The Moon That Embraces The Sun
Chapter 5:
The Lie Of The Sad Animal
Title: The Moon That Embraces The Sun (Previously 'Guilty Pleasure)
Rated: T
Pairing: Multi x Sakura
Plot:
The "thorn bird" of the title refers to Sakura's character, who only brings out her best at the cost of great pain. A thorn bird is a mythical bird who searches for a thorn tree from the day it is born. When it finds it, the bird impales itself upon the sharpest thorn, and rises above the agony to sing the most beautiful song ever heard.
Flashbacks
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"The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary. Men alone are quite capable of every wickedness." Joseph Conrad
I headed back to Konoha after fleeing Suna plagued and disturbed by Sasori's behaviour that almost resembled the time when my own mind went insane.
Soon, Third Shinobi World War was to come after the second. It was so tiring to see all three wars by first hand and it didn't helped my already fragile mind either but knowing Naruto's existance was the only thing that made me hold on.
Sunagakure also participated in the war, as it was during this war that Sasori earned fame as Sasori of the Red Sand, due to his ingenious puppets dying the sand red with his enemies' blood. But he was also famously known for having one particular doll, a beautiful puppet that would allur its viewers by one look in the eye. He treasured it of course and he would rarely took them out since it was only made for display but I was sure he would have hid few tricks inside. Somehow he managed to persuade his grandmother smoothly to give them back in return for his assistant in war. Playing a good, loyal ninja while still retaining those dark obsession only showed how manipulative he had grown over the years and managed to hid them from her eyes.
What a disappointment.
It was obvious either I or another had to kill him in the future.
As soon as I stepped into Konoha's soil, I headed for one person who somewhat became my friend, mentor, mother-figure, my philosopher.
Old, aged hand gently combed through my hair as my cheek laid against her frail knee while I rested my two hands on her other hand. My eyes trailed to her hand, many blue and purple ropes directed toward many direction under her skin and brown spots printed her hand. By the time she gave birth to a baby girl, she went to give birth to Tsunade and her brother, Nawaki all
"...You're old" It was an odd yet laughable statement but my lip found its own mind to speak and she laughed at the comment.
"And you're still young" She talked back in small sarcasm.
I lifted my head up and saw time had clearly did its job on her. The face once young and flawless was filled with lines and veins that surfaced on her skin.
"When do you think I can finally stop?" Before she could answer, there was a knock on the door and I hurriedly put my veils back on. It was tiring, to live like this.
"Ah, Kushina" It was Naruto's soon-to-be mother, "Come. I've been waiting for you"
The young girl stepped in but stop noticing the cloaked person kneeled next to her, "Don't worry, Kushina. Come"
As her face came closer and closer, those words that I have buried resurfaced. Her face was keenly similar to Aoi's. They both had chubby faces in their young days that clearly marked them as late bloomers- a sign of their beauty in later life, red hair and almond shaped eyes sparking with kindness and innocence unlike mine.
"Aoi, that girl. She seemed to look more like Kushina each day"
Kushina timidly sat down just few distance away from my figure, "I heard...about the ceremony that will take place in the next moon."
Mito took her trembling hand into her's as she made a kind smile in motherly manner, "You were chosen for your special chakra that could be more stronger to contain the beast than mine but mostly, you were chosen because your ability to love, Kushina. We came here to be the vessels of the Nine-Tails… But before that, we must find love and fill the vessel with it."
After few months, the Death came to take her away and she gladly greeted the Death like an old friend and left the world to follow her daughter's and her husband's footstep, smiling. Many wept in respect for the great kunoichi ever lived, others in sorrow that their loved one parted from them.
The two babies was taken away and was under the care of the Third Hokage. I first objected but he told it would be for the best and I should concentrate on Naruto's birth and his future.
- -Yes. His future
Back in present, I could see there had been a battle in the land bestowed by the very person who named them but in midst of debris of bodies and scavangers eyeing their many prey for the tasteful meat stood a lone boy of seven, silvered hair that glistened under the hot, sweating sun; Kabuto.
There was no way I could ever forget those faces that had hurt me and he looked up to me in scared, vulnerable eyes that seemed to resemble normal frightened child, hid evil streak underneath; relief appeared on his dirties face, his hope high that he would be rescued but when he opened his eyes he realised he was staring at beautiful blue sky and that the organ that would have usually sat on his left chest landed on her hand.
His heart.
This me he'd thought was his savior turned out to be his grim reaper and a cruel one at that. With his slowly deafening and closing ears heard few shuffles and mumbles of incoming ninjas for any suvivors and I made no move to run like I wanted to savour this moment because I have been waiting for this a long time.
He saw her as an animal more savage than the ones who had stirred up this war yet I shed tears for sin told us both while I can do these horrible things still had those guilty conscience.
I saw last few breaths left his dry, cracked lip and his eyes diluted, his pulsed peaked in effort to preserve itself, slowed and ended soon after few minutes, with slowly breath ghostly evaporated to mix with airs above.
There was a gasp and stilled movement from the corner of my eyes and used my hair fall like a veil around my face, but is also limited my vision. His eyes now fell on the life organ in my hand and then to the boy's ripped chest and his mind clicked then understood everuthing.
"May I help you?" I asked in non-different tone that doesn't fit into the current situation.
Resuming into his most professional expression, "I am the Captain of the Konoha Medic Corps, Kurikura Kansuke. We are currently in process of cleaning and checking the fallen bodies in this area. I assume it was self-defense" He motioned toward the fallen body of a child but it contained dubiousness tone underneath although child trained as shinobi was not rare in these times.
The heart slipped away in bloody trails onto the now painted red grass with a plop and was soon forgotten. While my eyes quickly darted to the lifeless form of a child knowing he could well hear me since the hearing is usually the last thing to go after death...
"Which village are you from?" He queried while he scrutinised my form for any search of suspicious reaction.
"Konha."
Such a lie. The lie of the sad animal
Somewhere in same place, stood a boy of seven among the corpse, similar to Kabuto's yet different in mind, his eyes nervously darted everywhere for a escape that wasn't painted red. The boy noticed a fallen kunai beside a dead and he mindlessly picked it up, noticing the sharp edge of a blade. It seemed to coruscate under the sun. Would he? His parent was somewhere in this field dead or alive, either way, and they were not here when he needed them the most.
A voice whisphered into his mind with sinister persuasion.
'Do you think you'll ever be the same?'
'Such a pitiful child'
'This is the human. The very being you are.'
Then the child picked up the carelessly thrown kunai left below his shoe, flicked his wrist and positioned the sharp point toward his left chest where his dead heart still beating against his will, his hand swung back to gain strong force to finish his hopeless life line in one shot in clean and painless-
A wrist shot out to grab his wrists, bent over so the person's lip was near his ear and whisphered in almost sympathetic yet cold way, "You want to kill yourself?"
The boy, clearly suprised at being sighted at his most vulnerable state, jerked his body out from the hands and stepped a few meter away.
"If you wanted to die, you could have chosen somewhere more quiet and discrete. As you can see, my land needs cleaning from all these mess again and it would be wonderful to see one less body here since I took care of this land ever since from the beginning."
So the child looked around the land and suprisingly found despite the wars going on the trees and grass, fruits and its futility soil was still kept fresh and in check-something he had missed in all these holocaust showed invisible hand someone had put in effort to keep them in steady condition.
"If you really want to die, starve or burn yourself to death instead trying to do it painlessly since you think death will be more easier and less painful than carrying your life; if you truly believe you've suffered worse and enough..those pains will be nothing to you. I'll admit, I thought of them often."
As he stood to look at the woman, he found himself, in complete surprise, unable to pick up the dagger and pierce his chest because he didn't wanted to go the way she advised and he realise he had not felt the worse yet. He looked around the land, this Kikyō Pass belonged to this woman. It suited the owner at the matching name because among this, he thought she was the only one who looked..out of place here.
For the first time, he opened his sore, dried out mouth to speak, "Who are you?"
"Me? Haruno Sakura. You see, Itachi-kun, Konoha and this land used to be a peaceful place covered in green fields. Now there is only dry, immense desert...I want to bring the green back... "
The familiar looking boy turned out to be no more than the future Uchiha heir, Uchiha Itachi. Their face that shared unmistakable similarities but their eyes held different meanings toward everything caught me off guard for a moment. My eyes traveled back to the the seven year old trailing behind as I went around healing any fallen or wounded soldiers in the ground and many recognised the missing heir was found, they went to alert his parent.
"Come. I'll take you back to your parent." Untying the veil and covering his face before he could say anything as I picked him up and supported his weight on my arms, we headed out. He first tried to force his voice to say he wasn't a kid or he don't know if he could trust her, I beat him to it.
"Its good not to see something like this once more."
His father and mother came as calm and patient. There was no hurry in their steps nor any worry present to their faces, then the woman came down to hug her son in ironically warm embrace against the odds; the father, grateful to his founder offered any of his assistant.
"I have only found him in spare moment of coincidence, Uchiha-san, I have only done what a normal person would to a lost child." I gave him a hint there was nothing I desired out of this as he bowed in gratitude at rescuing his son.
Few words were exchange and they decided it was time to go home after finishing their deeds as they pulled their son along and I handed the sleeping heir into the arms of gentle touch of his mother, Itachi half lidded eye found itself looking back at the departing figure, amazed and allured. He swore he saw glint of emotion that he could guess was sadness in her eyes.
How much had time past?
Because when he opened his eyes he was lying on his bed, his hands still clutching tightly onto the veil she let him take.
He rushed out of his home despite the protest that came out from his parent's and servants mouths, he headed straight back to the same mountain he ended up and to his surprise, the dead bodies, corpses, blood were all gone as if the Earth had swollen back the very thing they were made out of and only plain ground was left.
By the time, she was gone
He knew at that moment even know he didn't know how it felt in his young mind, he fell in love with the flower that blooms on the battlefield.
I watched side lines, as the future parent of Naruto grew. First with hostile-one sided, but after kidnapping of Kushina, Minato was the first to set off even before the order was called. He spotted her through the strings of red hair she left on the ground led him to her. They couldn't take their eyes off each other.
Even during the Third Shinobi World War, I watched Naruto's soon to be parent grow and grew closer to each other. Their evident of love was in their subtle touch and their eyes that seemed to always find each other no matter what, even if one was lost in the crowd of rushing people busy to live their lives, everything seemed to stop around them.
Such lucky people.
However, my envy did not go unnoticed.
"Why is it you would look at us in such hatred?" A voice crept from behind. I was surprised because this room, this castle was located in the deepest and hidden part of village and a barrier over it. Her foot walked backward and forward almost as if admiring the architecture and structure of the Kikyō castle.
"This Kikyō castle...is a lonely place for someone like you to live in, Haruno-san." I remained quiet, "I know you were the one who was with Mito-sama that time and the one who hidden herself from other."
I stood up and tore the veil away from my face, revealing my pink hair that was curled up under the material and my one eye. The left eye hidden by the long draped hair caused Kushina to wonder what happened.
"Hello to you, Kushina, my dear" Despite the fondly nickname, it held no feeling a person should have when using such close name.
"Whether I look at you guys in hatred or happiness what is it matter to you?" I could see she was surprised by the harsh tone of my voice. And the fact she looked more and more like her only annoyed me further.
"This place is not something you can come in as you please, little girl nor is this something you can label it as lonely. Lonely...such a word for people who have not even felt a tiny bit. How would you know?" I smiled at her in devious way one would say sadistic.
"My parent died when I was young, Haruno-san, I think I know what it feels like" She bit back.
However, my smile only widened and revealed sharp canine that flashed reminded Kushina a character from this scary story she remembered hearing when she was young.
"Dead parent are better. Better than the ones who left you, but those things are also something you can live with finely but I have lost everything that human would need to survive. But let me tell you" I traced my hand down her cheek, "It's those things that wakes human up from their disillusion they will never be alone"
"Agh!" Kushina gasped when my nail scraped her cheek sharply and blood dropped out from the fresh wound.
It was the time Kushina saw the sad ugliness inside those eyes.
"Chiyo-sama, I received your letter. Where is he?" I demanded, if my heart was beating it would have pained my rib with its hammering strength. I received the letter of Gaara's soon birth. Too soon.
"Karura is giving birth right now-Sakura, you cannot go in-!" For the first time, in hope and my mind becoming a hot-blooded, impatient teenager again, I burst the door open and almost immediately, medics tried their best to get the visitors out.
"I'm sorry but you cannot come in here!" One female medic tried to reason with me.
"It's alright, Azami. Let her in" Chiyo said behind us, managed to catch me quickly as she could.
Once then the female medic quiet down as Karura, The Fourth Kazekage and other staff looked at me in puzzling expression.
"What is the meaning of this, Chiyo-sama. I clearly said no one other than necessary should be allowed in" He firmly said in spite of his wife's near birthing.
"Trust me, Kazekage-sama" She assured, "She is necessary in his birth." His brow furrowed confused but Karura's eyes widened in realisation.
"Wait-you are" The beautiful woman motioned me to come near and I stopped down near the hospital bed so my eye levels were just below her cheek.
"You are that girl Chiyo-sama would often talk about. Haruno Sakura" Her voice came out as a whisper, sweat beads evident on her forehead from the pain and strains.
Her sweaty, pale and fragile hand gripped mine, "Tell me. Tell me about my son."
"Gaara" I spoke, "His name you will bestow on him...He'll be a great ninja in the future" It was half true and half lie, great ninja-yes but somewhat antagonistic yes.
"And you will be the most important person to him. You were to be married to him" This made me falter the smile I can't remember ever making.
"Yes. We were"
"Were?" It was obvious grandmother Chiyo did not tell of his death. I avoided her questioning eyes and stood up, "It looks like the baby is about to come" The medic then proceed to guide guests away from the patient room.
Few hours, after painful procedures that left her dying, the child was born. Gaara. She named him and then I was let in to see the tiny baby being cradled in his mother's arm. He was three weeks early which meant his birth would have been before 37 weeks gestation and it meant his body would be fragile, tiny and vulnerable. In human, several organ systems mature between thirty-four and thirty-seven weeks, and the fetus reaches adequate maturity by the end of this period and he would need very close care until his body stabilise.
"What a small, feeble child… No matter what happens, I'll always protect you! Gaara…!" She promised. Noticing I stepped into the room, she handed the child to me carefully and I took him to my arms just as she handed me the child as her husband lovingly went to her side obviously worried for her health.
"Gaara" I felt painful sting in my eyes. Huh? What's wrong with me..crying like a child so suddenly I didn't want Gaara to see me like this so I quickly brought my sleeve to wipe the tear before it fell onto Gaara's cheek. The bundle of nerves reacted quickly at the sudden movement and his little, tiny hands not bigger than a small rock swam toward the warmth and managed to grab onto my finger.
It wasn't long to realise, while holding onto Gaara, I found out she had fallen to death after the labour. And now, she was thinking of putting the chakra beast inside him.
"NO!" I screeched. In process, my side bangs that hid the very secret and in response, Chiyo's mouth gapped open.
"Sakura, you did not-" She roughly grabbed my face to get the clearer look into the eye.
"Sakura! You cannot do this. That eye are not something you can merely possess; anyone for that matter!" I lifted my head away from her hands, tight gripped onto the crying child I turned my attention to him. I comforted him. The baby's cry stopped and listened, quiet and docile just to listen to my voice again.
"Gaara is my lover. He had protected me now I wish to so." I lifted him toward my cheek, "He is few I cherish."
"Sakura. Look at me. We must do this. For our village, for your village, child" Her voice lowered down into persuasive tone, to get my guard lowered so that her voice may slither through the tiny crack she hope to made.
"You know as well..that villages and those lives means nothing when it comes to your beloved Sasori" It was obvious I stirred something inside her for her finger twitched uncomfortably. There was many question I wanted to ask.
'Why did you done that?'
'Do you want me to be sad?'
'Perhaps, you too, do not like me?'
'Are you afraid to get punished?'
Or...
'You don't want me to be happy?'
Before any of us could say, the office glass shattered and a shadow laid in between us.
"I finally found you...My...beloved"
"We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone." -Orson Welles-
