A dream is just that: a fantasy that remains out of reach if you only keep wishing without taking action. That's why, although I believe in dreams, I prefer to set goals. Goals can be achieved when you put in the effort.
Time had passed since she had returned to Konoha and enrolled in the academy. Soon, the mid-year vacation was about to begin; only a week remained. The students knew this and were more excited than ever. No exams, no teacher yelling at you, no need to pay attention in class.
Many of them were thrilled, all except Sakura. Just thinking about it made her sigh with regret. At least at school, she could stay away from her parents for half the day.
The day she had been punished because of Naruto had fortunately not been discovered by them. Iruka-sensei had been kind enough to punish them but not inform her parents. To make things worse, the creepy purple-haired ninja woman she accidentally discovered was named Anko Mitarashi hadn't reported them either. From that day on, she promised to keep a low profile to stay out of trouble and continue with her plans without being discovered.
"Pass these to your row, Sakura," said Iruka, handing Sakura three small sheets of paper.
She handed the sheets to Hinata, who was on the other side of the table, and then woke up Shikamaru, who looked at her with sleepy eyes before taking the paper and curling back up to sleep. Sakura rolled her eyes, amused and amazed by Shikamaru's ability to sleep for hours.
The class began to whisper and talk among themselves excitedly, waving the paper Iruka had given them. When Sakura looked at her own paper, her eyes widened slightly.
"You must fill it out and hand it in by the end of the day," Iruka began to say once he stood in front of the class again. "You need to write down what you want to be once you finish the academy so that you can receive the appropriate guidance for the rest of the year."
What do you want to be? That paper felt like lead in her hands as her mind began to wrestle between what she wanted and what she was supposed to do. Finally, the time had come to decide her future. Some didn't hesitate for a second to write down their choice and hand the paper to Iruka, like Hinata, Ino, Sasuke, Naruto, and even Sakuna, who gave her a lascivious smile as she passed by.
"I'll see you after the break," Iruka said before leaving the classroom.
As soon as Iruka left, a hand slammed down on her desk, startling Shikamaru, who was lying next to her with his head resting on his arms.
"How hard is it to write down that you'll be my servant? Have you lost the ability to write?" Sakuna said. Her friends laughed behind her.
Sakura couldn't say anything or she would face severe consequences. Every time this happened, she remembered Sasuke's words. Could she stand up to her sister? The image of her angry father still lingered in her mind and dreams.
"Hmm, you're useless even for that," Sakuna said, before noticing Ino approaching quickly. She turned around and left the room.
Like every previous day, Ino arrived and began ranting about how annoying Sakuna was for picking on her best friend. Hinata tried to lighten the mood unsuccessfully, and the three went off to eat alone. Hinata always brought more than one lunchbox so that between Ino's food and hers, the three could eat peacefully. That's how they spent the break, although, despite Sakura laughing, talking, and playing with them, her mind couldn't stop thinking about the paper in her pocket.
In these past months, she had used Hinata's and Ino's books when they were busy with training with Iruka. She learned to walk quietly enough to avoid detection while she watched from the doorway when Iruka taught ninja arts to her classmates. She even learned to pick the locks of her house; at night, when everyone was asleep, she would unlock the door and take a small snack, something so small that it wouldn't be noticed.
What her classmates had learned over the years, she had to absorb in a short time. That's why, in the library, Sakura studied diligently to catch up with what her classmates had learned since they were six years old. Sometimes she would ask Ino and Hinata questions about what they did in their meditation classes. Seeing her curiosity, they didn't hesitate to explain and even teach her some techniques. At night, Sakura tried to focus on chakra, but, to her misfortune, she couldn't see it as they sometimes described perceiving it.
In moments like those, she thought of Goron, the man who had helped her escape from Akatsuki at the cost of his own life. He had taught her some things about ninjas to survive. Would he agree that his sacrifice had been in vain, only for her to end up as someone else's slave? She had been lucky enough to get out of Akatsuki alive and whole, considering how little she had managed to investigate about them.
"Sakura, Sakura, heads up!" yelled Ino, finally pulling her out of her reverie.
Ever since they had been given the paper to choose their career, Sakura seemed a bit more down than usual. Ino, as the future leader of the Yamanaka clan, couldn't imagine what it would be like to have a life bound to servitude, but she could at least try to cheer her up.
"Let's go to class. By the way, my parents want you to come to my house this weekend. Your family can't say anything because mine is more powerful," Ino laughed mischievously, recalling the delightful moments when her parents would come over to Sakura's house to invite her to stay, even to sleep over. The look of disgust on Sakuya's face was almost as beautiful as seeing Sasuke—. "You can come too, Hinata."
Sakura smiled and went with them. The next class was Konoha History, one of her favorites, but today she felt absent, staring at her book without really reading or taking notes. She even missed the rare occasion of seeing Shikamaru actually reading and writing instead of using his book's pages as a pillow.
Suddenly, small paper balls began to fall into her hair. A bit irritated, she looked back and saw that it was Sakuya and two friends, the culprits of throwing the paper balls. Sakuya gestured for her to open one of the balls.
Servant.
How had she not seen this coming? She almost wanted to laugh at how childish her sister was if it weren't for the small pang in her chest. Reality, destiny, and responsibility dictated that she should do what her parents commanded.
She turned back to the front and ignored the paper balls that continued to fall on her head, her book, and her back. She preferred to think about what her classmates would do in her place. Maybe Hinata would do the same as her; Ino would surely throw the paper balls back while saying "sweet" words with her sharp tongue; Sasuke would simply give them his death glare that would freeze them instantly, and Naruto would probably shout about not letting them do that, throw paper balls, and then play one of his pranks to get back at them.
Since that time in the library, Naruto had tried to involve her in his problems, claiming it was fun. Of course, she always refused and hit him for being silly enough to invite her to be his accomplice. However, sometimes she saw how much fun he had with Kiba, Shikamaru, and Chouji when the four of them tried to skip classes.
"Hey, could you stop throwing paper balls?" Shikamaru's voice pulled her out of her imagination.
Beside her, Shikamaru had turned toward her sister and the others, with a slight frown, showing he was a bit annoyed. He had a few of the paper balls that were meant for Sakura in his ponytail.
"This is too troublesome. If you're going to throw paper balls at someone, you should take enough time to improve your aim, because clearly, not all of them are hitting the target."
The faces of the three girls turned red as those around them laughed. Clearly, he wasn't defending Sakura, but it was still a relief that he stopped Sakuya, or Sakura's desk would have been filled with papers.
"Is there a problem, Sakuya?" asked Iruka.
Sakuya started stammering, trying to find a believable excuse, but she didn't have enough time before Iruka dragged her outside to talk to her. As they descended the stairs, she shot a venomous look at Sakura before leaving with Iruka to receive her punishment.
"Troublesome," muttered Shikamaru before looking at Sakura, who gulped, "even if she's your sister or whatever she is to you, you shouldn't let her bother you, or it'll be troublesome for the rest of us."
He left his notes on Sakura's desk and finally lay down on his book to sleep. Sakura blinked several times before looking at the notes Shikamaru had given her.
A small smile crept onto her face. Although Shikamaru's intention was to stop the nuisance, he undeniably helped her remember the pride diminished by her family. She had made her decision.
Carefully, so as not to be seen, she took out the paper still in her pocket and wrote on it. Then she waited for the classes to end and for all her classmates to leave.
Iruka was at his desk, putting away some papers.
She got up from her seat and started walking toward him. Each step felt heavier than the last, but she felt a great energy roaring inside her. Was she making the right decision? Well, no one knows if Ino will marry Sasuke or if Sakuya will, if Naruto will finally become Hokage, if Hinata will overcome her shyness, or if Shikamaru will become responsible. No one knows what the future holds, but at least she could do something about the present.
"Iruka-sensei," Sakura said.
"Oh, Sakura, what do you need?" Iruka asked with a smile.
She swallowed hard before raising the small piece of paper in her hands.
"I almost didn't give this to you."
"Oh, good. Thank you…." As he took the slip of paper, his eyes widened slightly as he unfolded it. He was speechless, seeing that it was anything but what he had expected. He looked up to meet her emerald eyes. "Are you sure this is what you want to be?"
There was no turning back now. What had started as a dream was finally making its way into reality, bringing significant consequences. Both Sakura and Iruka knew this, considering her parents' reaction.
"Yes, I want to be a kunoichi."
With every small step you take, when you look back, you will realize that you are a little closer to your goal.
After spending almost the entire day locked in Pain's office working on the village's pending matters, Konan decided to take a break. She walked through the hallways, determined to take a stroll around the village. Even during a break, she couldn't help but look out for the city and monitor its state. They had sacrificed so much that she enjoyed seeing the progress they had made towards achieving their promised land.
"Repeat it again, this time you'll even have to sign it," Tobi's voice came from behind one of the doors.
"Again?" Upon hearing Sakura's voice, Konan stopped.
"There always has to be a paper to back up agreements, deals, or missions. Never forget that," Kakuzu said from inside the room, prompting Konan to enter.
Inside the room were all the members of Akatsuki, except Pain and Zetsu, surrounding Sakura, who already seemed bored. On a couch, Itachi and Sasori observed seriously what the others were doing, who were closer to Sakura. The poor girl, who had been there for a while, sighed once more and nodded.
"I promise that when I grow up, I won't have a boyfriend and I'll marry a kid or ni-san," she recited solemnly before signing the paper that said exactly the same thing.
"Damn it! We should have a camera to record this," said Hidan.
"If someone weren't so stingy and actually spent the money to buy one," Deidara said, looking at Kakuzu.
One by one, they signed the paper as witnesses to what Sakura had just promised.
"Maybe it's not a bad idea," said Kakuzu.
If it were anyone else, Konan would have been surprised to see that Kakuzu was actually considering spending on something other than the bare essentials.
When Sakura saw her mother enter the room, her eyes sparkled like stars.
"Mom!" she shouted, rushing to hug her.
When Sakura looked up, Konan silently saw her pleading to be taken away from there, even if it meant dragging her out. It's not like Konan hadn't considered it when she saw what they were doing.
"Let's take a walk," she took Sakura's hand and led her away.
In the background, she heard most of them complaining and some comments about Sakura still needing to write and say that she wouldn't marry or kiss the fools Renji and Shiro.
Once in the city, under an umbrella and with a dango stick she had bought for Sakura, Konan decided to talk to her.
"Why did you agree to say you won't have a boyfriend?"
Sakura returned a smile that Konan knew well, the one she made when she had plotted something.
"Because they wouldn't stop complaining that I spend too much time with Renji-kun and Shiro-kun, so I decided to say that. Mom, boys are very immature and foolish. I won't have a boyfriend, let alone a husband who is a boy. I want a man," she said firmly.
Konan smiled at her daughter's wisdom in mocking some of the most infamous ninjas of the present day. Besides, maybe she's watching too many shows with Kisame; I'll have to monitor what they show in them to decide which ones she can watch at her age.
"And what about Itachi?"
This time Sakura laughed.
"Renji-kun and Shiro-kun said it's weird to say I'll marry a brother, so Itachi is not my brother anymore. Besides, I want to marry Itachi, dad, and you to be togeeeether forever."
Undoubtedly, she's still a child.
"We'll always be with you, no matter who your boyfriend or husband is," she stroked her head before making a paper leaf fly, transforming into a rose that landed on her head.
"Yes! Then I'll have lots of children so they'll have more grandchildren to play with, and dad won't have to fight with the other dads like he does with me," she laughed.
Konan continued walking with Sakura by her side as she described how her children would be with that imaginary husband, sometimes Itachi and even another unknown. From experience, she didn't know what destiny held for them, but she agreed with Deidara about getting a camera to record these moments with her daughter.