Sakura woke up and lay still for a moment, wondering why she had this feeling that today was going to be special. Then she remembered, and she leaped out of bed to throw open the groggy curtains and check the weather. She and her new sensei were going to start a special hands on training today and she was going to become stronger. She threw the window wide open and took a deep breath of the sparkling clean air. It was still early, but the sun was already glistening over the forest. Perfect. It couldn't be better.
"For Kami's sake, Sakura, close the window before you freeze us to death."
In the other bed her old sensei, Kakashi, burrowed down under his covers. Sakura whirled around to drag her jounin clothes out of the closet, then she turned back around for one last look. Straight ahead of her was a tall mountain. Old trails snaked their way to the top and in Sakura's imagination, she was running up it, trying to escape a demon of some sort. She could just see the start of the trail high above her, then it curled away out of sight into the trees. The remnants of snow gleamed in the sunlight. It seemed to be beckoning her, luring her up to it. She couldn't wait.
Then, as she stared at it, a cloud passed in front of the sun, and in an instant the whole mountain was plunged into shadow. Without any warning at all a violent shiver shook Sakura from head to toe and she looked down to see goose bumps standing out on the bare skin of her arm. An uneasy, queasy feeling flooded through her and she shut the window with a bang.
"That's better," Naruto groaned, and cautiously poked the tip of his nose out from underneath the blankets. "Are you still planning on training with that old man?"
Sakura looked back at the mountain and the forest just outside of Konohagakure. The sun was bathing it with light again and her weird feeling of the moment before seemed ridiculous. She pushed if out of her mind and started to put on her clothes over her pyjamas. "He's not old Naruto and yes...I am going to train with him today. Sometimes I wonder how I can live with you two..."
Naruto chuckled. "We had no choice Sakura-chan! Remember? Tsunade-sama needed our apartments for the new tourists."
Sakura sighed, throwing a pillow over at Kakashi's bed. "Wake up or we're going to be late for meetings with our respective people."
Kakashi merely looked up and cracked a smile under his mask before plopping his head back down on the pillow.
"It can wait."
A few uneventful hours later, Sakura lay on her back in a stubby field just outside the main gates of Konohagakure, watching the heavy clouds build up above her. She had a dreadful fascination in the way the clouds boiled and billowed up, towering higher and higher until they ended in strange, anvil-shaped heads. There was a line of them, and they were definitely coming nearer. She could even see the dark curtain of rain spreading down from them and taste it in the moist breeze on her cheek.
Sakura picked herself up and dusted the dried twigs and grass off the bottom of her shorts absent-mindedly, still staring skywards. It was the first time her sensei had been late.
"Doesn't seem to me like you're ready, kunoichi." A monotonous voice called out from the clearing. Sakura shot up and glanced back, flashing a grin as her sensei walked forward. "Well, let's get started." He pointed out in the general direction of the mountain and Sakura looked at him incredulously, unable to grasp what he meant.
"Kazuki-sensei, what do--"
"Kunoichi, not everything will give you the answer clearly. You must learn that the answer may not come at all or it will be too obvious for you to notice. Don't give up so easily."
Sakura frowned at his degrading statement but hid it nonetheless. She stared tediously at his arm, trying to find any trace amounts of evidence that would be deemed relevant in finding her answer. After squinting her eyes to block the blinding sunlight, she scowled when she found it. Right there, on his protruding finger, were the words: We're playing a game. You run, I chase.
She fixed her posture and craned her neck to look at the mahogany eyed man with misunderstanding. She was about to open her mouth in protest but he caught her by surprise when he started to chuckle. A light-hearted chuckle at that but it aggravated Sakura.
"What?"
"Obey the instructions, kunoichi. Endurance...you will need it."
Sakura smiled and leapt onto the first tree branch. "Will you call me by my name if I win?"
"Of course, kunoichi." He smiled and shooed her away, taking out a scroll and scribbling some new information onto it.
Sakura by herself was a swift and efficient runner. She had no difficulty finding the trail that her sensei had left from the point he had turned in a westward direction from a river, and the only thing that held her back was the sudden downpour, which she detested. The hunt had gone on for about an hour and nothing had come out of it except for the water that poured heavily onto Sakura's tired form. She had no choice but to huddle miserably under shelter during the shower, waiting until the last drop had fallen before exiting her confinement. Then she had to pick her way with extreme distaste through the wet grass and undergrowth, searching for the only trail of her temporary sensei.
She left no trace of her progress; branches parted slightly here and there, sometimes there was a momentary rustling of dried leaves, but never a twig cracked, and not a stone was dislodged from under her soft, chakra infused feet. Without noisy Naruto and boring Kakashi she saw everything and was seen by none, or so she thought.
She leapt onto another branch, watching the sharp, inquisitive nose and bright eye of a fox peer from the bushes; she saw the sinuous twisting bodies and mean vicious faces of mink and marten; she watched a small bird leap above her, framed in the leafless branches of a birch, and watched the beautiful tail stream out behind when the animal leaped a clear four metres through the air into the swaying green obscurity of pine. She watched with disdain the lean grey timber wolf loping quietly along the trail she crouched above.
Everything's so serene and peaceful.
Sakura went on through the late morning mists, still following the trail of her sensei. She must have been on the border at one point, through several kilometres of deep spruce and cedar swamp, so that the going was, alternately, soft and dry and strewn with needles, then damp and spongy. It was a gloomy place and Sakura appeared uneasy, frequently glancing behind her as if she thought that she was being followed. Several times she crouched on a branch of a tree, watching and waiting. But whatever it was she imagined showed equal cunning, and never appeared.
She remained wary and suspicious, and felt with every nerve in her body that something was following--something evil. The bush was coming to an end: far ahead of her she could see patches of blue sky which meant more open country. An old fallen tree lay ahead of her on the trail she was following. She jumped onto the trunk to cross it, pausing for a brief second, then her neck hairs rose erect; for in that moment she heard quite distinctly and felt rather than saw the presence of a following animal--and it was not very far behind her.
"It's big."
Without further delay she leaped onto another high branch and looked back along the path. Into view, moving with a velvet tread that equalled her own, came what appeared to be a large cat. But it was different than the stray cats Sakura would usually see around her village. This one was at least four times as large, chunky and heavy, with a short bobtail and thick furry legs. The coat was a soft grey, overlaid with a few darker spots. The head differed only from an ordinary cat in that it was framed in a ruff of hair, and the ears rose into tufted points. It was a cruel face that Sakura saw and she recognized instinctively a wanton killer--and one that could easily outclass a kunoichi such as herself in ferocity and speed.
"Not strength though," she mused, lacking any seriousness in the current situation. Then she felt something. She peered down at the cat and felt chakra surround it.
It's a monster from kuchiyose no jutsu...
Sakura knew her chances of killing it were slim, considering that her sensei had immeasurable strength with ninjutsu. She figured her only means of staying alive was to escape. She slowly backed as far up the young birch could go and crouched there, the slender trunk swaying under her weight. The cat stopped in the centre of the trail, one heavy paw lifted, gazing up with gleaming malicious eyes. Sakura looked around, measuring her distance.
With a light bound the beast landed on top of the fallen tree trunk, and for another endless moment the two pairs of eyes tried to outstare one another, Sakura making a low, eerie hissing noise in a vain attempt to frighten the monster. Pumping chakra and into her arm then discharging it with equal speed and percision, Sakura tapped the branch which caused it to crumble, hurdling the cat to the ground along with Sakura. Jumping at the last moment, Sakura caught hold of another branch but found herself in the same predicament when the cat leaped for the birch, straddling it easily with powerful limbs. Digging into the birch with long claws, it started up the trunk towards her.
Sakura, arms infused with chakra, whipped out a kunai and channelled her chakra into the weapon, throwing it hastily at the animal. It simply smashed it away, sucking up the chakra into its limbs which doubled its size. Sakura inwardly cursed herself for her misfortune but that was short lived as the animal opened its mouth, revealing a sappy green liquid. It spat it out quickly, the liquid landing on Sakura's foot as she leapt up higher into the tree.
"Damn it," she whispered as a stinging sensation pulsed through her. She glanced down to inspect the damage--a torn limb. She did not have the time to heal it and she needed to escape because she knew that a kuchiyose monster was nearly impossible to be beaten by a mere kunoichi...not in her state, anyway.
Sakura flung a shuriken at the monster which proved to be successful when it embedded itself in the cat's right arm, earning a wail from the beast. The beast stood still, pawing at the shuriken that had poison laced on the edges which was now travelling through its blood system. Using this diversion as her chance, Sakura began to steadily stand up but was abruptly stopped by chords that were latched around her body and the tree trunk.
"What the f--"
"Kunoichi, you should be more prepared. You will be outnumbered more often than not and you should be able to escape such situations quickly...that is, if you want to live." The voice rang through the forest and a gust of wind came along with it, giving Sakura that uneasy feeling. She struggled to get free and managed to escape from the chords. But by then the monster had already dislodged the shuriken from its body and healed itself to her dismay. It reached a paw out to its full length and raked at Sakura, tearing a strip of bark away.
"He's toying with me," she mumbled, straining her foot in order to stand up. She tried to strike back with her fist, but the tree was waving wildly, and she lost her grip with the movement and fell. The tree was so far bent over that she had not too far to fall, but even in that short time she twisted in the air and landed graciously on one foot, only to hear a heavier thud a few metres away. The tree, whipping back, had dislodged the beast almost at the same time, but the heavy animal had fallen with more impetus and less agility; for a split second it remained where it was, slightly winded. Sakura took advantage of it and ran towards the beast, hands outstretched.
"ShÅsen jutsu." She concentrated chakra to her hands, attempting to use her hands as a scalpel. She lunged forward and implanted her palm into the beast's chest, severing its muscles fibres at the point of contact. The monster hissed and lunged out at Sakura, grabbing her Jounin vest and pulling her towards it.
"That tickles. Kunoichi, you need to work on your taijutsu." The beast hissed, spewing some of its poisonous saliva onto her cheek. It then threw her forward, her body crashing into another flimsy birch tree and cracking it in two.
Clad in his usual anomalously green spandex suit, Lee scanned the torched area before him while his two companions masked their chakra perfectly a few miles away from his hidden position. He watched a large man, probably a lifter, slowly pace towards a dome-like building with torches lit at measured intervals. Some torches were burnt out, giving the dome an eerie appearance although it was nearly noon. It seemed as though the building was reflecting the sunlight; it's shadow seemed to cast itself over the rays of light that attempted to overpower the darkness. Lee's eye twiched at the permeating fog that loomed around the building but kept his eyes fixed on the main objective.
Their objective happened to be a missing nin only known as 'Shi' from Sunagakure. He was known to be extremely cruel and had a unique scar across his chest from a fight with Sabaku no Gaara--when Shukaku had taken control of him. He had brutally murdered all of the prodigous Kin-niku clan, eliminating everyone who was the owner of their strange bloodline limit that enabled them to contract and stretch their muscles. This ability was envied by all five villages and it's leader, the infamous Yuki, had killed Shi's father while Sunagakure was at war with a rival village over relevant land rights.
That and the blunt fact that he was an arrogant yet powerful basterd who needed to be eliminated at once before more innocent lives were stolen because of his rash and ruthless methods of extracting information was all that Tsunade had told them. Also, she needed a scroll that he had stolen from the Third's office while he was in power. It happened to be the exact day that the Third had gone to the memorial stone and confronted Iruka about his parents and their couragous effort to protect their very village.
The man was heavily protected with shinobi on either side of him, arms close to their weapon pouches. Kakashi and Neji exchanged perplexed glances when Neji had reported that their chakra systems had barely been used in their lifetimes. A lucky strike for the three since they were not particularly in the mood to create unnesessary altercations with the enemy. In this case, the enemy were an assemblage of unexperienced shinobi who couldn't throw a kunai at the moon if it was staring them right in the face.
Lee smiled promptly before his gaze was shifted to a moving object roughly one hundred metres ahead of him. He rubbed the accumulating sweatbeads off his fuzzy eyebrows before quietly jumping off to the next branch for a closer look at the strange object. He blinked once and instantaneously blinked again after watching the object move on some sort of tracks. It was astounding, he had never witnessed such a phoenomenon in his life. The object seemed to move flawlessy along the tracks although the sound it created was nearly deafening.
Tapping his ear piece to turn it on, he moved it to his lips and began to talk. "Kakashi-san and Neji-san, it seems like the enemy has created some sort of monster!"
Another strange glance was shared between said two and they also tapped their ear pieces to respond. Kakashi, mouth open to explain was suddenly stopped by a blood curdling scream from the building they were silently watching for the last two hours. The trio quickly glanced at what seemed to be the projection point and their eyes widened as a small body was brought out of the torn down warehouse, the person's clothing torn and burned to shreds.
"Tsunade-sama said that there would be a minute chance that our objective had slaves. She didn't mention hostages," Lee whispered, his voice cracking due to the lack of water he drank over the past day.
"She had mentioned that the basterd may have captured slave women and may be using them for prostitution and smuggling weapons," Kakashi bluntly replied, a kunai in hand to strike. Their moment was soon but they just needed the right moment to strike. If they struck too early, they still would have emerged victorious but the casualties would have been immeasurable considering that the scream that was heard earlier came from more than one person. Also, if they struck too late, their objective could of escaped alive and with their scroll.
"Disgusting," Neji spat, motioning for the other two to go.
The leapt out of the trees, arms hastily tearing off the obscuring branches. They had come so far and they weren't about to lose to an old man and his barbie dolls. Kakashi flicked open his newly aquired pouch on his opposite leg and tossed a smoke bomb into the area, surprising the shinobi and the construction workers who were currently eating their lunches. Four kunai in between his fingers, Neji quickly tossed them through the billowing smoke. They soared through the air with lightning speed, earning four unique yet ear piercing whails from their targets.
The area was now in a sudden panic which was the last scenario the trio wanted to face. Nevertheless, they needed that scroll and they all felt compelled to save the innocent lives that were hanging from an extremely thin thread.
Sakura slowly arose, her hand rubbing the pulsing scar on her back. She never expected her sensei to start with such a harsh approach. Worst still was the fact that he seemed to be enjoying her pain, engulfing every bit of it. If she had come more prepared, then she would of had the chance to beat the approaching beast but that chance had disintegrated while the beast had pursued her running form, launching poisonous saliva onto her clothing and the winding trail. She was nearly immobile and she needed a quick plan of action and a next approach.
In the academy, she had harshly learnt that in battle a shinobi or kunoichi may not have those precious moments to configure a plan and may have to work on instinct alone. They had done some procedures and, of course, Sakura had come second to Sasuke in learning and completing them. She was proud but she was also naive enough to never actually try to use those same skills in the heat of the moment.
And there she was, in the heat of the moment, with nothing at all. Her brain had fried along with her foot muscles but she assumed it was going to be alright. The beast wouldn't kill her...would it?
Complete silence fell into the clearing, and all seemed peaceful and quiet in contrast to the wildly beating heart of one desperate Haruno Sakura. She slowly climbed up another tree, scouting for the large cat around the bushes. She was so engrossed that she failed to hear the soft downwind approach of two men wearing their anbu uniforms. She glanced over the blocking green patch of trees and smirked once a flash of grey was spotted over the clearing, just past the river. Her eyes tracked it's path and a gasp escaped her pursed lips when the weakened branch of the birch tree collapsed. Before the branch fell, Sakura pulled her limp body to the lowest arc and when it did fall, she jumped and the branch acted like a coiled spring, sending her body forward in one leap.
Landing gracefully one both legs, a gasp of pain came from Sakura before she ran forward, prepared with a plan of action to defeat the beast.
"Lee, are you finished escorting the women to their villages?" Neji calmy asked into his ear piece while Kakashi silented stood beside him, both waiting for a response.
"Yosh! These women sure are happy to be alive! Rightfully so I guess...no one deserves to go through suffering like that," he slowly admitted, the stream of tears strolling down his cheeks.
"Neji and I are nearing Konoha so send your report to Kazekage-sama and leave once your done. We'll file our mission report once we return so you can go straight home once you do too." Kakashi stated, a smile gracing his masked lips--under his anbu mask.
"That mission was easier than expected though!" Lee claimed, "It lasted longer than I anticipated but as soon as I get back, I'm off to see Sakura-san and Gai-sensei!"
"Alright, see you then." Kakashi said before turning off his ear piece along with Neji. They both stared at the river ahead and the same thought ran across their minds. They jumped off the trees and walked over the side, dipping their hands in to wash off the dried blood and clean their weapons. The stench was nearly unbearable and the weapons needed to be washed for the longest time.
"Kuchiyose no jutsu."
A small dog appeared beside Kakashi and the dog merely smiled before turning around and coming face to face with the pearly eyed man.
"May I ask who you are?"
Neji's mouth slowly twitched in response but he stayed as emotionless as he could. It wasn't suppose to always be a surprise when a kuchiyose beast talked but Neji never got accustomed to the speaking animals or insects before.
"Pakkun meet Neji. Neji meet Pakkun." Kakashi smiled and took off his anbu mask, dipping it into the cold water and washing off the drops of blood that had splashed onto it when he slashed an enemy across the throat in a crude display of pure anger.
"I believe that we've meet before." Neji said, stroking his wet hands through his chestnut hair, untangling the strands that were glued together by more blood.
"So, Kakashi, why have you summoned me here?" Pakkun impatiently asked, tapping his foot rythmatically from sheer annoyance.
"I heard some unruly noises of trees shattering when we were moving so I just wanted to know if you could pick up any blood or anything."
"Kakashi, my noise picks up twenty five times more scents than any human. With so much blood around me I'm unable to track the scent of anyone else's." Pakkun inwardly sighed before pacing around in circles, clawing his paws and systematically digging out the dirt to create holes.
"Well, use this." Kakashi reached into his pocket and his hand fidgeted there for awhile until he gently grasped a long string. He pulled it out slowly as to not tear the gently frabric and waved it in front of Pakkun's nose for him to analyize. Pakkun leaned in closer and his wet nose touched the soft frabric before it was pulled away violently. Pakkun glanced up at Kakashi and nearly shivered after seeing the hidden anger in his eyes. He took it as a warning and sniffed it from a safe, precautionary distance.
"Sakura..?"
Kakashi nodded and placed the ribbon back into his anbu pants. "She's training with her sensei today and it might be her that was screaming earlier. I heard in when we had just completed the mission. It wasn't a scream--more like a wild battle cry. And I know Sakura's when I hear it." Kakashi smiled and ruffled his hair, gliding his calloused hands over the silky strands.
"I smell her blood," He immediately replied and jumped into a nearby birch, motioning with one paw for the two to follow.
I've got it. A three step attack. All I have to do is get that beast into a clearing and he's done for.
Sakura kept reassuring herself while wrapping the bandage around her swollen ankle. She slid her hand over her sweaty hair line and glided her fingers back to slide the pink hair behind her ears. She slowly stood up, grabbing the broken tree limb as support. She closed her eyes and slowed her chakra flow, concentrating on that of another's. Sensing the flowing chakra to her north, she cracked a faltering smile and quickly tied strings to her kunai.
"Let's get this started."
She grabbed hold of a tree branch and jumped onto it, pushing away others and quickly swopping through the trees. The wind was smooth and didn't cause her to squint her eyes to avoid flaoting debree. Landing on the last tree before the clearing, she turned her back to the animal in the centre to set up.
If he thinks I'm not concentrating, he'll underestimate me and come attack.
The large cat licked it's paw gently, glancing into the horizon and smirking when it saw the two gloomy figures approaching in the company of a small dog. It waited until the figures were right in front of it and then started to meow pathetically--something it was not good at quite frankly.
"This is a kuchiyose," Kakashi stated, staring at Pakkun with confused mismatched eyes which Pakkun was not able to see through the protection of the anbu mask.
"Sakura's here," Pakkun replied before a thick fog suddenly covered their view. As though it was second nature, Kakashi and Neji immediately took out their swords. Neji quickly activated his Byakugan, scanning the area and snarled when something wasn't right.
"Kakashi..."
"I know. This is a special smoke bomb, your bloodline limit won't work here. Stay on alert but don't leave the premises, there may be more enemies."
Pakkun dissappeared in a puff of smoke and the two stood there with the meowing kuchiyose in front of them, masking it's chakra perfectly.
Sakura hopped off the tree and hurled several kunai into the permeating smoke. Kakashi and Neji easily defected the weapons with their swords but were surprised when what seemed like scraps of paper merely floated around them. Sakura whipped a kunai with an exploding tag attached into the fog and an immense explosion rocketed her into a tree. The animal did not emerge to Sakura's annoyance but she sensed a chakra flow and knew that was it. Gathering the last of her chakra into the tip of her knuckles, she lunged forward into the cloud of smoke and struck the cat.
It didn't feel like a cat...
There was no fur...
No blood curdling screams of pain from shattering animal bones. Bones had shattered though.
But it was not her primary target's...
It was a human; a human's palm that she had struck with her superhuman power.
TBC