Another path

Reflection

< I'm feeling like writing this week ! I might also be in a good mood because my exam went quite well. This chapter will detail what happened in Konoha but also how everybody felt and grew during the time laps. It's going to be very descriptive and will be based on each character's perspective, so don't be confused !
Hope you'll enjoy !
I still don't own Naruto but I own my OCs. >

_____

" - At first, people were honestly ecstatic. They thought that with Suzuka gone, the village would flourish even more and that it was only a matter of time before she met her end at the hands of thieves or such. So when the Kazekage came to our village, most people were confused. None of them actually knew what she had done for him so they were clueless. When he said he revoked the alliance, we were devastated. We thought we had gained a powerful ally but then people were forced to realise that the bond we formed with Suna only linked a few people and with them gone, so was our friendship.
At this time, the citizens and the shinobi all alike were under the delusion that it was because Gaara was a Jinchūriki that he sided with Suzuka.

***

When we learned that the Wave country and the lands of Spring and Moon were breaking the treaties as well, we began to freak out. People really resented the village for banishing Suzuka and we were only realising how much she had contributed to the development of our village. It was humbling, even humiliating for the council, to know they had depended so much on a little girl whose existence they loathed with all their being.
It dawned on me that even if I'm a kunoichi from a renowned clan, I'm still a nobody outside of my village. What you said made me realise it too... I can't compare to people like her, who throw themselves into work and do whatever it takes to reach their goal. I never had that strength. Rather, I don't have that will. My main preoccupation until today has always been to best Sakura and to impress Sasuke-kun. Even when I realised I was getting nowhere with this, I persuaded myself I couldn't do anything about it. But your words... It reminds me that I'm just lying to myself. We all are lying to ourselves in this village... And it came at a high price.

***

When I first set foot in this village, I felt overwhelmed by the silence. People's eyes were devoid of life and everything felt dull. It was also obvious that it was impoverished : the stalls were almost empty and some buildings looked so shabby it was a miracle they hadn't collapsed. My mother had told me of a beautiful, flourishing place but all I found was the ghost of it.
Soon enough, Suzuka's friends told me how it all happened. After Suna left the alliance and the lands of Wave, Spring and Moon broke treaties, Konoha had lost most of their commercial ties. Commerce preexisted my sister's achievements but it expanded thanks to her. When she was banished, those nations felt insulted for her and by how Konoha was looking down on her and her work. They ceased any kind of trade with Konoha, proving their point that their so-called wealth was essentially the work of people whom they had a very dubious way of thanking.
The village's resources dwindled rapidly and soon they were begging for the treaties to be restored. They never managed to get their trust back though... I came to Konoha only a year after my sister had left and it was already in this state. But it didn't improve from there, far from it.

***

At first, the others thought we would still manage. I knew we were already dead though. The worst was to come. It was troublesome how much the council still adamantly refused to acknowledge their mistake.
And as I expected, soon enough we received no more missions. Outside of the Fire country, all ties with Konoha had been cut. Suna got most of our missions and two years after Suzuka had left, a village with growing influence stole the little we had left, completely suffocating us. Of course it was Suzuka but people thought she would never amount to anything and still desperately wanted to believe that. We were - and still are - slowly dying. We tried to reach out to all our former allies but that was in vain. After all, why would they trust us ? Why would they need us ? They had no reason to help and reasons not to and so that's how it went. One could say we had it coming.
We were still hopeful though until...

***

Until the last straw. It hurt our pride more than our economy. Somehow that's even worse. Taki revoking our everlasting alliance was a hard blow for us, especially considering they did so in favor of allying with Uzushio and Suna. It stung quite hard. To realise they really did prefer Suzuka over us. We were faced with the fact we needed her. That she was someone important and we weren't anymore. It was hard. Thinking about how my student, my rival and his own student had left us behind to rebuild their life when ours crumbled apart was painful. Seeing my two remaining students in grief was even more painful. I cursed the council for making such rash and irrational decisions but at the moment we could only do one thing.

***

That is, to wait. We did our best to remove Suzuka's banishment. Shikamaru, Shino and I spent hours looking for legal precedence and Hinata actually decided to go and tell Uncle Hiashi about this. It took three years but we eventually managed to get the banishment revoked on the day of Suzuka's sixteen birthday. We couldn't think of a better present to give to her. But she didn't accept it. She didn't want it. Rather...
She didn't need it. She was living peacefully somewhere else, not minding us and leaving us to our misery. She who was fated to die, had taken her destiny within her hands and was leading it where she wanted it to go. When I realised that, I looked back on our actions up until then and I finally noticed we had done the same. We had refused to become ostracized, to be ruled by fear and hatred, to abide by meaningless obligations and most of all, we rejected that fate that dictated Konoha would wilt and never get back to its former glory. Because that would have been insulting toward those who created, fought and died for this village. So we kept moving forward and here we are. We're probably walking head first inside a trap but we still wish to change things. I want to show her... I want to show her that I took her lesson to heart all those years ago. I want to show Suzuka I can shape my fate.

***

And so the village kept moving. The young generation pushed through, trying their best and hoping for a better future. Most of them grew up nicely. They are great shinobi and respectable individuals who will fight for their village but also those they love no matter where they are.

- So they did grow up... But then... why is she still like this ?

- ... She never learned. We... Nobody really knows why. She kept behaving like she was twelve. Even now, as an adult... She seems to be in denial. But why ?...

- Perhaps... Perhaps it's because of Suzuka. Perhaps it's because of Suzuka's presence that Sakura behaves this way. "