(Tim Seltzer, seltzer@seltzerbooks.com) Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own Wedding Peach.
I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's
why I'm poor, okay?
Author's Notes: Oh, yes. Potamos is not my own character; she
does exist in the Wedding Peach series. I own Minoru, though. (Oh, that
did NOT sound right. But you know what I mean.)
I regret to inform my readers that I will be off on a 20-day culture-trip
of art museums. (Oh, YES!!) I do not have a laptop of my own, so chapter
21 won't come out until I'm back. But I will be doing 'research' in the
museums. (Hard-core art is great if you want to do fantasy.) In the meantime:
be critical, and give your comments and suggestions.
"Sakura-san... Sakura-san!"
Sakura opened her eyes. She was enveloped in a warm set of arms. The
gentle, flowery aura was already familiar to her.
"Minoru-san?" Sakura mumbled. The pink-haired girl was back in her red
Chinese dress. Minoru held her up, floating in a dark-blue void. The air
was chilly, but he was so warm. As Sakura looked up in the elf's gentle
face, she immediately forgot how she got here.
"Is this a dream? You're really nice to hug..." She cuddled closer to
him. This made the elf a little uncomfortable, but by no means did he resist.
"Sakura-san...um... I have to give you a bit of unexpected information,
which you might not like... Remember that potion-drink I gave you this
morning? It's part of a spell I'm doing for you."
She giggled. "Was it a love-potion?" she murmured.
He gulped. "No... and by the way, this is part-dream, part-reality,
so be careful of what you say to me. After this enchantment, we'll both
remember everything that happened."
"Oh." Sakura started to pull away from him, blushing furiously. Yet
he kept her hand grasped tightly in his own.
"Be careful!" the blond elf warned. "You still have to be in contact
with me in order for this to properly carry through. Because the potion
is specific, the instant you let go of me will make you snap back into
the real world."
"What's this for?" Sakura asked, her face still beet-red.
"Sakura-san, I'm giving you an opportunity to see a special person of
yours in the Ninja world. This is a sort of spiritual plane we're on. The
laws of dimensions still apply here, but the restrictions are looser. If
there's a strong bond between two souls, they can meet each other with
the aid of this spell."
The kunoichi forgot all of her embarrassment with those words. "So...
I can talk with any of my friends or family there? I can tell them I'm
alright?"
Minoru fidgeted. "Well... yes and no. It was already decided before
the spell was cast. But we seem to have some complications... The potion
did the full job on your side. But I had to perform a complex spell for
the other person. It demands a lot of aura, especially if they're in another
dimension." He bit lip, impatience showing in his blue eyes. "But your
special someone is very resistant. Strong will."
"Strong will?" Sakura frowned. "Well, whoever it is, it's probably Naruto
or Lee."
"Remember, you don't have to be seen or heard by the other, unless you
want to. And letting go of me will release the entire spell."
Sasuke got back off the floor, staggering to his feet. His master crept
up behind him.
"Sasuke-kun..." Orochimaru leered, "You do not have to fight that mark
I gave you. After all, it makes you stronger."
"Mind your own business," the boy growled. He dragged his feet towards
his bedroom. "Damn... I'm not going to give in..."
Orochimaru turned around, letting Sasuke make the journey on his own.
He re-entered the kitchen, and addressed the white-haired medical ninja.
"Watch him," the sennin ordered to Kabuto. Orochimaru was secretly excited.
After all, Sasuke was one of his experiments, and anything new that came
up was just another discovery. "Sasuke is faltering, but it's not because
of the curse. Some other power is happening to him."
"So I've noticed," Kabuto replied.
Minoru sighed. If they had to wait any longer, he would have to take
drastic measures.
Sakura was becoming concerned with the elf's expenditure of chakra.
"Minoru-san... if this is too difficult for you, you don't have to —"
"Ye, gods. You have a stubborn mule over there, Sakura-san." The blond
elf closed his eyes and whispered some words together. The spell increased
in power.
It finally brought something of an image.
What appeared before Sakura was not the fox-boy, nor any of the people
she had expected. Instead, it was a blurred image of a boy, with spiky
black-hair and a Sound hitai-ate. He thrashed against the air, trying to
resist the spell.
"Oh, shit!" Sakura yelled out, recognizing the person. She hid behind
the elf. "Minoru-san, don't let him see me!"
"He can't. Remember?" Minoru gently reminded her.
"Of all the people I have a bond with," Sakura muttered, "it had to
be him. I never want to see him aga—"
She stopped mid-sentence: Sasuke's curse was starting to activate.
"Oh, no," the girl whispered.
That did it: Sasuke's black eyes locked onto where Sakura was, as if
—
"Minoru-san. I think he can see me."
"Sakura?" Sasuke asked, thus confirming her suspicions. He flinched
as more and more of the black markings appeared. "Where am I? And whom
are you talking to?"
"He can hear me, too?! Minoru-san, this is not what you promised!" Sakura
panicked as her head darted to the elf.
Minoru's face was grave. "No matter what you say to me, Sakura-san,
it is obvious that you want to speak with him. You should stop lying to
yourself and finish the matter."
Sakura gulped. She glanced back to Sasuke.
Sasuke was fighting with everything he had to get out of the spiritual
plane. His own will failed him, so he simply took the next step: Orochimaru's
curse. It pained him to use it, but he was not giving up anytime soon.
"Sasuke-kun, stop!" Sakura pleaded. "You'll just hurt yourself more
if you do that!!"
She had a point. Besides, Sakura seemed to become more visible as he
grew more and more powerless, something he wanted to happen — not growing
weaker, but seeing her.
He finally gave up using the curse. His image was now crystal-clear
to Sakura, and hers to him. The black markings covered half of his body
now. But otherwise, the two could now see each other perfectly.
Sasuke still had his suspicions about this place, and the Sakura in
front of him. The whole situation could easily have been another dream.
But there were distinct features which refuted this hypothesis. For example:
while dreaming, the scenery changed every thirty seconds. In contrast,
this place did not budge — and neither did Sakura. Gone, also, was his
restlessness that characterized the normal sleep-state.
The pink-haired girl was slightly different from the Sakura he left
in Konoha. This would be expected after not seeing her for months. She
looked similar enough to be his former teammate; she still had on her red
Chinese dress, ninja gear and sandals. Her hair was now shoulder-length,
but it was the same, rose-colored hue.
"Sakura... what is this place?" he asked.
"Half-dream, half-reality," the pink-haired genin sheepishly explained.
"It's a special — jutsu — that's allowing me to talk to you."
Without warning, Sasuke's curse woke up again. "Oh, crap," he mumbled.
He guessed that Orochimaru was trying to pull him back via the seal.
Minoru carefully observed the curse. He was unfamiliar with the strange
markings, but he could tell that it was anything but kosher.
"Sasuke-kun, that curse is getting out of hand!" Sakura had to drag
Minoru along to reach Sasuke.
With her free hand, the girl brushed her fingers over the original seal.
She did it only to examine the curse, and perhaps calm the boy down.
To both her and Sasuke's amazement, her touch made the black markings
crawl back into his neck. In no time at all, the three-wheel mark was all
that was left. It was as if the pink-haired genin made a powerful counter-seal
— without all the fuss of the In. It was also a lot less painful than what
Kakashi could do.
Sasuke's eyes bore into hers. "You can't be Sakura..."
"Look at me," she insisted to him. "I swear, I don't know how I did
that. But I AM Sakura." Her green eyes were firm, yet gentle. They were
a great deal more mature than what he saw before.
Minoru tugged at Sakura's hand. She turned her head to the elf, and
he pointed at his wristwatch. "We have one minute left," he urged.
"There's a TIME limit?!" Sakura flared. "Why didn't you say so in the
first place?!"
Sasuke frowned. He was irritated that Sakura kept on glancing and talking
to thin air. She was too old to keep an imaginary friend.
Sakura huffed, and turned her head back to Sasuke. "Anyway... um..."
"Where are you?" Sasuke demanded. "The news reached even the Sound that
you disappeared."
The Sound. Sakura bit her lip. "I..."
Minoru nervously stroke his finger across his neck, indicating a knife-cut.
"Nothing about a different dimension or a different world, Sakura-san,"
the blond elf warned.
"I can't tell you," Sakura blurted out to her former teammate. "But,
don't worry about me. I'm just in a place... that's safe, okay? And if
you can tell my parents —"
The mark on Sasuke started to burn again. "Argh!" Sasuke clawed at the
symbol. "Damn you, Orochimaru!" he cursed.
"Sasuke-kun, why can't you just go back to Konoha and get that sealed
up?" Sakura exclaimed. "After all, I'm not there to bother you anymore!
Why the HELL do you have to be with Orochimaru?!"
Sasuke's eyes turned red. He glared at her.
The kunoichi gave a frightened gasp. She had no more wish to help Sasuke;
much less, to talk to him. She let herself disappear from his sight.
"Sakura!" Sasuke yelled out. His eyes faded to the normal black, full
of worry.
"Sakura-san, he is concerned about your well-being," Minoru softly said.
"And he is experiencing so much pain. Are you just going to leave him there?"
Sakura heaved a sigh. She decided to allow just one more appearance
to Sasuke. It would be good to make her orders clear to him, anyway. She
faded back into his view.
"Sakura! I —"
"Please send the message to Konoha that I am well," Sakura calmly told
him. "But they should not waste their time looking for me. I may not come
back."
"But —"
"As for you: I wish you luck in avenging your clan."
She vanished from his sight.
A shinobi never shows his true feelings. Sasuke recited the saying in
his head. The boy's face was completely blank as he hung in the freezing,
dark-blue void. His stature was that of the perfect, emotionless ninja.
The only flaw was that his fists were shaking, white around the knuckles.
Inside, part of him was in a state of shock.
The kunoichi turned back to Minoru. "Minoru-san, I'll see YOU later."
She let go of the elf's hand.
Sasuke found himself lying flat on the floor. Orochimaru and Kabuto
were looking down at him. His heart was beating nervously, as if he had
just escaped a pack of hungry lions.
"Was I... out of it?" Sasuke asked. He suddenly felt ashamed of himself.
'Why couldn't I resist that force? Am I that weak? And... Sakura is...'
"Not quite," Kabuto replied. "Your body was asleep, for the most part.
Your face looked as if you were in pain. Your seal started to activate
and recede at times, too."
Sasuke got up. In a perfectly normal fashion, he walked to his room.
Kabuto gave a questioning glance at Orochimaru.
"Leave him alone," Orochimaru hissed. "Once he's asleep, I'll check
for any changes in his curse."
'Oh, damn,' Sasuke thought down the hallway. The listening skills he
picked up from Orochimaru were starting to kick in. In fact, he was quite
sure his master whispered that aloud just to torture him. The thought of
having a fifty-year-old, morbid sennin examining one's neck in the middle
of the night: it gave anything but solace to the teenager.
Sasuke entered his room and dropped onto the futon.
'That wasn't a dream,' Sasuke thought to himself. 'It was too real.
But where is she? Her answer was too vague. She could be in heaven, for
all I know.'
He curled up under the blanket. The terrible feeling of loneliness was
there to haunt him, like always. He was used to this. But when Sakura gave
him that odd farewell: something inside him broke.
Sakura's eyes shot wide open. She was lying on the bed, stomach-down,
drenched in sweat. With only her fishnet tank-top, sports bra and bike
shorts, she was at risk for catching a cold. Something in her was screaming
to get out, and she knew what it was. She zipped her dress back on and
jumped out of the window.
She ran to Minoru's house, and banged knocker on the door. "Minoru-san!!"
she called out. "Minoru-san!"
No answer came. There wasn't even the sound of footsteps from within.
The door was locked shut.
"Oh, come ON!" The kunoichi rattled the knob. It gave her a painful
zap in response. "OUCH! Stupid magical lock-system!"
She tried to kick in the door. It did not so much as budge. "Minoru-san!"
she screamed.
The door unlocked with a tiny click. It opened slowly, to reveal a tired-looking
elf. Minoru's wavy, blond hair was out of its usual ponytail.
"Sakura-san... I am so sorry..." the elf whispered. His blue eyes were
downcast. "I did not mean for that to turn out so —"
Sakura suddenly embraced his mid-rift. She held him there for a very
long time.
Then she started to cry.
Minoru, not knowing what to say, hugged her back. He felt responsible
for her grief. After all, he was the one to give her that potion. It was
he who exposed her to that cursed human. It was all his idea in the first
place. If he had not pulled this crazy stunt, she would not be so upset
now.
"Sakura-san... I am now sorry that I did not ask you first. I had a
feeling that you would get scared of my abilities, so I gave you that potion
without telling you about its true nature. But... perhaps Sasuke will indeed
tell your parents, and they will not be so grief-stricken."
"I — don't know — if he will," Sakura sobbed. Her tears soaked his green
robes. "He's a missing-nin. He — betrayed — our village..."
Sakura did not come here to chew Minoru out. Indeed, she was thankful
for his effort. She was glad that he was here: he was probably the only
one in this dimension to whom she could fully cry her heart out.
As she cried in Minoru's chest, something wet fell on top of her head.
The kunoichi looked up. She was baffled to see a tear rolling down Minoru's
cheek. He quickly brushed it away.
"Minoru-san..." Sakura sniffed. "You're — not the one — who has any
reason — to cry..."
Minoru blinked, causing more of it to fall out. 'Impossible — I, Elf
of the Vines — CRYING?! Absurd!' His words came out awkwardly. "I am crying...
because you are crying."
"Minoru-saaaan..." Sakura wailed in agony as she hugged him closer.
"I've caused you — so much — trouble — "
Minoru carried Sakura home in a piggy-back. With both Potamos' dual
and the mind-link spell on the same day, she was exhausted.
"Minoru-san..." Sakura murmured. "Thank you. You really are a good friend."
"It was nothing at all," the elf replied.
Sakura's lower lip started to quiver. Minoru grew nervous: he thought
that she was going to cry again.
Instead, Sakura gave off a tiny, mouse-like sneeze.
Minoru stopped in his tracks, with the pink-haired girl still on his
back. He began to laugh.
"What's so funny?!" Sakura asked indignantly, knowing full well the
answer.
"Your sneeze sounds just like that of a chipmunk!" The elf laughed.
"I ought to record that and sell it to a children's theater company. I
would make a fortune!"
"Shut-up!"
"It's so cute! You have a nice, miniaturized voice."
Sakura's face burned. "I am not a child!" she said hotly.
"You're not a child; I know. But only according to human standards.
If you look at the big picture, though: I'm 120 years old, and you're just
13."
"Minoru-san..." she grumbled. "I don't want to be babied."
"And yet I am giving you a piggy-back ride."
"Argh! You are so impossible!" Sakura slid off his back, and started
to stomp towards the gate.
Minoru grabbed her hand, and smiled at her. "I apologize, Sakura-san.
I had no intention of hurting your feelings."
The kunoichi shivered, and sneezed again. Minoru could not help but
let go of a little snort. "I think all that cold water with Potamos weakened
your immune system for a short period of time. As of now: go to bed."
"Okay! I'm going, I'm going." Sakura shut the gate behind her. She gave
a light wave to the elf before she opened the front door. "Good night!"
she called out.
She lightly closed the door behind her.
"Good night, Sakura-san." Minoru trod back to his ivy-covered house.
He smiled to himself. 'I haven't laughed and cried like that for years.'
If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If
I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.
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