"I never noticed before, but you smell like dango.."

Sarada was at the training fields once again, practicing her shurikenjutsu, although, this time, she was hitting every single target, her aim no longer posed a problem. It had been two months since her first meeting with Kizuna, and ever since then, he had showed up every couple of days for training time.

They passed from shurikenjutsu to ninjutsu and dojutsu, but her favorite, by far, was practicing taijutsu - that was a field in which she was equal to him, she actually had more chances in defeating him when it came to taijutsu, all thanks to her mother's brutish strength inheritance.

She took a small break and she lay on her back and closed her eyes, a content smile adorning her precious features.

A sweet smell seeped into her senses, she remembered it, and it brought back an array of feelings - nausea was among them.

"Ewwww.. dango." She stated simply, turning her head to her left and opening her eyes to find the young boy sitting next to her with the sweet sticky delights in his hands.

"They're good for your health." He said smiling softly. "I also brought tea." He offered.

Sarada raised an eyebrow and lifted herself in a sitting position. Her legs were stretched on the grass and crossed one over the other - same as him. "I'll take you up on the tea, but you can keep your horrid desert." Sarada fake-mocked.

"That's very mean of you to say. Dango is upset." He said with a mock-saddened expression.

"Yeah, well, Dango has you for comfort, so it should be alright." Sarada laughed as she took a sip from her tea.

Kizuna raised an eyebrow at her and took another sweet ball with his lips. "Dango is easy to be loved." The boy said softly, his eyes drifting to the field before them.

"Oh? How so?" Sarada turned her head in his direction once again. She was expecting an amused, condescending remark about the importance of sweetness in life and a possible link to her being a complete and utter lemon. What he said, instead, made her ebony orbs widen and her heart skip a beat.

"My father loved dango." His expression was a gentle one - as usual - but it held great sorrow, as well as love.

"I'm sorry." Sarada said.

There was silence between them. The only sound was that of the leaves rustling in the soft breeze.

"Ok, I want one of those sweet sticks!" Sarada took him out of his trance. Kizuna smiled and handed her object of desire.

Even though she inherited her father's dislike for sweets, Sarada felt how much it would mean for her friend - how much it actually matters if he bothered sharing such an intimate habit with her..

"Ne, Kizuna-niisan, where do you live?" the girl curiously asked. 'Niisan...' The suffix still held weight on her lips. She didn't even know when she started calling him that, or why.. she just knew that it fit him well.

"In an old Uchiha Hideout with my mother." He replied, turning his gaze in her direction.

"Why don't you come live in the village?" She asked him, matter-of-fact-ly.

"Because we don't like the commotion." He replied, but Sarada sensed something else behind these words, though she would not stress him about it. Instead, she offered up a much more, creative, possibility.

"Hm. Too bad. You could have lived with me and mama, since papa's away most of the time. There would have been more Uchihas in the house, and I bet mama would love the extra company.." Sarada started, her imagination running wild. "Ne, Kizuna-niisan, you should come to dinner. I'm sure mama would love to meet you!" She enthused, sparkling eyes staring up at him.

Kizuna smiled.

Sarada looked at that smile of his, and just as always, her heart pounded a little louder. It was strange, how this simple twisting of the corners of his mouth made her feel. Before she could react, she felt the thud of his fingertips on her forehead. Her ebony orbs widened. "Sorry Sarada, another time." He said softly, a kind smile adorning his features.

"That..." Sarada started. "That's something mama and papa always do to me." Her eyes were still wide.
"Who are you?" The girl's eyes focused on him, curiosity and a mixture of feelings floating free in the air around her.

"I'm your friend." He stated simply, looking at the field once again, as he took another sweet ball with his lips. "So, what should we tackle today?" He asked brigthly.

"I feel like taijutsu today!" Sarada enthused, deciding to leave other subjects for better days instead.

"Taijutsu, hm." He finished up his desert as he appeared to be in thought. "That should do for today. Well?" He got up from his spot and took his distance in the middle of the field. "Shall we?!" He half-yelled for her to hear.

"Let's do this! SHANNAROOO!" Sarada jumped up from her spot, high enough to land a powerful kick in the middle of the field. It cracked and sizzled under the pressure, exploding in a similar fashion to how it would after one of Sakura's slaps.

Kizuna smiled as one of his clones took the hit.

Today was going to be fun.


After a couple of hours the children were spent. They were lying on their backs on the broken field, laughing as hard as they could, for reasons no by-watcher could comprehend, but this person with long dark hair, that watched them train from the begining seemed to have a good idea of the reasons, because she had a very gentle smile on her lips.

She walked out from the forest and approached the two laughing Uchihas with a basket hanging from her arm.

"Kizuna! It's time to go!" She called for the boy.

"Oka-sama." The boy acknowledged, straightening himself with a bit of a blush on his cheeks. "I'm sorry, I forgot about today." He bowed.

His mother laughed and waved her hand. "It's alright, I'm glad you had fun. But we're visiting your father today, so we should go and get ready." The woman spoke with a beaming smile on her face.

"I'm sorry! He got held up because of me." Sarada apologized, bowing to the woman.

The older woman looked at Sarada, studied her for a bit and then gave a soft laugh. "It's alright, Sarada-chan. I'm glad my son has a friend, and I thank you for that." And she bowed to the girl. "Now. That's too much bowing for one day." She laughed again. "Let's go, Kizuna."

The children said their goodbyes for the day, but Sarada felt like she realized something. She discovered how his mother looked, which, for her, was a bit accomplishment.

In all points of view, she definetely looked like an Uchiha. At least, from what Sakura was told about the women from this clan.

She had a petite, lean figure. She was dressed in a navy blue kimono with light-blue sleeves adorned with flower petals.. but, it was her beauty that captivated Sarada. She had pale white skin with rosy cheeks and the most beautiful ebony eyes. Her face was round and she looked like she was in her mid twenties. Her hair was long to her thighs and held, with a red ribbon, in a loose pony-tail at the middle of her back. She looked so gracious. And her smile.. now Sarada felt like she knew where Kizuna got it from.

"It was nice meeting you, Oba-sama!" Sarada called out.

The woman turned around just before she reached the trees and waved at her. "Same here, Sarada-chan."

And then, Sarada realized another thing. She never gave out her name..

'Hm. Maybe Kizuna told her about me.' The thought of that made the little girl blush.