"Yui-obasan?" A small voice called gently into the darkness of the room. The woman who was sitting down on the floor between the window and the double bed where her best friend used to sleep looked up at the owner of the angelic voice.
The young girl walked, almost timidly, towards the brown haired female.
"Oh! Sakura-chan! I-I'm so sorry for rushing off like that- I really do apologise!" The pinkette sat down beside the woman and emerald green met sky blue.
"You don't need to apologise Yui-obasan." The four year old smiled softly up at the brunette. "You don't need to hide your true feelings, it's normal and understandable for you to be upset.. your best friend and her husband died, in all honesty I'm surprised you've managed to hold it in this long." Yui sniffed before hugging Sakura tightly.
"Still," She sobbed. "I'm the adult out of the two of us! I should be the one comforting you! Mebuki-chan was your mother after all, you should be the one crying whilst I should be the one trying to cheer you up! All these years.. I've wanted to be a parent so badly and yet I can't seem to properly look after you. I'm a bad friend! I can't seem to do anything right and all this is just a mess!" Tears soaked Sakura's clothes; however the pinkette paid no mind to that as she focused on the broken woman whose embrace she was in.
"I'm leaving you when you need me the most and for that I feel terrible! I'm so sorry Sakura-chan! I really am!" Sakura pat Yui on the back as the older female continued to cry. She was truly surprised that the brunette's façade hadn't crumbled until now. "A-and I guess I feel worse because I-I know how you feel.." The sky eyed woman sniffed before pulling away from the child.
"When I was.. well, a little older then you are now I went through what has to be the most traumatic event in my life.." And so Sakura listened to the woman's tale. It was one she had been told only minutes before via Inner. Her knowing every detail of the event did not take away from the horror the story made her feel. "I- well let's start with my parents.. my mother was a beautiful woman with short, peach coloured hair and sky blue eyes.. they were actually the same shade as my own. She had fair skin and her favourite kimono was the most gorgeous shade of green, similar to the colour of your eyes. Anyway.. my mother was a kind woman who was rather reserved.."
"I got my brown hair from my father, he had grey eyes and a pale complexion. He worked in the mines nearby the village we lived in. It was a reasonably dangerous line of work but we never really worried. My father would often leave early in the morning and arrive back late at night when I was either in bed or eating dinner. One day I woke up and discovered that my father had not yet returned, my mother explained to me that he would be back later on however no matter how long I waited he didn't come back." The brown haired woman inhaled shakily before she continued. "So that night I decided to head over to the mines. When I got there it was fully dark and only the torches set up at the front of the mine gave off light. I didn't see anyone around and so I made the stupid decision of entering the mine.."
The rosette nibbled on her bottom lip as she listened to the brunette's story.
"I- well.. I don't remember much after entering the mine but I do recall the voice of my father calling out to me, telling me to run. Then I think there was a loud rumble and then darkness.. The next thing I knew I woke up in a hospital and they told me that there had been cave-in and my ovaries had been damaged. They- they also told me that both my parents had passed.." Yui wet her trembling lips. "It turned out that my mother had followed me to the mine and when the cave collapsed she had been hit in the head and her stomach was pierced by a sharp rock.."
"..And.. what about your father?" Sakura asked after a moment of hesitation. The ends of the woman's lips twitched up into a sad smile.
"He was suffocated by the amount of rocks burying him. The doctors assumed he had been alive for a small while however eventually his lungs just.. collapsed.." Sakura felt her breath leave her own lungs as she imagined how frightened the man must have been in his last moments. "They said it was a miracle you know.." The pinkette looked up at Yui.
"No one had thought I would survive.. they just.. thought I would die. They all thought that either my lungs would fail or my heart would or that I would die of blood loss. It was a miracle when I woke up. I- it's like father and mother were helping me fight off the darkness of death. I- I was so close, so close Sakura-chan!" Tears overflowed her sky eyes and Sakura gently pulled the woman into her arms, silently offering her support and condolences.
'She sure has been through a lot..'
'You got that right, cha!'
"Y- you know, I really am sorry Sakura-chan.." The brunette sniffed. "You see Takumi-kun's family took me in.. they were close with my parents and well I suppose they were the comfort I needed. They helped me get through the death of my parents and the terrible fact that I wouldn't ever be able to give birth. Eventually Takumi-kun and I fell in love! I suppose I took up the role Takumi-kun and his family played for me and so I guess I thought I would be able to help you. I got upset when I discovered that we had to head back home tomorrow and I panicked knowing that I hadn't managed to help you very much.. Now I realise that you're stronger then I am Sakura-chan! You've managed to get yourself through the death of Mebuki-chan and Kizashi-kun, I'm sure they are so proud of you!"
"You don't have to apologise Yui-obasan, I'm sure your parents are proud of you too! I mean, it might be a shame that you can't have children but there are always other options. You could adopt or maybe get a pet or something!" Sakura's emerald orbs sparkled as she told the woman how adorable it would be to have a pet. "You could get a dog or a cat! Or maybe even a weasel!"
"I-I don't know about a weasel Sakura-chan but maybe! Takumi-kun and I are content with how things are and so we haven't really looked into anything quite yet. We've mainly been focusing on each other and Takumi-kun's work."
The pinkette nodded her head, "Ok, maybe in the future."
~<*.*>~
The next morning Sakura woke up bright and early. Yui-obasan and her husband were leaving today and she couldn't risk sending them off without a farewell hug! She hurriedly hopped into the shower and frantically washed herself. She got out and dried herself off with her towel. The pinkette picked out a red hoodie that had a white star embroidered on the front of it. She fished out some dark shorts and put on the clothes. Sakura tied her hair up into a ponytail before exiting her room and running down the stairs.
Sakura entered the kitchen and walked over to the fridge. She was too lazy to make herself something to eat so instead she got out a red apple. The rosette munched happily on the juicy fruit before making her way over to the living room. She sat down on the couch and took another bite of her apple before reaching over and grabbing a book from the coffee table. She read the book's contents as she ate and once she had finished she set the book down and threw away the remainder of the fruit.
She checked the time before rushing up the stairs, heading for the bathroom to brush her teeth. She grabbed her toothbrush and squirted some toothpaste onto the bristles. Then she started cleaning her pearly whites.
Eventually, she was back downstairs, putting on her sandals. Sakura stood up and stepped out of her house. She locked the door behind her before skipping through the village. The pinkette travelled to the gate that led out of Konoha and she sat down when she noticed that the people she was looking for were not there. She waited.. and waited.. and waited.
It took a whole three hours for one of the shinobi on duty to tell her to leave and she didn't argue with him for she was ready to go.
'Did they leave already?' She wondered. She wasn't at all surprised when she received no response. Inner was sleeping in and Sakura knew her other half deserved it. It took a lot of energy for Inner to remain awake and at the front of their mind so whenever she was being lazy Sakura would usually allow her time to rest.
The four-year-old walked to where the couple had been staying and entered the building. It was a smart little Inn that had a downstairs bar and a white door which Sakura guessed led to the kitchen. Tables and chairs were scattered around and there were some stairs that reached up onto another floor. The second floor was probably where all the rooms for the guests who were staying overnight were.
'Hmm.' There were a few groups of people up and about but Sakura ignored them as she headed towards the bar.
"Aren't you a little too young to be ordering a drink?" The young male who was attending the bar said when he noticed her.
Sakura shook her head, "I'm not here to order a drink. I was actually wondering if Yui and Takumi Fukuda had checked out yet? I'm a friend of theirs."
"I'm not sure but I can go and check.."
"Yes please." Sakura gave the young man a small smile before he walked off.
She waited for a few minutes before he came back.
"I'm sorry but it appears they left last night. Is there anything else I can do for you?" The pinkette shook her head and left the building.
'Dang it! I could've sworn Yui-obasan said they were leaving this morning.' She pouted. 'Now I've missed my chance to say goodbye..'
Sakura continued walking and just as her house was coming into view someone called out to her from behind.
"Haruno-san."
A/N: Hello! Thank you so so so so so much for 9k reads! I love you all!
I know some of you really want me to write longer chapters and I shall try to however:
1) It's hard
2) I am currently on holiday so yeah..
Number two explains why some of my chapters for the next week or so will be quite short hehe. I'll still try my best to make them longer though! <3
IMPORTANT: So if any of you read The Haruno Clan's Blossom you may know this but I have decided that when I, for whatever reason, am unable to publish a chapter of whatever fanfic is due I will update a chapter of a new story I have been writing. It will probably pop up somewhere on my account when I do start publishing it and I hope you understand! This is just in case I get bored of writing one of my fanfics and find myself uninspired. I hope this is clear.. I will try to explain it better if not but yeah..
Sorry for any mistakes!
Hope you enjoyed!