Childhood Remembrances
Chapter 1: Ino
The park is my favorite place to play. My mother takes me there and tells me more about the plants; lots of them only grow here in the Leaf Village. There is a large playground also and all the kids that come there know that I am the boss. That makes it even better.
One day, as I arrive with my mother, I see a new boy playing there. Bright yellow hair -- much brighter than mine! -- and horrid orange clothes. He looks happy but he is playing by himself as far from the other kids as possible.
"Why isn't he playing with the other kids?" I ask in an annoyed tone. He should know I am the boss here and anyone playing here has to play by my rules. But the other kids are ignoring him. I tug on my mother's hand to make sure I have her attention.
My mother follows my gaze and spots the boy... and she freezes in place.
I look up at her face. She has a look on her face that I have never seen before. I do not know what it means but it makes me a little afraid. Her hand feels colder for some reason.
"That... boy... is a troublemaker. And a bad boy. Stay away from him, Ino."
She never calls me just 'Ino' unless she is mad. But her voice does not sound angry. When she is mad her voice is louder and she sounds like she is spitting fire. This is not her angry voice; this voice is cold like her hand.
"If people see you with him, they'll think you're a bad girl. You don't want that, do you?"
I shake my head. "N-no, Mama," I stutter out in a strangely small voice.
"Good girl," she says and she smiles at me. It is not a real smile though. I try to smile back and then go to play with the other kids.
Something feels wrong and the others look at me funny but I start yelling at them and everything returns to normal. I wonder about the boy briefly but I know that I will never go near him.
I never want to ever see that face on my mother again.
oOoOo
After I began attending the ninja academy, the kunoichi classes quickly became my favorite. I know much about the meanings of flowers and how to arrange them but these classes do help me hone my skills and I begin to learn about the various ninja-specific uses.
There are a lot of girls with really odd hair in my class. I know that they cannot look as good as I do but you would think that they would at least try.
After school I usually go hang out with my friends at the park. Sometimes I see the yellow-haired boy there.
I know his name now: Uzumaki Naruto. Someone is always talking about one of his pranks. Sometimes I overhear adults talking about them. Their voices and expressions are cold, reminding me of my mother that day. I still do not understand why they act like that. His pranks, which usually involve paint, are annoying but harmless. I saw what he did to the wall of the Uchiha compound and thought it was kind of funny. I also heard it took the police force half a day to catch him but that is hard to believe.
It seems like everything about Naruto is hard to believe.
I have seen Hokage-sama with him in the park every now and then. Hokage-sama likes to walk around the village and talk to people but to see him spend an hour or more talking to the village outcast is a strange sight.
Naruto has a brighter smile during these times as he shouts and bounces around Hokage-sama's legs, likely describing his latest misadventure. Hokage-sama puffs on his pipe, says a few words now and then, and laughs delightedly or sighs wryly depending on what he hears. He usually gives Naruto a brief hug before he leaves. Naruto acts a bit more subdued after spending time with Hokage-sama but I know that the next time I see him he will be his usual hyperactive self.
The way that Hokage-sama treats Naruto just adds to my own confusion though.
A few weeks after my first year in the academy began I find another new face in my playground. I recognize her as one of my new classmates because of her hair color. The color might be cute but her haircut itself leaves a lot to be desired. What are her parents thinking?
The girl is standing there with a timid expression, looking a bit lost, so I decide to approach her. Before I move even a step in her direction though, an orange streak appears out of nowhere and bowls her over. I watch in amusement as Naruto apologizes and helps her up. She smiles tentatively at him and says something.
I decide to use some of the training that my father has been giving me and sneak up close enough to hear them. Being from a clan gives a ninja-in-training a very large head start on ninja skills. Neither Naruto nor the girl are from a clan. I wonder if there is some connection between the clans and how adults think of Naruto. I set the thought aside, though, as I concentrate on moving silently but swiftly. Hiding behind a bush, I focus on them, trying to tune out the other sounds in the park.
From my position I can see Naruto's face but not the girl's. He looks nervous and unsure, which is not something I have seen before.
"But if your parents see us playing… they'll get mad at you and then you'll hate me." Naruto looks down at the ground and his voice fades to the point where I can barely make it out. "Just like all the other kids do."
I frown as I crouch in my hiding place. Based on my own experiences I know that he could be right about how the girl's parents would react.
Seconds tick by as Naruto stares at the ground and the girl stares at him. I really wish that I could see her face. After what seems to be an agonizingly long time but was certainly less than a minute she responds.
"I won't hate you."
Naruto raises his head but his expression is still troubled. "You sure?"
"Yup! I promise! Pinky promise!" the girl says as she holds out a hand. "I'll never hate you! We'll be friends forever!"
"Okay!" He thrusts out a hand and wraps his pinky finger around hers. "Friends forever!" The smile that blossoms on Naruto's face outshines the sun. Not even when talking with Hokage-sama does he look this happy. His smile makes the world a better place. That moment is the only time I have ever been jealous of Haruno Sakura.
He quickly releases the girl's pinky and before she can react he grabs her whole hand and drags her off.
I smile a little as I abandon my concealment.
The next day, I go out of my way to see if Naruto and the pink-haired girl are around. I immediately notice that my friends are missing from our normal meeting spot. It would not bother me except that for all of them to be absent means that Ami and her 'gang' must be wandering around my park today. Without me the others cannot stand up to her. Shikamaru and Chouji certainly could but Shikamaru would go to the other side of the village to avoid Ami and Chouji follows his lead.
I stomp through my park, looking for Ami but when I find her it is too late. She and her two friends are facing an angry Naruto and a crying pink-haired girl.
Ami makes some loud comment about 'giant foreheads' and the sobbing girl flees. Naruto kicks some dirt at Ami and the others but they just run off laughing at their victory. The girl has disappeared and Naruto runs off looking for her.
I try to follow them. I lose track of Naruto's path pretty quickly but I manage to follow the girl's. Naruto hasn't found her and she's sitting on the ground and crying.
After another minute of Naruto not appearing I decide to approach her. "They were making fun of your forehead, huh?" I decide not to mention Naruto. I do not really want to talk about Naruto, even with this girl.
"Who…?" she asks as she looks up at me. Her hair was a mess before but now she has tried to pull various strands down over her forehead making it even worse.
"I'm Yamanaka Ino. And you?"
"Ha-Haruno Sakura," she manages to get out around her sniffles.
"Sakura-chan, huh?" I am a bit surprised I did not remember a name like that given her hair color. "Hmm… trying to hide your forehead? That just makes it look worse." I push the sloppy bangs out of the way. Her hair looks a lot better that way and I remember a red ribbon that I have that would look perfect in her hair. I smile at her as I say, "Meet me here tomorrow. I'll give you something nice."
Her crying has mostly stopped now but she still looks unhappy as I walk away.
Tomorrow comes and I find her where I left her. I give her the ribbon to hold back her hair. It makes a big improvement. Unfortunately she seems to have become attached to me; she starts following me around like a like a little puppy. Since I do not have any other options, I introduce her to my friends. She seems more timid now than she was at the beginning of the school year. I guess Ami did a thorough job of destroying Sakura's self-confidence.
Sakura readily becomes another member of my little group. She never mentions Naruto and I never see them together again. That makes me angry at both Ami and Sakura. But I understand Sakura and I hope that she will recover.
Shortly after our second year in the academy began, Sakura announces that she likes Uchiha Sasuke. Unconsciously, my mouth turns down in a frown and my eyes narrow. So she chose the most popular boy in school instead of the boy she gave a promise to?
One of my friends comments on how Sakura seems happier now but all I can do is glare at her. "She's just hiding her feelings," I mutter in response without explaining.
I decide then and there that I would not let her happily chase after Sasuke. If she was going to be stupid then I was going to cause her as many problems as I could.
oOoOo
Now that we are in the same class as Naruto, I sometimes catch Sakura looking at him. Her face is expressionless but I know that she has not forgotten. She is not truly remembering her promise but she has not forgotten either.
Maybe I am a hypocrite. I cannot be Naruto's friend because my mother's face haunts me. So I want Sakura to do what I cannot.
But it is more than that. I have seen Naruto smile many times. But I have never again seen him smile like he did that day. I somehow know that no matter how many friends he has, no matter how many people acknowledge him, not even if he becomes Hokage will I see that smile again.
Not until Haruno Sakura remembers her promise.
So I am going to pester her until she does. Until she is Naruto's friend again.
Because I want to see that smile.