Queen of Air and Darkness

xvii. the grand renunciation

xvii. the grand renunciation

The roaring in Sakura's ears was more than she could bear. It enveloped her, eclipsing all other sounds, swallowing up voices and thoughts until all she had left was a long, dull buzzing in her bones. With each step she took, she asked herself, why? Where am I going? What am I doing?

The shape of the world was wrong.

It was with uncomfortable, calculated silence that Sasuke led her through the castle. They picked through the dark ruin of the castle, dodging cracking floorboards, and falling planks. Sasuke had to produce a torch to illuminate their way as the lit braziers of home were gone. Their bronze cages on the walls had bent and melted in the blaze. The plush carpets that softened the sound of their footfalls were a ruin, covered in dark ash.

And everywhere she looked, there was guilt. Gleefully her unconscious brain provided her with a long list of crimes:

-She had not been there to fight for Konoha, she had been helping her mentor escape from the dungeons.

-She had not been there to fight for her mentor, she had been stealing small pleasures from Kakashi on the road.

-She had not been a proper knight, untouched by desire. Instead, she had submerged herself in it, as she had kissed Kakashi on a riverbed.

And so the list went on.

Sasuke interrupted the litany, opening a ruined door. Sakura could only blink as she realized they had arrived at Tsunade's office. Documents scattered the floor, intermingled with shattered glass along the floor. It should have been perfectly preserved, Tsunade would have warded it against fire damage years ago. Such work was simple, relying more on chalk sigils than the caster's own power. But the enchantments had dissipated like dust when Tsunade had--

She couldn't think the word. Thinking it would make it true.

"I'll keep watch while you take what you need," Sasuke said, his face sharp and unreadable. It was not kindness in his eyes as he stepped out of the room. Sakura did not question it. She lingered in the middle of the room, struck foolish and slow by the lack of Tsunade's presence.

Everywhere she looked was sharp with newly painful memories, so she did not allow herself to linger over any one detail. She busied herself with digging through her mentor's drawers. The action cleared her mind, giving her a central task to pour her efforts into. No doubt Sasuke thought she was nothing but a grieving girl, desperate for some keepsake to remember Tsunade by. He had no idea the secrets Tsunade had passed on to her. The danger that Sakura could be in, had anyone else gotten access to this office.

It was with horror then, that Sakura realized that the office had been picked clean. Tsunade's drawers had been emptied, her books pulled from their shelves. As she dug deeper she realized that the destruction here was not the work of the fire alone. Someone had torn through this office already, taking whatever they thought might be useful.

Tsunade would never have been foolish enough to commit anything to paper that might incriminate Sakura. Anything personal or dangerous would have been written in code—Tsunade had always been relentlessly careful. But because she was so thorough, Tsunade would have also left a will. There should have been instruction for the running of the castle, comprehensive documentation, and journals, final words for Naruto.

There should have been something for Sakura.

All of it was gone. All of it was likely in Danzo's hands now.

She stepped out of Tsunade's office, suddenly cold.

"There is somewhere else I need to go," she told Sasuke, her voice foreign to her own ears.