Sakura's POV
I walked inside the house after practice but instead of going to my room I continued down the hall. I stood in front of the door that would lead me inside my parent's room. I needed to find out whether that dream or vision or whatever it was meant something. I opened the door and stepped inside. Everything was the same as the last time I had come in.
I walked over to the shelves containing pictures. I scanned through them looking for anything familiar. I kept looking as my anxiety grew, that's when I saw it. I sighed and closed my eyes.
"Outer..."
"I know..." I said, re-opening my eyes and stared at the picture in front of me.
There was a woman with short blonde hair sitting on a white hospital bed, she looked slightly pale; but she glowed within her clear beautiful eyes. She was in a colorless room with nothing but the numerous flowers surrounding her to display color and the small bundle in her arms. A man stood over them, expressing so much happiness that I thought he was going to burst any moment.
"This is...when we were born..." Inner quietly spoke.
"I figured. But why did we see it? I'm getting the impression that the first image we had, was ours too." Inner nodded in agreement.
"But why are we seeing them?" I asked out loud, more to myself.
"It could be because you aren't technically 'Sakura' so you're getting her memories..." I shook my head and walked out of the room.
"I guess that could be it..." I relented, but still, something seemed off.
Today felt odd, but I haven't figured out why. It wasn't only because of these memories, there was something else.
It was almost time for Madoka to return, Marianne had already come and gone so now I went over to the living room to wait for her. I sat on the window sofa and looked out of it. There were kids playing outside, they looked to be about eight years old. Most likely civilians, if not they would probably be at the Academy around this time.
"Inner, do you think there's something strange about today?"
"No, not really." I frowned it couldn't just be nothing, there was this feeling that something new was going to happen. Madoka came in, and I noticed that she was earlier than usual.
"Hello Sakura! You didn't take a shower today?" I looked down and noticed she was right.
"I forgot...mommy, you came in early today!" She smiled down at me.
"That's right! Today if everything goes well, daddy will give us some good news!" Good news? Maybe that was what I was waiting for. That feeling from before came back so I hoped it really would be good news.
"Good news?" I asked while tilting my head childishly.
"I can't tell you Sakura, it will ruin the surprise!" Now my curiosity was gained.
"Not fair mommy!" I said childishly. Madoka just giggled and picked me up.
"Well it's a good thing daddy's going to be here earlier than usual."
'What do you think it is?' I asked Inner as I was set down on a breakfast stool.
"I'm not sure. But I hope it's good!" I nodded and then helped Madoka with lunch.
We had barely finished washing the dishes after eating when the door opened up. Kioshi walked in and to keep up the image I ran over to him.
"Daddy!" He picked me up into a hug and I hung onto him, still with a slight fear of falling off. In my defense I was getting slightly better at being comfortable around them.
"Hello Sakura, how are you today?" Kioshi asked me as he walked us over to the kitchen.
"Good! Mommy said you had a surprise and she wouldn't tell me." I answered in a frenzy.
"Hmm. Mommy said that..." He looked over to Madoka and smiled.
"How did it go?" Madoka asked and he nodded his head to her with a secretive smile.
"What is it?" I asked looking between the two.
"How about I tell you after we get back from the park?" My eyes widened. The park?
"This could be dangerous! What if we see someone?!"
'Well...we can't just say no?' It was most likely he wouldn't believe a child didn't like the park. Besides, I'd like to see other areas around here.
"Okay...do we have to go? Can't you just tell me here?"
"I thought you would want to go?" He frowned looking worriedly down at me.
"No, I'll go!" He nodded at my enthusiasm and soon we were on our way to the park. Thankfully it was a civilian park, so I most likely wouldn't see anyone. As I played around in the park swings, Madoka and Kioshi sat at a table farther away. The park was as normal as any other civilian park. It had swings, slides, a sand box, and other play things. It also had a dirt path around it for anyone who enjoyed walking. There was a creek to my left and it seemed like a good place to just relax.
I walked over to it and went down the three steps it had to reach the water. The water looked fresh and clean, sparkling from the sun that dappled down through the trees. I crouched down and noticed the pebbles at the bottom.
I was so engrossed at the nature around me, that I didn't notice someone come up to me.
"Hey! Forehead girl!" I winced at the shrieking voice as it broke the peaceful silence.
I turned around and was met by a pair of brown eyes. The child was standing with an aura that shouted arrogance. Her hair was a deep purple almost black color, which I liked; but my OCD tendencies were nagging at me to fix it or tell her to fix her hair. She had it asymmetrically cut to her left and it was getting on my nerves.
"Hey! Did you hear me?!" She asked rudely. I raised an eyebrow at her attitude.
"Do I know you?" I asked after I noticed her face turn into an irritated one.
"Humph! I would think with that big head of yours you would remember at least that." She stated with a matter-of-fact tone. This child has problems; I didn't even know her for crying out loud.
'Inner, what is she talking about?' Inner stayed quiet for a while which surprised me.
"Uhm...yeah...Do you remember when dad mentioned he loved us the way we are?" I thought back to this week.
'Inner...that happened three days ago and you conveniently forgot to tell me until now huh?'
"It's not that I forgot..."
'It's more like you didn't want to tell me.' I realized that now. I looked back at the girl, trying to remember if I ever saw her in the anime/manga.
"Yeah...Before you came, well, when Sakura was born she was born frail with a weak and unstable life reserve. She grew up developing a really quiet and low self-esteem, so she was easily picked on. The girl in front of you is Ami, one of her most persistent bullies." I see, so that's how it is. I looked at the girl I know knew as Ami.
'Now that I look closely, I do remember her, but it was when she was older. I can't believe Sakura had to put up with her since she was two.' But this is where things change. I never experienced a childhood ridden of bullies like Sakura; but I also wouldn't allow it.
If I knew it was being done to someone, I would step up and talk to them; which is precisely what I was going to do here.
"Sorry. I remember you now. You're Ami." She hmphed and smirked as she stared directly at my forehead. What's her problem? It's just a forehead, Sakura eventually grows into it. Besides, now that I'm her, I don't really care what they say. A forehead will simply be a forehead.
"That's right! You better remember it right away next time!" She reached out with her index finger and poked my forehead roughly.
"Big forehead girl!" She taunted, I smiled and moved her hand away with the back of my left hand.
"Please don't touch me." Her eyes widened but then she laughed.
"Oh? Since when do you tell me what to do?" She asked me, suddenly, her aura was turning into something darker.
'The brat is testing my patience.' I told Inner, becoming even more irritated. I liked children, when they were all cute and fluffy but rude and bratty was something I couldn't take very well.
"Don't you think you should act more like a child?" She asked worriedly.
'There's no need to, since she actually speaks pretty good herself. I'll give her that compliment, but she has a nasty personality for a kid.'
"You need to stop being a bully." I told her frankly. She looked a bit mad at my comment.
"What did you say forehead girl!?" She screeched, making me wince at the loudness. I tried to concentrate on the small details of the girl. Trying to read her character like how Madoka taught me and from what I knew from previous experiences. She was thin and taller than me by a few centimeters. She was quick to temper but also to surprise. My guess is that she grew up feeling that taking her anger off on someone else helped her relieve her pain.
I suppose analyzing someone right now is still out of the question; for I found myself too concentrated and not paying her words any attention.
"You pink haired freak!" She reached out to pull at my hair but I grabbed a hold of her hands last minute. When our hands met, my concentration was pulled away from reality and into another image.
This one felt like the last one, but didn't look like it had anything to do with me. I saw an image of a tall woman with straight black, shoulder length hair and she was holding onto a two-year-old. The same two-year-old in front of me. They stood in a hallway facing the back of a man. He was tall with dull purple hair and he appeared to have some sort of big bag. The image, which was for once clear, began to fade as she pulled her hand back roughly.
"Did you see that?" I asked, wondering if I was the only one to see it. It must be true, for she gave me a look as if I was crazy.
"What are you talking about?!" She asked in irritation as she looked at me. I looked down to my hands.
'Inner, these aren't just memories I'm receiving from Sakura's life before me. It seems that...we can see memories from others as well.'
"Hey! Forehead girl you need to listen when I talk!" I looked back at her as she spoke.
"I knew there was a reason you acted this way...You bully others to hide the pain you feel inside, which I'm assuming is the pain from being left by your father." She looked shocked but of course she recovered and hid it behind anger.
"What the heck are you talking about!" She shouted angrily, but I could see her eyes glisten from unshed tears.
"You feel angry that he left you; and you feel sad because you think he didn't love you enough to stay...That's what you feel right?" I asked and after a moment of silence, her head bent down and her face was covered by her bangs, I could see her shake in sadness. She may not like the fact but she's still just a child. I could see the clear translucent tears drop to the ground and now I felt like the bad one here.
"I thought he loved me...sniff...but he still left..." I waited for her to finish and pretended not to seem judgmental as she told me her story. I heard sobs and after a few good three minutes it stopped and I could hear the fabric of her clothes used to brush away the tears.
"You didn't hear or see anything!" She said with that same rude attitude but with a much quieter tone to it. I smiled and looked at her.
"What did you say?" I asked and she stared at me for a long time. I was going to ask her if she had anything else to say, when she frowned and turned to leave without saying a word.
'What's her problem? Geeze, I just wanted her to back off on the bullying but I come off as a jerk? Great." I said to which Inner only rolled her eyes.
"If you don't know, don't ask." I frowned at her evasiveness.
"Whatever." We walked back to our parents. The walk was silent as I tried to comprehend what had happened a few moments ago.
"Outer, about what happened before. Why do you think that's happening?" She asked worriedly.
'I have a few theories, but...I just don't know exactly why.'
"Sakura are you ready to go?" Asked Kioshi, and I nodded to his question. They stood and we began to head home. I looked down at my hand, and wondered if we should test it. Should we leave it? Maybe it's nothing...I looked up to Madoka.
I contemplated for a while until I decided to go for it. Reaching out for her hand, she smiled at me as she picked me up into her arms. Well that didn't work...this time I hugged her around her neck and placed my hand onto her bare shoulder. I waited and nothing happened. I frowned a little at the failed results.
'Inner try to focus.' She nodded hesitantly and I closed my eyes as I focused on my hand on her shoulder. At first I thought nothing was going to happen but then my hand tingled and an image appeared.
The image was that of an old man, with blonde hair like Madoka's. He was standing near a counter and appeared to be baking something. When I noticed the pastry, I noticed the place was the Haruno's Bakery.
When I was going to look at it some more, trying to concentrate on the surroundings, I noticed the picture blur. It wasn't like the blurring it got when it's disappearing, no, this one looked as if it was moving. Although it was very slow, the blurred parts increased in speed the more I concentrated on it. The images where becoming real moving memories like the one Inner showed me.
'Inner, who is that man?' I asked as the image was still there. It seems that as long as there is contact with my hands then I get the image. Also, both of us have to be concentrated or else it won't work.
"That's our granddad, our mom's dad and we met him once before but we were much younger." Inner explained as her face scrunched up in deep concentration.
'Where is he?' I asked as I watched the images start to move a bit faster.
"You can see that he worked at the bakery too, but just a while since grandma and mom liked doing it. He left to go back to his house in the land of water when grandma passed away." I nodded and concentrated on the image. It moved faster and now it was like a slow memory. I moved my hand away from her shoulder and the memory faded. It seems the more concentration I have, the better I will be able to see clearly.
"So why do you think we see them?" Inner asked as I leaned my head on Madoka's shoulder, feeling unusually tired.
'Maybe seeing memories exhaust us? But about why, maybe it has more to do with you rather than with me?' I said, not really sure if that's true.
"...What? Me?!"
'Yeah, think about it. We always concentrate when we see the memories. Since I'm the outer, I have to make direct contact with someone while you transmit their memories to us. It's probably because you normally concentrate on not looking at my memories, so you accidently see others?'
"That's right! Since I try not to listen or see your memories or thoughts. I may accidently use the other person as a means of replacing yours. " I faintly nodded as she tried to think about it, however, neither of us seemed completely sure.
'I really do feel tired, but this was never this bad before.' I said, feeling my eye-lids flutter close.
"I think it's because it wasn't our memories. I think if we see someone else's, it will put more stress on us? But I don't really feel tired at all."
'Hmm, that sure is weird.' I manage to respond.
The walk home was a bit too quiet, all I did was be carried off home by Madoka and trying my best not to sleep. The moment I was placed down; I went over to Kioshi to try and get myself to wake up.
"Daddy! You said you would tell me after we got back from the park!" I exclaimed as I grabbed onto his ninja pants. He patted my head and chuckled at my impatience.
"Alright, I'll tell you...What would you say if I told you we were going on a trip?" My eyes widened at his question. A trip? As in far away or close by? I tilted my head.
"Where daddy?" He picked me up and smiled.
"Well, to see your grandfather in the Land of Water. Plus, we can go to other places, where ever you two want to go." He explained, completely surprising me. I only just started being curious of this 'grandfather' fellow moments ago.
'Inner, this could help us greatly. We could leave and see other villages. I could learn the history of this world, get training, and so many more possibilities!' I said happily and Inner nodded excitedly.
"Let's go! Let's go!" She chanted in my head.
"Okay! That sounds fun daddy!"
"I'm glad you're happy." He said, hugging me in response.
"Dear, when will we leave?" Madoka asked.
"By the end of this week, on Saturday. I've already spoken to the Hokage about our trip." She nodded and smiled with happiness.
"Daddy, when are we coming back?" I asked, wanting to make sure it wasn't too long of a trip.
"Hmm, we have a good period of time; and I'm sure Haruki will want to keep you there for a long time." They both chuckled and I smiled brightly.
"This is great! By the time we're back, we will be strong and ready to kick some ass!"
'Calm down, I doubt we'll get that strong; But I am hoping to get better.' Kioshi put me down and kissed my forehead.
"Sakura, how about you go take a bath and then come down for dinner." I nodded up to Kioshi and walked up stairs.
~After Shower~
I went back to the kitchen when I had finished and we all ate, while talking about things to do on the trip. We had decided to visit some nearby villages first and then go to Haruki's house. We would stay there for some time and then travel some more before coming back to Konoha. I'm still not sure whether this trip will take a long time; but I just hope that we will come back with a few perfected skills. Going to sleep that night was extremely hard, since I kept thinking about the trip. After I had finally fallen asleep, the night seemed to have passed by so quickly, along with the rest of the week. By the time I knew it, my regular weekly routine had been completed and it was Friday night.
'Inner, when we wake up tomorrow, we will be leaving Konoha.' I said as I laid in bed.
"I know! I'm so excited! This will be the first time we go out of the village; and I don't know about you, but I'm ready to get out of the house!" I smiled as I listened to Inner.
'Yeah...It's a bit nerve-wrecking how things are moving so fast. I mean think about it, it's only been a week and two days since I was placed here; and things are already looking good for us.'
"Yeah, at least we're getting things done. And being able to train all day with dad is exciting. Imagine all the things we'll learn! Hey, do you think we should act differently now?" I thought about her question for a while.
'I think that we should show them a bit more now. No more shy Sakura, and little by little we'll subtly show them how smart we really are.' Inner nodded enthusiastically at my answer. For her, it seemed to be a real struggle to pretend to be what she's not.
'For now, we should sleep. I think with all of these new developments, we deserve a good night's rest.' Inner nodded and we soon fell asleep with pleasant dreams of the soon to be new future.