Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Sakura Blossoms

Walking through the people filled streets of Konoha in the afternoon after class Akio follows at his own pace. "Can't believe Iruka-sensei didn't call you out for cutting class yesterday", he stated as I scan the crowd, searching for a certain blonde.

Shrugging, I look back at him. "Maybe Iruka-sensei's picking his battles. Since he got back at us for our pencil game maybe he thought he'd be pushing his luck if he challenged me on this one", I said as I look forward again. Where is he? Did he say what he where going to go today before I went to the academy? I can't remember.

Letting out a snort Akio retorts, "That's not it. He's a grownup, and grownups always think that they can put one over on us kids". Akio pauses for a second, and I can feel his eyes on me, though I keep to looking everywhere. "And how did you get a new big brother? How's that even possible?" Looking over my shoulder I see that his nose is scrunched up and his forehead is wrinkled.

With a small twitch of my lips I reply, "It's possible when a boy who is older than you offers to be your elder brother". We turn a corner only to revival a sea of people, and not one blonde in sight. Feeling slightly defeated I stop and let my shoulders drop. Turning to face my friend I reach up and push a strand of black hair out of my eyes. Over the sounds of the affluent village I said to Akio, "Are you sure you want to meet him today? I don't know where he is".

Akio crosses his arms and gives me a gruff look. "Yeah, I want to meet him! You went off and did something fun without me, and then come back with a cool older brother. That's not fair!"

Sighing I drop my head, making a lot of my hair fall in front of my face. "I told you. It wasn't a fun day, just something that I had to do". And speaking of that day I still have a couple more dango that I have to stomach. "And Naruto nii-san isn't that cool. He's an idiot". Picking my head up, I stare at Akio through strands of hair. His face softens and his arms now hang limply at his sides. All around us people pass us, lost in their own worlds. Housewives are chatting with other housewives as they carry their shopping home. Occasionally one of our peers will go running through the crowd in what seems to be an exciting game of tag. No one seems to take notice of the two people that have stopped in the middle of the street. A gusty wind comes and blows the scent of miso soup under my nose from a nearby food stand before Akio does anything.

Leaning forward, and rolling his hands into fists he said, "I still want to meet him!"

I blink a couple of times before shaking my head, feeling a twinge of exasperation. "Well I'm trying to find him! It's not my fault I don't know where he is". Turning my back to Akio I look down the street, trying to form a plan. "Why do you want to meet Naruto nii-san anyway?" I said as I start to walk forward again. Maybe Naruto's at the ramen stand, considering that he hardly ever talks about anything else.

Having resumed his own walking Akio said, "Because it's something different to do. And maybe this big brother of yours can lead us another clue about the red eyes".

Still studying ever face that's on the streets I slowly nod. With everything that has happened yesterday I sort of forgot about the red eyes. "I think Naruto nii-san does know something about the red eyes". I hear Akio take a sharp intake of breath. "One day when I was eating with him and Iruka-sensei I asked him what Hatake-san's red eye is. He started to tell me the name of it, but Iruka-sensei stopped him. All I learned that the red eyes actual name is something that starts with 'sha'".

A hand grabs my shoulder and whips me around, bringing me face to face with a glaring Akio. And again, we are standing still in the middle of human traffic. "Why did you tell me this? This is breaking news! It could be the difference in solving this mystery!" What's with the dramatics?

Shrugging innocently, I shove my hands in my pockets. "I didn't know you then, and I guess I just kind of forgot about it".

"Forgot! Ya forgot about it?" Akio said, with a rapidly turning red face. "I thought you wanted to know what your clan name is!"

Imagining steam coming out of my friend's ears I focus on not snickering as I said, "I do want to know what my surname is", with an emphasis on 'do'. "But I don't see how knowing the first part of the red eyes' name will make much of a difference. I remove my hands from my pockets to remove the hair from my face as Akio ups his mouth to rant again but before he does I spy someone over his shoulder. "I think I know how we can find Naruto nii-san. Come on". I said as I run past him, dodging a shopper once and a while until I've caught up with the pink haired girl. "Excuse me Sakura-san", I said gaining her attention, as I feel Akio coming up next to my right side. "Do you know where Naruto nii-san is?"

She stares down at me with a small smile and confusion in her eyes. "Nii-san?" She asked.

I nod my head. "He decided to become my new big brother yesterday. And now Akio", I said gesturing at the boy who's standing next to me, "wants to meet him".

Sakura turns her vision on him and her smile grows. "Oh Akio I didn't know that you are friends with Manami. I thought all your friends were boys".

I look over at him in slight surprise. He knows her? Akio is still red in the face. But not in frustration, this time he looks more like he's sick. Looking down at his shoes he said in the quietest voice that I've ever heard him use, "We just became friends not too long ago. She's better at sparring than my other friends are". Good grief, he's not even acting like himself. I look back at Sakura. What did this woman do to him?

"Well I'm glad you're both making new friends", Sakura said gently. "Naruto is at the hospital Manami".

I blink. Well that's unexpected, but I'm not surprised. Naruto seems like the type who gets injured often. "Why?"

Her brow twitches out of what I can only guess is annoyance. "He's waiting for Kakashi-sensei to heal". Well that's like watching grass grow. Glancing back at the usually silent Akio, Sakura said, "Tell your mom that if she needs me to babysit again I'll be glad to help out if I'm free". Akio nods his head without taking his eyes off the ground. With a smile Sakura pats him on top of his red spikey hair and heads off in the opposite direction of the hospital.

I watch her go for a few seconds before fully facing Akio. "What's wrong with you?"

Akio looks up and scowls at me. "Nothin's wrong with me".

Smirking at him I reply, "Yes and your face is all red for the fun of it". Akio flinches. "Do you know her?"

With a curt nod he admits sheepishly, "Yeah Sakura's my neighbor. Sometimes when both mom and dad are workin' she'll watch me". I bit my lip and just stare at him. Why is Akio acting so weird? "Shouldn't we go to the hospital?" He asked, annoyed.

With one last linger look at him I start to lead the way. I make it about half way towards the hospital before a light bulb goes off in my head. Spinning around to face him I exclaim, "You're in love with Sakura!" And then, laughing, "You're in love with your babysitter!"

Akio's face turns red, with embarrassment this time. "Shut up Manami!"

Once at the hospital it was easy finding Naruto. Akio and I just had to remember which room Kakashi's staying in. Akio takes the liberty of opening the room's door before we both step in. I call out, "Naruto nii-san, there's someone who wants to meet you". Only to see that he's sitting cross legged on the room's spare bed, staring intently at his old teacher.

On the other bed Kakashi has his nose in that little orange book of his, and looks a bit tense. I would be tense to if someone was openly staring at me. "This used to be a private room", he mutters to himself.

Not taking his eyes off of Kakashi, Naruto asked, "What do you want Manami? I'm busy". I roll my eyes. 'Yes, you're so heavily engaged that you can probably claim that staring at an injured man is your life's work', I thought.

Behind me, Akio scoffs. "That's some big brother you got. Won't even give you the time of day". I swivel my head to look at him, and raise one eye brow. He shrugs, and starts to study Naruto. Akio isn't the type of person to normally make comments like that. Is he still upset about that babysitter comment? Whatever the reason is his comment got Naruto's attention.

Snapping his eyes so that they are on Akio Naruto spits out, "What'd you say brat? You don't know nothin'. I'm the best big brother in this entire village! Right Manami?"

All eyes turn to me. With my arms hanging loosely at my sides and the corner of one of my lips twitching with amusement I said tonelessly, "Sure". Because, really, how would I know if Naruto is the best brother in the entire village? We've only been siblings for about a day. And on top of that, I don't think he's even been a brother before. So Naruto completely lacks experience. But who am I to interrupt his delusions.

Naruto huffs as Akio starts laughing. "Yeah you're such a good big brother that Manami didn't even know where you were", Akio points out as he starts to hunch over due to his hysterics.

Unfolding his legs, and jumping off the bed, Naruto starts to stalk over to Akio with a raised fist. "Why I'd oughta-" Though I don't let him get any further. Dashing to stand between my surrogate brother and my friend I Spread out my arms and said to Naruto. "Naruto nii-san please don't beat up Akio. He's the only friend that I have".

Naruto gives me a long, slight put off look before lowering his fist. "Fine. As long as he keeps his mouth shut", he said, gesturing to Akio with his chin. A moment of silence passes, and I take that as time to put my arms down. "Manami?" Naruto starts slowly. "How did you find me?"

Looking up to make contact with his blue eyes I said, "I asked Sakura-san". Then on a quieter note I add, "It seemed like she's annoyed with you".

Naruto's face pales and his shoulders drop. Sighing he said, "She's always mad about something".

From behind me Akio mutters just loud enough for everyone to hear, "Of course Sakura's mad you. She doesn't like idiots".

It takes the grand total of seven seconds until Akio's words make sense in Naruto's head, because seven seconds later he's lunging forward with both of his fists raised, screeching "I'm not an idiot!"

Kakashi forces himself to cough, earning Naruto's attention. Though Naruto doesn't take his eyes off of Akio "Naruto if you're going to start rough housing take it out side".

Pivoting on his left heel, my new brother faces his old sensei with a hard look. "No way sensei! I'm not letting you off the hook. As soon as I leave you'll check out of this dump and skip out of my training. I'm staying right here!"

Kakashi sighs in response and I rub my eyes with my right hand. "It's okay. We'll leave", I said, gesturing to a smirking Akio and myself. "We finished what we came here to do. Are you coming back to the apartments tonight Naruto nii-san?"

Walking back over to the spare bed in a lengthy gait Naruto sits down and crosses his arms. "No. I'm not leaving until Kakashi-sensei starts my training!"

Shaking my head I said, "Have fun then". Before pulling Akio out the door.

As we make our way back out into the sea of commuting people Akio spoke up, "How does he know anything about the red eyes? He doesn't look the type that's that knowledgeable".

I shrug and shove my hands in my pockets as we pass a mother with her pair of twins. "I know he doesn't look like it, but he can be really serious sometimes. Not as serious a Neji-sensei, but serious enough that you know that he can use his brain. So he probably knows more than he lets on". Or at least I hope he does, for his sake. A brain is need if one is a shinobi. Heading in the direction of our training field I am suddenly hit by an idea. "Hey lets skip training today and do something that we've never done before". I said, stopping in my tracks.

I can see Akio from his spot next to me, and he perks up at once. "What?"

Giving my friend a bit of a devilish smile I answered, "I'm going to help you tell Sakura that you love her".

It takes a couple of minutes for Akio to stop freaking out. It takes even longer for him to agree to tell his crush about his feelings. And now, having moved out of the streets to a nearby bench, we are both wasting time trying to figure out how a guy tells a girl that he loves her. So far I've come up with; just simply telling her, sending a letter, having me tell Sakura for Akio, even though that would make him a coward. But he doesn't like anyone of those thoughts. Though his ideas aren't much better, he wants to either wait until he grows chest hair, or wait until she tells him that she loves him. But after I told him that by the time he has chest hair Sakura will have wrinkles, and that he can wait all he wants but Sakura isn't going to tell him about her 'love' for him. "Maybe we should ask somebody", Akio said after many minutes of deliberation. "Who do we know that has experience with girls?"

"I don't know anyone who is in love; at least I don't think that I do". I said as I lean back to rest against the bench's back rest. After a thought I snort and said, "Well we can count Neji -sensei out. He would probably tell you that a love life is a waste of valuable training time". Just as I finish talking a familiar young shinobi clad in green spandex walks past our bench. "I know that guy", I said, drawing Akio's attention to the passing figure. "Do you want to ask him?"

"Why?" Akio asked.

I shrug lightly. "Why not? We have no one else to ask". Akio doesn't verbally respond all he does is nod. Sliding off the bench I jog a few steps before calling out, "Rock Lee-san".

The green clad ninja turns around quickly, and is soon grinning down at me. "Aw it's the youthful future kunoichi, and companion!" He exclaimed, smiling at Akio. Without turning around I can imagine the shocked look that Akio must have on his face right now. It's the same look that everyone has the first time that they run into Lee. I'm pretty I had that look the first time I saw him. "I trust this day finds you both well!"

I nod, before I said, "May I ask you a question?" I wait for Lee to nod his consent before going on. "Akio needs to know who to tell a girl that he loves her. Do you know how to do that?"

Lee's eyes start to sparkle. "Oh what Youth!" He explodes with emotions and dramatic poses. "There is nothing more youthful than young love!" On light feet Lee practically flies over to Akio. "I will help you on your quest of finding love young Akio. You must tell all about the lucky girl that has won your heart!" Man, I glad Lee's attention is all directed on Akio. "What is this young lady's name?" Lee finally finishes. I wonder how many times Lee was dropped on his head as a child.

Unsurely Akio forces out, "S-sakura Ha-haruno".

There is a slight pause before Lee responds, "Good choice Akio! I myself often find myself blown away with Sakura-chan's womanly beauty". He said in all seriousness. Womanly beauty? How does that work? "Never have I met a smarter, courageous, pretty woman like Sakura-chan. I would follow her to the ends of the Earth if she would have me". Wow, that sure does speak of devotion for you.

"So how do I tell her?" Akio asked after the effect of Lee has sunk in.

"With honesty and the fiery passion of youth and love!" If only there were crickets chirping right now, because that would make for some great comedy. "And flowers! Flowers never hurt. Come you two, we must hurry to the flower shop!" What have I gotten us into?

And of course the flower shop that we end up going to is the Yamanaka flower shop. Seems like I'm running into a lot of old friends today. Ino is manning the counter and greets us all by name, except for Akio who she doesn't know. "Okay Akio!" Lee said once we are standing in the middle of the store, surrounded by all types of flowers. "I want you to look at all of these flowers and pick the one that you think represents Sakura-chan!" He said with an encouraging smiling. Akio gulps before he starts to browse. He looks a daisies, snapdragons, and Irises before Ino comes over to us.

"What are you guys up to?" Ino asked, coming up behind me.

Lee jumps in before I can say anything. "I'm helping young Akio announce his love to the woman he loves, and what better way to express that love than flowers". He said with all smiles.

Ino smiles and with soft eyes said to Akio, "Then you should look at the roses. The red ones symbolize love". I really hope I don't get this sappy when I get older, I thought as I watch Ino.

Akio shakes his head. "No, that's not special enough for her!"

Getting impatient I ask, "Then which ones do you like?" What should I do for dinner tonight? I'm by myself sense Naruto nii-san is sleeping over at the hospital. I guess that means that I'm going to be eating something burnt. Akio wonders over to corner in the back of the shop. Maybe I should take a cooking class. Eating brunt food all of the time can't be too good for the digestion. With a sigh I think, there's always that left over dango.

"These ones!" Said Akio, pointing to some Sakura blossoms that are sticking out of a long vase.

Lee smiles, obviously agreeing with Akio, though he asked anyway, "Are you sure Akio-kun? This is a most important decision".

Akio nods his head confidently. "These will make her smile for sure!"

"Okay", Lee exclaims as he pulls his shoulders back for perfect posture. "We will take those! Please wrap them up Ino-san!"

With a smile of her own Ino quickly takes the vase of sakura blossoms behind the desk and wraps them up tightly so that none will fall out. "On the house", She said, as she hands the flowers over to Akio, who holds them like they're the most fragile thing in the world. "I'll always support love", Ino said.

"Thank you", Akio said a little breathlessly.

Lee nods. "Yes Ino-san. That is quite youthful of you", He said before turning to us. "Come my young friends! Let us hurry to Sakura-chan's house!"

Akio and I nod, and all about run out of the door. The fun part is about to take place. From behind us I hear Ino yell out, "That's who that little boy likes? I have to see this. Dad I'm leaving!" And just like that our group of three turns into a group of four.

"Sakura doesn't live too far away", Akio said. "Just around the corner".

Sakura lives in a house in a cluster of other houses, close to the center of the village. Across from her house are two other houses with a small alley in between them. This is where Lee, Ino, and I hide as Akio approaches Sakura's front down on week knees. "This is so cute!" Ino squeals as Akio hesitantly knocks on the door.

"Yes, his youth is most admirable", Lee said with a gleaming smile.

I shush them as the door opens to revival Sakura. "I can't hear what their saying".

"Akio? What are you doing here?" I barely make out Sakura saying that

"Manami-chan", Lee starts. "Eaves dropping is very rude. Especially in personal matters like this".

I turn my head slightly to frown at the green shinobi. "Then what are you doing here?"

With another award winning smile Lee said. "I am supporting young Akio-kun in his endeavor".

I roll my eyes once before turning my attention back on the entertainment. I couldn't hear what Akio said. Though considering that it looks like he's talking to his shoes, I'm going to guess that he isn't talking as loudly as he usually does. Suddenly he thrusts the sakura blossoms out for Sakura to take. She looks a little taken back before a smile, kind of like the smile my mother used to give me when I'd give her something I made or drew, appears on her lips. Sakura is speaking loud enough that we can barely hear, "Thank you Akio they're lovely". Then she swoops down and gentle pecks him on his left cheek. "Head on home before your mom starts worrying about you". Sakura said softly before she closes her door.

Once the door shuts Lee lets out an obnoxious whoop. "Victory!" He shouted.

A few seconds later a pink, and wide eyed Akio slowly joins up in the alley way. "I'm never washing my face again", he said.