The wooden flooring had a treacherous nature to them. They creaked, squeaked, and moaned to their amusement, forcing Sakura to freeze every step of the way. Regret attempting such a risky excursion merged with the feel of trepidation of the gloomy atmosphere of the windowless hallway in her mind, stiffening her toes and fingers with the urge to turn around. There is no turning back. She had decided to give in to her need and get some fresh air.
No, take back.
Sakura had been enough of a croward today. Her cowardice was the true enemy. The thought was the combustion that made her cry earlier. She should have tried to help Jio. The solution had been simple. At least the matron would not have beaten Sakura bloody.
She could have used that to her advantage.
Doubt was part of the process, she told herself. How often had she sweated under the matron's steel gaze? Always the disappointment. Just to push forward until she got a nod of approval and a gasp of air from the matron's strangling hold? Where there was a will, there is a way. Where there is the perfecting of her posture or successfully sneaking around? Speaking of which, all the balance training and the constant critique of her unladylike walking style made her wean off unnecessary movement and trained her to be patient. It was funny that it took her sneaking around in the dead of night to realize those accomplishments.
These were her first steps towards conquering her cowardice.
Sakura reached the corner of the hallway leading to the main room. To get out into the yard, she had to cross the main room and head to the changing room, preferably along the walls. Leaning flat with the back against the wall, she spied around the corner.
Sakura's eyes widened.
There was a moving shadow at the other side of the main hall. Was it the matron? Sakura held her breath. Her legs grew heavy, and she found herself not being able to breathe. Lips rolled together in an airtight line, and her eyes started itching from the strain she put on them to see through the dark. The shadow passed on of the windows, and the sullen light of the moon ransomed heart rate in her chest from overworking itself. The shadowy figure was too tiny to be the matron. She saw the outline of picky hair rushing past the light. The shadowy figure was too small in height to be the matron. With proof that the situation was less dangerous than feared, Sakura calmed her inner spirit down. To her surprise, it resulted in the sharpening of her other senses.
Her heart strained.
Sakura heard the violent footsteps of bare feet loud and clear as she watched the figure strode straight for the office door of the matron, halting just before it.
Which child would be so insane to trample like a horse without the care of the world at night?
"This is even easier than thought." The shadow said and trumped it with a series of light-hearted snickering.
Sakura let out a strained noise somewhat resembling a gagged frog's quack. She was so shocked about finding herself surprised that she had to turn her head the other way to stifle another groan threatening to crawl out of her throat.
The uncaring behavior, the guts the size of a whale, and the voice of a demanding baby bird allowed her synapses to connect.
Naruto.
The boy's name was Naruto. He had yellow hair, deep blue eyes, and three whiskers on each side of his face. He was the apparent demon child.
Out of all the children in the orphanage, he was the one the matron told her to stay away from the most.
She heard the cracking metal on metal. Sakura looked over the corner again and watched Naruto work on the lock with the confidence only a true fool could possess. Was that boy's nervous system wired correctly? Then again, she had witnessed the one or other standoff between him and the matron. Surprised by the emerging memories, she recalled no instance where the matron had met him with more than curses. Well, Sakura recapped that he already lived in the shed. He also escaped the matron display stick most of the time by jumping onto the roof, a deed only Jio could manage apart from him. Naruto must be from a shinobi family. The matron was passive to all children that were. Jio's dripping bloody hand stanied the mirror in Sakura's jade eyes. Well, most of the time, she corrected herself.
The lock clicked, and Naruto opened the door, leaving Sakura stunned. While Sakua never attempted it herself. She surmised that cracking a door was a delicate action.
Sakura maybe heard what, five or so clicks?
When the lights in the office went off, Sakura found herself in a dilemma. Well, not precisely, because before she had the time to think about her following action, she found herself walking across the main room, opening the door, and acquiring a howl from the boy as he saw Sakura in the doorway.
"Just what do you think you are doing?" she whispered angrily.
"I... I..." Naruto shuddered. The corners of his mouth trembled. "I wanna know about my ka-chan and otou-chan, dattebayo." Then he caught himself. Sakura saw a fake grin spread across his face. Naruto rubbed the back of his head with one hand before he pointed at her, a playful gleam in his eye.
"What are you doing here, Sakura-chan?"
Sakura, whose anger was dropping because she felt the first sentence twinge her heart, blushed in embarrassment at the added -chan on her name. Never had she gotten the suffix before. She crossed her arms defensively.
"Let's return to our beds before the matron finds us." Sakura tried to cut the situation short.
"Don't worry," Naruto dismissed with the wink of his hand. "That hack is gone from the orphanage. A man as ugly as herself picked her up ten minutes ago. She will be gone until dawn, dattebayo."
Sakura was unsure what to make of it. She bit her lip. I want to know about my ka-chan and otou-chan, resounded in her head. When the matron was not here, it was enticing.
Sakura shook her head. It did nothing. Stop being a coward. It is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. No orphan knew where they came from. Society dictated that all parentless children were stuck in the orphanage until they were six and took the entrance exam to the ninja academy. After that, they were free to be adopted, taking on the name of their new parents. Or they were free to search for an appropriate apprenticeship, in which case they finally got their original family name so long it was known. The ones in the academy became the charges of the village military system, required ninja orphan funds, got their original name, and left the orphanage.
The strange need within Sakura was there again.
"You know what, let's peek together," she decided. A determined glint ignited behind her pair of jades, making it shine in the most sought-after apple-green color.
Naruto's fake grin softened into a genuine smile. "Then you take the left, and I take the right side of the desk." He did not wait for her reply and walked over to the wooden monster, filling the entire windowless room.
The duo did not search for long. The second drawer Naurto pulled open revealed multiple brown folders with white plastic clips with the names of the orphans sticking out of them. Sakura kneed in front of it and let her index and middle finger crawl over the edges, scanning the children's names in the process. Stumbling over her name first, she left it be for now for the sake of the shaking Naruto beside her, slipping out the folder with his name soon after.
Naruto flipped it open, and his face fell.
"What is?" Sakura questioned.
"There is no picture, just a paper with some scribbles." He sounded disappointed, as if you blew up a balloon without tying it up, letting the air free, you worked so hard into it.
"What does it say?" Sakura asked. A few sentences were more than a white sheet, after all.
"I can not read."
Sakura groaned. She had forgotten that the boy could be stupid as hell. She snatched the folder from his hands and let her eyes wander over the paper. On it was one line.
"Your full name is Naruto Uzumaki."
"What? That is it."
Sakura nodded, closing the folder and sorting it back in. What a bummer.
She felt for him and prepared herself to offer words of condolence.
Naruto fisted his hands and looked straight into Sakura's bewildered face. In his blue eyes glittered a thousand stars.
"I am Naruto Uzumaki, dattebayo" He jelled. Sakura leaped at the fool and covered his loud mouth with her hands. Naruto's body budged not an inch from her attack, but his face went red like a tomato.
"Sorry," he muffled into her palms.
Letting go of the boy, she picked out the folder with her name and flipped it open. Sakura needed to be quick now. There were three pages. She started to read the first one.
Her full name was Sakura Haruno. Her birthday was March 28th. Her parents were Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno, and they had been merchants. She also found a weird assortment of numbers which she could not identify. There was no picture.
The second one was an adoption contract to a certain Shibo. Sakura paused, swallowing the information. Did someone want to adopt her? Her heart fluttered.
By the kami, this was a revelation.
Eagerly, she flipped to the third page, and the flutter in her hard tumbled to a hold.
Dear Shibo Nurunuru,
Over the past few months, the girl proved to be a genius in literature. Our doll learns so fast that I will need you to send more advanced materials to her. She is obedient to a fault and puts forth much effort to please me. It is better than we hoped. Her hair has grown out quite a bit. It is so silky and lustrous. I do not doubt that you will find her lovelier than before. I believe she will become the most sought-after Oiran in the country. Many of your customers will fall for her. Therefore, I want to raise the price for the doll to fifty percent more than the original offer.
Sincerely,
Buta no Kuchi.
Somehow, the little girl with the hair of molten flowers and gemstone eyes made it back into her room.
Sakura sat on her bed, hugging herself. Her eyes itched. The slime in her nose from her earlier episode had formed a crust, blocking her airway, and she felt like it was suffocating her. Her gums felt like leather as she searched her mouth with her dry tongue for a flavor other than doom. She begged silently, hoping Kami would show mercy and gift her tears to wet her eyes, making the snodder pour from her nose and the saliva flow again.
After a long while, Sakura watched as the first rays of sunshine flooded the room. She laughed dryly.
It looked like she owed this Naruto Uzumaki big time.