Island of Storms [Sakura]

Chapter 71 | End

"You're all dismissed," she said, standing up as she pushed back her chair. They acknowledged and bowed before making their way out the door, Sai shutting it behind him. She turned and looked out the large windows, taking in the city before she performed the reverse summoning jutsu. She placed her hand on the ground and kanji spread out from the center of her palm before she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

When the smoke dispersed from around her, she found her hand in the center of a circle of round stones. She removed it and stood to find herself in the Bird Caves. The circle of stones seemed to be on the opposite side of the pillar that held the nest from the entrance she and the others had used before. The circle of smooth stones was in an even larger circle of flat, smooth stones about a forearm's length across, each had a different set of nature-related kanji engraved on them. She looked up at the pillar to see it appeared the same it did from the other side, apart from one thing. Between the smooth stones of the pillar was a large green crystal approximately the size of a head. It glowed with a energy that Sakura could recognize as yang chakra.

It was exactly like Isobu described the ones he had found under the water.

"Are you here to calm the storms?" Hachidori asked from her perch. Sakura looked up at her and wondered how much she knew about what was happening outside.

"If that's something that I can do," she confirmed. The bird adjusted her position, ruffling some of her feathers. "What do you know about the situation?"

"Down there," Hachidori nodded downward. "The giant tear."

Sakura looked at the green gemstone again. "That was made at the request of my last contractor."

"Is there more than one?" The bird was quiet for a moment, watching the young woman.

"Yes, there are many. But I feel you already know this."

"What do they do?"

"They have stored the chakra of my last contractor for generations fueling the storms that he placed around the island," she started. "While this central gem is the only one with his chakra, it is linked to the other gems. They are reacting to the emergence of unstable chakra."

"Is there a way to fix it?"

"Simply break it," she said. Sakura stared at her for a few moments in silence before looking down at the large gem.

"What's... Why are the others important to you, but this one isn't?"

"The others hold emotions: sadness and happiness. They are memories." She looked over at a large vase shape made from leaves. Sakura did not know this, but it was filled halfway with some of the most precious gems in the world, Hachidori's bird tears. It also held the few trinkets that had them set into them, like the tama hair ornament. "That one, however... Was made from an order. I have no attachments to it."

"Alright... I'll break it then, if that's what I need to do." Hachidori gave a nod and many of the hummingbirds around the area landed to watch what would transpire.

Sakura had a bad feeling about what she was going to do but decided to just keep up her guard rather than not do it all together. If the storms continued to grow they would be cut off from the rest of the world for who knew how long and she had a country to run.

She approached the gem, wary of it as she reached out. The amount of yang chakra was almost suffocating as she plucked it out of the pillar and stepped back. It was heavy and smooth. The bottom of the object was rounded and the top was jagged in places, looking like an uncut stone.

With a very deep breath to get enough air in her lungs, she pumped her own chakra into her hands and created a vise. The gem cracked slightly around the area of her hands and she grit her teeth as she pressed down on it harder. All of a sudden, cracks split around its sea-green surface. Warped sounds like cracking glass echoed around her before the chakra within the gem leaked out.