[ Sakura is consistently surprised by Pain. She doesn't know why they keep running into each other, but each time they interact, he is at once so similar to and so different from the image she has of him in her head: his six bodies all over Konoha, the crater he left in her home, fighting against the Nine-tails
( ... )
[ Pain strikes close to a nerve, but it isn't the one he thinks he is. Sakura is too familiar with the single-minded pursuit of power. (She remembers a boy, and a bite, and leaving a trail of destruction in his wake as he left her and Naruto and everything behind for it, and damn the consequences.)
Pain may think he's talking about her (or maybe even himself), but all Sakura thinks of is Sasuke.
She is very, very quiet when she speaks. ]
Believe me, I probably know more about what physical power will and won't get you than you think.
Maybe we'd all be better off if we weren't ninja, but... [ A pause, then stronger. ] I am one, I chose to be one. And I won't be left in the dust any more, not when people need me.
[ She ignores his comment about being off inside. Maybe she is, and maybe she always will be until Team Seven is complete again, but that doesn't matter. ]
[Private to Sakura]callmelegionJuly 17 2009, 06:20:51 UTC
It surprises you to see different sides to things. I see.
Well.
Every ninja I meet from Konoha stresses the values of love and friendship.
But Konohagakure is a village which has sent children as young as five years old into wars -- a village which profits from wars. When one gets right down to it, that's what Konohagakure was designed for: breeding shinobi.
Making money. From war.
And that is the Konohagakure I have known in my life, before you were born.
Yet its people talk of love. Consistently.
So the same confusion you feel, I suppose, could be said for how I feel with regards to your people.
The world is complex.
If your village and I could seem so different from two different angles, then which is right anymore?
[Private to Pain]ground_breakerJuly 17 2009, 07:17:36 UTC
[ Frustrated, because he misunderstood her quite blatantly. ]
That isn't what I meant.
I meant that when I encountered you in our world, you wouldn't listen to a word anyone said. You came and you destroyed everything in your path. But here... you've been civil to me. I am one of your enemies, and yet you ask me about my experiences as if they mattered at all to you. You didn't kill me when you had a chance to, when I couldn't have stopped you.
As for Konoha... Maybe I don't know all of its history, [ (Apparently, with regard to the Uchiha massacre, she really doesn't) ] but I do know that it has a bloody past. All the hidden villages have. But the ninja you've met from here talk about love and friendship because that is what they believe in. That's the sentiment of our village now.
A hidden village isn't just its past; it's its people, too.
I've seen a different side of you. There's a different side of us, too.
Because life for humans, whether they grow up in a time of war or of peace, is essentially a fleeting thing, they are constantly seeking power in order to protect themselves from this reality. The reason that humans struggle in search of things like money and power is because they want to defy the fact that they will eventually die and cease to have any importance in the world
( ... )
It's certainly true, that humans are frail and weak, and will eventually decay. However, it is possible to move beyond that frailty, by casting off that weak flesh and remaking it into something that will last for the ages; I have done so.
Money and power are only means to an end, and not something worth pursuing in and of themselves. Striving to create something sublime that will last for all time is a far better use of one's time. True art endures.
There are certain techniques by which humans may achieve immortality, or at least a very long life, beyond what any mortal would normally have. But they aren't exactly common. And the fact remains that even a human who lives forever will suffer if he loves things which are fleeting.
On the other hand, things which withstand the ravages of time tend to be extremely boring. Sensory experiences are fleeting, after all, and they're the best part of living!
Sure, but for how long is it rewarding? Does the creation of something that lasts forever remain satisfying forever?
If I were to tell you that you could create one single thing that would last for eternity, and nothing more, would you be satisfied? Or would you want to create more things?
As for my name, it's Yakumo Yukari. Based on the outfit, I assume you're with Nagato and Madara and the rest, no?
Reply
Reply
Reply
Pain may think he's talking about her (or maybe even himself), but all Sakura thinks of is Sasuke.
She is very, very quiet when she speaks. ]
Believe me, I probably know more about what physical power will and won't get you than you think.
Maybe we'd all be better off if we weren't ninja, but... [ A pause, then stronger. ] I am one, I chose to be one. And I won't be left in the dust any more, not when people need me.
[ She ignores his comment about being off inside. Maybe she is, and maybe she always will be until Team Seven is complete again, but that doesn't matter. ]
Reply
You confuse me.
I should hate you for what you did to my home, and I do. But... not as much as I should. As I did.
Reply
Why? What are you thinking?
[ Is genuinely curious.
Maybe.
Idly curious. ]
Reply
You...
You aren't acting very much like the kind of person who does what I know you've done.
Reply
Well.
Every ninja I meet from Konoha stresses the values of love and friendship.
But Konohagakure is a village which has sent children as young as five years old into wars -- a village which profits from wars. When one gets right down to it, that's what Konohagakure was designed for: breeding shinobi.
Making money. From war.
And that is the Konohagakure I have known in my life, before you were born.
Yet its people talk of love. Consistently.
So the same confusion you feel, I suppose, could be said for how I feel with regards to your people.
The world is complex.
If your village and I could seem so different from two different angles, then which is right anymore?
Reply
That isn't what I meant.
I meant that when I encountered you in our world, you wouldn't listen to a word anyone said. You came and you destroyed everything in your path. But here... you've been civil to me. I am one of your enemies, and yet you ask me about my experiences as if they mattered at all to you. You didn't kill me when you had a chance to, when I couldn't have stopped you.
As for Konoha... Maybe I don't know all of its history, [ (Apparently, with regard to the Uchiha massacre, she really doesn't) ] but I do know that it has a bloody past. All the hidden villages have. But the ninja you've met from here talk about love and friendship because that is what they believe in. That's the sentiment of our village now.
A hidden village isn't just its past; it's its people, too.
I've seen a different side of you. There's a different side of us, too.
Reply
Reply
Money and power are only means to an end, and not something worth pursuing in and of themselves. Striving to create something sublime that will last for all time is a far better use of one's time. True art endures.
Reply
Reply
Reply
On the other hand, things which withstand the ravages of time tend to be extremely boring. Sensory experiences are fleeting, after all, and they're the best part of living!
It's a complicated matter, I suppose.
Reply
Perhaps so, but the creation of something lasting can also be very rewarding.
Oh, I'm afraid that I didn't catch your name. I am Akasuna no Sasori.
Reply
If I were to tell you that you could create one single thing that would last for eternity, and nothing more, would you be satisfied? Or would you want to create more things?
As for my name, it's Yakumo Yukari. Based on the outfit, I assume you're with Nagato and Madara and the rest, no?
Reply
Leave a comment