Of Tales now and Long Ago

Of Memories and the Compound

CHAPTER FOUR

Kagetsu had accompanied Sakura to the Haruno compound. Hundreds upon hundreds of seals had stopped anyone from entering the compound. Sakura faintly remembered that even the Hōzuki couldn't enter without someone from the clan accompanying them.

Sakura stopped in front of the gates, guessing that this was where the first seal was. Usually, every door and entrance and door all around the compound had been connected to the subconscious of the clan head, but Senri wasn't around anymore, was he? Sakura made a note to herself to link herself to it later.

Inner supplied her with a few memories and Sakura traced the hand seals she had seen members of her clan perform a few times. When she was done, she slammed her palm onto an invisible wall.

Glowing vertical lines of chakra became visible, sliding aside and vanishing one by one. Ten seconds later, they had completely vanished, and Sakura stepped through. She then turned around to face Kagetsu.

"I will go visit the memorial." Kagetsu said. "You know where it is."

Sakura nodded.

Kagetsu smiled. "Take your time."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Three years ago, right after the massacre, Kiri nin had been sent in to investigate. The compound chakra walls had come down, probably due to Senri's death. Thirty or so shinobi had been searching through the compound when the walls had activated again, along with another seal.

The search shinobi had never come back, and due to the reactivated seals, no one could enter the compound and check.

However, Sakura knew that it had been to make sure the Kiri shinobi didn't find out about their clan secrets. The forced death of a clan head automatically triggered the safety seal that locked all entrances and exits of the compound, and a wave of chakra completely annihilated all that weren't a Haruno.

Sakura stepped through the doors of the only house seen in the whole area. Stairs led underground and she stepped through.

Once underground, Sakura headed down a very long corridor. She went straight, sliding the doors open several times, until she came into a huge room, the oohiroma. Tatami felt very smooth, almost as if it hadn't been touched for over three years.

Sakura could almost imagine Senri sitting at the head, with several others sitting on either side of him.

A huge drawing of the moon was hung on the wall behind the head's position. Sakura considered linking herself to the compound, but she decided against it. A part of her wondered why she was still doing this even though there was no one left, but she shoved that thought aside as well.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

First, Sakura made her way to her room, which had previously been Senri's room. She was head, after all.

She slid open the door and stepped in.

There had been no blood or corpses or anything around the compound because everyone had been at the ceremony cave when it had occurred.

The rooms had no windows, as you could only see more earth and rocks even if there were windows.

She found a drawing of a huge crab on one wall, covering the Ōtsutsuki symbol. Sakura stared at it, trying to remember the tales told down to them for generations.

'The Gatekeeper.'

Sakura turned and left the room, mentally tracing the path to the Moon temple. If memory served her correct, it was located in the middle of the whole underground structure.