Cherry Blossoms and Chakra Strings: Dinner Plans

Sakura's hands dug deep into the mechanical guts of her puppets as she fiddled with her creation's internal mechanisms. Her tongue poked out of her mouth as she twisted her tiny screwdriver, tightening a coil of wires that had come loose. If you asked her, this was probably the most boring part of using a puppet, the constant upkeep. It was necessary though if she wanted to keep her baby in working order.

She'd normally be doing this in the privacy of her room, but it was a nice day today, which was why instead of being cooped up in the house, she was lounging beneath a tree on her training ground, listening to the sound of the wind whistling through the branches interspersed with grunts and shouts as one of her closest friends sparred with themselves a few yards away.

She ran into Hikari on the way here. The Hyuga was apparently in need of some stress relief and professed that they would enjoy Sakura’s company. They were currently engaging one of their clones in an intense taijutsu battle, and it was clear to Sakura that they were really in a mood because she had only seen Hikari break out the kunai like that when they were particularly nettled. It was a good thing they knew medical ninjutsu.

As she finished tightening the spring, Sakura slid Teashi’s  chest cavity closed and moved on to the next part of her maintenance. Using a special tool to pry open the panels on the puppet’s arms, she pulled the limb from its socket and began to disassemble it as well so that she could inspect the internal components.

As she worked, the presence that had been nestled in her hair crawled down the side of her head. Sakura resisted the urge to shudder as Kii’s many legs tapped against her skin as he crawled down to rest on her shoulder, looking over her work with critical eyes, “It fascinates me that you would build a weapon that looks like one of your species. Why not something stronger, to incite fear in your prey?” He asked in his hissing tone.

“It’s mostly a preference.” Sakura answered, “Some puppeteers do model their puppets after animals, but that requires knowing how those animals move and their bodies’ strengths and weaknesses. For your first puppet, it’s just easier to go with something more familiar.”

As she spoke, Sakura pulled one of the thick cogs in Teashi’s arm out of its housing. She examined it keenly, frowning deeply as she realized that it was cracked. Judging by the scrubbed rust on it, this was one of the ones that she got second hand. It was a good thing that she spotted this or else the wire launchers could have completely failed the next time they had to reel in something heavy. She’d have to replace it as soon as possible.

On her shoulder, Kii made a chittering noise, “So you have plans to make another fake creature with which to do battle?”

Sakura nodded, “Of course. No puppet master worth their salt only uses a single puppet. I’ve drawn up quite a few designs already, though I haven’t actually decided on one yet. I need something that would make up for Teashi’s weaknesses while at the same time having its own strengths. It would probably be a completely different beast from this one here.”

 “I suggest you give it the appearance of one of my clan.” Kii said as Sakura replaced the cracked cog where she found it, “We are fearsome creatures. Many would and have hesitated at the mere thought of doing battle with us.”

Sakura giggled, “So I’ve heard. How is your clan settling in, by the way? It’s been less than a week, but sensei says you guys have already spread quite a bit.”

“New nesting ground means new hatcheries. There is no need to stay bundled in one place when there is so much fresh prey around our hunting grounds.” Kii said, “We will grow to a size we find comfortable and begin crafting a true nest where all of our spawn will reside. It will likely take some weeks before we are finished.”

“You didn’t answer my question.” Sakura noted as she closed Teashi’s chest and transitioned to checking the puppet’s head. She still needed to replace the miniature bombs in her eyes. Ugh, it took forever to write those seals. “How is the clan doing? Are they satisfied?”

“More than satisfied. It has been some time since we have had such full stomachs. The Broodmother is beside herself with joy. Our spawn will survive this season and many more to come.”

Sakura smiled, “That’s good. I’m glad to hear that they’re settling nicely. Especially if that means I get to keep my contract.”

“The Broodmother will meet with you to discuss soon, once the brood is situated.”

“Whenever she’s ready, I’ll be waiting.” Sakura said as she closed Teashi’s mouth with a click. She stood up, raising her puppet with her chakra strings and watching as her robes dragged across the ground. She ran through a quick diagnostics check, running through a full checklist of Teashi’s functions and how she was operating. After fifteen minutes or so, she was satisfied that her creation was in working condition and sealed it away in her scroll.

Sakura stretched briefly, working out the kinks that always came with sitting in the same place for hours on end. She squinted up at the sun, taking in the glare that was beginning to fall over the treeline, dying the world a smouldering orange. It had to be around five or six by now. She should probably get going if she wanted to be ready in time for dinner with Ino.

Turning to where Hikari was practicing, Sakura called out to her teammate, “I’ve gotta run, Hikari! I’ll see you tomorrow!"

Hikari glanced over at her as she put Teashi’s scroll on her hip, “Huh? You’re leaving already? I was hoping to spar a bit after you finished working on your puppet.”

Sakura smiled apologetically as the Hyuga walked over, “Sorry, I’d love to but I’ve got something lined up right now. Besides, we’ve been here a few hours already, why didn’t you just ask me to spar before?”

“I believe you’re underestimating just how intensely focused you become when you are working, Sakura. I tried calling you several times but you were hypnotized by your puppet.” Hikari said wryly, making Sakura blink. The Hyuga gave Sakura an imploring look, “Can we just have a quick spar? Burning off steam with a clone isn’t nearly as effective as doing it with someone who can actually take your hits.”

“Quick? It’s never quick with the two of us, Hikari. You know that.” Sakura giggled, shaking her head as she turned to leave, “I’ll spar with you tomorrow as much as you want, but if I miss dinner with Ino, then she is actually going to kill me so I need to go put on my dress before she somehow senses that I’m not ready from all the way across the village.”

“Ino?” Hikari made an odd face, “You’re having dinner with her?”

“Yeah, I promised her I’d take her out to this fancy place tonight because I scared her so bad the other day.” Sakura shrugged,  “It’s not super fancy, but it's nice enough that it should make her happy, you know?”

“I see.” Hikari said, staring off into the distance for a long moment before shaking their head to snap out of it. They gave Sakura a soft grin, “Well then don’t let me keep you. I’m sure I can just make another clone or two to work out the stress.”

“Don’t overdo it, Hikari.” Sakura chided, “If you give yourself chakra exhaustion, then I swear I’ll spar with Tsu instead just to spite you. I’ll let her know too, so she can rub it in your face while we’re at it.”

“Duly noted.” Hikari said dryly and Sakura eyed her friend for another moment before nodding and turning away.

“Good. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

As she left, Sakura heard the telltale sound of clones popping into being and she glanced back, sighing in slight exasperation as she saw three extra Hyuga on top of the two that were already present. Hikari was already going at it, fighting with a ferocity born of someone who had bitten off more than they could chew but was determined to see it through.

It looked like Hikari would be in no condition to spar tomorrow. Sakura would be sure to make fun of them as much as possible for it too. 

~~~ 

An hour and a half later, Sakura was fully dressed and prepared for her fancy dinner. It had been a while since she had dressed up like this and as far as she could remember, it was never for a particularly nice occasion. Though this dress was much nicer than the funeral gown she wore last time. Prettier too. Ino definitely knew what she was doing when she picked it out for Sakura.

Sakura’s hair tickled her ears as she approached the Yamanaka compound. She was wearing her hair down for what felt like the first time in forever and she wasn’t really sure how to feel about it. Her mother insisted that it was proper, but it honestly just felt weird not tying it up. She wasn’t sure how people lived like this.

She could also do without the way it kept falling in her face. Blowing a stray strand of pink out of her face, Sakura walked up the familiar steps to her friend's front door and knocked softly. She only got one in before the door suddenly swung open and she was staring at a green flak jacket and a pair of arms crossed in front of it. 

She slowly looked up, gulping as she came face to face with Inojin Yamanaka’s stern expression, “Hello sir. I'm… here to pick up Ino?”

Inoichi expression didn't change. The man stood there, staring down at Sakura with the most intense expression that she had ever seen on his normally laid-back face. Was this what the people he interrogated had to go through? This was awful, and Sakura had no idea what she even did to deserve it.

The tense standoff lasted for an eternity  before it was suddenly broken as the Yamanaka patriarch finally spoke in a voice that Sakura was almost positive was designed to intimidate prisoners, “What are your intentions with my daughter?”

Sakura was blindsided by the question and left reeling mentally, “I-uh… Dinner?” She tried to string together a proper sentence, “I’m here to take her to dinner?”

Inoichi's eyes narrowed and Sakura wondered what she did wrong. He took a step forward, opening his mouth to ask another question, but an elbow slammed into his ribs from behind him, stopping him in his tracks.

Ino stepped into view, her eyebrow visibly twitching as she ground her elbow into her father’s gut, “Dad, it’s Sakura. Stop reading her the riot act and go hang out with mom or something or I’m going to tell Shikaku-san about the incident.”

Inoichi paled, “R-right away honey! Enjoy your dinner! Sakura, it was nice to see you again.”

The man retreated into his house, leaving one annoyed blonde and an utterly befuddled Sakura behind. She watched as he left before turning to her friend, “What was that about?”

Ino rolled her eyes, “Just dad’s being stupid, don’t worry about it.” She said as she stepped out and closed the door behind her. She looked Sakura up and down, taking in her attire, “You look good, Sakura. That dress I picked really suits you, just like I knew it would.”

Though the pinkette could tell that Ino’s compliment was more to herself than Sakura, she smiled regardless, feeling a warm feeling welling up inside of her at her friend’s words, “Thank you. You look good too, Ino.”

And Sakura wasn't lying either. Ino's normal purple outfit had been traded out for a dress that was a light shade of blue that complimented the earrings she was wearing. The dress was sleeveless and sported a small slit down the side starting around the girl's lower thigh to allow for better range of movement.

It also let Sakura get a good look at the progress of her training. Sakura knew that Ino had gained some muscle since she started leaning into taijutsu, but she didn't realize just how much. She wasn't super muscly, but there was definitely some definition there that Sakura hadn't seen on any girl her age outside of Tsu.

Unlike Tsu though, Sakura had a hard time looking away from Ino's muscles for some reason. Why didn't she have arms like that? She was probably just as strong as Ino, physically at least, but Ino's looked so much better than hers… Maybe she should start lifting or something.

Sakura shook her head as her friend said something she didn’t catch, “Huh? What'd you say?”

Ino was grinning at her, blue eyes twinkling with mischief, ”I said if you're done staring at my arms, we should probably get going. Even if you have a reservation, most places don't hold your table for more than thirty minutes.”

Sakura blushed slightly as she was caught, “I wasn’t staring. Do you think I'd spend thirty minutes staring at your arms?”

“I wouldn't put it past you. Your head may be big, Sakura, but I feel like it's mostly full of empty space some days.” Ino giggled, before reaching out and grabbing Sakura’s hand, “Come on. I haven't eaten all day to prepare for this. I hope this place you picked is good.”

Sakura led Ino away from her home with a growing smile, enjoying the warmth of her hand in the cool night, “I’ll do my best not to disappoint. I've never had it either.”

~~~

The restaurant that Sakura decided to bring Ino to wasn't anything extremely fancy. It was a nice seafood restaurant in the merchant district, a really nice place that definitely warranted dressing up, but hopefully wouldn't break Sakura's wallet in two.

Their reservation was accepted and they were seated promptly, cozying up in a nice booth near the back of the building that would give them both privacy and a view of the restaurant’s decor.

Ino was clearly happy with her choices, smiling brightly as she looked around them, “I'm impressed, Sakura. You actually managed to pick a nice place for us.”

“It's what you wanted, wasn't it?” Sakura asked rhetorically as she perused the menu, “I pass this place every time I come back from training and I've been wanting to try it. This was a good opportunity.”

“You've got good taste.” Ino complimented as she looked over her own menu, “Everything here sounds so delicious.”

And expensive. Sakura’s hopes that she'd have a little bit of money left over after this died a painful death as she took in the prices. As the daughter of merchants, she understood fish was expensive because of how far they had to transport it, but this was crazy! She picked something cheap that also sounded good, knowing that Ino wasn’t going to hold back just for the sake of her wallet.

“So Sakura…” Ino said leadingly, staring at the pinkette from across the table as she placed her own menu down, “How have things been with your team? You don’t really talk about them much when we hang out.”

“There’s not really much to talk about.” Sakura shrugged, “I knew them even when we were in the Academy, remember? The only thing that changed really is that now I see them every day. Well, most of them…”

Ino frowned, “That’s right, you were put on the team to fill a vacancy. I forgot about that, sorry.”

“It’s fine. I didn’t really know him that well anyway. The others miss him though. Tsu especially.” Sakura took a sip of her complementary water, “Let’s not bring the mood down. How are things going with your team? Have you managed to whip the slackers into shape yet?”

Ino huffed, “By the skin of my teeth! I swear, it’s like the idea of doing literally anything strenuous will actually kill the three of them. I finally managed to convince Asuma-sensei to at least consider a C-Rank so we can get a little bit of extra pay. Even though I know I’ll be the one doing all the work.”

“You should negotiate for better pay. Ask Hokage-sama to give you chunin level pay at least for having to wrangle three ninja all by yourself.” Sakura joked, though judging by the wide-eyed look on Ino’s face, the girl was actually considering it.

“You think he’d go for that? I’m sure I could make a convincing argument and I could use the extra money to buy stuff to bribe Choji with!” She said, only half joking.

Sakura shrugged, “Only one way to find out.”

“You’re right! Tomorrow, I’ll march right up to his desk, knock all of his paperwork to the floor to assert my dominance, and ask for a raise!” Ino declared, making Sakura giggle.

“Oh, I’m sure that’ll work out. Totally won’t get you thrown down into T&I for being a suspected imposter or something.”

“Please, that’d be the least of the charges.” Ino laughed, “Speaking of T&I, did you ever figure out that poison that the snake lady gave you?”

“Her name’s Anko. I have a feeling calling her snake lady to her face wouldn’t end very well.” Sakura said dryly and Ino shrugged, “And mostly. I’ve managed to isolate the main component as an extremely rare plant that only grows along rivers in the Land of Water, but there’s still some stuff missing. I’m pretty sure she’s using a mix of plants and animals, alongside a healthy amount of manufactured chemicals, to make it pretty much untraceable.”

“Well clearly not untraceable if you’ve managed to figure that out, right?” 

Sakura smiled smugly, “I guess I’m just that good.”

Ino snorted, “Careful or you’re gonna have to tie that giant forehead to something to keep yourself from flying away. Ego is the number one killer of all ninja, haven’t you heard?”

“Funny, I thought that would be kunai or something.”

“Touché.”

Their conversation was interrupted by a dark-haired server walking up to their table, notepad in hand. He gave them a charming smile, showing off white teeth framed by picturesque dimples, “Good evening, ladies. Are you ready to order?”

They listed off what they wanted to eat. As Sakura suspected, Ino spared no expense on her behalf, ordering literally the third most expensive thing on the menu. The disparity between their orders was almost embarrassing, and Sakura was glad the server didn’t say anything about it as he stowed his pen and pad away in his apron, giving them one last smile before disappearing with a vague approximation of how long they would have to wait for the food to arrive.

As he left, Sakura glanced in his direction, “He was cute, wasn’t he? If his skin was a shade paler, I could almost mistake him for an Uchiha.”

“I guess.” Ino said noncommittally, making Sakura raise an eyebrow.

“Really? A few years ago you’d be all over someone like that. He was our age too. You’d probably have a chance.”

Ino shrugged, taking a sip of water, “He was nice, I guess. If you ask me though, he was trying a little too hard. Did you see the way he winked at me when I told him my order? I know he’s just fishing for a tip, but I got total creep energy from that.”

Sakura did see that. She also felt the way that something in her stomach curdled like milk when Ino reciprocated with a smile of her own. Unable to understand the feeling, she pressed on, leaning forward a bit as she eyed her blonde companion, “So you didn’t like him? I figured someone like him was totally your type.”

“I didn’t say that. Like I said, he was nice. I guess my type has changed a bit.” Ino flashed Sakura a smile, “These days I prefer them a bit more challenging. Sweet, maybe a little annoying sometimes, and denser than a rock.”

It was weird but definitely not the weirdest that Sakura had heard of. Of course someone as good looking as Ino would have such specific qualifications. The girl could probably have anyone their age and probably quite a few who were older if she wanted. Why wouldn’t she be picky? Still…

“Good luck with that.” Sakura said, picking up her own drink, “With qualifiers like that, you’re gonna have a pretty hard time finding a guy who fits them and is into you.”

Ino stared at Sakura over the lip of her cup, and as the pinkette looked up and met her gaze, she almost flinched. There was something predatory in those eyes, like a lion eyeing a gazelle just before pouncing. And then the look was gone, and Ino smiled as she placed her drink back on the table, “I actually have my eyes on someone right now. Though I’m not really sure they’ve even noticed. Like I said, super dense.”

Sakura nodded, happy for her friend. She ignored the strange feeling in the pit of her stomach as she gave Ino a smile, “I hope it goes well then. If it doesn’t, you know where to find me if you wanna talk or just try and use my face as a punching bag or something.”

Ino giggled, “That’s sweet, Sakura, but I wouldn’t want to ruin that pretty face of yours. Corrective surgery hasn’t come far enough to fix what I’d do to you.”

“Funny, that doesn’t stop you from trying to rearrange my face any time we spar.” Sakura said wryly, and Ino rolled her eyes.

“Shut up and take the compliment, Sakura.”

Their conversation soon strayed away from training and their ninja life into something much more civilian. They spoke about inane things like new restaurants they had tried, new hobbies to try between missions, or even books they had read recently. Sakura was surprised to learn that Ino had taken up painting of all things, professing that she had been feeling so brutish thanks to her taijutsu training and the muscle mass she had gained as a result.

Sakura completely disagreed with the very notion of Ino being brutish and was more than happy to tell the girl that in no uncertain terms.

“I actually like the muscles.” She said as Ino tried to brush her words off as shallow reassurances. The blonde paused at her words, one step away from taking a sip of her drink as she stared at Sakura like she didn’t believe a word she said, “I’m serious! They’re nice. They make me think that you could like, protect me from stuff or something. I’m not really sure how to explain it. They look good on you though, and they definitely aren’t bulky.”

“So you really were staring at my arms earlier!” Ino accused, and Sakura blushed.

“It was hard to take my eyes off of them, alright? You’re normally wearing those bands so barely anything is visible. I couldn’t help but look!” Sakura defended, and Ino’s face turned pink, before she looked away with a fond smile.

“I really do have my work cut out for me.” She muttered softly and Sakura blinked, tilting her head, “What?”

Ino shook her head, glancing up at Sakura with a small smile, “Nothing, Sakura. Let's order dessert. I think I've earned a cheat day, and it wouldn’t be a real date without something sweet. at the end”

That was true. Places like this usually went all out with the desert. Sakura picked up her menu, glancing towards the back where such items were usually held. She was pretty sure she saw some sort of neapolitan lava cake. She didn’t even know it was possible to make a lava cake out of something other than chocolate, but it sounded amazing.

…

…

Wait, did she say date!?