My Father's Words
This is just a short one-shot about a talk Sakura had with her father when she was little. I wrote it out of boredom. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
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"Sakura-chan, come over here, I'll tell you a story."
Five-year-old Sakura quickly ran towards her Tou-san and eagerly sat on his lap. She loved it when her tou-san told her a story.
"Do you know what a war is?" He asked her.
"No," She answered shaking her head.
He smiled, a sad smile that told little Sakura that it was a horrible thing. "War is a concept where people fight eachother due to hatred that's build up for a long time. Sometimes the hatred is so large that people are killed during these wars, including people that you may care deeply about."
Sakura stared at her tou-san, confused. "Why was there hatred in the first place? Why can't they just get along?"
He laughed. "Getting along with every single force out there is impossible, my dear." Suddenly, his face turned grim. "Many have tried in the past, but no one can prevent hatred, can prevent fights, can prevent war. A war can happen over a single mistake, or an entire line of mistakes."
"Well why do we have to fight? Can't we just talk about it?" Sakura questioned.
"Not everything can be solved with simple conversation. And sometimes, the other force attacks you before you even have a chance to compromise. Some people are just stubborn like that, and will not rest until everything is their way. And even after that, they may still not have enough. Hatred brings selfishness, which leads to people wanting more and more."
"Well how can we get rid of hatred?" Sakura was still confused.
"We can't. Hatred drives us to fight for whatever purpose is needed. Hatred is the reason that the ninja villages exist. The important thing is for you to not e driven by pure hatred. A little is okay to balance everything out, but when you live only to pursue revenge, then your life will have no meaning at all."
"So, how can I prevent hatred as much as possible?" She asked.
He tou-san smiled, and looked her in the eye. "Think of the people you care about. Think of the people you love, your friends, your family. The more people you have that you care for, the stronger you get. A person who fights for love, is ten times stronger than a person who fights for hatred. Do you understand that, Sakura-chan?"
She thought about it for a while. "Yeah, I think I do, so all I have to do is care about people. That's easy."
"Why are telling me this now, tou-san?"
"Because," he hesitated," because you will be attending the ninja academy starting tomorrow. And you'll begin your ninja career. It's going to be hard at times, Sakura-chan, but please, promise me that you'll always think of your loved ones."
"Sure, I promise!" She smiled
I hope you keep your promise, Sakura-chan, because there will be times, times of war, where you will lose somebody, and find yourself walking closer and closer to the path of an avenger. But I won't tell you that now. The life of a shinobi is short, ad difficult. No, I'll let you keep your innocence for as long as possible, so that you can look back on these days and smile as you think of your childhood, unlike me.
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AN: Again, I wrote it out of boredom, so it's not really long. Anyways, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!