Fallen (ItachixOC)

Chapter Fifteen

第十五章

Sakura Haruno was the pink haired 'cousin' of Miyako Haruno. Many of Sakura's teachers have wondered in the past how the pink-haired girl could be so weak compared to her purple-haired cousin. No one, not even Sakura herself, knew that Miyako was the last surviving member of Shinjitsu Clan.

Now that Sakura knows, she feels alone. Confused even. Left out. Her parents knew. The Hokage knew. Hell, her own sensei knew. But she didn't. so, when Sakura knocked on the door to Miyako's apartment, she wasn't sure what she was going to say. What she didn't was that the first word to come out of her pink lips after seeing Miyako was "why?"

Miyako sighed and gestured for her cousin to come into the apartment she shared with her cousin's infatuation. Sakura hesitated, but decided to go in, removing her shoes at the genkan before following Miyako to the lounge room. There, Sakura took a seat on the couch, moving a jumped with the Uchiha symbol on it to the floor. Sakura never though Sasuke would be a bit of a slob but considering that he's clothes were the only ones lying around, it appears he was.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. I wanted to tell you sooner, but your parents thought you weren't ready," Miyako explained as she walked to the kitchen and turned the kettle on, grabbing two mugs from the cupboard and placing them on the off-white coloured bench. "I thought we should've told you when you graduated. But they wanted to wait until you were a chunin."

"So, we're not cousin? So me being weak is genetic? I'll never amount to anything more than a chunin at most, just like my parents?" Sakura questioned with tears in her green eyes.

Miyako looked at the young teen in surprise, before filling the cups up with the now boiled water and grabbing a green tea bag for each cup. She placed the bags into the cups and turned to face Sakura whilst they soaked in the boiling water.

"Of course not. You being weak isn't because off genetics. It's because you don't take training seriously. There are plenty of shinobi of high ranks that come from a nameless family or low-level clan. They work hard to be strong. You too, can reach their heights if you trained hard enough," Miyako explained, turning back around and pulling the teabags out of the tea, placing them on the sink and walking over with the mugs in her hand. She handed one to Sakura.

"Thanks," Sakura said, before taking a small sip of her drink. "Training like how you had me train the week before the chunin exams? Is that the sort of training you're talking about?"

Miyako sighed, shaking her head in the negative. "No. It would need to be more intense. You need to find a fighting style that works for you. No one is meant to be an all-rounder in fighting. Everyone specialises in one way or another." Miyako paused as she took a sip from her tea. "For example, my fighting is based predominantly on Taijutsu and use of weapons, as well as my kekkei genkai. Sasuke's is predominantly ninjutsu and Taijutsu... for now. Naruto is predominantly Taijutsu combined with his shadow clones and throwing weapons. Everyone is different. Kami knows my team was."

"You had an Uchiha on your team, didn't you?"

Miyako nodded, a solemn look crossing her features as she thought about her best friend. "Uchiha Hisoka. He was my best friend. He focused on Genjutsu and Ninnjutsu above all. Takeo, my other teammate, became a medic-nin. He fights mostly using his medical knowledge and Taijutsu. My sensei, Tsuneo Higa, was a ninjutsu master. We were a well-balanced team." A small smile cross Miyako's features as she thought about her old team and took another sip of her drink.

"What about me? I'm not particularly good at anything."

"Not true. You have amazing chakra control. You could become a great medic-nin. And your intelligence is great too, you'd also become a good Genjutsu master if you trained hard enough. You have so much potential. Even if you're the only one in your team not from a clan," Miyako stated and Sakura frowned.