Title:
...
As Shun emphasize the importance of understanding the consequences of war, he led Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura into the village. The place had been deeply affected by the ongoing conflict in the Wave Country.
As they walked through the town, they saw the scars of weapons everywhere – damaged buildings, displaced families, and a general atmosphere of fear and despair.
"This is one of the places deeply affected. My mission is to see that this place regains it's former glory." Shun said with a casual tone.
Sakura's eyes welled up with tears as she saw children her age, now homeless and struggling to survive. In fact, it would be weird calling them her age as they were too malnourished to be her age.
"This... this is horrible," Sakura whispered, her voice quivering with emotion.
"And why aren't we doing anything to help them?" Sasuke asked in curiosity. There was actually no emotion in his tone but Shun smiled as he felt his concern and agitation.
Sasuke remained stoic but couldn't hide the concern in his eyes, while Naruto clenched his fists in anger.
He had always dreamt of becoming a Hokage, but seeing the suffering caused by war made him realize the harsh reality of that goal.
"This village, or should I say, country was actually a very prominent one in the past." Shun began. "You see, war isn't just about battles between ninja. It affects everyone, especially the civilians. Look around, kids. This town is now in a state of disrepair now, but not too long ago, it was a different story."
Sakura and Naruto exchanged glances, while Sasuke's stoic expression remained unchanged.
Shun continued, "During the Second Shinobi war, this town was caught in the crossfire. Homes were destroyed, families were torn apart, and many people lost their lives."
"Do you know the cause of that war?" He asked rhetorically and continued. "Three villages felt that the clan that held the supreme rule on this island were too strong, hence they opted to destroy it."
"Stupid right?" Shun asked. "Who can tell me the name of that clan?"
The three looked confused causing Shun to chuckle. "Konoha wouldn't teach you all these as it is a shame to their name. The clan that once stood here, was the Uzumaki clan."
"Eh?" Naruto asked in shock and surprise as he looked at Shun. Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow while Sakura was visibly shocked.
"Uzumaki clan?" She asked.
"Yup. Naruto's clan."
"Then my father was from this clan?" Naruto asked emotionally but Shun shook his head. "Nope, your mother. She was one of the many survivors of the massacre. The clan was allied to Konoha, but they failed to come to their aid when they needed it."
"Then...there are others out there?" Naruto asked with hope in his eyes. His need for family showing in that instant. To him, there was a possibility his clansmen wouldn't look at him the same way he was being looked at in Konoha.
"Of course. The Uzumaki clan has a well know trait. Their Crimson Red Hair."
"Then..."
"Why is your hair not red?" Shun asked and he nodded.
"Because as I said. This was your mother's clan. Your Father's however, are know for their blonde hair." Shun answered. "And before you ask, your father was also the last member of his clan."
"Oh..." Naruto looked visibly downcast but Shun ruffled his hair. "Don't sweat it too much. Remember the promise I made you?"
"You mean..."
"Yup. I'll tell you all about them when we get back." Shun nodded as he looked at Naruto with a knowing look. 'As expected of Ashura's reincarnation. He doesn't even feel hatred towards Konoha.'
Shun observed their reactions closely before he continued. "This is why understanding the consequences of our actions is essential, especially for shinobi. Our duty isn't just about power and jutsu; it's also about protecting the people who can't protect themselves."
"That is what Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage and first Kage to bear the Title - God of Shinobi - wished."
They continued their tour through the town, as they passed a market place, they heard a loud voice. "I want two pieces of fat meat."
Looking towards the direction, they saw a thuggish looking man asking for meat to which the seller bowed with an "Okay". Placing the meat on his table he said. "Ryoji-san, here is your meat. 180 Ryo."
"As usual on credit. I'll pay you all the money at the end of this month." The thuggish looking man said and picked up the bag of meat.
"But you didn't pay the last month..."
"Huh!?" The thug looked at the seller menacingly. "What? I'm the famous Ryoji. You don't trust me?"
"Yes, I do. I was just asking. Please take care." The seller bowed with a bitter smile as the thug left in swagger.
"Hey! Stop-" Naruto, as usual was about to go confront the thug but was held by Shun.
"Nii-san?"
Shun shook his head and walked towards the vendor. "Excuse me, I would like 2kg of meat."
The vendor immediately brightened up. "Okay. What part would you like? The neck and some ears please."
"No problems. A share of neck meat and a share of ear meat. Here you go. 200 Ryo in total." The vendor happily presented.
Shun received the bag and handed him some Ryo note. "Okay, hold on, let me count... Hey, where are you!?" The vendor confusedly looked at the spot Shun stood and then looked at the money in his hand. "400 Ryo?" He exclaimed in shock.
"Weird. I can always remember the faces of my guests. But I just can't remember the faceof that mane who helped me. Could it be... That he's the famous Shinobi?"
...
"Shun-san?" Sakura looked at Shun for an explanation. Naruto and Sasuke too. They had seen Shun give the man double the money after he had stopped Naruto.
"This world is chaotic. Everyone is having a hard life. That's all you can do under the limitations of the system. Unless..." Taking a dramatic pause, "you take care of the root cause."
"Alright, you three are to go on your own. Remember to mind your business while observing the consequences of bad choices." Shun told them and immediately disappeared.
"Tch. He's fast as usual." Naruto snorted and crossed his arm, but looking at his teammates, he saw they all had various expressions.
Sakura had led a very, very happy life in the village. She had all she could ever ask for from her parents. So to her, being a Shinobi was just a means to get more money for herself.
After all, her parents were Chunins. Retired, but still Chunins.
Sasuke on the other hand, has had his own fair share of luxury until his brother struck. And even then, his life was still luxurious. Afterall, the prestige of being the son of the former patriarch still followed behind him.
With Izumi in the mix, he didn't particularly lack anything. Being all sheltered and all, none of them actually felt there was a life outside of their village that was this distressful.
Sasuke has seen his own fair share of death. Yes, he was made to see his clan and parent being murdered over and over again. But those were just that. After all, they were dead.
Seeing the living actually suffering this way, was all new to him.
As for Naruto, he had been to the slums of Konoha. No doubt he had seen this in the civilian area, but even that paled in comparison. However, compared to the two, he still held a bit of understanding.
However, understanding didn't mean he could tolerate it.
...
Shun created two clones to follow Naruto and Sasuke while he followed Sakura.
Though it didn't make any difference, he had actually felt that she was the most liable to do something stupid, hence he followed. Naruto would do something stupid, yes, but he had fate on his side.
Sakura however...
Not long after he separated from them, Sakura looked to be sneaking around a little bit too much causing Shun to smile in understanding.
'I should let society teach her a little lesson on trust.' he thought as he continued following her from the mirror space.
"No! Don't do this! I'll cry for help if you don't stop." A solacious voice sounded from one dark alley drawing both Sakura and Shun's attention.
From the sound, it was a girl, and from the tone, she was probably being forced to do something she didn't want to.
That would be a normal person thought on the issue, but to Shun, it sounded more like a sexy kink.
"Hoho, just cry. No one will save you no matter how loud you cry." A brutish voice followed after as rustling noise could be heard coming from the place.
"Oh no. I hate you. Help!"
"Scumbag! Let go of that girl!" Sakura shouted in anger as she burst into the alley while pulling out a Kunai.
"Who...who are you?" The man asked in confusion at seeing a small child disturbing his precious time, but seeing the Kunai, he immediately ran. "Fine! Wait here for me if you have the balls. I'll go get more people to beat you up."
'Tch. Typical gangsters.' Shun sneered and continued watching the show as Sakura smiled happily. 'I helped her.' She thought as she put away her Kunai.
"Hey! Don't leave! You haven't paid me yet!" Before she could turn to comfort the girl being 'harassed', the girl in question ran after the man.
'What does this mean?' Sakura thought to herself in confusion, but seeing the woman turn to face her, she shook her head and smiled. "You're welcome. It's my duty to help others..."
"Excuse me? What's wrong with you?!" The woman shrieked at Sakura before stomping away in anger.
"What did I do wrong?" Sakura wondered.
"Pfft!" Shun was laughing to himself in the mirror dimension. "This is why ignorance is a bad thing Feathers. Look at the lass."
Quack.
"I know right? If only she's more sensible."
...
"What the heck!? I helped her, but she's cursing at me instead? She...she is even more irritable than that Naruto!" She screamed angrily
"Ouch. Ouch."
As she walked through the village, she came across the sight of an elderly woman crying in pain as she tried to pick up some of her pallen articles.
"Obaa-san, are you okay?" She rushed and tried to help her up.
"I'm so pathetic, boohoo." The elderly woman immediately began making Shun who was hiding to smack his face in disappointment at Sakura.
"Don't worry. Tell me if you need any help. I'll help you."
"Who are you? We're strangers. Why will you help me? Are you trying to cheat me out of my money? I..." The old woman began.
"Don't get me wrong. It's my duty to help others as a Shinobi. Let me help you." Sakura said with a bright and cute smile.
"You're so kind." The old woman said as she held hand with Sakura.
Are you feeling unwell?" Sakura asked. "Alas. My goddamned daughter-in-law only provides me with this disgusting leftovers. She forces me to sleep in the woodshed. She knows that I have some trouble walking, but she still leaves me alone here. She wants me dead." The old woman began lamenting.
"She's gone too far!" Sakura immediately bought it and flared up in anger. "I can't believe such an evil person really exists in the word. Let's go back to your home. I'll help you reach her a lesson."
"No. She's in infamous shrew. She is really mean and fierce." The old woman rejected but Sakura insisted. "Don't worry, she can't hurt me."
"Well... Fine. God is helping me. He sent such a kind girl to help me." The old woman said and Shun nodded. 'I really did, didn't I?'
"You're welcome. Come, let me help you."
...
"Come out you bad daughter-in-law!!" Sakura shouted as she banged on the door of the house.
"Don't knock on the door anymore! You're killing me!" A middle aged woman shouted as she pushed open the door.
"You evil woman! I'm going to sell justice for this old woman Today!" Sakura declared.
Meanwhile, the middle aged woman looked at Sakura with some shock. 'Weird... I didn't even notice her when I came out just now. I was wondering why the old woman called out our code words.'
Looking at the old woman, the Middle aged woman saw her winking at her and she immediately continued her play. "Who are you? How dare you find fault with me?!"
"Be more polite!" Sakura said and pulled out her Kunai to threaten the woman.
The woman however sarcastically said. "Wow. You have a sword. What? Kill me if you dare! Here! Jack are this place." She said as she pointed at her neck.
"Too noisy!" A man came out and looked at the situation before shaking his head. "Why don't we settle this matter inside?"
"Little miss. Let's go inside." The old woman asked and Sakura nodded. "Okay, I wanted to be reasonable and don't wanna hurt people anyways."
They all proceeded to go inside, and as the last to enter, the man looked around for any suspicious movement before also closing the door.
"Hmm. Someone with actual Genin level chakra... Interesting." Shun said as he walked into the room not minding the doors or whatever.
Inside, he noticed a particular smell lingering and smiled to see how Sakura would proceed.
...
Sakura entered the house with bravado, but not even seconds after she entered, she suddenly felt something was wrong. 'What this? I suddenly feel my legs weak...'
At that moment, she suddenly remembered one of Shun's lesson on going into unfamiliar territory. -If you suddenly feel your legs weak, or your mind cloudy, don't think too much. Run away at once with whatever strength you can muster. You're probably drugged. So run or you'll die. Especially you Sakura. You're a girl afterall.-
"No!" She muttered and tried to turn around only to bump into the man from earlier.
"Where are you going?" The man asked with a smirk tugging on his lips.
With a masterful control of her chakra, she hurled herself through the wall of the building and came outside, only to see a couple dozen men with swords surrounding her.
"Catch her alive. She's a Shinobi from Konoha." She heard the man from earlier command.
"No!" She tried to fight only to slump on the ground with her consciousness fading away. Taking a deep breath, she managed to regain a little clarity and rushed at one of the men, punching him in the belly and flinging him back.
"Fuck! The man exclaimed. "She's drugged yet she's so strong!"
"She's indeed quite strong. You guys, stay away. Let me handle this." The man from earlier, who had Genin level chakra said as he walked out.
"Boss." The other men greeted him.
Sakura looked at him and thought. 'As long as I kill him... I still have a chance to run away.'
Rushing at the man to deliver another punch, the man lazily moved his body, dodging her charge, and used the blunt handle of his sword to hit her stomach.
Her initial kinetic energy along with the boss's minimal energy caused quite the impact as Sakura was directly immobilized.
'I just wanted to help others. Why did it end up like this?' She wondered with the last remnants of her consciousness.
"Boss is indeed powerful. He easily caught her."
"Alas, how I wish I can be as powerful as him."
His men flattered him which he acknowledged, but said. "Enough, dealing with a girl isn't that difficult. Tie her hands."
"Haha. Little girl, you can't escape anymore." One robust man said as he came forward with a rope.
"Help... Someone... Help...me..." Sakura muttered as tears began falling from her eyes.
Puff! Bang!
"What's that?! Who's there!?" The men all clamoured at the explosion that occurred, raising a cloud of dusts.
The boss held the scabbard of his katana in a stance as though he wanted to pull it as he looked around. 'I can't pull the Sword! So powerful! Who's this?!' He thought in horror as sweat fell down his face.
"I wonder who you are? I am Masahashi! The head of the Yellow Head Gang. Please forgive us if we offended you." The boss pleaded but was met with silence.
As the silence prevailed, the cloud of smoke dispersed. The men came around the boss and asked. "Boss, are you alright?"
"The girl is gone."
"Shut up!" The boss raised his voice at his surbodinates. "Don't you understand? We've offended someone we shouldn't have offended. Fortunately that powerful Huy didn't pick on us, or we'll be doomed."
"Don't Go out for the next couple of days. I'll go back and check with Gato, who that guy is." He ordered and left.
...
Meanwhile, lying on Shun's back, Sakura wondered... "Who saved me...?"
"Shh. Don't talk. You're drugged, take a rest first. I'll treat you when we arrive at Tazuna's house."
Looking at the side of his face, 'I wouldn't have ended in this situation if I had listened to him.'
"Sorry Shun..." She said and closed her eyes.
...
"NO!!" Sakura shouted as she awoke from her sleep. She found herself tucked into a futon in the familiar room from earlier today.
"Sakura-san. It's alright. I'm here with you. Don't be afraid." Tsunami, who was nursing her held her and said
"Tsunami-san!" Sakura pulled the lady into a hug and bawled out her eyes. "It's alright now." Tsunami comforted.
"She woke up?" Shun entered the room as he had heard her voice.
"Yes, just earlier." Tsunami replied. Shun hummed and came beside Sakura. "Give me you hand." Sakura immediately obeyed and Shun held it to feel her pulse while passing his chakra into her system.
'It feels odd. I didn't notice that he is actually...so handsome.' Sakura thought but immediately shook her head. 'Sasuke-kun is still the best...but...'
"It's just some ordinary knock out drug. No other poisons." Shun said and brought out a pill. "this is a purifying pill, you'll recover by tomorrow after taking it."
"Thanks." Sakura said. "Sorry. I shouldn't have turned a deaf ear to your instructions earlier."
Looking at her emotionlessly, Shun said. "You don't need to thank me. Why do you think I appeared at that time? I've been following you all the way. I didn't stop you because I wanted you to learn the Lesson."
"I..."
"Alright. Take the pill and come down for dinner. Tomorrow, we'll resume our training." Shun said and promptly left the room
"Tsunami-san... I feel like he hates me now." Sakura told the lady sadly.
"Of course not. Who could ever hate a girl like you?"
"I know I'm wrong. He is right. It's dangerous outside. I wanted to help them, but they hurt me. I..."
"It's good that you've known it. Here. Take the pill." Tsunami said and handed the pill to Sakura who took it and swallowed. "This pill smells good. I feel much better now."
"Then have a good sleep. I'll stay here with you." Tsunami offered as she tucked Sakura into the futon.
"How strong do you think he is? Today, the guy I met actually made me feel so weak. But he took me away so easily." She wondered aloud.
"He seems to be able to do everything." Tsunami said. "He said it's a Ninja art, but he has been here with me throughout the day. Then another him came over with you. Sigh. He's so mysterious."
"Yeah. He sure is powerful... I wonder how he compares to Kakashi-sensei..." As she said that, she fell asleep once more.
...
"Are you feeling better now?" Early the next morning, Shun asked Sakura as soon as they film their meal.
"Yes."
"That's good. Let's go."
By the time they returned to their training spot, the trio had a newfound understanding of the world from the each of their experience the day before.
They knew of the weight of their chosen path as shinobi. It was more than just cool jutsu and battles; it was about making difficult choices to protect the peace and the people they cared about.
Shun sat them down and said, "Yesterday's lesson wasn't about fighting techniques or chakra control. It was about opening your eyes to the world outside of yourselves. Remember, the consequences of war are real, and as shinobi, you have a responsibility to prevent such suffering whenever you can."
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura nodded in solemn agreement. Shun had successfully imparted a crucial lesson that went beyond the physical aspects of their training, a lesson that would shape their future actions and decisions.
With that, their training continued, but now, it held a deeper purpose – to become shinobi who could protect and bring peace to their world, just as Shun intended.
'This way, I wonder how their future choices would look like.' Shun wondered.
****
A/N: This was a super duper long Chapter. I put my all in here. So I will be needing your sincere criticism as well as applauds. 3.5k words. It ain't easy.
I put this Sakura's little arc as a means to show you all that there's actually a lot of people in the world that has chakra but aren't Shinobi.
Also as a means to make Sakura be less of her Original and more dependable.
Enjoy.... And oh. For those whose subscription would be finishing soon. Please do resubscribe. I'll really appreciate... Thanks.