Growing Up Sakura

Chapter 12: Panty Land, Chapter 13: Hits and Giggles, Chapter 14: Iron and Silk


It all started out simply enough. Sakura asked him to go to her house and pick up a set of clothes so she could finally get out of the house. They both agreed that wearing his clothes in public would be not so good a thing. He set off cheerfully and carefree, glad that his little cherry blossom was finally going to seek the sunshine. She had spent the past few days crying and talking things out with him and even though they both knew it would be awhile before she was totally over it, she was well on her way to recovery. So without thinking he left his apartment as soon as she had asked for the coverings and made his way towards her apartment. Poofing inside and bypassing her door completely he made a mental note to have her put some seals on her doors and windows, and he went unthinkingly into where he knew her bedroom was. Coming up to her dresser the realization of what he had to do finally dawned on him. He was going to have to go through his little Kunochi’s underwear drawer.


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Sitting on Kakashi’s couch Sakura lounged thinking of what she wanted to do today.


“I think today is the day to get my masks and figure out what I want my new ninja gear to be,” Sakura thought slowly, “I should get someone to go with me to give me a second opinion but who? Definitely not Naruto, I don’t trust his fashion sense at all. I don’t think Kakashi although I may want him to go to the tailor with me. I think Ino! She should be free since it’s Sunday. I haven’t seen her since before… Calm down Sakura… since before the incident with Ryu. God I’ll be glad to get some of my own clothes on. I hate not wearing a bra for this long and-“

Stopped dead in the middle of sipping her hot drink by that thought Sakura suddenly sprayed a large amount her green tea all over the coffee table. A horror quite unlike any she had ever known filled her to the brim. “Kakashi is going to have to go through my underwear drawer!”


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Kakashi took a deep breath and decided it was vitally important that he pick out her tunic first. Going to her closet he opened the door and saw hanger after hanger filled with red tunics with white edging followed by 10 undershirts about 10 pairs of black leggings. Way at the far end of the closet he could see an ugly floral sundress gathering dust.


“Wonder why she didn’t burn that,” Kakashi thought avoiding the idea of what he was going to have to look for next.


“A bag,” Kakashi thought stoically,” I will need a bag to put her clothes in.”


Honestly this whole thing was like kryptonite to superman. Normally called a genius shinobi, Kakashi was actually sweating over a few simple clothes items for a former student. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t helped people pack their packs before. He was a teacher after all and he worked on teams in the past.


Of course his first and only team that he ever passed was his current one, and now that he thought about it he never had helped Sakura pack her bag. She was never one to over or under pack and really didn’t need his guidance. But it wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen girls’ underwear before. What was he if not an avid Icha Icha reader? And it wasn’t as if he was a virgin. He’d unclasped a bit more then his fair share of bra’s in his life and slung a few panties out the window. Somehow knowing that this was Sakura’s underwear made it almost impossible for him. Remembering the innocent young student she used to be and knowing the fierce shinobi she had become along with the confusing and troublesome “feelings” that she had been instilling in him lately posed quite a dilemma and turned fetching a few simple undergarments into a forbidden look at some goodies. It made him feel a bit like a dirty old man, and he couldn’t quite say that didn’t feel good.


Locating her backpack he carefully folded her outfit just right arranging it in the pack just so.


“Sakura wouldn’t want her clothes to be wrinkled. No. Not wrinkled. Ok. Tunic. Shirt. Pants. Yep they’re all in there. Carefully placed. Not wrinkled. Good,” Kakashi thought stiltedly. “SHOES! She’ll need shoes.”


Clinging to her pack he rushed to her front door and grabbed a pair of shoes that were placed neatly on the shoe rack by the door. He placed them bottom side up on top of her oh so carefully folded clothes and took a deep, deep breath. Gathering up the courage of 10 perverted copy ninja’s Kakashi made his way back to Sakura’s room and over to her dresser. On top he saw a hairbrush, which he grabbed and placed in the bag along with the other items. Kakashi took a moment to peruse the items on top of her dresser, a delightful picture of team 7, a picture of her, Ino and Hinata smiling and throwing thumbs up, a picture of her and Naruto eating at Ichiraku, a picture of her and. . . Ryu. Placed next to all the other pictures was a set of three obviously taken in a photo booth of the two of them making funny faces, smiling and . . . kissing. Well this was disturbing. Kakashi was in a bit of a quandary over what to do. He didn’t quite feel he had the right to destroy the pictures but he didn’t want Sakura to have to come home and see that. Grabbing the set of photos Kakashi placed them in a pocket in his vest and decided to hang onto it unless and until Sakura asked for it.


Feeling silly about the whole underwear thing now, Kakashi chuckled quietly and studied the dresser. He was faced with 6 large drawers and no clue where the necessaries were. Well, one at a time then. Top left forehead protector, hair clips and a comb. He grabbed the forehead protector and placed it carefully in the bag as well. Ok, one down, five to go.


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Genma had been searching for Kakashi all weekend. Gai was getting even weepier then usual and Asume was giving him the silent treatment for deserting him. Apparently Gai had been a bit more upset at Kakashi’s absence then he could tolerate by himself and he blamed Genma for having to endure 4 hours of drunken flowing tear-filled sermons on friendship and competition alone. Sure, Genma found a delightful young Kunochi to spend the night with but that was a one-night thing. Gai’s weeping and Asume silent smoking were starting to get on his nerves and he knew the only thing to make it stop was to get Kakashi to hang out with them tonight before he went on another mission.


Waking up at the ungodly hour of 11:00 in the morning (ungodly when one wasn’t on a mission anyway) Genma set to casting out his senses in search of Kakashi. He was slightly surprised to find him not at home at this hour, but Kakashi’s chakra signature was coming from across town.


Speeding over rooftops he found himself heading for a set of apartments he didn’t recognize.


“He he, hope I’m not interrupting something, Kakashi-chan,” Genma thought slyly as he made his way closer to where he felt Kakashi’s chakra coming from.

He could have transported straight into the apartment but that would be extremely rude even for him. Not to mention dangerous if Kakashi was actually getting busy with someone, as he got closer though Genma noticed there was not other chakra signatures there with Kakashi so he decided to simply take a peak in the window to see what was what, masking his chakra, Genma attached himself to the side of the building and slowly began to peek in through the window.


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The other drawers consisting of folded nurses out fits, pajama tops, pajama bottoms, Kakashi opened the bottom left drawer and found some of what he had come for. This wasn’t so bad. They were just bra’s after all. Nothing strange or ultra sexy. He could handle himself. Grabbing one at random he began to shove it in the bag when a twinge of curiosity overcame him.


“I wonder what size she is,” Kakashi thought a bit of pink coming to his cheeks that fortunately no one would ever see. “It would be wrong to look.”


“On the other hand,” Kakashi’s mind told him, “ It might be good to check to see if it’s the right size, it might be too small.”


“But I don’t know what size she is,” Kakashi told himself back.


“All the more reason to see what size she is,” He retorted.


“Can’t argue with that logic!” Kakashi thought happily and turned the back of her bra strap so that he could see what size it was. “34 C. A nice handful, a nice match for her- STOP! This is going a bit to far, yes that should fit her just fine.”


Kakashi quickly finished shoving the undergarment into the pack.


“Right, last drawer,” Kakashi said quietly trying to ignore the slight nosebleed that was beginning to start as he forced thoughts of his cherry bosoms, BLOSSOM’S, SAKURA! Out of his head.


“This is getting tough again,” Kakashi though to himself as he reached to open the bottom right hand drawer.


“Panty land,” thought Kakashi as he saw a drawer stuffed to the top with clean panties in a variety of assortments.


There were simple white cotton panties, plain black cotton panties, multi-colored, lacey, boy short types and . . . several thongs. Unconsciously he picked up a pink thong with little cherry blossoms printed on it. The sides were silky pink ribbons that tied to keep them on. Slowly the panties came closer and closer to his masked nose as gently rubbed the soft material between his fingers. Closing his eyes as he knelt on the floor in front of her dresser Kakashi came to three very disturbing conclusion. One he was getting hard, two had a severe nosebleed spurting through his mask, and three Genma was looking at him through the bedroom window.


Genma’s presence in the window served to solve two of his problems instantly and created a multitude more. For one the little tent he had been pitching in his pants was gone almost instantly, and for another the blood had stopped shooting from his nose, but now Genma had disappeared from the window and Kakashi rushed over to see what the hell he was doing. Kakashi looked left, right, up and then finally down and saw to his great consternation Genma lying in the grass below the window clutching his sides and nearly choking on his senbon as he practically squealed with laughter.


Poofing to the grass beside the immobilized jonin Kakashi said the only thing he could say, “ Shut the hell up Genma!”


Sticken with the giggles all Genma could manage was a “HAHA! Kaka-hahahaha! Has it been that long since you-hahahaha!”


“GENMA!” Kakashi warned looking dangerous, well as dangerous as a copy nin could look after getting caught with a hard on while sniffing his ex-students thong.


“HEHE! OK, ok I’m fine,” Genma said trying to pull it together. “ Really Kakashi if you need some tail that bad you know I could have-”


Genma was stopped short by a rather hard punch to the face by a rather pissed off copy nin.


“Hey DAMN IT! That hurt!” Genma said readjusting his senbon and rubbing his chin.


“Just shut up and come with me,” Kakashi said feeling a little better now and dragging Genma by the ear and Poofing back into Sakura’s apartment.


“Now are you going to tell me what the hell you were doing spying on me?” Kakashi said quietly.


“I’ve been looking for you for days! You promised you’d come out drinking with us and it’s getting ridiculous now!” Genma said getting a little pissed off himself as he glanced around his surroundings.


They were in the bedroom that he had been peeking at Kakashi in. Being an elite ninja himself there wasn’t much that got past Genma, especially something that had to do with women and he was able to deduce rather quickly exactly whose apartment this was after seeing one or two pictures on the dresser.


“Oh my God Kakashi you really are fucking Sakura!” Genma blurted out before he could stop himself.


When he woke up on the floor about two minutes later he got the lovely sight of a severely pissed off Kakashi looming over him.


“I know that you are a sex crazed asshole so I’m going to let that slip,” Kakashi started.


“You call laying me out letting it slip!” Genma cried incredulous before receiving another warning look from Kakashi.


“As I was saying, if you weren’t my best friend then I’d have probably just killed you on the spot but seeing as how we’ve saved each others life a time or to I’ll let it slid,” Kakashi stated reaching down to help Genma lift himself off the floor.


“Ok, sorry. So are you going to tell me what’s going on. If your not together why were you crouched over her underwear with a woody?” Genma asked running his hands through his hair trying to get his head straight.


Kakashi’s reaction startled Genma as the fierce jonin suddenly collapsed onto Sakura’s bed and rested his head in his hands.
“I don’t know Genma, I mean, there may be something starting between us but she’s been hurt pretty badly in that area and I just don’t know what to do right now,” Kakashi said quietly.


“You mean Sasuke? Come on Kakashi that was forever ago, I know we just got news of his death right now but she should be over him. Who better to help her then her old sensei huh?” Genma said chuckling nudging Kakashi in arm with his elbow as he sat next to him on the bed.


“No it’s not about Sasuke. It’s something I can’t talk about. And even if what happened hadn’t happened I mean, we’re worlds apart. Hell I was ANBU when I was her age how could she ever understand or…” Kakashi said trailing off.


“I don’t know Sakura very well Kakashi, other then the fact that she’s gotten pretty damn hot, but I do know that if a girl is intelligent, mature, and likes you, that should be enough to at least get things started,” Genma suggested, still not sure exactly what was going on.


“Maybe. I shouldn’t even be thinking these things about her right now. I’m being selfish. She needs time to-” Kakashi said quietly, “ Damn it Genma you can not tell anyone what you just saw me do in here, especially not Sakura!”


“Well there are three things about that,” Genma said slyly twiddling his senbon in his mouth.


“And those are,” Kakashi said looking dangerous again.


“One, you have to come drinking with me, Asuma and Gai, two you have to keep me informed of what’s going on between you too, and three, if you really don’t want Sakura to find out you might want to clean up the blood you got all over that thong you were jerking off to,” Genma replied succinctly.


“Damn it!” Kakashi yelled running over to the undergarment and looking hopelessly to Genma.


“Just soak it in some hydrogen peroxide and then let it dry out,”Genma said waving his hand nonchalantly.


“How do you know that?” Kakashi asked perplexed.


“My aunt and uncle ran a laundry, what can I say,” Genma replied to Kakashi’s back as he ran to the bathroom to clean the undies.


“Sure I’ll come drinking with you guys tonight, but why do you want to know about Sakura and me?” Kakashi asked from the bathroom.


“We haven’t hung out together and talked about our women for forever Kakashi! It’s been one mission after the other after Orochimaru tore the village apart and we’re just now getting back on our feet.” Genma told him matter-of-factly. “It’s ok though, if you don’t want to. I mean you’re my best friend Kakashi, if you don’t want me to say anything I won’t until you do.”


“I’ll tell you what I can Genma,” Kakashi replied, secretly thinking that would equal just about nothing. “ Besides, hearing your stories are always much more interesting.”


“I know,” Genma answered.


“Look I’ve got to get these clothes back to Sakura-” Kakashi started, “ Shut up with the giggling already!”


“Hehe, so you’ve got to bring her clothes? What is she still at your apartment?” Genma started laughing until he saw Kakashi’s face. “ Wait she really is at your apartment still? What’s going on man? If you’re not sleeping with her why is she still there? You said a couple of days ago that she was there because she was upset about Sasuke, but if that wasn’t it… Did something bad just now happen to Sakura?”


Kakashi just stared blankly back at Genma and fortunately the ladies man got the hint.


“OK, ok, if you can you’ll tell me. Just let me know if I can do anything. I don’t want anything to happen to one of our cute little Kunochi ok?” Genma said trying to be light hearted.


“Hn,” Kakashi answered and grabbed a pair of cotton panties from the drawer and put it in the pack with the other clothes then setting the now blood-free thong back in to the drawer still a little damp, he closed it and poofed out of sight.


“I wonder what’s going on here,” Genma thought to himself as he poofed out of the apartment and went to tell Asuma and Gai that Kakashi would finally be joining them tonight.


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Sakura paced back and forth between the narrow confines of the couch and the coffee table picturing all kind of horrible sordid things that could be happening between the perverted copy nin and her underwear.


“I’m sure it’s fine, I’m sure it’s fine. He’s an adult after all. My team leader. He’s surely picked up clothes for people before.” Sakura thought to herself. “It’s not like he’d be turned on by my stupid little underwear drawer. It’s just a mission- BUT IT’S SO EMBARRASING!!”


“AHHHH!” Sakura screeched as Kakashi poofed into the air directly in front of her causing her to jump back, trip on the coffee table and surely break it and split her skull if Kakashi hadn’t reached forward quickly and pull her to him to keep her from falling. She clung to his arms tightly as she caught her breath and then leaned her head on his vest saying, “Phew! Sorry, you really startled me there…”


Sakura stopped speaking as she slowly looked up into Kakashi’s face and saw an emotion that she couldn’t quite recognize and something else, “Is that blood on your mask Kakashi?”


“Ummmm,” Kakashi started looking innocently right to left in desperate search of a non-emotionally scarring lie.


“You really get to into those stupid Icha Icha books Kakashi! No wonder you took so long getting back with my clothes! Don’t you get embarrassed reading those in public if this happens?” Sakura asked exasperated with the perverted copy nin. “You better get a fresh mask on before you go out again.”


“Yeah, sorry. You know how I love my books!” Kakashi replied scratching the back of his head and immensely relieved at the easy way out Sakura provided him.


“I’m going to go change and then I thought you could show me your tailor,” Sakura chatted as she walked towards his bathroom.


“Sure, sure, I’m going out with Genma and some other jounins tonight before we get our new mission tomorrow so we should probably get a move on,” Kakashi replied walking to his room to get a new mask.


“Since when have you ever tried to be on time?” Sakura asked through the bathroom door as she gratefully put on her own undergarments and clothes.


At last she was beginning to feel whole again. Here she was wearing her own things, toying with Kakashi and getting ready to go shopping. Normalcy was a great healer.


“Hey, I always strive to be on time, it just happens that when need calls I answer,” Kakashi rebutted having replaced his mask and began settling into his favorite chair. Well really his only chair in the living room.


Tying on her Hitai-ate Sakura felt a little stronger already. She ran a brush through her pink locks quickly to tame them and trotted out into the living room.


“Well far be it for me to make my time fearing sensei late! I will do my best not to be the need that misleads!” Sakura bantered, placing her pack on her back and walking toward the door, “Let’s go Kakashi!”


“You’re a fast dresser,” Kakashi said as he scrambled out of his chair trying to catch up with her as she walked out the door.


Once out in the open streets, Sakura felt some of her newfound confidence waning. Even though she had only started to wear a mask a few days ago she felt naked without one on now and wished that she had simply borrowed one of Kakashi’s. But they had both agreed that would probably not be the best way in the world to introduce her new persona so for now she just started to walk swiftly down the street with her head down and her mind racing. Fortunately Kakashi tripped her up on that race before she could get to the finish line.


“I thought you were going to follow me?” Kakashi asked nonchalantly worried a bit about the look on Sakura’s face. She seemed a bit pale and her eyes were tight at the corners.


“Right, right. Sorry,” Sakura said distractedly. “Let’s hurry ok, I wouldn’t want you to be late for your night out.”


Taking the hint Kakashi grabbed Sakura’s hand before she could protest and poofed them booth outside the door of his tailors shop.


Startled by the sudden transportation Sakura squeezed Kakashi’s hand tighter as she took in her surroundings. They were in the southeastern part of Konoha about 20 minutes away from Kakashi’s apartment. A completely different direction then she had been going. Glancing at a nicely carved wooden sign above a small door she read, “The Tailor” and underneath that sign a smaller one that could be flipped around said “is in”.

“So the name of this place is just called ‘the Tailor’,” Sakura asked.


“More like ‘THE Tailor’. She’s the best in all of fire country and she makes all of the best shinobi’s outfits. Let’s go in and I’ll introduce you,” Kakashi said opening the door to the sound of clinging bells.


Walking through the doorway Sakura was immediately blown away by the sheer amount of fabrics stacked in the store. Fabrics of all shades, colors and textures seemingly organized by color covered shelves that lined every wall. Between the shelves were photographs of different shinobi in various outfits, most of them autographed. There was also a counter at the back of the room that blocked off the entrance to some back rooms that looked like dressing rooms and a workroom. Many ninja style magazines lay on the counter along with books on weaponry, martial arts, foreign cultures, history and even much to Sakura’s amazement an old “Icha Icha Paradise”.


Seeing Sakura’s shocked face Kakashi chuckled and explained, “It can take awhile for someone to go through the fitting and design process and Ayano always makes sure her customers and their family don’t get bored while they wait.”


“Although I think you, Genma and Jiraiya are the only ones who actually pick up that particular book in public,” said a smooth feminine voice from behind the curtain that separated what looked to be the workroom from the front of the store.


The curtain was pushed aside as a tiny and slender woman joined the two waiting shinobi standing at her counter. She had long waist length silky black hair that was tied at bottom like Neji’s, a lovely heart shaped face with amber eyes and delicate full rosebud lips. She wore a beautiful yet simple and exquisitely crafted blue kimono patterned with small gold dots with a cranberry red obi.


“I’m a sucker for the classics Ayano, you know that!” Kakashi said with an eye crease as he crossed his arms over his chest.


“Run through all of your masks already Kakashi-san?” Ayano asked smoothly with an impish smile on her face.


“No, no. I’ve come to introduce you to my teammate Sakura-san. She wants to change her style and I knew that she had to come to you.” Kakashi answered giving Sakura a little nudge towards the counter, as she seemed to be stuck into place.

“Sakura this is Ayano-san ‘THE tailor’, Ayano this is Sakura-san, my teammate who’s worn the same clothes since she was a genin four years ago- oof!” grunted Kakashi as a suddenly unstuck Sakura gave him a good firm nudge in his ribs with her elbow.


“THANKS Kakashi,” Sakura said through gritted teeth as she walked away from him and towards the counter where an amused Ayano stood.


“Good afternoon Sakura-san, how may I be of assistance?” Ayano asked politely getting down to business.


“Well . . . ,”Sakura started, not sure where to begin.


“Why don’t you go find something to amuse yourself Kakashi-san. I believe Sakura-san and I can take it from here,” Ayano said gently waving him out the door.


“Sure, sure. Suits me fine. Is that ok Sakura?” Kakashi asked looking back at the cherry blossom amidst the fabrics.


“Yeah, that’s just fine. I’ll just meet you tomorrow at HQ when we find out our mission ok?” Sakura said a little relieved she didn’t have to talk girl clothes in front of Kakashi.


“Ok, we’re meeting at 7:00am you know,” Kakashi replied.


“So Naruto and I will be seeing you around 10:00, 11:00?” Sakura asked politely.


“Unless yet another citizen of Konoha requests my service,” Kakashi said proudly, saluting Sakura and Ayano as he jingled out the door.


“He’s been reliably late ever since he was young,” Ayano said quietly, “I wouldn’t expect him before noon myself.”


“You know him well then?” Sakura asked, stifling a giggle.


“You could say that. I know most of the shinobi in fire country and some from the other countries as well. Being a tailor I know the intimate details of many of my clients but I am completely trustworthy and have never divulged unknown information on a client. You see to be a shinobi’s tailor Sakura, you need to know that person very well. Their talents, their fighting style, all the weapons they carry. What their fears and insecurities are. My job is to design apparel that will move with the wearer, conceal their weapons and as important. Make them feel confident and comfortable so that when they are out serving Konoha they can live up to their full potential,” Ayano explained to Sakura leading her behind the counter and into on of the workrooms.


Ayano pointed Sakura to a comfy overstuffed armchair upholstered in a hideous green fabric. Seeing Sakura eye it Ayano laughed lightly and said, “I’m a tailor not an upholsterer. I was given that chair by a close friend and it’s so comfortable I had to keep it but that fabric is why it’s behind those curtains. It’s a pity that I find the ugliest chairs and sofas to be the most comfortable.”


“That’s so true,” Sakura laughed again settling happily into the chair, mental imaged of being dressed in the hideous upholstery banished.


“Now Sakura-san, tell me. I can see that you are ready for a change. Tell me about yourself. Do you have a speciality? Weapons?” Ayano said.


“Well, I am Tsunade-sama’s apprentice and I’ve learned her technique for super strength. I am a full fledged medic nin and I mainly use kunai, and senbon although I sometimes use shuriken. I use a combination of taijitsu and ninjutsu. I do fight but like I said earlier I am a medic nin and that is my main function,” Sakura said not sure if that’s all she needed to know.


“I see,” said Ayano as she scribbled some notes on a pad of paper she had picked up on a small table by her chair. “Do you carry a medical bag?”


“Yes, I usually have a pack with medical supplies while I am on mission. When I work in the hospital I usually have everything I need there,” Sakura furthered.


“Tell me. What do you like and dislike about your current apparel and is there anything specific in mind that you would like to change?” Ayano asked.


“Well. . . I like my tunic but I would like to update it a bit. I defiantly would like it shorter, this long skirt can really get in the way when I run or spar. I still like my shorts but I need something that shows I’m not 12 anymore, but I don’t want to be a slut! I guess I trust you to update me anyway you want but there is one thing that I’ve decided to have that is new and that’s a mask,” Sakura said suddenly a bit shy.


“May I know the reason for this addition?” Ayano asked still writing on her pad.


“Would it help?” Sakura asked a little nervous.


“Yes. There are many shinobi that wear masks or cover their faces. All are for concealment but there are different things that people want to conceal and for different reasons. As you probably know Shino-san and the Aburame clan partially cover their faces to conceal and protect their bugs, Kotesu-san also conceals part of his face, and as you know Kakashi-san covers most of his face, using his hitai-ate to protect his Sharingen,” Ayano explained.


“I have several reasons then,” Sakura began. “I am a new person from who I was when I first became a ninja, but my outfit hasn’t changed. I need to reflect how I’ve grown,” Sakura said, struggling to explain quite how she was feeling. “I’ve matured a lot and I’ve become much stronger then I was. You see when I was genin I was practically useless. I was a burden to my team mates. That’s changed after a lot of work but there’s still one thing I can’t seem to get better at. . . Hiding my emotions. I need an aid to cover what I’m feeling. I believe that a mask would not only help me hide my thoughts from others, but also make me feel more comfortable and help me to contain my emotions for real. Does that make any sense.”


“Of course Sakura-san, that is something I can work with. Now is there any particular kind of mask you like? Full-face, half, partial?” Ayano inquired.


“I believe I would prefer a mask like Kakashi’s, it would kind of be like a tribute to him since he was my sensei,” Sakura explained.


“Ok. If you would let me take your measurements and give me about 30 minutes, I can make some sketches for you to choose from and if you like I can have enough outfits done for you by the time you get your mission tomorrow,” Ayano told Sakura as she grabbed a measuring tape from the table.


“That soon? How is that possible?” Sakura asked amazed.

“Why Sakura-san, did Kakashi-san say nothing about me? I was once a shinobi like yourself. In fact I was in ANBU with Kakashi-san at one point,” Ayano said stunning Sakura.


“But how-Why?” Sakura stuttered.


“I perform the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and find that I can get quite a bit of sewing done quite quickly that way. As for why I left being a shinobi? The simple story is that even in ANBU I was making all my own uniforms. It was something I always had a passion for. I started getting requests from other shinobi to make theirs as well. I think no one who hasn’t been a ninja really understands what a ninja needs in clothing. I chose to cease my shinobi love and serve Konoha where my talents and passions lie. That was over 10 years ago now. Now, measurements?” Ayano asked slyly holding up the tape.


True to her word 30 minutes later Ayano came out with several sketches for Sakura to choose from. In the end she chose the one that showed a red collared overshirt similar in style to the tunic she wore now except sleeveless, her black shorts were there too but shorter and covered with a tiny white skirt that split in the front. It also came with white arm guards that protected her at the elbows and black gloves with the fingers missing similar to Kakashi’s. The mask Ayano proposed was black with white lining and instead of covered her face from chin to just below her eyes, but left her neck exposed unlike Kakashi’s.


“This makes it more feminine and adds a touch of style,” Ayano explained.


She also recommended that with the new shorter skirt she should try getting some longer boot style sandals to even out the outfit and after agreeing on fabrics sent Sakura off to a nearby shoe store telling her that her new clothes would be ready for a final fitting at 10:00 that night and available for her in the morning to be delivered to her door no later(or earlier) than 6:00 am.


Sakura set off for the shoe store feeling nervous, excited and ready all at the same time. She was ready to start things off fresh tomorrow. Yes. Tomorrow would be a new beginning.