Metamorphosis

Written and typed by LittleMissBoredNAiry


Chapter Two

Dawn's Break


It was raining. It hardly ever rained in the village.

'Ironic that it would rain today of all days.' Sakura thought. Gently placing her pure white chrysanthemum on top of a bed of similar flowers with a respective bow, she stepped back slowly to examine the casket before her. The picture of Kakashi mounted on what would be the foot of the casket was picked by Sakura herself. It was the only one she felt actually hinted of some of Kakashi's well hidden personality. Smiling brilliantly at the camera was a cheeky looking blond and Kakashi's secretive little smile, only looking a little livelier than usual.

Sakura lowered her gaze. Kakashi's framed picture began to blur as the rain poured on steadily. The sky was darkening to a battleship gray. As she turned back around to return to her respective place in line with the rest of the shinobi attending the funeral, Sakura scrutinized the morose expressions plastered solemnly on each and every face in front of her. They were all standing, in painfully organized lines of twenty-five, watching Sakura as she slowly made her way back to her place in between Sai and the Hokage, Tsunade. Her master stepped forward and onto the podium.

"We grieve the ill-fated death of Hatake Kakashi on this day, one week after his official death to the leader of the organization that attacked Konohagakure, Pain. You shall forever be remembered and honored, Kakashi, as a noble and courageous shinobi of this village..."

She left before Tsunade could finish the sentence. Staring blankly at the dark marble epitaph of deceased and honored soldiers, Sakura absentmindedly swept away a lock of hair, soaked and dripping water gradually. His name had already been ceremoniously carved into the precious memorial days before Kakashi's funeral was held. The cold granite felt cleansing against her calloused hand as she lightly traced his name. There was a rough contrast between the sensation of the smooth granite on the outside, slowly weathered and smoothed by the elements and of man's work, and the sharp, coarse feeling of the names embedded onto the sacred cenotaph.

"You aren't going to cry over his death are you, Sakura?"

The rhythmic downpour of rain was the only thing that she could hear. Sai's low, tranquil voice and question registered in her mind, before fading, as if it was never spoken at all. She remembered answering quietly before sinking to her knees.

"I have a feeling this is my funeral too. I can't cry in that case, now can I?"


"Sakura, I need you to gather your team together tonight for a reconnaissance mission."

Her hand paused, inches away from grabbing the doorknob of Tsunade's office door. Glancing back towards the large wooden desk where the Hokage sat in her majestic leather chair, Sakura retracted her hand back to her side and spun around, standing stock still, waiting patiently.

Tsunade sat up straighter in her chair, clasping her hands together and setting them on her desk calmly, and cleared her throat.

"This morning, just hours before you came back from your mission, I received an A-class report stating that a small village on the south eastern border of Sound country was found raided and massacred. All inhabitants of the village were killed and their supplies taken. I have no absolute confirmation that this statement is true. And although I find the ranking of it to be overvalued, the Council Advisors seem dead-set on sending a team of that rank or higher to undertake the recon mission and verify if the report is true. I had the choice of either sending your team or Shikamaru's. But considering how occupied he seems training Kurenai's son, I think I went with the better choice of sending for you."

She pulled out from a locked drawer two sealed scrolls and tossed them at Sakura before resuming her briefing. "One of those scrolls- the one sealed with Konoha's symbol- contains basic information about the village you will be traveling to and the other will have instructions on what you should be on the lookout for when you arrive. I trust you can figure out the rest?"

"Yes, of course." Sakura nodded quickly as she stowed the scrolls into her back pouch. "Will you want me to brief the Captain and Natsuya of the mission or would you like to do it, Lady Tsunade?"

She shook her head with a small smile. "You can brief them after we're done here. Miyuki was already informed of the report and mission details this morning; she was the one that received it before I did anyway. Prepare to leave tonight at dusk. The mission is recon so you have a three month deadline, but I doubt it will take you that long to gather that information. Two weeks, at the most. I won't be surprised if you finished it earlier than that. Hopefully, you'll be back before Naruto comes back from his training.

"And in regards to Naruto, are you sure you want me to be the one to inform him of what happened recently?" Tsunade quirked an eyebrow at her old student.

"It would just hurt him even more if it came from me. He'll somehow change the situation in his mind and make it seem like his fault," Sakura murmured. "I don't want that to happen so it would be best if you were the one to notify him. Besides, there is no guarantee that we'll make it back in time from the mission to meet Naruto." She shrugged stiffly. "Judging by the vague details of this mission, it could take much more than two weeks. You'd have a better chance of Naruto coming back while dragging Sasuke's cold, unconscious body behind him."

Tsunade waved her hand irritatedly at Sakura. "Fine. I'll notify Naruto when he comes back. If he breaks something, it's coming out of your paycheck. Briefing adjourned. You are dismissed."


"Funny, I distinctly remember you saying it was a recon assignment, Sakura. Not a forensics' worst nightmare."

"Close your mouth before insects find it suitable for nests, Natsuya."

The team had found it suspiciously odd, as the dry, constricting scent of smoke began wafting around them as they closed in on their assigned coordinates. They soon discovered that the origin of the smoke was the result of what they were assigned to scrutinize as a precaution.

Sakura noted as they stood motionlessly before the remains of what was probably the village entrance that the corpses that littered the black ashen ground were sprawled in haphazard piles. The village attackers weren't particularly cautious with who they decided to kill – they simply combed through each house, claiming whatever riches they could find, before proceeding to kill the house's occupants and haul their bodies out of the house to burn the building down the best they could.

It wasn't absolute carelessness that they seemed to sign – it was mere cruelty and disinterest.

After scanning the rest of what she could see from her vantage point, Sakura turned her attention to the woman standing slightly behind her. The calculating gaze and the expression on Fuyuno Miyuki, Sakura's captain, assured her that she was just as unaffected as the rest of the team.

Sakura knew her captain well; they both were put under Tsunade and Kurenai's tutelage and had spent plenty of time together for them to become close friends. But the thing that had cemented their friendship was surfacing – the impulsive instincts they both shared that made them known as the most respected medics in Konohagakure.

"Search for survivors."

And it was exactly what they did, for hours on end before the sun that had just risen as they arrived at the village slid soundlessly beneath the horizon and the luminous moon took its place.


"This village has been searched more thoroughly than a strip search in the Interrogation Building. It's two in the morning. Can you two take a break or something? The dead bodies aren't going anywhere," Natsuya grumped as she plopped down on a sparse chunk of wood.

"The ten minutes taken for a break could be the amount of time a person buried alive in a house has to live. We are the only people here capable of helping any potential survivors; therefore, we have a duty to those people to help them," Miyuki responded quietly, her attention still riveted to her search. "If you absolutely insist on taking a break, at least make it useful and do a sound check to see if you can feel any life in the area."

"Tch. Fine, I'll go to the town square and do a vibration there. I'll let you know if I get anything," Natsuya stood up, grumbling, and sped towards the center of the scorched village.

Turning back to her current fruitless search, Miyuki sighed before preparing to head to another unchecked house.

"Miyuki, I found something you might want to look at."

Her slightly slouched shoulders straightened – Sakura stood outside the doorway of the house Miyuki was inside of, panting and her expression grave.


This chapter is tad short - my muse has exhausted itself for the day. I apologize for taking such a horrendous time to update. I tend to do that... more often than I should.

But thank you to those who mustered up enough patience not to... do something bad to me. And thank you SO much to those who reviewed, you made my day! You all gave my story much more appreciation than I think it actually deserved. I'm a bit a new to Fanfiction. I really hope I can do your enthusiasm justice.

I just wanted to inform my incredibly AMAZING readers that my updates will be... erratic, for lack of a better word. Please, please don't angry at me for my horrible habit. I'm currently trying to kill it. Thank you guys so much for being so supportive and I really hope I can be worth it for you guys. Thanks again!

Oh, P.S.

Um. I absolutely CANNOT think of a decent title for my story. Does anyone have suggestions? I wanted it to deal with Sakura's new life and demeanor. As if she got where she is on her own. I know I'm being painfully vague but... help? Please?