Summary: Sakura and Tobirama quietly mused about their lost loved ones and friends.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything afflicted with any other video games, anime, manga or comic.
Holding the empty and white box-shaped paper lantern in her right hand, Sakura was walking along a crowded river, looking for a sparse and quiet spot. She held a small lighted candle in her left hand which allowed her to see better ahead the dark path.
She did spot the several familiar people standing along the river; Mito was putting her paper lantern solemnly and reverently upon the water. Hiruzen was sighted along his two loyal teammates, sat on the grass on the opposite side of the river.
Even Danzo was there, too. He seemly be content. Like his fellow ninjas, he was sitting on the same side along his rival. For once, they were not bickering with each other, instead remained quiet solemnly over the sacrifices of their dead comrades.
It has been a first festival her village celebrating since the war ended a few months ago. It was supposed to be a happy event. Unfortunately, this festival was damp with an air of melancholy. It seemed that every single person in her village had been lost the loved ones and friends in that terrible war. It was understandable that Konohagakue was still in a grieving process.
She noticed a familiar man standing on the edge of the river, his hands crossing over his chest and his face dimly aglow by the glowing lanterns that passed by side in front of him and drifted away gently by the river flow.
"Tobirama-san. May I use this spot?"
"Sakura-san" He acknowledged her presence succinctly. Sakura took his short reply as a yes. She picked a spot within a comfort zone of a white-haired man, and walked beside him. She stopped at few feet within the edge of the river.
"Is it for your brother?" A pink haired woman asked softly, looking at him.
He regarded her thoughtfully then slowly nodded, not needing to say the words because Sakura understood a deeper meaning behind his silence. Sakura knew that he was intensely private man, so she respected his privacy by not inquiring about his life.
The peaceful and contemplative silence hanged over them. A pinkette walked a bit closer to the edge and kneel on the slightly wet ground. Her warm skin met a cool soil. She disconnected the paper box-shaped lantern away the wooden base delicately. A small candle, she carried and used it for lighting her way ahead, was carefully placed in the middle of the wooden base. When she was done with the candle placement, she was putting back the paper lantern in place on the wooden base.
A lantern now shined softly with a small candle inside. A delicate paper covering was glimmering with a soft yellow color that emitting from a candle.
"I'm going to put my lantern on there."
"Hn." A former Hokage seemed that he was not in the mood for talking a lot. It was okay with her because she wasn't in a mood either. Tonight was, she was all thinking about her past.
Her hands holding the lantern out, reverently reached down toward the river. She then released the glowing lantern into the dark water. Her green eyes watched her floating lantern tugged and pulled by the invisible current of the river; it joined its floating lights that emit from other lanterns.
Sakura changed her kneeling stance, her bottom against the ground, and her legs folded in a front of her chest. Her arms shifted and curled around her folded legs. Her chin leaned on a top of her knees. On the other hand, Tobirama remained standing up.
The two pairs of the eyes glanced at a beautiful scene of the ethereal light orbs levitating over the dark river.
Neji... Sakura remembered of a noble and brave friend with a long hair and white eyes who sacrificed his life saving his cousin and her blond idiot.
...Mom...Dad... Her wonderful memories of her dull pinked hair father's wide grins and her blond mother's delicious baked cookies. They both died in the one of the several raids on Konoha that Kabuto orchestrated with the army of white Zetsu clones when she was away. When she found out about their death, she was so devastated.
After that incident, she was becoming a force to be reckoned in the battlefield, completely annihilating the one of the third in the army of white Zetsu clones with her bare hands. She managed to lay her hands on that slimy bastard. Her payback? She used the medical technique to destroy Kabuto's brain and heart simultaneously, and burned his body viciously with the fireball technique into the ashes. It ensured to prevent his revival by the Edo Tensei technique.
Meanwhile, Tobirama's mind also mirrored his pink haired companion's mind. He, too, thought of the people whom he once was considering them as his family.
Kawarama...Itama...Tobirama remembered the two younger brothers, the faint memories from a long time ago, of a boy with his cross-shaped cheek scar, and other odd haired boy with a timid personality whose lives was cut short tragically and died so young. And...
...Hashimara...A memory flash of his older brother, an exuberant man was larger than a life with a full of deep belly laughter. His laughter that he won't admit that he secretly missed very much. He always thought that his older brother was untouchable by all his enemies, and... yet he still fell victim to Death.
Deep down in his worn-out heart, a tiny voice raged against the cruel world whose took away his brothers from him.
It was not fair! Why me? A small voice whispered in his mind in anger and pain. That voice was his emotional aspect of his personality. It frequently was ignored by him for a long time since he was a child. He rarely voiced out his emotional distress publicly, and always preferred keeping his stoic facade.
When Sakura quietly accompanied with him, his dark tiny voice subsided and silenced by just her presence. He won't admit that her presence soothed his inner pain slightly. Not ever. Period.
Sakura and Tobirama were the only ones to remember who their own loved ones were, what they had done their deeds and more importantly, carrying the legacy of their existence.
They continued to watch her lantern gently floating along the countless thousand glowing specks on the pitch-black river just like the countless stars in the dark sky, lost in their own memories of their loved ones whom they never see ever again.
A/N: Woohoo! Another anticipating update from me! I am busy with my new other story, Shatterpoint. My muse was bit occupied... and fell in love with this new story. If you readers like a concept of strong Sakura in Clans Warring Era, then check out my new story, Shatterpoint. I would be very much appreciating if you review this new story. Thanks!
*sighed sadly* I hate the sad moments when they thought of their dead loved ones. Tobirama, despite being logical man, was still human, and he wasn't fully get over his brothers' death.
They celebrated this event based on this real life Japanese ceremony called Tōrō nagashi, otherwise known as Japanese Floating Lantern Festival. According to Wikipedia in the exact words, 'Tōrō nagashi was a Japanese ceremony in which participants float paper lanterns (chōchin) down a river; tōrō is traditionally another word for lantern, while nagashi means "cruise, flow". This is primarily done on the last evening of the Bon Festival festival based on the belief that this guides the spirits of the departed back to the other world.'
I did remember that Naruto Shippidden Opening 13 was featuring a lot of the floating lanterns floating on dark river. So I was researching on that aspect, I found a few different lanterns festivals for the different purposes. The one of these lantern festivals reserved for guiding the dead loved ones' spirit safely back to the spirit world.
Hence I choose this ceremony for this chapter's purpose to get Sakura-chan and Tobirama-kun closer. *smiling proudly* What did you thinking of my choice to use this ceremony for helping to draw Sakura-chan and Tobirama-kun closer? Please kindly review this chapter, your reviews help to keep my muse flowing!