Now being five years old, Sakura could confirm that she felt no different. Her birthday had been a pleasant affair, at least after she had ended her moping. Hideka and her sons were still in the village and it was safe to say that with them around she and Inner hadn't had a moment free to feel bored.

Between the boys demanding her attention every moment and Hideka stealing her away from them, Sakura had been very busy. Even the day after her birthday, Sakura had been woken up by knocking- or more accurately insistent banging- on her front door. Inner had just enough time to inform her that it was Hideka before two bodies lept on top of hers.

She squealed. She could not see and with her limbs occupied by wrestling their way out of her tangled bedsheets, she was unable to push off the weight that was making it so hard for her to breathe.

"Good Morning!"

"How did you sleep Sakura?"

Still struggling to inhale, Sakura was unable to reply to the two familiar voices. Some of the weight disappeared and she was able to free one of her hands and uncover her face. Kenta grinning down at her and Kin standing at her bedside was not what she had expected to be the first thing she would see upon waking up. Nonetheless, she appreciated Kin pulling his brother off of her. She sat up, trying to decide how she should feel regarding her alarm.

She decided to ask them a question.

"How did you two get in here?"

The brothers glanced at each other before looking at her with twin expressions on their faces. Kenta, who was sitting on the end of her bed, jabbed a thumb in the direction of her balcony. Sakura sighed. The night had been unbearably hot and as a result, she had left the door open a crack. She wasn't concerned about any dangers sneaking inside as Inner was alert even whilst she slept and was capable of waking her if she sensed any danger. Besides, there were countless shinobi scouring the village even at night. All she would need to do was flare her chakra and ninja would be flooding her room.

'That is if we even need to do that. We are perfectly capable of protecting ourselves.'

'Against petty thieves and perhaps low-ranking shinobi. Should any larger threat come by we would be in trouble.'

'Why would any high-ranking ninja be after us, huh?'

Sakura decided against continuing their current conversation. Hideka was still at her front door and judging by the sky outside it was early enough for her noise to be disturbing her neighbours. Before she got out of bed to let the woman inside Sakura fixed the twins with a look.

"How did you two manage to climb through my balcony and how did your mother not notice?" She raised an eyebrow at the boys' in-sync shrug.

The mystery of their scaling her house was thrown to the back of her mind in favour of inviting in Hideka. The woman grinned at her as though she hadn't just been excessively knocking on her front door. Sakura sighed as Hideka passed her by, closing the door. Usually, she would be ashamed to answer the door looking so dishevelled but when it came to the family of three Sakura found herself beyond caring. Hideka had always been the most lax among Mebuki's friends when it came to decorum and they were basically family.

"And how did you two gremlins get in here?" Hideka stood before her sons, hands on hips. Sakura took the opportunity and snuck upstairs.

She had just enough time to have a quick shower and get dressed before Hideka called from the other side of her door.

"You can come in!"

The door opened and Sakura half expected to see Kin and Kenta rush in before their mother but lo and behold the woman entered alone. Hideka grinned at her, ruffling her still-damp locks.

"You had a shower? That was quick. The boys usually take hours to get cleaned up and that's only when they actually decide they should have a shower. Goodness knows I can't tell them to get washed up without a lengthy argument." The woman shook her head. "Anyway, I wanted to know if you wanted to go out for breakfast today?"

They had gone out the previous day for lunch as a birthday celebration and usually Sakura couldn't afford to go out two days in a row but Hideka had been adamant about paying and would no doubt do the same if they went out again. A part of her felt guilty for letting someone else pay for her but she knew that that was silly. It was her birthday and she was only five. Once she became a shinobi she would have to take the woman out to repay her for her generosity.

'Why are you thinking so much about this? It's free food!' Sakura ignored Inner. She knew she had a habit of overthinking but it was sometimes a good thing to think things through.

She blushed upon realising that Hideka was still waiting for her answer, left eyebrow raised.

"Sure! We can go out today... where are Kin-kun and Kenta-kun?"

"They're downstairs but I probably shouldn't leave them for too long. I don't hear anything and it's never good when they're silent." Hideka ruffled Sakura's hair one last time before heading for the door. "When you're ready, come down, you'll have to be our guide as we're still getting our bearings here."

Her bedroom door closed and Sakura turned to her reflection in the mirror. Hideka's messing with her hair had caused it to tangle and the rosette sighed as she picked up her hairbrush, preparing for pain.

It wasn't until ten minutes later that Sakura ventured downstairs. Her hair hadn't fully dried but it was close enough for her not to worry. She poked her head into the living room. Kin was sat down, nose buried in a book Sakura had left on the coffee table whilst Kenta tried and failed to snatch his attention. She could hear Hideka in the kitchen and decided to alert the woman that she was ready.

"Oh, Sakura!" Hideka placed a cup down on the table. "Are you ready to go? I was just having some tea."

Sakura paused at the woman's words. She had never seen the woman drink tea. Hideka would often flat-out reject any she was offered. It was an unusual thing to notice and it had been years since she had seen the woman however, Sakura couldn't help but think it strange.

"Tea? I didn't think you liked it."

The corners of Hideka's lips curled up. "The tea back home is much stronger, Konoha's just tastes watery."

Sakura frowned, perplexed by the woman's strange behaviour. She had to stop herself from speaking when she noticed Hideka's hand wrap around her drink, her thumb stroking the lip of the cup. Green eyes moved up to a distant gaze and without proper thought, her lips spurred into action, producing words.

"I am ready to go to breakfast, Hideka-obasan."

The older female looked at Sakura but didn't seem to snap out of whatever trance she was in until noise erupted in the living room. Hideka moved abruptly, accidentally knocking her drink off the table in her haste. Sakura moved out of the way as she rushed out of the room.

A sigh passed her lips, and she shook her head to get rid of the image of Hideka that was stuck in her head. She knelt by the fallen cup and got to work on cleaning up. All the while, the chaos happening in the other room entered her ears. If Sakura was nosy she would have had Inner spy in on whatever was going on. She was not though and ignored the voice in her head telling her to 'hurry up' and that she 'will regret missing this'. It was not lost on Sakura that between the two of them, Inner was the one driven by drama and the private business of others. Even as she found herself uninterested in strangers' lives, should she miraculously wish for the knowledge, Inner could always catch her up.

They left the house and Sakura led the way to a small establishment where they had breakfast. The meal went similarly to her birthday dinner the day before; the twins being responsible for the majority of the conversation at their table. Despite the level of noise, Sakura wasn't left feeling as embarrassed as she did on her birthday as due to the early hour, there were fewer patrons about. In fact, they were the only ones dining there. It wasn't surprising as the civilian percentage of Konoha tended to sleep in with the exception of those who got up early for work.

Once they finished, they left. There were visibly more people up and about since earlier in the morning and whilst Hideka yelled after Kenta and Kin for running off, Sakura once again felt the weight of people's stares. She sighed, looking up at the blue sky. The weather was nice, the sun radiating warmth and a subtle breeze preventing the temperature from being too hot. Sakura watched a bird leap from a roof and take flight, brushing off the attention that the family of three seemed unable to keep away.

'Maybe if we continue to stick with them you'll become less socially awkward!' Sakura ignored Inner.

A hand on her shoulder stole Sakura's attention and she looked up to see Kin grinning at her. She was slightly startled by his sneaking up on her and was annoyed at herself for not noticing him sooner.

"You're it!" He exclaimed cheerfully before sprinting away.

Next to Sakura, Hideka sighed. It astonished Sakura that the woman could still be dumbfounded after so many years of the boys' chaos.

'Get running Outer!'


A/N: A bit of a shorter chapter today! I was hesitating on whether or not I should continue or end it here but I decided that this would be a good place to end it. I will be working on the next chapter of Out of Place but depending on how long it takes me to write and edit, I may publish another chapter before that one comes out.

Please let me know how you are enjoying this fanfic thus far!

Sorry for any mistakes!

Hope you enjoyed!