Shiori Haruno was born during the coldest period of winter, she was often joked to be named "Shirayuki", but that never came through, and her name stuck to the tradition of women in the Haruno Family, names with the meaning of flowers.
When Shiori Haruno was born, like all other babies, she had little to no hair, and her eyes had a blue hue over it. As Mebuki Haruno held her for the first time, her smile softened, twins don't sound too bad. That night, the Haruno family celebrated the arrival of their twins, happy with the results of pregnancy and proud of who their children would be some day.
But then both Mebuki and her husband noticed how different the older twin was when Sakura bawled when she was hungry or in need of a change of diapers, Shiori always remained quiet, seemingly mute even. It was eerie. While Sakura took her first step like any other child out there- at 11 months old, Shiori took her at no more than seven months, and by the time Sakura started her first step, Shiori was able to walk stably.
Sakura's first word was "Mama" at 20 months old. Shiori had her first word way before then, in fact, she had the first word two months after Sakura had learned to walk and her word wasn't "Mama" or "Papa" or even "Sakura", it was "Ninja". Both adults had started at their 13 months old daughter, stunned. They wonder what was wrong with their daughter, they tried to brush it off, but the seed has already been planted.
"Sakura-chan, Shiori-chan, what would you like to be in the future?" Mebuki had asked her daughters one day over dinner, Sakura, ever the enthusiastic child swallowed her food quickly and grinned, "I wanna be a kunoichi! They're so pretty!"
Mebuki's smile tightened, but for her daughter, she'll accept. She turned to her other child, "What about you, Shiori-chan?"
"Me?" Shiori had asked out loud, her voice much softer than Sakura's but deeper, she looked at Mebuki and had smiled, "I want to be someone who can bring peace to the world."
Mebuki was stunned, so was her husband who had been listening to their conversation quietly at the side, that wasn't an answer a child of age five would give, they expected something among the lines of Sakura's response, not this. Sakura furrowed her brows, "What? That's boring, nee-san. Kunoichi is all about looking pretty and fighting! Why don't you want to be a Kunoichi too?"
"Who knows, imouto-chan," Shiori smiled at her younger twin before going back to her meal. Mebuki and her husband exchanged looks, wary ones.
Then the Haruno parents agreed to enter both their children into the academy, to their dismay the twins were not in the same class. Sakura had looked positively horrified while Shiori just seemed mildly troubled. She beamed at her younger sister, "That's okay, imouto-chan, we can still sit together during breaks and Kunoichi classes are joined."
Sakura looked happier after that.
Mebuki and her husband felt a little closer to the older one of their children after that, a little, but the feeling was there.
One week after the ninja academy, there was a difference in both their daughter. Sakura seemed more withdrawn as each day passed and Shiori seemed quieter than before. This situation had gone on for days and soon days turned into months, and none of their daughters had shared what was going on.
Finally, the first year of Ninja Academy ended, and the Haruno Family was visited by the Hokage and Chunin teacher of Shiori. "Good evening, Haruno-san."
"Hokage-sama! Oh my, come in, please." Mebuki fussed around the kitchen to ensure perfect hospitality for the Hokage. Shiori and Sakura peeked into the living room one from the left side of the door and the other from the right. The both of them looked on curiously and wondered what was up.
"What can we help you with, Hokage-sama, sensei?" Mebuki's husband questioned, Mebiki was also listening with rapt attention. Hokage took a sip of the tea he was served with, "I have something to discuss with you regarding your daughter, Shiori Haruno. It's a special case since it usually only happens in ninja families, not civilian ones, but Haruno-san, your daughter is a prodigy, a genius in Ninja Arts."
The two Haruno sat down stunned, "Usually, I need not come all the way to inform parents, as it happens mostly with ninja families, prodigies are given a different type of training. But seeing how you have no clue how to train your child, we would like to inform you that many out there have already offered her apprenticeship"
"What?" Mebuki breathed.
"Oh?" Hokage-sama raised a brow, "I would have thought you would have shown your parents those slips, Shiori-chan."
Shiori walked out hesitantly, "I was thinking about it first. If I hadn't wanted it, I would have thrown it away, so there was no trouble for my parents. And I wanted to stay with my sister in the Academy."
"Y-you! You're just looking down on me! Only Ino-chan cares after all! You don't need to lower yourself down to my dumb level! I hate you, nee-san!" Sakura who was standing in the doorway yelled before running away. On Shiori's face was a look with more emotion that Mebuki has ever seen her daughter with, hurt, sadness, betrayal, broken, "But-but, that's not what I meant!"
"Shiori," Mebuk's husband, called out. Shiori snapped her head over, eyes filled with unshed tears, "Yes, father?"
"Why don't you explain what the apprenticeship are about and let your mother comfort your sister." Mebuki quickly left afterwards. When it was dinner time, it was filled with tension. Shiori ate with her head held low and Sakura ate, not once she looked at her sister. "Shiori, don't you have something to tell the rest of your family?"
Shiori stilled. She slowly brought her face up and made Mebuki flinch. Her daughter's eyes were dull and filled with hurt and pain, "Okaa-san, Imouto-chan-"
"Don't call me that!" Sakura screamed. Shiori flinched, "Okaa-san, Sakura-san, I will be missing for the next seven years."
Sakura stood up and stalked out of the room, Shiori remained still, "I will be back when I am 12, I will be travelling around the Land of Fire."
"That's great, Shiori-chan, your sister, is just sad, she doesn't mean what she said." Mebuki smiled, Shiori nodded, "Excuse me, thank you for the food."
The next day, the Haruno saw their daughter for the last time for the next seven years. Shiori smiled before leaving with a Jounin.
