Monster
Summary: My name is Haruno Sakura and there's a monster inside me...
Basically a 'what if' story if Sakura was the Kyuubi vessel.
Chapter 2
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter
Doesn't mean I'm over 'cause you're gone
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stronger
Just me, myself, and I
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
"Report your positions" I hear Kakashi-sensei's voice from the walkie-talkie thingy
"Uchiha Sasuke. Point A."
"Uzumaki Naruto. Point B. Believe it!"
"Uzumaki Sakura. Point C. I'm going for the catch! CHA!" I yell as I lunge for the target.
At the moment it sees me, the lost cat, Tora, steps back in fear.
Sasuke comes from behind and takes her in his arms. The cat purrs in delight.
As I make a step towards them, Tora meows in horror.
I pout.
I'm not that scary!
Of course you're not! agrees Inner The stupid cat probably feels the freaking fox.
Soon Naruto and Kakashi join us too. We go to the Hokage Tower and bring the cat back to its owner.
As we sit in front of Hokage-ojiisan, waiting for our mission, I can't help but think that we need at least C rank mission.
"Your next mission... hm, let's see..." mutters the old man "You can baby-sit, buy groceries or-"
"NO!" exclaims Naruto "I'm sick of those stupid missions! Give us a real one!"
I hit him and after I hear him moan in pain, I turn to the Hokage "Hokage-ojiisan, I'm sorry for my idiotic brother's behavior, but can you please give us at least a C raked mission?"
"I'm sorry but-"
This time I interrupt him, yelling "What's wrong with ya, old man?! I even said 'please'! SHANNARO!"
The old man sighs and rubs his temples "Very well then. I'll give you an escorting mission."
I smile cheerfully "Thank you, Hokage-ojiisan!"
I can bet I heard Kakashi-sensei saying something about mood swings and red hot-blooded habanero, but it doesn't really make sense so I let it go.
"Your mission is to escort-" starts Hokage-ojiisan but Naru Naru interrupts him once again
"Who, who, who? A princess, some important lord, a-"
"Are those the ones who are supposed to protect me?" we hear a voice behind us "They all look idiotic. Especially the shortest one..."
I look at my teammates and I realize that he's talking about Naruto.
Few minutes and many angry comments from my brother, we start making our way to the village gates.
As we step out of Konoha Naruto exclaims,
"OUR FIRST MISSION! DATTEBAYO!"
"Um, it's not our first mission" I remark
He looks at me with a weird glint in his eyes,
"But it's our first real mission."
He got me there.
When we near a puddle, Inner muses, Hmm, it hasn't rained for weeks, has it?...
As soon as I realize that the puddle disappears and on its place appear two men. Needless to say they don't look friendly.
"We are the Demon Brothers!" one of them announces
Demons, really? I've had enough for life, thank you very much.
However, before I can react they lunge their chains at Kakashi-sensei.
And...
They kill him!
I let out a high-pitched scream.
OhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGod!
T-they killed our sensei! Just like that!
Ohh, what are we gonna do?
We're gonna die! The client's gonna die! Everyone's gonna die!
Should we run? Should we fight? Should we give up right away? Should we-
"Sakura!" I hear someone hiss
I slowly turn my head towards the person. Sasuke.
"Snap out of it!"
I blink once. Then twice.
What was I thinking?! No way I'm giving up without a fight!
With that thought in mind I jump in front of our client.
"Don't worry, Tazuna-san. We'll make sure nothing happens to you!"
My voice sounds a lot more calm and confident than I'm feeling at the moment and that's a good thing I guess.
The men lunge at Naruto, but he keeps still. Is he experiencing what I did few seconds ago?
Just as I'm about to abandon the client and go help my brother, I see Sasuke running towards him.
He handles the ninja by immobilizing them with their chains. However, they quickly free themselves and charge at Tazuna-san.
And who's standing in front of him?
Me.
I take a deep breath.
That's it.
That's the moment I've been training for.
The ninjas keeps coming closer and closer...
... and Sasuke jumps in front of me.
Anyway, before he and the other males engage in combat, there's a 'poof' and Kakashi-sensei appears.
He catches the rogues-
Hold on a second...
What?!
He's alive?!
B-But how-
As I look at the place where his body supposedly was, I see logs.
The replacement jutsu!
After taking care of the Demon Brothers, sensei turns to us.
"Good job, Sasuke." he congratulates
Hey! I want a 'good job' too!
"You too, Sakura." he adds
My joy is smothered by Naru Naru's sad look.
"It's ok." I try to cheer him up "I'm sure you'll do better next time."
"Sakura, let me see your wound."
I look at Kakashi-sensei confusedly,
"What wound?"
Sasuke snorts quietly,
"Look at your hand."
I comply and as I see the blood I gasp.
When did this happen?!
I suddenly remember the slight graze of the chains on my hand. It happened before I froze up, after they 'killed' our sensei.
"Their weapons are poisoned. The more you move, the faster the poison spreads."
I pale. What?! Does this mean I'm going to die?
"Hn. We have to go back to treat the wound."
Abandoning our first (real) mission because of me?!
Yeah right!
Without much thinking I reach for my kunai and slash it trough my wound.
Few gasps are heard, but I pay them no attention.
"There! Now we don't have to go back!"
Out of the corner of my eye I see Sasuke smirking and Naruto grinning.
Kakashi-sensei smiles and says,
"Impressive, but if I don't bandage it soon, you may bleed to the death."
I widen my eyes and quickly give him my hand.
Just as he's about to tie it up, he pauses.
I look at my hand only to see that my wound is already healing.
W-What?
Must be the Kyuubi... concludes Inner
I just smile uneasily at Kakashi-sensei. By the way he looks at me, I think he knows about the fox.
"Alright, let's get going!" shouts Naruto in excitement
Just as I thought the possibility of a new fight cheers him up.
"Not so fast." stops him our sensei and turns to Tazuna-san "Those were chunins from Kirigakure. You said you wanted protection from common bandits and robbers. You didn't mention there are ninjas after you."
The client sighs sadly,
"A super dangerous man is after my life. You probably know him. His name... is Gatou."
"Huh? From Gatou Company?" asks Kakashi-sensei "He's said to be of world's few extremely wealthy people."
I honestly have no idea who are they talking about, but I understand that this is very important so I pay close attention to the conversation.
"Hai." confirms Tazuna-san "Officially he runs a large shipping company... but secretly he sells drugs and other illegal items using ninjas and gang members to take over business and countries. He's a super nasty man."
Seriously, who is this guy?!
"It was about a year ago when he sets his eyes on the Wave Country. Through money and violence he quickly took control of the country's shipping industry. Gatou now has a monopoly on all business traffic in the country. The only thing he has to fear now is the completion of the bridge."
I finally get it,
"And since you're building the bridge he wants to kill you."
I receive a nod.
"Those ninja... he was the one who hired them." states Sasuke
Another nod.
"This is at least a B-ranked mission. Why did you hide that when you hired us?" asks Kakashi-sensei
"... The Land of Waves is a poor country. We don't have much money... and I certainly don't have enough to pay for a super expensive B-ranked mission."
I notice Kakashi-sensei is about to cancel the mission and it seems like Tazuna-san notices it too as he quickly adds,
"But no pressure! You're free to walk away and let me die. My cute grandson is going to cry for weeks; 'Where is grandpa?' he's going to ask my daughter, who will forever hate Leaf ninjas, but it won't be your fault."
Is this guy serious?!
Trying to guilt trip us... How stupid!
But it's working, isn't it?
I hate it when she's right...
"Well, I guess we don't have much choice..." says Kakashi-sensei awkwardly
"Yeah!" exclaimed Naruto "Let's go!"
I can't help but share his enthusiasm. I have a feeling this mission is going to be a memorable one.
...
We're nearing the village when Naruto starts claiming there's someone following us. I am about to say that if there really was someone trailing us, Kakashi-sensei would have noticed already, but my brother prevents that by throwing a shuriken towards one of the bushes.
He almost kills a rabbit.
I let out a sigh of relief and Naru Naru quickly rushes to the rabbit and... starts apologizing to it.
I resist the urge to sweatdrop.
"GET DOWN!" yells Kakashi-sensei
Wait, what?!
I throw myself on the ground, still not fully comprehending what is happening.
Less than a second later a sword flies above us.
We all get on our feet, watching the man who was now standing on the sword's handle.
Something between grin and determination appears on my brother's face.
Please don't tell he intends to-
"Momochi Zabuza. One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."
Naruto prepares to dash forward, but Kakashi-sensei's hand stops him.
"Everyone, stay back! This guy is on a whole other level!"
Our sensei then pulls his haitai-ate up, revealing his other eye.
Is that... is that the Sharingan?!
"Kakashi of the Sharingan. The great Copy Cat Ninja, the one who copied more than 1000 jutsus. I'm honored you deem me worthy enough to use your Sharingan."
Yup, that's definitely the Sharingan.
"B-But... I thought only Uchihas have the Sharingan..." stuttered Naru Naru, distinctly reminding me of that Hyuuga girl in our class
Hira-
Hina-
Hinata! That's her name!
They'd be cute together, comments Inner offhandedly
Seriously? Now is not the time!
Naruto's question (or statement perhaps) is ignored and though I am pretty curious myself, I don't say anything. As I said to Inner, we have more important matters at hand.
"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, surround Tazuna-san. Do not enter the fight!"
So much about teamwork.
"Hidden Mist no Jutsu!"
Zabuza disappears and I suddenly notice the fog.
"The silent killing..." I hear sensei murmur "Be careful, guys!"
"Eight choices."
I suppress my scream and try to calm down. Where did that voice come from? It's hard to tell.
"Liver. Lungs. Spine. Clavicle vein. Neck vein. Brain. Kidneys."
I gulp. I think I know what's coming after 'kidneys'.
"Heart... So which one will it be?"
The atmosphere is more than tense and I force myself to take deep calming breaths.
Inhale
Exhale
Inhale
Exhale
I look at Sasuke and Naruto.
Naru Naru seems fine, but Sasuke...
I think he's trembling, but because of that mist I can't be sure. However I know he's scared, terrified even.
Kakashi-sensei tries to reassure him,
"Sasuke. Don't worry. I'll protect all of you with my life."
He seems to relax a bit.
I don't know what happens next; one second everything is fine, the next I'm lying on the ground.
I'm not the only one, I notice.
Tazuna-san, Sasuke and Naruto are in the same predicament as me.
Kakashi-sensei, on the other hand, is in the middle of our little circle, facing Zabuza.
"Sensei, behind you!" yells Naruto and I see what he sees; another Zabuza is standing behind Kakashi-sensei
Our instructor stabs the one in front of him and he turns into water. A clone.
However, he doesn't have a chance to turn around as the real Zabuza stabs him in return.
I suppress another scream.
Fortunately, Kakashi-sensei turns into water as well.
Those were water-clones, I muse. A justu from the Land Hidden in Mist, if I'm not mistaken. There's a little chance Kakashi-sensei knew the jutsu from before-
"...The great Copy Cat Ninja, the one who copied more than 1000 jutsus..."
Incredible! He copied Zabuza's jutsu even trough the mist?!
"Don't move." says the real Kakashi-sensei, holding a kunai to Zabuza's neck "It's over."
Naru Naru cheers and Tazuna-san smiles a bit, but I can't shake off that feeling something's wrong.
This whole thing seemed a little too... I don't know... easy?
"Heh... you think it'll be that easy?" laughs Zabuza
I really want to say 'I told you so', but 1) I didn't say it out loud anyway, and 2) now's really not the time for that!
Zabuza then... turns into water (again) and the real one (I'm not even sure if he's real) swings his sword at Kakashi-sensei, who narrowly misses the blade.
Anyway, Zabuza spins around and delivers a kick at Kakashi-sensei's stomach, sending him flying backwards into the lake*.
Kakashi-sensei attempts to get up, but his movements are much slower than expected.
"Fool!" exclaimed Zabuza "Water Prison no Jutsu!"
A sphere of water appears around Kakashi-sensei.
"Now I have you trapped in an inescapable prison! But I'll finish things with you later." Zabuza pauses "First I'll deal with them. Water Clone no Jutsu."
It takes me a second to realize that Naruto, Sasuke, Tazuna-san and I are 'them'.
By that time Zabuza's clone is already close to us.
"And you call yourselves ninjas. When you have numerous battles behind you, when you have escaped death multiple time, when you are listed in the bingo books... just then you have the right to call yourselves ninja."
He disappears again and kicks Naruto, sending him flying, much like he did with Kakashi-sensei.
"For now you're just brats."
"Take Tazuna-san and run!" yells Kakashi-sensei from his water prison "You can't win this battle! As long as he's keeping me in here, he can't move! GO!"
So the water clone can't move very far from his real body, huh?
Naruto starts running back to us, but he trips and stops.
He stares at Zabuza, who is standing on my brother's headband.
Suddenly he dashes towards him. Unsurprisingly, he gets sent flying back to us.
"Just what do you think you're doing?!" I exclaim "You could've been killed!"
Then I notice the headband in his hand.
Of course, I think, The headband.
There have been a few complication with Naruto's graduating, due to his lack of control.
I even stole a scroll for him to learn how to do clones, but in the end he learnt in by himself. However, that's a whole story, one we don't have time for.
All you have to know is that the headband means a lot to Naruto.
"Hey!" he exclaims, pointing at Zabuza "Hey, you eyebrowless freak! Add this in your little book; Uzumaki Naruto never gives up!"
His words affect everyone.
Uzumaki Naruto never gives up.
Uzumaki never give up.
Neither one of them!
"Naruto," I start and see him tense, expecting a scolding probably "we need a plan!"
He stares at me wide eyed,
"Wha- Really, Sakura-chan?!"
I nod and we turn to Sasuke.
"You in?" I ask
He smirks,
"As if you two can handle him on your own."
I smile and say,
"Good, because I have a plan. And I need both of you for it to work."
I quickly tell them my idea and they nod in agreement.
"What are you doing?!" yells Kakashi-sensei "Run! Our duty is to protect the client! Or did you forget that?!"
The three of us turn to Tazuna-san.
"I don't want to live that much." he grinned "Go kick his ass."
For a second I consider giving him a lecture about cursing in front of twelve-year-olds, but I settle for giving him a look instead.
"Fools." laughs Zabuza "You know, when I was your age, my hands were already covered in blood."
"Devil Zabuza." mutters Kakashi-sensei
"Ah, so you've heard about it!" Zabuza says, looking pleased
"Sensei, what is he talking about?" I ask
Kakashi-sensei sighs and tells us,
"Ten years ago in the Village Hidden in Mist, there was a graduation exam."
"Exam? What exam?" Naruto voices what we're all thinking
Zabuza starts laughing again.
"Geez, for a bad guy he sure laughs a lot." comments Inner
I choose to ignore her, because Zabuza starts talking again,
"Fights to the death between students."
I gasp horrified.
That's terrible!
"Ten years ago they were forced to change that exam... because a devil appeared."
"A-A devil?" questions Naru Naru "What did he do?"
"He killed over a hundred of the students with no hesitation." Zabuza grinned "It sure was fun."
Zabuza took advantage of our shocked states and attacked Sasuke. He kicked him in the air and then slammed him in the ground.
Sasuke coughs blood, but other than that he seems relatively unharmed.
"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" yells Naruto
"Clones." states Zabuza "And a large amount too."
They all jump on Zabuza, while Naruto and I pull Sasuke towards us.
I ask him if he's okay and he nods in response.
I realize that's out best bet for my plan to work.
"Naruto, now!"
My brother quickly takes out the Fūma Shuriken from the backpack and throws it at Sasuke.
He catches it in the air and says,
"Evil Wind Shuriken; Shadow Windmill!"
"That won't work with me!" yells Zabuza, but Sasuke ignores him and throws... at the real Zabuza
"Still won't work!"
He catches the shuriken and looks surprised to see there's another, hidden in the shadow of the first.
"That's right, baka! Shadow Shuriken no Jutsu!"
Even though he's surprised, Zabuza manages to jump just in time,
"Good, but not good enough."
I hide a smirk.
The second shuriken turns into Naruto, holding a kunai.
Now, Naruto!
He throws and Zabuza has no choice but to pull his hand out of Kakashi-sensei's water prison.
Success!
"Did you doubt it? Our plans are flawless!"
And again, I ignore Inner.
Zabuza, however, seems angry and prepares to throw the Fūma Shuriken at Naruto, who won't be able to dodge it while in the air.
"Oh, no, you won't." I mutter and run at him, preparing to kick him
He spins around to face me and hurls the shuriken towards me. I expect that so, really, it's not hard to jump over it.
On the other hand I totally forgot about his sword.
Uh-oh!
Just before I'm sliced to pieces, Kakashi-sensei interfaces, blocking his sword with a kunai.
"Great plan, Sakura." he praised and, I'm not gonna lie, I'm really proud "Good work, Sasuke, Naruto."
"So I got distracted and released the jutsu, huh?" muses Zabuza
"No, you were forced to." I remind him, which earns me a glare
Zabuza jumps few meters away and Kakashi-sensei does the same.
I take Naruto and we get back to Sasuke and Tazuna-san.
Meanwhile, Kakashi-sensei copies Zabuza's technique and they yell at the same,
"Water Dragon no Jutsu!"
The water around them forms a dragon and the dragons clash in the middle.
Our sensei and the swordsman move in sync.
"Reading them." says Kakashi-sensei randomly
The look on Zabuza's face, however, makes me reconsider that.
"Freaky eye is pissing me off. Right?" continues sensei
Is he reading Zabuza's mind or something?
They keep talking for a while until Zabuza has enough.
He starts making handsigns in a rapid speed-
-but Kakashi-sensei somehow finishes it first,
"Water Explosion no Jutsu!"
Zabuza gets thrown into a tree by the mass of water. When it subdues, Kakashi-sensei starts walking towards him with a kunai.
"How... can you see the future?"
The future? I'm pretty sure that's not one of the Sharingan's abilities.
"Yes." sensei says "And you are going to die."
Anyway, before he can kill the swordsman, two needles appear out of nowhere and stick into Zabuza's neck.
"You're right." we hear a voice, coming from the trees above us "He's dead."
Kakashi-sensei went to Zabuza's body and checked his pulse.
"Thank you. I've been waiting for an opportunity to kill him for a long time." said a masked (fe)male, jumping on the ground
"That mask... You're a hunter-nin form Hidden Mist." concludes sensei
The hunter-nin nods.
"What's a hunter-nin?" I ask
"I am part of the Hidden Mist's hunter-nin team." he (the voice is too masculine to be a girl) says "My duty is to eliminate missing-nins."
Everything is silent for a moment.
Then Naru Naru starts looking from Zabuza's body to the hunter-nin.
"What the hell?!" he exclaims "Who are you?!"
It briefly crosses my mind where the hell he learnt how to curse (oops).
"Don't worry, Naruto, he's not an enemy." says Kakashi-sensei calmly
A-ha! He is indeed a 'he'!
"That's not what I asked! How come he, a kid just like us, manage to kill Zabuza?!"
Now that he mentioned it...
"That's just how it is." shrugged sensei and ruffled Naruto's hair "There are kids younger than you and stronger than me."
"Your battle is over." announced the hunter-nin and takes Zabuza "I must now go to dispose of this body. Farewell."
And then he disappears.
Tazuna-san grins,
"Super thanks, guys! Now let's go to my house and relax!"
Relax sounds good...
Suddenly Kakashi-sensei faints.
"Wha-?!"
"Sensei!"
...
Turns out Kakashi-sensei overused his Sharingan.
"Are you okay?" asks Tsunami-nee-chan, Tazuna-san's daughter
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just won't be able to move for a week or so."
I choose not to comment on that, so I mention the hunter-nin.
"Hunter-nins are supposed to completely dispose a body without a trace. You see, there are many secrets of the village in a ninja's body. For an example, if I am killed, the secrets of the Sharingan can be revealed. It's up to the hunter-nins to make sure the body can't betray any village secrets."
Soon Kakashi-sensei fell asleep and Naruto had the 'brilliant' idea to remove his mask.
"Come on, Sakura-chan! I'm sure you're curious too!"
Well...
"Okay, let's do it!"
We slowly creep up to sensei and just as we're about to pull that mask down he wakes up.
I curse under my breath.
However, sensei doesn't seem to be paying us any attention.
Few moments later, he drops the bomb,
"Momochi Zabuza is alive."
A/N: Aaaaan I'm back! I cannot express how sorry I am for the delay. To make it up to you, I kinda extended this chapter. Also, some of the dialogues are taken directly from the manga.
!ANOTHER THING! Chapter One's end is re-written and while it does not make a big difference, I advise you to go check it.
Love,
Berry
*I'm not sure if where Kakashi falls is a lake, a river or something else, so feel free to share if you know. I apologize if I have mistaken.