The path to herself

As she had thought, Kakashi sent her to the bridge after breakfast to watch Tazuna. She wasn't thrilled. Even when Sensei told her that he trusted her and that's why he sent her to the bridge-builder and swished her through her hair and then disappeared into the forest with the boys, changed nothing. If she had still been in Konoha and had not known anything about this mission, she would probably have been overwhelmed by the trust placed in her. Now things looked different and with Zabuza out there she found it irresponsible of Kakashi to leave her alone with Tazuna. Who knew what could happen and she wasn't strong enough to do anything. So why did Sensei send her - an inexperienced genin - to the bridge when he could send a shadow clone or something like that? That would certainly be the safer way. No, she didn't feel well and whether she wanted to or not, the fear crept deeper into her bones with every step she took. At first, she had no choice. Kakashi-sensei was unconscious, but now it was a different situation and still he sent her away! Sasuke-kun alone would be the better choice, even Naruto with his tremendous stamina. She had nothing but her mind and it certainly didn't help her in a fight. And what if Kakashi didn't show up in time and the mission failed because of her? Not to mention that they weren't supposed to be here after the mission had jumped from C-Rang to A-Rang.

Sakura was about to hyperventilate as her thoughts floated around all the possible things that could happen. 'Pull yourself together! We can't afford a panic attack now. Breathe in and out deeply and focus on what's going on instead of what might be.' Seldom was Sakura so grateful for her inner voice as in this moment. Without her inner self she would have succumbed to her fear and even if it had not completely disappeared, the words helped her to come down and clear her head. On the bridge, she had to be focused and mindful. Before taking the final steps to the construction site, she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths until she felt her pulse had calmed down and approached the workers with a friendly charisma.

She tried not to let on. Even when Tazuna was surprised to appear at her, she tried not to let anything show. "I did the training exercise yesterday at the first go. The guys haven't done it yet, so they're still training today, while Sensei sent me here." Explained she with a smile and set to work. Not that she hadn't missed the men somehow, they always managed to lift her spirit. But that day it wasn't easy for her, the disappointment was too deep, so she wasn't really talkative. The workers had to be blind and deaf if they didn't notice the mood of Sakura, what they were doing and gave the young Kunoichi worried looks again and again.

So far the morning went smoothly and the bridge work progressed well until two unknown figures appeared on the scene. As soon as the strangers could spot the workers, Metal flashed up, which put Sakura on alert. "All off the bridge and seek shelter." she shouted across the square as she pulled a few Kunais out of her pocket and threw them at the men running for the workers, just as the Kunoichi had given her order. Her throwing arm was not the best and she missed her real targets. But the Kunais were enough to stop the attackers for a short time. "Girly wants to play, but every kid knows that sharp objects aren't for little kids." One of the unknowns had started to speak and sounded more than just spiteful and arrogant. He was probably right about her looks, she was just a child, but that didn't mean she couldn't do anything, even though she felt helpless and weak. But Sakura was no longer a child, she was a genin from Konoha and was therefore considered an adult. So the strangers had no real idea of ninjas. This didn't change the situation, but Sakura was at least slightly afraid. Against normal, untrained people, she might have a chance to hold out until her team came to her aid. All she had to do was stall time and keep the men away from Tazuna.

Sakura's body was tense and her hands trembled from fear as she embraced the grip of her Kunai. Her chest felt like tied up, making it harder for her to breathe, but her eyes and attention continued to rest on the enemies. The first one starts moving, his two weapons drawn, while his colleague behind him followed and Sakura reacted. Under the first attack she ducked away, a little too slowly for her taste, as the blade cut through the ends of her pink hair and took herself out of her opponent's career with a side step. Using the momentum of her own movement, she turned slightly sideways and raised her left leg to kick the front man in the lower back while trying to block the attack of the second with her Kunai. She didn't quite succeed when she felt the tip of the knife cut her skin on her upper arm. The wound wasn't deep, yet it hurt and Sakura hissed softly as she avoided another attack with a roll. She had hardly any time to relax or think when she was standing up. Sakura cursed her non-existent condition when she noticed that she began to sweat. She had just survived the first wave of attacks. But she had no time to think about it when the two men attacked her again.

With pure violence and brutality came the attacks, which gave no openings for counterattacks, at least she did not recognize any. Too inexperienced in this area, she had no choice but to avoid the blows, but the more time passed, the more tired and slower she became, which is why she was hit more and more often. Sakura was so focused on dodging the attacks to collect as few wounds as possible that she didn't even notice the two hired men drifting her closer and closer to the end of the bridge.

She jumped a few meters backwards after she had fended off the second man's knife with her Kunai, and when she wanted to take another step backwards, she felt no ground on which her foot could land. "Looks like you can't escape any further, Girly. Give up and leave the old man to us. Maybe we'll even let you live, graciously." The statement from the man with the knife came confidently, his `after we still had a little fun with you` remained unsaid, but one recognized the unsaid words clearly in his dirty grin. The thought of what the men were probably going to do involuntarily chased Sakura by itself, a freezing shiver over her back and her grip around her Kunai solidified so that her ankles stood out white.

Adrenaline pumped her blood faster through her body, causing a rush in her ears as she tried to find a way out of the unfavorable situation. Cursed be Kakashi and his supposed trust in her! Without knowing how long the fight had lasted, nobody had come to her aid and Sakura didn't know how long she could hold out. Her body hurt and her wounds didn't stop bleeding. Everything in her screamed for rest and a break, but if she gave up now everything would have been in vain. The whole fight, her determination to become better, she was not allowed to go limp, no matter how exhausted and anxious she was. She neither wanted to die nor be responsible for the mission's failure. Without going beyond her own limits, she would achieve nothing and all she had set herself would have been just loose words. She had to do a miracle herself and as much as she cursed and needed Kakashi and her team at the moment, she somehow had to do it on her own. Her gaze fell on one of the ropes used by the workers to attach the small boats to the bridge when they were transporting material to the end of the bridge or working from underneath it, and a plan formed in her head. Daring and possibly her only chance to get out of the whole thing halfway undamaged, but it was better than nothing. She just had to hope it worked.

With a little new courage, Sakura turned her gaze on the men in front of her who were still waiting for an answer. It seemed as if they had seen her silence as agreement, for the dirty grin was still on one's face, but when he saw her gaze, his gaze suddenly darkened. "Make no mistake, little one. You can't get out of here and it would be too bad if you risked your life for the old man." Again he tried to make her give up. An undertaking which didn't bear fruits. "Forget it! I am a ninja from Konohagakure and will not let you Tazuna even bend a hair."

Both men narrowed their eyes to her words. "Too bad, then you won't live to see the next day, Girly." And with this statement the two stormed towards her again one after the other. 'Duck!' Inner screamed as the man with the knife tried to slit her throat. 'Squat and make a turn and kick his legs away, as Iruka-Sensei showed us. Then roll to the side to avoid the second attack and try to get behind the second man. Kick him in the back or belly from the bridge into the water.' Sakura didn't have time to think when she followed the instructions inners. Even when one of the first man's two blades cut deep into her side, she had no time to think about what exactly was happening. All that prevailed in her head was the fear that if she didn't fight any further, she would die here. Rolling sideways, she managed to stand up behind her attacker and when the attacker turned around to smash his blades at her again, she pulled out her leg and kicked him in the stomach with all the strength she could muster. Clattering sounded as the man dropped his two blades and a loud splash signaled to her that she had managed to get one of the attackers into the water. The man's panic calls, however, did not penetrate through the rustling in her ears while her attention was focused on the remaining man on the bridge.

Her action seemed to make the man even more mad as he furiously stormed her. "How dare you bitch, he can't swim!" The man screamed angrily, but Sakura couldn't make sense of his words at first. Again she ducked away under one of his attacks and slid backwards from the bridge. She didn't have much time to put her plan into action. As soon as the man noticed that the characteristic splashing did not happen, he would come and see for himself. Her advantage at this moment was her chakra control and the training session with Kakashi-Sensei as she moved along below the bridge using her chakra.

Just as her second attacker was about to follow the missing sound of diving into the water, Sakura reappeared at the other end of the bridge, grabbed the rope lying on the ground and threw it around the man several times before attaching the ends to one of the poles so that he could no longer move. "Fucking brat, get me out of here!" Out of instinct, Sakura grabbed a wooden plank and pulled it over the man's head, who fell unconscious.

'We made it!' Unable to move, Sakura heard Inner's voice in her head and gradually the fog that had settled around her thoughts cleared. A gurgling sound ripped her from her mind and with her eyes wide open she stared over the edge of the unfinished bridge, where she saw a hand sticking out of the water for a moment before she disappeared and only bubbles could be spotted before they disappeared as well. All of a sudden the events came back from what had happened and what she had done. Her legs gave way under her, the fight took place again in her head and her side hurt like hell. But what shocked her the most was that she was responsible for the death of a man. She had pushed him into the water and he had drowned because of her! Well she didn't know he couldn't swim and he had tried to kill her as well, but... It was too much for Sakura, her body exhausted from fighting, trembling under the weight of her thoughts and deeds, her wounds hurting and never in her young life had she felt so empty and at the same time so miserably bad. Inevitably her fingers clawed into the skin of her thighs, leaving more bloody scratches on her skin.

"Hey Kid, you all right? You... You really took 'em out, Kid, are you...?" Tazuna had moved slowly out of his hiding place after he couldn't hear anything more on the bridge and was amazed when he found one of the attackers tied and unconscious to a pole, just next to the brat who had been looking after him for the past few days. She had actually made it and even if he couldn't spot the second man, the brat didn't seem to be on alert, so the other man had to be gone too. At least that was what Tazuna hoped. But when he approached Sakura and approached her closer, his further words got stuck in his throat as he looked into the empty eyes of the girl he had approached. Not only her look was disturbing, but also her appearance, especially her wound at the side. "Kid you are hurt!” His words seemed to have an effect on the brat as life slowly returned to the green eyes.

With no further thought, he called one of his workers and ordered him to pick up bandages and then take care of Sakura's wounds. Afterwards he turned towards the girl and laid uncertainly a hand on her shoulder. "I sent someone out to fix you up. You did a good job, thank you." His gaze wandered to the unconscious man. "We take care of the man afterwards, what happened to the other one" he soon regretted the words he had uttered when he noticed Sakura flinching. "He... I pushed him... into the water and he... he drowned." Tazuna hardly understood them, the words Sakura pronounced, so quiet and so rough they came, while the girl tried to suppress her tears. At least that's what he assumed, as her voice sounded. Unfortunately, he had no idea what he could or should do. His daughter was an adult and had never been in such a situation, so he could not act out of experience. "Shall I inform your sensei?” When initially no reaction came from the Haruno, Tazuna sighed overtaxed and was grateful for the second when one of his employees arrived with the bandages.

For Sakura the world had come to a standstill and she wished for nothing more than to turn back time to undo these terrible minutes. She had a human life on her conscience! How would she ever face her team or even her parents? Was that what her parents meant when they told her that she should carefully consider her vocation and that it would not be child's play? Sakura tried to swallow the lump down her throat. She had read that the day would come when she would take a life. Even Iruka-Sensei had mentioned it, but it would be much later in her career. What would her parents think of her now, or Naruto, Kakashi. What would Sasuke-kun think of her? Especially now that she was in this miserable condition? No, she couldn't stand the looks, it... nobody from her team was allowed to know what had happened! 'Then you should say it to Tazuna-san, otherwise he will inform Sensei.' Shocked, Sakura's eyes widened and without thinking she jumped up with a loud "No", only to collapse again because of her pain.

"Careful, Pinky. You are injured and should not make any rash movements. Here, I'll take care of your wounds, okay?" Sakura nodded briefly, trusted the man she had been working with on the bridge for the past few days, but her eyes were still on the bridge builder. "Tazuna-san it... it's all right. Sensei doesn't need to be informed. He already has enough to do with my teammates" for a moment she remained silent and pulled her face in pain when her side was bandaged. "You'd better go see Tsunami and get the wound stitched up. Look up pretty deep. But I'm not an expert on these things." Sakura nodded at the words again and tried not to flinch any further. "If it's all right with Tazuna-san, I would go to Tsunami-san and have myself patched up, if... if I'm coming back for today I don't know." She hated herself for her weakness, but it all hurt and she was afraid. Fear that more men appeared and she was forced to fight. She would not survive that again today. Luckily Tazuna seemed to see it that way and let her go after she had finished her treatment. Carefully she straightened up and her eyes fell on the water again. Shuddering, she turned to leave as she discovered the men's weapons. Without thinking, she picked them up and took them with her. The worried glances of the bridge workers she ignored.

That Tsunami was beside herself with worry when she saw Sakura in her condition was an understatement and only with difficulty could Sakura convince the woman that at least for now there was no further danger. Her wound on the side actually had to be sewn and during the procedure the young Kunoichi asked not to mention any of the events to her team. The sceptical expression Sakura tried to overlook. She didn't want to be seen as weak and didn't want to see the pitiful looks or the contempt when her team learned about the things she had done today. All she wanted was to forget what had happened.

After a short break and a small snack, which she had taken only for the sake of Tsunami, because she didn't really feel hungry at all, she let the lady know that she had to get her head free and would therefore be outside. Since she didn't plan to come back so quickly, she immediately told her not to wait for her for dinner. Then she disappeared into the forest and made her way to the clearing where she would meet Haku later. She needed distance and time to process what had happened and she couldn't get back to the bridge, at least not so fast.

With slow steps she stepped on the clearing and lay backwards on the grass. Her eyes were on the sky, but she wasn't really there. As much as she tried, she could not forget the fight on the bridge, her actions and deeds. Could she forget it at all?And would it eventually come out? What would she even tell her team if they noticed her wounds? She could not hope for her luck that they would not perceive it. Naruto didn't like to be the brightest in the group, but he always paid attention to her condition. More to her chagrin, she would rather have Sasuke-kuns. For her present situation, she would prefer both boys to show the ignorance of the Uchiha. Kakashi-Sensei was another thing, after all he wasn't Jonin for nothing if he would accept an accident at work on the bridge as an explanation?

Sakura was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice how quickly time flew by and a figure in the evening approached. "You're early." Noticed the person and tore with it the young Haruno from her thought carousel. "Ah, Haku. Yes. It... Well, let's just say I avoid my team a little bit." She explained herself, shamefacedly dodging the older boy's gaze as he approached. Therefore she didn't notice him raising one of his eyebrows. But he didn't get an answer, instead he noticed the bandages on the young Kunoichi, which surprised him even more. "You look as if you got into a fight. Do you want to talk about it? We can also search for herbs for better wound healing. After all, you wanted to learn something about such plants." His offer surprised Haku himself, but strangely enough he could not bear the sight of an injured Sakura. He was more than aware that they were enemies, but she was somehow so similar to him that he couldn't help it.

A few moments passed in which Sakura thought about the offer before she nodded timidly. "Sensei sent us to the forest yesterday to train and I mastered the task right away, so he decided to send me alone to the bridge today to keep an eye on our client while he monitors the training progress of my teammates. Until midday everything was fine. Then, suddenly, two men with weapons who had been waiting for my client appeared. I was the only one who could guarantee safety, but I didn't really have experience in fighting...". She started telling the story and at the last sentence she pulled her face a little. She knew that it was her own fault that she had so little experience. "Well... anyway, I tried to keep the two men in check, hoping that Sensei and my team would come, but the fight was anything but easy and took its time. At some point the two had driven me into a rather dicey situation and I only had one chance when a rough plan had been put together in my head. End of the whole. A man is ..." here she hesitated something and fumbled unwell at the hem of her dress. "One drowned after I pushed him into the water, I tied the second one with a rope." She confessed vaguely and Haku could see that she not only blamed herself for the man's death, but also did not know how to deal with it.

For a while it remained silent between the two. No one wanted to say anything or could say anything until Sakura could bring herself to open her mouth again. "I know it's part of being a ninja. I just thought it wouldn't be so early and if I am honest, I would have thought that my team would at least be at my side... Now, now I don't even want them to know about the whole thing." Again she was silent for a moment before she exhaled loudly and tightened her shoulders. "Shall we begin with the lesson? I need something to keep my mind occupied with and the faster and better my wounds heal, the fewer questions hopefully come up." Even if she didn't feel like it, a mild, timid smile lay down on Sakura's lips and Haku couldn't help but nod before searching with her for the first medicinal plants and explaining exactly what they were used for. Afterwards, he processed the collected herbs with her and explained the correct application, while helping her re-bandage the wounds. Time passed faster than they knew and at some point it was too dark to stay outside. Besides, Sakura's team was certainly waiting for her, or at least Tazuna and his daughter. With friendly and grateful words Sakura said goodbye to Haku and made her way back. Noticing that Naruto and Sasuke had disappeared again for training, she breathed a sigh of relief. Thanks to Tsunami she even had something to eat and then she disappeared into the bedroom to go to sleep. Hoping that she could just forget the day and check it off.