A Life of its Own, Act I

Larger Than Life

Homestead

"Sorry." Sakura muttered, looking at the mangled corpses leaking blood all over their nice floor. "But it's probably for the best it happened like this. At least this way it was quick and painless. If we'd met on the battlefield… Well, I would've had fun, at least."

She'd have felt guilty about ruining their apartment, if they were still alive to live in it. The dog's head was completely gone, just leaving a headless white corpse in the corner. "Your name fits better now!" She noted with glee, giggling to herself before she swept the room, eyes falling on said dog's owner where he still sat slumped on the now heavily bloodstained couch.

His head was still there… kind of? She'd slashed off everything above the lower jaw with her bare hands… But the top half of his head still existed, she supposed. It just wasn't attached any longer! Confirming that he was dead too, her eyes flitted over to the apartment's final inhabitant.

Ino's lifeless eyes stared blankly ahead from the ground, blood freely leaking from her gaping back. Sakura picked up the spine she'd removed from her, only now noticing that she'd managed to rip out the entire rib cage with it. "Huh! That's new." She dropped her former friend's spinal column back onto her cooling corpse, not having even a shred of respect for the dead, before scanning the room again.

"I could leave a clone here and act like all of us were killed… Nah. Don't wanna leave traces, after all, and I've already got one running around here... Though, to be fair, I wouldn't mind a few people chasing me. It'd be fun killing Grass scum, I've never fought their type. Still… I'm done here. Time to bail." She said, before turning around and walking out of the apartment through the front door, her hand staining the handle with Kiba, Ino and Akamaru's mingled blood.

"Man…" Sakura sighed, her body shivering as she did so. "Damn, that really got me going. I can still smell the blood…" She said, before realising her hand was still covered in it. She looked up at the night sky as she made her way to Kusagakure's main gate, placing two blood-soaked fingers in her mouth and moaning as she sucked on them. "God, I wanna kill something… And slowly this time."

"What are you doing?" A voice shouted from behind her, and Sakura turned to look at whoever it was.

Karin had felt Kiba and Ino's chakra suddenly disappear. That by itself wouldn't have been enough to alarm her, as it was quite late and they could have gone to sleep… But what did was the dark, evil, hideous chakra signature that she had felt leaving the apartment, and the fact that it was growing. She knew who it was, she'd sensed her chakra as part of her processing earlier that same day. But it hadn't been as sickening… or as powerful.

Karin's eyes widened, as the girl turned around, and she saw the bloody hand that she was sucking on, and seemingly enjoying immensely too. "What have you done?" She whispered, and as Sakura finished turning, Karin made eye contact with her, and she immediately knew that without a shadow of a doubt that she would not live to see the next morning.

Her eyes glowed with a burnished orange light, and the intensity of her gaze along with the similar colour reminded her of Orochimaru's eyes. However, after looking for an instant more, she knew that they were nothing alike. Orochimaru had been… touched, sure, but he had still been human, as much as he fashioned himself after a snake. He had had human emotions, ambitions and desires, and all three had been clear in his eyes, his words, and his actions before he had passed.

But this girl… if Orochimaru had been somewhat disturbed, Karin thought that this girl had never even been sane to begin with. The utter depths of depravity she could see in those eyes chilled her to the bone, and she realised she wasn't even really looking into the eyes of another human – she was looking at a predator who had just caught sight of her prey.

A smile slashed the pink girl's face wide open as her Restraints came loose, white teeth glistening like blades screaming out for blood as she licked some of the excess away in anticipation and desire.

"You'll do."

Two weeks prior…

Sakura shook her head, hair still damp from her shower as she tied it back, at this point foregoing the braid that she had tried for a while, knowing now that when she really got going in a fight it just fell apart. Instead, the majority of her hair was brought back into a ponytail, extending down to her waist. The ends of it were roughly chopped where she had finally had enough of the length and had simply hacked away at it with a kunai, and despite the fact that she had tied it, the sheer volume of hair she still had meant the ponytail fanned out as it went further from her head, making the thing almost entirely useless as the bottom tips of her hair splayed out wider than her body.

She slipped on her typical combat vest and shorts, with the top-turned-jacket she favoured, and secured her weapon pouch and tied her katana to her hip. She looked around briefly at the room that she had called a home for the past three years, knowing now that her time her was finally up. Her eyes fell on that demon wind shuriken she had taken out all that time ago – back when she was preparing to deal with Abarai. She picked it up, staring at it wistfully – that had been a better time. She hadn't had any real worries back then, but now…

Maybe I should leave it here. Touka might want it, or something? She's the sentimental type… And keeps me on her mind even after I'm gone. She smirked, her decision made, while she made sure that there wasn't anything that she'd forgotten. Though honestly, I doubt much of it matters. Deciding that there wasn't, she grabbed her backpack that she had brought to the country so long ago, her worn hitai-ate already secure inside of it, and wrapped Naruto's pink scarf around her neck. Alright. Ready.

She sighed. This might be harder than she thought… No matter how much she hated these non-Konoha hicks, they had taken pretty good care of her over these past few years. She really couldn't have asked for much more. And she'd gotten attached to a few of her pets here… It'd be sad to leave them to fend for themselves now. But… She knew she had far more important things to be doing elsewhere. She couldn't waste any more time out her in bumfuck nowhere; she had to get back to the shinobi world.

It was time to start making them pay for what they did.

She opened her door, compressed giant shuriken in hand, to see Touka standing outside as always, eyes noticeably red and puffy. Sakura smiled at her softly, but inwardly she had to try and supress the urge to laugh. "Aww, you poor baby… Come here, Touka-chan." She said kindly, and for once actually meaning it, at least somewhat. She pulled the other, shorter woman into a hug, who seemed to be struggling not to burst into hysterics. "It'll be okay. I can come visit whenever, you know?" Fat chance of that happening.

"Must you leave, Sakura-sama? I know that Chichiatsu-sama-"

"I know what you're about to say, and my answer's no. I've got things to do and people waiting on me, Touka. I can't spend any more time here. You understand, right?" Sakura waited for her to respond, but after the lack of one, she continued. "Listen. I've got something for you." At that, the servant leaned back, looking up at Sakura.

"What… What might that be?"

"Well… This isn't exactly a regular civilian gift, but…" Sakura held up the demon wind shuriken, before continuing. "This is a weapon I brought with me here, and I told myself I'd find a use for it. But I never did, and I've sort of outgrown it now. I doubt you'll ever need it for its… intended purpose, but I thought you might like it. As a memory kinda thing, y'know?"

Touka blinked wide-eyed, staring at the wicked-looking blade. "A-Are you sure?"

"Positive!" Sakura chirped.

Touka gulped, then steeled herself. "The-Then I would be honoured to accept it, Sakura-sama. I promise you I will take good care of it!"

"I'm sure you will." Sakura chuckled, placing the thing in the maid's hands, the other woman struggling to lift it up. "I need to see Chichiatsu now. I'll say bye before I leave!" Sakura began walking away before Touka had a chance to respond, smirking. Well, now that I've offloaded that garbage… Let's see how my little king tries to bribe me to stay.

Sakura had expected money, or something along those lines. Perhaps jewels? Land even? But not… this. She hadn't noticed that Chichiatsu had gotten quite so… bold.

"If you were to become my wife, then you could quit being a shinobi and remain here! In truth, I didn't hire you because I needed a shinobi in the country, but rather because…"

"You wanted to groom me into being your bride."

"No! I-" Chichiatsu looked up, seeing the teasing expression on Sakura's face contrasting with the deadpan tone she had used, and then proceeded to sigh, knowing she had gotten the exact reaction she had wanted out of him. "It wasn't like that, obviously. I found you attractive, of course, but I never intended to coerce or force you into anything. You understand, right?"

"Of course." Sakura said, smiling at the closest thing she had to a friend in this country. "But you also understand that that would never have worked, right? Maybe if… recent events, shall we say, hadn't occurred then I would consider it, but now? My home needs me. More than ever. And I miss it, too. I can't justify staying here even another month, let alone the rest of my life. I need to return to the Land of Fire."

He sighed again, sinking into his chair. "You're right of course. I had never been so arrogant to think that you would accept, but… I dared to hope for quite a while."

Sakura's smile turned genuinely sad, the mass of swirling hatred that her heart had become allowing real emotion to peek through as she truly prepared to say goodbye. "I'm sorry, Chichiatsu-dono. If it helps… You are my friend, and I hope that that will always be the case." Swamp people aren't that bad. They can be friends, I guess…

"And I you, Sakura-kun. You will always be welcome in the Land of Swamps."

"Thank you, Chichiatsu-dono." Sakura replied, bowing deeply in a show of genuine respect. "If you'll excuse me then… I'll be on my way."

"Of course." He nodded, smiling. "Get home safe."

The party that saw her off was small, two of those present there by choice, the other two by obligation. Sakura looked back at the maid that had served her, the samurai that she had surpassed, the advisor that had grown to fear her, and the lord that had brought her there in the first place. No doubt they all had things they wished to say to her, but… Their time was up now. By day's end, Swamp would be nothing but a memory, and so she left the palace without a word more to those gathered there, instead heading into the capital proper.

It took a slight amount of searching, but she quickly found what she was looking for – a merchant carriage. It was a simple matter to get them to hire her – most everyone in the city, if not the country as a whole, knew who she was, and she was slashing her prices to a ridiculous degree besides. All she wanted was food and to travel in the carriage while they made their winding journey across the continent, first passing through into many minor countries before finally landing in the Land of Fire.

Her reasoning for taking such a roundabout route was a simple one. Once she was back in the Land of Fire and in what remained of Konoha, she wouldn't be leaving the country again unless she had a mission outside of it. For all she knew, this return journey might be the only chance she would get to visit some of the minor countries of the world, and she had to see them all.

She had to look for her mother… and Ami, too. She had to bring them back home.

She knew that this would add significant travel time to her journey back home… maybe a couple of months. But it had to be done. If the lazy way began to take too long, there was nothing stopping her from just traveling like any other shinobi either. It's just… this would probably be the last time she'd be able to take it easy for a long time. Might as well enjoy it, y'know? She thought to herself, the large farmer's hat she had just bought – stolen – over her face as she lay on top of the now moving carriage as it began its journey out of the capital of Swamp.

She had imagined that the carriage journey would take a long time, but she hadn't expected it to be quite this slow. This is how civvies have to travel? Seriously? They had barely made it out of Swamps, just stopping off in a town a couple of miles inward from the Grass border, and it had been a week. She hopped down from the carriage, hat still firmly in place. "I'll sort myself out, like usual. See you in the morning!" She called to the merchant driving the thing, who nodded, getting off himself and beginning to deal with his own business.

Sakura looked into the town, lip curling as she took in the tiny houses and shoddy looking shops. What a shithole. This reminds me of that town in River where we found Rinka… Wonder if they ever did find out what was up with that place. That was fucking weird, in hindsight… She looked up at the sun, squinting. It was still high in the sky, but was definitely beginning to dip. Normally, they'd still be traveling at this time, but the merchant didn't particularly want to travel through Grass country when it was dark. He was scared of the shinobi, which made Sakura want to laugh. If he was scared of them, what the fuck did he think she was?

"Considering how much of a fucking dump this place is, there probably isn't another settlement for miles too… I suppose it makes sense to stop in a town if you're scared of shinobi." She blinked, as a thought just came to her. It was more likely than not people originally from Konoha had integrated into various shinobi villages, considering that they came from one themselves. That was doubly true if they were in big refugee groups – the only settlements that'd be able to handle them would be capitals or ninja villages. She'd only thought about checking the towns they stopped in along the way, but she was kicking herself about not even thinking of somehow checking out Kusagakure.

Well, not like the option's gone. "Hey, old man!" She called out to the merchant, who jumped, turning to look at her, annoyed to have been interrupted from where he was haggling about the price of feed for his horses. "We going to Kusa on this trip?" She continued.

"Not a fucking chance! I'm not going anywhere near that hive of villainy!" Bit prose-y there, don't you think? The hell do you think you're talking to? Sakura crossed her arms in a huff, annoyed. It doesn't matter. I'll just break off when we're near it and then come back with whatever I find. Shouldn't be an issue. She stretched her back out, yawning. I haven't slept in a bed since leaving… haven't eaten anything but the shit the old dude cooks up since then either. Might as well splurge a bit… She nodded to herself, looking around for what might pass for a half-decent inn or hotel, before she stopped dead, realising something else.

Wait. I don't have any money.

Four days later, Sakura found herself on the roof of the carriage as she normally was, staring at a map she had stolen two days earlier when they had finally stopped in a village that looked somewhat civilised. Kusa's location obviously isn't just advertised on maps, especially on one that I picked up from some rando town… But looking at areas of interest in the country, as well as areas that logically should be used for something but aren't… I've got a few ideas about where it might be.

A fire clone appeared next to her, in the same pose as she currently was. Over the years, her clones had improved to the point where if they did nothing that required chakra, they could resemble her human form for about four and a half days, and then could still stay alive, albeit in a state entirely comprised of their constituent element for another day after that. The main Sakura grinned at the clone. "Stay with the old man, alright? You're the only way I'll know where he is."

"Got it, boss." The clone saluted, before instantly laying down, covering her face with her hat, and beginning to snore. Sakura rolled her eyes, before leaping off the carriage, going to her first point of interest.

It only took her a day to find Kusa, which was both quite pleasing that she'd done it so quickly, and disappointing that it had been so easy. Nevertheless, she approached the gates as brazen as could be, walking directly to one of the gate guards, who seemingly woke up from his nap, staring at her over the tall surrounding grass with bleary eyes. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah." Sakura's eyes flashed, Observing the man in front of her. Level 22… Weakling. She rummaged through her backpack, pulling out her tattered Konoha headband and placing it down on the desk separating the two of them. "I'm defecting. Will you guys take me?"

The gate chunin blinked, suddenly alert. "Wha- What do you-"

"I was on a long term deep cover mission for Konoha, which I only just completed. And then the first thing I hear once I'm out is that the entire place burnt down, or something. I'm not really the type to help with rebuilding and all that, you understand? So I thought I might take my talents elsewhere, y'know? Iwa's full of men with brains the size of pebbles, Kumo's too militant for me… But Kusa guys? I'm a sucker for you pretty boys, y'know. It's a match made in heaven." Sakura muttered, her husky tones being used to their full effect as she fluttered her eyebrows at the chunin who couldn't be more than four years older than her.

The man had the good grace to blush, trying and failing to be stern in the face of Sakura's flirting. "W-Well, I can't just let you in. At the very least, you'll have to go in for questioning-"

"Sure, sure, I get it. Happy to do whatever. Then once I'm all set, you and I could go catch dinner somewhere. Or maybe skip the dinner, and we'll just go over to your apartment." Sakura's smirk turned dark, but her eyes glittered with glee. "Two minutes and I'll have you screaming."

"How do we know that Konoha's not just sent you as a spy?"

"Come on, really? If I got picked for that, surely I'd come up with something better than just walking into your village and expecting to be welcomed in? You're not idiots." Well, we'll see about that. "Konoha's worthless now, it barely qualifies as a ninja village, let alone one of the Great Five. It makes sense that people'd be leaving."

Her interrogator sat back in his chair, stroking his beard and thinking. "I suppose you have a point."

Behind a one-way mirror, where they thought that Sakura couldn't sense them, a shinobi and kunoichi stood, observing the interrogation, while two other ANBU-equivalents stood behind, ready to engage if necessary. Sakura couldn't see what they looked like – not without closing her eyes and using Clairvoyance, at least, but she could easily tell about how strong they were even without Observing them, and she was confident that she could take everyone in this room, even in her current Restrained state.

"What do you think? Karin." The leader of Kusagakure, Haga Ryuzaki, asked the kunoichi stood next to him, having been alerted to the apparent defecting Konoha-nin's arrival when she had first appeared, but had only chosen to personally oversee the interrogation when five of his best sensors had all come to him separately, all saying that they had felt an incredible chakra entering the village. He had brought the red-haired girl with him, knowing that she had a talent for sensing that most everyone lacked, and so she should be able to give him the clearest reading on what exactly they were dealing with.

The girl in question adjusted her glasses before she spoke. "I'll check now, Haga-sama." She said, before closing her eyes, opening her senses… and immediately turning to the side, expelling the contents of her stomach all over the floor.

Inside the interrogation chamber, the corner of Sakura's lip upturned.

"Karin!" Haga shouted, holding the girl as she violently shivered and continued to vomit uncontrollably. Eventually, after a solid minute, she managed to control herself, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and shakily returning to her full height.

"I… I'm fine now, Haga-sama. I just wasn't… Expecting that."

"Expecting what?"

"Her chakra… It's the most horrifying, dark chakra I have ever felt. I… What is wrong with her? I- I can't-" She cut herself off, simultaneously retracting her senses so that she couldn't feel that… To call it chakra would be an insult to anyone else who had it. That thing, that feeling. She shivered again involuntarily, before shakily nodding. "And before you ask, strength-wise… It's greater than even your own, Haga-sama."

The man's eyes widened at that. "Impossible. I'm no Hatake Kakashi or anything, but certainly I'm strong enough to have been placed in the Bingo Book. How could one with that kind of strength be a complete unknown?"

Karin shook her head and shrugged. "I don't know. She isn't lying, and she's not under a genjutsu either. I'm just as shocked as you." She adjusted her glasses again, staring at the girl through the mirror. She had thought that there was… something about her before, but now that she had felt her chakra, she knew that this girl wasn't just some random person. Why was she here? Karin couldn't think of any reason why someone like her would come to a place like this. Though I suppose… Orochimaru-sama did the same thing. God, I'm glad that snake is dead.

Haga was staring through the mirror, a troubled expression on his face. "One."

"Ha." One of the ANBU-equivalents melted away from the wall, appearing by his side.

"Keep an eye on this one. We'll put her with those other two former Konoha-nin, the ones around her age. With any luck, she won't cause any trouble, not if she'd cause her own to get hurt over it, but you never know. Be vigilant."

"Yes, Haga-sama!" The ANBU intoned, before disappearing.

"Haga-sama, are you sure? What if she's here to extract them?" Karin asked, worriedly glancing to her leader.

"There's not a chance. Ino has already begun teaching her clan's techniques to some of our sensors. There's no way she would have done that if she had any hope of returning home, or if she even wanted to."

"I suppose you've got a point there…" Karin said, having the niggling feeling that there was something… wrong about just letting this girl free to see her former countrymen, but she quashed it in the face of her leader's superior judgement, no matter how much she wanted to speak out about it.

"I want you monitoring her, Karin. You're the only one who can tell what she's going to do by her chakra alone. I'm counting on you."

"Yes, Haga-sama." The kunoichi intoned, as the two left the room.

Sakura smiled.

The apartment didn't look like anything special from the outside, but Sakura was still excited. She'd been told that Konoha nin lived here. She hadn't thought that her search would be so easy, but it was as if Kami-sama himself had seen fit to just drop what she was looking for in her lap. She knocked on the door, refraining from Sensing what was behind it and ruining the surprise. A call of "Coming!" came clear through the boundary, and Sakura's smile widened, instantly recognising the voice and the person it belonged to.

The door swung open, the blonde woman inside first looking confused at seeing the person standing outside, before her mind began to whir, and she started to recognise what she was seeing. "Sa-"

Mrs. Gorgeous
LV 15
Yamanaka Ino

"Ino!" Sakura chirped as she launched through the door and wrapped the other woman in a hug, happier than anything to see her best friend again. Not expecting the sudden charge and extra weight, Ino fell back, squealing slightly at the sudden contact, but quickly becoming just as overjoyed as her friend, not having expected such a pleasant surprise that night.

"Sakura, it is you! Oh my god, you're okay! It's been so long, I was worried that you might've…"

"Hehe." Sakura chuckled, her head popping up and staring Ino in the eyes. "Nothing to worry about! I'm better than ever. Nothing in Swamp could come close to handling me!" She said, a happy grin splitting her face.

"Yeah. Of course." Ino murmured, smiling softly at her friend turned rival turned friend.

"So you're the only one?" Sakura asked, sipping at her tea.

"Not the only one, but… the only one of our class at least. I mean, excluding Kiba, obviously." Ino said, her own cup sitting on the table, steaming away.

"Yeah… Where is he, anyway?"

"He and Akamaru went out to buy something. They should be back soon… But anyway. What've you been up to, huh? What was it like, being a daimyo's guard? Was he, y'know… hot?" Ino frantically asked, desperate for gossip with someone who she knew could actually keep up with her in that regard. Sakura simply laughed.

"He was alright. If I hadn't started dating Ami before I left, there might've been something there… Not gonna lie, the thought did occur to me a few times, and he was definitely thinking about me, too. You know he asked to marry me?"

Ino shot up in her chair, letting out a scandalous gasp. "No way! And you said no? Are you crazy!?"

Sakura smirked behind her cup. "Well, yeah. If I'd said yes, I'd be stuck in Swamps the rest of my life. Don't get me wrong, the place is nice and all… but I was already bored of it. Probably would've ended up cutting and running eventually, even if I had said yes. Better to just rip the bandage off, you feel me?"

"Well… Yeah, I guess that makes sense." She said, sinking back down into her seat. "Still… I mean, he's a daimyo, Sakura! You'd have been set for life if you'd gone with him!"

The pink haired woman raised an eyebrow at that. "Like I'm not already? I've got a three-year long mission payment waiting for me back home. Even if I retired as soon as I got back, I'd probably have enough to live off of till I die, even if I'm not exactly rolling in it. And even if I wasn't in such a good position, I still wouldn't take it. Yeah, I'd have more money than I know what to do with, but what good is it if I got nothing to live for?"

Ino was silent as she stared into her cup, looking at her wavy reflection as her mind wandered somewhere else. "It's waiting… back home?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." This is a good field test. Sakura subtly activated her Delusory skill, focusing on the ANBU that had been tailing her since she had gotten out of Kusa's processing plant. As she began to speak to Ino, she crafted an illusion of her ending the conversation and leaving the apartment, silencing the real conversation going on as she did so. She was pleasantly… not surprised, per se, but still quite pleased, that the ANBU believed it, following the illusion out of the building, seamlessly falling into step and then switching out with a clone that she formed down at ground level that proceeded to wander around the village.

Sakura took a few final gulps of her tea, using the drinking time to ensure that the ANBU was leaving the area with her Sensing, before she continued. "Yeah, back home. Why? You didn't think I was staying in this dungheap, did you?"

Ino blinked, surprised. "If… If you didn't come here to join the village, why are you-"

The door to the apartment swung open, a large white shape running through it towards a familiar smell that he yet hadn't smelt in years, although it did smell a bit… different to how he remembered. Sakura laughed, scratching the now huge dog behind the ears. She had known Inuzuka ninken could get big, but she couldn't even imagine how the tiny puppy she remembered could have transformed into the bear-sized creature Akamaru was now.

She looked up, grinning, looking Kiba dead in the eyes. "What's up, dog-breath?"

The Wolf That Wishes To Be A Dog
LV 40
Inuzuka Kiba

The man in question whistled, mentally remarking both on how the woman in front of him looked and how much her voice had changed, as well as her new smell, instantly being able to tell that she'd gone through a lot to get to where she was now. He matched her grin, flashing sharp teeth as he remarked "Yo, Sakura! Almost didn't recognise you, but in hindsight should've known instantly, what with that forehead and all. You can still see that thing from space!" He laughed, while Sakura's grin turned dark and her eyes shone with playful anger.

"Care to say that again, mutt? Or do you need me to beat your ass all over a training ground like I did three years ago again? I'd be happy to do it if that's what you're into."

"Heh." Kiba flashed his teeth again, flopping down on the couch next to Ino, his arm wrapping around her shoulders. "Nah, you don't need to do shit. You're way stronger than I am, I can smell it. Just like I can smell that you're that strong while holding yourself back, too."

Sakura blinked, before looking at her friend and pointing at Kiba. "Ino, how the fuck did dog-boy somehow grow a pair of brain cells? Did you find somewhere that you can buy them for the mentally impaired or something?"

Ino was clearly trying and failing to stop herself from laughing, but Kiba was taking it in stride. "Stop it, Sakura. Kiba-kun was never the smartest, but he wasn't an idiot either."

Sakura stared at her incredulously. "You're joking, right? Kiba's the only person in existence who's ever managed to get a worse grade on a test than Naruto, and while he wasn't a lot of things that people said he was, he definitely was an idiot, at least back then."

The mood of the room turned somber, as Sakura's words brought back memories for all three of them, Kiba and Ino reliving the Konoha Crush while Sakura reminisced for the thousandth time about her dead friend. "…Anyway." Sakura continued, after they had been silent for a few minutes. "Kiba, that's a chunin vest, ain't it? What rank are you now?"

"Heh. Chunin, but I've got an assessment coming up soon. If I pass, I'll be tokubetsu. Normally, it's the jonin evaluation, but… they're a little wary about a first-generation immigrant getting jonin rank, especially so quick. Don't necessarily blame them, either. I wouldn't do anything, but better safe than sorry, right?"

Sakura nodded along, his words making sense. "What about you, Ino? We never really got on to that when we were talking before."

Kiba's face dropped as Sakura asked the question, quickly trying to cut her off. "Ah, that's-"

"Kiba-kun." The Inuzuka looked back at his girlfriend, looking her in the eyes as she nodded and smiled. "It's okay, I can handle it."

"But Ino…"

"If there's anyone I can tell, it's her. I'll be fine." Kiba reluctantly nodded, sitting back, while Ino turned to Sakura, the cherry-haired girl now very curious as to what was going on.

Ino suffered through a heavy sigh, steeling herself, before continuing. "Back… Back in the Crush, three years ago… I thought that while it was a bit gross and not exactly for me, I thought the fighting was fine. I thought I just didn't want to be a frontline fighter, but I'd known that for a while. But then… that thing appeared. That monster…" Ino's hands began to shake from where she had placed them on her knees, but she still pressed on.

"That thing… It turned the battlefield into a slaughterhouse. You don't understand what it was like, Sakura. Everywhere I looked, there were bodies. And not like… Not clean kills. They were crushed, torn apart, mutilated… but the worst were the ones that should have been dead, but weren't. The barely moving piles of guts that cried out for me to help them, that could just barely breathe under their own power… It was horrible.

"I remember… I remember being covered in the blood of both the people I'd killed and the people I tried and failed to save. The smell of entrails and gore was everywhere, and every breath I took was like I was choking in a sandstorm. And In the distance, that monster was there, destroying everything, and no one was able to stop it.

"I thought I was going to die.

"Eventually… Eventually we were ordered to evacuate, and we made our way here with that evacuation party. We were told… that people would come for us, that we'd be taken back home. But no one ever came. So we just assumed… everyone had either run or fled. Now we know at least some survived, but…" Ino's hands were shaking violently now, and her voice was starting to crack, until Kiba slid his hands into hers, gripping them gently, the blonde smiling at him for his support.

"Ever since then… Ever since I can't even pick up a kunai without my hands shaking. The smell of blood just makes me think of all those people… and of that monster, too. I can't… I don't serve, anymore. I… I lost my nerve."

I understand. That explains her level. "I get it. I hadn't realised things were that bad… You can only get so much from a written report, I guess." Sakura said, trying – failing – to sympathise with her friend. "But… That makes things easier."

Ino blinked. "What do you mean?"

Sakura smirked. "Well, like I said before. I'm not staying here. I'm going back to Konoha. I was just taking… the scenic route back. I wanted to see if I could find anyone missing before I went back to the grind of missions."

"So… you're just here to visit?"

"Yes, and no." Sakura stood, stretching, before she extended her hand to the two of them. "Come back to Konoha with me."

The room was silent for a while, before Kiba snorted. "You're joking, right?"

"No, I'm serious. Let's get out of this shithole. They need us back home. Kiba, you're only a chunin, and Ino's not even a shinobi anymore, so it's not like they'd miss you two here. It's time to go back."

Ino looked at her friend, confused, before shaking her head. "Sakura… if we were going to go back, we already would've. I can't go back there, not after what happened. Kusa's our home now. We can't betray it and leave."

Sakura was silent, staring at the two of them, before responding with a clipped "I see," falling back into her seat. "Well, I tried at least. Do you mind getting me some more tea then, Ino? I may as well take my time here before I go. Dunno when I'll see you guys again and all."

Ino smiled softly at her. "Yeah, of course. Just give me a second." She said, getting up and turning to leave to the kitchen. As soon as she did, time seemed to slow, Sakura's eyes bleeding orange as Vermillion Bird of the South came into effect. Her eyes flicked around the room, seeing where Akamaru had lay down to sleep in the corner, and where Kiba was still sitting comfortably.

She sighed. She hadn't planned on doing this, but they'd forced her hand.

They've gone native. Nothing I can say or do'll convince them to come back to Konoha, meaning they're Grass through and through now.

And Konoha has no need for traitors.

Quick as a flash, she was over where Akamaru was laying on the ground, raising her hand in a Suzaku's Beak over the dog's head, before plunging it downwards. Her knife-hand ripped through the dog's skull like it was paper, reducing it to nothing but giblets, before she swivelled, turning her attention to Kiba, who was only barely beginning to react. She glided over to him on the hardwood floor, pirouetting and swinging her hand clean through his head on the end of her spin, leaving her facing Ino, who had barely even moved. Sakura simply walked over to her, thrusting her hand into her back, taking hold of her spinal column, and savagely ripping it out of her back, showering Sakura and the surrounding room in blood as she dropped it.

"Sorry." Sakura muttered, looking at the mangled corpses leaking blood all over their nice floor.

Here we are, with the beginning of Act I! Sorry about the shorter length, especially considering I took longer to get this one out, but I felt that this was a good end point. In my original draft, the Akatsuki fight at the end of the Interlude was actually going to be the beginning of this chapter, which is partially why that chapter was so long and this is so short. Regardless, I hope you enjoy. See you later.