-aaand now we return to our regularly scheduled programming! I hope somebody is enjoying all these sections written from the point of view of characters that i don’t normally focus on, because switching around like this is really hard! ;_; I may have mentioned/ranted about this before (since this is very often the reason for the long delays between sections), but i try hard to find an individual ‘voice’ for each character that is noticeably distinct from all of the other characters in the story, and i’m not always sure that i succeed… >_<;

Bah – anyhow, this section is a Work In Progress.  Anything written here is subject to change without notice, and while this initial part is pretty small, you probably wouldn’t believe how many times i’ve already re-written these paragraphs. Hopefully i’ll have more done soon, but this section may be posted in larger chunks than earlier sections, due to pacing issues; you have been warned…

“-and if ever see your face again, I’ll-”

<click>

“Alright Mari, I’m sure you know what time it is! It’s time to spin The Wheel of P-”

<click>

“-lood stains, oil stains, ground-in dirt and ash; Ninja-Clean(TM) takes it all out-” 

<click>

“-icha Paradise, The Movie! Coming this spring to thea-”

<click>

“Sideeffectsmayincludeabdominalpainagitationanxietyconstipationdiarrheadizzinessdry
mouthfatigueheadacheindigestioninsomnianauseanervousnessrashpainsleepinesssore
throatvomiting-”

<click>

Temari shut off the television with a visceral shudder of horror. Though her stay in ANBU’s dungeons hadn’t been notably unpleasant, she suddenly had a much greater respect for the Hidden Leaf’s torture and interrogation specialists. This ‘Daytime TV’ thing was possibly the most insidious and evil population control program she’d ever seen; she’d only been watching for an hour and she could already feel her brain turning to mush.

That has to be what it is. No sane person would ever voluntarily watch this garbage, the blonde kunoichi decided, tossing down the remote control in disgust. Temari sensed a brief flash of hostility from across the hall as the little plastic box clattered to the floor, but the front desk clerk apparently didn’t feel like crossing the foyer to scold her; he probably hadn’t seen anything that he wanted to watch either. 

Settling deeper into the cushions of the worn orange sofa that she’d claimed as her own, Temari tilted her head back to stare up at the ceiling. What the hell is taking them so long? she wondered, trying to imagine the scene she would see if her eyes could pierce the many layers of wood, plaster and concrete that separated the TV lounge from the rooms above.

She would probably see a pair of silvery-white eyes staring right back at her. The thought almost made her look away, but instead Temari did a bit of mental calculation to find the exact line of sight between herself and their hotel room and turned to give the Hyuuga girl a scowl of impatience. Go ahead and watch; you’ll be seeing this face a lot over the next week, so you might as well get used to it.

つづく (To be continued – Section Incomplete)

It’s been a while since i was last able to respond to comments, so instead of flooding the site with my own comments, i’m just gonna put my responses to the currently pending ones here ^_^;… 

@shikome kido mi: It just sometimes seems to me that even kids the age of Naruto and the rest should be more aware of certain events. For instance, early on Sakura seemed strangely oblivious to the fact that Sasuke’s entire family was dead when she made her rather tasteless comment about Naruto being an orphan. The nature of the ‘uchiha massacre’ itself also creates questions, since an entire (presumably large) clan was slaughtered in a single night, including all of the people walking out on the street and going about their business, and nobody noticed that this was happening? That stretches credulity and says to me that there must have been a very comprehensive cover-up, and unless everybody in Konoha hated the Uchiha enough to wish them all dead, it seems to me that the ‘Truth’ should still be out there somewhere, in the hands of  somebody other than Madara or Itachi…

@The Unicorn: In Suiren, the way ninja villages fit into the local politics of their ‘host’ countries varies from village to village and from country to country. The ‘Hidden Village System’ is quite young, having be created by the first Hokage, and in most countries it is overlaid atop an existing,  much older feudal system.  This has not worked out  ’amicably’ in most cases; the Fire Country is the exception, not the rule, and it is partially for this reason that Konoha grew to become the ’strongest’ of the ninja villages. 

The ‘traditional’ source of military power is the samurai class. Before the emergence of advanced bloodlines and the creation of a near-universal ‘hand seal’ system that could be used to mould chakra for use in ninjutsu and genjutsu, ‘ninja clans’ were simply lower-class  samurai families that specialized in espionage/assassination techniques, rather than open combat. The developments mentioned above ‘changed the game,’ and eventually led to a schism between the ninja clans and the samurai class. 

As matters stand in the current continuity of Suiren, the main distinction in combat ability between ninja and samurai would be that samurai, in general, have little or no ability to mould chakra for the purpose of creating most of the ‘magic-like’ effects that ninjutsu and genjutsu can produce. On the other hand, samurai tend to be far better at basic physical combat than ninja at an equivalent level of advancement.  

Some of the more esoteric  schools of samurai swordsmanship specialize in ‘elemental’ styles that make use of elemental chakra – though these tend more toward elemental ‘enhancement’ of physical attacks, rather than pure elemental attacks. Other schools have other specialties, and they all tend to be very insular. As a small spoiler, the man who struck Kurenai’s kagebunshi is a member of school in which students are taught to emit no detectable killing intent before attacks. Hopefully its easy to imagine why the Lord Haruno would want a man with such an ability as his personal bodyguard.

@The Unicorn: It is, however, an insult that Konoha can afford to make (whether it was intentional or not). Lord Haruno’s views are far from popular…

@The Unicorn: The Fire Country is enjoying a long era of relative peace. None of the more recent ‘ninja wars’ that the Konoha fought in actually took place within the Fire Country’s borders, and the Fire Country was not obliged to foot the bill for those wars because Konoha would have gone to war with our without the government’s consent.

Thus, for the Daimyo of the Fire Country, the Hidden Village (ninja mercenary) system is very much politically and economically preferable to supporting a bloated system of landless samurai who live only to fight and who are entitled to be supported (to some degree) but the state, whether or not there is any fighting to be done.  Many of these samurai actually are inferior to ninja on the battlefield as well, though such a thing could not be said for the men serving directly under the Lord Haruno; Sakura’s grandfather is a hardliner and a hawk, and he trains his men to be ready to fight any opponent they might face.  

With regard to Kurenai’s noticing the motion blur of Gin’s attack, there is much to be said for the ‘early warning system’ that most ninja rely upon. Kurenai sensed no ‘killing intent,’ so while she may normally have been able to avoid the attack with just that small visual cue, in this case she could not react fast enough – or at least that’s my justification for it ^_^;. Gin is incidentally also much, much faster than she is…

@The Unicorn: if you mean ‘prodigy,’ then yes, they do seem to get that word confused with ‘genius’ quite a bit. And yes, due to the endless power escalation of shounen manga/anime, any ‘unstoppable’ attack will probably not remain that way for very long…

@The Unicorn;@paranoid android;@The Unicorn;@shikome kido mi;@The Unicorn;@ArjunaAnja: As popular shounen stories go, Naruto is pretty bad for blatantly breaking/forgetting/making up random exceptions to ‘rules’ that have previously been ‘explained.’ At the moment, i’m inclined to say that any high-speed combat technique (such as the Lotus or the Chidori) is perfectly usable without any doujutsu such as the Sharingan or the Byakugan. All that the doujutsu ‘eye of insight’ does is allow the user to ’shortcut’ the years of training it would normally take to read and react to counterattacks at that that speed, because both the Sharingan and the Byakugan allow the user to see the motion of an enemy’s chakra before the physical attack motion even begins.  

@shikome kido mi: You are indeed correct; here, have a cookie! ^_^… 

@Black-Petal: Those are some interesting conjectures; hopefully you’ll find how the Kitsune-Tsuki actually works to be at least as interesting – and hopefully logical, reasonable and not overpowered as well.  I can dream, can’t i? The technique will be explained within the next few chapters; Kurenai is a genjutsu master (as opposed to a totally self-taught neophyte like Sakura or a medical nin who has never really needed to know too much about genjutsu, like Yoshinari), and you can bet that she is very concerned about the trouble Sakura’s ‘rogue technique’ could potentially cause for her mission.

Hmm… why is there a sprawling discussion of a hypothetical Naruto/Elfen Lied fusion fic in my story draft thread O_o;?

Oh wait – it looks like i started it; stupid me =_=;…

Anyhow, given that the topic of ‘crossover’ and ‘fusion’ stories has been near and dear to my heart since i started writing fanfiction, but it definitely doesn’t belong in a ‘Suiren’ thread, i’ve decided to just put up a separate ‘writing’ post for it. Any further discussion on this topic should go here…

Alright, for real this time… maybe; i’m still struggling with the fact that i’m not very interested in Sasuke myself, so i’m not sure if i can write him in a way that’s interesting for anyone else.

[RANT] On top of that, this scene has also made me remember what a stupid technique the Chidori is. It’s noisy and obvious, it takes several seconds to activate, it consumes a huge amount of chakra, and you need to have the Sharingan just to do it without getting yourself killed – and this qualifies as an ‘assassination technique?’ 

I can see how it might be useful, if applied intelligently against opponents that 1) are already aware of you, and 2) have vastly superior armor-based defenses (and how does any of this sound like any sort of proper ‘assassination?’), but common sense was apparently something that Kakashi either neglected to or was unable to teach. The two times Sasuke used the Chidori against Gaara he either couldn’t see Gaara’s vital points or just didn’t bother to aim for them.

I am currently at a loss for how to explain this level of idiocy.  Also, if you can attack that fast, why even bother with the Chidori? Just stab them in the face! [/RANT] 

Ugh! Anyhow, enough ranting for now. I only have a tiny bit done at the moment, and i’m dunno if i’m happy with it, but hopefully now that i’ve started i’ll be able to beat Sasuke into submission a bit more easily. Yes, this is still going to be a Sasuke and Ino scene. Yes, it still follows the previous scene; in canon, Sasuke went off to play in the woods by himself after Kakashi left to go play with Itachi. Ino comes in later, because of what Sasuke heard in this version…

Finally, as the title suggests, this section is a Work In Progress. Plus, since this is a first draft of a scene with a character that i’m uncomfortable writing, anything you read here is even more likely to get the axe than normal. You have been warned!

[Edit - March 16, 2009: Got a few paragraphs done tonight but... ugh - there are reasons i try not to write angst. I need to hurry up and write a fun character into this scene before this gets out of hand -_-;...]

[Edit - March 17, 2009: Wherein somebody else gets the wrong idea. A bit more done today; almost ready for plot movement - yay!]

[No  Edit - March 18-21, 2009: Sorry for the delay; i haven't vanished again, i'm just deciding what to do. This section was mostly to shed a little light on Sasuke's thoughts, and i already know how it ends, but i haven't decided yet whether i want to do anything special with Ino or not. It's been a while since she had any direct interaction with Sasuke, and she deserves some love and screen time too ^_^...]

[ Edit - March 23, 2009: Wherein we see how, when Sasuke is trying to be cunning and manipulative, it's just not as cute as when Sakura does it;  a few edits to earlier text, as well as a small additon that gets the ball rolling for Sasuke's tragically doomed 'master plan.' Hopefully i'll be able to finish this part today, after lunch...]

[ Edit - March 23, 2009, #2: Still writing, but I hope i can do Ino justice here; as the Leaf genin kunoichi in Naruto go, she's probably the only one that has had her act together right from the start, and she doesn't take crap from anyone; not even Sasuke...]

[ Edit - March 29, 2009: A bit of a change of pace here, since this time i did a rather large 'rip out and replace' with the end bit. Technically, i would normally call the part inside the flower shop a 'new scene,' since now it switches to Ino's perspective, but this time i'm just going to keep going in this post. I'm still not sure i want to do it like this, but i think it's informative (and fun) to see what Ino's thinking feeling at this point - and to see how much difference there is between a social hermit crab like Sasuke and relatively well-adjusted girl like Ino, who is comfortable with herself and her relationships with nearly everyone else around her (with one glaring exception)... ]

[ Edit - April 5, 2009: Sneaky people having evasive conversations are difficult and annoying to write -_-;... ]

[ Edit - April 5, 2009, #2: I think that may be it for this section! Woo! ]

Panting heavily as the high-pitched keening faded from his ears and the pain in his hand began to subside, Sasuke straightened to survey his handiwork. To his flash-blind eyes, the new gouge he’d carved into the boulder in front of him was still just a pit of murky shadows, but as he continued to squint at the hole, trying to make out how deep it was, something seemed to flicker within the gloom; a ring of gold, shining like a single eye staring back out at him.

A startled step back allowed the gray light of morning to spill into the crater over Sasuke’s shoulder, revealing a tapered, meter-deep tear in the stone, but nothing more. Snarling in disgust at the way his heart still clenched in his chest at the memory of that hungry, inhuman gaze, Sasuke tore at the wrappings on his left arm, biting down to hold back a hiss of pain as the bandages pulled off little bits of dead skin as they unraveled, leaving raw, red patches behind.

Still not good enough… Almost three weeks after Kakashi had taught him the technique, and he still couldn’t control the lightning well enough to keep from searing his own skin. Even worse, while he could feel himself growing steadily stronger, he knew he still didn’t have the stamina for a third Chidori – at least, not without a paying a far higher price than the technique normally extracted.

‘Aim well and you’ll only ever need to use it once…’

Sasuke snorted in annoyance as Kakashi’s words returned to him. Fine advice, if your opponent’s not a monster who can wrap himself in a cocoon of living sand. Even with the Sharingan, reading and evading Gaara’s attacks had taken practically all of his concentration. He’d barely had room to breathe, much less aim. But if I could’ve held onto it long enough for a second pass-

“Hmph, I might as well wish for Naruto to stop being an idiot while I’m at it,” Sasuke spat, scowling darkly as he began rooting around in his first aid kit for burn salve and gauze. He already had to fill his body with chakra until he thought he might burst just to activate the Chidori for a few seconds. It was hard to imagine the power it would take to feed it for longer than that.

Naruto might be able do it, though, Sasuke thought bitterly. As greedy as the Chidori was, compared to the chakra it must have taken to summon that giant toad… “How can there be so much difference between us?” Sliding into his guts like a traitor’s dagger, the proof of his inferiority seemed to sap the strength from Sasuke’s limbs, nearly driving him to his knees. Leaning against the boulder with his right arm over his head, Sasuke stared down at his burned, trembling left hand. “How – how can he have that kind of power?”

It was like some sort of cruel joke. Back at the academy, Naruto had always been dead last in everything. The only reason he hadn’t been kicked out was because he was too stubborn to give up and he had the endurance to keep trying over and over again until he managed to get a passing mark – but now that stupidly incredible stamina let Naruto fight on the same level as a beast like Gaara, using techniques that Sasuke couldn’t even touch, even though the numbskull still couldn’t beat a bookworm like Sakura!

Thinking of the pink-haired girl brought a fresh stab of irritation. Back at the dango shop, Asuma-sensei had suggested that Sakura might become like Orochimaru or… or that man, but the comparison was just so absurd that Sasuke couldn’t even take it seriously. What could she possibly have done for him to say that? Sakura had changed a lot since the end of the survival exam, so much that sometimes she seemed like a completely different person, but her actual skills hadn’t improved that much.

She hasn’t shown us everything, though. Unlike Naruto, who didn’t seem to care who knew about his techniques, Sakura was keeping her secrets close to her chest. Even the concealment technique she often used was still largely a mystery; Sakura was careful to hide her hands whenever she formed the seals for it, and she absolutely refused to explain how it worked, even when Naruto had gotten down on his hands and knees and begged for a hint.

She must be able to hide her chakra, somehow, Sasuke concluded, sitting down at the foot of the boulder to re-wrap his arm.

Despite what Sakura had said about her ‘best techniques’ all being genjutsu, Sasuke was starting to think that her newfound ability to elude his gaze was just some sort of advanced kakuremi no jutsu. The other improvements she’d shown were all in the use of basic tools and tactics, so it made more sense for her to have just gotten much sneakier, rather than for her to have found some way to fool the Sharingan with genjutsu.

Still, genjutsu or not, that kind of stealth would be useful to have; if only he’d found Kakashi-sensei sooner. Kakashi-sensei had mentioned that he had a mission debriefing this morning, so Sasuke first gone to look for him at the Hokage’s tower. When he’d finally found the dango shop where the jounin had gathered, it had sounded like they were talking about Sakura’s techniques, but Asuma-sensei had already moved on to this ‘Kitsune-Tsuki’ thing that had apparently gotten Sakura into so much trouble with ANBU.

Seriously, what on earth did she do? Shaking his head in confusion, Sasuke stood up and dusted himself off before absently starting toward the center of town. Knowing Sakura, she’d probably found some forgotten technique scroll that had been misfiled in the genin library, and had made a mess of trying to use it, but that still didn’t seem like it would merit the attention of Konoha’s secret police and special forces unit; Sakura just wasn’t strong enough to use any really dangerous techniques.

Unfortunately, it looked like he’d have to ask Sakura about it himself if he wanted to know more. He hadn’t been able to contain his surprise and anger at the sudden mention that man, and the teachers must have heard him; they’d stopped talking immediately and the shop had been empty when he dared to peek around the doorframe.

At least now I know why she was acting so weird, Sasuke mused, remembering the other major point that Asuma-sensei had made. ‘Mentally unstable’ was definitely one way to describe how Sakura had behaved on the day of the Hokage’s funeral. Sasuke had hardly recognized the glib, sarcastic, foul-mouthed girl that he’d seen sparring with Naruto, and afterward… Maybe that thing she did to Kiba was ‘Kitsune-Tsuki.’

Sakura had exuded an almost tangible aura of malevolence during the confrontation in the ramen shop, and although it was funny to see Kiba scream like a little girl and dump a bowl of ramen over his head, the way Sakura had kept on laughing that cruel, maniacal, bloodthirsty laugh, even long after the dog-boy had fled… While Sasuke hadn’t been avoiding her or anything since then, he was almost glad their team hadn’t been given any missions lately; without Kakashi-sensei, they’d only be allowed to do pointless D-rank missions, anyway.

Still, this left Sasuke with a lot of time on his hands. He could only practice the Chidori once a day, since any more than that would leave him too exhausted to do anything else. There had to be a faster way to build up his stamina, but Kakashi-sensei had been resistant to the idea of teaching him any other techniques; every time Sasuke asked, the jounin would blow him off with the excuse that he’d teach them all something new once he had more time to supervise them.

Dammit, this is all their fault! Snarling in frustration, Sasuke kicked a small stone out of his path, watching as it ricocheted off of three trees before disappearing into the underbrush. Naruto was an idiot who needed to have everything explained to him ten times before he finally got it, and Sakura had apparently caused so much trouble while he was gone that she wasn’t allowed to study on her own anymore, but there was no reason for Kakashi-sensei to hold him back too!

I can’t let them keep getting in my way like this! If Kakashi-sensei wasn’t going to help him, then he’d just have to help himself – and he could start by learning the two good techniques that Naruto currently held over him. He knew Kuchinose no jutsu would be useless unless he could find a summoning contract to sign, but the Kagebunshin would definitely be a powerful addition to his arsenal – especially combined with the Chidori.

Asking Naruto to teach him the Kagebunshin would be humiliating and difficult, but that was where Sakura could make herself useful. She obviously had nowhere near the chakra reserves necessary to use it, but if he could get Sakura to take an academic interest in the technique, he was willing to bet that Naruto would be happy to explain it to her – perhaps in exchange for her explaining her stealth technique, which would be a double win for him.

Of course, while it seemed like a reasonable plan and he had nothing better to do today, first Sasuke would need to find his teammates. Locating Naruto wouldn’t be hard, since he could reliably be found at Ichiraku Ramen at least twice a day, but catching Sakura might be a bit more of a chore. Naruto had once asked him if he knew where Sakura went when she wasn’t at home or hanging out with Ino, and while he’d told Naruto to figure it out for himself, Sasuke had honestly never given it much thought.

After a moment of consideration, Sasuke was forced to admit that he had no idea what Sakura did with her days; before, he would’ve guessed that she spent all of her free time stalking him, but Sakura had gotten much… better about that, lately. I suppose she might be off training somewhere, he mused uncertainly, resisting the sudden, irrational urge to activate the Sharingan and look around.

Sasuke was half-tempted to swing by the Hokage’s tower again to see if Sakura had booked time at any of the public training grounds, but since he was already in the area he decided to check the flower shop first. Even if Sakura wasn’t there, Ino would probably be able to point him in the right direction – provided he could put up with her for long enough, that is.

Humming softly a she skimmed an article on recent hair-style trends in the capitol, Yamanaka Ino looked up from her magazine to check the time. Already 10:30? She still had half an hour before she had to meet with her team, but it would probably be good to start closing up shop. Dad won’t be back until late tonight, after all – and with any luck, neither will I!

A grin of anticipation curled Ino’s lips as she went to take in the potted plants that were on display in front the shop. With Sakura gone, her teammates probably don’t have much to do other than train, Ino surmised, grinning wider as she imagined a certain broodingly handsome boy moving through a slow taijutsu kata, his body flushed and glistening with sweat.

For now, Ino had no illusions about tearing Sasuke away from his training to spend some quality time with her, but he was still a teenaged boy. As one of the prettiest and most capable young kunoichi in the village (if she did say so herself), Ino was confident that she’d be able to wear down his resistance enough for at least a date or two; he couldn’t deny nature forever…

Unless he’s also… no. Nonononono! Shaking her head violently to dislodge that rogue fantasy, Ino began closing out the till, her fingers stabbing the ancient mechanical keys with unnecessary force. Sasuke definitely wasn’t happy after that little ‘kiss’ with Naruto, back at the academy, so he can’t be… he’s probably just too caught up in being ’serious’ to think about chasing girls right now.

Ino had a few ideas on how to fix that problem, though, now that she had time to work on him in earnest. Asuma-sensei had only been able to arrange a few short team meetings since the war, and he usually just told them to go get a D-rank mission to do, but today he’d promised them at least an hour. Likely, he’d be teaching them some new technique or tactic that they could practice on their own, which meant that after he left, Shikamaru would quickly lose interest and Ino would be free for the rest of the day!

On top of that, today was the second day of Sakura’s long mission, and Ino was finally starting to feel a bit less crazy. Yesterday she’d been total basket case; between worrying about what Sakura had told her and squirming over how close the pink-haired girl had come to openly flirting with her the day before, Ino had been so distracted that she’d ruined an entire 15-piece funeral arrangement and she’d been forced to close the shop all afternoon while she fixed it.

Not today, though! No more distractions! Sakura’s mission to the Wind Country would go smoothly and when she got back Ino would sit her down and they’d have a long talk about Sakura’s real feelings and get this whole mess sorted out before anyone got hurt and Sakura would find some other girl to like and she’d help Ino bag Sasuke and everything would be fine!

Slamming the cash drawer shut so abruptly that she nearly took the tips off of two of her fingers, Ino leveled her 100,000-volt professional ’smile of denial’ at the doorway as she sensed someone walking in. “I’m sorry, but we’re – Sasuke-kun!”

Hurtling the shop counter and crossing the room in one smooth motion, Ino pounced on the grim-faced boy before he had a chance to get his bearings. Grabbing him up in an ambush hug, Ino gave Sasuke a quick squeeze, and then loosened her grip so that she could look at his face. “I haven’t seen you in forever!” she exclaimed, ignoring the way his shoulders had stiffened under her arms.

“Yamanaka,” Sasuke hissed through clenched teeth. It was probably meant to be a greeting, but his cold, coal-black eyes were clearly screaming ‘Go away!’ as they bore down on her collarbone, as though he were trying to push her away with his gaze.

That was one of the funny, unexpected things she’d discovered about Sasuke; he could have easily escaped her grasp, or even avoided her ‘attack’ entirely, but he never did. Instead, he just glared and sulked and refused to respond. It was actually kind of cute, in a ’spoiled little prince’ sort of way, and Ino couldn’t resist teasing him about it – especially since no other girl in their class had ever dared to.

Still, Ino didn’t want to press her luck too far. Disengaging, she backed away a step to give Sasuke some room. “So, what can I do for you today?” she asked, linking her hands behind her back and leaning forward to grin up at Sasuke’s scowling face. “I can’t imagine you’re looking for flowers, so you must be here for something else.”

For a moment Ino thought he might snap at her, but then his expression relaxed, a secretive smile teasing his lips. “Actually, I suppose you could say that I’m looking for a flower,” Sasuke replied in smoky, smoldering voice that brought a flash of heat to Ino’s cheeks. Caught of guard, she nearly missed the look of triumph that flashed across his face as he added, “Have you seen Sakura today?”

The blonde kunoichi felt her mask begin to slip as she held back a grimace of chagrin. Hmph, he says he’s not interested in girls, but I’ll bet he spends an hour every morning practicing that look in the mirror, Ino decided, her playful mood swiftly evaporating. While that was probably just the reaction Sasuke was hoping for, Ino’s annoyance soon turned to worry as Sasuke continued to peer at her expectantly.

Don’t tell me he really is looking for her… Sakura had mentioned a few times that she was having trouble talking to her teammates, but Ino found it very hard to believe her painfully insecure rival would just skip town like that, without even telling them. That would only make things even more awkward for her when she got back.

Unless she wasn’t allowed to tell them, Ino realized with a start. After all, she did say that she wasn’t supposed to be talking to me about it, either. Given that Sakura had been forced to ‘quit’ being a ninja as part of the prep for her mission, Ino could see how they might have forbidden her from having any contact with her ‘former’ teammates.

But then why did she tell me? That idiot! Ino fought the urge to grind her teeth in frustration. Normally, Sakura was one of the most careful, meticulous people that Ino knew, but her common sense seemed to switch itself off whenever she got emotionally involved. Ino was still glad that Sakura had chosen to confide in her, but now she had to figure out what she was supposed to tell everyone else.

For now, I guess I’ll just play dumb. Affecting a sheepish look that strained her fragile smile almost to the breaking point, Ino injected a bit of hesitation into her body language. “Um… the last time I saw her was a couple days ago,” she confessed, watching Sasuke closely to make sure he’d hadn’t caught on. “Why, is something wrong?”

Sasuke’s expression soured, but he didn’t stalk off in a huff like Ino had half-expected he would. Instead, the Uchiha heir crossed his arms and looked to the side, as if considering his options, before asking in a guarded tone, “What do you know about a technique called the ‘Kitsune-Tsuki?’”

Probably about as much as you do, Ino thought ruefully. While there was a chance that Sasuke already knew more than she did, Ino’s gut told her that he was fishing for info. Maybe Sakura had told him the same thing she’d told Ino, or maybe he’d overheard her talking with Kakashi-sensei about it, but Ino got the definite sense that Sasuke was trying very hard to hide how few of the cards he was really holding.

“I know a little about it,” Ino replied defensively, making a show of shoring up her wounded pride; after that nasty bait and switch he’d pulled on her before, Sasuke deserved to sweat a bit. “Sakura used it on me once, though I didn’t know what it was at the time,” she added, sweetening the bait with the promise of a first-hand account.

Ino had to swallow a whoop of triumph as Sasuke’s brows drew together in the middle of his forehead. Gotcha! Though he didn’t press her to continue, the frown of impatience on his face told her all she needed to know. Now she just had to explain that she needed to leave for a team meeting, but she would be happy to hook up with later, so they could ‘talk.’

As Ino was preparing to open ‘negotiations,’ however, a new presence suddenly made itself known – and only a few feet away! Turning along with Sasuke, Ino blinked in surprise at the petite woman in ANBU armor that now stood on the threshold, one hand planted on her hip though she’d been waiting for them to notice her.

Immediately, Ino was reminded of another mysterious, masked visitor that had burst through that very same doorway over a month ago, but while the slender, washboard-flat figure looked about right, Ino was fairly certain that this wasn’t Sakura in disguise. Aside from the fact that Sakura was supposed to be out of town, there were a few other details that didn’t fit; her close-trimmed brown hair was a far cry from Sakura’s shoulder-length pink locks, and the stylized, red-on-white animal mask that hid her face clearly declared her a hunter-nin.

Wait, wasn’t Sakura wearing a hunter-nin mask when she met with Anko later that day? In the flurry of confusion and hurt feelings that had followed that unfortunate incident, Ino had completely forgotten about that weird little detail, but she’d definitely have to ask Sakura about it when she got back.

“Yamanaka Ino?”

“Ah!” Snapped out of her musings, Ino lifted her head to focus on the source of the unfamiliar voice “Yes, that’s me,” she replied, absently noting that the ANBU sounded somewhat older than she looked.

The masked woman nodded in acknowledgement. “Your jounin instructor, Sarutobi Asuma, has been detained by other duties and will not be able to meet with your team as scheduled,” she explained. “Instead, I have been authorized to assign your team a C-rank delivery mission, to be completed under your own recognizance.” Reaching into the square leather case on her left hip, the ANBU pulled out three small scrolls and offered them to Ino.

WHAT? Ino almost said shouted out loud, but she managed to maintain enough outward composure to accept the scrolls with only a nod and a look of inquiry. WHY? Why now? Why today? Turning to Sasuke, Ino was about to tell him that she’d get in contact with him when her team got back, but then the ANBU spoke up once more.

“Uchiha Sasuke?” the rat-masked woman intoned. At Sasuke’s suspicious nod, she continued, “Your jounin instructor, Hatake Kakashi, has also been detained by other duties. By the authority of the village council, you are hereby ordered to accompany me immediately to a secure location, where you will remain until further notice.”

GOD DAMMIT!

つづく (To be continued – Section Complete?)

Surprise, no writing here yet! I’m just sticking up this placeholder for now because i’m still trying to decide whether to write the next section from Sasuke’s point of view or Ino’s. I try to write in third-person limited mode rather than third-person omnicient, so the character i choose as the ‘focus’ for a particular section has a huge impact on the ‘flavor’ of the narrative and what i can and cannot portray.

I’m more comfortable with writing from Ino’s point of view, since i’ve already put in a lot of the head-against-the-wall frustration of figuring out how to portray her in earlier chapters.  I also like her more than i like Sasuke, which always helps. Sasuke, on the other hand, would probably have more interesting things going through his head in this part, since it comes right on the heels of the last scene and all the disturbing things that were said therein…

Bleah… anyhow, until i can work this thing out in my head, i’m going to be staring at a blank page grinding my teeth and pulling my hair out, which is just so much fun, i don’t know why someone hasn’t figured out a way to bottle this feeling and sell it; they could make a killing…

There’s been some speculation about the events at the end of the last section, so while  i don’t have time to start writing the next section at this particular moment, i guess i can put up this little ‘bridge’ that goes between them. As usual, this is a Work In Progress, and thus subject to change upon my every fickle whim…

But anyhow, the show goes on! 

“Hey, wasn’t that-?”

“Yes.”

“Ah… He looked pretty upset. Think he recognized you?”

“Perhaps… but more likely he was just disgusted by his own weakness.”

“Heh, that’s cute. Doesn’t want anyone else to catch up to you before he does, eh?”

“…”

“So is it true?”

“Hmm?”

“Are there really genjutsu that can fool even your eyes?”

“…”

“What?”

“Enough talk; our ‘escorts’ have arrived.”

“Ooh! How does my hair look?”

“…” 

つづく (To be continued – Section Complete)

Well, i promised that i’d have more writing up by today… and dammit, i do!

I can see you back there! Put away the torches and the barbecue sauce! The pitchforks you can keep – but no using them unless i get really lazy again!

I’m not done yet today, either, but since i am posting this stuff as i write it and i have to put this down for a little bit right now, i might as well show you what i’ve got. Yes, i do procrastinate like a fiend! No, this scene isn’t final in any way, shape or form – even the characters involved might change, so don’t get too comfortable! It’s hard for me to write these guys, since they are (in my opinion) less interesting than Sakura-chan, and have distinctive traits that i’m less familiar with… well, actually, it might be fun to write this scene from Gai’s perspective, now that i think about it, but that would also be less edifying to the reader, since he’s probably the least involved character.

Anyhow, I’ll be back! I hope to have this (probably short) scene in some sort of finished form today, so i can move on to the next, which has Ino, Sasuke, and maybe even Kiba in it (i haven’t decided on that one yet either). What i’m trying to figure out for this scene is how much really i really need to show, and how much Asuma would actually care about Kakashi’s rapidly evolving (or degenerating?) team dynamics, beyond how Sakura’s behavior is affecting Ino.

P.S.: Yes this is that teashop, on that day; if you know what i’m talking about, then you can probably guess roughly how this scene ends…

[Edit - March 3, 2009: Added a teensy bit more. I'm still working on this, so I hope you didn't think i was just going to end this scene there...]

[Edit - March 5, 2009: A few more paragraphs done, and a few small edits. Hopefully not finished yet for today. In other news: threaded comments! Yay!]

[Edit - March 5, 2009 #2: A couple more paragraphs; more tomorrow. Now Kakashi really starts to look out of touch...]

[Edit - March 6, 2009: Only a little done today, but tomorrow's the weekend and the scene's almost finished!]

[Edit - March 8, 2009: A larger update this time, and maybe  i'll have time for another later today; this part gets kinda heavy with the expository internal monologue, but hopefully that isn't a bad thing since i finally get around to explaining one of Sakura's 'tricks'...]

[Edit - March 8, 2009 #2: Section's almost done! Just one tiny little bit left to write (with our two little black-and-red  'flies on the wall' for this whole fiasco.) Unfortnately, now i can't decide where i want to end the Asuma-Kakash-Gai portion of the scene. The two potential stopping points i see are in red type... ]

Brushing aside the short curtain that hung before his face, Sarutobi Asuma briefly scanned the front room of the riverside teashop out of habit. This particular dive was famous around the village for its three-color dango, so it wasn’t uncommon to find the Leaf’s most notorious junk-food junkie, Mitarashi Anko, lounging around here between missions. As infuriating as the woman was, she usually dragged Kurenai along to keep her company, which made his frequent visits to the place worth it, even if he didn’t particularly care for dango.

On this occasion, though, Asuma was disappointed; neither kunoichi appeared to be present. Figures; the one time I’d actually settle for Anko, and not even she shows up. He did spot the man he’d actually come to meet, however: Hatake Kakashi was seated at a table near the front of the room, facing the entrance.

A hint of what might have been a rare grimace pinched the gray-haired ninja’s eye as he look up, drawing Asuma’s attention to the figure seated across from him. Maito Gai’s uniquely… bracing appearance was slightly less noticeable when he was looking the other way, but the ‘Proud Green Beast of Konoha’ corrected that lapse immediately.

Turning halfway around, Gai wore an almost comically serious expression. “Ah – Asuma, you have arrived!” he announced loud enough for anyone in the village who cared to hear, beckoning the bearded man to take a place next to him on the bench across from Kakashi.

Eh, why not? With a shrug, Asuma obliged, scooting onto the bench and waving down a waitress. “Gai, Kakashi; thanks for coming,” he greeted tersely, reaching for his cigarettes and lighter.

He hadn’t really planned on speaking with Gai, but it was possible that the other jounin would know something that Kakashi didn’t – and if Gai was going to stick around, Asuma much preferred the option of not having to stare at those absurd eyebrows the entire time. The damn things looked so ridiculous, it was almost hypnotic.

Unfortunately, it appeared that he’d arrived just in time to witness another one of Gai’s infamous ‘challenges.’ Gripping Asuma’s shoulder as if to keep the larger man from running away, Gai fixed him with a look of such terrible consternation that it was like there was a pair of woolly black bison crashing together in the middle of his forehead.

“Asuma,” Gai intoned, gravely. “Since you became a jounin, how many genin teams have you mentored to the point where you were satisfied that they could manage their own training?”

Slightly surprised that he was suddenly the topic of conversation, Asuma glanced askance at Kakashi, but the face of the man across the table remained as inscrutable as ever. “Four or six,” Asuma replied guardedly. “Depends on how you count the kids that died or decided that they weren’t cut out to be ninja.”

Nodding sagely, Gai continued. “And from all your demonstrated experience in nurturing these young, beautiful souls to the full bloom of maturity, have you discovered any special needs that must be taken into consideration when there is a freshly-graduated kunoichi on your team?”

Ooh… Now he saw where this was going. Gai wasn’t challenging Kakashi; he was trying to force his ‘eternal rival’ to eat crow – possibly for the first time ever. Humming thoughtfully, Asuma gave Gai a measuring glance. Normally he would have been happy to just stay out of Gai’s little one-sided war of one-upmanship with Kakashi, but given his own reasons for seeking out the copy ninja, he decided to play along this time.

With an almost imperceptible tightening of the muscles around his eyes, Asuma darted a glance toward the hand on his shoulder, which was promptly removed. Gai’s expression didn’t change, but Asuma could almost feel the taujutsu master giving him a big, ‘Tag-In Complete!’ thumbs up. Trying to shake off that unsettling image, he took a long, lazy drag on his cigarette and turned to Kakashi, leaning forward and blowing the smoke out of his nostrils as he stared directly into the other man’s half-lidded eye.

“Actually, there are a few extra things you need to worry about when you’re training new kunoichi,” Asuma observed in a matter-of fact tone. “For one, girls mature faster than boys. At around the age that most kids graduate from the academy, the boys all still think they’re invincible while the girls are already starting to realize that there might be more rewarding ways to spend the best years of their lives.

“This is mostly a good a thing,” Asuma noted. “I’m sure you’d agree, Kakashi, that a lot of these kids just aren’t worthy of becoming ninja.” Taking another puff on his cigarette, Asuma looked from one man to the other. From what little he could read of Kakashi’s body language, the laid-back jounin was either taking his medicine well or not taking it at all, but Gai was doing a reasonably good job of not looking like a fool.

“Of course, even when you do get a girl that’s willing to put in the blood, sweat and tears that it takes to become a ninja, you still usually have to spend the first year or so training her twice as hard as you train the boys, just so she can catch up,” Asuma proclaimed darkly, planting his elbows on the table and clenching his hands in front of his face as he prepared to pound this next point into the copy ninja’s thick head for all he was worth.

“That’s the other thing you have to remember,” he continued, donning a tight, thin-lipped frown under his laced fingers. “While boys get to spend a lot of their time at the academy doing drills to hone their strengths, girls are forced to spend that time taking extra ‘kunoichi classes’ so that they can learn to become ‘infiltrators.’” A job that most of them still ended up being woefully ill-suited for, if Kurenai had anything to say about it (and she usually did).

Heh, I’m gonna have to get Gai to brag about this for me later, when she’s around. Resisting the urge to smile, Asuma cleared his throat and forced his thoughts back on topic. “As a result, most new kunoichi don’t even know what their strengths are, let alone how to develop them. They get discouraged easily and end up falling even further behind if you don’t give them enough attention.” Raising one eyebrow pointedly, Asuma shared a meaningful glance with Gai, which he then turned on Kakashi. “Most girls do, anyway; your Sakura-chan, on the other hand, seems to have the opposite problem-”

“NO!”

“Eh?” Startled by Gai’s sudden and profoundly vocal denial, Asuma turned to see the man beside him holding up the ‘Defiant Fist of Youthful Purity that Shakes with Rage at the Injustice of the World.’ Damn, I can’t believe I remembered all that. Wait – is he crying? Please tell me he’s not crying!

Indeed, a veritable river of manly tears coursed down each of Gai’s cheeks as he shook his head sadly at Asuma – despite the fact that he hadn’t seemed the least bit misty-eyed just moments before. “Do not be mistaken, my comrade in the joys of teaching!” he declared, again placing his non-righteously-trembling fist on Asuma’s shoulder. “I do not disagree with what you say – indeed, your words are like echoes from the mountain, resounding with nature’s wisdom! You only misspeak in naming that darling, lost child as Kakashi’s, for today – today, my poor, misguided rival is truly undone!”

“Am I, now?” Deigning to address his accusers for the first time, Kakashi gave Gai a mildly withering look. “I don’t see how it’s any business of yours what the kids on my team do, but the choice to move forward or not was always Sakura’s to make,” he corrected flatly, lifting his cup to take a sip of tea through his mask. “A kunoichi should be mature enough to make these decisions for herself – right?” Kakashi glanced askance at Asuma, as if waiting for him to affirm his earlier words.

Gai wasn’t having any of it, however. “Enough!” he bellowed, slicing his hand through the air and leaning over the table to glare at his stone-faced rival. “How can you call this anything but a direct result of your dereliction of duty as a teacher? The choice may have been that girl’s to make, but you didn’t have to make the decision harder by denying her any direction at all! When she finally came to me seeking the guidance that her teacher should have been there to provide her, she was already half-dead from throwing herself, day after day, at the walls of neglect that you had built around her!”

“Whoa, whoa!” Holding up his hands for silence, Asuma looked from one angry jounin to the other; while it wasn’t uncommon for Gai to get worked up over nothing, those coolly sarcastic replies that Kakashi was suddenly so quick to throw off were like fighting words for another man. He was still a little unclear about what exactly had happened, but at least it was no mystery who the subject of their dispute was. “Did something happen to Sakura-chan?” Asuma asked, putting on his game face in the hopes that level heads would prevail.

“She quit,” Kakashi supplied with surprising candor, though he might have only answered because Gai looked ready to make another damning proclamation. “Retired from active duty, effective immediately,” he clarified airily, like was talking about the weather, “though I only know about it because the processor at my last mission debriefing informed me that my team had been taken off of ‘ready’ status until a replacement could be found.”

“Oh.” Though was already sitting down, Kakashi’s casual indictment of his former student left Asuma feeling like he’d just been dropped on his behind. Sheesh, no wonder they’re pissed… To those who knew what had happened to Kakashi’s own genin team, it was no secret that the man had some ‘abandonment’ issues, and ‘quit’ was practically a dirty word for Gai. Hell, if Shikamaru ever really does decide that being a ninja is too much of a hassle, I hope he at least gives me a little warning first.

But none of this sounded like the Haruno Sakura that Ino had told him about; the girl who had spent two weeks locked in her room, beating her head against a stack of genjutsu texts, trying to find a counter to the Shintenshin – and then another two weeks letting Maito Gai administer the beatings for her. She might be a masochist, especially considering the people she hangs out with, but she doesn’t sound like a quitter.

On top of that, Sakura had apparently spent the last two weeks trying to convince Ino to teach her the new ‘Kusashibari’ technique she’d created – Because ANBU won’t let Sakura develop her own techniques anymore… An ominous thought occurred to him. “Are you sure she wasn’t forced out?” Asuma asked, lowering his voice.

“Why would anyone do such a thing?” Gai demanded, directing another accusing glare at Kakashi. “Despite the considerable handicaps she was forced to overcome, hasn’t Sakura-chan proven herself worthy of being a ninja of the Hidden Leaf? Hokage-sama even went so far as to assign her a mentor to compensate for her teacher’s shortcomings – though I still cannot fathom his reasons for choosing that woman.” Suddenly, the taijutsu master’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, as though he’d just had a terrible epiphany.

While Asuma hadn’t even considered the possibility that Anko alone might be enough to inspire thoughts of desertion, the gray-hared ninja seemed to have a better inkling of what he was suggesting. “ANBU?” Kakashi prompted quietly, one narrowed eye proclaiming that Asuma now had his undivided attention – despite the several blatant jabs that Gai had just taken at him and the look of thwarted fury that now purpled his self-proclaimed rival’s face.

“It’s possible,” Asuma observed, edging slightly away from the volcano of seething displeasure that now threatened to erupt on his side of the table, but it appeared that Gai was concerned enough by this new development to contain himself… for now. Tapping the ash from his cigarette, Asuma turned back to Kakashi. “Ino told me how they’ve been keeping an eye on Sakura-chan to make sure she doesn’t whip up any more kinjutsu-”

He stopped; nothing about Kahashi’s aura or body language had changed, but his gut told him that something was wrong. The man had seemed to… tense, for just a moment. “Sakura-chan didn’t tell you that one of her techniques had been declared forbidden?” Asuma asked carefully, after a few seconds of pregnant silence.

A tiny twitch of the wrist sent ripples skittering across the surface of the liquid in Kakashi’s teacup. Though he showed no other reaction, that small, reflexive jerk spoke volumes about his state of mind; had Gai been holding that teacup, it would’ve either been crushed to pieces in his hand or smashed against the far wall of the shop.

“Sakura hasn’t been very forthcoming about the training she did while Sasuke and I were away,” Kakashi replied, his flat voice and expression doing ever less to mask the bite of betrayal in his words. “While her physical condition and battle tactics have improved considerably, the only new ‘technique’ I’ve seen her use is a concealment genjutsu; some kind of Tenka Mikaku, I guess, but not something I’d have pegged as a forbidden technique.”

Despite Kakashi’s blasé delivery, Asuma couldn’t help but sit up in surprise when the name registered. “Seriously? She can use that level of technique?” While he wasn’t exactly an expert on genjutsu, many of the dangerous ladies he kept company with were, and he’d heard the term ‘Tenka Mikaku’ before – usually in reference to particularly well-executed assassinations.

Kakashi just nodded, glancing down at his tea. “She’s figured out some way to combine the delivery method and ‘filtering’ into a simple sort of ‘presence mask’ that she cloaks herself in,” he explained, sounding a little proud in spite of his outward indifference. “Her technique doesn’t have very good range or persistence, but it’s definitely Tenka Mikaku; the Sharingan’s ‘eye of insight’ provides no inherent protection against it.”

“That’s… impressive,” Asuma mused appreciatively, noting that Gai had a look of consternation on his face – not surprising, considering that he probably had no idea what they were talking about. Gai had never advanced beyond chuunin-level genjutsu, in favor of a much more ‘physical’ focus.

Tenka Mikaku, literally ‘The World is Uncertain,’ were genjutsu that affected targets solely on the subconscious level. Instead of crafting complex sensory illusions, they worked by manipulating the brain’s innate information management systems, subverting instinct, intuition and emotional response to cause the target’s mind to ‘misinterpret’ the information it was provided.

This made Tenka Mikaku techniques very subtle and difficult to resist, but also extremely ‘primitive,’ in terms of the effects they could produce. As such, while they were often incorporated into more complex illusions, Kurenai claimed to know of only a handful of ‘pure’ Tenka Mikaku that were useful in combat – and none of those were below B-rank.

Now I’m surprised that trap Ino and Shikamaru came up with to catch her actually worked. Shaking his head slightly, Asuma said, “-but no, that’s not the technique I was thinking of. Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” Leaning forward again, Asuma waited until Kakashi and Gai reluctantly joined the huddle before continuing. “So I’m guessing Sakura-chan hasn’t told you anything about a technique called ‘Kitsune-Tsuki’?”

A deep frown crinkled Kakashi’s brow, and the look of alarm on Gai’s face almost made Asuma chuckle, but he managed hold it in; he hadn’t come here to scare them, and this was no laughing matter. “Yeah; I doubt it’s related,” he reassured them, carefully skirting the Hokage’s law, “-but, I haven’t been able to find out much about it. Ino asked me to look into it, since this technique has apparently caused Sakura-chan nothing but trouble,” he admitted ruefully.

Looking to Kakashi, Asuma searched the other man’s face, but the copy ninja didn’t seem to have anything to add. Damn, it looks like she really hasn’t told him anything. Asuma was almost starting to feel sorry for the guy, but if one of his own students had managed to hide this much from him, then Kakashi deserved whatever he got. Unless Sakura-chan had help…

Frowning, Asuma snuffed his cigarette in the ashtray at his elbow and tried to organize his thoughts. “First, this ‘Kitsune-Tsuki’ is dangerous to use, and may cause mental instability.” Ino’s exact words had been, ‘It makes Sakura-chan go crazy,’ but Kakashi and Gai both looked upset enough at it was. “Second, once ANBU found out about it, they declared it forbidden so fast that, even for a self-damaging technique, Sakura-chan probably set some sort of new record.”

That statement caused a bit of tense eye contact across the table, but neither Gai nor Kakashi looked ready to interrupt, so Asuma decided not to ask. “Third,” he continued, finally getting to the meat of his argument, “to keep her out of trouble, ANBU slapped Sakura-chan with a broad injunction against any further unsupervised research. Now, with a record like that, you have to wonder if someone higher up didn’t start to get a little nervous; if they thought she might turn into another Orochimaru or Uchiha Itachi-”

A sharp intake of breath and a flash of intense hostility from somewhere behind him made Asuma stop, but as he turned to look back, the pair of black-clad figures sitting at the next table over suddenly vanished. Asuma was on his feet, alarm bells screaming in his head, almost before he recognized the telltale caress of wind on his skin that said someone had just run past him using Shunshin no jutsu, and then the chase was on, and there was no more time for thought.

つづく (To be continued – Section Complete)

Writer’s block can be defined as a ‘technical difficulty,’ can’t it? Ugh…

So the delay hasn’t been quite as… short as i’d expected it to be, but i’m currently working two-jobs-in-one (my old job, which they haven’t hired anyone else to fill yet, as well as my new job; isn’t being a white-collar drone fun?), and i haven’t been motivated to do anything with my free time involving thought in what seems like forever – but worry not! I’ve still got a whole six months before this becomes another year-long delay, which i promised not to subject you folks to; at least that’s a good thing, right? Right? I hope to get back on the ball soon, but if i haven’t got more writing up here within two weeks, you have my official sanction to form a disorderly mob and begin to hold ‘effigy burning’ parties…

In other (happier) news, i recently got some awesome fanart from Black-Petal:

Thank you so much! You can check out her gallery (which also includes a larger version of this pic) by clicking on the pic or going to http://black-petal.deviantart.com

Aaaaaand the first section of chapter fourteen is complete- i think! Now we shall turn our all-seeing eye to what certain other ninja are doing with themselves on this fine day…

Unfortunately, the second section of this chapter may be slower in coming than the first, as i’m preparing to go on vacation (taken in small chunks over the next few weeks, interspersed with terrifyingly frenetic days of catch-up at work), so i may not have much time to write -_-;…

This isn’t going to be another year-long delay, though; this chapter is actually mostly planned out already (which is rarer for me than a lot of you might think O_o;). I just need to find the time and the enthusiasm to write all of the other characters that just happen to not be quite as much fun to write as Haruno Sakura…

At any rate, this is still only the first section of many, and very much a Work In Progress. The resident ex-monk might have a word or two to say about the ephemeral nature of all human experience, but needless to say, the illusion of permanence held by this little bit of storytelling is somewhat more tenuous than most…

“Are you sure you’ve got all of your gear? They didn’t take anything, did they?” Standing in the doorway of the small security room, Sakura tried to visually locate all of the equipment that Hinata had been carrying the day before.

“It’s fine, Sakura-chan,” Hinata assured her with a nervous smile as she knelt to strap on her thigh holster. “Everything’s here; I checked.” Once the leather case containing the bulk of her weapons was properly secured, Hinata twisted around to slip on the shoulder straps of her backpack and stood up.

Sakura’s own smile was slightly strained as she watched Hinata make her final checks. A good night’s sleep had done wonders for the pale girl’s spirits, but now that she was looking for them, Sakura could detect some hints that Hinata was still more tired than she was letting on. The curse seal was probably putting a considerable strain on her body while it healed.

At least it’s not like the Heaven Seal, Sakura told herself, absently rubbing her shoulder to dispel the pain of remembering that evil mark. As horrible as the Branch Family Seal was, the worst it could do was kill you. ‘The lucky ones are the ones that die,’ Sakura mused with a shudder, wishing she could be happier that Sasuke had survived.

Wrenching herself back to the present, Sakura frowned at the smaller girl. “I told you to just call me ‘Sakura,’” she chided gently, stepping forward to pick at the sleeve of Hinata’s baggy jacket, “and if you’re not gonna wear any weapons or armor under this, you definitely need to get something that fits you better!”

Giving her friend a sly look, Sakura released Hinata’s sleeve, ghosting her fingertips along the inside of Hinata’s arm to cup a handful of well-concealed breast. “Remember, if I can’t see ‘em, I might have to ‘check’ to make sure they’re there,” she warned with a playful squeeze.

Sakura chuckled as Hinata squeaked out a mortified, “S-sorry!” and stumbled away.

Part of her still railed at abusing the poor girl like this, but it was a rapidly diminishing part. Dammit, it’s for her own good! If Hinata could to just get over that shyness, Sakura was sure she would feel so much better about herself! As such, Sakura was determined to grope, fondle, tease, tickle and torment the timid girl until Hinata either learned to appreciate the attention or made her stop. Either way, Hinata would be better for it.

And if I keep telling myself that, maybe I won’t feel so guilty about enjoying it so much. Sakura would kill herself before admitting it to Anko, but having an outlet for her… less ‘inhibited’ side was actually kind of addicting- and while the cat was away…

Knuckling her forehead, Sakura breathed an exasperated sigh. “Don’t apologize, Hinata, I’m just being an idiot again,” she muttered. As much fun as it would be to play with Hinata some more, the other girl really didn’t need any extra worries today. Goddammit Grandpa, why do you always have to be such a dick?

when the men had come to inform them that Kurenai had already been sent away, it had been all Sakura could do to keep Hinata from having a nervous breakdown. And what the hell was with that lame excuse? I don’t remember telling anyone that we didn’t want to be disturbed! Eventually, Sakura had been able to convince Hinata that everything would be fine if she left the next morning, rather than chasing after her teacher in the middle of the night, but it had taken a surprising amount of cajoling.

In the end, it was the pragmatic approach that had finally won her over (though the genjutsu-enhanced puppy-dog eyes probably hadn’t hurt). Osawaramachi wasn’t the closest town, but Sakura knew from experience that it only had one halfway-decent inn. That was probably why her grandfather had chosen it as the meeting place; easier to keep track of the ninja that way. By the same token, it would be easier for Hinata to find Kurenai there as well.

Sakura still felt dirty for picking on Hinata’s nonfunctional Byakugan like that, but she was willing to play the villain if that’s what it took to keep her friends safe. Sending Hinata off to scour the wilderness night-blind, exhausted and alone was unacceptable. Thanks to her arm-twisting, Hinata was reasonably calm and well-rested, and had a good idea of where to start looking- but the ‘alone’ part was still a problem.

“I wish I could go with you,” Sakura murmured unhappily. Her grandfather had requested that she stay at the castle until he selected a representative, but that meant she wouldn’t be able to help Hinata present her case to Kurenai. “I don’t understand why I can’t just go and come back. I’d only be gone half a day, at most,” she spat a bitterly.

“I’m sure your grandfather has a reason,” Hinata consoled her with a bittersweet smile that said she was disappointed as well. “B-But you don’t need to worry about me,” Hinata added with a bit of forced cheer, obviously trying to lighten the mood. “I know Kurenai-sensei will make the right choice.”

Sakura resisted the urge to scoff. She didn’t have a lot of personal experience with the woman, but Anko’s feelings on the matter were painfully clear. For Yuuhi Kurenai, the ‘right choice’ would be to send Hinata home. The political calculus of the situation was just too hazy right now to allow for any other option- and Hinata would accept that, because she knew her teacher to be cautious and sensible and wise; well-deserving of her faith and trust.

“Don’t just let her send you away,” Sakura commanded with an unyielding stare. “It’s her mission and her decision, but the only thing she should consider when she makes that decision is whether or not she wants you to participate- as her student, and as a ninja.” Sakura reached up to tap the plate of Hinata’s forehead protector directly over the curse seal. “This is what you chose; this is your responsibility. Make her understand that.”

For a moment Sakura was afraid that she’d said too much, as Hinata’s expression clouded with discomfort, but then a knot of tension formed in the middle of the white-eyed girl’s brow. “Mmm…” Hinata acknowledged with a slow nod, like the frown on her face suddenly weighed a thousand pounds. “I… I’ll try,” she managed in a firmer tone. Hinata wasn’t happy with the idea of confronting her teacher, but she understood that some things needed to be said.

“Good,” Sakura affirmed with a curt nod, as through she expected nothing less. Sakura held on to her stoic mask for a few seconds longer before finally allowing herself a small, challenging smirk. “I’ll see you in a few days, then,” she joked half-seriously.

“Mmm,” Hinata agreed, her lips twitching into the shadow of a rueful grin that would have done Shikamaru proud.

Exiting the security room, Sakura escorted Hinata to the road away from the ferry crossing and the two girls exchanged an awkward hug, with Sakura mostly struggling to reach around Hinata’s overstuffed backpack. Sakura watched Hinata’s departing back until the other girl disappeared over a rise at the other side of the cross-dotted plain.

“Sakura-dono?”

Unsuccessfully suppressing a violent flinch, Sakura spun on her heel, her hand brushing her thigh where she normally kept her weapon holster. “Ah! Itsuki-san, good morning!” she babbled, instantly identifying the man standing behind her as the head of her grandfather’s personal guard. Even in the gloom of early morning, Itsuki Gin’s trademark shaved head and amber-tinted glasses were easily recognizable.

“Does Grandfather need to see me?” she asked, straightening her kimono as she tried to scrape together the pieces of her shattered composure. Dammit, stop doing that, you creepy bastard! Word around the castle was that Gin had once trained as a monk, since he was the third son of a samurai family and didn’t stand to inherit anything, but Sakura was starting to wonder if ‘monk’ wasn’t just a polite euphemism for ‘ninja.’

Gin lowered his head, reaching up to delicately adjust his glasses- a mannerism that Sakura was absolutely convinced he only did because it made him look cool and precise. “The Lord has not requested your presence this morning,” he replied evenly. “However, it has been brought to my attention that you were wearing a sword when you arrived at the castle yesterday.”

The ex-monk delivered this statement with a dispassionate, deadpan expression, but the faint hint of bemusement that had colored Gin’s voice when he’d said the word ’sword’ drew Sakura’s attention to the single katana that was pushed through his sash at his left hip. Oh… Uh-oh…

Though she’d grown accustomed to thinking of it as her sword, the sword Sakura carried was actually a family heirloom, originally owned by her grandfather. Even without that knowledge, there was no way her grandfather’s men would have missed the fact that it was a katana, a samurai weapon; ninja-to had shorter, straighter blades, and were generally of lower quality than the master-crafted swords that were passed down within samurai families.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down the back of Sakura’s neck, and she offered Gin a grimace of discomfort; she hoped the men hadn’t been too insulted. “I can explain-” she began.

The bald samurai held up a hand to forestall her apology. “It is not an issue,” he dismissed without rebuke. “In actuality, this presents us with a unique opportunity: there are many men at the castle now who were not in the Lord’s service when you last visited. As such, you have been the topic of much discussion since your arrival.”

This little bit of information sent a wave of worry swirling around Sakura’s stomach to crest acidly at the back of her throat, but Gin wasn’t finished. “In the interest of giving the men the opportunity to form a better impression of you,” he continued, “the Lord has suggested that we have you participate in the men’s daily training exercises for the duration of your stay- if this arrangement is amenable to you, of course.”

Sakura blinked as her gorge receded; that actually sounded like a pretty good idea, and she had been thinking of getting some help with her sword work. Could it be that her grandfather really did have a reason for keeping her there? The mind boggled. “Um… yeah- I mean yes, that sounds reasonable,” the pink-haired girl replied, correcting her posture slightly.

Nodding once, Gin dipped into a bow of middling respect. “Very well then; with your leave, Sakura-dono, we shall begin immediately.”

“Thank you, Itsuki-san. Please take care of me,” Sakura responded with a deeper bow, a smile of anticipation breaking across her face despite the part of her heart that still tugged painfully in the direction that Hinata had departed.

Sakura still practiced her taijutsu as much as time would allow, but she’d sincerely missed her marathon training sessions with Maito Gai, Konoha’s bushy-browed demon of hard work. Given the high standard that her grandfather held his men to, Sakura fully expected to be too exhausted to think straight by the end of the day, and probably in a lot of pain to boot, but right now that didn’t sound like a bad thing at all.

つづく (To be continued – Chapter Incomplete)

Well… now that we all know the perils of poking the rabid author, i suppose we can move on to something a bit less confusing and dramatic O_O;…

(And if you don’t understand the above statement, i’m not going to explain it…)

As with Wolves, i’m going to be posting scenes of chapter fourteen as i write them. Sometimes (as in this case) these scenes will be incomplete when they are first posted. Some of these scenes will be completely rewritten, reordered or even discarded before i’m finished with them, so this is all very much a Work In Progress. Take care not to get too attached to anything you dare to read here…

[Edit #1, 8/22/08 - Minor edits, small amount of new material]
[Edit #2, 8/22/08 - Small amount of new material]

“Are you sure you’ve got all of your gear? They didn’t take anything, did they?” Standing in the doorway of the small security room, Sakura tried to visually locate all of the equipment that Hinata had been carrying the day before.

“It’s fine, Sakura-chan,” Hinata assured her with a nervous smile as she knelt to strap on her thigh holster. “Everything’s here; I checked.” Once the leather case containing the bulk of her weapons was properly secured, Hinata twisted around to slip on the shoulder straps of her backpack and stood up.

Sakura’s own smile was slightly strained as she watched Hinata make her final checks. A good night’s sleep had done wonders for the pale girl’s spirits, but now that she was looking for them, Sakura could detect some hints that Hinata was still more tired than she was letting on. The curse seal was probably putting a considerable strain on her body while it healed.

At least it’s not like the Heaven Seal, Sakura told herself, absently rubbing her shoulder to dispel the pain of remembering that evil mark. As horrible as the Branch Family Seal was, the worst it could do was kill you. ‘The lucky ones are the ones that die,’ Sakura mused with a shudder, wishing she could be happier that Sasuke had survived.

Wrenching herself back to the present, Sakura frowned at the smaller girl. “I told you to just call me ‘Sakura,’” she chided gently, stepping forward to pick at the sleeve of Hinata’s baggy jacket, “and if you’re not gonna wear any weapons or armor under this, you definitely need to get something that fits you better!”

Giving her friend a sly look, Sakura released Hinata’s sleeve, ghosting her fingertips along the inside of Hinata’s arm to cup a handful of well-concealed breast. “Remember, if I can’t see ‘em, I might have to ‘check’ to make sure they’re there,” she warned with a playful squeeze.

Sakura chuckled as Hinata squeaked out a mortified, “S-sorry!” and stumbled away.

Part of her still railed at abusing the poor girl like this, but it was a rapidly diminishing part. Dammit, it’s for her own good! If Hinata could to just get over that shyness, Sakura was sure she would feel so much better about herself! As such, Sakura was determined to grope, fondle, tease, tickle and torment the timid girl until Hinata either learned to appreciate the attention or made her stop. Either way, Hinata would be better for it.

And if I keep telling myself that, maybe I won’t feel so guilty about enjoying it so much. Sakura would kill herself before admitting it to Anko, but having an outlet for her… less ‘inhibited’ side was actually kind of addicting- and while the cat was away…

Knuckling her forehead, Sakura breathed an exasperated sigh. “Don’t apologize, Hinata, I’m just being an idiot again,” she muttered. As much fun as it would be to play with Hinata some more, the other girl really didn’t need any extra worries today. Goddammit Grandpa, why do you always have to be such a dick?

when the men had come to inform them that Kurenai had already been sent away, it had been all Sakura could do to keep Hinata from having a nervous breakdown. And what the hell was with that lame excuse? I don’t remember telling anyone that we didn’t want to be disturbed! Eventually, Sakura had been able to convince Hinata that everything would be fine if she left the next morning, rather than chasing after her teacher in the middle of the night, but it had taken a surprising amount of cajoling.

In the end, it was the pragmatic approach that had finally won her over (though the genjutsu-enhanced puppy-dog eyes probably hadn’t hurt). Osawaramachi wasn’t the closest town, but Sakura knew from experience that it only had one halfway-decent inn. That was probably why her grandfather had chosen it as the meeting place; easier to keep track of the ninja that way. By the same token, it would be easier for Hinata to find Kurenai there as well.

Sakura still felt dirty for picking on Hinata’s nonfunctional Byakugan like that, but she was willing to play the villain if that’s what it took to keep her friends safe. Sending Hinata off to scour the wilderness night-blind, exhausted and alone was unacceptable. Thanks to her arm-twisting, Hinata was reasonably calm and well-rested, and had a good idea of where to start looking- but the ‘alone’ part was still a problem.

“I wish I could go with you,” Sakura murmured unhappily. Her grandfather had requested that she stay at the castle until he selected a representative, but that meant she wouldn’t be able to help Hinata present her case to Kurenai. “I don’t understand why I can’t just go and come back. I’d only be gone half a day, at most,” she spat a bit more acidly.

“I’m sure your grandfather has a reason,” Hinata consoled her with a bittersweet smile that said she was disappointed as well. “B-But you don’t need to worry about me,” Hinata added with a bit of forced cheer, obviously trying to lighten the mood. “I know Kurenai-sensei will make the right choice.”

Sakura resisted the urge to scoff. She didn’t have a lot of personal experience with the woman, but Anko’s feelings on the matter were painfully clear. For Yuuhi Kurenai, the ‘right choice’ would be to send Hinata home. The political calculus of the situation was just too hazy right now to allow for any other option- and Hinata would accept that, because she knew her teacher to be cautious and sensible and wise; well-deserving of her faith and trust.

“Don’t just let her send you away,” Sakura commanded with an unyielding stare. “It’s her mission and her decision, but the only thing she should consider when she makes that decision is whether or not she wants you to participate- as her student, and as a ninja.” Sakura reached up to tap the plate of Hinata’s forehead protector directly over the curse seal. “This is what you chose; this is your responsibility. Make her understand that.”

For a moment Sakura was afraid that she’d said too much, as Hinata’s expression clouded with discomfort, but then a knot of tension formed in the middle of the white-eyed girl’s brow. “Mmm…” Hinata acknowledged with a slow nod, like the frown on her face suddenly weighed a thousand pounds. “I… I’ll try,” she managed in a firmer tone. Hinata wasn’t happy with the idea of confronting her teacher, but she understood that some things needed to be said.

“Good,” Sakura affirmed with a curt nod, as through she expected nothing less. Sakura held on to her stoic mask for a few seconds longer before finally allowing herself a small, challenging smirk. “I’ll see you in a few days, then,” she joked half-seriously. 

“Mmm,” Hinata agreed, her lips twitching into the shadow of a rueful grin that would have done Shikamaru proud.

Exiting the security room, Sakura escorted Hinata to the road away from the ferry crossing and the two girls exchanged an awkward hug, with Sakura mostly struggling to reach around Hinata’s overstuffed backpack. Sakura watched Hinata’s departing back until the other girl disappeared over a rise at the other side of the cross-dotted plain.

“Sakura-dono?”

Unsuccessfully suppressing a violent flinch, Sakura spun on her heel, her hand brushing her thigh where she normally kept her weapon holster. “Ah! Itsuki-san, good morning!” she babbled, instantly identifying the man standing behind her as the head of her grandfather’s personal guard. Even in the gloom of early morning, Itsuki Gin’s trademark shaved head and amber-tinted glasses were easily recognizable.

“Does Grandfather need to see me?” she asked, straightening her kimono as she tried to scrape together the pieces of her shattered composure. Dammit, stop doing that, you creepy bastard! Word around the castle was that Gin had once trained as a monk, since he was the third son of a samurai family and didn’t stand to inherit anything, but Sakura was starting to wonder if ‘monk’ wasn’t just a polite euphemism for ‘ninja.’
 

つづく (To be continued – Section Incomplete)