Naruto sat in the couch numb, his eyes wide and slowly his head fell in to his hands. To him everything was starting to crumble before him, none of what they said could be true; it was afterall Sakura they were talking about.
Groaning he spoke to himself in the quiet room. "Tsunade-no baa-chan…why did you have to go and die…."
-
Jirayia stood outside the meeting room of the Hokage, his arm crossed and his eyebrows curling into a deep frown. Shizune on the other side her gaze on the ground and a small medic book hanging lazily from her hands.
The atmosphere was anything from calm.
Jirayia spoke first. "He already knew…he told me everything, he knew what the consequences would be…"
Shizune bit down her lip.
"It makes me sad knowing that a fine and honest girl like Sakura has to suffer like that now…" Jirayia continued.
Shizune shifted slightly on her feet, the ground more interesting than the old man before her.
He just lifted his gaze to the door, hearing nothing but silence from the room. "Naruto has never been a great thinker, I wonder if he can do anything even if he did use his power…"
"Naruto-sama will have his position taken away if he uses his power to stop the trial…" Shizune spoke.
Jirayia couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the situation. "Well, Sakura reminds me a lot of Tsunade you know. No matter who they are, or what they have done, they always wanted to help…Now Sakura has to get punished for helping the Tsuchikage…"
Shizune slammed her foot into the ground in anger. "Damnit! I told her to rescue Naruto! If she just listened…"
"Sakura wouldn't! " Jirayia yelled, glaring at the younger woman. "Sakura would have been miserable if she didn't help him…! And she knew what would have happened…"
Shizune was quiet for a while, "to me it seems…that she wanted to be punished…"
Her gaze rested at the door. "I pity him…"
Jirayia went silent.
-
Hinata stared wide-eyed at Neiji. "A…are you serious…"
He folded his fingers and rested them at the table, watching as his cousin was slowly starting to have a nervous breakdown, which hadn't been his intention from the start. "Hinata-sama, I have no reason to lie to you…and you were there yourself…you know what Sakura-san has done…"
Hinata brought her hand to her mouth, closing her eyes. "W…what about Naruto-kun…it…she…she is his best friend…"
Neiji closed his own eyes and rested his forehead on his knuckles. "Let's hope her punishment is mild…I wouldn't want to see Naruto get thrown of the Hokage position so easily…"
-
Shikamaru stood in the doorway surprised, Naruto looking miserable as he rested his head on the desk. His hair messier than normal and bangs underneath his eyes. Shikamaru felt that he defiantly had a need to worry.
"Naruto…"
"…"
"Hey, yo, you okay?"
"…"
Shikamaru frowned. "Damnit! What has happened…?"
-
Temari sat outside the Hokage office in a soft chair, waiting for Shikamaru to get the latest news. The small child in her arms moved slowly and let out a small cry, causing her to loosen the blanket around him. Unconsciously a smile spread across her lips, making her calm down, it was a beautiful child. Black hair and eyes like the father, but what made her proud was that the skin was the same as the ones in the sand.
She stopped smiling and closed her eyes.
She would have to leave in a couple of days, when they sand ninjas were leaving the village, which meant that her brothers would have to know about her little 'incident'.
The thought itself made her cringe and wish she stayed with Tsunami and Irani. What in the world would Gaara say, or rather, what would he do?
She groaned and rested her head against the wall.
Soon after the door opened and a frustrated Shikamaru exited, she stared at him with her green eyes. "How did it go…?"
He sighed and stuck his hands into his pockets. "Bad…very bad…"
She frowned.
"It seems that Haruno Sakura has been sent to trial for treason to the Konoha village…they will arrest her at dawn."
Silence.
"Oh Shikamaru you have no humour at all! "She exclaimed and groaned, hoping that he really was joking. Her eyes rested on the plain roof. Was that a crack?
He sat down beside her and took out his hands from his pocket, placing them in front of him. Temari stared at the rough skin, wondering how a lazy ninja like him could get this kind of skin.
"Gaara says he will do everything he can to make sure Sakura escapes…"
Temari looked at him. "So…He wants to help Sakura to Suna?" the baby opened his eyes. "Shikamaru! Don't be joking!"
His eyes turned towards her. "I am not…" she sighed in relief. "Oh thank you…"
"Because if she stays here…she will be executed…"
She flinched.
Shikamaru reached out to touch his son, stroking his black hair with a sad smile.
Temari bit her lip. "How is Naruto taking this…?"
He looked up at her, but she didn't look back. Shikamaru sighed and continued to touch the black hair.
"Naruto…He…"
-
She glared at him from her seat, her legs crossed as she snorted, "You never had emotional training?" speaking as if he was a strange thing.
-
"Haruno Sakura you are hereby arrested by the Rokudaime for treason against the Hidden village of Leaf, by saving the TsuchiKage during war. You have the right to remain silent; anything you say can be used against you…." The tall proud ninja said as he read the scroll out loud.
Beside him stood Ino and Shino, a look on their face showing inner torment.
They had probably protested loudly. Ino would at least.
Sakura sighed and opened the door fully. "I see…"
Shino took her by the arm, and Ino took the other, the other ninja eyeing Sakura with disgust. She didn't say anything.
They closed the door and let her down the alley, Sakura eyeing the Hokage tower in the distance. Letting her head drift to the floor she sighed.
-
"Don't worry Naruto!" Sakura said grinning, amused by his bad table manners, "I will never betray you…!"
He looked up, ramen covering most of his face, his eyes as always confused. When he finally caught what she said he smiled brightly. "Of course you won't Sakura-chan!"
-
Naruto came to the conclusion that he didn't like Sakura's apprentice, and for reasons know since the child, right now, stood in his office completely silent. And he thought that Yamato was creepy.
"Eh…uhm…what can I do for you…?"
"Tohru…"
"Eh?" he narrowed his eyes in confusion, and studied the girl further.
"Hanara Tohru is my name…"
He scratched the back of his neck, wondering how a ten year old girl could be so mature in one but more ways. It scared him.
"I am here to request a place as witness in the Haruno Sakura-case…"
His hand stopped and his eyes became pained, something the girl noted right away. She clutched the piece of paper roughly in her hands. Her brown hair hanging loosely down her shoulders, somehow her haircut reminded him of Tsunade, which didn't help anything at all.
"You are Naruto aren't you…?"
He looked up.
"She always talked a lot about you, telling me stories about how both of you rescued many ninjas. Your stupid perverted jutsus…"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't understand why her eyes always lit up when she talked about you, she was usually gloomy all the time, and I don't know why you were so different…"
Naruto could feel a slight blush on his cheeks, and rubbed the whiskers.
"Heh…I can't believe a person like you is Hokage…"
Naruto's eyes widened, before he laughed. "Eheheheh! You defiantly are Sakura's apprentice! No doubt about that…"
The girl stopped her speech and stared at him confused. "Excuse me…"
"Hahahahah! That was the first thing Sakura-chan said to me when she saw me after six years…"
He slammed his hand into the desk as he tried to stop his uncontrollable laughter. "Ehehehehe"
"…" was Tohru's response.
"Ahahahahaha!" this was a strange feeling in his stomach, he really should be concerned about Sakura, but he just couldn't help it.
"However, I am here for answers…" she said.
"Ehehehe…" Naruto continued.
"I want to know who Uchiha Sasuke is…"
Naruto stopped right away, his eyes wide.
Tohru narrowed her eyes. "Because he is the reason my sensei is miserable…"
"…"
"I want to kill him"
-
"Sakura!"
She could hear screaming outside her cell. Sakura rubbed her arms and closed her eyes, wishing that she was still travelling and not in the city of Konoha.
She wished that she had sent letters to Naruto.
She wished she had healed Sasuke that day…
"Sakura! Let me go! IT IS MY DAUGHTER!"
She folded her hands in her lap.
Wishing that Tsunade still was alive, and finally she wished that hadn't left in the first place.
"Sakura!"
Sakura then opened her eyes and turned her head backwards, making it rest against the wall, her green eyes sparkling in the evening sun.
"Sakuraaaaaa!"
The screams seemed so far away from her and everything she could see before her was a pair of onyx eyes staring coldly at her. Her lips curled into a smile as she shook her head, the image stayed.
A taller figure appeared beside him, a smirk and long blond hair with striking brown eyes.
She rubbed her fingers against each other in her folded hands, staring at the worn skin, wondering how many people who had tasted her fist in the past years. The blond haired person looked around in the room, obviously unsatisfied with the condition of the room.
"Geez, Sakura…what have you done huh…?"
The screaming stopped; they probably removed her mother to another place, trying to calm her down.
"I don't know…"
Sasuke snorted and crossed his arms, watching her. "Really? You are annoying, why are you lying…"
Sakura turned silent.
Tsunade glared at Sasuke, resisting the urge to slap him or something. When making sure the boy would behave she turned towards Sakura. "But you didn't do anything wrong did you Sakura…"
Her green eyes watched the opposite wall, her face expressionless.
"I don't understand…"
Both Sasuke and Tsunade turned towards her.
"…I wanted so badly to save Sasuke-kun…"
Her head dropped to the ground.
"…it is my fault you died…"
His face's expression didn't change.
"…I wanted him to live so badly…"
Tsunade's face relaxed and she watched Sakura.
The pink-haired kunoichi snickered and her right hand went through her pink bangs. "You are just my imagination…"
Sasuke frowned.
"I am going insane…"
They both looked at each other for a few seconds and then disappeared, leaving Sakura in her cell.
-
Naruto scratched his head. "Uhm…Tohru-chan, how about we uhm…go somewhere…I don't like the office so much…"
The young girl crossed her arms. "Very well…but you will be treating me…!"
"Eh? I am the Hokage!" he shuddered by the thought of the young girl reminding him so much of Sakura when they were younger, just like Sakura reminded him of Tsunade.
"HMF! Very well!" he snorted and stood up. Tohru smiled in victory and followed him out the door.
-
Sakura opened one eye when the door to her cell slowly opened, the creaking sound making her close her eye again in hope of it disappearing. She wasn't in the mood to talk.
The door closed with a bang and it was locked from the outside. Sakura wouldn't try to escape, no need to deny what she had done right?
There was a soft thud on the bed at the other wall, Sakura didn't bother to open her eyes she wasn't interested in talking, what was the point?
"Geez, Sakura…you really do look like a mess. "
She didn't answer.
"Has your forehead grown or something…?"
Sakura frowned with her eyes closed. "Shut up Ino…"
There was a snicker and the sheets rustled as Ino sat with her legs crossed, sticking her tongue out in a mocking motion. Sakura groaned and turned so she faced the wall, causing Ino to laugh out loud.
"Sakura, Sakura…I am here to visit you, cheer you up, try and appreciate my effort a bit, it wasn't easy getting here…"
Sakura forced herself to calm down. Why were people always disturbing her when she didn't need it?
"Sakur-aa" she continued, causing the pink haired to frown even deeper. Ino pouted and moved her legs so that she could rest her head on them. "Sakuraaaaaa…stop being a spoiled child and talk to me…"
"…"
Ino rolled her eyes and stroked her bangs backwards in an annoyed expression. "You are not improving your situation by saying nothing…"
"…"
Ino finally snapped and slammed her fist into the wall, not enough to make it crack, but the room shook for a second. "Sakura!"
Sakura opened her eyes and closed them again, only to having her own arms hugging herself, bending her legs so they touched her elbow.
"Geez! Why do you always have to act like this! Nobody died!"
Sakura flinched.
-
"Sasuke-kun! Don't die!"
-
"What is this…?" the young girl spoke rather disgusted.
Naruto looked up from his own ramen and turned his eyes towards the brunette.
"It's ramen! Eat! It is good!" he grinned, the girl stared at him with a hint of anger.
"You really don't care about Sakura-sama, if you are sitting here eating ramen with her apprentice…"
He stopped his movement with his chopsticks and his eyebrow turned downwards. She still glared at him, and he sighed a deep sigh.
"There must be some sort of misunderstanding here…" he started, but she interrupted him. "Why are you sitting here then? When she is rotting in a cell somewhere!"
He slammed his fist in the table, making it break into several large pieces. Tohru backed away, slightly startled by his reaction. "Why are you so mad?" she screamed.
"Don't you dare say that I don't care about Sakura…" dropping the suffix to prove the point.
Tohru narrowed her eyes further. "Then do something! My sensei is going to die beca-"
She stopped when she saw the Hokage sit with his head in his hands, his face hid behind his bangs. His shoulder shaking ever so lightly and could only be seen if you were a good observant.
"Sh…she blames me…"
"Huh?"
"Sakura blames me and herself for killing Sasuke…a…and that is why she is sitting in the prison right now…"
"Hokage-sama…"
He gazed at her with his blue watery eyes. "There is nothing I can do…"
Tohru looked at him confused.
"Don't you think I have tried everything?"
Tohru placed her hand on the rough surface of the table. Touching her bowl of soup.
"I can't help her, because she regrets it so much that she wants to die…"
She looked up.
"Hokage-sama! Don't speak like that…!"
-
"How can I ever smile, knowing I killed my best friend? Without having him fulfilling his dream…"
-
Ino took a hand into her bag and rummaged in it for a few seconds with Sakura watching her every move before she showed her a green book, with the title "Apples"
"You might be going to stay here for a while so I brought you a book for entertainment, which is the only thing you can do until the trial…"
Sakura reached out and touched the green paint and took the book with a firm grip. "What is the story?"
Ino sat back, and rubbed her cheek, yawning a bit. Spending two hours with a stubborn Sakura was troublesome. "Well you see…" She grinned again and her cheeks flushed a bit pink.
"It is about a kunoichi and a ninja…really, it is a very strange book, but this girl she has some issues with apples, her mom died because of apples and her father died on an apple farm…"
Sakura stared at the green front-page with a picture of a girl with her back turned towards the viewer.
-
Watch my back.
-
"And the girl falls in love with a boy on another farm, however, the boy has some issues too, his family is dead too, but of other reasons I wont tell you. Despite that…" Ino noticed Sakura's far off look, but she continued anyway.
"The girl knows another boy who is a bit loud, but he is kind and sweet, and knows when to back off…"
Sakura turned her gaze towards Ino whose cheeks still held a tint of pink. "The good thing about this story is that you don't know who she'll end up with, truly amazing…"
"I would pick the last one…"
"Huh?" Ino looked at her confused. "Why?"
Clutching the book to her chest she closed her eyes and rested her head against the hard surface of the book. "Because who wouldn't want a person like that. Understanding, loving…even though he might be dumb…"
Ino grinned. "You know what…?"
"No…?"
"That sure sounds a lot like Naruto…"
Sakura's eyes shot open and she stared at the blond girl, who just shrugged. "I didn't say you loved him…"
-
A/N:
1: what is wrong with Sakura? It is just Sasuke!
aaaah…okay, let me sum this up for you.
Let's see, Sakura has through all her life been very "addicted" to Sasuke, her whole mission with Naruto was to save Sasuke from Orochimaru and because of that she was derteminded to train for both Naruto and Sasuke.
Then what happens? It would be easier to deal with the loss if someone else had killed him. However, that isn't the case, Sakura and Naruto kills him with their own hands, meaning that they have to deal with not only the quilt of having their mission declared a failure. They also lose their goal, and lastly they must deal with the fact that Sasuke never managed to kill his brother or avenging his family. They KNEW that it was everything for Sasuke.
Now Sakura knows, she was very capable of saving him from death, but was unable to do it. That is why Sakura feels even worse than Naruto, because she COULD have SAVED him, but she didn't and that is a quilt no-one easily shakes off. It doesn't help that she chooses to travel away from her home and Naruto, refusing to get over her quilt.
I sure hope this explains her obsession with Sasuke and Tsunade and why she seems very very insane. This is a normal reaction for some when they have to deal with death in this way. Sakura thinks she is a failure. I won't do something that would make her OOC, I use pure fact.(Tsunade though is just her motherly figure which she also could have saved if she didn't travel.)
2: NaruSaku!
Love doesn't come over night, let them deal with their problems first.
3: why did Sakura save the Tsuchikage.
Will be explained later in the story.
4: TemaShika!
I will deal with them later…I need to write about Gaara and Temari first. (fight!bwahaaha)
Thanks for all the support ect, I appreciate it. I have limited time to work on lately and don't have an easy time coping with things. (doesn't help I have to go to the doctor, buuuh.)
All right to Kishimoto!
extra note: I draw a bit in my sparetime, take a look in my profile for a link to the Rokudaime picture I made.
Cha-ne, review of flame me if necessary.