Sakura's POV
I looked on in silence as he watched me with an observant gaze, waiting expectantly for me to agree with his request.
"I'm sorry...but I don't know how to play Shogi." I answered truthfully.
"Oh? Is that so?" He said with a raised brow. I nodded and waited for him to speak patiently if not a bit nervous. It was true though, I've never played Shogi.
"Well that can't be, you have such great skills in Go. Now imagine what you could be like in Shogi." He said with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
"If you're interested, I wouldn't mind showing you the basics." He suggested with a lazy shrug. I raised an eyebrow in curiosity but for a different reason. I wanted to know why he wanted to teach me.
"I wouldn't mind, and if you're sure it won't be a bother..." I answered. He smiled and nodded.
"It's no problem." He reassured with a dismissive wave. I still had yet to figure out why he wanted to teach me, but I guess I could figure it out later.
"Alright then, whenever you have time is fine with me." I stated in which he nodded. Ino who was beside me groaned irritably.
"No! Not you too! He's already brainwashed Shikamaru!" Ino stated with a frown marring her pretty features.
"Why not Ino-chan? The games are fun and I'm sure Shikamaru-san likes them too." I told her. She pouted, knowing she could do nothing to change my mind.
"But they're old man games..." She whispered. I smiled as I looked at the men's faces around us.
"Ino-chan are you calling us old?" Shikaku asked with amusement.
"Well...no, but..." She didn't finish her sentence, but she really didn't have to. They were only teasing her and it was amusing to watch. Soon they started laughing at Ino's discomfort in answering the question. I tried to alleviate some of her embarrassment by changing the subject. I poked her on the side, making her flinch from the ticklish feeling.
"Let's go take these over to your mother." I said to Ino, who nodded readily.
"Alright, let's go." Said Ino as she began to walk in her mother's direction. I breathed out a sigh of relief as we walked away. Their presence was just too much to handle.
"Wait Sakura-chan! I'll go with you!" Exclaimed Shisui as he made his way over to us. He was followed by Mikoto, leaving the others to talk with the men. We arrived in front of the other women.
"Oh Sakura-chan you made it!" Exclaimed Takara as she stood and walked closer to us. I bowed and greeted her and then lifted up the scroll in my hand.
"Oh! Is that another scroll from Madoka-chan?" Takara asked with excitement. I nodded and looked over to Ino. She also lifted up her scroll.
"She knew there would be a lot of people, but she didn't know exactly how many, so she just made a lot." I informed her. She waved her hand in a gesture meaning not to worry.
"Oh, don't you worry Sakura-chan. These will be some of the first things gone. The kids will skip the food and go straight for these." She said down to me with a grin. I smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Oh, I can't wait to eat some!" Exclaimed Shisui. Ino soon joined him and jumped in excitement.
"I love them too!" She said with a big smile as she eyed the scrolls. I nodded with both of them, also truly in love with Madoka's pastries.
"Sakura-chan, will you be going with Ino-chan to meet the rest of the kids here?" Asked Mikoto who came to stand beside us. I smiled and nodded up to her in response.
"If Ino-chan wants too." I answered, looking over to Ino who grumbled.
"I guess we can go see Shikamaru and Chōji..." She replied not really putting any effort to hide her reluctance.
"Shisui, will you help unseal these scrolls and place them on the table?" Asked Mikoto kindly.
"Sure thing!" Shisui readily agreed. He had this sneaky glint in his eyes and I knew he would steal a few before the others could.
"Here Sakura-chan, Ino-chan!" Said Takara with plates full of food in her hands. She handed us each a plate and we thanked her.
"Right now is just a buffet type lunch, later we will have dinner inside." Explained Naomi. We nodded and excused ourselves to go find the other two. Now that I thought about it, where was Neji? And the others must still be coming because they were nowhere in sight.
"Ino, where are you heading?" Asked Inoichi who noticed us leaving the women's group.
"...To Shikamaru and Chōji..." She answered. The adults seemed to already be used to Ino's thoughts about the boys. They didn't seem to mind that she was very open with her thoughts.
"They should be around that tree." Informed Shikaku. I looked over to the tree he had pointed towards and sure enough there was two small bodies lying on the ground. I turned back and bowed in thanks, then proceeded to poke Ino's side. She squeaked and frowned at me. I tilted my head towards the tree and began to walk towards it, knowing she would follow.
Normal POV
"Ino-chan is very good friends with Sakura-chan huh?" Asked the Hokage who looked on with a gentle smile on his face. The other men along with Itachi and Sasuke also looked at the backs of Ino and Sakura.
"That's right. They met not too long ago and their friendship is already strong. Ino herself has proudly stated only yesterday that she was now Sakura's best friend." Inoichi informed as he smiled at his daughter and friend.
"Ino-chan has definitely been learning to control herself a bit more. Could that possibly be Sakura-chan's doing?" Asked Chōza, referring to Ino's less emotional outbursts for certain situations. Inoichi nodded over to his friends.
"Yes, it sure looks that way. Sakura herself is also very comfortable around Ino." Stated Inoichi as he turned from his friends to stare at the kids.
"I can see why. Ino-chan has a very strong ability to lead others with her personality." Said the Hokage.
"I believe the reason why Ino-chan can lead her so well is because little Sakura-chan lets her." Shikaku told the group his opinion. The others stayed quiet as their minds processed his words.
"That seems very plausible." Stated Hizashi, who gained the groups attention.
"When I first met Sakura-chan, she was alone but she seemed fine with it, even for a three-year-old. Neji is already four about to be five in a few more months, but he still has trouble being alone in the streets." Said Hizashi.
"Wait, she was alone?!" Asked Chōza, worried that such a young child could get lost or worse. Hizashi merely nodded his answer.
"Actually, when I met her, she was also alone." Said Kakashi, willingly speaking up for the first time. They all looked over to Fugaku who was the only one left to say how they had met. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms.
"I met her when she came to practice with the kids. It was Shisui and Itachi that had met her before I did." He gave his answer before they could ask. The adults proceeded to look down at Itachi, wondering if he would tell them how they had met.
"She was alone when Shisui and I found her." He answered their unspoken question.
"You found her?" Asked Inoichi as he began to worry about young Sakura's safety.
"She was in a training ground, but that particular one is hardly used which was why we chose it. She was practicing katas when we walked into the grounds. Shisui then started teaching her how to throw kunai." Itachi finished relaying his meeting with Sakura, leaving out the tree incident.
"And then...how did it go?" Asked Shikaku quite curious. Itachi looked over to Sakura and Ino who had stopped along the way to the tree and started talking. Itachi wasn't very sure as to whether to tell them about what happened or keep it between them. He knew that it would peak their interest and label her as a young prodigy. And he knew if she were to be seen as such, she would have to train harder to meet their expectations.
"Itachi?" Asked the Hokage as they all looked to the silent boy. Itachi wouldn't be able to lie to the Hokage and even if he did, his father would certainly be able to tell. He would later make him tell him and he could not keep it from Fugaku. Deciding to tell them about the situation that happened, he only wished Sakura wouldn't take it the wrong way.
"She hit none of the targets, however..." Itachi stopped his sentence, thinking about how to phrase his next question.
"However?" Asked Fugaku also interested in what was keeping his son from speaking.
"However, she demonstrated remarkable skills in chakra control...well, she knew what she was trying to do anyway." He said as he remembered the surprisingly different outcome he was predicting.
"What do you mean Itachi? Can you tell us exactly what happened?" Hiruzen asked the young boy in front of him who held so much promise for the future.
"Tell you what exactly?" Shisui said as he quickly appeared right next to Itachi, an arm slung across his shoulders.
"About your meeting with Sakura-chan." Shikaku answered, eager to find out what was so hard to explain about the young girl.
"Oh...um..." Shisui didn't know what to say and uncertainly looked over to Itachi. Itachi felt Shisui's stare on him and looked up, nodding his silent response.
"Well, we met Sakura-chan when she was practicing her katas. Uhm...afterwards I showed her the basics of throwing kunai...even though she wasn't paying attention." He said with a laugh, Itachi himself chuckled at the memory of that moment. Sakurahadbeen listening but zoned out throughout Shisui's instructions. They had been very amused when she had somehow snapped out of her trance-like state. As a form of teasing her they didn't tell her they knew about her zoned out moment. She of course was smart enough to suspect something but deemed it as unimportant since she never asked anything.
"Anyways...she started to do exactly what I did...oh, and when I mean exactly, I mean it. She copied my stance and was about to throw the kunai when she closed her eyes to concentrate. Itachi and I waited for her to move when her eyes flew open and she threw the kunai. At first, it was pretty funny. Her kunai swirled to the right, completely missing the target." Shisui retold their meeting with ridiculous hand movements.
"So...she missed?" Asked Hizashi incredulously. He along with everyone were expecting something different.
"Yes. Her kunai then hit a tree and ripped through the whole left side due to the excessive chakra she enhanced her weapon with." Itachi concluded.
"What? Ripped the whole side of a tree!" Exclaimed Chōza, shocked about what he heard a three, about to be four-year-old could do.
"Yeah. We were pretty surprised too. We could tell that she knew what she was trying to do by her reaction." Stated Shisui as he looked over to the girl.
"She looked shocked at first which was mixed with confusion, probably from her miscalculations in chakra. When she remembered she wasn't alone, something must have clicked within her mind. I think she was trying to hide her abilities from people, but we couldn't figure out why, so we invited her over to find out. The whole meeting wentway different than we had expected and all we found out was that she was really good at playing Go." Shisui finished his retelling of their meeting.
"The end result of her visit was certainly something no one was expecting." Fugaku spoke up, looking at Sakura.
"We were already told about how she beat you at Go." Shikaku said, arms lazily crossed.
"But not about her refusal for any assistance in joining the academy early." Fugaku stated as he looked over to Hiruzen.
"Certainly, if she is as talented as you describe her as, skills such as hers shouldn't be overlooked so easily. It would greatly benefit Konoha." Hiruzen stated, keeping a close eye on the pink haired girl.
"Did she give any of you a reason as to why she wouldn't join?" Hiruzen stated as he looked over to Shisui.
"Sakura-chan...Well, she made it a point in telling us that she was definitely not starting the academy early. We tried to understand why, since it would benefit her, but she always evaded giving us that answer." Shisui said as he looked over to Itachi for support.
"When Otou-san asked her to fight with me, she denied outright, even with the possible financial assistance from our clan. She challenged Otou-san instead already having the confidence to win." Itachi explained. He too was grateful he did not have to fight Sakura on that day. As it turns out, he would have won and if that deterred her of growing then it was best to avoid it. He knew defeat wasn't an easy thing people could get over with quickly.
"Hmm, I did wonder what the reason for the game was. At least now we know what started it." Inoichi stated while he glanced over to Sakura, who was patting Ino's head affectionately.
"It appears that little Sakura-chan is hiding a secret." Shikaku stated with an interested gleam in his eyes.
"It would be good to find out why she doesn't want to start the academy early when she has so much potential." Hiruzen stated as he observed the young girl.
"Actually...there's one thing bothering me..." Shisui said, gaining their attention.
"And what's that?" Inoichi asked. Shisui scratched his head in a confused manner.
"Well...when she fired the kunai which obviously contained chakra, why could I not sense anything? Surely there would have been a slight change to her chakra pattern, right? Considering her age, the difference would be instantaneously felt right?" He asked the men.
"Now that you mention that Shisui, I remember meeting Sakura-san before you, with Sasuke...right?" Itachi asked, looking down at the silent boy beside him. Sasuke was shocked that he was being added into such a serious conversation...even if itwas related to the strange pink haired girl.
"That's right Nii-san. It was at the library, when we caught her walking on the bookshelves." Sasuke told his audience.
"Walking?...As in chakra walking on them?" Asked Chōza. All of this amazing information about one little girl was becoming more surprising by the second.
"That's right and I could only barely sense her chakra. It felt as normal as it should, not even a small rise was sensed. I felt nothing out of place, just normal chakra in a small girl." Itachi said.
"Is she suppressing it?" Asked Kakashi as he looked at Hiruzen. The old man instead continued to observe the girl's movements. He took it upon himself to observe more carefully.
"I'm not sure. Such precise skill would be practiced by a Chūnin about to be Jōnin. When one starts training on suppressing chakra they have to be solely concentrated on their chakra. Sakura-chan wouldn't act the way she does. She acts as if everything's normal and she doesn't appear to be struggling to suppress her chakra." Said Hizashi.
"Hmm, then that's only one more thing to ask when we confront her...for now, let's just observe." Stated Hiruzen as they all turned to see Sakura and Ino begin to walk again. There was something about her that beamed innocent but he was well experienced and wouldn't count anything out.
Sakura's POV
We were finally moving towards Shikamaru and Chōji. Ino had insisted on stopping halfway to ask me about Sasuke. This would be the first time she had seen the boy and like Inner she crushed on him upon sight. I teased her a bit by daring her to go talk to him. She had blushed and shook her head, saying she wouldn't do it without me. I had chuckled at her shyness and patted her head reassuringly. I told her before this night was over, I would have them acquainted. She had thanked me and made me promise to do it. It was cute seeing her like that, but realized it would probably be a pain as we grew.
We finally arrived to the location under the tree where Shikamaru was laying down and Chōji sat right beside him. I tilted my head down at the boys who seemed to be relaxing.
'That's right. Shikamaru liked watching the clouds.' I thought as I looked up to the fluffy clouds that were moving across the sky slowly.
"Hey guys!" Ino greeted nicely, trying to be as tolerant of their "boring" hobbies. I had asked her that in exchange for introducing her to Sasuke, she had to be nice to the others. She had agreed readily at the time, but it seemed she was only now seeing how difficult it would be for her.
Shikamaru opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow at Ino's questionable attitude. I noticed her trying really hard not to nag at Shikamaru for doing something as silly as watching clouds. Being the nice person that I am, I changed the topic. I bowed down slightly to the boys.
"Hello Shikamaru-san, Chōji-san." I greeted. They both looked over to me. Shikamaru greeted me with a lazy wave while Chōji smiled timidly, saying hello in a very soft voice. I turned over to Ino.
"Let's sit here and eat." I suggested. Ino nodded reluctantly. I then looked over to the boys when Ino was taken care of.
"Do you mind?" I asked politely. Chōji shook his head and Shikamaru just shrugged his shoulders. We proceeded to sit down beside the boys in the comfy shade of the tree.
"Did you guys eat yet?" Ino asked, trying to start a conversation.
"Nah, not yet." Shikamaru answered. I tilted my head and extended my plate over to him.
"You guys can have mine. I can share with Ino-chan." I told them. Shikamaru lifted himself up by the elbows and looked at me.
"Are you sure? I don't mind but what about you?" He asked. I shook my head and handed him the plate.
"I'm not that hungry, and Chōji-san's mother put a lot on our plates." I answered. He nodded and sat up all the way before taking the plate. He moved it over so it could be held beside them both. I looked back over to Ino and we all proceeded to eat. Ino being the most talkative in our little group decided to take it upon herself to retell them about our day. Of course most of the time they zoned out throughout her monologue but it was Ino talking, so they couldn't just zone her out. She was very keen on telling (annoying) them about everything, to the smallest of details. They soon found out the reason for our lateness, to my yukata from the Land of Water, to my necklace and future promise. I didn't mind, it wasn't like it was top secret information. When we finished eating, Ino proposed we play something.
"How about ninja?!" She asked excitedly, leaping back up eagerly. We kept silent, trying to find an escape, but it was Ino, so we couldn't just say no.
"Ino, how about we get Sasuke-san and Neji-san to play and maybe when the other kids arrive they could too?" I asked her. Her eyes brightened in happiness. She nodded readily and extended her hand out to help me get up. I smiled and reached for hand.
'Yay! I get to meet Sasuke-kun!' She thought in her mind. I felt Inner mentally roll her eyes at Ino's antics, and I wanted to roll my eyes at her for thinking she was any better when dealing with Sasuke. She pulled me towards the adults, not once stopping her thoughts on how cute Sasuke looked.
"Outer, don't say anything or else Ino-pig will hear it. Just listen to me." Inner stated. I nodded my head obediently.
"Sasuke-kun and the others have been watching you for some time. I think they're observing us. Just try to act calm and don't worry about your chakra, I have that covered." I sighed at the stressful information and nodded in habit. We soon arrived and I noticed that Inner was correct, before we had even arrived they had already been watching us. It gave me bad feelings.
"What's up Ino, Sakura-chan?" Inoichi asked. Ino let go of my hand and looked up to him.
"We're going to play ninja and we wanted to know if...uhm...the other kids wanted to play." She explained. I smiled at Ino's shy personality when it came to Sasuke.
"Oh, well that's a nice idea. How about it, Sasuke-san?" Asked Inoichi. Sasuke looked surprised but then looked over at me. Why was he looking at me for? It's not like he needed my permission.
He then looked over to his brother and father. Silently asking for their permission.
"You can go if you want to Sasuke." Stated Itachi. Sasuke looked back to us and nodded. I smiled and looked over to Ino who had a small blush blossoming across her face. She noticed me smiling at her and her blush slightly darkened. I chuckled softly and decided that it was enough of teasing her. I grabbed her hand and pulled her along. I looked over to Sasuke and tilted my head over to the two waiting kids under the tree.
"Let's go Sasuke-san...Oh, wait. Hizashi-sama, do you know where I could find Neji-san?" I asked Hizashi. He smiled and nodded.
"He should be inside the house, probably in the kitchen getting something to drink." He answered me kindly.
"Alright, thank you." I said and began to walk back towards the others, leading Ino along. We made our way back to the others, Sasuke right behind us. Ino was having trouble focusing on anything other than how to introduce herself to Sasuke, which I thought was the cutest thing ever.
"We're back. All we need to do is find Neji-san. Shikamaru-san, Hizashi-sama said that he was probably in the kitchen. Would you take me?" I asked him. He nodded over to me after he realized he wouldn't be able to get out playing Ninja.
"Sure, come on." He said and we began to walk towards his house. The others followed since they appeared to be uncomfortable staying behind. We walked up the steps and through the outer halls. Turning left we entered the inner structure and continued to walk straight for a while before turning right, stopping before the kitchen doors. Shikamaru slid the door open and a kitchen was seen on the other side.
"Here it is." Shikamaru said while yawning. Sitting by the table Neji was drinking what I assumed was tea. He turned when he heard us enter.
"Hello Neji-san. We came to ask you if you wanted to play Ninja?" I asked him as he lowered his cup and looked over to us in surprise. He stayed quiet for a while and then nodded his consent.
"I'll play." He said while standing up from the small dining area. He grabbed his cup and took it towards the cooking part of the room.
"Oh? Done already Neji-san?" Asked a woman. Neji nodded up to the person and the cup was taken from him and placed into the sink. The woman's back could be seen but I had no idea who she was. She wore a pale pink yukata and had brown hair up in a bun. She turned and I could see she had brown eyes as well.
"Oh hello!" She stated once she saw us by the door. I bowed up to the woman.
"Hello, I'm Sakura Haruno." She smiled down at us.
"That's right! Ino-chan's friend! It's nice to meet you, I'm Yoshino Nara!" She exclaimed. I nodded up to her as Neji walked over to us. Did everyone know about me? Probably because of Ino.
"It's nice to meet you. We came to ask Neji-san to play." I informed her.
"Oh how nice! You kids go on and play! Shika, you go and play with them too!" She said as she waved us away happily. We left the room with a slightly grumpier Shikamaru and started walking back outside. When we made it outside, we gathered in a circle in the outside hallway. Shikamaru, Chōji and I looked over to Ino, who in situations such as these would take control. She was rather quiet until I nudged her on the side. She seemed to snap out of her shyness. She cleared her throat and smiled widely at me...oh, that's right.
"First of all, let's give introductions. You all know I'm Sakura." I stated and looked over to Ino.
"Hello! I'm Ino Yamanaka!" She said all bubbly like. A complete change in attitude from seconds ago.
"I'm Shikamaru Nara." Stated Shikamaru with his usual lazy tone.
"...I'm Chōji Akimichi..." He said quietly. I smiled at his courage and looked over to Sasuke. He didn't really have a specific facial expression, but at least he wasn't frowning.
"Sasuke Uchiha." He stated rather plainly. I sighed and noticed he looked over to me and frowned. I broke eye contact easily from Sasuke and looked over to Neji.
"I'm Neji Hyūga. Nice to meet you." He said politely. I looked over to Sasuke in hopes that he would take the hint. See...was that so hard? Sasuke should learn to lighten up. When I was about to speak up, I was beaten by Inoichi.
"Hey kids, mind if a few others join in?" He asked. Others? Who? I looked over to him and noticed three other children. The only ones I had yet to meet...funny thing was, they were all future teammates and they looked so out of place together.
"Sure daddy!" Exclaimed Ino as she looked at the newcomers.
"Now kids be nice and introduce yourselves." He said with a friendly and encouraging tone. Sasuke who stood beside me groaned very softly and I looked over to him. He noticed and stared back with a frown, I shook my head and tilted my head over to the others. He sighed and introduced himself first, probably to get things done quicker. I went next with a slight bow and then it was Ino, with her cheerful attitude. Shikamaru said his lazy introduction while Choji's was soft and timid. Neji was polite and bowed over to Hinata in respect to their clan standings.
"Good! Now, you guys too!" He said towards the new kids.
"Hey! I'm Kiba Inuzuka and this is Akamaru!" He introduced himself in a very friendly manner. I smiled and took in his appearance. He was small and young like the rest. All of them looked pretty much the same, only with different outfits. Kiba wore casual clothes. Some black shorts and a grey tee-shirt with some ninja sandals. Shino was still covered in thick clothing and had his sunglasses on, so I couldn't really see if his face looked any different, but most likely it only seemed younger. Hinata was very cute when she was young. She wore a plain violet yukata and had short hair with her hime-cut styled bangs framing her face. Her pearl white eyes only adding to her noble look.
"My name is Shino Aburame. It's nice to meet you all." He stated monotonously. We all looked at Hinata, as she was the only one left. She had a blush already appearing on her face due to all the eyes on her.
"I-I'm Hinata H-Hyūga." She said very quietly. I'm pretty sure everyone had to strain their ears to hear her. When the introductions where done and Inoichi began to ask them if they wanted to play, I took this time to quickly look over to the adults.
Hiashi, Shibi Aburame, and Tsume and her wolf were with the men while Hana was with the other women. My eyes widened when I noticed the three along with the wolf looking in our direction. I looked away after smiling, not too quickly or else it would become suspicious but instead I looked away as naturally as I could.
"Let's play then!" Shouted Kiba. He appeared to be very excited to get to play with kids his age. Inoichi helped us fairly pick the person who would find the others. I found out a while back that this Ninja game was a cross between tag and hide and seek. There was nine of us so the person who was "it" was decided by drawing the shortest stick Inoichi had picked up. Of course...I would be the one to be picked. I sighed and Ino giggled at my dismay, I opened my dejected eyes and stared at her with a small frown. There was no way I would be able to cheat, using my senses when Inner was already having a hard time with our chakra would be too difficult. I would have to play fair...and I disliked being the finder.
Normal POV
"Is that so? Seems we have a little prodigy in the midst." Stated Tsume as the newcomers where filled in with the information they had gained that day.
"Is she aware that you're planning on asking her again?" Asked Hiashi. Hiruzen shook his head.
"No. We will talk to her alone later into the day, when the kids are distracted and she's able to be alone for a few minutes." He answered.
"Why not do it now?" Asked Shibi as he looked over to the kids and Inoichi as they drew sticks.
"Because Sakura-chan has yet to leave Ino-chan's side." Stated Shikaku as the others looked over to the kids.
"You saw for yourselves how guarded Sakura-san is." Stated Hizashi, referring to when Sakura had gazed over to them and her movements up till now. It was becoming a bit harder to not notice the way she carried herself. And if she had enough foresight to think of what her chakra could do then she was more than ready to be taught further.
"Alright kids! Go and hide!" Inoichi exclaimed happily, clearly heard from their distance. The kids had all spread out throughout the yard. Sakura walked down the stairs connected to the outer hallway she was on and sat down. She sighed and looked up when a shadow covered her small body.
"Nuh-uh Sakura-chan. No cheating." Inoichi said with a grin. Sakura sighed again but closed her eyes and began to slowly count. Inoichi knew from what his daughter told him about their playdates that Sakura was a really bad finder. Ino had giggled every time she had recounted Sakura's poor attempts at finding her. Inoichi chuckled and patted her head affectionately, momentarily messing up Sakura's counting. He walked back to the group when he felt it was time to give the kids a chance to play on their own.
"So Sakura-chan was chosen to find everybody huh?" Shisui commented as he looked at Sakura on the stairs. She was sitting with her face being supported up by her palms. She used her knees to prompt up her elbows and continued her counting. She had her eyes closed and was diligently counting with a more subdued reaction than most kids would have as they played.
"Yeah. This should be very interesting considering all that's been said about her poor finding skills." Inoichi stated as he turned and looked at the children hiding in various places. Kiba had taken to climbing a tree with Akamaru on his head. Ino was hiding behind the bushes as well as Hinata a few feet away. Chōji had hidden under the food table by the women and Shikamaru, Neji, Sasuke and Shino had gone over to the backside of the house, so they weren't very sure where they had gone.
"They all have such different yet similar ideas." Stated Hiruzen as he looked over the scene with a warm smile.
"Indeed." Stated Hizashi as he along with Hiashi had activated their Byakugan to get a better look around.
"The other four boys have taken to hiding themselves rather well." Stated Hiashi as he scanned the area.
"Shikamaru is on the roof, while Shino is in a hollow log farther away near the pond. Sasuke and Neji are hiding in trees high up and very concealed." Informed Hizashi.
"Can you see her chakra?" Asked Chōji as he wondered whether she was actually suppressing her chakra. The twins both turned their heads simultaneously towards Sakura and widened their eyes.
"She is, but...I don't know how she could possibly be concentrating on suppressing it while she goes about the day like normal. Surely it must be causing her some strain?" Hizashi answered, while posing his question.
"Well, let's see if little Sakura-chan can keep it up." Said Shikaku as they all looked over towards the kids.
Sakura had finally counted all the way to fifty and had opened her eyes. She made no move of getting up, she simply sat and looked around the yard. Vibrant eyes taking in the layout of the whole yard.
"Outer, I think you should just find them normally because what if you find them too quickly and that makes them suspicious of us?" Inner stated worryingly.
'I know. You just focus on our chakra and I'll try to make us look normal.' Sakura thought as she looked around, noticing the adults staring.
'Alright, let's think...I'm playing a game that's a mix between tag and hide and seek.' Sakura thought as she looked down to her clothing, realizing that it wasn't very suitable for this type of game.
"Hasn't she finished counting? Shouldn't she be seeking?" Asked Tsume as they watched her look down at her clothing in thought.
"Give her a minute. She's thinking." Stated Shikaku knowingly. It was interesting, watching a possible prodigy in the making. She was young, but he knew that if she was as good as Itachi with the Ninja arts then she would grow to be formidable. Something Konoha would need in future development.
"How do you know?" Asked Kakashi as he noticed Sakura standing up from her spot on the top stair.
"She had that look in her eyes when someone's strategizing. However, she seems to have figured something out." Shikaku informed. He noticed, along with the others, how she was calmly going down the stairs and walking towards them.
"Nuh-uh Sakura-chan! We won't tell you anything!" Shisui quickly shot out, his arms crossed defiantly. Sakura raised an eyebrow at him and shook her head before turning over to Shikaku.
"Ne, Shikaku-sama, do you have some rope I can use?" Sakura asked politely.
"Sure, I'll have to go get it...but what do you need rope for?" He asked, not expecting her to ask for rope of all things.
"Wait Shikaku! Here, take this kid! Saves you the trouble of looking for some." Tsume said as she extended her hand that held onto a leash. By the size of the leash, it appeared to be intended to be used on a much smaller dog then her own. 'Perhaps it's for Akamaru?' Sakura thought as she looked away from the leash and blinked up at her, tilting her head in concentration.
"Thanks, I'm Sakura Haruno and surely you must be Kiba-san's mother." She said politely as she grabbed the leash.
"That's right kid I'm Tsume Inuzuka. And these two guys here are Hiashi Hyūga and Shibi Aburame." She introduced the other two beside her. Sakura, who had been looking between them as Tsume spoke, nodded and bowed before looking down at the leash in her hands. Her eyes were filled with mirth of something that only she found funny. She looked back up again and gave everyone a passing glance as she thanked them and left.
"Wait! Weren't you going to ask for any clues?!" Shisui called out to Sakura. She stopped and looked back to Shisui over her shoulder.
"That would be cheating Shisui-san." She stated with an amused smile.
Sakura's POV
Leaving the group had me relaxing way more than I thought I'd need too. Maybe they hadn't intended to, but just their presence enough came off as extremely intimidating. I looked down to the red leash in my hands. I chuckled as I could already imagine the faces of a few particular kids getting caught with a leash.
"Isn't that a bit mean?" Asked Inner from inside my head.
'Well I did ask for rope and it's not like I can run with this yukata. Well, I could...but I don't want to risk messing up a gift from Haruki, plus, it'll definitely be funny.' I answered, adjusting the leash to fit the size I wanted.
"I guess it would be pretty funny seeing Ino-pig's reaction." Inner laughed as she conveyed to me an image of a flustered Ino. I chuckled at the image and shook my head to clear the image away.
'Alright then, who should be our first target?' I asked, trying to look around for anyone.
"Since you'rethe seeker, might as well start with finding anyone." Inner answered with a giggle. I frowned at Inner's comment and turned completely around, walking towards the mothers and Hana's direction. Someone was bound to be around there, and I had a pretty good guess who.
'Alright then, let's play Ninja.' I thought with anticipation as I made my way towards the tables with confidence.
Alright, second part of the meeting completed! Im also thinking about making another storie dm for idea's!
💗💗Love and kisses😘😘