In The Forest Of Death
Chapter 45 In The Forest Of Death
The gentle clink of dishes filled the large kitchen as Outer stared at the table in front of her. Inner had kept her word, taken away her emotions right up until Satsuki and Naruto had left the compound. Then, slowly they started to come back, a gentle slide into misery so intense her very body was changed by it. Her eyes were spheres of molten agony in her skull and her brain was screaming as every neuron was plucked and twisted by her chakra, the changes still fresh and painful.
“Sakura?” Naori’s voice was soft and gentle, her calm, worried expression twisting Sakura’s stomach. Her family were hurting because she was hurting. They all knew what the mangekyo meant and she knew they recognized it. Izumi silently sat down next to her, slowly pulling her into a hug and giving her plenty of time to reject the gesture.
“You can tell us, if you want. I’ll believe you.” Izumi whispered, her icy chakra full of loving concern. Izumi’s eyes remained onyx, but flecks of red embers were visible amid the sea of black and her expression said it all. Sakura was her first true friend and even after what Itachi had done to her, she still considered Sakura her closest friend, her chosen family, more important then any blood relation.
“I don’t know where to start.” Sakura whispered, slowly raising her left hand and pushing chakra into it until the seal that bound her to Madara was visible. “I’m not an Uchiha by blood but by choice and chakra.” Sakura paused, unsure how to continue as she rested her hand on the table. Anko leaned forward and instantly recognized the seal’s function, after all she was painfully familiar with cursed seals, especially those that bound chakra together.
“It’s not a cursed seal, it’s meant to help you. It has a transport function, some kind of spacetime fuinjutsu and a chakra sharing element.” Anko’s keen brown eyes fixed on Sakura and the rosette knew Anko had put it together. “Are you a reincarnation or…”
“Or,” Sakura replied, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. “Tajima knew, he saw and accepted me. I was four and had no idea what was going on but he adopted me into the clan.” Sakura cradled her head in her hands as a ragged gasp left her lips. The shinobi rules, originally the Senju creed, had no place in her nindo and she wasn’t afraid to cry in front of her loved ones, so she broke down and the truth spilled from her lips between desperate sobs.
Sakura spoke about everything she’d lived through, everything she’d seen and done. How she wasn’t a prodigy, she just had the unfair advantage of being tutored by Uchiha Tajima and had Uchiha Madara as a sparing partner and goalpost. She spoke about how they met, how the world had delivered them to each other and how every night Sakura saw him. She spoke of the foxes and their scrolls, the tigers and their expectations, her desire to change history and her inability to do so.
When she was done, Sakura felt like she’d ripped her heart out and placed it on the table for her family to see. Nobody had interrupted her and while the other kunoichi had been surprised, none of their chakra even hinted at disbelief. It was a story too fantastical to be believed and yet, if it was accepted, so many things would snap into place. Uchiha Sakura, the Byakko, was Haruno Sakura in another time though not in another life.
“I will admit, I expected something like this. Not the time traveling but reincarnation.” Izumi broke the silence first. Anko huffed and shook her head, the action hiding her damp eyes. Sakura was the team’s little sister, the precocious prodigy who had carved out a place for herself in their hearts.
“You need to get stronger.” Naori stated calmly, her tea long cooled but she still took a sip of the amber liquid, finishing it off before rising to her feet. Her long wavy purple hair was quickly secured into a ponytail as her lips tugged up into a vicious smirk. “And we have access to the Senju archives. Imagine that?”
“We all have patrols today so I’ll unlock them tonight and we’ll start training together seriously. Anko can you handle her role as Sensei for a while?” Izumi’s question was answered by a scoff as Anko smirked at her teammate.
“You need to ask? Sakura’s got to kill that Butsuma bastard and if looking after my favorite little apprentice and her puppy crush helps then you don’t even need to ask. I’m volunteering.” Anko’s smile dimmed, her eyes hardening. “Speaking of, I’m the proctor for the second exam. Sakura I know you’re on patrol in the forest today. Stay close to me, alright? You’re vulnerable right now and teammates look after each other.” Sakura gave Anko a grateful nod, wobbling to her feet and unclasping her armor while Anko checked the time. “I’ve got to leave, don’t be late alright?”
“Give me five minutes.” Sakura knew that Anko was going to be early, the snake summoner was basically Kakashi’s opposite after all. Where Kakashi hid behind a mask and buried his emotions, Anko exposed herself to the world and refused to let her trauma quench her thirst for life. Sakura respected her taichou but Anko’s resilience was far more admirable in her eyes.
‘Are you alright Outer?’ Inner asked and Sakura sent her other half a burst of pure gratitude. Inner had taken on all of their pain and suffering, every emotion they normally shared without complaint. Of course, Inner was Sakura and so was Outer, they were one and the same, but their relationship was far more complex then that. They were distinct yet inseparable, two sides of the same coin and Sakura couldn’t imagine life without her other half.
‘I’m not fine Inner, but I’m doing better.’ Outer replied as she finished taking off her ruined armor. She quickly sealed it away and moved to get her ANBU uniform on, unsure how she’d even ended up in her Uchiha armor. ‘I must have woken in it.’ Sakura realized, idly wondering if this was a divine intervention of sorts or if she’d stumbled upon some previously unrealized rule of her situation. She’d never truly tested things out, always focused on the war and helping her clan. ‘That has to change.’ Sakura promised as she fitted Tora’s mask to her face and let her hair turn white, black tiger stripes running through it.
Sakura strapped the reforged wakizashi that Itachi had bought for her across her lower back and stored her scythe in a seal inked on her right palm, her gunbai going into the one on her left. Pausing, Sakura looked over the chest full of scrolls and shook her head, there wasn’t time to meet a new kitsune right now. Perhaps if she hadn’t spilled her truth to her team, but as things stood she had to be at the border of the forest of death in under a minute. Double checking her appearance, Sakura gathered her chakra, let her irises spin into sharingan behind the cover of her mask and flickered across Konoha faster then the eye could follow.
‘Anko really ran them across the whole damn village without warning.’ Inner’s cheer was forced, an attempt at lightening the mood within their mental space as Sakura caught up with the chunin hopefuls. They were dashing over the rooftops, following Anko towards the Forest of Death and Sakura shunshined passed them, only her sharingan letting her see the herd of genin and the patrolling ANBU as she rocketed into the boughs dozens of feet above the small tents set up to store the heaven and earth scrolls.
‘Naruto and Satsuki made it. Their third is Root.’ Sakura thought, eyes on the boy whose chakra was as blank as hers had been during breakfast. Unlike Sakura however, the black haired boy had no Inner hiding away their true thoughts and emotions, he was a shell of a person. ‘A doll soldier.’
‘The Shimura never change, the Hyuga have to know. Their byakugan would see the seals on their tongues and Shisui’s eye.’ Inner’s voice buzzed with rage, though she kept it well away from Outer’s thoughts. The two didn’t need to randomly light up their killing intent above so many nervous genin. Below them, Anko was in rare form, terrifying the mostly young test takers with her boisterous insanity, no hint of the morning’s tension visible through her act. ‘She’s very good at hiding her emotions.’
‘Pot, meet kettle.’ Outer teased back, earning a huff from Inner. Sakura was one of ANBU’s best infiltrators, her age, chakra control and ability to craft incredibly intricate personas made her a natural at undercover operations.
Below them, Sakura watched the current generation of Team 7 move into place. Her eyes followed the Root, never once leaving him as they stopped in front of the gate and shared a brief conversation before the siren went off. All around the forest’s perimeters Genin streamed into the trees, some teams racing for the tower while others moved at angles, hoping to intercept the opposition early on.
Panicked spiked near the far end of the forest, one of the chunin patrols flaring their chakra in distinctive pulses meant to call in ANBU. Sakura reached out with her chakra senses, surveying the area before flickering through the branches, reaching the team at the same time as Anko.
“What’s going on?” Anko demanded, speaking before her coat had even settled from her shunshin. Sakura stayed overhead, sharingan active and ready to intervene at the first sign of trouble.
“Ma’am, we found bodies but…” One of the chunin began before blanching and shaking his head. He motioned towards a few poorly concealed corpses and Anko knelt down, flipping one of the bodies over before letting out a string of curses. She knew this jutsu well, though only one man had been capable of it.
“Orochimaru,” Anko growled, her chakra seething around her. “Alert the Hokage immediately, I’m going to head him off.” Anko dashed into the forest without another word and Sakura immediately moved to shadow her from above. Both of them could feel Orochimaru’s chakra rise up and blast through the training ground, whatever jutsu he used creating a veritable beacon for them to follow.
‘Outer, you have to hurry. Deactivate the resistance seals and don’t worry about Anko. She’ll be fine.’ Inner’s voice was tense, not panicked but there was urgency lining every word. A pulse of chakra to her limbs had Sakura’s restraints vanish. She never wore the seals on combat missions but she hadn’t been expecting trouble today. Still, Orochimaru’s presence and Inner’s concern were reason enough to disable the seals and accelerate to her top speed as she practically flew through the forest.
***
“Hello Sasuke-kun,” the sibilant hiss sent Satsuki’s heart racing. She didn’t care that they had her name wrong or that Naruto wasn’t here. In fact it was better the blond was missing, he was too stubborn for his own good, too prone to throwing his all into a hopeless struggle. Satsuki’s eyes shifted into sharingan as the killing intent strangled the air from her lungs. “Such lovely eyes you have.”
“Orochimaru.” Satsuki grit out, biting down on her own cheek, crushing the delicate flesh between her teeth and shaking off the worst of the killing intent. It was still hard to breath and the chakra pressure made her joints ache and lungs burn but she could move again. “Why?”
“Ah, yes Anko-chan would have mentioned me, wouldn’t she?” Orochimaru’s expression turned into a cruel mockery of affection as he reached up and tore off the disguise, pointless now that he’d been identified. “Well then, if you want to live, don’t disappoint me.” With that Orochimaru blurred, appearing as little more then a streak of brown and black. Satsuki immediately launched a barrage of shuriken ahead of the rogue sanin in an attempt to slow them down but Orochimaru effortlessly wove through the whirling blades.
“You’re going to have to do better then that.” Orochimaru crooned and Satsuki cursed before rushing forward. Four kunai flicked into her left hand while she launched a kick at Orochimaru who dodged the blow and immediately charged in for a counter attack. Her hands desperately formed into the final seal of the substition jutsu and Satsuki forced her chakra into shape, her reserves protesting angrily in her gut as the world jerked and she reappeared over the sanin’s head, four kunai trailing wires leaving her fingers the moment her sharingan locked onto the target.
“Katon, ryuka no jutsu!” Satsuki called out the jutsu as streamers of flames ran down the wires, slamming into Orochimaru and burning white hot. Eight more kunai flicked into her hands and she launched them all, wires trailing behind them and blades burrowing into flesh. A second shock wave of flames joined the first, causing Satsuki’s uncovered skin to itch and burn under the firelight. When the flames finally died down, Satsuki saw a corpse with eight kunai rammed into major organs, one even piercing the figure’s skull.
“Come out! I know you’re not dead!” Satsuki shouted, looking around and searching for the sanin’s chakra. A blur, too fast even for her sharingan to track appeared behind her and Satsuki saw Orochimaru’s golden eyes catch what little light there was in the forest as the serpent came to a stop behind her.
“Truly impressive, I suppose I could use a student like you after all.” Orochimaru drawled, a fist slamming into Satsuki’s stomach, lifting her up to eye level for the serpent who grinned at her then buried his fangs into her neck. Pain, even worse then awakening her mangekyo ripped through Satsuki’s body and she hit the ground with a thud. Fingers scrabbled desperately through the sandy soil as she turned her eyes, still sharingan bright up towards the sanin. “Now, now Satsuki, show a little more gratitude, after all a gift given freely bears no cost.”
***
Anko came to a dead stop as she reached the ruined stretch of forest where Orochimaru had attacked Team 7. The Root plant was gone, off to who knew where and Naruto’s chakra was nearby, engaged with a snake summons that would keep him away from the battle. Overhead, Anko knew Sakura was hiding, though she couldn’t sense the rosette’s presence. Ahead of her, her old sensei smirked as he withdrew his fangs from Satsuki’s neck, letting the Uchiha crumple to the forest floor. Satsuki writhed at his feet, a blood curdling scream echoing through the trees before she abruptly went silent, her body going deathly still.
“Orochimaru,” Anko growled, senbon slick with poison sliding between her fingers and her chakra filling her limbs, bolstering her strength. The serpent turned his eyes towards his former student, his smirk widening enough to reveal his fangs. “I’ll kill you for this.” Anko promised, her voice cold as she flickered forward. Years of having Izumi and Sakura as a sparing partner, of having a second sensei in Uchiha Naori, had vastly improved Anko’s skills and she crossed the distance between herself and her former sensei in a heartbeat. Senbon flew from her fingers, the barrage staggered to force Orochimaru away from Satsuki.
“I always knew you had potential, it’s why I chose you in the first place.” Orochimaru said conversationally as he easily avoided the attack. Golden eyes shifted from Anko to Satsuki and a depraved chuckle chilled the blood in Anko’s veins. “You know, if I hadn’t picked you, Root would have. I spared you that Anko-chan and I even gave you my seal. Such a lack of gratitude. Tsk, tsk.” Orochimaru chided and Anko summoned a katana, slashing for the snake while unsealing a handful of shuriken which she launched towards the serpent as he jumped backward to avoid her blade. “Wires? Sasuke-kun was quite fond of them and that was always your style, wasn’t it?”
“Katon, ryuka no jutsu!” Anko unleashed four separate serpents of fire that raced along her wires. With a flick of her wrist, she angled her shuriken around the snake, forcing him to severe the trailing steel cables and flicker away from the incoming blasts. Anko ducked, just in time to avoid a kick to the back of the head and pivoted, taking a fist to her forearm as she narrowly blocked Orochimaru’s follow up attack. The force sent her sailing backwards but she was far from out of the fight and more importantly, Sakura had just made her appearance.
***
‘Has he noticed us?’ Outer asked, though the distance between her and Inner shrank exponentially with every passing second. Something had changed after Tajima’s death, something in their head had clicked into place and they were dancing around each other, the need to form coherent thoughts fading away as they simply knew the other’s mind.
‘Not yet,’ Inner replied, keeping a firm grip on their chakra. Anko charged forward and Sakura readied herself, keeping out of sight and her stance ready to launch downward. ‘Now!’ Sakura’s eyes spun into mangekyo as she kicked off the tree. Chakra, tightly leashed, powered her muscles but not a drop radiated from her body as she flew earthward. A split second before she reached Orochimaru, her scythe snapped into existence, the grip appearing in her readied hands as she swung, intending to take the man’s head clean off his shoulders.
A blade slid from Orochimaru’s mouth, the steel so saturated in nature chakra is resembled a senjutsu version of Izumi’s nin-kenjutsu. The sword effortlessly cut through the haft of Sakura’s scythe, sending the blade spinning off into the forest. Sakura’s feet touched the forest floor and she immediately thrust her weapon forward, using the now severed wooden grip as a spear, which Orochimaru dodged effortlessly, however she saw him coming from a mile away and simply dropped her blade, gliding backwards and drawing her wakizashi.
‘He’s going to feint a middle kick then turn it into a high kick followed by striking shadow snakes from his off hand.’ Sakura’s eyes ached as she read Orochimaru’s intentions and she easily avoided the series of blows, shuriken severing his summons from mouth to tail as the two came to a stop three meters apart.
“You’ve become quite the little monster since we last met Sakura-chan.” Orochimaru crooned as the two eyed each other. Sakura checked Anko’s condition in the reflection of her wakizashi, confirming her older sister was alright. Anko had gathered Satsuki into her arms so they could retreat. As much as they both wanted Orochimaru dead, neither were sure they could win and if the serpent used Anko’s cursed seal against her, she’d be out of the fight.
“I’ve had a good sensei,” Sakura answered calmly, watching Orochimaru’s chakra. Her eyes were on fire, but the heat no longer caused pain and she could tell exactly what the snake was planning, his chakra revealing his emotions and intentions. ‘He’s going to go after Anko.’ Sakura watched and felt the jutsu coalesce, her fingers flying through the same seals as two earth clones formed. Sakura grimaced, well aware her clone wouldn’t be a match for Orochimaru’s but it’d do.
“Curious,” Orochimaru murmured as Sakura flickered forward. She left an after image clone, the temporary but substantial copy swinging its wakizashi for Orochimaru’s stomach while Sakura darted to the sanin’s left, her own wakizashi igniting with emerald chakra. “Sakura-chan,” Orochimaru’s voice was steeped in amusement as he vanished, leaving behind a severed tree limb as he substituted. Sakura whipped around, ducking a stab and parried the downwards slash that followed. “You’ve been a very naughty girl, hiding those eyes from your Hokage.”
“Eyes?” Sakura asked to cover the inhale as she molded chakra into a ball of super dense plasma and exhaled, unleashing a ball of cobalt blue flames. The jutsu slammed into Orochimaru, who replaced himself at the last second with another mud clone which instantly hardened then crumbled away to dust under the intense heat and pressure.
“Those sharingan of yours. I’ve fought Uchiha Itachi, I know what a sharingan user looks like when they copy a jutsu.” Orochimaru elaborated as he rose from the ground behind the rosette. Sakura could feel Anko in the distance, her movements crashing to a halt as her chakra flooded with pain.
“You activated the curse mark on Anko.” Sakura accused and Orochimaru hummed happily in response, his lips pulling into a wide smile. Golden eyes glittered with unmasked delight and Sakura realized that even though she’d been going all out, the man had yet to consider her a true threat. Rage boiled within her but she held it in an iron grip and kept her mind clear.
“Well I can’t have her interfering. Not after I put so much work into all of this.” Orochimaru replied casually and then his chakra gathered once more. The crushing pressure she’d felt all those years ago in the laboratory was back and golden eyes hardened. Sakura answered in kind, her chakra gathering inside of her and bolstering her body against the sheer pressure the sanin was emitting. The world around the two shinobi fell utterly silent, even the wind coming to a pause as nature itself held its breath.
“You harmed my family.” Sakura spoke softly, her sharingan making the world blindingly clear to her. She knew the snake’s every move before he made it and she was Shunshin no Shisui’s apprentice, she was fast enough to react. Still, Orochimaru was a legend from a time when the Uchiha Clan were Konoha’s most prosperous family, he had stood head and shoulders above his sharingan wielding peers.
“I’ve helped them and now it’s your turn Sakura-chan.” Orochimaru purred as an orange blur flew into the clearing. Naruto rolled to a stop, absolutely covered in snake blood but grinning victoriously.
“Take that ‘ttebayo!” Naruto shouted before realizing the situation he’d just crashed into. Sakura saw Orochimaru’s chakra spike and flickered forward, meeting the snake’s blade as he smirked at her. He was the better swordsmen of the two of them, however Sakura could see his every move, could perceive his intent and knew, instinctively, her own potential reactions. Images began to flow through her, different chains of attacks and parries, counter attacks and jutsu, streams of potential futures flashingbehind her eyes as her mind began to overflow with data.
“The thing about the mangekyo.” Orochimaru’s words sounded like they were garbled, coming through some great distance or perhaps heard while underwater. “They’re nearly impossible to control and since you’re going to go blind before you can master them, well it’s a rather useless kekkei genkai.” Orochimaru spoke while avoiding a flurry of senbon. “Still, I must admit your eyes seem superior, perhaps not Itachi’s level but still impressive.”
“Katon, hosenka no jutsu,” Sakura answered and Orochimaru answered with four hand seals and a massive water dragon. Eight small blue fireballs were utterly smothered by the attack and Sakura growled as she unsealed her gunbai and swung it. Chakra crashed into chakra, the fuinjutsu on Sakura’s fan drinking deeply from her reserves before rebounding the attack’s chakra in a blast of scything wind and cutting water.
Orochimaru dodged through the chaos, trees slamming into the forest floor and creating a series of small quakes as the two fighters closed in on each other. Senbon slid between the serpent’s fingers and he launched them towards Naruto. Sakura resealed her fan and flung a trio of kunai, intercepting the barrage before throwing a fist towards Orochimaru’s cheek. Images spun outwards, every possible permutation of events filling Sakura’s mind and Orochimaru took the one she wasn’t expecting.
Her fist slammed into his skull, his neck spinning a full three hundred and sixty degrees with a sickening crack. The snake’s chakra spiked victoriously, the momentary surprise giving him the delay he needed to slam a needle into Sakura’s stomach. The rosette brought her blade down on the man’s arm as his finger depressed a plunger and hot blood splattered across her face.
“That injection was concentrated sample from one of my favorite test subjects.” Orochimaru informed her as his mouth unhinged and a fresh, uninjured body pulled itself free, abandoning his wounded form like a snake sheds its skin. Sakura tried to will herelf forward, but every nerve was numb and she couldn’t move. “It’s a special protein that naturally absorbs and attracts nature chakra.” Orochimaru’s eyes moved to Naruto who had been pinned to the floor by the killing intent the two had been radiating.
“What did you do to her?” Naruto asked, red chakra forming around him as his eyes turned crimson. Orochimaru rolled his neck, cracking it lightly as the blond shot forward, bijuu cloak glowing in the darkness and his fingers spread wide open like claws.
“That’s really not going to work.” Orochimaru informed the boy, casually stepping into the attack and slamming his hand into Naruto’s stomach. The blond screamed and hit the floor, as Orochimaru pressed another seal to his stomach and grinned. “Now then, shall we begin the experiment?”
***
Anko’s vision cut out as pain exploded through her body. Her foot slipped off the branch she’d been about to jump off from and her brain distantly informed her the ground was going to hurt right before she crashed into it, her shoulder breaking with a snap that resounded through her skull. Orochimaru’s chakra burned bright above her and Satsuki’s small whimpers reminded her she couldn’t black out and give up. Letting out a scream of rage, Anko pushed herself to her feet, her entire upper body sagging unevenly as her left shoulder slouched, broken and useless.
“Impressive, but you always were a prodigy weren’t you Anko-chan? Overlooked by everyone in the village because you were a poor little orphan, not even given a proper name. The caretaker named you after the snack she had the day you were dropped off at their door. I asked her about it when I took you on as my apprentice you see.” Orochimaru’s words were poisonous as ever despite his honeyed tones and Anko felt tears gather at the corners of her eyes. He had been the only one who’d seen her, had believed in her and he’d betrayed that trust. Abused it until it died a slow, pitiful death.
“What do you want? You’ve already marked Satsuki. Are you here for the Hokage?” Anko accused, her vision graying around the edges as the pain from her shoulder continued to tear at her consciousness. Her side was fucked, she couldn’t bring any of her core strength to bare and it was a struggle just to stand upright.
“You should know better then anyone that I don’t just leave an experiment unfinished Anko-chan. You might have saved little Sakura-chan the first time but now you’ve delivered her straight to me, like a good little apprentice.” Orochimaru mocked and Anko felt her rage seeping into her cursed seal. She could hear its siren call, whispering in her ear to call upon it, to unleash it upon the world. It promised her, even using it against Orochimaru would make him happy, would make her master oh so proud.
“I’m going to kill you one day.” Anko promised, earning a laugh from Orochimaru. The man’s eyes turned cold and he waved her off.
“Foolishness, nobody will kill me Anko-chan and certainly not you. You might think you’re free but you’ll always be my favorite doll.” Orochimaru caught a kunai aimed for his forehead and twirled it around his fingers. Anko shifted her weight, preparing for a fighting retreat with Satsuki firmly glued to her back by chakra. “Now take this message to Hiruzen-sensei. He is not to end the exams or I’ll summon Manda in the middle of the village. Understood?”
“Understood.” Anko spat the word and flickered backwards, putting as much distance between herself and her former sensei as possible. All the while she flared her chakra in the distinctive SOS used by ANBU. Hopefully, reinforcements would arrive before he could finish off Sakura. The girl was strong and Anko had let her emotions get the better of her. She should have brought several squads with her rather then rushing in and dragging Sakura into her mess.
***
“Did you know there are more then two types of chakra?” Orochimaru’s voice was barely audible to Sakura past the pounding of her heart. Her body wasn’t answering her commands to move and she could feel pieces of her skin flaking off, stone fragments hitting the ground around her. “Human chakra, demon chakra and nature chakra are the three most common.” Orochimaru brought his fingers up and pressed them into Sakura’s gray ANBU breastplate. The flexible armor dug into the skin of her stomach, the pressure registering even to her dulled nerves.
“The thing is, nature chakra and human chakra, when mixed creates senjutsu chakra. It’s a three part ratio, one third human body, one third human spirit and one third nature.” Orochimaru continued and Sakura felt burning pain begin to seep through her skin and into her chakra network. One by one her tenketsu shut down, her chakra pulling back into her core where it was sealed shut. “So, I wondered, what happens if a demon’s chakra mixed with nature chakra? What would happen then? You’re going to give me that answer, you and your perfect chakra control.”
“Don’t worry, if you survive there shouldn’t even be side effects. You’re a valuable piece on the board after all. Even more so with those eyes of yours. Danzo doesn’t know, Hiruzen has no idea, but I can change that with a few words. Keeping such a thing secret would be quite treasonous, wouldn’t you agree?” Orochimaru’s threat hung between them as Sakura dropped to the ground, her muscles finally giving out and leaving her in a heap on the forest floor. She was right next to one of the sanin’s ankles, perfectly placed to ram a senbon into it, but Sakura was powerless once again.
“Now brace yourself. Remember, balance the chakra or you’ll die and those special eyes of yours won’t help so don’t even bother trying to rely on them.” Orochimaru’s smile was deceptively kind as he made a series of hand seals that Sakura instantly recognized as a transference fuinjutsu. The presence of the kyubi that had briefly filled the clearing returned in force and Sakura realized with dawning horror that burning, itching chakra was about to be forced into her chakra network. “Do your best, even if you die I’m sure I’ll get some useful data but where’s the fun in that?”
Sakura had recently experienced the blinding agony of the Mangekyo as her body literally burned form the inside out so she wasn’t completely unprepared for the flood of demonic chakra that seared her insides then forced them to heal. The pain was exquisite, similar to the torturous training required to master Tsunade’s super strength or awakening her newly acquired eyes, yet distinctly unique. Dissociating from the pain, Sakura felt miles away from the girl writhing and screaming on the forest floor as she struggled to control the sudden influx of chakra.
She felt parts of her fingers turn to stone, only for the chunks to fall off, her flesh growing in to fill the gaping wounds. It was agony, her body coming apart then remaking itself as the two forces collided and struggled for dominance. Above her, Orochimaru created a shadow clone and then winked at her before flickering away, no doubt escaping any chance of retribution while his clone would return any results he might extract from this torture.
‘We’ve got this, we can do this Outer.’ Inner’s voice was tired, the pain ripping into her other self just as intensely but with two minds sharing the burden, the pain was effectively halved. ‘You handle the nature stuff, I’ll manage the demon chakra.’
‘Alright,’ Sakura wasn’t sure how she even managed to form the thought. Hysteria was creeping into the edges of her awareness so she desperately focused on the task at hand. The nature chakra did not want to listen to her, it wanted to smear her across the forest, across the entire planet. It wanted to drag her apart and subsume her utterly. Still, it was chakra and Sakura’s control was perfect, so she concentrated on the roiling energy within her and willed off the flow pouring into her. The flood slowed to a trickle while the thrashing, demonic chakra burning through her flesh began to stabilize.
‘Match the flow of demonic chakra.’ Inner’s voice was a shout amid the storm and Outer scrambled to sync herself up with her other’s actions. Desperately, the two worked in tandem, dialing in the chaotic energies until their flows were matched and then came the hard part. ‘We have to synchronize them.’
‘I have an idea, we merged briefly when I awoke my mangekyo. If you’re in control of the demonic energy and I’m holding onto the nature chakra, if we merge-’
‘Then the two chakras will merge with us.’ Inner completed the thought and the two minds reached for their shared memory of Tajima’s final moments. It hurt, recalling their father’s death but they knew he’d want them to live. He’d never forgive them for giving up simply because it would be emotionally painful to dig up these memories and so they reached into themselves, recalling the sensation of the distance between them burning away.
‘Got it,’ Two voices said in unison, the vast gulf between Inner and Outer narrowing until it vanished, the two different chakras blending together and forming something new. Sakura felt the surge of power rush through her as the contaminants in her body were burned away and the seal Orochimaru but on her stomach disintegrated under the force of this new energy. The flow of nature chakra cut off abruptly along with the demonic chakra from Naruto and Sakura staggered as she pushed herself to her feet, the strength leaving her as fast as it came.
“Wonderful Sakura-chan. I think we’ll continue this another time. Until then.” Orochimaru’s clone purred before vanishing in a cloud of smoke. A second later, a small army of ANBU dropped own around her and Naruto, Kakashi leading the charge.
“Senpai, Naruto, Satsuki, he did something.” Sakura managed before yanking her mask off and emptying her stomach onto the forest floor. Black spots danced through her vision but Sakura was a medic for a reason and her chakra was hers to control. She forced her body to right itself and growled as she wiped her mouth clean.
“Easy kouhai, you need to get to the hospital.” Kakashi began as a cat masked ANBU Sakura recognized as Kakashi’s kouhai, Tenzo, grabbed Naruto. Killing intent immediately lashed out from the rosette as she slipped her mask back on, just in case her sharingan forced themselves to the surface.
“I’m not leaving my team until I know they’re alright. I’m their sensei, they’re my students. If you want me to get to the hospital, they’re coming with.” Sakura met Kakashi’s eyes and knew the man had the power to make it happen. He was one of only three Hokage candidates left in the village, the others being Nara Shikaku and Shimura Danzo. If Kakashi gave the order, it would be followed. “I’m not leaving them behind to tend to my wounds senpai.”
“Maa, I wasn’t going to force you.” Kakashi caved, giving Tenzo a nod and putting a hand on Sakura’s shoulder as she wobbled slightly. The rosette tried to give him a smile of thanks but only managed a grimace behind her mask as they took to the trees, retrieving Satsuki and Anko before all of them headed to the hospital.