Naruto Magazine Issue #15

Oneshot: The Fox and the Haruno

The Fox and The Haruno by QuasiAngel (Narutofic.org)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sakura?"

"Father!"

I sat in the flowerbed that my mother spent an entire weekend planting only a few day before the anniversary of my 6th year. It was very impressive for a woman that had no professional experience in landscaping. You couldn't experience their beauty until now- until they were all blooming. There were annuals and perennials sorted my type and color. They were arranged in a gradient pattern that ended in a deep shade of orange. At sunset, it looked as it the flowers were a part of the sky. I was in the blue section.

My father tip-toe across the bed, trying hard not to trample on the foliage with his giant feet. Although they are not so enormous now, they were when I was only 3 feet in height!

But I remember the look on his face. He tried his best to look stern and mean as a father is supposed to, but I knew the look in his eye. The look that meant I did something wrong, but I was still his little princess.

He held out his large hand to me and I took it. He pulled me up and I stood along with his movement. The roughness of his pull shook me a bit, but I would never tell him that. After all, I was a ninja-in-training. I had insisted he treat me like a ninja! And he did, never handling me different than he would a boy- after all, I was (and still am) his ninja princess.

I grabbed my basket of flowers before he guided me to the stoop that lead unto the house. We sat down and he immediately started.

"Sakura, how many times has your mother told you to stay out of her garden?"

I tried to turn away, but he placed a callous thumb under my chin and turned my head towards him.

"I- I wanted to give flowers to my new friend, Ino. The b-blue flowers match her eyes."

Something sparkled in his eyes when I said the word friend. There was no stretching the truth when I say I didn't have many friends. He was proud.

"Did you ask your mother if you could give one of her flowers to Ino-chan?"

"No."

"You know better, Sakura."

"I know, father."

He smirked and made that face fathers make when they knew something that their children don't, "Must have been that Kyuubi again."

He said it in a playful manner and tickled my tummy- a habit of his. When my giggling subsided, he was about to stand. I quickly grabbed his arm and pulled on his shirt. He stayed.

He always brought up Kyuubi, mostly when I misbehaved, but I always failed to ask him about it. Not this time, "You still haven't told me what a Kyuubi is."

My father looked around and glanced at the window that looked over the garden. Probably looking for my mother.

"Kyuubi is not a what, he is a who."

I mouthed the word 'who' as he continued.

"You promise you won't tell anyone? Especially your mother?"

I nodded. And for reassurance, he held out his pinkie to me. I hooked my tiny one with his and shook, swearing that I would keep my word.