Red Leaf Village, Late November, Konoha Year 60
In Muto Junko's home within Red Leaf Village, what should have been a quiet, perhaps even lonely dinner, was filled with a lively atmosphere thanks to the presence of the strange young girl Sakura. The small home, previously occupied only by Granny Rika and Junko, felt brighter, imbued with a newfound warmth.
Seeing the genuine happiness sparkling in Junko's dark eyes, Granny Rika found she no longer harbored any resentment about sheltering the rescued girl. It had been a long time since Junko seemed this happy.
"Sakura-neechan, are you really a doctor?" Junko chirped, firing questions like projectiles even as she shoveled rice into her mouth. "Where did you learn medicine? You look about the same age as me! Are you really thirty years old?" Her lively eyes fixed on Sakura, brimming with boundless curiosity, like a walking encyclopedia of questions.
"Junko!" Granny Rika interjected, putting on a stern face. "Eat properly! Don't talk so much while eating!"
Junko pouted at Granny Rika's scolding, making a defiant face and muttering under her breath, "You don't usually tell me off like that, hmph." Her mischievous look was quite endearing.
However, despite having scolded Junko, Granny Rika found herself curious as well. "Sakura," she asked gently, "is it alright if we call you that?"
"It's fine," Sakura replied after swallowing a mouthful of simple white porridge. "My comrades all call me that." She added sincerely, "Thank you again for saving me."
"Hehe, it's nothing," Granny Rika chuckled softly. "Besides, this was Junko's request. Junko, well, since she was little..." The old woman sighed, trailing off. "Ai... let's not talk about that." She shifted topics. "Where is your home, Sakura? And how did you receive such severe injuries?"
Sakura hesitated, choosing not to answer Granny Rika's questions directly. Instead, she turned to Junko. "Junko, about when you found me... was I alone?"
When Sakura had first woken up, through their brief, disjointed conversation, she'd gathered this was a village near the border between the Land of Grass and the Land of Rain, not far from Yanluo Bridge. Makes sense, she'd thought. Any further away, and she wouldn't have stumbled upon me. Right now, her body felt incredibly weak; she couldn't muster even a sliver of chakra. If she encountered enemies in this state, she'd be completely defenseless. The simple clothes she wore were Junko's. Her headband, kunai pouch, medical supplies – all lost or expended during the brutal fight with Hanzo. Even her personal waist pouch was gone. It was a stark reminder of how fierce that battle had been. Though, Sakura reflected grimly, it's probably fortunate I had nothing left on me. Otherwise, they might not have been so willing to take in a stranger.
"Back then..." Junko tilted her head, looking up at the ceiling as she recalled. "Well, Yanluo Bridge was blockaded by some ninja, so I couldn't go to the villages in the Land of Rain to trade. I had to just gather some herbs nearby to take back home. But it was strange... the plants that usually grow really lushly there were all withered. So, I followed the path of withered plants deeper into the woods, and then... I saw you lying there. That's how it was."
"Then," Sakura probed gently, "did you see anyone else besides me?" Hanzo's corpse was right beside me, she thought, puzzled. There's no way Junko wouldn't have noticed.
Junko tilted her head again, thinking hard, then shook it definitively. "No. Back then, it was just you, Neechan, lying there covered in blood. If it weren't for your faint breathing, I would have thought you were already dead."
"Is... that so..." Sakura silently stirred the porridge in her bowl with her spoon, taking slow, measured sips. Inwardly, suspicion bloomed. If Junko only saw me... could someone else have discovered me after she left to get help? And taken Hanzo's body away? Was it Hanzo's subordinates? That was possible. But if they had found her alive then, they absolutely wouldn't have spared her life.
Yet, based on her own medical assessment of her injuries immediately after the fight, survival should have been impossible. If she had died then, she wouldn't be sitting here now. But if she hadn't died, Hanzo's subordinates – or even Pain, though that seemed less likely – wouldn't possibly have left her alive. If Pain wanted the situation in Amegakure kept quiet, silencing her would be paramount.
It presented two stark contradictions. I should be dead, yet I'm alive. If I survived, my enemies should have finished me off, yet I'm here. It felt like an impossible paradox, like asking if an omnipotent being could create a stone it couldn't lift. Sakura could only be certain of one thing: during the time she lay unconscious, something inexplicable, something unknown to her, must have occurred – something that somehow bridged those contradictions.
Granny Rika noted Sakura hadn't answered her questions but didn't press further. Everyone had their secrets. This girl didn't seem like a bad person, and most importantly, Junko was rarely this happy. For now, that was enough.
"Junko, after eating, you wash the dishes. I'm going to rest first," Granny Rika said, pushing herself up stiffly from the tatami mat, rubbing her lower back and muttering, "Getting old... sit for a little while and the back starts hurting... ai..."
Sakura silently finished the last of her porridge. Her current weakened state wasn't suited for rich or greasy food; she'd never felt this physically depleted before. Watching Junko clear the table and head towards the washing basin, Sakura closed her eyes and tried once more, silently, to refine some chakra.
...
Junko's mood was buoyant. She scrubbed the simple wooden bowls, humming an unknown, cheerful tune. Ever since she could remember, 'home' had just been Granny Rika and herself. Seeing other children's homes filled with fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, while hers held only her grandmother… although she never spoke of it, deep down, she felt profoundly lonely. She yearned to invite other children over, but no one ever wanted to come. Because she had no parents, Junko was always teased, always bullied.
Sometimes Junko dreamed: if she knew ninjutsu, maybe the other kids would finally want to play with her? Their favorite game was always 'playing ninja.' And she could protect Granny Rika! Granny's precious medicinal herbs were always being trampled or stolen by 'those people' (the village bullies); it made Junko furious! If she knew ninjutsu, she'd definitely teach them a lesson they wouldn't forget!
But when Junko had shared this dream with Granny Rika, her grandmother's expression had turned unusually serious. She'd told Junko firmly to forget such ideas, to just be an ordinary person. But what's so good about being ordinary? Junko thought resentfully. Ordinary people just get pushed around...
But things felt different now! Sakura-neechan was a doctor! And Junko herself was her lifesaver! Surely, after this, those other kids wouldn't dare look down on her anymore! Thinking this, Junko's spirits lifted several degrees higher.
The shhh-shhh sound of scrubbing mingled with Junko's soft humming, filling the small kitchen space with a cheerful atmosphere.
"Let me help you..."
A soft voice came from beside her ear. Junko turned her head, startled, finding Sakura standing there. "No need, no need!" she protested quickly. "I'm almost finished! Sakura-neechan, you're still injured, you should go rest! I can handle this alone!" Junko refused the kind offer, but inwardly, her heart did a happy flip. Besides Granny Rika, this was the very first time anyone had ever offered to help her with anything.
"It's okay..." Sakura gently picked up a bowl and began scrubbing alongside Junko. "Like I said, it just looks serious. Actually, it's mostly healed now." She added softly, "And I still need to thank you properly for carrying me all the way back here." Sakura hadn't succeeded in refining any usable chakra just now. Her whole body still felt profoundly weak; she could only manage the barest thread of chakra, not enough to do anything useful. She knew it was because her body hadn't recovered. Forcing it would likely cause more damage. Might as well help Junko then. Regardless of anything else, Junko had saved her life. Sakura wasn't Naruto, overflowing with universal love; she could be ruthless towards enemies, pragmatic when necessary. But towards those she considered 'relevant' – allies, benefactors – she always treated them with sincerity. And now, Junko was undeniably a 'relevant' person to Sakura.
"Junko..." Sakura began after a moment of comfortable silence.
"Mm?" Junko responded, focused on her task.
"Are there still ninja blockading Yanluo Bridge?" Sakura asked casually, needing to understand the situation outside the village to start making plans.
"Ah... er... that..." Junko paused. "I don't know for sure either. After bringing you back yesterday afternoon, I haven't gone out again. But I'll check for you tomorrow!"
"Thanks, Junko," Sakura nodded, then added with gentle caution, "Just see if there are still ninja there, that's all. Don't take any risks."
"Mm," Junko nodded, lowering her head slightly and whispering, almost shyly, "Thank you, Sakura-neechan."
"Eh?" Sakura glanced sideways at Junko, somewhat surprised by the sudden shift in tone.
"Besides Granny Rika," Junko mumbled, her voice slightly choked with emotion, "no one has ever... cared about me before."
"...Your parents?" Sakura asked softly after a moment.
"Dead," Junko replied, her voice devoid of inflection. "Granny Rika said they were killed fighting bandits when I was very little." Though she yearned for the idea of parents, she had never known them; they were just familiar strangers in her mind.
"I'm sorry..." Sakura apologized quickly. Another orphan. Still, having a grandmother put her leagues ahead of Naruto's childhood. She then asked, "Are there still bandits around now?" If there were, Sakura wouldn't mind eliminating them once she recovered.
Junko shook her head. "Not anymore. Granny Rika said those bandits only came because of the ninja war back then. After the war ended, our village hired shinobi from Kusagakure to wipe them out. Although," she added thoughtfully, "sometimes these past few years, some troublemakers still come by to harass people, but after we pay the commission, the Kusa-nin always help resolve it."
"Is that so..." Sakura fell silent, absorbing Junko's words. Conflicts between nations never take civilians into account. Bandits thrive in the chaos. Although ninja villages took commissions for bandit suppression, the constant struggles between villages meant one wave was eliminated only for another to appear eventually. The cycle seemed endless.
"If I knew ninjutsu," Junko sighed, then started complaining, pouting slightly, "we wouldn't need to hire ninja! The commissions are so expensive! And there are always other random requests too... But Granny Rika doesn't want me to become a ninja." These were her heartfelt frustrations, things she couldn't normally share with anyone, now pouring out in a rush to Sakura.
"Ninja?" Sakura paused, then asked with a gentle smile, "Junko, do you want to become a ninja?"
"Of course!" Junko nodded emphatically, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "If I become a ninja, the village kids will finally play with me! We wouldn't need to hire ninja to solve bandit problems! All those other requests would be gone! And we'd never have to worry about people blockading Yanluo Bridge again!" She ticked off the benefits on her small fingers, her expression deadly earnest.
"But... ninja get killed..." Sakura countered softly, hitting Junko with the harsh reality.
"Eh? How could that be?" Junko's eyes filled with genuine confusion. "The ninja I've seen are all really strong! Just a few kids about my age were enough to make those bandits flee in disarray! How could they die?" Since birth, Junko had never left Red Leaf Village. Her entire experience consisted of villagers, bandits, and the occasional visiting Grass shinobi. She'd never witnessed a true battle between trained ninja. Bandits, naturally, couldn't defeat ninja. So, in Junko's innocent mind, ninja represented absolute power, invincibility. No matter how she tried, her inexperienced little head couldn't conceive of a ninja actually being killed.
Sakura looked at Junko's pure, innocent eyes and found herself hesitating. Should she shatter the girl's beautiful fantasy? Given the quiet discrimination Junko faced from her peers, perhaps this dream was the only thing consoling her spirit. Forget it, Sakura decided. Maybe she'll live her whole life peacefully within these borders. Just let her keep some illusions. The shinobi world was brutal. If Sakura were to drag Junko into it, that would be repaying kindness with irreparable harm – an act Sakura couldn't bring herself to commit. I'll heal up, then leave quietly. She's just an ordinary person. Getting too deeply involved with ninja would only endanger her. If there's a chance in the future, I'll find a way to repay her then.
In the end, Sakura just offered Junko a faint, bittersweet smile and didn't directly answer her question about ninja dying. Although she didn't get a verbal response, Junko noted Sakura's evasion and kept the unsettling question tucked away in her heart.
That night.....
Sakura carefully unwrapped the bandages again, looking silently for a long moment at the ugly scar bisecting her abdomen. She wondered idly if a scar like this could ever be fully removed. Lady Tsunade would probably know how, she thought. Sakura herself hadn't consciously noticed until now, but she realized with some surprise that she was paying more and more attention to her own physical appearance lately. Perhaps, she mused with a touch of clinical detachment, it's simply a standard side effect of entering puberty.
Sleep...