Chapter 3: Intent
"The only thing standing
between you and your goal
is the bullshit story you
keep telling yourself as to
why you can't achieve it."
- The Wolf of Wall Street
The morning of her sixth birthday, Sakura woke in her bed with a little smile on her face. Her father hadn't visited her room in over a week (choosing to stay at his shop late into the night) and of course she was now old enough to attend the Shinobi Academy.
She lazed in her cozy bed a little bed longer than normal, picturing herself wearing the Konoha forehead protector and wielding kunai against faceless foes. But eventually her hunger announced it's presence through persistent rumblings, so she reluctantly rose.
The house was quiet as she tiptoed downstairs. Her mother was more than likely still in bed and Sakura knew that her father would have left for the store hours ago. So she helped herself to some fruit and the staler bits of bread.
It was an uncharacteristically sunny day for May, and with no one around to tell her off, Sakura snatched her large tome about chakra, along with her notepad and made for the garden. If she kept close to the koi pond, the bamboo would hide her from any curious eyes.
Hours passed and the little girl sunned herself like a fat house cat amidst the newly blossomed plants, as her mind devoured the words on rapidly decreasing pages. When her hand started cramping, she dropped her pencil and shifted onto her back, closing her eyes against the bright sun. Taking a deep breath, Sakura searched within herself, trying to feel her own chakra.
…
…
And nothing.
Huffing in slight frustration, she opened her eyes, squinting against the sunlight. She rolled to her feet, sitting in the classic mediation pose that the book illustrated. Once again, Sakura inhaled deeply, but this time she held the breath for a moment before slowly exhaling. And repeated the process a few more times until she felt like she could fall asleep… and that's when she felt it. A gentle sort of humming that came from the very core of herself and spread itself out into a million strings that reached from the tips of her ears to the ends of her toes. Some of the strings were thick and bright, others were thin and small, and strangely enough there was a large cluster right at her throat.
She could feel the gentle humming of her small, but strong spiritual energy thrumming within. But when the small girl tried to tug on the biggest, brightest string, she felt a wave of fatigue hit her. Withdrawing from her short meditation, Sakura heard the uncharacteristic sound of her mother yelling for her.
"-SAKURA!" Mebuki shouted, not bothering to be mindful of the neighbors. She sprinted into the garden and turned sharply at the koi pond, stopping short when she spotted her daughter sitting calmingly next to her old book on chakra and a small notepad.
Sakura cocked her head at her panting mother, "Yes?"
"What in Kami's name are you doing out here? I felt your chakra fluctuate and panicked!" her mother answered, voice sounding uncharacteristically firm.
The little girl shrugged. "I finished my book and thought I would experiment in trying to feel my own chakra." Her green eyes suddenly shone with excitement, "Have you always been able to feel my chakra, mother?"
Mebuki ignored the question, "Come inside, you'll burn out here."
Sakura struggled to bite her tongue at her mother's avoidance. But once she settled down at the kitchen table, she was determined to get some answers. And as she watched her mother bustle about the kitchen, making tea, she thought that perhaps her mother was ready to answer some. But before she could open her mouth to ask anything, her mother beat her to it.
"It is dangerous to manipulate your chakra without any guidance or supervision. Do not do it again." She slid one of the teacups across the table, "Happy Birthday flower."
And before Sakura even had to chance to open her mouth, Mebuki delicately picked up the other cup and left the room.
Sakura slumped down in her chair feeling dejected. The questions sitting on the tip of her tongue, floated to the back of her mind, as she grasped the cup of jasmine tea and took a small sip. The slightly expensive tea was the only thing anyone would offer her in terms of a birthday celebration.
Draining the cup of fragrant tea, she reminded herself that at least now she was old enough to start at the Shinobi Academy. And that was the best and most unlikely gift that she had ever been offered.
Until Sakura was four, she had always thought that birthdays were just like any other day of the year. A normal day, made slightly special by the cup of jasmine tea her mother would make her, or occasionally the pretty braid that would be wound in her hair. It wasn't until she was reading a fairytale book, where the beautiful princess had a ball to honor her birthday, did Sakura even ponder that birthdays were a cause for celebration. But the girl was a princess after all, so she didn't take much stock of it.
But when Sakura was four years old, her Aunt Ran's son, Nori, turned five while they were visiting Konoha. Her father had a massive feast made, decorations painted and hanged, and brightly wrapped gifts displayed. This was the first time she truly understood that birthdays were meant to honor the recipient of them. That it was common practice to celebrate.
But Sakura also understood from a young age that her presence was never something that was going to be celebrated- and especially not by her family. So she never expected anything- not even the tea, incase one year it didn't happen.
But as the day passed on and Sakura dutifully stayed in her room, reading and daydreaming, she received one more unexpected gift… When she was called down for dinner that evening, her father was not present. This was not wholly unusual; as for the past month her father was rarely home in time to attend dinner. But tonight Kizashi did not return home at all...
Sakura had worked on every mind trick she could think of to keep her green eyes open late into the night, expecting something truly terrifying to happen. A churning in her gut told her that perhaps tonight she would finally get to see what happened down in the basement with her own two eyes… but as the hours ticked passed her father never showed. And she did not feel guilty for being relieved.
Four days after her sixth birthday though, Sakura was starting to become antsy. No one had made mention to when exactly she would be starting at the Academy… She now fit the required age, but neither parent seemed to be keen on taking her there, or mentioning her soon to be flourishing education… On the fifth day, she grew petulant and stomped around her room, knowing that her mother could hear. On the sixth day, while her mother was at the market, her Uncle Akio showed up with some disappointing news. Crouched at the top of the stairway, she heard him explain to her father from the foyer.
"She won't be able to begin classes until the beginning of September. There isn't enough children of age to start a full class."
And Sakura's stomach dropped as she heard her uncle explain to delay to her dreams. Sakura had known that at the regular school centre children did not attend during the summer- too many children were needed to help their parents with trade and farming. But the Shinobi Academy allowed their students no such breaks- they were to be the future elites of the village and were expected to work extra hard… But the war claimed too many lives. And even with the expected post-war baby boom, there still weren't enough children to fill a class.
"One of the instructors did give me this. He said she can practice them every morning to begin her training," Akio said. "Right at home…"
And Sakura knew from the lilt of her uncle's voice that he was teasing her father. Uncle Akio took a special sort of pleasure in pointing out her father's failure to pick a good spouse. She had gathered from the whisperings between her aunts that Kizashi had once between the favorite son and Akio, forever the underachiever. His status as second best had forever changed the day Sakura was born.
"Right, thank you for fetching this," Kizashi stiffly answered.
"Oh, it was no problem at all," Akio airily said. "I have to be going now, must get back to Kaori."
Sakura heard her father give a short farewell before loudly closing the door. She scrambled to get away from the stairway, but in her haste, her elbow knocked against the banister. Biting her lip, she looked up and locked eyes with her father's furious brown ones.
"Get down here," her father bit out.
Swallowing down her dread, Sakura slowly descended the stairs.
Once she was in reach, Kizashi impatiently dragged her down the rest of the steps. He hurled her through the sitting room and straight to the basement door.
Hot terror rushed through the little girl. She felt her gut clench as her father threw open the basement door and continue to drag her down the stone steps. They felt like ice on her bare feet, but Sakura ignored it, instinct telling her something much worse was about to happen. Once they reached the bottom, Kizashi threw her small body to the floor.
Sakura trembled. The basement cellar had always been a place of fright for her when she was little. With the lack of adequate lighting and the antiquated stone walls lined with shelves, upon shelves of her grandmother's sacred knick-knacks, Sakura knew she was not allowed to be down there. And that was one rule she was only too happy to obey. But now, trembling in front of her father, she didn't dare move her eyes to anything but him.
"You think it's acceptable to eavesdrop on private conversations?" Kizashi hissed. "Than perhaps I need to teach you a little lesson about manners!"
Sakura scooted backwards as her father unbuckled his black leather belt and yanked it off. She watched as he wove the material around his palm a few times, leaving a good two feet hanging. Her heartbeat doubled, and a hot sensation crept down her spine. And as her father approached, swinging his belt up in an arc, she felt that same humming sensation that she felt during her meditation fill her.
"NO!" Sakura cried, her voice oddly wavering. She threw her hands up to cover her face.
The cellar was silent for a moment, before Sakura heard a soft thump of leather hitting stone. She peaked her eyes up and noticed her father's arm was now back at his side, the belt pooled on a floor like a snoozing snake. When she looked up, her father's eyes were even more furious than when he caught her listening on the stairs. The hand that had been holding the belt kept clenching.
"Get out of here you little freak," Kizashi thundered.
And Sakura did not waste any time following that order. She scrambled to her feet, flinching, as she had to dart passed her father for the stairs. She took the stone steps two at a time and only paused once the basement door was closed.
Hesitating, the little girl stopped and listened to see if her father would follow. But no lumbering footsteps were heard… no sounds at all…She jumped like a startled cat when a loud bang, followed by her father cursing was heard.
That prompted Sakura to race up to her bedroom and fling the door shut. It was only when she paused, did the little girl notice how drained she felt- like a wilted plant. But with a threat still eminent, she quickly grabbed the heavy chair from her desk and dragged it over, propping the back of it under the door handle. Only once she was satisfied with her makeshift lock, did the little girl make for the darkest corner in her room. She huddled up next to her nightstand, certain that if her father did manage to barge in, he would have trouble finding her.
And that was how she spent the night. Tired eyes flying open every time she heard so much as a creak go off in the house. Never flinching as her neck became sore or bottom felt numb. It wasn't until the next morning when her stomach demanded sustenance that the little girl got to her feet, wobbling slightly. She moved her chair and slowly crept down the stairs, alert for any signs of her father- even though it was more than likely that he was at his shop.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Sakura entered the kitchen, but stopped in shock when she spotted her mother sitting at the table, a bright red book next to her.
"Good morning flower," Mebuki said, her delicate hand clutching a teacup.
"Good morning mother," Sakura responded, confused at seeing her mother out of her room, especially since it wasn't an errand day.
"Your uncle brought this book for you. It is from the Shinobi Academy. The instructors want you to read and practice its contents this summer. You will not begin classes until September."
Sakura nodded, already knowing this from the incident yesterday, but not wanting to confess to her mother what had transpired. "Did you look through the book?" she questioned instead, while grabbing some leftover rice balls .
"…I did," Mebuki hesitated.
Munching on her breakfast, Sakura studied her mother, noticing how her blue eyes would not meet her own. "Did you recognize any of the stuff in it?"
Mebuki sighed, "I do no wish to speak about my time as a kunoichi."
Sakura frowned, "I thought you would be able to help me with my training. You're a war hero, why wouldn't you want to talk about being a kunoichi?"
Mebuki's jaw tightened. "I never should have told you those stories when you were young- it put all these thoughts in your head. I didn't want this life for you- it's too dangerous, for more reasons than you know."
Trying to digest her mother's words, and all the implications that came with them, Sakura's frown deepened. "So you wont help train me?"
She watched her mother rise from her chair, "No, there is still hope that you will go down another path."
Sakura felt the tears stinging in the back of her eyes as she watched her mother leave the room. It was difficult enough knowing that her father would never support her, but hearing this from her mother was worse. She furiously wiped the tears away and grabbed the red book, running outside with it. Settling herself by the koi pond once again, she read through the first part of the book on what being a shinobi meant. Sunning herself, Sakura absorbed the new information on the Hokage and shinobi duties.
By late morning she came across some information on chakra and mediation. Recognizing the same practice from the book she had, Sakura closed her eyes and once again practiced being mindful of her spiritual energy. She didn't know how long she had been meditating for when she opened her eyes, but the sun bore down on her harshly. She took a quick break to grab a drink before returning to the garden and flipping to the next chapter on basic katas. Jumping to her feet, Sakura practiced the first few shown in the book, coupled with some basic taijutsu moves. She wished she had someone to tell her if her form was correct, but tried her best by looking at her reflection in the pond's water. It wasn't until the sun started its retreat, did Sakura stop. She knew her father would be home soon and that he would be far less than pleased at catching her outside practicing where someone could see her.
She ran inside and took a quick shower to get rid off the sweat and dirt that had accumulated before joining her parents for dinner. And despite the hostile atmosphere, Sakura couldn't help but feel inwardly content. Her morning meditation, followed by afternoon katas and taijutsu manoeuvres made her feel like she was making real progress.
And this became a routine that she continued to practice for the rest of the summer. She worked herself through the red training book, until she had completed all the basic moves. And when she was finished, she would go back to the beginning and practice everything over, and over again. This repeated process worked both her body and mind, making the little girl feel extremely fatigued at nightfall. Her tiredness helped her ignore the tense atmosphere inside her household- the new bruises that would appear some mornings on her mother's arms or collarbone, the aura of hate that haunted her father…
Kizashi no longer visited her bedroom at night, and she could only be thankful.
By the time September rolled around Sakura was itching to get out of the house. She had the red book memorized backwards to forwards and was desperate for new material. On September third, her Uncle Akio showed up at the house again, just after dinner.
His brown eyes zeroed in on her, "I will be escorting you to the Shinobi Academy at seven o'clock tomorrow. Wait for me at the gate to the main road and do not be tardy."
Sakura nodded and excused herself from the table before either parent could utter a word about how they disagreed with her choices. But once she was in her room, she was just as antsy. Butterflies squirmed in her stomach and a small excited smile lit her face. She was so nervous and excited that she barely slept a wink that night.
At approximately five in the morning, Sakura was up and scurrying about her room for what necessities she thought she might need. She tried on three different outfits before settling on her favorite training one- plain black stretchy shorts and a light blue tunic. It had always allowed for a full range of movement. Grabbing her bag and red training book, she headed down the path to the main gate of the house at six thirty.
Sakura was practically bouncing on her feet by the time Uncle Akio showed up. He did not try to make any sort of conversation with her as the walked along the quiet streets. Merchants and vendors were just starting to set up their shops, but the streets were still mostly empty. It was only when they reached the Academy, and Uncle Akio lead her to a man with a spiky ponytail, green vest and a forehead protector, did he speak.
"Umino-san, I'm Haruno Akio, and this is my niece, Sakura. We spoke earlier this summer."
The man smiled with gentleness Sakura did not expect. "Ah yes, its nice to see you again." His dark eyes looked down at Sakura, "I hope you found the training book useful."
Nerves tightened her throat, but she managed a quick nod and a quiet, "Very much, shinobi-san."
The nin chuckled deeply. "So polite! You can call me Iruka-sensei."
Sakura nodded, feeling confused at the man's informality. She was accustomed to adults drilling respect into her.
Another parent caught Iruka-sensei's attention and he wandered away. Sakura looked at her uncle. She flushed upon noticing his appraising stare.
"Succeed," was all that Akio said, before walking off towards the gate and leaving Sakura alone in a sea of children and parents.
It was the first time Sakura fully grasped the social aspect of her situation. She had been so focused on mediation and training that somehow the little girl failed to remember that she would eventually be training amongst her peers. For the first time, she may have friends…
Many of the children appeared as if they already knew each other. Several of them screamed each other's names in delight as their parents- wearing forehead protectors chatted amicably. The Academy instructors all seemed busy with administration duties, and it appeared as if it would be a while before anyone entered a classroom. So Sakura ventured over to an oversized tree and sat down, and observed.
She watched as a tall blonde girl scolded a brown haired boy with a spiky ponytail. She took notice of a boy with red marks on his cheeks chasing after a small white puppy. She observed a girl with lavender pupiless eyes nervously standing next to a group of severe looking shinobi with similar eyes. And finally Sakura noticed the kunoichi from the spring festival- her mother's teammate. The woman must have felt her gaze because she looked up and her dark eyes caught with Sakura's green.
"All first year students, please go to room 104," one of the instructors called.
Sakura got to her feet and dusted off her backside. She tried to blend herself into the crowd of new students. As she was swept into the classroom, a man with white-blond hair greeted them.
"Hello first years, I'm Mizuki- sensei. I have arranged to have you sit in alphabetical order for the first week of class. This way we can all get to know each other's names a bit better. Please find the seat with your name on it."
Sakura hunted out her seat. Her chair was next to a girl named Ami and a window. Quickly taking her seat, she noticed a girl with shoulder length purple hair approach. Hope blossomed in her chest…this was her chance to make a real friend.
"Hello," Sakura quietly said, offering a shy smile.
The girl studied her for a moment, before smiling back. "Hi."
But before the girls were able to get more acquainted, Mizuki- sensei started the class. Sakura straightened herself up and listened attentively. It turned out that the lecture was mostly the same as the information in the red book- shinobi duties and such. Sakura still listened, but felt her attention straying to the window, where a class of older students were practicing outdoors.
When Mizuki-sensei dismissed the class for lunch, Sakura followed the rest of the children outside. Many of them once again quickly grouped themselves off, including her seatmate Ami.
Sakura trod over to the tree once again and slowly ate from her bento. She was halfway through her lunch when the branches of the tree began to rustle. Startled, Sakura looked up to find bright blue eyes and whiskered cheeks staring hungrily at her lunch. She recognized the boy as the orphan from the festival, and while she wasn't sure why he was spying on her, she knew he was probably hungry. So with at least half of her food untouched, Sakura closed her bento and set it aside. She made no move to acknowledge the boy as she got to her feet and strode towards the door.
"Hey," a voice from behind her called.
Sakura turned around. It was her mother's teammate's son. "Hello," she cautiously replied. Her mother had seemed hesitant around the woman.
"I'm Uchiha Sasuke. We met at the spring festival, remember?" he said with a carefree smile.
Sakura nodded, smiling back slightly.
"Our mothers were on a team together, did you know?" he asked, voice earnest.
Clearing her throat, Sakura replied, "I didn't know until the festival."
Sasuke shrugged, "Me either."
"Sasuke, Sasuke!" a group of slightly older children with similar black hair and eyes called from a bench.
"Well, see you in class," he said, before running over to the group.
Sakura watched them for a moment before heading back inside. She slipped into the classroom and noted just one other person sitting down. It was the girl with the lavender eyes. She sent the girl a small smile before sitting back in her seat.
A bell rang a few moments later, and the classroom quickly filled up again. Ami took her seat beside her.
"How do you know a Uchiha? I didn't think you were from a ninja clan," Ami said, craning her head to look for a clan symbol on the back of Sakura's shirt.
Sakura chewed her lip for a moment, "We don't really know each other. And I'm not from a shinobi clan." She didn't know why knowing an Uchiha was a big deal anyway…
Ami studied her for a moment before her eyes narrowed, "You don't have to lie about it."
Sakura opened her mouth to refute the statement, but Iruka-sensei walked in the classroom, hushing everyone.
A large portion of the afternoon was spent with Iruka lecturing them on chakra. A lot of the information was familiar, but Sakura perked up when she was introduced to a new term: blood limit.
"Some shinobi, especially if they hail from a shinobi-clan will have a blood limit. This limit when activated or combined with their chakra allows them to do special things that regular nin cannot. It is exclusive to a shinobi clan and cannot be learned- only inherited."
Sakura felt herself droop a bit at that. It would have been interesting to have a blood limit- but she knew her mother did not hail from a shinobi-clan.
The last part of the day was spent outside going over katas and taijutsu moves. Sakura recognized the majority of them, but a few new ones were thrown in. She also noticed how several others were very good at the exercises- the blond girl, a boy with an overcoat and sunglasses, and Sasuke all received praises.
At the end of the day Sakura walked to the front of the building, seeing several parents waiting for the children. She hesitated for a moment, but Uncle Akio never mentioned walking her home. So she made the trek through the streets alone, ignoring some of the curious eyes on her.
Dinner that night was quieter than normal. Her father was not present and her mother did not ask her about how her first day went. Sakura did not offer her any recounts of it either. She went to bed early, feeling more tired than usual and wondered if perhaps tomorrow she would make a friend.
The next morning she woke up a little later, and changed into another training outfit. Walking down the pathway, she was not surprised when no one met her. And it did not bother the girl that she had to make the walk to the Academy alone. When she reached the building a few of her classmates were milling about with their parents or elder siblings.
Sakura slipped into the classroom, and only one other person was there. Once again it was the girl with the lavender eyes. Gathering her courage, Sakura walked over to the girl. She noticed how the girl trembled slightly as she approached.
"Hello, I'm Haruno Sakura," she said, nodding politely.
The girl nodded back, "H- hello Haruno- san, I'm Hyuga Hinata," she stuttered slightly.
"It's nice to meet you," Sakura said, but was slightly distracted when she noticed out of the corner of her eye something sitting on her chair.
The girl hummed her agreement and Sakura smiled again before walking over to her seat and pulling out her chair. Sitting on top of it was her bento box for the day before. She opened it and noticed it was completely empty. Putting it in her bag, she took her seat as people started filing in.
The day passed much the same as the last. And soon, a week, then a month went by. Sakura's routine was set. She was learning lots at the academy, but she still hadn't made many friends.
Sometimes she could hear Ami and her friends whisper nasty things about her hair or 'cat-like" eyes. This didn't particularly bother her as she had heard much worse things from home… but these girls were not her family. And she could not quite grasp why they seemed to dislike her.
Hinata was always nice to her, but the girl was both quiet and painfully shy. Sasuke would sometimes wave to her, but he always sat with the other Uchiha children. And the boy with the blue eyes- Naruto was a giant prankster. He was always getting into trouble. So while Sakura would always leave a bit of her lunch for him, she didn't particularly want to spend her time with him. It was lonely, but whenever she felt herself getting down, she would remind herself that at least she was on her way to becoming a shinobi.
Mizuki-sensei would praise Sakura's knowledge on chakra and Konoha history. Suzumi-sensei would never call on Sakura in class, even when she was the only one with her hand raised. And Iruka- sensei was nice, but Sakura found herself irrationally irritated with him. Logically she knew that he was just trying to help, but it always felt like he was pointing out her flaws, or using her as an example of what not to do during physical training.
Iruka- sensei had told her that she lacked stamina and that her aim with the practice kunai was very off. So every night Sakura would run home, trying to increase her stamina. She did push ups, sit- ups and jumping jacks in the back yard. Sometimes she would even sneak out in the middle of the night to practice her aiming skills with her training kunai. And sometimes Sakura could swear that she felt her mother's eyes on her. But she could never catch a glimpse of the woman- and its not like she would ever help her anyways…
A year passed by much the same. Sakura found herself borrowing more and more books from Mizuki-sensei. And every day at lunch she would read from one of the large tomes while eating half her lunch. Sometimes Hinata would join her, quiet as a mouse as she ate her own food. And occasionally whatever book that was propped in her lap remained unread, as instead she chose to observe those around her.
Sakura picked up a lot more information about her classmates from watching them than they probably knew. For instance, she knew that Shikamaru was a lot more clever than he let on, and he would sometimes goad Ino into an argument to get her to stop teasing Choji about his weight. Kiba would sometimes rant about how 'uppity' the Uchiha clan was, but Sakura thought it was because his own clan was known for how 'wild' they were. The Uchihas- Sasuke was the only one in her class and he was always friendly to her, but he also stuck closely to his family. And Naruto- he loved pulling pranks because he loved attention.
Yet despite all the interesting faults she manage to pick up about these people, they still managed to have friends. Even Naruto, who the village notoriously hated, was liked by Kiba and Shikamaru.
In her second year Sakura's class were given real weapons to practice with after a stern lecture. And to her dismay, once again she was behind. The first day she picked up a senbon and threw it, it fell before even meeting the target board causing Ami and her friends to giggle obnoxiously behind her. But Sakura paid them no attention, instead she watched as Shino picked the senbon up and hit the target in the third inner circle.
Lessons became more challenging, but she excelled at anything lecture based. Information gathering exercises were her favorite. Sparring was probably her least favorite activity, but she knew that shinobi were expected to be strong. She had to be strong.
One day, late in the winter Sakura sat under the same tree for lunch, bundled in her scarf. Hinata sat beside her, eyes on the ground. Sakura had a large book on ninjutsu resting on her lap, but her eyes were not focused on the words. Instead she scanned the schoolyard intently.
"Sasuke is not here today," Sakura, said, double- checking the yard. "None of the Uchiha are here today."
Hinata looked up and she too scanned the area. "You're right." Her brows pinched together, "Its unusual for a clan to allow their members a day off. Unless it's a religious holiday-"
"-Which it's not," Sakura finished.
Her thoughts remained troubled through the rest of the day. Something felt off. And as she ran home for the day, Sakura noticed an abnormally large amount of jounin running about the village.
After she had finished some new offensive taijutsu and was about to sit down for dinner, someone knocked at the door. Kizashi gave her a look and Sakura went to answer the door. A short blonde genin stood on the other side of it.
"Is this the residence of Haruno Sakura?" the girl asked.
Sakura nodded, confused.
"All classes at the academy are cancelled for the next two days. They will resume on Friday at the regular time."
"Why are classes cancelled?" Sakura asked, never once hearing of an incident like this occurring.
The girl just shrugged before taking off down the lane.
"Who was at the door?" Kizashi asked as she sat down.
"A genin. She said my classes are cancelled until Friday," Sakura explained, confusion still colouring her tone.
Kizashi snorted, "Unreliable as always…"
Sakura was too busy thinking about the odd events of the day to be bothered by her father's rant.
She spent the next day finishing her ninjustsu book and doing moderate exercises. But most of the day was spent pondering on what could be going on in the village…
By the second day Sakura was convinced that the village was under attack… or that someone had stole a forbidden scroll. Either way something dire was going on. Aunt Ran had decided to visit her father that morning and help sew some custom scarves, so Sakura holed herself up in her room. She only emerged when she watched the two leave the house through her bedroom window.
As she walked down the stairs she heard a strange noise coming from her mother's room. It sounded like sniffling… She slowly opened her mother's bedroom door and saw her mother lying on her bed sobbing. And clutched in her hand was the day's newspaper.
"Mom?" Sakura tentatively asked.
Mebuki struggled to sit up upon hearing her daughter's voice. "Oh flower," she sniffed.
And Sakura crept towards her mother, caught off guard when the woman swept her in a big hug. Her worry grew as she felt her mother's body shake with sobs, and wet tears dampen her shirt. "What's wrong?" she whispered.
Mebuki clutched her harder, hiccupping. And over her mother's shoulder, Sakura could see the headline of the day's newspaper.
'UCHIHA MASSACRE'
Hi everyone, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
This one is a lot longer than the others and truth be told I'm not 100% satisfied with it. Thank you to all those who reviewed for the last few chapters! I do love hearing your feedback.
Thanks for reading and please review :)
-Nyx
