empathy (rewritten 2019)

ガイ班

テンテン

Carrying a dead comrade in your arms--it was normal on the battlefield. Heaps of bodies strewn left and right, left for you to carry them on to their families. But the war was long ago, and TenTen had lost her grit.

Which was why, leaving on that mission with Sakura, and coming back, carrying her limp body in her arms--it scared her to the bone.

She was someone she had learned with. Fought alongside of. Someone who could heal and give life only to lose her own in the end. Sakura was one of the first ones to go, and though Neji's death was more painful, TenTen was left with more questions with Sakura than the other.

She, like Neji, had left so sudden, but in a far different way, Sakura left so quietly. Neji left as a warrior on the battlefield, a protector of his own, and was granted the honor and pride of the entire Shinobi Force. And Sakura left a forgotten kunoichi, a once-warrior on the battlefield, a healer of her own, but now left without a purpose. Kunoichi medics were rarely needed long after the war.

And so TenTen could see a difference. There was a sadness in Neji's death but there was a bitterness, a secrecy in Sakura's. No one could understand why she died. And neither could TenTen.

And that was the sad legacy the Hokage's friend left behind.

ゲジマユ

After the funeral service, Lee stayed quiet. Then, the day after, he tried lightening the mood. He invited everyone to a picnic for lunch, in the far reaches of the village by a nice stream.

But now he was left with the wonders surrounding his old-love's death. It seemed that nobody else could fathom how or why Sakura died. Lee recognized her strength and ferocity on the battlefield, but where did it go during that mission? Did it fade? Did she forget? Or did we forget?

Lee could barely remember the last time he spoke with the pinkette. It was a fuzzy memory; them, talking over lunch about their teams and their latest missions. Sakura was happy that day.

But that day, watching TenTen carry her dead body in, Sakura's face lost its merriment, only a faded, wasted version of what it used to be. When he asked, TenTen said Sakura didn't want help. She bled out by the time they arrived to Konoha.

And the rest of the Rookie Nine were left to wonder.

How could you let yourself die like that? Couldn't you have lived for us? Lee thought. For you? For me? Did I not cherish you enough? Did I not show you I cared? He knew it wasn't about that, but she wasn't there to stop him from thinking. What about all those smiles?

He remembered their lunch. Her smile. Her laugh. They couldn't have been fake, all of them?