Humanity's hope chapter 8: Thank you, Krista.
Word count: 2,845
Thank you for reading and the reviews. I'm so sorry this took me so long tu update, but I've been busy with my biology project that was worth 75% of my final grade. Good news is, that I finally graduated high school! I'm so happy so I decided to writte this to celebrate.
Thank you for the 16,358 views o.o I didn't know this was that popular.
Especial thanks to: Junior VB -kilau-Guest-Yomiii21 and to all of my shy readers that don't leave a review, I still love you guys.
Their afternoon was spent playing board games and eating stale bread, that according to Sasha it could be used to cut the titan's flesh in extreme situations. How did she know that, none of the member of 104t trainees dared to ask her. As much as she tried to enjoy her time, Sakura was finding it extremely hard to focus on her current task, which was beating Connie in a cards game. The source of her anxiety was the giant duo sitting a few seats behind her. She couldn't explain it, but whenever she heard Reiner or Berthold whispering voice her whole body shivered. Which was a stupid reaction, but she couldn't help it. She was mentally punishing herself for lack of trust. Ever since her arrival, the duo had been nothing but sweethearts with her.
A smile formed on her lips when she recalled a recent memory with Reiner. Poor boy had tried to help her lift up some boxes full of supplies which only ended up in Levi getting mad at both of them, because that was Sakura's punishment for being 2 minutes late to their training and no one was supposed to help her.
"I win!" Connie shouted, successfully pulling her out of her thoughts.
She gave him a cheeky smile "Yeah, you kicked my ass" She admitted as she got up and started to walk towards the two giants direction.
Apparently they hadn't realized about her presence until she -loudly- dragged a wooden chair to sit next to Berthold. "Hey guys" she said with a smile adorning her lips. They just limited to answer her with a smile of their own.
"Sakura" Reiner said "What brings you here?". He was now resting the side of his face in his hand in a casual manner. The smile never left his lips.
She looked down suddenly feeling nervous "It's just that I saw you two all alone in the darkness and I just wanted to check you were feeling ok" She finished in lower tone.
That seemed to surprise them. They eyes had widened and Berthold opened his mouth to answer "We're fine. It just that neither Reiner nor I are fans of stale bread" He said with a slight blush covering his cheeks. Sakura swore he was the male version of Hinata.
"It's not that bad after a few bites" She said as she scratched her neck sheepishly.
Reiner grinned "I'm sure you can't even taste it after a few bites"
Sakura laughed a little and a thought came to her mind. "Can I ask something?" she said leaning closer to them "To both of you" she added after seeing Berthold confused expression.
"Sure" Reiner said with a lopsided grin "As long as it no something inappropriate. There are children here" He said looking at Berthold who blushed-again.
"How did you become friends?" She asked "You are the opposite of each other"
Reiner cleared his throat and fidgeted in his seat. "Well…"
(…)
Tears shimmered in Sakura's eyes as she envelope the two giants in a bone crushing hug. "You guys" she sniffed loudly "Went trough a lot together and-" she paused to gather her thoughts "You are here as soldiers. Fighting a battle in the name of humanity, even after experiencing the horror of titan in your own flesh" she cleaned her tears with the back of her hand "You are so brave"
Her words seemed to awaken something deep inside them, because now their eyes were gleaming with a foreigner emotion.
"Thank you" Berthold said giving her smile. Sakura noticed then, that he too was fighting back tears. Why? She wondered. Haven't they told this anyone else before?
She looked up to meet Reiner gaze. His eyes were glossy, but no tear had been shed. He placed a comforting hand in the top of her head and ruffled her hair making her pout. "Thank you for listening"
Sakura nodded and said her goodbyes and retired to her temporal bed. After all, it had been a long day.
The next day Sakura found herself cleaning the horse stall alongside Sasha. They had started to cleaned somewhere around 6 am and they haven't even done half of the job. Mostly because they keep taking breaks every 10 minutes to get out of the pestilent smell of horse poop.
"What did they feed this horse's with?" Sasha wondered aloud as she lifted a particularly heavy load of poop and hay.
"With the same food as you" Sakura answered while she wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Sasha made a face "That's impossible! My poop doesn't smell like this"
"I came to check on you only to find you're talking about Cadet. Blousse poop" Mike said as he entered the barn. Despite the mocking tone in his voice he seemed worried. "Go clean yourselves up. We have a meeting in 30 minutes. Don't be late"
Sakura green eye's darter across the meeting room until her gaze landed in a specific pair. Mike Zacharius light brown eyes were filled with worried and another emotion she couldn't quite place. He stood proudly in his almost two meter of height the rest of his squad only one step behind him was wearing the same expression as him.
Mike cleared his throat attracting everyone's attention. "Cadets, as many of you know our Commander Erwin smith and captain Levi are in the inner wall leading a mission to capture the female titan"
At the mention of the female titan almost everyone's gazes landed on Sakura making her squirm in her seat. The room was rapidly filled with the many whispers of the cadets but they were soon silenced by Mike's voices.
"Their mission had been a success" He said gaining a few cheers and claps from his audience. "Don't celebrate yet. Many lives have been sacrificed for the sake of humanity. The least we can do is show them some respect"
Sakura felt her stomach churn at Mike's words. So many lives had been lost yesterday. Would it had been any different it she were there? Most likely, even If she could only have saved 3 lives, it would have been 3 less death than now. She knew it wasn't her fault, yet her mind stated otherwise.
A heavy hand landed on the top of her head snapping her out of the thought. She looked up the comforting smile of Reiner and the shy but still calming smile of Berthold.
It surprised her how perceptive they could be of her mood swings.
The rest of the meeting was spent talking about strategies for futures expeditions. Sakura was mildly aware that Mike had mentioned her name a couple of times along the words secret weapon and last resort.
She honestly didn't know how to feel about being -literally- refereed as a weapon. She might have offered her help willingly to them, but that didn't mean they have the right to use her as they pleased. Shinobis were not weapons; they are the guardians of their village as simple as that.
The thing was, they didn't know that. And she never specified that she had limits. Ar far as she knew she had offered her help in exchange of their help, nothing less and nothing more than that.
Feeling suddenly overwhelmed, Sakura stood up and left leaving multiple cadets confused at her sudden leave.
"Is she okay?" a small feminine voice asked in concern.
"tsk, let her be" Another one responded in a disinterested tone.
"But, what if she is not feeling well?"
"It's her problem"
"Ymir!" Krista said exasperatedly "That's not nice"
Ymir opened her mouth to protest but Connie beat her to it "We'll leave her alone for now" he said looking at Krista "If she is not back before dinner, then we'll check on her"
The small blonde didn't look too convinced but she nodded her head in agreement.
Sakura was currently in the castle rooftop, cloud gazing. If she only had the chance to go back in time and accept Shikamaru request to join him cloud gazing everyday. She sighed. The soft movements of the fluffy things were helping her to ease her state of mind and the soft morning breeze was closing her tired eyes.
Now more than ever she was feeling the weight of being alone in a strange place. Earlier in the meeting room she had felt like an outsider when the soldiers were celebrating and hugging each other. Tears filled her green eyes and she clenched her fist. Godaime hokage prized student was crying because she was lonely. Pathetic. She needed to get her shit together; she was trained better than this.
"Shinobi's don't cry" the voice in her mind said.
"I just want to return home" she sobbed.
Was she asking for too much? And there´s was always the possibility that she could never go back to Konoha. If that happens, how long would it take her to fully adapt to the live behind the walls; Months, years? What if-
"Sakura!" Someone called beneath her, startling the young woman. She cleaned her eyes with the back of her hand before looking at the intruder.
Surprise was evident in the pinkette face when she spotted Krista. "Hey" she said awkwardly, hoping the blonde girl didn't notice the red ring around her eyes. "Its dinner ready?"
Krista shook her head "Wait for me".
Once she was in the rooftop next to her; she opened her mouth to talk but paused to re-think her words. "I just wanted to check on you" she admitted making Sakura stomach clench in response.
"Why?" Sakura asked in a small voice.
"I was worried-"
"Why? " She interrupted with an urgent tone in her cracking voice.
"I don't know" Krista answered giving her a sympathetic look. Sakura nodded and turned away to keep her pity party but the blonde girl voice made her turn again.
"I know what is like to feel like an outsider" She began "Like you don't belong" She faced the pinkette. "You felt like that, don't you?"
"I- yes" She admitted, a pink blush present in her cheeks. "I know its silly, but when everyone was celebrating I just stood there waiting for it to end"
"That's normal. You barely know us." She smiled at her "Of course you can't share the happiness of our victory because you've never been in the battlefield with us, mourned the deaths or cried with us"
Her eyes widened in realization.
"But that doesn't mean you'll never belong here. I don't know if you are aware, but you have friends here"
At this point the pinkette was silently crying in Krista chest. "You have me, Sasha, Connie, Armin, squad leader Hanji, Berthold, Reiner and Ymir!" She finished smiling brightly.
"Oi don't speak in my name!" Ymir shouted from a window below them. "Dinner is ready. Hurry up or Sasha will eat your food"
"Coming!" Krista said as she stood up and offered her hand to Sakura.
"Thank you, Krista"
"I'm so full" Connie exclaimed rubbing his belly with a happy expression adorning his face.
"Me too" Reiner said "Haven't eaten like that since we were trainees"
The 104th class members agreed in unison.
"I'm not going to eat until tomorrow's dinner" Connie declared.
"Can I have your rations?" Sasha asked as she tried to swallow a spoonful of mashed potato.
"I can't believe she's still eating" Sakura said.
Her earlier pity party was over, once dinner had started Sakura hadn't stopped laughing at her new friends antics. Her cheeks hurt from smiling too much and all was thanks to Krista. This wasn't home, but she could and will manage.
"I'll protect you all with everything I have,Shannaro!" she vowed to herself.
Morning came sooner than expected and it was finally time to leave the dusty castle. The sun had barely risen yet the cadets were already loading the horses with their stuffs. Once they were done they would be going to the Hq inside of wall rose to await for the commander instructions. It would take them 3 hours to arrive to the Hq and Sakura was mentally preparing herself for the long ride. She could already feel the burn between her thighs and the bruises that the belts left in her body. She was sure whowever designed their uniform, didn't know the meaning of the word comfort.
"Mount your horses; we'll be leaving in 10 minutes" Squad leader Mike announced.
Good, my torture has started.
(…)
The ride to the Hq wasn't that bad. Of course, ignoring the few nasty glares some people send them and the extremely rude comments they muttered. Sakura was glad she had decided to cover her hair with her cloak. Heavens knows what they would do to her.
Most of her ride was spent talking to Sasha and Connie. The duo knew exactly what to say to made her ride more tolerable and fun. She had also spotted two herbs stores that she wanted to visit to resupply her medical kit. Although she needed money first, and if she wasn't mistaken Hanji had mentioned something about a paycheck in one of her visit to the mad woman office. Maybe she could even buy herself new clothes or find a blacksmith to forge her more kunais.
"Why are you smiling about?" Connie asked as he leaned towards her.
Sakura shrugged "I figured in what to waste my paycheck"
Connie lifted an eyebrow; in with a mockery tone he said "Did you know our paychecks are the lowest in the whole military?"
"W-what"
Sasha nodded. "Even the garrison gets pay more than us"
She growled. "Why? We are the ones that risk our lives"
"It's because of that" Ymir interrupted having overheard their conversation. "Our death rate it's the highest among the military, so the government doesn't see the point of paying us more than necessary, for them, we are suicidal people that could hardly live to their twenties"
"I see. Who is the person in charge of our checks? I just want to talk"
After learning the misery that was her salary, Sakura had spent the rest of the trip sighing loudly. Krista, trying to comfort her new friend gave her the solution to her problems without realizing it.
"If you want more money, you should become the survey corps doctor." The blonde suggested. Immediately Sakura's mood changed, which made Reiner laugh aloud attracting the curious glance of squad leader Mike, who had been listening to them since they left the castle 2 hours ago. With a barely audible whistle, Mike motioned for his horse to slow down so he could stand beside the pink-haired girl.
"Cadet Lenz is right. Right now our only doctor is Hanji, "he said before getting closer to the girl. "And between us, I don't think she went to medical school"
Sakura laughed. "I'm sure the commander will have no problem leaving me in charge of the infirmary," she said with a laugh.
Mike nodded. "I'll talk to Erwin if necessary"
Shannaro! Her monetary problem had been solved.
When they finally arrived at the Hq, it was already past 9am, which meant that breakfast had been served more than half an hour ago to Sasha's sadness.
Once she had left her horse in the stable Sakura unloaded her things and headed for her room. One of the advantages of having a room for herself was that she didn't have to bother worrying about someone invading her privacy, after all, she had left valuable scrolls behind.
With a handseal and a simple "Kai" the door frame glowed with a soft blue light, and only with that her room was finally open. Without worrying much about it, Sakura threw her backpack on her bed and then threw herself on it. The short time she had spent here had been more than enough to get used to the hard but comfortable bed in her room.
Without much to do, she decided to take a nap.
"I can talk to the commander later"
And with that thought she let the darkness envelop her.
(...)
"What time is it?" She asked herself hoarsely. The soft orange glow that came through her window was the only indication she had. It must be somewhere around 4pm. With some laziness she got up from her bed and walked to her bathroom to wash her teeth and face.
Running her fingers through her pink tangles sakura managed to untangle her hair and could not help but notice that her once short hair now reached past her shoulders. She smiled. Maybe it was time for a change.
Fun fact: Did you know that, if you review the faster I update?
