{"id":996,"date":"2013-09-09T22:54:45","date_gmt":"2013-09-10T02:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/?p=996"},"modified":"2013-10-30T14:42:59","modified_gmt":"2013-10-30T18:42:59","slug":"voice-in-the-wind-35-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/?p=996","title":{"rendered":"Voice in the Wind – 35 Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter 35 Preview – Please forgive any typos, etc.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sakura knew Tsunade was locked in a closed-door meeting. That\u2019s why she chose this day to deliver her mission scrolls. She\u2019d drop them with Shizune, and buy herself a little more time\u2026.<\/p>\n

Outside the office, Shizune smiled at Sakrua\u2019s approach. Sakura handed her the passel of scrolls, but Shizune waved them off and opened the door instead. Sakura looked uncertain, but Shizune ushered her in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re just wrapping up,\u201d she assured.<\/p>\n

Sakura ducked inside, hovering by the door for a moment. A few of the men turned back, acknowledging her. But the rest of the shabbily dressed men were too involved with pressing their own causes to notice the addition.<\/p>\n

These were representatives of the Fire Country, men who came from the towns and burgs and dusty intersections of the most far-flung corners of their country. They were all concerned, had all heard rumors or seen shinobi moving silently through their lands, slipping out to fortify the borders, and they wanted answers.<\/p>\n

Tsunade\u2019s sat at her desk, eyebrows pinched together in anger. She was listening to the complaints of a stocky man in well-worn robes that Konoha\u2019s nins were stealing from their food stores.<\/p>\n

Sakura felt Tsunade\u2019s indignation \u2014 no self-respecting Konoha<\/i> shinobi would ever steal from his own countrymen.<\/p>\n

But perhaps there was more to the story.<\/p>\n

The Hokage was pouring over every scrap of information, including mission scrolls. Just the fact that she was giving these men, some of them no more than farmers, a chunk of her afternoon was testament to that.<\/p>\n

Tsunade leaned forward on her elbows suddenly and gave the man in front of her desk a long, hard look. \u201cAnd you know that it\u2019s Konoha nins? You\u2019ve seen them? With you\u2019re own eyes and can give me a description? Of any kind?\u201d<\/p>\n

The man\u2019s round cheeks went red. His hands disappeared into the sleeves of his old robe. He stumbled over a confession that no, he hadn\u2019t actually laid eyes on the person. Just heard a rumor.<\/p>\n

Tsunade rolled her eyes and bit back an obviously scathing remark. Sakura thought she was exercising much more self-control than she would have if it were a room full of shinobis<\/p>\n

The Hokage stood. The men\u2019s chattered quieted. \u201cThank you, gentlemen, for making the journey into Konoha. Hopefully it has allayed some of your fears.\u201d There was a low rumble of dissent, but she spoke over it. \u201cI will look over the reports closely. If you have more issues, send them by messenger\u2014\u201c The men closed in around her desk before she\u2019d finished speaking, each trying to snag her attention.<\/p>\n

Sakura thought this was the best time to drop off her own mission scrolls, then get out. She quick-stepped around the slower moving civilians and to the back edge of the desk where she knew the mission basket sat.<\/p>\n

\u201cSakura,\u201d Tsunade mouthed over the bustle. \u201cA word, please.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caught, Sakura simply bowed and moved to wait at the edge of the curving room until the last man left.<\/p>\n

Shizune must have been waiting outside, counting them as they went, because as soon as the last one was out \u2013 the stocky one who was dallying over a few more unsolved crimes \u2014 she stepped inside, locked the door and sagged against it.<\/p>\n

No one spoke into the sudden silence.<\/p>\n

Tsunade rubbed a hand over her forehead, and waved for Sakura\u2019s scrolls.<\/p>\n

She accepted them with a quiet \u201cThank you,\u201d flipping through them quickly. Sakura knew she was cataloging the information in order of importance to go over later. Not for the first time was Sakura impressed that Tsunade could keep it all together, the running of a city and a country. But she did.<\/p>\n

Sakura hoped she might still be able to escape. \u201cTsunade-sama, if there are any questions on any of the scrolls\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cSakura,\u201d Tsunade said, sitting back from her desk and starting to unwind, \u201cI\u2019ve missed seeing you on Fridays. You aren\u2019t delivering the hospital scrolls anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sakura cringed. Caught. Tsunade knew she dropped out of shift rotation at the hospital. \u201cI\u2019ve been with Team 7 lately. You know\u2026missions, training\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even as she said it, Sakura knew her answer sounded like the weak excuse that it was. She had been avoiding Tsunade, the hospital, all of it, just so she wouldn\u2019t have to answer questions.<\/p>\n

Tsunade looked as if she saw right through her.<\/p>\n

\u201cSakura, I noticed your name was not on the med-nin roster. And I was wondering if there was a reason\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sakura sighed. Shizune excused herself from the office, which didn\u2019t make Sakura feel any less trapped than she already was.<\/p>\n

Rubbing her hand across her neck in an uncharacteristically nervous tic, Sakura searched for the words to explain how she felt, even though she wasn\u2019t completely sure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve just been busy with my team. I guess that would be the best way to put it\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

How else could she put it? Say that the thought of returning to medic work hung over her like an execution? That she no longer wanted to mend wounds and babysit the injured\u2026. Now she wanted to draw blood and make others feel pain for a change.<\/p>\n

Sakura felt terrible for turning her back on the skills she trained so long and hard at. And Tsunade was bound to be disappointed, which made her feel even worse. But she couldn\u2019t go back. The thought of spending another shift in that hospital was like choking off her air.<\/p>\n

So she\u2019d buried herself in her missions and training until she figured it all out. Her team had found some common ground and was making great strides. But for Sakura, Team 7\u2019s success had come at a cost. She\u2019d abandoned her medical career. And she couldn\u2019t say whether she\u2019d ever go back.<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t know how to tell her mentor who had always believed in her, that she no longer believed in herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cSakura, you are the finest medic I\u2019ve ever met,\u201d Tsunade said and Sakura dropped her gaze to the floor. \u201cAnd it\u2019s been my pleasure to watch you grow as a student. Your chakra control is a thing of beauty. What others work so hard to coax out, you do just on instinct. It\u2019s a rare gift\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n

Sakura didn\u2019t look up. She couldn\u2019t bear to hear anymore. And somehow, Tsunade understood.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I know how you feel. I\u2019ve been where you are,\u201d she said quietly, then stood to look out the window behind her. \u201cSometimes when you lose someone, it takes a while to get over it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sakura looked up in confusion, but Tsunade\u2019s thoughts were far away. The blue light of the Konoha reflected on her face, casting shadows in the fine lines at the corners of her eyes and mouth and making her years show in her face.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a time\u2026.\u201d Tsunade bottom lip trembled at some memory, but she cleared her throat and continued. \u201cThere was a time when just the smell of a med-kit would make me vomit. And the sight of blood\u2014\u201c She shuddered, then breathed a humorless laugh. \u201cWell, let\u2019s just say I stayed away from it \u2014 from healing, from shinobi life, even from this village \u2014for a very long time. And it took half the village being destroyed for me to wake up and come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sakura blinked, remembering Tsunade\u2019s return, and how her strength helped resurrect the village after the death of the Sandaime. She didn\u2019t realize Tsunade was resurrecting herself as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand, Sakura. I really do,\u201d Tsunade said, turning back to her. \u201cTake some time. Stay with your team. But don\u2019t wait too long. Being a med-nin, a healer<\/i>, is who you are. And it\u2019ll catch up with you eventually, no matter how hard you run from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sakura didn\u2019t know what to say. It didn\u2019t make her feel better, not completely, but it was a relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cStay with them. For now,\u201d Tsunade said, kindness in her voice. \u201cI won\u2019t add your name back to the medic roster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still in disbelief, Sakura dipped her head for an unsteady bow. \u201cThank you Tsunade-sama,\u201d she said, closing her eyes.<\/p>\n

If her medic life was a like a sentence, then she\u2019d been given a pardon. \u201cThank you,\u201d she breathed.<\/p>\n

\n\n\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter 35 Preview – Please forgive any typos, etc. Sakura knew Tsunade was locked in a closed-door meeting. That\u2019s why she chose this day to deliver her mission scrolls. She\u2019d drop them with Shizune, and buy herself a little more time\u2026. Outside the office, Shizune smiled at Sakrua\u2019s approach. Sakura handed her the passel of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-preview","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5hctF-g4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/996\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}