Something New
Chapter 14: of deaths and new lives
Koomahana
Okay so my schedule has been changed, I'll only be able to update on wendsays from now on
I hope you like this chapter :)
Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site
Thoughts
Paragraphs are memories
…
…
Recap
…
…
"Hmm... perhaps it'd be best to tell him of Sakura-chan's passing..." Hiruzen said thoughtfully. "We don't want unpleasant individuals to think we might have been able to save her..."
"Right... I understand," Mikoto sighed, "Anything else?"
"Yes, your report on the incident, have you written it yet?" Hiruzen asked curiously
"No sir," Mikoto answered
"Hmm, you did find her covered in blood yes?"
"Yes sir," Mikoto answered with a slight frown, "What are you—oh!"
Hiruzen bobbed his head thoughtfully, "Sakura Haruno was found wounded in her father's arms, she was taken to the hospital by you and Itachi-kun... but didn't quite make it in time..."
"I understand sir," Mikoto bobbed her head, "however... since we'll be putting Sakura-chan into hiding... where is she going to reside?"
"I'll figure something out," Hiruzen sighed, "I'm thinking of several people..."
"Sir, who ever is going to take them in... they need to be an accomplished shinobi," Mikoto said worriedly, "Even though she's seven, almost eight, her parents haven't taken her training seriously. Now that she's being placed in protective services, she'll need special training."
"I understand," Hiruzen sighed, "That just cut the possibilities in half..." there wasn't many to begin with... now I only have five, maybe six candidates...
…
…
End Recap
…
…
The morning after the attack
…
…
He glared heatedly at the report sitting in front of him, one brow twitching in the darkness of his office, his teeth grinding together so hard he could feel them threatening to crack in his jaw. He had assigned his men to kill the parents and capture their daughter, but no, they ended up killing the entire damn family! He wanted the girl because she had an S-class seal in the middle of her forehead with no explanation as to its existence. Not only that, but the huge chakra blast that happened the previous year was in sink to the infiltration attack on that hidden village that had taken the jinchūriki. Itachi's report said that the woman should've died seven years ago but the three-tailed jinchūriki (Rin Nohara) had placed her into a giant seal that preserved her life despite the fact that her body was decaying anyways. The seal delayed the inevitable but that didn't mean that the 'woman' was going to stick around, she was do to die and based on Itachi's calculations the woman only had a few weeks left. The report Itachi and his teammate's gave the depiction that the woman had a diamond in the middle of her forehead and emerald green eyes—Sakura Haruno had emerald green eyes and a newly formed diamond on her forehead. Not only that but after Itachi and Tenzo returned from their missions of tracking Rin from Iwa, Hiruzen had called their presence into the hospital to look at Sakura Haruno and her seal. According to one of his men's reports on that, the Uchiha clan heir and the wood user both said that her appearance was frighteningly similar to the woman they had encountered while trying to retrieve the nine-tailed jinchūriki.
He had wanted Sakura Haruno because he believed that she had some kind of connection to that powerful woman who kidnapped and raised the jinchūriki. Not only that but Rin Nohara had been assumed to be dead since she was thirteen years old, only to be found at that hidden village kicking ass and taking names. That woman had raised and taught her, Rin hadn't even needed to use the Sanbi's power on any of the shinobi attacking her; she only brought it out once the Younbi jinchūriki started to lose control. Once that was under control she reverted back into her normal power, suppressing the Sanbi's chakra almost instantly. That kind of woman was strong enough to take out a dozen of his strongest men, freeze an entire Iwa Army in nothing flat and even stopped the Tsuchikage in his tracks.
If that kind of powerful woman had a connection to a little kunochi-to-be in his village, then he'd be a fool not to want that girl in his ranks. He wanted that girl with unknown and possibly limitless power to be completely and unfailing loyal to him and him alone—but his men screwed up. Now there was going to be a funeral service for the little pinkette because one of his men's sword went straight through Kizashi and stabbed Sakura. Not only that, but one of his men used a poison bomb on them too. Kizashi had been able to keep his chakra sealed over his wounds, preventing the poison from getting to far into his body but his only child wasn't nearly as lucky. Apparently, one of his men had placed a paralyzing genjutsu over the girl, forcefully putting her body in a wet noodle state with her chakra unable to move to protect her from the poison that was quick to fill her lungs and tint her wounds.
His men were good... but now they proved to be unable to complete the simple task of kidnapping a defenseless child
Her parents weren't even in the same league as them and yet they still managed to fail the mission!
Damn it all! his teeth creaked under the pressure he forced on them, he slammed the file closed and regarded the completely still three man cell in front of him—the only ones who managed to return out of the dozen men he sent for the mission. The only thing he could see that was in his favor was that his men didn't leave any bodies behind for Hiruzen to examine.
That alone would've gotten him executed for treason
"You're excused," his voice was low and deep, promising the three survivors punishment on a kind of level that they've yet to see.
…
…
He gritted his teeth as he listened to his little brother cry hysterically in his own room, refusing to go to anyone for the pain he was feeling. He just cried and cried and cried some more because that was all he could do, he didn't know what else he could do. He refused to admit just how close he really was to the pinkette who constantly bested him in his academic scoring, of the pinkette who was always standing between him and the horde of fan-girls, of the little girl who was always going to the hospital for one reason or another.
Sasuke simply refused to admit how close he really was to Sakura
He stiffened slightly from where he leaned against the wall beside Sasuke's bedroom door; his brother had stopped crying and was sluggishly moving towards the door. He moved off the wall and turned as if he was walking further down the hall towards his own room, just as he took a step forward Sasuke's door opened and his little brother was staring up at him with red-rimmed— somewhere behind Itachi, he heard his mother gasp and drop something that shattered against the hard wood floors.
"Nii-san" Sasuke whispered, rubbing one hand against his face, "My eyes hurt."
Itachi's face paled drastically at the sight of his little brother's tear stained Sharingan eyes—his mother let out a horrified shout, covering her face with trembling hands
Sasuke Uchiha had just awoken his Sharingan eyes (to the full state no less) at the tender age of seven years old
His little brother had just bested his own Sharingan awakening record
…
…
The next day
…
…
Hiruzen stood aside of the large mass dressed in black, four dozen of his shinobi and five dozen civilians all stood together for the funeral of the little family that seemed to touch everyone's lives. In fact, as he stood observing the huge mass of depressed black, he swore that at least half the village was attending the funeral, as more people were slowly making their way through the gates of the graveyard. Hiruzen stood aside, watching as one by one, civilian and shinobi alike stepped forward and placed white lilies, yellow camellias and red spider lilies before the three graves of the Haruno family. In the front of the line stood a good portion of the civilian academy students, each looking as depressed and sad as the little blond boy standing beside his favorite academy instructor, holding his hand like it was a lifeline. Sasuke stood on Naruto's other side, holding his hand just as tightly as the blond was holding Iruka's, refusing to let out tears despite the fact that his eyes were still rimmed in thick red lines from the crying he had done that morning.
It took time and lots of explaining on his part, but Hiruzen had gotten Naruto to understand the kind of situation Sakura was in. She understood as well, surprisingly accretive of what she'd have to do to stay hidden for her safety, almost as if she had expected the suggestion. She was more concerned about where she was going to stay and if she'd have to change her name, but she didn't mind anything she'd have to do to stay safe, just so long as she could keep her first name—she wasn't going to budge on that one. Naruto had offered to let her move in with him but he was instantly reminded that his apartment had room for only one person, both children had been depressed with the knowledge, their despair deepening when they realized that they could no longer become a 'real family'. Hiruzen had been forced to inform them that without Mebuki or Kizashi to care for them, the paperwork regarding Naruto's adoption into the Haruno family had been nullified. Their depression picked up a little when he informed them that Sakura would be moving in with one of his most respected Jonin and someone he trusted with his life. The man had already been informed and was currently preparing for Sakura's arrival at his childhood home, a place he wasn't looking forward to returning too but would do so anyways.
"Father," he looked up at the whisper soft voice, his son was standing before him with a frown on his face, his ever-present cigarette was actually gone... for once
"What is it Asuma?" Hiruzen asked blinking at his son as he moved to stand beside him, regarding the large growing but shrinking black mass just as detachedly as he was
"You never said anything about the fourth having a daughter," Asuma said calmly, forcing Hiruzen to take a better look at the mass of black standing before the three graves of the Haruno family.
"Ne~ she's not Minato-kun's daughter," Hiruzen replied, eyes locking in on Naruto and the little red haired girl standing beside him with a broken kind of expression, a tall white haired man standing just behind her. "She is a distant relative of Kushina's though... Kakashi-kun found her on his last mission and decided to bring her home with him."
"Uh-huh," Asuma sounded completely unconvinced, "and it's just a coincidence that said little red head has a frightening resemblance to the little girl who was killed with her parent's last week right? A complete coincidence..." they watched as Sasuke, Naruto and the little red haired girl slowly moved forward with little yellow camellias in hand, walking with wobbly legs towards the three graves.
"Of course it is," Hiruzen replied calmly, watching the three carefully place the flowers on the graves, both collapsing to their knees, folding their shaky hands together as if to pray; both tried very hard to ignore the burning and stinging in their eyes. After a few minutes Itachi and Fugaku moved forward, Itachi carefully lifted a quietly sobbing Sasuke into his arms and just as carefully left the other two quietly crying children. Slowly the mass of black moved forward and back word, some moving forward to place flowers on the tombs, some turning around and running away so they could cry in peace, others stood dumb struck in their places, eyes wide as they stared at the two tiny praying bodies. Hiruzen understood the sudden air of remembrance, of fear and of realization.
Little Naruto Uzumaki and little Sakura 'Uzumaki' looked like little miniature replications of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki
Well, he hadn't meant to reveal Naruto's parents to anyone, as he thought that Kakashi would pick any color other then white or yellow to dye Sakura's hair, but it didn't look like anyone who made the connection would openly blab about it. Those who attended the service slowly faded away one by one, the students becoming crying messing in their parent's arms, the adults walking away with a new bolder on their shoulders and the elders walking away in misery. Within an hour the only ones who remained at the gave sight were Mikoto, Tsunade, Kakashi, Iruka and Hiruzen, everyone else had long since gone. Mikoto remained because of her promise to Kizashi and Mebuki, Tsunade remained because she not only knew the secret (She did take part in it after all) but she was also close to Sakura, Iruka remained for his worry for Naruto, Kakashi remained because of his new charge and Hiruzen remained because he still had something to promise the Haruno couple. Hiruzen took a deep breath and moved forward towards the children; the second he got within five feet Naruto and Sakura jumped to their feet and ran straight into him, both crying loudly.
"It'll be okay," Hiruzen promised the children, kneeling to place both into a tight hug, "I'll make sure of it."
"I miss them," Sakura hick-upped, "Wh-what am I-I g-going to-to do? Mama... a-always m-made the-the dreams st-stop..." Hiruzen sighed and tucked both children in close to him, as if he could protect them from the darkness that threatened their innocence. He wasn't a fool, he knew that the children would grow up and that as they did the darkness would only get closer to them, slowly staining their world into a deep shade of red and black with death and disappointments.
"We'll figure something out," Hiruzen promised her, "We'll protect you Sakura-chan, never forget that."
"My par-parents d-died!" Sakura wailed loudly, "T-trying t-to pro-prote-ect me-me~!" Hiruzen closed his eyes and sighed deeply; knowing that Iruka had just connected the dots and would, undoubtedly, remain silent—for Naruto's sake if nothing else. "I-I-I d-don't wa-want that!" Sakura cried, "I-I don't want anyone-one to-to di-die f-for me-e! N-never a-again!"
Hiruzen had no words for her, he had nothing to say to her desperate crying, wanting her parents back but not willing to admit it aloud. All he could do was hold her tightly and whisper into her ear that everything would be okay, that someday the pain she was feeling would dull, that it wouldn't necessarily go away but it would dull with time.
I promise you both, Kizashi, Mebuki, Hiruzen thought with gritted teeth, his hold tightening fractionally on the two children, I will protect them, no matter what, no matter the coast, I will protect them.
…
…
She stared dully at the simple looking house in front of her, standing to her left was her new guardian and to her right stood her new brother, both looking pale as if they could only see ghosts in the broken looking house in front of them. It was a simple looking house, with a wrap around porch that connected to all of the rooms, it looked like there might have been a garden once-a-upon-a-time in the back corner of the land but she wasn't sure.
"Well?" the tall gray haired man beside her asked, raising one hand to rub at the back of his head nervously, "What do you think?"
"It looks like a nature demon ate it and spat it back out," the blond replied in answer
"Naruto," Sakura replied courtly, not seeing the Jonin's depressed reaction at the news, "be nice."
"Oh come on Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined back, waving a hand exasperatedly towards the house, "Tell me it doesn't look like that!"
"It-it" Sakura puffed up her cheeks in defiance, determined to compliment the house that they would begin living in from that moment on
"Lying is vary bad thing sweaty," her mother scolded, pressing an alcohol soaked rag to the cut on her arm, "it can only destroy not build, do you understand?"
Sakura sighed, unable to defy her mother, even in death.
"Alright it looks pretty bad," Sakura admitted, ignoring how the Jonin beside her looked as if he wanted to burry himself under a big rock, "But we could... we could always fix it up." the Jonin perked up at that, tilting his head curiously at her, "It'll take time, lots of it, but I'm sure we can turn this-this... this house," She said finally, taking a deep breath to calm her breathing, "I'm sure... we can turn this house... into-into a-a-a home." Naruto sniffed and nodded, moving forward with lightning fast reflexes and wrapping his arms around Sakura's shoulder's, letting her cry on him as she started crying again; unable to keep herself from crying at the memory, the thought, of a new home.
To be given something as bright as sunlight only to be taken away in a single moment, Kakashi sighed and patted both of their heads affectionately, knowing they were just as broken—or worse—as he was. It must be an agonizing pain that never seems to end...
"Come along children," Kakashi patted the children affectionately, gently pushing them onto the broken path to the house, "Let's get going..." shakily the children nodded and with wobbly legs and tear stained eyes, they all moved to take a step forward onto the broken path for their new home.
"Wait!" they turned at the shout, "Please wait a moment!" Sasuke was running as fast as he could, a dark box held close to his chest as he ran for everything he was worth towards them, "Wait up! Naruto!"
"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted stepping back to regard him, Sakura huddling close behind him as if shy of a new stranger, "What are you doing here?"
Sasuke slid to a stop in front of them, panting hard, "I-I'm here... to-to..." he paused to pant, one eye closed as the other rounded onto Sakura, "To say... d-don't go."
"Don't go?" Naruto repeated dumbly
"Yeah, don't go," Sasuke panted, looking back at Naruto, "Don't leave the village, don't leave us—stay! Stay here, stay with the village! Don't leave me behind!" The three of them were quiet a moment as Sasuke realized what he had said, his eyes wide and red rimmed, as if he had just gotten done crying just a moment ago.
"We're not leaving," Naruto said, his eyes filling with tears again, "We're not leaving the village."
Sakura peaked around Sasuke, eyes misty and worried, "We're only-only moving in... with a... with Hatake-san..."
"Y-You're not leaving?" Sasuke asked whipping his nose on his sleeve
"No," Naruto sniffed, fighting the urge to cry, "we-we're n-not l-leaving..."
"Oh-oh," Sasuke hick-upped, rubbing at his sore eyes with renewed vigor
"Ne~ since you're here Sasuke-san, why don't you join us for tea and lunch?" Kakashi asked, "We were just about to have some." Sasuke sniffed and looked down the broken path to the just as broken looking house at the end, his first reaction was to recoil and flinch at the poor state of the entire image, his second reaction was to take the older man's proposition seriously. He looked up at the tall white haired man standing with both children in front of him as if they were human shields, the red haired girl bobbed her head and smiled a little stiffly at him, Naruto just chuckled and rubbed viscously at his own face.
"Yeah! Come on Teme! It doesn't bit!" Naruto laughed, trying to smile through the tears threatening his eyes
"Naruto, language," Sakura reprimanded instantly, a tone of disapproval flowing through her words and marring her face.
"Right Sakura-chan!" Naruto replied without thinking, his eyes widened for a moment before he realized that her first name hadn't change. "Let's go!" Sakura giggled as Naruto wrapped one arm around her and Sasuke and dragged them both down the broken path to their broken looking home.
I need to get Tenzo over here quickly, Kakashi thought following the three kids with a soft expression, knowing that they would change his whole life around, maybe everything can be fixed while they're all sleeping...
…
…
Thoughts are helpful
Opinions are wonderful
Helpful criticismis lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?
Please no cursing!
And don't forget to rate and review!
Page 9