Chapter 7

Ino was resting in her family's garden. The wind was blowing, creating a nice breeze.

Ino took a deep breath and she could feel nature softly moving around her, like a warm embrace. She stayed in that position for a few hours, with her eyes closed, enjoying the nice peaceful day.

It's been a few days since she recovered and her father suggested Ino to take a few days off tutoring to fully recover.

Once the sun hit the highest part of the day, suddenly, her consciousness slipped and she fell into the same dream she's been having the past few nights.

That scene of the dark-haired man in the middle of the black flames turning around kept repeating. But no matter how hard Ino tried to stay within the dream, everytime their eyes met, Ino always woke up.

She didn't know what it meant, but after hearing what had happened from Sophie, Ino wondered if it had anything to do with her going back in time. She exclaimed that she had never seen anyone manifest such strong mana before and that she had an ethereal glow to her when she killed the men trying to kill them.

When she fainted, she took a week to recover from the fever she developed from that day, which was a symptom of overuse of mana.

Ino, who still wasn't ready to tell her father, looked for books in their family's vast library to see if they have any books on time traveling. Sadly, the closest thing Ino could get her hands on was a basic book on divine powers.

The book was written by an unknown author, the condition still pristine, as if no one had even opened the book since it was purchased.

In the introduction of the book, the author stated that the current measurements on how much an individual possessed mana were effective, but not perfect. This was because back when the Uchiha Empire was founded, the founding families wanted to protect their powers from the public and had purposely made sure mana above a certain astronomical level would not be detected in order to be protected from people who may want to gain the powers for themselves. It was a way for the families to protect the newly found empire and ensured that war would not ravage the land again.

Ino thought back to what had happened in that forest, knowing deep in her core, that what she used to attack the assassins were her own mana. But Ino grew up believing she had little to no mana at all, not even enough to be picked up by mana measurement instruments.

Did that mean that she really has strong mana and somehow unlocked it?

The book stated what the cause was and had something to do with mana malfunctions. Even though she had little mana, she still had enough in order to sustain life. There are symptoms for mana imbalances, which she had experienced. But the problem was, this only occurred to humans with enough mana pool to manipulate the elements, who usually are wizards and take positions within the government. Normal civilians, like her, should not have a problem with mana imbalance.

Which could only mean one thing, that she does have enough mana to become a wizard.

If she did, why did it only manifest now? She didn't know what was happening, but she knew that she had to secure the Jade mine first for her own life's survival, then she would worry about her mana and how she can start learning.

Just purchasing the mine didn't mean that she would be safe. She needed to be able to protect herself too and that trip reminded her that she can only rely on herself.

After recovering from her trip from the South, Ino immediately sent a letter to one of her trusted friends, Shikamaru from the Nara family, to spearhead the newly acquired Jade mine. They need to mine the Jade first and make tests on the stone to understand the powerful properties of the mineral. Powerful enough for Ino to have assassins coming after her right after she signed the purchase contract.

She needed some allies and additional help in order to ensure that no one took the Jade mine away from them.

It seemed like that mine was not just an opportunity for wealth. She needed to get to the root of why this man was desperate to take this mine and who better to help her than one of the smartest men in the empire?

Like the Yamanaka, the Nara's were also one of the founding families of the Uchiha empire. Whereas the Yamanaka's were known for their political prowess, the Hyuugas for their military, the Naras were known for their intelligence and strategic prowess.

The Naras have a vast connection of networks across the continent and the world with the latest news, spies everywhere, keeping an eye of the different empires that occupied the world. They highly valued scholarly ventures and created the education system for the nobles within the empire.

They were the smartest family on this land.

With Hyuugas brute strength, the Naras were able to maximize their strength and turn the tides of the war against the enemy, bringing numerous victories to the Uchiha Empire. Currently, the head of Nara, Marquis Shikaku, was the High General of the empire on the emperor's left hand side with one heir.

Shikamaru was someone Ino had met a couple times as a child, as sometimes her father would be in meetings with the Emperor and Shikaku and Shikamaru would be in the palace bored as well.

They became fast friends, although the dark-haired male preferred to be silent and lay down on the grass of the imperial gardens, watching the clouds, while Ino chattered about her day.

As a family of scholars with a vast spy network, the Naras were the best people to confide secret things in.

After hearing about the masked-man trying, but failing, to forcefully take the mine from her, she did not have time to fully let her guard down.

This felt like there was a bigger conspiracy behind this than Ino had originally thought.

Ino was confident that Shikamaru would be able to handle the Jade mining business and steer the connection between their families away from public knowledge.

She could not let the public know that the highly-coveted Jade mine was hers, lest she wanted more targets on her back.

Ino needed an alias.

She currently had one, which was the name she used to donate to the slums under the name of the Saintess, but people had seen her face already and would defeat the purpose.

She had to come up with a new one.

Before she could think more, Sophie knocked on her door, "My Lady, Tenten has arrived with the samples of the dress for the upcoming masquerade ball."

Ino rearranged the contracts and documents on her desk and stored them in her safe box. She slowly stood up, "Please, let her in."

The double doors to Ino's room opened, and then a flurry of servants entered with racks of dresses and jewelry.

Ino's jaw almost dropped at the sheer luxury that was brought into her room.

It looked like racks and racks of colorful dresses were brought into her room, and chest and chests of jewelry placed on her carpeted floor.

By the time everything was brought in, Ino stood near her balcony, with her hand on her lips.

Then, a man with dark blue hair in a neat suit came forward, "Greetings to her lady, Ino. I am Kisame, his Highness Itachi's assistant."

On his hand, there was a golden tray that had one letter sitting on top.

"Oh my, look! There's a letter from the Crown Prince, My Lady!"

Sophie excitedly took the letter from the tray and presented it to her mistress.

Ino, who was still shocked at the sheer amount of clothes and jewelry in her room, slowly took the letter and opened it.

Dear Ino,

In light of the upcoming masquerade ball, I've contacted Madame Tenten in advance to help you with picking out a dress for the ball. She also brought Monsieur Lee's rare jewels with her for you to pick to go along with the dress you choose.

Please do not hesitate to ask for anything that hasn't been brought and if there are any additional requests.

I only want what's best for my fiance and I want her to look her best when we announce our engagement.

Best,

Itachi

"Lady Ino, would you like to try this on?"

Tenten, a woman with chocolate brown hair tied in twin buns, stepped forward with a gorgeous lilac-colored dress decorated with gold trimmings.

Another man stepped forward.

He had shiny black hair and a bowl cut. He bowed in respect and brought up a large velvet case and opened it, "Hi Lady Ino, Lee, hereby present the 32-carat diamond necklace that was personally chosen by the Crown Prince."

Ino couldn't open her mouth and was speechless at the generosity that Itachi presented her.

It was going to be a long day.

Sasuke was looking through the battle and infiltration plans sent from the Capital.

Itachi sent through reports of the tattooed man spotted near their territory. There was only one tattooed man Sasuke knew of.

Gaara no Sabaku.

The beast of Suna.

If he was here, that meant that his two other siblings were here too. He didn't know what he would do if the beast was unleashed, the army he took with him was not going to be enough to push back against that particular trio. Even if he had the Hyuuga's military support.

The temporary peace they earned after Sasuke's forces came may come undone and Suna may actually be able to take over this valuable port city. Which, his father knew, would lead to another great war that hasn't happened since the Uchiha Empire was founded.

And he sure as hell would not let that happen.

As his red eyes scanned the huge table in front of him, with a very detailed map of the port city in order to predict all the ways the Suna forces might be able to infiltrate them, someone knocked on his office door.

He blinked his eyes to turn off his Sharingan, before turning around to face the doors, "Come in."

Before he even knocked, Sasuke already knew who was outside and was glad his second-in-command was there. They need to come up with protocols as soon as possible against the impending attack.

A silver-haired man entered.

He slowly walked in, his hands in his pocket and leisurely leaned against the door frame.

The man had a mask that covered the lower half of his face and a headband that covered his left eye.

"So how are you fending off your fangirls, General?"

Sasuke visibly grew annoyed at the thought of the annoying girls who kept distracting his knights from properly training under his tutelage.

Was this man for real? The first thing he asked his General was about fangirls? Just the thought of that one annoying girl who kept putting herself in unnecessary danger brought out unpleasant feelings within him.

She was the daughter of the Baron who supported the campaign through supplies and food. What was her name again? Sakura?

Sasuke glared towards the man, his only visible eye turned up to a half moon shape.

"I don't have fangirls."

"Meh, don't lie Sasuke. I always see Haruno's name on the stack of letters I deliver to you every morning. This time, there's a heart next to your name."

Kakashi took a few steps towards him and placed the stack of letters on his office table.

Sasuke looked at the stack of letters as if they were the most disgusting thing on earth. There was only one person's name he wished would send him letters. And even before going through each letter one by one, he knew he wouldn't be able to find it.

"Whatever."

Sasuke went through the stack of letters, throwing out useless letters in his bin, until his hands reached a letter containing the Imperial family's stamp.

He quickly opened the letter and read through the contents.

His pupils quickly read through his brother's letter.

Itachi had sent reinforcements to the city. From what he could tell, this army had a secret weapon that trained under the Hyuuga's.

Naruto Uzumaki.

He had never heard of the man's name before, but he knew of the Uzumaki clan. They lost power within the empire after that tragedy, so that piqued his curiosity about the man.

Kakashi should have more information on the person.

Then before the letter ended.

You better do well, foolish brother.

Sasuke's eyes turned red when he read the last line. Damn brother. Just the thought of his older brother being in Ino's room made him feel the ugly emotions of jealousy again. He should have been the one who was there for her. He should have been the one who escorted her that trip. If he was, he'd made damn sure that no harm would come to her. He threw the letter down on his table but then another letter caught his eye.

It was made from a high quality ivory paper with the Imperial's seal on it.

Sasuke smelled a light rose perfume that somehow reminded him of Ino. He tore the letter and as his eyes scanned the contents of the letter, his grip on the paper tightened.

It was an invitation to Ino and Itachi's engagement masquerade party in a few weeks' time. He felt even worse than a few seconds ago.

But suddenly, Sasuke was filled with motivation to finish his mission in the South. The whole reason he was down here was to prove to his father that he can contest Itachi's position. That he was good enough to be his next in line to lead this glorious empire.

"Kakashi, debrief me on the number of reinforcements, specialties, and who is commanding the army. Give me more information about Naruto Uzumaki too. I want to know what an Uzumaki is doing training with the Hyuugas' and his complete skill set."

The said man took something out of his breast pocket, a lighter and a pack of cigarettes.

He took a cigarette out, lit it and took a long drag.

"From my resources, it says it is being commanded by the Hyuuga forces, most probably under Neji Hyuuga."

Kakashi took another drag from the cigarette, smoke slowly permeating Sasuke's office.

Sasuke, who only recently picked up the habit of smoking due to his comrades as a way to relax and socialize with the knights, gestured for one from the man.

"But, there's also another person accompanying him, Naruto Uzumaki. No prior records about the man, but the man is trained under Jiraya and is highly vouched for by Hinata."

Kakashi opened the pack of cigs and offered a stick up.

Sasuke took one and summoned fire mana to light up the cigarette. And then took one long drag as well, feeling the warmth go through his lungs, immediately taking the weight off his shoulders. He exhaled and felt his body relaxing a little from the tension.

He was surprised. Jiraya almost never took another person under his wing, but now all of a sudden, he's training some unknown knight.

"Trained by Jiraya and vouched for by Hinata, eh?"

He looked outside his window.

There was only one reason why the shy heiress would use her political powers to vouch for a man unknown to the world, which was probably why Jiraya took a chance to train the bastard in the first place. He knew the Hyuuga heiress and the blonde enough to know Ino was somehow behind it.

Hmm.

The thought of the blonde brought a smile to his face, but upon realizing he was not alone, his expression went back to neutral.

But that didn't mean that he would immediately be welcomed with open arms. Sasuke will personally test the skills of this man, to see if he was good enough to support the campaign against Suna.

Kakashi, one of the most prominent spies under his command, noticed it.

Sasuke may not know, but Kakashi knew where Sasuke had gone when the Suna forces broke into one of their strongholds in the Port City, stealing one of their artifacts for controlling beasts known to possess humans.

"... yes. He doesn't have much on his record, but the reports from the Hyuuga commander himself also confirmed that the sword skills of the boy were amazing. He had already reached the level of a Maester in a short amount of time. In no time, he would be able to reach a Swordsmaster level and eventually, there may be nothing else the Hyuuga family can teach the boy."

The dark-haired man hummed in acknowledgment.

"If he was so amazing, let's test his skills when he arrives, shall we?"

His tone was neutral, but Kakashi detected slight excitement.

Sasuke was finally going to meet someone who may be worth his attention.

Sorry for the long wait guys, life's been busy for me. I've settled in so hopefully this means more chapters in the future!