Naruto
Future Paths
Chapter 01: Cherry Blossoms in the Wind
Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine (phooey!).
Spoiler Alert: Whilst I won't try and put spoilers in, the very nature of this fic will lend itself to potential spoilers so this is forewarning.
Rating Alert: Some of the situations in this fic will not be pleasant and whilst I have no intention of going into graphic detail I thought it best to give advance notice.
Sakura awoke with a start, sitting bolt upright and throwing the borrowed blankets off her upper body. It took her few moments to get her breathing and heart rate under control, but once she did, she wondered what it was that caused her to wake to suddenly. For better or worse Sakura was the sort of person who could never remember her dreams, so it was entirely possible that she had been having a nightmare, but normally in those cases her sheets got all tangled and soaked with sweat. Another possibility was that she had been woken by a particularly loud peal of thunder, for outside the cottage walls the storm still raged. Of course it could just be sleeping in unfamiliar surroundings, though that hadn't been a problem at Tsunami-san's house in the Wave Country.
Still since she was awake it was probably a good idea to take care of those nagging signals from her bladder. It wasn't urgent, but it would stop her from getting back to sleep anytime soon. So she pulled the blanket off her legs and rose to walk over to the door, moving with the silence that only a shinobi could, even one as inexperienced as she was. In the other room she snuck past Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi, stifling a giggle at the odd chorus their snores made, Naruto's open mouth muted buzz saw, Sasuke's a breathy hiss and Kakshi's muffled nasal whistling. What was really funny though was that their breathing had fallen into a rhythm making a very odd three part harmony.
That kept Sakura amused on her trip to the outhouse and back and it earned another smile as she slid open the door to the spare room where she was sleeping. The door slid shut with a faint click of wood on wood behind her and suddenly Sakura realised that though it was the same door she had exited through on her way out, the room she had just entered was not the same she had been sleeping in, seeming to stretch off into infinity in all directions. Sakura's first thought was that it was some form of genjutsu and opening the door again would break that sense of limitless expanse, but when she groped for the door behind her, all she encountered was thin air. She backed up several long steps that should have not only put her through the wall, but left her standing right on top of Naruto, but she still encountered nothing but emptiness.
It was then that she began to realise that infinite darkness wasn't quite as dark as she first thought. In the distance a singling pinprick of light appeared out of the blackness. It was soon joined by another, then a third, fourth and fifth. After ten appeared, they began popping up so fast that Sakura was unable to keep track of how many. In the space of just a few minutes the blackness was retreating rapidly under the light of millions of stars that stretched off into the distance, arching overhead and sweeping underfoot and giving off more light than the full moon.
Revealed in that light was the stooped and wrinkled form of Mai, still clutching her staff. Sakura couldn't be certain whether it was just a trick of the light or if she had actually changed clothes, but Mai's kimono and shawl were a glittering silver white and her white hair seemed to literally glow in the moonlight. Sakura approached the old woman cautiously, really wishing for her kunai holster or shuriken pouch, but they were back in the room where she had been sleeping and there seemed to be no way of getting to them.
"I'm not going to hurt you child," Mai said, a touch impatiently. "If I had wished you any ill will I just would have slipped something in your stew."
"Then what do you want?" Sakura asked, standing straighter, but still eyeing the old woman cautiously.
"I'm here to show you something. Your future."
"My future?" Sakura asked a little nonplussed.
"Your future," Mai confirmed. "What you see before you is no genjutsu, at least not as you'd understand it. Even Konoha's vaunted Sharingan and Byakugan can't tell this for anything other than reality nor any other skill possessed by ninjas that I know of. It is a place that is not a place and in a time that is not a time. From here it is possible to see all that has come before and what may lie ahead."
"Why are you showing me?" Sakura asked, perplexed.
"Not just you," Mai corrected. "Your team-mates as well, at least the boys. I did the same for Kakashi when he was a genin under the Fourth Hokage and I did the same for the Fourth and his team-mates when they were genin under the Sannin Jiriya, just as I did for the Sannin when they studied under Sarutobi, the Third Hokage. Among others," she added as an afterthought. "It is my gift, to be able to show others whom I judge worthy to see what may be. That you are under the tutelage of one who has already received my gift would be enough where there not other considerations."
"Kakashi-sensei did act like he knew you," Sakura noted.
Mai nodded. "Now, enough talk child. It is time for you to see what you can see, though a few words of warning first. What you see may be unpleasant so just remember what you see is not what will be, but what might be. Now look."
She pointed with her staff to some spot off in the distance at Sakura felt compelled to see where it pointed. What she saw was one of the multitude of stars, whose numbers were still growing, rushing towards her. Though she knew it came closer, Sakura could not tell how she knew, for it did not grow brighter, nor did it seem to grow larger. Then the glowing point of light smacked her right between the eyes and all Sakura could see was bright light and then nothing.
Konoha had fallen. The once proud Hidden Village of the Leaf was no more, its buildings flattened, its guardians annihilated and the civilian inhabitants systematically slaughtered. There could not be more than a handful of survivors who had fled when the destruction commenced, somehow managing to break through the lines of attacking Sound-nin with their lives, but no more than that. Those within the village's boundaries that still remained were shackled and guarded carefully, destined either to be executed or kept as slaves to be put to work in the Hidden Village of the Sound and many would consider the first a mercy.
The battle had not been without its cost for the Sound though. The Hyuuga, Head Clan and Branch Clan fully united had inflicted devastating casualties before falling and no one knew how many had fallen to the Proud Green Beast of the Lead and the Beautiful Blue Beast of the Leaf when they showed the true power of the Renge and opened the Gate of Death. The combined onslaught of the two remaining loyal Sannin even turned the tide of the battle, but only briefly for even united Jiriya and Tsunade were no match for the third of their number as he was. So they had died and the Leaf with them.
But a few of the Leaf-nin had been spared, though not out of any sort of compassion. Uzumaki Naruto, the vessel of Kyuubi had been subdued at high cost and spared as a peace offering to Akatsuki from Orochimaru while others had been spared on Orochimaru's orders for far less… pleasant reasons.
Sakura hung from chains in what used to be an ANBU incarceration facility wishing that she had died in the battle rather than face what she was certain was coming. Had she possessed the strength she would have found some way to kill herself their and then, possibly using the chains that secured her to the wall to strangle herself, but even if she wasn't so utterly exhausted one of the Sound's medic-nins had forced a vile concoction down her throat that had made all her muscles go completely slack, making her hang like a marionette with half its strings cut. Hanging next to her Ino was in much the same shape, drugged and motionless. The third prisoner was probably in even worse shape, for when they dragged Hinata in just over an hour ago her forearms and lower legs had been twisted and mangled possibly beyond repair and when she had been suspended from the chains around her wrists like Sakura and Ino she had quite quickly passed out from the pain.
In a way that was probably a blessing for the shy Hyuuga girl who was probably the head of her house by now. At least she had been spared the witnessing the spectacle of what came next. Mitarashi Anko had been dragged in, kicking and screaming and half delirious from fear. Orochimaru had been waiting for her and after a long winded speech about how she had betrayed him and how she deserved to be punished for it, he had handed her over to his four, or five depending on how you counted, Guardians of the Gate and left instructions that she was to be left alive and sane enough to regret her actions before Orochimaru delivered the her final punishment at his leisure.
Unable to look away as her head was pulled upright by a strap and unable to summon up enough control to close her eyes, Sakura was forced to look on as his subordinates had followed Orochimaru's orders with a sickening delight and Sakura knew that no matter how much she wanted to she would never be rid of the memories of what she had seen, or the sound of Anko's screams. What really sickened Sakura though was while what the men had done was bad enough the woman, Tayuya had been even worse and it was only Jirobu's reminder that Orochimaru wanted Anko alive that stopped her.
But the four Sound-nin had finished with their fun, at least for the moment, and Anko, barely alive by the looks of her, had been taken away. The straps binding Ino and Sakura's heads had also been cut, letting them flop forward, unable to get a clear view of anything. Footsteps echoed through the room and Sakura found herself looking at a pair of sandled feet. A strong hand gripped her chin and forced her to look up, unable to resist the inexorable pressure until she found herself looking into a face that was at once very familiar and very alien.
It was very familiar because the face bore the features of Uchiha Sasuke, Sakura's former team-mate and the object of her affection. She had engraved his features on her heart for years and knew them better than her own, which was why it was so frightening to see them so altered. Sasuke had never had skin that was so pasty white, almost like some lichen that grew in sunless caves, and he had never had two purple marks running from the corner of his eyes down the length of his nose, almost to his upper lip. And most certainly his eyes had never been slit pupiled yellow. The reason for all that though was because the mind staring out from behind those eyes was that of Uchiha Sasuke but of Orochimaru. The rouge Sannin had finally gotten his wish and possessed the body of an Uchiha, granting him the power of the Sharingan.
"So you're Sakura," Orochimaru said in his hideous parody of Sasuke's voice. "Not much to look at but your precious Sasuke-kun's memories tell me that you have something of a talent for genjutsu."
Sakura tried to reply to that, but all that came out was a helpless gurgle that made Orochimaru smirk. He let go of her chin and let her head fall painfully forward and out of the corner of her eye Sakura could see that he stood in front of Ino. "And you're Ino. You and your father gave us some serious trouble girl with those mind-control jutsus. Fortunately he's dead, but I've got an idea to keep you around to see if the talent for that breeds true."
There was another pause and the sound of more footsteps. "And the heir to the precious Hyuuga. Konoha's strongest! Well I've a mind to see what happens when the Sharingan and Byakugan are recombined, so count yourself lucky otherwise I would have killed you outright for all the slights your family dealt me while I lived here." There was yet another pause and then, "Bah! She's unconscious! Well, time for that later."
He moved to stand in front of Sakura again. "For now," he said, forcing her to look upward, "you'll do."
He grinned widely and suddenly a snake came shooting out of his mouth, wrapping around Sakura's neck and constricting, but not cutting off her air supply while still keeping her head upright. At the same time Orochimaru's hands tore the shredded remnants of her clothing of her body while he pushed up against her. Sakura fought back tears as his hands roamed over her body and then….
She was back in the star studded void once again, having fallen to her knees, hands braced on whatever surface it was that supported her and her breath coming in great, ragged gasps.
"A bad vision?" Mai asked gently to which Sakura only nodded, still not able to speak. "It happens," Mai noted. "Just remember, the future is not locked in stone and can always be changed."
That helped, but it still took Sakura a long time to regain some sort of emotional equilibrium. Still kneeling, she looked up at Mai. "Is that it?" she asked.
"Hardly child," Mai scoffed. "As I said there a myriad of possibilities and while I can not show everyone, I would be doing a very poor job of this if I showed just a single one. Are you ready?"
Sakura nodded, just a tad uncertainly and Mai pointed again. Once again Sakura felt her gaze drawn to where the staff pointed. Just like the first time a star seemed to rushing towards Sakura, though it grew no larger and no brighter. The shock of it sticking her right between the eyes was a little less this time, possibly because she was ready for it, but it still didn't stop her vision from whiting out and fading to blackness.
It was a soft gentle rain that fell upon Konoha and more than one person commented on how it seemed like the heavens themselves were weeping for the fallen. Rain or no, the funeral was held outdoors, though as a concession to the weather a heavy shade cloth had been erected to keep the rain off the mourners. After the service itself was over the two heavy urns bearing the ashes would be taken and sealed within the shrine under Hokage Mountain, the final resting place for all shinobi who died in service of the village and who had no one to claim their earthly remains.
Sakura stood at the forefront of the larger group of mourners, her eyes downcast and her face blank. No matter how much she tried, she could not erase those final horrifying minutes from her mind. It came upon her when she least expected it, haunting her dreams and her waking hours. Now, at the funeral she could not escape it and it played over and over in her mind and it was only made worse by how utterly alone she felt. For all that she was surrounded by other mourners; they might as well have been on the moon or another planet. It was nothing overt, but there was a distinct sense of separation between her and the other black clad mourners.
What hurt even worse were the whispers. They thought she couldn't hear them, but she did and even here at the funeral it didn't stop. It didn't matter though; she knew them all by heart. It was her fault that they were dead, if she wasn't so weak and useless they wouldn't have died protecting her, she was a worthless failure and thanks to her two of the most promising of the Leaf's young ninja were dead. It all amounted to the same thing though. It was her fault and many around her wished that she had died with her team-mates and with no one to turn to there were times that Sakura felt the same way. Her parents had tried but not being ninja themselves they couldn't truly understand, Kakashi was to withdrawn in his own grief and Ino was longer even talking to her.
Finally the priest stopped talking and stepped back to allow the assembled mourners to pay their respects individually in front of each urn. The line was longer by far for the urn that was fronted by the black silk swathed slightly out of date photo of Uchiha Sasuke. Many there had barely known him, if it all, but they had had friends amongst the Uchiha Clan before the night that Uchiha Itachi had massacred all but Sasuke and they didn't mourn him so much as they mourned the passing of the Uchiha Clan. Sakura let them pass her, unresisting and the most attention any of them payed the pink haired girl was to pointedly ignore her.
The line of mourners at the urn that held Naruto's ashes was much shorter for in truth many could not forget that he was the vessel of the youkai that had nearly destroyed the village all those years ago. What it lacked in size it more than made up for in notable members. Everyone recognised the face of Konohamaru, the Third's grandson who had made a name for himself as the village's resident prankster once Naruto had graduated from the Academy. Also there was Iruka, for it was no secret that he was something of a surrogate father figure to Naruto. One of the ones who really stood out was Jiriya, one of the Sannin and self styled Hermit of Toad Mountain for few knew that he had served as Naruto's mentor for a time. Even more noticeable was Tsunade one hand clutching at the necklace that until recently had hung around Naruto's neck until her knuckles turned white, attended closely by her omnipresent aide/apprentice Shizune.
They were not the only ones either, for the small crowd included several members of the so called 'Rookie Nine,' including Inuzuka Kiba, accompanied as always by his canine partner Akamaru and Hyuuga Hinata who stood close by the side of her cousin Hyuuga Neji. Eventually Neji stepped forward to pay his respects, but Hinata hung back until he was finished, his face even more inscrutable than it had been before and his white eyes betraying nothing of what he felt. Hinata knelt before the table upon which the urn for several minutes, her lips moving but no sound reaching anyone else's ears, save perhaps Akamaru's.
When at last she rose, she turned to go, but as she turned her eyes swept the crowd of mourners still gathered in front of Sasuke's picture and she caught sight of a shock of pink hair. Even those who were present could scarcely believe the change that came over the heir of the Hyuuga at that moment. In the moment between one heartbeat and the next her Byakugan activated and she was charging at Sakura with a wordless scram of pain and anguish. She brushed aside those in her way like gnats and before anyone could react she was on the other kunoichi.
"It's your fault!" Hinata screamed as she hit Sakura in the stomach. It wasn't that hard a blow, but with the Jyuken it didn't have to be. Pain blossomed in Sakura's abdomen as another blow caught her in the chest, right over the heart as Hinata yelled, "If it wasn't for you he'd still be alive!"
It was then that Sakura felt a sharp pain blossom in her chest and the world started to go dark as Tsunade and Neji wrestled Hinata off her. The last thing that Sakura was aware of was Hinata collapsing in Tsunade's arms and weeping. The thought flickered through her mind that she probably deserved what Hinata did before the darkness claimer her once and for all and….
She woke up once again in the star strewn void, this time flat on her back and Mai standing over her. "Are you all right child?" the old woman asked, frowning, though it was hard to tell considering how many wrinkles lined her face.
Sakura just stared upwards for nearly a minute before say, "Are all my futures going to suck?"
Mai cocked one bushy eyebrow. "Two bad visions in a row? That is a stroke of bad luck. Still I've yet to meet anyone who never saw anything good in their future, even that brat Orochimaru, so how but we try for something a little less unpleasant this time around. When you're ready of course."
Sakura just got to her feet, a little unsteadily and nodded. For the third time Mai pointed her staff and for a third time Sakura's gaze was drawn to where it pointed. For a third time one of the stars in the distance raced towards her and this time Sakura didn't even flinch as it struck her right between the eyes. Whiteness once again engulfed her and faded to black.
Sakura sighed as she lowered herself into the almost scalding hot water of the onsen, wincing a little as she put a bit too much weight on her bad hip before settling into a comfortable position and letting the hot waters soak at all the aches and pains. She simply lay there for who knew how long, luxuriating in the heat of the faintly mineral scented waters, the rest of the world fading away into the steam as she let her mind wander.
In many ways she was a fortunate woman, she mused. Despite suffering a near crippling hip injury not long after finally making chunin, she had not been forced to retire like so many others would have in her position. She was still counted as one of Konoha's top theoretical shinobi and that landed her a position as a teacher at the Academy where having to use a cane to walk any sort of distance was only a minor hindrance. That still hadn't been enough for Sakura for in their years of their association some of Naruto's ambition must have rubbed off on her and she was no longer content to end out her days as just a teacher at the Academy.
So in her spare time she had collected every scroll and book ever written about genjutsu and studied them with a fervour. She had even gone so far as to have Naruto sneak the Scroll of Seals away from Tsunade so that she could make copies of all the genjutsu that it contained. They had actually pulled that one off without anyone ever suspecting, which is more than could be said of the other time that Naruto had purloined the scroll. So every waking moment that wasn't dedicated to her duties at the Academy was spent in the study and practice of what she learnt on those scrolls. She kept those studies secret from everyone save Naruto and she had only let him in on the secret because she needed his help in getting the Scroll of Seals.
When she finally unveiled the knowledge to the entire village they had been stunned to say the least, and not just for her genjutsu skills but also that she discovered the trick of forming seals with one hand, all untaught.. The looks on their faces had been worth all the effort and sleepless nights and the look of pride on the faces of her former team-mates had been the sweetest reward of all. When all the commotion died down she had been invited into the Hokage's office and offered the rank of special jounin and a transfer to ANBU's Torture and Interrogation squad. She had been a little uncertain about the transfer but as Tsunade had explained her bad hip would prevent her from taking a field role ever again and the only other place she would ever be able to make full use of her skill in genjutsu would be in ANBU, so Sakura had accepted. It turned out that she needn't have worried for someone as adept at genjutsu as she was rarely, if ever, had to take part in the physical torture sessions. In fact ANBU policy preferred the use of genjutsu and deception in interrogation as it meant that the subject was far less likely to realise that they had revealed important information.
Sakura's musing was interrupted by the sound of someone else sliding into the water. It was a public onsen so Sakura wasn't exactly put out by the arrival of someone else, but she wondered who it could be at this late hour. Looking up she was surprised to see Tenten, the weapon specialist sliding into the water with a grace that all taijutsu specialists, armed or unarmed, seemed to pick up in time. "Sakura-san," she said, acknowledging the other woman's gaze as she settled herself.
"Tenten," Sakura said, nodding. "What brings you to the onsen so late?"
Tenten sighed. "It was a long day I thought I deserved to treat myself. After a day out training in the snow I needed to soak some heat into my bones."
Sakura nodded. It was one of the reasons she came to the onsen so often in the winter, for the cold made her hip ache fiercely. "So how are those three genin you're in charge of doing?"
Tenten sighed again. "They were the reason it was such a long day." She pulled one lock of chestnut hair that was liberally sprinkled with grey forward. "I swear its having to try and teach not one but three Inuzukas at once is responsible for half these grey hairs."
Sakura chuckled at that. The stories she had heard from Kurenai about Kiba had been bad enough and she shuddered to think of what Tenten was going through with three members of the Inuzuka clan. Before either woman could say anything more on the matter though they were interrupted by the sounds of a tiny pair of bare feet slapping on wet stones and a voice calling out in a childish soprano, "Obasan! Obasan!"
Coming right behind the voice was the owner of the voice, Sakura's granddaughter Uchiha Miyabi, running into the bath room. She was so excited that she didn't notice where the floor ended and the water began until it was almost too late. She skidded to a halt right on the water's edge, her little arms windmilling wildly in an effort to stay dry. It was almost in vain, but she was close enough for Sakura to reach out and lend a steadying hand. Safe from a drenching she stood back and gave her grandmother gap toothed grin.
"Shouldn't you be in bed young lady?" Sakura asked in her best stern grandmother voice.
"Nuh-unh!" Miyabi replied with a vigorous shake of her head. "Papa said I could stay up late 'cause it's a special day."
"And what's so special about it?" Sakura asked.
"This!" Miyabi said proudly activating her Sharingan. Miyabi was not just the darling of her family because she was too cute for her own good, but because when she was born her Sharingan had already been active, though only a single dot had whirled around her pupils. Now that she looked closely Sakura could see that a second dot had joined the first in left eye.
Sakura smiled proudly. "That's very good Miyabi, pretty soon your eyes will be like your Mama's, but did you come all the way here just to tell me that?"
Miyabi blinked in confusion, her eyes going back to their normal black and then shook her head. "Mama said that I should come to the onsen to tell you that Ojisan is back early.
Sakura's eyes widened and she pulled herself out of the water, one hand grabbing for her cane. "Sorry about this," she said to Tenten, but the weapon specialist just waved it off.
"It's all right," she said. "We can catch up some other time."
Sakura nodded and limped as fast as she could to the changing room, not even bothering to dry off as it was a simple matter to mould her chakra to cause all the water to run off her body, leaving her dry. It was a simple variant of the water walking exercise and one that almost every shinobi picked up sooner or later. Getting dressed was a somewhat lengthier matter but Sakura managed, mostly by dint of long practise. After that it was a simple matter of limping after Miyabi as fast as she could back to the place she called home.
Gathered in front of her house were her children, all five of them. Sora, the eldest who also happened to be Miyabi's mother, Maaya the next eldest, Mariko, Tsutako and Yuki, the youngest and smallest even after he had reached his full height and the only boy. Sora and Mariko also had their husbands their as well, Shuichi and Kaneda. Rounding out the gathering were some of Sakura's older grandchildren, including Miyabi's elder brother Akito. All of them clustered around blocked the view of the person Sakura wanted to see the most, but as they noticed her approach they seemed to melt away.
Sakura was still half a block away from the threshold when she found herself swept up in a kiss that was passionate enough to take her breath, even after so many years. "I missed you," she said, reaching up to place one hand on her husband's cheek while her eyes noted the new grey hairs that had appeared in his absence.
"I missed you too," Sasuke murmered back.
"How about the next time Naruto wants you to go on these long missions we tell him where he can shove it, Hokage or no."
Sasuke just grinned at that but made no reply, which was perhaps the wiser course of action. "In the mean time," he suggested, changing the topic, "I believe that you and I have some catching up to do." He kissed her once again, lifting her right of her feet as he did so and this time the kiss was a promise of things that were to come in the very near future. Cheered on by catcalls from their children and some of the neighbours who had turned out to see what the commotion was about, Sasuke carried Sakura to their doorstep and across the threshold, using his feet to firmly close the door behind him.
The transition out of this vision was a lot smoother, though Sakura wasn't sure if it was because of the nature of the vision's end or simply because she was getting used to it. All she knew for certain that when she became the star strewn emptiness where Mai had brought her she had a silly grin on her face and a blush on her cheeks that could have fried an egg at fifty paces.
"This was more… satisfactory?" Mai asked, her appearance outwardly grave and serious but the grin was audible in her voice.
"Oh yeah," Sakura said, nodding. "Very… satisfactory." She rubbed at her hip in remembered pain. "A few drawbacks but the perks definitely out weigh them. Though you couldn't have let it go on a bit later?"
Mai cackled at that. "Patience child," she chided Sakura. "Your time will come and there's no reed to rush things." She paused and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Now I think one more vision that we should call it a night. You're not the only one I have to see, after all. Are you ready?"
Sakura nodded rather emphatically.
"Then take one more look at what the future may hold."
For the fourth and final time Mai pointed her staff and Sakura didn't even try to fight it as her gaze was drawn in the direction it pointed. The star that it summoned forth seemed to move faster than the others, screaming towards Sakura like the proverbial bat out of hell and just before it hit, Sakura felt a slight tingling sensation, not unlike pins and needles wash over her. She gasped in surprise as the whiteness engulfed her once more and faded to black.
Sakura felt a rush of pride as she looked over village. She didn't have the telescopic vision of a Hyuuga to pick out the details, but she could guess at them, even from a distance. Runners were constantly coming and going from the Hokage's office, racing through the streets and over the rooftops in an effort to convey the last minute orders and messages where they needed to be. It was a credit to the fact that they were so well trained that there weren't any collision, though there were several close calls, especially close to the Hokage's office where runners coming literally raced each other to get more favourable positions in the queue.
Elsewhere other residents of the village, ninja and civilian alike raced about making last minute additions and adjustments that adorned every building in the village to impress the foreign dignitaries. It made for a rather eye catching display, though not always a harmonious one for not everyone bothered to consult with their neighbours about what they were doing, resulting in some rather jarring clashes. Even the stuffy and uptight Hyuuga had even deigned to join in the decorating spree, though there subdued displays had nothing on some of the other displays like the wild riot of reds, yellows and golds that adorned the Inuzuka compound.
Truth be told Sakura was glad to be well out of it. She more than enough displays of one-upmanship from her team-mates to last her several lifetimes and you couldn't pay her to put up with the stress that some of the people were putting themselves through. The medic-nins and civilian chemists in the village had been handout antacid like it was water, but it was still pretty much guaranteed that there would be ulcers before the entire thing was over. Where it not for the fact that she was too good a medic and too skilled with regenerative jutus Tsunade would have been prime candidate for one for the responsibility for organising the upcoming celebration was her responsibility and not one that could be taken lightly. It was hardly everyday that the Mizukage, the Kazekage, the Tsuchikage, the Raikage, the leaders of all the other minor Hidden Villages, the Great Lords of Fire, Thunder, Earth, Water and Wind and representatives and leaders from all the minor nations descended on Konoha. Rumour had it whoever the head of ANBU was, a secret was that kept even from the Hokage, would eventually reveal themselves by having a heart attack brought on by the stress of managing the security details.
Sakura wasn't the only one staying out of it though and the two others stood to either side of her atop Hokage Mountain and to those who knew them well enough it was quite plain that they were as pleased as Sakura was to be avoiding the barely controlled chaos below. To her left Sasuke stood, apparently cold and aloof but tiny signs in his stance and on his face as he looked at those below them quite clearly said how glad he was that he was not among their number. On the other hand, to Sakura's right Naruto seemed to be taking an almost perverse glee in watching everyone race around in a state of near panic. He even made wagers on the likelihood of a collision between the message runners, wagers that his team-mates refused to take.
After a time the commotion, at least in the immediate vicinity subsided at everyone made their way to the arena where the opening stages of the festivities were to begin. That was also to the three team-mates for make their own way to the arena to fulfil their own parts in the ceremony. By Tsunade's direct order they were to make their entrance as impressive and memorable as possible and they had pondered long and hard how to do that. They had finally come to an agreement, but they were keeping it a secret from even Tsunade until they unveiled it at the ceremony, which was in less than a quarter of an hour.
They all looked at each other and nodded in unison, preparing themselves for what was to come.
Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed as waves of opal fire washed outwards from a point on his neck to cover his body, his Sharingan activating as he opened his eyes again. No one was exactly sure how it had been done, but Orochimaru's curse seal had been transmuted into something else, more benevolent but no less powerful for that.
On Sakura's other side formed a completion seal and concentrated momentarily before he was suddenly surrounded by a corona of burning red chakra, unleashing the power of Kyuubi, though in truth it was only a fraction for he had learned far greater control than when Jiriya had first taught him to consciously summon the power. Controlled by the seals placed by the Fourth Hokage and tamed by Naruto's will, the great youkai was his to command.
Sakura took a moment to check that her tonfa were secured at her hips and then narrowed her concentration down to a circle of green tattoos over her heart. With a single mental commanded she awoke the seals they represented from their dormant state and gasped as the now familiar rush of power flooded through her body, verdant green markings writhing as they stretched and grew to cover all but the palms of her hands and the soles of her feet. Though she could only glimpse them out of the corners of her eyes Sakura knew that every so often flickering green flamelets would seem to come away from her body, almost on life she on fire while the power rushing though her even caused her hair to stir, though there was only a faint hint of a breeze.
"Shall we go show what Konoha can do gentlemen?" Sakura asked, her eyes dancing as they focused on the distant arena.
Sasuke just smiled tightly while Naruto gave a feral chuckle. "Let's give that dried up old stick of a Mizukage a memory that he'll carry to his deathbed whether he wants to or not," he suggested.
Sakura barked a short laugh at that and then they were off to show their guests just what Konoha's finest were capable of.
When Sakura came back to herself she was still tingling with the rush of power she had experienced in the vision. Never in her wildest dreams had she ever dreamt that such an awesome force would be hers to command and its effects, even if only remembered from a vision were intoxicating.
Mai smiled as she watched Sakura stare at her hands, as if in disbelief, opening and closing as if to somehow convince herself what she had just experienced was real. "A touch of power then to bring us to a close," she murmered, too soft for Sakura to hear, but enough to get the pink haired kunoichi's attention. "Well child," she said in a more normal tone of voice. "That will be enough for tonight I think. You've seen the heights and the lows. You've fair warning of what to avoid and hope for what might be and that's all anyone can really ask in the end. Now before you seek your bed again, have you anything you want to ask?"
Sakura looked at the old woman for a long moment; eyes narrowed slightly and then said, "Are you a kami?"
Mai laughed at that, long and hard, until her gut was fit to burst and she was folded nearly in two to try and keep upright. "No child," she said at some length, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. "I'm no kami. I'm just an old, old woman with a gift that I'm bound to use, for good or for ill. That reminds me, there are some things I must tell you before you leave.
"The first is that when you wake in the morning, you will not remember what has transpired this night. It is part of the price that those who part the veils of time must pay, though fear not for this was not all for naught. Though the knowledge may be taken from your mind," one withered finger rising to point at Sakura's head before drooping down to point at her chest, "the heart will still know. And if there is one thing I have learned in my many years is that which comes from the heart is just as potent, if not more so than that which comes from the head.
"The second is that should are paths ever cross again you will remember what has transpired, at least for a night. Should that ever come to pass, remember that what I showed you here was but a fraction of all that might be and seek not to chastise me if your life has taken a path that you did not see this night. If you should forget this, I promise that you will regret your lapse. Do you understand?"
Sakura nodded, somewhat taken aback as the seriousness of Mai's manner and the threat implicit in Mai's last statement.
Mai's manner softend again as Sakura nodded. "Good, now get back to bed. You and your friends will have to be up early in the morning if you want to reach your home before nightfall."
Sakura looked around uncertainly. "Um, how do I get back?"
Mai laughed and pointed again, but this time Sakura felt no compulsion to look at where the staff pointed. She looked anywhere and saw a door hanging in the void, though she would swear that it hadn't been there when she had looked just a second ago.
She slid the door open and sure enough the spare room in Mai's cottage with her things next to the futon in the middle was right there, just as she had left it. Sakura risked one look back, but the stars were fading and all she could see was Mai making shooing motions with her hands. She stepped out of the void and into the room. When she looked back this time all she could see was the main room with three sleeping forms laid out on the floor. Shaking her head Sakura slid the door shut and curled back up on her own futon. The rain that still fell outside beat out a tattoo on the wooden screens that soon lulled her back into a deep sleep.
Author's Notes:
And here endeth Chapter 01. My aplogies about some of the formatting errors in the prologue, but they've been corrected (I hope).
As regards Sakura's vision, I'm not sure if it crossed the line in the ratings, so if you think I should up it, let me know.
Next up is Saskue
Chapter 02: A Kaleidoscope of Lightning and Vengance.
Competition closed. There were two winners, Xoni Newcomer and final eternity, neither of whom chose to give answers in the detail I was looking for. Still, many thanks and virtual cookies to both of you.