Bygone
Part 9 • Sunlight
They keep moving, staying close to the darker shadows and out of the rain as much as possible. Sakura had to glare Hidan into silence, already anticipating the storm of curses that was about to fall from his lips.
Stealth is their best option at the moment. Slipping out will be hard with the jinchuriki guarding the main entry point but, if they're quick and quiet about it, they could force their way out from the side of the village while everyone is distracted with the terrorist attack.
The only problem with taking a side exit is the lack of knowledge in the surrounding area and how to navigate. She's a Konoha shinobi, born and raised, she isn't exactly an expert on navigating the mountains especially during a storm. They originally planned on leaving through the main entry point since it'd be quicker and easier to navigate but Sakura wasn't a war veteran for nothing.
If Uchiha Madara didn't do her in, something like weather and terrain sure as hell wasn't about to. It's not only insulting to her various mentors, and experience, but to her pride as well. She'll survive, no worries there. She just has to make sure her travel companion does as well.
Sometimes Sakura forgets that Hidan is a sixteen year old now and not immortal. It's a good thing but working with someone so inexperienced compared to her can be frustrating. It doesn't help that he's stubborn and willing to fight her every step of the way.
Carefully keeping Hidan behind her, she leads the way through back alleys toward the west side of the village. Using as little chakra as possible, she placed a genjutsu over the both of them but focusing mainly on her younger rouge-nin. She can handle anyone that might be thrown at them but Hidan still has a long way to go.
An explosion goes off in the distance, sounds of fighting getting fainter. She didn't expect the battle to be long — terrorists or not, they were still a bunch of civilians that got cocky. Sakura doesn't concern herself with them — she has no attachments and they were anything but innocent. Her morals may be skewed but she still knows that killing innocents is a big no.
Signatures catch on her range, making her slow the both of them to a stop. They're close to the edge of the village but not close enough. A dead sprint with no interruptions and they could probably make it, after that is up to debate.
She catches Hidan's attention with a hand motion, keeping her eyes on their surroundings. "When I say so, run. Don't stop for anything. Not until I give the all clear," she commands quietly, already shifting into a defensive stance.
Hidan stares at her for a moment, gritting his teeth in obvious protest, but nods all the same. His hands grip at the naginata awkwardly, unused to a weapon that isn't a scythe or that he's had for long.
Sakura notices and quickly grabs a storage scroll from one of her pockets, tossing it over without looking. "Might as well use a weapon you can use in case you lose the stick," she explains with a shrug when he quietly grunts in confusion.
It takes a moment but then the implications set in and he grins, storing the scroll somewhere safe and close on his body. He won't take it out yet, knowing Pinky would rather hold off on getting higher bounties on their heads. Hidan doesn't know much about the woman, but she has an end goal - one that she won't allow anything to get in her way.
Annoying as she may be, Hidan can respect that.
The signatures get closer, one pauses, the others pause next, then-
"Run!" Sakura spits as the signatures dart toward them.
Hidan springs out, Sakura only a second behind him with several kunai gripped between her fingers. Running on rocks in the rain isn't difficult for a shinobi but it can get dangerous very fast. Lose your concentration and the chakra beneath your feet could peter out enough for you to slip.
Sakura's fought in the rain before, in the mud, the sand, the snow, the sea- she's fought on about every terrain. Every field-shinobi, that lives long enough, does at some point. It'd be easy to run and slip beneath the Kumo shinobi's reach.
But that would mean going in for the killing blow with no hesitation.
She isn't at war anymore, her actions have actual unpredictable consequences. She can't kill anyone that isn't already on her mental list, or who she knows that their death won't make a difference.
So she stays behind Hidan, acting as guard to allow him to cover more distance. She twists and twirls on the slippery surfaces that make up Kumo's village, slashing at non-fatal but immobilizing areas.
A water jutsu is thrown her way, forcing her to flip back and away, sliding back in her landing. Hidan is still running, just behind her, so he doesn't know or hear her irritated curse.
"Team Seven Bull Shit Luck," because that's the Raikage quickly making his way over.
At least it's not Bee or Yugito, she grimaces while ducking under several shuriken and kunai, dropping to kick the assailant's legs from under them.
I can deal with a Kage, not a jinchuriki, she tries to convince herself while continuing to move backward to protect Hidan as he makes his escape.
Her instincts scream and she quickly jumps far away just as a lightning covered hand smacks where she once stood. Shifting her stance, Sakura flattens her lips into a thin line, absently tracking Hidan's progress while never taking her eyes off of the Fourth Raikage, A.
A glares at her, growling,"Who are you?"
It strikes Sakura in that moment that shinobi still did that. Ask questions in the middle of battle. It seems like so long ago when she watched as her Sensei fought against Zabuza and made commentary on the team. It seems like so long ago when Naruto would punch, ask a question, kick, continue talking, then just fight while screaming out his ideals - befriending another enemy in the end.
It seems like so long ago that she's had the chance to waste breath speaking during a fight.
She jumps away from another attack, blinking in befuddlement. Her confusion only grows the longer she spends easily dodging the Raikage's attacks and his shinobi's surprise strikes. Sakura frowns as she finally stops and grabs an incoming shinobi to throw at the Kage.
She doesn't stop to see if A caught the man or not, instead she twists on her feet, sending water flying through the air, hands already moving and chakra rising.
Water Whip, she thinks as she snaps the water around her with one hand. Calling up some more chakra she splits the whip into two, holding them in one hand each as she swings to keep everyone away.
To the Kumo shinobi, Sakura is just a petite blonde woman that is quick on her feet. To Sakura, the kumo shinobi are annoying obstacles. To the Raikage, it's really infuriating that he can't use his lightning chakra to quickly immobilize the enemy without it arching through the water and hitting his own men as well.
No one moves for a moment, analyzing the fight and their opponents.
Then Sakura swings her arms up - chakra rising - quickly slamming the water whips down against the roofs. Her chakra reaches out, dispersed by the broken water whips, as she turns to throw a kunai at the person that thought they could get past her. Her chakra latches on to the surrounding water, making it rise and twist around everyone's ankles and legs.
She doesn't stick around for long, already running to follow Hidan even if several people break away from her jutsu. She can feel them follow her, instinctively dodging projectiles.
I'll just have to lose them then, she grits her teeth as she finally reaches the edge of the village. Her followers speed up and from the little she knows of feeling others emotions through their chakra, she would say they seem rather smug. Why-?
Oh, she realizes as she skids to a hard stop, leaning her body back and away from the edge with the large drop. The other side is too far away to jump, even with chakra. Wait, then where's- Just on the edge of her range, she can feel Hidan's chakra - down below and still going.
She glances back, crouched at the edge, to see her enemies surrounding her and looking vaguely triumphant. It makes her smirk, slowly standing up and turning to face them. It's rather obvious that none of them has ever been subjected to Team Seven's Luck and Naruto's Insane Plans.
The thought brings her heart a pang of grief but the current amusement overshadows it for the moment.
She raises her arms slowly, making a show of surrendering. She allows them a moment to move closer before jumping back and off the edge. Disbelieving shouts follow her descent.
Rain and wind whipping around her, Sakura closes her eyes and lets the feeling of freefalling consume her. Her body feels light and her heart races with adrenaline. The familiar feeling turns her smirk into a small smile.
Getting closer to Hidan, she twists through the air and calls upon her chakra to make her fall faster. Feeling him to be within viewing range, she slips some chakra into her eyes to help her see through the fading light.
For the first time in years, Sakura laughs.
"WHAT THE FUCK YOU CRAZY BITCH!?" Hidan screams as she shoots past while he flails around in the air.
Still laughing and now grinning, she turns back to face him. "ITS OKAY, I'LL CATCH YOU!"
"FUCK YOU!"
Falling down a deep crevice of the mountains during the rain and late at night, light quickly fading, the future looks just a little bit brighter.
. I .
The landing took a good portion of her chakra to make sure she didn't hurt herself or Hidan when catching him. Then she had to heal the small things nausea and dizziness that the fall caused in the both of them.
Looking up, Sakura isn't sure if she can't see the edge they jumped off of because it's so dark or because that's how far down they are. They'll have to get moving soon either way. She remembers the whispered stories some shinobi shared around the small fire.
Wind-Riding may have been talked about as a fun exercise anyone could do above the Cloud Village, but she knows that if anyone is smart enough, it can be used to glide down to find them.
Sighing, the temporary blonde looks over to her companion. Hidan had yelled and shouted at her hysterically for several minutes before breaking down in laughter. When your life isn't in immediate danger, even the craziest things seem like fun.
It didn't take long for him to tire out though, and now he's sleeping inside a literal hole in the wall. She luckily pestered him into changing into something warm and dry before he fell asleep. Just because she's a medic doesn't mean she wants to or will always be there to help when he's sick.
She debated on changing his hair and eyes back to their natural color but settled on waiting until they're further away from Kumo.
Thoughts of the village make her begin reviewing what she learned from their archives. She wasn't really looking for their missing-nins but other villages' defected shinobi. Kumo's missing-nins were never all that relevant or big during her time so she didn't focus on that.
However, looking at the information they had on other's wasn't much but it did serve as a reminder of the smaller or less obvious and talked about events that took place.
Yagura, she massages at her temple. She knows, in theory, what happened with the Yondaime Mizukage. She also vaguely remembers the civil war that was happening in Kirigakure.
It seems so small in comparison to the War but it was a factor she believes. With the Bloodline Purges, so many could-be shinobi died and their numbers were small.
Would it have made a difference? She often wondered as she worked with Kiri shinobi. They were all just shinobi during the War but village allegiance ran deep.
Shaking her head, Sakura bites her lip in thought. Originally, she wanted to make their way to Iwagakure to check in on a likely thirteen, not-yet terrorist. The circumstances that surround Deidara's defection aren't something she has any knowledge of, beyond knowing he left at the age of maybe fourteen.
But with the reminder of the Civil War that's currently going on..
What could she even do for the Civil War?
She just fought, if what happened could be considered a fight, a Kage. She isn't too keen on fighting another one, and a jinchuriki at that.
Shit, the jinchuriki, she curses, fists clenching. She hasn't thought of a plan to keep them safe or even find them. She doesn't know when or how the Akatsuki caught them. She doesn't know their current members or plans. She just knows who she fought and who she needs to kill.
Though, maybe even I don't know that, she considers as she spares her companion another look.
Breathing in deeply, Sakura settles down for a long night as she pulls out her small book and begins building some proper plans.
. II .
By morning Sakura has outlined five overall plans, ten detailed plans, and the realization that none of them are likely to work. Nothing ever goes according to plan with any of the members of Team Seven. It's both a curse and blessing since it means she has become scarily good at thinking on her feet and in the moment.
Just a little frustrated, she shoves her book away and pokes her traveling companion awake. Hidan groans, batting her away with muttered complaints.
"The faster we leave, the sooner you can have your natural hair back," she offers blandly.
Hidan peeks over his shoulder at her with a suspicious glare but stubbornly doesn't move to get up. Rolling her eyes, she offers another incentive, "We can also go hunt down some other missing-nin for your entertainment if you'd like."
He blinks, looking a little offended that she would think he could be bought over so easily before actually thinking it over. "Fucking fine, whatever," he finally agrees, glaring when she smirks down at him.
"So, what's the fucking plan?" He asks when he joins her in standing up and looking up. They can't see the sky or edge they jumped down from, showing just how deep down they were.
"We start walking," she shrugs and turns to their left.
"What- that's it?" Hidan sputters but follows after her anyway. "What kind of bullshit plan is that?"
"It's my bullshit plan. Unless you can think of a better one?" She shoots back, raising a brow at him from over her shoulder.
He scowls at her but shuts up for the moment. He knows that they really can't do anything in their current position. They have to first find some civilization to properly know just where the fuck they jumped off to.
"Crazy pink bitch," he still complains under his breath.
Huffing in exasperation, Sakura decides that she might as well start teaching him like she promised she would. It would make her life mission a lot easier if she doesn't have to worry about him messing up all the time.
"How long have you been using a scythe?" she asks, remembering that reports depicted Hidan to be very proficient with his.
Looking up from where he's been watching his steps, Hidan swings his hands up and behind his head. "About three years now. Why?"
Tilting her head in consideration, she slowly smirks as a small idea forms. "How good are you?"
Seeing her smirk, Hidan excitedly unseals his scythe and swings it around with a wide and expecting grin. "Why don't you find out?"
. III .
They were team exercises today.
Normally Ino would try to team up with Sasuke but ever since her best friend's disappearance/death, she's been trying to interact with her other classmates more. She had realized that she didn't really know any of them that well beyond Shikamaru and Choji - who she's known since she was in diapers.
Though, being paired with Sai and Naruto is going to strain her patience. She's worked with Sai before and knows that she'll be frustrated in no time. Then there's working with the Dead Last.
At least, that's what she assumed.
"We've talked about this before," Naruto huffs. "You can't leave a teammate behind! It's not how Konoha works!"
Ino can only stare dumbfoundedly as Naruto exasperatedly begins to explain just why Sai can't abandon a comrade. The most confusing part is that Sai is actually actively listening.
When did the two of them become friends?
Actually, since when did Naruto get so...so smart? No, that's not the word. He's still at the bottom ranking of the class and says the stupidest things sometimes. Understanding? Empathetic? Mature? No, what is it? She ponders with a frown as she listens to the other blonde talk.
Now that she thinks about it, Naruto has been acting a lot differently since Sakura was announced as dead. Well, looking around, a lot of other people have too.
It isn't obvious but as a Yamanaka, she prides herself on reading other people and being in the know. She knows that the other clan kids have been getting more training back at home, knows that some people in her class have become much more determined.
Sasuke tackles their Academy training a bit more seriously than before. Nowadays Kiba, Shino, and Hinata have been hanging out with each other and sharing tidbits with their training. That trio makes sense since their clans often work together to form Tracker and Hunter teams. Shikamaru puts more thought into strategy games. Choji is building up his strength some more. Even she is taking her training a lot more seriously.
And Naruto. He's always been hard-working despite everyone's taunts and discouraging words. He's always challenged Sasuke, the top guy of their class and year. Now that Sai, arguably the Uchiha's rival for the spot, is here, the blonde has..not grown up so to say, but well, he's definitely matured.
Thinking about it, Ino looks up at the passing clouds and smiles a little.
Even when you're not here, you're causing a ruckus, Forehead.
. IV .
I'm late but HAPPY NEW YEARS!
I hope this year treats you and yours well !
Also, is it obvious that idk what im doing when it comes to fight scenes lol?