Story of the Sparrow
She was now eighteen, an age wherein she was considered an adult. She had bloomed into someone who accumulates respect and recognition from her superiors, subordinates and equals. She was not the child she was before, in all aspects but one.
She was a Jounin now and a renowned medic-nin. Skilled in healing, genjutsu, tactical strategy and knowledgeable in the laws of the lands, she became the ambassador to the other country's when a representative from the fire country is required.
She had just come from a mission in Sunagakure and was headed to the Hokage tower to report to Tsunade-sama. Two weeks she had not been in her home, three weeks since she had seen her friends and three years since she had last seen Uchiha Sasuke. No, she promised herself she would not wallow in the memories of the boy, the man she had loved. She would not allow herself to be weak and emotional. This was not the time.
She arrived at office and promptly knocked on the door. Hearing the consent given to her to enter the office, she opened the door.
"Tsunade-sama." A bow of respect she gave to the lady sitting behind the desk. "The meeting with the Kazekage and his council is successful. They gave their approval to the proposal presented to them and wish to further negotiate on the matter."
The lady nodded and gestured for her to continue. "There are some matters, though, that are still needed to be clarified regarding the exchange of technological information and the selection of those who will be in-charge and included in the joint project."
"I see. Very well, we shall continue the negotiations and will be amending the matters in question. Good work, Sakura." Tsunade grinned. A grin also presented itself on the face of the pink-haired kunoichi.
"Of course! What else from the great Haruno Sakura?" laughter filled the room as master and student shared stories that happened in the course of two weeks.
"Sakura-hime." A girl of age nine called her name as she was spending the afternoon relaxing in her backyard. She was given the day off by Tsunade-sama. The girl peeked through the door leading to the backyard and was met by a smiling Sakura. "Chiori-chan, come here. Are you alone? Where is your brother?"
Another head peeked from the door, this time of a seven year old boy. Sakura had received visits from these two lovely children ever since she moved out from her parents' house. The two lived just across from her new house and had been curious about the new neighbor they have. Sakura, loving the idea of having kids around, had welcomed them to have milk and cookies with her. Let's just say they got along just fine.
"Hello, Sakura-hime." The smile on Sakura's faced turned into a full grin, as the boy greeted her. "There you are, Shinji." She then noticed something that was in the hand of the older child, a sparrow, an injured sparrow.
"What happened? Why is the sparrow injured?" she inquired. The boy shook his head. "We don't know. We just found it like this just by the river. We wanted to take care of it but we don't know how." The girl answered.
"You can heal it can't you?" the boy added. Sakura was touched with the two. Children were so innocent. It reminded her of the time when she was of the same age. She wished she was still innocent like these children but time had made sure that wouldn't happen. Time made sure that innocence in people were diminished as they grew older.
"We'll have to see first." The girl handed the sparrow to her. Green light glowed from her hands and she carefully laid it over the creature. The wounds of the sparrow healed itself and it was soon able to move. The children's eyes widened and glittered.
"Wow." The sparrow chirped and perched itself on Sakura's finger. It moved its right wing then its left wing. Looking at the two children then back at Sakura, it gave a final chirp and flew away.
"It's flying." The amused boy pointed at it until it was finally out of their sight. The girl had lowered her head; she had wanted to play with it when it was healed. Noticing this Sakura motioned for both the children to sit on either side of her.
"I'm going to tell you a story, okay?" The children nodded, listening intently. "A friend of mine once told me a story about a sparrow that fell in love with a white rose."
"But a sparrow can't be together with a rose. That's just impossible." Eyes blinking, the little girl replied.
"Isn't it? Well yes that's true, but there's another meaning for this story." Sakura flicked both the kid's noses. She stared keenly at both their eyes then at a rose in the one of the bushes in her backyard.
"The sparrow fell in love with a white rose. The sparrow confessed to the white rose but the white rose said, 'When I turn red that would be the time that I would love you.'"
"Oh. I know this one. It's like the story of Alice in Wonderland. I watched it on the TV." Amused with the boy's words, Sakura asked. "What happened in the story of Alice in Wonderland?"
"Well you see," this boy is just so cute, looking serious while telling the story. "The queen wanted red roses but his men planted the wrong roses and it grew into white roses."
"But the queen was mean and if she found out that her roses weren't red then she would order her big, big guards to chop off the men's head. That's icky." The girl added.
"Uhuh, so now, the men got red paint and turned the white rose into red." The boy continued.
"Is that what the sparrow did?" 'Smart kids' Sakura thought.
"But the sparrow didn't have any paint." Sakura said. "But instead of paint the sparrow used something else." The kids raised their eyes to her questioningly. "Should I finish the story?" they nodded.
"Hearing what the white rose said, the sparrow hastily tore off its feathers and cutting itself up until blood flowed out of its body." Sakura stood up and cut her finger a bit so blood flowed out. "It wiped the blood onto the white rose and it turned red." Sakura did the same and touched the white rose with her injured finger.
"The rose fell in love with the sparrow but it was too late because the sparrow no longer lived." She stared at the rose for a while before turning back to the kids. The girl cried. The boy sobbed.
"It's sad isn't it? But you know what my friend said? I was told that the story was about sacrifice. That the sparrow didn't give up its love for the white rose, which is why it sacrificed its life for love." She would have done the same, she recalled, when she and Sasuke had the encounter before he left Konoha. She would have risked her life for him.
"If you really love someone, there might be come a time when you would be required to choose to sacrifice your life for that person you love. No matter what the consequence a person truly in love would sacrifice everything."
"Have you been in love, Sakura-hime? Would you do the same? Would I do the same?" the girl asked.
"Yes, I've been in love, a long time ago. And yes, I would have sacrificed everything for the one I love. But in your case, you" she kissed the girls forehead "and you" she kissed the boys forehead "you guys are the ones who can determine for yourselves the extent in which you will sacrifice yourselves for the one you love."
"Now its getting late. It's time for you guys to go home." She ushered the two towards the door.
But there was a second idea to the story. If the person you loved, after falling in love with you, would be sad because you died, would you still sacrifice yourself for your love? She had thought of this over and over. She wouldn't want the man she loved to be sad, especially if she is the cause of his sadness. But it would also depend on the circumstance revolving around the issue.
If the act of sacrificing oneself would make the other party happy, then it would be no problem. What if you sacrifice yourself so that the person you love would be with another person they love, would you still continue? In her case, yes she would continue, since she loved him with all her heart, all her life. She lived on the hope that someday, her sacrifices would pay off and the person she loves would come back for her.
Right now, she was the sparrow still waiting for the rose's reply.