Crumbling Kuniochis

A/N: I was sick on my birthday and stayed home when this idea popped into my head XD. And yes, it is very much anti-SasuSaku/NaruHina/KibaIno/NejiTen(Ship it, though)/ShikaTema(also ship it). Also, sorry with how short this first chapter is. It is the prologue, though… Anyway, enjoy~ And reviews would be loved!
Warning: Mentions of depression and suicide in this chapter.

Prologue

What it meant to be a kunoichi was that you had to be ready for anything and everything to come at you, never let your guard down, even at the store, train your hardest even if it means getting dirt in your hair or under your nails, don't drag down the team, don't use the excuse "I'm on my period, whore!" to skip practice/missions/trainings. And the biggest rule of them all:

Never expect a fairytale ending in love or happiness. There are going to be very few who get in that category and it may not be you. Don't let the wanting cloud your judgment.

For centuries, all women abided to these rules if they followed down that path. Other women had chosen to be stay-at-home mothers with their family to love a happy life, not wanting to give up love for the village. Some of the more hypocritical citizens had criticized them for such selfish acts while the ninjas who had seen the most bloodshed applauded them for being as smart as they were.

But with each year growing, it seemed the number of female kunoichis was diminishing at a quick rate, causing more havoc across the villages. Without women, they were unable to obtain information through reconnaissance missions that dealt with going undercover at strip clubs or bars. And all the men absolutely refused under any circumstance to do those kind of missions.

And after the Second Great Ninja War, it seemed that all hope was lost when Tsunade had finally stopped when she lost both her brother and lover – she hadn't listened to the "never expect a fairytale ending" rule and fell for Dan. After she lost him, she realized it took too much from her – and became a gambler on the streets.

When everyone had planned to tossed in the towels for all hope in kunoichis, five names rose from the ashes and spread like wildfire across all the Shinobi Countries. There was Temari of the Sand, the great wind user and most ruthless kuniochi. Ino Yamanaka, the prodigy of the Yamanaka clan. Hinata Hyuuga, heiress of the Hyuuga clan. Tenten, the Weapons Mistress. And last but not least, Sakura Haruno, the girl of Team Seven with Two Minds.

When the girls had all been of young ages, their progress showed at a depressingly low rate – except Temari and maybe Ino. But it all took was two years for them to gain new names that everyone was calling out with renewed hope of the world coming together again at the strength of all five. Sakura Haruno, the upcoming Second Tsunade. Ino Yamanaka, the Mind Walker. Temari of the Sand, the sister of the Kazekage and the still the most ruthless kunoichi. Hinata Hyuuga, the One Who Never Gave Up. Tenten… well Tenten was still the Weapons Mistress but it had a ring to it. And it still scared the hell out of some.

They all seemed to have won over the hearts of many over the years. Not for love, but for hope. For the hope that they would be the leaders to take the reins and hold the kuniochis up and never let the weakness of love and happy take control of someone.

But life didn't work like that. Not at all. Life was literally a bitch. It would throw the line with bait of happiness and hope and carefree at you to get you out and take it and hang on to it like a lifeline and then suddenly take it away from you, leaving you in shambles of depression and hopelessness and the feeling of being lost. And that was exactly how they felt.

Sasuke had left Sakura on the bench when she was 13 and she was so broken on the inside that it was all starting to flow out and she could barely even feel any emotions. Ino had been able to get over the Uchiha and took an eye to a certain Inuzuka who let her down by being overprotective of Hinata. The blonde now spends most time in the flower shop. Hinata had felt the massive pain of heartache when Naruto seemed to ignore her for Sakura and she chose to instead spend time with her cousin while the blonde was away. Tenten felt all alone when Neji stopped showing up to practices to instead be with Hinata. And that was her training regime now. And Temari had taken the first pitchfork to her heart when she saw Shikamaru watching Ino play with flowers with a small smile on his face. She had began to walk around the town with Shizune so she could keep her heart intact.

And they couldn't train as hard anymore. They looked like they were just sleep walking around the town, eyes glazed over and faces showing no emotion. They all tried to avoid each other seeing as how some had taken the way to blaming the others for their problem. And they knew once they spent time together, one of two things would happen. They would all either kill each other or break down crying and just kill themselves in the presence of others who felt that way.

No one could make them happy. Everyone tried to make them laugh, to smile, to show any emotion. Lee even went as far as watching Sakura in her bedroom. But all he got was a blank, dead stare that sent massive chills racing up his spine.

No matter what though, all the girls seemed to have just given up on life, all waiting for the time death would come and greet it with open arms. It was then that everyone learned they were falling. Falling into a dark abyss where they couldn't be saved. Falling into depression. And no one seemed to realize it or want to help.

They're kunoichi, they will get through it. They have seen worse, done worse than depression – why the hell are they making such a big deal about it? Oh, they need to just get over it! They don't have the worst lives! I have to take care of ten kids, by myself! They're such babies. Why are they even kunoichi? It's just depression. Get the fuck over it and grow up.

These were words that were constantly said on the streets they would pick or even have said to their faces by the ignorant civilians who were clueless as to what they were going through.

And one comment was said to Hinata – No wonder Naruto doesn't love you! You are such a worthless baby! – that had finally pushed her over the edge. She went out to the forest alone with one kunai wearing just a pair of pants and a tank top, deep blush hair a mess from not having been washed in so long. Taking a seat in the grass next to the river, she slit her wrist, once, twice, and soon lost count before her vision faded to black.

And then she was waking up. The deep scent of sterile cleaning supplies hit her so hard, she began to cough. When she opened, her eyes, all she could see was white walls, white ceilings, white bed sheets, white everything. And for a split second, she thought that she had ended up in Heaven and was gone from the cruel world until she heard the clacking of heels on the tile.

Turning her head lethargically, she saw a very pissed off looking Tsunade, hands on her hips and honey golden eyes blazing. Her face held many of wrinkles from the deep scowl she held on her face. "My office, tomorrow. Seven A.M. Late and I will send ANBU to retrieve you." And then she walked off.

And Hinata lay in the bed, tears pouring out of her eyes because she had to continue living, continue breathing. And all she wanted to do was simply fall into the embrace of death.

A/N: I know this part probably made no sense whatsoever but just bear with me here, please T_T. I haven't even gotten to the real story. Like I said, this was the prologue to explain some things and to how the girls are in depression. Also, the story takes place when Sakura/Ino/Hinata are 14, Tenten is 15, and Temari is 18 so that's why they aren't known as the ones who fought with any of the Akatsuki in case you guys were wondering.