Sakura's home life is kind of a mystery to me so I did my best to make it realistic. I hope you enjoy!
Sakura's home was in the middle of the village and just a section off of another building. It wasn't an apartment though and she led me straight to the dinning room. "Mom, I brought a friend home. She needs a place to stay," Sakura called. A tall, thin, blonde woman came down the stairs. She looked me over kindly, until her eyes fell upon my headband.
"Sakura!" her mother exclaimed. "You brought a foreign ninja into our house?" Sakura was taken aback and glanced down at my headband. Her mother didn't mind taking in borders but she was concerned for her daughter's safety. She didn't recognize the symbol on my headband and that made me an even greater threat. I would never understand why humans were afraid of the unfamiliar. That's all I had known.
"Mom," Sakura complained. "Any idiot could tell that her headband is fake." Now it was my turn to be taken aback.
"My headband is no more fake than yours," I defended myself. Sakura looked at me with surprised eyes. "It's a symbol of…" I trailed off, not knowing how to explain it. "Of my clan, I guess. I mean, it's not really a village and…" It was like I was discovering how alone I truly was. All my life I had worn the headband as a symbol of my pride for what I was, but now I saw it as a symbol of my solitude. I glanced down at the familiar weight on my hips. "I guess you're right. It is a fake."
"I'm sorry, Nari. I didn't mean to offend you, but that's not from a real hidden village. I don't know what it symbolizes or who gave it to you, but it's not a true ninja headband. Sakura's mother stayed silent. She was studying my headband, and my eyes. The connection was clear to her but she tried to deny it. If I didn't know better, she thought. I'd say she's somehow related to the nine-tailed fox demon. But that's not possible. Is it?
"It doesn't matter, anyhow," I said cheerfully. "I'm a real ninja now. The Third Hokage said it himself. He's going to make me a ninja for the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Maybe when I'm given a team, I'll get a true headband too." She has the same confidence as Naruto, Sakura noted. And she sure seemed to think a lot of him. I wonder… Before Sakura could finish her thought, her mother began to ask questions.
"So what's you full name, Nari?" the woman asked softly.
"It's just Nari, Mom," Sakura said.
"Now, that can't be," her mother protested. She turned towards me. "The way you talk about your headband representing your clan means you have to have a last name. All clans are families and all families are connected by last names."
"True," I muttered. "My clan is all connected by last names but not everyone who gives birth to a clan member, is necessarily part of the clan. Neither my mother nor my father, are a part of the clan. I'm the only living member, at the moment, and, as far as I know, the member before me may have only been related as like a super distant cousin or something. In fact, our bloodlines may have been connected so distantly that the relationship has been forgotten. Then again, for all I know, he was my uncle. Still, the last name is pretty obvious to those who look." I pointed at my headband with a shrug.
"It wouldn't happen to be Ninetails, would it?" I nodded my affirmation. So she is, somehow, related to the nine-tailed fox. And the Third Hokage wants to make her a ninja? What is he thinking? I would've brought up to her a memory that gave her more confidence in her Hokage, but I really didn't see the point in trying. What did I care? Besides, it wasn't polite to dig through someone's memories, especially an adult's. There are some things that just can't be unseen. "Well, why don't you come sit down at the table, NariNinetails? Are you hungry?"
"We just ate, Mom. Kakashi-sensei treated us after a difficult day of training." Still, Sakura and I sat down. I sat cross-legged next to Sakura, my staff in my lap, and her mother gave each of us a glass of tea. I bit back my repulsion. I didn't like how everyone seemed so intent on forcing plants down my throat. I came from a carnivorous species. We didn't eat plants. This was unnatural.
"How did you train, today, Sakura?" the mother asked softly, sitting across from her daughter.
"Well, me, Sasuke, and Naruto had to fight against Nari. She had a really strong defense that we couldn't get around, no matter what we tried. And she beat us when it came to offensive combat, too. She even used a genjutsu. She's really strong. I've never seen anything like her." I blushed at the compliment.
"Nari, if you don't mind me asking, are you even considered a ninja, yet?"
"I was born a ninja," I informed Sakura's mother. She raised an eyebrow in hopes for a deeper explanation. "My clan is not all that closely related because not everyone is born to be a ninja, but we all carry the gene. Those of us who actually get to use the gene, are considered ninja from birth, although it's usually not discovered until we're a year old. Those who are lucky enough to be sent to a hidden village (we don't teach our own ninja), will be trained like other ninja. Those of us who aren't, will have to learn how to control our gifts on our own. It's not a choice for us. If we have the ability, we are ninja. We can't just live normal lives."
"Why ever not?" the woman asked. I sighed, a frown crossing my features.
"Because we have so much chakra," I answered. She and her daughter were still confused. "Ninja from my clan have extreme amounts of chakra. So much so, that it's pertinent we learn to control it. When we're young, the chakra will shoot out of bodies due to our emotions. When we're older, we can contain it. My level of chakra control is beyond what people consider mastering it. And I still have issues with it. Whenever I use a ninjutsu, excess chakra escapes in a fiery explosion, usually flattening, if not destroying, everything around me. I've killed my own friends on accident because of it. That's why we have no choice. If the chakra were to be allowed to build up," I shuddered. "It'd be a disaster."
"So that's why those trees fell when you performed the shadow clone jutsu," Sakura filled in. I nodded solemnly.
"It means I can last longer in a battle, and perform more chakra consuming jutsus at a younger age, but it's at a great cost. I've even hurt myself sometimes. A blessing and a curse, I suppose. But I believe that's true for all kekkei genkai." Sakura's mother nodded.
"I've never heard of a kekkei genkai that grants you extreme amounts of chakra." I frowned. That wasn't what my kekkei genkai was. My kekkei genkai was the ability to take human form. The massive amounts of chakra was just nature's doing. Of course, according to my scroll, nine-tailed ninja did have more chakra than a normal nine-tailed fox of the same age. Still…
"It's more complicated than that," I said simply. "But it's classified information. Even some of the most elite jounin are not told. It's dangerous knowledge to possess."
"I see," she muttered, but she didn't. Rarely anyone ever did. They just said that to look smarter than they were, to have time to think. Sakura's mother was currently mulling over what my presence in the village entailed. It seemed that her and Kakashi were a lot alike. Or, perhaps, it was a shinobi thing.
"Anyway, Mom, I'd like to show Nari to her room now," Sakura revealed, not thinking that this conversation would go any further.
"Of course," the woman agreed. Sakura motioned for me to follow her. I used my staff to pull me to my feet and complied. She led me upstairs and down a small hallway. On either side were doors and, at the very end of the hall, one stood ajar. Sakura took me to that one. The room was practically empty, asides from a bed and empty desk.
"Just wait here a moment," Sakura requested, leaving me alone. She returned a few moments later with extra sheets and a pillow. She made my bed for me as I stood uselessly, by the window.
"What is it like?" I asked to no one in particular as I stared at the cushiony mattress.
"What is what like?" Sakura asked.
"To sleep on a bed," I replied. She was surprised yet again but soon remembered that I hadn't spent more than a night in a village and that was rare.
"It's very comfortable. What do you normally sleep on?"
"A tree branch. The ground is too dangerous."
"Well, imagine a tree branch covered in the softest moss you've ever encountered." I did. "Now imagine something a lot softer, flat, and large enough to hold you're entire body with room to move. It is warm and the air is still. There are no bugs or animals to disturb you. That's what it's like to sleep on a bed." I opened my eyes slowly, liking that image.
"If what you say is true, I've been missing something very great. No wonder why people sleep on beds almost every night."
"Yup! It's a wonderful invention." All was silent for a while as I stared out the window at the sunset. Sakura was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching me. "Hey, Nari," she finally said. I had been expecting her to talk for awhile by then.
"What is it, Sakura?" I asked, even though I already knew.
"Why did you agree to become a leaf shinobi?"
"Because, long ago, my clan made a peace treaty with Konoha. This treaty stated that, in return for using our lands, the ninja of Konoha would train our young clan members. Before this treaty, the shinobi of Konoha and the shinobi of my clan waged great battles. It's a fateful thing that they didn't destroy each other entirely."
"Why doesn't your clan train its own ninja?" I frowned again. How much should I tell her? I wondered.
"Remember how I said that I have a lot of chakra?"
"Yes."
"Well, because of this gigantic amount of chakra, I actually have a permanent cloud of chakra outside of my body. All ninjas of my clan do, although only a dojutsu could see it. When two ninjas from my clan are together, these chakra clouds expand and try to steal the chakra from the other ninja. This results in a giant chakra battle that, usually, leads to both ninja's deaths. If one ninja were to survive, on the other hand, they'd have absorbed the chakra of the other ninja. Then they'd have double the amount of chakra they should have, in a body that already contains too much chakra. They'd go insane, ultimately leading a bloody rampage and destroying everything in their path. The poor ninja would eventually die of a chakra explosion. That's why we do not train our own ninja." Sakura's jaw was hanging on a hinge.
"Of course, you need not worry about that with me. I'm the only ninja of my clan in existence. There's no way that could happen."
"Could – Could you still die of a chakra explosion?"
"Well, yes. I suppose it's possible but I take careful measures to avoid that. One day, I hope to create a seal that will eat away at some of my chakra so I won't have to deal with it."
"What kinds of measures do you take?"
"I don't sleep every night and I do a lot of excess training to try and tire myself. If I lose chakra and can't rest to restore it, it stays gone. It's difficult though. Sometimes I use too much chakra and then get in a battle. I'm very good with taijutsu though so I usually manage to defeat my opponent."
"You said you accidentally killed your own friends because of this excess chakra. What was that like?"
"Correction: I only killed one friend. I've only ever had one friend. And it was miserable. I still see his face in my dreams. I hate myself every day for what I did. All he was doing was trying to ensure my safety and well being, and I killed him. I revisit the sight of his death every year. The area is still a barren landscape. When I was first there, it was full of trees and life. I wiped all of that away." I glared down at my feet. My stupid feet that I used to show off my chakra control. Why couldn't I have had that kind of control then?
"I'm sorry," Sakura said. "I truly am. No one should have to go through that." I nodded in agreement. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
"Anyway, it's getting late. You should be going to sleep, Sakura."
"Oh, right," she mumbled before stalking out. I had truly depressed her. I felt slightly bad for sending her away but I needed to do something before I tried sleeping in the bed. I leaned my staff against the desk and pushed open the window.
"I'll be back," I reassured no one in particular as I crawled out of the home.
So what did you think? I know it was short and it's more of a filler chapter than anything but the next one will be up really soon.