Sage's Resurrection

Chapter 9

Ugh, my head.

Those were Sakura's first thoughts when she woke up in a dimly lit room.

The first thing she noticed was how her hands were bound to a chair. Rope reinforced with. . . ice? Yeah, not too bad, I'll be able to break out in a little bit.

It had all been so fast. She was practising water walking at night when something hit her in the back of the head. It was decently far away from Tazuna's house for security purposes, but it seemed that it was for naught.

The walls were made with some sort of stone, lit by a circular ceiling light. Water dripped from gaps in the ceiling. Between where she sat and the door was a table and chair. An interrogation room.

There were no windows. We're probably underground, but who could've done this?

A masked boy walked into the room, hair tied in a bun, bangs framing his face. Green yukata with white trimmings, tied around the waist with a thick brown sash. A bog-standard Kiri pinstriped outfit stopping at his knees. The hunter nin that took Zabuza. So Kakashi was right.

"We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way. Which do you want?" He took a seat opposite her.

"What's the easy way?"

"Where is Tazuna?" Oh. Right. They're out to kill Tazuna. Bodyguarding mission.

She gulped. "What's the hard way?"

Sakura could almost feel the grin that made its way across his face. "Torture!" he giddily exclaimed. "Now, tell me where he is." Tazuna's two kilometers southeast from the main city in Wave.

Sakura glanced this way and that, all to avoid his eyeless assassin's mask. Then she faced him, lips curved into a smile. "No, I don't think I will."

He stared into her eyes. "I don't think you heard me correctly. Tell me where the bridge builder is."

"Or what?" Twelve needles stuck their way into her forearms. They hit muscles. That's going to be sore for a while. Off in a deep corner of her brain, Sakura heard screaming.

"That." He paused. "Now, tell me where he is."

"Did you not hear me the first time? My answer is the same. No."

He rose and sighed. "I didn't think I'd get anything out of you. Very well then, enjoy sensory deprivation." Sakura blinked, but her eyelids didn't open. They were frozen shut.

Oh. This isn't good. Sensory deprivation, right? The hooding technique, but with ice. She heard a few steps. One. Two. Three. Four. The opening of the door, and then it closed, and locked. Alright, I'm alone here now.

There's no way that this ice is made of anything but chakra, she noted. If I'm estimating correctly, it should be about thirty degrees celsius here, so ice shouldn't naturally form.

Oh would you shut up with the science and get us out of here?! An entity who Sakura had affectionately named 'inner Sakura' roared. That hurt so bad! Quit using your bloodline for things like this!

The Shimura clan bloodline, the manifestation of an inner spirit who could hold all the pain and emotions of the host for a time.

This is exactly what I'm supposed to use my bloodline for. Now settle down and let me try to figure this out. 'Inner' quieted down.

Chakra constructs begin to dissipate after two hours, but what if I pumped my own chakra into them? The ice began to melt, leaving long lines of water trailing down Sakura's face. She blinked. Once. Twice. The ice plates which froze her eyes shut fell off into her lap.