Symphony Paradise

Well guys I’m back with another update, sorry for the wait but college has been a bitch and I’ve been preparing for final exams. I’d like to thank you all for the reviews, they’re always encouraging. As for that little poll I all asked you guys to fill out I have the results! I’ll just list the results below (Some people gave age ranges, I just took the middle of the range):

19 - Female
20 - Female
20 - Female
24 - Female
25 - Female

17 - Male
19 - Male
20 - Male
20 - Male
20 - Male
23 - Male

Actually people did better than I thought. I know I mentioned college before, so that probably gave away the age thing. When I posted that poll I was actually 19, but I recently turned 20. I am indeed a guy as well, it just seemed that from those who don’t know me personally but I talked to on occasion were under the impression that I was a woman. I was just curious about what others thought, so thanks for your cooperation.

Also, as some of you may know, I drabble in 3D art a bit. I finally broke down and did some Naruto Fanart. You can find it in my deviantArt account at http://genesis-dragon.deviantart.com. I understand that Naruto’s hair probably seems a bit...off, but I’ve been having great difficulty dealing with the spikiness so I settled with saying that because our Naruto is a bit older, his hair is longer and thus it tends to hang down more. Nonetheless, you can expect some images of scenes in Gardens of Rain and Symphony Paradise! Be sure to visit my gallery for updates and leave me a comment or two, I love feedback for my art too!

Well enough talking, please enjoy the chapter!

Movement IV: Dirge

We hear it a lot nowadays, “Freedom Isn’t Free.” But do we really know what that means? Freedom from what? From war? Famine? Free from slavery or a repressive government? Freedom from humanity, from ourselves? Freedom from death itself? We talk about freedom all the time but when forced to define it, we struggle an search for the nearest dictionary. Even so if freedom isn’t free, what does one pay with? Money? Blood sweat and tears? Maybe with life itself. I suppose it depends on the definition of free from person to person, and what they’re willing to give up to attain that freedom. People have an obligation to answer this question for themselves and decide on what kind of freedom they want, instead of blindly following the definition set by “higher” powers. Define your own personal freedom, your own sky, or live in a cage for the rest of your life, it’s up to you.

---

It was a warm day, the clouds drifted lazily through the sky, and the familiar and comforting sounds of the leaves rustling in the wind. It was…peaceful, yes peaceful; a feeling that Tsunade had not felt in a long time. The countries over the years had calmed down, war seemed less and less of an immediate threat, and finally the villages could sleep without fear of attack. Villagers often joked about how the ninja would soon be out of a job if things continued, but there was of course still a need for them. Tsunade chuckled at images of fresh academy students picking up trash and saving cats from trees, things that even she had to do when she was younger. Even so, there would always be bandits and people needing escorts and whatnot, perhaps not the most glorious job for an elite shinobi but at least it gave them a reason to exist.

Yes it was a long awaited calm, a peace that 10 years ago seemed impossible. A lot had changed in that time, and ironically enough, even a legendary Sannin such as herself, had little to do with it. No, it was that of the children, well at least children at the time. The sand village’s Kazekage, Gaara, helped to unify the Hidden Villages. With his unwavering resolve, he worked relentlessly to negotiate peach treaties amongst the villages and end the cold war that had loomed over the populations. To this day, the countries enjoyed peaceful relations with one another, save a few small, but seemingly quiet villages. Nonetheless, military tension was almost nonexistent and trade was fruitful and plentiful.

Shikamaru and Temari Nara had worked in conjunction with Gaara’s negotiation efforts, using Konoha and Suna as a single backbone to host negotiations with the other villages. Even though the two of course shared love for one another, the marriage of the Kazekage’s sister and Konoha’s lead tactician helped to reassert the trust between the two villages, which in turn was a powerful political joining.

Sakura Haruno was now the Head Medical Officer for the Konoha Hospital, a title that Tsunade had forfeited to her student many years ago. Sakura had been working to set up similar medical facilities in various villages. By combining the medical knowledge base of Konoha and Suna, the two were able to offer other villages unparalleled medical facilities. This succeeded in being an act of good will and promoting peace between the nations.

Then there was of course Naruto Uzumaki. Many years ago he had been sent on a mission to the Valley country for a mission that ultimately uncovered massive reserves of riches for the Valley. This in turn actually left relations between the Valley and Suna tense. Before that Suna had a virtual monopoly on the trade of precious gemstones across the world, but with this new discovery in the Valley, that monopoly was threatened, leaving Suna very wary of the economic situation. On top of that, several Suna ambassadors were assassinated while at the Suna Embassy in the Valley, leaving the relations between the two countries threadbare at best. Luckily, the then leader of the Valley, a man by the name of Forte, had befriended Naruto while he was there with the excavation mission. It was Naruto who managed to talk Forte and Gaara into discussing peaceful relations with one another. It was these first peace talks which spawned the movement that unified the countries and ultimately brought peace to the world.

This peace of course was under threat from various forces, one of which had constantly caused turbulence throughout the world. As more and more time passed, the Akatsuki organization seemed to grow more desperate and aggressive in their attempts to collect the Bijuu. By taking whatever means necessary, the Akatsuki continued to collect all the Bijuu, threatened the delicate balance that Naruto and the others were building for the world. Intelligence at the time indicated that Akatsuki were in possession of up to 6 of the 9 Bijuu, a number that worried the villages greatly. Naruto had taken it upon himself to prevent Akatsuki from growing in strength by slowly eliminating their members one by one and cutting off any sources that may be helping the Akatsuki accomplish their goals.

It was on a simple reconnaissance mission to a foreign bank that may have been supplying Akatsuki with funding in order to further their plans. The plan was to enter the bank undetected and confirm records to Akatsuki activity. Tsunade had originally planned to just send an Anbu team, but Naruto had insisted that he did it himself. After much deliberation, Tsunade allowed Naruto to do the mission by himself, Sakura of course insisted on accompanying him. It was a decision all of them would live to regret.

The mission was solely meant to be reconnaissance, in order to asses the security level at the bank. Unfortunately something went wrong and the forces stationed at the bank were waiting for them. Not only was the level of security ten times the expected amount, but one of the remaining members of Akatsuki was waiting there as well. Tsunade pressed her fingers into her eyes as the haunting memories flooded back in.

---

The roar of rain on the tin roofing was making it difficult to concentrate as Tsunade struggled to stay awake at her desk. She had given up her title as Hokage in order relieve some of the stress in her life, but working as head of the hospital was hardly the vacation she had hoped for. Her head dropped to the back of the seat, letting her eyes close, her thoughts turned to Sakura and Naruto. It was at least a three day trek to their target from Konoha, maybe two and a half at Naruto’s usual breakneck pace. They should have arrived at the bank yesterday, even so Tsunade had a bad feeling about this mission from the start. Trying to shake her nervousness, she grabbed the nearby paper and scanned for that day’s lottery numbers. Breath escaped her. Frantically reaching into her robe and drawing out her ticket, her face went pale. Sure enough the numbers on the ticket matched the winning numbers for the day. Dropping the paper she shoved back her chair and shot out of her desk, making a break for the door. As she reached for handle, the doors burst open and Shizune burst in,

“Tsunade-sama! It’s Naruto and Sakura!”

Tsunade’s heart threatened to clog her throat, “They’re back already? What happened?!”

“No time to explain, Sakura is barely alive, hurry!”

This couldn’t be happening, it had to be another drunken nightmare. Even if something had gone wrong at the bank, they wouldn’t have been able to make it back by now. Were they attacked en route? No that wouldn’t make sense, who would have attacked then? Throwing the doors open Tsunade stormed into the front lobby, “What the hell happened?!” she demanded, Naruto still clinging to the bloody, near-corpse that was Sakura.

“Tsnade, We…I…” he stammered. The sound of dripping blood entered Tsunade’s ears as she realized Sakura’s blood was pooling around Naruto’s feet.

“Never mind,” prying Sakura from Naruto’s bloody grip, “Explain later.” Laying Sakura on the nearest bed, Tsunade immediately began pulling the cart into the nearest operating room. The faint glow of chakra surrounded her hand as she tried to at least stem the blood that was hemorrhaging out of Sakura’s abdomen. The operating room that Tsunade had rushed into was in use but the occupants quickly relocated with Tsunade’s orders to get out. Tsunade immediately began examining Sakura’ wound. The cut was deep, too deep, a fatal blow. No, she had to try to save her student, no...her daughter. Even though they were not related by blood, the bond the two had formed was more than just master and student, but more of mother and daughter. She would save Sakura’s life, not only as her student, but as her own childs.

It was then that Shizune entered with a team of surgeons whom immediately took position around the table. “Shizune!” called Tsunade, “Go check on Naruto, we need him alive just as much as we need Sakura, now go!”

“Y-yes Tsunade-sama!” nodded the ex-hokage’s assistant, rushing out the door.

Besides the gaping slash in Sakura’s abdomen, she suffered from several gashes across her arms and legs, not to mention several puncture wounds in her side and back. Tsunade wasn’t sure how Sakura hadn't bled dry on the trip back. Upon close inspection, Tsunade felt the faint tinge of chakra inside the wounds. Sakura would have passed out from the pain of her injuries, but it would seem that even though she was unconscious, Sakura had attempted to heal herself. A faint smile of hope crept onto Tsunade’s face, “That’s my girl” she murmured, “Now let us take care of the rest.” Tsunade turned to the rest of the surgeons, “What are you waiting for? You four work on closing up those smaller wounds. I want you to help keep her pain under control, she may be unconscious but I don’t want her nervous system to burn out. You two, help me stabilize the area around the main abdominal wound!”

Tsunade probed the wound with her chakra, trying to find a place to start. The blade had sliced nearly half way through her body, and Sakura’s intestines had leaked toxic bile into the rest of her body. The septic shock had already set in and the first task was to clean and sterilize the area before the infection killed her. Not only that, Tsunade sensed the presence of an all too familiar point, undoubtable added to the weapon that had cut her student. It was a toxin developed by the late Sasori of Akatsuki; the same toxin that Sakura herself had developed an antidote to shortly before dispatching Sasori herself. Despite the Puppet-master’s death, Akatsuki continued to use the poison more and more in their efforts. Other countries had panicked at the complicated and so-called “incurable” poison. It was Sakura’s antidote to the drug that actually helped encourage other countries to ally and trade medical knowledge and supplies.

“Someone get me a dose of the Red Scorpion antidote! Inject it straight into her heart, there’s no time to waste!” she ordered. As one of the nurses ran off to get the antidote, Tsunade began cleaning out the wound while simultaneously trying to close up what was left of Sakura’s intestinal tract. She had to be careful to make sure the area was clean before closing up that portion of the wound or internal infection would set in and Sakura would die from the inside. Not only that but the poison in her system complicated the healing process, causing Tsunade to expend far more chakra than normal. On top of that, the internal bleeding was not stopping nearly fast enough. “Bring me a bag of O-type blood, she’s going to bleed out at this rate.” she barked, continuing to frantically purify and repair Sakura’s broken body.

About an hour into the procedure, the battle was not going well and Sakura was slipping further and further away. “Dammit I need Shizune! Someone go get her!” roared the former Hokage.

“I’m here!” Shizune called as she burst through the doors, “Naruto is fine, I’ll give you the details later.”

“Good, now help me stop this bleeding, she’s losing it faster than we can pump it into her.” Shizune nodded and got on the other side of the table across from Tsunade, placing her hands over Sakura’s body and letting the faint glow of Chakra flow into Sakura’s body.

Even with both Shizune and Tsunade, Sakura’s condition barely improved. The cut had been deep and wide, mangling not only her abdomen but her lower hips. Her reproductive parts in particular sustained extensive damage, one of her ovaries being completely obliterated, the other showing signs of scar tissue. Tsunade had managed to clean up and repair the majority of Sakura’s vital organs, and salvaged as much as possible of the rest. Nonetheless as the hours dragged on the bleeding would not subside and Sakura had already gone through several bags of blood. Tsunade was pushing her limit as well, the surgery had been ongoing for hours and the procedure had been incredibly taxing on her chakra reserves. Finally the bleeding seemed to slow and victory seemed as if it were in sight, heh, perhaps luck was really on Tsunade’s side. As if on cue, Sakura suddenly was wracked with convulsions. Coughing, blood spewed from Sakura’s mouth. “Dammit what the hell? Is it the poison? I thought I told you to administer the antidote to her heart!” roared Tsunade as she turned’s Sakura’s head to the side.

“I-I did Tsunade-sama! A whole dose right into her heart, it should have wiped out the poison!” stammered the surgeon.
“Dammit! Bring me another one then!”

“But too much of the antidote could kill her!”

“She’s dead if we don’t give it to her, now go!”

Dammit, where was it? She didn’t think that there was that much poison in the wound. Something was wrong, Sakura’s heart rate had nearly doubled in the last minute and her body was still convulsing. It was then that the surgeon returned with the second dose of antidote which was snatched away by Tsunade and quickly pumped into Sakura’s heart. Placing her hands over Sakura’ chest Tsunade desperately began searching for the poison. With Sakura’s climbing heart rate, the poison needed to be located before Sakura went into cardiac arrest. Tsunade pushed the antidote through Sakura’s body with chakra, “Come on girl, show me where it is. Help me!” she muttered under her breath. Maybe it was Tsunade’s imagination or maybe pure luck, but it felt a if her chakra was being pulled to Sakura’s lungs. Sakura’s heart rate was reaching critical as Tsunade’s arms started to go numb, her chakra almost gone. She made a final, desperate push for Sakura’s lungs...and there it was. The poison had been hiding in the edge of Sakura’s lungs, making every breath she took a deadly one. The chakra infused antidote blew the remaining poison away, but Sakura’s heart had already seized up.

Tsunade’s eyes widened, Sakura Haruno, her student, her daughter was dead, laying on the table in front of her. She had failed, she had failed her student, she had failed Naruto, herself, everyone. She...no, not yet. “Not yet Dammit! I’ll be damned if I outlive you!” Tsunade roared, putting her hands on the chest of Sakura’s corpse, “I didn’t come this far for you to give up on me yet!” she screamed.

“Tsunade what are you...” asked Shizune but silenced herself when she saw the look in Tsunade’s eyes.

If one of them had to die today, it sure as hell wasn’t going to be Sakura. Tsunade forces every last ounce of her strength and chakra into Sakura’s body. Not enough, more, she had to try harder. Tsunade was out of chakra now but she pushed harder, her consciousness slipping away. Her arms felt as if they were aflame and her legs were starting to go numb. Tears rolled down Tsunade’s face as she let out a cry, throwing her entire being into one last push to bring Sakura back. Tsunade’s legs went limp, pain shot through her head as she started to collapse. She was going to die, right here in the middle of her hospital. The irony was almost too much to bear, a fitting last thought. As her eyes began to close she saw her pink-haired student inhale, her chest rising, life entering her body and flowing through her veins. Well if Sakura survived, then dying here would be alright. That was the last thought of the Legendary Sannin Tsunade.

Or so she thought.

It was not for a week that Tsunade opened her eyes again; unsure on how she was still alive. She was laying in a hospital bed, she wasn’t in any pain and despite slightly blurred vision, she felt fine. Looking over, the head of a sleeping Shizune rested on the bed beside next to Tsunade’s hand. The blond poked at Shizune, “Hey you, sleeping is my job, wake up.”

Shizune immediately snapped her head up, “Tsunade-sama?!” tears welled up in her eyes, “You’re awake...I thought you’ld never wake up!”

“Yea I thought the same thing...how long have I been out?”

“Eight days,” Shizune replied

“Eight days? You’re thought I’d not wake up after an eight day coma? You worry too much!” then the memories came rushing back, the rain, Naruto, the stench of blood, Sakura. Sakura dying on the table in front of her, “Sakura? What happened?!” Tsunade cried in a panic sitting up in bed.

Shizune smiled, “Sakura is doing fine. After you got rid of that hidden poison we managed to stabilize her and close up the rest of the wounds without a problem. Shes been slipping in and out of consciousness for the past couple of days. Naruto is staying with her though, so she should be just fine.”

“Oh,” Tsunade smiled falling back against the bed, “That’s good to hear. What happened to Naruto after I took Sakura?”

“Well I later learned that they arrived at the bank in a little under three days. Unfortunately, the forces stationed there were tenfold what intelligence had estimated and were expecting to be attacked by two Konoha ninja. Sakura and Naruto were immediately surrounded and outnumbered. The fact that they were even able to escape with their lives is a miracle.”

“They got there in three days, but they were only gone for four, are you saying that...”

“Yes, Naruto carried Sakura for a three day trip in under a day. I didn’t believe him at first either. Things like that just don’t happen because of sheer will alone.”

“He loves that girl you know...anything in possible when it comes to that boy...”

Shizune smirked, “Heh, I suppose you’re right. When he arrived at the hospital, his arm was barely attached to his body. After you took Sakura, I tried to ask him who did this but he only managed one word... ‘Itachi’ After that he collapsed from exhaustion and blood loss. His wounds were severe, but the Kyuubi inside him saved his life.”

“Itachi? Itachi Uchiha did this?”

“According to Naruto, yes.”

“...I see. The wound was inflicted with the Sasori poison, so it makes sense that Akatsuki would be responsible... Well I should talk to him myself anyways, help me get out of bed Shizune.” said Tsunade as she tried to pry herself up from bed.

“Tsunade-sama....there’s something else you should know. Even though you survived the Over extension of your Chakra, im afraid your legs were severely damaged.”

“What do you mean?” the metallic tinge of fear creeping into her voice.

Shizune cleared her throat, trying to maintain her complexion, “When you forced out more Chakra than your limit allowed, your body did what it had to do and started converting your body into energy to keep you alive. It started with your legs before you finially collapsed. The nerves as well as the muscle tissue in your legs was used up, chances are you’ll never use them again. We tried to regenerate the tissue but there’s just not enough to work with anymore...I’m...sorry Tsunade-sama.” She could no longer hold back the tears and they began to flow freely down Shizune’s face.

Tsunae frowned, “...Hmmph,” pulling Shizune close, “Hey there, in the end Sakura and Naruto survived. The fact that I only had to give up my legs instead of my life is proof that luck may finally be cutting me a break, so don’t beat yourself up over it.”

Shizune laughed through tearful eyes, “Don’t say things like that, you’ll jinx it for the rest of us and then something will go wrong.”

---

Something had gone wrong though. Later on the medical team confirmed the damage to Sakura’s reproductive organs. Telling Sakura that she could not have children was far more difficult that Tsunade had coming to terms with the loss of her ability to use her legs. Even so, Tsunade had done everything in her power and achieved more than she had hoped for, and harbored no regrets from the incident.

“Hmm it’s a lovely day today, mind if I join you on that bench?”

Tsunade looked up at her successor, the current Hokage of Konoha, Kakashi Hatake. “It’s been a long time Kakashi, you’re starting to look a little gray there.” she laughed

Kakashi narrowed his exposed eye, “Very funny...I’ll take that as a yes.” he grumbled sitting down next to his predecessor. “Anyways, you seemed lost in thought a moment ago. May I ask what you were thinking about?”

“Oh, I was just thinking about the night that Sakura was hurt. I still wonder how Naruto managed to carry her back in such a short time, especially considering how badly injured he was.”

“Well he is the Most Unpredictable Ninja, especially when it comes to Sakura.”

“He loves that girl more than anyone I’ve ever seen. He’ll do anything for her, and he’ll always succeed at it. Thats just the kind of person he is.”

“Don’t you means, that’s his way of the ninja?” chuckled Kakashi.

Tsunade returned the laugh, “I suppose you’re right.”

“He also loves this village too, you know” Kakashi said solely

“You’re right, even after all the suffering it’s caused him, that man will do anything to protect it.” she replied with a nod.

“I’m glad you agree...I sent him as a substitute instructor at the Acadamy a few days ago. From the sounds of it the children loved him, so I guess he did well then...”

“Kakashi, what did you really come here to ask me? You are the Hokage you know, you don’t have to ask me about every major decision.”

Kakashi lowered his head, “I’ve never truly considered myself to be the Hokage you know. More like a bridge to span the time between you and the next.”

“So you’re here to ask me my opinion on who the next Hokage should be?”

“...More or less”

“If you have to ask, then you’re an Idiot. You’ve already made up your mind about who its going to be.”

“Heh, it’s not like I really have a choice in the matter. I guess it would make it easier if it came from you.”

“How about you consider it the would-be wishes of the Hokage who should have lived. I have a feeling Minato would have wanted it this way.” she replied.

A smile could be seen through Kakashi’s mask, “Well then that’s good enough for me, thank you, Hokage-sama.”

Tsunade rolled her eyes, “I’m retired!” but Kakashi had already disappeared. “Well, you can stop spying on me” she sighed. With a chuckle Jirayra approached the bench and sat down next to Tsunade. “So how long have you been hiding in the bushes back there? Hoping to catch a peek?”

Jirayra laughed, “No nothing like that. I was just watching over you.”

Tsunade laughed, “Anyways... well I assume you overhead the conversation then?”
Jirayra nodded, “So then it’s done. Things have finally come full circle at last.” he remarked.

“Yeah...in a way I’m kind of sad, it was fun teasing him about all that ‘I’m going to be Hokage!’ talk all the time” she smiled.

“The world is at peace, and now he will finally achieve his dream. Looks like in the end everyone is happy.”

Tsunade smiled, “yeah...I suppose you’re right.” she let out a long sigh.

Jirayra cocked his eyebrow, “Hm?”

“You win.” she breathed, letting her head lean up against Jirayra’s side, her hand slipping on top of his. “Let’s stay like this, at least for a little while..”

Jirayra’s eyes smiled softly, intertwining his fingers with Tsunade’s and kissing the top of her head, “As you wish.”