Of a tiny girl that simply loved too much or felt too strongly
A never-ending oneshot.
A girl, at a tender age of 6, soft around the cheeks, a fresh mind in the academy, shy, teased for her looks, caught in the world of books, texts, researches. Nothing out of the ordinary. The problem: she took an interest in being near something not meant to touch. Something, that will leave her a bit more dazed, somewhat stranger and very fervent.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I only have this attempt at a story.
If looked for a proper word to describe the uncoiling feeling in the gut then she would have found herself lost for any kind of saying, blaming the already advanced for her age vocabulary for not supplying her mind with wording befitting the scene in front of her.
That is if there existed words, sayings, synonyms, descriptions that could wholly convey the magnitude of intensity which left a strong aftertaste in her lungs making it difficult to catch a breath.
It wasn't something new to her. She heard about it, read about it and learnt the basics of it. She had firsthand experience in it although of a much smaller scale. Almost pathetically bleak in comparison to what she was seeing.
The first time she saw it, the intensity, dare she say, the strength of it left her speechless, breathless. And most importantly captivated, strangely bewitched by something that she normally would consider ordinary, albeit tiny. Like very tiny.
But the size and ferocity of the sight were incomparable.
By logic and structure they remained the same yet in practice, the difference was too great between them.
Which is why she was standing there, behind a tree on the other side of the river watching transfixed at another shout and another try. Each try ending with a huff of annoyance, some part of it being dejection, yet every time the sight made her tiny heart catch up in her throat unable to comprehend how someone so small, although a bit bigger than her, and her age to top it off could be able to produce such vehement energy.
Fiery, fierce, fervid.
A deep looming fire glistening over the clear water which mirrored its vibrant colours and bringing out a canvas of a scarlet peril, yet beautiful in its own ominous way.
It surprised her that her first thought back then when she first saw it had been not of the blazing sun above her head lazily setting over the monument but of the moon.
The strikingly pale moon that given the shade of red reminded her of the fire over the smooth panel of water.
She remembers that very first time a few weeks ago having stumbled upon it.
Apart from the glazing feel left in her heart aflame, it also drew out a childlike curiosity coupled with strong determination to try.
Try, fail, attempt again. In hope to see the beauty of it come out from her own mouth.
To be met a wave of disappointment for not conjuring up a single spark. Not even a little glimmer.
Just nothing.
Yet that didn't mean that the heat of the picture of the inferno calmed down. It was quite the opposite. It wasn't a reverent passion or determination like the one of some boy she caught sight of somewhere near the playground or academy or the strange man whom she met once on a street shouting out some nonsensical things with a very shiny look in his eyes.
A few weeks prior to meeting the beauty of the fire she would have felt just a little bit creeped out or very much uncomfortable about him.
Right now she thought she understood him in some weird and illogical way. Not the nonsense which she didn't understand but the passion. Although it was a feeling in her case. More like a touch of the passion of his. That was the only comparable thing between her and him.
The only time when she felt a strong passion, her gut and mind ablaze, was when she was being near the river watching like some kind of stalker at the burst of the crimson fire.
Other than that her own attempts were met with bitter dejection for not managing to create a shadow of what she saw.
She tried giving up. She gave up.
Yet her feet always carried her to the river in the late afternoon, to her current hiding stop behind a tree under some bushes, to see the wonders of scorching angry red.
It made her go back to a seemingly abandoned clearing near the same river but a bit further from her usual 'spectator seat'.
It became a sort of obsession.
Every day she would come by to watch and then try and try and try and fail and fail and fail again.
Her mind a tornado of swirling emotions raging from ignited wanting of 'it may work this time' to another dejected pose of 'of course it wouldn't work' which made her itch with some kind of unexplored anger as to 'why doesn't it work?'. She herself was very much surprised as to having found any kind of exploding anger or the like for her own bookish, quiet and shy sort of self who no one assumed to even kill a fly.
Yet here she was getting angry and frustrated every single time with the same thoughts that she knew it wouldn't work for why should it.
She wasn't a genius or a prodigy or from some renowned clan.
Just some average kid that liked books and had a soft spot for flowery vocabulary. Not much strength nor skill and even less chakra to come up with something so utterly mind-numbing and advanced.
Then, on some afternoon she didn't see the boy again. The day after, and the day after that day, too.
Maybe he got bored of doing such an amazing feat every day. Which left her with a crushing sadness to deal with.
She guessed that she ought to give up. Again.
It wasn't as easy to do though. Or possible.
The thoughts of the energy and radiance made her turn and twist in her fluffy bed. She became haunted by her own mind and projections of the various pictures of the same glow of fire.
It lasted three days till she got fed up with it and decided to go that afternoon to the riverbank in another pretence of learning which she actually did though not the theoretic part.
She had some sort of hope of seeing the magnificence of it again but she arrived at a deserted place with no glowing or shining blaze.
She might have cried though for now her growing anxiety of having to try and try and try again just to fail and fail and fail again won over and she found herself at the familiar abandoned clearing again.
Making a chain of signs which she memorised after having watched it too many times she took a deep breath.
Her body conditioned after various failures to be met with the same routine of disappointment, frustration, anger and dejection.
She let out her breath…
And was met with a little puff of smoke and two or three sparks.
It was nothing. The fire which her dad put up in her garden on some special occasions to make his speciality of grilled fish was bigger than that. She knew. She had experience in putting it out with the help of her mom as the fire seemed to live on its own.
Still, the booming relief, heart-wrenching pride of a small, small success that she wasn't sure if it could be counted as such made her choke for air.
She did it.
She really did.
She rubbed her eyes again to see if she was dreaming. She sparks long vanished as soon as they appeared leaving there was some residue smoke.
Which meant she did it. She didn't believe herself, wanted someone else to shake her and tell her that she did it, she wasn't dreaming, some kind of claim that it was the truth.
Only that she was alone in that desolate part of the river.
Only her eyes were the sole witnesses of what happened.
She cut herself some slack and let herself be convinced that she truly managed to do 'something'. Which was more than she ever thought herself capable of after so many failures.
The next day was as colourful and radiant as the previous evening after her 'attempt at a success'. Doubts followed her everywhere when she thought of it as well as the annoying pull of 'do it again, try again, make it happen again'.
Meaning that she almost dutifully spent at least an hour or thirty minutes once a day at the riverbank fruitlessly redoing what she had done. To get what? Another failure. Somehow she didn't find it that shocking as she half expected it, still dubious about her first 'success'.
Still, she tried again.
Problem with that small routine proved when she had to learn for a test, make time for her first real friend (and isn't it strange how the word 'first' clings to her like a favourite phrase although less important than the word 'blaze' which she found in a dictionary and took a liking to it) help out with some chores or look up some new things as her thirst for knowledge seemed to have expanded onto a different field, mostly books as she always liked them. As a result, she didn't have as much time in the afternoon anymore like before entering the academy.
The mornings, for the most part, were open. Well, not every day as it were school days but if she woke extra early she could fit that small 'test, try, fail' routine into her schedule again.
And make the irritating itching to vanish. Some days it got dangerously close to exposing her little 'secret' as she instinctively brought up her hands to these particular signs during the day. Thankfully she stopped in the middle of raising her hand just to awkwardly drop them. For now, no one commented, if anything, someone, mostly her teacher, mom, dad or her friend would look at it strangely. Maybe they thought of it as nothing more than some kind of trait of hers. Or she was looking into it too much considering she wasn't waving her hands often. That trait belonged to the subtle category.
After some serious thought, she decided to go with the plan. The waking in the morning part quickly became one of the things which she didn't like.
It was a Monday morning, quite chilly for spring season. The sun slowly poking out from the horizon not bothering to chase out the left murk of the night. Good that her mom gave a warm knitted scarf in vibrant red colour.
The favourite colour for roughly 4 months which badly clashed with her soft pink hair. It luckily suited her red ribbon given by her friend.
She went to the riverbank, passing by her 'old' hideout that wasn't in use for a good two or three weeks, lost in her thoughts of the upcoming tests when she caught at the corner of her eye a long forgotten yet still kept in mind, glimpse of what she supposed she wouldn't see anymore.
A glimpse of an all too familiar flame.
Blood pumped through her veins, surging into her heart, loud pounding resonated in her ears. A rush of bubbling excitement overcame her, the feeling of passion clogging her arteries, numbing her mind.
Her limbs suddenly gained in weight at the glimpse, too agitated, upset, delighted to move.
She forced her heavy feet to carry her to the river, her young mind greatly invested in what she was seeing.
She halted at the known tree not bothering to hide.
What her eyes saw truly couldn't comprehend the enormous ball of red.
Without mercy she was met with an onslaught of bursting red, twisting in a circular form and stretching into every direction. Whereas the previous one she was gazing at intently for some time couldn't be explained, this one …
She couldn't understand.
As much as she would have liked to lifelessly stand near the tree the shine diminished abruptly leaving nothing but the half-dark morning and the gentle clashes of the water.
She stood there aimlessly gathering her scattered thoughts of finally seeing a fire.
A fire, not the fire. The one she observed. The one that left her blood pressure rising in her veins. Leaving her breathless with anticipation for a next one.
Undoubtedly this fire had a grand opening, fierce in its own way yet with a threatening edge, not meant for long survival. A means to an end. Just some useful tool that had to be used quickly otherwise it would disappear.
Her legs wobbly from seeing the enchanting fire after so long she gathered her wits and made her way to the shore. As she went further she managed to see two figures, some older man and some younger one. From her research, as she dubbed it she presumed that they might be members of the Uchiha clan, one of the most prestigious clans, next to the Hyuuga.
The river which length was kind of impressive, cutting through the forest that belonged to the Uchiha clan as a training field. Far away from the Uchiha compound, from what she knew.
From what she knew the forest was public property meaning anyone could go there if they wished yet mostly no one came near it or hovered over the peripheries as it was mostly used by the Uchiha clan who had 'taken a fancy' to claiming the spot or whatever it meant as she unashamedly overheard, she hadn't been eavesdropping, from some adults near the river.
For her little mind, the forest was a simple shortcut from her way from the greengrocer's, whose owner was a very good friend of her mom and had always fresh vegetables, to her house as there was a nice short path that took her 10 to 15 min home.
She didn't pay much mind to it as before the whole 'fire incident' she went the path that everyone took, away from the field.
If she hadn't discovered that particular exercise, she wouldn't take the longer route that took her almost 30 to 40 minutes as she had to go nearer the riverbank and then after going alongside the river she would have to go back through the bushes to the main path again. As much as it caused more work she was proud to realize that she got faster having stomped a small way leading to the river making it easier to walk.
And considering no one seemed to take offence at her being there at the river which she also presumed wasn't the training field yet, she just went that way normally.
Anyway, she squinted her eyes to get a better look, but only managed to recognise albeit with much difficulty the boy. One of her classmates. Probably.
She wasn't sure as the faces were too far to properly see, only leaving the distinctive black hair in a familiar style for her to presume it was the boy she thought of.
Unconsciously she covered the last meters to the shore as if pulled by some unknown force or kind of hypnotism.
Her brain activity being forced into overwork she didn't even notice that her sandals were soaked by the water on the shallow ground.
Then, everything stopped. At least for her, the world around seemed insignificant, the future worried rants and inquires of her mom and teachers why she went to school with wet sandals, the odd looks of her absentmindedness, the concerned face of her friend pushing her to the lockers to give her a spare pair of her own.
Nothing mattered.
Only the giant fiery and blood-red ball of fire.
Desperate like the ones she saw, yet bigger in size filled to the brim with new flames.
It was just a ball of scorching, blazing, twisting, swirling, dancing.
A simple element. Pure energy. A combustion. Nothing else.
A part of nature.
Yet why was it the epitome of grace, strength, power, desperation, magnificence, charm, distress, passion and a heated determination to prove something.
Her precious blaze.
It might not have been as gigantic as the previous one which reminded her of a shield made from kunai, hurrying to end the enemy, this one despite not making her squirm uncomfortably in fear of getting nicked by it, the flames held an air of durability, a kind of stability.
As to prove the fire didn't disappear as fast as the previous one. It took its time to slowly evaporate into thin air.
Although it wasn't a visible threat as the previous one, loudly announcing the quick end of the enemy, this one had a menacing aura of its own.
It seemed mighty and strong, albeit weaker in comparison to the former due to the smaller frame, the true meaning was hidden in the core, even if it was just a ball of pure energy.
It was a fire meant to destroy not a single enemy but to end a whole living forest.
This time her entire being was completely immobilised by its power even during the process of fading away.
She didn't think. Or she wanted yet couldn't as the pain to comprehend what was in front of her was too much for her body, mind, anything.
She just let herself go with the flow or more fittingly the heat of the moment.
So she stood there and watched.
Watched as the last smoke dissipated and the last spark touched her large forehead.
Like the last goodbye which meant not forever.
A goodbye said by a friend whom you shall meet again.
Then, the show was over. Done. Ended.
The light of the flames gone and replaced by the rays of the sun.
She would have stood there for eternity if not for the loud shout of someone calling out for her.
Her, as in the girl swaying on her feet with her feet soaked in the shallow water gaping at the air.
Caught from her daze she shook her head rather violently before directing her gaze to the source of the voice. A deep, masculine voice which didn't come from the ones on the other side of the river.
It came from behind her.
Her absent mind having registered the new presence made her jump out of her skin.
In reality, she whipped around to see who it could be only to lose her footing because of her shaky legs and land into the cold water.
"Hey! You alright?" The deep masculine voice asked with stiff concern.
Her vast vocabulary abandoned her with the rest of cool logic to deal with the situation.
She shook her head rather violently as to make up for the lack of a verbal response.
A hand stretched out in front of her.
Without much thought, she accepted the help having her feet stuck in what looked like mud. To her surprise she was roughly hefted into a straight posture, her eyes landing on a generic looking man with black hair, pale skin and dark eyes. His clothes a standard black shirt and brown cotton pants.
Despite the plain appearance which she carefully analyzed as best as she could, her childish mind was currently overwhelmed by the serious and angered man, at least to her it seemed like the man had a bad day, meaning for her nervous shaking and sweaty palms. To her luck, all the symptoms could be attributed to the cold water so as to lessen the damage to her reputation not that she had any after having stared at a fireball and stood like a deer caught in the headlights in the freezing water. The only fact that registered in her mind was the part about her damp clothes.
Which made her wonder what was more terrifying, the teacher's scolding for turning up wet or getting caught staring, in a place which was known to be a near a training field.
Both options were bad as both would end with her mother's tongue-lashing. For a long time, she had luck for never having ignited the ire of her mom, which couldn't be said for her dad.
Well, till that moment.
She didn't get to continue roasting her brain as the man took her by the shoulders and swiftly put her on the dry land.
"Now, that you're not getting more wet than necessary I can ask you a few questions. First, who are you? And why were you so close to someone practising the Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu? Honestly, you would think that the civilians had more brain than standing in front of danger." The last statement was probably quiet off-comment not meant to be heard.
Somehow her young brain in a feat of childishness decided to answer that one instead of the first.
"I'm actually an Academy student." Her voice quivered a bit from the cold and her body was shivering yet she managed to stand in a very straight line like the adults she saw doing.
That elicited an unimpressed raised eyebrow.
"Then let me ask you how an Academy student didn't know the first thing about proper distance within a training field or someone visibly practising."
The filter in her mind proceeded to concentrate on single words instead of listening to the whole statement.
"From what I heard this is still an area which isn't within the training field nor is it very near it."
A sigh escaped the man in front of her.
"It doesn't matter. When someone is practising, especially a long-rage jutsu then you have to keep distance. Which you didn't do."
"I was on the other side of the river and the fire didn't even touch me. So doesn't it count as safe?"
The exasperation seemed to have reached its peak as the man was getting visibly irritated.
"No, it's not. Considering that the result of practice can end up very different and if the one practising had put more chakra then you wouldn't have gotten away with simply a black forehead."
She quickly put up her hands to her forehead touching it as if to confirm the guy's words.
When she looked at her hands again, she saw black hues on the skin. Upon lifting her head she could see a pleased smirk on the man.
"Told you. Now you still didn't introduce yourself."
She frowned at that.
"Mom says I shouldn't say my personal information to strangers."
"I wouldn't worry about that. I'm going to meet them to explain what you have been doing after stopping by to notify the Academy of your little incident."
That didn't sound good.
"Why? I didn't do anything wrong. I only watched. Is it a crime?"
"Well, no, but you could have easily gotten hurt and you certainly broke a few safety rules regarding distance during practice, even if you aren't on a training field."
"But if they practised and not on a training field, then aren't they at fault for causing danger for the ones around?"
Another sigh escaped the man.
"Not, if you are with at least a Jounin to supervise you and a permission slip."
"Oh." She looked down to her feet in realisation.
The man's look softened at bit.
"Look kid, I know it's not nice to be reported, but you have to understand that there is a procedure to be followed. Imagine what your parents would feel if they knew you hurt yourself through reckless behaviour. They would feel sad, too. We need to tell them as to avoid it from happening again."
Her gaze wandered to his face. It made a lot of sense to tell her parents what she had been doing. She didn't like making them sad or hurt. Or angry in that matter.
She didn't like breaking rules. Although she still wasn't completely sure what she did wrong apart from not keeping to safety rules or such. She knew of them, but it wasn't like she had been in immediate danger. Maybe he thought it looked like it. Nevermind. It was a bit too much for now. Somehow her thoughts stopped at her friend.
What would her friend do in that situation? Would she apologize or argue with him not to tell her parents? She had a feeling that she might have argued about it though her friend would be smart enough not to be caught in the first place. What would her parents say when they know she got in trouble…
Her eyes widened. An idea formed in her mind.
"Mister, if you don't tell them, then they won't know. And if they don't know, then they won't worry, right?"
Her wide innocent eyes looked at him. A fairly confused expression on her face.
The reaction was simple. A loud slap to the forehead.
"Kid, I can't just not tell them. It's against the rules of safety."
"But they will worry!"
"Then you shouldn't have been here in the first place. What were you exactly thinking?"
In that moment another person came up to the scene. It was quite uncommon to see a small kid arguing on a shallow and muddy shore with a member of the Konoha Military Police Force.
And more importantly, a freshly graduated clansmember that had problem reining in a small child who ought to be at school right now.
"Now, now. How about we discuss it peaceful-" The man who came to the place was abruptly cut off by a loud desperate shout.
"But the fire was so pretty!"
The other man in their vicinity stopped in his tracks.
Both men, the first one and the second, got quiet.
Never before had they heard of such reason.
The kid blissfully oblivious to their awkwardness continued on.
"I, eehm, meant that. I saw it and it was strong, pretty. Like very pretty. And it looks so cool and great. And I wanted to see more. I tried myself but didn't work. Only smoke and some puffs and stuff. Never a giant blaze. Big and strong. So I just took a peak to see it. I didn't mean to break any rules. It was just… I mean… Giant and beautiful and inspiring and-"
"Hold on a minute." The second man, broad shoulders, quite tall, a square chin and very short black hair, shook off his slight disbelief and went up to them holding up a hand.
The movement seemed to have stopped the rambling and stuttering of the kid.
The taller man took a deep breath.
"What do you mean you tried doing it?"
"Eeehm… I… saw the signs and tried to do it. But it didn't work so-"
"Though you did say you managed to create smoke, right?" The first man spoke up, with a very far off voice.
"Yes." She nodded. Seeing the silent men clearly expectant of something more she added quickly.
"And some sparks. Only a few. Like two or three. Maybe four. Not much." Maybe she said it wrong. Somehow the men's expressions got dark. A deep frown setting into their face.
She must have told something wrong as to provoke such reactions.
"It's not important-"
A heavy sigh interrupted her.
"Alright kid, first off we are going to call your parents. Whether you like it or not, we need to notify your parents that you aren't following the safety rules. And no, you weren't 'safe and sound' on the other side of the water as the fire could have reached you. You even have leftover smoke on your face. Second off we are going to look into your 'training'."
The guy muttered something under his nose, yet enough for her to catch some words.
"Seriously some unknown kid training our clan's technique."
The younger man, and the first who approached her, reached out his hand to her.
"Come, we need to go to your parents, right?"
She slowly nodded, a bit overwhelmed by what had been happening. Then she remembered.
"Wait, I have morning classes. I can't come late!"
The men looked at each other.
Then the older one spoke up. "Don't worry, you will be excused from classes under the note of the Konoha Police."
Her dirty face took a pale shade. She clearly remembered how some older guys were taken to the Konoha Police for causing problems the first week. It was quite a fight from what she had heard back then and the guys didn't come to school for a week.
"Wait, does it mean I'm going to be suspended!?"
"Well, you should have paid more attention to what you were doing." The square chin told her with a devil-may-care tone. Which caused the smaller man to glare at him.
"Don't say that. The kid didn't mean to. No need to scare her."
Which got a smirk thrown in his direction. The guy huffed and turned to her.
"You don't have to worry. The procedure says to notify your parents, not to suspend you. Though you are going to get an official warning as not to do something like that in the future.
The note from the Konoha Police will simply excuse your absence, not make you drop out from school."
She nodded again, albeit reluctantly. The older one shook his head in an exasperated manner.
"You do know, that the HQ doesn't bother with such things. The parents normally do that. We ain't wasting paper for trivialities."
"But the rules say-"
"Yea, but not in such situations. Look the kid's classes don't matter now. We take her to her parents, give them a warning and that's it. And better do it now, so she may not be late. What time does the classes start anyway?"
"8.00" she and the younger guy answered.
"Definitely enough time. Let's go, we have better things to do than look after one brat. "
She would have taken much more offense at that, but suddenly she was grabbed by the collar and hefted under the taller one's arm.
"I suggest not to breathe heavily."
And with a jump they vanished from the shore into the trees, heading to the town.
All her previous evasions from questions like who are you, to where do you live clearly ended in vain when the two pressed her to give directions to her house or they would have to waste more time than necessary which she didn't want to.
Of course, her parents' reaction to what she had been doing this morning with a little bit of a guess to what she may have been doing the past days albeit not much in detail, could have been worse.
She did get grounded for at least a week, had to promise not to do such thing without supervision and they would have a 'nice talking' about safety rules meaning she had to brace herself for an hour of disappointed looks, angry huffs and a list of chores as a penalty.
Fortunately, no one mentioned telling the Academy about her 'stunt'.
They probably resolved to solve the problem themselves than unnecessarily dragging in the teacher. With her mother's ignited ire and blazing eyes, she would have gladly taken in a bad grade than hear her mother's talk about safety and rules for the next month.
The two men seemed to have caught on that and shrugged off saying it was up to them as their job was to notify the parents and not, the older glared at the younger one, call up the teachers for something so small. The taller always seemed to be sighing around him, she realized.
All in all, she wasn't suspended, got told off by her mom, during which her father sent sympathetic smiles knowing what it was like at the receiving end, waved goodbye to the two ravens and barely noticed the looks between her parents and these two.
And that was how she ended at school 5 minutes before the bell, whereas normally she would be 15 minutes before with a promise to come straight home and not wander off and an additional half-muttered: "To think that she would go 'train' instead of staying in the library."
Her cover story having been blown after this morning. She tried to calm down her mom saying most of her age did train but got told off that most have a supervisor as to avoid getting hurt. That was how she got into tight embrace for the umpteenth time.
Coming back to the topic at hand.
After the morning commotion, she was left in a twist of confusion, a bit of a relief and a slight bitter aftertaste.
She would have to get more sneaky with her training plans for the future.
Or did she have to?
She got caught doing things which no one, not even she herself, would have believed being able to do.
Getting caught in a blaze of fire. And for what? For grounding, a warning that could have easily brought more problems, and dissatisfaction from all of that.
Her small mind not comprehending the situation as a whole. Only parts coming on and off to her, replaying fragments like a broken record.
A few whispers, mutterings, some louder voices.
Now sitting there, alone in the third row, classmates flittering in and out, causing commotion through exited talks, she had the time to contemplate.
And remember the blaze of pure fire directed at her. The rise in her adrenaline levels, a shift in the atmosphere, the blood-clogging her veins like steel lead.
The utmost beauty of the burst of life, fading away in front of her like a proud fallen soldier after a won battle.
Her eyes glazed over the same thought, trying to drink in the feeling of the previous overwhelming sensation of…
Power? Strength? Motivation? Zeal?
She didn't know. What she knew was that she after every time she was left with a sudden need to rise and produce a shine.
An incentive of some sorts. A magical fleeting feeling left to spur her on.
Drawing a primitive want to see it again, make it happen.
Becoming a sorceress of the glowing light.
She read a lot about the techniques, how they worked, the cold facts about the chakra without unneeded comments like hers. Yet her mind always swayed to the various legends, fantasies she heard of or read. It was a coping mechanism after having to give up on looking after the flame the first time. Needless to say, it didn't work.
But they all provided to her overflowing descriptions when seeing the fire. Now useless after having promised not to look after trouble. After explicitly promising not to look at the fire without a supervisor. A proper adult. Her mother always had a keen nose when she omitted a part of her story.
It was like forcing a goodbye to her friend flame.
Having realized the growing disappointment of not seeing the fire again for real she couldn't stop the forming tears in her eyes.
Unlike last time when she didn't know whether she would see it again, she at least could try to produce sparks as a lonely remainder, this time, however, she was banned from doing such exercise without a proper supervisor. And knowing the underlying tone of the adults that usually meant she could forget about training.
Through the torrent of her inner anguish about the given situation, while grieving in her usual place in the third row, the fourth seat from the right, near the entrance, she couldn't take notice of the strange aura which surrounded her classmates, or at least part of them.
Them, being children, may not have taken immediate notice of the girl, yet after a good few minutes most seemed to have caught the mood of her.
The sombre, brooding and most definitely not fitting mood for the class.
Nature's rules stated very clearly that the moment of vulnerability had to be pointed out by the least liked person by the girl.
"Hey Loser! What are you looking at?" huffed a petite girl with short brown hair. It had been roughly 3 weeks and somehow she ended up attracting attention from the wrong kind of children. Her young mind still caught up in her state of grieving didn't realise till a hand slammed into the desk in front of her.
Loud and hard.
Which also managed to garner some eyes from other classmates, although most feigned ignorance or weren't interested in what was going on.
"Hey, I'm talking with you. Don't think you can hide behind your big and ugly forehead."
Still no response.
Though the girl lifted her eyes to meet the hazel eyes of the other brimming with irritation.
Her own brain decided to play a prank as she could have sworn she saw a burning in the deep brownish eyes.
Like a smaller case of a spark. A spark that became a fire.
A great, big fire.
Her tears were on the verge of falling, some traitorous escaping and dripping down her cheeks.
The rather strong reaction managed to send the brown haired one into a case of panic.
"Hey, hey. Wait. Don't. I didn't- Just- Ehm."
That certainly managed to gather the whole class' attention, the pair getting a few curious, worried or confused glances.
After a few other unrecognisable coughs and wailings of arms, an idea came to the panic-stricken girl. Just in time when a blond girl opened the door, the brown-haired one stretched out her hand, a plain nicely-ironed handkerchief in it.
"Here," she stuttered whilst trying to unsuccessfully avoid direct contact with the big green teary eyes.
It was like looking at a large emerald fully packed with the sadness of kicked puppies.
Or something like that.
Nonetheless, despite the given handkerchief, the tears didn't stop.
"What happened?"
Quickly the blond one scurried to her teary-eyed friend whose expression could be described: Big eyes, slightly open mouth, a very strong focus on what was in front of her. Or behind the person in front of her.
The moment her blond friend came up to her, her face in front of her own, she uttered a bewildered sigh.
Almost painfully, the blond one craned her neck to the brown-haired girl.
"I ask again. What happened?"
She looked between her friend and her enemy. Looking left and right to find an answer to her question. Seeing the state of her friend she wasn't sure whether she would get an answer soon so she settled on the enemy.
"You! What did you do?"
Her gaze was filled with all the bad intent that a 6-year-old could muster up.
The other one wilted a bit at that.
"I didn't do anything. Just- it wasn't my fault she started to cry. I didn't mean to. She just cried." Her words stuttered under the pressure of the situation she got caught in.
"Really?" The blonde's eyes narrowed. "I think you were bullying her. You've been on her case since the beginning."
"It's not much. Some name-calling. It's not like I'm out beating her up." Despite the quiver in her voice, she put up a defence.
"Yes, but look at her. She is crying." Her friend's tone got dangerously low for a child her age indicating a very pissed off person, which you didn't want to anger on a good day.
At that, they took a look at the still sitting kid whose tears were slowly drying up.
The whole time she didn't move. She simply stared, a bit dazedly, a bit more absentminded, at the blank chalkboard, ignoring the banter between the on of her left, the called bully, and her right, her own friend.
The quietness and lack of movement seemed slightly eerie.
"Creepy," muttered the brown-haired girl which got her an angry look.
"See, she doesn't mind. It's not my fault that she suddenly breaks into tears." The brown one huffed.
"You were the one calling her names, and that's bullying."
Words were thrown left and right at that point. Unbeknownst to them during the whole scene, new students filled up the room before classes' started. Some ignored it, some were forming a circle around them and some curiously were looking at that from their seats.
That circle repeated till another student came in.
Dark spiked hair, a pale carnation with only the cheeks being lightly dusted with a blush. The boy in his black shorts and blue shirt with his family crest proudly displayed on his back wasn't much of an oddity to daily life considering that there were some other students from the same clan, with disturbingly similar features.
The girl who made no movement and whose eyes uninterestedly looked through the groups of people zeroed in the new arrival.
What made a difference was that the boy very closely fitted the profile of the person near the river bank.
It took her by surprise when she felt a strong grip on her shoulder. Although if she paid more attention, she would have realised the ongoing conversation where some kid from the circle added a very serious: "Is she even breathing?" to which her friend made sure she hadn't flown off too far with her mind.
What threw her off were the worried looks she gained, her friend included.
"Are you okay? You look pale."
It was the moment she felt the connection to this world again. Her bleary thoughts of her flame partly going to the background. As an answer she slowly nodded her head, feeling too out of it to form a sentence.
Her friend didn't seem to buy her gesture.
"Are you sure? Maybe I call the teacher," the blonde added, scrutinizing every detail of her in search of some sickness.
It wasn't needed though as the word teacher spurred on the girl whose eyes, albeit still clouded, gained some reflection of living.
"No," she croaked. "No teacher. I feel fine. Just-"
"Not looking nice," the brunette helped, and promptly got lightly punched in the arm by some dark-haired boy. To her surprise, the girl whose green eyes shifted to her simply nodded with an absent smile.
"Yea, not looking nice. I'm feeling okay, though. Maybe it's the weather," she stated, an act to calm her fretting friend.
"Weather. Sure. And the sky is red. I think we should tell the teacher."
"No, really. I'm fine. If you want we can go if I start feeling worse, okay?" The last one was an attempt to make the blonde not go to the teacher now. After the small 'run-in' with the Konoha Police, she had enough of authority for the day.
She specifically looked with her emerald eyes into the ocean blue ones of the blonde. Which narrowed after a few seconds.
"Alright, but the moment I see something wrong, then we go to the teacher, and not 'buts'."
Her arms crossed, chin high, and a mighty aura reminded her very much of her own mother.
She didn't do much thinking afterwards a stray look at her left her fixed on the familiar boy before she had gotten sidetracked.
He was surrounded by some of his what seemed like clans members, relaxed and poised as any of the mighty clan. Although a goofy smile could be seen, a simple crack of mouth, yet the eyes were radiating the happiness.
After so much tension the small group surrounding them vanished, seeing as nothing more would happen, and the class would start in a few minutes. No one, absolutely no one wanted to see the kind sensei shouting off their ears. It had been scary the first time.
The boy included, as he also took a seat in the second row, middle seat, at the windows.
The gaze didn't go unnoticed by her friend who in turn whipped her head to the same direction. A suspicious wrinkle on her forehead appeared for a small second.
"Does anyone other bother you?" The question seemed pretty unusual though considering the situation it was almost predictable. A small shy smile made its way on the face of her own.
"No, no one," she answered, her smile giving her somewhat a more airheaded aura. It didn't make her friend less worried, yet the tension in her body fizzled out, leaving her also sporting a grin.
"Alright. I believe you. Buuuut-" She held up her one finger. "If I find out that you were lying, then be prepared for punishment. No lie can hide before a Yamanaka."
It would have sounded more threatening, was it an adult, or some stranger, but the words coming from her friend were more of a reassurance. Even though they knew each other for more or less a few months since the school started, she somewhat felt that the blonde could be trusted.
In the meantime whilst her childish mind kept on admiring the responsible and more serious side of her dear friend whose vocabulary flared in ways to make her realize the utmost importance of her words, the bell rang indicating an hour-long lecture.
Her fresh mind, malleable to the highest degree, normally soaking up the words of her teacher, simply fell deaf to the lecture, stray thoughts going off the friendly fire, her eyes directed to the one boy on the left side.
The one who could create the fire.
Her own small life, which heavily became obsessed with the theme of the blaze, could be saved by that one boy.
Just like that she spent her time looking, dare she say, transfixed at either the clock, the window, the textbook, where the words only swan in front of her, and mostly at the dark- haired boy, struggling to keep concentrated, yet viciously taking notes of the lesson.
Before she knew it, the bell rang again, its shrill sending some children whooping in joy of the oncoming break, her nice teacher sternly reminding to adhere to rules and not get hurt during reckless, unnecessary fights.
The announced break didn't stop her racing mind, it even got slightly fuelled to the point of losing any kind of concentration.
Fortunately or not, her dear friend made it her mission to keep her from losing track of reality.
"Oii. Can you hear me?" She waved her hand, so closely it could have easily stroke her nose.
"See, if you don't answer in a second, I'm going to drag you to the teacher. I told you not to lie to me." She huffed, her arms on her chest, in a non-nonsense pose.
Slightly drowsy, she replied with a shy smile. "I'm ok. Just…"
"Not looking nice. I know. But you didn't even pay attention to the lesson. YOU. The one who goes and takes advanced stuff for fun. It's not normal."
"Yet not abnormal. It will pass."
The response didn't make her friend any less suspicious.
"I still don't believe you." A hand pressed against her large forehead.
"But you don't have temperature."
"See, not sick," she almost gleefully said, yet her eyes locked onto the silhouette of a people-shaped mass surrounding her 'target'. The look didn't go unnoticed by the blonde.
If she hadn't been in such absentmindedness she would have seen the realization upon her friend's face and the glint of mischief.
Her mouth shaped in an O, provided her with surprising information.
"The Uchiha boy."
That made her change the direction of her gaze back to the girl.
"Didn't know you had a crush." Her tone bordering on a squeal, yet refraining to maintain the position of the 'wise' advisor.
A hand clapped on her shoulder. "You should have told me. We are friends, right? That I didn't see it earlier." The blonde shook her head in fake misery, but swiftly added:
"The Uchiha heir is pretty popular but sticks with his own family. Cute and smart. Some of the girls like him."
That was information, which she didn't gather earlier, yet helped at least identify the mysterious to her person. Of course, her friend the ever talking whirlwind didn't stop.
"That you picked him from out of all is surprising. He is hard to approach on a good day, always with his family. And knowing your shyness…" She looked at her with a hard stare.
She didn't get to say more as a group of loud girls, not surprisingly the previous brunette in the middle, made their way to the exit. Not before, of course, stopping by for a moment.
"So, you like Uchiha?" The tone seemingly neutral, yet with a soft cutting edge. Certainly lacking in comparison to an hour back.
"Back off, or I'm going to tell the teacher," the blond girl turning to face the enemy.
The person in question did back off a little. That didn't mean she ran off.
"Go on, it's not like I'm bullying or something."
"Then I can tell him about what happened before classes?" Her tone firm and confident. The other girl withered under the slight pressure. It looked not worth her time to meddle again.
"I was about to go anyway. Just saying that nerd is never going to get noticed by him."
That ticked her friend off. "Watch what you are saying." The brunette didn't back off, only shrugged.
"What? It's not like she can go to him and introduce herself. Just look. No wonder that he is not going to pay extra attention to somebody like her." The blond girl was about to retaliate, yet despite the harshness, the statement held some truth. The utmost shyness of hers made her usually hide behind a tree in confrontation of a conversation. The exception, not known by the ones around her, being when she was mesmerised by something. Utterly devoted and defending her statement.
Like in a situation like this one. The so-called insult registered in her mind as good-sounding advice.
Thus her mind finally formed a solid plan, not at all expected by her friend or any other.
She promptly stood up, muttered a brief "Thank you.", which added to the confusion, and went down to another group of kids making their way to the exit.
As though her mind was shut down to a single beaten track, she didn't pay attention to those around her. She simply had one thing to do in order to see the beauty, the passion, the tales behind the fire, the flame again.
Go down and introduce herself to the one creator of the fire. Her mind didn't take any other options into consideration.
Her hand struck out into a handshake, baby round cheeks dusted with a healthy blush, emerald eyes sparkling under the mess of pink hair. She took a deep breath and announced, if not a bit too loudly in her childish high-pitched voice:
"Hello, I'm Sakura."
Silence.
Only silence and silence alone. So uncommon that it was, after the initial shock subsided, interrupted by a wave of murmurs.
Unfortunately, the weigh of the situation came back to her. The confidence lost, the sudden outburst of passion in face of seeing the flame disappeared into thin air, leaving the normal blushing mess of the shy girl she was.
She didn't dare to look around, knowing the wide eyes wouldn't help her at all. The current wide onyx ones certainly didn't reassure her.
So it left the both of them. And the people who didn't leave the classroom.
Her, with hand outstretched, expecting a handshake.
Him, surrounded by equally raven-haired clans-kids, whose wide eyes slowly narrowed.
All her wisdom, all her knowledge, all the practise. Everything for nought as she still was the small 6-year-old girl afraid of human contact.
As the saying goes: You reap what you sow. She made her first move, she needed to see it till the very end.
Thankfully the boy grasped the unusualness of the situation.
"Sakura?"
She nodded. But remained quiet. Though he clearly was expectant of something more.
"Full name?" he asked uncertainly, in a way to help out.
At this moment she reminded him of a freshly plucked cherry tomato.
"Haruno Sakura." She slightly bowed down, her hand going limp to her side.
"Uchiha Sasuke." He emulated her gesture, clearly not knowing what to do.
It was a painfully awkward moment.
He looked at her and she looked at him.
Then, help came when she saw some light reflected by the shiny blackboard behind the boy, a remembrance of her original goal.
A modicum of confidence back, the stutter left behind.
"I s-aww y—ouu trai—ning."
The mood got considerably darker. Without much said, the boy, Sasuke, muttered a disdainful comment.
"You're one of them." And meant to turn around to the exit.
She didn't have time to ponder the meaning of 'them', seeing as her chance to see the fire would vanish behind the door. So gathering the last bits of her wits she shouted:
"THE FIRE! It's amazing!"
He sharply craned his neck to face her.
That was not how it was supposed to end. Nor how she wanted to voice her admiration. Yet the words came out before they registered and had to deal with the hard, unrelenting stare which bore into her mind. Gulping down the twitching bits of unrest in her stomach, she continued.
"I saw it. I me—an , that it, eeehm, was…, breathtaking. I mean IS. Amazing. The fire, flame."
Her eyes sparkled with unease, determination, timidity. A plethora of unspoken emotions conveyed in her glazed eyes.
The raven-head, Sasuke, narrowed his own eyes. Wariness, distrust, a bit of amazement reflected in them. A lack of knowledge on what to do.
That was how seconds turned to minutes till they ended up standing for whole 5 minutes staring at each other, not certain what to say anymore.
Then, when Sakura was on the verge of giving up any kind of response, he spoke.
"Go away. I don't want distractions." The words harsh, yet they held no sharpness, no venom, she could say that they were spoken with some softness. The only heat was held in his eyes, expression, tense posture. Like a reprimand heard all too many times, only repeated to someone else—her. That didn't make the statement any less genuine, it was easy to see how he meant every word.
Leaving her looking for her own words.
Sasuke, the boy, turned away, up to the exit. She remained there, planted onto the spot.
All the words, all the carefully selected descriptions, her confidence which made her speak up to a complete stranger before, died out at the hand of this social interaction. Maybe because of the lack of zeal, previously helping her argue with a police officer or the current situation of the classroom. Maybe everything, or some other reason.
Needless to say…
She truly didn't know what to say.