Travis

Spoiler! --Click here to view--

“One to rule nations, One to serve them. Both to protect them.
Where flame stands off against earth and water
Brothers to the end.”
-Inscription on a tourist viewing Platform Plaque, Valley of the end

From the Training Journal of Haruno Sakura, 13 April 112th Year of the Leaf

I’ve been reviewing my progress at holding an anchor for genjustu over the last two weeks, and every journal entry tells nearly the same story. My meditation steadily became more focused as I experimented with different locations, both indoors and outdoors. I meditated at home, on top of the Hokage mansion, on top of Mt. Konoha overlooking the village, on top of the hospital, at training ground three, and even that bench near the village gates. They were all places with memories, connections to my past, and yet somehow I felt them lacking. I don’t think the past is a place one can exist for long, no matter how safe it feels.

My trials with Kurenai-sensei at the Nara Dojo have only proven more difficult. Even though I can hold my anchor now for nearly three and a half minutes, I feel like I am constantly on the run. I dread being locked in a mental battle with her. She doesn’t always come at me with physical pain either. Twice I have been transported to places in my past. I can handle a false Sasuke in mortal danger, but reliving the night he left, forcing me to go through that again, I had to turn away. I didn’t care about the stupid leaf anymore.

The second time was today, and it was particularly brutal. I was returned to the first time I saw the horrible power that lay within Naruto. The bubbling beastly black form of a Naruto with four tails battled Ochimaru with terrifying power. The battle reshaped the landscape itself. It as real as it had been almost two years ago. I knew better than to run toward him in a four tailed state this time, especially sense I was trying to keep my concentration on my anchor. But this time Naruto came after me. His demon form struck at me faster than I could move. Yamato and Kabuto were no where to be found. I was suddenly on my own, just me against the Kyuubi. No amount of crying or begging was going to affect Naruto in that state. It was in that moment of feeling helplessness, that I lost my anchor once again. It was like something out of a nightmare. All the while, I was vaguely aware that Kurenai’s trees were always present, as they were the only thing that did not feel quite right about the landscape of the memory.

“Good!” Kurenai-sensei said as we returned to the reality of the quite and calm little dojo. “You are starting to recognize my own anchor within the reality I build for you. Three minutes and forty two seconds that time. A new record.”

“Sensei,” I said darkly as I wiped fresh tears from my eyes. “Stay out of my memories from now on, please.”

Kurenai shrugged. “I’m not doing anything except using what you give me Sakura.”

“I don’t understand.” I told her.

“Believe it or not, Sakura, I’ve been going easy on you. All I have been doing is stimulating emotions of regret, remorse, or fear. The memories drawn forth as a result are yours. Once you do that, they become mine to control. Think back to your meditation sessions. Have you been dismissing your emotions in order to center yourself, or flowing with them?”

It was a simple question, but one that was difficult to answer. I wondered what she meant by flowing with my emotions. When I did not answer for several moments, Kurenai-sensei continued after a heavy sigh and a shake of her head.

“I take it you either don’t know or aren’t sure. Let me tell you I can tell that you’ve been repressing them, shoving them out of the way in your search for peace and focus. Sound like anyone you know?”

My thoughts immediately jumped to my other teammate, Sai, who had been trained since he was very small to repress and eliminate his emotions. Kurenai saw that I had realized who she was referring to.

“You should know,” my teacher explained, “that members of Root are particularly susceptible to genjustu, thought they would never admit it to themselves. A truly balanced mind harmonizes with the heart, it does not dismiss it.”

“And, I’m not balanced?” I asked. I knew there were things bothering me, but not to the extent that I could not reach a balance within myself. I began to wonder if I had been doing things all wrong this whole time.

“You have a lot of fear remorse stimulating the chakra in certain areas of the brain, Sakura. I can see it as bright as a beacon when I connect with your mind. You want to control that flow by allowing your emotions to come to the surface at a controlled rate. That means you have to be aware of and accept all of them. The more uniform and balanced the chakra flow through your brain, the less I will be able to exploit it, and the stronger your anchor will become.”

I thought of Ino and the conversation we had two weeks ago.

“Be aware of and accept my emotions.” I thought out loud. “By talking about them?”

“That is a good method,” Kurenai-sensei confirmed. “It helps with awareness. But harmony must come from within.”

My frustration began to boil over. “Why am I just being told all this now!”

“There’s a difference between being told something and understanding. If I had told you this right from the beginning, you would not have understood.”

“So I need to meditate with my greatest fears in mind?”

“And your greatest joy. Think of a place and time where you can do both.”

Realization began to dawn on me. “This has to do with light and dark chakra, doesn’t it.”

Kurenai nodded approvingly. “One step at a time, Sakura.”

I went home feeling very fatigued as usual, but this time I had a new purpose in mind.

After I get some rest I will being requesting a leave of absence from Tsunade-sama. I can only think of one place where both my greatest fear and my greatest joy last collided. I need to see that place for myself, I’m sure of it. I just need to make a few preparations. I’m not looking forward to all of them.

From the Personal Diary of Haruno Sakura 14 April 112th Year of the Leaf

My father is always tinkering with something. He runs Konoha’s largest construction company, and he could sit back and let others do all the work if he wanted. Still he prefers to work with his hands. He says it makes work more meaningful to him. He is not satisfied just fixing things either, he always is trying to build something new and useful; something nobody has ever seen before. My mother tolerates this obsession as an unavoidable hobby, but to my father its serious business. Its serious business to us too on those occasions when he almost blows up the house or electrocutes himself.

I found him in his workshop, trying to get his latest invention to work. Its usually a smart idea to stay out of the workshop when he is in there unless you are wearing a helmet and eye protection, but I needed to catch him at a moment when he would be alone and I didn’t have the time to properly suit up
The workshop was really nothing more than an extension my father had built onto the house, and I found him busy with a welding torch and a thick metal plate covering his face. He was working on welding together what looked like two halves of a crude looking little metal man.

I waited behind him until the torch was simply hissing quietly, and then said, “Hi, daddy.”

My father turned and lifted up his face plate, revealing a dirty and grime covered mug. He smiled and his white teeth gleamed in contrast.

“Sakura!” he said cheerfully. “What a nice surprise! Oooh, I bet you came to see it, didn’t you? Ah . . . I told your mother it wasn’t quite ready yet. But look! You’re just in time for a test run.”
I knew my father was excited because it was the most I had heard him say in quite a while. I couldn’t see the face of the little metal man, but it had a drum shaped torso and lampshade shaped head. It had arms that looked like they were extendable or flexible vacuum cleaner attachments and treads in place of legs or feet. It was the most ridiculous thing I had ever seen. I decided to humor my father.

“What . . . What is it?”

“This,” my father said turning the little man toward me. “Is my greatest invention!”

I sighed in my own mind. It was always his greatest invention, until it ended up reducing the workshop to splinters or shutting down three blocks of power in Konoha. This invention had camera lenses for eyes and a trapezoidal speaker for a mouth.

“I call him, Shigoto-boto! The household work robot!”

“Ro . . .bot?” I repeated. “What’s a robot?”

“Bah! You’re just like your mom, Sakura.” my dad said. “Living under a rock.. Just because you live in a hidden village doesn’t mean you need to keep yourself hidden from the conveniences of the modern world. Robotics is the most advanced technological field in the world, and I’ve created a masterpiece. Watch!”
My father flipped a switch somewhere on the back of the thing. It whirred and beeped, its little lampshade head rotating back and forth as it took in its surroundings.

“Boto. Sort. Laundry.”

Dad’s workshop also housed the laundry room. This was sometimes an annoyance for my mother. The little man made a small beep and rolled over to a basket of dirty laundry. It began to sort the items by color, using clamp like hands at the end of its arms.

“You’re mother will love that,” my father beamed. “He’ll do all sorts of things.”

I had to admit I was curious about the thing. I had almost even forgotten why I had come here in the first place. Almost.

“How does it work?” I asked. “Is it similar to a puppet jutsu, but automatic?”
My father made an exasperated noise.

“You see, this is what I’m talking about. We have television, camera’s, short range and long range radio, and computers right here in the hidden village itself. Ninja didn’t invent these things. We also have the latest in medical equipment, and tons of electric power, but we act like the world runs on chakra. We could benefit from technology more, you know. Like why do we still send birds for messages when outside our happy little hidden ninja homes I can go pick up something called a telephone and talk to someone in the Earth country!”

“We trust the ancient ways to keep our messages secure, I suppose.” I said.

I didn’t know why I was allowing myself to be drawn into this argument. My father has always been interested in the way the people we served went about their business. More so than most Ninja. I was out of my league. I decided to try and change the subject.

Here goes, I thought.

“And Dad, I actually came here because . . .”

“Oh no! Shigoto-boto stop! Boto. Stop!”

During my father’s rant we had both paid the little robot no mind. Now it had taken it upon itself to find other things to sort. For some reason it decided it should sort some of the raw materials and tools that had went into its construction. With an extendable arm it had reached up onto the work bench and thrown greasy rags, screwdrivers, and other pieces of metal into the laundry bin. It was about to toss in the arc welder, and it was lit. We watched in slow motion as the dirty rags in the basket of clothes caught fire. I ran for a fire extinguisher. The smoke alarm went off.

When the smoke cleared and I finally had the fire out, we were left with a melted basket and charred black clothes crumbling to ash. My mother bust into the workshop with her ears covered and coughing. She took one look at the charred laundry remains and understood what had happened.

“Jin Haruno!” she yelled as my father looked for some place to hide.

I sighed. I decided right then wouldn’t be the best time to talk to my father after all. I don’t suppose I’ll get a chance until after I get back from my leave of absence. I could postpone it a day, but the Hokage and Kurenai-sensei are already expecting me to leave in the morning. It would be bad protocol to waste their time, especially when I know how short handed we are at the moment. Three days shouldn’t be too long to wait.


From the Training Journal of Haruno Sakura, 16 April 112th Year of the Leaf

It took me nearly a full day to reach this place. I stopped for six hours of sleep after traveling by treetop most of the way. Tsunade-sama and Kurunai-sensei had even asked why I wanted to come here. Perhaps they didn’t need to. I was hoping to get a reading from at least one of them if they thought I might find answers here, but their expressions were so unimpressed I might as well have been out shopping for souvenirs.

The Valley of the End. What a magnificent place it is! The majesty of the falls between the statues made me feel small and insignificant. I still feel small and insignificant when I compare myself to Naruto and Sasuke. That's what this training is about; protecting them.

The two of them did battle in this place. Naruto still won’t talk about it. All I know is what Kakashi-sensei told me about the sate he found Naruto in. I often wonder what I would I have done-what could I have done- had I been there. Probably nothing, but I think it may still be my greatest regret.

I'm not even sure what I'm doing here, only that it was just a feeling I had. Light and dark chakra, making genjutsu my personal art, becoming a master of my mind. It all pointed to this place somehow. It was as if the Sakura trees that lined the river on the way up the canyon to these famous falls were the ones calling me to this place, beckoning me in full bloom as the warm spring winds hit them. This place resonates with strange chakra, it swirls in eddies like the water as if some eternal battle was still being fought in this place between the two giant ninja statues. This day I would find my place among giants. I was sure of it.

I closed my eyes and breathed deep. It was time to begin. I kicked off my shoes and set
the backpack I had with me down on the riverbank. I looked around, making sure I was indeed completely alone, and shed my kimono and undergarments. I changed quickly into the hot pink bikini swimsuit I had brought with me. I have been told that one piece suits don’t handle too well for this type of meditation, and that I shouldn’t expect the top to stay on either.

I walked slowly out onto the calm waters of the pool beneath the falls, the backpack slung over my shoulder. A misty spray formed several rainbows in front of me as I drew closer to the roaring falls. Walking on the water I found a place where the downpour was minimal, and discovered a small dry enclave behind the falls. I set the bag down there and mentally prepared myself for training. At last I stood at the threshold of a cascading wall of water. I extended my chakra control outward, and stood under the water.

The force of the water was impressive. If I didn’t keep excellent posture and chakra control I could be crushed. I knew this meditation might have some dangers, but I don’t think I was truly prepared for this force of nature. My bikini top was almost immediately swiped from me, and I had to let it go, just like the troubles of my mind. I closed my eyes and concentrated.

I held my arms straight out to the sides, and traced a large circle in the ir in front of me before pressing my hands together in front of my chest as if I were praying. I concentrated on every drop of water. Time slowed. The water droplets were together as much as they were separate. I felt them on my fingertips, my shoulders, the small of my back, the tips of my breasts. The water was light and soft while at the same time they were heavy and hard. I felt hate, I felt fear. I felt resolve. I felt harmony. I felt peace. I felt regret. I felt despair. I felt . . .

I opened my eyes. It was all here. It swirled together inside me like the eddies at the bottom of the falls. The water rushed around me but the wind called to me. I called upon my leaf, my anchor. It danced for me in the currents before me, and eased the crushing pressure of the water. It vanished from site, but my focus remained. The wind rushed to me as the water flowed away from me, and then I saw them. They were carried from the orchard farther up stream.

Rose colored petals so perfect and smooth drifted lazily on the wind. They carried with them the answer that had always been there, but had somehow seemed superficial. Hope.

The Sakura petals multiplied when I asked them to, and they swirled around me in a beautiful pink cyclone. My chakra exploded outward, and I swear I felt the pounding water part and give me space. I exhaled deeply, and stepped out of the falls. I basked in the noon-day sun, letting it warm my bare skin as I smiled at the heavens. I had my anchor.

It was in this moment of clarity that I realized I was no longer alone.

Spoiler! --Click here to view--

Brothers, Cousins, Uchiha! Heed my words! You place your fate in the hands of men who would just as soon betray you and destroy you! Do not be fools! Stay with those you can trust! Trust in my wisdom, my power, and the Uchiha will rule this land!

-Madara Uchiha to the Uchiha Council, One Year before the Leaf


After Action Combat Report - Debriefing 18 April 112th Year of the Leaf -
Ninja Team: Haruno, Sakura Event Type: Ambush Event Rank: A
Classification: SECRET - RELEASABLE TO THE VILLAGE OF THE SAND

I had just finished training when I detected a slight chakra fluctuation that was not my own. It was impatient and angry, and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I ducked back behind the waterfall where I had been meditating and into the small enclave where I had stored my gear. There was a chance whoever it was had not seen me, and I wanted to keep it that way. I might have mistaken the change in the environment for a tourist, as they sometimes frequent this location, but I was certain I had felt this chakra - this horrible angry and broken chakra before. If he was here, then he was not likely to be alone.

I dressed hastily, taking the time only to put on my black combat type bra an equipment belt. I threw the backpack over my shoulders and took a moment to plan my next action. At best, I knew I needed to spot the enemy before they spotted me, at worse they were waiting strategically for me to come out of the enclave, where I would be an easy target on the open water. Unfortunately it was the latter.

I was just starting to climb the wet rocks behind the waterfall when someone got impatient with me and decided I needed to be encouraged to show myself. The whole earth around me began to shake as if it were an earthquake. I heard an angry howl from far above me, and from the noise I could visualize my attacker pounding the cliffs above with inhuman strength to start a rock slide. The rocks around me began to crack and tumble. I knew there was no sense in trying to stay hidden any longer. It would only get me buried alive.

I burst forth from the falls out onto the open water, my fists swelling with chakra as I searched for a target.

I found three. A big man above and behind me at the top of the cliffs, a pointy-teethed swordsman on the riverbank, and a cocky red headed female in front of me. I had researched them thoroughly after our last encounter. They called themselves team Hebi, and they were loyal to Sasuke. It was figuring out exactly who Sasuke was loyal to anymore that was the hard part.

I doubted somehow that they had come to discuss such mysteries politely, and decided a quick offense was the best defense, especially since it was three on one. I loaded more chakra in my right hand and charged down the river at Karin, who just stood their smiling sweetly. She gave me a little wave just before the silver haired swordsman known as Suigetsu cut me off in a blur of motion. I leapt over his initial horizontal cut and somersaulted behind him. The impact of my landing caused a splash big enough to wet us both, but I managed to keep enough balancing chakra going that I didn’t sink under the rippling waves. I ducked low and swept my leg at both of his, hoping to topple him, but he leapt nimbly in the air and turned in one motion. He held his sword aloft and prepared to bring it down on me full force.

This was a mistake in my mind. He wouldn’t be able to dodge effectively in freefall and my next blow would crush both him and his sword. But I should have known his weapon was no ordinary sword. It just absorbed the impact of my intercepting punch. The recoil was impressive. I was sent skipping across the water like a stone.

Before I could recover completely, Karin was on me. She descended on me from above as I struggled to stand on unsteady waters. In her left hand she pointed a kunai for a killing thrust, in her right hand she twirled a net above her head. She threw the net and I saw it crackle with paralyzing energy.

I realized two things in that moment. The first was that their intent was to capture, not kill me. The second was that the combination between the two had been rehearsed, and would have worked if I was on dry land. The only way to go was down, into the murky blue depths of the Destiny River.

I cut the chakra holding me on the surface of the river and dove into the water. I removed my backpack and used its weight to help me dive faster, clearing my ears with a slight yawn. I needed to reach the bottom as quickly as possible. As long as I was submerged with nothing under my feet, I was at an extreme disadvantage. Underwater, the sound of the falls was multiplied to my right, reaching me as a muffled thunderous roar. It almost drowned out the whooshing sound of the danger following me into the depths.

Suigetsu had summoned ten long chakra eels. His silhouette above still had his palms pressed against the water. They darted through the water with blinding speed. I touched the bottom just as the first one reached me, and I swung the arm with the bag up to defend myself from an open maw full of jagged teeth. The bag tore free of my hand, its flap coming open and the contents spilling out into the lazy currents.

I made a desperate grab for anything I could save as I pirouetted underwater to avoid the missile like bite of a second eel. I came up with a single scroll in my right hand.

I cried out in pain as a third eel latched onto an ankle and began to wind itself around my leg. The eels made an eerie siren call in the water as they seemed to sense victory. I kicked the one off my leg with my free foot, and then grabbed another by the tail as it darted by. I swung this eel in a wide arc so that it impacted viciously with three of its comrades and they went sailing toward the surface in a bubbly tangle of light blue glowing chakra.

I pocketed the scroll in my pouch and bunched chakra in my legs and in my right hand.

“Shanarro!” I cried in a bubble-filled underwater voice as I launched myself toward the first target I could see. I felt the rocky bottom give way and crater with a tremendous shake of the earth as I propelled myself through the water. I don’t think Karin saw me coming until it was nearly too late.

As I breached the surface like a dolphin, she did something to me that I still can’t explain. I had enough of a strike prepared to knock her unconscious, but somehow she suppressed the chakra in my hand just before I connected. Could she not only detect and identify me by my chakra, as Kakashi-sensei’s research encounter with her indicated, but also somehow suppress it? This would be very useful in Ochimaru’s laboratories. I still connected under her chin with a satisfying thwack that lifted her off her feet and sent her head first into the river as I continued upward. It felt good. I’d wanted to do that for a long time.

I was almost at the pinnacle of my vertical motion when I became aware of Suigetsu suddenly appearing behind and above me with his sword held high. There was nothing I could do to avoid his mighty cut, and I watched in fascination as my body was split in two.

Sometimes the old tricks are still the best. As the two halves of my log replacement body fell away, I feared team Hebi might have the intent to kill me after all. Still, Karin didn’t sound too happy with Suigetsu as she cursed him from below for being careless.

I heard the former mist ninja utter the word “replacement” as if it where a swear word as the white smoke from my justsu cleared and I planted my feet on his shoulders. I kicked out hard, sending Suigetsu into the river with a tremendous splash and propelling myself even higher into the air. I had aimed for the cliffs, intending to run for high ground, but I had momentarily forgotten about the deranged source of the cursed seal, Jugo.

The brute ran along the side of the cliff, using centripetal force and his chakra to keep him attached. He leapt at me and tackled me in mid air. His breath made me wretch as he began to transform and we tumbled into the river in a mess of arms and limbs.

He was huge and smothering compared to my tiny frame, and I gritted my teeth as his bear hug began to make my joints pop. I attempted to head butt him off of me, and he responded with a snarl, but his grip did loosen. A right hook connected with the side of my rib cage as he pushed away. I heard several ribs crack, and I knew that was one injury that was going to take a while to repair.

Then the eels were on me again. One sunk its teeth into my wrist as it wrapped itself around my torso, binding my arms to my body. I screamed a gargled scream as two more bound my legs. Finally, a third wrapped itself securely around my throat. I cursed as I tried in vain to reach the scroll in my pouch with the fingertips of my left hand. I was sinking, and soon, I would be drowning.
Before that happened I was treated to a tremendous electric shock as all four eels binding me pulsed. I screamed again, and then I blacked out.

I awoke moments later bobbing on the surface of the water like a fisherman’s lure. I was still held fast by the eels. The numbing pain of electric shock let me know that I was still alive. My captures stood around me on the water.

Karin knelt down to look me in the eye when she noticed I was awake.

“Well, Well, that was quite a fight you gave us,” mocked Karin. “Totally rude of you though, we just wanted to ask you some questions.”

“Go to hell!” I croaked at her.

I screamed as another jolt of electricity coursed through my nerves. Panting, I glanced at the
hungry looking maws of two eels poised dangerously over my head. The message was clear. At Suigetsu’s command, they could tear my head clean off. Jugo was back in his normal form, but his eyes still glowed with demonic intensity and impatience. It wasn’t long before he was unable to restrain himself.

“Give back Sasuke!” he roared.

Karin made an annoyed sigh as she glanced up at her brutish companion.

“I said let me do the talking you witless freak of nature!” she snarled.

Then in a sweet tone she said, “We just want the same thing as you, you see. Tell us where Sasuke is. I know you know.”

“How the hell should I know where he is,” I spat. “If I did, I wouldn’t be here!”

“Don’t play dumb with us!” Suigetsu interjected. “You know what’s hidden here don’t you?”

Suigetsu emphasized his words by having his eels squeeze me tighter. One of them hissed near my ear. I was almost impressed with their lifelike quality, but I was more concerned about finding a way out of this mess. I struggled to move my left hand at all. If I could just get my side pouch open . . .

“I was here to train and relax,” I said truthfully. “You think I always run solo missions in swimsuits?”

Suigetsu harrumphed and folded his arms, indicating he wouldn’t believe me even if what I told them made sense. This was bad. If the truth wouldn’t convince them . . .

“Perhaps you hoped to entice Sasuke to come home with you like that,” Karin said with a smile that sickened me. “Don’t think it would have worked very well with that stick figure of a body of yours.”

I wanted to punch her. Again. And much harder this time. She seemed to read this in my gaze, and absent-mindedly rubbed her jaw. I tried to shuffle my legs to see if I could get my pouch to ride any higher on my hip, but it was no use.

“Struggling won’t do any good,” Suigetsu said politely. “And you’ll only make them mad. Better start talking, they’re getting hungry.”

I decided not to bother telling him his chakra summoned pets weren’t like real summons and didn’t have feelings, but it gave me an idea. If I could just shift the Mist-swordsman’s concentration, even a little . . .

“Fine,” I said in mock defeat. “But I warn you, Sasuke warned me that you three would show up someday. Believe me when I say he’s not going to be pleased that you found him. He’s likely to kill you all. Especially you, Jugo. You annoy him.”

Jugo stared acidly at me and ground his teeth loud enough that I could actually hear the crunching noise. Karin’s other personality broke in, and she slapped me.

“Liar!” she screamed. “You’re just a jealous little whore!”

“You don’t have to believe me,” I said calmly. “But Sasuke finally rid himself of that cursed mark, and now he doesn’t want Jugo anywhere near him.”

I was grasping at rumors now. It was a dangerous game, lying to your captures. If this rumor was false and their information was better than mine . . .

Jugo bought it.

“Sasuke!” he bellowed. “No! He promised!”

Suigetsu stepped back in fear as Jugo began to transform, his facial features distorting as the cursed mark spread its black splotchy pattern over his face and body. The grip of the eels loosened only slightly. There was plenty of blood oozing from the bite on my wrist. It was all I needed.

“Summoning jutsu!” My voice rang out down the canyon, and a giant white pillar of smoke filled the valley, obscuring everything. When it finally cleared, I relished in the awed and terrified faces of my enemies. Even the manic Jugo looked stunned and uncertain about what to do.

“Hello Katsuya-sama.” I said weakly as I began to heal my ribs. The eels had snapped and vanished completely. “Sorry to bring you into this, but I was having a bit of trouble with these three.”

“Oh! Hello, Sakura-chan.” The Matriarch of Slugs said wistfully. “I don’t mind. Is this the Valley of the End? It’s beautiful.”

I wasn’t sure how she could see any of it at all, since at the tips of her eye-stalks she was taller than the highest portion of the cliffs, and she blocked out almost everything besides the falls themselves beneath her. I leapt from her back onto her head to get a better view myself.
Below, Karin appeared to be arguing with Suigetsu about something. From what I could gather, they didn’t know I could summon at a master level. I was about to show them what else Katsuya could do. Katsuya’s bulk was blocking off the river and the valley was slowly starting to flood. I watched in amusement as Karin and Suigetsu scrambled for higher ground, pushing and shoving each other out of the way. Meanwhile, Jugo had decided to charge at Katsuya in anger.

“Katsuya,” I said. “Would you mind capturing those three without hurting them please?”

“Oh,” giggled the giant slug in her soft voice. “That should be no trouble at all.”

A high pressure stream of some sort of blue liquid flew from what I’ll call Katsuya’s orifice. It caught Jugo right in the sternum and knocked him backwards. The liquid was actually a kind of sticky goo that began to harden as soon as it touched anything. Jugo was soon fastened to the rocky shore in a cocoon that even he could not budge. He struggled uselessly and snarled with only his head visible.

Karin was caught next. The spray fastened to her ankles and then quickly worked its way up the rest of her body, plastering her to the rocks a few hundred meters above Jugo. Suigetsu cut through the spray a few times with his sword, and he was faster than his comrades, but Katsuya seemed to have an endless supply of the stuff, and eventually Suigetsu wore down and found himself stuck upside down against the eastern wall.

“Thank you, Katsuya-sama.” I told my slug friend. “That was great!”

“Anytime, Sakura-chan. That was fun.”

“Do you think you could hang around for a moment while I interrogate them?” I asked the Queen of all slugs. “I wonder if they’d believe me if I told them I’ll feed them to you if they don’t tell me what I want to know.”

“Oh dear, Sakura-Chan! I would never . . .”

I laughed. “I know, I know. Just kidding.”

Moments later I was kneeling in front of Karin. She was covered in a hardened blue shell spread eagle and prone on the grey rocks. For once, she had nothing to say as she gazed up at me with fearful eyes.

“Now then,” I said as I cracked my knuckles. “It’s my turn to ask the questions.”

Intelligence Report - Debriefing 18 April 112th Year of the Leaf -
Ninja Team: Haruno, Sakura Event Type: Rogue Ninja Investigation Event Rank: A
Classification: SECRET - RELEASABLE TO THE VILLAGE OF THE SAND

This was my first interrogation. I tried to follow protocol with what little I had available to me, and considering the setting I think I did fairly well. After giving Karin the initial threat I dismissed Katsuya and set out to gather what supplies of mine I could still find. I found the backpack floating not far downstream, and was relieved to find that most of the medical supplies were still intact. There was also a change of clothes, but they were soaked and unusable for now. As I approached my prisoners again I realized I was getting pretty annoyed with Jugo’s constant screaming and struggling. His cocoon was even beginning to crack a little. I gave him a finger flick to the temple and he lay still. The curse mark receded from his features, and for once the big man looked peaceful. Karin witnessed this and went pale.

With a special acid-based solvent one can cut through slug saliva in its quick-hardened form. I cut Karin loose from the rocks but left her in her cocoon and sat her up as best I could. This drew a string of curses and foul language from Suigetsu, who was still stuck upside down on the cliff. I wasn’t really sure how I was going to get him down anyway, so I just waved politely at him.
I remembered that interrogation is as much about who to interrogate as it is about how. Sometimes it is best to choose the weakest link, and sometimes it is best to go with the leader. I chose Karin because I thought she might represent both.

Once she realized by the questions I was asking that I really had no idea where Sasuke was, she seemed to relax a little. She was less threatened by me now, which I knew I could use, but the drawback was she was determined more than ever not to share what she knew about Sasuke with me. I found myself wishing I had mastered even a little genjustu already. It would have been very useful in the situation I had found myself in.

It was getting late, and the sun was begging to sink on the horizon when I took a risk. I offered to help them find Sasuke, and though I told her I could not speak for Konoha, I told her I would not try to take Sasuke back on my own, that they would have the advantage if we were to find him soon. This would mean letting them go. Though the members of team Hebi were wanted criminals, I figured that if they worked with me they could be caught again.

This is where I left protocol. I am aware this decision was above my authority, and I will accept whatever discipline is decided upon, however I feel the information obtained as a result was well worth it.
The three of them had run into Kabuto, or more accurately Kabuto found them after a mysterious ninja in an orange mask took Sasuke from them. Karin said she was convinced he was from Konoha because he was acting like an idiot. Karin confirmed that Kabuto was indeed still slowly transforming into some kind of half Ochimaru – half Kabuto monster. Karin, who is said to still be loyal to Ochimaru’s ideals, was terrified when she told me of this. Nevertheless, the mentally disturbed ninja scientist told me Kabuto wanted to help Hebi find Sasuke, and that he apparently wanted nothing in return. He kept saying it was all part of his new existence. For many months Kabuto had been sending them to investigate leads, and each time they had come up empty. They were getting frustrated with the man Karin kept referring to as a “freak.”
This time Kabuto had directed them to search for a secret lair hidden within the statue of Madara, at the Valley of the End. They had come looking for it when they had run into me, and assumed I was investigating the same information. Hearing this, I took a few moments to check in and around the base of the colossal statue, but could find nothing.

Karin could not keep quiet about how she was certain she could detect traces of Sasuke’s presence in this place, and that it was strongest by the waterfall where I had been meditating. I had thought at first that she was just feeling the remains of Naruto and Sasuke’s battle those years ago, but as I returned to her finding nothing, I made my decision.

I cut her loose, but kept a kunai trained on her as I told her to lead me to the area where Sasuke’s presence was the strongest. She held her hands out in front of her and closed her eyes like she was in some trance. Eventually, she lead me to the same enclave where I had stowed my gear while I trained. A close examination of the dark wall revealed the circle and stick symbol of the Uchiha clan, and other markings. The moment I touched the symbol a barrier activated.

Karin easily suppressed a barrier that would have made all my strength useless. I couldn’t help but wish we had had her on our side when we were trying to save Gaara from the Akatsuki. Punching through was easy for me after that. I’ll never forget the site that lay before us in the cavernous space within. There was a bed with old bandages lying nearby in the corner of the small cave. The bandages were crusted with dried blood.
Karin fell to her knees.

“Sasuke was here,” she whispered. “And someone . . . someone very powerful . . . I . . .so much power.”
Karin was actually trembling at this point, and it worried me greatly. She had been slightly afraid of me it was true, but even in the short time I had known her I could never have imagined her to be this terrified.
I pulled on some latex gloves and began collecting evidence at once.

The air was thick with the smell of sulfur and of charred flesh and clothes. There had been a terrible blast of fire in here. I was certain I was seeing the scars of Amaturasu, the Sharingan’s deadliest flame attack. But Sasuke wasn’t able to use it, as far as we knew. I wondered if it could have been the masked Akatsuki member, who also had the powerful eye technique. Regardless of who it was, to use a technique like that in here, in such a confined space . . . the result might be suicidal. It didn’t make any sense.

I collected hairs, bloody bandages, anything I could get DNA off of. I checked in the wooden boxes of supplies, the small lamp on the crude nightstand by the bed. I was afraid it was going to be a dead end. Then under the bed I found a small folded up piece of parchment. I would recognize Sasuke’s crisp angular handwriting anywhere. The note read;

Sasuke,

I’m writing this to myself and hiding it within these scrolls in case I wake up and find I do not remember who I am. I think I’ve been here three days while this person claiming to be Madara continues to tend to my wounds. Though he is helping me, I do not rust him. His claims are outrageous, and I should dispose of him quickly weather it was what my brother really wanted or not. He’s practically admitted to helping in the destruction of the Uchiha.[ However, I am an avenger, and if Konoha really was behind what happened that day, then nothing will save them from my wrath. But first I need to start where my brother left off, I need to discover the truth behind Akatsuki and this Madara. To do this I must join them. The day the Kyuubi . . .


The rest of the note was torn off, and there was no sign of any scrolls on the nearby shelves. They must have been transported to a new location. There was so much in this note that I was still struggling to
comprehend it all.

“Akatsuki,” I whispered as I fell to my knees and let the note slip from my fingers. Karin, to her credit actually looked concerned as the tears began to well in my eyes. “No, Sasuke is . . .”

Karin picked up the note and read it. Then, without a word, she turned and disappeared in a splash through the raging waterfall. I didn’t even raise my voice in an attempt to stop her from freeing her teammates and fleeing with them, and she kept the note with her.

In the end the note was no great loss, the DNA evidence of Sasuke’s presence is overwhelming, and investigators agree with me on the Amaturasu scars along the cave walls. Kakashi-sensei is taking over the investigation for me while I complete my training. I only hope I can complete it in time.