The Burden of Future
~Chapter 2~
Oh my God, hello friends!
Being so bright and hippy after a well-deserved afternoon nap, I thought I might as well post another chapter to see how it goes.
Disclaimer: Once upon a time there was a guy named Kishimoto. Don't know if you've heard of him…
She could feel her senses heightening bit by bit as she became so much conscious of her surroundings. Alone as her parents were still on the mission, she refrained to increasing her chakra sense by identifying the people passing on the street. Sitting near the front gate, she could even hear their pace, hastened or slow, balanced or with a slight limp, but… that was all she could tell, really. Although she was aware of their presence, she couldn't locate it by the use of chakra. It was much much harder than she'd expected it to be, but she still continued with it. After a few days, she realized that maybe, by cutting off her other senses, she would be able to focus more on detecting the signatures and indeed, it worked. Two days later, she caught a slight glimpse of chakra at the edge of her range, but it was still there. A wide grin appeared on her previously concentrated face and she couldn't help but jump around and do a little dance.
"'Cause I'm happy…" she started singing only to be interrupted by a not so sweet voice.
'Oi! What do you think you're doing? I know you have lungs, you don't have to prove it to me! Pff, messing up my ears…'
'Oh, come on, you're just being jelly!'
' Of what? Of how, if I was in control, I would have finished it in two days and not two WEEKS like you, melon? I don't know, it hasn't really crossed my mind …'
"But I see your true colors…"
'Bite me!'
'Don't really wa..', but Sakura didn't get to finish her thought as someone opened the gate, entering the porch.
'It seems Mom and Dad are finally home…'
"Hi, honey, I missed you so so much!" her mother exclaimed, embracing her only daughter in a warm but way too tight embrace.
"I missed you too, Mom, but right now, I miss air even more…" Sakura answered, barely breathing.
"Oh, sorry… How was it? Did you sleep well? What did you eat? Please tell me you took your vitamins!"
"Good. Yes. What was in the fridge and Yes. Now, I need to ask you a little favor."
"That being…"
"You know how I'm always a good girl and I listen to you and dad…"
"Yes?..."
" …and how proud you are with what I do and know at this age…"
"Sakura…"
"Could you please buy me some weights?"
"No."
"Oh, come on! Pretty please!" said Sakura, displaying her puppy eyes so that they shone in the sun brightly.
"Absolutely not."
" But why? You already know I'm way stronger than any girl or even boy my age and you know I know when to stop so that I don't hurt myself!"
"…. Honey, could you come here for a moment?" her mother called towards the house but still keeping eye contact with Sakura.
'Oh, brother…'
'Hey, brother…', a voice sang in her head, which she totally ignored.
"Something happened?" her father asked cautiously, coming towards them. 'God, that temper of their…' .
"Sakura wants to start training with weights." her mother briefed him.
"So? Let her do it." her father shrugged nonchalantly, not seeing the problem in this whole situation.
"What do you mean "let her"? You know how dangerous it can get if not in the right hands!"
"Honey," her father's features softened, " I know you just want to protect her, but she'll do fine. It's not like we're not around to guard her, anyway…".
'I just love when people talk like I'm not around…' Sakura thought, a little frustrated at the current conversation.
Her mother pondered over the facts, her expression, though, not once faltering. After giving it some thought, she finally agreed with buying her the weights.
"YESSSS!" the girl said, starting a new session of jumping and singing at the same time.
"But!" her mother said, making Sakura stop in her very tracks.
….
….
"….I don't know, just don't overdo it, okay?" her mother said, giving in.
"Thanks, mom, and don't, worry, I'll be safe!"
'OH, DAMN, THEY'RE SO HEAVY!'
'You got into this on your own, princess…', the floating head in her mind retorted, a mischievous smirk on its/her lips.
'Oh, you nailed it with your comeback! Good job, can't say I'm proud of you!'
'Shut up and suffer!'
"Doesn't this thing have a weight button or something?" Sakura cried, stuck on the ground with no way of moving.
"Here, let me fix it a bit…" her father said….fixing it.
"Ah, much better..." Sakura said after her father made it so that now she was able to stay up. That until her legs faltered and she hit the ground, elegantly falling on her butt.
"Ouch, maybe not that much better..." she retorted, tendering at her bruised back.
"I got to go now, honey. Still haven't given the mission report yet, so I can't really stay with you right now..." her father said, a sad smile plastered on his face.
"Don't worry, I'll manage by myself! Now go, you don't want to be late!" his loving daughter answered, giving him one of her best smiles.
As soon as her father left, she tried standing up and moving around a bit, managing to do this only after her third try. Her body gotten somewhat used to the extra weight, she tried some taijutsu, only to fall completely exhausted after just ten minutes of practice. They say muscle fever appears after 24 hours? Well, here she was, sore all over her body like she'd never been before, and that in just a few minutes. She was sitting on the floor, panting heavily, when she decided to give a try in healing herself at least a bit. The green chakra flickered instinctively, but when she put her hand on her thigh to ease the pain, the effect was one unexpected and extremely painful. Either it was her control that faltered or the fact that she didn't transform the energy flow correctly, in the end, she got herself with a serious chakra burn on her leg that had already started to bleed. She deactivated her weights, them dropping on the floor, and tripped to the bathroom to grab the first aid box. If she didn't stop the bleeding, it would get serious enough for her to go to the hospital, and she had no intention in doing so. After the danger had passed, she thought over the causes from which this thing had happened. It never occurred to her in her past life, but she guessed it might have happened because of her age, too. Even though her chakra control was almost perfect, it seemed an almost 7 years old's chakra was to brute for something so delicate as the healing process. Well, it seemed she wasn't going to be the youngest doctor after all….
The next few days were quite the same, the routine only being temporary interrupted by a local festival which took place every year before the beginning of winter. Her family being one that followed tradition thoroughly, they all decided to get out and celebrate with the others. Neatly dressed in it, Sakura wore a light green kimono, which complimented her eyes greatly. Walking hand in hand with her parents, she gazed at the overall view: hundreds, maybes thousands of people walking down the street, dressed in various colors that went so well with the breathtaking decorations put over their heads. She laughed happily, letting go for a moment to all her worries and being an actual child. Her smile didn't last too much on her, though, as saw, right in front of her, something distressing: a child Sasuke giggling cheerfully on his brother's back, their parents following behind them. The massacre didn't happen yet, indeed, but there wasn't much time left until it took place, anyway. Sakura looked sorrowfully at the little boy's joyful expression knowing that, in a couple of months, he would forget completely how to smile…
She had to do something about it. She couldn't let it happen this way, not this time…
This is it, guys/girls! Hope you liked it! :D
Don't forget to R&R! (although this doesn't make sense, as you've already read the chapter… that unless you went directly to the author's note, which is not that likely… Ok, I'll stop.)
