A voice said, Look me in the stars
And tell me truly, men of earth,
If all the soul-and-body scars
Were not too much to pay for birth.
-A Question by Robert Frost-
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
-Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein-
Upon awakening from their trance like state they had agreed that a drink would be best to talk over. Naruto had broken out the sake and both warmed themselves and loosened their tongues with the liquid. If she looked at him she could see the fox, if she bore her eyes into him she could see the demon. It seemed he had retreated farther into to his cage, far enough that Sakura felt safe enough to let her rigid body relax.
"You're a fox." She spoke slowly, as if not aware that she had said it aloud at all. Naruto's body shifted slightly, leaning forwards ready to catch even the quietest of whispers. His eyes, they stayed the same, the rest of him had an animalistic tinge to it, as if a master painter had outlined a human but had instead painted a fox over top. The startling blue remained the same. It struck her then that this was his heart; his everything was contained in those two spheres. It was no wonder they were the most intricate and breathtaking she had ever beheld, it was the focus of Naruto. I wonder if that's how our eyes are too… Inner Sakura mused from the recesses of Sakura's mind just on the edge of hearing.
"I can't see you. No, that's not right. I can, you're just… different. You look like a fox." She struggled to explain twisting her hands nervously in her lap.
A bitter smile curled his lips before he doused it with more sake, "should have known."
Realizing instantly what he thought Sakura quickly set him straight, "It's not him, it's you. He's in there too, but it's weird, he's separate. He's a fox and you're a fox but you two look so different."
A puzzled expression overcame Naruto and Sakura waited for him to do something, Kami knew she couldn't explain it any better. Hell, she didn't even know what was going on.
"What are you then?" Dumb struck by the question Sakura could only blink owlishly at him.
"I don't know. I only really had time to see you." Sakura tapped her chin thinking about what she might be.
"Well, let's see!" With a bounce and a bound Naruto was standing and tugging Sakura up and towards the nearest mirror. Thanks to her ninja training Sakura managed to trail behind the blonde (Mr. Bipolar!) with ease. As Naruto positioned her before the mirror Sakura strove to see herself. She could 'see' the wood, plaster, and paint that made up the wall but there was no reflection of her. Sighing tiredly Sakura turned away. The hands that had been positioned securely on her shoulders slipped off as he saw her dejected expression.
"I can't see my own reflection Naruto."
"But, you can see me and you're right in front of a mirror Sakura-chan…" The question hung in the air as Naruto struggled to understand the strange phenomenon.
"She said that I had her sight and that she could only see things that were or are alive." Drumming her fingers on her forehead Sakura thought about the full implications of the limitations of her new 'vision'.
"Who's she?" Naruto chuckled and laughed abashedly as he scratched the back of his head, a habit of his.
Just this goddess who likes to mess with people, me specifically. Yah, that's going to go over well. Inner Sakura voiced sarcastically.
"Ko-no-Hana." Sakura mumbled angling her head downwards realizing how ridiculous is sounded; saying a deity had given her sight.
Naruto was silent for a time before he rumbled, "We should probably go and see Tsunade then, ne?"
"Yah, but not right now." Determined she raised her gaze to bore into his eyes searching out the Kyubi hiding within him. "How did he get into you?"
With forced lightness he answered, "He had to go somewhere, ne? They needed a new born child to seal him in and I fit the bill. Not my favorite birthday present." Naruto joked roughly as he moved to guide her back to the couch.
"What about the other you that was there?" Sakura didn't comment on the quick change of topics or that he was leading her to the couch when she now had sight of sorts.
"That's Inner Sakura; she's been with me for years. She just showed up one day. She was so mad that I was being picked on that she punched someone." Sakura chuckled at the memory of the horrified child's face. "Scared me for a while but you get used to her." Giving a slight shrug of the shoulder Sakura sat down on her couch once more as she took in her house under the filter of the goddess.
It just takes people a while to recognize how great I am. Inner Sakura clarified as she flicked her hair over her shoulder to accentuate the point. Rolling her eyes at her inner's antics Sakura saw that Naruto was smiling once again. Raining in her wondering attention she centered her gaze on the strange double layered fox. He was outlined in wavering tints of dark green. Leaning forward slightly in confusion she watched as it slowly changed to a golden color. Somehow she thinks it fits him better, the putrid green just felt wrong to her.
"We'd better go see Tsunade-baa-chan now." Nodding her head in absentminded agreement she follows Naruto out into the night. It doesn't appear to be dark though, the plants give off light and Sakura wonders if she could even see the sun and its light.
Well it's not alive so we probably can't. We have the ultimate night vision! Cheered by the favorable byproduct of her eyesight Sakura is soon brought to attention to its pitfalls when she slams her shoulder upon a mailbox. Inner Sakura does all the cursing necessary while Sakura regains her footing and makes sure to stand closer to Naruto who appears to be torn between laughing at her un-ninja like action and feeling pity because there was no way for her to see it. Glaring heatedly into his back Sakura passes the rest of the midnight run in silence.
-
Making their way to the Hokage's office without incident the pair knock before they enter. It is not unheard of the Lady Hokage to take swings at Naruto when he disregards curtsey which makes him a target at any meeting of the two. Sakura usually enjoys the interactions, sometimes she wonders if she became so abusive to the blonde by example but she then recalls that she did it long before she became an apprentice and promptly brushes off the issue.
"Come in." Tsunade's voice carries through the thick doors and they enter and seat themselves. On her way to the chairs before the desk Sakura almost misses her step when she sees that just like Naruto Tsunade does not look completely human. Over shadowing her physical body is a hippopotamus tinged with a brilliant emerald green at the edges. Not able to look away Sakura stumbles and ungraciously lets herself fall into the seat.
The leader of the Hidden Leaf looks as if she is carrying the brunt of this mantel tonight; her fingers grasp her skull and have tousled her hair, sake bottles are sprinkled about the room with an empty cup directly to the woman's right.
"Hey, Tsunade-baa-chan." Naruto speaks firmly making her drag her eyes from the stack of papers in front of her up to see her two guests.
Scowling she addresses her constant irritant, "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" Her eyes look tired and she seems on edge. It is almost humorous to see the hippo twitch its ears in annoyance but Sakura restrains her mirth and instead scoots her chair away from Naruto; an irate Tsunade is not something to be provoked. "Now, what do you want?" She demands harshly. Sakura realizes that she has had to take on her share of the work and is suffering from the addition to her already hefty responsibilities.
Feeling a swell of happiness that she can relieve her mentor of this Sakura speaks up, "I can see."
With a jerk of the head Tsunade is boring her eyes into the young woman's own. With a small smile Sakura reaches out and picks up a paper off the stack, scans it quickly before handing it back to her. "Yup, that will need to be signed." The smile is spreading as Tsunade's bewilderment almost becomes tangible in the air. Slowly she closes her eyes, holds them closed for a time, and then reopens them. Sakura is now working her way down the pile sorting it out into what needs signing and what does not.
"Stop that!" Tsunade bats away Sakura's hand as she reaches for another paper. "How in Kami's name did you get your sight back?" She sounds confused and angry as she stands to fix her apprentice with a searching gaze. Naruto watches in amusement, content to see the Hokage flustered.
"Ko-no-Hana gave me her sight. As weird as this sound she made me her vessel." Sakura explained feeling that she was sounding crazier by the word.
Mental ward here we come! Inner Sakura proclaimed as she stepped inside a padded room. Tsunade tapped her chin in thought as she shrewdly beheld her apprentice.
"Walk to the window and tap on the third pane from the right." Sakura got up and walked to the window, and though she could not see the panes of glass she could see the wood bordering each. Tapping at the correct pane Sakura turned and nearly skipped back to her suddenly grinning sensei.
"Damn." Cocking her head to the side in a silent question Sakura waited for the woman to explain her outburst. "Now I have to start going to temple." Naruto couldn't help but chortle at the two women's antics.
"Sakura-Chan can see what animal you are, I'm a fox." Declaring his friend's talents gleefully he shrugged when Tsunade gave him a glance out of the corner of her eye. "It's ok, she knows about him."
"You told her?" The Hokage asked turning to level her gaze at the whiskered man.
"I just saw him, he was inside Naruto." Sakura clarified moving to sit down in her seat.
"What animal is Tsunade-baa-Chan?" Naruto asks impatiently as he rises from his seat to invade the Hokage's personal space while squinting his eyes to try and see the animal. Eye twitching at the invasion of her personal space she can no longer contain her ire when he speaks. "She's a raccoon, isn't she? She's got enough bags under her eyes to be one." He goes sailing across the room slams into hits his own chair on the way. The back of the chair is broken off from the seat and a leg is piteously broken in two, Naruto is intact, a yard from the broken chair.
"Don't worry Tsunade, you're not a raccoon." Sakura shakes with laughter as she watches her friend gathering his wits upon the floor.
"Oh, what am I?" With a glint of curiosity she seats herself and smiles as Naruto sits up rubbing at his cheek where the punch landed.
"Well," Sakura stalls trying to word it mentally so that she and her own chair won't have to suffer the same fate as Naruto and his chair. "You're an owl."
The hippo closes it's eyes and nods slightly in happy acceptance.
Finally, an update! Originally I was going to make Tsunade an owl but then I thought about it and I concluded that I was stupid and went to get a more fitting and creative creature. A hippo fits Tsunade perfectly, especially if you look at the Egyptian goddess that has a hippo's head. Can you imagine how she would respond to being told that she was a hippo?! Heads would roll. –Cloey Marie-