The Spring Field Rabbit

Best Friends

Naruto was the brightest thing Usagi had ever seen. His hair made her think of the sunflowers Ino had given her, and his eyes were the color of the Konoha sky. But his smile was brighter than the sun, his happiness infectious. Usagi wanted to be as happy as Naruto.

"If your best friend made you cry, then you should tell him. Tou-San says that friends are important, but that your feelings are too, dattebayo!" The golden haired, azure eyed boy gave Usagi a big smile. Usage smiled back and nodded.

"Your Tou-San sounds really nice," Usagi stood from her place on the ground and held out her hand. "I'd like to meet him one day." Naruto smiled and used her hand to get up.

"Hey are we friends now?" Naruto cocked his head to the side in a way that reminded Usagi of a puppy.
She nodded fiercely, "Best friends Naruto. And you can meet my sister and be friends and maybe even Sasuke if he stops acting like a jerk." Naruto's eyes opened wide.

"Wait, Sasuke is-" Naruto was cut off as they could hear voices calling out Usagi's name, past the tree line.

"They were looking for me?" Usagi looked out to the trees, shocked.
"Well of course! You said they were your friends, right?" She smiled and wiped at the leftover tears in her eyes.

"Right. Do you want to meet them?" Naruto gave her a big smile, showing his missing tooth. Usagi grabbed his hand and ran through the bushes towards the voices. She pushed past branches and trudged through the scratchy bushes.

"I'm over here!" She called out to the voices.
"Usagi!" 

Itachi, Shisui, Sasuke, and Sakura came into the clearing to find Usagi and Naruto running towards them. Usagi released Naruto's hand and kept running toward the group, never slowing down. She bulldozed past everyone, knocked Sasuke onto the ground, and hugged him.

Usagi started blubbering and crying again, telling Sasuke how mean he was and how much she wanted to be his friend. Itachi saw Sasuke's shocked expression and gently coaxed the girl off him.
"He needs to breathe, Usako." Shisui patted the girls head as Itachi discreetly checked her for injuries.

"Usagi we were so worried about you! You shouldn't have run off like that. Your sister has been looking for you too." Sakura took her sisters hand in a squeeze as their eyes held a silently conversation, asking if everything was okay. It seemed that the small flower Sakura was, became a tree to protect her younger sister. The girls smiled and released each other and Sasuke shuffled forward, kicking the dirt and staring at the ground in shame.

"Sasuke?" Usagi hadn't seen him look so small before.
"I'm sorry I was mean. You are my best friend, and that's more important than being an Uchiha!" Sasuke three his arms around Usagi in a quick hug before shoving her back into her sister. Usagi blinked a few times, then laughed.

"It's okay Sasuke. Naruto helped me understand." The others finally acknowledged the blonde boy next to them.
"Naruto?" Sakura questioned before Sasuke scoffed.
"What're you doing here dobe?"
"I found Usagi, teme! After you made her run away!"
"Hey! That's not-" the boys were interrupted as ANBU crouched down from the trees. The four children yelped and hid behind Itachi and Shisui at the unexpected intrusion.

Itachi, figuring they were either there for him or Naruto, greeted them.

"Naruto-sama, your father will be expecting you soon for dinner." Naruto groaned as the girls started at him.
"Naruto-sama?" Sasuke smirked.
"Better run home before he sends an entire squad dobe." Before Naruto could yell back, a feminine voiced sounded through the forest.

"Sasu-Chan! Time for dinner!" Naruto howled with laughter.
"Better run before Mikoto-baa comes to get you!" Usagi looked between the two boys as they glared at each other.

"Could it be that... you two know each other?"