Rotted Rowan

Sakura's Bridge

I can't keep this story in Naasica's perspective indefinitely anymore, so sorry for the different perspectives if you don't like that kind of stuff.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor do I claim to.

Warning: I'm guessing if you're this far into it, you're in for the long haul. Sit back and enjoy the evilness that is Naasica.

Almighty Beta who is loved and appreciated: Cyndaquil123

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

"And the voice I heard that day,

Still it echoes on again,

It's just beyond my memory.

In my mind I'll shut the door

To all these intrusive thoughts,

I'm drowning out the noise!"

-Solitude by Sam Luff

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

(INTERLUDE)

The red-haired man knew The Darkness found him again.

He cursed as soon as he sensed the most vile, the most evil, and disgusting monster to have walked this realm of existence.

He wasn't ready to move on, but he had no choice.

The Darkness destroyed everything in its wake. Every friend the red-haired man had tried to make was murdered shortly afterward, and any home he thought to settle in was burned to ash.

He wondered if The Darkness was the first true evil.

It was vile enough to be.

Which made his goal of destroying it all the more important.

Uzumaki Rabu packed up his things and left before The Darkness reached him.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

(RETURNING TO TEAM SEVEN - THIRD PERSON POV)

Off his head went, and onto a pike Sakura found. She hoisted her prey up proudly, eyes sparkling like sunlight bouncing off the top of a lake. She turned to her two teammates, and they shared in her victory. Hinata politely clapped at Sakura's efficient kill, while Naruto grinned lopsidedly and praised her marksmanship.

The unease the blond felt about the massacre remained hidden in his heart. He didn't think it was fair, or right, but he wasn't certain it was wrong either. He was bothered by it, but he didn't know why or how.

He thought: They're humans. They have loved ones.

And he also thought: But I'm a shinobi now. Can I really care about this kind of stuff?

No one around him minded it.

So why did he?

Hinata was apathetic. Taking a life would never bother the girl, regardless of whose life she had to take. She was trained by her mother, and her mother instilled that belief deeply inside the heiress. Hinata was a tool for Konoha to use first, Hyūga second, and herself third.

She still believed in kindness and compassion, but those were things for herself and thusly were third on her priority. She was inordinately proud to see her other female teammate progress so rapidly. It took Hinata years to grow comfortable with corpses, but Sakura had already taken it a step further and mutilated the dead body in order to present it to the town.