Laruku: Laruku-chan….is so sorry for not updating for so long…
Sasuke: hai, it's been extremely long, for almost two years already…hmm maybe even more, or less who knows?
Laruku: and yes… I was planning to abandon this fic, as well as other ones I've written, due to the fact I had lost my enthusiasm for fanfictions and fell into a deep deep DEEP writer's block gasps
Sasuke: oh the drama…
Laruku: however I do plan to continue it now.
Sasuke: ughh especially since I still haven't appeared yet… Laruku-san, is that why you abandoned it? Because you didn't want to write about me…
Laruku: a-aree? Iie sou janakutte… eto, hmm my writing style might seem different now, and my original concepts for this story might have been slightly forgotten XD. Wow reading how I used to write, I'm surprised how much I've changed since back then. Sigh, the good ol' days XD. My Japanese has improved a fair bit, although I think I'll choose not to use so much Japanese in the context of this story as I had did before… and hopefully it will turn out even better than before! I would appreciate any criticism for my writing and if there are any complaints you find for my story.
Sa! Without further ado, I would like to proceed to the renewal chapter of: Scroll Sealer Sakura! Douzo, please enjoy minna-san!
The sun was setting.
It was growing dark as Shikamaru made his way home. Long shadows stretched out across the streets as he walked down the silent sidewalks. He sighed in annoyance as he rubbed the back of his head. Today had been so troublesome. First some new idiot arrived at their school apparently obsessed with the top student in their class. That idiot, thinking he could simply waltz in and act like he could simply do what he wanted… Guys like that pissed Shikamaru off. He knew he was going to start despising school even more now with that moron to ruin things for their class.
And it hadn't just been that new Uzumaki kid that had made today so troublesome. Their school had nearly been demolished to pieces this afternoon…
Why did he feel that he was somehow related to that situation?
Shikamaru frowned as he rubbed his shoulder. For some reason his body was beginning to feel icy cold at times. Ever since a few days ago, Shikamaru had suddenly began to feel more and more exhausted lately, and it wasn't just his normal lazy boy act. There were also times when he felt as though he had been doing things without even noticing it. Terrible acts. Like when the other day Shikamaru had suddenly went unconscious while walking to school, but then woke up to hear screaming and angry shouts. It was as though another presence had latched onto his body sharing and feeding off of his soul. It didn't feel right; something strange was running through his blood putting its control onto him. And with every passing hour, for some reason he felt it become heavier and heavier.
He paused.
Was he the one responsible for nearly destroying the Academy?
Shikamaru stood in silence as suddenly he heard a laughter rise throughout the air. All of a sudden there was a chill as Shikamaru shivered feeling another wave of iciness come upon him but this time it was even colder than ever before. The young genin trembled as suddenly his whole world around him was starting to become dark as the street lamps began to flicker on and off and the sun's light had already vanished from the sky. The lights and the warmth from his body were disappearing.
Shikamaru could sense a presence from within him awakening once more. He shook violently as the shadows from the ground suddenly began to take form. Shikamaru could see a man come into view, why did he look so familiar? A dark spiritual aura emanated off of him as Shikamaru stepped back in fear.
"Konbanwa." The man greeted him as he stepped forward.
"Wh-Who are you?" Shikamaru stammered.
"That is unimportant right now," the man said as an evil grin spread across his lips, "All you need to know is that you and I are very alike. From now on you will do my bidding. Your body is now within my control.
It is you I've chosen you to assist me. We are going to go hunt and destroy a certain person…"
"H-Hunt? Destroy?"
"Haruno Sakura," the man whispered menacingly with an icy tone to those words, "Scroll Sealer of the Kage scrolls."
SCROLL SEALER SAKURA
CHAPTER 9: PART FOUR: duty calls
School had ended early due to the catastrophe that had occurred during the afternoon. Iruka had called in for help as shinobi arrived to help clean up the mess from all the debris. The students were dismissed early as Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata had gone over to Sakura's house so that Sakura could recover from the events that had happened. On the way home Sakura had been peculiarly quiet as Naruto repeatedly bombarded her with questions asking if she was still alright. She merely replied with a simple nod or a murmur as Hinata watched with her usual concerned expression as Sakura's eyes were lost in space.
Right when they had arrived at the Haruno household, Naruto clapped his hands together and said he had an idea that would help put Sakura into a better mood. Hinata gave a confused look as the blonde-headed boy gave a wide grin and ran towards the kitchen. Sakura sighed as she watched run off (and possibly cause some kind of impending doom later on) but said nothing as she and Hinata went upstairs to her room.
As they entered her room, Sakura laid down her bag and slumped to the ground sitting on the floor. Hinata couldn't take it anymore as her eyes trembled and she ran towards Sakura to give her a hug.
"I was so worried Sakura-chan!" Hinata cried as tears began to run down her cheeks, "I thought you'd be injured! Or even worse…"
Sakura smiled as she returned Hinata's hug, "I know. Its okay, everything's okay! It's all over now, so you don't have to worry anymore."
"Everything isn't okay!" Hinata exclaimed as her eyes turned to meet Sakura's, "What's going on? Why do these strange things keep happening like this?"
"Why aren't you telling me anything?"
Sakura's eyes stared at Hinata wide in surprise, "Hi-Hinata I…"
"Saaakurraaa-chaaan!" Naruto hollered as he bounced happily towards her, "Loook! I made you something!"
"E-Ehh…?" Sakura gasped as she and Hinata turned towards the blonde-haired boy rushing towards them. There was a tray in his hands with a covered plate wobbling dangerously on top of it. Naruto grinned as he shoved the tray in front of her face.
"Nani kore…?" Sakura said as she gave a skeptic glance from plate to Naruto.
"JYAN JYAAAN! VOILAA!" he shouted as he triumphantly removed the lid, "PANCAAAAKES!"
"………………….."
Before her was a pile of brown sludge spilling over the edges of the plate. A foul smell began to rise from the mysterious dish…
"Uwah! What's wrong Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked puzzled, "Why is your face all scrunched up? And why are you covering your nose?"
Sakura said nothing as she glared at the plate in silence. A dark cloud was beginning to loom upon her as the stench began to make her eyes water. She didn't even want to begin imagining what kind of condition the kitchen was in due to this monstrous creation. Hinata glanced at her nervously as she noticed her moodiness.
"Ahh…Naruto-kun…" Hinata waved her hands sheepishly, "Ano…I don't think those were the kind of pancakes Sakura-chan was expecting…"
"Ehh?" Naruto exclaimed as he pulled the sludge from the plate with a fork, "Nani? I'm pretty sure I made it right…"
"Ahh…eto are you sure you knew what you were doing?"
Naruto scratched his head as he rubbed his chin, "Hmmm….now that you mention it these pancakes do look a lot different than Botan-neechan's… Well that doesn't matter! As long as it tastes good I'm sure Sakura-chan won't mind! Open wide Sakura!"
And with that Naruto shoved a spoonful of sludge into Sakura's mouth. Hinata stared in horror.
The silence that came with it was dreadful…
"Well?" Naruto asked eagerly, "Do you like it? Am I an amazing cook or what! No need to hold ba- Sa-Sakura-chan?"
Sakura's face was now a deep shade of sick green as she instantly collapsed to the ground twitching awkwardly. Hinata gave a shrill scream as she clasped her hands to her mouth. Naruto's jaw dropped to the ground in disbelief.
"NA-NARTO-KUN!" Hinata screamed out of control, "WHAT DID YOU DO?"
"NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Naruto moaned in agony, "MY COOKING WAS SO GOOD THAT IT KILLED MY DEAR SAKURA-CHAAAN! I'M CURSED I TELL YOU! CURSED!"
The two began to run around frantically across the room panicking out loud to themselves. After a few minutes of panic they heard footsteps running up the stairs towards Sakura's room. The door immediately swung open as Haruno Botan stood by the doorway panting heavily. There was another pause as the three of them stood there a moment's silence…
"Sa-Sakura!" Botan gasped in despair as she ran towards her daughter's side, "NOOOOO! SAKURA IT CAN'T BE! I WAS TOO LATE! MY SAKURA-CHAN IS ALREADY-"
There was a dramatic pause as Botan gave an agonized sob.
"SHE'S TOO YOUNG TO DIE!" Botan cried tears sparkled from her eyes.
"SAKURA-CHAN! YOU WERE MY BEST FRIEND EVER!" Hinata sobbed as she joined her.
"NUUUU! SHAME ON MYSELF! ME AND MY GOOD COOKING!"
The three of them sobbed tragically hugging each other as the anime waterworks began to spill. Sakura now already conscious (although barely) sweatdropped as she glared at her pathetic family and friends…
"Mou…today is not my day…" she groaned as she slumped back to the ground.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Iruka knocked the door as he approached the jounin, "May I have a word with you?"
"Aa," Kakashi replied as he finished bandaging the last of his cuts he had received earlier, "Please come inside."
Iruka nodded as he entered the room. The Academy was still being repaired but the ninja's asked to help had already cleaned up a fair bit of the damage. Within a week or so they should have things running back on track to the way things were normally like. Yet the Academy's current condition wasn't what was concerning the chuunin. Iruka frowned as he said nothing, staring at his feed instead of facing Kakashi.
"What is it?" Kakashi questioned as he raised an eyebrow, "You're still not worried about today are you?"
"No it's not that…" Iruka muttered as he sat down, "I'm worried about Haruno-san. She's been acting strangely this past week. Haven't you noticed as well Kakashi?"
"Yeah I have," Kakashi sighed as he gazed outside through the window near his desk, "And its Sakura-chan NOT Haruno-san. I don't understand why you're always giving her such a hard time Iruka. Aren't you the one always so complaining to me about her?"
"I know I know," Iruka said as he gave Kakashi a glare, "But it's for her own good. You know she's different from the rest of the students. You of all people understand her better than anyone else. Including me…
She's not like us. She isn't just an ordinary rookie kunoichi."
Kakashi glanced at Iruka as he saw his face wearing that same stern look he always gave him whenever he thought wasn't taking things seriously. Even after all the years they had been colleagues and close friends, Iruka still didn't think of him as the respected jounin most of the village saw him as. Kakashi turned away and the two of them said nothing for awhile as they sat quietly lost inside their thoughts.
"Today she told me about her strange dreams she's been having lately," Kakashi spoke breaking the silence, "About how she dreamt about shadowed forces binding her with intense power. She was so concerned she thought she might have been losing it."
Iruka said nothing as Kakashi went on, "I think it must be some kind of sign don't you think?"
"I don't know what to think anymore," Iruka said firmly as he rose from his seat and began to walk towards the doorway, "I just hope that girl is safe. That "thing" or whatever it was must've come after her today.
Please make sure nothing happens to her, Kakashi."
"Aa," the silver-haired jounin replied in soft voice.
Kakashi watched as Iruka was about to leave but hesistated pausing by the door. Kakashi raised his eyebrow once more giving a puzzled look as Iruka turned his head back to face him.
"I was afraid you might've gotten hurt," Iruka murmured, "But I'm glad that nothing serious happened to you either."
Kakshi paused slightly taken aback by his words. Yet he simply smiled at the chuunin the way good friends do.
"Aa," Kakashi sighed as he rubbed the back of his head, "I must be getting weaker if even you start worrying about me."
"Okaa-chan?" Sakura asked as things had finally settled down, "Why did you come back so early today?"
"Hmmm?" Botan's muffled voice asked as her mouth was full chewing, "Iff cauff I wab worriff bou' you (It's caus I was worried about you). Dey told me abou' you skoob (They told me about your school)."
"Oh, oh that…" Sakura sweatdropped, "What are you eating anyway mom?"
Botan gulped down the last of the food as she grinned and replied in a high-pitched voice, "Naaaruto-chan's pudding! You should try some! It's REALLY GOOD!"
"Ah…errr, no I already tried some…" Sakura coughed trying to hide her disgust, "haha yum yum…"
"Suit yourself," Botan shrugged as she began wolfing down more of the hideous sludge, "Mattaku! I'm bushed from work today! They had me working on 2 D-ranks and a C-rank! Sighh someone must really hate me up there…"
"Nani?" Hinata asked curiously, "What happened?"
"See for yourself," Botan sighed as she switched on the television. The three children gazed at the screen as the news broadcast was playing. Naruto gasped in amazement as he pressed his face up close the screen.
"Why is there a man trapped in the box?" Naruto exclaimed in astonishment.
"Shhhhh!" Sakura silenced him as she pushed him away from the screen.
"More then 10 reported cases of vandalism have occurred across Konoha in the past 24 hours. Citizen's are in shock as the missing culprit has still yet to be discovered. Konoha shinobi are on the lookout for the mysterious offender who has been causing this damage; however there are neither suspects nor clues as to who this person may be…"
"And it's giving us a hell lot of headaches too," Botan muttered as she leaned back against the couch, "Ch' and I was given most of the clean-up work too. Look at the mess this punk's been causing!"
Sakura, Hinata, and Naruto turned to screen as images were shown of the scenes of investigation. Stands had been knocked down as well as trash being littered across the streets. Some of the restaurants even seemed to have been damaged as well. Naruto grew silent as more and more of these images appeared. He frowned as his eyebrows furrowed into his face.
"Sakura," he said in with a serious tone to his voice, "Look closely at the screen."
Sakura gave him a baffled look but did as she was told and observed the television screen. In the background of an interview now being shown of a local storekeeper a sudden flicker dashed across the ground. Sakura squinted as she gazed deeper as she noticed what it was.
Shadows. The shadows were moving.
Neither Hinata nor Botan seemed to have noticed yet Sakura could see the shadows moving abnormally. The shadows of the objects had strange shapes. They didn't resemble the objects that they were reflecting. Sakura kept watching as she suddenly gasped. The shadows were disappearing. Where there should have been shadows, there were none instead.
What could this mean? Could it possibly be related to her dream?
"Ah! I just remembered!" Sakura exclaimed (in a rather fake voice), "There's something REALLY important I have to tell Naruto and Hinata IN PRIVATE! Let's go guys! I'll tell you about it in my room!"
"Gaaah! Something important!" Botan gasped in disbelief, "Why can't I know! I am your mother after all!"
"Gomen ne okaa-san!" Sakura laughed sheepishly as she grabbed her friends and rushed them out of the room, "Call us when dinner is ready!"
And with that the three of them vanished as they ran up the stairs towards Sakura's room. Botan stared in shock as she sniffed slightly hurt.
"Grrr… she never tells her mother anything anymore…boohoohoo…"
"What? You had a dream about this happening?" Naruto yelled as Sakura raised a finger to her lips.
"Shush! You want my mother eavesdropping on us! She's already nosy enough as it is…."
Sakura explained to them about how she had felt the crushing weight of those shadows suffocating her. Of how she could hardly breathe and the impact it had put upon her body. Hinata clutched her hands nervously as she eyes became more and more anxious as Sakura went on. She also told them about the words she had heard spoken to her when the Academy was getting attacked.
"Well? Do you think my dream has something to do with what's been happening?" Sakura asked the fox child as he nodded.
"Aa. It definitely sounds like the work of a Kage Scroll Spirit," Naruto agreed, "Especially since the fact that you had a vision about it."
"Vision?"
"Sou. Like I said before your blood contains a magical chakra which is different than a normal shinobi's. Because of that whatever strange dream you receive is most likely to be a premonition. Remember that Sakura. It's important that you start paying attention to your dreams from now on."
"So, you think there's a Spirit after Sakura?" Hinata asked fretfully, "B-But why would they be after her?"
"Of course they'd be after her," Naruto muttered as he frowned, "They can never truly be free unless Sakura is destroyed."
"Na-NANI!" Sakura exclaimed.
"We have to track down this spirit! And I'm pretty sure who it is. The Horse Demon: Shikato, Manipulator of Shadows. He can control shadows to bind people in their tracks as well as using them for destructive purposes."
"But how?" Sakura questioned doubtfully, "How will be able to find it? It could be anywhere! Or should I just sit and wait for it to attack me instead?"
"No that's the last thing we'd want to do, people could get hurt again," Naruto said as he shook his head, "The best way is to find it first and seal if before it causes any more damage. Scroll Spirits don't last that long on their own because they cannot support their own energy. Within a couple days a Scroll Spirit could even disappear. That is why they find some kind of vessel which can help preserve their chakra in order to prevent themselves from vanishing altogether. Sometimes if they're powerful enough they can use temporary forms of their own instead of having to use other bodies to store themselves in. Just like how I have my own temporary form."
"So basically what you're saying is they act like ghosts who possess other people's bodies?"
"I guess you could say that."
"So how can we find the person who's hosting the Horse Demon right now?" Sakura asked.
"Well, the Scroll Spirit will choose someone whose body is compatible with their power or who resembles their former lives. Scroll Spirits were actually sealed along with the bodies of shinobis in order to be vessels to hold the demon powers. Sometimes even criminals were used. Shikato was said to be one of them, and being sealed to the scroll was his lifetime sentence. He will most likely choose someone who can use techniques similar to his."
Sakura fell silent as she began to think to herself. A ninja who could use shadows… who did they know could do something like that?
"Mushikashite…" Hinata spoke as the two turned to look at her, "What if… could it possibly be Shikamaru-kun?"
"Ehh!" Naruto scowled, "The big-mouth idiot? That guy?"
"Nara Shikamaru?" Sakura asked as she made a thinking pose, "You mean that lazy ass kid in our class?"
"Now that you mention it," Naruto as he faced Hinata, "He did use some weird Shadow Binding justu on me. Plus I did sense an unnatural aura from that kid. It could very well be him."
"Shikamaru?" Sakura said still slightly unsure, "I don't know you guys... Could it really be him?"
CRASSSHH!
The three genin jumped up in surprise as the loud smashing noise faded from outside. Sakura's eyes widened as Naruto frowned.
"That wasn't too far away…" Naruto muttered as he looked outside from Sakura's window, "We ought to check it out."
"WHAT! Another case? At this time of night?"
Botan's voice could be heard from downstairs. The three of them exchanged glances as they went downstairs to inspect. Botan was on the phone wearing an aggravated expression on her face as the phone was clutched tightly in her hands.
"A boy?" she hissed now even more confused, "There was a boy seen? You want me to investigate?"
A boy….?
"Hai hai, wakarimashite," Botan replied in an firm voice, "I'll be right there."
Botan placed the receiver down as she hung up. She sighed as she looked to see the three of them staring anxiously at her. The kunoichi merely smiled as she nodded at them and laughed sheepishly.
"Warui naa," she said as she began to equip her shinobi weapons, "I've just been called down to a mission. I know it's urgent but please stay here until I get back."
And with that Botan rushed to the door and left closing it shut.
"We ought to inspect too," Naruto said, "It could be that moron she was talking about!"
"What?" Sakura cried out loud, "What if my mom comes back and finds us gone?"
"Relax it will be fine!" Naruto said assuringly, "Besides this is now your first mission as a Scroll Sealer!"
"To recapture the Horse Demon! It's your duty Sakura-chan! Scroll Sealer Sakura!"
TBC!
Japanese terms:
Konbanwa- Good evening
Nani kore- What is this?
Jyaan Jyaan- TADAA!
Mushikashite- what if/could it possibly be
Wakarimashite- I understand
Warui naa- sorry
Laruku: I hope this was a good chapter… -nervous look-
Sasuke: well this was your first chapter you've written in a loooooong time.
Laruku: true true, I did my best, truly I did. Well minna, please leave a review. I will update ASAP! That's a promise! Yakusokusuru!
Sasuke: watch her not update for another year….
Laruku: NANI! -death glares- someone sure is nice…. Well ja ne! hope you liked this chapter.
