like. It would be an invaluable tool to any shinobi at any level. Eat your heart out Hyuga clan, Itachi's thoughts intoned darkly, gleeful with this new knowledge.
Sakura watched as the curious wonder had lit his expressive eyes. Gently drawing him to his feet, she smiled softly, "Let's go to the training grounds for the day…"
The stoic male nodded in agreement and it was in companionable silence they left the apartment side by side. As always, the pinkette never ceased to amaze him. Bending down, he caught her off guard for once and stole a quick kiss from the corner of her mouth.
-oOo-
A/N: And even more comes to light in my very strange little play. I hope your enjoying kiddies. Also I hoped my little twisted explanation of chakra "in this story" made some sort of sense. It does to my mind. I also appreciate those who have been faithfully been leaving me reviews, it spurs my muse onward knowing that I have those awaiting the next segment with bated breath. /hint hint
Q & A
Also I have the feeling with this explanation of why Sakura was able to easily find Kakashi, you're going to ask… So when Itachi was following her back in the earlier chapters… why wasn't she able to detect him?
It wasn't because she wasn't able to… It's simply because she just wasn't looking for him.
… Poor Kakashi!!