Warped

Courage

     It had taken a long time for Class 1-A to arrive, to where the sun was already setting. They were all sweaty and covered in dirt, unlike the trio that was there way before them. Sakura and her group had made use of their time with washing up, training, and setting up the plan. Compared to the others in her class, Sakura deemed that the three were heroes, not heroes-in-training.

     "How are you guys already here!?"

     "I thought we were going to beat them for sure!"

     They were so naive and ignorant, not that she would take it against them too much. The world revolved around such words and didn't really require reading in between the lines. 

     Mandalay only smiled, "They were here hours before all of you and before noontime."

     "That's impossible! How could anyone get here before noon!"

     Kaminari childishly stuck out his tongue at them, his hair still wet from the hot springs. "Maybe you just need to get here faster."

     Hitoshi sent him a distasteful look. "Says the one that didn't do anything."

    Sakura held up her hand to signal her purple-haired partner to stop. He backed down with reluctance in his eyes but didn't comment on anything else.

     It wasn't long before Class 1-A settled down to eat, grumbling about unfair things, but Sakura didn't pay any attention to them. Instead, Mandalay and Pixie-Bob had asked for the three to help them with making dinner. Of course, they complied, doing whatever tasks were requested of them.

     Sakura wasn't going to take advantage of the Wild Wild Pussycats's goodwill, so it was only right that she paid them back in some way, shape, or form.

     Hearing Kaminari sneeze near her, she quickly got a spare training towel out of one of her storage seals. The idiot still hadn't dried his hair yet and it could make him sick.  She didn't want him to catch a cold or something... even if it somehow made him look...

     She professionally threw a towel at his head. Sakura normally stored clean towels in her storage seal for training sessions and she was glad she did.

     The pinkette had no time for those types of thoughts.

     After feeding everyone, she took a break on a sofa. Hitoshi and Kaminari were busy with other things since people are more inclined to ask a male to do the heavy lifting. She really didn't have a problem with it, but she also is a selfish human being.

     The sound of a door opening and shutting made her turn her head to see who it was. Her eyes traveled downward to meet with the face of Kota, the kid that had a dislike for heroes.

     "Hello, " she greeted casually and adjusted her position so she could pat the spot next to her for him to sit down.

     He looked at her strangely, almost offended. "Why would I sit down with you? You're a hero."

     She shrugged, "I'm not asking you to sit down as a hero but as a fellow human being. To be honest, I probably wouldn't be a hero if I didn't have a run-in with the police. Probably a vigilante..."

     The boy with his spiky hat then looked more inclined to have a conversation with her. She noticed that his eyes grew less dim when he heard "run-in." It seemed that he had a somewhat devilish and rebellious attitude.

    He hesitantly sat down next to her, sitting as close as he could to the opposite side of her. 

    "I don't bite, " she teased, "You want me to tell you a story?"

    "I'm not a child."

    "Oh no, " she waved, "This a grown-up story, but I just think that you're mature enough for it."

    He narrowed his eyes at her, obviously in disbelief. Sakura only laughed at his expression and poked him on the forehead. "Physically you're a kid, but I know that you're adult-like. I can tell by your eyes, so I wouldn't want to demote you to the likes of a little kid."

    So, she told him a story about a young boy named Inari. She crafted the plot to be shorter but as impactful as she could. Of course, she couldn't keep herself in the story and instead edited her presence out, especially the chakra and ninja business. However, she didn't dare to soften the brutal events that happened to the boy's father and the cruelty of the adult world. It wouldn't do any good to shelter someone that already had a grasp of it.

    "... Nee-chan, what happened afterward?"

    Sakura hadn't expected that Kota would take a liking to her so fast to call her big sister, but she didn't mind it. Rather, it felt endearing.

    "He lived on, became the leader of his village, helped the economy flourish, married, and had kids. All quite a happy ending for a sad start, right?"

     "Yeah, " he replied quietly, his mind in deep thought, "Was it real?"

    "What do you mean real?"

    "The story. Did it really happen?"

    "Mmn, " she answered with a small smile, "It did happen, but it was quite some time ago. All he needed was a small push of courage."

      Mandalay then poked her head in, a bit surprised to see Kota and Sakura next to each other. "Hey, Kota, could make sure that no one crosses the wall in the hot springs?"

     The boy then clambered off the couch, sparing her a second glance back. It seemed like he was asking permission to leave, which was odd.

     "You can go on, Kota. You don't need my permission-"

     "But you looked lonely, " he stated without missing a bit, looking at her straight in the eyes.

     "... What?"

     "When you were talking. I could tell by your eyes."

     Sakura was indeed caught off guard, but she couldn't stop the hearty laughter from spilling out. "You cheeky kid, using my own words on me. Alright, you caught me, but I still got friends to pull me up, okay? Just like how Inari and Naruto became friends, I have my own. Now, go get yours, kiddo."

     "... Courage, " he mumbled aloud.

    "That's right, Kota. Courage."