Sakura, the Beginning of a Kunoichi

Prologue

Sometimes, the cruelty of fate manifests itself relentlessly. Some are born into opulence, while others come into the world in the utmost destitution. Some seem destined to wield power, while for others, every achievement is the product of agonizing effort. Each individual comes into this world with their predestined fate, a mission to fulfill, a message to convey, or a task pending completion. No one is here by mere accident; there is always an underlying purpose.

Is it possible to shape our own future? Yes, with determination, effort, and the conviction that, no matter how many times we fall, we must continue to pursue our dreams. However, unfortunately, there are aspects of destiny that escape our control.

My parents and ancestors bequeathed to me an ancestral knowledge: the understanding of life, the inevitability of death, and the delicate fabric of fate that guides each individual toward their ultimate destiny. For a long time, I have cursed, hated, and rejected this concept.

I feel that my family is cursed. This belief has been ingrained in me since forever and will persist until my last breath. A cruel fate seems to weave itself into our blood, a path full of thorns and challenges that leads even the sanest mind to the brink of madness. Some of my relatives and I tried to escape this curse, but we discovered, too late, that it was a futile endeavor.

How naive we were.

For a while, we lived in darkness and ignorance, trying to blend in with ordinary people to avoid unwanted attention. During that period, I became pregnant. I decided that my children and future generations should not bear the burden of our family curse, so I set out to break that tradition. However, when we thought we had escaped fate and achieved a peaceful life, death descended upon my family in the form of a terrible illness, leaving me alone with my husband, my son, and my sister-in-law. We tried to teach them family traditions in a gentler way, hiding the dark secrets that accompanied them.

Once again, fate dealt harshly with me when my grandson was born. This time, I bitterly witnessed how cruel fate sought to demonstrate the inevitable path we had to follow as the Haruno family. I cried incessantly the night my second granddaughter was born, aware that the gods were mocking my attempt to defy the curse of our lineage.

I resigned myself to the future. Although I am sure that our family is on the thin line between flourishing with greatness and destruction.

Life is cruel if one allows it to be so.

No, I was not going to give up.

Suddenly, a revelation struck me: I had been approaching everything the wrong way, ignoring the reality around me. As I held my granddaughter in my arms, a creature so vulnerable and precious, I understood that, although marked by the same curse as the other Harunos, I had the power to change our destiny. I discovered that destiny is not carved in stone; it can be shaped by our actions and choices. There is still hope.

What I didn't expect, something neither I nor anyone else had foreseen, was Kurama's attack. The day had started auspiciously; my son and his wife decided to go out, so I asked them to let me take care of my granddaughter. At just seven months old, the little one explored the house crawling with energy, always under my watchful gaze and with the help of the spirits that accompany me. I was surprised and worried about Sakura's affinity for sensing spirits; while she played, she was accompanied by Luck and Mother Nature. As the sun began to set, I decided to go inside the house to prepare dinner.

It was just a moment, a fleeting lapse. Upon returning, silence reigned, and Luck and Nature were no longer there. Fear seized me as I ran to Sakura and found her lying in the yard, with a dark, undulating shadow looming over her. Without hesitation, I drove the creature away.

They found her.

A spiral of black chakra began to emanate from her chest, an unequivocal sign that something terrible was happening. I couldn't allow the inevitable to happen at that moment. I scooped her up just as Kurama, the nine-tailed fox demon, broke free from its seal. Was it a bad omen or an opportunity? I decided it was an escape.

As Konoha burned and chaos reigned in the streets, we moved in the opposite direction of the shelters, unnoticed among the terrified crowd. We ran towards the outskirts of the village, but Kurama's roar echoed like an unsettling echo behind us. From the heart of Konoha, the fierce fox rose with fury, its tails waving like tongues of fire. I hoped someone would intervene to stop it, while I struggled to contain my granddaughter. The chakra emitted by Sakura became increasingly dense, burning my arms upon contact.

I had to hurry; otherwise, it wouldn't be Kurama's claws that would snatch our lives away, but Sakura's hands.

Upon reaching a clearing in the forest, where I could maneuver safely, I proceeded to seal Sakura's power for several years. Invoking the ancestral summons of our family, I called forth the dragons. From the mist emerged Ryuu, a small red dragon with yellow eyes.

"Take good care of her, Ryu," I said, and the dragon nodded, exhaling smoke from its nostrils.

With my blood, I traced a seal on the grass. In its center lay Sakura, still unconscious. Then, I performed a series of hand seals, and a trail of light enveloped the seal and Sakura completely. Suddenly, dark shadows emerged from the grass like bullets, hurtling towards me in a desperate attempt to stop me and break the seal on Sakura's chest. Ryu intervened, hurling fireballs to repel them.

The ritual was coming to an end when a shadow, with a desperate movement, lunged towards Sakura. Seeing it, I interposed myself, taking the blow to the stomach. In that instant, the black chakra vanished and was sealed within her heart, and with it, the shadows dissipated.

Lying on the ground, I sighed in relief, weak and on the brink of death, but I couldn't help but smile fiercely as I saw my little pink-haired dot sleeping peacefully, as if the world were nothing more than a gentle breeze. She was alive and safe. Gathering the last remnants of my strength, I crawled, leaving a trail of blood behind me until I reached where my dear granddaughter lay.

Fate is cruel, but our choices determine our destiny, and mine in this life was to give Sakura time to decide her own future.

"Protect Sakura," I reiterated to the clan summons, before coughing up blood. I was dying.

Perhaps I shouldn't have hidden the past and the significance of being a Haruno. If I hadn't been so cowardly, things might have been different for Sakura and for the clan. Maybe I could have guided her on the right path instead of leading her to doom. My absence in her life is my greatest regret.

Now, it all depends on you.

"Be strong, Sakura," I murmured as I gazed at her serene face before directing my gaze to the sky, tinted red by the fire.

Note: After much deliberation, I decided to publish my most cherished baby because it's the first one I wrote from the world of Naruto, specifically about Sakura. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget that if you want to see the first chapters first, you can go to my Ko-fi page since this fanfic is 10 years old, there will be changes in terms of writing and errors that I have overlooked. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

https://ko-fi.com/mayurakarin