#kirisaku

Sakura could hear the voices in the steel long before she knew what this meant. Years later she's nearly killed for this reason and is sent running out of the Land of Fire and into the neighboring country of Water for refuge. But her life is still not safe and very well never will be considering that's she's one of the only Sages alive, a person with the power to animate the nonliving as human soldiers.  In her hands blades become warriors more fantastically loyal than any human born legion. She's a dangerous player in the world of warring shoguns, but all she wants to do is dirty her hands and make beautiful blades in the forge. In order to stay alive Sakura animates several Kiri treasured blades and is a little surprised with what happens next.

Links: AO3* & FF.Net 

Sakurainhales the scent of brine, bitter and heady, as she lifts her caramel latte toher lips. She’s close enough to the stormy waters that she can almostfool herself into believing that her drink is salted caramel. Sakura casts hereyes out over the roiling waters, lifting her palm just as the sky lets forth adeluge of rain. The rain falls in a globe around her, not touching her in theslightest.

She keeps her eyes on the brewing squall, beginning acountdown in her mind.

3.

2.

1.

Her phone rings.

Sakura glances down at the blocked number and picks up,fingering the wide brim of her hat. “I told you so,” she says, voice dry.

A sigh fills her ear. “I don’t pay you to be right,”Sasori replies, unwilling to concede the victory to her. “I pay you to fixthese messes.”

“Technically, youdon’t pay me anything; Chiyo does,” Sakura says. “This whole event could havebeen prevented if you’d just listenedto me. These entities get riled up in this season, it’s in their nature. If youjust let them—”

“I don’t have time for this,” Sasori snaps. “We have menout in the bay right now who need help. Where the hell are you?”

“Right where I need to be,” Sakura replies, a squall ofher own rising in her voice. “Careful how you speak to me, Sasori. Any deathstoday are on your hubris, not mine. I expect twice the usual payment for theshort notice deposited by sunset today. If it isn’t, I’ll know exactly where todirect my attentions next.”

Sakura ends the call before Sasori can reply, tossing herphone back into her satchel. She stares down into her latte, taking anothercouple long swigs before mournfully placing it on the hood of her car,expanding her spherical umbrella effect to cover it. This done, Sakuramethodically begins to remove her layers, starting with her hat and ending withher black jeans. The chill in the air presses in around her, but Sakura merelytakes a pinch of raw wool, spending it in a quick warmth cantrip. She folds herclothes methodically as the sky booms with thunder and flashes with lightning,ignoring the frantic ringing of her phone. She has no doubt that it is Sasori,impatient that she hasn’t yet solved this problem of his own making.

As if treating with entities of the Deep is a simple,easy task.

Sakura locks her car, disappearing her keys into a pocketdimension, and steps to the edge of the cliff. Below her, the bay and the oceanbeyond are in absolute turmoil, waters twisting and writhing unnaturally. Thebay has taken on the shape of Charybdis, though Sakura knows that Charybdis istouring the arctic waters of the North Pole for the next decade alongside herlover Scylla.

She wonders briefly which Deep entity is stirring up mischief,but she supposes she will soon find out. Sakura stretches her arms out to hersides and leaps from the cliff. She moves her arms above her head, aiming forthe water in a dive. She keeps her umbrella bubble around her as she strikesthe water, angling her body to get as deep as she can with that velocity. Itgets her nearly thirty yards deep and she swims deeper still, her magic seekingout the perpetrators of this storm.

Familiar magic reverberates back to her from beyond thebay, from the unconfined wilds of the ocean.

Sakura frowns slightly, propelling herself forward with aspell, seeking them out not with her sight but with her magic.

The Kiri Court has never come so close to shore.

She was expecting a confrontation with some adolescentkrakens playing chicken, not an encounter with veritable Deep royalty.

She is on good terms with the Kiri Court, as much as anyland-dweller can be, each of her experiences with them taking place hundreds ofmiles away from any land mass. It is unprecedented for them to come so close.

She is still organizing her thoughts, dread settling inher gut, when she gets within a mile of them. Sakura casts dark vision uponherself, blinking against the sting of the spell. It is far worse than thecolor contacts that Ino made her wear for Halloween once, but it is a price she’swilling to pay.

It comes in quite handy as a figure coalesces in thedarkness near her, faintly glowing from her spell’s effect. He has thetrappings of a humanoid, though there is something reptilian about him, alienin such a way that calls her magic to her defenses. He is wearing a guise,something meant to set her at ease though all it does is set her teeth on edge.

“Zabuza,” Sakura greets. “How wonderful to see youagain.”

His head cocks at an inhuman angle as he assesses her. “Youseem well, Sakura. Your respiratory system is still cycling oxygen. Would youlike to try something different?” His smile is sharp, crowded with too manyteeth.

“Again, Zabuza, I will never consent to drowning. Thankyou for your consideration though,” Sakura says with a roll of her eyes. It’swhat passes for a sense of humor, though Sakura finds it lacking. “Will youtake me to the Patriarch?”

Zabuza goes utterly still in that strange way of Deepentities. “Of course, follow me.”

Sakura does so, unflinchingly meeting the gazes of theshadowy monstrosities they pass. Few have a care for Sakura’s humansensibilities and she appreciates their honesty in form.

Zabuza leads her to their leader, the one wearing thesmallest of guises, yet his energy eclipses everyone in the vicinity.

“Yagura,” Sakura greets, bowing to him. “It brings megreat pleasure to see you again. Unfortunately, these are not the best ofcircumstances.”

“Sakura,” he says, voice booming through the crushing,ever pressing water. Sakura’s umbrella spell wavers before she shores upstrength around it, holding it fast. Should she lose it here, at these depths,she’ll be doomed. “We are pleased to be greeted with your countenance. Please,join us for the festivities.”

“Festivities?” Sakura asks mildly. “Is that what we arecalling the squall above?”

Yagura waves a hand. “We are not concerned with theabove, only the below. The only part of the above that we enjoy is you. We wishyou to partake of the festivities. We are adding a member to our Swordsmen, ourcandidates must fight for the honor.”

“Is—is that why you came so close to shore?” Sakura says,swallowing. “To draw my attention?”

“Of course,” Yagura says, his smile a weight uponSakura’s heart.

“It is a great honor to draw your attention,” Sakurasays, treading lightly with her words. “Might we move these festivities outwardfrom here? Say, three hundred miles west? I am afraid that I cannot dedicate myfull attention to these festivities so close to shore. The magics there call tome.”

The storm that enters Yagura’s eyes is quelling andSakura closes her mouth.

“Sakura, earth to Sakura!”

Sakura blinks, turning her attention to Karin. “Sorry,what was that?”

“Are you coming to the party tomorrow?” Karin asks,looking her over.

“I mean, I should be able to,” Sakura says. “Where are wemeeting?”

“The pool,” Karin says. “Aunt Kushina had one builtrecently and it is amazing! She seriously pulled out all the stops.”

“A pool?” Sakura repeats, biting her lip. “I’m not sureabout that…”

“C’mon Sakura,” Karin wheedles. “The weather’s well intothe triple digits now; where else are we going to host a party?”

Sakura looks up at Karin, catching sight of the gatheringclouds in the sky. She squirms in her seat, uncomfortable. “Listen, I’ll thinkabout it,” Sakura says, pulling the brim of her baseball cap down snugly. “Ihave to go. I’ll text you later.”

Sakura,” Karin says, catching Sakura’s elbow as shestands.

Thunder booms and Sakura flinches out of the soft touch.

“Got to go,” Sakura says, grabbing her backpack. Shekeeps her eyes to the sky as she waves goodbye and sprints off down the block.

She hears Karin protest, but Sakura’s attention is on thequickly darkening sky.

No, no, no, no!

She doesn’t think she’ll make it home before it begins torain.

Lightning streaks through the sky, a herald to the rainabout to come.

Sakura runs, managing to make it three blocks before thefloodgates of the sky open and the rain sallies forth.

Sakura bites down on her lip to keep from screaming asthe rain falls in sheets, whipping at her face and clothes. She could not careless about the rain itself.

It’s the visions that accompany the raindrops thatconcern her.

There’s a flash of a blade, then another. The gracefuldance of warriors as they engage in combat. She’s seen enough of these sorts ofthings to know that this is non-lethal combat, a spar of sorts. Sakura’s feetslow to a stop as she catches sight of a glittering emblem that seems to be theshape of…

The blare of a horn startles her out of her watching andSakura realizes that she stands in the middle of the street, staring blanklyinto the rain. She hurries out of the way, closing her eyes until she makes itto the sidewalk. Then, knowing that she has to navigate, Sakura opens her eyes,keeping them downcast.

It’s worse in a way as the torrential downpour pools intofull puddles. Beneath her feet, a scene unfolds, the two warriors she sawbefore shown from further away. They are both tall, well-muscled men, withinhuman skin tones, one gray and the other blue. Sakura’s seen them before andshe isn’t sure if the waters just distort them or if her hallucinations justhave a bent sense of humor.

She thinks it’s the second.

They fight in an arena and a crowd is seated around them,one man in particular seated high above them upon a shimmery throne. He wears acirclet of antlers upon ashy hair and in his hand he holds what looks to be ashepherd’s crook. Around him are gathered warriors, all of whom Sakura has seenat one point or another. She’s never seen them gathered together before and itpuzzles her for a moment, but she returns her gaze to their leader.

His bright pink eyes meet hers directly. He sits upstraight from his indolently lounging position and says something apparentlydirected at her.

Sakura startles, kicking the puddle until the imagedistorts and disappears. Goosebumps raise across her skin, having little to dowith the summer storm above.

No one has ever noticed her in these visions.

Sakura looks around frantically, hating the strange,disorienting images that bombard her from the falling rain. She ducks into thenearest store, a small coffee shop, and orders a coffee, ignoring everythingoutside. She rubs at her arms, trying to get warm as she waits out the rain.Once it’s over, she can make it home and hop in the shower (never the bath, shelearned that very early on)…though,if the specters can see her now, maybe not. Sakura sighs, closing her eyesagainst the rising anxiety welling in her chest. She doesn’t know what to do.

The barista places Sakura’s latte on the table and Sakurasighs happily, looking at the steam rising off of it. She looks down at thecute artwork inside and takes a sip, eyes blissfully sliding shut. The coffeewarms her insides and she nearly melts into her seat.

Sakura opens her eyes and looks down into the cup. Sheblanches as she is met with fierce pink eyes.

Sakura ties back her hair,shoulders relaxing for the first time in days. She knows it’scounterproductive—aren’t the weekends for relaxing and the weekdays forwork—but she does not feel safe in her home. She’s put up as many safeguards asshe can, but it is nothing like the workshop where she is an apprentice.Despite a decade of gathering all sorts of metal odds and ends, there just isn’tas much iron at home as there is here.

How can her home possibly compare to an actual smithy?

Tenten, the master of the smithy, is away on vacation and shetrusts Sakura well enough to handle the welding without her. Sakura is a goodemployee, able to create whimsical works from titanium steel, which is quite astubborn metal. So Tenten lets Sakura’s quirks slide; hell, sheherself thinks of the smithy as her home too. She has no room for pointingfingers.

Sakura moves toward the forge, picking up the heavy pail of cokeleft over from Friday’s fire and hauling it to the cold forge. Picking up the day’snewspaper, Sakura pulls out the crossword puzzle and crumples the rest andbegins the tedious process of lighting the forge. She has a knack for it,though she would never admit it [too many memories of gaunt, bony fingersdigging into coal, raking through it as the need to live boils over and burnsout anything and everything else]. The flames grow as she blows gently upon thecoals, coke, and paper, burning away the horrible memories that sear at her.

Fire entrances her, leaves her content and incapable of thinkingof the darker things that lurk in her past. [Fire features as her most pleasantmemories of that time; triumph, relief, victory, satisfaction, warmth. It all came from the fire andeven now it gives her those same feelings. The worst times were cold and wetand constantly, always aching. This is different. Better.]

She watches for a full minute, making sure that the fire is stokedwell enough to go on its own before stepping away, leaving it to heat enough towork metal. Sakura shrugs off her jacket, knowing full well that it is about toget quite toasty. She weaves through the forge, deftly avoiding the sheets ofuntouched metal, the incomplete projects, and the finished ones ready forconsignment. Some of the work is commissioned by individuals, others by thesmall businesses in and around the sleepy town. There is more clutter thanusual in the smithy because Sakura doesn’t really deal with customersface-to-face and their deliverer, Kiba, is away to visit his sister inveterinary school.

Sakura heads to the little break room off to the side and stepsin, pulling open the mini-fridge. She grabs the quart of milk, placing it onthe laminate counter as she rustles through the cabinets for a clean cup. Allshe comes up with are a porcelain beer stein depicting the Hyuga coat of arms(Neji went through a phase of “Hyuga superiority” and Tenten thought it wasfucking hilarious and refused to let him forget it ever) and a metal goblet.

Sakura examines the metal goblet, checking the bottom for a maker’s mark.There is a chicken scrawl of “NU” and Sakura sighs, replacing the goblet into the cabinet. She isn’tgoing to risk one of Naruto’s poorly constructed forays into metal-working.Naruto is a master of calligraphy, but a genius in blacksmithing he is not.

The Hyuga beer stein it is then.

She opens the milk and pours it into the mug, just going throughthe motions. When it hits the glass with a sickening plop, Sakura snaps back toattention, staring down into the stein.

The milk is soured, rancid even.

Sakura swallows against her suddenly dry throat, strugglingagainst her spiraling thoughts. “You are fine,” she tellsherself through gritted teeth. “You are working yourself up over nothing atall. It’s spoiled milk. Everyone’s been out of town except you; it’s just outof date. Check the label and confirm it for yourself.”

The speaking her anxieties aloud thing wasn’t her idea;she learned it in psychotherapy. Over time, it feels natural and, even as shespeaks, Sakura feels her looming fears be put to rest. Still, her hands shakeas Sakura lifts the milk to look it over. It takes a few moments to figure findthe label and read it, her hands shaking too much.

What she sees leaves her dizzy, breathless.

The date isn’t for another seven days.

The milk falls from her hands, chunks hitting the floor andreleasing a foul smell through the kitchenette and break room. Sakura stumblesaway, heedless, groping at the chain around her neck as she draws out the ironbell she keeps on her person at all times. She isn’t given achance to contemplate and mire herself in her thoughts as the bells above thedoor ring before cutting off abruptly.

Fae.

Sakura whirls, hand clutching at the metal closest to her. Herfingers wrap around something and she tightens her grip on it, hoping it’ll weigh herdown and keep her grounded.

A lithe man stands in the doorway, hair so dark it looks blue inthe firelight. She has misjudged a bit. He is not Fae, but he is not humaneither, no more than she is. There is something in the tilt of his eyes, theethereal beauty shining in his face, that warns Sakura of his inhumanness.There is also the fact that Sakura knows him from Before.

[Cold dampness seeping into bones. She doesn’t rememberwhat it is to be warm, to feel, to be human. There is movement near her and shereaches out, wet slippery fingers reaching for the pale, outstretched hand. He’sbeen here longer, made wild by his surroundings, a fine webbing among hisfingers. She doesn’t hesitate, wrapping her fingers in his. And then, painful,overflowing warmth.]

Sakura laughs, ignoring the hysterical notes that underpin it. “Et tu, Haku?They finally got to you?”

He tilts his head as he watches her, a slight frown weighing downhis lips. “I’ve been at Court for years now,” Haku says. “I did not run likeyou did.”

“I wasn’t afforded the sameprotections you received,” Sakura nearly snarls, remembering broken promises,swords, and sharp teeth and sharper smiles. “I did not catch their attentionsin that manner.”

“You didn’t complete theTrials,” Haku says, as if it is a simple thing.

“And whose fault was that?”Sakura snaps, not satisfied by the way he flinches. She feels hollowed out andlow. “I made my choice; I broke free!”

“That isn’t how it works,” Hakusays, shaking his head slowly. “You know it isn’t.”

“I am human!” Sakura almostshouts, face flushing red with the force of the lie. “I am not Fae! I make myown rules. I walked out of the Trials and made it out of the Courts, all ofthem, unbroken!”

“A new round of Trials beginssoon,” Haku says. “You have been called upon by the Faerie King to return.”

“I will not,” Sakura hisses. “Iam human.”

“You are changeling,” Haku sayshotly. “A changeling of the moon as I am of the sun. You must fulfill yourduty.”

Sakura flings the metal in her hand his way, aiming for Haku’s head. Heducks out of the way but overcorrects, hitting a large wire frame rooster. Itis apparently made of iron as the skin of Haku’s cheek burns upon contact. Heglares balefully at Sakura before disappearing to the tinkling of bells. Sakurabites the inside of her cheek until it bleeds, the iron in her mouth remindingher that she is not like him. Even if she is a changeling of the moon, shestarted as human.

Haku never had a chance.

He was born Fae, forced to fit the confines of humanness until itchafed too much and he absconded to the Court and to the Trials.

She makes her way toward the metal she threw, curious as to whatit is. She finds it fallen beneath an obviously dented letter K.

When Sakura sees it, she lets out a strangled mix of a sob and alaugh.

A horseshoe.

Of course.

Of course.

She would need an arsenal of horseshoes to ward off the evils ofCourt now.

An old monster!Saku prompt I found! Just in time for MerMay, too.  Thank @thefreckledone and her Mermay prompts

The metal of the railings was cool against her forehead as Sakura leaned her face down and starred at the waters passing by underneath her feet. She sat on the edge of the yacht with her feet free to dangle as the rest of the people her own age laughed and moved about the deck. It was so close to twilight in the summer and the air was heavy with more than just expectation. The humidity had girls stripping down to the strings of their bikini’s and laughing at the boys until they followed suit and made it a swim party where no one touched the water.  

Hinata’s family owned the lake, just like the yacht and half the town, but the superstitions and folk stories of the lake belonged to no man. No one would go swimming in the lake until they passed over the sunken town from the early 1900’s that was evacuated and flooded to make a dam later on in the decade. It had been a case of the government coming in and playing the ‘imminent domain’ card so they could use the lands for their own hush hush work. Or at leas they could until funds dried up in the mid 90’s.

The story was ridiculously famous among the youth with good reason. Local gossip flared and died in popularity, but the stories of the ghosts of the town of Mizu and the things ‘let’ into the waters would always be a hot button in a town of folks who had lived and died around the lake. Households spanning more than three generations would swear up and down that there was something wrong with the lake; weather that meant ghosts or lake monsters, almost everyone believed it was safer to avoid.

One of the girls squealed when a boy came up behind her and faked a move that made it look like he was going to throw her over. The rest of her friends slapped him away with giggles and friendly jokes. No one seemed too honestly freaked about going over, but Sakura knew they would all wait until they passed over the old dam walls before swimming. During the Monsoon season it was easy to pass over the wall, but when the water level went down, the walls seemed to rise up. Last year there had been a drought so bad the steeple’s point on the old church was visible, like a saber standing out of the water pointing to the sky.

“Where’s your sexy bikini?” a chuckling voice asked from over her shoulder. Sakura looked back to see Kiba holding out a bottle of sunscreen. He smiled wide when their eyes met and shook the bottle. “Need me to rub you down?”

Sakura made an effort to show how she rolled her eyes at his offer. “I have a spray, thank you, and I already applied before we left.” She turned around, facing the waters once more and leaking her back turned towards him. “But thanks for the offer. See if Ino needs help.”

“You’re not hanging out with us anymore,” Kiba pouted, crouching down alongside her.

Sakura just kept staring out across the lake, trying to see the outlines of the places they never bothered to tear down before the flood. When Kiba fidgeted she sighed. “Sorry, I’ve only been back a month. You’ve known each other since diapers. What’s seven childhood years in the face of that?”  

When it looked like Kiba was going to open his mouth and say something in kindness that wasn’t necessarily true, she resolved to cut him off with another fake laugh. “Oh don’t make a face. I’m just tired. Finals, you know?”

Kiba grinned and it was an easy sort of grin. “Yeah, but who cares about those. I think you’re the only one.”

“Junior year is just as important as senior year. Collages look at those grades too.”

Kiba laughed again and said something about, ‘ah, that’s why we all love you,’ before standing up again with his sunscreen still in his hands. “You’re so driven. Don’t you think you need to relax and live life a little bit more. School is done, we don’t have to be back in classes for another two months. Enjoy!”

“I will,” she lied with an easy smile. “I just want to watch the water a little more. I’ve not seen it like this in years.”

Kiba frowned, good mood deflating a bit. “Ah, it’s in poor tastes that Neji is making us cross this section of the lake just because he doesn’t want to look like the rest of his superstitious family. I don’t like it, but it’s the safest place to shoot off fireworks.”

Sakura’s brows furrowed in confusion. “But it’s pretty to look at, like you can still see the roads and stuff,” Sakura hummed, eyes trained on the water. 

There were plenty of long shadows, but not enough to make it hard to see. Every so often she’d spot a sparkling tail fin or school of fish gliding through what was left of the roofless houses and buildings. It was a destruction of sorts, but to Sakura it was still beautiful.

“Yeah, well take your good long look, we’re nearly out of it now, and none too soon. I plan on putting these babies to good use,” Kiba joked, turning his back to the waters and flexing his arms so every line of his stood out in tanned detail. He grinned and Sakura rolled her eyes at his bravado.