Konoha's Cherry Blossom

Chapter 9

"Hinata!" Sakura squealed as she neared the timid midnight blue haired girl. She smiled brightly at her new friend, who reciprocated it to a smaller degree, yet with the same amount of fondness.

"H-Hello, Sakura-chan." Hinata greeted her with a bit of a stutter. She had hoped that she wouldn't sutter infront of her and her father, especially after it was explained to her why it was such a big deal to make a connection with the pinkette. She didn't like the idea of only befriending the girl due to her clan and status. She may have not known her for a very long time, but the girl appeared to be genuinely nice in Hinata's eyes. She hoped they could stay friends for a very long time.

The pinkette smiled before giving Hinata a friendly hug, causing her to fluster a bit, "How've you been, Hinata? I know we only saw each other the other day, but I thought it would be nice if we could hang out. I hope it wasn't too sudden or impeding on anything."

The girl shook her head, "O-oh, n-no, it's no problem, Sakura-chan. I'm really glad you came."

"Hiashi, good see you again." Takashi said amiably as he walked past his daughter who went to greet her friend, handing her the small, green duffle bag he was carrying, "It's been a long time."

"Indeed. It's only been about four years since you've become the clan head to the Senju." Hiashi spoke courteously. "But as far as anyone can see, you have been doing a splendid job."

The emerald eye man chuckled a bit, "Thank you, I appreciate it. Recently, Hokage-sama put me in charge of escorting the envoy team Kumo had deployed in hopes of an alliance."

"And do you truly believe an alliance can be made?"

Takashi sighed as he took on a more serious expression, "What I believe won't really matter, will it. If it happens, then I can only hope for the prosperity of both nations. If not... we'll just have to deal with it, would we not?"

Hiashi nodded impassively, "We would."

"Well then, we can only wait and see what happens." With that, the man kneels down to his daughter's height to kiss her on the crown of her head and forehead. "I'll be off now, I hope you have a good time, Sacchan."

The pinkette blushed as she kissed her father goodbye as well, "Mmh kay', bye Tou-san. Love you."

"Love you too, my little cherry blossom." He turned his attention to the other three year old after saying goodbye to his daughter. "Thank you for becoming friends with Sakura, I hope I see more of you in her future." Smiling kindly, he ruffled the girl's midnight blue hair earnestly.

"If anything comes up, I'll be at the Uchiha's residence talking with Fugaku along with Sayuri." Takashi told Hiashi before taking his leave, "And to answer your question, no, I don't."

__________

"Your father is very kind, Sakura-chan." Hinata commented as she and Sakura, as well as her father entered the home. Not even her own father has regarded her with such warm and kind eyes, with a gentle and benign touch. The only one who has would have to be her mother.

"Yeah, he is." Sakura said softly, "My Tou-san says it's good to lead by example, so he always tries his best to get along with everybody. Creating enemies just because you don't get along seems pretty stupid to me."

The pinkette looked over at the Hyuuga patriarch and his daughter with a growing frown as she took note of the indifference and cold distance shared between the two.