AN: Note that I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or any of the characters from either Anime. This work is a fanfiction written out of my love for the series and not in any attempt to make a profit.
Proofread by: Author
Well, as always, I surprise myself with these chapters I write. Who would have thought things would progress this way? I will admit, this story is close to an end, but you shouldn't worry, as the sequel will continue with the same schedule. I promise.
Chapter 118: First of many, a huge surprise
The very next day, Tsunade had come through and handed Sakura the written permission and order for Gai to teach them. Gai naturally hadn't been happy but agreed to teach them the way to unlocking their tenketsu, using the natural method, which was considered safe, and relatively risk-free. The actual name of the technique was known as the Calm Golden Path and was apparently originally practiced by Ninsō.
It turned out that the secret to unlocking your tenketsu was nothing more than discovering its location, focus on it, and will it open through meditation. It sounded so simple in theory, but there were many issues with it. First of all, the path to unlocking all three hundred and sixty-one tenketsu which Sakura and Heikō had decided to challenge, required extensive meditation to carefully explore their own chakra network and balance their mind, body, and spirit, to find the answer as to what tenketsu they should begin with.
This process supposedly took years for each and every tenketsu. A single mistake made in haste would forever close the path of unlocking the true potential of their chakra network, as there was no way to lock a tenketsu spiritually after it had been forced open. A mistake would forever affect any future tenketsu, as the flow of chakra would be altered with each opening of a tenketsu, which in turn would affect every single jutsu they performed. Once a mistake has been made, each tenketsu opened afterward would be harder to find, open, and use properly, as they would always be affected by the imbalance created by the earlier, improperly opened one.
The idea of only managing to open a single tenketsu every few years made the task taunting. Sakura and Heikō had very nearly decided to choose the path of the Eight Inner Gates, putting off learning it as they improved their body, but in the end, decided to challenge the harder path. It was true that taking risks was necessary, and choosing the path of unlocking the Eight Inner Gates would have been a high-risk, high-reward one, but there was no real reason to ruin their own potential in a mad rush for power. The potential of unlocking all of their tenketsu seemed far more profitable if they managed to pull it off. Considering the fact that there were two of them to think about it, and their chakra control could very well give them an advantage in undertaking such a challenge, something Sakura and Heikō managed to prove in just a week when both of them managed to unlock the first tenketsu in their own respective chakra networks.
Of course, before unlocking their first tenketsu point, a lot more things had happened in the week leading up to it. After two days of relaxing and recovering from having brought Tsunade back, as well as having endured the torture Sakura and Heikō had gone through, team seven was put back on doing missions together. While they were the usual, tedious and boring D-ranks, they were a good start for working on their team dynamic again after the Chūnin exams. All of them had changed and gone through their own challenges until now and they needed to re-learn how to work together properly. Fortunately, it didn't take them long to adjust, and soon enough, Kakashi was willing to take them out on another C-rank mission outside of the village, delivering scrolls with new orders to Shinobi stationed at the border between Yu no Kuni and Hi no Kuni. The mission itself was a walk in the park, almost literally, but while staying at an inn with an outdoor onsen, Sakura and Heikō took the opportunity while relaxing to just enjoy the warmth, the scenery, and the beautiful night-sky before meditating on it. For some reason, they found it harder to shut out their thoughts than previously, and their mind kept wandering to the beauty of the stars, despite their eyes being closed in concentration. Heikō was about to redirect their thoughts forcefully before Sakura decided they might just be better off allowing the thought to pass by naturally. Indulging the wandering thoughts for a moment, they almost missed the sudden, but the subtle feeling of something changing in their chakra. As they did and focused on it, it seemed to slip away, but letting up on their intent, and going back to thinking about the night sky, which made them relax brought it back. It was confusing, but intriguing all the same, and it wasn't until they found a balance between focusing on the warmth of the bath and the calm of the night sky, that the answer became apparent to them, and their first tenketsu opened up to them, marking the starting point of their Calm Golden Path.
It turned out that despite sharing a body and being nearly identical in mind at one point, their chakra networks were unique. Sakura's first opened tenketsu had been one located in her right thumb, while Heikō's first one had turned out to be one located in their heart. Or, as it was known to most, the Eight Inner Gate, the Gate of Death.
The feeling of opening their first tenketsu was as different as night and day. Sakura felt cold as if she had dunked her thumb into a vat of liquid nitrogen, while Heikō felt as if their chest had been flooded with lava. Yet, neither sensation was painful and quickly went away while their chakra systems rapidly adapted. It had only been one tenketsu, but the change it had brought was incredible. Sakura felt as if their chakra had become cleaner, easier to use, more refreshing, while Heikō felt their reserves expand, as the usually collecting in the gate of death was released, bursting through both of their chakra networks at previously unfelt speeds, yet without injuring them in the least. Their combined chakra reserves now felt like they had increased by half, and it felt amazing.
Opening their eyes, Sakura was surprised to see the water around them boiling, bubbles rapidly rising from the water coming into contact with their skin. Frowning, Sakura reigned in their chakra, preventing it from bursting out and going out of control as it had. It made them feel bloated as if their body contained more chakra than it should, but despite the water around them boiling, they didn't feel as if they were being cooked alive.
"I think there's still some of our chakra left in the water, protecting us. We should get out before it disappears." Heikō suggested, and Sakura agreed, stepping out of the water, the night air felt like ice against their skin in comparison, making them shudder and goosebumps to sprout all over their skin. As Sakura bent down to pick up the towel and wrap it around their body, some kind of commotion broke out, before their Sensei, Kakashi suddenly burst into the female baths, looking out of breath and panicked.
"Sakura, Heikō! Are you alright?" He demanded to know, only to realize that they indeed seemed to be alright, but incredibly indecent. Blushing hard, Sakura immediately covered herself, and Heikō took over with a furious expression.
"Kakashi Hentai!" She shouted, before throwing a right hook at him, keeping the towel covering her body with the left hand, while moving halfway to twice as fast as what Kakashi was used to. Kakashi, looking like a deer caught in the light of a lantern at the accusation, was sent flying by the chakra enhanced punch, producing an unpleasant sounding snap, before flying through the still open door he had come through, narrowly avoiding hitting any other customers or the other two members of team seven, before impacting the opposing wall, causing it to break down after stopping his flight. Kakashi was promptly buried underneath the collapsing wall.
Surprised, Naruto and Sasuke made the mistake of looking the way Kakashi had been launched from and saw Heikō, barely covering herself with a towel, while the air surrounding her looked as if it came from the hottest desert, about to ignite from the heat. The death glare Heikō gave them sparked their survival instincts and had them immediately leave by jumping through the wall their Sensei had flown through.
Gritting her teeth in annoyance, Heikō stomped up to the door and slammed it shut, before adjusting the towel around herself, to properly cover herself, and then finally sighed, giving Sakura back control. "I swear, if Sasuke was using his Sharingan, he better have the decency not to mention it, ever, or never think to remember it," Heikō grumbled in their mind, which made Sakura pale. She'd hate to think of anyone seeing her so indecent, unable to ever forget the sight.
Embarrassed and annoyed beyond belief, Sakura decided to get dressed, and then interrogate Kakashi about exactly what he had been thinking, rushing into the women's bath.
As it turns out, Sakura's and Heikō's chakra reserves, having suddenly increased by as much as they had, had been a cause for concern. A lot of suicide techniques apparently had a similar effect on sensors, or people keeping an eye on someone's chakra. Kakashi had barged in, not even thinking of where he was intruding, as he jumped in to save his student from a perceived danger.
Either way, while his concern had been sweet, it didn't excuse his actions. And apparently, neither did what Kakashi perceived to be a reckless project by Sakura and Heikō.
"I swear. I knew Tsunade had instructed Gai to teach you about the Eight Inner Gates but to think you two wouldn't be so foolish as to practice it in the public baths of an inn." Kakashi tried to admonish them, glaring at them, only for Sakura to meet his glare and cross her arms.
"We weren't practicing the Eight Inner Gates-" Sakura began, only for Kakashi to interrupt her.
"Weren't practicing the Inner Gates? Of course, you were, what else could that have been. I'm Gai's eternal rival, and I can open some of the gates myself. I know what opening the first gate feels like, so don't try and tell me you weren't!" Kakashi explained, glaring at them in disapproval and disappointment.
"Well, we weren't. Or we'd be dead now!" Heikō exclaimed, taking over. Although, due to their har not being braided at that moment, she couldn't flip it over to their left shoulder. "Gai refused to teach us the method of the Eight Inner Gates, but he let us learn about the Calm Golden Path instead." She explained, making Kakashi's eyebrows shoot up, and his glare disappear, replaced with a look of surprise.
"You mean, you chose the Golden Path?" He asked, sounding as if he didn't believe them.
"We did." Heikō Confirmed, before smirking. "And as you know, once one has chosen one path over the other, they can not change their mind." She reminded him, having concluded Kakashi knew about the Calm Golden path as well.
"That's true, but what I felt, that was one of the gates opening, I am certain. Are you telling me that-" Kakashi began, only for Heikō to interrupt with a big, proud smile.
"That my first tenketsu was one of the gates? Heck yeah!" Heikō confirmed proudly, chuckling. "And guess what, it also happens to be the gate of death!" Heikō bragged while Kakashi's eyes had gone wide from hearing the explanation of what had really happened.
"Um, I don't quite get it," Naruto complained, looking lost and confused, Sasuke managing to keep his own confusion secret behind an emotionless mask, while looking between Kakashi and Heikō, hoping for an explanation.
"Well... How to explain this… Sakura and Heikō have managed to do something incredible, and nearly impossible at the same time. As you might be aware, Shinobi, even well-trained ones, can't always use their full potential at all times. At most, they only ever manage to reach twenty percent of their full power. What Sakura and Heikō have managed, is to surpass their limits, increasing the threshold to thirty percent." Kakashi explained, sighing, as he realized that Naruto and Sasuke would begin pestering him about it.
"And the best part is, unlike those using the Inner Gates, the Golden Path allows us to keep it going, forever," Heikō added, smiling, while Kakashi paled in horror at the implications. Sakura's and Heikō's potential as a Shinobi had suddenly risen drastically, especially since they could potentially both unlock the Eight Inner Gates and more, using the Calm Golden Path.
AN: I originally didn't have any specific ideas as to what tenketsu would be the first to unlock for each of the Haruno sisters. So, I decided to randomize it. And as it just so happens, the very fitting place to begin, in the heart, also happens to be the tenketsu known as the Gate of Death. So, we got a sudden, very surprising burst of power, and a bit of comedy mixed in with Kakashi's concern for his students.
Oh, and yes. Sasuke did happen to have his Sharingan active. While he didn't see anything too bad, he can never forget seeing a powerful, almost naked female in his age group in what would be considered a very, very "thought-provoking" setting. It's a bit ironic because Sakura and Heikō aren't even crushing on him anymore, yet they're suddenly the picture of what he might consider an ideal partner for restoring his clan. The sudden bout of hormones that come with puberty certainly don't help in such a situation.
I suppose, with the permanent chakra boost, do Sakura and Heikō now have enough chakra for the Shadow Clone Technique? Yes, yes they do. It changes my plans concerning the technique, but in the long run, this works out a lot better I think. As such, I don't regret this development, even if it does feel rather Deus ex-Machina.
