~ Hi no Kuni, Konohagakure no Sato, Monday 19th July, 07:30 am, Chiyo's Apartments ~
Namikaze Sakura wasn't happy, though she made sure her face didn't show it.
Shiranui Tenten could tell though. She could see how her cousin's normally bright green eyes were dark with displeasure, and how the normally polite petal haired girl wasn't even bothering to hide her yawns as she sat on her suitcase.
Tenten couldn't really blame her, it was the summer holidays and Sakura normally spent the days sleeping in late, but because Mito-baa-sama waited to have a family holiday that wouldn't be happening.
Tenten hid a grin as Naruto bounced up to Sakura, and began to talk animatedly about his first whole family holiday. Tenten knew Sakura was Naruto's favorite cousin, and she knew though Sakura would never admit it, she had a large soft spot for the blond, and that was the only reason the petal haired girl wasn't glaring at the four year old.
"Where is Nawaki?" Tsunade asked, huffing out a breath making a few blond strands that fell from her messy bun and into her face move out of her eyes.
"Nawaki-kun said something about bringing his new girlfriend." Mito said, making Raika roll her dark green eyes.
"I thought this was meant to be a family holiday?" She questioned, making Kushina snort softly.
"If that was the case then Sakumo-san, and Kakashi wouldn't be coming too." The other red head said, nodding her head to the two silver haired men.
"True." Raika agreed, just as Nawaki's beat up car pulled into Chiyo's car-park.
Nawaki's girlfriend was called Chisato, and she was a very pretty girl. She had chin length blond hair, kept back by a headband, and brown eyes. She had tanned skin covering a slim frame. She wore a light pink tank-top, tanned Capri, and black sandals. She was 5'5".
Though she seemed like a nice girl, Nawaki's siblings knew she wouldn't stay with him long. Not many girls sticked around long when they find out he wont give up the role of a host for them.
"Sorry we're late." Nawaki said, a sheepish smile on his lips, as he put an arm around Chisato's waist.
Nagato bit back a smile, as he watched Sakura throw Nawaki a dirty look, they had been waiting for an hour, and he knew Sakura hated being awake early unless it was for school.
"Let's get this show on the roll." Jiraiya said, with a clap of his hands.
"88 bottles of Sake on the wall, 88 bottles of Sake, you take one down and pass it around, 87 bottles of Sake on the wall!" Naruto sang loudly, from between Kyubi and Sakura, either ignoring how his older brother glared at him, or not noticing it.
Jiraiya's eyebrow twitched as he drove, wishing that Kushina had said no when Naruto and Kyubi asked to ride with Sakura.
Tobirama chuckled at his nephew's annoyance, who threw him a slight glare.
Kyubi sighed, before he glanced at his cousin. Kyubi felt his eyes widen slightly at the sight of her sleeping, her head resting against the door. He had no idea of how she could sleep through his brother's loud singing, but somehow she manged the impossible.
"87 bottles of Sake on the wall, 87 bottles of Sake, you take one down and pass it around, 86 bottles of Sake on the wall!" Naruto sang, unaware of how much his Uncle wanted to throw him out of the car.
Jiraiya sighed, the drive to Cha no Kuni had never seemed so long as it did at that moment.
This was one reason Jiraiya would never have another child. He was perfectly happy with Sakura being his only child.
She was mature for her age, and didn't ask him for anything apart from a few books, or pocky, though he did like to spoil her. She was also quiet, unlike her blond cousin, in all of her six years of life Jiraiya had never heard her raise her voice, and she was always calm. She understood why he had to leave for sometimes weeks for research for his next book, and only asked when he was leaving, and when he thought he would be back.
To Jiraiya, Sakura was the perfect child.
"86 bottles of Sake on the wall, 86 bottles of Sake, you take one down and pass it around, 85 bottles of Sake on the wall!" Naruto sang.
Jiraiya made a note in his mind to inform his younger brother that he would never babysit Naruto for as long as the boy should live. Seeing with how Naruto had a habit of annoying most people, Jiraiya sadly admitted in his mind that his brother's youngest son may not have a very long life.
But I could be wrong. He thought to himself as he saw from the rear screen mirror, as Kyubi's fist striked out when Naruto's eyes closed, only for Sakura to grab his hand before it could hit the blond's head, her eyes opened showing not traces of sleep as she pulled the small boy into her side, when he open his eyes to look at her with a cheery grin.
Naruto didn't notice that Sakura had saved him from being punched by his brother, or that she let go of the red heads fist after she gave him a barely hidden stern look, as he asked her to join in his song, he grinned when she nodded with a small smile, and when he sung the next line, he was pleased to hear the soft voice of his favorite cousin.
"85 bottles of Sake on the wall, 85 bottles of Sake, you take one down and pass it around, 84 bottles of Sake on the wall!" They sang together, though Naruto's voice almost drowned Sakura's.
Tobirama chuckled having also seen what happened. It seemed Sakura was more protective of Naruto then anyone of them thought.
Kyubi huffed slightly, as he crossed his arms over his chest, and slouched in his seat. He knew his younger cousin was protective of Naruto, hell all the children of the family knew that expect Naruto, she just didn't overly show it.
No one in the family could deny that Sakura had a soft spot for the young blond, but few saw how protective she could be of him. Kyubi knew she would become protective of their other cousins, and himself, if they ever needed her. But they didn't need her to be, like Naruto did. Nagato, and himself were older then her, and she knew they wouldn't like her being openly protective of them. And Tenten could protect herself easily.
It had been awhile since Kyubi had last seen Sakura openly acting protective of Naruto, and he was slightly startled by it. He had thought she had been sleeping deeply, and that thought made him wonder if inwardly she had an alarm for whenever Naruto was in the slightest of danger, and couldn't stop the slight smirk from coming to his lips.
From the corner of his eyes, he saw Sakura's roll hers, and almost jumped. For a moment he thought she could read his mind, till she spoke.
"I can't read your mind, but the look on your face made it clear you were thinking nonsense."
Naruto laughed, before he launched back into his song, while Kyubi glared at his younger cousin.
~ Cha no Kuni, 05:00 pm ~
Jiraiya let a sigh of relief as he pulled into the car park of the Ryokan they would be staying out. Naruto had fallen asleep about half an hour ago, and Jiraiya had wanted to get to the inn before he woke up, and began to sing again.
Tobirama chuckled as he got out of the car, while the others pulled in.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Mito asked Hashirama as she gazed at the traditional japanese inn.
Hashirama agreed with a smile as he held her hand, while their children got the bags out of the cars.
Kushina smiled softly as she lifted Naruto into her arms, making him curl into her for warmth, before she turned to Minato, who was carrying their bags with Kyubi's help.
She had a good feeling about this holiday.
Tsunade held Sakura's hand, while Jiraiya carried both his, and his daughter's bags to the door. Only Dan saw the amusement in Tsunade's eyes as she watched her younger brother's struggle with the bags, almost all of them being his since Sakura only packed one suitcase, and one backpack.
"Welcome to Kurosaki Inn." The owner greeted, a soft smile on her face as she knelt in front of the genkan. "You must be the Namikaze family. My maid will show you to you're rooms."
A young woman with her dark hair tied up in a simple bun, and blue eyes appeared, bowing to them. Her pale skin standing out greatly against her dark yukata.
"If you would follow me."
With that said she turned, and headed down the hallway to the right, with the family following behind, their now slipper covered feet patting softly against the wooden floor.
"Because you're such a large group, you'll be given four rooms." She informed them as she stopped in a hallway where there was four fusuma doors.
She knelt in front all four of them, and slid them open before she left with a bow.
"So, whose in which room?" Nawaki asked, looking at his father and mother.
"Mito, Tobirama, Sakumo, and I will be in one room. Jiraiya, Sakura, Minato, Kushina, Kyubi, and Naruto in another. Dan, Tsunade, Nawaki, Chisato-san, and Kakashi in one. With Shizune, Genma, Tenten, Kaito, Raika, and Nagato in the last room." Hashirama said, as the group slit up and put their things in their own rooms.
Sake: Rice Wine.
Ryokan: Traditional Japanese Inn.
Genkan: Entry way.
Fusuma: Sliding paper doors.