The fires burn well into the evening. Kakashi leaves at eighteen-hundred hours in order to check on the boys, but Sakura cannot leave yet. She has to stay until the bodies are ash and only the stones are left. A burning rite is never finished until the names are thrown back into the ocean. To one day be brought back to shore and gifted to a new life. At least, that is what Sakura's mother had taught her many, many years ago. So Sakura stays. She sits on the ground with the burning fields laid out before her and waits. She waits for the flames to become ash and cinders; for the named stones to lie alone where bodies once laid.
No one can help her with the final part of the rites. Sakura must gather each stone herself, speak the blessing, and throw them to the sea. Thus, once the burning has faded to wisps, Sakura is left alone at the burial grounds. First the people of Wave leave, bowing in respect before turning away and returning to the town. Ahmya and the ashioto are next. They return to their positions before the burning rites began and plunge their staves into the earth. The fires atop them have mellowed into a gentle lavender, and little to no smoke comes from them. Then the ashioto collectively step back, placing their right hands as fists over their hearts. They bend their torsos slightly. Sakura swallows harshly. It is a salute of kin. A promise of remembrance. When someone dies, they are gone. But they never truly leave. As Sakura blinks, the ashioto disappear.
Though she knows they will return for the second day of burning, it is a little difficult to know she will truly be doing this alone. Because she was a different person just a few days ago, and she isn't sure if she is strong enough yet. But she has to be. If she doesn't change, she will be stuck as that useless version of herself. She will remain that crying Forehead-girl. Obsessor-extraordinaire, an expert paper ninja with no other skills to back herself up. Sakura heaves herself upwards, stumbling a little before steadying. Somehow, she needed her self-imposed mission just as much as the people of Wave did. And truthfully? Sakura wonders who 'Haruno Sakura' will be by the end of this mission. She wonders what changes will stick. How this will affect her life back in Konoha. Knowing she will never get her answers as she is, Sakura shakes the thoughts away. She still needs to finish the rites.
Sakura retrieves her trusty bucket from that first day. Then she works for hours, and by the time she is almost finished gathering the stones and shifting the ashes, it is well after twenty-three-hundred hours. She hovers over the last five stones. The stars and moon shine bright above her, casting everything in a silvery light. It is in that time that she catches sight of one of the charm bracelets. The piece of jewelry had somehow miraculously survived the fire completely intact. Sakura picks it up along with the five stones. She slides it onto her wrist as the names of the lost pass through her mind.
First is Hisashi, meaning long-lived. Second is Kazuhiro, meaning prosperous-one. Third, Chinami, meaning one thousand waves. Fourth, Eiko, meaning long-lived child. And finally, Mamiko, meaning daughter of the sea. Sakura coughs wetly, wiping at her eyes with her upper arm. Ahmya has carved these. An odd quirk with her Precision Cut jutsu was that it seemed to mimic the user's handwriting. Sakura blinked, tears slipping. And it wasn't hard to connect the dots. There had been hope in Wave, once. Alive with the children that had once held the names in her hands. Sakura places the stones into the bucket with great care, mentally keeping a close eye on the little chakra she had reinforced her arms with. The stones may have been small, but a hundred of them in one bucket was no light thing. And that's how many there were. One-hundred. Kids lost to the whims of human nature.
Sakura studiously avoids the thought of how many stones will be added to the sea tomorrow. She hoists the bucket and tightens her grip on it. Sakura treads carefully as she walks to the beach. She sets the bucket of stones down temporarily as she removes her hakama pants and turtleneck. Sakura is left in nothing but her undergarments, but she cannot wear clothes. The ocean will ruin them for their shame. Sakura is not embarrassed either. If the people of Wave truly have as much of the islands in them as they have shown, then they won't leave the town until they see her again. She steps into the gently lapping waves, goosebumps sprouting across both of her arms and legs. A shiver travels up her spine, causing Sakura to shake slightly. The water is cold, bubbling against her skin in a ticklish manner as she wades deeper into the waves. She stops once the water reaches the tops of her knees. She shivers again. Then, she simply breathes for a few moments. The moon breaks through the cloud cover, shining its light directly onto Sakura. She sings.
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Fanfiction"A hundred stones sink beneath the waves, imperfect and uneven kanji chipped into them by an unpracticed hand. The owners only recently buried as ash and dust beneath coarse dirt and sand. And Sakura, the one behind it all." A Different Wave: Book O...
