🌸 Upon our arrival at Tazuna's house, he invited us to stay in his home before we leave the day after. Since we had time, Kakashi decided to start our training in the forest surrounding the area. I had not spoken a word with any of them; Naruto slowly cracked up, probably very irritated of the silence and he tried to loosen up the tension.

I stood on top of a tree branch, quite high distance from the ground and stared at the clear blue sky with white fluffy clouds being gently pushed away by the wind. It was bright and a little warm, but I felt very lonely and cold. My heart felt heavy, even my lips. Never mind talking, smiling would take a huge effort to commit.

I glanced down to watch Sasuke and Naruto struggling to climb up the tree. On the other hand, Hinata only managed to climb a quarter of the tree and fell back towards the grass. Kakashi taunted both of the boys to bring their spirits up. Sure, he succeeded, but it became a battle between the two prideful boys instead. I sighed at their childishness and hopped down with ease despite the terrifying height.

"Good job, Sakura." Kakashi complimented.

I dismissed his comment and assumes that my training was done. I could have stayed, but it would be too awkward for us.

~~~~~

The environment was very dull in the village, I observed the area and it's villagers as I followed Tazuna to where he works. As much as I would like to, I was incapable of feeling sympathy towards them, I had too much pity for myself. I helped out building the bridge which was a good experience for me; although he can be a very annoying old man, he earned my respect because he built this bridge for the sake of his village. Even after an exhausting travel from Konoha, he insists on continuing his job. Seeing how all of them work together to accomplish this task, it brought a smile to my face.

Suddenly, I was shocked by the strong chakra which invaded my senses. It was heading to the bridge where we were. My eyes widened in terror and gasped.

"What's wrong, kid?" Tazuna asked with a frown on his face.

"EVERYONE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!" I shouted from the top of my lungs.

Everyone seem stunned, but obeyed nonetheless. They dropped whatever they were holding and ran into the village while a heavy mist enveloped the entire area.

"Whoa! Why did you do that? Why is there a cloud of mist here so suddenly??" A grumpy old voice spoke behind me and I snapped my head around.

Worry flashed in my eyes and I shouted at him with pure anger for not saving his life by obeying my order.

"Tazuna-San?! What are you doing here?! RUN!!"

I started pushing him, but it was too late.

"My my.. Instead of asking him to run, shouldn't you save your life as well?" A dark silhouette appeared in the mist; his voice brought chills across my spine. I sensed fear from myself, and I hated myself for it. His voice was full of confidence and superiority, as if he knew he would win this battle, even with just his pinky finger.

The figure stepped closer to us through the mist and his image became clearer. A masked man with a large butcher sword came into view.

"Zabuza Momochi."

"Oh? You know me little girl?" He grinned behind his mask, I knew.

"I do study a lot." I answered with the most stable voice I could possible muster. In an act of both defence and offence, I held a kunai in front of me.

"Do you think you can fight me with that thing?" Zabuza snickered.

"I won't know unless I try! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Four shadow clones stood around Tazuna and I instantly launched towards Zabuza with my maximum speed. He unstrapped his sword and held it in front of him as defence. I stepped on his sword and pushed it as hard as I could with the help of momentum from my body. I disappeared from his sight and appeared behind him. Because of the speed and he could not predict my movements, I managed to land a kick on his head. My right leg kicked the left side of his head which made him fly to his right, but he quickly regained himself before he land on the ground.

"You're quite good for a kid, but you'll never beat a Jounin."

The mist was not very thick, so I could see Zabuza's image, but not as clearly. He sped towards me and our weapons clashed.

"I know that, but it doesn't change the fact that my priority is to protect Tazuna. The least I could do is buy time until my team comes."

I leaped backward and raced to him, then swung my legs to the side, so I was the height of his knee. I tried to slash his legs, but he hopped and tried to cut me with his large sword. I rolled away to avoid it and got on my feet again.

"They are already here, but they won't be helping you.."

"What do you mean?!"

He appeared behind me and slashed my back which I screamed to.

"All four of them are in a battle with my partner." He grinned.

Blood poured out from my back and dripped onto the floor. The back of my shirt slowly got soaked with my blood. I fell on my knees and rested my body by placing both of my palms on the floor to support myself. The end of my soft pink hair was slightly stained by blood. It dropped over my shoulders and hid my face like a curtain.

Is this it? Am I going to die here?

Without finding out the truth.

Without getting revenge.

Do I still need revenge?

Hanabi.. I will avenge for Hanabi.

And.. I'll never have the chance to meet my real family..

I gritted my teeth.

No..

I WILL NOT DIE!!

With a strong determination and the will to continue living, my body flared with chakra and tattoos spread around my body, revealing a diamond shape on my forehead. I gathered chakra on my wound to healed itself just enough to not be a nuisance during battle. I looked around to spot nobody and the mist got thicker; it was so thick that I could hardly see my hand if I outstretched it in front of me.

What is he playing now?

Zabuza makes no noise in whatever he does, so I definitely can't hear him.

Chakra flowed out from my body to form very thin chakra strings, it stretched as far as it could to maximise my territory. At one point, I felt an interruption which meant the presence of a person, an animal or an object. I smirked to myself and dashed that way because I knew it was Tazuna with my clones circling him.

Before I could reach him, one of my shadow clones was destroyed. My eyes widened in alert and quickened my pace.

Crap!

🍁🍂🍁🍂

Dedicated to _dawn_of_the_dead_ for voting on this story!

How are you liking the story so far? :)

I have a question, am I unapproachable? I feel really sad whenever I post something and nobody replies to it, boohoo TT_TT

~Joelle

Published: April 2015
Edited: 27 April 2017