(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?
Sakura was certainly thankful for her skills as a ninja, no matter how
basic they were. They at least helped her avoid crowds.
The elves of the village remained aloof like they always did, saying
that it was merely a love-angel passing by. Yet this piece of information
spread like wild-fire: after Sakura's back was examined and healed, she
and her two companions had to sneak away from the hospital to avoid the
mob of curious people. Not only peasants, but also witches and wizards
wanted her meet her. A love-angel had not been seen for decades in the
Rifts.
Minoru slammed the door of their room at the inn, and locked it. "I
think we're going to have to leave early in the morning, Sakura-san. Under
cover of night would be best."
"I know, I know," Sakura sighed in her pyjamas. She was not in a good
mood, as the elf had refused to talk with her ever since that arrow fiasco
happened. "Minoru-san, why haven't you answered any of my questions?"
"I told you, I don't exactly know," the elf shot back. "Will you simply
give me a moment?!" He strode towards the mirror, and mumbled some incantations.
Potamos watched curiously as the mirror turned into a blue screen. "Is
Love-Angel Salvia in order?" Minoru asked into the mirror.
"One moment, please," a woman's voice answered. The screen blinked a
few times, and Scarlett appeared in the surface.
"It is sort of like what humans call a telephone the only difference
is that it uses magic through smooth surfaces," Minoru explained. He turned
back to the mirror, and saluted Scarlett. "Salvia-sama, Sakura-san wants
to ask a few questions about aura."
"In other words, what the hell am I?" Sakura put it bluntly. "One moment
I am radiating green aura, and the next pink! It's like my chakra nature
is transforming!"
"Hold it, hold it," Scarlett soothed. "Tell me what happened. Start
from the beginning."
- To the Haruno residence of Konoha:
Haruno Sakura told me that she is safe. She also told me to pass down
the order: do not go looking for her. -
Kakashi laid the piece of paper back on Tsunade's desk.
"Well?" Tsunade asked.
"Sasuke's handwriting, in Lightning Country ink, on Wind-Country papyrus
paper," Kakashi intelligently answered. "He took every precaution to make
sure we didn't know where he was."
"Very good, Kakashi you're not losing your touch." the Hokage mused.
"But we already figured that out before you came here. I want your opinion
of the content of the data presented, as you know Sasuke better than anyone."
Kakashi thought the matter through. "Maybe Sakura's having a life of
extravagance and bliss somewhere," he suggested with a smile. Tsunade's
face darkened. "I'm kidding, Hokage-sama. Seriously, though: although this
letter gives us little in intelligence matters, there are a few details
that help. Let's presume that Sakura is still in this world, like any human.
Based off this letter, we know a few things."
He ticked off the observations. "Number one: Sakura is not with the
Sound. If she were, there is no reason for them to directly feed us information
that she is still alive. It would be easier and more convenient to pass
on information to the ANBU that her dead body was found in a battleground
or ditch.
"Number two: Sasuke is still himself. He still has a feeling of obligation
towards Sakura, and this letter's existence is proof. This may be biased
of me as his former teacher"
"I believe you," Tsunade interrupted. "You know him, after all. And
I know how strong your team's friendship was. But is there anything else?"
"Number three," Kakashi continued. "From the way Sasuke wrote the letter,
it looks like Sakura has not joined a dangerous organization, like the
Akatsuki. If she did get herself in a fix, Sasuke would have figured out
immediately and told us either in a burst of anger at her rebellion,
or worry for her safety. He's an avenger: he has a clear and specific goal
of justice in his mind, and will avoid hurting the innocent unless they're
directly in his way."
"Let's take out the psychology, though," Tsunade interrupted. "How did
HE spot her, when no other ninja has?"
Kakashi thought deeply for a while. "Maybe she's working in a brothel,
and Sasuke met her there," he cheerfully guessed. "...I was only joking,
Hokage-sama," he quickly added.
"I'll just pretend you never said that," Tsunade calmly answered. "Well,
at least we know Sasuke's still in his right mind. But we can't put our
hopes too high. I don't know how long he can last under Orochimaru's influence."
"I understand," Kakashi said with a nod.
"The patience of that perverted bastard easily wears thin. He's probably
keeping Sasuke until the boy develops the Mange Sharingan or worse, the
Mangekyou Sharingan, which only Itachi has completed..." The Hokage took
the paper, and rolled it up. "...In any case, I want you to deliver this
to the Harunos, in person. They're the ones who deserve to know. Sasuke
did a crappy job of giving information of where Sakura is, but maybe he
did not have much data to begin with."
Kakashi stuck the scroll into one of his vest compartments, bowed to
Tsunade, and left the office.
The silver-haired man jumped across the roof-tops of Konoha, greeting
his friends on guard-duty as he passed them. 'Sasuke, what are you playing
at?' he thought in frustration. 'Hurry up and bust that joint if you really
want to defeat Itachi. And Sakura... I pray that the gods protect you.'
Scarlett's laughter echoed through the mirror and into the room. It
was good that Minoru put a soundproof spell on it before he activated the
telecommunications system.
The kunoichi twitched. Her own teacher was LAUGHING at her. Didn't the
angel realize how frightening this was for her student?
"Oh, Sakura," the red-haired angel chuckled. "This is a very normal
thing, that people to have two extremes between dark and light. Even I
have something of that sort; whenever I'm angry, I radiate red chakra.
I could radiate white chakra, if I wanted to, but that's more for healing...
Both are angelic, but that doesn't mean they have the same intentions!"
"But I only saw you with red chakra during kendo practice!" Sakura exclaimed.
"That's because I'm a BITCH when I have a sword!!" her teacher returned
with equal force.
Minoru's eyebrow twitched; he appeared to be fighting back laughter.
Potamos, in contrast, shivered as she heard Angel Salvia's lecture. 'That
angel is scary...'
Scarlett shook herself off. "Sorry about that. But the truth is, Sakura:
you're more like a human with special magic abilities. There are half-angels
and half-demons around who never evolve into a full-fledged celestial
but they have a better chance to specialize in magic within those elements,
as humans. If you are the ancestor of a celestial, it somehow is easier
to specialize in a specific category of spells, rather than spread out
like regular magicians or wizards. Celestials can pass their elemental
powers to their children and their children's children. As long as the
gene remains in the descendant, that person always feels more comfortable
with that element."
"So... basically, I am still human, only that I am more capable with
wind-jutsu than any other elemental ninjutsu," Sakura mumbled. She remembered
that the Uchiha clan was noted for their fire-style techniques that could
be an inherited thing as well, even though Sasuke had to practice A LOT
before he achieved them. It could also have been just a solid tradition
in the family.
"But what kind of chakra am I supposed to radiate normally?" Sakura
asked frantically. "Blue? Green?! Pink?!? ...RAINBOW?!?"
Minoru interrupted with a slight cough. "May I... say something for
a moment?" he politely asked. "Sakura-san, the truth is, aura varies according
to what feeling you have. The purest form of aura is blue, when you are
calm and collected this is why blue is said to be a soothing hue. Yet
ki can change color when you put a different element or a particular feeling
with it."
"So... why can't Sacchan put as much angel-energy in her sword?" Potamos
asked hesitantly. "It's obvious the pink is the nicer one... She saved
me with it."
"I think it's more a matter of psychology than genetic make-up," Scarlett
observed, lifting a finger to her chin. "Sakura, you are associating your
blade, Tennyo, with death and destruction which is perfectly fine, as
it is a weapon. Because of that, you are more comfortable in channeling
demon-power through the sword, which manifests itself as a green. You can
only use your pink aura when you believe it is for a good and pure cause."
"Although, Sakura-san," Minoru intoned with warning, "you will not be
so lucky if you cover Potamos, or anybody, again with your life. That incident
in the market-place was just another Awakening you had, a burst of ki that
was locked up for thirteen years. That was the only reason you lived after
being shot by an elfin arrow; the aura was large enough to slow it down.
Now, you will have to control it to make use of it."
Sakura's head dropped with slight disappointment. She had been wishing
that there was a wall of chakra she could make just by using emotion. Yet
feeling, by itself, was only one piece of the puzzle in finding her true
abilities.
Scarlett smiled. "Don't feel so down, Sakura. I am amazed with how much
you've grown over the past seven months. Your ability to learn and adapt
is amazing."
"Thank you, sensei," the kunoichi answered, a hint of a smile lightening
up her face. "I feel a little better, now that you've explained things
to me."
"Oh, one more thing, Sakura," Scarlett added, before she hung up. "Do
you sometimes have the inkling that you are... schizophrenic?"
The elf and the water-demon looked confused.
Both Inner and Outer Sakura jumped. "What do you mean?" the kunoichi
asked nervously. 'How DOES she do that?!'
"Angel Yuri told me; she kind of is the psychic in our angel-team,"
Scarlett casually replied. "She also could tell that you were concerned
about it for a very, very long time. In truth, it is nothing strange or
abnormal: all of us have an inner voice. It just seems like yours is louder
because it has no way of expressing itself. As you gain more experience
in fighting, it will be less of an 'inner' thing whatever that is."
The love-angel gave a sly grin. "Keep your guard on at all times, and
enjoy yourselves in the Rifts." With those parting words, Scarlett disappeared.
"Ciao!" her voice echoed as the spell broke apart.
Sakura remained frozen on the bed. "Well... There goes the last of MY
privacy," the pink-haired girl grumbled. 'Damn.'
A long silence ensued in the room. Minoru began straightening out his
supplies, and checking his knives, quietly.
"Owie!" Potamos whined.
Minoru and Sakura looked up. "Potamos, what are you doing?" Sakura asked,
partially in alarm.
Potamos had just pricked her finger on a needle, in attempting to sew
up the hole in Sakura's dress just one result of the arrow. The water-demon
felt so guilty about the incident that she wanted to make up for it in
some way. "It's okay, Sacchan, I've done this millions of times before!"
The elf walked over to Potamos. "Take off that glove," he ordered.
"Why?!" she demanded. "I'm not stripping for you!" Sakura nearly feel
off her bed, and Minoru made a disgusted face.
The elf, held up a tiny, dried leaf for Potamos to see, as well as a
clean sewing set. "That needle you are using is rusty, and you could get
SICK from its bite this herb will detoxify the substance. And here's
a new sewing kit for you; I bought it earlier today."
Sakura and Potamos gaped at him. Minoru, being polite to the water-demon?
"...Devil-child, I am doing this because we at least have to come on
civil terms, for Sakura-san's sake," he explained. The elf wanted to die
as he noted the expressions of shock on his companions. He was throwing
all his pride as an elf away. Yet he had to at least TRY this. Success
in making friends with this demon would eliminate on of the loop-holes
in his sixth sense, which had already been by-passed several times. "...Or
would you rather be called by something else, other than 'devil-child'?"
he asked, bending a scowl into something of a half-smirk.
Potamos remained silent for a moment. "You... can call me that if you
want..." she answered finally. Her face turned into a grin. "I liked it
from the start, actually. It's really cute, and WICKED!"
Sakura giggled. 'Maybe there's hope after all...'
Notes:
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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