THE HONORED ONE | naruto x oc

iv.

chapter four

                    when classes ended, all children left, most of them extremely excited. there were a few exceptions to that, however. one of those was ciela, who stayed by the door of the academy. no one her age was leaving accompanied by their parents, which meant sakura's guardians would not come either.

they were not who she was waiting for, though. her heart clenched inside her chest, and the pinkette could not help but sigh, depressed. she wanted to see if a flop of white hair, taller than the average person, would appear out of nowhere to pick her up and sneak her out to eat sweets, even meet up with his friends if they were lucky enough.

there were children running around everywhere, but there is nothing that makes a place feel emptier than waiting for someone who is never gonna come.

dragging her feet, ciela moved begrudgingly, deciding it was a good time to just think. she spent time reading in class, studying about chakra and how it worked; there were so many details that the anime hadn't ever covered, mechanisms she only ever knew superficially. it sounded almost too real.

she hated that everything around her felt way too real, actually. it was not her place to be there, and ciela could not understand why, out of all possible scenarios her brain could've created, it chose this one.

then again, the girl scoffed at her own self, she was slightly addicted to Naruto, the anime. ciela found comfort in the series, watching it over and over again whenever she felt sad, memorizing practically everything if not by a small detail here and there. seeing the blond boy, said to be cursed by everyone else, and actually growing up to be a strong shinobi... she aspired to be like that.

it used to be a distant dream, a goal the child knew she would never reach, like many others she had. yet, now, it seemed so close to her hand. she thought back to earlier events, when Naruto was right in front of her, tied up and being held by their sensei. he was there, smiling at her like a silly boy with an overwhelming crush on a girl; the one she had as a comfort character was actually in her reach now.

the girl stopped in front of sakura's house. the lights were on in a shade of warm yellow, and when she opened the door, there were two pair of shoes next to it. there was a humming coming from the kitchen, where both of sakura's parents danced and sang while cooking dinner. ciela's face was absolutely blank as she stared at them.

lord, did their house scream "home." just not her home.

ciela would describe her childhood in one single feeling: the permanent and clouding wish to be somewhere else. her days were repetitive and exhausting, she had memorized the words the doctor would say at every meeting they had, the insults her own clan and parents threw at her were tattooed in the back of her head, and the only peace she could have was when Satoru and her ran away for a few hours, if she was lucky. currently, there was a weird sense of loneliness within her soul.

"so, sweetheart, how was your last day at the academy?" sakura's mother asked with a gigantic smile on her lips, serving herself another plate of homemade ramen.

ciela looked up with sakura's round green eyes, pain echoing through her bones. she was experiencing the love of a parent for the first time, and she found it endearing in the minimal details. the mother had been talking about her day, making sure to mention things sakura would've been interested in, such as a new set of red clothes she had bought for the child. the father made sure to force his daughter to eat more, claiming that this diet she had been on was leaving her pale and that wasn't healthy, reassuring the pinkette she was already extraordinarily beautiful. ciela couldn't tell the man that she was eating little because she never used to eat a lot, considering her body couldn't take much without her feeling sick.

nevertheless, no matter how warm their worry got the girl to feel, each word and gesture they made still cut her skin like thorns of such an alluring flower. she asked herself why that was not a reality when she was alive; she asked herself why Satoru and her had been banned from feeling this. there was no answer, obviously.

"it was..." the girl thought of what to say, and sakura's parents listened intently. "it was interesting, i guess..." she mumbled.

the married couple shared knowing glances, smiling at who they believed to be their daughter.

"we know it is scary to take this last step, sweetheart," the woman said softly.

"it is okay, separating from your friends doesn't mean you won't see them again!" the man added with a cheerful voice. "real friends are not those that you see everyday, but those who no matter how long you stay away, you still have the same relationship. trust yourself and your friends, the true ones will stick together."

it was slightly humorous that they believed that to be the problem. ciela was thankful nonetheless.

"yeah, right... it's just that..." ciela thought carefully, not wanting to worry them about her true fears when they wouldn't make any sense. "i have a feeling that everything will change from now on."

"they will." sakura's mother took the lead on this one. "it is a new stage in your life, but you're not alone through it. you have your friends and, above that, you have us."

the couple smiled at each other.

"and while we may not be ninjas, we are still your parents, and we will help you in whatever you need, sakura."

ciela didn't exactly understand why, but she bursted into tears after listening to that. they rushed to her side, hugging her small body and whispering gentle words to calm her down. she cried loudly, holding her chest with tight fists, as if her heart was in pain. the parents did not let her go, and stayed with her till she passed out from how much she cried.

never in her life had ciela felt as lonely as she felt at that moment, and she started to wonder how long she would last in that illusion.