Goodbye My Hopeless Dream
When the afternoon arrived, the Akatsuki arrived. Tobi remained hidden from the group the entire time. But Sakura was the happiest five year old in the world. Kisame had made her the biggest cake she had ever seen. And every present was the most beautiful. But by the time the meal was done, Konan had pulled Itachi aside, and asked him quietly. "Is Konoha a safe place for Sakura? Pein and I were thinking of villages we could take Sakura to..." "That would be the best choice." he whispered.
Hours later, the party was over and Sakura was the happiest little girl in the world. Pein had sent Kisame and Itachi to Konoha for research. When really Itachi was there to find a family that was desperate for a child.
When they reported back days later, Konan and Pein had put everything Sakura was given into boxes. They were making Sakura think they were moving. "Alright little one, we're going to search for homes, why don't you come with us?" Pein asked. Sakura smiled and held his hand to follow wherever he would go. She didn't get to say her goodbyes to anyone, for the Akatsuki were gone and distracted with the civil war movements appearing in the Rain country. The two didn't walk far and were greeted with Konan by the front gate of their home. "Shall we begin?" she stated. Then the three vanished in thin air to arrive outside the border of their village. Pein had lifted Sakura off her feet and around his waist. He held her on his side like that as they walked towards their destination. Konan didn't say a word unless Sakura pointed to an object asking what it is. "That's an Ume tree, they bloom several weeks ahead of the Sakura trees." "I have a tree?" Sakura grinned. The rain had come back from the dark clouds above and they continued onwards into the deeper parts of the rain forest. "Yes, but they don't originate here. The Ume tree was planted there by the villagers. The Sakura tree's aren't around here, but they are the fairest blossoms in the land." Konan chimed.
Sakura was memorized by the beauty they walked through. She had seen tropical snakes here and there hanging from the vines as an illusion to their prey. Even a few deer that were jumpy and frail. It took an entire day to get through the dense forest that the trees started turning into bamboo. Sakura had fallen asleep, and Konan and Pein decided to begin running at a fast pace to avoid hidden shinobi outside the borders of the Rain country.
"Pein..." Konan whispered. "Not now Konan. We have to or she will end up dead or used against us." When they finally arrived at the border of Fire Country, Pein and Konan had to begin using part of their chukra to stay hidden from shinobi. Sakura hadn't woken up till Pein and Konan were 40 miles away from Konoha. "Did we find a house yet?" she grumbled. She was still sleepy and started rubbing her eyes in annoyance. "Go back to sleep my little one." Pein cooed. Konan came up to Sakura and lifted a small jar under the girl's nose. It caused Sakura to suddenly close her eyes and fall back asleep. "I've scouted the area and so far we're in the clear to go further." she reported. Her body started to come back together has pieces of fluttering paper butterflies pulled back into her skin.
"Can..Can I hold her?" Konan whispered. She held her arms out wanting to carry Sakura the rest of the way. "Alright." he breathed and gently lifted Sakura off his hip and shoulder to hand her to Konan. Konan embraced the little girl with so much affection. She held the girl's head with her hand and led it to a comfortable part of her shoulder that Sakura would fall asleep easily to. Then kissed Sakura's hands and cheek to hold the rest of Sakura in a tight embrace as they began to take off into a run. They jumped from branches of the tree's to travel at a faster rate. Konan's tears blurred her vision a few times as she clutched Sakura tighter to her chest. Pein had been running ahead of her in case they were attacked head on, he would protect the two with his life. "Goodbye my hopeless dream...my little Sakura...my little girl..." Konan breathed. Her tears ran down her cheeks and onto Sakura's hair and shoulder's. Her was hurting after each breath that by the time they arrived a mile away from Konoha, Konan could hardly breath and see anything around her.
She clutched Sakura close to her body in tears and began humming a soft lullaby that Sakura had always slept to if she were ever scared of hurt. The hymns of the lullaby were soft and painful that when they reached Pein's ears, he clutched his fists and held back the pain escaping his chest and soul. "Konan..." He could barely speak or feel anything remotely close to a human. He was numb. Konan stepped past Pein and gently set Sakura down against a the softest tree she could find. She placed large leaves and soft pine needles across the ground for Sakura to lay upon as she lifted Sakura again and set her down into a fetal position on the ground.
She looked back at Pein in tears. His reaction was mute, he looked away from her and began looking at the sky and the tree's around them. His fists were shaking against his body as he forced himself to hold back everything. Konan bent down next to Sakura and stroked the little girl's soft pink hair around her little ear. "Shall we begin?" Konan muttered. Pein nodded and gave Konan space to proceed with the genjutsu. Konan placed her fingers delicately together then formed hand symbols as fast as she could. The ground around Konan shook as she concentrating the symbols towards Sakura's head. When she was done she caught up with Pein and clutched his hand as tight as she could. He leaned over towards her and held her face in his other hand. "She will be safe. The past four years will disappear for her. I know it was hard for you to perform such a jutsu on her, but we needed to. She would have been used as a heavy source of information against us." he explained. Konan didn't say a word as the two left little Sakura alone in the woods. "Love...I love you..." Konan breathed into the wind. It had been meant for Sakura as she held back her tears.
Author's Note: the lullaby I had Konan hum, was the lullaby from Pan's Labyrinth. He would see it on the soundtrack to hear it. It's very sad and appropriate for what Konan is going through.
