Hello readers, I know it has been years since I last update this story, I truly am sorry if many of you were waiting for this story to end. I had some thoughts of it for quite some time, even after the series Naruto ended and the new series Boruto started, and the fact Sakura's 'actual parents' made some appearance in the series. So, without further or do, here is my latest update for this story, still sticking with Sakura's mother as a single parent, if that is okay with everyone, I hope you enjoy.
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As each day goes by, she becomes more different from appearance to her behavior, which did brought the attention to both her teammates. Though, little did they know, Ibate is getting closer to Sakura after another date, he can sense the energy within her Inner spirit is slowing weakening, and Akalra is getting close to….
Nighttime, Hokage's Office…
Tsunade busy with more paperworks and files, until she heard a knock on her door,
"Come in," she said, then entered Shizune holding Tonton and a small basket,
"Lady Tsunade, you received a gift," Shizune said as she placed the basket on her desk,
"If it's from Jiraya, you know where the trash is," Tsunade said not paying attention to the basket,
"No actually, it's from Mrs. Haruno," Shizune confirmed as she handed her the card from the basket,
"Oh," Tsunade replied as she took the card, and opened it,
"For all your hard work, please accept my newly made tea."
- Mrs. Haruno
P.S.- I added 'special' herbs which I'm sure you'll enjoy.
"This is an oddly looking tea," Shizune said as she pulled out the tea herbs in a small bag, she never seen this type herb around this village, let alone 'blue' colored type,
"I think it's best if I taste a sample, just to be sure it's not poison," she said as she placed Tonton down and start making the tea,
"By all means," Tsunade said. After Shizune made the tea, she poured her a cup and drank some, within that moment after tasting it,
"It is safe, though the after taste is a tad peculiar," she commented,
"Good enough for me," Tsunade said as she went and poured herself a cup and drank some,
"This isn't half bad, though you were right about the after taste," Tsunade said to Shizune until…
They both gasped, as they felt a struck to their heart, their lungs become stiff, and part of their bodies began to quiver. Shizune fell on her knees and clenched at her stomach, and Tsunade dropped her cup, and grip over desk, making cracks, Tonton begins to quiver in fear as she felt an unpleasant charka coursing through them. After that moment, a Jounins can in the office.
"Lady Hokage, there is someone hear to…" he said, but then noticed Shizune on the floor and Tsunade at her desk with her head down,
"Lady Hokage, are you okay?" he asked with concern, there was a brief silence for a moment, until Shizune slowly got back on her feet, and Tsunade lift her head back up, both their eyes hidden under their bangs,
"… Yes, everything is fine," Tsunade replied in a calm smile,
"That's… good to hear, is there something you need?" the Jounin asked,
"…Is there someone who wished to see me?" she asked,
"Oh yes, there is someone hear to see you, she's waiting outside the hall," he said,
"Bring her in," Tsunade told him. Within that moment, Mrs. Haruno entered the office and approached to Shizune and Tsunade,
"Have you both enjoyed the tea?" she asked them,
"It was a fine tea," Shizune answered with a smile, while standing next to Tsunade,
"Indeed," Tsunade said, as they both revealed their 'paled eyes',
"Good to hear…" Mrs. Haruno smirked, as she was able to grind and mixed her tea herbs with some of Ibate's seeds. So when someone drank her tea, the flavor of the seed will immediately adapt inside the human body, sprout and spread it's roots throughout the vessels and muscles, and the stem merge into the cord of the nerve system and internal organs. She was able to deceive Tsunade and Shizune to drink the tea, thus made them subordinates under Ibate's command. Mrs. Haruno picked up her basket, and handed a folded-up note over to Tsunade,
"He wishes for you to spread the word this message to this village, which would be enough to carry out the plan," she said to her as Tsunade took the note,
"I'll make sure of that," Tsunade said. Then suddenly…
"Hello, ladies," they all turned to Jiraya as he unexpected showed up unannounced,
"Hey there Tsunade, sorry I have to walk in at this time, but there something I've been meaning to ask you," he said as he walked up towards, passed Mrs, Haruno, unfazed by his appearance,
"Yesterday, I've seen a young Anbu who goes by the name Kyro Mushori, I was just wondering since you have more info of certain people than me, that maybe you might tell me about hi-" he asked, until…
"No!" Tsunade cut him,
"Excuse me?" Jiraya replied,
"I have no interest to inform you about Mr. Mushori," Tsunade stated. Jiraya looked at both her and Shizune as they both don't seem to be themselves and looked unfazed,
"What's going on?" he asked,
"I'm glad you ask…" Tsunade said with a smile,
"Mrs. Haruno so happens to made us her homemade tea…" she said,
"Which taste divine," Shizune complimented,
"I just added a 'special' herb to bring out the flavor," Mrs. Haruno said, then Tsunade poured a cup of tea, and handed over to Jiraya,
"Would you like to try some?" she asked him, which did made him hesitant,
"Are you offering it to me?" he asked
"Well, yes, we are friends, are we not?" Tsunade replied, Jiraya doesn't like what he is seeing, and he doesn't want a repeat of the 'last time' she 'poured him a drink'.
"I'm not really thirsty, maybe another time," he begins to leave, "Sorry to interrupt your… whatever it is you were do…," he said until noticed a frighten Tonton at the corner,
"What's wrong with Tonton?" he asked,
"Oh… she must be… hungry," Shizune said as she about to approached her, but Tonton squealed and quickly ran away from her to the door, which brought Jiraya's attention,
"I should be going now," he said,
"Are you sure you can't have at least one drink?" Mrs. Haruno asked,
"I'm sure, but thank you for the offer," he said before he left.
"You don't think he might suspect something, does he?" Shizune asked,
"Not unless we don't let him find out," Tsunade stated,
"I should inform the master about this," Mrs. Haruno said as she's about to leave herself,
"You know what to do?" she said to them,
"Hai," they both replied.
Hallway…
Mrs. Haruno just left the office, as she walked through the hallway, little did she know, Jiraya is hiding behind around the corner, watching her leave, he doesn't know what strange behavior has gotten into Tsunade and Shizune, but seeing Tonton ran away out of fear does indicate a bad sign,
"Something doesn't feel right," he thought.
Day 4, morning, near the bridge…
Naruto arrived at the bridge, still thinking about what happened yesterday back in the restaurant…
Flashback…
"BAKA!" she yelled and balled up her fist, clenched Naruto's collar and about to let him have it, until… her fist stopped close to an inch of Naruto's face.
Within less than a moment, Sakura released Naruto's collar, as she stood and looked at him with her emotionless face,
"…It was just a minor mishap, I apologize for my sudden action, all misinterpreted," she said in a strange tone. She bowed to him, "Excuse me, Mr. Uzumaki," she said and excused herself…
Flashback over…
"What's with Sakura-chan lately…" he thought, and then he shifted at the bridge and spot someone standing in the middle of the bridge, it was a pretty girl, about his age and height, has long red crimson hair that stopped on her back, and paled skin, but for some reason she is wearing the exact same outfit Sakura was wearing yesterday. The girl is standing near the ledge looking at a far distance, Naruto just looked at her and wondering what she is looking at, so he decided to take a closer look at her, just to see the side of her face. By the time he walked up close to her…
She turned her head towards him, which made him stopped,
"Oh… hi, I didn't mean to stare at you, it's just that you seem… lost, or maybe…" Naruto stuttered a bit, the girl didn't say anything as she turned her body towards him, as Naruto glanced at her… paled-ruby eyes and blank facial expression, he asked,
"I've never seen you around here before, are you from another village?" The girl still didn't say anything but stare at him,
"Maybe, I'm a little too direct, it'll be best if I introduce myself first, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha Leaf ninja of squad 7, and you are?" he said with a smile, the girl was about to answer until…
"Yo," Naruto turned and saw his sensei,
"Could you at least put that away while there's a girl present,"
"What girl?" he asked. Naruto turned back to the girl but discovered she's no longer there,
"She's gone, where did she go?" he thought.
Village…
Sasuke is walking through a crowd, on his way to the bridge, as he's thinking about what he saw back in the restaurant yesterday…
Flashback…
…she quickly caught the first bowls and the soup with one hand before it landed on her, and the second bowl and soup with the other before it landed on the ground.
Flashback over…
"Something isn't right, her behavior from the day before is odd at first, but from yesterday when she's hardly violent to Naruto, her reflex skill became rapidly all of the sudden… could what that girl, Sin, said about her true…?" he thought to himself, until the next thing he knew… the girl with red-hair walking in the opposite direction just walked passed him, which caused him to hesitate.
His spine become cold of the sudden, as he felt an unusual, yet deadly, chakra just passed him, he slowly turned his head around and saw the back of the girl with red hair, walking while the crowd continues passing by. Sasuke analyzed the girl and her chakra, clarifying she's not from around here and her skin is almost pale as white. Then he noticed she stopped walking, then slowly turned half her body and her head to him. Sasuke's eyes became widen as he noticed her paled-red eyes and emotionless face, which strongly resembles to the group of kids the team encountered from their mission.
"What the…" he thought as he kept his eyes on her, until…
"Just calm down," he heard a voice as he turned to an alley where he saw… Sin talking to a stranger who's sitting on the ground, with his head between his knees, Sasuke turned back to the red-haired girl… but he lost sight of her, as if she disappeared through the crowd.
"She's gone," he thought,
"Just take a deep breath now…" he turned back to Sin, as she's trying to calm the man down, he walked up to her,
"Sin…" he called to her, Sin turned to him, "Oh it's you, listen I can't deal with you right now, I'm in the middle of investigating a scene here," she said to him, before she turned back to the stranger,
"Something happened here?" Sasuke asked,
"All I know that there was a present of a demon child here last night, and I'm trying to reason this guy of telling me what he saw," Sin explained,
The man still quivers, as he's filled with fear, and he mumbles, "T-tha… t-t-that child w-was… s-she…" he sobs, the Sin said to him,
"Just stay calm, and speak clearly, what happened here?" the man sniffed, and answered, while sobbing, "W-we were just hanging around… doing our night routine…" Sasuke listened to him as he continues, "W-we were just fooling around until…" he tighten his pants, "S-she came," he said.
"A she, you mean a girl? What did she do? What does she look like?" Sin asked, though the man sobs much more and quivers fearfully,
"Answer me, what did she do?" she demand, the man whimpered, "S-she did this to me…"
"What was that…?" she asked as doesn't understand, the man head rose at her and Sasuke,
"Eh!" Sasuke and Sin became shocked as they saw… his 'eyeballs' are 'gone' as if they were clawed out, and tears of blood falling down his face,
"SHE DID THIS TO ME!" he cried, which caused Sin to back away from him, until she tripped over something. Sasuke looked at what she stumbled upon, and discover another man, alive but twitching uncontrollably, as if he's having a seizure, then he spotted three more men from a far distant, as most of them are covered in blood, and lying on the ground with many of their body parts broken.
"What the hell," he said, as it's almost the massacre of his entire clan all over again, and Sin got back on her feet.
"She did this to me, she did this to me…" the man whimpered, they turned to the man,
"Enough of this, quit your whining and pull yourself together-" Sasuke try to reason with him, but the man grabbed his shirt as he's now going crazy, "You don't understand, she's not human…" he yelled, which capture some people's attention.
"S-she's… some sort of monster… a she-demon from another world… she going to destroy us all! It's the end of the world as we know it, we're all going to di-"
Punch!
Sasuke punched him in the face, which knocked him out cold, "Why you knock him out, he's the only witness to give me information," Sin yelled at him,
"That's one of the things you don't know about me; and besides, the last thing we need is someone trying to alarm the village of some demon roaming around," he said,
"So you do believe me," Sin said,
"Don't flatter yourself, he was also hassling me and I had to shut him up before…" Sasuke said, until,
"What the hell!" they both turned and saw two Anbu Black Ops appeared,
"What happened here…?" the first Anbu said,
"Oh my goodne- I'm reporting this to the Medic-nins immediately," the second Anbu said before leaving the scene to get help, while the first Anbu stayed to have a small interrogation with Sasuke and Sin,
"The two of you start explaining what just happened," he said to them.
An hour later…
Naruto now walking through the village with Kakashi, hoping to find either Sasuke or Sakura since neither of them showed up at the bridge. Through, Naruto mind is somewhere else, mostly thinking about the red-haired girl he just met, and he never had a chance to get her name. Then he and Kakashi spotted a scene where a group and Anbu Black Ops and Medical-nins are at an alley,
"Odd," Kakashi said,
"What just happened?" Naruto said as they reached the scene, unaware that Sasuke is just across from them.
The Anbu's and Medic are now investigating the scene of the incident, and Sasuke and Sin stood aside as they're doing their job, Sin however is pissed off,
"Great, that's just great! I was doing just fine handling this investigation, but thanks to you, the Anbu's won't allow me to go anywhere near the scene," Sin said with her arms folded on her chest, as she's now mad at Sasuke, who's also unaware of Naruto and Kakashi just across from him.
"Get over it, as if they let a child get involved in something dangerous," he said as he's being annoyed,
"I know what I'm doing, I'm trying to track down the demon-child and I was so close of being on its trail, but instead you had to step in and ruined it for me," she said, Sasuke turned away from her,
"Whatever," he said, Sin pissed much more and stormed off angry.
Naruto and Kakashi saw the scene of the incident, as the Anbu's are investigating and the Medic's are taking care of the victims and their injuries,
"From the looks of it, it happened somewhere last night," Kakashi said,
"Ah man," Naruto said,
The Medic-nins carefully taking the man, who lost both his eyes, to the hospital to get immediate treatment, "Just hang in there," one of the medic said, the man slow regain conscious, and sobbed once again, "…I'll never forget that girl…"
Naruto, along with Sasuke turned to the man before he was taken away, and he mumbles more,
"…I'll never forget her voice… that paled face… those red eyes…" he said.
After hearing 'paled face' and 'red eyes' that took Naruto and Sasuke's attention, as they remembered that red-haired girl they saw with paled skin and red eyes, not too long ago at the bridge/ crowd. Sasuke thought to himself for a moment, before he left the scene, Naruto spotted Sasuke as he just left the scene,
"Hey, Sasuke," he yelled as he quickly ran after him.
Other side of the village…
Sin is walking through, still pissed off, until,
"Sin," she recognized Sasuke's voice, as she didn't bother turning around,
"Don't talk to me," she said,
"Are you on your way to your grandmother's place?" he asked,
"What's it to you?" she asked, then Sasuke stood in her way,
"I need to talk to her."
"As if I take you to my grandmother after what you did back there,"
"Didn't you tell me the other day that in case I discover something unusual, I come to your cottage near the waterfall over the mountains? Well I discover something and I need to discuss it with your grandmother, now…" Sin sighed,
"Fine… but I will warn you, she's not much fond with ninjas in her place," she started leading him the way to her grandmother's place, unaware that Naruto was hiding behind the building as he heard everything,
"Eh…What's teme up to, and why is he following that girl?" he said, as he's began to follow them.
To be continued...
Hope you like this update, will try to update more soon. Thank you.