A Life of its Own, Act I
Larger Than Life
Reap
She didn't trust these Rock fucks at all. Knowing them, they'd purposely mess up Konohamaru's treatment and then claim it was an accident, or 'they did all they could'. Fuck that. Fuck that! She'd just fucking do it herself! And God help anyone who had a problem with it!
The clear extent of Sakura's unbridled fury and the memory of what she had done to Emi Makoto less than half an hour prior meant that anyone near gave her as wide a berth as they could, shinobi and civilian alike. She didn't even notice, so consumed by her rage as she was, her mind only concerned about how she would break Shirotsuchi in return. She wasn't even paying attention to where she was walking, instinctively sensing out Konohamaru's chakra and moving towards it haphazardly as she muttered to herself under her breath, her manic and bloodshot eyes a far cry from the cold, dead ones that had almost put the fear of death in Shirotsuchi only moments ago.
She entered the medical bay to see Konohamaru on a bed, medical ninja preparing to operate as she came in. She growled like a wildebeest, shoving the doctors away from the boy as she stalked over. "Out of my fucking way. Out of the way!"
One of the doctors pushed back, incensed. "What the hell are-"
Sakura's eyes whipped over to him blazing orange, promises of death and pain clear under the anger they contained. "Fucking MOVE!" She screeched, shoving the doctor again, who complied out of sheer animal instinct, feeling in his heart that if he argued this girl would simply kill him on the spot, despite her rank and therefore strength. He and the other medic nin watched as her eyes faded to green again, before her hands became swathed in healing chakra and she went to work.
It was obvious just by watching that she had never received proper medical training, or if she had, it had been extremely basic. Just in what she prioritised healing, how she moved over the body, what she checked and the things she forgot. But she was so talented, it didn't even matter.
He'd never seen anything like it. Her Mystical Palm Technique was perfect, better than his - better than anyone's. It didn't matter that she didn't know exactly how to go about healing the boy - her raw talent was so great that it made up for it, and he meant that in more ways than one. As she healed, he noticed her checking things she'd passed over before, readjusting her priorities, everything. It was like she was learning as she healed. It was breathtaking, and he completely forgot about the sadistic little fiend she'd been on the battlefield, and the mad beast that she'd been when she'd barged into the theatre - he was mesmerized just watching, and it seemed that his colleagues that were here with him were feeling the same.
But just as quickly as it began, it stopped. The green light faded from her hands, as the Sarutobi boy began to open his eyes, shocking all gathered apart from Sakura at how fast he was recovering. "Neechan..?" He asked, almost as if he was just waking up from a dream.
"Hey there, sleepyhead. You passed out after your match." She smiled tenderly, stroking his head.
"The… Oh shit, kore! I-" The boy jolted up, before deflating almost instantly, sinking into the hospital bed. "I lost, didn't I…"
Sakura nodded sadly, ears perking up at the faint roar of the crowd she could hear. "Yeah. Don't beat yourself up about it. You were amazing, shannaro."
"You think?"
"Absolutely." She leaned forwards, planting a kiss on his forehead, causing the boy to blush. "I think my match is starting soon, so I'll have to go back. I'll see you soon, Konohamaru-kun." Her eyes turned frosty as she made eye contact with the doctors surrounding them, all of them still surprised at the boy's lightning-fast recovery. "I'm trusting him to you." The assorted medical professionals gulped as they nodded, all of them picking up what that meant. Sakura nodded as well, satisfied, smiling at Konohamaru one last time before she stood and began walking out.
"Bye, Sakura-chan!"
Her expression twitched, before she steeled it into a mask of no emotion, and on top of that threw on her familiar wide, happy smile that didn't reach her eyes.
They'd made things personal. Now? It was time for the harvest.
Sakura's intuition had been right, the faint roar of the crowd that she'd heard had indeed signified the end of the fight between the irrelevant girl from Kumo and the irrelevant boy from Ame. She didn't know or care who had won, because it didn't matter - Shirotsuchi would beat them anyway. She'd better. Sakura could already barely hold herself back knowing that she'd eventually get the chance to fight her at the end of the Exams, and even she didn't know what she would do if that chance was stripped away from her by some worthless bug.
She heard the proctor call for her, and so stepped out into the battlefield, a smile plastered onto her face as usual, doing what she could to hide the anger she was feeling. She knew it was a bit of wasted effort considering her little outburst up in the stands, but keeping up appearances mattered regardless. She stepped onto the rapidly deteriorating arena ground to see K or whatever standing there waiting already, the boy's hand already on his weapon before the match even began. Her smile twisted into a cruel smirk for a moment despite herself, commending him mentally for having even a modicum of intelligence, before quickly returning to the placid grin it had been before. Neither her opponent nor the proctor were fooled at all, but they were the only ones who saw, so… whatever.
"Are you ready?" Manamaru asked nonetheless, knowing that this beast in a little girl's dress would be prepared to kill at a moment's notice anyway, but he too had to keep up appearances.
"Yep!" She chirped, giggling, and Manamaru nodded in assent, turning to K.
"And you?"
"I'm ready." He said, a hint of fear creeping into his voice, even as he clutched at his sheathed blade even harder and tried to steel himself.
"Right." Manamaru turned away, focusing on the crowd, before he paused, eyes flicking back to K, though he didn't turn his head. "Remember, you can forfeit at any time." K nodded, easily understanding the far from subtle hint, eyes remaining trained on the girl who seemed more concerned with the birds and clouds flying overhead than him.
Manamaru shifted. Whatever Konoha had done to this girl, it was definitely effective. She even unnerved him. He had no idea if her mental state was the point or a side effect, but it hardly mattered - it worked, and that's all there was to it. According to her file, this girl had been the former teammate of the current Hokage, before she basically disappeared from all records for three years, and then came back like… this. He'd almost assume that Orochimaru had done something to her, but that snake had been dead for the exact amount of time she'd been gone.
Then again… if no one had seen her either…
He shook his head, clearing his mind of the useless speculation. That could wait until later, when the old goat would ask him everything he knew about her. Knowing him, it'd be the second the Leaf delegation left the village. "The Chunin Exam finals, second round! The first match… begin!"
Both K and Sakura remained still, in a large contrast to pretty much every fight that had come before them. The pink-haired woman just looked at her opponent calmly, her smile growing wider and wider by the second, before a throaty noise escaped her, almost guffawing as she took her hands out of her pockets and splayed them to her sides, her palms facing up. K was waiting for the inevitable burst of impossible speed that he knew was coming and that he knew he couldn't dodge, but at least could counter, hoping that her own speed along with the strength of his iai draw would mean she'd split herself in two trying to attack.
But it never came.
K, and the entire arena alongside him, were shocked as they were bathed in blue light, as two huge cubes with sides as long as Sakura's torso appeared, one floating above each hand. In unison, countless cuts seemed to appear along them, before each of the massive cubes split with a metallic, almost digital sounding snap into an utterly uncountable number of tiny ones, each of these only being a cubic inch in size. The cubes floated around Sakura lazily, as she laughed, clasping her hands together. "Round two. Ninjutsu." She snapped her fingers, a portion of the cubes flying straight forwards like they were lasers straight at K, who finally decided to move. He watched in shock as they impacted where he had been standing, each tiny cube impacting with an explosion like a low-grade kibakufuda. Nothing impressive on its own, but given the sheer number? It was staggering.
K didn't stop dodging, running around the battlefield to avoid the cubes that seemed like they weren't even really trying to hit him, as there were only ever enough cubes being fired at once to force him to dodge, never enough to cut him off or pincer him. He considered the fact that perhaps this was as many as she could control at once, but as he spared a glance and saw her playing with a couple even as she forced him into this deadly dance, he knew that wasn't the case. He considered forfeiting then, but… He hadn't done anything yet, apart from dodge. When she hit him… that's when he'd forfeit. At that point it wouldn't be worth continuing.
His eyes widened, as he saw her slowly start sinking into the ground. Her cubes began to fire faster, K just barely able to keep up, though the increased speed meant he couldn't try to make his way over to her like he had been trying to before and stop her from doing whatever she was about to. Her smile only widened as she noticed him trying, raising her hand and waving as her head and fingers slipped into the ground and the last of her bullets fired, turning the already destroyed battlefield to a pockmarked, cratered mess.
K was left panting and sweating from the exertion of avoiding that unrelenting barrage, but he was also uninjured, and very much alive. It had been a lot to deal with, but if stuff like that was all she had, then he thought that he might actually have a chance here. The battlefield was left strangely quiet after Sakura went underground, but instead of panicking and trying to find her, K instead used the time to calm himself down, instead focusing on countering whatever it was she would try to do next. She was faster and stronger than he was, so if he tried to chase her he'd never win. She needed to come to him, open herself up - that'd be his chance. He let out a deep, shaky breath, sweat beginning to pool over his brow again. Was it getting hotter, or was he going crazy?
His head jerked downwards, seeing that the ground underneath him was beginning to glow red-hot. He dived to the side sharply, and not a second too soon either as a pillar of flame shot out of the ground where he had just been stood. He landed, but was only given a moment's reprieve before the fire shooting out from the first attack ceased, and the ground underneath him began to glow again, causing him to dive roughly away again. This repeated thrice more, before he finally managed to properly get his feet underneath him after a dive. This time, when the ground glowed, he leapt up into the air, smirking as he reasoned that she must've somehow been tracking where he was landing. If he was in the air, she wouldn't know where he was.
His eyes widened in shock as Sakura emerged from the rock, ripping upwards and through the earth much faster than she had sunk underneath it. She grasped his ankle as he was making his leap, and as K remembered his promise to himself and opened his mouth to forfeit, the Konoha shinobi swung him like a pendulum, the boy's back crashing into the ground so hard that the rock directly underneath cracked.
The boy let out a strangled gurgle, halfway between a gasp and a scream, as blood spurted from his mouth unbidden. The pain was more than he'd ever felt. It was almost unbearable, the intensity of it so great that for a moment, K forgot who he was, where he was, and even what he was doing, his entire world being consumed by pure agony. Because of that, he wasn't able to scream out the words that would have saved his life, and little did he know that that was his last chance.
Sakura swung him up and over her head, the boy falling like a meteor just as hard this time onto his front, shattering his nose and chipping his teeth, to say nothing of the inevitable concussion and other assorted internal damage that had been done. Sakura repeated swinging him like this over and over, before she grew bored of it, flinging the boy at one of the walls, K skipping off of the ground and tumbling end-over-end until he came to a natural stop. Although the throw hadn't been nearly as bad as the numerous slams into the ground, it also was far from tame, the jagged rocks and uneven earth breaking bones and tearing flesh as he passed over and through them.
Despite all of this, against all odds, the boy was still alive, twitching as he tried to get up, honestly surprising Sakura. She waltzed over to the kid, picking him up by his shirt collar, staring at his still defiant-yet-scared eyes as he tried to make words through his missing teeth and shattered jaw. Sakura smiled at the sight, the broken boy covered in blood impressing her with his conviction. His eyes are still alive. He's got guts. She turned with K in her hands still, so that she faced back towards the centre of the arena, before unceremoniously dropping him. For an instant, the boy thought that she was done with him, that she was going to let him live, but that hope was quickly shattered when she drove her fist into his stomach, knocking the wind as well as a good amount of blood out of him and sending him flying near to where they had started.
Sakura took her time approaching the still-alive boy, stopping near where he had landed, face-up and wheezing. A breathy, clicking sound began to emanate from him, before the boy choked out. "P-Pro-"
He was quickly silenced as Sakura stomped on his face, destroying his jaw even further. "Oi. Oi oi oi oi oi oi oi oi oi oi oi oi oi. No no no no no no no no no no no." Each word was accentuated with another stomp, Sakura growing faster and more manic with every moment. "Haven't you learned yet? You don't get a say in things. Only I do! Understand!?" She paused, before raising her foot up, looking at the blood and gore covering her sandal, and then down at the puddle of liquefied bone and brain where K's head had been. "Oh, I killed him by accident. I always forget how fragile they are…" She started to mutter to herself as she wandered off, not even waiting for the proctor to declare her the winner, leaving both him and the crowd in stunned silence.
"A shame, Raikage-dono. Seems like you won't be getting any promotions this year." Sasuke said coolly, his fingers laced in front of his mouth.
A frowned, having mentally taken note of everything that had just happened in that battle. "It's no big deal. I thought they were a promising team, but if all three of them died so easily, then clearly I was wrong." The information that K's managed to uncover about that girl's skills is likely more valuable than he ever would've been anyway, and he was the most talented of those three. It's not ideal, but I'll take this over nothing.
Onoki was silent, quietly ruminating as he watched Sakura's every move like a hawk. Sasuke eyed both his supposed peers, trying not to laugh at their reactions to her. Sakura was… a good deal more brutal than she had used to be, but it was the perfect thing for the mission he had given her, to the point where he wasn't sure if she was actually this unstable or if she was playing it up purely because everyone could see.
Actually, no, there's no way. Nii Yugito is actively scared of her. You don't get a jinchuuriki to behave like that by just acting. Sasuke frowned despite his good mood. He and Sakura hadn't had much of a chance to speak before she had left, at least just the two of them. He'd need to do that, make sure that at the very least if she was really this unstable that she wasn't a danger. He was certain that that wasn't a worry, but… he was Hokage now. He needed to be sure.
Kotaro stared at his older opponent, wary. Mitsuhide brushed his purple hair out of his eyes, staring scornfully at the shorter Hyuuga boy. No words were exchanged between the two, both entirely focused on beating the other and nothing else. The tension between them was unlike any match that had occurred before, and it gave off the impression and vibe that the two were here to settle a grudge match, despite them not truly ever meeting each other before today. The civilians were lapping it up, hooting and hollering in anticipation, while the shinobi could easily read what was really happening. Both boys were obviously extremely unsettled by the ways each of their teammates had been beaten by each of their other teammates, and it seemed like that was causing their tension to skyrocket. Of the two, the normally placid and calm Mitsuhide seemed the more incensed, though it took a trained eye and a deep knowledge of the boy's personality to see it.
It was obvious in the way he was tapping his foot, the way his mouth curled as he sneered, how he was so eager to fight that his fingers were already twitching as they itched to make handseals. In contrast, the Hyuuga looked much the same as he did before his first fight, the only sign of any strong emotion being a slight creasing around his eyes, and an ever-so-slightly more rigid stance. Manamaru sighed, as he raised his hand. Although he'd known there'd inevitably be some death when he had made the decision to make the third round a deathmatch, the entire point of his reasoning had been that it would teach the kids when they were outmatched and that retreating and living to fight another day was a better option than dying for nothing. He had a feeling that if not for that pink-haired one going first and setting a vicious standard like she had, then that would've sunk in, but it was too late now.
"Second round, second match. Begin!"
Mitsuhide's fingers hadn't been itching to make seals, like Kotaro thought. He didn't need them for something so simple. His hand slammed into the ground the moment the words left Manamaru's mouth, and before Kotaro even had a chance to even activate his Byakugan, tired as he already was, a pillar of earth erupted from the ground, hitting him square in the chest and sending him flying.
The Hyuuga genin landed with a heavy thud, groaning as he clutched at his bruised skin and cracked ribs, knowing that with that kind of damage, his hand speed would be reduced by half, if not more. Clearly this guy had an Earth nature, meaning that he had an advantage with his Lightning jutsu, but he was also better with ninjutsu with he was and probably had more chakra to boot, and that was also ignoring the fact that Mitsuhide was fresh while Kotaro had already fought and expended a lot of chakra today. Things were already not looking good.
He tried to sit up, but the bruising around his ribs was so painful he couldn't at first. He activated his Byakugan, allowing him to see Mitsuhide slowly walking up to him, taking his time. "I could've killed you just now." He said matter-of-factly. "If I'd made that a spear or a spike instead of a pillar, it'd have pierced right through you and torn you apart. If I had a bigger temper, I probably would've. But you're not even the one I'm angry at, and I'm not a murderer. I don't need to kill for no reason."
Despite himself, Kotaro grinned, showing that his teeth were marbled red with his blood. "Heh… And I guess… you're scared to see what… Sakura'd do to you next if you did kill me." Mitsuhide's eyes flashed with anger, rushing over and kicking Kotaro while he still lay on the ground, making him wheeze painfully and doubling him over as he was on his side.
"Don't push it! You know how lucky you are with me letting you live!? I could kill you right now!" Mitsuhide snarled back.
"Then do it! Do it! Prove you're not… fucking terrified of her!" Kotaro shouted back, getting characteristically heated. Mitsuhide growled, before pulling out a kunai, and going for Kotaro's neck. He stopped, inches away from the killing blow, as he felt someone's stare boring two holes into the back of his skull. He began to sweat, as his hand began to shake slightly, and a cold feeling of dread rose from the pit of his stomach, making him want to vomit. He pulled away from Kotaro's neck, and the feeling abated as she stopped staring. The Hyuuga boy on the ground smirked, satisfied. "I knew it… You talk a big game, but if you're so scared of her… how are you even going to fight her next round?"
Kotaro relaxed, knowing that while now technically he knew that it was impossible for him to lose given that his opponent didn't have the guts to try and kill him out of fear of Sakura, it was also pretty much impossible for him to win given his condition. He deactivated his Byakugan, grinning at Mitsuhide as he did. "I forfeit. Good luck… I hope she does her worst."
Shirotsuchi shook her head, unsettled by the ominous feeling she'd been getting from Haruno, and that threat the Hyuuga kid had given to Mitsuhide. In the next round, the two would fight… Currently, apart from the opponent in front of her right now, Haruno was the only one still in the tournament to have actually killed her opponents. All the others who had killed in the matches before this one had either been eliminated, or in Juzo's case, couldn't continue further. She wondered if there was any significance to that, even as she prepared to fight the last standing member of the Amegakure team. The other two had lost in the first round, so she didn't expect much from this one. Unlike the others from his team, he wasn't wearing a rebreather, though he did have one of those jumpsuits that most Rain ninja seemed to wear. He had purple hair of a lighter shade than Mitsuhide's, his being closer to Haruno's pink than Mitsu's deep violet, though still undeniably purple in colour. It was spiked up wildly in every direction around his head, almost covering his beady black eyes that stared at her hungrily.
She frowned. She didn't like this one much. She could see even from here the thick gel that was coating his scythe, although after seeing the last match she'd have known to avoid it anyway. Flesh-eating poison was nasty, especially when it was that fast acting. It'd taken half the Kumo girl's face off within a couple of minutes.
It was somewhat telling when that was only somewhere around the top 5 most disturbing things she'd seen today.
Still, if that match had been any indication, that was mostly all he had. This wouldn't be too hard if that were the case. "Ready?" Manamaru asked, the two of them nodding. "Then begin!"
Shiro charged forwards, diving under the scythe's blade and outside of Ren's effective range, the girl getting close enough that all he could do would be to whack her with the weapon's shaft. He didn't even get a chance to do that much however, as Shirotsuchi immediately jammed her tanto into his chest, or so she thought. Her eyes widened as she felt it catch on something, realising that he was wearing some sort of padding or armour under the jumpsuit, stopping her blade short of his heart. She flipped backwards as he swung at her as best he could, getting completely out of his range, but leaving her blade jammed into his chest armour.
He chose to charge this time, intent on taking the girl out before she had time to work out a new plan of attack. Shirotsuchi focused on dodging his wild swings, focused on exactly that, diving up and over Ren as she used his shoulders as a springboard. She strung through handseals as she flipped and flew through the air, spitting out a mouthful of mud at the boy who dove to the side to avoid it, before charging her again. She ducked and dodged out of the way again, spitting out more Mud Bullets as she did, but Ren seemed to be dodging them easily as he herded her back to where their fight had begun. Forced to be constantly on the move as she was, eventually, Shirotsuchi made a mistake, slipping on the residue of one of her own Mud Bullets. Ren grinned, seeing the chance he was waiting for come, and he swung his scythe viciously, bisecting the girl… only for her to splatter into mud as she fell, the sword in his chest also melting away.
"Wha-" Ren started to say before Shirotsuchi finished what her clone had started, rising from the mud where she had been hidden underground, stabbing Ren in the same place her clone had and this time reaching his heart. "When… did you…" The boy burbled, choking on his own blood, getting some on the girl's face. She felt pity at the pathetic sight, choosing to let the boy in on the mystery before he died.
"Before the match began. Took some advice from that Konoha kid." Ren's eyes widened with betrayal as he heard this, beginning to fall as the last of his strength left him.
"Fucking… bitch…"
"Winner, Shirotsuchi!"
With the second round now over, Jute having automatically progressed to the third once it was confirmed that Juzo's injuries were indeed too severe for him to fight, things quickly moved on to the third round, Manamaru resolving to finish these last three fights quickly rather than take any breaks and extend things. He just wanted to get this over with, and to get these Konoha brats out of his hair. That pink-haired one was a headache that he was not looking forward to inevitably having to deal with in the future.
Speaking of, Sakura stood in the now pretty much unrecognisable arena ground, smiling at Mitsuhide, who stared back at her impassively, anger brewing in his eyes. He didn't say anything to her, but she didn't expect him to with the little she knew about his personality, just chuckling to herself and looking down at her feet as she kicked at a few pebbles. "Ready…" Manamaru started, causing Mitsuhide to instantly lower down into a stance, though Sakura seemed not to even hear the proctor. "Begin!"
Sakura's head whipped up as she made eye contact with Mitsuhide again, eyes flashing and glinting as they reflected the light of the sun that was beginning to dip below the arena's high walls. Instantly, Mitsuhide stiffened, standing up straight as he tried to bring his hands together into the ram seal, but an unseen force seemed to be preventing him from doing so. His eyes glazed over and his hands flew to his throat, whatever that had been restraining him seemingly gone, as he began to grunt, with ever-increasing frequency and volume. Then, he began to tear and claw at his skin as if he was trying to desperately rip something off of him, though none that were watching could see what that was.
He began to scream, and in seconds, people began to see that he was clawing swathes of his own skin apart. His hands began to scratch at his face and eyes, while his already terror-filled screams raised in volume, becoming a bloodcurdling wail of utter horror as he screamed himself hoarse, and Sakura watched it all, her placid, horrible smile never once leaving her face. He fell onto his knees as his furious grating of his head became faster and more vicious, his voice reaching volumes and pitches that most people watching, even many of the experienced shinobi, had never heard coming from a single person before.
Eventually, after two agonizingly long minutes that had felt like hours, it stopped. Mitsuhide's voice faded, the boy having absolutely destroyed his throat and vocal cords with the force of his screaming, while his body flopped to the ground face up, arms lying lifelessly at his sides. He had gouged out his own eyes, and there were so many gashes and grooves on his face that it was pretty much unrecognisable. Manamaru could already tell that the boy was long gone, but given his job, he had to check - and so approached the body, placing two fingers to the neck and confirming that there was indeed no pulse. Likely the sheer terror from whatever horrific genjutsu that girl had inflicted - because what else could it have been that she'd done - had caused his heart to fail, or something like that; Manamaru was no expert on anatomy nor genjutsu, but he at least understood what it took to kill someone without even touching them.
"Round three, genjutsu." Sakura almost whispered, before stalking out of the battlefield like a spectre.
It was fun, trapping people in Delusions and letting their minds run wild with what they saw. Of course, she'd thrown in a little bit of… help, shall we say, to speed things along - otherwise that would've taken ages for him to die, plus he might even have broken out. Not like that would've mattered, though. She could've just put him in as many as needed for him to die. She smiled widely as she remembered his screams, the emotions that were held in them, and the way his fear caused him to try and remove his eyes so he couldn't see what was happening… Man, watching that had really brought her mood back up after the whole Konohamaru thing. Now she was definitely in the right frame of mind to play with Shiro in a bit. She felt divine right now.
She passed by Shiro and the other final fighter on their way down. She bit her lip, the anticipation growing and bubbling inside of her by the second.
She couldn't wait.
Shiro nodded at Jute, the two of them ready for the fight. They'd agreed to take things easy; Jute couldn't win, and most everyone watching knew that full well - Shirotsuchi was the Tsuchikage's second granddaughter, and she wasn't called the strongest genin in the village for nothing. Still, under normal circumstances, they would've had a normal fight, but… They both knew what was coming next. The monster, who had brutally killed both of her teammates like they were nothing… Jute knew that for her to even have a chance of fighting her, she needed to be in top condition. If she approached it like the Kumo nin that had beaten Jushi had, she might be able to do something. After all, so far, he had been the one that had done the best against Haruno and caused her to show off the most of her skills.
That being said… The two of them thought simultaneously, as the fight began, and they put on a show of having a back-and-forth taijutsu bout. That being said, one of the things that they had all taken into consideration was the blade she carried on her hip. Considering that they'd known pretty much nothing about her fighting style going into the finals, one of the ways that Makoto had trained to fight her was to counter the extra reach and danger posed by her wielding a sword, and yet Haruno hadn't even drawn the thing yet today. Shirotsuchi considered the possibility that she'd only been carting the thing around to throw people off, but… it didn't make much sense when she thought about it. The concept of that idea itself was sound, but considering how ridiculously far ahead she was from the rest of the pack, Shiro didn't think she'd carry around a weapon to throw them off when she really didn't need the advantage, which meant it was yet another thing she would have to keep track of in their fight.
Jute switched to earth jutsu that Shiro easily weaved through, avoiding retaliting with her own elemental techniques to save as much energy as possible. But yes, they would fight - she had been considering ignoring Kuro's warning and fighting before, but after what she had done to Mitsuhide… The way he died, it was just - She'd never seen him fazed, or scared, so for him to be in such terror… She couldn't imagine what she'd caused him to see, for it to be so bad that he'd clawed his own eyes out to try and get away from it, and for the vision to persist anyway. With a start, she realised something, the momentary hesitation that caused almost making her get hit by one of Jute's Needling Meteors, though she managed to twist out of the way at the last second, inadvertently making their little song-and-dance just that bit more convincing.
But she wasn't focused on that, only thinking back to that short but brutal encounter that had happened just before this one. Mitsuhide had raked his fingers all over his skin and clawed out his own eyes, something that would not only cause physical pain, but would be undeniably excruciating. Yet despite that, whatever genjutsu Haruno had used hadn't broken, or been dispelled, which meant one of two things - either she had access to some super-genjutsu that didn't follow the rules of normal genjutsu, or that she was simply so good with them that she could simply make them not follow those rules. Perhaps it was even both, but whichever it actually was didn't even matter - what did was that being caught in said genjutsu would almost certainly spell the end of the fight. Shiro thought back. Haruno hadn't used handseals - she didn't use them for anything, it seemed - but she had made eye contact with Mitsuhide right before… perhaps that was the key?
Shirotsuchi began to break through and dismantle Jute's defences, their planned fight reaching its final stages. If the requirement was for Haruno to look at her, that'd be impossible to avoid, but if they needed to make eye contact… She could avoid that. It couldn't be so easy to use, surely. After all, if it were, why hadn't she been using it all day? Perhaps it required all her concentration, or was pretty chakra intensive? After all, she hadn't moved at all when she used it. Despite her reasonable conclusions however, Shirotsuchi felt a feeling of dread growing in the pit of her stomach, as she thought about the most likely reason why it hadn't shown up before. It's probably just because she wanted to show off… And now that she wants to kill me, she's going to do it in the easiest way she can. Once again, the thought of following the advice she had been given crept up in her mind… But she quashed it down. She was no coward, and this, this thing, this murderer - she needed to be put down before she could hurt any more people.
Shinobi were meant to kill, sure. But not like this.
She placed her tanto to Jute's neck, causing the boy to raise his hands, surrendering. Shirotsuchi let out a sigh, the tension she was feeling only growing stronger rather than releasing. It was only a matter of time, now.
The arena was completely silent, as the two of them stared at each other. One was, despite her appearance and demeanour, a seasoned veteran and ruthless shinobi, who took pleasure in combat and bringing death and pain on those who she believed deserved it, while the other, while on the surface looking more stern and experienced if you were to ignore the fact that she was obviously younger, was incomparably less so, and only fought and killed to achieve whatever goal she had in mind, and for no other reason.
Sakura's mouth twitched in cruel amusement, as she imagined and predicted whatever melodramatic spiel must be flowing through Shirotsuchi-chan's mind as their fight was about to begin, knowing that the girl must be thinking that she was about to undertake the greatest challenge in her life, and maybe even some schlock about the two of them being opposites, or something suitably ridiculous and self-important. It was such a contrast to Sakura, who only knew Shiro's name because of who she was, rather than what. If not for her relation to Kurotsuchi, she doubted she would've even gotten mad after what she did to Konohamaru - she would've just killed her and ended things there. But no. She had a score to settle - and while this certainly wouldn't resolve that little issue, it would be a decent stopgap. It'd satisfy her.
For now.
Manamaru eyed the two, glad that the end was finally in sight. Onoki himself had spoken to him earlier, as they took a short, five minute recess before the final round. He knew that the moment Shirotsuchi even uttered a syllable towards forfeiting, he was to stop the match right then and there. He had thought she might do it before the match even began, but looking at the girl now… there was no way she would. The girl was far too brash - the fact that she was even considering fighting when she knew she was so utterly outclassed was a better argument for why she wasn't ready for promotion than he'd ever be able to articulate. He just hoped the girl saw sense before it was too late. HIs hands were tied if she didn't.
"Are the two of you ready?"
"I am." Shirotsuchi quietly intoned, all her focus on the enemy in front of her.
"Yeah, let's go!" Sakura chirped, clearly excited.
"Alright then." Manamaru rose to his full height, giving Shirotsuchi as much time to rethink her decision as he could as he wasted time posturing. "The Chunin Exams, final round! Haruno Sakura, of Konohagakure, facing Kamizuru Shirotsuchi, of Iwagakure…" He paused, one final time, closing his eyes when Shirotsuchi didn't take the chance. "Begin!"
Shirotsuchi was on the ground before she even knew what had happened. It had all happened so fast that whatever Haruno had done hadn't even begun to hurt yet, the woman in question straddling her at the waist as she smiled down at the girl. Shirotsuchi thought that she'd made a mistake. Now that she was here, and it was happening… her confidence was leaving, and she wanted out. She opened her mouth to forfeit, but as she did, blue chains emanated from one of Sakura's hands, wrapping tightly around her mouth and sealing it tightly shut, to the point where she couldn't get any sound out even if she screamed. Shiro's eyes went wide with fear, as Sakura's smile only grew, the Konoha shinobi looking like a child who had just gotten a new toy for their birthday as she stared down at the girl. "Okay, Shiro-chan. Let's have some fun."
(AN: Depiction of torture directly following this author's note. If you would rather skip it, move on to the next author's note.)
Shiro whimpered underneath the chains as Sakura sat her down, the pink-haired woman having created chairs for them both through earth manipulation. More chains appeared, tying Shirotsuchi down to the chair, as Sakura took her hand, tenderly grasping her index finger, before clasping the end of the iwa kunoichi's nail between her thumb and forefinger. "Okay, Shiro-chan! I'm gonna take the chains around your mouth off now. Don't talk yet though! I wanna play a game first." The words, while casual and friendly, were uttered with killing intent of such intensity emanating from Sakura that Shirotsuchi could do nothing but obey, and so when the chains left her mouth, she didn't instantly forfeit like she should have. Instead, she waited, letting Sakura go on with whatever she had planned.
She smiled, happy to see that things were going well so far. "Perfect. Now then, Shiro-chan, I've got a question for you!" She chirped happily, even as her eyes glimmered with a deep, dark light. "Which shinobi village is the strongest?"
Shiro blinked, confused. Was this… it? "Obviously, it's Iw-" Her words were cut off by her screams of pain as Sakura ripped her nail out of her finger. She continued screaming, shocked by the agony that she felt from such a minor injury, while Sakura calmly grasped the nail on her middle finger, her smile remaining on her face.
"Which shinobi village is the strongest?" She repeated, a twinkle in her eye as she asked the question.
With a start, Shirotsuchi realised that she could speak. She needed to get out of this as soon as possible. If Haruno wanted to waste her time with this, fine. She could use this chance to- She screamed again, louder this time, as Sakura tore her nail out again, moving on to her ring finger. She hadn't even said anything! Why did she-
"Which shinobi village is the strongest?"
Shirotsuchi stared at Haruno through the haze of pain, but those dead eyes and that unfeeling smile weren't going anywhere. She knew what answer she wanted, so… was it so bad if she just said it? It wouldn't make it true… "K-Konoha." Shiro managed to spit out, causing Sakura to smile a bit wider.
"Correct!" She exclaimed happily, before proceeding to rip off yet another nail, Shirotsuchi's screams filling the darkening sky again. "That wasn't so hard, was it? Okay, next question!" Sakura continued, ignoring screaming-turned-whimpers.
"Which shinobi village is the weakest?"
Rinka shifted uneasily as she watched the proceedings go on. This was no longer a fight - it was a torture session. Beside her, Onoki and Kurotsuchi's rage were building by the second, and even that bastard A and his entourage seemed uncomfortable. She wasn't exactly happy, either - she didn't really enjoy fighting or killing at the best of times. Watching Sakura throughout the day's events had already been hard enough, but this? This was too far. She couldn't even imagine - what had happened in Swamps to turn her into… this? She was nothing like the Sakura she had known, the Sakura that had saved her before.
And yet… She was, still. That first night after she had gotten back proved she was. She and Ami had slipped into the new group dynamic that had been building in the time they'd been away like they'd never even left, despite Sakura having never even met Tenten, Lee or Itachi before that day. She knew that the Sakura she loved, the one that was one of her best, closest friends was still there, so… Maybe… she'd always been this way. To her enemies. And she'd just never known.
Was she… okay with that? Could she live with that?
Rinka didn't know. But she thought that what was happening right now, at least, was enough. It had to stop. She opened her mouth to say as much, but… Sasuke glanced at her, through the corner of his eye. The two of them could read each other plain as day, and she instantly knew he was telling her not to protest. She glanced to Itachi in turn, hoping for support, but was disappointed, the man not even looking her way but almost imperceptibly shaking his head.
Feeling crushed, she looked back onto the action. It was at times like this that she remembered - she hadn't been born into shinobi life like they had been. In some ways, she was still a civilian, and always would be. There were some things she didn't understand about being a ninja still that she would simply have to accept, being the partner to the Hokage like she was. She couldn't publicly show weakness like this, she got that.
But that didn't mean she had to like it.
All of her nails had been removed. She'd had all of her phalanges shattered, and her metatarsals and metacarpals slowly destroyed as well, reducing her hands and feet to useless, floppy lumps of flesh. As Sakura racked up the internal damage she was doing, so too did she also increase the external injuries, shallowly cutting and burning Shirotsuchi's skin so as to cause as much pain as possible with as little damage as possible, because that was the entire point.
She had decided to take a decidedly heavy hand when she dealt with Konohamaru, so Sakura would do the opposite - show her what a relatively gentle touch could do, and how effective such a strategy could be. She was only teaching the girl, who at this point was doing nothing but pleading with Sakura when she wasn't too busy screaming, fully believing that even if she managed to get out the words to forfeit, it wouldn't stop the older woman from continuing. Sakura's smile was still plastered on her face, not once leaving in the thirty minutes this had been going on for. She lightly grasped Shiro's left wrist with both hands, causing the girl to pause for a moment, before panicking even harder, futilely struggling against her restraints as she did. Sakura watched her, bemused, before quietly speaking once she'd had enough.
"Who's the strongest ninja in the world, Shiro-chan?" She asked calmly.
"T-T-The Hokage!" Shirotsuchi sputtered out, closing her eyes and turning her head away, beyond fearful for the pain that she knew was coming.
"Very good!" Sakura praised, causing Shiro to cautiously turn back to face her when the broken wrist she was anticipating never happened. Sakura's amusement only grew as she noted the confusion on her face, the girl having already grown so accustomed to the pain that she wasn't sure what to do without it, which only meant that the Konoha kunoichi was doing an excellent job. "What's wrong, Shiro-chan? A little confused? Let me help you out." Sakura shattered the girl's wrist, taking care to be as rough as she could with it, breaking it in such a way that it would be almost impossible to heal without a re-break. The scream of pain made her squeal with delight, and she got ahead of herself, breaking Shirotsuchi's other wrist right then and there.
She clapped her hands like a toddler watching their favourite tv show, taking in the spectacle that she'd created with enthusiasm. "Oh look at how much fun we're having, Shiro-chan! If playing with you is this good, I think I might actually die from excitement when I finally get my hands on-"
Hinata
Suna
Oto
Kumo
Kiri
Ame
Iwa
Foreign scum
Naruto's killer
"-Kuro-chan!" She cried, beginning to feel all tingly inside. She'd have to watch herself - she was getting so excited that she'd rush things. She held her own hand back, shaking from anticipation, yet knowing that if she took her time, it would make things that much better. Shirotsuchi tried to call out to the proctor, one last time, but found that she couldn't even make the words. Her tongue felt numb in her mouth, and no matter how hard she tried, 'I forfeit' refused to come out of her throat. Sakura managed to keep her mania down, going back to the small, understated smile she had before, even as she giggled at Shiro, before muttering in hushed tones only she could hear. "If you're wondering why you can't make the words, don't worry. I put a little Delusion on you, just to make sure you don't end things early. Can't have the fun end now. It's only getting started, you know."
Shirotsuchi realised that there was nothing more that she could do. She wouldn't be able to avenge her team, or the other Iwa teams either. She likely wouldn't even be able to survive past today. She'd never become as strong as Kurotsuchi, or her grandfather. She'd never even amount to anything. She looked at Manamaru, trying to speak, but her lips wouldn't even make the right shapes for the proctor to lip-read, and he could do nothing but watch, lest he cause an international incident, though he hated himself for every second more he stood watching.
Regretting every decision that had brought her to this point, Shirotsuchi began to cry. Sakura laughed at her.
(AN: The depiction of torture has ended, though the aftermath will be described below. There will be another author's note for the end of that.)
"Oi. Say it."
Shirotsuchi looked up at her, with bleary eyes. Sakura nudged her with her foot again, knowing the girl probably couldn't move considering almost every bone from the neck down was shattered, but she'd left the ribs, spine and skull intact, so maybe she'd surprise her. She kicked the Iwa girl again. "Say it."
"You…" Sakura craned her neck to hear the wheezing voice of the girl that struggled to pass through the lips that were now pretty much nothing more than fluttering flaps of skin, just like the rest of her body that had been surgically sliced, flayed and burned to remove the topmost - and only the topmost - layer of skin, leaving it flowing in the gentle breeze. "You are…"
"Yes, Shiro-chan?"
"You are… my master. Everything I do… is for you, Haruno-sama. You are… everything… that I live for." Sakura glanced at the once vibrant eyes of the girl, that were now colder and deader than even hers were, knowing that she had meant every word she said.
"Perfect, Shiro-chan. You win the game!"
There was a pause, for a moment, before Shirotsuchi wheezed again from the ground. "Haruno-sama… It doesn't hurt anymore. Please… I want you to hurt me more. Please. Or… or if I've been good enough… Kill me. Please. I need you to do it, Haruno-sama…"
Sakura glanced at the pathetic creature for a moment, her bloodlust for once actually sated. She considered putting the thing out of its misery, but… She glanced over to the VIP box, locking eyes with Kurotsuchi. She could see every vein bulging out of her skin, how her fists were clenched so tightly she was threatening to break her own fingers, how she was grinding her teeth to nothing in her ungodly rage…
Sakura's smirk became filled with a cold, dark cruelty, as she knew what the option that would cause the most pain to Kurotsuchi was. She threw her hands up in the air, shrugging with a grin. "I forfeit."
The already deathly silent arena somehow grew even quieter, as everyone gathered there processed what they had just heard. Almost no one could believe it, and it showed - everyone was so still and quiet that you would've been able to hear a pin drop from the other side of Iwagakure.
"You… You forfeit?" Manamaru asked, incredulously.
"You heard me. Shirotsuchi wins." Have fun taking care of that thing, Kuro. Feeling that nothing more needed to be said, Sakura began to walk out of the arena, while Shirotsuchi began to spasm and panic on the floor, doing everything she could to try and follow her.
"Haruno-sama, wait! Please! Hurt me, kill me, do whatever you want with me! Please, Haruno-sama! Take me with you! I'll become a missing-nin, so please! Please! Don't leave me!"
(AN: All of the torture details and associated scenes are now finished.)
The four from Konoha were silent as they began their journey home, Sasuke having understood an hour into that that Sakura was truly in for the long haul and sent Ebisu home ahead of time with the two injured genin, along with the protective detail that had come with him, Rinka and Itachi to protect them on the way back to the village. Sasuke broke the silence first.
"Well, Sakura. That was definitely… something."
Sakura preened, glancing at Sasuke with sparkling eyes. "Did you like it? I put on a show, just like you wanted!"
Sasuke held her gaze, unsettled, but not showing it. "You certainly did."
Behind them, Rinka and Itachi shared a glance, all three of them already on the same wavelength. They needed to keep an eye on her, and put her on a tight leash besides.
Sakura had completely lost her mind, and they weren't sure if she was safe to keep around.
"...Damn." Was the first thing B said, what he had just watched enough to even stop him rhyming as the Kumo delegation made their way home.
"Now do you get it?" Yugito asked quietly, checking their backs every couple of seconds, making sure that she wasn't following them and looking for more blood. "Do you understand why I said we shouldn't go anywhere fucking near that thing?"
"I understand perfectly now, Yugito. You're right - as soon as we get back, remind me to update the Bingo Book. That girl is… she's not right. And if she truly has the Nine Tails, like you think… Damn. I might have to make her a flee-on-sight order. Damn!" A punched a tree as they passed by it, causing the trunk to groan and splinter before it fell. "Konoha's always got something up their fucking sleeve, no matter how dead in the water they look!"
Kurotsuchi looked at her cousin, sorrow filling her eyes as she watched the medic-nin work. They had said there wasn't any physical damage that couldn't be repaired, and though it would take a while, Shirotsuchi would make a complete physical recovery.
But that was the problem. Physical recovery.
No one knew whether they'd be able to bring her even remotely back to the person she was before the match, let alone heal her mind fully. They were saying that even if they had a Yamanaka to forcefully piece her psyche back together there was still a very high chance that nothing would come of it. That bitch had completely broken her - entirely beyond repair. And the worst thing was that she knew it too. She could've just killed Shiro - but no, she let her live, if you could even call what she was now living, just because she knew it would piss Kurotsuchi off more.
Well, it had worked. She'd never been close to this angry before.
Akatsuchi, now Shirotsuchi… How many careers did she need to end? How many lives was she going to ruin?
She'd had enough.
"Jiji." Kurotsuchi said, tearing her eyes away from her cousin and standing, turning around to face the grim-looking Tsuchikage, who looked up at her, wondering what she wanted. "Train me. From tomorrow. Teach me your Jinton, your floating, your fighting style… I want all of it! Make me the strongest that you possibly can!"
She clenched her fist, gritting her teeth as hellfire burned in her eyes. "And when we eventually catch that fucking monster… She's all mine! I want her head myself!"
Our hero, ladies and gents. Thanks for reading.