Sakura was still mulling over what Inner and Haruna had told her earlier. The Haruno clan were so much more than what she thought. 'In all honesty, it doesn't make sense. Why didn't my parents have at least a quarter of this information? Surely, it must've bee passed to them by some chance,' she thought with a frown. "Don't think too much about what the vegetable said earlier," Naruto said as he noticed her frown. Both Haruna and Harumi had left to get some food whilst Team 7 remained behind. They were sitting in a field of plain grass. "I'm not," she argued. "Don't blame yourself for the war," Sasuke monotonously. He had seen right through her. She hung her head low. "If only I had been stronger, then all of that wouldn't have happened," she whispered to herself but both of her teammates heard her.
"How would you have known if Inner didn't tell you herself?" he asked. "I..." she had no words. "You're letting your emotions get the best of you, letting your sentiments cloud your judgement could get you killed," the Uchiha added. "Well, it seems to work in favour for Naruto all the time," she replied. "And I don't use sentiments at all," he countered smoothly. "Wrong!" Naruto chimed in. "You use sentiments all the time, you're just good at hiding your feelings," the blonde grinned. Sasuke raised an eyebrow in question. "I mean, when we were facing off Gaara during the invasion and he had pinned Sakura to a tree using his sand, your reaction was on another level. You looked like you would've died if Sakura had," he said. Sasuke said nothing in return. An uncomfortable silence settled between them. Sakura's feelings for Sasuke were now a matter of question since she had a child with the Nidaime Hokage. Inner's feelings were going to merge with her's and it was a battle of wills to see whose would win. It was obvious Sakura loved Harumi as much as any mother would. Her love for Harumi would decide for her.
An explosion sounded from the village, shaking the ground below. Several more explosion took off around the village before spears of bones started to rain down from them. Sasuke performed a quick earth style ninjutsu, creating a dome of stone around them. The bones continued to rain down from them and Team 7 waited until they had subsided. "The invasion," the Uchiha spoke. "You guys go on ahead. I'll find Harumi first then get back to you," Sakura said. The two teammates nodded and were gone in the blink of an eye.
The kunoichi ran towards the marketplace as fast as she could. Most of the Harunos were situated there and so she assumed that Haruna was also there with her daughter as they had been buying food. Members of the Kaguya clan were coming from different directions. The battle had already begun as most of the shinobi had already engaged with the enemy ninjas whilst the civilians made their way to the escape route. She rent the top layer of her kimono off, remaining with her usual red qipao dress which ended midthigh, black shorts of the same measurements and a black obi. She had opted to wear her usual attire instead of the standard Haruno gear. Haruna had warned all of the shinobi to be armed during the festival in case of an attack.
Her first encounter were with three Kaguyas who looked to be twice her size. Several sharp bones flew at her and she avoided all of them courtsey of her medical training. She took out the first with a kunai to the neck, the second with a kick to the stomach and the last with punch to the face with chakra laden limbs. She noticed an old woman on the ground who was trying to get up but her legs refused to work. She rushed over to her. "Are you okay?" she asked as green chakra lighted in her hands. "Them useless legs are now useless than ever before. Plus they be hurtin' pretty bad," the woman replied. She quickly healed the legs, numbing the nerves so that she wouldn't feel the pain for the time being plus she would be able to walk.
"I'm not able to finish healing this fully but you'll be able to walk to our safe place without any problems," the pinkette said as she helped her up. "Thank you little lady. You're exactly like your mother was," the woman replied with a toothless smile. "You knew my mother?" she asked. She nodded her head. "Say, you pay this old lady a visit after all this and I'll tell you about you mother," she said. Sakura nodded. "The name is Misa by the way," she said as she walked away.
More and more Kaguyas appeared and were quite a fearsome force. But the Harunos were just as stubborn. Neither of the sides seemed to be losing. Sakura encountered many Kaguyas with a high bloodlust but nothing could scare her. She was used to this. Plus she also had Inner's moves. She had been practicing them for quite some time. Inner had two elements, water and earth but could use them easily more than she could. A dog suddenly landed in front of her and jumped towards her. She performed a quick mudwall jutsu and the dog crashed into it. Several other dogs appeared and formed a circle around her. They looked menacing. 'What are these? Are they summons?' Sakura asked herself. "No, they're not summons. They're ninja dogs of the Inuzuka clan," Inner replied. 'Meaning?' "I should have known that she had to be here," Inner growled in her head. 'Who are you talking about?' Outer asked. "Hina Inuzuka, my friend-turned-enemy. She's the one responsible for my mother's death." A brown haired woman landed besides the first dog. There were familiar red markings on her cheeks and her hair was brown but long and wild. She was dressed in long battle kimono with slit that reached up to her waist, revealing her slim legs and the curve of her hips. The kimono dipped low, revealing a large portion of her voluptuous chest with low heeled sandals. Her hair was untied and a large battle axe was strapped to her back.
"Long time no see, Saku-chan," she said with a smirk.
"Sasuke, why in the world do I see Inuzukas appearing on the side of the Kaguyas?" Naruto asked as the two of them ducked under a barricade of bones. "They're reinforcements," he replied as he sent a a wave of water in return. "They're not the only ones. Hyugas are also coming within the next few minutes," he added as he slashed his sword at an Inuzuka. "Damn it," the blonde cursed as he sent a Rasenshuriken at ten Kaguyas. "There's no need to worry," Haruna said as he appeared beside them. "I have asked the Senju and Uchiha for help and they'll be arriving soon," the pinkette said as the three formed a circle with their backs to each other. "Well then, let's kick some ninja ass!" Naruto exclaimed which earned two glares from his comrades and annoyed looks from the Kaguyas, Hyugas and Inuzukas which had formed around them. "Where's Harumi?" Sasuke asked. "At our safe place," the Haruno clan head replied.
At that very same moment, a large explosion sounded from the north. "Isn't that where said safe place is located?" Naruto asked with concern. More ninjas appeared around them. "Don't worry, I trained her survival instincts in the middle of a battle," Haruna said confidently. "She'll be fine."
"I'm so scared shirtless," Harumi said as tears cascaded down her cheeks. "Mind your language, young lady," Hana reprimanded her but she couldn't care less. The entrance of the cave had been blown, leaving only a heap of stones. Many ninjas were appearing around them. Only a few civilians had managed to get inside. The others were probably crushed under the stones. Women and children were visibly trembling and some were even crying. 'These ninjas are not only Kaguyas. They are some Hyugas and Inuzukas,' the grey-haired girl thought as they fitted her mother's description. They were inching towards them from all sides. There were no ninja around to protect them, all of them were in the village fighting off the enemies. She was in the front, having been assigned by Haruna to make sure that all of them were safe and sound underground. But all the things he had taught her flew out of her head as soon as the entrance had been blown. 'I have to protect everyone,' she tried to encourage herself but was failing miserably.
Bones started raining down from above and all of them crouched down. There were cries of pain as the bones made contact with the civilians. One of the bones grazed her arm and she could only cry as they continued to rain down. She raised her head, looking at the Kaguyas who were laughing maniacally and were now running towards them. Memories of her last encounter with Kaguyas resurfaced in her mind. The laughs of the boys, their crazed-eye looks, the fear which gripped at her throat, the blood which tinted the ground and the trees, her desire to survive... She suddenly couldn't breathe, the four-year old took her breaths in short pants. She was having a panic attack.
The ground started trembling. The enemy ninjas were running towards them. She felt herself being hauled up by the collar of her blue kimono top. She stared up and watched as a sword came down at her. 'No!' she shouted in her mind as her tear-filled eyes widened in fear. She raised her hand up to catch the sword. Then something happened. A tree, a big one, suddenly grew out of the ground, stabbing the female Kaguya who had taken hold of her. Trees started erupting all over, striking all the ninjas which were in front of her. She was dropped on the ground, covered in the blood of the Kaguya. Her mind was blank before it was filled with a dozen of thoughts. 'What is this? It's just like in the forest, when I was running away from those boys,' she thought as she looked at her red tinted hands. The ninjas around her were staring at her with an odd look. A deathly quietness silenced the area. She placed her hand on the ground and a field of trees erupted from the ground, killing at least a hundred or so ninjas around them. There was a moment of silence with the exception of the screams of the dying ninjas before the civilians around her started to cheer. The enemy ninjas stared at their dying comrades before turning to look at her.
"Kill her!" one of them shouted.
At once, all the ninjas let out battle cries and began rushing towards her. She didn't even move a muscle as every ninja who was within a fifty-meter radius of her was stabbed by a tree. Shuriken and kunai alike were hauled in her direction but never reached her. 'It's almost as if the trees are moving on their own, to protect me,' she thought in realization as she watched an entire forest form before her eyes. "Everyone, this way!" she shouted as she pointed towards the direction of the river. The members of the Haruno clan rushed to get to the river, with the women carrying the children and the youths helping the elders. Others were crying but moved as the same.
She was behind the group, making sure to grow trees all of which encompassed them in every direction. 'We're almost there, as soon as we get to the river, I can make a bridge for people to cross then make a forest between us and the river and cover us in a dome of trees. None of the enemy ninjas while be able to get to us!' she thought with blazing determination. Suddenly, she felt wires wrap around and she was being hauled up. She was left suspended in the air, in between three huge trees she had grown. She saw a bone flying at her, aiming at her head. Before she could react, all the strings around her were cut and she was falling towards the forest floor. She was caught by someone and the next thing, she was standing on the ground on uneasy legs. She looked at her savior. He was boy, twice her age and size with black curly, unkempt hair almost similar to her's. His eyes were red with black dots, she noted. He was wearing a high collar navy blue shirt and grey pants with bandages on his arms. He had grey chest armor and a sword strapped to his right side. "Who are you?" she blurted out. He looked at her with what looked like an amused look. "Kagami Uchiha, at your service."
I hope you enjoy this chapter. Introducing new characters, as you can see. Read and review.
Tozoonana
AfricanFire
