Ok so here we are with another chapter
getting into some action here that I know some of you have been waiting for
sorry for the delay
I'm working on a bunch of different projects right now, some for work others for pleasure so it takes time for me to get chapters out
please comment, It really helps motivate me to write and continue
Sakura made her way out of the large house fairly easily, but she let Hira lead the way once they left the front gates of the estate. He walked to what she assumed were the training areas, as there were lots of young men and some women practicing around them. The onlooker's gazes drifted to them as they walked through the grounds. Some bowed as Hira walked by getting out of his way. Finally, they made their way to a fairly empty area of the training grounds, by now all eyes were on them. Hira called out to one of the ninjas standing around and he came forward.
"You will judge this match. We will fight till the other is incapacitated, unable to go on, or surrenders." Hira said with a smirk on his face, turning towards Sakura, "I assume that works for you."
"I am fine with any circumstances you would like to put on this match. In fact, you might want to add a few more so that it doesn't end so quickly. I could use only one arm if you would like me to." Sakura said nonchalantly
"I think you will be needing both your arms for this 'spar'. And I am truly looking forward to your attitude change after I put you in your place little girl." Hira said taking his place in the sparing area
"Brat" Sakura whispered to herself as she got into place. Stretching her arms way up in the air she could feel all the tense muscles loosening before resting her hands back on her hips. It had been a while since she had fought a Byakugan user. They had nearly 360 vision so generally speaking no surprise attacks, and they were stars at taijutsu; their gentle fist being one of the most powerful forms of the art. But she had studied with the best. When Lady Tsunade couldn't teach her she would join in with Team 9. Who better to learn taijutsu from than Guy Sensei, and even better she got to spar with Neji. To be fair she lost to him a lot in the beginning but as her training progressed she did her best to bridge the gap between the two of them and by the time she was a jonin she was winning almost half of their practices.
So the question of the day is how is this little punk going to hold up to one of the greatest prodigies the Hyuga clan ever produced. Sakura was interested in finding out.
The ninja Hira assigned as the referee raised his hand and then dropped it. Hira raced towards Sakura, the veins on the sides of his head bulged and the irises of his eyes became more pronounced. He began throwing these series of palm punches and Sakura began dodging. It was like a little dance the two of them were doing except one where no one was touching each other. Sakura for one was very disappointed. This was not even close to the level of Neji or Hinata.
The crowd could see the difference in skill as well. Sakura's movements were fluid and carefully timed yet not wasting any energy, whereas her partners looked rash and desperate in comparison to his anger and frustration building with every missed hit. A few of them had activated their Byakugan to watch the fight between the two youngsters. Those that did immediately began whispering to the others and soon all those that possessed the eyes had them trained on the little girl. They all had the same thoughts, her chakra channels were too large for her age, hell they were too large for an adult. And the amount of chakra held within them was also astounding, yet she controlled it perfectly. To the Hyugas watching, she looked like a monster in the form of a little girl.
"Come on! Stop avoiding my attacks and fight me!" Hira yelled at her
"Do you even know what the power of the Byakugan is? How to properly use it in battle? Because from what you have shown me here is that you have a very rudimentary ability in this."
"What do you know about our kekkei genkai you spy!" Hira spat at her, his breathing beginning to get a bit rapid.
"Well for one I know that a true master of your clan's ability should be able to block this." Sakura said, and with that, she disappeared from in front of him and from the sight of all those in the crowd. Some noticed the fleeting burst of chakra that went to her legs most missed her entirely. His radar sensed her, but by then it was too late. The back of her foot had already made contact with the middle of his back, sending him flying forward. Hira hit the ground hard, and had the wind seriously knocked out of him plus a few bruised vertebrae. "You are lucky we are not fighting for real, otherwise I would have taken that chance to break your back." Sakura said calmly, before crossing her arms waiting for Hira to stand back up again.
"How did you do that" Hira coughed out getting back into a stace, this time more on the defensive.
"Just because you have nearly 360 vision doesn't mean that you will be able to react to everything. There are ninja out there that are stronger than you and faster than you, and sometimes just sensing them is not enough to stop them."
"And you are saying you are one of these ninja?" Hira said trying to regain his breath in his defensive stance
Sakura smiled politely. "I told you you were going to lose this fight." Sakura said, "Now I am just thinking about how… you made such vague rules for how the fight would end. Incapacitated, unable to go on, or surrenders… Now it would probably be simpler to just knock you out, quick and simple. But you know what Hira, I really don't think you have learned anything from our little spar. So, here is what I am thinking. Break both of your legs and give you some time to think about your actions in a forced medical leave of absence. Don't worry they will be clean breaks, nice and easy to mend."
"You're crazy." Hira said, his byakugan still activated, but looking at her really for the first time.
"You started something, and I am finishing it. That is all that is going on here. To be perfectly honest, the one I feel bad for here is your mother. She just wanted a nice visit from her son, and instead, you caused trouble. Not really the actions befitting a clan heir." Sakura said, shaking her head, to be nice though in her mind she was just going to hit the fibula. So he should be able to walk around in crutches since it is the non-weight-bearing bone.
"You are not going to get past my defenses twice." Hira said chakra seeping out of him as he prepared for an onslaught
"Hira, you are so far out of your league that you can't even see what kind of position you are in." And with that Sakura put a burst of chakra into her legs and ran towards Hira. The world went into slow motion. Ducking under the one arm he had out in defense Sakura rounded a controlled kick straight to his right fibula. She could hear the break and weakened her kick even more, just enough to take him off of his feet. Then she bounced back to just out of arm's reach of the boy.
A singular cry went into the air as Hira's legs came out from under him and he fell to the ground. He grasped at his leg in pain and looked up at Sakura with what looked like a tinge of fear in his eyes.
"Oh get over it. Stop acting like you have never broken a bone before." Sakura said, "Now did I say one leg or both…" Sakura mused to herself tapping her very small finger on her chin.
"I.. I give up." Hira stuttered looking towards the referee, his Byakugan receding, "I.. I secede the fight."
"Oh come one now Hira where did all that confidence go? Plus now you're uneven. Don't you want it to be even..?"
Hira looked towards the referee. Who looked like a deer in the headlights. Unsure of what to do he opened his mouth and said, "I declare this match over. Hira Hyuga succeeded to Sakura Hanuro making her the winner of this spar."
Placing her hands on her hips Sakura looked down at Hira and took a step back. The tension that had been building up was slightly released in the air. A few of the older onlookers went forward to help Hira up. Wincing, he reluctantly took their help to stand on one leg.
"Sakura Haruno!" Shouted a familiar voice. There was a small yet quiet parting of the ninja that had encircled their battle.
She watched as Hira seemingly dropped his head in shame as others around them bowed deeply. Sakura slowly turned around to see a very clean-cut Hyuga with a blank expression on his face. Next to him was a very beaten-up Yawada. Holding what looked to be a pot of some sort.
"Ah! Yawada! So happy to see you back so soon. Unfortunately, I was distracted from paying my full attention to the patient and for that, I deeply apologize it was incredibly unprofessional of me." Sakura said, giving a bow in their direction.
"I think it is time you and I had a conversation." The clean-cut Hyuga said looking down on Sakura, from the way the others were prostrated in front of him Sakura could only guess that this was the head of the Hyuga clan. She gave a slight bow and proceeded to follow them through the crowd back to the main building.
It truly was built like a maze inside there were so many twists and turns, the only thing she could be certain of was that she was not going in the direction of her patient's room. Finally, they entered a medium-sized room with a floor table at the far end where the Huyga Head went to sit behind. Sakura could tell that every movement he made was precise and full of intention; it was almost ceremonial. So very Hyuga-like, Sakura thought to herself.
"So." The clan head started, "Yawada has collected the ingredients you need. How long until you think my wife will be better?"
Sakura looked back at Yawada for a moment before moving to the center of the room and sitting herself down properly in the center facing the head of the clan. "I would like to preface my answer with the fact that every patient is different and responds to medicine differently. But if I had to guess I would say somewhere between one to two weeks given that she already has a weaker constitution than a normal person. But she should be seeing good improvement in the coming 3-4 days." Sakura said, "I am guessing that what Yawada is holding is the ingredient that I asked for. I apologize that it put your men in danger. I am not aware of what clans are located where."
The Hyuga head raised his hand in a motion for her to stop speaking, "In the end that would not have changed the location of these trees, hence my men would have had to go there regardless."
"Yes, that is correct." Sakura said plainly, she was not going to make excuses for something that was not her fault, she was past those days.
"You may or may not have noticed but some of the other members of my clan have been afflicted with this disease."
"I have not seen many people of your clan, but I did notice some of the symptoms in one of the ninja you sent to pick me up."
"We have sent all of those that have symptoms to the medics for permanent observation. Do you think that you will be able to make a cure using what my men have gathered?"
"Well again I will have to look at how much they have gathered and the state that the rest of the patients are in. Do you know how many there are and their condition?"
"I will allow you access to that information as soon as we see an improvement in my wife, and that this is not just some snake oil sort of charlatan trick."
"I would have thought by the fact that your wife was awake would prove to you that I am no conjuror of cheap tricks. I am the best medic you will be able to find, but that doesn't mean that I have to put up with constant doubt and criticism, especially from people that called on me for help." Sakura said, crossing her arms.
After a moment of silence where the Head simply stared down at her, he spoke, "You have seemed to prove yourself and your worth very clearly. I only want to see that you professionally conclude your job here without any interruptions."
"I would say the only interruption that I have seen came from the provocations of your own son." Sakura said knowing that this was stepping over the line a bit
"Well, I hope that he learns a lesson from his humiliation. Though I wish it could have been avoided, a clan heir being beaten by a young girl is insulting to the Hyuga clan and he will be appropriately punished. But this is also the second altercation you have been a part of since you have arrived here. Do not think that I have not heard of your interactions with the kinochi during the treatment of my wife. I find this behavior to be completely unsuitable and unprofessional. I did not bring you into my clan to cause trouble."
"I will admit there were probably better ways to deal with the issue with your son. I could have ignored his insults and let you deal with him in your own fashion. But I do not think he would have learned any lesson from your punishment, as it doesn't seem as though it has done anything to correct his dangerous views of the world and himself. This is a world where people of all ages, sizes, and genders fight for their lives every single day. For your son to presume that he can beat someone simply because they look weak is a dangerous view that will get him killed. And please do not take these words to seem that I am lecturing you on this matter, I am sure that you already understand this fact, but it is something that your son seems to have a blind spot to. I was simply educating him to that point."
"It is not your place to be educating my son." The Hyuga clan leader said harshly to Sakura, "I brought you here for your medical expertise and nothing else."
Sakura sat firmly unaffected by the clan leader's harsh tone. But she understood his message and decided that it was better to end the discussion here rather than go back and forth just to end up in the same place. "Well then, I should probably get back to that then. I will go with Yawada to my room to see how much of the Myrrh he was able to collect and pair it with some of the medical herbs I brought with me to concoct a treatment."
The head nodded and Sakura stood from her position. She gave a slight polite bow before exiting the room. She let Yawada lead the way weaving their way through the confusing passageways till they finally reached her room. Once they were there Sakura went to her bag and began pulling out relevant herbs that she thought would pair well with boosting the efficiency and effectiveness of the Myrrh. When she had pulled out what she had wanted she turned around to see the pot opened and on the table. She walked up and looked inside it was almost filled to the top with the viscous myrrh. This is good, Sakura thought to herself. "This should be more than enough, if we reduce this with some of the herbs I have brought with me then there should be enough for at least 40 grown people. I will need access to a kitchen to chop and boil down some of the herbs into this mixture. And I will also need some containers. Small. Preferably glass for storing them in dosage sizes." Sakura said to Yawada showing him the size she needed. Taking one more look at the battered man she asked, "Would you like me to heal you up first? It shouldn't take too long."
"No, I will go and ask the medical tent and our craftsmen for what you need." And with that, he exited the room.
It didn't take long once she had the kitchen and the viles. The medical assistant that had been helping her came in and she showed him how to heat and mix the proper solutions to get the optimum result. It took most of the day but once she was satisfied with her first batch she brought the concoction over to the matriarch of the Hyuga clan. The door was already open and Sakura stood at the entrance for a moment looking at the picture in front of her. The little Hyuga heiress was still with her, although now she was sleeping by her side. The woman herself was half asleep, her eyes closed, hand brushing through her daughter's hair. Sakura felt bad interrupting the peaceful scene. It reminded her of a time long ago when her mother used to do the same to her before she even entered the ninja academy. Even though the memories were hazy, the warmth was still there. She didn't remember the last time she thought about her mother. It had been so long since she had lost her. But this little girl would not have to go through that pain, not yet at least.
Sakura lightly knocked on the side of the entrance. This woke the matriarch up from her half aware state and looked towards the entrance. "I am glad to see that you are not hurt Sakura. My son has a habit of trying to make a point of proving himself to be the best."
"It's because he is still young. And though I may not look like I can, I am a fairly skilled kunoichi as well as a medic. I think I held my own fairly well." Sakura said, pulling the vials of medicine out, "Here it is, you might want to drink it with some tea to get it down."
The medic nodded and left the room to get some fresh tea for the matriarch.
"You are young too, I have so many questions about how you have all of this knowledge. You are so skilled for your age and so composed. But there is also a sadness in your eyes, that I can see clearly. I see a similar sadness in those that have seen so many of their own fall on the battlefields."
"We all have our losses that weigh on us. I think that it is impossible to not have lost anyone at a certain point. Death is a part of life, especially in our line of business." Sakura spoke, watching as the woman drank the brown liquid finishing the dose. She made a brief face before handing the vial back to Sakura, she couldn't tell if the distaste was from the medicine or from what she had said.
"That is certainly a very sweet concoction you have there."
"Well, you should only have to take a few more doses of this before you are cured. Or at least that is the plan. Three doses of this every other day. We will see how you are feeling tomorrow and the day after and proceed from there." Sakura said, "How do your lungs and throat feel now?"
"Still a little raw but better than this morning. I think the tea and soup has helped." she said looking down at her little girl again patting her head lovingly.
"She seems like a very sweet little girl." Sakura said looking at the little one
"She is, I can already tell that she has a very sensitive heart. Too sensitive for these times. Soon she will have to grow up. Is it selfish that I don't want her too?" then the matriarch gave a slight laugh, "I don't think you are probably the right person to ask though. You have clearly had to grow up very quickly."
"Well in some regards yes," Sakura said thinking back to when she was young, "But I was lucky to have a relatively peaceful childhood… up until recently." Sakura added quickly remembering that to all of them she still looked like one, "But I am sure that as long as you do things with her at this age there will be enough memories to sustain her through the hard times ahead."
"Well that is certainly a nice hope" the Hyuga matriarch wistfully said.
It was then that the medical assistant came back with the tea and sat it next to the matriarch carefully handing her tea so as not to wake the little princess sleeping by her side.
"Well," Sakura said quietly, "I think it is about time that I tended to some of the other patients that are waiting for some treatment. I will see you tomorrow."
"I will be looking forward to it." the matriarch said resting back into her pillows, her eyes fluttering closed, holding her tea.
Silently Sakura stood and exited the room, the medic following her out. Once the door was closed and they were a few paces away Sakura turned to the medic, "So how many patients are we dealing with? I'm guessing that your clan head has deemed it appropriate for me to take a look at the rest of them now that his wife is on the mend and there is a cure readily available."
"There are 12 including one of the ninja that escorted you back from your village. 3 of them are children under the age of 10, the rest are in their 20's and 30's."
"Are any of them as bad off as your Lady was?" Sakura asked as she followed the medic to where she assumed the patients would be.
"No, none of them are nearly as bad as the Lady was. Some of them have had incredibly heavy breathing and fevers, but they were all relatively healthy in comparison to my lady who has been ill ever since the birth of her last child." the hyuga medic froze for a second and looked back at Sakura, "Could you do me a favor and not mention that last part, I'll be in a lot of trouble if that got out."
"Oh no worries on my end, I can pretend I never heard it." Sakura said with a reassuring smile.
The medic gave a slightly worried nod in response, and with that, they headed towards what Sakura assumed was the medical building.
"This is the healing house in our compound. There were not a whole lot of other options when it came to housing the sick with this disease so we sectioned off a large part of it for them to keep them away from the rest of the other patients. We have been lucky that there have been no large scale battles recently so other than minor injuries there haven't been that many patients." the medic said, leading Sakura to the area where the patients were.
Sakura didn't run into much trouble examining the patients. The other medics seemed to be fairly hesitant around her, not really being respectful, but at the same time not looking to help her much. But their hesitance around her changed to curiosity once she began to examine the patient's lungs with chakra. The first time her hands lit green there was a gasp between a few of the patients and staff. Sakura went to each of the patients to assess their lungs ignoring the murmurs and other looks from the people and ninja there. After her examination, she determined that though all of the children would just need the medicine for a few days as well as the diet of hearty soup and tea, there were three adults that would need a similar procedure as the head Lady of the Hyuga clan had.
Sakura prepped the rest of the medical people that were stationed in the area to aid her in the process. Most of them seemed as though they would be strong enough to hold down the sick individuals. The medics watched in amazement at the process. Every movement and order Sakura gave was given attention to. There was not an unused hand and Sakura worked throughout the day and into some part of the evening to clear the lungs of the three individuals. She only took a short break for lunch before heading back to the delicate work. By the time she was finished there seemed to be a new feeling of respect for her among the adults in the room, both the patients and the medics.
Sakura went back to her room that night tired and content. She had done a lot that day. She had come up with a new medicine that had not existed yet. And she had elicited the suffering of three individuals that had been having a rough go of it with little to no treatment and a high chance of not making it had she not been there. So all in all she was satisfied. All she hoped now was that the head was too. Because as nice as it was to be healing every day to some extent she missed her little hut and her garden. She missed the old villagers that used to come to see her to get rid of some of their aches and pains. But she also needed to get on with developing a plan to unite the ninja community, or at least change the events of history in a way that would make the transfer of power to the ninja villages more stable. And to make the relationships between the villages more peaceful. Perhaps something could start with the Hyuga. Creating a peace treaty with one of the major clans was a big accomplishment. If she was able to do that with some of the others then maybe she would be getting somewhere. And with that thought in mind, Sakura went into a rare dreamless sleep.
OK so a little shorter than my last chapter but still got a lot done
I know I know the fight with the little Hyuga heir was short, but she literally fought Kaguya and he is just a run of the mill Hyuga even if he is talented he's just not on her level, and for her to treat him as if he were would probably end with him dead
but any way PLEASE comment I love hearing ya'lls thoughts and opinions it really inspires me to write and keep the story going
And because this ch was so short here is a little spoiler: expect some Uchiha in the next chapter XD