Title: Blossom
Series: Naruto
Parings/Characters: Sakura with mentions of Sasuke, Ino and Hinata in passing.
Disclaimer: Kishimoto created Sakura and the world in which she comes from.
Rating/Warnings: T or PG-13 for implied situations. Angst.
Dedication: The Sakura fans out there! She rocks our socks off!
Summary: Sakura usually likes to garden.
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Sakura loved to garden. It relaxed her. It comforted her. It made her smile. To her, gardening was a lot like her own medical works. Her blossoms bloomed exactly like her patients recovered. The similarities began their and didn't end for quite the list's length.
For instance, in order to be a great medic-nin, you had to have a steady hand. You had to carefully guide your chakra to the right paths, careful not to skip over any potential wound nor accidentally flood too much chakra to one point, for the consequences could be dire. You had to be able to carefully cut open the skin to remove or patch up any internal injury and do so quickly so as not to place any more strain on the body than it was already dealing with.
The same could be said about gardening. You're hands must be strong enough to break through the toughest soil, separate the strongest roots and hold the heaviest of plants and pots. They had to be gentle enough to not break the stems nor roots or injure the most delicate of plants. They had to be steady enough to correctly secure the most fragile of branches to supports for continued growth.
It was amazing to see all the similarities that lay between the separated categories of medical and plantae, but it was even more amazing to see what differences occurred when different people took care of different plants.
When she visited Ino's flower shop, she constantly saw strong yet beautiful blooms, all telling a different story and ready at a moment's notice for use. She saw many of Ino's creations and productions of hard work in her patient's rooms. Some told of strength after a rather valiant battle while other's spoke softly of a hope of recovery. Some, rarely though, simply said thank you. All spoke of love.
When she visited the Hyuuga compound and sat down to tea with Hinata in the gardens, she saw the product of the heiress's own gentle yet comforting work about surround the area, promoting that same supportive environment they had grown up in. The leaves shone proudly in the sun's light and the petals beckoned forth a gentle peace while the fragrances gave a soft, subtle nudge of courage.
So, it really came as an icy shock that warm spring morning when the White Iris that Sakura had planted for her former teammate, now ANBU Captain, Sasuke, in hopes of promoting some good news and glad tiding began to finally blossom only to just as quickly turn a darker colour, almost pure black.
If trees could talk and flowers speak, Sakura was positive she could hear her entire garden crying as all of her blossoms had begun to lower to the Iris and weep as in a state of permanently forgone hope. She could only fall to her knees and pray - despite the wisps of her own soul that told her it was for naught, that the blossoms were of nature itself and couldn't lie - that somehow she had brought home fragments of some remaining toxin from work that had caused such a drastic change or some such just as similar. Something. Anything that could explain it all away and still keep Sasuke safe.
For once, Sakura's garden had lost all it's comfort. For once, she couldn't smile. At least not any more than her blossoms could lie.
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Eh... This one doesn't really feel that right to me. -sigh- I don't know why. But whatever, here it is. The next chapter will be better!
Thanks for reading and feel free to review.