Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Germination Beneath the Soil

Sakura was eight years old when she learned her father had been a shinobi. She was nine when she learned how he died. She was ten, when she decided to be a ninja herself.

It was a damp day, predicting a monsoon storm that fueled the great forests and jungles of the Land of Fire. Humidity this thick was common in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and Sakura’s mother often brought her inside on days like this. Mebuki would seem to turn on every fan in the house to escape the wet heat, but it had never bothered Sakura much.

“But mama I don’t want to play inside.” Sakura would protest. “I want to play outside on the swings and in the garden!”

“Well I’m sorry Sakrua but you can’t. There is a storm coming and I’m not having you track your muddy footprints all over the floor.” Mebuki stood firm in the doorway looking into their tiny backyard. A single rusty swing set, a vegetable garden that hadn’t been attended to in at least three years, and a whole lot of uneven grass was all Mebuki could claim to the outside of her property. No matter how much she dusted and swept and mopped, for some reason her careful maintenance of the house always seemed to end where the backyard began.

Sakura’s pudgy face crinkled and she cocked her head. “But mama I like the rain.”

“Yes and you like the mud too, but you aren’t bringing it inside.” Mebuki said pointing. “Now get inside. It’ll be here any minute.”

Mebuki stood frozen in fear and amazement, clutching her infant daughter. She slowly brought the blanket Sakura was wrapped in just enough over her face to cover the crying girl's eyes. The debris from a destroyed building levitated about five feet above her head, wobbling as if gravity would take hold of it again at any minute. Kizashi’s voice pulled her out of the aether.

“Mebuki! Mebuki!” She jolted around to look at Kizashi, his body shaking as his earth style held the rubble above them. He shouted at her again. “Take Sakura and run!”

Mebuki’s friends and family had balked when they heard she had fallen in love with a ninja. A genin from the prestigious Senju clan no less. But Mebuki would tell them she didn’t love a ninja, she loved a man. Even if she grew up a civilian and worked her whole life as a housekeeper, it couldn’t have been that unusual. After all, they did live in a ninja village. To be honest, she could count the number of times Kizashi had used ninjutsu in front of her with a little over two hands. If she didn’t count the last five minutes it would be one.

She stepped forward, unsure of which way to take herself and holding Sakura close. Mebuki was almost glad Sakura was crying though. She’d been crying this whole time, and that meant she was alive. All the sirens, shouting, fire, explosions… Mebuki just had to focus on the voices of the people closest to her, and she’d be okay. Then that noise, that terrible noise, came crashing down the street again to drown even them out. When Mebuki first heard it, it overwhelmed her senses. It commanded the attention of every hair on the back of her neck and cell in her body. Now, it shook across the wind with a shockwave that nearly blew her off her feet and ripped the blanket back off Sakura’s face. The roar of a demon.

Kizashi’s voice cut through to her again; this time not commanding but frantic. “It’s coming back!”

Mebuki screamed.

Sakura ate quietly in her bright kitchen as rain poured against the windowsill. She took a bite from each part of her plate in a clockwise motion: rice, steamed vegetables, and a little bit of chicken.

“So what did you learn in school today?” Her mother asked her.

Sakura groaned “Grammar, math, boring stuff.”

Her mother laughed, “Oh ho ho, math is boring now? I thought you had straight A’s.”

“Yeah, it’s easy, it's just…” Sakura trailed off and looked back at her plate. “It’s boring.”

Her mother pointed a utensil, “Sakura, you should be glad to be so smart. I mean, really, I was never good at math. And look at what I do for a living. I want my daughter to do better than I did.” Mebuki laughed while shaking her head.

Sakura hesitated, then looked back up at her mom. “Mama. Can I ask you something now?”

Mebuki nodded. “What is it Sakura?”

“Well…” Sakura rolled a large piece of broccoli across her plate “It’s about dad.”  Mebuki said nothing, so Sakura took that as good enough permission to ask. “I know he…” Sakura hesitated. “Well, he died saving our lives.”

Sakura looked back up, her mothers face was blank, but her eyes didn’t meet Sakura's own. “Yes.”

Sakura continued. “And well, he did it using ninjutsu.”

A rush of negative energy ripped through the air above Mebuki’s head. It was meters away from her and she was totally unknowledgeable about chakra, but it felt bad. A split second later it collided with the tower of a building she’d been running towards, and Mebuki could only watch as it exploded in a burst of sound and fire.

“Keep going!” Kizashi yelled, he was just behind her again. He would stay at her back and throw some paper bombs at the demon, then use one of those super ninja jumps to catch right back up to her. Mebuki didn’t dare look back, and the bombs didn’t seem to do anything. There were other people, even other ninja around now, but it seemed like everyone was fighting for their lives. Mebuki’s feet singed in pain as she ran straight over a patch of embers and shattered glass to turn down another impossibly long street.

A lone figure atop a water tower, the only person not darting about in the darkness, was so surreal it caught Mebuki’s eye. She watched as the enormous shadow behind her and Kizashi slowly fell over him as well. The figure summoned a tremendous gout of flame from his mouth, so bright it was almost blinding, and leapt not away but straight past her.

Kizashi, despite all the pandemonium, seemed to notice her attention. “Daisuke! He’s a jonin!”

‘An elite ninja then.’ Mebuki thought; her gait growing increasingly wide. ‘Dammit! Why doesn’t that make me feel any better?’

The demon made a different noise now, still louder than a fog horn, but not one Mebuki had heard yet in all the time she’d been running from the creature. It didn’t sound hurt.

“He did.” Sakura’s mother’s answer was short, and almost disconnected.

“I wanna do that.” Sakura responded quickly.

“He died!” Her mother’s voice raised into a stern half shout. Mebuki herself raised halfway out of her chair before sitting back down.

“Well, I don’t wanna die.” Sakura was sure her mother would have some comment on that, so she hurried to her next sentence. “I wanna protect people. Like dad did.”

Her mother was quiet for a few seconds, looking down, then back up. “Not this way.” Mebuki’s voice was low again, and her eyes closed as she shook her head.

“Yes this way!” Now it was Sakura’s voice that had grown louder. For a moment, they both sat in silence with the rain on the windowsill. “We learned something else in school today. The Kyuubi attack.”

Mebuki kept running, a hail of shuriken and minor ninjutsu was darkening the sky above her as they moved closer to the center of the village. She couldn’t have been running more than a minute or two, to have come only this far, but it was the longest of her life. The only saving grace seemed to be that the monster was unfocused in its destruction. At least too unfocused to take the time to attack her family directly. So why was it still behind her? Mebuki shuddered. Could it really be that every turn they took to come this far had been the wrong one? That they had unintentionally scurried two steps ahead of this demon in its wake of destruction?

Kizashi, having run out of paper bombs, ran beside her now into a larger plaza. The shadow wasn’t looming over them anymore, having stopped to attack some specific target. Mebuki paused, catching her breath as quickly as she could. Kizashi’s hand shook her shoulder and Mebuki looked back for the first time. In the distance, but still much too close, stood the Kyuubi. Its nine tails were whipping up a typhoon as it smashed into a rooftop, and the people on it. She’d heard its name her whole life but never took the time to imagine its true appearance. There in the moonlight, it seemed so much more than a terrible fox.

Kizashi was saying something, surely about how they had to keep going. But Mebuki had to be realistic now. She couldn’t keep up. Kizashi was faster than her in every way, so she held Sakura out to him. “Take her! Just take her and go!”

Kizashi hesitated. “But… I’m not leaving you.”

“This isn’t about me!” Mebuki shouted.

Any argument between them was cut short. Another roar and a shadow flew past them. Mebuki and Kizashi both whipped their heads to see the object that had narrowly avoided mowing them all down; Daisuke’s half disintegrated body. He seemed to melt into the pavement. Stunned, Mebuki turned back to the creature to see it looking right at her, as something red roiled in its mouth.

“The open!” Kizashi yelled.

They were in the open. And Mebuki just started running. She took about seven or eight steps before she thought to herself, ‘Sakura is still in my arms.’

She looked back to throw her to Kizashi but he hadn’t moved his feet an inch. Instead his hands slammed together in a series of motions Mebuki never fully understood, as his head waved between her and the Kyuubi. She called out. “Kizashi!”

The red orb swelled, but for a second it was like all noise was gone except the sound of Kizashi’s voice. “Earth Style: Mobile Core!”

The ground shifted under Mebuki’s feet and for half a second she mistook it for part of the demon's attack. She shifted into and out of the biggest leap of her life, before she hugged the ground, holding Sakura to her chest and covering the baby’s body with her own. “Earth Style!” She chanted to herself as she gritted her teeth. The pavement she was on shifted straight down, tunneling meters into the earth in milliseconds. She looked back up as the tiny image of the night sky was swallowed up by slabs of earth slamming back together like a zipper. A horrific boom shook the land and gravel and dirt rained over Mebuki, covering her. She looked around and couldn’t see anything in any direction besides darkness. She was deep below the earth now, she knew that, but she was still too terrified to make a sound. Only when she realized that Sakura was still crying, did she pull her baby back to her chest and allow herself to.

“I want you to enroll me in the ninja academy. I want to be a kunoichi.” Sakura said in the face of her mother’s gaze.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous being a ninja is?” Mebuki asked in disbelief. She raised her daughter as a civilian parent raises their civilian child. And at that Sakura had been exceptional. She was impossibly intelligent, well behaved, and kind. Sure, sometimes she acted like she was a child, but she was! Mebuki couldn’t imagine her daughter fighting or killing or Kami forbid something much worse.

“I can do this! I’m the smartest kid in my grade, I’m athletic!” Sakura gestured with her arms. “I’ve even tired controlling my chakra and I thin-”

“No!” Her mother slammed the table, hard. Mebuki and Sakura sat in silence again with the rain. Mebuki spoke first. “I’m sorry I shouted, but I told you never to do that...”

Something within Sakura swelled up in defiance to that. “It’s part of who I am, who dad was, who our clan was…”

Mebuki cut her off again. “Your… The Senju clan have largely and long since demilitarized and joined the civilian population. Oh don’t look at me like that, I live in a ninja village so believe it or not, I know some of the history too.”

“Then all the more reason.” Sakura said, just loud enough to not be under her breath. “The Senju helped found this village. The first two Hokage were Senju.”

Her mother shook her head. “Your father was a paper genin who worked in the Cipher Corps and knew some earth style. You don’t have the kind of greatness… you think you do.” Planning out her own words in her mind, Mebuki felt guilty, but her daughter needed to hear the truth.

“Dad saved our lives and gave his. That’s greatness.” Her father has long been a poorly discussed topic. She knew about him, and Sakura’s mother had long said she wished Sakura could have known her father, even if only a single memory. But despite all that, her mother struggled to talk about him.

Mebuki was quiet for a long time. The pitter patter of the rain invited the tears from her eyes. “He…” Mebuki caught herself. She would not cry in front of Sakura. After another breath she started again. “Your father… I came to find out the jutsu he used to save me and you… he never cast before in his life.” Mebuki looked away. “He’d seen diagrams, and I guess done it wrong before, I don’t know.” Mebuki looked back, her tears hadn’t fallen but welled in her eyes. “But he did it.”

It took a little over four hours after the attack when Mebuki was excavated from the earth. Some Hyuuga kunoichi’s Byakugan had found a woman and a baby buried thirty meters below the earth; where a small tailed beast bomb had ruptured part of central downtown. It took about forty minutes after that until an earth style user skilled enough, of which apparently there were not many, could get them out safely. By then Mebuki had nearly run out of air, but was otherwise miraculously uninjured despite being so close to the blast. The earth style user who freed them then thoughtlessly announced that they must have been some of the only people to have survived being that close to a Tailed Beast Bomb. That was, indirectly, the first time Mebuki had heard that Kizashi was dead. 

Her problems seemed small really. Apparently numerous civilians and ninja both decorated and mundane, including the Hokage, had died. People lost entire families. And somehow she could count her entire family, besides Kizashi, alive. Sakura was alive. Mebuki was no kunoichi, but she would keep it that way.

“Mama.” Sakura said. “That is why I wanna be a ninja. I know I can do it.”

Mebuki hugged herself through choked back tears. “I don’t want you to die.”

Sakura took a deep breath, as if to hold in some emotions herself, and before even releasing it said, “I don’t wanna die either. And I don’t want you to die. Or anyone I love!” She released her breath. “To protect people like my father did. Like so many other ninja did.” Sakura held her mom’s gaze. “If something like the Kyuubi happened… now. Would we survive?” Mebuki held her daughter's gaze right back. And let her tears go.

Sakura was eight years old when she learned her father had been a shinobi. She was nine when she learned how he died. She was ten, when she became a ninja herself. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: A Single Blade of Grass

Sakura’s first few weeks at the ninja academy had been a mixed bag. On one hand, it was both fascinating and exhilarating to suddenly be surrounded by her father’s world. On the other hand, she had a lot of catching up to do. She'd made the mistake of introducing herself as Sakura Senju - of the famed clan. That earned her more than a few oohs and aahs, which quickly turned into jeers and taunts once her classmates realized she didn’t have the first bit of knowledge about combat or chakra. ‘Perhaps I should have used my mother’s name,’ she thought to herself.

Sakura earned a few nicknames, and luckily “shit Senju” was not the one that caught on. Sakura could endure most of the taunts, but a stain on her father did get under her skin. Rather, her classmates seemed to fixate on her apparently incredibly large forehead. There was a time in her life where a silly thing like that would have bothered her as well honestly. But it wasn't much compared to this frustration…

“Damn,” Sakura grunted, as another Shuriken missed her target. She couldn’t help but think of how her classmates would have mocked her. ‘Still, it’s easier to practice here than at school.’

In addition to knowing absolutely no type of jutsu, Sakura’s skill with hand to hand combat and weapons was more than lacking. It took some courage to ask Iruka sensei, but she had been allowed to take an old target board home from the academy. Now, she was dedicating all her free time to trying to nail a bullseye.

“Still struggling, huh?” Her mother was back in the doorway she always seemed to be in.

“Ugh, yeah…” Sakura shook her head before turning back. “I’m hitting the board more, but never a bullseye. I’ll never hit a moving target.”

“So…” Her mother began. “You’re improving.”

Sakura flashed a half hearted smile.

Mebuki stepped down to the porch. “I might be able to help a little bit.”

“What?” Sakura said, a little more sharply than she meant to. “W-what do you know about shuriken, mama?”

Mebuki rubbed her head, almost feeling silly. “This was an old carnival game growing up. Throw some shuriken and pop enough balloons, you’d win a prize.” Mebuki walked over to the target and picked a shuriken up off the ground. “I wasn’t too bad at it.”

Sakura could only watch wide eyed as her mother walked back and stood beside her.

“Now…” Mebuki said as she hurled the shuriken. It landed far from the bullseye, but in the middle ring. Better than Sakura had done. “Not too bad,” Mebuki congratulated herself.

Sakura gasped and looked from the target to her mother. “That was good!” Then she imagined the kids in her class, who were reliably hitting bullseyes by now. “Um, compared to me.”

Mebuki smiled. She knew it wasn’t much, but a part of her was more than just surprised she could help her daughter with any of her ninja training. She was proud. She knew that few civilians became ninja, probably less so civilian girls. They’d not discussed it much, but Mebuki had often wondered if Kizashi would have pushed for her to become a kunoichi when she got older. She looked down at her daughter. “We better get you started then.”

Sakura smiled to herself as Iruka sensei walked toward her target, pen and pad in his hand. Of the dozen shuriken she threw, ten had hit the target, seven had been beyond the middle ring, and three had been bullseyes. “You’re doing better.” Iruka sensei nodded and looked down. “D!” He said excitedly and patted her on the back.

“Forehead didn’t fail?” A boy two targets down from her yelled with a laugh.

“Hey,” Iruka yelled, spinning his head. “We’re all from the Leaf here! Don’t mock your allies!” Her sensei began stomping over toward the boy.

Sakura turned her head back to the target, and stared at her work with defiance in her eyes. ‘Still not good enough,’ She thought. She didn’t notice, but she hadn’t stopped smiling.

Hit! Hit! Hit! Sakura nailed bullseye after bullseye against the target as it swung back and forth on her swing set.

“You’re getting good,” Mebuki said, watching from her chair on the patio. Sakura nailed the target again. “Very good.”

“You were right about the wrist!” Sakura said slightly out of breath. “Once I got that down, I started improving a lot faster.” Hit!

“So have you been seeing any of your old friends from school then?” Mebuki asked, changing the topic to her real concern a little too abruptly. She was aware her daughter was less than popular at the academy.

“Oh!” Sakura exclaimed. ‘She means civilian school,’ Sakura thought as she jogged around her yard again. Sakura had been trying to tire herself out to see how well she could hit the target fatigued. “That’s right, I did run into Ami this weekend.”

“She hasn’t been around in awhile.” Mebuki said with a frown.

“Yeah… I ran into her coming back from the training yard… or going?” She questioned herself. “They all think it’s really weird I’m becoming a ninja…”

Mebuki looked at the empty seat beside her, and thought of how she and Kizashi would sit to watch the sunset. ‘The ninja world and civilian world exist so close to one another. But they are different worlds indeed.’

“...training yard is awesome though.” Sakura waved her finger at the target before her. “There are targets there, five, ten times further away than this one.” She whipped her hair back. “And I’ve been hitting them!”

Mebuki frowned. Sakura had been training at home to escape the eyes of anyone else. But this backyard’s limits must've been catching up fast. “The ninja there don’t say anything to you, right?”

“No,” Sakura panted as she pushed herself even quicker around their yard. “The ninja there are mostly all graduates or adults. Kids use the training ground at the academy.” Sakura jogged up to her mother, breathing labored. “It’s just a longer walk, but I like that.” Sakura paused to breathe again “I can run…” She took a deep  breath and gestured toward the direction of the training ground. “I can run almost there and back without stopping now.”

She couldn’t have been running more than a minute or two, to have come only this far, but it was the longest of her life. Kizashi ran beside her now. The shadow wasn’t looming over them anymore, having stopped to attack some specific target. Mebuki paused, catching her breath as quickly as she could.

She couldn’t keep up.

Mebuki smiled at her daughter. “You’ve been at the academy for, what, three months? And you’re doing things I could never dream of.”

Sakura had gathered up her shuriken and began to throw them again. Hit! “Iruka sensei…” Hit! “Says I have excellent control of my chakra. That it comes naturally to me.” Hit!

Mebuki nodded. “You remind me of your father.”

Sakura looked back and smiled, the moment between them was interrupted by the chime of her mother’s rice cooker going off.

“Okay!” Mebuki said, “wash that sweat off quick, in ten minutes we are having dinner.”

Sakura hurled two shuriken at Hayami Kato, the girl she’d been paired up to fight against on the academy training yard. Hayami dodged quickly, but one still slashed past the side of her shoulder, drawing blood and ripping her shirt.

“Bitch,” Hayami muttered under her breath, as she clutched at her superficial wound, and made sure she dodged the next shuriken with more room. Iruka sensei and a medical nin watched expressionlessly as Hayami’s classmates struggled not to make a sound. It was okay if they hurt each other a little more seriously in the ring today.

Sakura threw another shuriken, not at Hayami but in her path. The girl focused her chakra to her feet as quickly as she could to stop her momentum, and avoid running right into the blade. A second shuriken came whizzing dead on, and Hayami couldn’t build her speed back up quickly enough to avoid it. She blocked as it dug into her forearm, and she reflexively brushed it out. Hayami started running straight at Sakura now, but she had to admit that was smart. Hayami was an average student in every sense of the word, and took three more shuriken to her arms before her superior speed put her in front of Sakura. But then, she fell upon her opponent with a rally of kicks so intense as to knock the air out of Sakura’s lungs.

Iruka sensei helped Sakura up a moment later. Hayami had been declared the victor, and while she was surrounded now by her girlfriends congratulating her, the person closest to her was the medical ninja Hayami had scurried off to healing her cuts. Sakura looked at Iruka sensei and smiled. “Thank you.”

Sakura had never drawn blood in a fight before today. She wasn’t sure quite yet how doing so made her feel, but she was satisfied. In her months at the academy, Sakura had improved. And as Hayami and her girls looked to Sakura in time with some comment she didn’t quite catch, people were noticing.

Sakura tried to eat dinner with her mother as much as possible. That was a deal they made. Sakura could stay out in the rain if it was for training, and if she was always home for dinner.

Her mother had made a simple miso soup with a little bit of tofu and a lot of onion. A recipe that had been passed down by the women of the Haruno family since before the Hidden Leaf was founded. Meanwhile, Mebuki stared at the bruise on her daughter’s cheek.

“If your aunt ever saw me come home from school with a bruise like that… She’d have clobbered the girl who gave it to me.” Mebuki wasn’t sure how to bring up the nasty looking bruise with her daughter, so she tried to do it framed as a joke.

“It was a boy.” Sakura said nonchalantly.

“What?” Mebuki replied, dropping her tofu back into the bowl.

“Sasuke Uchiha…” Sakura began, “punched me in the face.” Sakura sensed her mothers discomfort. “It was training,” she added.

“Iruka sensei is having you fight boys now?” Mebuki asked.

“Yeah, that just started. Anyone can fight anyone now.” Sakura took a sip of broth. It really shouldn’t have been that surprising. “Sasuke is umm… popular with the girls. Most of them don’t wanna fight him. He is probably gonna be the top rookie, at least combat wise. Fighting him was good for me.”

“It sounds like you couldn’t have won.” Mebuki frowned.

Sakura knew there was always a chance to beat a stronger opponent, but then, she hadn’t actually beaten anyone in the training yard. “No,” she said, “but if you can’t learn from defeat, what can you learn from?”

Mebuki’s eyes locked to her daughter's bruise. Forget a B, if she used to come home from school with a 95 she’d study for an extra hour. And now she was so okay being… tossed around? “Sakura I really… nothing.” Her daughter stared at her.

“What?” Sakura blinked. ‘Don’t tell me she doesn't approve now because I might get hurt. Better to get hurt than get killed.’

Mebuki closed her eyes, and diverted. “I wanted to say, academically, you seem to be doing very well. I saw that history of the Leaf test. A 99…”

Sakura rolled her eyes. “Ugh, one year off about the date the Aburame clan joined the Leaf Village. I knew it too, and second guessed myself.” Sakura shifted in her chair. “But, yeah, I guess I shouldn't complain. Iruka sensei said I will make a good paper ninja. I kind of like that because dad was, but I’m not sure, part of me wants to serve.”

“Oh Sakura,” Mebuki sighed. “Well, honey I’m sorry, but you think about how you do on that training field before you think about that.”

Sakura’s hand pressed to the bruise on her cheek. Sakura was not adept at combat… yet. All she could say in response was an under the breath, “right…”

Mebuki, realizing just how uncomfortable that made her daughter leaned in. “Amazing ninja like your father are in places like the Cipher Corps as well as active duty. Where you find yourself after graduation is the right spot.”

‘At least she doesn’t doubt I’ll graduate.’ Sakura thought.

“Hey, have you made any friends at the academy yet? Or getting close to anybody?” Mebuki asked with the slightest hint of forced excitement.

“No mama, I don’t think I have. I’m really not there to make friends, I’m there to learn.” Sakura’s words were bold, but Mebuki could sense the uncertainty in how she delivered them.

Mebuki smirked. “Well, do you know anyone who might want to try some civilian cooking?”

Sakura walked past the crowd at lunch, a bento box in each hand. She’d already come up with an excuse for that. She passed the gaggle of academy rookies, and came upon a picnic bench with who might possibly be the quietest girl in the whole world. She sat down.

“Umm, hi!” Sakura said cheerfully. “I’m Sakura but…” The girl turned to look at her. “But you knew that… right…” Sakura shifted in place.  'Kami, this was awkward.’ Both girls fidgeted for a second before Sakura spoke again. “So we have never talked before.”

“H-hello,” the girl replied, then clasped her hands, unsure if she had just cut Sakura off. Sakura made no expression of insult, so the girl continued. “I-I am Hinata H-Hyuuga.”

Sakura smiled. “My mum made me lunch last night and,” she forced a laugh to cover up her lie. “And forgot and made another this morning. Would you maybe want it?”

Hinata gasped and turned her head away, “Th-thank you but I have food.”

Sakura sighed and inched beside her. “Okay, I made that up.” Hinata turned back to her again. “I’m tired of eating lunch alone, and I thought maybe you were too… because I couldn't help but notice…” Sakura continued. Maybe it was best to just say it? “That you’re the only girl that doesn’t make fun of me.”

Hinata averted her eyes quickly, then came back to look Sakura in the eye. She smiled faintly. “W-would you like to sit here then?”

“Yes very much,” Sakura smiled and began opening a bento. “I have two lunches today, so if you want to try anything, you let me know!”

Hinata hummed to herself gently and smiled.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: Lavender and Rose

Hinata was a friend totally unlike any Sakura had before in her life. She was quiet, constantly unsure of herself, and avoided opening up about any personal topic large or small. Still, the Hyuuga seemed to genuinely enjoy Sakura’s company, which was something. They ate lunch together everyday and sometimes, if Sakura was having a rough go of it, they wouldn’t talk about much at all. Other times, Sakura and Hinata would discuss topics at surprising length. Usually, those topics related to the academy, current events, or Sakura’s own life. Sakura would sometimes hesitate, feeling she was sharing more with Hinata than the girl was comfortable hearing. But the Hyuuga’s earnest eyes made it feel more to Sakura that Hinata was simply unused to talking about certain topics.

“Your eyes are beautiful, you know,” Sakura commented one day.

“You… heard?” Hinata replied, obviously talking about the two boys in the distance who’d been on about how “freaky” Hyuuga eyes are.

Sakura cocked her head and snorted. The boys said this not two minutes ago and not more than thirty feet away. They’d obviously meant for them to hear. “If you don’t wanna talk about it… but just ignore them.”

Hinata said nothing, playing with her food. It was some type of seafood Sakura could tell she disliked. “Thank you.”

“Have I ever told you a Hyuuga kunoichi saved my life?” Sakura asked.

Hinata turned to look at her new friend. “H-how?”

“When the Kyuubi attacked the village, my father buried my mother and I underground with earth style. We would have run out of air if not for the kunoichi’s Byakugan. She found us and got us help.” Sakura smiled. “So I think your eyes are very beautiful, because they saved my family once.”

Hinata smiled faintly. “I’m glad… I s-should say… that it gives me great pride that a member of the H-hyuuga clan was able to help your family.”

Sakura chuckled and tilted her head. “We have eaten together everyday for weeks and you always speak so formally with me.” Sakura watched Hinata’s head lower. “No no! That’s not a bad thing, if that’s just who you are. You’re just different to any other girl I’ve known. But I’m pretty different here too, so… that isn’t a bad thing either.”

Hinata smiled and twiddled her fingers, not quite avoiding nor meeting Sakura’s eyes. “I e-enjoy eating lunch with you, S-sakura.”

Sakura leaned over and looked into Hinata’s eyes. Sakura didn’t say anything, just smiled.

Sakura laid in bed, listening to the rain against her windowsill and practicing moving her chakra. She felt the pathways within her body swell as she directed her energy from her arms, to her head, to her toes. If she concentrated, she could almost transfer it to multiple places at once. She could do this since she was a little girl, but she didn’t think her mother truly understood what it was like when she described it to her. Her mother didn’t understand it, so told her not to use it. Mebuki had been, honestly, afraid, of what it might lead her daughter toward. Sakura’s first semester had involved this basic chakra manipulation. It was maybe the only shinobi focused area Sakura had done well in. Regardless, the semester had mostly been about martial arts, small arms, and traditional school subjects. The latter of which Sakura had also done well at. But this upcoming semester was all about jutsu. It was well known the academy graduation exam involved casting some type of randomly selected ninjutsu. ‘I need to excel.’ Sakura told herself ‘This semester, we turn it around.’ Some of the kids in Sakura’s class, especially the ones from big clans, had already demonstrated some of their family's signature techniques. Sakura didn’t have a big-shot family. ‘Well not really,’ she thought, having never met another Senju who practiced as a ninja. But she would make it her goal to achieve something with this unseen force resting in her body. Iruka sensei had said her chakra seemed to be strong and resilient, and that she had an almost instinctual control over it. ‘Let’s see what that’s good for.’

It was the weekend before the new semester had started and Sakura hadn’t spent her break resting on her laurels. She’d continued to practice her chakra control, with her shuriken, and was now trying to pick up using kunai better as well. She’d arranged to meet Hinata at the public training grounds today, and was excited to see her friend. Sakura felt as though she lost every friend from her old life after entering the academy. But, she had gained Hinata.

“H-hello Sakura,” Hinata began shyly. “Am I late?”

“No Hinata,” Sakura said reassuringly, “I just got here early.” She gestured to a practice dummy covered in scratches. She’d been practicing her kunai katas.

“Your k-kunai skills seem to be improving.” Hinata smiled. “They are likely now b-better than mine.” Hinata herself rarely used any weapons when she fought. She simply preferred to use her clan's signature taijutsu. In Sakura’s opinion, the inaptly named Gentle Fist proved to be notoriously effective.

“That’s high praise from you Hinata,” Sakura smiled. Despite their friendship, there was still a certain level of emotional distance maintained between the girls. “Hinata,” Sakura chimed in as her friend began slowly surveying over their surroundings. “Would you like to spar today?”

“I… I supposed we have not faced each other yet.” Hinata bowed politely, her hands clasped carefully before her. “V-very well Sakura, we shall fight.”

Pain shot through Sakura’s body as Hinata’s open palm collided with Sakura’s ribs. Sakura grunted through the pain but her right hand spasmed open in shock from the blow, dropping her kunai. Hinata leapt back, maintaining the opening form of her Gentle Fist. “Did-did I hurt you?” She asked.

‘Obviously,’ Sakura thought, and shook her head. “It’s, it’s okay.” She panted, picking back up her kunai. Her own taijutsu was a mix of mostly predictable academy forms, and just a little bit of stuff Sakura came up with on her own, which never seemed particularly effective. She maintained a white-knuckle grip on her kunai. “Come!” The girls clashed again.

“So your father is the leader of the Hyuuga clan then?” Sakura asked, unscrewing the lid from her canteen.

“Yes,” Hinata replied. The two girls looked over the wide and roaring river that surged through this part of the training grounds. “L-lord Hiashi, leader of the Hyuuga clan, is indeed my father.”

“So that’s why I never hear about you training here or at the school then. You must have an extensive training ground to call your own.” Sakura’s voice was too matter of fact to sound jealous of Hinata.

“I,” Hinata stuttered. “Each Hyuuga is trained in the Gentle Fist according to his or her ability by another of the clan.” The heiress could sense the honesty in Sakura’s questioning however. Had Sakura truly befriended her thinking she was some random Hyuuga? To have not known she was heir to the clan until now…

“Wow!” Sakura replied “So you must be, like, a prodigy with the Gentle Fist or something then.” Hinata stared distantly into the rapids. Sakura called out a little more encouragement, “You are so cool!”

“N-no,” was all the response Hinata could muster for a moment. “I am no prodigy…”

“Wha!” Sakura exclaimed. “But you’re the number one girl in our class when it comes to combat.”

“T-that attests more to the eminence of t-the Gentle Fist… t-than any personal skill of mine.” Hinata shook her head. “I am n-not a particularly good ninja… e-either by individual merit or by the s-standards of the Hyuuga.”

Sakura gaped. “So what am I, hot garbage? You just kicked my ass…” It was half a joke from Sakura, but the implication was there in Hinata’s words intentionally or not. Sakura took another swig from her canteen, and glanced her eyes to her friend. Hinata was silent until Sakura finished her drink.

“No Sakura,” Hinata corrected her. “If you were born with the gifts I was, you’d be a much greater ninja than I. The Byakugan… it is the genetic destiny of the Hyuuga. I was born blessed.” Hinata turned to look at Sakura, the canteen still to her lips. “I do not make the best use of it.”

Sakura rolled a small water balloon across her palm, then carefully rolled it to the tips of her fingers and back. It teetered on the edge, gravity telling it to fall, and the chakra concentrated in Sakura’s hand not allowing it to. She’d been doing that trick when she was alone since she was a little girl. Slowly she turned her hand upside down to face the floor, and smiled to herself as the ball remained in her palm, as if magnetized by her chakra. She’d started doing that trick a week ago.

Sakura was satisfied with her seating arrangement for the new semester. She was in the front row and off to the side. The wall was to her right and Hinata to her left. Iruka sensei must’ve noticed them spending time together. Sakura and Hinata made idle conversation before the class began, nibbling on extra cookies Mebuki had baked for some big event on her side of the family.

“So I think I may have a water chakra.” Sakura said plainly. “I feel like my chakra reacts to it strongly.”

“That is possible,” Hinata chimed. “M-many ninja of the Senju clan have been adept with that element.”

“Lord Tobirama,” Sakura smiled. “And of course Lord Hashirama too, being an aspect of the wood style and all.” Sakura brushed her fingers through her hair. “See, my father only had an earth style nature to my knowledge. So I figured I’d have that.”

“Y-you may have both,” Hinata reminded her. “My chakra natures are lighting and w-wind. It is not uncommon to possess two chakra natures.”

“I just,” Sakura began, “never really imagined I’d have more than one. All this ninja stuff still feels like another world to me. Fascinating, exciting! But to think I could have more than one nature, is still kind of surreal…”

“W-what nature would you like to have, Sakura?” Hinata slowly reached for another cookie, and when Sakura made no motion at that, allowed herself to take it.

“Either,” she replied. “Or something else, really any nature is fine.” Then Sakura laughed, “well actually, I think maybe not fire!” She looked around the room. “A lot of people have fire, so I don’t wanna be the most common one in the Leaf.” Sakura looked back at Hinata. “But no, any chakra is good for me. I don’t wanna start getting invested in this nature or that, and discover I have something totally different.”

“If you like Sakura, I c-could acquire some chakra paper from the H-Hyuuga compound. S-so that we may confirm your nature.” Hinata blushed in the face of Sakura’s incredibly wide grin.

“You would do that for me! That stuff is so expensive, I was going to wait until my sensei confirmed it after becoming a genin!” Sakura had begged her mother to buy it for her when she started at the academy, until she noticed the price. Sakura remembered herself and buried her excitement. “Hinata… I can’t ask that, I couldn’t afford to repay you.”

“You have provided me with these w-wonderful cookies, Sakura.” Hinata smiled. “It is the least I could do.”

The girls sat a minute more until the bell rang and Iruka sensei walked to the front of the class. “Welcome back to the ninja academy, I hope you enjoyed your break.” To be honest it was an antsy one for Sakura. She was ready to come back. “Let’s see who kept up with their training…” Iruka smirked, “We’ll be running sparring matches today.”

Sakura shifted in her seat. ‘I don’t think anyone expected to spar on the first day back.’

Iruka sensei clapped his hands. “Everyone pick a partner, because these matches will be fought two on two.”

Sakura shifted again. They’d never fought in teams before. Sakura turned to Hinata and began to ask, “Hinata would you…” She stopped herself. Hinata would have a much better chance to win her spar if she didn’t team up with Sakura.

Instead Hinata just bowed her head slightly. “It is to be expected.”

For Ino Yamanaka, this was an interesting turn of events. She and about eight other people tried to get Sasuke Uchiha for a partner. That was a bust, and now she stood side by side with Hayami Kato. Beggars couldn’t be choosers though, and of all the people left without a partner, she was the strongest. Overall, Ino thought her position was so-so. What was far more intriguing was the pair of kunoichi in front of them. Hinata Hyuuga and Sakura Senju. ‘Those are big surnames,’ Ino thought to herself, ‘but to be honest Sakura can’t really fight, and Hinata is always so… demure.’

Ino looked from Sakura to Hinata to her own partner. Hayami flashed her a cocky smile, “Let’s turn pink and purple black and blue.”

Ino looked Hayami up and down. ‘Kinda overzealous…’ she thought to herself. “...Okay?”

Sakura leaned toward Hinata, obscuring her mouth with her hand from their opponents. “You take point, I'll cover you with shuriken.”

Hinata tilted her head toward Sakura, Byakugan already active. “T-they’ll try to separate us. Stay behind me.”

Sakura nodded. With Hinata in the lead they actually had a very real chance to win, but Sakrua didn’t think she could fight either individually. And even Hinata probably couldn’t beat them both. The way they would win this spar was for Sakura to cover Hinata, and let her secure a takedown.

When Iruka sensei called the match to begin Hayami started darting straight at them, and Hinata moved up to meet her. Sakura watched Ino from the corner of her eye, as the Yamanaka traced the edge of the ring going for position. Shuriken in hand, Sakura looked back at Hinata and Hayami twenty feet in front of her and about to clash. “Hinata duck!” She called out, and let the shuriken fly.

Hinata easily avoided the attack, which was right on target with where Hayami was about a second ago. “Don’t call it!” Hinata yelled back, “I can see!”

‘The Byakugan!’ Sakura thought. ‘360 degrees of vision! I can attack without warning!’

Ino picked up speed as she tried to circle around Hinata. From a standing position, Hinata leapt about ten feet in Ino’s direction. She swiped out at the Yamanaka girl with a wide strike aimed more to distance her than connect, and Ino bounced backwards long before the blow would have hit home. Sakura drew a shuriken and moved closer to Hinata’s back, letting it fly at Hayami who was once again coming right at her. Hayami didn’t dodge, but rather blocked the shuriken with the kunai in her hand.

Sakura gasped. ‘I’ve never seen Hayami deflect before!’

Hayami defected another shuriken as Sakura moved nearer to Hinata. Ino was coming at them too.

“Fall in!” Hinata yelled, so Sakura darted to her back.

Ino and Hayami both came for Sakura with kunai in hand, and while Hinata fought to protect her, she couldn’t mount a good enough offense to beat either back fully. Sakura for her own part was caught whipping her head to all sides, as she and Hinata tried to spin around to keep Hinata in front of the next attacker. Ino came from the left, and Hayami from the right. When Hinata moved to face one, it just meant that girl would leap away, and Hinata would have to turn around and confront the other. When the back of Sakura’s foot banged into Hinata's and caused her to stumble, Sakura knew this wasn’t working. She concentrated, and leapt as high as she could into the air. Ino and Hayami both backed up, and Hayami moved to throw her kunai. She tracked Sakura through the air, knowing she couldn’t dodge it at the height of her jump. When Hayami went to release, however, Sakura's form began to eclipse the sun and the glare caused Hayami to miss her kunai by at least six inches. Sakura hadn’t leapt into the air carelessly after all.

Sakura released a fistful of shuriken at Ino, who was positioned behind Hinata now. Ino simply dodged them with a series of back handsprings. It was impressive, but the sassy little pose Ino did after she rounded off made Sakura roll her eyes. Ino was toying with her. Sakura landed back down beside Hinata. “They’re pretty good.”

“You too.” Ino said slowly, hand on her hip and smirk on her face. Her tone was playful but not meant to be too mocking. She hadn’t thought Sakura would have outlasted that offensive.

“Please!” Hayami snorted. “This is two against one.”

Ino and Hayami stood on either side of the ring. Sakura and Hinata were together in the center. The Hyuuga shifted into a slightly more aggressive form of the Gentle Fist and Sakura offered a suggestion under her breath. “Blitz one?”

Hinata nodded in agreement. “Hayami then!”

Hinata took off faster than Sakura could follow, but she trailed a few paces behind as they gave Hayami a rush down of their very own. Ino was quick to react, “No way!” And hurled a cluster of caltrops on the ground before Hinata and Sakura.

Aided by the Byakugan, Hinata almost danced through them to get at Hayami, but Sakura hesitated and slid to a stop. Ino was on her, and slashed at her back with her kunai. Sakura narrowly avoided the strike, and momentarily considered drawing her own kunai and dueling her. Ino lashed quickly and sharply again, and Sakura twisted out of the way. Cartwheeling aside, but pressing her hand right into a caltrop, Sakura buckled and fell with a yelp of pain.

“Don’t worry,” Ino said cooly, shifting her weight from one leg to the other. “There’s no poison.”

A defiant grunt came from Hinata, who seeing the clash with her Byakugan, had turned to try and fall onto Ino with a double palm strike. Ino backpedaled and hurled her kunai at Hinata’s flank. Sakura picked herself up and drew a shuriken in time with Hinata diving aside, safely out of the kunai’s trajectory. That’s when Hayami came back in, bare fisted and trying to pull Hinata into a melee. Hinata shot around, avoiding a punch and connecting a serious blow with Hayami’s right thigh. Hayami shifted her chakra to her other leg and shot herself two meters back, shuriken drawn now, and the chakra points in her right leg exploding in pain. Hayami released the shuriken at that close range, not at Hinata’s legs or torso but her face; her eye. Even Ino gasped. Hinata didn’t move to defend herself, just shifted into her most offensive stance. And Hayami flashed a smirk. ‘Take that Hyuuga bitch.’

Out of nowhere a second shuriken entered Hayami’s vision, nailing hers right out of the air. Hinata came at her quickly and as Hayami landed, her right leg totally gave out. Buckling, she attempted a sloppy punch to counter the Hyuuga girl, but Hinata quickly grabbed her by the wrist. Rushing with chakra so intense it was almost visible, Hinata's free hand slammed open palm into Hayami’s stomach. Hayami herself could only gasp, vision going white, and collapse.

Sakura let out a breath she’d been holding, surprised she’d nailed Hayami’s shuriken out of the air with her own that cleanly. Then, as if her and Hinata were of one mind, they both wordlessly turned to face Ino. The Yamanaka girl shook her head and waved her hands in an exaggerated showing of surrender, and laughed.

Ino’s laughter stopped as suddenly as it came. “You don’t go into close quarters combat with a Hyuuga,” she yelled, crossing her arms. “Serves you right! You threw a knife in her face and ended up on your ass!”

Sakura blinked. ‘Ino was… offended… Hayami threw that shuriken at Hinata’s face.’ There wasn’t a medical ninja on standby; Hayami could have really hurt Hinata. And by the sounds of Iruka and the crowd, a lot of people were mad.

Ino kept control of the conversation. “You don’t maim another Leaf nin in the damn academy.” Ino turned to Iruka and slapped her hand twice against her leg. "I tap out,” she said with a grunt. “I’m not gonna win fighting them both myself.” Ino walked up to Hayami, who was conscious but temporarily paralyzed from the waist down and seething in pain. “Two on one,” Ino scoffed, and stepped right over her.

“Winners:” Iruka announced, “Hinata Hyuuga and Sakura Senju.”

“Ahhhh!” Sakura cheered, and ran up to Hinata, who was panting in her place. “We won!” Yelled Sakura. She shook her head as she looked at Hinata. Sakura was celebrating but she was worried too. Hinata could have been seriously hurt. ‘Her eyes! I mean if that hit her eye.’ Sakura placed a hand on Hinata’s shoulder, she’d never paid attention but the Hyuuga was a little shorter than her. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yes,” Hinata panted. “I could have blocked it but I saw your shuriken too. I knew it’d hit home!” The girls smiled, and as a surprise to both of them Hinata pulled closer, taking Sakura into a hug.

Sakura froze for a second, before patting her friend on the back. “We won.”

Sakura and Hinata made their way over to the grass to sit and watch the subsequent matches. That day, Ino’s girls sat a little closer to them, and a little further from Hayami.

“Mama! Mama you gotta come check this out!” Sakura led her mother out of the house by hand.

Mebuki groaned a little, but followed. “Sakura, honey, dinner is in five minutes.”

“I know, I know but take this shuriken, and throw it at the target.” Sakura passed a shuriken into her mother’s hand. “Hinata and I have been practicing this all afternoon.”

Mebuki turned to see a pale girl, with dark hair and light eyes, waving at her meekly from the corner of her yard. “Huh?” Mebuki exclaimed.

“Just throw the shuriken. I gotta stand over here,” called Sakura as she jogged into place.

“I, err, okay,” said Mebuki, throwing the blade she’d been handed. A second after she released it another nailed it from the side and Sakura cheered.

“Isn’t that cool?” Her daughter yelled.

“I… Sakura…” Mebuki withdrew a cloth from her back pocket and began whipping her hands. She swelled with pride. “You made a friend?”

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: Changing Leaves

Sakura ran through her katas in the darkness as she confronted a makeshift training dummy. Mosquitoes and crickets buzzed around her, and Sakura turned about face, pretending she had just shrugged off an impressive blow. “Cha!” And with a punch she knocked the dummy’s milk jug head clean off. The only light she had to see by was emanating from her kitchen, but it was certainly enough to strike a still target. It wasn’t impressive that Sakura could beat up a doll.

Hinata was the only person Sakura had to reliably spar with, and while that did make her a little better against the attacks of the Gentle Fist, Hinata was the only one in class using it. Standard academy forms were predictable and malleable. They were designed to be a skeleton of a fighting style improved upon by the more complex taijutsu of an experienced ninja. Good taijutsu users - like Hinata - didn’t even use them. Sakura at first appreciated their simplicity, but now wondered if they weren’t also supposed to gatekeep civilian born ninja. ‘Every living thing has chakra,’ she thought. ‘Sure not all people are born with enough to be a ninja, and of those that are, even fewer want to be… but average people who would make passable shinobi aren’t improbable.’

Sakura opened and closed her fist, picturing the dummy she’d created twirling the broom in its hand. It was forbidden for one of the Hyuuga to teach the Gentle Fist to an outsider. Still, Hinata had demonstrated to her two or three strikes so generic that any ninja could have developed them organically. Without the Byakugan, they were largely useless to Sakura. If she struck with one, it would be little more than a slap. She pictured herself dramatically tumbling out of the darkness, striking some goon with a karate chop, and then cartwheeling away. It was ridiculous, but there was a certain kind of cinematic energy to it Sakura chuckled at. Steeling herself, she punched the dummy again with a standard kata.

Hanabi’s tiny palms collided against Hinata’s, their father and lord watching wordlessly from the deck. Hanabi separated first, and then lunged back at her elder sister. Hinata avoided the attack with the poise of a dancer, and readied to counter. Hanabi had left herself open to an easy and decisive blow to her head. Hinata hesitated. Spinning around, Hanabi struck her frozen sister with the bottom of her palm. The Gentle Fist targeted not just chakra points but was designed to overwhelm the opponent by sending energy into pain receptors. When some Hyuuga struck, they forgoed chakra points all together and simply aimed for internal organs. Hinata fell to her knees, her lungs on fire.

“Up!” Hiashi yelled. “Hinata, up!”

Hinata clutched her herself, but knew it would be no relief from the pain. “Y-yes father.”

Iruka sensei droned by his chalkboard describing the different types of jutsu. Taijutsu - the art of manipulating chakra in your own body. Ninjutsu - the art of manipulating chakra outside the body. Genjutsu - the art of manipulating chakra in another body. Fuinjutsu - the art of sealing chakra into another source. Sakura wrote it all down as quickly as she could manage. This was extremely basic level information Sakura was well acquainted with, but listened attentively for some sage advice that might be new to her. A few kids behind Sakura stared at her, as she scribbled the knowledge down.

“At the academy we teach three ninjutsu,” Iruka began. “The ‘academy three’ as it were: transformation jutsu, clone jutsu, and body flicker jutsu.”

Sakura had read ahead in her textbook and already memorized the hand signs for all of them. For two of them, she could run through the hand signs quickly. It was to Sakura’s knowledge that the transformation jutsu would usually be taught first, but again, their sensei would ultimately decide which ninjutsu the class was most prepared to begin with.

“We will be beginning…” Iruka paused. “With transformation jutsu.”

Sakura nodded. That was one of the two she had prepared well.

To perform the transformation jutsu one had to draw their chakra to the surface and allow it to take some measure of shape and form. Luckily the initial form was one the ninja would be most familiar with: their own. Sakura bristled as she felt her chakra pulse beneath her skin. It didn’t hurt, it was instead becoming quite a calming feeling. It actually made Sakura feel rather powerful, to be totally in sync with her own energies like that. But it was also still an alien sensation. When she thought she’d been moving her chakra through her body before, she was instead simply activating it across different avenues of her chakra network. Actually moving chakra was something quite different.

Sakura stared into her bathroom mirror. She performed simple movements, rolling her shoulders and stretching her legs. Moving her body wasn’t disrupting any of her chakras flow anymore. She smiled to herself. “Transform!”

Of the transformations Sakura had attempted so far, this was one of her better ones. She still looked like herself, but the pink hair inherited from her father had been replaced with her mother’s dirty blonde. Sakura’s green eyes dulled to match her mother’s as well. Any trace of pink in Sakura’s outfit had been painted over into a lighter watermelon by Sakura’s jutsu. She had a good understanding of changing colors now. The first time she attempted this, her chakra had washed out the hues so badly she wasn’t sure the shades she turned existed in nature. Now, as Sakura turned to different angles in the mirror, appraising herself, she actually looked rather cute. ‘There are a lot of people who would want to know this jutsu.’ She thought to herself. 'Transformation jutsu could go so much deeper than simple fashion, but think of how much money you could save on clothes alone.'

Sakura had known ninja who could change their appearance to resemble animals or even objects. The user might not take on the physical traits of the form they possessed, but a superficial change could still be an effective one. Sakura pictured herself on a ruined battlefield as an enemy shinobi picked over the scene. Cleverly disguised as a discarded shuriken, Sakura rose out of a puff of smoke and nailed the unsuspecting opponent between the eyes. Sakura stared into the mirror and changed her hair and clothing black, then released the jutsu and allowed her palate to return to normal. This was a basic E-rank jutsu every ninja knew. She pictured herself, rushing to an injured comrade, only for the kunai in their back to morph into a hulking man with an oversized ax and crazed eyes. Sakura shook herself out of the daydream. She had to be ready.

Sakura, Hinata, Shikamaru Nara, and Keiji Agawa entered the room, its floor covered in perfectly spaced marbles. One of them was Iruka sensei. Their mission was to identify which one he was, and for every incorrect guess, 10% of their grade would be deducted for this mission. There were dozens of marbles.

“That one!” Hinata announced almost instantly, and pointed to a blue and red marble near to them.

Shikamaru slid into a low stance. “Easy!” And after a few seconds of it trembling, his shadow stretched out thin as a needle, and connected to the marble. Shikamaru smirked, “Shadow Possession jutsu… success.”

Iruka abandoned the transformation and Shikamaru’s grip on him held only a few more seconds before breaking. “Hinata,” Iruka announced. “Maybe using your Byakugan to identify me was effective, but it also denies your squad a chance to learn. Not everyone possesses your powers.”

Hinata bit her lip. “S-sorry.”

“But,” Iruka continued. “You did do that faster than any other squad today. A!" The group exhaled. "Tell the next squad to enter in two minutes,” Iruka waved as he recorded their grades

As the foursome walked out of the room, Keiji brushed up against Hinata. “That was good Hinata! I hope you're on my team after graduation!” The boy dashed away with a playful laugh.

Hinata shuddered, still unsure if she’d done the right thing. Sakura just rolled her eyes. A few months ago Keiji had gone on about the “freaky eyes” of the Hyuuga clan. “You did do good.” Sakura said, and patted Hinata’s shoulder. “We got an A regardless.” Frankly, Sakura was happy to have such a good score on her record. Beyond general and knowledge based exams, she was far from a top student.

“I,” Hinata stuttered, “h-hope I did not deny you the chance to learn, S-Sakura.”

Sakura shook her head. “Don’t worry about that, there is plenty of time to get a mind for this jutsu yet.”

When Hinata read the room, it was her penetrating eyes that had perceived Iruka’s chakra. It was incredible to Sakura, the concept of being born with vision so keen it was like it lent another sense. Hinata could physically see chakra, view through solid matter, and watch nearly entirely around her in a multi-meter radius. The eyes of a Hyuuga were sharp indeed, but with Sakura, her mind had always been the sharp thing.

Sakura walked into her living room, where two of her mother stood in front of her. One was Hinata. The transformation was very good, but as she circled around them, finger on her chin, there were small differences. Sakura however, was not analytical enough to tell which version of Mebuki was an error, and which simply had a miniscule trait she’d not noticed. Not analytical enough yet at least.

Sakura stood in the training yard and watched her reflection in the river as she rapidly shifted the colors of her clothing with the transformation jutsu. She’d thought if she did it quickly enough it might have some kind of crude hypnotic effect, but watching it herself, it was clearly a waste of chakra. She had no knowledge of offensive ninjutsu, and none of the academy techniques she could hope to learn were designed for direct combat. Avoiding a fight was ideal for a rookie. But still, they fought among themselves all the time. Sakura activated several more advanced transformations, turning into family members or classmates from memory. Iruka sensei had been satisfied thus far in her skill with the jutsu, giving her average marks where even some once A-grade pupils were seeming to struggle.

This semester was only two weeks begun, but it was already getting interesting. A lot of top students from last semester were still shining, but some new stars were emerging, and some were fading away. Sakura’s aptitude with the control of her own chakra was what she’d relied on to carry her in this stage of ninja education.

Sakura leapt across the wet rocks that divided the rapids, as she descended deeper into the training grounds. She was always careful to avoid any other ninja who were in the area, simply out of respect, and a desire to give them space. Occasionally though, she’d find herself lingering to watch some of the older ninja perform a jutsu or two. One shinobi practiced water style near the part of the river she was heading toward now. His close chopped hair and thick scarred arms didn’t seem to match the elegance of his form, twirling the water around him like a ribbon. Sakura had once watched him spiral it about in the air ten feet over his head, before snapping it into a wooden dummy in front of him and cracking it in half. ‘Darn’ Sakura thought. ‘He’s not here today.’

Sakura entered the room alone this time. The room students now dreadfully called “Marble Hall.” ‘Not particularly ominous,’ Sakura thought to herself, recalling how many students had tanked in the group examination. ‘But still a hard test.’

Looking over the room, Sakura drew two shuriken from her pouch, a long length of wire tying them together. She panned the room slowly, left to right, and considered the transformation jutsu. ‘The change is superficial,' she could almost hear Iruka say. 'A ninja cannot change their mass or qualities with this jutsu.'

Sakura tossed the two shuriken gently over her head, before grabbing the wire and spinning it around to work the airborne blades like some kind of lasso. ‘He might look like a marble,’ she reminded herself. ‘But he’s not.’

She released the improvised bolas, at an angle to cover the widest section of the room possible, and watched with satisfaction as they seemed to tangle up nothing. Leaning forward and narrowing her eyes, Sakura could actually see a little bit of green fabric around where one of the shuriken had dug into her sensei’s flak jacket. A flaw in his own transformation that must’ve manifested after he’d been hit.

“Iruka sensei?” She called jovially. “Found ya, didn’t I?”

The marble directly below the hanging wire vanished, and Iruka nodded pleased. “Well done Sakura,” he said, shifting his arms a little to quickly work himself free of the admittedly untight bindings. “A!” Iruka commended.

Sakura couldn’t perceive a transformation with any kind of sensory prowess, but in this instance, it was about what to do when you already know one is there. Sakura hummed to herself as she left Marble Hall, she couldn’t wait to tell Hinata. She hadn’t expected to get Iruka the first time, she just threw in a manner that covered as many marbles at once on that first try. A little bit of luck still played into Sakura’s accomplishment, and as calculating as she was growing to be, that did sit in the back of her mind as a blemish on this performance. Regardless, she ended class pleased after hearing the strategy she developed had worked more effectively than most of her classmate’s.

Sakura dashed away, throwing a shuriken, and Shikamaru simply allowed it to strike his shoulder as he maintained his stance and hand sign. His shadow chased Sakura, and as she leapt to the right to avoid it, the shadow kept going. Sakura snapped her head from Shikamaru and looked back to it. She was faster than the shadow, but as it looped around in a wide arc, Sakura realized it was corralling her. Trapped, she threw four more shuriken that each landed in some part of Shikamaru before the shadow bound her. She had some idea of his new jutsu, it was his clan technique. She knew that once a Nara’s shadow reached your own, you were forced to imitate their movements. Shikamaru holstered his weapons in untraditional locations, so Sakura had moved hers to match when she realized she’d fight him today. ‘That way,’ she figured, ‘he can’t throw any at me without me throwing one back.’ When Sakura’s possessed hand pawed at her own chest, she realized just how naive she’d been in her offensive. “Damn,” she muttered, struggling feudally against herself as Shikamaru drew her blades out of him. He returned each before Iruka called the match in his favor, landing them in places more painful than she’d managed to strike him.

She didn’t dislike Shikamaru nor was she bitter about losing the match. In fact, he was one of the few people to come up and apologize after the fight for if he’d hurt her. Sakura’s pride brushed him off with a “thank you,” but apparently Shikamaru disliked fighting girls. As she nursed her superficial wounds, and cheered for Hinata after she downed some rival girl, Sakura considered the techniques of clan kids. Hyuuga were born with the Byakugan, it was not a skill to be learned. The same could not be said of the Nara’s shadow techniques. It was by all merits, a learnable ninjutsu, and one they guarded closely. Most clans guarded their secrets like the Nara.

The Senju clan was once hailed as one of the most powerful in the world, but when they founded the Hidden Leaf Village, they turned over the knowledge of nearly every technique for the good of that village. Those techniques were now commonplace within the Leaf military. Even most of Sakura’s own academy katas were based on the form of the Senju. But the Senju were decentralized, especially compared to the organized clans who had carefully maintained their individual skill sets. It was those clans, who now ruled the roost in the Hidden Leaf’s government.

“Tansform!” Sakura called out as she became the image of Iruka sensei. He walked around her in his review, and it was a flawless transformation. Of the thirty students in his class, she was now the thirteenth to have accomplished it. Sakura wasn’t fighting to be recognized, but she wondered what her peers were thinking as they gazed down from their desks. She’d gone from dead last at almost all ninja affairs, to middle of the pack in a few areas. She was still poor in combat, but that was offset to a degree by her test grades, which were always impressive. A level of comfortable mediocrity was falling over Sakura she could almost become satisfied with.

Sakura sat back down beside Hinata, throwing the Hyuuga a little peace sign as Iruka called up the next student. Hinata smiled at that, glad her friend could claim mastery of her first jutsu. It was on track too, because the clone jutsu unit was next week, and Hinata had hoped for Sakura’s sake she wouldn’t be caught trying to learn two jutsu at once.

Sakura’s eyes scrolled down to the parcel at Hinata’s feet, chakra paper from the Hyuuga, and rocked her head in excitement. Not only had she done well on her transformation final, but she was going to learn her chakra’s element today. The parcel had come with a little note signed from lord Hiashi himself that read, “From the Hyuuga clan in thanks and appreciation to the illustrious Senju who has befriended my daughter.” Hinata had explained that lord Hiashi hadn’t actually personally written the letter, but that she had asked him for the paper directly. After describing the nature of their relationship, Hinata was allowed to take the paper. Sakura wasn’t sure what it was about the wording, but it seemed to her that it was more important she was half-Senju than Hinata’s friend. ‘Although illustrious does sound like a word the Hyuuga use casually,’ Sakura joked to herself. She found herself staring at Hinata’s back as her friend turned to watch the next transformation examination. Sakura usually made a point not to do that, but after learning a little more about the Byakugan, Sakura allowed herself this moment. After all, it wasn't active right now, and that meant Hinata probably couldn’t see her. Originally, Sakura had thought of Hinata as quiet and kind, then the coolest girl in class. ‘Now,’ she considered as she stared at Hyuuga’s back and smiled faintly. ‘I think I’m starting to feel a little bad for her too.’

When class was over Sakura led Hinata by the hand as she jogged to the academy training area. Hinata trotted along obediently as she hugged the parcel to her chest.

“Is here good?” Sakura asked with semi-contained cheer.

“Y-yes Sakura,” Hinata nodded. “The environment in which one conducts this test usually does not matter.” Sakura nodded as well. “Y-you know the qualities the p-paper undergoes when exposed t-to your chakra, yes?” Hinata questioned and Sakura’s nodding became quicker.

“Yes,” her friend replied. “Burns for fire, wet for water, crinkles for lightning, and dust for earth.” Sakura took a breath. “Shreds for wind.”

Hinata nodded, handing her the parcel. She’d been careful not to touch the paper with her bare hands or allow anyone else too. It needed to be carried in this container, because if it so much as came into contact with another person's skin they could unintentionally activate it. It was notoriously difficult to keep and transport without it being activated by either a careless person, or even the small traces of ambient chakra sometimes carried through the air by pollination. That’s what made it so valuable.

Sakura opened the container and withdrew the blank sheet of paper with both hands. Hinata had activated her Byakugan and watched with bated breath. “Now Sakura,” Hinata began. “P-pour your chakra into the paper.” Sakura did so. Hinata watched, and while it made no difference to the Byakugan, her eyes opened wider. ‘Her chakra is so strong!’ Hinata was amazed to see it pour from Sakura and into the paper as the sheet absorbed her friend's energy. ‘Volumes of it, and precise,’ she thought. Hinata had been left feeling slightly weakened after she took this test herself, though that was not uncommon. ‘That will not happen to her,’ she thought in amazement. ‘The vitality of the Senju is incredible!’

“S-sakura!” Hinata declared, her voice was not a yell but raised more than usual. “Y-your chakra is…”

“Water,” Sakura chimed, “and earth.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 5: Growing

The past week had been a slight return to form for Sakura. It seemed after joining the academy, all she did was eat, sleep, and train. Now, she was allowing herself to take up some old hobbies again like giving herself time each night to read. In addition, she had been trying to spend a little more time with her mother, and had helped prepare dinner every night this week.

“Sakura,” her mother called, “could you just chop up all of that radish? It’s going to go bad soon.” Mebuki had noticed this week that her daughter wasn’t shaping up to be much of a cook. Sure she could follow a recipe, but Sakura had a poor sense of flavor and struggled to combine different tastes together on her own. Rather than worrying about any other skills for her to learn, Mebuki happily gave Sakura prep work, and just… allowed her daughter to believe she was a bigger help than she was.

“Right mama!” And Sakura eagerly sliced up the radish with surprising quickness.

‘At least she isn’t afraid of the knife,’ Mebuki thought as she stirred the pot of vegetable soup. Sakura had been very concerned with eating healthy recently, and Mebuki had wondered if some boy had caught Sakura’s eye and caused her to start some precocious girlhood diet. Sakura had offhandedly mentioned that a boy named Sasuke was popular with most of the girls in her class. And it seemed a rumor about his “type” had started a fashion trend among many of Sakura’s female classmates. One that saw them growing out their hair. ‘Well, it seems her and her little friend Hinata were still wearing their’s pretty short.’

While Sakura had never spoken about it, she wasn’t sure what to make of Sasuke Uchiha. He was a great student, kept to himself, and was handsome enough. And he was the sole survivor of some horrible tragedy that had killed his entire family. Sakura had heard about it even before she joined the academy. The whole village had. Outright murder was very rare within the Hidden Leaf, so when one of the Uchiha clan killed nearly every other member of his own family in a single night, people talked. Sakura too was without a father. Yet as she watched her mother sing off key while rushing around their kitchen looking for some dried shitake, she imagined she couldn’t quite comprehend.

“Honey, I think I forgot them.” Mebuki checked a cabinet she’d already been through for a third time.  “I’m just gonna run down to that corner store, just turn the heat down.”

“Okay,” Sakura called back with a bit of delay. She watched her mother grab her purse and hurry out the door. ‘To think… killing your own mom.’

Reading by flashlight, Sakura quickly paged through the next few pages of her novel as she surveyed the next chapter’s length. She was up late, but the last one had ended on a cliffhanger and she just couldn’t put this book down. ‘It wasn’t that long,’ she noted. But at the same time she didn’t want to be too tired at the academy tomorrow. ‘Okay,’ she told herself, ‘I’ll just combine training with reading.’ She stared at a trio of shuriken on her nightstand, then looked at a dartboard she’d recently gotten for her wall. ‘Hmm, how about… after every chapter I try to hit a bullseye with my eyes closed. And after I do that, I’ll go to bed.’ A few chapters later, and in the early morning hours, Sakura curled up to her pillow. Maybe she shouldn’t have stayed up so late, but then, maybe she could sleep in a little if she ate her breakfast on her walk to school tomorrow.

“Hi Hinata,” Sakura yawned and waved lazily.

“H-hello Sakura, did you have another late night?” Hinata giggled to herself and turned aside.

“Oh come on, it’s only the second time this has happened.” Sakura replied as she took some supplies out of her bag.

“Second time t-this week, Sakura.” Hinata covered her mouth with her hand as she giggled a little more.

“Yeah well I’m a nerd,” Sakura said dryly, letting herself bicker a little back with her friend. “Don’t tease me.”

“I-it is good to have hobbies S-Sakura.” Hinata smiled, but fidgeted her fingers a bit. “I-I enjoy pressing flowers.”

“Oh yeah, which ones?” Sakura’s tone picked up. Hinata didn’t mention preferences much.

Hinata just shrugged her shoulders and peeped a little noise.

“Would you like to grow some?” Sakura said energetically as she turned to her soft spoken friend.

Sakura ran up to her practice dummy, kicking it right in the chest. Magnetizing her heel to it, she lifted her other foot off the ground and planted it beside her first one. Curling up slightly, Sakura pushed both feet off the doll while releasing her chakra’s grip on it, and moved into a backflip. As she turned in the air, she released a single shuriken right into the doll’s new head, now a paper plate with an angry little face drawn on it. This was Sakura’s most technical move yet. She landed a little roughly, so reactivated the chakra in her feet to stick to the ground. That was evidently done a little too well, because the suddenness with which she stopped totally offset her momentum and rolled her forward. “Ugh,” Sakura huffed, brushing the dirt off her scraped knees. ‘Again!’

Mebuki heard her daughter grunt from outside, that must've been the fourth time she’d fallen in the last two minutes. Wetting a rag, Mebuki hurried outside in time to see her daughter fall a fifth time. “That was a nasty one!” Mebuki said, as she pressed the rag to her daughter’s red knee.

Sakura whinged. “Thanks, that move’s tricky.”

“It doesn’t look like one of your regular moves.” Mebuki removed the rag and pressed it tightly to her daughter's other knee.

“Yeah,” Sakura said, sucking down a little of the pain. “It’s an original.”

“You’re developing your own style of taijutsu?” Mebuki looked to her daughter surprised, then looked back to clean a little dirt out of Sakura’s wound.

“Well, no…” Sakura started. “Just the one move. I figured if I could develop a move that used my chakra control I could get a leg up.” Sakura snorted realizing her pun. “… As it were.”

Mebuki didn’t respond, too focused on cleaning up her child's dirty knees. “Mama,” Sakura said, “I’ve decided what I want to ask for for my birthday.” Mebuki said a silent prayer that it wasn't that naginata she’d had to drag Sakura away from sitting in that storefront display. She couldn’t afford that. “Seeds… umm here,” Sakura continued, rustling through her pocket. “I have a whole list: vegetables, flowers.”

Mebuki took the paper, glancing over at the garden plot in the side of their yard. “S-seeds?” She balked. That was about the last thing she’d expected Sakura to ask for. “You wanna grow them here?”

“Yes,” Sakura replied, waving her mother and her rag away. Her legs were already feeling much better. “Hinata and I wanted to get a little garden going. I’m going to grow vegetables, and she wants to grow some flowers. I was thinking we can save a little money on food, and maybe I can even sell a little at the academy to help around the house.”

Mebuki cocked her head. ‘Really?’

“Or trade some for a couple of smoke bombs!” Sakura’s eyes lit up.

‘That’s more like it,’ Mebuki thought with a smile. “We can do that, it’s warm enough in the Land of Fire to grow year round.” She balled up the rag and put it into her apron pocket. “But growing in the spring is very traditional.”

“I know! And I’m excited about it too!” Sakura pumped her fists. Mebuki rubbed the back of her neck while Sakura went on about her plans. This would probably be her cheapest birthday gift yet.

Anyday Hinata wasn’t in class was uncomfortable for Sakura. She really didn’t mind it in lecture, her and Hinata paid too close attention to talk between themselves like that anyway. But it was the breaks! At lunch, Sakura awkwardly looked around as different cliques grouped up. Shikamaru Nara of all people made eye contact with her, gave her a cool smirk while nodding his head toward her. She waved and began walking over, until Choji Akimichi walked up beside him offering Shikamaru some potato chips. Sakura lowered her hand slowly, and went another way.

It was awkward for her to be around Choji. He was the first boy she ever sparred with at the academy. When the fight started, she was a little unsure what she was supposed to do, and apparently Choji was too. They had just kind of walked up to one another, without so much as a balled fist, and rocked back and forth seeing who would make the first move. After about ten seconds of awkwardness, Sakura had just gone for it and punched Choji in the mouth. Hard. He flashed her this hurt face, grabbed her by her shoulders, and pushed her to the ground. Sakura was so surprised that she just laid there, and Iruka called the match for Choji. That was probably Sakura’s most embarrassing loss. Despite it, she’d actually felt the urge to apologize to Choji, but wasn’t sure how to go about it or if she even should. Maybe that would have just made it worse. Now every time Sakura saw him, she went the other way. ‘He probably thinks I hate him,’ she thought. But Sakura couldn’t bring herself to face him.

Running through the hand signs for clone jutsu, Sakura actually found it easier than transformation. At least if she was only making one, it used less chakra. Her first efforts were a little gray, but well proportioned and not at all deflated looking. She looked around the training ground, a couple people had already made several. Iruka sensei marched between them commenting on the quality and form of each produced clone.

“Now don’t just try to master this jutsu, but analyze its qualities.” Iruka clapped his hand to earn his furthest students attention. “Clones are totally incorporeal, they don’t kick up dirt, they don’t bend the grass.”

‘They don’t even even obstruct light,’ Sakura considered, staring at her shadowless clone. ‘Not the hardest thing to see through.’ But in the heat of a moment, Sakura could understand how it might throw off an unobservant opponent. Losing oneself in a crowd, a ninja could have a clone dart in one direction while they transformed into somebody else and ran in a totally different one. Sakura produced a second clone, and this one looked much better. As the clone went to move, its head snapped backward while the clone marched forward robotically. “Ew,” Sakura muttered and raised an eyebrow. She poofed that clone out of existence. ‘Moving them is a little more difficult.’

Mebuki portioned out a slice of cake. Glancing outside she portioned it larger. She’d expected… someone… to show up other than Hinata. Mebuki frowned, this was the fewest number of kids who had ever come to one of Sakura’s birthday parties. Looking back out the window, it didn’t seem to bother her daughter much.

In the evening light, Sakura and Hinata dug holes and plots for the seeds Mebuki had gifted her daughter. Sakura used the family’s only garden tool, a rusty little shovel, and Hinata dug hers by hand. Mebuki watched as Sakura used a wet washcloth to wipe the thick dirt off Hinata's pale little hands, and explained to her the depth at which everything needed to be planted.

“And the green beans,” Sakura mentioned “they are a vine plant, so we need to put up a trellis for them to cling to. It’s easy for them to grow if they have something to hold on to.” Sakura spoke with a smile, as Hinata nodded along sincerely.

Mebuki quite liked Hinata. She glanced over to the gift the girl had brought to her daughter: some special ointment that the Hyuuga put on cuts and burns. Mebuki probably liked that gift more than Sakura had. She hated seeing her daughter come home from school covered in wounds every week. Sakura started laughing in response to something Hinata said and affectionately patted her friend on the back. The Hyuuga girl swayed nervously and smiled. With a smile of her own, Mebuki lit eleven candles.

“Okay girls,” she said, coming out of the house with a plate in each hand. “Come and get some cake!”

“Thank you!” Sakura called.

“T-thank you ma’am!” Hinata said, following close behind.

Mebuki handed the girls each a slice of cake. Seeing her moment, she clasped her hands together and began singing. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to y-”

Sakura waved her mother to silence. “Thank you, I hated that.” She laughed a second later.

“How old are you now?” Mebuki asked while she danced in place.

Sakura stuck her tongue out but laughed again.

“Alright fine, the embarrassing mom is going inside.” Mebuki giggled to herself. ‘There is more cake inside anyway!’ She thought to herself mischievously.

As Sakura and Hinata ate the cake, they gazed at the half finished garden. ‘Imagine when I learn water style,’ Sakura noted. ‘I’ll have the whole thing watered in a second!’ She pictured it, a future where she would be conjuring a colossal wave to swamp her backyard, and nodded her head.

“Y-you know a lot about plants, Sakura.” Hinata ate carefully to avoid leaving any crumbs despite being outside.

“I don’t know about all that.” Sakura said slowly, half distracted by Hinata’s particular eating. “Just what I’ve read in books. A lot of things I know I wasn’t taught by another person. I just read. Even ninja matters really, Iruka sensei can’t simultaneously teach so many kids jutsu at once. I just try to follow the diagrams and instructions from him and in our texts.”

“Your ninjutsu i-is not b-bad Sakura. I-if I did not know better, I-I would say that you had a parent instructing you.” Hinata didn’t give much thought to the comment. Every clan kid had one or both parents helping to teach them the academy jutsu. Most were already learning their signature clan abilities too. Hinata noticed Sakura shift uncomfortably. “I-I-I… I just m-mean th-that.” Hinata took a breath. “That for being mostly self taught, your skills are quite refined.”

“You think?” Sakura asked. 'I wouldn't say that yet.'

“Y-yes.” Hinata looked toward Sakura’s house, then back at her friend. “And even if y-your mother is not a ninja, she is supportive of it.”

Sakura nodded to herself with a smile. She’d never been to the Hyuuga compound or seen much of Hinata’s life. To be honest, she probably wouldn’t feel very comfortable there. She still found herself curious though. “So how about your mother? You haven’t mentioned her in all this… time.” Sakura immediately felt bad for asking, as she saw her friend shrink away. ‘Maybe… her mother passed away then?’

“I do not k-know my mother.” Hinata said after a moment, making no effort to hide her fidgeting. Hinata didn’t know if the question had even necessarily bothered her, but talking about it meant revealing some of the differences between the Hyuuga and Sakura’s own life. No clan child would have asked a Hyuuga that, but Hinata also knew her friend meant no malice. Sakura truly did not know the practices of the clan. “The Byakugan is a b-biologically inherited trait. I-it is possible for a ch-child of a Hyuuga to be born with-without it… but that child would n-not be considered Hyuuga. Like inheriting a chakra nature f-from an ancestor. So when a H-Hyuuga seeks to have a child, they choose a surrogate with com-compatible traits t-to best ensure the Byakugan’s m-manifestation.” Hinata’s words sounded clinical and rehearsed, even through her stuttering. Or at least, like she had heard this very same explanation before.

“But you never…” Sakura reached a hand to Hinata’s lap. The heiress held it in her own. “Hey, I’m sorry for a-”

“N-no Sakura.” Hinata squeezed a little tighter. “It… it is a natural curiosity. I-I only know that m-my mother was another kunoichi. I do not know wh-what clan she hailed f-from, if she even did. S-she may even have been a branch family Hyuuga. Mating within the clan is n-not uncommon, a-although to maintain genetic di-diversity Hyuuga often…” Hinata paused, "often invite outsiders to a-aid in the reproduction. The Hyuuga w-will pay the other parent in exchange for their services.”

“You have a little sister right? Was it the same woman?” Sakura tried to be careful with her wording. She couldn’t quite yet surmise how this actually made Hinata feel to discuss, much less about herself.

“Hanabi’s s-surrogate was another Hyuuga woman named Keiko. She is not treat-treated as our mother but visits sometimes. M-my surrogate i-is still alive but we have never met her. F-father said she is to remain anonymous but not-not to concern myself because she was rewarded handsomely for b-bringing me to term.” Hinata smiled faintly, but it looked forced.

“Oh,” Sakura started. “Well that’s good then.” She stared at Hinata, “it… bothers you?”

“W-what!?” Hinata yelped so loudly, it surprised both girls a moment. “I mean, n-no. Many children in the world are raised by one parent. S-so long as the love they receive is strong, so is the child. Are r-raised strong I mean…” Hinata trailed off. “The lifestyle of the Hyuuga does not bother me.”

Sakura turned her head slightly, not truly believing her friend. She would not press this issue further however, seeing how it made Hinata feel. Not today. “Hey,” Sakura perked up, “let’s finish planting before it gets dark. I hear it’s going to rain overnight and that will be good for all the flowers we are going to grow!”

“I-I would like that very much,” Hinata replied. “Th-thank you for inviting me to your birthday party, it was very kind.”


Both girls were silent for a moment, and allowed themselves to sit in the dimming light for a little longer.


Sakura spoke kindly and quietly. "Sure."

Chapter Text

Chapter 6: Dandelions from a Foreign Land

‘This is stupid.’ Sakura thought, as waited for her meal to be sampled. A few tables over, Suzume sensei tasted another kunoichi’s dish and appraised her with methodical scrutiny.

“This tempura is over seasoned and over fried. And I can guarantee when you were making the batter you used lukewarm water at that,” Suzume chided the girl again.

Sakura tried to hide her dislike for “kunoichi class,” but she wasn’t sure she could if Suzume sensei dug into her like that. ‘I’m not interested in being a master chef, or I wouldn’t have gone to the ninja academy! ’ Call it a bad temper, but she was becoming furious. Sakura had… well… some respect for Suzume sensei. She was the newest instructor, and had only recently returned to the Hidden Leaf Village and started teaching. Apparently, Suzume was a master of infiltration, having passed information back to her home nation from her foreign residence for several years. And she’d done it all by passing herself off as a regular civilian woman. It wasn’t Suzume sensei, but rather Suzume sensei’s notion that this was a kunoichi's “role,” that pissed Sakura off. She hadn’t even opted into this class! And the last two hours of every day was going to be consumed by this for the next few weeks until the semester mercifully ended. Sakura never thought she'd hate an academy class this much. She honestly had tried to get into it, but Suzume sensei was so strict: speak like this, stand like that. Sakura despised it! Her own mother never corrected her like that.

Sakura never thought of herself as a tomboy or a girly girl, but after this, she thought she was certainly more the former than the latter. Suzume moved from poor tempura girl onto the kunoichi next to Sakura. That girl hung on Suzume sensei’s words with a “yes ma’am” and perfect poise.

‘I know why this class exists. But I also know a few boys who would be better at it.’ Sakura thought. She didn’t resent the girls who excelled at it. She resented that she had to be here. She resented that it was forced on her while the boys under Iruka sensei were learning to make booby traps. Something she ironically thought she’d both prefer and excel at. ‘Looks like I boobied right into this,’ Sakura thought with a mental groan.

Suzume’s critique had been mostly positive of this new girl’s food. It sounded like just about the best dish yet. Suzume smiled at the girl and declared. “B!”

‘Oh great,’ Sakura tensed, ‘not a good sign.’

“And what do we have, Senju?” Suzume asked, spinning the bowl and observing it from all angles.

“Miso soup… with,” Sakura averted her gaze. “Some original ingredients.”

“Which are?” Suzume’s reply was monotone, right now she seemed more concerned with what the dish looked like.

“A whole lot of onions…” Sakura trailed off nervously. That wasn’t exactly true. Sakura had changed the recipe from that of the Haruno women, and the traditional make, quite a bit more than an extra adding of onion. Her mom cooked it better, but her version was meant to maximize calorie intake with overall health benefit. “And it-”

“Ugh!” Suzume sensei’s disgusted gag cut Sakura off. “Oh Kami what did you put in that?” She spit what little she tasted into a napkin. Shaking her head Suzume continued, “Sakura I’m sorry that’s vile. F!”

“What!?” Sakura couldn’t hide the agitation in her voice. She’s predicted a low grade but an F? “I perfectly balanced this soup for nutritional intake! It promotes and stimulates muscle growth, far more than any ordinary miso soup!” Sakura crossed her arms. “And it should also accelerates the rate of natural chakra regeneration!”

“Sakura, you aren’t trying to make a military grade food pill! This is soup.” Suzume scribbled on her pad openly recording Sakura’s failing grade. “And trust me you aren’t going to cozy up to some minor land’s daimyo with this!”

“Well I don’t want to… cozy up,” Sakura made a disgusted gag of her own. “To some Daimyo. Did Lady Tsunade do that!? Did that Kazekage Pakura!?” Lady Tsunade Senju had taken the healing factor of some of the old Senju hierarchs and learned to pass it to others when she invented medical ninjutsu. She was a heroine to their very own village, and often cited as the sole reason the Leaf Village had done so well in the Second Shinobi World War. Tsunade created an entire field of expertise that saved countless lives, and saw inferior copycat medics emerge in every village. Pakura of the Hidden Sand Village earned the title of Second Kazekage after her combination of fire and wind style unified into the scorch style, which could instantly evaporate the liquid out of a target. She left a trail of mummified corpses across the desert, one made from the enemies of the Land of Wind. “The First and Third Mizukages were women too!” Sakura pointed at Suzume sensei, voice laced with accusation. “And it’s going to be another kunoichi who tells me that my role is to do… that?!”

“And I,” yelled Suzume sensei, “infiltrated the Land of Rain for two years! ME! Only a chunin and I forwarded information from a country that had been considered isolationist since before the Second Shinobi World War! You may not respect my work or the women who do it. You may not ever do it. But, Sakura Senju, I am your instructor.” Suzume lowered her tone with a huff. “And for the good of the Hidden Leaf, you will learn how.”

“Ugh,” Sakura collapsed into her bed face down, and called to her mother in another room. “Mama, am I a girl?”

Mebuki smiled to herself, but entered into the doorway and nodded to Sakura seriously. “You tell me.”

Sakura rolled over. “It’s these kunoichi classes. I’m bad at being a girl.”

Mebuki sat down on the edge of her daughter’s bed. “Sakura, sweetie, I am your mother and I can promise you there is no right or wrong way to ‘be’ a girl.”

“I mean a traditional woman,” Sakura said sitting up. “I’m bad at being that.”

Mebuki chuckled. “Honey, do you wanna be that?”

Sakura scoffed, “ugh, no.” She looked to her mother who smiled back at her. “But Suzume sensei thinks I should be able to pretend to be.” Mebuki cocked her head and waited for her to continue. “Cooking, baking, flower arranging, freaking braiding my hair.” Sakura pulled at hers, it wasn’t long enough to braid. “All of it is so… girly… but she is making me feel bad for not being good at it. It’s stupid…”

“Well what about your garden,” Mebuki started after a second. “Gardening is considered a womanly hobby.”

“Yeah I guess,” Sakura shrugged.

“You shouldn’t be concerned with whether your interests are ‘masculine or feminine,’” Mebuki paced a hand on Sakura’s shoulder. “You should only ever have to worry about whether you enjoy them or not. Don’t you like to cook with me?”

“Yeah, but you do all the real work.” Sakura sighed.

“So?” Mebuki said. “You like it don’t you? You modify every recipe to add some kind of vitamins to it! And… with a little input from me, it ends up not being too bad.” Mebuki put her finger to her chin, “course I think I've gained weight.”

“Muscle,” Sakura said lowly.

“Huh?” Mebuki replied.

“Muscle weighs more than fat.” Sakura spoke again. “That’s what the vitamins are for.”

“How about this! I could teach you to cook a few dishes. No alterations. Could that help you impress your sensei?” Mebuki asked.

Sakura fell back into bed, “I’m not sure I even want to… but it’ll be good for my grades.” She smiled back at her mom.

With the semester nearing its end, Iruka posted a listing of sparring matches to be held on the last day. With a little over a week left to go, this was the first time anyone learned who they’d fight more than an hour before the match. The class clamored around the list, pushing and shoving, but Sakura and Hinata stood outside the pack.

“I-I am fighting Toshi Onikuma.” Hinata read with her Byakugan.

“Nice,” Sakura cheered. “That should be an easy win for you.” Toshi, like Sakura, was academically gifted but one of the poorer combatants. He excelled at a stealth related jutsu. One that would mean little against the Byakugan. Frankly, Sakura wouldn’t have minded fighting him herself.

“A-and you are fighting Kiba Inuzuka.” Hinata said quietly.

“Oh great…” Sakura’s heart sank.

“An intimidating opponent, Sakura.” Hinata looked to her friend, all too aware of the difficult battle before her. “H-he is ranked number five of best combatants in the class. A-and you are.”

“Thirty.” Sakura groaned. There were thirty kids in the class. Sakura looked at Hinata. The Hyuuga was number two, only Sasuke Uchiha was considered better than her. “You wanna switch?” Sakura joked.

Hinata laughed. “For you I would s-switch gladly, but that is not allowed.”

Sakura thought to herself. ‘But I never knew who I was fighting this early.’ A few boys came up and high-fived Kiba. He was pretty much assured of an easy victory. ‘It’s time to strategize.’

Sakura had shrunk into the back of kunoichi class. She’d always been one to speak her mind, but after that tongue-lashing she took from Suzume sensei, she thought it best she bite hers. She watched as Hinata received a mediocre score on some baked treat. Suzume sensei seemed to be more gentle in grading her than any of the other girls. It could have been due to her position as Hyuuga heiress, but it also could have simply stopped at the Hyuuga part. Hinata couldn’t hide her Byakugan without a permanent transformation jutsu. Any capable sensor would eventually detect that, and anyone who looked at her true face would know she was from the Leaf. Hinata was the last girl who would be given some deep shadow assignment. ‘That Byakugan is a meal-ticket,’ Sakura laughed to herself, but was genuinely glad for the position it put Hinata in right now. Her friend didn’t care for this instruction either.

As Sakura glanced into and out of the oven, waiting on her mother’s cookies to finish, she considered her strategy against Kiba. Her secret weapon was actually growing in her garden. ‘Well those wouldn’t be ready, but I can just buy some.’ Sakura’s mother had wondered why one of the first vegetables she requested had been such spicy peppers, despite Sakura’s dislike of spicy food. Mebuki had thought Sakura was ignoring taste, growing them for some quality to help her get stronger. ‘And I am… but against an Inuzuka, they can be a weapon too.’

Suzume sensei came over almost as quickly as Sakura’s oven dinged. “Sa-ku-ra,” she spaced each syllable, but lacked any vim in her voice. Despite the heat from the oven, Suzume ate a single cookie quickly, and wordlessly wrote Sakura’s grade down. “These are good. B.” The sensei walked away. Sakura was surprised, Suzume usually loved drawing out a critique, but was grateful for how short the interaction was.

“What did your sensei think of those cookies? Pretty good huh?” Mebuki called excitedly. She’d gotten home from work late today, so Sakura was already concocting something in the kitchen when she got home.

“She said they were good and gave me a B.” Sakura sounded disinterested, more focused on something she was blending.

“B? A B? Well how about after you graduate, I go down to the academy, and tell that bitch sensei you got just what I think of her and her Bs.” Mebuki said jovially. The academy was turning Sakura into a young woman quickly, regardless of what anyone thought, and Mebuki was starting to enjoy talking to her like it.

“I’d like that,” Sakura laughed back. “Kami, I still hate kunoichi class.”

“Just try to get through it,” Mebuki replied, kissing her daughter's forehead. “What’s that you got there?”

“I'm blending hot peppers. I’m going to mix them with some other stuff and put them in a perfume bottle.” Sakura poured the paste she had in the grindstone into another bowl, and started grinding another two.

“Oh.” Mebuki started putting her things away. “From the garden?”

“No,” Sakura replied. “I am growing some, but they aren’t ripe enough yet. I traded those cosmos Hinata and I grew to Ino Yamanaka, and she gave me some cash. I just got these at the store.”

“And you are putting them in a perfume bottle, why?” Mebuki asked.

“Secret ninja art,” Sakura flashed a confident smile. “Tear gas.”

Hinata had taken out Toshi with a single blow. He’d tried his usual technique, making his body transparent, and illuminating his chakra network to her Byakugan. A well landed palm strike straight to his core had left Toshi supine on the floor. Sakura could see the point of these match-ups now. Most of the weaker combatants had been placed against the skilled ones. This was designed more as a test for Toshi than Hinata. She’d already proven herself in the ring many times. And with knowledge of her skillset and a week to develop a countermeasure, he attempted a tired out jutsu he knew wouldn’t have worked.

“No fair giving me the Hyuuga chick,” Toshi muttered a little too loudly as he walked back into the audience. “Freak eyes.” Sakura glared at him.

Hinata walked back and sat beside Sakura. “That was good,” Sakura said more quietly than Toshi had spoken. “I’m glad you whooped him.” Hinata smiled to herself and blushed.

“Next match,” Iruka called, “Shikamaru Nara and Isamu Watanabe.”

‘Another match balanced for one party,’ Sakura thought. ‘This one balanced for Shikamaru. Isamu’s slow, close range, fighting style will struggle to get past that shadow. And once you’re got, you’re got.’ She remembered.

“D-do you have a strategy?” Hinata asked.

“Yes,” Sakura said lowly, glancing to see if Kiba was paying any attention. He wasn’t. “But I need him to activate that jutsu of his.”

“Winner!” Iruka called, “Shikamaru Nara!”

‘Already?’ Sakura thought. She stood up and looked at Kiba as he did the same. “Guess I’m up.”

As Sakura and Kiba met in the ring and did a courtesy bow, Sakura focused herself. She’d never win playing Kiba’s game of melee combat. She had to make him play hers.

With a wave of Iruka’s hand the match began, and Sakura quickly back peddled. Forming the hand signs for clone jutsu, she formed three perfect clones in front of her. She also formed one clunky one behind her and set the first three off.

“A basic jutsu?” Kiba joked, “yeah right!”

It’s true that the technique was basic, and one that usually needed an element of subtlety. ‘But in this case I can make the disadvantages work for me,’ Sakura thought to herself. Kiba was cocky, and smirking at the poorly made clone behind her. It fizzled out just as it got going. ‘So far so good.’

Sakura’s three good clones fell in around Kiba, one in front and two flanking him. He didn’t bother to form a defensive stance. They meant nothing. They could each make a flying kick and pass through Kiba like a phantom. But as the one before Kiba adopted a clumsy fighting stance, it wasn’t Kiba’s strike that faded it away.

Kiba howled in pain. A cluster of shuriken had planted themselves in Kiba that Sakura had thrown right through her own clone. “Aughh,” Kiba growled, falling to his knees. Sakura smiled. He was acting arrogant in this fight against her, and didn’t think she could hurt him. Her jutsu might not have worked on its own, but her opponent distracted himself when he questioned why she cast it. The most dangerous weapon in Sakura’s arsenal, was to be underestimated.

“Not nice to get hit by what you can’t see!” Sakura taunted.

“No,” Kiba said with a smirk. “It’s not!” Pouncing back up, he revealed two smoke bombs and hurled them into the ground about as quick as Sakura could draw her kunai. “Ninja Art: Beast Mimicry!” The smokescreen hid a smirk Sakura couldn’t hide.

‘Imitating a beast, an Inuzuka’s senses are sharper than a dog’s! With hastily sharpened claws they can dart around on all fours and overwhelm a disoriented opponent with their speed and close quarters attacks.’ Sakura looked around, but couldn’t see much beyond an arms length. She heard him coming a second before the blow landed, and braced for the pain. “Aghhh!”

She tumbled, head over heels, after Kiba struck her cleanly in the back. Sakura dropped her kunai as she fell. She knew she couldn’t take many more hits like that. Kiba had flown at her with such an intensity, that even after colliding with her during the attack, his momentum carried him back into the cloud of smoke. Sakura sucked down the pain, and made an exaggerated show of trying to crawl back to her kunai. Kiba leapt back out at her, landing between her and the blade, but her off hand was already reaching for her real weapon. Sakura revealed the aerosol can, full of hot chili oil, and misted it into Kiba’s hypersensitive face.

He screamed in pain as his eyes and nose were overloaded. “What is that?” He barked at her. Sakura’s only answer was a knee to the gut. Kiba’s first attack hurt, but not nearly as much as she made him think. When you regularly fight a Hyuuga, who can overload every pain receiver in your body, you can take a few hard hits to the back. Sakura nailed him again, punching Kiba in the face this time, and driving him back. As he staggered, she dove for the kunai, and rolled with it. He wouldn’t stay vulnerable for long. Sakura darted back in with a drop kick Kiba couldn’t quite react to. He clawed at her legs but it didn’t matter. She held herself to his chest with her chakra, and as Kiba fell back, she tumbled down on top of him. Straddled over him, Sakura held the kunai about an inch from his throat. After a delay born of perhaps some surprise, she heard Iruka declare her the winner.

Kiba scoffed and rolled his eyes, but smiled. Whether it was to himself or her, Sakura wasn’t sure, but he took her hand when she offered it to him. The class was surprised to say the least, and were aloud with comments, both positive and negative, about the match. This wasn’t the first match Sakura won, but this time she had overcome one hell of a mismatch. More than that, with only a standard academy jutsu and her own mind, she’d made it look like Kiba was the one up against odds.

Hinata congratulated her when Sakura sat back down, and was very impressed. It was Kiba stopping her after class that ended up meaning the most to her though. Class had dismissed early, so Iruka could assist with the final exam for the graduating class, and as Sakura walked back toward her house, Kiba approached her.

“Pretty and smart,” He stared at her. “But I didn’t know you could throw hands like that.”

“Well there’s a lot you might not know about me,” Sakura replied, averting his gaze quickly and trying to continue on her way. She knew she only beat him at close range because she stunned him, and hoped he wouldn’t harass her about the win now.

“I guess not. You know the guys were joking around about those kunoichi classes, looks like we were wrong.” Kiba said following along after her with his hands in his pockets.

Sakura rolled her eyes. “Trust me, Suzume sensei’s classes didn’t teach me a thing that had to do with that.”

“No?” Kiba asked, more to himself than her. After thinking to himself he replied again. “No, I guess not.”

Kiba and Sakura had never been close, but with the beginning of another break on their hands, Sakura could spare a few minutes for him. “I wouldn’t have won if I didn’t have time to prepare, you’re more skilled than me. I’m just glad you aren’t too upset about the match.” She’d heard a few boys after the fight. Big bad Kiba lost to the weakest girl in class.

“Nahh, I’m not offended by losing to a woman.” He chuckled to himself and continued after trailing off. “My mom is the head of our clan, she’s intense and breaks me down daily.”

“Oh yeah?” Sakura asked. She’d not been aware of that.

“Yeah,” Kiba laughed again. “She’s so scary dad ran off on us, but she always had bigger balls than him anyways.”

“Ohh… yeah?” Kiba’s energy made Sakura chuckle a little back, even if his words surprised her.

“Yeah, I know some countries are more conservative about women who fight. But chakra is an equalizer I think. I’ll never be offended if a kunoichi beats me in a fight. Not on account of her sex at least.” Kiba folded his hands behind his head, and Sakura slowed down so he was right beside her now.

“Ugh, you mean the Hidden Stone Village.” She shook her head. “I hear only the most exceptional women are allowed to become kunoichi there.” Kunoichi class sucked, but the Leaf was still mostly egalitarian in its practices. She was grateful she wasn’t trying to prove herself as a kunoichi in a ninja village like the Stone.

Far from Sakura, across the continent, was the country of the Land of Earth. The Lord Tsuchikage, Ohnoki, had followed through with a suggestion to instill fear into those who’d challenge his village, when he sent some of his most powerful ninja to raid an outlaw camp by night. But as Han, vessel of the five tailed dolphin-horse, spit smoke and steam at his overpowering opponent, this mission had unfortunately become more than that. Kurotsuchi watched from the distant high ground as her village’s Jinchiriki struggled against his opponent. She’d already found Captain Kenzo in about five or six pieces. 

This mission was Han, Captain Kenzo, her best friend Deidara, and herself. They were to rendezvous with one of those mercenaries from that band her grandfather liked to hire, and eliminate the bandits in a show of force so fierce no ordinary citizens would dare steal from a Hidden Stone convoy again. She was panicking now, because even when she had wondered how seemingly ordinary bandits had defeated a convoy with a jonin escort, it was possible he’d been caught unawares. But as she stared down the mountain at Han, it was clear the numerous assailants he was trying to fend off were not men, but puppets. ‘Damnit,’ she thought. ‘How is this happening?’

Han yelled to her again over their radio. “Kurotsuchi, I need backup now!”

Kurotsuchi, took a breath, then pressed in her earpiece. “I’m grouping up with Deidara. Captain Kenzo is dead.”

“Damnit,” Han yelled. “Hurry up!” In the distance steam clashed into the army of puppets, but a large black mass of iron collided into the fog and knocked Han back out of the mist. He flew off like a rocket, and narrowly escaped, as the iron core landed on the ground with a crash. This time his fist caught the body of one of the other puppets and smashed it to bits. He caught his breath as dozens more danced in the air around him, manipulated at once by his true enemy: their puppeteer. The man who the Tsuchikage had hired to assist them.

Kurotsuchi, knowing this battleground was too much for her to enter alone, waved urgently at Deidara as he flew over lazily on one of his clay birds. ‘Why is he coming so slow? Is he hurt?’

“Kuro,” Deidara landed and slid off the bird's back. “Glad you are still alive…”

“Bro… this is bad! Han… he… he’s losing!” Han was a more than elite jonin. It was his body that contained the Gobi, and all of its vaporous powers. If he is outmatched, it was safe to say she would be, but with Deidara they could make up the difference.

“Yeah…” Deidara said. Kurotsuchi was already looking back down the mountain at the fight, it was a marvelous clashing of light and sound. “You find Captain Kenzo, sis?”

They weren’t actually related, but they’d been close since they were kids. Kurotsuchi may have been the Tsuchikage’s granddaughter, but she was still a girl, and Deidara’s obsession with art and insolent personality earned him no fans in the rigid Hidden Stone. They were their year's misfits. “Yeah, something blew him up…” She took deep breaths trying to prepare for the fight. “We need to fly in, the enemy may have planted landmines.”

Deidara released a few clay spiders from his sleeve but Kurotsuchi seemed too distracted to notice. “That could be one explanation for it.”

“Let’s not take chanc-” Kurotsuchi was interrupted by Han screaming at her through the radio again. “Okay, we’re coming!” She turned and ran past Deidara, trying to hoist herself onto his clay bird. It didn’t lower its stance to allow her on. She looked back at her best friend, and he had that smile on his face he always did when he was up to trouble. She realized, somehow both slowly and in an instant, and whispered to herself. “We’re not.”

“You know what Captain Kenzo called me once, Kuro?” Deidara waved his arms widely and scattered a few more spiders from his hands. One crawled over to Kenzo’s disconnected foot. “Artsy faggot.” Deidara said slowly. He smirked and released a low malicious laugh. Kurotsuchi just stared at Deidara in shock. “He was right of course… but true art is an explosion.” The spider on Kenzo’s foot detonated. “The look on his face existed only for a second, but it was perfect.”

“Why are you doing this?” Kurotsuchi panted. Deidara’s smirk didn’t wash off his face. Deidara was more powerful than Kurotsuchi, and they both knew it. His spiders swarmed around them.

“Because I’m going to get in one of those red and black suits!” Deidara’s voice rose. “Way more stylish than these Hidden Stone outfits. Plus the guys in our little club have some interesting art… I wanna check it out.”

Sweat beaded on Kurostuchi’s neck. Was she going to die? “You're betraying your family… to witness art?”

“Hmm, that’s so like you sis, to make such a sweeping oversimplification. Always denying us the chance for growth. Denying us any respect.” The words flew out of Deidara’s mouth with spit. “No… they betrayed me. But who do they call when they need a few insect nests cleared out.” Another spider detonated, startling Kurotsuchi. “Dei and Kuro!”

“So you’re just gonna kill me… kill Han and run away.” Kurotsuchi had started to hyperventilate, but kept her voice low.

“No,” Deidara remarked matter-of-factly with a shake of his head. “I’m going back!” He sounded downright excited. “I’ll need to tell everyone what happened… well… my version of events of course. My man Sasori needs some time for him and his guys to extract the Gobi. Old man Ohnoki will send some ninja out to look for it, so a few terrorist bombings can put a delay on that.” Dedaira nodded, “And then I’ll leave.” Kurotsuchi said nothing and Deidara raised his hands. “Oh! Military targets only sis, no civilians… I’m not a psychopath.” He laughed.

Kurostuchi called stone to her fist, but didn’t move. She wasn’t sure what to do. “Deidara,” she said shakily. “Don’t do this.”

“Hmm well it’s a little late to flake out now Kuro, I already killed Kenzo…” His voice was annoyed, but then his face and tone softened. “You hated it too. If our roles were reversed I’d be loving if you did this! You know my story is so much better if someone corroborates it. Or not… we could say you got knocked out.” He shrugged.

Han screamed again over the radio. Kurotsuchi had been distracted from the fight, but it was clearly growing more intense and entering its finale. “Kurotsuchi!” Han shouted, “Get in here you fools!”

Over the radio Kurotsuchi heard another voice, which must have been close, to be being picked up by Han’s transmitter. It was monotone and confident. “Naive!”

Han screamed so loudly Kurotsuchi didn’t need a radio to hear it. Her head jerked in his direction.

“But you also know too much.” Deidara said, calling her attention back to him. ‘So, Kuro, sis… What’s it gonna be, hmmm?”

Chapter Text

Chapter 7: Sunflowers in the Summer

Sakura’s break had almost flown by. After her victory over Kiba, she had settled into an intense training regime to better establish herself in sparring matches. As Sakura comfortably defected three shuriken fired by an automatic launcher, she was seeing the results. Precision, agility, quickness, Sakura had enhanced them all. And she had to, because if her classmates weren’t bringing their parent’s jutsu to school yet, they would be now.

One thing that had changed about her training was where it was happening. Sakura had once avoided practicing at the ninja academy, and she now went about twice a week. It was really only for a change of location at first, since people weren’t bothering Sakura about her weakness or forehead nearly as much now. But being able to see some of her peers train, had given Sakura greater insight into their strengths and weaknesses. What skills were they trying to hone? Which exercises did they run most often? All this would give insight to how to best counter them. Sakura had triumphed over Kiba because she had time to devise a strategy to fight him. But if she managed to devise a different strategy to fight everyone, she would be ready for any spar. That was much easier said than done. There was no strategy available to her means that would shake Sakura loose of a shadow possession. No strategy that would allow her to keep up with an Uchiha’s martial arts. And no strategy that would make blows from her own best friend’s Gentle Fist hurt any less. ‘And,’ Sakura thought, turning her head. ‘No strategy to get rid of all those bugs.’

Shino Aburame was something of an enigma to Sakura last year. The Aburame had a weak chakra signature for a ninja clan. Shino himself had struggled to perfect the academy jutsu. From the looks of it, he still didn’t quite have the body flicker down. But it wasn’t a mastery of ninjutsu that made him dangerous. When Aburame clan members are still infants, insects are “implanted” into their bodies. That is to say that the insects use the Aburame’s body as a nest. They grow and reproduce right inside, and feed right on the Aburame’s own chakra. Regardless of how bulky Shino’s clothes were, and how heavily he covered himself, Sakura could swear there were a few moments she’d seen them move under his skin. At first, it was kind of revolting. Then she saw him fight. A swarm of buzzing insects flying out of Shino like a cloud, covering his enemy. The bugs may be used to feeding on Aburame chakra, but when given a taste of another they enter a frenzy. They could even leech their target's energy away and return it to their… hive. Shino was more than food, he was a home. And Sakura was sure that at least to some level, he could communicate with the insect’s rudimentary minds. As disgusting as it had been initially, it was oddly marvelous to see someone so in tune with nature. Remembering the weapon she had made from peppers, Sakura felt she could resonate with that in some way. 

Sakura certainly didn’t appreciate the idea of being a host, but there was a power to the natural world that a ninja would do well to harness. ‘Chakra itself had an elemental nature that varied from person to person,’ Sakura thought. “What’s more primal than the elements themselves,” she said aloud. Sakura looked down at her red knuckles, worn from striking a wooden log again and again. ‘Water and earth… And the First Hokage once used them each to possess wood.’

Sakura poured over the unrestricted sections at the ninja library. There weren’t many tomes or scrolls that covered the wood style specifically, but any blank areas could be covered with biographical texts covering Lord Hashirama Senju himself. The wood style was an extremely rare art, a combination of water and earth, that turned the user's chakra into pure life energy. ‘To think, chakra creating life.’ A part of that delighted Sakura. Justu was so often used to fight and kill, and there was necessity in that, but plants could be so much more. The wood style was used to craft food and shelter, as much as it was a tool of war. There were groves of trees in the Hidden Leaf Village grown with chakra so rich, they still had their original flowers.

It was an awesome technique, but confirmed wood style users were rare in history. Hashirama Senju, who was long dead, was the only person to have naturally manifested it in generations. There were a few other reported users, both from the Senju clan and outside it, from before the great villages. It seemed to be just as uncommon during the days of the warring states period. But there was no explanation for why it was so rare. ‘It must have been more than difficult,’ Sakura considered. ‘A combination of water and earth was rare, but not rare enough to explain decades of dormancy.’ Sakura wished the First Hokage had left public records on how he’d learned the technique. Attempting any jutsu without preparation and guidance was liable to see the user injured. She’d never attempted water or earth style out of fear of it, let alone a style as lost as wood. But unfortunately, everything about it had been classified by subsequent administrations. Specifically by Danzo Shimura apparently, left hand of the current Hokage and leader of the Hidden Leaf’s black ops division. His seal covered the sections that would have contained the information, not just restricted to the public but seized. ‘He is very careful with the Leaf’s secrets.’ Sakura thought, grinding her teeth. ‘This must’ve all passed his desk directly at some point…’ Again, what Sakura wasn’t sure about was why. Surely assisting capable shinobi in learning such a powerful jutsu style would have benefited the Hidden Leaf? ‘And yet we aren’t.’

It was a disappointing trip, but Sakura shrugged it off. She must’ve been feeling either naive or arrogant to think she could have ever been the one to revive the wood style anyway. Still, it was surreal to be addressing the Senju clan as a fellow ninja and not an admiring civilian. The Senju clan was something to strive for. Sakura couldn’t help but smile. ‘My clan.’ Something about learning more about Hashirama was also making her feel closer to her father. ‘Just you watch dad. I will be a great ninja, even without the wood style. Just like you… And I’ll protect others.’

In the baking heat of a Land of Fire summer, watering three times a day was about all Sakura could do to keep the garden from drying out. On the upside, all the sun had been great for the crops. Many were producing some pretty plump sized vegetables. Her mother had been so impressed with how good they’d tasted she’d been passing them to her girlfriends at work. Sakura would be lying if she said that hadn’t been a little proud of that. As Sakura made her rounds over the plants, she noticed Hinata coming up to her back gate.

“Hinata!” Sakura yelled, “How are you?”

“I a-am well Sakura, you?” Hinata slowly unlocked the gate and let herself inside.

“I’m doing good,” Sakura replied, she was happy Hinata was finally letting herself in the yard without being told she could. The first few times Hinata had visited, she wouldn’t even come inside unless Sakura or Mebuki came to fetch her.

“I-I have come to see you Sakura.” Hinata smiled and shifted her eyes away. “I have missed s-seeing you everyday.”

Sakura giggled, they still took the time to see each other several times a week, but it was certainly not as often as when the academy classes were in session. “I’m glad you came then, you should see how well those sunflowers you wanted have been growing.” Hinata walked past Sakura and looked up at the flowers. If she lacked a Byakugan, Hinata would have had to stand on Sakura’s shoulders to see over the top of one. Sakura tapped her chin. “I have no idea how you’ll press these in a book though.” Sakura laughed.

“Ahh, that-that is okay. It’s nice to see them growing so tall. Y-you are helping them a lot, Sakura.” Hinata didn’t turn to Sakura after she spoke, just kept looking up at the flowers. Sakura always thought Hinata was just shy, but now wondered if part of it wasn’t a little quirk of the Byakugan. A Hyuuga could look someone in the eyes from anywhere with it active. Even though her’s wasn’t now, maybe it just felt natural all the same.

“If they can’t find the sun they face each other,” Sakura said after a moment. “It’s kind of cute,” she laughed. “Maybe if you come around more, they’ll start looking at you instead.” Hinata turned to Sakura but not fully. “It is your name's meaning afterall.”

“Y-yes,” Hinata said.

“Is that why you asked me to grow them?” Sakura turned her head a little. Every other type of flower Hinata had wanted to grow was small enough to be pressed in a book. Sunflowers were a rather oversized exception.

“Ahh,” Hinata shook a little in surprise. “N-no that is not why I asked you to grow them. S-sakura is a type of flower. A-and Hinata is a place in the s-sun. Or just sunflower.” Hinata trailed off.

“That’s cool. It’s almost like sunflowers represent us both then.” Sakura walked up beside Hinata, and looked up at the flowers.

“A-actually,” Hinata began. “I-I like to think they will look at you. A-as I do. A light.”

Surprised, Sakura could only exhale something a little between a scoff and heartfelt giggle. “W-what?”

“Y-you are a light, Sakura Senju.” Hinata turned to face her friend. “You have been a good friend, and showed me kindness when few others did.”

Sakura shifted a little, Hinata’s words were flattering but also made her feel uncharacteristically shy. She was much more used to her friend being the shy one. “We were both the outcasts a little bit,” Sakura laughed nervously. “So it was natural.”

“It was.” Hinata’s smile was soft but wide. “T-thank you for being my friend.”

Sakura couldn’t help but smile back. “Anytime…” If she didn’t know any better, Sakura would have said the flowerheads had turned to them a little.

“You lingered too long at the Senju’s House.” Hinata’s father chided at her the second she walked in the front door. “You were meant to spar with Hanabi today.”

“I-I apologize father. I still can.” Hinata sunk her chin into her jacket a little. He had probably watched her making her way back for a while now. The more skilled a user becomes with the Byakugan, the wider their range of vision. Lord Hiashi’s spanned kilometers. Her father could see any Hyuuga at any time anywhere on the compound. It could even see her and Hanabi at school.

“No, Hanabi has already completed a sufficient amount of spars today.” Hiashi looked down at Hinata sternly. “Did you spar with the Senju girl today?”

Hinata considered lying. She wondered if her father could see all the way to Sakura’s house. “N-not today father.”

Hiashi nodded. “Come. You shall fight me today.”

“You excited to get back to school tomorrow?” Mebuki asked as she sliced through the biggest cucumber yet. ‘Kami, it looks delicious.’

“Yeah,” Sakura said, hurrying to set the table. “I’m setting a new goal for myself. I’m going to get a 100% on every written grade.”

Mebuki could only shake her head. “You’re setting a lot of goals for yourself. Don’t spread yourself too thin.” Mebuki pointed at Sakura, silencing her daughter before she could start objecting. “And don’t be disappointed in yourself if you can’t meet all of them.”

“And if I can?” Sakura asked.

“Then, daughter of mine,” Mebuki brought a large tossed salad to the table. “Collect your flowers.”

Sakura’s seating arrangement was different from the last semester. She wasn’t next to the wall anymore. But all that mattered was that she was still next to Hinata. Sakura was early, and when she filed into the room, she was approached by Iruka sensei.

“Sakura!” His cheer seemed a little forced. “I was wondering if you could help me out. Consider it a special assignment?”

“What is it Iruka sensei?” Honestly she imagined a busy enough plate for her year. Something about Iruka’s body language didn’t make her believe she’d be clearing off the blackboard.

“We have a new student in class. I think you’ll relate to him a lot, and I was wondering if you could help him out.”

‘A new student? This was a graduation year, who would enroll to join this class .’ Sakura settled into her seat. “With what?”

“Tutoring,” Iruka continued. “He needs a little help catching up.”

“I’m umm, flattered Iruka sensei,” Sakura shifted. “But surely there are other students more suited to helping him with his jutsu-”

“More his academics,” Iruka’s response was sudden. “Some of his jutsu are poor, but he really needs help with his written grades. He’s uhh…” Iruka searched for the words. “A bit of a knucklehead. And your grades are the best in the class.”

‘Kami, I do not sound interested.’ Sakura furrowed her brow. “Sorry sensei, but I have a lot on my plate this semester. Maybe someone else would be able to?”

“Ohh,” Iruka sensei was clearly surprised she had said no. “Well that’s too bad… I err… actually already sat him next to you.”

‘So Iruka sensei already halfway pawned this guy off to me.’ Sakura turned to the other empty seat next to her. She heard Hinata was to her right, and hadn’t even thought about her left. “Ohh… well that’s nice, it should be good to meet him.” Sakura didn’t care too much to be honest. She was focused on her own growth. So long as this “knucklehead,” guy didn’t get in the way of that, they wouldn’t have problems.

“Could you please just give him a warm welcome then. He’s actually an upperclassman.” Iruka leaned toward Sakura and gave her a hearty smile. All she could do was nod curtly. Iruka lingered a little too long, but when someone else entered the class, he hurried over to welcome them.

She felt bad for disappointing Iruka sensei, but like she’d said, she was just too busy to worry about someone else's grades on top of it. As she unpacked her things, Sakura thought maybe she could at least train with him one day. “Wait,” She paused. ‘Upperclassman? There is no class above us now. This guy must have washed out last year.’ That was the last thing she needed! How could Iruka sensei possibly imagine she could help someone with a year he’d already failed, and she never took? ‘Unless he is so behind, he still needs help with last year’s content.’ Sakura was frustrated. This kid had clearly slipped through the academic cracks. She works hard, and now she gets rewarded by needing to compensate for the underfunded school system! Students could learn more before becoming genin if there was another instructor in the class, and not one that pulled all the girls into kunoichi class whether they liked it or not. Sakura understood this was technically a branch of the Land of Fire’s military. But they needed a system that helped students focus on areas that interested them, and helped them through what they struggled the most with.

Iruka sensei had the class do introductions again for their first day. Sakura couldn’t understand it, everyone pretty much already knew each other. ‘Couldn’t the new guy just introduce himself?’ Sakura let her eyes wander around the room, lazily listening to her classmate’s icebreakers. ‘It doesn’t help that he doesn’t seem to be paying attention either.’

When Sakura’s turn came to introduce herself she made sure to keep it quick. “Hi everyone, Sakura here. My goal is to become a ninja capable of protecting others. Thank you.” She bowed respectfully and returned to her seat.

Sakura glossed over the syllabus until Hinata introduced herself. “H-hello, I am Hinata Hyuuga. I-I would like to become a respectable ninja one day. M-my dream is to stand be-beside my family. It’s n-nice to see everyone again.” Sakura nodded to herself. Those were good goals. Hinata bowed and hurried herself back to her seat. The poor thing didn’t stop trembling even after she sat down. “D-did I do o-okay, Sakura?”

“Yeah,” Sakura smiled, and rested her hand on Hinata. The Hyuuga’s shaking slowed. “I liked what you said a lot.”

“Thank you, S-sakura” Hinata leaned a little closer to her friend's touch. “K-knowing that makes me feel I did a little better.”

The new kid looked at the girls with unhidden confusion on his face. Hinata was totally different from Neji Hyuuga.

Sakura paid the rest of her class little mind until it was “knuckleheads” turn. ‘He dresses pretty loud but he seems normal so far,’ she thought. ‘I wonder what he’ll say to introduce himself.’

“Alright!” The new kid began very loudly. “The name is Naruto Uzumaki, and you’re looking at the next Hokage! That way, you'll have no choice but to notice me! So you better get used to taking orders from me one day! That’s me! Naruto Uzumaki!”

If the class hadn’t started erupting into laughter, Sakura was convinced the tirade would have continued. ‘Okay,’ she thought, at least polite enough to choke back her own laughter. It wasn’t so much the declaration of Hokage to her, but the complete impudence and eagerly confrontational attitude. Not even the cockiest elite clan kid would have addressed the class like that, let alone the only student to have flunked out of last year's graduation. 

Now, Naruto Uzumaki was bouncing around and shouting in defiance at the class. Iruka sensei threw his own voice into the mix as he tried to usher the new kid back into his seat.

Sakura, leaning on her hand, watched the scene unfold. ‘Thank kami I said no to this.’ Iruka sensei practically had to grab the boy by the scruff of his tracksuit to start carrying him to his seat. Someone balled up the syllabus and threw it at Naruto, hitting him in the head. In unison, Naruto and Iruka both snapped their heads and shouted at whoever did it. Sakura glanced over at Hinata, who smiled at her meekly and fidgeted. Sakura snorted. “This’ll be interesting.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 8: Companion Planting

Body flicker jutsu was the most difficult academy technique to master. It could allow the user to temporarily move so quickly they could essentially teleport. Or at least if they moved through open space, and in a straight line. However, it was also incredibly taxing. Don’t travel far enough, and it actually would have been quicker to just run or jump. Travel too far, and your body would be so strained by the movement, you’d probably hurt yourself more than what you evaded. It was a defensive technique, to avoid large indiscriminate area attacks. Sakura found it was best to only body flicker distances between five and seven meters. As Sakura watched Naruto Uzumaki spar, that wasn’t how he used it.

Naruto flew forward with the technique, colliding with Isumu and tackling him to the ground. Naruto must’ve been a head shorter than his opponent, but the Uzumaki was also the by far the feistier of the two. Bringing Isumu to the ground with a halfway self-destructive attack, he punched the larger boy again and again until Iruka called Isumu out. Naruto got up and turned his attention to his last opponent in the ring: Sasuke Uchiha.

“I didn’t think he’d get this far,” whispered a boy in front of Sakura. “When Sasuke took out Toshi, I thought the new kid would be next.”

But as Sakura stared at the arena, there it was. Naruto Uzumaki, washed-up failure loudmouth dumbass, had evened up the match despite a huge disadvantage.

Naruto squared up to Sasuke, cagey. The Uchiha entered into his trademark opening stance. Few in the academy could withstand a barrage from him it seemed. Naruto flashed forward with body flicker, and missed one, no, two blows. Sakura focused. They were both quick. Sasuke couldn’t land a hit either. It was just a few seconds into the exchange, but they looked so even Sakura thought it might never end. But then, a thud.

It was Sasuke who stumbled and fell to the floor. Naruto had cracked him right across the jaw. Sasuke tried to pop back up, but stumbled again. Naruto must have hit Sasuke hard enough to have disoriented him. Naruto leapt onto Sasuke’s back, trying to drag him to the ground and elbowing him in the ribs. Sakura had never seen the Uchiha get worked over like this. Sasuke tossed himself back, slamming them both to the ground, but Naruto held on. He shifted and put Sasuke into a pretty tight coke hold. Both boys were shouting in strain, but Sakura leaned in with interest. ‘It’s over.’ The entire class had gone quiet. Naruto kept his grip as Sasuke slowly started going limp. But, Iruka did not call the match. ‘Something’s wrong,’ Sakura thought. ‘Sensei needs to call this.’ Even Naruto seemed hesitant. He looked back at Iruka with a confused face, but loosened his grip the slightest bit. Sasuke’s last bit of strength took advantage of the lapse, and he shifted his head down, biting Naruto’s arm. Naruto yelled out, and tried to reaffirm his hold. Sasuke worked a quick sign, and a bit of fire escaped his mouth. Naruto’s entire arm went up in flames. He jumped back shouting, and trying to shake the fire away. To his credit, Naruto managed to do so quickly, but Sasuke took the moment to catch his breath. The Uchiha spun around with a tremendous roundhouse that hit Naruto square in the head, before he could get his guard up. An almost sickening crunch rang out.

“Winner,” Iruka declared. “Sasuke Uchiha!”

If Sakura could have booed, she might have. In her eyes, Naruto had won. You don’t go for kills or full submissions at the academy, but it was the fact Naruto could have, that should have declared it in his favor. Sakura recalled holding her kunai to Kiba’s throat. That’s how she’d won her own match, despite her opponent being conscious and able to resist. ‘And Sasuke used fire style!’ Sakura shook her head, as Sasuke stood over Naruto’s unconscious body and all but spit on him as he panted, and self-assured his clan’s greatness. Sasuke could perform fire style last year too, but had never been allowed to spar with it. Fire was too dangerous, too violent. It didn’t matter if it was an Uchiha specialty. It was all but stated that if Sasuke tried a technique that dangerous on another student, it was immediate disqualification. Sakura looked around. The class was as stunned as she was. She leaned toward Hinata, expecting some kind of wisdom from her friend. “What was that?”

Hinata leaned back. “I-I do not know.”

Sakura stood, spinning her head around, looking over the class. She eyeballed Iruka. “What was that!?” She saw how these kids treated the “class failure.” She knew because that had been her last year. And that wasn’t how they'd treated Naruto these past weeks. The Uzumaki was a doofus, he was annoying, and loud. But he wasn’t weak. That’s what everyone had taunted her for. But Naruto never was. He proved that in every spar, today especially. But these kids weren’t mocking him, they were avoiding him. They’d laugh behind his back about what a loser he was, and when he walked by, they’d all but run the other way. ‘They were afraid of him,’ she thought. And now Iruka sensei, a man she respected, was all but openly fixing matches against him.

Sakura tore through the kids in the crowd, pushing past shoulders as she stormed into the sparring ring. She glared at Iruka again. “Huh!?” He was silent.

Sasuke barged in to meet her, holding his flank where Naruto had struck him. “If you have some iss-”

“Move!” She pushed him aside. Her hair bristled, thinking he’d hit her, but he didn’t. Sakura crouched beside Naruto and cradled his head in her lap. Naruto seemed to fade into and out of consciousness in her arms, as he made a groaning sound. Blood was already matting in his blond hair. She looked back up at Iruka, “He's hurt bad, help him!”

Iruka spoke softly and put his hands up trying to assuage her anger. “Now Sakura y-”

Sakura whipped her head back to the spectators and called to Hinata. “Hinata, go get the nurse!”

The Hyuuga was already standing as well, shocked but a little too nervous to follow her friend into the ring. “R-right!” She hurried off.

When Hayami nearly blinded Hinata, the class was outraged. Iruka sensei was outraged. Sasuke had used fire style, and hit Naruto far too hard in anger. But it seemed like few of them cared about the poor wounded boy. Even now, she couldn’t place who was afraid for Naruto, and who was just shocked Iruka had allowed Sasuke to run riot with the rules during the match. Sakura shook her head in the face of Iruka’s excuses, and she tried to mitigate Naruto’s bleeding with the fabric of her outfit. He probably had a concussion. This time it was another voice that drowned out Iruka. “She’s right!” 

Sakura jerked up in surprise. ‘Shikamaru Nara?’

“Uzumaki should have won that fight!” Shikamaru threw his hands up. Sakura had never seen him shout. “What gives sensei? And now he’s hurt!?”

Choji Akimichi came beside his friend and yelled in affirmation. “Yeah!”

“Enough!” Iruka shouted. “Sasuke won the match. Naruto is more injured than I realized, so stop gawping at me and hurry to the nurse!”

Sakura held Naruto in her arms. As daring as he was, he was also barely bigger than her. Luckily, as bad as his head looked, it seemed he had managed to save himself any major burns. Sakura exhaled, and allowed herself to think. It was interesting to her that Iruka had called back that Sasuke had won, before calling for Naruto to get help. “Sensei,” she said dryly. “Hinata is on her way.”

Iruka had canceled all spars for the rest of the day, and essentially left the class alone to silently study. Sakura could sometimes hear her sensei arguing with other people in the hall, but couldn’t make out many details. It wasn’t difficult to imagine that it had to do with the events of today's spar though. Sakura had even noticed the old graduate classes sensei, Mizuki, adding himself into the mix. ‘This was a clear ostracization of the new student, combined with Uchiha clan favoritism.’ Sakura thought. ‘So why does it sound so heated? Isn’t this business as usual?’

Naruto had to be carried off to the nurse on a stretcher. While Sasuke probably could have made a fuss about his wounds too, he now quietly nursed his bruises near the front of the class. A lot of eyes were on him as he paged through a textbook. Sakura’s too, and she narrowed them. She’d never allowed herself to voice it before, but privately she had long come to think Sasuke enjoyed some sort of charity in the class. He was the sole surviving member of his family after those tragic killings, so maybe it was somewhat deserved at one time. But today’s charade hadn’t even helped him. Sasuke’s pride and clout were certainly more injured than he was. 

The Uchiha was supposed to be their top student, never even losing a spar. He was more an all rounder than an ace. Strategy, teamwork, espionage, chakra control, conditioning, general studies, weapons, traps… Sakura could run the list of subjects, and Sasuke was good but not the best in all of them. Only in spars did he remain so firmly on top. Sasuke excelled in combat. ‘Against his matchups,’ Sakura thought. Hinata was the number two combatant in the class. Sasuke had never fought her. Shikamaru rose to third after learning his clan’s shadow technique. Sasuke fought him once last year, before the Nara had acquired it. Shino Aburame was the fourth best in combat, with his biting insects. ‘Nope,’ Sakura thought. ‘He never fought him.’ Matches were generally decided randomly, but Iruka had clearly assigned opponents before. Surely Sasuke should’ve tested his mettle against a similarly skilled opponent. Now, it looked to Sakura like Sasuke was being cherrypicked easy fights. Sakura had always desired to see a match between Sasuke and Hinata. The girls had even tried to prepare for it, and they were both pretty sure the Hyuuga would win. ‘But then Hinata would be top girl,’ Sakura thought. ‘And bye-bye Uchiha.’

When it was time for class to end, Iruka had simply poked his head in, dismissed them, and returned to the hall. As she left, Sakura caught a group of instructors and even several jonin slinking into an empty classroom. A gray haired man in a mask, one Sakura did not recognize, seemed to be in control of the conversation. And while she was tempted to eavesdrop, she knew it wouldn’t have ended well. Hinata by her side, she made her way toward the academy nurse.

“Sasuke always gets the lucky matchups,” Sakura said. She wasn’t shouting but she wasn’t keeping her voice down either. “Iruka sensei clearly thought the new kid couldn’t hurt him.” She shook her head. “Naruto’s academics are bad, but he can fight viciously.”

“Um, Sakura.” Hinata began. “There, there is something you should know. I did not mention it before because I was… ashamed… for my clan.”

Sakura turned with interest. Her tone immediately softened to address Hinata. “What is it?”

“M-my father warned me to stay away from Naruto Uzumaki.” Hinata hugged herself. “A-and not to interact with him.”

“What? Why?” Sakura was surprised. From what she could gather of Hinata’s father he was ruthlessly strict, but this seemed odd.

“I do not know,” Hinata continued. “H-he would not elaborate on the subject. I assumed it was to do with him failing a previous year. Like somehow his failure would rub off to effect me, if I were to befriend him.” Sakura listened raptly. “But Sakura? I had not mentioned him… so I do not know why even my father… would have possibly known that.”

Sakura searched for an explanation. “Maybe they sent some information home to our parents. About a new student joining the class?”

Hinata shook her head. “They did not do that for you. A-and it is also not a practice to discuss a student's grades outside of their instructors or f-families.”

“You should come with me to the nurses office. I don’t like this.” Sakura couldn’t figure out a reason for how Naruto was treated.

“I-I would Sakura, but I must return home immediately today to spar with Hanabi.” Hinata nervously averted her eyes, scared to disappoint her friend.

“That’s okay, I’ll go myself then,” Sakrua replied nodding. “I’ll talk to Naruto and the nurse about this, and see what I can figure out. Come to school a little early tomorrow and I’ll tell you what I learned.”

Hinata bowed quickly. “Right!”

When Sakura made it to the nurse, he’d insisted that Naruto was “surprisingly resilient” and that she needn’t worry about him. Realizing she’d get nothing of value from him, Sakura insisted that she needed to be allowed in to see Naruto anyway.

Naruto stared out the window holding an ice pack to his head. He was more than surprised anyone had come to see him, but turned to her in a moment caught between suspicion and genuine excitement. “Oh it’s you!” He beamed. “The nurse told me how you stopped the bleeding on the field with part of your dress! Thanks!”

Sakura looked down. ‘Oh yeah, I forgot to clean that.’ She smiled. “I wanted to check up on you, that was a pretty nasty hit.”

“Ahh this is nothing!” Naruto laughed, “you should see the other guy!”

“I did,” Sakura replied. “You know you should have won, not Sasuke. I don’t know why Iruka didn’t call the match for you.”

“Ahhh,” Naruto shrugged. “I’m just glad I got my licks in, and wiped the grin off his dumb smug face!”

“Well you surprised us all,” Sakura came to sit beside Naruto. “We’ve never seen Sasuke struggle like that. When you were assigned to our class, I thought you were a wash out. But you can handle yourself in a fight.”

Naruto smiled and scratched the back of his head. “Well I’ve been trying to make people notice. I’m gonna keep fighting until that happens, ya know?”

“Notice you?” Sakura asked.

He nodded aggressively. “Yeah!” Sakura cocked her head at him, and Naruto laughed. “Ahh don’t worry! The nurse said I probably don’t have a concussion, they just wanna keep me for observation overnight. And I can stay home tomorrow!”

“Well I’m glad. I was very worried when I saw you get hit like that… I… have noticed how a lot of the class treats you.” Sakura looked out the window. Several of her classmates were walking home.

Naruto shrugged. “Won’t matter when I’m Hokage.”

Sakura breathed a little laugh and looked back at him. “Hey, um, if you don’t mind me asking. Did you do something last year to make the academy staff dislike you?”

Naruto rolled his eyes. “You mean other than fail the graduation exam? Yeah I guess, but I couldn’t tell ya what.”

Sakura blinked. “How do you mean?”

“Ah well,” Naruto turned aside and rubbed his neck in thought. “I can’t really explain it ya know? It was like everything I did was wrong to Mizuki sensei though. I think maybe it's because of my parents?”

Sakura was sure the Uzumaki used to be a major clan, and clans tended to get respect. ‘Maybe his parents gave up the ninja life like some of the Senju,’ she thought. “Are they civilians?”

“They are uhh,” Naruto looked away again. “I’m an orphan, so they gotta be dead, I guess.”

Sakura was so stunned she didn’t even question Naruto’s odd phrasing. “Oh I’m so sorry! I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay,” Naruto tried to brush her aside. “I guess it was never identified who exactly they were. I was a baby when the nine tails attacked.” He sighed awkwardly.

Sakura shook her head, wanting to reach out to him but stopping herself. “Oh Naruto, I had no idea… My father passed away that night too. I’m sure your parents did everything they could to protect you.” Naruto’s eyes looked glazed over. “And I didn’t mean to make it about me… sorry.”

‘My parents were good people I bet. Why die for a kid like me?’ After another second, Naruto processed Sakura. “Huh? Oh nahh nahh! Don’t worry about that! It was actually nice to hear.” Naruto caught himself, “I mean, not that I’m glad your dad died!” Naruto kicked himself. Someone is finally trying to be nice to him, and he says something like that! “I didn’t mean it like that, ya know?”

“Yes,” Sakura giggled awkwardly. “I know.”

They sat in an odd silence for a few moments. ‘So, he was orphaned by the Kyuubi attack. Iruka did say he’d think I’d relate to him.’ She stared at the Uzumaki. ‘So why has Iruka started to look the other way when he gets treated like crap?’

Naruto must have caught her staring as he broke the silence. “Thanks again for coming. I didn’t think anyone was worried about me, ya know?”

“Well I was worried. And I’m glad you’re gonna be okay.” Sakura smiled, a little part of her wanted to jokingly say “you know?” but didn’t. “Anyway, I wanted to check in, but my mum is picking up night shifts this week and I should make it home before she takes off.” Sakura groaned mentally. She really excused herself using her mom to someone she just learned was an orphan. “But, I’ll see you in class?”

“Yeah.” Naruto nodded, “I’d like that.” His eyes stayed on her as she left the room, waving goodbye. He saluted her with the hand not holding the ice pack, as she pulled the door shut. Naruto smiled at the door. ‘That was Sakura… Senju?’ He considered. ‘Was that her last name?’ Something in the back of Naruto's mind seemed to twitch. 

He saw the Uchiha boy covered in his own blood. Naruto stood over him, watching as Sasuke’s guts spilled across the arena. In an instant the scene flashed from day into night, Naruto’s hands ripped through unidentifiable carnage, as if he’d been at it for hours. ‘How dare he hurt us. How dare he?’ Sakura walked out of the moonlight. She looked beautiful, innocent… vulnerable. Naruto ripped his hands back out of Sasuke’s massacred flesh. He reached out to this newcomer, gently caressing her. A bloody handprint remained for a moment on her blank face, but then she blinked in horror. ‘Scared? Of us?’ Suddenly, Naruto’s hand jerked out and took her by the neck.

“Agh,” Naruto exclaimed and shook himself. He dropped the ice pack to grab his other wrist, as he steadied his twitching hand. He hated these moments. They were random, twisted, and invasive. ‘Why am I like this?’

“Hi honey, how was school today?” Mebuki called the instant her daughter got through the door.

Sakura sighed. She couldn’t even get started. “I’ll tell you about it some other time.”

Mebuki chuckled to herself, “Okay, I’m about to leave anyway.”

“Oh wait,” Sakura called back, turning from her room and coming back to the living room. “We have a new student in class, did the academy inform you of that?”

Mebuki shook her head. “I don’t think so. Why?”

“Just curious,” Sakura replied. “His name is Naruto Uzumaki.”

Mebuki shook her head again. “No. Is he troubling you?”

Turning back to her room again, Sakura considered her response. “No, just… new kid.”

Mebuki nodded, and made her way out the door.

Sakura explained everything about Naruto’s situation to Hinata the next morning. That lunch period, they asked around if anyone’s parents had told them to stay away from Naruto.

“Hey Shikamaru,” Sakura called. Choji was there too, but Sakura had to start talking to him sooner or later. “Can I ask you something?”

 "What’s up?” His response was low.

“Did your parents ever tell you to stay away from Naruto Uzumaki?” She asked.

‘Well that’s a plain question.’ Shikamaru thought. “No, why.”

Choji shook his head in agreement, “Me neither.”

“Well because everyone else's has.” Sakura replied

“M-mine too.” Hinata chimed in.

“What?” Shikamaru asked, turning to Sakura. “Did yours?”

“No,” Sakura answered. “But my mum's a civilian.”

Shikamaru pondered for a minute, then caught someone in the corner of his eye. “Hey Ino!” He called. “Did Lord Inoichi ever tell you to stay away from Uzumaki?”

Ino clicked her tongue. She knew their clans had close ties, but it was so weird Shikamaru called her dad lord. “As a matter of fact he did,” Ino called back as she walked over. “Why didn’t Lord Nara?” She continued, drawing out the syllables to highlight her annoyance.

Shikamaru scoffed “No.”

“W-why did he tell you to do that?” Asked Hinata.

Ino rolled her eyes. “He said he was a slacker who failed out last year and plays a bunch of dumbass pranks.” The others stared at her so she shrugged. “And not to get caught up in his antics.”

“But don’t you think it’s a little suspicious how he is getting treated? I mean, look at that match yesterday?” Sakura asked.

“Careful Sakura,” Choji joked. “You’re talking to Sasuke’s number one fan.”

Sakura felt silly now. She hadn’t spoken to Choji in a year for fear that he hated her. And the first direct words to her since then, ended up being a joke.

Ino groaned. “He should have taken that loss like a real warrior. And I am not his ‘number one’ fan!” Her voice soared with irritation.

“Didn’t you have a shrine to him?” Shikamaru asked dryly.

“Okay, but we were like eight.” Ino waved her hand dismissively. “Whatever, I gotta get going.”

As Ino walked out of earshot, Sakura leaned back in. “There is more to this. Why does everyone’s parents seem to know Naruto’s grades? My mom had no clue, but Iruka sensei basically told me himself. He asked me to tutor Naruto at the beginning of the year.”

“Why would he do that? He is the instructor,” Shikamaru asked but Sakura just shrugged. “His jutsu aren’t even that bad.”

“In academics,” Sakura replied. "He must’ve had terrible paper grades and flunked the final jutsu test too.”

“Shika, wasn’t last years final clone jutsu?” Choki asked as his friend nodded.

“C-clone jutsu?” Hinata chimed in. “Th-that is the least demanding one.”

“He can body flicker that hard and not make clones?” Sakura balked. “What is going on here?”

“Maybe he trained up over the summer?” Choji wondered.

Shikamaru turned aside a bit. The girls were right. This did feel off. “Well maybe you should tutor him a few times after all then, Sakura. To get a sense of what’s going on. Choji and I can keep an eye on him too.”

Sakura nodded. “Maybe I will… and thanks.”

After class Sakura approached Iruka sensei. “Sensei, I wanted to apologize for how I acted yesterday.” No she didn’t. “Everything was so intense and I was just so worried. But a ninja must always be in control of her emotions.”

Iruka looked up from his grading. “Sakura, I want to apologize too. It was just such a great fight! I didn’t realize Naruto got a little hurt. You were right to ask for a nurse.”

‘What bullshit,’ but Sakura kept a pleasant smile and played with her hair a little. “I understand sir.”

“Sasuke is our grade’s pride and joy.” Iruka cheered. Sakura bit her tongue to keep her eyes from rolling out of her head. “And to see him fight one of Mizuki sensei’s upperclassmen! It was inspiring!”

‘Don’t tell me this is all professional rivalry.’ Sakura hid her annoyed body language by adjusting her bag’s strap. “Was Mizuki sensei that man in the mask?” She knew very well he wasn’t, but it would be plausible to Iruka sensei she’d be confused.

“Oh, that was Kakashi Hatake,” Iruka replied. “No, Mizuki sensei always wears a bandana. I’m sure you’ve seen him around many times and not known.”

‘So that was copy ninja Kakashi! Of course I’ve heard of him.’ Sakura smiled from behind closed eyes. “I’ll pay more attention for Mizuki sensei next time I see the instructors. I was wondering, since Naruto missed school today, if the offer to tutor him still stands? I can catch him up on today's lectures.”

“Well sure Sakura, I’m so glad you’ve had a change of heart! It really is important that he graduate this year! It would be terrible if he fails twice in a row after all.” Iruka said.

‘Because it would reflect badly on you this time?’ Sakura considered. “I can, of course, tutor him in other academic subjects as well.” Sakura said. “If it were to aid the instructors of the Leaf. I was worried about my own grades this year but-”

“You are ‘Miss One Hundred Percent’ Sakura.” Iruka said cheerily, waving his finger. “You shouldn’t worry about a thing!”

‘Kami, don't start calling me that.’ She thought.

“The academy can even afford to pay you a little walking around money for this! Speak to Naruto tomorrow, and then let me know what schedule is best for you. Then I can set up the hours.”

Sakura nodded and hurried out of the room. She wasn’t sure how long she could keep that up. ‘Please let that be the last time I ever use kunoichi class lessons.’

Naruto had seemed to get on fairly well with Shikamaru and Choji at lunch the following day, so Sakura hadn’t approached him then. Of course, she would have asked him in the morning if he would like to be tutored by her, if he hadn’t rushed in with the bell.

After class let out, Naruto basically dove out of the classroom. ‘So much for playing it cool,’ She thought. ‘Now I have to chase after him. Naruto is so direct anyway, I doubt he’d be offended if I asked him outright though.’

Sakura hurried out of the classroom and searched around for Naruto, but couldn’t find him. She did find Hinata however, and asked her to use her Byakugan to aid in the search.

Hinata’s face flushed the brightest red Sakura had ever seen after activating it. “T-the r-roof.” Was all she could peep out.

“Hinata? Is something wrong?” Sakura placed her hands on the Hyuuga in concern.

As Sakura rounded up to the roof cracking her knuckles, she heard voices in the background.

“That jutsu is fucking awesome.” Shikamaru laughed.

“Hey, can you do the girl from the ads for Yakiniku BBQ?” Choki asked excitedly.

“Yeah, yeah sure!” Naruto said in response. “Sexy jutsu!”

“Naruto!” Sakrua shouted, as Naruto’s transformation took the image of a voluptuous woman. It was covered by nothing but some wispy clouds.

The boys all jumped in unison, and the clouds faded, exposing Naruto’s transformation's full nudity.

The sight could only make Sakura sigh defeatedly.

Naruto shrieked before abandoning the transformation, and scurried back behind Shikamaru and Choji. “Are you gonna beat us up?” He asked wearily.

Sakura just rolled her eyes. “That’s not even where it is…”

Chapter Text

Chapter 9: Like a Pit within a Fruit

“So how much do you know about the Leaf Village’s history?” Sakura asked, pointing her pen at Naruto. She’d convinced Naruto to take her on as a tutor, but it also meant she had to spend most of this afternoon trying to gauge what areas he needed the most improvement in. Unfortunately for them both, it seemed to be most of them.

“I umm,” Naruto scratched the back of his head. “Oh,” he perked up, “I know the names of the four Hokages!” Sakura nodded at him to continue, and Naruto began counting them out on his fingers. “Old man Third Hokage is Hiruzen Sarutobi! He took back over after the Fourth Hokage died. The Fourth was Minato… Namikaze!”

Sakura nodded. ‘He does want to be Hokage, so it makes sense he’d know the names of our leaders at least.’

“And then, well the first two Hokages were your guys,” Naruto said, gesturing at Sakura. “Ya know, your clan. Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju.” Naruto looked around himself. “Your guys founded the Leaf Sakura, your’s and Saskue’s.”

Naruto spoke more like he was making a point, than as a matter of fact statement. ‘Everyone knows that,’ Sakura thought. She smiled, but she could tell Naruto was trying to cover up how much he didn’t know by priding himself on what he did. “That’s right, the Senju and the Uchiha were the two clans that founded the Hidden Leaf Village.” She paused for a moment, and he smiled brightly at her. It was almost like she was teaching a little kid. “Do you know why?”

Naruto shrugged and looked stumped. “Your clans really got a long I guess.”

Sakura rubbed her forehead. ‘Even in civilian school I’d learned all this.’ Sakura checked the box marked “Leaf History” on her notepad. “No Naruto, they did not. They were enemies for centuries and only put aside their differences because they were both tired of the fighting.” It actually made her mad how much Naruto didn’t seem to know about, well, various subjects. Not at him mind you, but the school system. It was almost as if he’d intentionally been left to slip through the cracks. ‘Surely Mizuki sensei would have realized he didn’t know any of this stuff.’ Sakura reached out to Naruto quickly to try to hype him up before he kicked himself for another wrong answer. “Why don’t I come over to your house one night this week, we can go over this more.”

Naruto beamed. “Sure Sakura! I’ve never had anybody over.”

Sakura cracked a little smile back. ‘He is kind of dumb, but at least he wants to learn.’

Sakura followed Naruto closely as they made their way through the most urban sector of the Leaf Village. She hadn’t expected him to live here, but then, she wasn’t sure exactly where he would have lived. She’d been shocked when Naruto told her he had his own apartment.

“So who do you rent from anyway?” Sakura asked as she hurried along. Naruto was definitely moving with energy.

“I don’t actually know,” Naruto rescinded after thinking for a second. “Lord Third I guess.”

“Hiruzen Sarutobi rents you an apartment?” She would have been shocked if she wasn’t so sure Naruto was mistaken. "What do you pay in rent?”

“Nothing!” Naruto hollered. The pair rounded a corner as an overeager merchant peddled fried fish to any passers by. “The Hokage took me from the orphanage when I was a kid.”

Sakura got quiet. Living alone was one thing, but she couldn’t imagine what being in an orphanage was like. “Lord Hokage visits you though? You can’t possibly be telling me you live with him.”

“Nah nah,” Naruto laughed, “I only saw him that one time. I expected he was going to take me to a family, but it’s just been me.” 

Sakura said nothing. ‘He says it all so casually.’

“But he said as long as I stay at the academy I can live in this cool apartment! That isn’t too bad, because I like training as a ninja.” Naruto put his hands behind his head as he walked down a back alley. They were evidently getting close now.

Sakura looped around and followed Naruto up a rickety metal staircase. None of this made sense to her. ‘Sadly, a lot of kids were orphaned during the Kyuubi attack. But the Hokage couldn’t have taken a personal interest in all of them… The higher ups in the village must’ve wanted Naruto trained specifically. Maybe his parents were talented ninja? But then why wouldn’t one of the clans have adopted him?’

Naruto practically ran up the stairs to his apartment door. Swinging the door open with a laugh, he gleefully invited Sakura into his home.

Sakura waved her hand in front of her face as she entered. There was a notable odor, and flies had gathered around empty cup noodles sitting on Naruto’s kitchen table. Clothes were strewn across the floor, along with sheets from an unmade bed. Sakura promised herself she wouldn’t go into the bathroom. “Is it always so messy?” Sakura slowed down halfway through the sentence, realizing she was being critical of his house the second she got through the door.

Naruto didn’t answer at first. “I don’t really spend a lot of time here. And it’s not like anyone lives here but me so…”

Sakura cut him off. “But you knew I was coming today, didn’t you clean up?” Now she was allowing herself room to critique. This is just plain rude.

“Oh yeah yeah,” Naruto nodded with vigor, “I did!”

Sakura pushed aside some wrinkled clothing with her foot as she tried to make a little area of carpet to sit on. ‘He always seems to mean well and do bad at it,' she thought. ‘Maybe I just have to ignore certain things about him.’ Sakura sat down. “Well anyway, today I wanted to talk about the history of the Hidden Leaf, and its founding.”

“Ohh,” Naruto began scrambling around as if looking for something. “Let me write this down!”

Before Naruto could turn over another discarded pillow, Sakura produced a multi-subject notebook and pencil from her bag. “Here,” she said.

“Wow Sakura!” Naruto yelled, and he hustled over and quickly took it from her hands. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“I noticed you don’t take notes in class, so you should start that, as well as taking them with me.” Sakura said. She eyeballed a window, and made her next goal to get it open.

“I used to!” said Naruto. “Then I kinda ran out of paper,” he laughed nervously.

“You didn’t buy more?” Sakura asked flatly.

Naruto just laughed at her again, but this time more honestly. “With what money? I don’t have a job or anything.”

“Then how do you afford food?” Sakura asked.

“Those Anbu guys!” Naruto’s answer was cheerful. “It’s not usually the same guy, but one of them will give me food every week or so.”

‘The black ops division brings him food.’ Sakura thought to herself. She made careful facial expressions to hide just how surprised she really was. “Like what?”

Naruto simply led Sakura into his kitchen proudly, and allowed her to look through his pantry. The second the cabinet doors were open she pawed past him, checking over labels. ‘Snacks, candies, canned this, cupped that.’ Sakura thought to herself as she shamelessly looked through it all. ‘A lot of it is expired.’ She was aghast. “Naruto, is this all you eat?”

“Well yeah, what’s wrong with it?” Naruto folded his arms, but found himself genuinely curious.

“This junk can’t be your whole diet! It’s incredibly unhealthy. You have got to have a permanent headache.” Sakura carried a collection of expired food to Naruto’s overflowing trash bin and set it on top.

“It’s what I know how to make! The Anbu guys always bring this stuff for me!” Naruto kept his arms crossed. It couldn’t be that bad.

Sakura turned to Naruto. “You only eat hot meals from the microwave don’t you?”

Naruto nodded.

Sakura resigned herself. Clearly she needed to be delicate with both her actions and her judgements about Naruto’s life. The more she learned the more it seemed tragic and, honestly, suspicious. As poor as Naruto’s habits seemed to be, he had nobody to guide him. “I have some kale coming up in my family garden. Tomorrow I’m going to bring a big bowl of kale salad to school so promise me you’ll take it home and eat it this week.”

Naruto's mood changed from mildly offended, right back to excited. “Sure Sakura! If you have too much for your family, I love eating.” He pumped his fist in the air.

“Charming,” Sakura kept her eyes from rolling, as she walked past him back to her spot on the floor. She ushered him to follow her with a wave. Her mood soured again as she looked back at his bed. ‘Tutoring is one thing, but I’m never cleaning this place up.’ She opened her own notes, along with a textbook from a previous year. Naruto hurried to sit next to her right on top of a pile of dirty clothes. “Now,” Sakura began. “The Foundation of the Hidden Villages…”

The salad Sakura made was so big it took her two hands to carry it, but she still walked to the academy with a skip in her step. Humming a little, she waited at a crossroads for Hinata to show up, so they could finish the walk to school together. When her friend appeared Sakura had to adhere chakra to the bowl and press it close to her chest so he could release an arm to wave.

“Hinata!” She yelled. “How are you?”

“I am well,” Hinata bowed slightly. “I-is that your lunch?”

Sakura laughed, “No, it's a big salad I’m giving to Naruto. He only eats junk food so I got up a little early to make it for him.”

Hinata’s eyes trailed from the salad bowl and back to Sakura. “I-it is quite large.”

“Here’s hoping it feeds him for at least two days… and actually gives the bowl back to me washed.” Sakura rolled her eyes. “Hey do you want some, there has gotta be plenty for you to take.” It was a miracle to Sakura her mother even owned such a comically large bowl.

“If-if it would not burden N-Naruto.” Hinata nodded, slowing her steps a little so Sakura could take a slight lead.

“Oh I’m sure he won’t mind. It’s just a kale salad with cucumber, cherry tomatoes, sunflower seeds, and a little bit of oil.” Sakura was particular about listing out every ingredient. She wasn’t much for cooking, but mixing raw ingredients in a bowl was very doable. “Naruto had nothing but junk in his cabinets.”

“I-I was curious about his l-living situation.” Hinata read Sakura’s expression. “Was it b-bad?”

Sakura looked down at the food she’d brought him with a frown. “It was sad. He doesn’t live with anyone. I guess the village puts him up because they want him trained as a ninja. But they didn’t assign anyone to really care for him. Things like cooking and cleaning are lost on him.”

“T-the village wants him trained as a ninja?” Hinata questioned. “But wh-why Naruto?”

“Maybe his parents were skilled ninja, or he was recognized as having a lot of chakra or a rare nature type.” Sakura shrugged. “But something about it all felt off to me too. He excels at the physical side of things, but lacks any awareness about what is going on. Kinda the opposite of me, but it makes it harder for him to advance in the long run.”

“H-he must train a lot, his hand to hand combat is good.” Hinata mentioned. “And I can tell through my Byakugan, his chakra network is indeed strong.”

“Yeah? Well get this,” Sakura added. “You know how he flies forward with body flicker? That isn’t intentional. He just can’t do it any other way. It’s almost like he has so much chakra that he can't perform basic jutsu.”

A bell rang in Hinata’s mind. “The clone jutsu!” For Hinata, she was practically shouting. “When you add too much chakra to a basic clone-”

“You get some kind of frumpy gray mess,” Sakura finished Hinata’s thought. “He would have failed any exam on it for sure. My theory is he lacks control of his chakra. Most people struggle to come up with enough, he must be overflowing with it. Can’t divide it down enough.” Sakura waited for Hinata’s response, but she seemed to be in thought herself. “An orphan with too much chakra, and no idea how to control it.” Sakura continued. “It makes sense he’d be scouted by the village elite to be trained. What doesn’t add up to me is how people seem to have it out for him.”

“It’s because he is a foreigner,” Hinata’s response was sudden and sharp enough to surprise Sakura. “Many of the elite clans of the Leaf, i-including my own, often favor their own over outside ninja. You said you thought Naruto’s parents may have been Leaf ninja? But what if they were not. What if Naruto was just an immigrant civilian child. One who happened to be born with incredible chakra. There are those that would discourage that. Because success for him could turn our system on its head.”

Sakura took in her friend's words slowly. “The Senju… and the Uchiha… are not what they once were. Many of the current Leaf clans wanted to fill that gap, so it makes sense they would fear a powerful Uzumaki.”

Hinata nodded. “Most of his clan never formally joined the Leaf village, e-even after we took them in.”

“The fall of the Hidden Eddy Village.” Sakura remembered. It had long seemed like a footnote to remember for a test. After the Leaf was founded, numerous other villages sprang up around the world. The Leaf, the Sand, the Stone, the Mist, and the Cloud, became the major villages. But numerous smaller villages, from more minor countries, emerged as well. Even now, new villages are occasionally founded in foreign lands, with smaller clans and fewer ninja. And in the case of the Hidden Eddy Village, destroyed. “The Uzumaki essentially ran that nation. Their role in the village would have been like combining the Senju and Uchiha at the height of their glory. The Hidden Eddy was allied with the Leaf, which is why when the village was destroyed in the Second Shinobi World War, the Leaf took in so many refugees.” Hinata nodded. Sakura hadn’t considered this. Was it just the notion of a foreign clan gaining a foothold in the Leaf’s government that held Naruto back? Sakura thought of some Uzumaki from history she remembered by name, and quickly came up with one. Mito: the First Hokage's wife.

Sitting atop a lunch table, Sakura perused her notes on the Uzumaki, while Naruto and Hinata sat on the bench beside her. It was funny to watch Hinata take slow delicate bites while Naruto scarfed down the salad she had made for them. All that mattered was they both liked it.

“Mito Uzumaki was the heiress of the Uzumaki clan, of the Land of Whirlpools.” Sakura announced after she was satisfied she could recite everything without consulting her notes.

“Land of what-now? Wait, Uzumaki!” Naruto called out, mouth full of food. Hinata just averted her eyes, but giggled a little.

“The Land of Whirlpools is a small island nation off the coast of the Land of Fire.” Sakura smiled. Naruto knew little about history, but it was almost heartbreaking to think he never even learned about the history of his clan. “Unlike other countries, they were the only prominent ninja clan in that area, and they excelled at fuinjutsu.”

“Bah,” Naruto waved his hand dismissively and went back to his food. “Sealers.”

“Sealers so powerful they rivaled the strongest ninja clans in the world. Sealers that founded an entire hidden village nearly by themselves, when every other hidden village was composed of dozens of clans.” Sakura locked eyes with Naruto and smirked. ‘That made him pay attention.'

“Mito Uzumaki’s accomplishments still affect how the ninja world operates today. She was a prodigy of sealing jutsu even among a clan as gifted in it as the Uzumaki.” Sakura paused while Naruto rustled through his bag to take out his notebook. But somehow, she thought he would end up remembering her lesson. “Mito was also the first person to figure out how to seal a tailed beast’s chakra.”

“Wait!” Naruto held up his hand as if he was meant to be called on. “You mean the demons?”

Sakura chuckled. “‘Demon” isn’t a perfect title. They aren’t spirits per say, but rather beings of pure chakra. They resemble animals, each carrying a different amount of tails, but they aren’t of a truly biological nature either. Nobody knows just how they formed, only that there are nine, and they seem to each have unique personalities and abilities.” Naruto seemed to be writing furiously so Sakura paused a little bit again. “‘Demon’ as you know them, refers to their maliciousness and eagerness for violence. Few human interactions with them end well. In the old days, they wandered the world, attacking anything in sight. At times the only thing that could ward them off was the arrival of another tailed beast, lured by the destruction. As weapons, humanity has long sought to use one, but they are too volatile to be allied with and too powerful to be contained. You see they would first need to be restrained, and then in an arduous process sealed into another object. But no mere object can withstand such energy for long, and the beast will inevitably break out. Mito Uzumaki discovered that only a vessel with chakra of its own could contain a tailed beast: a living thing. And with both knowledge and ability she set about sealing each tailed beast into a human being.”

“Woah woah woah,” Naruto gestured for Sakura to stop again. “Who would want to seal one of those monsters in them, ya know?” Naruto turned to Hinata, who shied away. “That’s crazy!”

“Pretty much every major village actually,” Sakura rubbed her chin. “In the early days of the Hidden Village system, many were relieved to see an end to the near constant fighting of the warring states period. But forward thinkers predicted ever greater bloodshed. Full blown World Wars between the different counties, with the ninja villages in the lead. A plan was concocted by Mito Uzumaki and her lover, Hashirama Senj-”

“The First Hokage!?” Naruto shouted.

“Yes,” Sakura waved him off. “Let me finish. Anyway, they imagined if each village had a tailed beast of two in their possession, the villages would be hesitant to go to war. A kind of deterrent that losses on both sides would be so staggering, as to leave nobody able to profit as a victor. So with the great wood style of the First Hokage, the skills of the various clans that made up the Leaf, and of course Mito’s fuinjutsu, they captured each tailed beast and sent them to one of the major nations. The Hidden Stone gained the Yonbi and the Gobi. The Hidden Mist gained the Sanbi and Rokubi. The Cloud got the Nibi and the Hachibi. And the Sand has the Ichibi. They also possessed the Nanabi at one point, but lost it to a minor village of all things after a string of military defeats.” As eager as Sakura was to talk about that at length, she could sense Naruto drifting. “And we kept the Kyuubi. Mito sealed it within herself and was the Leaf’s vessel. Jinchuriki they are called.” 

Naruto scribbled something down and looked back up at Sakura wordlessly. She continued. “As you can tell from the long history of wars between the nations, the idea of a deterrent didn’t work. But Jinchuriki are still prized by each village that contains one as the host possesses a portion of the tailed beast's power. Mito’s efforts fostered a great alliance between the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Eddy Village, the village of the Uzumaki clan, that lasted until it was destroyed. Even after that, we took on many refugees from that nation, mostly the non-combatants who evacuated.”

Naruto frowned. “Why was the Uzumaki village destroyed?”

“T-they were very powerful.” Hinata chimed in. She’d been so quiet Naruto almost forgot about her. “D-during the Second Shinobi World War, an alliance of foreign powers united to destroy the Eddy Village. The L-leaf themselves were losing on many fronts, s-so we sadly could not send enough relief to prevent the villages d-destruction.”

Naruto looked away shamefully. “Is that… is that why Miss Mito attacked us?”

Sakura gasped, then explained. “No no! Mito had nothing to do with when the Kyuubi attacked. She was long dead by then. She loved the Leaf Village and our people loved her. She was a great heroine. When the Hidden Eddy Village was destroyed, she was here in the Leaf, helping to defend the Land of Fire. The Land of Whirlpools was a small, sparsely populated country. Compared to our Village, Mito measured the loss of life and protected the people of this land before even her own family. Mito was kind and noble, she never would have attacked the village.”

“So what happened to her?” Naruto asked, still looking a little crestfallen.

Sakura tilted her head with a smile. “I think you’ll be happy to know that Mito lived to a very old age, and when she was nearing death, passed the Kyuubi onto a new Jinchuriki. A Jinchuriki can’t survive without a tailed beast in them after it’s extracted. Their chakra becomes too intertwined. But Mito knew it was her time. The new vessel was another Uzumaki. A young girl named Kushina, who’s family escaped the Eddy Village’s destruction, and trained as a Leaf kunoichi.”

“And she attacked the Leaf?” Naruto asked, looking up at Sakura nervously.

“No,” Sakura shook her head. “Neither of our Jinchuriki ever harmed the village. Kushina had great control of the Kyuubi. She was even trained by Tsunade, one of Lord Third’s students and a legend of her own. Kushina helped our people through the Third Shinobi World War. Just like Mito, she never would have attacked us. When the Kyuubi attacked, it was… well it was because Kushina had been killed.”

“What!” Naruto’s voice jumped up again. “What happened to her?”

Sakura looked at Hinata, who nodded slightly, then back at Naruto. “It was an accident, apparently she was fatally injured during a mistake with her training. Horrible on its own, but…  without Kushina’s own chakra to help contain it, the Kyubi would have very quickly escaped her body. And then it found itself loose for the first time in decades in the middle of our village. You can’t… really destroy a tailed beast… but the combined efforts of our village was enough to dissipate it. They say what was left of its chakra became one with the land and air and floated away. Some say that the Kyuubi might be reborn one day.” Sakura shuddered. “But I don’t really think that would happen in our lifetimes.”

“And so we have no Jinchuriki now then?” Naruto questioned, “No protector?”

Sakura shook her head. “No, we are now the only great village without a Jinchuriki, despite creating the whole system. And the Leaf higher ups are not happy about it.”

“There w-was even talk once of a-attacking the Hidden Waterfall Village, and t-trying to take the Seven Tailed Beetle, according to m-my father.” Hinata added. “But that would have likely started a chain reaction that led to another Shinobi World War, r-regradless of success.”

“I think it would have to be done politically, trading something to another village for one of their beasts.” Sakura considered. “But the Hidden Stone is becoming increasingly isolated from the other nations, the Land of Water is embroiled in civil war, and the Cloud have always been an old enemy.”

“A-and the S-sand do not have one to spare.” Hinata said with a nod. “And the N-nanabi is the only thinking that keeps the Hidden Waterfall Village particularly relevant.”

Naruto panned from Hinata to Sakura. “And, ya know, if we did have one… What would you think?”

Closing her eyes, Sakura produced a single curt nod. “Then I would swear on my legacy as Senju, that I would protect them. They would be the hero keeping that monster that killed my father contained.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 10: When a Bud Blooms

Entering into the final semester at the ninja academy, Sakura felt a little twitchy. She predicted more perfect marks in her academics, more accolades about her strategy and chakra control, and more struggling during her spars with only basic jutsu. Sakura had perfected the three academy techniques to such a degree she needed fewer hand signs than most of her peers to perform them. That was owed to her excellent chakra control and eye for analytics. Once she’d gotten properly used to how a jutsu felt, it became easier and easier to perform one. Eventually, Sakura realized that some of the hand signs she’d needed before to help direct her chakra were no longer necessary. She could simply direct a portion of her energies on her own. Bouncing back a step, Sakura nailed her training dummy with an open palm strike. It wasn’t uncertainty about graduating that had left her nervous.

Iruka sensei had declared that Sakura would make a strong paper ninja, like her father. Honestly, Sakura agreed. She would excel at ciphers, and intel analysis, and interrogations, and record keeping. But that wasn’t going to satisfy her. She wanted to be in the field where she could lean into the ninja life, and stand side by side with her allies in the heat of combat. Her existing skill set simply didn’t reflect that though. Sakura grunted as she darted up to the dummy and struck it with another open handed blow, frustrated. The sack of flour she’d used to make its chest absorbed the brunt of the impact. Sakura ripped her hand away, and struck it the same way again to middling effect. ‘Another running start then,’ she told herself.

Every other classmate who’d been scouted as an active duty ninja excelled in spars: Hinata, Naruto, Shikamaru, of course Sasuke Uchiha. It wasn’t a question that they would be assigned to a jonin instructor who would prepare them for active duty combat. But Sakura might yet end up with some lovely mousey instructor who would start her on the Hidden Leaf codex. Sakura struck the dummy again, chakra in her palm. This was a blow Hinata would try to take an opponent down with, but Sakura could never replicate the gentle fist. She couldn’t force chakra into the body of her enemy to shut down their muscles and organs. She wasn’t born Hyuuga, and in the Leaf, who you were born very much mattered what jutsu you’d be allowed to learn. She had every bit the potential to be strong, but Sakura’s mother was civilian. Her mom couldn’t teach her jutsu. And academy techniques could only take you so far. That was part of why Sakura decided her goal was active duty. With a jonin personally instructing her how to fight, who knows what she could do?

For now it was only this. Sakura rolled back and lined up another palm strike. She slammed her hand into the dummy, and with all the power she had, clung to it with her chakra infused hand. It was no different than what she would do if she focused her chakra to hold the ground after a rolling assault, or when she nailed Kiba in the chest with a gravity defying dropkick. But as she pulled her hand away, the burlap of the flour sack started to come with her. 

“I got you now,” she yelled confidently, and ripped both her hand and the fabric away. Flour spilled out over Sakura’s feet and onto the ground. A huge mess, and a ruined training device, but Sakura could only smile. It was a blow Hinata had shown her ages ago. She never knew what to do with it, but now as the flayed stitching of the flour sack’s front still held to her hand, Sakura understood. She’d tried her entire break period between semesters to get this move right. Now that she knew the perfect ratio of force to chakra, she could do it again. That was the perk of her memory.

Sakura would continue to practice with the speed and the timing, but she allowed herself to exhale and collapse into her yard with a joyous smile. The hard part was over. She couldn’t call this an original jutsu. It was merely chakra concentration and control, even if not to the degree most could perform. But as she looked back over at her wrecked dummy, she held her grin. “That will do some damage, it would probably rip someone's skin right off.” It would probably be an attack too grievous to use in the academy’s ring, and she didn’t intend to, but it was something for her back pocket. If Sakura’s intuition was correct, and her surname and vocal preference was enough, she’d be placed on a team meant for combat. And now she had a weapon.

“Woah!” Naruto exclaimed as he made his way into Sakura’s living room. “Your house is so clean.”

Sakura rolled her eyes. It probably looked even more so because Naruto’s apartment was such a sty. If she was going to keep tutoring him this semester, she was doing it at her place.

“Thank you,” Replied Mebuki, emerging from the kitchen. “I try to keep it as tidy as time allows.” Naruto smiled at her as he marveled around the room, commenting on this and that. Mebuki looked over to Sakura subtly raising her eyes to ask her daughter if what she thought was going on was going on. 

Sakura shuddered and said “no” as loudly as a nonverbal response would allow. “Naruto,” Sakura called, “This is my mother.”

“Oh yeah!” Naruto hopped around quickly, remembering himself. He’d never met someone's parents before. “Thank you for having me over Miss. Senju.”

Mebuki chucked. “Haruno.”

“Huh?” Was all Naruto could offer in response.

“Haruno,” Mebuki repeated. “Mebuki Haruno. Sakura’s father and I were never married.”

“Mama,” Sakura added herself into the conversation quickly. “This is Naruto Uzumaki.” She leaned toward her mother and changed pitch a little. “The boy I’m tutoring.”

“Ohh, that Naruto!” Mebuki replied glibly. 

Sakura cocked her head, her mother obviously knew “which Naruto.”

“Right, right, the upperclassman,” Mebuki said, wiping her hand across her blouse before offering her hand. “So nice to finally meet you! I’m glad my daughter has made some older friends.”

“Actually, I’m a few months older than Naruto,” Sakura said back quickly. “He started at the academy when he was young.”

“Oh really?” Mebuki turned to Naruto, sounding impressed. “When were you born?”

Naruto smiled upon sensing the intended praise. “October ma’am.”

“Oh,” Mebuki’s head shot back in surprise. ‘That month was when…’ Tracing her finger between the two of them, she hesitated for a moment. “Same year?” The children awkwardly nodded in the face of her wide eyes. “Well… I wouldn’t have guessed that. You look like a summer baby,” Mebuki all but blurted out her clumsy excuse. “Welcome to our home.”

Genjutsu, like elemental ninjutsu, was considered too complex for academy students to perform. That’s why the practice and application of it was largely absent from the Leaf curriculum. The observation of it however, was very much a part of this last semester's studies. As Sakura listened diligently to the instruction, she couldn’t help but fixate on Mizuki sensei. Iruka sensei didn’t know any genjutsu, so in order for them to experience one, he had to call on one of the other instructors. Turning to Naruto, looking defiant with his arms crossed, the lingering animosity from the boy was palpable. Regardless of what a terrible sensei Mizuki may have been, his tenure was rather interesting to Sakura. Before becoming an instructor, he apparently worked as a shinobi diplomat. A ninja that serves as a liaison between a foreign power and their home village. Mizuki operated in the Hidden Sound Village, the youngest of the minor nations. While the Leaf was the oldest ninja village, it wasn’t ancient. Still, the concept of a village founded within her lifetime was a little strange to Sakura.

As the class formed a line, Sakura began to prepare herself. ‘Genjutsu works by an opponent directly influencing the chakra inside your own body,’ she reminded herself. ‘They can influence your chakra without you even knowing, and trick your senses.’ In truth, many genjutsu were visibly obvious, but that didn’t make it less dangerous. The challenge was finding out what parts of your chakra was deceiving you. Watching Hinata activate her Byakugan, Sakura smiled. She would simply be able to see what chakra was under foreign influence. It wasn’t a get out of jail free card, but it would carry the most difficult burden of neutralizing the genjutsu for her. Illusions still work on the Hyuuga clan, but there was only so much value in an illusion that would be quickly identified to be released.

From the descriptions of her chattering classmates, Sakura surmised Mizuki was casting the Haze Genjutsu. It was a technique designed to blur the target's vision. Get affected badly enough, and the victim would feel as though they were walking through a near mono-hue watercolor. In some cases the mind might even trick them into thinking they were sinking into nothingness. Sakura cracked her neck. ‘Well at least I already know what it does.’ Kiba Inuzuka stumbled forward after his round with Mizuki, head between his legs, looking like he was about to throw up. The worst part was, it sounded like he had released the genjustu. Sakura clenched her fist as Hinata approached Mizuki and she took her place at the front of the line. After about fifteen seconds Hinata waved back and forth a little as she staggered side to side. She rubbed her right temple but shook herself and stood up straight. Sakura couldn’t help but smile as the two instructors openly praised her friend with high marks. After a bow, Hinata walked to the students who had already completed the exam. Sakura took a quick breath. ‘Show time.’

As Sakura approached, Iruka and Mizuki nodded to her. Taking one last longer breath, she nodded back. “Ready.” Immediately Sakura sensed a disturbance. She’d predicted the chakra might be focused around her eyes or even inner ear, but instead it seemed the technique was started in both her knees, and her throat. After an initial instance of surprise, she sensed the chakra in the neck working its way up. That made it a more insidious technique to dispel. The influence wasn’t originating from where one might expect. Sakura wasn’t sure if she was lucky or skilled to sense the influence on her chakra so quickly, but she’d take advantage of it. Steeling herself, she started to slow her chakra’s circulation to her head, as she prepared to shake off the entire genjutsu. Like a flare, she activated chakra all across her body and prepared to pause it. If she surged all her energy at once, she was fairly confident it would release any foreign influence on her body. ‘At least that's what the textbooks had said…’ It was a gross oversimplification compared to how hard doing that actually was, but Mizuki’s genjutsu was probably weak. Sakura continued to look forward, as the words on the blackboard and her instructor's faces seemed to blend uncannily. Instinctively, she attempted to blink the disorientation away, but it only seemed to worsen the effect. Sakura continued to focus on stopping the flow of her chakra, keenly aware that the chakra she had managed to slow was now reaching her sensory organs. ‘As if it wasn’t obvious.’ She fought the urge to blink again. The script on the board was no longer legible as her vision continued to cloud. Then came the strange sense that she was leaning to her right side. Sakura had long since concentrated on her chakra and with that came her feet holding to the ground. No matter what her body said, the chakra in her feet was still in balance. Sakura wasn’t leaning at all. None of this was real. Knowing that, Sakura resisted the urge to recenter herself, and maintained slowing her chakra. A second later, it stopped. She’d done this as a little girl, “playing with her chakra,” as she called it. Never across her whole body before, but in individual limbs certainly. It wasn’t too huge a step to do this. A strange sensation ran over her, like she’d dunked herself in water, but then the jutsu was gone. The effects had left even more suddenly then they had come on. Other than her head being slightly more lowered than she thought it had been, Sakura seemed unaffected by it compared to her classmates. Feeling her body’s chakra again, she reassured herself. ‘It is over.’

Mizuki glanced over at Iruka with a crooked grin. “Seven seconds. And the effects of the jutsu didn’t start on her until after three.” Mizuki paused between statements. “She resisted it.” Iruka smiled and began marking down Sakura’s grade on his notepad. Mizuki looked back to Sakura and nodded, then turned to Iruka. “Where have you been hiding this girl, Iruka?”

Iruka made a satisfied sound. “Sakura has exceptional chakra control, and is incredibly analytical. She’s a genjutsu type.” Iruka looked up from the notepad and smiled at Sakura. “A Sakura. A one hundred.” He nodded for Sakura to take her place with the other students done with the exam.

Sakura bowed respectfully, but only made it about halfway to the others before she began pumping her fists and squealing in excitement. “An A,” She peeped through a wide smile and hurried over to Hinata. Her Hyuuga friend reached up to hold Sakura’s hands as she hopped in place. “An A! An A!” She’d never been so instantly exceptional at any ninja activity before. “I could sense it right away,” she celebrated. 

“That was incredible indeed, Sakura.” Hinata replied lowering her voice as if to try and remind her friend not to be too loud. “You h-have a great mastery over your chakra network.”

“You did great too,” Sakura reminded her friend in an excited whisper. “What was it like for you, could you see it with your Byakugan?”

Hinata nodded. “I-I saw it right away but couldn’t f-fight it off. I tried twice unsuccessfully until I did.”

Sakura giggled as she rose to her toe tips before standing back down. “You did though!” She said in another cheerful whisper. “We did good, we did so good.”

A pained scream pulled the attention of both girls, Sakura whipping totally around to find the source of it. Naruto was doubled over on the ground, shaking on his knees clutching and at his head. He groaned again, trembling, as he fell over to his side. Iruka hurried over to him, pulling him by his jacket to try and rouse him. Naruto groaned again and babbled an incherant word, but began trying to stand. Mizuki walked over and knelt beside him, but looked toward those that had completed the exam and nodded his head forward. “Fetch a bucket.” He called. Sakura was grateful it was her that took off first. As she exited the door her stomach turned from the sound of her Uzumaki classmate throwing up.

Sakura shot out of her bed after hearing her mother scream. Grabbing a kunai off her nightstand, she burst into her mother’s bedroom expecting a smashed window and some masked burglar.

Her mother jumped when she saw her, pulling her covers up a little to cover herself. “Sakura!” She eeped out. “Oh honey, you scared me.”

“Me? Mama I heard you scream! What is going on?” Sakura walked the perimeter of the room with a half assumed fighting stance, surveying it.

“Sakura,” Mebuki scolded. “Put that knife down! I just had a nightmare.”

“A nightmare?” Sakura dropped her form. “About what?” She asked as she sat at the foot of the bed.

Mebuki shook her head. “Nothing sweetie, I’m just jumpy. You really startled me just now!” She reminded Sakura as she pointed to her doorway.

“You don’t remember what you dreamt about?” Sakura tried to playfully wave her kunai to dismiss her mothers worry, but it just ended up looking more awkward.

Her mother sighed. “Sometimes I remember when the Nine Tailed Fox attacked. The Kyuubi…” She trailed off before raising her voice again. “I’m more scared you just practically kicked my door down and burst in here with a knife! You gotta watch with all the ninja stuff.”

“Mama, I’m sorry,” Sakura called back a little defiantly. “I thought someone was in here with you!”

“Oh well kami, remind me not to get a boyfriend.” Mebuki said dryly but couldn’t help but laugh at her daughter's disgusted face.

Sakura got off the bed and began marching right out of the room. “I am going to pretend I didn’t hear this,” she said as he walked off, her mother still giggling in bed.

Sakura stood in the center of the training ring, Naruto and Hinata on either end of her. Sakura looked from side to side. It might have just been training on a Saturday, but it was odd to fight two against one. No real academy spar had left her in this position yet. Nodding, Sakura watched as both her friends drew shuriken and aimed them at her. “Ready!”

The shuriken came fast, and Sakura hurried into a series of tumbles. She wasn't as agile as someone like Ino Yamanaka, but she’d always been good at somersaults and cartwheels. Moving this way made her evasion somewhat more unpredictable, but dodging attacks from two sides was hard. Her gymnastics made it harder for her to perceive an attack’s angle as much as it made her harder to hit. Feeling a sting in her left shoulder, Sakura dropped out of a forward handspring with a grunt, but made sure to land a way that wouldn’t drive the weapon further into her.

“Sorry Sakura!” Naruto called out.

“Don’t be sorry,” Sakura replied. “You meant to hit me after all. This is as much about you hitting an evasive opponent as me dodging.” Sakura stood up, brushing the dirt off her top. It was strange to admit to herself, but she was the best with shuriken out of the three of them. Her first semester especially, they were all she had. Shuriken had let Sakura keep away from her classmates in the ring, and no matter how inaccurate she’d been with them initially, she was more keen to get good at ranged combat than try to wade into close combat with her sloppy taijutsu. Now that she’d improved at it some though, she had an appreciation for both. Her taijutsu was still very flawed, but that was more due to the limits of the academy forms. What she did note from that coming off as a ranged opponent was that melee opponents only pressed that much harder to get near her. And ranged opponents tended to have additional skills or jutsu that would let them outbox her simple small arms at a distance. If she wanted to step up in spars, Sakura had to be a switch hitter.

Placing her hands on her hips, Sakura announced their next course of action. “Hinata, you haven’t tagged me with a shuriken yet, so keep throwing them.”

The Hyuuga nodded, running to gather a few she’d missed up off the ground. “R-right Sakura.”

Sakura gestured to Naruto. “And Naruto, you fight me up close. Now remember Hinata, Naruto is still your teammate, so make sure you don’t hit him.”

“Are you sure about that Sakura? I don’t think you-” Naruto was cut off before he could finish his statement.

“No issues here Naruto. I’m not afraid to get a little hurt if we all get stronger for it.” Sakura called back as she returned to the center of the ring. Hinata was the better in close quarters of the two, but she rarely used weapons, so shuriken training would be best for her. Naruto’s speed and tenacity would still be a handful in itself for Sakura to contend with.

Sakura lasted about twelve seconds in the first bout before Naruto tackled her to the ground. In the second, Sakura lasted just a little over five before a well aimed shuriken clipped her thigh.

They pressed on training like that for another hour before calling a break, as Naruto took a long drink from a canteen, Sakura and Hinata sat near him. He’d never really seen Hinata without that heavy coat on. It surprised him that she wore it to school almost constantly despite the frequently hot weather, but it surprised him even more to see someone so good at taijutsu be covered in so many bruises.

Sakura applied a Hyuuga salve to a shuriken wound on Hinata’s shoulder. “This one had to sting.”

Hinata winced slightly. “N-not that bad.” She watched as Sakura ripped off a little bit of tape with her teeth and used it to attach a large piece of cotton over the wound.

“There,” Sakura said with a small smile. “It’ll heal quickly, it's just a sensitive spot.” With two fingers, she applied a little more ointment to the other wound Hinata had on her left arm. She knew Hinata could dress her own wounds, but Sakura always thought it was easier when someone else did it.

Naruto watched wordlessly as Sakura cared for Hinata. He couldn’t help but let his eyes wander to a few bandages she had on her own body. Some for wounds he’d given her. Some odd sensation rumbled in him, fascinated by the exact nature of how he’d hurt her. He buried those feelings away.

Naruto had never had girl friends before. Well he’d never really had any friends before this year, but even arguably knowing them better, friendship with Shikamaru and Choji came easier to him than Sakura and Hinata. There is something about kunoichi that seemed alien to Naruto. In his class, only Tenten Mitashi had an eye for combat. Every other girl had trained specifically for deep shadow assignments or to become paper ninja. Naruto just thought that was the norm for girls. ‘They seemed…’ Naruto wasn’t sure how to say it. ‘Softer?’ Naruto knew there were plenty of girl ninja, but only about a third of the students in either class he had been a part of had been girls. But in this class, most of the girls were keen on fighting. At first, Naruto thought that was really cool. He still did. But he also remembered how Shikamaru would mention hating fighting girls. Looking down at Sakura and Hinata, Naruto kind of understood why. Hinata was pale and quiet, with cute round features framed with heavy bangs. Her soft tone and refined speech made Naruto think of a Daimyo’s daughter he’d be expected to guard on a mission. Sakura was plain beautiful to Naruto’s eye. She was assertive with an active and athletic build. She had these bright green eyes and candy pink hair she’d grown just long enough to tie back into two low uneven bunches. Stands of it came loose in the front that wisped around her face, and just made Naruto want to brush them aside to see more of her. Naruto wasn’t sure he had feelings for her, but he was attracted to her in a way he’d never experienced before. Neither of them were people Naruto wanted to see hurt.

Sensing him staring, Sakura looked up at him after she pressed some tape to secure Hinata’s second wound. “Are you okay?”

“Oh yeah, just thinking, ya know?” Naruto replied, pulled out of his own thoughts.

Sakura snorted. “Yeah?” She questioned. “What about?”

“Well,” Naruto paused. He did want to ask, but it wasn’t as easy as it would have been with Shikamaru and Choji. With one of them, he’d just come out and say it. Naruto had never had a problem speaking his mind, but something about Hinata left him uncharacteristically careful with his words. “Are you okay?” Naruto asked, turning to her.

“I-I am fine.” Hinata replied quickly as she looked at her arm wound. “You do not need to worry yourself with me.”

“No I mean,” Naruto paused again. “Your bruises. You didn’t get them today.”

“O-oh,” Hinata’s exclamation was quiet but even Naruto could see her discomfort as she looked away and hid her eyes from him.

Sakura reached to her, and Hinata squeezed her hand in an unspoken moment between the friends that told Sakura it was okay to tell Naruto. More than okay, it was easier for Hinata if someone else did. Sakura looked back up. “It’s the Hyuuga training style. Hyuuga fight against each other to master the Gentle Fist. Strikes to chakra points take longer to heal, those are what Hinata gets her bruises from.”

“Oh,” Naruto said with a frown. “They look so bad, ya know? It had me worried.” He watched as Hinata slowly shifted her eyes back toward him. “I think Neji did something like that to me once. You’re really strong to train like that so much.”

Hinata went to reply, then quickly looked to Sakura, who nodded to her. “I-I am okay. I thank you for your concern.”

“Mama! Mama!” Sakura came rushing her to her house, holding some piece of paper and immediately started waving it in her mother’s face. “Eighth, I’m Eighth!”

“Wha-” Mebuki said while taking the paper. “What’s that mean?”

“Midterms,” Sakura beamed. “Our updated class ranks were posted after midterms! I’m eighth!”

Mebuki grinned. “Wow. Didn’t you used to be like seventeenth or something?”

“Nineteenth.” Sakura groaned. “But look now I'm in the single digits!”

“How’d you get your grades up so fast?” Mebuki asked in amazement. She was ecstatic for her daughter, but it seemed like an unbelievable growth for even her daughter.

“My academic grades are great, I’m doing well in almost every area. I have great scores on academy ninjutsu too. Iruka sensei is impressed that I can do them all with limited signs.” Sakura sped through her words. “My sparring is so so, but my genjutsu grades are the best in the class. Can you believe that? I’m the best one and I had no idea?” Sakura might not be able to cast any, but in detection, theory, and release, she was a practical prodigy.

Mebuki hugged her daughter, joyful tears welling in her eyes. “Oh honey, I’m so proud of you!” The pair danced back and forth a little while embracing.

Sakura’s last few months at the academy continued to see her do well. She had finally given herself time to rest. After improving nearly everything she could, performing perfectly in every academic venture, and sharpening all her skills, Sakura had to tell herself that there was nothing more she could do on her own in the academy. The rest of her training would be up to her jonin sensei. Sakura’s goals might have evolved little over the course of her time in the academy, but she accomplished more than she ever imagined she could have. Sakura was no golden boy Uchiha, but as she fixed her hair in her bathroom mirror, she was no “Shit Senju” either.

It wasn’t hard to imagine she’d succeed on the final exam, and meet her jonin sensei in a few weeks. The only question in her mind was if she'd be set up on a combat squad and who her teammates would be. As much as she had certain preferences, so long as her sensei was good, she’d take anyone. Sakura scoffed at her reflection in the mirror. Anyone but Sasuke. It was starting to infuriate her how much he was obviously being catered to just to keep his position as the best in sparring matches. Maybe did deserve it, but nobody would ever know unless he matched up against Hinata or Shikamaru or Shino or was even just allowed a fair match with Naruto. The last thing she’d need now was some jonin sensei who would fixate on his training and neglect her growth. She’d be lucky to get through her first year geninship and limp over to another teacher at that point. With only three students to a squad, it should have been more than reasonable for them all to receive a personalized training routine. But with the favoritism Sasuke enjoyed, somehow she thought whoever got him would think it was Sasuke and the two stooges from the academy no matter what clan lineage they had. ‘Hell,’ she thought. 'They probably asked for him.’

Mebuki was so stunned by what she saw she had to look twice. Sakura and Hinata, but not training or studying, or even tending to the garden. They were for once doing nothing productive. Just… talking. Mebuki craned her neck as she passed the door to the living room. They were just sitting on the couch doing nothing!

“Are you nervous about the final exam at all? I’m weirdly not,” Sakura said plainly.

“I-I am more worried who my sensei will be, and who my team will be.” Hinata let her head fall low. “You or I could be given assignments that take us a-away from the village for a long time. I-I do not want to be s-separated from you just yet.”

“Oh Hinata, you don’t need to worry. Even if we aren’t together we will always be friends.” Sakura smiled. “In a way I’m worried about who I get as a sensei too. I find myself wishing for a perfect storm of the elements I can use, and now genjutsu. I spent so long with just three plain jutsu and now I wanna learn it all.” She laughed, “greedy of me I know.”

“It is not. Y-you have a smaller library of jutsu than anyone but N-naruto. I very much hope y-your sensei trains you in as many as you can learn.” Hinata smiled.

“Naruto,” Sakura thought out loud. “I helped him with school but even I couldn’t help him master clone jutsu. It’s as if he just can’t manage a simple jutsu. That… What did he call it? Sexy jutsu? I hate to admit it, but it was a fair transformation... depending where you looked... But he can’t do things like change the color of his clothes and retain his face. It’s like he can only do the most extreme version of a jutsu possible and that won’t always work out.” Sakura sighed.

Hinata faintly smiled to reassure her friend. “You h-helped him more than anyone could have anticipated. B-but now it’s someone else's turn too. I hope he passes and r-receives a sensei. T-that would be better for him then repeating the academy.”

Sakura nodded. “What about you, what do you want from a sensei?”

“I-I would like.” Hinata began. “A sensei that finds some kind of worth in me. And helps me kindle it.”

“You have worth Hinata. You have inherent worth, you’re a human being.” Sakura reached to her friend reassuringly. “And more than that you have worth because of who you are. Once you said you’d hope that the flowers in my… our garden would look on me like you do. But I look at you that way. I love you so much, you’re my best friend. I want you to find all the happiness in the world in this next chapter of your life. And I want to be around to hear all about it.” Sakura ended her seriousness with a laugh. “You helped me become the light you saw in me.”

Hinata didn’t manage to hide her blush. She just sighed heavily and then suddenly, hugged her friend. “I… Thank you Sakura. For being my friend. For being here with me now, and then, and in the future…” Hinata began becoming emotional as she stretched out her words.

Sakura laughed as she parted from the hug. “Hinata it’s okay. I’m not going anywhere. So don’t be worried about telling me how you feel, I understand.” The girls sat wordlessly on Sakura’s couch for a few minutes. Sakura simply left her feet up on the coffee table and enjoyed this quiet moment she had. When the next chapter began for them, it would be far more intense than the academy, which had been the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life. Sakura sighed in satisfaction. ‘Is it wrong that just makes me excited?’ Sakura turned to look at Hinata, who was still sitting so close as to nearly be laying on Sakura’s shoulder. “So, who do you think will be your final spar?”

“Hayami,” Hinata said quickly as she read her final matchup from the sheet with her Byakugan. Again, the class huddled around pushing to see who their final fight would be. They had a last week of school that capped off with a final day of sparring. And next week they’d return for the final exam. These were the only two things that could affect grades now.

“Damn,” Naruto scoffed. “I hoped you’d get Sasuke, ya know? And whooped his ass.” He giggled. “Anyway, who’d I’d get?”

Hinata refocused her vision. “T-toshi,” she said optimistically. Naruto cheered for himself a bit.

‘A surprisingly easy match,’ Sakura thought. Toshi was almost assuredly going to be doing long term espionage assignments one day, but he wasn’t a fighter. ‘And Hinata gets to take down Hayami... And offset Hayami's scores a little!’ Sakura knew she shouldn’t take so much satisfaction in it, but she really disliked Hayami. Why not be glad the stars have finally aligned on them all in a sparring matchup? Maybe Iruka sensei had been watching after all. Sakura smiled, pleased with the bouts her friends drew. “How about me Hinata? Who am I fighting?” Sakura looked at Hinata but didn’t get a response. It never took her this long to read anything from afar before. “Hinata?” Sakura started to feel anxious.

Hinata’s response came long after she read the name. “Sasuke… Uchiha.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 11: The Flower and the Phoenix

Iruka shifted through his student’s dossiers spread out across his desk. Pinching his nose with his fingers he sighed heavily, not even attempting to hide his frustration from the man standing before him. He shook his head and uttered a quiet “no.” He heard nothing in response and raised his voice to its normal level. In another single statement of defiance, he repeated himself. “No.”

Kakashi Hatake stared at Iruka, unimpressed. “I am to be a jonin sensei for three of your student’s this year… and you’re telling me I can’t pick who?”

“If you were anyone but Kakashi Hatake your student’s wouldn’t be chosen, they would be assigned.” Iruka said back. Kakashi seemed impassive. “I know you are in good with the Third. I know you are the only remaining student of the Fourth.” Iruka’s voice became irritated. “I even went along with your notion that we needed to keep Sasuke at the top of the class, but I’ll decide who your other student is.”

“You don’t oppose me taking Naruto Uzumaki of all students though.” Kakashi shrugged in the face of Iruka’s indignation. “Why so much fuss over this one and not him?”

“Because I know why you should have him assigned to you too,” Iruka responded. He sighed and got up from his desk, looking Kakashi in his one exposed eye. “You had that idea you wanted both on the same team, as if they wouldn’t both be a handful.” Iruka waved at Kakashi dismissively. “And you worked out with Mizuki how to make that happen, slimy as it was… but that didn’t have anything to do with me.”

“You disapprove of my methods then?” Kakashi replied smugly. Iruka knew he was talking back to a commanding officer, a war hero, and a prodigy.

“I disapprove…” Iruka paused. He’d come far enough, he might as well say what he felt now. “I disapprove of you even taking a jonin senseiship last year if you were only interested in teaching Sasuke and keeping an eye on the boy. Instead you gaslit three promising students with your ridiculous test, and threatened to send them back to the academy.”

“Iruka,” Kakashi’s voice almost sounded surprised. “Those three choose the mission over each other.”

“Because of some outrageous mind game you designed to force it. And now three of our most promising young shinobi had to be reassigned to crap odd-job assignments because you decided they were no longer worth you teaching them.” Iruka pointed an accusatory finger. “You’re lucky you don’t have the power to actually strip people of their rank. We should all be lucky you don’t hold that much sway.”

“If they had just passed the test they would have been trained, but why waste resources on kids who…” Kakashi searched for his words in a moment of surprising candor. “Just don’t get it?”

Iruka was fuming, but tried to keep his even tone. “Because you asked to…” Iruka lost his nerve and grunted in annoyance. “Even if you did teach them, you’d just toss them to someone else now, whether they were ready to leave you or not. You just want the last Uchiha as an apprentice.”

“I am the most experienced jonin out of all ten planned graduate instructors. Surely we of the Leaf need the most fit to teach him.” Kakashi’s response was plain and keen to change the subject. He knew how to take advantage of Iruka’s hostility to segue right out of all his accusations.

“And you’ll ignore your other students to do it.” Iruka quickly searched for a dossier. “What about this, she’s from a respectable clan, self motivated, intelligent.” Kakashi pulled the folder from his hand and looked through it with unhidden disinterest. “Doesn't her clan prefer a team with a few…”

“No,” Iruka said quickly, cutting Kakashi off. “Those clans are fearing they are becoming too reliant on working with each other. They requested this year's students be separated from each other for a greater diversity of skills.” It was true, but Iruka could tell Kakashi’s mind was made up already. Iruka tried to sell him. “She even has a liking for your boy. And Naruto and Sasuke don’t get along so you will need an intermediary.”

Kakashi closed the folder. “And would my preference fail to do that?” Kakashi narrowed his free eye. “Oh I get it, you see yourself in them don’t you? Promising, but lacking in familiar guidance. You dislike me, and don’t want me to have your star pupil.” 

Iruka glared at Kakashi, at first refusing to take the dossier being handed back to him. “It’s about Sasuke,” Iruka shrugged. “You want him so badly and Naruto as well? Fine. But she’s all too aware I’ve fixed matches to keep Sasuke out of the line of fire. She won’t respect you or the way you intend to focus on him. She hardly even respects me now over it.”

Kakashi lifted his preferred candidate’s dossier back off the table. “It says here she is driven, eager to prove herself, good at training on her own.” Iruka could swear he saw a smug grin through Kakashi’s mask. “Intelligent, resistant to genjutsu…” Kakashi took his eyes off the page to look straight at Iruka. “And exhibits excellent teamwork. No, my first pick will round out my team. Thank you.”

Iruka experienced a single tremor of anger. Kakashi thought he could just barge in here and say what was best for his kids? That just because he was a jonin sensei and had this over-decorated tenure, he knew what was best for them. “They’re fighting Friday you know? Last spar of the year.”

Kakashi snorted at his obvious bluff. Iruka hadn’t posted any final matchups yet, as if the outcome would at all decide who was assigned to him anyway. “You’re proposing some kind of… bet?” Kakshi’s normally dry demeanor was undercut with a certain kind of glibness.

Iruka narrowed his eyes. The great Kakashi Hatake could be damned. “You’re not getting Sakura.”

Sakura’s entire day had been filled with annoyance. As she made her way home from school, her walk might have been proud, but her eyes were glazed halfway over as her thoughts and frustrations consumed her. ‘If Iruka sensei thinks I’m just gonna roll over and be another easy win for golden boy, he is dead wrong!’

As she came around another corner she spotted him, but didn’t bother giving him the respect of a direct look. She’d realized she was being followed since before she parted with Hinata, but didn’t say anything since he never approached. ‘Now he’s sitting up in a tree bouncing rocks and trying to act cool.’ She rolled her eyes. Bold as her inner thoughts were, she didn’t like Sasuke had gotten ahead of her without her noticing.

As she marched down the street, a single flat stone flew past her and bounced off a wooden fence, landing right at her feet. Two years ago she would have jumped, but now she needn't even bother. That stone missed her by a mile. “Hey,” Sasuke called to her. “I need to talk to you.”

When she ignored him still, he appeared perfectly in front of her with the body flicker jutsu. His dark eyes seemed agitated, but he didn’t raise his voice to her yet. It seemed he was waiting for her to respond, but she strided right past. When she sensed him turn to follow, Sakura spoke up. “I’m not one of your fangirls Sasuke, I’m not interested in a date.” Sasuke took a few steps after her and Sakura heard him grunt in annoyance. “Don’t tell me you only like me because I don’t like you. That is so sad…” 

“I have no interest in you, Senju,” Sasuke scoffed. “This has to do with our match.”

Sakura stopped and turned, partly to address him, and partly so she could laugh in his face. “You think you can intimidate me into giving up? That’s sad and funny.”

Sasuke cocked his head in the face of her taunts. “You might be too injured after a fight with me to perform well on the final exam. But I can’t afford to lose.”

Sakura’s eyes widened. ‘He actually sounded… sincere?’ Rethinking his wording, she rolled her eyes again. ‘He obviously must have meant that as a threat.’ Sakura said nothing, just turned and kept walking. He might be more powerful than her, and he was likely to win the match, but she’d considered a countermeasure for every clan kid in class… even his Uchiha fire.

“I do mean it,” Sasuke called back. “You think I don’t realize that Iruka keeps me away from heavy hitters.” That stopped her in her tracks. “I’d love to test myself, but I’m the last Uchiha. Me winning my matches must represent something. Getting assigned to the best possible sensei is what I need to accomplish my goals, and being top of our class guarantees that.”

Sakura considered her words and his for a moment. “I guess you’re the only one that matters then. Screw the rest of us if it keeps you on top.”

“I’m Uchiha, you’re Senju. That’s why you’re my final opponent.” Sasuke addressed her coolly. “And I will win. But you’re not annoying, so I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I’m not afraid of pain,” Sakura replied sharply.

“Think logically about this,” Sasuke’s voice rose. “If Iruka isn’t going to say anything about my fighting that would disqualify me, why shouldn’t I use it? The Leaf higher ups have plans for me, and I intend to take advantage of that. But you don’t have the same perk. So why risk molding chakra with first degree burns on the final, and lowering the rank you tried so hard to achieve?”

Sakura shook her head. “So that’s it then?” She shot back. “If you’re as self motivated as you say, then you wouldn’t concern yourself with me. You believe you’ll beat me, but you’re worried it’ll be you who ends up hurt. And then if your injuries cost you your performance on the final, you’ll lose your handed out favor.”

Sasuke stared flatly at her. The Senju and Uchiha might have been old enemies, but after that, they were old allies who founded the Leaf together. Sakura wasn’t totally right in thinking he was unconcerned with if she came to harm. But she wasn’t wrong either. If she was going to give up, it would have been long ago. Now she’d shot up and earned eyes on her like some Senju weed. He was just as much her final challenge as she was his. And a girl like her would tear her own hair out to accomplish it. Sakura had turned and started walking away from him by now. She waved her hand back to him and called with affected cheer. “See you Friday Sasuke! Let’s settle this rivalry of clans!”

Sakura tested her aim in the backyard. She’d long since achieved her goal of consistent bullseyes with shuriken, but now with the extra weight tied to them, it was taking her a little extra time to get down again. Hit. Hit. Hit. Sakura smiled to herself smugly. She’d press him now.

Mebuki stared out her kitchen window with a frown. She’d tried to distract her mind with busy housework and doing dishes, but she was worried for her daughter. As the sink’s pressure faded as Sakura started up the hose again, Mebuki recused herself to a long sigh. ‘I don’t understand it. She achieved her goals, she’s all but genin. Why does she want to fight this boy so badly?’ Mebuki fixed herself on drying a plate. Sasuke Uchiha had already sent Sakura home with a bigger shiner than anyone else in her class. And Mebuki understood that this year, Sasuke was allowed to use all but lethal moves to assure he’d win his fights. Sakura’s grades meant she could skyrocket into a commendable paper position. Mebuki looked back out the window again. ‘She could start a family and feed them herself on a fantastic ninja commission. She had the strength to defend herself if the village came under siege. Why does she want to walk the most dangerous path as a ninja?’ Mebuki refocused on scrubbing out a baked-on speck of grease on a pan. She’d feel nauseous if she thought too much about it.

Sakura’s final week had flown by. She’d trained some with Hinata and Naruto, but mostly on her own. Sakura knew she had the skills. She didn’t want to dull her strength over training. For once, even in class she’d been inattentive. Sakura was far too focused on staring at the back of Sasuke’s head. It didn’t matter. This last week was more about how to complete mission forms and procedures, and on the process of accepting assignments she’d long since educated herself on. Now all she could do was wait.

Two matches had already started and ended, but the third was proving to be drawn out. Sakura balled her fists and swallowed down her nerves. Sasuke looked cold and unpressured. Apparently several special guests would be observing the spars today, but the jonin set to arrive was running late. The only reason Sakura wasn’t mixing it up with Sasuke right now was because he’d yet to arrive. Sakura didn’t like that. With every other battle, she knew when she would fight and could focus on it. Her match was meant to be first today, and every time it got delayed, it psyched her out. At least one of the observers was a medical ninja. If someone did get badly hurt today they could be healed. Strangely that didn’t reassure her as much as the weather though. It was just a light drizzle, but the storm clouds seemed to be getting darker. It had been raining the night she asked to become a ninja. The fact the first big thunderstorm of the year was rolling in for her last day of the academy had to be providence.

Kiba vaulted over his opponent and swiped him across the back, cutting his shirt and leaving four bloody scratches. As the crowd of students around her leaned in to watch the finale and Kiba raced back in, Sakura caught wind of a new figure body flickering in next to Iruka. ‘Kakashi Hatake? Wasn’t he here when Sasuke hurt Naruto?’ Sakura tried to refill herself with confidence as Kiba won his match. If Kakashi was who they were waiting for, her match was up.

“The next match.” Iruka declared, “Is Sakura Senju VS Sasuke Uchiha!”

Sakura rose slowly, turning to Hinata who squeezed her hand quickly. “Good luck.” She whispered. Sakura nodded in response.

Sasuke rose from his own lone seating. Whether they annoyed him or not, several classmates seemed to start giggling and talking among themselves as they rooted for him. As Sakura stepped past them and made her way to meet Sasuke in the ring, Naruto yelled out to her. “Go Sakura!”

Naruto had stood up from his own seat, but Shikamaru grabbed him by the wrist and was trying to pull him down. “Shut up idiot,” he chided under his breath. “We aren’t supposed to cheer.”

Sakura watched the humorous little scene play out,and when she looked back at the ring, was wearing a smile. ‘Thank you, Naruto.’

As Sakura walked to her place, Sasuke addressed her. “Last chance to give up.” He was sporting an oversized shuriken on his back, a fuma. They were normally illegal for academy spars but favored by the Uchiha clan. He wasn’t even trying to hide he had it.

Sakura rolled her shoulders and assumed her stance. She didn’t even bother with a comeback, she just had to hear Iruka sensei say “go.”

Iruka hesitated a moment before he called the start of the match. After he audibly swallowed, he swung down his hand. “Begin.”

As if the kami themselves had turned an eye to the match, a crack of lighting and thunder rang out, and the class awed at the spectacle. Rushing in, a new generation of Senju and Uchiha clashed. Sakura came on hard, lashing out with three punches that Sasuke parried or blocked. Waiting for an opening, he watched Sakura overextend and his first strike nailed her across the face. Sakura rolled with the punch, allowing herself to stumble back as the momentum carried her. Spinning around, Sakura attempted a roundhouse kick that Sasuke jumped back from. Sakura came back in and attempted to punch him twice more, but Sasuke bobbed his head aside quickly, and then repaid her with an elbow. As Sakura grunted in pain, Sasuke extended his left arm and moved to strike her with a quick and powerful jab. Sakura crossed her arms to block but the force of Sasuke’s blow still knocked her off her feet. Sakura turned her side into the dirt quickly to avoid landing on her pack. As much as Sakura wanted to knock Sasuke’s block off, she couldn’t win this way.

Scrambling to get up, Sakura rushed aside in a dicey display. Sasuke came at her quickly, trying to take her back to the ground for a quick pin, but Sakura hurried her tumbling and brushed up the dirt and sand beneath her. Cupping it into her fist, she released it into Sasuke’s face, who grunted in annoyance and tried to brush it out of his eyes. Before Sasuke could regain his composure, Sakura came back in with surprising quickness and grabbed his arm. Shifting both their weight against him, Sakura flipped Sasuke to the ground. Sasuke moved to respond quickly, swiping out at her legs to knock her off her feet also, but she hadn’t moved in for another attack. Rather, Sasuke’s strike missed entirely, as Sakura sprinted to the edge of the ring.

Sakura reached into her bag and grabbed every standard shuriken she found. Sasuke drew his own kunai and defected one, then two, as he got up. He stayed in a low stance, poised with his blade. ‘Let her waste her shuriken’ he thought, ‘I can block them all.’ Sakura flipped her hand over, holding the cluster of six shuriken stacked atop one another in the palm of her hand. Directing chakra into her other palm, she brought it over her other hand and began using it to slice off shuriken with impressive speed. Instantly seeing he could not block them all at that rate, Sasuke pushed both feet off the ground and ran, avoiding one, two, three, flying blades. Sasuke’s eyes widened as he realized where he was running to. Sakura had ran to the far edge of the arena, which meant by running to the side he was being forced right out of the ring. He turned to try and block her remaining attacks. 'She won’t win with a damn ring out.' Sasuke blocked the first shuriken quickly, but the second came so fast it was a much poorer defection. As it bounced off his kunai, it whizzed past his face, and he had to move to avoid it grazing his cheek. Sasuke was so distracted, that the final blade flew right past his guard and into his thigh, as Sakura tripped him up with an unsportsmanlike low shot.

Sasuke brushed the shuriken out of his leg and started dashing at Sakura with all the force he could. Sakura had long favored distance fighting, but he needn’t bother matching up to her there if he was so much better with hand to hand. Sakura reached back into her bag and Sasuke somehow pushed himself faster. He wasn’t interested in another shuriken volley, and braced his kunai forward. Instead, Sakura produced her own kunai, and looked like she meant to clash blades with him. Sasuke questioned this. She knew she wouldn’t win that exchange, but as she shifted a little to her right foot, Sasuke figured out her game. Her back was to the edge of the ring. If she baited him in and dodged, she could push him out. She was trying once again to get a victory with a ring out. Sasuke smirked, ‘tricky.’

Sasuke broke pace and shifted into a slide. Sakura seemed confused by what he was doing and didn’t dodge to the right or left. Instead she moved to aim her kunai at him but Sasuke quickly shot back up with a kick. Sakura leapt into the air, surprised, but landed nearly right on top of Sasuke. Her feet landed on his as he pushed back, attempting to vault her out of the ring himself, but she threw all her weight forward and landed behind him. Sasuke had already turned around while she was in the air, and Sakura’s angle had gotten so bad she was forced to land with her hands. She threw herself into a series of forward handsprings, still holding her kunai and Sasuke lined up his own. Sakura caught his aim as she tumbled, and balanced herself on one hand as she defected his kunai with her own mid handspring. Doing that also offset her forward momentum, but she allowed herself to plop onto the dirt, having already spaced herself a fair distance away toward the center of the ring. That’s when Sasuke drew the fuma.

Despite having it equipped on his back the whole time, some part of Sakura was still surprised when he pulled it out. Her face flashed briefly into open mouthed shock and she didn’t have time to get up. Rather she grabbed the ground and pulled herself aside as it whipped past her. Sakura started rising when she realized all Sasuke was doing was bringing the hand he’d just used to throw the weapon around, like he was pulling on something. Sakura gasped. ‘It’s on a wire.’ She spun her head around, only halfway up, but instinctively positioned her kunai to block it like she would a regular shuriken. It looked like a giant buzzsaw flying at her. Sakura dropped into a split, landing so low her forehead nearly touched the ground. The drop was so sudden it honestly hurt, but as the blade flew over her and narrowly avoided chopping off some of her hair, any pain from a split seemed paltry. Someone in the crowd shouted. Sakura glared back toward Sasuke, that fuma might have killed her. Sasuke was moving to catch the blade now, and likely throw it again, but Sakura caught a glimpse of the wire reflecting against the oncoming rain. Without even getting up from her split, Sakura released her kunai. “Cha!” Her blade flew forward well away from Sasuke, but slashed through the wire on his fuma. She watched with satisfaction as gravity carried it just outside the ring. ‘That's one issue down-’ Sasuke started flying through hand signs. ‘Here’s another.’

Sakura flashed two hand signs of her own and produced a well placed body flicker that left her just before the other opposite edge of the ring. She reached into her pack for her countermeasure.

Kakashi leaned down to whisper in Iruka’s ear. “She is good.”

Iruka grimaced in the face of Kakashi’s smooth tone. ‘Come on Sakura… win!’

Sasuke completed his signs. “Phoenix Flower Jutsu!” It wasn’t perfected just yet, but still little peels of fire flew out from Sasuke’s mouth instantly creating banks of steam as they flew through the now pouring rain. Sakura counted five, and the flames spread out at different rates and angles, making an attack that was very difficult to fully dodge.

She revealed what so much of her bag was taken up by, balloons filled with water, each attached to a shuriken with a little length of wire. With precise aim she hurled one into an oncoming jet of fire, while still trying to angle the shuriken at Sasuke. As the shuriken carried the balloon into the flame, the fire’s heat melted the balloon enough to pop it, and a burst of water dissipated the incomplete jutsu from within. A light mist slowly manifested from the attacks colliding, but after another well aimed shuriken from Sakura, the next three peels of fire came on too quickly. She hurled another shuriken into the oncoming fireball wantonly, and hurried to dodge the second. The final blast of fire came head on, and Sakura was forced to simply throw the balloon itself into the fire with no care for the shuriken. The attack came close enough to still shower her in hot cinders, but the rain washed them away as quickly, and she aimed to spot Saskue’s silhouette in the mist.

Sasuke’s position in creating the fire left most of the steam centered around him, which meant his vision was by far the more obstructed by it. He wasn’t even sure what Sakura was doing at first, until a shuriken flew out of the steam. Drawing a second kunai with a flash, he quickly blocked it, and then another. ‘She’s beating back my fire style with water?’ He questioned himself. She couldn’t have possibly learned a water style jutsu of any level. Later than the first two, a third shuriken shot out of the mist. This one Sasuke was prepared for, he could spy Sakura’s form through the steam again, and saw her prepare the throw. Her form was off. Sasuke bounced the shuriken off his blade again but something was attached to it. ‘What?” Sasuke blurted out. ‘A balloon?’ The momentum swung the balloon around and directly into the edge of Sasuke’s kunai, bursting it in his face. Sasuke shook his hair. He was already drenched from the rain and it was mere water. ‘It means noth-’ Sakura shot out of the fog with the body flicker, as if she was Naruto Uzumaki himself. The jutsu let her carry with her a punch so intense that if it connected, Sasuke was sure it would have broken her hand. It was as if Sasuke’s world slowed as he perceived the attack, he had only one course of action; roll aside. He narrowly avoided the strike, rolling forward through the mud. Sakura came upon him with her own kunai and the two jostled about, but Sasuke hadn’t reclaimed his footing. She slashed him across the back.

‘Bastard,’ Sakura thought. ‘You aren’t so tough.’ She gritted her teeth and slashed at Sasuke again. Sasuke moved for a perfect block, but as he slipped in the pooling mud, Sakura’s kunai caught him on the shoulder. ‘Spoon fed,’ she tried to cut him again and missed. ‘Golden boy,’ Sasuke tried to parry her blade but faltered and Sakura nearly knocked it from his hand. ‘You don’t know a day's hard work,’ her blade connected but only with his shirt. It became tangled around Sakura’s kunai as she slashed, and as Sasuke struggled to get away from her advance, tore off. ‘I can do it,’ Sakura told herself, turning her blade not in a motion to slash but to stab. ‘I can win.’

Sakura’s attack was too desperate. Sasuke's own shirt had tangled her up and slowed the speed of the jab enough that the Uchiha could grab her by the wrist. He didn’t flip her, she was more trouble than he was worth. He had to end this now. He turned into a heavy spinning kick while keeping a grip on her so she couldn’t evade. He’d take her down the same way as Naruto. One clean kick to the temple. He roared… then… gasped. Sasuke’s whole world seemed to slow. It was more than emotion. For a second, everything really was moving in slow motion. He saw lightning in the distance and watched as it remained far too long on the horizon. Then he stared back at Sakura. She seemed surprised herself, as she held his leg shakily in her hand. She caught the kick. ‘Wait,’ Sasuke stared. ‘Is the rain around her falling slower than everywhere else?’

The movement was fast for Sakura, but not so fast her mind couldn't race. She’d caught Sasuke's kick. The kick he used to hurt Naruto so badly. ‘Naruto, he hurt my friend without a care in the world. Hinata, he gets handed easy spars so she can’t advance and have a thing to take confidence in. My mother, he sent me home with a bruise so bad it made her question if I should be a ninja. Me, the way he’s never even called me by my name.’ In the moment she thought all that, she took only one breath. Sasuke was torn between squirming free and trying not to fall. She caught his kick. She held his calf in the palm of her hand. ‘The fire style, the fuma.’ Chakra adhered in her hand, she held Sasuke tighter. He started falling into the slop. ‘Fuck it.’ “Shannaro!” And she flayed the skin from his leg.

Iruka and Kakashi blinked in shock. The class fell into disarray. Sasuke fell into the mess of mud, screaming in pain.  It burned, his leg burned so badly.  He looked down, the skin of his leg was just missing, leaving nothing but a handprint shaped wound. He kicked it around in the mud, but dirt and sludge water just made his wound burn more. Sasuke started crawling backwards, frantically trying to suck down the pain. He looked back at Sakura, she tilted her head herself to see a slab of skin and flesh and blood adhered to her palm. ‘She ripped that off me?’ Sasuke flashed back to his wound. The pain was intense enough to blur his vision. He could see the muscles pumping in his leg inside the wound. Then a wet sound, and something hit him in the face. Sasuke crawled back more and brushed it away. For a second he thought she nailed him with another water balloon. She hadn't. Sasuke felt woozy. ‘Did… did she throw it on me?’

Sakura attempted to stomp on Sasuke’s face but he rolled. She just broke the rules, but wasn’t that Sasuke’s thing? She didn't hear a bell. Somehow Sasuke stood up but it just looked like he’d fall again. He attempted a clumsy punch, which missed, as she stomped toward him. ‘He's too hurt to fight back,’ she thought. She underestimated him.

Sasuke jumped up on his one good leg, and attempted to slam her with the half dead weight of the other one. She caught the ball of his foot with both hands, chakra in each of them. She’d never felt so alive before, maybe she’d never been so angry either. She blinked. ‘The rain around my hands… it stopped?’ Sasuke, quickly shifting all his weight, refocused her. Sasuke used his good leg to leap into a somersault kick. Before she could let go and dodge, Sasuke’s free leg caught her on the chin. Nailed hard, Sakura flew about a meter off the ground and landed in the mud, unconscious...

Sakura blinked awake, a shooting pain in her jaw. She cracked it, assuring herself it wasn’t broken. She took in her surroundings, bright lights and a white tiled ceiling. She groaned in discomfort.

“N-nurse,” Hinata yelled, “Nurse, I th-think she’s waking up!”

“H-Hinata?” Sakura asked. Her mind returned to her shaky memory of the match. “Did I win?”

“N-no,” Hinata replied. “S-Sasuke knocked you out.”

“Am I in trouble?” Sakura sunk back into the pillow. She’d cheated in the spar when she ripped up Sasuke’s leg.

“I-I don’t think so,” Hinata chirped out quickly. “I-Iruka didn’t say anything. And there was a medic on standby! A-and Sasuke attacked first!” She hurried through all the reason’s she didn’t think her friend was in trouble. “I-I came after my match with Hayami.”

“Did you win?” Sakura turned and sat up as she asked. She heard the nurse rustling around in the hallway. They could take their time.

“In fifteen seconds,” Hinata replied with a blush. “I was worried about you.”

“Good,” Sakura smiled in satisfaction. “Naruto too?”

“H-he hasn’t fought yet.” Hinata shifted. “He was very upset about the outcome of your match. I-I would expect you can hear more from him soon.”

Sakura smiled at that. “Now if only I can get something for my face,” she joked.

Iruka found himself, again, at his desk with Kakashi standing over him. He held a dossier for Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto in his hands. “Did you see it?” Kakashi asked. “We witnessed something awakening in that match."

“Sasuke’s Sharingan.” Iruka replied back, a hint of dejection in his voice. “It faded in and out a few times.”

“Huh?” Kakashi corrected. “No, no, the girl. She has no knowledge of water style but still the water moved around her for an instant at the end.”

“I believe she has a water style nature.” Iruka said slowly.

“And earth,” Kakashi replied as he paged Sakura's files. “It is very rare to awaken parts of your elemental chakra in such a way. It speaks to her potential.” He started to trail off. “And she is a Senju…”

“One more notch for your belt,” Iruka replied. “It looks great to have an Uchiha and Uzumaki and a Senju. She lost the match... I can’t stop you from claiming her as a student, even if you did honor our deal.”

Kakashi laughed lowly. “Oh no, no, no. I can’t possibly train the last Uchiha of the Leaf, a girl who can awaken the elements on her own, and the Kyuubi’s Jinchuuriki. Even I’m not that good.” Kakashi handed the dossiers to Iruka. “Best I can do is two of them.”

Iruka balked. “I, er, then who do you… want?”

Kakashi shrugged and scratched the back of his head. “They are your students, Iruka. You tell me.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 12: Seeds that Have Been Sown

Mebuki had made Sakura a grand breakfast: tofu with rice and clear soup, with a side of eggs and pickled seaweed salad. It was about two years ago that Sakura had asked to be removed from civilian school and start at the ninja academy. While she never admitted it, seeing her daughter struggle so much made Mebuki feel she might drop out, at least in the beginning. But that was never an option for Sakura. Instead, she persevered and grew in a way Mebuki never could have imagined herself doing. Her daughter was strong in ways ordinary people weren’t, and it wasn’t just a mother’s pride telling her that. Sakura was special.

The plants in their backward had grown so fruitful that you needed to brush aside leaves to walk the path at certain points. But most offered some of the most delicious fruits and vegetables Mebuki had ever eaten. By Sakura’s own hand she’d grown them, producing food, shade, and beauty for their once dingy mud clogged backyard. Each plant was grown from a seed that burst out from beneath the soil and grown tall and marvelous in a way not unlike Sakura herself. Mebuki waved her daughter off as she passed outside to her final exam, and kept watching as she faded into the distance and got lost in the morning crowd.

Settling into her seat with a smile, Sakura knew there was no way she would fail this exam. Every academy jutsu was familiar to her. No matter what Iruka and Mizuki choose for their final, Sakura would pass, and would become a genin. Turning beside her, Hinata surely would too. But when she looked to the empty seat to her other side, she had some doubts if Naruto would. She closed her eyes with a disappointed sigh. ‘And of course he is running late.’

“S-still not nervous Sakura?” Hinata asked. “I believe it is starting to get to me.”

“You have nothing to worry about,” Sakura said before turning. “There really is no academy jutsu we don’t know well enough to fail now.” Passing the final often took more than simply performing a version of the jutsu. Whichever jutsu was chosen needed to be performed well . Sakura found herself wishing for body flicker jutsu or transformation. She knew all her friends could do those.

When Naruto rushed into the class, he still had food in his mouth. He sat with an exhausted sigh and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “My alarm didn’t go off,” he groaned while unzipping his jacket.

“A-at least you made it on time N-naruto,” Hinata said reassuringly. “Iruka s-sensei hasn’t begun the final examination yet.”

Sakura nodded. “And at least you’re doing better than Sasuke,” she giggled. Gazing down at him, the Uchiha boy was sporting long pants, probably to hide any bandages on his leg. Sakura smiled smugly. She might have lost, but at least she was no worse for wear.

Iruka called the class to attention, repeating some creed about the essence and purpose of ninja. Naruto balled his fists. ‘Here it is,’ he thought, ‘the final exam.’ Naruto blinked as he began tuning Iruka out in favor of his own thoughts. ‘Again.’

‘This year will be different,’ Naruto told himself. ‘It has to be.’ This year he had a new sensei. This year he made friends. ‘And what are the odds they use the same jutsu for the final as the last two?’

Naruto snapped back to attention as Iruka rolled up the projector screen to reveal big block letters written out on the blackboard. “CLONE JUTSU.”

Naruto gulped and immediately felt an onrush of panic. He couldn’t perform clone jutsu well to this day. Mizuki stood beside Iruka as his fellow sensei cheerily introduced the class’s last test. Naruto glared at them. ‘You bastards.’

Sakura frowned as Naruto twitched in his seat. She almost never spoke when a sensei was talking, but she whispered to him. “You’re gonna be okay.”

“Would anyone like to volunteer to begin?” Iruka asked. The class remained quiet. “No? Well I’ll just pick someone randomly.” He looked at his seating chart and then eyeed Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata’s desk.

Sakura, by pure reflex, shot her hand up. “Umm sensei,” she said quickly. “I can go.”

Iruka smiled at her. “Very well Sakura, come along.”

Sakura stood wordlessly and patted Naruto twice on the shoulder as she walked around him. Descending past her classmates, Sakura followed Iruka and Mizuki out of the room. The second the door closed, Naruto rose in panic. “Oh man, clone jutsu! What am I supposed to do now?” Naruto turned to Hinata who simply replied with a nervous look, then turned to look at Shikamaru and Choji’s desk several seats away.

“I’ve tried to tell you, you need to use less chakra to make a clone.” Choji called while motioning Naruto to sit back down.

“But,” Naruto paused. “I don’t know how to make a clone any other way.”

Shikamaru rolled his neck. “Uzumaki, you put too much chakra into every jutsu, you have no control. It’s the same with body flickering and transforming. You need to find a way to use less.”

Naruto quickly motioned through the hand signs. “Use less, use less, use less.” He produced a single grayed clone which immediately slumped onto the floor. Ino Yamanaka laughed. “Useless,” Naruto muttered to himself as he stared at his creation.

Sakura entered another room of the academy with Iruka. Mizuki was also there. She wondered why the examination was done privately when any other jutsu test was usually done in front of their classmates. It wasn’t as though it mattered though. Perhaps there was simply a certain degree of privacy since it was a final. Sakura eyed the Hidden Leaf headbands on the desk before her. She needed one. As Iruka sat, Sakura steeled herself. No matter her feelings, she needed to ignore them for an instant and earn a headband. Do that, and she was an official genin. 

Iruka said nothing to indicate it was time to begin, but Sakura formed her hand signs regardless. Clone jutsu only took her two. Four copies of Sakura emerged beside her and Sakura nodded to herself. She already knew they were flawless. Sakura moved the clones forward with complex but organic looking movements; they looked quite natural. The only flaw in Sakura’s jutsu were the flaws inherent to the clone jutsu itself. Watching their shadowless bodies practically dance before her examiners, Sakura reminded herself why ninja usually didn't attempt the jutsu in such a well lit area.

Looking back at Iruka and Mizuki, it was obvious they were pleased with the showing. “Very good,” Iruka said with a smile. Mizuki nodded beside him. “You certainly pass Sakura.” Iruka reached down and selected a Leaf headband. “Welcome to the Hidden Leaf Village.”

They were strange words, she’d been a resident of the Leaf her entire life. ‘But now,’ she thought to herself, ‘I guess I’m going to see even more of the village as my forefathers intended it to be.’ She was a kunoichi of the Hidden Leaf Village. ‘So why am I not more excited?’ Sakura tied the headband on slowly. ‘Maybe it was because of Naruto,’ she considered. ‘Or maybe it just feels like a long day of school is ending.’

“Congratulations Sakura,” Iruka said pleasantly. “It looks good on you.”

“Everything I did to get here,” Sakura began. “Through all the disbelief, and hardship, and doubt… I’m a kunoichi.” She released a weight off her shoulders with a breath, and blinked slowly. “Thank you sensei.”

“Come on,” Iruka waved at her to follow. “We have to test your other classmates, so you can meet your fellow new Leaf ninja today.”

Sakura nodded as she followed, mind drifting to Naruto again. ‘I became a Leaf ninja to protect myself and others. Now I’ve done it, but might have to leave someone behind…’

Naruto had kept attempting the clone jutsu while the majority of his classmates opened books or took food out of their bags as they settled in for the long haul. Hinata leaned toward Naruto, then nervously turned to see if Iruka was coming back to the door. Quickly activating her Byakugan, she motioned to Naruto. “Listen Naruto, i-if you can only do jutsu with a lot of chakra then maybe you need to do w-what works for you.”

Naruto nodded and shot out another clone. This one was totally oblong and misshapen. It seemed to struggle under itself before disappearing almost as quickly as it arrived. Hinata was so distracted by the showing that when she unfocused her eyes she nearly gasped. She motioned Naruto to her side. “He’s coming!”

Naruto hurried to sit, but froze halfway as Iruka and Sakura came back through the door. She sported a shiny new Hidden Leaf Village forehead protector and a frown.

“Sakura performed excellently,” Iruka announced. “Everyone please say hello to the newest ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village: Sakura Senju!” The class clapped with varying levels of interest. Sakura looked up at Naruto and smiled awkwardly. She’d done it and should have been overjoyed, but her fear for Naruto eclipsed any excitement she could feel in the moment. Iruka noticed Naruto, still frozen and looking like he wasn’t sitting down, but getting up. “Oh,” Iruka said with a surprised smile. “Naruto, did you want to go next?”

“I, err,” Naruto lost his words.

A hand beside him shot up and Hinata practically shouted out, “I can go sensei!” The whole class turned to stare at her and she quickly turned red. Hinata never got loud.

Iruka looked at her wordlessly, taken aback by her out-of-character eagerness. “Is that… okay Naruto?”

“She can go,” Naruto blurted out quickly, as he finished sitting down.

A new voice came from somewhere below him. “I’ll go after her then sensei,” Shikamaru sounded bored as he leaned over the desk resting his chin in the palm of his hand. “Three is my lucky number.”

Iruka raised his eyebrows at the Nara. “Okay…” He turned back to Hinata. “Hinata, follow me.” Waiting as the girl slowly rose and all but dragged herself down to Iruka, he gestured his hand for her to hurry. “Hinata,” he said sternly. “I have a lot of people to grade.” Hinata peeped and hurried along, as Iruka led her out the door.

Sakura came up the stairs quickly as Naruto motioned a “thank you” to Shikamaru. The Nara boy raised his eyebrows and winked before turning back around.

“Naruto,” Sakura said, calling back his attention.

“Hey Sakura,” Naruto said. He quickly put on a smile. “You’re a genin now… that’s so cool.” His words were kind but lacked their usual energy.

Sakura took his hand in hers and leaned in. “Yes, and now you need to be too.” Any celebration could wait. Her friend still needed her. But they both knew no matter how much guidance she offered, it would mean nothing now. She’d tried to help him countless times before and never managed. Naruto could only nod in response as he copied her miming through the clone jutsu’s hand signs. He had them perfectly correct.

When Hinata returned to the class, Iruka was practically dragging her. “P-please sensei,” she blurted out. “I can make more.”

“Nonsense Hinata, seven clones is more than enough to pass.” He lifted the hand he was leading her by up in triumph. “Everyone, this is Hinata Hyuuga: Genin of the Leaf.”

Sakura felt a moment of warmth as she clapped, but she always knew her and Hinata would pass. She turned back to Naruto as Hinata jogged up to them and Shikamaru left the room.

“Congratulations Hinata,” they both said. Sakura reached out and took her into a long hug. She was so proud.

Hinata smiled back and turned to Naruto before averting her eyes. She looked back quickly. “Y-you too now, Naruto. L-lets keep practicing.”

Naruto turned away from her and dropped his shoulders. “It doesn’t matter who buys time for me or tries to tutor me,” Naruto said in dejection. “I’m gonna fail.”

Iruka led Naruto into the examination room where Mizuki sensei was also waiting. Over a dozen students might have been called before him, but there was no escape. Eventually, Naruto would have to perform the clone jutsu, and invariably fail again.

Naruto took a position on the center dais before Iruka and Mizuki, a row of Leaf Village headbands laid out before them. He looked at them nervously. Last year Mizuki had spoken to him first. ‘Am I just supposed to start or?’

Iruka pointed his pencil at Naruto. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Oh sorry… nobody said go, ya know?”

Mizuki smiled but Iruka kept a straight face. “I just did.” Iruka waved his pencil around a little more.

“Right, ugh,” Naruto began forming the hand signs, moving through them slowly to illustrate his knowledge of every one. “Here goes.” Naruto produced a gray deflated clone that stood beside him. He smiled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck again as he poofed it out of existence.

Iruka tilted his head but hesitated writing anything down. “Is that the best you got?”

‘Yeah…’ Naruto quickly formed the signs again. “No sir, that is not my best.”

“Let’s see one more from you then Naruto,” Mizuki replied calmly. “Show us what you really got.”

Naruto had disliked Mizuki as an instructor before, but now was grateful he was here. He seemed to be the softer of the two during examinations. “Clone jutsu!” Naruto manifested another clone with all his concentration, trying to pull from the deepest pools of chakra he had to form this new clone. Whether it was a surge of urgency to perform, or something Sakura said sinking in, this clone looked better. It was still mostly gray, but had some sense of color to it, and it wasn’t at all deflated looking. It looked like it might even be able to convincingly move about. As Naruto shook away his confusion and beamed at the effort, Iruka and Mizuki’s faces twisted with slight disconcertment. They did not motion for Naruto to stop however, and taking that as a good enough signal, Naruto tried motioning the clone to move ahead. Naruto led the clone forward slightly and it took several natural looking steps. Circling around it, Naruto appraised the creation himself. Somewhere between his eagerness and undeserved pride, Naruto’s concentration faltered on the clone, and it’s body seemed to collapse in on itself in unnatural places. “Oh no, no, no,” Naruto chanted, gesturing for the clone to stop as if it had a will of its own. Suddenly, its head snapped back and a strange high pitched whine, like air narrowly escaping a balloon, began emanating from the clone. Naruto ended his chanting when he noticed what almost seemed to be an open seam in the clone's neck. He’d never seen that happen to one of his clones before. After a few more seconds passed, the clone burst with a gentle burst of air that blew several graded papers off Iruka’s desk. “Um,” Naruto held out his hands widely. “Ta-da!”

Iruka quickly wrote something down. It didn’t matter who wanted him as a student or who conspired to stifle his education before this; Iruka could not in good conscience pass Naruto Uzumaki. “I’m sorry Naruto,” Iruka said. “But you fail.”

“So that means… I can’t graduate.” Naruto said crestfallen. “But all my other grades improved this year!”

Iruka shook his head. “Not enough that you could afford to do this badly on the final exam. I’m sorry Naruto but I just can’t pass clones like… that.”

Mizuki turned quickly to face his fellow instructor. “But Iruka… he has grown a lot since I taught him. Maybe a jonin sensei would help him learn better than the academy. We could pass him…”

Naruto nodded vigorously, but Iruka shook his head again. “Everybody else made at least three clones, and they were all perfect.” He turned back to Naruto. “I’m sorry, but I can’t move you forward as a genin.”

Mizuki knew very well Iruka wouldn't allow it, but spoke up again. “But Iruka-”

“You are not his sensei now Mizuki, and neither is anyone else.” Iruka looked at Naruto with pity. “It’s not… right for you to continue ahead. The road gets more difficult, not easier. It’s in your best interest to stay at the academy.”

“But I actually have friends and stuff now!” Naruto shot back. “Sakura and Shikamaru and Choji and Hinata.” Naruto stared at his feet. “Even if we aren’t on the same team, they are the people I wanna move forward with.”

“Iruka,” Mizuki began. “If the transformation or body flicker was the exam, I think he would have passed. He could always fight, and his other grades are up too.”

Iruka recorded a failing grade, but didn’t address Mizuki. It was him that suggested a clone jutsu final anyway. “I never told you this Naruto, but I failed my first graduation exam. I was the class clown and goofed off all day. I understand that-”

“No you don’t understand sensei!” Naruto yelled. “I’m not in this position because I didn’t buckle down and try. You know! I just can’t do clone jutsu no matter what. It’s blocked me my whole life.”

“I’m sorry Naruto, but the Leaf Village needs to maintain its standards.” Before Iruka could finish, Naruto hurried out of the examination room, near tears.

“Kakashi isn’t going to like this.” Mizuki said dryly.

“Then let him and the Hokage work it out. I’m not going to cheapen my honor as an instructor and fudge the boy’s grades like you did.” Iruka glared in Mizuki’s pensive face. “You’re as much the reason he is in the position as anybody.”

Sakura inspected her headband, watching her reflection in the metal forehead protector. ‘It would make a cute headband,’ she thought to herself, but her frown quickly returned.

Hinata smiled faintly. “You are a g-genin now Sakura.” Hinata held her own headband carefully. “N-Naruto would want you to be happy.”

Sakura sighed, then looked at Hinata with a put-on smile. “I know, but I just hate to hear how he failed. He didn’t deserve that, he worked as hard as anybody. The ninja academy isn’t where he needs to be right now.” Sakura traced the leaf-shaped symbol on the forehead protector. It was more a badge of loyalty than actual armor, but it was a mark of the Leaf, and one she was proud to wear. “I know it was unlikely, but I kind of hoped the three of us might be a team.”

“Some day, I feel Naruto w-will make an excellent shinobi,” Hinata said. “I only hope when he is given a sensei, they will be one who w-watches over him with c-care.” As if by intuition, Hinata activated her Byakugan and looked outside. As was the norm, a group of parents had arrived to take part in the graduation ceremony. Hinata saw her father, as well as her younger sister gathering up outside. Hinata searched over the crowd and smiled. “Sakura, y-your mom is here.”

“My mom?” Sakura repeated. “Oh she’s going to be so embarrassing.” Sakura groaned as she pictured her mother clumsily striking up conversations with her classmates' ninja parents. “She’s probably going to walk right up to Jonin Commander Nara and say, ‘Hi, I’m Mebuki Haruno! My daughter goes to school with your son.’”

“And then dad will say nothing but ‘Shikaku Nara,’ and my mom will start chatting her up for hours like an old friend.” Shikamaru said as he walked up to the girl’s desk. He sat on the edge and nodded toward them. “Congratulations on being the first two genin of our generation. I guess I’m third but hopefully everyone forgets that. Any kind of spotlight is a drag.”

Sakura rolled her eyes at Shikamaru’s sarcasm. “The only one getting special recognition at the ceremony is going to be Sasuke for being top rookie. I don’t get a medal for graduating first.”

“Still…" Shikamaru trailed off. "Stinks about Naruto but it seems everyone graduated but him,” Shikamaru nodded toward them, but the girls stayed silent. “Any idea where he would have taken off to Hinata?”

Hinata paused, it was true he’d left the classroom, but after failing why would he want to stay? She started scanning the area with her Byakugan. She had trained enough to achieve nearly a kilometer radius of vision, but it was difficult to pinpoint someone in such a large area if she didn’t know where to look. She tried searching for Naruto’s chakra signature. “H-he is near the academy. I-it seems Mizuki sensei i-is with him.”

“Mizuki?” Sakura was in disbelief. "I know that was his old sensei, but I didn’t expect that’s who he would go to.” Sakura frowned, “At least he has somebody.” She wished she could be with him, but maybe it was best she gave him some distance. Seeing her with her shiny new headband might just remind him how he failed.

“Sakura,” Shikamaru called her attention back. “I know it’s a bummer he failed, but Naruto would want us to be happy. It’s our big day as genin, and he is only going to feel worse if he finds out you spent the whole ceremony moping because of him.”

Sakura smiled. “I know Shikamaru, it’s just…” She considered his words. He must’ve known Naruto as well as her by now. Sakura nodded and didn’t complete her thought. “Thanks.”

“Wait, hold on,” Naruto stared at Mizuki. “If there is another way to graduate, why does nobody mention it?”

“Because,” Mizuki replied. “Most people wouldn’t be able to pull it off. It’s even harder than the graduation exam. But for someone like you, who struggles with only one jutsu, maybe it could be achieved.”

Naruto tried to quell his rising excitement. He never expected Mizuki to seek him out, but clearly he saw something in him Iruka didn’t. “What exactly is this test… And what makes you think I can pass it?”

“The test,” Mizuki started, “is to learn a jutsu from the sacred Scroll of Seals. They are advanced techniques beyond what even a genin should be able to do. Secret jutsu passed down by the first two Hokage and classified for our village only.”

Naruto groaned. “If I can’t manage a simple clone, what makes you think I can use jutsu like that?”

“Because most of the jutsu in those scrolls are sealing jutsu.” Mizuki gazed out into the distance. “As an Uzumaki, you were born to excel at fuinjutsu.”

“I’ve never even seen a sealing jutsu, but I can try it!” He said, voice rising with glee. Any chance to pass he’d take. “Where is this sacred Scroll of Seals or whatever?”

Mizuki flashed a half grin. “That’s the other part of the test.”

Seeing Hinata with her family was somewhat bizarre to Sakura. She’d known Hinata for years and they were very much best friends, but she’d never met her father, or sister for that matter. Lord Hyuuga looked reasonably proud of his daughter, and that was something that made Sakura feel a little better about today. The other was sitting atop her head.

“My daughter the genin,” Mebuki said excitedly. “I can’t believe I’m seeing the day.”

“Those words could be misinterpreted, mother,” Sakura said jokingly.

Mebuki laughed. “Oh you know what I mean. How was the final exam? Was it hard?”

“Not for me, no,” Sakura said. “It was clone jutsu, I’ve more than mastered it.”

Mebuki frowned, “Isn’t that the one your friend struggles with?”

“Yeah,” Sakura said, shifting her eyes down. “Naruto didn’t pass the final exam.”

“When I didn’t see him with the other students, I thought something like that happened.” Mebuki patted her daughter’s head. “I’m sure he’s proud you passed.”

“He is,” Sakura smiled. She glanced around.

“I know!” Mebuki said cheerfully, “We should celebrate! You and all your friends. I’ll take you out to eat, you, Hinata and Naruto.”

Sakura shrugged. “I don’t know mama, I think Naruto wants to be alone right now.”

“Well, ask him anyway,” Mebuki replied. “You never know, maybe the thing he needs most right now is his friends.”

Naruto slunk through the Hokage’s mansion just after dark. If the Scroll of Seals was so special, it would have been guarded with some clever trap jutsu, but that was just the thing Mizuki warned him about. No ordinary civilian could infiltrate the Hokage’s mansion with all the Anbu crawling around. And the seal on the room where forbidden texts were contained was marked with a fuinjutsu that didn’t allow any Leaf ninja to enter it without the permission of one of the Leaf’s higher-ups. But as an academy student, Naruto was technically neither one of those things. Naruto smiled. ‘Left like this just for people like me. To think Iruka sensei was so sure I’d fail this test too he didn’t even tell me about it. I’ll show him!’

Passing into the forbidden library was easy. No ordinary security measures could keep someone with years of ninja training out for long. And since his technical status as a civilian meant he wasn’t tripping any fuinjutsu traps or alarms, Naruto managed to find the scroll with surprising quickness. It helped so many of the Hokage Mansion staff were working on registrations for all the new official ninja the Leaf earned today. ‘This is an awesome test, way more fun than demonstrating a jutsu,’ Naruto thought. ‘And it’s perfect, only an academy student could steal the scroll, and only on a day like today with everyone busy.’

Naruto attempted to hurry out the main doors of the library before he heard someone coming.

“Hey!” They shouted, “Why is the forbidden library open?”

‘Uh oh,’ Naruto thought to himself. ‘Can’t get caught before I learn a jutsu!’ Without missing a beat Naruto turned and propped open a window, it was a pretty big drop. Naruto just smirked.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Third Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, had called an emergency gathering of selected ninja. Iruka Umino had unexpectedly been one of them, and rushed to the Hokage Mansion with Mizuki. The meeting seemed urgent enough that they were simply convening in the courtyard.

Hiruzen looked over his dozen-or-so selected ninja. All non-clan ninja, plus his son, and two of the boy’s instructors. If some of the other major clans found out what had happened with the boy, they might demand undue retribution. Danzo too, even if he was Hiruzen’s left hand and chief advisor, might take this situation too seriously. ‘It’s an emergency.’ Hiruzen thought. ‘But not one we can’t weasel out of.’ After all, the boy hadn’t left the Hidden Leaf or he would have set off the village’s perimeter barrier.

Hiruzen signaled to the gathered ninja. “Everyone, we have an urgent situation. An Academy student has managed to steal the Scroll of Seals, we need to find him and retrieve it. We know he is still within the village boarders.” Despite the discipline of ninja, whispers were already awash in the crowd. “The thief is Naruto Uzumaki, so you need to ensure he comes to no harm either!”

“That boy of all people,” someone shouted.

The Hokage nodded. “You understand why this is a priority. I’m trusting you all to retrieve the scroll and the boy before this becomes a larger incident. If it does, it will without a doubt require the village’s full attention.”

The gathered ninja called out in unison. “Yes sir.”

Hiruzen signaled them. “Very good, move out.”

The ninja took off quickly, besides Asuma, who slowly walked up to his Hokage. “What do you need me to do, dad?”

Hirzuen turned to him. “Go to the boy's apartment and investigate it. Find a reason he would have done this, and send a monkey messenger back to me. Then wait to see if he returns.”

Asuma nodded. “Right.”

As the ninja fanned out in different directions Iruka hurried to catch up with Mizuki. “Mizuki! Mizuki, wait up!”

Mizuki kept sprinting. “Is now the time, Iruka? Naruto stole the Scroll of Seals!”

“You and I have sensory abilities Mizuki!” Iruka called out as he dashed behind his fellow sensei. “It’s rare for non clan ninja to possess any, it’ll probably be one of us who finds Naruto!”

Mizuki kept himself from smiling. It probably would be one of them, but it was irrelevant if Iruka got there first. Mizuki might have been an ambassador, but Iruka wasn’t a combat type whatsoever. “Exactly why we should split up to cover more ground!”

Iruka called after Mizuki again, “Mizuki if we use our sensory powers in tandem we can find him faster. I don’t know why he did this, but it doesn’t sound like him. We need to find him and find out what is going on!”

Mizuki thought for a moment and shook his head. “Sorry Iruka, I don't agree. You underestimate the effect you had on him today. When I find Naruto, I’d rather it be alone.”

Mizuki continued to run off as his words gave Iruka pause. ‘Does Mizuki really think he stands a better chance of reasoning with Naruto than I do?’

Naruto looked around himself after he was satisfied he’d made it deep enough into the woods to not be detected. The person who’d seen him in the library must’ve been a mere assistant and unable to keep pace with him. Naruto smiled to himself as he opened the enormous Scroll of Sealing. A collection of fuinjutsu was revealed to him.

“Let’s see Fuinjutsu: Release, Adamantine Sealing Chains, huh,” Naruto paused. ‘Stuff about tailed beast sealing.’ He shook his head. This all looked complicated. He paged past most of the fuinjutsu. “Flying Raijin?” Nauto blinked. “That just sounds weird.” If any jutsu from the scroll would do, it made sense to him to choose the easiest one. Naruto’s eyes lit up, there was one with only simple signs. He frowned as he read the title. “Shadow Clone Jutsu? Oh man, why is it always my worst one?” He made a single sign. ‘Still it’s really easy signs and sounds like it takes more chakra than regular clones. Maybe if I follow all the diagrams like Sakura says to... it’s worth a try.’

"A dinner out would be good for everyone. Afterall, team assignment wasn’t for a few more days. Nobody has anywhere to be tomorrow." Sakura was smiling more as she and Hinata made their ways to Naruto’s apartment. “You don’t think he is still out sulking, do you?”

Hinata shook her head. If Naruto wasn’t at home it would be difficult to get in contact with him about their plans. She’d heard horror stories from Sakura about the state of Naruto’s home, but always met him at Sakura’s house or some neutral place. Hinata was a bit nervous to see it for herself, even if only in passing.

As Sakura hurried up the stairs to Naruto’s apartment she smiled to see a light on. "Knowing Naruto, he is probably running himself ragged trying to make clones." Who she saw when she opened the door was not what she expected; a tall handsome man with broad shoulders and olive skin. Sakura reflexively reached for her kunai upon seeing a stranger where she didn’t expect, but reminded herself where she was and remained calm. This was a Sarutobi clansman, a Leaf shinobi and ally. “Excuse me,” she called out, “who are you?”

The man seemed a fair bit on edge himself, but presented a pleasant enough smile to the girls. “Asuma Sarutobi,” he responded politely. “And you are?”

Sakura gestured to herself and then Hinata. “I am Sakura Senju, and this is Hinata Hyuuga. We are classmates of Naruto and were coming to see him.”

The man came out from behind Naruto’s bed and approached them. He had clearly been going through Naruto’s effects. “I’m afraid Naruto isn’t here. Are you friends of his?”

‘He easily should have inferred that,’ Sakura thought, narrowing her eyebrows just slightly enough to notice. “We are. Do you know where we can find him?”

Asuma tilted his head slightly. 'She’s acting unconcerned with my actions to cut right to the chase about Naruto’s location. Kunoichi…’ He looked over the pink haired girl ,who seemed to be doing all the talking, and then toward her associate. ‘A Hyuuga as well.’ He frowned, “I’m afraid not, since I was looking for him myself.”

Something was very off here and it was more than obvious to Sakura. “And why would a ninja as skilled as our Lord Hokage’s son be searching for Naruto?”

Asuma smirked. She had him at a disadvantage. The girl's mannerisms were polite, but her speech was far too verbose and affected to be totally genuine. He leaned back slightly. Their headbands marked them as genin, and if they were Naruto’s friends, there was no reason they couldn’t be an asset to him. “Because Naruto has recently gotten himself into trouble. I’m afraid he has taken something of value to the village. He must be confused, but unfortunately we haven’t been able to find him to settle the matter.”

Sakura and Hinata blinked in surprise. Once again Sakura spoke up. “What exactly did he take?”

Asuma started lighting up a cigarette. “An important scroll… the Scroll of Seals.”

“What!” Sakura leaned back in surprise. “That isn’t something you take without intention. Why would Naruto take that?”

“If you girls don’t know,” Asuma continued, “then I don’t know any better than you. I’m here, either waiting for him to return, or trying to find out if there is any clue about his motivations.”

“Naruto isn’t the type of guy to keep carefully laid out plans lying around.” Sakura’s response was flat. Asuma was wasting his time.

“Too clever for that?” Asuma asked plainly.

“No,” Sakura would have laughed if not for the gravity of the situation. “He just doesn’t have any.”

“I see,” Asuma said. “It is odd he would do this. As you said, the Scroll of Seals can’t be taken without intention. He broke into the Hokage Mansion to get it, but lost the initial pursuer in the woods behind the Hokage monument.”

Sakura turned to Hinata, who raised her hands to her chest in a guarded motion and shook her head. Sakura looked back at Asuma. “We don’t know why he’d take it either. I’m not sure waiting here is the best bet for finding him though.”

Asuma took a drag from his cigarette. “I agree, I don’t think he’s gonna return. At least not with the scroll in his possession. I already sent word to the Hokage about just that. Still… someone needs to be here on the off chance he does.”

Sakura motioned to Hinata. “Then since we can’t tell you anything new about the situation, we should probably get out of your way.”

Asuma shrugged. “Sure, take off so you can go help your co-conspirator.” The girls frowned at him but he quickly laughed. “I can tell you two have nothing to do with it, your surprise was too genuine compared to how obvious your other questioning was.” He waved dismissivly to Sakura. “You’ll get better at that.”

Cocking her head, Sakura raised an eyebrow at Asuma. “We are Naruto’s friends, we might be able to help you, if a famous jonin permits it.”

Asuma chuckled. He was hardly as known as some of the Leaf’s other ninja. “Sure, you wanna aid in the search? Do it. But don’t approach him, the situation might be dangerous.”

Sakura blinked. “He’s our friend, he wouldn’t attack us.”

Asuma took another drag and stared at the girls sternly for a moment. “The Lord Hokage feels more is going on than meets the eye. Naruto might prove to be a danger to you regardless of his intent. Or else, some other factor...”

Sakura nodded. “Very good, we will search usual locations for Naruto, and report back any findings.” She motioned for Hinata to follow her.

As the girls left the apartment, Sakura considered the Scroll of Seals and Asuma’s cryptic warning. ‘Regardless of intent,’ she thought. A dark realization was dawning on her, but there was no time to fixate on the metrics of it yet. The priority was finding their friend.

“Y-you don’t really have the intention to not approach him do you?” Hinata whispered, activating her Byakugan.

“Of course not,” Sakura whispered back. “But if the situation is as urgent as it seems, I want you to go back and get Asuma after we find Naruto. I’ll try to figure out what is going on.”

As the girls got back to the street Asuma landed in front of them. “Go back and get me?” He asked with a laugh. “No, you ladies misunderstand. I have no intention of letting you rush after him alone.”

Iruka rushed down the hill. Naruto hadn’t even attempted to hide. He was just out in the open pouring over the scroll of seals. Iruka hurried in his approach, making no secret of his own arrival. Naruto just smiled and waved to him. “You found me quick sensei! I only had time to learn one technique!”

“Why the hell are you learning from that scroll,” Iruka snapped quickly. “How dare you steal the sacred Scroll of Seals to try and build your own power!”

Naruto made a dumbfounded face. “Isn’t that the second graduation exam? I thought if I could learn a move from this scroll, I’d pass and could go on with everybody else!”

“What on earth gave you that crazy notion?” Iruka approached Naruto and fell out of his aggressive stance. ‘Don’t tell me this is all because of some misunderstanding.’

With a shrug Naruto started nervously tapping his feet. “Well Mizuki sens-”

“Mizuki?” Iruka shouted in surprise. “Naruto no this scroll is a- Look out!” A cluster of kunai blasted out of the treeline and straight at Naruto. Iruka moved quickly and shoved the child to safety, but ended up with several kunai lodged in himself for the effort.

Still holding the scroll, Naruto fell to the ground and immediately looked to the source of the blades. Mizuki sensei stood atop a tree branch, sporting two fuma. “Hey Naruto,” he called coldly. “Thanks for getting the Scroll.”

Iruka grunted in pain, pulling a kunai from his knee. “Mizuki you sick bastard! You used Naruto to steal the Scroll of Sealing?”

“Why not?” Mizuki shrugged. “What good is the boy if not as a tool for the village to use?”

Naruto pulled himself back up, clutching the scroll tightly. “What is going on? Sensei I don’t understand.”

“Mizuki lied to you!” Iruka called out. He slumped back against a nearby tree. “There is no other graduation exam. He just wants to scroll.” Iruka turned his head to Mizuki. “Why?”

“Oh yeah Iruka,” Mizuki laughed. “Let me reveal my evil plan.” He formed air qoutes as he laughed. “Long story short, the Leaf Village is old news.”

Iruka’s eyes narrowed. “You’re going missing nin and taking the scroll as a trophy then? There is a penalty for betraying the Leaf, Mizuki…” Iruka drew another kunai from himself and leveled it at Mizuki, he had to protect Naruto as well. “Death!”

Mizuki dodged the kunai casually and laughed. “You’re half dead already.”

Naruto began backing away. He wasn’t sure what to do or who to help. He was sure he didn’t want to help Mizuki, but was it better to fight with Iruka or run away? Mizuki turned his eyes back to Naruto. “You, I gotta thank, Naruto. I would have triggered the fuinjutsu long before I managed to obtain the scroll. To think all the whispers about you bringing destruction to the Leaf again some day were actually true.”

“Wha… What are you talking about?” Naruto shuddered.

Mizuki tilted his head. “You mean you can't figure it out? Why everyone hates you? I mean it’s a little spelled out, Naruto Uzumaki .”

Iruka tried throwing another kunai but flinched in pain as he pulled it from his side. “No Mizuki, don’t tell him!”

“Don’t tell him what? That he’s the Kyuubi?” Mizuki reached for his fuma. “Or sorry, I mean it’s Jin-chur-i-ki,” Mizuki drew out the syllables venomously. “It’s all the fucking same to me. Either the boy fucks up a fuinjutsu and releases it or I kill him and it leaks out- all the same.”

The revelation had left Naruto paralyzed. He was the Kyuubi’s Jinchuriki? The thing that killed his parent’s and Sakura’s dad and all those other people was inside him? The gnawing voice to kill… Mizuki threw his weapon right at him.

Iruka pushed his body against all odds to leap between Naruto and the fuma flying at him. “Naruto, run!” Iruka again managed to push Naruto safe of the blade but it dug deeply into his own back. Iruka fell with a thud.

Mizuki laughed at Iruka and reached for his other fuma. “Dying for a demon, Iruka? Imagine that.”

“He…” Iruka coughed. “He isn’t a demon, he is Naruto Uzumaki, of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.” Naruto reached toward Iruka, near tears. His sensei motioned him away. “Forget me, and run away now Naruto! Protect your body, if it gets out!”

Mizuki leapt from the tree and landed on the ground about three meters before the pair. Iruka moved into the defensive posture and tried to arm himself, but couldn’t lift himself more than halfway up.  Naruto took a quick breath. It was true. If he died like that Kushina woman had, the Kyuubi would attack the village. But a Jinchuriki is also meant to be a village's protector. Naruto thought back on Sakura’s words. “Mito was kind and noble, she never would have attacked the village. She loved the Leaf Village and our people loved her.”

 “Neither of our Jinchuriki ever harmed the village. Kushina had great control of the Kyuubi. When the Kyuubi attacked, it was… well it was because Kushina had been killed.”

 “Horrible its own, but…  without Kushina’s own chakra to help contain it, the Kyuubi would have very quickly escaped her body. And then it found itself loose for the first time in decades in the middle of our village.”

 “We are now the only great village without a Jinchuriki.”

 “Then I would swear on my legacy as Senju, that I would protect them. They would be the hero keeping that monster that killed my father contained.”

Naruto turned to Iruka, his mind made up. He was surely no match for a chunin even with that new jutsu he learned. “I’m sorry sensei!” And Naruto ran.

Chapter Text

Chapter 13: The Leaf Ninja and their Jinchuriki

Iruka leaned forward, as Mizuki moved to kill. Iruka was unskilled in combative arts, focusing on seals and sensing jutsu. But he wasn’t going to sit by and let Mizuki kill him. Not while he needed to protect a child of the Leaf. Iruka could barely move, but he gestured to the ground and a prepared seal from within his bag flowed out around him. Intricate calligraphy was written onto the earth, forming a series of circles around Iruka in a wide area. Mizuki leapt back out of the radius of one, only for another to spread out and engulf him. Iruka held a hand sign, as near invisible threads of chakra wrapped around them both. Mizuki struggled to even fully open his jaw, merely grunting out, “sealing jutsu.”

“String Light Formation," Iruka corrected with the technique's exact name. Neither of them could move now. The jutsu sealed chakra within the body, and on top of that, restricted movement. All Iruka had to do was hold this technique on Mizuki while Naruto got away. 

Mizuki smiled as best he could. “I never knew you could erect such a powerful seal in an instant Iruka. Maybe I misjudged you as the weakest academy sensei.”

“You were always too fixated on your perceptions of power,” Iruka replied. But the confidence in Mizuki’s voice had shaken him a bit. He seemed unconcerned with the jutsu he was bound in now. Iruka couldn’t move either, and the second his technique failed, Mizuki could move in for a fatal blow. Iruka focused on the seals. He hadn’t cast this jutsu in an instant; he simply kept the fuinjutsu formulas on him at all times. It took hours to prepare, yet afforded only a few minutes of actual value in the field. Iruka looked around his formula for any areas of weakness, and focused more chakra there. A few minutes didn’t sound so bad when they came between life and death. Suddenly a surge of power from Mizuki himself caused Iruka to turn back. A black looking chakra seemed to be seeping out of Mizuki’s neck. “What the-”

“Did you think I would betray the village without a door prize?” Mizuki asked, speaking more easily now. His once svelte body bulged and tensed, as he began undergoing some kind of physical transformation. “No Iruka, I’ve been given powers you can’t contain.” Thick stripe-like patterns covered a portion of his visible skin, as parts of his clothing ripped away from his expanding form.

“This is…” Iruka could hardly believe it. “A cursed seal? Where did you get it?”

Mizuki began twitching his arms and legs, regaining movement. “Lord Orochimaru of course. Our Legendary Sannin.”

Iruka attempted to focus more energy on Mizuki to no avail. He was freeing himself of the threads. Iruka leaned back in a surge of anxiety, containing Mizuki was becoming impossible fast. “Orochimaru is a traitor and a mad man! He abandoned our village… and you allied… with him?” Iruka didn’t understand. When did Mizuki even encounter Orochimaru?

“No you fool!” Mizuki snapped back. “Like so many other great ninja of this village, we betrayed him. He was a genius, a visionary, his experiments would have dragged our village forward and let us stop relying on those damn tailed beasts.”

Iruka strained his chakra, while sweat beaded on his brow and blood dripped from his nose. “He… killed… dozens of people… with those experiments…” Iruka coughed, struggling to even speak as he held the fuinjutsu with all his lifeforce. As Orochimaru’s gifted chakra spilled from Mizuki and transformed his body, it felt like Iruka was trying to bind the Snake Lord himself. “Mizuki… children!”

A smug satisfaction fell upon Mizuki as he shifted and freed more of his upper body. “But look at what that did for me.”

Naruto darted through the treetops back toward the village, chiding himself for going so far away from it. Why did he let himself be drawn in by Mizuki sensei? He never seemed to care about him before today. Was he so defeated and eager for acceptance, he was blinded to Mizuki’s true intentions? Naruto paused on a tree branch. As far as he could tell he wasn’t being tailed. ‘Iruka sensei,’ Naruto considered. ‘I might have hated what you told me, but you did what was best for me after all didn’t you?’ Naruto shuddered. He couldn’t go back for Iruka. He was the Leaf’s Jinchuriki. He contained that monster, the Kyuubi, and Mizuki wanted it out. Even now he could hear it in the back of his mind, foaming with rage and eagerness. It wanted out too. It was always like this: stress and fear, pain and rage. That’s what made him hear the voice. Naruto moved to keep running but hesitated. His clanswomen before him were great heroes. They’d fought in wars to protect the Leaf. Naruto looked back again. ‘Iruka sensei told me to run.’

Naruto saw Iruka sensei’s lifeless body sitting in the moonlight, blood pooled around him. Mizuki stood over him, hands sticky with gore. Naruto was there too, poised to strike on all fours. The voice inside him boomed out. “I am not a weapon to be released, even for destruction. I am not a tool to be used.” Back in reality, Naruto rubbed his throbbing head. “He should fear us, not delight in my presence. When I escape he will be the first we consume.” In Naruto’s vision, he saw himself pounce toward Mizuki like a predator, with a speed that no man could not react to. Two sets of claws dug deep into his chest as he brought Mizuki to the ground and knocked the features from his face with a single swipe.

‘But that hasn’t happened yet.’ Naruto reminded himself, ‘Because if I’m not being followed, then Iruka sensei is still alive.’

Naruto heard a voice in his mind more familiar than the Kyuubi’s: Iruka’s. He’d taught him every day for the last year. “He isn’t a demon, he is Naruto Uzumaki, of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.”

Naruto blinked and took a deep breath as he turned. “Miss Mito… Miss Kushina… give me strength!”

Asuma and Sakura sprinted toward the edge of the village proper with Hinata in the lead. At last, she called out the words they’d been dying to hear. “I see him! A-at the edge of my vision.”

“Where is he?” Asuma questioned, quickening his stride.

“In the woods b-behind the Hokage monument,” Hinata called back.

“Hinata, is he okay?” Sakura hurried as well. She hadn’t run this fast in a long time.

“I-I think so he is just- w-wait. There is something else!” Asuma and Sakura looked at her in confusion. “Iruka and Mizuki sensei are nearby. I-I think they are fighting, but it is h-hard to tell. Neither are moving.”

Asuma drew what looked to be knuckle knives from his pack. “Describe to me what’s happening.”

“Their chakra’s are at odds. I believe Iruka e-erected some kind of emergency perimeter barrier to bind M-mizuki sensei.” Hinata replied. “Mizuki is emitting some k-kind of strange chakra. I think he is breaking loose.”

“How far are they from Naruto?” Asuma asked, fixing the blades onto his hands.

“N-not very,” Hinata began, “Wait! H-he is moving toward them!”

Asuma shifted into a lower stance, throwing back his arms and moving even faster. The kunoichi strained their chakra to keep up. “Lead us there girl, quickly!”

Iruka held his hand sign shakily, but the String Light Formation only had moments of life left in it. Whatever sick thing Orochimaru had done to Mizuki, it was nearing its apex now. Iruka knew a little of the curse marks. Orochimaru’s betrayal of and departure from the village was a huge event in his own childhood. Everyone was convinced he'd return some day to exact revenge, but the day never came. Mizuki’s curse mark seemed to be incomplete, so his body probably couldn’t withstand a full one. Orochimaru kidnapped and marked his entire genin team with them before he left. Only Anko Mitarashi survived. If Mizuki had aligned with the Snake Lord, he might have been too valuable as a Leaf insider to risk killing with a more powerful mark. Iruka was sapped of strength. Conjecture was moot now. He just hoped someone could yet step past him and defeat Mizuki.

Out of nowhere, Naruto burst back out of the brush with the body flicker and kneed Mizuki’s still semi-bound body in the face. Mizuki roared in either pain or surprise, and grabbed Naruto around the waist as he tried to come back in for a punch. “No Naruto!” Iruka called out, but could only watch in horror as Mizuki slammed Naruto into the ground with inhuman strength. The boy’s body disappeared in a burst of smoke. Iruka’s eyes widened. ‘What? A shadow clone?’

Naruto landed beside Iruka, and held his arms out to defend him from Mizuki. His former sensei snorted and surged with power, allowing himself to pull one foot free of the seal, leaving nothing but his left leg bound. “You little shit,” he grunted. “You really did learn a jutsu from that scroll.”

“Naruto!” Iruka yelled out in surprise. Why had the boy come back? “Naruto, you need to run away, Mizuki has been given power by Orochimaru!”

Naruto stepped in front of Iruka, shielding him further. “I don’t even know who the hell that is. All I know is that I’m Naruto, of the Uzumaki clan, and I’m not gonna run away!”

Mizuki threw his head back in laughter. “You impudent little brat! You don’t even know the name you should fear above all others.”

His form had changed, bulky arms and strange stripes, but this was still Mizuki sensei. “I think I do ," Naruto replied. "And it’s the Kyuubi! It sleeps in me, like Miss Kushina and Miss Mito before me!”

Mizuki ripped his other leg free of the seal, ignoring Iruka’s pained groans. “They aren’t here little boy, just a weak vessel without a family! One I’m going to kill to unleash hell on this village!”

Naruto formed a quick sign. “I am the Jinchuriki of the Leaf, you threaten this village or my friends in it, and I’ll kill you!”

Mizuki drew his second fuma and began darting forward. “Let’s see you try, you nine tailed fuck!”

“Naruto no! Mizuki will kill you twenty times over!” Iruka tried to reach out to his student but could barely move. “No clone or two will help you defeat him.”

Naruto ignored his sensei’s words, focusing on Mizuki’s advance. His whole life he’s been told to use less and less chakra. But he was never able to control it finely enough to do so. If the Kyuubi’s and his chakras were linked, then he must’ve had a lot. Naruto prepared another Shadow Clone Jutsu. ‘So what happens when I use it all?’

Naruto surged with energy and created a veritable swarm of clones. Not the six or seven his classmates could manifest, but dozens. And looking around him, they had shadows. This was no trick. They had form and they could fight . Mizuki fell back on his heels. He was totally surrounded. One clone burst from the pack, and Mizuki knocked it out of the sky with his fuma. It disappeared in a cloud of smoke, but a second hurried out and secured the weapon. Mizuki gritted his teeth, and settled into what looked to be an academy form as he gazed at the pack of clones. Naruto’s main body stayed beside Iruka as he called out to his clones. “Let’s go!”

Hinata continued to update Sakura and Asuma on the situation. “N-Naruto has created clones, real ones!”

“What?” Sakura gasped. “How is that?”

“Shadow clones,” Asuma said quickly, “It was a jutsu in the scroll.”

“He took the scroll to learn from it?” Sakura leapt from branch to branch, it took a great deal of her focus to measure her jumps and ensure she didn’t fall, but her mind wandered anyway.

“Apparently,” Asuma replied. "It didn’t make sense to us that Naruto would steal the scroll. You said he was with Mizuki earlier today, and that he has undertaken some suspicious form?” Hinata nodded. “Then if Iruka tried to fight him as well, Mizuki is probably the real enemy here.”

Sakura nodded. It was crazy to think of Mizuki sensei as an opponent, but it was easier than thinking of it being Naruto and Iruka sensei. No matter what chakra Mizuki was exuding, he was only a middling fighter. He would go to ground if he was confronted with a jonin. Sakura considered what she knew of the current battlefield and looked at Asuma. “I have an idea.”

Naruto’s clones flew at Mizuki, too numerous to fully beat back. Mizuki punched one out of the air, and kicked a second advancing straight out of a body flicker. A third landed on his back, and began stabbing at the nape of his neck with a kunai. Orochimaru’s curse mark lent his body the resilience to keep the boy from landing a fatal blow, but Mizuki’s curse mark was inferior to most of Orochimaru’s other subjects. He couldn’t keep this up forever. Mizuki reached up and crushed the clone's head in his overgrown hand, then struck away another. A row of shadow clones lined up before Mizuki, and hurled their kunai at him in a wedge. Mizuki moved aside but still felt one dig into his flank, as the other two flew into the crowd and took down two clones for him. Mizuki had destroyed more than two dozen by now, but he wasn’t even halfway there. His body was resistant to damage and pain, but inspecting his injuries, Mizuki was forced to admit there was a very real chance he could receive a fatal blow fighting this way. There was simply too many opponents. One of the Naruto’s seemed to be holding Iruka in his arms. Mizuki smirked. That was obviously the real one. He had to take out the remaining clones in one shot, and the way to do that was to target the main body. He smashed aside three clones with his body mass alone as he formed a series of hand signs. The Uzumaki had a glaring weakness. “Genjutsu: Haze!”

His target doubled over in agony, groaning as it clutched its head. Iruka called out to him, but as several clones started to dissipate on their own, Mizuki focused the genjutsu even harder. He had hit the real one. Naruto’s vision filled with oily shadows as he was taken by nausea. He knew he lacked the ability to release the genjutsu, so he didn’t try. He just willed the clones he could still manage to attack Mizuki harder. Mizuki swatted away one, then two. Suddenly a cluster of shuriken burst from the tree line and dug into Mizuki as quickly as he could block. They all but popped back out of Mizuki’s newly muscled arms. Sakura Senju fell from a tree beside the Uzumaki, forming a quick seal and touching him. “Release!”

Naruto felt relief almost instantly as Saukra used her chakra to wash away Mizuki’s. “Sakura?” Naruto nearly leapt with surprise. “How did you find us?”  

“I didn’t,” Sakura replied quickly as she stared at the altered form of Mizuki. He was as freakish as Hinata described. “She did!”

Hinata, on cue, landed a few meters in front of them. She positioned herself about halfway between Mizuki and her friends, and settled into a highly aggressive Gentle Fist form. 

Iruka coughed up a little blood. “Girls get back, he has a curse mark.” Not only was Naruto here, but now all his students were coming out of the woodwork. It should have been him protecting them, not the other way around.

Sakura helped Naruto to his feet. She moved to help Iruka too but hesitated. He was hurt badly. Hinata stood unflinching, gaze narrowing as the veins leading to her eyes intensified even more under the Byakugan. “Eight Trigrams: Sixteen Palms.” She prepared to attack the instant Mizuki drew closer to her friends.

Mizuki cocked his head to the side like a wild cat, and readied to strike at the Hyuuga if she came in for a blow. There was no way some white faced little girl could put up a better showing than the Leaf Jinchuriki. “I’ll bleed you first girl, and gift your eyes to Lord Orochimaru.” 

Another clone burst from the undergrowth, as if Mizuki’s own words were its signal to attack. Mizuki moved to intercept it, but this one was much faster. It snaked around him with an unusual manner, and poofed to reveal itself as not a clone but a transformation jutsu. Mizuki tried to shoot back, but the newcomer was too quick. ‘Asuma Sarutobi?’ Alarms rang in Mizuki’s mind. This was the son of the Hokage. One of his knuckle knives was alight with a meter long blue line of chakra. Mizuki dodged the blade proper, but the blue chakra slashed with an edge as well, and cleaved straight though one of Mizuki’s arms as it was rent off. Mizuki howled with pain, as his severed arm bounced twice across the ground. Asuma came in for a second blow, and Mizuki was too overwhelmed by pain to defend himself. This time, Asuma’s chakra blade slashed apart Mizuki’s lower jaw with an uppercut. Mizuki staggered back making a sick wheezing noise, and Asuma deactivated his blades. With a final blow to the head, he slammed Mizuki into a tree, and knocked what was left of his broken body unconscious.

“Asuma,” Iruka breathed. “Thank the kami…”

Asuma turned, biting his thumb as two little monkeys rose from the blood. The summoned creatures looked inquisitively to their master, who called to them quickly. "Enka, get father, tell him Mizuki was a traitor working for Orochimaru and that Naruto Uzumaki is okay. Bring medics for Iruka as well to meet us in the woods.” The tiny creature nodded with a chattering noise and rushed off into the trees. “Enjo,” Asuma called upon the slightly larger one. “Guard Mizuki, and ensure he remains unconscious.” The monkey nodded.

“Who’s this?” Naruto asked, turning from his friends to his sensei.

“This is Asuma, one of the graduating class's jonin sensei,” Iruka responded with a relaxed but exhausted breath. “And son of the Hokage.”

Asuma waved to the boy. It was strange to see him exude any level of kindness through his blood covered hands. “Hello,” he said calmly.

“He’s with us,” Sakura added. “He let us know you were missing.”

“Oh man,” Naruto panted. “Mizuki tricked me into stealing the scroll. He said I’d graduate if I got it…” The group looked around while Iruka nodded in agreement.

“It’s all true,” Iruka commented. "He revealed he was working for Orochimaru to obtain the scroll and re-" He hesitated as Sakura helped him lean up more. 

Naruto turned back to Asuma. “Did you kill him, sensei?”

“No,” Asuma’s response was quick. “We’ll take him to the integration division. He’s a traitor. And now, we need to know everything he knows. It’ll be hard to swallow any cyanide without a lower half to his face.” Asuma chuckled as if he just made a joke. Calm as can be, he simply lit up another cigarette before lifting Iruka onto his back. “You aren’t too hurt to be moved are you, Iruka?”

“No,” Iruka coughed. “I’d rather you take me directly to a hospital.’ He tried to laugh a little as well, but it clearly hurt him. “And then I’m gonna need you to put in word with the Lord Hokage. I want a full summer off.” He turned to the children and nodded. “Right after I assign teams.”

Naruto looked up to Iruka. His sensei was going to make it? Mizuki was defeated and everything was okay? “Naruto,” Iruka said kindly. “I meant to save your life tonight, but instead you saved mine. Thank you.” He looked at Sakura and Hinata before resting on Asuma’s shoulder. “And all of you as well. Thank you.”

“You can make it up to me by doing a favor for my father,” Asuma replied. “In exchange for carrying you and all.” He laughed again.

“Oh that’s right,” Iruka replied. “Lord Third was miffed with me.” He turned to the Uzumaki boy. “Naruto, as an instructor of the Hidden Leaf, I cannot in good conscience fail you on your efforts here tonight. You graduate.”

Naruto froze. "What? I… I get to go on with everyone else?”

“Yes,” Iruka nodded. “You pass.”

Naruto exhaled a massive sigh and Sakura pulled him in and squeezed him tightly. “Yes!” She cried. “Naruto Uzumaki: Shinobi of the Leaf.”

Naruto leaned against her. She was holding him too tightly, but he was jumping for joy himself. And he was alive.

Hinata smiled at him a few feet away as they began to travel back toward the Leaf. ‘C-congratulations Naruto. It is easy to forget a v-viciously maimed man is not t-twenty feet away.”

Hinata’s unexpectedly dark and deadpan… humor? It made the group turn to her as she turned beet red. Asuma was the first to react, with a hearty belly laugh. “I like her!”

Team placement was upon the graduating class, and while Iruka might have put the teams together, Sakura groaned to see Suzume sensei was going to be filling in as the one to call them out. The graduates were gathered in the training yard as a row of ten sensei were lining up near the sparring area. It seemed Teams One and Two would be long distance espionage and infiltration teams, Teams Three through Six would be paper ninja squads, and Teams Seven through Ten would be combat centered squads. Sakura had glossed over the events of the graduation night in the woods with her mother, but they had only made it clearer in her mind. She wanted to be on a combat team.

She sat with Hinata and discussed delightfully trivial matters, before Naruto parted from Shikamaru and Choji and made his way over. “I wanted to thank you again for that night in the woods, you know. If it wasn’t for you guys who knows what would have happened.”

Hinata bowed politely but Sakura just shrugged. “All we really did was bring Asuma sensei to you. He did the rest.” The trio looked over to him. It seemed whoever landed on Team Ten would have him as a sensei. “Too bad, he already told us he didn’t get any of us assigned to him. I wouldn’t have minded him for a sensei.” Sakura took Naruto and Hinata each by a hand. “Let’s all agree that no matter what teams we end up on, we will always be friends.”

Hinata squeezed her friend's hand. “F-friendships can often end after the academy. In all likelihood we will be split up, but I will never forget the bond we have made.”

“Er, actually,” Naruto began. “You two are my friends, and have stood by me for so long. I’m setting a new goal for myself. No more secrets between me and my best friends. There…” He trailed off nervously. “There is something you should know about me.”

Sakura blinked, looked at Hinata, and laughed. “Naruto, we know.”

Naruto stumbled back. “I umm,” He looked at the girl’s smiling faces. “No, I really think you don’t.”

Sakura held up all but one finger and made an inquisitive expression.

“Oh,” Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess you do. And you don’t care?”

The girls giggled. “No,” Sakura replied. “Like I said, you're a village hero. I kinda figured it out, but Hinata-”

“Hinata had similar suspicions,” the Hyuuga replied. “Speak up more, that’s my goal for myself.” She smiled at Naruto. “I’ll keep your secret, and support whoever you choose to tell.” She turned to Sakura. “What about you Sakura? What’s your goal for after graduation?”

Sakura looked at Hinata wide eyed before snorting and breathing a little laugh. She could get used to this. “I’m not sure yet.” She raised her eyebrows. “But it’ll be interesting to find out.” Before she could finish her thoughts, Suzume sensei started ringing that annoying cowbell of hers to call the classes attention. “Come on,” Sakura gestured to her friends. “They are announcing teams!”

Sakura gathered up with the other graduates as Suzume rattled through the rookies for Team One. An older kunoichi stepped forward as their sensei. Sakura silently thanked the kami when she wasn’t placed on Team Two either. A deep shadow operation team would suck. As Suzume sensei began calling the teams for the paper divisions, Sakura crossed her fingers. “Come on,” she whispered. “Not me.” Finally, as Suzume sensei called out Team Six, and Sakura still had not been assigned, the Senju jumped in place and made a thrilled little noise. ‘I’m on a combat team!’

Suzume called Team Seven, to be instructed in the art of direct combat by Kakashi Hatake. He was surprisingly on time for once, and waved quickly toward the students. “Yo.”

“Team Seven,” Suzume announced, “will be Sasuke Uchiha, Ino Yamanaka-”

Ino began cheering. “Yahoo! I thought I’d be stuck Ino-Shika-Cho for life!” She raised her hands to the air, “Thank you Iruka sensei!” Ino was clearly overjoyed, but Sasuke just looked annoyed by the development.

Suzume sensei loudly cleared her throat. “And Naruto Uzumaki.”

Sakura looked at Naruto quickly. ‘Not his ideal team.’

Naruto just smiled at her and gave a thumbs up. "I’m ready. Team Seven, here comes Naruto Uzumaki!”

“And now Team Eight,” Suzume announced. “Kiba Inuzuka.”

“Yahoo,” the boy said dryly, getting a few laughs. Sakura giggled herself. Did he have a little puppy with him now?

“Hinata Hyuuga,” Suzume said calmly. Hinata froze up a bit before smiling. This was it.

“And Sakura Senju,” Suzume finished.

Sakrua’s mouth fell open as she looked back at Hinata. ‘We’re together?’ Both girls beamed, but avoided creating the scene Ino did.

“To be instructed in support oriented combat by Kurenai Yuuhi,” Suzume declared.

A beautiful young woman stepped forward, and brushed back some of her dark hair. "Hello,” she said confidently. “Welcome to Team Eight.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 14: Old Growth and New Blooms

“Mama,” Sakura dashed through her front door. “Mama, I got my team assigned!” After team assignments were over, Sakura had immediately rushed home to tell her mother. It was everything Sakura could have hoped for, a combat team, a cool sensei, and one of her friends.

“That’s so exciting sweetie,” Mebuki emerged from the other room ready, and a little nervous, to hear about her daughter’s assignments.

“I’m on Team Eight with Kiba Inuzuka and Hinata,” Sakura said happily.

“Oh,” Mebuki smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. If Sakura was on a team with Hinata then she was surely on a combat team after all. Mebuki knew it was what Sakura wanted, but for her it was going to be the source of all new worries. “I’m…” Mebuki watched Sakura’s overjoyed face. “I’m happy you’re on a team with one of your friends. Did you meet your sensei?”

Sakura nodded eagerly. “Kurenai sensei. She’s so cool! She didn’t seem anything like the other sensei. All the others were in their uniforms and Kurenai sensei had her hair done up and this red and white dress. She looked like a model!” Sakura giggled. Ninja that work in infiltration always work to pass as ordinary civilians, but Kurenai was a combat squad leader. She must just dress that way because she wants to.

“Your sensei is a woman?” Mebuki asked. She knew she shouldn’t be too surprised, but it always seemed there were more shinobi than kunoichi. “I bet she is going to be very inspiring to you.”

“The team is having its first team meeting tomorrow. Proper introductions and hearing about what we are going to learn and our missions and all that!” Sakura shook her fists in excitement. “I can’t wait!”

“Do you know your other teammate very well?” Mebuki was glad it wasn’t that Sasuke boy her daughter seemed to have problems with. Doubly so when she considered how brutal their spar got.

“Who, Kiba?” Sakura paused. “Oh yeah, he is that boy I pepper sprayed, remember?” Mebuki frowned but Sakura just laughed dismissively. “We aren’t super close but we get along well. I’m sure we will get to know each other better.”

“Well that’s good,” Mebuki tilted her head. ‘I guess with all the fighting they do, most don’t turn into grudge matches.’ Mebuki pointed her finger with another thought. “Your friend Naruto, what happened to him?”

Sakura looked away for a moment. “He is on Team Seven under Kakashi Hatake. Sasuke is on that team too. They get along even worse than Sasuke and I do.” Sakura fixed herself to meet her mothers eyes again. “But he seems ready for it. To be honest I think he is just happy to graduate.”

Mebuki nodded. “I suppose if I was in his place I’d be happy too.” She watched Sakura for a moment. Her civilian-raised daughter had graduated from the Leaf’s ninja academy, and now had her genin team. “Oh come here and give me a hug,” Mebuki trotted over and embraced her daughter. “Honey, I’m so proud of you. I know dad would be too.”

Sakura was early to her team meeting, but as she made her way there, she heard Kurenai sensei already talking to her other teammates. Sakura rushed up the stairs to the rooftop of the apartment building they were meeting on, but to her relief the group was only making small talk.

“Hello Sakura,” Kurenai said warmly. “Would you like some dango?”

Sakura blinked with surprise. ‘Kurenai sensei made snacks?’ Sakura nodded. “Oh! Yes, thank you sensei… Did you make these?”

Kurenai laughed as she presented the dango to her new student. “No no, I just bought them. I’m not much of a cook.”

Sakura took the treat carefully, and sat beside Hinata. “I’m not really either, sensei.”

“We were all just talking about the ninja academy.” Kurenai smiled as she set the dango beside her but in free reach of everyone. “Kunoichi classes are mandatory now, I understand.” Sakura nodded. “They weren’t in my generation.” Kurenai added. “I’m afraid on this team you won’t be using much of what you learned in them.”

Any reservations Sakura might have had about Kurenai sensei were immediately removed from her mind.

“Sensei,” Kiba began. “Since we are all here now, I had to ask you something.” Kurenai turned to Kiba and he continued. “Suzume sensei mentioned we were going to learn ‘support oriented’ combat… what does that mean?”

“It means bringing supplementary skills like sensory jutsu and genjutsu to the frontline.” Kurenai rose from her position. “A lot of combat oriented ninja lack these skills, so I’m going to educate you all on how to marry those skills with offense, and bring them to your teams after you all become chunin. Actually…” Kurenai reached into her bag. “I made notes on all of you from your dossiers and I have subjects I want to train you all in.” Kurenai remembered herself. “Oh, but first, let us introduce ourselves properly.” She looked over her trio of students. “I’ll start since I’m new. I am Kurenai Yuuhi. I was promoted to full jonin about a year and a half ago, but served as a special jonin focused in genjutsu since I was nineteen. And I’ve never trained a genin squad before so I’m very excited about this assignment from Lord Hokage.”

“Right on,” Kiba responded eagerly. “I’m Kiba Inuzuka. My mom is the head of my clan so my main goal is to be promoted to jonin one day. And this little guy is Akamaru.” Kiba gestured to the little white dog resting beside him. “He is my ninja hound now that I’ve graduated, so we can kind of think of him as the fifth member of our team.”

Sakura smiled. She liked dogs. Having a well trained ninja hound on her team was icing on the cake.

“A-and I,” Hinata paused briefly. Speaking unprompted was bringing up old nerves in front of her new sensei. “I am Hinata Hyuuga. My father is also the leader of my clan. My goal is to be a strong and capable kunoichi. It’s… It is nice to be assigned with everybody.”

Sakura nodded as she watched her friend speak. She realized she watched a little too long after Hinata was done, and caught herself being looked at in turn. “Oh right, Sakura here. Sakura Senju. My mother is civilian but my father gave his life to protect us when I was a baby. That inspired me to become a ninja too.”

Kurenai smiled. “My father was a source of inspiration to me as well. My family is civilian so my father was the first to become a ninja, and I sort of… followed in his footsteps I suppose. I bet your dad is looking down on you right now, Sakura.” 

Sakura shifted. It sounded like she and Kurenai sensei had a bit in common. She liked that. All her sensei at the academy were from career ninja families even if they were smaller ones. Kurenai and her were cut from the same cloth.

Kureani clasped her hands. “We have a good mixture of clans and civilian born ninja on this team. That’s fun!”

“Thank you sensei,” Hinata chimed.

Sakura giggled, she wasn’t sure why Hinata thanked Kurenai for that, but it was fun to see her be more social.

“I wanted…” Kurenai brought her notes back out. “To train you all as a unit in some areas… and individually in others. But I need your help to decide how to do that. I’ve chosen a way to train you all as a squad and something focused on each of your talents that I’ve noted. But now I want you three to come up with one thing you want to learn as a group, and one thing for each of you personally. Basically, I’m asking how I can help you as your new sensei.”

“What areas have you already decided to teach us in, ma’am?” Sakura asked.

“I’m glad you asked, Sakura.” Kureani replied. “Genjutsu detection and release is the group activity to begin with. Being caught in an enemy genjutsu can spell instant disaster for your entire unit. Not only can you save yourself a lot of trouble with a quick response to it, you can save your allies as well.”

Sakura smirked. She excelled at that.

“And what about individually sensei?” Kiba added in.

“Kiba,” Kurenai smiled, “I hear you prefer a direct fight. I have an acrobatic taijutsu style. I'd like to show you some of my forms to add to your own Inuzuka style.” Kiba smirked at that and Kurenai turned to Hinata. “For you Hinata, your Byakugan is your greatest asset. I can’t teach you the Gentle Fist, but I can help familiarize you with the chakra nervous system and qualities of chakra. With that you could use your Byakugan to detect things like an opponent's chakra natures or even how they mold their jutsu, and provide instant on-the-spot intel.”

Hinata nodded. “Yes ma’am.”

“And Sakura,” Kurenai turned to her Senju student with a glimmer in her eye. “I see you proved to be naturally proficient in genjutsu, but the academy education stops before you actively cast any. I’d like to teach you how to perform genjutsu.”

Sakura’s eyes lit up. A chance to learn jutsu beyond the academy three? She’d take that all day long. “I’d like that very much sensei, thank you!”

Kurenai looked over her group. “Now let’s think about what you three want to learn for yourselves.”

Naruto cracked his knuckles in frustration. This wasn’t at all like fighting Mizuki. Naruto had confronted Kakashi with ten clones, and without him even closing his book he’d destroyed all but two of them. Naruto hadn’t even come close to touching one of Kakashi’s two bells. ‘This is crazy, whoever doesn’t get a bell gets sent back to the academy?’ Naruto readied to form more shadow clones. ‘Well it won’t be me.’ This must’ve been why Kakashi had told them not to eat breakfast, then showed up hours late. Get them frustrated because frustrated opponents make mistakes. Sasuke and Ino might have ran off into the woods and readied an ambush, but Naruto didn’t need to be a match for Kakashi, he just had to get a bell. Being the odd one out didn’t make him a weak link. “Shadow Clone Jutsu!” Naruto shouted.

Kakashi scoffed as he turned a page in his novel. He was just getting to a spicy scene involving the busty heroine. He glanced up in a response to Naruto’s jutsu. ‘My,’ he thought boredly, ‘he can make a lot of them.’

“Ninja tools,” Kiba suggested, “maybe learning like trick shots, and stuff like that.”

Sakura nodded along. “Why stop at just small arms? Traps too. If your sense of smell and Hinata’s Byakugan can find opponents before they find you-”

“And you learn genjutsu,” Kiba added back eagerly.

“Sakura,” Hinata smiled, “You could lure people right into them.”

“A good trap can turn a fight on its ear for an opponent before they even know they are being engaged.” Sakura looked from Hinata to Kiba. “Are we in agreement then?”

Hinata eagerly nodded her head. Kiba gave an energetic “yeah!”

Sakura turned back to Kurenai sensei, who watched them with a relaxed and satisfied smile. Sakura seemed to be emerging as their leader. “Tools and traps sensei. Could that be our other group training?”

Kurenai fixed herself forward. “We can go over traps. As is, this squad works well for both tracking and disorienting enemies, so traps fit nicely into those skill sets.” She smirked. “You three made a good decision.” She scribbled some things down and before she looked up, asked her next question. “And what would each of you like individual instruction in?”

Ino searched desperately for Sasuke. He wasn’t just cute, he was top rookie, and no matter what anyone said it was earned. If she could just find him and team up, maybe they could get the bells. From the lack of yelling or the noise of an angry mob coming back from the clearing, Naruto had been put down. That meant she needed to group up with Sasuke even faster now, lest Kakashi find them first. Ino crashed through the woods with abandon, lacking subtlety. She considered simply calling for Sasuke. ‘If we can team up and distract him, I can just mind transfer that smug bastard and have him hand the damn bells over.’

“Hello Ino.” Kakashi called out to her from a tree branch. “You’re pretty loud.”

Ino jumped back with a yell but managed to draw a kunai as she leapt back. She gritted her teeth in the face of Kakashi’s cocky glare. ‘To think I’m trying to earn this guy as a sensei,’ she thought. ‘Ah screw it.’ She formed an intricate sign. “Mind Transfer Ju-” She screamed before she could finish calling out the technique.

Kakashi slid down out of the tree. “Demon Illusion,” he said casually. “Hell Viewing Technique.” He wasn’t sure what the Yamanaka girl saw in his genjutsu, but whatever her worst fear was, it evidently caused her to faint. He stared at her body blankly. “Oh well, time to find Sasuke.”

Hinata spoke up first. She was unsure of exactly what she should ask Kurenai sensei to teach her, but she wanted to show everyone that she was taking more initiative.  “Maybe…” She knew this was outside Kurenai’s capacity to teach her. “The Air Palm Jutsu ma’am.”

Kurenai knew the technique well. Hyuuga could create a small shock wave of air and carry the chakra sealing qualities of the Gentle Fist within it. They could guide it right into an opponent's critical chakra points from a distance and temporarily weaken, if not disable, their ability to mold chakra. “Hinata, it’s a powerful technique, and one the Hyuuga guard well. Surely your clansmen would be better suited to teach it to you.”

“But if I,” Hinata shifted in place. “If I learned how to do it on my own, it would surely impress a lot of people. I have seen the technique performed many times. I am not considered ready, but if you helped me with my chakra control, then maybe I could perform a version of it.” Hinata looked at Kurenai, but she still seemed unconvinced. “And it would serve me well to have a mid ranged attack. I rely on getting close to opponents.”

Kurenai tilted her head. “If the Hyuuga would not be offended to see your commoner sensei help you with an advanced Gentle Fist form, I would help you all I could.”

Hinata became firm. “Then as the daughter of Lord Hyuuga, I assure you my clan will see no offense.”

Kurenai nodded. “Very well, I will help you with your clan techniques as I am able.”

“I’m with Hinata,” Kiba added. “I need to focus on training to work in tandem with Akamaru. If you could help with that sensei, I’d appreciate it.”

Kurenai wrote more down on her notepad. “Coordination with a ninja hound. We can do that Kiba, for sure.”

Sakura blinked. They could learn so much unique from Kurenai, but they just wanted more help to learn clan techniques. It must’ve been the benefit of being born into a strong clan. There was already a clear path to become powerful set out for you. Regardless, Sakura enjoyed being a blank slate right now. Kurenai sensei turned to her. “What about you Sakura? What is it you want to learn?”

Sakura didn’t even hesitate. “Elemental ninjutsu.”

Kurenai double checked her notes. “Your natures are… water and earth. Mine is fire, but I can certainly help you learn to transfer your chakra into those mediums.” Kurenai smiled, “And secure your access to some appropriately ranked techniques that use them.”

“Them?” Sakura questioned. “Shouldn’t I learn one nature or the other for now.”

“I was identified as a genjutsu type early, like you.” Kurenai replied. “My sensei encouraged me to focus on it, and my yin chakra, to the expense of my other energies. When it came time I wanted to learn things other than genjutsu, I struggled with getting used to manipulating chakra that wasn’t yin. It might be best for you to focus on separating all your natures now, water and earth, and of course yin and yang. Your chakra control is very good, I think you could do it.”

Sakura’s eyes went a little wide. ‘For so long I had only the academy jutsu to use. Now I could be staring genjutsu, water style, and earth style in the face.’ She couldn’t mess this up.  “I mean… if you think I could learn it all at once sensei, I don’t see why I couldn’t.”

Kurenai laughed, but not meanly. “I’m not sure about learning genjutsu and two different elements all at once. Maybe a technique or two. What we need to focus on is identifying the individual chakra natures and changing their shape and form so you can get the foundation of each style. It can be bitter work without adding advanced techniques.”

Sakura matched her gaze with her new sensei. “Whatever it takes sensei.”

Sasuke caught Kakashi approaching; he’d set up a pretty good ambush for a genin. But no matter how much fire he spit at Kakashi, Sasuke couldn’t tag him. Kakashi merely evaded his attacks and came into close range. Sasuke had at least made him put away his damn book. As Sasuke hooked another kick at Kakashi, which the jonin blocked, he realized all too late the hand signs Kakashi was forming. It was some kind of earth style.

Before Sasuke could fall back, he found himself buried up to his waist in the ground. He struggled to pull himself free, but he was stuck, and thus at Kakashi’s mercy. Sasuke expected a barrage of punches and kicks, that’s what he would have done to an opponent in this predicament. Instead, the ground just sucked him up again and left nothing but Sasuke’s head and neck free.

“It’s been fun Sasuke.” Kakashi waved casually, but his voice lacked any kind of genuineness. “But I have to go.”

‘Damnit,’ Sasuke cursed himself. ‘I’m the top rookie. I refuse to return to the academy.’

Kurenai went over the weekly schedule for Team Eight she’d devised. They would meet five days a week at 8:00 AM and do thirty minutes of warmups, then take a D ranked mission from the Hokage’s office to take them into the afternoon. Afterwards they’d break for lunch, then train into the evening. Since Kiba and Hinata were learning clan techniques, everyone was okay with Sakura having a few more of the individualized training brackets to herself. Sakura couldn’t wait to get started, but Kurenai didn’t have anything else planned for today. Instead she had to file their full itinerary with the Leaf Village Training Corps. Sakura hoped to train with Hinata and Kiba for the afternoon but the Inuzuka excused himself not long after Kurenai sensei left. Sakura rolled her eyes and turned to Hinata. “It seems Team Eight needs to wait until tomorrow,” she laughed. She was more disappointed than actually annoyed.

Hinata giggled. “How about we train some hand to hand on our own today?”

Sakura nodded. “Sounds good. Do you wanna spar at the training ground or… well I guess we really shouldn’t be using the academy training facilities anymore should we?”

Hinata shook her head and smiled. “The training grounds are naturally fine. Please do not rip my skin off.”

Sakura snorted nervously even though she was pretty sure it was a joke. “It’s a deal.”

‘I can’t believe I fell for that stupid snare trap.’ Naruto thought. ‘I should have known he wouldn’t have dropped a bell by mistake.’ Naruto, who’d apparently offended Kakashi the most, now had to spend this whole lecture from the jonin tied to a pole. ‘I hate it here.’

“Sasuke,” Kakashi began. “I’m truly disappointed in you. You believed that just because you are stronger than Naruto and Ino, you should ditch them both. When it came down to it, you weren’t any closer than they were to getting a bell.” Kakashi turned to Ino. “And you, Yamanaka. You were so concerned with teaming up with Sasuke you totally ignored Naruto, who was already fighting me. If you wanted a distraction for the mind transfer of yours, you blew it.” Kakashi rested his hands in his pockets. “And you. Naruto Uzumaki. At least the others made an effort to conceal themselves. You just marched out into the field to fight me. It was very unbecoming of a ninja.”

“What the hell gives,” Naruto shot back. “I thought this was a direct combat squad, ya know? You’re mad I fought you directly?”

Ino wouldn’t dare speak out against Kakashi to his face, but she partially agreed. Naruto’s strategy was foolhardy, but Kakashi had announced himself to her just as openly. ‘He’s a cocky son of a bitch,’ she thought.

Sasuke sat arms folded. Maybe if Ino and Naruto were a little more useful, he would have managed to get a bell in the pandemonium. As it were, they were dead weight. But Sasuke alone wasn’t a match for Kakashi Hatake. ‘There must’ve been something I missed. Some better way I could have gone about things.’ He considered where it all went wrong.

“Look, I feel kind of bad for how pathetic it was.” Kakashi’s voice was laced with disinterest. “If you wanted to take me on fair and square, you could’ve at least had some skill about doing it. Maybe it was the stress of your sensei getting so badly injured right after graduation. None of you had your heads in the game.” Kakashi reopened his book and started striding away. “I’m merciful, so I’ll give you one last try to get the bells after lunch. Try to work as a team this time.”

“What?” Naruto yelled back. “Hey! You’re just gonna leave me tied to this pole?”

“Oh that’s right,” Kakashi said dryly. “You two, Sasuke and umm… Yamanaka girl… don’t feed Naruto. His performance was the most embarrassing and he deserves to be punished.” Before Naruto could bark out another retort, Kakashi body flickered away.

“What the hell does that bastard mean?” Naruto yelled out while futilely trying to free himself from the rope Kakashi tied him up with. “Work as a team? There are only two bells.”

Sasuke blinked. He hated to admit it, but Naruto did make a good point. One of them was going back to the academy no matter what. The test was designed to pit them against each other. Even if two did unite, they would just ostracize the third. That would force them to act against the team anyway. Sasuke considered if Ino and Naruto teamed up to try and take the bells from Kakashi. Even if it was unlikely, he’d be forced to drop at least one of them to ensure they wouldn’t get in his way. ‘There were, after all, only two bells.’ Sasuke lifted his head in realization. “Two visible bells you idiot. We can’t see into Kakashi’s pack, but I bet there is a third bell in there. It’s just a trick to make us compete. In reality we all could pass.”

“There are bells hanging off his belt loop and we can’t even get those.” If Naruto could have folded his arms he would have. “Nobody is getting near his bag.”

Ino was steaming mad. “That gray haired goon can’t even remember my name! I’ll fry him when he gets back and take all he’s got!”

Sasuke scoffed at her vigor. “Don’t be foolish. If I couldn’t beat Kakashi and neither could Naruto, what could you possibly do? None of us can beat him alone.”

“It isn’t like I wanna work with either of you!” Naruto kicked his feet into the air. “You left me the second the test began. Nobody even suggested teaming up with me!”

“I’m suggesting it now, moron.” Sasuke rolled his eyes. These teammates would continue to be useless unless he directed them on how to be used. “When Kakashi comes back, I’ll attack him with fire style and you make a bunch of clones.” He turned to Ino, who was eyeing him intently. “You run off into the woods.”

“Wha-” Ino caught herself stuttering. “Sasuke?”

“Transform into Naruto and then pass yourself off as a clone.” Sasuke sighed. “That jutsu of yours is our best chance but it’s too slow to shoot out blind. At point blank range it won’t matter. Just pretend to be Naruto and then launch it. Once you take control you can pour out Kakashi’s bag and we can get the bell.”

“And what if there isn’t a third bell?” Naruto asked incredulously.

“There will be,” Sasuke scoffed. Honestly, he wasn’t confident about it himself, but it was irrelevant. The strategy saw Ino being the one to secure the bells and she already proved she’d give one to him over Naruto. That was Sasuke’s only real concern. “Now,” Sasuke held out a portion of his food to Naruto. “Eat.”

“What?” Ino snapped. “But Kakashi said we weren’t supposed to feed him.”

“If we are going to do this we are going to need Naruto to make a lot of clones.” Sasuke grumbled and held his food back out to the restrained boy. “So you’re going to need strength. Eat.”

Naruto looked around nervously. He didn’t see Kakashi anywhere. He was so eager to be away from them, he was surely long gone. And Sasuke’s strategy… it might actually work. Naruto leaned toward the food. “Well… I guess.”

It was good that Kakashi reappeared before Naruto took a bite or he would have spit it out. The three genin sputtered in shock and Kakashi raised his voice in what seemed like the first genuine showing of emotion all day. “You defied my orders?” He looked at his stunned pupils and gave them a quick thumbs up. “You pass.”

The trio muttered in all but total unison. "What?”

“You pass.” Kakashi repeated. “You may have defied my orders, but you pass. In the Leaf Village, ninja who can’t follow the rules to complete a mission are scum. But those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum.”

“This…” Sasuke looked his sensei up and down. “This test was designed to pit us against each other.”

“Yes,” Kakashi replied coolly. “And you’re the only genin I’ve been given who haven’t taken the bait thus far. You should all thank Sasuke. He is the reason you’ve all just become my students.”

Sakura returned home a little before dark and praying that her mom had made something good for dinner.

“Hi mom,” Sakura checked in. “Dinner isn’t done yet is it?”

Mebuki called back. “Chicken karaage will be done in about-” Mebuki caught sight of her daughter. “Honey, why do you look scuffed up?”

“I was sparring with Hinata,” Sakura replied. “It seems the more nimble I get, the more precise she becomes. She nailed me good a few times.”

“I see,” Mebuki moved back into the kitchen and returned to her cooking. “Did you learn anything new today?”

“Don’t get hit in the solar plexus.” Sakura called back sarcastically. “Kurenai sensei didn’t teach us anything formally today, but she is going to teach me genjutsu. She’s going to help me separate and form my chakra to prepare for elemental ninjutsu too. Oh and traps.” Sakura smiled. “We are going to be taking a ton of D rank assignments too, so I should have extra money coming in from the commissions.”

“You think your team is going to be pretty good then?” Mebuki called, as Sakura started heading to the bathroom to wash before dinner.

“Oh yeah.” Sakura called back, “It’s gonna be great!”

Naruto slammed his door open and exhaustedly collapsed onto his bed a little past 10:00 PM. Hours and hours of running the same katas while Kakashi took Sasuke off to the side and hyped him. There was already talk of teaching Sasuke some kind of fabulous new lightning technique. Naruto meanwhile barely got a comment on his form when he messed it up in front of Kakashi on purpose. Naruto groaned, same story, different sensei. ‘Welcome to the hell team.’

Chapter Text

Chapter 15: Wisdom Transferred through the Pollen

The first few days of Team Eight had gone well. Warmups were casual, and Kurenai didn’t seem strict about getting there right on time. As for missions, apparently the Yuuhi family were affluent merchants that operated throughout the Land of Fire, so Team Eight’s D rank assignments mostly involved cataloging and moving packages for them. It certainly seemed like nepotism to Sakura considering all the cushy Yuuhi missions seemed to appear along with Kurenai’s squad, but they paid better than they should have and were easy enough. ‘All the more time to train,’ Sakura thought. At first, Sakura thought the Yuuhi themselves were being put out by requesting ninja for jobs they easily could have paid civilian workers for. However, it seemed to make the mercantile family look good to have ninja, even junior genin, running tasks for them. It was a symbol to other merchants of their reach and sway. The fact Kurenai’s own genin were the ones availing themselves of the work was more to do with their sensei taking advantage of her family’s clout chasing.

After the day’s mission Team Eight would break for lunch, and then training began with Kurenai casting genjutsu on them off and on for about an hour. Luckily it wasn’t the stomach turning jutsu Mizuki had used. Rather, Kurenai would use Genjutsu: Vanishing to mask her presence from them. She’d seem to simply fade away, and was capable of hiding herself not just visually, but also disguising her sounds and even her scent. By day three, Kurenai no longer cast the jutsu even half as effectively as she could. Nobody on Team Eight could even perceive her illusions, so Kurenai now intentionally performed the jutsu poorly.

Today, as Kurenai practiced again with them, Sakura caught an inkling of it. She could sense the subtle disruption in her own chakra flow that Kurenai had worked to trick her senses. It wasn't like Mizuki’s, which felt like it had thickened her chakra to mud. It was like a soft numbness, as if some of her chakra was just the tiniest bit fatigued. Her other chakra bent gently around the obstruction like water around a rock in a quiet creek. If Kurenai wasn’t openly casting genjutsu, Sakura might have brushed it off as a simple odd sensation. She fixated on it. “Release!” Nothing. Sakura surged all her chakra, and focused around the point. “Release!” It was too fine a disturbance for her to regulate again. Sakura was left with one option, stop all her chakra again, and expel all the energy in that area. It was a draining effort to dispel genjutsu that way, but now it was more for Sakura to prove to herself the technique could be released at all. “Release!” For a second, Kurenai winked into Sakura’s vision, or at least the majority of her. If Kurenai had made the slightest effort to physically obscure herself as well, Sakura might have not even gotten that much. Her sensei disappeared again.

“Sensei!” Sakura called. “I saw you! Just for an instant!”

Hinata turned to her with a gasp but smiled. She wasn’t allowed to use her Byakugan during genjutsu release training, and without it she still couldn’t perceive even the slightest influence of foreign chakra on her own.

“Really?” Kiba seemed similarly surprised. “I can’t even smell Kurenai sensei and you managed to see her?”

Kurenai revealed herself as she released her technique. “Very good Sakura, how long did I remain in your vision?”

“A second,” Sakura replied. “Maybe a second and a half. Some of your features never came into being, but I certainly saw you.”

Kurenai nodded. “I sensed it with that third release. That was the first time you’d truly resisted. You expelled the entire area of chakra?”

Hinata gasped again. ‘Sakura expelled a whole chakra zone? She doesn’t even look winded.’

“I had too,” Sakura said. “I don’t think I detected the full genjutsu. No other attempts to release it worked. That or your genjutsu is very hard to dispel.”

“Perhaps some of both,” Kurenai said casually. “Senju have large chakra reserves, as do you, even as a half-civilian born. It’s more viable for you than Kiba or Hinata to expel large quantities of your chakra. Don’t rely on that, it’s wasteful. But regardless, sometimes wasting chakra is better than being trapped in an enemy jutsu.”

Sakura nodded as did Hinata and Kiba. If they wanted to release the technique as Sakura had, it would be even harder for them.

“What I’m impressed by is your control.” Kurenai stated. “The Senju are known for their ease of chakra control, as well as their stamina and vitality, but yours seems good even by those standards.”

Sakura wasn’t shy, but she tilted her head down to hide a gushing smile. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“Right then,” Kurenai continued. “I’m going to keep casting the genjutsu on you like that Sakura. Hinata, Kiba, I’ll continue to reduce the effect until you can perceive the disruption in your chakra network. Don’t let Sakura’s progress get to you, she’s a natural born genjutsu type. Talent takes you far, but effort takes you there just as well.”

The trio nodded. Sakura prepared herself. ‘I’ll marry talent with hard work, and produce results to be proud of.’

Sakura locked her blade with Hinata again. Kurenai sensei liked imposing interesting limits to spars. In kunai only combat, Sakura thought she’d have an advantage. To her surprise, Hinata kept up excellently. Hinata rarely trained with weapons, but she knew close quarters combat well enough to make up any difference in skill. Hinata dropped her blade and caught it with her other free hand, making a slash that nearly caught Sakura across the belly. It was only by the genin’s own nimble flexibility that she shrunk away from a nasty cut. Before the pair could clash again, Kiba came careening out of the woods behind them spinning like a corkscrew. Akamaru was not far behind, doing the same. The two dug out twin lines of dirt and mulch behind them, and Kiba cheered and waved his hands while Akamaru yipped beside him happily.

Kurenai sensei followed them calmly, clapping. “Your collaborative Fang Over Fang jutsu is coming along well.”

“Hey Kiba!” Sakura yelled, “That was good!” Akamaru barked in what almost sounded like agreement, and Sakura waved to the pup. “You too, Akamaru!”

Hinata bowed quickly. “Your coordination is improving.”

“We are gonna go a meter further by the end of today,” Kiba called back with a salute. He beckoned to Akamaru as he jogged back into the woods and yelled back to the girls. “Watch me!”

Sakura walked over to take two waters from her bag, and threw one quickly to Hinata. “Break quick?” She asked. “I’m out of breath.”

Hinata nodded. “That’s fine.”

A tree shook in the distance and the girls turned their heads, but heard Kiba laughing from beyond the tree line.

“You think he can understand Akamaru well?” Sakura asked.

“Oh yes,” Hinata replied. “Ninja hounds are intelligent. I’m sure he communicates to Kiba in his own way.”

“All organisms possess chakra,” Sakura reminded herself. “Higher chakra levels in animals seems to correlate to their intellect. Summoning contract animals usually speak in a human tongue though.”

“Perhaps the Inuzuka speak dog,” Hinata giggled.

“That… actually makes sense,” Sakura replied. “Enemies would struggle to understand any direction they give each other.”

Hinata nodded. “I am sure not all animals have complex language. Some dogs are just that. But Akamaru seems more human than canine, at least where his mind is concerned.”

“Hm,” Sakura mused her thoughts out loud. “Animals that lack large reserves of chakra don’t possess the higher intelligence required for speech and culture. It makes me wonder about human evolution. That even those with little chakra possess a comparatively keen mind.”

“There is much about the origins and purpose of chakra that is still a mystery, even to we Hyuuga who can perceive it with the Byakugan. The warring states period saw most knowledge lost to history.” Hinata sighed. “But it is as natural to living things as eating and breathing. Even plants have chakra.”

Sakura looked back toward the woods wordlessly. ‘Jutsu that can create life. Water and earth seems like it should just be mud. There must be more to wood style than a simple combining of both elements. Something to account for the formation of complex eukaryotic cells.’

Hinata held up her blade after finishing another drink of water. “Are you ready to go again?”

Sakura blinked out of her daydreams. “Oh, yes.” She held up her own kunai. “Come at me.”

Hinata analyzed a collection of medical diagrams as Kurenai sat beside her. “The chakra nervous system is exceedingly complex,” her sensei stated. “You were gifted with the ability to perceive it.” Kurenai presented a series of five sealed boxes. “In these cases rests pieces of chakra paper activated by different types of elemental natures.”

Hinata turned slowly and nervously expressed her doubts about being tested this way. “Th-that won’t work sensei. I will see if the paper is burned or wet when I look at it through the box.”

“I don’t want you to look into the box.” Kurenai was calm and warm. “Just try and perceive any residual energy around it.”

Hinata did so. “I can tell there is something chakra based inside the boxes but…”

“Resist the temptation to look inside,” Kurenai instructed.

It was difficult for Hinata to do so, but she managed. It was like asking someone to identify something's color with their eyes closed. “There is no visible difference in the chakras quality. I can’t determine anything without looking deeper.”

“Because you don’t know what differences to look for yet.” Kurenai pointed back to the diagram. “Fire chakra, what are the qualities of fire?”

“It is a burning, consuming element,” Hinata responded. “But fire is also light and warmth.”

“I have a fire style chakra,” Kurenai said. “Look at my chakra, then back at the boxes.”

“I,” Hinata looked at Kurenai with penetrative eyes. “Your chakra seems strong, it’s energetic and fast moving.” She looked back at the boxes. “These chakras are dulled. The energy has been separated from the source for a long time.”

“Which box do you think contains fire?” Kurenai asked.

“I… I do not know sensei. There is no way to…” Hinata panned her eyes across the boxes.

“Guess,” Kurenai said casually.

“What?” Hinata's eyes widened. ‘Didn’t that defeat the purpose?’ She looked the boxes over, before choosing the fourth mostly at random. “This one.”

“I see,” Kurenai nodded. “Hinata that box contained lightning.” Kurenai lifted the first box gently. “Why didn’t you choose this box?”

"Was that one fire?" Hinata shook her head. Her sensei didn’t seem accusatory. “I… that one seemed the densest, the chakra coming off the box was thicker. It might have just been whoever activated the paper but…” Hinata shrugged.

‘Seemed not looked.’ Kurenai smiled. “Hinata, this first box contained Earth. Earth is solid. Its chakra is known to be stable but slower to rouse than the other natures. When it does, it is through determination.” Kurenai smiled. “You may have not detected fire, but in your effort to do, so you unknowingly detected earth.”

Hinata backed away. “I did not do anything with intention. I didn’t know that box was earth.”

“It has nothing to do with intention,” Kurenai replied. “It’s intuition. Chakra circulates through our body like blood and oxygen. You can no more intend to perceive it with the Byakugan than I can intend to see you when I look at you with my eyes. Just like I can’t intend not to hear the birds singing in the tree to our left, or feel the wind on my face. But I can’t see those birds or see the air.”

“I do not understand sensei.” Hinata looked up at her sensei, inquisitive.

“The Byakugan may use your eyes just as your vision does, but its detection of chakra is more of a unique sense than an extension of your sight. Just like taste and smell are related, the Byakugan is linked to sight, but they aren’t perfectly the same.” Kurenai patted Hinata. “Stop merely trying to see the chakra, because that is only half of what you can do. Perceive it.”

Hinata was surprised. Kurenai sensei certainly didn’t think like a Hyuuga. Her family had drilled into her the notion of sharpening her focus and eyes. But sometimes focus could blind you to the background. Hinata looked back at the three remaining boxes. Water, Wind, and Fire. Chakra seemed to be escaping the boxes at a similar rate, but one almost seemed more… ‘eager?’ Could Hinata say? ‘Was that more a quality of wind or fire… or water?’ At least it was something to go off of for now. In the human body, chakra would be even harder to recognize to this level. And more than that, it would be diluted. To Hinata, she thought this would be a test of simple sensory awareness, but it was almost more like an equation. Hinata sat for a while in consideration. Her next guess would be made with insight.

Kurenai stood before Sakura, arms folded, but chakra already prepared to cast genjutsu at a moment's notice. “If you feel any effect that is good, but don’t try to release my genjutsu, I’m simply demonstrating it.”

Sakura nodded. “Okay, I’m ready.”

Kurenai unfolded her arms and began walking to the side. Suddenly it was like Kurenai’s body was made of fluid. Her body bent in the light as if Sakura was looking at Kurenai through water. Kurenai dulled, as though a pinkish filter had been placed over her. The strangest thing was that when a second Kurenai stepped out of the original, it looked almost natural. The two turned to Sakura in unison but spoke with one voice. “Hit us both with a shuriken.” 

Sakura drew a weapon to each hand. One was a genjutsu mirage, but they both looked unreal. Unable to feel the presence of genjutsu on her body, she prepared to throw the shuriken.  This wasn't like detecting a clone, where the more organic one was always the true user. The shuriken each struck their targets and burst in a cloud of floral-pink vapor and petals. The disappeared specters filled up much of Sakura's vision with their fumes. It smelled like perfume.

“Genjutsu: Madder Mist.” Kurenai had appeared behind Sakura and caused her to jump.

“Then… neither was really you?” Sakura looked back. Kurenai must’ve released the genjutsu without her noticing, because all Sakura could see was two shuriken dug into the dirt.

“No, I had started moving behind you long before the split.” Kurenai smiled. “We aren’t learning Madder Mist yet, rather the Vanishing genjutsu I used to sneak up on you.”

Sakura nodded. Madder Mist seemed more exciting, but Sakura had long learned that a strong foundation in a few simple core jutsu could put one on the path to a well developed fighting style. One that was open for when the bigger moves came. “Interlaying multiple genjutsu on top of eachother, distracting me with one while working an even subtler one beneath it.”

“And all by disrupting chakra in different points of the body.” Kurenai sensei cocked her head. “I prefer to use the Vanishing technique liberally, it is an excellent opening technique for a novice genjutsu user. Hiding is the simplest form of deception.”

Sakura ran through a series of signs she was used to watching Kurenai perform. “These are the hand signs?”

Kurenai smiled at that. “They are.” She stood up straight. “Send your chakra to me, and integrate it into mine. I won’t try to resist or release the effect you produce, whatever it is.”

Right now Sakura just had to disrupt the flow of her sensei’s chakra. Learning exactly how to disrupt it to achieve the desired effect could come later. “Genjutsu,” she called out. “Vanishing.”

Kurenai felt her chakra stop and start almost overtly. Sakura was a clear novice. Even a civilian would probably realize something wrong was happening to them if they felt her do it to them. Kurenai watched Sakura intently, but the girl neither vanished nor masked herself to any of Kurenai’s senses. Sakura had integrated her chakra into Kurenai’s successfully though. Kurenai clapped her hands once and released the foreign chakra. “Okay, good.” Kurenai smirked in satisfaction. “Nothing happened yet, but I felt your chakra within mine. Now, let's start learning what to do once it’s there. If you can perfect this technique, it should be all the opening you need to get close and hit them with that concentrated chakra you use to tear away flesh.”

Sakura’s mouth fell open a little. This seemed like a diversionary jutsu. One that worked with the supplemental and defensive techniques they were meant to learn on Team Eight. But Kurenai was also preparing her to fight.

“If you follow the jutsu up by aiming your technique around a more vulnerable extremity than the limbs- the face or neck; it could permanently disfigure or kill.” Kurenai mimed the hand signs again, reminding Sakura to follow along. “Let’s try again.”

Sakura practically skipped home, today had been a great day. It sounded like Hinata and Kiba were moving along at a good rate in their training, and Kurenai had said that Sakura could be casting simple but passable genjutsu within a month. It would only get easier for her if she could learn to separate her water, earth, yin, and yang chakras. Then, whenever she performed genjutsu she could target an opponent with just her yin. It would make the jutsu both easier to cast and more effective. ‘It’s so wonderful to have a sensei,’ Sakura thought. ‘A real one who seems focused on me and is actually teaching me techniques I’m good at and want to learn.’ It had been a little over a week since she’d seen any graduates who weren’t on her team. She wanted to at least touch base with Naruto, but it seemed any time she went to his apartment in the evening, he wasn’t there. ‘I should leave a note next time,’ She told herself. Sakura hurried home to make dinner time. ‘And I have to thank mama for watering my garden every evening while I’m training.’ Sakura rushed into her house, and prepared a quick shower before dinner. Life was good right now, but she couldn’t wait to see where it took her.

Chapter Text

Chapter 16: Lilac Memories of a Different Time and Place

Watching Hinata continue to struggle with sensor training, Kurenai did all she could to encourage her student regardless. She’d hoped one equipped with the Byakugan would have an advantage when it came to learning the arts, but now it seemed to actually be a liability. Hinata had been so rigidly trained in the way of the Hyuuga, and was so unsure of herself, that anything outside her comfort zone made her doubt her capacity.

“Hinata, it’s okay that you aren’t getting this all right away.” Kurenai bent down a little to look her student in the eye. “Nobody is a natural at this, I promise. You have to stop doubting your intuitions.”

“Compared to Sakura and Kiba, I just feel as though I h-have been slower to progress sensei.” Hinata shrunk into her jacket. “I am not sure I will ever get this right.”

“See, there it is again.” Kurenai had treaded an odd line between stern and gentle. “It’s fine to acknowledge Kiba and Sakura. It’s fine to realize that you are taking this a little slow. It’s not fine to think you’ll never be able to do anything right.” Hinata said nothing. Kurenai changed her approach. “Hinata, what happens when you fail?”

Hinata twiddled her fingers trying not to give the question much mind. “You don’t succeed, ma’am.”

“Ha,” Kurenai said jokingly. “Very funny… I mean what happens when you fail. How does it make you feel?”

“Like- Like I let people down.” Hinata somehow sunk lower into her jacket. “Like everyone can see my weakness. I’m at fault for my failures.”

“Do you feel like I’m standing here judging you?” Kurenai asked. Hinata shook her head wordlessly. “Because I’m not. Sakura and Kiba, do you think they judge you?” Hinata shook her head again. “The only people who are seeing you now are Team Eight. Forget anyone back at the academy, hell anyone back home. With Team Eight you are safe, and we are the only ones here.”

After a particularly long day of inventory for the Yuuhi family, Sakura decided to accompany Kurenai to drop off the mission reports instead of running off to lunch. Truthfully, Sakura was curious to run into some of the other genin teams, but time alone to talk with Kurenai sensei about non ninja business was interesting too.

As they waited in line to submit their forms to one of the Hokage’s secretaries, Asuma sensei entered the room with Shikamaru Nara.

“Hey Shikamaru! Asuma sensei!” Sakura called. “Long time no see!”

“Hey Sakura,” Shikamaru walked up to them casually, passing by the line behind them. He waved nonchalantly at Kurenai. He wasn't really familiar with her.

“Hi Sakura,” Asuma followed his student, brushing off another jonin’s annoyed looking stare with a gesture indicating he’d return to the back of the line soon. He nodded his head toward Kurenai. “Kurenai.”

“Hello Asuma,” Kurenai put on a smile. “How have you been?”

“Been good, been good,” Asuma replied slowly. “Training the genin and all that…” He caught himself. “Er, you?”

“Same,” Kurenai nodded. “Oh,” She turned her head back with relief. “Looks like we are up.” Kurenai turned the mission report in quietly and waited as they were looked over.

“Oh Shikamaru,” Sakura began. “I wanted to ask, have you seen Naruto? I haven’t seen him since we graduated.”

“Nahh,” Shikamaru rolled his neck. “Choji and I even stopped by his place the one time, but the guy wasn’t home.”

“No way,” Sakura said a little louder than a whisper. “So strange, the same thing has been happening to me. I went three times already.”

“Kakashi must be running his team ragged.” Asuma joked. “You know this is his first genin squad. He's rejected training three teams the day after he met them so far.”

“Is he allowed to do that, sensei?” Shikamaru asked in disbelief.

“Technically,” Asuma replied. “But nobody likes that he’s done that. Now that he has decided to keep them, I hear he has been training the Uchiha from morning to night.”

Sakura furrowed her brows. “That doesn’t explain why Naruto has been gone too then.”

“Ahhh he must be in Team Seven’s training yard with them though.” Asuma scratched his chin. It was a little odd.

Kurenai re-entered the conversation. “Sakura, our mission reports are handed in, are you ready to go?”

“Oh,” Sakura turned from Kurenai back to Asuma and Shikamaru. “That’s right, our mission ran long today, we need to get all our training in before evening comes around.” She waved. “I’ll see you around Shikamaru, I’m glad I ran into you.”

He nodded toward her. “Likewise.”

Kurenai smiled at the Nara boy sincerely. “It was nice meeting you.” With a simple nod toward Asuma, she started walking out the door. Sakura hurried to follow.

As soon as they got outside, Sakura turned to her instructor. “Kurenai sensei, do you and Asuma sensei not like each other?”

Kurenai snorted. “No not that. Sometimes we like each other a little too much... Asuma and I graduated the same year, and we were put on a genin squad together. We…” Kurenai tilted her head back and forth. She couldn’t believe she was talking to one of her students about this. “Let’s just say there was an attraction.”

“You… dated… someone on your team.” Sakura laughed as she covered her hand with her mouth. “Kurenai sensei, that's messy.”

Kurenai rolled her eyes. “Oh I know… We’ve been off and on for the last, oh, close to fifteen years? Recently we have mostly been off though.”

Sakura frowned. “Oh… sorry for bringing it up then sensei.”

Kurenai dismissed her with a laugh. “It’s just girl talk. Asuma and I do get along, but our relationship has always felt very professional, even as a couple. I guess that comes with being a ninja. It makes separating moments of passion from everything else a little… awkward. We never could get it right, and now I guess we are going to take a break until we ever do.”

“Do you still love him, sensei?” Sakura wouldn’t feel comfortable talking like this with most of the genin in the Leaf let alone her jonin commander, but Kurenai sensei almost felt like a big sister.

Kurenai thought for a moment. “Somewhere in there, yes. But… if we don’t work, we don’t work. Love is tricky, more so when you are serving in active duty I suppose. Asuma has been with a few other women in his life, and I’ve entertained a few other men, but we always found our way back to one another. I don’t think that when we decided to give it a rest last time, either of us predicted we’d be without each other's company for so long. I think it’s starting to get to us both in a way.”

“If you wanna be with him, you should tell him.” Sakura turned ahead to look down the busy road ahead of them. “My mother once told me that when a girl falls in love, her heart doesn’t change easily. I bet it’s the same for boys too!”

“Hmm,” Kurenai mused aloud. “That may be true, but as you get older, I think you’ll find feelings can work a little differently for men and women compared to boys and girls. Sometimes the last thing you need is to overcomplicate what you have, even when a part of you wants to. We are both happy and amicable, but right now… well we both agreed to keep our distance.”

Sakura frowned. Her mother would talk sometimes about her time with Sakura’s father, but Sakura never got to witness what love actually looked like. Judging by Kurenai sensei’s description, it seemed needlessly complicated. If there was really that much complexity and emotion to something that seemed simple, Sakura thought she best avoid it for now.

Naruto was so weary he nearly missed the note attached to his front door. Putting in sixteen hour days, and training alone, was taxing both his body and his mind. Pulling the note down Naruto just prayed it wasn’t some type of bill he was expected to pay now that he had some income. Team Seven’s missions were dog walking and cat rescues for pocket change. Naruto read the note:

Dear Naruto,

Sorry we haven’t caught up recently! I’ve come by a few times but you never seem to be home. Hinata and Shikamaru and Choji and I have all been wondering about you and Team Seven. I bet you are already doing crazy assignments with Kakashi sensei! Maybe even leaving the village? Have fun, and be safe Naruto! Team Eight has been a blast, I’m training in genjutsu and Kurenai sensei is really nice! Hinata is doing good with her sensory training, and Kiba and I have been getting along. You should meet Akamaru! That’s Kiba’s ninja hound, and he likes to give kisses hahaha! Or come by my house one day if you have time. I might be out but mama will let you in, and you can hang out in the living room or my room. Do not go through my drawers! Anyway, Kurenai sensei gives us off on Saturday and either Sunday or Friday. This week we have off on Friday and then it alternates. So drop by any of those times or the evening before. Or, you know, when you can. I’m not sure when Kakashi gives you days off. I know it’s silly, but I feel like we talked today just from me writing this letter haha. That made me smile. I hope I see you soon, Naruto. Like I said, take care and be safe out there! 

Your friend,

Sakura

P.S. If Sasuke says anything smart to you, tell him that you’re with me, and I’m not afraid to rough him up again haha!

Naruto crumbled the letter as he clenched his fist and angrily punched his door. His hand hurt. Naruto immediately felt an overwhelming guilt at having tarnished Sakura’s note, and tried to straighten out the creases. He couldn’t bring himself to tell her that Kakashi didn’t give them days off, or that he had to get up in seven hours to train by himself or do some stupid assignment while Kakashi slipped off to read his porno books. All his sensei even did was push Sasuke to learn the chidori and how to activate his Sharingan. ‘This fucking sucks,’ Naruto thought. His whole life it seemed like he was desperate to be a genin, but now all he wanted was to be chunin and away from Kakashi. And learning next to nothing since the academy meant that might take even longer than the original graduation. Maybe being sent back to the academy would have been a blessing in disguise. He knew even Ino was complaining about her own lack of training nonstop to her father. It almost seemed like after that exam he gave them, Kakashi would have come up with some convoluted way to pass Sasuke no matter what. Naruto didn’t have a sensei, just someone to keep their eye on him and keep him out of trouble. Lost in his head and surprised by his own emotions, Naruto jerked the letter away from him. He’d already crumpled it up, he didn’t need to cry on it now too.

Sakura was eager to get through genjutsu release training today despite normally looking forward to it. Later, Kurenai was going to further train her in separating her chakra natures and Sakura finally felt like she was seeing some real progress. They were still all mixed together, but Sakura had made some good efforts in at least separating out yin. Like a knot, once the first bit was untied, the rest could come easier. And yin of course was the chakra presiding over genjutsu. The sooner Sakura could identify it, the faster she’d advance with the vanishing technique.

Kurenai had Kiba, Hinata, and Sakura line up as usual, but this day her tone was a little off. “We aren’t going to do a standard genjutsu release today,” she began. “Instead, I actually want you to allow the genjutsu to be cast on you.”

Sakura blinked in surprise but didn’t question her sensei’s orders. Rather, she simply waited for her to continue with rapt curiosity.

“I’m going to create three illusions, one for each of you.” Kurenai looked her squad over. “They will appear as enemy combatants. I want you to kill them.”

“Kill them?” Kiba questioned. "They aren’t real."

“They’ll look it.” Kurenai replied. “Look, I don’t want you to be shocked or disturbed when you have to fight to the death one day. But soon we are going to be taking missions outside the village. Not too dangerous at first, but there may be combat against non ninja opponents. And trained nin have been killed by less.” Kurenai’s trio of students looked at her with mixed emotions. “And I want you to be prepared for what that looks like. If someone ever comes at you with lethal intent… you kill them first.”

Sakura wasn’t sure about this. She was even less sure about Hinata. Sakura had not been particularly bothered when she saw Mizuki sensei maimed beyond recognition, but then again, she’d hadn’t done that. And she didn’t really look. To kill someone with her own power. Sakura always imagined that when the time came, she’d just do it. Now faced with the inevitability, it felt slightly unsettling. She’d never gone into… anything really… with the intent to do more than injure.

“Sensei,” Kiba raised his hand but didn’t wait to be addressed to speak. “When did you kill your first man?”

Kurenai brushed her hair back. ‘That's a fair question.’ She smiled, but doing so made her feel a little odd. “When I was a genin, the Third Shinobi World War was already raging. The village did internal chunin exams, but as you can imagine, Lord Third and his advisors promoted ninja as needed.”

Sakura nodded. There was a lot of ways to be promoted without the exams, but she imagined in war time there was an even greater focus on both promotion and combat skill.

Kurenai continued. “For my skill in genjutsu I was promoted and assigned to use my talents to mask a supply line convoy moving rations and armaments to the frontline. My route was well within Land of Fire territory, so it wasn’t considered dangerous, and I didn’t have any issues for months. One day however, we were found and attacked by a group from the Land of Lightning. Actually,” Kurenai clicked her tongue in realization. “I think I remember the date because it was about a month before I turned sixteen…”

Kurenai stared down the Hidden Cloud Kunoichi and her battalion of soldiers. They weren’t ninja, just ordinary men in service to the Land of Lighting. Still, as the six or so men leveled their weapons at her, Kurenai couldn’t help but remember there was nobody at her back. She was the only combatant in the convoy, she had to protect them.

Kurenai clenched her teeth, holding her kunai in a shaking hand that didn’t match her white hot glare. She tilted her head just a little to signal she was speaking to the people behind her while not taking her eyes off the Land of Lightning death squad. “Go,” she began, “as fast as you can, I’ll cover you.”

The men behind her backed away as she ordered, but unsurely. Kurenai was ten years younger than their youngest operator. She wasn’t much more than a child. “Lady Yuuhi,” the captain muttered aloud. It was always a bit of a tease to refer to her as “lady,” but now he meant it with sincerity.

Kurenai called out a firmer order. “Go now! I’ll hold them off!” One of the men whipped the pack animals drawing the caravan and they hurried down the road. The rest of the operators began murmuring and yelling as they rushed along with it, praying for Kurenai’s unlikely safety.

“After them!” The Cloud kunoichi drew her katana and leveraged it forward as she commanded her men. She’d not penetrated so deeply behind Land of Fire lines to be stopped at the first confrontation.

Kurenai performed three quick hand signs and gestured forward. “Demonic Illusion: Tree Bind Death!” She’d put all her will into the technique, and the soldiers struggled as if ensnared, before being totally paralyzed. In their minds, it was as if they had been bound in the trunks of trees that sprouted before their very eyes. Even if they knew it was genjutsu, it didn’t matter. They were soldiers, not ninjas, they wouldn’t have the skill to free themselves. The kunoichi unfortunately reacted much better, perhaps that was how she’d found the caravan in the first place. She slowed and staggered a few paces, then released the technique and drew herself free. The kunoichi shook her head, but smirked. She recognized this jutsu. It was an old technique from the era of the First Hokage, created by Toka Senju to trick enemies into thinking they were fighting Hashirama himself. But the First Hokage was long gone. Now, it was just the tired out archaic jutsu of some stupid little strumpet from the Leaf.

Kurenai brandished her kunai in the face of the woman’s advance. “Drop your weapon!” Kurenai pointed her blade toward one of the trapped soldiers. “Or I kill them!”

The woman swung her katana with a smirk, and cleaved off one of her own soldiers' heads in a single stroke. “No,” she replied coldly. “I don’t think I will.”

Kurenai gasped. It was stupid to kill an ally, even if you didn’t care what happened to them. ‘Was this purely psychological tactic?’ Kurenai shuddered. “Why would yo-”

“Soft little Leaf nin,” The kunoichi taunted. She was muscular and scared. “You do your hair and your make up for two fucking hours every morning, and use these pretty little floral illusions.” The Cloud kunoichi spit. “You’re not a real warrior, that’s why your geezer Hokage hides you in the back I bet. At least you prettied yourself up for when your escorts run a train on you later. Whore!”

Kurenai took a breath. She didn’t need to exchange words with this person, but she could kick herself later for how silly she’d been. There was one rule when engaging a Land of Lightning shinobi: kill on sight.

“We fought right there on the road for about… maybe five minutes?” Kurenai continued. "She drove at me hard, and was much more skilled in melee combat than me, but I couldn’t let her get past me. It’s challenging to fight someone not only faster than you but also resistant to your best method of attack, but somehow I managed to avoid any serious injuries. I was forced to use subtler illusions to trip her up. So I used genjutsu to disguise some of the shuriken and kunai I threw at her as flower petals. Eventually, she was moving to block the petals, but not all those attacks were real.”

“H-how did you win sensei?” Hinata asked.

“She was chatty from the start,” Kurenai said. “Really wanted to get under my skin and mess up my fighting. Some ninja do that. I didn’t engage in any dialogue, showed no signs she affected me. I focused on one thing: a win condition. Once I realized she preferred to block, and conditioned her to block at nothing, I had it. I made it apparent I was low on kunai, which I was, but I made sure she knew. I had became hesitant to throw anything of real substance at her. So when threw a disguised paper bomb kunai, she blocked it as she should have, but casually. She didn’t detect the bomb at all… and it blew up in her face. Then I took my remaining kunai and slashed the throats of her soldiers.”

Sakura nodded with an odd sense of pride. ‘Damn, Kurenai sensei was hard.’

Kurenai returned to form. “So anyway, today, just kill the illusion I have attack you. I want you to know when you bring it down, it’s going to look real.” Kurenai scanned for her student’s reactions. “Who wants to start?”

“I can sensei,” Kiba raised his hand again. “I’ve already received psych training from my clan.” 

“Very well,” Kurenai nodded, and wordlessly cast her genjutsu.

Sakura was surprised when Kiba suddenly leapt into action, avoiding an attack that was invisible to her with a corkscrewing jump as he zipped off to the side. Kiba jumped again, circling around something quickly, then bounced back into the fray off one foot. He leapt at his target, nails turned to claws, and slashed upwards at something. Staring at the ground, he shook something unseen off his claws and turned back to Kurenai sensei. “Well done Kiba,” she replied. “It was quick and clean.” 

Sakura couldn’t decide if she should clap or not as Kiba stared at his unbloodied hands. ‘It had looked pretty real,’ he thought.

Kurenai turned to her remaining students. “Girls?”

Sakura readied to volunteer herself, assuming Hinata would be unsure about this, but her friend simply nodded and stepped forward. "I can go."

Suddenly Hinata was backpedaling away, but adopting the form of the Gentle Fist. Hinata fell back toward the tree line, then ducked around a bush and dove back out. “Eight Trigrams: Sixteen Palms.” Sakura had seen this move before, Hinata used it to shut down specific chakra points, aiming each of its sixteen strikes at a different location. Sakura had never seen it used like this before. Hinata stuck again and again at the same spot in the air before stopping. Hinata drew her hands back and fell out of her stance before she looked back at Kurenai sensei. “I am finished.”

“It’s hard to replicate the effect with genjutsu when I’ve never seen it done myself, but that many blows to the heart with the Gentle Fist likely is fatal.” Kurenai nodded. “Good job.”

Sakura, again, was a little proud. But she was also surprised. Here was Sakura, with her mixed emotions, and Kiba and Hinata had no problem going for fatal attacks. Sakura knew none of this was real, but there was a different kind of conviction in their eyes. One she’d never seen in them before. She turned back to Kurenai. 

“Ready Sakura?” Her sensei asked.

“I think so,” she replied.

Suddenly a hulking man was upon her. Sakura flipped aside as his spiked club slammed into the ground beside her. She threw two shuriken, which seemed to dig into her assailant’s torso, but he kept coming. Kiba and Hinata used their chakra to leap away and give Sakura room. Sakura threw a third shuriken into her opponent's weapon arm but he was unfazed. ‘This won’t stop unless I kill,” Sakura told herself. She dodged another swing of her attacker's mace, spring-boarding off a tree trunk she landed on and tried to land on him with her kunai drawn. Instead she passed right through and landed on all fours. ‘It is genjutsu afterall,’ she thought. The specter faded away in response to her collision, but reappeared about two meters in front of her. Still crouching, she rolled and tried to hook the back of the illusions knees with one leg while her other moved to his shins to trip him up. Again, she passed right through. ‘Kurenai wants us to go straight for a kill.’ She thought again. ‘Not even bring them down first.’ The figure disappeared a second time, and when it reappeared she gasped in shock. Now the brute stood over her mother as she cowered in fear. Her mother called out to her in desperation. Sakura blinked forward with the body flicker, tackling the vision of her mom away despite knowing it was an illusion. Sakura just didn't want to see what would happen if it got hit. Her mom faded and Sakura turned, chakra ready in each palm. She leapt up and throttled her victim before ripping her hands away, muscle and flesh with it. The figure fell back instantly, making a sickening noise as blood from its ruptured veins oozed into the grass. Sakura, reflexively, tried to shake the imaginary gore from her fingers. Looking down at the scene, it was more gross than actually upsetting. Maybe that was because Sakura knew it wasn’t real, maybe that was because she saw it attack her mom.

Sakura stepped over the body, and in an instant her hands were clean. Kurenai nodded to her. “Well done. Remember we fight not just to protect ourselves but those we love.”

Sakura let go of a breath she didn’t know she was holding. It took her a little longer, but she’d done it. Kurenai sensei was right, she could kill if it meant somebody she loved could live. ‘That wasn’t so bad…”

There was a knock at the door and Sakura rushed out of her room to meet it. ‘Could it be?’ It is!’

“Naruto!” She yelled and pulled her friend into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here! How have you been?”

“Oh… you know…” Naruto smiled. “Okay.”

Sakura scoffed. “Oh yeah I know how that is. On Tuesday both Kiba and Hinata were my opponents in a spar. It was brutal!” She bid Naruto follow her inside with a gesture. “What has Kakashi been teaching you?”

“This and that…” Naruto smiled and put some more energy into his tone. “But hey enough about me, tell me all about genjutsu!”

“Oh genjutsu,” Sakura clasped her hands in excitement and pointed two finger guns at him. “Okay, so I’m not casting any yet but I think I’m close. Releasing isn’t too bad. Kurenai doesn’t cast her full powered genjustu on me, but I can weasel my way out of some of her little ones. Now see, the yin chakra for me is-”

Seeing Sakura so overcome with joy and excitement was something Naruto could have kept forever. He’d abandoned the training field hours early today to see this moment, but tomorrow morning, he’d find Kakashi sensei didn’t seem to realize he was gone.

Chapter Text

Chapter 17: All Life That Won’t Change Must Wither

Sasuke struck his electrified hand into a boulder and watched with satisfaction as a portion of it was blown clean off by his attack. He hadn’t hit the targeted area of stone cleanly, but the destructive capacity was starting to get there. Sasuke pulled back, panting, and prepared his second burst as instructed. He fixated on the second marking Kakashi had placed on the boulder. ‘This time.’ Sasuke told himself, ‘hit it directly.’ Activating the chidori, Sasuke charged forward, allowing his sharingan to guide his hand. The lightning in his palm sputtered and leapt about, and Sasuke could feel himself losing control again. He slid to a stop and Sasuke simply punched the rock with his chidori, thankful he had at least guided the chakra away enough that it didn’t fire back into his legs and shock him again. Sasuke pulled back his hand, to see it was neither closer to the target nor as destructive as his first strike. It was still a devastating jutsu though. Anything that could strike into stone that effectively was one to be feared. Kakashi wouldn’t be satisfied though. Sasuke could only shrug. “Damn.”

“Your power is improving but your precision is still way off.” Kakashi began. “You still don’t have good enough control of your Sharingan for this technique.” Sasuke fell to his knees in exhaustion. He could only manage such an advanced move a couple times. Kakashi turned his head down as he watched his student try to catch his breath. “And you mold the chakra far too ineffectively. You wind yourself the instant you use this move.”

“I get it.” Sasuke grunted back. “I’ll master it still. It’s already easier than when I learned fire style.”

“That’s because of your two affinities, you lean more toward lightning,” Kakashi replied. “If fire style wasn’t the standard of the Uchiha clan, any teacher would have started you with lightning. You can certainly create it, but you can’t afford to miss two attacks and then pass out.”

“What does it matter if I don’t hit the target precisely anyway, it’s still destructive enough as it is now.” Sasuke turned but couldn’t yet fully stand. “Nobody in my year has a technique like this, nobody.”

“And yet it could be far better.” Kakashi brushed off Sasuke’s words quickly and gestured to his side. “It isn’t like you to be satisfied with middling results. Look how much of the Chidori’s potential you wasted to the air alone.”

Sasuke glanced to his side, but remained indignant. “It’s still strong. I just can't master a jutsu like this as quickly as you want.” Sasuke continued trying to catch his breath. “Why do you push me so much harder than Naruto and Ino? You know I’m capable.”

“Precisely.” Kakashi’s response was quick, and almost a little jovial. Sasuke could never quite tell how much of Kakashi’s usually aloof persona was affected. “And as for why are you learning this technique alone? Only you possess a lightning affinity and only you possess the Sharingan to guide it well enough to be a viable method of attack.”

Sasuke gritted his teeth. Kakashi was kidding himself. ‘Even as it was now, my Chidori already is a viable method of attack. I can cleave through stone, so imagine what it would do to flesh.’ Sasuke stood and returned to point, but uneasily. “You should go train Naruto and Ino awhile. I can take it from here for now.”

Kakashi smirked, but his mask kept Sasuke from seeing it. “I have every intention to work on Naruto’s chakra control as soon as you master the chidori, but until then…” Kakashi trailed off in the face of Sasuke’s defiant eyes. “You are the last of the Uchiha. You must have a weapon to defend yourself, and I will not be satisfied until you can wield the most powerful one I can arm you with.” Kahashi approached Sasuke. “Today, you will generate a third burst. Do try to hit the target this time...”

Sasuke closed his eyes to give them a moment’s rest and reopened them after he turned back toward the boulder. He began forming a third chidori, but could already feel how much weaker this one was compared to the first two. He shook his head a little before he charged the rock. ‘This is impossible…'

On the Team Eight training ground, Kurenai had taken Hinata into the woods for some individualized training. That meant Sakura and Kiba were all set for a spar. Fighting against Kiba was always difficult, but now that he had a dog with him, it took all Sakura’s attention to keep up with them both. Akamaru was small to begin with, but Sakura imagined any ordinary dog she could handle. One trained to use its chakra as well as any genin was something else entirely. Akamaru might have been young, but he had a level of intelligence near a person. ‘Depending on the person in question, all dogs arguably may.’ Sakura thought to herself, and would have giggled about it had the pup not been coming at her full force now. Sakura traded blows with Kiba as best she could, but as soon as there was a break in the action Akamaru would jump in barking and snapping at her. It was tiring her out. Akamaru leapt up and landed on her chest, pushing off her with all his weight, and all four legs. Sakura was knocked back with surprising force for an animal that must’ve weighed five or six kilograms. She managed to land on her feet though, and pulled out her pepper spray bottle.

“Woah!” Kiba called out, alerted. “Akamaru stay back! That stuff’s dangerous…”

The dog yipped in understanding and trotted back alongside its master. Sakura would never get close enough to simply spray Kiba. He’d trained with Kurenai sensei to increase his agility and nimbleness. He couldn’t offer anyone support if he was the first one injured. Or at least that was how Kurenai sensei had explained it. Sakura watched as Kiba drew kunai to try and engage her from a distance, and force her to bear the burden of getting close. Instead, she produced a single orange-colored homemade smoke bomb from her pack, and whipped it at them. Kiba realized an instant too late what was in it, and threw Akamaru as a cloud of stinging tear gas started to envelop them. Sakura’s eyes narrowed as she tried to peer into the mist. From the sound of it, she’d hit them.

Akamaru flew out of the fog, carried by the momentum of Kiba’s throw. In pure reflex, Sakura crossed her arms to block as the pup flew at her, but as he rotated himself into a Tunneling Fang, Sakura hurled herself off to the side. She’d seen Kiba and Akamaru perform the jutsu together with Fang Over Fang. In unison, they could take down trees. The last thing she needed was to be on the receiving end of even one. By the time Sakura realized she’d thrown herself out of the sparring ring, the battle was already over for her. Kiba might have been pouring a water bottle over his face and groaning, but he was still inside the arena at least. Akamaru bounced up and down excitedly, and Kiba called out a few “good boys” between his own coughs.

Sakura leaned forward, feeling pretty silly about herself when she looked down to see not even a toe still within the line. She couldn’t help but smile when Akamaru leapt into his partner's arms and snuggled into his collar while Kiba hugged him affectionately.

Ino stormed toward Sasuke and Kakashi. She’d half a mind to drag Naruto with her, but the last thing she wanted was him to shout his grievances over hers. She’d been ignored long enough to be talked over now. “Kakashi sensei,” she declared loudly. “My katas are finished.”

Kakashi shifted from watching Sasuke to addressing her. “I told you to run katas through the evening.”

“Well they’re done so…” Ino shrugged and dropped all pretense of a pleasant tone. “What now?”

“I don’t know,” Kakashi shrugged. “Can you reliably Mind Transfer a moving target yet?”

Ino cocked her head. “It’s not that kind of jutsu.” Ino spoke slowly and sarcastically, as if she was speaking to a child.

Kakashi didn’t actually mind how rude she was, but she was interrupting a carefully planned training routine. “Well then go try to hit Naruto’s clones with it until you can.” He waved to her and turned back to Sasuke.

“Perhaps you could show me how,” Ino said even louder than before. “Since I am unaware of how to. Or actually, since you seem to want me to learn Yamanaka techniques, perhaps I shall return home and find someone there to train me. I don’t see why it makes sense for me to do that here.”

“Don’t you like Sasuke?” Kakashi’s undertone sounded shockingly genuine. “I thought you’d want to be here to support him.”

“Do you know what today is?” Ino asked quickly. “Day thirty since I became your student.” She turned to Sasuke who was frowning but mostly mum to the confrontation. “Sorry that is about all a girl’s got in her.”

“If you want to train in mind transfer at home…” Kakashi thought for a moment. “I suppose that’s fine. Just make sure to be here for missions.” Kakashi waved her off again and turned. “Maybe all this Chidori business is too complicated for you. Try hitting the markings with kunai awhile.”

Ino narrowed her eyebrows. “Okay, I’ll tell my father you said that.” Kakashi didn’t respond or look but held up his hand to signal he dismissed her. Ino stomped away. 

As she left the training ground she passed Naruto, sparring with a few of his Shadow Clones. He immediately noticed her angry gait and called out to her. “Hey! Where are you going?”

“Home,” Ino snapped back. Naruto seemed genuinely confused, but it was still silly of him to call out to her as if he hadn’t snuck away from training himself.

“Are…” Naruto turned from Sasuke and Kakashi's training zone back to Ino. “Are we supposed to leave?”

“Yeah!” Ino called back as she walked off. “I guess the hell we are…”

Sakura and Hinata stood at opposite ends of the sparring arena, but today they weren’t opponents. They were both prepared to level volleys of shuriken toward Kurenai sensei. Kiba looked up at her from his stance, Akamaru beside him. “Are you sure about this sensei? We haven’t tried real blades.”

Kurenai laughed. “We have to eventually…” She smiled. “Relax, I'll dodge, just make like I can’t.” She nodded to Akamaru as well as Kiba and called out to her other students. “Girls, get ready.” They nodded in turn.

Kiba sighed. “Alright Akamaru, let’s show them what we got.” He backed away from his dog and issued a command. “Start with the Man-Beast Clone!”

Akamaru barked and transformed into the image of Kiba. It was made even more uncanny that even in this form, Akamaru did not speak, just continued to make dog-like noises with a human tongue.

“Ready?” Sakura called.

Kiba nodded to Kurenai sensei and she called back to Sakura. “All good here!”

“Okay!” Sakura responded. She locked eyes with Hinata. “Let’s go!” Immediately the friends started throwing their shuriken at Kurenai.

Kiba and Akamaru broke into a sprint as they circled Kurenai sensei and turned into the Tunneling Fang just as the shurikens started homing in. “Ninja Art: Defending Fang Over Fang!”

As Kiba and Akamaru rotated in turn, the centrifugal motion of their jutsu was enough to cause the flying shuriken to bounce right off them. It had long been known as a benefit to the attack, but here, the jutsu’s nature was being exploited for its defensive quality. Kurenai stood behind the guard, but kept her eye out for blind spots in the defense. Against small arms, this was a strong shield, and also made it difficult for melee fighters to come in directly. Kurenai looked up. ‘Unless they come from above that is, but for a genin this was good.’ It was impressive that Kiba and Akamaru could maintain such perfect coordination. Speed up too much they could fly off course wildly, slow down and they would move too slowly to be an effective guard. And if they didn’t constantly move at the same rate they’d run into each other. Of course, they would sometimes have to speed up or slow as necessary to deflect shuriken. Sakura and Hinata were aiming for the gaps as the duo whipped around, and still the team could accommodate that, without so much as a verbalized command. After about twenty seconds, one shuriken flew beyond their shield, but it missed on its own. “Boys,” Kurenai yelled, “remember to think of me as a civilian, I can’t fight back!”

“Aye-aye sensei!” Kiba called back, but at this point even Kurenai wasn’t sure which of the two Fangs he was. “Aka, tighten the guard!”

Kiba and Akamaru narrowed their defense’s radius, and the gaps between them with it. But in this tightened perimeter, their chances of running into each other went up. Kurenai watched as a few uneasy passes saw them nearly do just that over the next ten seconds or so. “Sensei,” Kiba called out, “we can’t keep this up.”

“Okay!” Kurenai put her hands into the sky. “That’s enough!” In time with her orders Sakura and Hinata stopped throwing shuriken.

Kiba flew out to the side and came out of the technique, sliding across the ground on his bottom. Akamaru leaped out a little easier, and transformed back into his natural form. Kurenai smiled. “That was good.”

“That was incredible!” Sakura cheered, hands high. “I’ve never, ever, seen teamwork like that!”

Akamaru bounced in place and Kiba winked and flashed a toothy smile. “Well, you know.” He rose, and fixed his hood which came down at some point during the move. “Akamaru and I don’t mess around.”

“It reminds me of Rotation.” Hinata smiled, but was just a quieter person than her teammates in general. “Different in many ways of course, but we Hyuuga consider it our ultimate defense.”

Akamaru barked back, understanding her praise. Kiba smirked. “He’s saying ‘thanks’ by the way.”

Inoichi wasn’t usually home at this time, but then, neither was his daughter. She slammed doors as she moved through her house, and her father made his presence known. “Ino, why are you home so early?”

“I’m out.” Ino replied, making a gesture with her hand as if she was cutting her own throat.

“What!?” Inoichi replied sharply. Kakashi couldn’t possibly have cut training to his daughter like those students before. She’d passed that stupid bell test anyway. 

“I’m out!” Ino repeated. “Kakashi sensei has no intention to teach me anything. I’m training Mind Transfer at home.”

“Ino, I know you are frustrated but you can’t just leave.” Inoichi followed her outside into the Yamanaka training yard.

“No, he told me too!” Ino moved quickly as she set up a training dummy. “He is totally fixated on teaching Sasuke the Chidori. I refuse to run katas all day anyway, so no skin off my back.”

Inoichi frowned. “He truly is planning to teach you and Naruto… nothing?”

Ino shot her father a quick look and rolled her eyes. “Dad… no.”

Inocihi folded his arms. “I’ll see if I can assign one of our chunin to instruct you for a few weeks.” He walked back inside quickly and let the door crash loudly as he went inside.

Ino quickly felt guilty. She was so annoyed that she’d been short tempered with her father and made him angry. She was right in a sense, but her father wasn’t angry with her.

Sakura waited diligently alongside her teammates at the mission appointment office. Normally Kurenai simply accepted requests from the Yuuhi family and brought them back to them, but today she’d brought her team with her, as she was requesting a C-rank. Sakura knew that might entail anything from leaving the village to direct combat. Considering C-ranks stopped short of fighting any other ninja, they should have been fine. ‘I’m confident in myself, Hinata, and Kiba.’ She thought. ‘And sensei is honestly pretty badass, so we should be fine.’

Gazing down the hall it was interesting to see the other ninja here to accept missions as well. Even Kakashi was here, but without his squad unfortunately. Sakura found herself staring at him while Kiba and Hinata idly chatted beside her. ‘For such a laid back guy, he sure looks impatient about today.’

Shikaku Nara may have only been promoted to Head Jonin relatively recently, but that didn’t mean he was going to agree with everything Danzo and the Third Hokage suggested. The Head Jonin position was supposed to be the Hokage’s right hand and a chief advisor, but the previous Head Jonin had been little more than a yes man to the rest of the council. From Danzo to Homura and Koharu to Lord Third himself, Shikaku was the youngest person on the council by an easy twenty-something years. The higher ups of the Hidden Leaf had often made choices he disagreed with, ones he didn’t always feel reflected the current era. But now that he had a council seat of his own, Shikaku’s voice carried more weight than ever. It was him that brought this matter to the council's attention, but Shikaku didn’t expect them to so readily agree with him to call a meeting to do something about it. Shikaku looked down from his seat at the council table. “Kakashi, do you know why we called you here today?”

Kakashi stared blankly at the higher ups. Even before the Hokage, he never knew how to shake his aura of casual disinterest. “Typically the council addresses the sensei of the new genin teams quarterly to assess their progress. I can only imagine the prominence of my genin necessitates meeting with me before that.” Shikaku’s eyes narrowed and Kakashi tilted his head in response. He didn’t know Shikaku as well as the other Leaf Council members, but he seemed to be the driving force in this conversation. 

“You’re right in that we are here to discuss your genin at least.” Shikaku fixed some paperwork before him. “Kakashi, we are not happy.”

‘Oh,’ Kakashi hadn’t expected this. ‘I’m in trouble then.’ Taking his hands out of his pockets, Kakashi tried to make himself present a little more formally. “And where do your issues lie?”

“Kakashi,” the Third continued on Shikaku’s behalf. “We actually believe your education of Sasuke Uchiha is moving ahead better than expected… but your treatment of Naruto Uzumaki and Ino Yamanaka is far below this village's standard.”

Shikaku nodded to the Hokage before he turned back to Kakashi. “Ino’s father and I were teammates in our own genin years, and I was shocked to learn from the Yamanaka clan the absolute disregard with which you have treated her education. You demand almost all her time, while sharpening none of her skills.”

Kakashi closed his eyes. ‘I’ve made an enemy of the Yamanaka clan then.’ The Yamanaka were not a large clan but they were a prominent one. And they also had close ties to the Nara. “I assure you that I mean no offense to the Yamanaka. My only concern is teaching Sasuke the Chidori. As the only other Sharingan user in the Leaf I-”

“Kakashi do you hear yourself?” Koharu, the old lady of the bunch, cut him off. “Shikaku has just brought to your attention that the heiress to the Yamanaka clan has been totally dismissed under you… and you seek to disarm us by saying your ‘only concern’ is Sasuke?” 

Homura was quick to support his wife’s judgments. “Sasuke is one of our most important young ninja, but not our only one. What can the Yamanaka and the Uzumaki possibly learn by being left totally unattended. Are they not of near or greater importance than even Sasuke Uchiha?”

“I have instructed them to train individually until their existing skills have been refined. And Ino will begin training at home to further her mastery of her clan techniques.” Kakashi moved to rebuff the council's concern. “Like I was saying, my priority as a teacher right now is to teach the Chidori to Sasuke. He is the only one who can ever use it with the same precision I can, and I’m the only one who can teach it to him.”

“My son was friends with Naruto in the academy.” Shikaku began. “He floundered in an environment with little oversight. Which I understand was due in part to your collaboration with Mizuki to-”

“I had no association with Mizuki or his allegiances.” Kakashi said quickly. It was true. He was as shocked as anyone to discover where the instructor’s true loyalties had laid. “I merely desired Naruto on my team because I am unique positioned to protect our Jinchuriki as a top jonin and as Minato sensei’s only remaining student I feel obligat-”

“Kakashi…” Now it was Danzo who cut him off. The leader of the Anbu Black Ops, the one who Kakashi directly reported to for years. Danzo was second only to the Hokage, but for Kakashi, he commanded attention far more. His voice was low, but stern. “This is not about the Fourth. We are all well aware you are the only surviving member of that team. This is about the children of the Leaf as they are today. The role of a Jinchuriki is not to be protected, not a bomb waiting to go off in our hands. It is to protect us. The boy has no skills with which to do that…”

Hiruzen nodded in time with his left hand. “You have been out of Danzo’s direct service for years, claiming you wish to teach certain members of the new generation, but rejected every team we assigned you. Teaching them might have given you the slightest opportunity to gain experience for it. Now that you finally have your intended genin, I can’t help but feel that both your questionable manner of testing new students and obvious favoritism of Sasuke, is all just a misguided attempt to make some kind of amends to Obito.”

Kakashi blinked in surprise. “It’s not that…” Kakashi replied. “It’s simply for the reasons I stated before. I can make Sasuke stronger and the village needs the last Uchiha strong. I favor Naruto just as much, or I wouldn’t have conspired, and I admit I conspired, to find a way to teach them both.”

Shikaku waited until he was sure Kakashi was done speaking to address him. “At this point, considering your continued treatment of him, it just seems like cruel abuse. I wasn’t on this council when they made certain… decisions… pertaining to the Leaf Jinchuriki. But Kakashi your treatment is perhaps even bordering more on intentional than simple neglect.”

Kakashi’s eyes went wide. “I would never! He has been training with his clones. I’m teaching my students self discipline in a safe environment where they can receive-”

“Safe environment?” Shikaku nearly shouted. “Kakashi, are you even aware the boy left his assigned training post and failed to return.”

“When he left with Ino you mean?” As Shikaku shook his head no, Kakashi blinked again. It could’ve been the night he trained with Sasuke beyond their designated stop time. It didn’t surprise him that Ino and Naruto had gone home by then. But surely he would have detected something like that. ‘Did he leave today before I came to the meeting?’ Kakashi looked up suddenly. “Where… is he okay?”

“Kakashi,” Hiruzen sighed. “The boy is not actively missing, it appears he went to visit a friend... This happened several days ago…”

‘So it was the night we went late.’ Kakashi sighed, he never should have allowed Naruto to train out of his vision. “I… I humbly apologize to this council, you clearly have given me a-”

Koharu, again, interrupted him. “You should know details of this meeting in full. Not only have we called you here to reprimand you in your complete disservice to your students, we are also considering taking them away from you.”

Kakashi’s eyes widened. “Wai-”

Hiruzen stood from his seat. “You were one of the youngest ever promoted to jonin in the history of this village… but that was during the Third Shinobi World War. You have the strength and capacity of command leadership… but there has long been an arrogance to your character that we have tolerated. It is re-exposing itself in your senseiship in a way wholly damaging to the growth of some of our most significant genin…”

Kurenai wasted no time in explaining their mission to her squad. D-ranks were fine for commission, but C-ranks were were the real ninja work began. “Our mission is going to take us outside the village for at least a couple days, and will likely involve combat.” Kurenai began. Her students gave her rapt attention. “A gang of cutthroats were arrested recently by civilian police forces and were in the process of being transported to the Hidden Leaf. They were meant to be interrogated by our security division to see how big their operation was. Unfortunately several of them managed to slip the noose in a nearby city and went to ground, including their leader. We have no reason to think that they managed to escape the town as police have set up multiple checkpoints, but they are requesting ninja assistance to ferret them out.”

“Number of targets?” Kiba asked. "And how did they escape?”

“Four,” Kurenai replied. “Wanted for various crimes including theft, arson, and full blown murder. It appears the lock to a cell they were being kept in overnight was picked.”

“Are we to use lethal force ma’am?” Sakura asked.

“The police would prefer not, but personally if a fight breaks out do what you have to.” Kurenai frowned. “I don’t know if they will hesitate because you are children.” Sakura nodded grimly. “We are traveling to Iwate Town,” Kurenai continued, “which is only a little over a day's journey. At that point we will locate the criminals and subdue them before transferring them to police custody. Any combat should be done by me, but keep your guard up always. We should get an update on the situation once we make it to Iwate down and contact local law enforcement. The reward for this mission is 90,000 ryo, which is high for a C-rank, and more importantly these men are a danger to the public. Let's look sharp and get it done! Team Eight?”

Kurenai’s students answered in unison. “Yes ma’am.”

“You… you can’t take Sasuke and Naruto away from me!” Kakashi said hurriedly. “I was going to train Naruto in chakra control as soon as Sasuke perfected the chidori.”

“You are unable to train them both simultaneously?” The Third asked.

“Naruto is training with his katas and his Shadow Clones.” Kakashi replied. “Sasuke is learning a complex technique that requires precision with a Sharingan he hasn't mastered, and an entirely new chakra nature. He requires constant oversight or he could injure himself.”

“Then he probably shouldn’t be learning the technique.” Shikaku said, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. He shrugged and sat back in his chair. “Ino. What did you intend to teach Ino?”

“Ugh…” Kakashi thought quickly. “Anything she wanted to learn.”

“Enough,” Shikaku silenced him while rolling his eyes. “He evades even now. Kakashi Hatake, you had no plan for your genin.”

“Sasuke needs the strongest technique he can wield.” Kakashi nearly shouted at the councilors. "How many of our enemies would try to assassinate the last Uchiha when he leaves the village? His bloodline can’t end with him! And Naruto needs me. He will get a target on himself even bigger if the information he is our Jinchuriki ever leaks.”

Danzo narrowed his eyes. “You are right Kakashi, we simply doubt if you are the best person to achieve this.” He turned to Hiruzen. “The notion of two students so critical being on the same team doesn’t make sense anyway, considering the oversight they both need. I propose the Leaf Jinchuriki be turned over to my Anbu forces for training.”

“We are not training Naruto in the Anbu,” Hiruzen shot back quickly. “The boy was intended to have as close to a normal childhood as possible.”

Shikaku snorted. ‘As if the council's judgements regarding Naruto have facilitated that…’

“It seems sensible to relinquish the boy to Danzo’s stewardship.” Homura shifted in his seat. “Hatake is single minded. Danzo’s elite forces could-”

The Hokage signaled Homura to silence. “The purpose of this meeting is not to decide the fate of the boy, it is to decide if Kakashi should remain the sensei to his genin. I propose an immediate vote to determine if he should remain with them for a probationary period of three weeks, to be capstoned by a C-rank mission.”

“Hiruzen,” Danzo began. “That is nearly how long Kakashi has had them to begin with… I vote nay.”

“Nay,” Shikaku replied quickly after.

Kakashi turned to Homura and Koharu. “Please, elders, I only-”

“Nay,” Koharu replied, and her husband agreed with her a moment later.

"Very well,” Hiruzen said, sitting back down. “And since I do not agree with the judgment of this council, I will resign to grant you two weeks probation, though still to be capstoned by a C-rank mission.”

“Lord Hokage!?” Shikaku turned to him.

“I am Hokage.” Hiruzen replied sharply. "I respect democracy and your advice, but that will not be forgotten. Ultimately, I believe Kakashi’s testimonial about his motivations, although he clearly erred in his methods.”

“Allow one final proposition from me, Lord Hokage.” Danzo spoke like he was addressing the room, not just Hiruzen. “Allow the Yamanaka girl to continue training individually several days a week during this time. I will personally assign Fu to tutor her.” Shikaku nodded to him.

“Very well Danzo.” Hiruzen moved to address Kakashi. “Kakashi Hatake, step forward.”

Kakashi did so with relief. “Thank you, Lord Hokage.”

Hiruzen shook his head. “Don’t thank me… don’t mess this up.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 18: Shoots and Shadows

As the Hidden Leaf Council ended their meeting, Hiruzen called Danzo to remain behind. The Anbu leader walked slowly over to his Hokage, clacking his cane loudly as he came up beside Hiruzen to look out a great window. Danzo lacked the same formality as the other councilmembers when it came to addressing the Lord Hokage, but then, he always had. Danzo turned to Hiruzen. “Yes?”

Hirzuen quietly lit his pipe, but didn’t turn to face him as he addressed Danzo. Instead, Hiruzen merely looked out on the Leaf from above. “I wondered Danzo; why was it you assigned one of your top agents to tutor the Yamanaka girl?”

“Why not?” Danzo turned to overlook the Leaf as well. “Would you truly prefer she continue to learn nothing under Kakashi, or to burden Inoichi with finding a suitable replacement in the meanwhile?”

“I cracked the whip on Kakashi…” Hiruzen took a drag from his pipe. “Now when he was going to teach her, you pulled her away again…”

“That remains to be seen.” Danzo wasn’t afraid to be the one to talk back the most in the face of the Lord Hokage. That was, of course, unless he felt Hiruzen agreed with his way of thinking. “It isn’t as though Kakashi trained her very well the first time. But you don’t require me to tell you I disapprove.”

Hiruzen took a long breath. “Do you remember how it was that I was named Hokage?” Danzo stayed reticent so Hiruzen began to answer his own question. “After Kagami died, we were the only two students left of Tobirama sensei. It seemed likely he would nominate one of us to succeed him one day. So when sensei asked for a ninja to sacrifice themselves in a diversion to save our units, who volunteered?”

“Despite your offer, it was Tobirama sensei that stayed behind.” Danzo didn’t need to follow along down memory lane. He remembered the day very well, and could cut straight to the end. If not for that sacrifice, two dozen of the Leaf’s most elite ninja would have died that night, and the Land of Lightning would have likely gotten free reign to conquer most of the northern Land of Fire.

“Did you offer?” Hiruzen’s question was quick and stern.

“No…” Danzo replied slowly. “I did not.”

“That’s right. Tobirama sensei understood that it would take someone willing to die for the village to lead it.” Hiruzen took another drag.

Danzo turned back to Hiruzen. “I don’t understand. What relevance does this have to-”

“I am merely reminding you who is Hokage and why,” Hiruzen cut him off. “And that my authority is not to be undermined.”

“If you objected so much Hiruzen, you should have said something.” Danzo was beginning to understand where Hiruzen was going with this line of questioning. “It isn’t as though any of us could have defied you, with how quickly you asked for and rejected our vote on the topic of Kakashi.”

“Are you sure your motives were purely altruistic, and born only out of concern for the girl’s training?” Hiruzen finally turned to Danzo. “Or were you simply trying to curry favor with Shikaku?” Danzo remained quiet, but his face twisted with the slightest sign of annoyance. Hiruzen continued. “You think I’m oblivious to how Koharu and Homura seem to prefer your guidance? I allowed you to maintain direct leadership of the Anbu forces simply because it was more convenient to our government than to assume full control of them myself. And now you are trying to regain the loyalty you enjoyed in Root in my very own council.”

Danzo scoffed. “You shut Root down Hiruzen. You can’t suggest I’m trying for some type of coup simply because the other council members agree with me.”

“Root…” Hiruzen began. “Was a borderline cult of personality. After what happened with Itachi…”

Danzo shifted in slightly. “Itachi was an Anbu... but he wasn’t a part of Root.”

“That’s right… he was not.” Hiruzen’s tone gave no indication what he meant by that statement. But clearly the Hokage disbanding Root was never simple timing. Hiruzen questioned where Danzo’s forces' true loyalties lied.

“Our singular motivation is the continued growth of the Leaf Village.” Danzo said plainly. “At times people will disagree what direction that should be. But the Leaf is everyone's goal. If you truly wish Fu not train the Yamanaka girl, it isn’t as if it has been formally assigned.”

“No,” Hiruzen replied. “You were my peer, so it only makes sense that if anyone be allowed a little leeway it should be you, Danzo. It isn’t as if you weren’t when you leaked Naruto’s Jinchuriki status to the clan leaders.”

Danzo sighed, more out of annoyance than anything else. “Hiruzen, the clans were calling for war to obtain a new tailed beast. One that would have set off a catastrophic series of events that likely lead to a Fourth Shinobi World War. The other great villages saw us as weak. It would have done more harm if they never caught wind of any of the rumors that we maintained our Jinchuriki. It isn't as if we informed the masses, just the upper echelons of our armed services.”

“You,” Hiruzen corrected. “Not ‘we.”’

Danzo’s indiscretion may have been forgiven by the Hokage outwardly, but it wasn’t long after that Hiruzen started eroding Danzo’s powerbase in the Anbu and Leaf government. When Root was disbanded, Danzo was surprised that he was even allowed to remain on as leader of the Anbu and as a councilman. Hiruzen could have dismissed him from those positions just as easily. “I didn’t leak the boy's true identity. Just that he is our Jinchuriki. You have maintained full control of who knows that little secret. But I stand by my decision in our forces knowing who our Jinchuriki is. After what our spies confirmed surrounding the abduction of the Gobi host-”

Hiruzen’s voice sharpened. “The Five-Tail’s Jinchuriki was in an isolated incident and a Land of Earth affair. Jinchuriki have changed hands before.”

Hiruzen referred to the Hidden Sand’s loss of the Seven-Tail to a minor village. Danzo lowered his voice. “Never to a faction of free agents. We don’t have a spare tailed beast to lose Hiruzen. The world is changing from what it was in our childhoods. The question ultimately needs to be if we adapt by trying to change with it, or put it back to how it was.”

Hiruzen laughed a little. “You’re lucky that your counsel and intuitions are so often correct Danzo, or I might have stripped you of your command for your indignation years ago.” Surprisingly curt for the Hokage, but not beyond the scope of what Danzo already knew. Hiruzen found Danzo too valuable, or at least too savvy a political player to lose. “So long as you continue to remember that those in the light create the leaves that shelter this village...”

It was the beginning of an old creed Danzo didn’t expect to hear uttered now. He completed his end of the phrase as prompted. “And those that dwell in the dark gather the nutrients to feed the great tree.”

The Hokage nodded to his left hand, and understanding his dismissal, Danzo nodded in turn and left the chamber. Hiruzen Sarutobi may have been the Hokage, but he couldn’t lead the Leaf Village without Danzo Shimura.

Sakura didn’t have much time to gather up what she needed to leave the village for a few days before Team Eight would actually have to leave: some rations of nuts and dried meat and fruit, small arms, her bedroll of course. When it was all said and done, Sakura had probably packed more than she needed, but fortune preferred preparation. Her mother had already left for work so she scribbled down a note explaining she’d been given an assignment outside the village and not to expect her for a bit. Sakura left out the part about hunting down escaped convicts. It was a strange thing to not have her mother seeing her off, but it wasn’t as if they both hadn’t prepared for this eventuality. Sakura slung on her backpack, still aiming to travel somewhat light and make a reasonable time to Iwate Town, and hurried to the village’s south gate.

Most of the Haruno family left the Leaf Village after the Kyuubi attack, but despite having family throughout the Land of Fire, Sakura had never really left her home village before. Traveling so far beyond it with Team Eight, the forests and rivers that crisscrossed the country would have been easy to get lost in. Even sticking to the roads, Sakura was grateful to have Kurenai sensei to guide them. The main gate might have been easy enough to come in and out of, but a side entrance had reminded Sakura exactly why they were from a hidden village after just a few hour's travel. Even noting landmarks, Sakura wasn’t entirely confident she could lead herself back to the village on her own, and made a point to herself to pay even closer attention the next time she left the Leaf. At least there was no sign of rain today. Sakura usually enjoyed it, but it probably would have slowed them down.

Kurenai wasn’t exactly driving them, but it wasn’t an easy pace to keep. Even conditioned for long distance running as she was, Sakura still felt like she was the slowest of her lot. Chakra was one thing, but true physical stamina wasn’t Sakura’s strength, and she was forced to rely more on her chakra than her muscles to keep up. Bounding through the trees, Team Eight made light conversation.

“Sensei,” Hinata asked. “Have you been to Iwate Town before?”

“Several times,” Kurenai replied. “Iwate town isn’t big but it’s bustling. It has a large infrastructure since there are no other towns or cities within a day's journey from the area. The jungles in the Iwate town region are particularly dense, which I think is part of the reason our targets haven’t fled.”

Sakura considered this as she made a particularly large leap to a neighboring tree. “That’s interesting then, that law enforcement saw fit to transport anyone to the Leaf via that route.”

“It isn’t so unusual,” Kurenai replied. “Actually part of the reason the route is preferred is just because of that isolation. During the war, the route was valued for transferring prisoners of war. Thankfully our marks are a little smaller today.”

Sakura nodded. She wasn’t eager to test her mettle against an enemy chunin or jonin, but she was confident she could bring down some thugs.

After running for most of the day, Kurenai identified a suitable place to camp for the night. They were still a few hours from Iwate town, and as much as she wanted to finish the trip, she needed but look to her genin to see how tired they were.

“We’ll camp out here tonight,” She announced. “We can get up early and make it to Iwate town in the morning, and then make a day of finding the targets if we need to.” The genin nodded.

“Ma’am,” Kiba began, “should Akamaru and I gather up some wood for a fire?”

Kurenai nodded. “A small one. Hinata, why don’t you use your Byakugan to see if there is anything notable in the surrounding area. We have the supplies to camp certainly, but your intel could be indispensable.”

“Right away, ma’am.” Hinata quickly activated her Byakugan and began scouting the area. She allowed herself to sit in a meditative position as she scanned the kilometer or so around the area they were camping in, trying to locate any substantial sources of clean water. She wouldn’t mind refilling her canteen.

“What should I do sensei?” Sakura asked quickly. She wished she’d thought to volunteer and get the firewood. She wasn’t sure how valuable her existing abilities would be to preparing a campsite.

“Sakura, you can help me prepare the camp barrier.” Kurenai produced a long looking scroll.

“Sensei?” Sakura was surprised that Kurenai would choose to erect a barrier so deep within the Land of Fire’s borders.

Kurenai sensed the nature of her student’s confusion. “It’s simply a habit I’ve been in since my younger days. We will still sleep with a night watch, but the barrier helps with wild animals as much as it does humans.”

Sakura nodded. ‘I’d rather not be woken up to a tiger.’ As instructed, Sakura took a length of the scroll and drew it behind her as she circled her half of the camp's perimeter. She was extra careful as to not smudge any of the formula inscribed on it, even if it was long dried. She knew how fickle fuinjutsu could be. “Sensei, what is the nature of this fuinjutsu?”

Kurenai called back to her from the opposite end of the campground. “It is designed to be receptive to my chakra. I channel genjutsu into it and it can cast an illusion over anyone who passes into the inscribed area without me actively needing to cast a genjutsu on them.”

Sakura’s eyes widened. “Sensei, that’s incredible!”

Kurenai laughed a little. “It’s the skill that earned me a chunin promotion without needing to take the exams. I can even move the barrier from the inside and keep an area shrouded on the move. Of course this barrier's range is far smaller than any I used in the war, so ensure you don’t accidentally wander out.”

Sakura nodded, but couldn’t wait for Kiba to return so she could see the jutsu demonstrated. After Sakura finished laying out the scroll, Kurenai assumed a strange stance and the writing on the scroll was transcribed into the land.

“About how long does it take to prepare a scroll like this?” Sakura questioned. “It seems intricate.”

Kurenai rose, the barrier prepared. “A small one like this? Oh twenty minutes?” Sakura blinked in surprise. It seemed like a lot for twenty minutes. Kurenai was good at this. “Now a big one takes a few hours so you can imagine their size.” Sakura surveyed the radius of the barrier. It must've been close to two dozen meters all the way around. “Luckily unless the seals are badly disturbed, I can simply transfer the jutsu back onto the scroll. If parts of it need to be rewritten I can touch them up as we go, but it beats redoing the whole seal.” Kurenai got up and wiped her brow. All that was left was to seal her genjutsu within.

Sakura smirked. ‘Reusable seals. Not bad Kurenai sensei.’

After Kiba returned with a small bundle of sticks, and a fire got going, Kurenai prepared to set her jutsu. The seals began to glow in the earth as Kurenai began enchanting them with her chakra. “Genjutsu: Mass Vanishing Jutsu.” She rose. “There… living things that pass that barrier won’t be able to see, hear, or smell us unless they dispel the jutsu. We should still keep someone posted throughout the night though, lest some beast walks right on top of us.”

“I can take the first shift sensei.” Sakura volunteered herself and Kurenai nodded. Sakura was pleased with herself. She’d rather stay up late than be woken up for a middle shift anyway.

“Sensei,” Kiba asked. “Can’t you just use a genjutsu to tie up anyone that walks across or whatever?”

“I could,” Kurenai replied. “I can cast most of my standard techniques through the barrier, but it’s dependent on the fuinjutsu to work now. If we were to be set upon by enemy shinobi for example, they’d realize when the first of them to trip the barrier would be paralyzed. Then the others in the unit would likely work to find the fuinjutsu and besmirch the seals enough to bring down the whole barrier.”

Sakura ripped off a little piece of jerky to toss to Akamaru, nodded in understanding. ‘So the vanishing illusion isn’t just hiding us and the camp. It’s helping to shield the barrier itself too.’

“Couldn’t you combine the jutsu?” Kiba asked.

“Well yes,” Kurenai responded. “But you are missing the point. Sometimes less is more. A strong genjutsu like the Tree Bind Death would paralyze any intruders, but also alert them and their party to the fact a genjutsu is in play. With a simple vanishing jutsu, the opponents might not realize a genjutsu is even at work. Subtlety is the name of the game with genjutsu.”

“Would you like me to stay up a little with you Sakura?” Hinata asked, offering her a baggie of dried pear slices and raisins. “I’m not that tired.”

“Nah, it’s okay, Hinata,” Sakura was reassuring and held up her hand to deny Hinata’s offering of food. “You go ahead and get some sleep.”

Hinata nodded, feeling a little guilty she’d gotten out of taking a night watch shift just because Kiba offered to take the second one and Kurenai was taking the morning watch. A fuller night's sleep didn’t exactly disagree with her though after a day like today, and the Hyuuga slipped off to her bedroll with a little bow.

For herself, Sakura had decided to spend her time on the watch meditating and continuing to try and separate her chakras. She had a confident sense of what yin chakra felt like, but hadn’t quite managed to untangle it from her chakra network. Often ninja worked their chakra all at once, but Kurenai sensei said it was all together wasteful to do that unless you had comically large chakra reserves or were seeking to use the same types of techniques your whole life. Doing things this way not only allowed Sakura to waste less chakra needlessly, but also prepared herself to learn various types of jutsu more easily. After yin was freed, she could set about separating earth and water. What was left would be yang.

Kurenai was surprised with how efficiently Sakura was able to identify so much of her yin chakra so quickly. Undoing an intermixed chakra network could take the better half of a year, but in about a month Sakura already had one nature nearly sorted out. Sakura wasn’t sure where her own chakra control stopped and the inborn ability of the Senju began, but with gifts like the Byakugan and Sharingan, why shouldn’t Sakura get a little clan talent thrown her way?

Yin chakra presided over the mind and spirit, and the strength of it was sometimes said to be tied directly to a user's mental ability and subconscious. Senju clansmen tended to have a tighter connection to the yang side of the spectrum, but all people possess both even in small quantities. It was simply easier for Sakura to identify yin due to the fact several of her early academy jutsu, Transformation and Clone, made major use of it. She’d been able to sense what chakra made them work when she was reducing her hand signs, so now it was just a matter of pulling that chakra free. During her meditations, she focused her Yin chakra toward her mind, before returning it to her chakra network forever separated. A greater effort now in exchange for an even finer control of her already precise chakra control was an easy trade. Perhaps if she’d dove right into the working of yin instead, she’d be casting viable genjutsu already, but Sakura had always been methodical, and never taken the easy way out.

Meditating while maintaining a watch over the camp meant she couldn’t focus as much as she would have liked to, but there was no real rush. Sakura was only a few days away from isolating all her yin by the feel of it. Then the vanishing technique that was protecting them now would be her next big goal. Sakura had a good sense of how to cast the technique, but even without Kurenai sensei resisting, Sakura couldn’t make more than parts of herself fade away. To mask an entire area, sounds and smells included, was remarkable. She turned to watch her sleeping sensei. ‘And with the aid of fuinjutsu, do it unconsciously.’ Sakura wasn’t sure what miracle fell upon her when Kurenai was made her instructor, but Sakura would be sure to say a daily prayer to whatever Kami sent it to her if she ever found out. Kurenai was the perfect mentor for her.

Team Seven met at their appointed training area, although Ino wasn’t pleased her dad had made her come. She’d be back home within an hour, she reminded herself. As a shock to all three genin, Kakashi was already there.

“Sensei isn’t late today?” Naruto muttered to himself. “Something must be wrong.”

“Ah right,” Kakashi waved enthusiastically in a manner altogether unbecoming of his typical nature. “Hello everybody.”

The trio grumbled their own welcomes in confusion.

“Today we are going to do something different.” Kakashi began. “We are all going to train together today. Well the three of you, and I’ll be instructing.” Nobody said anything despite Kakashi's seemingly fabricated eagerness. “Today we are going to work on chakra concentration and control by doing surface walking. A tree walking to be exact.”

Ino almost turned and walked away right there. Instead she just crossed her arms. “I can already do tree walking.”

“Ahh that’s great!” Kakashi replied. He found himself ready to tell her she could help with the instruction. ‘No wait, that’s wrong.’ He scratched the back of his head. “Ino since you are so advanced, we can do water walking with you off to the side. Let’s head off to the lake, there are trees right by the waterline there.”

His students immediately began calling over each other.

“I thought you wanted me doing mind transfer?” Ino asked.

“What about today’s mission?” Naruto yelled out.

“What about the Chidori?” Sasuke called.

“I…” Kakashi gestured to them to follow as he spoke to them. “Well we aren’t going to be doing any D-rank missions for a little while while we focus on this training unit. And Sasuke you were right, your Chidori is pretty advanced already so we can train that more casually now. Oh and Ino I spoke with my old boss from my Anbu days, Lord Danzo. He has an agent named Fu we wanted you to protégé under for a few weeks. So three days on with me and three days on with him. We all get Sundays off now!”

She recognized the name. Fu was a once in a lifetime Yamanaka prodigy a few years above her who had been scouted by the Anbu essentially the day he entered the academy. The Hokage allowed Danzo to take him on in some intense training regime, but apparently her father had not been happy about it. ‘Training with him would be… interesting.’

“You’re sure the Chidori is sufficient?” Sasuke trailed along a little faster than his fellow genin. “What changed, Kakashi?”

Kakashi kept walking but at least craned his neck back to address his students. “Well I just thought about it and you were right. There is no genin who has a move like you in your generation. You should master it as you make your way up to chunin, not all in one moment. And Ino, I’m not a Yamanaka, but hopefully the connections I have can still help you learn your jutsu. Yamanaka’s excel as supplementary members of their units, so a direct combat squad is a unique challenge.”

Naruto, for once, didn’t have much to say. He was just surprised that Kakashi was actually going to be teaching him something. If this was about chakra control, kami knew he could use that.

The genin mostly looked between each other as they followed Kakashi on the five-or-so minute walk to the lake. Sasuke even considered striking him to see if he was a transformation.

Team Eight had roused, ready and eager, and Kurenai quickly sucked her fuinjutsu back up into the scroll. No disturbances beyond insects and birds. Sakura was determined to see her first C-ranked mission through, and had gone through most of her cashew supply as she ate breakfast on the run. They were nearing Iwate Town, even slightly ahead of schedule, and coordinating with a civilian police force was going to be interesting for the genin trio.

Chief Botan Adacihara seemed like a by the books type of man. The moment Team Eight arrived, he began briefing them of their targets. The gang in question weren’t ever considered big players until their leader, a well built man by the name of Sogo took over the organization. Police in the capital apparently worked for a year to bust him and his top lieutenants, but in transit they’d underestimate the well… creativity… of the gangs smuggling measures. It seemed Sogo, or one of his men, had kept some lockpicks on their person, or rather in their person. They’d busted out not a day after getting to Iwate Town. For the best of their efforts, police were unable to track the criminals beyond a certain point as the gang got lost in Iwate Town’s shuffle. Chief Adachihara had closed all but one exit to the town, and anyone using that exit was subject to careful inspection at a police checkpoint. To Sakura, it seemed an effective enough starting countermeasure, but evidently it had slowed the city's operations to a crawl. People were afraid of the concept of dangerous and possibly armed men lurking around their town, but it seemed closing the town and slowing Iwate Town’s daily operations was creating its own type of bedlam. Had this happened in the Leaf, nobody, not even a civilian, would have questioned it. But a truly civilian town lacked the same kind of discipline as a ninja village. At least the police were helpful and respectful, especially to Kurenai sensei, but even to Sakura. None seemed to question that she was a young girl, and instead even Chief Adachihara seemed to refer to her as a superior. It was surreal for Sakura to say the least, and not at all how they operated in the Leaf Village. There she might’ve been a ninja, but civilians were used to that there, and nowhere near as reverential.

Kurenai sensei decided the best way to ferret out Sogo and his men was with a sweep of the city. Unfortunately the police didn’t have anything for Kiba or Akamaru to get a scent off of, so Team Eight were reduced to questioning locals, and relying on Hinata's Byakugan.

“I will take these coordinates here.” Kurenai pointed her route on an Iwate Town map as she gave orders to her genin from atop a building that overlooked most of the town. “And you four will stay together while you outline your route. Investigate leads, but Hinata, I want you to scout any building or otherwise suspicious location you come across in your hunt with your Byakugan before you enter.”

Hinata bowed. “Yes ma’am.”

Kurenai continued. “If you find Sogo or any of his men, contact me. Our radios won’t travel far enough for me to be in contact from anywhere in the city, so Kiba and Akamaru, I want you boys to take my scent.”

Kiba smirked. “Already done, sensei.” Akamaru barked in affirmation.

“Excellent, I knew I could count you two.” Kurenai looked her squad over. “Chief Adachihara prefers these men taken alive, but if combat is inevitable, our contract permits fighting and killing them as needed.” Her trio nodded so Kurenai continued her instructions. “Ideally any combat should be done by me. If I happen to find them first, I’ll simply bring them down and then send for you. If it’s you four, contact me and I’ll be along to take them out with genjutsu.” Kurenai smiled. “Sakura, you’re in charge until we regroup.”

“Um, me ma’am?” Sakura wasn’t sure that Kurenai sensei was going to appoint one of them in her absence at all, but if she did, Sakura expected it to be Kiba.

“Yes, you are acting captain.” Kurenai turned to her section of the city. “I’m off, watch each other's backs and let’s get this done.” In an instant Kurenai body flickered off the rooftop, and faded into a crowd of shocked passersby.

Kiba made a smug sounding grunt as he watched his sensei vanish, and turned to Sakura. “Orders captain?”

Sakura took a quick breath, not quite used to being addressed as their leader. “Right, we follow Kurenai sensei’s lead and start on our own route. Hinata activate your Byakugan and keep your eyes peeled for anyone matching Sogo’s description, or that of one of his lieutenants.”

“Okay,” Hinata replied, the veins in her eyes swelling and tightening. "It will be hard to find a lone person in a crowd when I don’t have a sense of what their chakra feels like though.”

“That’s fine,” Sakura affirmed. “We have three trackers on this squad, so Sogo can’t hide for long.” She approached the other edge of the rooftop and prepared to leap off. She stood, hand on hip and wind in her hair, as she overlooked the city. Hinata blushed a little and cocked her head away with a shy smile. Kiba looked cocky and confident while Akamaru sounded a single bark. “Team Eight,” Sakura announced. “Let’s head out.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 19: Clover Between Concrete

Simply scouring Iwate Town for Sogo and his men quickly proved not to be a viable strategy. Even with the precision afforded by the Byakugan, it was far too time consuming to have Hinata make a detailed survey of every logical hiding place Team Eight came across. Someone in Iwate Town must’ve known something though, so the trick to finding Sogo seemed to come down to finding them.

“And you’re sure you can’t help us at all?” Kiba asked a beleaguered looking shopkeeper, barely hiding his own annoyance.

“I already told you, I don’t know anything about those escaped convicts!” The guy had seemed nervous at first, but Kiba was starting to feel it had more to do with the fact he was a ninja, than the shopkeeper having any valuable knowledge pertaining to their investigation. With a wave, Kiba left the corner store, turning up nothing from the various passers by. He regrouped with Sakura and Hinata after they checked the street’s other local businesses.

Hinata was the first to address the group. “My investigations didn’t turn up anything. Nobody seems to have seen Sogo.”

“Yeah,” Kiba agreed. “Me neither. Thoughts captain?”

Sakura pressed a finger to her chin. “We are clearly going about this the wrong way. If turning up Sogo’s gang was as simple as asking the right people, the police would have found them long ago.”

“Maybe they have such a scary reputation nobody wants to say anything against them?” Kiba wondered aloud. “Or maybe they really just haven’t been seen. They escaped in the early morning.”

Hinata turned her eyes to the forested mountainsides just outside of town. “Perhaps they truly did flee into the jungle.”

“It’s possible,” Sakura considered, “but hopefully not the case. It would make our job all the harder. The jungle is dense and easy to get lost in. Plus in this part of the Land of Fire, wild animal attacks are not uncommon even near the well traveled main road.”

“Why not take their chances with the beasts of the jungle?” Kiba asked. “If it’s that or eventual recapture by the police, I bet they’d risk it. They are hardened criminals right?”

Sakura cocked her head in thought. “I’m not so sure. These thieves are from the capital, which is far more urban. The rainforest doesn’t extend throughout the land and certainly not that far to the north. I think that Sogo and his men would realize they are out of their element.”

Kiba snorted. “Well if they didn’t skip town, and they didn’t get past the police blockade, somebody must’ve seen them. This town isn’t dead enough at night that nobody would spot them.”

Sakura bobbed her head up in realization. “Unless they didn’t go far!” Sakura took off running, and beckoned her team to follow her. “Come on, let’s head back to the prison itself, and restart our search there.”

Hinata gasped. “Wha- but surely they would not be foolish enough to hide so near the police headquarters.”

“That’s exactly the point,” Sakura said. “When dealing with these sorts, you’d expect them to go to ground. But the most effective form of stealth is not to hide well, but in the least expected of places. What’s less expected than hiding right under your pursuer’s nose?”

Kakashi’s demonstration hadn’t made the technique look too difficult. Simply concentrate chakra into your feet and adhere to the trunk of the tree. The second Naruto tried, he released a shockwave that blew him several meters back and fractured the bark at the point of contact. He sat up with a huff. ‘I don’t understand what I did wrong…’ Naruto looked from his mark on the tree over to the one Kakashi had climbed.

Sasuke grunted in annoyance as he slid down his own tree, landing flatly on his bottom. He got back up quickly and attempted to scale the tree again while Naruto watched him in curiosity. Sasuke again placed a tentative foot onto the tree trunk and seemed to hold to it well. The moment he tried to lift his other leg up though his first rolled down the tree and Sasuke bounced back to the ground. Naruto would have laughed if he hadn’t flown off the tree all the more dramatically. Still, it satisfied him to see the great Sasuke Uchiha taken down a few pegs by gravity.

“Sasuke,” Kakashi called. “You’re not using enough chakra to support your weight. Simply sticking to the tree won’t be enough if you can’t hold yourself up.” Kakashi turned to Naruto, his hand was boredly resting under his chin, but at least he was trying to show interest. “Naruto, you’re using too much chakra and throwing yourself back. You both have to adjust to the perfect ratio if you want to succeed in this test… well it isn’t really a test, but you know.” Kakashi shifted quickly as the boys stared at him and started shouting out questions, and calmly looked down at Ino. “Perhaps the kunoichi of our group would like to demonstrate, since she has already mastered this.”

Ino shrugged and sauntered over to a tree. “I guess.” She placed a gentle foot onto the bark and shifted her weight around a little to demonstrate that her chakra was correctly adhered, then lifted her other leg off the ground casually and stepped onto the tree trunk as if it was a flat surface. Ponytail dangling behind her, Ino scaled the tree a bit more slowly and cautiously than Kakashi, but still without any real effort. Ino was a bit surprised the boys came out of the gate so bad at it, especially Sasuke. It wasn’t an official part of academy training, but every other clan kid in the academy could complete this task already, and a good percent of the non-clan ninja too. Even the untrained Senju girl had it down. Naruto’s chakra control was always a bust, but Ino was beginning to see just how fixated Sasuke had been on combat, and ignored all other skills. As Ino reached a low hanging branch she leapt off to the side and landed on it gently. “Well?” She called down playfully. “Hope you guys watched close.” She winked and smiled a little. ‘This outta make me look cool, huh?’

Sasuke snorted and turned to his exercises again, sliding down the tree almost as quickly as before. His disinterest was disappointing but not surprising. Naruto however seemed far more appreciative. “Ino!” He yelled up to her. “How much chakra did you use to do that?”

Ino flipped her hair and prepared to jump back to the ground. “I can’t really say exactly.” She dove quickly, and landed on all fours but in a way that still managed to look elegant and controlled. “It’s more an amount you feel out than a particular golden ratio. For me I concentrate about five percent of my chakra in each foot as I climb. Depending on if you have more or less, it could mean you’d need to use a greater or lesser percentage of your own chakra.”

Naruto nodded to her and looked back at his damaged tree. “I’m not good at using only a little chakra. I’m not sure I know how to do that.”

Ino move to respond. ‘Hey!’ She caught herself. ‘Why am I doing all the explaining for Kakashi sensei anyway.’ Ino instead merely shrugged and turned to Kakashi.

“Well Naruto,” Kakashi began. “Uzumaki clansmen often possess a strong lifeforce and a great deal of chakra. It’s no surprise you find it difficult to divide down so much energy.”

Naruto thought he understood. Kakashi wasn’t just referring to Naruto’s heritage, but the Kyuubi too, just not openly. Iruka had explained to him after the Mizuki situation, that Naruto was chosen as the vessel because he was a newborn baby at the time, and since he was of Uzumaki heritage. He was fit to be as capable a host as anyone before him, and when he asked Kakashi about it privately not long after genin training began, he’d mostly just agreed with everything Iruka sensei said. The Kyuubi might be giving him extra chakra, but it was still an immense burden for a human to learn to control that kind of energy. More than that, it wasn’t like all his chakra was truly his own. Most of it was from an alien source. ‘Damnit’ Naruto thought. ‘This damn fox is making things harder not easier. How did Kushina and Mito manage if it becomes so hard to even use simple jutsu?’ Naruto was pulled out of his thoughts when Sasuke crashed again. He giggled. ‘Although, I guess it could be worse.’

Leading Team Eight down to the factory district where the prison was, Sakura realized it wouldn’t have been too unbelievable to slip past any pursuing officers by breaking into a warehouse. Sakura readily instructed Hinata to begin scanning the buildings with her Byakugan.

“Alright,” Hinata confirmed. “It’ll take some time to check them all though.”

Sakura nodded, looking around herself. It seemed logical they would choose one where they could operate quietly without disturbing any local workers, but still maintain a way to easily access food and water without it being missed. Her eyes narrowed toward the end of the district where an old canal cut through part of the town. “In that case, let’s start by checking down there.”

Kurenai slunk into a seedy little dive bar near the edge of town. If someone was going to have information on criminals, it would be in a place like this. For better or worse, eyes were on her the moment she walked in, but she approached the bar casually and flashed a picture of Sogo. “Have any of you seen this man?”

A short older man turned to her drink in hand. “Hey beautiful, if it makes you stick around, I’ve seen anyone you want me to.”

Kurenai kept herself from rolling her eyes and held the picture up again. “This man is a fugitive from the Land of Fire and a dangerous criminal. If any of you have any information, step forward now for the safety of your town.”

“Hey lady,” the bartender called. “I don’t know who this guy is, but he ain’t here. If you’re just here to cause trouble with all your ninja nonsense, you gotta leave.”

Depending on what part of the county you were in and what social class you were dealing with, opinions on ninja were different. Many were delighted to see ninja, some even idolized them. Others associated ninja with the trouble they pursued, and would rather they not turn any up on their doorstep. Kurenai made a final sweep of the establishment as she left, but it seemed the people of Iwate Town didn’t have the concern with Sogo’s gang as they might have in another city. Iwate Town was isolated and focused on “business as usual.” The dangerous foreign nin who were transported through the city during the war probably did little to ingratiate the general population to assisting with ninja business. Kurenai made her way out of the bar and on to the next. If nobody had anything useful here, then a new location might yet bear fruit.

Team Eight had easily used their chakra to scale to the rooftop of one of the town’s warehouse buildings, and surveyed the area. For all the vantage it gave them, they were still reliant on Hinata’s Byakugan to find Sogo and his men, and she’d been at it for the better part of half an hour. It was a tedious thing to check so many buildings in so much detail, and quite different from inspecting the wide open areas around the Leaf where people flared chakra regularly and brought attention to themselves. It was still a far faster process than any of them could manage traditionally.

“So say she doesn’t find them here?” Kiba asked, playing with a rock by his feet. “What then?”

Sakura looked from one horizon to another. “We would have to go back to our original strategy. Unless you have a better plan?”

“I guess I don’t, but I don’t like this.” Kiba grumbled. “Relying totally on someone else to do all the tracking. Did those dumbass cops really not keep a single shred of clothing or something from those guys I could have smelled?”

Sakura turned to him with a disappointed smile. “All we can do now is put our trust in Hinata and hope we are looking in the right location.”

“I just hate needing on someone else to do all the work for me.” With a sigh Kiba lifted the rock and gave it a wide throw. It flew into the canal below with a clink.

“Come on now,” Sakura called reassuringly. “Kiba you’re a master of teamwork, think of how much you rely on Akamaru to do your collaborative jutsu.”

 “That’s just it.” Kiba looked down at his dog and gave him a quick scratch. “With Akamaru, he relies on me as much as I do with him. Right now we are all just kicking rocks while Hinata does everything on her own.”

Sakura shook her head. “Different people have different skills. Trusting Hinata to do something doesn’t mean we will be inactive for the whole mission. We simply don’t have the same skill set to-”

“Um, guys,” Hinata interrupted the conversation quietly. “I think I found them…”

Sakura and Kiba turned to her, mouths open. Honestly, neither had expected Hinata to find their marks. Sakura took a few steps toward her. “You’re sure it’s them?”

“Well, yes.” Hinata looked away from her teammates and deactivated her Byakugan. “Sogo has not yet… passed… all the lockpicks in his possession.” She pointed to a building a little ways in the distance. “There.”

Kakashi had taken Ino down to the water to start her training with walking on its surface. And Naruto had gotten absolutely nowhere.

With a running start, Naruto jumped and planted both feet onto the tree trunk. He was blown off just as quickly, landing roughly on his back. He couldn’t help but glance aside and realize that while Sasuke hadn’t made much progress, it was enough to be notable.

“Hey, ugh, Sasuke.” Naruto began. “What’s up with this training?”

Sasuke flipped down from the tree. He wasn’t necessarily getting very high up, but he could at least tell when he was about to fall now and jump off accordingly. “I don’t understand your question. Are you asking me why we are learning this, or why you suck at it?”

“I,” Naruto moved to shoot back a sharp answer but just grumbled and shook his fist. “I mean how did you manage to change how much chakra you were using so fast! You were falling down and now you’re sticking to the tree!”

Sasuke rolled his eyes and got back to work. “Because I know-” He leapt off the tree with some oomph. “How to control my chakra better than you.”

Naruto rolled his shoulders. "You just practiced to learn how to do that?”

Sasuke didn’t turn to address him, too focused on his own training. “Obviously. Do you not train?”

Naruto balked at the accusation. “Of course I train! Do you think I’d graduate as a genin if I didn’t?”

Sasuke just shrugged. “What did it take you, like three tries?” He cocked his head sharply and addressed the Uzumaki before he could respond to his comment. “Have you tried using no chakra?”

“No chakra?!” Naruto shouted so loud it almost threw off Sasuke’s own chakra control. “What are you dumb?! You can’t do jutsu with no chakra!”

Sasuke landed quickly, rolling his eyes as he fell. “Exactly, but it sounds like you have trouble dividing down your chakras quantities since you have a large reserve. If you aren’t born with good chakra control, surely the logic would be to use none and slowly add energy until you get a result.”

Naruto stared at Sasuke, arms folded. His defiant stance did not match his genuinely soft expression. Naruto was surprised. Not only did Sasuke’s advice sound genuine, it wasn’t something anyone had ever suggested he do before. It was certainly nothing he ever tried to do on his own. Sasuke smirked at him dryly, and realizing himself, Naruto twisted his face in annoyance and looked away grumbling.

Sasuke snorted and drew his kunai to mark how high he’d manage to get to subsequent attempts. “Or you could not listen to me. Whatever works for you, idiot…”

With a deep breath, Naruto watched Sasuke climb a little higher than the last time and notch the tree. He turned to his own. He’d never admit what he was doing, but perhaps it would be worth a try.

Team Eight situated themselves next to the warehouse Hinata identified, and staked the scene out. Sogo and his lieutenants had indeed been using the basement as their hideout, or at least today they were. It seemed like they were moving through the city sewers to avoid traveling across the street.

“I can’t believe you really found them, Hinata!” Sakura spoke only a little louder than a whisper but she was clearly ecstatic. 

Hinata smiled affectionately and kept her voice low. “I would have never found them if you didn’t think to search this area, Sakura.”

“What can I say, I owe you two for this first mission.” Kiba rested easily with his hands behind his head and spoke with closed eyes. “You want me and Akamaru to take them out?”

“What?” Sakura glanced at the building as if she could see Sogo herself and turned back to Kiba. “No. Kurenai sensei said she would be the one to take them down with genjutsu.” Sakura pressed in her radio. “Kurenai sensei… Kurenai sensei?” She grunted in annoyance. “Damn, I can’t pick her up.”

Kiba smirked. “You’re up Akamaru. You have her scent so go get Kurenai sensei and lead her back here.” The dog yipped sharply and took off. He wasn’t even gone a minute before Hinata alerted them again.

“I,” She paused as the situation developed. “Yes, I think Sogo is leaving.”

“What?” Sakura shifted forward and leaned in against her friend. “Through the sewers?”

“No, he is moving to the streets. I don’t understand it.” Hinata focused on him with the Byakugan, but attempted to keep the rest of his group in her vision as well. “He discussed something with them and is headed out. He’s got a hood and a mask on.”

“What color?” Sakura asked quickly and moved to stand.

“B-black,” Hinata tried to look at Sakura too but dividing her vision in so many different ways was difficult. She just listened for her friend. “Are you going to pursue?”

Sakura crept forward. “Yes, you need to stay here and keep an eye on the others in case they divide their forces more. I’ll go after Sogo.”

“I could easily go too.” Kiba added himself into the conversation. He’d obviously been itching for some action.

“No,” Sakura replied quickly. “Akamaru is returning to your scent, so there is no reason to get turned around on the way back. Besides…” Sakura reached for one of her kunai but didn’t draw it. “I can handle him.”

Sogo hadn’t managed to get far, but Sakura still didn’t want to take chances. She tailed him, shifting through transformation jutsus whenever she was confident she wouldn’t be seen. It might have been the evening, but the streets were as busy as ever, and openly moving to apprehend Sogo might end up causing too much commotion. A civilian being injured in any potential cross fire was very bad. Still, for a convict, Sogo was surprisingly bold in the streets. Maybe he had confidence in his disguise, or perhaps he simply was growing tired of hiding, or plain overconfident. It didn’t matter. It didn’t seem like Sogo was going to stray away from the crowd anytime soon, which was a shame because that was all that was holding Sakura back. ‘Come on,’ she thought to herself. ‘Sneak down an alley or something.’

She still hadn’t figured out what reason Sogo might have to leave the hideout. Perhaps he had been leaving regularly and had truly managed to go unrecognized. She moved up behind him a little more in her latest guise; a well built young laborer she’d passed a few streets ago. Sogo was a big guy, so she wasn’t sure she could tackle him to the ground on her own. She’d have to do something more technical to restrain him. As Sakura considered her options, Sogo surprised her by breaking into a sudden sprint. ‘Damnit,’ She chided herself. ‘Did he realize I was following him.’

In the end it didn’t matter if he figured it out or not, the second he started running, she ran after him and that was all anyone would have needed to see. She gained ground on him quickly, but was still a few meters away when Sogo reached into the confused crowd and dragged out a teenaged boy, knife pressed to his neck.

Sakura stopped instantly. ‘Shit.’

“Back off!” Sogo yelled as he adjusted the knife to the terrified boy’s throat. “Or I bleed this kid!”

Sakura, still in her transformation, held her hands up slowly. “Listen, you don’t wanna do that.”

The boy whimpered in Sogo’s grasp, but the gang leader just snarled at his pursuer. “Oh yeah? Why is that?”

“Because,” Sakura said, projecting her voice to be a little more confident than it was. “That kid is the only leverage you have.”

“The hell does that mean?” Sogo spit back. “You wanna play with his life?”

Sogo might not have realized it yet, but she was the powerful one in this conversation. “I’m a ninja.” She declared. “The second you kill that kid, is the instant I kill you.”

“Damnit,” Sogo grunted aloud. Letting this kid go probably meant getting apprehended just as fast though. He kept a firm grip on the knife. All around him the crowd was shouting and clamoring at the intensity of the situation. It surprised both him and Sakura that they hadn't just run away.

“Alright,” Sakura announced. “Everyone back away.” The crowd dispersed back to the edges of the street's buildings unsteadily. “Get inside!” She yelled. The commoners began to do so, and Sakura turned her attention back to Sogo. “Now Sogo, how about you let this kid go too and you keep your life.”

“Screw that!” Sogo yelled. “I know the second I let the kid go, you move in and take me down.”

“I already could, Sogo,” Sakura took a single tentative step forward. She wasn’t really sure how to handle this, so decided to just lean on the intimidation. “You don’t look old enough to have fought as a civilian soldier in the last war. I’m guessing you don’t realize what a ninja can do.”

Sogo seethed but kept his knife in place as he backed away slowly. His pursuer followed at about the same rate. “Stand,” Sogo kept himself from leveraging the blade at the ninja. “Stay right there.” He might not have been of age to fight in the war, not that he would have anyway, but he’d seen those ninja bodyguards in the capital. He knew just how flashy ninjutsu was. “How do I know you’re really a ninja, huh? You’re bluffing.”

Sakura sighed. If she started weaving hand signs Sogo might panic and kill his hostage right there. Her only option was to take a long winded way to convince him or drop the transformation. She wasn’t sure how he’d react to a young girl being his opponent. With another quick breath Sakura revealed her true self. “Not quite.”

Sogo blinked in both fear and relief. ‘A real ninja then, but just some kid.’ He sneered and pressed his knife a little more toward the kid he was holding. It was ironic that this ninja girl seemed even younger than the hostage. “Oh what’s this pretty boy, your girlfriend coming to save you?” His hostage crinkled his face but didn’t respond.

The boy was being good about the situation, or about as good as Sakura could hope, and she wanted to see him make it out of this unharmed. She knew, regretfully, that there were ninja who didn’t always care about hostages. They just needed their mark. But Sakura became a ninja to protect others, she wouldn’t give up on him now. She racked her brain for how to save him. If she let Sogo leave with him, he might just kill the kid later. If she tried getting too close or weaving a jutsu, he might kill the kid anyway. It was in Sogo’s interest to keep the boy alive for now, but there was no telling if he would. She cocked her head. “Let him go and I won't kill you. Harm him and I do. It’s simple Sogo.”

Sogo took a sharp breath. “The second I let go, you take me to prison. The second I kill him, you kill me. I don’t know girl, that isn’t much of a deal for me either way.”

“Your life is worth nothing then?” Sakura tried to sound like one of those cocky overconfident types. “You aren’t so dumb to believe that if I say 'you can walk away'  it’ll happen. So how about you tell me what you want instead.”

Sogo was quiet for longer than she expected him to be. “I… you follow me and the kid back to my hideout. I want to keep you where I can see you. Then you let my men tie you up.”

Normally Sakura would never have agreed, but returning to Team Eight was an excellent idea to her. She tried to make it sound like she was begrudgingly agreeing. “... Fine.”

Sogo backed away. If she was agreeing, then it was a bad sign. “Yeah nah. You got your squad back there right? How about we stay right here.”

“How long do you think it’ll take them to catch up regardless. You’re postponing the inevitable.” Sakura wasn’t sure she was steering the conversation in the right direction. ‘Damnit, if only I had a jutsu for this.’ She couldn’t body flicker to them or Sogo would kill the kid when she started weaving signs. She didn’t have any genjutsu under her belt enough to help, and even if she did her strategy would be to make the hostage disappear, not her. Again, if she weaved signs for that, Sogo might just kill the boy. ‘Kami, please let Hinata be looking at me right now.’

After another uncomfortable few seconds Sogo responded. “Alright… Here is what we are gonna do.”

Naruto took a notch out of the tree about three meters up. He fell down hard almost immediately afterwards. Naruto wasn’t sure his chakra was doing much at all, he was more relying on his raw speed. He could barely even feel the amount he was focusing in his feet. Chakra had always been a loud thing for him, almost begging to be let out. These delicate techniques still confused the hell out of him. Naruto walked back up to the tree and touched it with his foot gingerly, using about the same amount thought he might have before. His foot touched the bark and stuck. ‘How about that?’ Naruto thought optimistically. He lifted the other and fell promptly. He grunted as he fell, but looked back up at the notch he had placed before. There was no easy way to do this, but starting with absolutely nothing hadn’t been the worst advice he had ever received. Naruto touched the bark again with even greater care. ‘Maybe, just add a little bit more then?’ The moment he did he felt like his chakra was about to throw him away. The bark splintered but Naruto managed to quickly shift to the amount he used last time, already with a little bit of a feel for it. The correct ratio had to be somewhere between the two he’d just used. In the grand scheme of things, it seemed an impossibly fine balance for him to achieve, but at least it was something for Naruto to build on.

“Cut yourself,” Sogo commanded.

Sakura scrunched her face in surprise. “What?”

“Your Achilles Tendon, cut it.” Sogo said again. “That way you can’t pursue me.”

Sakura shifted her hand toward her bag but didn’t reach in. At least he was letting her go for it. “And you’ll let him go?”

Sogo seemed unsure of himself, but nodded. Sakura didn’t trust him. Everything in her body was telling her that when she drew her kunai to hurl it into his head. It was an easy shot. But she wasn’t confident that Sogo’s reaction time was slow enough that he wouldn’t kill the kid the second she flicked her wrist. Sakura drew a kunai. Of course, if she did as commanded, he might just kill him anyway. She doubted Sogo would release the hostage then and there, since he’d still be in her range. She had one shot at this. She wasn’t sure she was making the right decision until her hand gripped the kunai. In an instant, she whipped it out of her bag and straight at Sogo.

Kurenai returned to Team Eight with Akamaru, and hurried to their side. “In this building?” She asked them.

Hinata nodded. “Yes ma’am. Sakura moved to pursue Sogo when he left, but the rest are in here, I’ve kept tabs on them with my Byakugan.”

Kurenai nodded. “Right. And where are Sakura and Sogo now?”

Hinata moved to shift her vision. Focusing away from the warehouse meant taking her eyes off the gang for a moment but surely that was okay now. It had become easy for her to find friend anyway. She took a sharp breath the moment she found Sakura and Sogo again. “Oh no.”

Sakura nailed Sogo across the neck and the instant she did, his grip faltered and the hostage attempted to weasel his way out of Sogo’s grasp. Sakura threw herself forwards with a chakra aided jump, readying the Body Flicker to get her even closer. Sogo howled and attempted to grab the kid again, but Sakura flew in and tackled the boy to safety. She moved quickly to block an impending blow, but Sogo was bolting. The blood trail behind him lessened the urgency of the chase she’d need to put up so Sakura turned back to the hostage. He seemed shaken but otherwise fine. “Go!” She ordered and ushered the kid to safety.

“Y-yeah,” he muttered, “thanks.” Pulling himself up with her help, he started running nowhere in particular as Sakura took off in the other direction and sprinted after Sogo.

She was faster than him by far, and as she neared she noticed he still had a grip on his knife. His other hand was clutching at the blood gushing from his neck, and while Sakura hadn’t fatally injured him, Sogo didn’t know that. Sogo turned and tried to slash at Sakura as she came up behind him, but she fell instantly into a slide, and slipped under Sogo. She stabbed her kunai straight through his foot as she moved, pinning Sogo to the ground. He roared in pain, and Sakura scamped up his back, putting herself in a difficult position to counter if he could manage to try for another blow. Sogo attempted to swing the blade around again, but Sakura pressed her palm into his shoulder as she caught his arm with her other hand. She’d never done this before, and it took more force than even she expected, but she twisted his arm severely and dislocated it from the socket. Sogo fell to his knees and screamed in pain again, doubly so as the kunai in his foot ripped an even bigger hole as he shifted. Sakura vaulted off the villain and spun around, kicking him across the face. Sakura watched with a surprising satisfaction as his body rolled a meter and a half down the road. She smirked. “How’d you like that, big boy?” She had no idea how much she'd enjoy that.

She watched him carefully for any more signs of resistance, but was quite content he posed no threat in his current state. Suddenly Sogo shifted unnaturally, as if held up by some unseen force, and Sakura turned to see Team Eight almost perfectly late. Kurenai sensei’s hands were still held in sign, clearly indicating she’s stuck him with genjutsu. Kurenai looked at Sakura quickly. “Hostage okay?”

Sakura nodded in the direction he’d run off in. “Yeah, I instructed him to run away.” By the look of it he was long gone. “Should we look for him?”

Kurenai fixed her gaze where Sakura had gestured to. “Not unless he was injured. You did the right thing by protecting him. We can explain what happened to the police, but he has no obligation to come forward. As far as I’m concerned his crisis is over and he can process it how he wants.”

If he was heading home after something like this, it didn’t disagree with Sakura. With the hostage freed, Sogo down, and Team Eight reunited, it was time to refocus on the mission. “The other targets?”

“We have to go back for them.” Kurenai replied. “I’ll restrain them just as easily.”

“Sakura,” Hinata began. “I’m-I’m sorry, I did not realize that you were in-”

“It’s okay,” Sakura held up her hands disarmingly. “It all ended well enough.”

Kiba nodded. “So long as everything is okay.” Looking around, the civilians staring from their windows swung their blinds closed the second they realized any attention was back on them. “The sooner we can ditch this town the better.”

Sakura frowned. She didn’t expect them to be any real help to her, but they could at least treat the situation as serious and not some object of fascination. Kurenai seemed unsurprised by the behavior. “Speaking of which, Kiba, put some gauze on Sogo’s wound and watch over him. He won’t be moving for a while but we should make sure none of these people interfere.”

Kiba nodded. “Snarling at the townspeople, sounds awesome.”

“Hinata,” Kurenai turned to the Hyuuga heiress. “Fetch the police and lead them here to Sogo so they can bring him back into custody, then lead them to the warehouse. I should have them disposed of as quickly.”

Hinata bowed sharply. “Ma’am,” and she took off running.

Sakura looked up at her Kurenai. “Should I assist you then, sensei?”

After what she'd already done, Kurenai was content to assign her nothing, but Sakura looked eager to see the mission fully complete. “Why not,” Kurenai nodded. “It’ll be good to have a spotter, but I’m taking point. Sogo’s gang won’t know what hit them.”

Kurenai smashed through the basement door with a heavy kick and released an illusory attack before the gang members could even reach for their weapons. “Genjutsu: Flowers of Venus.” It was one of Kurenai’s most powerful techniques and total overkill for goons like this, but it would ensure they wouldn’t be attempting another escape attempt anytime soon. Pink and white flowers filled the eyes of the gang, and swirled around their bodies in a vortex of cherry blossom petals and bamboo leaves that seemed to spill out of the walls and air. Simply touching a petal activated every neuron in an opponent's body and overwhelmed them with pain. The gang members were enveloped in an instant, and even a mere thought to resist made the flowers and leaves cling even tighter and intensify the pain beyond the limits of physical possibility. All Kurenai had to do now was ensure the jutsu only left Sogo’s gang in a position of temporary catatonia. Working people into a state of shock like this could easily kill them. Sakura flushed into the room behind her sensei, but the battle was over before it had begun. Kurenai turned to Sakura as the girl blinked in amazement. “Did you want to see what it looks like?”

The goons were limp now, but yet contorted unnaturally as they fell. Sakura could only imagine what her sensei had done to them. “Okay,” Sakura nodded, her curiosity taking hold, and Kurenai allowed her a permissive glimpse at the illusion. A whirlwind of petals and leaves, which was now subsiding, leaving behind a stinging numbness that was palatable through the air alone. The visual effect would have made the gang think their limbs had been totally dissolved to flower if any were still conscious. Even to her trained eye, Sakura surveyed the scene as a strange mix of grizzly carnage and beauty. “Sensei,” Sakura whispered, nearly enraptured by an effect not even designed to, and feeling her seniors' chakra holding her back from being swept up in the technique herself. “This is incredible.”

Kurenai smiled to herself, she wasn’t allowing the jutsu to harm her student as it did the the gang, but Sakura was clearly mystified by the technique. “Most of my plant related genjutsu are the works of Toka Senju, a genjutsu master from your own clan… but this one is original.”

Sakura knew the name and reputation but not the complexities of Toka’s jutsu. To think Kurenai had taken the jutsus and created original moves based around it. “Sensei, what did you do to them?”

“The Flowers of Venus jutsu can overload a person's sense of pain or even pleasure.” Kurenai remarked. “And expand the effect beyond any physical limits put on those sensations by the body. In this case it was pain, and you can see what that does to someone.”

Sakura could only imagine how much that might tax the heart and mind. “Couldn’t that kill a person?”

Kurenai rolled over one of the gang members with her foot. “It can, which is why I am one of the few people permitted by the Hokage to wield genjutsu of this caliber. It has been named an S-Rank forbidden technique. I must balance the effect carefully to ensure the worst I do is leave them unconscious. It's part of why knowing genjutsu means knowing the human body.” Kurenai turned back with a delightful smile. “Of course this technique is activated by contact with the flowers, which makes it difficult to avoid.”

Sakura watched the last of the illusion fade away. Even without being a victim of it herself, it had still left her breathless. To end a fight with numerous opponents so quickly. To project a genjutsu so intense it could kill. “Amazing.”

Chief Adacihara was fairly pleased with Team Eight’s performance. Sogo lost a lot of blood, but it wasn’t enough that he was at risk of expiring. He certainly wouldn't be escaping again. Kurenai had left the rest of the targets catatonic, or at least they would be until the police force could complete the day's journey to have the gang interrogated in the Leaf Village. While Adacihara had offered Team Eight a chance to travel back to the village with them after he got things in order, Kurenai had politely rejected the offer. They could move much faster on their own. They’d have to wait for the prisoners to be delivered to the Leaf to get proper payment, but Team Eight’s role in the mission was over.

“Well Team Eight, as far as C-Ranks go this was a little long winded, but it came to a satisfying enough conclusion.” Kurenai cracked her neck, and while they could have put up in a motel, the night was still young enough that they could get some traveling done tonight. Kurenai always preferred to get to a destination faster regardless of comfort.

Kiba laughed. “I’m kinda jealous only Sakura got to fight, I was looking forward to beating some of these clowns down.”

“Trust me,” Sakura groaned, “You can take the next fight for me.” Actually she’d quite enjoyed taking down Sogo, but the tension of the events of the hostage crisis had not been her style.

Hinata wobbled up nervously next to Sakura. “Sorry again, or I would have sent Kiba to come support you.”

Sakura dismissed her again, but giggled at the notion that Hinata would have ordered Kiba around herself. “It’s not that big a deal Hinata, really. I handled it, and if someone else came in who knows how Sogo would have reacted. I do wonder what happened to that boy though, he took off so quickly.”

Fumihito hadn’t had the best day. Getting grabbed by Sogo and having a knife pressed to his throat was a bad start, but explaining his failure was even more terrifying.

“You do understand,” his boss began, “what a sizable bounty was on Sogo’s head, yes?”

“I-,” Fumihito hesitated. “Of course I do sir, but I never got the opportunity. That Leaf Kunoichi threw everything off.”

“Is that an excuse I hear, Fumihito?” His boss cocked his head and lowered his voice. “I believe I merely assigned you to find Sogo's hiding place, not a full blown operation to shadow him.”

Fumihito seized his breath. “Apologies sir, when I saw him in the town I was sure he could lead me back to the rest of his gang! I don’t even think the girl realized I was following along.”

“Simple bad luck then,” his boss questioned, “that Sogo seized you out of the crowd?”

Fumihito nodded eagerly. “Y-yes, honestly. I apologize sir, I should have returned to you more quickly.”

His boss rose, an imposing man even if his heavy cloak hid most of his mass. “We lost the open bounty to the Leaf Village. What was the point of me taking over the underworld in this little town if we can’t manage at least a few odd jobs that come our way, Fumihito?”

Fumihito knew the price for failure was high, but surely he wouldn’t be killed over this. That Leaf genin was the one who messed everything up. “I-I am not sure sir, I would have managed easily if the Leaf ninja didn’t interfere-”

Fumihito’s boss clicked his fingers, signaling for silence. "I suppose I can expect the untrained ilk in this town to be able to keep up with true ninja. Actually Fumihito, I’m surprised you never attempted to train as one yourself. You actually possess a strong fire chakra.” His eyes narrowed. “I can read it on your heart...”

Sweat beaded on Fumihito nervously. “P-please sir Kakuzu, if there is any way I can make this failure up to you, I will.”

Kakuzu took a single step forward, but his hand flew out from beneath his cloak and grabbed Fumihito’s chest with a sickening crunch. “You can.”

As was the extent of Kakuzu’s mercy, Fumihito was dead before he touched the ground, but his still beating heart rested in the palm of Kakuzu’s hand. His fire mask had been damaged in a previous engagement, and Fumihito’s chakra would be satisfactory for repairing it. In an isolated city like Iwate Town, Kakuzu had hoped to earn a surplus of easy money to feed back to the organization, but it seemed it was too close to the Leaf to even adjudicate proper bounty collection. His assignment in the Land of Fire had begun and ended with identification of the Leaf Jinchuriki though, so any operation in Iwate Town was secondary anyway. It was time to close up shop here. He was curious to see what chakra his other lackeys possessed.

Chapter Text

Chapter 20: Striving for a Greener Future

The trip back to the Leaf ended up as smooth as the journey to Iwate Town. As reward for a successful C-Rank mission, Kurenai had given them the rest of the day off but Sakura wasn’t about to take it. She’d hurry home to see her mother, and then spend the rest of her day focusing on isolating her yin chakra. She was so close she could taste it, and knew she was far enough along that a solid day's work would see it done. Sakura was pretty sure she would be casting the Vanishing Jutsu properly as well soon. Now whether or not it would be with enough skill to be difficult to release was another topic entirely, but so long as her strongest opponents were bandits, any level of genjutsu would be sufficient.

Sakura parted from her team and hurried home to find her mother out back picking tomatoes. Her mother was distracted with the harvest, so Sakura ran up loudly and hopped the fence in a single vault. “Mama!” Sakura yelled. “I’m back from Iwate Town!”

“Oh!” Mebuki jumped a little, startled, but spun around readily to embrace her daughter. “Oh, oh, look who’s here!”

Sakura giggled. “It was a good mission mama, no serious complications!” She made a mock showing of punching her fists. “I did have to rough a guy up though.”

“You fought somebody?” Mebuki huffed quickly.

“Oh yeah,” Sakura threw up a peace sign playfully. “But it was a cinch.”

Mebuki smiled easily. Maybe it was better she didn’t know all the details of it. Sakura seemed no worse for wear physically or mentally, so fussing over it now wasn’t worth it. “Well now, how exciting.” Mebuki mused over the vegetables in her basket for a moment. “I didn’t expect you back until at least tomorrow.”

“Ahh nah, Team Eight gets the job done!” Sakura laughed a little. “You wanna grab a late lunch mama? Let’s go out.”

“Ahh honey,” Mebuki began, “I just had a little. I don’t really have the money to be taking us out this week anyway, we have some bills due.”

“Ahh that’s easy mama, I’m getting paid pretty well on this mission.” Sakura smiled. “Let me hurry inside and clean up quick, and then we will head out.”

“I, umm,” Mebuki scoffed. ‘What's the harm?’ She followed Sakura. “Oh okay, we gotta celebrate your first successful C-Ranked mission.”

“Don’t forget your purse by the way.” Sakura called back.

“What?” Mebuki groaned. “I thought you were paying.”

“No way,” Sakura laughed. “I’m getting rewarded for a job well done.” Sakura poked her head out of the bathroom. “I am gonna be paying those bills though.” She smirked and slammed the door shut before her mom could object.

In the Hyuuga Compound Training Yard, Hinata clashed against Hanabi in a fierce trading of blows. Only one could take up the mantle of clan heiress, and as firstborn it was Hinata’s by right. That did not mean there was no competition however. From the age Hanabi could stand, it seemed she was made to duel her elder sister. Hinata hated it, but the consequences of refusal were more dire than the strikes they exchanged.

Hinata pressed in on Hanabi’s shaky guard, her tiny frame could not resist an opponent such as Hinata for long. Yet still, every time a decisive blow would come, Hanabi avoided it. Her sister was just a little too slow, a little too sloppy, a little too imprecise. Hanabi was only born to be a spare, lest something happen to Hinata before the clan mantle could be passed to her, but the outcome of most of their spars was the same. Hanabi would win. Hiashi shouted at the pair, as Hanabi struggled under Hinata’s advance. “Press forward Hinata! Show no mercy!” Hinata released a long thin burst of chakra from her index finger, and straight into Hanabi’s shoulder. The girl fell, screaming in pain as the blow overloaded every chakra point surrounding it. Hanabi fell to her knees defenseless, but where she should have fallen to an even more intense blow, there was nothing.

Hinata stood poised above her sister shakily. She watched for any sign of resistance as the Lord Hyuuga yelled at her back. “Finish her, Hinata!”

“I,” Hinata nearly dropped her stance all together, quickly reaffirming it when she felt her own concentration faltering under her father’s eyes. “S-s-she cannot f-fight back.”

“You think her injury unfair?” Before Hinata could even sense the oncoming blow, pain shot threw her entire body as her father struck the back of her shoulder. “Maybe this will even the odds.”

Hinata yelped in pain, but tried to contain it as best she could. She fell to the ground, prone beside Hanabi, and lifted herself only a little. The blow she received was altogether worse than the one she inflicted on Hanabi, but still she could have rallied herself if she tried. Instead Hanabi rose first, after about a half minute of Lord Hiashi shouting instructions for one of them to do so. Hanabi slammed her palms into Hinata’s core, and panted as her sister collapsed fully again. Hanabi watched her sister fall expressionlessly, before being taken by the hand sharply by her father.

“Your fool sister exercises too much restraint with you.” Hiashi’s voice was commanding as he dragged Hanabi to the other side of the sparring area. “Not today, today you will fight an opponent who does not show hesitation.”

Hinata could not muster the energy to speak or move after Hanabi’s attack, but remained conscious. All she could do was lie on the ground feebly, as Hiashi began relentlessly attacking her sister. When Hiashi continued to strike at Hanabi’s limp body, Hinata let loose a single tear that wet the dirt beneath her.

Sakura entered her meditations beneath the shade of her own garden. Come rain or shine, she had a preference for trying to manage her chakra here. When she’d first begun at the academy, and didn't have the nerve to train there in face of the other kids' taunts, this had been her sanctuary. Now, she had nearly identified all the yin energy in her chakra network. As day turned to evening, she could tell it was minutes before it was done. She didn’t expect it to feel like anything, rather it was like she’d memorized a running tally of where all her yin chakra was. ‘Well, not memorized really,’ she reminded herself. It wasn’t as complex as a conscious thought. It was merely a newfound awareness. Like being aware of a limb. It wasn’t until after she started to use chakra to its potential she realized how blind she’d been when she was a girl. Chakra was an inherent part of all living beings, and Sakura’s was strong. To have lived life mostly without it was like going through life able to hear or see, but to have somehow never used the sense. ‘It sounds impossible now, but that was most of my life.’

Sakura couldn’t say that she resented her mother for discouraging her from exploring it. It was a connection to a lifestyle that scared her mother; that she didn’t understand. But now that Sakura had it, nobody would take this power from her. Chakra had become an intrinsic part of her identity, as much as her body or mind. She could do so much more than protect herself, her mother, and her home. Hinata, Naruto, Kiba, Kurenai-sensei, Shikamaru and Choji, she would protect them all one day.

As it happened and she sorted through the last of her yin, Sakura cycled her chakra quickly. Once, twice, she smiled to herself. Sakura had sorted it all out. A part of her wanted to rush into trying to sort out her next element of choice, but she hadn’t yet decided if she favored earth or water yet. She’d probably start learning that element's ninjutsu once she did, but right now the focus was squarely on genjutsu. Her progress with the Vanishing Jutsu was fair, and Kurenai had even suggested trying to learn a second genjutsu in tandem with it after she mastered the Vanishing Jutsu’s basics. ‘This week,’ she told herself. ‘I will cast genjutsu.’

While Kakashi’s hundred and eighty degree change was strange to Naruto, he couldn’t say he didn’t appreciate it. Well, maybe it was more of a ninety, but at least some interest was being put on him. The tree climbing was hard, but it was giving Naruto a better mastery of his chakra. After days of tireless training, he could nearly make it to the same branch that Ino had done so easily. Kakashi suggested that it was Naruto’s huge reserve of chakra that had made things difficult for him. The fact it took everyone so long to realize that in his instruction was more than annoying, but bygones could be. It was more annoying that Sasuke had been the one to suggest a training method that worked best for Naruto.

The Uchiha had a lifetime of training drilled into him married with an inborn prowess from a nearly extinct clan. Yet as different as their experiences were, they weren’t so unalike. Naruto might look dumb, but when he watched Sasuke he saw something. A silent determination, a desire to prove everyone wrong. Naruto always rolled his eyes. ‘Prove who wrong? You have everything handed to you. I never knew my parents either.’ And unlike Naruto, who wore his feelings on his sleeve, Sasuke hid his rage behind a pensive face. Naruto watched Sasuke subtly. ‘He had been born with everything,’ he reminded himself. ‘But… didn’t he have it all taken away from him too?’ As much as Naruto hated Sasuke Uchiha, he felt a sense of pity for him as well. Naruto himself wasn’t sure if that was deserved. Sasuke was the kind of person who took what life gave him, and then took some more. His singular motivation was to become as powerful as he could. But it was to get some kind of closure about what he lost.

Sasuke's introduction had said as much. “I don’t really have hobbies, likes, or dislikes. My only goal is to kill a particular man… slowly.” Who that was, Naruto could guess. His brother, the man who murdered his entire clan and spared only Sasuke from the carnage.

‘But still, he helped me out.’ Naruto didn’t really think “thanks” were in order. Sasuke would scoff it off either way. ‘But maybe the next time I have the chance to laugh at him… I won’t.’

Sasuke caught him staring and turned to face his teammate. “What is it, idiot?”

Naruto just shrugged. “Nothing.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned back to his own training, but threw a little glance toward the progress Naruto had made. ‘He’s getting better… good.’

Fu was nothing like Ino expected. He was close to her in age, but was even more no nonsense than her father. Ino’s other immediate impressions had been of the physical. Fu wore a drab and dark outfit and his hairstyle did little for him other than keeping it out of his eyes. Then of course his voice, which was careful to be free of any overt expression.

“Have you transferred your consciousness into animals before?” Fu prompted her after a simple introduction.

‘Right to the chase then,’ Ino thought. “I have, but it’s not my preference.”

“Why not?” Fu asked in turn. She meant to explain herself, but Fu had asked his question so readily she didn’t have an instant between sentences to continue.

“I find it difficult to control their bodies.” Ino said plainly, folding her arms.

“Compared to a human, animals have various ranges of motion, yes.” Fu’s tone was too indistinct to be either agreeing or mocking. Ino couldn’t figure him out.

“Is that what you’ll be training me in?” She tried to speak as quickly as he did just to prove a point. “Controlling their bodies?”

“Perhaps,” Fu replied. “It depends on your skill in other matters and what you are in the most need of improvement in.”

Ino put on a smile. “I think you’ll find I am quite competent in Mind-Transfering people, cousin.”

“It is not a skill to be easily employed in combat. Kakashi is training you as a combat type shinobi.” Again, Ino could not tell if his statements were instructional or belittling, but the obvious fact that he knew of her own training made Ino settle on the later.

“Yes, and since any damage to a victim of the Mind Transfer is incurred to the user while their spirit is suppressing the target, it isn’t in my interest to try to attack in the body of an animal while my own lies helpless.” Ino explained the qualities of the Mind Transfer as if she was speaking to the uninitiated. If Fu wanted to talk like she had no idea what Kakashi was training her for, she could talk to him like he had no idea how their clan’s jutsu worked.

If Fu was offended by her expression, he made no voice of it, but for once was not quick to reply. He instead removed the glove off one of his hands, and bit his finger in a quick motion, before wiping the blood across his opposite forearm. A white dove emerged from the blood. ‘A summoning jutsu?’ Ino thought to herself. It was not a technique favored by the Yamanaka clan. Fu dismissed the dove wordlessly by quickly tossing up his arm, and the bird circled the duo singing. Fu then formed a quick sign, as Ino tilted her head to watch, and formed a single shadow clone.

“A clone? You’re going to fight it with the bird?” Ino almost laughed at the implication.

“No,” was Fu’s one response. And with another wordless instruction the clone took to the edge of the yard in a low sprint. “Join me in Mind Transfering to the Dove.”

“You want us both to transfer into the same body?” Ino balked at the assertion. She’d never done that with anyone before, but she also didn’t know why it wouldn’t be possible. At the same time sharing a body, even that of a bird, with Fu seemed a little… intimate. “Or can you not hit it in motion?”

“I…” Ino watched the dove. It was circling slowly and predictably. “Can… But I don’t see why we should both occupy the body at once.”

“Do as I instruct, all will become clear.” Fu looked at the bird and transferred his consciousness to it. The dove didn’t seize or stagger for an instant as its mind was suppressed. Fu’s own body fell slowly to its knees, head between his legs.

Ino formed the sign for Mind Transfer. She was curious. Her spirit left her body behind as it fell into the same pose as Fu’s, and she entered the dove’s crowded mind. She felt Fu’s presence already in control of the bird. Mercifully, it seemed no thoughts were freely exchanged between them. Looking through the bird's eyes was strange. Avians see in a totally different spectrum than humans, but Ino tried not to let that make her dizzy now. She willed her mind to contact Fu’s. “What now?”

Fu spoke within their now shared mind. “I will land since you cannot fly within this form, and you will continue to observe.” Under Fu’s control, the dove swooped down onto the branch of the Yamaka training yard's single tree, and Fu turned their eyes to his shadow clone. Ino sensed his consciousness leave the animal, and to her surprise she did not need to suppress its consciousness herself. Since it was a summoning animal she assumed the bird would have allowed it, but it was as if Fu had… left her in charge.

The clone signaled to her, and Ino understood after a moment that Fu had transferred his consciousness to his own clone. ‘A double mind transfer!’ She looked quickly at Fu’s original body, then back to the clone. After a Mind Transfer was complete, the consciousness was meant to return to the original body. Ino was shocked this was even possible. Beyond that, clones followed the user’s instructions inherently, so Ino understood she must need to think of the demonstration clone as a third party. ‘But why not just have another person to demonstrate on?’ Before Ino could finish her thought, Fu’s clone threw itself into a dangerous backflip, tilting its head as if to land on its own neck. ‘He’ll kill himself!’ Ino yelled mentally. ‘If you die in a Mind Transfer, the consciousness of the user is destroyed!’

The clone hit the ground with a heavy crack, but poofed to nothing as all clones do an instant later. Ino shifted her strange new feet to survey Fu’s original body. She had to assume he made it out in time, but wasn’t sure if he would return to himself or the dove at this point. Fu was already standing, looking up at her. And a moment later, Fu was back within the consciousness of the bird. He quickly regained control of the body. Ino felt as if her spirit had been shoved to the background, but it wasn’t ungentle. “I err…” Ino began. “You killed yourself?”

“Yes,” Fu replied simply.

“And you transferred out that fast? Before you hit the ground? And could you go back to the bird or?” Ino was awash with questions. She knew Fu was a prodigy, but this.

“Yes,” Fu replied, “and either. But any competent shinobi might realize the dove as a target. Your own body should be further away and safer.”

“Wait,” Ino began. “What was the point of the bird even? Just to get a different vantage?”

“The bird can fly kilometers before it gets far enough away that my spirit needs to return. In a real scenario, I could have used it to scout, and pick any target at my discretion. Then I put that body at risk of immediate physical harm, fatal or otherwise, and transfer away. In this manner, I will not injure my own spirit.”

Ino had nearly stopped listening. “You-you, can maintain a Mind Transfer over that far a distance!?”

“Yes,” Fu’s response was as quick and simple as Ino was beginning to expect from him. “In the coming weeks, you will train with me.”

Under Kurenai’s guidance, Team Eight had come far from the academy. Kiba and Hinata had both grown better at taijutsu training against one another consistently, but nobody impressed Kurenai with genjutsu quite like Sakura. It was clear to Kurenai that if Sakura had a proper mentor figure back at the academy, she would have emerged as a prodigy in illusory arts. As the two trained in a laid back little spar, Kurenai acted quickly, and cast a genjutsu with a skill level she would need to deceive an ordinary chunin. 

Sakura sensed its presence in her own chakra pool, and watched as Kurenai vanished before her eyes. Sakura formed a sign to aid the flow of her chakra. “Release!” And Kurenai slowly flickered back into being. Sakura panted, before her stamina returned to her, and smirked. “Okay,” Sakura said, pulling out a kunai and ready to continue their little duel.

Kurenai stepped back, adjusting her gaze. “Go ahead Sakura, now you.”

Sakura nodded. Kurenai was going to let her do it. “Genjutsu,” she called out. “Vanishing!”

Kurenai watched as her student faded into nothingness, and waited the good few seconds she imagined it would take a genin to release it. Then, she fixed herself to purge the technique from her system. Kurenai blinked in surprise. She’d released the technique but there wasn’t one Sakura before her, but a half dozen. “You timed a clone jutsu for the second I released the genjutsu?”

Sakura nodded. “I have a pretty good feel for when my genjutsu is being released now. I have been able to make clones quickly for a while so I just figured…”

“You’d combine them?” Kurenai asked proudly. “And all this from a new graduate?”

Sakura shrugged and rubbed the back of her neck nervously. She wasn’t one to tout her own power, but if she was honest with herself, she was good at this. Sakura smiled, a little unsure of herself. “Now that my yin is separated, and I am getting good with Vanishing Jutsu, I was wondering if I could…”

“Learn a new one?” Kurenai asked. She laughed a little, it wasn’t like Sakura to act shy, so it was interesting to see. “Sure, why not,” Kurenai said. “You have a good enough understanding of Vanishing that you can practice it on your own so long as you have a partner. We can try, hmm” Kurenai tapped her chin in thought. “Genjutsu: Flower Concealment.”

Sakura looked a little crestfallen. “Another concealing jutsu. I was hoping to learn something more offensive.”

Kurenai breathed a little laugh. “It can be… in fact this is the technique I used to kill that Cloud kunoichi from the war I told you about. It creates a visual of flowers that allows you to disguise real objects, including shuriken and kunai.”

Sakura nodded. “How does it work? Can you demonstrate it?”

Kurenai formed the hand signs. “Alright, check this out and let me know what you think.” Producing several shuriken as she cast the jutsu, they became petals in the air as they left Kurenai’s hand. Sakura watched intensely as they drilled into a stump nearby.

“Interesting,” Sakura commented. It hadn’t truly impressed her yet.

“Keep watching,” Kurenai replied. She reached back into her bag, and a long line of flowers was ripped loose as Kurenai drew out some unseen object. There were too many flowers for them all to be shuriken. Waving her arms, the petals circled Kurenai, and she began motioning like she was throwing objects in all directions. The pink blossoms flew out in waves, as if blown by the wind with each motion. It was a spectacle, and Sakura found herself subtly drawn in. When Kurenai gestured a handful of petals to fly straight at her, Sakura blinked in amazement before remembering to guard. 

She blocked hastily with her kunai, cleaving through some of the flowers. Others wisped around her blade, and Sakura twitched nervously as they got past her defense. There were too many for her to block all at once. ‘Damn,’ she thought. ‘Which are real?’

The genjutsu was released after Sakura’s defensive dance. She expected to see shuriken at her feet or even lodged in her. Nothing. Sakura looked up toward her sensei. “None on that throw I’m afraid.” Kurenai opened her arms wide while Sakura surveyed the scene. Shuriken were everywhere. Some in places Sakura didn’t even think Kurenai threw them too, and in others she'd been sure of, none at all. “What do you think, wanna make this your next jutsu?”

Sakura took a few breaths. There was a lot more to this jutsu than met the eye. “Hell yes.”

The weekend was fast approaching and Sakura was hoping for a chance to hang out with Naruto. She hadn’t seen him much at all this past month and a half or so. Team Eight did manage to complete a second C-Rank assignment, but after the tension on the first, Sakura found it unremarkable. A messenger pigeon used by the Leaf went missing while carrying a semi-important document. As suspected, a raptor had simply intercepted the pigeon in flight, and after they found the hawk's nest they managed to retrieve the message in so-so condition.

At least it was some more C-Rank pay for her. Sakura hadn’t been able to enjoy much of the cash from the first one with how much she gave to her mom for various bills and groceries, so this time she decided to buy herself something nice. A new custom outfit was in order. ‘Just a little something with the Senju Clan symbol on it,’ Sakura had told herself. Her mom knew a tailor who could have it made. Actually making sure her mom took the correct order was another sort of hurdle.

“A short sleeved green shirt,” Sakura described. “Not too green, like an earthy tone. And on the back the Senju clan symbol in white. I have some white elbow warmers that will go with it.”

“Oh yeah!” Mebuki said eagerly while taking notes. “I’ll get it fitted of course. And we can do a little skirt with that! With some leggings underneath of course, but you know, like to make it cute.”

Sakura rolled her eyes and moved to appraise herself in the mirror. “It would have to be loose enough to move it. I’m gonna pass on a skirt.”

Mebuki snapped her fingers. “A skort!”

Sakura turned slowly with a groan. “Mama, what the hell is that?”

“It’s like shorts but with extra fabric that makes it look like a skirt!” Mebuki said with an eager little grin. “Ohh they used to be trendy when I was a girl! You’d look great!”

It didn’t sound… terrible. Sakura scoffed. “Fine, just make sure it’s slit. All the way up. You know what, take a little section out of it.”

Mebuki clapped to herself and giggled like a school girl. “Ohh that’s even cuter! Okay, okay, what color?”

Sakura always felt her mom was a little disappointed Sakura had never wanted a big wardrobe, but watching her get all giddy over her new shinobi uniform was somehow giving her second hand embarrassment. “Hang on,” Sakura called as she started to head into her bedroom. “Let’s have it match my knee pads.”

“You’re so sporty,” Menuki called back teasingly. “It’s no fun!”

Sakura poked her head back out of her room. “Mama, I’m a ninja, it’s serious business not picture day.”

“Yeah but you genin run around in your little outfits.” Mebuki waved dismissively. “Don’t worry, Misato is going to have you looking great! Oh, oh, what if we did something to reference your chakra natures! Like we can do a scarf or a ribbon, but have it be like a current of water!”

Sakura groaned.

On a remote island in the Land of Water, rebel scout Suigetsu Hozuki nursed a minor wound. He might not have had to undergo the same barbaric graduation ritual that his older brother had, but when the rebellion against their twisted Mizukage became a full blown civil war, the Hozuki clan had been fast to join the rebels. Suigetsu rested underneath a shady tree, trying to keep himself hydrated, and regain his strength. The Hozuki clan were born with the unique ability to liquify themselves and appear as water, but it also meant they became dehydrated quickly. Still, Suigetsu was happy to act as a scout for the rebellion, his abilities allowed him a way to traverse the seas surrounding the Land of Water’s island archipelago easily. It also allowed him to easily avoid most physical strikes. Any blow he saw coming he could liquify for, and allow to pass through him harmlessly. Key wording, “saw coming,” which is why when that damned snake popped out of a bush it managed to get a bite in.

Suigetsu wasn’t too worried about it. He had liquified his leg below the knee right after, so even if the snake was venomous it never circulated through his body. Suigetsu just had to make sure he washed out any venom before he solidified his leg again. He took a deep breath. ‘So why am I feeling so tired all of a sudden?’

Suigetsu should be used to being tired. He’d been a rebel soldier in the civil war for years. The Mizukage loyalists might have the numbers and the resources, but the rebels had many of the elite clans. “We should have expected this,” his brother would say. “Electing a Jinchuriki as our Mizukage.”

Yagura had seemed a kind man, respected both within the Land of Water and without. He’d always been generous, thoughtful, proactive. And after he was named the Fourth Mizukage he began passing insane laws, the most horrific of which was that graduating genin had to butcher each other to pass. They didn’t all die, rather a class of thirty would be placed in ten man cells. The ones that came out of each group would be a genin team. It was survival of the fittest at its worst, and saw the once liberal, tolerant, and egalitarian Hidden Mist Village become an authoritarian regime the other land’s referred to as the “Bloody Mist.”

Some in the village felt that the demon within Yagura was influencing him, some even thought it was somehow an outside party. The Hozuki clan tended to agree that Yagura was a sick man all along, and just playing a part to gain the title Mizukage. For years, whispers had grew into shouts behind the Mizukage’s back. The brutality of Yagura’s reign had to end, and the Hidden Mist would make it so. Under the leadership of some of their top jonin, including some who survived the brutal exam themselves, an attempt was made on Yagura’s life. An attempt that failed. There was a mass culling of the clans in response, and those marked for execution responded with violence of their own. Together they abandoned the village, taking what resources from their home that they could. Those still loyal to the Mizukage saw an opportunity to increase their own status as the old clans fell in the war. Now they defend the village and Yagura with their lives against their former comrades. In the years since the fighting began, the rebels' territory had slipped to only a few islands in the archipelago, and their morale was faltering. But there is no returning to the Hidden Mist. Any life made there would be swiftly ended by execution. And when the choice is between life and death, the rebels will show Yagura and his loyalists just what they can do. ‘At least that’s what our leaders say.’ Suigetsu looked back at his leg. ‘Damn it, why is it taking so long to re-solidify.’ Suigetsu supposed he should be grateful for the inconvenience. A snake bite sucks, but this wouldn’t kill him. If he’d stayed in the Mist he’d be taking the graduation exam right about now. Suigetsu always wondered if he would have survived like his brother did.

A branch snapped and Suigetsu leveled his katana in the sound’s direction. This was a small, obscure islet. Suigetsu didn’t expect any Bloody Mist guys to show up, in fact he was hoping that his brothers and sisters in the rebellion could set up a little base here of their own. ‘So who the hell is coming out of the woods?’ He knew better than to lower his katana when he saw the figure, even if they didn’t look dangerous and didn’t bear the Mist symbol anywhere on their garb. “Back off, there is no need for this to get ugly.”

The figure looked to Suigetsu’s liquified leg and back to him. “A Hozuki, yes? You seem injured.”

‘This guy is definitely bad news.’ Suigetsu tilted his blade. “What’s it to you? This is your last warning, come closer and I decide you’re a threat.”

The intruder stopped with a chuckle. “No need to be so harsh, I’m just an admirer. The Land of Water possesses such interesting bloodlines.”

“Fan of the Hozuki, huh?” Suigetsu said drolly. “Listen bub, you keep talking, I cut your head off. You walk away, you live.” Suigetsu readied himself, somehow knowing this guy wasn’t going anywhere. “Your choice.”

The man laughed, more openly this time. “You rebels claim you’re fighting for the betterment of the Land of Water, but you’re as violent as the Blood Mist when you get worked up.”

“Nah, that’s just me,” Suigetsu said back proudly. He was putting on airs though, this guy just reeked of trouble and Suigetsu wasn’t sure he could handle it. He'd still fight for his life if he had to. “You wanna get killed by a Hozuki, fanboy? Be my guest.”

The figure cocked his head. “Your Hydrification Technique is as interesting as they say, but I think the Kaguya clan is still my favorite in the Land of Water.”

Suigetsu felt his grip weaken at the comment. “Hold on, Kaguya? They’re extinct.” Suigetsu steadied himself again. The Kaguya attacked the village when Suigetsu was a toddler. Not in opposition to Yagura’s cruel reign but in delight in it. They might have lived on an island impossibly far to the east but they were never a part of the Hidden Mist. The Kaguya were battle obsessed hedonists who lived for war, and they were cut to shreds when they tried to test themselves against the village.

“Not entirely,” The figure replied. “Maybe you’d like to meet one?” He stepped forward, too close for Suigetsu’s comfort.

“Go to hell,” Suigetsu bounced up with his good leg and flew forward. He still didn’t understand why his other was still liquified.

Suigetsu finished his sentence as he leveraged his blade at the figure. Terrifyingly the man matched him word for word. “I’ll put you there myself.”

Suigetsu faltered. "Get out of my head!”

The intruder laughed, nearly manic sounding, and stopped just as suddenly when he all but coughed up a blade of his own. He took it in hand and held it nimbly, but his stance was strange. ‘Nobody matches a Mist Ninja in kenjutsu,’ Suigetsu told himself. And despite his shaky nerve and liquid leg, Suigetsu locked blades with him when his assailant came. The pair held each other's gaze for a moment, before Suigetsu liquified his whole lower half and flowed around his opponent like a rolling wave. The attacker apparently was not ready for this, and Suigetsu quickly formed the Water Gun Justu. “Get fucked!” A single compressed bullet of water nailed the opponent in the side of the head, and he fell supine.

Suigetsu himself flowed a few meters away and landed in the dirt. He was trying to reconnect his body but it was left in a jelly-like state. ‘Still doing better than that guy.’ He looked to his opponent triumphantly, but his smug grin shifted to horror as the opponent started to rise.

“Not bad,” He said in a gravelly sinister voice that sounded nothing like the one he had before. When the figure turned to face Suigetsu again, a mass of skin and hair had peeled away where Suigetsu shot him, revealing lethargic looking gray skin and a yellow, almost reptilian, eye.

Suigetsu kept a grip on his blade despite his physical state and fear. “Who the hell are you? Are you an ally of the Mizukage?”

The figure giggled in an almost childlike manner. “No, I’m actually something of a Kage myself. But I prefer to think of myself as a simple collector of… rare and valuable things.” Suigetsu watched and bit his lip as a trio of serpents snaked their way out of his attacker's sleeve, poised to lash out. “But you, my boy, can call me Orochimaru.”

Suigetsu recoiled. He knew the name. The snake that bit him, his failing jutsu, his fatiguing strength. No natural poison could have affected him so quickly. Suigetsu shouted in fear and began trying to claw his way backward. He was insane to ever fight this man. He was out of his mind. In defiance he tried to hydrify his entire body, but failed to even do that, all Suigetsu could manage was gelatin. His cocky swagger left him as he shouted and begged out of fear.

Orochimaru snorted and laughed. “Don’t look so afraid,” His pitch shifted as he giggled more. “I’m not going to kill you.” When the snakes struck, Suigetsu wished he had. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 21: Exchanging Garlands

While Sasuke’s progress with chidori had notably slowed, at least Sasuke and Naruto’s chakra control was coming along. As for Ino, well she could walk alright on the water's surface. Or at least she didn’t sink past her knees while she waddled in place. She’d come in with sharper chakra control than the others, so Kakashi had to assume her training with Fu was more advantageous than anything he was doing for her. In the end, Ino had already been capable enough as a kunoichi, and that was why Kakashi had chosen her. With a little team building ironed out, Kakashi had to focus on the C-Rank mission they’d be receiving from the Lord Hokage. If that went smoothly, it sounded like Kakashi could stay with his kids. But of course, they wouldn’t be his kids if one of them weren’t causing commotion already. Kakashi stared expressionlessly as they bickered.

“It’s our first ever C-Rank mission, and you don’t wanna go?” Naruto was sounding as shocked as he was annoyed. Everybody knew C-Ranked missions were where ninja work got serious, and it seemed like every other graduate had already fulfilled at least one. How could Ino seriously say she wanted to stay behind?

“Fu offered to train me again this week! I’m not missing out on that to go on some long tedious mission with you guys!” Ino had never seen her clan’s jutsu cast as effectively as when it was done by Fu, but he was an Anbu. It was a rare enough gift that he could train her the few times he did. Fu could be pulled from the village on assignment and be gone for months or years at a moment's notice. Ino hadn’t stood in the background of Team Seven for a month to reject what could be her final opportunity to learn under Fu.

“Ino, if we aren’t a full unit we might not be able to accept the mission.” Sasuke reminded her. “Some contracts specifically request a team of four.”

Ino crossed her arms. Nobody, not even Sasuke, would talk her out of this. “I don’t see why sensei is so insistent we receive a mission this weekend. Let’s do a C-Rank later and do some D-Ranked crap this week.”

“No way,” Naruto yelled. “I’m not rescuing anymore cats, picking up any more dog crap, or weeding anymore gardens! I’m going on a real mission for the Land of Fire!”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Those D-Ranks are real missions, idiot. Proportionally, D-Ranks bring in more money for the village than any other rank… But I agree. They are better suited for less skilled shinobi.”

“We are unskilled shinobi!” Ino waved her arms in frustration. “You two are acting like we didn’t just graduate from the academy.”

“It’s just a C-Rank though.” Naruto shook his fists back. “Genin are supposed to be able to complete C-Ranks! I wanna show the Leaf what I can do!”

Ino shot her eyes back at Naruto. “Nobody said anything about us not being able to!”

“She just doesn’t want to.” Sasuke said, rolling his eyes. “She’d rather put her own training before the team.”

Sasuke nearly took the words right out of Ino’s mouth. Naruto too lowered his eyes in annoyance, despite the fact that Sasuke was arguing for him. Of course, it was Ino that spoke first. “You got some nerv-”

“Enough.” Kakashi silenced his team with an uncharacteristically sharp tone. “We don’t even know what the parameters of the mission are.” If Kakashi wanted to keep his student’s, he couldn’t have Ino complaining about his leadership to her well connected father anymore. He needed to placate the Yamanaka girl now. “The Hokage may assign us a mission that can be completed by a group of three. Even a man down, I’m a top jonin, so any C-Rank assigned will be easy. I can carry you through the mission.”

Ino huffed in surprise. “So, you’ll give me leave from the mission?”

“Yes,” Kakashi replied. “Until such a time that our C-Ranked mission is complete and your next instruction with Fu is also finished, I will permit you to act independently from Team Seven.” Kakashi sighed internally. This had better not be a mistake. “If you desire it.”

For the first time under his tutelage, Ino bowed to her sensei. “Thank you, sir.” She turned to the boys. “And I’m not walking away from Team Seven, I’m catching up to you guys. Shadow Clones and Chidori are both higher ranked jutsu than anything I can do right now, but when you’re back from that C-Rank things will have changed.” 

It was idle pride. Ino couldn’t hope to master a complex attack after only a few training sessions, even with someone as skilled as Fu. But at least she was showing the self-drive Kakashi had heard about from her. As far as he was concerned, the more independent his students were, the better. It would serve them well when a real crisis took hold. “Ino Yamanaka, I hereby relinquish you from my command until such a time that our team’s next assignment is complete, your training with Fu is finished, or you wish to return. Is that understood?”

Ino nodded. “Yes sensei.” She blinked. ‘Wait, now this is awkward, do I just leave training today or?’ “I wish you all good luck on the mission. Am I dismissed for today or?”

Kakashi was preparing to set off to tell the Hokage of the development. He hadn’t really considered if Ino should leave now either. “You can train with the boys on your surface walking for today, unless you have some other task to complete. I will report your leave to the Hokage and then return to supervise the instruction. Later.”

As their sensei left the yard, Ino turned to the others. “We’re just a genin team. Why would he need to report any temporary changes in our roster to the Hokage?”

Sasuke tilted his head. “And why so immediately?”

“Denied.” Hiruzen said quickly. “You were asked to complete a mission with your squad. You cannot neglect Ino.”

Kakashi stood before the Lord Hokage and Danzo. This went so much more smoothly in his head. “Ino requested a leave to continue to train with Fu. I didn’t want to pressure her into completing a mission she didn’t desire to.”

Hiruzen turned to his left hand. “I thought you only assigned Fu to train her for two weeks.”

“I did,” Danzo said without turning. “Fu personally requested he train her in additional sessions. The young man has so few desires, I didn’t want to deny him…”

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. ‘The old codger.’ Danzo was still at odds with him trying to wrestle the fate of this team. Two could play at that game. “Then Kakashi, you will require a temporary substitute. An additional genin will be transferred to your squad.”

Kakashi was a bit surprised to see the Hokage and Danzo spatting so openly, but so long as he could complete his mission, he didn’t need to overcomplicate matters by getting between them. “A temporary addition is a fantastic idea my lord, thank you. So long as Ino may return to the squad once the mission is over.”

“Oh course,” Hiruzen said gently. It was a subtle shift in tone from his more declarative voice earlier, but it was noticeable. “Contact the captains of the other graduated combat squads, Team Eight, Nine, and Ten. See if they will loan you any of their genin first since they will already be familiar with Naruto and Sasuke.”

Kakashi nodded. “As you order, Lord Hokage.”

Hirzuen nodded in turn. “Very good then, dismissed Kakashi.” Kakashi slipped out of the room while his elder’s watched. The moment the door closed the Hokage turned to Danzo. “Are you satisfied Danzo?”

Danzo scanned a paper before him and jotted down something quickly. “If I had concerns I would have voiced them, my lord.” He moved to leave the room as quickly as Kakashi. “I will inform the records department of this development in squad makeups.” And with that, he was out the door.

Team Eight gathered at their usual meeting spot, but Kurenai sensei’s manner was different today. “Everyone,” she began. “We have an exciting opportunity for one of you to complete an extra C-Rank assignment if you want it! Kakashi Hatake, the leader of Team Seven, has requested a temporary transfer to his command.” Her trio of student’s took interest. None of them wanted to leave Kurenai’s service, but a chance to pick up an extra mission was an interesting one. “One of his student’s cannot attend their first C-Rank assignment, which is…” Kurenai checked the sun. “In about an hour, so if any of you would like to go, it needs to be a quick decision.”

“Ugh pass,” Kiba shrugged, not giving it much thought. “I got my fill of C-Ranks for this week. Besides, aren’t you two closer with the Team Seven guys?”

Hinata and Sakura turned to one another. They weren’t so much friends with Ino or Sasuke, but it was Naruto’s team. Sakura addressed her sensei. “Kakashi requested someone from Team Eight specifically?”

“No, he asked Team Ten and Nine too,” Kurenai explained. “Or tried too. Asuma and his boys are already outside the village. And Takumi dislikes Kakashi,” Kurenai’s tone grew sarcastic, “though I can’t imagine why… I doubt he’d send any of his kids.” Kurenai looked over Hinata and Sakura. “So it seems like it would need to be one of you girls.”

“Is it required that one of us go, or could we choose not to?” Hinata asked. She would much rather say with a captain she was familiar with, what little Hinata knew of Kakashi she didn’t like. Still, she was drawn to the idea of supporting Naruto.

“No,” Kurenai replied. “Neither of you have to go. I’m not sure what the assignment will be or its length, but if you are looking for cash or a new experience I’d jump on it. I believe it’s Team Seven’s first C-Rank, so I wouldn’t expect anything wild.”

Hinata nudged Sakura. “It should be you. It is a good chance to help Naruto out, and you will make better use of the money.” She giggled. “Plus compared to me, I think Sasuke is afraid of you.”

“Alright,” Sakura chuckled. “Yeah why not, it’ll be fun to reunite with Naruto for a mission.” Sakura felt a little awkward going under someone else's command however. “Ah, though I will be coming back, right sensei?”

“To Team Eight?” Kurenai asked rhetorically. It seemed like a silly question. “Of course honey, you’ll only be assigned to transfer until the mission is complete.”

Sakura nodded, reassured. “Alright then I’ll take the- wait. What if it’s a week-long mission? I don’t wanna leave everyone back here short handed.”

Kiba patted Akamaru. “Ah, don’t worry Sakura, we got Akamaru. We are just a regular sized squad now.” He laughed as Akamaru yipped something that was apparently funny.

Sakura smiled. This wasn’t what she expected for the weekend, but honestly it was sounding kind of exciting. A chance to regroup with Naruto, and see how another squad did things, even if annoying Sasuke was on the team. “Okay,” She stood up and wiped a little dirt off her new outfit. “I guess I’ll be seeing everyone then.” Sakura waved and started to back away, it was odd to just walk away from them.

Hinata waved back. “Bye-bye Sakura! Say hi to Naruto for me, and good luck on the mission.”

Akamaru was barking affectionately, and Kiba nodded in Sakura’s direction. “Later.”

Kurenai smiled and called after Sakura as Team Eight traded goodbyes. “I’ll head over to the training yard entrance and radio ahead so Kakashi knows somebody is coming. You can meet Team Seven at the Hokage’s office after you grab what you need from home.”

Sakura turned with another wave and took off in a run. “Right! See you later everyone!” 

Team Seven, minus Ino, had gathered up at the Hokage estate, but weren’t going in until they received their new member. Kakashi had just gotten off the radio, but was mum about any developments. He never seemed to tell them anything until the last moment, and you never knew where the wind blew with him.

“So?” Naruto began eagerly. “Is someone coming or not sensei?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact.” Kakashi addressed both his students, but Sasuke seemed disinterested. “Kurenai Yuuhi of Team Eight is sending someone over.”

“Team Eight!?” Naruto jumped with enthusiasm. “Who is it?”

Kakashi shrugged at Naruto’s vigor. Did it really matter so much who so long as they had someone? “The girl.”

Naruto stopped bouncing. Kakashi’s dry manner could sap the energy from anyone. “Which one sensei?”

Kakashi turned away, distracted as he paged through his book. “Huh?”

“Which girl?” Naruto asked, annoyed. “Team Eight has two girls.”

“Oh!” Kakashi laughed a little and waved without looking up. “Right, right. No, it’s your friend.”

Naruto’s shoulders slunk. “Sensei, that doesn’t narrow it down…”

Before they could continue a voice called down the road. “Hey!” Naruto and Sasuke turned to address them.

Naruto’s face twisted in confusion. “Kiba?”

The figure giggled and released the transformation. Sakura stood before them playfully. “Just kidding! Kurenai sent me over!” Her smile was so wide that her eyes squinted shut.

Naruto cheered and rushed over to her. “Sakura!” He laughed with glee and threw himself on her, causing her to stumble back a little but she laughed and patted him on the back. “Sakura, I’m so glad you’re here!”

Sakura smiled and she peeled herself off her friend. “It’s good to see you too, Naruto.” She bobbed her head toward Sasuke. “Hey Sasuke!”

The Uchiha just grunted and folded his arms.

Sakura would have rolled her eyes, but honestly, it made her a little proud that he found her presence so annoying. “What, you didn’t think you boys would get rid of me that easily did you?”

Sasuke leaned against the building he was next to, but didn’t make a motion to address her. Naruto pulled her by the arm. “Sakura, this is Kakashi sensei! He is our captain.”

Sakura waved nervously. She hadn’t been too intimidated by him before, she just felt strange to watch him do little to address her presence even post introductions. “Hello sir. I am Sakura Senju.”

“Right,” Kakashi spoke as if he was agreeing with something she said more than introducing himself. “Kakashi. And your skills are?”

“Oh,” Sakura nodded. “I have a firm understanding of all the basic academy jutsu, I am adept at using shuriken and kunai, and I have good chakra control. I also know a little bit of genjutsu and am effective at releasing it.”

“We are unlikely to need that skill in a C-Rank mission.” Kakashi said as he turned a page. It was true, brigands and bandits weren’t going to be casting illusions on them. “Can you perform any?”

Sakura nodded. “The Vanishing genjutsu, sir.”

“Turely?” Kakashi’s voice finally had a little expression beyond boredom, but it seemed to be born of surprise more than anything else. “I would not think to teach a rookie genin how to cast any genjutsu, they usually can’t.”

Sakura took offense but didn’t show it. “Kurenai sensei has trained me well.”

“So it seems.” Kakashi snapped his book closed. “Whelp, let’s go see what the Hokage has in store for us, shall we?”

Sasuke moved to follow along wordlessly as Kakashi entered the building without a backwards glance.

Sakura tapped Naruto before they continued. “Is it always like this?”

Naruto snorted. “Like I said, I’m glad you’re here.”

Hiruzen looked over the new Team Seven squad makeup. It was satisfactory. “Hello everyone, today your mission will be a simple escort assignment, though the mission may be drawn out. You’ll be traveling to the Land of Waves, and then remaining with the escort until the completion of a local construction project.

Escorts were one thing, but staying on to guard them until construction was complete was another. This sounded like an odd C-Rank to Sakura, and one she suddenly wasn’t so giddy to be on. She hoped it was only a week or two that she would be gone.

The Hokage nodded to a formal looking secretary. “You can bring him in.”

As the squad waited for their client, Naruto turned to his teammates quizzically. “The Land of Waves?”

“It’s a very minor nation off the eastern coast of the Land of Fire.” Sakura explained. “It’s less than a kilometer from the mainland, but its technical presence as an Island in the Eastern Ocean has led to it being claimed by the Land of Water in the past. To resolve the border dispute, both countries agreed to leave the nation independent, but it’s a small country lacking in natural resources. There is only a single major settlement on the island, and the people there are impoverished by Land of Fire standards. They don’t even have any ninja of their own, much less a village.”

The door to the Hokage’s office swung back open. “Don’t speak of my country as if I’m not the one paying you, girl.” A grizzled man about sixty walked into the office beside the Hokage’s aid with an undue swagger. He turned to the Hokage with annoyance. “Kids?”

“Tazuna,” The Hokage began. “These are genin from the Land of Fire. Genin complete C-Ranked missions.”

The man, apparently Tazuna, looked Kakashi up and down. “What’s with you?”

Kakashi’s normally drab disposition was suddenly cheery when talking to a client. “I am their jonin commander.”

Tazuna nodded. “Good.”

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. “We didn’t realize this would be a longer assignment, what exactly are the details of your request.”

“We are constructing a bridge to connect the Land of Waves to the Land of Fire.” Tazuna said plainly. “It’s nearly complete, but we expect the bridge to bring a lot of new commerce to our nation, and not all in the Land of Waves appreciate that. It’s going to change our way of life forever, and recently me and some of my workers have been receiving threats anonymously from others in my country. I expect you can manage to see off anybody that shows up at the bridge to try and muscle us out of completing construction.”

It didn’t sound too hard. Most thugs would make tracks when they see a ninja, and if they didn’t, it sounded like it wouldn’t be hard to scare them off personally. Sakura was immediately interested in the nature of the bridge however. The Land of Waves had never sought one before despite its proximity. She assumed it would have violated some kind of agreement between the Land of Fire and Water. Still, the Land of Waves perhaps had some kind of right to self determination, but a construction project like that must’ve been expensive for such a small country. And Tazuna himself admitted it was controversial. ‘Strange then, that all the issues arrive at the end of the project, not the beginning.’ Sakura bit her lip in thought, before Tazuna and Kakashi’s conversation pulled her back.

“So I will meet you at the east gate then?” Tazuna asked.

“Yes,” Kakashi nodded. “You three can go get any extra gear and rations you need for a longer mission and then meet me and Tazuna at the east gate in one hour.”

Sakura nodded. She was over prepared already, but concerning rations she could stand to get some more unless she wanted to drop money in the Land of Waves for food. ‘Damn,’ she grumbled in annoyance. ‘This mission better be paying good.’

Chapter Text

Chapter 22: Waves, Willows, and Weeping

Initial introductions with Tazuna aside, he wasn’t that bad. A bit of a grump, but all Sakura could really complain about was that he slowed down how quickly Team Seven could have made it to Wave. Even then, it was a reach. Tazuna was the escort, so if they needed to move slower to accommodate him it was part of what they were getting paid for. On the other hand, it was taking days to reach the coast. The notion of being away from the Leaf and Team Eight for weeks wasn’t exciting to Sakura. Strangely, the things she had from home, dried fruit from her garden, some other snacks for the road, her overstock of shuriken and kunai, and even a few paper bombs, gave her an awkward comfort. As unfamiliar as her team was, she was the same, and so were the little parts of home still with her.

Watching Team Seven’s interactions was something Sakura tried to do from afar. Naruto was as she expected, and Sasuke mostly kept to himself, but Kakashi was a far cry from Kurenai sensei. Unlike her teacher, who was eager to try to get to know everyone personally, Kakashi seemed disconnected. Sakura had tried several times over the past few days to interact with him, and when he was attentive to her, it was all business. She knew Kakashi was a famous ninja, but learning what made him tick wasn’t going to be easy. In the end, it seemed better for her to try to integrate into an existing dynamic than to get everyone to warm up to her fast. That dynamic was apparently keeping your head down and focusing on the mission. ‘Very Anbu,’ Sakura thought. ‘They are known for stifling their emotions for the mission.’ With that in mind, Sakura was sure Kakashi was being artificial with Tazuna. When it came to the client, Kakashi proved he could seem warm and reactive, but Sakura sensed it was performative. Yet when it came to everyone else, Kakashi seemed unable or unwilling to express any feelings he had.

It was uncomfortable, but it also wasn’t behavior Sakura couldn’t work with per say. Burying herself and focusing on work was how she got through her early days at the academy. She hated to reuse the skills, but if she really wanted someone to talk to she could go and talk to Naruto. A team like this must’ve been a learning curve for him, but he seemed to light up anytime Sakura was around. Naruto was an extrovert in that way. And even Sasuke was fine if Sakura just gave him his space. It was surprising to her how quickly you could pass time on the road without doing much talking. It was easy for Sakura to tune things out, get lost in thought, and just put one foot in front of the other. She focused on her surroundings and paid note to anything interesting she passed. An odd flower, a puddle of water, a roadside teahouse. She did her breathing exercises and managed her chakra regulation as if she was halfway in meditation. It all got boring after doing it for hours on end, but it was still relaxing.

Nights were nothing special either. Sakura had been taking the first shifts, and all that ever happened was laying out her camping supplies, helping Naruto with his, and then reading one of her books with her ears peeled. Sakura had considered working to separate another chakra nature. But unlike yin, which she had some familiarity with, she had no idea what earth and water truly felt like. She didn’t have a single jutsu that incorporated either nature, and without that, there was almost nothing to work off of. Sakura couldn’t complain though. With how much she typically trained, this mission was oddly laid back. In the mornings, one of the guys would wake her and she’d be on her way. And that was her life on the road until they reached the edge of the Land of Fire.

The beach wasn’t what Sakura pictured. This part of shoreline had no white sand and palm trees, but instead a rocky mess of jagged cliffs and harsh salty air. The Land of Waves was close enough to be seen at the edge of her vision. It was a little speck of land that the sea was desperate to swallow up. Unusually for an island, it appeared to have little in the way of elevational changes. Just a flat patch of forest isolated from the mainland. Sakura noted the lights of a gray town contrasting the overcast clouds in the sky behind it. The Wave country seemed remarkably boring. Sakura had never left the Land of Fire before, but if this was her one chance, she’d sooner turn around. Instead, she followed a surprisingly eager Tazuna as he led them down to a little boat by the shore. Stumbling down the wet rocks between Sasuke and Kakashi, she’d have much preferred for the Land of Waves to have a proper ferry service. ‘I guess a bridge isn’t the worst thing this country could do for itself.’

“Oh man,” Naruto started, “this is so cool! I’ve never left the Land of Fire before!”

Tazuna laughed boisterously. “Welcome to the Land of Waves, boy! It might not look like much, but some people have a way of ending up here and never leaving!”

Sakura kept herself from rolling her eyes. As if she’d ever remain in a dingy little nation like this.

“Do you leave Wave often, Tazuna?” Kakashi asked.

“Not as much anymore.” Despite his age, Tazuna leapt between too jagged rocks with surprising agility. “Would be that I was young again, I might, but now it takes something to pull me away from home.”

“Surprising that you left for the Leaf on your own then.” Kakashi continued. “Especially seeing as you are being harrowed by bandits.”

“Well not bandits really.” Tazuna replied. “More just Wavers who don’t want to see the bridge completed and our way of life changed.”

“And you are the head bridge builder,” Kakashi added, “It’s good you weren’t followed by them on your trip to the Leaf.”

Sakura tilted her head between Kakashi and Tazuna. She hadn’t questioned the mission details after she received them, but it was odd. Tazuna just laughed. “Those independence nationalists probably thought I ditched the country and aren’t coming back. I was the one preaching loudest for the bridge after all. But they just can’t see that the Land of Waves can’t stay isolated forever. Sooner or later, we need to link up with one of the major shinobi nations.”

“You’re lucky they didn’t kill you.” Kakashi replied dryly.

“Kill me?” Tazuna’s voice was a mixture of being perplexed and amused. “Nothing as dramatic as that… we are a peaceful people.” Tazuna added. “I’m more concerned that they will just try to stop us from completing the bridge somehow, or honestly, try to undermine its construction.”

Kakashi shrugged as he leapt to the boat, getting ahead of even Tazuna. “Their way of life is being forever changed, you said so yourself. You truly imagine none will resort to violence?”

“Well not murder,” Tazuna exclaimed. “We don’t even have any weapons here really. Some guy with a garden hoe doesn’t really scare me.”

Kakashi nodded for his team to enter the boat as Tazuna heaved himself in. “Why go to the trouble of hiring us then?”

“Ninjas are…” Tazuna seemed to be at a loss for words. “Exotic here. I think your presence alone would assure that nobody really acts on the threats they have been making. I wasn’t expecting a bunch of kids though…”

Naruto hopped in the boat first and extended a hand for Sakura to take. “We are ninja!” Naruto grumbled back.

“Naruto…” Kakashi silenced his student with a bored tone. “Don’t rile up the client.”

Sasuke hopped in the boat after everyone else. ‘Yeah right,’ he thought. ‘Isn’t that just what you were doing?’

Despite the choppy water, the boat ride to Wave was short. ‘If Wave wants increased commercial trade, why a bridge? Why not just invest in a proper shipping company?’ Sakura asked herself. ‘Or would these ‘nationalists,’ be opposed to that too?’ It shouldn’t have been her place to question the internal working of another nation. She didn’t know the first thing about governing one. Still, she sensed an interesting explanation for it all. Tazuna led the group through the woods toward the Wave’s one town. His house was on the edge of the village, and apparently Team Seven would be staying there for the remainder of the mission. Sakura was actually a little disappointed. Traveling had been its own kind of fun, but simply holding up in some guy's house was another thing. This mission could take weeks and all she was supposed to do was stand around and look intimidating. ‘I guess it’s easy money,’ she reminded herself.

Naruto was clearly having his own reservations as he bounced around in front of them. He was waving around a kunai and bragging about his skill as a ninja to try and impress Tazuna. “You don’t know what you mean by ‘kid,’’’ He carried on. “Any ‘kid’ in the Leaf academy could measure up to the biggest guy here!”

Sakura knew his pride had been bruised one too many times by the client, but even she was starting to get annoyed with Naruto. She played with her pack straps and nearly told him to cut it out before Kakashi did for her.

“Naruto,” Kakashi said more sternly than before. “I told you to stop antagonizing our client.”

“It’s just,” Naruto sighed. “I think he needs to respect the rest of us. Just because we aren’t adults doesn’t mean we can’t handle ourselves.” To prove his point Naruto hurled his kunai into the bushes, hard. The sound of it cracking through the brush stopped suddenly, leaving behind a simple sloshing sound. It sounded like turning on a faucet too fast but stopped as quickly.

Sakura snapped her attention to the tree line. “What was that?” 

It happened in a flash. Before anyone could answer, Kakashi turned and grabbed Tazuna, blitzing away with him in the blink of an eye. Sakura immediately went into panic mode. She didn’t know what, but something was happening. She took three steps toward the side of the trail herself before she realized Naruto was spinning around in confusion. Hurling herself forward, she tackled him and to the ground. A second later a shadow crossed over them, and Sakura felt the windswept force of something heavy pass right over her. She looked up to find a humongous broadsword buried in the trunk of a nearby tree. Sakura gritted her teeth in fear. She’d saved them, but it had been blind luck. Sakura hadn’t sensed the true nature of the attack, and that immediately told her whoever threw it was far more skilled than she. 'An enemy ninja then?’

Sakura looked back, pushing on a writhing Naruto to keep his head down, in fear of the attacker or more incoming weapons. Just a quiet forest trail. Sasuke matched her bewildered stare, as he clung from a tree branch he apparently leapt to. “Where are we being attacked from?” She asked urgently. Sakura looked for Kakashi next. He’d moved off to the side and was putting down Tazuna as quickly as he was drawing a kunai. He charged forward. ‘Ahead of me?’ Sakura asked herself in shock. The attack came from behind. ‘Was it multiple attackers? Or how fast is this guy?’ Sakura had already started to stand when she saw him come out of the woods. A tall, athletic man with dark hair and ashy skin. Kakashi met him. The two exchanged blows and separated before Sakura could even draw a shuriken. There was no clear victor in the trade, and the attacker backflipped away, landing on the blade still stabbed through the tree.

‘This guy is definitely a shinobi,’ Sakura thought, and hurried to get fully off of Naruto and move to react. Kakashi stepped back into frame, signaling for anyone behind him to halt. He didn’t take his eyes off his opponent for a second.

The dark haired man snorted a single breath, and with a tone that gave away no emotion merely muttered. “Leaf Ninja.”

Sakura’s mind buzzed as Naruto stood up beside her. She knew well enough to keep her mouth shut, but her friend always struggled with that. “W-who are you?" He yelled.

The figure stayed perched on his blade, and rocked his shoulders as he fixed his gaze back on Kakashi. “Hand over the bridge builder and I won't cut you down.”

Kakashi didn’t move a muscle, or even reply to the man’s demand. “You are Zabuza Momochi, formerly of the Hidden Mist Village, yes?”

Sakura understood Kakashi’s intent. She didn’t know the man by name, but the Hidden Mist could at least give some kind of clue to this guy’s capabilities. ‘The Land of Water is embroiled in civil war.’ She remembered. ‘Why is one here?’

Zabuza looked more disappointed than annoyed. His unblinking stare stayed fixed on Kakashi. “I see my reputation precedes me… Copy Ninja Kakashi.”

“Yeah,” Kakashi replied slowly, signaling his students to back up a bit. “It seems mine does as well.”

Zabuza leapt back to the ground in a quick motion, cleaving his blade from the tree as he did so. Despite the raw size and weight of it, at least as long as a man and clearly forged from a heavy steel, Zabuza leveraged it forward with one arm. He twisted it in his grip to angle in right toward Tazuna, who’d taken hasty shelter halfway behind another tree. Zabuza repeated his words from before. “Hand over the bridge builder…” His tone shifted lower, “Or I’ll kill you all.”

Kakashi again didn’t reply, as was the Leaf’s procedure. They did not engage in dialogue with enemy ninja. Orders were always to kill on sight. Rather, he slowly uttered a command back to Sakura. “Sakura, cast a Vanishing jutsu over Tazuna.”

Sakura hesitated. “I-I don’t know how to do that.” She knew it was possible but she never learned more than camouflaging herself. If she even could cast genjutsu on someone like… this.

Kakashi didn’t respond, and Zabuza didn’t speak either. The men just took a few tentative steps toward each other, and the apparent Mist Ninja rested his blade on his shoulder as they began to circle each other. Slowly, Zabuza began to edge closer to Tazuna and the genin, as Kakashi was forced to work his way toward the outside to match Zabuza’s step. It was a simple thing, but it filled Sakura with dread. Kakashi couldn’t stop an advance unless he over-extended and attacked someone with far greater reach first. But Sakura doubted anything she or Naruto could do would slow Zabuza for long if he moved on them. She never imagined fighting a ninja on this mission, much less one that could match her captain in skill.

Sakura began walking off to the side herself. She didn’t move quickly enough to be aggressive, she didn’t want to upset the standoff. But she moved enough to match the pace of Kakashi and Zabuza and get herself out of the line of fire. Naruto had been just beside her, but seemed frozen as she slowly backed away. She tried nudging him along, beckoning him with the slightest flick of her finger. “Come,” she pleaded with him in a voice barely louder than a whisper. Naruto, perhaps not evening hearing her, instead drew a kunai and crossed his arms in a quick guard. It was one Sakura was sure he felt comfortable with, but knew would do little against such a large blade. Sakura didn’t dare turn around to check, but since she hadn’t heard Sasuke come down from the tree, she was sure he was still up there as well. ‘Oh Kami,’ she realized. ‘They don’t know what to do.’

“So I want to explain to you what to do if we encounter an enemy ninja.” Kurenai explained as she looked down at her trio of students.

“Ahh, come on sensei.” Kiba laughed. “Those are B-Rank and up missions. New genin don’t take those.”

Kurenai closed her eyes and smirked. “And if one of our field missions ever goes ass up, you’ll be grateful I explained this to you.” Kiba leaned back and Kurenai continued her lecture. “If any enemy ninja ever attacks, you disengage and let me handle them.”

“What?” Sakura blinked. “Shouldn’t we support you?”

“No.” Kurenai’s reply was curt. “Even if I am overwhelmed, you three disengage.”

Sakura had become a ninja to protect others, and she cared for Kurenai sensei. She wasn’t sure she could do that. “But-”

“Listen to me,” Kurenai cut her off quickly. She wasn’t being mean about it, but her tone was more serious than usual. “You three cannot fight enemy ninja at your skill level, and the enemy isn’t just going to exercise restraint because you’re children. They will try to kill you.” Kurenai took a sharp breath. “Disengage and let me handle it.”

Hinata shifted. “Should we not try to follow your lead? You could create an opening.”

“My orders for you, until you become more powerful, will always be to retreat.” Kurenai replied. “A genin can only do so much. If the enemy is as skilled as me, then you’ll only get in my way. I have a vested interest in protecting you, the enemy knows that. They could target one of you just to get to me.”

Sakura had been biting her tongue, but all this talk was so against her instincts and why she became a ninja. “But what if we leave you behind and you die?”

Kurenai closed her eyes and looked aside. A moment later she met their gazes again. “This was the first hidden village founded. Not just to unify the land but to end the nonsense wars that plagued the world and protect the lives of the child soldiers who died in them. I know that… we must train ourselves too young… But I will not step over a child's body so that I can live longer. So if we are ever attacked by another ninja on a mission, disengage.”

Sakura took a sharp breath and inched closer toward the bridge builder. So far there had only been a brief trading of blows, but that just meant that Kakashi and Zabuza were close enough in power that neither could decide the fight easily. She needed to flee with the client and let Kakashi handle this.

Kakashi signed the signal for ‘defend,’ and gestured toward the bridge builder. It was quick, and he didn’t turn to see who caught it, but he added a follow up command. “Manji.” 

Kakashi wanted her to triangulate around Tazuna with Naruto and Sasuke. That made sense, Tazuna was too slow to flee outright, so they needed to give Kakashi a chance to draw the fight away. Sakura hesitated again, this time because she had not discussed Team Seven’s Manji formation and didn’t know what side Ino took to fill it in. Nobody moved. Sakura looked back at Naruto from the corner of her eye, allowing herself the slightest terrifying omission at Zabuza lest the man in front of her charge. Naruto was shaking. Sakura paused for a moment longer. ‘Come on,’ she begged, ‘get it together.’ She wasn’t sure if she was talking to Naruto or herself.

“Don’t worry,” Kakashi called back calmly. “I will protect you.”

Something about Kakashi's demeanor made her believe it just now. He was all that stood between her and the enemy. ‘Manji,’ Sakura yelled to herself. ‘He wants us to Manji.’ Steeling herself, she lunged back toward Naruto in one swift motion, and grabbed him by the forearm. He stalled a little, but on the second tug followed her and she ushered him forward toward Tazuna as she whipped her head toward Sasuke. There he stood, hand propped on the tree and looking just as unsure as his teammate. “Come on!” She yelled, and before she could yell out again heard the hard clashing of steel. She shuddered as fright and surprise took her but she turned to see Zabuza and Kakashi fighting again. They were fast to be able to move on each other the second she’d turned her head. Fast and horribly strong. Zabuza brought down his heavy blade again and again, and it was impressive that Kakashi could even defend against such an assault with a mere kunai. He stayed low and turned nimbly to evade the heaviest blows, and Zabuza began to leverage his blade with both hands.

Sakura backed away, watching the two trade blows until she was confident she could turn around without being blind sided, and rushed to Naruto and thankfully Sasuke’s side. She took the back right position as Sasuke ran into the forward one, and turned her head to watch the battle as she guarded Tazuna. Slowly the genin moved away, disengaging with the client while keeping him in the center.

Tazuna inched backward, and watched the fight unblinking. If Kakashi didn’t kill Zabuza, he was certain the kids wouldn’t be able to. It was strange to see them flanking him in their guard stances while he stood a head taller than anyone. Tazuna kept a slow steady breath as he watched Kakashi and Zabuza dance around each other. Kakashi was keeping up well, but it seemed impossible for him to contend with the blade for long. It was so massive that one clean hit would carve Kakashi apart. Tazuna didn’t know much about shinobi weapons, but it seemed like an oversized cleaver. The only notable feature about it beyond the size was the hole near the top of the blade. He couldn’t imagine what that was good for, but you never could tell with these damn ninja.

Zabuza smashed the Executioner’s Blade so hard into the ground it cracked the earth beneath him, then hoisted it over his head and attempted a second blow against Kakashi’s skull. They were about the same age, but their style of melee combat couldn’t have been more different. What Zabuza knew of Kakashi was admittedly limited, but he did know he was a master of various elemental ninjutsu and possessed a Sharingan despite not being an Uchiha. If Zabuza kept on the pressure, he wouldn’t have a chance to use any of those myriad skills. Other than that, Zabuza knew that Kakashi was primarily an assassin, and it reflected in his fighting. He was quick, and difficult to hit. Even with just a small arm, Kakashi could deflect attacks from the Executioner’s Blade that would have sliced him from shoulder to ribs. But he also didn’t have the reach or power to out maneuver Zabuza. Once Zabuza started to make note of Kakashi’s patterns, he was ready for a real offensive. He hadn’t expected Leaf Ninja, but it didn’t matter who was against him. Once a swordsman of the Mist got going, nobody would stop him. Zabuza spun his blade around him in a series of wide arcs, slashing quickly enough to overwhelm. Kakashi bounced strikes off his blade, but in the face of a whirlwind of steel, his guard broke and he was forced to throw himself back from the offensive. Kakashi glanced down, Zabuza had cut him across the chest, but not deeply enough to touch more than his jacket. Looking back up, innards intact, Kakashi shuddered to see Zabuza not following up on his impressive attack, but rushing his children.

Zabuza charged toward Tazuna straight on. He’d carve the wretch right in fucking half if he had his way. Instead it was the dark haired boy, looking terrified, that stood at point before his target. He was just a kid, even as his panicked eyes flashed with the signature red of his family dojutsu. Zabuza kept a firm grip on the Executioner's Blade’s handle. ‘I must've been about his age when I graduated…’ He kept charging.

Sasuke Uchiha felt his hand shaking wildly as he held his kunai in the face of his attacker’s advance. ‘Damnit!’ He yelled at his own mind as he felt his Sharingan flicker on and off without his control. ‘Stay strong!’

Suddenly a force tugged Sasuke to the side. “Move!” Sakura had put herself between him and Zabuza, and hurled a paper bomb at the attacker when he was no more than three meters away.

Zabuza jumped back, covering most of his body with his sword as a makeshift barrier against the blast. It was not allowed to be a particularly strong explosion, considering how near the girl had thrown it to herself, but Zabuza still did well to avoid it. He popped out of the smokescreen tossed up by the blast, unscathed, and reset himself. If he had to go through the kids to kill Tazuna, so be it. Zabuza’s ears pricked. It sounded like a flock of birds, but the static in the air was far too tense for that. Through the smoke, a faint blue burst ripped through the shadows, and Zabuza fell back as Kakashi leapt out at him. The assassin's right hand was full of crackling lighting and raw chakra, and his arm trembled a little with the tremendous power. Kakashi had also revealed his borrowed Sharingan, and stood between the genin and Zabuza. The lighting in Kakashi’s hand narrowed as if the focus of it had an edge, and he aimed his hand back at Zabuza. “You go through me before anyone else.” Zabuza shifted his blade from one side to the other, poised to attack or defend as it favored him. Zabuza wasn’t sure what this jutsu was, but he didn’t say a word, as Kakashi’s eager chakra sputtered in his hand and narrowed again. Kakashi moved forward. “Raikiri!”

Rin held Obito’s hand tightly as she wept. Kakashi stood over them, one hand on his blade in case more Stone ninja showed up. The massive boulder crushing half of Obito was too large for any of them to move, but watching Obito trying to be strong while Rin sobbed beside him pushed Kakashi to try and budge it still. “I’m sorry, Obito,” He cried. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

Obito brought himself to laugh a little, but it was only to reassure his friends. “It’s okay Kakashi. I’m glad we finally started to become friends.”

“I,” Kakashi hesitated. “I was the one who wanted to leave Rin behind, not you. It should be me under the rubble, it should be me!”

They were far from the frontline, but never far enough away that they were safe. Kakashi needed to get everyone out of here, now. “Kami,” he begged. “Someone please help me!”

“It’s okay,” Obito breathed, losing his strength. “It’s okay.”

“Why you!” Kakashi cried. “Why you!”

Rin took deep breaths as she watched Kakashi push helplessly against the massive stone. “Kakashi,” she said slowly. “The pressure from the boulder is the only thing keeping him alive…”

Kakashi turned to her, the full extent of his damaged face revealed. His left eye was totally gouged out. “I’ve been wrong Rin! If I’d just come back sooner!”

“Kakashi,” Obito coughed. “Please, please just listen to me. Take Rin and go.”

‘What?” Rin cried. She knew there was no saving him, but she couldn’t just leave.

He squeezed her hand. “It’s okay Rin… It’s.” He struggled to catch his breath. “It’s not safe here.” The rubble around them shifted. “Thank you both… for staying with me a little bit longer.”

Kakashi gave up efforts with the rock, collapsing. He reached out, just to touch Obito one more time, and patted him gently against his one exposed leg.

Obito took a deep breath. “Rin… can you… can you take my eye.”

She seized herself and took a hard breath, trying to suck down her tears. “I-I can do that…” She wiped her face quickly, trying to calm her nerves. Her medical ninjutsu was about all she felt she was good for. If she was stronger maybe she never would have been taken in the first place. “W-why?”

“I didn’t get to give Kakashi anything for becoming a jonin.” Obito’s voice was growing weaker and all the more gentle by the second. “I’d like if he had my Sharingan.” Kakashi squeezed Obito’s leg again. “I’d like to watch you both forever.”

Kakashi’s jutsu surged from him, but just when he thought he nailed Zabuza, Kakashi instead struck the Executioner’s Blade. Zabuza had shielded himself with his sword again, but this time the lightning charged up the entire surface. Kakashi pressed into the steel with his hand. Shockingly, the Executioner’s Blade was of too strong a make to be pierced by Kakashi’s attack, so it must’ve been forged from chakra rich metal. But it was still metal. It was conductive and Kakashi leaned forward content to fry the blade right out of Zabuza’s hand. Kakashi charged it for a little over a second before he realized Zabuza remained unharmed. He simply kept both hands firmly on the sword’s hilt as Kakashi’s lightning chakra refused to channel into it. ‘Damnit!’ Kakashi exclaimed. ‘The hilt is nonconductive!’ Zabuza smashed the side of the weapon into him like a paddle, and while he was only hit by the flat of the blade, it still bludgeoned Kakashi away. Zabuza watched as Kakashi rose too quickly to finish off, and so charged Tazuna.

The genin had fallen back a few meters while Kakashi was fighting with their attacker again, but Zabuza was coming once more. Naruto quickly signed for Shadow Clone jutsu as he retreated. Anything to slow this guy down. A Couple dozen clones moved to intercept Zabuza, but it wasn’t at all like fighting Mizuki. Zabuza cleaved through the clones unblinking, skewering three or four with a single stroke of his blade. If Naruto had slowed him down, it wasn’t by more than a second at most. Sakura tapped a clone as it rushed past her to reinforce its fallen brethren. “Take this!” She urged, and handed it a paper bomb. In understanding, the clone took it and pressed it to detonate as it leapt at Zabuza self-destructively. A second clone a meter behind took another bomb and did the same. Zabuza cracked the first hard enough to throw the fading clone away before the bomb could detonate nearby, but when Zabuza saw more arming themselves to attack the same way, he fell back into the woods. Watching as a couple followed into the trees, Zabuza dodged around in the canopy as they blew up before getting near him.

Kakashi sprinted up behind his group and moved toward the forest to force Zabuza in deeper. “Sasuke!” He ordered. “Take the others and flee!” 

Sasuke sucked down a breath. “Yeah,” he called back and quickly waved for everyone to follow him as they broke the Manji Formation. “Come on!” Sasuke yelled, as he ran down the path, so turned around that he wasn’t sure if he was going forward or back.

Sakura followed obediently alongside Naruto, and took Tazuna’s hand in her own. “Time to really hustle, sir.” He felt a single pang of guilt as she took his hand with her tiny own.

"Why is this guy attacking us?” Naruto shouted. Before he could get an answer, a dense fog began to roll out of the woods. “Shit,” Naruto exclaimed. “What now?”

“Vapor style!” Sakura replied. She’d studied all manner of elemental jutsu combinations when she was researching wood style. Vapor style was a combination of fire and water that manipulated fog and steam. It was one of the best understood of the advanced chakra elements, and was still common in the Land of Water. The vapor could be deadly, but it was also often used to confuse enemies. It was so effective the Hidden Mist Village had named themselves in honor of it. “Water and Fire chakra together!” Sakura called again as the fog creeped over her heels. She expected an surge of pain, but when it didn’t come she was relieved it wasn’t one of the immediately deadly variations of the technique. “It’s Hidden Mist jutsu I think! Designed to cloud our vision!” Sakura yelled. She pulled on the back of Naruto’s jacket. “Stay close to me please!”

The fog grew denser, and soon only the sound of clashing steel behind them was indication of what direction to be running away from. Sakura was grateful to be holding on to Naruto and Tazuna, or else she might lose them in the mist. She was only a meter or so behind Sasuke, but even he seemed impossibly out of focus. 

“Sasuke!” Naruto yelled. “Hold up, we are losing you!”

Sasuke dragged his heels and looked back, reaching for Naruto. “Take my hand!” He yelled. Naruto grabbed him tightly. “Sasuke turned back ahead as he led them anywhere but where they were. “Keep up!” He yelled, sounding more urgent than demeaning.

As the group fled, they heard the flaring of jutsu behind them. Sakura tried her best to keep her wits about her, but clearly the battle was escalating dangerously. The fog around them was so dense. It was crazy to think either Kakashi or Zabuza could fight in it effectively. She couldn’t keep herself from looking back every few seconds. The fog was everywhere, and it was impossible to get a clear view of even the most immediate surroundings. It wasn’t hard to think of Zabuza leaping right out of it at any moment. ‘Damnit,’ she thought. ‘If only Hinata were here.’ She kicked herself for the thought. If Hinata was here she’d be in as much danger as them. They were moving slowly, but Sakura squeezed Tazuna as they fled. It would be so much simpler to leave them behind, but she couldn’t do that. ‘Fuck, why is this guy even trying to kill Tazuna. Wave Country isn’t part of the Land of Water! What’s an enemy ninja even doing here?’

They stopped suddenly. Sasuke scanned what little he could in front of him. “A river…” He muttered slowly.

Naruto pushed past him. “Let’s go!” And waded into the water.

“No!” Sasuke yelled sharply. “Our opponent has vapor style, he has water too!”

The fighting was getting closer now. At one point, it even sounded above them. “We can’t go back!” Naruto yelled.

“We can’t go in!” Sasuke yelled back. “He will turn the river against us!”

Sakura tugged on Tazuna while the boys argued. “How do we get around?”

Tazuna looked around him quickly. “I-I don’t know. I know the river but not exactly where we are.”

Sakura felt her shoulders fall in momentary defeat, but racked her mind for a solution. ‘There must be a way out of this.’ Stepping forward, she armed herself with a paper bomb and hurled it forward to watch it detonate. The force of the explosion was enough to dissipate part of the mist, and while the river was rough, it was only ten or twelve meters long. Besides that, there was a large rock in between. ‘Maybe I could jump it?’ She took a sharp breath. ‘Tazuna can’t.” She turned to Naruto and pointed at the fast disappearing opposite shore. “Form a human chain out of clones! Make a bridge!” She wasn’t quite used to her friend making Shadow Clones yet, but she had some notion of how they could be used. A shuriken flew out of the fog, missing them, but enough to make Sakura shrink herself smaller. “Quickly!” She urged.

Kakashi sat beside Rin. They’d managed to regroup with Minato sensei and return to the village, but without Obito, he felt empty. The surgery to grant Obito’s Sharingan to Kakashi had been a success, and as they sat before the Leaf Village council, the Uchiha elder was demanding it back.

“This boy is not of the Uchiha clan!” He said sternly. “He cannot just take part of someone else's body.”

Rin spoke for Kakashi. “Obito… he wanted Kakashi to have it. To replace the eye Kakashi lost and… so that he could watch us forever…”

“And you!” The Uchiha elder shouted at her. “You did the whole operation with just your intermediate medical jutsu!” Before she could respond the elder turned to the Third Hokage and pleaded with him. “You cannot allow this sir. We can’t just swap people’s anatomies around.”

“Akira,” The Third began. “If Obito truly wished Kakashi come to possess his Sharingan, and it’s still functioning, I don’t think we need to scar these kids anymore.”

“Don’t you get it!” Elder Akira shouted back. “This sets a precedent. The Sharingan, the Byakugan, the skin grafts of people with rare jutsu! Now that we know it can be done, what is to stop the elite from just taking people for parts!”

The Third shook his head. “Akira, that is outrageous. This was Obito’s dying wish, a boy from your own clan who gave his life for-”

“Listen to me!” Akira yelled. “This isn’t about Obito or these kids, this is about ethics. Don’t you see what a slope this is? Medical ninjutsu is still a new field of study. Without Tsunade here to regulate it, I demand this stop now! This kind of surgery needs to be made illegal before before people with a mind for sick experiments begin-”

Danzo cut Akira off sharply. “No.” It was a single word, but the intensity with which it was spoken gave the Uchiha elder pause.

Akira shook his head in defeat. There was no sense arguing then. This council had made up its mind.

Naruto formed a fast collection of clones above himself, and had them grab hold of one another arm to leg. They quickly managed what Sakura instructed as they fell to the ground and linked the shore to the central rock.

Sakura nodded toward Sasuke. “Now go!”

Back in the fog, Kakashi tried desperately to keep himself between Zabuza and the team. In the gloom, his Sharingan did little for him, and Zabuza was still managing to attack him fiercely. ‘He’s hunting me down with sound alone.’ Kakashi realized. But if he didn’t keep making noise, Zabuza would catch the others quickly. Their escape was far too hasty to go unnoticed. Kakashi cut through the mist cautiously, attempting not to get disoriented. When his opponent struck again, it was from above. Zabuza slammed down on him, and barely missed with his sword. Twisting his body, but keeping his hands on his sword hilt, Zabuza came around with a powerful drop kick that landed right against Kakashi and sent him flying. Zabuza was sure the blow was strong enough to crack a rib, and moved back into the mist to finish the job.

Sasuke had taken the lead and helped pull the others up onto the rock as he got there. ‘Halfway there,’ He told himself, but was feeling out of his element. Naruto worked to make more clones as his previous chain started poofing out of existence. Sasuke helped Tazuna scamper up out of the river, but Sakura slipped as she made it to the rock and nearly fell back in. Sasuke reached out quickly and grabbed her. “I got you.”

She scraped her knee as Sasuke pulled her to safety, but Sakura nodded quickly. “Thanks.” Elsewhere a battle was still raging, and from the sound of it Zabuza was pressuring Kakashi onto the water's surface. Sakura hurriedly tied another paper bomb to one of her kunai and tossed it high into the mist, creating another shockwave. Zabuza and Kakashi weren’t even a dozen meters away, and fighting right in the middle of the river. Their captain was looking worse for wear, but he was coming at Zabuza hard and perhaps with a little desperation.

Naruto’s clones linked to the opposite shoreline. “Sensei!” He called out. “We are almost across!” Naruto pushed Sasuke ahead of him. “Go, go!”

Sakura took a precious couple seconds to catch her breath. The battle on the river wasn’t going in Kakashi’s favor. He was favoring his left side, and Zabuza kept swinging at his right to bring Kakashi down. Sakura pushed herself up and began rushing across the improvised bridge. Of course, Tazuna was ahead of her, and she had to slow her pace considerably as he stumbled along. He stomped right on a clone's head as he went, and Naruto shouted back at him. “Don’t! You’ll break them!”

Back in the water, Zabuza had driven Kakashi nearly to his knees. Another powerful swing came around and Kakashi, stopped concentrating his chakra on the water, forced to sink under the rapids to avoid the blow. Zabuza quickly rushed a series of hand signs, a large column of water snaking out of the river behind him as he did so. It seemed even some of the mist was being pulled into the jutsu. At its top, the column split in two as if it manifested a great mouth, and whirled around in the air. Sakura watched, stupefied. She’d never seen water style like this, so it was somehow even worse that she knew the jutsu. Her own clansman, Tobirama Senju, had invented it. The Water Dragon jutsu was once guarded carefully by the Hidden Leaf, but its jutsu formula was stolen during the First Shinobi World War, and now it was popular throughout the great nations. The Hidden Mist, who excelled with water style, particularly favored it. Sakura’s mind rushed over the lore as she feebly shielded her face from the impending attack. None of her knowledge of the technique would save her now.

Sasuke too had been distracted by the Water Dragon, and formed a single hand sign in paltry effort to defy it. Fire style was ineffective against water, but he’d launch a fireball at it all the same. Before Sasuke could even create a second sign, Naruto, panicked and distracted, barged right into him. Both boys collided and fell off the bridge, landing in the river. Sakura forced herself to move, and pushed on Tazuna’s back as the dragon started surging toward them. “Go faster!” She yelled in outrage.

Moments before the attack hit them, a second Water Dragon erupted from the water just in front of them, and snapped at the first’s neck with its liquid maw. Both rose a ways out of the water, before the jutsus faltered and the water crashed back down. Sakura instantly knew the force would toss up a wave, and it was better to dunk under it than be carried away. She reached a foot around Tazuna’s legs, certain he’d hesitate if she told him to jump, and shouted. “Dive.” Before she even finished speaking, she flipped him into the river, and jumped in right behind. The force tossed Tazuna deep, but as the wave crested over her, Sakura felt herself being dragged along underwater.

Zabuza couldn’t be sure what happened to the bridge builder, but glared below the water at Kakashi, his hands forming again in sign. The Sharingan's ability to process enemy jutsu in an instant was as impressive as they say, and Kakashi had all the reserves and skill to mimic the jutsu right back. Zabuza grunted. “Copy ninja!”

Obito’s funeral was an odd thing with no body to bury. But the carving of Obito’s name into the most sacred memorial stone in the village drew a large assembly. It was reserved for heroes, and Kakashi found it strange to see the name engraved through Obito’s own eye. Most of the Uchiha clan were there as well, but Kakashi and Rin kept their distance from them. They knew that Elder Akira must’ve told everyone about the council’s decision, but they expected that the family would share his sentiments.

An Uchiha pair approached them toward the end of the service. They knew the woman a little bit. Mikoto Uchiha, she was Minato sensei’s teammate back when he was a genin under Captain Jiraiya. All they knew about the man was that he was Mikoto’s husband Fugaku.

Mikoto, knowing them better, spoke first. “We wanted to speak with you. Obito wasn’t born to us, but in a way all children of the Uchiha are precious to our clan. And we just want to thank you for being such good friends to Obito.”

Kakashi’s head fell. “I wasn’t”

Fugaku spoke up. His voice was warm and fatherly. Like Minato sensei’s and well… his own had been. “He wouldn’t have wanted you to have his eye if he didn’t feel that way. Now, part of him can be with you forever.”

“You,” Rin hesitated. “Don’t disapprove?”

Mikoto smiled gently at her. “Some of us are… very concerned about what this might mean. But in regards to you two, no. Obito loved you. We understand.” 

“Lord Akira didn’t seem to.” Kakashi said, shifting his eyes back toward the memorial rock. With Obito’s own eye he read, 'Heroes of the Leaf Village.'

“Lord Akira was most displeased.” Fugaku confirmed. “But not with you specifically. Just the precedent you both set. He will be…” Fugaku sighed. “Stepping down as our clan leader.”

“What?” Rin asked in surprise.

“And it seems,” Fugaku continued, “that I will be taking over as clan leader in his place. So, we just wanted to speak with you now and let you know that we don’t disapprove.”

Kakashi took a moment to process the surprise, then nodded. “Thank you sir.”

Fugaku nodded as well, his voice somber. “Please, just use that eye how Obito would have wanted. To protect the ones you and him both loved.”

A tear, of both relief and pain, flowed from Kakashi’s new eye. “I will sir.”

Sakura gasped as she reached the surface. Thankfully she hadn’t been carried that far. Her hair had come undone and clung heavy against her face as she whipped it away and started swimming for the shore. Sasuke and Naruto were already trying to pull themselves up the opposite rocks. She kept gasping. “Where’s Tazuna?!”

The bridge builder shot up a short ways ahead of her, and she started swimming over. He gasped for air and looked around in confusion about what to do next. Sakura tried to swim up next to him, but before she could get a hold of his arm again the water around him started swirling unnaturally. A large dome of water whipped around him, and started to lift him free of the river. ‘A water prison.’ Sakura wasn’t even sure what was Zabuza and what was Kakashi anymore, but she tried to punch a hand through defiantly. The bubble was harder than stone and she bloodied her knuckles with the blow. She heard a shout and turned to see Zabuza flying at them, riding on a riptide.

On pure instinct, Sakura concentrated her chakra to the water’s surface. It wasn’t at all like walking on a wall, but she started to drag herself out as the chakra in her arms and core balanced her, and tried her best to get in front of Tazuna. Zabuza leapt at them, blade high, and shouted a single order. “Move!” Fear shot through her body, and her concentration faltered. The water took her again as she fell beneath the surface.

Sakura sank motionless in the river for a moment before she regained her composure. The river wasn’t deep, but she had to kick her way off the bottom to make another break for the surface. After she started, the water around her snapped with pressure, and brought her up unnaturally fast. ‘More water style,’ she realized, as she was thrown clear out of the river and meters into the air. Apparently this time it was the work of Kakashi, since Tazuna was near her in the sky and Zabuza was shouting expletives at her captain. Looking around, she spotted Kakashi, lighting again in his hand. He dunked his hand underwater and shocked the river, as Zabuza leapt off the surface and back toward Kakashi, blade in hand. Zabuza had narrowly avoided the electric charge as it passed through the water. Sakura had been hurdled to safety herself, but was so high up she feared that striking the surface again would injure her. She curled tightly, and cannonballed back below the waves.

When she broke the surface again, she was coughing profusely. She’d been forced under the water too many times today. Naruto locked eyes with her from the bank of the river, and formed another human chain of clones. They splashed into the water and Sakura began making for them like a safety net, before she signaled no. Calling between coughs she waved toward Tazuna. “Save him!”

Naruto grunted with strain, and swung the clones he was holding toward the bridge builder. Tazuna and the forward most clone grabbed one another, and Naruto hurried to reel him in. As Naruto got Tazuna closer, the clones turned around and started helping their creator pull, and soon Tazuna was flying across the river faster than Sakura could swim. She tried to pull herself free of the water with her chakra again, and managed to get to her feet and take a step or two before they started sinking again. Sakura pushed herself to dash, but it felt like she was running through waist deep mud as her chakra failed to fully meet the demands of the fluctuating surface. She sensed the water shifting unnaturally again. Kakashi shouted. “Get out of the water!”

Mebuki sipped her tea quietly on the porch as she overlooked Sakura’s great garden. She knew this was a longer assignment, so wished her daughter would have taken more food with her, but Sakura insisted that Mebuki keep the bumper crop here. Rows of flowers, rich vegetables, a single peach tree starting to grow in place of the old swing set. Mebuki wasn’t sure what Sakura was doing, but it seemed a little more mystical than a regular garden. The butterflies came a little more often, the crops grew a little riper a little fast. Mebuki had brushed it off as imagination for the longest time, but there was no doubt in her mind. This was her daughter’s talent. If she wasn’t so fixated on being a ninja, she could have made a lucrative career in gardening and landscaping. Mebuki smiled regardless. She was proud of Sakura and her achievements, even if they weren’t the plans she’d have chosen for her. A part of raising a child is knowing when to let them go, she thought. ‘But then Sakura is just a girl, I’m not about to let her go quite yet.’ Without warning, a flower petal blew down on the wind and landed right in Mebuki’s tea. She giggled and surveyed the garden. ‘Now, where did you fall from.”

Sasuke reached for Sakura as she neared the bank, all but dragging herself along, but Zabuza was riding a wave right on her heels. All Sasuke could do in the face of him was manifest fire, so he tossed Sakura behind him with one arm before releasing a powerful fireball at Zabuza. The Mist ninja quickly brought water up around him to shield himself from the blast, and Sasuke’s fire attack subsided. Kakashi charged Zabuza again and the duo clashed. Zabuza thought he had a clear upper hand by now, but Kakashi took advantage of his opponent's arrogance, and cut him deep across the thigh.

Zauba reeled back howling. “I just need to kill that fucking bridge builder! Get outta my way.” Their blades met again.

Kakashi leapt back and looked at the children. ‘Were they okay?’ His lapse in judgment saw Zabuza falling on him hard again, but it was worth it to know they were mostly unharmed. “I can’t let you do that.” Kakashi said back definitely. “I can’t let you harm anyone in my charge.”

Zabuza ground his teeth in rage, lifting the Executioner’s Blade. “Then die for the Land of Water!” And cracked it into the river. A burst of water lashed out, but Kakashi dodged it easily. It was just meant to distance him anyway. There were no more games, no more stumbling around trying to take out Tazuna. If the Leaf is against him then they need to die. Zabuza’s hands signed his most powerful ninjutsu. Water spiraled around him. In horror he watched as the water around Kakashi did the same, only surging even faster. “Impossible,” Zabuza yelled. “Giant Vortex jutsu is known only to the Mist! You can only copy, not cast it before me!”

“Who decided that?” Kakashi asked. Sharingan let him do more than perceive, it allowed him to predict. And his signs and chakra control were faster than Zabuza’s. ‘Obito.’ Kakashi asked. ‘Help me.’

The entire river turned against Zabuza in a forward spiraling whirlpool. Zabuza screamed in defiance as the vortex swallowed him up, and what control he could manage over the water was quickly stolen from him as Kakashi’s jutsu took hold. Before long he was in the center of the deluge, carried back into the forest to the sound of a tremendous wave and snapping trees. Sakura watched, as shocked as her companions. Forget Water Dragon, that was the most incredible water style she’d ever seen. Kakashi rushed off in the wake of the destruction, and the genin watched from the otherside of the river as Zabuza’s limp body was tossed into the dirt. He was still alive, but badly beaten. He could do little to resist Kakashi now. Kakashi marched up to him and paused a few meters away. He activated Raikiri one last time, and motioned to strike his opponent down permanently.

Just as he got started, two white darts, like needle thin icicles flew from the trees, and struck Zabuza in the neck. He made a single pathetic noise, as he body seized up, and collapsed.

“Wha?” Kakashi exclaimed and turned toward the tree line.

A new figure, perched in a nearby tree, cocked their head at Kakashi. “Sorry…” They spoke. “Didn’t mean to steal your thunder.”

It seemed it was a joke, but the even tone and lack of emotion in the newcomer's voice did little to imply that. “Who are you?” Kakashi asked quickly, leaving Raikiri active.

“A hunter nin from the Hidden Mist.” The figure replied. They certainly had the mask that branded them as one. “This rebel betrayed our village and our Mizukage. I’ve been tracking him for weeks. It was my assignment to kill him.”

"So this is all about the civil war in the Land of Water?” Kakashi asked. The figure nodded. “So why was he trying to kill Tazuna then?”

The masked figure shrugged. “I have no idea. All I know is that he is quite dead now, and my mission is complete. Thank you for affording me the opening.”

Kakashi blinked. This was a… curious… situation. “We were fighting for quite some time. You could have intervened sooner.”

The figure was silent for a moment, then replied. “Too risky,” they explained. "Sorry for the trouble, but you don’t really mean anything to me. My mission was to kill Zabuza, not get drawn into a lengthy battle on behalf of another nation.”

It was a blunt and unfriendly response. Perhaps enough to be true. But this hunter nin certainly didn’t lack for bad timing. Kakashi didn’t respond, processing the situation.

“May I?” They asked, and gestured to the ground. Kakashi nodded along for them to descend, but he didn’t expect them to do it in a little swirl of air. The figure approached Zabuza and checked his pulse, not removing either of the needles from his neck. “I will be taking the body now. The Mizukage requires proof of all assassinations.”

“Hold on,” Kakashi said sternly.

The figure chuckled without energy. “You think I’m with him?” They asked. “I understand, but I assure you sir, he is quite dead.” They beckoned Kakashi to approach. “Check his pulse.”

This kid was young, but then, Kakashi was no older during the Third Shinobi World War. The Land of Fire remained neutral in the Land of Water’s internal dispute. It was easy to forget their neighbor was a nation at war.

“Kakashi sensei!” Naruto yelled from across the river. They’d all been watching and didn’t like the looks of a newcomer.

Kakashi gestured for them to stay. “Hold on,” he called back. “We have a development here.” The figure didn’t react so Kakashi addressed them again. “Back away.”

The figure held their arms up disarmingly. "Of course."

Kakashi approached slowly as the figure moved back. As he approached Zabuza’s body, he didn't notice any breathing or subtle movements, but ninja could train those to be imperceivable. As he reached down, Kakashi noticed the two thin needles plunged deeply in Zabuza’s neck were indeed made of ice. An advanced nature. “Ice?” Kakashi asked and pressed two fingers to his neck to check for a pulse.

The figure nodded. “I imagine it is exotic to you… like your eye is to me.”

Kakashi didn’t respond, just held for a pulse. He waited longer than he needed to, then waited longer still. The body was already getting cold. After thirty seconds Kakashi stood up and nodded. “He’s dead.”

“May I take him then?” The figure asked, and Kakashi nodded. If he defied an agent of the Mizukage, it could have consequences. The figure took Zabuza delicately, and began carrying the body away. “Thank you, I apologize again for the trouble.”

Kakashi nodded but the figure did not turn around as they took Zabuza back into the woods. After they got a short ways in, Kakashi turned and returned to Team Seven.

“Who the hell was that?” Sasuke asked. It seemed everyone else was still getting their bearings.

“A hunter nin from the Mist.” Kakashi replied. “Apparently assigned by the Mizukage to track and kill Zabuza.”

“The civil war?” Sakura wondered aloud. “But, wait I don’t understand-”

Kakashi interrupted her. “I don’t either.” He turned to Tazuna slowly. “Now, bridge builder , mind explaining to me why a rebel from the Mist wanted you dead so badly?”

Chapter Text

Chapter 23: The Seeds of Doubt

Kakashi’s eyes narrowed toward Tazuna as he silenced the murmuring from his genin with a gesture. “Well? Why would a rebel shinobi be trying to kill you?”

Tazuna took a step back nervously. “Is that who that was? But-”

Kakashi stepped forward for each move Tazuna made back. “Oh I think you know very well. Hiring ninja for an escort mission when you didn’t expect violence. Trekking alone to a foreign land to seek aid. Being snobbish about genin kids when that is exactly what you paid for. Why?”

“He-” Tazuna took a hasty breath. “I didn’t know that’s who that was. But I had heard rumors that a ninja was trying to destroy our bridge.”

“From who?” Kakashi pressed forward.

“Some people in the village!” Tazuna’s voice rose with fear. “They’d been whispering that a ninja had been hired to destroy our bridge and prevent us from linking to the Land of Fire.”

“Stop stalling.” Kakashi wasn’t quite shouting, but he was severely stern. “Who hired him and why do they want the bridge destroyed?” Tazuna huffed and looked away, as if searching for an answer. Kakashi watched him. ‘Perhaps even he is unsure.’

Finally the bridge builder spoke up. “We-we think it might have been Gato. He’s the only one in the village with enough money to hire a ninja comfortably. Gato is the richest man in Wave!” Tazuna added quickly, almost as an afterthought.

“And why do they want the bridge destroyed?” Kakashi asked again. Tazuna may have been shrinking under his gaze but he wasn’t answering his questions nearly fast enough.

“That ninja?” Tazuna gulped. “I have no idea. For Gato’s coin I guess. But Gato made his wealth by gaining control of most of the Land of Wave’s industry. He has several monopolies in the country.”

Kakashi rubbed his temple, but nodded in understanding. “And he fears the bridge will erode his control of Wave’s commerce.”

“Yes.” Tazuna agreed eagerly. “Well, I mean, I guess. I don’t know if he did any of this for sure, but it makes sense.”

Sasuke snorted. “And so you hired Leaf Ninja in the hopes that we would take him out before he took you and your builders out.”

Tazuna fell low. “We scrapped what we could together for the bridge as is. We couldn’t afford to hire a jonin squad! I didn’t know who was after us was a famous ninja.”

“Who said he was a famous ninja?” Kakashi asked quickly.

Tazuna blinked. “Well you knew his name didn’t you?”

Kakashi watched Tazuna closely.

“Well that’s it then.” Sasuke began. “Kakashi defeated him, but this should have been an A rank assignment…”

“Meaning the terms of this contract are now void.” Sakura added. “We should leave.”

As Kakashi nodded wordlessly, Tazuna all but threw himself onto the floor. “No wait! Please don’t! What if Gato sends somebody else?”

“Not our problem.” Kakashi said casually. “Sorry, but you lied to us, and this squad is not equipped to handle your issues.”

“Please!” Tazuna begged, practically prostrating. “You’re already here! Construction will be finished in just a couple weeks! Please!”

Naruto frowned. “Sensei? But are we really-”

Kakashi shook his head. “I’m sorry that Gato has taken capitalism too far, but this mission is out of our league. I hope you can manage to finish the bridge to support your nation, but we need to leave now.”

“The bridge isn’t to escape Gato!” Tazuna yelled quickly. “It’s-It’s that damn war… in the Land of Water. It’s getting closer everyday. We hoped that building the bridge would link us to the Land of Fire and keep our country safe from being turned into a battleground in another nation’s war.”

Sakura snapped to attention. “So this Gato guy is just someone who happened to have something to lose? Wait, wouldn’t war coming to this island be bad for him as well?”

“Gato…” Tazuna dragged out the name. “He’s a crooked man. There are even rumors that he runs criminal enterprises! I don’t doubt he could profit from a war in some way too.”

“You have my sympathies then,” Kakashi began. “But we cannot continue this mission any further.” Kakashi truly felt like he was repeating himself now. Something about Tazuna begging was so pathetic.

“But Kakashi seseni!” Naruto said quickly. “If these people really need help maybe we should stay a little longer. You already killed that Zabuza guy anyway!”

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "I already told you that wasn’t me, it was that hunter nin from the… Mist Village.” Kakashi stopped suddenly in realization.

“How’s that odd?” Sasuke asked quickly. “Their county is at war, aren't they?”

Kakashi turned to explain. “The ninja used ice style to kill Zabuza. It’s a rare element, but the signature of the Yuki clan.”

“I,” Sakura was beginning to figure it out too. “They are a prolific clan in the Land of Water, yes?”

Kakashi nodded, eyes closed.

“So what?” Naruto asked in confusion.

“The civil war in the Land of Water.” Sakura explained. “The loyalists are the more minor ninja who stuck with their Mizukage. The rebels seek to overthrow him.”

Kakashi sighed. 

Sasuke shrugged. “So?”

“The ones that rebelled were the large and powerful clans.” Sakura said cautiously. “It’s the only reason the rebellion has lasted so long, and it includes the Yuki clan.”

Kakashi clenched his fists. “I was deceived…”

“But you checked he was dead!” Naruto yelled incredulously. “Maybe not every Yuki, or ice person or whatever, joined the rebels.”

“Yes,” Kakashi shifted in his stance. “But there are certain pressure points in the body that when hit can simulate death. I checked for that, but I didn’t consider that ice style. The cold could have taken it even further.” Kakashi kicked himself. It seemed too good to be true. If only he had been more familiar with ice style. If only he had considered its qualities beforehand.

“So!” Tazuna stood in what seemed to be alarm. “You’re saying that Zabuza guy could still be out there!?”

“Unfortunately,” Kakashi snorted, “it doesn’t seem unlikely.”

Haku removed the ice shards from Zabuza’s neck gingerly, and propped him up against a nearby tree. They were far from those Leaf ninja now, but being on such a small island always kept Haku on alert for enemies.

Zabuza groaned and coughed as he slowly regained consciousness. “You shouldn’t have come, child.” Zabuza’s words were meant to be reprimanding but there was a little laugh as he spoke too. This was very like Haku.

“I’m sorry sensei,” the Yuki replied, “but I couldn’t allow you to take such a risk on your own.”

Zabuza watched Haku with care as the Yuki rustled through a supply bag. “How did you save me?”

“I pretended to be a hunter nin sent by Yagura, and made it seem as though I killed you.” Haku replied. “The Leaf shinobi just let me take you.”

Zabuza scoffed. “A bold strategy Haku. You should be lucky it worked.”

“So should you.” Haku replied with a smirk. “Besides, if you couldn’t beat that shinobi, how could I?”

“It wasn’t any shinobi,” Zabuza said, staring off into the woods. Haku’s ice had numbed him severely but as he clenched and unclenched his fist he was starting to get his feeling returned. “That was Kakashi Hatake, one of the most famous ninjas in the Leaf.”

Haku’s head cocked. “So the Land of Fire finally chose a side in this war?”

Zabuza’s expression remained flat. “If they did, it's our rebellion's death knell.”

Haku turned back gently. “Do you remember what you told me when we first met? About how you came to terms with your graduation exam? That it’s not about how we die that our life is measured, but about how we live. It gave me the courage to fight, not because I wanted so badly to survive, but for the hope that one day other’s wouldn't have to.”

Zabuza frowned. “You never had that killer intention that the Mizukage was trying to foster. It’s a shame to see ones so young pulled into this conflict so deeply.”

“Whether the Yuki clan would have stayed loyal to the Mist or not, I would have followed you anyway, sensei.” Haku spoke quietly. “But I’m proud we did not.”

Zabuza rose as best he could. “My mission to destroy the bridge needs to continue. Killing Tazuna is just one step, it seems I’ll need to cut down Kakashi Hatake as well.”

“And the genin?” Haku asked.

Zabuza was stoic in the face of Haku’s questioning, then sighed. “And what about Gato? You still have to-”

A rustling in the brush alerted them both. They grabbed at their weapons before a tiny weasel slunk out of the bushes and dove back in when it noticed them. Haku relaxed. “Fitting…”

Zabuza looked down at his student. “Return to the others,” he ordered, “they’ll need you.”

Haku smiled. “We’re stronger than you give us credit for, sensei. Let me stay with you, you’ll need help with Kakashi more than they need me.”

“Don’t you worry about Kakashi and I,” Zabuza said severely. “I won’t make the same mistake twice.”

“Then I won’t be in any danger if I stay with you.” Haku said with a smile.

“It’s not your safety I’m concerned with.” Zabuza’s tone was melancholic. “It’s your innocence.”

Haku almost chuckled at the absurdity of being innocent after all that happened. “Wha-” Sudden realization gave Haku pause. “So you decided what to do with the genin then?” Zabuza was silent again, but Haku knew him well enough to know he did what… had to be done. “I survived the graduation exam too sensei. There is nothing I haven’t seen…”

Sakura watched Team Seven and Tazuna argue among themselves. Naruto felt strongly that they should stay and do what they could for the people of Wave, but she hoped Kakashi would drag him back to the Leaf if he had to. Naruto turned to her desperately. “Please say something Sakura,” he begged, “We can’t leave these people to die.”

Sakura’s shoulders fell. This didn’t make her feel good. “I’m not sure there is anything we can do. We were deceived for one, and we are unqualified to fight someone like Zabuza anyway.”

“We protected Tazuna though! And Kakashi beat him!” Naruto yelled back.

“And will he still be able to when that Yuki shows up?” Sakura asked pointedly. “I almost died, Naruto. I don’t know if you care about that.” Sakura felt an anger swell up in her. Naruto wasn’t tossed through the water like a toy, he wasn’t the one constantly throwing himself in front of the others like a human shield.

Naruto’s expression twisted with both hurt and guilt. “Sakura… of course I care. I won’t let you-”

Sakura cut him off. “You won’t what? Because in that fight, I instructed you , I armed you . And when I was scrambling up the rocks the only one reaching a hand for me was the Uchiha who doesn’t even like me!” Sakura pointed toward Sasuke quickly as he folded his arms. Sakura had never in her life yelled at a friend like this, but as she shook her head, what Naruto was proposing was just foolishness. “You would have been helpless in that fight if it weren’t for me. I agree with the Captain, this is a foreign affair.” She turned to the captain. “It’s time we leave.”

“Well,” Kakashi said. “I suppose that’s that.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Naruto said, planting his feet. “I can’t bring myself to let these people down when I have the power to protect them.”

Sasuke scoffed. “And what power is that?”

Sakura understood though. ‘The Kyuubi.’ But Naruto didn’t understand the first thing about controlling that thing. Yet… he was her friend and her village’s Jinchuriki. It was true she couldn’t just leave him here.

Naruto looked like he was about to cry. “We… We are supposed to be heroes. We can’t really leave the bridge builders to get butchered can we?”

Sasuke gestured to Naruto. “We could just knock him out and take him.”

“Wait!” Tazuna said hurriedly. “Please listen to your friend. I know I lied to you all, but my family’s lives were on the line. What else was I supposed to do?”

“Pay the Leaf Village for an A-Rank assignment to start.” Kakashi replied. They were going in circles.

“We didn't have the resources for that!” Tazuna said, flailing his arms.

“Please,” Naruto urged. “Let’s just go back to the village with Tazuna before we do anything else.”

Kakashi frowned. “Fine, we can see Tazuna home. Zabuza has got to be too injured to attack us again anyway.” Kakashi rubbed one of his own superficial wounds. “Maybe we can rest in the village a bit before we return to the Land of Fire. And I think Tazuna owes us a little safe harbor.”

Sakura watched, unsure, as Kakashi started leading the group back toward town. Tazuna was thanking him eagerly and praising various Kami, and Naruto seemed to be steeling himself, but didn’t look back at Sakura as she trailed along with Sasuke.

Sakura came up behind the Uchiha and whispered. “He isn’t planning on staying, right?”

“I’ve been Kakashi’s student for a while now, but I could never tell you what he’s thinking.” Sasuke replied.

Sakura bit her lip. They couldn’t possibly stay here and deal with all the problems of this county. She felt bad for the people here, sure, but she had to be a realist. ‘Besides, we have the Leaf Jinchuriki and the last Uchiha with us, we can’t let anything happen to them.’ She thought.

“Thanks, by the way.” Sasuke said, pulling Sakura out of her thoughts.

She looked around quickly to be sure he was talking to her. Thanks from the Uchiha was rare. “For what?”

“For defending me in the fight.” Sasuke said as if it was obvious. “Considering we don’t get along…”

“I just moved.” Sakura said back quickly. “I didn’t think about it.” Sasuke turned forward and grunted smugly. “I should thank you as well then,” Sakura added.

“I just moved,” Sasuke replied, not turning back to address her. “I didn’t think about it.”

Despite most of Team Seven not wanting to remain in the Land of Waves, they still managed to end up spending a night at Tazuna’s house. When the old bridge builder got them there, he introduced them to his daughter Tsunami, and young grandson Inari. Inari wasn’t that much younger than Sakura, but he still hurried out of the kitchen when they’d arrived. Tsunami was more pleasant though, and immediately greeted everyone with kindness, and apologized for her son’s apparent shyness.

Tazuna addressed her quickly as she introduced herself. “Tsunami, these are the ninja from the Leaf who came to help us.” The young woman waved politely and was already beginning to explain where they could sleep until her father interrupted her. “Honey, now don’t react to what I’m about to tell you until I’m done. Because you’re just going to ask questions I’m going to answer.” Tsunami settled suddenly and watched her father diligently. “They know about the ninja from the Mist.” Tazuna continued. “The one Gato hired.” He added quickly, stressing the name.

Tsunami blinked in response and turned her head slowly to look over Team Seven. “I see.” Other than that remark, she kept quiet as her father requested.

Tazuna came further into the kitchen. “They aren’t equipped to handle a mission like this, and are probably going to be leaving soon.”

Sakura expected some kind of emotion from Tsunami, but she just fidgeted in her chair and held her breath. Finally Tazuna spoke again. “So it seems we will be on our own in this situation.”

As if she processed the information late, Tsunami suddenly began dramatically wailing. Immediately she pleaded and begged the ninja, Kakashi in particular, to help her son and father. For Sakura it was very awkward. Tsunami had been all but straight faced a moment ago, and now she’d turned on the water works. It wasn’t how emotional she was that made Sakura feel weird, it was the way Tsunami’s mood had shifted as if on cue. Sakura sank back on her heels, at least satisfied that Tsunami wasn’t directly addressing her.

Kakashi tried unsuccessfully to calm her. “Please ma'am, this team really cannot complete a mission of this caliber.”

“But Kakashi,” Tazuna whined. “Are you not a great ninja? If you can’t save us then who?”

‘This is an obvious appeal to pathos,’ Sakura thought. Still, as dramatic as Tazuna and Tsunami were, they must’ve known what they were doing. Something about it didn’t sit right with her. Tazuna had basically lured them here under false pretenses, and now they were begging Kakashi to save them. Sakura didn’t know him well enough to know how he’d react. She wasn’t even sure if she would have known how Kurenai would have. Tazuna and Tsunami were manipulative, but Sakura wasn’t sure how much she could hold it against them when they genuinely needed help so badly.

In Naruto’s case, their plight alone seemed to be all that was needed to motivate them to want to help. He pulled on Kakashi’s arm as he added his own to their urging. The crying and yelling in the kitchen got to Sakura quickly, and unconcerned with the appropriateness of it, she found herself unthinkingly walking back out the front door. She let the screen door slam behind her as she marched into the middle to the yard and gazed up at the sky. It was a beautiful night, and Sakura felt like she could scream. She was angry Kakashi was even hearing them out, she was angry Naruto didn’t seem to realize the reality of the situation, and she was angry at these Wavers for tricking them into coming here. And she quickly realized she was angry at herself. She’d sworn to me a ninja to protect others, but now that the going was tough, she was ready to cut and run. She was totally willing to leave these strangers to die. ‘Am I only willing to protect my friends and my family?’ She asked herself. ‘Is it all empty words if I don’t care about the people I don’t know?’ The Land of Waves wasn’t her country. And Tazuna and Tsunami certainly were not her family. ‘That little boy,’ Sakura thought, remembering Inari. ‘There are kids like that all over this village.’

The sound of the screen door banging closed alerted Sakura, and she turned quickly to see who followed her out. “Sasuke,” she said quickly.

“I think Kakashi might actually stay, at least a few days.” The Uchiha said bluntly. “He says he needs rest after the battle, but I think that’s just an excuse.”

Sakura stood reticent. The silence between the pair was interrupted by more urgent words from within the house, but Sakura wasn’t paying enough attention now to make any out clearly. “What do you think we should do?” She asked Sasuke.

He clicked his tongue. “I don’t know… We were lied to, but Kakashi handled Zabuza well enough before so it might be a chance to get stronger.”

“And the Yuki?” Sakura asked. Why was she not surprised that Sasuke saw this as a chance to grow.

“That’s assuming they’re against us.” Sasuke seemed to still be exercising some caution that they were really in league with Zabuza. “It’s impossible for me to tell you what our chances are against an enemy we know almost nothing about.” Sakura was quiet again. “Where were you going?” Sasuke added.

Sakura took a deep breath. “Nowhere…” She turned back toward the night’s sky. “I just needed some air.”

“You know, I expected you to be in Naruto’s court.” Sasuke said dryly. “Begging us to stay.”

Sakura nodded her head in self reflection, just enough to be noticeable. “Me too.”

Sasuke started walking up to Sakura, closing the gap between them but stopping short of touching her. “Either way, we are here for tonight.” He walked off toward the corner of the yard. “Help me set up a tent.”

Sakura couldn’t tell by his tone if it was an invitation or demand.

“We will stay here for a few days,” Kakashi began. “And only a few,” he made clear as he pointed at Naruto, “until I regain my full chakra. Until then, we will treat ourselves as being in enemy territory, so two people will need to be awake at all times.”

“Can’t we just go somewhere else to sleep, Kakashi?” Sasuke asked. He almost sounded bored of the day’s developments. “Camping out at the house of the guy the enemy wants dead is just inviting us to be attacked again.”

“And if the enemy does return, it’s better we be able to respond to it quickly.” That explanation didn’t really make sense to Sakura, but it was more likely Kakashi was just looking for an excuse to stay in the area. He must’ve wanted this mission to go well very badly to be trying to get it back on track. “I’ll take the first watch with Sakura,” Kakashi added, “then the second watch with Sasuke. Sakura and Naruto will take the final watch.” The pair nodded to each other, but didn’t say anything. They hadn’t spoken directly since that spat earlier. “Get off to bed boys,” Kakashi instructed. “It’s already late.”

Sakura propped herself up and opened a book, but her mind was too abuzz with thoughts to focus on reading. Sakura almost felt like she should have loudly objected to Kakashi’s orders to stay, but she wasn’t so sure anymore. If Team Seven was here, then she might as well stay, and pray they don’t get attacked again. It could give her a chance to think about… ‘well, what I want.’ Sakura told herself. ‘What do you want?’

Kakashi unexpectedly broke the silence. “You did very well today, I was surprised.”

She could probably take that as an insult, but Sakura just looked up and offered a gentle “thank you.”

“Kurenai has raised a fine student.” Kakashi added.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t hide the bridge builder like you ordered.” Sakura said back slowly. “My genjutsu just isn’t that advanced yet.”

“It’s fine,” Kakashi replied. “I’d hoped, but not really expected.” Another thing Sakura could have taken offense from, but somehow she knew that wasn’t at all how the captain meant it. “You have a remarkably strong will. I noticed it about you back at the academy.”

“You noticed me?” Sakura asked with surprise.

“Yes.” Kakashi’s tone was matter of fact. “I actually wanted you as the kunoichi of Team Seven, but Iruka talked me out of it. When I saw you fight, I realized that another sensei would have much more to offer you.”

“I guess I should thank you for letting me go then.” Sakura replied. It was odd to see Kakashi so forthcoming. They’d never really been alone together before though. “I really love Team Eight.”

“Have you walked on water before today?” Kakashi asked, changing the subject readily.

“I uhh,” Even Sakura had kind of forgotten about that. She was just doing what she could to stay alive. “Not really sir, but my chakra concentration was always good.”

“I can tell,” Kakashi’s reply was curt, and Sakura couldn’t tell what half of her comment he was replying to. “We were doing surface walking training back in the Leaf. When we get back, you should stop by one day and I’ll let you practice with Ino.”

Sakura didn’t know if Kakashi thought Ino and her were close, or if he was just being friendly, but she was certain Kurenai could have instructed her in it if Sakura choose. “Maybe,” She replied. “If Kurenai gives me an hour or two to leave.”

“She really wanted you.” Kakashi said, pressing his hand to his chin.

Sakura blinked away from her book. “Huh?”

“Iruka was talking you up to all the combat team sensei,” Kakashi clarified. “I think you were his favorite, so he was really trying to sell you. Well, other than to me.” He chuckled. “I head she was quite interested.”

Sakura took a moment to process the captain’s words. “I wasn’t aware of that. I haven’t even seen Iruka sensei since graduation.”

“Teachers can play such a transient role in our lives can’t they?” Kakashi pulled out a book of his own and opened to a marked page. While he’d freely interrupted her own reading, somehow Sakura understood this particular conversation was over. They didn’t exchange many more words for the rest of the shift.

Naruto shook Sakura awake, causing her to jump. She instinctively reached for a kunai before she came to her senses and relaxed. “Sorry,” she breathed. “I’ve been on edge.”

“I’m sorry too,” Naruto frowned.

The pair left her tent, and Sakura sat back in the spot she had when she took the watch with Kakashi. Unlike his sensei, the Uzumaki boy saw fit to sit right beside her. “I keep thinking about Miss. Mito," he started. "How even when she was far from home, she protected the Leaf like it was her own.”

“That’s why you wanna stay here so bad.” Sakura said in understanding. “I figured.”

Naruto slouched. “I feel like it’s my job to protect people. Or all that’s happened to me so far isn’t worth anything.”

“You have intrinsic worth.” Sakura said quickly. “You’re a human being, not just…” She glanced around to be sure nobody would hear despite the darkness and the hour. “A Jinchuriki.”

Naruto cracked a little smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “You still wanna leave don’t you?”

“Wave?” Sakura asked. “Yeah… and I’m starting to think part of that is because I don’t want to watch anyone die. And I’m scared.”

Naruto looked away. “I say my job is to protect people. But I didn’t protect you much did I?”

Sakura snorted. “Protecting us is my job. You’ve got enough to do, worrying about all the little people.” She joked.

“That isn’t really fair to you, ya know.” The Uzumaki replied.

“And your role is fair to you?” Sakura asked as she tied back up her hair for the day. “I didn’t become a ninja to put myself first. And you never got to choose. I’ve always said that I became a ninja to protect others. But when I’m really faced with it, when sacrifice is a conscious choice… it’s hard. How can true altruism exist, when the nature of being alive is to want to survive?”

Naruto wasn’t sure if he wanted to sigh or laugh. “As usual, I think you’re over my head.”

Sakura smiled and rested her hand on Naruto’s shoulder. “Sit with me awhile then, until I can figure it out.”

Naruto made a short little satisfied hum. “I can do that.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 24: A Fickle Sea and Quiet Woodland

Waking up in Wave was strange, even for Kakashi. It seemed he’d traveled all throughout the east during the war, but Kakashi had never managed to make it to this country. Even when the Leaf and Mist were bitter enemies, neither had attempted to contest the Land of Waves. That’s what made it so interesting that the Mist rebels had come all the way here when the bulk of their forces had been pushed back to the bitter south by the loyalists. It could have been that Zabuza had broken ranks from the rebellion, but that didn’t sound right based on what Kakashi knew of him. More likely something more was going on. Kakashi dispersed the genin to check the surrounding area for traps or signs of being shadowed, then met up with Tazuna in his kitchen. He needed some answers. “Tell me more about this Gato figure,” Kakashi began.

“Gato is about fifteen years younger than me,” Tazuna explained, “and he got started on his mercantile empire long ago.”

“He has a lot of influence here then?” Kakashi asked.

“If there is a pie in Wave, Gato has a piece of it.” Tazuna clarified. “As for when exactly he became the man to be in the country, I’m not sure even I can tell you. They say it takes money to make money, and Gato sure has a lot of that.”

“Interesting that I have never heard of him,” Kakashi admitted, but tried to think back if he ever heard the name in passing. He didn’t know much about Wave culture, but surely such a powerful businessman’s name would have passed by Kakashi before.

Tazuna scoffed. “You Land of Fire guys really are all the same. You say you want to respect our right to self determination, when really you ignore the fact we don’t want to be a backwater country. The Land of Fire and Water used to fight over us, but left us independent for ‘our own good.’ In reality, we have been left poor and weak, reliant on you and your ninjas, but without the strong economy or stable government a major nation could provide.”

“Neither the Fire Daimyo nor the Water Daimyo could lay claim to this island without provoking the other,” Kakashi replied.

Tazuna turned his head out the window. Inari was playing outside. “And yet we still end up a pawn in war all the same.”

Kakashi remembered what it was like when the Land of Fire was being invaded. At least the Leaf ninja and armies of the Daimyo could resist. The Land of Waves had no standing military. “Your nation has a government doesn’t it, some kind of council?”

“The council of three,” Tazuna confirmed. “One elected official to manage internal affairs, one for maritime and international relations, and one to be appointed as treasurer.”

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. “Then why not approach them for support?”

“You don’t know much about small government do you Kakashi?” Tazuna asked. “Our laws go where the money is these days, and Gato has it. Our politicians are bought and paid for.”

“So Gato really is the root of all your issues.” Kakashi confirmed. “Seems simplest to strike at the source.”

“No!” Tazuna shot back so urgently he almost surprised himself. “I mean,” Tazuna straightened out, “eliminating Gato isn’t the solution. The bridge is. That will link us to the Land of Fire and break his stranglehold on our trade.”

“You seem like a man who would do anything to protect his family.” Kakashi stated plainly. “Gato isn’t above murder.”

Tazuna allowed himself a quick smirk. “You don’t know the half of it.” As the old bridge builder left the room, Kakashi was left wondering which of his statements Tazuna replied to.

Sakura was surveying the surrounding areas of Tazuna’s home when she happened upon an old shed at the end of a well used trail. ‘Now there’s a spot to hide out,’ she thought. As Sakura approached the door, she hesitated. ‘If there really is a Mist nin in here, it’ll be bad.’ Sakura calmed her nerves. ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained.’

She swung the door open and instantly covered her nose, the smell of death within the shed was abhorrent. She covered her mouth in shock. Spears, rusted from dried blood lined the back wall. A thick stain of ichor still marked the earthen floor. “Kami!” Sakura exclaimed and backed away.

“Sakura! Honey!” A voice called from behind her, and if she didn’t recognize it was Tsunami, Sakura would have reached for a kunai. “What are you doing out here?”

“Looking for signs of the enemy.” Sakura coughed back. “What the hell is this, I thought Wavers didn’t have weapons.”

Tsunami came up behind Sakura and rested a hand on her shoulder. She giggled. “These are harpoons, dear, for fishing.”

Sakura made a disgusted noise and tried to waft the smell away. “No fish made this mess.”

Tsunami laughed again, more awkwardly. “Well of course not dear, harpoons are for whaling.”

“W-whaling?” Sakura struggled against the oder Tsunami seemed to be numb to. “You eat cetaceans?”

Tsunami nodded heartily. “A pod can feed most everyone in the village.”

“But whales are intelligent.” Sakura replied.

“They aren’t human dear,” Tsunami answered back dismissively. “You’re a girl, think of what you would do to feed your children one day.”

“Ugh.” Sakura slammed the door close, lest more of the foulness escape. “I never really thought about it.” Sakura replied.

“You never thought of having a husband and kids someday?” Tsunami asked. “All young ladies should.”

“I don’t know if I want that,” Sakura said back, still waving her hand in front of her nose. “And I’m a little young to get started.”

Tsunami cocked her head and smiled. “Career woman huh? We don’t have many of your kind here.”

“You’re a young mother yourself.” Sakura commented. “What’s Inari’s father up to?”

Tsunami blinked, and turned stone faced. “He’s dead.” She replied simply.

“I’m so sorry,” Sakura blurted out, shaking her head. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s fine,” Tsunami said slowly, and a little unlike herself.

Sakura brought a hand up gently to her own chest. “How did he-”

“Slowly.” Tsunami said, and turned away. 

It was a severe and quick response, and the last thing Sakura expected. It made Sakura feel strange enough to not press further, but it was obvious Tsunami was hiding her feelings. What was odder was what they were. Sakura had never been top of kunoichi class, but if she could read anything about lies it almost seemed like Tsunami was hiding… ‘satisfaction?’ Sakura asked herself. “Hey Tsunami!” Sakura called back at the young mother as she walked away. “What were you even doing out here?”

Tsunami turned glibly, her old demeanor returned. “Oh I always walk this trail to gather herbs! Nice running into you.”

Naruto wasn’t too sure what he was supposed to be on the lookout for exactly, but he knew he wanted to be around if the fighting started up again. He felt a little nervous about having Tazuna’s grandson just running around the yard. Plus Tazuna’s house was on the edge of town, Naruto could almost picture the fog that signaled the enemy creeping back out from the woods and right in front of the boy. ‘Speaking of him, what is he doing anyway?’ Naruto thought. He’d been crouched by a tree pouring something in a food dish for a couple minutes now. “Hey kid!” Naruto called. “What are you up to?” Inari didn’t reply so Naruto walked up to him. “Inari.” Naruto said a little louder to get his attention.

The boy didn’t turn. “I don’t want to talk to you.” He said slowly.

“Because I’m foreign?” Naruto asked.

Again, Inari did not reply.

“Hey kid,” Naruto started. “I’m here trying to keep your grandad safe. You don’t have to worry about me, you know.”

Sasuke returned from his scouting session suddenly, flying out of the trees and landing on the roof behind the pair. “Hey,” he called down. “I got nothing.”

Naruto held up his hand to signal Sasuke, and continued to watch Inari curiously. “Inari…” Naruto began. “Are you… poisoning that food?”

“It’s rat poison.” Inari said quietly.

“I haven’t seen any rats on this island.” Naruto said, as much a statement as a question.

“I poison them.” Inari said back. “Rats are invasive. They can ruin a small island's ecology.”

“You like animals then?” Naruto asked, but a little unsettled.

Inari looked over his shoulder slowly. His bucket hat and overalls made him look younger than he was. Sasuke jumped down from the roof, and Inari quickly jerked his head back to return to what he was doing. “Not rats.” He finally replied.

“Your name means fox right?” Naruto continued. “You must like foxes.” Sasuke watched Naruto with Inari while rolling his eyes.

“They’re small,” Inari said. “But they are hunters.”

“I haven’t seen any foxes here either.” Naruto replied.

“You realize any animal would eat this food.” Sasuke said sharply. “You’re not just poisoning the rats.”

“Rats come here and…” Inari paused. “Change things. The island will survive, but not with them.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes again. “What do you think will happen when the bridge is built? Rats will be coming through even more then.”

Inari stood up with a huff. “Need more poison.” He spoke aloud but acted like he said it only to himself. After a brief delay he took off in a dash and started toward town.

“Hey!” Sasuke yelled back, loud and stern. Inari stopped with a tremor. “Where do you think you’re going?” Sasuke asked impatiently. “You’re the perfect hostage, you’re staying here.”

Inari turned and glared back at the genin boys, his cheeks red.

“Sasuke.” Naruto spoke low and held out his hands disarmingly. “I could just go with him.” Before any more conversation could be had, Inari stomped back inside, the shutter door crashing behind him. Naruto made an annoyed sound. “You’re too harsh with him.”

Sasuke acted like he wasn’t listening, but cocked his head at the door. ‘Weird kid.’

“Sakura and I didn’t turn up much.” Sasuke reported to Kakashi. He omitted Naruto’s name since he hadn’t been much help at all.

“Speak for yourself.” Sakura joked. “You didn’t have to find where they butcher the whales.”

“Eww.” Naruto replied, grossed out but laughing a little. “Why do that in the woods?”

“It smells putrid,” Sakura replied. “Although I imagine they need to get them there in parts to begin with.” She shuddered to think of it.

Sasuke ignored his teammates' discussion. “Have you decided what we are going to do about Tazuna, Kakashi?”

“Tazuna would like to return to work on the bridge tomorrow.” The captain replied. “We will guard him for a few days.” Naruto cheered a little, but Kakashi shushed him. “It is possible that Zabuza is truly dealt with, and that Yuki really was loyal to the Mizukage. We saw no sign of either today.”

“Or they’re recovering.” Sakura replied.

“Yes.” Kakashi confirmed. “If they don’t show up in a few days we will consider the mission over, and leave Tazuna to his efforts. If they do, we will respond. If Zabuza is alive, I doubt he’ll keep us waiting long.”

Sasuke leaned up against the side of the house. “You seem to know an awful lot about this guy, Kakashi.”

Kakashi turned toward his Uchiha student, just as casual. “Just after the end of the last war, the Fourth Mizukage came into power. His reign immediately turned dictatorial, and perhaps the most outlandish of his acts was to decree that the graduating academy students must butcher their classmates in order to be promoted to genin.”

“What!” Naruto shouted. “That’s-that’s crazy.”

“And foolish,” Sasuke added. “You’ll lose a lot of promising ninja that way.”

Kakashi nodded. “Yagura, that’s the Mizukage, felt that it would ensure the strong would survive, and that resources would not be wasted training the weak. They don’t all actually die, to my understanding the classes are organized into cells, so you only have to kill your immediate groupmates. If the Mist truly only produced one ninja in a generation it would fall into obscurity, no matter how strong the kid was.”

“I remember learning about it.” Sakura shuddered. “It seems so twisted from how the Mist was founded.”

Naruto ground his teeth. It must’ve been another lecture he spaced out for.

“So how does Zabuza factor into all this?” Sasuke asked.

“Zabuza was the first graduate.” Kakashi clarified. “The groups weren’t separated far enough apart on that first exam apparently. The fighting spilled out into each other's training grounds, and likely out of confusion, fear, or rage, Zabuza killed everyone. That was the only year there truly was one graduate.”

“Damn,” Sakura exclaimed.

Kakashi continued. “I wasn’t much older than Zabuza when it happened, but I’d been promoted to jonin very young, so I remember hearing a lot about it in the upper circles. The Hokage cut diplomatic ties with the new Mizukage in protest, a bold choice so soon after the war. In time all the villages did. And in not quite correlation, each nation became much more secretive with their own practices. Diplomacy now is even worse than just before the Third Great War. Our only close ties today are to the Sand Village in the Land of Wind, but if it wasn’t for Yagura and the Blood Mist Village, it might never have deteriorated this far.”

“Sounds like this Yagura guy wanted another war.” Sasuke said dryly.

Kakashi sighed. “Perhaps, but he went about it the wrong way. Yagura has reigned for over a decade, but the great clans of the Land of Water wouldn’t tolerate him for that long. In response to the killings of their children, a group of senior ninja attempted a coup d'etat a few years ago. Yagura killed all of them, except Zabuza, who apparently escaped. That’s when his name reached my ear again. Now there is full blown civil war in the Land of Water, those loyal to the Mizukage are more civilian ninja or those from smaller clans wishing to increase their status in Yagura’s new order. The major clans, or those simply opposed to the Mist’s barbarism are usually counted among the rebels.”

“Woah woah,” Naruto held up his hands, breathing heavily. “So this Zabuza guy is trying to overthrow this crazy Yagura dude putting his country through hell? And the Mizukage just killed everyone who tried to stop him?”

“Yes,” Kakashi nodded plainly. “Yagura is very powerful of course… ah did I not mention Yagura is Jinchuriki of the Sanbi?”

“What?” Naruto shouted again. “And he has… one of those things in him?”

Kakashi nodded along. “Uh huh. The three tails isn’t one you want to meet, trust me…”

Kakashi pulled Rin along. She was limping, but it seemed more like the will was sapped from her than she was dragged down by any physical wound. “H-hurry,” He urged her, fighting his own exhaustion. “We need to get back to the battalion.”

“Kakashi,” Rin replied feebly. “I… I don’t feel right.”

“The Village then!” Kakashi yelled. “We will get to the battalion and then right back to the village. There are medics trained by Lady Tsunade there who can heal anything.” The battlefield was washed out and devoid of color. In the haze, you couldn’t even tell what time of day it was. But Rin was there and it was all that mattered. She toppled over suddenly, and slipped out of Kakashi’s hand. “Rin come on,” Kakashi urged, “You need to stay with me.”

The girl looked up, tears in her eyes as she clutched her stomach. “Kakashi,” She spoke through agonized words. “There’s something in me…” She wretched.

Kakashi realized suddenly he’d trailed off. He sighed. “Anyway… That’s what I know about Zabuza. I can’t say why he’s come here, the bulk of the remaining rebels are on their back foot near the southernmost extreme of the Land of Water. Beyond that there is nothing but the open expanse of the sea and eventually the south pole.”

“Gato must’ve offered him a lot of money.” Sakura pondered. “The remaining rebels must need resources.”

“Well that’s the interesting part, they’ve never sought outside help before, even as they started losing.” Kakashi replied. “They are the more sympathetic party, at least outwardly, but no formal manner of contact was ever issued between their forces and another nation. At least to my knowledge...” Kakashi shrugged. “Perhaps Gato went to them.”

“Odd to have a civil war so close to our doorstep and not intervene.” Sasuke added.

Kakashi sighed. “Oh believe me, the Mizukage contacted many villages in calls for aid to eradicate the rebels, even despite our severed relations. Of course we offered none. To send out forces into the Land of Water would weaken our own country for one. Tensions would likely escalate into a Fourth Shinobi World War. Luckily no one wants that right now, at least in the Leaf.”

Naruto scratched his head wearily. “Hold on… Zabuza is the good guy?”

Kahashi turned to Naruto. “There are no good and bad guys, we are ninja.”

Naruto blinked and took heavy more breaths. “But this Yagura guy is… crazy?” He asked his question slowly, unsure of what to think.

Kakashi shrugged. “To me.”

Zabuza swung around his blade, testing his strength. Haku watched closely. “Will you be ready to fight again?”

“Tomorrow.” Zabuza replied. “When I’m at one hundred percent. I have to be ready to face Kakashi.”

Haku frowned. “I can’t believe the Leaf threw in with Yagura. They stayed out of the conflict for so long.”

Zabuza whipped around his sword in a wide arc. “They are also our closest neighbors. It just makes it more urgent to complete the mission and get back to the frontline.”

“I worry about the front without you.” Haku replied. “The Loyalists might gain even more ground. You shouldn’t have come with us.”

“You wouldn’t have been able to deal with Kakashi on your own.” Zabuza frowned. “I know you must be afraid right now. Worried that now that the Leaf is involved it will be the end of us. But child, I am here with you. There is always hope.”

Haku looked away. “Sensei it’s just… we are on the right side. If the future isn’t following us, I’m more afraid for the people who will need to keep living in it. The rebellion was more than just for our own sake. We need to set a precedent to the world. That tyrants can’t buy and sell our lives. That life shouldn’t be wrought with constant fighting and hardship.”

Zabuza rested a hand on Haku’s shoulder. “Right now it’s my job to carry the burdens of life for your generation. When I’m gone, you’ll do the same for the children beneath you.”

Haku looked back up at Zabuza. “I’m with you till the end, sensei, come Mist or Leaf or Yagura himself.”

“Then our mission stands. First we take out Tazuna and Kakashi and destroy the bridge. Then we regroup with the others and end Gato. And this time we will do it together.” Zabuza affirmed.

“Should we take out the villagers too?” Haku asked. “They can’t all be in league with Gato.”

Zabuza sighed. “The ones that weren’t are surely long dead… If only we got here sooner.”

Haku’s shoulders fell. “If only Yagura didn’t send him to this country at all.”

Zabuza patted Haku’s back. “Incapacitate the genin if you can, otherwise.” Zabuza saluted Haku in the custom of the old Mist Village. “For the Mist that surrounds me.”

Haku mirrored the pose. “And the water within me.”

“For tonight's lookout we can start with Sakura and Sasuke.” Kakashi began. “Then Naruto and I, then Naruto and Sasuke.”

The group nodded. Kakashi and Sakura had done the doubles last night, so this was fair.

“Oh man,” Naruto groaned. “I hope I fall right to sleep. I’m gonna be tired.”

“You’ll be fine,” Sakura chuckled. And prepared to take the first watch with Sasuke.

All and all it was a pretty quiet watch. Sakura didn’t sense anything out of the ordinary, and nobody was going to be getting into or out of the house without her noticing. Sasuke was mum, but once she was sure everyone was asleep, Sakura walked over to him.

“Hey,” She started. He just nodded toward her. “Let me ask you a question?” Sakura continued.

“What is it?” Sasuke asked disinterestedly.

Sakura would have scoffed if she wasn’t used to his stoicism. “Captain Kakashi,” She turned her head toward his tent. “I noticed you don’t really call him sensei like Naruto does.”

“No.” Sasuke replied.

“Well isn’t it kind of disrespectful not to?” Sakura asked.

Sasuke nodded at her then panned around. “Yeah.”

“So you’re… trying to be disrespectful?” Sakura asked in a tone between confused and annoyed.

“Yeah.” Sasuke repeated and rolled his eyes. “And before you ask why, I have the utmost respect for Kakashi as a ninja, but not as a teacher.” Sakura just raised her eyebrows at him and waited for Sasuke to continue. “When we were first assigned to him he made us pass a manipulative test before he agreed to actually teach us. I did it, but it was only because I saw Kakashi as my best chance to be stronger. Nobody else in the Leaf can teach me to use a Sharingan anymore. But he has pretty much only trained me.”

“He ignored the others that much?” Sakura asked.

Sasuke just nodded. “I’m not going to give him my respect just because I’m his favorite. He ignored the others so badly it dragged down our team.”

Sakura knew about some things through Naruto, but it was surprising to hear Sasuke voice his displeasure too. “I’m surprised you care about Naruto and Ino at all.”

Sasuke glared at her. “You really think I’m the villain huh? The brand new Senju, the bullied Uzumaki kid, the sad little Hyuuga girl. I’m the big bad Uchiha in your story right?” He scoffed.

Sakura folded her arms. “You’re not exactly nice to people, and you more than took advantage of being the favorite at the academy.”

“Was I really though?” Sasuke asked her. “Or am I just Kakashi’s. I’m not sure why he is so obsessed with my training. Maybe it's just because only he can teach me, maybe it’s more than that. But everyone notices and his choices affect people’s perceptions of me.”

“You could try being nicer to people yourself, you know.” Sakura said. “You’re strong, you’re smart, you’re even good looking, but you don’t treat people well.”

“Oh yeah,” Sasuke scoffed. “The Senju who graduated in two years, with perfect grades, perfect chakra control, instant genjutsu, and buddied up to the Hyuuga heir and the Nara heir… Naruto.” He added. “You’re gonna tell me to be nice, cute.”

“I didn’t make my friends for who their parents were.” Sakura shot back. “And as for my skills, I worked for all of them.”

“Did you?” Sasuke asked. “”Or did you just wake up the day we fought and decide you could control water?” Sakura’s face twisted, and she moved to speak, but Sasuke interrupted her. “You are a Senju. I am an Uchiha. We both founded this village and you were born with the same silver spoon in your mouth I was. But I don’t deny it, I don’t act like I’m an underdog.”

“I’m not to blame for how you treat people.” Sakura replied, pointing to her chest overzealously. “I don’t compare myself to anyone but myself, but you think because you were born great you need to be greater than everyone else. You were so scared I’d beat you in the pre-graduation spar you tried to take my head off with a fuma!” Sakura had to remind herself to watch her tone as the others slept.

Sasuke clicked his tongue. “It wouldn’t have hit you.” He said plainly, as if it was obvious. “Besides, you gave me this.” Sasuke rubbed a scar on his leg, from where Sakura had ripped his skin away.

Sakura was quiet for a second. “You’d have gotten away with murder. You had people in that class worshiping you.”

“I don’t care what anyone thinks of me,” Sasuke said, shaking his head. “Not anymore. So as for why they were so fascinated with me, it’s just like Kakashi. It’s not for who I am that I’m judged, but what I represent. I’m the future of the Uchiha… not Sasuke. And I have to embrace that, because I can never measure myself against my entire family’s legacy.”

Sakura sat next to him. “My father was the ninja in my family. He was someone who I never consciously knew, and he died before I could. I don’t say that to compare my trauma to yours, and frankly I’d come up short. I’ll never be able to understand what you’ve been through, and I pray nobody else ever does.” She breathed quickly. “And I’m not trying to make this about me. I’ve been guilty before of thinking of you as just the last Uchiha. But I wasn’t… ingrained enough in this life to know what to make of that. So I could only judge you as Sasuke. And I can see…” Sakura frowned and nodded her head. “How the world has eaten away at you.” She sighed. “But don’t give up. Don’t shut out everyone around you because you’re afraid they will be taken away from you again.”

Sasuke was silent for a moment, then turned to her. “Since when were you a psychologist?” Sasuke asked, equal parts indignant and vulnerable.

Sakura swallowed audibly. “There is nothing I can say right now other than I’m sorry. I came to ask a dumb question and it turned into this… So I’m sorry… I even thought after the other day we were starting to get along.”

Sakura rose, unopposed from Sasuke, and made her way back toward her space in the camp. Sasuke spoke aloud. “We are.”

Tsunami slunk into Tazuna’s bedroom. He was awake and ready for their meeting. Neither the girl nor the dark haired boy should to be able to overhear. “This is getting riskier and riskier.” She started “They are practically under our roof and even if Kakashi kills Zabuza it’ll be too hard to just send them back on their way to the Leaf without it coming back to bite us somehow.”

Tazuna sighed. “This is a good plan Tsunami, and you know it. Gato can’t deal with Zabuza on his own, we need a jonin.”

“Why couldn’t the Mizukage send some of his people?” She questioned. “Tricking these Leaf nin… it hasn’t been easy.”

“Because by the time they’d get here I’d already be dead and they’d move on to Gato.” Tazuna replied. “They didn’t think the rebels would catch wind and get people here so quickly.”

Tsunami double checked the window. “And what if they walk away before he’s back. We need to convince Leaf to stay until Zabuza is dead, and it's too risky to have them around.”

“We are doing everything we can.” Tazuna whispered back. He looked out the window. The kids seemed to be arguing. Tazuna closed the curtain again quickly. “This strategy was passed down by Gato himself, he said to villainize him if we had to.”

“The second Kakashi and Zabuza start talking to one another, they are going to figure it the hell out.” Tsunami urged back. “And then we are doubly fucked.”

“We’ll up the ante.” Tazuna nodded. “I’ll make sure they start fighting right away this time. Take some risks.”

“The girl found the shed.” Tsunami added after a delay and pointed outside.

“What?” Tazuna said in surprise.

“Exactly,” Tsunami replied. “If I hadn’t happened to be out there too she could have dug up the damn bodies.”

Tazuna turned his head down in thought. "Well you talked her away clearly, but we need to be careful with the genin too.”

“I said it was for whaling…” Tsunami thought for a moment as well. “I say we kill the bitch and pin it on Zabuza,” Tsunami replied. “That’ll give them reason to stay.”

“You can’t poison one of them and not arouse suspicion.” Tazuna whispered back urgently. “You need to be rational about this.”

“Who said poison her?” Tsunami said back quickly. “She trusts me well enough, if I could get her alone in the woods-”

“That’s the opposite of rational.” Tazuna interrupted. “You might be good with polearms but you’re not a fucking ninja. We can’t beat them physically, that’s why we need to pit them against each other.”

“I have a lot of respect for Gato.” Tsunami said after some consideration. "He brought me vengeance.” She tapped her hand to her chest with every word. “But his plan is too risky. This yarn about Gato being some big business man from Wave is full of holes. They are gonna figure it out, ninja are supposed to be smart.”

“And we are supposed to be helpless.” Tazuna replied. “The story adds up. Gato was a big-time businessman here. We wanted to join the mainland, so he hired Zabuza to keep his monopoly. We hire the Leaf to protect us and bang bang they kill Zabuza for us.”

“Or,” Tsunami replied. “They get to talking, and realize that the Mizukage finally invited the Land of Wave to join the Land of Water. They realize that Gato was a ninja who was sent here to integrate us and topple the old regime. They realize,” Tsunami urged, “the bridge is to get supplies for the war from the mainland and directly into the Land of Water.”

“That’s why the Leaf are the perfect fall guys.” Tazuna replied. “They don’t observe our nation. They are so afraid of this turning into a huge war they will roll over and accept this as a C-Rank mission gone wrong. It’s perfect, their academy just had its graduation. We could pay for the genin team, kids we can handle, and still get a jonin who could match Zabuza. It’s providence, Tsunami,” Tazuna gestured, “providence.”

“And it falls apart the moment anyone asks questions. To both of them, Gato is the enemy, and Gato is who we need.” Tsunami reached for a trap door in the floorboards. “You said it yourself, we need to up the ante.” Tsunami produced a military grade crossbow and offered it to her father. “The bolts,” She gave a sneering smile, “explode…” Her tone was malicious and eager. “Rigged with the same stuff they make their paper bombs out of. Start firing this fucker off, you’ll see some action.”

Tazuna shook his head, dumbfounded but delighted. “How am I going to explain having this this, I said we don’t have weapons.”

Tsunami rolled her eyes and smirked. “I got everything in order while you were picking up the ninja, can’t you just stick to the damn script.” She shook her head. “Let me do the talking on this one, a girl has her ways.”

“Tsunami.” Tazuna began after handing the crossbow back to her. “We might need to think about moving Inari.”

“No,” She replied. “He knows enough not to talk to them and he is good for sympathy. And he is the only good thing that came from that night, so I’m going to keep my son here and remember what all this is for.”

“Kaiza is dead.” Tazuna whispered back. “Gato made sure you could watch it yourself.”

Tsunami nodded proudly, but her face was twisted with rage. “I need more than just his death, I need the country he ran to be remade.”

Tazuna reached out and held his daughter. “Tsunami no man is ever going to touch you again. Everyone left is with us. We are going to bring about a new Wave.”

Tsunami nodded into her father’s chest and pulled away. “No more Wave. If we pull this off, it will be the Land of Blood and Water.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 25: Loss of a Limb

Sakura touched her toes as she stretched, it was nice to get such a good night's sleep for once. Naruto on the other hand seemed to be dragging himself along, but all she could do was smile at him awkwardly and hope he managed to wake up some. Kakashi wanted them all to stand by at the bridge today. Tsunami had fixed them a grand breakfast but Sakura declined. Sakura couldn’t place it, but there was something she didn’t like about her instinctively, at least after that interaction at the whaling shed yesterday. Sakura watched as Tsunani’s son helped her set the table. He was much more straight faced compared to Tazuna and Tsunami’s boisterous personas. Instead she took out a bag of raisins and ate them in the dining room before an unfilled plate.

“Sakura,” Kakashi started. “Are you not hungry?”

“Not today, sir.” She didn’t know how to pass mention to him about how odd she found their clients. It seemingly hadn’t been met with much attention from Kakashi. In fact, he seemed almost single minded in succeeding this mission.

Naruto wolfed down his food, but he still seemed groggy. “Say Naruto,” Kakashi started. “Why don’t you stay here and get a quick nap.”

“I can fight, sensei.” Naruto said indignantly. “I’m not that tired.”

“Still,” Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. “I want to keep my student’s happy. Being tired can be a risk too. And this way you can stay here today to protect Tsunami and Inari if Zabuza shows up.”

Tazuna and Tsunami looked at one another. Tsunami spoke first. “It’s a good idea.” She said as she turned to her father. “You never know how evil those villains can be.”

Tazuna nodded toward Kakashi. “An excellent idea Kakashi, thank you.”

“I’m not sure Zabuza will return today,” The jonin began, “but you will still have three of us with you, and someone here in case he targets your family or home.”

Tazuna nodded. “You’re the ninja.”

Sakura shifted in her seat. It wasn’t her place to question the wisdom of a jonin, but surely Kakashi didn’t believe that Naruto could handle Zabuza on his own. Even if he distracted the rebel with clones, Naruto wasn’t the type to disengage. It made more sense to her to simply bring Tsunami and Inari to the bridge with them if that was the concern.

“Right,” Kakashi turned to his squad. “Let’s finish up and make it to the bridge then.”

Team Seven, minus Naruto, had only gone a few blocks before Tsunami rushed after them, waving and calling energetically. “Yoohoo!” She yelled. “Wait up!” She was sporting a huge crossbow under her arm.

“Tsunami!” Tazuna yelled. “Where did you get that!?”

“Yuusei!” She yelled back. “He said he smuggled it in, to give you something to defend yourself with if the Leaf didn’t take our mission.” She huffed as she ran up to them, making a show of being winded. “Here. He just missed you at the house.”

She handed it to Tazuna but Kakashi took it. “The bolts…” He started. “They'll detonate.”

Tsunami wide eyed the device. “Woah, crazy…”

Kakashi turned the weapon in his hand. “Who is Yuusei.”

“My girlfriend’s husband,” Tsunami replied quickly.

“Good man,” Tazuna added. “Used to work construction with me until he got crippled in an accident.”

Kakashi aimed the crossbow about. “Shame it will limit my hand signs.” He turned to Sakura. “How is your aim with a bow?”

Sakura squinted at the contraception. “I’ve never used one.”

“No,” Kakashi agreed. “It’s not a common ninja weapon.”

“My aim is good, Kakashi,” Sasuke interjected.

“It’s for my father.” Tsunami blurted out. “To give him a fighting chance if the enemy separates you all.”

“You’ll never tag Zabuza with this.” Kakashi said, almost chuckling, as he turned it over in his hands. “Can you even shoot Tazuna?”

Tazuna felt the weapon. “If the bolts explode…” He looked back toward Kakashi with apparent curiosity. “Can I just fire it at the ground?”

“Not so close, or you blow yourself up.” Kakashi added. “I’m not sure it’s good that you have this.”

Tazuna took it from his hands. “I feel better with it already. A little protection of my own.”

“Still,” Kakashi turned toward Sasuke. “Sasuke, if the enemy presents itself you’ll be with me.” Kakashi looked over to Sakura. “And you can guard Tazuna directly. You’re his first and last line of defense.”

“I better get going.” Tsunami reinserted herself quickly. “I’m going to make Naruto a second helping!” She laughed. “Be safe today,” she called as she trotted away.

Nobody addressed her as she left, even Tazuna. Kakashi called back to her. “You too!” Kakashi turned sharply and dropped his tone. “Sasuke, take the lead with Tazuna to the bridge, explain archery to him, I want a quick word with Sakura.” Sasuke crossed his arms and nodded as he took the lead. Tazuna stared hesitantly at Kakashi.

“What are you talking about?” Tazuna asked as politely as possible.

Kakashi nodded toward Sasuke. “Ninja business, go on now.”

With seeming reluctance, Tazuna did so, and Sakura followed Kakashi into a nearby alley. It wasn’t long before they were out of earshot. She looked up at Kakashi urgently. “Captain I-”

“You don’t need to explain your suspicions to me.” Kakashi said quickly. “I have them too. Kunoichi are so much more attentive to behavior at your age, maybe it’s a female thing.” He shrugged.

Sakura made a face at him. “Wait, you’re trying to tell me… Sasuke and Naruto don’t pick up on it?”

“See what I mean?” The captain said sarcastically. “But I do. These clients are positively odd. They admitted they knew about Zabuza all along, they hired us for the mission in hopes I could defeat him, and now feel like they need to play up their plight for sympathy. They think if they don’t, we'll leave now.”

Sakura turned her head as she followed Kakashi’s logic and raised an eyebrow in turn. “Um… Shouldn’t we?”

“Not yet,” Kakashi replied. “These people really do need help in dealing with Zabuza. They are too impoverished to field ninja of their own. But yet, they are still hiding quite a bit. For instance, remember that crossbow?”

“It hasn’t been two minutes since it was introduced, sir.” Sakura responded, more sarcastically than she should have.

“They have military grade weapons. They were already arming themselves to fight,” Kakashi replied. “Interesting huh? Zabuza couldn’t have openly pursued Tazuna into the Land of Fire without causing an incident, but Tazuna is not a Land of Fire citizen, and Zabuza surely has the skill to hide his involvement.” Kakashi continued. “So my theory is that Zabuza only got here around the same time we did. It just so happens these Wavers have been preparing for combat for a longer while than a simple trip to the Leaf and back would take.”

“They did say they caught wind he’d been hired.” Sakura remembered. “Tazuna said as much already.”

“Tazuna is a liar.” Kakashi replied plainly. “But even then, their behavior screams more is at play. The Land of Wave is undergoing a revolution of sorts.”

Sakura tilted her head. “What are you saying?”

Kakashi chuckled. “These Wave citizens are essentially overthrowing their last government, which Gato all but ran, with the construction of the bridge. Now Gato has gotten desperate enough to hire a foreign ninja to restore the status quo. Tazuna was probably one of the leaders of this liberation faction, and in response he hired us. A tiny little nation of a few hundred people using bigger countries as tools to fight over the future of their island. But they have been having it out between themselves for awhile now. Our client might be every bit the killer Gato is.”

“So Tazuna isn’t as helpless as he lets on.” Sakura pondered. "Should we really still help him?"

“He is still inferior to a ninja like Zabuza.” Kakashi replied. “Now that ninja are involved we must the ones to check our equals, so to speak. These Wavers aren’t as helpless and innocent as they want to present though. Remember that when the time to confront Zabuza comes.”

“Are you saying I shouldn’t defend Tazuna?” Sakura asked cautiously.

“I’m saying,” Kakashi began. “Don’t die for him. It’s why I left Naruto at the house. He’d be the first to throw himself between Zabuza’s blade, and he buys Tazuna’s act more than you or Sasuke do.”

“But what if Zabuza really does attack the house?” Sakura asked.

“He didn’t before.” Kakashi replied. “If he wanted Tsunami or Inari dead or as a hostage, he’d have done that before he attacked us. Interesting that he hasn’t, since Tsunami seems more or less as involved as her father. It might simply be that her involvement is new, downplayed, or simply unknown to Gato.”

“Or Gato feels simply eliminating Tazuna will solve everything.” Sakura considered.

“We’ll see,” Kakashi nodded. “Let’s go catch back up.”

Zabuza stood where the woods met the water, hand signs already prepared. All he had left to do was will his jutsu into being. He hesitated.

“Sensei?” Haku asked. “What is it?”

“This battle could decide the outcome of our rebellion.” Zabuza clarified. “Or at least, if we lose today, there will be little the others can do to defeat Kakashi before the bridge is completed. Yagura will be able to import supplies directly from the mainland, and none of our other forces will be able to get here before the loyalists fortify the island.”

“Should we contact the rest of the squad?” Haku asked.

“No.” Zabuza replied. “Their mission is still to assassinate Gato, if we spread our limited forces too thin, we risk failure, and failure on either front can spell disaster.”

“I-I never properly apologized for breaking rank with the others to follow you, but we all agreed it was best.” Haku said, almost sadly. “We may not be as experienced or as strong as you, but it’s dangerous to go alone.”

“They are strong, just like you are.” Zabuza nodded. “But a part of me wishes you were still with them.”

“It’s time we stood by you, sensei. Have faith in us like we do you, we won’t lose.” Haku said calmly. “I’ll fight with you this time. I’ll give my life for the Land of Water.”

Zabuza looked down at his young student. They were all so ready to die for the Land of Water. It was a heartbreaking quality of many of the rebel children’s characters. One Zabuza regrettably had fostered. No matter how much he cared about Haku, nobody could weigh one small life against an entire country’s future. Every time Zabuza went into battle with one of his students, he’d silently accepted he would die to protect them if he had to. But now, realizing that he alone was a match for Kakashi, Zabuza was forced to accept that he may have to leave Haku to die today. To measure his life against his student’s, and rationalize that he alone was the one who needed to survive, at least until Kakashi was dead, was unsettling to Zabuza. Looking down, Zabuza smiled into Haku’s gentle face. “Are you ready child?”

Haku fixated forward, and gave the subtlest nod. “I’m ready. For the Mist that surrounds me.”

Taking a deep breath as Haku initiated the old creed, Zabuza willed the Hidden Mist justu to activate, its vapor rapidly engulfing the area and flowing toward the bridge. “And the water within me.” The pair took off across the sea.

The bridge was quite the sight. Sakura noticed right away how high up it was, clearly built so that some smaller ships could still pass beneath it, but also high enough she wasn't sure she could leap into the water safely. On Tazuna’s turf, he had quickly rallied up his foreman and workers to hurry construction along. Sakura was just grateful she wasn’t expected to lend a hammer. In fact, she was practically invisible to the laborers. She fanned out from Sasuke and Kakashi, finding the most quiet spot she could manage to collect herself. As it turned out, no part of a construction site was quiet at all. 

Sasuke came looking for her, and found her bent over the railing, staring into the water below. “Sakura.” He announced himself.

“Yes?” She questioned. After last night, she was surprised he was talking to her again so quickly. Or else, by choice.

“Kakashi wants you.” He replied, turning to walk away before he even finished speaking.

“What for?” She asked.

“How should I know?” Sasuke continued to walk off, hands in his pockets. “He just said to get you, not deliver a message.”

“Sasuke!” Sakura yelled. “Get Kakashi right now.”

Sasuke dropped his head in annoyance. “I’m not-”

“Sasuke!” Sakura urged again, pointing off the edge of the bridge. “Look.”

A thick cloud of mist was rolling over the sea towards the bridge. It wasn’t coming from the ocean but back from the Land of Waves, pouring out of the woodland itself. “Zabuza.” Sasuke muttered to himself. “Come with me then,” Sasuke said quickly as he waved to Sakura. “Kakashi and Tazuna are at the head of the bridge.”

Tsunami rushed to meet the knock at the door. It was Yuusei. “Zabuza is making his move ma’am, we have spotted the mist.”

Tsunami nodded and closed the door behind her. “Sooner than expected, but good. I should mention, one of the genin is still here.”

Yuusei blinked. “I mean T-tsunami.” It was odd for him to refer to her without an honorific, but ma’am wasn’t good for their cover.

“It’s fine,” she reassured him. “He is passed out on our couch.” Yuusei cocked his head, but Tsunami elaborated before he could question her. “I sedated him, the jonin ordered he stay here, but I drugged his food after they left. He will be unconscious for hours.”

“Won’t he question that when he wakes?” Yuusei asked.

“This one’s dumb,” Tsunami said dryly. “I considered killing him and framing it on Zabuza, but I don’t want to make any big moves without father’s okay.”

Yuusei grinned darkly. “You exist to make waves, Lady Tsunami.” The villagers had taken to giving Tsunami a title after she rose to prominence under her father in their faction. It was their little play on the famous Lady Tsunade.

“Hmm, I can’t say if we will or won’t need him.” Tsunami considered as several of Yuusei’s subordinates followed him into the yard. One handed her a spear.

“What should we do ma’am?” The man asked.

“We stand by as planned, but don’t act until Kakashi defeats Zabuza.” She confirmed. “Don’t get close enough to get caught up in any fighting, and anchor the ships. The enemy controls water.” Tsunami added.

“Once Kakashi kills the enemy nin, my father will signal us to engage, and backstab Kakashi in the confusion.” Tsunami went on. “We need to flush the bridge quickly, the genin may still be alive, but we have numbers. If we surround them both we can limit their movements, and they aren’t big enough to overpower us without their agility.”

“Ma’am?” A woman near the back questioned.

“You didn’t see them?” Yuusei asked. “The genin are kids.”

“If you have mixed feelings, I understand.” Tsunami stated to the forming mob. “But I can assure you there is no such thing as a child ninja. They are weapons now, no different from my spear. Any innocence in them was killed long ago.” Tsunami declared sternly. It had been a lesson she learned from Gato himself. “Today the Land of Wave dies, and from the pooled blood of our enemies and those that unjustly suffered under Kaiza and his council, we grow into a red tidal wave that becomes one with the Land of Water.” Tsunami raised her naginata high as the mob rallied, hoisting their own weapons.

“For the red tsunami!” The crowd roared.

“Ready the ships.” Tsunami ordered. “We veil ourselves in the enemy's own fog!”

The mob hurried on her order, but Yuusei stood by her side. “Lady Tsunami,” he began. “This plan carries great personal risk to your father. In all likelihood, he will be killed by the genin in retaliation before we can scale the bridge… It also requires your jonin actually win.”

“Do you know of Kakashi Hatake of the Leaf Village?” Tsunami asked. “He is a great shinobi from the Land of Fire, known wide by his moniker of Copy Ninja. He has been killing in their wars since he was Inari’s age. He will eliminate Zabuza, I have little doubt, but even he will be no match for a bomb.”

“Your father is planning to?” Yuusei began.

“It will be a glorious death for him.” Tsunami confirmed. “His blood will be that which breaks the banks, the final sacrifice of old Wave.”

Even to Yuusei, one of their most devoted followers, Tsunami’s cold bloodedness was matched only by Tazuna’s fervor. They were truly radicalized. But it was their loyalty to Gato that had brought them toward the Land of Water at last. Their extremism was a rallying cry to the other villagers, even the part of Yuusei that realized it for what it was. It was better them than him. He nodded. “And what about the genin still here?” 

“Like I said, he is dumb,” Tsunami repeated. “I think I can pass any narrative I want on to him, but that will be up to Gato’s discretion then. If he is still tranquilized it will be easy enough to kill him as well.”

“You think your sedative will keep him down that long?” Yuusei asked.

“It did with Kaiza.” Tsunami confirmed. “Gave me a front row seat while Gato started cutting things out of him.” She practically squealed with glee. “Besides, if he does wake early, I have someone posted here, along with instructions about how to best finish him off.”

Yuusei blinked. “Who ma’am?”

Tsunami flashed her lieutenant a wry smile. “My son.”

Sasuke and Sakura hurried to Kakashi’s side. Much of the workers were evacuating but Tazuna had rushed to the far end of the bridge, staring down from his incomplete construction into the water. “We need to get you back to the island.” Kakashi ordered.

“If I am going to die it will be here, on my own work.” Tazuna declared as he loaded his crossbow. “There is room enough to fight.”

“And nowhere to disengage to.” Kakashi replied loudly. The mist began enveloping the bridge. “It will be better to fight Zabuza on dry land.”

“He can only come from one direction here, Kakashi.” Tazuna leveled his crossbow down toward the start of the bridge. “I’m not going to trip over your genin in the woods again.”

Sasuke drew a kunai in each hand, and watched as the mist came over him. It wasn’t as thick as before, but Sasuke still watched as the sea below them was hidden by the fog.

“Tazuna,” Kakashi yelled. “You need to.”

Zabuza’s deep voice cut the argument short. “Kakashi!” He announced. By his side stood the Yuki from earlier, needles of ice in hand.

Sweat beaded on Sakura as she leapt back and adopted a guard stance before Tazuna. “Stay behind me,” she urged. 

Kakashi moved to address Zabuza, but Tazuna shoved the young Senju aside from him and fired off his crossbow quickly. The pair of Mist rebels dodged aside, and the Yuki flipped away from the blast as Zabuza vanished back into the fog. There was shouting from all sides, but Tazuna had done what he set out to do. Even as he watched the Uchiha clash blades with the Yuki, and kunai whizzed through the air, Tazuna kept a smug grin. ‘There,’ He thought. ‘Let the battle for Wave begin.’

Sakura didn’t have time to decry Tazuna for his impatience, she needed to stay on guard against both Zabuza and an ice user. She could hear Zabuza and Kakashi clashing in the mist to her left, but Sasuke was still visible to her. He was trying to fight the Yuki, but missed every blow as the opponent bounced around him. Before Sakura could decide if she should stay with Tazuna or rush to his aid, the Yuki darted forward, and kneed Sasuke in the face. The Uchiha rolled back across the bridge, but turned into a backflip and landed cleanly. A flurry of icicles fired after him in a wedge, but he narrowly dodged between them.

The ice kept coming, one straight at Sakura, and she smashed it out of the air with her kunai when it got close. She blinked in shock as frost started covering her blade, and tossed it aside with a gasp as the ice crept toward her hand. “Sasuke!” She yelled. “Don’t lock your blade!”

“I know,” Sasuke called back, and dodged another needle of ice. Before Sakura could draw a shuriken to hurl at their enemy, Sasuke and the Yuki moved back into a melee. They spun around each other too quickly for Sakura to get a clear shot.

‘Damn.’ Sakura cursed. ‘I can’t risk hitting Sasuke.’ It wasn’t like covering Hinata or Naruto. Hinata’s vision let her predict every one of Sakura’s attacks, and there was no lasting harm to strike one of Naruto’s clones by mistake. But covering Sasuke was another hurdle. He didn’t even fight like Kiba, who at least called out openings to his allies. It was as if in Sasuke’s mind, this was a private duel between him and the Yuki, and Sakura wasn’t even in the fight at all.

Sasuke twisted around a few blows, his Sharingan activated, and he tried to keep up with the Yuki’s strikes. His opponent wielded shards of ice in each hand, and it seemed like it would spell disaster to be cleanly cut by one. Sasuke was weaving between strikes as best as he could, and to his credit, certainly better than Sakura thought she could. But all his focus seemed spent on his evasion. He managed to land only a weak jab on the Yuki’s chest, one that wouldn’t have given any conditioned ninja pause. Sasuke punched more boldly, aiming for the Yuki’s face, but suddenly the ice nin grabbed Sasuke by the wrist and started forming signs with a single free hand.

‘One handed signs!’ Sakura thought, mouth agape. ‘The chakra control needed for that is incredible, even I have never managed!’

Sauke struggled in his opponent's grip as water condensed in the air, and sharpened into bone chilling ice. “Ice style.” The Yuki announced. “One Thousand Needles of Death.”

The flurry of frozen needles fired toward both Sasuke and the Yuki, who broke their grip at the last possible moment needed to leap free of their attack's own range. Sasuke did as well, but with even less time to react. Sasuke managed to avoid most of the blades, but a large one planted itself squarely in  the back of his right shoulder. He ripped it out quickly as it started to cover his back in frost.

“Sasuke!” Sakura yelled.

Sasuke’s hand felt numb, and had been covered in frost as well, but he cracked the ice away as he closed his hand into a fist. He stood, cracking his shoulder and breaking off most of the ice on his back. “Not that bad.” He reassured Sakura.

The Yuki stood before them unblinking, and drew two clusters of senbon which quickly became encrusted in more ice. “Move.”

Sakura drew shuriken to match. “Sasuke, let me cover you.”

“Stay behind me.” Sasuke called back. “This one is quick. I’ll tell you when to fire.”

“Okay.” Sakura nodded, but prepared to strike any of Yuki's projectiles away if she could. She took a single step back, and sensed Tazuna match her. She could have forgotten he was there. ‘Should I be grateful or annoyed he isn’t firing more some off?’

Kakashi and Zabuza were fighting fiercely in the mist. Zabuza swung his sword in wide arcs trying to cleave his nimble opponent in two, but couldn’t land a clean hit. What few did connect were deflected by Kakashi’s quick kunai. Zabuza snarled and lunged into a flying attack that cracked the concrete beneath them as he tried to pressure Kakashi into a corner.

Lightning crackled into Kakashi’s hand and he rushed forward in a counter charge, and Zabuza leapt away. ‘If that so much as touches me I’m done,’ the rebel thought. Kakashi chased him around with the Raikiri, but Zabuza wielded his broadsword expertly, and used his superior reach to keep Kakashi from getting too close. The battle was going nowhere fast, so Zabuza launched himself back into the depths of his mist and began forming hand signs. Pulling on the water beneath the bridge to form up into a humongous Water Dragon, the technique rose from the sea in a tremendous column of swirling saltwater. Kakashi turned as the roaring jutsu crested over the top of the bridge, and smashed his Raikiri into it as it crashed onto him. The clash of the techniques vaporized most of the water, and Kakashi’s arm stung as the scalding steam of the dragon poured over him. As the Water Dragon was pumped with electricity, it’s mass bubbled and burst, showering meter wide globules of electrified water over the bridge.

“Look out!” Kakashi yelled.

“Incoming!” Zabuza called, as they both warned their respective students of the incoming attack.

On the opposite edge of the bridge, the ninja were well aware of the great water jutsu that had just surged up from below, and Sakura swept Tazuna off his feet as she covered what she could of him with her own smaller body. “Down!” She finally yelled, long after she’d already all but thrown him to the floor.

Sasuke used his Sharingan to perceive the rain of incoming water, and quickly dodged around it. He watched as the Yuki held out a hand and froze a rather large bubble of water mid air right before it collided. The Yuki took two sharp breaths, as if the effort had been tiring, and then turned back to Sasuke while slowly adopting the same form as before. “Ready?” The Yuki asked, and took another quick breath.

Surprised by the courtesy, Sasuke turned around quickly, noticing that Sakura and Tazuna had been mercifully spared of any of the onrushing water. Sasuke turned back, steadily drawing a kunai. “Come.”

Inari stared at the bowl of food his mother had set out for Naruto if he woke up early. All Inari had to give it to him, and Naruto would probably be dead before the third spoonful. But that wouldn’t make it look like Zabuza did it, and if Inari was going to do anything, it would be make his mother and grandfather proud. Standing over Naruto as he slept on the couch, this was no great ninja. This was a boy, not much older than him. How powerless he was now, pacified by his mother’s herbs and brews. He was a rat from across the sea, and their community needed to beware of rats. Inari stood above Naruto, cleaver in hand. ‘And me?’ He asked himself. ‘I’m a hunter.'

Naruto tossed in his sleep, dreaming of a dark forest. ‘Was it Wave?’ He asked himself. ‘Or beyond that?’ He thought it was the Land of Waves, since he could watch as the moon stood over the sea and covered the world in its glow. ‘But it’s not.’ Naruto realized. “Where… where am I?” He said aloud.

“Wake up.” A voice boomed through the forest. Terrified birds took off for the ocean as the trees shook, but Naruto turned to face it. He recognized it.

“You!” He yelled, looking around. “You’re the Nine Tailed Fox!”

The voice boomed again. “Wake up!” This time it was much more commanding.

Naruto turned in every direction. “Show yourself!” He yelled out boldly. When nothing appeared, Naruto chuckled in satisfaction and clutched at his stomach. “That’s right, you can’t, because you’re within me !”

“You’re within me !” The voice shouted back. “My will is more powerful than yours, so when you’re asleep, where do you think your subconscious goes?”

Naruto ignored the Kyuubi. “I’m tired of hearing you in my head!” Naruto yelled at the sky.

“Then listen closely,” The voice replied. A great orange tail came from the nothingness of the stars, and smashed Naruto and the forest both. “Wake up!”

Naruto flashed awake. He didn’t have a moment to gather his wits as he quickly realized Inari was standing over him with a cleaver. Naruto flipped over the back of the couch as Inari brought down the blade and slashed through the cushions. Before the boy could life the knife again, Naruto rocked forward and slammed Inari into a wall.

“What the fuck!” Naruto yelled. “I risk my life to protect your family and you try to kill me ?”

Inari sobbed in fear, dropping the knife from his hand as the stronger boy held him by the throat. ‘Were his eyes always red?’ Inari asked himself as Naruto pressed him into the wall.

“Answer me!” Naruto yelled!

“Please, please don’t kill me,” Inari begged, tears and snot rolled down his face.

“Then fucking answer me!” Naruto yelled, punching the wall beside Inari’s head straight through to the insulation.

“I had to,” Inari cried. “I had to for the future of the Land of Wave.”

Naruto pulled Inari off the wall, then slammed him into it again. “Keep talking!”

“I’ll tell you everything!” Inari yelled. “Don’t kill me.” The boy shrieked in pain as Naruto slammed him into the wall again.

Sasuke breathed the largest Fireball Jutsu he could at the Yuki, who hid behind a thick barrier of ice. Hands affixed to the ground, Haku felt the flames rushing around on both sides, but the comforting embrace of cold from the wall of ice held strong in the face of Uchiha fire. Finally, after what seemed like a full minute, the fireball subsided, and Haku stood. Reliquefying the barrier of ice to water, but using charka to keep its formation, the Yuki rushed through a series of hand signs and portions of the water hardened to heavy clumps of ice that fired forward from the wall. “Ice Style: Ten Thousand Ice Petals!”

Sasuke cursed and flipped away, narrowly missing one that nearly smashed his face in. Sasuke fell back toward Sakura, landing in a puddle that came from the Water Dragon before. “Now!” He yelled, but the girl was already throwing a paper bomb toward the largest hunk of ice, and the blast seemed to destroy it entirely. “Nice Sakura,” Sasuke yelled back, but realized too late that a chunk of ice dropped out of the smoke cloud and landed in the puddle he was in.

“Shit!” Sasuke yelled, and turned to flee, but the bullet of ice froze the puddle almost instantly. Sasuke found his feet stuck in a five centimeter thick sheet of ice.

The Yuki pounced back out from behind the smoke, and fired another wedge of ice needles at Sasuke. “Ice Style: Icicle Swallow!”

“Sakura!” Sasuke yelled, and desperately tried to hack himself free with a kunai.

Sakura quickly threw shuriken and in turn each smashed the needles out of the air. ‘One,’ she counted, ‘two, three, four.’ To her horror her fifth shuriken missed, as the shard of ice turned past her shuriken unnaturally in time with a hand sign from the Yuki. Sasuke howled in pain as it tore into the back of his left knee and he buckled under the pain.

The Yuki dashed past the wailing Sasuke, and all but skated across the sheet of ice toward Sakura.

Sakura tossed three kunai at her attacker, but the Yuki made another two hand signs and and diverted them with some kind of wind style. The Yuki’s hand signs continued and the air swirled around in a cyclone of wind and snow, then directed the gale forward. “Ice Style: Blizzard Justu!”

Sakura formed a cross block as the howling wind fell over her and Tazuna. Despite the heat of the day, Sakura was now assailed by a cold she had never felt before in her life. It was so frigid it temporarily forced her eyes closed, and she screamed as the snow beat against her body and started encasing her in a thin layer of frost. She could do little to resist, even after she steeled herself and threw a kunai into the oncoming storm. The whipping winds simply carried it away.

Tazuna was as battered by the technique as she was, and shouted in urging. “Do something, girl.” His teeth chattered as he spoke.

Sakura shakily formed her handsigns, and pushed her yin chakra toward the Yuki. This was all she could do. “Genjustu: Vanishing Technique.” Kakashi said to get away if she could. Not to die for Tazuna. But all she could think of was the questions she’d ached over these past few days. ‘Why is protecting others so hard?’

The genin kunoichi slowly slipped from the Haku’s vision, but she was already within the attack, and the headwinds were too powerful for her to move easily. Regardless, she was never the target, with the Uchiha disabled and no fire style to counter it with, the Blizzard justu would freeze Tazuna to the bone. Focusing more wind chakra into the technique, Haku blasted a heavy gust of wind straight at the bridge builder. While he seemed to flinch from it, Haku didn’t knock him clear off the bridge as intended. Haku watched carefully. In the forming snow, it seemed like two lines were dragging across the bridge. Tazuna held an arm outstretched, as if his hand was locked in another’s. 'The girl is still here,’ Haku realized. ‘She’s holding onto him while concentrating her chakra to the floor.’ Tazuna tried to aim his crossbow, but as he clumsily fired, Haku again added more wind chakra to the technique and directed the bolt off the edge of the bridge. It detonated harmlessly out of range.

Haku turned an eye toward the Uchiha, but his hands had pressed onto the ice sheet when he fell, and the frost had trapped his hands as well as his feet. ‘He can’t form hand signs now.’ Haku thought in relief. ‘Fire style is out.’ Haku added more water chakra to the Blizzard jutsu, the Yuki dropped the temperature from negative twenty to nearly negative fifty degrees Celsius. ‘They aren’t used to these temperatures.’ Haku considered. ‘They will pass out from shock soon.’ And all the better, ice style was Haku’s greatest weapon, but it also taxed Haku’s chakra limits considerably. 

Zabuza yelled out, and his tone of voice immediately told Haku he was in danger. Haku shouldn’t hesitate. The bridge builder needed to die. But instead, the Yuki stopped channeling the Blizzard justu and rushed toward the embattled jonin.

Zabuza had come close to beheading Kakashi, but the Copy Ninja lived up to his name. At some point he must’ve stolen the jutsu of an earth style user of considerable subtlety. Zabuza tried in vain to free his foot as it sunk into the concrete. “Damnit!” He yelled, swinging his blade wildly to try and keep Kakashi back. His eye had changed. Kakashi leapt back, putting some distance between him and his target. Zabuza sneered. Kakashi was going to kill him from long range. And then, the blizzard Haku had summoned stopped. Zabuza turned to see his student rushing toward them urgently. ‘No.’

Kakashi never felt more powerful than the moments when he activated his Mangekyou Sharigan, and never weaker in the moments after. But Sasuke and Sakura were losing. He needed to end things. The Mangekyou afforded him extra precision, not enough to trap Zabuza with a full Head Hunter jutsu, but a leg was enough. The risk paid off, and as Zabuza stood trapped, and the Yuki broke off to help Zabuza. Kakashi immediately realized that the kid intended to take the blow for him. Kakashi fixed his gaze on Zabuza’s core. He could get past any guard. “Kamui!”

Haku jumped in front of Zabuza, arms wide. “No!” Zabuza yelled, and grabbed his student by the shoulder. “Move!” Suddenly an intense pain overwhelmed him, and the hand on Haku’s shoulder spasmed in reaction. Zabuza winced, trying to hide his pain, and weakly urged Haku to move again. “Move…” He commanded, already having lost his breath. “Move child.” He pushed at Haku feebly as he tried to shove his student safe from whatever was happening. Zabuza collapsed backward, and finally looked down at his body to realize his entire flank has been blown clean off. Zabuza reached into his own pooling blood and gore, vision clouding as he noticed his intestines spilling from him. "Water… within me…”

“No!” Haku screamed. “No!” Zabuza watched as Haku bent down, desperately trying to freeze the liquids pouring from his body and stop the bleeding. The frost seemed to pause when it reached Zabuza’s falling organs, as if the Haku was unsure of what to do. Zabuza looked up. He’d rather die looking at Haku, than his own guts. Zabuza’s eyes met with Haku’s wet own. “Stay with me!” Haku pleaded.

Zabuza struggled to speak, he tried once and made only a guttural noise. Zabuza forced a sharp breath, which somehow made his overwhelming pain worse. “...Run.”

Sakura dragged herself up, taking heavy breaths as the mist cleared and the sun kissed her skin again. The worst of the chill was passing, she was saved. Thankfully, it seemed Sasuke wasn’t fatally wounded, and he forced his strength to finally pull a hand free of the ice it was trapped in. “Sasuke!” She called. She turned to find the source of the screaming she was hearing. The mist rose just enough to see her Yuki opponent hunched over the body of Zabuza. If the swordsman wasn’t dead he was dying, and Kakashi stood a few meters away, seemingly exhausted himself. ‘He did it.’ Sakura thought between breaths. ‘Kakashi won.’ Relief poured over her, and Sakura relaxed her body for one precious moment. She shook her head as she watched her distraught enemy. Sakura wasn’t sure how the scene made her feel, but she certainly was glad it wasn’t her.

Suddenly Naruto landed on the railing opposite to her, near Kakashi and the beaten Mist rebels. “Wait!” He screamed. “It’s not what you think!” He looked down at Zabuza and his face twisted from urgent desperation to total horror. “No!” He cried, in the most bloodcurdling voice she’d ever heard from a friend.

She wanted nothing more in that moment then to reach out to him, to calm him, to fix whatever was wrong. Instead, she felt a blunt strike to the back of her head, and collapsed into the snow. ‘Damnit…’ She blinked as her vision faded. ‘What hit me?’ She fought to stay conscious.

Kakashi watched in shock as Tazuna nailed Sakura with the butt of his crossbow, and she fell face down on the floor. ‘That fucker,’ he realized, ‘he was the real enemy all along.’ The strain of the Mangekyou was too much for Kakashi to react quickly or formulate strong jutsu, but he drew his kunai and readied to throw it right between Tazuna’s eyes. The bridge builder stared him down for what could have been a millisecond in real time, but to his Sharingan felt like all the time in the world. Tazuna turned in slow motion and levied the crossbow not at him but Naruto, and Kakashi watched in horror. Naruto realized he was under attack, and he readied to block with his kunai as he stood protectively before the Mist rebels. Naruto didn’t know the bolts exploded. He aimed to block like he would a kunai not dodge like a paper bomb. “No,” Kakashi called, but too slow to be before the bolt loosed from Tazuna’s bow. Kakashi surged forward with the Body Flicker Justu, sweeping the boy into his arms. With the strain of the Mangekyou, he was still too slow, and turned his back to face the incoming bolt. Kakashi felt a sting as it pierced his flak jacket and drove deep into his spine. 

Holding Naruto tightly, everything seemed to pass in metered time. By Naruto’s expression, he hadn’t even yet reacted to what was happening. It gave Kakashi a good thing to look at in his final moments. He really was a sweet boy. Kakashi tossed Naruto off to the side, so he’d be safe from the impending blast and closed his eyes. The last thing he heard was Sasuke calling out to him. “Sensei!” And the world went white.

Kakashi took a sharp breath, and found himself back on the bridge. Taking a moment to remember himself, he looked around urgently, but found no one. Kakashi blinked. Was he in genjutsu? Naruto and Sasuke and Sakrua were nowhere. Neither was Tazuna, or Zabuza or the Yuki clan child. All he could see was that the mist had returned, but only enough to make the outskirts of the area look hazy. As if he couldn’t look out to the sea or the Land of Wave. He finally noticed a faint light coming from the other side of the bridge. Kakashi walked toward it cautiously.

It seemed like a campfire in the middle of the bridge, but it had a peculiar glow. The fire flickered in shades of orange Kakashi had never seen before, but somehow he understood that this was natural. This was how fire was meant to be. So transfixed by the flames, Kakashi took a moment to realize a man sat beside it. His back was turned. “Hello Kakashi,” the man spoke. “I’m sorry you came so soon.”

Kakashi frowned in confusion, but slowly realized the voice somehow sounded familiar. He tilted his head. “What?” He asked slowly.

Sakumo turned and smiled tenderly at his son. The flames cast an ethereal glow onto his face. “It’s okay son,” he said gently. “Come sit down.”

Kakashi felt an urging in his soul to do so, so strong it was almost indescribable. There was nothing more he wanted in the whole world. Then he blinked as his memory came to him. "My-my kids!” Kakashi urged. “They’re in danger.”

“I know Kakashi,” His father frowned. “I’ve been watching. But they’ll be okay, and... if something bad does happen, they’ll end up here.” Sakumo trailed off. “And here isn’t so bad.”

Kakashi took a few careful steps forward, as if pulled into the realm. “And this is?”

“I guess it’s a world between.” Sakumo replied. “Between ours and… the Pure Lands.”

“So…” Kakashi began, understanding his father's words and what had happened.

“Yes,” Sakumo replied gently.

“You…” Kakashi looked around, then back to his father. “You couldn’t move on?”

“Not yet,” Sakumo replied. “I haven't been ready.”

Kakashi sat down next to his father, and they both shared a quiet moment looking into the impossible light of the fire. “You… you left me dad.” Kakashi said quietly. “You left me alone.”

Sakumo gazed into the fire himself, his tone melancholic. “I know… and I’m sorry.”

“I could never understand why you disobeyed the village.” Kakashi continued. “Why you broke protocol to save your friends' lives. How you could abandon your mission.” Sakumo was silent for a while in the face of his son. “Why you took your own life.” Kakashi added and looked down. “I know in your note you said… how you couldn’t live with the dishonor of even the friends you saved coming to hate you. For how you couldn't bare the guilt of your actions that day leading to the Third Shinobi World War.”

“I was weak Kakashi.” Sakumo admitted. “I’m still weak. So weak I ache, and even now, I don’t know if I can ever bear it.”

They shared another moment in silence before Kakashi spoke again. “I hated you for a long time, but now, I think you were right to save your friends.”

Sakumo took a deep breath. “That’s… Thank you son.”

Kakashi sighed, and turned back to look at the other side of the bridge. The one that looked out over the water. “They need me,” he said, thinking of Team Seven. “They are in danger.”

“Like you were,” Sakumo confessed. “And just like you, they’ll be okay.”

“I didn’t turn out so well dad,” Kakashi confessed. “I was bitter as a boy, depressed as a teen, and quite a sorry excuse for a human as an adult. I never learned about people, I never learned how to act around them, or how to show them my love. I hurt or lost… all of them… and when I had a chance to get… someone back… I made such a mess of training them that…” Kakashi trailed off. “Here I thought I could have kept them safe forever.”

“But you were too afraid to feel.” Sakumo told him gently. “You were so scared that if you showed emotion, or interest, that they would see you cared. And when you care, you can be hurt.”

“Yeah,” Kakashi admitted. “And now I can’t go back.”

Sakumo nodded his head slowly. “There is no back,” He said tiredly. “Only forward.”

“What’s forward?” Kakashi asked.

“You know,” Sakumo started. “I honestly don’t know, I never went beyond here before. But sometimes I think I can hear you mother… calling for me.” Sakumo admitted quietly.

“Why didn’t you go before?” Kakashi asked.

“I guess I’ve always had trouble facing things.” Sakumo said. “And leaving them behind. It’s why you grew up to be the way you did, didn't you? You saw me feel too much, and didn’t want to be like me.”

Kakashi took a long breath. “I guess you’re right.”

“You should get going.” Sakumo said. “There is no reason for you to be here as long as I have.”

Kakashi looked at his father gently. “Will you come with me?”

“I uhh…” Sakumo started and stopped. “I don’t know if I deserve the Pure Lands.”

“I don’t either.” Kakashi agreed, as he thought to himself. “But we shouldn't be apart anymore.” Kakashi started toward the end of the bridge, and the light that pulled at him. Kakashi somehow understood it had created the wondrous fire he sat beside. His father rose up beside him, patted him once on the shoulder, and took the lead. They took a few steps forward, until the light was all around them. “What do you think we’ll find?" Kakashi asked

Sakumo gazed forward. The light they passed into was so bright it could have been blinding, but it wasn’t a harsh glare. It was gentle and warm. Somehow he could sense something beyond it. He stopped a step so Kakashi could stand beside him and finally answered his son’s question. “Let’s see.”

Tazuna fired a bolt into the sky, and started shouting for help, and before Sasuke could register what was going on, the shouting of a hoard came from below. Kakashi had been blown in two, and his upper half was laying atop a seemingly unconscious Naruto. It looked like Zabuza would be dead soon too, but he tugged on the Yuki just enough to indicate he had a breath or two of life left in him. Sasuke finally ripped his other hand free, and tried to form a sign with his bloody hands before Tazuna fired off another bolt. Sakura was dragging herself toward him. “Sakura, stay down.” He yelled, and prepared a fire style to sear the skin of Tazuna’s face. 

Before Sasuke could get off his jutsu, an axe wielding man charged from the other end of the bridge. ‘Wasn’t he one of the construction workers?’ Sasuke wondered. But clearly this guy hadn’t evacuated at all, and with everything going on, Sasuke didn’t hesitate to set him on fire. The worker fell as a writhing mass on the floor as he was consumed by flame, but a dozen more were following him. Sasuke battled against the pain from his leg injury and prepared to incinerate them as well, before hearing the click of the bridge builder loading another bolt behind him. ‘Damnit,’ Sasuke cursed, but Sakura rose with a feral cry and threw herself on Tazuna before he could fire. A grappling hook connected with the edge of the bridge beside him. ‘They’re coming from all sides.’ Sasuke realized. The next closest worker, a wiry teenager with a mere shovel, was coming up to him next.  ‘Let’s start with the ones in front of me.’ Sasuke told himself, and blasted him with fire as well. As the teen’s skin burned off his torso and he cried out in pain, the rest of workers surrounded Sasuke like a raucous pack. He instinctively tried to jump to safety but his injured leg buckled at the mere attempt. The Uchiha had no choice but to stand his ground. The workers brandished their weapons at Sasuke, who looked around himself nervously. He gritted his teeth and prepared another fire jutsu. “Come and get it!”

Chapter Text

Chapter 26: Weeds and Water Under the Bridge

Sakura wasn’t about to die now. As she pulled herself toward Sasuke, and tried to regain her strength, she started to feel like she could stand. It was a hard and sneaky hit, but if she was conscious she could fight. Sasuke incinerated one of the charging villagers, and Sakura still didn’t really understand why they were attacking them, but maybe it didn’t even matter. She gave one final glance toward Naruto and Kakashi; it was hard to tell if Naruto was okay. Their captain wasn’t, and he’d fallen on top of her friend. There was a lot of blood.

The remaining Mist rebel seemed to be defending themselves, and Zabuza, with some kind of barrier of ice. Sakura would have asked the Yuki a million questions now, and likely find herself apologizing just as much, but when she heard Tazuna preparing to fire off another bolt she willed herself to rise. Sakura turned, enraged and betrayed, and set herself on Tazuna before he could fire again. She leapt on him, gluing her chakra to his chest while she punched him in the face again and again. Sakura had always been thoughtful, but at this moment she had little to ponder. Something in her bones was telling her to just keep hitting him.

Her blows were insufficient, even as a ninja, she was still a young girl striking an adult man. After she nailed him for the third or fourth time, she concentrated chakra in her right palm and slapped it across his face from earlobe to mouth. Tazuna was yelling something at her, but Sakura couldn’t hear him. She’d saved his life a few minutes ago. Sakura could have let the Yuki blow Tazuna right off the bridge, but she hadn’t done that. She hadn’t listened to her captain telling her to get out of the way if she had to, and now that captain was dead. Sakura had finally thought she committed. She’d buried her fear and defended a stranger, even at the risk of her life. She’d stayed against her urge to leave. ‘Look where that got me.’ She ripped her hand away and a chunk of Tazuna’s face with it.

Tazuna howled in pain, but it seemed like he was going to detonate the crossbow he wielded right in his own hands. Sakura shoved herself off him as quickly as she could. Using the over the top maneuver she’d so practiced in her academy days, she flipped in the air and threw a shuriken right into him. He fell to the ground, and didn’t get back up.

Sakura turned, and tried to rush toward Sasuke. Some of the villagers and construction workers were surrounding him with an odd combination of improvised weapons and military grade equipment. Sasuke had a fire jutsu prepared, and none of his attackers got closer, as if they were afraid he’d torch them next. At the same time Sasuke seemed hesitant to fire, as the moment he’d take down one or two, the rest would be able to attack him in the space between jutsu. Sakura moved to hurry to his side. Blinded by her urgency, she realized a little too late that she was being surrounded too. One attacker stabbed at her with a naginata, and Sakura nimbly evaded the attack. Drawing a kunai, she locked eyes with her attacker. It was Tsunami. “You bitch!” The woman yelled. “You killed my father!”

The other Wavers circled Sakura, and she prepared to evade as best she could. If she took even one serious hit it wouldn’t matter if she was more powerful than them or not, it would wound her too much to fend off the whole militia. She couldn’t even rely on genjutsu now. If there were only three or four opponents it would have been easy, but there were at least a dozen. Sakura had never cast genjutsu on that many people before. So Sakura moved to face Tsunami first. She could have asked “why.” Why Tsunami had invited her into her home, fed her, then lied to her, used her, and tried to kill her. Instead, Sakura found strength in her anger, and snapped back a taunt in response to Tsunami’s embittered words. “You’re next.”

Naruto had crashed hard into the concrete, and only after a few moments found himself regaining consciousness. He suddenly became very aware of something laying on his chest, but couldn’t find the strength to start getting up. He watched in confusion as two figures, one dressed in dark colors, and another pink and green, fought against an onrush of attackers. Naruto’s confusion quickly passed as his wits returned to him, and he started to recognize them as Sasuke and Sakura. He tried to rise and join them, but Naruto struggled to get free of whatever pinned him. Finally taking his eyes off his friends, he looked to see what had him trapped. Naruto gagged in horror. “Kakashi… sensei?”

His teacher had clearly thrown himself between Naruto and a big blow. His lower body was not intact, but what was left of Kakashi was still reaching toward Naruto, as if he wanted nothing more than to shield his student even after the life had left him. Naruto panted, and tried to draw a leg free, only to watch as it pushed aside Kakashi’s gore. Naruto screamed.

“You did this.” The voice of the Kyuubi declared. “You wanted to stay and protect these people. Look what they did.”

When Naruto beat up Inari, the boy had told him the truth. That the Wavers only asked the Leaf ninja to come here to head off the incoming rebels. That the rebels were coming to stop the Land of Waves from joining the Land of Water, and how Inari’s family had ordered him to feed Naruto poison if he woke up early enough to try and stop it. ‘I rushed right here!’ Naruto yelled in his mind. ‘I was gonna stop it!’

“You didn’t.” The voice coldly reminded him. 

Naruto felt fear, horror, and most of all an incredible rage. He was angry not just at the Wavers who tricked him, who killed Kakashi and were trying to kill his friends, but himself. Because Naruto believed the Kyuubi. ‘This is my fault.’

“I can help you.” The voice offered.

Naruto gave in.

Haku killed another Waver as they entered the Crystal Ice Mirrors, and jumped back to Zabuza’s side. “Run!” The Mist sensei urged again.

“I’m not leaving you,” Haku yelled. “I’ll kill anyone who comes in here.”

“They were tricked Haku…” Zabuza struggled to reply. “The Leaf ninja.” It was clear from how they fought among themselves, but Haku still couldn’t believe what was happening. “Help them Haku.” Zabuza ordered. He knew his death was a moment away, but the lives of the genin could still be saved.

‘Help them?’ Haku thought. ‘The kids that Zabuza didn’t want to kill.’ It was difficult for Haku to pull away from Zabuza and leave his side, but this was his dying word. Before Haku could decide what to do, a palpable and malicious chakra washed over the bridge. A sense of hatred came over the Mist pair that shook Haku to the core. Turning to face it, red chakra spiraled around one of the genin boys; the one that tried to protect them.

Haku had never seen a Jinchuriki’s powers up close, but Zabuza remembered all too well what it felt like when he faced the Mizukage. If the Wavers weren’t their death, this would be. Zabuza grabbed Haku’s leg with his remaining arm so suddenly Haku nearly jumped. “Save them!” Zabuza urged. “Save the children!”

Sakura fell to the ground, a man of Wave beneath her, and drew her kunai from his sternum. She’d never killed anyone before today, but she was grateful to Kurenai’s lessons that she didn’t hesitate. Still, there were too many, and Sakura had to thin them out if she wanted to mount a real defense of her team.

A red light came over the bridge, and with it a sense of malevolence incarnate. The Wavers shouted in shock as the sensation passed over them as well, and turned to face the source. Sakura realized the pause in the battle, and moved to address it as well. Naruto, her best friend, awash in red energy, and twisted into something other than himself. His face and fangs were illuminated by the sinister chakra rising out of his core, and Naruto fell on all fours as a single orange tail bubbled out of the chakra enveloping him.

Sakura wasn’t sure what the Kyuubi would look like if it ever took hold, but to gaze into the eyes of the monster that killed her father, and see it possessed of her friend's face made her knees weak. One of the Wavers was very close to him, and before Sakura could blink Naruto extended a red claw of energy toward him that vaporized the man into a red mist. Shock fell over the crowd, and an instant later, pure terror. Naruto roared at the fleeing Wavers, and darted forward like a blindingly fast predator.

A crystalline sheet of ice appeared beside Sakura, and the Yuki stood in its reflection. Sakura didn’t take her eyes off Naruto even as she sensed the rebel’s presence. She just watched as her friend dove into the fleeing mob, and body parts were tossed to the air over his head. If the Yuki was going to kill her, it somehow seemed less pressing than what had become of Naruto. Instead, the Yuki grabbed Sakura from behind, and lifted her easily. “Come,” The rebel urged.

The Yuki carried Sakura over toward Sasuke, and melted the ice that trapped him with a stomp. The Uchiha was less hypnotized by Naruto’s display than Sakura was, and addressed his Yuki savior. “You’re helping us now?” Sasuke asked in surprise.

“They played us,” the former enemy replied. “We need to get away.” Sasuke didn’t question it. That time would come later. He took the Yuki’s arm, and silently leaned in for support as the rebel led them all to the edge of the bridge.

“Wait!” Sakura yelled. “Naruto!” She reached out but the Yuki held her tighter, not allowing her to pull away. “I can’t leave him!” Sakura yelled. “He’s my friend!”

“He’s gone!” Sasuke yelled back. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but to him, that beast wasn’t Naruto. “We’ll come back later,” he assured her.

Haku took them to the edge of the bridge, and with a few signs called up the water to meet them. The surface froze as the Yuki hoisted Sasuke onto the ice, before leaping onto it, Sakura in tow. “Hold on!” The rebel yelled, and the water rapidly fell back to sea level. The ice they were on crashed into the water, and the Yuki finally let Sakura go as their makeshift barge rocked in the sea. With another hand sign the Yuki started directing the ice flow back toward the Land of Wave.

Sakura reached back toward the bridge, her eyes had been glued to it this entire time, but Sasuke grabbed her by the wrist. Despite his injury, he’d pulled himself over to her, and the shock of how firmly he grabbed her finally turned her attention to him. “Listen to me,” he said sternly. “We’ll come back.”

Yuusei was all for Wave liberation, but it was foolish to fight ninja. That’s why he hung back on the bridge while the others charged forward to fight the genin. Watching his neighbors get ripped to shreds by the blond boy was not his scene, and he came out from behind some crates while hurrying back to where the fighting began.

Wavers cried out in fear, yelling apologies or to a higher power as arms of red energy fired out from the boy and dragged them back into his vicious claws and snapping teeth. It was carnage as dozens of Wavers were chewed through, their mutilated bodies tossed to the side when the red devil was done. Still he kept coming.

Yuusei realized quickly that following the pack would see him torn apart in turn, and watched with relief when the demon chased the mob and not one man running in the opposite direction. Tsunami, in her delusion, issued a battle cry and aimed her naginata at the boy. The child snapped his red tail and disintegrated her face before she could even swing her blade. Yuusei just shook his head and kept running as the boy gave chase to the few remaining Wavers. 

Yuusei hurried toward safety. The grappling hook he climbed up on was thankfully still chained to the railing. As he passed the corpses of Kakashi and Zabuza, he realized that the Leaf jonin’s upper half was remarkably intact. Yuusei gritted his teeth, and glanced over his shoulder to assure himself that the boy wasn’t coming back. He was tearing off the leg of some screaming woman. Yuusei steeled himself, and chopped off Kakashi’s head with a single swing of his axe. Wave liberation was dead, but Gato did mention that the Land of Water paid well for any interesting eyes. Yuusei needed a little grace right now. Carrying the severed head along, Yuusei leapt over the railing and slid down the rope back onto his boat below. He didn’t waste time hoisting the anchor, and simply snapped the chain with another swing from his axe. Directing the sails quickly, Yuusei sailed back out toward the sea.

What was left of Team Seven and Haku gazed up at the bridge from the beach. Naruto didn’t seem to be leaving the area anytime soon, and the trio resisted the urge to flee into the woods so they could keep tabs on the situation.

The Yuki spoke first. “We were here to kill Gato and destroy the bridge,” The Mist nin confessed. “Gato is a chunin loyal to the Mizukage, who had come here and rallied the people after Yagura decided they could be integrated into the Land of Water. The bridge would have brought supplies directly from the mainland into the Hidden Mist war machine.”

“Good to know.” Sasuke replied after a deep breath. He wished they'd spoken earlier.

“You?” The Yuki asked.

“Tazuna hired us for a C-Rank assignment.” Sasuke explained. “He said he wanted bodyguards for the bridge, but after we fought your sensei, confessed that a ninja had been hired to kill him. He said Gato sent you, and that Gato was a corrupt businessman extorting the Land of Wave. Tazuna said that the bridge would liberate them with international trade.”

“I see,” the Yuki replied. 

“They were with Gato?” Sakura quietly asked, as if still processing the day's events. “We, we didn’t know!” Sakura cried. “I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry.”

The Yuki stared up at the bridge. “Me too…”

The trio stood in silence for a few minutes, until the sounds of carnage stopped. Then they stood a few minutes more. “Is it over?” Sasuke asked.

“I don’t know.” The Yuki responded. It was a general question, but Haku somehow felt the genin had accepted Haku as the one to be in charge for now. It was odd to go from being someone's subordinate to looking out for those younger, especially foreigners. But even if Zabuza hadn’t ordered it, the Yuki now realized that these genin were not the enemy. Haku would have tried to save them regardless.

“It’s,” Sakura meant to answer but was unsure herself if things were done. “I-I think if the battle is done, the Kyuubi would have released its hold on him.”

“He’s the Nine Tails?” Sasuke asked, but had figured as much.

Sakura realized she might have revealed what she assumed was obvious. ‘Maybe… it was best they knew now anyway.’ She breathed. “Yeah… I can’t leave him. I’ll go back, I’ll check things out.” She assured the others.

“You can’t go alone,” Sasuke replied, but winced in pain as he tried to stand.

The Yuki watched the Uchiha with a frown, sorry for ever inflicting such an injury. “I’ll go. I need to see to my sensei… and retrieve his blade.” A sword seemed inconsequential now, but it was a legendary weapon. The rebellion needed it.

“Thank you,” Sakura said, still a little out of breath from shock. “I… we don’t even know your name.”

“Haku.” The Yuki’s reply was gentle, even as the ninja fixated the bridge. "Haku Yuki.”

“Sakura Senju,” Sakura replied.

Haku turned toward Sasuke, who offered his own name. “Sasuke Uchiha.”

Haku nodded and looked back at Sakura. “Are you ready?”

“Yes,” Sakura replied. “Stay behind me. I don’t know what state Naruto is in, and he thought you were the enemy.”

“He stood between me and Tazuna before…” Haku hesitated, remembering how the boy seemed before the demon within took control. “He’s a good person.”

As Haku and Sakura rose back out of the sea by way of Haku’s water style. The scene on the bridge was worse than either imagined. The red chakra that came from Naruto had subsided, but the boy laid supine and outstretched in the middle of a pit of gore. He’d clearly ripped the Wavers to shreds. Sakura leapt off the ice flow and onto the bridge, and called out to him. “Naruto?” She asked cautiously. “Naruto, it’s Sakura. I’m here.”

Haku landed beside her, and watched for what the boy would do next. “Sakura?” He called out questioningly, but stayed flat on his back. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” She reassured him, but her shaking voice made it sound insincere. “Are you okay?”

“I-” Naruto hesitated. “I don’t know.”

“I’m going to come to you, okay.” Sakura announced.

“Okay,” Naruto said, after a moment of consideration. “I’d like that.”

Sakura turned back toward Haku and nodded, then looked at Zabuza. “Go.” She said gently. The Yuki nodded back.

Sakura had to step through a pile of mangled corpses. She couldn’t tell where one stopped and another began. He feet sunk into them with a sickening squish, and when she finally got to Naruto she bent down to reach for him. “I’m here, Naruto.” She said again. “Can you get up?”

“Y-yeah.” Naruto said shakily. He was covered in blood, but thankfully it didn’t seem like any was his own. “Can I keep my eyes closed?” He asked Sakura wearily.

“Yeah,” Sakura replied. “Take my hand, I’ll guide you.” Sakura led Naruto through the bodies, until they were back at a cleared part of the bridge, near where it had all started. Some of Haku’s snow hadn’t melted yet. “Okay,” Sakura said. “We’re away now.”

Naruto opened his eyes to look at Sakura. Her hair was messy and face was scratched. She had a bruise on her left cheek and her shirt was stained with blood. Her hand still held his. Red went all the way up Naruto’s arm. Naruto knew he shouldn’t, but he turned back slightly to look where they came from. When he saw where the trail of bodies began, he shut his eyes again and whipped back toward Sakura. “Where is Sasuke?” He asked.

Sakura squeezed Naruto’s hand. “On the beach,” She nodded. “He’s okay.”

“They took his head.” Naruto said with a sob, and gestured over toward Kakashi sensei.

Sakura frowned as she noticed, but couldn’t think of a thing to say.

“His Sharingan.” Haku spoke up, clutching at Zabuza’s hand. “The Mizukage pays well for rare genetic traits.”

“I,” Naruto began, staring at the Mist rebels, or at least the one that remained. “I wouldn’t have helped Yagura.” He choked out through tears. “I’m sorry.”

“You understand?” Sakura asked.

“Inari tried to kill me,” Naruto said quietly. “I beat him until he told me everything.”

“Is he alive?” Sakura asked gently. Naruto just nodded as he cried.

“I-I told your sensei the Mizukage sent me.” Haku started. “It was a lie to get Zabuza to safety but…” Haku looked down. Zabuza must’ve died sometime between now and his final orders. “I corroborated Tazuna’s story by mistake.”

“No,” Sakura said. “It’s no one's fault but the Wavers, and they are gone.”

“And Gato,” Haku added. "I still need to deal with him.”

Sakura frowned as Haku finished up with Zabuza. “Naruto, we are going to go with Haku now.” She explained. “She’ll take us back to Sasuke, okay?”

Haku lifted the Executioner’s Blade. “Come with me,” Haku began. “And I’m a boy.”

Haku brought Naruto and Sakura back to the beach, where Sasuke waited. He was bandaging his wound, but luckily death from blood loss wasn’t an immediate concern. Sasuke wasn’t sure what to say as they returned. Naruto frowned at him as he held Sakura’s hand tightly in his own. “Hey,” was all Sasuke could manage, but it lacked his usual aloof charm.

Naruto stepped off the ice flow with Sakura, and thanked Haku quietly. He looked down at Sasuke. “You’re hurt,” he addressed.

“I’ll live.” Sasuke responded. “You’ll help me walk, right?”

“Yeah,” Naruto said, ripping off his blood soaked jacket and tossing it to the sea. He helped Sasuke stand as best he could, and looked to Sakura for guidance.

“I don’t know what to do now,” She confessed. “We need to get to the Leaf, but we need to tend to ourselves first. I don’t know where it’ll be safe.”

“You can come with me,” Haku offered. “There is no reason you shouldn’t,” he added. “We aren’t enemies anymore.”

“You have someplace safe?” Sasuke questioned.

“My teammates are on the other side of the Island,” Haku replied. “It’s by Gato’s fortress, but we had a cave that was safe and hidden. I can help you get there.”

Sasuke nodded, but looked at Sakura. “Should we?”

Sakura nodded back. “There is no reason not to trust him. He has helped us thus far.”

Sasuke leaned into Naruto for support. “Then lead the way.”

Haku announced himself loudly to the teammate he had on watch. “Chojuro!” He called. “It’s me, Haku.”

“Password?” The blue haired boy replied.

“Coral Reef.” Haku answered, and Chojuro lowered his guard. “I brought people, they are genin from the Leaf, but they needed help.”

“What happened?” Chojuro asked as the genin revealed themselves. They were covered in blood and one looked badly injured. Chojuro slid down from the rocks to address them. “We have bandages inside,” he added.

“A lot,” Haku confessed. “A lot has happened. Where is-”

He was cut off as a beautiful young woman exited the cave. “I am here Haku. Zabuza sensei isn’t with you, but you have his sword…”

Haku shut his eyes and looked to the ground. “He’s dead.”

“I see,” The girl frowned, her worst fears realized, but beyond that responsibility. She was in charge now, and it was time to be strong. "Who is this?” She asked, addressing the genin.

“Genin from the Leaf.” Haku said again. “They were tricked by the Wavers into fighting us. Zabuza ordered me to protect them, their sensei is dead too.”

The girl’s expression shifted subtlety, but she quickly hid her emotions again. She looked over the genin delicately and smiled. “Then please come inside,” she said, “we have supplies and can talk about... everything.”

The genin nodded to her as Haku led them into the cave. She looked up at Chojuro before she followed them in. “Stand guard Chojuro,” she ordered gently.

Chojuro nodded, more outwardly shaken by events than their new leader. “Right… Captain Terumi.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 27: Driftwood Carried in with the Tide

Sakura followed Haku slowly into the cave, but ahead of Naruto and Sasuke. This way, if something happened she could at least respond first. She didn’t expect Haku to betray them, but she hadn’t expected Tazuna and Tsunami to either. She couldn’t get the image of killing the bridge builder out of her head. The exact thing Sakura replayed in her mind was the look on Tazuna’s face after she ripped half of it off. It was grizzly, but his eyes flashed in a way that made it seem like the old geezer still thought he’d win. It reminded Sakura of the most arrogant clan kids at the academy, blinded by their self-assured confidence. The look of pure hubris didn’t leave his eyes, even as she drilled her shuriken into his throat and the life behind them left him. Haku never gave her that look, even as he turned the air around her to a cloudburst, and that made Sakura think she could put her faith in him now.

“You can sit down,” Haku invited them. “I have to discuss with my team what to do next.”

Sakura could tell that Sasuke didn’t like the idea of going under the Mist nin’s command, but knew better than to question it. Haku was older and stronger than they were, and seemed to be aware that he was not their captain, merely the person most reasonably owed authority in a crisis. Sakura wondered if Naruto would resist it too, if he was in his right mind, but it seemed like a part of him hadn’t yet returned from the Kyuubi taking hold. Even as he tenderly helped Sasuke to walk, his flat eyes made her doubt it would soon. She imagined if Haku wasn’t here, she would have assumed control of the squad by default in this situation. Naruto would follow her, and even if Sasuke would have acted like he didn't like it, he would have been too wounded to truly object to her leadership. Sakura helped the Uchiha sit as she leaned him up against a wall, and mirrored his frown. Finally, she acknowledged Haku again. “Thank you.”

The girl that entered the cave behind them seemed to be his team's acting commander, but luckily she had Haku’s same gentle disposition. “We have bandages,” she offered, and tried to hand a bag to Naruto which Sakura took for herself. He didn’t know as much about dressing wounds, and Sakura worried Naruto was too shaken to do it as well as she could. “Don’t worry,” the girl spoke. “We aren’t like Gato, you’ll be safe here.”

Moved, Sakura resisted the urge to cry, if only to appear strong before this newcomer. She’d just discovered her sensei had died in battle and was thrust into command of a desperate mission for her people. It was too polite of her to spend her first actions caring for them.

“Thank you, miss.” Naruto said to her as he sat beside his team and helped Sasuke outstretch his leg.

“Mei,” the girl replied, then turned to Haku and the matter at hand. “How did Zabuza sensei die?”

“The Leaf jonin was tricked into helping Tazuna.” Haku replied. Mei seemed to process this, and Sakura felt a rush of guilt.

‘I did this,’ Sakura thought. ‘If I just let Tazuna fall.’

Mei’s face fell. “Why don’t… Why don’t you start from the beginning.”

Mei smashed a clenched fist into her thigh, and showed her first clear rise of emotion yet. “Those bastards.” She yelled in a whisper. “For Gato to get the other nations involved.” To her credit she’d remained mostly silent in the face of Haku’s story, even allowing room for Sakura and Sasuke to add things in without interruption. Now that she’d heard it all, her soft features finally broke to reveal her anger with the enemy.

“It was all I could do to lead them here,” Haku replied. He looked up at Naruto, “After he finished off the Wavers attacking us.”

Naruto felt strange to be praised for killing the Wavers. Mei nodded to him seriously and with earnest eyes. “Thank you,” she added. “At least they didn’t get away with this.”

“Yeah,” was all Naruto said in response. He wondered if she’d thank him if she saw the bodies. If she saw him tossing organs and genitals to the air as he flayed the crowd of panicked civilians and rent their flesh with his own teeth.

Mei wet her lips as she pondered a moment, then stood. “We can give you three asylum until you’re ready to return to the Leaf, but we must also press on and try to finish our original mission. I’m sorry, I wish there was more we could do.”

Haku sighed. “Have you had any success in penetrating Gato’s fortress?”

“No,” Mei replied, sounding annoyed but still almost casual. “The fuinjutsu Gato erected is a Five-Seal Barrier. Five ninja must remove it.”

“Water clones, surely,” Haku suggested.

“We tried that, and it failed,” Mei responded. “The barrier was specially created to only acknowledge real humans, not chakra constructs. Gato got wind that four ninja were coming, and turtled up so that he couldn’t be attacked by less than five.”

Sakura was surprised as Haku and Mei discussed the next course of action. Neither so much as implied that Team Seven should help in removing the barrier. In fact, Naruto broached it first. “This Gato guy is the one that wants Kakashi’s head?” He asked plainly.

Haku shook his head. “No, that’s the Mizukages gambit for whatever reason. But Gato is the logical liaison for the transaction.”

“But if we wanted to find Kakashi, what’s left of him would be with Gato?” Naruto asked, arms folded.

“I would think it would get there before long,” Haku frowned.

“Then I’ll help you break the barrier.” Naruto said back sharply.

“Naruto,” Sasuke interrupted. “We are Leaf ninja. This is the Land of Water’s war.”

“They used us .” Naruto replied. “This mission started with four,” the boy sighed, “the four of us should get home too.”

“I cannot encourage that.” Mei said, sounding surprised. “The Mizukage is ruthless, and I don’t know what fallout you’d experience in your own village if you acted with us.”

“I just want to bring what’s left of my sensei home,” Naruto replied, crestfallen. “You intend to kill Gato?” Naruto asked. Mei nodded. “Then Yagura will never know.”

Sakura hugged herself, surprised by Naruto’s grimness, even in spite of everything. “Then let’s do it,” she added as she nodded zealously and took a deep breath. As she processed the day, the shock that previously stifled her anger was coming undone. “I made a mistake when I saved Tazuna. One I mean to rectify.” She fixed her gaze on Haku. “I don’t intend to bring the Leaf into your war, but you saved us even after I erred. I’ll repay that favor.”

She might not have been moved by the same motivations, but Naruto knew Sakura didn’t know Kakashi. ‘Hell, I barely do,’ He thought. ‘But nothing can put this right anymore.’ “What about you Sasuke?” He asked.

Sasuke scoffed. “I think you two can’t be serious. Now you’re getting gung-ho?” He leaned back into the cave wall with a shake of his hair. “Well it sounds like you already have five people, so what I want shouldn’t be relevant to you. But sure, I’ll break a seal if it comes to that. I may have not liked Kakashi, but he was my means to an end. Gato’s ploy took my sensei from me, and with it my path to getting stronger.” Sasuke smiled to himself. “When I say it outloud it’s clear. I’ve never turned up my nose at revenge before.”

“I’m not in this for revenge.” Naruto said quickly. “I just want to bring Kakashi home with us.”

“Justice,” Sakura corrected. “Not revenge.”

“Justice,” Naruto nodded. He could live with that.

Mei and Haku looked at one another. The captain spoke first. “Realistically, we can’t turn your help away if it’s offered. This will be the quickest solution. We can go tomorrow.”

“Why not right now?” Sasuke asked.

Mei straightened. “Because if you’re looking for your sensei’s remains, we need to give him some time to find his way there.”

Yuusei approached the barrier cautiously. Its qualities masked Gato’s fortress from a certain distance, but once you close enough, even an ordinary person like Yuusei could see it for what it was. An enormous fuinjutsu barrier that prevented access except from anyone Gato allowed. Yuusei thought it was the most incredible thing he’d ever seen in his life when it was first erected, and it was even more shocking to him Gato was only considered a chunin by the standards of his village. The perimeter of the barrier spanned dozens of meters, and Gato kept it up night and day. A single tower-like building was protected within. Yuusei paused when he came close enough to the edge of the barrier to see the figures inside; Gato and his guards. The chunin spoke first.

“Password?” Gato asked. “I expected Tsunami.”

“She’s dead,” Yuusei replied. Gato did little more than frown at him. Yuusei cleared his throat nervously. “She, ugh, didn’t give me a password.”

Gato tapped his cane into the ground, and Yuusei felt a little nervous about it. He knew very well Gato kept a blade hidden inside. “Then how do I know you aren’t one of those Mist ninja hiding out in the woods.”

Yuusei whipped his head to the trees nervously. “There are more ninja out here?”

“They are trying to kill me.” Gato replied dryly. “Tell me how Tsunami died.”

“I,” Yuusei wasn’t sure if he needed to refer to Gato as sir or not. He knew he didn’t want to stay outside the barrier if more ninja were skulking about after what he saw on the bridge. “One of the genin killed her,” Yuusei explained. “From the Leaf.” Yuusei started removing his backpack, and revealed the jonin’s gauze wrapped head. “Your plan was going well, sir. The Leaf ninja killed Zabuza, and then Tazuna shot him in the back.” Yuusei stripped the gauze from Kakashi’s head, confirming the ninja’s demise.

“An interesting story if it’s true,” Gato replied after he stared at the head awhile. “Do you have proof Zabuza is dead too, or am I just to keep assuming you’re not him after his victory?”

“I’m not lying,” Yuusei urged, putting up his free hand. “I took the head off this guy’s body since I know your village is interested in any ninja with rare eyes. One of his genin freaked out and slaughtered everyone. It was a bloodbath. I just took the head off and ran like hell.”

“Who else escaped?” Gato asked.

“Nobody that I saw,” Yuusei admitted slowly. Even to him it sounded suspicious. “The kid was brutal, like he was possessed.”

One of Gato’s men whispered to him, but he just snarled. “The Leaf doesn't have a Jinchuriki.” Gato turned back to Yuusei. “How come you got away when nobody else did.”

“I ran in the opposite direction.” Yuusei took a hard swallow. “He chased the rest down like he was out for their blood. I’ve never seen anything kill so gladly.” Gato and his men stood reticent. Gato’s bodyguards might not have been ninja, but they were members of the Land of Water Military. It wouldn’t be hard for any of them to kill Yuusei. “Please,” Yuusei added. “How do I prove I’m not under one of those transformations?”

Gato smiled. “Transformations typically break in response to pain.”

Yuusei swallowed nervously and set Kakashi’s head down in the soil. Taking his axe back into his hand, Yuusei lifted his shirt and dragged the head of his axe tentatively across his skin. It made a long shallow cut as Yuusei winced. When he drew the blade to his navel, Yuusei stopped and looked up at Gato optimistically, but the ninja remained straight faced. “More.”

Naruto delicately removed the gauze from Sasuke’s wound, and set about packing it with fresh fabric. “Does it hurt?” Naruto asked.

“Obviously,” Sasuke groaned. “But it looks worse than it is.”

“I meant what I’m doing,” Naruto shot back quickly.

Sasuke winced. “You’re fine.”

The boys sat wordlessly for a moment while Naruto concentrated. Sakura had urged him to pay attention to first aide back at the academy. Naruto’s wounds always seemed to heal quickly, but it didn’t seem like Sasuke had the same luxury, and Naruto had never seen a comrade injured this badly before. ‘And live,’ Naruto realized in a dark afterthought.

Chojuro, at least that’s what Naruto thought his name was, came into the cave. “Haku got you good,” he frowned. His dyed blue hair and unflattering glasses combined strangely with his shy mannerism. If Naruto saw him on the street, he wouldn’t guess Chojuro was a ninja. At least if he ignored Zabuza’s broadsword, which Chojuro had strapped to his back now.

“Yeah,” Sasuke admitted. “Is he on watch now?”

“Yes,” Chojuro replied quietly. “Did you want to speak with him?”

“Not right- ugh, now,” Sasuke responded, spasming a little as Naruto set to work on his injury.

Chojuro waited for the worst of it to be over before speaking again. “I’m sorry, but none of us are medical ninja. I’d heal you if I could.”

“You’ve done enough for us already.” Naruto finally spoke. “I’m sorry about your sensei.”

Chojuro’s eyes were puffy, and Naruto was sure he’d heard him quietly sobbing to himself while he was outside. Chojuro clearly wasn’t hiding his feelings as well as Haku and Mei were, and the boy seemed to fall into doing anything either told him to. “It’s okay,” Chojuro wheezed, as if choked up by the reminder. “You were dragged into this too.”

With a little basin of water, Sakura set about washing the blood out of her hair. It almost did her well to be alone, and she hadn’t realized how matted it had become.

Mei entered the back part of the cave. “Sakura right?” She asked. “Do you want help?”

Honestly Sakura didn’t, but she felt rude to reject her benefactor outright. “I’m okay,” she replied, wetting her hair a little more. “You don’t have to trouble yourself anymore with me.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Mei flashed an easy smile. “Haku and I do each other's hair all the time.”

Sakura gave a genuine snort at the unexpectedness of that. “My mom’s the only one who does my hair, but I never like how she sets it if I’m honest.”

“Well,” the older girl started as she sat beside Sakura. “Why don’t you tell me how you like it?”

“I…” Sakura fidgeted as Mei started untangling her hair. “I usually just tie it into two low buns.” She explained. “Or anyway to keep it out of my face.”

“It’s hard to wear it long in a fight.” Mei confessed. “I guess that’s just me allowing myself a little bit of excess.”

Sakura wasn’t really sure how to talk to her. After a moment of hesitation she worried would make any response sound insincere, she settled on, “it’s pretty.”

“Thank you,” Mei smiled back. “We kunoichi have to prop eachother up a bit, right? Even if we aren’t from the same nation.”

Sakura nodded awkwardly. “Right.” Sakura allowed Mei to fix her hair a few moments more, before feeling she needed to break the ice again and say something more. Sakura didn’t know what to say. She knew nothing about Mei other than what she could assume about her being from the Land of Water. Sakura didn’t want to make it awkward and ask about those things. So Sakura considered the one other thing she could gather about Mei at a glance. She was pretty. “Your eyes are pretty too.”

Mei laughed, taken off guard. Usually other girls weren’t shy around her, but then most of the other girls she knew were in the rebellion. “Yours too,” she confessed. “We almost have the same color of green, do you have family in the Land of Water?”

“No,” Sakura replied quickly. “No, I just inherited them from my father.”

“Ah,” Mei replied. “Green eyes are very common in my clan.”

“The Senju are more of a hodge podge,” Sakura confessed. “Though to be honest, I don’t really know very many of them.”

“The Senju founded your village, right?” Mei asked. Sakura nodded. “Can I ask you something about the Leaf?”

“Oh,” Sakura exclaimed nervously. “Okay.”

“What is your graduation exam like?” Mei asked.

“We…” Sakura trailed off. “We are tested on one of the ninjutsu we learn in school. Transformation Jutsu or Clone Jutsu. Something like that. We have to display a firm mastery of it in order to pass.”

“That kind of reminds me of what the elders say the old graduation exam was like.” Mei said with a little excitement in her voice. “Before the Blood Mist, of course.” She added. “Back in the-” Mei stopped herself. “Oh, you don’t wanna hear about this.”

“No,” Sakura shook her head. “I always liked history.” Honestly, it was just nice for her to hear about anything to take her mind off the situation for a change, and this way she could do less of the talking.

“Well,” Mei started. “Back before Yagura, the prospective genin would be taken out to an isolated island, and ordered to get back to the village without getting wet. It was to test their skill with water walking, of course,” Mei laughed. “But the wording of the exam didn’t say you had to walk on water. So my father told me he just swam, then dried all his clothes with a fire style jutsu before he appeared before the proctors.” Mei finished up with Sakura’s hair, but immediately wet a rag and started cleaning the scuffs off her. “He said that he was pretty sure they knew he cheated, but let him get away with it because one of the proctors thought it was clever.” Mei sighed. “Father was one of the jonin that fought Yagura in the coup. But it’s funny, anytime I walk on water now I think of him, even though he didn’t even do it in the story I’m reminded of.”

Sakura frowned. “I’m sorry about your father… and your sensei.”

“It’s-it’s okay,” Mei replied, wringing out the rag to clean Sakura up a bit more. “I know I must seem blasé to you, but it’s just my way. In hardship, I distract myself with dumb little memories and simple things, and that gets me though.”

“I can understand that, and you don’t seem blasé.” Sakura added. “I still can’t believe you’ve shown us so much generosity after all that has happened. You didn’t even expect us to help with the barrier even though it seemed obvious.”

“We in the rebellion always thought it was our duty to change the Land of Water on our own.” Mei began. “The Mizukage robbed us of the ability to choose our own path, because life and death is no choice. So to ask another nation to intervene and come save us just seemed like it would be giving some other power control of our destinies all over again. That’s not to say we don’t take help when it’s offered though. We aren’t that proud.”

Sakura focused on part of what Mei said. “Life and death is no choice,” she repeated. “I wanted to be a ninja to protect myself and the ones I loved, but when I got here and realized I was up against a ninja, I just wanted to go back home. I was scared to lose my life or see my friends killed. I didn’t know Tazuna. I didn’t care if he died and I hated it about myself. It made me question my morals. Now, I wish I cared less and let Haku end him.” Sakura scoffed. “I thought I finally found my bravery.”

Mei patted Sakura on the shoulder carefully. “It’s one thing to fight when your life's on the line. The heat of the moment and the adrenaline that kicks in is one thing… But to try to sleep the night before, knowing you could just be waking up to die. It makes it feel impossible to lie down.”

“Does it get easier?” Sakura asked nervously.

“I don’t know.” Mei confessed. “I think you just get used to the feeling, and that’s the saddest part of all.” Sakura sat wordlessly as Mei fussed over a smudge of blood on Sakura’s shirt with her wet rag. “Have you lost a teammate before today?”

“I’ve never even killed before today.” Sakura admitted. “I guess maybe it’s good I got them both over within one… day.” Sakura realized all too suddenly that Mei was forced to do the same in the Mist’s graduation exam. “I’m sorry,” Sakura confessed, “I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s okay,” Mei replied casually. “Haku and Chojuro will have different stories I’m sure, but oddly I was never afraid about going into the graduation exam. Well not for my own life at least. I hated the idea of killing my classmates, but it was a well established tradition by the time I became a ninja, so I had years to prepare for that mentally. I went out of my way to not form bonds with them. I was the top of my class in almost every area, so I was expected to be victorious, and I knew that none of the other kids stood a chance against me in a fight.”

Sakura listened to her wearily. Mei seemingly discussed it easily, but the concept was so chilling to Sakura it all but took her breath away. “I think I’d still be scared.” Sakura said quietly.

“You’re wiser than I was at your age,” Mei admitted. “I was blinded by childhood naivete. I was put in a unit with five other students. Good odds, most people get more... My strategy was to back off and wait for them all to fight it out, then come in and finish off whoever was left. If someone tracked me down I was ready to fight, but I wasn’t looking for the big brawl the exams became known for. Like I said none of them could have taken me.”

“That’s a good strategy,” Sakura replied. “I think I’d try the same if I had to.”

“What I didn’t expect was how much the other students realized it too… None of them would win if they had to fight me, so when the match began all five of them attacked me at once and…” Mei trailed off suddenly, her voice having grown tenser than before. “Anyway, you’re done.”

Mei smiled, and Sakura suddenly became aware Mei had long since finished cleaning her off. “Oh,” Sakura exclaimed. “Umm, thank you, Mei.”

The fellow kunoichi nodded. “You’re welcome, Sakura.”

Yuusei walked closely behind Gato. Now that he was within the barrier, the last thing he wanted was to be back outside of it. “I apologize,” Gato started. “But it could have been anyone wearing your face.”

“It’s okay, sir.” Yuusei replied eagerly. “I was just hoping I could get compensation for the jonin’s eyes and be on my way.”

“Leaving the Land of Waves?” Gato asked casually.

“Yes.” Yuusei stopped in turn with Gato. “If it’s possible for me to enter the Land of Water now-”

“With the money I owe you.” Gato interrupted. “Right…”

Yuusei grew nervous. “Sir?”

“You alone saw what happened on the bridge.” Gato began. “That information is about as valuable as it gets on this little island. Stay awhile, and start from the beginning.”

Sasuke had fallen asleep, but Sakura was glad for it. He needed it with his wound. She rested a hand on Naruto’s knee. “Are you doing okay?”

“I don’t-” Naruto cut himself off. “I only remember it in flashes. I’m trying not to.” Sakura didn’t reply, but rubbed his knee tenderly. “Why didn’t I listen to you?”

He didn’t elaborate, but Sakrua knew he meant about returning to the Leaf. “The same reason I stood between Tazuna and Haku. We wanted to help people we thought were victims. We can’t change the mistakes we made, but helping the rebels will ease them, I hope.”

“Nothing will ease death,” Naruto frowned. “Nothing will bring back my sensei or theirs.”

Sakura wasn’t sure what to say. There was nothing to say. Everyone had a little bit of blame in this. “It’s the Waver’s fault more than ours,” she justified. "They tricked us . All we can do is learn from it.”

“Is that good enough for you?” Naruto trailed off, not sure if he was accusing her, or jealous of her ability to cope. “You’re the one that killed Tazuna right?”

Sakura waited to reply. “I keep seeing it in my mind,” she finally said. “Even as I maimed him, he wanted nothing more than to take me with him.”

“I killed Tsunami,” Naruto said. “She’s one of the faces I remember. I melted it right off.” His disaffected tone broke as he elicited a single sob.

Sakura sighed. “Don’t, umm, don’t feel sorry for the image of her she put forward. That wasn’t who she really was.”

“Who was she really?” Naruto asked.

“The enemy,” Sakura tried to sound severe, but a sadness was in her tone. “That’s all we need to know.”

“I wanted to protect these people, use the Kyuubi’s power like my clanswomen did to protect people who needed it, ya know?” Naruto shook his head in shame. “Instead I killed them all.”

“The Kyuubi killed them,” Sakura said. “And in killing them it saved me, and Sasuke, and Haku too.”

“The Kyuubi is what killed your father,” Naruto said back loudly.

Sakura shut her eyes for a few seconds, then opened them again. “The power of a Jinchuriki is one to be feared. Tomorrow it could kill me, today it didn’t. You’re stronger than me to bear it, stronger than any of us. So don’t think about what might have happened differently if you’d been stronger. You already are.”

“I’m afraid,” Naruto confessed through tears. “When I killed them, part of me wanted it. I didn’t do it cleanly, or quickly, but as brutally as I could imagine. And the Kyuubi made it even worse. That fox…” he cried. “I hear it in my mind sometimes… when we first met… it made me fantasize about killing you!”

Sakura shuddered. “You’re not, you’re not the fox.” Sakura hugged him but he didn’t embrace her in turn. “Please stay with me,” she begged. “I’ll never understand your power, but there is a difference between the real you, and the version of yourself it wants you to be.” Naruto finally gripped her, and cried deeply into her shoulder. Sakura cried quietly into his. “My father’s love for me gave him the strength to overcome the fox. My love for you will give me the strength to do the same.”

Sakura wasn’t sure if she or Naruto fell asleep first, but when she awoke they still had a grip on one another. She stretched slowly as she released her friend, uncomfortable from sleeping on the stone floor. After allowing him another moment, she shook Naruto awake. “Naruto,” she called. “It’s morning.”

“The location of each of the five seals has already been identified by Chojuro.” Mei announced as she addressed the room.

Chojuro fixed his glasses. “One was trapped, but I disarmed it. None were guarded.”

“It’s actually a simple thing to disarm them,” Mei continued. “Release some chakra into the paper seal, then rip it away. It will read if you are a real person or clone, but now that we have numbers that isn’t an issue, and the tags should just break away.”

“What happens to the barrier then?” Sasuke asked. “And why are these seals outside the barrier and not within.”

“The barrier will collapse quickly so long as we remove the tags at about the same time.” Mei explained. “Of course if we don’t, the fuinjutsu won’t be properly removed. I’m honestly not sure what would happen then…” She gestured toward Haku. “Watch for Haku’s signal, it doesn’t have to be totally precise. As for why the seals are outside, the nature of this barrier is to have the tags gather ambient energy to direct inward. Directing energy outward would make a less powerful barrier that could be broken with enough force.”

“Trust me,” Haku added, “our captain doesn’t lack for force.”

Mei smiled. “Once the barrier falls, Haku, Chojuro and I will move in to kill Gato. If your sensei’s body is inside we will retrieve it. And one of you should stay with Sasuke,” Mei added. “I think we will move too quickly for there to be chance of retaliation, but he is injured and shouldn’t be alone.”

"You're sure you’ll beat Gato?” Naruto asked. The Mist rebels nodded. “Then I’ll stay with Sasuke.” He squeezed Sakura’s hand. “You’re sure you can take down one of the seals on your own?”

“Of course,” Sakura nodded. This sounded like it was easy, but she was always better than Naruto at these types of things regardless. He was just being protective of her, but it made her smile a little still.

“Gato only prepared for four ninja,” Mei said, a gleam in her eye that may have been eagerness… or a tear. “He outnumbered himself.”

“Should we move in to support you after the barrier falls?” Sakura asked.

“No,” Mei replied. “Gato is a chunin, and likely has a few men trained far better than the militia you faced on the bridge. It would be dangerous for such new genin.”

Sasuke sighed. “One of us should still go. Kakashi was ours, so one of us should bring him out.”

“I’ll go,” Naruto volunteered quickly.

“No,” Sakura said. “I’ll go in. Kakashi wasn’t my sensei, but he was still a comrade from the Leaf. And beyond that my genjutsu will make me more suited to stealth.” Sakura’s explanation was sound, but she was also worried about the Kyuubi taking hold of Naruto again if he saw what had become of Kakashi’s remains. He nodded to her, seeming to understand her true intention.

Mei seemed doubtful, but Haku vouched for her. “I understand, if our roles were reversed, could we do the same?”

The captain sighed. “I suppose not. Stay behind me as we move in Sakura, and I will protect you.”

“You’ll bring her back safely?” Naruto asked, but his tone was more confident than worried.

Mei smiled warmly. “I will.”

“Alright,” Naruto smiled back at the Mist rebels and nudged Sakura. “For the Leaf then.”

Mei glanced to Haku and Chojuro, ready to end this. “And for the Mist.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 28: A Flower in the Waves

Sasuke should have been getting stronger, but as time passed, it seemed his injury was only agitating him more. Naruto had to resort to carrying him on his back to the location of their seal. Naruto expected Sasuke to feel a little inferior right now, but instead the Uchiha called out directions as eagerly as he would have one two feet.

“Do you want to remove the seal, or me?” Naruto asked.

“You realize that removing this seal could be considered an act of war?” Sasuke scoffed. “I’ll do it.”

“It’s not an act of war.” Naruto shot back, sounding both annoyed and a bit like he was reminding himself. “It’s just about bringing back Kakashi. Besides, if this is an act of war, that crazy Mizukage started it.”

“Uh huh,” Sasuke snorted. “But we aren’t de-escalating the situation. We have the opportunity to leave and we’re not. I want you to understand the reality of it.”

“That would mean leaving Haku and Mei and Chojuro to fight alone, after they helped us!” Naruto replied. “They helped us," he repeated, "it’s only right we help them.”

Sasuke groaned. “I don’t disapprove , Naruto, but you realize we are genin. We might keep our involvement from the Mist secret, but not the Leaf. One of us will have to take responsibility for this.”

“Then I will,” Naruto added quickly. “I said yes to helping first.”

Sasuke frowned. “You didn’t even grow up in a ninja family. You have no idea what the internal politics of the Leaf are like.”

“And you do?” Naruto asked indignantly.

Sasuke frowned harder. “Yes.”

Naruto rolled his eyes. “Well if you think it’s such a bad idea why are you helping then, huh?” Sasuke stayed silent. “You said it was for revenge, but even if you’re telling the truth, the revenge would be for Kakashi.”

“The revenge is for myself.” Sasuke said dryly.

“It’s not though.” Naruto corrected Sasuke as if he was assured. “He was both our sensei, you don’t have to act like you don’t care.”

“You don’t know me as well as you think, Uzumaki. I’m not happy Kakashi died, but he wasn’t the first or most important person I lost.” Sasuke nearly trailed off. “Ninja die all the time, even the famous ones.” He added.

Naruto jumped a little to bump Sasuke up higher on his back. “Sasuke, sensei died to try and save us.”

“You,” Sasuke said plainly. “I had a good view of it. He didn’t even succeed, because if Haku didn’t intervene I might have needed to be rescued from your nine-tailed friend next.”

Naruto should’ve been bothered more by Sasuke’s words, but it was clear even to him that the Uchiha was goading him. “I’m carrying you on my back and you’re still just saying shit to hurt me.” Naruto said with a firm shake of his head. “Is it so much better to be a jerk than admit you have feelings?”

“What do you want from me?” Sasuke asked. “For every bit of trauma in my life to weigh me down? Do you want me to have broken down about how my sensei was murdered? Do you want me to cry about how I laid injured on the ground watching my Jinchuriki teammate ripped the people who hired us to shreds?”

“I want what's real!” Naruto urged him. “The real you, and not the front!”

“This is me, Naruto…” Sasuke sighed heavily. “We’re here.”

Naruto stopped suddenly, so focused on the conversation he didn’t realize he was passing the barrier seal. A bit defeated, Naruto lowered Sasuke down onto the boulder the tag laid on. “I guess we just wait for Haku’s signal now.”

Sasuke peeled up a little corner of the paper tag, and watched the sky. “Yeah…”

Sakura watched diligently for Haku’s signal. Truth be told, it unsettled her a little to be alone, but the seal Mei asked her to remove was a bit more isolated from the others. Sakura tried to remind herself there was no immediate danger, at least none for right now. Mei requested that Sakura wait to start to move in until a minute or two after the barrier fell. This way the Mist rebels could thin out any defenders while they worked on taking down Gato, and Sakura should be able to focus on finding Kakashi. She watched the clouds.

A ball of vapor flew into the sky, and after a second, detonated into a swirling burst of snow. ‘Right,’ Sakura swiped the seal off a nearby tree trunk and turned toward the barrier. At first nothing happened. ‘Come on,’ Sakura begged, ‘come on.’ After another second, the translucent barrier oscillated into a deep mauve color, then began to fracture as if made of glass. It was almost distracting to see what must have been raw chakra shatter and fade away. A gentle breeze came onto Sakura from the direction of the barrier that left the air feeling tense and stagnant. Sakura took a sharp breath. ‘Sixty, fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven…’

When Sakura emerged from the tree line the battle at Gato’s fortress was already raging. A group of soldiers wielding a mixture of different polearms were being overwhelmed by Mei. The kunoichi seemed to condense moisture straight out of the air, forming whips and blasts as she adjusted the pressure of the water to form a sharp edge with every attack. Mei herself guided the water toward her attackers with mere gestures, and Sakura was amazed the soldiers didn’t simply flee. Perhaps Mei was just too quick for them, because when one looked like he’d try, she sent a hail of water toward him that punctured his chest in five or six places. She spun like a dancer, and slashed out the throat of another with a razor sharp spindle of water when he charged in behind her. A few were dead at her feet already.

“Sakura!” Mei warned as she realized the leaf kunoichi had arrived. “Stay back dear.” Mei’s water wrenched one of her attackers' weapons out of his hands, and as she motioned, the water fell back on onto him with a rage. “I’m finishing up.”

“Right.” Sakura stepped back and readied a block. She’d never seen water style like this before. Mei used no hand signs to direct the flow, so her chakra control must have been phenomenal to the degree she could forgo them. Or, this was some kind of long term water style that gave her free control over the element for a period of time. Either way, Sakura found herself amazed by the captain’s jutsu.

Mei’s water twisted into a series of reverberating splashes that appeared behind one of her opponents that pushed them toward her so she could slash the soldier’s neck with a kuani. The water kept coming as it swept around Mei harmlessly, then gathered into a waist high wave that rolled into the final attacker. As it crashed over him, Mei raised her fist high, lifting him by the waist in a twist of ever changing water. With the final gesture Mei slammed the soldier back down on his neck, and his body fell in a soaked lump.

Sakura rushed up to Mei. “How did you do that?” Sakura asked hurriedly, forgetting her purpose for one precious moment. “Your water style! It’s the most natural I’ve ever seen.”

Mei allowed a quick smirk. “One day, I’ll show you.”

Sakura’s mouth fell a little wide. ‘Mei would do that?’ Suddenly a pair of archers entered her peripheral vision.

Mei jumped between them and Sakura, flying through hand signs. “Watch out!” She urged. “Water Style: Water Pillar.” Water appeared all around the girls, and formed a ringed wall that shielded the kunoichi from the projectiles. The water was clear enough that Sakura could watch through the barrier, but it spun so rapidly that the arrows snapped as they flew into it. Sakura was scared to even touch it. “Chojuro!” Mei called, and the blue haired boy leapt from the other side of the courtyard toward the archers.

“Yes ma’am,” Chojuro replied. He didn’t wield the blade like Zabuza did, needing two hands to swing it, but he cleaved through the archers quickly while Mei stood defensively before Sakura within the whirl of water. After the danger passed, the Water Pillar simply evaporated back into the air.

“You came fast.” Mei mentioned to Sakura.

“S-sorry,” Sakura replied. She’d expected to help at least a little with the fighting, but clearly the Mist squad was far beyond her, or any need for her help.

“Don’t worry about it,” Mei said with a cock of the head. “We’re all fine, right?” Chojuro nodded.

A portion of wall a few levels up froze on Gato’s tower, and after a few blows, Haku smashed it out. “Mei!” He called down, while checking if his teammates were unharmed. “Gato is holed up at the top of the tower! More fuinjutsu!”

“We’ll bring it down!” Chojuro yelled, and collected water around Zaubza’s sword as he marched toward the fortress.

“No,” Mei ordered, and stopped Chojuro with a gesture. “Sakura needs to find her captain. His remains might be damaged if we collapse the tower.”

Chojuro jumped a little, and eased off his aggressive stance. “Right!” He said nervously, and flushed as he rubbed the back of his head and called to Sakura. “Sorry.”

“Stay here Chojuro, and cut off anyone who tries to escape.” Mei yelled. The boy nodded. “Sakura,” she tapped the girl gently, then raised a boulder from the earth with a quick pair of signs. “Let’s find your captain.”

Sakura stayed near to Mei as the trio scaled the tower stairs. Haku was a flight above them, and a quick clash saw a still freezing body tossed down the stairs beneath them. “They’re insane!” Sakura yelled. “Why are they still fighting back?”

“Mist loyalists never surrender,” Mei said as she put her body between Sakura and the skirmish. “It’s said most of the regular soldiers are drafted, but Yagura has the reach to do unspeakable things to their families if they refuse.”

Sakura grunted in surprise, but it shouldn’t have been one to her. The Mizukage sounded psychotic. “Why would you ever appoint someone like him Mizukage?”

Mei rushed up the stairs beside Sakura, still lugging along her boulder. Haku was clearing out any remaining attackers. “The older ninja say he wasn’t always like this," Mei explained. "That after he became Mizukage, something changed. Some say it’s the demon within him, but I think he’s always been broken. His other persona was just an act.”

“Mei,” Haku announced. “The barrier is here.” He pointed to a pair of locked metal doors, the ambient energy of a barrier seal glowing on them.

“Stand back,” Mei yelled, and slammed the boulder into the doors twice. The metal dented under the pounding, but the barrier chipped away at the boulder as it crumbled into bits. Mei formed another two signs, and reformed a smaller but denser rock from the rubble. “Haku, weaken it.”

Haku formed his own signs, and Sakura hung back as a freezing wash of air blew over the doors. The barrier seemed to surge with the same mauve color as the larger one, and with a grunt, Mei smashed her boulder into it a final time, blowing down both the barrier and doors entirely. Behind the defenses, a short man with a wire thin mustache stood in the center of the room. He unsheathed a blade from his cane and slashed the boulder the chunks as it flew toward him in a quick motion. “Haku Yuki and Mei Terumi, right?” The man asked. “And friends.” He added as he hissed at Sakura.

“Stay back,” Haku instructed Sakura as Mei entered the room boldly. “That’s Gato.” Sakura thought as much was obvious, but waited as the senior ninja entered.

“Gato…” Mei said sternly. “The leaf jonin you killed, where is his remains.”

“Princess, I haven’t killed anyone yet.” Gato replied. Mei stood firm as he laughed over his semantics. “Down a couple floors.” Gato finally admitted. “One of the Wavers brought him by.” Gato glanced at Sakura. “You really should go say goodbye, girlie.”

“Enough,” Mei yelled. “As expected, he’s trying to divide us.”

Gato feigned annoyance. “You hot and cold Terumis, I’m giving you what you want. Why would I even be concerned with separating the genin… unless you two girls are too concerned to leave her alone.”

Haku lowered his eyes. ‘This is it,’ he recognized. ‘He wants to separate me from Mei by taking advantage of our desire to protect a child.’ Haku readied several senbon. “We're not going anywhere.”

“Sakura?” Mei requested.

“Right! Genjutsu: Vanishing!” Sakura flicked out of Gato’s sight, and he leaned back with surprise at the idea of a mere genin casting one over him. 

Gato moved to release it but was immediately met with a barrage of icy needles from the Yuki. He was forced to deflect them with wider sweeps than necessary, and Gato slashed wildly with his cane sword to ensure nothing sunk up from behind. If the genin girl planted a knife in his back, it would just be embarrassing.

Mei flashed a sign, and shot an explosive bullet of flame toward Gato. The shinobi leapt aside as a quarter of the room was engulfed in fire, and deciding a closed environment was no place to fight this pair, smashed out a window as he jumped to the courtyard below.

Haku pursued immediately with Mei’s signal, and the captain turned to address Sakura, who’d done little more than stay behind her and unseen. “Can you manage in here okay on your own?”

“I’ll cast genjutsu on anyone who sees me,” Sakura assured her.

Mei nodded. “Good, then find your captain.” Mei jogged over toward the window. “And leave Gato to us!” Mei called back before leaping out.

Sakura darted back down the stairs and started kicking in doors. If Kakashi was here somewhere, it was her duty to find him. Instead, she found a man she didn’t recognize. By his garb he was a Waver, and not a soldier from the Land of Water. He gripped his axe in shock as she entered the room.

‘Damn Gato,’ Yuusei thought. ‘I gift him that jonin’s eyes and he demands I stay here and answer all his questions just for me to be stuck here when the Mist ninja attack.’ He cowered in the corner glaring at the severed head he’d hoped would be his prize as he cursed Gato’s name. Yuusei heard the fighting upstairs stop and start. He was too nervous to move. Just as he started to get up, the door kicked in, and the Leaf kunoichi flushed into the room with a kunai. By pure reflex Yuusei grabbed his axe, but stopped short of aiming it toward the girl. She did one of her ninja tricks before he could get a word in, and disappeared.

“Where is Kakashi,” her voice came from the nothingness before panic took Yuusei totally.

Yuusei pointed to her gauze wrapped head in the corner. “Over there,” he muttered nervously. “I-I didn’t want to help them, I swear.” Yuusei prayed he sounded convincing.

The genin girl didn’t respond. Yuusei wasn’t even sure where she was. After a few tantalizing seconds, Yuusei made a break for the door. 'Maybe she was gone? Maybe she’d let me go?’

Yuusei felt a slash, and fell to the floor sucking down his pain as Sakura cut the back of his Achilles’ tendon. He screamed out. “Please,” he begged, as he tried to drag himself toward the door frame. “Let me go.” Using the doorway as support, Yuusei started lifting himself up onto his uninjured leg. It was another few precious seconds between attacks until she launched herself at him again. Yuusei felt the kunoichi straddle his shoulders from behind, and shift her weight quickly. Unsteady from his earlier injury, he flipped head over heels as she slammed his head into the floorboards.

Sakura hopped off the Waver quickly. As expected, they were little threat when they were alone. She wasn’t sure if she believed him or not when he said he had no choice, but the fact he’d come here made her doubt it. She frowned at him still, as his unconscious body lay prone in the hall. She'd probably used more force than needed to take him down. ‘He could have made such different choices.’ She justified. Sakura didn’t kill him as she stepped over his body to get back into the room, but she considered it. She wasn't sure what to do with a beaten opponent.

Sakura found a lump of bloody gauze in a back corner of the room, and slowly reached toward it. For an instant she wished it wasn’t what she was seeking. As if seeing Kakashi’s face would make it all too real again. Sakura shook herself out of her reservations. She’s already seen Kakashi’s body on the bridge. She grabbed the gauze quickly, it was heavier than she expected. ‘I suppose,’ She thought sadly. ‘I should check if he still has his eyes.’

Slowly Sakura began undoing wrap after wrap of gauze. They were stuck together with blood and who knows what else, but after what felt like too long a time, Sakura found skin and hair. She touched it with two fingers. It was so cold. Sakura peeled back just a little more gauze, gasping and eliciting a gentle sob when she saw Kakashi’s Sharingan in place. She wrapped him back up both quickly and haphazardly as she bolted out of the room, clutching him in her hands. “Sorry I didn’t get out of the way captain,” she apologized. “I… I’ll follow order’s next time…”

Gato clashed his blade against Chojuro’s, and the two both came very close to wounding each other fatally. Before either could connect though, Mei’s water rushed in and burst between them, forcing Gato into a series of backflips just before either could bring down his weapon decisively. Haku rushed to Chojuro’s side, as the blue haired boy rubbed a superficial chest wound with the palm of his hand. “You alright?” Haku asked lowly.

“Yeah,” Chojuro nodded. He angled his blade back at Gato. Both his teammates fought from a distance, so he felt it was his obligation to keep a melee fighter like Gato off them. It was harder without Zabuza beside him.

Mei twirled the water over her head, and cracked it like a whip toward Gato, narrowly missing. “It could be over by now, you know.” Her attack didn’t just save Chojuro, as the boy had nearly cleaved off Gato’s leg. 'Her desire to protect others was a fault the Blood most exists to eliminate.'

Mei formed an exotic stance as she called her water back to her, prepped to attack or defend with it. “No one but you dies today,” she taunted. Chojuro and Haku ran up to flank her. “I’ll send you off with the minimum of pain if you lay down your arms,” Mei offered.

“No deal, Terumi.” Gato hissed. He walked forward casually, whipping some of Chojuro’s blood off the edge of his sword while he charged it with lightning. “Your father died fighting Lord Yagura if I recall. It’s a shame you lost two father figures, but passing on a chance to kill me just to protect your friend was really stupid.” Gato spun his sword and charged. “You won’t get another!”

Mei shot water at Gato as he sprinted at her, but the swordsman dodged it skillfully as it blasted past his head. Mei launched herself back a few paces. “Maneuver thirteen!” She yelled.

Chojuro took point again, but Gato just sneered. ‘The boy won’t last in a clash of blades now.’ He thought, as the electricity in his sword surged eagerly.

Before they could trade blows again, water wrapped around Chojuro’s waist and pulled him back to Mei, while Gato wasted energy swiping at nothing.

Ice surrounded him, and Gato prepared to meet the Yuki’s attack. Shards of it shot up like a barrier. “Ice Style: Crystal Wall!” Haku yelled. Gato slashed at the ice, but what he chipped away quickly refroze as the jagged wall started to grow under his feet. Gato flew high into the air in response, charging lighting chakra into a kunai and hurling it at Haku with blinding speed. It was a tight dodge, and Haku was slashed across the cheek with a stinging wound, but his team had the utmost faith in his speed.

Gato blinked. ‘I was sure that would hit!’ He didn’t have time to consider it more. A whip of water snaked into the air through his blind spot and coiled around his ankle. “Damnit!” Gato cursed, and the whip tightened with enough force to crush bone.

Mei gave an embittered grunt as she crushed Gato’s foot, and slammed him back down on the ice so fiercely it shattered. She flew into hand signs. “Hold him up!”

Chojuro rushed in, feinting another blow as the injured Gato bounced up and pressed off his good foot to evade. His face was twisted with pain and rage. The shards of shattered ice rose around the loyalist in paper thin sheets and created a formation around him that Gato saw no easy escape from. Chojuro rushed out of the area as Haku stepped straight into one of the mirrors, and in an incredible display of speed, danced between them while hurling frozen senbon down on Gato.

Gato tried to limp to the edge of the Crystal Ice Mirrors, reflecting the blows with his cane sword easily, but with only one good leg his escape was difficult. He heard the Terumi yell. “Vapor Style: Boiling Steam Justu!”

Haku stopped the rush of blows as a superheated steam leaked into the maze of mirrors, as if shielding himself from the attack by hiding within his ice. Still, he hurled senbon down just enough that Gato couldn’t outpace the mist that seeped in. Gato howled as Mei’s attack touched his skin and boiled it bright red in seconds. Gato instantly regretted crying out as the steam filled his mouth and poured into his lungs. He nearly dropped his sword from the shock. He could barely see through the choking vapor as the Yuki backflipped out of the mirrors, and Gato surmised that the mist must have stopped drifting and concentrated enough that Haku could escape the effects. Gato felt no such relief from the steam as his eyes swelled shut.

Mei focused her chakra, and heated the steam bank even more until she was satisfied Gato was being cooked from within. “Haku,” she called with a gesture. “Bring it down.”

“Got it,” Haku nodded, and shattered his mirrors as he guided one large spike of ice down into Gato’s back. It pierced straight through him, and dug into the dirt, as Gato’s struggling body went limp. The thin shard of ice alone now supported his weight. Gato’s arms still flailed, if only meekly, and as the mist harmlessly dissipated.

Chojuro marched forward, and beheaded Gato just as he moved to speak. “That's for Zabuza sensei!” Chojuro yelled with red eyes, a part of him satisfied that Gato met his end by his master’s sword.

Mei took a breath and fell to her knees as she watched her enemy’s head pop off. Haku leaned down next to her. “Are you okay?” He asked, and held her by the shoulders.

“I’m not winded, just relieved.” Mei informed him.

Chojuro looked back. “We did it.” He looked like he might cry, but nodded his head firmly as he met the eyes of his team.

Mei nodded to Haku, and the Yuki helped her stand.

Sakura exited the tower, clutching Kakashi tightly to her chest. The Mist rebels seemed to be catching their breath after defeating Gato. She hugged Kakashi’s head a little tighter as she stared at the decapitated foe, horrified at the mere thought of dropping him. “You won,” she observed.

“Never in doubt.” Haku replied. “You got him?”

Sakura averted her eyes awkwardly, as if that alone would make her forget she was carrying the most intimate piece of someone she once knew. “Yes.”

“I’m sorry that this happened to you.” Haku said as he walked over. “Would it be more comfortable for you if I carried him?”

“No.” Sakura shook her head as she gave another one word answer. She remembered the Waver she fought with. The battle was so quick and inconsequential it was almost an afterthought. “I knocked out a man inside. He’s still alive.”

Sakura didn’t mean to ask Haku to kill him for her, but that’s how the Yuki took it. “I’ll finish him.” Haku replied plainly, and walked off into the tower before Sakura could even decide if she should object.

Mei and Chojuro walked over to her next as Sakura stared at Haku’s back. “Thank you,” Mei began, “for helping us get closure.”

Sakura nodded. “You too.”

The group waited around, trying to talk with one another but Sakura felt strange as the common interests between her and the Mist rebels came to their resolution. ‘Were they allies from now on? Friends?’ She wasn’t sure how to answer her own questions. She knew this started as an alliance of convenience, as sincere as they seemed. When Haku returned, and Sakura accepted that he’s just killed someone she’d left defenseless on the floor, she realized it didn’t matter. ‘I’m alive,’ Sakura reminded herself, ‘and not alone.’

“Is that?” Naruto asked as he reached a hand toward the object Sakura carried and jerked it away.

“You don’t want to look.” She said gently. “I’ll carry him home, it will be easier for me than you.”

Naruto nodded as he swallowed the lump in his throat. “I’ll carry Sasuke.”

“Thank you Sakura,” Sasuke said in a tone that could pass as genuine. “And all of you too.” He nodded toward the Mist rebels. “I don’t know what we would have done if you weren’t here. It’s weird to be indebted to strangers.”

Haku shook his hand, taking one last moment to frown at the injury he inflicted. “What about indebted to a friend?”