Chapter 29: Courtesy
Three days passed and Sakura finally decided to let Sasuke train again. The bizarre wound on his stomach had turned into a discolored blotch; the many gashes had withered down into vague lines. After much pleading on the part of the two boys, Sakura finally caved and let them scamper off, yammering about the many ways they were going to kick Kouji's ass.
It's hardly fair, she grumbled as she walked down the whitewashed streets of the Hidden Cloud Village, I'm doing all the work. They should be the ones buying food, not me.
It was just her luck that the only market lay in the dreaded Hidden Cloud. She couldn't send Sasuke or Naruto back here anyway. Kouji would probably beat up Sasuke again; Naruto would probably end up worse than Sasuke, knowing how well he stayed out of fights.
If someone tries to start trouble with me, I'll just tell them I'm here for food. She squeezed the shopping bag, her evidence, in her hand as it swung back and forth.
Sakura put a hand to her mouth as she giggled. She couldn't help it. As troublesome as it was to do all the work, it was worth it to see those two getting along. Sakura hated to admit it but Naruto's stunt really cheered Sasuke up. His determination was back; Sakura had even heard him laugh as he and Naruto dashed off to train.
Sakura was thinking so hard she plowed right into a ramen cart. The loud cracking of wood met her head.
"Ow!" She stuttered backward, rubbing her bruising forehead and grimacing at the vicious cart. "Ramen…?"
"Well, of course!" The proprietor whistled. "What else would it be?"
Hmmmm…
"I'll take three servings to go please!" She called, slamming her hand on the counter.
"Keke," the man chuckled, "I like your style, missy!" and he turned to the steaming pot beside him, scooping ladlefuls of noodles into plastic containers.
Sakura walked away happily, her groceries in one arm, a plastic bag full of ramen containers in the other.
Well, I might as well get them a treat. Sakura sang. Good behavior merits rewards. They're both working so hard, no doubt we'll have Kouji's letter to him in no time! And then we can head off to Zosho and pick up that thing Kikyou-sama wanted me to have.
Sakura thought back to the small black scroll tucked away in the depths of her backpack. She knew for a fact what it was for; Zosho, the eternal archive, a giant locker for the Ninja Countries and a storage of their history. As a symbol of unification, each country had entrusted jutsu to this vault, as though to say "I trust the rest of you enough that we can all keep our jutsu in one place." Of course to access these jutsu, you needed both an Unseal and a key. Zosho security was the highest in the world and maybe only one person had ever broken in. (and all she managed to steal was something relatively weak). Along with the jutsu, there was supposedly an intensive record of history. Clans, bloodlines, wars and so on. The idea was that if the country fell, there would still be a record of it somewhere.
Sakura rubbed her chin. She had heard a rumor that Vaults 1-20 contained the worst of forbidden jutsu, the Armageddon stuff, but hers was Vault 26. What exactly was it that Kikyou wanted her to have?
The bags swinging freely from her hands, Sakura made her way to the edge of the village. As she crossed over the bridge, a shadow fell across her path. Sakura looked up and into the faces of three boys barricading her path.
Great… She muttered to herself as she noticed the familiar black clothing, Hidden Cloud hitai-ates, and the rose symbol of Kouji's Raibara gang. She clenched her jaw.
"Excuse me," She smiled as sweetly as possible, "may I get by?"
"You were with the guy who hurt Kouji-sama!" The one in the middle, and apparently self-proclaimed leader, pointed a grubby finger at her. "You've got a lot of nerve coming back here!"
"I'm just here to buy some food." Sakura held up the bag to show them. "I don't want any trouble."
The leader flung a kunai at her. It missed her, but sliced through the weak handles of her outstretched grocery bag. The detached contents fell with a thud to the ground, vegetables and fruits rolling about over the white pavement. A vein throbbed in Sakura's forehead as she fumbled with her self-control.
"We don't give a shit!" The speaker cracked his knuckles. "We don't care if you're a girl! We won't forgive anyone who hurts Kouji-sama!" He hefted a large club onto his shoulder and charged at her.
Sakura blink as she easily dodged under a horizontal blow. He was hardly at the caliber of Sasuke or Naruto, people she was use to fighting. In a real fight, this would be a piece of cake.
But I don't want to hurt them, she reminded herself as she dropped the ramen bag at her side. I don't want to start the same thing with Kouji that Sasuke did.
The attacker sliced his club downwards. Sakura ducked, rolling under his arm and coming up at his back where twacked him across the back of them neck, sending a sharp, small electrical current racing down his spine. The boy tumbled forward, head over heels, sliding to a stop. He tried to reach for his discarded club, but found himself reaching with his foot.
"Y-you bitch!" He screamed as he did nothing but kick at an orange that fallen out her bag. "What did you do to me?"
"Well, that should be obvious." She sneered down at him as the abused orange rolled toward her. A yell echoed from behind her. Another attacker came swinging something at her. Sakura didn't stop to see what. She pivoted, kicking the orange at her attacker. The bright fruit smashed against his face with a sickening sklurching sound, juice and pulp splattering around like blood. He dropped his weapon and clawed at his dripping face.
"My eyes!" He bawled. "It burns!"
"Yeah, citric acid'll do that." Sakura scoffed. She doubted whether it would cause any permanent damage.
Sakura looked up from her two victims. A breeze blew through the street, knocking around the scattered groceries. Sakura rubbed the back of her neck. She had the growing suspicion that she was missing something…
Wait! There were three attackers!
Sakura spun and launched her red dagger at her blind spot. A swift moving creature leapt away as the knife smack the white stone bridge, shards on rock spitting forth as the road cracked. The figure landed easily on the railing wit, as Sakura realized in horror, the bag of Ramen clasped tightly in his hand. He inspected the contents like a scientist.
"Hey, that's mine!" Sakura bellowed at the pale sallow figure.
"Obviously." He muttered, sifting through the contents of the bag. "Well, not anymore. It's mine now."
Sakura thought quickly. This guy was good, better than the other two, but she was already sorting out his weaknesses. He moved like running water, like Lee's Drunken fist without the staggering. A Taijutsu type.
He's fast so I won't be able to beat at Taijutsu… A Genjutsu should do just fine anyway…
The boy chuckled.
"I see you've got three servings here." He sneered. "For your little friends too? How cute. Too bad they're both weak and pompous losers."
Sakura ground her teeth into her skull. The gentle fabric of her composure began to tear at the seams.
"Looks like they sent a little girl for revenge. HAHAHA!" He laughed into the sky. "Oh well, when they come for you, they'll be a piece of cake to rip apart."
He straightened, holding the ramen bag aloft.
"And then they won't be needing this." He tossed the entire bag, Ramen and all, into the river below.
Chakra flooded into Sakura's trembling fist. The tea kettle that was her anger began to sing. Forget the Genjutsu, she was going to make him pay the old fashioned way. She glared up at him.
"What's with the scary face?" He scoffed. "It's not very attractive."
Sakura struck the opposite railing with her knuckles. With a loud crack, the entire stone barrier dissolves like sand in water.
The bastard seemed unperturbed. He snickered and cracked his knuckles, menacingly.
Suddenly, as hand placed itself of the boy's shoulder. He turned to see who it was and found another hand, in the form of a fist, colliding with his cheek. The boy flipped over the road like a runaway Frisbee and did an elaborate face plant, sliding to where his disoriented friend was trying to rub his head with his knee.
Sakura blinked in astonishment. Before her stood the last person she expected to be helping her, the one and only Kouji. His brown hair shuffled around lazily in the breeze and he stood before them, one hand on his hip, massive bandages beneath an open shirt, looking disgruntled and disapproving.
"Kouji-sama!" The disoriented one called. "Wha-?"
"I specifically gave orders instruction you to not attack any of the three from the other day." Kouji hissed. "This is a village. We have no right to discriminate who passes trough it. Did Madoka not inform you?"
"N-No, she did."
"Then what is the meaning of this?"
The boy looked at the ground, as though looking for the words he'd lost.
"Enough." Kouji commanded. "I expect you all…" He looked from the confused lump, to the unconscious face-planted pile, to the one a ways down stream who had not yet realized he was washing his eyes out with ramen. "…to pick up all of this young lady's belongings and refund anything that was damaged. Understand?"
Without waiting for a reply, he turned to Sakura, a bright grin painted across his face.
"You'll have to excuse them, Miss, they're all very stupid."
"K-kouji-sama…"
Kouji ignored his subordinates and clasped Sakura's hand.
"You must allow me to repay you," He announced dramatically, "please, let us discuss it over tea." Without waiting for Sakura to even stutter a reply, he dragged her off into the village again.
A half an hour later, Sakura found herself in a wicker chair before a mesh iron table in the middle of an elaborate courtyard. The small quad was laced with cherry trees and koi-filled pounds. Song birds sang high all around them. Her dagger, groceries and compensation money for the ramen had all been returned to her. Sakura blinked at the tea cup in front of her and vaguely heard Kouji talking through her confusion.
"I can't tell you how sorry I am, some subordinates just don't listen to orders, that's what makes a bad subordinate." He was saying, reclining lazily into her seat and swinging his cup around like a sheet of paper. "It discourages me a little to think they're so misbehaved and what with the Summer Solstice Festival in less than two weeks. I hope they won't go around picking pockets and such." He gave a dramatic sigh.
"I have a question," Sakura muttered sternly.
"Shoot!" Kouji either didn't catch on to her seriousness or chose to ignore it.
"Why did you help me?" Sakura glared at him suspiciously. "Why did you bring me here? I'm an enemy, aren't I?"
"Maybe it's just because I enjoy the company of beautiful women." Kouji smiled brightly.
Sakura snickered.
"Don't think you can fool me with sweet talk?" She sneered. "I know you have a girlfriend."
Kouji's cup stopped in mid-sip. His eyes snapped to hers. For a moment his eyes showed an expression she couldn't quite understand. Had she expected him to act a little more sympathetic? Or concerned? It was more as if he was trying to read her as she was trying to read him. As he put the cup down and swallowed, he began to grin.
"You're quite smart for an outsider." He took another sip of his tea. "Knowing about her."
"It wasn't all that difficult." Sakura folded her arms across her chest and crossed her legs in a business-like fashion. "Considering that Akari-chan's the reason we're here."
Kouji's eyes became the unreadable kind again, although he showed a strong attentiveness. Sakura could almost feel him tense up. The position of power had been transferred; he was no longer the one calling the shots. Was he scared or just alert? Sakura guessed this unreadability was what made him an exceptional ninja.
His face became almost sinisterly serious.
"What does your being here have to do with Akari?" His voice carried no urgency or anger, much to Sakura's surprise, merely curiosity.
"Tell me why you brought me here first." She bargained. "I doubt you just want to sit down for tea."
Kouji smirked.
"Actually, you're right." He stared out over the patio. "I was hoping one of you would show up here. There's something I want to ask you." He turned his eyes back toward hers.
"Your friend, I want to fight him again."
If Sakura had been drinking the tea, she would have sprayed it all over him.
"Wh-what?"
"You're friend was stronger than that, isn't he? When he fought, he was holding back." Kouji blinked a few times. "I want to fight him in a serious battle, neither of us holding back."
Sakura gawked at him in amazement. He truly was someone to be feared if he could read people that well.
"I don't know if that's possible." Sakura sighed. "His true abilities are not something we can go flaunting about."
"Then let's arrange something." Kouji put down his cup. "If you worried about Hunter-nins or something, I can keep a secret. I could care less about where you're from or what you're running from. I just want a good fight."
Sakura stared at him quizzically.
"Why do you want a good fight so bad?"
Kouji laughed out loud and looked up at the summer sky.
"No one kisses your ass in a good fight." He muttered to the cloud. Sakura smiled.
"Alright, let's arrange something."
And when Sakura returned that evening, she brought home something greater than ramen.
Author's Notes: Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone for their support. with much thanks to everyone, NU has now reached 300 reviews! You guys make me feel special. If I could, I'd hug you all! Now some things about this chapter. It suddenly hit me that Sakura hasn't had a decent fight for a while, and much fewer fights that Naruto and Sasuke. Sakura fans I'm sorry! I love Sakura! She kicks ass (especially since recent chapters... NO SPOILERS) So I'll try to have her fight more.
About the Injury: I had a couple questions about Sasuke's wound, so here are the details: It occured as a result of a punch, no skin penetration, though it looks like a burn, rather than a bruise. And it doesn't look like a typical burn either. Burn marks are very conrtoled things. If you've ever burned a shirt with an iron you know what I mean: the burn looks like the iron spade. However, Sasuke's wound doesn't look like a fist, as on would expect. It sort of shoots outward, in an arbitrary flower-like style. If this still confuses you, don't worry. It'll make sense soon enough.
About a Return to Konoha: Sorry, I'm being mean and not answering that. XD
Next Chapter: Sasuke vs. Kouji! The Sequel! The secret behind Kouji's technique revealed!