The Leaf's Princess

36

SAKURA'S POV
It's been a little lonely with Naruto gone, but we've all been getting prepared for war. After I finished packing some medical supplies, I heard singing and listened to the beautiful song. As the song continued, I followed the voice and found others walking towards the sound as well. When I found the source, I realized that it was Michiko singing as she made medicine and food pills, then I stood there and listened as more people gathered. After the song finished, we applauded and Michiko turned in shock and blushed when she saw everyone.

"What happened?" Satoura asked as he walked in with Jiro and Kenji.

"Michiko was singing." I said.

"It was beautiful." Hinata added.

"Oh yeah, she does that from time to time." Kenji casually said as he put down the basket that he was carrying.

"We never knew." Kiba said.

"She's very mysterious." Jiro said.

"Coming from you... I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult." Michiko said.

"I hope she didn't disturb you all." Satoura chuckled to the crowd.

An eruption of disagreement and praise to her voice erupted causing her to blush more.

"Let's all get back to work." Satoura suggested with a polite smile.

We all left, then a while later, the singing began again and I smiled. As I worked and listened to her singing, I thought back to the days when I didn't really know Michiko:

We had finished our first day of class at the Academy and we (the other girls and I) tried to talk to Sasuke, but we saw him smile and run to Michiko as he ignored us. The initial look of surprise on her face when he hugged her had annoyed us since we were jealous, then she laughed and hugged him back. Her father had patted Sasuke's head and smiled, then after Sasuke greeted her father, Michiko pinched Sasuke's cheek, then he grabbed her hand and led her away.

When we were being assigned to our teams, I was excited to be sitting next to Sasuke, but he didn't even acknowledge me, then later on, the teams were called and my heart leapt when it was announced that I was on the same team as Sasuke. Afterwards, we were told that the princess would be an addition to our squad, so she walked in and sat on Sasuke's other side, then he turned and smiled at her. The thing that we found shocking was that she was so nonchalant about getting all of his attention and when Naruto accidentally kissed Sasuke, she simply laughed.

During the Chunin Exams, I never saw her fight and anytime Sasuke left, he always brought only her with him, but when he got attacked, he had sent her to find water. Sasuke had recovered a bit shortly after being left alone with her and I now assume that she secretly used medical ninjutsu. Her matches were quick and impressive, but we still underestimated her, even though she was up against jonin.

As Sasuke began opening up to us, Michiko did too and I began warming up to her, but couldn't help but still notice how Sasuke gave her special treatment, no matter what. She was usually quiet and whenever she spoke to Sasuke or Kakashi Sensei with us around, we never heard the conversation and it took a long time before we heard her voice on a regular basis. Sasuke usually tried to keep her out of fights and protected her, but Michiko had always been oblivious when it came to romance, so she never really noticed all of the guys that drooled over her until we pointed it out. Even today, she still doesn't really notice it too much.

MICHIKO'S POV
After I finished for the day, my brothers walked in and we all had a talk.

"Are you scared?" Jiro asked.

"Hell no!" Kenji cheered.

"A little bit." Satoura said.

"Me too." I admitted.

"I am as well." Jiro agreed.

"I hope you guys are careful and stay safe." I said.

"Same goes to you, Michiko. You're our baby sister." Satoura said.

"I'm ready for war." Kenji said.

I don't know why, but after he said that, I just grabbed him and hugged him tightly.

"You okay, Michi?" He asked.

"Please be careful and don't do anything stupid."

"I-I won't."

"He's scared, but wants to look brave." Jiro said.

"Besides, it's our job to worry about you. You're our baby sister, you shouldn't be worried about us." Satoura comforted.

"I guess."

Then, our father walked in and we discussed our feelings and strategies for the war.