A/N: Hey, Sira-chan here. For the readers of my other fanfic, Howl to the Crescent Moon. I sincerely apologize from the deepest root of my soul, but don't think that I have given up on that story or lost motivation because I have not. It's just that that story has caused me great headache and writer's block so I am taking a break from that. Oh, I would also be sure of a 98.7% chance of the first two chapters being revised due to so long inactivity and trying to restore that fanfic to normal health. Again, I apologize. I hope you can forgive me.
Oh, and on a side note the dialogue for the parts that will be from the canon will be completely thought up or rephrased due to the fact that I don't know every word or sentence that has been spoken in each episode of Naruto. (There's a few out there who can.) This statement may be completely irrelevant but hey I had to put something in the A/N that didn't make me sound like Ritsu from Fruits Basket.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR THE CHARACTERS WITHIN. DUE TO THIS BEING FAN MADE, I DO NOT GET MONEY FOR THIS AT ALL. OH, AND IF I DID OWN NARUTO...*_* WELL*evil smirk*
So please review. No seriously, reviews are welcome! I welcome them with open arms. Wide open arms… I should stop now, ne?
~Siralia. VO_OV
Prologue: First Day
Sakura sat on the edge of a table, waiting with the rest of her teammates for their unexplainably late sensei. She released a loud sigh, earning a dark glance from the Uchiha. Blush rushed to her cheeks as they met eyes for a moment, which much to Sakura's dismay, was disturbed by the ruffling sounds near the entrance of the class door.
"Naruto-baka, what are you doing?" No reply came from the bright orange boy as he barely balanced himself on a chair, wedging an eraser at the top of the door.
"This is for our sensei who is," Naruto paused, glancing up at the clock, "THREE HOURS LATE!"
"Do you really think that our sensei, who is a jonin, is going to fall for that?" Sasuke scoffed. Sakura just nodded in reply.
"Shh, he's on his way now!" Naruto waved his hand at the duo behind him. As soon as the blonde said that, the door creaked open and they all leaned forward to see if their anonymous sensei would fall for the academy trick.
He did.
The tall gray haired man looked at the three students in the classroom, with hate glinting in his single eye. "My first impression of you guys is… I don't like you. Yet, we still have time for introductions. Meet me on the roof." With that he left with a loud poof, leaving behind his new wide-eyed students.
The three children sat in a semi circle, Sasuke in the middle, Sakura off to his right and Naruto to his left. "Okay, now for introductions." Kakashi said, crouching before his students.
"Umm, sensei, could you introduce yourself first so we know what to do?"
"Sure, I don't see why not. Umm… My name is Hatake Kakashi. My hobbies…well… My likes, I find no reason to tell you three. As for my dislikes, those aren't your business either. That's all."
"We didn't learn anything but his name." Naruto thought out loud. Kakashi ignored that comment as he pointed at the orange clad boy. "What about you, Orange-y?"
Naruto growled at his sensei. "Orange-y? Anyway, my name is Uzamaki Naruto. My hobbies are eating ramen hanging out at Ichiraku's with Iruka-sensei."
Sakura looked up at Naruto. Iruka-sensei? Why him?
Have you forgotten, baka? He's an orphan. Remember the ANBU guards we saw following him a couple years back?
Oh yeah… Sakura snapped out of her mental conversation when Naruto started yelling about being Hokage and 'dattebeyo! The pinkette rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile at her teammate. Their sensei must have felt the same as she noticed a small movement of his mask which might have been a smile. Might have.
"Next," said the silver haired man as he pointed at the Uchiha, "Dark and broody." A glare was directed at the older man to whom he replied with an eye smile. Sakura couldn't help but giggle a bit and it didn't go unnoticed. Sasuke turned to glare at the pinkette, which made her giggle more.
Satisfied once she had stopped laughing, he turned to 'introduce' himself. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. My hobbies are few and far besides training. My likes are very little and my dislikes are too much to count. My dream, no, ambition is to surpass my brother and take the seat of heir right from under him." He leaned back; a smirk dressed his otherwise blank face.
Cute but cocky, aren't we now?
Inner…
What you have to admit he does have a branch up his ass.
Inner!
Okay, a stick.
INNER!
Fine…a twig.
...
What? Sakura shoved Inner to a deep part of her mind, hoping to be rid of her for a while.
"Uh-huh… Well then, Pastel, your turn." Kakashi said turning to the only female of the team. Sakura heard Sasuke chuckle under his breath at the nickname. And I can't laugh at him? Hypocrite. Surprising herself at the sudden thought, she turned to apologize to the Uchiha but was interrupted by a cough from the one-eyed male.
"Uh, my name is Haruno Sakura. My hobbies consist of studying and sewing. My likes…um… I like the color red, sunsets and… My dislikes," Sakura paused, thinking of what irked her nerves, "I really don't know what they are. My dream…my dream…is…" What did Sakura really want? Why was she hesitating about her dream with the Uchiha? Was there something else?
"I don't think I know what my dream is." She answered, her hands slapped over her mouth. Why didn't she know? Sasuke scoffed at the pinkette, lifting his head a little.
Ooh, he is so handsome but that attitude of his is getting on my last nerve.
Didn't I put you away?
Yeah, you did. That's not important though. Look at how he's looking at us. Look at that condescending smirk. Don't you see…
Yes, I do… Sakura's hands which now rested on her leg balled up into fists, knuckles turning white. Pulling herself out of her thoughts, she looked up at her three teammates. "That doesn't mean I won't find it."
Naruto looked confused and scratched the back of his head. Kakashi smiled while Sasuke's eyes narrowed, his smirk disappearing from his face.
"Well, I don't see why you have to make such a big deal of our daughter's graduation from the academy." Her father said.
"Well, I don't understand why you don't see the dangers she about to put herself through. She wasn't made to be a ninja, Kizashi." Her mother yelled back. "Don't you see? I mean look at her, seriously look at her and you'll see what I mean."
Kizashi did nothing but stare at his wife, knowing deep down that she was right. Their little girl, Sakura, had just stepped into the life of death and sadness. Her innocence driven, forced away from her before she had the chance to enjoy her childhood but that didn't mean that they had a say so anymore, she made her decision and he was fine with that.
"It was her choice. What can we do about that?"
"Her choice? She will end up dying if she continues down this path."
"My hands are tied, Mebuki. Let the girl alone."
"Fine, but you'll see that I am right. She's wasn't made a ninja. She's too weak."
Kizashi punched the wall next to him, growling under his breath. "If you don't remember anything, I am also a ninja and so were my father and my grandfather and so on. If my-our- daughter wants to be a ninja. Then damn it let the girl go." Mebuki stared wide-eyed at her husband, until her eyes fell on the little twelve year old that stood in the hallway, tears streaming down her porcelain face.
"Sakura…" Mebuki breathed. Said girl rushed past her parents and into the open night, ignorant to the calls of her name.
Why? Sakura couldn't believe her own ears. Her mother had completely destroyed her. She'd rather take the taunting from the kids at the academy than to hear her own mother call her weak. It hurt too much. Then again though, it didn't take much to see that her mother was right. Her time spent at the Academy was for naught because of her 'love' for the Uchiha prodigy, all the time that she could of used for training was clouded over by her fangirling with the other few female friends she had.
But she could change that. She could become one of the strongest kunoichi, no, shinobi out there. She could prove her mother wrong and make her father proud, make herself proud.
Now we're talking…it's about time if I do say so.
Well, look who decides to show up.
Oh come on. Don't try to give me a hard time just because I said something.
Well, it would be nice when you do appear, to say something useful.
Fine, just remember I am in your head and we share this body so if you talking of getting stronger well…
Inner couldn't have been more right.
Sakura slipped into the house later that night, as silent as her footsteps would allow her and snuck up the stairs of her small civilian house to her bedroom. On the way, she passed her parents' bedroom where the door was left ajar. Being the little curious cat that she was, she poked her head in to see her mother occupying the king size bed. Lucky for Sakura, civilians tended to sleep heavier than ninjas but her mother was a completely different story.
You could bring Naruto in here and have him scream at the top of his lungs while banging pots and pans and she wouldn't wake.
That's exaggerating a bit.
A bit, ne?
Sakura rolled her eyes at her Inner before proceeding back on the short trek to her room, until a voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Sakura?" She slowly turned around to come face to face with her father. "Sakura!"
"H-hey father…" Sakura pulled a Naruto and sheepishly scratched the back of her head.
"I'm glad you are okay. Don't you know how worried your mother and I were?"
"Sorry… I just needed to get out." Sakura replied. Kizashi gave his daughter a small smile.
"I have a question to ask you?"
"What?"
Her father seemed to hesitate for a moment. "Do you really want to be a ninja?"
Sakura's eyes widen. "You too?"
"NO! I guess… what I'm trying to say is… do you know what you're getting yourself into?" he said, trying to formulate the question better.
"Of course. I have to protect the village with my life. That's what a ninja does."
Kizashi's smile grew wider. "What else?"
"Well, I have to get stronger…a ninja does train as well."
"Yes, but what is important to you, Sakura?" This stumped her.
What is important to me? What does he mean? Kizashi watched his daughter mull over the question and shook his head. "It's not something that has to be answered right away. My father asked me the same question and took me years to figure out the answer. You just need to find out for yourself."
"Oh." Sakura said a little confused. Kizashi suddenly shot up, rushing down the hall. Some rustling sounds and a loud bang later, he emerged out of a room, his clothing covered in a faint layer of dust. "Father, what are…?" Kizashi silenced his daughter with a shake of his head.
"I want to give you something that has been in our clan for generations." He held out a metal staff with both hands, struggle of holding it evident in his face. The staff itself was beautiful, having a gold engraving of the Haruno clan name and symbol on either side of the name. The circle was the signature red, a contrast on the black color of the metal staff. Sakura reached for it, once the staff was in her hands she fell to her knees due to the weight of it.
"It's heavy! What am I supposed to do with this?" Sakura exclaimed, while trying, but failing horribly, to lift herself with the staff off the ground. Kizashi tried with all his might to hold his laughter in but a few chuckles escaped. Once, he pulled himself together he began to tell Sakura the story behind the staff.
"It belonged to my grandmother, Natsuko. She was the only one that could ever lift this weapon and when she had this in her grasp, watch out, she was lethal." Kizashi smiled at the memory of seeing his her train with other clan members despite her age.
"So Nan was…a ninja?" Sakura asked, letting go of the staff and straightening herself, eyes sparkling with the oncoming story that she loved to hear from her father.
"Yes, she was, one of the first of our clan to become ninja. My father used to tell me of how she was unchallenged in the levels of intelligence and chakra control. In fact, she controlled chakra so well the she surpassed the level of chakra control that the head of the Hyuuga clan had at the age of thirteen." Sakura eyes widen. "Yeah, she was really amazing. It was her chakra along with her strength, which helped her use the Haruno clan staff and no one ever since Granny Natsuko could use it."
"Until now…" Sakura trailed off.
"You got it! Iruka told me about how you were at the academy and I saw your test scores. You're even able to learn and cast genjutsu if you wanted to. Sakura, you have the perfect chakra control that Granny Natsuko had, you just need to harness it right." Her father replied, his blue eyes shining with happiness.
A/N: Umm… so this is the prologue. I seriously like how this came out. I do apologize for the prologue being a tad short but I do promise longer chapters.
~Siralia.
