The first time sakura met her she was six years old.
She sat crying under a tree. The sun was just starting it's decent from the sky as a group of other young academy students came up to her. They began with the insults and they slowly got worse, to the point that she knew, just like all the times before, they'd switch from verbal to physical attacks. As the first kid began to move into a range were they could strike out Sakura curled into herself and braced for what was to come.
It never did.
"You're academy students, you dream to become shinobi any yet these are the actions you take? Ganging up against a comrade. It's disgraceful. Now, get out of here, and for those from shinobi families, your parents will hear about this." Sakura heard the other kids leave and looked up through her bangs at the woman who had spoken. She had long brown hair and silver eyes, and a leaf forehead protector was tied around her upper left arm. She kneeled in front of Sakura and asked if she was okay.
Sakura trembled for a moment before beginning to sob. The woman hesitantly took the child into her arms and the tears soaked into the Jounin jacket she was wearing. After awhile the tears stopped and the young girls hiccups faded. She backed out of the woman's arms and swiped her long sleeves over her eyes, causing her nose-length bangs to stick out awkwardly in some places.
"I-i'm sorry, kunoichi san," she says, avoiding the woman's eyes.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, you couldn't of done anything against that group; besides, it's my job as a leaf shinobi to save cute little kids like you." She ruffled the child's hair. "My name is belladonna. What's yours?"
"S-sakura Haruno, Belladonna San." The woman smiled.
"Now that we have introductions out of the way, Sakura Chan, can you explain the situation between you and the other students?" she inquired. Sakura nodded and told the woman everything. How the insults about her appearance were there from the beginning, first about her large forehead and pink hair, then every aspect of her body. Then they started insulting her family, which made her really mad and lash out. That's when they said that she'd never be a good shinobi, and they started attacking her physically. Sakura began to cry again. "I wish I had a clan," She told belladonna. "I can't train, I'm not strong, all I'm good at is reading." Belladonna shushed the girl and pulled a cloth from one of her pouches to wipe the girls tears.
"You're still a child, and a young one at that, Sakura. You don't need to train or be strong. For one thing, training strength at your age is dangerous for your health. Without proper chakra exercise it could stunt your growth and make it harder for you in the future. Secondly, you have years to learn, you should enjoy your childhood."
"But I want to train! I want to be a strong ninja! I want to be able to tell the other kids off and make them leave like you did!" for the first time, Sakura looked into the woman's silver eyes. Even through the girls bangs, Belladonna could see her vibrant emerald eyes that were shining with frustration and determination. The woman smiled.
"Alright, stand up."
"huh?" Sakura was confused.
"You want to start working towards becoming a kunoichi now?" Sakura nodded. "then I'll show you something you can do. Stand up." Sakura's eyes widened for a moment before she frantically stood, facing the woman. "As a future kunoichi, you need every advantage you can get. One of our biggest advantages is a flexibility." The woman pulled her leg back and up to her head while she remained standing perfectly straight. She then took Sakura through several sets of stretches, each working different sections of her body. "We also need endurance." She stated. "so, when you get up, I want you to get up, do those stretches I showed you, and run to the academy and then do a lap around it."
Sakura nodded eagerly, happy to have someone who wants to help her. Belladonna was happy to help. She rarely saw such devotion in young kunoichi these days; she hasn't since the war, and then they did it mainly to survive.
Belladonna paused for a moment, thinking back to something Sakura said earlier. She reached into the pouch on her thigh and pulled out a blank tag, then got a pen from one on her flak jacket. She quickly scribbled across it and handed it to Sakura.
"Since you said you were good at it, here's some material to study and a way to contact me. Now, head home, it's getting dark and we wouldn't want you parents to worry."
Sakura grinned. "Hai, Belladonna san." And ran off.
Belladonna smiled after her, then began to walk to the academy and hokage tower. She had parents to contact, teachers to talk to, and what would most likely be a lot of paperwork to deal with.
The second time sakura had met her was two months later.
Sakura was home alone, as usual. Her dad was out of the village on another trip, he was a merchant, so these trips were long and happened often. Her mother was a writer and a painter. She never knew when she would be home, nor when she would leave. Sometimes she went on long trips too.
Sakura sighed. She wished that they were home more, she never really saw them.
Sakura's parents always paid someone to look after her, but whoever it was this time wouldn't be here until 5, and it was only ten. It was a Sunday so sakura decided to sit in her room and read.
Belladonna's letter had seven books on it.
- Basic Chakra Theory for Developing Shinobi
- The Art of Genjutsu
- The History of Konoha
- The Five Great Shinobi Villages
- The Basics of Stamina Training
- Basic Traps and How To Use Them
- Spirit of a Shinobi
The last one came with a note:
I read this when I first became a genin, I was only slightly older than you are now (we were in a time of war) and it remains my favorite collection of poetry. I thought you my enjoy it.
Under that one more piece of information was scrawled.
Never try to train without someone with you, with your age and inexperience it could be disastrous. If you ever need me you can contact me by pulsing your chakra into the sign at the bottom of the tag. Only use it in an emergency.
~Belladonna
Sakura had read 3 of the books for studying and the poetry book twice in the two months since that day.
As the hours passed sakura eventually heard a knock at the door. Sakura's heart dropped when she saw who it was.
The woman standing at the door had watched over sakura a few times, and those days were always a living hell. The insults she sent at sakura were a thousand times worse than anything the academy students could come up with and just seeing her sent sakura spiraling into a pit of gloom and self hate.
The woman smiled at her. "aren't you going to let me in, sakura chan?" she asked sweetly.
Sakura nodded robotically, stepping to the side. As the door closed sakura felt a sharp sting as a slapping sound rang out and sakura fell to the floor.
"How dare you keep me waiting so long you on silent brat. Go to your room. NOW."
Sakura ran up the stairs as fast as she could as tears cascaded down her cheeks, blurring her vision. The woman was always like this, but at least she wasn't drinking, the woman was a violent drunk.
Sakura collapsed on her bed crying, her parents would be gone at least a month, how could she deal with this for that long?
Sakura had been in her room far at least twenty four hours as she was called downstairs. The house was dim , and the sun was minutes from setting completely.
As sakura walked into the room the voice had called her from she was hit with the unmistakable stench of alcohol. She wanted to run right then and there but she couldn't move. Suddenly a laugh was heard and sakura was kicked into a wall.
This had happened once before. Her parents were only gone for a week that time, and when they got back the woman told them she had fallen down the stairs. Sakura didn't dispute her claim, she was too scared too.
The woman approached sakura and yanked her up by her shirt. Last time she had stood there and taken it.
She wouldn't this time.
Sakura lashed her foot forward, kicking the woman in her knee, making her let go.
Sakura then sprinted up the stairs, locking her self in her room. She heard the woman curse before beginning to ascend the stairs. Sakura began to panic, what could she do now?
The woman began to pound on the locked door as sakura looked around frantically. Her eyes then settled on the tag on her desk.
If you ever need me you can contact me by pulsing your chakra into the sign at the bottom of the tag. Only use it in an emergency.
Emergency.
Sakura pulsed her chakra into the tag, before feeling a slight tug as everything went white.