Chapter 30 Preview

Author’s note: Preview of Chapter 30 – Loose Ends. Was hoping to get it posted this month, but it’s not to be. I’m already missing my posting-once-a-month resolution! I’m blaming it on the leap year! But at least here’s a preview! Also, there were some technical difficulties on this site after I updated some wordpress sutff. Hopefully it’s all fixed, but if you run into any problems please let me know. Enjoy!

Sakura curled the hair behind her ears and took one last long look around. She couldn’t wait any longer. With a sigh, she left the small inn and stepped into the lane.

The grey pavers matched the early morning sky. Sakura walked alone through the still-sleeping village. Solitude had never bothered her. But turning onto the canal, witnessing the dramatic change just a few hours could make, gave her a sharp, empty feeling like none she’d yet experienced.

Last night, clouds of pink and white blossoms still huddled over the canals. Their spindrift weightlessness still lured crowds of festival goers as if by mysterious force.

But in the cold light of morning, the lanes were empty. The thin branches had been stripped bare. Jumbled rooflines and the old village wall soared behind the mesh of limbs.

Sakura silently crossed the bridge. Trodden petals covered the ground or floated in dull sheets atop the once-silver water. Discarded food cartons and smashed festival toys punctuated the litter with jarring color. Everything else was grey. Sakura sighed. Whatever magic was there last night, it had flown with the petals.

A few vendors were busy sweeping out their storefronts, but none offered a greeting to the passing girl. They, as she, had other things on their mind. Sakura kept looking and hoping. She told herself he may yet come. But she was believing it less and less.

Everything seemed so different now. She gripped the straps of her pack a little tighter. This mission had turned out to be nothing like she expected.

She had been so wrong…. The arrogant diplomat and the preening politician — they were both using her. And she had been too stupid and conceited to see it. She thought she was in control, but she was completely in over her head….

Sakura shook her head, ridding herself of the destructive thoughts, and quickened her pace across the large grey pavers toward the gate.

At the enormous red doors she stopped and turned back. The flawless facade was shattered. Now all she saw was deception. From the shiny storefronts and elegant homes to the men and women who made their living here.

Sakura swept her gaze over the rooflines. And he still had not come.

She sighed deeply and pushed off the from the door. Bits of shiny red paint flaked off under her hand, revealing a dingy undercoat that refused to be varnished over.

Sakura frowned up at the old door. Close up, it was cracking and splintered. Long streaking rust stains were barely covered by the fresh paint. In the excitement of the first day she had overlooked all the imperfections.

Remembering Konoha’s large solid gates, built for strength and protection, not fleeting beauty, Sakura suddenly longed to be home. She brushed her hands and set off.

But just past the village woods another disparity stopped her in her tracks.

Only a few days before, she had marveled at the gorgeous old cherry at the town’s stone marker. It was so perfect, even reminding her of that magnificent tree in the temple painting. She had passed under its branches and was filled with hope for the days ahead.

But the petals were long gone.

Now, spindly purple branches shivered in the light breeze. The gnarled trunk was exposed, and the tree’s roots clung to the grassy bank as if still holding on against an invisible wind.

Sakura bit her lip. It was ironic. She may have been named for the blossoms, but today she felt more like that old tree.

The magic was gone, but the tree still stood. Her hopes had been dashed. But she still had to persevere.

She had not expected to be making this trip home alone. She thought he would be with her. She thought….

Sakura brushed the bangs from her eyes and looked around wistfully.

She didn’t know what she thought. It was just one more thing on this trip she was wrong about.

Sakura toed the ground in frustration.

When had things gone so wrong? She thought she’d planned it all out, taken everything into consideration when she asked him to come home with her. But he resisted. In fact, looking back, he resisted nearly everything.

Although he seemed to enjoy their time together. The ramen, definitely. The blossoms…well, maybe. And at one point they seemed so close….

But even that changed in an instant.

Sakura looked to the far tree line one last time, but there was no sign of anything. He didn’t even show up for his customary goodbye.

It was strange. This time around, he seemed more like the elusive rogue from the temple than the sunny boy she’d spent a whole summer with. And after the tumultuous turn-of-events from her assignment, it was hard to keep out the nagging doubts. Was it really him that had changed? Or had she only seen what she wanted, just like the rest of this damn mission?

Sakura’s eyes drifted back to the bare twisted trunk beside her. She changed her mind. It wasn’t at all like the perfect cherry tree in the temple painting. That was just a lovely memory from a harrowing time.

But this in front of her was real. It was just a tree. And he wasn’t coming. She was sure of it.

She breathed deeply and squared her shoulders. She’d made so many mistakes. And she was ready to put it behind her. Sakura walked on over the petal-strewn ground and did not look back.

Maybe she’d see him on her next mission. But then again, maybe not. A shadow of doubt fell across everything now. The only thing she was certain was that she was ready to be in Konoha again, where everything made sense.

And when she reached the junction of roads, Sakura skipped her usual meandering byway for the main trade road. It was the one that would get her home the quickest.