Hidden Depths 1 - Aftermath

Water closing over her, holding her down, forcing it's way through her clenched lips, into her sinuses, burning, choking its way deeper into her...

Sakura sat bolt upright, bedcovers flying as a scream died in her throat.

Her bed, her room. The boxes of her stuff waiting to be moved to her own apartment next week. Down the hall, she heard her father snore.

Sliding from the bed, she padded on bare feet down the hall and into the bathroom. She was a wreck. The harsh white light showed pale skin sagged in exhaustion, eyes hooded beneath bent brows, and armored with dark bags beneath. Hair jumbled from more than just her fifth sleepless night, and a mouth gone grim.

Whatever.

Her throat crackled from dryness, her mouth felt full of cotton. Mechanically, she ran a glass of water from the sink. But barely had it touched her lips when she instinctively spat it out. Her body rejected it.

Or maybe something else did.

"To hell with it..." she grumbled. Trudging back down the hall, she quickly dressed in a sports bra and running shorts. She belted on her pouch of ninja tools and slunk from the house.

The cold night air assaulted her bared skin as she ran.

***

Two figures approached the main gate of the Village Hidden in The Leaves. One plodded along woodenly, her stride uneven, and a slight trail of crimson in her wake. The other made no sound. The second shadow glided along as if her feet did not actually touch the ground she trod.

Just before reaching the first sentries, the pair parted. The ghost melted back into the trees with a liquid ripple. Her wounded companion paused as if confused, then continued on.

The outer guards spotted her as she drew near. Instantly, they dropped into combat stances and reached for weapons. The great hound with them growled low and menacing.

"Halt!" barked the first guard. His dog followed with a literal bark of challenge.

The girl lurched to a stop, then slowly toppled.

The second guard brought out a light just as the dog's growl changed to a yelp of surprise and a barrage of happy tail wagging.

"Holy crap!" Kiba exclaimed and rushed forward "Hinata!"

***

Sakura ran.

She passed through the inner village gate and out into outer reaches of the forest. The village was on high alert right now, but no one was going to stop Lady Tsunade's personal student if she chose to go out for some exercise.

Somewhere along the line, she took to the trees. Leaping from limb to limb, treating them as attacking foes. She lashed out with kicks, punches and curses as she flew. Trunks shattered, branches fell and over it all her cries of anger and battle rang.

Sakura landed near the base of the waterfall, exhausted. Still though, the central core of her anger blazed. With an inarticulate cry of deepest grief, she pounded one fist into the ground.

Earth exploded away from the impact. Boulders tore free and the land rent beneath her assault.

As the dust settled, Sakura stood agape at the damage she'd caused to the land, and turning, the clear path of destruction she'd left in the trees.

The crater she stood in slowly filled with runoff from the nearby stream. Sakura, weary to the core with anger and frustration collapsed to all fours. The slowly rippling water mirrored the dark sky, and slightly distorted her face, making it appear longer as the small waves rolled in.

It would be so easy to lunge forward, to plunge into that cool embrace and release the burden of the grief, the stigma she carried.

The thought filled her with revulsion.

She had killed. In battle, yes, but this wasn't the same as before. This was gruesome, this was...

Unbidden the sick lurch of the drowning girl beneath her came back to her mind full force. She remembered the gurgling noise, the hideous stillness.

She had never killed anyone with her bare hands before.

She'd have cried if any tears remained to her.

Something, above her reflection caught her eye. A glint off steel as a shadow lowered its concealing hood. A person stood on the rim of the crater, cloaked in dark blue that blended with the starry sky above.

The person's face....

Her.

For an instant that took years, Sakura sat rooted to the earth. The girl she'd murdered glared down at her from the rim.

Her limbs remembered their purpose and Sakura sprang upwards.

The clearing was deserted. The girl, was gone.

Where she stood, a small puddle caught the moonlight. Embedded in the center of it stood the round eye hook of a single kunai dagger. One of the trio Sakura had lost in the attack in the seas of the Crescent Moon Kingdom.

Shaken, the Leaf Jonin retrieved her weapon, and staggered off into the night.