Disclaimer: All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto, save Hyun-su.
Also, as the manga/anime have progressed far beyond this fanfiction, expect several discrepancies to arise.
Altered Carbon – chapter 25
Dinner had been good, a time to finally give the shadow-user the third degree and find out what he'd been doing with Temari as of late. Without the fan-user's protection, Shikamaru was defenseless against Kankuro's relentless grilling, and he could only hide behind a full-mouth for so long before needing to swallow.
"No, I have no plans on making Temari leave the sand-village, yes, I know that she could tear my balls off single-handedly, and yes, I do have it in mind to make her an honest woman someday," Shikamaru counted off the answers one-by-one, all under the watchful eye of one very protective brother. His forehead had taken on a sweaty sheen; it wasn't from the kimchi.
Satisfied, Kankuro crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair. His stomach was full to the brim and he patted it, content. "Good…the last thing I need is some no-good city squatter turning my sister into a priss," he explained whole-heartedly, meaning every last word. "You guys have been dating for a while. Don't think I haven't noticed how you look at her when she wears 'the outfit'…"
Shikamaru's eyeball twitched. He knew exactly what Kankuro was talking about, and he had to suppress a knowing smile that he'd seen the sand kunoichi both in and out of it on a multitude of occasions.
Kankuro then switched tones so quickly that it surprised Shikamaru.
"Now that we have that out of the way, on to better and more important things," Kankuro begin lightly, "What do you think I should do now?"
"What, about Hyun-su?" Shikamaru guessed correctly, glad that the interrogation was finally done. Kankuro sure could be scary at times. He ate the last of his meal, and then motioned the waiter for the check. "Kankuro, to be honest, I'm not really all that good with this sort of crap. I honestly wonder sometimes why Temari puts up with me. I don't buy her flowers often, so you've already got me beat there, and I'm no good when it comes to picking out presents."
Shikamaru decided that flattery was his best ticket. "I guess, just keep doing what you're doing. I mean, besides sucking as a bodyguard, that is." The bad chakra focused on his body told him he'd botched something. Flattery, it seemed, was not Shikamaru's strong suit.
"I'll keep that in mind," Kankuro replied tartly. It sucked to know that word of his various bungles had reached Shikamaru's ears; he knew he had Temari to thank for that. "But seriously, I've got to do the unexpected with this one. She's not going to be easily impressed."
"You sure about that? How many men do you think she's actually dated? She's a wild beast, not a love-stricken princess. Giving her a bar of soap and a book on basic etiquette would probably be for the best," Shikamaru laughed, though a scathing glare from the man opposite of him quieted him immediately.
Kankuro relaxed before he did something incredibly stupid. Holding his fists still, the green-eyed puppet master adjusted his cowl and said, "She may not look like it, but she's not some uneducated rogue, Shikamaru. She is intelligent. If I do anything fake, she's going to be able tell, I know it."
"Hmm…" Shikamaru quietly absorbed this, tapping the table with his chopsticks. Helping Kankuro with his woman-troubles might just earn him some slack concerning his relationship with Temari, a reward not to be missed. "You're a talented guy, aren't you? Play to your strengths, go for something you know you won't foul-up.
My strengths…Kankuro pondered. He was sure that being a thorough lover wasn't what Shikamaru had in mind, which meant that he had to draw up on some other forte to woo with. Something different, something that a girl like Hyun-su could appreciate. Dinner for two was boring, trite…any normal girl would be happy with that. He'd already done flowers…would she like jewelry? Probably not, Hyun-su didn't seem like the type to want to have to fiddle with gems and gold.
"Hey! Make the dog again!"
The high-pitched cries caught Kankuro's attention, and he twisted to see what all the fuss was about. He was about to yell at them to quiet down when he suddenly saw a couple of brothers crowding around their mother, her hands close to a oil-lit lamp. She curved her fingers slightly, and a shape was cast on the wall behind them. It vaguely resembled an animal, and the two children burst into hysterics, woofing and barking.
"I think I may have just the trick," Kankuro lips forming a feral smirk. "Is the Konoha theatre still up and running?"
When Hyun-su asked her to teach her how to be a woman, to show her the art of feminine wiles, Sakura had been sure she'd heard wrong. But there was no questioning the blatant resolve in her red-eyes, the way she'd gesticulated her need with fraught hands. After a double-take or five, Sakura had taken Hyun-su, recently released from the Konoha hospital, back to her home.
She still lived with her parents, in the same room, though it was thankfully bereft of several stuffed toys and pink bed dressings. On a lonely table top, a wooden picture frame lay flat and unexposed. As they walked through the door, Hyun-su could not have missed the fleeting twist in Sakura's smile if she'd tried to. She made a mental note to examine the photograph later, but for the moment, the veritable arsenal that Sakura had unveiled on her bedspread had her fullest attention.
Hair rollers, a blow dryer, bobby-pins, lipstick and…something that looked like a cross between a speculum and a pair of pliers. The sight of the silver tool sent tremble up her spine, ending with a squeamish sound in between breaths. Sakura made a whuffling noise that might have been a laugh, putting away the scary-looking instrument which in actuality was just an eyelash curler.
"Don't worry, it doesn't bite! We can get to that later," she reassured her, opening up a small train-case. The small mirror inside was backlight, and within it Hyun-su saw her frightened, wide-eyed expression. "Now, what exactly are you hoping to learn from me?"
Hyun-su shuffled her feet on the carpet, eying the eye shadow palette with deepening concern. Once more the whimpering sounds escaped her, just wondering what devilish plans the pink-haired kunoichi had drawn up for her. For the first time since that morning, she was regretting her decision to ask for Sakura's assistance. If it wasn't for the flattened paper-lily in her pocket, the thought would have never occurred to her at all. She felt it with her hand, drawing confidence from its subtle outline.
"I don't know, I guess I just want to understand how to…how to…" she mumbled uneasily. She picked up a tube of lipgloss, stared at it as if it might sprout wings and fly out of her hand.
"What?" Sakura asked, tone lifting at the corners. "Seduce him?"
It sounded just as ridiculous when Sakura said it. But Hyun-su knew, or at least had an inkling, of what kind of women drew the attention of a man's eyes and…well, other parts of their bodies. It took a charm and elegance that Hyun-su unfortunately had never possessed for a day in her life, and couldn't hope to have without some outside help. Curvaceous hips and voluptuous breasts would only carry her so far; she decided she needed to show him something new and unfamiliar if she had any chance at making herself absolutely overwhelming. It had already been two days and she'd seen no sign from the puppet master. It was evident that if Hyun-su wanted results, she was going to have to put on her big-girl shorts and take the initiative.
Putting down the lipgloss, Hyun-su gazed at Sakura pleadingly. She refused to beg, but there was no other girl in the village that would possibly let her test out their make-up, not when she had a reputation a mile-wide for being the most vicious, unruly person currently residing in Konoha. Word traveled fast, and now that there was no reason to hide behind the scenes, more and more of the villagers were beginning to hear her name and remember her face. Her notoriety did not make her popular with the locals, to say the least.
Thank-god, then, that Sakura was still her friend.
"Well, if seduction is the name of the game, I think Ino would be your best bet." Hyun-su's face sunk and suddenly Sakura felt very guilty. She continued, "But I'm sure we can find something that works."
She quickly took up a bottle of water and began to douse Hyun-su's ashen hair. "Hey! That's cold!" she complained as her entire scalp became sodden. Whining at the chill, Hyun-su reluctantly sat herself by the vanity, back straight as an arrow. She'd been preened by Sakura on many occasions, and knew the routine all too well. First the water, then a half-hour of plucking and picking on the tangles that had likely formed overnight. Her follicles became tender and sore with dread.
"You're just like him, you know that, such a baby!" Sakura joked, and Hyun-su instantly froze.
"That's not funny," Hyun-su's voice grew dark and rasping, for Sakura was making a deadly assessment. "I don't want to be like him, why should he date a female clone of himself…that's like some kind of sick, twisted kind of masturbation!"
Sakura's nose turned at the statement, and she made an exaggerated gagging motion. "Ew. Never say that, ever again. Never."
"Sorry," Hyun-su smiled unapologetically, knowing that turn-about was all fairplay. "But I'm serious…I don't want to be the same woman he knew before. I want to be different."
Sakura plugged in her hair dryer and set to work with a rounded brush to smooth down the bumps of Hyun-su's unruly mane. Like always, the girl fussed like a child would, making faces at Sakura's insistent tugging. Piece by piece the strands became softer, straighter, and by the time Sakura was finished, there was very little curl left. Her hair fell in glossy layers, framing the silhouette of her cheeks perfectly. Carefully, Sakura undid the wraps that held two tightly-woven tendrils on either side of her face. These she brushed as well, until they were no longer course, and then tucked them back behind Hyun-su's slightly pointed ears.
"There, how does that look?" Sakura offered the other girl a hand-mirror, anxious to see her reaction. "I can use a flat iron if you want, make it smoother."
Not a single hair was springy or rough. Soft as rabbit's fur, she turned towards Sakura. "No, this is perfect…" she said, running her fingers through the slightly warm locks. Her happiness, however, was ephemeral when quite out of the blue, one of her bangs returned to its normal, flipped position, mocking her with its disobedience. She wrenched it straight, but it was to no avail; the strand refused to cooperate.
"Damnit!" she vented loudly, and behind her Sakura jumped. "I hate my hair!" Like a domino-effect, the rest of her hair bounced back, until all of it was wavy once more. "This is pointless, stupid!" Frustration marking her face, a crimson wash spreading across nose and cheekbones, Hyun-su started to revert back into her undomesticated self, spitting and hissing like a wildcat. She huffed off the chair and stormed away from the vanity, leaving Sakura speechless. It took all the restraint in the world to not hurl the hand-mirror at the wall, shattering glass and plastic.
"Hyun-su, maybe you shouldn't be so concerned about that," Sakura tried to soothe the heated kunoichi, afraid for her room's livelihood. Wrenching away the mirror, she slammed it on the table when Hyun-su showed no signs of calming down. "Enough!" The word was focused and firm, and totally unlike Sakura.
"Excuse me?" Hyun-su retorted with a hand on her hip. Forgetting that she had been the one asking for help, she stalked to the room's only exit. "Forget this shit…I don't need this crap."
Sakura stammered, "S-stop, wait, Hyun-su!" and it was almost too late, she was already half-way out the door.
Something shifted in Hyun-su's pocket, and caused her to pause.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. But you don't need to put on a show for Kankuro, and I'm sure he doesn't want one," Sakura spoke slowly, warily, afraid to set off enough land-mine. Raking a hand through her own bangs, and noting that at some point they'd become sweat-drenched, the medic-nin motioned for Hyun-su to sit next to her on the bed.
"Why would he want this?" Hyun-su asked bluntly, pointing at her poufy, thick hair, and to the rest of her. The dam in her mind burst, words spewing out in a hurried stream. "Why would he want any of this? I'm just some experiment gone-wrong, I can't cook, clean, my handwriting looks like the aftermath of a pen exploding, and now the possibility for me to bear children has just been shot to hell…what the fuck do I have to offer any man?"
Her body felt like screaming, but settled with a loud, obnoxious sigh. Plopping onto the mattress and then falling back, Hyun-su felt herself sinking into the blankets, wishing they would devour her alive, hide her until Kankuro left; he would leave eventually right? There was no way she'd miss him, she being so accustomed to the coming and going of people, the way life went on whether you wanted it to or not.
Yeah right, keep telling yourself that, maybe one day you'll actually believe it, Hyun-su knew all too well that lying wouldn't make her problems go away.
The bed moved slightly as Sakura reached over her to pick up some mascara. "Make-up and hair are just superficial solutions…you wash them away and you're still left with what makes you, well, you," she started to say, uncapping the tube and slipping out a gunk-covered brush. "If you want to impress Kankuro, then you're going to have to show him how much he means to you. You have a tendency to be stand-offish, but he knows as well as I do that it's all a show."
"A show? What are you babbling about?" Hyun-su grunted, snatching the mascara away to give it closer inspection. Waving it over her face, she flinched when a small blob spattered her on the nose.
"I mean, there's someone else in there," Sakura answered honestly, grabbing a moist toilette from her make-up kit and gently blotting away the inky mess Hyun-su had made. "Someone that isn't all claws and wrath. Another you that is just trying to get out."
"That," swatting away her finger, Hyun-su bared her teeth angrily and unknowingly clenched her three-fingered hand. "That is weakness, and it's something that I will ever show," she defended, replacing the cap and handing the mascara back. "You can't say you ever got a man to like you by acting pathetic."
"Maybe, but for sure I never got one by acting like I was going to slice his testicles with a kunai every time we got into an argument." Slicing the air with a downwards chop, Sakura kicked off her sandals. She wiggled her toes in the air before rolling towards Hyun-su, coming to rest by the girl's hip. "That's not to say that Kankuro doesn't put on airs himself."
"You're not kidding me," Hyun-su said, face cold from the toilette. "I thought at first that he was just some asshole. Sometimes I wish he had stayed that way, so that I'd never fallen for his stupid face in the first place."
Sakura poked her in the side, for she saw Hyun su's annoyance for what it truly was. How long had she picked, squabbled and ridiculed a certain blond-haired shinobi, only to later realize that she'd been harboring similar feelings? She'd ignored them for so long, still carrying a torch for the long-gone Uchiha; part of her knew she'd been fortunate that Naruto had waited for her to finally wake up. They were unofficially a couple, seeing each other when their frantic schedules afforded them to, but for now, that was enough for Sakura.
She knew how strong the heart was, but also how long it took to heal. Just like Naruto, Kankuro was giving Hyun-su the time she needed to come a decision on her own; the eglantine roses had shown Sakura this much. It came as a breath of fresh air that some men still understood the delicate grace needed to properly send flowers; the first bouquet the young frog-sage had given her told her that Naruto thought she was a frigid old woman plagued by grief who also had hopes of being a bride. Though she wouldn't argue with the peach blossoms, the rest of the flowers had found an early retirement in her kitchen's trashcan.
"I hear you," Sakura mused, thinking about that humorous day with a quiet smile. Thankfully, Naruto had never found out what she'd done, and after a few subtle hints, her next set of flowers had been decidedly more appropriate. "Men can be impossible, but we can't live without 'em."
Rolling onto her other side, Hyun-su chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose you're right…I never thought, not in a million years, that someone would actually…like me."
"He loves you, Hyun-su, and that's something that also amazes me. I've known Gaara and his siblings since they were genin," Sakura confessed.
"Oh, really?" Hyun-su sounded skeptical and raised a single eyebrow. "What were they like back then?"
"Different…not on the outside, but in here," pointing fingertip to heart, Sakura closed her eyes thoughtfully. She had to struggle to remember how the sand trio had once been, a cabal of ruthless cutthroats preying on the weak and frightened. She recalled in particular the day Kankuro had terrorized Konohamaru and his friends, lording his brute strength like a weapon. It was like so long ago…
"They're still the same in some ways, but they've given up on the scare tactics. Gaara has become a great leader, Temari a passionate, if not bossy, kunoichi and Kankuro...well…."
"Well?" Hyun-su was becoming interested, almost too interested. But curiosity had never killed anything she knew. It was hard for her to imagine the puppeteer being anything else than what she had seen so far.
"He's grown-up, become less of a bully," replied the pink-haired girl. She leaned back and rested both hands on her flat stomach. Lying like this made her feel young once more, sharing secrets about boys to another girl. "It's kinda hard to put in words, but then again, Kankuro's always been mysterious. Even when he dated Tenten he was still a shut-book. He never wanted to let anyone get too close."
There was that name again. Tenten. The scars on Hyun-su's chest itched uncomfortably at the sound of Kankuro's ex-girlfriend. She'd not seen the weapon-flinging girl since she'd crushed her fingers, and wasn't so sure she wanted to anytime soon. Hyun-su knew that the kunoichi would be out for her blood the next time they clashed kunai.
"But what makes me so different?" Hyun-su had meant to whisper. The private, heart-felt inquiry slipped out, and she bit her lip hard, nearly cutting the skin.
"To the best of my knowledge, you're the first girl to ever kick his butt. That fact alone makes you different." Sakura twiddled her fingers lazily as she talked, trying to put her thoughts into words Hyun-su would comprehend. "But I think in a way, you remind him of Gaara."
"His brother? Sakura, that is too weird, even for Kankuro."
Sakura shook her head quickly. "Here me out. Gaara was like you, a project, something created by his father. I don't think he pities you so much as he values how you've survived like Gaara did."
Hyun-su digested this, raising her head to search Sakura's face for some deeper, hidden meaning. "So, he thinks I'm some tough woman then?"
"Not just tough, but resilient. Shinobi of the sand are not like those of Konoha," Sakura corrected, and then continued, "I was stationed there a few years ago to help out in their hospital. While I was there, I noticed that the men did not necessarily want women who were simply pretty. They were looking for mates that could survive the harsh desert conditions. Resilience is a big thing for the people of Sunagakure; I wouldn't put it past Kankuro that he considers you a prime candidate to accompany him there."
Something about her tone made Hyun-su look into Sakura's light green eyes. She stared at her friend, wondering if the medic-nin could somehow see through her thoughts. Though living with sand permanently in her panties was less than desirable, it went without saying that Hyun-su could not stand to remain in the quant peace of Konoha forever. Its walls could only contain her for so long; her true calling was somewhere outside, where there was still danger in day-to-day life.
Sakura sensed her discomfort; she didn't know why Hyun-se seemed to fall into a trance. To break the awkward ice that lasted for far too long, she cleared her throat loudly and said brightly, "So! When are you going to see him again?"
Hyun-su's heavy eyes blinked a few times slowly while she regained her train of thought. "Huh?" she said stupidly.
"I mean, that's why you're here, right?" Sakura said, starting to feel more comfortable with their conversation. She had become used to Hyun-su's more loud-mouthed tendencies; she was unsure of what to do make of the girl's sudden silence. "To make Kankuro weak-in-the-knees crazy! Oh, stop with the faces, I'm not putting you in another kimono, not after what happened with the one I lent you…"
It was meant to be a joke, but Hyun-su frowned anyway. "Do you really think…he would ask me to go with him?"
"Only one way to find out." Excited by the challenge, Sakura bounced on the bed and popped onto her naked feet. "I'm not saying you should lay yourself at his feet gift-wrapped with your suitcases ready."
"Ah, the old hard-to-get game, then?" Hyun-su answered slyly, now recognizing how much fun this could turn out to be for the two girls. She stood up from the snug bed, finding herself surprisingly eager.
"Alright then, this is more like it!" Traipsing to her dresser drawer, Sakura ripped it open with a smooth tug, holding a collection of neatly folded shirts and other wardrobe essentials. "It's not much, and I'm not sure what'll fit," she stated woefully, comparing her tomboyish figure to that of the well-endowed Hyun-su. She didn't think any of her shorts would manage to go over her hips; perhaps a skirt with a wider allowance. Her fingers wrapped around a plain knee-length number, and she held it up to Hyun-su's body. The color was good, plain black, but the length and width did nothing for her. "Not quite, don't want you to look like a box. Hm, how about this?"
The next skirt was shorter, and cut from a thick green, khaki material. Cargo pockets on each side made it a more practical skirt, which was why Sakura had purchased it. "You'll have to wear leggings since its getting colder by the day."
Hyun-su gazed at it critically. "I'm not sure this is the way to go, Sakura." She hated skirts, the way they snagged at your legs when you ran, how they never sat in one place for very long. All-in-all, Hyun-su regarded them with little interest, favoring shorts much like the ones she wore now. But she'd rather be struck by lightning than once again be seen by Kankuro wearing servant's clothing. She wondered if Kankuro would wear that handsome hakama and jacket combo from before; the memory of seeing him so finely outfitted sent her heart into back-flips.
The pink-haired girl tossed the tan skirt into a pile with the other one, sharing Hyun-su's sentiment. Maybe it would be for the best that she wear her red turtleneck; it left little to the imagination, and didn't men prefer things that way? Before she could suggest it, Hyun-su had fished out a pair of cropped pants for herself. "Those? They were my mother's. Hey! Those might actually fit!"
"Geez, Sakura, why don't you just call me fat and get over it…" Hyun-su chided with a lop-sided grin. But her friend was right, these clam-diggers were cut more generously through the hips and thighs, and had pockets, always a plus. Pants without pockets, she believed, were about as useful as shoes without their soles. "The color's okay, too."
"Yeah, I would have to agree with you. Blue compliments you," already digging into another drawer for a matching top.
"Well, tell Blue that I said thank-you," Hyun-su remarked airily, nodding her head slightly as she spoke. She methodically unbuttoned and removed the shorts she was currently wearing, that drag scratchy thing that she'd at one time preferred, but now couldn't stand the sight of. "Ooh, these are nice," she remarked as she drew the zipper up. While by no means a fashionista, Hyun-su had the common sense to know when something fit and when it didn't. She checked for any bulges, but her hands slid uninterrupted down from waist to leg.
"And what about this..." Sakura said, holding up a sleeveless top. It was a subtle cream color, cut longer than most shirts Hyun-su was accustomed to, so much that it could have been worn as a mini dress. Its hemline was slightly pleated, as was the scooped-neck up top. For Hyun-su, the shirt had just enough femininity to make a woman want to wear it without being covered with lace, frills and pastel shades.
Taking it from Sakura, the red-eyed kunoichi undid the sash of her blouse. When the myriad of scars began to show on her half-naked body, she regretted disrobing so openly. They pegged her body like the holes on Swiss cheese, white and slightly veiny. She tried to cover as many of them as she could with her hands, some were too spread apart, others too large.
"Its okay, I've seen a lot worse at the hospital," Sakura comforted the girl. Pulling her hands away, Sakura's eyes immediately found the largest of the blemishes, a jagged wound located near the middle of her chest. "That's the one, isn't it? The one from the forest."
"I hardly remember it anymore, it seems like eons ago. Sometimes I'm glad for this," she uttered, tracing around the raised edges of the scar, "Because without it I'm afraid I might forget."
"Wouldn't you want to? I don't know about you, but most people I know wouldn't call getting shanked in the boob a happy memory," Sakura tried to lighten the mood with a joke, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears. Her friend was still absentmindedly touching the wound. In her eyes, a distant stare. "Hyun-su?"
Hyun-su's head jerked up. She blushed for half a second, and finally acknowledged Sakura. "It's not a happy memory, but it was the first time I think Kankuro understood me," she said coolly, shoving her arms through the open holes of her new shirt. The fabric had some kind of iridescent twill weaved into it; it shimmered ever so slightly when she moved. "He understood that he couldn't protect me."
Sakura tried to make sense Hyun-su's difficult breed of logic, but she resolved that doing so would only result in a head-ache. She fixed a wrinkle in the shirt, happy with the final result. Standing back, she rubbed her chin inquisitively. "Something's missing…lemme see here," voice breaking off, Sakura went to fetch a small box from her closet. She held it with utmost care, not letting it tip to any side. The lid flipped up on a single hinge, and the two girls peered inside to find what must have been Sakura's only stash of jewelry.
In all her life, Hyun-su had never worn a single bauble. Her ears weren't even pierced, probably because as a child no one would come within 20 feet of her with a needle. The collection in the box was modest, just a few shining bracelets and some assorted necklaces, but it still trumped Hyun-su's nonexistent bling.
"My mother gave this to me a while back…I'll need it back, but for now I think I can part with it for a few days," Sakura said as she took out a silver chain. From it dangled a small charm in the shape of a flower. It took a few seconds, but Hyun-su remembered seeing a similar bloom in Kankuro's hospital gift.
"The pink flower?" she asked, turning around so that Sakura could place the metal cord around her neck and clasp it. The necklace rested on her clavicle tenderly in the same way a person could place their kisses.
Sakura nodded her head. "It's actually a kind of rose, known to grow in the desert," she started, as if she were reciting for an exam. "I can see why Kankuro chose it."
"Why?" Hyun-su admired the necklace with a faraway look, as if imagining the blooms amidst a sea of sand.
Sakura had hoped she wouldn't have to explain. It wouldn't do to spoil all of the puppet master's little secrets. "You'll just have to ask him when you get the chance, okay?" she finally answered, closing the box. Hyun-su didn't need anymore glitz or glam; to be truthful the necklace was an unneeded accessory, for she was effortlessly beautiful.
"Okay," Hyun-su relented, seeing that she wasn't going to get another shred from the medic-nin. Touching the charm again, almost afraid that she'd wear the silver away with her affection, the alarmingly quiet girl surveyed herself in the mirror. Her hair was still a treacherous nightmare by her standards, but the outfit they'd together chosen accented all her best features without really even trying. It was hard to believe that the girl in the mirror was actually her, the same girl who'd killed so many in the past.
"Isn't this like putting on a mask, Sakura? Is this really me?" Hyun-su said questioningly. She hated to admit it, but the person looking back at her was like an entirely different girl. Hadn't Sakura said Kankuro wouldn't want a fake-version, some made-up doll?"
"I wouldn't say its not you, so much as another part of you," folding the skirts, Sakura's voice was void of any doubt or skepticism.
The honesty in her voice vanquished Hyun-su's hesitation, and she allowed herself to accept the girl within the glass. She seemed to smile back at her, assuaging her worst fears, a sister that she'd always had but never known. Holding her hands back behind her, Hyun-su could not keep herself from feeling buoyant.
"I…I think I'm ready."
((A/N: another short chapter…guess I'm going for a more minimalistic approach. Gotta say my fingers are itching to write a fight scene. Please Read and Review!))