Saki walked through the market with Naruto, Tazuna and Tsunami, looking around curiously for anything interesting. As a clanless shinobi, Sakura wasn't rich. However, she came from a family of merchants, so she had enough to help herself and one other person, that being Naruto. She had decided that she would cook for everyone on this mission on every mealtimes, also making sure there were good healing factors and vitamins in the foods that she served as she started reading a nutrition book she recently bought in Wave. She wanted everyone to be at full power in case they faced new Shinobi.
When they arrived at Tazuna's house the day before, Kakashi sat them down and talked about how the hunter nin they saw before didn't really kill Zabuza and instead saved him. Saki wondered if they would face her again after what she did to Zabuza.
What will you do about Zabuza?
'We'll see,' Saki said. 'If he wants to join Haku, he can. They can start over in the new world. As for their bodies, we'll get their permission first.'
"Hey, Saki," Naru called the young girl, bringing her out of her thoughts. She looked at the blond. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking about the shinobi we'll be facing in the future," Saki replied. "When the time comes," she looked at Naru, "I need you to trust me."
Naruto's eyes widened slightly. Then he nodded. Saki smiled at him.
___
Saki meditated in the field where Team 7 was doing the tree walking exercise. Saki had already finished so she was doing her own training.
Saki, I wanna try something.
'Go for it,' Saki thought.
She could see Inner in her mind sitting down in front of her and meditating as well. Inner focused on something Saki wasn't familiar with. Suddenly, one of the chakra cores she had started channeling outside her body. Forming a human like shape. Sakura, seeing Inner experimenting with projecting Chakra, tried it as well, so they sat across each other.
In the real world, Kakashi was high on alert because he felt two chakra signatures flaring up nearby. He was looking around with narrowed eyes, scanning the trees for any danger.
Inner and Sakura opened their eyes and looked at each other before grinning. They were in the real world, but in invisible bodies of chakra. They carefully got up, focusing as to not break the connection with Saki. When they got up successfully, they decided to run. It surprised Saki as they had gotten a couple kilometers down the field before they couldn't go any further. So they walked back and they began to explore what they could do in those forms.
Sakura and Inner decided they'd try to go into the water, and so Kakashi first-hand saw four holes appear in the water surface, making his eyes expand like saucers when those holes started moving towards him. He backed up, then a rock floated up in front of him. Suddenly, it launched towards him, and he had to dodge as multiple rocks fired at him.
'Sakura, what if you tried to merge your body with an element?' Saki questioned. 'For example, mixing your chakras with other chakra, like nature chakra or water chakra. Try doing that.'
The two holes in the water stopped moving, and it started disappearing. Suddenly, it started spinning and two whirlpools formed in the water. Kakashi and the other three boys training watched with wide eyes as it grew bigger and bigger that they were two water tornados clashing against each other.
Okay, looks like we can separate in ghost mode. We need to spar like this soon.
'Can you see anything in that form?' Saki asked curiously.
Chakra signatures and life forms. It's all in a weird color. We don't have the natural eyes like you, so it's normal we won't see what you see.
'Alright, I can see you,' Saki said. 'Familiarize yourselves to the chakra signatures here. You know our team's chakra signatures.'
Sakura went to climb the trees while Inner approached Kakashi. The silver haired jounin tensed, crouching warily as he sensed something approaching him. He didn't know what it was.
He felt something touch his hand, and he felt a burning pain on the back of his hand, and a very familiar seal appeared on it. His eyes widened as Saki's eyes opened, and he flinched when her eyeballs were pure black with a white outline.
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(Ps., this is edited)
Naruto, Sai and Sasuke felt the burn on their backs and immediately understood that they had been marked. The group saw Saki's eyes and she appeared right in front of Kakashi, grinning.
"Sakura, where did you learn this trick?" Kakashi asked, his eyes narrowing.
Saki tilted her head. "I was experimenting," she said. "I don't know where I got the seal from, although I've been doing a lot of studying." She grinned. Then her eyes turned back to normal as she looked at her teammates. "Now I can get to you whenever I want." She grinned and showed the peace sign.
Saki, do you mind if I go on a little mission?
'Sure,' Saki replied, going back to her meditation. 'Why?'
I think there is something I have to do, and if I'm timing this correctly, it's nearby.
'What are you going to do?' Saki questioned.
It's best you don't know. It'll be better and more genuine this way.
'I'll trust you to be safe, then,' Saki said.
She felt chakra ripping out of her, like jello. Her skin also moved like duct tape was being ripped off of her skin as Inner formed a chakra body outside of the original body.
I will keep in touch.
The chakra body, which was made up of the natural chakra that one of Inner's few chakra cores produced, ran away from Saki and immediately concealed its own presence. Saki had no idea how this was possible, but Inner described her own chakra as something stretchy and moldable, and Inner would mold it into a body she would possess. Nobody would be able to see it, but they would feel it, like a ghost haunting the hallways at night.
Saki's eyes softened slightly. 'Take care, Inner,' she said.
