#shoutout shishou

[charrcoai]

transfem morb

[toadeyes-miqote]

Goodbye feather fan

... I feel like a magical girl... Is this how G'raha feels whenever he does that floaty thing?... Finally traded it in. Tis wind element afterall. Will check the Crier Radical.

No Estinien, I'm not going to be a Lancer.

-------------------

Don't have specific outfit in mind yet for WHM the way RDM does. She be dressing in basic Ritsuka Fujimaru gear until I resub.

Am sad that I cannot single wield Garuda's wile on higher level as a shoutout to Party-P Zhuge Liang / Waver and Princess Iron Fan. Maybe she can be Yuna instead.

My Scáthach shishou can't be this puny?

--------

"Ya'll borrowing her strength to manifest like no one's business yeah?" "Is this a new housemate? He seems young."

[kittyanonymity]

Jack of All Trades... 1

...Master of None: Iwa

*UNEDITED, NOT BETA’D, BASIC BITCH VERSION PLEASE BE NICE*

*Notes: So, uh hi there! This is my first foray back into fanfics after many, many years away. I’ve always had problems finishing things, so I stopped when I realized that back in high school. This is the first time I’m publicly posting a Naruto fic since roughly... my sophomore year of high school? So about 9 years I think? Anyway this was an idea I had about if Sakura’s mother was from Uzushio, and then I decided to also make her dad.. from another clan too. They spend a lot of time traveling between the different countries, and Sakura makes LOTS of friends!! And learns lots of stuff from many people!! And she will FIGHT YOU IF YOU ARE MEAN TO OTHERS FOR NO GOOD REASON!!

So, yeah. Enjoy, hopefully! 

ALSO huge shoutout to @the-formerone for allowing me to use the Nobi name for Sakura’s mother!!! You’re the best, and I love everything you write! <3 The ideas for the sound and dancing in Iwa was courtesy of @dimancheetoile! She was fantastic in helping me figure out how to make Iwa stand out from the rest of the countries!

Haruno Sakura is 3 years old, and she is surrounded by stones.

For as long as she can remember, her parents have kept themselves and her sequestered in their little wagon, traveling, and selling their wares. Her father was a skilled potter, and her mother’s beautiful calligraphy strokes brought them a substantial amount of money. For the first time that Sakura knows, they have spent more than 5 days in a place.

The place they’re living for now is brown; but like the tan kind of brown that she doesn’t really like. The golden yellow grass is kind of pretty though, and the bamboo is nice. There is some sound that bounces off the high mountains, but Sakura can’t tell what it is since she’s too far from the source.

Her mother had a tight look in her eyes when she told Sakura they were in Iwagakure. She told Sakura to be very careful of any adults she encountered. She smiled, nodding, because of course! Strangers were bad, bad, bad! That was the first rule of being a big girl!

After saying so, Sakura’s mother allowed her to go to the small playground nearby, keeping her within her line of sight. Sakura was having a good time, threading the longer strands of grass together, and she turned to show her mother; but now, her mother wasn’t alone. A strange man with a big red hat and red samurai armor stood talking to her.

And that was when the first rock flew.

So now, Sakura was surrounded by rocks. Small to medium sized stones lay around the young girl as she lay on the ground in shock. Several little girls sneered down at her, rubbing their feet in her hair, and mocking her; she couldn’t tell what they were saying beyond the static in her ears.

The pain registered in the next second, and Sakura wailed. Moisture ran down her face, and as she reached up to wipe it away, her tiny hands came away red. A terror filled scream left the girl, and her attackers stumbled back at the severity. Her mother was next to her in an instant, the strange red man with her.

He immediately set to rounding the vicious children up, while her mother scooped her up in her arms.

Sakura could not stop wailing, her breaths shaky and uneven, and she soon found herself hiccuping, shaking in her mother’s arms; her small fingers curled tightly in her mother’s long bright red hair.

Haruno Namika left the area swiftly, offering Han a hasty farewell, her daughter cradled in her arms. She needed to get to the wagon. The first aid kit was there. She had privacy.

The red haired woman scaled their wagon quickly as she came to it, pushing the tarp aside, and sealing it once she was inside. Her meeting with Han had been cut short; she’d have to wait for him to find her again. Once upon a time, they had been good friends. But it was nowhere near as important as her daughter.

Namika grit her teeth as she thought about what had happened. She had seen the 3 little girls gathering rocks, but she couldn’t have known what they’d been planning; and all cause her daughter looked so different?? What was wrong with children these days?!

As she wrote out some seals with her right hand, Namika grabbed for the medicine pouch her husband kept nearby, shaking it open as she finally finished her stasis seal. Placing the paper on her daughter’s chest, Namika activated it with a small amount of chakra, and watched as the blood stopped flowing from Sakura’s head wound.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed Sakura had fallen unconscious from the shock of everything, not wanting her to be awake for the cleaning process. Frowning, Namika began cleaning the blood from her daughter’s hair and skin.

Sakura hadn’t experienced any conflict in her short 3 years, not for anything. She’d certainly never been around such violence like what had happened; they hadn’t been robbed by bandits since she’d been born after all (not that any robbery attempts were successful at least). Gods, what was Katsumi going to say? Her husband was a soft, rather silly man, but when his temper showed, it showed. And she certainly couldn’t let him kill children. That was… frowned upon now that the third war had ended. (Though if you asked her, children should have never been on the battlefield in the first place, thank you.)

Namika finished applying the healing salve to Sakura’s head before covering it with gauze. With a quick glance around, Namika placed a stifling seal on the floor of the wagon, muffling her chakra. Once placed she let her hand glow with her minimum amount of chakra, a faint green encasing her hand. With a trained eye, she placed her hand against Sakura’s temple, searching for any internal damage she may have missed. Finding none, Namika let her chakra fizzle out quickly, and then removed the stifling seal.

Physically, Sakura would be fine; but Namika knew. Sakura was as much Uzushio as the rest of her family had been; camaraderie ran in her veins, like her very blood. Acts like this never occurred on Uzushio when Namika was young; and Sakura had never encountered such open hostility towards her for seemingly no reason.

She was worried about what this was going to do to her daughter mentally.

Namika jumped as the flap of the wagon came open, but sighed in relief when her husband’s white hair and green eyes welcomed her. Katsumi was at her side in an instant, hands hovering over their daughter.

“Who?”

Namika placed her hand in his gently, pulling it to her; his other hand held Sakura’s.

“Some little brats at the playground; they’re too young to be maimed.” Her eyes grew misty, and she grit her teeth, “They threw stones at her, because she doesn’t look like them, they said.”

Katsumi’s hand tightened on hers, and Namika took a deep breath, steadying herself. 

“I’m concerned how this is going to affect her mental state, Katsu. Uzushio children aren’t used to such…” Namika’s face screwed up in disgust, “such violence, outside of the battlefield. And Sakura may have never seen Uzushio, but she embodies it as much as any of the others did.”

Katsumi hummed softly in acknowledgment, stroking his daughter’s hand absently.

“I remember the stories you tell, Mika.” His voice was soft in the dim light of the wagon, and finally he turned to look at her. “We will just have to see to her properly. Perhaps get into contact with your old mentor, and see if she has advice.”

Namika nodded, resting her head on Katsumi’s shoulder. Katsumi closed his eyes, before leaning down and kissing the crown of her head, and Namika felt herself blush even now.

“You two are everything to me, Mika, I’m sure you know. So I will do anything that you require of me; even if it means ferrying a message to the princess.”

Namika sighed, feeling a headache form. “Not… not yet. I want to see if she exhibits any symptoms before bringing it to Shishou.” Katsumi smiled slightly to himself before holding his wife tighter.

“As you wish, dear.”

———————————————

The next time Sakura went to the park, her mother stayed very close to her, keeping a sharp eye on anyone who came near her. Sakura loved her mother so much; she was beautiful, and strong, and so kind. Sakura knows in her heart she couldn’t be loved more.

But she wants to try and make friends.

And her wonderful mother keeps scaring everyone!

With a huff, Sakura walks her way to her mother, a sloppy, golden grass bracelet clutched in her little hand.

“Mama if I give you this bracelet will you stop staring at all my maybe friends?”

Namika looked a little shocked at Sakura’s question, and she starts to worry that she did something BAD when the woman starts laughing. Her mother takes the tiny bracelet, before reaching out and ruffling Sakura’s hair. She nods her head to the sandbox.

“Go play squirt.”

Sakura smiles and hugs her mother before dashing away. Something wiggles in her foot, and Sakura drops to the ground, tearing her sandal off and staring at her foot in a very clinical manner. There is nothing there. She shakes her shoe even though she can’t see anything, but nothing falls out.

Sakura frowns to herself, then decides to take her other shoe off so that she doesn’t get sand in them; she walks over to the sandbox, leaving her shoes outside it, before plopping to her knees and beginning to play. She can hear the sounds from the mountains again; it almost sounds like singing. With a small smile, Sakura hums along under her breath.

She’s not sure how long she’s there before he finds her.

“Wow, your hair really is like they say, yeah.”

Sakura whirls around, terrified it’s gonna be those girls all over again; instead, she finds a curious looking blonde boy, who is also turning a furious shade of red. Sakura smiles hesitantly.

“What-what about my hair?”

The boy fidgets with his shirt, blue eyes darting around.

“Uh, just that it was um… new, yeah.” He finally returned his eyes to her, to see the girl looking very confused. “I-I mean, um we don’t really get a lot of-of color here in Iwa, yeah. So you stand out, I guess?”

Eyes wide, Sakura’s hand raises to her head where a small bandage rests from her incident; was that why those girls had done that?? Shaking her head, Sakura smiled at the boy, welcoming and warm.

“Well thank you! You’re much nicer than the others!” Dusting her hands off, Sakura stands and sticks her hand out, “I’m Haruno Sakura! It’s nice to meet ya!”

Seemingly surprised by her enthusiasm, the boy reaches out and grips her by the forearm in a typical Iwa greeting, and he gives her a wide grin in return.

“I’m Deidara, yeah! Nice to meet ya!”

———————————————————

Deidara and Sakura are fast friends, and for the 8 months her family is in Iwa, they’re nigh inseparable. Deidara doesn’t look down on her for being younger, and he appreciates how bright she is. Through Deidara, Sakura learns about Iwa, and its people. He teaches her about the sounds she keeps hearing, and Sakura learns it’s music; she’d encountered people singing in the market early on in their friendship, but she’d had no idea it was so significant. She learns that Iwa was founded by the first Tsuchikage just after Konoha’s founding; they had decided that the other regions of the world couldn’t fall behind Fire Country, and were the first to band together and mimic Konoha. This helped ignite the fierce rivalry between Iwa and Konoha, Deidara said.

“It’s what led to the war, yeah.” Sakura frowned as she paused in the sand box and looked at her friend.

“War, Dei-chan?” Deidara was frowning to himself, continuing to mold his sandcastle, and he nodded.

“Yeah. Konoha and Iwa hate each other or something I guess? The war was over by the time I was born, but my uncles and my grandparents fought in it, yeah.” Sakura hummed in contemplation and returned to her own sand.

“I don’t think I like the sound of war, Dei-chan.”

“Me either, Kura.”

Deidara also teaches her about Iwa’s Bamboo Festival. While Iwa lacked basic vegetation such as bushes and trees, they had an abundance of bamboo. The legend was that just before the founding, the first Tsuchikage had pleaded with the heavens for a sign, something to inspire him for his village; a place where his people would be protected and could flourish. The surrounding mountain ranges were all lacking in any plant life, but a goddess blessed just one range with bamboo shoots, and beautiful golden grass; having heard the First’s pleas, she had 2 pandas lead the man to Iwa’s founding home. So every year at the height of their growth, Iwa decorates the bamboo shoots with beautiful ribbons, and lights, and offer tribute to the goddess who blessed their land. They sing her praises in song, and paint beautiful canvases with her likeness.

Deidara grinned broadly, leaning back to inspect his now nearly finished sand castle.

“It’s pretty much the biggest celebration besides the Gifting, yeah.” Sakura’s brows bunched as she worked to finish her castle.

“What’s the Gifting, Dei-chan??” Deidara laughed, his cheeks pinkening a bit.

“Well, families and friends exchange presents, and have a big dinner together, yeah! But it’s already passed.” Finally he looked at Sakura with a grin.

“I’ll just have to make sure to get you something awesome since you missed it, yeah!” Sakura laughed, a big smile crossing her face.

“Yeah! And I’ll give you something great too!”

Then one day, about 3 months into their friendship, she asks him why she can only play with him in the late afternoon.

Deidara grins real big and puffs out his chest.

“That’s cause I’m in the ninja academy, yeah!”

Sakura’s eyes grew wide in awe, “Wow, really?? Can you do any neat tricks, Dei-chan?”

Deidara flushes a little bit, red coloring his cheeks as he grins, “Yeah, I can do a couple! Watch this, Kura!”

So saying, Deidara puts his hands through the symbols for the academy henge, and Sakura watches, amazed, as his hair changes to black right in front of her. Deidara grins widely as Sakura rushes forward to investigate, turning his hair over in her hand.

“Whoa, Dei-chan, that’s amaze-amazin!” Sakura looks up at him quickly, eyes narrowed, “How’d you do it??” Deidara leaned back a bit, somewhat surprised at the almost… hungry look I’m Sakura’s eyes. He knew Sakura liked learning, but he’d never seen her look like that.

“Well, uh it’s chakra, yeah. Everyone’s got it ya know; yours probably just isn’t unlocked yet.” He grins, and pokes Sakura in the forehead, causing her to stagger back a little. Her face screws up in a pout as she glares at Deidara, and she puffs her cheeks out. “You’re still a baby, Kura~!” So saying, Deidara takes off running with a laugh; Sakura lets out an indignant screech, and follows closely after him.

She’s almost caught up to him when a hand catches the collar of her shirt. Sakura yelps as she is pulled back from the the force of her stopped momentum, and she trips over her feet, landing on her back side. They’ve at least let go and stepped back, which hadn’t happened last time she was accosted. She does not cry this time.

Then Deidara is there, standing to the side of her and snarling at the big kid who grabbed her. There are 2 children; the big one - the boy who grabbed her -  and a girl about the same size as Deidara; who seemed to be yelling at him about something.

“Well I thought she-she was after you! How was I supposed to know?!”

“Because she’s not even 4, Kurotsuchi! What the hell, yeah!”

The big kid tenses as Deidara yells louder, and Sakura sees the girl’s, Kurotsuchi’s eyes shine with something that might be shame before the girl snorts; the look she gives Deidara is disdainful.

“Fine, play with the freak, see if we care! Freaks and failures belong together!”

Deidara flinches back like he’s been burned, and his eyes begin to water, and Sakura has had enough. She feels the wiggle in her feet again as she stands, but this time, it’s working its way up, up, all the way to her head. She feels strong; she’s never felt like this. She feels like she could destroy the world.

“You should apologize to Dei-chan, miss. That wasn’t nice.”

Sakura’s eyes do not leave the girl’s, and she’s not sure what she looks like right now cause Deidara is looking at her in what could be awe - or maybe fear? - and the big kid looks like he’s ready to pull the girl away any second. The girl named Kurotsuchi straightens her shoulders out, and crosses her arms.

“Why should I, pipsqueak? Don’t you know who I am?”

Sakura shakes her head, keeping her eyes locked with Kurotsuchi’s.

“I don’t care who you are; I don’t like you. But I can’t let you make fun of my friend like that. It’s wrong.” Sakura’s eyebrows lowered angrily, “Deidara’s a good friend, and he’s taught me lots of things. You’re just a bully for no good reason,” And recreating the expression she’d seen her mother make several times, Sakura raised her lip in what could only be a sneer, “And people who are mean for no good reason are trash.”

Kurotsuchi stares at her for awhile, eyes wide, but Sakura keeps watching her until the older girl lets out a frustrated sound and stalks off, the big kid following after her. Sakura watches them go until they’re out of sight, then she turns to Deidara.

Her friend has collapsed on his butt and is staring at her with a dopey smile on his face.

“Kura that was really cool, yeah.” Sakura smiles and sits down next to him, smoothing out her shorts.

“Only I can pick on you Dei-Chan,” She casts a glance in the direction the children left, and then looks back at him, “but never like that ok?”

Deidara smiles at her before reaching out and ruffling her hair.

“You got it, yeah. Hey, did you notice?”

“Hm?”

“You totally unlocked your chakra, yeah.”

“EH??!”

———————————————

When Sakura told Namika that she had unlocked her chakra, the woman turned white as a sheet before telling Sakura that she was super proud of her, but they needed to have a very important talk.

Sat in her mother’s lap, Sakura listened intently.

“But mommy, why does the seal go on?”

Namika sighed, stroking her daughter’s hair.

“Because honey, right now we can’t have too much chakra. Do you remember the story of Uzushio?”

Sakura beamed up at her mother, craning her head back to see her. “Yeah! That’s your home, mama!” Namika smiled and hugged her daughter close.

“Well, right now, all of Uzushio is a secret, right? And since I’m from Uzushio, you and your father are too. And we have to stay a secret for a while longer, but if we’re walking around with our massive chakra, people start to catch on to the secret. Ok?”

Namika watched her daughter think it over, before Sakura seemed to come to a conclusion, and looked back at her.

“Ok mama; but not forever, right? And not right now??”

Namika laughs, before tickling her daughter.

“That’s right, my little flower! Not forever, and not right now.”

————————————————-

Sometimes, Deidara can’t make it to the park to play. On these rare days, Namika lets Sakura walk around the market area where their wagon is with some pocket money. The first time this happens, Sakura is… wary, to say the least. Her first day at the playground some girls stoned her, and now she has to be by herself again? She’s only about a month into her friendship with Deidara when she ventures out the first time, and she’s very nervous. The market in Iwa is very active, and Sakura has to mind where she steps quite carefully; but the stalls all have so many amazing things, Sakura’s not sure where to start. While trying to decide what she wanted to buy, a commotion started up a few yards from her. Turning to the sound of cheering, Sakura tilted her head a bit before moving towards the crowd slowly forming. An enthusiastic song had started up among those watching, the clapping and chanting bringing a smile to Sakura’s face as she reached the front of the crowd.

There was a small group of people at the center of the crowd, maybe 3 or 4 of them, and they were… Dancing? Yes, Sakura was pretty sure they were dancing. They definitely weren’t hitting each other with those kicks they were swinging around, or flipping into anyone when they went forward or backward with their momentum. Sakura grinned and looked down at her feet in her thick shoes. It was technically autumn in Iwa right now, but it was only a mild chill despite the mountainous terrain. She was glad that the dancers toes wouldn’t get cold and fall off; but… could she do that? Move like they were?

Sakura grinned, joining in on the chanting and clapping, and bouncing along with the crowd as the dance got faster. It was mesmerizing to watch, and after that first time, Sakura looked forward to her days in the market, hoping to catch another dance. She found in the several times she went after that first day, that many people sang or hummed when they were out, and many people would join in in harmonization. There were rarely any words sang, mostly just pleasing vocalizations; Sakura learned that songs didn’t always need words, they just needed feelings. Whether it was leisure, or happiness, or even sadness, you could make it a song. After that first time, Sakura began humming to herself constantly.

During one such trip to the market, during her fourth month in Iwa, she was fortunate enough to catch another set of dancers as they prepared themselves, stretching out, and removing their shoes. With a bright smile, Sakura immediately headed over to the area to secure a good spot for herself, clutching the practice kunai her mother had let her buy. The dancers, 3 in total this time, were laughing with each other, and Sakura idly noticed that the one woman with sandy hair was missing an arm. Sakura didn’t worry too much though; the lady was clearly ok, smiling and laughing with everyone, so she must be fine with only having one arm, right? The child frowned to herself, thinking; pain wasn’t always physical, her mother had told her, so it was probably wrong to assume this lady had no pain. Nodding, Sakura smiled again, figuring that the woman was probably physically fine, even if she was not otherwise. Sakura hoped she knew how cool she was at least.

The woman was tall, well muscled, with her sandy hair styled in a wild way; Sakura couldn’t wait to see her dance. Bouncing in place, Sakura smiled as more people started to gather, and she was the first to start the clapping this time. The woman’s eyes found her the moment she started, and Sakura flushed when the woman grinned at her. The lady set the dance off with a resounding, ‘whoop’ and a flip, and the clapping and chanting grew in force. Sakura laughed as the woman did several flips in succession, and then her other 2 companions, an ebony haired woman and a tall red haired man, joined in.

Their dance was breathtaking.

Unable to help herself, Sakura lifted her tiny feet from side to side, bouncing as she did, trying to stay in time with the music and clapping. The woman paused to catch her breath, glancing over at the child absently, before grinning to herself as she noticed the girl bouncing; it looked like she wanted to… try the dance herself, actually. With the idea in mind, the wild woman threw herself back into the dance, the wide grin never leaving her face.

After what only felt like a few short moments, the dance slowed to an end, and Sakura couldn’t help but pout as the crowd dispersed; she resigned herself to heading home to her families’ wagon and showing her mother her purchase, and turned to leave.

“Oi, kiddo! Wait a second, pinky!”

With a jolt, Sakura whirled around to find the source of the voice, and was shocked to look up into the dark green eyes of the wild dancing woman. With a flush on her cheeks, Sakura bowed to the woman.

“I-I really loved your dance, miss! It was beautiful!” The woman threw her head back and laughed, her hand perched on her hip.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, kiddo! You looked like you wanted to join in yourself there for awhile, yeah.” Sparkles seemed to form in Sakura’s eyes at the lady’s words, and she clasped her hands together in front of her, bag tucked under arm.

“Oh, that sounds so fun! But…” Sakura frowned to herself, scuffing her shoe against the dirt, “but I don’t know how, miss. I’m not from here, and my family are only merchants; I don’t know the dance.” The woman raised an eyebrow, grin never faltering.

“So? Are you incapable of learning?”

Raising her head in surprise, Sakura stared at her for a moment before she grinned.

“I’m a great learner!” The woman laughed heartily, and ruffled her hair a bit.

“Well, then I’m Kairi. Nice to meet you kiddo.” Sakura smiled, bowing her head.

“Haruno Sakura, miss! It’s nice to meet you!” Kairi laughed again, and nodded towards the market.

“Let’s go find your parents, yeah. Maybe they’ll let me teach you a few things.” Unable to contain herself, Sakura let out a small squeak of excitement, grasping Kairi’s hand.

“They’re this way, Kairi-chan!” So saying, Sakura starts off at a brisk walk back towards the wagon, and makeshift storefront her parents have set up. Kairi keeps pace easily, amused by the tiny pink haired slip of a girl in front of her. Children rarely took an interest in the traditional Iwa dances; it was more of a pastime for shinobi and adults who needed to distract themselves from… other things.

“Kairi, where are you off to?!”

Kairi and Sakura both stop, turning around to the new voice, and though Sakura recognizes the red haired man from the dance, Kairi can’t help but roll her eyes.

“I’m going to talk to the kid’s parents, Roshi. Butt out, yeah. I’ll be back.” Sakura smiled at the man, still clutching Kairi’s hand.

“I liked your dance, sir. It was lovely.” The man named Roshi spared her a glance before looking back at Kairi, seemingly dismissing her. Sakura’s smile fell a bit, and she glanced down at her shoes.

“Just make sure you come back soon so we can split the pot, Kairi; or I’ll take your share.” Having said his piece, Roshi turned around and walked away, back to the ebony haired woman. Kairi snarled after him.

“Like hell you will, yeah! One arm or no, I’ll beat your ass, Roshi, count on it!” A moment later, Kairi gasped, and looked down at Sakura who was staring at her in awe. Kairi offered a hesitant smile. “Sorry kiddo. He’s just… like that, yeah.” Sakura shook her head frantically, hair waving, and gave Kairi a wide grin.

“That’s ok, Kairi-chan! That was awesome! You really told him!” Kairi laughed, throwing her head back, before settling down.

“You’re quite the kid, yeah. Your mother’s probably amazing, huh?” Sakura nodded as they continued walking to the wagon.

“Yep! My mama is the absolute best ever! I think you’re gonna like her a whole lot.” Kairi let loose a couple chuckles but otherwise remained silent while Sakura let go of her hand to ascend the stairs into the wagon.

“Mama! There’s a nice dancing lady named miss Kairi here to talk to you! She wants to teach me how to dance.” Namika paused where she was preparing a scroll for a client, and Sakura frowned when her mother’s free hand began to tremble. Namika quickly placed her brush down, and wiped her hands on a cleaning cloth, pulling a smile to her face; but Sakura had seen her hesitation.

“If you’re too tired, mama, I can ask her to come back?” Namika smiled at Sakura, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

“That’s ok, honey. I’m not tired.” With a huff of exertion, Namika rose to her feet, and Sakura smiled as she headed back outside in front of her mother.

“Kairi-chan, this is my wonderful mother, Haruno Namika!” A broad grin split the young girls lips, but Kairi was staring behind her like she’d seen a ghost.

“Hello… Kairi.”

“Namika? It’s really you?”

Sakura looked between the 2 adults in confusion, the shock on Kairi’s face, compared to the sad look in her mother’s eyes.

“It’s been a long time, Kairi.”

Tears rolled down Kairi’s face, and she stepped forward slowly, passing Sakura and wrapping Namika in a tight hug.

“I thought you’d died, yeah! And you were alive all this time?” Kairi pulled back, running her hands over Namika’s shoulders, and looking her over. Finally she looked her in the eyes. “Why didn’t you come back sooner?” Sakura’s mother smiled, but it was small, and Sakura wanted to cry at how upset her mother looked.

“I couldn’t, Kairi. Not… Not with everything that had happened. You lost your arm because of me. How could I show my face again after that?”

Kairi cupped Namika’s cheeks, forcing her to look her in the eyes.

“Nami, I never held it against you, yeah. If you only had just-”

“Mama, you know her already?” Both women jumped, looking down to Sakura; the girl was confused by the conversation, but was at least glad they knew each other. Namika wiped at the moisture gathered in her eyes, and moved away from Kairi, crouching down to Sakura’s level.

“Sakura, honey, Kairi was… mama’s special person for a long time when I was younger.” Namika smiled, playing with Sakura’s hair, “I loved her like I love your father.” Sakura’s eyes grew wide, and she looked between her mother and Kairi before grinning.

“You can love more than 1 person like that?? That’s awesome, mama!” Namika and Kairi both laughed softly to themselves, before Namika stood back up and turned towards Kairi.

“Would you like to come in for tea, Kai?” Sakura watched as Kairi’s eyes softened at her mother’s invitation, and smiled to herself. Kairi was kind, Sakura knew she had been right.

“Yeah, I think I’d really like that Nami.”

Katsumi came home to 2 women roaring in laughter, and his tiny toddler practicing flips.

Sakura’s dance training with Kairi began the next day.

_____________________________

It is the seventh month of their stay in Iwagakure when Sakura gets her seal. Namika and Katsumi had decided it be best to wait a few months to let Sakura’s chakra coils develop naturally before sealing her chakra.

The seal Namika eventually paints onto Sakura’s skin is her own personal blood based seal; it’s designed to be a chakra suppression matrix, but Namika has tweaked it for her daughter in a way that will allow her natural reserves to grow, while remaining suppressed. It is located down the middle of her back, easily hidden by her clothes.

Namika’s own seal is located on the roof of her mouth, and Katsumi’s is placed on the underside of his left arm. Sakura doesn’t know how long they’ve been there, but she feels almost like a ninja when they tell her that they trust her to know about it.

So the next time she sees Deidara after getting her seal, she nearly tackles him.

“Dei-chan, I’m gonna be a-a ninja!”

Deidara grins widely, and squeezes her with all his 6 year old might.

“You can do it, Kura, yeah!”

The encouragement of her only friend is all the motivation Sakura needs. Her mother gives her a small blue notebook to keep notes in; and then Deidara starts showing her the katas they’ve been learning at his academy. The stances are well balanced, movements meant to help keep you close to the ground; she draws diagrams and basic instructions for all of them, and then seperate ones for the dances she’s learned from Kairi over the last few months. It’s during one such little training period that Sakura asks Deidara why he wants to be a ninja.

“I wanna be the leader of the explosion corps! My mom-Well, my mom, she was the leader but, uh something happened, yeah.” Deidara tried to smile, and rubbed the back of his head, “But mostly, I just want people to respect me, and my art, yeah.”

Sakura broke her stance and wrapped her skinny arms around Deidara’s waist before giving him a big grin.

“People’ll respect you Dei-chan, I just know it! You’ll be great!” Her face turned thoughtful, “but what’s the explosion corps? How come you never told me about your art??”

A little shyly, maybe even a little fearfully, Deidara held his hand up, and Sakura’s eyes widened when the skin parted and a mouth smiled at her. She snatched Deidara’s hand, making the boy jump, as she studied the mouth in his hand. It had teeth, and a tongue and everything!!

“Dei-chan this is amazing!!!”

Deidara stares at her for a second before ducking his head, using his hair to hide his face.

“Thanks, Kura. Would uh… would you maybe want to come to dinner tonight? My mom really wants to meet you, yeah.” The boy is scuffing his shoes in the dust, staring at his feet. Sakura can’t help the grin that spreads over face.

“Of course Dei-chan! I’ll have to ask my mama though!” Deidara looked up at her, something almost like surprise on his face, before he smiled a bit and nodded.

“Yeah, and I’ll go with you to ask!”

She smiled up at him, before grasping his hand, and pulling him towards the sandbox.

“Come on, let’s play!”

_____________________________________

Namika tells Sakura to make sure she is home before 9, and with her approval, she and Deidara race off, with him leading her through the streets. Sakura notes that it’s not actually very far from the park, or market.

“So how have your dance lessons been, Kura? You never talk about them, yeah.” Sakura smiled a bit to herself, playing with the hem of her shirt.

“They’ve been good. My teacher’s really talented.” She purposefully hadn’t spoken to Deidara about Kairi that much. If she was being honest, it was really nice to not have to share the older woman’s attention. Kairi was strong in ways Sakura admired, just like her mother. It was selfish of her, but the idea of selfishness itself was fairly new to her anyway.

Deidara nods as he holds open the front door of a carved stone building.

“That’s good, yeah. You deserve a good teacher.” He lights up as they head up a flight of stairs to the second story of apartments, “Hey! Ya know, my mom dances too, and she’s really good. Maybe she can give you some tips too, yeah!” Sakura smiles and nods enthusiastically.

“Sure! That’d be great, Dei-chan!” They stop in front of a door, and Deidara digs a tiny key out of his pockets; unlocking the door, the 2 children step inside, and begin removing their shoes.

“Mom! I brought Kura-chan for dinner like you wanted, yeah!” Sakura places her shoes in the cubby, a small smile on her face.

“Finally, yeah! I thought I was gonna have to wring your little neck, kid.” Recognizing the voice, Sakura turns around with wide eyes in time to see Kairi walk out of the kitchen and into the front hallway. The woman’s eyes grow wide before she grins. Sakura smiles, and flings herself forward into Kairi’s waiting arms.

“Kairi-chan! You’re Dei-chan’s mama??” Kairi laughs, squeezing Sakura in a hug.

“Well, color me surprised, yeah.” She grins over at Deidara, who seemed smug, “You didn’t tell me your little friend ‘Kura-chan’ was actually Sakura, you stinker.” Deidara grinned cheekily, rubbing the back of his neck.

“But then it wouldn’t have been a surprise, yeah!” Sakura turned to look at Deidara with a grin.

“Dei-chan, you knew your mama was my teacher?” Deidara nodded, crossing his arms behind his head.

“Yup! Mom started talking about a little pink haired kid she was teaching, and well, uh…” His cheeks grew kind of pink as his arms dropped from behind his head, and he rubbed his cheek sheepishly, “There’s only one person with pink hair that I know, yeah.”

Sakura looked between Deidara and Kairi, noticing the similarities between the 2 now that they were in the same room; how could she not have seen it earlier? With a smile, Sakura reached over and grabbed Deidara’s hand, pulling him into the hug that Kairi had her cradled in. Sakura has only felt safer when with her parents, and she knows that she will love these 2 people for the rest of her life.

Dinner is a boisterous affair, with lots of talking and laughter, and Sakura can’t help but think that one day, when she’s a ninja herself, that she wants to gather all of her precious people under one roof for a big dinner like this. She grins secretly into her food while Deidara regales them with a tale of his from the academy.

She never wants this moment to end.

_____________________________________

It is just 3 weeks later, the middle of January, when her mother tells her they have to leave within the next week.

This time, Sakura cries; and that’s how Deidara finds her.

He takes the news about as well as she did, but Deidara valiantly holds off his tears; he’s already learned shinobi don’t cry. Not even when their best friend is leaving.

Sakura holds his hand while she gets control of her breathing, and rubs furiously at her eyes. “I’m-I’m gonna write you all the tah-time, Dei-chan, I promise. I’m gonna need-need your address though…”

Deidara nods, rubbing at his own eyes, before he grabs Sakura’s notebook and flips to an unmarked page. He scrawls his address across the top of the page before he hands it back to her.

“Here, Kura.” A wobbly grin stretched his lips, “But how am I gonna send you stuff, yeah?”

With a gasp, Sakura dug her hand into the pocket of her little pants, and produced a small scrap of paper. Deidara took it, examining it, and finding an address written in an elegant script.

“My mama says that you-you can send things here! My daddy checks it a lot since we don’t have a real house, and it’s the only way to con-con-tact our customers.” She smiled even as more tears slipped down her cheeks, “This way, when I become a really strong ninja, we can still be friends!”

Deidara nodded, stuffing the paper in his own pocket, and wrapping Sakura in a hug.

“I gotta make sure to teach you lots before you go, yeah. Oh! I can help you with the henge!”

Sakura gasped, “You-you think I could do it?”

Deidara nodded, his blonde hair shaking, “Definitely, yeah! I’ve never heard of someone unlocking their chakra so early. You’ve probably got great control, or something, yeah!”

Throwing her fist in the air, Sakura cheered, “If Dei-chan says so, I gotta try! Let’s do it!”

By the time Sakura is leaving, she can change her hair color like Deidara, and her mother is blown away at how well she does it. Deidara comes to see her one last time, right before she leaves, just after his mother has left. Kairi had come to see them off before being called away by the red haired man named Roshi. Sakura couldn’t help but feel sad for Kairi since it was obvious she didn’t want to see them leave.

“Oi, Kura, wait!”

Sakura turns from where she is helping her parents load up their wagon, and smiles as she sees Deidara running up to her. She runs to meet him.

“Dei-chan!”

Deidara bends over at the waist, his breaths coming in short huffs, before he straightens up and grins at her.

“Man, I really need to work on my stamina, yeah! I’m glad you’re still here Kura, I’ve got your gifting present for you!” He digs in his pocket before pulling out 2 objects, and Sakura gasps.

Both objects are white and plain, but Sakura is blown away by what she sees. One of them is a little white pendant of hardened clay with a bird etched into it; the detail is startling. The other one though, is super amazing.

“Dei-chan, I didn’t know you could make your art come to LIFE!” The little clay spider is about the size of the palm of her hand, and Sakura doesn’t flinch when it jumps to her arm and looks at her curiously. She smiles at it, and strokes its little back, noticing that the clay is still damp. “Hi little friend~! You’re really cute.”

Deidara coughs, and clears his throat, and Sakura looks back at him; he’s red again.

“That’s uh, one of the things I can do with my art, yeah. That little guy is gonna be your bodyguard from now on!” He gives her a wide grin, “Since I can’t be there to protect you, this guy will.” For a moment he grows a little serious, “If someone ever tries to hurt you Kura, give the spider a little chakra, throw it at somebody, and say Katsu, yeah. It’s got my chakra in it, so using yours will act as a catalyst.”

Sakura looked at him, a little horrified, “But I don’t wanna throw him at someone Dei-chan! He’s my precious friend!” Deidara laughed a little, and grinned at her again.

“Don’t worry, Kura, that’s what the pendant is for, yeah. As long as you’ve got it, these little guys can find you. If you have to use it, I can always send you another!” He stretched his arm out towards her, and his smile turned a little tight; his eyes were misty. “Until next time, yeah?”

Sakura grasped his forearm in her own for a moment, before pulling him to her in a hug.

“I’ll miss you, Dei-chan. Be great, ok?”

Deidara returned the hug tightly, “I’ll miss you too, ya big baby. Try to do some growing up while you’re gone, yeah?” Sakura laughed into his chest as she pulled away, and looked at him with watery eyes.

“I will, and then I’ll kick your butt, Dei-chan!” Deidara laughed, and ruffled her hair.

“We’ll see about that, yeah! I’ve already got a head start on you, ya know!” They laughed together again, and Sakura’s father walked over, a small smile on his lips.

“Sakura, it’s time to go.” Sakura’s smile fell, and she looked between her father and Deidara, before grasping Deidara’s hands with her own.

“Friends forever, right?” She asked, her voice a little shaky. Deidara nodded, a small smile on his face.

“Definitely, yeah.”

Sakura hugged Deidara one last time before turning and climbing into her family’s wagon.

Katsumi glanced down at the boy his daughter had befriended, and smiled a bit to himself when the boy flushed and looked away.

“You have been good to my daughter, and you have my respect. You will make a fine shinobi one day, Deidara-kun.” With that, Katsumi turned and walked away, leaving Deidara standing there a little shocked. Katsumi boarded the wagon without another word, and Deidara watched as it set off. With a sigh, he turned and began walking away.

“Dei-chan!!”

Deidara turned in an instant to see Sakura waving something out the back of her wagon; a smile was on her face, and before he knew it, Deidara was running to catch up.

“This is for you! Sorry it’s not much! I’ll see you again one day! Bye!” So saying, Sakura released the red and gold ribbon, and Deidara jumped to catch it before the wind could steal it. Holding it in his hand, he looked from the ribbon to the departing wagon; his throat constricted tightly, and he raised his arm in a frantic wave.

“Thanks Kura! Be safe!”

With a smile, Sakura ducked back into her wagon, and Deidara watched as it rode out of the village border and then out of sight.

He did not wipe his tears away.

And he wouldn’t let his friend down.

______________________________________

Her mother says they’re going to Kirigakure next, and Sakura wonders why both of her parents look so tense. Their postures are stiff like rocks, and their eyes are sharp like they’ll cut her; they still smile and laugh with her, but Sakura is pretty sure her parents are… worried.

She doesn’t like it.

“Papa, why do you look like that?”

Her father looks at her in surprise before he laughs softly, his white hair falling back. Katsumi smiles at her, and gestures Sakura closer. She steps up to him, and he lifts her to the bench to sit next to him at the front of the wagon.

“What do you mean, petal?”

Sakura struggles with her words for a moment before deciding that asking straight out is best.

“Mama and you look all stiff. It’s uh, like… like the rocks form Iwa.” She looked up at her father, and seeing his confusion, amends her words, “It’s like you’re scared of the monsters under your bed.” Katsumi chuckles again and ruffles Sakura’s hair. Then he sighs, and pulls Sakura close to his side.

“Well, you know your mother is from Uzushio, yes?” Sakura nods, “Though she is not an Uzumaki, your mother’s family, the Nobi, were very influential in Uzushio. They were one of first clans wiped out when the island was attacked. The nation that led the attack on Uzushio was Kiri. Kiri was also the nation who killed my own clan; though really that was my clasmen’s fault.” Sakura turned to look up at her father with an exasperated look.

“But then why are we going there papa?? I don’t wanna!” Katsumi nodded with a sigh, hugging her close to him.

“Yes, we’re not fond of the idea either. But that’s where we must go so we can continue selling our things, my dear.” A small grin spreads over his face, “Plus, it will do you well to soak up as much knowledge from them as you can. The more knowledge you have, the better off you will be.” Sakura nodded, still not liking the idea of being in this Kiri village, but willing to accept it.

“Papa, will you tell me about your clan? Mama’s told me a lot about hers, but I don’t know much about yours.” Katsumi is silent for a moment, before he sighs and kisses the top of Sakura’s head.

“Once we are at the coast of Fire country, I will tell you; but not today, petal.” Sakura pouted, but she nodded.

It took them a total of 2 weeks travel to reach the coast.

And Sakura learns where her mother used to be called Nobi Namika, her father was once called Kaguya Katsumi.