•Lost Sakura & Mad Men•ItaSaku•

Chapter 4: Rage Simmers Like Fine Wine

Chapter 4: Rage Simmers Like Fine Wine

Chapter Text

Chapter Four: “Rage Simmers Like Fine Wine”
“Miss the Sakura Bloom and Forever Lose It,
A Beauty That Could Never Be Held.”
—On Taking Matters in Your Own Hands—
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Another day in the Killing Fields. The heat burned the back of her neck and Sakura fell into routine in the dirt, but it was different.. The stress on her body eased after last night, but she she made sure to keep pace. Never too fast, never too slow. Now that her body has seemed to strengthen despite the energy-sucking magic in the ground, she could focus on the real challenges. Like Kakashi. And Escaping. And how to find her family.
She still sweated and her legs still grew sore, but her body didn’t feel as heavy. Her feet didn’t drag so easily. Her thirst didn’t blind her mind. And she dug as if in auto-pilot as her body grew more resisitant. Now she had time to look around, memorize and notice.
For instance, she started to notice that although the plant people never spoke, they acted like they knew what the other wanted without fail. Even though they used no voice around her, they would look at each periodically with a knowing glance and Sakura suspected they could use telepathy or a similar skill. If I could access their network, it’d be easier to learn more about the prison’s layout and intel. Note to Self: Find a way to ally with them.
Sakura pondered more as she took in potential allies. There was a possibility of being reported, but she doubted it. Thanks to her photographic memory and a few years of simple memory training techniques, she never forgot a face. And so far, she hadn’t seen the any one person reporting to guards periodically where she was at.
Dad used to say I had a fine mind and then accused me of cheating on tests, but he always joked. Mom always scolded him for making fun of me.
Sakura bit her lip and stopped the thought. For a second she dropped her hands from digging.
Behind her a guard yelled, “Hey pinkette! Speed it up!” He whipped at her face and Sakura instinctively held on to the whip before it could even touch her face.
Heads turned to look at the guard and pink prisoner. Her eyes gleamed red under her bangs before fading to green and she let it go. A tense moment passed before Sakura bowed her head while secretly gritting her teeth. With a soft voice, she murmurred, “I’m sorry. I’ll work faster.”
“…You better.” The guard gulped before he became angry and whipped the ground next to her and a rocks flew in her eyes, yet she didn’t flinch. “Back to work!” Quickly, he walked away.
Sakura resumed digging slowly as she analyzed the guard’s reactions. They seem to be weaker than I thought. The lack of challenge from the prisoners seem to make this one soft…Maybe it’s a common mentality of arrogance. If so, this is a chance.
If the prisoners all came from situations like hers, where their homes were invaded or similar, then they wouldn’t have had the courage to rise up. From history books on slavery and from her own experience being tossed into the foreign land, she remembered the uncertainty. The weakness. The reluctance to lose hope and the reality of being killed at any moment. For the guards who were used to reigning over the people living on a hair’s trigger, they would not have had to face many challenges.
Especially if the guards weren’t supervised or disciplined.
Piece by piece, Sakura’s game plan was coming together.
Ever since she had faced her death in the nefarious mind space, a calm loomed in Sakura’s heart. And the fear of the guards that held her by the throat broke apart like an embarrassing dream. As a bonus, she gained an invaluable insight. That guard who whipped at her was afraid of her. He, the oppressor, was afraid of her, the victim. Sakura peeked around her and noticed a few eyes. Prisoners appraised and evaluated. Guards grew more fearful — and fearful get trigger happy. The illusion of inhumane military order that raided her lands and tore apart her life was struck down and Sakura could now only see a bunch of smelly men in uniform stuck on prison duty. Breakable.
Heh. The Empire seems to have its own problems. This stunt will also be my introduction to the other prisoners — let’s see who’ll be watching me closer.
Weak point after weak point laid themselves bare before her and she couldn’t help but smile. Like chess pieces unveling themselves on the board, she looked to kill the king of this prison.
A crazy idea bloomed in her mind…I can’t leave here without being chased and I need to find intel on my loved ones. There’s a high chance the entire city fell. If I take advantage of Kakashi’s deal - willing or not, he can’t let me die before escaping -  and get the prisoners to riot, we might be able to destroy this prison. It would be a start. It’s not much, but anything to throw a wrench in the invader’s plans made her day.
Killing three birds with one stone, my oh my. Ooh, you’re growing up so fast. Add a little chaos, too, Self. I have the perfect training for you. Pay attention. The knowledge I have is yours, but your mortal self can’t handle it. So you’ll have to absorb it in your conscious mind like anything else. Hm. I know!
Hello to you too, Alter Sakura. She began to name the voice as a friend instead of a worrisome delusion. So you’ll be training me now? By now, the Killing Fields weren’t an issue. Sakura could still feel her life being sucked away, but it was buffered. It may have been from Alter Sakura’s rising presence or maybe her body did change last night…but she didn’t struggle as much. Her hands even stung less and barely shook. Step by step, she held her squat and only had to rest her knees a few times. And she made sure to flaunt it only a bit.
If prisoners were watching, they would notice the changes. She hoped they would see it as a sign of strength. Everything she did was being built up for when she starts recruiting allies.
Sakura could just feel Alter Sakura rubbing her hands together like an evil villain. That demon will steal you away at night and I want his knowledge. So you’ll need to multitask during the day for our time. Hm, hm~ These Killing Fields sure are evil magic and centered around stealing vitality, I see~ Why don’t we steal it’s life?
We can do that? Isn’t that some high-powered magic or whatever?
Says the human with photographic memory. It’s fine. This is a low level treatment. I’m the smart one, but I can’t just make you a genius like me. So focus on your power first. Oh, forget it. Just think of Star Wars. 
…You’re a terrible teacher.
But Sakura listened as she relaxed her movements and began to meditate as she dug her hands into the soil. Dig in. Dig out. In. Out. She started to sense her magic being pulled like strings being pulled off a web. It trickled lower and lower and something at the end devoured it. Little by little she felt her magic go. Was this why her body wasn’t as affected? Her magic itself acted as a buffer.
Sakura concentrated on the sense of magic threads and followed them. She remembered Kakashi’s words…Mana he called it. Then she noticed other threads of magic and soon she could see they started to form colors. Hers was white but the others all varied. Some were red or green and deep under was pure black. Maybe the colors were related to laws and natures that the demon hinted at. 
She took the theory a step further. If the colors were straight indicators, then white reflects while black absorbs. My nature combatted Kakashi-Sensei’s and survived his nefarious mind space challenge. Then if that is the same relationship here…how do I get the source of black magic to disperse?
You can eat it up. Whatcha doing wasting food?
Ha?! You really should mention these things. How do I do that?
Well, Self. You were on the right track. We are dual-natured. A rejection of reality and hated by all who rule the realms. So all the reincarnation shit. Forget that. Basically, just add a channel from the dark energy to you and consume it as it consumes you. I shall guide you, but you’ll need more than one second.
I’ll pretend to struggle to my knees and let the guards whip me. Is that enough time?
Perfect.
Sakura pretended to cough and crashed against the ground. Then she closed her eyes as Alter Sakura merged with her mind and a strange force whirled inside her. 
Here we goooo!
Sakura could hear strange sounds and syllables race through her mind as the guards began to surround her. 
The guard who whipped at her earlier smirked as he saw the pink-haired prisoner fall to the ground and he tossed his whip high. 
SMACK!
SMACK!
Harder and harder he whipped her as if venting for his earlier humiliation while she let go of her body to her unconscious alter ego. Blood oozed down her arms and through her shirt, but the woman didn’t move.
Just as the guard laughed and was about to stab his sword through her heart, the woman dodged in an ugly convulsion and opened her eyes. “I am awake.” Her eyes narrowed as she sat up shakily. “I can work now.” Motherfucker! As soon as she had control of her body again, the pain came at once. 
“Tsk! Go on then!” He scowled when she didn’t react to his brutality and continued to work, blood seeping and all. Unsatisfied, he marched away and began to whip others at random.
Sakura ignored the pain as she secretly smirked. Success.
The prisoners looked on as they saw the guard start yelling at the other prisoners. Then they peeked at the curious woman who kept causing a scene. While people did scream or try to run off, she was the only one who wasn’t stabbed to death yet from those antics. 
Sakura ignored the feeling of eyes on her back as she took stock of her progress. She followed her threads of magic once more and felt the devouring dark energy in the heart of the fields. In a few moments, that same energy tied to her and soon she felt life force channel into her in waves. Large tsunamis of energy filled her and a rush of ecstasy almost consumed her. 
In. Out. In. Out. She dug as she breathed and let the energy settle into a stead stream while she felt Alter Sakura eat it all up. Sakura didn’t understand her own nature yet, but right now she was happy to eat. Eat everything.
Soon the cuts on her back faded and the blood stopped flowing down her skin, but that was hidden under her uniform. No one noticed the changes. 
Sakura felt her flames within her soul rage and dance as the power pooled into her. More and more it poured, but it would never be enough. She licked her lips. 
A strange eurporia traveled up her chest and she shivered. 
Alter Sakura’s voice turned stern for the first time as she warned, Don’t let the power overwhelm you or you will be torn asunder.
Sakura snapped out of it and took deep breaths. The buzz ran high like an addiction - the type of addiction that made a gambler sell his house only to lose it all. She let the power ride and then she focused on the waves of energy. One by one, she pulled threads out of those waves until it pooled like woven threads into the center of her. She envisioned a pool of white fire raging and the waves settled to rivers. Down and down the magic poured within her until she could finally let go.
By the time she got out of her trance, it was almost sun down. Sweat matted her head and her hands were shaking — she didn’t even notice before. Unlike the morning, she was utterly exhausted and each step to the dungeons felt like a dead man pulling lead.
Sakura sent a silent thanks to her alter ego.
No problem, Self. You do need to level up that mortal body of yours. Have you thought of eating hard candy or fighting bears? I need you at level 9999, like, yesterday.
Stop comparing me to Pokemon! And those aren’t even the same shows. Jesus, are you sure you’re some ancient all-knowing entity?
Says the woman who cried about losing her portable contact list.
That was a phone — nevermind. Sakura just let the alter ego go crazy, but inside she was relieved for the banter. Heaven only knew how she’d different she’d be if her alter ego never existed.
She was halfway down to the dungeon entrance when a man walked by her side. He came up from behind and waited for her to look at him. He was one of the plant people and this one was a white man with a green cactus coming out of his head. His eyes were pure black - no iris. And then a strange voice resounded in her mind…
[*****] It sounded like a series of breathes she couldn’t understand.
Alter Sakura instantly said: Ooh, telepathy. Let me translate.
You could translate? And you decided to tell me now?
What? I’m doing it, aren’t I?
Suddenly, Sakura had a feeling not every so-called past life of hers went well. 
Try to focus on what you say and direct toward him now. It should be auto-translated! Boo yeah. I’m better than google.
….[Hello?]
[…!] The plant man froze before nodding happily before he remembered where he was and focused his eyes forward. They slowed down their steps. [Hello! I am glad to hear you. I knew you were a mage! You held great power in the field. I saw you. Much mana. You are very strong, yes.]
[Thank you. How can I help you?] Sakura had a hunch, but she played cool. Let them reveal their cards first.
[My people are tired of this evil place. I see you are very strong. I do not think you like the guard very much. We should work together. I will provide any assistance in return for your partnership].
[Hmm…] Sakura tried not to get too excited and pulled off a cold face. [Are all your people connected like this? Do you have intel on this prison?]
[I will arrange to give you what we mapped of the prison. But there are restricted areas and although some of our own have been sent there, the connection cuts abruptly. I fear for their lives. I will let the others tell you. They are walking toward us now]. The plant man scratched his head and three people walked in front of them.
Sakura quickly memorized their faces and took note of unusual features. One had the face of a rose while the other had purple eyes and looked regular except extremely pale. It seemed the plant people varied in their features. Some were closer to full flora than others.
The plant man continued speaking, [They are witnesses. The only clue we have to the restricted areas is but one message of great worry.]
They relayed their thoughts to her one by one:
[Our people have mentioned a brother has decided to act on his own and hid in the fields.]
[He left a message saying he heard strange noises and found the dead disrespected. Then his screams rang through our minds until it got cut off]
[They torture our people I know it. We will aid you no matter the cost]
The three people sent their thoughts quickly. In short, late at night, some of the others hear noises near the restricted areas.Those ones slept on the top floor of dungeon that stood on the surface and had cells with windows. They could hear strange groans and faint demonic chants. One of their people decided to see what it was and hid in the fields. He was a very small plant, a weed, and could melt into the earth for a brief time — that is a honorable skill. Those in proximity sensed his fear and kept focused on his reports, but when he infiltrated the restricted areas…It cut off. The last they heard was that the dead were being disrespected.  They never heard him again.
Oooh! You activated a hidden quest!
God damn it Alter Sakura!! Shhh!
Calm down, they can’t hear our thoughts without my permission. 
[I agree to help. We should meet again on the way to the water point at sundown tomorrow.]
They had already neared the entrance and Sakura had to leave before the guards noticed they stayed too long together. She had to figure out Kakashi as well. 
[We are in your debt. See you then.]
They dispersed and Sakura walked slowly down the floors to the last cell. 
What were in the restricted areas and were there anything useful? And how were the dead being disrespected? Since magic exists, then it would make necromancy an option. But to what degree? She hadn’t seen any sign of undead in the dungeons or on the fields. There was more to these Killing Fields. 
Sakura thought back to the boy who died in her hands and the guard who called him recyclable. 
Whether there were anything of use, it was important to the prison. In that case…”Might as well destroy everything.”
Tonight will be the deciding factor in her plans. “Maybe Kakashi-Sensei has an idea about the restricted areas.”
But first, she had some demon training.

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