Disclaimer: Naruto belongs updates Masashi Kishimoto. Touhou Project belongs updating Zune.
Chapter 29: Performance
When both jônins Hatake Kakashi and Sarutobi Asuma made their report to the Hokage Godaime, one could not help but sigh. As the actions of the two fugitives were reported to him, he massaged his temples, trying desperately to hunt migraine who had slowly but surely.
Not only should handle the case two deserters, one of whom was seriously injured by his accomplice now untouchable, but another bad news had just fallen on his desk. The daimyo had just reached via express mail, informing him of his deep displeasure at the idea of having massacred an entire company. The feudal lord had first thought to have made the wrong choice in the appointment of the successor of Sarutobi, but after a little time to rest the things, the sovereign fire the country chose another option. React hot, on a whim and without hindsight, was often a bad idea that led to make choices that we regret after analysis.
After careful consideration, the daimyo had decided to entrust the case to the Hokage. After all, these were crimes of a shinobi, so it was the responsibility of the Kage to pronounce judgment, although the fire lord of the country made it clear that he was ordering a measure is taken to copy against the murderer.
Shikaku put the parchment on a corner of his office, leaving the wax seal evidence before looking up at the two jônins. The sharp steel eyes darted Hokage of the head of mission, which was also the teacher of the two fugitives. Kakashi had many answers to give him and began to question him.
- Did you know that Sasuke had desert? Shikaku asked unnecessarily because he was firmly convinced that Kakashi was not a traitor and he would never have left his pupil do so.
- No, murmured the man défaussait his usual phlegm. All psychiatric reports made on the case of Uchiha Sasuke are perfectly clear and consistent. This is an avid power adolescent, like half the shinobi of this village, although it is obsessed with revenge. This obsession could lead to such behavior, but because Orochimaru is dead, we thought it would have no alternative in the village. Obviously someone Gensokyo managed to contact our defenses without finding out. I would emphasize the case of the cursed mark Orochimaru. Although it amplifies the wearer's desire for power, its effects are neutralized when sealed. I personally practiced sealing the curse seal playing on its most primitive instincts.
Nara frowned as he analyzed those words. He had investigated his side and obtained all necessary information about the seal. It was the famous hermit Jiraiya who oversaw the work of Kakashi and expertise of the master in the field of fuinjutsu could hardly be rejected.
Shikaku sighed. It would be fair and easy to leave Kakashi out unscathed in this case, but officials had to pay for this disaster.
- Kakashi Hatake, the Hokage said after a few seconds of hesitation, I reserve to rule later on you. I would first receive the interrogation report of the young Haruno.
The family name mentioned provoked a strange reaction in the Jonin, who handed. Sakura was brought in critical condition and the efforts of Tsunade, the young Genin would not have survived the blow carried by the kunai nukenin.
The kunoichi awoke the day after his repatriation. Although she had been treated, she had lost a lot of blood and his mind was still clouded by drugs that were administered to him.
In the hospital room, the girl pastel hair moaned, her head seemed heavy, as she squinted because of brilliant ceiling. The antiseptic smell that tickled his nostrils made her understand that she was in a treatment room.
After a few seconds, memories came back to him. Despite the brevity of the action, it had recorded every detail of this betrayal. She saw the Kunai easily sink below her navel and she gasped, assimilating information.
Sakura looked at his abdomen, only to see that she was dressed in a simple gray gown. She wanted to raise the tissue, palpate his wound, but his arms did not obey him more.
After a quick observation, the young woman found that its four members were handcuffed to the bed metal edges
The helpless pink began to panic, to the brink of hyperventilate until the door of his room open. The slight hiss greased hinges gave way a few footsteps, while a doctor was checking some steps, not speaking any word to the patient. The look that the healer was addressed to her reproachful and full of contempt, she could not afford.
As she turned her head, using her hair pink as a screen to isolate a strong voice called.
Sakura jumped and turned pale when she saw who was present. She recognized the man in the face scarred in front of him, since he was the sinister Examiner writes Chunin exams. Now she was alone, close to him, it seemed to him even more intimidating.
- Haruno Sakura, he began in a tone perfectly neutral, you are in a precarious position.
Cherry blossom swallowed, not daring to interrupt him, aware of his terrifying vulnerability.
- I advise you to tell the truth, not to lie and to cooperate with us, not to aggravate your case.
The rose nodded, trembling, while the interrogator began to ask questions.
- Did you follow Uchiha Sasuke on your own? he asked in a neutral voice, devoid of any clue that may hint at his intentions.
- Yes, murmured the prisoner who felt terribly guilty of this act which fell under the high treason.
- How did you know he would leave? Ibiki continued inwardly intrigued.
- I do not know, she conceded. I had a hunch. I could see he was more withdrawn and the same day I saw him react to criticism with less calm. I mean, usually it is content to ignore people, but now it was different. He clenched his fists and teeth, as if it held to send everyone to see. It is as if he had the urge to chuck everything, but he made the effort to take a few more hours. I thought he was preparing something, I wanted to see for myself and I saw him. My impression was right, I even tried to reason with him, but I failed.
- If you knew, said the interrogator, why did not you tell?
Sakura gulped. Fear of not being believed or of uttering a wrongful accusation had tapped for hours, since it would have meant losing credibility and spoil all the confidence placed in it. Finally, now that she watched her situation, treated like a prisoner unworthy, she realized that had managed to do what she had wanted to avoid.
- I was scared, scared for him, she justified before the impassive face of the man in the black cloak. I knew that if he got caught, he would be condemned and I wanted to prevent it from being hurt him. I wanted to protect him, she whispered the crestfallen. I ... I loved that bastard.
- During your flight, since you claimed to want to protect it, why do not you fought with him? The witnesses all confirm that you have not acted against the soldiers of the army of Daimyo. Can you explain this attitude, as if holding to protect it?
- I could not, she stammered. I hate to kill the idea of doing that to people not deserving it disgusts me. Although I left Konoha, I do not want to hurt locals. I'm a lousy kunoichi, I can not even be impassive and I'm scared. I do not know what I can kill, but I do not want. I can not do, it disgusts me.
Sakura was lost in a confusing litany, the interrogator let go. Each word could be important and was willing to cooperate. She did not even try to lie, confessing what she had done, revealing his conflicting emotions. Ibiki had not even had to unsheathe the threat to use its instruments of torture, Sakura revealing extremely verbose. If only all the prisoners could be as endorsements, this sui greatly simplify the task.
When the interrogator had enough evidence to make his report, he left the room without a word, ordering the two guards flanking the door to remain at their posts.
Ibiki made his report to the Hokage, who listened calmly. The chief of the Interrogation Section then left the scene, leaving Nara Shikaku decide what to do.
The Hokage bore responsibility for judging the actions of the shinobi under his authority. Of course, his predecessor had convened the council, but he had no desire to multiply the sterile discussions, since the conflicting opinions would eventually confuse more than to provide a clear judgment.
Shikaku remained quiet, watching the minutes that he had before, and the insistent demands of the daimyo to punish the killer.
He stayed several hours in his office, weighing the pros and cons, analyzing the arguments and statements, before taking its decision. He summoned the council, his secretary, and the team in September.
The village notables gathered around their leader, which brought its leaves in organizing, putting something in his hands to avoid twisting her fingers in a nervous gesture too obvious.
The large table was shaped like a horseshoe and three shinobi called remained in the center, with all eyes towards them. Sakura was also present and Naruto had not seen since she was taken into care room. Teammate was dressed in his classic outfit, indicating that it was processed normally, not to attract pity, but his wrists and ankles cuffed indicated that it was still considered dangerous, despite his low chakra reserves. His pale complexion also stated that she had not restored all its hemoglobin reserves and that it was not in a physical combat capable.
A cough from the dictator ended the whispers that had begun to rise.
- Following a review of the different elements in my possession, namely the evidence, investigation reports and interrogation, I will now make my verdict on the case dealing with the desertion of Uchiha Sasuke.
All were silent, hanging on the lips of the village leader.
- Yakumo Naruto acted with professionalism, following the orders of his superior diligently. Thus, no charges were brought against him and he may therefore leave the room.
The blonde bowed respectfully before exiting. He knew he had done nothing wrong legally and Yukari behind him, he was not afraid of anything. Despite the verdict which completely innocentait, he could not help cursing its slowness. If it had happened earlier, it was more hurried, he could have prevented Sasuke to flee through the portal.
Inside the board room, things began to deteriorate.
- Hatake Kakashi, because of your mismanagement of the pathological case Uchiha Sasuke, you are temporarily suspended your Jonin-sensei functions, causing your immediate reassignment. You can have.
The man with the silver hair was doing pretty well. He was not demoted, or even penalized financially. The fact that, for years, the medical reports showed mental disorders Uchiha had played in his favor. He walked calmly out of the room, speaking briefly to sign a few people came to hear the verdict. Besides some genins present, proclaimed his rival could not help but be relieved.
Kakashi was not at all. He knew that such serious crimes were unforgivable and he feared that the defendants pay the piper. His premonition proved prophetic, as in the courtroom, the Hokage took a third sheet.
- Uchiha Sasuke is tried in absentia. We declare nukenin rank A, enrolled in the Bingo Book. We declare guilty of desertion, treason and murder to bring back dead or alive, in respect of the heritage of Konoha and the Uchiha clan.
The ax fell, while he dabbed paraphait and the execution order. A shudder passed through the assembly, while the Godaime stared at his advisers, his sharp eye defying issuing criticism.
Sakura shed silent tears, not speaking a word while attending helplessly to the pronunciation of this sentence which excluded Sasuke to Konoha and community that made his life impossible in the shinobi lands.
- Haruno Sakura, then called the Hokage, pushing the accused to face his little face maudlin toward the judge, we declare you guilty of desertion, treason and murder. The accused is declared nukenin, worsened its ranking ninja and is sentenced to the death penalty. The sentence will be executed publicly, at dawn.
Rose and trembling legs collapsed to his knees. His pale, covered with tears and snot moved him nobody. It was not pity they felt, but disgust for the woman who had made a stupid mistake, but considerable, and could not even manage to remain worthy to fulfill his actions.
The nukenin was immediately seized by two ANBU, to ensure that nothing ventured desperate to escape that judgment. Sakura stood still, leaving the take without reacting. It was not until the futility of struggle amorphous explaining his attitude, his shock. Sakura found it hard to cope with the news and all that it entailed. Once the two elite ninjas had seized her, a thick cloud of smoke had disturbed his senses. When she felt the ground under her feet again, she coughed to drive away the smoke that had crept into his lungs. Suddenly she felt his arm being pulled forward, while a third man grabbed his right leg. A rattling later, the two guards held her arms violently threw enough in a small cell, before locking the door barred.
Sakura was crushed on the rough ground, grimacing because of his scraped palms, while his eardrums were martyred by the groans of the rusty gate hinges.
After a while, she knelt, watching its surroundings. His hands were shackled with a short chain, leaving a little room, but the chains had the main function of neutralizing his chakra flow. The real obstacle to his escape lay in the chain that connected his right leg in a big cement cube securely anchored into the masonry of the cell. Deprived of her chakra, she had no chance to snatch the heavy links of more than one centimeter.
Emerald eyes of the condemned turned to stone walls, desperately seeking a solution barefoot a stone to break this chain and to escape the dusty cell. Unfortunately, thick cold gray walls did not send him nothing but coldness and despair. The cell was provided with no windows, the only light lay in the low crackling torches, whose light filtered through the bars of the gate, casting long shadows barred the parallel dark hole into which it was based .
Firmly chained and constantly drained his chakra, the girl cowered in a corner.
His mind was also trapped in darkness her body. His wit, sharp ordinary, was paralyzed by what had happened to him. She had been sentenced to death. In a few hours, his life would end and everything she had worked, all she had done would be destroyed. His training, his jutsus, everything would be swept away. She would disappear, breaking all the relationships she had woven. His friends, his family, lista she saw all those faces pass her. She was stupidly cause the misfortune of her parents she was going to suffer needlessly Ino.
- I'm going to die, she repeated softly, feeling that words swelled in her throat, to emphasize that as a low croak.
The information was overwhelming and yet it was hard to accept these simple words. Words so raw and violent, they had hardly left his mouth.
- I'm going to die, she repeated, eyes blank and set on a corner of his cell.
How could it have ended differently? she thought in cowering in a corner of his small cell. She was herself condemned to second or she had followed the junk she loved. She had betrayed his village, abandoned all his, knowingly helped a traitor and violated all his promises. Sasuke had left a pile of bodies, so since he was untouchable in Gensokyo, it would be to her to pay for the actions of nukenin and serve as an example for all to those who believe can with impunity defy the village.
Cherry blossom withered looked down, huddling in a corner, hoping to shelter from the cold. His body invaded by despair which closed its icy fingers on his soul, was barely warmed by the cold draft that circulated between the windy corridors. If it went well, she would catch your death, she thought wryly feeling his snotty nose. The girl, now deprived of her headband, remained prostrate in the corner of the rough and irregular walls. Frozen in that position, she let exhaustion and weakness due to have its forces.
She woke up several hours later, at least she felt. Things had not changed, she was still in the darkness of prison. Sakura grimaced, the courbaturées shoulders, rubbing his aching muscles and fine arms. His every move was waving his chains, producing a rattling assaulting his hearing. The treacherous rubbed her irritated eyes, thinking that surely was like hell with purple circles swearing with his cadaverous complexion and greasy hair.
His morbid humor did not last long. The barred gate was on the corridor whose end was blocked by a door that let no light will pass, but it was in no hurry to see the dawn. Sakura knew perfectly well that the sunrise would coincide with his killing. She was so terrified after having emptied his tear glands and sought a loosened stone, it was reduced to implore whatever deity she knew that the sun does not rise, she gets any reprieve , if only a few minutes.
Only she remained prostrate, weeping over her life that she had stupidly squandered. Crying was useless, she knew, because she had no mercy to expect from its Storage and her tears attendriraient nobody, but she had no nothing. There was no hope for her, she would end only. His friends and relatives did not come to send him a final farewell, all seemed to be ashamed of it. On the other hand, she was not sure she could bear to see them. It was selfish, but she did not suffer more. She would not take his faults more, carry additional weight and feel more guilt when she was going to cause untold suffering to his family, his friends, his teammate.
Sakura stood frozen in the dark, or until the cell door creaked, then a masked ANBU was advancing toward her. In a derisory reflex, she stepped back and stumbled against the wall, waiting with a frightened look.
- The implementation will begin soon, he announced in a neutral voice, behind his white mask. You've got thirty minutes before being taken to the block, use it to share your last wishes.
- I wish I could write a last letter to my family, she stammered begging him to bring paper and a brush.
The man nodded and slipped out of sight of the convicted who bit his lip. He returned a few moments later with a single sheet and some ink. The guard remained in the company of the convicted, ensuring that it does not seal would trace and would try anything desperate to escape.
Sakura did not even bother with that presence. She wiped her wet face, spreading his tears on his cheeks before gasp, leaving a thin thread of saliva flow to the ground. Placing the paper on a stone, she took the brush with a trembling hand, plunging the hairs in the small dark ink pot before starting each stroke of his final message. Always restless tremors, Sakura let his tears flow and form small marks on paper. His words were punctuated with errors and lacked consistency, but she wanted to confess everything she had on the heart, without forgetting anything. His final confession was hesitant as she was struggling to align words and rationally organize his thoughts. She finished her letter, putting it in ANBU who read it one last time, ensuring that there is nothing compromising, before putting it in his pocket and assure her that he would achieve his family.
The traitor, forced to wear the uniform gray of the condemned, was then led out of the prison, always carefully chained up, so she could not escape.
Sakura followed his jailers, his head down, looking at the ground under his feet. Led like cattle to the slaughter, she was trembling because of the terror that came over. However, she refused to cooperate, deliberately slowing to delay his execution and to disrupt the schedule. If she had to die, she still had a minimum of pride to put his grain of sand in the carefully oiled mechanism, prepared by his executioners.
One of the guards violently pushed for it to advance. With his legs shackled, Sakura fail to stumble many times, but she continued balance and continued to advance.
The prison door opened, letting the air rush of freedom and stroking her hair. The slight breeze could have been a relief if she had not been in such a situation.
Sakura watched the dark sky, barely illuminated by pink clouds purposes. The sun had not yet risen, but she had the impression that the diurnal luminary taunting, making wait prolonging further the unbearable waiting, which looked like an agony.
The escort led the girl to the top of the tower of the Hokage. Sakura trembled while everything was prepared for his execution. A block had been set up, consisting of a single plank of wood, while the masked executioner finished sharpening his katana. Obviously, they wanted his head jumps first time. The only consolation for her, she had at least confirmed that his death would be quick.
When the first rays of the sun rose, there was already a large crowd that had gathered at the foot of the tower. They had a great talkers, disapproving violence and stating categorically never approve these sordid penalties, it was the kind of shows they were all waiting. They will never admit, but see this violence and blood flow had a striking effect. This horrible staging satisfy the basest instincts of the populace, satiating their bloodlust. A public performance was rare, especially in Konoha, while hundreds of onlookers and onlookers had gathered. Some even rented their balconies for astronomical sums, to traders who absolutely wanted to be at the forefront.
Sakura had understood it would be the highlight of the show. Her death in front of hundreds of his countrymen she had betrayed him.
A lump formed in his throat, while the Hokage was emerging. Dressed in his robe and scarlet hat, he made a speech on justice that she did not bother to listen. His thoughts raced through her head as she imagined many scenarios.
Part of her desperately pleading that same grace be pronounced. Even if it were to be imprisoned, she still preferred to rot in a cell than be executed. It would not be a pleasant fate, but that would be the life.
Eyes closed, the nukenin chained shaking. She hoped that something happens, someone to save her, it awakens a latent power, she could break free and run away, but nothing came. In his despair, Sakura heard the Hokage order to bring the convicted.
She was advanced to the building ledge, offered to the sight. The crowd that stretched was silent. She watched this swarming mass, observing. Curiosity, concern and compassion were read in their looks, but the worst part was the boos and insults that rose hundreds, requiring it to pay.
Sakura knew it was the end. His stomach seemed heavy as lead, while she clung to lay the ground whimpering and begging to be spared his life miserable. However, she knew it would be useless, no supplication, not even the most pathetic and could not save her. If she had to leave, it would be offering a show of courage. She would face an end with dignity, though she was terrified. She thought back to her family in which she had brought shame and dishonor, disgrace covering the name of the Haruno. Cherry blossom wondered what her parents were doing. Were they in this crowd, hoping to see their daughter one last time, or they stayed home, crying? The ever they liked, or were they denied?
The executioner put his knees nukenin, ensuring that it does not fit his head between his shoulders.
- One last word ? asked the Hokage.
- Yes, muttered the convicted watching the Nara in the eyes, unblinking, his hate jade eyes piercing the darkness. For me, this is not the end but the beginning of a new adventure. Unlike you, I would not go in Jigoku.
Nara Shikaku gestured and Sakura was plated on the block. The executioner raised his katana, the blade of which was tinged bloody glare of the sun.
The ANBU lowered his arm, wearing a violent blow on the neck, instantly severing the spine, rest before slicing the neck of the traitor.
The body neckline limply collapsed, while the head was jumping and rolling over a meter before stopping, wearing a shocked expression.
The murmur through the crowd fell silent instantly, leaving place only silence. It was a heavy silence, shared by all, as an ultimate reverence to that which would have no grave.
While a ANBU used a jutsu to engulf the corpse and reduced to ashes, the Hokage was retiring.
The crowd dispersed, silent and shocked. Some even doubted that decision, then they all internally yet condemned nukenin.
A cold gust of wind then swept the last ashes, scattering the ultimate Sakura remains.
