Sayonara

Sayonara

- by SleepyArcher

 

Lightning flashed, followed by the rumble of the thunder. Then rain started pouring incessantly and the sudden downpour drenched Konoha, leaving the streets and homes thoroughly soaked. Still, after the previous hot days, this was a blessing for most villagers.

It was not a boon for Haruno Sakura who had got caught in the rain as soon as she exited the house. The house being her parents' home, which she had left for good after their latest bout of argument regarding her career as a shinobi that had then spiralled into forbidden territory. Sakura had made her choice years back when she entered the Academy. No matter her behaviour in the past, she was a shinobi of Konoha and she was not going to change that for anything.



The girl wandered aimlessly through the streets, her backpack containing the meager possessions she had bought with her own paychecks. Her ninja gear was strapped on her body. Finding no sign of the rain stopping and feeling too drained to search for a more secure shelter, she plopped down on a seat outside a shop. The half-repaired shed of the shop still allowed plenty of rainwater in but it was still better than having no roof overhead at all.



The ends of her pink hair, thoroughly wet by now, stuck to her neck. The individual strands, usually silken, clumped together in a sad mess and a few months back, this would have been a cause of major vexation for her. Now, she merely squeezed the strands tightly once to get the excess water out of them before letting them rest. She felt vaguely relieved that she had taken Kakashi-sensei's advice to always wear the chainmail undershirt below her clothes. That had prevented her clothes from becoming see-through and causing her more trouble on an already troublesome day.



Sakura rested her head on the pole behind the seat with a sigh and closed her eyes, her brain too eager to bring the memory of the argument to the forefront.



[FLASHBACK BEGINS]



Sakura sat down for lunch quietly, doing her absolute best to not react to the heavy atmosphere that seemed to have taken permanent residence in their household. The temporary halt-she refused to entertain the word "permanent" even in her thoughts- in the activities of Team 7 meant there were no team lunches on or off missions. So, she had started having lunch at the hospital since the start of her apprenticeship. Going to Ichiraku right now would be akin to sprinkling salt on a wound that was still too raw.



Not that this was any better. Her relationship with her parents had waned over time. The Haruno family was known to be a well established merchant family with connections in the capital itself. The only child of the family being a daughter had not won Sakura any positive points. Then, her chosen career had dashed her father's plan to betrothe her to a promising apprentice who could marry into their family and carry on their trade and family name. Her relationship with her father had become colder over the years.



Her mother, despite descending from a ninja family, and graduating from the academy to become a genin had given up shinobi career early in life and settled down with her husband. She had not and still did not understand her daughter's stubbornness in pursuing a dangerous profession when a perfectly safer alternative was present. She had tried to dissuade Sakura from participating in the Chunin Examinations and had almost succeeded. Later on, when she had seen her daughter's bruised face, her face reflected a mother's worry and an elder's condescension at the same time.



Then there was the matter of her teammates. Her parents had been pleased with neither of her teammates, not even with Kakashi-sensei. There was a reason she had never invited them to her home. Civilians, in general, did not like shinobi. This was even more true for merchants who felt that trade was negatively affected by the actions of the shinobi clans. Which, in so many words meant, that her parents held extreme dislike for Sasuke. And Naruto had always been hated and shunned by the adults of the village. She still hadn't been able to work out the reason behind it. And Kakashi-sensei? His lazy nature had failed to endear him to the Haruno couple either. Sakura counted her lucky stars that her parents seemed to be unaware of her sensei's habit of reading porn in public.



However, her parents’ displeasure due to all these “problems” were nothing when compared to their reaction to the news that she had become Tsunade's apprentice. The Godaime was both loved and feared by the villagers who had seen her capabilities during the second war. Becoming Hokage had catapulted that awe to an even higher pedestal. But, she was still a shinobi after all. It was one thing to be relieved about once again having a Hokage who would protect the village from dangers. But it was an entirely different thing when one's own daughter became said Hokage's apprentice and walked even further away from a life of dignity and respectability and safety. Her parents had sat her down in a vain final attempt to make her back down from the apprenticeship. When that had failed, and it was bound to fail since stubbornness was a trait shared by all the members of Team 7, her father had walked away, displeasure radiating from his very being. Her mother had shot her a familiar look of disappointment and quietly followed her husband. Since then, the relationship had been enveloped by a layer of emotional frost that was slowly turning the home to merely a house.



Sakura forced herself to not think about the past and focused on the food. The lunch passed quietly. Her parents sat down to drink tea and Sakura headed to her room to study some of the scrolls on medical ninjutsu Tsunade had given her (chucked them casually at her while she ran to collect them) to prepare for the week's training. Halfway to her room, she froze as her father's voice carried over.



"The demon and the Uchiha had charmed your daughter so well that now she takes them as her family rather than us!"



"Dear, please calm down. I'm sure she will-" Her mother's plea was cut off.



"There are whispers. That Uchiha Sasuke was not kidnapped, he had abandoned the village willingly for that criminal. The Hokage has suppressed the news." Her father hissed, voice lower but no less vehement, "And your daughter is head over heels for him. The Demon brat is also-"



This time, he was cut off by his daughter. Or, more accurately, by her fist that had punctured a hole in the wall of the hallway. Her parents jumped up at the sound, twin expressions of shock shifting to anger and horror on the faces of her father and her mother respectively. The look on her face, however, stopped either of them from voicing anything anymore.



"It is one thing to criticise me and all the choices in life I have made so far. I am your daughter and I know I have often been found lacking. But what right do you have to utter such nonsense about my team members?" Her voice rose with each word and the last word almost bordered on a shout. It was not like she hadn't heard of the whispers in the village, the fleeting looks of suspicion and pity sent her way. She had ignored them. Sasuke-kun was not a criminal, it was the influence of that damned cursed seal. And Naruto was a mischievous prankster who could be an absolute idiot at times but that did not warrant him being called a demon.



"Sakura!" Her mother snapped, "How dare you speak to your father in that tone? Apologise immediately."



Sakura, feeling that she had gone overboard by punching a hole in the wall, had meant to apologise for her behaviour while standing by her words. No matter what, neither Naruto nor Sasuke had done anything that called for such suspicion.



'Nothing?' Inner's voice suddenly popped up in her mind.



'Is punching a hole through Naruto's chest nothing? Or, is choosing a path of darkness over friendship and bonds nothing?'



Sakura shook the words out of her mind. Now was not the time for this. Sasuke-kun had been tortured by both Uchiha Itachi and Orochimaru and manipulated by the seal to leave the village. Both Naruto and Kakashi-sensei knew that which is why Naruto had forgiven him for the nearly fatal injury and Kakashi-sensei was trying to gather information about the locations where that snake-bastard had hidden Sasuke-kun.



‘Is he? Or, has Kakashi-sensei simply up and left once his star student left and he was left with two deadweights? Oh! It’s not two anymore, Naruto can clearly pull his own weight.’ Inner who defended her aggressively was unusually cruel today. Sakura scowled. The Chunin Examination and the subsequent attack on Konoha had provided her with a thorough understanding of her own skills, or their lack of, she didn’t need this extra helping of doubt now.



She schooled her expression and prepared to apologise but froze on hearing her father snort. Green eyes, identical to her own, shone with unbridled contempt for her teammates, her way of life and herself.



Sakura turned around abruptly and dashed up the stairs to her room. Her mother, startled, followed while shouting her name. However, before she could reach her daughter's room Sakura came back with her backpack on shoulders.



As the realisation of her daughter's intended action dawned upon and reflected on her mother's eyes, Sakura bowed deeply to both her parents and left their house without looking back. A thud signalled her mother falling on her knees but she was far gone by then.



[FLASHBACK ENDS]



The rain had chilled the afternoon breeze and Sakura shifted uncomfortably as the first shiver broke out. The rain had decreased in intensity but the chill had already built up in her. Loneliness, the one she had always secretly feared, now loomed before, threatening to swallow her. It seemed like all her nightmares were coming true in the span of a few months. No parents, no teammates, no team leader, no-a heavy cloak dropped on her shoulders, interrupting both her mental tirade and her second shiver. She turned around sharply and met familiar brown eyes, which were suspiciously alert for the time of the day. The Hokage liked to start her drinking early on the days no hearings were held.



"Well? Has the training already beaten the bolster out of you?" Tsunade bent down and picked her thoroughly soaked apprentice up by her collar with one hand and placed her on her feet, bringing her under the large umbrella she was holding in her other hand.



She had snea-ahem went out of the Hokage Tower to stretch her legs after the rain had slowed down from a heavy shower to a drizzle. She had jumped up on a rooftop, hoping to locate the nearest wine shop - Shizune didn't have to hide her entire stash, damn it! - that had opened early when she caught sight of Sakura. Normally, this would make her even more careful for the Hokage had quickly discovered that her new apprentice was in cahoots with the older one when it came to her alcohol stash but the girl's downtrodden appearance had made her stop.



She eyed the young kunoichi critically. Sakura needed to warm up as soon as possible. A glance at her face provided a clear picture of her mental state. Sakura had likely not yet realised that twin streams of tears ran down her face, the normally bright verdant eyes appearing dull.



Her mind made up, the Hokage put a heavy hand on the teenager's shoulder, and started to walk Sakura towards the Hokage Tower before the latter managed to utter a single word. They were already walking and with a third shiver making its appearance despite the cloak, she found it prudent to keep quiet for now.



Tsunade then made a casual observation as they turned the corner of the road that leached the remaining colour from the face of the silent teen.



"Since your current ability at sensing attack seems to be running in negative, evasion training will be for 4 hours from now on."

***

Note: The very first time we were introduced to Sakura in Naruto, it seemed to me that Masashi Kishimoto wanted to depict her as a normal girl, with extra emphasis on normal. No clan, no kekkei genkai, no bijuu. To top this, she had low self-esteem, was bullied as a child and felt that she was forever under the shadow of Ino. Alongside, she was never shown thinking about her parents, even in life or death situations. The fillers don't count. The one thing she said about her parents implied that they were strict. And tbh, most of us have felt that our parents were strict when we were preteens so on its own, this point doesn't say much. However, taking into account all these things and the fact that Ino is the person who saved her from bullying and gave her a much needed confidence boost, it really made me wonder about her relationship with her parents. Naruto started in 1999 and the definition of a normal girl back then was pretty different from what it is now. Then there's the matter of Sarada. Not once do we see her talking or even thinking about her allegedly-alive grandparents. It's like they don't even exist. All these thoughts ultimately forced me to come up with my take on her relationship with her parents.