A/N: Here's the long-awaited second half of the Morino attack, this time Sakura's side of things. Contains a slight bit of emo. See you at the bottom!


Chapter 16: On That Day - Sakura's Story


It was a dreary late-spring morning in May, one that saw the Harunos travelling to Morino.

Sakura stared glumly at the scenery as her parents walked. Ever since the miscarriage, everything was dull to her.

Her mother had noticed this and had suggested they go to the forest village, saying it would 'clear the air' between them.

Hah. What a joke. Not even her own mother could disguise her sorrow well. The woman was thirty-six, almost thirty-seven, getting past the age that women were expected to have children, and the loss of her unborn child had damaged her beyond repair. Many days, Sakura caught her just staring helplessly out the window, her hand absently gliding across her stomach, as if trying to feel for something that wasn't there anymore. It wasn't her fault, of course, but the pain of trying so hard to have another baby after years of being barren was too much for her.

"Nothing will ever help us," she thought in despair. "Especially now that I've talked to Iris-sama..."

Deep down, she mourned what she was going to do. She hated that she was going to thrust the 'death' of their only living child on their already heavily-laden shoulders, but she couldn't see a future for herself in the capital with them.

The loss of her unborn sibling had cut her deeply. She had spent so much time fretting over the health of her mother, especially since they didn't have a lot to eat anyway, and she was actually looking forward to a little brother or sister to love and protect.

Kaede, they were going to name the baby. Mostly for the anticipated birth in early autumn, partly because of her mother's favorite tree. No matter the gender, the baby would have been born to a loving, doting family.

Of course she was still bitter. She was bitter at the world for taking her sibling away from her so quickly. She was bitter at Sasuke's family for taking away her best friend, her cousin Eiko so callously. She was bitter at the fact that their family was poor, even after serving the king from Sakura's birth until eighth birthday. She was bitter that someone who she considered a good friend always had to battle with her over who would be the prince's bride one day.

"You win, Ino," she thought wryly, "he's all yours after today. Chase him all you want."

She was done playing games. She was done dreaming of a better life, all the while she was spending her nights crying herself to sleep because of the lot she'd drawn. She was done trying to be a Cinderella in a world where fairytale endings didn't exist.

"Sasuke won't even miss me," she had told herself over and over again, mostly in a bitter anger. "All those years spent with him and Naruto in the palace didn't mean a damn thing. He'll probably celebrate my passing, if his parents thought so little of Eiko's death."

Of course, soon after, she would chide herself for those thoughts. Of course Sasuke would miss her, she reasoned. Of course he'd mourn the death of a childhood friend. Of course he cared. Even though they never spoke anymore, of course he still thought about her. Even though she never talked with him or Naruto anymore, of course he would worry about her. After all, she'd confessed her love for him once upon a time ago, back when they were children. Of course he'd honor her.

"Stupid," she scoffed to herself. "He could've stayed in contact if he wanted. He could've sent me letters, asking about my family and how life was going. He could've sent Naruto as a secret messenger to figure out what's going on. But he didn't. He must have hated me."


The little family got to Morino late in the night, when the moon was high above the sleepy little village.

Sakura had excused herself for a little bit to find a place to relieve herself. When she was done, she'd found her parents again and had stopped short at the sight of a cooing bundle in their arms.

Her breath had caught in her throat and had manifested the pain as rising tears when her mother had caught her eye, her own eyes glistening.

"Sakura, you'll never believe it," she'd breathed, showing her the baby's face. "Meet your adopted brother, Arata."

Not Kaede, her mind snarked, but Arata. Fresh beginnings. How fucking ironic.

"But- but I thought-" she stammered, her heart pounding with hurt at the sight. The baby her mother had lost, replaced with someone else's son-

"We met this sweet young woman who just couldn't take him," her mother explained. "Oh, Sakura, isn't it wonderful? You'll finally get to have a baby brother. Just like you wanted, right? We can finally expand our family."

"No." Her voice even surprised herself, especially the intensity behind that one word. Her mother stepped back, stunned, and her father looked appalled. "No."

Not like this! Her mind screamed. The tears dribbled down her face, angry and hurt, and she whirled around and ran. Never like this!

Her father called after her, but she didn't listen. She just kept running through the trees, watery eyes blurring her vision.

Once her knees gave out and she fell to the grass, her lungs begging for air, she threw her head back and wailed.

She wept, slamming her fists against the ground. Her pain escaped her in the form of shouting sobs and loud hiccups.

She cried for hours, not caring if anyone heard her screams. She wept and wept, both for the infant sibling she never got to meet, Kaede, and for the one her parents had adopted.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she blubbered to no one, ripping up whole handfuls of grass in her sorrow. The impact of what she would do wrenched her heart in two and kept her there, kept her tears flowing. "Please, forgive me..."

"What have I done?" Her mind despaired. "Why have I left my family for dead?"


She lay there on the forest floor, hiccuping and sniffling, until she was found by Noh, the kind medic who had healed her upon their first meeting. Noh took her to Tsunade's camp, cleaned her up, let her finish crying into her chest, and got her a place to sleep until early the next morning.

Sakura's mood was even lower in the morning. Her emotions were muted, and she just stared blankly at everyone who bade her a good morning. Even Karin, the nice newer recruit they'd garnered from the outskirts of Fire, wasn't of much help to get her to smile. Tsunade had gotten her to spill her guts the night before, and just paid her extra mind, being gentle around her until they were able to get going. It almost felt awkward, like the woman couldn't figure out how to properly comfort her, but she didn't care.

Sakura had choked herself until she was nearly blue in the face that morning in a haze of self-loathing, but Noh had somehow convinced Tsunade to go along with it, and while the blonde woman looked a bit uneasy at the dark purple fingerprints on her skin, she said nothing more and focused on the plan. (She did, however, later declare that she was going to put the girl through counseling with Noh. Again, she didn't care, instead just shrugging loosely. It was too hard to think of anything besides how her family would react, and it made her hate herself even more.)

They made their way to the outskirts of Morino, early enough that no one paid them any mind. Tsunade kept an eye out for the royal troop, and soon enough, she spotted them.

She gave hushed instructions to Troop Nine on what to do, and as soon as they were in place, they lit the first match.

The bombs went off, the explosions rattling the buildings and echoing in the air. The panicked screams of the civilians made Sakura's eyes burn with tears. She noticed her own parents scrambling for shelter among them, her new adopted baby brother wailing in fear, and begged Tsunade to spare them.

She ordered that the safe house that the Harunos were hiding within was not to be destroyed under any circumstances, and with that, the war begun.

Sakura made her way towards where the river was, but for a moment she was in the way of one of the royal soldiers.

She let loose a piercing shriek in surprise, scrambling away. She quietly cursed herself for giving herself away, but she kept running, intent on getting it done.

She vaguely heard familiar voices shouting her name, but she took the knife laced with non-lethal poison and took a deep breath.

The faces of her loved ones flashed before her mind's eye. Her mother and father. Eiko. Her friends. Sasuke.

A single tear rolled down her cheek and she plunged the blade deep into her side, choking back the cry of pain that threatened to escape. Suddenly, something in her snapped, and she dragged it through her hair, the blood staining her scalp. The pink-blonde tresses began to stain a deep crimson as it slowly dribbled down her head. Something about the pain seemed... releasing, somehow. As if she were atoning for the sins she had committed. She began to wail as she did so, the sharp pain helping her sudden catharsis. She knew it was fucked up, but in the moment, it felt right. Not even the slight sting of the chemical could force her to stop.

She cried softly as a single trickle of blood ran down her forehead. She threw the knife down and hung her head in shame. What had she done? It was overkill, and perhaps would be a bit suspicious, but she reasoned with herself that it was nothing but a stress-relief.

Her clothing was already ripped from her trip through the brush the night before, and so, with the wound in her side bleeding heavily, she choked out a "Goodbye" and, spreading her arms open wide, plunged herself into the river with a painful belly-flop. Her wounds screamed in pain, but she held her tongue, her tears silently hitting the rippling water.

She did her best to keep as still as possible, head enough to the side so that she didn't have to hold her breath, as she floated lazily down, making herself totally limp.

Soon enough, to her horror, she heard Sasuke's voice shouting her name.

"Sakura! Sakura!"

"No... he- he isn't supposed to see this!"

When she heard his footsteps crunching closer, her heart ached as she heard him gasp.

"Sasuke... please, run away!"

A thud - he'd probably fallen to his knees on the rocks.

"DON'T STAY HERE! DON'T LOOK AT ME!"

"No. No. No. No." She heard him mumbling. "No."

After a moment of only his shallow breathing, she heard him shriek, a sound that broke her heart. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Stay still," she heard the hissed voice of one of their soldiers. "Prince Uchiha Sasuke, you are hereby under arrest under the orders of the Iris!"

"NOOOOOO!" He continued to scream. Sakura felt tears dribbling down her face, and she had to try her hardest not to begin to whimper aloud. "AHHHHH- AAH- GYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

She allowed herself one muted sob when she heard him cry, "SAAAAAAAAAAAKUUURAAAAAAAA!"

Only after he screamed did she hear another thud.

At that point, she couldn't hold in her trembling. Her limbs shook, rippling the water as her back began to heave in and out.

"Sakura, it's all clear," the agent was comforting as she was pulled out of the water. "Dear oh dear, you really did a number on yourself. Don't worry, you're safe now."

She opened her eyes through the blood in her vision and began to bawl harder than ever before for the second time in 24 hours, curling into the soldier's chest next to the unconscious body of someone she'd loved. Her shrieking sobs echoed around the carnage, even as Tsunade caught her in her warm arms, getting little blotches of blood on her cloak as the little thirteen-year-old girl wept bitterly into her warmth.

"Forgive me for this, Sasuke."


"And... yeah, that's- that's pretty much it." She finished, wiping her eyes. The story got her every time. "After we captured him, Mother was going to torture him for information, but as you've heard, I asked her to let him go."

"More like begged," the blonde in question chimed in. "Sakura was so distraught that we were going to interrogate him, she refused to leave his side until we promised to take him back to Morino."

"I guess it worked?" Sakura grinned weakly. "I mean, had he come to and realized that I was there, it would've thrown away all of the planning we'd worked so hard for. It would've made my death meaningless. That, and I felt like trash because he saw me in the water.

"Actually, still on that topic, it was strange." She hummed in thought. "While he was with us, even though he woke up at some point, he was totally shut down. He didn't respond to anything anyone did, so we just wrapped him in a spare blanket and I left him on the outskirts of town."

Ino stared at her, crestfallen, a guilty frown on her face. "You... you went through so much... and nothing we could've done would've ever changed your mind?"

"No." Sakura shook her head. "The whole reason I left was to avenge my family and take down the corrupted Uchihas while I was at it. Nothing you could've said would have swayed me to a different path.

"I will get my vengeance for Eiko, and I will make sure Arata grows up in a world that won't reject him as soon as it can. If it takes the death of his older sister, then so be it."


A/N: So there you go. Another heavy backstory, feat a slightly emo Sakura.

Please tell me what you thought, feel free to speculate, and I'll see you guys next week."