"Itachi!" Mikoto excitedly said, answering the phone.

She was preparing the Miso soup for dinner when the phone rang. She picked it up through the kitchen's wall phone, knowing it was either her husband or her son calling to tell her they were going to be home soon or they were going home later than usual.

When Itachi greeted her with anxiety glazing his voice, she knew it the call was for a special reason – a request that most likely involved breaking the house rule that the Uchiha children should eat dinner in the Uchiha home.

"Are you coming home for dinner?" she asked. She glanced at Sasuke, who at that moment was in the living room watching the news. He was again trying to look for updates on the massacre.

Mikoto remembered what Fugaku told her about Itachi attending to Sakura in the hospital. Perhaps his reason for calling was related to his new assignment.

"I really want to," Itachi said, leaning against the wall of the hospital room as he watched the nurse check the IV tubes connected to the veins in Sakura's right arm.

Sakura was still unconscious. But the pained expression on her face proved that her new life was haunting her in her dreams. The doctor said she should wake up soon, but if she does it wouldn't likely be a sight to see.

…Not when she would wake up alone in a white hospital room, realizing she indeed was the only Haruno in Konoha – if not in the whole world.

"There's a 'but,'" Mikoto said, smirking. She knew by Itachi's tone that he had developed a deeper form of attachment with Sakura. Perhaps it was due to their encounter earlier in the day. Fugaku also said Itachi broke the news to the girl and her reaction to it still haunted Kakashi, Obito and Gai's thoughts. No doubt it was haunting her sixteen-year-old son too.

"Yes," Itachi replied. "The doctor said she's bound to wake up in a couple of hours and it wouldn't be healthy for her to wake up alone. She's already crying in her sleep." Itachi glanced at the girl on the hospital bed once more, ignoring the nurse's farewell greeting as she walked out of the room.

He had noticed tear drops sliding down from her cheeks several times for the past afternoon. And if she woke up alone, he figured she would cry herself to sleep. Then she would have nightmares again. She would trap herself in an unending cycle of depression.

…Unless someone was there to get her mind off of what happened, even just for a moment – remind her that the world was still turning and that there were still people in the village who cared for her.

Mikoto nodded, knowing he was pertaining to Sakura and deciding on what she should do on that particular situation. "I understand," she said. "But you can't spend the night there anymore. Your body hasn't recovered from your lack of sleep last night." She knew Itachi had quite a hard time sleeping the night before. The grey accents under his eyes told her so. And she was sure that if Itachi stayed in the hospital, he wouldn't go to sleep. He would stay awake and on guard to protect Sakura.

"I'll tell your father I'll stay with her tonight," Itachi heard his mother say and he froze – eyes wide with surprise and confusion as he held his mobile phone against his ear. "W—What..?"

"No 'buts' Itachi," Mikoto said.

Several hours ago, Sasuke asked her if she would like to have Sakura as a daughter. She had always wanted one after all. Raising two bouncing baby boys in the house, though greatly disciplined than the average boys, was quite exhausting. And it made her wonder how it felt to have a child who would share your tastes in clothes and wouldn't mind having her hair tied up in ribbons.

Sakura might not share much of her preferences since she was born in a different family, but perhaps it wouldn't hurt if they tried to make her their own. She had heard so much about her from Sasuke for the past hour – how she liked to study, how she was so well behaved, how she was so sweet with her parents… It made her wonder what her youngest son was doing the whole time he sat in the class he shared with her.

Hopefully he didn't stalk her in an extremely obvious and obtrusive way. Sasuke after all had good grades in school, so that meant he was still studying… right?

Back to the matter at hand, staying in the hospital with Sakura would help Mikoto see if they could be the family that Sakura would need. She knew the events that happened had traumatized her, and she would need a stronger and more understanding family than most children.

Mikoto hadn't experienced the same tragic fate Sakura had experienced. But her parents had also passed away several years ago, and she knew how lost one could feel without their parents to guide them. She would have a common ground with Sakura and hopefully it would be enough to convince Sakura that she could be someone she can open up to.

"I'll be there in 45." With that she hung up the phone and walked to Sasuke.

The phone rang again, but she didn't pick it up. She knew it was Itachi protesting on her proposition. And there was no way she would back down from her decision. Itachi needed to take care of his health and she wanted to know Sakura.

"Sasu-chan," Sasuke heard his mother call. He looked sleepily at her, wondering why she was ignoring the ringing phone. "Should I answer that?"

"No dear," Mikoto said, chuckling. "It's nothing. I have something to tell you though."

Sasuke sat straight and curiously watched his mother.

"I'll be staying in the hospital tonight," Mikoto continued, taking a seat next to Sasuke. "Can you be a good boy and help your brother with preparing the dinner table later when he comes home?"

Sasuke raised his brows. "You're staying with Sakura?"

Mikoto nodded, patting his head. "It's just for tonight," she explained. "Your Aniki was planning to stay with her, but he hadn't had enough sleep yet so he might get sick if he stays with her tonight."

"Can I go with you?" Sasuke excitedly said – a smile gracing his face.

Mikoto smiled sadly. As much as she "No," she answered. "I'm afraid they don't allow children to stay there in late hours, unless they're patients."

Sasuke sighed and looked sadly away.

"She's conscious though," Mikoto said, poking his cheek. "I can tell her how worried you all are for her."

Sasuke's eyes once again sparkled with excitement. "Are you going to help her sleep tonight?" he asked, looking up at his mother.

"Yes," Mikoto said. "…I suppose so."

Sasuke quickly jumped off the couch and sprinted to his room.

Mikoto stared confused at her son. She hadn't seen him that enthusiastic about someone other than his Aniki.

Sasuke ran back out to the living room with a book in his hand. "Sakura said she likes to read fairytales," he began. "Maybe you can read this to her?" he asked, handing Mikoto his favorite book – a compilation of folktales for children.

Mikoto couldn't help but stare at her youngest son. Sure Sasuke had friends he shared some of his things with. But he never offered to share his things to anyone unless they asked him if they could use it. Heck, he didn't even let his best friend, Naruto, barrow any of his things without bantering with him.

And at that very moment, Sasuke offered – though indirectly – to Sakura his favorite book.

Mikoto smiled. "Sure," she said. "I'll read it to her."

Sasuke smiled at his mother.

Ino sat sadly on her bed, staring at an old photo of her and Sakura in kindergarten.

Sakura looked so shy and weak, and Ino as usual smiled confidently at the camera.

She couldn't believe what happened to Sakura – how that ordinary afternoon, her best friend (well, ex-best friend) lost her family.

Shikamaru already told her she survived the massacre in the apartment complex. When she first saw the news on the TV, she went into shock – stunned at the possibility that the afternoon she called her former friend "forehead" was the last instance she had with Sakura.

She wept at night and prayed that she was safe. She asked Kami for forgiveness several times, begging him to save her. It was the morning after when Shikamaru visited Ino and told her Sakura was safe and resting in the hospital.

Ino sighed and wiped the tears in her eyes.

She still felt guilty about leaving her behind.

Why did she cut their friendship short again? Right – she was in love with Sasuke-kun. And Sasuke-kun seemed to prefer Sakura over her – over any girl who liked him.

"Tsk," Ino muttered.

It was a stupid reason really – a very childish one at that too. And she still regretted it every day. But seeing Sakura finally living by herself and bearing the courage to face their other classmates without Ino always protecting her, told Ino she made the right decision in letting Sakura go.

After the massacre – after knowing of the new life Sakura was about to face – Ino wanted nothing more than to see Sakura and comfort her the way she knew Sakura would want to be comforted. She wanted to tell Sakura she was still there and that everything would be alright.

Shikamaru said no one but the authorities were allowed to visit her though. So there was no way she could see Sakura.

Ino took a deep breath and looked out at the window.

Sakura was like a younger sister to her – a sister that had the opposite of Ino's personality. Even after the rift Ino made between them, Sakura remained a friend to her. They bantered whenever they saw each other. But based on how Sakura still followed Ino's advice on how she shouldn't try to hide her forehead behind a headband, Ino knew Sakura still treasured the friendship they had.

Sakura also never thought twice in lending her a hand in school projects, keeping her promise that she would be in Ino's side whenever she would need her.

Ino looked back at the picture in her hand with a newly-found sense of determination.

She would be in Sakura's side, just as she promised her, as her best friend – her sister. She would sneak into the hospital if she had to. Shikamaru and Chouji would help her. She would beat them both if they even dared to say 'no' to her.

Ino smiled confidently at Sakura's picture.

"I'm still here, Forehead," she said. "So don't go all depressed just yet, okay?"

Fugaku frowned at the street lamp glistening in the nightscape of Konoha as he listened to Mikoto on the phone he held against his ear. He stood by the window of his office.

He just got out of a meeting with Minato, Obito and Ibiki when he received a call from his wife telling him she would spend the night in the hospital with Sakura because the child couldn't be left alone in the facility with the trauma she was in.

"…Let's look at this from a professional perspective then," Mikoto said. "She's traumatized and she's unstable. Unless she somehow gets over what happened, she won't cooperate with the authorities. She won't dare to think back on what happened that afternoon and you won't get a statement to make sense of the case."

"Mikoto—"

"Add to that the possibility that she would fall into a serious case of distress," Mikoto continued, ignoring Fugaku's interruption. "You know there are studies saying children can go into a catatonic state when traumatized. If she does fall into that state, there will be no way you can get a statement of what happened from her."

Fugaku sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why—"

"She needs a mother figure," Mikoto said, not letting Fugaku to speak. "… A woman she would feel more comfortable with. I know she knows Itachi now, but she won't exactly feel comfortable enough with a male."

Fugaku rolled his eyes. Mikoto was determined to stay in the hospital and, basically, meet the girl. Perhaps he shouldn't have confessed his love for Mikoto at a very young age. Maybe Mikoto wouldn't be too eager to know any girl her 6-year-old son would pay extra attention to, and she wouldn't assume that the girl would be her future daughter-in-law.

"I don't like this," he said.

"I know."

Fugaku frowned. "You're still doing it."

"I'm keeping Itachi from getting anemia, Sakura from falling into a terrible case of depression, and you from losing hope on solving this case," she confidently replied.

Fine. One night with the girl wouldn't hurt… right? He wasn't going home either anyway because they had documents to check.

"I'll meet you in the hospital tomorrow morning," Fugaku said.

—A brief silence. He knew Mikoto was smiling.

"Thank you, dear," she replied. "I love you!"

Fugaku sighed as Mikoto ended the call. He slid the mobile phone back in his pocket. He turned around and saw Minato looking at him with a folder in his hand.

"Mikoto?" he asked.

Fugaku nodded.

Minato smirked. "You just got whipped, huh?"

"Like you don't get whipped yourself," Fugaku muttered.

Minato sighed and nodded. "Ah yes," he said. "We love our wives too much."

"Aye," Fugaku grunted. "You need something, Hokage-sama?"

"Oh yes," Minato said, handing Fugaku the folder in his hand. "Please check this out."

Fugaku opened the folder and browsed though the documents inside it, raising his brow. "This is the list of employees in the library," he said.

"Yes," Minato said, nodding.

Fugaku turned the pages and came across one page that shouldn't be there. "This… This shouldn't be—"

"Indeed," Minato said looking grimly at him. "Look closely at the list of names."

Fugaku checked the columns were the names were typed in and froze.

One of them had the surname "Haruno."

Kakashi walked down the street barely listening to Obito's rants about the complexity of the case.

No, Obito wasn't tired of working on the case. He was just frustrated at how difficult it was to get a suspect. The crime happened in the afternoon, for goodness' sake – in the middle of a residence area in the time of the day when people should already be in their homes.

"I still can't figure out how the monster concealed his gunshots," Obito said, glaring at the road. "I mean, sure there's such thing as a silencer but it just mutes the bang into a spit. And there were bullets on the walls. It should have made a sound! Then the victims! I'm sure they screamed out loud before losing their breath. The neighbors should have heard their shrieks, or the noise trashing the apartment residents' units made."

Kakashi looked up at the night sky.

There were a lot of things found in the scene – so many things they were finding it hard to determine what might have been lost in them when the massacre ensued.

They had only checked on the properties of three victims. And none of their live relatives declared that any of their properties went missing.

No money was taken. No jewelry was stolen. No personal document was misplaced.

So far, the massacre was still a result of a rampage – a lunatic who suddenly went out of control. But the new information presented by Sunagakure authorities were suggesting otherwise. And the order of the victims' death was saying the suspect couldn't have been a lunatic.

It was a pre-meditated kill.

"Then the guy walked out of the compound like nothing happened," Obito said. "And no one even saw him?!"

Kakashi paused, feeling something in the evening breeze.

"It's like the guy made an invisible barrier in the apartment complex," Obito continued. "Which is just impossible, right?"

Kakashi looked at the road and froze.

"Right, Kakashi?" Obito said, turning to look at his friend. He noticed the surprise in Kakashi's visible eye. "Kakashi..?" He followed Kakashi's gaze and gasped.

A brown-haired woman stood on the road, looking shyly at them.

"R—Rin?" Obito asked.

Rin smiled. "Hey," she said.

A wide relieved smile filled Obito's face. "RIN!" he exclaimed, sprinting to her with his arms wide open. He caged her in a tight embrace. "Oh, Rin! You're back! You're really back!"

Rin chuckled and glanced meaningfully at Kakashi.

Kakashi's eyes told her he was smiling sadly behind his mask.

"Welcome back," Kakashi said.

Rin nodded.

Obito leaned away from Rin and looked excitedly at her. "Are you staying here for good now?"

"No," Rin answered. "I'm sorry, Obito. I'm here for some work-related matters."

"Aww," Obito said, looking disappointedly at her.

"Work-related matters?" Kakashi said, walking closer to the two. He knew about Rin's profession. So seeing her there surprised him. And hearing that she was there on a work-related matter—

"Yes," Rin said, looking at Kakashi. "I received word to check some documents in the library archives."

"Archives..?" Obito asked. "Oh, yeah! You work in a library. So how long are you going to stay here?"

"Not long, I suppose," Rin answered, looking at Obito.

Obito frowned. "Can't you stay here again for good?" he asked – all his usual playfulness lost in his voice.

Rin smiled sadly at him. "No," she said before taking a quick glance of Kakashi. "Are you on your way home?"

"But w—" Obito said, wanting to ask why Rin couldn't stay in the village.

"We're on our way to get dinner," Kakashi interrupted, looking at Rin.

"Oh," she said. "Mind if I join you two? It's been a while since I had dinner with you."

Obito noticed the knowning glances Kakashi and Rin exchanged. He knew they had been keeping things from him way before Rin left Konoha. He had tried to ask them what it was, but they always found ways to evade his efforts.

"Sure," Obito said, wearing his cheerful mask again to pretend he didn't see what they tried to do. "Let's go!"

It was seven in the evening when Itachi saw his mother in the hospital room, and half an hour later that Sakura opened her eyes.

"Hey," Mikoto said, smiling warmly at Sakura who at that moment was looking somewhat confused and scared at her.

Sakura didn't respond.

"I'm Mikoto," she continued. "I'm Itachi's mother. He had to go somewhere. Is it alright with you if I stay here for tonight?"

Sakura looked shyly at her.

She looked so much like Sasuke.

"I promise I won't bother you too much," Mikoto said.

Sakura nodded and looked away. She didn't feel like doing anything else for some reason. Perhaps it was because she was thinking about how her life would be after she was released in the hospital.

No mother and father to welcome her home… No mother to cook her dinner… No father to cheer her up… No family to hold her.

She was alone.

Sakura kept her glazed eyes at the white curtain hiding the window. She wanted to cry. She wanted to call her mother – tell her to take her with them in the afterlife.

"Neh, Sakura-chan," Mikoto said.

Sakura wiped her eyes and looked at Mikoto.

Mikoto shyly showed her a slightly worn book. "I feel like reading a story," she said. "Would you like to read with me?"

Sakura glanced at Mikoto's kind face, then at the book.

Her mother used to read to her too. That was one of the things she would miss about her mother.

Mikoto saw Sakura's green eyes moisten. She felt the longing Sakura was feeling. She wanted to hug her tight and tell her it was all going to be alright, but she knew how Sakura needed her space.

Mikoto browsed through the pages. "Do you know the story of Kaguya-hime?" she asked.

Sakura shook her head.

Mikoto showed her a page of the book with a picture of a princess seated on a mat. She had black hair that reached the floor, white glowing skin, and dark sad eyes. She wore a gold-embroidered kimono fit for royalty.

Sakura wanted to ask why the princess looked sad but she felt too shy and tired to speak.

Mikoto smiled. "Would you like to hear her story?"

Sakura shyly looked at her and nodded.

"Okay," Mikoto said, turning the page to the first part of the story that had a picture of a bamboo cutter walking in the woods. "Long long ago, there lived an old bamboo cutter," she began, showing her the picture.

Sakura couldn't quite see it well so she craned her neck closer to Mikoto.

Mikoto smiled as Sakura's green eyes focused on the picture – the pain waning from her face.

"He was very poor and sad, Heaven sent him no child to cheer his old age, and in his heart there was no hope of rest from work until he died, and was laid in the quiet grave," Mikoto continued, reading the verse on the opposite page of the book.

Sakura was till stretching her neck to look at the wood-cutter.

"Hmm," Mikoto said, acting like she was trying to figure something out.

Sakura looked at her.

"You'll hurt your neck, dear," she continued. "How about I sit beside you on the bed?"

Sakura shyly looked away and scooted a little to give Mikoto space.

Mikoto sat close beside her and pulled her to lie on her chest, just like her sons did whenever she told them a story to put them to sleep.

Sakura stiffly laid her head on Mikoto's chest, listening to her heartbeat.

Mikoto knew she was still uncomfortable about her. So she combed Sakura's hair to soothe the little girl's anxious nerves.

"Every morning," Mikoto continued, still combing Sakura's pink hair with her dainty fingers. "…He went into the woods and hills wherever the bamboo reared its lithe green plumes against the sky."

It took a while for Sakura to adjust to Mikoto but by the time the story reached the part where the wood-cutter took the baby he found in a bamboo grove to his home, Sakura was conversing with her.

They were talking about how a baby three-inches in height would look like, how troublesome a glowing real-life baby would be, and how scary it would be if they were in the wood-cutter's place when he found the infant.

Mikoto smiled as Sakura snuggled close to her. She leaned her cheek on her hair and kissed Sakura's forehead.

Perhaps Sasuke was right. Adopting Sakura could be a good idea.