Chapter

Promises at a picnic

"From here on, please work very hard towards striving for the Shinobi path." The Hokage preached. "And I would like you to bring further prosperity to Konohagakure.

No matter which world you in, the opening ceremony speech will always be long and boring. The air was dull and I'm certain none of the children here understand a word he's saying. The faces of those around us said as much.

The entry ceremony for the academy had sneaked up on me, I had completely forgotten about it. Playing (training) with Sasuke was amazing, he was really good at Taijutsu and shuriken, though with a brother like Itachi, it was expected.

Speaking of the dark and broody Uchiha; or rather never shutting up about him. I am serious, Sasuke talk more about him than he did himself. Itachi this, big brother that, wanna be like big brother, he's so cool. I smile politely through it all, encouraging him further whenever I can. Why? Sasuke has the most beautiful smile when talking about his brother, and I was addicted.

I looked around to see my mother paste a patient smile on her face; she was tired, father had been a hand full the night before. He wanted to attend the ceremony but had a mission to attend. He whined like a child until mother said she would show him via genjutsu. I had perked up at the mention and asked her to teach me. I had never been denied that quickly in any of my lives.

She said something along the lines of "you should grow up first," and "be a normal girl before becoming a kunoichi:" a female ninja. Needless to say, I began to whine harder than father and so she had a long night.

I spotted baby Shikamaru and Choji in the corner of my eye, Ino was stealing glances behind me, or more accurately; to Sasuke, who stood behind me. He had wanted to stand near someone he knows and aside from Naruto and Hinata; who were already in the academy. I was the only other option besides going in alone.

While I was grateful for his calm chakra near me, I wasn't so much the attention. At the end of the ceremony, our parents interacted with the teachers. If I didn't know any better I would say it was almost like a normal school.

Suzume was the current kunoichi academy teacher and friends with my mother, go figure.

She was a beautiful woman with long curly black hair and glasses; she wore a red lipstick that gave her a "mystic" vibe expected of a kunoichi. She appeared confident enough in her looks and abilities as a kunoichi which I suppose explain why she was selected to teach the art.

"She's such a lovely young girl," Suzume praised. "Really pretty too you really lucked out." Mother turned away to hide her grimace at her misplaced words; not her comment about her relationship with father but about me being a lovely little girl.

I dressed in pastel colors, yes, but I was far from a lovely young girl. Mother had been excited to have a baby girl but soon realized I wasn't normal and would never be. I was friends with two noble houses and the village outcast, all of which made up my only friends in the village. There was Ichiraku but that was more my favorite fast food restaurant.

Mother has no clue how much she lucked out with me, the original Sakura was shy and timid only having one friend, Ino. Speaking of which...

"Hello I'm Ino Yamanaka; it's nice to meet you Sakura." She gave a small bow and a huge smile, not know how her speaking to me was a bitch slap from faith.

I had tried my hardest to avoid her since the beginning; I tried even harder after becoming friends with Sasuke. If she found out about our "relationship" let alone my crush on him, well let's just say Shinobi children are dangerous when they want to be. Breaking off their friendship was the most merciful thing to do.

I don't think I would be so merciful though.

"It's nice to meet you too Ino," I said politely making note of how our parents distance themselves from us. Mother was pulling a "push her out of the nest and hope for the best." the tactic only worked with Naruto because he was Naruto, I don't want to get involved with Ino, you can't make me!

Ino was a very unusual girl; she had confidence unbefitting a 6-year-old. She reminded me a bit of Naruto with her platinum blond hair and light blue eyes, but that's where the similarities end. Where Naruto was timid or overbearing, Ino oozed confidence that was unbefitting a six-year-old. She was very friendly and a "people person."

Her father was not only the head of the noble Yamanaka clan and but also head of the "Intelligent Division." The Intelligent division was a division of Shinobis that specialized in gathering information; they were the interrogation department of the Konoha Shinobis. Ino being his only child and heir to their clan made her intelligence, even at this age, a necessity.

She was smart, beautiful, had an air of confidence and was from a noble family; you can understand why she is so popular. She had many friends already as it was; all had a confident air around them; though it was apparent Ino was the leader from the way they stood behind her.

Being friends with a noble clan was something all Shinobis greedy for power aimed for. They would send their children to interact with the noble clans to gain favor with them. No matter the world there was always going to be those that seek to take advantage of others.

The children might not know why their parents had pushed them to be friends with Ino but I had no intention of following that trend. While I doubt mother would try to use me in such a way; what with me being friends with two noble clans as it was – there was a limit to how many connections you could have before you start attracting attention.

The plan was simple; have me interact with a "normal girl" my age and I would become more girly to fit in. It was a ploy to get me to see that I wasn't normal, had I not been fully aware of my actions it might have worked.

There were so many problems with this plan; one was the various Chunins and Jonins that gave me glances and glare. Must don't like that I was friends with Naruto, I made sure to glare at anyone that meets my eyes. There was also the Hokage who was currently mingling with the parents and students. He was stealthy, but I got his quick glances at me, he too had taken notice of my friendship with Naruto. While not hostile – yet – he watched me cautiously trying to determine my intentions, if I messed up I wonder if I would disappear one day.

Despite all these obvious threats to my life, the main reason I was staying away from Ino was standing just a bit behind me, burning holes in Ino's head.

Sasuke Uchiha – the boy who had stolen my heart with a single glance – was displeased with me talking to Ino for as long as I had. We had made plans to stick together until we could meet up with Naruto and Hinata and have a picnic; Ino was eating into our playtime.

I was well aware that Ino has a crush on Sasuke; while not as deadly as mine, it was there. Should we become friends our mutual love for him would, as it did with the original Sakura, ruin our friendship. I wasn't fond of misleading people and I wasn't about to share my Sasuke, so the only real choice is to not be friends, to begin with.

Impatience rolled of Sasuke in waves, even Fugaku was giving him incredulous looks. I glanced at my mother looking at me expectantly, she really wanted me to be friends with Ino but there was just no room, she would be the third wheel for sure.

With a sigh, I turned back to Ino in time to hear her ask if I wanted to come with her and her friends. It was the perfect opportunity to end this before it began.

"I'm sorry Ino," I lied through my teeth. "I already promised to hang out with my friends today." That part wasn't so much a lie, with the tilt of my head I gave my best smile. "Maybe next time." There would be no next time if I could help it.

I waved as I ran over to where Sasuke was now pouting, I smiled apologetically at him. I received gasps from Ino's gang; yes I was in fact friends with the handsome Uchiha.

"What took you so long?" he asked still pouting, he was so cute when he tried to be mad at me.

"I'm sorry Sasuke," I said taking his hand in mine getting even more gasps; okay I was doing this on purpose. I displayed my best puppy eyes clasping hid hand to my chest, "please forgive me?"

He was a sucker for puppy eyes havening not grown up around younger siblings, Naruto could beat me at this any day but for now, Sasuke was weak to my "charms."

"F- Fine!" he stuttered looking away and blushing, Fugaku signed in disappointment and I smirked at him giving a raised brow. "As if you could fare any better," the look said and he looked away so smoothly you would mistake it for me just looking at something that caught his eye.

Not taking his hand from my grip Sasuke huffed, we gave a bow to Fugaku and walked to the school for the first introduction classes. I could feel the eyes on my back, and the target I just put there.

The introduction class was, to put it nicely, brainwashing. They told us how great Konoha is and how honorable it is to serve and protect it as a ninja. They taught us how honorable it is to die for your village; of course, they didn't outright say it but they did plant it in our head. It wouldn't work on me of course as I'm not a child, a glance to Sasuke showed he wasn't listening; what a delinquent.

We were given a long break to eat and mingle with the other students, form bonds they said. I often wondered where Naruto got his whole "bonds are important" thing from, now I know and I'm not impressed. They are literally shoving their logic down our throats. If I tried hard enough I could probably remember my world going the same things with morals.

We found a nice spot under a tree with a swing that was a bit away from everyone else.

"Sakura-chan!" I was taken out of my thoughts by Naruto's call. He was running at top speed towards us Hinata barely keeping up. He crashed into me causing us to tumble to the ground, he held me in a tight hug even as I groaned in annoyance.

He chuckled into my stomach as I brushed his hair in response to his greeting. I hadn't been able to play with him for the past few months because of his time in the academy, something about graduating early so he could hang out with me more. He had tried to drag Hinata into his scheming but Hiashi was having none of it.

Hinata bowed in greeting to Sasuke and looked apologetically at me. I sat up Naruto still fastened around my waist; that was a losing battle I wasn't going to fight. I leaned on the tree having little mobility with Naruto attracted to me. He didn't say anything as Sasuke and Hinata got the picnic ready.

Through the silence, I absently continued to stroke his hair humming a lullaby mother had once sung to me. Sasuke looked over at us and frowned deeply.

"How long do you plan to stay like that?" he asked. I looked up at him a bit confused at his question, was there something wrong?

"Oh that's because Naruto hasn't seen Sakura-chan in a while," Hinata defended Naruto. "He just misses her that's all." Her voice was low when she spoke the last part.

Was she trying to convince him of herself?

"He acting like a child," Sasuke muttered pouting.

You're one to talk.

Naruto released me and stood so quickly it left me dizzy.

"I'm gonna graduate early you'll see!" he exclaimed, to which I merely smiled knowing it wasn't in the cards.

"Why do you want to graduate early?" Sasuke asked curiously.

You fell right into that rabbit hole.

"I'm gonna become Hokage!" Naruto declared proudly. "That's why I'm gonna graduate early and everyone will acknowledge me."

It was something I heard a thousand times, but something about him saying it to his best friend and future lover made me smile. It was fun knowing things others didn't; you could come up with so many inside jokes.

Sasuke, bless his soul, was in awe at this even as he pouted a bit at being outshined.

"What about you Sasuke?" Naruto asked, "What are you going to be?"

"Hmph" Sasuke turned away blushing a bit, "I'm going to become a police like my father," he said.

Naruto looked to me for an explanation, I chuckled.

"The police are Shinobis tasked with keeping the peace, enforcing the law and protecting the people of our village, including the other Shinobis" I explained, "because of this, it requires strong and good-hearted Shinobis to function, after all, you need strong Shinobi to keep other Shinobis in check."

I added the last part for Sasuke's pride but it was true to some degree. With the Sharingan, the police force, which was mostly made up of Uchiha, was a force to be reckoned with.

Naruto was of course impressed and looked at Sasuke in a different light. His eyes twinkled with admiration and he grinned widely.

"That's so cool!" he exclaimed, "then when I become Hokage you and I can protect the village together!" he stretched out his fist to Sasuke grinning from ear to ear. Sasuke smirked and bumped his fist.

"Don't hold me back," he said cockily. For a moment I say teen Naruto and Sasuke bumping fist, it was gone as quickly as it came but it was there. Something strange twisted inside me and I relaxed, even as it felt like butterflies were having a party in my stomach. I stood even as my eyes stung; I blinked away the pain and approached them.

"Hey don't leave us out of this," I said getting their attention, "we want to protect the village too, right Hinata"

She jumped at the mention of her name but stood quickly, "that's right! I too want to stand beside Naruto-kun."

Aw yes, confess why don't you.

Pushing my jealously aside I bumped my fist with them.

"Let's always stay together and protect this village," it was a bold declaration but it was going to be made a reality in the next decade so…

"Yes!" Hinata said doing the same, "let's always stay together." She blushed like a madwoman at her own bold words. She obviously wanted to stay by Naruto's side forever didn't she; though was I much better? I glanced at Sasuke who was grinning, passion and determination in his eyes. I too wanted to stand by Sasuke's side forever.

I had been worried that Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't get along and I would be forced to choose between them. Seeing them interact with each other like long last friends, made me so happy. The bushes rustled nearby causing me to expand my senses.

It was a faint presence but I felt it, I hadn't been on alert all day so it was easy to miss. We were being watched, not by one but four different people.

The hardest to sense was like an old treasure chest filled with knowledge, the Hokage; how he hid such an overwhelming chakra was a secret I wanted in on. The other was a gentle breeze, Fugaku, his stalking was a given, he was overprotective of his son. The next one was my mother, go figures and the last was…

A field of flowers cried out in a hurricane, the skies dark with storm clouds; someone wasn't happy. Even with their mood changing their chakra I recognized it, I had just interacted with them after all.

Light blue eyes blazed with fury as they peeked through the bushes nearby. Ino Yamanaka had officially made me her enemy; rivalry route achieved.

Fuck my life.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2020!

Luna here! I'm alive and kicking! Man i feel it for the professional writers, though must of them actually have a plan and many chapters already typed before posting, maybe i should try that.

Short chapter today, i was super busy after the new year had a art commission to finish and what not. oh I'm a artist and writer hobbies which explain why i have no consistency and horrible grammar. I will get better over time... maybe. I'm one of those idiots that admired those that write fanfic for the people displeased with the original, or just want filler till the next season. Please note I said "idiot" because i thought it would be a good idea to write something myself. I can understand why people suddenly go of the grind in the middle of a story. Don't worry i won't do that, i would make a "ending" then fall off the grind, or maybe just write yaoi, that calms people right?

Anyway that's it for me might make a one shot yaoi fic if only to use a art piece i just finished... I'm getting distracted again, don't worry I know what will happen in the next chapter so hopefully it wont take so long to come out... yeah I'm totally gonna miss my deadline.

Until next time! Night song!

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