Title: Oyogu
Summary: "You are a part of the ocean's secrets Sakura..." When you're part mythical creature and part shinobi, the secrets you hide more than double. Yet when times become turbulent, Sakura finds herself trusting in a blank-faced, stoic ANBU captain every significant step of the way, much to her team's consternation.
Rating: T
Pairing: ItaSaku
Just so you know this is being re-written. If you are reading this, this is the latest update and this is a new chapter of the old one if that makes sense so you should definitely read it.
A long time ago, two mermaids fell in love. Beautiful, naive things pure of heart and mind. Love between them sprung forth in hidden moments tinged with forbiddance, making their time together all the sweeter. Between them, a child was born, a product of their mind and heart. She was new in coloring, a sign of changing tides.
"But where most saw love and purity, the great sea god saw abnormality, abomination; the sullying of a lineage old as time. In poisonous anger, he cast the unformed spirit of the child, not yet a body, into the depths of Umarekawari. Too late, she was sucked into the wheel of reincarnation and could not be recalled. The sea god's toxic actions tainted his soul and he cloistered himself away, as his sullied soul reflected upon wilting life within the sea. He hoped that by meditating and purifying himself, the enchantment of the sea would return, as would the spirit child."
"Yet eternity passed and the child was nowhere to be found, the sea and it's inhabitants never heard her call. Her soul never quite finding a body. As mortals filled this earth with nonsense like reality and practicality, the truth of myth and legend have long since faded away. Humans..." she flourished her hands, "had taken over."
"One by one… these sea dwellers were certain the unique little one had been tainted by too much human contact and her spirit could never return, and so they disappeared. Content to live in their spiritual world, or fade away into nature."
The woman's little audience stared in rapture until, realizing she had paused, demanded, "A-ka-ge-san! Tell it to the end! What happens next!?"
Chuckling, the red haired woman continued, "But one day… if that spirit finds its way and is born into a body pure of heart and mind, fate will lead her to the sea."
Each time the young lady came for a visit, she would tell little Sakura the same story and it would sound as vivid as her red hair. The oba-sama peeked into the dusty room from the corner. The woman indulged the pinkette often, bringing a small treat and a postcard of a watery feature each time. The photo however, despite the ooh's and aah's it elicited from the young girl, were always used to enforce a lesson.
She crouched down to Sakura's height and held the photo in front of the girl. "What do you see Sakura-chan?"
And like clockwork Sakura would reply, "Movement."
"Because?"
"Because it's always moving even though it looks like it's not moving."
"And?"
And this one always stumped Sakura. The little girl would cock her head to the side, pondering what she possibly could have missed.
"The darker the water..."
She would perk up, remembering the rest of the sentence,"The deeper it is!".
With a jolt, Sakura woke up, spitting matted pink hair out of her mouth and coughing. She dreamed of Akage-san all the time, but lately each time she awoke the memories seemed to float away. Perhaps because she was growing older. The sun was out, it's golden rays shining through the shutters in her room.
The adolescent girl pushed herself off her bed, and turned to place her feet on the floor. She padded slowly, even-footed toward an old, wooden dresser. On it was a wash basin and wash cloth. Like routine, she picked up the metal basin, tip-toed quietly across wooden floorboards so as not to disturb the peace —she was good at it now, they didn't creak much now— filled her basin with water from the kitchen sink and walked back just as quietly, accompanied only by sloshing sounds.
The orphanage was old, perhaps a decade or two younger than the oba-sama that ran it. Indeed the floorboards creaked as the the woman well into her seventies rose later each day. It was almost parallel, as wrinkles and age spots wore into the woman's face, the place had slowly fallen into disrepair. The woman couldn't keep up with the duties of a caretaker and the place was so out of the way, hidden in the most desolate and poor part of Konoha that the government had reduced their funds year after year. As children were adopted or switched to different, newer orphanages, Sakura had been left behind with the oba-sama.
She knew from the whispers and looks that she was different from the orphans she lived with. No family name, just a tacked on Haruno she had been given. No background, she eavesdropped often enough to understand she was an anomaly. But perhaps that was why they got along so well now. Both were products of abandonment.
The room she stayed in was small without a bathroom and a single, small window. A single lightbulb in the ceiling was all she had at night. As she rested the basin onto the wooden top, she eyed herself in the mirror of the dresser. Despite her attempts to keep it clean, dust and fingerprints never quite went away, so she did her best with the smudges and dirt. With her eyes, she traced the image of her. Brushing aside the familiar tiny frame, head too big for her body, and a skinny un-developing frame. Unlike Ino, her best friend who had been blessed with the prettiest face in the academy and development in her body all the pre-teen girls envied, she had pink hair and green eyes. As Akage-san often told her when she found herself murmuring to herself, she was exotic. That's why the girls bullied her, taunted her. It gave her a strange sense of pride and resentment.
She finger-combed her hair down to her waist, brushing out knots and patted the strands down with water, enjoying how shiny her strands were. With the washcloth, she cleaned her face and body, dipping it repeatedly into the water until she felt clean. She tied bandages around her chest, tugged on a pair of drawstring pants and as she pulled a sleeveless shirt over her head, she realized something was missing. After she tied on her shoes, a quick survey of the room led her to a small, pretty pendant Akage-san had given her on the last day she visited. It was a pale, translucent white and attached to a delicate, near invisible chain and glistened in the sun.
A cowry shell. She could barely pronounce the word as a little girl but the then four year old Sakura adored it. Calpurnus Verrucosus… It seemed constantly fresh, if that was the word for it. Always as if it was just plucked from the ocean, salt and sea still clinging to it. She kept it around her neck regularly, and she hoped she wouldn't have to take it off when she battled in the near future.
It was her last day at the academy. In the world of shinobi, she was officially an adult. As she left the front of the orphanage, she couldn't help but wonder what would become of the place if she earned enough to leave. . It was majestic in a traditional sort of way, even in its disrepair. It was made of quality wood, the kind you found back in those days in a simple, traditional structure, the back of which led up a trail and into mountains few explored and fewer recommended. She personally had found her way there once or twice, but she couldn't quite remember how to mini her, back then, had found her way back.
Ino and some girl were squabbling over who had the right to sit next to Uchiha Sasuke. Ino was the resident gorgeous girl with a cool personality, she hailed from a well known clan and could any girl top her shimmering blonde hair? On the one hand, Kaneko or something had been in the Uchiha fan-club for a very long time, longer than Ino although, Ino was basically president at this point.
To Sakura, Ino was the kind of kunoichi she wanted to be. She was confident, straightforward, yet popular. She was relatively well-rounded, skilled, knowledgeable on flowers and everything beauty, and thrived in most social situations. Sakura didn't know how they stayed friends, what with their ridiculously different personalities, but she was grateful to Ino for taking her under her wing. Without her, she would never have built the small amount of confidence she had now.
The Uchiha boy Ino currently fawned over was without a doubt attractive, even Sakura had to admit. He and Ino looked great together, and because Ino was also her best friend, she refused to entertain any thoughts of her ever liking him. Sure, he was a very pretty boy, but all the Uchiha's she had seen were pretty. The moment her blonde girlfriend spotted her, she gestured to the seat Sasuke was seated in. Quickly understanding, Sakura plopped her butt into the chair next to Sasuke's, and waited for Ino to finish her 'fight'.
Too late, she realized Naruto had jumped onto Sasuke's table, and maybe in an act of god fell onto the poor dark-haired boy's lips. Oh kami, Naruto was going to be finished by the fangirls! She didn't make it in time to swap seats with Ino before Iruka-sensei entered the classroom, saving Naruto from what seemed to be inevitable pain, but so long as she sat by Sasuke, Ino didn't really care and Sasuke tolerated her since she wasn't a fangirl.
She nudged the blonde boy when he sat next to her.
"Naruto… now you've gone and given Sasuke-san your first kiss."
He groan-whispered, "Maaa Sakura-chan you don't have to say it like that."
She giggled, "It's okay, I'm sure you were his first too. The girls seem a bit mad though."
Naruto looked around and buried his head in his hands, "Crap..."
They ended up being placed in the same team, much to Ino's envy, but knowing her she would simply take advantage of Sakura's proximity to Sasuke.
I hope you guys enjoy it. My writing seems to have improved so let me know what you think. Criticism and reviews are always appreciated :)
