The Promise of Spring

Summary: Sakura could hear the song of her ancestors, rising in her blood. It was a promise handed down from one generation to another, from mother to daughter. The ghosts of the past would whisper in her ear a little secret: "This time, my dear child, you shall be free."

The Haruno Clan is matriarchal, and Sakura is its only heiress. No mother would allow her children to tie themselves down; and while Mebuki would perhaps never understand, Sakura had her Clan's past to rely on.

Better late than never, after all.

Author's Note: hahaha hello here i am again. canon sakura has always been a personal frustration of mine, and I hope i can do her justice. This is my take on what she is, and what she could have been. enjoy! (also it's been years since i last wrote, idk if im even going to continue the other three. this though? this fic's close to my heart, and i rlly aim to finish it.)

Chapter 1: One Step, and the World Shifts

She stares at the sky, and from her viewpoint, it was as if she was at the top of the world. This world - her world - is almost silent. From here, she could hear the rustle of the leaves, the buzzing of the cicadas, and the whirl of the wind at her hair. For a moment, without the sound of her teammates arguing, she felt she could breathe, and just be Sakura.

"Well, it looks as if the only girl on the team climbed the tree first," Startled, Sakura turns her head to look at their sensei from above. Kakashi looks back at her with his (Sakura is starting to notice as his signature look) eye-smile, and looks back at her two teammates.

Naruto pouts, his own sulky, childish self as usual, and this is something Sakura is slowly becoming accustomed to - in the sense that she would have to deal with his personality probably for the rest of their careers as ninja. With her admittedly booksmart knowledge, she now knew that genin teams, no matter promotion or transfer, would always be inexplicably tied together. This doesn't mean she has to happily accept her circumstances, though - nor does this mean she has to get along with him, and be tolerant of his annoying energy.

Sasuke's harsh glare, though, this is something that still stuns Sakura, even with weeks of being together as teammates. Who knew that her ultimate-crush-forever would turn this look at her, more than once? Certainly not her. It's not as if Sakura didn't have a crush on him during their academy days, and didn't act like this back then, so she really has to wonder why it seems as if her Sasuke-kun was treating her like this. She honestly thought that being his teammate would finally be her first step to being his future girlfriend, and yet here they are. Nothing has changed.

"Good job, Sakura." Kakashi eye-smiles at her again, and for the first time that day, without Sasuke being the reason anyway, Sakura feels just a little bit shy and pleased, a warm feeling spreading throughout her stomach. After all, it was the first time during training that she was able to finish even before Sasuke.

Kakashi turns to look at her teammates, and Sakura just has this gut feeling that she has to be the one to watch out for what he'd say. Really, their sensei picked on them for his own entertainment, and he loved annoying them the most. From being late to every single training back home, to disappearing while they were training, Sakura is sure he does these just because he wants to.

"It looks as if our very own kunoichi is better than both the avenger and the future Hokage." Kakashi shrugs, and looks almost pleased. "Keep up, boys."

Sakura freezes, feeling the cold spread throughout her body.

Stupid sensei, Sakura thinks as she slowly tries to avoid her teammate's gazes (glares). Sasuke, maybe she would have expected, but Naruto too?

"I'm sure Sasuke-kun will do even better!" Sakura consoles, and feels her stomach clench as she sees that her ultimate crush turns even darker in anger. Naruto, on the other hand, looks even more sulky than usual, as he crosses his arms like a petulant child. For a moment, Sakura feels pity. "Naruto, too."

On one hand, Sasuke ignores her, and focuses on his own tree. He seems deep in thought, and a few seconds later, runs toward the trunk again. Naruto, on the other hand, grins at her brightly, and rushes toward his own tree.

Seeing that both of her teammates were busy, Sakura slowly descends from the top branch, as she keeps in mind to not trip on any misshapen part of the tree. Weirdly enough, if she were to base it on her teammates' progress anyway, walking on her tree felt natural, and she was at ease. She didn't have to keep in mind how she distributed her chakra, not really. It was as if her chakra already knew what to do.

Sakura's feet touch the ground, as she leisurely walks back to their sensei. The wind was slightly cold in the Land of Waves, a pleasant change from the ever-present warmth in Konoha. The air felt fresh though, just like home, and for a second Sakura misses her mother and the smell of her flowery perfume in the kitchen. At least, Sakura comforts herself.We'll be back home soon enough.

She looks at their sensei, and there he goes again, reading his small book. Sakura remembers the moment her mother caught her father reading the same book, and though he had tried to plead that he was just curious of what was written inside, her mother had grabbed it and made a show of burning it in front of him. Her father had cried comical tears. Sakura breathes in, It'll be alright, I'll see them in a few weeks, at the latest.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura calls out to him. He hums, idly turning another page in his book. "What should I do next?"

"Well," Kakashi starts, as his eyes move across the page. "Since you've mastered the tree climbing exercise, it wouldn't hurt for you to go and guard Tazuna in the meantime, while the boys are training."

Sakura hums for a few seconds. She had wanted to explore the place ever since they've arrived, as she hasn't traveled outside of Konoha in a while, and it would be a bit more safe for Tazuna to have someone guard him, even with the fact that Zabuza would be paralyzed for the meantime. As she was about to say yes, however, a little voice in her head whispered. Why don't you ask for more training?

She hesitates, but there is a force within her pushing her to agree, and it's a melting pot of mixed emotions threatening to burst over (because no, she didn't want to overtake her teammates, did she?).

But -

"Actually, sensei," Kakashi glances at her, and raises one brow. Suddenly, Sakura feels just a bit more nervous, and she does not know why. She bites her lip. "I was thinking if I could get some training done instead?"

She rubs her hands together, just a bit. It really was cold. "Maybe there's something more I could do?"

Kakashi closes his book softly, and pockets it away. "Since you've done well today, I could guide you to do a more advanced technique."

"Really?" Sakura lets out a breath, she noticed now that her hands were shaking. She was just probably cold.

Kakashi stares at her, a questioning look in his eyes. "Yes, really." He starts walking away from Sasuke and Naruto's trees, and Sakura hurriedly walks beside him, trying to match his pace. "In fact, I could teach you for a bit while guarding Tazuna."

"I don't need to remind you to go back to the house by sundown!" Kakashi calls out to the boys behind them. Naruto shouts back, and Sakura takes it as the answer for both of her teammates.

"Okay," Sakura skips, and breathes a little easier. Although Sakura misses her home, the scent of the flowers that surrounded them steadied her heart. "Thanks, sensei."

Kakashi ruffles her hair, and as Sakura glances at him, she sees his eye smile. Sakura huffs, annoyed, but also feeling warm, as she carefully fixes her hair back in place. It would not do for her to look unsightly, especially in public. Her mother would be horrified, and she would definitely be disappointed. Disappointment was the last thing Sakura would want her mother to feel.

Sakura presses away the non-existent wrinkles on her qipao, and she straightens her back while walking. She raises her head.

It was going to be a good day, she would ensure it.

It wasn't going to be a good day, she could already feel it.

Sakura stares as her sensei leads her towards an area near the bridge being built, where the seawater was more shallow. Kakashi idly raises his hand at someone at the bridge, and as Sakura squints her eyes, she can see that it was Tazuna waving at them. She waves back.

Kakashi goes near the water, and while Sakura does feel nervous of what this could mean for her, she is also curious, and walks near him. He steps on the water and she expects him to continue into the water.

He is still stepping on the water.

With both feet.

Sakura's eyes widen. What the actual fuck?

"This is what you're going to do."

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