Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters or its ideas.
Chapter 1: Intro
It was weird; her awakening, cause for a split second, she seemed to forget her name. My name is Sakura Haruno, she thought. Sakura Haruno; Sakura means "cherry blossom, while Haruno means "Springfield". Another thing that made it weird was how she felt. Sakura didn't feel tired.
In fact, she felt wide awake, as if she hadn't been sleeping at all. Covered up by a tiger print blanket, with the sheets feeling cool against her skin. She lets out a gasp as she sits up and a joyous smile appears on her face. I can breathe, I can breathe! Her thoughts are joyous.
Sakura's lungs felt clear; inhaling is was longer hard work. Wait until she informs her parents; they will be so happy. Throughout her life, her Asthma had been a problem. "She'll grow out of it." The doctors had said. She's seventeen now and still suffers from it.
As each day passed, Sakura struggled more and more. Playing sports became impossible; too much movement whatsoever triggered wheezing. She was dependent on inhalers. Today was different though, today she is cured. It's almost too good to be true.
Time to be daring. Sakura practically hopped out of bed. Her feet landing on the cool wooden floor with force. She inhaled deeply and exhaled loudly. The fast movement she just performed usually would have shortened her breath, but she was breathing like a regular healthy person.
Just to be sure, Sakura spun around like a ballerina. She was anything but a ballerina, but she did it gracefully and daintily like a professional; how odd. Maybe it was because of how happy she was feeling; it triggered confidence and triumph. I can join the track team, Sakura thought giddily. Or maybe even volleyball!
Sakura was seeing everything differently now; in a more positive manner. Her room-the room she always disliked-looked beautiful, with its light gray walls, beige carpet placed in the middle of her room and purple curtains. Her bed no longer appeared gaudy but unique with the tiger print blanket, green sheets and pink pillows. Still smiling like an idiot, she faces her vanity. "I'm gorgeous." She said dreamily admiring her reflection.
Her long, blossom pink hair was glossy and flowing. Her spring green eyes twinkled happily. The fairness of her skin was flushed prettily and her wide forehead was charming. Her expression soft and friendly, thus no longer hard and serious. She still has a flat chest, but she noticed curves that she never even knew she had and admired her slender build.
So this is what vanity feels like. Sakura used to look down upon vain girls, but feeling it now, she understood. Is it so wrong to find yourself beautiful? Sakura giggled and took off running out of her room, nearly slipping in the hallway, and fighting the urge to jump down the staircase; no need to go overboard. All the while, her lungs welcomed oxygen healthily; no wheezing and no need to cough.
It was absolutely exhilarating. "Mom, Dad, my asthma is gone!" she was yelling excitedly. "It's gone, it really is gone!" Sakura stopped at the bottom of the steps, now in the living room. Her smile faded, noticing how silent everything was. The television was not on; there was no dad on the maroon couch to greet her.
She heard nothing in the kitchen and the cat shaped clock above the book shelf had stopped at eleven o' clock A.M exactly. Strange, she thought, her happiness wavering. "Mom? Dad?" She called tentatively and headed towards the couch, placing a hand on the back of it. The remote lay unmoved on the coffee table. Kizashi Haruno had this bad habit of leaving his coffee mug on the table, sometimes still filled with coffee, but surprisingly, there was nothing there, other than the remote.
Sakura heads into the kitchen, feet slapping on cold wooden floors. Mebuki Haruno enjoyed cooking as much as she enjoyed antiquing. Much like the remote, nothing had been touched. No dirty dishes or new recipe ideas insight. No mother flittering about, like some kitchen pixie.
Could they be sleeping in? Sakura slept in every Saturday morning, but her parents are morning people and get up at five thirty A.M. every day. How they do it is beyond her, but it was possible. She doubted it though, but she didn't want to accept this uneasy feeling that something was wrong neither. She'll check just to make sure.
Sakura went back upstairs, no longer feeling exuberant; it was replaced with an unwanted uneasiness. The sound of her padding feet was the only noise throughout the two-story home and it wasn't comforting. At top of the staircase, there is the door leading to the bathroom. Turning a corner, into the hallway, you pass Sakura's room, then at the end, her parent's room. Sakura hesitated when touching the door knob.
Her parents weren't serious people all the time, but they were serious when they told her at age twelve she was not allowed in their room. Maybe there was something in there they didn't want her to see; it was rather an unpleasant thought. Don't be a wuss, Sakura told herself. With a nervous hand, Sakura grasped the doorknob and slowly turned it, still nervous. You're still being a wuss, her inner self taunted.
Sakura took a deep breath, and pushed the door open quickly. Too quickly, the back of the door hit the wall hard. She flinched hearing the impact, even muttering a curse. Much to both her dismay and relief, her parents were nowhere in sight. The bed didn't have so much as a wrinkle on it.
She decided to make sure she didn't damage the wall first, so she pulled the door back to check it. A large cracked hole had been created by the impact of the knob. "Wait to go Sakura," she scolds herself, then muttered: "Mom is going to rip me a new one." Rubbing her temples, she kept the door in place and sighing all the while. Gazing around the empty room, she could only sigh some more. Where are her parents?
Sakura placed her hands on her hips, beginning to lose herself in thought, when a beeping noise completely startled her. On the end of the bed, sat a-what looked like-an iphone; how cool. The screen kept flashing blue each time there was a beep. Maybe it's a present from her parents. She was grinning ear to ear, as she grasped the device.
The screen was still flashing, and it read anonymous caller. She answered it, believing the "anonymous caller" to be her mother or father, but instead all she heard was an unfamiliar voice. "Took you long enough to answer, kiddo," A man's voice; it was smooth, calm and deep. "I've been calling for the past twenty minutes." Diffidently not her dad's voice. It sounded younger than her father's baritone.
"Uh…who is this?" Sakura asked with a frown. "No time, you're in danger kiddo, and need to get moving." He sounded urgent, but Sakura was not buying it. "What are you talking about?" She was getting a little irritated now, mainly because the current uneasiness was growing. "There is no danger, I'm perfectly fine!" "Later you won't be fine. " he said. "Nice," a cough. "Outfit by the way."
Sakura blushed a bright red, realizing she was still in only her pajamas; a gray tank top, and baby pink underwear. Wait a second, why was she blushing? It's not like he could see her through the phone. What a weirdo! Also, why was she still talking to a stranger?
"Ok, I'm going to hang up now." Sakura said, faking sweetness. "No, w-wait-" And with the simple touch of the screen, he was cut off completely. "Weirdo." She muttered and gripped the phone tighter. She needed to find her parents. She headed back to her room, to look for something to wear.
Sakura dressed herself in a red short sleeved shirt and some dark blue jeans. She then slipped on her raggedy tennis shoes. She eyed the inhaler resting on her vanity; something akin to disdain in her eyes. Take it or don't take it, which was indeed the question. She's proud to decide not to take it.
Sakura leaves her room once again, plan already made; check every antique shop in the city. Her parents are, in fact, major antique lovers and are famous for it. Every Sunday they do it, but once in awhile they'll do it on a Saturday. No doubt they're checking out the many antique shops of St. Rosen City; the same antique shops they've been going to, since she was seven. Maybe she'll get lucky, and find them at the first one she plans on going to; less searching, the better.
Sakura wants to go out for pizza, in celebration of her good health. She opens the front door and…horror washes over her; the neighborhood was in catastrophe. The houses across the street were on fire; the flames just eating at the nice Victorian style homes. She heard screaming, coming from either inside or outside, she wasn't sure. She just couldn't take her eyes off of what truly caught her attention.
On the sidewalk, something was hovering over a sprawled-bloodied figure. She assumes "something" because it just didn't seem right to think "someone". The something was having these twitchy and jerky movements, especially around the shoulders, as if it literally couldn't keep still, like its body was supposed to move like that. Sakura's assumption was proven correct when it turned in her direction. Its eyes glow a neon green color and its lips were this grotesquely gray color.
The skin was like the color of bone and clicked its blood coated teeth at her, which absolutely disturbed her. It wailed at her, triggering a startled scream from her throat and Sakura slams the door shut, putting her back against it; her mind completely shocked. It had…been eating a person, she thought in disbelief. Her new phone ring in her pocket. Absentmindedly, she took out it slowly and answered.
"See, didn't I tell you were in danger?" The man from before said. Sakura snapped only half way out of her not-so-pleasant reverie. "Who are you?" Was all she could really ask at the moment, as she ran her fingers through her hair tiredly. "Me? I'm going to be your lifeline from now," he answered coolly. "Your lifeline, Miss Sakura, is named Kakashi Hatake."