"Wow!" Shina smiled brightly as he stared at the huge crowd in front of him. "The speech must be important!"
"Well of course." Sarada frowned, leaning against a tree. "It is the hokage after all."
Shina's eyes sparked with excitement as he eagerly awaited for that important man to appear on top of the strange building.
"When will he come out?" he asked, trying to peek over the heads of those in front of him. "And what is the speech going to be about?"
"I don't know and I don't care." She snapped, slightly annoyed by his constant questioning.
"Have you ever met him before?" Shina grinned, turning to look at her.
Sarada blinked, trying to think of a time when she ever was face to face with the hokage…
Well, there was this one time…
"Once." She said.
"Lucky! I wish I could meet him!" the boy laughed, hopping up and down.
"Why?" she sighed.
This boy was exhausting her.
"What do you mean why? He's the hokage!"
"I'm sure you've been buddy buddy with the kazaekage. What difference is there?" she mumbled.
"I'm not sure…maybe because this is the famous Konoha!" he said with such happiness that Sarada could only stare at him.
And then the soft voices that surrounded them shot up in volume with such a deafening force that they both had to slap their hands over their ears.
"Seventh! Seventh! Seventh!" everyone cheered.
Shina peered up at the building only to see a man with golden locks and astonishing sky blue eyes.
He was waving at the crowd with a smile as his coat swayed with the wind.
"There," Sarada said, crossing her arms. "You saw the hokage now let's-"
"Wait," he suddenly said, his eyes still on the grinning adult. "Are you sure that's the hokage?"
"Huh? Yes, Shina, he's the hokage. Naruto Uzumaki."
"Oh…"
"You sound disappointed." She frowned.
"No, it's just that…he looks miserable." He whispered so quietly that the young Uchiha had to lean forward to hear.
"Miserable? What are you talking about?" she groaned, her annoyance only growing. "He's the hokage. He has a lovely wife, two children, with all the authority in the world, and he's a hero. His life is perfect."
"Ah…" the boy answered.
"Shina, seriously, what is wrong with you?"
"No, but…Sarada, look at him. Don't you think so too?" he said almost desperately.
Scowling, the girl jerked her head up to see the hokage.
He was grinning like there was no tomorrow, he was waving at his cheering fans, and his wife was standing behind him with a soft smile.
He looked confident, proud to be named the seventh hokage, he was standing with a straight posture as he beamed at his village.
He looked far from miserable.
He looked ecstatic.
"I think he's great." She said peeking at Shina with a blank expression.
"Oh, maybe it was my imagination." He chuckled nervously.
"Idiot." She snapped, marching away. "Let's go. It's hot outside."
"B-But can't we just listen-"
"No. I'm going home." She said, obviously frustrated.
Shina quickly ran after her.
But before he could catch up, a flash of pink sliced through his line of vision.
A beautiful shade of fluffy pastel pink.
Slowly, emerald green eyes followed that refreshing color and Shina soon found himself staring at a woman with a very weary look grazing her features.
She was thin and he noticed a slight tremble lacing all over her body as she watched the hokage continue his speech.
And despite this tiring posture of hers, she was actually quite attractive in Shina's opinion.
Gorgeous strands of pink along with fresh green colored eyes…
That were just like his.
Shina stared at the woman, his hand unconsciously reaching for her wrist.
But before he could even touch her, Sarada came out of nowhere, anger clearly etched across her face.
"Shina, what are you doing?" she growled. "Come on-" she then stopped, her eyes instantly on the petite woman with the pink hair. "M-Mom?" she said softly.
"Oh, she's your mom?" Shina smiled warmly. "She's very pretty!"
"Shut up. I don't want to see her right now."
"Eh? Why? Didn't you want to go and confront her about some-"
"That's not important anymore. Let's go and hurry before she sees me!" she hissed.
"But why? She's your mom-"
"Sarada…?" a feeble voice said.
Shina turned to see the woman behind them with a concerned expression.
"There you are…I was worried. Where did you go?" she asked then her eyes traveled to Shina. "Who's this? Is this your friend?"
"U-Um," the young Uchiha mumbled. "Before that, mom, what are you doing here?"
"Ah," the woman tore her eyes away from the boy before resting them back on the hokage. "I wanted to hear the speech that's all."
"Uh, miss!" Shina squeaked.
Sakura glanced back at the…oddly familiar looking boy.
His hair was quite…the familiar blonde.
His eyes were also quite…a familiar green.
And that forehead…
She could've sworn,
She was almost certain,
That her heart skipped at least two hundred beats.
"You look really pretty today, miss!"
Silence.
Only the quiet roars that circled around them was audible as the pinkette stared and stared at the boy.
And then something extraordinary happened.
Something magical.
The blonde haired boy peered deep into the emerald orbs of the woman before giving her a brilliant, golden smile.
An entrancing, magnificent smile.
A heartwarming, bright smile.
How strange…
This feeling was almost nostalgic.
That smile was horribly familiar.
It looked almost identical to hers but it was also a mix of…
That stupid hokage.
"Boy," her voice nearly cracked as she knelt down to have a better look at him. "What's your name…?"
