Fairy Tale

When she is a child, that is, when her idea of becoming a shinobi is but a naive affair of uncomplicated heroism, Haruno Sakura dreams of having dark-haired babies with eyes like thunderclouds some day.

She is still a child, albeit somewhat disillusioned, when that dream splinters like her mother's precious vase when her ten years old self had been enthusiastically practicing her lightning ninja reflexes.

Sakura discovers early that her colour isn't pink or red; it is unhesitatingly grey.

*

She has barely begun to bleed when her moonlight-skinned prince morphs into jagged glass insistently cutting into her flesh, goading her to runrunrun. And she runs, faithfully.

There would never be any roses, but dreams of a cosy hearth still lurk in her heart.

She doesn't realize when the flames throw a shadow upon those black, black eyes.

*

After the war, Sakura starts sleeping with Naruto in an effort to exorcize an unutterable pain. Whether it is love or loss, she doesn't know. Perhaps it is both. Or something else.

All she can tell is a dark space has opened up between her body and her soul, making her feel eerily insubstantial.

A strange wave of disappointment washes over her when Naruto doesn't smell like ramen.

*

Life goes on, resilient as grass, and Sakura learns she can very well live with invisible gashes.

Her prince comes back at last, but she has long stopped believing in happily ever afters.

And yet, the sight of anything yellow makes those limpid pools of green shimmer like dew on pasture.

*

Sakura's first born has his mother's eyes.

They live in a small house, since her husband insists on converting the Hokage mansion into a school, which, according to Sakura's wishes, focuses on creative arts. Ino and Sai are the first ones to volunteer.

It's more than enough.