Sakura groaned quietly under her breath, waving a jaunty goodbye to the other counselors. She couldn't believe her campers! They hadn't shown up for any of their activities today! After a day of teaching adolescents to kayak and also securing her place as undisputed champion of flag football, Sakura was exhausted in that sore, exhilarating kind of way. She didn't want to have to reprimand her charges but really, their obsession was getting ridiculous.
She looked up at the shabby cabin decked out in hand painted tapestries created by Sakura and all of her campers. She always kept their gifts.
"Boys," Sakura thundered, walking into the room.
Her three most contrary campers sat on the floor, looking up at her guiltily.
Sakura couldn't help but falter a little at their bright eyes and mischievous smiles. She loved them. Still….
"What have you been doing in here all day?" Sakura demanded, looking at their strewn papers, figures, and dice. "You didn't even have your Dungeon Master here!"
Danzō was the only one who would meet her eyes. "We just…we got carried away."
Sakura snorted at Danzō's easy way of understating the matter at hand. "You boys are all too obsessed. I never should have introduced you to the game."
"No!" Kagami said, throwing himself at her leg. "You can't!"
Torifu and Danzō quickly followed suit. Sakura swayed beneath their combined weight, laughing.
"I can do as I please," Sakura said, teasing clear in her tone.
"Don't!" Torifu begged. "We came up with some ideas for the next campaign!"
Danzō nodded, grabbing a sheaf of papers rife with drawings of their characters.
Sakura softened completely as she looked over their bright pictures of Dwarves and Dragonborns and Halflings. They may be completely fanatical but they were passionate.
"I won't put the board up on one condition," Sakura said.
"Anything!" they chorused.
"Keep up with all your other activities," Sakura said. "You guys do not play without me. You're here for the summer; you need to get to know the other campers and not stay cooped up in here!"
"But we don't want to meet anyone else," Kagami whined. "We just want to hang out with you!"
"You're the best counselor here," Torifu added.
Sakura snorted, ruffling their hair. "I'm not sure how accurate that is but I'll take it."
"Yo, Sakura!" Tobirama called, poking his head in through the doorway. He observed the chaos of the room and his smile widened. The henna tattoos that Sakura did for him at the beginning of the summer were still a bright, brilliant red. "You guys coming out for s'mores?"
Sakura nodded, breaking free of her charges' hold to rummage through a drawer. "Hold up a sec, Tobi," she said, ignorant of her campers' dark gazes as they looked at 'Tobi.' Danzō shifted to stand a bit in front of Sakura. "Here it is!" she said triumphantly, tossing him a cassette tape. "You asked for my newest mix at archery yesterday."
Tobirama's smile was soft and sweet and flashing a danger sign to the young campers as he regarded Sakura. "Thanks," he said, backing out of the doorway. "See you at the campfire!"
Sakura turned back to her campers who straightened up. "C'mon squirts," she said. "Time to embrace the wild!"
