So sorry about the long update! Thx so much for the lovely comments, I adore them!:D Some of the dialogue is from a direct Naruto episode, which I do not own!
Let the pagbaba begin!






Ch. 5: Dreams

The susunod few days passed sa pamamagitan ng in a breeze, and Naruto and Hikari found themselves falling into a scheduled pattern: Get ready, meet up, go to the academy, have a few classes, when going outside they always fall into their group and start chatting away until the exercise is done, then it's normally always a group lunch (except when it's those rare days and everyone pairs off to themselves, usually Naruto and Hikari eat together while the others pair off), they go in and do madami classes, then they all leave for the park after school — usually it's just Hikari, Naruto, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, and Akamaru since Shino and Hinata leave with their parents. Hikari had become really good mga kaibigan with the quiet Hyuga girl, she was actually pretty fun to talk with once you got to know her well, and she was ever kind — one of the traits that Hikari immediately liked about the girl, though she could say the same for all her mga kaibigan since they were all kind in their own way. Though one day, while Hikari and Hinata were off talking to themselves during an outside activity one day, Hinata's tanong took Hikari off-guard.

She sinabi she had been wanting to ask something for a while now, but didn't exactly know how to approach the subject. When Hikari told her to go ahead and ask, Hinata did, while furiously blushing.

"I-I noticed h-how y-you and Naruto were h-holding hands the f-first araw w-we all came to th-the academy . . . I-I was just wondering if y-you t-two were . . . t-together . . ."

It was Hikari's turn to blush madly. "Wh-What're you talking about Hinata? Of course we're not together!" she told her while looking down in embarrassment and Hinata's eyes grew wide as she too looked down, both girls blushing red.

"O-Oh . . ." Hinata whispered, embarrassed as well at her false assumptions. And she was so sure too . . .

"But you know . . ." Hikari said, looking up into the cloudless blue sky above and Hinata looked at her in surprise. "We do care for each other. On a level that no one else knows . . . it's like we have our own special bond . . . and I wouldn't give it up for anything!" Hikari told her, looking back at Hinata with a smiling face.

Hinata smiled back before (speak of the devil) Naruto began yelling at them to come over there and watch something. Hikari and Hinata shared a secret smile together before both getting up and joining their group of friends.

While she was getting ever closer with the mga kaibigan she already knows, she hadn't heard anything about Sakura and found herself worrying one day. Their class had a huge amount of students, and it was hard just to find one person. So Hikari hadn't heard nor seen Sakura in the past few days since she last helped the girl from the bullies and began to worry and feel concerned.

"C'mon Hikari! What ya standin' around for?" Naruto sinabi as it was time to leave.

Hikari had stopped walking and had begun looking around the schoolyard, her concern growing as she began getting a bad feeling. Hikari snapped out of it though when Naruto spoke, and she quickly covered up her concerned frown with a reassuring smile, closing her eyes in the process so he wouldn't be able to see her inner turmoil.

"Sorry, I'm coming!" she quickly told him and he snorted, turning back around as they began walking around again.

"We'd better hurry — the others are waitin'!" Naruto sinabi while behind him, Hikari had stopped smiling and looked off into the distance.

Elsewhere . . .

Sakura was being bullied sa pamamagitan ng even madami girls, and she was completely alone. All of them making fun of her because of her large forehead.

"Whatcha gonna do now, Billboard Brow?" The leader of the girls sinabi in a snide voice, hitting Sakura on the forehead and causing her to fall down.

"Yeah! There's no one here to help ya!" Another girl voiced.

Sakura cried, "Just leave me alone!"

"Or what? You gonna make us, Billboard Brow?" The girl said, hands on her hips as she leaned down to Sakura's level and poked her harshly in the forehead, causing Sakura to whimper. "Face it, you're hopeless!" she told her heartlessly.

Sobbing, and not knowing what else to do, Sakura ran away from them.

After running for who knows how long, she collapsed unto the sidewalk, hands wrapped around her knees as she continued sobbing.

I'm sorry Hikari, I'm sorry I couldn't be stronger like you sinabi I could be, she thought to herself, feeling like she let Hikari and herself down.

Her sobbing was quite loud and a girl with light blond hair heard her crying and went to investigate. She found a girl with kulay-rosas hair huddled up, sobs raking her body and the girl's blue eyes registered that she was the girl that the kids at the academy always made fun of. In truth, she felt sorry for the girl and wanted to help her out, so she went and kneeled down in front of her.

"Hey, aren't you the one their always teasing because ya got such a big forehead?" she asked the girl.

Sakura looked up from her crying to see a smiling girl sitting in front of her, she didn't look like any of the mean kids that always bullied her but her tanong caught her off-guard.

"Wh-Who are you?" Sakura asked her in a voice thick with tears.

"Who me? Well that's easy, my name is Ino Yamanaka. Who are you?" Ino sinabi in a clear voice that matched her personality.

Sakura began sniffling. "My name is . . . Sa-Sakura . . ." she sinabi in a muted voice, her words indecipherable due to her sniffling.

"Huh? Hellooo! I can't hear you. Let's try that again, okay? Who are you?"

"My name is Sakura!" she yelled out.

"That's better!" Ino told her as she drew closer and pointed at Sakura's forehead, and Sakura's eyes went wide. "So this is the famous forehead, huh? Whoa, it is kinda big . . . So that's why you hide it with your bangs?" she asked, hitting her back lightly, causing Sakura to start sniffling slightly. "That's dumb, it just makes it worse. Makes you look like a sheepdog . . ." Ino said, brushing her bangs away with her hand so she could see all of Sakura's face.

Ino studied the girl before smiling, knowing just what would improve Sakura's look and confidence; the red ribbon she had at home. She would be able to pull her bangs away from her face so that way it would frame it — because she actually had a pretty face, she just needed to ipakita it off some more.

"So your Sakura, huh?" Ino said, still smiling.

Sakura sniffed. "Uh-huh," she murmured to the girl and Ino let her bangs fall back down as she began to walk away.

"Hey, you know what? I've got something special for you, come back here tomorrow okay?" Ino told her, and Sakura looked up at her in surprise as she waved bye.

Little did she know, that this would begin Sakura's first friendship.

A few weeks later . . .

Hikari was psyched! Today would be her first kunoichi class!

Excited, she quickly got ready and began running to go get Naruto. She ran up to his apartment and knocked on his door.

"What? What? Jeez, you look excited!" Naruto sinabi with a chuckle as he opened his door.

"Uh-huh! I can't wait for class today!" Hikari told him with a beaming smile, which Naruto mirrored, and they soon speedily made their way to the academy.

Naruto was excited too, but he was already missing Hikari since she would be gone most of the day, along with Hinata. But he was happy to see her positively radiating that strange glowy light of hers. It always seems to balutin around him and fill him with nothing but happy thoughts and emotions.

The girls of the class were quickly rounded up sa pamamagitan ng a female instructor, taken outside the academy, and into a forest with wildflowers everywhere!

"Oh wow, this place is so pretty!" Hikari spoke to Hinata as they both gazed around them in awe.

Hinata nodded and, sharing a smile with her friend, walked to where their teacher was calling them all to sit in a group. They both sat toward the back since the front was already taken.

"Kunoichi have a special role to play, they must not only learn ninjutsu, but also a wide range of knowledge and refinement as women. If you can't blend in to enemy territory sa pamamagitan ng adapting the customs of the women there," she mused, fiddling with her glasses. "Then you'll never be able to succeed as a spy. In any event, today's class is bulaklak arranging." She told the class as everyone began standing up. "Now then everyone, go into the fields and gather distinctive flowers."

Everyone cheered a "yes ma'am!" and the girls paired up or went out into groups to hunt for flowers.

"C'mon Hinata! Let's go!" Hikari cheered, taking her sa pamamagitan ng the hand and leading her out into a spacious area filled with all different types of flowers.

The two quickly began picking different types of bulaklak to make them look good, but somewhere nearby . . .

Sakura and Ino paired off together, the two were very close mga kaibigan now, ever since the araw Ino helped Sakura overcome her embarrassment.

Picking a flower, Sakura spoke in a somewhat timid voice. "I'm just not very good at this kind of stuff. What about you?" Sakura asked her friend as she sat down beside her.

"Well that's not good considering your named after a seresa blossom. Okay, look, it's simple — I'll explain it all right?" Ino told her and Sakura looked up in surprise. "The first thing is, find a main bulaklak for your bouquet. Then you find other bulaklak that compliment the main one. You see, bulaklak have to highlight each other's beauty. There's really nothing to it once you know all the tricks," Ino explained without missing a beat (considering she was practically raised in a bulaklak shop). "For example . . ." She than began looking around and Sakura followed her gaze to a batch of pretty kulay-rosas flowers. "Look. You see those cosmos bulaklak over there? Well if they were the main bulaklak in your arrangement, than the thoroughwort bulaklak you picked would compliment them." She said, pointing to white bulaklak that were less-appealing than the cosmos flowers. "Cosmos bulaklak are also called autumn seresa blossoms, and they're the prettiest bulaklak in the fall. Their name comes from an old word that means harmony, they can harmonize with all of the other bulaklak and any autumn damo would go just perfectly with them in a bulaklak arrangement." Ino further explained, leaving Sakura in awe of her friend's in-depth knowledge.

Sakura looked down, wishing she had known that, when Ino picked a thoroughwort bulaklak from Sakura's small bouquet.

"So, tell me, do I look as pretty as the cosmos bulaklak now? C'mon, am I cute?" Ino asked her, holding the bulaklak up in front of her and giving a wink.

Sakura took a moment, always in awe at Ino's outgoing nature.
"Uh . . . yeah!" Sakura told her, her voice soft.

"Sheesh! Took ya long enough to say it!" Ino teased, pagganap angry which Sakura laughed loudly at.

"Well, well, you sure look like your havin' a lot of fun. Billboard Brow. Ha!" The mean girl from before who always bullied Sakura the most, came up with two other girls. Her snide remark stopped Sakura from laughing anymore as she turned around to face the intimidating girl.

Ino just sat there, glaring daggers at the girl who was making fun of her best friend.

The mean girl walked up closer to the frightened girl, causing Sakura to shrink back.

"You know you're still nothing but a hopeless little girl, Sakura. So don't go strutting around like your hot stuff, got it?" She threatened while thumping Sakura's forehead harshly, causing Sakura to gasp and whimper.

Suddenly, three bulaklak sailed sharply through the air and landed squarely in the mean girl's mouth, causing her to fall backwards.

The other two girls shouted her name while rushing to her side.

Ino withdrew her extended hand.

"Sorry, that head of yours is so empty that I mistook it for a vase, and thought I might put some bulaklak in there," Ino sinabi in a sarcastic tone, fed up with all of the rude teasing of her friend.

The girl swiftly sat up and screamed, "INO!"

"It's aconite, a shinobi flower. I guess it's not really that poisonous, but still, ya might wanna spit those out when ya get the chance," Ino sinabi in a threatening voice, causing Sakura to look back at her with wide eyes.

The three girls squealed and ran away to rinse out the 'poison.'

Ino suddenly giggled, causing Sakura to look over at her.

"I forgot to say that only the root is poisonous!" Ino chided, sticking her tongue out as she continued to giggle to herself.

Sakura began smiling. Ino is so . . . great! She knows practically everything! Her clothes are so stylish, and she's way cute! She's even good with her shuriken! Compared to that . . . I'm . . . nothing . . . Sakura thought to herself, becoming down and Ino could sense it.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Ino asked her softly while Sakura gazed down at the tiny, insignificant thoroughwort bulaklak in her hand.

"Ino if you're a cosmos bulaklak . . . than am I just a thoroughwort?" Sakura mumbled, madami to herself, and Ino sighed.

"Now why would you say that?" Ino asked her with a smile on her face and Sakura looked up at her. "Well, let's see . . ." Ino thought before giving Sakura a huge grin. "Actually, I don't think you're a bulaklak at all, Sakura. You're still a bud waiting to bloom!" Ino told her in a comforting tone.

This shocked Sakura, and she began to laugh without humor. So I'm not even a bulaklak . . . she thought sullenly to herself, looking down once madami while Ino gazed at her with a serious expression, wanting her to see the hidden meaning behind what she said.

Silence came over them and Ino started mangarap ng gising until Sakura began speaking. Ino didn't hear the first part so Sakura repeated herself, looking up at her shyly.

"Why did . . . you give me this ribbon? What's it suppose to mean?" she asked in a quiet voice and Ino smiled at her.

"Well actually . . ." Ino gazed out in front of them at all of the flowers. "Let's just say I thought it would be a real big waste for you to wilt away as nothing but a bud," Ino gazed at her before looking down and softly caressing a bud of a yellow flower. "I mean, how sad is it if bulaklak never bloom?" A breeze passed through and Sakura began to process what Ino was saying. Ino looked back at Sakura. "For all we know, that little bud . . . It might become a bulaklak even madami beautiful than a cosmos," Ino gave her a warm smile.

Sakura sat there, inspired sa pamamagitan ng Ino's heartfelt words that held so much meaning to her. Her eyes began glistening up with happy tears she's never shed before. Thank you, Ino. Thank you. Sakura thought the words she couldn't speak out for fear that her tears would be unleashed.

Ino looked up, snapping out of the moment.

"Hey, c'mon," Ino sinabi softly, standing up while Sakura visibly shook from all of the emotions coming at her. "We've gotta finish our assignments."

"Uh, okay . . ." Sakura sinabi in a teary voice which Ino noticed.

"What's wrong Sakura?" she asked her.

"U-Um . . . I got some dirt in my eyes when I fell."

Ino snickered to herself, "You're so clumsy!" she giggled.

They both began to look in a spacious field of flowers.

When Hikari thought her bulaklak arrangement looked good enough, she turned to face Hinata.

"So . . . what do you think?" Hikari asked, ipinapakita her bulaklak bouquet.

Hinata smiled. "It looks great Hikari!" she told her with a smile, to which Hikari returned.

"Hey, yours looks better than mine!" Hikari teased, but was truthful, it seemed Hinata knew a little madami about this stuff than she did.

Sakura and Ino both heard two girls laughing and Sakura turned to look when she thought she heard the name "Hikari."

She then gasped in recognition when she saw the white-haired girl, along with Hinata Hyuga.

"Hikari!" Sakura yelled out, crossing the field to get to where they were, Ino followed her with curiosity and confusion.

"Huh?" Hikari and Hinata both looked up to see a pink-haired girl running happily toward them with a light-haired girl following close behind.

Then Hikari recognized the girl and immediately shouted out her name with a huge grin on her face.

The two smiled at each other as Hikari began the tanong that had her concerned. "Where have you been? Are you okay and everything?"

"I'm fine, I've just been hanging out with my friend, Ino!" Sakura told her, gesturing to the girl beside her and Hikari gazed at her before smiling.

"Hi, I'm Hikari!" she told her, and Ino remembered her from class, how captivating the glow of light was . . .

"Hi there," Ino sinabi with a smile.

"This is my friend Hinata," Hikari introduced the girl beside her.

"Uh, hello . . ." she sinabi a bit shyly, a slight blush on her cheeks appeared whenever attention was on her.

Sakura and Ino both sinabi a friendly "hi" to the girl and soon enough, the four girls were all sitting together amongst all of the flowers.

"Wow Ino, your bulaklak arrangement is so beautiful!" Hikari sinabi in awe as she studied the complimenting colorful flowers.

Ino smiled. "Thanks, but it was easy!"

"Huh?" Hikari looked up at her questioningly, as well as Hinata.

Sakura decided to answer their question. "Ino's family owns a bulaklak tindahan in town, so she knows a lot about flowers!"

"Oh, wow, really?" Hikari asked, looking back at Ino.

She nodded. "Yep, and I can help ya out if you want," she offered them, and Hikari and Hinata smiled at each other and nodded toward Ino.

"Well, actually Hinata's so far is really good, she has all of the bulaklak complimenting her main one like mine. All you need is to add some extra yellow bulaklak and yours is complete!" Ino sinabi to Hinata who mumbled a thanks. "Hikari, yours are a really beautiful pick too, but you need some smaller bulaklak to go with your biggest bulaklak so they'll even each other out."

"Okay!" Hikari nodded, and went to paghahanap with Hinata.

"Your mga kaibigan are nice Sakura," Ino mused with a smile, and

Sakura turned to look at her. "Do you think they can be mga kaibigan with me too?" she asked her with a grin, her eyes closed.

A happy smile stretched across Sakura's face. "Yeah!" she answered before getting up and dragging a surprised Ino along with her to their new friends. All four of the girls giggled and chatted all the way till their assignment was done and they returned o the academy.

Out of all four of them, Ino's bouquet was the best. But Sakura's, Hikari's, and Hinata's were all good too and they passed with high scores. They even got to take their bulaklak arrangement tahanan with them!

Carrying her bouquet, Hikari went into the susunod class. The final class of the day, and also the class where she would be with Naruto again. Smiling widely to herself, she quickly went up to her usual upuan beside him.

"Hey! Look at what I made!" Hikari showed him her bulaklak and he studied them with a huge smile on his face.

"Wow Hikari! You made this?" he questioned at its greatness.

"Yep, but I had help from Ino and Sakura!" Hikari told him.

"Ino? Sakura?" he questioned and she pointed out the two girls as they came in the classroom.

Iruka-sensei then started the class and everyone took their seats. Today's last lesson would be very important, they would be learning about the Hokage, the leader over their village who made sure it was protected no matter what.

Naruto was in complete awe as Iruka-sensei explained what being Hokage meant. The Hokage was the most respected, most powerful, and wisest shinobi of the village.

Being Hokage meant everyone looked up at him.

After school finally ended, Naruto and Hikari went sa pamamagitan ng their apartments to drop off their things before heading off to the nearby park.

Hikari met Naruto there, he was on the ugoy with his head down, barely swinging at all and she knew that pose; he was deep in his thoughts.

"What's wrong Naruto?" she asked him as she took the ugoy beside him.

"I've just been thinkin' about Iruka-sensei's lesson, about the Hokage." Naruto sinabi in a low and serious tone, still looking down.

Hikari looked up toward the sky with a thoughtful expression. "Oh yeah, I betcha being Hokage is tough, but it probably pays off in the end."

"Huh?" Naruto looked up at Hikari, wondering what she was thinking as she continued staring up at the evening sky.

"I mean . . . people look up to you, cherish you, but most importantly . . ." Saying this in a soft voice, she looked at Naruto with a smile, her eyes closed. "You'll get to help others, and be able to call everyone your family. To me . . . that pag-ibig is what really matters."

Naruto just sat there, eyes glistening as he gazed at his most cherished friend. He felt the moisture build up in his eyes from hearing her words and quickly wiped them away with his arms.

Hikari noticed and looked at him questioningly before he looked onward ahead with a smile on his face and determination lacing his blue eyes.

"Then, that's exactly what I want to be. To become the greatest Hokage, so kids like you and me won't ever be alone — but will always be accepted." Naruto sinabi in a bold voice that made Hikari stare at him in awe. Naruto turned to her with a wide grin on his face, "To be Hokage is my dream!"

Hikari soon laughed lightly to herself, her eyes soft as she studied him. "Then . . . I believe in you Naruto, I know your dream will come true!" she told him, feeling deep down the rightness of her words. And I'll help however I can to make your dream come true Naruto . . . she thought to herself as they both smiled at each other, eyes closed.