Title: Dance of the Flower Blossoms
Summary: "But if I was going to be apart of the civilian family known as the Haruno clan, you can bet your sweet buns that Sakura was going to be the most kick-ass ninja before Tsunade's training if I had anything to say about it!" Self-Insert, O.C.
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. However, I do own any O.C. characters in the following chapters unless stated otherwise. I make no money from this story and only gain the pleasure of writing it.
Dance of the Flower Blossoms
Chapter One
In theory, it seemed easy to make Sakura into the best kunoichi but, in practice, there was little that I could actually do.
It seemed that my birth had been the catalyst of something rather drastic and life-altering. Mother was adamant about Sakura and I living our lives as civilians who would have nothing to do with the shinobi world, and as such, we would most likely to be enrolled into the civilian elementary school. It seemed that my birth wasn't the only thing that affected her decision; my supposed "oddity" was a large -if not the largest- factor.
For the first five years of her life, Umeko Haruno was a frail, withdrawn child. No matter the prescriptions or therapy sessions, there was little the hospital could do to heal her unknown ailment. Suddenly, out of the blue, the girl started conversing with her family, gaining weight, playing with toys -generally acting like a child her age, sending various physicians for a loop. It was then that I had become Umeko Haruno and it brought about the important question of who was the girl that had previously been Umeko and where had she gone. It was something I would have to research, if possible.
The worst part of my dilemma, however, was that Sakura didn't even want to become a kunoichi, sending my plans all the way to the depths of hell if there wasn't some kind of divine intervention that could convince her otherwise.
Until that chance arose, however, I contented myself with catching up on the fundamentals of the shinobi world and building on the various pieces of information that I could retain from my memories of the show, which was quite difficult to do, but I suppose the subject I was more interested in was, of course, chakra.
There was little to no information available to me as a small civilian child, even with parents that were bookstore owners. Our stock consisted of the basics of the basics and I believe I caught a small glimpse of the infamous book Icha Icha Paradise before father ushered me off to a "child friendly" area. I briefly entertained the notion of catching Kakashi buying one from our store but squashed it when I realized that I didn't even know when he began the series.
Finally one morning, I caught a break.
The day started as usual, my eyes opening in response to the low, throbbing hum of my chakra coils. I was slowly getting used to the feeling and the constant presence of it reinforced my desire to enroll in the academy, or the very least, be given sources of information to broaden my horizon. At any rate, I kicked my blankets away from my body, giving the slumbering Sakura a quick glance before I went digging through our closet.
Many of my clothes were similar to Sakura's, differing only in color or design; Mother liked seeing us dressing similarly for some odd reason, disregarding the fact that Sakura and I looked very different from each other. We did share that large forehead, though, and it seemed to be a trait from Mother. I didn't care much about it nor did Sakura but I assumed the meekness she displayed in the anime was a result of bullying once she entered academy.
It made me stop and wonder if the path of a shinobi was really right for Sakura. This wasn't fiction anymore -it was a reality and I had to take into account how others could be affected by my actions, if they could be affected by them at all.
The pinkette seemed perfectly content with living her life as a possible bookstore owner, eventually growing into a beautiful young woman whose dreams would likely mimic Mother's. She mentioned briefly being interested in medicine but she could just as easily pursue that career without being a medic-nin. A sigh worked past my lips, conflicting thoughts filling my brain as I pulled on my clothes and made my way downstairs.
"Good morning, Koko-chan." Mother's voice was soft as I turned the corner and entered the kitchen. I wasn't sure how she knew that it was me but I just assumed it was due to some maternal instincts she possessed.
"Good morning, Mama." I smiled happily, arms wrapping around her waist and face pressing into her lower back; she smelled faintly of pine and another sweet smell I couldn't put my finger on. "Whatcha' doin?"
She chuckled, "I'm mixing up some salve for Katashi-san. She's been having back problems but she isn't too keen on the medication her doctor has prescribed."
I blinked, eyebrows furrowing as my fingers dug into her apron. "Mama knows about medicine? How come no one told me?"
"Mama knows a lot of things. 'Kura-chan has been watching while I mix up medicines but you've always got your nose stuck in those books." She wiped a hand on her apron before using it to run fingers through my hair. "What exactly is it you're always reading, anyway?"
I bit my lip, searching for an answer to give. I was hesitant to bring up anything relating to the shinobi system; the last time I did resulted in a long, long rant from Mebuki. "U-uh...just some stories and stuff."
"Stuff like?" Her voice was amused, though I could hear that a tinge of stiffness was beneath the humor -she already knew what my studies regarded. "Stuff like...shinobi stuff?"
I gulped but nodded regardless, burying my face back into her clothes. I heard her sigh in exasperation, her hands moving to pull me away from her body slightly. I could feel her heavy gaze on my face but I just couldn't me her stare -I didn't want to start another fight with her, especially when I was only five years old.
"Koko-chan, why is it that you want to become a kunoichi so badly?" Mebuki squatted down, hands resting on her knees. "Why don't you want to be a normal little girl?"
My lips pursed together as I regarded Mebuki through my lashes. "Because I'm not a normal little girl, that's why."
She snorted softly, hands moving to run through my hair again. "That's not a good enough reason." Her fingers went to my chin, raising my gaze to her face. "Hm...when you're able to look me in the eye and tell me the exact reason with confidence, then we'll talk. All right?" At my hesitant nod, she pulled away from me, turning back to the kitchen counter.
I heaved out another sigh, turning and exiting our house to make my way to my usual spot: in the bookstore, behind the counter with father and reading another scroll on Konohagakure's founding.
The bright sun hit me in my face as I walked the short, five minute distance from our home to the store. Neighbors waved at my form, giving quiet but friendly greetings as I passed by; I paid little attention to them, my mind still on Mother's words. Why was it that it was so hard for me to enter academy? Why did it seem like such a trivial thing in the anime? Sakura entered as a civilian -why couldn't I enter as a civilian?!
A hearty laugh entered my ears, snapping me from my daze as I entered the store. I knew that deep laughter anywhere at this point. My eyes roamed around the store, not finding a single soul for Kizashi to be carrying a conversation with. Until out the corner of my eye, I saw it.
I saw chakra. Specifically, I saw Kizashi using chakra to make a thin book stick to his fingers. A devious grin pulled to my lips as I tipped up to the counter. I waited a moment, giving the man a chance to call out to be but he didn't, which only made my grin wider.
"Papa, whatcha doin'?"
A startled noise fell from his lips as he jumped, the book stuck to his hand falling the ground. I rocked back and forth on the heels of my feet, regarding him with what I hoped to be an innocent look. Father scratched his chin, sheepishness evident on his face.
"Ah, Koko-chan, when did you get in here?"
I shrugged my shoulders and smiled, deciding to get to the point before he could dismiss me. "Papa, how'd ya do that?" I pouted at his attempt to brush me off with ignorance. "Papa! The thing with the book! How'd ya do it!?"
"Ah, Koko-chan..." He gave me a strained smile, "Your Papa wasn't doing anything. Nope, he wasn't doing anything at all!"
"Papa!" In a fit of childish anger that had probably been building for a while, I stomped my feet and screwed my eyes shut as tears began to pool in them. "I wanna know how ta do that too! Ple-eeease!"
My eyes opened as I heard his kind laugh, the sound filling me with a sense of smug relief. Children sure did have mood swings, especially girls like me, it seemed. Father's hands went under my arms, lifting me and seating me on the wooden counter that housed the register.
"All right, Koko-chan." He smiled kindly, ruffling my hair. "Papa will show you his neat trick but, first, you have to promise something." He continued at her rapid nod. "You can't tell 'Kura-chan or your mother about this -especially not your mother. Okay? This is our little secret."
I nodded rapidly, wincing in exasperation as Father ruffled my locks once more, before setting off into a simple explanation of the basic theory of chakra. So, I hadn't convinced Mother on letting me enroll in the shinobi academy but I could tell I was well on my way.
Author's Note: I know things are going a little slow at the moment but things will be picking up soon enough. Thank you all for the lovely reception for the first chapter of this story! It made me so happy! I think that I might love favs and follows even more than reviews, guys. I still want them, though. The next chapter should be up sometime next week, just like this chapter! Oh, thank you potterinu for answering my question :] Now, it's time for our next question:
Question: What is/are the scariest game(s) you've ever played?
My Answer: The scariest games that I've ever played would have to all Fatal Frame games and another game called The Path.
The Fatal Frame series is actually pretty fun; I think it might be the tension during battles that gets me. Purposefully getting in the range of an enemy scares the crap out of me...
The Path is a bit more difficult to explain. It's based off the story of Little Red Riding Hood and the basic premise of it is...to stray off "the path"; it's a metaphor for the path of life and if you stay on the path, it basically means that you go through life without making your own decisions or learning from your own mistakes and generally learning to be your own individual. However, if you do stray off the path, it's similar to discarding your innocence and growing as a person. But anyways...the game itself is not really scary, I suppose it's more of the atmosphere and music. It creeps me out regardless...
