The sun was setting in the western sky as the little girl stared at the faces of hokages of the past. The pink haired girl loved her current spot, not only because it was the tallest building in kanoha, but she was the only one of her age able to get up that high. "Reyna!!" came from a voice down below. "Reyna!!" even louder now, noticing who and where this voice came from the girl yelled back "yes mother." confusion stuck the middle aged woman for only a second, as she sharply figured the direction of the not so timid little girl's voice. "RAYNA YOU GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!!!" the somewhat quick tempered mother yelled out "aww but mooooom" the little girl whined "NOW!!!" the mother yelled even louder with a rage that could make even a hokage cringe in fear. "......ok can I jump?" the energetic little girl asked, "No! Remember what happened last time?" the mother said in a curiously unsurprised way "yea I hit my head and Hinata-san had to bandage me up! so can I jump?" the mother only had to say two words but the power was not in her words, oh no, the power that could make even the mightiest men wet themselves was in a death glare that, even as high up as Reyna was, could feel there power "STAIRS, NOW!" so reluctantly the little girl headed toward the stairs as the pink haired mother muttered "that child will kill me yet." As the little child walked out of the front doors of the building her mother calmed down, despite being a bit of a nuisance at times... most of the time actually, the little girls antics were some how...refreshing. Not to mention she inherited a lot more than looks from her father...father. No she mustn't think about him it only brings back the memories she tried so desperately to bury. "mommy why don't I have a daddy?" the little girl asked, and with that simple question the memories came flooding back "honey..." she said as tears began to well in her eyes " you daddy's...." no she couldn't tell her he was dead "your daddy's on a long trip...I....I don't know when he'll be back" she said pushing back the tears "why?" the inquisitive little girl asked "I don't know, honey...why don't you go home and set up for dinner" she responded, obviously avoiding the question, well at least obvious to anyone over 10, but the little 7 year old simply said "ok" and skipped home, her mother, however turned and walked the opposite direction into the resident flower shop. The attendant greeted her in her normal fashion "hey forehead. I didn't expect you today, is it a special occasion?" "not today Ino..." she said sorrowfully and started looking at some orange flowers."W...what's wrong Sakura, did something happen?" Ino asked, concerned for her friend and former rival "yes...no...kinda" sakura said, somewhat confused herself. "what's that supposed to mean?" Ino said somewhat annoyed by the inconclusive answer. "Reyna asked about her father" Sakura explained "oh" Ino said sobered by the indirect mention to a very close friend "w...what did you tell her?" she asked. "I told her he was on a trip....what was I supposed to say? I can't tell a 7 year old her father's dead!" sakura yelled out, obviously trying to justify lying to the most precious thing to her. Ino then embraced her crying friend and softly said "it's ok, you did the right thing for now, but your gonna have to tell her sometime" "I know. It's just...every time I think about it... I barely want to believe it myself" she said crying into her friends shoulder. "Come on" Ino said" let's go visit him together... it might make you feel better. And while we're at it we can bring some flower for both of them" Ino said in the most comforting way possible. Sakura barely choked out "ok."

As the sun shown the last rays of day showed over the trees, there two women of konoha stood, in front of graves of two friends; one a former teacher; the other a friend, father, husband, and hokage. they stood there in utter silence as Sakura slowly mouthed the words U - ZU - MA - KI NA - RU - TO and HA - TA - KE KA - KA - SHI.

When she got home it was already dark, as she walked into a seemingly empty house she wondered if her troublesome little girl went back to her favorite place; wondered that is until a familiar face popped out of nowhere right in front of her. but there was something very wrong with this face...no it wasn't the face itself more than its position...it was eye level with sakura...at eye level and....upside down? Sakura looked up and realized that her little girl, a girl not even in the academy no less was standing on the ceiling. "Wha...how.....???" the confused mother tried to ask having not learned the trick until that A-rank mission in the land of waves. "You're late!" the annoyed little girl said braking sakura's reminiscent thoughts "oh..Sorry" she said absent mindedly "I even tried to make dinner but...." but? But what?" with Reyna buts are never ever good "what happened?" sakura said expecting half the kitchen to be engulfed in flames "I burnt it" the girl said looking sheepishly at the 'floor' and held out a dish that, on a good day, might have looked like a leg of ham after being set on fire. The aroma that came from the black, charred excuse for food was almost as bad as it looked. Now knowing that there was no personal or property damage Sakura focused on the real matter at hand...way the hell is her child on the ceiling. "Hey mommy, like my new trick" the little girl said not dwelling on her mistake for more than a second "how'd you do that?" Sakura asked still confused and a little jealous of her daughter's ability. "I saw some kid do it and I copied it, I fell down a couple times though" amazed at how fast her daughter learned the jutsu, albeit a D-rank skill, she began to wonder where this genius came from. it obviously couldn't have come from her father's side, sakura didn't know much about the 4th hokage, naruto's father, but one thing she know about naruto, and later had to deal with on a daily basis, was even though he was a fast learner...the boy was as dumb as a sack of rocks, so that ruled him out, oh well guess she'll never know. "Come on" she said "get down from there and well get your favorite food" " you mean..." Reyna said as her eyes lit up "that's right, ichiraku ramen." watching her daughter eat ramen always made everyone there smile, because even the busy days of hokage never stopped the man once called the number one hyper active knuckle head ninja from his age old tradition, and the little whelp that became his daughter, though never meeting him ate just as much, if not more than, her late father. "It's good to know that some things never change said a familiar voice from behind. Sakura, who had finished her one bowl a long time ago where Reyna was on her 3rd, looked back to see Iruka-sensei "Iruka-sensei what brings you here?" asked Sakura who was pleasantly surprised from the appearance of her old academy teacher "oh nothing I just missed watching my star pupil eat me out of house and home" he laughed "he he yea I remember those days" she said and let out a small sigh "well nostalgia isn't what I came here for though" iruka said to break the mood "oh?" sakura asked "no I came to inform you of a new student in the academy" he said with a smile "she got accepted?" sakura asked nearly jumping out of her chair "yup and she starts tomorrow" Iruka said with delight. "Alright and will you be teaching her?" sakura asked lamenting at the idea of the same teacher that taught both parents to be a ninja now teaching the daughter "sadly no. I retired, her teacher will be...." he said fishing a paper out of his pocket "shikamaru nara" sakura's jaw nearly hit the floor "no. no way that can't be true" she said verging on anger "it is take a look for yourself" he said handing the paper to her. Sure enough there it was, Shikamaru Nara's class roster, top of the list Uzumaki Reyna. "This can't be happening. That lazy bastard won't teach them anything!" sakura said, though she had no problems with the guy himself; he completely lacked motivation to become a sensei at the ninja academy.. That's it he was forced "who forced him to become a sensei?" Sakura said flatly "leave it to a student of kakashi-san to 'look underneath the underneath" he chuckle "believe me I didn't look that deep" she said coldly "Tamari-san did...they've been hitting it off relatively well I've heard" he answered, suddenly there was yelling of in the distance, both Sakura and Iruka poked their heads out to see, sure enough there Tamari was threatening to physically beat the crap out of none other that shikamaru with her trademark fan. "I CANT BELEVE YOU FORGOT" she screamed "what? What? I forget your anniversary and you blow my ear off" shikamaru said as if it was even a bother to talk "OUR ANIVERSERY!!!" she yelled even louder. smooth nara real smooth "god women are so tro-" that's when it happened, Tamari smacked him across the face with the metal side of her gigantic fan which sent shikamaru flying and Tamari ran after, more than likely beat him again. With the spectacle over Sakura wondered if Reyna would learn anything at all.

the next day started bright and early for both sakura and Reyna, for the first day of the academy was for the parents as well as the students to meet the teachers though for sakura there was less 'meeting' and more reunion. as it turned out not only was shikamaru the class room teacher but Tenten was the ninja tools trainer, a fitting role for the most accurate of the group of friends she had grew up with, and Hinata was the basic first aid teacher, sometimes sakura worried about her because of the once timid creature that no longer resided in that form. As it turned out all of her daughters teachers where friends and former classmates, which made her feel at ease; before Sakura knew it ten hours had passed and it was time to pick her up, but any worry that had faded came back when she saw her daughter crying "honey what's wrong..are you hurt" she asked her sobbing daughter "*sob*all the kids picked on me and called me a monster*sob*" monster....that's what they used to call naruto. filled with motherly rage(which is arguably worse than death itself) she stormed in to the class room "how could you let them pick on Reyna like that" she yelled at shikamaru who was just about to leave as fast as he could muttering something about something being bothersome "what? id didn't see anything like that" he said nonchalantly "damn it you're so damn lazy that you would see a thing if tsunade-sama came rampaging through here" she yelled not caring if any one heard "god women are so-" "I'LL BREAK YOUR ARM IF YOU FINISH THAT SENTANCE!!!" Sakura interrupted with a fury that might even make tsunade, who was well known for her temper, shudder "fine, fine what's the problem?" he asked "I TOLD YOU THE F-ING PROBLEM IF YOUD LISTEN ONCE AND A WHILE!!!" Sakura retorted "c'mon there just kids, kids can be cruel" he answered almost uncaring "THATS NOT THE POINT!! GOD FOR A GENIUS YOUR PRETTY FUCKING STUPID" she screamed at her (former?) ally "ok ok what'd thy call her" shikamaru responded at least pretending to care "monster" sakura said, calming down in an instant "what" he said verging on genuine concern "they called her a monster" sakura repeated "why would they say that?" shikamaru asked now truly concerned "I guess old prejudices die hard" she assumed "but don't they know..." he started "yea but I ran in to it when he was alive, some people just can't forgive the kyuubi and by proxy its host" sakura said verging on tears "hey I'll keep an eye out for her kay?" he said in hopes to cheer her up "thank you but it probably won't end" she said a bit hopelessly "hey cheer up "he said "if she's anything like her old man it won't bother her a bit. I bet she's over it by now....speaking of which" shikamaru looked at his watch "OH GOD I'M LATE" he said with pure terror in his eyes "late? late for what?" sakura dared to ask, as there wasn't much that scared Shikamaru Nara. as he was running out the door he yelled over his shoulder "Tamari" smooth nara real smooth. as sakura walked out of the academy there was no one around...that's odd wasn't Reyna here "mommy's back" came a voice from above and without a second to react a miniature form sprang from the first floor roof landing on top of Sakura "Reyna how many times do I have to tell you not to climb buildings" she scolded her 7 year old swearing to herself that the child had to be at least 4 "it's okay mommy your soft" said the girl with a personality all too familiar, all sakura could do was laugh and usher her toward home. it was getting late but Reyna just HAD to see the sun set so they headed toward the main gate. everything looked normal, with the exception of four figures standing on top of the gate one of which had all too familiar eyes of a dying clan. sakura recognized the squad immediately....hawk. in a blink of an eye the figure on the far left appeared behind sakura crouching in front of the little child. "hey you look kinda familiar" picked her up by the back of her collar and yelled "hey sasuke! looks like that narutard had a brat" not a second after he finished his sentence a fist splattered his face, dropping the child. the water that became his head reformed with a pissed off expression on it "you little bitch I'll teach you to atta-" "enough suigetsu" sasuke interrupted. defending her child sakura asked "what the fuck do you want sasuke" "just checking on a rumor" sasuke answer as he jumped down off of the gate. "it seems that that idiot did have a child, but looks isn't all she inherited...is it" "what's it to you..traitor" sakura retorted "aw c'mon the way I heard it you were ready to leave with 'em" suigetsu goaded. long since forgotten memories came to the surface

"I would do anything for you so... please just stay with me""I'll even help you with your revenge...I don't know what I could do but..I'll try my best to do something" *sniff* "so.. please stay with me.. or take me with you if you can't stay here..."

"sakura-san.......thank you."

"Naruto why do you have to look for him he attacked kanoha it's obvious that he's never coming back"

"because...he's my friend"

"Naruto think clearly for once you have a village that cares about you, a wife that loves you and now a child; is saving the unsaveable that important to you?

"...sakura..."

"what"

"didn't you love him"

"well...yea...but it wasn't until he tried to kill you AGAIN that I found out who my true friends are..and...and who I should have loved"

"well you might have given up but I won't"

"hokage-sama's dead it's only a matter of time until he unleashes the kyuubi on kanoha"

"kakashi-sensei..."

"its ok I can seal it again but I need..."

"but you'll..."

"I know"

".......Reyna can have it......as a gift from her father"

"thank you sakura-san"

"YOU KILLED TEAM 7" sakura screamed and the punched suigetsu in the chest, liquidating him, grabbed the infamous demon knife he had on his back an charged at sasuke. Sakura wasn't proficient in sword, hell this was the first time she ever picked one up, but she didn't care all she wanted was to put a gash in that smug face of his; but sasuke didn't let her, every frenzied blow she tried was blocked. then in a flash of movement the knife that belonged to the demon of the mist flew in the air, landing a few feet away. "if that idiot couldn't beat me what makes you think you can" sasuke said coldly but sakura wasn't listening, she was charging again with all the fury, rage, and sadness that he ever gave her in hopes for one good punch, but still it didn't connect. instead sasuke grabbed her by the throat, brought her face close to his. closer to sasuke than she ever had ever gotten, close enough to see a spectacle not to many people have seen, the Mangekyo Sharingan. then Sasuke whispered "tsukuyomi" in a flash of light she was caught in the powerful gen-jutsu. what felt like hours passed by in a second, as sakura fell unconscious. suigetsu after retrieving his blade raised it up "I'll teach you to.." "enough" sasuke interrupted "don't waste your time on a weakling like that" "...fine...you got off easy" he spat at the unconscious sakura. the little girl, who was frozen in fear, realizing what had just happened rushed to her mother trying desperately to wake her. "are you done fighting with your old girlfriend sasuke-kun" said a female voice on the gate "oh quit being so jealous Karin" suigetsu said "WHAT...I...I'm not jealous" Karin yelled back "oh c'mon I read your diary I know how you feel" he goaded "YOU WHAT!!! THATS IT WHEN WE GET BACK YOU ARE SO DEAD!" yelled the enraged female "oh c'mon I was lying....but now I know you have one..plus your 'punishments' are fun" joked suigetsu "YOU GODDAMN MASICHIST" relied Karin, not amused "Karin, Karin..get it strait..I'm a sadist" amidst the two members of hawk arguing sasuke made his way to the girl desperately trying to wake her mother. he grabbed her by the face and forced her to look into the intimidating eyes of the uchiha and said "if you want to protect anyone, hate me; that is the only way to power" with that they left. only a little girl screaming for help was left.

it has been a few years since I last visited here the figure thought, looking down at konoha. the man wore a long cloak that swayed in the wind as he walked toward the gate the middle aged man, not yet touched by age. as he reached the gate he saw an unfamiliar scene, a person collapsed and a tear stained child sleeping on top of it rushing upon them he noticed who it was "Sakura-san" he gasped and called upon the ANBU that have undoubtedly followed him from his home, sure enough for ANBU came out of nowhere and carried the mother and child to the hospital.

Reyna awoke to see a very unfamiliar room. looking around to get her bearings she laid eyes on a man asleep in a chair opposite the bed her and her mother was in. the man had short unkemped sandy red hair, was that the man from before? no he had scary red eyes, not red hair. she quietly sneaked over the bed to peek when he woke up. not sure who it was Reyna froze, he looked up at her and smiled "I'm glad you're ok" he said still unsure of the man Reyna said nothing, "what's the matter? don't you remember me?" he ask somewhat puzzled he ran his fingers through his short hair trying to figure out what would spark the little girls memory "oh I know" he exclaimed as he lifted the left side of his bangs revealing a scar in the shape of the kanji 'love'. at the sight of this the little girl instantly recognized him "Kaze-kun!!" the little girl exclaimed with delight just as the door opened "hey you're up" said a tall beautiful woman her long dark hair covering her grayish-lavender eyes "hinata-san!!" the little girl said even happier now. just then two figures came barreling in knocking hinata to the ground. "oh sakura-san I can believe I wasn't there to protect you, I assure you that I will do 10,000 laps around konoha on my..." "that's enough!!" hinata said interrupting the person in the all too familiar green jump suit "sorry Hina-san" the other person said "it's ok Ino-san you were just worried" hinata replied with a smile "I apologies too hinata-san" said the man in green "oh no" she retorted, smile quickly vanishing "you are far too loud" "but...I was worri..." "what's bushy brow doing here?" the little girl exclaimed ironically using the same nickname as her father "little Reyna-chan I wanted to see if sakura-san was all right" lee explained "but you so annoying" the little girl said, speaking her mind as all children do. "she has a point lee" Ino chimed in. "wha...what's with all the noise" sakura said groggily "mommy" said the little girl throwing herself at her mother "I'm ok" she chuckled "hey guys....Lee" "what happened?" asked the only person that looked somewhat out of place "who are....gaara?" she asked not recognizing the face of an old friend, he couldn't blame her though he let his hair grow a little and his eyes, now missing the sleepless look that gaara (once known as Gaara of the sand) had all his life being the container of the one tailed shakaku, had a level kindness that was almost uncharacteristic of the kazekage. "why are you here" she asked though the answer wasn't going to be all that surprising "that's not important now...who did this to you" he replied "sasuke" she answered and with that one name the room was silent for that name brought nothing but painful memories, at least silent until "it's okay mommy, when my dad comes back he'll beat 'I'm up right" alas the words of a child brought an even deeper silence "c'mon Reyna let's play outside" Ino said to break the tension, then led the naive little girl outside "you haven't told her" hinata asked both scolding and sympathizing with her "what am I suppose to say to a seven year old...how can I tell her that her father's dead when...." she yelled back tears forming in her eyes "...when I still don't believe it myself" the startling revelation struck everyone in the room, deep reflective silence be felled them once again only the sound of a still grieving wife crying filled the room. "Ino-san" Reyna said as they walked out of the hospital "what is it ray-chan?" "what's hate?" the little girl asked "hate? why do you what to know?" ino asked confused from the rather deep question "the man with the scary eyes told me to hate him" Reyna answered "well hate is....hate is something that can destroy your life...it's a very bad thing" ino answered "but..." the inquisitive girl continued "that man said that it was good" "you shouldn't hate any one Reyna, hate only brings sadness" ino concluded, convinced she helped Reyna, and sakura for that matter dodge a very big bullet...and sakura says that she's never done anything for her. an hour past by and finally sakura was released from the hospital, followed closely by gaara she solemnly walked toward her child without a word she gently grasp Reyna's hand and walked toward a place that sakura wished not to go...but it must be done, for Reyna's sake. not too long later they stop at the top of a hill where two grave stones laid, one said Uzumaki Naruto and the other said Hatake Kakashi. "why are we here mom" the little girl ask "honey" she started kneeling down to her daughter's eye level "your fath...this..." she stammered unsure how to tell her "your fathers not coming back" gaara said softly trying to help his friend find her words "why" the girl asked depressed about not being able to meet her father "because...." sakura started "he's in heaven" "where's that?" Reyna asked, a bit confused "could we go there then?" "no honey....." sakura continued too depressed to be amused at her little girls naiveté "it's a place you go when....when you die" "daddy's dead?" the little girl asked tears welling up in her eyes "yes he is....but not completely" sakura answered "what do you mean" Reyna asked "well we have you...and your special...to all of us" sakura said trying to cheer her daughter up "I am?" the girl asked, her face lighting up "yes and I'm sure that your daddy would agree" sakura said with a smile "hey I got an idea how 'bout...we go to ichiraku's again" sakura offered knowing it will defiantly cheer Reyna up "yea!!...but you don't like going there two times in a row" Reyna said remembering her mother telling her that she eats too much "it's ok...today's a special occasion" sakura laughed "c'mon hop on my back" sakura said picking up the child. "hey gaara....you never told me why you came" she asked remembering the unanswered question "oh just to visit an old friend..." he replied looking over his shoulder to the grave as they walked toward the ramen shop "and to check up on my big sister...how's she doing by the way?" he asked "oh tamari...she's fine...it's her boyfriend I'm worried about" she casually replied "what...is there something wrong with shikamaru-san?" he asked concerned for his sisters lover "yea there is...." sakura joked "what? what is it?" gaara asked verging on desperation, sakura chuckled and said "tamari...don't get so worried" just then tamari appeared practically dragging shikamaru by the arm "hey bro! I heard you were in town" she said "yea I wanted to visit naruto...it's been a while....are you abusing shikamaru-san again?" gaara asked "no!...no don't be so silly" she replied quickly "tamari" he said not believing her "I'm telling you the truth. I haven't been abusing him any more than usual" everyone except for gaara nearly fell over at the remark "it's ok gaara I'm used to it" shikamaru said with a smirk "all I ask is for you to take a way that stupid fan. it hurts like hell" he concluded rubbing his head "I'm afraid I wouldn't even dare do that" gaara chuckled. the rest of the night played out as nothing happened, at that point in time sasuke didn't exist and the conversation on the hill never happened, just a group of friends having a laugh over a bowl of ramen it was reminiscent of those days long past, when all team 7 had to worry about was 'who was gonna foot the bill.'