Sakura woke up with wild eyes. "Dammit, I thought I was done with that crappy dream" She sighed. "Jogging time."
Donning a pair of gray sweatpants, a black sports bra, and her hitai-atai, 'Hayate-style' she was out her front door and into the night.
Nara Shikaku led a normal life. Well, normal by shinobi standards. Actually, he was blessed. He
had a loving wife, a genius for a son, and had lived a very long life…(also, by shinobi standards.) He was considered an oldtimer at the age of 38! This was deemed ancient because of the missions that all shinobi faced.
And here he was, lounging around outside of the pub that most jounins favored in Konoha. Sighing, the elder Nara glanced at the sake
in his grip. "Nice outfit kiddo." He chuckled. "Christ Shikaku, I can't help it if I'm a little big for my age!" A sport bra-clad figure hopped off the roof scaffolding with her arms wrapped around her. "Here," Shikaku said, handing her his flak vest. "Put this on. What in Kami's name were you thinking? Running around town, in middle of the night no less, and half naked! You'll catch your death out here Sakura."
"Thanks Shikaku. I need to take better care of myself." the pink-haired kunoichi said. Shikaku's eyes narrowed, his features set in a
grimace. "My son is getting annoyed. Tsume's little dog-nin is too. And have I mentioned Hiashi has noticed some strange behavior in the branch-boy?" Shikaku ventured, an amused grin now replacing the frown. "Don't call Neji a branch-boy!" Sakura snapped, frowning like a toddler.
"When is the torture going to end Sakura? You know the Naras care for you like a daughter, and Tsume and Hizashi did too." The jounin said in a sympathetic whisper. His eyes locked on the shops across the street as if they were of utmost importance. "Do you know how painful it is to watch your daughter have to lie to herself to avoid ostracism?" Shikaku asked in a hardened voice. "Can you even contemplate how hard it is to watch someone smile, when you can feel the lonliness emanate from them, as if it's a tangible thing?" As her eyes gazed at the cracked sidewalk, she could tell he was about to say something that would hit close to home.Sakura mentally braced herself.
"Plus," she heard the jounin's voice begin to soften. "It was really hard to watch you take that shit from Ino and her little gang, when you could have easily kicked all their bratty asses a hundred times over." He was grinning to himself at that last statement. Ino may have been one of his best friends' daughter and son's teammate, but that didn't mean he had to like her.
"To answer your question Shikaku-san, soon. The name Taisho will be known very soon." Sakura replied vaguely.
And with that, she dissapated into the darkness, leaving the head of the Nara clan with some information that could be considered very valuable…
if not dangerous…