Sakura Haruno (Child Prodigy)

Chapter32

Never had she suffered such misery on a day meant for celebration. Her world was shrouded in monochromatic shades, her mind losing focus every two seconds. Her heart felt hollow, her soul barren and no matter how much she tried to smile, to get things done, a feeling of hopelessness rose within her.

Ever since the passing of her parents, each day- each second- that passed she fell deeper into the gloomy depths of despair. The past few days she had found herself buried in a pile of books, doing her best to block out the sorrow that corrupted her being. Sakura hated how every tick of a clock applied more weight to the shackles that trapped her with the gloom that reminded her that her birthday was approaching. She despised how the day grew closer, how each moment passed with the looming thought that she was an orphan. That every birthday she was fated to live through would no longer be shared with her parents.

She had managed for what felt like an eternity but all of a sudden her form had been overwhelmed by a deep feeling of loss. Her approaching birthday felt more like a day of despair than one that was to be celebrated and filled with joy. Inner had been trying to lift her mood, determined to end Sakura's moping but even with her loud personality and viciously motivational words, the entity who performed cheer routines was unable to improve her other half's mood.

The warm rays of the late morning sun flooded into her room and Sakura, who was tucked in bed, a book held up to her face, found it unsuiting of her mood. She hadn't managed much training in the past days, barely finding the energy within herself to venture downstairs on the quest for food when her stomach's complaints grew loud enough to break her out of whatever mind-numbing trance she found herself in.

'Come on Outer! You can't spend all day in bed.' The ever-cheery voice of Inner echoed in the rosette's mind.

The girl closed her eyes, leaning her head back as she took in a deep breath. Her other half continued to try and spur her on, doing what she could to entice Sakura out of bed. The emerald-eyed girl groaned, the mere thought of moving from the comfort of her place, wrapped in blankets was exhausting. She knew that it wasn't good for her to stay in bed for an extended period of time but how could she turn down the warm snugness of her familiar sheets?

'No time for lazing about, some fresh air will do you good!' Sakura released another groan, the frown on her face deepening.

Inner's nagging was annoying her and, although somewhere in her mind she was grateful, she found herself wishing for her other half to be quiet. Of course, quiet was the opposite of what Inner was and the peculiar entity was only trying to encourage her out of her isolated brooding, it would be quite unfair of her to lash out. Even with this knowledge, the pinkette still found herself covering her head with her blanket, squeezing her eyes shut. It might have worked to block out anyone else but when you shared a mind with the one you were trying to ignore, such actions proved quite pointless.

'Now, now, Outer-chan,' Inner grinned as Sakura's face scrunched up further at the added honorific. 'don't be a sourpuss.'

The pinkette knew her counterpart well enough to understand that ultimately Inner was the most stubborn between them and that arguing with her about anything that wasn't necessary was a waste of energy. That thought made her sigh; she did not feel as though she was capable of getting out of bed for anything but the most basic necessities, so even if she didn't stand against her other half she wasn't sure she could appease her.

'Stop making excuses for yourself!' The familiar yells of Inner pained her head. 'You'll never know until you try, now up!'

Another groan filled the otherwise silent room and Sakura slowly pushed herself to sit up, her duvet pooling in her lap. She rolled her head around, gently stretching her neck to relieve it of the effects of the awkward position she had been in whilst reading. It really wasn't her fault that the most natural positions her body found whilst she was engrossed in a good book left her with unideal consequences. Even so, she knew she would be best off ending those habits whilst she was young, she would not want to risk any permanent damage.