.

.

.

.

.

Chapter 8 - Curiouser

Where there is mystery, it is generally supposed there must be evil.

― George Gordon Byron

ƸӜ̨Ʒ ƸӜ̨Ʒ


Sakura Haruno never considered herself as superstitious, as a matter of fact, she considered herself of a rational mind. If there was ever to be a god to her, it would be the one called Science. Unlike her fellow teammate Sai, she never took anything literally. Never relying on old wives tales and only relying on scientific facts; after all, with the latter you could easily disprove or prove an idea. There was — literally — an answer for everything in this world and it was safe to say scientific reasoning never failed her. So once she was summoned alongside Yamato and Naruto to join in on a last minute mission, she thought nothing of it more than just another routine.

Now, she was dumbfounded.

Now, she wasn't so sure how to even comprehend what she was seeing.

"It's about to rain; I'll set up camp." Yamato finally said as he broke the circle that surrounded the unconscious girl. "Do what you must, Sakura — but keep her bound."

"So, she isn't alive but not dead either so—," the blonde haired boy next to her spoke as he lazily scratched the back of his head. "Wait, how is that even possible — Sakura?"

Sakura gently shook her head as she knelt down before the unconscious girl. Awed at the fact that a living, breathing human was alive. Yet, apprehensive that a human was alive without the life force that every living thing in this world needed. From the tiniest flea, to the mightiest beast every living thing had their own life force easy to distinguish from that of a plant. Ninja's like herself were trained to seek out markers when it came to dealing with enemies and unless they were highly skilled in their chakra control, they could easily "vanish" into thin air if they wanted to. Even so, that still followed the line of rationality. As two plus two did not equal five, this should not been possible.

"Even as the answer lies at your feet, you could not comprehend the situation a young, uneducated child could easily understand. You really aren't that smart, are you — Naruto?" Sai said matter of factly.

"Hey! What the hell d—-"

"Will you two stop it? I need to concentrate here," was the last thing Sakura said as she moved closer to the strange girl. She really had no idea how to progress other than to follow standard procedures for tending to an injured person, but having her two teammates bickering wasn't helping her at all.

Repositioning the girl's arms so they lay flat against the ground, Sakura rubbed her hands together before moving onto the next step.


It happened so quickly.

One moment, she hovered her hands above the girl's chest right where her heart was located — the proper protocol when it came to transfusing chakra for the patient's health. If said chakra was not needed or absorbed, it would simply dissipate if her intention was to heal. If the patient did not need to be healed, she would know; it would have felt as if she were passing chakra through a rock, no resistance or the mild sensation of absorption would happen. Common sense but most importantly scientific facts declared that nothing should happen .

Yet what happened next was beyond terrifying.

The moment she began her chakra transfusion was the very moment she realized there was something incredibly wrong and it very well nearly cost her life.

Sakura could only describe the sensation of something locking onto her, rendering her body completely immobile as something, like a sentient being of sorts, grasped onto her chakra, her very own life force, and began draining her through the physical point she had on the girl. Last thing she remembered was the sensation of lightheadedness before a darkness descended on her consciousness. Had it not been that someone intervened at that critical moment, she would have been dead.

Dead….

"How are you feeling?" Yamato knelt before her, gingerly placing a hand on the crown of Sakura's head. No longer next to the girl, she was seated against a tree's trunk. "I apologize for the roughness, it was the only way I could separate you."

"H-how?" Sakura exhaled, completely ignoring his concern as she tried to calm down her nerves. Last thing she remembered was feeling the overpowering sensation before blacking out only to come to a slow awakening with Yamato kneeling before her with a deep concern etched on his face. It was here when she noticed Sai disappearing into a small room that was adjoined to the shelter Yamato had created.

He quickly glanced where she looked, "it's best to keep her separated for now and considering what happened, we cannot take any chances even when she's unconscious."

"You went completely still, as if you were somewhere else — and if it weren't for you screaming, I hate to think what would have happened to you." Naruto voiced as he joined the two of them. Sakura turned to look up to him, noticing the concern look on his face.

Sakura's brows furrowed in confusion as she turned to face Yamato, "what is she?"


A loud thunderous crack reverberated through their temporary shelter as Sakura adjusted her rain cloak around her for the third time. Had it been winter or even fall, she would had expected this type of weather and the coldness that came with it, but as it was still the middle of the year, the weather was abnormal. It's been strange lately, she thought to herself as she rubbed her hands together to keep them warm.

Despite it no longer raining as hard as it had half an hour ago, thunder and lightning could still be seen and felt — another anomaly for this time of the year. Long gone was her fear and in its place was her inquisitive scientific curiosity about the strange girl they were holding in their temporary cell.

Not too long ago, Sai and Yamato had stepped away to check on the girl only for Yamato to return with a bizarre discovery. From what she heard, the girl was able to communicate — which in itself shouldn't had been interesting if it weren't for the fact that her way of speaking was bizarre. Even with that as a barrier between them, she was still capable of communicating manually as if she were a mute. Being told about the incident with the water bottle only enforced the idea that she could "speak" if she wanted to.

"It's a perfect weapon if you think about it," Naruto spoke from across the small room they were staying in, next to him sat Yamato. "Portraying herself as a weak, defenseless person, she could trick anyone who attempts to use chakra on her and by doing so, she'll eventually end up killing them."

"From what Sai had witnessed prior to us arriving, she was not exuding any kind of power. As a matter of fact, no signature at all while she was awake either," Sakura added. "You could physically touch her and nothing would happen but do so while unconscious and well…."

"Could very well be a form of a defense mechanism," Yamato interjected, continuing Naruto's previous thought. "Only activated while the person is unconscious, preventing any unwanted probing from the enemy."

"If that were to be the case, that could only mean she's holding something of importance or why else would there be a trap set? Of course, this would explain why it reacts differently." Sakura mused. "Unconsciously, it reacts on its own but while it's awake it remains hidden from within?"

"You went from she to it, so is she human or not?" Naruto pointed out. "I'd say she's human but a stupid one if she knocked herself out by tripping over something. Doubt it was enough to mess up her speech though."

As Sakura was about to respond, they were interrupted by Sai stepping into the room. "What is it?" Yamato asked.

"The girl needs to relieve herself," he said matter-of-factly.

Before Sakura or Naruto had a chance to say anything, Yamato spoke. "Set a perimeter in the designated area, once set, set the trigger in case she tries to escape. Incapacitate not kill." Sai nodded before he disappeared.

Yamato turned to Sakura, "as you're the only female, you'll take her. Keep your distance and do nothing rash, understood?"

For a split second, she was taken aback by the orders but her resolve to know more about this strange girl squished whatever fear was left over.


Author's Note:

Not gonna lie but I'm definitely enjoying the style when it comes to writing these perspectives! Just like the POV can give the reader and writer more in-depth to what's happening, writing in the 3rd perspective also gives you a different kind of freedom. I like it!

Now my response from last chapter's question:

{What's quickly becoming obsolete in your opinion?}

I originally had another idea with this but I have to go with what a reviewer {Thomas Drovin} shared, which I'll also be sharing here:

"Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. RIP

No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. Common Sense will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as 'Knowing when to come in out from the rain'; 'Why the early bird gets the worm'; 'LIFE isn't always fair'; and 'Maybe it WAS my fault'.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies, 'Don't spend more than you earn' and 'Adults, NOT children are in charge.' His health began to deteriorate rapidly when 'well-intentioned' but overbearing 'regulations' were set in place. Reports of a 6 year old boy charged with 'sexual harassment' for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for 'using mouthwash after lunch;' and a teacher fired for 'reprimanding an unruly student,' only WORSENED his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents ATTACKED teachers for doing the job that THEY THEMSELVES had FAILED to do in DISCIPLINING their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get 'parental consent' to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but COULD inform parents when a student 'became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.'

Common Sense lost the will to live as churches became 'businesses;' and CRIMINALS received BETTER TREATMENT than their VICTIMS.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar IN YOUR OWN HOME but the burglar could SUE you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a 'huge settlement.'

Common Sense was preceded in death by his Parents, TRUTH and TRUST, by his Wife DISCRETION, his Daughter RESPONSIBILITY, his Son REASON and his Dog MORALS.

He is survived by his stepbrothers; 'I Know My Rights;' 'I Want It NOW;' 'Someone ELSE Is To Blame;' and 'I'm A Victim.'

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone."

This. This right here ^^^^

Now for this chapter's question….

[What's the most amazing place in nature you've been?]

Thank you for reading!