Disclaimer: Own? I doubt it.
Chapter 25: Herstory about Theirstory (AKA History)
The world was moving at a sickening, twirling speed…
This was the first thing Sakura noticed as her eyelids fluttered open. Nearly ten seconds passed before her blurry eyes cleared and she realized where she was and at least some of the reason for the moving world. Shin was carrying her piggy-back with Youko walking beside him. Karura was nowhere in sight and neither was her brother…what was his name? Sakura's tired mind worked to remember…she knew she'd been told. She had been falling asleep—why, she didn't know—and Karura had said…
…Yashamaru…
The world stopped moving forward without warning, though the twirling continued. Sakura hadn't even begun to wonder why when Youko's face was right in front of where hers lay on Shin's shoulder. "She's awake!" The preteen's voice rang in Sakura's ears as Youko first moved her hand to Sakura's forehead, then to Sakura's wrist. As Youko said something about a weak pulse Sakura realized that she mustn't have been asleep long—the sun appeared to be in about the same position as before.
Sakura forced her head up, feeling as if she were lifting a boulder instead, and looked around. They were on a crowded street a few blocks away from the Inn…and Youko was staring at her while Shin adjusted his grip on her legs, asking if she wanted down. Youko interrupted her brother, her voice dropping to almost a whisper as a stranger passed them by, "Kura, your eyes are green again."
Sakura's first reaction was to snap her eyes closed—she distantly noted that somehow the world still appeared to be spinning despite the lack of eyesight—and her second reaction was call forth her Chakra and that warm feeling that was her Kekkei Genkai. Nothing happened. Her Chakra hadn't responded. Delving deeper within herself, Sakura found only emptiness and fear—the fear grew larger and heavier as another attempt to call on her Chakra failed. Sakura didn't know it, but her body was beginning to hyperventilate as her consciousness continued to seek her Chakra, unconsciously remembering Kirsche's warning about the loss of all Chakra meaning death. The pink haired child was on the verge of hysterics when she caught the faintest of glimmers which, upon closer inspection, revealed a handful of Chakra. It wasn't enough to do anything with, but at least it was there.
"What is wrong?" Sakura wasn't sure which of the twins had said it, but she guessed it to have been Shin.
Sakura let out a shaky breath and lowered her head back to Shin's shoulder, not bothering to open her eyes. "I'm okay," she whispered, "but my Chakra's gone." If Sakura had had the energy, she might have gone on to call herself five kinds of idiots, but instead she could only wonder tiredly why she hadn't noticed that she was nearly out of Chakra earlier. The pink haired child could feel her face turn red when she remembered that, despite Kirsche's warnings, she'd gotten distracted shopping and had forgotten all about checking up on her Chakra.
After a few moments of silence Shin started moving again. This time when a voice sounded she was sure it was him. "Then just close your eyes. I will make sure that you make it back to your room safely." And so he did. Only one person briefly stopped them, and that was his mother, Megumi, who was startled upon seeing Sakura's seemingly unconscious state as the children entered the inn. They were expeditiously rushed upstairs to Sakura's room with word that Megumi herself would be up soon to see to 'the poor dear'.
As soon as the door was closed Sakura opened her eyes, only to close them again as she realized she was facing the open window and the all-too-bright sun that, for the instant that she had seen it, seemed to be swimming in the sky as if it were the ocean. Sakura waited until Shin had deposited her on her bed before she opened her eyes again, shielding them from the bright light. Sakura was relieved to find that the world had ceased its continuous twirling, though the image of the twins before her continued to sway like the sun had earlier; at least they were staying relatively steady. That had to be a good sign.
Youko plopped down beside Sakura on the bed while her brother came to stand next to the two of them. "Soooo…" Youko drew out, her face showing more curiosity than concern, "how'd you run out of Chakra? I never saw you use any Jutsu. Do you even know any Jutsu? And why would you want to be a ninja? Mom always says that the Hoshi hate violence and that they left Konoha because they were tired of being forced to be ninja. Can you even be a ninja with how weak you are—no offense, but if you're always collapsing like this you'll never—OWW! Shin, what was that for!?" Youko's brother hadn't really hurt her, but rather had simply pushed her shoulder enough to let her know to be quiet. Youko might not have taken the hint if Shin hadn't bent past her to look Sakura in the eye, his face showing all the concern that Youko's had lacked.
"You still do not look too well. How are you feeling?"
"Dizzy," Sakura answered truthfully with a shrug, not thinking much about it. She had felt about the same when she had first used The Scroll of the Circle.
"Why?" Youko asked as she shoved her brother out of her way. "I might not be very good at using Chakra, but unlike my baby brother I actually can use it…and I have run out before, and sure it doesn't feel good, but it's never made me dizzy before, just tired. And you didn't answer my question. What in the world were you doing to lose your Chakra? And why—" Youko was once again cut off by her brother pushing her away from Sakura.
This time Shin didn't remove his hand from her shoulder, keeping his sister pushed far enough back that she couldn't get back in Sakura's personal space even if she tried—and try she did, but wood workers, even just apprentice wood workers, had more arm strength than a hospital intern like Youko could hope to surpass. Shin was speaking before Sakura got a chance to answer her future aunt. "Sis, if you would stop long enough to think, you would realize that the very act of turning her green eyes blue must require Chakra. And I have never heard of a Kekkei Genkai that did not." For a moment Sakura thought Youko would attack her brother verbally, if not outright physically, for this statement, but instead, after only a few seconds of glaring, Youko sighed and lightly brushed her brother's hand from her shoulder, muttering something under her breath that Sakura didn't catch.
After only a brief moment of hesitation, Shin drew back his arm as his sister leaned back on her elbows, apparently content on staying more than arm's length away from Sakura's face. "I guess you're right," Youko admitted a few moments later, "when I think about it, it does make sense—mostly—but I still don't see why she feels dizzy." Shin moved as if to speak on this, but his sister didn't let him get a word in. "Don't bother speculating, Shin, you can't even access your Chakra. You don't have the first clue what it's like to run out." Even distracted by her own physical discomforts, Sakura recognized a callous statement when she heard one and involuntarily flinched. On turning quickly to Shin, though, Sakura was surprise to see the boy just shrug.
His calm grey eyes caught her surprised ones and he shrugged again. "It is true, and I don't begrudge her it. If I could use Chakra my life would be much more hectic and someone would doubtlessly try to pressure me into becoming a ninja." Sakura's eyes brightened as this statement renewed her hopes of one day being able to join that particular profession –after all, she could now use Chakra, so maybe—
"With the whispers about war on the horizon," Shin continued nonchalantly, unaware of Sakura's thoughts, "there is a rush to get more able-bodied young people to fight for Suna, and that is just not something I want to do…" Shin's voice trailed off as he contemplated what he'd just said, and then his face quickly turned scarlet and he started moving his hands back and forth almost as animatedly as his sister would have as he hastened to say, "I am not saying I don't want to protect Suna—I love my village—I just don't like fighting." Sakura nodded understandingly and Shin's hand's ceased their movement though his face remained scarlet for a few more minutes as he bumbled through explanations about preferring to create things in wood, even puppets that could be used as weapons, to actively wielding weapons himself.
By the time Shin's face was back to its normal shade and Youko had quit shaking with withheld laughter Megumi was in the room, bustling about, trying to make Sakura more comfortable and ordering her children around to the same purpose. On more than one occasion Sakura attempted to assert that she was fine, but Megumi would hear none of it. As blankets piled up, miso soup was procured, and what looked like a whirlwind of arms, legs and mahogany hair swept through the room the pink haired girl gave up on arguing and allowed herself to be mothered by Megumi. She didn't have the energy to do otherwise.
"…so why did I see things glow, Kirsche?" Sakura asked after having explained the multiple occurrences of glowing body parts which she had witnessed that day.
Kirsche chuckled and pointed with a grin to her own blue, pinprick eyes. "It's because of these. When your Eyes are activated and someone within your line of sight is using a Jutsu you will perceive a glow that would be invisible to those without similar abilities. That glow only remains visible so long as the Jutsu is active…though what's considered 'active' can be a bit harder to explain…" This last part Sakura barely caught, and by the time she realized that she wanted further explanation, Kirsche was speaking again. "And so if you think back to what you saw when young Yashamaru was descending from the tree, you might be able to better understand. Yashamaru's feet appeared to be glowing because he was using a Jutsu to adhere to the—sorry, to adhere to means to stick to—in this case, stick to the tree. It's a Jutsu that requires decent Chakra control—too much Chakra and you break the branch, too little and you slip right off—and, as your Eyes told you, it usually focuses around the feet, though it can be put to use anywhere on the body."
Sakura's green eyes grew big as her hand flew into the air as if she were in class. With an indulgent smile, Kirsche nodded her head at Sakura, giving her permission to speak. Leaning forward on her bed, Sakura asked excitedly, "You said before that I have good Chakra control, so does that mean that I can walk up trees like ninja do?" Kirsche didn't answer right away, making Sakura dread the reaction most people gave her when she mentioned anything to do with herself and doing ninja-like things. Her dread grew larger when she recalled Youko's statement earlier about how Hoshi's usually disliked anything to do with fighting or ninja. But then Kirsche nodded her head and all seemed right in the world…or at least not so dreadful.
"Indeed you could…though I wouldn't suggest that you try such until you've built up your Chakra stores more. I doubt you would enjoy getting up into a tree only to find that you don't have enough Chakra to get yourself back down."
Sakura nodded seriously, her hand back in the air again. Another nod from Kirsche and she asked, "How will I know when I have enough built up?"
Kirsche smiled with something that might have been pride. "The exact timing would be up to you to decide, but you certainly would want to be at the point where you can go the entire day with your Eyes activated and still have plenty of energy and Chakra left over to continue your lessons at night. It would be even better if you could wait until after you reach the point where your evening lessons do not push you past the point of exhaustion, for that would prove that you are able to maintain active Jutsu for more than…well, for longer than you are currently able to."
Kirsche's eyes flashed with an emotion that Sakura couldn't name almost at the same moment that Sakura noticed, really noticed for the first time, the short-lived tiny tremble in Kirsche's pinprick pupils. As Kirsche began to suggest that they begin their lessons, realization hit Sakura in the face. In that instant she knew that, had her Eyes been activated, Kirsche's eyes would have just glowed that same opaque glow as they had in the bazar when she was reading that man's fortune…the same glow as Yashamaru's feet right before she had run out of Chakra…but not, she remembered, the same glow as the one she had noticed in-between those two events. When Kirsche had come to help her after Sakura had fallen, while everyone else had been looking after the departing angry-man, Kirsche's hand had had the opaque glow, but it had also had a second, green glow.
Sakura's mind was whirling when Kirsche cleared her throat, her smile somehow appearing thinner than normal, "Eh-ehm, Sakura, don't you think we should get to your lessons now?" Sakura, being a lover of learning, almost immediately nodded in an affirmative, and if all the puzzle pieces flying around in her head hadn't come together, she would have…but just as her head began its automatic nod-response, it occurred to Sakura that Kirsche was changing the subject and her head froze in place.
"No." Sakura breathed out quietly to her lap, then louder a second time, "No…I want to know about the green glow." As the pink haired child remembered Kirsche's shushing of her earlier in the bazar her head popped up and she met Kirsche's eyes with more assuredness than she ever would have thought possible in such a situation, especially considering she felt like curling into a ball and hiding when she met ice-colored eyes that seemed to shout at her to say nothing at all. "I want to know now…" Sakura stated with bravado,"…not later."
Kirsche's smile stayed frozen in place, but after a few moments Sakura began to suspect that the gleam in her pinprick eyes was one that bellied mixed emotions. From the change of subjects Sakura could tell that Kirsche didn't want to talk about the green glow, but despite that, as Sakura looked into Kirsche's churning eyes, she felt as if she had somehow passed a test she hadn't even known she was taking. She wasn't sure how she felt about that…and she wasn't so sure that Kirsche knew how to feel about it either.
The frozen moment broke as a weak chortle fought its way from Kirsche, which grew into a louder, though somehow not-quite boisterous or even happy laugh, as Kirsche's face disappeared into the palm of one hand. Then, just as suddenly as the laughter had started it died away as the older girl's hand rose from covering her face to running through her hair. Her blue eyes snapped open and, facing Sakura, said with a half-smile, "I guess you did catch that…I wish I could say I wasn't surprised, but…" Kirsche shrugged—as if that answered anything—and then she straightened, folding her hand in her lap with a small, unstrained smile. The churning emotions in her eyes likewise vanished, but they weren't replaced with anything that Sakura could discern. It was almost, Sakura distantly thought, as if Kirsche had realized a mask she was wearing had slipped and she had finally gotten about to fixing it.
Sakura wasn't given any time to delve deeper into this thought, though, as Kirsche started to explain about the existence of different types of Jutsu of which included medical Ninjutsu, something that instantly caught Sakura's attention. Despite its being termed a Ninjutsu, Kirsche explained, the ability to heal was a highly held art amongst the Hoshi clan. It was also, just like their Time Walking capabilities, a tightly kept secret.
"You see," Kirsche explained solemnly, "especially at this point in time, though the same is true in your time as well, people capable of medical Ninjutsu are few and far between. I believe that Shin informed you earlier today about the current press for more ninja…in a similar way there is a press for people who can heal…so much so that they are willing to accept even people like Youko who have hardly any capability to do so. Her desire to heal, to be of help, and her ability to at least do the simplest of medical Ninjutsu immediately got her an internship at a hospital…though she wasn't good enough to warrant an actual apprenticeship with one of their few medics…that is something they will reserve for Yashamaru who will eventually show not only an interest in healing, but a real knack for not only medical Ninjutsu but other ninja arts as well."
After pausing to glance out at the setting sun, Kirsche added, "But the Hoshi don't want to be pressed into any village's war effort, and they would especially hate to be pressed into being a ninja simply because they are capable of both healing and hurting."
"Wait," Sakura interrupted just short of hesitantly, "so Hoshi can hurt people? Do you mean with…their Eyes?" Somehow that thought just didn't seem possible to Sakura, and not just because of the Hoshi's legendary passivity. Everything she had learned so far told her that, though useful for things like learning information or surviving in times of trouble, the Hoshi's abilities weren't at all applicable to harming others.
Kirsche shook her head, as she answered in an almost sad tone, "Most certainly, though you must understand…and I know you do…that one can harm others without ever physically harming them…though some Hoshi's could do that as well." This was said to the window, but the slightest tilt in Kirsche's head, the smallest droop in her shoulders, and the minutest lowering in her voice all conveyed to Sakura the feeling that the last bit, if not all of it, was likely aimed at Kirsche herself.
"Every Hoshi," continued the older girl to the window, "has some control of 'Sie Ausdehnung'…or, as a rough translation, The Dimensions…which…I don't know how to directly explain it, but…if you think of what I did, when we first met, to the men who were attacking you and your friend, how I stopped them in place, that should give you some idea. I believe I told you at the time to think of it as if I had made the air around them not allow them to move, but that's not quite how it works. I did nothing to the actual air…only Elemental Walkers could do that. But every Hoshi has the ability to do something like what I did, though not all to the same degree. Some might only be able to…bend, I suppose…'Sie Ausdehnung' enough to, say…well, to barely keep a kunai from slashing their throat for instance…where as others might be able to…say…immobilize fifteen plus attackers and their flying shuriken at once."
Sakura had no doubt about whom Kirsche was referring to with this last statement.
"Maybe now you can see why the Hoshi were so sought after, why Konoha wanted them to become ninja and why other villages wanted to borrow their power. The Hoshi were peace lovers to begin with…and in fact, they joined the newly formed Konoha in the hopes of finally finding such peace, and for a time, they did. When they were pressed to do what their natures screamed against, to fight, to even kill…well, they got through the first Ninja War and thought that that would surely be that…but then the second Ninja War cropped up and once again they were called upon to fight not only Konoha's enemies, but their own upbringing. That ended up being more than they were willing to take, and after that war ended, they left Konoha to create a small village, all their own, one that was cut off from the rest of the world. And there they have dwelt from then to now…but…"
Kirsche shrugged, turning back to Sakura, "…from time to time a few Hoshi might leave the village to visit someone or someplace…mostly Time Walkers following a vision, or those Hoshi who have learned medical Ninjutsu who feel the need to go out and heal—and for your information, it was such a Hoshi who rescued Megumi and her brother those many years ago. He was a distant uncle of ours."
Although Sakura was interested to hear all of this, at the same time she was disheartened. History was interesting. Finding out that there was a Ninjutsu that the Hoshi found acceptable was even more interesting and exciting. But finding out that her family, even if she had never met any of them aside from Kirsche, had been forced to kill people hurt her heart. Kirsche's most recent history lesson explained more than anyone or anything else ever had about why everyone thought her so strange to want to be a ninja. Despite knowing this, though, and despite even her own (ingrained?) aversion to fighting, Sakura still desired to become a ninja.
Mentally reasoning with herself, Sakura pointed out that, unlike her ancestors, she was choosing to be a ninja of her own accord; so that she could protect those she cared about and not because someone had pressed her into it. And then, after a bit of thinking, she informed the side of her that was squeamish about one day, as a ninja, having to kill people, that, if she became as good as Kirsche at bending the 'Sie Ausde' thingy…The Dimentions, Kirsche had said…then she wouldn't have to kill anyone…and if anyone did happen to get hurt, if she learned the one Ninjutsu she had heard of that the Hoshi approved of, then there would be no problem.
Kirsche's mask like smile warmed as she said, "I'm no mind reader, but I can guess what you might be thinking. I bet you would like me to teach you to heal and thus solve all the worlds' woes," Sakura couldn't stop her jaw from dropping with how spot-on the older girl was. "But I'm afraid," continued Kirsche, making Sakura's jaw snap closed, "things can't be quite that easy…" Kirsche's smile softened even more as she added, "…on either account." Sakura opened her mouth again—purposefully this time—but nothing came out; neither an argument nor a complaint could be produced.
Before she could find her voice, Kirsche continued while patting Sakura's shoulder comfortingly, "Time will teach you the reason for the latter's difficulty, but as to the first part I should probably explain. I brought you here to awaken your Eyes and to teach you about your Hoshi heritage. That was, and still is, my job—my purpose for being here. It would be unwise for me to take away from your time to learn what I came here to teach you, for that is something that you must learn. My teaching you to heal is unnecessary."
As Sakura shrank into herself, Kirsche gave her a hug. "I'm not trying to be harsh, Sakura, that's just the way things are. Although I am capable of teaching you, it is better for you if I don't. For if, like your mother's clan, you find yourself wishing to distance yourself from violence and the ninja way, then my having taught you such would only draw attention to yourself, your abilities, and how they could be turned to the purpose of war…" Kirsche said, pulling out of the hug to look at Sakura almost, if only for a moment, slyly, "and, if you decide that you would rather follow your father rather than your mother, and do decide to enter the path of the ninja…"
Suddenly all hint of 'sly' disappeared to be replace with 'serious', "…then it would be suspicious if, when having found a ninja Sensei, you suddenly displayed skills that you had no logical way of having learned. No logical way except one, rather. It is not me they would suspect, but your mom whom, they would deduce, was a Konoha spy. I will not sugar coat this for you, Sakura, because it is important that you remember it for the sake of your own happiness. If they came to such a conclusion, Haruka would be killed, and, depending on which way fate turned, so might Shin. You, however, would survive the spy-induced onslaught, and you would hate me as much as you would hate yourself for having taught you such a thing. And so therefore I won't."
A long silence followed this speech as Sakura first wallowed and then soaked in this terrible information. It didn't take long for Sakura to realize that Kirsche was right, but that didn't make the knowledge any easier to swallow when she had a vision of being a medic dancing in her head. It wasn't until Sakura realized what Kirsche hadn't said that she came out of her little ball of sadness. Kirsche had only said two things to be sad about, and neither would permanently block her from learning the Hoshi's one accepted Ninjutsu. The first was that Kirsche herself would not teach her, and the second was that she could not safely learn to heal in a manner that could not be 'logically' explained.
Both of these could be fixed in one rather simple way. In fact, it was so simple, that it took Sakura nearly an hour to figure it out, not that she realized that much time had gone by until later (and it would take exponentially more time for her to understand that she had found her answer due to clues Kirsche had dropped earlier, likely so that she could come to that very conclusion). What it came down to was this: once she returned to her time she only had to make it known that she wanted to learn to heal and that she had the ability to learn medical Ninjutsu and she should be able to find herself a Sensei.
Happy thoughts of first becoming a medic and then becoming a ninja danced through Sakura's head until her mind bumped into a realization that threw her out of her thoughts, though it didn't make her any less happy.
Turning her green eyes on Kirsche, she said, "Wait, does that mean you're okay with me becoming a ninja?" And then, when she didn't immediately respond, "But I thought that the Hoshi clan didn't think it was right to be a ninja. That's what everyone keeps telling me, even you." This was followed by more silence
Finally Kirsche answered slowly, "It's true, most don't…"
Sakura, in her happy state of mind, thought she had caught an unsaid 'but' at the end of that sentence and so she asked, "But…you're not most…are you?"
Kirsche just smiled.
There, yet another chapter for your reading pleasure. I hope you liked it even if it wasn't the most action-packed (it was info-and-hint-packed instead).
School will be starting up soon, and as always, I'll be busy, but I'll still try to find time to write. I don't drop stories, so even if there will be a long wait, you can be sure that another chapter will indeed come.
Now, let me remind people that I am happy to receive reviews and constructive criticism (especially if you catch a typo, just send me the sentence in which the typo resides and I will fix it), flamers, on the other hand, are not accepted. Now, on to the pretty list!
Thanks to: MaroonAngel of Darkness (I'm glad you liked it. I've been trying to add more Shin in), random k, general zargon (I'm glad that you understood the reason for things, even if you didn't like them), KannaDarkAngel (I am thinking of keeping all the different time-skips in this one story rather than braking them up), chidoroppu (thanks, you make me laugh. If only more people thought like you), and Sariko-chan723 for updating!