Chapter 17 notes

Chapter 17

Chapter notes:

• The temple bell stops–
but the sound keeps coming
out of the flowers.

— Basho

There are several translations of this haiku, but the idea is that beauty of the ringing bells keeps on resonating in other things, in nature and around you, long after the initial lovely sound has stopped. 

In this chapter, Katsuro connects his memories of that time with Sakura to actual temple bells, gives up the item that was a negative connection between them (the tether) to be used to help someone in need. The good things he took from that time with Sakura still continue to resonate within him and change him for the better, even though he’s far away from that time in his life, and hasn’t seen Sakura in years now.

• Ages — This chapter spans two years, and Gaara is in the first year, so he is about 15. In the previous chapters, Sakura was around 14. And when this chapter winds up, they will all be around 16, more or less. 

• Gaara — Since Naruto has been removed from the Konoha storyline, Gaara has to have another catalyst for change. So Sakura becomes the agent of change through her kind treatment of him. She recognizes him as a person, an individual apart from the demon. And because of this he chooses to hold back a little and not kill her. Kakashi reinforces what she has set in motion by encouraging the siblings to care for their brother, help him. Thus the stage is set for him to gain control and eventually ascend to Kazekage. And he will return later as such. 

• And he vowed never to be anyone’s weapon. — Katsuro’s personal thoughts go along with the Kakashi’s words to Gaara and Sasuke’s words to the council. All three are struggling to find their own ground with their insane power.

• But Kakashi shook his head. “No, I think Sakura had the right idea.” — Kakashi recognizing and validating Sakura’s choices and skill. 

• “Faked it,” she said with a tired smile. — Katsuro’s advice has stayed with her, and carried her through that rough situation.

• On the other side of the field, a trade road shimmered with heat, blazing silver-white in the noonday sun. The glare hurt her eyes, but she knew that was the road she needed to be on. — White, sunlight, blinding light as a sensory/color cue for the beginning of an emotional arc.

Spoiler Notes:

• This time he looked the part of a farm boy, even down to the farm tools in his sack. They jangled softly as he shifted the bag for a moment to air out his sweaty back.

Sakura grabbed the things off the ground and dumped them quickly back into the cart. She was just leaning forward to drop the last tool in — a garden trowel that could have easily taken the place of a kunai — when the man’s callused fingers wrapped around her wrist.

— The garden tools in Katsuro’s cart are drawn from real life “ninjas,” stealthy assassins who would carry common items that could easily be turned into weapons. So a garden trowel becomes a kunai.

• He turned back to her, astonished. “Temple bells?” She nodded. It was the same pattern from the huge old broken bells in the temple. He remembered it clearly. He let the bell swing gently down to its mate. They both chimed with a lovely, clear ring. — This little bit was inspired by the Basho’s haiku on temple bells from the beginning of the chapter. There is a visual here of things being put right (Katsuro’s aid), things being repaired (the torn awning), a negative thing being used for good (the leather tie), and of a new positive thing coming from that effort (the temple bells at the corner). All of that is wrapped up in this scene. But the reason they are temple bells (and not just any other old bells) is because Katsuro needs to recognize them and have a personal connection. He hears their sweet sound, made more beautiful when there are two to ring together, as opposed to a single one. His time at the temple was always interesting, but it wasn’t meaningful until he was there with Sakura. So these are a small version of those enormous broken bells from the temple. 

• He let the bell swing gently down to its mate. They both chimed with a lovely, clear ring. — The last sentence is about the bell returning to its mate. To the place where it is the most right, makes the best sound. This is foreshadowing for the end of this chapter and the ones to come, where someone crashes into Sakura’s life…and she realizes she knows who this person is. Foreshadowing of two who are meant to be together, finally being reunited.

• Parallels between Katsuro and Sakura — The first segment with Katsuro and the last segment with Sakura have some mirrored sentences to reinforce their parallels. Neither character makes a direct reference to the other one, but the mirrored thoughts supports that they have influenced each other on a deeper, more permanent, core level.

Katsuro: He was something of an expert at disguises, after all. 

And later, Sakura: She was somewhat of an expert at nuisance jobs that she had to handle on her own.

Katsuro: After all that had been two summers ago…. The young rogue thought about her often, many times when he didn’t mean to…. He saw things so differently now. And he knew it was because of her. 

And later, Sakura: After all, that had been two summers ago…. Sakura tried not to think about the rogue, afraid that somehow bringing him to mind would reveal something. But she wondered about him often enough when she didn’t mean to…. Sakura saw things so differently now…. And she knew it was because of him.

•  Shimmying up one of the building’s support poles, he gingerly reached out over the faded canvas. He caught up the fabric and slowly wove the leather strap between the two torn pieces. The sun baked his neck and arms while he worked, but eventually the mended pieces were sturdy enough to hold. He hopped down and tied the dangling ends of the leather strap to the awning pole. The old woman clapped from behind him as he finished. Katsuro turned back with a smile. — 

The entire scene where Katsuro helps the old woman is to illustrate that he is, by nature, a good person. Whereas the men he associates with are intrinsically bad. He’s around bad people and in bad situations, but when he’s on his own Katsuro makes choices that are morally/ethically good. While this is obvious now, these little windows into his true nature are also foreshadowing a time when he is so steeped in the ‘bad’ — through Akatsuki and through his own bad deeds — that he himself will begin to question whether there is any good left in him.