Chapter 4: Before you get hurt
After Sakura had thrown the dagger, the tiny cottage became very silent. Father and daughter had left each others embrace, and within the next ten minutes, both ready, found themselves at the front door.
Kenta Haruno decided to break the ice with his daughter, " Today, our mission is to retrieve royal currency. It is a high-class target. Be on your guard, Sakura. We are intercepting a cart filled with gold, you understand? "
Sakura, putting her hair into her hat, making her look like a boy, nodded (Her father makes her look like a boy, so she isn't discovered, and people knows he has a daughter).
"Good. You're going to need restraint and control as well. This delivery is going to Danzo."
Sakura froze, tilting her hat down, "Danzo's…and we know he's not with the cart, right father? "
Kenta grew nervous because he's never seen his daughter like this until today. Though, he hadn't expected her to be happy now knowing the news.
"He's at his estate, currently, awaiting the package. Only a few Royal Guards escort the gold from the palace to the estate, " he informed.
"Good. Then let's highjack the cart," Sakura went off.
"Sakura…" her father impatiently said.
"…and pretend to be…" She continued.
"Sakura. No."
"But, father…" she tried to argue.
"No," he looked down at her serious. "We have no chance against Danzo, even with a surprise attack. We have no chance against him, or any of those who helped kill your mother, " he growled, feeling powerless. "That one lord and the Uchihas cannot be trifled with. I can't lose you too. A man should always protect, and die for and before his lady. I lacked in my responsibility as a father and a husband. I will not fail a second time." Kenta opened the door to the cottage, and released the genjutsu and seals surrounding the home.
Sakura held her anger and distress that she now held toward her father. She shut the door, and caught up with her father.
Kenta allowed the genjutsu and seal to be set up once again. The father daughter duo had hit a short stop, straight down. Kenta did understand his daughter's hate, and anger, he used to have it. Hell he still has it, but he knows it probably isn't the smartest choose to act upon it. He had to a model of strength and wisdom for his daughter. I'll talk to her later, and try to say I'm sorry. Right now, she just needs to let off steam on this mission, Kenta thought.
The young cherry blossom never felt so much anger and confusion in her mind then she did now, jumping from tree to tree behind her father. She knows and understands everything her father said, but how was her father so stupid or how was she so stupid to think her mother died peacefully with her father's position as a criminal to the kingdom? She wanted nothing more than to visit her mother's grave and talk with her like she used to when she was four, before her father had begun to train her to accompany him on his "missions." Sometimes she just wanted her father to be an average father that didn't cause her to hide herself from the world. She never became close to anyone except her father; she was a sheltered girl except it wasn't violence she has been separated from it was from possible friends and her enemies (practically the whole world). Let's get this "mission" over with, Sakura thought.
An hour of traveling west to the main side route to the Danzo's estate…
"Stop. Now," Kenta stated looking back at his daughter, who is disguised as a boy and is wearing a pink hat. He can't help but chuckle a little, " I never can get over how contradicting your disguise looks. You look like a boy who got stuck with a hat his mother made for him, to whom was hoping for a girl." She got pissed even more. He stopped himself from going any further, hearing hooves in the distance. He quickly and gently moved a tree branch in front of him and started to see the outline of a carriage. Odd, he thought, it was supposed to be a cart. Maybe my informant was wrong. The two Harunos looked at each other distinctively.
"From the back?" Sakura asked grabbing her bow.
"Yes, from the back. On my signal, you show your skill and I'll show mine. Maybe you'll finally match up to me, blossom." He kisses his daughter large forehead that she was hiding in the hat. Sakura pulled it back down and frowned at her father.
The carriage came to the front of the tree they were hiding in, and was just beginning to pass. Kenta looked forward with smoke bombs in hand and gave Sakura the signal. The two quickly came out of the trees and Kenta threw the bombs to the ground.
Sakura shot her first arrow and it hit a man squarely in the stomach. "Bulls eye," she smiled and then took her kunai and threw them at countering Royal guards. They threw their kunai that overpowered hers, sending them straight toward her and then she preformed a substitution jutsu. The log replacing her fell to the ground, and caused a little panic within the group. Kenta took advantage of this and preformed a genjustu on them, easily confusing their senses.
Odder, Kenta thought, they are just as powerful as genin ninjas. I was expecting chunnin or a few jounin. Something must be off here. This isn't right. Kenta stood on the road still disorienting his prey, and puzzling over this very peculiar set up.
The pinkette helped her father by drawing her dual swords and running them through the group. The group fell to their knees quickly, blood gushing from their new wounds. She looked back from her new position smirking at her win. All the guards were defeated.
"Ha, beat that! I think you should watch my skill a little more, or I may catch up to yours and take you place as head Haruno of the woods," Sakura smiled, wiping her blades against the trees. She now began to walk over to her stilled puzzling father, "Where's the gold…"
A loud eruption can from the carriage as it tore itself apart from the top and a figure came out and ran toward her. Instinctively, she would have brought her swords out, but this person was too fast and her was caught in a hold. Sakura held her place now forced to hold her own swords to her own neck. She gasped for air and struggled against her capturer.
Kenta yelled to her daughter when he had turned to face his daughter moments earlier as he saw the thunderous destruction of the carriage. He eyes met with his daughter's capturer's eyes. They were red menacing eyes filled with three black specks. His face froze and his hands went to his back and he pulled his bow at him. "Itachi Uchiha," Kenta growled.
The men with the menacing eyes kept emotionless and looked back at Kenta's emerald eyes. Before Itachi could even respond or react to the unkind look, the carriage door came off its hinges. Kenta scanned back to the direction of the black carriage; he met with another set of red eyes. Kenta's hatred spiked even more in his voice, " Fugaku Uchiha."
Another man even older than the first emerged from the carriage. He gracefully came to face the scene and Kenta. "Kenta Haruno, I haven't seen you since I gave away your estate and position to Danzo. And I haven't heard many things of you since the death of your wife."
While Sakura's hands kept busy with her struggle, her eyes followed to the new man at the carriage. She felt her father's emotions; they were like hers, a furious anger that stemmed from depression. This man, this monster and fake king, was attacking her father's emotions and mentality. Sakura couldn't handle her father's distress any longer; she had to change this situation, now. "Hey father!" Sakura yelled out. "Did I hear something? I think it sounded like a pig or a boar!" Sakura's face felt a smirk coming on, but she stopped when the swords started to draw blood from her neck.
The man's neck snapped to her direction with a stare that caused her to stare back with a despaired outlook on the situation. He paid more attention to her and came off his previous subject. "Kenta's spawn, I presume. I thought he had one, but I wasn't so sure."
Sakura's eyes continued to stare at him.
"You have his eyes, but not a thing from your mother, do you?" Fugaku said striking a nerve he knew he could get to.
Sakura's feet struggled back to her holder, " YOU DARE SPEAK OF MY MOTHER AGAIN AND I WILL KILL YOU WITH MY ARROW! I SWEAR TO GOD NOT ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR HEIRS WILL DARE GET CLOSE TO THE THRONE!" Her screaming echoed through the whole forest.
Fugaku pretend he never heard her scream and continued with his business. So he returned to Kenta's attention, "Nice son you have. I'm guessing he prefers to be called a woman rather than a man. Wearing pink and being named "Sakura"…your wife must have messed up your son or maybe you… "
A puff of smoke ended his sentence as the subject of his speech disappeared into a substitution jutsu. This caught him in a shock and he looked disappointed at his eldest son. His son only left him a hint of surprise.
"DID I NOT MAKE IT CLEAR THAT YOU WILL NEVER TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER AGAIN!" Sakura reappeared from behind the carriage and came up behind the King with her bow for the final kill. Itachi seeing her ran up to face her and initially kill her head on before she could fire. But before anything further happened, Kenta intervened between the two and held his Cherry Blossom tight to him to protect her. Sakura looked up at him and fought against him until he groaned in defeat. Itachi had just stabbed him in the back.
Kenta and Sakura's bodies fell to the ground. Hurried, Sakura went to help her father and in the process knocked off her hat sending her long, pink hair to cascade to her shoulders.
It sent only a small ripple effect to the two Uchiha men.
"Daddy," Sakura cried rushing her hands to the bleeding. "Father, don't die. You can't, you can't, you can't, and I won't let you, dear Kami." She ripped off the bottom of her shirt and pressed it into the bleeding.
"Cherry Blossom…go now. Leave please. Leave me. You haven't yet bloomed my dearest. You must not die now with me. You are too bright. " Kenta gasped with his last breathes pleading with her.
Sakura shook her head wildly and brushed her face to his. " No, not without you. I'm sorry I couldn't be the perfect daughter for you. I couldn't hold my anger and I didn't listen to you. You were the best father I would have wanted and I want to go with you to see mom."
Kenta cried with his daughter, "No, my silly flower. You will stay here and live a long life. Now run my darling. A man must always die before his women even get hurt." And before Kenta could finish his last breathe, he kissed his daughter's large forehead with his last affection.