Probably? He definitely wants them to be connected to each other by more than blood–and he does teach all of them Grand Fireball when they turn seven, probably, but given that actual clan status (as the Nara go, anyway) involve things like clan tax and land/etc and there’s only one adult and maybe six kids at most they’re not really capable of being a clan yet. Eventually? But not yet.
Especially since they all live in different households raised by different people. Not sure if Sasuke arranges meetings with the kids. If so, it’s definitely infrequent.
Sakako is probably the oldest (maaaybe Sarada is older?) and so she and Sasuke get to make up the new Uchiha clan traditions. More like coming of age sort of things–seventh birthday, becoming a genin, etc etc. Maybe they get to learn Sasuke’s Fire variant of the chidori at age twelve?
Since the Uchiha matriarch-to-be is half Nara, it’s very possible that the fledgling Uchiha clan “officially” becomes an ally of the Akimichi-Nara-Yamanaka alliance and so there’s an exchange of benefits there. The new Uchiha clan get their ears pierced at becoming chuunin (maybe genin, too, like the A-N-Y clans, but definitely chuunin).
I was thinking she’d be under Haruno for legal reasons but have an Uchiha note on her medical records. And obviously, whoever’s in charge of the Uchiha repopulation would be able to keep track regardless of names. And, not that they’re going to turn into the weird slavery thing going on with Hyuuga, but the Uchiha name would then denote the “Main” while not having the Uchiha name but still being part of the clan would be “Branch.”
And it’d make it so much harder for bloodline theft if no one is named Uchiha–and since the Sharingan’s default state is dark eyes and not like the Byakugan’s obvious pupil-less white eyes, THIEVES CAN’T TELL THE DIFFERENCE NEARLY EVERYONE HAS DARK EYES AND THE SLOWLY REPOPULATING UCHIHA CLAN ARE SAFE.
But, true, they may very well use both for Sarada. She’d definitely introduce herself to people as Haruno instead of Uchiha since as far as she’s concerned she’s only Uchiha in blood and not in pracitce.
The screening program was pretty brutal–but they probably didn’t rank cap it, mostly because they wouldn’t want to limit potential surrogates to shinobi and thus reduce their labor pool. They did probably check things like chakra capacity even if they weren’t necessarily shinobi. For example, a lot of the medic corps aren’t necessarily ninja but they do learn to use chakra (and also, as medic nin they’d hear of the program first) and would have good chakra control/capacities.
Since the Nara affiliation isn’t technically a bloodlimit, Shikako did pass the screening for it. Though Sakako may very well have been produced outside of it anyway because, you know, Shikasuke.
The surrogates do receive stipends, and Sasuke/the remains of the Uchiha finances do factor for most of it. But seeing as how Konoha would want to repopulate such a strong bloodline, there is a government subsidy for part of it.
There are at least two others that I fleetingly thought of–definitely there are actually more than that, but only two that I even vaguely considered before this. One of the surrogates is Ami who isn’t as awful as she used to be and is kind of like an awkward and exasperated in-law to the giant mass of convoluted relationships that makes up Konoha Twelve+Sakura+Sai. Another is from Kurama clan (aka Yakumo’s clan who somehow didn’t learn the first time) or the Yuuhi clan (aka Kurenai’s clan who already have red eyes naturally and probably are a minor clan who are actually or claim to be long ago branched from the Uchiha anyway) and is trying to make a SUPER GENJUTSU BLOODLINE and possibly take “Main” status from Sakako because of that.
There’s definitely more, but I haven’t thought that far about it…?
If you look closely at Sakako’s section in Our Share of the World and in the later part of Walking Around (Like Regular People) I mentioned that Sakako’s genin teammates were likely to be Boruto and Mitsuki since, like Shikako did with Sakura, Sakako would take Sarada’s place. (And the Academy teachers probably figure that since Boruto is Naruto’s son and Sakako is Shikako and Sasuke’s daughter, they’d minimize the next gen Lucky Seven effect and keep it as much to one team as possible. :P)
Unless that was a typo and you meant the Walking Around version of Sarada? In which case… I kind of briefly touched on it in this post, but now that I think more strongly on it… I’d think she’d end up on Team Chiyako (aka Shino’s little sister as their jounin sensei) wiiiiiith Sarada Haruno, as of yet unknown Inuzuka of this generation (whether Hana’s kid or Kiba’s kid or just some other Inuzuka), and a genjutsu user. Possibly of Yakumo’s clan or even Yakumo’s adopted child (I don’t think she’d want to have biological children and risk her condition being passed down).
Or, if Chiyako has already ascended as Aburame matriarch and isn’t available to be a jounin sensei, then it’d be Team Ranmaru with Sarada, next gen Inuzuka, and next gen Aburame (Shino’s kid or some other Aburame).
Either way, they would be more a support type team (like my *fingers crossed* prediction for Team Anko composed of Sakura, Yakumo, and Isaribi) or a search and rescue type team (like I headcanon for Team Hana aka my prediction for what will happen to Hanabi, Chiyako, and Ranmaru that I made long long ago in Don’t Hold Back) instead of the POWERHOUSES of Team Sevens past.
(Ah, now I don’t know if I should tag Sarada posts as Sarada Haruno to differentiate her from canon Sarada. I mean, she’s still genetically canon Sarada. But her backstory is waaaaaay different and she’d actually go by Sarada Haruno instead of Sarada Uchiha.
Eh, what the hell, I’ll tag posts of her with both)
I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t that fond of them before because, well, basically Kishimoto somehow ruined his original characters and his new characters simultaneously in the span of one chapter? (I’m looking at you 700) But being able to reimagine next gen through the DoS lens has made me appreciate all of the characters more.
Like, now I want to figure out how the Konoha Twelve become adults and decide (or not) to become parents (or not). And, you know, sometimes they’ll mess up–they’re not going to be perfect at things–but I feel like, just like how the generation before them (or, at least Shikaku) said fuck traditions, I’m going to do what makes me happy and marry the woman I love, that their generation is going to do the same. Or at least try.
Let’s see… for Gaara’s feelings about the situation… He’s definitely less jealous than Sasuke but more… afraid almost? It has to do with his self worth and, you know, his continuous surprise that people love him.
The way I see it, he accepts the smallest bits of affection from people and doesn’t expect more and he’s devoted to them in return (ie his love for Suna even though most people are still scared of him probably). And seeing as how Shikako is the first person who believed in Gaara, she gets to experience that first hand. Not Naruto, not his siblings, Shikako. And in DoS we see that he’s constantly surprised by how much faith she has in him (oh god my Shikaara feels).
So he’s not exactly expecting her to leave him for Sasuke for good, but he thinks he wouldn’t be surprised. (He would be and also hurt, but since that’s not going to happen it’s a moot point). That uncertainty and nervousness that the NGSS have with Sakako, Gaara has in a different way with Sasuke. And it’s not like he holds it against their kids for not being biologically related to Shikako, but a part of him reluctantly keeps in mind that Sakako is biologically hers.
—
Okay, so, regarding mono/poly relationships:
It’s okay to ask your question–it wasn’t ignorant or rude or anything, and considering what I’ve been writing in my fic and A/N it’s totally relevant and not weird (I only took so long because I went to an event for five hours and I wanted my full attention when I answered this). So I would like to answer your question but I also am not exactly qualified, seeing as how I don’t have much experience with relationships personally and more besides I’m either demi/aro and ace.
That being said, I have witnessed a lot of different kinds of relationships and also somehow spent an entire year acting as some kind of romantic guru for a group of six women and their various respective partners and, trust me, there were a lot of situations coming up so… I’ll tell you what I know/think but I also warn you to take it with a grain of salt: I am no expert in this.
Different people obviously have different preferences and limits. And even then, those are general and occasionally there will be exceptions to rules. If we use Naruto characters then I’d say something like:
Sasuke is monogamous. Not even a serial monogamist (which is someone who only dates one person at a time, but has dated multiple people in succession) but–like I said in a previous post–a “one and done” monogamist. His “one and done” in DoS is Shikako, and his exception is Naruto. (Probably in canon, his “one and done” is Naruto and his exception is Sakura).
Which isn’t to say that he never feels attraction to people who aren’t Shikako (or Naruto) but it doesn’t really settle. It’s like noticing something on the side of the path, and you maybe stop and look at it, but you never actually go off the path or down a different path. Like, if Shikako (and Naruto) didn’t want to be with him romantically, he probably wouldn’t be with anyone romantically at all. That’s it–one and done (+ one exception).
… I don’t know why I chose that path metaphor, it doesn’t extend very well. Um… Keep in mind that mono vs poly doesn’t correlate with romantic or sexual orientation. So Sasuke is probably demiromantic bisexual, but since we’re talking about mono/poly that doesn’t really matter to this particular discussion. Also everything I say about characters’ orientations and preferences is REALLY just my interpretation and not in anyway canon for DoS (or… actual canon, but that’s just duh)
Shikako, in contrast, is poly. It’s not like Sasuke is her one and Gaara is her exception, it’s if she finds someone she likes, she’ll let them know. If they like her back, and they understand her limits then that’s it. If I didn’t headcanon Kiba as aro pansexual (and her as demi/bi-ro and demi/ace) she’d probably also be in a relationship with him–as it is their orientations don’t really match up so they’re just platonic bros.
Shikako’s dislike of marriage/being tied down is separate from her being poly. Take the Sai-Ino-Sakura trio. They are poly and about as close to three-way married as legislation will allow them. Ino is poly, Sai I’m not too sure about, and if Sakura is mono then she’s a different kind of mono than Sasuke. She’s more a prioritizing kind of mono (not an actual term as far as I know) in the sense that she kind of ranks who she likes and since Ino ranks above Sai that makes Ino her one. She’s probably at least romantically attracted if not sexually attracted to Sai as well, but not as much as she is with Ino.
And I’m not saying Sakura prefers Ino over Sai, or sides with Ino over Sai, or would drop Sai if Ino said so. But it’s like… for her, she and Ino are dating and Sai is their very close friend who happens to also be dating Ino. It’s totally fine with her, and maybe she’s even a little relieved (not just because Sai takes up more than his share of child rearing) but because she likes knowing that Ino is happy and loved and also appreciates someone else making her happy and loved. As a friend, she wants Sai to be happy and loved as well, but she feels no personal motivation/desire to BE the person who makes him happy and loved.
(I hope I’m getting across here, anon, it’s hard to articulate and I keep waving my arms in crazy gestures as if that will help at all)
If Ino didn’t want to be with Sakura, Sakura would probably move on to someone else, fall in love and be monogamous with them–she’s a serial monogamist, if you want an example of one here.
Gaara I am also not that sure about, mostly because I feel like even he doesn’t know? But if he is mono it’s definitely less like Sasuke’s one and done (+ one exception) and more like Sakura’s serial monogamist. But he might be poly–he definitely wouldn’t say no to having a concurrent relationship with Naruto (but again, that’s probably a bad example since Naruto seems to be a lot of people’s exceptions) while he’s with Shikako, but there’s really not that many people who I can imagine him with romantically so the designation is a little difficult.
Well, okay, I have written Dreaming of S(elfishness) and I feel like that has my subconscious headcanons there so I just need to unpack it? Hm… Gaara is mono or thinks he has to be mono or didn’t even know poly was an option, so when the engagement happened he didn’t even think to discuss the possibility with Shikako which is why she was upset. Because as far as she understood his actions, he got engaged and didn’t want to talk to her which she interpreted as him being mono and choosing Hokuto over her AND NOT TELLING HER ABOUT IT IN PERSON.
The problem with situation in the Walking Around series isn’t so much that Sasuke is mono and Shikako is poly, it’s that Sasuke is a possessive bastard and expects everyone to be the same. If it were two Gaaras, they’d be more than okay with Shikako being with both of them some of the time. Okay, that sounds weird. If it were… If it were Toki and Gaara, (assuming Toki is mono which) they wouldn’t have the same festering expectations/feelings of abandonment that Sasuke has.
Okay, that’s not being fair. Another part of the problem is that Shikako’s chosen partners are in different country and she literally cannot be with both of them at the same time. So Sasuke also resents that his and Sakako’s time with Shikako is reduced so greatly. As I said before (in this previous post) if it were Kiba, Sasuke wouldn’t mind nearly so much. He’d probably even be willing to figure out a living situation that includes Kiba and the nonexistent Shikaba(?) children–massive house, two houses next to each other, etc etc.
Mono/poly relationships are situational like most other relationships. In the Sai-Ino-Sakura trio, it totally works because they’ve probably got very clear channels of communication and even if Sai and Sakura aren’t romantically together, they are friends and make it work. I have seen such a relationship work in the real world–the Ino and Sakura equivalents are getting married next year and the Sai equivalent is going to be maid of honor.
The Sasuke-Shikako-Gaara trio doesn’t work because it’s not really a proper trio. Sasuke and Gaara? Do not like each other at all. They are not friends. Shikako was probably explicit about not being married to Sasuke, about being poly, but Sasuke probably didn’t fully understand what he was agreeing to but isn’t willing to break up with Shikako because she’s his one. I’ve seen something almost like this and it… well… I kind of saw it failing from the beginning because of similar problems, but they wanted to try anyway. The Sasuke and Shikako equivalents were able to break up amiably–but the Sasuke equivalent wasn’t the one and done kind of mono like her fictional counterpart so she fared better than Sasuke would.
It does depend on your limits and preferences. More people in a relationship does mean more limits and preferences and emotions to juggle–it’s difficult to manage, it’s true, but for some people it’s worth it. If you don’t think you can handle a poly arrangement, then that’s nothing against you, that’s just outside of your limits. You and your partner have to be aware of that. If your partner is poly and you’re mono you both have to respect your differences: whether that means your partner stays monogamous even though they would prefer a poly relationship, or you accept their other partner–maybe you’ll become friends–or, maybe, you might just have to break up. Relationships are as much about function as they are about emotion. If you love each other but you’re not compatible, it’s better for both of you to not be together in that way.
And, you know, maybe you’ll be more like the Sakura kind of mono–in that you personally are mono but you are okay (or even more than okay) with your partner being poly and having another partner. Monogamy can also be emotionally taxing, if you are each others’ be all end all. If you are romantic partner and sexual partner and roommate and best friend and therapist and war advisor and financial partner all together and it’s a lot of pressure to be all of that for one person. Some people can do it. Some people can’t.
I personally would probably be more of the Sakura kind of mono because I’m always so relieved when the people I love have other people who love them too. And that’s even if I were mono–I don’t even know what I am, so it’s not weird to not know and be interested and wondering, still.
Love is hard and weird and relationships are complicated whether there’s two people or three people or more than that. So long as everyone’s clear on what they want and what their limits are and when they’re not happy. Because it’s okay to enter a relationship not really knowing your boundaries and realize while you’re in the relationship that, hey, you’re not keen on this. You and your partner(s) will have to work out a way to fix this problem. Sometimes the solution may mean breaking up, but at least you still have the memories of when you were happy and learn more about yourself.
I think that’s it. Wow that’s long. I hope I answered your questions, even if you said I didn’t have to. I did want to, really, it was just intense and I needed some time to wrangle the words.
(Speaking of, thanks! I’m glad you like my writing – and even maybe some of my brainstorms/recordings if you mean all of the content on here? 😀 )
No but a little seriously: which clan elders? The dead Uchiha elders who were killed by the last prodigal heir they tried to pressure into doing something? Or the Nara elders who… well, don’t have any authority over the Uchiha heiress and, anyway, probably consists of her Jii-chan and people who have had to put up with her Mum’s stubborn shenanigans as a youth.
Even if her ability were to become well-known, it would probably be further along in her career after she, with double the Lucky Seven misfortune, spent several years turning even the most basic mission into a matter of international politics. The amount of political clout she’ll have to NOT do something she doesn’t want to do is going to be amazing.
… But I just realized that seeing as how we’re presupposing an Uchiha repopulation program anyway, she’s default head of a new Uchiha clan. Basically her ability is assumed to be the new manifestation of the Sharingan bloodline anyway, so…
Yeah, for people who haven’t been exposed to her / aren’t related to her Sakako is pretty creepy. She knows better than to tell people the things she gleans from their ghosts, but even she slips up sometimes.
Not everyone turns into ghosts, though–violent deaths/people with regrets/etc–so it’s not EVERYONE that a ninja kills. Just the ones that are more… personal, maybe? But, yeah, her abilities are a lot more frightening to ninja than they are to civilians. Simply since most civilians don’t have ghosts, and even the ones that do… well. Her ability would be seen more as a spiritual thing than the weaponized thing that ninja always default to.
If I were to write the adventures of this Team Konohamaru, there would definitely be at least one mission where her being able to see ghosts helps the tortured client be at peace with the loss of *insert dead family member here*. Probably a daimyo because, let’s be honest here, she’s inheriting double the luck and there’s also Boruto who has his share of Lucky Seven fortune.
Those who are close to her but don’t know she sees ghosts (because she really does keep that mostly to herself) probably just think she’s really observant and good at inferring things. Like Shikako, a lot of the things she remarks on is from her prior knowledge, but people just think she’s intelligent and has good instincts (ie the post Tsukuyomi conversation with Jiraiya).
Reincarnated from another world is a little more out there than the ability to see ghosts, so some people might guess at Sakako’s ability. But they may also attribute it to her just being her mother’s daughter when it comes to information gathering.
I’m glad that you think it’s realistic–I didn’t want their situation to be perfect but I didn’t want it to be awful, so I was trying to keep to believability. Sakako is observant but she’s still a child and she doesn’t know everything–especially doesn’t pick up on certain nuances since this is the family she’s grown up with so she thinks this is normal–but I hope I was able to give enough clues that the readers can get a sense of the picture for themselves.
I don’t know why, but Shinki is my favorite of the NGSS to torment with feelings. Like, Yodo definitely suffers from occasional insecurities and self-doubt, but usually they pass. Araya–well, when I write Dreaming of S(haring the World) I’ll get into his dealio–but Shinki! He’s just going to have all these deeply running feelings. So many feelings.
Sakako is probably closest to Yodo–because they understand each other since they are both brilliant but isolated young girls–but I do think she and Shinki end up close as well. Definitely closer than Shinki and Shikadai end up, and possibly more than Shinki does with Yodo. Given the whole… passed over for Kazekage thing. (What if Araya is the one that ends up Kazekage? Wouldn’t that be great?)
I’m sorry about forgetting Kareru in Walking Around (Sharing the World) it wasn’t part of anon’s prompt so he just kinda slipped my mind. If I’m doing the math right, though–then again, Kishimoto is really bad at ages and timelines–the Konoha Twelve should be about mid/early thirties during the events of the Boruto movie so… Kareru is at least five years older than the next gen. He may also already be a chuunin, so he’s not around as much during the time when Walking Around (Sharing the World) happens. Which explains why Sakako feels alone more often than not.
But I do like to think that Sakako and Kareru are good for each other–even if I’m pretty sure Kareru is benignly haunted by a significant chunk of the Uzushio population. Uzumaki are good points of concentration for ghosts to haunt, I imagine.
I haven’t quite decided what sets off her Mangekyo, but I do think that of the NGSS it would be Shinki that is involved somehow.
—
~FEEEEEEELS~
As I said above, I am planning on writing a Dreaming of S(haring the World) but it will be more about the Shikaara side of things and their POV of their parents and their roles in their family and the village etc etc–I’m not sure if I’ll touch on the matter of the Uchiha since, you know, I’m not really sure if this is the same universe or not. (From the responses I’ve been getting, though, it does look like people are totally on board for all of Shikadai’s cousins to exist in the same universe. So… ?)
And, well, I feel like Walking Around (Sharing the World) already has enough of the NGSS that readers can kind of get an idea of how the NGSS feel about Sakako and Sasuke? Like, they’re wary of Sasuke definitely, and a little nervous and uncertain around Sakako. Because even though it’s not the candidacy for Kazekage, this is still their Mother’s biological child and the father of said child–they don’t doubt Shikako loves them, but it’s this thing separating them still. It’s not like Shinki’s low-key resentment of Shikadai… it’s more an insecurity about where they stand, especially when they’re in Konoha and face to face with the Uchiha clan of two.
As for Sakako’s meeting with Gaara, I left that open ended for a reason. Namely, because I don’t know what I want to do with that exactly and also I figure it’ll happen during one of those international crises when she’s already a genin and I don’t really want to write that. As it is though, they’ll probably stumble into each other, fight side by side, get saved by Shikako and Shinki and then have a very reticent but amicable talk.
They both find the night sky soothing; there are so many more stars to see in the desert.
—
Sakako is growing on me, too. I’m surprised by how much people like reading about her, actually, I did not expect this much excitement about her.
Yup, Sasuke is jealous of Gaara. Well, it’s a little… the way I understand their characters, Naruto is very free about loving people even if they don’t like him back. Shikako is a little more logical about it in a very basic sense that having more people that like each other is better than less people. Sasuke is very possessive about the people he likes. He only likes a few people and those he doesn’t like he’s just–get away don’t touch them *hiss*
In DoS the number of people he tolerates is much higher than in canon, but it’s still pretty small in comparison. Gaara is definitely not one of them in either iteration so… you know.
If it were Naruto that Shikako had another family with (not including Kareru who is the communal child of Team Seven/Konoha Twelve) Sasuke would be a lot less jealous even though he is staunchly monogamous. Er, maybe that’s a bad example since Naruto basically is his exception to the rule.
If it were Kiba, maybe? Yeah, as an example only, if it were Kiba–who Sasuke at the very least trusts in battle (which he never will with Gaara) and has friendly banter with–that Shikako had another family with, Sasuke wouldn’t mind nearly as much. It also doesn’t help that Gaara is Kage of a different village and Shikako splits her time between the two villages as well as her travels.
That being said, his POV is difficult for me in normal fic, I don’t think I’m going to tackle a bitter and jealous Sasuke and especially not with him and Gaara interacting. Mostly because I think they take great pains never to do so? (I speak out loud when I type and my voice just went to high pitched and anxious I literally went outside of my range. And if you’ve ever heard me voice, you know that’s really fucking high)
Um, but I’m glad you like Walking Around (Sharing the World) it was… difficult but satisfying to write 🙂
Hm… personally for me, depending on how liberal Konoha’s legislation is on the matter of marriage, I’d like for Ino to be married to both Sai and Sakura. But if bigamy isn’t allowed (and I can understand why that wouldn’t be considering CLANS and INHERITANCE and… you know… that can be exploited horribly as it usually is in real life) then I think I’d prefer it if Ino and Sakura were the ones married.
Then again, Ino and Sai being married would be nice because Sai doesn’t really have a family and being married would mean that he’s now officially part of someone’s family. (I’m not crying, you’re crying). But than can also be achieved by Sakura and Sai getting married?
But, yeah, in their ménage à trois, it’s definitely Ino at the point of their V while Sakura and Sai’s relationship is nonsexual romantic or just plain platonic. They do like each other rather a lot, though, and DoS!Sakura is a lot more accepting(?) of Sai than canon!Sakura who saw him as a shoddy Sasuke replacement.
They all live together, along with Inojin and Sarada (and I just realized that in this universe, Sarada’s last name would probably be Haruno making her Spring Salad), and Sai definitely had to step up and take on most of the child-rearing duties especially since I also realize that in order for Sarada to be genetically-canon!Sarada, Ino and Sakura would have been pregnant at around the same time. So Sai would have had to deal with DOUBLE THE PREGNANT LADIES. But, luckily for him, he does honestly enjoy taking care of the kids.
I don’t think he’d fully retire from ninjadom–mostly because I don’t think that’s really possible in a Hidden Village–but he does definitely orient his missions/duties for, oh I dunno, maybe he becomes a teacher at the Academy (for the younger years) or he learns medic jutsu and works in the pediatric center of the hospital.
(Oh! Another thing I found from narutopedia: whenever Inojin plays roleplaying games he chooses White Mage who are literally medics so, you know, being son of three medics–one of whom is the successor of Legendary Medic Tsunade–is probably heaven for him)
He does also write/draw children’s books on the side, because if Jiraiya can write porn and be a spymaster, Sai can definitely be a father, an author, and a teacher/doctor.
How did Ino, Sai, and Sakura end up together? I’d say it probably went something like this:
“Beautiful,” the cute guy calls her, and Ino just barely controls her blush.
“Obviously,” she says, flipping her hair, “but you’ll have to try harder than that to impress me.”
The cute guy, Sai, nods as if noting it, all but writing it down. “Do you have any advice? A book, maybe?”
Ino smiles; how does Shikako find these guys?
“You should come by the flower shop,” Ino suggests, invites, beguiles, “I can teach you far better than any book can.”
—
Sai shows up at the flower shop the next day and maybe he didn’t really understand what she was offering, but it’s a nice enough conversation.
He actually listens to her, not just stares mutely and tunes her out. He asks follow up questions and by the time an hour has passed she’s discussing the pros and cons of various flower arranging styles as methods of poison dispersal to a boy who actually wants to know more.
She invites him to come back.
Maybe it didn’t turn out the way she wanted it to, but she finds she doesn’t mind at all.
And anyway, he still calls her beautiful.
—
Ino looks forward to the kunoichi meetings, tries to go to as many as she can–it’s good for networking and collaborating, true, but mostly she just misses it. Misses kunoichi classes at the Academy, and sleepovers at her house, and the way things were easier and brighter and happier then.
Ino knows she and Shikako have changed too much–seen to much and done too much–to ever really get that kind of innocence back. Not that theirs had been all that pure, honed and shaped the way all clan kids are from birth, but still.
Sakura still has it, that brightness that has nothing to do with the color of her hair and eyes. That core of strength and beauty that no poisonous flower arrangement could ever match.
Ino looks forward to the kunoichi meetings because, at the heart of it, she looks forward to seeing Sakura.
—
Things… happen.
No, that’s not right: Ino makes things happen.
She’s never been one for sitting back and pining–she’ll play things close to the chest like any proper Yamanaka, but she’s always been vocal about her likes and dislikes.
This time around, she gets liked back.
—
Once, Sakura visits her at the flower shop at the same time Sai is there for their meetings–Sakura is usually busy with shifts at the hospital and her lessons from Tsunade-sama, and Ino’s not entirely sure what Sai gets up to when he’s not at the flower shop or going on bizarre missions with Shikako.
Once is all it takes.
Sakura skirts around the counter, presses a kiss to Ino’s cheek in greeting, and for all that it’s chaste it makes her blush.
Sai tilts his head, observant as always.
Sakura nudges her in curiosity.
“Sakura, this is Sai, cute artist,” Ino introduces, “Sai, this is Sakura, amazing girlfriend.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Sai,” Sakura says with a sweet smile.
“It’s nice to meet you, too, Amazing Girlfriend,” Sai responds, a smile of his own, “I appreciate having a senpai in dating Ino. Please look after me,” he adds a polite bow, oblivious to the reactions he receives.
Sakura blinks in surprise. Mostly confused, but a little… considering.
Ino looks between the two of them and has a revelation.
aka, how Sai instigates a poly relationship without realizing it 😀
edit: adding this to ao3 Dreaming One Shots as “Take A Step That Is New”
JackSGreyson Says 