Hidden Villages

I: Parental Worries

"Why do boys have to be so disgusting?"

Sakura couldn't see Ino due to covering her eyes upon seeing the blond-haired child she'd prefer not to remember the name of perform a jutsu she'd also wanted to not remember. Her cheeks heated up while she leaned into her hands. A poke on her shoulder didn't make her lift her head up.

"The idiot's done Sakura."

Sakura uncovered her sea-foam green eyes and yet the blush on her cheeks didn't go away easily. Iruka continued teaching after the lecture both he and that boy received. He walked up and down watching the students carefully, but paused upon seeing Sakura staring at the desk. For a moment she thought she was in trouble as he watched her carefully.

"Are you okay Sakura?"

Ino leaned over. "She's still shocked about what happened earlier."

"I see. I'll be talking to the parents after class and letting parents know what happened, so they'll be able to talk to you about it. I'll go house to house if I need to, okay?"

Sakura nodded her head as her lip formed a pout. Eventually the children were able to eat lunch and go out to play for a bit. She found herself unsure of what to do, but Amy and her friends kept looking up at her and pointing, yet they seemed to get a few more girls on their side. Ino frowned. "Ignore them Sakura."

"How?"

"Pretend they're not there. They pretend you're not there after all."

Eventually the children came in and drew pictures of their families. Sakura drew her mother and father with their strange hair. Ino leaned over. "Wow. I don't know who you get your eye color from, but apparently you get your hair color from your dad."

"It's not the same color." Sakura frowned. "My eyes are lighter, but so's my hair."

"Oh. That doesn't mean you're not related."

"What?" Sakura startled. "Why wouldn't I be related to them? They're my momma and papa."

Ino waved her hands in the air. "I didn't mean that. I meant we don't always look like our parents. I'd rather not be a copy of mine."

"Oh." Sakura felt she understood what her friend was getting at.

"This is my family."

Sakura looked at the picture carefully. The stick figure representing Ino stood between two stick figure. One of the stick figures pulled their long blond hair into a ponytail and the other pulled their long brown hair into a bun. "You have two moms?"

Ino stared for a bit before bursting out laughing. "That's funny." She wiped a tear away from her eye. "I wish my dad was here so I could see the look on his face when you said that."

"So you don't have two moms?"

"No silly." Before Sakura could apologize Ino's mouth spread into a wide grin. "Would you like to come over to my house after school?"

"You're inviting me over to play?"

"Why not."

Sakura nodded her head in excitement, but a smile spread across her face. "Yes. Yes, I would."

The fact she looked up and saw Amy glaring at her for once didn't bother her. The end of day bell rang and Ino took her hand and hurried through the door. Her new friend led her to a different part of town that she'd never been to. The two girls arrived in front of a beautiful flower shop. Sakura's sea-foam colored eyes widened with delight. "You live here?"

"Uh-huh." Ino dragged Sakura through the front door. The woman with the brown-haired bun sat at the counter.

"Did you make a new friend Ino dear?"

"Yes momma."

Sakura weakly waved a hand to wave as Ino led her through the back and up the stairs to the apartment above the flower shop. They walked through the kitchen area where three people sat. One had a long blond ponytail, another had a short black ponytail and the last had what looked like a lions mane of red hair. She found herself looking right at the person with the blond ponytail. "Are you sure you don't have two moms Ino?"

Ino burst into laughter while the person with the blond ponytail spluttered whatever they were drinking upon their two companions. The man with the black ponytail burst into loud laughter while the third simply chuckled. The one who laughed loudly pointed at the person with the blond ponytail. "She thought you were a woman."

"Come on. My room is this way." Ino continued pulling Sakura. They eventually ended up in what Sakura thought was a rather cute room. She sat on the bed and looked at the posters on the wall. "You said something about looking like your family, but you don't look like your mom downstairs."

"You mean the fact I look like my dad and not my mom? Everybody of my dad's clan line looks like I do. It is so boring." Ino looked up at the ceiling from the cushion she sat down on. She decided to change the subject. "Do you have a favorite movie?"

Soon the two girls chatted away while playing with some of Ino's toys. They lost track of the time. The sun started going down, yet she didn't notice. She and Ino did hear the sound of heavy footsteps hurrying down the hall to Ino's room. The door opened and Ino's father peered in. He seemed upset. "Sakura, your parents are worried sick about you."

"What?" Sakura stomach churned slightly and her sea-foam green eyes drifted towards the ground.

"They're in the Kitchen with Iruka sensei."

Sakura slid off the bed and hurried down the hall. She found herself scooped into her parents arms when she arrived in the kitchen, but she felt her mother's hot breath on her ear. "Sakura, we were so worried."

"I..."

Sakura's mother pushed her away slightly. "Don't you ever do that again."

"What did I do wrong?"

"Not tell us where you were going?"

"I don't understand." Sakura felt tears well in her eyes.