The sun was harsh on her eyes, the village a rumble of quiet mumbles and distant conversations. Sakura walked at a calm pace, her emerald eyes moving about, taking notice of the different buildings, looking out for any restaurants. Inner had been adamant about embarking on the endeavour to find a new place to eat at, ideally one that would be willing to offer them a discount considering it was their birthday. It was an odd thing, sharing a body, she was the one who was acknowledged by the outside world, the one who had a legal identity whilst the existence of Inner was a secret. As they had made the agreement to live equally, Sakura Haruno's birthday belonged to both Inner and Outer. It truly was quite a confusing dynamic...

The pinkette sighed. That was the main reason why she was venturing outside her home. If not for the fact that this day was not hers alone, Sakura would have been content with ignoring the world beyond her room in favour of the enlightening texts she would no doubt finish by the end of the week. That was what she had been doing, in fact, up until her other half decided that she cared about their body getting a sufficient amount of sunlight.

Speaking of Inner, the sudden clearing of the rambunctious entity's throat rang through her head. 'It's not that, that I care about, it's getting the appropriate food that is vital for the continuation of our existence! Get it right!'

The rosette released another sigh, her fingers tucking a lock of her cherry blossom-coloured hair behind her ear. Despite the lack of heavy winds, that lock of hair in particular decided that it wanted to be stubborn and tickle her face. Her hair's behaviour didn't help her already sour mood and it was pretty safe to say that if not for Inner, Sakura would have turned around and gone back home- in fact, she probably wouldn't have even budged from her place in bed.

'Just goes to show how pathetic you would be if not for me. You truly rely on me way too much...' Inner shook her head, eyes closed, an air of disappointment and unfulfilled expectations radiating off her form.

The young girl decided not to waste any of her limited energy on bickering with her other half and instead refocused her attention to the task of locating a new place to eat at. In her head, she reasoned that once a meal was had she could return back to her cave of grief and smother herself with pages of knowledge. After all, Inner only really wanted food, so by fulfilling that desire, her doppelganger would have had an adequate birthday and there shouldn't be any issues with going back home.

As the pinkette made her way through the village, the pit of grief inside her only grew. The presence of people, particularly parents with their children, weighed heavily on her conscience and no matter how she tried to redirect her attention, her mind refused to not acknowledge it. Her heart ached as those around her morphed into herself and her parents, cheerful smiles painted on their faces as they made the best of the sunny weather. The fact it was her birthday didn't help and the numbing of her soul didn't pair well with the pooling of tears in her eyes.

'...Inner.. just tell me the directions...' Although the pinkette had previously decided to go along with her counterpart's commands, at least for a short while, the tsunami of anguish that she was drowning in left her with no choice but to break whatever game Inner wanted to play. She was under no impression that her other half didn't know the exact location of everything in the village and she didn't wish to allow Inner to keep up her act of obliviousness over her sanity.

It took only a split moment before the other spoke up. 'Fifty metres in front of you make a right turn.. then keep going straight.'

Sakura did as the entity in her head said, all the while forcing down the lump in her throat and wishing away the tears that threatened to overflow her emerald eyes. She would have thought it surprising that so many of Konoha's residents were up and about before she reminded herself that it wasn't the early morning and that there was no reason for people to be cooped up indoors on such a wonderful day. Even if it had been early it still wouldn't be too shocking to find the odd person about, people had jobs and it was a ninja village.

Her steps were quiet, unable to be heard by most over the racket of the bustling streets. The rosette knew that to a seasoned shinobi, her footsteps were as clear as her hair and that thought made her frown. She had been working hard on her stealth and although compared to another child she was quite good at going unrecognised- at least if it weren't for her unique colouring- she still wasn't satisfied. A shinobi could make it so their footsteps were completely silent and Sakura was determined to achieve nothing less! As a result, she found herself criticising each and every movement she made. Even something as simple as having a drink caused her to be disappointed. She swallowed too loudly, the rustling of her clothes created too much noise and she just wasn't living up to her expectations. She understood that she was still young and that most kids her age probably weren't even thinking about such things but she was! It didn't matter if once she entered the academy she would be taught all this, her curiosity was peaked and the only thing that could satiate it was success.

Such thoughts were surprisingly helpful in warding off her sombre mood and intrusive thoughts and Sakura managed to shift her attention to her feet, trying to make as little noise as possible. Thankfully the sandals she wore were styled for shinobi- though sized down, of course- and didn't create any unnecessary noise the pinkette was well aware some civilian footwear did. She was hopeful that once she improved in quietening her movements and added chakra to further muffle any noise she would be quite challenging to catch when sneaking up on someone. She still had quite a bit of work to do before she got to such a level of skill but she wasn't afraid of a little hard work!

'Attention to Outer! This is Inner requesting you quit getting lost in your thoughts and focus on the outside world!'

Sakura's eyebrows twitched into a furrow as her counterpart interrupted her musings. She rolled her eyes but ultimately focused back on where she was going. The rosette had followed Inner's earlier instructions but looking around it seemed her other half might not be as good of a navigator as she had originally thought.

She found herself in the middle of a street, buildings on either side of her. To her left was an open space, seemingly used by children as a park... just without any playground equipment. People passed her by, and Sakura felt oddly claustrophobic as they brushed against her, going about their day. A man over on the right of the street was yelling, attempting to lure people into purchasing whatever he was trying to sell.

The pinkette could vaguely remember walking through this area of the village before and she couldn't recall ever passing by any restaurants. Then again, she couldn't say she had been paying too much attention to evaluating each building she passed.. perhaps she would have to work on that. Sakura considered the chance of a new establishment being created in the area since the last time she had passed through the neighbourhood and found it quite unlikely.

The annoyed ring of a female yelling rose above all other noises in the area and Sakura frowned as the people around her parted, their heads turning in the direction where the pinkette assumed the one yelling was. She blinked as a familiar greenette came into view, her short hair was flying about her face, and her brown eyes searched the crowd of people around her. The female's sight landed on Sakura and a grin formed on her face, replacing the previous annoyance that graced her features. She strode over towards the younger female, posture confident and each movement sure and steady.

"Sakura!" The woman placed a hand on said girl's head, messing up her pink locks. "Happy birthday, it's been quite a while hasn't it?"

Sakura felt her cheeks redden, feeling conscious of the stares coming from the people around them. The woman in front of her didn't seem to care at all and continued to make a mess of her hair. If not for her taking a moment to process the presence of the woman, Sakura would have stepped back, doing her best to tame her tresses. Even if that was the case, however, she doubted the older female would stop.

The birthday girl had set out on the quest to search for somewhere to eat with no intentions of socialising- apart from the necessary ordering of food and securing the existence of a discount in whatever establishment she chose to eat at. So running into Hideka was certainly not something she had anticipated. The woman was another friend of her mother, similar to Yui. The greenette was like an aunt, she just wasn't related to her by blood.

'I forgot Yui-obasan mentioned something about Hideka-obasan and her sons coming.'

'Not surprised.' Sakura frowned. 'What? You can be quite forgetful, besides, you've been moping around for a while now.'

The greenette kneeled down to be closer to the pinkette in height. Her honey-brown eyes sought Sakura's emerald gaze and freckled cheeks matched her bright grin.

"How have you been, hm?"

Sakura looked at Hideka. "I'm ok."

In truth, the young girl wasn't sure if ok was the best way to describe how she was feeling. Internally her chest was swollen with grief, and the fact that she struggled to even get out of bed not an hour previous didn't scream that she was ok. She didn't think that it was necessary to share all that with Hideka though and certainly not after not seeing her in a long time- besides, Sakura was fully aware of the people around them who were still glancing in the woman's direction. She understood why the greenette was attracting so much attention, Hideka had been yelling for who knows what reason, it was no wonder she had garnered so much notice.

Hideka messed up her hair again before standing up. Sakura followed her action with her eyes, mind trying to figure out what to do. She really didn't feel up to being around Hideka, the woman had a strong personality, and although she didn't dislike that about the older female, the rosette wasn't sure she was capable of putting up with it. Besides, Yui hadn't just mentioned that Hideka was coming and Sakura dreaded what that meant.

"Now that you're here, Sakura, you can help me out." The woman grabbed her wrist though not harshly and began walking in the direction Sakura had just come from, dragging the pinkette along. "I brought the boys but Kami knows how much trouble they are. The moment I took my eyes off them, the rascals disappeared!"

Sakura sighed. She knew exactly what the greenette was getting at and she didn't think she liked it. She was well acquainted with the trouble the two boys got into and even the thought alone gave her a headache.

As the woman dragged her about, it was clear to the rosette that she wouldn't be able to get away. She dreaded the thought of being pulled around by Hideka for who-knows-how-long in search for two troublemakers and she certainly hadn't imagined doing so when she got out of bed due to Inner's nagging. Her earlier plan of getting a quick meal before heading back home was becoming but a dream as she was whisked away, further from where Inner had directed her to.

Hideka rushed about, hair flying around as her head turned in every direction, brown eyes darting around in their sockets at such a speed it made Sakura feel slightly nauseous just watching. There was the added fact that she was being dragged by the wrist that could be aggravating the queasiness but with her lack of energy and the exhaustion that came with following the hurricane of a woman, even Sakura's usually analytical mind was struggling to compute. As a result, the pinkette decided it wasn't worth the struggle to figure out why she was feeling sick all of a sudden.

Sakura's ears twitched as a shrill voice grated on her awareness. Hideka too, seemed to pick up on the racket and pulled the young pinkette with her in the direction of the shouting.

'Why is everyone shouting today...?' Sakura could practically feel the bags beneath her eyes grow more prominent as she resisted the urge to sigh. She had been doing that too much recently.

Lo and behold, the owner of the high-pitched voice was a young woman with mousy blonde hair; the targets of her angered screams were a duo Sakura had been dreading the sight of. She held back a groan as Hideka dragged her with her towards the scene.

"Kin! Kenta! What did I tell you two about wandering off?"

It was almost comedic how the two boys, previously completely relaxed with bored expressions on their faces- even with the furious woman yelling at them- immediately tensed upon hearing their mother's voice. Sakura couldn't really blame them, Hideka was a fierce woman and she didn't doubt that if some poor soul ever messed with the greenette they would be haunted by the memory in their nightmares. Dramatic, yes but she truly was one to be feared.

'Maybe I should take notes...'

'Inner, no.' In their mindscape, the entity pouted and Sakura did her best to drown out her other half's complaints of her 'not being any fun'.

"So these miscreants are yours?" The woman with the shrill voice turned her attention to the greenette.

Hideka's hard stare that had previously been directed at her sons changed target and aimed at the woman. For her credit, the mousy blonde did not back down and this was when Sakura took notice of the mess of glitter that stood hiccuping next to the female.

"They decided to attack poor Yuna-chan out of nowhere! She didn't do anything wrong either!" It turned out that under all the glue and glitter was a young girl... as unclear as that was. "If I were you I would give them a stern talking to and send them home to bed with no dinner!"

'Dramatic much?'

Hideka once again looked at her sons, gaze now demanding an explanation. The rosette watched as the two grew more nervous under their mother's heavy gaze, Kenta glancing at his brother multiple times. The twins were not identical, a far cry from it. They did share some noticeable features but it was clear that both shared more of a likeness to a different parent. Kin, the older of the two was shorter than his brother and was of a slimmer frame. He took after Hideka as was seen most clearly in his face. Sakura wasn't sure what their father looked like as he had died long before she was born but Kenta clearly displayed more of his features than he did his mother's.

"We didn't mean to have her be the target- it was an accident," Kin spoke up and Hideka's gaze narrowed.

'It is not looking good for the twins.'

'What's the big deal anyway? So they pulled a prank or whatever and a girl ended up a glittery-gluey mess, I don't see any issues, in fact, I think it's hilarious! Just look at her face! You can't behind all that mess!' Inner roared with laughter and Sakura frowned.

'You would throw a fit if someone did that to us.. besides, I can't imagine how long it'll take to get rid of all that glitter.. and that glue looks to be matting her hair.'

'That's the point! That glitter is going to be with her for life!'

Another reason Sakura had been dreading seeing the twins: Inner's madness was already almost too much for her to handle but with the boys' added presence, Inner's tendencies grew more severe. She would have to keep her control over their physical form if she didn't want utter chaos to be unleashed.

"Oh? So who was the intended target then, hm?" Hideka raised an eyebrow.

"We were hoping to catch a shinobi..." Kin frowned at Kenta.

Sakura had to admit, that was certainly not the smartest of ideas but not unexpected of the twins. They didn't live in a shinobi village so the two troublemakers were no doubt keen to mess with some ninjas. Hopefully, Konoha was prepared for their antics... Kami knows the boys would wreak havoc during their stay.

Judging by the look on Hideka's face, the duo were in for more than the average lecture but whatever words were on the tip of her tongue melted away as the mousy blonde spoke up again.

"You mean you were about to attack a shinobi? You imprudent brats!" The woman's hair, clearly well-maintained, was now wild and an image of a cat, its fur standing on end as it hissed, popped up in the young pinkette's mind.

"Attack?" Hideka's eyes looked over the form of the young girl who, in the woman's words, had been so unjustly assaulted. "Is she bleeding, bruised? No? Did my sons hit her, insult her or did she only get caught up in a prank by two reckless eight-year-olds?"

'Honestly, and this woman lives in a Shinobi village?' Inner scoffed.

Sakura had to agree. The young woman should be aware that such a prank, as annoying and unnecessary as it may be, did not even get close to a real attack. The most painful thing about the prank was the aftermath, there was no doubt in her mind that untangling the girl's hair from all that glue would be a painful experience, especially if they wasted any more time yapping. Every second, the glue grew closer to drying, increasing the risk of the girl having to cut it out of her hair.

The woman huffed and the young Haruno took the time to notice how red her face had gotten. Another hiccup brought Sakura's gaze to the girl, covered in glitter and glue who could only be a year or two older than she was. Her eyebrows furrowed and she decided to bring an end to the encounter for the girl's sake.

"Excuse me," Everyone's eyes turned to her small form and Sakura questioned exactly why she had decided to do this; hadn't she been determined to avoid all unnecessary acts of socialising? "I'm sorry that this happened but every second we spend wasted on arguing, the closer to drying the glue gets. I advise that you go home and wash off all the glue and glitter you can unless you want to shave off all of her hair."

Her words caused the young girl to break out in a sobbing mess, the tears that leaked from her green eyes mixing with the glue that stuck to her face. The young woman who was either the girl's sister or mother, Sakura couldn't quite tell, immediately knelt down, trying to comfort her. Even without looking the pinkette knew that Hideka was currently sending her sons a stern look and by the time the girl's sobbing no longer reached their ears and the two females were no longer in their field of sight, they were left with a silence that for the two boys was no doubt echoing news of their impending doom. Sakura did not envy them, being in trouble with Hideka did not mean anything good.

"Oh! Sakura..." Her attention turned to Kin. "Happy birthday!"

'Wow.'

'He's really trying to get out of trouble through our presence, huh?'

Sakura decided to take pity on the boys (mainly because she was certain Hideka would not forget their earlier actions and would most definitely punish them for it later).

"Thank you!" She managed a small smile. She really was being quite generous considering she hadn't wanted to interact with anyone. Sakura just hoped her smile came across as sincere. She did not want to look like the pitiful people tortured by chronic exhaustion and internal agony who forced smiles that looked so pathetically fake onto their faces. She shivered at the thought alone.

Kin nudged his brother in a not-so-subtle way and Kenta, who seemed to suddenly perk up, looked at his brother who glanced in her direction. The younger of the twins followed his brother's gaze and a look of realisation washed over his features.

"Oh, Sakura! Hi!" The boy sent her a smile and Sakura took a moment to process how similar the boys' greetings were despite one clearly not having been paying too much attention.

'Twins.' Inner said simply.

"Kenta-kun.." Sakura inclined her head in acknowledgement.

The pinkette knew that at this point, there was little chance of her getting away from the family of three and that she would have to abandon her earlier plan of a quiet meal followed by long hours spent reading in the comfort of her bed. She released a sigh.

Hideka turned to the small pinkette, her hard expression smoothing out.

"So Sakura, I wasn't expecting to find you out and about. If not for those two troublemakers we would have already been knocking on your door." She shot a quick look at her sons.

The boys shrunk back, Kin bravely speaking up.

"Maybe it's a good thing it turned out like this? If we knocked on Sakura's door now, she wouldn't be home." The green-haired woman sent him a look that made him quieten down immediately.

'Talk about a smooth recovery.'

Sakura would admit that the green-haired boy made a good point, there was a good chance that if things hadn't turned out as they did then they would be left waiting outside her front door for who knows how long. It also meant that even if she had stayed at home, her peace still would have been disturbed. The universe truly was determined to keep her from her undisturbed wallowing in grief and informational texts.

"So, what were you doing when we ran into each other, Sakura?" The birthday girl looked up at the older female, having got lost in her thoughts that consisted mainly of questioning the majority of her decisions. Going over her decisions had left her wondering about the obvious disliking whatever celestial beings that existed held for her. Had she truly offended them in such a way, it made them actively seek out ways to disturb her blissful solitude?

'Outer, you will never really have complete solitude with me around.'

It was sad that Inner's words were so true. Although the pinkette was not socially inept (she ignored the loud disagreement coming from her other half), she did not favour interacting with others over reading by herself. She believed she had made this quite clear at this point and so as she thought over how she could respond to the woman, she calculated which response would leave her with some time to herself.

"I was just getting some fresh air." She decided to keep it simple, she could branch off her response if she found the need.

'You really shouldn't be thinking through what you're going to say so much. It's not normal.'

Hideka nodded, looking up at the sky. It was a beautiful day, blue sky and sunny weather. The pinkette didn't think the weather could reflect the opposite of her mood any better.

"It's already past midday but we haven't eaten yet.. have you had your lunch, Sakura?"

It seemed that things really wouldn't go her way. Still, her mother had always taught her to be polite and she would never want to come across as rude, especially not to someone like Hideka, the woman had been an extremely close friend of her mother's. Plus, Kin and Kenta, as much trouble as they caused, weren't the worst of company.

"No, I haven't, I was actually thinking of finding somewhere to eat whilst I was out."

The green-haired female grinned and Sakura found the smallest of smiles fighting its way onto her own face.

"Great! So any ideas where we could eat? You know, Kenta and I aren't picky and I'm sure we can find somewhere that will offer something to suit Kin's tummy." The young greenette groaned, presumably in embarrassment. "There was this one place your mother always took myself and Yui when we visited, though I don't quite remember the name..."

'Inner?' The drooling entity in her head perked up. 'Can you locate the restaurant that Hideka-obasan is talking about?'

Sakura's other half hummed an affirmative, her eyes sparkling and the young pinkette let out a small huff of amusement. It was ridiculous how food crazy her doppelganger was. She turned her attention back to Hideka who looked to be deep in thought, probably trying to remember the name of the establishment she had visited what was most likely a number of years ago.

"I think I know what place you're talking about."Her words caught the woman's attention.

"Yeah?"

The pinkette nodded. She didn't but she trusted that Inner did. As long as the place was still open and serving edible food, there was no doubt in the rosette's mind that Inner wouldn't refuse to tell her where she could find the restaurant.

'Oh, Outer! I hope you brought extra money!' Sakura's other half gleefully rubbed her hands together and the pinkette bid her savings goodbye.

A/N: Finally! Sorry that this took a while, it's quite long..

I have been waiting for what feels like forever to introduce the twins! You guys might remember but they were actually first mentioned in Chapter 2 when Yui and Hideka were chatting with Mebuki. Please let me know what you think of them, I know not much was revealed about them and their personalities- as individuals rather than simply being pranksters- but in the coming chapters we'll be seeing more of them!

Inner is basically being used as Sakura's satnav, which I kind of love. I hope I didn't overdo Sakura's low mood, I couldn't help but feel like I mentioned it too much so please let me know!

Sorry for any mistakes!

Hope you enjoyed!