Konoha's Cherry Blossom

Chapter 7

"Hmm..." Tasty... Sakura hummed to herself as she happily ate the anmitsu her great-grandmother had given her, unbeknownst to her parents of course.

"You look especially cheerful today, hm?"

Sakura paused mid chew at the familiar voice, and turned around to face three familiar faces. "Eh, Chiaki-Nii? And Chisato-Nee and Akari-Nee?"

Chiaki chuckled a bit as he smiled at his younger cousin (as distant as they may be) as he stood next to his twin, Chisato, and one of their cousins, Akari.

The twins, Chiaki and Chisato had dark brown hair, with Chiaki's a shade darker, chestnut brown eyes and bangs that swept to the right. They wore similar ninja outfits that they had specifically tailored for them, both with denim blue yukata's, black ninja sandals, black koshihimo belts and the Senju clan symbol embroidered at the back, along with fishnet shirts underneath, though one of Chiaki's sleeves went up to his elbow with a vertical slit at the end while his right sleeve was longer and covered his whole hand as well as black pants with his shuriken holster on his left leg with the pant end that reached down to his ankles was wrapped up in bandages. Chisato's was just like her brother's, except on opposite sleeves, and had her shuriken on her right leg, with long black stocking's that reached up past her knees. The two were descendants, or more specifically the great-grandchildren of Touka Senju, and so had inherited her sharp jawline, pale skin, and elegant features that were passed down to them through their father, Tamaki, and grandfather, Tatsuma.

"Well, you know how much Sakura-chan likes anmitsu." Akari commented, causing the pinkette to flush a bit in embarrassment. She had taupe colored hair, norwegian blue eyes, and fair skin. Her ninja outfit consisted of a dark turquoise short sleeve yukata with the Senju emblem stitched onto the back and on the sleeves, a black tank top underneath, a brown kimono belt with a red string, the standard ninja sandals, a light brown skirt that split at the front and fishnet shorts.

"More like any and all types of sweets." Chisato said teasingly as she neared the three year old, "But don't worry, you're not the only one. When we were younger, Aki-Nii used to smuggle in snacks during the night."

"O-Oi!" Chiaki exclaimed indignantly as they all started to giggle at him, "That was years ago, Sato, and don't tell her that! You're only encouraging her!"

"I would never encourage the over consumption of sucrose, Nii-san." The younger twin, Chisato, said in mock offense, a side of her only her closest and most cherished people are allowed to see. "Besides, Himeko-obaa-sama always gives her sweets either way. Can't really go against her."

"She has a point, Chiaki." Akari intervened, her tone a little too cheeky for his liking, but sighed in defeat. "But didn't we come here to talk about something other than Sakura-chan's unhealthy diet?"

"You're right. Anyways, we wanted to tell you something, 'Kura." Chiaki said as he looked down at the pinkette, "We wanted to tell you beforehand that in a few weeks we'll be leaving to take the Chunin exams."

"Really!?" Sakura exclaimed in awe.

"Yup!" Akari said with a large smile, "We'll be going to Suna soon to take them, but it'll be a breeze for us. Teruma-sensei already said that we were way stronger than an average Chunin."

"Heh, obviously." Chisato whispered under her breath with a distant look on her face, making her brother look at her with melancholy. The three of them, along with various other children were sent out to the front lines of the Third Great shinobi war. Though, only those who displayed talent in the ninja arts were selected from the Academy to go out and fight, and those three were definitely the cream of the crop with their skills and lineage.