THE COMFORTING CARESS OF HOME
"Wake the fuck up."
Ino woke the fuck up, blearily. "…What?"
Their journey back had been smooth. After descending through the sea of clouds, they'd summoned the Ark and departed.
Sakura had collapsed into unconsciousness as soon as she found a seat. Naruto had carried her the entire way back without complaint.
Remarkably, she remained asleep even when Karin worked her magic, restoring her health completely. Nor did she stir when Ino began the delicate process of removing the Jūbi's tendrils of influence from her mind, each thread painstakingly untangled — worse than ever before, too.
Orochimaru left as soon as they reached home, thanking them for reasons they weren't certain they understood or even wanted to, and telling them to rest until their next meeting. As though they still needed the reminder. Sasuke departed a few hours later. Both Akemi and Toru were currently sleeping somewhere in the guest room — or on the couch, it was hard to say, with them.
That was most of what Ino could remember of the long hours before bed, at least. They had double-checked Sakura again, for anything. Then the barriers around the Celestial Ring… had made sure no world had been touched by the kami in the apparently short time they had been away, and—
"There's a fucking panther in the living room." Sakura hissed.
Ino sighed. She had slept for the better part of a day, and it was the first thing she had to say…?
"…That's just Yūgao. Go back to sleep, dear."
"Are you out of your mind?" Sakura shot back, still making sure to whisper. "How could I, with one of the world's apex predators — a panther , which happens to be a Jūbi on top of it — taking a damn catnap in its… wait, was this a designated sleeping spot for it…? Why did you bring a panther in our home — Did Toru do it — Also did I even have the time to ask you why the fuck are we out in the middle of space yet?!"
Ino, who was doing her best to chuckle quietly, let out a few silent tears of mirth.
"Yeah, laugh, Piggy—"
"I really missed you, you know?" Ino said fondly, drawing her close.
"…Hmpf." Sakura chuckled lightly, and allowed her. "Of course you did."
Sakura still found herself unable to sleep.
In moments of silence, when no one was looking, her fingers compulsively traced an invisible pattern on her arm, almost like a streak of lightning, reliving sensations that had yet to fade.
After some more tossing and turning, and trying to guess where the sleeping Ino had hidden her Forced Sleeper, Sakura stood up and whirled away.
Then a few more times, trying to figure out the structure of this place.
A large, futuristic ring of pristine white material, surrounding a massive piece of land that hovered in the middle of the void. That piece of land was surrounded by layers of barriers that provided an atmosphere. Barriers that felt different from the one that surrounded the entire structure, ring included.
It felt more… human, for one.
Sakura couldn't shake the feeling that even the vacuum of space posed little danger, as long as they remained inside the expansive barrier. It was an unsettling realization, one that defied human limitations.
She wasn't entirely sure what had happened in the time she had spent away inside that bastard.
Nor how much time it had been, exactly.
She remembered Naruto calling to her, calling Susanoo's Name… escaping with the skin of her teeth… and the rest was a blur.
Inside the enigmatic realm of the kami, she had pushed the boundaries of her Kamui ability to its limits. Evading the cosmic deity became a mortal game of cat and mouse.
The kami, ever-adaptive, and amused by her desperate efforts, had taken its time to unravel whatever twist on Kamui she could manage.
But it had not truly tried to get rid of her. That was what she believed, at least. Perhaps it had been smart enough to keep her as a bargaining chip, perhaps it had simply been bored.
Even then, most of her focus had been on this task, and the rest had more or less faded away into the background.
She shook her head. Why was she so distracted? That was unlike her.
In the heart of Umi, Sakura walked through streets that were both familiar and not. Things had changed a lot, it seemed.
That part, oddly enough, she could accept — Ino had promised to fill her in on the details tomorrow, just before drifting off to sleep. Even the artificial night sky overhead didn't unsettle her.
The buildings around her had morphed into towering constructs of white marble and glass, their surfaces dimmed to respect the city's simulated night.
Real stars twinkled beyond the translucent — and impossible to see for anyone who didn't have an eye as sharp as she did — layer above. It felt like a new frontier.
The streets were quiet at night, almost eerily so. Although that could just be her, too.
The city's residents had adapted to their new sleep cycles, leaving the thoroughfares empty. A few small anti-gravity vehicles and idle constructs were the only signs of disorder.
She had been warned about the Zetsu, too — which was the only reason she didn't pull her trusty dagger out.
A Blue Zetsu waved at her with a friendly smile — Communication, Information…? Which was it, again?
Whatever. She just waved back, and went on with her walk.
As she walked, Sakura felt the most hum of machines beneath the pavement, a quiet lullaby in the otherwise silent night. The air was clean, almost too clean, lacking the earthy aroma she had once found comforting. Or the mess, perhaps.
She paused beside a perfect looking cherry blossom tree in a cozily lit park. Its petals shimmered in the soft, artificial moonlight. Then again, the Moon on earth had been man-made, too, so who was she to tell…?
A woman sat engrossed in a book reader, her eyes dancing across the page as she reclined in a plush rocking chair. The chair itself was an elegant piece of craftsmanship, Sakura could admit — even though it stank of Toru's touch.
('Its curves and contours were designed to provide the utmost comfort.' He would say, with a dumb grin. 'Because I made it.')
The chair wasn't just a piece of furniture; it was a chakra creation, materialized specifically for the woman's comfort using only a trace amount of her energy.
As she read, the chair seemed to sway in tune with the ebb and flow of her chakra. It adjusted itself — its angle, its cushioning — as if intuiting her every need, providing the best possible reading experience.
Sakura knew it, just as she knew that once the woman closed her book and dismissed it, the chair would vanish, its chakra dispersing back into the ether from which it came.
Idly, Sakura wondered what use this sort of peaceful, seemingly perfect world would have for people like herself.
She continued her solitary walk.
She walked past tall buildings, small houses from which light still came, a few crowded bars with colorful neons and joyful people, night time runners, until she found herself near a lake where the water lay still, reflecting the cosmos.
When she looked skyward, scanning the sky, she almost expected it to betray her with a bolt of lightning—
She shook her head. Useless ruminating. She knew as well as anyone she would be fine with just a bit of time.
It was the middle of the night, and still many were awake. One signature felt pretty peculiar — it didn't feel like chakra.
People were talking, pretty agitatedly, close by. The man she had locked on to didn't really look human, and he watched the people, something unreadable in his eyes.
The people…
"What are they chanting?" Sakura asked the stranger.
The long-eared man glanced at her. "They lament the theft of their occupations by these entities… 'Zetsu.'"
Now that she focused on them, she could hear it. 'The Zetsu took our jobs,' one man was saying.
"…What?" Sakura frowned.
The man offered a shrug. "I'd assumed their nature would not be foreign to you. Mon-keigh beings, constructed from the cellular matter of the Tree Mon-keigh, enhanced by the Mon-keigh Emperor's Mon-keigh 'scientists'—"
"…No, I know what a Zetsu is. Although… monkey…? Really?"
He continued, undeterred. "—and their abilities augmented through union with the psycho-plastic—"
"…What?"
"—under the guidance of the artificial intelligence entity, O.R.O.—"
"I beg your pardon?"
"There is no need for you to beg, pink one. Robots, I suppose your uninformed kind would call them, although not mechanical ones."
"What?"
Another shrug was the man's only reply. "It is hardly a surprise that your kin feel excluded. Their menial roles are usurped, their world shattered by cataclysm, forcing your primitive species into the celestial expanse…"
Sakura paused. Shattered? That was exaggeration, she could see Earth in the far, far, far distance. "Oh, I see. You are one of these doomsayers, then?"
"No." The man grunted. "I am not."
"…Say. Where do you come from, again?"
"A question sharper than your appearance would suggest." His nod was solemn. "My kind endured a similar upheaval in times long past."
"What did you guys do, then? Any…" She glanced up and down at him, somewhat mockingly. "…Wisdom you could share?"
He took her at face value and looked away. "I am not inclined to offer counsel to Mon-keigh. We had to question what it truly meant to be Aeldari, to rediscover the purpose that stirs us from our slumber and dictates the course of our days."
"…Well, that counts as advice, to me."
"Hardly." He scoffed. The trajectory of your fate… who can predict it, save for…?" He cut himself off.
"Save for?"
"No matter." The man shook his head. "Aeldari… And your kind, as well, I suppose… instinctively need struggle. They crave it, but they also hate it. Without struggle they become despondent, weak and fall prey to corruption. With struggle they are strong and ambitious, but that ambition is always geared towards ending struggle. It's a never ending cycle. And I am sure the one you call Emperor has realized it, too."
Sakura sighed. One of these guys, then? The only thing worse than a doomsayer: a philosopher.
"…So." Sakura began. "Did it work for your kind? Did you all manage to adapt in the end?"
Aruni thought of the Aeldari's continued survival. And the horrible excess that came before, the sheer depravity. Images of the Drukhari flickered in his mind, too.
"…Yes." He said, nodding slowly. "Yes, we… adapted, with a modicum of success, given the circumstances."
Orochimaru was still awake, apparently.
The man, apparently named Aruni, was going to meet him and Sakura went along with him. Because the two men were friends or something, supposedly.
It beat ruminating about possible kami-related trauma, she thought. Orochimaru greeted her with slight fondness, too.
The artificial moon cast long shadows across the spire tucked at the forest's edge, along with the soft glow of the lanterns inside. The aroma of a late supper filled the air—grilled fish, rice, and a hint of simmering miso soup.
Kaoru, Orochimaru's (Yashagoro, technically) adoptive mother, moved across the kitchen deftly, her kimono rustling with her movements. She was humming, adding to the nocturnal symphony outside.
In the dining area, two unlikely figures sat together.
Orochimaru was one thing, of course. His slitted, snake-like eyes scanned the room with a curious mix of slight disbelief and resignation. Sitting across from him was Kaguya, and she seemed wildly out of place.
"Supper is ready." Kaoru called out, carrying a tray laden with bowls of rice, soup, and grilled fish to the table. Her tone was equal parts gentle and firm, and about as unconventional as their relationship.
Orochimaru frowned at the food, his arms folded. "I don't need to eat like a common child." He said. "This is wildly unnecessary."
Kaoru merely smiled flatly, placing a steaming bowl in front of him. "You are in a child's body now, Yashagoro. You need to eat, just like any growing boy. Your sleeping habits are poor, at best, on top of it — do you know how late it is…?"
Before he could reply, Kaguya rose, her robes pooling around her. "I will assist." She announced imperiously, reaching for a stack of dishes.
She was unfamiliar with such menial tasks, however. Perhaps she had been more used to them, once, but right now she struggled to carry the dishes to the table without dropping them.
"…The bowls go on the right, dear." Kaoru supplied.
That was the scene Sakura stumbled upon, and she watched it with all the eagerness of one who watched an impending disaster.
"Do you want a bowl too, Aru?" Kaoru asked.
Aruni shook his head. "If I wanted to eat human slop, I would simply find it on your ruined planet's streets."
Sakura frowned slightly. Something decently bad had actually happened down on Earth, then.
"…Of course." Kaoru said, quite dryly. "How could I forget?"
"Your minds are quite limited." Aruni stated. "In this sense, it is not your fault."
"What do your people eat?" Kaguya asked, for mere curiosity. It was hard for Sakura to get a read on her emotions — not just because she had a bit of a problem with that in general.
"Fruits, mushrooms, vegetables." Aruni stated.
Sakura squinted. "…Like humans?"
She also realized why he was more neutral toward Kaguya — she simply wasn't human.
"Please do not compare us to dear Aruni's species." Orochimaru said. "He is, after all, of the proud Aeldari."
"This is why you were always more tolerable than most." Aruni nodded.
"Of course, of course." Orochimaru said magnanimously. "Now… Sakura, I believe you came in search of answers, did you not? Have a seat."
Sakura glanced at the table, near which Aruni was standing, arms crossed, where Kaguya and Orochimaru were already sitting.
She didn't feel like dealing with this particular mess.
"…Look, I think I can wait until tomorrow morning, when everyone else wakes up."
"Suit yourself." Orochimaru shrugged. "I am in no particular rush, and have never really enjoyed repeating myself anyway."
"Just point me towards the nearest training grounds, I have to blow off some steam."
Her legs, her fist, her dagger both left deep gouges in the strange human-shaped pale dolls that served as training partners.
…In the walls, too, when the dolls slammed into them.
Sweat trickled down her brow as Sakura relentlessly dodged through their attacks, keeping her chakra usage to near zero.
The strange light of the place washed the area in moonlight blues.
Blue was kinda how she felt, too — and she was not entirely sure why. She was here and alive, after all. And not having to keep Kamui on at all times felt like a relief. To be able to move about without it, to train without it was very welcome.
Her chakra pulsed with subtle irregularity and she whirled around, because something was coming—
"Sakura…?"
It was Yoisen, apparently. She looked a bit different, too. Perhaps it had been a while, after all.
"I… The dolls are not meant to be used several at a time. You are going to hurt yourself." She said.
Sakura paused, breath slightly ragged. The older woman, white hair billowing in the field's artificial breeze that Sakura would have to talk to Naruto about (it was much too dramatic, for one) slowly walked towards her.
Her eyes…
Sakura groaned. "Oh, come the fuck on." She said. "Not you, too."
Yoisen hesitated. "I… merely wanted to check up on you. You seem…" She paused, searching for the right word. "Relentless."
Sakura wiped the sweat off her forehead, gripping her dagger tighter. "And you seem to think it's your fault."
Yoisen's gaze faltered, but she nodded, eyes meeting Sakura's in a silent understanding. "…You're right. I do." She admitted, taking another step closer. The scent of fire and fresh earth followed her.
"Aight." Sakura nodded. "Stop. Right there."
"I could have—"
"Not your fault." Sakura said, resuming practice.
"If I took your place—"
"Boring." Sakura nearly yawned. Yoisen began to frown.
"I didn't do enough—"
"Did you get me captured?" Sakura asked.
"No, but—"
"Okay." Sakura nodded. "Then being there was enough. I chose my fate. Besides, it all ended well, didn't it...? My plans are good like that."
"Even then, Naruto entrusted me—"
"Enough." Sakura retorted, somewhat flatly. In spite of the blunt weapons flying around her. "Entrusted…? Leave that Indra shit where it belongs. A thousand years in the past, or so. My househusband is not that man."
"Of course he is not." Yoisen said, with more vehemence than she had thought. "That is why I—"
"Good. We're agreeing then." Sakura shrugged. "Time to believe it when it comes to you, too."
"…"
"The only thing Naruto entrusts us with is not fucking things up... too badly for everyone." Sakura said. "None of that princess bullshit."
Yoisen's frown deepened, her eyes reflecting her internal turmoil. Sakura's sharp retorts hung in the air between them, full of conviction.
"…It's not that easy, Sakura." Yoisen murmured.
"Sure seems like it, though." Sakura said. Then, as though remembering vague concepts like human empathy, she thought better of it. "…Yeah, no. Perhaps you're right. I'm sure a thousand years of binding beyond death would do loopy things to my mind, too."
"…" Yoisen squinted.
"…That was my attempt at consoling you." Sakura winced.
"I figured."
Yoisen's eyes narrowed further, but the corner of her mouth twitched ever so slightly. Sakura saw it and jumped on the opportunity.
"See?" She asked, grinning. "You get it. That makes you a good number six, to me."
"…I suppose." Yoisen looked away.
"Although yeah, if you want actual nice words and all that, you should see with Ino. She's good with them, when she's not pissed."
"…Ino, you say?"
"What?" Sakura frowned. "Aren't you two on decent terms, these days?"
"Hardly."
"Oh." Sakura blinked. "I had assumed that that since Naruto and you were fucking…" She shrugged. "Then again, perhaps that's why. Ino can be somewhat possessive. Well, no, that's relative, considering the whole polygyny thing—"
"Naruto and I are not…" Yoisen faltered. "…involved in that way."
Sakura guffawed. "I'm going to pretend you just didn't say that." She said. Then she paused. "…Oh, you were serious."
"Yes."
Sakura frowned. "But… why not? He knows what he's doing — I'm sure Toru used to believe that sex was the reason why we stayed, and not the fact that we all have several wonderful partners. Then again, he used to be dumb like that — Now he's just dumb differently."
"Why…not?" Yoisen's cheeks tinted a delicate pink. "That is…"
"Oh, well." Sakura chuckled. "To each their own. I had my own reasons for waiting… and then I got to die a crusty virgin. Even Toru managed to avoid that fate."
Yoisen remained silent, causing Sakura to blink in surprise.
"…For real?" She asked. Yoisen gave her an awkward shrug.
"I died as well, recently. And never married."
Sakura laughed. "Who said anything about marriage?" Quickly, she pushed aside an old jibe about 'christmas cakes' that she'd heard from Gama. "Times were really that different, huh?"
"It's not just the times that were different." Yoisen's eyes dimmed. "I was bound in service to Indra, and that went beyond his death. He wanted no distractions for me, no room for any loyalties but his. No risking me building any sort of family that would distract me from my goal."
'Ah.' Sakura's grin faded like snow in the morning sun.
"Of course…" Yoisen continued. "I did manage to circumvent that bind by helping Uzushio — considering them a sort of family, but…" She shrugged, lightly, as though Sakura could not see what her eyes held. "Well, you know how that story ended."
"…My bad." Sakura muttered — she had put her foot into her mouth, again.
"It is fine." Yoisen assured her. "You couldn't have known. Perhaps Indra was just a possessive person."
"Still." Sakura sighed. "Damn. No wonder Naruto doesn't really want to talk about it at length."
"Oh, that is just scratching the surface." Yoisen said with a rueful shake of her head. "The tasks he asked of our old comrades were, to put it mildly, impossible."
Sakura met her gaze but said nothing, prompting Yoisen to wave her hand dismissively. "But that's a story for another day. I had my own concerns, even then."
Sakura perked up, glad for the shift. "Such as trying — and not-trying — to bring about the resurrection of the most powerful man of his time?"
"Indeed, that took up much of my time." Yoisen confessed, her smile growing. Sakura's grin widened in response. "And of course, let us not forget the hunt for fragments of the original Fruit. By the time I completed that mission, I was the last one standing among Indra's allies."
"…Well, that's just sad." Sakura declared, shaking her head.
"I do not miss many of them." Yoisen admitted, deadpan. "In fact, I would even say that perhaps it is for the best."
"If you say so."
Yoisen's smile returned. "Don't fret about my lack of a love life. In spite of it, I did, however, become quite skilled at horse riding — There was a war, you see. That must count for something."
Sakura erupted into genuine laughter.
"Oh, you." She said, wiping a small, fond tear away. "Say, are you planning on sleeping right away?"
Yoisen recoiled a little.
"…I meant training." Sakura clarified, an eyebrow raised in amusement. "You look like you're in need of a distraction yourself."
"Oh. In that case, I accept." Yoisen agreed, materializing a weapon.
Sakura's eyes fell on it. "What happened to your previous sword?"
"Did they not tell you?" Yoisen asked.
…
"Your sword… I traded it." Naruto said.
Yoisen paused. And she did feel the familiar pang of loss. The sword had once been her rock, her link to a past that steadied her through turbulent times—times when her own identity seemed to waver like a mirage. Entrusting it to Naruto had been a conscious act, an offering of a fragment of her spirit.
His disclosure puzzled her. The sword was already his to do as he wished. So why bring it up now?
Why did he feel the need to tell her yet again? What was a sword worth, when compared to a friend's life?
Didn't he understand that she no longer needed to be chained to her past?
"…I have you." Yoisen said, only fumbling slightly. The admission felt daring to her, more so than the risqué photos she had naively believed were commonplace in this modern world.
…Perhaps not. But it was daring anyway.
Naruto blinked, momentarily taken aback by her response. Then his face broke into a tender smile, tinged with just a touch of surprise. "Yes, you do."
"That will be enough." She smiled radiantly.
…
"I was napping." Sakura said.
"Naruto lost it." Yoisen simply stated.
"Seriously? Another one?" Sakura's brow furrowed in disbelief.
"That is probably why Naruto did not mention it." Yoisen smiled.
"Orochimaru told me Naruto lost his, as well as Itachi's. And that Toru had to destroy for a distraction, all in order to save our favorite slumlord. Damn. Naruto has really let himself go ever since I left, huh."
"He is the first one to admit he is lost without you, any of you, I am certain."
Sakura waved it off, laughing. "Oh, stop it, you. I'm sure he would do something drastic if he lost you, too."
Yoisen thought of the events down on Earth. "...Perhaps."
In the morning
Karin woke up to the smells of something burning.
Instantly, she was wide awake. And she knew exactly what it was.
'Oh gods, no.'
She threw herself out of bed, stumbling as she did so. Karin jumped down the stairs in a fluid motion, Water rising around her hand.
The acrid stench was stronger here, it filled the air; sharp and unpleasant. And when she landed on the ground floor, the scene she was met with was exactly what she had imagined, and dreaded.
There stood Sakura, looking slightly bewildered, amidst a cloud of billowing smoke. She gave Karin a little wince.
"…Well." Sakura said, by way of an excuse. "For my defense, I'm not very familiar with these new equipment — Ah, come on now, dry those eyes, the smoke's not even that bad."
Karin sniffled. "No, no. It's not that bad." She echoed.
"What, really?" Sakura grinned. "Just from seeing little old me, then?"
"Nah." Karin said, wiping her eyes quickly. She then laughed. "I don't give a fuck, actually — It's the smoke."
"Of course it is." Sakura nodded pleasantly. "Now why don't you bring these big arms of yours around me?"
"I thought you hated hugs in public—"
"I'll allow it today." Sakura rolled her eyes. Then she eyed the other room. "…If Toru's still sleeping, that is."
"Definitely." Karin said, but did not bother checking.
"Come here, then."
…
Toru, in fact, was not sleeping.
'I just knew it.' He thought.
'…What?' Akemi asked, equally silently. 'That this Gama is an idiot I don't want influencing you…?'
'Nah, not that. Besides, we only hung out together once in the last few days.'
'What, then…? That Sakura can be sweet…? The world's most open secret?'
'Easy for you to say now that it's in the open.' Toru scowled. 'Do you think we can pretend to wake up now, or is she going to try and murder me for knowing?'
'Now should be fine.' Akemi shrugged. '…I suppose we can do something about breakfast, too. This was disastrous.'
'…You said you'd rather never cook breakfast again, just a month ago.'
'Maybe I did.' Akemi laughed. 'But that was a different context. I did not mean it.'
'You said you wouldn't do for free what you can do for money — and it sounded pretty bad on many levels.'
'Oh, don't be an idiot.' She smiled. 'It's more so that I don't have to prepare food, drinks anymore. I do it because I feel like it.'
'Ah, yes…' Toru thought, dryly. 'Because Naruto destroyed the worldly economy.'
'Exactly because of that. Don't scowl, pretty boy, you know it was always a pretty bad deal for everyone.'
'Funny how he got rid of money just when I could actually have enjoyed having it, though.'
'Please bring your concerns to him. Not me.'
'He'd take it as a challenge.'
…
The house slowly woke up.
Sakura noticed a few budding emotional reactions.
"I swear to…" She began, and then paused. "…Who do we swear to, now that the gods are admittedly dicks…? — I swear that if you begin to treat me like I'm made of glass, or tear up yet again, I will—"
Naruto held his hands up. "We won't, then." He said, with a fond smile.
"Good." She grinned saucily. "Keep this attitude for later, when Akemi and her guy are gone."
From the kitchen, Toru made a disgusted noise.
Sakura shook her head. 'Uchiha.' Her pale-eyed wife was coming down the stairs, and she looked a bit too emotional for her standards. "…Hanabi, I swear that if you try to — See, now I have to fade through you."
Hanabi caught herself well, however, and did not slam into the wall.
"But—" She began. "It's because of me that—"
Sakura rolled her eyes, both the same shade of green, with a red sheen to her left one. "No blubbering." Her expression tightened. "I want no pity."
"But—"
"Don't worry, I'm strong." Sakura nodded. "I was kinda schizophrenic as a kid — I ate my other self to stop the voices, so I'm pretty much ready for anything, now."
Hanabi looked at her incredulously. "Is this some kind of joke I'm missing?"
"No. I ate parts of the Jūbi this time, actually. It's a working relationship."
"…What?"
"And still, I'm hungry as fuck." Sakura said, changing the subject. "You can cry about my terrible fate later, when I'm not here to listen to your blubber."
This time, Hanabi paused. "…You've gone through most of our food stocks already, haven't you? I can see it, now that I try."
Sakura shrugged. "I was hungry yesterday night, too."
"Where did the food even go?" Hanabi asked slowly.
"Instant fat storage technique." Sakura grinned.
"Is that why you look well…?" Hanabi asked, and Sakura nodded. "…How?"
"I'm a genius at medical ninjutsu."
"You never even studied it."
"That's why I say I'm a genius." Sakura nodded.
"Sakura." Hanabi said, both fondly and in exasperation.
Sakura sighed. "Fine… Tsunade stole the jutsu from the Akimichi clan in her wild youth — years before Ino asked Chōji about the exact same thing. Except, unlike them, I'm not using it to get a massive chest, or to keep myself trim — I don't need a jutsu to keep being a lean, mean, hungry machine."
More people came down.
"I think I understand what happened here." Yugito said neutrally. "I can still smell the smoke in the air. And in your hair, Sakura." A grin, however, threatened to break through her stoic expression.
"I'm happy to see you too." Sakura grinned at both Yugito and her son. "And the little demon, too, of course. Did he begin speaking in tongues already?"
The child responded with an indistinct babble.
"No."
"Ah." Sakura shrugged. "I guess he will start soon enough, anyway. What's good, Ino? You still look shaken — and I told you not to be sad already."
Ino shook her head. Her thoughts were on yesterday… on the contest in eight years — eight years, how short could that be…?
"At this point, you should already know I can't switch off so easily." Ino muttered. "Because I'm not sociopathic."
"This has nothing to do with Naruto, Ino." Hanabi shook her head, squeezing her wife's hand.
Naruto grunted in answer. "It's alright." He said. "Crocodile tears are something I'm decent at."
"Like when that Sarutobi guardian told you you couldn't get both comic books and ice cream, that one time?" Sakura grinned.
"No." Naruto lied easily, with an amused smile. "Those were real tears. My last, in fact. Welcome back, Sakura."
…
"Please don't tell me that your whole plan is to bait Susanoo into breaking its clause." Sakura said, almost worriedly.
At the same time, she was shoving food down her throat, at a pace that would have made an Akimichi somewhat impressed. Ino, behind her, was taking care of untangling the mess that was her hair, and complaining about the state of it.
Sakura continued: "The kami is not that dumb."
Akemi groaned. "…I thought this was supposed to be an easy, relaxing meal." She paused. "…with no conversation about how some of you, at least, are likely going to die a horrible death in eight years and most worlds will be back to facing the kami's whims…?" She asked, voice slowly rising.
"You're right." Karin nodded pleasantly. "We're not doing that. Just this one question, then."
"Whatever." Toru shrugged. "I'm sure Naruto will sacrifice himself for the greater good. So that we may live." He slapped the larger man's back. "Right?"
"Of course." Naruto nodded easily. "As always. Or Sasuke can do it."
Sasuke, who had joined them in the meantime, along with his family… glared at Naruto.
"Sasuke won't." Hinata decided for him, demurely… but firmly.
"Sasuke won't." Ino echoed, glaring at Naruto.
"Sasuke's a big boy, he has a mouth." Naruto stated. "Does he not?"
"I'm going if you are." Sasuke retorted. "Asshole."
Ino sighed. Hinata made a pained sound — and said something about her and her sister becoming widows at around the same time.
"Sasuke's untimely disappearance or not… You guys didn't answer me." Sakura said, slightly amused. More food went down her throat.
"My answer is… Of course not." Naruto shook his head in denial. "Who do you take me for…? No, no…" He paused. "Our plan truly is to kill Susanoo."
A slight pause. Toru casually folded his hands in front of his face — likely to hide his worried chuckle.
"Ah!" Sakura breathed out in relief. "…You nearly had me worried here, dear."
"…Is it?" Akemi asked, somewhat wary. "That's the plan…?"
"Yes." Naruto confirmed. "It's a pretty open contract, so we might take the opportunity to kill a few other kami. The ones dumb enough to come out of their hole after all that."
"Like Inari-Kitsune, for one." Toru offered.
"Like Inari-Kitsune, for one." Naruto confirmed.
"…You guys tire the shit out of me." Akemi said, slumping in her seat. "It's never-ending problems, all the time. And then some more."
Sasuke pursed his lips again. Next to him, Hinata did, as well.
Their twins were suspiciously calm, as they tended to be, in Yūshirō's presence. To Hinata, it was as nice as it was strange. And Toru's jokes about the demon heir having the power to influence souls already were not really helping. The twins just sat near the younger child, contentedly.
"…I do have a question." Sasuke said. "That's what's had you worried, Sakura…? That we would simply let the kami Susanoo be…?"
"Well, yeah." Sakura frowned. "It's never too late to teach a shitty kid a lesson, is it…? I've learned a lot from my time in the Academy. I can't let that fucker just go and get away with bullying me, could I now?"
"…"
"Could I, Sasuke?" She asked again. "I'm not even talking about your unruly children. Did you ever let go of your very justified spite against my husband?"
"…"
"Thought so. Now, did I ever try to stop any of the other Sasuke — and Jinsuke — when they decided they wanted to take revenge on their brother, the shinobi world… or even their family — by never being around…?"
"…" Sasuke sighed, and he rubbed his temples. "…Let's kill Susanoo, then."
"Thank you, Sasuke." She smiled. "I'm glad you can understand it. I know how your clan can be about revenge and vendetta, so I thought there was a chance… And I'm sure even you can see the romanticism in all of you coming to save me, too."
Hinata paused. She glanced at Hanabi, in question. "…Did the definition change recently, perhaps…?" Hinata asked demurely, and she looked as though she wanted to fan her face, if only for the effect.
Or because the group's company was proving to be just as bad for her blood pressure as it always had been.
Hanabi shrugged. "We never really agreed on it, you and I."
Hinata did fan her face, this time. With a ceremonial fan that she had seemingly pulled out of nowhere. "It has much to do with the… material you are getting your ideas of romance from."
"There is nothing wrong with erotica." Hanabi stated flatly.
"Not with the good sort." Hinata nodded demurely. Naruto glanced at Sasuke, who looked away; Naruto decided he was impressed. "So, tell me, Sakura. What is so romantic about all of this?"
"Can't you see it?" Sakura asked, shaking her head. "Just because our relationship is unconventional shouldn't make you blind to it."
Hinata paused, and to her credit, she did try to see — she had good eyes.
"…Ah, I suppose there is the beauty of the quest; in the act of casting oneself against the harshest of seas, the most impenetrable of realms, to save the one who is in one's heart." Hinata hesitated. "…Or in several people's hearts, then."
Sakura grinned. "You got it, after all!"
"…Did I really?"
Sakura nodded, pleased. "Even Sasuke gets it now. See how proud he looks."
"Ah." Hinata smiled demurely. "But my Sasuke is always like this with me. He is a gentle man." She said, fanning her face.
"…I don't get it." Hanabi declared. "I never liked the classics that much."
Sakura grinned again. "Oh, you… A promise to destroy the destroyer of worlds just for little old me?" She asked. "I'm swooning already."
…
Breakfast went on pleasantly.
Sasuke and his family left after a short while; Sasuke had to train, and Hinata was supposed to bring the kids over to her own father, for once — dealing with Hanabi had probably made him age a good deal faster.
Sakura was still hungry; so was Yūshirō, now that his playmates of sorts were gone.
"…Don't eat the husk." Yugito told him.
Yūshirō, who sounded particularly displeased at being ordered to do something, even though many people thought (wrongly) he couldn't understand the specifics yet, grunted.
"Please don't eat the husk, Yūshirō." Naruto repeated. "…And don't give me that look, I know you understand me."
Yūshirō continued to stare.
"Yeah, that's right." Naruto nodded. "Wait for puberty to be a little dick."
Yūshirō tried to shove the husk in his mouth in answer, but found nothing but air there — his father was holding the husk, out of his reach. He scowled again.
Sakura scowled too, because she had been in the child's shoes once. "…Where is my pipe, girls?"
"Where you left it." Naruto said.
"And where is that?"
"How should we know, it's been months since you really stayed here — also, don't smoke in front of the kid." Naruto said.
"Your son." Yugito said.
"What did I say?"
"I smoke in front of Toru just fine." Sakura snorted, and the rice ball that phased through her face got Toru a few choice words from Hanabi. "…Besides, we both know it's not even actual, harmful smoke." She left to find it, disappearing entirely silently.
Yūshirō, looking at the spot where she had been, opened his mouth. Revealing teeth that were slightly too sharp. Nothing like Mist ninja, of course, because that was something they did on purpose. Still sharp, however.
Naruto glanced at him. "…Should have done this earlier, if you wanted to show off."
Yūshirō blinked, his dark eyes wide and unblinking as he looked back at Naruto.
An innocent smile spread across his small face, the sharp little teeth gleaming in the soft light. He gurgled something unintelligible, the sound followed by a tiny hiccup.
Naruto ruffled his soft hair. "…You're lucky you're kinda cute, kid."
Yūshirō bubbled a giggle in response, his chubby hands reaching up to try and grab at Naruto's finger.
Yugito frowned. "He's going to have my smarts. Not your meat-head brains."
Naruto couldn't help but chuckle. "That's exactly why I'm worried about him."
…
"What's the day's plan?" Toru asked, once Akemi left, too. "Training time already? People to help...? Worlds to save? Gods to kill...? Comics to draw?"
"Training." Hanabi shrugged. "Is Shade's Realm ready?"
Ino nodded. "Bigger than ever… Safer, too."
Naruto smiled. "There wouldn't be much of a point if the kami could reach us there, would there…? Susanoo did take the Oath, but I don't trust—"
The orb-like device near Naruto pinged blue. His gaze drifted to it momentarily.
"…I don't think you should be doing this right now." Karin chided gently. "Nor discussing the specifics of the fight in which we all get obliterated. Later, when we train. Where we have time."
"You're right, of course." He muttered absentmindedly. "…But how the fuck did three thousand separate files arrive since I left the palace, exactly…?" His hand reached for the holographic button.
Karin, who knew him all too well, tried. "Don't print them here—"
He printed them here, of course. Because he still preferred physical to digital, no matter how good it was quickly becoming.
The device fed upon his chakra in the tiniest possible increments, and the room was soon awash with envelopes. Hanabi groaned in frustration — a couple had landed in her breakfast.
"Right." Naruto muttered. "They still didn't fix that little… printing feature, then. Perhaps digital ink is not all that bad, at times." He seized one envelope and opened it up. A woman's face stared back at him on the traditional paper document. Naruto read through it, diagonally. He stilled. "An application for the… Uzumaki Clan Restoration Act?"
Toru stiffened.
Ino swiped a floating envelope out of the air. It was more of the same, of course. Name, age, place of origin, interests, skills, and reason for applying, along with a personal statement.
Ino glanced up. "…Toru?" She asked quietly. Naruto was staring at him too, but he seemed fairly amused, at least.
Toru's hands went up in the air. "Why does everyone always assume it's me?"
"Take a guess, reel." Ino said, looking decidedly too neutral.
"Why would I offer people a chance to get an STD?"
Naruto chuckled. "Good one, good one."
"Answer the damn question, Toru." Ino said.
"Well it's not me." Toru said. "Why not point fingers at, let's see… the woman who came back yesterday and has a penchant for shit-stirring or… the one who has a thinly veiled interest in expanding her own harem of women?"
Karin stared at her fingernails. "I can't see how this implicates me in the slightest." Toru stared at her. "Besides, this is not very organic, I have no interest in reviewing files."
Sakura revealed herself. Or rather, she materialized from thin air, entirely silently — one moment she was away, likely feeding on orphans, or perhaps finding her pipe… and the next she was here, rifling through the paper pile, with incredible speed. The sudden intrusion caused Toru to leap up in surprise, banging his knees against the reinforced table. He hissed in pain.
"A warning would be nice, you dick!" Toru groaned, rubbing his knees.
Sakura glanced up, eyebrows raised in feigned innocence.
"Where's the fun in that?" She asked, her attention quickly returning to the envelopes in her hands. "Are these the help beacons you girls said you left in other worlds? Are people requesting help? Accepting ours, maybe?"
"No." Ino said flatly.
"Does nobody want us to help, then?" Sakura asked. "That is vexing—"
"No." Karin laughed. "We do get the help beacons, and we do dispatch people quite often, actually."
Sakura nodded. "Good. What's that, then?"
"Take a look."
"Sure." Chakra gathered in a flash around her. "Sharing-on!"
Her left eye (which she had matched to her natural one) turned deep red, and she began to skim through the documents at a staggering pace.
Toru was still rubbing his knee.
"Just turn on your precognitive sight to avoid getting surprised next time, Toru." Hanabi said.
"The Sharingan is not that great at reading a future that's not violent movement—" Toru began, before realizing who he was talking to.
"Yet another shortcoming of the Uchiha clan." She nodded, as though she had known it. "Between this and the incest, it's a miracle they stayed alive for so long."
"Like the Hyūga are any better on this front." Toru retorted. "Have you seen the chin on Toshirō?"
Hanabi squinted. "…Who?"
"Isn't Toshirō your third cousin on your mother's side?" Naruto questioned, trying to recall where he had heard the name.
"Oh." Hanabi chuckled. "Yes. You mean Toshirō who married Hana, my second cousin's half-sister."
"Isn't Hana your cousin's half-sister, who is from your uncle's cousin's first marriage?" Naruto asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.
"Yes, Hana is my cousin's half-sister. Her father was my uncle's cousin, who was first married to Ayame." Hanabi clarified. "Ayame was originally going to marry the other Toshirō, my father's cousin's younger brother, but ended up with my father's second cousin instead."
Naruto paused. "…But Hana was also married to Kaito, your cousin's stepmother's cousin's brother, right? So, technically Kaito is your cousin's brother-in-law?"
"That's where things got messy. They divorced after Hana discovered Kaito was her long-lost half-brother. He only told me once I got him out of Konoha. Turns out their mother had given Kaito up for… service in the Branch House." Hanabi finished, a grimace marring her face.
Toru tilted his head, squinting at them. He then burst into a short laugh. "Alright, you two fuckers got me, this time, I give. Good defense, there's no point in throwing oil on a woman who set herself on fire already."
Naruto and Hanabi exchanged a glance. She shrugged.
Meanwhile, Sakura was still scanning through the letters, dizzyingly fast, her legendary red eye helping her along.
She paused on one letter, a wry smile creeping onto her face. Ino, who was intimately familiar with Sakura's tells, sneakily peeked at her thoughts before her wife hushed her away.
From the swift mental skim, Ino gleaned a few details.
—ate of Birth: Rikudo 5, Dragon 3
Place of Origin: Yūgawa, Kingdom of Wakuchi—
Rising abruptly, Ino left her seat.
"…Where are you going?" Karin asked, frowning in confusion. "Naruto's clone whipped up some pancakes." The clone in question sent Karin a thumbs-up and Toru told him to put on a less tight shirt.
"I have to return some holotapes." Ino said briskly. And just like that, she left.
Naruto glanced at Sakura. "…What was it?" He asked, with some rising suspicion. "And are you going to whine about the pancakes again? Already?"
"No." Sakura waved him off. "And I'm sure I wouldn't know what triggered Ino. Haven't you heard that saying? 'Women are as fickle as autumn weather.'"
"…You hate that saying." Naruto deadpanned. "You're just trying to brush this off."
"Well, yeah, it's a dumb saying." She rolled her eyes. "Sounds nice on the paper, though."
"Like building a harem." Toru smiled dryly.
Karin frowned minutely. "Joining one late, perhaps. But building it is pretty sweet. And as long as you're among, let's say, the first seven or ten, you still should wield a decent amount of power over the direction things take."
"I would never build one." Toru chortled.
"You couldn't." Hanabi said.
"Bet — Never mind, Akemi would kill me."
"You wouldn't be able to join one either." Hanabi mocked.
"That's not the point I was trying to make."
"Me neither, I meant I would refuse your bid for membership in our own marriage — or concubine ring, which comprises only Yugito." Hanabi scoffed at Toru. Yugito nodded slowly, looking torn about whether or not she was agreeing with Hanabi's assessment. "And believe me, you would try to join if you knew about the second level of bond-related powers."
Toru paused, squinting at her. "…There is a second one? I'm not even sure about the first — Nah, I don't believe it."
Yugito nodded solemnly. "Absolutely."
Toru blinked again. "…For real?" He believed her, because she had about as much of a sense of humor as Hyūga had a penchant for being pleasant.
"It's only for more intimate relationships." Sakura offered. "No wonder you didn't get yours."
Naruto sighed.
Toru squinted. "…So the only way I can get that is if I… fuck Naruto?" He asked, looking pretty uncomfortable at the idea.
"Or if he fucks you." Yugito said, nodding sadly. "That's the face I made when I learned about what I had to do, too."
Naruto gave her a glare. "And here I thought you simply couldn't miss out on this barely-of-age young man. Fresh meat. Jailbait. Call it what you want."
"Oh, please." Yugito scoffed. "That's a concept you got from those civilian worlds. You're just trying to make me look bad… mister I-hide-my-age."
"Circumstances." Naruto grunted. If she ever met Tayuya, though…
"I sacrificed a lot to obtain this bond power." Yugito said, shaking her head. "I'm just glad it works."
"…Oh great, you're a comedian too, now, huh." Naruto grunted. If even she got started, he'd be outnumbered entirely.
"Alas, where power plays, the faint of heart find no ground." Hanabi concluded.
"Don't quote old clan sayings back at me." Toru grunted. "I've been there, at these damned etiquette lessons—"
"Sasuke said you had like really spotty attendance." Sakura said.
"He was always a teacher's pet." Toru waved off. He hesitated. When he spoke, he looked a bit green in the face. "…Do you think that it's really going to be needed to save the worlds…?"
Naruto nodded sadly. "I'm afraid so, Toru. We have to take our bond to the next level, I am so sorry—"
"Ha!" Toru crowed. "Now I know you girls were fucking with me! Naruto would never apologize! He didn't even do it when he destroyed the Earth!"
Sakura choked on her waffle. She turned intangible automatically, and the waffle slapped her chair.
"…That wasn't a joke? What the fuck did you guys do?"
…
"This one specifies that she's a virgin." Hanabi pointed out.
Karin shook her head with a sad sigh. "That's a strange way to market herself. Has she not heard about the Great Emperor's ravenous lusts…?"
"This one!" Toru lifted a file. "She says she loved life in the empire, and has great hopes for the Celestial Ring. Psychotic, clearly… so I believe she will fit in with all of you quite nicely."
"Oh." Hanabi smiled, reading off another. "This one says she read your 'Born Again' book, Toru. She's a great fan and would love to meet you to discuss it."
Toru whirled around. "What? Really?"
"No."
Toru let out an indignant squawk. Hanabi cackled, dickishly.
"Ah." Karin blinked. "This one… says she has been trying to reach you ever since you killed that 'scummy bastard of a director'… a man in Nikoze."
"I didn't kill anyone in Nikoze." Naruto denied, in the middle of explaining what had happened to Earth to Sakura.
"Well your Shadow must have, then." Karin shrugged. "…And apparently slept with the late man's wife, too… according to that letter."
"Look, I can't be held accountable for the Shadows' private lives, that's on them."
"Who were they born from, again?" Toru asked.
"They are their own men, Toru." Naruto said firmly. "They made themselves."
A pause.
"I'll unmake them." Toru decided. "Before it's too late and their children come here to bother us."
"'Can differentiate between 165 types of dango by taste, looking for an adventurous life.'" Karin read.
Toru paused. "…Is this…?"
Karin frowned. "Of course it's not Anko."
Toru let out a relieved sigh. For Shisui.
"'Adept at using the Shadow Clone technique.'" Hanabi quoted. "…Is she implying anything in particular?"
"Sounds like it." Toru grunted.
"Oh, my." Karin muttered. "Uchiha… Sat—"
Toru cut her off, quite loudly. "Satoru?" He exclaimed. "Satoru? No way! That guy should have known that Naruto doesn't swing that way, right?"
Karin stared at him.
"…Right, Karin?" Toru asked again, and his smile looked pasted on his face. "Satoru?"
"…Right." She nodded slowly. "But I'm sure Satoru has a good reason for trying… Right?"
"Right." Toru nodded quickly — a sperm donor was one thing… this Act was another.
Naruto glanced at the two of them, squinting. But he said nothing and continued to tell a concerned Sakura the tale of how Earth was set to end in a few days.
"Oh." Hanabi smiled. "I just can't believe dear Aunt Mikoto would hop on the Clan Restoration — What the fuck, Toru?!"
A brilliant flame had torched the paper she was holding entirely.
"Just turn on your precognitive sight, next time." He mocked. "Besides…" He tried to regain his countenance. "I know you were just fucking with me."
"You don't sound so confident, right now, Toru." Hanabi snarked. "Anything on your mind…? Too bad you can't verify anymore."
Toru stiffened.
"You will soon call me Auntie too—"
"Hanabi…" Naruto laughed. "Please stop, you know how he gets if you rile him up."
"Right." Hanabi said. "Of course. Of course. No riling Toru up in the house."
Toru clenched his fist. Then he sneezed.
Hanabi laughed. "Someone cursed you." She said. "Probably not the first time."
"How would you know?" He asked tersely.
"I just know these things." She wagged her finger. "Like I know most of everything."
"Hanabi…" Naruto sighed.
"What did I do now?" Hanabi sniffed.
"You're lording your privilege all over him."
"Isn't that what I always do?" Hanabi asked and Toru growled at both of them.
"More than usual." Karin piped in.
"Fine." Hanabi huffed.
Sakura motioned for Yugito to light her pipe. Yugito just stared at her.
"…Well?" Sakura frowned. "I thought you girls were happy to see me."
"Do I look like I'm Ino, perhaps?" Yugito asked slowly.
Sakura squinted at her, at her blond hair. "…Kinda?"
Yugito scoffed… and she did lit her pipe.
"As long as you didn't come back from Susanoo's realm with another dangerous gift for my son." She muttered.
Sakura exhaled. "…Define dangerous."
"Please, don't." Karin said.
"Eh." Sakura shrugged. "He's too young for a sword, anyway." She said, holding out her finger to Yūshirō. "Right, demon child?" She then hissed in pain and glanced down. "…Since when does he have actual fangs…?"
Yūshirō grinned up at her.
Sakura's eyes softened. She ruffled his hair, like one would, were it a dangerous pet and not a human child. "Those will work wonders on human flesh, I'm sure. Rend them apart, boy."
Yugito rolled her eyes. "Remind me why we even let you anywhere near him, again…?"
Sakura pretended to think about it. "I'm his favorite wine aunt?"
"There are a few others, by now." Karin said, grinning.
Sakura sighed a long-suffering sigh. "Ah… the great wheel of time never stops spinning, does it…? Did my parents decide to have another child to replace me already?"
Karin frowned. "How did you know?"
Sakura choked on the pipe's 'smoke.' "What the fuck—"
"Sorry." Karin said, decidedly not looking too sorry. "I was just running with the joke — they didn't replace you yet, unless you count Ino."
"Oh, you dirty little bitch." Sakura laughed. "…Yeah, I probably should go and see them."
"I was about to say it." Karin said. "…And you'll likely have to actually talk about your time within…"
"It was boring as shit." Sakura said flatly, cutting any possible line of inquiry. "Perpetual storms, waves, survival, relying only on my amazing talent for being a cockroach… Never turning Kamui off, finding new creative ways to stay ahead of that giant dick whenever it came to toy with me…"
"Sakura…" Karin said quietly. "I mean it, for real. It's not about… intel or whatever. It's just—"
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Ino's not even here, and still… you all feel the need to play moral compass for me, huh?"
Silence.
"…Someone has to." Toru decided.
"Whatever. I'll go to ninja… wizard… space-colonizer therapy or whatever is the latest fad Ino came up with, then." Sakura grunted. "…Where's Ino, by the way?"
Training fields
Steel met steel with a resounding clang.
Ino stepped forward, and Yoisen leaped away in a graceful flip. Both their weapons were dulled, but only when it came to meeting a human body, of course. Ino stabbed her own into solid ground, and pillars of earth rose after her opponent.
"Earth Release: Rising Pillars!"
"I am unsure what the point of this all is." Yoisen called out.
"Practice." Ino gritted out. "I told you already."
Sasuke watched the entire thing with red eyes (not from crying, that usually was Toru), unsure whether or not he should step in at all. His initial plan had been to train with Yoisen… but Ino had arrived and proceeded to declare an impromptu sparring session between them.
Yoisen threw a weapon bound in rope at the floor, and pulled herself to it with a sharp tug. She picked it up again, and threw it forward, to Ino's left.
The pillars of Earth fell, and so did Yoisen's blade, flashing in and out of existence with incredible speed. The raised soil split and split, until there was nothing left but geometric shapes.
Ino scowled.
There was no doubt here, Yoisen was much faster than she was herself, and much more skilled, as well. Which didn't really come as a surprise — anyone could learn a few things over a thousand years.
Were it anyone else, perhaps she would admire her technique: Naruto, just like Orochimaru did, favored killing strikes; Sasuke used his blade as a conduit for his flames; Toru was Toru.
Yoisen did a little bit of everything, and she did it well. She had fought with the same set of weapons for a thousand years, after all.
And she was clearly not taking this very seriously.
Ino cursed and leaped back, as Yoisen dashed in her direction, swooping in like a hawk, with predatory eyes.
Ino weaved through seals as she flew, her fingers dancing with fluid precision.
"Human Path: Memory Blaze."
Skimming through Yoisen's thoughts — the few that were reachable without notifying her —, Ino created a vivid, sensory illusion.
The image of flames came alive, morphing and twisting until they took on a hauntingly familiar form. There, amidst the inferno, stood a humanoid shape, disintegrating before their very eyes.
A figure made of embers and memories, trembling under the weight of its own existence.
Yoisen paused. Ino did, too. She wasn't entirely sure what the feelings she had pulled upon were.
It was an illusion of terrifying clarity; the echo of pained cries, the dull undertones of discomfort, the fiery mirage of a human writhing in agony as he combusted. The illusion was so intense that one could almost smell the scent of seared flesh.
"...My bad, I suppose." Ino said.
"…That is mildly psychologically traumatic." Yoisen hissed. "I am impressed—"
Ino's weapon flew over Yoisen's head as she ducked.
"However…" Yoisen said. "It won't be—"
Ino's Soul Whisper reached. She left a trace of her own chakra in Yoisen's mind, allowing her to disrupt Yoisen's movements for a second. It wasn't anything too drastic, of course.
It still forced her to pause in her crouching.
Yoisen looked entirely too surprised when Ino's kick connected with her nose. She let out a grunt as she stumbled backward.
"Ha!" Ino cackled. No one looked their best with a bleeding, broken nose. Not even that ghoulish bitch.
And of course… she had connected.
"Mind Body Switch."
"Oh, by my mother's name—" As her last action as the possession took, Yoisen's hands flew to her left shoulder, stiffening. She forced her chakra into an invisible seal upon it. "Disruption."
A short-range barrier shimmered into existence, nullifying most jutsu and seals around her.
Ino was sent back, forcefully. She gritted her teeth in frustration, pushing herself back onto her feet. "Oh, yeah?" She challenged, the wild glint in her eyes daring Yoisen to answer.
"Oh, yeah." Yoisen parroted back. Her words always sounded much more mocking to Ino than it did to most, but anyone could tell they were meant to be, right now.
Her voice rose. "Bring it on, then, you timeless hag!"
Somehow, that did it. There was a clear, visible tensing in Yoisen's jaws.
"Very well." Yoisen intoned, her voice smooth, in spite of the blood dripping down her chin. "Remember, you asked for this."
There was a blinding rush of motion as Yoisen lunged forward, sword flashing. It cracked like a whip through the air, and she was bearing down on Ino barely after her words reached.
Ino, while slower, was not a seasoned kunoichi for nothing.
With a swift movement, she managed to ward off Yoisen's oncoming assault, meeting her weapon with her own. But Yoisen was relentless, pushing against Ino's defenses with a surprising fierceness.
Her weapon blurred into a flurry of movement that Ino could hardly read, Rinnegan or not.
"No more playing around, then." Yoisen hissed, her face inches away from Ino's. Her breath reeked of iron, an unpleasant reminder of the blood spilled earlier.
Ino held her ground, a defiant smirk playing on her lips despite the strain in her muscles. "You still are!" She shot back, her azure eyes gleaming with a dangerous spark.
She spat a glob of mud at Yoisen's face.
And still, the woman managed to dodge it, dropping low and kicking Ino's legs under her.
Ino caught herself with her hands, a display of her quick reflexes. She used her momentum to roll back, trying to put some distance between them.
It didn't work so well this time, as Yoisen was clinging to her like a shadow, the same way Sakura did with trouble and people as mentally unbalanced as she was.
Ino's hands hit the ground again, palms sinking into the dirt as she propelled herself into a backflip to regain her footing.
She landed lightly on her feet, though her legs screamed in protest from the relentless pace of their fight. She barely had time to breathe, Yoisen's relentlessness giving her no room for reprieve.
The older woman was already moving, her weapon arcing through the air in a deadly sweep.
Chakra flew through her hands and into the mud, and a small wall rose to slow Yoisen's blade ever so slightly.
Ino barely managed to jump above it, summoning her Naginata again. The clang of metal on metal sent shockwaves through her arms. She grunted, feeling the reverberations rattle her bones, even as she flew through the air.
Ino kicked up a small cloud of dust as she stood up again. She used the moment of confusion to her advantage, motioning with her hands for it to thicken, to obscure her movements.
She extended her sensing ability through the chakra-laden dust.
Ino felt the sword move before she heard the telltale hiss.
She grasped it with her hand, something that was only made possible because of the non-lethal nature of the weapon as of now.
Yoisen growled in surprise and annoyance. "That's entirely—" She started, her voice cut off as Ino lunged forward.
Their foreheads collided with a thud that resonated across the battleground, their bodies entangled as the two women tumbled in the sand, grappling with each other in a brutal dance of strength.
Yoisen conjured Fire, a bright flare that was still small and manageable. Ino swiftly consumed the flame with a burst of her chakra before it could burgeon into a lethal threat. The light sputtered and died, swallowed by the enveloping darkness.
Yoisen growled in frustration, yet her agility allowed her to regain control swiftly. With a sudden twist, she pinned Ino to the ground. Ino's heart pounded in her chest as she stared up at Yoisen. Her face hovered over Ino's, a mask of steely determination… and smug satisfaction — probably.
"Yield, Ino." Yoisen growled, the threat evident in her tone. But Ino only chuckled, her smile wide and defiant.
"Fuck off, ghoul." She retorted.
Ino pulled at Yoisen's long, pale — beautiful — hair. Harshly.
Yoisen let out a disbelieving shout.
In a swift move, Ino twisted her body, using her legs to kick Yoisen off her. As Yoisen fell back, Ino was already on her feet.
There was adrenaline coursing through Ino's veins, fueling her with an energy she had forgotten she even had in her over the last busy days.
She watched as Yoisen pushed herself up from the sand, her face quickly turning into a scowl. Her eyes met Ino's, a spark of defiance definitely igniting in their depths.
"That was… disgraceful." She said.
"I don't give a fuck." Ino offered.
Then, in a swift motion, Yoisen launched herself at Ino.
Their weapons met in a clash that sent sparks flying, lighting up the descending darkness around them. Ino held her ground as Yoisen bore down on her…
For a moment, at least, before she was kicked off, and into the sand.
Ino, with a burst of chakra, pushed Yoisen back slightly. She quickly followed up by weaving her fingers into hand seals, and before Yoisen could react, she felt the pull of Ino's Genjutsu.
The world spun around her, her senses suddenly distorted. One layer—
Chakra flared.
For Yoisen, the world snapped back into focus.
"You will have to do better than that, Ino." Yoisen taunted, fighting against the dizzying leftover effects of the illusion. Then the next one.
"Oh…? By all means, then."
"I'm sure she's training." Naruto nodded. "Getting a head start."
"…She is." Hanabi confirmed and left it at that.
"See?" Naruto smiled.
"…If you say so." Sakura said. "Also, I went to therapy again — the regular kind." She added. "Yesterday night. New doc."
"…What?" Karin asked slowly.
"Well, yeah." Sakura laughed. "I knew you would give me shit about it—"
"I'm trying to help you, you rat—"
"Yes, that's what Ino usually says, too." Sakura nodded. "Here's the report, anyway."
"You're not supposed to steal them—" Karin hissed.
Sakura shrugged. "It's duplicated, not stolen — Look, do you want to read it or not?"
Hanabi did.
Session Report
Date: May 4, Year One
Patient: Uzumaki Sakura
Therapist: Dr. Yamashiro
The session opened with patient Uzumaki Sakura revealing the traumatic event of being swallowed by a "kami," a supernatural entity. Notably, she stated, "Painful, disorienting...? Some loss of ego, like losing oneself in something larger. Not unlike particularly strong hallucinogens, but with less peace of mind afterwards."
Despite the distressing nature of her ordeal, Sakura displayed an unusual readiness to resume her high-risk ninja duties, which involved combat and conflict situations. In her words, "I'm good to go right away, actually. I've been itching for something to do, bad guys to kill… the standard, you know?"
This readiness and resilience marked the patient's coping mechanism, which contrasted sharply with conventional methods usually encountered in civilian therapy. In her case, the threat of danger and anticipation of action seemed to be cathartic. As it can sometimes be with shinobi.
Sakura shared her initial aspiration to specialize in genjutsu due to its potential for disabling opponents in various ways. She revealed, "I wanted to get into genjutsu first, for the exact same reason... Kurenai-sensei told me I had the potential for it. Then again, she died the first time we had a big mission, so I don't know about all that. Oh, Toru uses it too."
The death of her mentor, 'Kurenai-sensei,' surfaced during the conversation, suggesting unresolved feelings around the topic.
Recommendations for Follow-Up:
Future sessions should further explore Sakura's
There were a few crossed out words.
feelings about her mentor's loss and her reactions to traumatic experiences. It is crucial to continue reassurances about her coping mechanisms and facilitate self-reflection. A key challenge for the therapist is to apply appropriate therapeutic approaches that accommodate Sakura's
There were a few crossed out words.
unique experiences and lifestyle.
Next Session: TBD
"…What are you even trying to say with this?" Karin asked. "It's not a good look, believe me."
"That I'm great at empathy — and that's why I'm also great at disguises —" Sakura began.
"The poor guy didn't even want to go for a second session." Karin countered. "I shudder to think of what's not written here. And what he crossed out — if that's even him at all."
"Don't you see it?" Sakura asked. "I'm good to go. On mission, vacation… wherever."
"…Are you?" Toru retorted, squinting. "Or did you just say what you thought the doctor wanted to hear?"
Sakura laughed. "What he wanted to hear…? Hardly, I had to wake him up in the middle of the night, so I don't think there was much I could have said there to convince him. He was sort of grumpy."
Karin sighed, and palmed her face.
"I tried to pay him, but he refused. Said something about this currency not being in circulation anymore…?" Sakura asked. "What do you guys pay with, now? Gold? Rinnegan?"
"Good boy points." Toru muttered.
"…What?" Sakura blinked.
"Good will from the Tyrant that the people hope will someday — Never mind. It's nothing. That's what we give them. Nothing." Toru waved off. "…Did you coerce him?"
"Of course not." Sakura shook her head. "Who do you take me for?"
"Sakura." Toru sighed. "Did you use your Rinne-Sharingan on him?"
"Nope." She said.
"Your regular Sharingan?"
"Not even to make him forget all about this meeting."
"…Why would you?" Karin asked.
"It's private, and secrets are better kept by a single person — you guys don't count, you're okay in my book."
"How touching that is." Toru said.
"Besides, if anything had been off with me at any point, you would have noticed."
"…Right. Not touching that." Toru said. "…Why do you think you're going to therapy, again?"
Sakura thought about it. "To keep Ino happy…?"
Ino, in fact, was not particularly happy.
She was not particularly happy at the ghoul's obvious attempt to weasel her way into their relationship.
She was not particularly happy at the forthcoming meddling she sensed in Sakura's thoughts, almost certain of what it would bring.
She was not particularly happy, grappling with frustration that made her question why life, and her maddeningly obtuse husband, couldn't just be straightforward — or half-reasonable.
She was not particularly happy as she narrowly dodged a collapsing ring of fire closing in on her.
She was not particularly happy as the pillar of stone she stood on became too hot for her to stay on.
Goddamnit.
Certainly, she did not consider herself a true ninjutsu specialist — although any of them were considered so, compared to even most elite shinobi. And sure, she was no Karin, who was inching closer and closer to true Metal release, whether it was from multiplying Earth with itself, or combining it with Fire and Lightning, but still. Ah, and getting closer to decent Mokuton, too.
But Earth, enhanced by a touch of Water, should be enough to resist mere Fire. Only Sasuke's flames—
Ah.
"So you noticed." Yoisen remarked.
"Do you think I'm dumb enough to say anything out loud?" Ino asked.
"I wouldn't know." Yoisen said blandly. "Only that it has worked on you a few times before."
Ino gritted her teeth.
"But yes." Yoisen nodded. "It is Blaze release. Or whatever it is you want to call it."
"Well, I wouldn't know about that." Ino said sweetly. "I wasn't around while dinosaurs roamed the earth, Yoisen. What did the cavemen you learned it from call it?"
Sometimes, Ino thought she was the only one — barring Naruto — to know that the ghoul had a pretty short temper, under that veneer of formality.
…Perhaps Sasuke knew, or suspected it. He didn't seem all that surprised when Yoisen blurred forward, in any case. He cringed, though.
Ino blurred through hand signs, eyes gleaming.
"Earth Release: Shadow Yin Spear."
Ino placed her hand on the ground, infusing the earth with her chakra while simultaneously invoking her Yin release.
The ground rippled and changed, taking on an almost liquid-like consistency. Rising from this liquefied ground, came partial clones of Ino's naginata.
So? Perhaps she had learned a thing or two from watching Shikamaru's techniques, back then. It didn't mean she was anything like Toru who stole techniques like he stole ideas for his comics from their day-to-day life.
(It was hard to forget about 'The Great and Terrible Despot's Forty-Fifth Wife,' of course.)
The strength of the jutsu lay in its deceptive nature, of course.
The spear clones seemed physical, but were in fact, half-shadow, making them tricky to predict or counter effectively.
And that's what they did, even to Yoisen's sharp eyes — although that might be because she didn't take this seriously enough to bother with powering the Rinnegan up. Passing through her layer of defenses, the layer of Fire she was ready to expend at any moment's notice.
Only one of them managed to catch her at all, but that was enough. Yoisen stumbled.
Ino thrust forward.
Yoisen, with a frustrated hiss, deflected the spear with a perfect move. As Ino had expected, she kept her attention on the most immediate danger: the chakra-laden weapon. Likely an old war habit.
Ino slipped through the shadows.
…Admittedly, she had stolen a move or two. But she'd apologize to Shikamaru the day he apologized for stealing her own research about chakra flow optimization. Which was three years in the making. If he wanted to be lazy and skip on physical training, that was on him. But he could at least wait until the full thing was published, like everyone else.
Yoisen turned around—
Only for Ino's fist to slam against her stupidly nice cheekbone with a resounding crack.
Yoisen flew back with a grunt.
And she landed in the charred grass, quite ungracefully.
"Not even a curse?" Ino asked, somewhat smugly, admittedly. "I'm disappointed."
"…It won't happen again."
"What won't happen again is you sneaking your name into this absurd Clan Restoration Act." Ino hissed.
Yoisen blinked. "Oh, so that's what this is about?" She asked. "I only felt it was fair to go through the proper channels."
A vein threatened to burst upon Ino's forehead. Sasuke sighed.
"…What?"
"Hearing issues, already…? At such a young age?" Yoisen asked. "I said that I only felt it was fair to go through the proper—"
Yoisen blocked Ino's kick easily enough. She countered with an elbow strike that Ino parried with her own wrist.
Yoisen drew her arm back with a wince; Earth-reinforcement hurt on impact. Of course Ino hadn't reinforced her leg before — she had been baiting that hit.
Yoisen threw herself back, and caught herself on her fingers. She exerted a strong, fiery push.
Sending herself soaring right into Ino, feet first.
For a person who was not a close range specialist, Ino recovered particularly well from slamming through trees.
Well, decently.
She dusted herself off, coughing and growling, and rose from the broken tree, quickly forming the Tiger seal. The Mystical Palm Technique, that Tsunade had taught anyone with the potential, glowed with a soft, ethereal light.
And she was attacking at the same time. Yoisen raised an eyebrow at this.
"Well, if it's hand-to-hand combat you seek…" Yoisen said.
Flames ignited, cascading around her clenched fists, each fire multiplying upon itself in an intricate dance as she bumped both fists together. Then, she sent chakra to the Rinnegan—
Then, a tempest of ethereal pink petals swept through the arena, suspending time for an infinitesimal moment. Sakura materialized at the epicenter, her grin an unsheathed weapon of its own.
"Ah, ah, ah." She said. "I'm sure you two had a nice moment and all…"
"Don't push it, Forehead."
"Ino and I would rather conclude this sparring session." Yoisen stated.
"As she said." Ino said, eyes on her. "The hag and I were about to get serious."
"As disgraceful as teaching an unruly child a lesson is, that is the truth." Yoisen nodded.
"That's nice." Sakura continued, undeterred. "It just so happens, however, that my darling husband promised to save this world and a fair amount of others, but he insists that we do take at least today off. So let's go and do just that. Who's up for a nice walk?"
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i/qOa3r1 : Bastards' Sons: Indruto Next Generations
Still got that no-alert thing going on - at least on my side, I don't get any notifications, for any fic. Well, whatever goes, goes - I'm also posting on AO3, for simplicity's sake, am two chapters ahead there because of ease of editing.