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CHAPTER 47
Sakura wished she hadn't stayed in the Kou Empire as long as she had. That she hadn't woven herself into the tapestries of certain individuals there, but without meaning that had occurred, and it seemed that despite attempting to unravel the bonds, the threads were stilling clinging tight to each other.
The Kou Empire's royal palace had a magnificent structure that stood out even at night under lantern lights. She barely caught a glimpse of it, shades mostly of red and yellow, but that might've been due to the lanterns. But she was looking forward to seeing what the day would bring when Kouen introduced her properly as his guest.
Yes, Sakura had decided to take a respite, as she often did after capturing a dungeon. It was also a matter of using the Looking Glass. At times when she recited the words, nothing would occur; she didn't know why, but learned not to let worry envelop her regardless.
Sakura also didn't intend to go into another dungeon just yet, her objective turning back to a familiar area on the map. Reim. She was certain that Sinbad would be returning eventually; instead of hunting him down to get back Sitri, she could just come to his base of operations and start twisting arms.
Of course, that left her hesitant, though.
While he had received her warmly, if not a bit too eagerly, she would have to face many more whom she had turned her back on. That was a mental preparation in itself.
Her fingers lingered over her lips, 'Why?'
Sakura thought, looking around, there was a canopy over her bed, unnecessary fabrics that hung on the walls and three too many carpets on the floors, dressers and closets that were expecting those over extravagant guests who brought far too much clothing for visits.
After spending most of her time in the wilderness and inns, it was no wonder Sakura felt so misplaced in the room, but this was a palace guest room, so she had to take that into account, although even her room in Artemyra, while large, was in much better taste in her opinion. It sent a message of wealth in a subtle yet sufficient way that no one could openly comment without undermining themselves.
'The Kou Empire...'
Sakura decided now was the time for a reprieve, and Kouen had offered her a place in the palace. She was sceptical but decided to go along. She had hopped from Stolas's dungeon, to Sasan, to Artemyra, for over a year, it had been non-stop travels. Sakura did tell Kouen that she intended to return to Reim.
"It's rare to have ships going to Reim," Kouen explained, " because there isn't a lot of trade going on between the two countries. "I can make arrangements, but it will take some time."
Sakura sighed, "Alright,"
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Kouen arrived at sunrise to retrieve his unexpected guest, expecting the seasoned warrior to be prompt and prepped for his arrival, yet instead, he found her sprawled out on one of the larger pillows, glaring at him as a cat that had its nap interrupted.
Any other day, Sakura would've been ready to go, but after waking up twice at night with dreams of Sinbad with her captured in the last scene they had shared, she was feeling rather miffed. Enough that she so graciously suggested to Kouen that he go and find a nice prickly cactus to set his 'annoying royal behind on' and leave her the hell alone.
"I didn't think you literally meant at sunrise," Sakura said, peering at the window before hiding under the covers again.
"That is what I said."
"Well I don't give a damn what you have to say prince." Sakura hissed. She had too many sleepless nights and on going dungeon adventures were finally taking its toll on her.
"You've got one hour to get ready." Kouen instructed before the door opened again and two maids appeared, one holding a tray and the other carrying material. Kouen walked passed then as they bowed their heads.
Sakura peered from under the covers and saw the two women.
'This cannot be good.'
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An hour later, Sakura had eaten the food the maid brought to her, and then a bath was run for her; none of those posed a problem for her. The food was good and as far as she was concerned that bath she needed which she got after chasing the maids away insisting she could bath herself but what she didn't like was when the maids attempted to dress her in ridiculously over patterned robes that would've been far too much material for her liking and when she politely declined they insisted because she was 'Lord Kouen's honored guest'.
A few minutes later, Kouen appeared, but the way he was dressed caught her attention.
"Are you going somewhere?" she asked, looking at him and his attire. Simple, no metal armor as before.
"Early morning training," Kouen said, standing at the door.
Though Sakura knew the palace was huge, she couldn't help but be in awe when seeing it in the daylight. There were many different buildings (Sakura guessed all had different purposes) that made up the palace, large areas surrounded by moats and walls.
Kouen's training began with a ten-kilometre run, which wasn't challenging for Sakura; being a ninja, she's had to travel distances far greater than that within a shorter span of time and still have energy to spare. The run began and ended with silence. After that, Kouen didn't waste any time dragging her to a new destination.
While he led her through the palace, she didn't miss the odd looks she got from the few people there, but Kouen didn't appear to acknowledge them; she chose to do the same.
They began walking through the open halls, and while walking, Sakura heard the sound of metal clashing and soft grunts. As they turned the next corner, on the outside, she saw two males with similar features-brothers without a doubt, but not twins, as one was clearly older. Both had coarse, dark blue hair and blue eyes. They were sparring with swords. Again, Kouen didn't seem to take note, keeping his eyes straight ahead. While the boys were fighting, one of them (she assumed was the eldest) seemed to have caught sight of Sakura because their eyes locked a second before Sakura looked in front of her again, unaware that the eyes were lingering.
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Kouen brought her to a secluded part of the palace gardens and then told her something that really surprised her.
"Spar with me."
Sakura looked at him, dumbfounded "You want me to what now?"
"I don't believe there's anything wrong with your hearing, so I am not going to repeat myself. We're going to spar, no weapons or djinn equips for now."
For now. As if he had the right to make that decision for her.
Standing up, Sakura shifted into a fighting stance, her feet apart, crouched slightly, holding her arms up to protect her sides and her fists in front, ready to strike.
"Whenever you're ready, prince."
"First on their back admits defeat."
Kouen got into position, and after a brief staring contest, they charged at one another. The first to attack, Kouen raised his leg to deliver a side kick, which Sakura avoided by ducking and then went to attack Kouen while his back was turned, but his reaction was quick, as if he sensed her and he blocked her punch with his arm; she decided to be generous and refrained from using chakra punches, wouldn't want to break any bones, right? At least not yet.
Sakura went to punch Kouen again, but he held out his arm to block her, and she then blocked him with hers.
"Oh, by the way, if you even think of holding back on me because I'm a girl or you think you're superior to me in any way, I'll make sure you regret it."
"I never planned to hold back," Kouen replied, bringing his other fist to get her, but she moved back in time.
"Neither did I,"
Sakura and Sinbad were on the outskirts of Reim in the forest, after listening to the endless complaints from Sinbad and the begging to be let out of the office and do something fun, Sakura had enough; she had grabbed him at the back of his robes and pulled him all the way into the forest to spar with her.
"You know, when I said I wanted to get out and have some fun, this isn't what I had in mind," Sinbad muttered, stretching his arms.
Sakura huffed and pulled up her gloves "Well usually I would ignore your please but I haven't exactly gotten much sleep lately either so I need to do something to get rid of this tension and I was told that sparring is one of the best ways to do that."
Sinbad grumbled under his breath, "I don't know how I feel about fighting a girl."
Sakura shot him a glare that made his blood run cold "You know, if you don't learn to hold that sexist tongue of yours, I will gladly remove it."
Swallowing hard, Sinbad held up his hands with a nervous laugh "Now, now, I was only trying to be a gentleman; it's against my policy to fight women."
"And yet you'd do it anyway if it got you what you wanted, so save the speech for someone who will believe it."
Sinbad sighed, "Oh, you're going to make someone one hell of a wife, you know?"
"So I keep hearing," Sakura muttered back before getting into a fighting stance.
"Wait, let's make a deal." Sinbad started
Sakura raised her eyebrow "A deal with you?"
Her voice sounded like it was meant to insinuate insult at him.
"If I get you on your back, we take off the entire day and go do something that I deem is fun," Sinbad said
"Alright," Sakura began cautiously, But if I win, then you have to sit your ass down in your office and finish all of your overdue work today."
"Deal."
Sakura then got back into her fighting position, but then noted Sinbad; he didn't seem to get into any stance. Sinbad told her to come at him, "Alright, you can attack anytime."
"That's your stance?" Sakura asked in disbelief, looking at his arm behind his head and the other on his hip.
"Yeah, come on."
Sakura frowned, and he and Sinbad laughed, "I'm serious, just attack."
She didn't bother to ask again if he wanted to end up smack down, kissing dirt. Who was she to deny him? However, the second she aimed for the first attack, she hit Sinbad in his chest and watched as his face contorted in pain. He was holding his chest tightly, which didn't make sense since Sakura was certain she didn't use her chakra for this.
"Oh no! Are you okay?" Sakura asked, lowering her hands, but she missed the smirk on Sinbad's face.
"Gotcha." Sinbad had reached out for her. She assumed he was going for an attack from the front, but then he grabbed her at the back of her neck, slipped his leg in between hers, and before she knew it, in a single flip, she was lying flat on her back staring up at the clouds and then a wide grinning Sinbad.
"Okay, I win!"
Gasping, Sakura sat up "Hey, wait a minute, you cheated!"
Sinbad laughed, "How could I have cheated? The only rule was get the other person on their backs; there weren't any rules specifying how we should do it."
Sakura turned red with anger and bit her bottom lip hard to avoid screaming out. She bit it so hard that it actually bled, getting Sinbad's attention.
"Hey, don't do that!"
He grasped her bottom lip and pulled it from between her teeth before wiping the blood away, smearing it on his thumb.
"That was so cheating," Sakura stated
Sinbad continued to stare at her injured lip "Maybe, but I knew I could never beat you in a fair fight, not with your strength and skills to back you up."
He did have a point there, she admitted, but not openly.
"But I wasn't going to use my strength, I was playing fair!"
"There are going to be times when you are outnumbered and outmatched, to win means you can't always play fair." Sinbad explained, "It's not breaking the rules, it's bending them to help tip the odds in your favour."
Sakura wasn't sure how to argue with that without being here all day, so this time, only she gave up.
"Fine, whatever you say."
Sinbad beamed, "Alright then, let's go get a drink!"
"HUH!?"
That had been the first time Sakura and Sinbad sparred together, but when she thought back to that time, she thought about Sinbad's words, about bending the rules. She supposed that would be what it took to win at times, but that wasn't her way of doing things, plus she didn't think Kouen was one to try and play dirty, at least he didn't seem like the type to her.
As they continued to fight, their punches and kicks became fierce, a fire burning through their eyes, but also excitement as if they were enjoying it. Both were trying to outdo the other; it wasn't like in the dungeon, where they were forced to fight each other, because of that, there wasn't any time to feel anything for the battle. They were just doing it because they had to, but now…they both seemed to be enjoying the challenge of sparring barehanded with no tricks, no powers, just them. Even so, they were both focused on defeating the other. They didn't want to be meeting each other's eyes from the ground and so they fought with everything they had although Kouen clearly had martial arts under his belt, Sakura's taijutsu was proving to be harder to keep up with not to mention her stamina surpassed his own and Sakura made that analysis when she observed the beads of sweat starting to form on his face and as time passed magnified.
There were times Sakura spent with Tsunade relearning different forms and techniques of martial arts since she told Sakura it would help her defence, and right now she was thanking her severe sensei for always pushing her beyond her limit.
When Sakura threw her next punch, she saw Kouen stagger slightly when he stepped back and knew he was reaching his limit (though after nearly thirty minutes, she had to say it was impressive he lasted this long); Sakura took the chance to feign an uppercut and instead drew her leg between his, and with one swift motion, Kouen fell on his back.
She smirked at Kouen as he looked up at her, "Well, it looks like you're the first on your back admit defeat?"
Kouen looked down and appeared to grumble something under his breath; Sakura walked closer towards him and leaned down slightly.
"What was that?"
"Lesson one: even when your opponents are down, your guard shouldn't be."
Kouen then went for a low sidekick to get Sakura to fall, but the pinkette just jumped up, tucking her knees before landing safely on the ground still standing.
"Lesson two: Admit defeat graciously or risk losing your head."
"Fight till the end, even if futile."
"Better to run and live to fight another day than die an ungraceful death."
Kouen didn't reply as he remained on the ground, rolling her eyes. Sakura held out her hand for him, and all he did for a while then was stare at it like he was expecting something when he took it.
"That's enough for today."
He then began walking off with that usual air of expectation for Sakura to follow him as if he had some invisible leash wrapped around her neck. Even with the distasteful thought, she followed him only a few paces behind and then beside him.
Little did they both know about the eyes that followed them till they took the next corner, out of the gardens.
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"I preferred being outside," Sakura muttered, looking around the library. There were scrolls upon scrolls in the shelves. There was a particular desk littered with them but set neatly. As Sakura looked at the parchments, she realized that most of the scrolls' writing was in the Torran language. Torran wasn't like the common language; Sakura had been instantly drawn to it the first time she saw a displayed scroll in one of the stores in Reim. It surprised her how quickly she was able to grasp the language as well. Some of the scrolls were being translated, but the words were worn so it was difficult to see them. Her eyes began going over the scrolls, and she squinted as they trailed along the word's path. The words "Alma Torran" and "Solomon" were repeated quite a bit.
"You can read that?" Kouen asked
Sakura moved around the desk and away from the parchment "Somewhat,"
Kouen directed her to a carpeted area with many pillows. She got the message and went to sit down, followed shortly after by Kouen, who had a detached expression on his face.
"From what I've read in Sinbad's stories, you've travelled to the land of snow, Imuchakk."
Sakura nodded.
"Tell me about it."
"What do you want to know?"
"Everything."
And everything she told, Sakura told him about the Imuchakk people, about their blue hair and large structures, she told him about their hierarchy system with their federation of five, having gotten many lessons from Rurumu about her homeland and others. She told him about how Imuchakk was once a pirate who used to raid neighbouring coasts. As she explained the history of the still mysterious country, she noticed that Kouen's demeanour had somehow changed; he looked more attentive as she spoke.
"So Imuchakk has a federation of leaders…"
Sakura tilted her head to the side "You don't sound like you agree with that system."
"It was necessary, given their circumstance."
Kouen frowned slightly, "Tell me about the dungeons you've gone to."
Sakura got the gist of the message and looked at Kouen in disbelief, "All of them?"
"Down to the last detail," Kouen instructed
'Oh, this is going to take a while.'
Three hours later and Sakura felt like she was about to lose her voice, she had only gotten to her first and second dungeon because the stories lead to what happened after the dungeons, she stayed cleared from any sensitive and personal information that she knew she shouldn't share. Her own in this world wasn't something she really considered sacred aside from the fact she was from another but that was off the table since Gaap handed her secret to Kouen on a silver platter. When she mentioned the Torran writing in Sitri's dungeon, Kouen seemed to straighten himself further.
"You sure are interested in the Torran language, aren't you?"
Before Kouen could reply, the library door swung open, revealing a young boy, about fourteen, with messy red hair, slanted pink eyes and acne scars on his nose and cheeks. He looked at the pair with a confused face. Sakura noticed the similarity between Kouen and the younger boy and knew they were brothers.
"What is it, Koumei?"
Koumei, as Kouen addressed, didn't waver at his brother's tone, "Nii-san, I see you've lost track of time again and missed lunch. I figured you'd be in here."
He then turned his attention to Sakura and smiled before bowing slightly "Hello lady Haruno, I am Koumei Ren."
Sakura smiled back, she liked the boy's politeness "Hello prince Koumei it's a pleasure and please Sakura is just fine; I'm no lady."
Kouen appeared to grunt in agreement with her statement, causing her to glare at him before diverting back to his brother.
"So you've heard of me?"
"Last night, I heard that my brother brought you back from a dungeon?" Koumei asked
Sakura nodded, "Blackmailed is more suited to describe what he did, but I suppose that'll do."
Koumei then looked at Kouen again "Anyway, as I said, you missed lunch, so I told someone to bring it down to you. It should be here momentarily."
Sakura smiled, "That was very kind of you."
"Merely looking out for my older brother lady Haruno."
"Again please prince, just Sakura."
Koumei nodded before turning and exiting the room.
Sakura lay down on the pillows, her hands propped behind her head "Your brother seems nice, definitely a lot more than you."
The door opened a few seconds later, a maid carrying lunch for the two, and as quickly as they arrived, they dispersed, leaving the two once again.
"Hey, wait a minute, did you only tell your brother about me?" Sakura asked before taking a bite out of a piece of sweet fruit.
"No, I informed the emperor, my father, basically all the necessary people."
Sakura stopped eating and gave a confused expression "Wait, I thought your father was the emperor"
"He is the emperor's younger brother,"
"Oooh." Sakura nodded in understanding, so that made Kouen a prince by paternal relations.
"Is Koumei your only brother?"
"No," Kouen replied, "I have another one."
"And sisters?"
"Seven."
Sakura nearly choked on her water when he said that number; that meant his father had ten children! There was no way he had more than one wife, assuming he had one…but she wasn't going to get into that conversation with Kouen of all people.
"Does the first emperor have children then?" Sakura asked, recalling the two finely dressed boys in the gardens this morning.
"Yes."
"Oh so-
"What was that healing ability of yours?" Kouen asked
'From personal to business so quick you'll get whiplash,' Sakura thought sarcastically.
"Where I come from, I'm a medic," Sakura explained.
"You're a physician?"
"Something like that, but instead I don't spend all of my time just waiting around in a room for patients,"
"Explain,"
Now, Sakura was thinking very carefully of a way to word this; she didn't want to go into details like before because….this was her world she was talking about, and she wanted to protect it. Divulging information about her village isn't something that was taken lightly, and even though this was another world, she still lived by that principle, but she doubted that Kouen could do much with general information, and the quicker she did this, the sooner she could leave.
"You know what ninjas are, right?"
"Yes," Kouen said, there was a snippy end to his tone that sounded irritated by the question, as if he assumed she was patronizing him.
"Well, that's what I am, a medical ninja to be specific. In my village, being a ninja is more of a career choice; there's even an academy that teaches children how to become ninjas, and usually at the age of twelve, if you pass the exams, you're promoted to first-level ninja and begin going on missions. There are usually teams of four members, three being first-level ninjas and the fourth is the leader and a more experienced ninja meant to guide and teach the others and help them survive."
"What kind of missions exactly would need a medic?"
"Well, there are different leveled missions just as there are different leveled ninjas." Sakura explained, "So it goes from doing simple chores and odd jobs to body-guarding and assassination. Basically, a mission is given, a fee is paid for it, and a ninja is dispatched to complete that mission."
"What kind of abilities do ninjas have aside from regular combat skills?"
Sakura hesitated for a moment, her mind scanning through what she could and wouldn't say.
"There are the basics like kunai and shuriken training."
"I see,"
There was a knock on the door, and a man dressed in white robes with his face covered stood at the door, bowing slightly, "Prince Kouen, your presence is requested by the emperor."
Kouen then stood up and began making his way out.
"Hey, where are you going now?" Sakura asked
"We're done for today. I'll send someone to take you back to your room."
"Hooray," Sakura muttered, though she was sure Kouen heard her, but chose to ignore the insult. If he thought that she was just going to head back and obey his every command, he had another thing coming!
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Finalizing her decision to explore, Sakura exited the library and entered the large hallway, before taking a stroll that would be equivalent to a never ending maize.
Two hours later, not only was Sakura hopelessly lost, to a point where she didn't even know where she came from or what side of the castle she was now on. She had hidden away when there was castle staff walking about, after all, she didn't know if Kouen was already aware she wasn't in the library anymore. She had gone through the open hallways in the gardens and decided to head to the roof to get a better look at everything. She walked along the thin, straight-cut wood of the slanted triangle roofs.
A sickly sweet voice that literally sounded too good to be real caused Sakura to lose her train of thought.
"My, a young girl shouldn't be playing on top of the roof, it's dangerous."
Sakura gasped at the new presence and looked down.
Green clashed with blue.
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EARLY CHAPTERS FOR MEMBERS NOW: BUYMEACOFFEE
-Kunoichi amongst Heroes chapter (100, 101, 102, 103)
-Kunoichi amongst Pirates chapter (45, 46, 47)
-Crossroads of Fate chapter (36, 37, 38, 39)
-Through the Looking Glass chapter (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
- (Bleach crossover) Kunoichi amongst Reapers: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
-Commission: Demon slayer x My hero academia (PART 1 & 2)
- Kunoichi amongst Benders (Avatar x Naruto crossover) (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-Kunoichi amongst Heroes WHAT IF SPIN OFF: Dorms and Exams
-SPECIAL HALLOWEEN CHAPTER: Shinigami amongst Shinobi
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