Northern Land of Waterfalls
In a valley near Takigakure, Fu—a young girl with short, light-green hair—was working hard on today's lunch.
She skillfully started a fire and placed her iron pot onto a makeshift stove built from several stones. Without a second thought, she tossed in the ingredients she had just hunted and sat beside it, hugging her knees as she waited for the food to cook.
As the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, her experiences were no different from those of the Jinchuriki in the Five Great Shinobi Nations. She had been ostracized and feared by those around her since childhood, especially after losing control periodically during her youth. Those incidents had completely extinguished any sparks of kindness from those who once pitied her.
Even now that she had grown up and could control the tailed beast within her, she was still treated with cold indifference. Consequently, much like Han, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki of Iwagakure, she had retreated to the outskirts of the village to live in solitude.
However, possessing a naturally lively personality, she couldn't help but feel lonely.
"Hm?"
While waiting for the food to boil, Fu's spirited eyes shifted slightly. She instinctively looked up toward a nearby treetop.
Is someone here? It was a chakra she didn't recognize.
"Are you the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki?"
Atop the branch, a person Fu didn't recognize at all appeared before her eyes. Sakura Haruno looked down at the Jinchuriki and spoke.
Moving at full speed as a group of four, and aided by Karin's massive sensing range via the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, they had easily located Fu, whose chakra reserves were exceptionally vast. To Karin, that chakra was as conspicuous as a lighthouse on a dark sea.
Looking at the newcomer, Fu noticed her pink hair and emerald eyes. Though Fu wasn't exactly highly educated, she found the stranger very beautiful.
As the words fell, three more figures appeared from different directions, faintly forming a perimeter to surround Fu.
"Eh?"
Fu didn't seem to care about the encirclement at all. Instead, she looked at Sakura with a face full of curiosity. "The color of your eyes... they're a lot like my hair! Can I be your friend?"
Because of her long-standing loneliness and naturally bubbly disposition, Fu was extremely keen on making friends, yet no one had ever been willing to stay by her side.
Sakura looked at the green-haired girl, who seemed completely naive to the ways of the world, and a complex look flashed through her eyes. "Of course you can. But I'll need you to do me a small favor first."
"Ehh!! Really!! I'm willing!!"
Without even hearing what the favor actually was, Fu nodded her head vigorously, as if terrified that Sakura might take it back.
Wait, is this girl really that easy to kidnap? Karin watched the exchange, feeling somewhat speechless.
"I need the Seven-Tails inside of you," Sakura stated.
Fu froze for a moment, her previous excitement dampening as she looked troubled. "That... might not be possible."
Nearby, Hikari spoke up with irritation, "Why are you wasting words on her? Just take her down!"
With that, she drew her blade and lunged! Hikari was never one for talking when she could use her hands. Having survived the Warring States Period, her approach to combat was strictly efficient and devoid of hesitation.
"I get it now! You guys are bad people!"
Leaving those words behind, two transparent, insect-like wings sprouted from Fu's back as she soared into the sky. She didn't like fighting and intended to simply fly away.
Uchiha Hikari let out a cold sneer. Flames erupted from beneath her feet, and she shot upward like a rising dragon toward the retreating Fu. By utilizing the explosions from Fire Release, she blasted her body directly into the high altitude. This wasn't true flight, but rather a high-risk application of Fire Release; literally speaking, one careless mistake could easily result in blowing oneself up.
"Eh!"
Fu was shocked that Hikari could keep up with her in the air. Even if she was reluctant to fight, she now had to retaliate.
"Scale Powder!"
Fu opened her mouth, and countless pale-yellow dust particles spewed out, drifting toward Hikari. This was one of the Seven-Tails' abilities—using unique powder to trap enemies in a state of blindness and hallucinations.
"Hmph, trivial tricks."
Hikari sneered, her long sword erupting into a violent, roaring blaze.
Uchiha Style: Sword Leap Flame!
She swung the blade in a full arc, and a circular wave of flaming chakra exploded from her body, scattering the countless particles of scale powder instantly.
Fu hastily dodged the flaming wave surging toward her while weaving hand seals to prepare her next ninjutsu. Though she disliked combat, she realized her opponent wasn't actually flying like she was, but was instead using the shockwaves of explosions to propel herself. To use such a dangerous principle on one's own body meant the opponent was either a reckless fool or an extremely high-level combat specialist.
Clearly, Hikari was the latter.
"Wind Release—"
Substinctively, Fu looked down at the descending Hikari.
Caught you...
Hikari flashed the smile of a victor, and her eyes instantly transformed into a vivid crimson!
Mangekyo Sharingan!
Oh no!
Even if she had never met the Uchiha clan, Fu knew from the rumors passed among shinobi just how much suppressed power this clan held over Jinchuriki. And the most fatal part was... Fu was not a Perfect Jinchuriki. She couldn't rely on the tailed beast inside her to snap her out of a genjutsu.
In an instant, Fu's expression went blank. Her hands fell from their seal, and she began to plummet from the sky just like Hikari.
A crimson skeletal frame materialized around Hikari, extending two massive skeletal arms. One skeletal hand caught Fu mid-air, while the other braced against the ground the moment they landed, neutralizing the impact.
Regarding Sakura's previous order to finish the battle in three minutes, Hikari felt nothing but disdain.
Three minutes? More like one. Two moves—done.
Sakura watched Hikari with a thoughtful expression. Mainly Fire Release and Kenjutsu, then seeking an opening to end it in one hit with the Sharingan and Genjutsu? It was the classic Uchiha fighting style. It was a masterpiece of efficiency, but against an Uchiha, an enemy of equal strength simply couldn't compete unless they could fight without making eye contact or were immune to genjutsu—or if it was a two-on-one or three-on-one fight.
"Sakura, the Takigakure ninja have noticed this place." Seeing the battle end so quickly, Karin turned to Sakura.
"Let's go."
Sakura turned and left without the slightest hesitation. They weren't afraid of Takigakure, of course, but exposing their movements would be a hassle.
Since the Land of Waterfalls was a small nation bordering the Land of Fire, it didn't take long for Sakura and the others to return to the border.
"Hello, we meet again. You really did leave the door open for me, didn't you?"
Seeing the same guard from before, Sakura offered a casual greeting.
The guard was speechless. "...Lady Sakura."
Helpless, the guard signaled for them to hurry through so as not to make things difficult for him. He would simply pretend he had never seen them.
"Plan to head back to Konohagakure in a couple of days," Sakura noted to her team as they left without stopping.
The guard watched the departing figures, his gaze lingering on the burlap sack Sasuke was carrying over his shoulder.
That... should be a person inside, right?
Forget it, forget it. That's not my business. Nothing happened today. Yeah, that's right.
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