Hello everyone! glad you found your way to my sequel to silver/frozen tears. This is just a short prologue, more work's in progress.
Reading the first two stories is strongly recommended, they can be found on my profile.
Enjoy!
I don't own Naruto!
The streets were deserted, except for two lone figures. It was dark, the pale moon already high in the sky and only a view windows the pair passed bore light within.
Their steps were quiet, they moved in a steady rhythm not distracted and always forward. The street lamps they passed illuminated their features for just a second.
A girl with pained emerald eyes and a boy, whose pale features screamed of exhaustion. The two people were Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke, newly appointed Jounin of Konohagakure no Sato.
They returned from a late meeting with the Hokage, planning the Kage summit, but their intended destination that night were not their respective homes, but a piece of empty land near the ANBU headquaters. They left the dusty road and padded through the soft grass none of them speaking a word.
Finally they reached a small area surrounded by trees and not at all unoccupied. Around a small campfire, that threw flickering shadows against the trunks, sat maybe twenty or thirty people, their faces solemn and lost in thought.
As soon as the two Jounin reached the group they looked up and compassion shone in their eyes.
A middle-aged man with silver hair stood up and approached them, the first one to break the silence in hours.
"Congratulations. I am very proud of you." All three made an attempt of a weak smile, but the pain was still too deep.
"Thank you, sensei." The man put his arms around his two students and guided them towards the fire, where the others sat. Neji reached out and squeezed Sakura's shoulder.
"Well done." His white eyes seemed to be even more ghostly in the dark, but Sakura knew it was because of the emptiness he felt.
Sasuke looked around. Most of the faces he recognized. Team 10, Iruka-sensei with Konohamaru and several Jounin were there. Leaning against a tree, a bit further away, he saw his older brother Itachi. His eyes were closed and the lines below them appeared even more pronounced now. He saw some people he did not know, three even wore ANBU masks.
But even though they had different ranks, did not know each others names and had maybe never spoken before, one thing unified them, made them come together every week.
All of them had loved Naruto Uzumaki. Now with Konoha approaching war, they needed comfort and a place to share their grief.
"Now you're Jounin." It was Iruka, who spoke. "I still remember, when you dreamed of becoming Genin. You have grown so much." He smiled.
"We owe it to her." Sakura's voice was barely a whisper. "We did not have an idea, what it was all about before she came."
No one dared to speak. Sakura looked so lost for a moment that Neji grasped her hand. She smiled weakly at him.
"She would be so proud of you both." All of them nodded at his statement.
"Neji..." Sakura's voice broke. She could only imagine how it was for him to loose his best friend. She was only glad he had not seen her die. The images that haunted Sakura's dreams every night, she did not wish them anyone else.
With raw violence the picture of her friend, her sister fought themselves in front of her inner eye. A girl with papery skin and glassy eyes, lying on the ground surrounded by dirt and strands of her lost hair. Sakura felt nausea built up in her as she recalled how the tiny drop of poison made Naruto wither away like an old flower.
She heard a groan next to her and saw Sasuke look at her with eyes that reflected the same pain. She had forgotten they still had the mind-link and he must have seen her thoughts.
"I'm sorry.", she choked and stretched out her hand for him. He took it wordlessly. It was the burden they had to carry.
Sakura then remembered the love that had shone in Naruto's eyes, even in that last moment of bitter anguish and death, she had the mind to remind them of her love. Sakura felt the memory soothe her and sent Sasuke some of her relief.
The others looked at the silent communication between the remaining two members of Team 7. They were different since they returned from Mist and not just because of the obvious grief they carried. Something in the way they behaved around each other had changed. They spoke less, but their communication did not seem to suffer. It was like they read each others thoughts.
Kakashi looked at the two, not being able to provide any comfort. He was shaken so badly by the loss of Naruto, he wondered how he even got out of bed in the mornings. The Hokage had put him on standby and he was grateful. He needed to work against the emptiness inside him that seemed to be too much at times.
His gaze found Itachi's. He found deep understanding in the coal-black depths. This man had run alongside Naruto as well. He knew how hard it was, not loosing yourself.
Naruto, why did you leave us?
Awareness crept slowly into her limbs. She felt how her fight for consciousness began to be successful. Carefully she opened her eyes, the drowsiness fading. She was lying on her back, the ground firm, but soft to her body that still hosted the slight burning. She was startled for a second. The burning intensified as she remembered her last moments. She had been so sure she was dying. Her gaze wandered from the gray sky to look at her surroundings. Now the low rumble of water filled her ears. She was lying at the foot of a giant waterfall, the shore with glistening white water only a foot away.
Deliberately she sat up, the faint ache faded. She could now see she was in a clearing, surrounded by thick woods and in the center of it was the small mountain the water crushed down from. She admired the raw strength for a moment before she came back to the question where she was exactly.
She blinked, only belated noticing the oddness around her. She looked in vain for colors. Everything was white, gray or black. The canopy of the trees was not green, the water did not sprinkle brightly blue and the flowers at the shore were not full of colors.
Hesitating, she gazed at her own hands, but they were still softly pink, albeit a bit pale. Even this slight coloring seemed like an enormous contrast to her.
Which was why she almost had to close her eyes, when two people entered the clearing, their appearance a symphony of colors. She recognized them.
Minato and Kushina sat down next to their daughter and for a while, they all relished in each others presence.
"Where are we?", Naruto asked softly.
"Nowhere." Her mother gestured at the trees and they parted and gave free the view of nothing but gray behind them. Naruto accepted they fact that it did not matter at the moment and tore her gaze from the river that flowed away from the pond. The water cascaded into nothingness.
She looked at he mother again, who opened her arms and the girl, so young, but as well so old, fell into the embrace. The woman leaned against her husband and for the first time in sixteen years the small family was united.
So I have finally picked this up again. I have to admit my interest for this fic strayed a bit, so those who are also interested in Star Wars might soon find some small AU story on my profile.
I hope you liked this one, stay tuned how this final part of the "Tears-Triology" will play out. Thanks a lot to my faithful readers and my beta 3
Love, Cold Moon