Rhapsody of The Sleeved Snow

Chapter 2

New Powers and A Sealed Fate

XxX

Sakura POV

I was scared . That man , Momochi Zabuza , was emitting so much killer intent . It froze me to the spot , but I saw my other teammates snap out of it and take more defensive stances around our charge. I shivered and let out a shaky breath , holding my kunai tighter in my hand . My eyes darted around wildly , paranoia taking control . I was just standing in front of Tazuna , feeling helpless . Sometimes , I wonder why I was so weak , so left behind and protected . Why I was always left to look at their backs . But right now , there was no time to ponder . I have to protect our client .

"You know ," Zabuza's raspy voice called out , making shivers crawl up my spine ."That position leaves the weakest link unguarded ." I widened my eyes and saw him appear behind me . Faster than I could blink , he slammed his sword into my side . I choked and felt my eyes tear up in pain .

"Heh ! Crying already ? Weakling !" Zabuza sneered , pushing the sword harder into my side .

Then I felt the force lift , and saw that my sensei had pushed him off and away with a kunai . I shook in fear of what I would see when I turn to look at the wound he inflicted on me . It was at least two inches deep , and my side was bleeding profusely ."Sakura-chan ! Are you okay ?!" Naruto yelled , but didn't move from his spot . I nodded weakly and applied pressure on the wound to lessen the bleeding.

My vision was getting blurry as black spots danced through . I faintly heard Naruto and Kakashi-sensei calling out , but then I didn't hear anything more . Before I blacked out , I felt something land in my hands , and my lips automatically uttered a command .

"Mai , Sode no Shirayuki ."

Then I felt something inside me , but I knew it wasn't Inner Sakura .

The 'something' convinced me to say this .

"Some no Mai , Tsukishiro ."

After that , I could hear gasps of awe and cracking of ice , and then I blacked out .

XxX

Sakura woke up to the harsh rays of sunlight streaming through the window . With a soft groan , she sat up and rubbed her eyes . "Oh ! You're awake ." a soft voice said from behind her . I saw a woman with dark eyes and hair , smiling gently . "Who are you ?" I croaked .

"My name is Tsunami . I'm Tazuna's daughter . " she replied . "I'm Sakura Haruno . Where are my teammates ?" she looked around . "They're having breakfast as we speak . Change into these while I wash your dirty clothes ." Tsunami handed her a simple blue kimono and black capris . Sakura nodded her thanks and changed into them . She then went to the kitchen .

Naruto , Sasuke and Kakashi were just finishing up when she arrived .

"Sakura-chan !" Naruto yelled exuberantly . "I'm so glad you're awake !" Kakashi and Sasuke looked like they didn't give a shit about her well being .

'She could die for all I care . That annoying , useless fangirl .' Sasuke thought darkly . He had seen Sakura's powers . Powerful , they were and he was angry -jealous- about it . He couldn't accept the fact that a girl had a high chance of being stronger than him .

Kakashi really , really didn't care about her . At all . All he saw in her was a booksmart kunoichi that knew nothing about fighting . That is ... until now . He still didn't give a rat's ass about her well being, but decided to keep an eye on her .

Just in case .

Naruto's opinion on her didn't change in the slightest bit . She was still his lovely Sakura-chan , no matter what .

Naruto then pointed at the door ."Hey , Sakura-chan ! Your katana's there !" he shouted.

Sakura stared at him confusedly ."What ? What do you mean Naruto ?" she asked . "I don't own a katana ." The blonde was perplexed ."Eh ? Then how did you perform that cool ice pillar thing ? I thought you used that white katana to do it !" Sakura shook her head . "For the last time , Naruto , I don't own-" a sudden thought struck her . "Oh ." was all she could say . She was shocked . .

'I'm not going to be weak anymore ?'

XxX

That sword . Freaking . TALKED .

That was all that echoed in her mind right now . She just picked it up , and then out of the blue , it decided to FRIGGIN' TALK .

Calm down ! The voice whispered harshly . No need to freak out . Sakura gaped ."What the- you just ... ARGH !" she roared in her mind . 'Well ,' Inner Sakura drawled .'You two surely get along.' Sakura glared at her."Shut up measly Inner !"Inner rolled her eyes .'Really ? 'Measly Inner' is the best you've got ?'

Sakura decided to ignore her . The mysterious voice introduced itself as a sword spirit names 'Sode no Shirayuki' . Sode no Shirayuki explained with the patience of a saint about Zanpakuto , reiatsu , kido , shunpo , Hollows and Shinigami to the girl . She had been disbelieving at first , but Shirayuki's ice-cold glare made her change her mind .

"So what do you think I should do now ?" Sakura asked out loud . Since she was alone in the room , she decided it was safe to talk out loud . Kakashi had taken Naruto and Sasuke out to train , not bothering to invite her . It stung a bit ...

What I propose for you to do is to train with me and my friends , along with Rukia , to get stronger . Shirayuki said . 'Actually , that idea isn't that bad .' she thought . 'Let's get started ! We'll go to a secluded spot in the forest and train there , okay ?'

When there was a chorus of 'hai' , Sakura grabbed the Zanpakuto and headed off into the forest .

XxX

Sode no Shirayuki frowned disapprovingly . She grabbed Sakura's wrist so that the katana would be in a better striking position . "Goodness , have you never practiced with katanas before ?" the spirit grumbled . "Your stances are terrible , they're full of openings !" she then demonstrated an attacking stance .

Sakura squinted her eyes and tried to copy it , but to no avail . Rukia , who had been relaxing under the shade of a large tree , chuckled ."Sakura-san , I did not know you lacked so much in the arts of swordsmanship ." Sakura blushed in embarrassment but didn't say anything . Sighing , the petite Raven-haired woman got up and helped her with her offensive and defensive stances .

"It's like this..."

XxX

Finally , Sakura could master the first dance , her limit of using it being 12 times . Her second dance wasn't achieved yet , but Sakura was pretty happy . She could do something her teammates couldn't !

And now , she can properly wield a sword thanks to Shirayuki and Rukia's training . Sakura smiled lightly .

"At least now I know I'm not completely useless .

XxX

Sakura headed back to Tazuna's house only to bump in with her teammates and sensei ."Get out of the way , weakling ." Sasuke glared bitterly . Naruto just waved slightly , his grin never faltering . Kakashi was too engrossed in his pervy book .

Sakura looked hurt by his words ."But Sasuke-kun-" "I said , get out of the way !" he growled and pushed her to the ground . Naruto looked shocked , but he didn't even lift a finger to help her . She felt tears sprig to her eyes .

Aw , don't cry Sakura ! You're stronger than this , they're just jealous ! Sode no Shirayuki comforted . The pinkette's hand unconciously patted the katana on her back . 'Thanks.'

"Just because you wield a weird sword doesn't mean that you're strong . You're even more pathetic than usual ." Sasuke spat and walked off , dragging a speechless Naruto behind him . "You're so weak that even Naruto's stronger than you ."

Tears threatened to fall from her eyes . She looked at her sensei . "Kakash-" he stopped her with his gloved hand ."Sakura , I think it's best if you leave the fighting to Sasuke and Naruto ." Sakura heard the unspoken words .

You're weak .

XxX

Sakura slept in a room seperate from the other members of her team . In her room , she was alone and crying . There was a soft poof of smoke , and a beautiful woman with long lavender hair appeared and slung her kimono-clad arm around her shoulders . Kuchiki Rukia appeared as well .

"They think I'm weak ." Sakura sniffed .

Sode no Shirayuki snorted ."They don't know your abilities , so they just assume you're weak ."

Rukia gave a small smile ."It's all in the matter of time , Sakura-san ."

Sakura looked at the sky with teary but hopeful eyes ."I hope you're right ."

The two spirits chuckled lowly .

"When are we ever wrong ?"

XxX

TIMESKIP ~

"SASUKE-KUN , NARUTO !" Sakura yelled , running across the nearly finished bridge . When no one answered her call , she began to get worried . "SASUKE-KUN ! NARUTO !" still no answer . Sakura panicked , but Sode no Shirayuki managed to calm her down . "I sense a flicker of chakra there." Shirayuki pointed west . The female quickly ran there and heard labored breathing . What she saw was bound to haunt her for the next few weeks .

Sasuke and Naruto , laying there in a pool of their own blood with many senbon needlessticking out of their bodies .

'RUKIA-SAN !' Sakura screamed in her mind . 'Do you know any healing spells ?!' Rukia shook her head sadly . 'Sorry Sakura-san , I don't but Minazuki-san does .' Rukia retreated to the back of her mind and reappeared with a hooded person .

"You needed my help , Sakura-sama ?' the hooded figure said . 'Yes ! You know healing spells , right ?' Minazuki nodded . 'Well can you help me heal them? ' There was no response , but her hands began to glow light blue . Sakura smiled .'Thank you !'

Slowly and carefully , she took out the needles and healed every cut and bruise present on their bodies . Soon enough , they were patched up and looking as good as new . But Sakura was heavily panting from using up too much energy . She somehow managed to haul both er teammates back to Tazuna's house . She then went to her room and collapsed on the bed , sighing tiredly.

the absence of Kakashi-sensei slipped her exhausted mind .

XxX

That's a wrap ! Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it ! What should happen next ? Should I jump straight to the part where- oh sorry I was about to give spoilers .

Sakura

Will all the captains and lieutenants be alright ?

Me

Of course they will ... I think

Will I be paired up with anyone ?

Toushiro

*smirks* she should be paired with me since you like HitsuSaku the MOST right ?

Don't be too sure , Shiro-chan ! I might change my mind and make it a ByaSaku !

Byakuya

Good . She will have the honor of being the matriarch of the Kuchiki Clan . Someone so beautiful should not be paired with someone so hotheaded .

I've seen episodes , Bya-chan . Your temper used to be so short that it rivaled Shiro-chan's height !

BOTH

*twitch*

Bye bye !