Italics = Japanese
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Chapter 11 - Tricks
In everything one thing is impossible: rationality.
- Friedrich Nietzsche
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Take a deep breath; slowly breath in and then out…
Yes — good, wasn't it?
Okay, calm down and think this thoroughly…
So I was obviously located within a country that was not my own; somewhere where an abundance of nature as far as my eyes could see. Perhaps this was a national park or some other place out in the middle of nowhere but all this was the least of my worries. What I really wanted to know was — who were all these people? Could I even call them human? Seriously, what could I call them? Yes, they looked human enough and while I could live with the idea that I stumbled across a group of people who enjoyed dressing up, this…. this was too different, this was not normal. Had I known it was magic, I would have been astounded by the feat and everything. But, no human could do what that-that Nameless guy had done.
No. Freaking. Way.
After my realization — or should I say my freak out — of the country I was in, I could tell that everyone around me was weary of my being and the way I expressed myself to the point where Nameless had ordered Sakura to bind my wrists again. Unlike last time, I was completely aware of the situation and I full-on struggled against this. Unfortunately, as there was one of me and three of them, I was finally held by Naruto while Sakura did what she had to do and so it was here that things took a turn for the… strange.
They had talked amongst themselves as usual while being completely ignored. Once they finished their little meeting, Sakura walked towards my direction while Naruto and Sigh guy stood to the side as the Nameless guy walked towards the building. What happened next looked to be an everyday occurrence for the three of them, but I had never seen someone make a large building disappear into thin air. Well, more like into a puff of smoke. One second the building stood there, sturdy and imposing and the next it just… disappeared. I had observed how he used both his hands as he uttered something I couldn't — naturally — comprehend and just like that the whole building disappeared. There was no way my eyes had played a trick on me with such a bizarre sight. So, naturally, I did what was only natural. It was a miracle that I hadn't tripped time this around when I sprinted away only to be caught seconds later by Sakura's surprisingly strong grip.
Had Nameless been a magician, I would had still been reluctant to accept what he did. This was no ordinary magic trick. Who's to say the other three didn't hold some kind of strange powers themselves? Ugh. The thought itself was enough to perturb me. Which was why I was more than compliant when they ordered me to follow Sakura – I was not eager to find out what these people were capable of doing and following orders was pretty much a safety guarantee. Plus, seeing as Sakura was the only female of the group, I felt much more comfortable being around her than the others.
Not that having her around was any help, either.
Walking shoeless for god-knows how long, not to mention my stomach grumbling for food and what appeared to be the beginning of a headache, everything was going quite smoothly for me. I hissed under my breath as I looked away from the unpaved road I was walking on and turned my sight to the greenery bush on my left; as Sakura was the only person with me, the other three had stayed behind, I – obviously – had no idea where we were going, but for certain we were not being waited on like before. Whether it was because we had been walking for some time or, as I previously had stated, walking shoeless, my feet were painfully sending me a message to stop and rest. Not to mention that I was getting awfully tired of seeing the same things around me. Trees, plants and grass. Repeat the same view, over and over again. The sky itself wasn't helping much as it was still cloudy from the earlier rain, though, I suppose I should be grateful that it wouldn't be raining any time soon.
I had not uttered a word since we departed from the grounds where I gracefully tried to make my escape. It also appeared that Sakura had taken her role seriously with her guarding duty this time around, as she had not undone my wrists and much less spoken a word to me. I suppose I should be grateful for the silent treatment – better not to awaken the sleeping dragon and all that.
Yet, I couldn't help but feel put-off by her change in demeanor.
"I'm hungry."
Our pace had not slowed down and Sakura had not acknowledged my statement.
I huffed, "well my feet are sore – can we take a break?" Again, I was put on ignore.
Fine then, I stopped in my tracks.
Bingo.
"What is it?" She demanded, facing me straight on.
"Sure, like I can speak Japanese," I said before I did the universal signal of 'me-need-food'.
My hope rose a bit at the sight of seeing her dig through that strange side bag she carried around her waist, only to have it dashed away when I saw her pull out a familiar looking water bottle. I shook my head, "not water. Food. Nom-nom!" I chewed air, which only resulted in her shaking her head.
"You're hopeless, really."
I sighed as I waved away whatever it was she had said before I turned around to see if I could see a squirrel or some other eatable animal. Surely, Sakura dressed in the way she was, knew how to start a fire and kill the thing.
"Here," I heard her say as she nudged my shoulder.
I turned around and noticed the small, green triangular something she held in her hand. Once she noticed that I noticed what she held, she took hold of my bound wrists and placed the green, soft strange package between my hands. Whether it was because I stared at the thing or Sakura had realized her error, she took it back, unwrapped it and replaced it in my hands.
"Once we get to the village, I'm sure you'll get something but this should do for now."
Clearly, it was white rice albeit slightly sticky and molded into a rough triangle with something of a dark, green paper-thin strip at the bottom. I looked up to Sakura who was ever the observant and nodded, surely signaling for me to go right ahead and eat it.
"What exactly is this?"
"If you're so hungry, eat it – we can't just wait around here and have you stare at it as if you've never seen onigiri before."
I was starting to wonder whether she was deeming me slow or just this unfortunate tourist who enjoyed being treated like a criminal. Because, while I couldn't understand a word she was saying, that tone in her voice was clearly condescending. So I looked down at the food in my hand, observing it as I felt the stickiness with the pad of my fingers. While I had no idea what it was, I could safely say that it reminded me of sushi – which was something I never eaten before. Clearly, this was evidence that I was in fact in Japan – or some other country that does the whole rice thing.
"Let's get going, we still have ways to walk."
As we continued our walk to some unknown destination, I inconspicuously smelled the rice triangle. Sure, I was incredibly hungry but – beggars can't be choosers, right? I took a tentative bite out of the triangle. Soft but firm, not all that tasteful and clearly of room temperature. The chewing was easy, so it took me less than a few seconds to down the whole thing. The little dark-green strip, which I was close to discarding, tasted what I could only assume seaweed would taste like. It did offer a bit of flavor to the rice triangle. Of course, it was not enough to quench my hunger.
There was no point in measuring time because there was no way to measure it; had the sun been out, I could have easily guessed whether it was morning, midday or late afternoon. Of course, that was not my case. What I could say was after some unmeasurable time, Sakura had finally led me towards a tree where I was allowed to sit and offered me her water bottle; I, not wanting to pee out in the wilderness, opted in drinking a sip instead. Seated against the tree's trunk, I finally inspected my legs; naturally, I had some bruising and scrapes and a cut on my right sole of my feet, which was the source of my annoyance all this time. Clearly, being barefooted in the wilderness was not recommended. I scoffed under my breath. Meanwhile, Sakura towered over me – keeping watch for godknowswhat. Seated where I was, I took notice of her strange, sandal-like black boots, which I had to admit I liked for its unusual style.
It wouldn't be for another while when I noticed Sakura went still and just as she was about to say a word, a man and woman appeared before us. While it wasn't as if they materialized out of thin air, their appearance was enough to cause me a fright.
What the hell... what kind of thing was that?!
As the three of them engaged with one another, I couldn't help but surreptitiously glanced between the two strange arrivals. The man was dressed in the same style as the Nameless man had been – in paramilitary clothing – and with the same headgear as the others; the woman dressed with what I could only describe as a gray bodysuit with some kind of fishnet fabric over it, wearing a dark-orange miniskirt topped with a tan overcoat. Unlike the man – who I quickly looked away from once I caught him looking down at me – the woman looked like a person not to cross with. She definitely had that look about her. Considering my luck, she called my attention. I was about to reply with my own version of what I assumed to be a question, when Sakura stepped in.
What happened next, I'm not entirely sure. All I remembered was trying to stand up before a darkness descended over
POV: Sakura
To say she was not interested in the girl would be a lie.
Sakura was very interested.
The girl – Ariadna – was an enigma and one she wanted to understand; well, to a point considering her rational side kept reminding her she could be nothing more than someone in disguise. A well-acted spy whose powers could not be measured and with an agenda considering how easily she had been captured. And with that reason alone, Yamato had sent word. They were to meet at a specified location where the girl would be taken in and processed.
Sakura's task was to take her from Point A to Point B.
It was a fairly easy task and one she had not expected to partake on her own; though the other three weren't too far behind. According to Yamato's reasoning, the girl responded to Sakura better and while the real reason wouldn't be known, the simplest fact could be that they were of the same age and gender. Even if that were not to have been the case, Naruto would definitely have been the last person the girl would have been left with.
They were playing it safe with Sakura leading her to the dropping point.
The designated location wasn't more than just a thirty minute walk from where they last departed; and it certainly had given Sakura enough time to wonder about the girl.
With her strange reaction seeing Yamato's Wood Release, Sakura couldn't help but think the girl had never seen a jutsu before – which, when she really thought about it, was a bit ridiculous. That only led her to believe that somehow that simple action Yamato had created had triggered something within her. That something being none other than fear. Which, in turn, would explain why the girl had put up a fight when Sakura tried to bind her hands afterwards. An action that was – honestly – not befitting for an Akatsuki member. Following that same thought pattern, she had noticed how the girl observed them as Sakura talked with any of her team members. She had noticed the apprehension in the girls' eyes, only to be quickly masked with an aloofness whenever they were near her.
Being on her own and with no one to talk with had certainly kept Sakura's mind active concerning her captive. While she had shared her ideas about the girl with the team, she couldn't help but fall back to one particular personal theory about the strange girl. What if the girl with a strange name was nothing more than an experiment, a lab rat of sorts? Hidden away from the world, it would explain why the girl looked at everything as if it were the first time she had ever come across it. Which in turn made her no more than another victim, though a dangerous one at that when she considered what happened when she tried to heal her...
Which was something she was not about to do in front of the two arrivals.
Anko Mitarashi was clearly confused by the sudden sight of their prisoner collapsing in front of them. "What the hell?"
"We did get the message about her...condition but we weren't aware she had been injured," Shinobu Mibu stated as he – unlike Anko – stood poised in the same spot they had arrived. Sakura shouldn't have been surprised seeing him here, after all he was part of The Force – Ibiki's team. Unlike the rest that belonged in the group, he was dressed in the standard Konoha shinobi outfit.
"Other than superficial wounds prior to Sai finding her, we haven't engaged in a fight." Sakura replied as she knelt down before Ariadna's unconscious slumped form. "What we have learned is transfusing any form of chakra into her is not recommended," she revealed as she placed two fingers against the girl's neck, sensing her strong pulse, "other than being out of the norm, she's very much alive – just unconscious."
"What exactly is going on here, then?" Anko asked as she re-aligned herself with Shinobu's stance. "Because she clearly couldn't activate a chakra absorption technique without any chakra if that's what you're implying now."
Sakura stood up, "My guess is as good as yours as to why she fainted; I'm pointing there's no need to use any chakra on her – it's not recommended and not for her benefit."
"Clearly so, so it shouldn't be a problem taking her back to headquarters," Shinobu added as he stepped towards the girl. "Whatever she is, whoever she works for – we'll find out."
Sakura did not doubt that at all.
Note:
Was unsure of adding a different perspective in the latter half of this chapter but I found it necessary considering what will take place in the next one. I'll probably take the route of adding a different POV within the same chapter instead of a solo one. It just depends on the situation and whether it asks for it.
Also! Let me plug in my new Attack on Titan fic called Inure. Though this new story uses the same premise as this one (a modern person appearing in the anime universe, which is partially part of the plot like this story), I'm definitely excited writing out a whole new and different experience for the OC. So feel free to check it out if you'd like!
Thanks for reading, I'll see you next time!
