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Ino knows there's something off about the pink-haired girl in her Academy class.
Ino is eight years old; she's tall for her age and her knees are knobbly and there are bruises from sparring class that are slowly healing criss-crossing her forearms.
Ino is all of eight years old and she knows for a fact that there is something off about Haruno Sakura.
Haruno Sakura; who sat next to Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke in class; who has bright pink hair and a large forehead and vibrant green eyes; who Ino is convinced is smarter than Shikamaru; who is always staring at things no one else can see.
Yes, Ino thinks as she peers into the abandoned lot she followed Sakura to, there is something weird about this girl.
Sakura gestures to thin air and speaks animatedly and laughs at jokes that Ino cannot hear and Ino watches her with an intense gaze.
Sakura mentions names and places and theories that Ino is sure she didn't learn in class.
Ino leaves before Sakura can notice her.
Ino heads home and badgers her parents about the names Sakura mentioned – badgers them about Hatake Sakumo and Nohara Rin and Uzumaki Kushina and Uchiha Shisui.
She asks about the places Sakura listed – about Kannabi Bridge and Naka River and Kikyō Pass.
She asks about the theories Sakura spoke of – about Water Walking and Fuinjutsu and Chakra Suppression.
Her father eyes her warily as he explains about who each of the shinobi were (about how they died serving their village) and about where each place was (about how two of the places were instrumental to the wars) and how high-level those techniques were (about how she shouldn't perform them until she was a Genin at least).
He asks her about her sudden interest.
She lies.
There's something in the way her father asks and the way her mother subtlety signals him and the way both their eyes are cold as ice that make her understand that this knowledge is dangerous.
“A few kids at school were talking about history and strong ninja,” She says (lies). “I just wanted to know more.”
Haruno Sakura is weird and kinda creepy and really just so off, but she's also cute and endearing and just so innocent.
Ino refuses to be the one to ruin that.