San

Sakura and Naruto found their rhythm with their friendship without my help in only a few days. It would have been hard not to, both of them were just so open and bright. Sure, Sakura was hella judgmental and more than a little prissy, but Naruto was oblivious and forgiving enough that it worked out. We'd make it up to him at lunch, anyway, when we began bringing ramen after asking Kaa-san to pack for two in the mornings. We ended up hanging onto his lunchbox everyday until we saw each other before school, since he didn't even have enough food to put in it at home anyway. Kaa-san didn't mind, I certainly didn't, and even Sakura only pretended it was a bother. Maybe not the brightest move on Sakura's part, because he seemed to feel guilty about it all the time, but we didn't stop bringing food, and that had to count for something.

That new friendship did indeed put a strain on Ino and Sakura's, including the rest of the popular crowd that hung around Ino. Ino wasn't a bad person, just a little misguided in her priorities, so I suggested that Sakura reach out to classmates other than Ino and her people. We got to meet a lot of the boys that way, starting with Kiba and Akamaru. Kiba and Naruto were alike in a lot of regards, and maybe it was because of that, or maybe it was because one was very obviously canine while the other was closer to feline that they butted heads regularly. Shikamaru and Chōji were next, as they seemed to come as a pair as well. I thought it was a bad idea to approach Sasuke, as I worried that Sakura's fangirling would crop up then, but she seemed to do okay. Of course she still had the raging crush, what little girl wouldn't with that little darling, but she hadn't obnoxiously pined over him like Ino and her girls. It was easy to tell he appreciated the restraint.

Sasuke and Naruto were the worst, and it was adorable. Sasuke was far less doom-and-gloom at six years old, as it was before the massacre of his entire family, and therefore he was a lot more interactive with his peers. Naruto was already naturally competitive, and they behaved like siblings vying for attention from anyone they could get it from.

Shino, Hinata, and Tenten came after that. We had originally approached Shino only, but it seemed Hinata had already attached herself to him and Tenten (which was understandable; she needed some kind of allies in this crazy Academy), so we took the three of them into our group at the same time.

Neji was near unapproachable, and Sakura was downright terrified to go up and speak to him, so she allowed me to handle it (She seemed to come to the conclusion that I was some alternate personality she'd developed, which concerned her, but made more sense to her as well). It went well enough, he got only a little belligerent in the middle there, but I smoothed it over with a clever but sarcastic remark. In all honesty, it was a thinly veiled insult, but I suppose there was something appropriately crafty about the wording that struck a chord with him and he decided we really were worth his oh so precious time.

From that point forward, I took to silently calling him Princess Pretentious in Sakura's mind, something that never failed to make her giggle.

As for Lee, I almost didn't want us to make nice with him. He just had so much energy and so much sheer in-your-face-ness, and we were already dealing with two extremely rowdy boys in our group. Sakura definitely wasn't scared of him, but I almost was. In the end, I was on board with absorbing Lee into our group, mostly because we had made friends with practically everyone and that would have excluded him pretty severely, and he was teased for his lack of abilities already on top of everything else. He'd have next to no support system if we hogged everyone, and what a bitch move that would have been. So there it was.

We had basically assembled the Rookie 9 about six years early. I didn't believe it to be a mistake, they would all need one another before long, and the earlier the friendships began, the stronger the foundation.

Almost exactly one year later, my hypothesis was proven correct when Sasuke's entire clan was wiped out by his brother. We found out about it the next morning, as I had been keeping on eye out for it, knowing the incident would happen pretty soon, and I convinced Sakura to skip class to visit him in the hospital. She was aghast (disobeying rules, we can't!), but I managed and she insisted I take over because she had no idea where to begin with that situation. I was prepared for her demand, mostly since I already had an argument lined up to push her to that decision anyway; I figured an actual seven year old would definitely fuck up that kind of conversation.

We hadn't told anyone else, not even Tou-san who had seen us off to school that morning, and I was sure Naruto would be concerned when we didn't show up, but I figured bombarding an already intensely private Sasuke with a whole slew of people would be very much the wrong move. He'd do nothing but push everyone away and retreat, which had been his mistake in the series.

So, we had dropped by Shikamaru's home early in the morning, since I could count on him not to ask questions, and politely requested he give Naruto his lunchpail before lunch break. He'd agreed (with a long suffering sigh and muttered "troublesome"), and we were off.

Finding Sasuke's room was ridiculously easy, even after the receptionist refused to tell us his room number. I drew the conclusion that this was a high security incident, and he was not only a witness, but also a victim who would need to be debriefed and questioned. As an underage juvenile, he had laws protecting his privacy, and as an underage witness to a crime he had even more laws protecting the entire case. In addition, the Uchiha Clan was one of the most prominent clans in Konoha, so of course the politicians would want to keep everything about their massacre tightly under wraps until the last minute.

But I persevered. We stood back near the waiting room, and silently watched for a few minutes. Numerous shinobi were boarding the elevator, so we boarded with a few of them at one point, smiling innocently at them, and allowing them to all get off without us. I took note of what floor it was (Floor 3), but pretended we were heading to the one above, taking the elevator back down to Floor 3 once I covered our tracks. It let off in the middle of the hallway, however there was no reason to worry, since one side was strangely bustling with activity. We veered off in that direction, no one paying attention to the little girl who was barely waist-level. I snorted at the lack of security, but figured the chaos was due to the freshness of the incident, and because there had never really been an incident like this in years.

His room was numbered as 304, I discovered, after watching the Hokage enter it. I hesitated for perhaps a full minute before deciding fuck it, Sasuke probably wasn't going to talk yet anyway, and slipped in stealthily. Of course, the Hokage and his ANBU bodyguards noticed immediately and were on guard in a millisecond, kunai's drawn threateningly.

I focused only on the Hokage, however, as I bit out with a glare, "I really don't think he's quite in a state to talk as of yet, don't you?" My eyes slid to an inert, pale little boy swallowed in sheets, still obviously in shock, and then slid back to the Hokage, cocking my head wonderingly.

"And who might I ask you are?" asked Sarutobi with feigned lightness. I didn't ease up though.

"Haruno Sakura," I answered. "Close friend of Uchiha Sasuke."

"How and why are you here, Haruno Sakura-chan?"

I smirked dangerously, crossing our arms and cocking a hip to the right. Hell, if he was going to be condescending, might as well give him attitude. "Well, first of all, your security is appallingly lax. I'm not even a genin and all I had to do to find Sasuke-kun was sit back and observe all your little ninjas running around like chickens with their heads cut off." I rolled our eyes, gesturing towards Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun didn't show up for school, and I thought perhaps he was sick, so I was going to bring him some miso to cheer him up," Sarutobi couldn't dispute that, I had our backpack to provide enough evidence, "But when I got to the compound, nobody would let me in, and it was strange to see so many non-Uchiha shinobi crawling around. I followed one, and he led me here. As to why I'm here, I'm here because after hearing all the mutterings and whispers, it's become glaringly apparent that Sasuke needs someone familiar for support and comfort, not a distant bureaucrat intent on dredging up a traumatic experience so soon after it happens. So soon, in fact, that he's still in shock from it. Will you tell me I'm wrong, Hokage-sama? Will you tell me that you are not, in fact, here to question Sasuke-kun?" Sarutobi was deathly silent, and my eyes narrowed minutely. "Thought not."

I was taking a ginormous risk with being so flippant and disrespectful towards the Hokage, not to mention I was very close to ruining Sakura's image, but I was beyond the point of caring. Sarutobi would play yet another a part in this event by covering up the truth and as a result would hurt someone I'd grown to care about, and there wasn't a goddamn chance I was going to let him get away with it scot-free. He was manipulative, like all politicians and people of power. Perhaps not to the point of cruelty, but enough for me to resent and be wary of.

Sarutobi stood smoothly, hands sliding into his sleeves as he joined them. "Perhaps I shall visit at another time," he said, looking down at me as he walked to the door. He paused as he passed me. "You are rather astute, Haruno Sakura-san. However, cleverness can only take a kunoichi so far without the skills to back it up. You are missing lessons that will teach you these skills, I advise you not to spend too much time here." In other words, by the time I come back, you'd better be gone girly. He wasn't leaving though, he was still staring at us with an air of consideration and judgment, but I refused to look away from him, I refused to be cowed or scared into submission. "...You will make a fine kunoichi."

"As a proud future shinobi, Hokage-sama, I thank you for your recognition," I threw back at him, without even thinking it through. With all the tolerance only a weathered man such as he could posses, he dipped his chin response, smiling as if I had truly amused him. I almost became indignant, until I searched his gaze and found that he wasn't patronizing me, but actually commending me. For exactly what, I wasn't sure, maybe for 'looking underneath the underneath'. It stuck in my mind, however, even after he and his ANBU finally left, and then Sasuke and I were alone.

Sasuke had moved during the confrontation, though I hadn't noticed, and he was staring at me, eyes all wide and beseeching. He was conflicted, I could tell, unsure of how to feel after hearing and seeing that I was there for him. Should he be relieved and accept my freely given comfort, or was this when he should start alienating himself from everyone beginning with me?

I sighed, moving to the bed with a look of understanding, slipping off our shoes when I reached his side and climbing up with him. The way he immediately latched onto me very nearly broke my heart, and I held him back as tightly as I could. He was shaking, the front of our dress becoming warm and damp, and I knew he was crying. Sakura freaked out, she hadn't really stopped since we left home, but I pushed her down, insisting that this wasn't the time and carded our fingers through the back of Sasuke's hair soothingly, singing a few verses of a distantly remembered Kansas song.

Of all the music in the world, I'd gone with Kansas.

Sakura was throughly lost (...we've never heard that song before?), but Sasuke was brought to his breaking point, his silent sobs turning to high, keening wails of pure grief that only a child could achieve.

I think, on some level, I understood what Sarutobi was going through, I knew he had no other options other than to keep the details of the massacre a secret, and I knew the betrayal of a good friend had to be killing him inside. I was unsympathetic. That wasn't good enough for me. My friend was hurting, and I wanted nothing more than to hunt down every person who had a hand in it, before or after, and make them pay. Maybe that made me selfish, maybe it made me a little amoral, but that self-awareness did nothing to soften my cold fury.

As I rocked Sasuke in my arms, I hoped that Sarutobi had dawdled near the room long enough to listen. I hoped he could hear the emotionally agonized cries of a seven year old boy who had been abandoned by his family, because they were either dead, or on the run. I hoped he would think about how he would later have to lie to this child, to everyone, directly to their faces, and not let the truth see the light until it was too late.

I hoped the sounds of Sasuke's heartbreak and despair would keep Sarutobi Hiruzen awake at night as he stared at a dark ceiling and tried to sleep. Sleep he would not find even as the dawn rose.

A/N: The song she uses as a lullaby for Sasuke is Wayward Son by Kansas. Original, right? But I found a cover of it by Mina Harrison a few years back that really stuck with me, so that's the version she sings. It's really pretty, I suggest you Youtube search it.

Hey someone got her name right! Noble-spirited's name is really Carrie. Carrie Bishop, actually. No relation to Carrie Bishop from Veronica Mars. Thanks for participating, Jesse M.E Gerrits, I'll be sending you that scene soon enough, if you wish to cash in on your prize. I will want your feedback however, as that scene can go one of two ways.

Holy shit though, Carrie certainly is a vengeful one, isn't she? Maybe vindictive is the better word? In any case, she's not fond of politics and politicians. And I know that Lee, Neji, and Tenten are older and in separate classes than the rest, but I figured they would all be let out for lunch break and such at the same times, which is how Carrie and Sakura have the opportunity to befriend them. Also, notice how Carrie slips into saying singular personal pronouns more often.

Honestly, I am so proud of this chapter, it's already my favorite and I'm only on chapter 3. Part of me wanted to add more, but I didn't want to spend too much time on it, since I already said Team 7 would be established in this chapter- and it wasn't. So congrats to me, I made a liar out of myself. I also said I would update this story and my Twilight one at the same time, but I haven't finished the chapter for that one yet and I didn't want to make everyone wait any longer for this one so I just went ahead and updated. So, sorry for those of you following along with Learning to Fly.

Oh, by the way, I have decided to add romance, but I haven't decided on a pairing. When I write, my inclination is to pair her up with Sasuke, because I dunno, that's just what feels right, but part of me doesn't want to do that, because I might want to challenge myself and write her with someone else instead. I don't know though, I would love suggestions!

I appreciate (especially yours blackhawk) and read all reviews, so leave me some more!

Question: What's your favorite song? If you can't choose one, then top three.

-Roe