Kohona's Cherry Blossom

     It was another beautiful day in the village of Kohona, and everyone was happy-
“Ino, you pig!!”
Well, almost everyone.
    
Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzamaki were on a mission to try and steal Kakashi’s perverted book.  They were so close, and then Ino Yamanaka had revealed Sakura’s hiding place.  Well, of course, Sakura wasn’t all that happy about Ino’s actions.  
    
“Calm down, Billboard Brow!” Ino said with a smirk.  “I have a message for you from Lady Tsunade.”  She handed the pink haired kuniochi a scroll.  Sakura took the scroll, not really in any hurry to read it.  By this time, Naruto was sort of jogging over to Sakura to see what the message said from the Hokage.  

     He was sixteen and a half, and he was not the same hyperactive knucklehead he used to be four years ago when they were just kids.  He was stronger, somewhat smarter, and he didn’t goof off as much (except when it was just his friends).  Kakashi’s, feeling that his ex-students were no longer after his precious book of perverted perviness, appeared in a poof next to Naruto.  For he, too, was curious of the contents of the scroll.  Sakura, annoyed that people were invading her personal bubble, opened the pearl white scroll sent by her master, and held it at an angle so only she could read it.
    
      It stated the worst news she could bear.  Sakura quickly role the back up, and started running home.  “Hey, Sakura, what’d it say?” Naruto yelled after her.  But she didn’t hear him.  She was too deep into her own thoughts, that she didn’t even notice anything around her.  

     Sakura got home subconsciously.  Sakura burst through the door of her own home, not even caring that she didn’t close it behind her.  The moment that she was in the privacy of her own room, she fell to her knees and doubled over, clutching her throbbing head.  
Maybe I read it wrong!
    
      With shaking hands, Sakura reread the scroll more than once, desperately hoping that it would be something else.  But it said what it said.  And Sakura couldn’t change that.  The scroll read:


Dear Sakura Haruno,

     I’m sorry to inform you that your parents were attacked while on their vacation.  But the mystery killer didn’t stop with them.  He went ahead and killed the rest of the Haruno clan.  I understand that you must be feeling sadness like never before.  You may come visit me any time for, tea and we’ll talk.


                                     I’m here for you,
                                       

                                  Lady Tsunade


     At first, the letter surprised Sakura.  Lady Tsunade never told people that she was “there for them” when they were upset.  Then again, the Hokage herself personally trained Sakura, and the two have come to know each other very well.  She was like a role model for Sakura, because she was the only kuniochi that Sakura could really look up to.

     The girl looked at the scroll with hatred, and disgust.  She couldn’t begin to understand why someone would destroy her clan.  They weren’t too well known, like the Uchiha’s, or the Hyuga’s.  Sakura became so angry, that she threw the scroll at the wall opposite her with all the strength she could muster.  When it hit the wall, the wooden peg that held it together snapped into pieces, and the paper part of the scroll sprawled out onto the floor.  The teenage ninja sat up.

      So, nobody else knows about this?
     
     Sakura knew for a fact, that if the Hokage wrote certain letters out to people that the council normally did for her, then the information was top secret.  The pink haired kuniochi was somewhat happy that no one else knew.  To be honest, she really didn’t want others to know about the tragedy of her clan.  And the last thing she needed was for everyone to feel sorry for her.  

     I’m not going to cry over this.  My family’s death can only make me stronger!
Cha! That’s right! The inner-Sakura shouted.  No one can bring us down!

     Sakura stood.  It’s not that she wasn’t saddened by what happened to her family.  She actually couldn’t feel any worse.  But she wasn’t going to be a crybaby over the whole thing.  
  
     The young ninja walked up a flight of stairs in her house, leading to a large observation area on the top of her roof.

     She stood on the very edge of the roof, looking out at different parts of the village visible to the naked eye from where she was standing.  She could parents showing their kids around the village, taking them to different shops, and treating them to small take-out restaurants.

     Then Sakura’s gaze turned to the Hokage faces.  She studied each face carefully, taking in every detail that she noticed.  Then she came to the Third’s face.  She remembered how he died fighting Orochimaru, protecting the village.    
     
      One of the village jounin appeared in a puff of smoke behind her.  Sakura didn’t bother turn around to see who it was.  She honestly didn’t care.

     “The Hokage would like to speak to you right away,” he said.  The kuniochi simply nodded, implying that she heard him.  The messenger disappeared in a puff of smoke.

     Great, she thought.  Now what does she want?  And with, she, too, disappeared.