Darkest Before Dawn

A Pretty Lady

   "My, my, what a cute little thing! Why are you picking flowers all the way out here? There's a perfectly decent meadow right next to Konoha."

   Sakura smiled at the stranger as she bound some flowers with extra chakra string that she had.

   "I met my friend out here, miss."

   Mikoto Uchiha smiled and offered a hand.

   "Now it's getting late, dear. Let me walk you home. What's your name?"

   "Sakura Haruno."

   The five year old took hold of the woman's hand and allowed herself to be led back into Konoha. The guards nodded at them in greeting in which both returned with a wide smile. Mikoto looked down at the girl, her head tilting a tad right. Even if the girl was telling the truth, it was highly unusual to see someone so young be out so far from the confines of the village.

   "Dear, wouldn't your parents worry about you being out all by yourself?" questioned Mikoto.

   "No."

   "Why is that?"

   "They're dead, miss. Have been for a couple of weeks."

   The woman's hand tensed as her eyes widened in immediate worry. This little girl had lost her parents at this age? That was devastating. Even so, she definitely wasn't showing discomfort if she had any. Mikoto studied Sakura's face for a long while. There was no emotion, only that adorable, lonely smile. She felt a surge pity run through her.

   "Why don't you come over, Sakura-chan? I'll brew you a nice cup of tea." she said, motherly instinct taking over. Sakura shook her head.

   "It's alright, miss! I don't want to impose or anything, and-and I really need to get home to prepare for tomorrow!" she exclaimed. The girl slid her hand out of the older woman's before bowing and smiling up at her cheerfully. "Thank you for walking me this far, ma'am. I can walk the rest by myself."

   She trotted off, but not before giving the kind lady the bundle of flowers. Mikoto walked home, a frown creasing on her flawless face. Sakura... She was such an unfortunate little girl. And she couldn't be any older than her youngest son, Sasuke. Did she live with anyone? How was she faring? What had happened to her parents? The thoughts had clouded her mind so much that she hadn't realized she had arrived at the kitchen of her home. Fugaku, who had noticed her entrance, turned towards his wife from the dining room table.

   "Is something bothering you?" he asked. Mikoto laid down the flowers on the table and pecked her husband on the cheek.

   "It's nothing, dear. Don't worry about it." she grinned. She went back into the kitchen to start preparing dinner. Fugaku turned back around and sipped at his tea. He gazed at the flowers with an uninterested eye until something glinted on the stem. He reached for the flowers, untied the string, and brought it close to his face for further inspection.

   "Where did you get these flowers?"

   "Oh! This sweet, five year old girl gave them to me earlier. I walked her home and she gave me those. Aren't they beautiful?"

   Beautiful? Sure. But what was a five year old doing with chakra string?

~

   "Brat. Get up."

   Sakura sat up and rubbed her eyes. She gave a wide yawn before pouting up at her teacher.

   "Sensei..." she whined, "It's five in the morning."

   "I know. Get up, get dressed, and meet me on the training grounds in fifteen minutes, understood?"

   She puffed out her cheeks, annoyed, but nodded nonetheless. Ibiki smirked and patted her head before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Sakura tumbled out of her bed, clumsily threw on a dark green long sleeve and pastel yellow pants, grabbed her weapons pouch and books, and trudged to the training grounds. Her eyes were still bleary with sleep and she couldn't keep a lot of focus. She deemed that she didn't need to, seeing that only a couple of ninja were on the streets.

   Eventually, she met Ibiki at the training grounds. He raised an eyebrow at her disheveled appearance and chuckled. She stuck her tongue out. Sakura wrapped the weapons pouch around her thigh and set down her books.

   "Why did you want me to wake up so early for, sensei?"

   "For one, you're now waking up everyday at five am."

   She crossed her arms and pouted.

   "Two, you now will be wearing weights to increase your strength and speed."

   Ibiki pulled nine training weights from his overcoat. He wrapped them around her ankles, thighs, waist, wrists, and biceps.

   "Each of these weigh three kilograms (approx. 6.6 pounds), making everything on you a total of twenty-seven kilograms (approx. 59.4 pounds). The weight will increase gradually as you improve your skill and grow older. Never take these off unless you take a shower. Right now, I want you to walk around Konoha and get used to them." he said. Sakura smiled up at him and nodded. He tousled her short pink hair and stood up, "I'm going on a mission for a week or so. When I get back, I expect those weights not bother you at all."

   She saluted.

   "Hai, sensei!"

   He smirked and walked out of the training grounds. Sakura relaxed herself and moved around. The weights weren't that heavy, so she didn't think they'd be too much of a bother. Her stomach growled, interrupting her train of thought, so she walked into the village to find something to eat. She walked the streets to see if there was any vendor open this early, and was lucky to score a few sticks of toriniku yakitori at the edge of the village. Stomach full and determination readied, she continued to walk around. Two hours later, at around seven am, she was approached by the pretty lady from yesterday.

   "Ah, Sakura-chan! What are you doing up so early?"

   Sakura shrugged.

   "Just walking around, miss. What about you?"

   "I decided to do some early morning shopping. Around this time, all the fresh produce gets put out. Oh my, how incredibly rude of me, I haven't introduced myself! My name is Mikoto Uchiha."

   She shook Sakura's small hand and noticed how damp it was. She also noticed the beads of sweat sliding down the girl's forehead and the quick, shallow breaths that escaped her lips. Mikoto's eyebrows furrowed as worry filled her once again. 

   "Mother, is this what you have been looking for?"

   Sakura brightened at the boy that walked up to the two of them.

   "Jounin-san!"