Chapter 24
Chapter 24
Kaminari no Kuni was a mountainous, wind swept country. Pine forests clung desperately to the mountainsides while civilization wound through the rocky river valleys. Villages were long, snaking things and the homes within them were squat and covered in heavily thatched rooves to keep out the chill and rain that seemed ever present. It was late august and yet it already felt like October or early November in the Northern lands.
“It’s not so bad in armor.” Sakura grumbled nearby, wind snapping at her cloak and hood. Her eyes were narrowed against the strong breeze which seemed intent on whipping rain into them. Madara shivered violently, silently cursing up a storm because it was exactly that bad yet Sakura seemed even better off then the adults and nobody had missed that yet.
“Sakura, how?” Madara asked desperately as the group moved through the wild forests of Kaminari, steadily closing in on the target location, a hastily made field fortification manned by a coalition Kaminari clans. They could already feel the chakra of the base camp and while the Uchiha were likely going to set up their own quarters, it would be nice to catch their breath away from the weather and hopefully beside a roaring fire.
“Circulate your chakra quickly in pulses, whenever you shiver. Your body will start doing it naturally after enough conditioning.” Sakura answered and several of the nearby Uchiha exchanged glances. It wasn’t that circulating chakra to increase body temperature was unknown, it was a very well understood technique but it wasted a lot of energy and required steady concentration. Tying it to shivering however was revolutionary because the body would self regulate, expending chakra only when necessary and perhaps more importantly unconsciously.
“You couldn’t have told us that sooner?” Madara griped as the camp finally came into view. It was a ways away from the actual borders of the Chinoike, a necessity since the doujutsu wielding clan was already well aware of the danger heading their way according to Tajima’s scouts. Madara wondered exactly how bad things were going to get because while it was obvious that they would have numbers on their side, the Chinoike were terrifying from what he’d read in the clan’s archives.
A clan of dragon eyed psychopaths was perhaps the best way to describe the indigo eyed blonds. They could cast immensely powerful genjutsu, enter the minds of those they touched and had their own version of the gentle fist that literally blew people apart from the inside out. As if that wasn’t enough, they could control blood telepathically, manipulating it with their eyes and expending almost no chakra to do so. In short, they were a nightmare for anyone who ended up against them and the only ones with a hope of countering them were Uchiha with the Mangekyo sharingan.
“I’m sorry, I just didn’t realize you didn’t know and I spoke up as soon as I did.” Sakura answered and Madara let out a tired sigh. He knew she hadn’t meant anything by it, that she wasn’t hiding things from him. Still it irked Madara’s pride that Sakura had come up with a technique before him. Sure she likely learned it in her village, while he was sleeping but how unfair was that? She had twice the time he did to learn new things.
“It’s fine.” Madara gave his friend a small smile so she’d know he wasn’t truly angry with her. Was it frustrating she had twice the time to learn something? Yes, but he learned faster then she did when it came to everything but chakra so he couldn’t really complain. Taijutsu, kenjutsu, bukijutsu, it all felt like he was simply remembering his skills rather then truly learning them. Sometimes he even knew how to wield a weapon before he even started to practice with it.
“We’re here, get inside and start drying off your cloaks. Make sure you’re ready for battle though and don’t drop your sensing.” Tajima ordered gruffly as the group filed into the camp which was surrounded by stone walls raised using doton jutsu atop which Kaminari shinobi stood sentinel. Madara walked into the camp alongside Sakura and felt her chakra tightening up, coiling like a spring. Her face was blank, though there was tension around her eyes and lips just barely visible.
“What’s wrong?” Madara asked quietly and Sakura glanced about. Her mouth twisted into a grimace as the Uchiha were shown to where they could rest and dry off before being given their own quarters. The shinobi they past were all weaker then the Uchiha party, their chakras smaller and the movements just that little bit less refined. Madara could tell the only thing the Kaminari shinobi had on his clan was weapon quality. The steel of their armor and blades was the best he’d ever seen and the metal radiated the chakra of its wielder, marking it as chakra conductive, a rarity down south.
“Kaminari shinobi are known for kidnapping.” Sakura whispered back and Madara’s eyes narrowed. It was true the clans of the North lacked kekkei genkai and were desperate to change that, however none of their efforts had any success, so far at least. Chakra was a living thing, the embodiment of its source and thus inherited kekkei genkai were finicky and highly effected by the mother’s spiritual well being during pregnancy.
“We’ll be fine, they wouldn’t try something right now. Not with the current situation being what it is.” Madara replied, mostly to ease his friend’s fears. She was genuinely concerned, her chakra coiled like a spring and her eyes scanning for threats even as they stepped into a warm tent with a firing roaring in the center. Smoke exited through a hole at the top, a circular flap of soot blackened leather keeping the rain from entering through the gap.
“Madara’s right, especially not with two clan heirs.” Tajima stated, making it clear to anyone eavesdropping exactly who the two children with the Uchiha party were. They would not be overlooked or left behind and Kaminari no Kuni would sooner burn then the Uchiha abandon them. “Get some rest, you two have been traveling for days.”
Madara glanced at Sakura and frowned. It was almost like she didn’t seem to need rest. She had more endurance then he did thanks to her chakra control, unless he used the seal on his left hand that gave him access to her chakra nature. ‘We each have our strengths,’ Madara thought to himself as he settled down near the warm fire that was currently crackling merrily and burning away the chill that had seeped into his bones. Beside him, Sakura’s face wasn’t even flushed and there were no signs of cold visible on her person.
“So, what’s the plan?” Sakura asked, looking over at Tajima who quickly made a few hand seals, masking their conversation with several genjutsu that wrapped over the tent. A flash of sharingan crimson followed as the clan leader searched for anyone eavesdropping and when the coast was clear he focused on Sakura and Madara.
“For now, we’ll scout the area and then see about making contact with the Chinoike. If they’re willing to relocate we can avoid a massacre but that is unlikely as this is their ancestral home.” Tajima explained, though the truth was far more complex then that. The Chinoike’s pale blond hair and almond shaped, indigo eyes spoke of the Isles, even if they lacked the razor sharp teeth common among the people of Mizu.
“You’re going to let me try?” Sakrua asked and Tajima nodded. Madara felt a ripple of agreement sweep through the clan, after all if they could convince the Chinoike and fool the shinobi of Kaminari, they would get their pay and a potential ally for the future. They had nothing to lose by trying to talk first and if things fell through they would just eliminate the Chinoike as planned.
After that, the group quickly went about preparing dinner. After days of eating field rations, everyone was eager for hot food and soon enough a large pot of stew was bubbling over the open fire. Madara soaked the salt pork as Ryuko directed him and Sakura in helping prepare the meal. When the food was finally finished, Madara was about ready to collapse and never move again. His joints were stiff from cold, his fingers slowly coming back to life thanks to the warmth of the flames and the skin on his face was sun burnt and itchy thanks to the pummeling it took on their trip.
“This is pretty good,” Sakura murmured as she munched on the hearty pork stew. Madara had to agree, it easily topped jerky or ration pills that were so heavily spiced to keep them from spoiling you couldn’t taste much beyond the burn of your tongue. By comparison, the stew was utterly delicious and Madara was more then happy to agree with his pink haired friend.
“You’ve gotten faster at eating.” Tajima noted and Sakura ducked her head, cheeks tinting slight. “Using chakra to help chew your food I see.” Tajima’s eyes were fond as he spoke and Madara flicked his sharingan on briefly and watched as he saw what his father was talking about. Sakura had finally mastered the ability of using chakra around her teeth to aid in chewing foods that were otherwise a struggle for her razor sharp teeth.
The rest of dinner passed without incident after that and soon enough the Uchiha had finished setting up their own tents, using a mix of cloth, leather and earth jutsu. Madara and Sakura were settled down in Tajima’s tent and the two unfurled their bedrolls. Sakura was carrying a spare one just in case, even if it was unlikely she’d end up needing it. Madara let out a tired sigh and began stripping off his armor when he felt Sakura tense.
‘Outer, I feel Bear-sama’s chakra.’ Inner’s voice rattled in the back of Sakura’s mind as her other self came to life. Inner had been fairly quiet, rising to the surface only when needed and otherwise content to observe and linger in the background. Now that Inner had pointed it out though, Sakura could feel Bear’s chakra. It was smaller and somehow lighter, as if it wasn’t weighed down by time and trauma which made sense except Bear looked like she was in her twenties, maybe her early thirties. There was no way the woman could be alive right now.
“What?” Madara whispered, his pulse slowly climbing as Sakura’s sharingan surface, the emerald of her eyes melting away to reveal crimson with three tomoe swirling in each eye.
“I feel a familiar chakra.” Sakura whispered and glanced over towards Tajima’s bedroll. The Uchiha clan head had stepped out to talk with the leader of the Chinoike suppression force.
‘She’s under attack and losing. Two nin, chunin rank. We can take them.’ Inner whispered into Sakura’s mind and the girl let out a tired sigh and stopped getting ready for bed.
“I have to check on them, I think they’re in trouble.” Sakura said and Madara glanced around before frowning.
“Are the Chinoike infiltrating?” Madara asked and watched as realization clicked into place on Sakura’s face. He didn’t know it but the woman, girl, that Sakura wanted to help had platinum hair and indigo eyes, the calling cards of the Chinoike.
“Shit, we have to move, now.” Sakura whispered and her fingers quickly wove through the seals for a basic genjutsu. It projected her chakra signature from her bed and created the false image of her sleeping under her sheets. The sharingan would see through it in a heartbeat but unless someone touched her sleeping form they wouldn’t notice. “Let’s move.”
“Why do I feel like we should be alerting the guards?” Madara asked but didn’t argue as he followed Sakura out the back of the tent. She lead him easily through the patrols, as if she was intimately familiar with infiltration and stealth work. Reaching back, she gripped his hand and he felt a genjutsu slide over them as she picked up the pace. Madara bit his tongue and forced the questions burning in his mind back down. Sakura, for all that she wasn’t as good as he was with physical combat excelled in the mental arts and clearly that applied to genjutsu.
‘A sharingan would see right through her technique and a basic kai would disrupt it but…’ Madara could tell the entire point of the technique was to avoid notice. Nobody would think to turn on their sharingan or spike their chakra unless they were expecting trouble and Sakura’s genjutsu caused attention to simply slide off them. Only someone specifically looking for them would even notice something was wrong.
Leaving the perimeter of the camp was far too easy in Madara’s opinion. For all that the shinobi of Kaminari were deadly warriors they were poor when it came to stealth and security. Perhaps more importantly with two pairs of sharingan and Sakura’s surprising skill at infiltration they would be able to sneak back in just as easily.
“She’s about a mile ahead of us.” Sakura whispered and picked up the pace once they were out of sight of the camp. Madara followed, hand itching for his scythe as they jumped through the trees. His world was in painfully sharp focus, his own three tomoe sharingan active as they ran. Slowly, he began to pick up the fighting ahead, three chakra signatures with one flagging badly. The weakening signature was wind and water, the taste of blood and the roaring wind that howled through the mountain passes. The other two were the trademark static that was so common among the folk of Kaminari no Kuni.
The two children reached the fight just as it was coming to its end. A pale platinum haired girl that looked to be younger then they were was covered in cuts, scraps and electrical burns. The girl’s eyes were crusted with blood, the distinctive sign of someone using the ketsuryugan, though her irises were indigo indicating she no longer had enough chakra to sustain the doujutsu. Before Madara could ask Sakura what exactly was going on, her chakra spiked and she rocketed forward towards the two Kaminari shinobi.
Madara watched, transfixed as Sakura struck the first one in the back of the neck, knocking him out instantly. The other noticed the rush of chakra and turned to face the rosette only to lock eyes with his sharingan and then crumple like a puppet with severed strings. The Chinoike tensed, but she was obviously helpless at this point and far too young to be fighting alone on the battlefield.
“You okay?” Sakura asked, tone gentle and eyes still sharingan bright. The Chinoike girl took in a deep breath, clearly preparing to sell her life dearly if this became a fight. Madara landed next to Sakura, keeping his questions to himself as he looked between the two girls. It was obvious that Sakura recognized the other girl’s chakra but it clearly wasn’t mutual. “I’m Uchiha Sakura, I came here to help end this without violence.”
“Kind of late, those jerks want to kill our clan.” The childish voice didn’t match the serious tone the girl was using and Madara felt the distinct feel of deja vu. It was like looking into a window into his own past or perhaps Sakura’s. They’d both been dreadfully precocious at that age and still were to be fair.
“And if we found a way to help your clan relocate? It’s better then fighting, land isn’t worth your life after all.” Sakura pointed out and the girl growled angrily. Her teeth weren’t sharp, even though Madara had expected it. The girl’s nature was wind and water, cold and powerful like a mountain storm, though there was an undercurrent of excitably and brilliant power that occasionally flashed through the dark clouds of her chakra indicating a likely affinity for lightning.
“And what if you were forced to leave your homeland!” The girl snapped but she made no moves to attack. Her chakra was agitated but it wasn’t recovering all that quickly. It was clear to Madara’s sharingan that she was covered in injuries, mostly blunt impact since the two Kaminari shinobi had likely been trying to capture her alive.
“That depends, if I was being allowed to leave with everyone I know and love then I’d be perfectly content to go somewhere else and build back better. But if someone was going to conquer my home and then demand I bow to them, I’d fight until I couldn’t then I’d feign defeat and slit their throat when they least expected it.” Sakura’s reply was far more brutal then the girl had been expecting though it was perfectly in order for an Uchiha. Madara was proud of how far she’d come over the years, going from a shy, recluse to a formidable member of his clan.
“Family above all else, land can be replaced, weapons reforged, knowledge relearned but lives are gone forever.” Madara added and the girl looked between them, lips pressed together and cheeks puffed up in an obvious pout. Still despite the childish expression, there was a sharp intelligence in her eyes that somehow seemed older then a child who looked to be all of five years old.
“So you want to talk with the clan?” The girl ventured and the two Uchiha exchanged glances. Tajima would be upset with them for sneaking out but he wouldn’t punish them too severely. Going to the Chinoike camp was another matter entirely and Madara wasn’t about to give the famously vicious clan two hostages on a silver platter.
“The Uchiha would like a meeting, in secret away from the Kaminari clans.” Madara offered and the girl considered the offer before nodding. It was clear she didn’t trust them but she was exhausted and the only way she’d walk away from this clearing was with their permission.
“Alright, I’ll try, what are your names?” The girl asked and gave Sakura another look.
“Uchiha Sakura,” Sakura offered again and the Chinoike shifted her attention to Madara. The boy knew it was poor etiquette to confirm your clan affiliation but this was perhaps the exception. If they could convince the girl, maybe she would convince someone higher up the chain and a peaceful solution would appear. Probably not but he’d give it a shot.
“Uchiha Madara,” Madara offered and the girl nodded, picking up a bow that she’d dropped during the fighting.
It wasn’t of a type Madara recognized, as it had steel limbs instead of traditional wooden ones. A quick check of the clearing with his sharingan showed steel arrows littering the area, all of them resonating with the girl’s chakra. ‘She uses the ketsuryugan’s ability to manipulate iron to guide her arrows.’ Madara shivered at the thought of fighting such an opponent. The Uchiha were mid to close range fighters and relied on jutsu for longer ranges. The moment they ran out of chakra, the Chinoike would tear them apart.
“Chinoike Tsukiko, I’ll pass on your words to my parents. I hope you’re telling the truth.” Tsukiko gave them one last glance, disbelief slowly turning into hope as she darted away towards the Chinoike clan’s fortress. Madara looked at his friend just in time to watch her give out a sigh of relief.
“Going to tell me what that was?” Madara asked, though he wasn’t about to press. Sakura was entitled to her mysteries, just as he was. She never pressed him on how he knew how to wield weapons he shouldn’t or how he only needed to read a few lines about a jutsu to figure it out and he didn’t push her on the details of her mysterious homeland.
“Hopefully a chance for a better ending. We’re still going to have to figure out a way to fake a battle.” Sakura replied thoughtfully as they began making their way back. Madara glanced over his shoulder and saw the other child’s chakra rapidly moving through the trees. Perhaps this wouldn’t amount to anything and they’d just allowed a member of their enemies to return home or, maybe, just maybe they’d opened up a route to a better solution. He didn’t know but he knew he’d be finding out soon.
***
Sakura pushed herself out of bed and quickly made her way to the shower nearest her room in ANBU HQ. The warm water washed away any fatigue still clinging to her, though it was purely mental. Inner devoured the remnants of her stress greedily, feeding on the constant stream of yin energy that Sakura’s mind produced.
‘I’m glad we helped Tsukiko.’ Sakura thought to Inner who hummed in agreement. Thinking at her Inner self was relaxing, like having the perfect listener for whenever she needed to vent or organize her thoughts. Better still, Inner understood her entirely and could always offer insight when she was of a mind.
‘Yes, Bear-sama is certainly cute as a child.’ Inner agreed, flashing memories of Bear and Tsukiko’s chakra to the front of Sakura’s mind. The chakra was identical, unmistakable even. There were differences though, the same underlying elements and personality but refined and far more potent.
‘That…’ Sakura thought back on what Bear had said to her upon entering ANBU, the way the woman disguised as a man had eyed her. It made sense now that Bear knew, after all Tsukiko was Bear beyond a shadow of a doubt and if she was friendly, then perhaps Sakura would succeed.
‘Or perhaps not but she remembers us fondly for trying. Do not make assumptions, history says the Chinoike were massacred.’ Inner groused and Sakura nodded, letting the speculation slip from her mind. It was pointless to ponder on what ifs and the never ending possibilities that spread out before her. She needed to figure out a path to her goal and then move heaven and earth to see it through. ‘That’s the spirit.’
‘Thanks Inner,’ Sakura murmured softly, dried herself off and then pulled on her street clothes. A dark stretchy ANBU undershirt kept the links from her chain mail shirt from biting at her skin. Over that she pulled on a black haori with dark pink highlights, the Haruno crest displayed proudly on her back. Sakura silently wished she could wear the Uchiwa but the modern Uchiha would never recognize her as a member of the clan unless she revealed her sharingan and she wasn’t about to do that after Shisui’s reaction. The ANBU standard issue armored cargo pants were tucked into equally armored boots, both in black.
‘You think it’s too dark Inner?’ Sakura asked, looking at herself in the mirror. The darker colors made her hair and pale skin stand out and her eyes pop. She’d used some of her mission pay to have cooling seals sewn into the haori, since she mostly wore this outfit on her off days when she was visiting the Senju estate or training with her friends alongside the two Uchiha prodigies.
‘It’s fine, just don’t start wearing heavy eyeliner.’ Her other self quipped with mild amusement. Grinning, Sakura silently agreed with her Inner and flickered to a nearby entrance and slipped out into Konohagakure proper.
Moving from Training ground 3 to the village center, she quickly made her way towards the Uchiha ghetto where Izumi, Shisui, Anko and Itachi’s chakra were already gathered. The teens needed less sleep then she did and were thus always up and active by the time she returned from the past. Sakura wasn’t too sure of how her time travel worked, but she’d come to simply accept her situation as the will of the kami and was silently grateful for it. If they wanted her to befriend Madara and the ancient Uchiha, then she was more then happy to do so. They were her family now and in a way they’d given her family in the present as well.
“Hey Sakura-chan, sleep well?” Anko greeted with a relaxed grin. The purple haired teen had calmed over the years, in private at least. She trusted those around her and her eyes no longer held the manic need to prove herself, though she maintained her false insanity in front of the general populace.
“Yes, thank you.” Sakura answered somewhat formally and ducked a swipe as Anko attempted to pull her into a crushing hug. Unfortunately, Izumi took that moment to snatch her up from behind and the half Senju was immediately joined by Anko as the two showered the rosette with affection.
“Got you!” Izumi cheered while Anko ruffled her already untidy hair into a wild mess. Sakura let out a wordless shout of annoyance and batted away Anko’s hands before squirming out of Izumi’s grip. The rosette gave the two teens a pout as she tried to tidy up her spiky pink hair, without much success. “Anything you want to work on today?”
“Nothing in particular.” Sakura answered and looked over at the lonely tree they had often used as target practice over the years. Several senbon were currently jutting out of it into the leaf symbol, though as Sakura squinted at it, she realized they were dango skewers. “Did you two eat dango for breakfast again?” Sakura looked between Itachi and Anko who immediately turned away, neither dignifying her words with a response. Sakura let out a huff and walked over to the tree, fingers coasting over the bark which was flaking off and covered in scars. “The tree’s dying you know.”
“Happens, trees don’t really last too long on training grounds. Rumor has it someone has mokuton and they come around to regrow them every so often but,” Shisui shrugged as Sakura fed her chakra into the tree, scanning it with a basic medical ninjutsu. Its chakra network was incredibly different from the fish she’d initially trained on or the ANBU agents she healed regularly now. Still, it was recognizable and the cells weren’t that different as far as healing was concerned. “Sakura-chan?”
“One second,” Sakura replied, focusing her chakra and letting it flow into the tree towards the various wounds and scars that covered it. Slowly, she nudged the cells into healing, growing fresh bark and sealing the gouges in the wood itself. Silence fell over the clearing as Sakura worked, all eyes on the rosette as she finished, the tree looking as healthy as ever as she pulled her hand away.
“Was that?” Anko began and exchanged a glance with Izumi. To their left, Shisui was wearing a pained expression, pinching the bridge of his nose while Itachi stood next to him watching with his sharingan active.
“It was medical ninjutsu,” Itachi stated and Sakura nodded in agreement. It wasn’t the mokuton, but she had been able to heal the tree.
“Yeah,” Sakura answered and Itachi walked over to her, fingers brushing the wood and his expression thoughtful. Sakura could feel hints of excitement in his chakra, as if he was mesmerized by what she’d just done.
“Could you do more then heal? Direct growth perhaps?” Itachi asked and Sakura frowned because she wasn’t sure but it might be possible. She’d have to practice a lot to get used to working with plants to control how they healed. Considering she wouldn’t be using a jutsu but rather would be intentionally misusing her iryo-ninjutsu it would take a lot of concentration.
“Probably? I’d have to train it frequently.” Sakura answered and Itachi hummed, a small smile tugging at his lips. Sakura wasn’t sure why he was so pleased by this particular development but he’d always been more interested in her iryo-ninjutsu then any of her more offensive capabilities. Inner was certain Itachi loathed violence, but couldn’t abandon the shinobi path for one reason or another.
“You should. Who knows, if nothing else it’ll be a jutsu that no sharingan could copy.” Itachi replied smoothly, a brief spike of anxiety creeping through his chakra, as if he was certain she might encounter a scenario where that would be imperative. Sakura glanced at Shisui who was somewhat perplexed and still visibly stressed.
“Can we not put a larger target on her back?” Shisui asked and Itachi glanced at the tree before walking back to his cousin’s side. “Itachi, she’s got it bad enough as is.”
“Mokuton is the best known counter to the sharingan,” Itachi replied, something in the look he gave Shisui silencing the older teen. Shisui grumbled under his breath but even Sakura’s enhanced ears missed the words as the curly haired boy huffed and crossed his arms.
“Fine, whatever it’s not like she’s going to go advertising her interest in reviving extinct blood lines. Right Sakura-chan?” Shisui asked and looked directly at Sakura who nodded, fully intending not to share this particular hobby with anyone. She already had the sharingan though so it wasn’t like she needed a counter for it, since the sharingan was in many ways its own counter.
A new chakra presence caused the conversation to end abruptly and all of the shinobi present turned towards the rapidly approaching signature. The amount of chakra was large enough that it was roughly equal with Sakura, though where Sakura was minty forest and mist with a hint of static, this was all fire and lightning. Soon enough the source of the signature came into view and Sakura instantly recognized Uchiha Sasuke, Itachi’s little brother.
“Aniki!” Sasuke cheered and ran over to Itachi who closed his eyes, fond annoyance dancing over his face as the boy launched himself at his waste. Itachi caught Sasuke as the boy shot an absolutely massive grin up at his older brother who smirked and then poked his forehead causing Sasuke to twitch and pout. “Hey!”
“Manners Sasuke, you’re interrupting.” Itachi chided, though his tone was so fond it was obvious he wasn’t at all angry. Sasuke clearly understood that and rolled his eyes, utterly unrepentant.
“Yeah well you never have time to train with me but mom said you had the day off and were spending time with Shisui so I figured I’d ask you both.” Sasuke rambled, saying the entire run on sentence in one breath. Itachi let out a fond sigh and glanced around the clearing at the other shinobi present. Anko shot him a smirk while Izumi just shrugged. Shisui was grinning, amusement dancing in his eyes while Sakura watched in stunned silence.
‘That’s Izuna.’ Inner observed because there was no denying it. Sasuke was Uchiha Izuna, the resemblance was beyond uncanny. The chakra signature, the face, even the behavior was the spitting image of the ancient Uchiha with one key exception. He hadn’t locked onto Sakura and started spouting hostility while clinging to Madara or in this case Itachi. Yet. There was still plenty of time for that to happen.
“This is a group practice Sasuke, we’re training.” Itachi said, though everyone knew he was about to cave to his little brother. Sasuke put on a pout and Itachi’s already brittle resolve visibly crumbled.
“You’re not training! You’re just playing and why is she here! She’s younger then me! I’m your little brother not her! You should be training me!” Sasuke finally locked onto Sakura, which had taken a surprising amount of time considering her bright pink hair. The boy clearly had no idea who she was or if he did he hadn’t connected the talk of pink haired prodigies with the girl standing in front of him.
“Sasuke, be more polite she’s a chunin.” Itachi poked Sasuke’s head and the boy’s eyes roamed Sakura’s body before landing on her headband. She wasn’t wearing the trademark vest as her haori was fitted with more then enough hidden pockets to carry everything she’d need for a day of training with her friends. Besides the vest was less protective then the chain male shirt she was wearing and being cloth armor it was entirely too hot. September in Hi no Kuni was still quite humid and temperatures could reach the low eighties.
“She’s a chunin? Really aniki? She doesn’t look like much,” Sasuke grumbled and Sakura sensed danger as Shisui smirked and sidled over. The older Uchiha was mischievous at the best of times and Sakura knew he was planning trouble. A part of her, one that was only slowly starting to rise to the surface, was now watching with eager anticipation. She loved pranking the village with Naruto and while she had to limit the scope and scale of what he did, it made her blood race and happiness vibrate through her when it all came together. If she occasionally broke down into fox like chitters instead of human laughter that was nobody’s business but her own.
“Hey Sasuke, how about this. If you can beat Sakura-chan over there in a spar you’ll be able to train with your Aniki for the whole day but if she wins you’ll have to admit she’s stronger then you and a better training partner for Itachi.” Shisui’s words were like a match to gasoline and Sakura could practically see the flames that engulfed the boy. Sasuke loved Itachi, with all the force an Uchiha could bring to bear. The boy looked at Sakura and the rosette had a hard time reconciling the fact that she was in the present as Izuna’s eyes blazed with the exact same possessive love that she saw on a daily basis as he clung to Madara.
“It’s up to Itachi to decide.” Sakura replied, hiding her desire to mess with Sasuke behind polite deference. She knew Itachi was going to let Sasuke challenge her, Madara always did and while they looked nothing alike, when it came to their little brothers they just couldn’t say no.
“Very well but no chakra, okay Sasuke?” Itachi asked and the boy frowned, before a smirk pulled his lips upward. Sakura knew the boy likely suspected it was because she didn’t know any jutsu, after all there were no pink haired clans in Konoha and to an academy student, no clan meant no jutsu besides the academy three.
“Alright I’ll go easy on the civilian.” Sasuke replied and took up a surprisingly well polished modern Uchiha stance. His center faced Sakura and he stood with his feet spread shoulder width apart, left foot slightly ahead of the right.
“I won’t hurt him,” Sakura promised Itachi as she slid into the ancient Uchiha stance. Her mail wouldn’t protect her as well from an elbow strike as a breastplate but it would certainly hurt Sasuke more then it hurt her, skin was weaker then steel after all.
“Begin!” Shisui called out and Sasuke charged forward. Sakura immediately sidestepped his punch and her leg swept his feet, sending him tumbling to the ground. A shark toothed grin spread over her face as she stepped back and looked at Sasuke whose eyes finally landed on her teeth.
“Chigiri! How dare you spend time near my brother, corrupting him! I bet you’re not even a Konoha chunin!” Sasuke shouted and pushed himself upright. Sakura glanced over at Itachi who was looking rather mortified at this point.
Everyone here knew how bad Sakura had been bullied before her meteoric rise to fame in the village and some folk still insulted her in public, especially when they noticed her with the two Uchiha prodigies. Fortunately her team no longer drew such reactions. Anko’s reputation had been salvaged somewhat after her match against Izumi three years ago and Izumi’s relocation to the Senju compound was common knowledge with most of the village celebrating the ‘Return of the Senju’.
“You can’t stop me! Itachi’s mine! Soon he will think he’s my old brother and he’ll forget all about you!” Sakura cackled happily and Sasuke flushed with anger. The rest of her friends watched with a mix of amusement or in Itachi’s case silent horror as Sasuke took her utterly seriously.
“You, no! Never! I’ll save my Aniki you-you vixen!” Sasuke shouted and Sakura let out a burst of delighted chitters as she dodged a tackle. A shove sent Sasuke tumbling to the ground but he quickly rolled and jumped back to his feet. “Stand still!”
“Why, so you can foil my plans? Never! Itachi is mine, not yours!” Sakura cartwheeled over Sasuke, using his shoulder as a brace when he tried to punch her and once again sent him to the ground. Angry tears started to fill the boys eyes and her expression softened as he got up.
“You stay away from my brother!” Sasuke screamed, chakra crackling and he pulled back a punch with real intent. Instead of dodging, Sakura caught it, she wasn’t going to let him ‘win’ nor was she going to keep teasing him.
“I’d never take your brother from you. I was just joking, like Shisui okay? Itachi is a friend of mine,” Sakura’s words stunned Sasuke and he looked at her with wide, watery eyes before his head snapped over to Itachi.
“It’s true, we were in the same chunin exams and were matched against each other.” Itachi explained and Sasuke slowly processed his words. Awe replaced fear as he looked back at Sakura who finally released his hand, which she’d been holding steady to keep him from attacking her further.
“You’re Sakura-san? The civilian prodigy? But I thought…” Sasuke’s face crinkled up and he looked over the girl again. It was like he was seeing her for the first time and wonder now thoroughly replaced any other emotion he had been feeling. “I thought you disappeared? I saw your match against Aniki! It was amazing and I looked everywhere for you! Well, when my mom would let me.”
“I was on border patrol, gaining real world experience.” Sakura gave the lie that all ANBU used for their missions. ANBU missions were hidden under the guise of border patrol and sometimes they actually took border patrol missions under their real name. Worse, for anyone trying to identify members of the shadow corps, all shinobi chunin and above had a yearly quota of days spent on border patrol so it was impossible to use those missions to ferret out who was a member.
“Oh, um…” Sasuke’s face flushed violently and he began to fidget with the hem of his shirt. After a few seconds the boy’s hands curled into fists. “Could you train with me?!”
“You don’t want Itachi training you?” Sakura asked, her words striking Sasuke visibly helpless. He deflated and looked over at Itachi with obvious longing then back to Sakura, his young mind struggling to determine who he wanted to learn from more.
“Can you both?” Sasuke asked, his voice wavering dangerously, as if tears were only a moment away. Sakura looked over at Itachi who let out a small sigh and shook his head.
“Alright foolish little brother. What have you been working on in class?” Itachi asked, prompting Sasuke to begin rattling off his latest exploits. He was top of his year, the year Sakura would have been in if things had been different. She listened and took turns with Itachi giving the boy advice. It was fun, somewhat like hanging out with Naruto but with less pranks and more shinobi talk. The realization reminded Sakura that she should probably help Naruto polish his own skills the next time she was on guard duty.