Chapter 6
They ended up leaving the dumpling shop that night with Sakura breathing out with relief and thanks when Tsunade told her she at the last minute had canceled her plans and decided to head back to Konoha with her. The four figures leaped through the woods, the moon held high above them like a pale lantern shining a ghastly glow on this unsettling night. Moegi was leading the group, behind her Tsunade and the ANBU man trailed close with the foreigner on his back, and at the end of the line was Sakura herself, taking on the responsibility for rear lookouts. A brush of chill winter wind swept through the quiet forest leaving the tree leaves and Sakura shivering uncontrollably. Sakura stared wistfully at the stranger whom she gave her white cloak to; her eyes tracing the wrinkles of the fabric as the cloak billowed in the rushing air current. Sakura threw a glimpse at the half-dried Chunin jacket folded in her arms then quickly looked away, tough times today, tougher times tomorrow, she thought wearily in her already thoughts-occupied head.
The peak of Konoha was just before their eyes, and Sakura still hadn’t made out what to say to the Hokage. To her, this whole incident was like a pebble being dropped into a pond of calm water, sending ripple after ripple that creased the smooth surface of the pond; it was like a train traveling nicely and evenly on the railway and abruptly coming to a stop when the driver spotted a strange creature tied to the tracks; it was an unwanted disturbance in her orderly life which began after the recovery of the aftermath of the Fourth Shinobi War.
Sakura’s brows creased as something bolted promptly in her mind. Her senses captured the sound of whistling wind and crackling branches as she zipped past them; her pouch jostled anxiously against her back. “Tsunade-sama, would it be alright for us if we enter Konoha through the front gate with this Kakashi-lookalike? Should I perform a transformation jutsu on him before we come near the gates?” Sakura proposed hesitantly, her sharp voice echoing in everyone’s ears.
“I suppose it would be alright,” the blonde in the lead kept her face looking towards the front, “if Kotetsu and Izumo don’t make a huge fuss about it. I understand where the secrecy is coming from Sakura but security is tight around Konoha these days and will continue to be. It will be better if we just tell vaguely the truth and then reveal it all on the day this man regains consciousness and decides to spill everything about his identity to us.”
Amongst the shadows of the night, Sakura could make out the silhouette of the current team: Moegi’s orange hair that was painted pale by the moonlight, and whose head nodded frantically to whoever was speaking, the placid ANBU meters in front of her choosing to remain silent, Lady Tsunade discussing the plans they should reinforce and tasks they will need to get done on this man once they enter Konoha. The moon’s chalky light cast a filmy glare across the dark terrain as it rose higher above them as if urging them to hurry on. Get back to Konoha! It whispered compellingly to the group of darting dots beneath its presence, sprint towards the gates of the perturbed home that awaits you! And the stars watched on, blinking with distress as the team disappeared into endless rows of bushes. Nature returned to its restful slumber when the ninjas sprang away from her nocturnal territory. Tonight will be a night, the moon’s ancient voice penetrated through the thick air; her hands of reassurance embraced all lifeforms on the lands she strolled past, bound together by tension and something insignificant——the moon’s languid voice dropped lower and lower until it sounded more like a solitary mother chanting the final notes of a melancholy lullaby to her newborn——that will expand into something of importance sooner or later.
I can feel another presence much similar to mine near me, radiating from somewhere…the west? The moon sighed to its companions; the stars flickered cluelessly at their grey friend, one particularly snorted at the moon’s remark until the moon drew its breath and continued again in a quivering voice: A destructible force is approaching.
——
Sakura continued with her daily tasks the next day. Last night when they arrived at Leaf’s hospital, Tsunade had instructed Sakura to carry on with her daily things and leave this intrusion up to her and Sakura was too tired to object. She trudged gloomily towards the direction of the training ground, practically dragging the toes of her shoe across the stone pavement. A messenger bird above her whizzed past and cried out at her with a teasing laugh. Sakura glanced at the ticking clock in a mask shop as she tramped past, the hour hand slept lazily on six while the minute hand whirled around it in circles. She had ten more minutes before her last training with Yamato started, Sakura wondered if she should buy some dango before heading straight to the space outside the academy which was a just few more streets and turns away.
Sakura summoned her willpower to fight against her closing eyelids; her limbs felt leaden dangling inanimately from her hunched shoulders, dragging her body forward with each reluctant step. In the thawing morning cold, she hugged her coat tighter around her chest yet inside, her mind was boiling with heat from her agitation. Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead; the girl's cheek flushed with warmth as she exhaled long, steamy breaths. I should have changed the schedule with Yamato’s training to the afternoon, Sakura blamed herself, who knew winter this year in Konoha could be so wintry? Now that she recalled how the training started, Sakura instantly felt her energy soar in her body, guttering through her veins; and filling her with freshness:
Long before the Fourth Shinobi War, Sakura had completely mastered governing the basic elements within her body: fire, water, and earth. Yet she couldn’t utilize any two of the elements to form the advanced elements as she doesn’t have any Kekkei Genkai. And with the impending Fourth Shinobi War, she had less and less time to focus on perfecting these skills. It was after the war that Sakura realized as she crawled up from the battleground, surveying the debris and wreckage of the Ten Tail’s destruction that from the moment Tsunade took her as a disciple, her role would only be limited to a Taijutsu user and a medical ninja.
While war changed people, it altered Sakura too. A sealed ambition awakened within her heart the moment her foot touched the ground of Konoha; the mechanical gears in her mind clanked against each other as her ideas flew from corner to corner. A moment her head was preoccupied and the next it was as empty as an untouched scroll. A moment her body was pumping with energy and the next all the vitality drained out of her. For the first few days back in Konoha, Sakura struggled to balance her new profound thoughts and her old feelings; while she focused on helping to restore her nation, these thoughts constantly nagged at the back of her mind. Serenity never manifested itself to her and Sakura’s mental state was in conflict for weeks. Month after month, she refused communication and interactions with people; choosing to stroll on deserted sidewalks during the day, spending her early mornings in the darkest space in the library, and taking all the night shifts in the hospital. Occasionally, as the soon-to-be Head of the Leaf Hospital, she would eat lunch with colleagues who were unfamiliar to her or too shy to be with her. That way, the free periods between each shift could be passed in respectful silence allowing Sakura to meditate while her co-workers scribbled away on their black clipboards. Sometimes, a face would pop up amongst the sea of people and would declare his admiration for Sakura movingly and bravely only to be rejected by her time after time. Life continued like that for quite some months, Sakura's lifeless soul entrapped in her hollow body wandering around the Leaf until one day she bumped into Yamato who was scouting the village’s gate (for what apparent reason, he never told her).
“Ah! Good morning Sakura!” Was the first thing she heard from him in months after the war. Normally she would have dipped her head in response and whirled herself away into any random opening that was near then sprinted as far away as she could for her life. That Sakura after the war suddenly despised socializing; her old demeanor was lost somewhere in her ocean of thoughts. However, seeing Yamato immediately caused something to snap in Sakura’s head; the final piece in the mental jigsaw puzzle she took weeks to complete finally clicked into place; like a puppet pulled by rubber strings, Sakura marched stiffly up to the Captain of Team 7, nearly tumbling into the ground with her quick, uneven strides.
“Captain Yamato!” her intended cheery voice sounded more like a menacing crackle. Sakura bowed her head in embarrassment, “Good morning.” She looked up again to see Yamato smiling comfortably at her.
Unexpectedly, everything revolving in her brain died away with only one phrase left imprinted in the shadows of her mind; the same one that was shot into her head the instant she was back at home after the war.
“Captain Yamato, I apologize for disturbing you in your duty,” Sakura began solemnly, “I’m here to ask if you will or can accept me as your student and teach me to be the next wood technique user in the world.”
The memory Sakura dosed on for recharging her spirit burnt down to ashes. On the battleground between weariness and determination, her willpower won once more. Sakura stumbled into an opened sweet shop; clumsily pointing to the scribbles on the menu, she ordered a bowl of anmitsu and some dango for take-away.
Later that day after she inquired about her lessons to Yamato about their training sessions, she sped home and sent a letter to Kurenai, shamelessly asking if the female genjutsu teacher (who was now a mother) could teach her some advanced genjutsu for she had been scraping the basic ones for years. Deeper into the evening, she sauntered to the library to borrow An Intermediate’s Guide to Genjutsu, A Collection of Ninjutsu, Study of Chakra Transfer as well as volumes and notes on the Yin and Yang release, mastering basic and advanced elements. That night, the lights of Konoha flickered like candles about to be blown out, and the crescent moon spied on Sakura amongst the trees. In a room glowing with soft lights, was a pink-haired girl writing vigorously into a leather notebook at her side with books and papers flung across her desk and a yellow note taped to the wall lined with the girl’s neat handwriting:
I will get stronger even if I’m not born with the talents Naruto and Sasuke possess. I will get stronger not because I want to walk alongside the others but because the moment the power is in my hands, I will have the choice to protect everything or destroy them in one blow.
The note was taken down now, of course, Sakura was half-asleep when she wrote that, and maybe only in that period did she know what she was thinking. For now, no matter how Sakura inspected the sentences, she couldn’t make out a head or tail of what she was saying; and it was apparent that her skills were declining in mastering the wood release.