"The sky is crying today momma. Why?" A small black-haired girl asked sweetly, swishing her umbrella. Her mother stared at the droplets as they danced and then crashed onto the concrete.
"The angels are just sad today." She responded with a small smile, patting her child on the head. The girl frowned at her mother's response and tugged on her mother's pencil skirt.
"Momma who made the angels sad?" The little girl was determined to find out the answer. Her mother sighed and looked down at her adorable daughter. She remembered when she was that young and innocent.
"I'm not sure honey. I'm not sure." The woman mumbled and her eyes dropped to the cracks in the sidewalk. The water ran like rivers in and out of the crumbling walkway and down into the deep gutter. She hated it when it rained. It reminded her of times that were too pleasant that they seemed just like a dream and of course the horrible times. She disliked all of the emotion that the rain stirred within her.
"Sakura Haruno?" A deep voice asked over the phone. Sakura Haruno stuttered an almost inaudible "yes." "I hate to inform you…" She didn't hear anymore. Her life just ended with one phone call. Someone up there in heaven or down there in hell snapped their fingers and everything ended. Everything she was familiar with was gone. Never to come back.
"Momma? Are you going to just stand there and leave us out in the rain?" Sakura Haruno shook away the dreadful memory and was startled by the look in her daughter's black orbs. It reminded her of that person. The one she loved and lost. 'Sasuke…' His name echoed through her mind and a pang hit her heart. Pain shot through it and she leaned against the door post. Her daughter dug around in her mother's purse for the apartment keys and they were cold in her little hands. She stood on her tiptoes and unlocked the door. "Momma, come on get inside." Her daughter's soft pleading voice made Sakura realize where she was.
"I'm sorry darling; I'm just a little ill." She responded following her daughter inside. She shut the door slowly. Sakura slipped off her heels and made her way to the couch. She bypassed all of the pictures hanging on the tan walls and arranged on tall bookshelves. Sakura smiled seeing a picture of her daughter, her and her best friend, Ino Yamanaka. They shared the apartment with her Ino and her boyfriend, Shikamaru Nara. Even though Sakura was a nurse and could afford a place of her own, she didn't want her daughter to grow up without knowing what being in a family felt like. She remembered the day Sarada was born and she had to pick her daughter's name by herself. He wasn't there to help pick it out, like she had always dreamed. Her daughter had beautiful black hair and black eyes, and a mix of both of their personalities. Sakura smiled sadly not believing she was already seven.
Ino's footsteps could be heard padding around upstairs and Sakura fell onto the couch, glad someone was home to cook. She was not in the mood to do so at the moment. Her daughter sat down on her favorite bean bag chair, and pulled something out of her backpack. Sakura squinted and grinned. It was a drawing with Ino's name scribbled on the back in crayon.
"Auntie Ino! Where are you? I have to show you something!" More footsteps were heard and Ino came running down the stairs.
"Yes little one?" She asked playfully, ruffling Sarada's untamable hair. Without fixing it, the little girl handed her auntie a hand-drawn picture.
"Oh wow! It's beautiful sweetie! Look Sakura, it's me and Shika-kun!" The blonde exclaimed, flipping the paper around in order for her friend to see it. Two stick figures, holding hands, did resemble the couple. Ino's platinum blonde hair, electric blue eyes and Shikamaru's pineapple shaped hair and his "this is troublesome" look on his face.
"Oh yes, it is very lovely." Sakura stated, smiling sweetly, trying to hide the melancholy mood. Ino could see the sadness in her eyes though. What were best friends for right?
"Is it raining Sarada?" Ino asked her "niece". Sarada nodded her head, black hair going even more awry. Sakura knew what Ino was getting at. They were going to have to tell the story sooner or later, and it seemed like a perfect time to do it. Sakura turned her head over her shoulder and stared out the window. Rain fell like her tears did back then; they went on for hours, possibly even days.
"Momma, are you missing daddy?" Sarada asked softly, sounding as if she knew she had hit a raw nerve. Sakura sucked in her breath, tears threatening to spill over. Her daughter had seen many pictures of her father but unfortunately never got the chance to get to know him like Sakura did. Sakura turned towards Sarada and Ino, who were squished on the bean bag chair together.
"Yes sweetie, I am. It's hard to believe that if I was sixteen I would have never even dreamt of saying that." Sakura cracked a smile and Ino laughed quietly.
"Guess what Sarada? When your mommy and daddy met, they hated each other." Ino straightened and sat next to Sakura on the couch, grasping the bubble-gum haired woman's hand and squeezing it. Sarada's mouth formed an 'o' in disbelief.
"Really momma? That's so weird!" The little girl giggled and Sakura nodded in agreement.
"It was really weird. I didn't understand it myself. When we got together-" Sakura was interrupted by Ino's palm.
Ino laughed like a silly child and said "we have to start from the beginning Sakura." Sakura retracted her best friend's hand from her mouth and bobbed her head.
"Ok fine," Sakura got situated to where she was looking into Sarada's general direction. Sarada sat up, stars in her eyes. The excitement was clearly unbearable for a seven year old. "It was the summer before junior year," Sakura began, not believing she was reaching back so far into time, "and that was the summer I met the biggest jerk in the world named, Sasuke Uchiha."
Yay! New story! Should I keep going or just stop now? Give me some feedback please =] I actually really like this. I'm not sure where the idea came from. It just happened. I hope you enjoyed it~