AN: Hi! This is h3rshy! I just wanted to thank you if you're reading this. This is my very first story and I would really appreciate it if you would give me any advice. So again, thank you. And please review when you're done!
KEY:
'thoughts' - These are just any thoughts that any character could make, though they're mainly Sakura's
'thoughts' - These are just any thoughts that any demon could make, though they're mainly... someone's. I don't want to spoil the story too much.
"Talking" - Just normal talking
It was March 28. A woman with long pink hair and evergreen eyes was holding a baby in her arms. She had just given birth to the most beautiful child that she has ever seen. The child had a tuft of pink hair on her head. They were the exact same shade as the cherry blossoms blooming right outside the window. Her eyes were like her mother's, except lighter. They were the color of the jewel, emerald. Having just been born, the child's skin was as soft as silk. It was a soft milky color. One flaw, though, was her slightly larger than normal forehead.
"My child is so beautiful…," the woman, Michiko, whispered. Her child opened her eyes and gazed at her mother with curious eyes.
"I don't even have a name for you yet," Michiko said to her. She looked out the window and looked at the blooming cherry blossom trees.
"That's it," she said to no one in particular. "I'll name you Sakura, for the color of your hair. Sakura Haruno… has a ring to it, nee?" She smiled at her child. The newly dubbed Sakura gave her mother a baby smile. She reached up to hold her mother's finger in her small hand.
"Ooh… aren't you adorable?" Michiko cooed. "I could just look at you forever." Sakura let out a small baby giggle.
"I hope your father gets here soon," Michiko whispered to her. "He would absolutely love you."
As soon as she finished that sentence, a man burst into the room. He had burgundy hair and light silver eyes. His eyes were a trademark for his rather small clan. He was wearing the typical jounin outfit, though in Iwagakure, it was all in light and dark browns. His hiatae-ate was on his right arm. This man's name was Yuki. He was originally from Yukigakure, hence the name.
"There she is! The new mother! And where is my baby girl?" he exclaimed. He looked around and came upon the child in his wife's arms.
"Oh, she's adorable! So, what's her name?" he asked her. In his clan, the mother of the newborn child would name them if they were girls. If it was a boy, the father would name them. Michiko placed Sakura in his arms and was fondly watching him cradling his firstborn child.
"Her name's Sakura, dear," she told him.
"Sakura, huh?" he murmured. "It fits. Cherry blossoms in the spring."
"Honey, what's going on outside?" Michiko asked. Right now, Iwagakure was fighting a demon. It was the Gobi no Houkou, the five-tailed demon dog. Yuki was fighting along with every available shinobi and kunoichi.
"The five-tails has taken down the apartment district and the training grounds," he answered. He knew the only option was to seal the demon inside an infant. He was a trusted jounin so the Tsuchikage decided that he could be trusted with this information. The Tsuchikage decided that Yuki's newborn child will be the one to have the burden of being a jinchuuriki and the Tsuchikage himself will be the one to seal it. Yuki was sad to know that his leader would sacrifice his life. He was probably the best Tsuchikage the village has ever had.
"Michiko, I need to take Sakura away for a bit. It won't take long. Just make sure you're ready to leave when we come back," he told her. He and Michiko had decided that they would leave Iwagakure and travel for a bit until Sakura's turned one. Then they would find a village to live in.
"Ok dear," she replied. She got up to walk around the hospital room to gather the things that she had taken out of her traveling bag. She and Yuki were already prepared to leave.
Yuki took Sakura to the battle field and found his leader gazing at the village. He knew that the Tsuchikage was waiting for him.
"I trust you are ready to leave," he said. The Tsuchikage approved of Yuki's plan and has written them an official letter. The Haruno couple could use it to get into the village of their choice to settle down in.
"Hai. We will leave as soon as possible," Yuki said.
"Then let us go. More of the village will get destroyed if this continues." With that, he ran over to where the demon was destroying parts of the training grounds.
Once they got onto the scene, every ninja there saw their leader perform a long set of hand seals and forced one hand onto the demon and the other hand he gently placed onto Sakura's stomach.
There was a flash of light and an incredibly large wave chakra. When the light disappeared, everyone could see the demon being sucked into Sakura's stomach. In a few moments, their leader fell to the ground and Sakura wailed out.
Yuki rushed to Sakura as the other ninjas ran to their fallen leader. They knew what their leader did and respected his silent wishes. They would not shun Sakura if she were to return to her birth home. Everyone knew about the Haruno couple moving. They would be missed by many.
Yuki looked at his child's stomach. Her stomach had the Shishou Fuuin seal that the Yondaime created. The Yondaime had heard that the Houkou was attacking and sent a summon here with information on the seal. Iwa and Konoha had a very delicate alliance.
He brought Sakura to a medic. The medic was more of a nurse, but she could tell if Sakura had any health problems.
"Excuse me," he said. "Do you know if my child has any health problems?"
"Here, let me see your child," she requested. Yuki handed over Sakura and watched with wary eyes. The medic saw this look. "I won't do anything. I respect Tsuchikage-sama's wishes and will not do anything rash." She looked over Sakura for a few moments.
She handed Sakura back over to him and said, "There's nothing wrong with her health. You have a very beautiful child there. Oh, and good luck with your travel."
"Thank you," he said. He walked over to the crowd of ninja where he knew his leader was. He looked at every face. Some had expressions of sadness, guilt, disbelief, and pity. A couple ninja walked up to him and either wished him good luck or to take a look at his child. There were many compliments on how she was adorable and would grow up to be beautiful. Yuki just smiled and thanked them.
He finally got to his leader. The Tsuchikage had died with a smile on his face. Yuki knew that his leader was proud to have died such an honorable death. Yuki paid his wishes and left to go find Michiko.
He found her waiting outside the hospital with a camping bag on her back and several more by her sides. Yuki sighed. Even though Michiko was a civilian, she had a lot of stuff.
"Are you sure we need all of that?" he asked her.
"Of course! I couldn't live if I didn't have some of this!" she exclaimed.
"Michiko, we're going to be traveling around for nearly a year. We can't have this much stuff with us," he reasoned.
"But I need all of this!" she whined.
"Michiko," he started firmly. "We will be traveling for a year. I will not carry your things around."
"Pretty please?" she asked. Yuki knew that she would be making her puppy eyes at him. He looked away. He did not want to succumb to those eyes. They would be his downfall one day. He snuck a peak at her. She was still making those eyes at him. Yuki felt his resolve waver but then he shook his head.
'No! I will not go back! Do you not remember when she did this on our honeymoon? Your back ached for days! Don't give in!'
"No, Michiko. I will not carry your things. We did this on our honeymoon and my back ached for days," he said to her. He was still not looking at her.
"Fine, you sourpuss," she consented. "I won't bring some of this."
"Okay, now let's go. I want to get to a town before nightfall," he said.
"Hai. Let's go. Oh, and I want a nice room if we stay at a hotel, Yuki," she said.
"Okay, okay," he sighed.
So, they set off. They traveled for a couple hours until they reached a town. It wasn't a bad town, but it wasn't extravagant. They stayed the night and left early in the morning. They traveled and visited famous sights. They went to some of the hidden villages. Only a few of them were friendly, like Konoha.
In the blink of an eye, a year came and passed. The couple has decided which village they wanted to stay and raise their child. It was Konoha. Though, just a few months prior, the Kyuubi had attacked Konoha. They would help with some of the reconstruction and make sure no one knew of the Houkou inside of Sakura. Only the people who had to know, will know. They reached Konoha a week after Sakura's first birthday.
Yuki and Michiko had already picked their home. It was a homey 2 storey house. It had three bedrooms. One was their room, one was Sakura's, and the last is the guest room. They left the house and was walking towards the Hokage tower.
"Michiko, we need to see the Hokage," Yuki said. "He needs to know about Sakura." During the one year time span, Yuki had told Michiko about Sakura being a jinchuuriki. At first, she was shocked, then terrified, then she accepted. She was shocked that Sakura had the demon, terrified that it could do something to her precious daughter, and she accepted the fact and grew to love her daughter more.
"Hai. But only he will know. If he wants to tell someone else, he has to ask us first and I need to see if that person is worthy of my daughter," she requested.
"Kami. Michiko, you are so protective of our daughter. You do know that she could choose the path to become a kunoichi, right?" Yuki asked.
"Of course. I won't stop her if that's her wish. But I will still protect her if I can," she said.
"If that's what you want to do, then I won't stop you. But we still need to tell the Hokage," he said and stopped outside the big oak double doors. He knocked firmly three times and waited for an answer. Michiko held Sakura tighter.
"Enter," an elderly voice said. It was old but still held a sense of power to it. Yuki opened one door and stepped in and Michiko followed. The Hokage gestured Yuki to shut the door and he did so. They sat in the chairs opposite the Hokage and Michiko got a close up view of her new leader.
He was old. She'd say around his sixties. He was in the traditional red and white Hokage robes and held a pipe between his teeth. His eyes were a comforting dark brown and had a wise look in his eyes, though his face was stoic. It soon broke into a smile as he gazed upon the couple.
"Ah, ohayo Yuki, Michiko," he greeted.
"Ohayo, Hokage-sama," they said.
"What was it that you two want to tell me on this beautiful day?" he asked.
"Well, Hokage-sama," Yuki began. "You have heard about the Houkou attack on Iwa, correct?" Yuki waited for a nod before starting again. "Well, Tsuchikage-sama did not know how to defeat it. He asked the Yondaime Hokage, whom I am sad to know that he passed, for something that will defeat the demon. Yondaime Hokage sent a scroll with information on the Shishou Fuuin seal. I'm sure you know what it does, what with the Kyuubi attack. The Houkou was sealed inside an infant. That very infant is right here in this room. The jinchuuriki for the Houkou is my daughter, Sakura." Yuki waited for a reaction. During his speech, the Hokage did not change his expression from the warm smile on his face.
"I see…," the Hokage said. "And what is wrong?"
"What…is…wrong?" Michiko asked. She was confused. She expected a big outburst on how they didn't tell him sooner.
"Yes, what is wrong? I do hope that nothing is wrong with the child. I can tell that she is adorable," the Sandaime said.
"Well, I thought that you would say something other than, 'What is wrong?'. I thought that you would have an outburst," Michiko admitted.
"Oh no. This is perfectly fine. As you know, we ourselves have a jinchuuriki. Uzumaki Naruto is the holder of the Kyuubi. If I could not accept one jinchuuriki then how will I be able to accept two? No, it is perfectly alright. Just let me make sure that the seal is correct. Oh, and make sure you let no one see the seal on her stomach," the Hokage advised. He held is arms out to hold Sakura. Once he had her comfortably in his arms, he took a look at the seal. The Haruno couple waited anxiously.
"Everything is alright. There is nothing wrong with the seal. Oh, and you have a very beautiful child," the Hokage complimented as he handed Sakura back to the couple. The couple breathed a sigh of relief.
"I bet that you also have something else you wanted to tell me, right?" he asked Yuki.
"Hai, I do. I wanted to know if it is okay for me to become a jounin," he asked.
"It is alright. I just want to let Ibiki take a look inside your mind to see if you hold any intents," the Sandaime answered.
"That is perfectly alright. I want to do anything to make sure that my new village is safe," Yuki consented.
"Then, you are dismissed and I will let you know when the appointment is," the Hokage said.
The couple left and got home. The next day, Yuki was requested to go to the ANBU headquarters. Michiko waited at home with Sakura anxiously. Yuki came home hours later looking extremely exhausted and collapsed on the couch in the living room. He told Michiko that he was instated as a jounin of the Leaf and would get his uniform tomorrow. He passed out after that.
Now, let's skip forward a couple years. Sakura is an 11 year old spitfire. She's a tomboy and loves to get dirty though she absolutely loves her long mid-back hair. Over the years, Sakura's eyes have kept getting lighter and lighter. Now, they're an aqua color. Plus, her pupils have gained a slight slit, making them more wolf like. Her body is slim for an 11 year old. She absolutely loves running and races her father almost everyday. Her mother is exasperated whenever Sakura comes home with dirt and mud stains all over her clothes. Oh, and one last thing. She doesn't know about her being a jinchuuriki.
Today, Sakura's going to the academy for her first day of school. She decided at a very young age that she wanted to become a kunoichi. Her mother was a little saddened at first but then gained enthusiasm for her daughter. Yuki was ecstatic and decided that he wanted to teach Sakura until she was 11. That way, she would not slack off during class. Sakura always had a tendency to forget, get sidetracked, and is easily distracted.
Sakura was wearing a long sleeved black fishnet shirt underneath a crimson red tank top with the white Haruno circle on the back. She's wearing white shorts that end at her knees and fit perfectly; not too tight and nor too loose. On her feet are the normal shinobi sandals in black. Her hair is up in a high ponytail. Her necklace is a chocker with a bell on it with the words, "Always Loved" engraved into it. Michiko had given Sakura a pair of leather gloves with a metal plate across the knuckles, though the fingers are cut off. Michiko did not want Sakura to damage her small, petite hands.
The academy was coming in sight and Sakura was getting a little nervous. She's starting in the middle of the year for some odd reason.
'What if I don't fit in?' Sakura wondered.
'Child, do not fret. Everything will be alright. Plus, I'll be right there with you,'answered a voice in her head. Sakura had always had a second voice in her head. She could tell he was old with the way he talked. She never told anyone about him, not even her parents. She thought that they would think that she was crazy.
'But, what if they pick on me? The kids at the other school did.'
'If they pick on you, just ignore them. They only do so to get entertainment. If you do not give them attention, they will leave.'
By then, Sakura was in front of the door that will lead her to her new classroom for the next year.
'I hope this year will be okay,' Sakura thought and opened the door.