Just so everyone knows, Sabella was born of my love of Gwen Tennyson and Rex Salazar.
Reviews!
EternalDarkness28: Thanks you! These children are adorable and a joy to write. I wouldn't say it resolves itself soon...
libraryrockerr: She get's more love this chapter, don't worry!
Madrigal-in-training: That would be the cutest thing ever, I swear to god and she so would. Girl has like, zero fucks to give. For now she's going to be a taijutsu lady but later on, who knows!
ManawaSasa: Cutest demon ever. Totally worth making a deal with.
AmrCannos34: She'll figure something out, I'm sure.
calcu22: She'll use something. Her brain, maybe. Or uh. Something else.
Lirynn: I know it's a little dark straight off, but it'll brighten up as we go. Then turn very painful indeed.
orlha: I can't tell you that yet!
AmuletSugar1: It's so fine, thank you for reviewing at all! She'll be the Pink Beast of Konoha, men tremble at her feet. And thank you, for this story especially, for Sabella, the friendships are very important to me.
AxZi: Dude I have such a back story for her it's not even funny. We won't get to that for... a while.
Smiling Seshat: I am 100% sure you're write, I'm also 100% sure I'll never get around to fixing it. I don't have a beta so I write fic like I wrote essays. All at once, no editing, no take backs, just throw that fucker in the void and hope for the best... I did not do well in school.
Ninja graduations were strange things. Sabella had expected some sort of a large ceremony, maybe everyone dressed in antiquated robes or armor or something. She had thought there would at least be a large crowd to see the years graduates.
Instead, outside the Academy was a modest conglomeration of parents and friends, huddled around their prefered child when they walked out of the school for the last time, each one holding onto a shiny new headband. Sabella's eyes skipped over Neji and Tenten, Mitsuhiro and Ichiki, until she found a long black braid and massive eyebrows.
"Lee!" She screamed across the front schoolyard, waving her hand frantically above her head. Naruto was right by her side, holding a big sign with Lee's name painted messily in green, complete with a truly unholy number of question marks.
The boy saw them and his whole face split into a grin. He went running at them and Sabella picked him up and spun him around. Sakura was way stronger than she thought she would be. It was fucking awesome.
"You did it!" she cheered, letting go of him long enough to pass the hug onto Naruto. Lee laughed between the, grinning.
"Yes! I'll prove it now, to everybody!"
"Kick ass Lee! Kick ass!" she swung an arm around Lee's shoulder, and Naruto's. "Let's celebrate!"
Lee nodded, smiling so bright his teeth gleamed. "Yes! My mother is working today, but she won't mind if we go to my house."
"Whoo! Party at Lee's house!" Sabella cheered. Naruto slipped one hand around her middle while Lee did the same on her other side. Together the three walked in a weird, awkward stumble towards the little cottage at the edge of the village. It reminded Sabella of the nights she had stumbled home with her girls, laughing and holding onto each other all the way back to her parents house.
Lee's house was small. Just one story and a bedroom for him and his mother, who worked herself to the bone to support the pair of them. Sakura had never asked about his father, but the total lack of photographs and silly stories were very indicative of where he was.
Still, it held the three of them in the living room without any issues, the children small enough to sit comfortably on the floor.
Sakura pulled out her box first, covered in pink wrapping paper. Pink was a wonderful color. Naruto produced a smaller box, messily covered in brown paper. His cheeks were a little pink when he gave it to Lee.
The boy looked at them, confused.
"You got me gifts?"
"Well yeah. It's your graduation, dude," Sabella tossed him a carefree smile. Lee looked between them, startled, and Sakura had the rather depressing realization that neither Naruto nor Lee had had decent friends before. No wonder they were so bad as social interactions.
Sakura handed him the package. "Open it," she encouraged.
Lee almost dropped it before he got a handle and pulled the paper off, carefully and meticulously. He pulled apart the box and lifted from within a set of training weights. They were way lighter than the ones he would have later on, but she figured he should start small.
Lee lifted one of the funny shaped bracelets out, looking at it curiously.
"They're supposed to help make you stronger. You wear it on your wrists or ankles," she explained. Lee turned wide eyes to her and a smile spread across his face.
"Thank you!" he threw his arms around her. Sabella laughed and hugged him back.
"Naruto's now," she encouraged, pushing him away after a minute.
Lee took the other gift obediently and opened it. From inside he pulled out a dark red strip of cloth. He looked to Naruto curiously.
"It's for your headband," he said quickly. It was also cheap and within Naruto's limited budget.
A soft smile spread across Lee's face.
"Thank you both so much!" He dragged the pair into a hug. Sakura smiled and hugged him back, pulling Naruto into it. This wasn't so bad.
"Summer days, drifting away, but oo-oh those summer nights," Sakura sang, swinging her hand with the one connected to it. The blonde girl she had dragged out with her that evening rolled her eyes with a great deal of fondness.
"Where do you even learn these songs?" she asked, giving her a light shove.
"Movies mostly," she swung Ino out in front of her. The girl twirled gracefully and fell back in Sakura's arms dramatically. Sabella snickered and brought her back to her feet.
"We should hurry, before they're all gone," Ino took the lead then, pulling her along. Sakura stumbled briefly before she followed Ino down the road. They left the shopping district, entering the quieter part of the village. To their right a tall white wall stretched high above their small heads. The sign in front of the gate caught her eye.
"Hey, doesn't Hinata live here?" Sabella asked, tugging Ino into a stop.
The other girl stopped and looked up at the 'Hyuuga' sign. "Huh. Yeah, I think so."
"D'you think we should invite her to come with?" Sabella put forth. Ino cocked her head in thought.
"You know what, we should!"
"Home girl doesn't get out enough," Sakura said sagely. She promptly knocked on the gate, her small fist deceptively strong. There was a beat before the big door swung open and a shinobi in uniform appeared, his pale eyes giving away his family name.
"Yes?" he asked. Sabella was certain he had heard what they were discussing.
"Hi! We're in Hinata's class as school and we want to bring her to a summer break party. Will you please tell her we're here?" Sabella gave him her very best puppy dog eyes. He was utterly unphased.
"Does she know about this?" he asked.
Ino huffed. "We only just decided to do it, so no."
The guard hesitated another minute before he shut the door and disappeared. Sabella's brows furrowed.
"Um. What does that mean?"
Ino shrugged. "Let's give it a minute."
They did. They even gave it two minutes. By the time the third minute rolled around Ino was getting antsy and looking down the way they still had to go. They were about to leave when the door opened again, revealing Hinata, a little girl who was probably her sister, and the guard that had left them hanging before.
"Hinata!" Sakura grinned brightly at her. "We're going to a party, d'you want in?"
"A party?" Hinata looked between her and Ino, surprised. Ino propped her hands on her hips.
"Yeah. Well, more like a hang out sesh, that until we got here only included me an Ino," Sakura gestured to her blonde partner-in-crime. "Unless you come, and then three's not a crowd it's a party," she said all of this with absolute certainty.
Hinata fiddled with her hands, looking to the ground. Ino glanced at Sabella, who shrugged. She didn't know what she wanted her to do. The invitation had been extended. Green eyes passed over Hinata's shoulder to the little girl that stood behind her.
She was cute, with rosy cheeks and curious silver eyes. They were lighter than Hinata's, who had a vague tint of lavender. Her long brown hair hung partially in her face. Sabella had the abrupt urge to hug her.
"I promised I would play with my sister tonight…"
Sabella's eyes widened. Oh.
"She can come with," Ino offered. Hinata still hesitated, but now looked at the little girl. So this was before they dueled for inheritance?
"Can we?" Hanabi grabbed her sisters hand and looked up at her hopefully. "Please?"
Hinata looked between the three of them before she gave in. "I-I guess it's okay. If we're back before midnight."
"Oh come on. What's going to happen?" Sabella smiled at her, carefree. She was very certain that the Hyuuga would have someone following them the entire time, as it was.
"Then, let's go," Hinata took a breath and straightened up to look at Sakura. The girl grinned and grabbed Hinata's hand, swinging her other arm around Ino's shoulder.
"Let's go!" she cheered. Her backpack clinked against her shoulders when the four of them went on their way. Hinata took Hanabi's other hand, bringing the smallest of their trio with them. It wasn't exactly Sabella's prerogative to hang out with a six year old, but this one was so cute.
The duo, that was now a quartet, wandered down the street until they finally reached their destination. It was a little park, the kind for adults where they didn't have any play place. Just a bunch of grass and flowers and trees. A small creek ran through it, under a red painted bridge. In the dusk it was hard to see, with the light from very few street lamps falling into the grass.
Sakura stopped by one of the benches so she could drop her backpack and open it. She produced three jars, each one with holes poked into the lids, and two little butterfly nets.
"What are we doing?" Hanabi asked, accepting the jar Sabella handed her.
Sabella winked at the girl and pointed to the creek. She had come here for weeks in advance to plan it. And now, it all came to fruition.
At first, there was only a small flicker. Then another, and another, until fireflies flashed in and out of existence all over the place. Twinkling in the twilight.
Hanabi gasped softly.
Sabella opened her jar and ventured out, leading the way. Ino was at her back, with one of the small nets, ready to catch the bugs.
"We have to be gentle," she warned the Hyuuga girls. "We just want to catch them. We don't want to hurt them."
Ino swung the net, sweeping one light out of the air and depositing it gently into the jar. Sabella had put little wet paper towels in each one, so they wouldn't get thirsty.
Hinata offered Hanabi the net, and the little girl ran off , trying to reach the lights before they went out. Sabella laughed softly and ran after one of the little bugs. Their lights flickered and vanished, taunting the girls that ran after them.
Sakura managed to hold onto one long enough to slip it into her jar, and Ino gave her another. Hanabi only caught one, but Hinata, who had cheated and activated her eyes, had seven.
Sabella finally called the other three to her at the bench again and pulled out a flower patterned sheet. They managed a makeshift fort with the bench, some rocks, and a long stick.
Sabella sat shoulder to shoulder with Ino, pushed in close in the small space. The fireflies glowed softly in the jars. Sabella lost track of what they talked about. School, their families, their classmates. Ino elbowed Hinata rather conspicuously when they got onto the topic of Naruto.
"He's the one everyone hates," Hanabi recalled. Sabella made a face.
"He's a sweet kid," she defended her friend. "People are just…. Complicated. Naruto has a chip on his shoulder, and the rest of the village is filled with people who hate him. Some don't even know why."
"Maybe it's his fate," Hanabi put forth.
Sabella snorted. "There's no such thing. The future is determined by us and our actions. We, the children, are the only thing that'll decide what it becomes."
Hanabi looked down at the glass jar, a funny expression on her face. Thoughtful. Good, Sabella wanted her to think.
Ino sighed and pushed the sheet up, opening the fort.
"We should let these little guys go and get home before it gets too dark." The other three mumbled their agreements and pushed out of the tent.
Sabella, Ino and Hinata pulled the lids off, letting the insects go flying, tiny lights that sought out the comfort of the night and the cool grass and the rolling water.
"They're like stars," Hinata whispered.
Sabella's smile turned sad. There was only one star on the earth tonight.