Chapter Ten
(Hyouhaku begins)
"Huh?!? You yelled out about Sasuke's scandal with me in front of the whole family?!?" Karin exclaimed with wide eyes.
"Uh huh." the young Uchiha replied as he picked up Sora.
Sora has always been present during his training, encouraging him with mews if he does a jutsu wrongly when he's doing trial and error with the hand seals...
"Wow kid. What was your mum's reaction?" Suigetsu asked as he used the blade he always carries around with him to slice through a member of the Rinha clan who has already cloned himself to be Suigetsu, so that he is in liquid form...
The sword cut through the Rinha member like water and the fact that he didn't die made Suigetsu smiled when he saw that the clan's training with Daisuke is finally paying off...
"So that's your clan's specialty Hozuki? Transforming into water?" Marisu commented as she stood beside the white haired ninja.
"Yea, it's called Azure Stream. But I'm not that talented in my clan." he scratched the back of his neck.
"Really? I would beg to differ seeing from the sword that you wield." Marisu replied.
Suigetsu smiled but then grew solemn.
"You should have seen my elder brother. He was way more talented than me..."
"Really? What can he do?" Karin asked and Suigetsu looked up at the sky.
"He was a member of the 7 Ninja Swordsmen to say the least. Too bad he died already." Suigetsu gave a grim smile and Daisuke frowned at that news.
"What's a 7 Ninja Swordsmen?" he asked curiously as Sora nodded its head.
"What?! You mean you don't know?!" Karin exclaimed as she placed a hand on her hip. "Really brat?! I thought you were a genius!"
Daisuke rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms in an irritated manner.
"Well, I am 5 years old after all Karin! You can't expect me to be almighty all knowing God!" he snapped as Marisu and Suigetsu laughed at his retort.
Karin gritted her teeth and huffed as she looked back at Suigetsu.
Suigetsu regained back his composure before crossing his arms and smiling at Daisuke.
"Well kid, the 7 Ninja Swordsmen are 7 talented swordsmen from Kirigakure who are each able to wield a special sword." he explained. "There are 7 swords in total for each swordsmen. Mine here is an example, it's a Kubikiribocho. See this semi-circle in the middle? It allows me to decapitate an opponent's head easily like what you saw me doing to the clone just now. The sword also has an ability to regenerate using the iron absorbed from the blood of its victims."
Daisuke's eyes widened with interest as he grabbed Sora and sat down on a log cross legged.
"Neh, please tell me more about the different swords!" Daisuke quipped and Suigetsu chuckled as he sat on the log beside Daisuke.
Karin rolled her eyes.
"While you guys are story telling, I'm gonna get my medical equipments. Draw blood from Daisuke so I can concoct a soldier pill for everyone." she said as Marisu nodded her head.
"I'll just go and train with my people." She smiled as she walked off together with Karin, leaving Suigetsu and Daisuke.
Suigetsu then turned to Daisuke.
"Alright. Let me tell you about the other 6 swords then. There's Samehada, an extremely picky sword that will only pick someone based on his or her ability to control water chakra. It's actually creepy looking if you ask me. It's like a giant knife covered in shark scales and you have to always bandage it in case you accidentally scrape your own skin as you have to carry it around at all times."
Daisuke tilted his head.
"So does it have a specialty?" he asked.
"Yea. It has the ability to eat chakra." Suigetsu answered.
"Wow! That means it must be the most powerful sword!" the young Uchiha exclaimed.
"Nah. In the end, it depends on the ninja wielding the weapon. You can have a very talented ninja but if given a lousy sword, even that sword can become an extremely powerful weapon." Suigetsu shrugged his shoulders.
"Well tell me more!" Daisuke pressed and Suigetsu gave a light chuckle as he continued.
"The next sword is the Nuibari. It's actually a needle with a long thin wire that's supposed to represent a thread. When you pierce through enemies, you can sew them together in a line. Hence, you'll get a string of victims, making the sword look like a long sword."
Daisuke nodded enthusiastically, encouraging Suigetsu to go on.
"Ahh... Let me see... Right! The next sword is the Kabutowari, which is a sword that has a one sided axe and a hammer attached together by a long chain. It is capable to crush any and all kinds of defences known. But it's not really my kind of sword though..."
"How about the next one?" Daisuke asked excitedly.
"Ehh... Yea! Shibuki! It's a sword that is a single sided axe too! But the blade itself is actually a scroll full of explosive tags all over it. So when you bring down the sword on someone, there will certainly be explosions invovled."
Daisuke counted the fingers on his hands.
"Eh, 2 more swords to go!" he grinned and Suigetsu stroked his chin, looking hard at the ground.
"Hmm... Yea! The twin swords! It's name is Kiba! Both swords are imbued with lightning which increases the swords' slashing power. They are said to be the sharpest swords ever forged!" Suigetsu then leaned himself back as he looked down at Daisuke. "And the last one, Hiramekarei. It's also a bandaged sword like Samehada but has two handles on it. The sword is capable of storing and emitting the user's chakra, allowing it to then take on various forms."
"Various forms? Meaning..." Daisuke asked as Suigetsu answered him.
"Meaning if it has a certain amount of chakra, the user can think up of any weapon he or she wants the sword to be, say, a scythe. Then the sword will change itself into a scythe. The more chakra it has gathered, the bigger the size of the desired weapon." Suigetsu finished with a smile as he patted Daisuke's head.
"You seem interested in the swords..." he said with a smile as Daisuke nodded his head.
"Uh huh! They sound interesting! I wish I was able to try wielding one of them!" Daisuke sighed and Suigetsu gave him a grin.
"Well if you promise me to train hard enough, I'll take you to the place where the swords are! But as for Samehada, you have to help me take it from the 8 tailed Jinchuuriki once you're confident enough." Suigetsu suggested and Daisuke's eyes bulged.
"Are you trying to get me killed Suigetsu?!? I'm only 5 years old! How in the world do you expect me to beat an 8 tailed Jinchuuriki?!" Daisuke exclaimed as Suigetsu ruffled his hair.
"Well, do you want to join us permanently and train with us more? That way you can be with us 24/7 and hone your skills. It'll be different than training with your dad or your sensei. I can teach you how to wield the different swords since my elder brother was a pro at it. So I have a bit of prior knowledge on the swords." Suigetsu offered and Daisuke frowned.
"I'm only a preschooler Suigetsu. Don't you think you guys are a bit obsessed with me?" Daisuke rolled his eyes.
"Not anymore you aren't. You are already in the same classes as Sarada who is taking intermediate modules. We recognise your talent kid."
Daisuke shook his head.
"Well what about my mama? I can't possibly leave her! It'll break her heart even more after what papa did to her!" Daisuke clenched his fists as he looked down at the ground.
Sora looked up at him and nudged his stomach, trying to comfort the boy..
"Then take your time to think kid. We don't want to force you into anything." Suigetsu shrugged as he stood up and dusted his lap...
*~*
2 WEEKS LATER
"Alright here's the maternity test result..." Tsunade pushed a brown folder towards Sasuke and Sakura...
Shizune promised to look after Sarada and Daisuke so Sasuke and his wife can go for this important medical appointment...
Sakura took a deep breath as Sasuke crossed his arms and looked at her.
"Well, take a look. I hate to say that I prove you wrong but since you're so stubborn..." he began as Tsunade cut him off.
"Sasuke... Please... Take it easy... I myself am not sure..." Tsunade bit her lips as Sasuke frowned and Sakura raised an eyebrow.
"What are you talking about Tsunade sama?" Sasuke asked suspiciously and she just nudged at the folder.
"Open it Sakura." she said and Sakura took the folder with trembling hands as she opened it to see the contents...
It says:
Sarada's Maternity Result:
Sasuke Uchiha- 99.9% match
Sakura Haruno- UNKNOWN
Sakura frowned at the report then looked up at Tsunade.
"What is the meaning of this?!?" Sasuke growled as he leaned towards Tsunade. "What the hell do you mean unknown?!?"
Tsunade sighed and took a deep breath.
"I did so many tests. Even Shizune helped me out. But the result kept coming out as unknown..." she started as Sakura's eyes watered.
"Tsunade sama... I was pregnant with Sarada when you treated me wasn't I? Please don't lie to me shishou..." she whispered as Tsunade looked at her.
"Yes... Yes Sakura you were... Please trust me on this. I just don't know why the DNA tests kept coming out as unknown..." Tsunade answered as Sakura thought hard about the different possible medical theories and looked at Sasuke.
"You didn't try to transfer Karin's womb inside of me without Tsunade sama's knowledge so that I'll be carrying your love child did you?!?" Sakura spat as Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her.
"Sakura! What kind of thinking is that?!?" he exclaimed. "Sarada is purely yours and my child!!"
"Then why does the result says unknown Sasuke?!?" Sakura cried as tears began spilling out of her beautiful green eyes. "Why Sasuke?!? I confessed to you, you threw away my confession just like that and left!! Then I finally caught up to you and you tried to kill me with your Chidori!! I still loved you despite the numerous confessions I got from other men during the Shinobi War!! Then you came back and left me again!! When you finally asked me to marry you, I thought we were going to have a happy life together!! Why do you always have to ruin things Sasuke?! WHY?!?"
Sasuke didn't know how to answer her...
"Guys, look the test is just as it is. It's just a test Sakura. I know what I saw, I know what I treated and I know what I experienced. You WERE pregnant with Sarada Uchiha Sakura. And no one can take that away from you, not even Karin... Not even Sasuke himself..." Tsunade said quietly and Sakura bit her lips as she looked down at the floor.
"You are still Sarada's mother no matter what people do, no matter what people say Sakura Haruno... And I'm sure if Sarada is here, she would have said the same thing..." Tsunade added gently. "I apologised that I don't have an answer as to why the results kept coming out as unknown but... Just know that you can't abandon Sarada like that... She needs you Sakura... Sasuke too... Not to mention Daisuke... Your whole family needs you to be strong Sakura... Don't allow whatever scandal Karin and Suigetsu try to concoct get to you okay?"
"Come on Sakura... Come home to me and Sarada okay?" Sasuke coaxed the pink haired lady.
After what seemed like eternal silence, Sakura finally nodded her head...
(Hyouhaku ends)