Hey readers! Thank you beautiful people for the support! Aah, amazing 8 reviews on the first chapter, I'm so flattered. And a thank you for everyone who favorited, followed and reviewed, you encouraged me to write quicker! I fixed my mistakes in the last chapter but please pardon any mistakes in this I tried my best to edit! Be sure to review and let me know what you think so far! I love you all enjoy your read!
Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto, but here's an idea of how it'd go if I did...
chapter two of A Haruno Kunoichi
Cha! A Haruno Parties!
"Sakura-nee-chan likes chocolate too?!" Masaki gasped, eyes rounding as he stared at the two cones of identical chocolate I carried towards him. Tou-san too had two cones of chocolate.
"It's a Haruno thing." Kaa-san giggled, ruffling Masaki's hair.
"Yeah Masaki-kun, chocolate lovers run in the family." I tell him, handing him his ice cream cone. His face is alight with joy.
"Sakura-nee-chan!" He sings happily.
I playfully stick out my tongue and sit between him and Kaa-san on the bench. She wraps an arm around my shoulder. "We're all glad you're home, my blossom." And she kisses my forehead. My eyes want to cry, but my years of training prohibit me from doing so. I settle for a smile.
"I'm glad too."
"Masaki-chan has been waiting a long time to meet you. We told him all about you." Tou-san said in a cheery voice.
"Yeah, they told me Nee-chan was training to be a messicc ninja!" Masaki exclaimed, wildly flailing his arms. "Ne, did you ever kill 'nyone?"
I laughed at this. "I specialize in medical ninjutsu, but you're nee-chan is also very deadly." I raised my arms towards him and he eyes me warily. "I've killed many a ninja with my secret technique..." I mercilessly began tickling the little one. He squirmed and laughed, trying to escape yet failing miserably. "No one can escape tickle no jutsu!"
"Noo!" Masaki screamed in laughter. "Nee-chan!"
I laughed with him. Masaki's youth made me feel young again. Traveling with Tsunade-shishou and Shizune-san, I was typically always with adults. The only children I'd really encountered were ones that had scraped their knee and asked for some healing.
"Sakura-chan, Masaki-chan, look out!" I heard Kaa-san cry out, faking fright.
I was lifted into the air, taking Masaki with me. I realized Tou-san had lifted us up into a spin. He laughed evilly. "Neither of you are a match for Kizashi Haruno! Prepare to be defeated!"
Masaki squealed, and I found myself reminiscing the days I was still in the academy, back when I would be embarrassed to spend time with my parents like this. It wasn't until I had left, that I truly appreciated these precious moments.
Tou-san rolled us into the grass behind our bench, Masaki snug and laughing in my arms. I laughed heartily with him, Kaa-san and Tou-san also chuckling happily.
I realized our display had attracted the attention of a few people passing by. They watched me curiously, noticing the unfamiliar ninja with pink hair.
Konoha, as big as it was, was a close knit village. Everyone knew each other, because they all relied on one another. Shinobi relied on civilians for trade, crops, and other mundane tasks. They relied on us for protection and tasks that, were quite easy for us, but were too difficult for them to handle on their own. Yes, Konoha was a village that valued its roots and traditions, and most families and people were in some way familiar with another.
Kaa-san smiled and gave the onlookers a sweet, 'how do you do?' as Masaki and I returned to the bench.
"Do you wanna freshen up before the party?" My father asked me as my mother had gone to speak to some of her friends that happened upon us.
"Yeah, that would be preferable." I said slowly. "So Uzumaki-san is turning 18 today?" I asked.
Tou-san nodded in confirmation. "Yes. He's a very popular shinobi, that one." He winked. "Single too!"
I rolled my eyes and hugged Masaki closer to me. "You and Masaki-kun are the only men I need in my life right now." I huffed.
"Even though your mother and I were young when we had you," My father began seriously. "I hope you wait awhile before meeting someone. You're still the little girl I carried on my back home from the academy everyday."
"Tou-san..."
"But marrying the Hokage's son would bring us much prosperity and bragging rights, so try to snag him, eh?!" He chuckled, slapping my back.
I shot him a fake glare before Kaa-san returned. "Ready to head home, you guys?"
Home. It'd been so long. On the road, we usually stayed at Hotels, or personal friends of Tsunade. We made camp some nights, enjoying nature.
But nothing could compare to home. "I can't wait to show Sakura-nee-chan my room!" Masaki piped up. I stood with him in my arms and he climbed to my back. "Oh, is his room the old guest room?"
Kaa-san nodded. "Don't worry, your room is untouched."
We walked home, Misaki on my back chattering about his friends and adventures they went on at the park. "A-and then I punched Daisuke-baka right on the nose and he cried!"
I giggled. My little sapling seems to be quite the little warrior.
My father had been nodding his head in approval. "Good work Masaki-chan, putting the Uchihas in their place."
I'd only met two Uchihas in my life. The first was Sasuke-san, he was in my class. He was always trying to show me up. I never actually talked to him, afraid of being mauled by fangirls. But if Uzumaki-san liked him he couldn't be too bad.
The second Uchiha I met was Yuu. He's Sasuke-san's younger brother. He began following me around the week before I left to train. He was only six at the time, and was apparently loud for an Uchiha. He started following me because apparently Sasuke-san told him I was the smartest kunoichi in his class. Yuu was odd. I think he had a little crush on me.
"Aah, they had another boy I see?"
Tou-san grumbled. "I don't know how females exist in that clan, all they seem to produce is males. Four sons, geeze."
I wondered, what else had changed since I'd been gone? The only friend I really had was Ino. We were close from a young age, but we sort of drifted apart when she fell in 'love' with Sasuke. Wonder if she ever won him over?
When we arrived home, Masaki dragged me to his room and showed me every inch of it. He was so excited to bring me home!
After a while, my mother came to distract him so I could bathe. It was a little past noon, the party starting at 3:00 and lasting til atleast 12:00 at night. According to Kaa-san, the Uzumakis knew how to throw a party.
I was ready by 2:30, and we headed out. I barely had the time to unpack and relax. I wasn't looking forward to the event on my first day back, but, this future Hokage has alot of people to meet and win over so it couldn't hurt.
The party was held at the Hokage's family compound, or the Senju compound, where Tsunade was raised. All the main shinobi families were invited, and Tou-san said very few civilians attended. The Haruno's were only invited due to my association with Tsunade and my mother's friendship with both Kushina Uzumaki and Mikoto Uchiha. Or that's what I assumed.
Streams of people flooded the place.
Masaki held tightly to my hand. I found Tsunade in the crowd. She was talking with Minato-sama and his wife. My family inched our way over to them.
Tsunade hugged me then turned her gaze to Masaki. "You must be Masaki-chan." She said softly. He grinned up at her. "Yeah! Aren't you Nee-chan's sensei?"
"Why yes I am. Are you happy Sakura's home?"
Masaki hugged my leg and nodded furiously. "Nee-chan is staying with me forever!"
We all laughed at this.
"Aah, Kushina-san, I'm sure you've heard of my daughter Sakura?" Kaa-san said, resting a hand on my shoulder.
Kushina was unbelievably beautiful. Her red tresses reached her butt and framed her flawless face. Minato-sama held onto her arm fondly. They looked very happy.
"Yes, only wonderful things. I hope you'll adjust quickly back into daily life of Konoha."
I smiled at the older woman. "Yes, I hope so too. I have to get my rank as a shinobi up, most importantly."
Minato nodded his approval. "Which reminds me, stop by my office tomorrow so we can discuss this."
And just then, we were greeted with the unmistakable presence of the Uchiha. Mikoto and Fugaku, followed by their four sons. They were so similar, it was creepy. All had intense onyx eyes and jet black hair.
Mikoto, a natural beauty, had her silky locks down to her mid back. Her eyes were soft, her smile friendly. Fugaku, on the other hand, had hard eyes, eyebrows scrunched in annoyance. His mouth was in a tight line.
Itachi Uchiha. The eldest of the four brothers, the entitled heir, and probably one of the strongest shinobi alive. Even on my travels word of Itachi's triumph was heard. His face was relaxed, yet void of any emotion. My eyes travelled to his body. He was quite tall, with an admirable build. And that hair... It looked softer than any girls I've seen.
Holding Itachi's hand was a mini-Sasuke-san. He was Masaki's age, definitely. His face looked worried and I couldn't help but notice this Uchiha looked overwhelmingly innocent compared to the rest of his family.
Sasuke-san and Yuu-san walked behind Itachi-san. Yuu seemed to be talking enthusiastically while Sasuke rolled his eyes. Yuu looked more like Itachi-san and Mikoto-san, but with more animated facial expressions. Sasuke, now my age, looked reserved like Itachi, but his annoyance wasn't easily camouflaged. Yes, it seems the two had grown up.
"Aah, Daisuke-baka!" Masaki hissed, peeking at the Uchihas from behind my legs. This drew the family's attention to us. I gave them an apologetic smile, which Mikoto returned as they reached our group.
I noticed Yuu and Sasuke were curiously watching me now. They probably remembered my pink hair. Masaki lunged at Daisuke, the Uchiha looking fearful for his life as the two ran off to play.
"Mikoto-chan, this is my daughter Sakura. Who has just returned today from training with Tsunade-sama." Kaa-san said as she hugged her friend.
Definitely now Sasuke and Yuu recognized me.
I bowed to the heads of the clan, knowing how traditional and important they were. "Nice to meet you Uchiha-san." Fugaku simply nodded, while Mikoto grasped my hand and smiled. "Call me Mikoto, dear. And it's nice to meet you as well! When Mebuki-chan, Kushina-chan and I were all pregnant, your mom gushed delightfully about you."
I giggled softly. "Kaa-san is a chatter box, ne?"
The adults, except Fugaku, chuckled at this. It seems I was winning everyone's approval.
"Sakura-chan, these are my sons; Itachi-kun, Sasuke-kun, and Yuu-kun." I made a point to bow to Itachi, him being a respectable older shinobi. I shook Sasuke-san's hand, his eyes boring into mine.
Yuu was smirking when I shook his hand and I rolled my eyes at the awkwardness of the Uchiha.
"Yuu-san, Sasuke-san, why don't you take Sakura-san to meet Naruto and the others?" Minato spoke up. I blinked. I wondered briefly, who in my class had come out successful?
My eyes graced Itachi, who was currently looking off to the side. I wonder if anyone I knew was as successful as him. My eyes narrowed. Would Itachi-san be a rival for Hokage?!
Sasuke-san grabbed my wrist and began to pull me away from the group. Yuu walked beside me, watching me curiously.
"Eh, Sasuke-san can you let me go?" I asked him.
He looked back at me and smirked, which pissed me off, for whatever reason. "I don't want you to get lost." I glared at him as I heard Yuu laugh.
Dumb Uchihas.
"Sakura-chan, you've grown into a beautiful blossom, you know?" Yuu said, winking at me. I glowered at him, not in the mood to be hit on by a 12 year old. I could tell Sasuke wasn't too happy about him hanging around either.
He led us through the enormous Senju compound. It was a well-known fact the family was loaded. We stopped when we came to a back room, dance music playing. "Go run off Yuu, this room is sixteen and up." Sasuke drawled, looking pointedly at Yuu.
The younger Uchiha shot him a glare, kissed my hand then walked off, likely in search of other girls to harass.
This left Sasuke and I alone, outside the room which was our destination.
"You remember me?" He asked, releasing his grip on my arm. I nodded, raising an eyebrow. "One does not simply forget the Uchihas."
"I'm not just an Uchiha." He stated dangerously, narrowing his eyes. It seemed Sasuke was the more angsty of the brothers. I put my hand on the door, preparing to open it and seduce my comrades into adoring me and electing me for Hokage candidate.
"Yeah, but you were my first." I teased, opening the door. The music hit my ears fully, eyes turning to regard Sasuke and I.
"No way! Sasuke-teme!" A loud voice boomed over the music. Sasuke flinched.
A blond boy, I recognized only as Naruto, marched up to us. He'd really grown, becoming the spitting image of the Yondaime. He was quite handsome, too.
He looked Sasuke and I up and down, eyes squinting. "Teme, don't tell me this pretty girl is dating you?" He said in disgust. Sasuke turned red, and quite violent-looking.
"No you dobe, this is Sakura Haruno. She just got back from training with Tsunade."
Naruto's eyes brightened in realization. He had quite the childish personality, and it brought a smile to my lips.
"Oh, I remember you!" He gasped. "Sakura-chan came home for my 18th birthday, right?! Aw, Sakura-chan!" He said, blushing. I laughed at this.
"I suppose that's what it is."
"Hn. Dobe."
"Come on Sakura-chan, come meet everyone!" He sang, tugging my arm and pulling me towards a group of people. I vaguely recognized some of them from the Academy, but Naruto helped by introducing them all.
He started with a small ravenette known as Hinata Hyuuga. She was quite attractive, but red as a tomato so I figured she was shy. Odd, considering her clan was so infamous. Her cousin, Neji, fit my expectations better. The man was handsome, yet radiated power and rank. He was polite enough when introduced. Hanging on his arm was a petite brunette with two buns on her head. Tenten seemed to be the exact opposite of her lover.
Then I met Rock Lee. This was an... Interesting experience, for he took my hand in his and began professing his love. I politely declined. Hey, spandex wasn't my thing.
I remembered Kiba, Shino, Chouji and Shikamaru from the Academy. They were all part of Naruto's circle, though not as close to him as Sasuke. The four were friendly, and quite attractive, able looking shinobi.
Ino was, of course, definitely shocked to see me. She'd grown more beautiful over the years, her blond hair pulled into a tight high ponytail. "Forehead!" I grimaced. "I never thought I'd see you again. Seems like you grew into that forehead of yours!"
My eye twitched.
"Aah, thank you, Ino-san."
Finally, Naruto introduced me to his eldest sister, Naruka Uzumaki. She was 16, close enough to our own age. I never felt insecure about myself these days, but Naruka would give a supermodel an eating disorder.
Long blond hair in two pigtails, her orange and blue jumpsuit, much like Naruto-kun's, showed off her creamy skin and lovely curves. She had big, ball room eyes the same shade as Naruto's. Her button nose was perfect, along with her pink pouty lips.
The Naruka I remembered was a little snotty brat.
Masaki had told me, he was friends with the youngest Uzumaki. I believe her name was Nana. Masaki said she was a brave kunoichi, like me, and the two often caused trouble together.
"Naruka-chan is engaged to marry older my brother." Sasuke said quietly to me, after I had shook hands with the girl.
"What? She's so young!"
"Yeah, but it was arranged. Itachi needs a powerful woman from a renown clan to be his wife, considering he's becoming the clan head in the next few years."
I frowned. That seemed rather unfair. "When is the wedding?" I asked him.
"A week after she turns eighteen. But Naruka would have it sooner."
I choked on air. "What?!" This earned me concerned looks from the group, and a warning glare from Sasuke. I quickly lowered my voice. "What?! Why would you want to get married so young? When it's not even your choice?!"
Sasuke stared blankly at me. "Every girl would kill for the chance to be an Uchiha. Plus Naruka has had a crush on Itachi since she could talk and communicate this fact to others. Tou-san saw the opportunity and acted. It was Naruka's choice."
"That's horrible. Uchiha or not, Id hate to be married so young."
"Hn." Ah, maybe Sasuke-kun took offense to that? Probably never heard that before.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto sang. "Drink with us!"
I grinned back at him. I didn't spend all my time with Tsunade training my shinobi skills. She also taught me how to drink grown men under the table.
Ino hands me some sake and I gotta say, the day goes by in a whirl. I am passed through the group, making sure I am not forgotten by any. They all made good conversation.
"What, you're still a genin?" Kiba asks, his arm draped lazily around Ino.
I nod, hoping they mistake my red face for all the alcohol I've been consuming.
"I can't take the exams if I'm not in the village, can I?"
"Well hurry up and catch up with us forehead!" Ino slurs, pointing accusingly at me.
I laugh. Ino is obviously a lightweight. I'm barely tipsy and she's already slurring!
My 'chaperone' Sasuke Uchiha lingered behind me, a look of disgust at the sight of Ino. He'd hadn't strayed too far from my side, probably feeling responsible since the Yondaime assigned him to escort me.
"Hey everyone! We have to make our way to the garden! Time for cake and food!" Naruto exclaimed, shooting his fist into the air. His face was red, no doubt from all the sake.
Everyone chatters excitedly, as Sasuke and I make our way over to Naruto.
"Sakuura-chhaann! You're such a cute birthday present!" He gushes in his drunken state, ruffling my hair. I punch his arm lightly. Naruto was very easy-going. I really liked that in people. We headed outside, the children and older shinobi already waiting. There was a long table filled with food and a large orange cake at the center.
Speaking of orange... I caught a flash of Masaki's hair and managed to sneak away from Naruto and Sasuke.
"Masaki-kun!" I called through the crowd. I caught the orange blur from the corner of my eye and headed in that direction. Masaki, Daisuke, and who I guessed was Nana were standing on their tip toes, trying to see through the crowd.
"Masaki-kun." I said finally, as he noticed me. The other two children stared up at me in awe.
"Sakura-nee-chan!" He yelled. "Nana-chan, Daisuke-baka, this is my nee-chan, I told you she was real!"
"Of course I'm real!"
Little Nana smiled shyly at me. She had her mom's red hair, with the same eyes as her siblings.
I bent down so Masaki could climb on my back.
Little Daisuke had attracted his older sibling's attention as well. "Nii-san." He said in a soft voice as he was lifted into the arms of Itachi.
"Oh, Itachi-san." I said in greeting. His face was eerily blank. He nodded at me, then to Masaki. "'Tachi-san, this is my Nee-chan. She's the greatest kunoichi ever just like youre the greatest shinobi!" He said proudly.
Itachi smiled softly at my younger brother. I could tell Itachi probably encountered him and Daisuke playing and following him on a daily basis.
His calm eyes flitted up to mine. "In that case, I cannot wait to test your skills, Sakura-san."
Before I could reply, blond swept in and lifted Nana to her shoulders. It was Naruka. She beamed at Itachi, never glancing at me.
"Itachi-kun, are you having a good time?"
"Hn." Sounded affirmative. Not wanting to intrude on the betrothed, Masaki and I found our way to my parents. Sasuke had found them first, still intent on chaperoning me. Kaa-san said they'd be leaving after cake, since it was Masaki's bed time, but I could be out as late as I wanted.
"Sakura, come on let's go see Naruto blow out the candles." Sasuke said, once again grabbing my wrist and tugging me away. I watched all the happy people as we passed, feeling a pang in my chest. I felt like I'd missed out on something. Like, growing up with comrades.
My thoughts were dismissed as we circled around Naruto with his gang. His family stood together, arms around the knucklehead as he stood before the cake.
We sung happy birthday and then, he blew out the eighteen candles.
"I wish to get a girlfriend before Sasuke-teme!" He chirped his wish, earning a slap on the head from Kushina and a vehement "dobe" from Sasuke.
Someone snapped a picture of the group. I wondered how out of place I must look. No doubt I had round eyes from shock of the flash, standing awkwardly in between Sasuke and Ino.
From across the table, onyx eyes caught mine.
The exchanged was quickly put to an end when I was nearly trampled by Chouji, who was desperate for cake.
The party would be solely for our age group now, as the parents and children headed home for sleep.
Yes, the rest of the night was spent drinking, yelling, and laughing.
