It was perhaps that smile that I wanted to protect the most.
Sakura had those guileless green eyes and that ridiculous pink hair- she really didn’t look like a shinobi or acted like one. She cried easily, she fell easily, she wept easily…
But that smile and the way she said my name: ‘Ino-Chaaan’, I decided that she was a very important person to me.
And the way that little bud poked out of it’s shy little buds… to peak out at the world… it entranced me.
And then the shy little flower, who I had always assumed I was taking care of- turned out to be a fierce kunoichi… I was stunned. That day where she shed her vanity, that ridiculous pink hair that she cut off for her teammates.
She had transformed into a proper ninja with metallic green eyes and a blade in her mouth.
This was the type of friend I needed.
Where there was no superior or inferior. Where we stood as equals.
But I still would do anything, to protect that smile of yours, Sakura.
