Warped

Letters

     With shaky hands Naruto knocked on the door to the Haruno household, holding a bouquet of white lilies from the Yamanaka store. Ino had a sorrowful look on as he bought them, but he couldn't blame her for it. The loss had hit them hard, probably Naruto the most. A part of it was probably also the pity for Naruto.

     The door opened and he was met with Mebuki Haruno, who still had dark bags under her eyes. Her hazel hair that was usually kept straight was unkempt and needed quite a bit of brushing. By the angle that the door was open he couldn't tell if Hizashi was inside, but he knew enough that they still were suffering from grief.

      "H-hello..." he muttered softly, "Could I come in?"

     Her green eyes -so similar to Sakura's- flicked over to the flowers in his hand and he could hear a chain fall from behind the door. It was opened wider and she stated, "Come on in, Naruto."

     He didn't mind the cold shoulder as he gave that to most people nowadays. Mebuki had grabbed a vase and filled it with water, beckoning the shinobi to place them in the prepared vase. "... Thank you for having a visit."

     Her voice cracked a bit as she said those words. It was obvious that none of her emotional wounds had healed. It was their right, after all, no parents should have to bury their own child. 

     "So, I was wondering... Is it alright if I could go into Sakura-chan's room?"

     Mebuki Haruno's fist tightened and her knuckles whitened. "... Why do you want to go in?"

     "She had me order a photo us and wanted to have one of them... I never had the chance to give it to her." He procured the photo, framed and everything.

     He smiled wistfully and went to touch the glass but pulled away as if he had almost touched a hot stove. "She'd get mad if I put a fingerprint on it, dattebayo."

     "Go ahead. Her room is right up the stairs and on the end of the hall."

      Nodding, he slowly walked up, taking everything around him in. On the walls were numerous pictures of Sakura in her childhood. As he strolled up, the older she appeared in the pictures. He went straight to the door, hesitating to grab the doorknob.

     "S-sakura-chan... I'm coming in, " he declared, feeling as though he was encroaching on something he wasn't supposed to. It was a sign of respect to her.

     Opening the door, the room was painted the a faded version of what seemed to be bubblegum pink. Most of all the furniture there was either pink, red, or white, which was expected of her. 

     As he walked to her desk, he saw the familiar picture of their first image as Team 7. Naruto almost laughed at seeing his irritated face directed at the one and only Sasuke Uchiha. He had the same image in his room, but it somehow felt more nostalgic in Sakura Haruno's room.

     He wiped off the thin layer of dust on the frame and thought about how much care she put in for the frame. He couldn't make out a single dent or scratch on it and could see no fingerprint in the reflection on the glass by far. Naruto wondered how diligent she was on keeping that single frame clean.

     "Here, Sakura, " he grinned as he placed his picture beside the older one, "You wanted this after all, dattebayo."

      He circled the room once more, taking in every detail before he left. By what he could see, the room remained untouched since she had died. It probably took all of Mebuki's willpower to allow him into the room that even they refrained from touching. Everything was neat and orderly, a room that a stereotypical girl would have.

     However, his eyes finally landed on the diary that sat on her desk, something that seemed off compared to the rest of the room. It laid askew on the top while a couple pieces of paper were stuffed into it. Whoever had shoved it in there had done it hastily.

     His hand hovered over it, wanting to reach in and grab them. Though that action felt almost on the level of grave robbing. He was going to disturb Sakura's room and could never place them back in the same way again. Naruto would desolate the purity of the sanctuary.

     However, his instincts held strong and he finally pulled out the pieces with trembling hands. As he flipped through them all he read the names that they were addressed to, "Tsunade obaa-chan, Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-teme, and... Me."

     He swallowed down the lump in his throat as he turned over the letter with his name on it and ripped it open. He could hardly contain his shaking as he pulled out the paper within it. Opening it up, his eyes filled with tears as he recognized the handwriting, Sakura Haruno's writing.

     He ate up every single word, not caring as his own teardrops fell onto the paper. This was her last message to him. Although he couldn't extract her from the dead, he felt glad to have some kind of final words with her, even if it was one-sided. 

     "S-sakura-chan... I miss you so much."

     Naruto had to deliver the other messages or he wouldn't feel relieved from her death. Carefully, he slipped the other letters into his pouch and stared back at the diary that he had messed with. Hopefully she wouldn't mind it.

     "Thank you for allowing me to go in, " the Uzumaki boy swallowed out, a bit guilty from taking the papers from Sakura's room.

     "You're welcome to stop by again, " she stated, forcing a smile.

     Again, for the second time that day he was knocking on another person's door. The Godaime Hokage allowed him in with ease, especially after the failed experiment the other day. They both needed to recuperate, and it was better together.

     "Is Kakashi-sensei here?" he asked solemnly.

     "I sent a bird for him, and he should be here any moment... Has anything happened?"

     It was obvious that she wanted any hints of Sakura's possible revival into the world. He had been so close to succeeding, but there was something secreted that the Kyuubi wasn't telling him.

     "No, " he responded quietly, "I haven't had any luck with that."

     The door opened for another guest. "Yo."

     It was the silverette's usual greeting, but it sounded more weary than usual. "You called for me, Hokage-sama?"

     "Naruto here has something that he wants to share with us, " she informed with a sigh, sipping some sake.

     He then pulled out the letters from his pouch, silently placing them on Tsunade's desk without another word. Naruto didn't need to tell them anything as what was on there said it all.

     "She wrote us... Letters?" Tsunade asked rhetorically, a bit surprised.

     The blonde woman grabbed hers while Kakashi grabbed his, leaving Sasuke's as the lone one left. 

      They ripped theirs open and read through, eyes devouring every single detail that they came across.

      Kakashi held his so tightly that the paper was crumpling up. "This... This paper is old... But the ink suggests only a couple months... Around the day that she died. Not only that but-"

     He stopped abruptly as the cup that Tsunade Senju was holding shattered into pieces by her uncontrolled strength. "She wrote this like a suicide note... It is as if..."

     She used her non-bleeding hand to place a hand on her forehead. She didn't need to finish her sentence.

     They each eyed the last, unopened letter. It seemed that there was more to Sakura Haruno than anyone had known.