Village Arrest: Doing Right by Her Parents

I've wanted to do this one for a while, it just hasn't been interesting enough to get all those votes. Either way, I really like this one.

It actually has a part 2 setup at the end, not sure if that'll ever get voted on... Either way, thank you for reading!

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Sakura’s not sure how her parents are, and that’s a problem. For starters, she lives with them, secondly, she’s moved several other people to also live with them. With so much free time on her hands, it’d be a given that she would spend more time with them but somehow she’s pretty sure she’s spending less. Probably not too much less, but she’s filled her days with so much active stuff to stave off the boredom that she finds she’s more than a little unsure about the specifics.

When was the last time she asked her father about his latest mission, or tried and failed to bake her mom something?

“Yeah, I should do that.” She decides, tapping a stick against her chin in thought. “See how they’re doing, not fail to bake a cupcake.” She’d rather not repeat the last time, that was embarrassing. She never wants to have to get so covered in frosting she has to burn her clothes ever again.

But she can’t just go down there and say hi, that’d be awkward and really highlight how she hasn’t been saying hi. Nothing makes your faults more obvious than improving, at least for a little while. People say ‘this is nice’ and then ask ‘why isn’t it always nice?’ She’s learned that a lot recently with her rapid charm improvements, suddenly people got annoyed at her a lot more. If you’re going to demonstrate improvement, it should be all at once. Practice in secret, that’s the moral.

So what to practice? Chores, kind words, maybe she should learn a skill to make their life easier? She’ll admit she hasn’t done a chore since she moved Haku in, she used to clean the bathrooms but Naruto sorta stole that with everything else.

“Hmm…” Tapping the stick against her chin a few more times, she decides to put it down and pretend she wasn’t playing with it in her room in the first place. Technically it’s a project, not just her being juvenile and playing with a stick. She’s been trying to see if she can magically morph it with mana. It’s not a serious idea, but it wouldn’t be the first time energies could mess with plants or wood and she has literal magic now so learning how to control it even in dumb little ways would be helpful. She did see the stick twitch in her hands earlier, but she can’t be sure if that was the mana she was channeling directly into it - quite wastefully she might add - or if her hand just moved.

Either way, she’s discarding that, so it doesn’t matter for now. Right onto her desk the stick goes, and she gets up to walk downstairs.

The first thing she notices is that Haku’s making lunch. That’s a given, it’s almost noon and he likes to start early so he can make more extravagant things. He’s actually got a camera setup and appears to be streaming his prep-work, so she decides to leave him alone and rub her hands together in successful streamer manager joy. Haku’s really come into his own here. Neji’s only done a few streams so far but she’s trying, oh boy is she trying. They work incredibly together and he’s got such a pretty boy vibe that she thinks she could probably make him rich. He doesn’t seem to have any interest in being rich though, probably in part because as a Hyuuga he’s already rich. Even the sub-branches are probably loaded, she should look into that. This Hiashi guy’s apparently a dick but his life has to be pretty okay otherwise, right?

Well maybe not, since he fled there to live here…

Looking out the window she finds Naruto is wandering around outside, playing catch with one of the Twins and her father. It’s interesting, they don’t have a small yard but it’s not huge so she’s not sure how much active ninjas can get out of throwing a ball around in that area but she’s not going to interrupt whatever it is they’re doing. By the look on his face she’d call it a healing moment, and while Naruto doesn’t like to talk about his past he definitely needs healing. Sometimes he mumbles in his sleep during their missions and uhhhh, she’s not really sure why she got put on the traumatized boy team but she fits in so it’s okay. By the way everyone reacts to her she’da thought she’s disqualified from being the normal one in any group but by merit of having living parents she squeaked by on that one.

She finds her mother in the living room, watching a movie and reclining back in a big comfy chair. She looks happy, the fact that she doesn’t have to make lunch and can just kind of let Haku do it is probably a pretty big deal. Sakura inwardly takes that as a point for herself, moving Haku in has to be a big boon she’s done for them. Despite their initial complaints and threats when she brought Haku home, she is absolutely sure they’re grateful to have him.

“Mom?” She calls out, entering the living room and drawing the woman’s attention. She has no doubt she already had it before she opened her mouth, her mother’s been an active duty ninja for Sakura’s entire life so even as an eternal Genin the woman definitely has the observational skills to outdo her instinctive stealth skills. “I’ve been thinking.”

“That’s dangerous.” Her mother shakes her head just as Sakura plops down on the couch, leaning against the arm so she can get close to her mother in her chair.

“Thinking?” Sakura asks with a bit of a tilt of her expression, the corner of her lips twitching down.

“No, been thinking.” Her mother explains. Sakura blinks, unsure what that means. “There’s thinking, and then there’s sitting around overthinking for hours. One's productive, the other is a good way to get in touch with your insecurities.”

“Ah.” Sakura nods as her mother laughs at her sour expression.

“Try not to do too much overthinking, okay? Especially not about me.” She reaches over to pinch Sakura’s cheek, just as it puffs up.

Because predictably, at least for her mother, it does puff up with air. Sakura huffs indignantly, “Mnn-Who says it was about you?”

“Well, you’re sitting next to me, and I sometimes go entire weeks without seeing you now that Haku’s doing all the forcing you to eat and you’re getting all focused on your career.” Mebuki explains, giving Sakura a knowing glance.

Sakura can’t help the way a pit settles in her core. Weeks? That has to be a joke or exaggeration, there’s no way she’s been home and hasn’t seen her mom in weeks. But when she thinks back to the last time she interacted with them in any meaningful way…

How long ago did she confess about her ability? “You’re doing it again. Just come downstairs and sit at the table sometimes. I know it’s hard but it’ll get easier.” Her mother chides her.

“Okay… I can do that.” Sakura takes a shaky breath and nods to herself. She needs to make a mental note of that, weeks, really?

“And stop doing that.” Sakura can’t help but blink at her mother’s vague statement, “it’s obvious when you’re overthinking something because you stop breathing. I need you to stop yourself and take a deep breath from now on when you’re feeling a little overwhelmed, okay? Just center yourself, it’s important for a Ninja to be of sound mind and not give away when they’re panicking.”

“How do I do that?” Sakura asks her mom for advice for probably the first time in months.

“Let me show you.” Mebuki looks overly happy to help her daughter with something important, it’s been a while since she’s been able to do that. Sakura’s not sure how to deal with a smile that wide, it’s creepy.

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“This is great, but I’m trying to make your life easier and you’re putting all this effort into helping me.” Sakura huffs. Trying to help her mom very quickly turned into a tutoring session. Breathing techniques, slow methodical sparring, she currently finds herself learning how to stab a block of wood, except her hand is on the block of wood and she’s supposed to stab between her fingers with varying distances and angles.

“Slow down, it’s an accuracy training you’re not actually meant to cut your finger off.” Her mother scolds her just as she gets a rhythm going.

“Okay, I can do that, but that doesn’t explain how I can help you…” Sakura bites her lip, forcefully slowing down her stabs at her mother’s behest.

“I already told you, I need you to come down and sit at the table sometimes so I can see you.” The woman explains with a patient smile and a twinkle of love in her eye. Mebuki takes the hand with the blade in her own, and quickly reorients it so she can show her the best angles to avoid her fingers once again.

“I don’t see how that helps you.” She gets the concept of the training, sometimes you do want to cut something without cutting something else and you do need speed for it, but this really feels like something a medic might need more than someone with a blood thirsty katana. “I meant like with chores, maybe you need money?”

“Naruto’s been giving free house cleaning since he got here, the house is spotless. Messes disappear before I even make them sometimes. The other night I dropped a cup and a clone popped out from under the sink to catch it, finish cleaning it, and then hand it back to me.” Her mother rolls her eyes at her. “He’s also rich, so if I need money I’ll ask him, not my perpetually broke daughter.”

“Ah…” Sakura gulps, a little dry in the throat at being turned down like this.

“Haku’s got the food, and a few other random chores I didn’t even know we had to do. Did you know we had a garden out back?” Mebuki asks.

“I did…” Sakura manages an awkward trailing off without meeting her eyes.

“I didn’t, well, I did but I hadn’t used it in years. Now it’s sprouting flowers like it’s got something to prove.” Her mother laughs. “And Neji? The other day a roach crawled into our yard and he threw a kunai at it from his window. There is an awkwardly little amount for me to do, I can’t even secure the perimeter because we moved in a Hyuuga!” Mebuki throws her head back in real, uproarious laughter. “So you come downstairs sometimes so I can see you, and my life’ll be complete.”

“I can do that…” Sakura gulps, slightly cutting herself on the next stab, she chooses not to mention it and neither does her mother. Well, not anymore than a glare to tell her to slow down again.

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Learning self control from her mother when trying to help her with chores wasn’t exactly what she expected out of today but that’s what happened. Still, with the sun down and having had a great day talking with her mother, she can’t help but feel like she missed the point somewhere. “Umm…” It’s hard to place what she’s missing.

Thump-ding-tshhh-

That is until she hears her father trip over something in the shed and knock over thirty other things while he’s at it. He’s a clumsy man, even for a ninja. Maybe it’s because he’s a ninja? She hears he’s incredibly precise when he’s in the field but around the home he might as well be blind and with two left feet. Naruto would help him if she gave him a minute, but she actually hand signs for him not to and hopes that he gets the message.

“Here, dad, let me help you.” Swooping into her father’s mini work-shop behind their house is second nature, she’s come to see him here many times, though admittedly not very much recently. She has to wonder who she sees more these days, if she’s evaluating it in the matter of who she takes more weeks to see it probably doesn’t matter, but she’d like to make sure she’s not having accidental favoritism with two of the most important people in her life.

Kizashi Haruno is currently on his side with an entire drum set covering him, and a toy monkey resting on his head. It almost looks like it belongs there in his crazy triangular hair. “Dad?” There’s also an amazing amount of other things but they’re unimportant and could easily be shrugged off.

“I’m resting.” He mumbles from beneath the mess, part of which being a cushion from a chair in the corner. How it got here and on top of his face she’s not sure.

“You’re not,” She argues, “you’ve gone and fallen again.”

“I did, but now I’m resting.” He grumbles beneath it all. She rolls her eyes and starts moving stuff. “Now you’re taking my blankets.” He scolds her, unable to completely keep the laugh out of his tone as she puts the drum set against the wall.

“Right, well uh, let’s not count this as helping.” She laughs at the joke to herself, removing the cushion and watching her father pout at her when his face is revealed. “I was talking to mom, I wanted to know if I could help you out at all with anything? You’ve all done so much for me, and I’m not a very good daughter…”

“I don’t want any help that comes from a place like that.” He says, finally pushing himself up to sit on the floor of the shed, brushing what’s left onto the floor beside him. Well, besides what’s in his hair.

“Huh?” She blinks at him, waiting for him to elaborate, and awkwardly catching her breath when he doesn’t. “Dad?”

“Well.” He reaches up and palms his tiny stubble on his chin, leaning his head back which almost seems to make the toy monkey cling more desperately to his top triangle pink hair. “Intention matters, not just results or actions, at least with family. I don’t want anything from you that’s framed in the vein as paying me back for being a parent, that’s ridiculous.”

“Well, err…” She finds the flush that scours her face is very invasive, and she’s not sure what to do with it.

“But there is one thing you could do for me, just because you wanted to, and not out of guilt.” He explains, giving her a focused gaze that’s very out of place on a man she just had to pull a drum set off of.

“Yeah?” She asks with a gulp.

“Spar with me.” He says, “a real spar, a good one.”

“Dad… It’s kind of hard to take you seriously when there’s still a monkey in your hair.” She points.

“He’s resting.” Her father gives her a big grin that splits his face and shows off pearly whites. “Your mother and I are worried about you, all we’ve heard since you started being a ninja is crazy nonsense like vampires and zombies and Jonin pinning you to trees.” If she hadn’t promised him, she’d be marching upstairs to smack Naruto around for mentioning literally any of that. At least Neji had the good sense to not mention Fierro. “It’d put both of us at ease something fierce if we knew you could hold your own. So, let’s have a spar. What do you say? Worried you’ll get beaten by your old man?”

“Yes.” She deadpans, “now that your confidence in me is apparently based on it, I’m quite worried.”

“Haha-don’t be like that, I just want to make sure Kakashi’s teaching you right.” He laughs.

“He’s not, he sucks.” And she’s very firm in her quick witted rebuttal.

“Well errr, that gaming ability of yours is strong, right?” He asks with pale skin and a half open expression.

“... Sure dad, let’s spar.” She can’t help but feel a little apprehensive. He’s tripping over himself in the shed, and several of her abilities are somewhat brutal. Even sticking to just non-dangerous stuff, Genin strength alone might cause him confidence problems. He was supposedly very strong at one point, but that was thirteen years ago.

Still, if it’ll help him feel better, she resolves herself.