Chapter 18: Death Threats and Dilemmas
"You are terrifying,
and strange,
and beautiful,
something not everyone
knows how to love."
- Warsan Shire
"Sit up straight. With every inch you slouch, I lose sight of your plotting mongrel face!"
Sakura suppressed her tired sigh as she reluctantly straightened her spine and held back a wince at the painfully tugging of her stitches.
"Nothing spells bad breading more than a lack of manners. Poor posture is a sure sign that you are a horrid little commoner, and not a lady," Grandmother Satomi continued ranting. "And don't get me started on that Kami- awful hair…"
Sakura tuned the elderly woman out and pushed a carrot around her plate. She didn't feel particularly hungry, but she also recognized the fact that she was between a particularly difficult rock and hard place.
If she didn't eat now, she would be hungry come nightfall- and she could practically see the spittle flying from her raving grandmother's mouth if she even dared to step foot in the kitchen after dinner time. But the already repetitious insults coupled with her throbbing side were doing a fantastic job at dulling her appetite.
All Sakura wanted to do was go to bed. To fall into a blissful slumber and forget her tender wound, her aggravated teammate, the thousands of questions whizzing around in her mind. And perhaps when she would awake tomorrow this would all be one big, bad dream. Ever-disapproving Grandmother Satomi, sharply accusing Sasuke, and troubling chakra would all be gone.
"Next thing you know she'll be coming home with great ugly bruises on her face, or even worse, collecting scars! What will the neighbors think?"
A wince made it passed her lips as Sakura tried to subtly shift in her seat. And just like a hawk, Grandmother Satomi noticed it instantly.
"What's wrong with you now, girl? Can't even appreciate the food that's being wasted on your sorry presence?" Grandmother Satomi drawled, her dark eyes keen on Sakura's stiff figure. "Unless, you are injured," the word came out like a purr.
Having a facial injury would be painful enough in itself, but what was more devastating to her grandmother was that it would be ugly. And ugly was unacceptable. But having some other hidden ailment that tormented her was perfectly acceptable- even a source of amusement.
Still, Sakura remained quiet. No matter what her response or rebuttal would be, her grandmother would consider it insolence, or twist it into something terribly misconstrued. No matter how much it grated on her pride and bit at her self- restraint, she knew better than to talk back.
"I've seen those ugly nin women. Most of them have faces that not even a mother could love, and they try and make up for it by exposing themselves. Why, on the way here I spotted on that looked like she belonged on a street corner! Disgusting creatures!" Grandmother Satomi said all of this while keeping her eyes firmly fixed on Sakura's face.
The fuse to her temper felt like it was getting shorter and shorter. Sakura wasn't sure if it was the fact that she was now old enough to understand all of her grandmother's words and implications, or perhaps her team's outspokenness was rubbing off on her, but her self- restraint was considerably less than what it used to be.
If she didn't excuse herself from the situation soon, than Sakura knew she would do something that she would come to regret later. And while getting kicked out of the house for clocking the old hag in the face may seem worth it now, she wasn't making nearly enough money (especially since missions would be grounded to Konoha) to support herself.
Thankfully, Sakura's seemingly passive exterior was obviously boring the older woman. Satomi's eyes drifted back to her father.
"Oh Kizashi, did you hear the good news?"
"News? What news?"
Grandmother Satomi's lips curled into a genuine smile. And for that small moment Sakura recognized the beauty of her grandmother's face. But even still, seeing the lines in her face stretch with genuine warmth could not make her forget the viper's tongue that lied within.
"Takumi is getting married!"
Sakura watched as her father's smile became slightly strained. She was also aware that her mother and grandmother had more than likely also noticed. But her grandmother's jovial voice continued on anyways.
"I'm just so happy! Takumi is such a bright boy, and I know he wanted to apprentice with you, but Ran simply didn't want him too far away from home. Konoha is such a long way to travel."
Sakura longed to ask her grandmother if the travel from Fire Country's capitol to Konoha was so long, than why did she make the trip so often? But the older woman was too busy gushing about her horrid older cousin.
"…His fiancé is the daughter of a wealthy spice merchant. Her name is Yoko and she is the most darling girl. She had the beautiful auburn hair and the prettiest smile. And Ran has already informed me that her family plans to trade exclusively with us from now on!"
She looked like a cat that had caught a particularly large canary.
"That's won- wonderful mother," her father said with a slight cough.
Grandmother Satomi's eyes narrowed to slits instantly. "Are you incapable of being happy for your nephew? Takumi, who is bringing pride back to our family by marrying a nice girl, after you so thoroughly sullied it with your sham of a marriage to this harlot?"
Sakura darted a glance over to her mother to gauge her reaction, but as always her face was an impenetrable mask.
"Mother, I don't think this talk is quite appropriate for the dinner table. And I know that neither of us like it, but Mebuki is my wife and you should not say such things outright to her," her father said, not quite managing to meet Satomi's eyes.
The glare that her grandmother presented the entire table with was downright glacial. "And why shouldn't I? That wrathful viper," she said, pointing a shaking finger at her mother, "married you and then disappeared off on some mission and came home with a child that so clearly isn't yours! You know this, I know this, and the mongrel knows this!" Satomi thundered.
"Mother, I-"
"-I doubt she even knows who the mutt's real father actually is! Kami knows that she was sent off on so many missions after you were first married, it could be any man from any country!" Satomi ranted, cutting her father off. "I have half of a mind to march straight up to the Hokage and tell him the truth about the mongrel's parentage. I should do that right-"
Sakura's eyes widened as the glass her mother's delicate hand had be holding shattered underneath her white knuckled grip.
Silence descended upon the table as three eyes watched her mother's grip slackened, and jagged pieced of porcelain, some speckled with blood, dropped to the table. Her mother's blue eyes slowly lifted until they met the dark eyes of her grandmother.
Sakura felt a chill run down her spine at the utter coldness radiating from their blue depths. Her grandmother on the other hand did not seem to notice this ominous signal as her lips stretched into a slow smirk.
"Hit a nerve did I? You don't like me talking about your sordid past?" Satomi crooned.
Mebuki delicately wiped the last small shards of the cup off her hands, all the while keeping her gaze locked on the elderly woman. "Your opinion of me or my past does not hold any regard to me." Satomi's smirk fell a little. "However when you drag my daughter into matters you know not of, that's what concerns me."
Her grandmother's mouth twisted into a sneer, "You dragged my son into your matters! You married him, even though you were a kunoichi and then let yourself get knocked up by another man! It would serve you right that I should end this entire farce by telling the Hokage!"
"Mother, the neighbors!"
"Oh, to hell with the neighbors!" her grandmother hissed back at her father. "Besides if we tell the Hokage and word gets out than who cares! You are the victim in all of this! She snared you into a marriage that she wasn't faithful too, and then made you raise her bastard!"
Sakura's eyes darted back to her mother, and she watched as the woman set the now scarlet spotted napkin down. "If you tell the Hokage, or anyone else that Kizashi is not Sakura's father than I will kill you."
Sakura felt all the air in her lungs halt as she struggled to process her mother's words. The stark silence that had abruptly drowned the room confirmed that she was not the only one. Even still, Sakura willed her mother to look at her, to see what exactly was swimming in those blue depths to make her mother say that. She had never ever stood up for her like this before.
Finally Grandmother Satomi spluttered, "Ex-excuse me?"
Her mother's eyes were firm as they locked on the older woman, "You heard me. If you breathe a word of this to anyone, I will kill you."
Sakura's eyes darted between her grandmother's face, which was switching from shock to outrage, to her father's pale pensive one.
"How DARE you say that? After we let you and your disgusting child stay in this house with what you did-"
"You may think that I have grown complacent over the last twelve years. But I am still a kunoichi, and I am still very much capable of putting an end to your life if you threaten the safety of my child. Which is exactly what you are doing," Mebuki said, words like ice.
Sakura's mind reeled at this new information. She had always figured that her mother's pregnancy was not exactly sanctioned. But she had figured that her true father was either a criminal, or a shinobi from a warring village. Both things would be frowned upon, but not enough to threaten a life. The only thing that would make a pregnancy fatal, or at least make the risk to your child's life severe, was if you were impregnated with someone who had a… bloodlimit.
Sakura's face went pale at the realization. She looked to her mother to confirm every suspicion that she had unknowingly been considering since Kakashi made mention of that odd cluster of chakra in her throat. But her mother's icy gaze was fixed on her grandmother's face.
"Mebuki," her father's voice rang out. "That's enough!"
And yet still her mother's eyes never strayed form her grandmother.
"Mebuki!" her father called again.
Her mother's head snapped over to her father, "I may have let you say what you wanted to say over the years because I know how unfair this has been to you. I may have withstood your pathetic attempts at punishment for my misdeeds. I am a kunoichi after all, and I can withstand a little pain. But I will not let Sakura suffer for my sins."
And with that last statement, her mother was quickly rising from her chair. And before Sakura could even blink she was being pulled up from her own and dragged out of the room by the woman. She stumbled as her mother tugged her up the stairs and into her room, firmly shutting the door.
Sakura plopped down on her bed and watched with wide eyes as her mother's back slouched against her door, and her eyes wrinkled shut.
There were a million questions and a million words she felt like saying, but her lips remained shut at the outright worried look that crossed her mother's normally blank features.
Finally her mother's face lifted and her blue eyes met Sakura's green.
"I know you have questions. And I know you want to know who he is, but I can't tell you flower. If anyone found out, you would be taken away. Our country could even go to war."
Sakura let the implications sink in. Konoha was not the only country that fiercely guarded the shinobi who held bloodlimits. Hinata had once confided in her that someone had attempted to kidnap her as a child for her byakugan. This incident had proven that other counties not only viscously guarded those special powers, but also coveted ones that others nations had.. If whatever country it was found out that Konoha had a girl with their bloodlimit, especially a shinobi girl, all hell would break loose.
"But mom, something is already there. I can feel it, and I think Kakashi-sensei suspects something," Sakura quietly confessed, choosing her words carefully.
Her mother let out a long sigh, and sunk onto the bed beside her. "This is why I never wanted you to become a shinobi, you know. Because there was only a slight chance that you would develop his bloodlimit. But with training in the shinobi arts, and learning to harness you chakra, the chances would grow. And people would notice."
"I'm sorry," Sakura quietly mumbled. She had never before realized the difficulties her dreams had been putting her mother through. She had simply assumed her mother didn't want her to be a nin because of her own bad experiences.
"Don't be sorry flower," her mother said, hugging her to her side. "It was your dream, and as much as I wanted to keep you sheltered, I knew you had to follow your heart. And besides, I put you through enough keeping you here within this toxic family, the least I could do was let you. But now you know why we have to stay."
And as much as she appreciated truly knowing her mother's reasoning behind everything. As much as she enjoyed the now somewhat solved mysteries of her past, Sakura couldn't help the fact that her heart sank a little at the knowledge that they were to continue staying with the Harunos. That after all the revelations, the solution was to keep living as they always had been.
"What are you going to do about dad?"
Mebuki's face twisted into a sad smile, "Don't you worry about him."
"And grandmother?"
The smile fell, "I don't think we will have to worry about her either."
"What about Kakashi-sensei?"
"What does he know?" Mebuki asked, expression turning calculated.
Sakura thought back to every incident regarding her and her sensei. "There was an incident with a nin. I somehow forced her to stop her interrogation. And he also did a chakra scan of us. He knows that I have an unusual cluster in my throat. He asked if you might have a bloodlimit. But that's it, I think."
She didn't think that telling her mother that Sasuke too had his suspicions was important. Out of the two, Kakashi's opinion would carry more weight if he announced his potential speculations. But still, Sakura felt unnerved as she watched as her mother processed the information.
"So nothing too concrete. Hatake Kakashi was a few years younger than me, but he was always the sort to figure things out for himself before reporting them to higher authorities. He probably hasn't mentioned anything to the Hokage yet."
Her mother fell into silence again, and Sakura dared not look up. This entire night felt like some strange dream or alternate reality. Never in her life had her mother opened up so much to her before. She didn't want to break the spell.
"You will just have to keep a low profile," her mother finally said.
Sakura looked up, eyes incredulous. Sure, it was easy enough to say 'keep a low profile', but she didn't know anything about her bloodlimit, how it was manifesting, or how to control it.
"I know," Mebuki replied to the look on her daughter's face. "But you will have to try your best."
Sakura scoffed, feeling both tired and exhilarated. Now that the biggest shocks of the night seemed to be over, the pain in her side was flaring up again. She sent a sidelong glance to her mother, wondering if the woman would heal her. But her mother had enough to worry about; Sakura didn't want her to fret about the missing nin that were targeting her and Sasuke.
"I know you can't tell me who exactly he is, but can you give me any information at all about this bloodlimit? How am I supposed to try and control it, if I don't know anything about it?"
Her mother's eyes were lost in thought for a moment, before she replied, "I don't know the specifics because like most clans, the details are kept secret. What I know about their bloodlimit is common knowledge, similar to what you would know about the sharingan."
Sakura nodded her understanding. Most clans were like that. Even the kages of their villages were forbidden to know the specifics of a bloodlimit. But still, some knowledge was better than none.
Her mother's brows furrowed, as she seemed to be lost in contemplation. Sakura had to bite her lip to stop herself from prompting her into an explanation. The anticipation was stifling.
"It's called the sirenum. Shinobi who develop this bloodlimit are capable of using their chakra as a tool of manipulation. The special chakra in their throat allows them to temporarily 'enchant' their victims."
Sakura could feel her jaw gaping open in what she was sure was an unattractive display, but it seemed like a more than acceptable response considering what she had just been told.
"Enchant?" she questioned, voice incredulous.
Her mother nodded at her solemnly.
"How have I never heard of this before? If people like this exist- people who can for all intents and purposes, manipulate you without the aid of genjutsu, how is every nation not rallying to slaughter the bunch of them?"
Mebuki exhaled sharply, "That's exactly the quandary flower. Most nations don't know a clan with powers like this exist. Unlike the Uchiha or the Hyuga who have very publically used their blood limits, and whose powers show up in a very visible and distinct manner, this clan's doesn't. Most people don't even know when they are under the influence of it."
Sakura thought over this new information. The fact that a clan like that existed within another nation, possibly an enemy nation was terrifying. The fact that she too could contain such overwhelming powers was also more than a little alarming. Perhaps Sasuke had been right all along with his accusation...
"There are whispers," her mother continued, "whispers that I was sent out to confirm. But even I couldn't gather that much information. And then I was pregnant, and had to keep any information I did gather a secret."
All of the other questions whirling around her mind halted at her mother's statement. Hiding information from the country you were sworn to serve essentially made you a traitor. Her mother had not only remained with a family that treated her like scum, but also forfeited her oaths to her village all for her. Sakura stared into her mother's ocean blue eyes and couldn't fathom the hardships the woman had to endure to do that.
And to think, she often resented the woman for letting the Harunos treat them the way they did. For being a miserable shell of a person, and giving up her strength and career to a man who would never again look at her with love in his eyes. What she hadn't realized that her mother was suffering for her.
"From what I gathered the sirenum is not infallible," her mother continued, ignorant of the internal guilt her daughter was all of the sudden plagued with. "It is similar to a genjutsu in that if a person realizes that they are under the influence of it, they can break out of whatever command they are under."
"And the Hokage doesn't know about any of this?" Sakura asked, seeking conformation.
Mebuki nodded, "I was on a mission under orders of the Yondaime Hokage at the time. I returned and retired before his death and before anyone could realize that I was pregnant."
SMASH
Both females jumped at what sounded like dinnerware being broken from downstairs.
"I want those ungrateful bitches out of this house this instant!" her grandmother's shrill voice shouted, growing louder with every word.
She could hear her father's much quieter voice respond, but couldn't quite make out his words.
Her mother let out a long suffering sigh, before rising from the bed. She leaned over and planted a crisp kiss on Sakura's forehead. "I know this is a lot to take in, but try to get some sleep flower. And remember, tell no one."
Sakura's eyes followed her mother's figure to her door, before she switched off the light, and the room was plunged into darkness. She slumped further into her bedding and let her eyes roam across the ceiling as thoughts chased each other. Thoughts of her mother, thoughts of her bloodlimit, thoughts of Kita Mirai and the grey haired nin. Thoughts on how she was supposed to tell no one.
Except that she was fairly sure that someone already knew.
A/N: Hi everyone, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If its not what you expected, then don't worry because its not what I expected either. But as I was writing it, this is just what flowed out, and I'm pretty happy with it. So my storyboard had to shift a little, but I like the new changes!
Mebuki is one of the most interesting characters I find to write. She is very troubled and flawed. And lets face it, she has made some terrible decisions regarding pretty much everything, but she justifies it as necessary. (and I don't necessarily agree with her!) Sakura's very narrow view of her mother is broadening.
Also I chose the name Sirenum based on the Greek stories of the sirens.
Anyways please review and let me know what you think! And to answer another reoccurring question- yes the Waves storyline will be covered here!
Also if you got like 50 emails of this chapter, sorry! It keeps not showing up when I post!
-Nyx
