The Spring Field Rabbit

The Hair Ribbon

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Usagi sat next to her older sister by their favorite tree in the park, telling her about the two boys she had met the day before. 

"And then, Tachi-sama said he would call me Usako! Tachi-sama is so cool, right Sakura-nee?"
"I'm happy he saved you, but you should be more careful Chibiusa. Why were you so far into the forest?" Sakura frowned at her younger twin sister. She always knew that she was more level headed than Chibiusa, but this was ridiculous. Usagi tucked her hair behind her ear as she blushed.

"Well, I was picking flowers for you and-" the small pink haired child was cut off as a group of kids walked by, loudly laughing and pointing at the two twins.

"Hey look! It's the two biggest foreheads in all of Konohana!" Sakura' face paled as the kids came closer. As scared as she was, she still took a tentative step in front of Usagi.

"It's not nice to make fun of people." Usagi said. She wasn't one to cower in front of others, but she could see that these kids were bigger than her sister, and that there were no adults around.

"Who asked you pipsqueak?" One of the boys reached around Sakura and pulled Usagi's hair, breaking her away from her sister. Sakura turned to try and grab her as she cried out, but another kid pushed Sakura to the ground. She could hear her sister fighting back, but also the fear in her voice. The kids crowded around Sakura as the threw insult after insult at her. They kept pushing her around, and every time she got up the made sure she was pushed down hard. Eventually Sakura was huddled on the ground while tears fell from her eyes.

Usagi tried to struggle away from the kids who had her hair, and get to her sister who she could hear crying. But no matter what she did, the kids were bigger and stronger than her.

Usagi heard yelling from the other group, and before she knew it the other kids were all running away. Usagi ran straight to her sister on the ground, glancing timidly at the blonde girl in front of them.

"Did you save nee-chan?" Usagi questioned as she hugged Sakura's still shaking and crying form. The blonde tossed her short hair as she glared at the retreating kids. 

"Well I wasn't going to just walk by while they were ganging up on her." She answered confidently. The blonde came closer and crouched down in front of the pink headed twins. "Hey, aren't you the one they're always teasing because you've got such a big forehead?" Before Usagi could defend her sister, Sakura peaked up at her would be rescuer.

"W-who are you?" She stuttered. The blonde gave the prettiest smile Usagi had ever seen.
"Well that's easy! I'm Yamanaka Ino. Who are you?" Ino tilted her head as Sakura sniffled and mumbled her name. "Huh? Hello! I can't hear you. Let's try that again. Who are you?"

"My name is SAKURA!" She yelled before blushing in embarrassment.
"Thats better! And you?" Ino smiled and turned to the other twin.
"Usagi. Haruno Usagi, but Sakura-nee calls me Chibiusa!" Ino laughed and poked Sakura's forehead.

"So this is the famous forehead huh? It really is big!" Sakura started to tear up again, but Ino continued. "You shouldn't use your bangs to hide it like this though, it makes you look like a sheep dog. You could at least part them like your sister!" Sakura kept sniffling, but she was quickly calming as Usagi rubbed her back.

"Hey you know what? I've got something special for you, both of you. So come back here tomorrow okay?" The girls could only nod as the blonde waved goodbye before sprinting off.

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The next day, Usagi left her sister in the care of "Ino-neechan" and ran off to show Itachi her new hair ribbon. She found him sitting by a small river, deep in the forest. Sasuke wasn't with him today, but Usagi didn't take notice of the boy slightly older than Itachi before she pounced on him. Usagi ran and jumped on Itachi's back as he sat on the riverbank.

"TACHI-SAMA!!!" Shisui could only stare, mouth dropped open in shock, as Itachi let (yes let because there was no way the child had actually caught the Uchiha off guard and escaped his senses) a small pink blur jump into his back. She wrapped her arms around Itachi's neck and proceeded to squeeze the life out of him, as she rambled about her new friend Ino and the hair ribbon she had been given.

Shisui's shock only grew as Itachi brought the girl in front of him to inspect the ribbon himself. He smoothed down her hair as she spoke rapidly. 

"Ino-neechan is so nice and pretty and she saved Sakura-nee from bullies yesterday! They pushed her down and pulled my hair but Ino-neechan made them all run away!" Shisui watched as Itachi's face tightened, a protectiveness he had only seen with Sasuke. "Do you like my new ribbon? Ino-nee tied it, but Sakura-nee's makes her look like she has rabbit ears! Isn't that funny Tachi-sama?"

Shisui couldn't hold it in anymore. He burst out laughing hysterically. Finally, Usagi turned towards the boy she had neglected in Itachi's presence. She blinked at him a few times as he kept laughing.
'Is this Tachi-sama's friend? He looks like him, but not like Sasu-chan...' Usagi got up off Itachi and walked towards Shisui. He stopped laughing and observed Usagi with a smile. She stopped in front of him before bowing and smiling at him in greeting.

"Hi! My name is Haruno Usagi! Are you related to Tachi-sama? You look like him but not as much as Sasu-chan does. Are you from the same clan?"
Usagi blinked up at him curiously as he turned towards Itachi, eyebrow raised before turning back to the small girl.

"You call him Tachi-sama?" Usagi nodded.
"Yes and he calls me Usako, because Sakura-nee calls me Chibiusa and Tachi-Sama wanted his own nickname." She nodded her head with her story, complete confidence in what she was telling Shisui. Shisui just laughed again before scooping her into a hug and rubbing his face affectionately against hers.

"Oh you're just the cutest thing I've ever seen!" Shisui kept hugging her making Usagi giggle. "My name is Uchiha Shisui and we'll be good friends Usako!" They both heard a faint growl as Usagi was taken from Shisui and put back into Itachi's lap. Shisui sweat dropped as Itachi hugged the girl lightly to his chest.

"Don't call her that, Shisui." He had said it almost too calmly, but Usagi only stared at him with stars in her eyes, thinking that he was the coolest person she had ever seen. Shisui waved him off.

"Sorry Itachi-kun! How about Usa-chan then? Can I call you that Usagi?" She snapped out of her chance and looked at Shisui with a big smile.
"Hai! I think we'll be good friends, Shisui-kun!"