Little Things [sasusaku short-story]

[12] Sakura

Stressed isn't the appropriate word to describe how I feel right now.

I feel like I'm suffocating under the pressure of my upcoming finals. I'm also sick of eating a salad everyday — I can't look at one without the need to vomit.

But I can't get fat, either, so I eat sparsely, writing down each meal and the number of calories I consume in a day in a blank notebook.

For the past few weeks, I've skipped lunch and remained in the library. Half the time I'll review for my upcoming exams, the mere thought of it making me want to hyperventilate, whereas the other half I'll look through books.

Today I'm reading Frankenstein, a masterpiece of its time, and a classic of ours. I reach the final chapters, my body tingling with the need to know what becomes of the "beast" made by humanity.

"Interesting read," I hear from behind me.

Slowly, I spin my head around and see a tall, blonde woman looming over me.

"Headmistress Tsunade!" I shriek, immediately regretting my clearly anxiety-ridden greeting.

She ignores it. "Doctors of that time would roll in their graves knowing we haven't figured out how to use galvanism to bring back the dead," the woman says.

I suddenly find it easier to speak, intellectual conversations being my forte. "I hope humanity never figures out how to meddle with the natural course of life. Look what happened to Frankenstein."

"Hm, that's a point which can be argued. But I'd say that Mary Shelly exaggerated the shortcomings of the human psyche due to her own emotional turmoil."

Shyly, I rebut, "I don't think so, though. In a time in which a woman had to base every decision she made, from her appearance to giving birth, on the will of a man, I think she simply spoke her truth."

There's a moment of silence as the Headmistress looks at me. She suddenly smirks. "What's your name, kid?"

"Haruno Sakura."