A/N: Hey guys. This chapter starts with a little bit from the other members of Team 3's perspective as well as Shisui's before we get to Sakura.
A/N 2: 1st, 2nd, and one later scene completely re-written. A lot of dialogue changes and more character. Less obvious insubordination on Sakura's part (I hope? I'm willing to take suggestions on that, since I'm never sure how to treat her relationship with authority). Please enjoy~
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Chapter 3 - Interlude
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Hyuuga Hikaru disliked his current situation.
Mind you, he was holding himself upright on one hand, balanced on the edge of a tank of the nastiest smelling stuff he had ever had the displeasure of being near. Shimura-sensei had just gleefully told them that it was a mixture of excrement found in the Forest of Death and leftovers from a recently shut down restaurant in the seedier side of Konoha that had been found to be cooking and selling things that they really shouldn't have. To his left Homaru underwent the same treatment, but was dutifully attempting to study while he was at it. Considering the crumbling state of the no doubt ancient textbook Hikaru could sort of understand why he was in such a hurry to finish it.
When first assigned to Team 3 Hikaru had only a very vague idea of both of his teammates, and only because one was the famed Rookie of the Year four years too young to graduate. Both appeared, to the general public, odd and closed off. One boy a second generation shinobi and the other heir to more than two centuries of clan techniques. He had already been wary of Sakura, but after she had calmly fractured their sensei's hand he had changed his assessment of her to 'Dangerous, Handle with Care'.
Homaru intrigued him, being the only one who wasn't so bound to tradition. He was obviously deeply invested in the medical arts, if his constant 'book in face' thing was anything to go by. It was fairly refreshing compared to the 'kill or be killed' attitude he knew he, Sakura and his sensei had learned to adopt. It may have put him slightly at odds within the shinobi community but Homaru still found it admirable. For him it was expected, to grow up to be a fine shinobi and uphold clan traditions – and he suspected it was the same for Sakura – but Homaru had only his self-motivation.
Just ahead of their training were Sakura and Shimura-sensei having a friendly spar. Despite the bright midday sun beating down on them, and the complete lack of a breeze (which Hikaru was thankful for. At least he didn't have to fight the wind) Shimura-sensei had yet to break a visible sweat. Sakura was flushed, and every now and again when Shimura gave her a second to breath she wiped the sweat from her face. She was sluggish now compared to her earlier vigour, and every time she landed on her feet he saw her wince more obviously.
As she jumped back again, this time doing a handspring to spare her injured ankle, she gave a sarcastic laugh.
"Damn you Yuudai-sensei. I'd say it wasn't fair but nothing in life is so…" She said. Yuudai grinned and chucked blunted shuriken at her so fast Hikaru missed his release. Sakura's eyes widened, and she just barely managed to dodge them, bending back at an uncomfortably unnatural angle. Hikaru thought he saw a glimpse of red in her eyes.
"Now you're getting it." Yuudai called, effortlessly shifting out of Sakura's strike range as she swung her limbs. Her dance was fluid and graceful, as the Uchiha style was known for, but with Sakura there was always that unexpected element – a harshness and power that made the air ripple as her hand missed Yuudai-sensei's face by mere centimetres. His sensei's hair was briefly blown back from the force of the punch.
Yuudai, in a movement so fast Hikaru missed it, grabbed Sakura's wrist and twisted her whole body in midair. The air around the two of them flickered briefly, and Hikaru's eyes widened when the chakra strings that weren't visible before became bright in the sunshine. They wove thin paths down Sakura's limbs, and crept towards Yuudai along the ground. Where they had touched him they seemed to impede movement. Hikaru's eyes were drawn then to the kunai that impaled his sensei's hand, where once it had looked he had grabbed Sakura's wrist. Sakura coughed hard, and clutched at her own stomach where she had received Shimura's other hand in the form of a stiff jab.
"I yield," She rasped, and withdrew her chakra threads. She collapsed to her knees, panting harshly and pressing a glowing hand to abdomen. No doubt she had severe bruising. Yuudai pulled the kunai carefully from where it was in his flesh, and Homaru, pale faced, went over to help stop the blood flow.
"Geez Sakura, I'm surprised it took me so long to catch that." Yuudai said, as Homaru carefully coaxed the broken skin to knit itself together. Sakura grinned, and wiggled her ankle experimentally, wincing as she did so. It was swollen, likely a sprain. She huffed.
"I was hoping it would last just a bit longer, but you registered it before the kunai even go to you. If it had worked the way it should have then I'd have definitely gotten your shoulder. I guess it's back to the drawing board then." She muttered. Instead of healing her ankle she pulled a neat compression bandage from one of the many compartments in her jacket and wrapped it. At Hikaru's inquisitive look she elaborated, "There isn't a need to heal this, and I don't want to burden the hospital staff with a simple sprain."
Once Yuudai had stopped bleeding and Sakura could stand, Shimura gave her a weary look.
"Genjutsu? Very Uchiha, but not very you." He said. Sakura stuffed her hands into her pockets.
"Well they're available to me whenever I want them, so why not? It worked pretty well, I guess." She said, almost flippantly.
"Your chakra control is ridiculous. At your age you shouldn't be able to climb trees, much less form and manipulate strands of chakra with varying levels of strength and different purposes. Something else you picked up at home?" Yuudai asked. Sakura's face went tense, as it often did at the mention of her own abilities. For someone who was generally show-off-y she disliked people's questions. Shinobi were of course allowed their secrets, but all jutsu were to be approved by the Hokage office before use against others, and if this was something untested that she was trying out in training…
"I read a book," She said finally, "By the G- by Tsunade of the Sannin." She said, correcting herself. Hikaru wondered what she had nearly said. Yuudai also raised an eyebrow, but seemed to know fo the technique at least.
"Of course. Just be careful when practicing such high-level things on your own. Wouldn't want it to backfire on you." He said, and ruffled her hair. Hikaru let out a small breath that he hadn't realised he had been holding because of the tension.
"Let's take a break then, and after lunch we can empty that lovely pit." Yuudai said cheerfully, back to his usual torturous tendencies. All three genin groaned, but hurried to retrieve their lunches. Homaru looked deep in thought, and Hikaru's hand on his shoulder startled him.
"Is something wrong?" Hikaru asked. Homaru pursed his lips, then twiddled his thumbs as he was prone to do when nervous. He looked toward Sakura, where she was sprawled under the shade of a tree.
"That technique… It's B-rank, easily, A-rank depending on the use. The seer amount of chakra needed to power it is…" He trailed off. Hikaru glanced at the girl, content like a cat in the sun.
"Sakura is something else."
"A little help here please?" Homaru whined. Yuudai threw a glance over his shoulder towards his little genin (although all three were more than ready to become Chuunin) squad. Then he spotted the lanky white-haired medic. Ok, not so little.
Two years after Team 3's conception Yuudai could honestly say that he cared about his squad. Granted, when his father had said that he was being given a very important long-term mission he hadn't expected to be pulled out of Anbu and thrown into the world of a Jounin-sensei. Never once in his twenty-seven years hahad he ever even thought of becoming a teacher, much less at this level. He'd thought maybe one day in the far future he'd take up secondary training of Chuunin, but never kids. None of his ex-squad members had been very excited to see him put in charge of children.
"You'll break them. I give them two days, tops," Cat had said. They'd made a betting pool even. Somehow two days had stretched on into two years, to years of watching those kids grow into themselves and their roles.
When he first laid his eyes on his team he had been mildly disappointed. Of course he had read each of their dossiers and hadn't been expecting much (except at least mild ability to follow orders from the Hyuuga boy) but he certainly hadn't expected a boy who could barely talk to strangers, a girl who was far too small and innocent for his liking and a Hyuuga whose sense of duty was in slight question.
His first impressions had been shattered almost immediately.
Sakura was stronger physically than most Jounin he knew, even without her chakra enhanced strength. When she had fractured his hand with a smile he had almost retaliated, but his training kicked in and he'd kept himself calm. It was a good thing too; he wasn't sure how he would have been punished for accidentally snapping the neck of an Uchiha prodigy. It probably wouldn't sit well with the clan's elders, knowing how petty they got about the smallest slight against their 'holy heir' Itachi. But it was not her physical strength that surprised him most, but rather her mental fortitude and loyalty. She always seemed to follow some sort of mantra in how she protected her teammates, even Yuudai himself in certain circumstances. It never failed to impress him when she took the reins and calmed everyone down.
And then the kid who couldn't even get through two words without stuttering had gone on to show such suprising medical abilities. Of course the dossier had mentioned that the boy had an interest in the medical side of shinobi life but he certainly hadn't expected him to be able to do complicated procedures so early on, much less under the extreme pressure battlefield medics endured on a daily basis. Whoever taught him (and Yuudai knew it was most likely Sakura) had drilled into him everything that made a good medic and more.
Hikaru on the other hand hadn't changed Yuudai's opinion of him until a few missions later. When he took that hit for his teammate Yuudai had been sure that his team would get far. It was one thing to go about doing things for the sake of your family's honour, but in Konoha there was much, much more that a shinbi was tasked with protecting. And teammates were just some of the few. Being able to understand that the whole was more important that the individual was something every Shimura valued, and something Yuudai had hoped he had instilled in his pupils.
The thought of how well they were doing worried him at times, and he wondered when his father would haul the trio off into Root. He knew exactly what went on in there. The training was tough, the emotional conditioning nearly inhumane (depending on who you asked) and not everyone made it out of there with their mind intact. Though the emotional training was useful he still wouldn't like for his team to be put through the wringer like that.
"How the hell did you manage to get up there?!" Sakura shouted, breaking him out of his worry. Yuudai chuckled as Team 3's only female member proceeded to throw kunai into the uppermost branches of the tree, snapping ropes so that Homaru would be released from his unconventional prison. Hikaru stood beneath the boy, there to catch him as he fell.
He turned his head to the trio of genin-level nin whom Team 3 had been assigned to capture. The kids had been sneaky, unpredictable and obvious pranksters, if the workmanship on their traps was anything to go by. Paint bombs, pits, hanging ropes. Even a glue, flower and feathers one Hikaru had had the unfortunate pleasure of getting caught in (he had had to wash flower and feathers out of his hair for hours and there was still some left). Yuudai would be glad to be rid of them, Iwa was where they belonged. The leader of the group was older than Sakura, a thirteen year old who had run away from Iwa with her too cronies and decided to bring havoc to the small villages in Hi no Kuni. They hadn't taken into account the fact that Konoha had a specialist Hunter-nin team on the constant prowl.
Well it only made their job easier. After the run in with an S-ranked criminal during a surveillance mission in Yuki no Kuni he knew that Team 3 deserved a break.
...
"Listen, he's the one in the black coat. He walks too fast to be a civilian," Sakura said, her voice filled with static from the radio.
"Got it, I'll track him to his hide-out, but if we're right he won't be staying in this village much longer." Hikaru spoke into the mic. He activated his Byakugan, and focused completely on his targe so that he wouldn't lose him. At the edge of his vision he could see Sakura following as well, but he couldn't sense her at all. If there was one thing that Sakura had perfected it was extinguishing her presence. The Byakugan was just about the only that could still get a lock on her.
"I'm at the hideout, sensei is taking care of the hostages. Should I hold position?" Homaru's voice sounded. Hikaru figured he was far away enough to get closer to him, and hopped down from his perch in the tree.
"Hold. The hostages are giving me a bit of trouble, and aren't responding. We need to bring this guy in for questioning if I can't get anything from the hostages." Yuudai said. Homura gave the affirmative. Hikaru gave chase, keeping his distance.
The mission was simple at the outset. Someone or something was capturing villagers in one of the outlying towns in Hi no Kuni, but it hadn't become such a big deal that the town had requested anyone above Genin for the job. Even if they had wanted to do so, it was unlikely they could afford it. Even paying for Career shinobi at their rank was a push, so they were the ones assigned.
Hikaru had been uneasy through the whole mission. Tracking the guy and finding the hostages wasn't the hard part, but something about the guy put him off. Something was strange about the catatonic state his victims (both potential and actual) were found in. He wondered-
"Hello there little shinobi. What pr-etty eyes you have." Someone whispered next to him. Hikaru felt himself slipping into a sort of lull.
"What-"
"Shh, don't worry, we're just going to meet your friends for some fun!"
"Oh, okay…"
The last thing Homaru remembered was hearing Sakura's voice cut out on the radio, her words panicked and frantic.
...
"Get out of there right now Homaru! I don't care what Yuudai said, get out!" She had screamed. Homaru had scrambled, but a soft voice had stopped him and next thing he knew he was standing with a fistful of Hikaru's shirt, poised to throw him from the cliff they both stood on. In his shock Homaru hastily discarded the handful of fabric he had been holding and jumped back, even as Hikaru did the same.
"Oh thank Kami-sama," Sakura breathed behind them, and Homaru turned to the gruesome sight that awaited him.
Sakura's hands were dripping, stained red with blood. A man lay, mouth gaping and blood-filled next to her, and something - oh fuck was that a tongue – lay mangled on the ground next to the pair. Sakura's face was streaked with tears, and she opened her arms wide towards them for comfort.
"You nearly died, oh god, I was so stupid, thinking he couldn't tell we were tailing him." She cried. Homaru normally would have gone straight to her, hugged her, but he couldn't stop staring at the kidnapper's mutilated face in horror. How could, how could Sakura have done that? How could she…
"Why?" Homaru managed, voice croaky. Sakura's eyebrows furrowed, confused.
"He had a Kekkei Genkai , you nearly… you would have died. I didn't, I didn't have a choice. Don't you understand?" She asked. Homaru shook, from head to toe, and stepped back from her slightly, for the first time scared, truly, of his teammate.
"She's right," Yuudai called, getting up stiffly from where he was before lying down. He threw a cursory glance towards the missing-nin, "That guy was an S-class criminal. He controls people with his voice, lures them into a trap and forces them to kill each other for fun. I managed to resist only to the point of paralysing myself, so Sakura didn't have a choice if she wanted to save you two."
Homaru shook his head. He didn't want to believe that it was the only way. Didn't want to think that this was the only answer, never mind that what was done was done.
"How are we going to interrogate him?" Hikaru asked, wary.
"The Yamanakas will surely-"
"That's not the point!" Homaru shouted, completely out of character. Sakura's eyes widened, "That's not the point. You, you've never ever done anything violent without a proper reason. This is, this isn't you Sakura. I thought I knew you better than this. How could you stoop to that level…" Homaru asked. It would have been better, he thought, if she had just killed him outright. Cleaner, more merciful. This was too brutal for her, for this girl who cared so much about the lowly.
Sakura set her mouth in a line.
"Sensei, we should clean up here. We are expected back soon. Permission to go ahead to the inn to clean myself up?" Sakura asked. Yuudai nodded.
"Permission granted. Be careful." He said. Sakura nodded, and sped away. Homaru's heart ached, half wanting to follow after and half wanting to shout and scream.
"You two, I suggest you give her a moment. While you were both comatose she had to fight alone. The last thing she needed was you railing on her after she had to make such a tough decision." Yuudai said. He walked over to their assignment to detain him properly, but spoke up again briefly, "One day, when she's the one who's captured, and you have to make the same choices, you'll understand a bit better. Apologise then." He finished.
None of them spoke to each other the whole way home.
...
Eventually the bond of blood that tied together many a shinobi had come through and they had gotten over the argument. Yuudai had been thankful; they could probably have a manga based on their lives with the sheer amount of drama that cropped up around them. When Sakura was taken hostage by one Missing-nin they had been tasked to deal with the boys became overly protective. The guy had died a long, painful death and when Sakura had come around and asked about his whereabouts the unanimous reply had been 'he was dealt with'. The two of them obviously didn't take kindly to any harm befalling the bright-eyed young girl, and they had given their promised apology two-fold for their behaviour when she had had the same to deal with.
Homaru plummeted thirty metres as Sakura severed the last rope and landed in Hikaru's arms with a sigh of relief. The raven immediately started berating Homaru for getting himself stuck in a tree in the first place, despite the fact that he was still carrying the boy bridal style. Sakura ran towards them with a smile plastered on her face.
"You three ready to haul these kids' asses back to Iwa? The red-head has been getting on my nerves." She complained. The three of them turned to Yuudai with rueful smiles, Hikaru unceremoniously dumping Homaru onto the ground.
"Sensei, don't you want to-"
"Nope. Let's go." Yuudai said. All three groaned and picked up a kid before they set off. Sakura complained bitterly about having to visit Iwa. Something about blondes with pyromaniac-like tendencies, and weird habits. Another one of the strange things he had to deal with, Yuudai often wondered about the girl's strange intuition - or if it was intuition at all. Perhaps she had an underlying power other than her famed doujutsu. A glance at her showed him a passive face and guarded eyes, despite the humour and fun she projected. She had emotional training down to a t and could school her features until absolutely nothing was discernible, as she was then.
He wondered how a mere eleven year-old could do it to so well. Then again, he hardened the set of his mouth; Hatake could do it at seven. And he didn't even try to look happy.
"I can't believe we passed! Give me a hug you idiot!" Sakura squealed. Homaru smiled softly as his best friend threw herself at him, a wide grin splitting her face and her almost entirely green eyes shining with laughter. He wrapped his arms around her tiny waist and had to remind himself that despite the fact that she could level buildings with a punch she was only twelve.
"Aw, and me?" Hikaru pouted and crossed his arms like he was a three year-old but there was a hint of a smile tugging at his lips.
"Come here you big softie." Sakura called. Hikaru huffed and joined in on their little hug, casually looping his left arm around Homaru's waist and his other arm around Sakura's shoulder. Homaru cold feel his face heating up and just prayed that the observant Hyuuga wouldn't notice.
"So we're officially Chuunin now hey?" Hikaru said wistfully, and a little relieved. After the ordeal of their Chuunin exam in Kusa none of them were up to doing it over again. The weird forests in that area had never seemed as deadly as when you were thrown in them without gear, food, or water and expected to not only survive but find a hidden base and defeat 'enemies'. Even the final test, an all-out one-on-one tournament had been tough. However they had managed it, together in the end. Sakura winked at him and squealed a bit more.
"Kami, no more D-ranks for us. We should celebrate by going out to dinner. How does Ramen sound?" Sakura waggled her eyebrows and Hikaru face palmed.
"I think that you have an unhealthy obsession with ramen to be honest. It's that little blonde kid that you're always hanging out with. What's his name, Naruto?" Hikaru asked, knowing full well it was. Naruto often showed up and made his presence known with careful pranks and gags. Even being Sakura's friends wasn't enough to save them (or rather, it made it worse). Sakura scoffed indignantly.
"That is because Naruto is the only one who appreciates a fine bowl of Ramen, as in capital 'R'. S'not my fault you two have boring palettes. So, Ichiraku's isn't too far away. I'm sure we can manage a few bowls each if we hurry. Misori-san won't expect us until seven." Sakura said smugly. Homaru blanched. In the euphoria of receiving their Chuunin promotion letters he had forgotten the dinner arrangements with Sakura's mother. He was sure that she was silently scrutinizing him every time he went for dinner. Homaru glanced at his white-eyed teammate; well at least she likes me more than Hikaru.
"One bowl, you know that Misori gets upset when we don't finish our meals." Hikaru offered.
"Fine then. To Ichiraku's!"
Hikaru's arm never left Homaru's waist.
Shisui eyed the two dinner guests suspiciously and almost smiled at their uncomfortable postures until Sakura sent a glare his way. Something about the way she did it, combining small spikes of killing intent with it made the glare all the more effective.
The white-haired one he knew fairly well as he and Sakura had been friends for a long time, since their years together in the academy. That fact only made him more suspicious. He didn't quite trust the kid's intentions towards his much younger sister. She was only twelve, and the boy in front of him was sixteen, only five years shy of his own twenty-one.
On the other hand, there was the Hyuuga. If not for the boy's bloodline Shisui may have had to worry about that one. Thankfully he knew the tension bdtween the two clans would never allow the having seen the boy hanging around Sakura so often, Shisui had never worried about his mother viewing the branch house member as a potential suitor. While the Uchiha family was certainly less segregated than the Hyuuga, they still had a certain amount of distance between the main family and those who were only very very distantly related. Then again, he had never thought that his father intended to marry Sakura off as soon as possible.
But Misori had invited them to dinner, so he expected that some sort of cordial conversation would have to be made, lest he incur his mother's wrath.
"So Homaru, I've heard that you intend to revolutionize the medical world. Is that true?" Misori asked politely. The boy in question flushed several shades paler than should be considered healthy and pulled a strained smile onto his face.
"Yes, I do. I plan to follow in the footsteps of Tsunade-sama, in terms of her brilliant work as a medic-nin. What dreams do you follow, Shisui-san?" Homaru asked, directing the question away. His father shot him a look and Shisui nearly choked the blissfully unaware idiot his innocent little sister held in such high regard.
"I dream only of the future of my clan, and how it may be improved." Shisui said. Shinji seemed satisfied with his answer and Misori looked proud of him.
"Highly commendable, what a brilliant dream, Shisui-san." Hikaru dark eyes swivelled to the smiling Hyuuga and he felt his fingers twitch ever so subtlety. Provoking, that boy, very, very provoking.
"And you Hikaru-san? Do you wish to bring your clan honour?" He asked.
"My clan has much honour, and it is my dream to uphold this in my journey as a shinobi, while still doing my best to protect my village." Hikaru answered without skipping a beat. Shisui narrowed his eyes and took mental notes on the seating arrangement to calm his rising irritation. His big brother instincts already dislike both boys, and that one wasn't making it any easier to like him.
Sakura sat at a respectable distance from Homaru, though it was still close as in friendship. Compared to how closely the two boys were sitting it might as well have been two strangers sitting next to each other. Hikaru was clearly encroaching on the taller boy's space bubble but Homaru didn't seem to mind in the least. They sat as if they had something else going on, though Sakura had made no mention of any such relationship. Shisui grinned slyly.
"And who is it that you plan to marry?" He asked innocently. Hikaru choked on his onigiri and Sakura's eyes widened almost comically. The white-haired Chuunin went from terribly pale to brighter than his cousin's precious tomatoes.
"Excuse me?" The young Hyuuga's voice shot up an octave, which pleased Shisui greatly.
"Shisui! Do not be rude to our guests. Hikaru-san is merely sixteen; he has plenty of time to find someone to marry." Misori said. Okaa-san to the rescue.
"Yeah, a better question would be who you plan to marry, considering the fact that you're already twenty-one and have never even dated anyone." Sakura teased. Her smile was triumphant as Misori scolded her.
"Actually Shisui-san, I was wondering when you planned to get married. Itachi-san's bride was picked out when he was two. I am at least affording you a choice." Shinji butt in. Sakura looked momentarily guilty before curiosity broke through. Shisui glared at her hard for bring the subject of his own lack of a love life up.
"I just haven't found the right person yet, Shinji-sama. Thank you for y-"
"So who's the unlucky girl who has to marry Itachi?" Sakura asked. Misori sent a look to her husband.
"Yes, I was also unaware that or future clan head was betrothed. Mikoto never said a word about it." Misori said.
"My, how nosy you have become Misori. It is unbefitting of you. To answer your question, the Uchiha clan's future matriarch is undecided. There are three young girls that should be vying for Itachi's attention. One of them is the boy's direct cousin, Yuna. The other is a young girl from Sunagakure, she being the Kazekage's daughter." Sakura stiffened at the mention of the Kazekage's daughter. "And the third is your daughter, our very own Sakura."
The entire room became entirely too stuffy all of a sudden. There was a sharp spike in furious killing intent that Shisui found it hard to breathe in, despite the fact that it could have only come from Sakura and she shouldn't have been able to control hers as such. The two guests looked nervous as hell as they moved through the killing intent that paralysed the rest of the family, with some difficulty. They're used to it, quite obviously. Homaru's hand was on Sakura's shoulder and she slumped forward, nearly face-planting into her onigiri before Hikaru caught her shoulders and pulled her up. The killing intent faded and Shisui resumed breathing, his father choking slightly next to him and his mother shuddering. The door burst open.
"We felt the killing intent what happened?" The regular patrol guards showed up and surveyed the room. Shinji looked up and glared at them.
"What took you so long? It could have been an intruder." Shinji said, voice one guard grimaced.
"We got here immediately but the killing intent paralysed us and prevented us from further action when we reached the doorway. Whatever was capable of that must be seriously powerful." Three heads swivelled to look at the now unconscious girl, whose head was being cradled carefully by the Hyuuga. Homaru was busy applying a cold press to her forehead, from where was completely unknown. Misori looked up at her husband pleadingly.
"How did she-"
"I do not know. But the threat has passed, Shisui please take your sister to her bedroom. You two," Shinji threw a look to the guards, "Escort those two from the district. This dinner is over." Shinji stormed out of the room and in the direction of their clan head's home. Hikaru and Homaru looked reluctant to leave Sakura there but they trusted Shisui enough to just nod as they were removed from the room. His mother excused herself to the kitchen.
As he laid Sakura's prone body against her thin sheets his eyes became unfocused. Only a few years ago was his sister was carefree and happy to be the good little girl that was expected of her. Now she had evolved into someone almost unrecognizable. Shisui brushed back a strand of her dark hair from her forehead. He was familiar with shinobi life and how it transformed people but this? This started long before his sister's inauguration into the life of a murderer. He recalled the horror story of her first S-rank missing-nin. How she had cut out his tongue without remorse, would have carved out his heart if not for her Jounin-sensei. When had Sakura become a monster?
The answer lay within her torture and gaining of the Sharingan, he thought. How much had it affected her mentally that he never noticed? True, most Sharingan users never really went to therapy for what they saw that triggered it, but he regretted greatly now that he hadn't asked for her to. Shisui had always prided himself on being able to figure people out, least of all his own sister.
But here she lay, a person he didn't know at all.
Sakura had always been tall for her age, in her past life, but in this one she felt tiny and incomparable at times. Until she first started realising that despite her appearance everyone who knew her, or knew of her feared her - barring the few exceptions of her brother, sensei and Itachi.
When she finally hit her growth spurt the world felt just that little bit clearer.
She grew up, finally. Still far shorter than her teenaged teammates who had only just gained the more refined features of later life. She found that her new (although after so many years she could hardly call it such) body was more feminine than her original one, She was growing into unexpected curves even at age eleven. By twelve she was already taller, stronger and lither than the other girls her age. Shisui said it was a bad change, and lamented how he would have to fight back the hoards of fanboys Sakura would no doubt gain.
"I can take care of myself you idiot." She shrieked, laughing as Shisui threw her over his shoulder to abduct her from her conversation with the baker's boy.
"You can't see what I can, little sister! A brother's intuition is never wrong!"
Except for Shisui's obvious ridiculousness, there were more oddities developing around her every day. Homaru walked on the side of her that faced the academy; Hikaru offered to accompany her on errands; even Itachi, who usually didn't bother himself with such trivial matters, had taken to keeping her talking at Uchiha gatherings. Although she suspected it was doing her good, not having to speak with that one infernal cousin of hers who just couldn't get the message.
Outside of her social life (which was a rare thing for most shinobi in any case) Sakura continued to improve at breakneck speed. Her Sharingan (it was still weird to call it her own) had matured – something she still wasn't sure was actually an achievement as much as it was a measure of the trauma she had gone through.
Her love for her chakra-enhanced strength was still high, but with the way that her team functioned – not as a 'destroy, destroy, destroy' team as before – she had to resort to more subtle arts of the shinobi to get her job done properly. Genjutsu, something she had been told she would be good at but had never tried, was what she chose. There were ample resources from her to learn from in any case, considering the Uchiha Clan's proclivity for manipulation of the mind and the senses.
While her strongest element was supposed to be katon, she preferred (greatly) the finicky aspects of fuuton. It was the kind of element one needed to train for years in before the air actually did anything close to what you willed it to do, and that made it one of the most tricky to learn. For her it was no easy task, but her chakra control was so fine it could manipulate even the smallest of wind currents to do her bidding.
Together, she and her best friends – along with their long suffering sensei – had grown into the fine shinobi they were now. Shimura's brutal training and harsh lessons were all necessary to teach them how to not only survive, but make the best of their careers as shinobi. Even though at first he may have doubted them, and she him, Sakura knew now that he held genuine care and respect for the three students he cared for. And they too cared greatly for him.
The now green-eyed Chuunin wondered what Danzo thought of his future Hunter-nin team. She still found it deeply unsettling how many missing-nin they seemed to encounter on missions, and had no doubt that all of them were rigged. A training of sorts, to ensure that they had what it took to do the properly in the future. They had more than adequately proved themselves, and already as Genin. Never mind their fantastic performance in the Chuunin exams. They had claimed the top three spots with ease on their first try.
Sakura shook off her thoughts and collected her weapons, scattered around the training ground. The hair on her arms stood upright as a breeze blew past, and she swallowed mouthfuls of the sweet water in her canteen. It was a long road back into the village, but it made for a nice cooldown. The village was dressed in bright autumn colours: shop owners strung brightly coloured lights across doorways , stalls were being set up along the main parts of the village, and all around her people were preparing for the festival parade up to the Hokage Monument, finished by Sarutobi's annual speech.
A few giggling children rushed past her, re-enacting the battle of the Yondaime and the Kyuubi. Sakura frowned despite herself, knowing that on this day of the year – the one day Naruto should have been heralded and loved – he would spend holed up to avoid the village's worst. Since Sakura had gotten to this time she had kept watch of Naruto every year as well as she could, but every now and again she still came to his home to find him bruised and bloody.
She averted her eyes from the festival preparations and focused rather on how happy Naruto would surely be to receive his birthday presents this year. As far as she knew (and she was correct) he had never had a party for himself, just himself. Even when she and Sasuke gave him presents it wasn't a party, and this year Sakura was determined to give him that little happiness.
She popped into her home to shower and grab the gifts she had prepared, changing from her training gear into her rarely-used civilian wear. Though Uchiha tradition demanded clan members wear kimono when not working Sakura had ignored the rule in favour of simple blouses and pants. She had never been a fan of obi-style outfits, but the style was still reminiscent of a yukata in any case.
She slid into her sandals as she pulled her hair into a bun, carefully cradling Naruto's present in her arms. It had been something salvaged from deep within the Hokage's vaults – something taken from the Yondaime's house after his death. Sarutobi had been reluctant to part with it, certainly, but had trusted Sakura enough to allow her to give it to him. Sakura thought it was a good time as any.
Chakra enhanced legs and a well-timed shunshin brought her to Naruto's apartment right on time and Sakura let out a relieved breath as she knocked on his door. A head of wild blonde hair appeared quickly and bright blue eyes smiled at her.
"Sakura-nee-san! You made it. Come on, Sakura-chan, Ino-chan and Sasuke-kun are waiting for us." He said brightly. Sakura smiled as Naruto grabbed her hand and led her indoors to the small living room of his apartment, where the aforementioned kids sat around a low table. Sasuke was on her the moment she stepped into the room.
"Sakura-hime! I thought you'd forgotten about us." He accused. She hugged the small boy and ruffled his hair before plopping herself down in between Naruto and Ino. The apartment was dimly lit, but it was clean courtesy of the regular Uchiha cleaning parade. Sakura's heart ached every time she entered the place, thinking of how her Naruto had lived all alone in that place for so many years.
"Of course I didn't forget, Sasuke-kun. It would reflect badly on me if I didn't attend such an important occasion." She said, sending an especially warm smile Naruto's way and the boy blushed at her attention.
"Sakura-nee-san, did you bring Naruto-kun a present?" Ino asked. Sakura moved her eyes to the blonde, who was busy fiddling with the well-wrapped package in her lap. Chibi-Saku held up her own present to Naruto with a blush.
"Naruto-kun, I thought that your weapons looked a bit out of order so I got you some newer ones. I hope you like them." She stated, a little bit of 'you had better like them' in her tone. Naruto looked at the freshly made and polished kunai with glee written over his features. Knowing the blunted, rusted weapons he was forced to practice with under normal circumstances this gift was truly practical and well thought out.
"This is so cool Sakura-chan! Thanks. Now maybe I can beat Sasuke-kun." Naruto teased. Sasuke scoffed and smiled, handing his own present over. It turned out to be ink and sealing paper, which Naruto didn't seem to quite understand at first. Sakura smiled at this, wondering if Itachi had found Sakura's present and told Sasuke to get something to go with it.
"Eh? What am I supposed to do with this?" He blurted. Sakura sighed and pulled out her own present, still in its sealing scroll. The second present remained behind her back.
"Its Fuinjutsu paper, Naruto-kun. It looks like Sasuke-kun and I were thinking along the same lines, cause I got you a book on the basics of fuinjutsu. Did you know that the Fourth Hokage was a fuinjutsu master? Maybe you can be a fuinjutsu master too, one day." She smiled. Naruto looked a little awestruck at her words and opened the book greedily, scanning its pages with a determined expression. He let out a loud 'uwaah!'.
"Oh, this is so difficult. Sakura-chan, would you help me with this sometimes, because there are a lot of words I don't understand in here." He admitted. Chibi-Saku blushed brighter and nodded her head.
"Sure Naruto-kun! Ino-chan, don't you also have a present for Naruto-kun?" Chibi-Saku asked. Ino looked down, a bit embarrassed.
"Yeah, but it's not as cool as everyone else's presents." She said. Sakura placed her hand on the blonde's shoulder for comfort, a little bit awed at how she was comforting a person whom she had looked to for such comfort so many years ago.
"I'm sure that your present is wonderful, Ino-chan. Go ahead." Sakura encouraged. Ino steeled her expression and held out the small package. Naruto unwrapped it carefully and his grin widened as he looked at the object it contained.
"Aw, thanks Ino-chan. Now everyone matches." He held up the bracelet, with its small Uzumaki clan symbol attached and pulled it on. Ino grinned with Naruto.
"Well I thought that since Sakura and I have some, and she made Sasuke-kun one for his birthday that it's only fair if you get one too. I didn't really know if you had a clan, but I researched in the library and apparently there is an Uzumaki clan out there somewhere! And that was the symbol the book told me about. Now the only person who doesn't have one is Sakura-nee-san, but if you want one I can make one. It isn't that hard." Ino said. Sakura smiled at the small girl, proud of Ino's forethought. Naruto seemed so awed by the fact that maybe, just maybe he had relatives out there. A clan name was no small thing in this world of theirs. Before Naruto imploded due to the thought Sakura put a hand on his shoulder.
"That would be lovely Ino-chan, but my birthday is only on November 12th. Still a long way away." Sakura said. Chibi-Saku cut in.
"But we can still make you one. That way everyone will now that you're our super cool Nee-chan." She said. The other three chorused with 'yeah's.
"Ok then. Well now that we've handed out presents, how about we go and visit the playground. We wouldn't want to break anything in Naruto-kun's apartment, now would we?" Sakura asked, leaving the present under the table for Naruto. They all shook their heads and ran for the door, Sakura trailing behind them.
"Sakura-hime, can I get a piggyback ride? Pretty please?" Sasuke asked. Sakura looked at Sasuke with a raised eyebrow.
"Can't you walk?" She asked. He pouted.
"Yes, but I like riding on your back more. Aniki never gives me piggyback rides anymore."
"Ok fine, but just until we reach the playground, okay?" She said. Sasuke climbed onto her back with practised ease and they were off. Ino held her right hand and Sakura hooked arms with Ino. Naruto moved just ahead of them, his endless energy allowing him to run circles around the group. Sasuke kept telling Naruto to slow down and wait for them but the blonde was blithely unaware of Sasuke's cries.
The girls talked animatedly about their academy classes and Sasuke seemed to think that flower arrangement was completely pointless. Sakura silently agreed, as the class hadn't ever helped her in the least. Other than uniting her with her future best friend, and just once when she had to exchange messages with the Mizukage across enemy lines in the form of a bouquet.
After escorting her past-self home once Sakura had refrained from meeting up with the girl. It pained her that she could do nothing about the bullying she knew the girl would go through but she wouldn't allow herself to miss out on Ino's friendship. The two girls had become attached at the hip soon after the ribbon incident and Sakura had allowed herself to drift into the girl's life. She had planned on simply influencing herself so that a friendship developed between herself and Naruto but she inadvertently pulled Ino into the equation and now both girls were friends with Naruto and Sasuke.
A sudden shout alerted her to an immediate problem. She looked up at the shop owner who was busy berating Naruto and felt anger rise in her throat. She was at Naruto's side in a second, her hand curled around the wrist of the shop owner, increasing the pressure as she sneered at him.
"Hitting a child. How disgusting. Desist this instant." She hissed. The shop owner obviously missed the hitai-ate as he continued to glare at Naruto, who had taken to clinging the loose part of her sleeve.
"How can you defend that thing?! Do you have any idea what he did?!" The shop owner cried. Sakura tightened her hand and forced the man to look at her. Red bled into her eyes and the man froze in fear. She regarded him carefully.
"He did nothing. I do believe that by mentioning that incident you are breaking the Hokage's law. I have every right to detain you in the name of Konoha, but I shall leave you with a warning." She dropped his wrist as if his skin burned her. "Do not blame your problems on those that do not deserve the blame. Naruto are you okay?" She asked, turning to him. The anger must have still been leaking into her voice because Naruto whimpered softly.
Sakura blinked and felt her Sharingan dissipate.
"Sorry you guys had to see that. Come on, let's go." She said softly. Naruto stayed quiet as they walked forward. Sasuke kept glancing at her warily, even as he sat on her back.
"Naruto-kun, why was that guy shouting at you?" Chibi-Saku asked, going up to Naruto uncertainly and grabbed his hand. Naruto turned his head to her and sighed.
"I don't know. People in the village are always like that around me. It's always worse on my birthday too." Naruto mumbled. Sakura set her mouth in a grim line and watched as her former self hugged Naruto.
"Well they don't matter. Didn't you see how Nee-chan stood up for you? We care about you, and that's all that matters. Just because those people don't understand you doesn't make them right. They're just so sick of their own circumstances that they're taking it out on you." Chibi-Saku said sagely. Sakura gaped at her younger self. Had she always been that smart?
"Sakura-chan's right. Now let's go celebrate your birthday properly." Ino cheered. She caught up with the two of them and they made a line. Sakura walked just ahead of them and Sasuke directed them as if he was their squad captain, scouting and shouting out ultimately irrelevant information for the fun of it. They moved all around the village, thoughts of visiting the playground forgotten to the game. Sakura found herself enjoying being a pretend ninja. She had Naruto teamed up against the other three in a small-scale prank war and won thanks to Naruto's ingenuity and her own training.
"It's not fair. You got Sakura-hime on your team and she's a real ninja." Sasuke said, pouting adorably again and she found herself wanting to pinch his cheeks. He really had been a chubby cheeked kid.
"Naruto and I won fair and square. It's time go home Sasuke-kun." She said, but paused before she left. "Naruto, would you like me to walk you home tonight?" She asked. Naruto dithered by a bench before nodding.
"Yes please." He said. Sasuke promised he would get home fine, and Sakura knew he would.
"You two, get home safe. You're sure you don't need me to walk you home too?" Ino and Chibi-Saku shook their heads.
"We'll be fine Sakura-nee. You just take Naruto-kun home." Sakura obliged them and took Naruto's hand.
They were thrown varying levels of dirty looks as they walked back to Naruto's apartment, but Sakura let them slide off of her skin like water. The apartment was dark and lonely when they got there, and Naruto seemed reluctant to go in, even once Sakura had switched on the lights.
"Is something wrong?" She asked, as she spontaneously began picking up and folding items left around the room. Naruto was quiet, sitting on the edge of his bed.
"Nee-san, I've never… I've never really had a birthday party before," he said, before shaking his head, "No, no what I meant to say is I've never had friends before. I don't have any money, or talents at making stuff or anything, so I can't really give anyone else presents," He continued. Sakura came over and sat next to him, the old springs creaking under her weight. "I know a lot of people don't like me, and I annoy the old man a lot, but I can't help it! Is it, is it selfish? To want to spend more time with you and Sasuke and the others? I feel like I'm just a problem." He whispered.
Sakura set her mouth in a hard line and cuffed Naruto round the head.
"Uwaah! Hey, what was that for?"
"For you being silly, Uzumaki Naruto, that's what. What do you mean selfish? If you're selfish for wanting to spend time with your friends then I'm doubly selfish, no, triply selfish, because I want to spend time with my friends, and my family, and my teachers and peers and everyone I care about. " She said, pulling him into a hug, "Wanting to spend time with people isn't selfish, it's normal. So don't hesitate to ask any of us to spend time with you, little baka."
Naruto sniffled, and his eyes teared up, so Sakura pulled back a little.
"Here, I have an extra little present for you." She said, and grabbed the box from under the table. Naruto wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his sleeve and opened the box. Inside was nestled a hand-knitted scarf in green, with a tiny note attached. He picked up the note and read it.
'To my dearest little boy, stay warm.'
"This is…"
"It's from your mom," Sakura explained, as Naruto looked up at her, hiccupping and crying, "the old man had it in a box for you, for when you were big enough to wear it. I talked him into giving it to you, so it's a joint present from him and your mom all at on-"
"Thank you!" Naruto blubbered, sobbing his eyes out and springing forward to grab Sakura. "I love you! Thank you," He choked, increasingly incoherent. Sakura rubbed his back as he clutched the scarf to his chest tightly, whispering assurances to him as he cried himself to sleep.
She didn't want to leave him alone that night, and tucked him into bed – sitting on his windowsill and watching as the fireworks lit up the sky from the Hokage Monument to celebrate the Yondaime's sacrifice, and the sacrifice Naruto still suffered.
...
When Sakura finally got home in the early hours of the next morning Sasuke was the first one to greet her. He was waiting for her at the compound gates, and they walked together to her home. He seemed quiet and contemplative, and every time he started to speak he would stop before rethinking his words.
"Sakura-hime," He finally started, "you used your Sharingan on that guy didn't you?" Sakura faltered at the question.
"Hai, I did. Why do you ask?"
"Itachi-nii also has Sharingan, and Tou-san and Kaa-san. How come I don't?" Sasuke questioned. Sakura drooped at the boy's naivety.
"You have to go through a trauma, Sasuke. The Sharingan is a sign of true strife. Not something you really want." She offered. Sasuke placed his hand in hers and tugged her to a stop.
"So it's a good thing that I don't have any Sharingan?" He asked hesitantly. Sakura nodded.
"A very good thing." She assured.
As Sakura lay in bed that night, with a missive from the Hokage concerning her team's joining of Anbu burning a hole through her chest she wondered if it was worth it. Having the Sharingan and all. It only made others see her as a killing machine, not a person. She recalled the terrified look in Naruto's eyes when she had turned her Sharingan towards him. How much would she have to do to stop the war from happening? She glanced out of her bedroom window and into the cool night. As long as she could prevent the massacre that was fated to happen in a year. That would change everything, and hopefully for the better.
Sakura hated Anbu with a fucking passion.
She couldn't recall ever being as tired and sore and generally pissed off as she was right that moment and only had Anbu training to curse for her state. Homaru had passed out completely from sheer exhaustion and Hikaru looked decidedly pale, leaning up against a tree. Her legs and lungs were on fire, and her throat had not felt this dry since Suna, where water was such a scarce commodity that showering for too long was punishable by execution.
Still, being able to run for three days straight was an essential skill and she felt proud that she'd managed to do so without passing out, despite being only thirteen. Shisui hadn't been happy when he'd heard of her acceptance into Anbu. In fact he had tried very hard to dissuade her from the idea but she had stood firm on her decision. The skills and contacts she would gain in Anbu would be invaluable in her quest to eliminate the members of the Akatsuki.
She gulped down water without stopping for air as soon as she got her hands on it and coughed on the way up. Collapsing against a tree she groaned at the pain in her muscles. Telling the three of them to run through Fire Country with Kakashi Hatake at their backs promising retribution was not the best way to welcome a person into Anbu, but Sakura had found it interesting how different Anbu Kakashi was. He was much more reserved and closed off than sarcastic and aloof. She had managed to prod at him enough to raise some reaction out of him which had resulted in a taijutsu spar (he had thoroughly kicked her ass) and a few broken bones (courtesy of her strength and his speed) to which Homaru had paid little attention further than half-mending them. The results had produced a new Team 3, with their Anbu captain being Kakashi Hatake. Kakashi himself looked tired but did not voice his discomfort, leaning casually against a tree, a bright orange book that was long gone in her time propped up between two fingers.
"So, the great Copy Nin Kakashi is an avid fan of badly written porn. How interesting." Sakura teased. Kakashi shot her an incredulous look and went back to his book almost immediately.
"And just how would you know it's badly written? You're what, twelve?" Kakashi countered. Sakura huffed.
"Thirteen actually. And they are terrible. I read the first one and found its storyline seriously lacking. And the smut was pretty unbelievable as well." She said.
"How did you get your hands on a copy of it? And what's 'unbelievable' supposed to mean?" He asked, disgruntled. Sakura smiled at his bewilderment. What she said wasn't entirely true. While the storylines were pretty unbelievable the smut was strangely well-written. Of course Kakashi didn't need to know that.
"And how would you know what 'believable' sex is?" This question came from an unhappy Hikaru. Sakura waggled her eyebrows.
"A woman doesn't kiss and tell." She hummed. She was sure if it was possible Hikaru's jaw would have disconnected from his skull.
"You're not a woman though. I would know." Kakashi drawled. Sakura stuck her tongue out at Kakashi, lying back with her arms behind her head.
"Whatever you say, Taichou." Sakura said. Kakashi's hidden smile proved to her that he liked to be thought of as authority. She scoffed at this; of course Kakashi liked being called strong. He had at least two hundred million ryo on his head. You only accumulated a bounty like that if you were worth it. She dimly wondered what the bounty on her own head would end up being.
"Hey Sakura, would you mind taking a look at my arm? I think I may have broken it, you know during our spar?" Kakashi asked. Sakura glanced at him with a smirk and beckoned him over, not sure that she could manage walking all the way over to him without her legs giving out.
"Aw, looks like it wasn't a clean break. I'll have to properly break it before it can be set." She said, fake concern in her tone. Kakashi steeled himself and tensed as she snapped the bone. She quickly applied the healing chakra to the break, loosening the tension in Kakashi's shoulders. She made a sling from her own medical supplies (she'd anticipated the need of a sling) and soon had Kakashi's arm well set and ready to go.
"Huh, you're pretty good, for a twelve year-old."
"Thirteen. And we both know that age matters not in this business. Have you met my cousin?" She asked. Kakashi's eye twitched ever-so-slightly.
"Unfortunately yes. I was going to be in a squad with him, but thanks to Danzo and your team I've got you guys instead. That kid is something else." He grumbled. Sakura nodded earnestly.
"Well Itachi always likes a compliment, I'll be sure to relate the message."
Kakashi hummed and sat down next to her. He pulled out his book again and Sakura leaned her head back onto the tree. The cool air was making her smile and she groaned as Hikaru shifted her. She ended up with her head in his lap.
"Mhm, you're comfy." She said, content. Hikaru chuckled and began tying up his own ridiculously long hair. The only member of Team 3 without long hair was Kakashi, though his own gravity defying locks deserved their own kind of classification.
"Don't fall asleep; I think Misori-san is tired of seeing me in her house. Nori is suspicious enough already." Hikaru said. Sakura grunted.
"Well Nori should mind his own business. It's just because he isn't getting any." She said. Hikaru choked for a moment. Kakashi giggled nearby and Sakura felt like gaping. Since when did Kakashi giggle?
"When did you become so vulgar? We've only known Kakashi-taichou for five days. Surely the perverseness can't rub off that quickly." Hikaru marvelled. Sakura grinned and shifted herself slightly.
"Maybe I've got pervert syndrome. I don't doubt it exists. Have you ever met Jiraiya of the Sannin? Now there's a pervert and a half. He's the one who wrote those awful books. Has a nasty habit of spying on women while they're bathing. I do believe he calls it 'research'."
"That's terrible. How come you know so much about his less, 'savoury' ventures?" Hikaru asked. Sakura shrugged.
"I was curious. All shinobi have two sides. You won't believe just how much dirt you can find on people if you look hard enough. I happen to know that Kakashi-taichou here has had a long-standing on again off again relationship with Anko Mitarashi. You know the insane one from T&I that likes to torture people?" Sakura asked. Hikaru shuddered and let his hair fall again. She could feel Kakashi glaring daggers at her and stifled a laugh.
"She thoroughly creeps me out." Hikaru admitted, "What's with the obsession with licking people?"
"It's not a bad obsession. I find it very useful." Kakashi volunteered. Sakura stuck out her tongue at Kakashi.
"Gross, I didn't need to know that. I'm going to assume that it's an 'on' period right now then." She said. Sakura stretched a bit and grimaced at the clicks coming from her overworked joints. She lay back down in Hikaru's lap as a despondent groan emerged from the now conscious Homaru.
"What happened?" Homaru croaked. Hikaru snorted.
"Taichou chased us around Hi no Kuni for three days straight. You passed out as soon as we got here. Don't worry, nobody died during your absence." Hikaru said. Homaru lifted his head slightly and mustered an ineffectual glare at the raven.
"I wouldn't have minded it if you had died." Homaru said darkly. Hikaru smiled.
"Aw, you know you love me." He teased. Sakura grinned at their antics. They just need to get over themselves already. She closed her eyes as the two idiots bickered playfully and wondered how they had the energy for it. The cool breeze was lulling her into relaxation.
"Oh! There she is!" A shrill voice shouted. Sakura evened out her breathing and pretended to be asleep as Sasuke's chakra signature approached.
"Who are you kid?" Kakashi's voice sounded mildly amused and she knew Sasuke was pouting. She wasn't the only person who though the boy looked adorable with a pout, even at the age of ten. It was remarkable how she had never noticed the adorableness when she was his age. Then again, by the age of ten her Sasuke was dead set on revenge and never did anything other than smirk.
"Sasuke Uchiha! I've come to collect Sakura-hime, if you don't mind. Hello Hikaru-san, Homaru-kun." Sasuke greeted cheerfully. Hikaru raised a hand to Sasuke. Homaru grunted off in the not-so-distance.
"Huh, I'm afraid only people who are taller than four foot are allowed to abduct members of my team, so scurry along." Kakashi said.
"Hey! I am so taller than four foot. I happen to be 4' 6''." Sasuke said indignantly. She couldn't stop herself from laughing at this and opened her eyes. Sasuke looked down at her, upset that she had been pretending to be asleep. He crossed his arms and stuck out his bottom lip, trying to look as angry as possible but failing miserably.
"Hello Sasuke-kun. Did Misori-san send you?" Sakura asked. He broke from his sulking and started bouncing.
"Nope. Tou-san invited you for dinner. Even Nii-san is going to be there, isn't that so cool?" He asked, breathless with excitement. Sakura felt Hikaru stiffen under her and she sat up abruptly.
"Very cool yes. Well I'd better be going then. See you tomorrow, Hikaru-kun, Homaru-kun, Kakashi-taichou."
"I can walk you back if you want Sakura-chan." Hikaru offered. Sakura gave the brunet a grateful smile.
"That would be great. I'm not sure I can trust myself to make it all the way there." She said. Hikaru got up quickly and walked beside her. Homaru groaned and lifted his head.
"You guys leaving without me?" He whined. Sakura felt guilty.
"Yeah, I've been summonsed. Kakashi-taichou's still here though. I'm sure he can get you home." She said.
"Don't worry Homaru-kun. It can be a teamwork building exercise for just the two of us." Kakashi said resolutely, shutting his Icha Icha with a small 'clap'. She left Homaru in Kakashi's capable hands and focused on her own dilemma. She knew Fugaku had a grudge against her. Heck, he stopped her team from participating in the same Chuunin exams as Itachi's team. Would he prevent them from entering Anbu? She doubted Danzo would stand for it. But she had no doubt that he had that kind of power over the clan members.
Over the years Fugaku's anger at her insubordination in early life had faded qietly, but never failed to show itself when important promotions and events came up. He didn't actively try to stop her from improving as a shinobi – because even she brought a certain measure of prestige to the Uchiha family by being as good as she was – but he had a tendency towards making sure Itachi stayed a few steps ahead of her in terms of promotions and such. She didn't hold it too much against him, and they didn't see eye to eye, but they were no longer on terrible terms. She didn't want to not trust that he wasn't a terrible person.
"Do you think he'll stop us from entering Anbu?" Hikaru voiced her silent question and she pressed her fingers to the side of her head.
"I really don't know. He could be planning any number of things. Ugh, this sucks. I hate how much power he has over me." Sakura said. Sasuke was listening in their conversation so they both refrained from revealing anything important. Hikaru wrapped a supportive arm around her shoulder.
"Don't worry too much about it. Maybe he'll congratulate you and say how wonderful you are compared to the magnificent Itachi." He joked. Sakura laughed and leaned into the familiar touch.
"Or maybe he'll bow down and apologise for everything he's already done. That would be classic. Thanks for trying to cheer me up." She said.
"No problem." Hikaru replied. Sasuke tugged on her hand and looked up at her with narrowed eyes.
"Are you two dating?" He asked, suspicious. Jealousy. Sasuke was jealous that she was close to another boy, who was much taller and would probably make great boyfriend material. Sakura burst out laughing.
"No ways Sasuke-kun. 'Sides, I'm already married to you aren't I?" She asked. Sasuke smiled and stuck his tongue out at an amused Hikaru.
"Yup. It's official. And you don't even need to change you surname." He beamed. Sakura nodded. How she wished she was still as naive as the boy. They approached the towering gates of the compound in a short time, and Sakura's least favourite cousin stood there on guard duty.
"Oi, Sakura-san's brought a boy home. Again." Nori shouted. Sakura sighed and sent Nori a particularly tired look. He raised his hands in defence and went back to grinning lewdly. He was probably the least Uchiha-like Uchiha she had ever met, and she found herself hating the days he was on guard duty.
"Go away Nori. Sorry, for that Hikaru, Nori's just a pervert who wishes he could bring home a guy who looks half as good as you." Sakura retorted. She felt her heart lift a little at the shouts of indignation emanating from Nori.
"Eh, life goes on. I'll see you tomorrow." Hikaru said. Sakura was glad that Hikaru didn't take the prod as something against his own sexuality.
"If I make it through tonight." She said. She hugged him quickly and they parted ways. Sasuke was quiet as they walked to the main house of the compound, Sakura still in her brand new Anbu gear and several layers of grime. Well that was the life of a shinobi.
"Ah Sakura-san you made it. And look at you in your new uniform. You have your mask yet?" Mikoto asked as she greeted Sakura in the genkan. Sakura heard the tense note in Mikoto's voice before she saw the lack of sleep.
"No, Mikoto-sama. The past few days have been only training, getting used to each other's styles of fighting and such. We plan to get our masks tomorrow. May I come in?" She asked. Mikoto nodded and let Sakura pass. "Pardon the intrusion," Sakura said into the house.
"Have any designs in mind?" Mikoto asked as they walked towards the dining room, Sasuke clutching at his mother's fingers. Sakura nodded dutifully as she pulled her hair out of its braid and it fell down her back in waves.
"A feline theme, to go with my Taichou's design. I apologise for the lack of information but-"
"What happens in Anbu stays in Anbu. At least you have the rules down, Sakura-san." Itachi interjected from his perch in the doorway. Sakura wanted to roll her eyes but kept herself in check. Itachi outranked her in both shinobi and family life and it would not do to show insubordination in his own home.
"Thanks, Itachi-san. I see you just returned from a mission. It went well?" She asked, both sarcastic and genuinely concerned. Itachi nodded. He was wearing his own Anbu gear but had the katana strapped to his back, unlike her.
"No one died." He said.
"How lovely, though I am sure Fugaku-sama is waiting for us." She said. She raised her brows in a motion that meant 'tell me later', and he nodded, disappearing into the main room. Mikoto excused herself, saying she needed to take Sasuke to his bath. Sakura herself took a deep breath as she passed into the room. Fugaku turned to her at her movement but his eyes betrayed no emotion. Not even contempt. She noticed Shisui also at the table and the distinct lack of anyone else. Ah, a meeting then. Poor Sasuke had been expecting a family dinner.
"Sakura-san. Sit." Fugaku said – ordered. Sakura obliged the man and took her seat, next to Shisui and opposite Itachi. Fugaku place his hands on the table and she observed the protruding veins. His heartbeat echoed in the room and Sakura realised she hadn't stopped channelling chakra to her ears and stopped. The sound disappeared.
"Otou-sama-"
"Since we now have three members of our esteemed clan in Anbu I expect that the plan can be moved forward. You three have a duty to this clan, above your duty to the village. We have been suppressed due to misguided accusations and we cannot stand for it any longer. Shisui, Itachi, Sakura, your duty, as Uchiha and good shinobi, is to present to me the information necessary for our clan to take back from the village what should rightfully be ours, as co-founders and loyal followers of this village. Do you understand? I will not take any sort of insubordination, regardless of the perpetrator. Punishment will be severe." Fugaku said. Sakura kept her head down.
This was bad. Because of her joining Anbu, the coup was being pushed forward. She thought she might still have a year but now she probably only had a few months at most/ The Hokage would have to be told immediately. But Fugaku was bound to have her watched. Then again she could probably avoid any of her tailers, unless she got stuck with Itachi himself. And Itachi would rather murder his entire clan than let them take over Konoha. At least the original Itachi had. As she peeked at him now she wasn't entirely sure.
Sakura resolved to inform the Hokage as soon as she had the chance, knowing that Danzo would try and influence Itachi into orchestrating the massacre if it was him who went to the Hokage. Fugaku dismissed them from the table, and Shisui excused himself to Anbu headquarters, citing a mission report. Itachi left to his room and Sakura hurried off to her home.
Sakura didn't look back as she climbed to the roof. She needed the clear air to think properly. Her room made her feel trapped. After a few moments of relative silence Itachi slipped down next to her. They sat there for a while, not saying a word to each other.
Sakura felt her heartbeat run away with her, as panicked thoughts welled up in her mind. What was she going to do? She had been so distracted, so unworried, when she knew exactly what event would transpire in the past, her future. She didn't want things to go so badly again, never but she couldn't seem to get a grip on her thoughts. Itachi wrapped his hand around hers and scooted closer to her, his warmth spreading through her chilled body like a cup of hot cocoa and she settled into the reassuring presence easily. Itachi's hand had small tremors every now and again, betraying the scary calm he projected.
"We'll stop it." He said softly, voice just a whisper on the wind. Sakura laid her head against his shoulder and tried to let the tension slump out of her shoulders.
"Mm," She hummed, "We will."
Itachi just gripped her fingers tighter.
Sakura steeled herself as she was let through into the Hokage's office. It had been two hours since she was last there, her mission debriefing had been a good one.
After spending a month tracking down a particularly nasty Kumo-nin, Sakura had just wanted to go home and sleep but the tension in her household was palpable and she couldn't put it off any longer. The Hokage would have to be warned, if Itachi hadn't done so already.
Her shoulder was still aching, the tendons freshly healed. The Kumo-nin had stabbed her collarbone, missed and got her shoulder. It wasn't a fatal wound by any definition but it hurt like hell and Homaru hadn't had enough chakra to fully heal her before the trip back home. She herself had passed out from chakra exhaustion (turned out the missing-nin had allies) and had to be carried back by Kakashi. At least she had defeated two of them before succumbing. It was honestly a bit embarrassing, how quickly she tended to get herself knocked out.
"Ah, Sakura-san. What brings you here so soon?" Sarutobi asked. She bowed politely and took a deep breath.
"There is something important that you need to know, Hokage-sama. Unless Itachi-san has informed you already?" Sakura asked. Hiruzen arched an eyebrow and Sakura assumed that Itachi was yet to do so.
"I have received no word from Itachi in a long time. What is it?"
"The Uchiha are..." Sakura exhaled slowly. "They are planning a coup d'état and takeover of the village. I am not entirely trusted by my clan, for obvious reasons, and as such I am not aware of when they plan to put the plan into action, but it is soon. I'd estimate that we have less than a fortnight before Fugaku attempts to take over the village, or as he puts it 'to take back what is rightfully ours as co-founders and an important part of the village'." Hiruzen looked unphased at the accusations against one of the most well-known clans in history.
"We will be sure to take preventative measures against the rebellion, thank you Sakura. Your bravery in coming forward is commended. I will inform you, and presumably Itachi and your brother of what I intend to do as we go forward. For now, you are dismissed." He said, voice weary. She turned to go, heartbeat thrumming in her ears. Something made her pause though and she felt her blood run cold at the realisation that there was most certainly a spy in the room. She turned her eyes to the masked Anbu on the right side of the room and focused her eyes on his. To an outsider the Anbu member only shuddered but Sakura had discreetly placed him in a genjutsu of her own design. Capable of securing the victim and ruining their perception of time she walked up to him. The glassy look in his eyes betrayed his state. He would still be in the Hokage's office in his mind, but would be alone. Depending on how strong his mind was it could be for days or hours that he was trapped in his own mind.
"Hokage-sama I believe you have a mole. I suggest that you keep this one in detainment, we wouldn't want news of the rebellion spreading before measures can be taken against it." Sakura said, eyes still fixed on the man. Hiruzen looked at her as if she was insane.
"How are you so sure?" He asked. She pulled the mask off the Anbu's face and pulled out his tongue, the curse seal clearly visible. She felt the Anbu on the other side of the room stiffen slightly in shock.
"Curse seal upon the tongue. So Root's secrets aren't revealed. I'll admit it's a bit of genius really. All Root members carry a tanto instead of a katana and this particular one I recognized. Eh, Kabuto?" He didn't answer her.
"Tsk tsk Miss Uchiha. You sure do know a lot about a secret organisation you shouldn't even know exists, don't you?" A gruff voice sounded. Sakura spun on her heel and stared at Danzo calmly.
"A shinobi must look underneath the underneath mustn't they? And you're rather close to the bottom of the underneath, aren't you?" She said. Danzo raised his chin and turned to the Hokage.
"You are becoming slack with your secret keeping Hiruzen. I am surprised that it took a twelve year-old to figure out someone has been spying on you. You're losing your touch." Danzo taunted. Hiruzen didn't show any signs of bowing under Danzo's pressure.
"I'm thirteen, Shimura-san. If there is nothing left for me to report I'll take my leave." Sakura cut in, trying to leave. She didn't want to confront the Root leader, at least not right then. Danzo caught her arm as she moved past him.
"Little girls should not involve themselves in matters that do not concern them." He said condescendingly. Sakura tapped the said of her nose and shared a conspiratorial smile.
"Of course, but this concerns me deeply. Now if you'll excuse me my father is expecting me for dinner. Goodbye, Shimura-san, Hokage-sama." Sakura said, bowing deeply to Sarutobi. She revelled in the flare of chakra that Danzo sent out at her words. Insubordination was never the most rewarding thing, except when it came to Danzo and Fugaku.
"We have a mission."
"What?"
Kakashi Hatake gave his teammate an incredulous expression. Despite being a genius and natural Sharingan user, Sakura Uchiha could be rather dim at times. She was only thirteen and still growing up, unlike himself and her two teammates, thus they dwarfed her tiny form immensely. He, being the tallest of the group, had more than a foot of height on her while Homaru had exactly a foot and Hikaru eight inches.
Still she was stronger than all three of them combined and could do extensive damage at close range. He noted that she preferred long-ranged combat though, standing back and assessing so that she used the smallest amount of chakra possible. She had been the perfect choice for a second-in-command, despite the fact that she always put her teammates' safety before the mission and the mission before herself.
"I said we have a mission. To Kusagakure. They're dealing with some particularly deliberate attacks by a missing-nin. Apparently children and adults – both shinobi and civilians – are being abducted from the village by an unknown assailant. The only information they have is that whatever is abducting them isn't human and none of the hostages have been returned. The attacks have been getting more frequent and the village can't cope with the diminishing number of inhabitants. So as their good allies they have agreed to hire us as a hunter-nin squad to take out whatever has been kidnapping people and return said people if possible." Kakashi explained. Sakura got paler as he talked and nodded grimly, her mouth set in a straight line.
"When do we leave?" Hikaru asked. Kakashi turned to his team's tracker and ran a hand through his silver hair. Used to being mistaken as old Kakashi had pretty much gotten over the insult, though it still stung (he was only twenty four after all).
"Tomorrow. Mission length is expected to be three weeks minimum. We also have to do damage control." Kakashi said. The three of them nodded in unison and jetted off to get the necessary supplies, leaving Kakashi to his thoughts.
He wandered through the village, knowing full well why his Team's youngest member was so tense about going on a mission right then. Sarutobi had always trusted him implicitly and the information about the coup the Uchihas were planning was the kind of information he was privy to.
He'd always known that the Uchiha craved power to an insane degree but planning to take over the village was going more than a little bit too far. If not for the three semi-sane Uchiha of the younger generation Kakashi had no doubt that the coup would work. Fugaku was nothing if not resourceful. But now that Sarutobi was removing two of his allies to go and help another village he was putting himself at a disadvantage. Sakura had been sure that the coup would happen within the next week and now they had a three week mission to Kusa of all places.
Hopefully Itachi and Shisui would be enough to quell Fugaku, along with the privileges Sarutobi was willing to offer to the clan. Having three seats on the village council after having none would be a huge shift in power. Maybe even enough to turn the village in their favour from the inside.
Kakashi turned a corner and went down a village path that led him past the playground. He watched Sakura's young cousin as he chased Minato's son around, a pink-haired girl following after them and another blonde shouting at them from atop the jungle gym. How young children like this turned into the power loving maniacs of the older Uchihas he didn't know.
As he hung his head and passed by the playground entrance a small hand tugged at his pants and he found himself staring into his sensei's eyes once again. It was remarkable how similar the two of them looked really.
"Hello, do you need something?" Kakashi asked softly. Naruto looked shocked that he had even replied. The boy looked down for a moment before smiling up at Kakashi again sheepishly.
"You're friends with Sakura-nee-chan right?" Naruto asked. Kakashi blinked and raised his eyebrows.
"Depends, what do you want to know?" Kakashi asked. Naruto rocked on his heels and Kakashi watched Sasuke out of the corner of his eye. The spiky-haired Uchiha was glaring Kakashi down for making Naruto uncomfortable and he had brought the situation to the attention of the two girls as well.
"Um, is Sakura-nee-chan okay? She never talks to us anymore and Sasuke-kun thinks it's because of you but Ino-chan says it might be because she has a boyfriend and Chibi-Saku says that she's just tired of all her missions and since you hang around her so much I thought that I should ask you." Naruto looked a bit panicky. "But you can't tell her that I asked you or she might be angry that I didn't go to her directly instead and if she gets angry she's really scary and I don't want to see her when she's scary. You know cause her eyes go all cold and red and she hits people really hard and-"
"Woah, slow down there. Sakura-san is only a teammate of mine but she is dealing with a lot right now. Maybe you should just give her a chance to relax and get over whatever is happening. I'm sure she misses you just as much as you miss her." Kakashi assured him. Naruto looked upset but ran back to his group in any case.
Kakashi went back to his musings and attempted to continue on his path to home.
'Attempted' being the operative word.
"Hey old man! I don't know who you think you are but Sakura-hime is my cousin and I won't let you steal her from me! I'll defeat you if that'll bring her back!" A high-pitched voice shouted. Kakashi's visible eye widened as a child threw himself at him with a vengeance. The kid started punching him ineffectively and Kakashi picked him up by the collar, careful not to choke him. He didn't want Sakura to beat him up for hurting her cousin.
"Woah, slow down their soldier. I'm not stealing Sakura from anybody. But if you want to see her you'd better do it now. We're going on a three week mission tomorrow." Kakashi said. Sasuke looked devastated and Kakashi dropped him before shunshin-ing away.
He really couldn't understand kids, but he understood the sentiment.
He half wished he had had as much friendship as a child.
O
Thanks for reading!
