A Story of Resolve.
Nothing to gain, nothing owned.
0o0o0
Laying in the hospital bed, the young jounin, for the first time in his life, feels something like regret. Strange, it's such a nostalgic feeling. Perhaps he has felt it somewhere before. He begins to think back to where he felt regret before.
His father comes to mind.
Laying in the hospital bed, the young jounin no longer wishes to think about his father, or anything for that matter. Although young, his bones are weary, and his cold heart has become so very brittle, ready to break at any moment.
He can hear his heart pumping so loudly that it drowns out the organized chaos outside his hospital room.
He can feel his heart pumping so painfully that it pulsates through his entire body, struggling to replace what was lost.
He doesn't like the intense pain he feels with every breath, it's keeping him awake...
Laying in the hospital bed, the young jounin no longer wishes to lie to himself, and so, he is truthful.
The pain, while intense, does not keep him awake.
The sound and feel of his erratic heartbeat does not prevent him from sleeping.
The memory of his father can't make him restless anymore .
It's how he isn't there to cause noise and keep the jounin awake. It's how she isn't fretting over the jounin's wounds, and telling him to shut up so the injured can rest. It's the foreign object lodged in his right eye that keeps him up. It doesn't hurt, not really. Kakashi can't sleep because it's there, and it simply shouldn't be.
0o0o0
Quickly and quietly, Sakura made her way back upstairs, praying to whoever would listen that her parents weren't awakened by the loud noises that just came from her room. She hear her heart beat loudly as she stopped to listen for her parents moving around. Thankfully, she heard nothing. Letting a sigh of relief escape, she thanked whoever heard her prayer. She would rather avoid having to explain the situation if she could. No matter the reason, having boys in her room at this hour was unacceptable, and the odds of her explaining it to her dad before someone got hit by a lead pipe were less than promising.
'Honestly, what was I thinking?' Sakura thought to herself. 'As if Naruto could keep still for more than three seconds.'
Upon reaching her door, Sakura took a deep breath, and opened the door. She expected Naruto must have slipped on something because he was clumsy. Or maybe he dropped something heavy and was worried that Sakura might kill him. She would, naturally. She told him to stay put, and it's obvious he didn't...
Sakura stared at the two young men waiting patiently at the foot of her bed, in the exact same position she left them just a few short minutes ago.
As if Sakura would honestly fall for that.
"Naruto, what was that noise I heard?" Sakura asked, her voice sounding so very, very sweet.
As if Naruto would honestly fall for that.
"Why Sakura, I have no idea of what situation you are inquiring upon." Naruto replied, sounding for all intents and purposes like the consummate gentlemen.
Sakura narrowed her eyes. 'I bet Naruto has no idea what he just said.' After some seconds of staring, she began turning to Sasuke to ask him, when she saw her clock out of the corner of her eye. Barely suppressing a sigh, Sakura let the matter drop. "We don't have time for this, we should go ahead and meet our sensei early so we make a better impression."
Sasuke nodded, "The sooner we get started, the better."
"Okay then," Sakura responded, "I'll catch up to you two at the bridge in a little while, I need to finish gathering a few things."
The boys began to take their leave and headed out the window. After Sasuke jumped, Naruto was about to make his leap too when Sakura said in a quiet whisper, "This isn't over. I will find out what happened up here." Naruto just shrugged his shoulders.
"What makes you think it was me?" he asked, that impish smile forming as he spoke. "Maybe I'll tell you what happened later, but it's gonna cost ya! A night on the town, you 'n me, wadduya say?"
Naruto didn't need to leap from the window, Sakura's foot propelled him quite well, and the ground did a good job of breaking his fall.
Well, it would have if he didn't fall flat on his face.
'Seriously', Sasuke thought, watching the two, 'who the hell decided this was a good team?'
0o0o0
Standing before his sensei, the genin looked at his new teammates with disappointment.
So much hard work put in, and he somehow ended up on the most mismatched team he has ever seen.
The Uchiha is loud and obnoxious, his very behavior contradictory to the profession that he claims as his own.
The orphan girl, Rin, is too naive, too concerned with others and not enough with her own improvement. She has yet to put her career above all things.
And then there is his Sensei, as naive as the orphan girl and twice as loud as the Uchiha.
There must be some mistake.
0o0o0
After the boys left, Sakura headed back downstairs to the supply closet. Knowing that there was no chance of being interrupted again, Sakura made her way to the very back of the closet to where she put her very first supply kit. She made it when she was nine years old. All of the academy students were given an assignment back then to make a field survival kit at home to show the class the next day.
She had no real concept of how dangerous missions would be, and had only planned to put some bandages and snacks in it. She would have probably left it at that, but as fate would have it, her parents heard about the little project from Ino's dad. While the very thought of their daughter needing a survival kit made them shiver, the Harunos simply refused to let their child go anywhere without anything and everything she could possibly need in any practical or unpractical situation.
Thus, the Haruno Survival Kit was created. Iruka-sensei would have given her an A+, but he said that it was important that you only pack what you can carry, and her nine year old frame barely lifted it off the floor. She got a C at first, but it went up to B+ after she fixed the squeak in Iruka-sensei's chair, replaced a blown light bulb, and helped the Hokage create peace between two warring nations.
The last one was an exaggeration, but still, that was one handy survival kit.
"Oh yes." Sakura whispered to herself, a smile quickly forming. "If this doesn't work, nothing will."
0o0o0
She held the urn in her hands as she shakily climbed the stairs to the mission requests room. She could have called, or sent a notice, but that wasn't how she did things. She gripped the urn a little tighter to her chest. That wasn't how they did things. He always loved to say, "If it's worth sayin' then ya gotta say it face to face!"
He loved talking to people. He loved seeing people and saying goodbye. He loved the kids who came to visit after academy classes ended.
She couldn't give him kids, and part of her never forgave herself. She loved him so much, with his hoarse laugh and terrible jokes, and they tried so hard to have kids. By the time they considered adoption, they realized how old they were, how frail and tired they began to feel. She knew that he never blamed her though. They never knew if it was he who was barren, or her. Neither could stand the thought of asking. It was better not knowing.
And so her Hideo died, and as he wished, she would take him back to where he was born.
Makunoichi Hideo would sleep on the waters of Kunisaki.
0o0o0
A tan young man with a scar across his nose looked up from his papers. His tired smile of greeting turned to recognition and understanding upon seeing the urn.
She smiled back at him, and began to speak.
0o0o0
Mission status: Accepted.
Mission Parameters: Escort of Mr and Mrs. Makunoichi to Kunisaki, Oita Prefecture. Five day journey. Possible encounters with Bandits
Mission Rank: C
Assigned team: Pending. Volunteers acceptable.
oooo
Words of Resolve:
Well, now you know what Kakashi plans to do to test them, right? Impressed? I bet you are. I sure as hell am.
ANYWAY...
Sorry it took so long, but I can explain! I have a job now.
See? Explained.
So read it and enjoy. You can even review, if you're into that sorta thing. Please, don't be afraid to point out mistakes. A little feedback is always appreciated.
Update: I've just re-uploaded all the chapters with new scene breaks. Here's hoping these STAY PUT.
Next Chapter!
Whatever the hell I feel like writing!
( It's a secret!)
Should be coming soon. I finally have that urge to write. Feels good man.