Chapter TWENTY SIX
And she realized that she could see.
Well, she was always able to see. But now, she could see faint splotches of red, yellow, green and blue splattered over her vision, as if another, pale layer of color had been added over her normal vision. It took her three seconds to realize what it was that she was seeing.
It was as though a transparent layer of heat detectors had been layered over her eyes.
A sudden pain attacked her eyes but it was gone before she could really register it.
Suddenly, her sight shifted into something she suspected was polarized vision. She could see, or more like sense around her head. The Snake Sannin, who was standing directly in front of her, looked like he had been magnified.
Then, the pain repeated.
Her vision shifted again. The area, dim from the shade of the trees, suddenly became clearer. Her body felt lighter, as if the restraints the brain put on one's body to make sure it didn't break under pressure had been released.
She felt perfect.
'Which one do you want?'
Sakura stiffened. 'Inner?'
'Which one do you want? If you could choose one, which one do you want?'
She had no idea what was going on, but she never been one to let go of a chance at power.
And her body felt light, lighter than ever before.
Orochimaru intently watched her. "Oh, so I was correct." He chuckled. "The Haruno clans's Soul Spirit scroll and Enmadou clan's Soul release. Those two work very well together and I guess you are the result. However, how well can you use your newly awakened power?"
Sakura gritted her teeth. She would ask questions later. She bent her front knee and shot forwards. Her sudden lightness took a few seconds to get used to, but everything suddenly seemed much slower than it was supposed to.
"Raiton: Raiga!" She swung herself, sending bolts of lightning at Orochimaru. The bombs hidden behind the attack exploded and Sakura jumped out of the way.
The moment the smoke cleared and Orochimaru became visible, Sakura threw more bombs. "Katsu!"
She landed back beside Sasuke who watched the smoke slowly fade from his position on the ground.
"Poison?" Came a voice. "Did you make these yourself?"
Sakura narrowed her eyes and didn't reply.
"Because they remind me of my old partner's favorite type." Orochimaru flew out of the white and Sakura rushed to meet him, trying to keep him away from Sasuke. She spun around to dodge a blow, something she didn't think was possible without the help of her new...power.
"Raiton: Bakurai!" She sent several electrical charges at Orochimaru, gritting her teeth at how easily he dodged them.
"Those swords. They're a part of the Seven swords of the Mist, right?" Orochimaru asked, voice taunting. "You are a Haruno. That explains the Hydrification Technique. The Haruno clan version gets rid of the weakness against lightning, doesn't it?"
Before she could react, Orochimaru was gone. Sakura whipped around just in time to receive a sharp blow to her stomach. "But it doesn't automatically activate against living things!" She crashed onto the floor at Orochimaru's feet and the Snake Sannin smashed his foot down onto her back, keeping her there. She tried to liquefy, but the killing intent from before hit her again, freezing her. "Some wonder whether or not that weakness is worth your immunity to lightning type attacks."
He reached down and lifted Sakura up by her collar.
"Let her go!" Sasuke's outburst was cut off by a gasp.
Orochimaru turned to look at Sasuke and Sakura slowly did the same. Sasuke was clutching his head with one hand. Red eyes blinked back at them.
Orochimaru let out a hum. "Seems like it's your first time activating them." He reached into a pocket and pulled out a few shuriken. He tossed them at the Uchiha with speed Sakura only just managed to follow. However, Sasuke easily dodged them.
Orochimaru's smirk widened. He dropped Sakrua onto the ground and replaced his foot on the back of her neck.
"Sakura!" Sasuke called out. Orochimaru turned back to Sasuke.
"Your just activated them, and already you can use them so well. Your Sharingan is absolutely amazing." He said. "I would just like to claim them for my own." He knocked Sakura aside and reached towards the boy.
Sakura shunsined between the two. She knew she couldn't do anything but stood where she was, eyes glowing.
"You're very persistent." Orochimaru paused. "Usually, I settle for one, but do you think you can survive?" He asked no one in particular. "Well, we'll see who's worthy through who survives." He reached forwards and roughly grabbed Sakura's arm. Before she could wriggle free, Orochimaru gripped at the bandages around her neck and bit her.
Pain tore through her and Sakura let out a scream of pain. Sauske's panicked cry of her name was barely audible as she crumbled to the ground, gripping her neck.
Orochimaru kicked her out of the way and crouched beside Sasuke.
Sasuke's cry of agony followed and through blurred eyes, Sakura noticed a certain mark appear on his neck.
"Wh-what did you do to us?" Sakura snarled.
"I simply claimed you for my own." Orochimaru said. "Those powers. I don't know about you, but sooner or later Sasuke will seek me for power and I'll be waiting."
He turned to her again. "And just so you know, the cursed seal I gave you is something slightly different. Did you know that the Soul release somehow manages to...reject the Earth seal? I had to try out a few things but apparently, the body couldn't handle it. At least I managed to perfect something that can over power your Soul release. "
A pool of dread began to gather within Sakura. Don't say anymore, she wanted to plead.
"The cursed seal I just gave you was made through her sweat and blood. Or should I say, screams and blood."
"I was so excited that I must have let my guard down. She escaped and I heard she died in the Kiri hospital."
"And you know who I'm talking about?" Orochimaru shot her what seemed like a grin.
"Your mother."
And with that, he was gone.
'Outer!' Came the panicked cry.
Sakura gritted her teeth. 'What?'
'There's something. Something appeared.'
Sakura growled, not getting what Inner was trying to tell her.
'Another presence. Something that's not me. Something appeared in your mind.'
Something that overpowered the Soul release. Sakura realized. Another presence in the Enmadou clan's domain. The mind.
Sakura felt the panic and the pain slowly catching up to her, until she felt the forceful shove of her Inner, chasing them away from the mental barrier of her sanity. She finally managed to collect herself to the point she could sit up.
'Inner!' She mentally scream. What was she supposed to do?
Sasuke had already gone unconscious due to pain and Naruto wasn't going to wake up any time soon either. The pain in her neck was killing her as well but she was the only one able to protect everyone.
Though slightly, she felt the pain reside. Surprised, she slowly moved her hand to her neck and felt the area Orochimaru had bitten. Her skin felt much harder and rougher then normal. It almost felt...scaly under her fingers.
Action first, questions later.
Sakura slowly got to her feet. Her mind flew to her summons but she didn't think she had any chakra to call any of them out. Instead, she retrieved Naruto and dragged both boys to a place where her clouded mind decided was appropriate.
She looked over to her teammates who were unconscious. Sasuke was shivering in his sleep. Hesitantly, Sakura felt Sasuke's forehead with her hand and flinched away. His temperature was high. Sasuke had a fever.
She took out some cloth from her weapon pouch and wet it using Sasuke's water container, she then placed it on his forehead hoping that it would bring the fever down a little.
She leaned back onto the tree and felt her eyelids drooping. Her neck was still throbbing, and it felt like there was some unknown force trying to make it's way into her mind. Knowing she shouldn't, and yet, unable to help it, Sakura fell into darkness.
The black wrapped around her, covering her in a cold blanket of despair.
She found herself standing in water. She carefully looked around. Everything was a shade of red. She caught sight of land and tried to take a step towards it, only to find that she couldn't move. She realized that the 'water' she was standing knee deep in was blood.
The blood of those she couldn't save. The blood of those she had killed.
Her soundless scream echoed throughout the nothing.
Sakura's eyes flew open. She looked around widely and saw nothing. Then she realized that she could hear, as well as sense, people nearby.
Seconds later, three Sound Ninja appeared.
"Hey, you over there." One of them called. He short spiky hair and long metal bands on his arms. "Do you know Sasuke Uchiha?"
Sakura didn't rely, instead reaching silently into her pouch, fingers gripping the scroll containing her most prized weapon. Thank gods she didn't forget them.
"Listen pinky, we don't have all day." Said the only female of the team.
"She knows him." Said the guy with a mask. "She's his teammate."
"Ah." Said the one with spiky hair, "You're Haruno Sakura, aren't you?"
The ninja came closer. Sakura, though exhausted, braced herself for a fight when a voice from above called out. "Don't lay a single finger on my beautiful cherry blossom!"
The ninja with a bowl-cut and green jumpsuit, Lee, came out of nowhere and stepped in front of Sakura with outstretched arms. "I vow to protect her with my life." Lee said. "I won't let you hurt her!"
"Such big words for a little ninja." The Sound ninja sneered. "Come on then."
Lee shot Sakura a reassuring look and he charged forwards.
Think! She ordered herself.
These Sound ninja most likely knew Orochimaru. He had sent them to see if they were alive. Why else would they be demanding for them? Since Orochimaru had already sent someone to check, it must mean that once they lived through today, they would most likely be fine.
Sakura gritted her teeth and closed her eyes as Lee was beaten to a pulp. She was unable to stand, let alone perform a single technique.
Finally, Lee was thrown back into a tree and was completely knocked out.
"Lee-san!" Sakura groaned, the pain at the neck reminding her of it's presence with an extra sharp stab of pain. The bite mark felt painful, but welcoming. She could sense power beneath the simple seal. Though she couldn't see it, she guessed she also had a mark on her neck, similar to Sasuke's.
It was as if it was calling out to her, asking her to use it.
Sakura was used to blood. She was used to the darkness and the harshness of a shinobi's life and she also knew that she was someone who walked in the darker paths of the shinobi life. Not that there was a light part. Just darker than the path those her age usually walked. Of course, there were a few exceptions, there were a few who walked the same path she did.
She wanted the power the seal seemed to be offering her, but something held her back. Memories of gentle eyes flashed before her. I don't want to walk a path darker than the one I'm already treading.
Haku.
She had defeated someone with a powerful dream, with her will. She would defeat these Sound ninja with her will. If she didn't, it felt as if she was disrespecting the one person who had seemed to understand her.
Sakura pulled out a kunai and slit it across her wrist. Blood seeped out. She licked her wrist, feeling for something within her, something that she had forced down to blend in and she just knew was waiting to erupt. She forced down the dark urging with the taste and smell of blood that soon overwhelmed her senses.
Haku, please guide me. Give me the strength which you used to protect someone important to you.
And she realized. She wanted to protect Sasuke and Naruto because they were important to her.
She slowly got to her feet. The Sound ninja looked relaxed, as if she wasn't someone they should be worried about.
Sakura decided to ignore the chakra signal coming from Team Ten hidden in the bushes. She would deal with them later if they had come to attack them. Knowing Shikamaru, they would wait until her fight with the Sound team was over.
She held up her scroll and summoned Kiba.
"I'll shred you." She snarled. "I'll make you regret the day you were born!"
The Sound team simply laughed.
Sakura smirked. "Victory is the one way ticket to the next few seconds of your life." She murmured.
She flew forwards, the thought of spilling blood welling up her senses. She no longer had control over her body and what should have been a painful blast of sound and the ringing of her ears went ignored as she waved her swords.
The girl of the team ducked, dodging the swipe that would have taken her head off had she done so a heartbeat later. Unfazed, Sakura reached down and grabbed Kin by her collar and pulled her up. She held a kunai to the girl's throat and turned to her teammates.
"You might want to leave your scroll and get out of here." The logical, rational part of her brain spoke before she even realized it. "If you do not, I will slit her throat and kill you too."
The guy who could launch sound gritted his teeth. "That's dirty."
Sakura laughed. "We are ninja. We don't pride ourselves in how fair we fight. If you want to live your life crowned with justice, you should have become a samurai."
Even as she stood there, she could feel Inner trying to help her body fight it's sudden weight. Sakura knew that a shutdown was approaching. She needed to finish this before anything else happened.
Dosu raised his arm. Kin stiffened in Sakura's grip.
"Sorry, Kin." Dosu smirked and Sakura jumped out of the way just as the attack hit. She could tell that the attack had been much weaker than the ones that had hit Lee and cursed herself. Though they weren't bleeding, Kin collapsed to the floor, clutching her ears.
Sakura glared at them as she landed, a part of her yelling to kill them. 'In battle, aim to kill or permanently incapacitate your enemy.' And yet, another part, the part that had erupted and grown during her years at Konoha, told her not to, and to let them go.
Before she could decide, the strength disappeared from her. She collapsed to the forest floor, breathing heavily.
"Not now!" Sakura groaned. She made a mental note to berate Inner for the very bad timing.
Hello, people!
We have a new idea for another NARUTO fanfic (Sorry) and we were wondering about which pairing you would like it to be.
Just review or PM the pairing you would like and later, we'll put up a poll.
Sorry about any stupid mistakes which you may come across!
Darque: So, we had this History assessment today see? We had an hour to complete it.
Raven: And?
Darque: I finished it in around half an hour and slept through the second half.
Raven: I don't know if that's amazing or not.
Darque: Of course it is! Sleeping under intense pressure! A useful skill to have.
Raven: Well, yes...however, sleeping during a test-
Darque: I don't want to hear your lectures. I told you, I finished the test before sleeping.
Raven:...And how much did you write?
Darque: One and page and a half.
Raven: And how much did the person sitting next to you write.
Darque: Two and a half pages.
Raven: Ooooo...I wonder why...
Darque: My writing was small! So there!