An Imperfect Spectrum

Visits

Note: In which Sakura makes several visits and the author wishes for slumber and reviews.

She carefully opened the closet door, grabbing a pair of sweats and a clean sleeveless top, tossing them onto the bed before carefully shutting it. She threw them on, then carefully pulled her hair back from her face, tying it back into a short ponytail. She tugged her door open, pausing at the slight squeak it made as it moved from the frame before moving towards the staircase. It was still dark in the house, but shadows of her movements were still cast upon the walls.

It was quiet when she slid open the Uchiha's back door, creeping out into the crisp air of early morning as the crickets around her silenced. The sky was filled with a soft orange hue, and as she gazed at the few birds that flew from the trees, a small breeze blew stray strands of her hair into her face. She frowned, watching as they twisted around each other, filling the sky with their care-free chirping. She hated it.

She was one of the few awake in the village as she made her way through the streets. Most shops were closed, as civilians generally weren't awake so early in the morning, but several shops, mostly weapon supply stores, were open, catering to the shinobi population. She nodded at a couple of nin who waved at her as she walked, and stopped to stare into several shops before entering the flower shop.

It was currently run by some non-Yamanaka couple, which threw Sakura through a loop when she walked into their store for the first time, preparing herself for memories that would come with a warm smile from her friend's parents, only to meet the eyes of someone completely different. It was better this way, she thought as she looked through the flowers, selecting a few and making her way to the counter.

"Good morning, dear!" The lady called, smiling despite the early hour. "Is this all-" She looked down at the flowers, smile shrinking a bit as she glanced back at Sakura's gaze. "Um-"

"I know what they mean, ma'am. This is all I'll be buying." Sakura reached into her pocket, grasping the money she brought and placing it on the counter as the woman stared at her. She left before the woman could say more, taking her flowers and walking back into the empty street.

The gravel shifted under her feet as she entered the hospital courtyard, walking past the door and behind the flowerbeds, glancing every so often at the windows. She stopped, nodding to herself before backing from the building and leaping up to the third floor window. She caught herself with chakra on the wall beside the window and slid it open just enough for here to crawl inside. The room was quiet, and the person in it was facing the other direction.

She reached out to touch the figure, but stopped herself at the last second, drawing her hand back and instead taking the flowers from the vase and replacing them with the ones she had just bought. "You know," she started, glancing back at the bed, "you're being very childish right now." There was no response. "Of course." She muttered, turning back towards the window. "Goodbye, father."

She was tearing up as she made her way to the memorial stone to lay the last flower in her grasp. It was for her friends, and all the lives she did not save during her time in the war. She walked slowly, letting the tears roll freely down her cheeks. By the time she made it to the clearing, she was done crying, solely focused on getting the flower to the stone, and a bit of time alone to remember them.

When the stone came into view, it was clear that is not what she'd be getting. A man knelt in front of it, hand outstretched to trace the characters of someone's name. She stopped in her tracks, turning around to leave again when the man looked up towards her in surprise. There were remains of tears in his eyes.

"You're young."

"We all were at some point."

"It's not fair."

She didn't know what he was talking about, but responded with, "We're shinobi. Since when has fair been in the job description."

The man stopped breathing and stared at her, before glancing back at the memorial stone.

"I guess that's true." He glanced back at the ground. "People die all the time in this business."

Sakura shrugged, moving closer to the man. "Doesn't make it easier though."

He blinked in surprise, before moving to ruffle her hair, muttering, "You're alright, kid."

She swatted at his hand, but he shunshined away, leaving her alone in the clearing.

She fixed her hair and walked onwards, taking his place in front of the stone and placing down the flower, tracing the places where her friend's names would be, at some point in the future.

Note: I think that's an alright place to end this chapter tonight.

So, who is this mystery man at the memorial stone? Tell me your guesses because he may or may not show up again depending on if I remember I wrote this. I gave a vague hint of who he's not in the chapter. 'There were remains of tears in his eyes.' As you can see, I used the plural of eyes, and therefore, it cannot be Kakashi, as he has Obito's sharingan at this point and keeps it covered to avoid the constant drain on his chakra.

To that one person in the comments, and I apologize for not recalling who you are or looking for what site it's on, I am very tired, of course Mikoto can be your mom. I mean, she's basically adopted Sakura at this point, and Shisui stays over there often enough, what's one more.

Hit up my Tumblr for questions and whatnot @ absolutefandom-rubbish, or just comment them.