Suiren, Chapter One: Rain…

I’ve noticed that lot of fanfiction authors preface their stories with ‘mood’ quotes from pieces of music or poetry. For some reason, i’ve often wanted to do that, even though the cynical, pragmatic part of my brain decries the practice as unnecessarily derivative and pretentious.

Also, i don’t usually read poetry, and i’ve often been told that my taste in music is… er… bad, to put it kindly. This time, however, i’m going to indulge myself, as i’m thinking on putting up disclaimers for the stories on this site on their own page, which leaves this space open.

So now you get to suffer my terrible taste in music ^_^; don’t worry, i’ll probably only do it once in a while, when i can’t think of anyting better to put here. It will be over soon, and the actual fic starts right afterward…

~Eimii

P.S: For your own good, i would advise against looking up any bands i quote now or in the future, unless its RUSH. I don’t care what anyone else thinks, RUSH kicks ass…

 
 
I am the rain
Falling down to cover you
Wish me away
But I’m here for your own good
I am the storm
Sent to wake you from your dream
Show me your scorn
But you’ll thank me in the end
          -’I Am The Rain,’ Assemblage 23
 
 
 
A groan of dread escaped Sakura’s lips as she gazed forlornly into gray light of early morning. A raging downpour had swirled out of nowhere last night, and apparently it hadn’t stopped yet. The roads must be like brown rivers by now.

What were the odds that Gai would cancel practice on account of the village washing away? And deny me the chance to twist both ankles and eat four gallons of mud? Not bloody likely! Sighing, the pink-haired kunoichi rolled out of bed and began preparing to once again sacrifice her body to the bushy-browed demon of hard work.

Hmm, maybe if I ruin the hideous thing, he won’t make me wear it anymore, she mused, digging The Jumpsuit out from behind her dresser drawers. The idea brought a hopeful smile to her face, but only for a moment. No, he’d probably just smile, say something about the beauty of youth, and then give me another one. On top of that, soaking it in mud could only improve how it looked. Ugh… DAMMIT, this sucks!

After Sakura finished dressing, she removed her forehead protector and put it back on so that the guard faced forward and the dark cloth covered the top of her head. It wasn’t much, but it might keep some of the mud out of her hair… though it reminded again her of that creepy judge; ick.

At least she wasn’t as sickly-looking anymore. Two weeks of training every day with Gai under the beating summer sun had given her a glow of good health that was only slightly marred by the dark rings under her eyes, which attested to what she still did with her nights. It will be worth it! Ino pig is going down!

With one last painful glance in the mirror to verify that she indeed looked like a Class-A dork, Sakura snuck out into the hallway and down the stairs. Opening the coat closet, she pulled out her father’s straw raincoat and hat. They were cheap to replace if the mud ruined them, and wearing her own raincoat with this outfit would be a crime.

With the bird mask finishing her ‘disguise,’ Sakura opened the door and stepped out into the rain. Locking the door behind her, she took a moment to consider the rainy street. She would have alter her routine a bit if she didn’t want to be spotted looking even stupider than usual on the way to the training field where she’d be meeting Gai.

First, Sakura gathered some chakra into her feet so that she could run over the puddles without disturbing them. The mechanics of water-walking hadn’t been hard to figure out after Kakashi-sensei’s explanation of tree climbing, but Sakura still swelled with pride. Without her perfect chakra control, even Sasuke-kun probably would have had trouble learning the technique without help.

Once she was sure of her footing, Sakura switched focus for a moment and performed the seals for a slightly stronger than normal genjutsu. There were fewer people on the streets, so it would be harder to blend into the crowd. Satisfied that she wasn’t forgetting anything, she leapt out of the shadows in the doorway, landed in the middle of a puddle with barely a ripple, and began pelting down the street.

Her confidence swelled slowly as she passed by a few of her neighbors without causing alarm, then spiked as she sidestepped Kiba and Akamaru without raising so much as whimper. The higher level jutsu didn’t seem much more taxing than before, either. Probably no good in a fight, though. I wonder if Gai-sensei knows any genjutsu.

Seized by a fit of daring, Sakura changed course and made for the main road for a bit of ‘practice.’ It had started with an idle observation that presence-erasing genjutsu made it a lot harder to walk through crowds- not because she might be noticed, but because people didn’t do anything to avoid bumping into her.

As Sakura had danced and dodged through the busy streets of Konoha on her way to meet Gai each morning, it had begun to feel like a game to her. With a little observation, it was usually possible to predict which way each person was going to go, and she quickly became adept at slipping through momentary openings in the chaotic motion of the crowd.

Aside from being a guilty thrill, it forced her to push her skills daily. Sakura thought she was getting pretty good at sneaking around, even if she felt no closer to finding a true counter to the Shintenshin. It also served as a good exercise in spotting and avoiding potential threats, since there were a lot of ninja in the village as well.

She hadn’t been caught yet, as far as she knew, but she wasn’t really doing anything wrong- right? As long as she didn’t run into any psycho foreign nins (and she was extra careful to watch out for them), where was the harm? Pausing as she finally came to an alley mouth opening into the village’s main thoroughfare, Sakura began scanning the street.

Despite the driving rain, today’s gamut seemed just as busy as it usually did. From the look of things, the crowds were swelled by foreign visitors arriving for next week’s Chuunin Exam exhibition tournament. A lot of the more well dressed outsiders appeared to have ninja bodyguards as well. That upped the ante considerably, but already a rough, zigzagging map was forming in her head.

Giving those groups a wide berth, Sakura shot out into the street almost horizontally, hugging the ground and streaking across the path of a gaggle of academy-aged kids. Changing directions quickly, Sakura darted between two of them, then immediately broke right as a middle-aged woman moved to fill the gap, arms filled with bags of groceries.

From there Sakura straightened and began a series of quick, shuffling dodges as she entered a more congested stretch in front of a fruit stand. A moment later the crowd began to close around her. Checking to see if there were any ninja looking her way, she hopped up into a twisting forward flip that brushed the tops of a few heads.

Infusing her hands with chakra, she landed in a graceful handstand on the surface of a large puddle that people were skirting around, then cart-wheeled onto her feet and back into the fray. Despite the water that sprayed from her loose straw cloak during this string of acrobatic maneuvers, not a single person even so much as glanced her way.

HAH! BEAT THAT, INO PIG! Sakura exulted, for a moment wishing that someone would notice her, just to stop and stare. Diving into the thick of things, she tried to vary her evasions a bit more, adding an extra bit of flair that she’d be embarrassed by if anyone really were watching.

The water-walking jutsu added another interesting dimension to the game; if she modulated her chakra a bit differently, she didn’t have to move as though she was walking on dry earth. Instead, going the other way, she could slide along like she was skating across glassy, frictionless ice.

Hopping over a stray dog then slipping effortlessly between the wheels of a moving wagon without missing a beat, Sakura was startled to find herself in the midst of a trio of Hidden Rain genin she hadn’t noticed. Amazingly, they didn’t seem to see her!

Thinking fast, Sakura hoisted herself up on to the lip of the wagon, hanging there for a second before pushing off and landing in a crouch on the wall of a building. Running just far enough to clear the three foreign nins’ heads, Sakura leapt to the ground again, sliding backwards as she watched to make sure she hadn’t been noticed.

A jolt from behind told her that this had been a mistake. Spinning, the pink-haired kunoichi was horrified to find a woman in a long khaki coat sprawled face-first in a puddle at her feet. A tray of dango, now scattered in the mud, lay close at hand.

Sakura was torn as she looked around at the crowd; most didn’t seem to notice that anything had happened, though a few had turned to look at the woman lying in the mud. It must have been too sudden to spoil her genjutsu. As the woman got her hands under her and started pushing herself back to her feet Sakura’s guilt got the better of her, and she stooped down to see if she could help.

As Sakura extended a hesitant hand, however, her victim raised her head and Sakura’s blood ran cold. Glaring up at her was the mud-caked, wild-eyed face of Mitarashi Anko. The playful bloodlust that the examiner usually radiated was absent now, replaced by a look of naked fury that made Sakura’s knees weak to behold.

I am so dead… Instinctively retracting the offered hand, Sakura froze. WAIT! NOBODY SAW ME DO IT! DON’T ACT SUSPICIOUS! She tried to get her arm to move forward again, but it wouldn’t listen to her, so she tried her mouth instead. “Um- er- eh…eheh, sorry?” Anko’s eyes narrowed dangerously as the nervous laugh escaped Sakura’s lips. NOOOO! DON’T LAUGH, STUPID! DON’T APPOLOGIZE! AAARGH! RUN, DAMMIT!

Her legs seemed to think that this was an excellent idea, and a moment later Sakura found herself zooming away from the scene at top speed. I can’t believe I just did that! I pushed a jounin into the mud, laughed at her and ran away- I’m worse than Naruto!

Sakura wasn’t paying much attention to which way she was going as she fled, but as long as it was away the from scary woman, it was the right direction as far as she was concerned. I’m so sorry! Please don’t follow me, please don’t follow me, please don’t follow me…

“COME BACK HERE YOU LITTLE PUNK!”

A kunai whistled by her ear and Sakura heard something snap. Running a little faster, the pink-haired girl didn’t try to catch her hat as the wind whipped it off her head. That had been much too close for comfort. Crouching low, she began scrambling along on the ground, half the time on all fours as she ducked and dodged between legs, caring little for the surprised cries that rose when she cut it too close.

Unfortunately, in her mad flight Sakura had forgotten to check if there were any other ninja close by, so she was taken by surprise when three Hidden Leaf chuunin suddenly seemed to materialize out of thin air right in front of her. Thankfully, when their eyes met they looked as shocked as she, but it still cost her precious moments as they stood there staring at each other.

Then, from somewhere in the crowd, Anko’s voice roared, “RESTRAIN THAT NINJA,” and everything blurred back into frenetic motion. Reacting just a heartbeat faster than the chuunin, Sakura pulled the fastest kawarimi she’d ever done, swapping places with a smoked ham hanging in a nearby butcher shop window as two of the ninja fell upon her position.

The third man was already dashing for the front door of the shop as Sakura bounded over the counter, ripping a bloody cleaver out of the chopping block as she passed. Smashing open the rear door with her back, Sakura used the broad blade to defect a handful of needles that flickered her way as she slid backwards. Dropping the cleaver, she snagged a few of the needles off of the ground, the glimmerings of an idea forming.

Sakura broke right to fake out the chuunin still in the shop and then rocketed up toward the rooftops, but as expected, the other two were already on their way over. Canceling her water walking jutsu, she touched down and began running full tilt across the roofs of Konoha village, making sure they could see her splashing in the puddles. Then, as she neared the main road, she focused her chakra into her feet, leapt high over a large intersection, and performed bunshin to create four clones of herself.

Her hands hidden from her pursuers by the straw cloak billowing behind her, Sakura flicked three needles down to make three little splashes where one copy’s feet touched the muddy ground before it leapt back up to the rooftops. She and the other copies, each going a different direction, made not a ripple as they landed. She’d gotten the idea after thinking of the Hidden Rain nins at the crossing and remembering the genjutsu the other Hidden Rain nins had used on her team in the second exam.

Incredibly, it worked! The two chuunin took off after the decoy and the third, coming out of an alleyway a moment later, pursued a second copy since it was the only one in his field of vision. Wiping her brow, Sakura released a sigh of relief. She didn’t even have a moment to congratulate herself, however, as she sensed something falling from above. FUCK, I FORGOT ABOUT HER! Crouching as if to bolt, Sakura slapped her palms together in a hurried series of seals.

With a loud pop, a burst of smoke puffed up around Anko as she landed. When it cleared, all that remained of her quarry was a small barrel with her needle sticking out of it. Growling, the special jounin spun for a quick look around, then leapt off again, shouting at the three chuunin who were just now returning from their wild goose chase. After conferring for a moment, they split up to comb the area.

Sakura waited a slow ten count after all of them had disappeared before she releasing her henshin technique. Kneeling in the mud, she stared dry-mouthed at the point of the needle that she’d caught between her palms, then scrambled to her feet and dove for the nearest doorway.

Now I gotta hide and get out of this ridiculous getup! she thought, thanking her ancestors that she hadn’t dropped the presence masking genjutsu; it was probably the only thing that had prevented Anko from seeing through her ruse. But as Sakura’s desperate gaze swept around the familiar, flower-bedecked shop she’d ducked into, a sense of doom filled her like a lead ball dropping into her stomach.

Ino was standing behind the counter, looking determined as she raised her hands in a seal that Sakura had seen only twice before. DAMMIT! DOESN’T IT EVER END? Sakura’s own hands flickered up one more time, and the masked kunoichi performed three quick seals. “FUSHINKA NO JUTSU!”

“SHINTENSHIN!” Ino cried at the same time, slumping to the counter as Sakura felt a wrenching sensation inside her head.

The world around her suddenly became strangely distant, like she was seeing and hearing everything from far off. As she regained her bearings, a second, more immediate layer of sensation came into focus, and she found a second blonde kunoichi standing in front of her. Faded and ephemeral, the phantom Ino was staring at her in shock. YES! IT WORKED!

The Fushinka, or ‘Vigilant Watcher,’ was a survival technique. It stimulated the brain, allowing a ninja to remain awake and attentive for long periods of time, as well as throw off certain types of suggestion. Mostly, Sakura had been using it to stay up late to study.

Sakura still hadn’t learned enough about mind defense jutsu to block the Shintenshin, but at least she’d managed to keep her mind conscious, thus giving herself a fighting chance at forcing Ino out. Unfortunately, Sakura had no experience at all in mental combat, and Ino didn’t look like she was ready to give up just yet.

Don’t even think about it! Ino commanded as Sakura tried to move toward the door. The blonde appeared to concentrate, and somehow Sakura knew that her rival was seeing through her eyes and feeling through her body, even as they stood there staring at each other. Sakura’s real legs twitched a bit, but she couldn’t take a step. It was like invisible hands were holding her in place.

Meanwhile, Ino was squinting at her face as though she was having trouble seeing her. I saw what you did outside. You might as well surrender right now, ’cause you’re not going anywhere, she said, looking more confident now that Sakura had tried and failed to fight her control. Ino frowned as her opponent ignored her and tried again. Growling, she leaped forward and grabbed a handful of pale pink hair.

Despite how insubstantial they both seemed, the pain felt quite real to Sakura, and her concentration was shattered as she tried to push her rival away. Suddenly a hand-shaped shadow filled her vision and Sakura felt herself flying backward. Both she and Ino stopped fighting to cry out in pain and surprise as the back of her head hit the wall.

Sakura must have closed her eyes for a moment, for when she could see again an icy tendril of panic gripped Sakura’s hammering heart as she stared out of the skewed eye-holes of the mask at the malevolently grinning face of Mitarashi Anko. NO! DAMMIT, WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?

“What’s going on here?”

Captor and captive alike directed their attention to the rear door, where Yamanaka Inoichi was standing, wearing overalls muddied to the knees and carrying a planter tray of somewhat soggy-looking seedlings. The ninja’s fair brows furrowed as he noticed his daughter slumped over the shop counter. Watching the other two kunoichi carefully, he set down his tray and moved to check her for injuries.

“Just taking care of a troublemaker, Yamanaka-san,” Anko quipped, her voice laced with cruel satisfaction as she again turned to stare hungrily at the pinned girl.

TAKING CARE OF ME?

“Don’t be so rough,” the florist admonished, nodding towards Sakura as he laid Ino’s inert body across the counter. “I think my daughter is possessing that girl. Ino, if you’re in there, tell me how many kinds of orchids we grow in our greenhouse.”

Sakura didn’t try to stop Ino as her hands formed the number seven in Konoha ninja sign language.

The blonde man nodded. “Alright, that’s my Ino. You can let her down- just be ready to restrain her once Ino releases the jutsu.”

The dark-haired woman looked slightly skeptical but complied, removing her hand and backing up a step. As Anko released the pressure on her face, the cracked clay mask Sakura was wearing split down the middle and fell away.

“Sakura-chan?” the elder Yamanaka blurted in bewilderment.

SAKURA? Ino echoed in her head. Looking surprised and outraged, she grabbed Sakura’s head and brought her face so close to Sakura’s that their matched bloody noses were almost touching. It is you! What the hell are you doing, bursting in here like that with an examiner chasing after you?

It was just a misunderstanding! Sakura wailed in frustration.

Well, you can explain that yourself, the blonde snapped testily, taking control of Sakura’s hands again to form the Shintenshin release seal. Before her fingers could touch, however, the body’s arms seized up as Sakura overwhelmed her, tackling Ino to the ‘ground’ in a fit of desperation. HEY! What are you doing?

You can’t leave! The moment you’re out she’ll kill me! Sakura growled, pinning Ino’s arms behind her in a pain hold as she sat on her rival’s metaphysical back.

You’re crazy! What the heck did you do to her? Ino snarled back, bending her leg behind her to kick Sakura in the back of the head. Let go, forehead girl! If you’re going to be executed, I don’t wanna die with you! She tried to move the hands again.

Countering her, Sakura twisted Ino’s arm harder. Stop that! Let me think!

“Ino, is there something wrong? Release Sakura-chan.” Yamanaka-san was starting to look worried as he and Anko watched Sakura’s body. The young kunoichi’s face was screwed up in intense concentration, and her hands kept twitching closer together and then farther apart, never quite touching.

Anko frowned speculatively. “It looks like the other girl is resisting. If this is the same Haruno Sakura from the Chuunin Exam, then she successfully threw off this technique when they fought in the prelims.”

“Ino said something strange happened that time, like she was ambushed by another Sakura inside Sakura’s mind,” the elder Yamanaka agreed. Then his expression changed to one of disbelief. “Are you suggesting that she’s not our Sakura-chan?”

YOU TOLD HIM ABOUT THAT?

OF COURSE I TOLD HIM! IT WAS FREAKY AND WEIRD!

“With all these clients and foreign ninja around town, we can’t be too careful,” Anko admonished, watching Sakura warily as the body before her continued to struggle under the control of two different masters. “We have to assume that anyone can be a spy or an assassin, and having two minds does sound pretty suspicious,” she intoned darkly.

“DAMMIT, I BUMPED INTA YOU! IS THAT A FUCKIN’ CRIME?” Sakura heard herself roar, and she felt her hands bunch up into white-knuckled fists. Taking a bold stride forward, she shook one of them under Anko’s nose. “So ya fell in the mud; oh no! The world’s endin’! Let’s all kill Sakura ’cause the fuckin’ jounin can’t dodge for crap!”

WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? INO PIG, STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!

I’M NOT DOING IT, FOREHEAD GIRL!

Though she was taken slightly aback by the sudden outburst, Mitarashi Anko wasn’t one to be intimidated by children throwing temper tantrums. “You shouldn’t have run then, brat!” she snapped. “How do you think that looks?”

“Like I was in a hurry, which I was! I said sorry, didn’t I?”

The second examiner snorted indignantly. “You call that an apology?”

“Well, I knew ya were gonna get all crazy on me no matter what I did, you sicko freak!” Sakura shot back venomously.

“What did you just call me? Say that again, you little monster!”

“YOU THREW A KUNAI AT MY HEAD, YOU SICKO FREAK!“

YEAH, THAT’S RIGHT! WAIT- NO! Meanwhile, Sakura was having a nervous breakdown. AAARGH! WHAT’S HAPPENING TO ME? she screamed, pulling her ethereal hair as she frantically tried to regain control of her vocal cords.

Ino, having long since escaped her grasp, was staring at her with a kind of sick fascination normally reserved for particularly gruesome accidents. I’m not sure, but I want out of here right now! Let me go!

I CAN’T MOVE MY HANDS!

WELL, NEITHER CAN I!

By this time, Anko had had just about enough. “Yamanaka-san, does that sound like your daughter?” she bit out tersely, nearly spitting the words as she glared at Sakura.

“No.” The other ninja shook his head.

“Then does it sound like Haruno Sakura to you?”

This time, he took a moment to consider before answering with a bit off off-color humor in his voice, “Yes… but only when she argues with Naruto-kun.”

HEY! WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?

“HEY, STOP TALKIN’ ABOUT ME LIKE I AIN’T HERE!”

“Would your daughter be okay if I knocked her out?” Anko continued, ignoring the screaming girl.

“Hmm… assuming she isn’t trapped somehow, yes. The jutsu should wear off shortly,” Inoichi admitted with a sigh.

Nya nya- now you’re gonna get it!

WAIT! THIS HAS GOTTA BE SOME SORT OF MISTAKE!

“Then with your permission-?” the brunette queried, forming a seal.

“IF YOU THINK-”

“Of course,” he assented with a wave of the hand.

“-I’M GONNA JUST LET YOU-”

And suddenly Ino disappeared. Her distant body seemed to vanish as well, making her feel helpless and naked, but she was still protected by the Fushinka, for on some level her mind had managed to remain conscious. Fat lot of good it does me, she mused tearfully, staring into the silent darkness that surrounded her. What am I going to do now?
 
 
 

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