14Title: Blood-Stained Bonds
Summary: Fear is no obstacle to protecting those she loves.
Characters: Sarada, Himawari
Disclaimer: Naruto, not mine since 1999.
Note: This is primarily Sarada-centric, but I wanted to post this here because it's my headcanon that Sarada and Himawari are really close, and Sarada would do anything to protect the girl she considers a little sister.
The first time Sarada kills a man, she is thirteen years old.
There is no mission, there is no team to back her up, no sensei to protect her.
Today, she is the one protecting as she digs her kunai into the chest of the thug trying to kidnap Himawari.
She feels his ribs crack under her feet as the inertia of her jump sends him crashing to the ground and she lands gracefully on top of him. Crimson liquid life gushes between her fingers as she pulls the weapon from his lung and positions it over his heart. Her foot replaces her fingertips, and she stomps hard, impaling him clean through.
He stills seconds later.
Sarada steps away from the body, her heart beating frantically as the adrenaline courses through her veins. Himawari is crying behind her, but as Sarada turns to reassure the younger girl, she sees her hands drenched in blood. Turning back to the body, panic starts to set in.
She did this. She did this. She killed a man.
The blood leaking from his wounds is dyeing the flower field beneath him an ugly red, and his sightless eyes look to the skies in terror. Sarada can't stop staring. She killed a man, took away his life. He was going to take Himawari, but what kind of person does this make her?
A shinobi?
She feels powerful for the first time, but she's afraid of that power. Afraid of what killing and destroying lives might do to her. She can already feel a hollowed out space in her chest where innocence used to be.
Sarada tries to find her voice to explain to Himawari that it will be okay and she'll never let the bad men hurt her, but her throat is clogged with emotion and the words are stuck. Her chest heaves as she starts to hyperventilate, eyes wide with the horror of what she's done.
Himawari takes a step toward her, but all of a sudden there are voices shouting all around them and ANBU surrounding them in a protective circle. Then the Hokage himself is there, Himawari's father, and Sarada'a own father not half a step behind him.
Naruto is shouting orders now, scooping his daughter into his arms and holding her tight. His blue eyes blaze nearly red in fury, his angry chakra roiling off him in waves.
Sasuke ignores all of this and rapidly approaches Sarada, who's standing there frozen inside and out. He asks if she is harmed , but she can't answer. His eyes are hard and concerned, but the arm he wraps around her is gentle and firm as he kneels beside her, and Sarada bursts into hysterical tears at last.
She explains what she's done between great, gasping sobs.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Papa. He was going to hurt Himawari, and I couldn't…I couldnt let him. So I…"
"You killed him?" He rubs gentle, reassuring circles between her shoulder blades. Sarada nods miserably.
"I'm sorry, Papa."
Sasuke shakes his head fiercely. "Never apologize for protecting the people you love. I'm proud of you."
"R-really?" Sarada looks up from between her damp, tear-soaked bangs.
"Really," he answers, standing. "We should get you to the hospital before your mother hears this from someone else."
He takes her small hand in his, but as they leave a small voice cries out, "Wait!"
Himawari wiggles out of her fathers grasp, and she runs foward and throws herself into Sarada's arms.
"Thank you, onee-san. For saving me."
As Sarada returns the younger girl's tight embrace, she resolves to always be strong enough to protect her precious people.
Just like her papa.