"Sakura! You lousy foolish little pimp!"
The eight years old was scrubbing the floor in tattered clothes, the only cloth she had, when a hand grabbed her by the ear.
She yelped, surprised, and turned around to look at the culprit. When she saw her, she lowered her head and stuttered.
"M..mo..mother."
She reeled back when a slap landed on her cheek, sending her to the floor, almost knocking the bucket of soapy water over.
"You little demon!" The elderly woman snapped.
Sakura's heartbeat became erratic. She scampered on the floor, dropping her head to the lowest.
"Mother?" She could feel her sight becoming blurry.
"What did you do to my blouse?!" The woman bellowed.
Sakura raised her head slightly to peek at the Victorian-style blouse Mother held in her hands. It had long puffy sleeves and it was... supposed to be white. Why was it pink?
Sakura's eyes roved to the side as she racked her brain for a memory of handling a white or pink Victorian-style blouse, and found none.
"I don't know what you...you mean, Mother. Pardon me but I have not seen..."
"What?!" Mother bellowed again. "How dare you..." She grabbed a handful of the little girl's pink hair and brought it near her face. "You will not lie to me, dear. Your friends told me that they had seen you with it." She gritted out.
A painful screech went out from her mouth as she felt her scalp heating up with hot blood. Friends? She didn't have friends. She has never succeeded in befriending anyone since she came here.
"They...they lied."
Her eyes were shut, trapping the tears that threatened to fall and her voice came out strained and raspy.
Mother pulled at her hair again. "What was that, you little wench? Bad things has been happening around you and I will not be surprised if it's my head next."
She threw the girl to the floor and glared at her.
"First, it was your parents. Second, it was Mother Saishi. The other time it was one of the children's bedrooms. You are a demon child. I don't know why I had taken you in the first place but you are no good. No."
She turned around, flailing her arms. "Now what do I wear for the women's gathering?!"
Sakura was left to wallow on the floor. She put her hand over her mouth as the sobs flowed out without permission, accompanied by violent streams of tears. Her face was red, her scalps were covered in slight tints of blood, her raggedy clothes were wet and the bucket was still beside her. At least, this time Mother hadn't dumped it all over her.
The other children stood afar, watching. The littler ones had confusion and remorse on their faces while her so-called 'friends' were snickering at her.
Sakura looked around, her heart thumping frantically against the wall of her chest. She tried to stop her sobs as the tears continued but she couldn't. So she bit her hand to muffle the sound . If she made a noise, Mother might come back and give her a harsher punishment.
Ever since she was brought into the orphanage by Mother Saishi, she had tried fitting in but the other children did not like her.
In the dark and gloomy building, all the children were made to work, but she was given the larger portion of the house chores. She thought it was because of how highly they thought of her, so she took it up as a challenge. It later became a part of her daily activities. She had no idea that she was going to become an orphan slave in the process.
Some of the other Mothers beat her, rained abuses on her, called her a bad omen, used her more than her little body could manage, sent her on unnecessary scavenger hunts and used the words 'you killed your parents' as a soft spot to target on her, taking pleasure in seeing her cry.
Why?
She didn't know what went on in their peanut sized brains.
One even nicknamed her an evil child just because she had a dream that the little girl was dining with demons.
Why be concerned about dreaming of demons if they aren't around you already?
She wanted to leave.
Yes, run away. That she wanted to do.
She almost succeeded though, if it was not for Mother Saishi who had chased after her to bring her back. She had died in the process, handing her over before a truck had appeared out of nowhere and hit her.
Ever since then, the taunting and bullying increased. She was not only the cause of her parent's death but also of Mother Saishi's, as they said.
She hadn't asked Mother Saishi to come after her. So, why were they being so mean to her?
Sakura immediately snapped back to reality. No. She rubbed the back of her hands against her face, wiping the tears and struggling to her feet, gripping the handle of the bucket.
She had no time to sit here and cry. She still had work to do.
Maybe one day, just one day she can die and leave this world, but now... now that she was still alive and breathing, she will live, even with the world hurling stones at her. She thought as she limped away from the hall, hopefully.
Someone came to adopt her.
Sakura wasn't really expecting anyone to. So when she was told to clean up and prepare, she had first tiptoed over to the window where Mother's office was and peeped through it from outside, a part where few Mothers roamed.
She had seen the head of the person but not the face. Judging by the shape and outlook of the head, it was a man.
She walked away. But what man would have a darker shade of red hair?
One thing was for sure, he wasn't from around here.
Twenty minutes later, and she was still staring at the man that had saved her from her nightmare and torture house. But could she trust him? How did she know she wasn't going to a new torture house?
But what if he's not. Should she thank him? She did not know. She did not trust him.
Why her? Among all the other children, it was her. Many things have been happening these past few days ever since she clocked twelve. Sometimes, she'd hear melodies even when there was no one singing. Sometimes she'd feel some presence around her even when there was no one around, and they felt stronger than the normal presence of the people around her. And sometimes, she'd hear voices, saying the most incoherent things to her. They sounded like the stubborn mosquitoes in the attic that don't want to leave when she's cleaning.
She was in the passenger seat while the man was in front, steering the wheel. Really, it only gifted her view with the back of his head to stare at.
The red head let out a dry chuckle as he swerved to the right.
"Can you stop glaring at me? The back of my head feels attacked."
"Who are you?" She looked away to the window and watched the trees disappear as they drove past them. "You don't look like you're from around here."
"Aah." The man nodded as if getting the message. "We won't get home before we start the introduction. Well, I'm, urm, your new parent."
She side glanced him. She didn't need to look at the rear mirror to know that he wasn't smiling.
"My name is Sabaku no Rasa. I'm from a town in Suna." He said proudly. "Don't worry, you're safe."
You're safe.
Sakura repeated in her head as she blew raspberries. Well, that's a turn off.
Sakura stood, facing the three children before her, who were staring back at her.
Rasa had stopped his car infront of a weirdly looking building. It was a two storey-building and it was painted in amber. The compound was slightly wide and it housed many watering plants and flower pots arranged by the sides.
The neighborhood was filled with an humanly atmosphere. Children could be heard shouting from the park. Women and men walking and talking with one another, even over the fences.
The environment was completely different from the orphanage. It was nothing like it, and no voices in her head either. It was one of the things she was grateful for.
She turned her attention to the people that stood before her.
One was a sandy blonde, taller than the rest. She had teal coloured eyes and four consecutive spiky buns as a hairstyle.
The second to the tallest was a coffee-brown haired boy. He had brown eyes and... weirdly had his face painted.
The third one, which was the shortest, had red hair, but it was a lighter shade than Rasa's. He had pale blue-green eyes with dark circles around it but...no eyebrows?!
Bewildered, she looked up at Rasa before facing the boy.
There was a kanji tattooed to the side of his forehead near his temple. It read 'love'.
She looked him over. The aura he carried around him was nothing compared to what was written.
He looked menacing with the scowl he had on his eyebrow-deprived face, and with the way he had his arms crossed.
"Is she the one, dad?" The sandy blonde asked.
"Hey kids, say hello to Haruno Sakura." When the children looked at him in confusion, he continued. "She wanted to keep her last name."
The blonde came over, a smile gracing her pretty face. "I'm Temari."
Sakura nodded as the girl continued.
"That's Kankuro." She pointed to the brown haired boy. "He likes to paint his face."
Sakura thought he looked like a stripped dinosaur. Do not ask where that thought came from. Nor imagine it.
"And that's our baby brother, Gaara." She pointed to the last one.
"He doesn't look like a baby brother." Sakura mumbled.
Temari didn't hear that. "I'm fifteen, by the way. Kankuro is fourteen and Gaara's twelve. How old are you?"
"I'm..." Sakura trailed off as she studied the faces before her. She wasn't sure if she wanted to trust them. "I'm twelve."
Temari took her hand and led her to the door step. "To be honest, I'm really glad that you're here. I'm finally going to have a sister. Don't get me wrong but boys are a pain in the neck. Dad said he went to the orphanage one time and said he saw you..."
"Uncle Rasa?" He had been at the orphanage before?
She heard the man laugh wryly from behind. "I said you can call me dad, Sakura." He sounded amused.
I can't. Sakura hung her head before looking up. "Uncle Rasa fits you."
Rasa shrugged. "I guess you can. Freedom of speech and rights, Sakura, you have it."
Sakura beamed. "Thank you, Uncle."
"Is that really your natural hair colour?"
Kankuro suddenly appeared beside her, peering at the strands of her hair, with Gaara walking beside their father.
"Do ostriches lay eggs?"
"Urm...yeah?"
"Well, that's your answer."
Temari smirked at Kankuro. "I am so happy she's my younger sister."
Kankuro sneered, holding her gaze, a staring competition taking form. "Our sister, Temari, our. Dad adopted her as a part of our family."
Rasa let out a sigh and muttered. "We're definitely not going to have a peaceful afternoon today."
Sakura giggled.
Maybe, just maybe some things can change. She can trust this family. Their vibe was positive, and it lacked threat or harm. It somehow filled the void and the emptiness situated in the dark chambers of her heart.
Mom, dad. She thought as she watched the two older siblings snickering and quarreling with one another, and Uncle Rasa acting as the mediator.
She smiled at the scene. I'm finally at a better place.
Suddenly, the hair on her back rose and she snapped her head towards the person that has been glaring at her ever since she came.
She eyed him, challenging his glare with her taunting own as she muttered. "Nani desu ka?"
He glared at her some more before averting his gaze, losing the competition.
He was still frowning, even without those eyebrows!
...
Nani desu ka?- What is it?
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