Broken Petals {Sakura Haruno}

28

      Sakura whistled a small tune as she walked down the cobbled path of Konoha, her mind was straying to dark thoughts once again, how was her mother fairing without her, was the demon or...entity in her mind there on purpose or an accident, how many secrets lay in the "safe" village she lived in.

words jumbled her mind and she wasn't looking to where she was going, however her senses made her stop a couple centimeters away from someone. Red hair filled her vision ad she looked up slightly. Teal met emerald green, both eyes filled with a solemn emptiness.

"Ah, Good morning... Gaara-san was it?" She inspected his garb and recognized the boy.

"Hmph.." Short and a curt response.

Sakura inspected him with an arched pink brow, quite rude and not very sociable were her thoughts. Her hand fidgeted and she looked around awkwardly, Naruto was nowhere nearby and the streets were empty at this time in the morning.

"Well...Gaara-san would you like to visit a café for some tea and Dango?" She offered politely, the warm breeze ruffling through the streets, causing her light hair to sway in front of her eyes.

     He seemed to pause, pondering her motives but eventually gave a small nod to her offer, it was a simple invitation to brunch and some tea would help calm his nerves down. Eventually the two arrived at a quiet teahouse and flagged a small little waitress down. Grabbing their seats the two scanned the menu as Gaara occasionally glanced to the rosette sitting across from him.

''Why would you invite me out? clearly you seem uncomfortable.'' His sandy voice grated within the small confines of the shop, just barely audible over the sound of whistling kettles and the dull thudding of the knifes within the kitchen.

''Well there's no harm in inviting other genin from another village is there? I hope you wouldn't mind the simple invitation to eat'' Sakura murmured as she used her index finger to scan what snacks she should order, the sakuramochi seemed pleasant enough but there were so many different items to choose from. Eyes flitting up she caught the red head staring at her and she gave a tight smile to him. ''Is there something on my face Gaara-san?''

''No, my apologies'' He grumbled quietly as he looked down, his pale fingers tapping the edge of the menu with a slow methodical beat, decinding on the oolong tea with a simple omelette to order. Looking outside he could feel the distant chill of the wind graze his nose as well as a faint scent of lavender. Sakura looked at him from the corner or her eye before leaning back as she raised her hand to call the waitress over.

''Could I have a small order of strawberry mochi and a large yakisoba to go?" The rosette ordered her meal and stared at the ninja from the sand. She hadn't had a chance to really observe him or examine his skillset. She supposed the exams would show her everything she really needed to know.
The two stayed silent while the waitress came by with their meals, as they ate the bustling of the streets seemed to rise in volume.

Once Sakuras to go order was ready she paid for her half of the meal and watched as the red haired genin paid for his own, a snicker echoed in the back of her mind as she dismissed the thing inside her. Grabbing the order she turned to Gaara with a thin smile "Well I hope you find our village pleasing, do prepare yourself for the exam though." With that she exited the building before he had a chance to snap back.

Sakura hurried to her apartment that she shared with her blonde friend, unlocking the front door. "Naru? Are you here?" A short muffled yelp came from his bedroom as a sleepy blonde rolled down the stairs.

"Hey Sakura, where'd you go so early in the morning?" Naruto rubbed his cerulean eyes with a tanned hand and yawned quietly. He inspected her and just had to smile at how pretty she looked standing there in the doorway.

"Oh just went for breakfast with one of the sand village's genin. His name was Gaara, the red haired kid." Sakura replied as she placed the keys into a bowl, waving the take out bag. "i got you something to eat because I know you haven't eaten anything yet."

Naruto pouted and placed a hand on his bare chest with a mocking wail "You wound me Sakura I am a very responsible young man." With that comment Sakura rolled her eyes and sighed with a smile on her face.

"Sure you are, you still don't fix your hair or put a shirt on before you come down. Your pants look loose and you stayed up late last night to train again." She held her fingers up at every accusation she made which made Naruto gasp.

"W-well... you know what you're right." He sighed and walked over to grab the take out, sniffing it with curiosity "yakisoba? For breakfast?" Shrugging he just headed off to the dining table to eat. "Thanks, oh and what do you want to do today?" He asked while his mouth was full of delicious noodles.

Sakura leaned against the table as she pondered what activity they could do, she supposed kore training wouldn't hurt but at the same time she wanted a day to relax with her best friend. "How about we just stroll around the village for a bit? I'm sure something will intrigue us."

Naruto raised an eyebrow "I mean I guess that's fine, I just hope we don't run into anyone annoying." He shuddered and finished his noodles, absentmindedly staring at the muscled rosette. "Hey you're lookin a lil thin there Sakura. Are you keeping up on your cardio and strength regime?"

"Of course I am." Sakura sniffed in slight offence at his comment but thought nothing of it, instead opting to go upstairs to change into some more outing clothes. "Go get ready and we'll head out to explore the village."

Naruto chuckled and waved a mocking Salute "Yeeeesss ma'am" with that the two headed off to their separate rooms to get ready.

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((With that heres this update after 2-3 long years. Im very thankful for everyone's patience and I hope to be writing more for this book! My life has just been really busy now that I have a job but little by little ill be updating this book more often for you all and doing some updates and revision on some of the chapters 🥰 once again thank you all for your patience and kind words))