Boulders

Phyllite

Can I just say, from the bottom of my heart:

My bad.

(And this is pre puppet Sasori, btw.)

▪▪▪

"Sakura!"

Sakura jumped into a defensive position. Her right sandal landed in a mud puddle and she slipped, falling roughly to her knees.

She looked up into the furious face of her mother.

She stood in the common area of the retired ANBU housing, panting and hot after a long day of continual chakra enhancing and hand-to-hand sparring. Kou-sensei sat on a lawn chair besides her, reciting Shinobi codes from memory.

Takeda-sensei was there too (he was the one who had been fighting with her, rather mercilessly, if she did say so herself), but he was just reading a book of advanced espionage techniques.

"Mom?" Sakura asked, hardly understanding what was going on.

"You ignored me," Mebuki pointed at where Takeda-sensei was reclining. "You went with this- this- this murderer!"

"Eyy, lady," Kou-sensei snarked. "Who're you calling a murderer?"

Mebuki continued in her angry rant, completely ignoring the blind man. "We allowed you to go to the Academy because you weren't going to become one of those horrid shinobi who kill people! You promised you'd become a teacher, like Umino-san, or a messenger bird trainer, or even just a gate guard! Yet now I find you here, with these horrible murderers, even though you promised you wouldn't!"

Sakura ducked her head a little closer to her exposed collarbone. She'd taken off her coat after almost two hours of sparring, and now her pale arms and scuffed and calloused hands were in full view.

"B-but Takeda-sensei is-" Sakura tried to protest.

"You lied to me!" Mebuki shrieked. "How could you do that?!"

"Mom-" Sakura almost yelled. "They're just teaching me! They're helping!"

"How dare you defend them!"

"Why would you attack them?" Sakura straightened, feeling her own anger kindle inside of her. "Takeda-sensei has taught me so much! If it wasn't for him-"

Mebuki's voice was deadly calm. "Are you telling me you want to stay with them? To let these murders stay your teachers?"

Sakura took a deep breath. "Yes."

"I see," Mebuki seemed to get better control over herself. "Don't come back. I won't have monsters under my roof. You can come home once you've denounced these men and quit being a ninja."

Feelling sick, Sakura raised a hand towards her, opening her mouth to beg, to plead, to have her mother's love.

She didn't say anything.

She couldn't.

Mebuki looked her over and scoffed, turning on her heel and leaving.

She didn't say anything.

She still couldn't.

Sakura felt her legs give way under her, and then she was sitting on the ground watching her mother's back getting further and further away.

Takeda-sensei came up behind her, resting a hand on her shoulder. Sakura made no move to acknowledge his proximity.

"I'm sorry," he apologised. "Do you want to stay with Kasumi tonight?"