It had taken a while for Shikamaru and Choji to get Sakura to move from the sparring circle so they could go home. It was obvious that Iruka had made the pinkette feel guilty, having prayed upon her caring nature. The Nara seethed at that.
'What kind of sensei guilt trips one of his student's into regretting that they defended themselves?'
A terrible one, the boy concluded. One that picks favourites and is oblivious to anything else.
Tonight they were staying Choji's house , having spent the previous nights at Shikamaru's.
As the trio walked to the Akamichi compound Sakura struggled with her conflicting feelings. Iruka had made her feel increasingly guilty for having beaten Ami. But the logical part of her brain screamed: It was a spar, he was the one who had pitted you two against each other. His reaction was unfounded. He's biased against civilian students.
That didn't stop her from thinking: What if I broke one of her bones? What I really really hurt her? What if she has to stay at the hospital?
But she still felt proud, proud that she had beaten a clan born kid in a spar. Proud that she had finally stood up to Ami, her long time bully.
Shikamaru looked over at her pink haired friend, whos emerald eyes shifted with different emotions as she remained deep in thought. Her mind obviously thinking over what had happened today. She was going to need some cheering up.
The Nara nudged her with his elbow, whiched snapped her put of her trance.
"What?" she said as she blinked.
Shikamaru sighed, "Forget about what Iruka said, you did nothing wrong."
"But-"
"No buts," The brunette spoke, "I am right, and he is wrong. End of discussion." His tone leaving no room for argument.
Sakura pouted, "Shika, that's not exactly fair."
"Being fair is troublesome."
And, surprising both him and Choji, the pinkette began to laugh.
=
When they arrived at the compound, Sakura had stared at the clan symbol that represented Choji's family name longer than normal.
She knew that out of all the kids in her class, she was one of the few who didn't belong to a clan. Many had scrutinized her for it and she had done her best to ignore it. But after spending nights at the Nara compound and now would be intruding on the Akamichi family, she felt like a fake with her white circle on her shirt.
"You? A ninja? Don't make me laugh! You're not even from a clan!" Ami had said to her, laughing along with her friends.
And for once in her life, she wondered if the purple haired girl had been right about. If her dream to be a ninja was just that, a dream and nothing more.
'Maybe she was right, how could I live up to something this? Maybe I was just being dumb, maybe I'm nothing like uncle Saburo...'
"Hey," she felt someone nudge her elbow.
She looked and there was Shikamaru, his eyebrow arched in question.
"You okay?" he asked, "You've been staring at that symbol for a while now."
"Why wouldn't she?" Choji asked, a proud smile on his face "We Akamichi are pretty great,"
Sakura and Shikamaru looked at each other before looking back at Choji with a sweat drop.
"Right..." Was all the Nara said.
The trio entered the compound, Choji leading the way as the other two walked side by side beind him. Although Shikmaru knew his way around the place, having been here on multiple occasions, he just sighed and let the auburn haired boy play tour guide for the awe struck Haruno.
The Akamichi gladly showed Sakura around as she took it all in. She'd asked questions every once in while and Choji answered with pride. It was obvious how much he loved his clan. Sakura wouldn't stop smiling because of it. And in turn, that made Shikamaru smile.
The final stop on the tour was any Akamichi's favorite place, the kitchen.
Surprising or not, that's where they found Choji's Mom, Standing over the stove with a ladle in her hand.
"Mom!" the boy with swirls on his cheeks greeted.
The woman turned and smiled at her son, "Choji! There you are! And you brought friends with you!"
Choji's mom was a full-bodied woman with short, black hair and brown eyes accentuated by orange markings at each corner. She wore a high-collared Chinese purple blouse which has gold trimmings and the clan's obligatory kanji for "food" (食, shoku) on the back. A simple pair of black pants and heeled sandals finished the look.
The boy smiled, "Yeah! You already know Shikamaru and this here is Sakura-chan!"
The woman smiled, "Nice to meet you Sakura-chan!"
Sakura blushed brightly and managed a smile, "Y-you too Akamichi-san,"
"Aww! You're so cute!" Choji's mom gushed.
Shikamaru couldn't help but sweat drop as he thought back to his mother's reaction.
= Flashback
"KYAAAAA!"
The three kids woke with a start at the hugh picthed squeal. The three began to untangle themselves from the blanket that had thrown over them in the middle of the night as the tired clan head let out an audible sigh.
"Yoshino, couldn't you have let the children sleep?" Shikaku drawled with a hand over his face.
"I'm sorry, they were just so cute!" his wife replied.
Shikamaru, who was still tired, just tugged the blanket back over top of him and snuggled into of the couch pillows. Choji followed suit and flopped back down and closed his eyes.
Which left Sakura, who was both confused and tired. She let out a yawn and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes with the sleeve of her long sleeved shirt. Her pink hair a mess atop of her head.
And of course, a certain woman couldn't resist the urge to squeal and pull the young girl into a hug.
"Oh my god you are simply too cute! With those big green eyes and pink hair!" Yoshino hushed as she squeezed the poor girl.
Sakura's eyes were wide open and her face flushed with embarrassment.
Shikamaru cracked one eye open and sighed at the predicament his new friend was in.
"Mom, I don't think she can breathe."
"Wha- Oh my! I am so sorry Sakura-chan!" The woman exclaimed as she released the small academy student.
Sakura gasped for air, but managed a small nod.
Yoshino then offered the pinkette to brush her hair to make up for nearly suffocating. At first, Sakura politely declined, saying that she didn't need to.
"Oh non sense! I don't mind, it's really no big deal." The woman placated.
The pink haired girl having no other choice, agreed.
It wasn't until after Yoshino had pulled out her camera, that Sakura had realised her mistake. The woman couldn't resist how cute the young girl looked and took multiple pictures of all the different hair styles she had woven into Sakura's pink tresses.
"Yoshino, we have a clan meeting to get to. And Sakura's parents are expecting her home soon." Shikakau said, now fully dressed in his usual attire.
"Just one more picture!"
They never made it to that meeting. And Sakura's parents had to all but barge their way into compound to retrieve their daughter, who's hair was pulled into a neat little bun atop her head.
Mebuki Haruno, Sakura's mom, had decided to stay longer to look over all the pictures with Yoshino. Leaving Kizashi Haruno and Shikaku to sigh continuously as they apologized for their respective wives. All the while the three kids attempted to untangle Sakura's hair from the bun, which had turned out to be more complex then they originally thought.
"We're never letting my Mom play with your hair ever again." Shikamaru spoke.
Sakura nodded as Choji gave the elastic in her hair one more pull.
= End Of Flashback
After meeting Choji's mom, Sakura had somehow gathered the courage to ask the woman if she could help with dinner. But all that courage disappeared in an instant at the shadow that had over taken the Akamichi's face.
'By asking that, did I insult her somehow? Did she think I thought her cooking was bad?' Sakura panicked.
Then all of a sudden, a huge grin lit up the woman's face.
"Why of course you can! Aren't you just the sweetest!" The woman gushed before taking Sakura's small hand and dragging her further into the kitchen.
The pinkette looked over her shoulder and stared at her friends, one was smiling reassuringly while the other sighed as they muttered a 'troublesome' under their breath.
=
It wasn't until dinner was being put on the table, that the boys got see Sakura again. Choji's mom had thoroughly banished them from so much as setting foot in the kitchen.
Sakura was helping bring the food to the table, carefully carrying the bowls of food as to not spill anything or worse, dropping it. The pinkette figured that was some sort of accidental sin to the Akamichi's, especially after Choij's mom had warned her to be careful with the food several times.
Thankfully, Sakura had successfully managed to deliver the food and was relieved after the approving look she received from Choij's mom.
Now she was seated between her two friends, Shikamaru on her right and Choji on her left. Choji was sitting to the right of the head seat, Choji's mom sitting across from him and to the left of the head chair that was oddly vacant.
The pinkette sent a curious glance at Choji, who was not stuffing face with the food before him.
Choiji's mom let out a small laugh, "We're just waiting for Choza, he'll be here any second now." the woman said, as if reading her thoughts.
Sakura nodded and looked over to Shikamaru who was propped up on his elbow.
'He doesn't have very good table manners does he?'
Her thoughts were interrupted at the sound of thunder coming from the hall that she recalled lead to the front entrance. It was continuous and got louder and louder. It took her a second to realize that it was footsteps.
She blinked and from the hall emerged a tall man with long fiery red hair and purple markings on his face. He was plump like both Choji and his mom and wore a samurai like armour and a hachimaki that was tied around his forehead coupled with a pair silver hooped earrings.
"Dinner is ready?" The man spoke, his eyes looking excited and his mouth curled into a smile that was reminiscent of Choji's.
"Of course it is!" Replied the elder woman who smiled happily at the man, "Now come sit! You have kept our guest waiting!"
Sakura's eyes widened, "N-No! I didn't mind waiting! I-I mean-"
The man laughed as he took his seat at the head of the table, "Don't fret child, she meant nothing by it. Now tell me, what's your name?"
The pinkette bowed he head slightly, "S-Sakura Haruno, it's a p-pleasure to meet you Akimichi-san,"
The man smiled, "There is no need for formalities Sakura-chan, you may call me Choza."
Sakura poked her fingers together out of nervous habit, "I-If you wish Choza-san,"
Choji's mom let out a giggle, "Such a well mannered girl, your parents must be good people to raise such a fine young lady."
The pink haired girl blushed a bright pink, "I uh, t-thank you Akimichih-san,"
"Come on!" Choji exclaimed, "The food's getting cold!"
Choza laughed, "You're right Choji! Come then, let us not waste all this delicious food my wife has so graciously prepared." The clan head spoke before everyone dug into their meal.
Dinner consisted of a miso soup and grilled fish, bowls of boiled vegetables on the side.
"Actually dear, Sakura-chan helped me make it. She's quite experienced in the kitchen for someone so young," The woman complimented.
"Oh?" The man said before swallowing a piece of fish, "Do you do a lot of cooking at home Sakura-chan?"
"Uh, well, I h-help my mom with dinner a lot. She say's it's important for a woman to know how to properly prepare a meal,"
Shikamaru looked over at his pink haired friend, she seemed fairly comfortable talking with the Akimichi family, even after just meeting them. He recalled talking with Sakura the day he first met her, she could barely meet his eyes and nodded or shook her head more than she actually spoke.
'She's come along a way,' he thought, a small smile spreading across his face as he took in a spoonful of his soup.
__________________________
I know you're all probably think the same thing:
WHAT?! THIS IS A FILLER CHAPTER! I DON'T WANT NO STINKIN FILLER!
And for that I apologize but LISTEN, as I wrote this I realized how long it was getting and I didn't want to start a new idea yet. So I ended it but I left a major question mark that's probably floating through your minds.
Who is uncle Saburo?
Well tough luck kiddies, I ain't telling you right now. You'll have to find out in the next chapter. But he is important. So don't go forgetting about him.
Also, school is starting soon- unfortunately...
R.I.P all high school and university students.
And in case any of you were wondering:
A hachimaki (鉢巻, "helmet-scarf") is a stylized headband (bandana) in Japanese culture, usually made of red or white cloth, worn as a symbol of perseverance, effort, and/or courage by the wearer.
That is all, hope you all had a good summer!
Please comment and vote.
Thanks for reading!
~May🌺
Number of words: 2124