Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
* * * * * *
Sakura barely touched her dinner that evening. She sat at the table, just sliding her chopsticks across her plate dully. She flinched whenever someone touched her, and jumped when someone called her name. It was as if her mind was elsewhere.
"Sakura, honey, what's wrong?" asked Haruno Amaya as she watched her daughter pick lazily at her dish. "I thought you liked pickled sour plums."
"I'm just not hungry," replied Sakura, her eyes misted over as she fantasized.
"What is wrong with you today? Are you ill?" asked Sakura's father, leaning across the table to place a hand over her forehead.
"I'm okay! Really!" Sakura sighed, dodging her father's callused hands. "Just back off!" Sakura felt a strange stress within her chest, right about where she had cut herself. An unexplainable rage was building within her, slowly boiling towards the surface.
"Sakura honey, maybe you should just quit training! Until that teacher of yours gets back-" the Haruno woman suggested peacefully, but found herself staring into Sakura's bright green eyes- which were suddenly a very deep tone indeed.
"No! I have to train! You wouldn't understand!" Sakura yelled, feeling herself loosing control of her anger.
"Sakura, sweetie, I was only making a suggestion," Amaya said, trying desperately not to upset Sakura any more.
"What would you know? You two were failures! You quit! You wouldn't understand what it is like! You stupid, ignorant people! I can't believe that you are my parents! You'll never understand what it's like for me!" Sakura screamed as she leapt to her feet, sending her bowl flying onto the floor where its contents spilled and the dish shattered.
"Sakura! Sit down!" roared her father, rising to her feet.
"No!" Sakura yelled back rebelliously. The man, in a desperate hope to get the old Sakura back, lifted his hand and then swung it towards Sakura's face.
"No!" cried Amaya, trying desperately to sooth both her daughter and her husband. But it was too late.
Sakura's hand instinctively reached for a kunai, and silence suddenly fell over the family as blood dripped to the floor. The head of the Haruno household looked down at his hands, where a kunai had entered one side and exited the other. Blood poured from the wound, and absolutely gushed as Sakura pulled her kunai back out.
"Katashi!" shrieked Amaya, leaping to her feet and to her husband, who was frozen in shock as he stared at his hand. "Darling!" She turned to Sakura, who was calmly cleaning her weapon on her dress. 'What have you done?"
"I am sorry, mother," whispered Sakura before she turned and dashed from the house, not bothering to close the door behind her. Amaya breathed heavily, trying to think of what had just happened, until Haruno Katashi moaned in agony at his wound.
* * * * * *
Sakura lay atop the Hokage monument, in the center of her training area. She stared blankly up at the stars, her eyes half closed as the cool breeze slowly wafted over her. This was where she belonged, up here, all alone. Her parents wouldn't understand.
'But why did I feel so mad? Why did I stab father?' she questioned herself. It was a puzzle to her, one that she could not solve.
And with her thoughts in that area, she slowly drifted away into a deep, dreamless sleep.
* * * * * *
Sakura barely touched her dinner that evening. She sat at the table, just sliding her chopsticks across her plate dully. She flinched whenever someone touched her, and jumped when someone called her name. It was as if her mind was elsewhere.
"Sakura, honey, what's wrong?" asked Haruno Amaya as she watched her daughter pick lazily at her dish. "I thought you liked pickled sour plums."
"I'm just not hungry," replied Sakura, her eyes misted over as she fantasized.
"What is wrong with you today? Are you ill?" asked Sakura's father, leaning across the table to place a hand over her forehead.
"I'm okay! Really!" Sakura sighed, dodging her father's callused hands. "Just back off!" Sakura felt a strange stress within her chest, right about where she had cut herself. An unexplainable rage was building within her, slowly boiling towards the surface.
"Sakura honey, maybe you should just quit training! Until that teacher of yours gets back-" the Haruno woman suggested peacefully, but found herself staring into Sakura's bright green eyes- which were suddenly a very deep tone indeed.
"No! I have to train! You wouldn't understand!" Sakura yelled, feeling herself loosing control of her anger.
"Sakura, sweetie, I was only making a suggestion," Amaya said, trying desperately not to upset Sakura any more.
"What would you know? You two were failures! You quit! You wouldn't understand what it is like! You stupid, ignorant people! I can't believe that you are my parents! You'll never understand what it's like for me!" Sakura screamed as she leapt to her feet, sending her bowl flying onto the floor where its contents spilled and the dish shattered.
"Sakura! Sit down!" roared her father, rising to her feet.
"No!" Sakura yelled back rebelliously. The man, in a desperate hope to get the old Sakura back, lifted his hand and then swung it towards Sakura's face.
"No!" cried Amaya, trying desperately to sooth both her daughter and her husband. But it was too late.
Sakura's hand instinctively reached for a kunai, and silence suddenly fell over the family as blood dripped to the floor. The head of the Haruno household looked down at his hands, where a kunai had entered one side and exited the other. Blood poured from the wound, and absolutely gushed as Sakura pulled her kunai back out.
"Katashi!" shrieked Amaya, leaping to her feet and to her husband, who was frozen in shock as he stared at his hand. "Darling!" She turned to Sakura, who was calmly cleaning her weapon on her dress. 'What have you done?"
"I am sorry, mother," whispered Sakura before she turned and dashed from the house, not bothering to close the door behind her. Amaya breathed heavily, trying to think of what had just happened, until Haruno Katashi moaned in agony at his wound.
* * * * * *
Sakura lay atop the Hokage monument, in the center of her training area. She stared blankly up at the stars, her eyes half closed as the cool breeze slowly wafted over her. This was where she belonged, up here, all alone. Her parents wouldn't understand.
'But why did I feel so mad? Why did I stab father?' she questioned herself. It was a puzzle to her, one that she could not solve.
And with her thoughts in that area, she slowly drifted away into a deep, dreamless sleep.