Chapter three.
Two Deaths & an Unexpected turn...
I could feel his life slipping away…
"No... Hang in there"
A young boy...no less than 7 years...sprawled upon my arms...bleeding and broken emitting the taste of death from his small fragile frame... I couldn't... couldn't give up... I had to save him... he can't...can't die.
I won't allow it.
The mission given to them by the Godaime was nothing more than a simple scout on a small territory near the tea country. It was nothing too hard for five for Konoha's finest team to handle.
"Man, why did we have to get sent to do this cruddy mission anyway Kaka-Sensei?" frowned Naruto as he trudged behind the elder man who was currently preoccupied with his beloved "Icha Icha Paradise" Novel to even pay attention.
"Ay—Kakashi! I asked you a question!"
"Shut up Dobe!" scowled Sasuke in annoyance, "besides, aren't you the one who's always complaining about not getting enough missions?"
"Uchiha is right, be thankful that you are still useful to the village, dickless"
"NANI!…Sai don't tell me you're siding with the baka too!"
"I'm not…I'm merely being…honest."
"Bu—" but before they could further expound on Naruto's lack of understanding Kakashi abruptly stopped signaling them to likewise follow in his example "We're camping out here for the night…" he said, his visible eye crinkling into a smile.
A few moments later once everything had been settled at their camp they all gathered around the fire that Sasuke conveniently produced with his jutsu (AN: don't know the technical term). Each silently eating their meal as Naruto babbled about the latest encounter he had with sampling the newest flavored Ramen at Ichiraku's. All the while Sakura could only watch idly at what used to be her happiness.
She wanted to laugh like Naruto.
She wanted to care like Kakashi.
She wanted to dare life like Sai.
…She wanted to hate like Sasuke…
"How long has it been since I've seen them dance?" She sighed and looked towards the heavens where the stars danced a midnight waltz with the moon… A memory long ago visited her and the voices of her comrades in the distance faded away as she recounted the moments of her lost youth.
"Sakura! Your mother is calling you!" screamed the red-haired man as he raced across the meadow to retrieve his daughter who sat underneath the moonlit sky…"Tou—san!" what are you doing here?" The little cherry blossom replied as she abruptly wiped the tears away from her cheeks.
"Sakura…have you been crying?" the man asked gently as he scooted closer to his daughter, wrapping her around the warmth of his arms.
"NO! I'm not crying humph!" The elder man could only smile at his daughter's failed attempts at lying… "Very well then… I suppose whatever it is…you don't need help. After all you're a big girl of… what was it? 36? 70?" smiled her father.
"Tou-san! I'm only…" Sakura paused and fumbled with her fingers "This many…" she smiled as she raised four fingers in front of her father's face. But the smile soon disappeared and sadness greeted the girl once more as she buried her face into her father's chest.
"Miko-kun…he's gone isn't he?"
"Ah—" her father replied 'So she was thinking of him…' Miko, a boy Sakura had known since…well…since her life began. He was her closest friend. A good 4 years apart from Sakura he served as her baby-sitter and mentor. They'd spend hours upon hours filling the day with new adventures and stories and lessons learned only by innocence…trailing up and down the sands of youth, dancing among the meadows of innocence…both of them at peace and in tune with the world… But that innocence soon faded away as the boy she once knew as her closest companion, Miko had died of an accident that occurred not many days ago. And here she was…his daughter…brooding over the loss of that importance. She cried heavily into his chest and he held her tight.
"Ah…My Sakura" he began stroking her hair as looked at the sky "The stars seem to be dancing tonight…"
"What do you mean Tou-san?"
"Miko…you loved him like you're brother noh?" her father smiled "He was an important person…he filled your heart with love, joy, care, compassion…and in the process he left these gifts with you…so that you can preserve the stories that you both shared…I know that it's unfair that he was taken away from you Sakura…but that's part of the cycle of life…but you must remember…when people die…they don't disappear…you may not see their bodies, touch their flesh or smell their scent…but they are always with you…"
"Where?"
"Right here." The man pointed his finger to the girl's heart. "And here." He pointed towards her forhead. "And up there" He pointed to the stars.
"He's up there too?"
"Mmmhmm." Nodded her father "When people are taken from this world…we become sad…but it's ok to be sad sometimes…but Sakura, remember…don't let your tears cloud your vision…"
"Huh? Tou-san I don't understand"
The man patted his daughter's head and placed it on his chest once more "If you keep shedding tears…you won't see that the one you loved has already traveled his way into the heavens…and if you keep a close look…at night…you'll see him up there…dancing an eternal waltz with the stars…so when you want to see the one you love again…all you need to do…is visit him when the stars are dancing…and you can dance with him just as you always have before…A friend's way to the heavens should never be paved by a loved-ones tears…"
Sakura nodded and stared above where the sky was littered with tiny diamonds…Her face lit in enthusiasm as she witnessed one twinkle making it look as though it had conveyed a secret message towards the child "I see him Tou-san! Over there! See? See?" she said pointing towards the star that had stolen her sadness. Her father let out a hearty laugh.
"I understand…Tou-san I understand…" she said, "Miko-kun was very special…I don't blame the stars for wanting a chance to dance with him too…"
Her father laughed, "Let's go before you're mother starts to worry…"
"Tou-san, Oka-saan…Lin…I wonder if the stars are dancing with you as well…"
With that Sakura drifted off into slumber roughly hearing Sasuke mention that this was to be an "easy task to complete" with Naruto babbling about how it will only take them a few days to end…
Oh how they were dreadfully wrong…
The attack on the small country village that we were sent to protect had been...in a word...horrifying... though they had been able to subdue the sound-nins that invaded...the casualties were far too extensive. Even with her medical training under the Godaime she couldn't save each soul that begged for salvation. She couldn't...she was tired...sore and her chakra completely depleted. But. She had to try...try and save his life... no matter what she would save his life.
Sakura's POV:
I again gather all the chakra from my hands and press it against his limp body feeling his life slip away from my grasp..."no. Stop. Don't..."
I pray to the heavens for the bleeding to stop...he was loosing too much...too damn much...and I couldn't do a damn thing about it.
"Damnit.Stop. Please stop bleeding."
I begged.
Another surge of energy...
Another try...
A little more power...
A little more push...
Another go...
In. and out. My chakra surged through his system...
Give me a little more time...
One more..
And another...
Another...
In my attempt to revive the fallen youth from his immobility I failed to realize that in this desperate attempt his life had already slipped beyond my reach. And all was left was an empty hollow piece of flesh, void of all emotion or pain. His eyes stared blankly at the sky as though trying with all it's might to see beyond what eternity can only grant fools.
He was gone. Dead within the sanctuary of my arms...gone.
A life had vanished despite my greatest efforts...
I still failed.
All that training...and I couldn't even save a single life...couldn't even save his life...
I felt guilty...I deprived him of the smiles he would never express...the love that he would never find...the adventures that he would never seek...I was the perpetrator to this heinous crime.
I let him die.
In the end I proved to still be weak.
Incompetent.
Nothing.
Shivers ran up and down my spine...I continue my rituals of surging chakra into the empty human..."please...please" I pleaded...one more surge. And another...and another... I can't...he can't... it's not..."please--"
"Sakura--" a hand delicately found its place on my trembling shoulders. "He's gone Sakura...our mission is over..."
"We Failed. We must return and report this to the Hokage."
I look up to see the face of my sensei deep in remorse and yet...I couldn't allow myself to show my tears. I bite them back and stood, the boy still in my arms...
"Hai..."
Somehow I wished I was not sent on this mission.
My body ached and everything in me wanted to just stop and rest.
Run away and hide from this memory. But I couldn't.
Shinobi rule #25 A Shinobi must never show emotion.
I recite this prayer in my mind as I lay the boy upon the heap of dead corpses collected after the battle
Rule 25...A shinobi must never show emotion.
I bend down and slowly close his eyes...
Must never...
His face now illuminated peace...and yet within the depths of his contours there was pain...pain that I could not prevent.
Show...emotion...
Deciding that there were too many...casualties...to all bury in a single night we placed all the corpses in a pile and set a blaze upon them...letting their bodies burn in an inferno that would erase their existence upon the earth.
It was the quickest way..."What morbid logic..."
The fire spread rapidly...the boy's face still visible amidst the flames that engulfed the heap of dead...his face still slept in tranquil slumber while being devoured by embers. The smell from the bonfire caused my whole being to rupture in disgust. And yet I could not complain...after all this is the life I chose to live.
The life of a Shinobi...
I stand and help the rest scout the area once more before returning back to Konoha.
Our mission had failed.
I had failed the most.
All I could feel now was emptiness...and yet as I looked forth within the mass of what would seem the remnants of a devastating battle I could see the pain within their eyes...pain that had left me numb... Right now I want to join them.
She scouted the area taking in every detail that had ravaged this once peaceful village. Soon, her feet reached the shrine that she had visited only hours ago.
Fire engulfed the shrine...not one visible sign of life could be heard from within... She emerged from the bloodied corpses lying near her feet walking past a street paved by the dead... lives of many...ended by a single battle. A battle fought to safeguard the sanctity of the mission they were ordered.
They failed.
Even though they secured vital information of Orochimaru's location through the battle with one of the sound-nins…looking at the sight before her.
They had still failed.
She had failed even more.
"Tsunade's apprentice…and yet I couldn't save them…"
She sighed, looking upon the night sky she sighed "Seems like they're all dancing now…"
She kept a keen eye on the beheaded children that lay sprawled upon the steps of the fallen sanctuary... so young...and yet, even with her skills as a medic-nin...skills that her legendary Sannin bestowed upon her knowledge... there was nothing in her power...nothing that could bring them back to their original form.
"Damnit" she cursed her incompetence..."If I had only..." she closed her eyes and kept walking past the gaping heads of the youth and entered the shrine... The fire continued to eat away the remains of what used to stand as a monument of peace. "I still can't do anything..." ...as though her simple prayer was heard by the gods themselves... a desperate cry of agony came ringing within the slumber of her numbed thoughts... she rushed forth into the blazing heat...rushed into hell... to save the cry of the one who saved her life.
Maybe...all was not lost after all.
She rushed into the blazing heat determined to find the source of the agonizing scream. Within the chambers of the inner sanctuary lay a girl…possibly a year or two older than herself. A piece of the shrine's structure had fallen on her and as soon as seeing this Sakura darted towards her and, thanks to her unbelievable physical abilities, lifted the burden off of the fallen maiden. However, despite this heroic act the battered being of a woman before her was still in agony and was nearing the brink of death.
"One more try…" she whispered.
"Please.Tou-san…guides me once more… please…" she prayed as she began forming hand seals to prepare for her jutsu. Green light emitted from her palms and she pressed unto the woman's body. She tried to tell Sakura…something…but she was so frail and weak that the sound was barely audible…and Sakura only continued with her jutsu…
"Please…heal…" she could feel her life slowly slipping away. Then it came… visions of that boy who died in her arms…the children on the shrine's steps…
Her father's smiling face…mother's warm hugs…her sister's laugh…
…. Their bodies dead and pinned in an alleyway….
It was then that the tears came…and yet she did not recognize them in their presence…she continued to push chakra into the woman's body neglecting the risk for her own life…
"NO! Damnit! I can't…I won't…I won't fail!"
"Not…this time…"
The woman's body started to rupture…she was closing death…in another desperate attempt…Sakura fumbled to form a fluid sequence of hand seals and tightly wrapped the woman in her arms releasing chakra from every possible opening that her body allowed…
"Please don't---"
"Don't…."
"Don't," she pleaded…
That's when she felt it.
A warm glow within her…she couldn't distinguish what it was…it was warm…welcoming…sobering…. serene…
Then what followed were sharp jabs of pain that surged through her entire body…. perhaps death was devouring her as well…and yet she continued to heal the woman with what little chakra she had left within her.
"Please don't…don't…. don't… dance with them just yet…."
White light. That was the last thing she saw before she fell into unconsciousness.
And that is the end of chapter threeeee! ooooo i wonder what happened? is she dead? hmmm! oooo...yea im a little hyper right now.
but anyway. hope you all enjoyed the story so far
r&r plz and plz be nice