AN: Wow… It's been so long. I was going through my old stuff and saw this partially-written chapter. I hope to pick this back up, but I'm not sure if I will. Please enjoy.

CB and RB 3

Celebration

Late March, '86 A.S.

(Haruno residence)

"Do I have to wear this dress Kaa-san?" A young voice whined.

"Hai, Bara-chan. Remember, we're celebrating Sa-chan's birth."

Moments later, soft babbling filled the air around them causing Mebuki to look away from the older child's squirming. "Looks like the birthday girl is awake."

Just a few days shy of one, Haruno Sakura was an adorable pile of pink and white cotton in the center of her parents' bed.

Surrounded by pillows and propped up by her very own special, curved pillow (or as Bara excitedly calls it, "Sa-chan-hime's throne!" Kizashi always loudly agrees, proclaiming to anyone who will listen his luck for being blessed with two beautiful princesses in his life. Mebuki just huffs in amusement) so she can watch her mother doll up Bara.

At hearing her nickname, "Sa-chan" knew to speak! Lest the attention on her waver! So the pink-haired baby began babbling in earnest, oo-ing and aa-ing as she worked her mouth around the syllables she just mastered.

Bara, of course, was hyperfocused on her sibling as soon as her mother mentioned "awake." "Sacchan!" Before she could dart off in a streak of fuchsia, quick hands picked her up and placed her back on the small dressing stool with practiced ease.

"Bara-chan, we barely finished putting on the outfit." Mebuki sternly told her oldest as the girl squawked in protest at being "manhandled like some FIEND!"

Mebuki sighed internally, wondering what drove her husband to use such dramatic language around their impressionable daughters. She can almost hear his exaggerated tale of his one, single, rare-mistake-at-the-mission-desk instance of meeting with a Samurai from the Land of Iron.

("Our eyes met in a stare-down sharper than Madara and Hashirama's. Surely the KI was felt by Hokage-sama himself." "Mebuki, I'm telling you! It was only my quick thinking that saved our Village from the Warrior of the Land of Iron and Ice.")

"Kaa-chan~" A familiar whine brought her from her amusement, reminding her of the impatient girl in front of her.

"We're almost done, be patient." Mebuki chastised the seven year old, lovingly. She turned her head back to the mirror to work on a braided side-do.

Bara puffed her cheeks out, letting her eyes roam across the carved design of the mirror her mother sat her in front of. Looking at herself, she took in her reflection.

Straight fuchsia hair, increasingly tucked away as her mother deftly twisted it into a swooping braid. Bright green eyes blinked curiously, taking in the faint freckles decorating her cheeks. She always wondered why she had them—none of her family did!

She remembered the conversation with her dad.

(Park, East of the Shopping District, Konoha)

-3 months prior-

"Now where did she run off to…"

Kizashi Haruno muttered to himself as he wondered the park.

Half an hour before, while shopping for groceries, Kizashi noticed his eldest had disappeared after visiting Higuchi-san's stand. It was popular with tourists and kids due to the wide range of accessories and collectibles he sold.

Kizashi saw her talking with a boy her age. (NOT MY HIME!) His paternal instincts screeched at him to spirit away his sweet rose, but he was stuck in a conversation with Tomoe-san.

The middle aged woman is a well-known face in the market, loitering there for hours on end talking about how "My Genko will be promoted soon. He's sure of it. He recently completed a mission in the Land of Earth!" She would then go on to complain how the village "never appreciated his creativity with wires and fire style."

Kizashi escaped-he meant, finished his purchase and left the delightful exchange, right as a loud squawk filled the immediate vicinity.

There was a brief pause as multiple eyes quickly darted in the direction…. then moved on when it was not deemed a threat. Without missing a beat.

(Got to love a shinobi village.)

Taking his time to go the flow with the crowd-the traffic at this time has a mind of its own.

By the time he got to Higashi-San's stand, there was no sign of his daughter.

Only a wailing little boy clutching a red jaw. Aaaaand an angry woman with matching black hair.

"Are YOU that little menace's parent?" Spat the boys mother.

Kizashi smiled nicely, figuring he should listen, at least to find out where his daughter went.

"I can't say I am." He replied, scratching his cheek as he grinned. "After all, we seem to have a gaki infestation."

As if to prove his point, a group of Academy students "playing ninja" ran by, narrowly missing a stressed teenager, probably a genin if Kizashi had to guess. The kid was muttering and cursing, saying, "They don't pay me enough to capture that demon cat."

(Tora? We're they talking about the Tora? No way is that monster still alive….)

Bringing his attention back to the moment, the pink haired man realized the woman was describing his child. Oh good! She was here!

Cutting off her nonsensical rant, he chirped, "Yep! That one is mine. Have you seen her?"

The red-faced woman sputtered. At that moment she shoved her son to the front. He whined from being jostled. She gripped his shoulders, glaring at the man.

"Well your, unruly child PUNCHED my sweet, little musuko. Look at his face! He's disfigured!"

Kizashi indeed peered at the boys face. Beyond the swelling cheek, the brown haired boy looked fine.

"Yeah, that doo-doo face tried to take my keychain!" The child pointed to a broken trinket on the ground.

Kizashi stopped grinning, looking at them.

The woman nodded, chiming in. "And when he tried to tell that rascal," Kizashi mouthed the word, "rascal." "She PUNCHED him and left his face like this." She focused on the whining spoiled child.

Kizashi only had one focus: "What did you call her?"

The woman stopped fussing over her spoiled brat long enough to realize the chipper man.

"They're your own constellations my rose." Kizashi told her as they sat under the darkening sky.

Teary green eyes peaked from under loose bangs. "B-but they're freakish and… ugly…" her watery reply came from behind her arms.

Kizashi had a brief flash of anger towards the brat from the market. (She should've made it a combo move…)

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