Red Clouds: A Naruto Story

Sakura's Lament

     Sakura walked through the halls of the Leaf Hospital, quietly humming to herself. She still had her hair up as she slid the rubber gloves off her calloused hands. She tossed the gloves into a nearby trashcan and continued down the hall, not bothering to undo her hair. She'd just successfully finished up another surgery, her eighth of the day. She stretched her arms over her head and yawned, finally done with her shift. As she came into the hospital's main lobby, ready to go home, she was quickly swept aside by a batch of Anbu Black Ops shinobi. "Eep! Hey! What's the big idea?" she declared as she was again pushed aside by a group of medical ninja following close behind the Anbu. They were all centered around a stretcher with...was that a body bag? 

     "Apologies, Lady Sakura, but we're going to need to ask you to vacate the area immediately." one of the Anbu shinobi remarked back to her. 

     "But...I can help! Is that a body bag? Who's in there? What kind of injuries do they have? Where did they die? I'm a medic-"

     "Medical ninja yes, we know. A very skilled one at that, you have our respect for your work, but we still need you to leave. Now." the Anbu shinobi suddenly grabbed her wrist, pulling her away from the retreating medical ninja and towards the exit. 

     "Hey! Wh-? I-It's my duty as a medical ninja to uphold-"

     "Stop." Sakura's protesting was cut short by a woman's voice. The Anbu shinobi immediately stopped, let go of Sakura's wrist, and stood at perfect attention. Sakura spun to see...Lady Tsunade. 

     "Forgive me Lady Hokage." the Anbu shinobi bowed. Sakura really did forget sometimes that her sensei was the Hokage. 

     "Lady Tsunade! Thank goodness you're here! These Anbu are carting away a body and they won't let me treat-"

     "Enough. You. You're free to go. Report back to your captain immediately," the Anbu shinobi nodded curtly and quickly vanished. "Sakura," Sakura's head perked back up. "I need you to go home. Now."

     "Wait, what? But Lady Tsunade! That patient! Whoever they are, I promise I can help! You were the one who taught me that as medical ninja, our upmost priority is the safety of our comrades and all those who we protect! Isn't that right? I want to help-" Sakura pleaded.

     But again, Sakura was cut off by Lady Tsunade. "Stop. Go home. That...that's an order." Sakura stopped. Lady Tsunade never... Sakura sighed and nodded, walking past her sensei and out the door. As she passed the main gate to the hospital, Sakura looked back to see Lady Tsunade still standing there, her back turned to her, and...shaking...? Was she...crying? Sakura's feet quickly picked up pace, turning from a slow walk to a jog to an all out sprint. What the hell was happening? Lady Tsunade almost never cries...and she would never keep a medical ninja from someone in need. What was happening?? Sakura quickly turned on the ball of her foot, spinning in a 90 degree angle faster than lighting. She leapt up to the nearest rooftop and started back towards the hospital. There was no way she could let this go. Lady Tsunade acting like that? And a mysterious dead body? No. There was no way she could just sit by and do nothing. Not when she had the slightest chance of being able to help.

     Sakura landed on the roof of the hospital with a small thump. She quickly broke the handle off the roof access door and slipped inside. She quietly trotted down the stairwell all the way down to the second floor. Sakura knew this building like the back of her hand, she knew for a fact that they would be taking the body to Floor 2, Section 1-B: the morgue. Sakura silently closed the door to the stairwell behind her, creeping down the moon-lit hall. Left, right, left, left, straight...here we go. Sakura stopped just to the right of a double door, she could hear small bits of chatter through the cracks. The yellow light coming from within the room cast a sickly, ominous glow into the outside hallway. Sakura took a deep breath and swallowed, she slowly reached her hand toward the doorknob and...

     "Sakura."

     "Eep!" Sakura almost fell over in surprise. 

     "I thought I told you to go home." Lady Tsunade remarked, looking down at Sakura. 

     "L-lady Tsunade!" Sakura struggled to her feet, facing her sensei. "I-I..." Sakura bit her lip, steeling herself. "I want to- no. I need to help. There's a dead body in there, I don't care who they are, I just need to help. I can't just...sit by! Please, Lady Tsunade! Let me...let me help." Sakura's voice broke a little, she really didn't know why she was getting so emotional over this. But she could just...sense something was wrong. Like something terrible had happened and she needed to see it. Something...personal. Lady Tsunade took a deep breath, closing her eyes as a tear slipped onto her cheek. "L-lady Tsunade? Are...are you ok?" Sakura stuttered out. She was taken aback, "Lady Tsunade, sensei, who...who is in there?" Lady Tsunade took a shaky breath.

     "I-" she took in another breath, exhaling deeply. "It's...it's Menma," she barely whispered out the name, the word leaving her lips like an icy breath. The name hung in the air, time froze, and the world spun. Sakura took a step back, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

     "No. That's-...that's not...I-you-...I-I don't believe you. That can't be-" Sakura stammered. Lady Tsunade drooped her head, looking at the floor, her tears free falling onto the shiny hospital floor. "No. No. Please no," her voice was breaking, tears now beginning to fall down her face. Sakura spun, flinging the double doors open. She stepped into the sickly yellow light of the room. An Anbu Black Ops shinobi leapt at her, kunai in hand, trying to stop her. Still looking straight forward, she caught the kunai by the blade, mid swing, mid air and flung the Anbu into the wall. The Anbu shinobi sat slumped over, arms slack in the crater that his impact had created. Another Anbu spun on Sakura, preparing to leap at her as well. 

     "Stop." Lady Tsunade's voice called out from outside the room. The Anbu immediately stood at attention and let Sakura pass. As Sakura came up to the operating table, she finally got a good look at the body...and her breath caught in her throat. Her eyes flitted around her friend, looking over the extreme injuries. She couldn't help it. Her medical-oriented mind had already subconsciously began to scan him over. Extreme lacerations (likely from a rasengan) on his forearms (well, what used to be his forearms at least). Incredibly deep puncture wounds through the thigh, femur, and jugular. Jugular appears to be from a kunai, thigh and femur from some type of sword or long blade. Both entrance and exits of the punctures were incredibly, ridiculously clean cuts. The only kind of cuts that could be that clean and that sharp had to be from some type of chakra blade. Stop. Stop! She hated it. She hated her subconscious. She knew every wound had to be excruciatingly painful. A split femur? Getting your forearms sliced away by an S Rank jutsu? A ridiculously deep puncture to the jugular? Sakura fell to her knees before the table. She couldn't bear to look at her friend anymore. She dealt with injuries like this on a daily basis yet she still suppressed the sudden urge to vomit. "Menma..." the tears were soaking her face now. "I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you." She just felt so...helpless. All of her kunoichi training. All of her medical ninjutsu. All of her body expertise. Her endless knowledge on the human body, the chakra network, chakra distribution, chakra focus, all of it. All of her brutal training and skill, and she still couldn't save him. She got here after he was already long dead. If only she was faster. Stronger. Smarter. 

     She grit her teeth, trying not to scream. She balled her fists and punched the hard tile ground in anger. The room shook and the lights flickered. Her forehead against the ground, tears spilling out of her eyes, she punched the tile again. The small indent from the first impact turned into a large crater. The building foundations trembled in fear. Dust rained from the ceiling. She punched again. Konoha quivered.