Vocab List

Kekkei genkai - bloodline limit, ex: Sharingan, Byakugan, that thing Haku could do

--------

Chapter 7

In which breakfast is had

The sun burned a hole in the horizon as Captain Shino led Sakura to the East Wall. "Here are the stairs to the top. Good luck," Shino said kindly as he pointed to a set of stairs carved into the wall. Sakura nodded to him and started climbing. She reached the top and saw Shukaku facing the vast sea of sand before him.

He was thinking about his rant yesterday and figuring out how to properly apologize to Sakura. He felt bad about yelling at her; he had been having a bad day and snapping at everyone. So far he hadn't been hit with inspiration and was settling into the idea of avoiding her until he could think of something. It was at this moment, of course, that she chose to catch his attention.

"Ah, excuse me, Shukaku-sama."

Shukaku whirled around at the intrusion into his thoughts. When he saw the object of his current dilemma in front of him, his brain decided that it was far too early to be dealing with this sort of thing and promptly shut down.

With his brain currently not working, Shukaku decided to use short, uncomplicated sentences.

"Ohayo, Sakura-san," was what he came up with.

Unfortunately Sakura came to the conclusion that he was still to angry to speak to her. She decided to merely nod and stand next to him, gazing at the sunrise. The confused Shukaku came to the inaccurate conclusion that Sakura just wanted to watch the sunrise. He decided to try and escape to his office to reactivate his brain and think of a suitable apology.

After a few minutes of silence, during with there was a magnificent sunrise that neither of them could appreciate because of the presence of the other, Sakura blurted out, "I'm terribly sorry for not telling you about the bandits Shukaku-sama! I had no idea the information was so important!"

The wide-eyed Shukaku, who was missing his brain terribly at the moment, stared at the deeply bowing Sakura and said the first thing that came to his mind.

"Have you had breakfast yet, Sakura-san?"

--------

After a cup of tea Shukaku's brain turned back on and fully processed what Sakura said to him on the wall. The woman in question sat across from him. Neither of them had spoken further to each other since arriving at the restaurant.

Shukaku hesitantly opened his mouth and said, "I too would like to apologize for yesterday. It is easy for me to forget that not everyone has to rule a village." He glanced up, smiling slightly.

Sakura looked up from her tea and grinned a little. "It must be difficult to worry about the entire population instead of just your family."

At the mention of family Shukaku looked at the table and frowned. Sakura was about to apologize for offending him when he said, "I'm sorry we cannot help Shinta-san."

Sakura was speechless. Shinta? He was apologizing about Shinta? She gathered herself and replied, "Everyone must die and move on to the next world. Surely as a High Priest you know this, Shukaku-sama."

"Oh, that," Shukaku said flustered. "It's more of an honorary thing than an actual title. The village doesn't even have a temple." He quickly took a gulp of tea to avoid further embarrassing himself.

"Oh." Sakura gazed deeply into her cup.

The pair was saved from further awkwardness by the arrival of their breakfast. For a while there was nothing but the sound of chewing. Eventually they finished eating, which put them right back where they started.

After along pause during which they both debated the rudeness of just getting up and leaving, Sakura asked the question that had been bothering her since yesterday. "What did you mean when you said you where the village's ultimate weapon?" she queried.

Shukaku brightened immediately and said, "Come with me, it's easier if I show you."

--------

Sakura stood in front of the restaurant bemusedly. Shukaku had paid for the food and led her out here. He looked around, nodded, and scooped up some sand. She was going to ask what he was doing when he turned to her and gleefully said, "Watch."

So she watched, and was left speechless again as the pile of sand slowly transformed into a desert lily.

"How? …" she managed to get out.

"It's a kekkei genkai. Almost everyone in my family can manipulate sand to some degree; I just happen to be very good at it," Shukaku explained smiling. "It takes a lot of chakra and concentration though."

"I see," Sakura said as she stared at the flower. They looked at it a while longer before it dissolved back into individual grains of sand.

--------

AN: I'm done editing. :) Next chapter is back with the Bijuu.