A New World

Ch. 3-

The Old World pt 2

The months that followed the end of the Chuunin Exam were tough on Sakura. Sasuke had left with the deranged and legendary Sannin Orochimaru and Naruto had tried and failed many times to bring him back. Sakura was, of course, left in Konoha hoping that her two boys would miraculously appear at the village gates together.

Worse was the secret she carried with her throughout that time. She never told anyone, not even Naruto, what had transpired the night Sasuke had left. About how she had followed him and then tried to keep him from leaving. How she had confessed her love to him and his initial rejection.

Despite how close they had gotten he still didn't see her as anything more than the weak girl who trailed after him like some love sick puppy. He called her weak, berated her and belittled her. But the worse part was the way he had looked at her, as if he just wanted someone to hold him close and rock him to sleep. It had taken everything in her to keep her hands to herself.

And then, with nothing more than a few short words of thanks, he was gone and she was left laying on that cold stone bench.

In the three years that followed she trained hard under the tuteledge of Lady Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, and sparred daily with her old Kakashi-sensei. Naruto had gone off to train under Jiraya not too long much after Sasuke's betrayle, determined to become stong enough to save his friend. And Sakura was determined to help him.

She hoped, though, that they weren't destined to follow in the footsteps of their sensei's, being all at odds. Instead she prayed every night that they would be the three to change the ninja world for the better.

Then Naruto was back and it was like nothing between them had changed at all in the years they were separated. They bickered like before but there was a unspoken agreement that they had made to do all they could for their missing comrad.

Team Seven was back in action, with new members, and to Sakura the only way things could have gotten any better was if Sasuke had been with them. Sai and Yamato were okay substitutes, though. Even despite how much she really couldn't stand Sai.

Of course, like usual, just when she thought things were getting better everything took a turn for the worse.

They heard news that Sasuke had killed Orochimaru and had truly gone rogue, determined to find and kill his brother. Sakura, as naive as it sounded, had hoped Sasuke would see sense and return to them. Unfortunately for her, the sense he saw was not what she had had in mind.

Itachi had finally fallen and told him the truth about the Uchiha massacre. Naruto, through some odd twist of fate, had been present to hear most of it. Being the oddball of the bunch, Sakura refused to believe any of it.

How could she? No one wanted to hear that their government, the one they faught for and trusted, had ordered the death of a whole clan. No one wanted to believe the people they had sworn to defend could be so cold blooded.

So she avoided Naruto for the next few months. It wasn't hard, with him constantly on missions and her trying to focus more and more on her work in the hospital. And when they were actually in the village at the same time they split their time with their mutual friends evenly, though it was awkward on those days she awoke to see him sneaking from Hinata's room.

It was on one of these lazy days when the attack began.

Sasuke, along with what was left of the Akatsuki, attacked the village. Everything was thrown into total chaos. Civilians were slaughted in the streets while ninjas of all ranks fought as hard as they could against the skilled band of rogues.

Sakura was ordered to stay back from the heat of the battle and heal any ninja who came looking for aid at the hospital but, being the hardheaded woman she was, she raced into the streets of Konoha, ready to take down any who would stand against her. After healing some ninja she had never met before she spotted her old comrad across the battlefield, fighting against some jonin who's name she also didn't know. But she did know that man had a family who was waiting for him in the reseses of the hospital where they had set up protection for any civilians who could make it there and she also knew that that man stood no chance against her old teammate.

So while he had been distracted she landed a hit to the back of his temple, hoping to knock him out. The hit barely phased him, but it did get his attention away from the man he had been fighting and onto her. They faced off, exchanging no words, and stood like that for what felt like an eternity. He was the first to speak.

"I will make this as painless as possible," he murmured softly before he charged her. The battle lasted for two hours, as men and women fell around them. They had both improved in different ways but it still didn't make them equal. Right before he could finish her off Naruto came, saving the day once again.

For a moment she had resented him, it was that old bitter part of her. The part that had resolved to never be a damsel again, that part that had no place here. But that moment was quick to pass and then the only thing she felt was grateful. Again, she was left to watch them, contemplating her usefulness.

She didn't stay to watch them this time, though. She had other things that she had to do. Things she had to prove. Later she thanked Naruto for giving her the chance to finally prove herself.

And so she left them and made her way through the chaos and to the Hokage tower. With all the confusion she managed to slip in without being detected and proceeded to make her way to the lower levels where they kept all the top secret information

It took her hours to find what she was looking for, the whole time she could hear explosions going off above her. A part of her wanted to quit and rush to the aid of her comrads but she was more than certain that this was the place that she really needed to be. If she couldn't find what she was looking for winning the battle wouldn't matter becuase it would just happen again.

When she found it she was shocked at how ironic it was. Hidden in the information on her own mother was all the proof she needed. Every dirty deed the council had ordered, all written neatly, slid between the pages that talked about her mother.

Saya Haruno was a beautiful woman, a woman who Sakura looked almost nothing like. Saya had green hair and blue eyes, she was tanner and taller than Sakura. Having never seen a picture of her mother, Sakura stared in awe at the picture and took a moment to look over the information on her. She was shocked to find out that the boy her mother had been ordered to kill had been non other than Sasuke Uchiha and her clients had been the council. She felt her hate towards the council build for a moment before she turned to the information she had actually come for.

She folded the picture of her mother and left with what she needed. As quickly as she could she made her way to the very top of the Hokage tower and used the projection technique she had learned from Kakashi years before. Naruto would later tell her that he had thought she was an angel sent destroy them all. Neji would say he had thought she was an angel ment to save them. Sasuke would tell her that she had done both.

"Ten years ago on this day the Uchiha Clan Massacre. Twelve years before on this day the Jensei Clan Massacre. Twenty years before on this day the Haoshi Clan Massacre who held the power to absorb natural energy from their surroundings. The list goes on and on. Each clan became a target after they started to show signs of discontent. Each clan was wiped out by a memeber of their own. And everytime it was ordered by our own Elder Council. Though the members have changed over time, the tatics have not.

On this day the next clan to perish was to be the Shimura Clan who had also begun to feel ostricized by our leaders. And the cycle would have continued until no one was left to oppose our council.

These are not the only crimes of our council, of course. Many people here today have been hurt because of our blindness. We must stop our fighting. We must gather our courage. We must stand together. And we must end this. Here today, if you stand with me drop your weapons. War will not lead us into the profound future we have been dreaming of. War will only lead to more war and more pain," she hardly noticed the tears rolling down her cheeks as she finished her speech. She honestly hadn't meant to go on for so long but once she started she couldn't stop until she had said everything.

She remembered hoping that her words would reach their hearts and staring in awe as every ninja on the battlefield dropped their arms. Blood and bodies littered the streets of her home but she couldn't remember a more beautiful moment.

A great chorus of sobs rose into the air as it began to rain. Sakura opened her arms wide to the crowd before her and sobbed openly too.

She had once read that the world would end with a bang but she knew in that moment that that couldn't have been true. Because the old way ended there, on that day, with not a bang but with a whimper.

I hope you all enjoyed that. It took me a while to get everything down like I wanted. Review please, thanks!