Chapter thirty five

The wood box

Sasuke lay on his bed, staring at the plain white ceiling of his room. It was barely past midday, but he already felt exhausted. Unfortunately, he had much more to do today. These few minutes were probably the only time he would have to rest a little, because he had to start packing his stuff, and then print his and Sakura's plane tickets, and then get the car ready, and then say goodbye… He bet this was going to be the longest, most staining day of his life.

Just as he started to doze off, his cell phone, which he had left on his night table, started buzzing. Sasuke opened his eyes and scowled. It was not the best moment to be interrupted. Whoever was calling better have a really good reason.

He took his phone and read the screen. It said Shikamaru's name, which made him forget about his bad mood and his tiredness instantly. Before leaving last night, the wizard had promised Sasuke he would investigate to which wizard clan the essence he had seen in Tsunade's aura belonged. Had he already found out?

"Hello?" Sasuke answered the phone eagerly, sitting up on the bed.

"Sasuke," Shikamaru said, "I think I got it. I think I know what wizard put Tsunade in that coma."

"You do?"

"Yeah. I talked to my grandfather and described the essence to him. Of course, I never gave him details about the situation or about why I cared. Besides, he's old and absent-minded, so I don't think he gave it much importance. I wasn't lying when I told Sakura I would keep the secret."

"And well?" Sasuke asked, wanting to go straight to the point. "Who did it, Shikamaru?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but my grandfather told me it ought to belong to someone from a clan with an affinity to the element Earth. I went to my Dad's library and researched, and I found out that the only clans with that affinity in the country are few, no more than fifteen."

Sasuke made a face. He didn't know much about wizards, but he thought he'd heard about their affinities to elements before. Kakashi once explained him that magic was fueled by our environment, so that was when the elements – Earth, Fire, Water and Air – stepped in, but Sasuke had never really cared about wizards or their magic, so he hadn't listened attentively. Maybe he should have.

"But there's one case that really caught my attention," Shikamaru continued. "A member of the No Akasuna's, one of the most powerful Earth-affined clans in Japan, is a wanted criminal for murder, robbery, kidnapping and who-knows-what else. He's literally insane, and he joined this sort of gang of evil wizards, vampires and werewolves that are also insane and that go around causing trouble. His name is Sasori. I have a feeling he might be your guy."

"Sasori No Akasuna…" Sasuke mused, grabbing the closest piece of paper and a pen and writing down the information. "Okay, I got it. Thanks for your help, Shikamaru."

"You're welcome. But again, I'm not entirely sure I'm right. It's just a possibility and what my gut is telling me. I recommend you to consult someone else – maybe some other wizard that has met Sasori in person. Take them to see Tsunade's aura and let's see what they think."

"Alright, will do."

"Good. Oh, and tell Sakura bye from me. You guys leave tonight, right?"

Sasuke sighed. "This afternoon, actually. Before the sun goes down."

"Where are you going?"

"We've got tickets for a city on the opposite side of the country, but we're probably going to head to America or to Australia afterwards."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" the wizard asked hesitantly after a long pause. "I mean being with her. It's just… risky as hell, dude. She is literally problematic, more than any woman you and I have ever met. The worst thing is that it's not even her fault."

"I know. But I can handle it."

"Can you handle disappointing your whole clan, too?"

"Don't put it that way," the dark-haired vampire replied, smirking. "I won't really disappoint them. Actually, I'll give them a lesson. They must not control our lives just because we're young. It's not okay to force us to marry people we don't love and do things we don't enjoy. After this, they will understand that we're not their puppets."

"True that... Besides, there's a bright side: you're making Hinata a favor. I don't think she was too enthusiastic about marrying you, either." Sasuke chuckled. "Anyway," Shikamaru continued, "tell Naruto he owes me and Ino money for the taxi we took last night. I don't care if he almost broke his ribs; he's got to pay, too."

"He still asleep in one of the guest rooms, but I'll give him your message as soon as he's awake."

"Cool. Well, I've got to go now. Good luck, man."

The vampire smiled. "Thanks, Shikamaru. I'll need it."

Sakura eyed the wood box curiously. "What is that?"

Shizune stepped towards the bed and sat on its edge. She put the box on her lap and caressed its lid, on which three big roses were carved in detail. "It's for you, dear. Tsunade was supposed to give you this today, but, well… she obviously can't. Months ago, she put me in charge of giving it to you in case something happened, so… here," she said, raising the box. "Take it."

"Why did she want to give me this today?" Sakura asked, disconcerted. "What does it contain?"

Shizune's smile was melancholic. "See it yourself."

The girl vacillated slightly before finally taking the wood box from her adoptive cousin. It was heavier than she'd expected it to be, but as soon as she touched it, her mind sizzled with recognition. "I've seen this somewhere before," she murmured, touching the roses with the tips of her fingers.

"Open it," Shizune encouraged.

Suddenly nervous, the half breed sat beside her cousin and put the box on her own lap. Then, licking her lips, she opened the lid slowly. When she saw the contents, her breath got caught in her throat.

Neatly ordered inside the box was a bunch of approximately twenty old photographs on the left side, and a soft, pink clothe wrapped around something small and circular on the right side. With trembling fingers, Sakura picked one of the photographs from out of the box. It displayed a man and a woman, both in their early twenties, staring lovingly into each other's eyes and smiling. The woman was gorgeous; she had long, blonde hair and green eyes, and she looked a lot like Ino. The man was brown-haired, very handsome, lean and muscular… and his eyes were bright, green and very familiar.

"Tsunade knew you would leave one day," Shizune started quietly. "She foresaw the moment someone would find out about you and come for you. So before you were sent away, possibly to never come back, she meant to give you this, so that you could take it with you and never forget about your past."

Her mouth suddenly very dry, Sakura picked out another photograph, also of the couple. This time, though, there was a third person in the picture: from the arms of the woman, a blonde, green-eyed baby dressed in pink smiled joyfully at the camera.

Speechless, Sakura looked at the rest of the photos. They were all very similar. The woman, the man and their baby appeared in all of them, wearing different clothes and with variant backgrounds behind them, but smiling and visibly loving each other in each one of them. These were pictures of a joyful family's early years… of her family.

"My God," she croaked out, tears stinging her eyes.

Carefully, Shizune reached into the box and pulled out something from underneath the bunch of photographs: an envelope with Sakura's name scribbled across it in a handwriting the girl recognized instantly: Tsunade's. "Read it," Shizune said softly, handing the letter to her.

Sakura put the photos back into the box and took the letter. Gingerly, she ripped the envelope open and pulled out two folded sheets from inside it. She unfolded the first sheet to find Tsunade's handwriting all over it. In that moment, she realized where this was all going. A strangled sob escaped her lips as she started to read.

Dear Sakura,

If you're reading this letter, it means I'm currently unable to tell you all this personally. I'm sorry if I'm causing you pain. Hopefully, the contents of the box and everything I'm about to tell you will make you a bit happier.

I am also giving you this box so that you can have something to take with you now that you have to leave. It'll help you remember your origins no matter what or where you are. I know that, without a solid past, a person is incomplete, and honey, I want you to be complete. I want you to have a good life. I'm sorry everything's got to be so difficult.

Well… Confused must not be enough to describe how you feel right now, huh? I know you have many questions and you want the answers, Sakura, and I don't blame you for it; I would want them too if I were in your place. So, let's start from the beginning.

Your mother was a wonderful woman, full of love, joy and innocence. Inoichi, our parents and I were an apathetic, self-absorbed family – until she came and lit our world. That's why we called her Hikari.* We loved her oh, so dearly. Everyone who knew her did. It was impossible not to. Your mother simply possessed that talent, that charisma. At first we thought that was her gift, but it wasn't. You'll find out why later.

She met your father by chance in a small café near our home. She told me the story only once, and I never forgot it, because it was the most romantic tale I've ever heard. Your father was a waiter there, and that day, he accidently spilled a cappuccino all over her skirt. Hikari was furious, but as soon as they looked into each other's eyes, their world froze and nothing – not her ruined skirt, not the people around, not the yelling of your father's angry boss – mattered anymore. Your mother described the sensation as "breaking through the surface of the water and breathing pure, blissful air again". It was a case of the rare love-at-first-sight.

From then on, things in our peaceful lives started getting complicated. Your parents dated for half a year in secret, until Inoichi saw them on the street once and demanded an answer. Hikari had no other choice but to confess to us, her family, that she was in love with a human being, who already knew she was a vampire and loved her back as such.

Of course, we were very concerned when we learned this truth. You must already know what a taboo the relationships between vampires and humans are. Besides, if anyone found out Hikari had told a human her secret without making him do an Oath, she would be in terrible trouble, and so would our clan.

But when we met your father and saw how much he truly loved your mother, we were determined to fight for their relationship, as well. He was such a wonderful man: respectful, kind, brave and intelligent. His name was Takeo Haruno, in case you don't know. And as you might have already seen in the photographs, you have his eyes.

However, if your father had one flaw, it was his dishonesty. After we welcomed him in our family and made him part of it, he finally confessed out of guilt one day that he wasn't a simple human: he was from one of the most powerful vampire hunter clans in Japan. We couldn't believe we didn't recognize his last name before. And we couldn't believe that he – our newly accepted son and brother in law – had disguised the truth for us, which isn't lying, but not any better than it.

Takeo never killed a vampire in his life, though. He had given up his hunter training and turned his back to his clan and its lifestyle. He wanted to be a normal human being, go to law school, have a family and live a peaceful life. But then he met Hikari and fell in love with her. The strange world he had born in refused to let him go.

Crying silently and still stunned, but too focused on the lecture to stop, Sakura turned the sheet around to continue.

Now we faced a much bigger problem. It was, and still is, practically illegal for a vampire hunter and a vampire to be together. Even though they had stopped hunting us mercilessly years ago, and now they dedicated solely to help vampires kill their criminals, we never really got along very well. If Hikari and Takeo married, it would be a world-wide scandal. No one would approve. My family and I barely did, to be honest. But we loved Hikari. We loved Takeo too, so much that we even forgave his mistakes. So we never gave up.

However, soon we all came to realize that fighting was useless: their relationship was utterly impossible. Your parents knew this very well, and still, they refused to break up, so they escaped together without telling anybody and ignoring how dangerous that was. They were so deep in love they were blind and stupid and that just enraged me. Only when I fell in love, as well, did I understand them a bit more.

In the next two years, I heard very little from my sister. She only visited once a year and she sent letters very rarely. The last time she visited, and also the last time I saw her alive, she announced she was pregnant.

At first, we were hysterical, horrified, shocked and sorrowful. We immediately assumed you had no future, Sakura. I was also furious at your parents. How dare they do something like that? They weren't stupid; they knew what kind of life you would have because of what you are. And still they hadn't cared. They were willing to have you, and so stupidly joyful and unconcerned that I wanted to rip their heads off.

But then Hikari said something that changed my perspective entirely: "Even though I am very aware of the dangers we're about to face, Takeo and I are happier than we've ever been, and I will have my baby. She or he is an important person; we can feel it. She or he might save thousands of lives someday. We're not going to take that away from the world."

Sakura paused. It didn't make sense to her for her parents to be able to know what kind of destiny the child in her mother's belly would have. But the fact that they had so much faith in her already, when she was barely a fetus, formed a knot in her throat and sent a stabbing pain through her chest. She wished shecould have that much faith in herself right now. Then, she kept reading.

Almost a year later, Hikari sent another letter. Inside the letter, there were pictures of you. You had already been born, and in those photos you were not even a week old. You were so beautiful, so perfect and so normal! We were still scared and worried sick, but suddenly, we were also happy. We knew your parents took good care of you and would never let someone hurt you. We hoped you would live a nice, normal life. We loved you, even if we hadn't met you in person yet.

Your mother continued to send letters, two of them per year. She kept sending us pictures of you, too, and of Takeo and her. We watched you grow up through photos. We saw how happy you and your parents were. You were living in a small, ignored country in Europe, in a cozy house on the middle of a peaceful forest. You were protected and loved, both by your parents and by us.

But a few years after your birth, our happiness and hopes shattered. Our society knew about your existence already, but the authorities never bothered to go hunt you down – until then. My father heard the rumor that they would send Madara Uchiha, a ruthless vampire criminal supposed to be locked in jail, to kill you in exchange of his freedom. The bastards preferred to let a psycho out of jail than to let an innocent half-breed live another day.

Inoichi and I flew over, but we were too late to save your parents. They fought to protect you even in the last moments of their lives. Fortunately, they had hid you where Madara could never find you, and he was too lazy to look for you, so he decided to simply burn the house, with you somewhere inside. But Inoichi and I could find you in time. We took you out and rescued you from the fire. We lost Hikari and Takeo, but at least we still had you.

Sakura remembered the nightmare she'd had once when she passed out in the Uchihas' kitchen. In it, she had been small, scared and wounded, and there had been blood everywhere, and a man with an orange-lollipop mask. And then she had heard Tsunade's voice. That hadn't been a nightmare, she realized. That had been an actual memory.

Letting out a shaky sigh, she tossed the sheet aside and read the next one.

Immediately, we took you back to Japan and erased some of your memories because you had witnessed terrible things and we didn't want you to be traumatized; we wanted you to be sane and normal. Also, I adopted you. I decided not to change your name, but I did change your parents', just in case. Luckily, the society was convinced you had died in the fire because they didn't know we had been there to save you, so they never went looking for you. Everyone forgot the three of you ever existed. Even the Yamanakas had to admit we knew nothing about Hikari or you to save our own lives. But in reality, we never forgot them. And with you still alive, under my care, we never could.

You lived a normal, human life for most part of your life, just as I wished you to. I lied to you many times, and I'm sorry; I was just trying to shield you from pain. I'm also sorry I'm not there right now to help you though all of this. Maybe I could have made all this easier for you. Unfortunately, things are the way they are: unfair, scary and sad. But no one chose them to be like this.

Honey, please don't lose hope. Even if I'm not there, you have Shizune's and Inoichi's and Ino's support; you're not alone at all. And just like your parents did, I believe in you and your strength. I know you will make it out of this. I promise you will.

Be strong, Sakura. Do not give up. Do it for your parents, who gave their lives for you. Make them, and me, and yourself, very proud.

I love you forever.

Your aunt, Tsunade.

It was over. Sakura was quiet for a long moment, staring blankly at the empty space. The world seemed to be frozen and dead around her. If she had been sad earlier, now she felt like she was on the verge of an overpowering depression.

Putting the box on the bed, she put her head against her adoptive cousin's warm shoulder. Shizune sighed, put an arm around her and squeezed comfortingly. The half breed tried not to weep, because she was sick of it… but she could not hold all these feelings in any longer.

So she cried until her head ached, her eyelids weighed a ton, and her sight was blurry. She did it quietly, at least.

Notes: Hey, thanks for reading! Sorry it took me so long to finally upload this chapter, but I've been busy with school. I have the next chapters almost ready, though, so expect quicker updates! Review and tell me your opinion please. :)

(*: Hikari means "light" in Japanese.)