Age Me
It's been a super long time since I've updated and I'm sorry for that, here's a special chapter just for you guys with a brand new cover photo! Hopefully it's in better quality than the last. Please enjoy the story and Follow/Review to show your support. (If you were curious as to what happened to the previous chapter ten it was rushed and I honestly wasn't happy with it, so I thought I'd change it up a bit.)
Chapter Ten: Sizzle and Pop
A month or so had passed and our heroine found herself becoming more… empty. It felt like a black pit had made home within the pit of her and would consume all emotions and care she had in her system. She tried to push back the feelings of dissatisfaction and depression, spending her days training and her nights restlessly tossing hour hours before she was able to fall into a light sleep, lights illuminating every corner of her room.
At first her mother had been concerned, but as the days passed Sakura's grandmother had tried her best to explain the complications of the situation, how her daughter was damaged now and would require time to heal from the mental wounds her heritage had inflicted upon her.
Her mother spent the first few weeks crying herself to sleep, blaming herself for the damaged state her daughter now found herself living her every day life in, but Sakura did her best to assure her mother was alright, even if that meant hiding her inner feelings in order to put on a pleasant face for her.
She had noticed that her depression had gotten worse once Naruto started leaving the village for extended periods of time for various missions and training regiments with Jariya. He always offered to let her come with them but she didn't feel comfortable imposing herself on the situation.
She sat on a swingset in a small park near the forest's edge. She spend a lot of time here as a kid with her parents. She didn't bother swinging, she just sat on the plastic seat, letting the tips of her toes drag against the dark mulch below, her mismatched eyes focused on the starry sky above. It was late July so the air was hot and thick with humidity. Her silver hair was pulled into a messy bun atop her head, her eyepatch pulled back. Nobody was within sight of her, so she assumed it was safe.
She wore a light blue T-shirt and white shorts, her casual clothing. She hadn't had a mission in over a month and a half, so she rarely needed her gear. She usually trained in more comfortable clothing anyway. She wondered briefly if Sasuke thought of them, if he was looking at the same sky.
A small pang of pain touched her damaged heart, both of her teammates were gone, Naruto being the only one to know of her condition, the only one to understand, and he was probably miles and miles away from here.
She lightly tapped her feet to an odd rhythm, humming softly. Almost the entirety of her body was sore from the constant daily training regimen and she wondered if it was really even necessary, she didn't mind not having any missions, especially after what had happened at the chunin exams… in honesty she was scared that she didn't know her own limits.
How far could she push this? Was she really even willing to push this at all?
Letting out a deep sigh she stood and pulled down her eyepatch and trudged back toward the main streets through a small, winding dirt path through a bit of field before finding herself at the bottom of a steep hill. The streets were lit up with paper lanterns and neon lights from late night shops and food stands. She walked the streets, enjoying the sounds of people laughing with friends and running in and out of the shops. She'd admit, Konoha at night was always a pretty sight to her.
She wandered around a bit until she'd found one of her favorite book stores. It was a small one, shabby in appearance but something she'd enjoyed. It stayed open quite late, which suited her needs perfectly. She dragged her feet a bit as she entered the store, a small bell signaling that she had entered, the front desk was abandoned but she'd assumed the elderly store clerk, whom she'd discovered was named 'Ume' was in the back.
She searched the shelves until she found an biology book that interested her and skimmed a few pages, it was quite detailed and tucked it beneath her arm while she searched through her pockets, grabbing her small bear-shaped wallet, a gift from Naruto, before making her way to the counter, leaning against it as she waited for Ume to appear. She wasn't in a rush and didn't mind waiting.
She pondered what she was going to do with all the books she'd purchased in the meantime. She'd need a bigger bookshelf if things progressed the way they had been. She swore that she lived and breathed to train and read now. It all felt so… solitary.
"Good evening, will that be all?" A voice called from the back room, Sakura leaned slightly to the side and smiled softly at the elderly woman pushing the straw screen back with a small, wrinkled hand.
"Yeah, this will be all." Sakura said, laying her money on the table.
As the woman handed her back her change and put her book into a plastic bag she chatted idly with the silver haired girl, about the weather, recent events. Common things. Sakura found it a pleasant comfort, the normality of it all. It was something that brought her great comfort.
She wondered briefly if the elderly woman had any family of her own, every time she came to the shop it was more or less empty and it appeared as though an apartment was on top of the shop itself, never noisy or lit up. Deciding to mind her own business she didn't ask and said a kind goodbye to the woman before leaving the shop.
The streets smelled like fried foods and the laughter of a particularly large crowd of people instinctively drew her attention.
It was a group of drunken men leaving a pub, they looked to be chunin and one's she herself was not familiar with. In the center of the group of intoxicated men was a middle aged woman, clearly not coming from the bar herself. She looked uncomfortable and looking for an escape.
Sakura waltzed up to the group, shoving them from her way and reaching for the woman's wrist. "Hey Izumi, let's get out of here." She said, pretending to know the woman. One of the men, a burly fellow with a crooked nose and a deep scar on his left eye stepped in front of her, blocking her escape.
The woman looked confused but didn't say a word. it was obviously a civilian woman, though she was dressed as a farm worker, probably on her way home when she was found by these degenerates.
"Hey! We were talkin' to her!" Crooked nose said with a sneer. The girl grimaced and the woman behind her took a sharp breath, she was scared. Sakura pulled her ninja ID from her wallet, displaying it to the men. "Move aside." Sakura warned.
Crooked nose gave a hearty laugh, "Look, it's a little genin." He commented to the two other men, one with a round belly and red nose the other rather lean and tall with a covered face. The looked more confused than amused or annoyed, so the silver haired girl assumed Crooked nose was the ringleader here.
The man reached down to drunkenly shove Sakura to the side. She acted on instinct and slapped his hand away and sneered, "I said, move aside." She hissed, her patience straw thin as the woman behind her started to shake slightly.
"You little brat!" Crooked nose bit out in a demanding tone, causing Sakura to snort in defiance. The man's ears reddened with anger as he puffed out his chest and shoved a finger at the smaller girls chest, "Just who d'ya think you are? Scram."
Sakura's visible jade eye turned to a slit as she too squared her shoulders, shoving her elbow hard against the man's stomach. Seeing red for the moment she failed to remember his two accomplices as they jumped in to his defense, drawing kunai at the two women.
Sakura snarled and stepped forward, not prepared to back down as her blood began boiling ferociously in her veins she felt an odd sense of euphoria in the adrenaline rush she was receiving. It made the emptiness inside her quell. She bared teeth at the skinny man, the first to rush her, which she ducked easily out of the way, catching his ankle with her foot and knocking him to the ground she twisted his wrist back as his face slammed against the dirt road, ripping the kunai from his grip and using it to deflect the attack of the portly man who had come up behind her.
Her heart was beating sporadically and she began feeling a slight tingling just beneath the surface of her skin, an indescribable feeling she could only relate to a hum, a humming so loud she could hear it.
A fat, sweaty hand came down overtop of her face and she felt a sense of alarm as her eyepatch was knocked to the ground. The euphoric joy she was feeling halted in panic as she made a quick grab for the medical patch.
Her move was halted by the large hand clamping down on her forearm and yanking her toward the air. She hissed at the pain of the sudden force and scowled at Crooked nose, recovered from her earlier attack and twice as angry. She could smell the putrid alcohol on his breath as he breathed heavily into her face.
She could see the group of people surrounding them now, confused or awestruck faces sprinkled the group, confused as to what was going on. The woman was now gone, she'd probably taken off in the commotion of it all.
"You little bitch." Crooked nose spat drunkenly, giving her arm a hard yank. Sakura heard a crack, thinking it was her shoulder dislocating, but instead, she realized, there was no longer a pressure on her arm, nor was Crooked nose in sight.
As she looked around she realized a head of silver hair now stood as a barrier between her and Crooked nose, now laying on the ground with a steady stream of blood pouring from his nose, now crooked and broken.
"The Hokage will be hearing of this." Kakashi said in a cool tone, eyeing the two other men now scrambling to their feet to make a quick escape, only to be stopped by two familiar Jonin. They usually guarded the gate, Sakura thought.
"You kind gentleman, will be coming with us." The Jonin with a bandaged nose and spiky black hair said, grabbing the shoulder of the skinny one while the other restrained the portly man Sakura had attacked earlier.
"And you," Kakashi said, turning to face his student. "Going around starting fights, are we?" He questioned, raising a silver eyebrow with a stern look in his charcoal eye. Sakura eyed the ground, feeling as though she were being scolded for doing the right thing she felt slighted.
A loud sigh drew her visible eye forward, only to feel Kakashi's hands on the side of her face, she felt a red tint dust her cheeks as he tucked back a loose strand of silver hair behind her ear, he was putting her eyepatch back on with an exasperated look in his eye.
"I swear, between you and Naruto I won't get a day of rest." He jested lightheartedly, snapping her eyepatch into place while giving an eye crinkling smile. Sakura huffed at his attitude, but said nothing.
She noticed he was wearing ANBU attire, something she'd never seen him wear before. She didn't think he would still be taking missions for them while mentoring a team. Though, everybody's got to eat, she reasoned. It was just strange seeing her sensei in this sort of situation.
"Well… Thanks." Sakura muttered beneath her breath, stuffing her small hands into the pockets of her shorts as she turned to walk away before the loud sound of Kakashi clearing his throat drew her to look back.
"Don't think you're getting out of this that easily." He said with a mischievous look in his eye.
"W-what do you mean?" Sakura questioned, an ominous feeling looming over her as she caught glimpse of his cat-like expression.
"Meet me at the bridge tomorrow." Was all he'd said before giving a small wave and turning to go down the opposite side of the street.
Sakura groaned loudly. Only imagining what he'd had in store for her.
She'd have to wait and see.