Chapter 3: Theatrics
Notes: Sakura is sober and she wants Konoha to love her again.
In a dream Sakura was skipping in the streets with a basket of flower petals and plants. She dreamt she was in a white cotton dress with her hair short, the the tips of her hair tickling her shoulder blades lightly.
"Choji will get better." She said placing her hand on Ino. "Sasuke is returning." She told Naruto. "Your brother always loved you." Sakura told Sai, and she skipped through the village and sprinkled flower petals across the village in her white cotton dress. The sky was bright blue, and there wasn't a cloud of doubt in sight. In her dream, she could hear the true laughter of children and happy people, and it sounded like tinkling fairies in her ears.
"You're dreaming again."
Sakura didn't even have to look up to her intruder to know who it was. She already knew what she would look like; her brown hair into one bun, with dark eyes and pale skin. Sakura moaned and pulled the sheets out from underneath her.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
TenTen gave a cold laugh. "You don't remember what day it is today?" She said.
No, Sakura said, and she brushed past her brown haired friend. "Please enlighten me about it."
"We're visiting Lee and Kiba today remember?" She replied. "Let's get some flowers for them."
"They hate flowers." Sakura replied, pulling on a shirt.
TenTen argued that it was curtsy to give flowers, but that was not what Sakrura thought. Flowers died quick and stayed little, and she hated it's temporary beauty.
When they arrived TenTen was the first to speak. Sakura listened to her constant blabbering that sounded like the look of the congo river. Kiba and Lee were always the talkative kind, but within TenTen's presence, the two shut up. It wasn't like they could hear her anyway—they were out cold.
"—Oh and Karin that stupid bitch learned how to smoke, can you believe it guys?"
Sakura laughed inwardly at TenTen's stupid rants. Her team was torn apart, Ino's team was struggling to stay together, and TenTen's team was not even a team at all.
"Let's just go TenTen." She said interrupting her.
TenTen looked into Sakura's dull green eyes and bit her lip. Her empty stare cut like a knife through lettuce.
"—Do you think it's going to stay like this forever?" She asked, and Sakura really didn't have a clue. She really didn't fucking know if Konoha could even hold it's ground after a week.
"Probably not." She replied. "It'll probably crumble soon and new villages will form."
"I was hoping for a different answer." She replied sadly, oh and so did Sakura. She was just waiting for TenTen to deny it.
"So was I." She murmured.
Sakura tossed the flowers on the ground where Kiba and Lee laid. She apologized for crushing their dreams of a better village and looked at TenTen.
"Idiots," Sakura whispered, but TenTen shot her a nasty glare.
"They were smart enough to die." She defended. "Your idiots were too stupid for that."
Sakura clenched her fists, and grinded her teeth. No one spoke about her team in that way. But it wasn't her team anymore, and she wasn't really even part of a team to begin with. TenTen was in it for the sake of her team, and that was the stupidest thing she had ever heard.
"I don't remember what my team was like, remember?" Sakura said.
"Right, your memory." She softened, and TenTen had an epiphany—maybe that's why Sakura hated this place. She wouldn't be surprised if she had gotten up and left. No, but TenTen wouldn't dare to abandon her village just yet. It was good to her even if she didn't have a clan name.
"How much do you remember?" She asked, slipping a rose between the stones.
"Bits and pieces. Small parts, but enough to remember who I was." She replied.
"Do you remember Sasuke and—," She paused. "And when he was young?"
Sakura heard his nasty laugh in her ears, and it sounded vile like the deepest creatures were cracking jokes. Sasuke's laughing voice, like a Hyena, was so vile.
"You used to love him so much remember?"
Oh yes, Sakura remembered. If there was one thing she would never forget, it would be Sasuke's betrayal, and Naruto's sun shinning face assuring her he'll bring him back.
No, she lied, and her brown haired companion stayed quiet for the rest of the day.
"I'm sorry Lee, Kiba." Sakura said.
TenTen bowed to their graves for respect and prayed that the upbringing of Konoha would happen very soon.