Chapter 22
Chapter 22
Following the match against the Hyuga, Sakura had fallen into a routine. The Uchiha were still facing skirmishes along their border but mostly the clans were biding their time. The Senju had been savaged, the Kurama crushed and the Hyuga quelled, for now at least. Tajima slowly stepped up their training as they grew, ensuring that they never got comfortable at their current level. Fire release, summoning, learning to master their scythes, Tajima put them through hell but neither Madara nor Sakura complained. They had garnered attention with their victories and their lives were now depending on them surpassing the expectations of their enemies.
The present was much the same with weeks passing in a blur of training and exercise. Shisui had become a slave driver, despite his easy going nature. He forced her to master kunai, shuriken, senbon and the tanto in addition to her wakizashi and katana skills. Her scythe was too identifying for use in ANBU as the whole point was to protect her identity from the enemies of Konoha and he didn’t know how to use one anyways so it fell to the wayside.
Iryo-ninjutsu skills were also something Sakura had been started on. ANBU basic training included a functioning knowledge of medical ninjutsu, just enough to staunch bleeding and identify medical chakra so operatives wouldn’t get assassinated by someone playing themselves off as a medic. The program was grueling and even eating massive meals, Sakura’s body was nothing but skin, bone and wiry muscle. The baby fat around her cheeks and face was critically endangered despite her age and best efforts.
Shisui had even taken to replacing the water in her canteens with sweet sports drinks in an effort to ensure her body was getting the calories it needed. Of course he had no way of knowing why exactly her body was burning through so much energy. Living two days while the rest of the world lived one was exhausting and Sakura was silently curious over why her body wasn’t aging at double the speed because as far as anyone could tell she was five nearly six years old.
The blur of training was only interrupted once, on a cool day in March. Sakura didn’t realize the date nor its significance having been so lost in her routine. So when Shisui woke her up and she headed down to the cafeteria she wasn’t expecting anything out of the ordinary.
“Happy birthday Sakura-chan.” Itachi’s calm voice startled Sakura as she sat down with her lunch and found two entire squads of ANBU joining her. None of the soldiers were wearing masks and most of them were smiling at her. She recognized a few of them, Hawk was there as well as Hatake, known in ANBU as Hound. Itachi had a new mask as well, a weasel mask, though Sakura’s own mask wasn’t ready yet.
“It’s my birthday?” Sakura questioned and Itachi dipped his head in a short nod and offered her a small parcel. The girl accepted it curiously and was soon inundated by similar gifts from the shinobi around her. Even Hatake had given her something, a leather notebook on fuinjutsu, it wasn’t wrapped but she hadn’t been expecting him to even know her birthday in the first place so she wasn’t about to comment.
“Happy Birthday Sakura-chan, you’ve been working so hard and without complaining that I had to do something.” Shisui gave her a wide grin though his chakra flickered briefly with concern. Sakura knew most children her age wouldn’t let others forget her birthday, yet she had. Then again, most kids didn’t have the weight of a clan on their back and two separate time periods to worry about.
“I just realized something.” Sakura murmured and focused her chakra. Her hands flashed through the necessary seals and she put her hand down on the concrete next to her seat, unleashing a puff of smoke. A tiny white tiger with electric blue eyes emerged from the cloud as it dissipated and immediately hopped into Sakura’s lap. “Hello Masami, it’s my birthday.”
“It’s Sakura-chan-sama’s birthday?! Oh! Oh! We need to go hunting! Or uh, I could give you my favorite branch to chew on! Your teeth are sharp so you need to make sure you chew the wood really good and get them clean.” Masami exclaimed excitedly, her whole body wriggling as she sat in Sakura’s lap. None of the shinobi present save Shisui had seen her summons before, though the fact that she had summons was on file. The tiny white tiger began to purr up a steady storm as she looked around the room at all the gathered shinobi. “Wow you have so many big friends! Look at them all! Hey it’s Sushi! Hello Sushi!”
“Shisui, my name is Shisui.” Shisui laughed while the rest of the gathered ANBU observed the tiger summons with curious eyes. Tigers summons were rare, legendary even and there hadn’t been one since the Warring Clans period. For a tiny pink haired child to have the contract was the last thing anyone would expect, considering their reputation for eating the unworthy.
“Sakura-chan, how did you get the tiger contract?” Kakashi asked, knowing the feline’s reputation through his own summons. The dogs weren’t noble summons, unlike his father’s wolves but Kakashi had never been able to bring himself to sign his family’s contract. His pack were enough for him, they didn’t remind him of early mornings stained by blood and loneliness.
“Sakura-chan-sama summoned herself to us and passed Byakko-otou-sama’s test! She’s super amazing you know!” Masami exclaimed and Kakashi’s eye widened slightly before sliding to the girl. Sakura blushed furiously because she knew now how dangerous what she had done was but she hadn’t intended to put herself in danger. The first time was Orochimaru’s fault and the second was an accident, she hadn’t considered that her contract wasn’t signed in the past.
“Sakura is not to be underestimated.” Itachi’s amusement was palpable, his onyx eyes twinkling slightly as he took a sip of green tea. Kakashi let out a tired sigh and shook his head while Gecko or rather Genma handed him a steaming mug. Kakashi looked down at the drink and raised an eyebrow as the man handed another mug to Itachi, Shisui and then Sakura.
“You know I’m pretty sure there is a rule about handing Hatake coffee.” Hawk stated dryly as the white haired man sipped at the hot drink. Sakura looked down at her own mug and gave it a sniff. It smelled good and it was a light color, which indicated cream or milk had been mixed into it.
“It’s a birthday party, let them cut loose a bit. Besides it’s just coffee. What’s the worst that could happen?” Genma drawled, though his playful grin indicated he knew exactly what he was unleashing. Sakura took another sniff then sipped the drink. It didn’t taste nearly as good as it smelled, in fact it tasted bad but the sugar was nice and the cream wasn’t that bad. Besides it would be rude to turn down offered food so she buried her distaste and drained the mug.
***
Tsukiko, more commonly known as the ANBU commander or Bear-sama was less then happy as she looked over the reports on her desk. 70 years since she had stumbled across Hashirama in a bar and upon discovering their mutual friendships and aspirations she had ended up allowing herself to be dragged into his orbit, which lead her eventually to Konoha. Of course back then kunoichi were few and far between, not everyone could be like the Uchiha tigress after all and Tsukiko was flexible enough with her sense of self to play pretend and show the world a male face, one she stuck with even to this day.
Konohagakure was founded by Hashirama and Madara to spread peace. The Hokage was to be a position elected by the people of Hi no Kuni, a new government, a new system and a new type of shinobi. It had all gone horribly wrong but Tsukiko wasn’t about to stress on such things, not today at least. No, today she was doing what she did more often then not as she finally began to reach full adulthood, lamenting the fact that children were still being sent off to war.
Madara had never expected peace to last, not until all lands were united or one was so insurmountable that the others couldn’t even unify to challenge it. Hashirama had known that future generations wouldn’t embrace his ideals, at least not all of them and kindness was a transient thing in government. Tobirama was a fool, separated from his own humanity by pride and trauma but he had entrusted her with Konohagakure’s darkness, so that someone who did understand such things could keep the village from ever sinking too far. Hiruzen disgusted her, Danzo needed to die, the sky was blue.
Letting out a tired sigh, Tsukiko ran a hand through her spiky silver hair. It was fake, though not a henge, the texture tangible and the transformation quite physical. Her disguise was a well worn glove, one she loathed but Hiruzen was as sexist as his predecessor and until someone more reasonable appeared she would continue to abuse her mental flexibility, after all she would trust no one with the lives of her shinobi.
A knock on the door had been expected, Tsukiko could feel the chakra throughout the entire facility and knew something was going on. She even had a suspicion what exactly had happened but until someone made it her problem, she was content to ignore it.
“Commander?” Gecko or rather Shiranui Genma’s tone was hesitant and she could taste his guilt in the air. She knew exactly what rule he had broke and it was obvious by the look on his face he was aware of it.
“Yes?” Bear-sama’s smooth voice fell from her lips, a hint of sarcasm curling her voice. She saw a flash of pink streak by the now open door, followed by a blur of black. A moment later silver rushed by and a gust of wind reached her desk as two black streaks darted after the silver bolt, another flash of pink just barely visible behind them.
“So, someone, not saying who, but someone might have given Hatake and the kids coffee.” Genma said slowly and behind her mask, Bear’s eyes slid closed. Genma just had to make this her problem, then again he seemed guilty, perhaps he could be corralled into cleaning up his own mess.
“Has Hatake summoned his pack?” Tsukiko could have made a comment about Hatake’s age. He should be old enough by now to handle some coffee, but she really couldn’t talk considering the nature of her own clan. She hadn’t been allowed to drink until well into her sixties, but such was the fate of those with interesting kekkei genkai.
“No but Sakura’s tiny tiger summons is currently bouncing off the walls.” Genma replied as a black and white pinball ricocheted down the corridor behind him.
“I can see that. Normally the phrase is an exaggeration, clearly nobody informed that particular tiger.” Tsukiko noted dryly and watched with amusement as Genma squirmed. He was a good man, as far as assassins went at least. In a better world, one where Madara and Hashirama’s vision had come to pass he wouldn’t have been a killer for the highest bidder but a man who only took down threats to Konohagakure’s peace and prosperity. Dreams never did survive contact with reality it seemed.
“Are you going to do something? I think Shisui said something about playing exploding tag…” Genma trailed off as Tsukiko pinned him in place with a bored look. It was well within her capability to stop the caffeinated children but so long as nobody was injured severely, her soldiers would be less likely to make this particular mistake again if she didn’t get involved.
“Well then Shiranui, you better stop them. I have some very important paperwork but unless you’d like me to open up an investigation on who gave caffeine to a bunch of children and a Hatake I suggest you handle it.” Tsukiko almost chuckled as Genma shivered and then bolted from the room, slamming the door closed behind him. With a satisfied sigh, Tsukiko closed her eyes and let her chakra hum through the seals that covered the base, providing her vision of the unfolding chaos. ANBU was not supposed to be a daycare, children had no business in the black ops but since they were already here, Tsukiko would do her best to ensure that they would flourish.
***
When the caffeine had finally cleared from their systems, the two Uchiha prodigies, Hatake, Sakura, Masami and Genma found themselves in one of the large training grounds set within a natural cave. The place was better illuminated then most, seal tags slapped on random surfaces creating a rather beautiful mix of bright light and dark shadow. A river wound its way through the cavern, eventually falling down a waterfall and disappearing even further beneath the earth.
“You kids are ridiculous.” Genma laughed, as the rest of the ANBU who had joined Sakura’s table arrived on the scene. All of them had their masks attached to their belts, rather then covering their faces and were watching the group of children and Genma with obvious amusement.
“Bear-sama didn’t kill you Genma?” Hawk asked, clearly finding the whole situation hilarious. He was handsome or perhaps more accurately beautiful, with pearlescent eyes and an androgynous face. His features were sharp, like most Hyuga but his skin was a shade or two darker then most of his clan.
“Not this time Tokuma, he just told me to handle the problem unless I wanted more problems you know?” Genma shrugged, grinning lazily. In truth he didn’t regret his actions at all and he was fairly certain he had made the commander’s morning. The ANBU commander knew when to discipline his soldiers and when to let them run free. It wasn’t healthy to be on edge 24/7 and ANBU’s headquarters were the safest place in the village so if the soldiers couldn’t be at ease within its walls, then they couldn’t relax anywhere and that would be a problem.
“So, how are you handling ANBU Sakura-chan?” Itachi asked, watching his friend as she sat on a shattered stalagmite. Sakura looked over at Itachi and gave him a smile to ease the worry she could see in his eyes. Itachi didn’t show much emotion but he showed enough for his friends to read and she knew he hadn’t been happy about her ending up here.
“It’s fine, not nearly as bad as what Hokage-sama had me doing.” Sakura grimaced as she recalled the unending pain that was training with Hiruzen Sarutobi. Tearing her muscles systematically so they could be over saturated with medical chakra and healed back even stronger then naturally possible was one of the least pleasant experiences in her life. Not as bad as being locked in a pitch black cellar without dinner but certainly worse then having her knuckles wrapped with a ruler.
“My strength came at a cost and the medics aren’t even sure how it’ll effect my growth.” Sakura added casually, oversharing in the way that kids were prone to do. The girl wasn’t looking for sympathy and she certainly no longer felt sorry for herself and hadn’t since she’d met Madara. She had friends now, many friends, all because of the confidence and skills Madara and Tajima had taught to her.
“Well you’ve been able to keep up with the ANBU standards the commander as set for you so far.” Shisui chimed in. He had been surprised by just how high of a bar Bear had set and yet Sakura had met it. Sure she struggled and had to force herself to keep moving even when exhausted but building up mental discipline was just as important as physical endurance. Her stealth training had gone well, her small size and light weight aiding her though as she got older she’d need to retrain occasionally to account for growth.
“When will she have to start going on missions?” Itachi asked, the question clearly aimed at Shisui. The two Uchiha had the most investment in her well being of everyone here and it showed. While Genma, Hawk and the rest of the ANBU present were mostly trying to be decent people and make sure the child soldiers weren’t miserable, Shisui and Itachi knew Sakura before she had even graduated the academy.
“When she’s eight, she’s getting two years and then some of training as a support specialist for now. Genjutsu, fuinjutsu, iryo-ninjutsu and poison use all have to be drilled into her in addition to meeting kenjutsu and taijutsu standards.” Shisui had made his discontent over the entire situation known but the alternative was Root and he’d die before he let Sakura fall under Danzo’s sway. The man was evil incarnate, a relic of a bygone era.
Sakura felt a chill sweep over Shisui’s chakra and gave his hand a slight squeeze. The boy’s usual warmth roared back to life and he lifted her up before settling her down in his lap, his chin resting atop her head. Masami, sensing an opportunity pounced into Sakura’s lap, effectively pinning her in place. The rosette rolled her eyes at the cat and started to scratch behind the tiger’s ear as she let the conversation progress around her.
She could feel the weight of the presents her comrades had given to her in her pouch and as Genma and Kakashi began to crack jokes that made Shisui cover her ears, she dipped her hand into her pouch and pulled out the book the silver haired prodigy had given her. It was hand written and looked incredibly personal. Opening it, she started reading and quickly found herself becoming excited.
“Hatake-senpai, are you sure it’s alright to give this to me?” Sakura asked, because she knew what he had given to her was valuable. She wasn’t even sure how he’d gotten such a thing but the name scribbled on the inside cover was famous throughout the elemental nations. People would kill for this book and Hatake Kakashi had just handed it to her.
“You don’t have anyone to teach you fuinjutsu right?” Kakashi’s voice was light but she could tell he was unease. His chakra buzzed and hummed through his body, all lightning anxiety and static discomfort. She was still learning Ninshu, her ability to read emotions and true thoughts from the chakra of others was nowhere near developed but she had always been able to tell the general mood of those around her, a skill she had been forced to learn quickly to avoid her parents’ ire.
“Well then thank you very much. If you ever want the book back let me know, I’ll take good care of it.” Sakura promised because this wasn’t just a notebook, this was a keepsake. It was the Fourth Hokage’s first notes on fuinjutsu and it held quite a bit of personal information on his life from what little Sakura had read. Notes and sketches of seals were mixed in with anecdotes about Jiraiya-sensei and Kushina-chan. Sakura didn’t recognize the girl’s name but she knew who Jiraiya was; a member of the sanin, an S rank shinobi and Konohagakure’s only remaining fuinjutsu master now that Orochimaru had been unmasked.
“He’d be happy that someone is getting use out of it.” Kakashi replied and waved off Sakura’s concern. The look in his eye was pained and distant, a clear sign to drop the conversation. Sakura didn’t know the man at all, not really but he had given this to her regardless. She knew they had similar circumstances, being prodigies promoted before even reaching double digits but Hatake was a war child, not that Sakura wasn’t, but nobody knew of her war, at least not in the present.
“So Itachi, how is ANBU treating you?” Sakura asked, turning her attention to her friend and flipping the question he’d asked her previously back onto the Uchiha prodigy. The boy’s eyes hardened slightly, the tear trails on his face creasing heavily and his body sinking in on itself briefly. It was a surprising display of weakness, something Sakura had never seen from him before. Apparently ANBU was good for one thing, Itachi felt comfortable enough to show more of himself around company then he ever had in Konohagakure proper.
“It is challenging but I do not like what our missions entail.” Itachi said softly and Sakura wondered just why the boy was in ANBU. Was it the will of the Hokage? The ANBU commander didn’t seem the type to want either of them here but had accepted them because the alternative was worse. “But my parents are proud, they say I’m the pride of the Uchiha clan.”
“The Uchiha clan is one of the two founding clans of this village. It doesn’t need you to…” Sakura cut herself off, her eyes blazing with disapproval as her lips pressed into a thin line. She felt Masami stir in her lap, the tiger’s electric blue eyes cracking open in search of whatever had upset her.
“Things are complicated Sakura-chan, just accept that while it’s not right Itachi doesn’t have a choice.” Shisui said softly, soothing the girl by petting her pink hair. Sakura huffed and leaned back into Shisui, letting the boy she considered an older brother hug her even as she scowled at the cave floor. “Now, since it’s your birthday I think we could get away with visiting your friends. Want to get changed into some street clothes and see what’s changed in the village?”
“Hmm, you know I think the rest of us will start our daily training. Shisui, make sure your recruit doesn’t skip out on any of her daily duties.” Kakashi drawled, rising to his feet and nodding towards the training ground’s main entrance. Shisui gave the man a grateful look and then his chakra spiked, carrying them away in a flicker. Sakura and Masami had barely begun to react to Shisui’s rapid movement when they were plopped down onto Sakura’s bed and Shisui tossed a standard chunin uniform her way.
“Get dressed and then meet me in the hall. Team Naori took the day off and they’re waiting for us.” Shisui winked and Sakura couldn’t help but break out into a massive grin as she scrambled to get changed. She put her gifts away quickly, a wakizashi made from chakra conductive material from Itachi, a book on mithridatism from Genma, a textbook on the chakra network and tenketsu from Hawk were the highlights of her gifts though Hatake’s took the cake and then some.
Sakura got dressed quickly, attaching Itachi’s wakizashi to her belt and then dashed out into the hall. Masami dismissed herself, bored now that Sakura’s focus had left her. Shisui greeted her with a smile and the two quickly made their way to the surface using one of the many hidden entrances to the base that Sakura was only beginning to learn.
Stepping out into the bright sunlight, Sakura didn’t need more then a moment to adjust though Shisui had significantly more trouble. He had spent so much time underground that his body wasn’t quite used to the blazing ball of fire overhead anymore and he didn’t have the advantage of time travel on his side like Sakura, not that he knew that.
“Alright, to the Senju compound!” Shisui cheered quietly and the two took to the rooftops, rapidly crossing the village and closing in on the other members of what had been Team 7.
Naori greeted them at the gates of the compound and upon letting them through the wards, lead them to a courtyard were Anko and Izumi were locked in an aggressive taijutsu spar. The two had grown a bit since Sakura had seen them last and their chakra reserves had expanded but the nature of their chakra and the expressions on their faces were instantly familiar.
“Sakura!” Izumi cheered, barely ducking a punch from Anko and jumping away before the purple haired kunoichi could follow it up. Anko stilled her advance and grinned wildly at Sakura, her eyes arcing into happy crescents as she showed way too many teeth.
“Sakura-chan! How have you been! We need to spar and then swap stories! A ton has happened since you left.” Anko cheered and before Sakura could react her friends had all but pounced on her. It was an instant, natural thing to fall back into their old patterns. Sakura and Anko chattered away about poisons before Izumi pulled the conversation over to chakra control and its various uses. Sakura interjected with her thoughts on creating her own nin-taijutsu utilizing her chakra control and Shisui immediately jumped in, excited about the idea and how if she could mix it with his shunshin technique and her super strength she’d have the makings of a truly amazing fighting style.
Then Naori cut in, asking about how her medical ninjutsu training was coming and Sakura proudly explained that she could heal basics cuts and scrapes as well as staunch major wounds, though she couldn’t heal them yet. Still stopping someone from bleeding to death was the most important part since traditional surgeries could usually handle the rest, though such techniques didn’t exist in the past.
After that, the group settled down for a morning spar, Anko and Izumi showing off just how far they had come while Sakura did the same. The three girls had all progressed significantly in their chosen areas of interest and were eager to share what they’d learned. Once they wrapped up their fight, they had lunch and spent the afternoon catching up before enjoying a large dinner and an even larger dessert. All in all, it was the best birthday Sakura had ever had and while tomorrow she would be back to training like her very world depended on it, today she got to be a kid for a few precious hours.