Hogwarts' Shinobi

Chapter 36

Sakura looked awe-struck at the large room she found herself in. Tall walls painted in a drab deep green colour. The furniture that filled the centre of the walls made of matching the fabric. The dark curtains pulled together doing no favours for the room either.

Even the couple in front of her wore all dark colours, the woman strikingly beautiful in appearance, despite her older age. The man beside her recognisable as being Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father.

"Welcome to Malfoy Manor, Miss Sakura. I should hope that the duration of your stay here shall be good." Lucius spoke first, despite the smile on his face, and the words of kindness leaving his mouth. Sakura couldn't help feeling uncomfortable around the man. His false niceness reminding her of one of the many villains who haunted her past life.

"I's shalls show you to your roomses if you're ready." Sakura's eyes flickered down to the smallish house elf that had materialized in front of her, nodding slowly.

Sakura trailed after the small creature through seemingly endless corridors. The dark green walls caging her in covered with larger than life portraits of scowling Malfoy family members.

The pair stopped in front of one of the many doors on the third floor of the mansion. "This is your roomses." the elf said before snapping its fingers and causing the mahogany door to swing open with a deep creak.

The room was simplistic in design, reminding her greatly of her old room, and contrasting greatly to the rest of the house. The large curtains pulled back to allow a constant stream of sunlight into the room. The beige paint seeming almost white in the bright light.

Walking slowly over to the low-lying bed pushed against the room, she dropped to the floor. It was exactly like her old room, even the old photos were there. But how?

Eyes widening, she spun, rising to her feet to look at the shocked elf. "How? How did you get all this?" she blurted, hesitant footsteps bouncing off the walls as she stumbled over to the elf.

"The roomses are designed to appear as the misstresses desireses. You are the reasonses it looks like this." the elf said, large green eyes meeting Sakura's before shifting as the elf moved to bring through her bags.

Getting to her feet, Sakura began to wander across the room towards the dresser which was covered in various images of her old team members. Just like how she'd left it.

The most recent image, the one where Kakashi had just been made Hokage, was placed in front of the older photos. To its left was their first photo as a team, she also had the photos of her teammates' official images. 

A small chuckle making it's out of her mouth as she looked at Naruto's more goofy photo. Sadness overwhelming her senses, she didn't realise how homesick she felt until now. A sob racking her chest as tears leaked down her cheeks. Her eyes stinging at the prospect of more tears.

"Is Misstress Sakura okay?" the house-elf spoke up, taking a hesitant step towards the girl, eyes wide in fear. "I can has your roomses changed if you don't like it."

Jerking up at the reminder she was not alone, she looked over the terrified being, "No... No... It's just perfect, thank you. For everything." she gave the magical servant a tearful smile before turning back to the images, "Just perfect."

Dinner was served a couple of hours after Sakura arrived, the house-elf coming to retrieve her after making sure that the clothing she was wearing was appropriate. Nodding its head at the sight of her floor-length light blue dress, the elf indicated for the girl to follow her.

The room they ate in was a largish, hall-like room. The deep brown table surrounded by 6 or 7 high-backed chairs, however, only the three at the very end -the head chair and one either side- were laid for dinner.

The lavish food that rested steaming on the table was almost equal in taste to appearance. From the bronzed poultry that rested in a nest of assorted greenery to the intricate gravy dish, the meal was flawless, unlike anything she'd ever seen before.

The majority of the meal being eaten in silence, the only sound being the occasional clink of cutlery. Sakura found her mind wandering throughout the silent meal, the small part of her that craved a difference in scenery now sated.

She was so trapped in her own thoughts that she almost didn't notice Narcissa calling her name. Her voice light and friendly as she tried to encourage conversation amongst her silent companions. 

"I trust you have settled into your new room, Sakura. I hope that there are no issues, but if there are, please feel free to alert one of the house-elves. They will be more than helpful, I'm sure."

Sakura could only give the woman a friendly smile and nod, "Thank you for your kindness to me, Mr and Mrs Malfoy. I do apologise for imposing on you at such short notice, I am very grateful for your generosity. The room is perfect."

The moment she went silent, Sakura's mind was once more buzzing with nerves, was she polite enough? She could only hope that she didn't offend them if they sent her away now... She could only shudder at the thought.

"That is good to hear, my dear," Narcissa said, her bright red lips curling into a friendly smile as her brown eyes met Sakura's. The sincerity of her words apparent to the girl causing her to smile in return.

An awkward silence engulfed the trio once more, unsure of what to talk about, Sakura simply ate quietly. Eyes staring only at the plate in front of her as she shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

The happy atmosphere of Hogwarts she'd once found mildly irritating, feeling almost like an idyllic fantasy to the girl now. This kind of awkwardness being one she was quite unused to, and it was certainly something she did not enjoy.

For the second time since arriving at the manor, Sakura found herself wanting her orange-clad teammate by her side. He would know how to disperse this tense atmosphere.

Of course, the Malfoy's would probably despise his obnoxious-bordering-on-rude behaviour, but right now, he was somebody she really wanted.

Sighing to herself, she thought once more of what she'd originally told Lady Katsuyu upon summoning her for the first time in this world. Suddenly, the idea of trying to contact her teammates seemed like an incredible idea.

Sighing to herself, she came to a decision, selfish desires triumphing against better judgement. After dinner, she would summon Lady Katsuyu and write to them.