4. In editing this chapter, the main thing to address is the changes in POV. Again, we affirm that the third person suits our needs much better. Nevertheless, I hope that the first-person perspectives here, while they last, are clearer after revision. They only change after line breaks, never within sections.


Pao (Guest): I couldn't PM you since you're a guest, but I would still like you to know that I appreciate the encouragement, so thank you!


Unnerving, that would be the first thought that comes to mind if you asked me for my first impression.

Green eyes that meet mine, pink hair bright like the edge of the sharpest knife. Whispery words, and the easy dissection she presents to me.

Unnerving.

An unnerving 6-year-old. The same age as my Ino, but so different.

"So, what is your diagnosis, Inoichi?"

Respectfully, I look up, even though I wouldn't be able to meet his eyes. "Stable and fit to be a ninja, Hokage-sama." Not because I am afraid, but because of the man's hat.

Lord Hokage puffs his pipe, before lifting his hat, just so that I catch a fleeting glimpse of black eyes. "You know that's not what I'm after, Inoichi."

I hesitate for a moment, but answer, "Shikaku is unlikely to be able to entrench himself with her."

Pausing, I think about how I should go about phrasing it, "Not easily, at any rate. If he invites her to play either shogi or go, her playstyle will reveal little to nothing. Within half an hour, that child picked up that I was feeling for her personality, knew what I perceived her to be, knew how I would counter her, and knew exactly how to make sure I knew all of it."

He sets his pipe down on the table, before folding his hands in front of him, not unlike Sakura-san. "Are you sure you aren't underestimating Shikaku? Not to mention, he is her proxy. She will have to trust him with the family business."

My lips tighten into a slight frown, "Hokage-sama, Sakura-san is the only one who can open that scroll. Besides, Shikaku is not a businessman."

"If even blood permission can be given, old dogs can learn new tricks," comes the village leader's casual remark. The smell of smoke is suddenly thicker in the room as if he did not smoke habitually.

I dip my head, my silence a mild rebuke, thinking to myself. Shikaku, would you use a child like that?

Most ninjas would, in his position, when directed by someone with authority. But as Sakura already knows, Shikaku is the Jonin Commander, and in a better position than most.

The kind of guts it would take to circumvent a direct order is not quite as common. Still, our generation of children under siege has made us all adverse to the thought of field promotions and early graduations.

It reeks of desperation rather than skill.

I trust him enough to not weaponise her. And I trust little Sakura to be intelligent enough to be able to avoid… maybe being discarded too easily.

To trust an unnerving child is an exercise in futility. Since that trust cannot be repaid. Sakura does not and will not trust me.

But perhaps she can learn to trust Shikaku instead.


"You have not been running my family's business." Her eyes are sharp, and even before introductions, she has already determined something as crucial as that.

In Shogi, when a ploy has failed, it's best to cut back on losses.

I bite back the sigh of 'Troublesome' on my lips and reply with an even, "That is true, Sakura-san. I needed to be able to open the blood scroll in order to access records and be prepared for deals."

She smiles and barrels on ahead, skipping the polite niceties, "Your mind is racing right now. You are trying to think of a way to gain as much as possible, having just cut your losses."

Slowly, I close off my expression and my mind. Her smile remains, such a pretty one, on so young a face. It doesn't match the cutting, knowing eyes, let alone the words coming out from her mouth.

"Be my proxy in name, Nara-sama. In exchange, I will use your clan as a basis for trading, and I will name your heir as mine." My eyes narrow at her preposition and her smile curves slightly, dare I say even, wickedly.

"Dual loyalties are dangerous…especially in a Hidden Village. Hokage-sama has ordered you to entrench yourself with me, keep close to me, gain control of the Haruno merchant business. As long as I am amiable, keep me as a malleable, unknowing puppet. When I outlive my usefulness, once you can control all my assets properly, I can be dealt with. Is that what you think?"

Her voice turns softer at the end, with the whisper of a threat and bitterness. In reply, I place my hand on her shoulder in a gesture of openness; gentleness, trying to get her to calm down.

"Shall we not continue our discussion inside, in a more favourable setting? People are staring, Sakura-san."

She turns slightly, before smiling at a random civilian who waves back. "Let us do so. In the meantime, though, Nara-sama, you may wish to watch your hand. People are watching."

I recover quickly, casually retracting my hand, having forgotten that this was a 6-year-old girl in front of me, then escorting her through the gates.

A self-aware child. This thought makes me almost laugh since things have deviated from the intended path.

Inoichi could have at least given me a heads up. That he did not is telling of his personal judgement. He clearly disagrees with Hokage-sama on how to handle the Haruno girl.

She's a merchant head now, at the complete age of six.

That exact same number as my Shikamaru and even we would not expect our Nara children to be fully capable of co-ordinating a cross-border merchant guild.

It would have seemed like too much to ask of a civilian child, but perhaps the Haruno clan has produced their one-in-three generation genius.

Wasn't it that wealth doesn't survive three generations? Somehow, it feels to me that Sakura will do well.


"Underneath his genuine care and concern for me, it was just numbers and calculation of my worth. If he had not judged me to be needed, then I would have died in the apparent attack that killed my parents and the Genin teams."

He pours us tea as I muse. It's terrifying actually. That the concern was genuine. I relay to him my thoughts because I would feel he can otherwise read them.

A Jonin Commander dispatched to deal with me, an intelligent child, the follow-up of a two-pronged attack which began at ten o'clock in the morning with a psychologist.

What a thought! That that old, frail-looking man would think to use even a 6-year-old child. Though, it's possibly because of my age that he even endeavoured to do such a thing.

For now, Nara-sama is just watching, trying to get a grip on the personality that Yamanaka-sama failed to. Still, the psychologist did get fairly close. Only the root cause was not right.

I suppose a diagnosis of reincarnation is still beyond the expectations of a world where drops of blood can lock paper scrolls and a glowing energy inside everyone lets people walk up walls.

I look around the spacious, traditional room. Bamboo shutters, wooden, lacquered flooring. Earthen coloured furniture, and more prominently, the shadows. A dark room at odds with how tanned the Lord Nara is.

It's not brightly lit, and the shadows almost seem to shift. Vampires don't do this, at any rate.

"What is your answer then, Nara-sama?" I prod, hastening his thinking process. His back never straightens from its lazy slouch, but it will not be enough to fool me.

Since I watch his eyes and not his posture, it is plain to me that he is a sharp man.

"You drive a hard bargain, Sakura-san," he begins, a lazy drawl that makes me relax. "Is that a 'no', Nara-sama?" I press where the advantage is given to me, since he will not decline so fast.

Deftly, my tiny 6-year-old fingers wrap around a porcelain cup. Lovely porcelain, matching the diagram drawn in the contract. I'm not surprised to feel the emblem on the bottom of the cup, the sign of the clan we partner in the Sand Village.

Painted, I suppose, with a varnish. A circle with a marking in the middle, one I cannot see since the cup is full.

My lips press against the edge of the cup, and I sip the warm tea, inhaling the scent. That thought of a distant memory, not the memory of this body, but sense data almost.

What a breakthrough in memory studies. That this smells the same even though I don't know if I have ever had this same tea in this world.

"Plum blossom tea, and white porcelain of the Land of Wind. You have good taste, Nara-sama," I compliment because flattery never goes wrong on first sight.

Then I close my eyes, leaving him in his contemplation, ready to sink in the smell of the plum flowers and the incense.

Truly, I am surprised when Nara-sama replies so quickly, "I will have to first consult Hokage-sama."


Her slightly breathless reply of, "So I was right…" has me cursing inwardly. It was a trap, not that she was certain. A feint masked by faux certainty.

"Don't feel too bad, Chief Strategist. Yamanaka-sama was the same. Who would have thought? This pink-haired little girl wishes to talk business."

I drink my tea, listening to her, as she rattles out my title that Inoichi definitely leaked to her. How else would she have guessed that?

"This little girl has little interest in the business itself or her family's legacy, only in the profits and the assurance that the state will not abuse this business and turn it into a spying ring."

Tch. Smart girl. "Did I guess right? That you want to make use of our business as a cover?"

There's no use hiding anything anymore, so I simply nod. Her eyes show her evident surprise. "While it is true that I would have been able to tell if you were lying, I didn't expect you to tell me the truth."

I give her a languid, lazy stare. She's only taunting now, playing and toying with my reliance on her affirmative answer.

She smiles, holding her hand out, "I might just like you, Nara-sama." She's set her cup down, drained of the tea. The girl is ready to leave, in fact.

I sigh because I can't help it. Setting the cup down to mirror her, I take the extended hand, "I swear to do my utmost to obey all rules and guidelines laid down within the Haruno Merchant Scroll, as interpreted by the heir, Haruno Sakura-san."

Hokage-sama, I hope you appreciate the amount of trouble I'm getting myself into. Even if these verbal contracts mean very little to us ninja. I'll think all this over again at night.

Maybe, I'll even retroactively accept that this is for the best.

It is the Haruno child's best-case scenario, and Inoichi will crow about it for weeks. Still, I am not cut out for a long-term merchant business.

It's simply too troublesome.

I hope she really intends on keeping her independence. That works out for me.

A strategic mind bound by my own laziness. Honestly, I've never favoured merchant spies. They get too caught up in their economic interests to pass along information that would hurt their business prospects.


"Nara-sama, do you have any children?" She asks this as she places the first black stone on the board.

In the middle, a beginner tactic. "Yeah. He's the same age as you, but he's already begun schooling in the Academy."

I place my white stone in the middle of the top row. She hums as she places another black stone in the bottom left-most corner of the board.

"I guessed as much. I'm starting next week. Is there anything I've missed out on?" Finding her first childlike statement hilarious, I nearly laugh, before I remember that she is 6.

"You've never played Go before have you?" Her green eyes, clear for once, look up at me, blinking. She shakes her head, before placing another black stone in the bottom right-most corner.

"Don't change the question, please. I don't wanna fall behind the other students, already being handicapped coming from a civilian family."

Running a hand through my hair, I place my white stone next to her centre one. Shooting a look at the clock, I remark that it's almost time for Shika to get home. I invited her to stay and play not only because I felt like it, but because I wanted to.

"May I borrow his textbooks over the weekend? Unless he wishes to study them, I mean."

It's my turn to smile, but it's not one of her knowing smiles. It is amused, sad, pitying and lastly, apologetic. Since this is to use her but also not.

Too young. They are only children, not even born into a war and yet… "He'll be glad to have a reason to not see them over the weekend," I reply her. She and Shikamaru would get along well because she's a patient person.

Her face scrunches up slightly, trying to make sense of my words, as she copies my move, placing a white stone next to her centre one. "Does he…not like reading?"

What an understatement. That undercurrent of hesitance makes her the child she really is. And to think that an hour ago she had finished her tea and gotten ready to leave after concluding our business.

"You'll understand once you read all his textbooks yourself." I place a black stone next to her new white stone, preventing her from splitting the board length-wise.

Just as she's about to set down another white piece, she pauses, looking at the door, and remarks that "There's someone walking here."

Responding to this, I send out a tendril of chakra, feeling, sensing, and I tug on the source. Shikamaru's home. He's about on time.

"You…you're welcoming it. You call out to it, and it hums in response. Like a purr…almost?" I incline my head since her observation is true. The sentient chakra that lives within our compound and even the walls…

Suddenly aware, she looks around her. "The walls…even the walls are humming." Her eyes find mine, as she struggles to comprehend everything that she can feel but cannot name.

She's a little more sensitive than most – but this can also come from the fact that she's lived most of her life without constant exposure to chakra.

And our compound, because it's dark and full of shadows, tends to keep our chakra. It is more saturated than in most other places.

At that moment, I feel ropes of chakra leaving her, stretching around the room, crawling across the walls. Her face goes through varying emotions, and at one point, I feel one brush against me.

Strangely enough, one of these ropes feel inky black, as if laced with Yin chakra, and another feels Nara. That, is a surprise.

There's a knock on the door, and all the chakra rope constructs retract. She doesn't look the least bit tired, despite the fact that she just attempted Chakra manipulation on a large scale.

And despite how her chakra was everywhere moments ago, her chakra signature is dissipating already. Which is interesting, but I am not a theorist. Her chakra control… it must be very good even without proper training. Her use is definitely not conscious.

"Tou-san, I'm home." Shikamaru's voice refocuses me, and the door slides open, he casually dumping his History text in the corner.

"Welcome home, Shikamaru." He moves towards the seat across the table, his usual seat, only to realise that there's someone in it. He walked in with his eyes closed, obviously.

Sakura blinks when Shikamaru cocks his head at her, before her lips part in an 'o'. She shifts one seat to her right, and she's now sitting on the sidelines.

Confused, my son still takes his seat, despite the fact that it's not his game to play – and he's forgotten to greet the guest.

"Hi..?" Clearly, Sakura is caught off guard by his greeting. Is the greeting, or the lateness?

Jabbing a finger in my direction, he introduces himself, "Hi. I'm Nara Shikamaru. He's my dad." There's a sudden growth of a chakra thread behind Sakura, and I tense at it, not sure what to expect. Her eyes show no particular notice of this development.

She's confused and still uncertain. She repeats his name like she's lost and I can't help but notice the new chakra threat instead. It thickens, then retracts like before.

She looks almost physically lost before her eyes find mine, and there's a question in them. Is this alright? When I give her a small smile, her face lights up, and she too, smiles.

"I'm Haruno Sakura, I'll be joining your class next week. It's nice to meet you."

Shikamaru runs a hand through his hair, looking from the board to Sakura, then to me. He even looks around the room, trying to find something to inspire him to words.

The brat settles on, "Eh. Class's boring," and I end up snorting at his awkward attempt at conversation, before smiling at both of them.

"Well Shikamaru, would you be willing to help Sakura-san catch up with the Academy syllabus? Hopefully, you've been paying attention in class."

Sakura's bewildered back glance at me, as Shikamaru drags her off lazily, tells me everything. She actually really wants to find someone not out to use her.


"Shikaku, you spent a morning with Sakura-san. Were you able to find anything?"

He shakes his head. Lie.

"No, Hokage-sama. Inoichi's assessment proved correct. After yesterday's dealing, Sakura-san appears to have closed herself off. I was unable to grasp her personality."

Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Inoichi directing a shocked look in his direction. Another lie.

"I see. Very well, you may go." He bows and then steps out of the room.

As soon as the door closes behind him, he shunshins back onto ground level, bypassing all the steps.

Inoichi is close on his heels, and he invites his friend for tea. Inoichi knows.

"You lied." Ain't that the truth. He directs a lazy glance at him, and drawls, "What makes you think that?"

His lips compress, "Don't lie to me, Shikaku." Their expressions are both hard, but he meets the other's eyes. "I have not lied to you," his reply, a truthful one.

Patiently, Inoichi walks with him. "She knew," the Jonin Commander tells the T&I Specialist, only for the latter's footsteps to stutter.

"What?"

"She knew exactly what we intended to do, and has made it such that even if we took over it would never happen," Shikaku elaborates. He pauses for a moment, then exhales through his nose.

"Good," comes Inoichi's unambiguous reply. It's Shikaku's turn to startle.

"That's good. I don't approve of breaking children. So, it's good. Good that she knew and knew exactly how to counter every move. It's good then."

They part ways at the first clan gate. It's not far, anyway, seeing as how they live on the same street.

"He is the Hokage, it's his job, so I won't hold it against him. But we aren't the Hokage." Inoichi hums in agreement, "Better him than either of us."

A laugh resonates from the clan compound, and they both turn. On the patio, a stack of books lays discarded. Instead, the two children are trying to catch leaves.

Shikamaru with his shadow, and Sakura with her chakra rope constructs.

A disgruntled frown mars Shikamaru's face and a look of concentration crosses Sakura's, but barely a moment later, both break into laughter.

"Young." They nod in agreement. "Too young."

The children they left alone in the home already found their own way to peace.

Shikaku is fairly certain Sakura will make good on her promise to name his heir as hers. She's taken to Shikamaru just as his son has to her.


Edited 30 April 2020. First published late 2015.

One chunk has been shifted to the next chapter since it fits there better, but not much was love lost between politicking and friendships.

Do leave a review, I love hearing from you all!

Kayo