Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies.

A/N: I don't know if you'll be disappointed or not, but I won't actually be subjecting you to a tournament style chapter with children doing the shinobi equivalent of cage fighting. I think that's a little outside my chosen rating. And probably illegal or something.

Chapter Three

-Young Flower in the Shade-

Haruno Tsubasa looked down at his newest charge. And the enormous polearm that she'd determinedly dragged to practice with her. The guan dao probably weighed at least as much as she did. Luckily it hadn't rained for a while, so the tail end of the haft didn't dig a furrow as she went. And she was a tiny little thing too, all wide green eyes and eager smile.

Knowing he couldn't put it off any longer, he leaped down from his hiding place. She stood from where she'd been sitting on the grass and her expression grew more serious as she bowed. "I'm Haruno Sakura. I'm in your care."

They were quite some distance from the compound, hopefully far enough away for the practice of the other candidates to not interfere with their own training. Tsubasa only had a month and a half to make this little pink ball of fluff into a capable enough killer to have a chance in the brutal elimination style fighting of the final week. The candidates were more or less released like rats into the underground tunnels that ran beneath the compound. The one that came out alive won, as simple as that. After that would be a ceremony to recognize the new heir and then they would depart from the massacre left behind, not to meet again for another fifteen years.

He'd been only six when he'd attended the first gathering, but it was still etched on his memory. Besides the business of selecting the heir, other members of the main house were assessed for their potential to develop the kekkei genkai. He'd been passed over back then, but his bloodline had awoken with a vengeance later, prompting action on the part of the oyakata-sama.

For every member of the main house who displayed such a tendency, a member of the branch house had to die. Yin and yang, light and dark, dead and alive. The branches of the clan needed each other, true, but the branch families benefitted far less than the main family. But, Tsubasa supposed, that was what made it a clan.

Tsubasa was a main house member and a talented ninja in his own right from Iwa. He was not, however, a miracle worker. "I'm Tsubasa." He sighed. "It'll be a pleasure working with you."

Neither the girl nor her partner, who had materialized behind her, looked entirely convinced of his enthusiasm.

"That guan dao's name is Shiho, right?" Sakura nodded. "What in the world was he thinking?" he asked dryly.

"We cannot choose our forms," Shiho defended himself irritably.

Tsubasa rolled his eyes. "So you say." A lightning quick movement left a sai quivering in the dirt in front of Sakura's feet. Shiho had appeared protectively in front of her, forgetting for a moment his insubstantial form. But it had been to make a point, not to harm her.

"That's Umeko. I'm sure she's pleased to meet you too." With a giggle, a childish form appeared, but she wore a hood across her bobbed hair like a bride. The girl probably wasn't even six.

Shiho looked stricken. "They took her so young..."

"Yeah, well, when the disease strikes, it strikes," Tsubasa said gruffly. "Her parents had already lost her twin to it. That's why oyakata-sama asked me to train you. I don't use Umeko-chan in battle."

"So you use taijutsu?" Shiho asked curiously.

"Not if I can help it," Tsubasa admitted, running a hand through shaggy brunette hair that had a deep red wash, but wasn't a solid color like Sakura's or Shiki's. "If you hadn't noticed, a lot of our clan jutsu is weapons based. Then we usually use genjutsu or ninjutsu. Taijutsu's a distant third on that list. But you had to go and be a big-ass halberd..." Tsubasa's voice trailed off.

"Well, with any luck, she'll live to grow into you." Tsubasa said cheerfully.

Chouko looked in on her daughter, who was curled around the weapon that Ran's son had become. She didn't like her daughter sleeping with such a dangerous object, but Katsuo had insisted. She couldn't see it in the soft light that spilled from behind her, but she remembered how bruised and worn her daughter had looked when that Iwa-nin had brought her back.

Her hand clenched into a fist. This entire practice was barbaric, but even Ran, whose son had died, had accepted it as the will of the clan. But she had been born into this ugly place. Maybe she didn't even understand how wrong it was.

It was all the fault of that man. The one her husband called oyakata-sama and pandered to so shamelessly. When he'd walked into their rooms that night, Chouko had known the deepest terror of her life. And he'd only smiled.

But, maybe, even if Ran or Katsuo didn't understand, someone else would. Someone also from the outside.

There were many ways to be a prodigy in this world. Some people were born with perfect pitch, others could anticipate the next two hundred moves of an opponent on a shouji board. Sakura had been born with absolute chakra control. And it was utterly useless, Tsubasa thought.

It didn't matter how much control the girl had, she didn't have enough chakra for proper elemental ninjutsu. It wasn't even that she was particulary weak, but just that she was so damn young. And unless she suddenly developed some outrageous skill to utilize Shiho's jounin-level chakra, she wasn't suddenly going to have enough to help her in her matches.

Genjutsu, as useful as it was against enemy ninja, didn't work well against Harunos. The unique way their psyche was constructed seemed to serve as something of a natural defense.

Shiki-dono had declared that she would be allowed to carry a single kunai in the tunnels. Much good that did them. With only a little over a month, he wouldn't be able to teach her skills of any complexity with the weapon, which was primarily meant as a projectile. If it came down to hand-to-hand there were many weapons more suitable, but he would teach her all he could. As her sensei, it was his duty to prepare her as well as possible for the hellhole those caverns would become.

So, he'd gone down the path of a desperate man. "Most of your opponents won't pass the budding stage of their kekkei genkai," he told her grimly. "It's too soon after the bonding, especially for those who were already gennin." The ceremonies of that would provide them with their weapons would not occur until the youngest candidates had been put through intensive training in order to level out, as much as possible, the playing field. "And usually, it just takes time to develop a kekkei genkai, just like any other skill. Of course, what we're talking about in these tunnels has the possibility to really mess with your mind, so there's always those few that snap and the Thousand Generation Flower blooms. It's pretty rare in the rest of the main house, but there's something about the way the death match that draws it out."

Sakura was watching him carefully, quietly absorbing his every word. In the short time he'd been with her Tsubasa had noted a voracious appetite for knowledge. But again, it was all a waste if he couldn't teach her enough to survive. "There is a skill that isn't used particularly often in ninja battles," he went on, "but I think it will be useful enough to us, at least in the first battles."

He'd been pacing while he was talking, but Tsubasa turned suddenly to where Sakura was sitting. "Why are you resting? Keeping running laps."

As Sakura obediently rose, he also took a moment to admire her dedication. Many children were forced into these battles for the ambition of their parents. Those same children usually lost, without a suitable reason to fight their opponent. He wondered what is was that spurred Sakura on, but then shook the thought away.

"Have you met the oyakata-sama?" he asked as she circled the clearing they were practicing in today.

Saving her breath, Sakura nodded.

"And what did you think of him?"
She needed only a one word answer. "Scary."

Scary as hell, Tsubasa amended in his head, but he didn't say it aloud."Shiki-dono is a master of forcing down his opponents without lifting a single finger. Do you know how he does it? He can radiate killing intent with enough intensity that his opponent can barely breathe, let only move. When Shiki-dono goes into battle, his opponents lose before the first kunais are ever exchanged."
"Some of that is the Thousand Generation Flower. But a lot of it is just Shiki-dono." Tsubasa took a deep breath. "Sakura-chan, I'm going to teach you everything about killing intent."

On the sidelines, where he'd been regulated, Shiho watched in frustrated silence. He'd died in order to protect Sakura, but she was even more vulnerable now than she'd been before. Part of him didn't want for Sakura to defile that bright, innocent soul with the blood of her kin. But a more selfish part wanted her to survive, at any cost.

Sakura was often confused in her lessons. She liked Tsubasa-sensei, even when he was being scary. So when he'd tried to teach her about killing intent, she didn't know how she could. She didn't want Tsubasa-sensei dead.

But she also remembered Ran-oba-chan's words. If she didn't become the heir, Shiho would die and Ran-oba-chan would hate her more than she already did. Sakura wouldn't let anyone take away her Shiho-nii-chan.

As she ever so carefully made another round around the lip of the wide clay bowl filled with sand, which Tsubasa-sensei said would improve her balance as well as teaching her to step lightly as he slowly removed the sand each day, Sakura firmed up her resolution.

This time, instead of picturing Tsubasa-sensei, she pictured cousin Michiko. She wasn't half so nice, so Sakura didn't feel as bad. She was one of the other candidates. But, even though she could feel outrage against the way the older girl treated her, she didn't think that was what Tsubasa-sensei wanted.

Holding her hands out when she suddenly wavered, she asked, "Tsubasa-sensei, what's it like to kill someone?"

Tsubasa-sensei looked startled when she chanced to glance up. "Well," he said thoughtfully, "it all depends on who it is, I suppose. If they were once your comrade, sometimes you feel guilty. But if they're an enemy, I guess it's kind of exciting, if you meet them in battle first. Sometimes you don't feel much of anything in particular. That's for a lot of assassinations. Mostly they're just a description and a paycheck. That's all. To you, as a shinobi," he said slowly, "they're not really people. They're just objects."

"Maybe that's how you need to think of them, Sakura-chan." He moved to stand in front of her and she stepped off the bowl to give him her full attention. "Those other brats, when you look at them from now on, tell yourself this. 'This is not a person. This is an obstacle. It has no feelings. It has no family. This is an obstacle. It's standing in my way.' Can you remember all that?"

"This is not a person," Sakura recited. "This is an obstacle. It has no feelings. It has no family. This is an obstacle. It's standing in my way." Shiho-nii-chan will die. This time, when she imagined Michiko's face, she felt a shiver of something cold sweep over her scalp, the it flared outward.

"That's it," Tsubasa-sensei said softly. "That's how it is. Now, focus on projecting it outward. If you can do it well enough, you'll smother their own intent."

Sakura stepped back onto the rim of the bowl. "This is not a person," she recited in a sing-song voice. "This is an obstacle."

Shiho was worried about Chouko-san. She'd been acting strangely lately, but Sakura-chan was too tired to notice and Katsuo-san was busy with clan affairs. Though Shiki-dono and his assistants took care of most things, such as granting marriages and such, there were still other matters that needed done. Deaths, marriages, and births were confirmed and the records all rechecked. Copies of scrolls were made as family members traded techniques or younger members needed instruction from the family archives. Investigations and inquiries were made about lines that had fallen silent.

Chouko-san had thrown a fit just this morning when a few of the clan women talented with sewing had produced narrow-legged hakamas and a matching dark top in a charcoal black for Sakura's use.

She'd known she was marrying into a shinobi clan, even if Katsuo-san had retired after his marriage. And yes, what the clan did would be considered reprehensible by many raised in his home village, but it was necessary. If she would only bother to look back into their history and even their present, she would understand why the branch family members participated in the Walking in the White Moon Garden technique.

Some even volunteered, because it guaranteed them a life many wouldn't otherwise have. An isolated life, yes, but anyone with enough Haruno blood could see and interact with the dead branch members and the branch members, if their bodies were brought close enough together like they were in the compound, could interact with each other. But he didn't even think that Chouko-san even knew their spirits were conscious-she talked about him like a weapon, not as the person he had been.

Chouko-san's behavior angered him, especially when Sakura-chan was trying so hard. Had she even tried to understand the clan?

Tsubasa was worried. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but was it really okay for such a small child to learn to radiate killing intent with concentration as to occasionally give even him pause?

Shaking off his misgivings, because they had only days left, he put Sakura-chan through her paces, evaluating how well she'd learned the techniques he'd tried to teach her.

"Remember," he cautioned her as he easily parried another attack with her kunai. "Do not throw the kunai. It is your only weapon and you do not throw your only weapon away."

"Hai, Tsubasa-sensei!"

"If you manage to stun them with your killing intent, don't hesitate but run for them as fast as you can, just in case they activate the kekkei genkai. Remember, go for the eyes first. You don't have anyone against you good enough to fight you blinded and you might not be as fast at them."

"Hai, Tsubasa-sensei!"

"And it doesn't matter if the boys are cute, they still have to go."

"Ha-. Tsubasa-sensei!"

Tsubasa laughed.

Chouko took her daughter's face in her hands. "Sakura-chan..." she said softly. "Don't worry. Everything will be alright." Wiping warm tears from her own face, she repeated her words. "Don't worry, everything will be okay."

Even though she was so young, Sakura-chan's eyes narrowed with a strange kind of understanding. Her small hands came up to wipe a tear away. "It's alright, oka-san."

Chouko gave a strangled kind of laugh. In this situation, it was her daughter trying to comfort her. Had she actually been so useless all this time? No more. This time, she thought as she gently brushed back the bangs hanging into her daughters eyes, I won't let them hurt you, Sakura-chan. Oka-san will protect you.

Sakura-chan shifted under her ministrations. "I have go now, ka-san."

"I know," Chouko said. I won't let you be in that place long. "See you soon, Sakura-chan."

"Bye, oka-san," Sakura-chan replied solemnly.

Shiki was not surprised when the outsiders staged an uprising. He was not even particularly surprised when some of the clan members defected. The ones who were going to be killed were, after all, beloved husbands and wives. It would make sense to protect them, if they could.

He was, however, slightly surprised to find they'd also contracted high level shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Mist.

And they call us barbarians, he thought darkly as he passed through another blood spattered hallway. They dared to spill the blood of his clan within their own halls. "All of them will die for this," he murmured to no one in particular. And he allowed his kekkei genkai to bloom, clearing his attachment to the bodies now lying still and silent, breaking his sympathy for those who'd only joined in this tawdry little rebellion because of someone they'd loved.

And then he smiled. The killer that had been called the 'Wind Among the Flowers' for his accuracy, speed, and delicacy set about cleaning his house.

Chouko knelt on her knees, hands bound behind her back. She'd been positioned so she could see the entrance to the tunnels, the entrance through which the new heir would emerge.

"Soon now," the monster beside her said. He paid no mind to her sobs. "Kagami can sense when the souls of the branch members leave, even down in the tunnels. She says there are only two left now."

Their rebellion had been put down with a ruthlessness that horrified her. Strange flowers blooming in their eyes, clan members they'd thought might be sympathetic to their cause once the rebellion started cut down bosom friends without hesitation. Only the outsiders and the few parents of heir candidates that had joined them had been left alive, restrained, and brought to the room deep in the compound where the family normally gathered once the match was well under way.

Blood-spattered clan members ringed the room, faces ranging from impassive to outraged. None seemed to cry for those they'd lost. What kind of monsters are they?

"I wonder," that man said and the murmuring of the clan died down, "shall we hold the spouses of those who participated in this little display of foolhardiness culpable?"

He seemed to be listening to someone, but none of the family was speaking.

"They did, however, choose to marry them."

Another silence.

"You make a convincing point." Shiki glanced down at Chouko. "You should be grateful, you foolish woman. I've decided to spare those who did nothing worse than love weak people, though kami knows that in itself should be a sin. However," and he raised his voice, "for an as of yet undetermined period, they will not be allowed to leave this compound. What is destroyed must be repaired, even if it takes your entire lives to right it."

"Ah," he said, turning his attention back to the tunnels, "they're coming."

Even Chouko could feel it. A new monster was coming up those shadowed stairs, its intent radiating before it.

"You did not understand the harmony of the clan, Chouko-san," the monster told her. "But it looks like your offspring does."

A fresh sob caught in her throat. Because standing there, liberally doused with the blood of other children, was a creature that had been her daughter. Unnervingly calm, with those damnable petals in her eyes, it spoke. "Shiki-dono, I am the last one," as if she were only the straggler checking in on a school field trip. That ugly green gaze transferred to Chouko and she flinched. "Why is my mother bound?" It was said without any particular inflection.

"I think that explanation can wait a moment. Ran-san, if you would," and he motioned to someone in the crowd. Shiho's mother emerged, the bladed weapon cradled in her arms as gently as if it was still her child. "Sakura-chan, you shouldn't let go of Shiho for a while."

Raising her hands, the child accepted the too-large weapon. For a moment, she only stared at it, but then animation began to filter back into her eyes and she twined her arms around it. "Shiho-nii-chan..." Tears began to clear tracks in the blood spattered on her cheeks.

"Sakura-chan," Shiki said, speaking more softly than she would have guessed him capable of, "your mother and these other people have done a very bad thing."

Rubbing at the corner of her eye and almost dropping her heavy weapon, Sakura hiccupped and asked, "What bad thing?"

"They killed members of the clan."

Sakura's head jerked towards Chouko. "Why, oka-san?" she asked.

"Because what you're doing is wrong!" Chouko shouted back at her. "If only you could see yourself Sakura! You're covered in blood! Children's blood."

Ashamed, Sakura turned her face away. However, Shiki stepped in front of Chouko.

His voice was softly pleasant. "Chouko-san, you will not abuse my heir. For the children who died here this day, you and your compatriots will only be exiled from the clan and not executed. However, in the future, if some clan member happened to catch sight of you, I will not be held responsible. So I would recommend that you disappear from our sight, forever."

One of the other outsiders gasped. "But there are members of the Haruno clan in every village!" he protested.

"Not in every village. I'm certain there's some little farming hamlet out there where you can quite comfortably live out the rest of your life. Put the period were you lived within the graces of the Haruno clan out of your minds. Start anew and forget who you once were." Shiki's dark eyes met Chouko's and for a moment she watched petal upon petal bloom among the green. "Nothing productive will come from remembering the past."

"And Sakura?" she forced past lips gone numb.

"Sakura is mine." He motioned with his hand for her daughter to come forward. Sakura's steps were hesitant and she hugged the weapon tighter, even though one end dragged on the ground. Chouko's heart clenched.

"What are you going to do with oka-san?" Sakura asked Shiki miserably.

"She will be sent away with the rest. Though, from what I understand, everything that happened today was her idea. Every death, with the exception of those now laying in the tunnels, can be laid at hands."

Wide jade eyes were like an accusation.

"I did it to save you from all this!" Chouko shouted.

"And how did you intend to save her from herself?" Shiki asked without the slightest hint of curiosity.

"She already has that weapon. Isn't that all she needs?" Chouko snarled.

"All she needs, perhaps. But what of the children that would come after her?"

Chouko stared at him, uncomprehending. Ran stepped forward.

"If you destroyed the clan and scattered our ashes to the winds, who would be there for the children she might bear? Who will be there for the Walking in the White Moon Garden technique? There were main house lines that sent their apologies and could not gather this year, some because their children were too young. Where is the branch clan to support them?"

Ran was growing visibly angrier as she continued. "And would you condemn the branch clan to the meager years offered us? Or would you allow us the courtesy of dying with honor at the hands of the clan? You never bothered to learn of the clan. What right do you have to judge it?"

"That's enough, Ran-san," Shiki said. Shaking with fury, Ran offered only a curt bow before she stalked away. "I don't think we owe you any sort of explanation, Chouko-san. In fact, I think it would be best for everyone if our time together came to an end."

Shiki bent at the waist and whispered something in her daughter's ear. Sakura looked stricken by what he was saying, but the man's expression was opaque as he rose. "Sakura, this woman is no longer your mother. From this moment, she is dead to you."

Her bottom lip trembled, but she nodded and Chouko's heart broke.

"Shiho-nii-chan died for me. I have to live for him." Sakura started crying harder, her small shoulders shaking. "Goodbye. Goodbye, Chouko-san," she said the last word softly.

Shiki clapped softly and Chouko felt her shoulders seized from behind.

A/N: I thought about writing more, perhaps having Sakura meet the children she has to fight, but I do want to get back to Konoha eventually. And, really, it would probably be OC overkill. However, if you'd like to see some short stories of Sakura and the clan and enough people tell me that in a review, I'll consider adding them in.

So, next chapter we finally return to Konoha, and the tone of the story lightens a bit. Look forward to it!