Twiceborn: Second Bloom | Alternate

Chapter Twelve: Freefall and Failure

Akira was pouting by the end of their mother's explanation. Her lower lip trembled – a deadly move for most, but their mother was well versed in all their manipulative ways. "But why, kaa-chan?" she asked, staring imploringly up at their mother. "You're our kaa-chan... why do we need to pretend Tomoe-oba-chan is?"

Mio nodded furiously, echoing her triplet's words.

Sakura fought the sudden urge to grin. Her triplet was voicing all her many questions, but she'd be more likely to wheedle answers out of Misa. Sakura, unfortunately, didn't have Naruto's tenacity, and she knew when it was best to cut her losses and wait. Akira was alarmingly like her old Naruto, so she wasn't accepting any of the little deflections Sakura would've noted. She was young, compared to Sakura, especially in mentality, and with that came a kind of naivety about the intricacies of the adult world. Still, Misa was their mother, and she was trying to protect them from something. Something big, if her instincts were still anything to go off. She was trying to get her and the rest of her siblings out of the house, which meant the enemy might be stopping at their house at any moment. That was probably why the curtains were pulled shut, Sakura mused. Either way, it'd be best for them to stay away from their mother until things blew over and it was safe for them to return. No matter how much training she'd been doing, she couldn't be watching after each and every one of her sisters, especially if a fight broke out. They'd be in danger.

She stood to her feet, hurrying around to the head of the table, replacing her mother's desperate words with her own. The ones she knew would make her sisters actually want to play the little game of play pretend. "We're playing a game of ninja, OK?" Her eyes met each of her sisters' matching ones. "Kaa-chan is our mission leader, and we've been given an assignment." She folded her arms, watching on with a small smirk as Akira and the twins perked up in excitement. "We're gonna be infiltrating the house of Tomoe-oba-chan. Kaa-chan is just testing us. She wants to see if we've got what it takes to go to the academy. Hn."

"Really?" Seiren grinned, and her twin Sora perked up. "Is kaa-chan testing us?"

"Yep," Sakura said, looking on proudly at her siblings as they listened intently to her words... well, aside from Akane and Nozomi – but that was only to be expected. They were both only a two years old, and they had the attention span of a goldfish. Sakura doubted they'd notice their mother missing all that much. She was the one who took care of them most of the time, with Tomoe-oba-chan chipping in a bit.

"So... it's a game?" Akira tilted her head. "Kaa-chan isn't leaving us?"

"Of course not, sweetie," Misa mumbled, patting her head comfortingly. "Infiltration can be a big part of a shinobi's career, though it can sometimes be very dangerous... you have to be cautious about these things, OK?" She stood, hurrying over to the kitchen cabinets, rustling through them, a slight smile on her lips when she finally found the box she was looking for. "Treat this as your first bit of homework," she said, setting the large tin box down in front of them.

"Home... work?" Tora asked, practically standing on her cushion as she tried to get a peek inside the mystery box their mother had set down in front of them. "What's homework?"

Sakura smiled. That was one things she certainly hadn't missed. Still, it was nice. There'd be no time for homework if they were at war. Peace was nice. "It's work our future sensei would make us do at home," Sakura explained, deciding to give their mother a break from the constant stream of questions thrown at her by each of her siblings. She looked stressed and worried enough as it was.

"Is it fun?" Tora stared at her cutely.

She scratched the back of her head. "Well... maybe?" She grinned sheepishly. "I think we'll have to wait and see... but don't worry," she said, reaching over to hug her counterpart in the younger set of triplets. "Saku-nee will help when it gets to your turn to do it... well, if you still wanna be a shinobi by then." Her hand mused the short straight hair, her smile widening at the soft, smooth texture. She could stroke Tora's hair all day long. It was sort of ironic. Tora the cat's fur had been the same, but Sakura would've never dared to try and stroke the rabid feline. Her sister was a far better replacement for the cat. They even shared the same name.