[Childhood Arc: 3]
Toji glanced down at his sulking cousin, seeing the disgusting way her body sewed up itself, leaving nothing behind, not even a blemish. Impressive, almost impossible by Jujutsu standards, but the child never failed to amuse him. She lay there as if the world ended, waiting for anything to kill her. That was not the Naoya he knew. He lightly kicked her side—by lightly, enough not to break a bone.
She responded with a glare. "What?"
"Get up. There's no time to be sulking."
"I lost everything," Naoya argued.
"So did I, but you move on because that's all you can fucking do."
"What do I do now?" Naoya ignored him. "Everything is gone."
Toji rolled his eyes, taking Noabito's hair and holding him up before cleanly slicing his head off. "This is what you do. Present this head to the rest of the clan and tell them you're in charge now."
"I don't want that—"
"Then control them from the shadows. This is your chance to take over your life and live it how you want."
"Why don't you take charge? Nobody is going to believe that I killed him."
"Then tell them I did it and tell them I said to you that you're in charge because if that's what it takes to get your sorry ass off that ground, so be it. You have the power to kill every one of them Zenin bastards, so show them that we both killed him. Otherwise, don't put on your big girl panties and run away like a pussy."
Toji's way of cheering people up was twisted, but he had a point.
"Then rule with me."
"Can't I got a kid on the way— I'm taking this as my opportunity to flee."
The fuck? Sakura gave him the oddest look. Toji, of all people, has a love life?
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Sakura survived the worst things in her last life before she laid her life down willingly; this was nothing.
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Naoya took the head, holding it up to her face, looking at the wicked smile left on it as blood leaked from the neck. "Fine, have it your way."
She would ask to come with him, but she knew dangerous people would be behind her. Having a soft spot for children, she would not put Toji's newfound family through that. How he had the time to live a second life was beyond her, but his heavenly restriction allowed him to stay awake for days without trouble, sometimes an entire week. To recover, all he needed was eight hours before he repeated the cycle. Healing the exhaustion in her brain, Sakura could do the same but chose not to because she was still in a growing body. When she hits adulthood, then that skill would be helpful.
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Sakura purposely dragged her father's head across the compound, enjoying the looks of horror from the audience. When she enhanced her hearing range with cursed energy, whispers of her finally snapping came to her ears. Perhaps she could call herself the Itachi of this world, but not entirely because she would let the clan decide whether they wanted to follow her or die.
The news spread fast as the leading members of each unit followed her into the meeting quarters, carefully treading so they wouldn't catch her attention. It was funny that even adults feared a child leaking nothing but pure disdain in her tracks. She took Naobito's spot in the tatami room, where meetings between the counsel of the clan took place. Sighing, she looked down before sitting and looked back to see people armed and ready to take her out if her explanation didn't satisfy them.
Ogi Zenin, the Hei unit's leader, stood with his sword drawn.
Nobuaki Zenin, the Kukuru unit's leader, was in a martial arts stance to Ogi's right.
Koji Zenin, the leader of the Akashi unit, stood with his elderly hands in the pockets of his yukata, calm as a rock.
Sakura threw Naobito's head on the table, where they all stared in disgust, as if left a trail of fresh blood as it rolled to the middle. "So, you all have two options: die or follow me."
Koji flinched as Sakura noticed cursed energy flowering within him before he could activate his cursed technique. She smiled, taking the back of his ponytail and cruelly ripping his head off his shoulders. The sound of skin tearing, his throat shredding, and his voice became music to her ears before she threw it next to her father's head. The way she killed him was rather barbaric, but it's the only way these people will understand who is in charge.
"Anyone else?" she asked, shaking her bloodied hand and wiping on the kimono she picked from the remains of the ones that weren't destroyed from her closet. Currently, her face looked like she had torn through a battalion of Shinobi, but her outfit remained untouched because none of them could touch her before dying. It was a show of display she purposely put on for all the clan to see. Seeing the weary faces of the two remaining bodies, she concluded that nobody would try anything else. "Good. Now, let's lay down some ground rules as soon as you sit down."
Hesitantly, they sat. Ogi continued to glare in her direction. "Why and how?"
"It was a team effort," Sakura pointed out, as both of them knew exactly who was the second culprit based on her training sessions with the clan's black sheep. "Besides, he had it coming for a long time."
"You—" Ogi shut his mouth while Sakura gave him a lucid glare.
"Stop talking."
It was boasting to Sakura as the two adults kept their mouths shut at the existence they both believed to be inferior.
"Let's get two things straight: don't talk unless you have something useful to say, and don't piss me off. We all know what the results would be," Sakura said, gesturing with her eyes to the two heads.
The smarter of the two spoke up. "Naoya-sama, may I volunteer to guide you in your duties as clan head?"
"Isn't that why you both are here?" Silence lingered as before Sakura broke it. "The first thing I'm doing as clean head is naming my heir because we all know my fate is to marry the Gojo clan to keep things decent between us. When that happens, I'm naming Maki as the clan heir."
"Traditions dictate that a male must be named as an heir and that a girl cannot see cursed spirits," Ogi pointed out.
"Does it look like I give a fuck about traditions? Isn't this good for you eventually? So why are you arguing with me?"
"Because each clan head is automatically placed within the main counsel of the Jujutsu society, breaching tradition will only throw down your reputation and future votes on laws, Naoya-sama," Nobuaki explained.
"Then I suppose it's time for a change?"
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Nobuaki concluded that Naobito's daughter was an aberration in the making, and typically, Jujutsu sorcerers had a screw loose. This girl had too many.
Toji gained the name Sorcerer Killer, but was nowhere to be seen in Jujutsu society. Sakura knew his location and met with him to discuss plans for the clan.
The news of Naobito's death spread like wildfire, and a meeting with the Jujutsu counsel was called immediately.
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Before that, Sakura was pulled into the office of the Gojo clan leader, Gojo Seiji. His office was more modernized than her father's. The chairs were Westernized and sophisticated, and the office looked like a modern CEO's. It felt refreshing as the clan leader scanned her every movement. Instead of her typical kimono and hair up do, Sakura wore clothing based on her last life but more of a miniature Tsunade approach—a grey, kimono-style blouse with no sleeves, held closed by a broad, dark bluish-grey obi that matches her pants. Over it was a green haori, and she thought this outfit matched her black hair and green eyes more than it would have if she had taken in red and pink. Besides, this served as a reminder of where she hailed from and in the memory of her first master.
She sat in a grey leather chair, drinking the gyokuro tea one of the servants made for her per her request.
"So, you're not some dumb girl after all," is how Seji started the conversation.
"You're not going to ask me how I took leadership?"
"No, I already know through one of my spies. I also know where your worth lies."
"Worth?"
"The first day I met you, I had doubts, but I could tell that you were hiding something."
All Seji had to do was wait, and after years of playing political games, his predictions came true. Suppressing a latent potential because of their gender and treating them like shit would evoke something. Naobito's death was unexpected but welcomed. There was something wrong with that man as he allowed sickening things to happen within the walls of his clan— rape, human trafficking, illegal trading, paedophilia, etc. Hell, Naobito's first wife was fifteen when she was forced to marry him to help her family out of a gambling debt. Now that the criminal was gone, Seji could relax. It's not like he could do anything about Naobito except work from the shadows to help the victims—and that wasn't much either because of his position as clan leader. This is why he proposed an arranged marriage, hoping that the child between the two clans would be powerful enough to take over both clans and filter the Zenin household.
Either way, it would be Naobito's child who stopped all of their shit. It had been a long time in the making.
"You're a smart man who knows how to play the system," Sakura pointed out. In that sense, he reminded her of Tsunade. He would have made a good advisor to the Hokage had he been reborn in her universe. "So tell me how to play the one I took over."
The white-haired man smirked. "That can be arranged, but we have other matters to discuss."
It felt refreshing that Sakura was being talked to as if she were a mature adult.
"About your arranged marriage."
Saw that one coming. "I'd like to keep things the way they are because the backing of your clan can help change mine and my influence on the council."
The child talked as if she had played the political system before. "That is what I had in mind, except I would like to leave the choice for you to leave the arrangement should you want to. As far as I can see, your marriage isn't essential to my goals any more."
"Is there a contract?"
"The contract was a binding vow between your father and me, and since he's dead, it's no longer active. You can choose to keep things as they are and use my clan name or terminate it."
"Are you telling me you guys are on my side?"
Seji nodded. "My goal was to help the victims of your clan through the marriage, but you did that for me, and I'm backing you up as a thanks."
Perfect, indeed fucking perfect. Sakura couldn't help but smile. "Let's keep the way things are, but let's proudly announce the arranged marriage to the council this afternoon, since they summoned us."
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Satoru heard the entire thing as he stood outside the door.
Satoru's mouth twitched in curiosity, interest pulling into his mind. A warm, flaming feeling peeled into his chest as he imagined how the girl fucked up Naobito. Taking in the way she deceived his entire clan led him into a bark of laughter the two inside the office heard. He heard the gossip among servants of Naoya teaming up with the clan reject and killing Naobito, but he thought the entire thing to be bullshit.
Until now.
This girl would be the most enjoyment he had in a while. At first, he planned to break her, simply because she had been a part of the clan that attempted to kill him over and over. Generally, he had been forced to kill the people they hired to take his head, which changed his outlook on a simple childhood, something that had been stolen from him by the Zenin clan. His first kill had been unintentional, which led the people who treated him like a child to treat him like a walking time bomb.
This girl chose to keep their arranged marriage for the political game, and he would do his best to screw her over. He didn't need something like an arranged marriage to a girl who intended to use him. He had enough of being used by people for their social standing. Breaking her would turn out to be more difficult, but he liked a challenge.
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When Naoya came out, his eyes on the girl who had come out of his father's office entranced him to the months of spring.
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Sakura met oceanic eyes with the hidden playfulness of a bomb filled with napalm that would poison her if she lost his interest. Something about her fiancé seemed unholy but filled with a godly, earthly presence meant to be worshipped. Except, she would not.
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At first glance, resistance was met between the hurricane and the rock that stood still in the storm.
Satoru extended a hand. "Nice to meet you, future wifey."
Two fields of force met, and a spark flew when they met— limitless against positive cursed energy.
Satoru and Sakura let down their fields to feel each other's hands. His was calloused, which signalled years of training, but hers were healed by her mastery over positive cursed energy. He had never heard of someone having such a mastery. Perhaps this girl was worthy of his attention. His blue eyes saw the cursed energy she was storing away and the vast ocean of it hidden behind a binding vow she had made years ago with herself.
So she wasn't the spoiled princess people made her out to be, but had gone through trials just like him to get where they were. Both had immense power— one born with the talents and one who had sacrificed lots to gain it. Only time would tell just how strong his future wife would be, and he hoped to be there to test it.
"Naoya," the girl introduced herself in a tone that regarded him as nothing.
He breathed, squeezing her hand to assert something between them. Then he pulled her close to his malicious smile, which remained unwavering at the proximity. "Hello, Naoya. I do hope we can get along if we go through this."
Show me that you're worthy to be my wife went unsaid.
"I hope you can show me something if we go through this," she replied. Show me you're worth my time.
Satoru chuckled darkly, leaning into her ear. "I think we will get along splendidly."
Then he leaned back into his space, intending to let go of the girl's hand, which froze every nerve and ligament in his hand so he couldn't move.
She leaned into his ear. "Me too, hubby."
The positive energy she pulsed through him disappeared as he rolled his head back in laughter. He saw the new Zenin clan leader walk away, unfazed by his threats. Not every day could someone resist him or stand on the same podium.
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Seji rolled his eyes at his son's antics.
People called their arranged marriage a truce between god and the devil—the blue-eyed boy being everyone's hope for the future and his fiancé becoming the curse that haunts Jujutsu society forever. The rumour started after the divine meeting of the puppet masters of the Jujutsu world met the new Zenin leader.
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Seiji, Satoru, and Sakura sat in the middle of the circle of bamboo screens where the council sat, with a shadow of their bodies outlining them. Eyes stared down the circus animal, Sakura being the centre of attention, with curiosity and malicious intent. She could think of the many questions they wanted to ask, but they waited. She let them get their fill but would not be the one who spoke first. Tsunade taught her that these meetings were fought with silence, and the person who spoke first lost the battle. Typically, that person had the least patience, leading to a notorious downfall in the political game.
"Greet yourself before your elders," an older man spoke, hinting at her to bow in their presence.
Sakura would kill herself before she bowed to criminals. "You already know me, or perhaps you lack information?"
The Jujutsu counsel consisted of the clan leaders and a couple of elders who had served their years a bit too long. Elders had a say in everything; it was the unsaid hierarchy within the council, but everyone here was the same rank on paper—minus sorcerer rankings, but Sakura wasn't a sorcerer yet. Unless you wanted to put age as a factor in ranking, which seemed to be the game these elders were playing.
A fan snapped closed in a warning sign, a man's cursed energy shot up in anger, and another remained neutral.
"Back in my day, your tongue would have been removed for talking like that to your elder."
"Good thing we aren't as old as you, right?" Sakura pointed out. "Now tell me why the fuck I am here."
Satoru smirked as Seiji remained stoic.
"Stupid child, you broke the tradition set in stone for the clans of Jujutsu society and are a wanted criminal for killing an elder. You should be begging for forgiveness."
If there is one that ends tense conversations, it's a psychopathic smile and murderous intent—the need for their blood. Sakura wasn't this bloodthirsty, but this life, that feeling was forced upon her the day she woke in Naoya Zenin's body. Years of torment and life-threatening experiences built the foundation of the character she is today to keep herself from experiencing such things again. It was a natural human response to danger; could you blame her?
"Your. . . Traditions. . . Are what caused that bastard's death. If anyone is a criminal, it's you pieces of shit. You let him get away with unspeakable acts of murder, rape, and paedophilia. Just because Jujutsu society has a separate government doesn't mean you get to brand those things as respectable," Sakura spit out. She had done her research and pulled up records of everything ready to present to the Japanese government if she had to get her way. "Buying the children of parents who had debt is wrong. My mother is one of those victims."
Sakura had gathered intel from many of the older servants. Her mother was sold as a teen, forced to breed with Naobito if she would rather not be killed. Her entire purpose was giving him a daughter for the Gojo clan. She was killed in childbirth because they would rather not send her to a hospital because that would give the Japanese government intervening. The midwives the clan had were old-fashioned, and doctors were a rarity. Her mother hadn't been worth the Zenin doctor's time. Her mother had been labelled as dead in Japanese society the moment she had been sold to the Zenin clan. This is why the women of the Zenin Clan were not allowed into the compound because most of them were bought—bought and bred like cattle. Only the ones who produced sons were given special treatment.
So be it if Sakura were labelled the devil in the counsel's eyes. She would stand for the clans' victims and send them back to their families if they wanted it. If not, she would build a town for them to live the rest of their lives in peace. This time, that town would not be painted with blood.
"I, too, stand with Lady Naoya," Seiji intervened before anyone could say anything. "And so does my son. Keep that in mind before you put your grimy hands into Lady Naoya's business because they are engaged. Your business with her will be addressed to me and my clan as her legal guardian."
Those were the only words the counsel had to hear before they laid down their pride for their god in the making.
The council knew Satoru was engaged to a Zenin clan daughter through a binding vow between the two clans, but they didn't think it would be to the devil.
"Does that mean you act as the Zenin Clan's leader until she ages?"
Sakura hadn't talked to Seiji about the legal guardian thing before he mentioned it, but she figured he had a point. She was only eleven, and in this world, eighteen was the magic number for adulthood. In her last life, it was whenever one graduated from the academy. Maybe it's good that this world allows people to have a childhood before being thrown to the wolves.
"For now, yes. Until the two of them marry, the clans will remain separate. When they are of age to marry, the two clans will merge as one," Seiji explained. "Then their first son will be the leader of that union."
Sakura knew he was bullshitting, but the words would satisfy the counsel at this time—nobody would attempt to murder anyone or start a coup d'état.
"I suppose that is doable, but the future wife of this union should be a Jujutsu Sorcerer in name before laying down her wifely duties."
There they go, speaking as if they controlled her. Sakura was able to speak, but Seiji gave her the look. They both knew she would not put everything away to serve her husband.
"I understand— she shall attend Jujutsu Tech in years to come," Seiji acknowledged. "We three must be on our way because we have much to put together, honoured elders. Until next time."
"You may go, but teach that girl manners while you're at it."
That concluded the meeting.
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Seiji closed the door to the meeting room the moment he saw Sakura's body turn while her middle finger shot up. He shook his head at the frown she gave him because none of them saw her gesture.
"If you want to change this society, you must first work your way up. Threats are useless when those bastards have other clans backing them up. None of us are strong enough to stand up to that army, but the future may hold a different story. Until you graduate from Jujutsu Tech, let me handle them."
In other words, let the adults handle it and enjoy your youth. But Sakura didn't know how. It had been years since then. All her life, she chased after two teammates, only to kill herself in the end. She doesn't feel like she deserves a proper childhood.
Seiji looked at his son for him to do something, but the white-haired brat only cocked an eyebrow. In the end, the adult frowned at his son's oblivious nature. "If you guys are going along with this marriage, you might as well make it believable— go do something fun."
"Like what?" Sakura asked. All she had done was learn how to be a proper wife and train with Toji.
"Go to the arcade or play a sport." Seiji looked at his son again, hoping he would get the damn hint.
"The hell is an arcade?"
Satoru raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms, saying: what do you want me to do about it?
Seiji rolled his eyes. "You are going to make one hopeless husband. I'm telling you to take her to the arcade, Satoru."
"Oh."
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When going into town, Satoru waited for Naoya by the compound gates, wearing his typical blue sweatshirt and shorts. He leans against the gate pillar with his hand in his front pockets, just thinking. It's funny to think that his life changed drastically in a single day because of one girl. At first, she appeared as someone meek and annoying. Then she shifted to someone intelligent with a small taste of blood. He had to admit, this girl was going to be one heck of a ride to study. When she came out, she changed from formal attire to a basic black long sleeved shirt and pants— still not normal. Most girls wore frilly things, even it weren't a kimono. To Sakura's perspective, this outfit was the closest her fiancé was going to get to normal.
"You look like you are going to slit someone's throat," he commented, kicking off the pillar.
"Maybe, perhaps not, depends on my mood," Sakura replied, walking with class and passing Satoru.
"Where are you going?" The white haired teeth remarked.
"To the arcade?"
Satoru clicked his tongue, stepped close to Sakura, and placed his hand around her waist, triggering an interesting reaction he did not expect from the Stoic— a blush of all things. He put his two fingers together while talking. "This is how I travel."
Sakura felt like she had been body flickered a hundred times, and it took a moment to regain her composure before realizing that they were in an alleyway. "Give me a warning before you do that."
Blue eyes glimmered with amusement. "Where would be the fun in that?"
"Do that again, and I might disable your ability to have children with one touch."
"Impossible."
"Not entirely, want to find out?"
"I'm good, now let's go," Satoru said, impatiently taking Sakura's hand.
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When Sakura turned twelve, a baby was dropped at the entrance of the clan's compound. A baby. Who's baby it was, she didn't know, but she had a good clue to start. The only person she knew that had a baby on the way was her dear cousin, who left the clan. The baby had a curse energy residual that matched those of the Zenin Clan. Sakura had got good at sensing people's curse energy residual to the point where she could tell which family they hailed from, their gender, and the mood they were in before leaving the residual behind. It happened in the middle of winter too, if she had not sharpened her sensing range, the babe would have been left in the winter air overnight. The only person stupid enough to do that to a child without thinking would be Toji.
As soon as she resolves this baby problem, she was going to have a few words with the idiot and find out why he expected her, of all people, to take care of the child. He knows the Zenin Clan was not safe at the moment. She was dealing with people trying to stage a Coup d'état against her, a bunch of political bullshit from the elders, and Seji teaching her to deal with the bullshit. Sakura doesn't have the time to look after a baby.
Breathing out a heavy sigh, she makes her way to the Gojo compound in cold weather. She consistently circulates positive energy through their systems to keep them both warm. When she knocked on the front gates, the guards let her through, but gave her a weird look as she was carrying a baby in negative degree weather.
She knocked three times on Seiji's door before seeing him answer it in that million-dollar-man satin red robe, with half of it exposing his chiselled chest—will Satoru look like that one day? Sakura shook her head, feeling her face instantly heat up, which has not happened since her genin days.
Seiji looked at Sakura, then at the baby, and back at Sakura. "Did you and my son have a secret affair?"
"No, but it seems my cousin did."
"Ah, that cousin. What do I want with the Sorcerer Killer's child?"
Sakura felt like she was talking to an unreasonable wall. "Well, considering that you're up-to-date with my clan's shit and helping me manage it, do you really think that it's safe for the Sorcerer Killer's child to be roaming around there?"
"Well—"
"Seiji?" A woman's tired voice came from the background as she walked up towards the door expecting an adult woman, but did a double-take seeing a pink-haired child holding a baby. "Who's this?"
Sakura looked up at the black-haired woman with brown eyes who was dressed in a lacy nightgown. I must have interrupted their fun.
"This is our son's fiancé, Naoya Zenin," Seiji answered.
"If I'm heard the conversation correctly, the baby needs a safe place."
"Makoto, no."
"Seiji, you must have become dumb if you think that you can tell me no," the woman warned, as her hand caressed her husband's face, before she kissed the side of his lips. He grumbled to himself before the woman crouched to Sakura's level. "I've always wanted to you, but Seiji wouldn't let me because he would be scared that I'd 'influence you with my bad habits' as he says. I'm sure that we can find one of my son's old cribs…"
Seiji shook his head as his wife took Sakura by the hand and, dragging her off into the abyss.
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By morning, Satoru was surprised to see a crib being set in his room and a strange creature inside of it. His mother was standing in the doorway with only a robe covering her lacy night gown. His father must have bought her that one. She had her arms crossed, and a smirking face. "Guess who I just met while you were spending the night at the arcade?"
"No. I thought father—"
"Your father is busy moping in his bed, and well, you have a child to take care of whether you like it or not," his mother gestured him over to his old crib—the crib where eh witnessed his first human death. The death that changed his perspective of the Zenin clan forever. "Your fiancé came to us last night asking for help. You see, her cousin had dropped off his kid and expected Naoya to take care of the poor thing. Except, your fiancé is dealing with the Zenin Clan's bullshit as of now. So I thought this would be a learning opportunity."
"Mom, no—"
"It's 'yes mother' to you, Satoru. Think of baby Megumi as Naoya's and your first-ever child."
The horror never left Satoru's face.
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Where does one find a depressed man who abandoned his child? A bar, a casino, well, neither. It was behind a dumpster in a run-down alley in Tokyo. Toji is a man who never leaves his weapons, his sword is always at his side or in his worm of a cursed spirit. Sakura used the residuals from the worm and the weapon to track the man down. Never in her twelve years of living in this world had she seen Toji looking like he wanted to die. Many alcohol bottles later, Toji was not drunk. His physical capabilities wouldn't allow him too. Sakura stood in front of the sleeping man, killing intent so high he woke up and tried to attack her. If it weren't for her positive cursed energy barrier, blood would have been spilled.
"What are you doing here?" Toji said, hatred within his voice.
What am I doing here? I wonder that myself. "I'm going to dissect your fucking brain and ask you why you thought it was a good idea to leave a baby with the Zenin's when you know I'm dealing with an uprising since my father's death?"
"What do you know? You're just a child."
Sakura really tried to keep her anger at a manageable level. Eyes wide with rage, she took the collar of Toji's shirt and brought his face to hers, hoping he would get a good smell of how deadly her cursed energy smelled. "What if I told you that your child is no longer alive because you left him in the cold?"
"What?"
"Yeah, that's what happened. Are you going to tell me, 'I'm just a child' when you're a shitty father who can't comprehend how to care for a baby?!" Sakura raged, feeling sorry for the face Toji made hearing about Megumi's death. It's like he just gave up, and there was no longer a reason for him to live. She let that thought sink into Toji before revealing the truth. "Now what if I said that I saved him from that death?"
Regret. That's all she saw on the man's face. As if he couldn't believe anything she said and was at war with himself.
"Do you remember what you told me when I gave up?" Sakura let go of his shirt, slamming his head against the building. "You kicked my side and said: get up, there is no time to be sulking. Then I told you I lost everything. Do you know what advice you gave me? You told me: move on because that's all you can fucking do. Now I'm going to tell you to get the fuck up and move on because that's you can fucking do. I don't know what happened to make you this way, but something tells me you lost everything. Except you didn't, you still have Megumi to live for."
"Megumi?"
"Yeah, since you didn't take the liberty to name your fucking child, I did. He is the blessing between you and your wife, and it was a blessing he didn't die because I saved him. People make mistakes: so move on. Start living for your child, or I'll kill you myself," Sakura said, kicking a beer bottle against the other building and watching it break like her anger. She put her hands into her jean pockets before turning back to her cousin.
The sharp cat-like glint in her eyes shined on Toji, who started to come out of his trance. He still wasn't moving, so Sakura sent a punch that would kill Toji, probably not, but she likes to make a point. He caught her small fist before lowering it from his face. "Where is he?"
"Not with the Zenin."
"Where?" he demanded.
"Come back to the Zenin if you want to see your son again."
"Are you blackmailing me?"
"Obviously." He is the ticket for Sakura to stop the uprising her clan was planning. "Have you grown dumb with old age?"
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"Father?" Maki asked, seeing the man in full uniform and sword by his side. "What's going on?"
"Follow me and wake up your mother and sister."
"Okay?"
Mai held her twin's hand, their mother trailing behind them.
The hallways were dark and gloomy as Maki wondered where her father was leading them too.
Their mother seemed slightly fearful, but she was always when their father came home. Maki knew her father hit mother and why she feared him, but she could never bring herself to care if Maki got hit. Their mother never did anything to protect them. When Maki showed no signs of feeling hurt, all the attention turned to her. She was fine with that because that meant daddy would never hit Mai. She was always stronger than her sister, physically anyway. Mai awakened her cursed technique and was still experimenting with it. Since Maki never awakened one, everyone chastised her for being the black sheep of the clan until she met Naoya. She protected her. Since that day, Maki strived to be strong like her.
Her father stopped hitting her, but never stopped insulting her. After four years of that, Maki thought today would be the day that her father would finally acknowledge her.
Except, he would never.
They stopped walking when they were at a location Maki had never seen before.
"NO! You can't—"
"Shut up," her father hushed mother.
"They are children."
"I was four when I pushed down here. If the twins can't handle this much, they don't deserve to be my children." Ogi looked at Maki. "Or the heir to the Zenin Clan."
Their mother broke down crying on her knees, bowing to Ogi's ankles, begging him to reconsider.
Maki's eyes widened when their father shoved his sword through their mother's head. "Stupid woman, you never know when to shut up."
Their father turned towards the twins, walking over to them, grabbing them by the hair and shoving them down the stairs where cursed spirits lurked before slamming the door on them.
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Sakura's hand gripped the sword that was meant for her head, while breaking the metal into pieces by clenching it with cursed energy. Taking one of the pieces, she slammed it into the eye socket of the enemy. The man fell limb after a few moments. She sensed many more signatures in the middle of the compound, along with many diminishing into nothing—dying. She rushed to the spot that had the most death. It was like the night her father decided to paint her town red, taking the lives of those who were on her side. There were a select number of people she could name that would do something like that. She had arrived at the scene, seeing dead children.
Children, kids, adolescence. There were few she recognized, a lot of them she recognized as her siblings she never cared to deal with. Masamune, the boy she met when she was five. He was only a year older than her, and he was laying on the ground, on top of his mother's corpse—likely protecting her from whatever had killed him. Then she turned her eyes to her younger brothers screaming and running for their lives.
Nao and Naoki.
The building they were submerged in was destroyed, as if a boulder had fallen on it. They ran over rubbled, Nao tripping on his feet while his brother urged him to get up before the killer got to them. The one feature she noticed was the hazel sociopathic eyes zeroed in on them. He had shed his round face into a more masculine one. The boy is six years older than her, making him eighteen. Before he could cut the brother who fell, Sakura had shielded the two of them with her forearm, surprisingly the sword stayed intact when hitting the force of her positive energy shield—meaning he had a cursed tool.
"Naoya," he breathed, smiling as Sakura had used her technique to hide the boys somewhere, except that didn't happen, something had nullified her technique upon contact combined with a speedy cursed technique that matched her speed.
Impossible. Sakura glanced down at the dagger with a jitte-shaped blade digging into her back. Sakura tried and tried again to move. The cursed weapon had been strong enough to pierce through her shield and nullify her technique. She had never heard of such a weapon until now. "Nobuo," Sakura cursed. "What have you done?"
The boy smiled, twisting the blade, gaining a wince from Sakura, who glared at him. "You see, this weapon is perfect. It nullifies any cursed technique and worked great with my cursed technique, Molecular Acceleration."
She should have done her homework, she should have studied her brothers like a good Shinobi would have done, but the habits of her ninja ways had faded with time—she had been so distracted with everything else.
The dagger in her back started to heat up—something to do with his stupid technique. He could accelerate the kinetic movement of molecules, which speeds up an object's molecules, causing them to become disordered to the point of activation, ignition, melting, oscillation or vaporization. In other words, she was fucked. The weapon was preventing her from using her technique. Her skin had started melting as positive cursed energy started to speed up her cellular regeneration. Except, it wasn't fast enough.
"In a matter of thirty seconds, you're going to die, Naoya."
Whoever planned this rebellion had done all sorts of research and planning in picking the perfect opponent for her and her technique. Nobuo pushed Sakura aside with the blade in her back, keeping her from using her technique to accelerate the healing process. Before her eyes, her brother slashed his sword across his brother's backs. Deep enough to cut them in half. Their faces brought flash backs—Teruko. She could see the woman who raised her reaching out to her, begging for help, only to be shoved aside by her father.
Sakura collapsed to her knees and then to her side as her vision blurred. Her respiration slowed with each passing second. The pain was an afterthought as death became near.
Failure.
You failed.
The thoughts were haunting her brain like a character dying in a video game fighting the final boss. Her eyes let a few stray tears escape as her black eyelashes closed—
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Sakura felt her facial muscles relax as her face paled. The grip of death seemed strong as it forced her into its arms, squeezing the life out of her. Something about it seemed peaceful. It felt like she was in the arms of the people who died in the Fourth Shinobi War. All of them welcomed her to their table, a feast being presented as the light in the next life—an acceptance with a celebration. Death wasn't as scary as people put it. She had died once and had reincarnated into the next life. She was ready—
"A binding vow is a pact made with jujutsu that creates conditions for themselves or agreements with others. Typically, such a thing is made to gain something, but first, you must lose something. Not even a sorcerer can make a—"
Teruko's words felt like a slap to the face. Why couldn't Sakura be at peace in her final moments?
Maybe it was because she failed to save her like everyone else. How ironic.
It was like she was back in that damn pit that drove her to be so cadaverous in this life, but maybe the hallucination had a point. That pit had almost ended her life and maybe this was the universe telling her to get the fuck up because this life was not over yet.
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Nobuo laughed, slaughtering the rest of his father's whores and sire children. With nobody left, he would be the rightful clan leader. Ogi had promised him that position as soon as their rebellion was finished. He breathed in the smell of flesh and blood, these bodies were his stepping stones to becoming a clan leader, and then an elder on the honoured counsel. He was born for this sole purpose in life. His father had told him, trained him, and moulded him into the perfect soldier—he even killed his sister who killed their father. That fact proved that he was stronger than his father by magnitudes. He had fucking done it. This clan was his. The strongest of the Jujutsu world would bow before him as he took the mantle of leader.
The thought was so liberating that he felt like he was the in a film—laughing in the midst of the chaos. Like the main character of a revenge plot.
The whole scene lasted a few minutes until he felt it. A spark of cursed energy had ignited in the spot of his sister. Her back had been burnt, bones becoming dust, and flesh melting like plastic. Everything was perfect until all the damage had begun to reverse itself at a speed that could keep up with his technique. Something was brimming up like a monster as he watched her body come back from the dusk of hell. It was like watching god's favourite angel fall from heaven.
It was abominable in every way imaginable.
"Monster," he whispered, seeing her disintegrated body stitch itself together in a speed that only he could see in slow motion.
Her clothing had been burnt along with her back, everything was out in the open, breasts, and stomach. Something told him his sister didn't care because all she could focus on was his impending dismemberment. Any modest female would cover up, but his sister was no female. She was a monstrosity.
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Sakura felt her binding vow activate in the purest form. Whether the blade was in her back or not, a binding vow was different from a cursed technique. when she made the vow, her technique had been fused with the binding vow, which allowed it to heal her and use her technique without using frames to speed up the regeneration.
She had not used this vow since the fight with her father, so the power swimming through her body was nothing but rejuvenating. All her worries disappeared as her mind could only think about the death one man had caused. Sakura saw the similarities between her father and Nobuo. All she had to do was picture all Naobito Zenin and hell would freeze over.
Everything she had been wearing burnt away with her fucks to give the universe.
Her brother froze with sheer terror. Slowly, she walked towards him, he did her a favour by accelerating his speed and putting a hand through her chest. Sakura smiled devilishly as she overloaded his reserves with the positive energy she had stored away for years. All it would take to kill him was one touch, and he provided that opportunity. The first time, she had been too slow to kill her father, but now, she grew up. Whether her brother was faster than her or not, he wasn't as smart as her. Sakura had done the intelligent thing and hid her binding vow away from the public. The only three people who knew were Satoru, Toji, and Naobito. One had witnessed it in action, and the other could see it. The third one was dead.
Nobuo had sunk to one knee, screaming as his skin wrinkled from the rapid regeneration. Sakura tapped right into his genetics, ageing him. Every moment of his life was being felt at once in the span of thirty seconds. A technique like that took an immense amount of positive cursed energy, but Sakura didn't see it as a waste on trash like him.
Sakura pushed the ageing man to his knees, his head levelled with hers. "Look who's on his knees now. A piece of absolute shit."
Her brother took his last breath, mouthing the word monster before dying. Sakura pushed him onto his back, taking that word as a compliment. It seemed that one had to abandon their humanity to keep monsters like him from disrupting the peace. If that's what it took to keep innocent people from dying, so be it.
Sakura took her brother's navy-blue haori and used an obi belt from one of the woman's corpses to tie it across her wait to keep her bare chest from the world. She might not be a modest woman, but she had dignity to maintain. At least her brother's technique didn't burn her spandex undershorts. Sakura found that she liked the boxer style underwear more than the bikini style most girl's her age wore. Something about it reminded her of her uniform as a Chunin.
Gathering the inverted spear of heaven, and Nobuo's katana, Sakura grinned madly before sprinting in the direction of her next opponent.