Chapter 6: Forged From Tears! The Tora Tsume Technique!
"Aiee! Sakura-chan!"
Sakura awakens to a familiarly annoying voice and turns her head to see a certain blonde ninja sitting at her side.
"Konnichiwa, Sakura-chan!" greets Naruto with a grin that stretched from ear to ear. "How are you feeling?"
"A little better," replies the pink-haired kunoichi, giving a small reassuring smile.
She looks around to find herself in a Konoha Hospital room. Her injuries had been cared for and parts of her arm were bandaged up. She felt some pain when she moves them but not too much to be too uncomfortable in.
"You're as much of a dobe as Naruto here."
Sakura whips her eyes to the other side of the bed to find Sasuke leaning nonchalantly on the wall.
"Sasuke-kun," she exclaims quietly.
"You've just recovered from your illness and you go get yourself into a fight soon afterwards," adds Sasuke. "Only a baka would be dumb enough to start moving after recovering."
"Oi, Sasuke!" spoke up Naruto. "Don't say things like that to Sakura!"
"I'm just telling the truth," assures Sasuke. "Even I would've waited at least a day after I recovered from injuries before doing anything foolish."
Sakura remains silent as she sat up in bed and looked down at her sheets. "It's a good thing Senko-chan found you and brought you here," notes Naruto. "Who knows what would've happened if you had been outside for too long."
Sakura's eyes lit up upon hearing this. Did they know about…?
"Senko told us you were training soon after you recovered from your illness," explains Sasuke. "She said you had collapse from the strenuous workout and so she brought you here."
What? thought Sakura. She didn't tell them. She didn't want me to get into trouble so she made up that scenario. I completely misjudged her.
"Eh? Sakura-chan? You okay?" utters Naruto with concern. "You've been pretty quiet."
"So where's Senko?" wonders Sakura.
"Don't know," replies Sasuke. "She left soon after we arrived."
I see, thought Sakura. She didn't want to intrude so she wanted us to be together by ourselves. Senko, I'm so sorry for being so bitter towards you. Please forgive me.
"Well, I've got to get back to my training," declares Sasuke.
"Oh yeah, me too," adds Naruto. "It's good to see you well, Sakura."
"Don't strain yourself again," warns Sasuke.
"I won't," assures Sakura.
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Senko sat upon the roof of her apartment as she looks up at the blue sky above. A gentle breeze blows by, rustling her clothes and cooling her face and body. She looks down at her right hand, which was curled up into the claw position for her Tora Tsume (Tiger Claw) technique. Clenching her fist tightly, she recalls the days back before Kouen was destroyed.
-Flashback-
"Niisan, wait for me!"
Six-year-old Senko dashes after her thirteen-year-old brother in the outdoor walkway of their home. Right before she reaches the teenage boy, the poor girl slips and falls flat on her face onto the hardwood planks.
"Senko!" exclaims Kagerou, kneeling down to help his sister up. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," answers Senko holding her face.
"Heh heh," chuckles Kagerou. "You took a pretty good blow in the face. Looks like the floor just might be your toughest opponent."
"That's not funny!" exclaims Senko embarrassingly, shaking her head so that her deep black hair whips around her face.
"Heh, you'd think someone who was born in the Year of the Tiger would be a lot more careful," jokes Kagerou, scratching his short black hair.
"I'll get stronger," assures Senko. "After all, like tousan and kaasan said, members of the Tora Clan who are born in the Year of the Tiger are a lot stronger than those who aren't."
"That doesn't matter," retorts Kagerou. "You still have to work hard just like the rest of us."
"I know that!" exclaims Senko. "There's no shortcut to being a strong and great ninja, right niisan?"
"That's right," affirms Kagerou with a gentle smile.
-End of flashback-
"You were so nice back then, Kagerou," Senko says to herself. "What changed?"
-Flashback-
It was soon after Senko's tenth birthday when the Bloodline Ceremony commenced. This ceremony takes place whenever members of the Tora Clan turn ten years old. It is a declared revelation of who had been sealed with a tora no youkai at birth and who had not. It was an event designed to reveal secrets to the younger generation when they have come of age so they would not be alarmed or surprised by anything that happens due to their hidden power. The adults and elders understood that everyone has a right to know why they are the way they are. But this ceremony is a double-edged sword, for it also isolates the sealed children from the unsealed children due to their special abilities.
It was during this ceremony when Senko discovers that she had been sealed with a tora no youkai when she was born. She eagerly runs up to her brother ecstatic and enthusiastic.
"Niisan! Niisan!" she cries out. "I have the power of a tora no youkai! This is the best day of my life!"
She stops suddenly when she saw the desolate look of contempt in her brother's eyes. She shudders fearfully from the awkward silence that followed.
"Niisan," she exclaims. "What's wrong?"
Kagerou didn't say a word as he turns to walk away from his little sister.
That evening, Senko sits down to dinner with her mother and father. Her brother, Kagerou, was nowhere to be found.
"Tousan, kaasan," spoke up Senko. "What's wrong with niisan?"
Her father and mother both pause and stiffen at the sound of their daughter's question.
"He's been acting strangely these past few days," adds Senko. "I feel as though he hates me, but why would he hate me? What reason does he have to hate me?"
Both parents lay their heads down as they slowly went back to eating.
"Why won't you guys say anything?" Senko yells out angrily, slamming her hand onto the table. "I can't stand this negative tension between me and niisan! It's killing me!"
"Senko," exclaims her mother. She looks over to her husband who continued to eat. "Ronin!"
"Ichi," spoke up her father in response.
"We should tell her, Ronin," said Ichi. "She has a right to know. He's her brother."
"There's no reason for her to know," said Ronin firmly. "It'll serve no purpose. She should focus on her training instead of her brother."
"But Ronin!" exclaims Ichi.
"If you want to know so much," said Ronin, turning to his daughter. "Your brother… wasn't chosen."
Senko's eyes open wide in shock. She now realizes why her brother had been so unwelcoming to her. During the Bloodline Ceremony, only members of the Tora Clan who were ten years of age or older could participate. The rest who were nine years old and younger were not allowed to even be told who was sealed and who wasn't. That was why Senko didn't know about her brother's result until now.
"I see," exclaims the young kunoichi. "That's why… That's why niisan has been treating me the way he has."
"So now you know," said Ronin, who went back to his eating.
The next day, Senko walks over to the Tora Clan's training grounds. It was here where Senko was taught and mastered the Bloodline Limit technique, the Katon: Faiawooru no Jutsu (Fire Release: Firewall Technique). Performance or even mastery of the technique is a sign of a Tora Clan ninja's come of age and those who have are acknowledged with praise and respect. Kagerou had managed to master the technique at the age ofseven whereas Senko performed it at the age of eight.
Looking at the boulder training targets, Senko curls her right hand up into a claw position. Chakra began concentrating into her hand as she began feeling angry.
"Why?" she wonders out loud. "Why me? Why was I sealed and not niisan? WHY?"
She dashes towards the biggest boulder thrusts her hand into it with a cry of anger. The force cracks the rocky exterior and tunnels into the boulder with great power. A huge explosion ensues and the boulder was nothing more than bits and pieces of pebbles. Senko breathes heavily as her Chakra continues to envelop her right claw-shaped hand. Tears began flowing out of her eyes and ran down her cheeks.
"Niisan is stronger and smarter than me," she cries out. "He should've been sealed instead of me. What could I do with a tora no youkai inside of me? I'm not worthy!"
-End of flashback-
Senko felt something flow down her face. She puts her hand up to her cheek and pulls it away to find water on the tips of her fingers.
"What's this?" she wonders. "Am I crying again?"
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A/N: Katon: Faiawooru no Jutsu (Fire Release: Firewall Technique) and Tora Tsume (Tiger Claw) are jutsus I made up. If they appear in Naruto later, it's strictly coincidental. All Naruto techniques referenced from Wikipedia search for Naruto jutsu.