This is the second installment of the Legacy series. The first one is The Field of Seven but you don't have to read it to understand this one.
Disclaimer: Sakura wouldn't have a crush on Sasuke, she'd be a kick-ass kunoichi with a kekkai genkai from the start, and there would be Itasaku babies running around if I owned Naruto.
Pearlescent all seeing eyes gaze through the landscape. Delicate hands rest on trees. Feet are silent as she treads through the quiet forest. She is alone. Her teammates are gone. At least, they are gone for now. She knows she will find them. Nothing is lost forever. Besides, they are a team. They stick together. A soft smile blooms on her lips as she treads though the trees. She will find them. That is what she does, with her all seeing eyes.
She stops at a log, in a forest clearing. She sits and rests, thinking of her boys.
"Silly boys." She shakes her head. "You silly, silly boys. Why did you run off again?" She stands and continues her search. "You foolish boys. You'll only get lost in this large forest, even with your techniques. "You silly, foolish boys."
Along the way, her clothes become torn, but she does not care. The boys, her boys, are more important. She does not stop when the sunsets. Even in the dark, she searches. The dark is no match for her. When dawn comes and the sunrises, she still does not stop. She is not weary; her determination is too great. Adrenaline is giving her energy now.
She finds a brown-haired boy and his dog later in the day. Both are unconscious, yet not to the point of death. She checks his system, and the dog's. They will live, she knows. But she is careful. Around them, she builds a shelter. She will not allow any harm to come near. After all, he is one of her boys. She will protect them.
When she is done, she marks a path for herself as she begins her search once more. She is bound and determined, immune to the throes of weariness. She will find her other boy, no matter the cost. She searches the forest far and wide, long into the night once more until she finds the other boy.
He is injured, unlike the other boy and his dog, but barely conscious. She smiles sweetly as the protective insects allow her to approach him. Gently, she carries him to the shelter she built. There, she cares for them both, mission forgotten. Months pass as she teaches herself how to heal them. Soon after, the boys, her boys, and the dog regain their health.
When they are well enough, the mission is never remembered and their location unknown. It is now the all-seeing girl realizes no party came to search for them. She knows it is not their fault. She does not blame the parties who never came. After all, what ever she and her team were assigned included going through unknown territory.
"So they remain in the forest to this day, very much alive. After many years of exploring the forest, it became their home."
A young, pearlescent-eyed child looked up with wide eyes. "So the Forest of Eight was named after Hinata-sama's team, Hanabi-baa-sama?"
The old woman's mouth curls into a smile. "Yes, indeed, child. Yes, indeed."
