Immortal's Daughter

Chapter 29: fifth and sixth month

Koomahana

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site

Thoughts

Paragraphs are flashbacks


They had long since left the hidden mist, the thanks of the Mizukage and his newly named apprentice lifting their sprits, their promises of aiding the leaf in the new war making them feel as if there was still hope for their mission. The Mizukage even promised to find the rest of the Yukimura clan and send them to the hidden leaf, were they would be safest from his still terror stricken people. The clans they did find (the Terumì, the Mizushima and the Kaguya) have all sworn their loyalty to the hidden mist village, Kimimaru wanted to follow Sakura on her journey but because he was clan heir he was restrained to his clan, which were now centered in the hidden mist village. That didn't stop him from trying to tongue tie Sakura into agreeing to let him travel, his miscalculation was that Sakura adored riddles, rhymes, word puzzles and trick sentences; in other words she won the verbal debate. On their way towards Kumo, Sakura, Haku and 'Mikio' came across a couple and their newborn, Sakura examined the child closely and informed them that the chakra network around his eyes were hyper developed, meaning he either carried a kekkei genkai in his eyes that was slowly draining the life out of him or he was on the fast track to going blind. Either way it would be best if they went to Konohagakure, were there were eye specialists that could both do more and tell them more then what she could. The couple thanked her profusely and both hurried to the village, their home packed up in less than an hour and they all but went running straight towards the village hidden in the leafs.

Now the trio was marching through ankle deep snow in the further north eastern reaches of Kumo. At one point they came across a kumo genin cell, two of its members were severely hurt and in need of a medic; against her 'big brother's' wishes Sakura and Haku tended to their injuries anyways and explained that once they were ready to travel they were restricted to the ground and had to be extra careful not to get seriously hurt again. The Jonin asked a few questions but they were easily explained away by their 'mother' having taught Sakura just about everything she knew and that after being separated by the attack on their home some time ago, they were now searching for her. He didn't seem to buy it but the girl on his cell, the one with red hair, seemed all too happy with the explanation and wished them luck on their travels. The Jonin's suspicion in them confirmed that he would later inform his Raikage, meaning they were now waiting for a Kumo Anbu unit to drop down on them and either kill them or drag them back to Kumo to be interrogated. However, as she sank down to her knee in snow, Sakura wondered who in their right mind would be traveling out in the snow.

"Imoto," her guard called out sharply, Sakura quickly scrambled onto her feet and hurried to catch up with him, wondering why he had to be the one with the longer legs. Even Haku was standing beside him, looking back at her curiously, as if he didn't understand how she got so far behind them.

"Yes nii-san?" Sakura questioned breathlessly

"We'll stop here for the night," Mikio smiled and tugged her close to him, and wrapping the ends of his thing cloak around both children, "huddle up now." Sakura smiled and grabbed Haku's hand, they both snuggled close to Michio, trying not to shiver in the cold that surrounded them like an icy blanket.

That was all she could remember before the sound of whistling glass wind chimes filled her ears and she was surrounded in darkness and warmth


He stared dully at the report sitting in his hands, he spy his placed inside the academy had finally managed to take a place in the advanced class, however it seemed as if the others in his year refused to socialize with, choosing instead to treat him like a black sheep, as if they thought he didn't belong in their ranks. Strange, the children never before considered themselves better than others of their class year, they still socialize with their old classmates, so why did they isolate his agent? Did they know he wasn't originally an academy student? He wouldn't be surprised with the young Yamanaka girl's range; her skill was abnormal even for a Yamanaka, it made him wonder if someone didn't tamper with her at some point. He reread the report and sighed, leaning back in his seat and fighting the urge to rub at his brow. Even the friendliest one in the fifth years made it clear he didn't like his agent but what was so different about his agent as compared to any other nine year old in their class year?

"Danzo-sama," he looked up at the agent appearing in his office, the young man bowed his head respectfully, awaiting permission to speak

"What is it?" he asked gruffly

"The fifth years are planning something," the boy said quickly, "I don't know what yet but they disappear from class often, having their various clones take notes for them. Either I am the only one who has noticed or the teachers have given up caring with their lack of attendance."

"Can you tell if they're contacting their predecessors?" Danzo asked curiously

"It doesn't appear so," the boy answered, "Although no one from any of the years of the advanced class will speak to me, even the forth and third years. They refuse to get within five feet of my person, as if I carry a disease."

"Don't fret about their treatment," Danzo said dismissively, "they acted the same way in regards to the Uchiha boy, they'll stop soon enough." He neglected to mention that it took said boy three years to get in the top three students good graces, where the isolation stopped and the rest of the students welcomed him warmly. It appears to be a form of a test the children place to anyone who enters at a later date then they did, the fifth years apparently are the only ones who apply the strange test though.

"Sasuke Uchiha appears to be leading the fifth years," the boy contradicted him, "they look to him for guidance as if he is the kage and they his shinobi to command."

Well, that was interesting information

"Keep a close eye on him," Danzo ordered, lowering the scroll to give the boy a pointed look, "He might be preparing them to help with his vengeance against Itachi."

"Yes sir," the boy was gone in the same breath of air, he wasn't worried about the lack of patience to be dismissed, the academy started soon and he would undoubtedly need to arrive soon to catch up with the others of his class year. Danzo returned to the mission scroll, reading through it thoughtfully, wondering about the change in descriptions, word usage and the overall flow of the report, as if the writer was depicting a scene in a story book.

Ino stopped just outside of the gates of the Academy, her father beside her seemed to have sensed it as well and they pretended together to be listening to Naruto's rambling while they focused on the slight burst of chakra. Soon other's from Ino's class approached them, listening to Naruto's story and watching Ino out of the corner of their eyes, knowing the distant look in her eyes said she sensed something strange. About the same time Sasuke turned the corner on his way towards the academy, was the same time a shadow dropped down from a roof and landed just three feet away from him. The group of friends all turned together to stare with various expressions at the dark form kneeling in the dirt in front of the Uchiha, three of them appeared as if they were ready to burst forward and protect Sasuke should the other form attack him. Instead they watched, statue still as the form stood and revealed himself to be Sai, their newest classmate to their year, the only one who had the potential to take Sakura's third ranking place.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked blandly, staring unimpressed at the ghostly pale boy in front of him

"To be accepted," Sai answered, surprising the boy, "I know I will not be on the same level of your third rank but I don't wish to be treated as if I have the plaque."

"We know you don't have the plaque," Sasuke drawled, "We just don't like you."

"Why?" Sai asked

"The first word out your mouth to Naruto was 'dick-less'," Sasuke drawled, "Naruto is the kindest member of the Aces; it was rude to insult him instead of greeting him like a normal human being."

"The aces?" Sai asked, "Are we not in the fifth year of the Advanced Class?"

"The fifth years are the first students in the Advanced class to be a part of the specialized training since they entered the academy at the age of six," Sasuke informed him, "as such the teachers call our generation of kids the 'Advanced Aces' because all of us are roughly around the same strength level and the only ones who have been in the class since the start without losing a member."

"You have lost Sakura Haruno and Ami Nanami," Sai pointed out, only to blink and find himself laying flat on his back, his jaw hurting and wondering dazedly why he was staring at the sky. Note to self, don't mention those two

"That was all kinds of stupid kid," Sai watched as a platinum haired girl bent over him, disapproval shining in her teal green eyes. "Sakura-chan will come back," the blonde said simply, "as for Ami, we may not like her but she'll return too. And when that happens you'll have no place in our ranks." He said nothing as the blonde turned on her heal and walked away, rejoining her friends, leaving him laying there to listen to the school bell ring. Sai pushed himself up and rubbed at his jaw, dusting himself off he turned to enter the academy but stopped at the sight of two kids watching him expectantly. Naruto and Shikamaru stood side by side, staring at him with calculative looks, he smiled at them and they turned away, walking into the academy.

Sighing Sai followed their example and walked to his first class; Physical Ed with Maito Gai


The next time she woke it was to the sound of shattering glass and a brief feeling of cold washing over her, she shivered and curled into her 'big brother's' hold but yelped when her head smacked against something hard and cold. Sniffing she pushed herself off Mikio and looked down at her brother sleepily, his eyes were spinning as if he were dizzy, his face was a little pale and he looked a little sick. On his other side was Haku who looked just as sleepy and bewildered as she was, his short dark hair was even knotted up, looking like wild spikes on top his head. Shivering harshly, Sakura blinked sleepily at him before turning to look around their surroundings, wondering if her brother ran out of chakra and they ended up out in the snow despite his efforts to keep them warm for the night. The first thing she saw was a pair of dancing violet eyes—she imminently screamed and launched herself over her brother to tackle a startled-awake Haku. The person with the purple eyes started laughing, high and shrill, and the two kids looked back at the laughing person with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

"It's about time you guys woke up!" the girl laughed at them, "I'm Guren Kobayashi, resident genius of the Kobayashi clan."

"Some genius, you woke the prisoners," the girl yelped as someone slammed a fist into the top of her head, the two strangers then looked up at the grown man fearfully. "You three have been asleep in a casing of ice for three days, we planned to warm you up little by little so your system would get shocked but our 'resident genius' woke you by accident." Guren glared at the man for the mockery, she had worked for the past two days (since she found out about the frozen in time kids) how to introduce herself and get them to like her, heaven knows no one else in the clan did.

"Um… what happened to the tree we were under?" the girl with pink hair asked softly, almost as if she was afraid to speak to them

"It's over there," Guren answered, pointing at their roaring fire, "We needed the wood anyways, so thanks for that."

"how…" the darker haired girl started, pulling herself up a little higher beside the trembling pinkette, "how did we not wake up sooner?"

"Did you not hear king giant?" Guren asked with a raised eyebrow, "some of our clan's men found you covered in ice." The man slapped her head for the nickname before walking away and putting more wood in the fire, drawing Sakura's curious gaze. "Hay, is your hair really pink?" Guren asked, sitting on the floor and leaning forward a little, "I've never seen anyone with pink hair before, is it natural?"

"Are your purple eyes natural?" Sakura asked back, a look of annoyance on her face

"Of course," Guren replied, oblivious to the jab, "Why wouldn't they be? I'm a Kobayashi, all of us have purple eyes."

"You're mom's eyes are blue," the man replied with laughter in his voice

"She married into the family!" the girl reminded him loudly, as if irritated for the reminder

"Um… where are we?" the dark haired girl asked as she looked around themselves at the wide opens pace of the large room, only to gasp loudly as her dark eyes landed onto a large pink crystal sitting against the wall closest to them. Her gasp drew the attention of the others, Guren started to speak with a smirk on her face but the two girls interrupted her with matching shouts of distress.

"Kimi-kun/ Kimimaru!" The two girls shouted as they scrambled to their feet and ran straight at the crystal, panicked tears flying to their eyes, their path was blocked by the appearance of a black dressed man with a thick winter mask covering his face. Both girls shrieked and dived back for the teen they were with when they were captured and brought to the compound, their screams were shrill enough to wake the knocked out teen.

"I'm awake!" the boy shouted, slamming into a sitting position and startling Guren into jumping back, and then he was yelping when both girls landed right on top of him, cowering in his lap. "Ow," the boy wheezed, tears flying to his hazel eyes as his voice pitched squeaky high, "knees, watch the knees."

"Who are you three?" the new man asked sharply, the boy took deep even breaths, trying to clear his swimming sight as Sakura carefully extracted her knees from his waist. "Well, answer me already," The man ordered, taking a threatening step forward just as the room filled with a few dozen other masked people of his clan. The girls whimpered and huddled closer to the boy, as if fearing the adults who approached them. They're whimpering drew the older boy's attention, he looked up, saw the dark threatening figures and immanently wrapped himself around the two girls, branches sprouting from his back and arms protectively.

"Stop it your scaring them!" Guren shouted but her cry came too late, two of her relatives jumped forward with swords drawn and slashed at the growing branches. Blood splattered the two men and a pained scream echoed through the hall, for a moment time stopped, revealing the terrified faces of the children, the deep slashes in the boy's shoulders reaching down to his elbows, and the blood squirting out onto the two men, staining the floor and the little girls while it was at it. Then everything was on fast forward, the girls thrust one hand out over the boy's shoulders and a mixture of ice and crystal surrounded them protectively; everything moved too fast for Guren to react and she found her left foot trapped in the protective crystal of the little pink haired girl. Guren cried out in pain, curling away from the orb as best as she could but with her left foot caught there was little she could do other than to bite her lip to keep from crying out in sheer, blind pain.

"Guren," the man at the hearth called, standing up and approaching quickly, "what happened?" He asked kneeling and examining the purple haired little girl closely

"The boy tried attacking Guren sir," one of the blood soaked males answered, pointing with his sword at the girl's crystal encased ankle, "we were able to wound the boy heavily but the two girls made that and captured her anyways."

"One of them is from our clan?" He asked, brushing his fingers over the edge of the pink crystal only to jerk back as a dozen little sharp spears poked out warningly; like the quills of a porcupine.

"Sir, the only way to get Guren to safety now is too cut off her leg just above the crystal," the same male said, Guren's whimpering stilled and the man stiffened, "you know there's no saving that leg now. Its pure crystal, down to the cellular level, even if we manage to get her foot out of the crystal, her foot will still be useless. It'll begin to rot and then she's going to get sick from blood poisoning and then she's going to die. The only way to save her life now is to cut off her leg." Guren knew her family well, she knew that there were too many training accidents with their bloodline for one of them to not come up with a special healing technique to undo the crystallization of one's cells. The man speaking now just happened to be the same one who was the most out spoken about her training in their family arts, he didn't care that she could make crystals of all shapes and styles since she was two, she was a bastard child and she should've been killed years ago. The man crouching beside her sighed and stood, turning away from her with his eyes closed in acceptance, he knew no one in their clan would be willing to heal the rambunctious, boisterous little girl. A swift nod of his head was all her relative needed to ready his sword over her trapped limb; he shifted slightly and then brought his sword down for a quick, clean cut.

His blade broke on impact

Guren wished she could see the face her cousin was making as he watched his blade fly to the side, nearly cutting the leg of the man standing closest to them. It was the best form of vengeance she could ever have against the man, and the smug look she gave him, showed her pride in her own ability to cover her extended leg in crystal without the use of hand signs. It was because of that talent that she called herself the clan genius, she maybe a child conceived out of wedlock but she was the only one who could perform their techniques without the use of hand signs.

"Guren, do you want to die?" The man in front of her asked softly

"I can talk to them," Guren panted, sweat rolling down her face as she tried not to feint, "they trust me, they'll listen to me."

"That pink haired one screamed when she saw you," he replied calmly

"Only because I scared her," Guren reasoned. "Didn't you look at them even once in the past three days they've been here? Their cloths are ripped and torn, their cloaks aren't even made for the cold, they're covered in scratches and bruises. If they came here to hurt us, why would they look so wounded, out of shape and teetering on the edge of chakra exhaustion? They were startled by me when the crystal shattered but the girls were quick to calm down once they saw me. When they saw you, fear flourished in their eyes, they're scared of you not me." The man sighed and nodded slowly, thoughtfully; even if he didn't approve of her talking to the girls, he knew Guren would do it anyways, to spite him if nothing else. Eagerly the girl crawled towards the crystal, careful not to twist or bend her leg the wrong way, she reached out and hovered her hand over the surface of the crystal, watching it shift and bubble like boiling water.

"It's okay," Guren murmured gently, slowly setting her hand against the liquid looking crystal encased branches right in front of her, "I won't hurt you."

"Liar," a voice inside sobbed, "you hurt Nii-san!"

"That wasn't me," Guren reasoned, "I am Guren, remember? The genius resident of the Kabayashi clan," there were a few scoffs from her relatives, a few even started mumbling as if they were insulted with her words but the reminder of who she was made the little girl appear in the surface of the crystal, staring at her with over flowing watery green orbs. "See?" Guren murmured, smiling at the little girl, "I told you it's me, just as I told you I wouldn't—nor ever—hurt you."

"But… Nii-san," the little girl looked so miserable, "why hurt him? He was only trying to protect us!" Guren didn't need to look to know that her most spiteful relative was currently withstanding the darkest glare her clan head could give, which was pretty good about making people quake in their boots. "Is it wrong to protect the only family you have? When did that become a crime?!"

"Sakura-chan I can't get the bleeding to stop!" the other little girl inside shouted, panic cracking her voice shrilly

"Listen if you come out I promise I'll get my aunt to heal him, okay?" Guren bargained, the little girl looked at her in disbelief, "hay, she heals me from time to time, I bet she'd be willing to heal your brother." What Guren didn't say was that her aunt cussed like a sailor and swore to beat every patient she's ever had into the grave herself if she ever saw them enter her home again. The little girl sniffed and looked down at her brother, placing her own green glowing palm on the wound on his shoulder, terror filling her face as her lips trembled and a fresh wave tears shot out of her eyes.

"I will give her the order myself little one," her clan head said, turning to look into the almost transparent crystal containing the three children, "you needn't fear us, no one in my clan will harm you again."

"Why should I trust you?" the little girl asked, sniffling and rubbing at her cheeks to stop the tears but frowning as they kept flowing and flowing

"I swear on the life of my child, no one shall harm you," he smiled, reassuring and warm, Guren heard the gasps and murmurs and yet she couldn't belief what she had heard. "Now will you release little Guren? She and Kaname will take your brother to our healer," he kneeled before the crystal, soft smile never falling. The little girl believed him and the crystal-ice shield shattered into pink and white dust, looking like small snowflakes and star dust in the low firelight of the large house.

"Haku-kun needs to see her too," the little girl sniffled, "I think he has a cold."

"I thought you both were girls," Guren admitted with an embarrassed blush

"It's okay," Haku sniffed, rubbing at his face with both bony scared hands, "a lot of people think I'm a girl, I've just gotten used to it." Guren pulled her leg back and poked at it delicately, surprise filling her as she found that the only thing touching her foot was her own crystal and her clothes. There was no damage that she could detect, as if her body knew of the danger before she processed it and automatically protected her against someone else's crystal by coating her limb with her own chakra based crystal. Before she could say anything she was lifted up by a relative, not the bloody one, and with her knew perspective she was able to watch two relatives create a stretcher and carefully place the boy in it before heading towards the door with Haku being carried right behind them. She looked over her cousin's shoulder at her clan head but could only see that his attention was riveted to the little girl waving three little perfectly shaped diamonds in the air, a bored look on her face as if she had been asked to answer two plus two. Her clan head was smiling and chuckling at her, encouraging her to create other shapes with crystals without losing focus on the ones she already had created. Guren turned away and set her hands into her lap, forming a little crystal diamond in her hands, letting it spin sleepily before making it shatter into dust with a heavy depressed sigh.

"Why can't he look at me like that?" Guren whispered to herself, not realizing she spoke out loud, she felt a tightening on her arm but ignored it, choosing instead to close her eyes and pretend to be a sleep so her aunt wouldn't start screaming the second she saw her. The second the doors to the large hall were closed, the clan head pulled back and his smile dropped, his eyes turning icy cold as he stared straight into the little girl's eyes seriously.

"They're gone and safe, now answer my questions brat," he ordered coldly, "Who are you?"

"You could ask nicely," the pinkette whispered, shrinking back from him as if in fear

"Do you take me for a fool girl? I know from your chakra levels alone that you are at least Jonin level," he retaliated in a tone that was nearly a hiss, "I do not like repeating myself."

"Ch, there's just no way to be polite with you is there?" the girl asked, instantly her little floating crystals glowed brightly before moving and turning into a chair beneath her, lifting her slightly into the air. "I came all the way here from the land of fire, I figured being demanding, bitchy and rude would properly get me nowhere so I thought I could use a bit of manners with you."

"You knew we were following you?" the man asked with narrowed eyes

"Following us? Since when?" she asked straightening in her seat with a bewildered look

"Continue," he sighed, "Who are you looking for?"

"The crystal wielding clan," Sakura dead paned, her face dropping into her hand with 'pop', "I want to talk to the clan head." His eyes narrowed but it seemed to be unnoticed by the pinkette, "Fine my name is Sakura Haruno, I am the Sandaime Hokage's apprentice and village heir. In other words upon my eighteenth year I will become the fifth Hokage. Happy now?"

"How old are you?" he asked with a slight frown

"I'm nine," Sakura replied as if she couldn't belief that was his question, "Are you going to tell me where the crystal wielding clan is or not?" the hall was silent as everyone stared at the girl, "What?"

"What do you want with them?" he asked, fringing innocent curiosity

"None of your business," Sakura shot back with a smile

"If you want to know where they are you're going to have to tell me," he replied just as 'nicely'

"Its business concerning the fourth great shinobi world war," Sakura replied, he straightened in his crouch, his clansmen whispering to each other in confusion and fear, none of them wanted to participate in a war, that was why they secluded themselves in the furthest reaches of the mountains. "What you didn't know?" the girl asked mockingly, "guess that's what happens when you decide to be recluses."

"Don't mock us girl," his still bloody clan member hissed at her, violet eyes glowing like furious embers in the dim light of the hall, "it wouldn't take much to kill a brat like you."

"I should hope you use something advantage to you then," she replied sweetly, a slight wind picking up around her, as if in warning, "It wouldn't be wise to attack unprepared."

"Enough," he ordered, everyone looked at him, a mixture of surprise and irritation on their faces, "what would you say if I said we are the clan you are seeking?"

"I would ask for proof," Sakura replied, rolling her eyes as if that was obvious, "What I have to say to mister clan head of the crystal wielders is completely confidential." He raised one hand and a lazily spinning diamond shaped crystal formed out of thin air; she perked at the floating crystal, straightening in her seat and her eyes widening as if she's never see anything like it before.

"I carry a message from the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi," Sakura said immanently jumping to her feet and dispersing her crystalline seat, she pulled out a scroll from a storage seal on her wrist and opened it to begin reading, even the air around her changed from a careless mouthy brat to a professional ambassador. "In seven months' time a demon will be born, his power strong enough to wipe out the five great nations in one night. If you seek to survive, to have a fighting chance, we of the five nations council request that you choose a village to affiliate with and fight in the alliance, at this point we don't care which village you choose so long as you stand up and fight with us." Hundreds of whispers erupted all at the same time, defining his ears as he stared disbelievingly at the little girl standing regally in from of him, silent and patient, as if she expected their gossiping ways. They had heard of whispers over the past months of a war but they saw no marching armies, no stealthily advancing battalions, no unusually large shipments of heavily guarded metals and materials, no units or large cells swarming through their forest searching for an enemy that doesn't exist. It was as if the war existed in rumors only, now this, a nine year old delegate from the south decreeing a request of aid from the five nations council. Just how was he supposed to respond to this? Treat it like a joke and dismiss her? Pull his people further north just in case she spoke the truth? Break the law his father past down to him? Join a hidden village and let his people excommunicate him and move further north, beyond the mountains where they would be lost to traveling the new lands for an eternity?

"You're a liar," his most vocal relative growled, fear and fury echoing in his midnight eyes. The man lifted a hand and before his clan head could move, three crystals were shooting at the girl, but they never touched her. She only glanced at them and suddenly they were spinning around her, completely at her mercy, electing gasps and silence from his clansmen.

There has never been a member of their clan that could take control of another's crystals

"I make it a point to speak the truth," Sakura drawled as she rolled up her scroll and held it out to the clan head, "specifically when I'm required to deliver a message."

"But... A fourth great war?" He asked, drawing the young child's attention back to himself, "who's fighting who?"

"The five great Kage know all the details," she shrugged carelessly, "I know only the message. Now what is your decision?"

"What is the point of bringing this message to us?" He asked her, taking the scroll to read later, "What is the purpose?"

"To make you chose," she answered simply, "my mission is to travel through the Eastern and Northern lands searching for any and all shinobi clans who have yet to form contracts with a hidden village. I am to deliver the message, record the answer and report back to my Kage or the nearest Kage by the end of the fifth month. This way I will have enough time to train for the war myself and be ready when it is time to be deported to the main battle field."

"But your just a baby!" One of the mothers gasped in horror

"How many months do you have left?" He asked, rising to his full height and beginning to pace rapidly, "how much time do we have to choose? When dose the real battle begin? Where is that located?"

"I've been traveling for five months, I have another five months left before I can return home," Sakura answered, "I would give you a week to travel out of the five nations if you want to retreat to safer lands but I doubt that would do much good, according to my friend back home, the Demon's goal is to wipe out all existence of humanity and pave a road for the goddess of the moon to return to earth. I don't know where or when the major battle begins, I'm sorry that is all I know."

"Who is your friend that he would know this information?" he asked, turning around and frowning at the girl, "How would he know that?"

"Shikamaru Nara is the smartest boy of my generation," Sakura frowned at him, "He may be nine but he's rarely wrong, even now. He has plenty of access to information regarding the war, his father is one of the councilors, so if his conclusion is that the demon arising will wipe out humanity so that the goddess could return to do her thing, then that's a possibility of at least ninety-five percent."

"Why should we trust the word of a nine year old?" he was unprepared for the answer, everyone was, no one had time to think, to speak, to contradict, to validate anything the girl said before they were all trembling, collapsing to their knees in sheer, blind terror. Like a switch had been flipped, the passive, calm, royal air around the girl disappeared and was replaced by a crushing force of hurricane winds filled with agitation, annoyance, and something not quiet angry. Surrounding the nine year old was a torrent of wind, filled with blobs and streams of water and chunks and flakes of dirt. It didn't take a genius to understand that the girl commanded three elemental natures, water, earth and air, even at the age of twelve or thirteen years old, to be able to command even one element as efficiently as she is commanding three, would be enough to label even their outcaste as a prodigy.

"In Konohagakure no Sato, the shinobi academy is split into two factions, the normal academy everyone enters indiscriminately and the Advanced Class where only the ten strongest, fastest, and especially the smartest are permitted to enter," Sakura explained, staring into the clan head's eyes unabashed, as if she preferred her chakra to be released and not constantly suppressed, she even pulled out a small gray sleeve bandage and tugged it on over her long sleeved red shirt, revealing the emblem proudly. "In this 'advanced class' the ten top students of the generation are separated into ten ranks called 'seats', certain seats are given titles like the one I carry. I am Sakura Haruno, third seat of year five, also known as the seat of the 'Sprite'. Shikamaru Nara is the second seat of year five, also known as the 'Challenger'. Sasuke Uchiha is the first seat of year five, meaning he holds the tittle 'questionnaire'. We top three students are called the 'trident' because we have been the top three students since we entered the academy at the age of five and have not lost our individual ranks since we entered the Academy class, at the same age. Upon graduation of the academy, we would be imminently tested to see if we are ready for the rank of Chunin, we three would become the well-known 'graduates of the Advanced Class', meaning that instead being placed on a genin cell to be trained by a Jonin, we are placed in a specialized field and become one of the many commanders in it." As fast as it had been released her chakra was once again returned to her tight rein of suppression, as if nothing happened.

"Although," Sakura said slowly, thoughtfully, as she stared down at the clan head, her head tilted innocently to the side, "if you can't even stand at the feel of my released signature then perhaps you should opt out if the war. Go hide under a rock somewhere, its more than clear that you're nowhere near ready to be a part of the war and especially not a part of any hidden village." There wasn't a tone of mockery or contempt in her voice; she spoke as if she was telling them that the snow was too cold to travel in, like she was genuinely concerned with their wellbeing. Sakura turned away from the clan head and walked past the dozens of trembling Kabayashi clansmen, she stopped in front of the crystal encased Kaguya child and tapped on the crystal.

"I know and understand your hesitance," Sakura said as she watched cracks crawl across the surface of the crystal, "I've tried for the past three years to stay under the radar, pretending to be weaker, slower, softer, dumber then my classmates, trying desperately not to be seen, giving them the chance to shine and glow, But my efforts where in vain. I am here, I was the one chosen for this mission, I was tasked to collect the clans hiding away in isolation, I was chosen to be the ambassador of my village. All I wanted was to make my friends happy, give them talents they could excel in, make them leaders in their birth rights, make them glow and shine like moon light." She smiled bitterly as the cracks in the crystal connected, no room or space to grow any further, "but... That didn't work, I'm still here and they're still there, moving through life without me." The crystal shattered, the boy collapsed into her waiting arms, seeing her familiar pink hair he sighed in relief and retracted his defensive shell of bone, visibly shrinking in her arms. Sakura smiled to herself and gently lifted the white haired boy over her shoulder, bracing his body against her's, she turned back to the clan and smiled bitterly at them.

"I'll go ahead and inform Raikage-sama that you're just a myth, so go ahead and be happy for me okay?"

She disappeared before anyone could get enough sense to speak

It wasn't even a minute later that they listened to the soft clacking of children's feet, some of his people collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily, others adjusted themselves to sit down, still breathing heavily in shock. He pushed himself back just enough to sit with his hands limp between his knees, his wide purple eyes staring numbly at his still shaking palms. The approaching child walked steadily through their rows, only to stop before him, she took a deep shuttering breath, fat tears dripped out of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks to splash against the floor.

"Daddy," she whispered brokenly, "I've always wanted to call you that, ever since I found out who you were. But I never did because mama never wanted me to know you were my dad, I think she was ashamed of you." She sniffed and reached down to the floor, her smooth, pale hands trembled as she carefully set a crystal encased baby maple leaf down in front of him.

"I am a bastard child of the clan head," Guren murmured, smiling bitterly to herself, "I never really did belong here... So now I'm going to travel with them, I'm going to the village hidden in the leafs, I'm going to fight in this war and I'm going to survive." He lifted his head up to look at her face but only found himself staring at the back of his once lover, a woman too strong to accept being a lover and not his wife.

"Good bye... Daddy," His daughter walked away from him, tall and proud, regretting nothing. She was too much like her mother, breaking his heart and shattering his world as she walked out if his life forever.

"Good bye... Renjiro," His love walked away from him, tall and proud, regretting nothing. His precious daughter was both wrong and correct about her mother, she did want her to know who her own father was. That was why she named their daughter 'Guren', 'gu' from her name of 'Megumi' and 'ren' from his name 'Renjiro'.

His queen and his princess… what a fool he is for letting them walk away


She didn't understand why she had been taken from her home, she knew only that others from her village had been disappearing randomly, she was only eight, she shouldn't be forced to deal with this! All the same, those carrying her in a crate seemed to care little for her age or her lack of knowledge; they only chuckled together with evil grins. She wanted to shout, to cry, to beg for mercy but the last person that did that they extracted from the crate and tortured together just outside of it, making the older boy an example to the three others sharing the crate with him. So she and two other kids her age remained silent, sniffing softly to show their fear but where still too scared to wail like they felt the need to. She watched fearfully as the bright forest turned into a dark tunnel, damp musky air filled their lungs and stung their eyes. She didn't know how long they remained marching through the dark cave, with only one man holding a touché that seemed brighter than the sun was leading the way, never once stopping or hesitating in their slow purposeful walk. One of the children fell asleep to the rhythmic bouncing and slumped against her, seeking warmth in the icy coldness of their new terrifying surroundings. She wanted to sleep too but she was too scared to, fearing that if she woke she would find out that it wasn't a dream and that she was just wishing for the impossible. Still she closed her eyes and pretended to fall asleep, listening to every step as closely as she could; as if she could remember her way out by listening close enough. All too soon the two men began to slow and the one fussed with a set of keys, cursing elaborately under his breath, dropping his end of the crate and walking towards his friend to search for the right key in the light of the touché. The thudding woke the little boy and he whimpered softly, curling into her side to seek comfort but receiving none from her as she tried to focus on what they were doing.

"Just F*knock already," the one drawled in complete boredom, a scream from the other side of what she assumed to be a door answered him

"I ain't f*pissing 'er off!" The other hissed, "she's f***ing Jashin-sama's favorite! She can kill us!"

"F**** pansy," the other drawled stepping forward and slamming one meaty fist against the door three times, his knocking echoing hauntingly through the stone hall. There was the sound of creaking, rusty old metal hinges screaming to be oiled or to be released from the lunatic's possession. Neither man had the option of speaking before blood splattered against the crate, making the two younger kids scream shrilly, whoever was in the room didn't bother killing the other man. They just grabbed the end of the crate and dragged it into the room, forcing the kids to stare in horror at the beheaded corpse their crate was forced over and then in complete terror as the person swung the wooden crate against the nearest wall, shattering it on impact. The boys whimpered and cried, the younger one began wailing loudly for his mother, the older one clutched at his shoulder with teary black eyes, she just tried not to draw attention to herself. She scrambled away from the boys, pressing her back against the sticky slimy wall and tried not to cough at the stench of rot filling her noise and feeling all too glade that their kidnappers never fed them in the twenty-four hours they had them. She sniffed and crawled further back from the boys, hoping their noise would make their capture forget about her but as her eyes adjusted to the low crimson light filling the room, true terror began filling her. Not the fear of being taken from her home, not the fear of never seeing her patents again, not the fear she felt watching that boy get ripped apart as his blood soaked them from head to toe, not the terror she felt at having a corps get dragged under her.

No, this terror was different, this terror was certainty: The certainty of her death

The stone room was filled with corpses of all ages, genders and appearances, all pushed to the side to make room for the giant glowing carving on the floor, alighting the blood soaked room and giving it the appearance of being created from walls formed by dried blood. As if this room was made just to kill and slaughter inside, so that every drop of blood made the glistening walls to appear as if they bled, profusely and endlessly. There was a woman standing in the center of the glowing carving, drenched and stained in bright, bloody red, as if she took a bath in blood and never rinsed. Parts of her body was even black and maroon from blood that dried in place and had yet to flake off, she looked like a demon created from and survived by stealing the blood of the living and bathing in it constantly. Like a human with transparent skin, flesh and organs, leaving only their bright, crimson, glowing blood to be seen in any form of light.

"Wakie, wakie Hime~," the woman taunted, sadistic pleasure making her voice sound with a purr, raising one hand and snapped her fingers. "I've got you a pres~sent," directly behind the woman a shape shifted against the tall black wall, drawing her attention as it slipped and splashed against the floor like a sack of water falling into a puddle. Her fear was indescribable as she stared numbly at that perfectly pale white cross shape on the wall, chains racked against the stone loudly, telling her that the thing that flopped against the blood soaked floor was another human being, another kid not much older than herself. The kid that plopped against the blood soaked floor started to move, looking like a lifeless sack drenched in blood was slowly becoming alive, its limbs dripping and oozing blood as if it were a thick goo that refused to let go of it. The crimson light of the carving on the floor glowed hauntingly on the kid as they lifted their face off the pool of blood covering the entire expanse of floor in the room, revealing flat, sunken, haunted, expressionless, dead brown eyes. Long strands of hair slipped past the young girls sunken in face, thick and drenched, stained black from old dried blood, blood that was never washed out.

This child looked as if they were truly formed from not quite solid blood, strips of thick red goo dripping off them like sap to a tree

"Good girl," the woman purred as the child pushed herself up to her feet as if standing for the first time. The girl was slouching as if her spine couldn't straighten, head bowed as if it couldn't lift any higher, legs trembling as if her stick thin body was too much weight to hold up. "Come here Hime," the woman ordered sweetly, as if she was calling over a cute puppy. The wobbly child shuffled a foot forward, her weak knees nearly giving way with every sickening slide of her foot through the inch deep puddle of blood coating the floor. The woman cooed loving at the girl, encouraging every step she took until she was close enough to touch the woman.

"Do you see them hime?" The woman asked as she stroked the girl's face, pointing to the crying boys huddled together. "I got them just for you," the girl turned her lifeless eyes onto the two boys, a flicker of something shimmered in those deep chocolate eyes, almost like recognition. "Here you go hime," the woman pressed something long and thin into the girls hand, smiling at the girl like a doting mother, "you know what to do." The girl looked down at the stake, staring blankly at the blood staining the onyx weapon, before starting to slide through the blood coating the floor, walking painfully slow towards the boys. The boys whimpered, clinging together as realization slowly crept into their disbelieving minds, fearing the worst but refusing to admit its possibility until there was no other alternative.

"Please," the younger blond boy whimpered, "don't do this." The girl said nothing as she lifted the stake high, staring lifelessly down at them, "please," the blonde begged, "you don't have to do this." She brought it down and the blonde screamed as he was pushed aside, the stake scraping his arm as he landed harshly in the puddle of blood. He took deep shuttering breaths as he looked down at his legs, fat tears rolling down his round cheeks as he stared at the boy who pushed him out of the way.

"Satoru?" The boy called softly in disbelief, "Satoru that's not funny..." He reached out, feezing as the girl ripped her weapon out of the boy, making a stream of it hit the blonde right across the face. "Satoru... Satoru... Satoru, Satoru, Satoru! Satoru!" The blond started shouting, shaking the body of the darker haired boy who saved him, "Satoru! Satoru! Satoru! Satoru!" He started wailing loudly, his voice echoing in the empty room, the name of his friend sounding like a broken mantra echoing in the room hauntingly. She watched the girl change, before she was like a sluggish half formed creature obeying its master; now she was rigid, stiff like a frozen corps. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything as the girl reached out to the little blonde boy and grabbed him by the back of his neck, with a strength she didn't show before she lifted the hysteric little boy and stared into his terrified blue orbs. She watched as something transpired, the boy's eyes widened, and then the stake was in the boy's chest, forcing him to cough up blood, splattering the already soaked girl.

The woman laughed shrilly, uncontrollably, hysterically, insanely, all too pleased with herself

"That's my girl!" the woman cooed loudly, "Now look behind you, go on! There's my favorite little present right there just for you! Those two were just beginners she's the real treat!" The girl turned, dull amber staring blankly at her, "look at her ugly pink hair!" That wasn't right, she didn't have pink hair but that didn't seem to make a difference because something shimmered in the depths of those dull lifeless eyes belonging to that strange blood soaked girl. "She's just like that hideous fiend who tried to keep you from me! Isn't she just as ugly? Her eyes are blue but that's okay, I think they're related, they both have ugly pink hair after all." The girl turned, ambling towards her like a broken doll, her stake dragging in the pool of blood, making little ripples towards her. "That's it," the woman whispered, her eyes dancing in the crimson light of the carving, "that's it…" she tried scrambling away, tears flying into her eyes as she realized that the chain wrapped around her ankle was attached to the two boys and not the crate like she first thought, she couldn't scramble any further back, not without dragging the boys with her and that couldn't be done, not with her meager strength.

"Ssssssss," The strange hissing sound came from the girl, slow and weak like she was trying to remember how to speak, "Ssssssaaaaaa," she cried out lifting her arms in front of herself protectively, "Sssaaaaakuuuuuurrraaaaaa," she heard a slap into the pool in front of her, felt gentle fingers touch her arms, lowering them so she could see into the blood soaked face of the girl. "Ssaakuuuraaaa," the girl pronounced the name softly, lowly, slowly as if she was saying it for the first time and wanted to get its pronunciation right. "Ssaakuuraa," she sniffed and looked at the slightly older girl, her eyes widening at the gentle look on the other girl's sunken in face. Her eyes weren't as dull as they were before, still sunken, still haunted, still lifeless, but they weren't as dull, as if the name she whispered, breathed just that touch of life back into them. The smile tilting her lips was soft and gentile, like a whisper of silent joy, softening her harshly starved face so it wasn't nearly as skeleton looking as before; she could almost pass for pretty if she wasn't soaked in blood. It made the young girl wonder what her older counterpart looked like beneath all that blood, did she have hair that matched her eyes? Was it thick and curly or thin and flat?

"Saakuraa," the girl whispered, "Strrroonger toogeeeth—"

"I-I don't know you," she stuttered fearfully, "My name is Mio not Sakura, my hair is red not pink—" she realized too late that, that was the wrong response, she should've played along, should've agreed, should've pretended to know the girl but she didn't, she spewed out the truth without thinking and watched in slow-motion as the girl's eyes narrowed into thin slits. "Please let me go—" her voice was cut off as the stake was plunged directly into her heart, sliding through her ribcage like a hot knife in warm butter. The girl stood as Mio slid to the floor like a marinate with cut strings, summer blue eyes slowly growing dull as her life force spilled out of her body like a whole in a water sack.

"Good girl," the woman cooed lovingly, "that was beautiful Hime."

Sakura… are you really dead? She felt the woman wrap her arms around her, embracing her like a loving, dotting mother, did you really leave me here all alone?

"It's almost time Hime," Rukia whispered in her ear, "Soon you'll get to meet your father for the first time ever but there are steps you have to take to meet him. Are you ready?" She said nothing as the woman pulled back and stroked her face, smiling down at her like they weren't standing in inch thick blood pool that was slowly growing higher and higher with every living sacrifice that entered the room and never dared to leave again.

"You're ready for the next set," Rukia murmured, "I can see it in your eyes, you're ready for the first step."


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