Lopsided Lollipops

NaruBaby2496

The old scraggly woman handed me an apple to eat

But with a quick look at her shinobi-sandal clad feet,

The poison visible in her cloak,

That weird gurgle that erupted from her throat,

I decided that

Snow White had to be as blind as a bat,

To take an apple from a woman who looked as pedophilic

As Oro, our Michael Jack

(OMG, no offense, R.I.P. Michael Jackson, you're name just rhymed and well, circumstances…Beat it was an awesome song, though, dude.)

She laughed in that motherly way again, a broad, cheery, happy grin plastered on her face. "I'll start the story now, okay?"

"Hai, hai, Kaa-san!"

"Well," the woman tucked some loose hair behind her ear with her free hand, "It all started when I was seven years old, and your Auntie Ino-chan and I were playing hide and seek …"


Right, left, always forward, Sakura Haruno sprinted as silently as possible through the open field dashed with dandelions, sunflowers, and tall, elegant, swaying grass that could easily be taller than her; she tried to keep her giggles hushed. The girl laughed to herself, though she really really really was trying to be quiet, and brushed another group of tall grass out of the way, only to be welcomed to a new, different, wooded expanse that she'd never seen before.

Her normally wide lime eyes widened further, until their corners ached, and her mouth unconsciously fell into the shape of an uppercase 'o'. She took cautious steps forward until a wired fence stood in her way, and at that point, she looped her fingers through the funny looking diamonds that the wired design made.

Clangs and clinks of metal against metal rang through the field, and sometimes sparks of what looked like miniature lightning lit the otherwise darkening sky. Two boys were training, she could see their dark forms moving fluidly in the grass, but it was clear to her that one was much more graceful and natural than the other. It was as if it was just easy, while the other, smaller form, was trying his hardest to keep up. It was blatant fact.

Sakura could see the birds flapping their wings into their nests, the mothers huddling their chicks as bedtime neared, the fathers feeding the older young more food, and other forest animals' furred feet and scratchy claws against the dirt she could hear as they scurried away to sleep.

Was she really running that far away while Ino was counting?

She started to turn around and try to find a way back home, which shouldn't be that hard figuring as wherever she stepped a group of tall grass was flattened, bent, or distorted when compared to the rest. However, the hairs on the back of her neck came to a stand when she felt the familiar warmth of a person behind her, the small vibration of chakra making her pores tingle. Sakura was always good with sensing chakra, but…she looked over all that she actually had done and saw the obvious footprints embed in the mud, the broken twigs, and the snapped branches…the whole 'stay hidden' deal was a little hard. She did have pink hair, after all.

Her shoulder twitched when a piece of wood snapped behind her, and instinctively, Sakura turned smartly on her heel, her hands in feeble fists, her feet placed in a docile defensive stance. Her eyes were clamped shut, trying to keep scared, hot, tears from rolling down her cheeks. She sputtered, for the adrenaline pumping through her veins made her feel uncomfortable. "I-I-I'm a shi-shinobi!"

That's what her dad told her to say whenever she was intimidated.

"Really?" Sarcasm was laced through his question, and Sakura could hear the smug smirk rise on his face, the arrogant quirk of an eyebrow. The boy tapped the metal of the fence. "I thought shinobi were supposed to be masters of disguise."

Sakura's eyes forced themselves open and immediately she narrowed them. This boy thought he was the stuff. It's time to put someone in his place…"Che; what would you know? I happen to be the best in my class, for your information, mister ugly face!"

Lies. Sakura-chan, lie better! Every word out of your mouth is an obvious—

The boy scoffed, his smirk widening further. "Lie. You tell lies."

The seven-year-old Haruno merely crossed her arms tightly across her chest and raised a cotton candy eyebrow in an expression that could easily be read as 'Yes, I am lying, but for the sake of this game, tell me why I am.'

He crossed his arms, but then quickly decided that he would rather have them in his pockets. "I thought a boy named Uchiha Sasuke was best in class," He cocked his head to the side, an amused glint and a sparkle of 'I know something you don't' shimmered in his obsidian eyes, "or, at least that's what I've heard."

Sakura disgruntled her face, and grimaced. "Uh, no!"

"…No?"

"Yes!"

"Yes?" The smirk grew wider.

The grimace looked like it was permanently etched in her face as she stomped. "NO!"

"…No?"

"Yes, no; no, yes!"

The boy stared at her for a long time, watched her heave when she growled her last utterance out of her pretty lips, the small nerve of aggravation poking out of her large, yet somehow still cute, forehead, and the 'glare' that was supposed to be intimidating him, though he was really too busy trying to figure out where he'd seen eyes as green as hers before.

Sakura growled, "OMG, are you even listening to me?!"

He simply shook his head left to right. "Why are you here?" On normal occasions, he really would've just gotten his older brother to be rid of any intruders, but…this girl wasn't a normal occasion.

"If you were listening," A purely evil acid leaked through her words, "you would've heard that I accidently ran all the way here when I was playing hide and go seek with my friend."

Sasuke nodded lightly, then got on his tiptoes and lifted the lock pin from the top of the gate—his dad thought he didn't know that was there—and swung it open, a rusty creak coming from the old metal. They both covered their ears, but he laughed lightly at how dramatic she was being. Sakura glared at him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm accidently showing you the way back," He smoothly grabbed her hand as he kept his face forward, forcing her to follow him. "While accidently holding your hand."

Sakura fought a blush as she stumbled after him. "Can I accidently tell—?"

"No."


Sakura took a big breath, putting a golden key into a familiar keyhole. "And somehow, I was perfectly content with just letting your Tou-san hold my hand as he led me back to the main road, the breeze tickling our skin and sending our hair astray, and never telling Ino-pig."

Until the next day.

Kohana pouted as her mother unlocked the front door. "You guys didn't even kiss, Kaa-san! I could hold hands with Kichiro-dobe but that doesn't mean I'm gonna marry him!" Disgust etched her face and was underlined in her tone when she grumbled that name and that three-letter word.

The roseate laughed lightly. Kichiro was Hinata-chan and Naruto-sama's son, who was the same age as Kohana. He had a younger twin sister, Masumi, who happened to be Kohana's best friend. "Oi, Kohana-chan, you never know…"

"Kaa-san! Kichiro-dobe is icky! And aren't you suppose'ta be telling me a story, Little Missy Mommy?"

Sakura laughed again, placing her share of groceries on the counter. "Alright, alright…"


A/N: A little longer than last time, yes? I'm trying to decide if, as I have the age of Sasuke and Sakura progress in their story, if I should have Kohana get older as well. I just love writing the little baby talk though…

But, hey, it's an idea, so don't be surprised if it happens. Besides, first chapter it said that Sakura's stories were long and the attention span of a three year old is like, fifteen-minutes…

Okay, lol, here I am talking myself into something. Ha-ha.

Oh, and before anyone asks why I didn't have either of them introduce the other (really) I did that on purpose.

Anyway, review! Fave! Alert! Whatever other option that is there besides report!

~NaruBaby2496