I hope you guys enjoy chapter 1 of CoS!
"Sakura, my love, please listen to me. You are so precious to your mother and father. We love you so much, Sakura. We love you." Tears streamed down her mother's face as she caressed her daughter's cheeks. She wiggled her index finger against Sakura's tiny infant hand where the pinkette responded with a light squeeze. A soft giggle escaped the baby's mouth causing her mother to fight back a frown. "I wish I could watch you blossom into a beautiful young woman and be there for you when you're at your lowest. I'm sorry we couldn't spend more time with you, but please, don't hate us. We're doing this to protect you."
Her mother gazed down at her baby with endearing eyes. Sorrow washed over her being, as she knew this moment would not last forever. Explosions could be heard from outside the stone walls and orange light raged through the arch windows. The land below her was set ablaze and there wasn't an inch of land without. The battle was getting worse and she knew time was running out. "I want you to grow to be diligent, not impulsive and courageous, not conceited. Love others with the willingness to give, and treat them with the respect you deserve. Never be-"
"Mebuki! Mebuki, where are you?" A woman with blonde hair slammed open the wooden doors to find her best friend cuddled with her baby. "Mebuki! The castle has just been infiltrated! Come on, we need to get you out of here before-"
"Tsunade, please do me a big favor and take Sakura to Earth. I know I've troubled you so much, but this is my last request." Mebuki handed the baby to her friend who stared in shock.
"Wait, what? N-no, Kizashi told me to take you too, so we need to hurry and-" Tsunade grabbed onto her friend's hand, but halted when she felt resistance. Panic began to show on the blonde woman's face as she begged. "Mebuki, please...come with me. We don't have time to stall. The Akatsuki will be here any minute-"
Instead of complying, she shook her head. Tsunade's heart sank as she watched her childhood friend turn her back. She crossed her hands and looked out the window to the destruction of their once beautiful kingdom, Samada. "I pledged an oath when I became queen. Many witnessed that day," Mebuki turned and gave Tsunade a reassuring smile. ,"You were one of them."
Tsunade stared at the queen with hopelessness in her eyes. Her biggest fear was coming true. "Hey-please listen…" Drained and helpless, this was her last chance to convince Mebuki to leave with her. She wasn't going to let the only person she trusted to die. "Sakura needs you, okay? I've talked to a few of my superiors back at Konoha, and they've agreed to keep this a secret. We have a safe house where you can stay in. No one will know. You don't have to worry and everything will be okay."
"I'm sorry Tsunade, I've made up my mind. I will stay and die with my husband and people. This is my duty as Queen of Samada. I cannot abandon it."
"Mebuki…" Tears began to fall. She didn't know what to say. Mebuki was as stubborn as herself, so she knew the seriousness in her voice. How did everything turn out this way? How did it become such a mess? "What about Sakura? When she grows up, her demon powers will awaken. She will be in danger and even I can't protect her from those people."
"As she grows, you will tell her general information. No one must know she is a princess let alone a demon. I do not wish to place this heavy burden upon her. I want her to live freely."
Tsunade opened her mouth then closed it. She didn't know what to say. She could only comply to her friends request. Wiping the tears from her cheeks, the busty woman internally scolded herself to get it together. This was no time to cry and get emotional. She needed to stay strong for Mebuki.
"As for her powers," Mebuki pulled out a chest that lay hidden under the bed. Snapping the heavy locks open, she pulled out a metal sword. The weapon had intricate inscriptions alongside the blade and a detailed carving of a cherry blossom tree that made the hilt. The roots of the tree separated in half to form the guard, the trunk was the hilt and the dozens of carved blossoms were stationed at the pommel. "This sword was passed down for generations. It only responds to the heir of the throne, which will be her. With this sword, will she be most powerful and in control. Sakura will learn to control it the older she gets. Tsunade, you will be the one to teach her everything she needs to know."
The queen hands the sword to the busty woman and gazes one last time at her 8 month old daughter who's sleeping soundly against Tsunade's chest. She was a beauty. Pastel pink hair, bright green eyes and rosy cheeks complemented the small child. She was a bundle of sunshine with the appearance of an angel. How could anyone want to hurt someone so gentle and innocent? Even so, Mebuki knew the consequences of being a demon at this time. They were feared and hated by others, so it wasn't safe.
"As she grows, there will be people who talk lowly of us demons. I wish for her to know that we are not monsters nor killers. We love and bleed just like everyone else. I hope she's never ashamed of who she is. Just because a few rogue demons tainted our stature, they are not the reflection of every demon."
"Mebuki…" Tsunade sighed. "Please-"
"That's enough." She pushed her friend to the door. "Hurry, I can hear the Akatsuki. Go before they find you."
The two women exchanged their last farewell and parted ways. Tsunade made it out of the castle in minutes, avoiding the rebels from ever catching her and Sakura. When the blonde woman made it a few miles away from the castle, she held back tears that desperately wanted to escape, but she held it together.
"Tsunade, you better not cry." She scolded herself. "Be strong for Mebuki and the baby."
She made it into a thick forest. Sakura still lay sound asleep in her arms as the woman jumped from tree to tree. Tsunade was impressed that she managed to stay sound asleep through a war. Her soft breathing could be heard for those who really listened, and the pinkettes face buried into the busty woman's silk robe as she slept. Wishing to protect the little one from the truth about this cruel real world, that dream seemed too far to reach.
After an hour of traveling through thick brush, she finally reached a blue seal that lay on the ground, carefully hidden behind leaves and trees. Hovering her hand above the seal, she closed her eyes to concentrate. A ray of blue light emitted off the seal forming a giant black hole large enough for her to walk through. Entering the portal, the space around her seemed to move at lightning speed. In minutes, a white light was seen on the other side.
"Alright Sakura," She gazed down to the princess. "Welcome to your new home." The black space began to fade from view, and she was immediately transported to her livingroom.
"Tsunade!" Turning to the familiar voice, she spotted a spiky blonde haired man run towards her. "You're back."
"Minato," She sighed in relief. "Where are the others?"
He scratched his head. "Well, they were summoned by the senate just a few hours ago. You've been gone for a while. How'd it go?" Blue eyes maneuvered around Tsunade, as if in search of something. "...where's the queen?"
Tsunade stared at the floor. "I couldn't save her…" The room grew silent. Minato knew how important Mebuki was to Tsunade. He has heard amazing stories about the two and their adventures when they were young. It was hard to lose a friend, but harder to lose someone that was like family.
"I'm sorry, Tsunade."
She gave him a reassuring smile. "It's alright. I managed to save this little one though." Turning, she revealed a sleeping Sakura in her arms. Minato immediately shot to her side and stared at the pink beauty. His eyes beamed at her.
"Wow, she's cute! How old?"
"Only 8 months, I believe."
"Ah, she's 7 months older than my boy!"
Remembering, Kushina had given birth to their son just last month. It was a big celebration and feat for the prideful new father. Minato was so in love with the child that he boasted about him everyday. "Naruto, was it? How's he?"
"Good, Kushina's been busy with him and hasn't had a wake of sleep." He laughs nervously. Minato had been so busy with being a general that he hadn't had time with his newborn. He was a good and loving father. Naruto was his current priority even if being a general meant less time spent with his son. "That's great, huh? These two will be in the same grade. I hope they become great friends."
Tsunade smiled. She was a little hopeful for this little girl's future. Naruto was the split image of Minato, so she was confident Sakura would find comfort in someone like Naruto.
"What's her name?"
"Sakura. She's my adopted daughter and doesn't have a last name. If anyone finds out about her relationship to the Haruno's, she'll be in danger." Only a few trusted people knew about Sakura's existence. Even with strict orders from the senate to disengage any involvement in the war between the Akatsuki and Samada Kingdom, Tsunade was quick to disregard those orders. She discussed this risky secret to a few of her closest colleagues, so she could travel to Samada without the senate knowing. Everyone worked together to make sure the higher ups wouldn't find out. One of those few was Minato. "From today onward, she'll be my responsibility. Her mother's last wish was to train and guide her like a mother would to her daughter. I'm going to love her like my own."
The blond general grinned at his friend's newfound responsibility as a mother. He ensured her that he'd support her in anyway he could and that Kushina would gladly help as well. "Speaking of Sakura, she's a demon. How're you going to go about that?"
"No one can know. If she's made present, I don't know what the senate will do, and I don't want to know. However, Sakura will grow up knowing about her demon blood."
"Whoa, do you think that's a good idea? What if she accidentally reveals herself?"
Tsunade bit her lip and thought hard about what Mebuki had said. She was afraid Sakura may grow tired of people's opinions about demons. If that's the case, she would have to handle that when the times comes. "I already promised Mebuki. If that matter ever arises, I'll figure something out."
Minato didn't respond to her answer but just nodded. Tsunade was a strong woman with many close relations to many powerful people. He had confidence that she would protect the little girl in any way possible.
"Well, I'm off Tsunade. I'll update the others about Sakura." Heading to the door, Minato turned one last time to look at his friend. "Oh, if you're free, I want Naruto and Sakura to have a play date. Ja!"
A smile played across her lips. She was relieved to know this child of spring would have her first friend. Tsunade kept Minato's offer in mind, and by the following week, the two met. The meeting started twice a month to 3 times a week. Soon, this flourished into a relationship Sakura would cherish for years to come.
There are two things Jiraiya loved in this world, women and booze, but not too long ago, he added another thing to that list. When Kushina gave birth to Naruto, the white haired councilor experienced a new kind of love. A love that brought someone to sacrifice and protect if ever in danger. It was a love that brought someone to want to spoil the hell out of and make sure they weren't tainted with the real darkness this world was surrounded by. If that wasn't enough, Sakura came into the picture a month after. He didn't know why her presence pierced a hole in his heart, but that little girl almost brought him to his knees. He knew of the demon princess prior to her rescue and finally seeing her in the flesh, a flame lit in him. An aching pain tugged at his heart. This little girl was unfortunate to have lost before she could even live, and knowing that, she'd most likely will never know the truth about who and what she was. Because of that, the want to love and protect the princess was stronger than anything he'd felt before.
Jiraiya wouldn't say he's grown soft, but he doesn't roughhouse with Sakura like he does with Naruto. Occasionally, he'd have one sided conversations with the pinkette about boys and...actually that's all he talked about with her.
"Sakura, don't date until you're 30...actually don't date at all. Boy's are animals." Jiraiya said one day at the office as he pulled away from his paperwork to give her a little dose of overprotective-daddy-pep-talk. "They're smelly, don't have an ounce of awareness and perverts."
Sakura was sitting on the couch in the council's lounge area playing with the dolls Mighty Guy gifted her. "Mmmhm." She carelessly nodded, not fully comprehending what was being said to her. No one was available to watch over the green eyed 2 year old, so Tsunade brought her to work. Luckily, Sakura was a well behaved child so she never stirred trouble whenever she was brought to the office. Moreover, the councilors didn't mind a child in the professional work area. They actually found her distracting to the dull life of running Konoha and following orders from whatever the senate sent their way.
"Sakura, hey Sakura. Did you hear me?" Jiraiya said, "No boys okay? They're nasty, dirty minded individuals."
"That's a nice way of describing yourself, Jiraiya." Orochimaru walked into the room wearing a white lab coat with his left hand in his pocket and the right holding a mug of beet juice.
Pervy sage rolled his eyes and grunted, "Oh yeah, stay away from crazies that have bleached skin and drink juices with way more color than their actual complexion."
Orochimaru half grinned. Jiraiya had made an indirect insult to the pale genius who comically tapped his ear and sarcastically remarked, "Huh? I couldn't quite understand you over the loss of brain cells from the amount of bourbon you take with your coffee."
"At least I don't have eyebags the size of the moon." He shot back.
"My eyebags make up for every other chin that rests on your neck."
An obnoxious fit of laughter could be heard coming from Obito's room. "Good one." He shouted through the walls.
"What are you two going on about?" Tsunade appeared at the doorway with a box of scrolls in hand.
"Leaving. I just wanted to see what Sakura was doing." Orochimaru walked past his busty friend and back to his lab.
A suspecting look had her staring at her two colleagues as she made her way to her office. She placed the box down and rested both arms on either sides of her hip. Releasing a breath, she asked, "He didn't give her anything, right?" Jiraiya shook his head and a wave of relief washed over the medic-nin. "Good, I don't want that cynical madman influencing Sakura."
"Don't worry, I would never leave him alone with her!" His nose perked proudly and flashed her a reassuring thumbs up.
Tsunade gave him a deadpan look and walked over to her adopted daughter. "You're one to talk. You're just as bad." Sakura's eyes lit up as she saw the woman approach her. Brushing her silk pink locks into two pigtails, the proud mother pinched her baby's cheeks. A smile formed, displaying her growing teeth.
He protested, "Don't compare me to the walking dead."
"Oh yeah? What's that make you? A new year's resolution?"
Jiraiya pressed his lips together and lowered his head in defeat. Obviously offended, it didn't help that he could hear Obito's laughter in the other room.
Sakura grew into a joyful child as the months passed by. Pastel pink locks grew past her shoulders, and her big bright eyes faded into crystal green. She mesmerized everyone who approached her with a cheerful smile and poise. Sakura found herself loved by all. Mighty Guy would spoiler her with books on the anatomy of the human body, Orochimaru with toys (which Tsunade tossed out immediately) and Iruka with his little field trips to the zoo. Kushina often took care of the little one while Tsunade was busy with her council duties, and when Minato returned from work, he'd always drop Sakura back home. At the tender age of two, Sakura was able to walk and mumble simple words.
"Sakura," Minato said one Sunday morning as he took the two kids out for ice cream. Naruto was still stroller-ridden, so he was too young to eat the creamy dessert. Kushina stressed to Minato about that matter, but the young father thought whatever Kushina doesn't know won't hurt her. Picking Sakura up, he allowed her to stare at the ice cream flavors in front of her. "Which one do you want?"
"Pink!" The little girl pointed to the buckets of ice cream.
Minato stared at the many pink buckets. This shop so happens to color code their flavors which left him staring at the different shades of pink. " You're gonna have to be more specific than that. Which flavor?"
"Berry!"
"Berry, berry...hmm, okay." Scanning the buckets, he tapped his chin. "Which kind? They have strawberry, raspberry, cranberry, goji berry...lingonberry?" his voice got lower as he began to mumble the unfamiliar names. "...tayberry, longan...berry, young berry, salmonberr- what the hell? You know what, I'll have a strawberry for her and a vanilla for the boy." The man nodded and began scooping the frozen treats into a cone.
They moved outside and onto a bench. Sakura sat beside Naruto who was wiggling around the stroller. Minato would occasionally allow his son to lick the cold treat, making sure to avoid stains on his shirt, and Sakura sat idly enjoying her ice cream while kicking her dangling feet back and forth.
"Yo, Minato! How's it going?" Inoichi waved as he was casually strolling down the sidewalk with his daughter in his arms.
"Taking the kids out, you know, fatherly duties." A prideful smile flashed his pearly whites while Sakura giggled at Minato's playful expression.
"Ah, same. It's father, daughter day with me and my Ino." Nuzzling his nose against her cheeks, the blue eyed baby erupted into giggles. "The capital treating you okay?"
Grinning, the spiky blond brushed his thumb past his nose. "It's great. Being a general, they keep me busy with missions, so there's never a dull moment."
"That's good. You know, ever since Hashirama's passing and the war, things have been a little tense."
"Yeah, that's definitely true." Minato sighed. Hashirama was one of Konoha's senators. Known for being the most kind, his philosophy was always to keep the peace and equality between all races. He was one of Minato's mentors and friends, but two years ago, Hashirama had traveled with Madara to Ishigakure to form an alliance between a devilist group that resided there. Things got out of hand to where Madara returned empty handed, bloodied and battered.
"Hashirama was a fool." Minato's eyes flickered to Inoichi who stared at the ground angrily. "Madara had urged Hashirama to not pursue an alliance with those terrorists, but he was too ingenuous to see the evil in those barbaric demons. It's a good thing the Akatsuki managed to destroy the heart of the problem, huh?" Inoichi referred 'the heart of the problem' to Samada kingdom, demon country.
"The war between the Akatsuki and Samada Kingdom had nothing to do with Hashirama's death." Minato corrected him immediately. "Samada and the Akatsuki have had internal conflict for years, so don't praise the Akatsuki on their success in destroying an entire country and its people. The Akatsuki is still a big problem to us."
"Honestly, that doesn't matter because now there won't be any more demons coming to Earth. Without Hashirama's presence in the senate, the senators can take immediate action to ensure no demons can enter into Konoha or even the Land of Fire."
Minato was almost taken aback by Inoichi's comments. His friend was fueled by hate towards Hashirama's death that the remarks being made weren't normal coming out of his mouth. Not only that, the Akatsuki was a non-demon terrorist group that has threatened Konoha multiple times. They revolted against governments and strived for equality amongst all walks of life. "Are you implying that Samada sent demons to Earth to form devilist groups? How do you know the devilists worked alongside Samada? What if they're just an independent group of terrorists like the Akatsuki?"
Inoichi shrugged and scoffed. "What's the difference? Demons, they're all the same."
Silence overrode Minato's expression. Inoichi's ignorant remarks left the cheerful father speechless. Whenever someone mentioned the war, Minato pictured Sakura in his head. The sweet, gentle little girl was nothing Yamanaka described. Sakura was living proof that demons weren't tainted. It infuriated him when someone talked that way. The pinkette was like a daughter to him and no one talks about his daughter that way. NO ONE. Because of their semi-argument, the vanilla ice cream had melted into a puddle beneath his feet.
Shit, now he ruined Naruto's ice cream. Obviously irritated, Minato tossed the cone and began to roll up his sleeve. There were a few reasons why Minato was appointed general. One, he was obviously highly skilled in combat and classified as a child prodigy at age 8. Two, his killer good looks (title personally granted by the man himself). And lastly, his strong willed passion to do what he believed was right. Bullshit wasn't apart of his vocabulary, and he knew it when he heard it.
As the blue eyed bombshell was about to spit some hot fire and school the blond out of his friend's hair, a miniature squeak caught him off guard.
"Unicorn!"
Turning his attention to Sakura, his face paled. Tragically, the child of spring had stuck her ice cream cone against Naruto's forehead, magically turning his son into a unicorn. Ice cream dripped down his son's face and painted Naruto's freshly white clothes pink.
Oh, Shit. "Kushina's gonna kill me." He imagined her lecturing him about feeding Naruto ice cream and also getting his clothes dirty. Without a second to spare, he removed the cone from his son's head, scooped Sakura into his arms and began home.
"Sorry Inoichi, I need to get these kids cleaned before Kushina gets home! Let's talk some other time! Ja!"
Just incase you guys are confused:
-Devilist: A group of demon terrorists
-The Akatsuki: A group of rebels that fight against governments or people of higher power. They are responsible for the genocide of Samada and the Haruno Royal Family.
-Samada: A monarchy; they are a demon country ruled by the Haruno Royal Family. The whole country was destroyed by the Akatsuki.
-Capital: A word that references the senate, council and generals.
-Senator: The highest power; they create laws and control the whole country. (5 members)
-Council: Chosen by the senators, they are second in power. They enforce the laws and are ordered to report any issues to the senate. (5 members)
-Generals: The protectors of Land of Fire. They are sent on various missions by the senate. (5-8 members)
I hope you enjoyed the very first chapter of CoS! Please let me know what you think. Sorry for any typos.
