I do not own Naruto


-Yamanaka Ino-

When she first saw her at the academy, she was surprised at how pink her hair was. It had reminded her of flowers, especially the cherry blossoms that her father often collected when they were in bloom. The next thing that drew her younger self in was her eyes. They were the 'greenest green ever', she would say when she described her back then.

She was curious about her, to say bluntly. She was like the fairies that her mother would tell her during story time, the fairies that would help the flowers bloom and give life to withered trees. She knew they were only stories but they were fascinating to hear and imagine.

'She would definitely be the fairy queen.'

She giggled quietly at that thought. Imagine what Shikamaru would say about her 'troublesome' thoughts. She sighed and continued to observe the new student. Ino saw hesitance in her green eyes when the teacher prompted her to introduce herself to class.

"M-my name is Haruno Sakura." The designated 'fairy', Sakura, said in a hushed tone.

Ino perked up when she heard her introduce herself. Sakura was named after a flower. She grinned and decided she would be her friend. She only hoped that Shikamaru and Chōji wouldn't mind too much.


She sighed in annoyance. Ino never really the chance to approach Sakura and the one time that she had the chance to do so, she was abruptly grabbed by Chōji to some shenanigan that he and Shikamaru was about to do. Well, the term 'shenanigan' was not exactly the word to use when dealing with the duo since Shikamaru was as active as a sack of potatoes and Chōji was- well, Chōji. They were probably going to watch clouds again.

She harrumphed but admitted to herself that watching the clouds roll by was calming, albeit boring but calming all the same. As she let Chōji drag her along, she noticed something that bothered her. She saw a group of girls surround someone in the park and were shouting insults again and again. She clenched her jaw when she noticed that it was Sakura who was in the middle of it all. The little girl was crying and looked like a lost puppy surrounded by hounds.

She took a deep breath and told Chōji an excuse that he probably won't believe but he let her go. She knew he would understand. As she went to the group she grabbed a bunch of wildflowers along the way. She already had a plan in mind to make the bullies stop their merciless teasing.

She took a deep breath and stood still for a moment and calmed her nerves. It wasn't the first time she had to deal with stupid bullies but it made her nervous for some reason. She sighed and listened to what the bullies were talking about. She was shocked that they were teasing Sakura for her hair and forehead. Sakura's hair was very pretty, she admitted to herself. Why would they tease her about that? And what about her forehead? It might be big but it wasn't that big, to be honest.

When she had her goal in sight she called over the bullies. She then proceeded to threaten them over her 'poisonous' flowers. She knew they would believe her since she was the best at identifying different kinds of plants at the Academy. They scampered like ants. She looked around, making sure that they were gone, and threw away the wildflowers. She glanced at the whimpering girl and noticed that she was covered with little cuts and occasional bruises. She looked like a mess, especially with her tears.

'She was dealing with Academy students after all.'

She sighed and approached the pink-haired child. She looked so small.

"Hey, are you all right?" Ino said with concern laced into her voice.

Sakura looked up to her and let out a whimper of fear.

"H-hey! I'm not going to hurt you, promise!" She said in a rush.

Ino peered over Sakura and grinned at her in an attempt to calm her.

"See? I won't hurt you. So, don't cry, okay? The bullies are gone now and I promise they won't hurt you anymore."

Silence followed after that (with the occasional sniffle). She waited for Sakura to respond. She wasn't in a hurry after all, she had time.

"R-really?"

Ino almost missed the voice since it was so quiet. It was like Sakura was afraid of her. She smiled. It was better than nothing, she supposed.

"Really! So, I'm Yamanaka Ino! What's your name?"

She already knew her name but it wouldn't it be better to properly introduce herself, right? She glanced at Sakura's bruises while waiting for a response.

'That's got to hurt.'

She then heard a quiet murmur from the girl. She concluded that it was her name but you could never be too sure.

"What? I didn't quite catch that." She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"M-my name is Haruno Sakura." The small girl said with a louder tone of voice.

Ino smiled. It was better than the last one. She glanced again at Sakura's bruises and pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket. She made a gesture to wait and ran over to the nearest water fountain and proceeded to dampen the handkerchief. She ran back and offered the damp handkerchief to Sakura.

"You need to clean your wounds Sakura. Here!" She said as she handed Sakura the piece of cloth.

Sakura looked at it and used it to clean the dirt off her cuts. She flinched occasionally but continued cleaning her wounds.

Ino plopped down beside Sakura and hummed a little tune to herself and thought of what the bullies had said to Sakura. She looked at her and observed her closely. She remembered the piece of long cloth that her mother had given her and pulled it out of her pocket. It was red and silky. She had an idea to help her new friend out.

"Hey, Sakura. Listen closely, alright?"

She noticed that she was finished cleaning her cuts and when she saw her nod she continued.

"Don't listen to those bullies. Your hair is very pretty. It reminds me of flowers, to be honest. And your forehead isn't that big!" She rushed to say.

She leaned closer and brushed Sakura's bangs away. She saw her flinch but continued to what she was saying.

"See? So don't hide it, okay?" She said with a grin.

She took hold of the red cloth and tied it around Sakura's head like a headband.

"You look pretty like that and the bullies won't bother you anymore if you're proud of it!" She declared.

She didn't wait for a response and hurriedly grabbed Sakura's hand and led her to the nearest fountain and showed her what she looked like with the headband.

"See?" Ino said with hope in her voice.

She looked at Sakura with curiosity and paid attention to her reaction. She let out a whoop of joy when she saw her let out a small smile.

"T-thank you, Ino-san. Your hair is pretty too, it reminds me of the sun." She said with a hint of happiness in her voice.

"I'm glad you liked it! And call me Ino, Sakura. Enough with the honorifics! We're friends, right?"

Sakura looked over her with gratitude. She looked so happy.

"Yeah. We're friends Ino."

She was surprised when Sakura hugged her but she returned the hug. She grinned.

"Thank you, Ino."


Ino sighed and looked at the cherry blossoms blooming.

'I'm sorry, Sakura.'

She smiled weakly.

She missed their friendship.


So, hi.

I know that I said that I would upload weekly but it seems that I might break that this month.

Might being the key word. But I'll try my best to update weekly.

I know that this meeting seems different from canon but tell me what you think?

Its quite sad at the end, huh? Don't worry, they'll be friends again.

So, who would you prefer next? Shikamaru, Chōji or Naruto? I was planning on Naruto but I would like to see who you prefer. I don't know though, so yeah.