Chapter 91: Funeral
Hmm? Repair and reconstruct houses?
Sakura closed the mission sheet. Ah, I must have opened it the wrong way.
Sakura cleared her throat and solemnly opened it again.
"Repair and reconstruct houses, in charge of C-block..." Naruto, who had leaned his head over, read it out word by word.
"Requires a ninja proficient in the Clone Jutsu... hmm..." Sasuke nodded meaningfully. Water clones, after all. Sakura can make a hundred of them at once.
A certain someone's face turned the color of pig liver, her eyes spitting fire at Kakashi.
Kakashi-sensei, I need an explanation!
"Ahem," Kakashi's eyes crinkled into crescent moons. "Sakura, aren't you very good at water clones..."
Sakura nearly sprayed a mouthful of old blood onto Kakashi's face. What this palace is good at is clearly the Wind Blade Raging Stream and ultrapure water ninjutsu, okay!
Under the resentful stares of four eyes from Naruto and Sakura, Kakashi had no choice but to explain, "There's nothing to be done. The missions suitable for Genin today are basically all this kind of tedious and heavy labor. Actually, you two could have gone on patrol, but I think since you are both proficient in the Clone Jutsu, this mission is more suitable for you."
"Yesterday's joint invasion caused great losses to Konoha. Many people are still homeless and had to sleep in houses temporarily made with Earth Style last night. So I hope you can help them rebuild their homes sooner. That's why this mission has drafted so many strong ninja. If you still believe in the Will of Fire, then you should understand that the importance of this mission is in no way inferior to tasks like patrol and combat."
"Alright, understood!" Sakura shrugged. Since he had put it that way, she could only express her understanding.
Actually, it wasn't that she, like Naruto and Sasuke, thought missions like patrol and combat were "cooler" and wanted to do them. It was that she could see at a glance that a task like rebuilding houses was dirty and tiring, while a patrol mission, although it had a certain degree of danger, was a very easy matter for her.
But Kakashi had even brought out the "Will of Fire." Sakura had no choice but to give up her protest.
That night, when Sakura returned home, covered in water and mud and shivering, she gave Sakura's mom and Haku a big scare.
Speaking of Haku, a little side note: due to her good performance in this invasion incident, saving many civilians, she had gained the recognition of a certain high-level official in Konoha. Her political review had ended ahead of schedule, and her request to join the Konoha Hospital had been approved.
Although her strength was great, Haku disliked being a field ninja and fighting, preferring instead to be a medical ninja, which many people found to be a bit of a pity.
But let's put that aside for now.
The next day was the day of the funeral for the victims of the incident.
The weather was not very good. It had been gloomy since the morning.
Just like people's moods.
The funeral was arranged in front of the Memorial Stone.
The power of the butterfly effect was gradually beginning to show. In the original story, this was the Third Hokage's funeral held on the roof of the Hokage building, but now it was a funeral for the victims in front of the Memorial Stone.
Lord Third Hokage did not come.
He had just passed the critical period and was still in a coma. The damage Orochimaru's snake venom had brought to this old man was bone-deep. Even if Tsunade had saved his life, this man who had once shaken the world would probably never be able to regain his former glory.
When Kakashi's team arrived, the small square in front of the Memorial Stone was already densely packed with ninja dressed in black mourning clothes. It seemed that all the ninja who didn't have any special matters or missions had come. There were about one or two thousand people, all standing quietly, waiting for the ceremony to begin.
The layout here—in the original story, only the main stone monument was drawn. The real Memorial Stone was a group of monuments. Besides the main monument, there were also about ten secondary monuments. Each one represented a major casualty event for Konoha village. The names of the dead ninja were carved on them. The more people who had sacrificed themselves, the larger the monument. From the ninja who had sacrificed themselves during the founding of the village, to the First, Second, and Third Great Ninja Wars, and the Nine-Tails incident, and so on. Now, a new stone had been added here.
A light rain suddenly began to fall from the sky.
No one held up an umbrella. No one even used chakra to block the raindrops.
The voice of Tsunade, who was presiding over the funeral, seemed to become ethereal in the rain, like the call of a loved one from a distant place, like a hymn played by the heroic spirits in the air. The list of the sacrificed was held in Tsunade's hand. The names of the heroes were read out from her mouth one by one. Her pace was not fast; each word was read with force. The list of 37 people seemed exceptionally long to read, yet it also seemed to end in an instant.
Those people, whether known or unknown, were thus buried underground, buried in people's hearts. Many of the names, to Sakura, to many of the people present, were heard for the first time, and it was likely also the last. Like the tens of thousands of names on the other memorial stones, they represented not being remembered, but being forgotten. Perhaps behind every name, there was a story, and now the story had ended, leaving only those gradually forgotten memories.
But those things that were buried deep, after they rotted, would in turn nourish this land, until one day new buds would sprout, grow leaves, and blossom on this land.
"For a ninja, it doesn't matter how they live. What's most important is how they die. The value of a ninja's life is not determined by how they lived, but by what they did before they died."
"Today, the thirty-seven heroic spirits who have left us were all ordinary ninja. They had their own parents, brothers and sisters, friends, lovers, and village comrades—these most important and most cherished people. Because of mutual trust and mutual help, the most important bonds were formed. So they did not sacrifice themselves for any grand principles, but to protect these important people, to protect these precious bonds, to protect our common home, and they gave their own precious lives."
"This is a choice that every person with bonds will naturally make. This is the choice of a hero."
"Where there are trees, there are leaves. Where there are leaves, there is fire. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village, and, let new leaves sprout. They did not die in vain, but left behind something important. This is the Will of Fire."
"May the light of the fire forever shine upon Konoha."
"May the heroic spirits rest in peace."
"The ceremony is concluded."
After the funeral, Sakura's days suddenly became quiet and leisurely.
Konoha was like a wild beast that had sealed itself off to lick its wounds. It had temporarily closed the mission system. The high-level ninja, on one hand, were reflecting on why this invasion could suddenly break out in the middle of the village, and on the other, they began to reorganize and even rebuild the defense system.
The Genin, on the other hand, began to undergo retraining, conducting special training on the problems exposed by this incident, so that some ninja who had been at peace for a long time and had forgotten how to fight could recall the feeling of battle. Of course, those Genin who had experienced no shortage of battles after graduation did not need to waste their time. They were arranged for training by their own team leaders.
In a situation like Sakura's, Kakashi had nothing more to teach her, and her true master, Tsunade, was acting as Hokage and was too busy to guide her. She was basically being free-ranged.
No missions, no required training content, no one to manage her.
Having a rare leisurely life, Sakura found that she couldn't relax at all.
If it had been before she transmigrated, she could have surfed the internet, read books, played games, or gone out to have fun. There were plenty of entertainment options. But after coming to the Naruto world, there was no internet, no games, the novels were particularly boring, and if she went out to have fun, as an underage girl and a ninja, there was nowhere for her to play. More importantly, the lack of entertainment options had made her accustomed to a full schedule every day for so many years. When fulfillment becomes a habit, one has a deep-seated repulsion towards time-wasting entertainment.
So, although she could have slept until the sun was high in the sky, the girl still woke up at six o'clock, and then, while telling herself she could lie in bed for a while longer, she discovered what a torment it was to lie awake in bed.
Then, like any other day, she washed up, ate breakfast, and when she went out, although she didn't know where to go, her feet automatically took her to Team Kakashi's meeting spot.
She was originally mocking herself for coming here even on a day off, but when she walked into the training ground, she was stunned to find two idiots standing there, staring at each other.
"What happened to the day off? Would you believe me if I said I was just out for a walk? Though I don't know why a walk would lead me to a training ground! Seriously, with all of you showing up, I really don't feel like it's a holiday!"
Sakura felt a bit of a headache.
"Although it's a day off, there's nowhere I want to go," Naruto said boredly, his hands clasped behind his head.
"I thought you guys would probably come, so I came over." Meaning, you were bored alone and came to find us? What a tsundere, Sasuke!
"What should we do? Train?" Sasuke asked.
The three of them simultaneously showed extremely conflicted expressions. Alright, Sasuke admitted that this was a really bad idea.
Sakura lightly tapped her left fist into her right palm, having thought of a good idea:
"How about you guys accompany me on a shopping trip? I broke my ninja shoes last time and need to buy a new pair, and then see if there are any new styles of ninja tools?"
The conflicted expressions on the two boys' faces instantly turned into ones of constipation.
Naruto: "I will absolutely not go shopping with a girl!"
Sasuke: "I have more ninja tools at home than I can use. Count me out!"
"You two are destined to be alone for the rest of your lives!" A black line seemed to appear on Sakura's face.
"How about we go eat at Ichiraku Ramen!" Naruto said.
The girl rolled her eyes at Naruto and flatly rejected his proposal. "We just ate breakfast!"
"And it's always Ichiraku Ramen. It's so boring!" Sasuke also chimed in.
"Then what should we do? Train?" This time it was Naruto's turn to ask.
This was clearly an incredibly difficult question. At least Sakura, who considered herself a genius girl, had thought about it for a long time without coming up with an answer.
So the three of them were strangely silent for a long time... each one silently thinking their own thoughts.
Finally, it was Sasuke who broke the silence.
He looked at Sakura with a very serious expression:
"Have a serious fight with me, Sakura!"
❃❃❃
⤑ Show your support with Power Stones!
⤑ Unlock a Bonus Chapter every time we hit 400 Power Stones!
❃❃❃
♕ Get early access to 30+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
🔗 https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to open the link!)
💬 Enjoying the story? Drop a review!
Your support really helps the series grow—thank you!