“No! I mean, even if I had seen him before in my life, which I haven’t, how could I have known how annoying he is? I had an accurate dream about someone I’ve never met!”
They were out in the play area, sitting on a bench and watching the other kids run around. Well, Ino was watching. Sakura was gripping the bench and staring at Ino, waiting for her answer.
“You know, it kinda sounds like you’re trying to argue my side for me.” Ino said wryly. “Like if I just said, ‘yeah you’re right, that’s not normal’ would you agree to talk to my dad?”
“Ino!” Sakura’s voice wasn’t angry anymore… it was… Suddenly she burst into tears. “I don’t know any more what if I’m going crazy and there’s nothing I can do and you’re starting to realize it and you’ll stop being—”
Ino pulled her into a hug before she could get any farther. “Oh Sakura, I’m sorry. I was just trying to lighten the mood, but I shouldn’t. I do believe you and I don’t want you to think I don’t care. Don’t worry. You are not going crazy, and even if you were, I’d still be your best friend ok?” Sakura nodded weakly, still crying.
Iruka came over and talked to Sakura for a while. She handled the interrogation pretty well, Ino thought, something about missing mommy and being scared. Maybe spending so much time around the Yamanaka Clan was helping her. Eventually lunch ended and they had to wait until after school to discuss it more. Today’s sleepover was at the Haruno household. Ino had promised to be extra good and do chores to get her parents to agree to the sleepover, and they had to stop by the Yamanaka household to tell them all about their first day. After what felt like weeks they finally found themselves in the relative privacy of Sakura’s room.
“Okay, so basically you’re worried because in your dream he acts the exact same way as real life.” Ino was sitting on the bean bag chair she’d given Sakura for the Winter Festival. It was the same color as Sakura’s eyes.
Sakura was trying to not be frantic about looking through old scrolls. “Yes, because I shouldn’t have any way of knowing how he acts, let alone what he looks like.” Sakura said, nodding vigorously.
“Maybe you are just good at reading people. Like you saw him once and you judged on his appearance and you were right.” Ino suggested.
“Off of one glance? It would have had to be a pretty small glance, cause I can’t ever remember seeing him and he stands out.”
“Yeah no kidding, I think my eyes burned a bit when he barged into class this morning.” Ino agreed. “You know, people say it’s bad, but you really can guess a lot about a person by what they look liiiikkkkeeeee—" Ino was suddenly hit with dejavu and dragged out the last word as her eyes went wide.
“I’ve seen him before!” She said with a mixture of exasperation and relief. “At the winter festival, my parents made me bring him food! A lot of food. I didn’t understand why, but I’m pretty sure he’s really poor or something! He was cleaner today but during the festival he looked so thin and cold and dirty.”
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“Where were his parents?” Sakura asked, puzzled.
“I don’t know. But even though they denied it I think my parents knew him.” They both contemplated this for a moment. “Oh god Sakura he’s blond and blue eyed too what if he’s my abandoned little brother!” Ino gasped. “How could they?!”
“Your parents would never.” Sakura said confidently enough to shake Ino back into a normal headspace. “But in a lot of my dreams he is dirty, and it never seems like he has any nice stuff. I noticed his sandals are always ragged, just like they are in real life.” Sakura let out a defeated sigh. “I just can’t think of a reason I should know all that about him. And besides that, why would he be such a frequent person in my dreams? I see him more than you!”
“Yeah that still makes me sad.” Ino admitted. Sakura tried to look apologetic. “However, I have a good observation for you my bestest friend!” Sakura’s eyes immediately grew wide and hopeful.
“Sasuke!” Ino declared, as if solving a decade-year-old mystery. At Sakura’s confused look she explained, “Look I don’t actually get to see your dreams sadly, otherwise I coulda told you about Naruto earlier, but even without seeing them I feel confident that Sasuke is nothing like the evil-jerk-guy that I’ve heard so much about.”
“How could you know that?” Sakura asked, more curious than disbelieving.
“Did you see how giggly he is? He’s like a cute little sunflower, brightening everyone’s day! And when he got picked up? Must have been his older brother; he just looked like the happiest kid in the world.” Ino couldn’t help but smile as she remembered the mischievous joy on Sasuke’s face at seeing his brother.
"You've got quite the dreamy look in your eyes there Ino." Sakura's voice broke her train of thought.
“Anyways,” Ino said haughtily, attempting to keep some semblance of dignity despite her embarrassment, “while you still haven’t confirmed it, it seems like that is a place where your dreams are totally wrong. That is one cheerful and delightful kid.”
“I confirm it!” Sakura laughed. “Yes, thank you Ino. I’m glad to have you to keep me grounded.”