She sat before the grave as the sun, through the sharp, jagged mountains and the fleeting clouds, pierced the tree's outreaching hands at dawn. Konoha grew warm and she sat still, miles beyond the streets as the early risers bustled by the stores.
She sat. And she stared. Perhaps, waiting for the dead to rise and return, or perhaps, regretting everything she ever did wrong.
She wasn't there when Sakura died. She couldn't even make it to the funeral. The Hokage had sent the two of them on separate missions, but Sakura's was supposed to end later--much, much later than this. Kami, why didn't I come home faster?
Keiko had an easy mission. It was a simple retrieval. But there was a scenic route she liked to take on the way back, and everything lately had been so stressful and sad. Sakura was sad and there was nothing she could do anymore. The Academy teacher was trying to rope her into teaching a team, saying you've been on the force for most of your life. Maybe it's time to stop going solo?
But she wasn't solo. She had Sakura, and they had each other. When Keiko learned about her family, Sakura was there; and when Sakura kept slipping and falling on herself, Keiko was there. Their system lasted nearly a decade. Keiko never doubted the possibility that someone would come and interrupt that system, but she never expected it to be Sakura herself.
The day Keiko heard about her funeral and her death in general (which was when she'd entered the gates and walked through the busy streets back to her apartment; people were murmuring about the Hokage's friend passing away--and Keiko did the simple math because if it was Sasuke, they would've known his name), she ran to the memorial with a million thoughts in mind.
Thoughts, running as fast as she was, as fast as her heart could beat, as fast the wind hurling during a storm--thoughts, overlapping and tripping on themselves and bunching together until it was a mess of is this true and maybe it's someone else and what if--why didn't she wait? or what did I do? and what didn't I do? and a thousand more.
And she reached the grave and she collapsed before it.
And here she was again, before the same grave. The thoughts resurfaced, quiet and slow, and each unanswered question was just another bitter bite.
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empathy (rewritten 2019)
Fanfictionthe fourth shinobi war is over. konoha, among the other villages, have settled into a peaceful era of recovery and nonviolence. but years after the war and years into their recovery, on a spring march day, sakura haruno decides. and the journey of h...
