Declaimer: I do not own Naruto or the songs used. The closes I can get to owning Naruto is by buying the movies and video games. And I don't even want to own the songs. They're Michael Jackson's and should remain that way.
Who this chapter focuses on: Sakura
Song: Little Susie
What album you can find this song on: HIStory - Past, Present And Future - Book 1
My thoughts about this song: I can't really say much about this song. The first time I listened to it, it made me want to cry. But the beat alone can put me to sleep. I think it's a beautiful song but it's also sad because this song is based on a real girl who was killed. T-T
Favorites line in song: "Neglection can kill like a knife in your soul"
L I T T L E
S U S I E
Team 7 had received an A ranked mission two days ago that had them traveling to the River Country. They were assigned to find and capture— or assassinate if needed— a missing nin by the name of "Kira" from the Fire Nation.
They've been traveling since yesterday morning and, with any hope, they would make it to their destination by tonight... or early tomorrow morning if they had to stop to bury a certain female ninja.
"I'm sure that the heart I left behind still lies hidden in the heart of the deep, deep forest. Exhausted without the strength to search— people vanish into the infinite darkness. If it's so small, I wonder if I can see it even now? As we live on, we lose a little bit more. Shrouded in falsehoods and lies, we stand frozen to the spot, unable to cry out-" (1)
"Gosh, Sakura, I like your singing as much as the next guy but to you think you could stop for a second... or an hour?" asked Naruto, hiding behind his other teammate in cause Sakura took his words as an insult and decided to use him as a punching bag. Sakura huffed, but did what was asked of her. Naruto, a hundred percent sure she would not hit him, emerged from behind Sasuke.
Sakura, hands on her hips, turned to her friends, not surprised that Naruto was the only one to cower away from her intense stare. "Oh Naruto...," she began in a tone that sounded like she was about to cry, "I thought you liked that song as much as I do. I thought we had something in common for once." To add on to her act, she sniffled a little, turning her back to her team as her shoulders quivered with fake tears.
"I do like the song," Naruto said, hesitantly, "but you've been singing it since noon." He looked towards the others for help.
"That's because she thinks it's the awesomest song since, 'Simple and Clean'," stated Kakashi, his face hidden behind his infamous orange book.
"It is!" defended Sakura, waving her arms about as if to prove her point.
"It was," corrected Sasuke, not wanting to be left out of this discussion. "But with you keep singing it like you've been doing, it loses its coolness."
Their neon pink haired friend stood there, gasping at her teammates. They easily ignored her and continued walking ahead. Some moments later it sunk in that they were not going to wait for her, therefore Sakura had to run to catch up or else be stranded in the woods with no food or shelter. "H-Hey! Wait up! You guys...! Wait for meeee!"
Some hours later, Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto sat quietly around a fire. Kakashi had went ahead to map out the route they would take later. The others were to come up with some sort of plan to capture the missing nin.
So far they've came up with nothing.
"Okay, I've came up with something!" announced Naruto. Sasuke and Sakura gave him their full attention. "We'll go to their hideout and... spring a surprise attack! They'll never know what hit 'em!"
The other two sat there, staring at their friend in awe. Some seconds went by before Sakura dared speak. "Naruto... that has to be the STUPIDEST plan I've ever heard!"
"But it just might work," came a fourth voice, causing the teens to get into their fighting stances. They let out a breath, seeing their sensei emerge from the darkness. "With the element of surprise on our side," continued Kakashi, joining his students around the fire, "it might work. We can take out his guards using only a poison fog jutsu. Then we'll take Kira by surprise in his domain and force him to come with us."
"Ha! I told you it was a good idea!" cheered Naruto after Kakashi was done explaining.
"Kakashi just makes it sound way better," said Sasuke, Sakura agreeing. Their sensei smiled as Naruto complained. "So when do we put our plans into action?"
The silver hair man hummed, tapping his index finger against his chin, thinking. "We'll eat then take a nap to rejuvenate ourselves. Afterward we go after Kira. Understood?" Nods followed his question.
With the future of their mission planned out, Team 7 did just as Kakashi said and ate the fish they'd caught earlier before taking an hour long nap.
When it was finally time to set off for Kira's hideout, the sun had set yet the moon refused to light up their path. Team 7 stood in the extra dark shadows that the trees provided, not a yard away from the abandon warehouse they would be attacking. They were spread out, each ninja on opposite sides of the building. Kakashi would go through the front door. Sasuke would enter from the west, Sakura took the east, and Naruto was left with the backdoor. They wore their headsets, every now and then checking in with their teammates to make sure everyone was okay.
A half hour later and still no one had managed to enter the building. Security was tighter at night than during the day.
Another half hour passed before they each managed to break in, only drawing a little attention that was instantly taken care of. Kakashi and Sakura, being the smarter half of the group, transformed into one of the ninjas they'd taken out just to be on the safe side. Whereas Sasuke and Naruto placed the ninjas they'd taken out in closets or in darker areas of a large room— they knew that if another guard was to see them, they would warn the others.
Everything was going good until Sakura tripped on an uneven platform, the floor suddenly giving way when she managed to get back on her feet. Her landing was anything but pleasant; she's landed on and broken her headset. But fortunately— or unfortunately depending on how you look at it— Kira stood on the other side of the room, decked out in some of the latest ninja gear around. And his weapons looked pretty deadly too. It was clear to see he had expected them and was ready for a fight.
Sakura reached for her weapon pouch...
...only to discover that it wasn't there. It must have fallen off somewhere between when she entered the warehouse and her fall through the trap door. Well, it wasn't TOO big of a deal— her ginjutsu and ninjutsu should be more then enough for this guy.
...right?
Wrong.
Not to long into the fight, Sakura had only managed to land two, maybe three hits on Kira, whereas she'd been hit more times then she cared to admit.
A kick to the stomach had Sakura spitting up blood. She was then carelessly tossed across the room, crashing into a wall. She slid down the wall, blood now painting the gray stones. A snapping sound reached her ears. Her gaze shot up just in time to see a glass chandelier falling down towards her. She tried to move but discovered that one of her legs was broken. The only thing she could do was brace herself for the oncoming impact.
Kakashi heard what sounded like glass shattering. Sasuke heard the sound of bones braking. Naruto heard Sakura's scream.
And they each heard the sound of fear gripping their hearts.
Something bad was happening and if they didn't do something fast then...
Somebody killed little Susie
The girl with the tune
Who sings in the daytime at noon
She was there screaming
Beating her voice in her doom
But nobody came to her soon...
Sakura moaned as she sat up, a hand rubbing at her soar head. She hissed as a sharp pain almost caused her to fall back. She felt at the bones just below her right breast: two of her ribs were broken.
Once she'd manage to bear with the pain, the young kunoichi got to one knee, in a crouching position, and then she got back to her feet, forgetting that she had a broken leg which sent her toppling back down to the ground. She tried to stand again, this time being more considerate of her sore body. This process took over ten minutes. If she stood a certain way the pain would double causing her to either collapse or return to her previous position. It was both time consuming and annoying.
When she managed to make it onto her feet without falling or swaying, she took in her surroundings. She was in a small, stone, square room. In one corner sat a metal experiment-looking bed with no sheets or pillows. If it made any difference, Sakura would much rather sleep on the floor.
However, she did not plan to be here too long.
She began to stumble around the room, looking for anything she could use to escape. Other then the bed, there was nothing else in the room— not even a door. She figured it was some type of illusion jutsu blocking her view of what was really in the room; when she tried to release it, though, she discovered that no jutsu, spell, or anything else had been place on the room. There was just no hope of escaping.
Another half hour of pointless searching went by; reviling that Sakura just might be spending the night— or nights— in this room.
A groan of exhaustion slipped from Sakura's lips as she slide down a wall. Her body was killing her! Not only did she have two broken ribs and a broken leg but there was a medium size gash on her head, right above her left eyebrow, she could not open her left eye, and her body was covered in cuts that varied in size, shape, and angle.
Taking deep, painful breaths, Sakura thought over the current situation she'd managed to put herself in. She was trapped in a room in God knows where with no air ventilation. With the size of the room and the amount of oxygen she's used up, Sakura figured that she'd be dead within the next two hours from lack of air.
-Beep! Beep! Beep!-
Sakura sat up straight, frighten. It took her a moment but she soon realized that it was her watch responsible for the sudden noise. She had forgotten to turn off the alarm. The fact that it still worked after earlier's battle surprised her.
Pushing a few buttons she sighed when the beeping stopped. She let her wrist fall limply down to the ground, hoping to continue her thinking undisturbed. This did not happen, however. With the way her wrist landed, one of the buttons on the watch was pushed down, setting off a thin laser that could cut into any surface. She watched the laser form an inch long thin line into the stone floor before turning it off.
An idea came to mind as she watched a thin cloud if smoke rise from the ground. She got onto her knees, turning to stare at the wall which she was currently leaning against. She lifted her wrist to the wall, let her thumb tap against the button to activate the laser, and watched the thin red beam burn into the stone.
In seconds, she'd engraved an explosive tag in the wall. She added a little chakra to make it work and, before she knew it, a hole large enough for her to crawl through had appeared.
Minutes that felt like hours went by as Sakura navigated her way through the dark walls, still on her knees. She did not have the energy to try to get back onto her feet just yet.
Turning a corner, Sakura's lungs decided to stop processing oxygen. For before her stood Kira, a murderous grin on his pale lips and a long jagged edge sword in his left hand.
He rose the sword high above his head, bringing it down with enough force to go through Sakura and the floor. Luckily for the female ninja, she'd managed to move out of the way just in time, though her dress wasn't as fortunate. Sakura tugged, furiously, at the piece of her outfit that had managed to get stuck under Kira's sword.
One super hard tug sent her flying backwards... and tumbling down a three flights of stairs.
When her flight was over, Sakura lay there, eye wide open, pink hair tainted red, paler than usual, and unmoving.
A fall down the stairs
Her dress torn
Oh the blood in her hair...
A mystery so sullen in air
She lie there so tenderly
Fashioned so slenderly
Lift her with care,
Oh the blood in her hair...
Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto nearly collided with each other in their rush to get away from the enemy.
"This way," their sensei ordered, pointing down a fourth hall. Without another thought, the three were running down the dimly lite hall. Footsteps followed closely behind them.
Kakashi leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. He peeked around the corner to see if they were still being followed. Thankfully he could not see nor sense anyone within a couple yards. Breathing a sigh of relief, he stood up straight, turning to his remaining students. A serious look was apparent in his eyes. "Sasuke, Naruto,"
"Yes, Sensei?" they replied together.
"I want you two to go back to Konoha and bring backup along with some medical nins."
"But we have to find Sakura!" protested Naruto.
"Naruto's right," agreed the Uchiha. "Who knows what they could have done to her by now. We can't leave until we find her. She is our teammate after all."
"I know. Leave that to me. Now go. The faster you make it back the better chances we have of finding Sakura and bringing Kira to his knees." The younger two nodded to their teacher, teleporting out of the warehouse in a poof of smoke.
Sasuke groaned as he felt an extra body land on top of him. "Gah! Naruto get OFF of me!"
"Sorry Sasuke; I'm still not use to teleporting," explained the blonde, helping his teammate up. They were a couple miles away from Kira's hideout.
"Whatever. Let's go."
"Right."
They made it back to Konoha will within three, almost four hours. They reported to the Hokage immediately. Tsunade rounded up every ninja that was currently not away on a mission to help Team 7. In less than an hour, Naruto and Sasuke were leading the others back to Kira's place. Lady Tsunade had managed to gather the entire Rookie 9, Team Guy, and Shizune had offered to come along.
They made it back to the warehouse in half the amount of time it took them to reach Konoha. Instead of sneaking in like they did the first time, the group went all out: attacking ninjas head on, breaking down walls, setting off explosives, yelling out orders to their fellow teammates— basically tossing out all their skills that made them ninjas. Kira already knew that they were there so why try to hide now?
Kiba used his Piercing Fang justu to make a pathway through about five rooms. He would have continued if Neji had not pointed out that a hole— looking to have been made by some kind of exploding tag— had already been made in one wall.
The group of thirteen cautiously made their way into the hole. Hinata spotted a small trail of blood with her Byakugan before either Kiba or Akamaru could smell it. The droplets of blood lead them to a staircase where the trail stopped at the large puddle of dried blood.
Confused by the sudden lack clues, the Konoha ninjas took in their surroundings. Other then the hallway they'd just came from, the only other way to go was either up or down the stone steps. This would mark the spot where they would have to split up. However, it seems that fait would want them to stick together as gravity defying silver hair drew their attention three floors down.
"Kakashi!"
The ninjas did not bother to take the stairs, instead choosing to jump over the railing to the floor the Copy Ninja was on.
When each one landed, their eyes immediately focused on what had Kakashi's full attention.
There lay Sakura, her head turned towards them, eyes wide to stare at her friends, mouth open to let out a scream that never came, some skin had been completely torn from the right side of her face. There was a single line under each of her eyes where tears had once fell, now dried up.
Shizune stepped forward towards Kakashi, worry evident in her face. "Is she...?"
Team 7's sensei turned to them, his head lowered as he answered, "...I'm afraid so."
Suddenly, Ino let out a hurt shout before fainting into the arms of a pale Hinata, who, more quietly, mimicked the blonde's actions.
Everyone came to see
The girl that now is dead
So blind stare the eyes in her head...
And suddenly a voice from the crowd said
This girl lived in vain
Her face bear such agony, such strain...
The instant Kakashi delivered the news; both of the deceased girl's teammates were at her side. Naruto and Sasuke kneeled on opposite sides of the pink haired girl, each holding one of her icy cold hands in both their own as tears of pain, lose, and sorrow fell from their eyes.
The others stood back; knowing now was not the time to interfere.
Kakashi, Guy, and Shizune huddled together further away from the students, discussing what should be their next choice of action. Kakashi wanted to find Kira— or whoever was responsible for his student's death— and beat the bastard to the ends of the universe and back. The other two adults, though such violence was usually not something they liked to take part in, agreed with the man's plans.
Without a word to the remaining grieving Team 7, the rest of the Rookie 9, Kakashi, Team Guy, and Shizune went off in search of Kira. They did not worry about the two teens left behind, Sasuke and Naruto could take care of themselves.
"Should... should we move her?" Naruto asked, his red eyes meeting Sasuke's equally puffy ones. The Uchiha did not answer immediately, he only continued stared down at their fallen friend. "...Sasuke...?"
"...Yeah. We'll carry her back to Konoha and—" his voice began to crack "—w-we'll bury her there."
Almost in silent agreement, before lifting Sakura, they each reached forward to close her beautiful green eyes and run their fingers through her blood soaked hair for the last time.
Some hallways away, the others decided to split up into three groups for a better chance of catching Kira. Guy took his team to the lower two levels of the warehouse. Shizune, Kiba, Hinata, and Shino searched the third and fourth floors. That left Kakashi with Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru who had the fifth floor all to themselves.
They searched for what felt like hours, leaving no stone unturned for several miles around the warehouse. They would not give up until they had to.
At last in the late afternoon the next day, Guy came up to friend/rival and said, "He's not here, Kakashi."
"And Sasuke and Naruto have already taken off... with Sakura's body." reported Shizune. "The only thing we can do now is head back to Konoha and ask Lady Tsunade to sent out the ANBUs to track Kira down."
"Preparations must also be made for Sakura's funeral."
Kakashi's head lowered at Guy's statement. "Right. ...let's go."
But only the man from next door
Knew Little Susie and how he cried
As he reached down
To close Susie's eyes...
She lie there so tenderly
Fashioned so slenderly
Lift her with care
Oh the blood in her hair...
Everyone in Konoha came to see the girl that now is dead. True, in their line of duty, many ninjas perish but never one so young. Konoha, as foolish as it sounds, believed that the young ninjas of this generation were untouchable— look at everything they've managed to deal with: the Chunin Exams, Orochimaru, Akatsuki, finding the fifth Hokage, getting Sasuke back, the Kyuubi, and so much more! But now... with Sakura's death thrown right in their faces, realization sunk in that even the youngest of lives are not spareable.
Only family and close friends were allowed inside.
They all entered the chapel– and what was left of Team 7 froze at the doorway, their eyes blurring in an instant. The entire building was dimly lite, but they could still see the altar, the pictures, candles, and flowers placed on it.
"I… I can't", Naruto all but choked out– to whom, he didn't know. "I can't do this." He turned, prepared to march back out into the sun's dying rays.
A shiver worked its way through him when a cool yet strong hand grabbed his. Blinking down at the hand, recognizing that it belonged to Sasuke. A small smile began to form on his lips; suddenly he didn't feel as alone anymore. Giving the raven's hand a grateful squeeze, the two began to walk down the alley side by side.
No more then ten minutes later the ceremony started. People went up to share some of their fondest memories that they had with Sakura, others pointed out what made Sakura one of a kind, and the rest remained in their seats either grieving or not comfortable enough to go up and talk. A little girl— Sakura's only known relative still alive— sung "Every Heart" by BoA; it was one of Sakura's favorites songs.
Everything seemed to be going so good so far— no one had broken down in a fit of tears. In fact, they seemed to be enjoying themselves (well as much as you can enjoy yourself at a funeral without seeming like a jerk).
And then... the casket closed.
It was all for God's sake
For her singing the tune
For someone to feel her despair
To be damned to know hoping is dead and you're doomed
Then to scream out
And nobody's there...
She knew no one cared...
Father left home, poor mother died
Leaving Susie alone
Grandfather's soul too had flown...
No one to care
Just to love her
How much can one bear
Rejecting the needs in her prayers...
Neglection can kill
Like a knife in your soul
Oh it will
Little Susie fought so hard to live...
She lie there so tenderly
Fashioned so slenderly
Lift her with care
So young and so fair
Two years later, Sasuke, Naruto, and their daughter, Rikku, stood in front of a gravestone surrounded by freshly planted red azalea flowers.
Seven year old Rikku stood in front of her two fathers, her pinkish-blonde hair pulled back in a low ponytail with two bangs hanging down the side of her face like her raven haired father's. She had Sasuke's pale skin and attitude, Naruto's curious bright blue eyes and smile, and Sakura's strength and quick wits.
Rikku was a beautiful girl, just like her deceased mother.
"Dad? Daddy? What happen to Mum's killer?" Rikku asked, taking her attention away from Sakura's grave to stare at her dads. They both shifted their gaze to look anywhere but at their daughter.
"...He was never found," answered Naruto. Sasuke gave his hand a gentle squeeze for support.
"Oh... Is he still alive?"
This time her other dad answered, "His body has not been found so we believe so."
She nodded to herself, making a decision. She moved from her spot in front her dads to kneel next to her mom's headstone. She let her delicate fingers trace along the marble sakura tree sculpture, a single tear falling from her blue eyes. In a voice a little above a whisper she threaten, "You'll pay for this, Kira, I swear. I'll make you pay for this."
(1) Deep Forest, the second ending theme song in the anime InuYasha (I forgot who sings it)
I'm kinda upset because this one-shot didn't turn out nearly as sad as I wanted it to be. And please don't hate me for killing Sakura.