Konoha.
Sakura stared at the town before her, eyes wide at the beautiful place. There were no holes riddled in the orange and white bricks, the merchant structures were intact and alive. Nothing was almost falling apart or smelling of death and blood.
It was everything in her fantasies.
"Come on, Sakura," Her mother cooed, gently pushing her along with them as they passed people with smiling faces and friendly atmospheres. She was surprised.
This place was so different from her village where people gave each other looks of spite and disgust.
And her parents told her that the Hokage of Konohagakure was residing in this place. She already knew from her many history books about the Hokages and what they did, including about this one, but she honestly never expected to be under the same roof as him! Her father especially, was eager to see the Hokage of their world, having only heard powerful tales about the legendary ninja from her grandparents, and relaying them to his daughter.
Sakura's heart beat with hope.
What if...this was a good thing?
"A good thing..." Sakura whispered to herself as she walked.
The words felt so weird on her tongue.
"What was that, honey?" her father asked her, giving her a raised eyebrow. He was smiling as usual, but this time it seemed brighter. He could feel the possibilities of this impossible place too.
"Nothing!" Sakura smiled big at him, and turned back to watching the crowds around them.
They, too, had daughters and sons walking by their sides. Some with the same standard blue bag on their backs like her.
Immediately she was reminded of the tall ninja that came to her front door that day to give her parents her school supplies.
Unfortunately, her parents had whisked her away when the door banged, as habit for as long as she could remember, and told her to stay in her room.
Sakura did as she was told, of course, but she looked out of her broken window to see the person after his stay, and that was the first time she saw a real Jounen.
He was tall and wearing a bulletproof suit, and he looked strong.
He was the very epitome of hard-training and peace Sakura had read many times in her mother's books.
The man handed over her academy supplies and told her a few more things, then waved goodbye.
He seemed as nice as the people around them.
Sakura looked up at her mother now, wanting to tell her about the ninja man, and saw her slightly worried expression. She frowned, following her green eyes to the large crowd ahead of them.
They were getting closer to the academy gates, and a long line of people was in the way. Pocketed among them were gray uniformed wearing men, much like the ninja who came to her door with her school supplies, holding a pen and scroll.
"State your name,"
A person asked them. Sakura jumped, and without looking at him, hid close behind her father.
He greeted the stranger.
"Hi, my name is Hiza-"
"I mean the one attending, sir." The man pointed his ink pen down to Sakura, who squeezed her eyes shut into her father's bottom.
"Ah...Mezuki, please," she heard him whisper to her mom, then her mom's hand touched her head gently.
"Come on, now, Sakura. Let your father talk."
Sakura looked forlornly up at her, then reluctantly extracted herself from her father.
"Sorry," she muttered.
"Anyhoo," began her father to the man again, whom was looking bored.
"This is Sakura Haruno. She's enrolled here in this academy and-"
"Hizashi, he knows," hissed his wife.
"Sakura Haruno..." mused the man, browsing his scroll. Then his eyes flitted back to her parents.
"You must be new. Haruno isn't a name I'm familiar with."
"No," laughed her father. "Probably not since we're not from around here."
"You're civilians." asked the man, but it came off as a statement instead. Sakura watched the man's face carefully, wondering why he asked so weirdly. He had to be the first person she met here who was not so nice.
The man sighed heavily and went back to his scroll to check, Sakura now understood, her name off the list.
"You understand this is for people with gifts right? If this one doesn't have the determination and skill to succeed as a ninja, you will essentially be killing your daughter."
What?
Sakura looked quickly at her mother, who was staring at the man with the same expression as her's, except her mother's was stronger.
And nastier.
"Who do you think you are, telling us our daughter isn't fit to be a ninja! Are you out of your mind?!"
The man looked surprised at her mom's outburst, blinking a few times.
Sakura would have giggled if she wasn't so scared of the attention from the crowd they were getting.
Her mom was her hero, but sometimes she went too far.
Hizashi dived into the situation with a sudden apologetic grin at the man, restraining his wife at the same time. Though her father looked just as angry as her mom.
"Forgive my wife, good sir, but you are being a little... discriminatory."
The man scoffed, shaking the embarrassment of having a woman yell at him away. "Yeah, yeah, just hurry up and say goodbye to your girl already so I can do my job."
This shocked Sakura and her parents. She turned to look at the people already through the gates ahead of them, noticing only children her age milling around and waiting for something else to happen. There were no adults, save for the security guards, by their sides.
Sakura suddenly felt queasy.
"What? Say goodbye?" asked her father. "But, we haven't passed the gate yet! I thought we'd get to go into the building with her. Maybe even meet the Hokage or the teacher-"
"No. This is how we run business now. Ever since the gate was erected after the Haruno wars."
Sakura perked at that. Her parents frowned.
The Haruno wars!? What's that?
Then the man seemed to realize what he said, and he started to bark at them to move along, when he froze.
It seemed like he was connecting the dots with something.
"You're the Haruno. The village cursed by the nine-tailed fox!"
Some people close by gasped, starting to back up from the family, but most just ignored them.
Sakura was staring at him with surprise, wondering at his exclamation. He was still pointing at them, looking like he was going to faint right there, when someone yelled at him to move the line along.
The man blinked at that, and seemed to go back to normal when he realized no one cared much about his gestulizations.
"Sir," her father spoke then. His voice made Sakura whirl on him, stunned at how angry he sounded.
Her father watched the man with unusual steely brown eyes, scaring Sakura.
Her father was never serious if he could help it.
Her mom, too, looked fearlessly at the freaked out man, her back stiff. Sakura watched them with awe.
They seemed so different.
"Please, allow our daughter inside." Sakura's father said formally. "This should not be a problem for her."
The man seemed to sneer, but he moved without a word, pointing to the gates with his finger.
"Go that way. Jinn will see you inside safely." He spat that last word out with spite, glaring at Sakura's parents. Sakura's mom didn't care, she got close to his face. "This better not affect my little girl. She was not involved."
The man's expression was stone. "Of course."
And her parents turned to look at her, returning back to their original selves like nothing happened.
"Have a good time, sweet heart," her father smiled wide, kissing her forehead. Blushing badly, Sakura squirmed in his grip when she noticed people watching.
"Dad!" He just laughed, ignoring the people around them.
"Behave yourself,Blossom," her mom warned her. Her green eyes were serious when she looked down at her daughter. It made Sakura's blush vanish as quickly as the questions came rushing in her head.
She opened her mouth to ask them, when her mother bent down and kissed her cheek.
"Focus on your studies and don't let anyone bully you." she whispered in her ear.
Sakura stared at her as she straightened and turned to the man waiting before them.
She nodded once to him, a sharp movement, and led Sakura to Jinn waiting at the gates.
Through the bars Sakura could see the other kids. Some already had weapons from home and were showing them off to their friends. It intimidated Sakura instantly.
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...
Her parents were speaking to the tall ninja named Jinn, who answered their questions friendly enough, but Sakura wasn't really listening until her dad nudged her head.
She looked up at him worriedly.
His smile faded. "What is it, honey?"
Sakura wanted to tell him she didn't want to go to the academy anymore. She didn't realize how scary it would be, and how under-grade she would be compared to everyone.
But.
She looked over at her mom, who was still talking with the man.
I still want to protect my family. And I don't want to go back home to my horrible village without learning something about fighting!
She looked back to her father, planting a big fake brave smile on.
"Nothing!" she chirped. "Nothing at all!"
Her dad gave her his smile, oblivious to the turmoil in her gut.
"So, we come and pick her up around six? That's good," her mom finished speaking with the man, and turned back to her family.
"Time for us to go, Sakura. This is a big step for you. I know you can do this''
Sakura looked surprised at her mom. She believed in her that much?"
It spurred her to react.
"Thanks, mom." she said gratefully. "I'll do my best!"
And they gave her one final hug before leaving her to the man near the gate. He was as tall as any of the ninja adults Sakura had seen, and he smiled a little at her. She briefly wondered what he had been talking about with her mom, then he spoke.
"Time to start school. Are you ready?"
Sakura wasn't sure about being ready, but she was looking forward to the academy.
She nodded at him, and he led her through the gates to the rest of the children.
Something I want to say...
There isn't really any info regarding Sakura's village and Haruno as a whole, so I made it up to the best of my ability. Also, as you guys have found out, the Haruno village is messed up. I don't like the fact that Sakura is the only normal one out of team seven, so I spiced her life up a little.
Please feed me back.