It's the next day.
They attended the funeral, and Sakura watched her great grandmother be lowered into a ditch of the sorts. Then came the last minute mournings, and the patting on the backs and the solemn frowns. Sakura, too, frowned and shed some tears. At some point, she glanced over to her Grandmother Fuji, who was completely emotionless. She seemed not the slightest bit fazed by her mother's death and burial. Sakura felt her face uncontrollably twist into a scowl. Pardon her language, but what in the actual fuck? That's literally her fucking mother in a box in the ground -and yet Grandma Fuji is completely untouched by this? Irritated, Sakura glanced her over. It was then that her expression immediately melted away. Ah, so that's it. Grandma Fuji is one of those undercover weepers, perhaps; she wasn't shedding any tears or showing remorse on her face, but it was very evident how she was feeling based on her body language. More importantly, the way she was gripping Grandpa Yuuma's sleeve with a startlingly fierce hold is what made her true emotions clear. Indeed, as collected of a woman as Grandma Fuji seemed to be, the loss of her mother was still painful to experience. Even in spite of knowing that it would happen soon…
The funeral passes, and the family have arrived back at the Fuji household. Nothing particularly noteworthy happens for a while. All that carries on throughout the day is Grandma Fuji locking herself away in her and Grandpa Yuuma's bedroom, coming out for no reason whatsoever. Sakura, unlike the other adults present, decided it was best to actually allow for Grandma Fuji to keep to herself. Everyone mourned and coped differently, and as far as Sakura was concerned, this was none other than Grandma Fuji trying to coax her mind -and maybe more so her heart -into understanding and accepting that her beloved mother was gone: dead and buried. Sakura was playing dress up in her room, laying out different articles of clothing to see what particular set of clothes portrayed the look she was going for.
Despite the advice Mebuki gave her, Sakura felt as though the cutesy thing could work for her. Just, she definitely wouldn't be able to go all the way through with it as some other girl would probably be able to. That said, elegant and regal were truthfully styles that she had never considered, but having worn an outfit so recently that fit that kind of aesthetic better, Sakura can't help but agree with her mother there. The more classy look truly did suit Sakura relatively well. So, now, her goal was to make some sort of mimicry of those styles combined. Something cute with a regality to it. Or, maybe something regal with a cute flair to it. Something like that would be fine all the same.
Sakura continued scanning through the outfits she'd thrown together. She already ruled out everything with pants. She glanced over her blazers and jackets. Although the white blazer she was wearing not too long ago was pretty darn cute, she couldn't help finding her eyes drawn to a white mini jacket. Something about it was calling out to her. Aside from its color, or lack thereof, it had shapely sleeves: small shoulder pads and with ruffled "princess" sleeves. While some would normally turn up their nose at the thought of shoulderpads, these ones were especially nice and reasonably incorporated into the cloth. Aside from the small jacket was a really cute shirt. Accompanying it was a matching skirt that flowed perfectly as Sakura can recall, and similar to the mini jacket there was a dark circle on it. She grinned a little. The Haruno Clan symbol. Anywho, she wondered if the skirt was just a little too short, even for her. She looked over at her slightly elongated black spandex shorts. She'll be ok if she wears that beneath the skirt. In fact…
Sakura quickly put the outfit on over her and squeaked. Wow, the outfit looked perfect! It was so cute! She swayed in the mirror back and forth. It's so regal! Sakura continued basking in her wonderful appearance. Just then there was a knock at the door. Upon given command, it slid open to reveal Mebuki.
"Hi, mom," Sakura said, to which Mebuki smiled some. "Hello, dear," she said. Her smile almost immediately fell into a frown, though, and she then said, "Sakura, love, mom would like to see you." Quickly, she added, "My mom, that is." Sakura nodded. A quick trip to the backyard porch revealed to Sakura her grandmother. Mebuki left to give the two privacy.
Together, Sakura and Grandma Fuji stood. It was a little cool, the nearby ponds adding to the otherwise neutral weather. The sky was dark and clouded, hiding them and the rest of the surrounding land in gray. Said cloudy sky went as far as Sakura could see, touching the divide between it and the horizon that then became earth. There was a faint howling riding the breeze, and the occasional twittering of the birds and croaking of the toads. Murmurs from far away sounded: the voices belonging to the other residents of this town. Sakura shivered as fluttering cherry blossoms tickled her skin, brushing by and bumping into her every other second. There was an earthy smell lingering around. Somewhere, someone was playing a soft melody. How serene.
"Red Town is quite beautiful." Grandma Fuji phrases this as a statement to which no response would be necessary, as if she already knew anyone else would wholeheartedly agree. Despite that, Sakura nodded and said, "It is." They remain silent for a little while longer, simply enjoying each other's presence and basking in the beauty of the nature around them. Another wind carried through, pulling a string of pink blossoms along with it. The blossoms were then deposited to the ponds and the grass.
"I'm so sorry, Grandma," Sakura says as she wraps her arms around said woman. She looked up at Grandma Fuji with sad eyes. "For your loss…" The gaze was returned, and Grandma Fuji smiled. She put a comforting hand onto Sakura's shoulder. "Thank you, my cherry." She took a moment to collect herself, glancing away from Sakura. When she was able to, she began to speak again.
"The Haruno Clan today…" she started, "disappoints me." Sakura frowned.
"What do you mean, Grandma?" Sakura asks. Fuji takes a breath.
"Eons ago, our earliest clan members came to be," Fuji said. "Originally, we had no name, nor title, nor reputation. We only had a symbol, a crest:"
"The circle?" Sakura asked. Her grandmother glanced at her for a moment.
"The halo." Fuji continued with her speech. "Sometimes called the "hoop". As I was saying…"
"The only thing belonging to our clan was the halo. Amongst us were shamans, who would be the only ones of the clan to use chakra, and therefore the most powerful. They would tap into the chakra pools, and use it to reach out to whatever helpful spirits were around. This was the case for a long time amongst us, until we were ruthlessly attacked by the invading nation."
"We had been caught in the crossfire of a war -a war between our neighbors, the Hoshigaki Clan hailing from the Land of Water, and foreigners nearby, the militant villagers of what was then the Land of Whirlpools. None of us were trained warriors, and no matter the efforts to defend ourselves, ultimately, we found ourselves dwindling in numbers fast; men were being killed, women were being kidnapped, and children were left abandoned and nationless." Grandma Fuji closes her eyes for a moment. As she opens them, her emerald eyes glimmer.
"Since that incident, many felt it unimportant to uphold the culture of our farthest ancestors. Plenty left the ruins of the land, opting to join other clans for a variety of purposes. The culture almost died, had it not been for the few who decided to stay behind. Doing all they could to recreate the clan, these pillars of the clan struggled."
"You see, even though they had managed to recultivate many ways of our people prior, no one could understand the work of the shamans -they couldn't use chakra. That is, until one."
"This particular one had traveled deep into the belly of the land. There, they found a sunken cave. This is what we call "the Pit". Within the Pit was an entity of sorts, a spirit of which when called, could grant higher ability. Through this, the Original was able to harness a spirit wielding ability so powerful that even after teaching the Remainders to become shamans, they were still much stronger than them all. It was the Original who had kept the clan safe. Outsiders would come to our humble home for advanced medical procedures, fortunes, and sakura weavings. These outsides were mostly made of a large band of passing shinobi of the Land of Earth. Melding into our own, the Haruno Clan was prosperous at this time. We had multiple shamans, powerful disciples of the Pit, and a growing number of our own shinobi."
"Then, there were more outsiders."
"They came from the sky, proposing to us a greater, bigger world waiting for us beyond our island. Most went, and once again, the Clan had been almost abandoned. The Haruno Clan has acted as a unified clan off and on ever since, some feeling the need to pass on our powers, and others, not so much."
"As a result, we are in a strange predicament. Some know a lot about the Haruno Clan, and then there are an equal amount of others who know not a single thing."
Sakura, who had been listening closely, nodded in a rather stiff manner. "I see," She said. "Thank you for telling me, Grandma Fuji." Grandma Fuji smiled a little at her. "Of course, love," She said, "Though, that history lesson isn't what I really wanted to tell you." Sakura became curious. "What was it, then?" She asks. "I want to tell you about the Pit," Fuji says. "I want to prepare you…"
"... to go to the Pit." Sakura's eyes widen a little, Grandma Fuji somewhat smirks. "Really, why?" Sakura stutters. "Well, why not?" Grandma Fuji retorts. Sakura purses her lips. That's true and all, but it almost feels more like deflection rather than an actual answer. Thankfully, Grandma Fuji chooses to elaborate some. "If there's one thing your Grandmother asks of you Sakura, dear, is to turn our clan into a fully-fledged nation as you compete to become the next Mountain of our family, the uprising Fuji. Understand?" Sakura opens her mouth to answer. However, Grandma Fuji ignores this as she leans down to whisper into Sakura's ear.
"To reach the pit, you must follow the white blossoms. They will eventually lead you to the flower-weeds, and from there…" Grandma Fuji continues whispering, and Sakura nods in apprehension. She's not sure how this is going to go, but…
Sakura's going to confront the Spirit of the Pit.