He looked down at the child in shock as she fell to the ground after bumping into him. She was peculiar that was for sure, she had bright pink hair that reminded him of Sakura blossoms. Her hair was pulled back away from her face by a small red ribbon making him notice that she sported a slightly large forehead. Though her clothes slightly contradicted her hair. If you looked at her hair you would immediately think little girl who plays with dolls and really likes pink. Though if you looked at the green shirt she wore with tight black shorts and a weapons pouch attached to her side you would think tomboy/young Kunoichi. He raised a brow at the child who he thought was about five years old and wondered why such a child would need a weapons pouch, especially since he was currently in Tea country, which was famous for only letting people of nobility learn to be ninja, or people with rare bloodline limits. The girl stood up and rubbed her lower back with a small wince. Her head shot up and glowered at the man who caused her to fall over. She was currently having a very bad day, having gotten in a fight with her brother again. Then being bullied by a few of the kids in town after she ran away from her brother to get some peace and quiet. Now some man had rudely bumped into her and knocked her over making her fall on her ass. The man was about to sidestep her and keep walking until she looked up at him sending him a glare that would make Fugaku Uchiha proud. He stalled in his walk and raised both his brows giving her a slight smirk.
"Watch where you're going you stupid brown haired idiot." Okay so she knew that wasn't the best insult but she was only four and half, having any insult was a bit impressive for her age, or at least she liked to think so.
"Stupid Brown haired idiot? Sorry to tell you pinky but that was the most ridiculous insult I have ever heard, plus it was a bit redundant." The girls face flushed red at the comment and so she did what any other child would do when faced with a situation she had no comeback for. She stuck her tongue out at him like a three year old and stomped on his foot.
"Shut up, I'm having a bad day and I don't need some stupid ninja to patronize me."
"You know what that word means pinky?" He asked mockingly with a smirk on his face. The girl glared at him and stuck her tongue out, once more trying to stomp on his foot which he dodged.
"My name is Sakura not pinky!" She shouted angrily up at the man she just met who was now her second most hated person in the world. (Her first was a white haired man she saw peeking in the women's bathhouse back at her village.)
"Well then Sakura, are you always this rude to strangers."
"Only the ones who get on my nerves." Sakura glared and he cracked a smile which sufficiently confused her and made her put a halt on her death glare. For now.
"Well kid you have sufficiently amused me for today." The man said with a chuckle as he sidestepped Sakura and ruffled her hair. He started to walk away until he felt a tug on his shirt.
"That's not fair, I told you my name and you don't even apologies for bumping into me." Sakura gripped his shirt with a vice like grip and looked up at him with a pout.
"First of all kid, you bumped into to me not the other way around and second of all I didn't ask for your name you gave it to me freely so I have no obligation to do the same."
"Your such an ass, you were the one who bumped into me!" Sakura screeched, which coming from a four year old girl is quite high pitched and painful to the ears. At Sakura's yell the man covered his ears and literally everyone within hearing range turned toward them to see what was going on. The man tried to walk forward but was stopped when Sakura dug her feet into the dirt she was standing on and held onto his shirt for dear life. He was definitely surprised by the strength this odd girl possessed but he was also slightly impressed. "Apologize or I'll scream." The girl boldly declared.
"Fine alright my name is Genma."
"I don't care about you name anymore I want you to apologize." Sakura screeched once again making Genma grit his teeth. Now Genma was never really that stubborn and most people thought of him as the type to just go with the flow. So really apologizing for something he didn't do shouldn't bother him, he was forced to do that quite a lot with going on missions with people of nobility. However when a four year old girl with a screechy voice, pink hair and strength she definitely shouldn't possess is trying to order you around you would tend to act a little stubborn. A) He could definitely tell this girl was not royalty of any kind, therefore he had not obligation to apologize. B) She had the most ridiculous hair color he had ever seen on a person, which did not at all make her intimidating. And C) She was a freaking child, and Genma Shiranui did NOT take orders from children. So therefore he decided to be strong on his resolve and tell her no. He didn't care what she did, he would not apologize to a pipsqueak like her. He thought there was nothing she could do to make him either. That was until she started screaming anyway. Many people turned to look at them with varying expressions on their faces so when he noticed what looked like a guard of the city start making his way over to them Genma almost panicked. Almost. He was on a high stakes mission right now and he didn't have time for the screaming child nor the guard that was sure to question him, so he swallowed his pride and turned around putting a hand over the girl's mouth.
"Okay brat fine I'm sorry so will you stop screaming." Sakura nodded with a triumphant glint in her eyes. He removed his hand and she let go of his shirt, but only barely just in case he decided to try and run.
"I want a real apology, like you mean it." A lot of the people within earshot gave the pair amused glances as they realized why the girl was screaming.
"Fine, I'm sorry I ran into you." Genma grit his teeth as he grounded out the words. Sakura smiled and nodded her head in approval as she let go of his shirt.
"Is there a problem here?" The guard asked having finally gotten over to the pair.
"Nope." Sakura chirped as she grabbed Genma's hand and started to drag him through the crowds of people on the street. Genma once again tried to escape her but found his efforts useless. Her grip was like Iron on his hand and the only way he could think to make her let go would possibly cause her an injury or draw too much attention to him then he needed right now. So with an exhausted sigh he let the little brat drag him around. Against all odds Genma found himself sticking with the girl throughout half the day as she ran various errands around town. All of those errands were not something he pegged a five year old girl to do with such ease and familiarity. First they went to the weapons shop, and even though she let go of him as soon as they stepped inside. Instead of disappearing and continuing his mission there, like he should have, he stayed and observed what seemed like routine for her. She milled through the weapons, picking out a pack of Kunai, senbon and explosive tags. Sakura didn't look for anything else and instead bought the items quickly, throwing in a weapons sharpener on her way to the counter. Genma was beginning to wonder if she was indeed some kind of royalty with the amount of money she carried around. What amused him thoroughly is the fact that they spent two hours in the library. He noticed her sending two clones through while she read seated at one of the large tables in the middle isle. Genma noted with even more amusement and slight intrigue that one of the clones snuck into the restricted section quite easily and brought back some book of high level techniques for her. Which she then sealed in a scroll and tucked it away in her pouch. Genma was a bit impressed, considering he wouldn't have noticed, if he hadn't been looking for it.
After the 'inspiring' trip to the library, Sakura dragged him to a small run down herb shop filled to the brim with plants. The way Sakura's eyes swept over the plants and ingredients with such familiarity and passion was the most intriguing part of this venture. Why a girl her age would be familiar with plants that were primarily used to make poisons was beyond him. She picked out various vials and jars and put on a pair of gloves that were in her pouch. Genma watched with interest at how she carefully picked different parts of various plants and put them in the vials and jars. A few roots in the vials along with some leaves and a few interesting looking frogs in some jars with holes poked in the lid. The old woman behind the counter looked at Sakura with a degree of fondness as she slid the jars and vials on the counter.
"You seem to be buying a lot of Imo lately Sakura-chan, is it for your brother?" Sakura shook her head.
"No Kyo-san, I'm modifying some poisons to make them more potents and Imo seems to be a good balance, it'll just be a bit troublesome peeling off the thin layers of skin to see how they effect the poison." The woman nodded and Genma had figured they were talking about the frogs. It didn't seem to surprise him anymore that Sakura was a five year old girl doing things a seasoned shinobi would be doing.
"Well be careful darling, I wouldn't want my best costumer to go dying on me." The woman joked causing Sakura to smile.
"Of course Kyo-san." Sakura bowed politely after handing Kyo the amount of money to purchase her items and left the store with Genma. Genma stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at her curiously as she walked stuffing everything she just bought in the bag on her back.
"You're a pretty weird kid." He stated as he looked at the streets that were now beginning to light up as the sun set.
"My brother tells me that all the time." Sakura mumbled as she slung her bag over her shoulder once more. Genma opened his mouth but was cut off as an angry shout reached his ears.
"You damn brat, we were supposed to leave an hour ago and here you are strolling around town with some foreign shinobi." Genma blinked at the approaching figure whose face almost matched his red hair as her fumed. "You know I hate to be kept waiting." He hissed as he grabbed Sakura's ear and glared at her. Sakura in return punched him in the gut and stuck out her tongue.
"I don't care, you were being mean earlier Sasori-chan." Sakura glared right back as she accentuated the honorific at the end of his name. Genma saw Sasori's eye visibly twitch as he grabbed her by the hair and shook her angrily. Genma raised a brow at the sight of the two beating eachother up and would have found it amusing. Would have, if it wasn't for the fact that the person Sakura was with was and S-class Sunagakure shinobi. It wasn't a secret that Suna and Konoha were not a friendly terms at the moment, or really ever had been. Genma chose that opportunity to slip away, but he realized that both Sakura and Sasori had seen him do so.
"Sasori you baka you scared him away, you're so mean." Sakura pouted and was promptly hit on the head by an angry Sasori.
"We have a mission, or did you forget?" He hissed causing Sakura to roll her eyes.
"Of course I didn't forget, but I'm fairly sure that Konohagakure ninja is here for the same reason we are." She got a raised brow at the statement and she crossed her arms over her chest seriously. "What did you think I was just walking around with a foreign ninja because I was bored, I had to make sure he didn't have what we were here for, and that our trip wasn't a waste of time." Sakura turned on her heel and walked in the opposite direction Genma had left in. "I understand when it's for show, but don't treat me like an idiot child when you know I'm not one." Sasori scoffed and put a hand on her head.
"Compared to me, you are one." He mocked slightly and ruffled her hair.
"Stop doing that I'm not fi-." Sakura cut herself off with the purse of her lips as she realized, yes she actually was in fact five. Sasori rolled his eyes and walked with her toward their present hotel.
"We were supposed to get this done an hour ago, now we'll be late getting back to the village, I hate keeping people waiting." Sakura sighed and nodded.
"I know I know, I'll be in and out, no need for you to come, it would be easier by myself." Sasori glanced at her and eventually nodded.
"I guess you're right, I'll meet you outside of the village in," He paused looking at the sky and how dark it was getting. "An hour, don't keep me waiting." Sasori disappeared leaving Sakura to her musing. Her brother sure could be super stingy sometimes. Sakura slightly glanced through her pouch and adjusted her bag on her back. Sighing after realizing she had everything she came to the village with she decided to finally finish their mission. She had always been laid back compared to her brother, and didn't see any point in finishing the mission this quickly. Their assignment was supposed to take three weeks, they had only been there for one. Though it was no secret to the village that Sasori and her as a team were one of the most efficient, realistically they could have finished it the day they got there. However Sasori was being nice and allowing a small break for Sakura. Tea country was nice, calm, and definitely a change from Suna. She sighed once again and shunshinned to the hotel to get changed. After all, in the very off chance someone caught a glance of her, she couldn't have them see her pink hair. It was not only very distracting, but very distinctive it would be a dead give away of who stole their artifact.
Once at the hotel she exchanged her shorts for a pair of loose fitted drop crotch pants. Covering the rest of herself with bandages and black clothing she ended it with a porcelain white mask. It was a tradition with Suna, especially in the puppet corps for carving your own mask when you reached a certain rank. Not an enforced tradition, one that just somehow stuck with everyone. It added a personalized touch to a job that made you depersonalize yourself, and at times, it reminded shinobi who they were and what they were fighting for. Sakura's was different than mosts, hers being a blank slate. She stared at herself in the mirror for a moment in thought. She was five and half, hardly the age a ninja of her rank should be. Even if it was of special circumstances that she ascended the ranks so quickly, it still had to do with how strong of a shinobi she was. She had yet to meet another child of her age that was of such high a rank. Sakura didn't count the warring countries she had gone to, just like her, they were their rank because of special circumstance. Special, but unfortunate. Glancing lazily at the clock on the wall Sakura slung her bag over her shoulder once more and hopped out the window not bothering to shut off the light. She realized she had been more than slightly apathetic about most things lately, but she just felt odd.
Sakura felt like the person she was just couldn't be her. She fought with vigilance and killed without mercy, she was five years old and already ranks above people more than half her age. Yes she was of special circumstances, but even those she felt should not have gotten her this far. It wasn't as if she was not confident in her own ability, she just felt so, off. Like the morality of life was just begging to hit her and she felt full force the gut punch of guilt that came with the lives she had taken. Yet when she tried to think about it, to get past that guilt, she felt nothing. Sakura sidestepped a chimney and shook her head trying to rid her thoughts. The uncertainty of her mind, and what she was doing all of this for, was going to make her slam into something. She sighed and thought back to her mask. Traditionally she was going to carve it as she went through life, and got older, maybe of things she grew to like. Carving as she went seemed like a good plan, but now, she didn't know what she wanted. Maybe keeping it as a blank slate, exactly like she was. Though the personalization brought comfort to many in her line of work, she felt it would only bring pain and guilt.