"I am so terribly sorry," Shibuki said to Sakura.
The Waterfall ninja beside him also apologized profusely. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you. Please forgive me."
"It's alright, it's alright. You were just doing your duty," Sakura said, waving her hand magnanimously. Shibuki's arrival had cleared up the misunderstanding.
Among the Waterfall Village's limited foreign relations was the Leaf Village. Shibuki was deeply grateful to Sakura for resolving their crisis a year ago, but he never expected her to be stopped at his own doorstep and treated like an enemy.
"Well then, Captain Sakura, please come in. I've been wanting to find a chance to thank you, but I've been too busy with village affairs to get away," Shibuki said, dismissing the guard with a wave. He then stepped aside to let Sakura enter the village.
"It looks like the Waterfall Village is developing nicely now, huh?" Sakura remarked. "To have trained such a capable ninja in such a short time."
"That's not quite it. They were originally Waterfall ninja, it's just..." Shibuki couldn't help but sigh at this point. He changed the subject. "Never mind, it's best not to talk about it. Captain Sakura, may I ask what brings you to the Waterfall Village this time?"
To capture your village's Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, of course, Sakura thought to herself. But if she actually said that, she'd probably be surrounded and attacked on the spot.
"Oh, it's nothing much. I just finished a mission and happened to be passing by, so I thought I'd come and see the place," Sakura explained.
"I see," Shibuki nodded. "In that case, please stay for a few days. The Waterfall Village may not be as prosperous as the Leaf, but the scenery is quite nice."
"Yes, I was thinking the same thing. The Leaf Village is too noisy. After visiting last time, I fell in love with the environment here. It's hard to find a place like this in the Leaf. Living here, you can forget all your troubles," Sakura said, lying smoothly.
"Hahaha, thank you for the compliment. We will never forget your help to the Waterfall Village. However, we are just a small village, so please forgive us if our hospitality is lacking," Shibuki said in a very official tone.
Watching Shibuki speak with such confidence, Sakura was somewhat taken aback. She found it difficult to connect the mature young man before her with the coward she remembered.
It seemed that after that incident, he had changed quite a bit. The two of them then arrived at a large residence.
"This is my home. You can stay here for the next few days," Shibuki said to Sakura.
"Okay, that's fine. But I'd like to walk around a bit first. I've noticed the village has changed a lot since I was last here," Sakura said.
"No problem," Shibuki replied. "After the last incident, we began to have contact with the outside world. Although it's not much, the village has changed."
"Then I'll go take a stroll through the streets," Sakura said.
"Would you like someone to accompany you?" Shibuki asked out of habit.
"No need, I'd like to see it for myself," Sakura refused.
"Well... alright." Shibuki's expression suddenly stiffened slightly. He then said, "I will be hosting a banquet here tonight. Please don't be late."
"Okay," Sakura agreed. Shibuki then left, and Sakura headed toward a newly built shopping street not far away. Although it was called a shopping street, there weren't many shops, and it was on a completely different level compared to the one in the Leaf.
But Sakura wasn't here for sightseeing. Besides the shopping street, there were also many new single-family houses and villas, similar to those in the Leaf, interspersed with some more primitive-looking thatched huts and dilapidated wooden houses.
What was more common were construction sites. The entire village was filled with laughter and joy, a festive atmosphere all around. Every villager had a happy smile on their face, as if they had already forgotten the incident from a year ago.
Sakura walked along the road, observing. She needed to memorize the terrain here to lay the groundwork for her future actions.
As she was walking distractedly, a girl in a kimono, about her size, approached from the opposite direction. The girl wore a fox mask, similar to the ones worn by the ANBU.
Sakura had been looking around, and by the time she noticed the girl, they were about to collide. But Sakura was no ordinary person; her strength was comparable to that of a Kage.
In that split second, Sakura sidestepped to the right. However, the girl's left foot twisted, and she lost her balance, stumbling right into Sakura, who had just moved to dodge.
Her momentum spent and caught off balance, Sakura was unable to avoid the girl's sudden collision. The two of them fell in a heap. Sakura landed hard on her bottom, the pain so sharp that tears almost shot out of her eyes.
She was just about to scold the girl when the girl herself started whimpering in pain, apologizing profusely. "I'm sorry... sniff... I'm sorry, I... I didn't do it on purpose... sob..."
Seeing the girl apologize, Sakura lost the heart to scold her. She rubbed her sore backside and looked at the girl. "Are you okay?"
"I... I think I sprained my ankle... sob..." the girl said between sobs.
"Let me see." Sakura leaned down. Seeing that the girl was wearing geta sandals, she was instantly reminded of her own embarrassing experience wearing them for the first time.
"Sorry, I... this is my first time wearing these kinds of shoes," the girl said, rubbing her ankle.
The girl's ankle was already swollen. Because of the mask, Sakura couldn't see her expression, but from her pained voice, it must have hurt a lot.
"It's alright. Let me heal it for you. It'll be better in a moment." Seeing the geta, Sakura felt a pang of sympathy, remembering her past self. The pale green chakra of the Mystic Palm Technique covered the girl's ankle.
"You... you're a ninja?" the girl seemed somewhat surprised.
"Yes, that's right. I'm a medical ninja," Sakura didn't deny it, though she wasn't telling the whole truth.
"A medical ninja," the girl's voice fell. "If... if I knew this kind of jutsu, then my parents wouldn't have died back then."
Sakura gave the still-masked girl a surprised look. "Your parents passed away?"
"Yes," the girl nodded. "Last year, there was a riot in the village. My parents were caught up in it. Because they couldn't get treatment, they eventually died from blood loss."
The girl's voice was very low. Listening to her story, Sakura figured she was talking about the incident in the Waterfall Village last year. At the time, she thought not many villagers had died, but it seemed some had still been affected.
"It must have been painful," Sakura's voice also grew somber. She too had lost her parents in the Danzo incident. The once lively and warm home was now just a cold, silent room. She silently clenched her fists, trying hard to keep her emotions in check.
"No," the girl shook her head, much to Sakura's surprise. "I'm fine now. Even though Mom and Dad are gone, I still have the village. They are all my family. I'm very happy now."
The girl's voice suddenly became lively. The hand Sakura was using to heal her paused. "Is... is that so..." she said lamely.
"Mhm," the girl nodded. "People can't just live in the past, dwelling in sadness. There are more important things to care about. The road ahead is still long, and I don't think my parents would want to see me wallowing in grief every day."
Sakura was at a loss for words. Was this how civilians dealt with the death of their loved ones, with such open-mindedness? But she couldn't. She was a ninja. The methods of a ninja were beyond what a civilian could possess. So she couldn't let it go.
"What's wrong?" the girl asked, seeing Sakura's silence.
"N-Nothing," Sakura composed herself. Seeing that the swelling on the girl's ankle had subsided, she stood up. "It's all better now. Try walking on it."
"Eh? So fast?" The girl tried to stand up. After taking a couple of steps, she said excitedly, "It's really better! Thank you, big sister ninja."
"You're welcome. My name is Sakura Haruno. What's yours?" Sakura asked with a slight smile, looking at the cheerful girl.
"Sakura Haruno... It's nice to meet you, Sister Sakura. My name is Shuying." Shuying bowed to Sakura in gratitude. "Thank you for healing me."
"It was nothing." Sakura smiled sincerely. Being genuinely thanked by someone she helped really did make her feel a bit better. But... Shuying. What a strange name... Although there were all sorts of weird names in the ninja world, she felt like none could be stranger than this one.
"Well then, goodbye, Sister Sakura," Shuying said, turning. "Be sure to cherish the present..." After saying this, Shuying passed Sakura and ran off behind her.
Just as Sakura was about to wave goodbye, she heard the last part of Shuying's sentence and froze on the spot. Cherish the present... cherish the present...
An extremely strange feeling washed over her. Sakura whipped her head around, about to call out to Shuying, but suddenly found that she was gone. The street had abruptly filled with people, many of them wearing kimonos.
Not good! Sakura's expression changed. She quickly backtracked to search, but after a full circle, there was no trace of Shuying.
This made the unease in Sakura's heart grow rapidly. Shuying's foot had just been sprained. Even if it had recovered after her treatment, she should still have some difficulty moving. Besides, if she could really move that fast, she wouldn't have twisted her ankle on the geta in the first place.
Moreover, with the speed she had just used to search, she should have been able to find not just an ordinary civilian, but even a jonin.
Sakura then began to recall the incident again, but no matter how she looked at it, it seemed like an accident. She had just dodged and hadn't had time to dodge a second time, so she was knocked over by the girl who had sprained her ankle.
And the injury on her foot was definitely real. This... what on earth...
Sakura's brow furrowed. Since she couldn't find Shuying, she could only analyze what the girl's purpose might have been. But thinking back, there was nothing particularly special about their conversation.
But the cloud of suspicion in her mind only grew denser. The lack of anything suspicious was the most suspicious thing. But seriously recalling the content of their conversation and the incident, Sakura really had nothing to go on. If it weren't for her final, traceless disappearance, Sakura would have had no reason to suspect her at all.
Everything felt strange. Or was she just overthinking it? Maybe she didn't disappear; maybe she just took off her mask. Since Sakura hadn't seen her real face, she wouldn't know which one she was. There were many girls in kimonos on the street; after all, it was currently the traditional summer festival.
Perhaps she really was just overthinking it. Sakura shook her head. She hadn't paid much attention to Shuying earlier because the girl's words had stirred up painful memories. She had probably just missed her. Sakura could only comfort herself with this thought, while keeping the matter in mind to ask Shibuki about at the banquet later.
In the Village Hidden in the Waterfall, there was a divine tree. The tree could produce Hero Water, though it no longer did. But this tree was so tall that it overlooked the entire village.
And in the highest canopy of this divine tree, a girl wearing a fox mask looked down at the bewildered Sakura on the street below and let out a deep sigh... a sigh that seemed to carry a profound sadness...