~Scroll 1~
Several weeks have pass since Team Seven's return from the Land of Waves, and since then they have been assigned a variety of missions, ranging from babysitting to recapturing 'Tiger' to litter-patrol down by the waterfalls. Although disappointed by the series of D-ranked missions given to his team, especially after having experienced a higher ranked mission, Kakashi was amazed at how stoically that Sakura and Naruto had accepted these low ranked assignments while Sasuke, on the other hand, was extremely tense and angry.
It was not uncommon that Kakashi had witnessed his favorite blonde act as a buffer between Sasuke's foul mood and Sakura's fading crush for the Uchiha heir. On those occasions, Kakashi found himself hard pressed not to snap at the raven-haired teen, but also at the same time, the silver-haired Jounin was always in for a treat whenever Naruto tempered the brooding teen with either a single word, look or even touch. The ex-ANBU did not know how the petite blonde did it but was grateful nonetheless.
The older shinobi was disappointed that the Uchiha's thirst for action had greatly affected the little cell's teamwork. Kakashi gave a heavy sigh as he casually turned a page of his beloved book, keeping a special eye on his certain blonde curious kitten. He could honestly understand on some level to the Uchiha's frustration; however, the silver-haired Nin thought that 'inaction' would be a good lesson for the impatient raven-haired teen.
For most of Sasuke's short life, the teen had been praised and doted upon by every villager and shinobi of Konoha, just because of his clan name. However, when they were at the village of the Land of Waves, the raven-haired teen was a nobody as much as Sakura and Naruto were, and to add insult-to-injury to the Uchiha's pride, Sasuke had come face-to-face with another teen that was more powerful than himself.
Turning another page, Kakashi wondered if perhaps he should explain his lesson of 'inaction' to his brooding student when he heard screeching from above. Looking up, the silver-haired Jounin saw a magnificent Sharp-shinned Hawk. The small creature was a sharp contrast with its black-grey back and reddish-white breast against the clear blue sky. As the older shinobi watched the beautiful bird circle above him a few times, Kakashi could not help but also think of how his favorite blonde was a sharp contrast with his seraphim blue orbs and bright soul against the seemingly dull and drab presence of the entire village.
"Okay." Kakashi called as he mentally shook his head, "That's it. We'll call it a day right now. I've got to hand in my report on today's mission."
"Then I'm going home." Sasuke grumbled as he turned around and began to walk away.
"Oh!" Sakura gasped as she remembered her callous words from several months ago. "Hey! Sasuke, wait up!"
Kakashi watched curiously while Naruto just grinned as Sasuke stopped and coolly glared at the pinkette.
"I… I was wondering… if…" Sakura found herself stuttering again as she tried to find the courage to ask her teammate to her home.
Yes, she did have a crush on the dark teen, and she knew that a small part of her was only asking because of that crush. But there was another reason why she wanted to ask, and that was she could not fathom Sasuke's desire to return to an empty home. While she and Naruto had someone waiting for them at the end of the day, Sasuke had no one, and to Sakura, that thought alone was too much for her to bear. She knew that she could never replace Sasuke's parents, but perhaps she hoped that by inviting her teammate to her home, she could share the warmth and love of a family with him, even if it was for just a little while.
Her eyes quickly darted to Naruto, who was encouraging her to go on. Ever since their return from the Land of Waves, Naruto and Sakura had each tried to get the orphaned teen to come over to their homes, but each time they were rebuked.
"I was wondering if you would like to come over for dinner..?" Sakura managed to ask as she fought a blush.
"You're as bad as Naruto." Sasuke sneered, not understanding the pinkette's true intention, "Why waste your time flirting when you should be practicing? Even his skills are better than yours!"
Sasuke then turned and walked away, leaving behind his teammates and sensei. Sakura's shoulder slumped in depression. It was not her intention to come off as 'flirting'. She honestly wanted him to join her and her family for dinner so he would not have to be alone. And of course, she knew that she was nowhere skilled as her otouto and her long-time crush nor was she special like them. The knowledge alone hurt her without the raven-haired Genin having to rub it on.
"HEY! TEME! GET BACK AN' APOLOGIZE TO SAKURA-NEECHAN!" Naruto shouted to the retreating teen but received no reply, which made the petite Kitsune growl.
After hearing his favorite kitten growl, which caused shivers course down the Jounin's spine, Kakashi quickly disappeared in a poof of smoke.
Naruto frowned at his sensei's hasty retreat, but pushed it aside in favor of his littermate's distress. For awhile now, the petite blonde had noticed a hidden troubling note in the pinkette's Heart Song. She was still unfocused as she was since they had graduated and yet there were moments when the blonde heard a beautiful clarity of the potential hidden within his oneechan. However, he had no way of showing it to her, and Naruto definitely knew that the only time he really heard the troubling note was whenever Sasuke had said something scathing either to her directly or indirectly.
"Forget him, 'neechan." Naruto sighed as he rested his head against her shoulder, "He's a chicken-butthead."
Then the blonde grinned as he felt his littermate trying to keep from snorting and because he heard three pairs of shuffling feet and whimsical ditties. From the corner of his eye, Naruto mentally chuckled as he observed a strange little square rock, sneaking up on him.
~Creative…~ Ka'a playfully chuckled as his many tails swayed in amusement.
~Hai, and I don't have the heart to correct them.~ Naruto send in bemusement, accidentally sending his amusement to his littermate, who turned around feeling light-hearted despite of everything.
Sakura knew that she could do nothing for now about where she stood with Naruto and Sasuke in regards to skills abilities, but with a light-heart, Sakura also knew that in time she would find her place. Turning around to face her otouto, Sakura gave a sharp squawk of surprise.
"What the hell!" Sakura gasped as she clutched her chest in attempts to calm her frantic heart.
"Anou, Sakura-nee," Naruto playfully cooed with an impish grin, "What's the matter?"
Noting the mischievous glint in her otouto's sapphire blue gems, the pinkette began playing along with whatever the blonde had in mind.
"Oh! Nothing, just thought I saw something." Sakura replied with a dismissive wave.
"Ah! So you didn't see a little rock with perfect angles, perfect corners, eyes holes AND hiding three little ones?" Naruto grinned as he pointedly looked at said rock.
Suddenly the cardboard rock flipped over revealing three little children. The leader of the group stood in front of the other two, protectively and with his arms crossed while a pout adorned his face. The little leader had short black hair that seemed to defy gravity. He wore a simple pair of shorts and shirt as well as a ridiculously long scarf, which Naruto often wished the little one did not wear.
Standing to the little leader's left was a blushing little girl with auburn hair that too seemed to defy gravity; however, she had her hair styled into pigtails. She also wore a simple pair of shorts and shirt with a dark vest. And standing to her right was a droopy looking little boy with ashen-grey hair. He wore a pair of large round spectacles that covered most of his face, and wore a pair of shorts with a dark jacket covering his undershirt.
But what drew Naruto's attention was that each little one wore a pair of goggles, much like a pair he wore before he had graduated.
"Leave it to the man I have acknowledged as being almost my equal!" Stated the little leader, "Your skills rival my own!"
"Hello Konohamaru." Naruto chuckled then tapped the little raven-haired boy's goggles, "May I ask… what's up with the goggles?"
"Heh heh heh," Konohamaru laughed, "You're our idol, right? We're copying the style you used to wear."
"Ah! I see." The blonde replied while Sakura giggled in the background.
"What do you mean 'Ah! I see'?" Konohamaru demanded, "Suddenly too cool for school, big guy?"
Naruto let out a low chuckle as Konohamaru's little bravado reminded the blonde of a wolf cub trying to show that he was a 'bog dog' whenever the cub's older siblings were around. Naruto, however, quickly regained his composure when he saw his little cub-brother pouting at the droopy boy and mumbling unhappily.
"So…" Naruto cleared his throat, "What can I do for you?"
"We'll show you, Boss!" The auburn-haired girl cheered, "Can you come now?"
"I dunno…" Naruto trailed off as he glanced at his oneechan, who was watching the entire scene with curiosity.
"BUT… BUT YOU PROMISED TO PLAY NINJA WITH US! RIGHT?" The three shouted as they crowded around the blonde. Each looking up at him with large and watery eyes.
"Uhm…" Naruto gulped uneasily at the pure dejected expressions on the three little one's faces. He did not doubt that they had been anxiously waiting for today since he made the promise a few days ago.
"And…" Sakura drawled, although very curious, "What is a ninja doing 'playing ninja', hmm?"
"Hunh?"
"It's really cool!"
"Yeah, there's hide and seek!"
"And tag!"
"And capture the hiate-ate!"
"And this really cool game where this circle moves and we have to hit it and the one who gets the most points is the winner!"
"It's like training but fun!" The three children began shouting as they ventured closer to the surprised pinkette.
She had never seen such enthusiasm in any child when it came to ninjutsu training. As she listened to the three kids rattle off of the games they played, Sakura was really amazed that the games had practical application to ninjutsu. For example, hide and seek could be a precursor to tracking, and capture the hiate-ate could be done individually or as a group to test one skills or even teamwork, and knowing Naruto, it was all about teamwork. As for the other games, Sakura may not know off hand to their practical application to ninjutsu, but the pinkette was positive that Naruto would not let the kids play some random game without having a purpose.
He's training them… Sakura thought as she looked at her otouto in a new light.
Feeling Sakura's gaze on him, Naruto looked up and suddenly felt his cheeks and ears grow warm. The expression on her face was one of surprise and admiration, which the blonde was still unaccustomed to receiving unless it came from Ka'a and 'tousan. Naruto quickly looked away as he scratched the back of his head in nervousness.
The three little ones suddenly noticed their hero's nervous fidgeting as they looked back and forth between the blonde and the pinkette. Konohamaru pouted as he saw the pinkette's dazed expression. That chick's eyeing him like she'd kill him and devour his corpse! Konohamaru thought remorsefully when suddenly he remembered that his mother often gave his father the same look before the two would disappear for a while.
"Hey, Big Guy…" The raven-haired boy grinned as he patted the blonde's back, just like his uncle would do whenever he congratulated his father, "seeing as how you're so smart and suave and all…"
"Hunh?" Naruto blinked as he looked at his little cub-brother.
"The hottie… and I can tell… you and she are…"
"Hunh?"
"You knowww! Right?"
"Hunh?" Naruto blinked again while he heard Ka'a choke.
Sakura blanched as she realized what the little boy was insinuating.
~Ka'a, you okay?~ Naruto send in worry.
~I am well, Naruto-dono.~ Ka'a replied as he regained his composure. The ancient demon could not believe that the child would have the gall to insinuate that about his Host and the girl.
~Ka'a, do you know what Konohamaru is talking about?~
Ka'a then found himself pinching his nose as he heard the innocent question. He should have known that his naïve Host would not understand the innuendo. After all the blonde did not know the mechanics of a kiss! Ka'a licked his lips, knowing that he would have to explain, and to be honest, he had a bad feeling, a very bad feeling, about it.
~Naruto-dono,~ Ka'a cautiously replied, ~the little one is implying that you and your teammate are…~
~What?~ Naruto innocently asked.
~That you and she are Intended.~ Ka'a sighed as he could not find a more delicate explanation.
Naruto's eyes grew wide as color drained from his face.
"WHAT?" Naruto shrieked, "EWW! That's disgusting! Yuck!"
~Eh…~ Ka'a attempted to warn his innocent kit.
Sakura immediately snapped out of her daze at hearing the proclamation. Instinctively Sakura punched the petite blonde, who was caught by surprise tumbled into the wall.
"BIG GUY!" The children shouted.
It was then that Sakura realized what she had done. She knew that the blonde had not meant to insult her by his proclamation. After all, they were brother and sister, and one did not do that sort of thing with siblings. She… she just reacted.
"Wh-what did you do that for?" Konohamaru challenged while his playmates checked on their fallen leader. "YOU TOTAL WITCH!"
Sakura felt her eye twitch in annoyance but retrained herself from slapping the little boy. After all, it was her fault for misunderstanding her otouto's intentions.
"…Jeezh!" Konohamaru clearly muttered, "That broad browed, fire-breathing hag! Is she even a real female?"
"Konohamaru!" Naruto gasped in horror.
"That's it!" Sakura growled as she glared daggers at the obnoxious little boy, "DIE! BRAT!"
"RUN!" Naruto yelped as he and the three children scrambled to their feet and ran for their lives from the pink-haired kunoichi.
While Naruto purposively lagged behind in case one of the children stumbled, Konohamaru managed to take the lead when suddenly…
POW
Konohamaru gave a surprised yelp as he tumbled backwards onto the ground.
Looking up, the little raven-haired boy planned on shouting at the person he had ran into but quickly found his words lodged in his throat as he saw the two he bumped into.
The two strangers were a male and a female, and they both coldly glared at the little boy at their feet. It was obvious that they were foreigners and older, much older than the little one. The teenage boy's face was completely painted in white and maroon paint as if the young man was wearing a noh mask. He wore a loose black body suit and on his chest was a large circle with one half colored yellow while the other half was red. The foreign boy wore a black cowl that gave his shadow a bat-like appearance, and he had a strange bundle, wrapped in linen with a black ruff, strapped to his back.
The teenage girl was slightly taller than her companion and probably older than the foreign boy as well. She was light complexioned with blue eyes and blonde hair. Her hair was parted into four pseudo-ponytails, and she wore a white-lilac colored long sleeved shirt-dress. Tied around her waist was a red sash, most likely to keep the giant fan secured to her back. Underneath her dress, the blonde girl also wore a mesh undershirt. She even wore a mesh wrapping around her upper left thigh and her right shin.
And each stranger wore a hiate-ate that did not bear the mark of Konoha. Instead their hiate-ate mark looked much like an hourglass with a block on top.
"That's gotta smart!" The foreign boy coldly muttered.