Selective guardian:

.

.

.

One foot hanging loosely off the window railing, she takes a long sip of the warm sake in her hands. The waning moon hits the outside forest in strange ways, creating dancing shadows from swaying leaves.

Below her resting spot, down on the first floor, a crowd of people mingle about, sharing drinks and food. The constant chatter easily reaches her ears, so close she can almost pick out the words spoken aloud.

Footsteps approach behind her before ultimately stopping meters away.

"What are you doing out here, all by yourself?"

Sakura takes another deep drink before placing her mask back on. She turns her head, leaning against the windowsill.

"Isn't it obvious?" she asks, creasing her eyes. "I'm celebrating."

Rolling a pair of dark brown eyes, Nonoka rests her hands on her hips.

"The celebration is for you, dummy," she says, which, rude, because Sakura is clearly the elder here. "What's the point if you're hiding out here instead of partying downstairs?"

"I don't even know the people downstairs," Sakura protests. "You know me - I'm shy."

Nonoka groans, letting her head hang forward, her loose curls following the motion. "I can't believe Takeru still thinks you're cool."

Sakura waves her cup in protest, leaving the remaining sake within to slosh dangerously back and forth. "Are you kidding me? Your brother has great taste!"

She sniffs once. "If you've got a problem, I can take my business elsewhere."

It's an empty threat, of course. And, judging by the look on Nonoka's face, she knows it too.

"My brother is seven," Nonoka says, emphasizing the last word for some reason. "Besides - "

She pauses, one hand rising to touch her left shoulder blade, in the exact place where hours before, a single mark had been drawn across skin.

"Besides," Nonoka says again, before clearing her throat. "You know I'd never let that happen."

Sakura turns to fully look at the young girl in front of her, to the fat lingering along her cheeks, the eyes still full of expectation, or something.

"You need a better hobby," Sakura then says, tiredly. "Aren't you a little too young for this?"

"If sixteen is old enough to marry, then I'm old enough to decide for myself," Nonoka shoots back, crossing her arms defiantly.

Sakura peers into her cup of luke-warm sake, the porcelain cold against her skin. "Sixteen, huh?"

She remembers that time. Nearly drowning in the corpses of her allies, moving from one body to the next, searching for a heartbeat, searching for a single sign -

"Maybe you're right," Sakura murmurs, then downs the rest of her sake through her mask. The liquid slides down her throat almost unwillingly.

A rustle of fabric and soon enough, Nonoka is right beside her, dark eyes alight with that same something.

Tilting her head, Nonoka gives a curious smile and asks, "Is it so weird to want a part in your life?"

The lingering sake burning in her throat, Sakura lets out a bark of laughter. "At sixteen? I would think so."

She pauses a moment longer, her head leaning back onto the windowsill. Turning back, she gestures to Nonoka's shoulder, the one now marked in blood.

"I just don't want you to regret it," Sakura says quietly, the moonlight bleeding into the room. "If it's a matter of gratitude, you've paid it back already."

Nonoka crouches down, wrapping her arms around her knees, and looks back up at Sakura.

"I'll always be grateful that you found Takeru," Nonoka says, a smile on her young face. "But you came back because you care, didn't you? Because you wanted to keep us safe."

Nonoka stands back up, hands on her hips. "That's not something you find every day."

Sakura stares at the image of this young girl, and finds she doesn't understand.

"I'm not forever, you know," she says slowly, her fingers playing with the empty sake cup. "I'm just as human as you are."

Nonoka gives a look, the same look all teenagers are capable of giving. "Yeah, I know."

Sakura shakes her head in disbelief, the loose strands of her pale hair running astray, the sudden moment shattering from its fragility.

"I hope you're not teaching your brother to be like you," she says, because yikes, what a nightmare that would be. "One of you is enough already."

Nonoka shrugs, an unhelpful smirk on her face.

At that same moment, hurried footsteps rush up the nearby stairs, catching their attention.

Abruptly, a woman bursts through the door, black hair loose along her shoulders, a look of terror on her face.

Nonoka moves forward, a frown on her face. "Hanae-san? You know no one's allowed to come up here."

Hanae swallows, chest heaving up and down.

"I heard," the woman coughs, green eyes watering and still short of breath. "I heard that Suzaku was here."

Nonoka's face darkens immediately and sharply, she asks, "Who told you that?"

Instead of answering, Hanae's eyes move frantically from Nonoka to Sakura. "Is it true?"

Sakura blinks slowly - it isn't easy to tell if answering would put Nonoka in danger, put her in danger. Either way, the chance to respond is taken away when Hanae falls to her knees.

"Hanae-san," Nonoka hisses, one arm outreached towards Sakura, as if in a poor attempt to cover her body.

Meanwhile, in the quiet of the room, Sakura places a hand on her forehead.

"Is this a trend?" she asks despondently, though it's unsure who the question is directed to. A headache begins to form at her temples as she flaps a hand to Hanae's postured form. "Did I miss something? Why is everyone so eager to get on their knees?!"

Still a teen, Nonoka does not miss the opportunity to roll her eyes.

"Please, Suzaku-sama," Hanae cries out, ignoring how Sakura has clearly just outed herself as an idiot who can't even keep up with the times. "My sister, they've taken my sister!"

"Your sister," Sakura repeats, sending a short burst of chakra to soothe the throbbing pain in her head. "Why would - okay, first of all, who's 'they'?"

Hanae raises her head, when it becomes clear she won't be turned away just yet.

"Some men from the village," she says, eyes darting to Nonoka for a split second. "My sister, she's just visiting and they, they snatched her away like, like she's some sort of plaything!"

Nonoka lets out an inaudible growl, her hands clenched into fists. "Those ungrateful - ! We take them in and this is how they act?"

Hanae bows again. "Please, my lady. If there's anything you can do - please, I beg you."

Sakura frowns, though the action is hidden beneath the mask. What could she do?

It probably wouldn't be too difficult to take back Hanae's sister, to make an example out of those who think power can bring whatever they desire.

But what happens when Sakura leaves, back on the road, to fulfil her own mission? Would the same group of people continue again, once the threat is gone? Would they be even crueler, in their hate?

(In the aftermath of realizing her own consequences, Sakura finds herself in the uncomfortable position of knowing just how far a single action can go.

Would she make it better or worse? Would it be better, be easier, if she left it alone?).

To the side, Nonoka shifts, an unsure glance fluttering past her face, one hand clasped over the seal Sakura had painted on her skin. Could she be remembering that moment, years ago, when she had knelt before Sakura as well, pleading for a chance?

(Or, instead, could she be considering the difference a single mark might make? Did the existence of Sakura's seal separate those who are deserving?).

The full moon outside remains eerily bright. It's a disconcerting sight, the hateful reminder of the woman who had very clear opinions on what exactly humanity deserved.

Is this what it would come to? Sakura's shoulders hunch forward. She turns away from the accusing stare of the moon. Am I really hesitating over what this woman deserves?

(Is this the kind of person Sakura has become? Is this the kind of person she wants to become?).

Exhaling heavily, she drops from the windowsill, landing silently on her feet in the wooden attic.

"Stand up," she orders, pocketing the porcelain cup away. Her volatile thoughts remain hidden, but her chakra bubbles underneath the skin. "Where did they take her?"

Hanae scrambles to her feet. "I was only able to follow them to one of the warehouses..."

Moonlight on her back and heat flaring in her eyes, Sakura picks up her sheathed tanto, tucking it beside her waist.

"You'll be taking me there," she then says, before turning to Nonoka, her throat nearly burning. "Who's in charge here? You have until I return to decide what to do with those men."

Let it rest with this village, Sakura thinks as Nonoka's lips twist into something feral, a reflection of something primal in the girl's eyes.

She motions to Hanae. "Let's move."

Stepping lightly down the stairs and through the crowd below, Sakura continues on, barely aware of the wide berth other people seem to give her.

Sakura continues on, the molten heat in her lungs pushing her forward, because the last thing she wants, the last thing she will ever allow, is to become a replica of cold, cruel Kaguya.

And if it means she'll be played like a fiddle, like a fool, to help those in need - well. Then so be it.

.

.

.

notes!

- if it hasn't been clear already, this takes place during what some of you fondly call the "marking" period, where Sakura spent six months tracking down every one she had helped, to explain the meaning of her seals. As you would imagine, many of them were adamant about receiving one themselves, once they heard it had happened before.

- Nonoka is actually the last girl you see in the first chapter of this fic! She's the one who begged Sakura to find her brother, years back, with her entire village behind her. Hanae, who's full name is Ido Hanae, is actually Ido Sayuri's older sister, who we met last chapter. The sister Sakura will eventually go on to save is, in fact, Sayuri!

- i know this chapter is probably more on the reflective side (something we've seen happen often lately), but i find it important to show how Sakura is constantly changing and reforming in her volatile situation. As the chapter title suggests, there are consequences even when she tries to address the consequences of her actions from before. It's important to realize that action and consequence is not a linear sequence - rather, it's an endless cycle of risk and response.

- i worked in a lot of character thought, expansion, and eventual development for Sakura (and of course, our secondary characters, who have their own agendas), and I hope you all enjoy/notice it! i'm curious to see how many threads of connections you might be able to pick up - there is of course, the relationship between Sakura and Nonoka (which is a reflection of Sakura's growing relationship with her "followers"), the growing gap between those who were "chosen" with her mark and those who weren't, etc etc. I actually had a lot of fun putting it all in! They all have their importance of course, but one thread actually holds more prominence than the others - which one do you think it might be?

- hopefully, you guys are enjoying the development this story is taking! I'm really happy to see so many of you seem to be invested in Sakura and her journey - many of you have caught onto the chapter sequence ("like the one she loved" doesn't follow this, actually, so it has it's own category), so next up is "sand"!

Thank you again for all the support and love you send this way - please look forward to next time!

- SE