Title: 'The Road of a Cherry Blossom'
Summary: 'When you're a princess who would kill to have the life of a ninja, you're bound to run into some problems.'
"_" – Talking
'_' – Thinking
'_' – Inner
(A/N: _) – Author's Note
_ - Chapter Title
...
Prologue: The Seed Surrounded by Carcasses
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Red, jagged lines ran across the heart monitor at a slow but steady pace.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Many people hated the noise. It reminded them of death.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Yet no one wanted the beeping to stop.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
… Beeeeepppppppp.
Or hear those fated words of pity.
"I'm sorry. We did all that we could."
...
"What are we going to do with her?"
"Well, because of the murder, she has no family or relatives… We could give her to the orphanage."
A little girl the age of 5 or 6 sat outside a glass room, her sad face casted downwards, her short hair shielding her face.
Orphanage.
Even though she didn't know what it was, it sounded like a terrible place.
The conversation went on. They didn't know she could hear every word.
"You could give her to ROOT."
"… That sounds like a solution. So, we're going to hand her over to Danzo."
The little girl's face crumpled up, eyes misting over.
'Danzo' sounded as bad as 'Orphanage'.
...
"I keep seeing you over and over again, kid. You've been in the organization for only two months and you manage to get yourself kicked out."
The girl was clutching onto the arm of another person. A dark haired boy.
"It's not her fault," the boy defended.
The girl tugged on the boy's sleeve in a warning manner. He looked down at her with wide, dark eyes that matched his hair and watched her shake her head somberly.
The jounin standing in front of them crossed his arms and observed the girl carefully.
"I don't know what it is about you. You haven't spoken a single word, yet you somehow manage to bring emotion back into ROOT. How?"
The little girl just looked up at him and sent a beaming smile in his direction as an answer before lowering her head again. The jounin stood there for a moment, shocked. No wonder their emotions started to show again. This girl had a smile that seemed to melt even the hardest of defenses. He even wanted to make her smile again—it had made him feel serene.
He let out a heavy sigh. "What am I supposed to do with you?"
Green eyes glanced up at him once, studying him fully before she started searching around in her pocket for something. All the while, she never let go of her friend's arm. Her arm stopped moving around; her face showed that she found what she was looking for. Then, she reluctantly pulled out the gleaming object from her bag.
The jounin's eyes widened to the sizes of saucers.
...
"HARUNO-SAMA! HARUNO-SAMA!"
The large double doors to the main hall burst open to reveal a sweating man in his twenties dragging a little girl at the late age of 5, and she had her arm locked in a death grip around another boy's arm who was her age.
"SHE WEARS YOUR DAUGHTER'S ROYAL PENDANT!"
...
"We've gone through all the tests and it looks like you really are my lost daughter. Congratulations, Sakura Haruno. You… are a princess."
The newly crowned princess had a finger on her bottom lip in thought, and then offered a tentative smile and nodded.
The Queen bent down before her and gave her returned daughter a meaningful yet awkward hug. "Welcome home."
Sakura's smile stretched wider across her face and she turned around… to find someone missing. Then, she spotted him being shooed out the door by the guards. Panic overtook her. No way was she going to lose her best friend.
Her short legs pushed her small frame across the hall as she pushed through the guards. Then she stopped, panting at her friend's side. She clutched the hem of his shirt and she looked to her mom… and the first words they've ever heard her utter came out.
"N-Not without… Sai."
The boy's eyes widened a fraction. "M-Me?"
He didn't have a name. No one bothered to name him. Until now.
The Queen's face softened at the sight and nodded. How could she refuse?
"But he's going to have to keep his ROOT position."
Sakura's face lit up. "Sai stays!"
...
She was back. Blank green eyes stared up at the ceiling. The white wallpaper hurt her eyes. Alcohol and blood. That's all she could smell. Along with the smoke that lingered on her clothes.
"The King and Queen are dead from the fire. Should we give the throne to Sakura?"
"Are you kidding me? A ruler as young as she is can only lead to disaster! We have to appoint another queen. One who will rule with an iron fist. We can't have a nine year old queen!"
...
"I'm your mother now, so treat me with respect."
Sakura studied her stepmother and gave a slight bow. "Your Majesty."
This was the first time she laid eyes on her new mother. The first word that came to her was 'pompous'.
Her name was Madame Shijima, sister to Madame Shijimi who had a cat named Tora. Though they were sisters, the two women looked nothing alike. Madame Shijima was slender with a beautiful body while Madame Shijimi had the figure of a watermelon. Madame Shijima had stunning blue eyes and blonde locks that seemed almost impossibly god-like while Madame Shijimi had an olden style brown hairdo and too much purple eye shadow.
It was no wonder the new queen got the spot instead of her sister.
"Kneel to your queen," Shijima ordered.
Sakura stood there unmoving. She never took those types of orders.
Shijima took a menacing step forward. The girl remained impassive.
Without warning, a fan lashed out and struck Sakura's cheek and she fell to the floor with a surprised cry.
The queen calmly opened her fan continued to fan herself while her dark blue eyes glared at the girl.
"You did not show proper respect to your mother. As punishment, you will be locked in your chambers without dinner. This will continue until you learn to behave respectfully. Dismissed."
Sakura stood up without a word, eyes steeled.
'The moment I kneel willingly to you will be the day that heaven falls out of the sky.'
...
That's the prologue for ya. :)
- CHFT