Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies.
A/N: This chapter was actually quite difficult to write. I'm not often around small children, so making Sakura's reactions convincing, at least to me, was difficult. If you find anything off, at least part of the blame lies with the fact that Sakura doesn't completely understand what death is. She understands more than the average five-year old, but as with a lot of children's reactions, she would normally take her cues in this situation from an adult. Or at, least, that was how it worked in my head.
You'll also notice that in this fic, I'm leaving the name of all the new jutsus untranslated. Mostly this is because I don't speak Japanese, so complex translation are a little outside my specialty and as I'm already stumbling through other aspects of the culture, I thought it would be better not to utterly butcher the language.
Chapter Two
-The Oyakata-sama-
Haruno Shiki stared down at the slight form of one of the heir candidates. The little girl was shaking and looked like she might burst into tears at any moment. Good, he thought to himself. It meant her parents had obeyed the edict and allowed her free reign with her emotions. It was always inconvenient when the foolish or incautious attempted to force the blooming of their kekkei genkai.
His green eyes drifted to the weapon he'd been standing watch over since the ceremony had ended. He wondered if Shiho had known that his wish would be granted so immediately when he had come to the head with his decision. Doubtful. The boy had probably wished to linger on a little longer, making last memories with his mother or some such nonsense.
"Your companion was the first of those forged this time," Shiki told the girl. "You should be honored that he chose you so readily."
Her candyfloss pink hair would doubtless darken with time and bloodshed. Because of the nature of the clan, it was necessary to continue to bring in outsiders in order to continue the bloodline, but it also brought about interesting physical quirks. Hair of such a peculiar color was only one of them, but her wide eyes were the Haruno jade.
That trembling lip firmed and the little girl glared at him. "What did you do to Shiho-nii-chan?" she spat.
Shiki's eyes narrowed. It was one matter to allow a child to indulge in emotion, another to indulge in ignorance. "It was a jutsu called Walking in the White Moon Garden. Your father is Katsuo, is he not? It seems he has been remiss in your education."
Extending a hand towards her, he was unsurprised when she scrambled away, sloshing oil from the containers as she stumbled on them. His sigh was barely a hiss of air between his lips. But then, upon reconsideration, he was pleased, because Sakura had thought to put the guan dao between them.
Tucking his hands into his sleeves in a visibly nonthreatening gesture, because it wasn't truly possible for the current head of the Haruno clan to look harmless, Shiki warned her, "Be careful not to spill the oil on the silk."
"You took Shiho-nii-chan away!"
How very tedious. "I do not deny my part. However, what is important now is the part you must play."
"Why do I have to listen to a bad guy like you?" Sometimes he forgot how very young some of these children were when they were brought to him.
Calling upon the chakra that normally lay dormant at the crown of his head, Shiki could feel his eyes dilating. In the green iris a black spike emerged from the pupil and then it split, green rushing in to fill the black until only the outline of a petal remained, its shape like a lotus'. Another bloomed and then another, until his pupil was ringed by the petals. It was dim enough in the room he wasn't certain that Sakura could see what he was doing, but she certainly felt it. Straightening, she met his eyes.
The Haruno clan kekkei genkai was not a doujutsu. Rather, it was simply an outward manifestation of an internal change, the number of petals reflecting how deeply lost its user was. When it was in full bloom like Shiki's, in the state called the Thousand Generation Flower, only he could return to himself without the aid of a branch family member. If the branch family's strongest trait was 'attachment,' then the attribute of the main family was 'separation.' Many times he had declared that those lost clan members would be kept in the full bloom state, subject to the will of the oyakata-sama.
No, it wasn't the kekkei genkai itself that Sakura was reacting to, but the fluid waves of killing intent that flowed from the older man, pressing down on her until she thought her heart might stop. "I am Haruno Shiki. In this house, in this world, so long as you bear the name Haruno, my will should be regarded as absolute. Do you understand, child?"
He knew full well that she couldn't move, but he did not relent. "Do you understand?" He intensified his killing intent until it had become a physical presence in the air, nearly thick enough to drink. Or choke on, if you were weak. Outside the room he could feel some of the more sensitive clan member's chakra flaring, but he kept the intent so tightly directed that the rest of the compound continued undisturbed in their daily tasks.
"Answer me." Shiki did not raise his voice as he demanded it of her.
For a moment more the girl was frozen and he began to speculate that she had not inherited that most vital trait, but then something moved behind her eyes. "You took Shiho-nii-san and now he's gone!" she howled.
"You also killed young Shiho," Shiki accused levelly. "By the simple fact of your existence you ensured that Shiho would choose to die, instead of waiting for death to choose him."
"That's not true!"
"Oh?" He took a step forward. "Then will you break your promise? 'Together forever,' was that not the bond you promised him?"
That made her falter. "But Shiho-nii-chan is gone. He left, even though he promised."
"He did no such thing. He's waiting, right in front of you."
Sakura looked down at the guan dao.
"If you continue to hesitate, I will take him from you and grant him to someone more deserving."
The words hung between them in the air. He saw the exact moment that the girl understood him, because she leaped forward, covering the bladed weapon with her body.
"Don't touch him," she snarled, her own killing intent clumsy and humorous when compared to his, but there just the same.
His killing intent abruptly ceased, startling Sakura so much she almost collapsed on top of the guan dao. "Very good, Sakura-chan. This is one of the most important lessons you will ever learn, so listen well. No matter what other bonds you may make in your life, you must never allow anyone to separate you from Shiho."
Resentment was clear in the child's gaze and her lips were set in a mulish line.
Shiki's eyes narrowed. It was clear that the girl would not willingly listen while still so upset. "Do you know the nature of the branch clan jutsu? Shiho's mortal shell has perished and been reborn, but his soul is only sleeping."
"Sleeping?"
"Yes."
Large jade eyes looked at him with clear intelligence, but she didn't retreat from her position. "How do I wake him up?"
"You will need to blood him," Shiki explained.
When no comprehension dawned in those wide eyes, he simply expedited the process. Moving faster than her untrained eyes could follow, he had her hand captured in his before she could even cry out. Drawing it downward in a strangely gentle gesture, he ran her fingers along the edge of the guan dao's blade. It was almost preternaturally sharp and blood soon began to pour freely, tiny crimson droplets coming down like rain on the silver-white surface. And then, like a calligraphy master guiding a pupil's hand, he traced the characters for Shiho's name with her bleeding fingers.
Staring down at the forming characters as if entranced, Sakura read, "Haruno Shiho."
Like steam from water, a mist seemed to be drawn from the blade, curling first in faint wisps that gathered to become a great cloud that began to take form. And then there was Shiho, smiling gently down at Sakura.
Tears that had been absent until that moment began to trail down Sakura's cheeks.
Shiho was immediately by her side, trying to comfort her. "Hush, hush," he murmured, then he attempted to stroke her back in a soothing gesture. Shiki watched his eyes widen when his hand passed through her skin, insubstantial as smoke, the direct contact making it just as formless. It only reformed when he retracted his hand and Shiho brought them both before his face, staring at them like he'd never seen them before. Sakura looked at him with confusion.
"You are only a spirit," Shiki explained evenly. "Only your body can interact with the physical world."
Shiho's gaze jerked to him and it was much less gentle than when he'd looked at Sakura. "Oyakata-sama," he addressed him, bowing. "This means the ceremony is completed, does it not?"
"For your part. Sakura-chan's completion lies further in the future, when her kekkei genkai is made to bloom. I personally confirmed her potential. Though you might wish to explain to her what the First Flower of the Spring means, before I entrust her to a sensei."
Shiho bowed again. "I will see to it, oyakata-sama."
Turning his eyes dismissively from the ghost of the young branch member, he looked at the girl again. It was unlikely, in his mind, that she would win the competition, but all fifteen of the heirs nominated this round would receive treatment intent on equalizing their skill levels for the fights. It was a remarkably large group, but they were currently living in a time of peace, which always caused the numbers of the family to swell between meetings.
"Sakura-chan, this is the only bond in your life that you cannot break." Reaching into his sleeve, Shiki produced a narrow knife. Dangling it with seeming carelessness, he said, "Kagami, if you will make yourself known."
Both Sakura and Shiho watched as a cloudy figure manifested itself. It was a woman with the kind of mature beauty that made her of indeterminate age, though her scanty clothing and careless posture betrayed a brazen youthfulness. She was sitting with one leg crossed over the other at about the level of Shiki's shoulder. It was not a ladylike crossing of the ankles either, but rather one ankle thrown over her knee, and she was leaning back against some surface they could not see.
The collar of her kimono was pulled open to rest low on her shoulders, her cleavage exposed to almost an indecent level, which made the modest way her full sleeves hid her hands quite ironic. The skirts of the kimono had been shortened to knee length, then slit up the side until very high on her thigh. There was almost a full inch from the top of the slit to where her fishnet stockings began.
"So this is the first of the new brats, eh?" she growled in what was quite possibly the most sensual contralto Shiki had ever heard.
"Indeed."
"Indeed," Kagami mocked. "Tch, you sound so old when you talk like that Shiki."
Shiki ignored her taunt. He had always spoken like this and would continue to in the future. Kagami had been outrageous in life and a death of the body had not stopped that.
Not that Kagami expected him to respond, her attention turning easily to the pair before them. Sheathed in his sleeve, her consciousness slept, she having little interest in most of the clan's affairs except when it came to her use. In their long partnership she had tasted the blood of many family members.
One of Kagami's brows rose. "Don't you think you're a little big for her, boy?"
The insinuation was missed by none except Sakura. Shiho scowled but did not say anything.
Kagami cocked her head in a way she knew enhanced the delicate line of her neck, though her kunoichi skills served little enough purpose nowadays. Shiki was too used to her to pay it any mind and it looked like ice water had run in the boy's veins.
"What's your name, boy?"
"Shiho," he replied evenly.
Kagami snorted. "Isn't that a girl's name?"
"It is my name."
Looking more closely, Kagami examined both his spirit and body with curiosity. She hadn't really been kidding when she'd asked her earlier question. His body had turned into a halberd kind of weapon she wasn't all that familiar with, because too often in the ninja profession big simply meant slow. It was pretty, in its way, with the elegant half moon curve of the front of the blade, and the flame-like edge of the back, with a spur that she supposed served as some sort of counterweight. He was decorative too, with a tassel hanging from that spur and other rings threaded through holes in the blade.
She sneered internally. He was going to make noise, unless that little girl learned to wield him well. Of course, that was provided that one could be stealthy in the first place with a weapon taller than most grown men.
And he was a grown man indeed. Soft, compared to Shiki, but they all were. His kimono was flowing and layered like some Heien era prince, but she also detected some Chinese influence, which might explain some of the flamboyancy. His hair had been partially twisted up in the back in the traditional topknot style and secured with some decorative ornament.
Kagami snorted again. The boy looked like some sort of guardian deity. That could change over time, of course, as how he thought of himself changed, but for now it looked like they had a real winner of a pair.
"But really, how is she supposed to use that whale of a weapon in the matches?" Kagami asked Shiki.
Shiki looked unperturbed. Pretentious bastard. But cunning, even when he'd been newly awoken to the First Flower of Spring. Which was how he'd killed all seven of the children that had been competing against him as the heir.
Her own mother had drugged her in order to subdue Kagami for the ceremony that had made him her partner. So, when she'd awoken after being liberally doused in Shiki's blood, she hadn't been nearly as happy about the match as this Shiho seemed to have been. For one, while she'd been raised with the expectation she'd die for her clan, she'd met Shiki before the jutsu and had hated the cold-blooded little boy. Oh, his parents had obeyed the dictate, but Shiki was a natural.
Half-souled little psychopath that he was.
It was the children like him that made clear the true nature of the main house. While the branch members were born with incomplete bodies, the main house's deficit was in their very souls. Easily obsessed, compulsive, and sometimes neurotic, but intelligent. Which made them dangerous, because without a branch member's soul to sleep in that empty space, something else could develop there instead.
The little things that people put away in order to live within society crept in, until eventually they suffered from a complete breakdown. And when a main house member broke, they were fearsome monsters, often targeting the objects of their obsession in dangerous games.
Even the most dangerous criminals in ninja society had some sort of bond they were unwilling to break, even if it was only a fond memory of family that caused them to spare a victim with a passing resemblance to that loved one. If a Haruno was allowed to bloom, they lost that most important human capacity.
This girl with the wide forehead might look innocent as the dawn, but Kagami knew that she probably already displayed some of the Haruno traits, or would begin to soon. Shiki, when she'd come to him, had already made that destructive attachment to a boy he'd considered his intellectual rival. The boy had lived, primarily because Kagami filled that empty abyss when the other half of his soul was supposed to be, or at least she flattered herself to think so. With Shiki he could have simply gotten bored.
She, in all honesty, preferred the rivalry bond to the romantic bond when the main branch children were picking out their particular brand of crazy. Because those always took scary to another level. Severing the rivalry bond was easy-they typically just killed them. But those children, and it seemed especially prevalent in the girls, who were in that other situation? They tended to save that victim for last, as if it was a special kind of regard. And on the way, they began to snuff out their object of affection's other bonds, until often the unfortunate one was begging them to end it all. They never refused. And those children could never be retrieved.
There were several levels to the Haruno clan kekkei genkai, like most bloodline traits. Budding, the state before the petals appeared in the eyes, made a Haruno insensible to fear. The First Flower broke their emotional attachments and cleared their eyes. The Dance of the Falling Petals severed their ability to differentiate between good and evil and lightened their feet. And the Thousand Generation Flower turned their will into a weapon, their killing intent capable of not only paralyzing an opponent, but striking them dead with their own fear.
Shiki was all but telekinetic with the freaking ability, but Shiki was special. She'd been waiting for the last thirty-seven years for him to kill them all in their sleep, but he'd refrained, though kami knew why.
"Kagami?" She tilted her head indolently toward Shiki when she realized he was speaking to her.
"Yeah?"
Shiki sighed. "Sakura-chan will not be able to wield Shiho, so I will allow her to take one kunai with her into the tunnels. Shiho, of course, will be left in my care for the duration of the match."
"But Shiki, that's dangerous!" Kagami protested, startled. The children would be newly bloomed and shouldn't really be separated from their weapons for some time, until the bond deepened. Shiki might tell the new candidates that the bond couldn't be broken, but he'd never seen the situation from a branch member's point of view. Physical contact was important to the little psychopaths. It kept them more or less in their right mind, where they could use the kekkei genkai and come back from it.
"I hope you know what you're doing," she growled when it became obvious Shiki wasn't going to change his mind.
The corner of his mouth turned up ever so slightly. Kagami shivered with pleasure as he flicked her body between his fingers with the dexterity of a born assassin. Their spirits might not be able to interact with the physical world, but the weapons they'd become were still attached to their souls.
He glanced down once more at the little pink-haired girl, who was still bleeding onto the hulking great weapon that was now hers. "I think this is enough. Goodbye, Sakura-chan."
As he walked out the door, Kagami noticed he kept her in his hand and guessed they would soon be witnessing the new ceremony.
"Retrieve Shiho's mother and bring her to the room," he commanded the clan member to flanked the door.
"And the girl's parents?"
"Don't bother. I'm going to have a talk with them myself."
At least, Ran consoled herself, she was a full-blooded clan member, even if she was from a branch line. That meant she could see the spirit of her Shiho as he looked at her with a kind of resigned sadness.
"I'm sorry," Shiho whispered. "I wanted to say goodbye."
Ran gathered herself. This was no one's fault. It was only the will of the clan. And, unlike so many mothers, Shiho would always be near. Even if she resented her now, she knew Sakura was the most timid and good-natured child she'd met in a long time. "Why would you say goodbye?" she asked, her voice still coming out forced. "Are you going somewhere? Planning to run away to Suna again?"
That had always been his destination when he'd run away from home as a child. Picking Suna of all places had made her worry that the main line instability of the mind hadn't totally passed her son over, but it had made her laugh.
And it still made Shiho smile. In that moment, she felt blessed to have carried him, nursed him, and watched him grow all those years, even if she was obligated to give him away now. That was one advantage she had over Chouko. Her child's blood would never make him a monster and there was no jutsu in the world that could break his spirit. She was glad that none of the weapons could remember their deaths.
"Ran-oba-chan," Sakura said mournfully, "I'm sorry."
"And what are you sorry about?"
"Shiki-dono said it was my fault."
Shiho was looking at her hopefully, but Ran wouldn't correct her. "Yes. So what do you intend to do about it?"
Sakura looked away.
"That's what I thought. Did you know, Sakura-chan, that when you die, Shiho will die too?"
Wide jade eyes proclaimed the little girl's alarm.
Ran bent her knees so she could look her in the eye. "If you don't become the heir, Shiho will die, for real this time."
"Mother!" Shiho protested.
"Shiho will die," Ran continued, "and this time it won't just be a little bit your fault like this time. It will be all your fault."
"Mother!"
"Be silent Shiho. I'm speaking to Sakura," she reprimanded her son without ever breaking eye contact. "Sakura, if you allow my son to die, I will hate you forever. Unlike the branch clan, the main house is long-lived. I want you to live so that my son can live."
"Ran-oba-chan will hate me?" Sakura asked.
"Yes. And I will hate the mother that bore you and the father who contributed his seed. I will ask their lives from the clan head as payment for my son's life."
Shiho was watching with silent horror at the ruthlessness of his mother.
"It's only fair, Sakura. So, I need you to do something for me."
"What?" The girl's voice trembled.
Ran's eyes were hard and unforgiving. "Become the heir."
A/N: There might be some similarities between the Haruno kekkei genkai in this story and Sakura's breakdown in Five Kingdoms, but there is a reason for that. I am trying to keep Sakura as in-canon as possible. Which means working with her attributes, instead of inventing some strange kekkei genkai out of the blue (that honor belongs to the branch family). And really, the most distinctive feature of Sakura is Inner-Sakura. In Five Kingdoms I worked with the idea of different souls. In First Flower I theorized that perhaps her soul was incomplete to begin with.
I chose to have the 'change' for the kekkei genkai appear in the eyes because it seems to be a trend in the series. Even though that are clearly not doujutsu, like Naruto or Gaara's jinchuuriki transformation, are signaled by a change in the appearance of their eyes, among other things. And, I finally invented a reason for Sakura's unhealthy obsession with Sasuke in the original.