Transition
Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.
/Non-Canon, Sakura-centric
A/N:
Oh, shoot. You guys. This just got to be 11,406 words. Sorry! I got ahead of myself because of the latest fkn awesome reviews. Couldn't contain myself. So here you go. A little essay almost. Of 11,406 words.
Chapter 9
Through the Eyes of a Black Widow, a Man of Shadows and a Merchant
The Black Widow Shizune
Shizune had no idea what the girl was thinking. She was starting to question the Haruno's mental health, really. Even though the girl had scored perfectly well as a mentally stable shinobi on the regular psychological tests which were required for every shinobi to perform at least once a year, yet Shizune still pondered the possibility of mental issues.
In a little hospital room which was not regularly used Shizune herself, the Haruno girl and Nara Shikamaru huddled together in the small space. Sakura sat on the hospital bed with two vials in her hands, her eyes as steely with determination as ever. Though, Shizune saw, she had not had enough sleep for at least a week. Dark circles under her eyes told Shizune of it, as plain evidence. The Nara mumbled in the corner about this being too troublesome, yet Shizune saw that he wanted to be there. The black haired kunoichi frowned as she stood in front of the girl. But she was actually kind of interested in the girl's experiment, so that was why she found herself attending.
"So this is what will happen. I will insert these vials into my blood stream. The first vial with blue liquid is a regular truth serum with a bit of modulations to the formula I performed in the lab yesterday; after days of constant research of course. I believe the truth serum will work on me, even though I have been trained to not give in to these kind of serums. The second vial with a white liquid contains two different poisons which I have blended together, with your helpful guidance of course, Shizune. I am really grateful for your help, thank you. It's one poison I exerted from a frog and one from a poisonous tarantula from the Forest of Death. Now, what I wish to acquire from this experiment is to make myself rendered listless and whatever I say, it will be true. I have given you the question sheet, Shika. You will act as the interrogator during the experiment. Shizune, if you will, please take notes of what happens to me in medical terms. As well, please make sure I don't die. It would be most inconvenient."
"Inconvenient my ass." Shikamaru grumbled from the corner. Sakura smiled gently.
"These truth serum vials were requested from T&I a week ago to the Poison Unit at the hospital, and I took it upon myself to try to make a serum that will make interrogation much less... hard work, if you will. This serum should make prisoners or spies let information flood from their mouths much easier than if their limbs were cut off or if their minds were invaded by a Yamanaka - which all takes a bit of time and unnecessary tools. Time is precious to a shinobi, as you two should know. However, this is the best outcome only, and it's not even certain that it will work." Sakura said and sighed deeply, preparing herself mentally probably. Shizune knew that this experiment very well could end badly for the girl. Yet that stubborn girl had refused to test it on prisoners. She had told them that she wanted to feel what they would feel.
"I'm ready. Are you prepared?" She asked and looked first at Shizune, then at Shikamaru who moved to stand in front of the kunoichi with the sheet of questions in his hand.
"Yeah. And you're stupid." He grumbled, but he still didn't hinder her when she inserted the first vial into her arm. The truth serum. Shizune watched warily as the girl's eyes shimmered blankly when the liquid ran in her blood stream and she dropped the empty vial on the bed. She wobbled slightly, but steadied herself. Her eyes were cloudy.
"Shizune. Can you insert the last vial? I'm not sure I will be able to... prick the right vein." Sakura slurred as the effects of the serum seeped further in her blood stream. Shizune huffed and snatched the white liquid vial from the bed, took a hard hold of the girl's arm and inserted the needle into the bend of her arm and pushed it gently. The white liquid was pressed into the blue vein in her creamy arm. For a moment, the pink haired kunoichi's eyes turned paler, but then they were green and unseeing again. Shikamaru looked on, warily and concerned.
Shizune sat beside the girl on the bed to steady her. Suddenly, the girl grimaced in pain. The poisons seemed to have worked perfectly. The Haruno bit hard on her lip to keep from screaming, biting so hard the skin on her lips broke and blood trailed down her chin. Shizune dabbed the blood away with a tissue as the girl rocked back and forth, her eyes squeezed shut. Shikamaru gripped the paper in his hand hard. He looked at Shizune, questioning her silently if he should start or if they should extract the poison in her veins right away. Shizune inspected the girl, let her hands run across her back. She found the poisons making their way to her brain. Shizune knew the theoretical aspect of it; when the poison reached her brain circuits, the pain would subdue. However, if she answered one question which wasn't true to herself, the pain would explode in her head.
"I think it's fine so far. Wait one minute." Shizune said soothingly, rubbing the girl's back. Sakura clenched her fists in her lap, obviously suffering silently to not scare the two of them. Though that wasn't really necessary, since the two were already concerned as it was. Then, the girl slumped. Her shoulders relaxed and Shizune knew the poisons had reached her brain. The black haired medic held the antidote in her hand, ready to insert it when ten minutes had gone by. If she didn't insert the antidote, the poisons in her brain would expand and make the girl brain dead. And that was the least possible worst scenario.
"Now." Shizune whispered. Shikamaru cleared his throat and looked at Sakura, who dazedly met his gaze. He worried his lip before he asked the first question on the sheet.
"What is your name?"
"Haruno Sakura." She answered, and her voice was surprisingly clear.
"How old are you?"
"Sixteen since two weeks ago."
"Where were you born?"
"Konohagakure village." She replied and her green murky eyes were glazed, yet her voice was so apparent and void of uncertainty it surprised both of them. Shizune noted the brain activity in the girl when she grazed her head with probing chakra in her fingers, and then noted a few medical scribbles on the paper block she had been given.
"What is your favourite food?"
"Syrup coated anko dumplings." Sakura answered and Shikamaru almost smiled. Shizune knew why; that favourite food was so not... Sakura.
"Who is our Hokage?"
"Senju Tsunade."
"What is your greatest regret?" Shikamaru asked, frowning at this. This was a personal question and it might happen that she would lie. He watched her.
"My inability to act." She answered, her head almost bobbing to one side, but Shizune straightened her up.
"What does- wait. I can't ask this!" Shikamaru watched the question sheet in horror. Shizune raised an eyebrow. Was it something embarrassing perhaps?
"Just do it. She gave you the list, right? It's supposed to make her lie." Shizune said and rubbed the girl's back in circles. Shikamaru stared at the paper, swallowed, then looked into the Haruno's blank eyes.
"What does your contract with Izanami state?" He asked lowly, biting his lip as he waited for her reaction. Shizune absentmindedly wondered who Izanami was. It sounded like a contractor of some sort, she pondered as she noted the sudden brain activity within the girl's brain. The Haruno's eyes flashed.
"I-I am.. I am to...k-" The kunoichi huffed as she stuttered, her eyes swimming as she pressed the words out of her mouth with great effort. Shizune was alarmed as the poisons inside her brain stirred and started to invade her sensory nerves. Shizune bit her lips as she knew what this would do to the girl's pain receiving nerves in her central nerve system. With a scream, the girl fell onto the bed, sweating and squealing and squeezing her eyes shut as the pain inside her head took over her body. Shikamaru stood still, speechless. Shizune was fast to take a hold of the girl as she shook and screeched.
"I-I can't!" She shouted and screamed, wriggling in Shizune's grip, thrashing on the bed. When Shizune produced the antidote and pressed it into the vein in her neck, she heard the girl whisper something almost inaudible, with a raspy voice, before her eyes fluttered shut.
"... Thousand men." She whispered and then passed out. Shizune pulled out the rest of the poisons in her veins and tried to extract some from her brain, but it was difficult since she needed to seep the chakra filled with poison out from her ear opening. The poison's expert didn't ponder on what the girl had said, since it seemed to be simple ramblings on her delirious part.
Shikamaru almost fell to the floor in relief, Shizune saw in the corner of her eye, when Haruno passed out and stopped screaming. He went up beside the bed and checked the girl's forehead, stating she had a high fever but with a look at Shizune, he knew she'd be fine. He huffed.
"That insane girl. Neji would kill me if he knew about this. At least the serum worked." He muttered and waved farewell, taking the question sheet with him. Shizune nodded and refocused on the girl. She determined the activity in her brain was stable for now. She wrinkled her nose, the girl was clever but sometimes she wondered if there was a more complex side to her cleverness. She had succeeded in making a truth serum which prevented shinobi from lying, by punishing them every time they lied with indescribable pain directed into their nerve system by the two poisons interacting with the truth serum. But why had she felt the need to lie about a contract?
The Man of Shadows Shimura Danzō
The day slowly went by until the sun was gone from the sky, and was replaced with stars and a reclining, thin and luminous moon. Danzō wandered through the starkly lit corridors of T&I, heading for the Poison's interrogation chamber. He had been waiting for this day; the day the Haruno's first torture would take place. He wondered how she would react after, if she would be capable of executing the atrocities necessary to doom the spy with. He had warned her before hand, two weeks ago, so she could prepare herself mentally for the torture as well as research on different torturing methods.
When he reached the Poison's chamber, there was a scream heard coming from inside the door. He opened the heavy metal door with a heavy clink, and strolled inside the dark room. A man hung from heavy chains in the middle of the room, the chains chafing his wrists bloody and inflamed. The man hung without his feet touching the ground, without a shirt one could see his torso was bloodied and bruised, his dirty head lolling on his chest. It seemed he was unconscious. Three T&I interrogators stood in front of the man, one held a whip, one held a kunai and one held a large bat. The three looked up with pondering expressions as they saw Danzō entering.
Danzō searched the room for the Haruno. He found her standing a few feet away with a blank expression on her face, donning the ANBU guise. Danzō watched with slight confusion as the girl seemed to not have partaken in the torture. She stood very still.
"Danzō-sama." The three interrogators greeted him, their creased brows questioning somewhat. Maybe questioning his presence in T&I. But that would be confusing, since he had filed a request to attend this certain torture session. Or rather, he did have permission to go anywhere within Konoha. He had after all access everywhere.
"Good evening." Danzō returned, yet he walked up to the Haruno. She nodded in a respectful silent greeting. Her green eyes met his, they were dim in the darkness of the Poison's chamber, her white blank mask fastened to the side of her pink head. She wasn't required to hide her facial features inside T&I, he had told her two weeks ago. The mask would only work as a shield towards the prisoner, hiding her from her own actions against him. Not letting her face him full on. It would have hindered her from seeing his pained expressions clearly.
"Why are not Sen partaking in questioning the prisoner?" His voice, filled with authority, rumbled through the dirty chamber. The interrogators flinched.
"But she's just a girl!" The one holding the bloodied kunai said, his eyes darting once to Haruno, then back to Danzō.
"I don't even know how she got a pass card to T&I. Or the access passport to this room." One interrogator grumbled, swatting the bat to clear the blood away from it. Blood splattered on the ground.
"I gave it to her. This is her prisoner to question." Danzō's clear voice cut through their mumblings.
"Oh, Danzō-sama. I see. I apologise. We must have missed receiving this information." The interrogator with a kunai bowed, then moved to a metallic table to put down the kunai. The others bowed as well, then placed their torturing tools on the table as well.
"Let her through." Danzō said through clenched teeth. The three interrogators unwillingly let her step up to the man. Haruno walked casually in front of the man.
"What do we have on him?" She asked as she examined his half dead body, trailing her hands along the bleeding slashes caused by the whip.
"Almost nothing." One interrogator mumbled. "ANBU found him spying on the Hokage in her office. He had his presence masked very well, so it had taken a while for ANBU to discover him. When they found him, he had tried to commit suicide by slashing his throat open with a kunai. But one ANBU got to him before he could do it. He was rendered incapacitated and was brought here directly. We have tried to make him spit which village or for whom he works for, but he hasn't said a word in fucking five hours." The interrogator spat on the ground, seemingly growing more frustrated.
"Well, he did say we were all going to die before he passed out." One interrogator added, smiling grimly. Danzō almost raised an eyebrow.
"I see." The Haruno said and went back to her black bag. She produced three vials with different colours of liquid inside. The interrogators watched her warily. Poisons had to be handled with great care and expertise, or the prisoner would die. The Haruno walked up the hanging man and with her left hand started healing the man's wounds on his back. Gasps were heard from the interrogators, objecting her foolish actions loudly, but Danzō raised a hand to stop them from rushing to the girl. They froze.
"Wait. Let us see what happens." Danzō guessed and smirked. From what he knew of Haruno Sakura, she was not a merciful shinobi. There had to be a reason behind her healing the hanging man.
The Haruno didn't even seem to notice the seething, red-faced interrogators. She continued healing the prisoner's broken bones, his bleeding wounds and even the whip slashes on his back and head. When she was finished, the green healing chakra coming to a stop, there was a light sheen of sweat on her arms. It must have taken a lot of her chakra to heal the broken man, Danzō knew. If anything, she was an excellent shinobi. Her only fault was her chakra sources, which were small.
The kunoichi with ANBU clothes then produced one of the three vials. She inserted it into his neck and with a gasp as she pressed it, the man shot his head up from his chest and his eyes were wide eyed as he rocked back and forth from the sudden movement. He skimmed the room with blood shot eyes, his pupils having expanded visibly, and then he found the kunoichi in front of him. He looked down on his body, the dislodged sockets in his arms seemingly not disturbing him, seeing his torso healed and as good as if it had been left untouched. His eyes then went up to meet the pink haired ANBU in front of him, eyeing her suspiciously. He said nothing.
Sakura checked his eyes, noted that he was conscious and the adrenaline in his blood stream was maintained. She turned around to meet the gazes of the men in the room.
"I gave him adrenaline. This serum will make him stay awake for the next three hours by levelling his adrenaline levels, no matter how much pain he will go through he will stay awake. It will make it a lot easier to interrogate him." She explained and the men in the room nodded absentmindedly. Danzō approved of her way of thinking. It was not something new, adrenaline being used to make the prisoners stay awake, but three hours had not been heard of before.
"I assume you have made changes to the adrenaline serum? Is that wise?" On interrogator asked, his dark blue eyes looking at the ANBU warily.
"It is wise, since I have enough knowledge about serums and poisons to do it." She said, green eyes piercing the blue eyed man. "I was the apprentice of the Hokage for one year. She taught me a lot of useful concoctions before she dismissed me." The girl blatantly confessed, earning surprised faces of the interrogators. They remained silent after this. The Haruno then resumed to inspect the man by turning around her attention, her hands running across his sweating body. It seemed she determined there was no changes in his heart beat and that the adrenaline insertion had worked.
"These," she said as she picked up the two last vials, "are a successful experiment I researched and made during the last two weeks. The first vial, the one containing the blue liquid, is a truth serum. The second, the one with the white liquid, contains two mixed poisons. They will interact well with each other and blend accordingly."
She didn't turn around as she continued talking, inserting the blue liquid into the prisoner's neck. The man hanging by his wrists tried to wriggle away, but he couldn't. Her grip was hard on his arm as she pressed the last of the blue truth serum into his blood stream. The man's eyes widened, then blurred and it seemed like he had turned blind. His expression relaxed and his mouth opened in listlessly. He shrunk in his hanging position and his head tilted to his arm for support.
"Most shinobi have gained a resistance towards truth serums." The blue eyed interrogator questioned. Danzō saw the man frown, folding his arms over his chest.
"I have modulated this one a bit. Together with the poisons, he won't be able to do anything else but tell us the truth." Sakura replied and the prisoner grimaced. It seemed the hanging man had realised the dire situation he was in, Danzō thought with a grim smirk.
"I don't like this." The prisoner wheezed, his voice thin and rough from not having been used for hours. The interrogators drew a deep breath. The prisoner had actually talked.
"You might want to cover your ears." The Haruno directed the hint to the interrogators, who only showed her slightly puzzled looks. She sighed and then gripped the last vial, the one with the milky liquid, and pushed it into the prisoner's neck. When she pulled it out, there was an oppressing silence pressing the room. The hanging man's eyes widened so much Danzō thought they might plop out. In a withheld breath, they waited for his response. And then it came.
The man screamed, and screamed so loudly even Danzō felt his eardrums vibrate painfully. The agony and terror in the hitched screams and sobs made the other men in the room flinch. What kind of poison could make a man scream like that? It sounded almost animalistic, with rough screeching and high pitched squeals in a chaotic cacophony of suffering. The man didn't cry, he only screamed, squeezing his eyes shut as he rocked back and forth, stretching against the chains chafing his raw skin. The blisters on his wrists started to bleed against the metal chains.
The pink haired ANBU only looked at the distressed man who sounded like he was dying. Danzō noted the grimness of her having inserted adrenaline into the man. It meant the prisoner could not pass out, none the matter the overwhelming pain his brain seemed to receive. It was clever. But he had yet to see it functioning.
The Haruno girl walked up to the man and stretched her hands up to his head, only to let her fingers touch his temples on either side. Then glowing chakra seeped from her fingers into his head. The T&I interrogators watched her.
"Explain. What is happening to the prisoner? I hope he is not dying." One seethed through clenched teeth. The other nodded in agreement.
"He is not dying. I'm pressing his sensory nerves in the temple that sends jolts of pain reduction into his body, since the poisons are making their way up to his brain. The pain and screaming will subdue when the poisons reaches the central nerve system in his brain. Right now though, he feels like he's burning up. And maybe that someone is shattering his bones and skinning his flesh, I don't know particularly what he is feeling. But that's how I felt when I tried it." She explained as the screaming started to fade, but his eyes were still squeezed shut. He shook as he hung from the chains.
"Wait a minute. You tried a torturing technique on yourself?" One interrogator blurted.
"Yes? How else would I know that it would work?" She answered, without turning her back to look at them. The hanging man coughed, and the screams faded to a stop. He was sweating profusely but he cracked his glazed eyes open.
"Test it instead on a prisoner, for god's sake." The blue eyed interrogator countered, snorting. Yet his eyes watched her warily.
"That is unnecessary. A prisoner who is not meant to be interrogated should not be rendered a mere test subject."
"You are one strange kunoichi. Now, try making him talk. None of us succeeded before you, so I swear I'll eat my own bandana if you are able to make him talk." The interrogator spat on the ground. His bandana covering his hair was quite thick and grey.
"That's a bet." She smirked as she pressed her fingers into the prisoner's temple again, concentrating as she closed her eyes with a frown. The man had stilled and his eyes were open, unseeing and shining.
"Who are you?" The ANBU asked her first question. The men waited in appreciation, the silence heavy in the interrogation room. Then, after a few seconds, the hanging man looked at the kunoichi and answered her.
"Nakara Yukiko." The man answered and one interrogator scrambled to the metal table and got hold of a pen and a paper, fast scribbling down the acquired information. Danzō blinked. The man didn't seem to be lying. He was telling the truth, maybe because of the truth serum with modifications. Maybe the poisons made him talk as well? Danzō didn't know the more medical aspects of it, but he was mesmerised all the same.
"How old are you?" Sakura continued, still holding her fingers at his temples.
"Twenty six years old this April."
"What is your favourite food?"
"Omusubi with okaka."
"Wait. Why are these questions necessary?" The interrogator with the paper looked up with a confused face. The Haruno sighed and turned around to pierce his eyes with her own.
"It is part of the procedure." She wheezed and then turned back to the dreamy looking prisoner and spy.
"Who was your first love?" She asked, her eyes set on his facial features as she let her fingers probe his brain activity.
"Masahi Hijikata."
"Where were you born?"
"In Rain Country." The man drawled and the interrogators, as well as Danzō himself, made a mental note. The country had recently been ravished by a rebellion and a new leader had taken on the mantle of protecting its people. Very little was known about this man, but not many considered Rain Country as a possible threat. They were known for always being in the middle of two villages or countries clashing together, leaving Rain Country in ruins.
"Which weapon do your prefer?" The pinkette continued to press as she bit her lip.
"Kunai." The prisoner drawled as he looked at her with unseeing eyes.
"Who do you look up to the most?" The woman asked, this time Danzō knew it was a good question. Often times, shinobi respected their leader and looked up to them.
"Pein-sama." When the man answered this, Sakura's eyes snapped open.
"Who is Pein-sama?" She asked carefully, not letting her voice drop tempo or change.
"Our beloved leader, our saviour. He will make peace to our filthy world." The man declared, admiration visible in his raspy voice. The interrogators mumbled amongst themselves, but Sakura hushed them.
"What does he look like?" She asked as her eyes watched him calmly.
"He has many faces." The man answered dreamily, not really answering her question. Sakura irritably wiped sweat off her forehead, breathed, then continued.
"Would you describe one face?"
"Yes." He said, and nothing more. This puzzled the girl until she realised there were limits to the truth serum and the poisons combined. She pressed her fingers lightly against his temple.
"Describe one of his faces." She changed the question.
"He has carrot coloured hair. His eyes are a divine colour of violet and there are circles delving deeper into the middle of his pupil. He has many black piercings adorning his godly features. He dons a black cloak with red clouds sewn at the hem. And-"
"Wait. Describe the cloak again." Sakura's eyes widened as she asked, her voice almost trembling. The men in the room were silent. The trade mark red clouds. Everyone knew what that could mean.
"The cloak is black and long, it covers most of the body. There are several scarlet coloured clouds, looking like they were drawn traditionally, which are sewn at the hem of the cloak. It is the cloak that defines the beloved and powerful Gods of our Country."
"What... are the gods of your country called?" Sakura's voice didn't tremble, but excitement was visible in her body language as she leaned closer to the man with glazed eyes.
"Akatsuki."
Danzō snapped his head up. Akatsuki? The old war veteran took in this information slowly, as he deliberated. Had their organisation taken over a whole country? The possibility existed, yet it was hard to believe. Danzō felt his heart thump one extra beat. He had the knowledge of the Akatsuki leader's name - Pein. And he had the knowledge of their base - Rain Country. All this, thanks to the pink haired kunoichi. Information was power, and she held it securely in her hand. The interrogators shuffled around worriedly, chattering amongst themselves. Only Danzō heard Sakura continue the flurry of questions.
"What colour did your mother have on her hair?" The ANBU asked the hanging man lowly.
"Brown." He answered, a faint smile on his lips.
"What was your mission in Konohagakure village?" Sakura asked the last important question. Danzō's ears perked.
"To-to gather... I-in..." The man stuttered suddenly, then he violently shook. Sakura took a step back as he started swinging his body in pain and then he started screaming again. He had tried to lie. Danzō thought the man was only to blame himself for it. The poisons in the man's brain stirred and created chaos, the man's nerves were probably set on fire and Danzō could see the internal fight of the man. The fight between life and death battling inside him.
The ANBU sighed and then produced a fourth vial. Danzō guessed it was some kind of antidote, and so he flash-stepped to stand beside her. His hand holding her arm down, preventing her form using the antidote. The look in Danzō's eye probably told the girl enough, since she obeyed and put the antidote back inside her bag. The prisoner hanging from metallic chains in the roof screamed one last time.
"Nakara Yukiko. Confirmed dead. Number... one hundred sixty eight." The ANBU kunoichi mumbled as the hanging man collapsed, his head lolling on his chest as it had done when he had been unconscious. The only difference being now, that he was forever asleep. Danzō didn't really understand the number she had announced, but he thought it didn't matter.
The shinobi in the room filtered out, the interrogators to call for clean up and one to run to the archives of received information with what they had gathered from the shinobi of Rain. Tsunade would know about the incident within a few minutes, Danzō presumed. The Haruno looked absentmindedly away into the depths of the corridor, her eyes being distant. Danzō recalled his first torture session in T&I. He hadn't felt bad about the torturing, but he hadn't felt good about it either. He had been quite indifferent.
"Haruno. Come with me." Danzō said sternly and walked to the staircase of the far end of the corridor. The kunoichi let nothing show on her face, yet he could tell she was confused. They walked down it and found themselves in a cellar. It stank of rotting flesh. Danzō continued through the cells of T&I and when they had walked farthest away in the corridors, they went inside an old cell at a corner. It was dirty, and rats scurried past their feet when they moved inside. Danzō performed a seal and a few hand signs, too quick for the girl to see, and then a door appeared in the cell. Danzō tried the handle and walked inside as the door creaked open, followed closely by the kunoichi.
They stood in a windy space. It was old and ancient almost, Danzō knew, and last time he had been here he had tried to summon an old Heavenly Animal King. It hadn't worked and it had left him with large and deep claw marks on his skin, which he covered with bandages to hide the hideous proof of his failure and weakness. Danzō found the old powerful scroll right where he had left it so many years ago. The altar, in the middle of the large space, seemed almost to glow as they neared it. The withered scroll lay elegantly on the marble altar. Sakura looked at it with respect and admiration with wide eyes, and Danzō was pleased at this. She seemed to know about the Heavenly Animal scrolls, of which the majority of the shinobi population did not.
"I attempted to summon this Animal King twelve years ago. I failed. But I believe you might be able to summon it." Danzō cleared his throat and looked at the kunoichi. Her eyes shone in the dim light of the fires at the sides of the room. "However, it is your choice. I barely survived trying to summon it, and I received these in the process."
Danzō slowly removed the bandage on his head. He revealed the large claw marks and Sakura almost gasped he saw, but she bit it down. Danzō knew they were deep and tinted with red blotches, since they had ravaged his head in an almost unrepairable way. The Haruno discerned the claw marks cautiously. The man of shadows sniffed, then wrapped the bandages back into place and looked at the scroll at the marble white altar with a hint of nostalgia in his mind.
"It requires amounts of chakra, control and discipline." He added.
"I will try, Danzō-sama." The kunoichi whispered as she made her way up to the altar, stepping on the staircase of stone lightly, and in an almost ceremonious way. Danzō watched as she carefully lifted the scroll from the white, dusty stone table and held it in front of her as she inspected it. "Thank you, Danzō-sama, for showing me." She said louder this time. The bandaged man nodded.
"Try to summon it on a large field, preferably not in Konohagakure. It might induce damage to the infrastructure. There is always a risk that it will explode or burst into fire."
"Sounds like fun." A gleeful smirk hinted on her pink lips as she carefully put the scroll into her bag. Danzō smirked - he almost always found himself wondering if she was a little bit insane, and then waved his hand towards the door, leading them out from the ancient room of haunted memories and battles forgotten.
"Back to training, Haruno." He said and walked strictly out of the door, hearing her light steps follow him willingly.
"Yes, Danzō-sama."
The Prodigy Hyuuga Neji
He saw her waiting for him outside of the training area. She stood casually at the entrance to the grounds, wearing a loose black top and a beige skirt which showed her slender creamy legs. And as always nowadays, her black katana was strapped on her back. It seemed like she went nowhere without it. Neji had a towel around his shoulders, wiping the sweat off his neck and he sniffed. The white top he wore clung tightly to his chest, the sweat having soaked it.
"Hey there, sweaty." She said and grinned as the Hyuuga muffled a greeting with the towel. "Want to grab a coffee later? I'm free for two hours." She asked when she walked besides him as they went up to the streets of Konoha, away from the training grounds near the Forest of Death.
"Yes, why not. I'll just go and freshen up first. See you in twenty minutes?"
"Sure, meet up at Black Gold?" She said as she started to walk away, heading for the Markets.
"It's a deal." Neji agreed and waved at her disappearing form in the crowds of people on the street. The last he saw of her was a flash of pink, before a family walked in front of her, hiding her from his ever seeing eyes.
When Neji had showered and changed clothes at an inhuman speed - he might have broken several world records in speed-showering, he found himself waiting in line at the coffee shop Hinata had claimed to be the best in Konoha. He had yet to find out if this was true. He ordered his coffee black and saw a bob of pink hair outside the shop, through the large window. He walked out into the late afternoon sunlight and there she was, sitting with a book and a coffee cup in the open-air café. She had her hair pinned in a very messy bun, which made her petal hued hair fall in cascades down on her shoulder. She looked up and smiled when she heard his foot steps.
"Your hair is still wet." She said and smirked. Neji snorted and sat down in front of her, placing his steaming black coffee on the rounded glass table.
"It gets like that when I spray water on it." He said and his eyes found the book she had abandoned at his arrival. 'Chakra Enhanced Protection of Inner Organs - Possible or Not'?
"That book looks interesting." He noted and sipped from his coffee. The black gold was hot and almost burnt his tongue, but he flourished in the bitterness and complex taste of it. It caressed his tongue with jagged hotness and some kind of flavour, likened to dark chocolate, mint and cherries. He understood why Hinata had claimed this coffee shop to be the best in Konoha.
"It is. You can borrow it later if you want. You like the coffee?" Sakura smiled and those apple green eyes searched his face for a hint of pleasure. But his complexion, as always, remained steely and indifferent. It was so practiced he no longer thought about his expression. In a stark contrast to Sakura, she was so full of emotions and always let them show. He sniffed.
"It's plausible."
"Oh, come on Neji! That is the best coffee you ever had, or will have."
"Perhaps. It's got an interesting taste and certain edge, that I will approve of."
"Legend says they mix rainbows, star dust and unicorns into it while brewing." She said dramatically and sipped from her own coffee and almost squealed in delight. Neji smirked, he let himself to do so. Then he was reminded of the latest gossips within the Hyuuga mansion's maid section.
"That's right. Sakura, I've been hearing a lot of rumours lately, about different reasons why Tsunade dismissed you as her apprentice. But I want to hear from you directly. What happened between you two?" Neji asked, eyeing the kunoichi in front of him. Sakura blinked.
"Ah. We had a huge fight. And I figured I didn't want to be a Medic, so she said I could as well learn from someone else. So she dismissed me." The Haruno closed her eyes and sipped some more from her coffee cup she held dearly in her hands. Neji almost snorted.
"Really? I must admit, you have come to be a better liar lately, Sakura." His pearly eyes focused directly on her verdant ones.
"Never works with you, now does it?" She chuckled. "But I'm sorry, Neji. That is the official version and I need to keep it true that way."
"I see... Then, I won't probe any further. You have your own reasons, I presume. I heard you sparred with Hatake Kakashi the other week, by the way. How'd it go?"
"A bit like expected. I didn't manage to take the two bells." She chewed on her lip and stared into the depths of her coffee cup.
"But you succeeded in snatching one, right?" He grinned. He had heard that much at least.
"Yes, I did. And.." She leaned closer to him, her eyes shining with smugness. Neji tilted his head near her. "I got to see his face!" She whispered excitedly in his ear, as if it was a secret miracle. Neji smiled and shrugged his shoulders, leaning back on his stool.
"That has to be the achievement of the decade, Sakura." He quipped.
"It is! And you know what? He doesn't have a disfigured face or a goatee. He's actually really handsome!" She cheered, and was that a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks?, as she sipped from her coffee almost shyly. Neji felt ice settle in his stomach. Was that Kakashi so handsome as to give Sakura a blush?
"Didn't you say he had conditions for you too?" He asked, turning the direction of the conversation to anything that wouldn't make him want to punch something.
"Oh, yeah. I was to apologise to Tsunade-shishou because of my recent 'behaviour'." The Haruno drawled and rolled her eyes.
"That seems like a good idea, actually. Whatever reason you have for arguing with her, it's never especially clever to be so openly hostile towards the village's own Hokage. People will look at you disapprovingly." Neji explained and sipped from his coffee. He began to understand more and more the concept of 'Black Gold' as the amount of his coffee slowly disappeared from his cup.
"I know, I know. I'll do it soon, in a very open and polite fashion." She grumbled, yet agreed.
"Sounds good." Neji smiled and looked up into the sky. It was a clear day, with no clouds in sight. The sun shone starkly through the canopy of the nearby tree, the large tree that covered the display of 'Black Gold' coffee shop. He let the sun caress his skin with closed eyes. He breathed in the fresh air, it smelt like leaves and newly cut grass blended with the soft spicy scents that drifted with the breeze to the coffee shop from the lively Markets. When he opened his opalescent eyes he found Sakura looking at him. When he caught her gaze, she turned her eyes away quickly.
"What is it?" He asked, frowning. Why had she looked at him... like that?
"Nothing. I just thought you looked so peaceful. It's... You have changed since the Chunin exams." Sakura said and smiled, turning her gaze back to his. Apple green eyes took softly in his slightly surprised expression. Neji cleared his throat.
"And so have you. I still remember your fight with the Yamanaka. If it had taken place today, the outcome would have been very different." Neji answered and felt a bit nostalgic. How much everyone had changed. How the circumstances had made them change. How different he was in his approach to the Main House. His hatred for them was still there, for him, it was seething, yet it had been numbed somewhat. It made it easier for him to interact with the Main House, which was necessary if his plan on becoming the Clan Head was to come to fruition. He had planned it for years. To change the standards and traditional and conservative way of thinking within the Clan if he became the Head. The question was if Hinata would prove to be sufficient enough to mantle the position, or if the Elders saw him as the prodigy he was and decided to give it to him instead.
"Maybe." Sakura smiled and drank the last of her coffee. "I need to go. I have a mission tonight in a village bordering to Fire, so I need to get going. Haven't packed yet."
"I see. Which rank?" The Hyuuga asked and flipped a few hair strands away from his face.
"It's classified." She smirked and swiftly stood up, and she stretched her back like a feline. Neji sighed, yet didn't move. He wanted another cup of coffee and he had still a few hours before he was to meet with Hiashi about the annual meetings with the Hyuuga Elders.
"You and your secrets. Be safe." He muttered into his coffee cup. Sakura waved at him with a last faint smile, left the book she had read before in front of him and hopped up on the building of the coffee shop, fast disappearing from view. Neji rose and ordered another cup of rainbows and star dust, then delved into the depths of theories regarding chakra enhanced organs.
The Cloud Watching Boy Nara Shikamaru
When he went inside Ichiraku's, bowing his head under the fabric sheet at the entrance, he heard a familiar tingling laughter. His eyes searched for the source and found it at the bar, where an outrageous hair colour stood out in stark contrast from the rest of the dull crowd. He muttered 'troublesome' under his breath but all the same, he found himself walking up to her. As usual, the cursed katana was blatantly strapped on her back. The Haruno sat with a man Shikamaru recalled as Shiranui Genma, he recognised him because of the famed senbon which was at the corner of his mouth. Sakura turned around, as if she had felt him in the cacophony of chakras, and grinned widely.
"Shika!" She squealed and hugged him. He hesitantly returned the hug with a pat on her back, a questioning look at Genma who only returned his gaze with a shrug and a smile. Sakura was never prone to intimate displays of affection. Shikamaru concluded she had had a little too much beer.
"Sakura, hello." He muffled from her pink hair. She let go and ordered him to sit beside her on the bar stool. He obeyed and sat at the wooden stool which creaked slightly.
"What are you doing here? I thought tea, shogi and cloud watching was your only hobbies." She asked and her eyes glittered. The Haruno then sniffed and ordered a beer for him, putting it on her own tab. Shikamaru let her and sighed.
"I have come to enjoy grabbing a beer after missions. Since I became Jounin, the Strategist & Intelligence department and those T&I bastards has been on my tail ever since. So I spend my days trying to avoid them from recruiting me openly, in which case I have an obligation to say yes, and, well, I go on missions almost all the time as well. A beer is calming for my nerves. I usually meet up with Asuma but this day he had some kind of date with Kurenai. Such a drag." Shikamaru explained as the bartender gave him a pint. Sakura nodded and smiled.
"I see. Oh, how rude of me! This is Genma, say hi Genma," she prodded and patted Genma on the head, who grinned amusedly, "and this is Shika! Or, uh, Shikamaru."
"Good to meet you, Genma." Shikamaru greeted and nodded with his head.
"You as well, 'Shika'." The man with a senbon in his mouth waved with his hand. "I better get going, I have an early A-rank mission tomorrow. See you, Sakura. Shika." Genma said and hopped off the bar stool. The Nara wrinkled his nose. If Sakura's nickname for him spread like a wild fire after this he would jump off the Hokage mountain.
"Catch you later, Genma! Have fun at the mission." Sakura cheered and turned to Shikamaru as she drank from her beer and Genma disappeared in the crowds. The Nara noted how Sakura had said 'have fun' rather than 'stay safe'.
When the girl turned towards him, he noticed the bandages covering her body. She wore a too large beige sweater and loose black hakamas, yet when she moved her arms and legs hints of bandages underneath the fabric was seen on her skin. Her skin was flushed and raw.
"Another Tsunade explosion?" He smirked and pointed at her bandages.
"One could say." She laughed. "No, I have been training. It's been quite excessive."
"Having yourself that injured during training might not be too good an idea. What if you were requested on a mission tomorrow? You wouldn't stand a chance at a Genin, Sakura."
"Nah, won't happen. I have a few privileges." She chirped and twirled a pink lock around her finger. Shikamaru only watched her.
"Really?" He chuckled. "Who have you been training with?"
"Uh. It's kind of classified. But I call him Mr. Shady." Sakura said with flushed cheeks. Now Shikamaru was certain the girl had consumed one too many beers.
"Classified? Oh, why am I not surprised anymore." Shikamaru commented and sighed deeply. As he leaned back into the bar stool, he saw something scribbled on Sakura's shoulder when her too large sweater slipped down her right arm. In a flash, she had the sweater up over her shoulder, looking away into the crowds, covering her arm. Avoiding his gaze, Shikamaru presumed.
"Hey, is that a tattoo?" Shikamaru asked and he saw how she bit her lip hard. Probably cursing her recklessness. The Nara was definitely not a non-perceptive man. He had known all along that there was something going on with the girl, except for the Izanami part which he knew about obviously. Heck, all things were going on with that troublesome girl. And now he guessed and concluded she had been appointed ANBU, which all made sense. The tattoo on her arm, which he swore looked like the same the ANBU donned on their skins, and her harsh training, her secrecy and her constant disappearances on unrequested missions. It made sense and it was somewhat logical.
"Oi, don't be offended. I guess it was just a wound. You'd never get a tattoo, I know." He declared, sniffed and then Sakura looked at him finally, clenching her sweater hard. Her apple green eyes pierced him and she knew he knew, and he let the subject drop. He was not surprised she was ANBU, however strange that might sound. He knew she had the intelligence, the strategic part down, she had the strength and the medical knowledge necessary. One would be dumb not to appoint her ANBU. He guessed the open argument with Tsunade was just for show, an act of defiance, though for what purpose he didn't know.
"What's up lately? Do you still have those dream sequences with the demon?" Shikamaru steered the conversation elsewhere, though he didn't know if the subject was just as difficult. Yet she had told him about her dreams before, so he figured it was fine to ask. He sipped his beer.
"Oh, yeah. I do. Izanami's still pissed at you and Neji though. You know, about that thing when you tried to burn her up." The Haruno smirked and Shikamaru scoffed. There was a slight hum from the katana on her back, but he decided to ignore it.
"Well, she should have expected something like that."
"She didn't. What's done is done." Sakura said dramatically and waved her hands.
"So, what happens nowadays? You said you won the dream-war before and then you woke up from the coma." He asked, his black eyes squinting at her.
"She decided to train me herself after that. She deemed me 'hard' enough for it. We're no longer in the battlefield, we're in some kind of clearing each night. There are no people in sight. She has an extensive arsenal of weapons stashed in a bush. We go through each weapon and train with them until she deems me sufficient with them. Last night we did the guandao, which was actually quite fun."
"So the training is easier, I presume? Since you seem to enjoy it."
"Not really. She kills me each night, still. It's just that... I have gotten so used to it by now. It's painful and it sucks, but I've gotten numb to the feeling."
"Oh. That sounds troublesome. The killing part, I mean." Shikamaru said, looking down on his hands.
"Yeah. It's a pain in the ass." Sakura hiccuped and then they left the subject. The rest of the night they talked about the current political climate in Tea, where there were many interesting conspiracies taking place as well as the development of a new system of rule. Shikamaru enjoyed the conversations he had with the girl and when he went to sleep hours later at home with a flush apparent on his ears, he closed his eyes with a smile.
The Flourishing Merchant Ukeno Tajima
A knock was heard on his front door and he just knew, it was just that gut feeling, that he would see petal hued hair today. He opened the door tiredly and just as he had suspected, there she was. Her grin almost knocked him over. Had she gotten even more beautiful and scary since last time?
"Hello, Tajima-san. I have a favour to ask of you." She said and tilted her head innocently.
"What is it, Cherry?" He sighed and invited her inside his office. She strutted after him, all flowing hair and glittering verdant eyes.
"That reminds me. Did you ever mention your nickname for me to the Bingo Book researchers?" She asked and creased her eye brows. Tajima flinched.
"It... might have slipped my mouth. But Cherry is rather fitting, don't you think?" He tried.
"It's better than 'Pink Haired Banshee'." She agreed and nodded to herself. Tajima sighed in relief.
"True. Now, what do you want?"
"I know you own large parts of the field outside of this village. Would you mind if I borrowed it for a while?" She chirped and smiled innocently.
"I hope I won't mind. Just don't blow it up or whatever." The merchant absentmindedly pinched the bridge of his nose. This girl.
"That is wonderful! Thank you, Tajima-san!"
"But I will need to be there. I have some time off and to make sure you don't do anything foolish, I want to be there." He said, stating it as harshly he could.
"I get your point. I am borrowing it, after all. But I'll need to have you promise me on your life that you won't talk about what will happen today." Her eyes flashed emerald and he gulped.
"Of course, Cherry."
They walked slowly to the fields and Tajima noticed four scrolls strapped on the kunoichi's thighs, two for each leg. They looked really old and then he recognised the scroll he had given her some month ago. The Vermillion Bird. He shivered. So she was planning on summoning the fire animal, as well as three others he didn't know of. But if he knew the pink haired banshee, they were most probably just as dangerous. He didn't know if he regretted following after her.
They reached the fields and the pink haired kunoichi laid the four summoning scrolls on the ground. She looked over her shoulder at Tajima and he felt a sliver of sweat run down his back.
"For your own safety, Tajima-san, I suggest you step back." Her voice cut through the air to his ears and he only nodded, as he jogged to a tree pretty far away. He could still see her clearly from where he stood underneath the tree and he could still hear her mumbling different seal combinations. She saw he was far away when she looked around, and then she started making different seals with her hands, too fast for the merchant to follow with civilian eyes. There was a blur and then she bowed down to the first scroll. When she bowed down, Tajima saw her pink hair fall gently away from her shoulders down on her chest, and then the nape of her neck was clear of hair.
He was quite surprised, as he saw four rhombus formed tattoos in the nape of her neck. Horizontally, they adorned her spine with different colours. He saw the one closest to her neck was an azure like colour and the largest one, the second was crimson, the third was white and the last he made out to be black. As she touched the first scroll on the ground, she bit her thumb and streaked her blood on it at the scribbled seals, the black rhombus on her neck started to glow. It glowed, like smouldering charcoal. With a small screech, the pink haired banshee fell to the ground. The black rhombus flashed, grew in size and the Tajima saw actual chakra flood from the rhombus to the scroll. A deafening boom was made and a geyser of dust flew up into the air. Tajima coughed. When the dust cleared slowly, he saw a large dark figure stand in front of the fallen kunoichi.
"Hello, girlie. What is going on? There are no fun enemies near, except for a rat perching at the tree over there."
"Oh, that's just Tajima. Don't care about him. I have a surprise for you. Or rather, three surprises."
"Hm?" The largest tortoise Tajima had ever seen chuckled and the ground almost shook. Genbu. The Dark Warrior, one of the Celestial Beasts.
"Let's get this over with." The kunoichi clenched her teeth and bit both of her thumbs this time and she performed another flurry of seals which Tajima didn't catch. Then, she pressed both her thumbs on the two other ancient scrolls. A crackling noise was heard, as if lightning had stricken, and then the merchant saw the white and the red rhombus in her neck glow. The same thing happened again. Two geysers shot up into the sky and Tajima coughed twice. The dust didn't settle, and animalistic sounds was heard. He saw the Haruno bite her thumb hard, one last time, and a lot of blood flowed and dripped down on her arm. The largest rhombus at the nape of her neck, the azure one, glowed starkly and shone almost. She streaked her blood on the last scroll and a lightning cracked the sky into two.
The kunoichi screamed in pain but she continued with her seals. When she was finished, she slumped heavily on the ground, not moving. The dust in the air was suddenly flapped away by two large, beautiful vermillion wings. What stood in front of Tajima at that moment was almost too hard for him to comprehend. Genbu, the Dark Warrior, the large black tortoise. Suzaku, the Vermillion Bird. Byakko, the White Tiger. And then lastly, what appeared from the dust and revealed scales and horns and glittering colours of an azure ocean, was Seiryu - the Azure Dragon. Tajima whimpered and fell speechless to his knees.
The Heavenly Animals took in each other's appearances.
"Oh." The white tiger said in surprise, his white fur rippling with muscles underneath.
"Fancy meeting you here, my brethren." The black tortoise grumbled with an amused tone.
"I never would have imagined that we would be gathered again like this." The tiger, Byakko, grinned. Sharp white teeth glistened in the sun light.
"It has been around a thousand years since we last met." Genbu stated and looked at his heavenly brothers. The dragon, who stood in the middle on his four muscled legs, was silent. He observed with clear blue predatory eyes.
"Gracious me. I would not have minded another thousand years until our reunion." The vermillion bird declared and looked around at the field.
"That was not very nice, Suzaku." The black turtle snarled, yet he seemed to find it amusing as he moved his wide head to tilt to one side.
"I believe it is quite good to see you all alive again, no matter what Suzaku might say. And you're as hideous as ever, Genbu." The enormous white tiger roared and the black tortoise gave a snort, yet didn't respond. The gigantic vermillion bird nodded with his beak.
"Yes, it was a most uncertain situation last time." Suzaku, the vermillion bird, slowly turned his head. Tajima felt his breath hitch. The largest bird he had ever seen looked at the pink haired kunoichi slumped on the ground. She groaned a bit and Tajima saw blood seep from her eyes, ears, nose and mouth. She looked like she was on the verge of dying, and the seals in her neck were gone, and even Tajima knew she had exhausted her chakra sources even though he couldn't feel it. The pink haired girl rose shakily and looked up at the Four Celestial Beasts. Her eyes widened slightly, then she grinned with blood smeared on her face. As if she was reminded of something, she hastily bowed deeply to each and every King, almost falling when she bowed to Seiryu. None of the animals said anything.
"My name is Haruno Sakura. I have summoned you to ask if you would like to accompany me for some time as summons." She said, and her voice didn't waver, yet her body seemed to almost fall apart. Tajima couldn't understand how she could still stand on her own two feet.
"Do you intend to hold four contracts of the Heavenly Kings, you puny human?" The vermillion bird snorted and scoffed, irritably flapping his wing to further state his disapproval.
"That is one flamboyant hair colour." The tiger noted and grinned, the sharp teeth sending shivers down Tajima's spine.
"I like her. She is feisty. Just look at that little bloody mess." Genbu rumbled and chuckled.
"She's too similar to you, Genbu. All bloodthirst and no grace, I can smell it." The vermillion bird sneered and elegantly flapped with his large wing. "You are one greedy human. Is not even one contract of the Heavenly Kings enough for you?"
Tajima saw how the Haruno was about to answer, when an azure tail snaked through the clearing and the large, beautiful dragon stood in front of the little girl, towering over her petite form. The merchant knew if he had been her, he would have fallen. Yet she didn't. She stood and faced a dragon, for god's sake, straight on. Where was her fear?
"I see your Will of Fire imprinted into the depths of your heart. I agree to being in a contract with you, Haruno Sakura." The azure dragon Seiryu said lowly and it was as if diamonds clinked together in Tajima's ears, creating clear musical pieces that could never be described with plain words. The azure dragon pecked at his tail with one of his large claws, drew blood, and let drops of it fall on his own summoning contract.
"Well, if Seiryu is going to sign it, so will I. I trust his judgement of humans with the pride of my black patterns on my white fur." Byakko roared lowly, bit his paw with his sharp teeth and blood flowed and then he put his it on his own summoning scroll, smearing his blood together with the kunoichi's.
"I am already in a contract with her. She is amusing." Genbu chuckled.
"Are you all insane? What is so special about this female human? I should just kill her for even trying to summon us!" Suzaku disagreed and looked around at his royal brothers. Tajima whimpered again, feeling his knees scrape against the ground.
"Have you not even bothered to look into the vivacity of her heart, Suzaku?" Byakko grumbled, changing his stance so his muscles strained underneath the fur.
"Pft. Is that even necessary? I don't perch just anywhere." The bird chirped.
"Look at her, Suzaku." Seiryu's dark voice was cold like ice and sliced the atmosphere, diamond clinging against ruby. The vermillion bird blinked at the azure dragon, then turned his deep yellow slits of eyes onto Sakura. His burning amber eyes seemed to pierce into her soul, as she stood shakily in front of the Four Beasts, with blood covering almost every inch of her skin.
"Interesting. It seems she is pure in her heart, yet her mind is filled with determination. Her soul is... luminescent. Interesting indeed." Suzaku muttered, slightly flapping his wings in a crimson flurry of feathers.
"I will agree to the binding of the summoning contract with you, Haruno Sakura. However, you should know, little human, that us Celestial Beasts will never be summoned just like the other dog summoning. We decide for ourselves when to come to your aid. You will never have the power to summon us, only call for us." He told the girl.
"I humbly accept the terms of our contract, revered Suzaku." She said and bowed deeply to the ground, shaking. The vermillion bird snorted, an animal like sound which came from the depths of this throat.
"A contractor of mine never bows down. It is not very graceful. Even though you are polite, little human, never bow down to anyone."
"Yes, Suzaku-sama. I will not."
Author's Note
Hi peeps!
One issue coming up. And a long rant of thank you's and questions. And a poll.
YOUR TIME TO SHINE PEEPS, MAKE A STATEMENT & INFLUENCE TRANSITION!
(sorry for eye-hurting caps)
Okay, I don't know if I should let Sakura fall in love or not. Should I? Or are you all like NO SHE DOESN'T NEED ANYONE, ALONE IS STRONG ETC..? God, caps hurts my own eyes, don't even know why I use it. Anyway, answer in the reviews and I'll make a poll! Please answer realistically, according to my story. Like, if she should fall in love and with whom - Kiba hasn't had that much lime light, so he's out. Like that.
1. Should Sakura fall in love?
2. If yes, with whom? (both male and female works for me)
3. Why should she fall in love with this person?
Also, I would like to give my greatest and humblest of sincere thank you's to my reviewers and readers. I love you with all of my heart for your kind words. And as you might know, I write this story majorly for myself and for you guys. You're the ones that makes me want to continue with this haphazard fanfic.
If you would please, I would like to hear a lot more constructive criticism. I want to improve this story so much, and in order to do that, I need people telling me what I do wrong. Like Danilorraine commented on the timeline, which I haven't answered yet because I'm not too sure myself lol. I think I tried to do it a bit like Canon, so Sakura's sixteen now and there's half a year left before Naruto returns. UchihaJennifer commented on Danzou actually being Danzō, so I changed that. So if you think that I just read your reviews and then leave them, no. I listen. I take your compliments and gentle reprimands to heart.
Okay, there are OC's in this fic. I'm sorry. I kind of like them. To be clear, my OC's are:
- Fuyu, the Root-devoted ANBU captain (He had a short appearance in chapter 5, Inferno, where he was all handsome and rude when Sakura swallowed the two pills during the ceremony to get into Root. He's got silver hair and violet eyes and is quite strong, yet very deceptive. He might make another appearance in the future.)
- Senju Kitsune (The librarian in the secret Library at the Hokage Tower, she enjoys Sakura's company dearly because she's lonely.)
- Ukeno Tajima (The merchant who had Izanami first in chapter one, then meets Sakura
when she buys weapons from his shop. They have some kind of strained friendship going on.)
- Seiryu (The Azure Dragon, leader of the Celestial Beasts - Powerful and silent)
- Suzaku (The Vermillion Bird, one of the Celestial Beasts - Elegant yet arrogant)
- Genbu (The Black Tortoise, one of the Celestial Beasts - Scarred fighter and humorous)
- Byakko (The White Tiger, one of the Celestial Beasts - Aggressive yet cool)
Side note:
(Yes, sasusaku3623649 and silverwolfighter00, Kakashi is an ass in last chapter 8, Insignificant Third. I always thought he was an idiot, just leaving Sakura to cheer on the sidelines for Naruto and Sasuke. He had just no interest in her at all, and I got so, so mad when I used to read the manga - so I made him a bit of a jerk. But still, there's so many lovely KakaSaku fanfics out there that made me change my opinion slightly. So that's why he's actually a handsome bastard, a bit like Sasuke. Meaning: that's why Sakura blushed when she saw his face. Goddamnit Kakashi)
Thank you.
Still want a Beta though.
xx fascalia