Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Konoha's Fall ❯ A Lone Blossom ( Chapter 1 )

The winds howled through the dark forest of Huni no Kuni, raging with what could be described as unfathomable sorrow, hurt, regret, but most of all, fury. But since wind is not a being of itself and just an ethereal entity, it's only significance was that it caused the almost sentient trees to sway in a deadly dance and further pushed in the oncoming storm of vengeance. In of of the denser part of the lonesome wood, an pale cherry blossom was sitting on an overhang of stone over a rapid grey river, the rushing water pounding on her ears as if in an attempt to push all of the past events out of her mind, her arms wrapped around her knees where her chin was resting, her profile unclear due to the fact that her hair was obscuring it, the black band beginning to grow lax in its duty of holding back the pink tresses.

The dark stone was a comfort to the kunoichi, whose eyes of emerald were fixed upon it, trying to brand it into her mind to erase the other events and their implications. Unfortunately, this was utterly futile. The orbs squeezed shut in frustration and in a similar mood as the winds that were blowing her hair into her face. Once again, I couldn't do anything!! Even after all this time, all I could do was just watch their backs... A lone tear tried to escape from the corner of the shut eye, but it was forcibly denied exit. If one fell, others would follow.

As Sakura's mind shifted through the turmoil, a familiar face painfully surfaced, causing a wracking pain through her heart. Tsunade-shishou...I...I couldn't do anything for you. After the killing blow had struck, Sakura had rushed in as quickly as possible and had begun pouring all of her abilities into trying to heal her master. However, the Sword of Kusanagi was unforgiving and now laid claim to the lives of two Hokages. Sakura's fists clenched, her fingerless gloves threatening to tear from the force of the self-directed anger. Sakura had closed up the wound despite the fact that she already knew that her master was dead, but the fact that she was smiling wasn't lost at the time. Realizing what would happen afterwards as the ROOT members were going to take Sasuke away, Sakura had shot him one lone, sad glace that she was sure he didn't notice before rushing to the Hokage's office with only minutes before ROOT arrived. Apparently Tsunade's other trusted person had thought the same thing and had already been securing secret and important items, the loyal Tonton by her side as always. Between Sakura and Shizune, the appropriate scrolls, pictures, and important research materials had been hidden away safely. After all, as her master's apprentice, it had been her duty.

As a lone raindrop landed on her leather jacket, Sakura began to rant at herself. "d**n you Sakura, why couldn't you do anything? Sasuke had to save Kakashi because you couldn't, and Naruto fought him because you were too emotional to. And then Tsunade-shishou had to give her life because you were too slow to do the same with yours or to push them both out of the way." Sakura took several large breaths before looking up to the sky, now dark with furious storm clouds. As the rain soaked her hair, luckily the leather jacket kept her trunk warm, Sakura yelled out to the sky in fury, not caring right now if any ROOT were nearby to hear. "d**n YOU SAKURA!" Let them hear! If they came anywhere near her, they were dead for desecrating her master's memory so!

Now letting out dry sobs, Sakura looked down into the very tempting river below. "Darn you to heck." Saline began to mix with the fresh water that was now pouring in buckets. What can I do now? Something has to be done, I know that...but what? I have no idea where anyone but Shizune is. With my luck, they're all doing just what I am...hiding from ROOT until the opportune moment. How in the heck am I going to find anyone? With that train of though going through her mind, Haruno Sakura rested her chin on her arms once more, lost in thought.