Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten Ties ❯ Devil's Triangle ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter 4 - Devil's Triangle

Sakuya opened her eyes and looked around.

She was still in her bedroom, in her own bed.

She sits up slowly as she runs a frustrated hand over her tousled cherry hair. It had come loose about an hour ago and was plastered in sweaty tendrils against her neck.

"I must have fallen asleep…" Sakuya uttered as she brings her feet closer to her chest, thinking about the recurring dream she just had.

Recently, she would always enter into a dream of darkness. Inside, she would feel isolated. And the pitch-black would be too sterile to devoid even the soft whisper of someone else's breath. Inside, she was pretty sure she was the only living thing. Then sudden bright beams of lights would always penetrate their way ahead of her, making her eyes squirmed at the glaring rays. But she would always follow the light and a magnificent purplish sword in glowing red hot flames would always appear at the end of the light. And when she stood right in front of it, the flames would form into a head of a Phoenix and says, "It's time. Come to me."

Then she would wake up.

But contrary to her previous dreams, this time, when the words are uttered, the sword was immediately interrupted by a voice which sounded quite like her own.

"SHANNARO! LET ME OUT!" The seemingly irate voice hollered, followed by the sound of someone banging hard on the bars.

She ventured to her left, where the source of bellowing came from and came across her replica sprawling on the damp ground behind bars with a shimmering talisman right in the middle. Her twin glared at her while she studied her from head down. She had the same hair length and color as her, long pinkish tresses that reached all the way to her waist but just that she looked much more disheveled than Sakuya herself. Her hair was in a total mess while dirt grimed all over her body. She also wore this forehead protector bearing the Leaf symbol on her head. She was breathing hard against the humid atmosphere as she slowly pulled herself up, relief flashing across her weary face as she lunged at the bars, which startled Sakuya, causing her to falter a few steps back.

"You are finally here!" The twin then cried, pressing her haggard face against the cold hard bars. "Let me out!"

"How?" Sakuya retorted, shaking her head to clear her congested thoughts as she asked, "Who are you?"

"I am YOU, BAKA!" The look-alike snapped, before slapping on that wide forehead of hers. "I can't believe you are stupider than Naruto!"

"Naruto…" Sakuya uttered the name with qualm. Her twin sounded as though she knew this Naruto fellow well.

"Forget about that silly guy for now! I can't stand being in this cage any longer! Now get ME OUT OF HERE!"

"How?" Sakuya asked again, her eyes darting around nervously. Man! That was some temper she has there!

"There! Tear off that talisman!" The twin stated enthusiastically, pointing her feeble index finger at the daunting seal just diagonal above her.

"Why can't you tear it off yourself?" Sakuya quipped, feeling skeptical with this clone of hers.

"Because my chakra is drained! Oh my God! I can't believe I'm losing myself for me, myself and I!"

Sakuya frowned dryly at her wonderful use of words but decided to do it anyway. She doesn't know why but she knows she just got to do it. Her twin beamed with anticipation as she focused her chakra on one hand and reached for the daunting seal.

But when she felt her touch on the seal, she was harshly blown away…

That's when she woke up.

Running her hand over her face in frustration, Sakuya reached for the pitcher on her nightstand, which was scattered with photographs and reports for the mission she is going to undertake. She had carelessly scattered the documents while she was reading through the file earlier.

Two pictures caught her eye then.

One was Uzumaki Naruto and the other was…

"Uchiha… Sasuke?" Sakuya slumped back onto her bed while taking a sip of water that she just poured herself.

(An Uchiha, like Itachi… interesting. Never knew that fellow has family…)

When Sakuya first saw Itachi, she was instantly attracted to him. She didn't know why but Itachi reminds her of someone… someone whom she can't remember…

She felt the mollifying water glide down her gullet as she holds up the two pictures in one hand, centering her focus on the raven-haired boy, wondering how and why she overlooked his details just now.

"Uchiha Sasuke." Sakuya read out aloud. "The sole survivor of the strong noble Uchiha clan in Konoha after it was annihilated by…"

Sakuya trailed off as she blinked two times, making sure she was reading the right name. "… Uchiha… Itachi…?" Sakuya uttered the name with disbelief.

Itachi killed his whole family? That was certainly… ruthless.

She always knew Itachi was ruthless but she didn't know he was ruthless to that extent.

Reading on, she got to the details of Sasuke's profile.

"One of the genius shinobis in Konoha. As a Genin, he was the number one rookie in his batch." Sakuya recited, thinking perhaps blood do runs in families. "Possess the Sharingan, the Uchiha Advanced Bloodline Ability. The other abilities he possesses include the Lion Combo, Shadow Leaf Dance, Shadow Shuriken, the Fire Elements as well as the Chidori."

There were no details given as to how these skills worked but Sakuya reckoned Yuya knew she reads a lot, that's why she didn't bother with the details.

"Teamed up with Naruto and Sakura in Team Seven during his Gennin years." Sakuya quirks a curious eyebrow at that.

"A serious cool guy who doesn't talk much. Status… M… I… A." Sakuya drawled the last two words, and then she read the words in brackets. "Supposedly now a apprentice under Orochimaru."

A feeling of grief stabbed her as she stared at the picture of the boy with sharp eyes. In response, she let the two photographs gravitate, shuts her eyes tight and brings her clenched fists close to her heart.

(My heart aches… Why…? Why is this I'm feeling…?)

She brushed off this feeling aside and opened her eyes with an irritated frown as she grabbed the two photos again.

She looked at the blonde first. "Uzumaki Naruto."

Then averts to the raven-haired. "Uchiha Sasuke."

Then at the corner of her eyes, she caught the photo of the only girl in their group.

She picks up that photo from amidst the many and slides it in between the two, regarding the three together.

"Team seven huh…?" Mizu Sakuya murmured the name with distaste.

-+-+-+-+-+-

After bidding farewell with Mrs. Haruno and her sensei, Yamanaka Ino literally trudged her way home.

She was exhausted. Mentally and physically.

She had a long day and all she craves now is her bed.

Ten minutes later, she brought a halt of her sluggish footsteps in front of her porch, frowning with displeasure at the nine pairs of blue sandals sitting neatly side by side. She looked up and saw the lights of her house were still on.

Her frown deepened.

She fumbled for her keys in the pockets and was to reach for the doorknob when her oak door creaked, revealing a grinning Tenten by the door.

"I knew it was you!" Tenten greeted, "Come on in!" as she nudged Ino into the house.

Ino face-faulted then.

This is her house for crying out loud!

"What do you want?" Ino rasped, though she already guessed out her comrade's motive for being here in her house at this hour.

It's ten past ten.

"Well…" Tenten's eyes brightened. "I think you know."

Ino rolled her eyes, took off her sandals and tossed it unceremoniously at the sides. "Tadaima!"

Then she turned to Tenten. "All I know now is that I want to get my well-deserved sleep. And-"

"Ino!" Mrs. Yamanaka interrupted, appearing with a tray of sake from the kitchen. "You are back finally! Your friends have been waiting for you since dinner!"

Ino thought about it for a second. "That's their business. I'm going to bed."

With that, she started towards her bedroom. Tenten trailed behind her while Mrs. Yamanaka simply shrugged.

"Come on, Ino!" Tenten protested.

"GOOD EVENING, INO-CHAN!" Her group of friends greeted her as she crossed the living room.

Ino grimaced at the sound of them. She inhaled sharply and snapped, "GO HOME ALREADY!"

"What have I done to deserve such a surly daughter…" Mr. Yamanaka drawled, as he sipped his sake in the middle of the group.

Ino gave a groan of frustration. "Whatever! I'm going to.. ehaarrgghhh!"

She was pushed into her room by a bunch of hands before she could help it. She turned and saw eight pairs of eagerly eyes on her.

She gulped in sweat.

Hinata stood by the doorway and gave a polite nod to the Yamanaka parents. "I apologize on behalf of our group, having to drop by till this late."

"It's alright." Mr. Yamanaka smiled, waving a half-hearted hand at Hinata as he took another sip of his sake. "You guys have fun!"

Mrs. Yamanaka nodded in agreement.

Hinata smiled and gave another bow in respect, before closing the door behind her.

"What are you guys doing? This is my bedroom, for God's sake!" Hinata immediately heard Ino's ranting once inside the room.

Her pal was surrounded by eight well-known jounin-level shinobis from Konoha.

"Come on, Ino-chan!" Naruto bypassed Ino's protest. "Tell us! What did Tsunade-obachan want with Sakura's mother?"

"You will know tomorrow!" Ino retorted and fall lazily on her bed, grabbing her pillow to cover her throbbing head.

"We want to know now!" Tenten argued, pulling a dead-tired Ino up.

Ino groaned in frustration and undid her blonde ponytail, letting them cascade elegantly down her shoulders.

Somebody propping against the window frame thought that looked enthralling.

"Shikamaru!" Kiba said impatiently with a scowl. "Stop having your head in the clouds already!"

Shika frowned back and straightened his shoulders. "I don't see why we're doing this… if there is something we should know, the Fifth will tell us tomorrow."

All nine heads turned towards him then as he realized the folly of his actions. Did he just help Ino?

(Say something to get yourself out of this troublesome situation, Shikamaru!)

Shikamaru then gave a deliberate cough and said, "Don't you guys agree?"

The guys seemed to ponder that for a moment.

Then Naruto turned to Ino. "So… Ino-chan, what did Tsunade-obachan want with Mrs. Haruno?"

Immediately, all seven heads nodded eagerly in unison, probing Ino to tell.

Shikamaru face-faulted while Ino lowered her head in exasperation, thinking there's no way they will let her off until she tells them all of it.

"Well…" Ino started to say, looking blue on blue at Naruto. "It's a long story."

-+-+-+-+-+-

Tsunade gazed into the starry night, particularly on the crescent moon that was covered vaguely with passing wool.

(Is their destinies inevitably… like us..?)

Tsunade questioned herself and decided it's a deadlock situation. It's two against one in her case and two against one in Naruto's.

It's like a grudge passing down to the next generation…

"If you were still alive, what would you say to me… Dan?" Tsunade murmured, closing her eyes, absorbing the stillness of the night.

Days when Sakura was her apprentice runs across her mind like yesterday.

"Tsunade-sensei! I did it!" Sakura's animated voice echoed in her mind. She had successfully revived a dying fish from one of the ponds.

Sakura's exceptional progression in just three months into the one-to-one training amazed her then.

If truth be told, she actually missed Sakura calling her 'sensei.'

If truth be told, her talents actually surpassed Shizune, or perhaps even herself.

If truth be told, she is actually the one, out of the five pupils, including Shizune, to be the successor of her title - THE medical specialist.

Because out of the Four excluding Shizune, Sakura is actually the only one specializing into the area of medics, with Ino and Hinata concentrating most of their time into their family jutsus while Tenten is more like a weapon specialist.

And because of that as well as her own talent, Sakura inherited the most of her skills out of the four official pupils.

Tsunade recalls the day she tries to teach her four pupils the Summoning Technique. Though she doubted then that they might not be ready for it, since it was only three months since the formation of the four-man team and it requires large amount of chakra to be able to call upon a giant animal-demon to aid you in a battle.

She asked them to think about a favorite animal then.

Ino's answer was Cat.

Tenten's answer was Hawk.

Hinata's answer was Squirrel.

She still remembers Sakura was hesitant in her answer before she says, "Hmm.. I don't know if it is considered an animal or whether it even existed, but I like Phoenix."

Why didn't she think of it then?

Instead, she dismissed it by summoning Katsuyu, wowing her four pupils with it as the five of them stood on top of the meek Slug Queen.

"Everyone, meet Katsuyu, my summoned animal." She said proudly. "Katsuyu, meet my four students, Tenten, Ino, Sakura and Hinata."

The four girls were still in amazed mode as Katsuyu greeted softly, "Nice to meet you four. Your four students are very cute, Tsunade-sama."

She smirked and said, "Yeah.. But I hope their honey isn't too sweet to attract distracting bees to hinder their trainings though."

The three of them lowered their heads guiltily while Sakura looked at them unknowingly. The three of them had been up to their sleeves without Sakura's knowledge, since she was busy in the Konoha hospital as well as her own training all the while.

Sakura brushed if off, deciding to leave questions later and turned to Tsunade. "How does this Summoning Technique work?"

Tsunade sat cross-legged as she explained with a bored voice, "You make contracts with animals using your blood. It is a type of temporal-spatial technique where you can call them up anytime you want, but mostly during battles where you need their aid. That's why I asked you four to think about your favourite animals. You guys wouldn't want to work with animals you detest, wouldn't you?"

The four nodded in understanding while Tsunade continued, "But this technique drains most of your chakra. So unless it is an emergency, I would advise not to use this technique unless you're sure that you still have some reserve left. Because you would still need chakra to work with them."

"So Tsunade-sama, they're not signing the contract today?" Katsuyu interjected.

"Nope." Tsunade answered readily. "At least not the official one. I don't think they are ready for it."

"What contract?" Ino asked in between.

"The contract of the slugs for summoning purposes." Katsuyu replied. "Where you have to write your name with your blood in the scroll and then imprint your bloody palm as a signature beneath your name. Only then will I be summoned by you, anytime, anywhere. This is a sort of agreement in black and white."

"Yeah." Tsunade continued from there. "But you can sign on the unofficial one, where it states that you can summon the slugs for practice purposes. I warn ypu though, different animals have different ways of taming and so… Ah!" Tsunade stopped herself, thinking she might be saying too much, since none of them are ready yet.

"Anyway, the seal for the summoning technique is the Boar, the Dog, the Bird, the Monkey and the Sheep."

Her four pupils then signed on the unofficial contract handed over from Katsuyu's mouth.

"Well! We shall call it a day today! I will be busy for the rest of the week, so see you guys in one week's time!" Tsunade chirpy concluded while eyeing the four intently. "Don't forget to train. I'll be watching you though I'll be busy with my work."

The Four nodded before disappearing in a whoosh.

One week later, Sakura surprised all of them by meeting them atop of Katsuyu.

As expected from my apprentice. Tsunade thought then.

"You should be turning in now, Tsunade-sama." Shizune's appearance by the office pulled Tsunade back to reality.

"Hn." Tsunade answered boredly before turning her attention back outside the window.

"How's everything going?" Shizune asked in concern, noting that Tsunade is disturbed.

"This is troublesome." Tsunade admitted, pulling her gaze up to meet the crescent moon hanging clandestinely behind the vague wool.