~Sakura~

"Sho-Oh-Ken!"

With that cry, Sakura charged forward, jackhammering her shoulder and fist into the massive Sumo wrestler she was fighting, knocking him backwards and down to the floor, where he stayed for a count of ten, applied by one of the men surrounding the impromptu ring where they fought.

"Knock out! The winner, Sakura Yugure!" the man cried, and money began to change hands among those who had bet on the match.

(Note: Yugure means 'nightfall' in Japanese. I'm saying she picked the name to differentiate herself from the original Sakura, Sakura Kasugano. Besides, Nightfall seems appropriate to a dark, but not [yet] evil character.)

Shingo, a skinny local bookie Sakura had talked to before the match, came up to her at about the same time as E.Honda, the sumo she had fought, got up. "Sa-chan, you were great!" he enthused. "I covered all those betting on Honda, and I - er, *we* cleaned up! Here's your half," he said, handing her a thick sheaf of yen. "Er, no offense or anything," Shingo stammered, seeing E.Honda loom up behind Sakura.

"None taken," Honda boomed, then leaned over so he wasn't towering over them at his full height. "You are even stronger than before, young lady," he complimented Sakura, who blushed.

"Zen-zen de'nai, Honda-san," she replied (No, not really, Mr. Honda) but quickly collared Shingo before he could slink off as she counted her winnings. There were several hundred thousand yen in total, between the victor's share of the fight purse and the bets she'd set up through Shingo. Looking up, she gave him a quick grin. "Thanks, Shingo," she commented, "and you can keep whatever you've got hidden in your boots." Shingo paled at the revelation and Honda's face darkened, but Sakura laughed. "Shingo, Shingo... I got what I needed out of the last few matches! Why would I care if you wanted some extra? Go on, have a good time," she said. Honda grew jovial and smiled at the two, and gave Shingo a backslap that nearly broke him in half before moving off.

Shingo recovered some of his colour, then nodded. "(Wheeze)OK, Sa-chan. Where're we going next?"

Sakura shook her head. "*I* am going to the airport, Shingo. I've done all I can on the Japanese part of the circuit. It's time for me to move on."

She meant that in two ways. The first and most obvious was that she'd challenged all those she cared to in Japan, and made enough money to travel for some time, if she was careful.

The second was that she still wanted to know more about what she was, what she had become... and no one in Japan seemed to have any information about it. Ryu had let her study Gouken's old writings, but the ancient master had apparently destroyed any scrolls that had any information on the Satsu no Hadou - which was, after all, the force Gouken had rejected to make Shotokan into the non-lethal fighting art it was today. All Ryu himself had to offer was information on his own evil side and Akuma, and that wasn't enough.

He had, however, been able to point out other sources for that information. Chun Li, the policewoman Sakura had met during the Alpha tournaments, was rumored to have tapped into something like the Satsu no Hadou; Gen, the chinese master of the Assassin Fist, was an old rival of Akuma's and knew a lot about him; Rose, the gypsy mystic, and Dhalsim, the Indian guru, both knew a lot about spiritual matters; and of course, M.Bison had likened his Psycho Power to the Satsu no Hadou right in front of both Ryu and Sakura when they had fought him, so the files on him might be of some use.

Sakura meant to ask all of them about herself, sooner or later.

{First off, I want to talk to Rose,} Sakura thought. {So it's off to Venice, Italy.}

~Rose~

The growing interest youth have with the supernatural is ambiguous at best.

While Rose thought it great that people have abandoned their limiting view of this vast universe, the way the spiritual dimension is represented in mainstream popularity is potentially harmful to their souls.

Rose learned that the hard way the day before.

Spirit guides and eternal light really cannot protect one when facing opposition.

"M-miss Rose? Can I stop now, I'm getting tired-"

The psychic glanced behind her shoulder to see Gregory struggling to keep his yoga position. "Patience is the key, you'll get used to it soon enough"

"But, I've been trying to hold this for about 20 minutes now" he whined. "What does this have to do with psychic power?"

"Nothing..."

"What?"

"The true goal is self consciousness, psychic abilities and so called 'magic' is merely something you learn on the way."

He stood up, obviously steamed. Another trouble with conventional New Age fad is the thought that spirituality was something attainable easily. "B-but, why the need for self consciousness anyway? All I want is-"

"Powers of the mind? Aha, but how can it be utilized if you don't even know anything about the user. Know thyself, that is the key."

Gregory returned to his sitting position, silenced by her words. His impatience caused a slight worry, which was why she decided to make his training filled with discipline.

That's when they both heard a knock on the door.

~Sakura~

Sakura waited nervously after knocking on the door of Rose's Venice studio. The thought that she wasn't in crossed Sakura's mind, but she shook it off, resolving to stay positive. Her attitude was rewarded moments later when Rose opened the door.

Sakura cleared her throat nervously. "Ano... Ohayo, Rose-sensei. I don't know if you remember me, but we met - sort of - during the Alpha tournaments. I kind of need your help with something... I mean, I need to ask you about something. May I come in?" she asked, making a formal curtsey to try to cover her nervousness.

Rose smiled gently at her, but Sakura got the impression that the Italian woman *knew* something was different. {Of course, that's why I came here,} Sakura reminded herself.

The Gypsy psychic nodded to her visitor and said, "Why yes, I remember. Whatever brings you to my little home?"

Sakura stepped inside. As she kicked her shoes off in the doorway, she began to explain. "Well, it's kind of complicated. I-" She cut herself off as she saw a young man sitting in a yoga position in the main room. All the stories about lady Gypsies and visiting men flashed into her head at once, and Sakura stammered, "Oh! You have company! I - I could come back later..."

The young man blinked, though he didn't get up from the yoga posture. "What the-?" he asked, and Rose shook her head, bemused.

"Sakura, meet Gregory, a student in the psychic arts," she introduced them.

Sakura blushed outright at having jumped to conclusions - {After all,} she thought, {if Ryu can... take a student for a while, so could Rose, she's certainly qualified.} "Oh! I... um... Yoroshiku, Gregory-san. I'm Sakura..." she paused for a moment, the habit of announcing her old name still strong, then went on, "..Yugure."

Politely passing over Sakura's *faux pas,* Rose moved over to the kitchen counter and asked, "Oh, how impolite of me- tea?"

"Yes, please," Sakura nodded - Ryu liked both herbal and normal teas, and she'd developed a taste for them over the three days she'd spent at his dojo. Accepting the implied offer of hospitality, she selected a chair near the middle of the room - and jolted right back out of it with an "Aak!" as an ugly sensation snapped through her. It was dark and brooding, and there was pain in it, pain caused by the brooding thing-

-and then it was gone.

~Rose~

Rose frowned lightly. The girl had felt... 'off' was the only word for it, as if she wasn't quite the person she had been, and now she had evidently sensed the turmoil in the Astral plane from the attack which had put Rose in the hospital... which *should* have been quite beyond her capabilities. It was true that the spot hadn't been entirely cleansed, but the child had reacted as if *she* had been attacked. Aloud, she apologized, "Oh, terribly sorry. I haven't.... cleaned that place yet. Here, take this seat," she finished, indicating one by the window.

The child was still in a loose combat stance, one Rose had seen before in her several skirmishes with the child, facing the dark spot warily.

"Rose-san..." she began in a tense tone, then took a deep breath and calmed herself. Dropping out of her stance and moving to the indicated chair, she sighed. "Hai. Demo (but).... Did something, um, *attack* you there? I mean, it feels.. Ugh." Sitting down, she took the tea and sniffed it with obvious enjoyment. "Mmm, arigato!"

Rose glared sternly down at her. "Please excuse my bluntness, but ever since you've come here I've felt a strange aura surrounding you, and now you sensed a psychic battle. Now, Miss Sakura, would you please tell me your reason of visit?"

~Sakura~

Quailing under Rose's glare, Sakura managed some brief surprise at what Rose had just told her. "Is *that* what that was?? And how..." she started to ask, but stopped herself and sighed. "No, I guess I do know how." With that, she explained to an interested Rose and a fascinated Gregory about everything that had happened to her since she had gone to look for Ryu at his mountain cabin weeks ago- The Avengers, X-Men, Apocalypse and Cyber-Akuma, and finally her visit with Ryu the previous week. "...and so that's why I'm here, Rose-sensei. I - I need help finding out *what* I am, what I should do..." she sighed. "Do you think you can help me?" she asked plaintively.

Rose sat down across from Sakura and waved to Gregory that he was dismissed. As he gratefully got out of the yoga posture and left the room, the gypsy woman sighed and spoke. "What you're asking is quite hard to solve. A person's raison d'etre is perhaps the greatest enigma ever..."

Sakura blinked ("Huh?"), then giggled as she realized what Rose thought she had been asked. Controlling her mirth, she said, "No, no, Rose-san... I meant, 'what have I turned into?' I mean, I can't be who I *was,* 'cause she's still there. And I've been stronger, faster, and had a more powerful *chi* ever since then... and now you said I sensed a... psychic battle? I couldn't do *any* of that before. Is there any way of finding out what the Satsu no Hadou *did* to me?"

Rose blinked, then leaned forward, tracing an imaginary line around Sakura with her finger, the nodded. "I see what you mean, your brow and throat chakra's radiate an imense energy. But strangely enough, I cannot determine wther this energy is positive or negative...."

Sakura sweatdropped. "Um, meaning what...?"

Looking up at her, the gypsy mystic smiled. "Oh, my apologies. The chakras are 8 points in the body in which our subtle energy runs in. Call it ether, call it chi, it matters not. Each chakra represents an aspect of the psychic self," she continued, pointing at Sakura's throat and brow. "These two here represent spiritual strength and psychic powers. Despite the strong power it radiates it does not have any sense of positive or negative, good or evil in lay terms. Hmmmm..."

Unconsciously echoing the woman before her, Sakura also 'hmm'ed, then asked, "Rose-sensei, is there any way to find out more detail? I mean, the chakra sense is interesting, but it's kind of nebulous..."

Rose nodded at the question. "They give me what I need to know and where to look. Mind if I do a closer inspection?" she asked.

Sakura blinked, then asked the natural question of any youngster at the doctor's. "Um... will it hurt?"

Then she paused and glanced at the Spot in the center of the room. "*Either* of us, I mean... If you think it'll be OK, then yes, you can, but..." {I don't know what happened to you, but I don't want you to be hurt worse 'cause of me,} she thought.

~Rose~

Noticing where the child was staring as she asked her question, Rose chuckled slightly. "This involves no soul transference, it's the metaphysical equivalent to looking under a microscope." In a whisper, she finished, "Not even Bison can invade this....."

Unexpectedly, the girl smirked - an expression unusual and unsuited for such a young face, containing as it did aspects of smugness and vindictive superiority. "Bison?" she asked, the smirk widening. "You don't have to worry about *him,* Rose-sensei. Ryu and I fought him a few months ago... and I think he died. Unless having his body coming apart on him won't kill him. So I guess the examination sounds good."

The force of this revelation hit Rose like a tidal wave. She had been so sure... but she could see no evidence of falsehood in the girl. "Kill? Are you sure about that?" she asked with a slight gasp. 'Then the force that attacked me was... someone else?' she thought. 'Or did he somehow survive even that?' Shaken by the implications, she forced her thoughts back to what she was doing. "That's interesting.... n-now, come closer," she said, unable to prevent the break in her voice.

An uncertain look on her face, the girl moved forward to kneel in front of Rose's chair, but then pointed. "Umm... OK. Do you want to wait a minute? Your hand is shaking," she said, and Rose fought to quell the tremor in her traitorous body.

Rose shook her head. "Nothing relevant......p-please stay still," she commanded, and closed her eyes to visualize the girl's Tree of Life.

Slowly the image of Sakura materialized out of the darkness, changing into an outline with small circles surrounding the tip of each limb.
"Yes......"
There was an image of giggling school girl Sakura.

"I see........."
The color red floated before her, a healthy spirit like Gregory's.

"The left arm......"
A demonic apparition appeared, sneering.

"Gateway to sitra ahra......"
The apparition resolved into a familiar figure... Akuma.

"Geburah......."
Akuma vanished, replaced by Sakura the schoolgirl.

"Chesed....."
Now a landscape, a misty scene with lots of bridges.

"Left and right......."
Coming out of her trance, Rose opened her eyes.

"Now I see."

~Sakura~

Fidgeting where she knelt, Sakura dared to ask, "See what? Do you know something now?"

Rose looked at her, the deep Gypsy eyes troubled. "The origins are unclear. But the severity side is strong, very strong. The Seeds of Samael have already been planted in it and are growing at an alarming rate. But... another energy is keeping it from completely growing.....

Sakura blinked, rearranging her legs into a more comfortable position, but remained seated on the floor, a student before her teacher. "Um, from 'alarming' I assume the Seeds of Samael are a bad thing? And what's stopping them?" she asked.

Rose sighed deeply. "...Mercy is. These two usually sustain each other, but never as much as I have experienced here. See, your left hand represents destruction, and your right represents creation and mercy. Both keep each other in check. But, your psychic abilities and new found chi feeds the seeds of malevolence which found themselves in destruction's hands, and the hand of creation stops it from completely growing by using it's passivity," she explained. After a moment's pause, she arched an eyebrow. "Does Akuma play a role in this?"

Sakura pulled in a slow breath. "Well, yeah," she replied. "He's the strongest user of the Satsu no Hadou we know of. Ryu and I both think he's kind of gone crazy-" realization hit, and her eyes grew as wide as the pupils did small. In a tiny voice, she ventured, "I really hope you don't mean that could happen to me..."

Rather than reply at once, Rose got up and paged through a book. As she did, she lectured, "Demons like Akuma... are completely engulfed by the side of Severity and the seeds of malevolence. They forget that a true warrior also has a gentle side to him. His style of Satsu no Hadou, as you call it, relies completely on destruction, it forsakes mercy and indulges in death and walks in the shadows of murder... and it seems the same affliction, for some unknown reason, is manifest in you!"

Sakura felt as if she were shriveling up as the words piled atop each other. "Eeep," she managed to reply. "I - I never thought it was *that* bad!" Her voice lowered as she admitted to herself, "But.. I still might do it again to save Ryu..." She blinked, shook her head, and slapped herself on both cheeks to shake off some of the depression. Still, her voice remained quiet as she asked, "I-is there anything I can do to *stop* it?"

Rose sighed. "Unfortunately I cannot explain why it happened.... only how..." she mused aloud before looking down at her. "All I can offer is a tip: self consciousness."

~Rose~

Rose nearly had to grin, knowing how hard the child would find it to interpret that advice... but she needed to concentrate on something other than her depression and despair at the moment. Sure enough, a puzzled expression replaced fear on the child's face, and the inevitable question came. "Self-conciousness? In what sense? I mean, I understand about being aware of myself, but..." She trailed off.

With a calm expression, Rose began to explain. "To keep yourself in check. Ignorance will allow more chi to enter the destruction, but if you can see it coming, you can stop it. Using your full potential will be devastating without any self consciousness. It requires a lot of mental discipline but," she smiled reassuringly, recalling the girl's murmured sentiment from earlier, "your desire to protect others shall help you."

To Rose's amusement, the child blushed as red as the cherries her name alluded to. ('Sakura' means 'Cherry blossom' in Japanese.) "My desire to... you heard!!" she stammered, and turned even redder. Rose was on the point of assisting the child in calming herself when she shook her head and recovered on her own. "Um, OK. So I restrain myself and don't go all out. Discipline's the key. Good thing I'm not my other self!" she said, then thought breifly. "You know," she commented, "the way you described my energies, it's like I'm not completely human anymore..."

Rose shook her head in denial of that thought. "Oh no, conflicts don't make one any less human....in fact, you can say it's what makes humans what they are," she explained, causing the child to look up at her gratefully.

She took a deep breath, and said, "OK. Thank you, Rose-sensei." She paused briefly, then asked, "I had already thought of going to see Dhalsim-san about this... but do you know of anyone else who might be of help?"

Rose nodded. "Possibly... have you ever heard of the creatures of the night?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.

The child's face took on a skeptical expression. "What, you mean like werewolves and such?" she asked in a dubious tone. Rose began to frown. Not noticing yet, the child went on, "Sure, there's rumours around, especially with that Blanka guy fighting, but I never gave them much credence..." Rose's frown deepened into a glare, and the child noticed, looked up, and became satisfyingly shamefaced. "Yeah, I know. Like magic and psychics... or people splitting in two. You mean they'd know about this?" she asked, her tone finally losing the skepticism that had burdened it.

Rose nodded, indicating a book on her wall. "There was a ruler of one of the night creature's world. He used methods unknown to me to split the aspects of his daughter he didn't like. I don't know how much help he can be but perhaps an explanation of why some aspects become unbalanced and personified can be found around there...." she said.

~Sakura~

Sakura had reached a state over the last hour where these revelations couldn't shock her any more - {I think I've used up all my shock for a while,} she thought idly. Looking back up at Rose, she asked, "So Makai exists?" (Makai means 'the demon world.')

Pausing, she shook her head. "Weird. I always thought all the strange stuff in the world could be chalked up to *chi* and martial artists... of course, that was before I met *you* the first time." Standing up, she looked sheepishly at Rose. "Sorry about that uppercut, by the way." More seriously, she stated, "Thank you, Rose-sensei. I deeply appreciate your help and hope you do well with your new student."

Then an impish impulse siezed her as she moved to the door and slipped her shoes back on. "Just make sure he doesn't have a crush on you like I do on Ryu! Ja ne!" she called jauntily as she ducked out the door, and trotted off down the street until well out of range of Rose's Soul Flash.

~Rose~

In her suddenly quiet studio, Rose sighed. "Youth," she commented, putting a great many sentiments into the one word.

Is Bison dead? she wondered to herself. If it is so, things have become truly complicated.

Quietly, she moved to the table and drank the rest of her tea.