"Ino!" she yelled followed by a single tear and another. She rushed forward to catch her, her feet feeling like they were dragging each and every second. No, no, no! She couldn't die. She won't die, told herself as she watched her fall to the ground. The blonde was sprawled out on the ground, blood already pooling around her in contrast to her platinum blonde hair and pale skin. She quickly knelt beside her, activating her healing ninjutsu and placing it over her wound. "You're gonna be okay," she said as she began healing her wound. The fuma shuriken had grazed a side of heart, not the entirety of it. She could still save her. She had a chance to live. "S-Sakura," the blonde sputtered, blood flowing through her mouth. "Shhhh, I need to concentrate," the pinkette said in grim determination. She had started to repair the heart tissue. It was going to take a while though but she hoped that under these circumstances, a miracle would suddenly happen and her best friend would survive. Her chakra levels were low, she had been at the hospital recently until it had been destroyed and she was forced to go to the battlefield to vent out her anger on the armies of White Zetsus.

It all happened quickly. One moment she was healing Ino, the next she was kneeling behind the said blonde who had roughly shoved her behind her. In front of them was a white Zetsu with a kunai stuck in its face. It fell to the ground in a boneless heap and went still. She looked over Ino's shoulder and noticed several kunai jammed onto her chest and stomach. One had fully entered her chest until the hilt, that kunai was rammed into the heart she was recently healing. She felt her breath hitch and tears prick her eyes. "I m-managed to catch only one o-of the kunai so t-that it wouldn't kill y-you," the blonde kunoichi stuttered as she slumped into Sakura's chest. "Ino," she said, tears cascading down her cheeks. "You w-weren't paying attention to your s-surroundings. I always t-told you to always t-take in your s-surroundings," the dying kunoichi said. "Please don't leave me," the pinkette croaked as she watched the life leave her best friend's eyes. "Promise me t-to take care of y-yourself. And my teammates, a-and yours and e-everyone else," she said weakly. Sakura shook her head. "A-And kick that Sasuke b-bastard for me when y-you meet him for all t-the pain he caused y-you," she went on. "Don't say that. You'll kick himself. You'll be alive to see that," Sakura said desperately. "Don't be scared t-to fall in love. It's o-only natural that guys l-love girls with wide f-foreheads and flat chests," she teased tiredly. Even at death, she could still joke with her like everything was alright. "U-Until then, t-take care Sakura," she said lastly with a smile, her body going limp. No, no ,no! 'Don't leave me, I can't do this without you!' she cried as she tried to wake the unmoving blonde.

The scream and the burst of raw power that followed caused a sudden wave which destroyed everything within its give hundred meter radius.

"INO!!!"


She woke up with a start, tears falling down her face and her gut twisting horribly. Even the place were her heart was located was hurting. Yet again, she couldn't remember what she had dreamt. But she never forgot the emotions she had felt at that moment. Quickly putting on her sleeping yukata, she made her way outside of the room, afraid she would wake Matsuri with her sobs. She had been having weird dreams since a eight months ago, just before they had been raided by the Senju. She would dream about something, someone but forgot as soon as she woke up. All that remained were feelings of nostalgia. She would wake up crying more times often that not, wondering why she was crying in the first place. For all the eight months she had been at the Senju compound, they never stopped. They seemed to become worse as she got there. Sometimes she would dream of happy times with a feeling of accomplishment and utter joy. Sometimes she would bawl her eyes out with a deep sense of despair. The negative feelings overrode the positive ones. Many a times, guards would complain that she would be disturbing their concentration during their night patrols when she was screaming her lungs out during the night. No one made a move to comfort her. Matsuri would ignore her as if she wasn't hearing her. When the other kids heard of her nightmares during the night, they distanced themselves from her. The ghosts of her past were following her, they would say.

As such she didn't have that much of a friend. Everyone always seemed annoyed by her. She was too weak to do any job, she was useless because her body was weak. She was fragile as a doll and couldn't protect herself. She had a wide forehead and pink hair which scared the other kids away. Her vocabulary was too advanced for her age, she was always trying to show off that she was smarter than the rest of them. It was just because Matsuri was her caretaker that she had food and all otherwise she would be starving all the time, they would say all times and even some of the adults too. She overhead one of the maids complaining about the ' pink haired bitch who can't seem to do anything else except follow that Matsuri whore like a dog!' She didn't cry, no. For some odd reason, she felt as if she was used to this kind of treatment where everyone saw her as weak and useless. And it scared everyone because they never got any reaction out of her even when they made fun of her. The only one who was different was Hashirama. He didn't see her as some burden but instead saw her as a real five year old who was yet to know what made the world go round. He always graced her with a smile whenever he saw, always listened to whatever she had to say with the utmost concentration. He introduced her to books when Matsuri was with Butsuma and taught her how to read, sometimes inviting her to have dinner with him in his room when his brothers were away. And that caused the others to despise her all the more. Speaking of the devil...

"Sakura-chan, is that you?" his voice said, cutting through her sobs. She slowly turned around to face him and saw that he was dressed in a brown sleeping yukata as well. His features were grim with concern as he made his way over the stone she was sitting on. She had taken off to the river near the compound where she usually played by herself and sat on the smooth stone, sometimes sunbathing there. Today, the sky was cloudless and was dotted with a few stars which were shining quite brightly though. He took a seat beside the girl whose knees had been brought up to her chest. She was hugging herself tightly as though she was going to break herself. "Sakura-chan?" he questioned but he was only met by silence. He turned to watch the sky, listening to the crickets and critters who were snoring rather loudly. The river was slowly flowing with a low hum, almost soundless. The wind was cool and blowing softly. It was a perfect night for so many reasons but the girl crying beside him made it all seem sad. He waited in silence, giving the five-year old time to composed herself. She had turned five a week ago.

"Have you ever had nightmares which don't understand why you have them?" she whispered, almost silently. His ninja antics allowed him to pick even the barest of sounds. "Nightmares without a reason why you have them, huh? I have those sometimes," he replied coolly as he continued to watch the sky. "Sometimes I dream of everyone in the compound being attacked and being killed without having the power to save even one of them. Sometimes I see a desolate land without any life which scares me to the bone. And sometimes, I see myself alone without anyone. Just alone," he replied. "I really don't know why I have those dreams. It seems rather strange to me. I'm yet to lose anyone important in my life except my mother. She passed away as we both know. So I really don't understand why I would dream of that," he said as he lowered his eyes to look at the reflection of the moon and the sky on the river. "But aren't those dreams your fears? You fear being alone, not having power to protect your loved ones and something along those lines, right?" she said as she peeked at him under her eyelashes. She was still refusing to face him. She just didn't want to be seen with her face all red and puffy with snot and tears.

"I guess you could say that. I don't want to be alone or lack the power to protect my precious people," he said softly. "Precious people?" she queried. "Yeah, precious people. The people I hold close to my heart and would sacrifice my life for them. People like my father, Tobirama, Itama, Kawarama and you..." he trailed absent mindedly. "Me? Why me?" she said as she turned to face him in wonder. He had sensed the movement and had turned around simultaneously to face her. The two locked eyes, warm brown eyes and green eyes with wonder. "Because I don't want people to see me as some cold blooded shinobi or a god but for who I am or even fear me. I'm still human, with the Mokuton and all. You never looked at me with fear or wonder as though I were some deity. But you saw me as a real person, even going as far as making fun of my haircut and all. I guess I wanted someone who wanted to befriend for who I am, not because I'm the next clan leader or have the Mokuton. I wanted some who joked me with, pulled pranks on me, someone to laugh freely with and correct my wrongs with fear of me pulling rank on them. That's why you're my precious person," he said with a smile, staring right into her eyes.

Sakura looked thoughtful for a moment before her face broke out into a smile. "You're my precious person too," she said as she smiled cheekily. "Really?" he said with feigned wonder. She nodded eagerly. "You're my only friend in this whole compound, even Matsuri-sama doesn't like me that much. My hair or forehead don't freak you out and you never made fun of it. Besides, you always brighten up my day when I'm down. So you're my precious person," she said eagerly. Hashirama chuckled as he felt his insides go all warm. The two began to watch the sky in a comfortable silence. He caught sight of her shoulders shaking. "Are you cold?" he asked concernedly. She refused to meet his gaze and hugged herself closer, hoping to make herself warmer. Suddenly, she felt arms wrapping around her and pulling her into a rather warm chest.

"You'll catch a cold," he said simply as he pulled her closer. Sakura leaned in to the warmth and couldn't help the sobs and tears that followed. "Is something wrong?" the brunette asked as he created distance between them but still holding her. "I've never had someone comfort me or hold me close so it sort of all came out," she said, her voice muffled by tears. "Don't worry Sakura-chan, I'll always be there for you when you need a shoulder to cry on," he said softly as he pulled her in a for a hug. At that, the pinkette continued to cry, finally releasing all the pent up emotions of frustration, despair, anger, loss and joy.


"Why are you covered in tears and snot?" Tobirama asked once he felt his brother settle into his futon. He had sensed his presence and another one somewhere near the river. For some odd reason, his older brother had suddenly woke up and made his way towards the river at a fast rate, as though something had possessed him. "Where you crying?" the boy asked again. "I guess you could say that," the brunette replied sleepily. "Were you with Sakura?" he asked again. At first, there was silence that Tobirama thought his brother had fallen asleep. "Yes," he replied with his voice muffled by sleep. For the past eight months, his brother had been friendly and protective of the pink haired war captive. No one questioned him on the decision to befriend the war captive. The one time his father had mentioned that he should stop associating with her, he had received a glare from the brunette and the said brunette had calmly told his father that he would continue to befriend her as she was just a harmless and lonely orphan whom they had captured on one of their unnecessary wars. Butsuma had tried to argue but didn't get the chance as Hashirama had already made his way out of the room. From that day onwards, no one brought up the topic of Sakura. His brother's soft snores finally lulled him back to sleep, with images of a pink haired girl who wrapped his brother around her finger.


I'm so done with this chapter. Took me an hour and half for me to write it. I hope you enjoy it. I just wanna say a big HELLO AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS AND SUPPORT to SakurayaXD. I really appreciate it...man or girl. Greetings from all the way from Zimbabwe. As well as the rest of you who are reviewing, following and favouring this story. Thank you so much guys!!! Read and review.

Tozoonana

AfricanFire