𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 | 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐨 [HEAVY EDITING]

𝟒𝟓 | 𝐀 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥

Returning to the village had a strange... bittersweetness to it. And this was before we learned what had happened in our absence. We'd all helped each other get there, leaning into each other when we maneuvered through the forest. Who had the worst of the injuries...? It seemed... to be rather even.

Sakura's mild concussion and being too closely affected by the Shukaku's chakra; Sasuke's injuries from the examination, the overuse of his Chidori, and depletion of his chakra, not to mention whatever those black marks on his skin had done to him to make him so exhausted; Naruto's injuries from his matchup with Neji and his own chakra depletion from that fight, as well as his injuries sustained from fighting Gaara

As Kishibi Hio had explained, there had been an alliance between the Land of Wind, the Hidden Sound Village, and the Yamada Clan. who had been exiled by the Hidden Leaf Village

The guise that both Sen and Kyōharu used, claiming to be royalty of the Land of Snow, well, it wasn't received well. By me, I mean. As angry as I am at them for all that they've been involved in, I couldn't bring myself to report them. They're... my brothers. They're the family I thought I'd lost or never had. My heart just... wouldn't let me. But even Kyōharu disappeared during the attack... what could that mean...

If I did report them, the Hidden Leaf would associate the whole of the Land of Snow with them and they would have to deal with that fallout, as well, even though the Yamada Clan acted on their own accord. But one thing still doesn't add up—why would they go through all of this, risk everything they could possibly have in their situation, just to get to me?

I know the royalty thing is fake, but... why did Garasu really call me the "Yamada Princess"?

... more than anything in the world, I'd wished this had been the extent of the bad news we had to hear.

Before Sasuke and I had left to chase after Gaara, a mass Genjutsu had been put on the crowd attending the Chūnin Exams. This was all a ploy that the "Kazekage" created in order to attack the Lord Hokage. The Kazekage, of all people... was Orochimaru. The real Kazekage... is dead. And so is the Lord Hokage.

Apparently, Orochimaru was the Lord Hokage's student...! How could he do such a thing to his teacher...? The invasive thought enters my mind before I can stop it—Makara-sensei. Iruka-sensei. Kakashi-sensei. I could never imagine harming them.

Before I can stop myself, the bottom hemming of my dress is bunched and wrinkled by me squeezing the life out of them. I'd just spent the last half an hour learning to iron it, and it's ruined again.

... I'd bought this dress within my first couple of weeks of living in the village. Death... seems to surround the life of Shinobi so often that having black formal wear becomes a necessity to own. After great battles or wars or sieges, a mourning ceremony is held in the honor of those who lost their lives. Lord Hokage wasn't the only one who died this time around. Shinobi and innocents alike were slaughtered by Orochimaru's men.