AN: Here we are, once more unto the breach, for another chapter of LRoS!
Now, some of you on the A triple-O site might have seen that this has now been made into a series, with LRoS being the first in this now dubbed "The Rose Cascade" series. This will follow Rozu in their future reincarnations in different worlds, falling slap bang in decisive or outright hated characters.
The first of which will be a RWBY story which I'm hoping to post in the near future. Who Rozu will become in that world… I'll leave to speculation for now! I will try to keep Spoilers for this story to a minimum in that story but reader beware if you decide to hop over there!
With that said, welcome to the newest chapter of Last Rose of Summer!
Chapter 8: Up on Melancholy Hill…
"I have a gift for you, my cute little genin~!" Kakashi declared in a sing song voice as he appeared on the training field, Anko appearing behind him with a megawatt smile on her face.
"Shit! Duck and cover!" I shouted in panic, because nothing good ever came from our sensei using that tone. All three of us dove away, putting as much distance between ourselves and the jonin as we could.
Anko let out a boisterous laugh at the action, elbowing Kakashi in the side. "You've got them rattled worse than some of my vic- I mean, clients." She teased amusedly. "I'm almost impressed."
Kakashi, understandably, looked a little off put by that observation. "Maa, you're too kind, Anko." He replied with a flat tone. "Come on guys, I promise on… the sanctity of ramen that I won't do anything bad."
Naruto, the poor scamp he was when beloved dish was brought up, was quickly back to our sensei in an instant. I shared a commiserating look with Sasuke before letting out a sigh, moving in line with our blonde teammate.
"You better not be lying, sensei. I won't be responsible for what Naru will do if you break his trust." And considering Naru had the odd ability to outwit even the ANBU Black Ops when he was pranking someone, it was a genuinely serious threat. There was a reason quite a few of the older shinobi shuddered when they crossed his path and it wasn't because of the Nine Tails.
"So scary." Kakashi drawled, unconvinced. The poor, sweet fool. "No, what I have… are these." With that, and a flourish that would make Gai cry tears of passionate Youth, he revealed three small, thin slips of paper.
"Gum wrappers?" Sasuke asked, unimpressed, gaining a nod from Naruto who seemed to share similar feelings.
Kakashi bent slightly, almost like he'd taken a hit to the gut with that remark before he turned towards me, eyes pleading.
Rolling my eyes at my need to once again be the exposition dump, I let out a sigh. "They're not gum wrappers guys." I chide them. "It's obviously litmus paper."
Anko is once again giggling with delight. "You're a riot, Rōzu!" She declared with a grin. The older kunoichi had taken the change in developments with my name and gender in stride, something that made me love her all the more. Psychopathic tentacles aside…
"No…" Kakashi finally ground out. "These three little bits of paper are going to show me just what your chakra affinities are."
That got a reaction from my teammates, their eyes widening as they realised just what that meant. Kakashi was finally ready to teach them some more advanced jutsu, they'd finally reached a point where he didn't have to focus on simply conditioning us anymore. Not that doing so had been a bad thing, we'd come on leaps and bounds with our fighting ability beside the sudo magic that ninja often used but it was exciting to finally get the chance to truly widen our repertoire.
Naru, still a little hot headed despite the efforts we'd made to channel his endless energy, naturally went first. Channeling his chakra caused the expected outcome of it splitting in half, signaling his natural affinity to Wind based attacks.
"Maybe you'll be able to weaponize your farts, eh, Dobe?" Sasuke needled him with a smirk, only to have it wiped away by the contemplative look the blonde got from that idea.
"They do say a ninja should use anything and everything that could be an asset to their arsenal…" I mused, loving the look of betrayal he shot me. "Maybe you should credit Sasuke if you ever do that, Naru." The smirk I flashed at the resident emo of our team was filled with teeth.
"My turn!" Sasuke declared, more to move on from the situation than anything else, snatching a slip from Kakashi and forcing his chakra into it.
"Sasuke! Wai-" Sensei's warning came too late as the paper, overloaded by the Uchiha's heavy influx of chakra, exploded in flames.
Right into his face.
Needless to say, Sasuke was missing a decent chunk of his eyebrows for his troubles, sending both Naru and Anko into hysterics.
"Well, that answers that question, I suppose." Kakashi finally said with a sigh. "Your turn, Rōzu."
Taking my own slip, I let my chakra flow into the paper, making sure to keep the amount at a minimum. Imagine my surprise when the paper quickly jumped out of my grip, shriveling up with a spark of static before crumbling to dust.
It seemed that both of the older shinobi were similarly stunned, exchanging a look between each other.
"I'm guessing that's… not usual?" I ask.
Anko snorted. "Not usual, he says."
Kakashi gave a small shake of his head, regaining his composure. "Well, it seems we have a bit of a special case with you, Rōzu-kun. You've got two affinities right off the bat. Earth and Lightning."
Ah. That was unusual, to say the least.
Most shinobi only had one natural affinity, something many ninja accounted to be linked explicitly to the soul of the individual. Sure, you could train yourself to use other chakra nature's with enough time, Kakashi was living proof of that with his fabled "thousand jutsu." But unless you were from a clan with a bloodline limit, you would almost always start out with one.
I had two.
My eyes went to meet Kakashi's, seeing the steel in his lone grey eye and my stomach dropped. See, if I had been from a shinobi clan then this would simply be a happy outcome. I, however, was a second generation shinobi who's parents were essentially civilians at this point.
That meant I had little in terms of protection from those who might want to take advantage of that.
Namely; Root.
It wasn't even a week later that Kakashi was leading us into the Hokage Tower for an audience with the village leader. A pool of dread sat heavy in my stomach, something that hadn't been helped by the fact that both sensei and Anko had been shadowing me since that day. Neither of them seemed to be willing to take the chance that I might just suddenly disappear if I wasn't constantly watched. I didn't think it was possible to be so thankful for such a complete lack of privacy.
Members of Root had been tailing me too, never getting too close to piss off the two jonin who had taken watch over me. The scary thing was that I wouldn't have even known if it wasn't for the clear agitation they showed when one got a little too close for comfort. They didn't stop though, loyal to a fault to Danzo.
So, when the summons from the Hokage had been passed, Kakashi looked ready to tear his way through the village. The amount of self control the man was using must have been staggering. I wouldn't be surprised if he was ready and willing to shred Danzo apart with his teeth.
If I didn't already love the man with all my heart, I would now.
Standing at the threshold to the office, my nervousness must have been showing as I felt three sets of hands lay themselves on my shoulder. My team was with me. I was safe.
I had to believe that.
"Ah! Kakashi and Team 7." The Hokage addressed us as we entered, flanked by his three advisors. Homura, Koharu and Danzo. "Thank you for attending this meeting." He said in that grandfatherly tone that he exuded to put others at ease. If I wasn't aware that the man would be among the worst war criminals in this world and my old one, I might have fell for it.
"Hey, old man!" Naru greeted in a cheerfulness that was as fake as the patriarch one. Not that I could tell if the old man realised how artificial it was. My Naru was a lot less trusting than his Canon counterpart. From the way the advisors narrowed their eyes, it worked with them at least.
"Hokage-sama." Kakashi greeted in return, bowing as we followed suit. "Your summons seemed urgent and I had some things I wished to discuss with you, also."
"I'm sure." The Hokage replied with a smile. "Now, onto business. I'm sure you're all aware of the recent… tensions in Mist."
And wasn't that the understatement of the century.
"Well, we've recieved a missive from Mist in the past day. It seems that the resistance has succeeded in their endeavors and Mei Terumi has been officiated as the Fifth Mizukage."
I'll admit that my legs nearly came out from under me, relief filling my chest. They'd won. Haku and Zabuza 's survival in Mist had caused the Mist Village revolution to occur far ahead of schedule.
"Not only that, your actions in Wave have been recognised by the new regime. Mist has officially begun proposals for a mutual defense and trade alliance with Konoha." The proud look on his face almost made my chest swell. "Truly, this is a prosperous day for both villages, all thanks in no small part to your efforts."
The faces of the advisers showed mixed emotions between the three of them. Koharu seemed genuinely pleased while Homura looked neutral on the matter. Danzo, the paranoid old bastard that he was, looked like he'd taken a hefty bit of a very sour lemon. I'm honest enough to admit I felt just a bit of satisfaction at that.
The Hokage continued after he let his magnanimous praise sink in. "With that, the Chunin Exams will finally be able to commence in the coming month, which we have the honour of hosting. In light of this, my advisors and myself have come to decision that you three shall be given a guaranteed promotion to Chunin once the Exams are completed. In recognition to your service to the village."
The air left my lungs in an instant. Guaranteed promotion. That… I wasn't even aware that was a thing. My teammates were in a similar state of shock, Sasuke's eyes having grown comically large. Even Naru seemed to have stopped breathing.
It was only the sudden appearance of a heavy aura coming from Kakahi that stopped my heart from soaring. He was angry. No, he was damn right furious. I was honestly a little confused.
Then it clicked.
Genin teams, by and large, disbanded once the majority of the students gained a promotion. Unless it was wartime, team units would often separate unless specifically placed together for a mission. Once we were promoted, Kakashi wouldn't be expected to be our guardian anymore, quite the opposite in fact. Jonin didn't just grow on trees and any that took a team would be one unavailable to take higher grade missions. It was a big reason that many Genin would fail their team exam and be placed in the general forces.
The promotion would leave us, me, untethered. Ripe to turn up conveniently MIA while outside the village, taken by Danzo to be broken into one of his unfeeling killer dolls. If he didn't just decide to dissect me for parts and dispose of what was left. After all, who would miss someone who was by all rights a no-name civilian.
It took everything I had not to bolt, run as far and as fast as I possibly could.
"That… is an auspicious gift, Hokage-sama." Kakashi finally said, his tone respectful. The surprise snapped me out of my terror. There was something in his eye I couldn't quite place. "We humbly accept."
"Wonderful." The Hokage replied with a bright smile. "Now, what was that request you had for me, Kakashi-kun?" He asked jovially.
Calmly, Kakashi reached inside of one of the pockets of his flak jacket, pulling out three scrolls. Much to my surprise, he passed one to Naruto and Sasuke before opening his own. "I, Kakashi Hatake, as the head of the Hatake Clan hereby acknowledge one Rōzu Haruno, formerly known as Sakura Haruno," He cast me an apologetic glance at using my old name before continuing. "As an honorary child of the Hatake Clan and all rights that coincide with that appointment."
My mouth fell wide open, nearly hitting the floor as Sasuke followed with a similar declaration of his own. Even Naruto, who admirably declared his own claim as the "representative of the Konoha branch of the Uzumaki Clan" with barely a waver in his voice.
The atmosphere in the room shifted, the Hokage, Homura and Koharu looking on with wide eyes filled with shock. Danzo, on the other hand, was openly glaring at us. "Preposterous!" He growled, his eyes shifting along the four of us, looking for an avenue for attack.
After all, my team had essentially just declared me part of three clans who had ties to the very foundations of the village, the closest thing to royalty in the village by some standards. Even with all three of them being down to a single member, the three clans had ties to nearly every other major clan in the village. And if there was one thing no clan in Konoha would abide by, it would be the abduction of a clan child. In one fell swoop, my team had made me untouchable, lest they risk a complete civil war upon the village.
If I wasn't biting my lip hard enough to break skin, I might just have fainted then and there.
Danzo seemed to have finally found an opening as he turned towards the Hokage. "Hiruzen, you can not allow this! A clanless girl has no business having such ties!" He bellowed. "Besides, the Uchiha has not reached his majority and there is no branch of the Uzumaki in Konoha!"
"Actually!" Kakashi piped up, sounding so smug it sat heavy in the air. "The village charter clearly states that in the event that a clan is put into dire circumstances, the highest ranking member of the clan will assume the role as Head of the clan."
"And unless you still consider… my brother…" Sasuke grunted at the mention of Itachi before continuing. "Eligible for his rank despite his defection, I am the Head of the Uchiha Clan. The decision lies solely with me."
"Guys…" I croaked, tears filling my eyes.
"The same for the Uzumaki clan, which was officially added to the clan system by Mito Uzumaki." Naruto continued with a grin, sounding as elegant as I'd ever heard him. "The wife of the First Hokage."
The mention of the first leader of the Village seemed to finally shake the Hokage from his shock, his eyes turning towards Danzo. "They have a point, Danzo. Their requests are perfectly within our laws."
"Laws can be changed." Danzo growled.
"Over one genin?" Kakashi piped up. "Should I be worried about your interests in my young charge, Danzo?" There was a dangerous glint in his voice, the implications of his words clear as well as what Kakashi would do if he pushed.
It certainly got a reaction from the other advisors, who glanced at the old war hawk with disgust. After all, no one liked the idea of a kiddie fiddler.
"Danzo. Leave." The Hokage finally said with a glare, warning clear in his tone.
With clenched teeth, the man sent one more glare towards me and my team before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. I took a gulp of air as soon as he was gone, relief filling me.
Staring at the now vacant spot for a long moment, the Hokage let out a weary sigh before turning back towards my team. "Are you sure about this?"
"Yes." Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke answered as one.
"And you, young Sak- Rōzu?"
Wiping my teary eyes, I stood up straight, meeting the Hokage's eyes head on. "Yes."
And so, I'd entered that office as Sakura Haruno.
I left it as Rōzu Haruno-Hatake-Uchiha-Uzumaki.
Even the ridiculousness of having to write that down on forms didn't dissuade the happiness and love I felt for my team.
My family.
My Ohana.
AN: Bit of a shorter, more serious chapter this time. I'll be honest, I've had this done for a few weeks, along with another few scenes that would have made a larger chapter but I feel that leaving it there left the most impact and going further kind of detracted from it. Its obviously a big moment and to carry the weight I think it needs; it makes more sense to end here.
Luckily, that means that the next chapter shouldn't be too far away now, with the scenes that would have been part of this chapter working as a good first half to the next. That should be out in the next week or two, along with the first chapter of the second story in the series!
As always, any feedback is greatly appreciated!
MurderousLord