Tanebi
Chapter 14: Confrontations
School is out and it is awesome to be back in the saddle. Let's start on reviews.
Sgohan79: Thanks. I enjoy it
Catsi: Be ready cause my style has been … tweaked. For the better of course.
Prague: Thanks a lot. I'm glad that I can still surprise people.
Panchopanda: I'm glad you liked the story so far.
Wherermychips: Given time and anger, Sasuke can improve greatly. He uses hatred as motivation to get much stronger.
Lexor: I'm glad you liked it.
Lonewolfbloodstorm: Both sides know about the cheating but they all lack sufficient proof.
Wind79: She will, but when the two are completely alone.
Miseryluvsdeath: I'll make the next one worth the wait.
I.E.T.S: Thanks a ton and welcome. I normally don't take this long, but I finished busting my butt on a brutal schedule.
GuyverUnit1: I didn't notice that. I'll be sure to change that.
Harryfoureyes: I was acutally hoping that the people would forget. I want multiple stories going on at once so the plot doesn't get incredibly dull.
Inarealpickle: It does. At least more then a battery operated battery charger.
Man it's been a long time hasn't it. I actually needed to read the last two chapters just to figure out what the heck I had been up to in the story. Oh well all the hard work paid off as I got a 3.14 GPA this semester.
I forgot anything else I want to note so let's get started with the continuation of the show.
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Only a day had past in Konoha, but many of the other villages representatives were out of Konoha. Although most of the villagers that left were from villages such as Ame who had no participants in the finals. Other rich lords were on the way out simply because they had spent so much time in the village that they had gotten bored or wanted to flee from debt collectors. After day one, the only two villages people still remained in Konoha, Suna and Tanebi.
Kushina wanted to pull out of Konoha as soon as the tournament was over, but Tayuya was not quite ready to leave the village and Tanebi's departure would need to wait. Suna stayed as added reinforcement to Tanebi's defense, that and Gaara didn't want to leave Hinata's side. There were still several people who wanted to have her killed because of her relation to the Hyuuga. In the whole time that Tanebi was still there Sakura just wanted to get a brief moment alone with Naruto to talk over everything that had happened recently.
However, every time she wanted to do that, something got in her way. The day of the tournament final, Naruto was mobbed the entire day by Tanebi villagers. The next few days she was in the hospital, and every day since, something has gotten in her way to see him. It looked like only one person could help her, but Sakura had no idea how she would react.
"You have to be shittin me." Tayuya nearly laughed after hearing Sakura's request. Sakura was already embarrassed to try and get help from Naruto's sister and her reaction to her request only furthered to deepen Sakura's blush. "So you want to see my brother all alone before we go?" Sakura nodded. "What's in it for me?" Tayuya folded her arms over her chest.
"Uh free Raman?" Sakura had no idea what Tayuya liked, but she assumed that since Naruto had mentioned that he absolutely loved the stuff than that would mean that Tayuya liked it as well.
"Ugh no. Kami no Pinky." Tayuya made a face that showed complete disgust. "I get enough of that shit at home and every time Naruto picks dinner on missions. You have to do better."
"Dango?" Sakura suggested.
"What was that?" This time Tayuya made a face that showed interest. Using her abilities as a ninja, Sakura could see Tayuya start to salivate at the thought of the dumplings.
"Dango. Konoha has one of the best dango stands in the entire world. Unfortunately, I can't seem to remember where it is. But if you agree to help me, I could think really hard and find out where they are." Sakura wore a grin on her face that suggested to the older girl that she found her bargaining tool.
"Alright Pinky. I'll help you talk to my brother if you show me where this dango stand is and if you pay. Deal?" Tayuya stuck out her hand.
"Deal." Sakura shook Tayuya's outstretched arm.
"Good for me, bad for you Pinky. You have no idea how much dango I can eat in one sitting."
It didn't matter how much the dinner with Tayuya would effect her wallet, Sakura was just excited to finally get her chance to meet with Naruto one-on-one for the first time in a week. This could also be her final chance as Tanebi was just waiting for a few more things before they took their leave of Konoha for good.
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"Fugaku-sama, we have everything that Tanebi's leader requested from the vault. Shall we deliver it tonight?" A jonin member of the Uchiha clan mentioned to Fugaku.
"No. I want you to bring everything to me. I want to make sure that you got everything correct and copy all of the girl's information."
The jonin took out a large storage scroll and released a plethora of documents spilled out onto Fugaku's desk. "Hokage-sama, if I may ask a question? Why would they want to know about the girl on Sasuke-sama's team? Does it have anything to with that odd power she used in the exams?"
"Baru, I can't tell you. But what I will tell you is that Tanebi can't know the truth about her. It would be completely ruin the project we have tried to complete over the past couple of years." Fugaku started to sift through the large pile of scrolls until a particular scroll came to his sight. "That's why I want you to take this scroll back into the vault."
"The Sakura Haruno Project? What could Tanebi possibly want with this, and why can't they have it?" Baru asked.
"That scroll contains one of the deepest of Konoha's secrets. Over a hundred years of research and experimentation are held inside of that scroll. Every Hokage this village has ever known has been a part of the research in that scroll. ANBU have dedicated lives to understanding the mystery of that scroll. Orochimaru was banished from the village because of this scroll. That is why Tanebi can't have it no matter what debt I owe to Kushina."
"Wow. A document like this certainly can't be held by them. I'll return this back to the vault as soon as possible Hokage-sama." Baru bowed to Fugaku and raced back to Konoha's hidden vault, leaving Fugaku alone in his office.
"Kushina will obviously be looking for that scroll in particular. Good thing I prepared a duplicate with much of the critical information omitted. Only the highest of ninja and the Hokage have ever laid eyes on that scroll and read it. Minato was much too noble and dedicated to this village to show Kushina, and I'm positive of that. Only Jiraiya is a problem, but according to the research line, he never actually held it."
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After nearly bankrupting Sakura over enough dango sticks to build a house of them, Tayuya told Sakura that she would talk to Naruto and have him meet her inside the park at midnight on the button. Sakura couldn't wait. She had never in her life been as anxious as the final moments before meeting her new friend from Tanebi. She was even more excited now then when she was first announced as Sasuke's teammate, but she still had no idea why she felt so restless. Even though it was well past her normal bedtime, Sakura's eyes just wouldn't feel even the least bit heavy.
Sakura arrived on the scene Tayuya told her to be at well before midnight. She didn't want Naruto to think that she was not a second late. Her legs were shaking partly from the cold air running into her legs, but also because she was nervous. The time was starting to tick by. Finally after a nearly infinite amount of ticks from her watch, midnight struck and the gongs from the village rung to alert the entire village that the next day had arrived. It was in that moment of darkness, that Sakura saw a familiar shrouded figure approach. It was the boy she had been seeking out for the past week.
"Sakura, it's been a while, or at least it feels like a long time! How have you been?" Naruto sped up to a run and took a seat on the bench right next to Sakura.
"I'm fine." Sakura waited for this moment for a while, and couldn't help the large warm smile that came to her face when Naruto arrived. She had all the words prepared that she wanted to say and the things that she wanted to talk about. Ever since Naruto arrived however, those topics flew from her mind. It was as if she was meeting him for the first time and she had no idea what to say.
"To be honest, I was a bit surprised when Tayuya came home so late tonight. But then she told me that you fed her dango of all things to find a private meeting with me. I hope she didn't take everything from you. I know how much of that she can eat."
"No, she didn't take everything. I still have my shirt." The two shared a brief laugh at that. It was a bit odd for her though. It was as if the laughter was just a cover for the awkward silence that was shared only a couple of moments ago.
"Naruto, I know what you did." Sakura figured it would be best just to be blunt about it. Anything would be better then the silence.
"What did I do?" Naruto tried his best to look confused, but even in the moonlight, Sakura could tell Naruto knew exactly what she was talking about. His eyes told Sakura the entire story.
"You know. You took Tayuya's place in the finals and beat Sasuke-kun using your kekki-genkai." Sakura spoke with conviction, like she was absolutely positive of the deed naruto had done.
"Sakura, I have no idea what you are talking about. Tayuya got healing from Shizune and competed herself in the finals. You even saw me in the box right next to the Hokage and my mother." Naruto spoke with coviction, but his eyes looked weak, as if he really wanted Sakura to drop the whole thing.
"I'm not mad about it. In fact, I thought it was really sweet. You possibly saved your sister's life. I just want to hear you say you did it." Sakura was on the verge of crying. Even though the reaction from Naruto was exactly what she was expecting, it hurt so much more when he actually denied her a response.
"I would love to say that Sakura. I would love to say that I entered combat for my sister, thus saving her and teach that prick a lesson for everything he's put you, your friends, Hinata, everyone through, but the fact remains that I didn't do it. I'm sorry, but everything you've said is nothing but conjecture." Sakura didn't buy Naruto's words at all. Naruto sounded less convincing and more desperate with every word he said. Not only that, but he averted his gaze from Sakura's eyes to the forest. As ninja they are trained to lie to their enemies, but Naruto was having a much more difficult time with it then he should have.
"I see. You don't trust me do you?" Sakura's voice skipped in the phrase and she could feel the sting of tears start to appear from her eyes. "I guess it's natural I mean we hardly know each other and we are from different villages." Sakura could tell that she had to get out of there now before the floodgates opened right in front of Naruto. She got up and tried to run off, but something stopped her. Naruto grabbed her wrist and embraced her.
"I do trust you." Naruto whispered into Sakura's ear. "It's not you I don't trust."
"How can you say that you trust me you trust me and then lie to me?" That was it for Sakura. The floodgates opened, and Sakura tried to bury her head into Naruto's chest. She didn't want him to see her crying even if it was a very bad spot to hide.
"You were followed." Naruto said barely above a whisper. Sakura's head popped up from his chest and she stared at him with puffy red eyes. "In those trees, I feel two chakra signals, and I know they don't belong to anyone in my crew. That's why I couldn't tell you about what I did or did not do. If they found out something, they would surely tell the Hokage and that would kill the reputation of my village, and as much as I like you, I couldn't do that to mother or my sister." Naruto reached out to wipe away any lingering tears from Sakura's face. Sakura closed her eyes and let the touch of the shinobi comfort her.
Sakura felt like a fool. Now that he mentioned them, Sakura could also feel the two charkra signals, and both of them were very familiar. One of them was hidden pretty well, but Sakura knew that one from a mile away. Also, Sakura wouldn't be a good student if she couldn't point out where her own instructor was. She figured that she was so excited about seeing Naruto again, she missed out on the chakra traces following her.
"I guess I'd better go. My mother likely figured out what I'm up to and is a nervous wreck along the house even if I brought Hinata-chan, Neji, and Lucien just in case you were followed." Naruto broke the embrace and rubbed the back of his head. "It was really nice meeting you Sakura-chan. I hope we meet again, but with the way our villages are acting, I hope it's not soon."
The pinkette had no idea what that meant. She knew that she would miss the blond haired shinobi seconds after he left the village. How could he spend so much time with her, make her feel like a goddess, and add a suffix to her name, and yet say that he didn't want to see her soon. She didn't know if she was supposed to be angry, sad, or confused. In her case, at the moment, she was all three.
Sakura was snapped out of her reverie when she saw Naruto's face get dangerously close to her cheek. She started to blush deep as her hair color and was completely floored. Her mind was merely caught on the phrase "is he going to kiss me," over and over again. Her eyes opened wide in surprise right before she felt his lips touch her cheek.
The kiss only lasted a brief second, but for Sakura it lasted for hours. For the first time in her life, she realized that someone had started intruding on that special place inside her that Sakura felt was only reserved for Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto turned around and walked back to where his hotel was leaving the tranced pinkette with her own thoughts and the two shinobi that followed her.
Sakrua nearly jumped when she heard the leaves move from the trees. She readied a kunai just in case of a trap and turned around quickly.
"Geez forehead. I know we intruded on your private time but that doesn't mean that you should take a kunai out on me."
"Ino, Kurenai-sensei, may I ask why you followed me?" Sakura put the kunai back in her pouch and crossed her arms infront of her chest. Her face was now a beat red because she knew that Ino and her sensei witnessed the kiss.
"Sakura, you need to explain yourself." Kurenai folded her arms over her chest as well and glared at the gennin. "Going out in the middle of the night to meet a possible enemy and cheater in the chunin exams by yourself. The academy better have trained you better and I know for damn well sure know that I trained you not to do something so reckless." Kurenai's face was red too but unlike Sakura, Kurenai was enraged.
"You don't understand sensei. I had to meet Naruto tonight. It was my last chance to see him and I had to know if he did what I think he did."
"Don't give me that shit Sakura!" Sakrua leaped back. She had no idea Kurenai would be this angry with her. "You're a kunoichi Sakura, not some love crazed schoolgirl. If you had suspicions of cheating, you should come to me about it and not take it upon yourself to meet an enemy by yourself. Your behavior over the last couple of weeks is inexcusable. I trained you better then this. You need to figure out where your allegiances lay and who your allies are, because your actions tonight could have screwed Konoha out of a lot of missions and a lot of money. We'll continue this in the morning and don't be surprised if for some strange reason you don't make chunin."
Kurenai stormed off after letting Sakura have it. If what Kurenai said was supposed to make Sakura feel down and bad about what she did, Kurenai failed. All it did was leave an angry Sakura and a scared Ino alone. Nothing good could possibly come from that.
"Why Ino? Why did you go and have to tell my sensei to follow me? Why couldn't you just butt out and mind your own business for once in your damn life?" The unnerving thing for Ino was that Sakura wasn't raining her voice and yelling like Kurenai did. Sakura spoke evenly with venom lingering off every word.
"I should be asking you what's up Sakura. I mean, did you think that I missed the expression on your face when you thought Naruto was killed by Lee in the prelims? You looked like you wanted to cry, hug his remains tightly to yours and pray to Kami he lived. In the finals, you clung to him as a pillar of support, talked to him and basically spilled your guts to him. Don't even get me started on those tears that popped up when you thought Sasuke-kun killed him in the finals. I want to know what happened to you because I'm worried about you. I don't want some guy I hardly know getting your hopes up and just crushing them."
Sakura was confused. She thought that Ino had told Kurenai about what she was doing out of possible jealousy or hatred, but this was new. Sakura could tell the genuine feelings of concern that her friend had for her. It seemed as if the Ino that Sakura had been feuding with over Sasuke for the last few years had been transformed into the Ino that she made friends with when they were young kids. That helped quell the anger from the Kurenai fueled rage.
"Ino, I'm glad that you were worried about me, but I'm fine. Maybe my affections have changed a bit, but I don't think that's bad. You always said you wanted Sasuke-kun for yourself anyway." Sakura loosened up her pose and dropped her arms from her chest back to her sides.
"But this is different Sakura. I always figured that I would get Sasuke-kun and you would get some loser from this village, not another one. I mean, if we go to war with Tanebi, what will you do? Would you run away from here and join our enemies? Would you desert us? Would you desert me?" Ino could feel tears swell up in her eyes at the thought of fighting her best friend in the near future.
"That's what you're worried about? Ino I'm not going anywhere." Sakura walked over and hugged Ino. "Look, I may be starting to like Naruto, but I love Konoha more then anything. Nothing that anyone does for me and tells me can change that."
"Promise?" Ino sniffled.
"Of course. I promise Ino, you and I will never meet in combat unless it's for Sasuke-kun." Sakura broke the hug and responded with a smirk. Ino seemed to be puzzled so Sakura wanted to elaborate. "As I said, I am only starting to like Naruto. Sasuke-kun still dominates how I feel, and I'm sure after Tanebi leaves, we can go back to our feud."
"You know forehead, it may be better that you fall for the other guy. It will save you heartbreak when Sasuke-kun and I get married."
"You wish pig."
"Whatever forehead. You want to walk back together? I mean it is really late." Ino started to leave ahead of Sakura.
"Nah, I want to stay out here for a little while, enjoy the moon a bit more." Ino shrugged her shoulders and walked ahead of Sakura. The pink haired girl took a deep breath of relief and sat down on the same bench that her and Naruto shared before the whole mess started. Her mind darted back to the moment right before Naruto kissed her. More specifically, the soft words that Naruto whispered into Sakura's ear before the kiss happened.
"You were right," he whispered.
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Dawn broke and it was the day Tanebi and Suna were scheduled to leave the village. Sakura stayed home. She wanted her most recent memory of Naruto to be the one under the moonlight. She still had yet to see Kurenai in the morning, and decided that she would wait for the red-eyed jonin to come to her. But now it was exchange time and the horde of ANBU accompanying the hokage and a 16 year old girl showed Kushina that Fugaku was a man of his word.
"Fugaku, it's nice to see that you haven't forgotten." Kushina crossed her arms and all her guards readied a kunai.
"Yes, I told you that I cash in on all my debts. I brought all the scrolls you asked for," Fugaku motioned to an ANBU holding a storage scroll. "I also brought Melina." Fugaku motioned to the girl at his side. She had black hair with matching eyes and a very timid demeanor.
"It's nice to meet you Kushina-sama. I hope you can find some use for me." Melina said softly as she bowed to Kushina.
"Rise." Kushina beckoned to Melina. "Now, Fugaku tells me you have an active sharingan. Is this true?" Melina nodded her head slightly telling Kushina that she can. Kushina proceeded to ask her to activate it and she agreed. Melina put her hands together and focused her chakra into her eyes and a sharingan with one comma in each eye appeared. The redhaired Tanebi leader smiled slightly in satisfaction.
"Satisfied with everything Kushina?" Fugaku scowled. It was as if he was disgusted with the mere sight of Kushina is his village.
"With the girl yes. However I am wondering if you gave me every scroll I asked for." Kushina focused her gaze to the Hokage. She was seemingly staring a hole right through the Konoha leader.
"Of course I did. Every document left behind by your late husband and every scroll in the back with a reference to Sakura Haruno. It's all in that storage scroll. Now I would appreciate it if you would just take everything and get out and don't come back here." Fugaku motioned for both the ANBU to hand the storage scroll over and for Melina to walk to Kushina's side.
Kushina opened up the scroll and gave it to Jiraiya. "Jiraiya, analyze every single scroll in there and if there is one, and I mean one scroll missing or has omissions at all, the consequences could be fatal. Cheating us out of information that is rightfully ours could cause us to declare war on you. That being said, is there anything else you have for us?" Kushina spoke with a dead even tone. It was as if she knew what Fugaku was up to.
"Don't insult my clan's integrity Kushina. I gave you everything we have on the matter and that is final. Don't issue us with idle threats that you have no intention of cashing in on either." The tension between the two leaders was thick, and it seemed as if they would go at it in only a matter of moments. Both sets of guards armed themselves for an eventual conflict.
"So long as you understand Fugaku. With this, I will take my leave, but be warned Fugaku. I for not one second ever forgot what you did to my family, and if you ever try and take my new family away, I'll kill you myself."
With that said, Kushina and the people with her turned their backs and headed out back to their homeland. After about ten minutes, Fugaku summoned a couple of the ANBU guards.
"I want you to find any Tanebi people still in this village and kill them. Do the same with the Suna villagers. Also, tell our scout to prepare his ambush for the Tanebi village. I want no survivors."
The ANBU bowed to Fugaku and left to do his orders.
"With all the villagers and our scout in their ranks, they should crumble quickly from the inside out. Nobody ever makes fools of the Uchiha clan Kushina and now that attitude of yours will end."
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Fugaku sent out an ambush to try to catch Kushina and the Tanebi people off guard, but he didn't count on the scout revealing the attack. Melina told Kushina that an attack was coming after talking to Itachi. Because of that the ambush failed and thus a new conflict was born. That ambush ignited the flames of war to return to the shinobi world.
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Thus ends the flashback arc. I didn't know how to quite end it, but I am satisfied with the way it turned out. I figured that a sudden ambush would probably be the best way to end the arc. As far as Melina, she won't be a big player. Next chapter I will go into how Sakura got in the position she's in.
The point with the scroll missing was just a link to get the thief into Konoha and sending Sasuke and his crew to confront the thieves. Can't reveal everything in the scroll now shall we?
F,W, and V is also still going on, and I will have the next chapter released in maybe a week or so.
Next Chapter: Larsa
Thank you for reading Tanebi.
Please review.