"Medusa Javelin"
By Nes Mikel
Acknowledgment;
I herby acknowledge that the work of fiction presented here is for my own personal amusement and entertainment purposes alone. Most of the story, characters, place names and other etc stuff in this fiction are copyright Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi, Weekly Shounen Jump, and any others I might have forgot.
For non up-to-date readers, this fiction contains characters and events introduced post-timeskip and spoilers up to Chapter 293. I also humbly suggest reading Garden of Sanctuary first before reading this fiction. Although not a requirement, many things in this fiction will not make sense unless that has been read beforehand. The link to Garden of Sanctuary is in my profile.
With that said, enjoy.
"Medusa Javelin"
"Filling me once more."
- Fourth Entry -
"Temperance"
Reign of the Fifth Hokage, Thirteenth year. February 20th.
25 years old.
Throughout history, man has viewed other species of animals in many lights. He has looked upon them as predators and prey, partners and pets. He has exploited them economically, studied them scientifically, appreciated them enthusiastically, and exaggerated them symbolically. Above all, he has competed with them for living space, dominated them, and all too often exterminated them.
From his earliest days he has feared certain species as killers. Some, such as lions, tigers, leopards, wolves, crocodiles, giant snakes and sharks, he has pictured as savage man-eaters hungry for human flesh. Others he has labeled as aggressive poisoners – the venomous snakes, stinging insects, deadly spiders and raging scorpions.
In any case, man's fears have greatly magnified the true dangers. None of the supposed man-eaters has ever had mankind as the main dish on its menu. Only on very rare occasions and under special circumstances have they turned to human flesh as a not-so tasty but readily available alternative to their natural diet. Big cats that have taken up man-eating have nearly always done so because of injury of illness, which was very much true when the Nekomata, the two-tailed cat demon, attacked the Hidden Village of Cloud and as a result had itself incompletely sealed in a then-young baby girl.
In the case of a certain wounded fox, he was unable to catch its usual fleet-footed prey and was driven to prowling around a native village where, by pure luck and sheer stupidity on the prey's part, had successfully brought down a human victim. When that happened and the word spread quickly, in no time at all foxes everywhere were under attack as potential man-killers. Myth dominated fact, and as a result the fox is now nearly extinct within the Country of Fire. Even today, man still does not understand the true reasons why the nine-tailed demon fox had awakened and attacked the Hidden Village of the Leaf on that unforgettable night 25 years ago. They never considered that the foxes were the ones that were threatened instead.
In a similar way, poisonous animals have been pictured as a major threat too, attacking man whenever possible. Again, fiction has overwhelmed fact. Poisonous snake do not attack, it merely defends. Snakes needs its venom to subdue its prey which it then swallows whole, and since no venomous snake is large enough to swallow even a small human baby it follows that to strike at a human target is a waste of precious venom. It is a course that is taken only as a last resort in a desperate attempt at self-protection. This has not stopped snakes becoming the most geared and hated of all animals, and are destroyed ruthless wherever they are encountered. To this date, Orochimaru still thinks he is justified for all of his actions and does not regret anything he has done, for it all started when he tried to protect himself in self-defense that set off a chain of events that shaped him into the man he is today.
Animal partners naturally fare better. They fall into several categories, the most ancient of which is the hunting partner. Of these, the dog is a prime example. They have been fully domesticated among the general populace, and some have been bred in several specialized directions. To name some examples, some have been improved for rounding up stock (the sheepdogs), others for scent-tracking (the hounds), others for chasing prey (the greyhounds), others for spotting prey (the setters and pointers), others for finding and carrying prey (the retrievers), others for vermin killing (the terriers), others for guard dogs (the mastiffs), and finally, the specialized ones that does them all (the nin-dogs).
A second and similar category is that of pest destroyers. From the beginnings of agriculture, man has had problems with rodents invading his stored granaries, and so animals such as cats and ferrets were encouraged as rodent-killers and both became fully domesticated species. A third category is that of beast of burden: horses, donkeys, water buffalo, yak, reindeer, camels, llamas and elephants have all been forced over the centuries to bear the weight of human toil. Fourthly, there are the producers, species that give part of themselves without having to give their lives. We take milk from cattle and goats, wool from sheep, eggs from chickens and ducks, honey from bees, and silk from silk-moths.
Finally, there is the special case of the message-carrier. Certain species of birds have been exploited for their extraordinary homing ability and has been in use for many years, their usefulness proven especially in times conflict and war. They were so useful, in fact, that man had been forced to develop countermeasures in the shape of interceptor falcons to prevent their enemies from using that same ability.
One aged owl barely made it back from the wraths from those interceptors only to collapse to its bridle death upon arriving at the headquarters of the Hidden Leaf's Information and Espionage division one such winter morning. The bird's efforts will not be in vain, for it carried information that would prove a turning point in the life of one Haruno Sakura and one Uzumaki Naruto.
"So, who do you think is going to win?" Tsunade asked the moment her apprentice landed silently next to her. The response she got was exactly the one she expected. Sakura turned and shook her head, her eyes shooting up skyward.
"Shishou-sama, you know I can't do that. They're both my students."
"Never stopped you before, right?" Her master pointed out with a positively wicked grin.
"That was the Chuunin exam, and they never got to fight each other in the preliminaries nor the main tournament." Sakura answered. "Besides, if they ever found out that I was favoring one of them, they'll never forgive me."
"Sheesh, you're no fun."
"I'll have you know that they are all my pride. I can't and I won't do something so derogatory to bet money on my students."
Tsunade had the strangest look on her face. "…You know, having students made you all so… rigid. Where did the cute little apprentice of mine that walked into my office thinking she can take on the entire world ever go?" She joked.
Sakura didn't laugh. "The moment when you reassigned me to that man's squad, AGAIN."
The Fifth Hokage sighed. So they still were at each other's throats, then.
"You know, he was the one who asked me to put you under his squad once you had all of them pass the Chuunin exams and were eligible for reinstatement." She tried.
"I know that. More the reason to hate him."
"Do you know why?"
"No and I don't care."
"I think he likes you."
It was Sakura this time that wore the strange expression. "…Shishou-sama, if that was another joke, it was a bad one. Sai probably wants me in the squad so he'd have something to tease. Shino is a human statue and Tenten-san will probably beat the crap out of him if he tried, captain or not."
"So why don't you beat the crap out of him, then?" Tsunade asked the vice-captain of the squad.
"Don't you think I haven't tried?" Sakura sighed. "I hate to admit, but having been partners in the same squad for six years, he knows me better than anyone else among the ANBUs."
Tsunade smirked. "Ohh, is that so?"
Sakura's cheeks immediately reddened. "Shishou-sama! You know I didn't mean it that way!"
"Of course, Sakura, of course." Her malicious grin grew wider. "So, how does 15000 ryo on Hanabi sound? You know that Shizune loves these types of rumors, right? And the way they spread?"
"………20000 on Konohamaru."
"Deal. See, you do know have to have fun!"
Sakura silently fumed.
Rock Lee was in the middle of one of his famous speeches. The speech, very long and semi-comical if you were not the said recipient of it, was famous for two reasons.
One: it was long. If left unchecked and uninterrupted, Rock Lee could pretty much go on indefinitely, something that even his predecessor and mentor Maito Gai could not do. After all, at some point you have to eat, sleep, or go to the bathroom right? Lee accomplished the impossible by not making them a factor at all.
Two: it was annoying. It was so annoying, in fact, it was rumored that Lee had managed several times to successfully force the enemy into unconditional surrender just so they could spare themselves from Lee's ramblings. The running joke was that although Lee was a Taijutsu master, the specialist knew this one special voice-related Ninjutsu that was even stronger than all of his martial techniques combined that would've left the enemies crying for mercy.
So far, he currently has been going on with his speech for about thirty minutes. All he really had to say was one word – "Begin!" – but instead he was rambling about his beliefs he so passionately believed in. At one point, a pink-haired Jounin jumped down from the stands and told him to just start the match already, but her kind words seemed to have already been forgotten when he still showed no sign stopping. All the Hidden Leaf Chuunins and Jounins present there in the Konoha Stadium knew one thing was certain. Rock Lee was definitely not getting the job as examiner for the Jounin Exams next year.
"Look what we have down here this moment!" He was saying. "Two young men, both in their prime, rivals for eternity, now fighting each other for the sweetness of victory! Oh bitter joy, oh bitter irony! Is this the challenges our next generations of youth must endure?"
"I'll have you know that I am not a man." Hyuuga Hanabi said, clearly irritated.
Sarutobi Konohamaru's voice wasn't so indifferent. "And can you please start the match already?"
"Patience! One must learn all aspects about the deep symbolic meaning of such a match!" Lee protested, immediately diverging into another topic about the youth of today.
Sighing, Konohamaru turned towards his teammate and now current opponent in the final match of the Jounin Exams. "Should we just go on without him?"
"Please. I don't think I can take a minute more of this."
"Okay, when this coin drops, okay?"
"Fine."
"Here we go!"
Konohamaru flung the silver coin up high into the air.
"Heads or tails?"
"Ha-ha. Very funny Konohamaru."
The two Chuunins vanished the instant the piece of metal touched the ground floor of the arena. Lee only caught on that the match has started when two kunais from opposite directions came at him, which, if he hadn't skillfully dodged, would've probably nailed him into the ground. Disappointed he was cut off short, he grudgingly scanned the surrounding area to watch the two competitors duel in a match that could mean their promotion to Jounin rank.
The Jounin Exams in Konoha were similar in structure to the Chuunin Exams, but still different. The most noticeable difference was perhaps that the exam did not allow any foreign participants – it was held within the village, and even then it was not accessible to the general public although Leaf Chuunins and Jounins could observe the final matches if they wished. The reason was all attributed to common sense: one did not just flaunt your strengths and weaknesses, especially when it came to rival villages. This way, each village managed to maintain the power balance by keeping a veil of secrecy over how strong their Jounins were.
The exam itself was held every second year, but in order to first even get into the exam itself potential Chuunins had a lot to prove. They had to have some ANBU experience, sufficient knowledge of the ninja arts proven through a paper test, and at the very least able to defeat their Jounin instructor with their team. For Team Fourteen, the three Chuunins had only managed to best the prodigy of the Fifth Hokage a year ago, and through continued hard work and determination they earned the privilege to enter the exam. After ten intensive combat-filled days that tested their skills to the maximum, they finally had the end in sight: a one on one match between rival Chuunins, held here, in this stadium.
Udon was the first one in the team to fight, and what an impressive match that was. Udon, considered the least noticed member of the Team Fourteen, proved himself in the match that he was stronger than everyone else originally expected. Despite missing his right arm, he overcome the handicap by attaching a prosthetic and by cramming so many weapons into the artificial limb he turned it into a weapon capable of massive destruction. Additionally, he inherited the Genjutsu skills of Sakura better than anyone else in the team, and coupled with his brilliant tactical mind he was a force to be reckoned with.
In his match, he at first appeared to be losing, battling an older Chuunin who possessed few destructive Taijutsu and Ninjutsu skills. Udon then surprises the opponent by catching him inside a Genjutsu, and before he could break out Udon places him inside a second, more complex illusionary technique. The opponent, unable to figure out that he was still under Genjutsu after he broke the first one could not avoid the incoming barrage of Blast Notes Udon threw at him. All Udon had to do to seal the victory was to sneak a kunai in front of his neck telling him not to move. He was the first Chuunin to become Jounin in Team Fourteen.
Unfortunately for them, the entire team could not share the joy of all of them becoming Jounins in this exam. Konohamaru and Hanabi were to square off in the final match, and so one of them were fated to stay as Chuunin for at least another two years. Being rivals only made the match more interesting, and so nearly the entire Chuunin and Jounin population turned up for this highly anticipated battle.
At the current moment, it was Hanabi that held the advantage. She was considered perhaps the most talented of the Hyuuga clan to date, even surpassing Neji in speed and ability. In addition, she was the one who inherited the raw strength from Sakura and adapted power into her Gentle Fist techniques to produce her own unique style.
Konohamaru was by no means a pushover but he was still overwhelmed. To sum it up in one word, he was a generalist: much like his uncle and grandfather, he specialized in nothing but was a jack-of-all-trades. He could and would adapt himself into any situation and somehow figure out a way out of it, although this time he looked outclassed. The few medical skills he learned from Sakura were the only thing that was saving him from defeat.
What made Hanabi so powerful was that she often used half-variations of all the techniques she knew, such as the Kaiten she preformed just now with only one side of her body flinging Konohamaru all the way across the entire battlefield only to follow it up using thirty-two hands in a really mean kick. Konohamaru all but collapsed on the arena floor.
"Had enough?" She taunted.
Konohamaru staggered up, nearly crippled but his fighting spirit still unbroken. "Heheh… it's not over yet Hanabi."
"Hmph, so now you resort to baffling."
He merely smiled. "I just thought up of a great idea to beat you."
The young woman rolled her eyes. "Typical, coming from you." Hanabi shifted her stance. "Prepare for the end!" She charged.
Then, ever so calmly, Konohamaru stood up straight, and with a dead-serious look on his face he spoke. "Go on a date with me, Hanabi."
The unexpected proposal shocked Hanabi so much she stopped dead in her tracks.
"Just what did you say?" She asked, still not believing what he just said.
"I said," Konohamaru carefully repeated. "Go on a date with me."
It didn't take too long for Hanabi to slowly understand what was going on. "If you think you can catch me off guard with that, then you are an idiot. Besides, there's no way I'd go out on a date with someone like y… what are you doing?"
Konohamaru was pulling out a large ceramic bottle of sake from his tool pouch. If there was one thing Konohamaru inherited from Sakura, it was perhaps his love for the alcoholic drink.
"Ah, this is just grampa's favorite brew." Konohamaru answered ever so calmly. "Just give me a second here so I can have a good taste before you pummel me to the ground. I just want to dull my senses enough so I won't remember the humiliation of actually surrendering to you."
"…Who do you think you are, making fun of me like that!" Hanabi yelled at him as she took up her fighting stance and charged at him with all her strength. She was going to finish him off, once and for all.
Konohamaru's goofy grin just grew wider. His free hand twirled around in a one-handed seal as he inhaled in a large breath.
"Katon: Inshu Kadan no Jutsu!"
His opponent merely laughed at his feeble attempt at a counterattack. "You think one alcohol-fueled fireball is going to stop me? Kaiten!" Hanabi blocked the ball of fire with a full-version of her clan's absolute defense technique, but she didn't count on a projectile coming at her at the same moment. The bottle shattered against her head as soon as she stopped spinning as Hanabi found herself drenched in some sort of liquid. Understanding slowly dawned on her when she realized that she was covered from head to toe in Konohamaru's sake.
Murder in her eyes, Hanabi growled at the offending man. "How dare you…"
"By the way Hanabi, nice view."
She blinked once. "What?"
"You're wearing a nice and thin white shirt."
Hanabi was nearly screaming, quickly hiding her front with her arms. "You perver-!"
She had no time to finish when the Blast Note Konohamru hid in the bottle exploded, leaving Hanabi faceplanted into several empty seats up in the stands.
"And we have a winner!" Lee happily jumped up and down, raising the sheepish Konohamaru's arms in victory. "Well done! That youth power of yours, never forget it!"
"Haha, it was nothi-"
"You bastard!"
Konohamaru was suddenly interrupted when he saw Hanabi stagger back down from the empty stands and into the arena, not caring that her shirt was completely torn off and was, essentially, topless. She stormed up to Konohamaru and kicked him between the legs so hard that everyone in the stadium could've sworn that bells have rung. Ignoring the boy's moans of pain when he collapsed to the ground, she then grabbed the collar of the scarf wrapped around his neck and yanked him up so they stared each other eye-to-eye.
"You had better wear something nice for our date!" She yelled at his face.
Konohamaru could only nod. He was going to have a hell of a date.
Up in the stands, everyone had mixed reactions on how the match concluded. Udon was speechless; Kiba was laughing his head off while his newlywed wife Hinata was telling him to stop because it was embarrassing, whereas Hiashi was crying like a grown man shouldn't have for reasons obvious. Nobody could blame him.
And Sakura?
She was smiling.
There was going to be an extra 20000 ryo in her pocket by the end of the week, much to Tsunade's chagrin.
What goes around comes around.
Yamanaka Ino was bored out of her mind.
She would've loved to go to the Konoha Stadium and cheer her best friend's students on the Jounin Exam but she ended up unlucky. Naturally, everyone in the Information and Espionage division wanted to go see the highly anticipated and exciting Jounin exam final matches but they all couldn't just well drop everything and leave the division building deserted. So they picked her, their newest addition to the team to be the one to stay behind and play house until the matches were over. Such were the misfortunes of being the 'new girl'.
She had already sorted the file cabinets, filled out all necessary forms that needed to be filled, even decoded a few cryptograms intercepted from the enemy that didn't reveal anything they already knew. Having done everything she could, she merely sat in front of the bird's den not really expecting arrival of any more messenger birds. Oh well, at least she would've have to be here much longer…
"Thanks for keeping watch, Ino."
Not really surprised, she turned around to see the head of the division standing behind her. "No problem, Kurenai-san. How did the matches go?"
"Pretty interesting." The older kunoichi answered. "Four people managed to pass in the end."
"Anyone I know?"
"Two of Sakura's students passed. Udon and Konohamaru."
Ino's mouth formed a small 'o' shape. "The Hyuuga didn't pass, huh?"
"Hanabi's match was… an interesting one." Kurenai replied, giggling a little.
"Hm? What happened? Who was her opponent?"
"She went up against Konohamaru."
The blonde woman's eyes went a little wide. "Kono managed to beat her?" Kurenai nodded as she continued her fit of giggles. "How did he do it?" Ino asked.
"I think it would be best if Sakura told you." Kurenai replied with a smile.
Ino looked a bit disappointed. "Awww… fine, ok. I'll do that. Can I go then?"
"Anything new?"
"Nope. Did everything and been sitting here ever since."
"I see, good work. Sure, you can go. Everyone else should be back in a moment. In fact, take the rest of your day off."
The woman immediately brightened. "Thanks, Kurenai-san!" She jumped up from her seat and took a step outside into the balcony when her feet brushed up against something soft. "Ah…"
About to retreat into the deeper parts of the building, Kurenai paused upon hearing the small cry from Ino. "Something wrong?"
"There's a bird here." Ino said as she bent down and picked up the said animal, previously unseen having been located behind the stone pillar that held up the open balcony. It was an owl. Odd choice for a messenger bird. "It's dead…"
Kurenai's scarlet eyes opened wide in surprise. "That's…!"
"Huh? Kurenai-san, you know this bird?"
"Come here with that owl, Ino. Quickly."
Ino did as was told, and Kurenai took the deceased body as she examined the owl's leg. A small cylindrical container was tied to the leg. Unstrapping the said container and opening the lid, Kurenai emptied its contents and discovered a small sheet of wrapped-up paper inside. Her eyes went wide again when she unscrolled the piece of paper and read its contents. "I don't believe this…!"
"…Kurenai-san? What does it say?"
"Ino, get Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama here, immediately."
"But what-"
"NOW Ino!"
She didn't need to say it a third time.
"I still can't believe you did that, Hanabi."
"He deserved it, Sakura-sensei."
After the match, the student and the teacher were sharing a heartfelt talk inside the kunoichi changing rooms. Sakura thought to check up on her student who unfortunately didn't pass the Jounin exams in an attempt to cheer her up. Well, that and she felt a little guilty betting money against her. But from the looks of things, Hanabi needed no cheering up. She was fine the way she was.
"You broke one of his bones in 'that' area, you know?" Sakura informed. "He's going to have to spend several days in the hospital."
Her student huffed through her nose. "I still say he deserved it. That's the price of seeing me naked."
"My, my. Poor Konohamaru is going to have to go through a lot of broken bones before he marries you." Sakura teased as she handed Hanabi several bandages.
"Sakura-sensei!"
The pink-haired woman was still smiling. "Oh come on now, you accepted his proposal right?"
"That was… that… it's just one date… no big deal." The normally feisty girl stuttered as her face slowly turned tomato red. There was no real use in hiding: Sakura knew that Hanabi had a crush on Konohamaru for the longest time, but she had refused to admit her feelings out of pride. Today she had finally taken that small but important step for a relationship. Sakura was proud of her. Looking embarrassed like never before, Hanabi solemnly accepted the bandages from Sakura and started wrapping the cloth around her naked breasts.
It was at that precise moment when Jiraiya the Toad Hermit walked into the changing room.
"Oopsies."
He didn't look convincing at all. Here in front of him were two half-naked women, in a changing-room no less (a fantasy he one day hopes to write about), so it was only natural when his expression turned into something very perverse.
Two pairs of eyes stared back at him.
"Oopsies my ass!"
"Jeez, children nowadays, no respect for the elderly."
An irritated Tsunade stood still behind him. "No matter how you look at it, Jiraiya, I'd say anyone would agree with Sakura and Hanabi when they wanted to punch you in the face."
"It was an accident." Jirairya protested from his seat, carefully cradling the icepack over both black eyes.
Not one of the three women present in the changing room (all of them now fully clothed) believed him. His reputation saw to that.
Tsunade decided to change the subject. "Anyway, as I was saying… we have a situation in our hands. And..." She turned to Hanabi. "Not sure if you want to hear this, little girl."
"I understand." Nodding once, the nervous girl stood up from the bench ready to leave. There was no use being here when it was clear the two Sennins were here to discuss business with her teacher.
It was she who stopped her. "Hanabi, wait, don't go."
"Sensei?" She turned, a little surprised.
"Sakura, are you sure?" Tsunade asked.
"I trust Hanabi, Shishou-sama." Sakura replied sincerely. "She is one of my students, after all."
Hanabi beamed at her teacher's praise. "Sensei…"
Seeing the look in her apprentice's eyes, Tsunade gave in. "…Very well. It might as well be better if I send both of you on this mission."
"Rank?" Sakura asked.
"S. Urgent, too."
The two kunoichi's eyes widened, but there was no more turning back. "What is it about?" Sakura inquired.
"Yamanaka Ino from Information and Espionage came up to see me in the office about five minutes ago and asked of my immediate presence in the division building. Upon arriving she took me and Jiraiya straight to Kurenai, and she showed us this." Tsunade took out a small piece of paper from her sleeve and flipped it toward Sakura. "It was on the body of a dead messenger-owl they founds moments before."
Hanabi leaned over to see as Sakura opened the piece of paper.
The message inside was short and simple to the point.
SS-Rank Mission.
Status: Complete.
Remnants proving difficult to dispose.
Request one ANBU backup: Haruno Sakura.
Will meet in forest outside the Town of Inns.
Time is short, haste will be appreciated.
There I shall tell her everything I know.
If necessary, contact Sennin Jiraiya to confirm the validity of this message.
- Uchiha Itachi
nu ptfrt pg yjr gpityj jplshr
"Uchiha… Itachi…?" Hanabi muttered the two words unbelievingly.
Shaking, Sakura looked up from the piece of paper and looked back and forth between Tsunade and Jiraiya in front of her. "This is…"
"I couldn't really believe it myself." Tsunade admitted. "But I asked this pervert here and he says it's true. Kurenai even confirmed that the messenger-owl that got here was one Itachi used before he became missing-nin."
"What is going on…? Does that mean Itachi… from the beginning?"
Jiraiya put down the icepack back onto the bench and eyed the two confused kunoichi serious. "Listen carefully now, misses. What I say from now on must be kept absolutely secret. Understand?"
Hanabi looked unsure, but Sakura nodded their consent. Jiraiya went on. "See those squiggles at the bottom of the message? That's a special contact code used by Leaf Ninjas acting under top-secret orders. It's a little hard to make out but it's actually a simple cryptogram that replaces one letter with another that translates to: 'By order of the Third Hokage'. Either way, it is a code that's not really meant to hide anything, but instead it's a special method of writing to ensure that this message is indeed valid and the ninja is acting under orders of the Hokage."
"Anyway," Jiraiya continued. "Now that he has sent us this message I guess it's okay to tell you this. Itachi – is a double agent working for the Hidden Leaf. He was my contact inside the Akatsuki and has been providing me information on the organization's inner works for almost a decade now."
"I have to admit, even I don't know what his true objectives are, but I suspect that the Uchiha Massacre he caused was a part of the mission itself – there were some shady rumors about the Uchiha back then, so who knows what the truth was – but either way, Itachi became missing-nin by killing all of his clansmen save his brother most likely under orders of the Third. He then infiltrated the Akatsuki and contacted me as the relay of information to the Leaf. He has told me that the Akatsuki so far has…" Jiraiya turned to Hanabi, then Sakura. "Does the girl know about Naruto, Sakura?"
"Yes, she does."
"Fine then. He has told me that the Akatsuki has so far collected eight Jinchuuriki and is awaiting the capture of the last one – which means Naruto. That was a year ago, I haven't had contact with him since. And all of a sudden this piece of paper waltzes through our door. I can only conclude that Itachi finally moved in to eliminate the Akatsuki organization from within and succeeded in doing whatever necessary to complete his given mission, but…"
"It says here: 'Remnants proving difficult to dispose'. He is requesting Sakura-sensei as backup." Hanabi pointed out.
The aged hermit nodded. "Yes, so it means that Itachi didn't succeed in wiping out the Akatsuki completely. Most likely he's pursued, injured, or worse, even dead. Only way to find out is to go to the place he specified in the message."
"But why… did Itachi ask me to be his backup?" Sakura said, still sounding like she had difficulty believing these new and sudden revelations.
Itachi was acting orders when he killed Sasuke's entire clan? He was acting orders when he asked Sasuke to take revenge on him? Then everything… Sasuke… Kakashi… Naruto… Team Seven… the breakings of their friendship, the source of all of their misery… it was all because of… something else?
"That I don't know." Jiraiya admitted as he leaned a little bit forward. "That's what I wanted to ask you, Sakura. Did you have a relationship with Itachi?"
The question caught her off guard. "Me, have a relationship with Itachi?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. I'm asking you. Oh, I didn't mean anything… well, sexual, but I was wondering if you had like, maybe, a contract, sort of master-and-student type relationship before he left the village. It's not uncommon for a ANBU member to take up a child student."
"…Well Sakura?" Tsunade asked, joining in the conversation. "If you did, it's not like you'll be punished for it. You did nothing wrong."
"I don't know Itachi. Honest." She said, a hard look on her face.
"It is possible that he has sealed your memory before he has left." Tsunade suggested.
Sakura was on the verge of hysterics. "…No… no way, I don't believe this… I won't accept…!"
"Hey now, calm down girl." The hermit turned to the old woman. "You're assuming too much Tsunade. There are other possibilities of course."
"Other possibilities?" This time it was Hanabi who asked the question.
"We always have to assume the possibility that this might be a trap." Jiraiya said. "Sakura is the only one who has free-reign over the passage through the dungeon Naruto is sealed in, and, according to Itachi, the Akatsuki only needs him to complete the 'collection' of the tailed demons. So it is possible that they are trying to get hands on your teacher to figure out a way inside to finish their job." Another pause. Jiraiya shifted uncomfortably. "I still don't know why they are collecting such things, but whatever the reason may be it can't be good."
"Then again," Jiraiya continued. "Itachi might have asked Sakura simply because she's the only one left from Naruto's team. It could be that Itachi might be trying to protect Naruto from the grasps of the Akatsuki and to prevent them from accomplishing their objective, and since Sakura is the only one left who is in contact with Naruto, she might be the most capable and trustful member left inside the Hidden Leaf."
"That really didn't make much sense, Jiraiya." Tsunade said from the side.
"I know." He sighed. "There are still lots of questions left unanswered, but we have little facts and, most importantly, we have little time. From the way Itachi said 'Time is short, haste will be appreciated.', it's obvious urgency is stressed. If he is being pursued I doubt he can be on the run for much longer, genius he may be."
Tsunade nodded, and turned her attention to her apprentice. "Sakura, Hanabi. This is your mission. Go meet Itachi in the location he specified, and bring him back to the Hidden Leaf for questioning. Hanabi will act as Sakura's backup just in case it is a trap. If he is unable or unwilling to return to the Hidden Leaf, interrogate him as much as you can and kill him if you can see an opportunity. If you can't, then just run. Stay alive. Understand?"
"I understand, Hokage-sama." Hanabi replied, a shimmer of determination in her eyes eager to undertake her first ever S-Ranked mission.
"I understand, Shishou-sama… but…" Sakura stuttered, her eyes focused on the piece of paper she clenched in her hands.
"What is it, Sakura?"
"…I read this over carefully…" She sat the paper down on the low wooden table. "…There something that doesn't make any sense."
This got both of the Sennin's attention. "Hmm?" Jiraiya mumbled as he leaned forward so he was now above the paper.
"This code here." Sakura pointed towards the squiggles located in the bottom of the paper.
nu ptfrt pg yjr gpityj jplshr
"What about it?" Jiraiya asked. "It's authentic. I recognize the style of writing and only a few people among the Leaf can identify the style and its importance."
"I don't doubt you, Jiraiya-sama, but the contents… here." She pointed towards a single letter, then another.
Jiraiya instantly recognized the error he made. "…My god."
"Sakura? Jiraiya? What is going on?" Tsunade asked, a hint of worry in her voice.
Jiraiya shifted a little to the left to offer Tsunade a better view of the code. "See the third word here, Tsunade?"
"You mean this one?" Tsunade pointed.
pg
"Care to guess what it says?"
Tsunade scowled. "Do you take me for a fool? It says 'of', right?"
"Exactly. Now guess what this says." Jiraiya pointed his finger towards another word.
gpityj
Tsunade gave it some thought. "Well, seeing that the first letter is the same as the second letter of the word you pointed towards earlier, that is an 'f'. The next one is 'o' since that's the same too, so that means…" She trailed off.
Jiraiya nodded when it looked like Tsunade finally got it. "Sakura, good job in spotting it. I stopped reading when I simply recognized the second word and the last: 'order' and 'Hokage'. I had assumed that it came from the Third since Itachi went missing-nin during his reign, but…"
"This… code here…" Tsunade muttered disbelievingly. "It doesn't say 'By order of the Third Hokage'."
"Correct Tsunade. It says…"
'By order of the Fourth Hokage'.
After seeing the two kunoichi's off through the gates of the Village despite the astonishing revelation that Itachi was acting under orders of the Fourth, the current Hokage and her loyal friend walked side-by-side back to the tower.
"Jiraiya… there's something else isn't there?" Tsunade suddenly asked.
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Don't play innocent with me, old man. It's obvious you know more than you're letting on."
Jiraiya broke into an uneasy laugh. "And what makes you think that?"
"You said nothing back there because you didn't want to say it in front of her."
His laugh downgraded into an uneasy grin. "Sharp as always."
Tsunade sighed. "…She is incredibly similar, isn't she?"
"…So is that why you chose her as your apprentice after you swore you would never take another, Tsunade?"
"…Perhaps."
"Still can't let it go, huh? Your brother, Nawaki… your boyfriend, Dan… and your first apprentice…"
"………"
"Two and a half decades, Tsunade. Don't you think it's time to let it go?"
"Don't try to change the subject Jiraiya."
"Hey now, you're the one who started-"
A glare.
"Fine, I'll shut up."
"Tell me then."
"About what?"
Another glare.
"Fine. So let's list up facts that we know then."
"Fine."
"One, Itachi is somehow connected to Sakura. How, I don't know exactly. Maybe your earlier theory about Itachi being Sakura's master when she was a child and then erased her memory might be right. True or not, we can't ignore the fact that he asked for her as backup, so they share some sort of missing link."
"Go on."
"Two, your first apprentice was Itachi's master when she was ANBU commander."
"…I never heard this."
"Of course you didn't, you already left the village by then. So since your first apprentice and Sakura are so similar in looks, it is very much possible that Itachi was taken by Sakura and so took her in, which, reinforces your earlier theory. But I think there's another possibility we can't ignore. Having discovered just now that the Fourth was the one who issued Itachi his order only reinforces this possibility. The Fourth and your apprentice were husband and wife after all."
"And that is?"
"Have you ever considered, Tsunade," Jiraiya asked carefully. "That Sakura and your first apprentice…
The rest of his voice was drowned out by a sudden gust of wind.
It was as if nature itself didn't want the truth to be revealed to the outside world.
The two returned to the village eight hours later.
It was a frightening and odd scene. Sakura was splattered in blood, her face aghast. Upon closer inspection it was revealed that the blood on her Jounin uniform was not hers; it was someone else's. Meanwhile, Sakura's student, Hanabi, was trailing after her teacher with tears in her eyes. It was highly unusual to see the Hyuuga girl crying, and even odder when her voice revealed she was pleading with her teacher.
"…Sensei! Sakura-sensei! Please… please… forgive me! I didn't mean…! I never…"
Sakura pushed her away and left the broken girl crying to herself in the ground as she emotionlessly marched to the Hokage Tower to report on their success of the mission.
"What the hell happened?" Tsunade asked the moment Sakura walked into her office. "Hanabi's out there desperately pleading for your forgiveness while you're standing there with a expressionless face like Sai's while being covered from head to toe with blood that's not your own!"
"…That is because I expelled her."
"…What did you say?"
"Hanabi was a spy."
"…A what?"
"Exactly what I said, Shishou-sama. Hanabi was a spy sent from Hyuuga Hiashi to keep watch over me. It was Itachi who told me that."
"…And just how did Itachi know that?"
"I don't know either. He just knew. He told me to do something to confirm it. I did… and her reaction was obvious. I interrogated her and she confessed that she was sent from Hiashi to spy on me."
"…Why would Hiashi… no, wait, before that, where is Itachi?"
"He is dead."
"Did you kill him?"
"When I rendezvoused with him in the forest outside the Town of Inns, he was already close to death. Like Jiraiya-sama predicted, the one remaining member he failed to eliminate from the organization was pursuing him. Some missing-nin from the Stone… Deidara I think was his name."
Tsunade racked through her memories for the name. "…Didn't he kill himself during the Kazekage Retrieval mission like ten years ago?"
Sakura shrugged. "Guess not. Most likely a clone… anyway, Deidara was attacking Itachi when we found them, and I tried to join in the fight but I knew it was too late to save him. That's when he caught me in the Mangekyo Sharingan."
"Mangekyo Sharingan…" Tsunade muttered. "The Uchiha's…"
Sakura went on. "Just before his death, he caught me in the illusionary world he called 'Tsukiyomi' and in there he told me everything he knew. He also told me… about myself."
"…About… you?"
"Inside the illusionary world he told me that I was capable of using a technique the Hyuuga clan kept secret called the sekka soushou – the 'petrifaction spear palm', otherwise known as the Medusa Javelin. The concept is simple, really. You only had to collect healing chakra on your fists and strike the enemy hard with it. Just like giving too much water will wither a plant, the technique uses that same principle and accelerate the healing process so much that the strike will create a biological shock inside the victims body that will turn their organic materials into stone. It is a difficult technique that requires precise control, knowledge of the healing arts and brute strength – but he also told me there is something else. Either way, Shishou-sama, my first kill… that time, it was an accident, but I had unknowingly used the Medusa Javelin."
Sakura paused momentarily to reminisce on the incident before she continued. "When Itachi's illusion broke, he was immediately killed on the spot by Deidara, then the man moved into to kill me. He was injured too so it was a battle I could fight with relative ease, and so during the confrontation I used the Medusa Javelin on Deidara to petrify his arm. Using his surprise as advantage I stabbed him with my knife through his heart. The blood I have on me is his. I looked back at Hanabi and I could tell she was surprised that I used that technique. I don't know why Hiashi would send her to keep watch on me to see if I could use the Medusa Javelin or not… but when I questioned her she admitted she even didn't know. Either way it was something that I couldn't tolerate. That is why I expelled her."
"You know it's not Hanabi's fault…"
Sakura smiled sadly. "…I know. Give me a few days to calm down and I'll probably forgive her. I know she is a good girl at heart."
Tsunade scratched her head. "…Still, why would Itachi know about such a technique…?"
"…I…" She looked as if she was about to say something, but she stopped.
"Sakura?"
"…I… don't know…"
"You obviously do you know something, Sakura. Come on, spit it out. Itachi couldn't have possibly called you all the way out just so he can teach you a secret Hyuuga clan technique just before his death."
"He told me about the Akatsuki. Their objectives… and Naruto." She was shaking now. "He told me… told me that…!" Her emotionless mask collapsed and she started to break into tears. "He told me that… he…!"
"…Sakura."
"…Shishou-sama. Please… please… I just have check one thing… I have to make sure…"
"Hey Sakura-chan!"
"What is this?" She asked, startled. "It's almost like… a garden."
"Welcome to the garden closest to hell." He said sarcastically, of which her reaction was a deep frown. "By the way, Sakura-chan, what's that you're holding?"
It was unusual. Of all the times she came to visit him daily, this time she was carrying luggage.
"It's just for your medical checkup. I was ordered by Tsunade-sama."
"A medical checkup?" Naruto asked, startled. "I look healthy, don't I?" He waved his hands in a sweeping arc front of him as if to prove his point.
"But you're living in… well, here. Food too, the stuff they give you from the dumbwaiter is all canned, and the only meat or vegetables you're eating are the ones that I bring you. We're all worried for you. You've become taller and more like an adult, so Tsunade-sama asked me to check up on your health as well as your growth progress." As Sakura explained, she cooked out the contents of her bag. A few small pieces of strange machinery and many different varieties of medical tools and equipment were laid down in front of her. She then ordered him to lie down on his back, and as he followed her command she suddenly looked as if she remembered something.
"How long has it been? Since you were imprisoned." She asked.
"Eh?" Naruto racked his brain and he calculated the answer to her question. "Umm… about a year or so?"
"Ah, right." She said flatly before she returned her attention back to her medical tools.
"Sakura-chan, please don't tell me you've become senile already!"
POW!
"Idiot! I'm still young dammit! It's just been so busy these days, I've lost my sense of time."
"Owww…"
"I may not look like it, but I'm a capable medical ninja now thank you very much! Alright, show me your chest…"
She began handling her tools with professional ease as she started her checkup. The inspection lasted minutes, then dozens of minutes, then eventually rolled into hours.
"Umm, Sakura-chan?" He asked as she stuck a thermometer in his mouth.
"What?"
"Do you have to be so… um, through?"
"Yes."
She had listened and recorded his pulse rate, poked his skin with some sort of glass looking stick and had essentially massaged his entire body asking him if any parts she touched hurt. Naruto so would've enjoyed the 'checkup' she gave him if she didn't look so serious doing it. Instead, he was awed at how grown up she acted despite her youthful appearance. He was about to ask another question until he saw her hands going for the machinery. She then took a needle, gauze, and a tube. She was going to take some blood.
"Awww, that too?"
"Of course. Don't want to discover you sick but already too late. This is for your own good!" With that, she stuck the sharp needle in one of his veins in his arm and extracted blood. The red liquid made it's way through the tubes and into the small machine. It seemed the purpose of the machines were to record various data, as Sakura observed the output screens she scribbled a few things in her notebook with her pen. A few minutes later she shut it off and took the needle out, the gauze wiping his wound clean.
"Going to need some of your cells too."
"Cells? Ow!"
Sakura quickly plucked one of his hairs from his head. She stared at the blonde strand for a second, and then looked at Naruto. "Your hair grows slowly."
"Ah, now that you mention it, yeah. Always been like that, though."
She carefully tucked away the hair in a small plastic folder then stored it away in her medical bag. Cleaning her equipment, she put away the rest of the medical tools into her bag and with a little help from Naruto she was soon all done.
"Alright, one last thing." She said. "Mold a bit of your chakra, and let me see your stomach."
"Sakura-chan, you know about the seal?"
She nodded. "Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama taught me. Now lemee see them."
He took off his shirt and molded a bit of chakra. The previously invisible seal slowly started to illuminate itself, and Sakrua stared at it serious, prodding some parts of the seal with her fingers. "Hm, nothing seems to be wrong." She concluded.
Naruto put his shirt back on. "It'll be bad if it is, no?"
"…It's just…"
"Hm?"
"Well, I thought some parts of the seal were weakened, but it turns out its not at all."
He tapped his fist in front of his chest. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. Even if the seal is gone, I'll hold him in place!"
Her lips twisted into a rather forced smile. "I'm counting on you."
There was nothing much to converse about today. After she was done with her checkup, she seemed fresh out of topics. They decided to call it a night early.
"Good night, Naruto."
"Good night, Sakura-chan."
"Well?"
Sakura handed Tsunade the strand of hair the moment she came out of the dungeon and into the basement of the Hokage Tower.
"Now will you tell me what's going on?" Tsunade asked her apprentice.
"…For years, I've been suspicious about something. About Naruto. Over the years, I noticed that I don't age that fast, but Naruto… he ages differently. Oh, he's changed all right, but still… he seems slower still. And also…" The pink-haired woman stuttered, and then grew quiet.
"Oh for god's sakes." Tsunade threw both of her hands up in the air. "I'm not a psychic Sakura. Don't make me send you to Torture and Interrogation just so I can force the story out of you!"
Looking hesitant, Sakura finally opened her heavy mouth. "The Akatsuki's objectives were… to achieve immortality."
"…Immortality?"
"The tailed beasts… they do not die. So the Akatsuki theorized that Jinchuuriki, with the tailed beasts sealed in them, in addition to having possession of great chakra and ability, will be given the gift of living forever."
"Sakura… are you saying that…"
"…That Naruto might not die? Yes."
"………"
"For the longest time… I had suspected… but when I preformed that checkup today, the evidence suggests and supports the theory. I don't think you really need to bother running through that strand of hair through the tests, it'll just show precise numbers just how slow Naruto ages."
"…For how long did you suspect this?"
"…Eight, nine years probably. The moment when Naruto couldn't start telling time."
"You mean he is not conscious about this?"
"No. Today, I asked him how long he think has passed since he was imprisoned. He thinks only it's only been a year or so."
"………"
"Shishou-sama."
"What is it, Sakura?"
"Can you teach me your technique… the one where you do not age?"
"…Are you sure?"
"…I don't want Naruto to see me age."
"…Fine. Do not tell anyone else about this, though. Especially not the council. They're going to scream bloody murder."
"I understand."
"One more thing, Sakura?"
"Yes?"
"You're still hiding me something, aren't you?"
"………"
Irritated, Tsunade dangerously narrowed her eyes. "Sakura…"
"There were many things I still wanted to ask from him, from Itachi." She said suddenly. "About why he became missing-nin, why did he kill Sasuke-kun's entire clan and why did he want to steal away Naruto. It may be all part of the mission… but still, there were still so many things I didn't understand. And when I asked him why… I saw him smile sadly, and before he died, he…"
"Why, you bastard! Tell me!"
"I am sorry, but I cannot. It is something you must figure out for yourself."
She was crying now. "Dammit, you asshole! Don't leave me hanging like this!"
"You never change."
"……What?"
He smiled a sad smile. "It was nice seeing you one last time, Setsuka-sama."
The red world faded into oblivion.
"Setsuka? He called you Setsuka? Are you sure about this?"
"Yes. Do you know who that is, Tsunade-sama?"
"No," Tsunade replied. "No, I don't, Sakura."
"But I think there's another possibility we can't ignore." Jiraya was saying. "Having discovered just now that the Fourth was the one who issued Itachi his order only reinforces this possibility. The Fourth and your apprentice were husband and wife after all."
"And that is?"
"Have you ever considered, Tsunade." Jiraiya asked carefully. "That Sakura and your first apprentice…
"The possibility that she and Setsuka are the same person?"
- Fourth Entry -
"Temperance"
Reign of the Fifth Hokage, Thirteenth year. February 20th.
25 years old. Year 10 of Imprisonment.
It was the day my suspicions turned into confirmation.
It has been 10 years now, and Naruto's changed quite a bit, and he became quite the adult. I thought it was amazing for such growth to take place in an environment where normal humans would already have gone insane from pure isolation. For years I have been suspicious about something concerning Naruto, and today I decided to check.
I have been visiting the dungeon for years now, but I had always thought strange that the flowers were constantly in full-bloom, even out of season. I had thought that this was one the reasons his sense of time is askew. I lied to Naruto saying that I was performing a medical checkup on him and collected some data. What I wanted to know was about Naruto's growth and his process of aging. I had brushed the thought aside for the longest time at first thinking it had to do something with his natural hereditary genes, but I can no longer ignore it. I checked it over with Tsunade-sama as we studied his cells taken from his hair, and we reached a conclusion. Naruto's growth was indeed slower than that of a normal human being. According to these calculations, he would not age even a year when I had already died from natural causes. Just in case I also checked the seals on Naruto that sealed the Kyuubi. No change.
According to further analysis, it seems the DNA levels of Naruto and the Kyuubi had merged. If he had done this unwillingly or unconsciously, I don't know. I concluded that this was the reason why he has an askew sense of time.
A footnote: Naruto thinks only a year has passed since he has been imprisoned.
I had asked Tsunade-sama to teach me her jutsu that kept her youthful form in exchange for me staying quiet about the discovery. She agreed. I decided I would use that jutsu permanently. I did not want Naruto to see me age.
-END-
Author's Notes:
Longest chapter to date. Just means that much more mistakes to fix. Bleah. Again, yes, this is a first-draft edition of the chapter, and yes, there are probably a few plot holes and grammatical mistakes. Hopefully minor ones. I just wanted to put this up as fast as possible to satisfy the curiosity of my readers. Oh how I wished I had a beta. Oh wells. Expect a revision of this chapter in a few days. I always seem to find errors better once the story is up in the net for some strange reason.
I have to give my thanks to two people for making this chapter possible. Firstly, I give my many thanks to Sh33p, for his permission for me to use the many ideas inspired from his Naruto fanfiction "Catch 22". The original ideas for the battle scene between Hanabi and Konohamru and many others scattered throughout this chapter belongs to him.
Secondly, I give my sincere thanks to Desmond Morris, author of the book "Manwatching" for giving me the idea for the introduction scene in this chapter. For me, the hardest part about writing fanfiction is the beginning, and once I get going it's pretty much smooth sailing from there. Without his brilliant descriptions and facts about animal behaviors and such, this chapter most likely would've have taken twice the amount of time to finish.
While writing this chapter, I noticed that, without really giving it too much thought, I was killing off at least one or two characters from the canon Naruto storyline each chapter. I am sorry to say this, but expect this trend to continue: there will be major character death. This is going to be especially true the next chapter – for previous readers of "Garden of Sanctuary", I think you all can figure out what this means.
Till then!
- Nes Mikel