Chapter 10

"Ashes"

A blanket of snow covered the remains of the great Tanade House.

"Only one who stands on the very edge of memory and sadness," spoke the tall, blonde shinobi in an admiring yet dour tone as she read from the text in her hands, "can see the great, humble walls of the vast building, a dark stone grey in its few columns, and a quiet lighter grey in its walls. Such a person could see the many almost-stoic brothers and sisters and cousins running around the porch and main garden, which at this time of year would be covered in sakura blossoms; mothers and aunts and grandmothers tending the beautiful orchids, lotus, carnations, pansies, and snapdragons of the personal gardens by the narrow windows. They might see the eldest sons and daughters in the training ground of cobblestone and dirt, could see a few select children training in the elaborate inside training areas, because of their unique abilities that set them apart from others and made them much, much stronger by comparison. These were the easier times of the Tanade Clan, before the great and sad disappointment that was the Period of Suspicion.

"Then, one who stood on the very peak of betrayal and feudal spirit might see the youngest sons and daughters put through horrifyingly grueling training and difficult tests and trials for uniqueness; the angry and weary stares of parents and grandparents aimed at one another, aimed at their children, aimed at their best friends, even at their sister clan; pre-teens who have been pushed far, far past their breaking point, their blank, cruel stares passing them off as perfect, emotionless tools at the disposal of the clan and the village. One little girl in particular lived among this family, who had been pushed so far past her limit that she might make plans to rid herself of the memories of mistakes, beatings for her mistakes, and punishment for her beatings. Thus came the night of the Tanade House Fire, which brought the clan to its knees, lungs long-since failed for excess of smoke and lack of oxygen. They might see this one devastated girl running through the forest, punishing herself in every way possible for her greatest mistake.

"One who stood tall on the boundary of imagination and reality would see how deserving this clan was of the Fire, for they had committed many, many horrible crimes for selfish gain. They would see how the clan had volunteered an infant of their own blood to seal away and carry a terrible five-tailed demon, just so that they could use the poor baby as a sick and dangerous threat to any who opposed them. They might see how they had accused each other of planning to destroy the village; how they accused each other of letting loose a monster in a time of depression, loss, and destruction for the village, when they just as easily could have used their angry energy to help rebuild the village; and how two certain members of this clan had treated their child just to make her the ultimate shinobi, to have created the greatest tool of the village.

"But any one man who could gaze upon this almost-endless heap of ashes and destruction and see all of these gruesome images and stories… would not be a man that I would like to meet in my lifetime," the shinobi admitted dryly to her apprentice, closing the book that she had been reading out of. "Jiraiya wrote this, years ago… in a tribute book to Konohagakure. It was different, reading the stories of the village in his style, rather than what he usually wrote."

Her apprentice looked up at her in wonder through her pink tresses. "Did all of that really happen then, shishou? The Fire, and everything? The demon carrier?"

Tsunade nodded sadly. "Yes. And you know who the demon carrier is, Sakura."

Sakura stared in confusion at the book in her sensei's hands for a moment, trying to think of any jinchuuriki that she knew besides Naruto. "…I can't think of anyone. The only jinchuuriki that I know are Naruto and Gaara, and Shukaku was sealed only a few months ago, anyways…"

The fifth Hokage sighed. "Her last name is Tanade."

Sakura thought hard again. "Well, the only survivor of the Fire had to be Chiharu, right? She's the only Tanade left, but… if she were a jinchuuriki, I'm sure she would have told us by now."

Tsunade turned to Sakura. "Chiharu is a demon carrier, Sakura. It's strange… but I suppose she only told Kakashi and Naruto, if you never found out. And I believe that the one incident in which you possibly could have seen the Gobi appear through her, you were knocked out."

Sakura was silent. Chiharu was a jinchuuriki! And after three and a half years of knowing her…. Sakura was, needless to say, shocked.

Tsunade wasn't surprised at her reaction. Instead, she simply turned and looked out at the field of ash and snow, pulling her arms closer to her body. Under any other circumstance, Tsunade would not have been out in this freezing winter weather, but she was training her apprentice in the history of the village's current geography, (something that she probably should have done in the fall,) but if she didn't do it now, it would never get done.

"…I had seen this field a lot when I used to take walks with my family, or with Ino a long time ago, but I never would have imagined…" said Sakura in awe, as she dragged her eyes across the landscape.

"Mhmm. Just think of how the third Hokage felt when he had to deal with the fresh remains so long ago. I can't even empathize."

Sakura nodded.

"Well," said Tsunade suddenly, after a moment of silence. "Let's go. I want to show you the Memorial Stone."

Sakura stared in awe and anger at the entrance to the Akatsuki lair. Chiharu was in there somewhere, possibly having the Gobi - and her life - sucked totally out of her. Sakura almost thought, Well, maybe it would better off without that monster inside of her, but stopped herself dead when she remembered that, unlike Gaara's situation, they didn't have anyone who knew how to perform that forbidden jutsu of Chiyo's; even if they did, nobody could willingly give up their life for her, and nobody was about to let their friend sacrifice themselves.

Our best bet to get her out of there alive is to stop Akatsuki before they have the chance to finish their jutsu, Sakura thought instead, glancing at the blonde ninja beside her. Naruto was fidgeting in his hiding spot beside Sakura with the anticipation. He and Kakashi's ninja hounds had sniffed out the cave within only an hour of leaving their campsite, before Kakashi had Pakkun use his small size to sneak in and scout out the situation.

Kakashi glanced to his left, where his team crouched trying to listen for any movement within the lair. He reminded himself that he would need to thank Pakkun profusely after this was over. Without him, they could have been too late to save Haru. But Pakkun had told the team earlier that she wasn't even in the area where the extraction would take place yet - she was simply sitting in some dark room in the lair, unmoving but awake, but that as Pakkun was sneaking back out, he'd heard another voice in the room followed by footsteps. It was starting soon.

"Okay," whispered Kakashi tensely. "Sakura, you're first."

Said kunoichi sprung from her hiding place and leapt to the entrance. She squatted down and slipped something through a crack behind the boulder, which blocked their path. A few seconds later, a muffled boom sounded and the boulder crumbled. The kunoichi leapt through the entrance, and silence overcame the remaining pair. Sakura was to move quietly inside and determine whether her explosive had been detected – her chakra control made her best suited to determine trouble and get out quicker than her team could.

Kakashi counted out ten seconds in his head, and right at ten, having heard no signs of trouble inside, turned to Naruto. "Alright," he said. "Go, Naruto. Remember to stay with Sakura when you find her."

Naruto nodded quickly and leapt away to the entrance, looking around him for good measure before dashing inside.

Kakashi counted to ten again and then it was time. He leapt inside, despite the sick feeling in his stomach spinning faster and faster at the thought of what he might see once he finally reached Haru.

There were no voices, but he could feel the massive amounts of chakra from deep within the cave even from the entrance.

A/N: Sorry this one is so short, guys! I may post the next chapter later tonight to make up for it. But thank you all so much for reading! Reviews and follows would be much appreciated :)