Sakura- Flower of Blood (English Version)

12. Chapter

"Go on without me Ino," Shikamaru said in a bored tone.

"Why?" she replied while giving him a suspicious look.
"I'm gonna apologize for your behavior." With these words he turned away from a once again angry Ino and shuffled towards the two friends. "Annoying woman," he whispered as she began to shout after him.

Sakura held Naruto's hand and assured him with enthusiasm and a happy glint in her green eyes that she would never leave him.

Shikamaru stopped in front of the two of them and watched with interest as this complete stranger took care of Naruto the outcast.

He didn't have anything against him personally, but all the other children were always strictly following their parents' nasty words and either ignored or bullied him.

It wasn't pretty, but he also couldn't really do anything about it.

"Thanks for just now."  his attention was again drawn to the girl with the pink hair. She had turned her gaze away from a now much more comfortable Naruto, and was smiling at the spiky-haired boy.

"Nevermind," he slightly turned his head and looked at the other kids.

Then he looked down at the girl again and asked, "Are you new here? I've never seen you before." Shikamaru fell down on the grass beside them.

"Yes, I arrived today and met Naruto at the Hokage Office. He offered to show me around," she smiled at the blond boy as she said this.

A slight red glint crept up his cheeks.

"Doesn't look like he's showing you around much," Shikamaru said with a small smirk. He didn't know why, but he immediately liked this girl. She had a gentle aura.

"There's plenty of time to explore the village." Sakura had planned to start training tomorrow, but this matter seemed more important to her.

"Would you like to come along?" Naruto definitely needed more friends than just her, it was always good to have people you could rely on.

Shikamaru thought for a moment and then said, "...Sure, but can I bring someone else with me?" Sakura was surprised that he had agreed so easily, apparently not everyone here was eaten up by prejudice against Naruto.

"Of course, everything's more fun with lots of people!"

"Maybe not everything." Sakura smiled.

"Did you find anything interesting?"

"A few people we should definitely keep an eye on." Isanami seemed as calm as always, "But you don't have to worry about that right now."

Sakura got up and turned to the two boys. "I have to go home soon."

"But it's not even that late!" Naruto exclaimed, while pouting.

"I know." Sakura said calmly, "But I still have some stuff to do." Naruto pushed his lower lip forward, visibly unhappy, and crossed his thin arms in front of his chest. The sight of him pouting made Sakura giggle, which in turn made Naruto's serious facade crumble.

They cackled together while Shikamaru watched them with curiosity in his dark eyes.

Once they had calmed down, Sakura looked at the two boys seriously.

"We'll meet back here at noon tomorrow." she looked at them expectantly. "You can bring some food if you want."

Naruto nodded with bright eyes while Shikamaru just shrugged his shoulders.

:

It was midnight and Sakura was still sitting over her book on chakra control while stretching her fingers. Isanami had instructed her to train her fingers because the finger signs she used were a bit more complicated than those of modern shinobi.