(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: The scene between Momoko, Yousuke, and Sakura
coming up was influenced by "Kodomo no Omocha". I do not own this, either.
About Itachi's exploding Kage-Bunshin: it is an actual move that he
created. He used it when he and Kisame were battling Asuma, Kurenai and
Kakashi. Itachi actually retreated when Gai showed up and pointed out a
way to effectively fight his Sharingan (don't look into his eyes, and use
taijutsu). So Itachi does have a weakness, even in the manga. It just has
to do more with strategy than official 'power'.
Sakura could not move. She was so scared as Din's hand flashed with
blue electricity. The ball of energy was beginning to separate from his
palm. Was she supposed to dodge this? Din's attack... it looked so much
like Sasuke's Chidori. At the same time, it was quietly formed like Naruto's
Rasengan. 'No...'
(( "NARUTO!!"
"SASUKE!!"
Sasuke and Naruto ran after each other, exchanging a flurry of punches
and kicks on the roof of the hospital. Naruto skidded away, and put his
fingers together. "Tajuu Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu!!" Naruto yelled out. ))
The kunoichi suddenly felt a shove from beside her. She realized it
was Takuji, trying to protect her. 'Takuji.'
(( Naruto and one of his Kage-Bunshin rolled chakra together between
their palms. A spinning Rasengan formed.
A chill of wonder mingled with panic went through Sasuke as he observed
from the air. 'What!? What is that jutsu!!?'
"Shit!" Sasuke performed the three hand-seals, and extended his left
hand out. The screeching sound of chirping birds filled the air. 'Chidori!'
"Stop..." Sakura mumbled. A bead of sweat went down her neck. But what
could she do? "Both of you..."
She suddenly found herself running towards them.
"STOP!!" she screamed. ))
A heartbeat. It was all that passed.
A trickle of blood escaped Din's mouth. His eyes were wide open in surprise.
Tennyo was thrust through the demon's chest, with Sakura holding the
end.
The kunoichi herself had a look of shock on her face, horrified of what
she had just done. She had never learned any move of this sort, not even
from Angel Salvia. Kendo and iaido were limited to a few thrusts and slices.
Not a savage two-foot stab through the gut. But something had told her
that this had to be done.
Takuji, Potamos, and the rest of the company stood around, appalled
at the scene. How could such a young human girl have the stomach to do
such a thing? She was not even an Amazon like Ambrosia was.
The thunder-demon coughed in pain. Din felt his soul drift away from
this world. "...Very good..." he whispered.
His light-blue hair was obscuring his eyes. He then looked up to Sakura's
face.
His glare was full of loathing.
"Very good," Din repeated. But his tone made it sound more like a curse
than a compliment.
Sakura used chakra, but not in her katana — it was in her body. She
somehow tapped enough into her muscles and legs, quick enough to reach
Din before he released his attack.
A normal blade was what was killing Din. That was what was so disgusting.
The thunder-demon was not finished yet. If he was dying, he was going
to take Sakura with him using the Dimension Ring. Perhaps he could grab
a hold of her soul, and pull her into hell with him. 'Karmic retribution,
death and rebirth...'
Angel Linton recognized the vile aura, and struck Din's hand with his
staff. He twisted it to grab hold of the Dimension Ring. "Holy Seal!!"
he shouted.
The powerful bracelet separated from Din's wrist, and clattered to the
ground. A temporary seal closed around the talisman.
A shot of hopelessness went through Din as his trump card was taken
away. He could not even fight anymore. His will was escaping along with
his essence. 'Mother... Father...' A strange aura from Sakura flowed into
him. It felt rather angelic — but he was too tired to think about it, or
hate it.
Sakura watched as the thunder-demon in front of her disintegrate. He
fell apart into a cloud of blue sparkles.
Tennyo was still in Sakura's hands.'What have I done?' she asked herself.
'What is happening to me?'
Sakura felt numb. She had killed plenty of monsters, most of them in
a mad frenzy to slaughter anything that seemed edible. But she had never
killed a human or celestial before. Sakura was not a high-ranking kunoichi
back in the Shinobi World. Here she was just a human.
One would think that it would be easier on the conscience to kill a
demon. She killed Din within a split-second.
So why was she regretting it now?
It was that memory charm on Din. That was it. Even though he was a demon
by definition, he could feel emotional pain. Sakura slaughtering him was
probably the worst blow to his pride. What was more pitiful was that nobody
would even try to avenge his death, because there was not a single person
who cared about him. He was orphaned, after all.
Tennyo clattered to the ground. Sakura dropped to her knees, touching
the place where Din's blood only recently was split.
Sakura thought back to the Shinobi World. All those images of war and
slaughter that she saw in dreams, disrupting her sleep: they were scenes
of the Great War between angels and demons. Was the war still going? Din's
family took the brunt of it. The little love the thunder-demon felt back
then disintegrated into a perverted hate, eventually leading to his death.
A death by a human.
Potamos gulped, and walked over to Sakura. She kneeled down to her teammate.
"Sacchan?" she whispered. "Are ya' okay?"
Sakura's hands were shaking on the ground. "I... I'm a murderer," she
croaked. Her thoughts lingered on the small, frightened little boy in the
memory charm, who would later grow up to be Din. She killed the boy. She
killed him.
Linton walked over, and put a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Amano and
you would probably be dead if you did not act as quickly as you did," he
said. "You did it in self-defense." The earth-angel looked up to Takuji,
who seemed frozen at the spot. "Amano, activate the opening to Minerva,"
he ordered.
Takuji did not heed Linton's voice. Instead, he walked over, and knelt
down to Sakura. He knew that she was crying, even though no sound escaped
her. She helped him before. Now he wanted to help her. "Haruno-san, I—"
The kunoichi somehow found her voice. "Be quiet, Amano-kun," Sakura
whispered at the half-angel. "What would you know?" Takuji flinched at
the bitterness in her voice. Only months ago, she was smiling, accepting
his basket of fruit, and cheering for him at the tournament. What happened
to the smart, beautiful girl he had a crush on?
Ambrosia began to boil in anger at Sakura's cold reply. Linton breathed.
"I understand the confusion you are going through, Haruno-san," Linton
said gravely. "But do not take it out on Amano. He will go through the
same thing as you sometime."
Potamos reached over, and hugged Sakura. "Din died for his family and
beliefs, Sacchan," she said quietly. "That's just the way celestials are.
You even helped Din, in a way."
Sakura began to tremble at these words. "Helped him? I KILLED him, for
crying out loud!!" The tears rolled down her face. "It would have been
a lot easier for all of us if that memory-charm was never used. And Potamos:
I can't believe you still stuck with me, even when Din showed what happened
to YOU!" The kunoichi buried her face in her hands. "Don't you see? I'm
not supposed to exist!! "
The water-demon patted Sakura's head in a gentle way. "If you're still
hung up on that thing with Viento, I'm over it," Potamos said. "That was
a different life. The past. Over and done with. Your are Sacchan to me
— not Viento's daughter. You even said that yourself, 'member?" The gentle
cheeriness in the water-demon's voice made Sakura feel even worse.
Linton began to lose his composure. " 'I'm not supposed to exist'?!
Don't talk to us about existence like that!" he shouted. "You just saved
Amano's life. He'd be dead without you!"
"Scarlett-sensei was ordering you to protect me!" Sakura replied. She
choked down a sob, and looked up at the earth-angel. "If I were not here,
then you would never have run into such danger in the first place."
Linton sighed, putting his hand on his forehead. "But YOU'RE ALIVE.
And that's all there is to it." The earth-angel looked at the ground, and
picked up a shard of the memory-charm. There was no aura left in it, signaling
that its powers were finally gone. "The thing is, Haruno-san..." Linton
continued, "You freed Din by ending his life. I know that sounds cold-hearted,
but think about it. You killed him because you wanted to save Amano — and
with that act, you took Din out of his living hell. Din had great mental
strength to not end his life after the death of his parents, and went to
great lengths to fulfill himself. There is something to admire in that."
Sakura turned away, wiping her eyes. She was somewhat glad that Potamos
and Linton were accepting her — but the guilt was cementing itself onto
her heart. 'If only none of this had happened... If only I wasn't the cause
of Minoru's death... I should never have been born!'
Linton sighed. A short pep talk from him was not going to cure Sakura.
That would take years, maybe even a lifetime. He did not know how long
this would affect her.
But one thing was certain: she had to go home.
Itachi slowly quietly jumped through the trees. Sasuke was slung over
his shoulder, like some sort of carcass. Since when did Sasuke become this
heavy? Was it muscle or fat? 'God damn it, Orochimaru pampered him.'
The Uchiha put some chakra in his legs, and carefully skipped down to
the ground. He needed rest. Itachi let Sasuke down, setting him against
a tree.
The plan of the infiltration was to get in together, and get out separately.
The Akatsuki's next meeting would be held within a month or so. Itachi
could baby-sit his younger brother for a little while longer. He had been
traveling for nearly a day, trying to find a safe place to dump the unconscious
Sasuke off.
As long as Sasuke did not amble back to Orochimaru, Itachi did not care
what his little brother decided to do. Whether it was to become a pathetic
solo criminal, or go back to that peacefully-moronic home village called
Konoha.
A twig snapped from a distance. Itachi narrowed his eyes. This aura
— it could only be...
"Itachi-san, you should not carry around a load like that," Kisame said,
appearing from the shadows. He looked at the limp figure next to the trees.
"You have not grown sentimental, have you?"
"I have my reasons," the Uchiha said calmly. He and Kisame agreed to
separate for a while right after the battle, but it seemed like his partner
had enough suspicion to trail him. How annoying.
Itachi quietly calculated the situation. If he did not do anything about
Kisame, the shark-man would probably report this to the other Akatsuki
members. Threatening him would certainly not work, because Kisame had an
annoying temper. And, of course, Itachi could not kill him, tempting as
it was. Killing or abandoning a fellow member was a big no-no in their
organization. The rest of the group knew Itachi's moves well enough to
know what happened if they found Kisame's body, or parts of it. As much
as a genius he was, the Uchiha was not capable of going up against the
entire organization alone.
A tengu shook his head in the trees. 'You slipped this time, Itachi.
I finally have proof that you're human! Well, you ARE human, no matter
what level of power you've achieved...'
A snap pierced the night's silence.
An arrow sank into Kisame's shoulder blade. The gray-skinned man snarled
as he looked up in the trees. Whoever did that was going to pay. Yet some
part of him warned that this was dangerous. Kisame could dodge hidden traps
— even normal arrows, if he heard the shot soon enough. But the stick in
his back, as far as he could tell, was NOT normal. He could not even dodge
it after hearing it.
Itachi noticed a figure in the trees. His dark eyes reverted into the
red Sharingan. 'Interesting,' the man noted. 'He's moving around using
only his physical strength. There is some chakra produced, but not much...'
Kisame was about to perform a water-jutsu to kill the impudent one.
He then realized that the muscles in his left arm were cramping up. The
arrow in his back was not very deep, as the thick trench coat acted somewhat
like a shield. But it felt like the arrow was crawling around him.
Kisame turned, and saw that sprouts of vines were growing out of the
arrow.
"Bastard, I'll kill you!" Kisame hissed. He clawed the arrow out with
his free arm. He could swear that there were roots in that thing, penetrating
even his tough shark-skin. Another arrow was shot. The shark-man barely
escaped with the Kawarimi no Jutsu, replacing himself with a log. He growled,
but jumped through the trees.
"I think you have the disadvantage against this one, Kisame," Itachi
intoned. "You don't move well when you're dehydrated. Leave it to me."
With those words, Kisame disappeared into the night.
Itachi watched his partner retreat. 'You could have at least offered
me a few extra weapons,' he thought. Yet this stranger made him curious.
What enemy was this, whose movements were undetected until now? And the
fact that even Kisame feared this outsider... He looked up, and saw a feint
glint of blond hair. Itachi's pupils spun, and he leapt up into the trees.
Whatever let that arrow loose was probably bad at close hand-to-hand combat.
A figure kicked Itachi in the chest. Itachi twisted himself through
the air, and jumped off the tree trunks with chakra in his legs. Okay,
so this person had some experience in close combat. Good experience, in
fact. Not as great as some taijutsu specialists, but decent. It was also
in a style that Itachi had not seen before, which meant that he had to
be extra careful. Like any form of martial arts, Sharingan would definitely
not catch this until he had more chances to study its movements.
'Well, this will be interesting,' the Uchiha thought as he flicked his
hands together. 'I should test this one. The person's archery skills are
almost supernatural...' He could risk fighting this one. The fact that
the stranger shot Kisame first, and not Itachi, meant something important.
'He could be of some use.'
The moonlight exposed the unknown's face. The facial contours suggested
that of a woman — but Itachi noticed the Adam's apple at the throat. Definitely
a man.
The stranger's ears were pointed. 'Pointed? Maybe it's an advanced bloodline,'
Itachi reasoned. The stranger also had unusual green and tan regalia, disguising
himself well into the trees.
Itachi flicked his hands together behind his trench coat, and released
a fire-jutsu. A few branches in the vicinity lit up. There was slight risk
of a forest fire, but Itachi did not care. The trees could take an occasional
scorching or two, and it was good for confusing the opponent. 'Damn it,
if only I had enough chakra to make Kage-Bunshin,' Itachi thought. 'It
would be easier to just run away...'
'So this is the power of a human,' the blond stranger thought, dodging
the storm of flares Itachi gave off. A flame brushed the stranger's cheeks.
The smell of burnt hair wafted in his nose. Even at his speed, these were
close shaves. Too close. The figure's boots scraped against the trees.
He did not have the luxury to move quietly now. He knew that his raven-haired
opponent now considered this a battle situation, ready to kill in self-defense.
'Amazing. He has not an ounce of hatred for me, yet is ready to kill on
a whim.'
The blond jumped away some distance, and hid himself in the trees. He
held out his hand. Vines began to grow out of his wrist, forming into a
new bow. He had to do this quickly and efficiently; his opponent was too
fast. An arrow of tan-colored ki formed across the bow's string.
A snap was heard. Itachi felt his shoulder being stabbed.
It burned unpleasantly in his flesh. Itachi growled as he noticed the
fading of light — it was an arrow of pure chakra that shot him. The Uchiha
twisted his body through the air and landed like a cat onto a thick branch.
"One big weakness of ninja," the figure called out from the treetops.
"Disable the arms, and no more magic." He snickered a little.
A second later, he felt something cold at his neck.
"One big weakness of non-ninja," Itachi replied, holding a kunai at
the stranger’s throat. "They don't realize when they've been sneaked upon
from behind."
The blond figure smiled in an unusual manner. "It would be in your best
interest not to move that blade across my jungular," he quietly said. "I
am the representative from the other place."
"Are you sure that Minoru is gone?" Scarlett asked. "To think that Din
found the Dimension Ring... Thank God that Linton knew how to create a
temporary seal."
Yuri sighed, brushing away her wavy brown hair. "I don't feel any of
Minoru's psychic energy coming from the Rifts. Of course, it is difficult
to track anything there... I would not put my hopes up."
Momoko and Yousuke talked with Amano Takurou, who at the moment was
configuring the dimensional leap on his computer. Sakura was finally going
back home.
A green cloak draped around Sakura's form as she sat at a table. Potamos
was next to her.
"So you're going to a different dimension," the water-demon quietly
said. "Professor Amano said that it was a world of ninja. Is that really
true?"
Sakura smiled weakly. "Sort of. Shinobi act as law-enforcers and soldiers.
There might be more powerful beings around. The adults in my village say
that there were youkai-demons in the past, but I haven't really seen any,
per say."
"Wow..." Potamos folded her arms onto the table surface, and laid her
head down. Her yellow cat-eyes brimmed with tears. "I'm going to miss you,
Sacchan. I wish I could come with you..."
"You could, if you wanted to," Sakura said. "The energy we collected
was only for opening a wormhole. The actual teleporting is done with a
magic command."
"But even if I go there, I would be in danger," Potamos grumbled. "I
still need to control my aura. People would probably attack me on sight
if I jump into their world. I mean, I might be able to wipe out a lot,
but their gods would probably not appreciate a mass slaughter..."
"Sakura," a voice said from behind. Sakura turned around to meet the
faces of Momoko and Viento. "Could we talk to you privately before you
leave?" Momoko asked hesitantly. Sakura nodded and quietly got up from
her chair. She followed the husband and wife to the corner.
Potamos looked away, trying not to stare at the three. The memory of
her previous life was beginning to fade away, so seeing them together was
not as painful as she imagined. But it was still rather awkward. At least
Momoko and Yousuke did not know that Din performed a memory charm on Potamos
— that would have made things more uncomfortable than necessary.
Potamos could live without Viento. She had no grudge, because a real
grudge took years to accumulate. The purple-haired girl could find someone
else. And had Momoko and Yousuke's love never existed, Potamos might never
have experienced her close friendship with Sakura.
"Potamos, we need to talk," a voice said from behind. Potamos jumped,
and turned around to meet Scarlett.
The water-demon peeped in fright and humility. "Angel Salvia-sama! I
swear, I had nothing to do with Mino-chan's disappearance—"
"I know," Scarlett said. "Calm down. I am not here to reprimand you.
In fact, I have an assignment for you." She gave a rare smile to Potamos.
'Is that supposed to be a good thing?' Potamos wondered.
Sasuke groaned. He sat up, feeling like he had been drugged. God, did
he fall asleep?
The recent events then washed over him. Orochimaru's snakes. Itachi.
Itachi relieving the curse seal.
The curse seal. Sasuke touched it with his hand. It was still there.
It pulsed a bit, but not much. The teenager looked around, and noticed
the heavy amount of foliage around. He recognized it as the massive forest
surrounding Konoha.
Fire Country. If he was in this area, and it was night... Then at least
a few days had passed since the Akatsuki break-in.
What was Itachi thinking when he brought Sasuke here? Moreover...
'Wait a minute. Does this mean I'm... free?'
Sasuke shivered. He was away from Orochimaru. He was not in any ninja
village. Hell, he could choose to travel out of this country.
This was the solitude he always longed for. It felt refreshingly cold,
like dipping into a chilly pool on a humid day.
Maybe he could get used to this. If the young Uchiha could just quietly
hide himself, walking around for a road, he could get out of the Fire Country.
He still had his ninja gear. Sasuke could survive in the wilderness for
a while until he stumbled into a normal village. He would have to be very
careful not to meet a Konoha ninja, but other than that... He would be
okay.
The young man got up, brushing himself off. He touched his forehead,
and realized that there was no hitai-ate there. Itachi must have taken
it.
Sasuke walked.
And with every step, a single black mark leaked out of the seal.
"Sakura, we're amazed at how much you've grown," Momoko said. She tilted
her head downward, the pink bangs hiding her blue eyes.
Yousuke observed Momoko curiously. He remembered back in their younger
times, when he met her as a loudmouthed girl. He made fun of her for a
time being. But then she began to show her true strength of heart. He had
watched her grow into a beautiful lady. Now, Yousuke saw the same change
in Sakura, even though he had known her as a person for a very short period
of time.
"I learned a lot in this dimension," Sakura said quietly. She felt awkward
talking to them. They knew that she had run away, and that Minoru was sucked
into a vortex.
They also knew that Din was killed by Sakura's hands. Although Yousuke
thought it was a 'good riddance', Momoko was rather startled. She should
have expected just as much, with Sakura going into the Rifts and all. But
some part of the love-angel was pained that Sakura had to go through it.
"Sakura, I want you to have this." Momoko held out her hand. In her
palm was a pink, familiar-looking object.
"That's... part of the brooch you used to bring me to the Shinobi World,"
the kunoichi realized. Momoko nudged it in front of her, and Sakura picked
it up. "I thought it broke when I fell into this dimension."
The jewel was still beautiful. The only difference in the object that
it had the pin removed in the back — it was not a brooch anymore. Sakura
looked at the edge of the stone, and saw that a large hole was vertically
drilled through it, like a bead.
"Only the metal portion was banged up from being used as an energy reserve
twice. The pink enamel was still intact," Yousuke explained. "It was such
a shame to waste it, so we asked a jewel-shop to make it into a netsuke.
You know, a bead that hold together inrou — those little wooden boxes that
samurai carry around? Having something like that instead of a brooch...
It would make you look a lot less conspicuous in your world. Especially
when you'll have Tennyo with you."
"I get to keep Tennyo?" Sakura asked. Part of her was jumping in joy.
But she also wondered: how in the world was she going to explain a katana
in her possession when she came back to Konoha? 'Oh, well, I'll just hide
it until I get to Tsunade-sama,' she decided.
"It was gift from Scarlett, and our team," Momoko said. "Of course you
can keep Tennyo — part of your aura is already infused into the core. So
much, in fact, that no one can wield her except you." Momoko gave a gentle
smile.
Sakura blinked. Something saddened the kunoichi as she looked at the
netsuke in her palm. "Momoko... I thank you for everything," Sakura said.
"Really, I do. But I have to say this now."
The girl breathed. This had to be made clear. "Momoko, Yousuke... I
cannot call you my parents."
A slight look of pain rushed over Momoko's face, but she brushed it
off. "I know, Sakura," the love-angel quietly said. "That would be too
much to ask."
"But there is one other thing..." Sakura whispered. She walked over
to Momoko, and reached over to take her hand. "I... thank you for sending
me to the Shinobi World."
Momoko's lower lip trembled, and she put her free hand over her mouth.
"I understand how painful it must have been to let go of me, right after
I was born," Sakura continued, a tear escaping her green eyes. Yousuke
looked down, trying with all his might to keep a sensible expression on
his face.
Sakura gave a gentle squeeze on the angel's hand. "Thank you, for sending
me to there to have a chance at life — and I thank you for doing it again.
From the bottom of my heart."
A gentle sob escaped Momoko's lips. Sakura lowered her eyes, which now
had tears dripping quietly.
Sakura let go of Momoko's hand, and wiped her eyes. She looked up to
see the face of her biological mother. There was partial sadness in the
woman's blue eyes — but pride and happiness shone through as well, making
Sakura feel better.
Yousuke coughed. "They need you there, Sakura," the wind-demon said
bluntly. "We know you can take care of yourself."
Momoko's face shot up, and she glared at her husband for his unfeeling
reply. Sakura was their daughter, for crying out loud! The love-angel was
about to scold him, when she finally realized: he was trying to cover up
his embarrassment of almost crying in front of Sakura.
Sakura noticed this as well. The kunoichi inwardly shook her head. 'Men,'
she thought.
Sasuke seemed to be in a daze. As the hours went by, he felt something
slip away from him. He did not feel any pain, because he felt nothing to
begin with.
Itachi rescuing him put Sasuke in a state of confusion. Why? Why did
he do it?
'Go to Orochimaru,' a voice whispered.
Little did Sasuke know that his black hair slowly turned into a white.
Sasuke fell to his knees. His muscles were exhausted, although he did
not know this. His mind and body were not in conjunction with each other;
the curse seal was interrupting his brain and nervous system. Physical
exhaustion and pain did not translate as 'bad' in his mind.
Sasuke gingerly got up, and noticed that there was a red liquid on his
knees. 'Why didn't that hurt?' he thought. Some part of him began to grow
scared. His brain was not working the way it was supposed to.
And yet, at the same time... He wanted to see more blood. He licked
his lips.
He felt a sudden urge to kill anything alive.
Sasuke spotted someone walking in the forest. This stranger in the green
cloak would be his first victim.
A few strands of long, pink hair escaped the person's hood.
Sasuke hesitated. Pink? He was sure that he knew of someone with that
hair color — someone terribly important.
There were many thoughts swirling in him. It was all sorts of emotions.
Sasuke did not even know which ones properly belonged to him. 'Don't you
dare lay a hand on her; keep her out of this!' - 'Ignore that person, and
walk away.' - 'Don't you remember?' - 'What's the point of killing for
the hell of it? It will just bring trouble.' - 'How can you forget? Wake
up!' - 'Just WALK AWAY.'
But the voices of reason, and perhaps love, were immediately drowned
out by the temptations of the curse. 'Kill for Orochimaru. Prove your worth
to him. Kill anyone who crosses your path...'
The stranger stopped in her tracks. She had noticed Sasuke.
Sasuke could feel something ripping out of his back. He held out his
palms, and noticed the unnatural color of his flesh.
'No! Don't do it!!' his conscious screamed.
His conscious fell into a mental black hole.
A gruesome hiss escaped Sasuke's mouth.
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