Ah! A Battle Goddess [ON HIATUS]

Kizashi and Mebuki were the miserably happy couple of the village.

They had met when Kisashi was 23 and Mebuki was 19. Kisashi, yet to grow his beard and with his dull pink hair in a crew-cut style, had decided to reward himself for a job well done during a particularly busy month in the office and thus entered one rather old Sweets shop. 

Inside the little sweets shop, located in the marketplace near the shopping district, Mei* Mebuki was ringing up and handing out orders as patreons came and left. She had then come across a rather kind looking Shinobi, which had stricken her as weird since Shinobi should be deadly and ruthless. The unnamed Shinobi had then proceeded to stutter nervously while saying his order, making a bit of a fool of himself in front of the dirty-blonde girl. 

It took him three more visits to build up the courage to say his name and it took him two more before he asked her on a date.

Mebuki learned that Kizashi was a Shinobi more on name than in practice, seen as how he dedicated himself to the Administrative Branch where he took care of filing and certain finances. He was a Genin ranked Shinobi with little interest in pursuing higher rankings, he had an extremely sweet tooth and he enjoyed making people laugh. Kizashi learned that her grandparents on her father’s side had previously been merchant travelers, selling different types of things but after finally settling down in what was yet to become Konoha, they opened the shop and started selling different types of candies and pastries that were generations old and passed down her family. 

Kizashi’s parents had also been civilians, but due to economical problems, he had decided to become a ninja to be able to support his parents financially. He didn’t enjoy the ruthlessness and goriness of the business however, and thus he hid himself behind papers and numbers. 

After two years of dating, Kizashi had proposed to Mei Mebuki. A year later, they had a spring wedding in april and Kizashi quit his job in administration to join Mebuki’s family business. 

They had a happy life as husband and wife, but it seemed that to balance it out, they needed to experience misery. As a result, no matter how much they tried and wished for it, the Haruno household could not conceive. They tried naturally, and even followed some of the old wife tales passed by word of mouth but nothing seemed to work. Finally they turned to the medics, and although they were able to conceive twice, both children were never able to take their first breath.

In the end, they had accepted that they were a barren couple, orphans were given to their next of kin or introduced into the academy, so adoption was not possible either. They tried not to give in to their despair at the realization.

At age 25, Haruno Mebuki learned to live with the whispers of the villagers. However, in the summery heat of June, she could hear the laments and mocking of others more clearly. That day, Kizashi consoled his crying wife, frustrated that he was unable to do anything to alleviate her pain because he felt the same one too. A couple of days later, the dark-pink haired man had decided to reach out to his in-laws, hopeful that a couple of days in a small vacation could cheer up his ever serious but kindhearted wife and make her forget about their curse even if just a little. 

The idea had come to him while staring at the little pond that took place in their rather small backyard. He had taken his still mourning wife to sit at the dock in front of their room and enjoy each other's company with the cool breeze that only came at night in summers. The phone was located in the living room, which was next to their bedroom, and a rather short walk to the sliding door next to theirs offered him access to it. With determination, he picked up the phone and dialed without taking his worrying eyes away from Mebuki.

That night, however, would change their lives and the ones of so many others in various ways. 

Kizashi didn’t know how it happened, one moment he’s dialing the number to his in-laws home and instead of hearing the voice of the operator that connected the phone lines, a sweet sounding and very warm voice answered instead.

“Good evening, you have reached the Goddess Help Line.”

The young man blinked, “Uh, sorry I think I’ve-”

“Please hold on for a moment, I shall take your request in person.”

“What?”

 A soft blue glow started to emit from their small pond, Kizashi dropped the phone in his hands in astoundment while Mebuki stared in amazement as a young looking girl emerged from the light.

Cherry blossoms materialized from around her and gently dropped into the water. Her hair was as pink as the petals around her and it was intricately pinned back into a bun that seemed to be held together by three golden hairpins in the shape of tree branches, which were placed on her right side. At the top of her head she had a bump of hair that was decorated with small pale purple peonies**, and her face was framed with two strands of hair that reached past her chest. 

She wore a pale salmon kimono, the sleeves reached to her calves and it was lined with a golden strip on the hem, which then became a very small pattern of lotus flowers until it faded as it got closer to the middle. The obi was burgundy and in the middle of it sat a jade stone in the shape of a dragon surrounded by petals, and it hung from a thin golden silk robe. The v-shaped collar of her kimono exposed her caramel skin, which seemed golden, and her left hand was decorated with jade rings on her little and ring fingers. 

On her ears she wore two raindrop shaped earrings on each side, also made from gold and jade.  On her forehead sat a purple diamond which also had two smaller ones fanning out from each side, on her cheeks were matching purple thin pointed ovals that stretched as wide as her eyes were long. Her emerald green eyes were lined with red eyeliner and her plump red lips parted with a polite smile. 

For the couple it had seemed the young girl emerged in slow motion from the water, but in reality it had been only seconds until the bright blue light faded, leaving the cherry blossom petals behind floating in the pond, and the young beautiful girl gently landed on the grass in front of them. She walked forward three steps on her white tabi socks and burgundy okobo sandals and bowed, “Pleased to meet you, my name is Sakura. I am a First class, Second category, Unlimited license Battle Goddess.” She straightened up, “It would be my pleasure to grant your heart's one true desire.”

The Haruno couple was stunned into silence, not knowing what to believe. For all they could know, the girl could be a foreign or rogue ninja looking to start some trouble. But although the Mei Sweets Shop was a rather popular place, it didn’t mean the couple was rich. They weren’t a family of generational ninjas with Kekkei Genkai nor did either of them come from prominent clans, so she couldn’t be there to harm or rob them.

They invited Sakura into the living room, Mebuki offering her some green tea, and sat down at the coffee table. The blonde wife was the first to speak up from the two, “I’m- I’m sorry, it’s just that… Are you really a Goddess?”

Sakura set down the brown teacup gracefully after one sip, “Yes, it must be hard for you to truly believe it, but I really am a Goddess. And Goddesses cannot lie.” The couple exchanged a look, “Why are you here then? I am really not understanding why you, if you’re really a Goddess, would come here? What do you truly want?” Kizashi inquired with some hostility, not fully trusting the divine girl.

The young Goddess gave him another kind smile, “I am here to grant you a wish. I am from the Goddess Relief Agency, my job is to help grant the one true desire of a soul that has known great misfortune or misery.” She took another sip of her beverage, putting it down again before speaking “If you desire for riches, world peace, the destruction of the universe, or anything else then I can grant it. No matter what it is.” The blonde woman gripped her husband’s hand, “Then-” she looked at the pink haired Goddess with desperation, “Then-,” if it could be anything they wanted, she knew what her wish was, “Then I wish,-” she said with a trembling voice, her teary pine green eyes staring into her bright emerald ones, “to give birth and raise a Goddess like you.”

Sakura’s eyes widened in surprise, as in a trance, she lifted her face to the ceiling and another soft blue glow emitted from the three diamonds on her forehead, creating a beam that shot up into the sky and tore through their roof. A minute later the light disappeared and the young Goddess fainted, but before her body touched the floor, Mebuki caught her in her arms. Sakura’s body started to glow into a pale green light, slowly it faded away into dust like lights and entered Mebuki’s stomach. 

Then it was as if nothing ever happened, Mebuki and Kizashi stared at her stomach. The blonde woman cradled her flat belly, not knowing what else to do. A second later, the wind picked up and a couple of the cherry blossom petals flew into the livingroom and dropped in the middle of the coffee table where a white envelope with silver detailing appeared. 

Hesitantly, Kizashi reached for it and opened it with caution. “What does it say?” his wife questioned, he read the contents twice before answering her again. “It… It says that your wish was granted and Sakura has been conceived inside you. She’ll grow up with her powers locked to experience humanity and once we pass away she will return to Heaven. Also something about checking in on certain occasions.”

“So, I’m pregnant?”

“Yeah.”

Mebuki smiled, “I’m pregnant!”

“We’re having a daughter!” Kizashi exclaimed, hugging his wife who was now crying for very different reasons.

Nine months later, during a bright afternoon on March 28th, Haruno Sakura was born to Haruno Mebuki and Haruno Kizashi. One of the happiest families in the village.