"You have got to be joking," Ino swelled, "You have got to be kidding, a dead-last and an ugly banshee." And, Naruko wasn't Joking, although she WAS pulling the truth. they had agreed to meet at a Dango shop to discuss team-type stuff. the Chunin exams for instance.

"Actually, " Shikamaru droned, "It's troublesome, but your wrong, Ino."

"Nani?"Ino growled

"Your first thought was vastly incorrect. Naruko is not a Dead-last. she was the head of our class. she has A-class Kenjutsu and Ninjutsu skills, she is way out of your, or even my league. and, Sakura looks like a kunochi, unlike yourself, in that sense, she shows her intelligence. Intelligence is much more beautiful than your needlessly soft skin or over-treated hair."

"Awe thank you Shika-chan!" Naruko hopped forward and hugged Shikamaru

"Ugh, Naru- euh… let go." Shikamaru grumbled Troublesome.

"How could you say that to your own Teammate?" Ino cried.

"You Insulted my friend, Ino. had I chosen my own Teammates, I would have chosen Naruko. but, Strategically that would have been incorrect, as Naruko is an Assasination class ninja, and I am a Frontal Attack class ninja. so, if we teamed up to do regular missions it would be very counterproductive." the Lazy genius replied, "It's all simple strategy that got the three of us on the same team."

"Your horrible!" Ino cried and glared at Sakura and Naruko before turning around and walking away. Shikamaru turned and followed along with Chouji.

"Alright, come on, Sakura we going to shop or not?" Naruko laughed.

"Oh right! see you later Shikamaru!" Sakura followed NAruko now, and NAruko blindly lead her to the shop she bought her clothes from. Sakura had offered to take naruko shopping, because she had noticed that naruko's clothing was getting ragged and over repaired. she couldn't even count the random patches and stitches she could see in Naruko's turtleneck alone.

"Here this is where I shop." Naruko's voice brought Sakura out of her thoughts,

"Wait, you shop here?" Sakura curled her lip in distaste. the shop smelled like stale vomit and mothballs, and the cloths were mostly unsuitable for Ninja use.

"Yeah, she's the only shop-keeper that will let em in." Naruko replied, "However grudgingly."

"OK- well we can look around here… maybe we can find a diamond in the rough, right?" Sakura replied optimistically.

"Yeah. right." Naruko shrugged, "Here this is where the ninja clothing is." Naruko lead her to the back where there was a shelf of boots and shoes made for ninja, and a rack of clothing. Sakura pawed through it and frowned, she knew that most cloths vendors stocked clothing with family crests, but she couldn't find her Haruno circle, Sasuke's Uchiha fan or Naruko's Uzumaki swirl. she had no idea of Namikaze had a symbol, and if it did this woman didn't stock it. hell, the only clan symbols she could find were the Narra orb and the Inuzuka fang.

But Naruko seemed to find a few things, a pair of shorts, and a new turtle neck, but black.

'Ah- Naruko you can buy yours here, but I'm going to take you to where I shop, there's more of a selection there.

"OK, Sakura-chan." She lead the way up to the counter where an old woman sat wheezing on her cigarette.

"Here." naruko said softly to the keeper setting the neatly folded clothes on the counter.

"Don't you say here to me like I'm your slave brat, why I even let you in here is a mystery, your just an abomination." the old woman sneered as she 'accidentally' dropped her still burning cigarette on her shirt, burning a sizeable hole in it. "Whoops." The woman grinned gleefully as she dropped the cloths into what looked like a spit pan, so the woman chewed as well as smoked. Sakura felt her anger rise as the lady picked up the now filthy cloths and put them in a bag. "I hear the rumors, that you killed people, brat. I hear one of them was a kid… Your just a piece of scum." the woman sneered, right in Naruko's face. the blonde stayed looking down at the counter, not reacting at all to the old woman;s sneering.

"What is my total, ma'am?" Naruko asked softly.

"1234 yen(100 USD)." the woman snapped

"Whoa! Hold the FUCK up!" Sakura exploded, pushing NAruko back and getting up in the old lady;s face, "You Burned a hole in the cloths then dropped them in your fucking SPIT then your STILL going to over price these shitty cloths while you spout insults DIRECTLY to her face? excuse me but I think not!"

'And who do you think you are? any friend of a demon is scum in my eyes." the woman sneered.

"She is not a demon you insufferable hag!: Sakura ground out.

"Her title is Demon Fox!" everyone can see her for what she is." the woman sneered.

"Only because she is an exceptional shinobi, and a good person unlike you, I'll shut you down, woman." Sakura snarled.

"Oh yeah? you and what army?" the shopkeeper sneered.

"I am Sakura Haruno." the woman;s face went slightly pale, "Yeah that's right." Sakura smirked, "My mother is head of business regulation on the council. I believe they're having a meeting this evening, I'll be sure to let her know how you treat your patrons." Sakura sneered.

Up until recently, Sakura's mother had been just as against Naruko as everyone, but then when she heard about how Naruko had protected Sakura on the mission, and seemed to be trying to help Sakura get a date with the Uchiha boy, she had been much more open to Naruko, and when Naruko spent the night after a long day of training In Sakura's backyard, Lady Haruno realized that Naruko was indeed, just a girl with a heavy burden. so in turn, she had become protective over Naruko, so if she heard of a shopkeeper mis treating the little blonde, she would have a conniption fit.

"Oh- no please dont… Please dont.." The woman's begging faded as Sakura drug Naruko out of the shop,