Entry no. 34: Mist
I'm too brain-dead now to tell you why I didn't update again, sorry. Just accept my sincere apology.
To answer your reviews (I love you for taking the time to write them. So much.):
A. B. Flarain: Now that you say it like that, I see it as well.. hell, I'm a genius.. :D Sorry. Thank you fro your review, I'm glad you enjoyed AND I just wanted to say: I love prodding into Orochimaru's character once in a while, he is so blatantly villainous and evil it almost looks like it's on purpose, and there's just so many nuances and layers on him... he's like onion... :)
LilyVampire: God, I'm so glad you liked it even if only a little! I'm pretty sure there will be more, no matter how much I've been neglecting this list. It's all because I'm trying to write a certain paining for a long time now and I'm failing so epically... but one fanfic I read recently put a little plotbunny to a probably very unpretty NaruHina you would probably not like either... :D You'll see, hopefully.
Whitewind04578: Oh, I'm so glad you did! (And also glad I decided not to be cruel and end it with a curt claim that everyone died anyway that day.)
Anyway, enjoy!
WARNING: Descriptions of injuries, nothing too bad. It's slightly morbid, though. And dark. Oh god I'm going to lose you guys today.
The mist hugged them as they ran through the valley, allowing the chill and moisture in the air to seep into their skin. It was thick and dully grey, separating them from each other since all any of them could see were themselves, and vague darker shapes of their teammates.
Sakura didn't mind it. She was used to the chill from working in morgues and the false privacy the mist provided allowed her to spend the whole journey deep in thought.
They finally found Sasuke.
Some spy of theirs in Kirigakure tipped them off about someone spotting the nuke-nin, and only weeks later actual rumors spread through the countries about the Mist village having caught the Sharingan wielder.
They were sent to negotiate his release into Konoha for proper trial, but no one thought it would be possible. Tsunade warned them about their bad relations with the village, while Shizune only shook her head and expressed her concern about Sasuke's state when they will arrive.
Sakura was biting her lips the whole time they travelled, worrying about this, worrying about Sasuke's future and safety. It was better than thinking about the fact that he will most probably not be pleased to see them at all. That fact hurt Sakura, who was still, quite irrationally, in love with the young Uchiha.
In the end she decided that coming up with best and worst case scenarios was only bad for her, since her foremost concern should be the fact that she was in enemy territory, and thus should be all eyes at all times.
Coming to this conclusion, she looked up.
The mist in front of her seemed even thicker than before, she could barely make out a dark blur to her left that might have both been a tree and Kakashi.
She breathed out. Suddenly, when she was aware that she was in danger, being alone and blinded by the mist wasn't such a nice thing.
She continued on, dodging rocks and trees as her feet hit the surface of a river as they followed the curve of the valley to the west.
The mist diluted somewhat a few minutes later, and Sakura could finally at least see her teammates.
Suddenly Naruto came to a halt.
Kakashi came to his side and stopped as well.
Sakura, being their rear guard, was the last one to reach them and see what they saw.
A large rock massif was blocking their way. It seemed heavily chipped and she thought she could almost see a cross on the top of it.
"What is that, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.
The Copy-nin narrowed his eye at it. He was prohibited from using his sharingan until they came into contact with kiri-nin, and thus didn't see much more than they did. "I don't know," he admitted quietly. "It shouldn't be there."
"Let's take a look," the blonde said and disappeared in the thick fog at the massif's bottom before they could stop him.
Kakashi nodded at Sakura. "Let's follow him."
She let him lead her into the thicker fog, until they found Naruto staring at a large patch of stone.
She was just about to ask what was so strange about it until she recognized it as well.
What she thought was chipped-off stone and cracks before, were names. Thousands of names engraved into the stone.
Tada Taji. Yoneda Tetsuzan. Shihei.
Sakura touched one of the names, her finger tracing the perfectly carved characters.
"What is that?" she asked absently.
Oe Minoru, Yoneda Hirotada, Sakamae.
"It's..." Kakashi reached out towards the names as well, but his fingers didn't quite touch them. "... a memorial stone, perhaps."
"Like the one we have in Konoha?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi only nodded.
"But it's so huge..." Sakura trailed off as she let her hand slide over the stone while she walked along the stone face farther from the two. As she reached a larger carving of the Kirigakure emblem, she looked up. From down here, she couldn't properly make out the shape on top, but she noticed birds swarming around it in a spiral before they took off again.
She felt movement behind her and turned sharply, just to find Naruto behind her, looking up as well. "What is that thing up there, anyway?"
Kakashi's voice came seemingly from nowhere as the mist thickened once more. "I don't know."
Sakura's eyes scanned the grey mass for her sensei's shape. "Can we have a look?"
It was probably morbid of her to want to see what was there, but... this place's atmosphere was as intriguing as it was grim.
She finally found the man as he stepped closer to them, his head tilted back as well. "I suppose."
Sakura nodded, jumping up the stone and leading the way to the top.
Her breath hitched in her throat when she realized that no matter how close to the top they were getting, the stone was still covered in names.
When she was almost at the top, she looked up. And froze.
Up there, atop the mountain of death, was a cross.
And on it, a man.
He was covered in blood from head to toe. Half his hair was gone and terrible burn scars covered the revealed skin, the faded colour of the scars in sharp contrast with the dark red of dried blood. There was a single character carved into his forehead: batsu. Punishment. Trails of dried blood went all the way to the hollows where the man's eyes used to be before, and then continued down over his mouth and jaw down a neck laden with deep scratches to a naked chest which had yet another word carved into it. Murderer.
"Saku... ra..." Naruto trailed off as he stopped right next to her, staring at the crucified convict as well.
He seemed to express all her thoughts when three quiet words slipped out of his lips. "Oh my god."
They still stared when Kakashi walked up straight to the cross and started to examine the body with a look of worry clear in his eye.
Sakura couldn't clear her mind enough to wonder why as well as she couldn't get her eyes off the obvious display of cruelty before her. In morbid interest she noticed one of the man's arms seemed half severed.
What could the man do to deserve something like this? Who did he murder?
Naruto make a few shaky steps towards Kakashi and said something, but Sakura didn't listen as realization dawned on her.
This stone.
She dropped to her knees, her soft fingers caressing the names carved into it.
It was the only logical conclusion.
The man nailed to the cross by rusty kunai was the reason those names were carved. The man with the mark of a murderer all over his body killed each and every person whose name was carved there.
That's why the stone wasn't there before. They put it there along with the man, to remind people of his deeds.
Sakura looked up at the cross.
Suddenly she could imagine herself being the one driving a rusty kunai through his pale hand, she could almost feel the strong muscles twitching in her grip as she slowly carved "remember, remember" again and again into his right forearm, like a chant, while remembering someone dear to her who died by his hand.
A sharp cry cut through the grim silence.
"What?!"
Naruto.
Kakashi's hand was on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."
Naruto's lips moved wordlessly for a while, then he sank to his knees. "You... you had to... it can't be... you lie."
"I... might have made a mistake," Kakashi said, trying to console the blonde.
"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said, confused, catching the man's eye. "What... what did you tell Naruto?"
Kakashi gave her a very serious look, then walked up to her and knelt in front of her. "Sakura," he said softly, both hands firmly gripping her shoulders. "I examined the body on that cross..."
She nodded.
"I'm afraid it's Sasuke."
No crime goes without punishment, right?
Peace, love and eternity,
Moya.