Konoha's night market street, typically a vibrant hub of activity, was markedly different tonight. A current of panic flowed through the crowd as people ran frantically, their faces etched with fear, scattering in all directions away from the Fujiwara Izakaya, which seemed to be the epicenter of the chaos.
Directly in front of the izakaya, a lone Konoha ninja stood facing off against a strikingly beautiful woman. An intense blue chakra aura radiated visibly from the woman's body, while the ninja regarded her with grim determination. These two were, of course, the transformed Sakura and Shiranui Genma.
"Which village sent you?" Genma demanded, his pupils contracting as he assessed the woman whose chakra was so potent it was physically manifesting.
"Why waste time talking? Let's just fight!" Sakura, still riding the high of the alcohol and fueled by a belly full of suppressed anger, retorted recklessly, giving no thought to the potential consequences of her actions. All she wanted was to unleash the firestorm raging within her.
She dropped into a low crouch, muscles coiling, then exploded forward towards Genma. The sheer power of her launch shattered the ground beneath her feet, cracks spiderwebbing outwards from the impact point.
Like a deadly arrow, Sakura shot towards him, fist cocked back, ready to strike. She used no ninjutsu, wanting only the visceral release of hand-to-hand combat, a raw outlet for her fury. The Jonin before her seemed like the perfect target.
"So fast!" Genma thought, startled by her incredible speed. His hands blurred through seals. "Earth Style: Mud Wall!"
A solid brown wall of earth erupted instantly between them. However, less than a second later, the barrier exploded violently outwards, sending chunks of rock and dirt flying in all directions. The woman burst through the debris, appearing directly in front of Genma.
"Not good!" Genma realized with alarm. He hadn't anticipated the Mud Wall failing so quickly, let alone so spectacularly. Seeing her fist rapidly enlarging in his vision, he instinctively spat the senbon he habitually held in his mouth directly towards her eyes.
Sakura saw the needle-like projectile coming just as her punch was about to connect. "Hmph, is that all you've got?!" She contemptuously raised her free left hand to block the incoming senbon, her right fist never wavering, continuing its devastating path towards Genma.
Puchi!BANG!
The senbon pierced clean through Sakura's left forearm. Simultaneously, her right fist slammed into Genma, sending him hurtling backward through the air. Sakura had consciously held back her monstrous strength; if she had used her full power, the blow would have undoubtedly crushed his skull. Even drunk, a sliver of rational thought remained.
She casually plucked the senbon from her bleeding forearm. Green chakra flickered around the wound, and her Healing Jutsu closed it in moments. Senbon, she mused. Designed for hitting pressure points, low killing power. Decent tools for stealthy assassination, though.
"Cough cough," Genma sputtered, pushing himself up from the ground where he'd landed heavily. A trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away, his vision swimming momentarily. Straining to focus on the imposing woman before him, he demanded, "Who are you? What is your objective here in Konoha?"
Sakura advanced towards him slowly, a wave of raw exhilaration washing over her. Playing the part of the well-behaved 'good girl' all the time felt so stifling. Finally, she had a chance to truly let loose. A wicked, almost feral grin spread across her transformed face. "Is this truly the extent of a Konoha Jonin's strength?"
"Don't get arrogant!" Genma gritted his teeth, fighting to clear his head from the disorienting impact of her punch. The dizziness hadn't faded yet. "You should surrender quietly! Lady Hokage will be arriving any minute now!"
"Hehe, the Hokage, you say?" Sakura's grin widened further. "I'd actually quite like to have a little spar with her!" It felt like ages since she'd last truly tested her skills against her master. Thinking back, they hadn't really engaged in any serious training bouts since she first became Tsunade's apprentice.
There's an old saying: alcohol gives courage to cowards. In Sakura's current state, it couldn't be more fitting. Sober, the news of Tsunade's impending arrival would have sent her running for the hills. Right now, however, not only did she feel no fear, but she was actively looking forward to the challenge.
"Ninja Art: Senbon Rain!" Seizing an apparent moment of distraction, Genma suddenly unleashed a barrage of senbon from his mouth, showering them towards Sakura.
Puchi-puchi-puchi! The sound of multiple impacts followed. Sakura, still affected by the alcohol and momentarily lost in thought, reacted half a beat too slow. She took the full force of the Senbon Rain head-on. Though she now resembled a human pincushion, fortunately, Genma's own dizziness had thrown off his aim, preventing any of the senbon from hitting vital points.
Ignoring the needles protruding from her body, Sakura surged forward again with blinding speed. She delivered a vicious uppercut that snapped Genma's head back, sending him flying once more. He hit the ground hard, struggled for a moment, then lay still.
"Tch!" Sakura spat contemptuously to the side, then began methodically pulling the embedded senbon from her skin.
Genma was, in fact, a capable Jonin. His defeat stemmed partly from being caught off guard within the relative safety of the village – complacency affects everyone. Had this encounter occurred outside Konoha, in a truly hostile environment, he wouldn't have fallen so quickly; he could have at least held his ground for a while longer. Furthermore, Sakura's initial devastating blow had kept him effectively stunned and unable to fight at his full capacity.
The civilians who had been watching from the sidelines gasped in collective horror as they saw their village's ninja defeated. Being in Konoha, they generally felt safe, believing no intruder could truly succeed within the village walls. But witnessing a Konoha Jonin lose so decisively shattered that confidence. A wave of panicked shouting erupted, and the remaining onlookers scattered, fleeing into the night.
Sakura shook her head, feeling a sense of anticlimax. It had ended too quickly; she hadn't fully vented her frustration. And her master still hadn't shown up. She turned and walked back into the now-deserted izakaya, located another unopened bottle of sake behind the counter, and began drinking again. Might need a bit more liquid courage if I'm really going to face Master, she thought wryly.
Glug, glug, glug. She tilted her head back, downing the bottle in several large swallows. Just as she finished, a kunai suddenly whistled past her long hair – embedding itself firmly in the wooden bar counter right beside her head.
"So, you're the intruder?"
A voice spoke from behind her. Sakura turned slowly. Standing framed in the entrance of the izakaya was the handsome ninja she'd encountered earlier. He held another kunai poised in his hand.
"And you are…? Hic…" Sakura let out a rather unladylike burp, her eyes still hazy with alcohol as she peered at the newcomer.
"I am the Captain of the Konoha Patrol Teams, Ryuta," the ninja announced formally. "I must say, I didn't expect the intruder to be such a beautiful woman. Surrender now. Lady Hokage will be here very shortly. If you surrender peacefully, perhaps I can put in a good word for you. What do you say?" Ryuta offered a charming smile, though his eyes remained sharp as he addressed the supposed 'intruder'.
(Just like his brother Keita, Ryuta possessed a lecherous streak, though he was usually much better at concealing it.)
"Ryuta… Ryuta… Ryuta!" Sakura's eyes suddenly shot wide open, the name finally clicking into place through the alcoholic fog. Patrol Captain Ryuta! If I'm not mistaken… this must be that greasy uncle Keita's younger brother! Heh, fancy him finding me here.
"Well then, beautiful lady, will you consider my off—"
BANG!
Before Ryuta could finish his sentence, the woman moved. She crossed the distance between them in an instant, a blur of motion. Ryuta's pupils contracted in shock. He barely had time to cross his arms defensively in front of his chest. Even so, an explosion of searing pain shot through both arms as her fist connected. CRACK! A sickening sound echoed through the izakaya as Ryuta screamed, his body launched backward out of the entrance like a broken kite.
"AAAAHHHHHHH!" Ryuta landed in a crumpled heap on the street outside, screaming incessantly in agony. Both of his arms were bent at horrifyingly unnatural angles, the bones clearly shattered.
"Hmph," Sakura scoffed coldly, stepping out of the izakaya's doorway. She looked down contemptuously at Ryuta, who was still writhing and screaming on the ground. She was just about to deliver a few satisfying follow-up kicks when a piercing sense of imminent danger screamed through her senses. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. The haze of alcohol vanished in an instant, replaced by ice-cold clarity. She threw herself sideways with every ounce of speed she possessed.
A familiar beam of focused, blue-white laser light streaked through the air, striking the exact spot where her heart had been just a fraction of a second before. A single drop of cold sweat trickled down Sakura's temple. Any slower… and that would have gone straight through my heart.
She whipped around, her eyes snapping towards the source of the attack – the rooftop of the izakaya opposite her. Standing there, silhouetted against the night sky, was a girl. A girl with familiar pink hair, pointing a single finger directly at her. The girl on the roof met her gaze, her expression one of undeniable regret, and shook her head slightly.
"Looks like there's no other way," the figure on the roof murmured, her voice carrying clearly in the sudden silence. "Have to do this the hard way."
Sakura stared up at the face on the rooftop – a face she knew better, perhaps, than her own. A profoundly surreal, almost hallucinatory sensation washed over her, blurring the edges of reality.
I… I just killed myself… she thought, bewildered. And yet… it wasn't suicide!