I sat under that same cherry blossom tree I had reminisced under not but a year ago. Not but a year and yet so much has changed. I could feel the soft burning snow on my bare feet and my body shivered from lack of warmth. I was in my ninja attire. A red tank-top and a white skort I had taken my shoes off a while ago and sat under this sacred tree of mine. Winter came last year and came again this year as I knew it would. The double edged snow fell from the heavens to the floor I sit upon now. The snow so pure and white: looks inviting, welcoming. As if begging me to sit upon it and be cushioned from the ground. Yet my skin meets the snow and its disguise falls. Now I feel its burning cold but yet my body will not move away from it. I look up at the sky and give a weak huff of laughter. "Gods, why do you do this to me? What have I done so wrong that I should be punished so cruelly?" I ask the absent guardians. My eyes are diverted from the heavens, however, as a dot of pink is caught in my vision's web. It's a flower: the last flower of the season. How did it live so long? I shift my body as if to get up but pause in my movements and let stillness take over so my thoughts can gather.
Why kill this flower as I have killed its mother. Maybe I should let it live to see how long it lasts. Why kill it when it has a chance. If it could live through winter then it will see more days.
I shift once more into a comfortable seated position. I could feel the rough bark move against my back. I could feel the snow burning-cold even still. I could smell the winter winds and all they carry with them. I could see…him. As I always do. As I always will. He invades my thoughts. Even in my purest sanities his angelic face takes over eroding the only ground I have left to stand on. He left me. That's what he will always do: leave me. That night he told me we were just friends. That night and this night share the same dates. In the past year I haven't spoken to him once. I saw him two or three times but never again did I hear him, smell him, or even feel the warmth of his skin. Sai had been in sound since that night. His mission was delayed and he had to stay an entire year. Tonight he would come home. But it was too late. I would be gone. My strings of solidity and sanity have been cut. My thoughts have traveled to the depths of my mind and never again will they return. Nor I. Never again shall I return. I had contemplated suicide a few times. But it never happened because it wasn't rational. I am already dead. The only thing that a knife could cut is the beating of my broken heart. My mind is lost and my soul: broken. My heart's two pieces no longer belong to me. I am already dead so a knife could kill me no more. I shall live out this tragic life and play my roll well. Maybe a reward shall come of this, but I would not ask for a miracle.
I stood up, shaky at first but I gained composure within time. I looked up at the flower one last time with a dead hope dully shining in my eyes, before walking away slowly. I started off towards my home. The day after Sasuke left I lost another patient and after that I gave up on my healing career. I no longer worked at the hospital. Now I spent all my time training or doing missions. When I realized I was no longer alive I took on all the suicide missions. I did not do it in hopes of dieing but looked at it as: I am already dead what is there to fear. Should I not offer all of myself, however little it is, to the safety of my village? Now I am a strong shinobi. I fight through my pain and have been emotionally wrecked so bad that I can kill without second thoughts. In fact I kill happily. I am doing a good deed when I take the life of another. I only wish to die but cannot. So taking the life of another is simply taking their future pain away. The future pain I know they will feel. The pain I have experienced first hand.
I was walking past the hokage tower and stopped to think. I looked up at the window and knew Naruto was right behind that window. He had worked his way up. He knew what he wanted to do. He knew what he wanted to become and he dived right in and went after his dreams. I just went from low to lower. I got nowhere and that's what I have to show. That's what I am: nothing. I petal in the wind. I was about to turn and go home when something weird happened. I felt something on my cheek. It was…wet. A tear? I haven't cried in at least a year. Why now? Is this my reward? For what? I didn't have time to contemplate this miracle any longer. There was a large explosion and it came from Naruto's room. I easily teleported into the room. I could smell the fire and smoke. I could barely see anything. I immediately called out to Naruto. "Naruto? Naruto!" I screamed. I couldn't loose him too. This couldn't be happening.
"Sakura. It's okay." That was…Sai. He and Naruto appeared behind me. I threw my arms around both of them and more tears came: crying felt so good, but having both of my boys felt even better.
"Naruto, don't ever leave me. Sai I missed you so much. I…can't do this anymore. I need…help. I need you guys." I cried out. Naruto pushed me off of him gently and looked into my eyes.
"Sakura-chan, I will never leave you. It's okay." I felt a warm presence around my waist and knew it was Sai's arm: holding me protectively. I composed myself just a little and looked at Sai.
"What…what happened?" I asked.
"A ninja tried to attack dick-less. He snuck up behind him and was about to strike but I stopped him. The ninja used an exploding tag and made his escape. Sorry dick-less. I should have moved faster and caught the enemy for interrogation." Naruto laughed and threw his arm around Sai.
"Don't worry about it. I'm alive right? Everyone else is okay that's all that matters." Naruto said happily. That happiness would soon fade however. Two anbu ran into the room carrying an unconscious body.
"Sir, we saw this sound ninja jump out of this room after this explosion. We believe him to be the cause." The head anbu said. Naruto looked at them astonished. Sai looked at me sympathetically and I just stared at the sky, now visible through the hole in the roof. The gods truly did hate me.
It had been a week since the attack. Today Naruto would meet with the council. Where else would I be found besides my sacred Cherry Blossom tree? I contemplated what had happened: A sound ninja had attacked our Hokage. That was punishable by death. There was no doubt the sound ninja would be put to death but what of Sound country. Why would Sasuke send a ninja to attack Naruto? The council has been trying to find a reason to go to war with the sound so it's not unpredictable what they'll think. Would the council really force Naruto to declare war on Sound? This is too much. Thinking about this is too hard. I can't understand all of this and I can't deal with it. My emotions are spinning out of control and all I want is to feel nothing at all. That is all I want. "Gods, if I am to remain among the living to amuse you at least take away this burden of emotions so that I may live on with ease." I cried up looking at the sky for an answer. When I looked up I noticed that the flower I spared earlier this week was still there. If it survives then so shall I. I ran top speed towards the hokage building. I could feel the wind whip against my skin. It was so cold but my mind was focused on my new goal: getting to Naruto. I had to know what was going on. I had to do something about this up-coming war. I could see Sai and Naruto walking out of the Hokage tower. Sai looked as emotionless as ever but Naruto looked completely different from his normal happy-go-lucky self. I couldn't stop the shadows from covering my mind and soul as I got closer and closer to them.
"What happened?" I panted. Naruto just looked away: a tear coming down his cheek.
"The council said that if Naruto doesn't declare war on the sound he will have to step down as Hokage." Sai said with the smallest hint of anger.
"They can't do that!" I yelled furiously as I grabbed Naruto by the collar. "Naruto get back in there and do something about this. You promised me you would bring him back if you can't do that at least keep him alive!" I yelled. Naruto looked at me surprised for a moment and then his eyes turned blood red. He pushed me away from him and all I could do was gasp.
"Sakura, I can't do that. He isn't worth it. I will not sacrifice my dreams for him! Stop acting like a helpless child. You know he never planned on coming back and he never will! Why do you want me to make you false promises?! It would be better if he just died! Why can't that bastard just die?!" Naruto yelled before clenching his fist and disappearing. Sai helped me up and held me close. I could smell his cologne as I buried my face in his shoulder. I couldn't even cry I was so stunned. Naruto had never yelled at me before. He was right though. I am just acting like a child. I am still trying to get help from others instead of doing things on my own. No more. From now on I will accomplish my dreams instead of sitting under a tree and crying to the gods. I pushed Sai away and ran. I ran as fast as I could. At first I didn't know where I was going but soon enough I knew exactly where my heart was taking me: the Uchiha compound. I had a plan and it would work. Sasuke will come back to Konoha. I know I'm asking for a miracle, but don't I deserve it? Yes I do.
Sai and Naruto were sitting at Ichiraku together. They both had ramen in front of them but neither was eating. They were just sitting quietly staring at their food as snow fell from the sky and pact layer upon layer of the soft frosty white matter on the ground. As children ran through the snowy streets playing games and mothers followed soon after their offspring, as couples talked and walked blissfully unaware of the peril of other's lives, Naruto and Sai sat depressed and thought of the situation at hand. The cold silence was broken by Sai.
"You were wrong. You know that right?" He said nonchalantly.
"Yeah, I do. I was just mad at… everyone and everything and she was there and...Now I feel bad but…" Naruto spewed out the words quickly with short pauses every now and then.
"She was wrong too. She shouldn't have accused you like that but she only did it because she didn't know what else to do." Sai said again nonchalantly.
"Maybe we should go and find her. You said she ran off right? We should make sure she's okay." Naruto almost whispered as he stood up and absent mindedly through some change on the counter before closing his eyes and slowly turning around to walk away. Sai nodded and followed Naruto. The boys wordlessly solemnly started their journey to find their lost friend.
"Sasuke-sama, we just received this scroll from a Konoha message bird." A low ranked Chunin spoke as he handed a scroll over to the Sound's ruler.
Sasuke read the scroll curiously but soon anger and even more curiosity took over. He looked angrily at the anbu who presented him with this scroll.
"Prepare an army to go to Konoha to attack. In three days I want three fleets of ninja: one of jounin and two of Chunin and genin. The first fleet consisting of jounin will go in during the morning and the surprise attack will begin. The second fleet consisting of Chunin and genin will go in afterwards when Konoha realizes a battle has been started and the last fleet will go in when needed. I also want a fleet of anbu to sneak into Konoha in two days and remain there until the battle. When the signal is given the anbu will join the battle." Sasuke spoke and the low-leveled Chunin took in every word like his life depended on it: for he knew not to anger his leader.
I had finally reached my destination and soft pants escaped my cold lips. I could see my own breathe but I didn't care about such meaningless things. Instead I opened the sliding door to the largest house in the Uchiha estate. I knew this was probably Sasuke's old home.
I walked into the house slowly. It smelt horrible in here. It smelt like…blood. I walked to the window and opened a curtain. Clouds of dust enveloped me and I coughed and sneezed the bothersome air away. Now that the curtains were opened I had the moon and starlight to brighten up the room.
Part of me wished I would have stayed in the dark. All over the walls were blood and the furniture was torn apart. Tables and chairs lay broken on the ground. No one had ever bothered to clean this place up? The shock I felt began to disappear. This was all Sasuke had left. Why would he want anyone to clean up the only thing his parents left behind? It made sense that he hadn't let anyone clean this place up. He probably came here often just to reminisce.
I stayed focused and headed for the back door. I had to try my hardest not to gag as gruesome images of slaughtered mothers and fathers flecked across my mind. I slid open the back door and stepped outside. They had a small garden that was oddly enough still in good condition. I walked down the cement path to the middle of the large yard and began to execute the first part of my plan: training.