Chapter 207: Sakura's Wish
Konoha's Temporary Shelter.
The air felt solid, oppressively heavy and suffocating. Every face wore the exhaustion and panic of surviving a disaster. Low sobbing and uneasy murmurs wove together into a dismal tapestry.
Sakura Haruno, who had been saved from the Chunin Exams arena by Minato's Flying Raijin Jutsu, curled up in a corner. She hugged her knees tightly, trying to shut out the noise.
Her parents, Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno, were sitting nearby, saying something to her.
"Sakura, why are you so disobedient? Do you know how dangerous it is outside?"
Her mother, Mebuki's voice carried her usual anxiety.
Her father, Kizashi, sporting his signature star-shaped hair, chimed in, "That's right, Sakura. This isn't the time to be willful. Staying in the shelter is the safest option."
He wore a plain kimono, looking no different from the gentle, even somewhat weak father she knew.
Sakura looked up abruptly, the frustration accumulated in her chest finally exploding.
"I'm not a child anymore!"
She almost shouted it. Her voice was sharp, piercing the oppressive calm of the shelter and drawing sideways glances from those around them.
Mebuki's face turned ugly at her daughter's sudden defiance. "Sakura! What kind of attitude is that?"
"What about my attitude? Don't you find yourselves annoying? You've been chattering in my ear blah blah blah endlessly since we got here!"
Sakura felt a nameless fire scurrying through her chest. She hated this feeling, hated that her parents always treated her like an ignorant child, and hated even more that they still looked so mediocre and incompetent in this life-and-death situation.
Why could other people's parents be so reliable, so worthy of pride? And her parents were always like this… ordinary, even burdensome.
"Ugh…"
"I'm going to the bathroom!"
Sakura stood up abruptly, ignoring her mother's calls. She pushed through the crowd and walked quickly toward the restroom cubicles at the back of the shelter. "Don't interfere with me!"
"Sakura, I haven't finished speaking! Come back here!" Mebuki's voice trembled with anger, but ultimately, she didn't chase after her.
The restroom cubicle was dimly lit. Sakura leaned back against the cold wooden wall, her chest heaving violently. She grabbed her hair, her heart filled with resentment towards her parents and powerlessness over the current situation.
"So annoying! So annoying! Why are my parents like this!"
"Always controlling this and that, they don't understand me at all!"
Just then, a soft voice suddenly sounded in her ear.
"Oh? You look troubled. Is there a wish you want granted?"
Sakura jumped and turned around sharply.
She saw a palm-sized, pure white creature with long ears and a fluffy tail staring quietly at her with its red eyes.
It was Kyubey.
It had appeared on the windowsill of the cubicle unnoticed. Its small figure looked somewhat unreal in the dim light.
"You—who are you? Someone's summoning beast? When did you get there?" Sakura asked warily, though she was also curious. Was this creature, which looked like a mix between a cat and a rabbit, some rare summoning beast?
Kyubey tilted its head, its tone flat, as if the earth-shattering words just now hadn't come from its mouth.
"I am Kyubey."
" seeing how troubled you are, do you have a wish? As long as you sign a contract with me and become a Magical Girl, your wish can be granted."
Sakura was stunned.
Magical Girl? Is this some new prank?
Sakura, who hadn't seen Sasuke and Naruto in their Magical Girl forms, was puzzled. But looking into Kyubey's eyes, devoid of any impurity, she felt it wasn't joking.
And it just said—any wish can be granted?
Sakura's heartbeat involuntarily quickened. However, she didn't take Kyubey's words completely seriously. After all, how could such a pie-in-the-sky opportunity fall to someone from an ordinary family like hers?
She just found the little creature very cute. And since it appeared just when she needed to vent, she couldn't help but hug it. While kneading its soft fur, she poured out her complaints about her parents in a torrent:
"A wish… if only it could come true just by saying it…"
"Why is Mom always like this? Always controlling everything, interfering in other people's business. She won't stop until she's micromanaged everything from start to finish."
"My dad is the same. Can't he just stand on my side for once and speak up for me? In the end, he always unconditionally sides with Mom."
"No wonder he's a useless ninja who can't even become a Jonin. Can't he help me out even a little?!"
She kept venting her resentment to Kyubey, getting more agitated, her voice louder. But she completely missed the faint glimmer in the red eyes of the Kyubey in her arms.
"I want to have parents worthy of respect like everyone else…"
"Parents like mine… I'd be better off without them!"
Then Sakura lowered her head and fell silent, seemingly still sulking about having such parents.
When those words slipped out again, Kyubey's voice sounded once more, with an unquestionable calmness:
"Is this your wish? Then, the contract is sealed."
"Wh—what?"
Before Sakura could react, a blinding light exploded before her eyes.
Light shone! Light roared!
When the light faded, Sakura looked down at herself. Her ordinary clothes had vanished, replaced by a pink dress adorned with lace and bows, and in her hand, she held a short wand embedded with a heart-shaped gem.
This…
What is this?!
A strong sense of shame welled up, and Sakura's cheeks turned crimson instantly. This "social death" level outfit was even worse than being publicly humiliated!
"Th—is this your doing?!" Sakura glared at Kyubey, who had already hopped back onto the windowsill, feeling both embarrassed and angry.
Kyubey remained unperturbed. "Well, if you want to change back, you just need to think about it."
Sakura skeptically chanted the thought in her mind, and the pink light flashed again. The outfit that embarrassed her vanished, restoring her previous appearance. She breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at Kyubey somewhat bashfully.
"Um… thank you for listening to my complaints."
"Are… you leaving?"
Kyubey nodded, its small body leaping lightly out the window, leaving only one sentence: "Goodbye, Sakura Haruno."
Sakura watched the direction Kyubey disappeared, feeling strange. Although the process was bizarre, this little white beast seemed to have truly understood her troubles. She shook her head, deciding not to dwell on it, and turned to leave the restroom cubicle.
When Sakura returned to the shelter's main hall, she keenly sensed something was wrong with the atmosphere. The original oppression and panic seemed to be replaced by a… strange excitement and sorrow.
She saw a large group of new refugees pouring in. Most were in ragged clothes, looking exhausted, but their eyes were full of complex emotions when they looked at her.
There was the relief of survival, deep respect for a hero, indescribable gratitude, mixed with a hint of unconcealable guilt and apology.
"It's Sakura… the daughter of the Haruno heroes…"
"Child, come here, let us take a good look at you…"
"If not for your parents… we would probably have long ago… sigh!"
"I'm sorry… truly sorry… we… we…"
"Sakura, from now on, you are everyone's daughter!"
"If you need anything, just tell us!"
"We will do our best to take care of you…"
Voices rose and fell, mixed with gratitude, promises, grief, and deep self-blame, surging towards Sakura like a tide. This left her stunned for a moment, and the ominous premonition in her heart grew stronger.
Hero's daughter?
My parents?
Did they have the ability to save so many people?
Impossible, right?
They were clearly staying in the shelter with me the whole time.
And my father isn't even a particularly outstanding ninja… not even a Jonin…
A strong sense of unease quietly crept into her heart. She looked around, desperately searching for her parents, but found nothing.
"Where are my mom and dad? Where did they go?" Sakura grabbed a kind-looking auntie and asked urgently.
A trace of hesitation and grief flashed across the auntie's face, and she stammered, "Sakura dear, you… you have to be strong…"
"Strong? Why do I need to be strong? Where are my parents?"
Sakura felt a chill rise from the soles of her feet, spreading rapidly through her body. She didn't understand why everyone was looking at her so strangely.
The complex gazes of the villagers. The relief of survival, the gratitude and admiration for her parents, the indescribable sympathy and pity when looking at her, and that heavy guilt wanting to compensate…
All these emotions intertwined, forming a terrifying vortex in her mind.
"Parents worthy of respect…"
That conversation with Kyubey in the restroom cubicle not long ago suddenly surfaced in her mind.
"Where did my parents go?! Where did you last see them! Tell me!" Sakura shook the auntie in front of her frantically, trying to get a definitive answer.
The crowd fell silent. Those gazes of gratitude and praise turned into heavy sympathy.
Finally, a little boy protected in his parents' arms spoke up timidly. His voice carried the unique innocence of a child, but it pierced Sakura's heart like a sharp knife.
"Big sister… Uncle and Auntie… they were in the East District… to let us run first… they went to block those big bugs…"
The boy choked on his sobs and couldn't continue.
But Sakura seemed to understand.
"Parents like mine… I'd be better off without them!"
That resentful and venomous sentence echoed in her ears like a curse.
Her wish… might have… come true.
No…
It won't…
This isn't my wish… it can't be because of this…
I didn't mean it like that…
I just said it casually…
Kyubey's red eyes surfaced in Sakura's mind. They had reflected her darkest wish like a mirror. Now, that mirror shattered, and every shard pierced her heart, bloodily spelling out a sentence:
"Your wish has been granted."
She dared not think further. Once that terrible thought became clear, it would be enough to destroy her completely.
Right, they just went to stop the bugs… maybe there's still hope… maybe it's not too late… No! It must… must be in time!