This is my first story, I'm so excited! I dedicate this story to my little sister, who was the midwife to the birth of this idea, and helped me nurture it until I could take care of it on my own.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. I am simply a humble fan who seeks to share my love for Kishimoto-sensei's masterpiece.
Prologue
It was a cold night. Rain poured from the heavens – it was as if the skies were weeping for the frightened woman on earth who lay underneath a willow tree, shielded from the icy rain. The woman was breathing heavily as if she had just run a long distance. A friend knelt beside her, speaking to her in a calming voice despite the desperate circumstances. The two were far from home in enemy lands, and were very much alone. No one was there to hear the woman's screams, the friend's soothing words.
The screaming woman was named Hanano Rin, and she was about to give birth. Why they had been sent on a mission for the village when Rin was seven and a half months pregnant, her friend did not know. All she did know was that Rin was giving birth, right there, right then, and there was no time to question the decisions of those in power.
Rin's shrieks pierced the cruel night, only to be lost in the howling wind. Minutes passed and slowly turned into an hour. It was a painful process. Finally, after many cries of pain, Rin's friend was cleaning off a newborn baby the best she could, wiping the blood off of its tiny body with the sleeve of her torn short.
Rin lay slumped against the trunk of the tree, breathing heavily. It's finally over. This was the only thought that crossed her mind. Finally over. She blinked open her weary eyes as her friend handed her the child. "Here you go, Rin," she said kindly. "Your daughter."
Rin held the baby in her trembling hands. Soft pink fuzz grew on her head. She had a scrunched-up face that featured two big, green eyes. Rin smiled feebly. She doesn't look like either of us, she reflected.
"What are you going to name her?" her friend asked tentatively. She could tell that something was wrong with Rin…. she was too tired….
Rin did not answer immediately. She looked into the distance, gazing into some far-away world that her friend could not see. "Sakura," she whispered softly. "Sakura like the trees that grow back home."
The child looked up at her mother with those large, beautiful eyes of hers. If she had been old enough to understand what was going on, she would have seen that her mother did not have long to live….
Rin's friend saw this. She saw that Rin was not long for this world. Poor thing, she thought sadly. She's so young… I wonder who the child's father is. She gave Rin an affectionate pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Rin," she said, sounding more optimistic than she really was. "Everything will be all right."
Rin closed her eyes. There were no sounds, except for the baby's gentle breathing as she slept in her mother's arms, the wind moaning as it whipped their hair about, the rain churning up the ground as it poured like buckets from the heavens. She smiled weakly. "Chibi Arashi," she said softly, using the nickname she had given her friend long ago on a hot summer day. "You have been a greater friend than I ever could have dreamed for. I know that I am going to die here, on this cold and heartless night. As my dying wish, I want you to bring my child back to her home… Maybe one day my Sakura will know who saved her from perishing in this ungodly storm, held forever in her mother's cold, dead arms." A single tear ran down her face as she opened her eyes again to look at her dear friend one final time. "Bring her home," she whispered. As her voice left her body, so did her soul, and Hanano Rin was dead.
Silently mourning Rin's death on the inside, her friend took the sleeping child into her arms. The man who did this to Rin will pay, she thought bitterly as she dug through her weathered bag to find something warm to wrap the child in. As she pulled out a tattered shirt, she swore vengeance on the man who had brought about Rin's death, and would do anything she could to find out who he was. She already had a pretty good idea… But now was not the time. The child's life was in her hands, and she could not disgrace Rin's passing wish.
Wrapping her arms around the child, she gave Rin's body one last look. Tears filled her eyes and leaked down her face— she knew that she could not take Rin's corpse with them. She took two large sticks that had fallen on the ground and bound them together with some spare bandages to create a makeshift cross. She stuck it in the ground alongside Rin's body. One day I will come back for you, she promised. Even though she felt as if she would die from the cold, she removed the outer layer of her outfit and laid it on top of Rin's body to better protect it from the elements. She stood there for a moment, then knelt down and kissed Rin's brow. Until then, I pray that you will watch over your daughter and village.
The baby awoke and began to cry. Rin's friend held the child closer to her chest. Cry, little one, she thought as she left the scene, hurrying home so as to save both herself and the child from the cold. Cry for the lost soul that is your mother.
An old farmer sat in the kitchen of his house, groaning as he stretched his legs. He was reflecting on how young he used to be, how much he could do, when he heard a yelp from out in the field. It was his wife. He came out of his house as quickly as his arthritic legs would allow. His wife ran to him, screaming bloody murder. "What is it?" he bellowed, trying to be heard over her shrieks. "What in blazes—"
"A body!" she screamed, and her husband could see that she was sobbing. "A body in the cornfield!"
Flabbergasted and frightened, the old man followed her to the edge of the field. His mouth fell open as he saw that there was indeed a body lying underneath the shelter of an oak tree. It was a woman. Her black hair was strewn across her face, which was decorated with premature lines and wrinkles. There were deep circles under her closed eyes, and her entire person was a mess. It looked like she had been traveling for days.
The farmer put an arm around his wife. Just as he was about to say something, a baby started crying. The old man was baffled. There were no babies anywhere near their home. His wife, however, pointed a shaking finger at the bag that lay beside the dead woman. The old farmer let his arm fall from around his wife's shoulder and slowly approached the leather bag. Trembling, he opened it. Inside it was a newborn child who looked half-starved. "Could it be…?" The man wondered if this was the child of the dead woman. It would make sense, he thought, but there's no way of knowing.
Quite suddenly, the farmer's wife rushed over and swept the newborn up and into her arms. "Oh, Kuwa," she said, sounding as if she had a bad head cold. "This baby looks like it will soon share the same fate as the poor woman." Tears lined her face and she looked up at her husband with those big, blue eyes that even in his old age he could not resist.
"But darling, we can't keep 'er," he said, an almost pleading tone to his voice. "We don't know nothin' 'bout takin' care of babies." This much was true— They had never had any children, and knew nothing about raising them.
The farmer's wife looked again at the little child. After several moments, she turned to her husband once more. "We give her to the village," she said firmly. "The…. woman looked like she was one of those shinobi. Even if the child isn't hers, you can bet your farm they want it."
The farmer nodded— This was a better idea than any he could think of. However, he didn't fancy the idea of going into that village— all of the people there scared him a great deal. As though she could read his mind, his wife said, "I'll bring her in. Your legs aren't what they used to be." The man gave a steely nod as his wife prepared to leave.
Lord Hokage sat at his desk, his young face resting atop his hands. "And you say the woman looked as if she had been traveling?" he asked the old farmwoman sitting in the chair opposite him. She was cradling a sleeping, pink-haired newborn in her arms.
"Yes," she replied, her voice a bit unsteady. "Her clothes were completely ruined, and her face was a mess."
"Did she resemble the child?" Lord Hokage couldn't think of whose child it could be, so he was trying to narrow it down.
The woman shook her head. "The woman had long, black hair, not pink."
The Hokage contained a sigh. There were so many women with black hair in their village…
"Well, thank you for bringing the child to us," he said, straightening up in his chair. "Where is the body now?"
The woman's face took on a rather paler hue. "At— at the house," she said. "My husband was going to bury her."
"A noble thing to do," said the Hokage, "but I would like the body to be brought to the village. If you like, I will send some people over to go and collect her."
"That's fine, fine by me," the woman said a bit quickly. It was clear that she did not want the body buried on her husband's property. She rose from her chair, but stood in place, unsure of what to do with the child.
"Here, I will take her," said the Hokage, also standing up and walking over to take the child from the woman. "Don't worry, we will take good care of her."
"Well?" asked the Hokage expectantly. "Who is she?"
One of the ANBU members stepped forward. "Tsuchikemuri Tenka," he stated. "She was sent on a mission to rescue a stolen scroll of middling importance from Grass Country about two and a half weeks ago."
"Is this child hers?" asked the Hokage. ANBU had ways of figuring this sort of thing out.
The ANBU member shook his head. "We're not entirely sure whose it is, but we have been able to confirm that it is not her child."
The Hokage's eyes narrowed in concentration. "Who else was on the mission with her?"
"Only one," answered another man from ANBU. "Hanano Rin."
The Hokage stood up. "Is it possible that the child is Rin's?" he asked.
"It is possible," said the man. "However, we've no way of knowing for sure yet."
The Hokage closed his eyes, thinking of anything or anyone that could help them. An idea came to him. "Do you know if either one of them were…. close to anyone?" He had a bad feeling about this….
No one answered immediately. Then one man stepped forward. "Well, I don't know about Tsuchikemuri," he said, sounding rather uncomfortable, "but I know that Hanano Rin was engaged to Hatake Kakashi."
No one spoke for several moments. The Hokage cleared his throat. "Very well then," he said. "Get me Hatake Kakashi."
"Yes, sir," they all said in unison, and then left the building as one.
"Hatake Kakashi," said the Hokage sternly, observing the young man that stood before him. He had just returned from a dangerous ANBU mission, and had not yet changed out of his torn and dirty uniform. He had changed so much since he had been the Hokage's student…. The expression on his face was subdued fright. "Do you know why you are here?"
Kakashi shifted his feet uncomfortably. "Yes, Lord Hokage," he said. "The others say you found a child, and you think that it is Rin's." He looked up at the Hokage. "I know what you're going to ask me."
The Hokage nodded— Kakashi wasn't stupid. "Very well then," he said. "What is your answer?"
Kakashi hesitated, staring into the Hokage's eyes, but finally said, "I'm the father of that child."
An awkward silence followed. "Yes," said the Hokage eventually. "I thought so."
Kakashi bit his lower lip underneath the mask, and then asked, "Sir, is Rin…?" He didn't need to finish his question, for the look on the Hokage's face told him the answer.
"Kakashi, do you realize that you brought about Rin's death?" the Hokage asked sternly. He was Hokage now, and could not let any past familiarity with Kakashi interfere with the matter at hand. Besides, his own wife was pregnant now, and he knew the pain women had to go through while an infant develops inside of them. "I'm disappointed in you, Kakashi… Obito, who loved Rin with all his heart, gave you his eye, and his final wish was that with that eye, you would protect her for him. And yet, this is how you repay Obito? Getting Rin pregnant only 2 years after Obito's death, then letting her die while giving birth to that child on a mission?"
Tears were running down Kakashi's face. He knew that everything his former sensei was saying was true, and it was consuming him… He felt as if he was going to retch. Grabbing the edge of the Hokage's desk for support, he managed to choke, "I know, sensei, I know… I've let everyone down, Obito, you, Rin…."
The Hokage closed his eyes in thought, holding back a tear. Rin had been his student, and he often thought of her as a daughter. First Obito, now Rin… Without opening his eyes, he said, "Well, Kakashi, what do you plan to do about it? You're a father now, and with that comes a lot of responsibility… Not only to you have to bear the burden of Rin's death on your shoulders, you must also pay the price for your foolishness and look after that poor child."
"…." Kakashi said nothing, thinking about his options. What with all of the fighting and war, he hadn't seen Rin for months, so they hadn't really discussed the future of their child… "I… I don't know what to do, sensei," he said finally, his voice trembling, his entire body shaking. Tears were breaking free no matter how hard he tried to fight them, rolling down his face, soaking into his mask and dripping onto the desk with a soft plit, plit. "I don't know what to do…." Kakashi stopped trying to hold back his tears. His knees wobbling dangerously, he completely broke down, sobbing uncontrollably. The Hokage had never seen Kakashi like this— He suspected that Kakashi hadn't cried like this since Obito's death. He understood that Kakashi was feeling a lot of pain right now, so he let him cry, watching the boy he had watched grow all these years. He's suffered so much… Even though he knew it was Kakashi's love that killed her, the Hokage could not help but feel pity for Kakashi as he watched him stand in front of him, weeping as if he himself had died.
After several minutes of sustained sobbing, Kakashi wiped his face with the back of his glove. "For- Forgive me, sensei," he said, his voice still unsteady. "I—"
Kakashi's voice faltered as the Hokage held up his hand. "Hatake Kakashi," he began, "you have seen and suffered much. I find the idea of you raising the child so young when you have so much on your plate very foolish. We need you in this war, and you would not be able to devote enough time and attention to the care of your newborn daughter. For this reason, I think it best that the child is taken in by a non-shinobi family, a family that can take care of her until you are ready to take her in yourself." He put his hand back on his desk. "What do you think of that, Kakashi?"
"I— I think that it would be best for her," said Kakashi. He didn't just think, he knew that he would prove a poor father for her at this point.
"Very well," said the Hokage in a very businesslike manner. "The child will be given to a civilian family." He glanced at Kakashi, who was staring at his hands, still stained with the blood of an enemy who had fallen victim to Chidori. "Kakashi," he said, more kindly, "don't be too hard on yourself."
"…. Yes, sir." He turned to leave, knowing that their conversation was over.
"Oh, and Kakashi," the Hokage called. "What is the child's name going to be?"
Kakashi stood in the doorway, his back still facing the Hokage. He was silent, looking out of the window for inspiration. His eyes fell upon many things-- the bright blue sky, the fresh green grass... But the thing that caught his eye was the tree in the middle of the small courtyard, standing proud and tall as it showed off its beautiful pink blossoms. It was a cherry blossom tree, and it had bloomed earlier than most. Just like my daughter, thought Kakashi. She was born almost two months premature...
"Sakura," he said quietly. "Hanano Sakura."