Our first mission went topside when we were pretty much finished with it.
We had to meet the client in the Capital, which took us two and a half days of running with chakra to get there, then we had to guard a man and his wife's caravan and escort them for a full day to a small village nearby. That part went pretty easy and quickly.
In fact it was actually pretty boring all in all.
The road we had to take there and back did have signs of bandits or common thugs patrolling it, but we didn't actually have to fight any until we were on our way back through and a patrol team tried to ambush us with flaming arrows and a couple swordsmen.
Well, maybe swordsmen wasn't the right title...they weren't exactly professional at using their weapons.
It was extremely easy to take them down, and no one was killed or wounded too seriously, save a bandit with a nasty bump on his head where Sasuke had kicked him headfirst into a tree.
It was after we had dropped them off at the nearest town to be jailed and were on our way home again that we were attacked by more serious enemies.
Apparently sensei was infamous, because an A-ranked rogue told us he was there to collect sensei's bounty, and we learned a bit more from the small amount of conversation between the two adults, about the bounty system and how the ranks were handed out.
Something that while interesting, wasn't really important to us yet as we were only lowly Genin just starting our career.
Sensei revealed he had the Sharingan, and that battle was pretty much won in his favor as he made it seem like he could see the future. While the enemy nin was pretty handy with his senbon and lightning jutsu, he stood no chance when sensei decided enough was enough.
He slit the throat of the rogue through instinct with a weirdly shaped kunai—three pronged?—and we had watched, wide eyed and shaking from our hiding spots he had us move to, as the blood splattered our sensei and waterfalled heavily down the front of the corpse as it hit the ground.
Sensei had us come out, then watch as he beheaded the rogue with his kunai, then sealed the head away, asking us in a calm and commanding voice why he was doing what he was doing.
Naruto puked.
Sasuke was blank faced and pale and I too was nauseated, pale and shaking.
Somehow this didn't seem that bad though, as if I had seen worse things than the man I was growing to respect, murder and dismember someone for profit.
It all seemed surreal, as if it was happening too fast, or like maybe it was a dream or something.
Sensei took note of our reactions, sighed, then had a talk about the realities of being a shinobi for our village.
"We do this..." he waved at the scene with his blood stained hand at the corpse behind him, "..while on the first few missions to get our students used to the idea that they too will have to take life to protect our allies and home.
We teach you to hunt animals for survival, to make a profit and to cull the numbers of beasts that have mutated from chakra radiation and are a threat to our home. This is really no different. Unlike the stories you are all raised on, being a ninja is not just about heroics and keeping peaceful relations. We are tools to our Hokage, weapons of war, and survivors of this harsh world." Naruto went to speak, but Kakashi spoke over him, the blond boy closing his mouth with an audible 'snap'.
"This is not a game!" Voice hard as his eyes become glued to Naruto in particular, his voice reverberated harshly in my ears as he continued in the same tone. I glanced at my teammates, then slid partially glazed eyes back to my team leader, ignoring the red, red, red of the liquid as it dripped from his knife. Sensei noticed our gazes on his weapon as he talked, bringing out a rag to clean his blade and sliding it home in its sheath.
'Were kunais supposed to be that large?'
They looked familiar though, as if I read or saw something about that style of handle somewhere before.
"This is our way of life!" At the tone, my eyes snapped to his face. "Unlike bandits who can sometimes be rehabilitated and given new purpose in life, missing Ninja who attack a team are trained in forms of espionage from a young age—just as you all were being taught at the academy! Sometimes it isn't as it appears to be, sometimes those we think have turned a new leaf are really sleeper cells or agents who are able to infiltrate and steal secrets from our village from a single act of compassion on our part. We may be known as the kindest village across the Elemental Nations, but make no mistake: our home is as drenched in blood as Kiri and Kumo combined! From the innocent to our enemies....we are the leaves whose service is to protect our tree from those who seek to poison us from the inside out. The money we receive from the various daimyo for completing bounties such as these-" he holds the black scroll up. "-brings stability to our economy. If none of you seek to quit your job as ninja after today, then this too will be expected from you once you reach my rank. You will fight and kill and sabotage and steal. We are not samurai who are full of misplaced honor—on the battlefield it is fight with everything you have to protect your self and your teammates— or die! Do you understand?"
"H-hai sensei.." Have I ever sounded so...unsure? Because it felt that way. I felt as if I was extremely unprepared in the face of such a cruel and harsh world that was breaking through my rose-colored lenses I'd developed over my time here as a child.
"Hai Sensei-!" Sasuke at least sounded determined.
".....sensei..." 'Naruto...'
"Genin Uzumaki! Do you understand?
"I...I understand—I just...why can't we change their minds? Why...why must we kill...won't that make us..monsters? The villagers—"
Kakashi Sensei sighed, and his stance changed. He looked...angry yet, tired suddenly. And...was that...sorrow? Grief?
I couldn't really tell with his mask in place. Hell, it was pleasing to me that sensei trusted us enough to even show his emotions at all. As a Jounin I didn't doubt he held a perfectly blank mask in his repertoire of ninja skills.
"The villagers are civilian idiots. Theres a reason we aren't forthcoming or even allowed to speak of what our job description really is to those who aren't in the know. They pay us for our work and protection and we pay them to make our weapons and armor...for the most part. Its symbiotic, and even if the civilian council think they have a say in how we live our life, they are wrong. We are under a military leadership—which means the council will no longer have a say in how those who are descended and clanless are to live. Do you get what I mean by that Naruto? As a Genin you can safely ignore them—they wouldn't dare attack one of our own." Startled, Sasuke and I turned wide eyes to our blonde teammate, who looked empty and sick at the same time. His eyes darted to each of us, then he looked down, brow creasing and fists clenched as he shook in emotion.
Attacked—who would dare attack Naruto?!
What the hell is wrong with those people, he's just a fucking kid! That's it! He's completely moving in with me, even if I have to drag his ass to my house and lock him in a room or something as I move his stuff!
Sensei continued, his tone becoming slightly mocking as he spoke.
"As for the monster...If they truly knew what all is done to keep our home safe then every ninja chunin and up would be called monster. Most of us fought in a war—there may very well be another in your lifetime too! The things we've done to keep them safe...I guess theres no helping it." Shaking his head, sensei ruffled Naruto's hair.
"They're idiots and they will learn their place for what they've done. As for the poor sap behind me... well."
A few hand-seals later and the body was burned, the ashes flying in the wind. This time he addressed the deathly part of Naruto's question.
"There...is a protocol for missing ninja who we encounter that are peaceful and only seek to defend themselves. So don't think that every time we encounter one from a different village it will end this way. If a squad comes across a Konoha Missing nin in particular then the commanding officer is to attempt an arrest depending on their rank, and if the mission might be jeopardized they are to alert the nearest outpost instead of engaging at all. You three are only to intervene if I am captured or there are multiple enemies and there is no choice but to fight. In which case you are to use various team formations that fit the situation, and either distract, take down, or flee to the nearest safe zone without me, until you are able to make it to an un-compromised outpost, or the village itself. Understood team?"
"Hai sensei!" We affirmed.
—————————————————————————
When we arrived back home a day later, we were shown how to properly sign in and were given a quick physical by a medic nin to make sure we didn't pick up anything foreign or were under a Genjutsu.
We were cleared mentally as well, but were required to see a Yamanaka therapist for general shinobi related trauma during our off time the next week.
Then we were given the rest of the weekend off.
Immediately I grabbed Sasuke's wrist and Naruto's hand.
"No way! We're having team dinner at my house tonight, and we're going to talk. I've personally got something important that I need to share, and after yesterday....well, I don't think I should put it off anymore. It might get one of us killed."
Sasuke, who was attempting to weakly pull back, (I knew if he really wanted to he could have) stopped his attempts to struggle and sighed, 'hn'ing a reluctant agreement.
Naruto, who hadn't said much of anything since yesterday, just nodded and clasped my hand tighter.
—————————————————————————
Pulling my house key out of one of the pockets of my bag, I unlocked the front door and led my teammates inside, slipping my shoes off in the entryway and showing Sasuke where the clean slippers were. Naruto grabbed his usual pair, a pair of grey and orange striped ones, and sulked away to the room my parents gave him.
His door slammed shut a moment later, not super loudly, but just enough to where I could tell he was upset.
"Ah...."
Sasuke and I shared a look, then I shook my head. "C'mon then. The guestroom's shower is yours, and you can use the yukata in there while I throw your dirty clothes into the wash real quick. I'll set some meat out to thaw while I clean up too."
"I could just go home and come back."
I gave him a 'do you think I'll believe you?' face.
"Mom's been trying to have you over for dinner since our team started—like hell do I think you won't try to skip. I wasn't joking when I said I had something to tell you guys, and since she isn't here to cook then you and Naruto will just have to sit at the counter and talk to me as I do it instead. Or help out, I don't care."
Nodding towards the guest room, I finished. "Just clean up and come to the kitchen after. Make yourself at home even."
"Oh! And I'll know if you attempt to leave—wards, remember?" I called behind me, treading up to my room upstairs, stopping only for a moment when he spoke lowly.
"Hn....thanks, Sakura."
"No problem, Sasuke."
I continued on, mumbling my response back to him.
—————————————————————————
The two boys sat there at the island counter on their stools, waiting for me to start talking after I put my recently dried hair up into a quick bun and washed my hands. Naruto had put the kettle on for some cinnamon spice tea, which was something he had discovered a liking for after mom made it one night after dinner. He was halfway through the candy dish too, the wrappers on the island next to the tea dishes and electric pot. Sasuke sat in the middle seat beside him, a piece of sugar free spicy cinnamon candy rolling between his fingers.
Pretty much everything here was sugar free, sweetened with fruit or vegetable sugars, or honey only. As a ninja it kind of came with the territory to be a health nut at least ninety percent of the time—unless you were Naruto and your middle name was 'ramen'.
"Neh, Sakura-chan...what are you making?"
Speaking of, Naruto finally spoke!
"Something quick I can put in the oven while we talk. Its a personal favorite of mine, and it has no name here. Basically its just chicken breast seasoned with some herbs from the shop, along with home-made tomato sauce and white cheese thats been browned from the heat. Theres noodles that are made by mom to go with it. They're a chickpea and lentil blend—I'll boil them while the chicken cooks, and throw it in the oven to bake once the meats done. They too have the same sauce and a small amount of cheese, and theres gonna be some mushrooms, bell pepper and tomato chunks in it too. Then there's sautéed zucchini and squash, seasoned and grilled carrots, some of dad's favorite kimchi, pickled plums and some rice to go under if thats what you want instead. I'll break out some strawberry melon ice cream for later too to uh..celebrate our first mission—" I turned to Sasuke, who was listening in. "—its similar to normal ice cream, only its just frozen fruit and almond milk sweetened with a little bit of honey on top instead."
"I didn't know you cooked. Tomato sauce with cheese and chicken...sounds decent I guess."
"Sakura-chan and her mom are great cooks! Uh, Kizashi...not so much."
I giggled at that. Dad burned salad once.
Interesting enough, it was a ninja scroll that someone had tried to seal fire in, and dad had been organizing what should be sold or not at the shop, and he went to pick up the salad bowl while holding the the damn thing. He tripped, his chakra fluctuated and it activated the poorly made parchment, and almost burnt his beard off.
Instead the salad was torched and the bowl was melted to the floor. Naruto, who had been helping cook—guys night they had decided—had almost died from laughter. Mom had kicked them out while I used magic to clean up.
Looking at the jar of sauce from this week's batch of sauce mom and I made together on prep day, I thought of what my teammates reaction to this meal would be.
It really was one of my favorites, and I remember eating it at least once from my last life, which is where the inspiration for its creation here came from.
I figured Sasuke might enjoy tonights meal at least. Dinner had a lot of tomatoes, and dessert's sweetness was controlled by the eater.
"It sounds delicious! If its like that pissa you made before then I know it'll taste amazing. Do you need some help?"
"Its Pizza. And sure, if you feel like slicing some of the chicken breast in half—er, actually let me show you how to do it first."
I side eyed the blonde as he washed and dried his hands, then showed him how to cut the meat on the cuttin board length wise. It was kind of nice to see how interested he was in trying new food.
Naruto didn't get his ramen this time, or his favorite steamed pork buns that we had last time we ate together—when he had decided they were almost as good as ramen.
High praise from him indeed.
But the ice cream with semisweet dark chocolate on top was a favorite of his, so I reminded myself to break a bar of chocolate out and crush it to go on his.
And mine...chocolate is fucking great, and I think I deserve it after what I went through the last day or so.
"I'll make the rice." Sasuke spoke up, watching us with an unreadable look on his face. "Where's your rice pot?"
"On the shelf above mom's herb garden over there—its the uh, yeah...that one. The lid is on the lid shelf, under there. Yep."
As we prepped the food, Naruto began to speak.
"Hey um, I know you have something to tell us...but I um, I have something to tell you guys too."
Sharing a glance with Sasuke, who was draining the rice he had just washed twice, I hummed. "Sure. Go ahead, I don't mind at all."
Naruto nodded. "Ok. I uh.." he hesitated, then sliced through the last piece of chicken, then stopped, hand clenching around the handle.
Sasuke and I waited, doing our own work as we glanced at the blonde every few of seconds.
"I—I *cough*" Clearing his throat, he finally forced his words out. "I'm w-whats known as a Jinchuuriki!"
"A Jinchuwho-he?" I asked with faint amusement.
"A what...?"
Sasuke's brows were furrowed in confusion. Looks like he's never heard of it either.
"A sacrifice! Its uh, grrr...how to explain. Ok! So, the Kyuubi attacked on October tenth years ago, right?" We nodded and he went on.
"Well, the history books say that the fox was killed and beaten by the fourth Hokage and Lord Shimura's Root faction—but its impossible for the Tailed Beasts to actually die—they just reform a few years later when um chakra is gathered in the same place or something. I don't know, I wasn't really paying Lord third that much attention when he told me this, but...the Kyuubi didn't die and was sealed inside me by the last Hokage instead."
My eyes widened at what he said and I turned completely, staring in disbelief at my teammate.
"Wh-what?!"
"So if you guy h-hate me for being the fox now, I —I get it, I—"
"Shut up." Sasuke literally growled at him, scowling angrily at Naruto's sad looking form. Blue eyes widened, staring at the other boy in surprise, the knife he was clutching falling to the board completely. Obviously Sasuke hated seeing Naruto look so...depressed and scared like this. He probably thought we were gonna hurt him or something. I hated the look of pain and discomfort on my blonde teammate's face badly too.
With a look over my shoulder I grimaced and moved out of the way.
Sasuke definitely hadn't liked that look either, as the sickened frown he wore bled into an angry scowl.
Sasuke roughly grabbed the front of Naruto's yukata, pulling him slightly closer as he began to speak, ending in a yell. "You—Gah! You're such a— a—usuratonkachi! Just because they sealed something in you, it doesn't mean it is you! Of course you aren't the fucking fox! Do you really think so low of m-us that we co-would just...abandon you or something, because of something you had no control over?!"
I wasn't surprised at the rage from him. At this point it was obvious the Uchiha considered Naruto to be his best friend, or in my opinion, er...possibly more.
"Uh...guys?"
Seeing the tie to my teammate's robe start to unravel from my side view, I tried to say something, but ultimately my voice was drowned out by Sasuke's angry yelling and Naruto's splutters of apology.
Well then.
I tried to warn them. If it happens, it happens. At least I'll get some hilarious memories of it. Heheheheh....
My faint smirk immediately fell at Naruto's words.
"How was I supposed to know?! Everyone who's known about it growing up treated me like shit! Except the Hokage and Lord Danzo! The only reason I wasn't even allowed to graduate two years ago was because the stupid civilian council members are bribing the fucking fire daimyo! Lord Third was told he had no say while I wasn't a ninja—and because I k-killed M-Mizuki-sensei....." Naruto's face shuttered and fell and Sasuke slowly let go of the bathrobe, sighing and shaking his head.
It made sense to me. Lord Third and Lord Shimura probably had wanted to treat Naruto either as a weapon —one raised with honor and pride for his sacrifice. He probably would have recieved the best care, training and resources he wanted or needed in that case. Instead he was forced to stagnate, and was seen as a fool by our class and those who was in his class from before too.
Then there's the adults and the glares and disdain directed his way, all of which I had assumed had been because of his pranks or something. If what I have heard recently was true too, then some of them had been physically assaulting him too! It was unforgivable in my opinion.
It made sense now though after what Sensei shared with us out in the forest yesterday, where the red, red, red.....stop.
Anyway. Civilians were idiots and knew basically nothing about the shinobi arts after all.
They probably did see a monster when they looked at him. Ignorance isn't bliss in this case.
"..so tell me, what was I supposed to believe after all that?" Naruto finished, head bowed and eyes closed as tears fell.
This time I spoke up.
"You can believe in us now. We won't leave you, we will fight with you, beside you. You're gonna have to pry me from your side and kill me yourself to get me to leave you now." Sighing, I came over, wiping my hands dry on a towel and tossing it on the counter.
"Me too, but you already knew that. We're teammates, you, Sakura, Sensei...you're all the closest to family that I have..." Sasuke's voice cracked at that and I leaned over.
I hugged the blonde boy then, forcing Sasuke into a group hug too, though surprisingly he relented easily enough.
"Naruto, you're different. But thats ok. Because Sasuke is too. He's the last living Uchiha, and his story is just as, if not more dark than yours. He probably understands you most, so if not me, then believe in him."
Darkened onyx eyes met mine, and I looked back at the crying blonde.
" I guess...I'm pretty special too. Huh. That sounded conceited." I muttered the last bit, then shook my head at Sasuke's now glaring eyes.
"Anyway, what I'm about to tell you both, I haven't told anyone before. And before I do that, please don't be alarmed."
I stepped back, the boys doing so too in confusion. Naruto wiped his face off and I almost 'awed' at him.
How the hell was that cute?
"Give me a sec!"
As my words registered, Naruto yanked his head up, blue eyes widening as he watched me dart for the kitchen counter next to the oven.
I grabbed the kitchen knife he had been using, did a quick cleansing charm on it, then turned around and passed my boys, opening up the cabinet under the island, near the middle next to the trash can and old rags.
A ward stone the size of my head sat there, magically embedded into the side of the wooden panel.
"S-Sakura-?"
"What are you doing?"
"Calm down. Its a ward stone. I just need to activate it for a bit of ensured privacy." I sliced my palm, then coating my hand in purple mana, I slapped it down on the stone and let it absorb the parts of me I was willingly giving it.
"If I had known what you were going to tell us was so deeply personal and important then I would have activated this beforehand. As it is, you uh...kinda blindsided me with that confession." Turning back to the two, I healed my palm up and closed the door, looking up and gasping in shock.
Quickly I turned around, face red as an "Eep!" left me.
"Eh? What's wr—"
"Naruto.... Y-your um, yukata!"
Not gonna lie, I peeked over my shoulder to watch the action.
Sasuke, who was standing behind the blond, looked over and down our teammates shoulder, getting an eyeful himself. He gasped eyes widening as he turned his head quickly with a reddened face.
Naruto finally caught on, glancing down himself and laughing nervously as he fixed the tie, and I facepalmed at the ridiculousness of it all.
"Are you done?" Sasuke asked him.
"Wouldn't you like to know, pervert! I saw you look down at me!"
"Pervert? grrr! Dobe! There wasn't even anything to see—!"
Looking over my shoulder at the two, I giggled at their red faces.
'Oh yeah, their marriage is back for sure!'
"—and it's bigger than yours, dattebayo!"
"In your dreams, Usuratonkachi!"
"Bastard!"
"Dead Last!"
I spoke up before they got physical...ly violent.
"Ya know, if you two do decide to kiss or something, you could at least take it to the guest room. Mom would be pissed if we dirtied up her kitchen~"
"S-sakura-chan!"
"We aren't together Haruno!" Taking note of the colder tone of voice, my smile slipped and I straightened up. He continued, scoffing as he took his seat, angrily pouring another cup of tea. 'That was a first for me. He didn't even spill a drop. Now that's magic!'
"Now if you would just tell us what you wanted to then I can leave and go home."
The oven beeped then and I hummed, nodding. Naruto grabbed the potholders and stuck the seasoned chicken into the oven, and I turned the stovetop on to high, setting a pot of water next to the already started rice, to boil. The vegetables were quick to prepare, as they just needed cut up. I wouldn't start them until the chicken was almost done.
"Mmnn. Alright then. I have three bloodlines. Two are heard of, and one is..not exactly what the doctor thinks it is."
"Bloodlines?" Sasuke sputtered out, setting his tea down. "But aren't your family civilians?"
After washing my hands and scrapping the peels and end pieces into the compost bin under mom's kitchen garden, I grabbed my teacup on the counter and poured some tea for me as I took my seat. Naruto, who had been searching the fridge for a bottle of water, joined us. grabbing the same stool from earlier.
"Um, yes and no? We're technically on file now as a civilian clan, but my parents are scheduled to go before the council to become an official Shinobi clan—but even before all that, technically we're still considered as both? We won't know for sure until that meeting—anyway!"
I shook my head.
"My mom is a half Yamanaka and I have my Mind's Eye bloodline through her. It basically lets me interact with a split personality that can switch with me or something while unconscious—she hasn't woken up yet and is still forming, so I'm not really sure all I can do with that. Oh! I was told that she would be able to completely make us immune to Genjutsu, even ones from your Sharingan, when you get it." Sasuke's eyes went huge. "No way! A Yamanaka bloodline can't do that!"
"Its a dormant bloodline that hasn't been seen in their clan for years. I'm probably their first recorded case since they stopped marrying relatives after the second to last war."
"Oh! Can I tell him the next part? Or uh, what I know of it?"
"Sure Naruto. Have at thee!"
"So, Sakura's dad is a merchant and stuff, and he used to travel the world with his family before he met her mom and they chose to come back to Konoha and stay, cuz of the war and stuff. But he's from the same clan my mom was from!"
Sasuke gave Naruto a weird face.
"He's an Uzumaki? And you still want Sakura to be your girlfriend? Are you cousins?"
Here I set my cup down and covered my face.
"Uh—no, my dad isn't an Uzumaki! We're related directly to one of their sister clans, through blood and marriage. My mom was best friends with a member of his mother's direct family before she died in the Uzushio's massacre, which is why he knows so much. He is extremely distantly related, to the point where it isn't anywhere near incest if we were to get married. Besides weren't your parents the same way, Mr. Judgey?"
"My clan...wa—is—um...actually, I don't really know....there had been so many, now that I think about it..." onyx eyes blared wide and I think I saw a flicker of red.
"Oh kami, I think my mom was dad's cousin! Close cousin! Ew—Why?!"
"Poor guy." I muttered.
"Yep." Naruto said, then sipped his water.
"Hey," I soothed, rubbing the ravenette's back. "Its not so bad. I'm sure the Hyuuga clan and some of the others were the same way before Tsunade and her teammate did that study on familial lineage."
"...the Hyuugas still practice it, but they do let new blood in every now and then. I don't think my family did even that. I can't even remember meeting a single person who wasn't born from in the clan—Ughhhhh!! And Ita—that man was engaged to Izumi, who is dad's niece—and cousin! What is wrong with my family?! The law, the Law!"
Burying his head in his arms, Sasuke clutched at his own hair and groaned in disgusted disappointment.
"Your family were under clan protection, like every other clan. If the head didn't want to follow that specific law then he had the choice not to. The civilians didn't want to offend the clans when they got it passed, from what I heard. Sorry. Um. I guess I should tell you guys about my second bloodline now, huh? Maybe it'll make you not...uh dwell on it."
"Please—! I really don't want to think about...all that!"
Hearing the water boiling, I put the the noodles in and stirred, then grabbed a glass baking dish from the cabinet below the oven and set to work preparing it for the pasta. Basically i just wiped it down with a light oil coating. Easy.
"Well I'd have to show it to you, so give me a moment."
"What is it Sakura-chan? Do you have an eye thingy too? I think you showed me once?"
"I do. Not like Sasuke's will be, or Hinata's either. Oh, or Ino's, because it isn't a clan technique, its specifically a bloodline, and will probably go to my kids."
Getting a skillet and the griddle, I heated them up as I talked, briefly turning to Naruto and Sasuke, getting close to them so they could see my face better.
"See?"
Using my bloodline, I gave myself ten extra pounds, my eyes I knew were shining blue.
"Whoah....pretty."
"Thanks Naruto."
"What does it do?" Sasuke asked, he was no longer face down and clutching his head at his family's dark history, and instead had propped his chin up on his forearms as he studied my face. He drug his half empty cup closer, using a straw to sip at it.
A trick to keep your teeth from being stained, Naruto and I did it too.
"It lets me see you naked."
Cue Sasuke choking and Naruto gasping and screeching.
"WHAT?!"
"*cough, cough* Y-you aren't serious?!" Sasuke coughed once more and took another sip of tea, wide eyes darting back to my grin.
"Pffft! No! Its a Kekkai Touta, and I call it Gravity Release. It basically allows me to manipulate wind, earth and lightning chakra just enough to give myself chakra weights over any part of my body that I want."
Naruto frowned, squinting at my eye color, as if he could see the inner workings and mysteries behind them. His nose bumped mine and I raised a brow at his daring.
I resisted the urge to flick him for getting closer to me.
He backed off, huffing.
"Thats lame!" He said, nodding to whatever ridiculousness his brain conjured up.
"It would be cooler if you could shoot fire from your eyes instead."
"Hn." Sasuke nodded in agreement of Naruto's comment.
Urge not wasted, I flicked Naruto on the nose and stuck my tongue out at Sasuke, deactivating my bloodline and turning back to the kitchen to cook the veggies.
"Itaiii!!"
There was laughter in Naruto's voice, so I knew it didn't hurt. Not that I cared. He gave me a broken nose from sparring about a week ago. And before that he wouldn't stop pinning me down and sitting on me. Eventually I relearned how to reverse us and pin him instead, which is what Sensei had been trying to teach us two.
I finally had enough strength (without my bloodline) to actually hurt him back during spars now!
"Idiots!" I huffed in outrage. "Its basically a new way to train my body! My very cells allow me to potentially gain an unlimited amount of physical strength without going beyond my body's peak of physical perfec—grrrr! Stop giving me those looks!"
I growled then pouted, grumpily finishing my tea and grabbing a piece of sugarfree mint candy as I waited for the timer, which wasn't long now. I huffed and puffed up my cheeks as I sucked on my candy and ignored my laughing teammates.
"But, the muscles Sakura-chan, *snickers* you're a girl..." He mimed my breasts shrinking and I reigned in the urge to growl at him again in offense, feeing my cheeks heat up in embarrassment.
"Wrong! That won't happen! Think of it this way, I'll always have the lean form of a Kunoichi-breasts and all—but the strength I'll get could possibly kill a person with a single touch! I won't have giant freaking muscles—stop picturing it Naruto!"
Taking the dish towel off the counter near me, I threw it in his laughing face in amused frustration. Honestly, I couldn't help the smile from forming on my mouth, and it appeared Sasuke was the same way as he watched us, small snickers escaping him too.
The timer went off for the chicken and I removed it, taking a fork to check its readiness. The noodles were finished by then too, so I put them in a bowl, mixing in some sauce and fresh mushrooms and tomato chunks.
After I put on a good drizzle of white cheese, then slid it in the oven to bake. The boys commented on the smell of it and I agreed.
It smelled sooo delicious!
The chicken too got some sauce and cheese, and I turned the broiler on the top portion of our oven to heat up.
While that was browning for a minute, I finished up the squash and zuccini, the flipped the carrots over and checked their tenderness.
The fork slid through pretty easy, crisp but not crunchy. Like I like them.
I plated those up and ignoring the two idiots still whispering to each other about a more manly version of me, I washed what was dirty, Naruto standing up and taking out the chicken when it was done and under my instruction, popped open the oven and slid them on top of the finished pasta dish.
Sasuke set the table, and I handed out the food for them both to set on it, forks and chopsticks both as a utensil option.
"This is delicious Sakura-chan! "
"I agree." Came the muffled words from Sasuke.
A moment and Sasuke swallowed his food and looked up. "I also want to hear about the last bloodline you have."
"Ah, thanks guys! Like I said, its one of my favorite meals. And sure, I'll tell you."
I wiped my mouth, then took a sip of water.
"My last bloodline is...well.... I'm currently the only one with it at all, and they think it's because of the last two bloodlines mixing or something. It has no name officially, but I'm calling it Mahō, or Majutsu. It allows me to do a uh...range of things that no one has been able to do, well...except for you, Naruto. You did a jutsu based off of one of my spells once, remember? The red hair on team arrangement day."
His face lit up as he remembered.
"That was...does that mean I ha—"
"No, dobe. She just said she taught you a version of it. Is that why your chakra is purple then?" Onyx eyes flickered to the pan as he spoke, then back to me, then the pan again.
My eyes narrowed at the boy in front of me as he watched me eyeball the meat left over.
'Don't think I can't see you reaching for the extra slice of chicken, Sasuke. You can have it this time because I'm so nice. Next time though, its a chopstick fight to the death! Or uh, close to it anyway. Oh! The last plum! Mine'
Seeing their eyes on me, I startled, then laughed nervously, swallowing the sour treat, then clearing my throat and continuing.
"Yep! See, everyone but me has normal Mental Chakra, but I have an advanced form of it that I call Spiritual Chakra, or Mana. Its partially sentient, but it allows me to do pretty much anything I can think of, albeit with a limit. From conjuring items or Creatures from different realms for a short time, to controlling elements without handseals, manipulating objects to change their shape, talking to the dead, healing myself and others, scrying to see what others are doing, cleaning an entire room in a minute or less—"
"—wait, hold on! The dead? Y-you can talk to the dead?!" Sasuke's voice ended in a pitch, breaking slightly as he stood up and gaped at me.
Maybe I shouldn't have blabbed that part?
Nah.. I get why it would mean so much to him.
"Um, while necromancy would be kind of hard to do without getting the right ingredients, well..." I thought of a possible way to put this. I didn't want to lie about it, but I did want to forewarn them.
"...It will be a few years before I have anywhere near the amount of chakra I need to pull it off, and I would need to be in a deathlike trance willingly after doing a ritual, but from what I know of, yes. Its possible."
"Know..of? What do you even mean by that? How do you know?"
"Sakura-chan...Are you like, a demon worshipper or something?"
"Do I look like a—don't answer that. No I'm not a demon worshipper." I told them drily.
"How to explain....part of my Mahō is that I have a way to sort of....tap into information about the bloodline itself. I'm not really sure how it works, and it might have something to do with the Mind's Eye bloodline, but theres like...hundreds of books in my head on how to use it, how to make it stronger, and how to even eventually, master it all. What I can do right now—its all very low level. I bet my future kids could probably do it younger than I was when I started—if I teach it to them that young. Thats how instinctive it is for me."
We were finished up with the food at this point, and Naruto voluntarily grabbed our used plates, scraping them off into the compost and washing them. I grabbed the leftovers to put up, and Sasuke began cleaning off the table.
Finished with my task, I watched as my blond teammate flicked the radio on, humming to the music as he worked, and I turned, smiling widely to see the ravenette watching me.
His stare was...slightly unsettling from how intense it was, and my smile fell a bit.
"You alright?"
"Yeah. Um....The...the necromancy, what all do you need to do it? A personal item? Or a uh, body part?"
I stared hard at him in thought.
" ....A personal item is one ingredient, yes. It has to be something the person has left an impact on, whether they broke it, marred it, cried on it—"
"Blood. If they bled on it?"
"Sasuke...If you um, really want me to contact someone who died then I'll let you know when I have enough mana and the other specific items I need to do it. Unlike other branches of Mahō, Healing for example, I need to also be physically mature enough for my body to handle the amount of power it takes to access the realm of the dead. If I'm too young, or too weak, then I could possibly lose my soul, and my body would be theirs in return for trying to enter their realm without forewarning or permission. My body would be stuck between life and death for eternity, decayed and rotten, but unable to fully die. I have no idea what would happen to my soul. There's specific steps I will need to take to do it all. I have to be at a Mastery level in Healing, Transfiguration, Charms and Curses, and Conjuration, all that I'm only a novice in right now. That's pretty far off—years from now. If I attempt it and do it wrong, I'll have to pay a big price. Theres a reason the dead aren't able to normally interact with the living, their time has passed."
All of that is partially a reason why Necromancy was a dangerous and ...illegal magic. I had no idea why the other me even had read up on it.
I think she/I was a teenager back then? Maybe I was trying to contact a loved one or something. Who knows.
"You don't get it! I....I just want information! I want to know what happened, why it happened. I want to know..."
'Okay' I opened my mouth to agree, to say it out loud, but a different voice spoke instead, and I turned around to see Naruto in the doorway, watching us. His voice still rang out in the kitchen, so I assumed he was using a clone to clean instead.
"Then we'll find out. Without Sakura-chan's bloodline, because it sounds like it will hurt her. If we can't find evidence of something, somewhere, and she still wants to try, then we'll go that route. You've got us, Sasuke. Give us a chance at least."
"......Ok."
"Now lets get some ice cream, dattebayo!"
Watching the two before me, I couldn't help but to smile at their backs. For a brief moment. i heard a feminine laugh ring out, and saw from the corner of my eyes a flash of blue and white, but it faded, and I saw and heard nothing out of the ordinary as I looked around me quickly.