Disclaimer: I do not own the series Naruto or any of the characters or concepts within it. I still don't own Onimeno-sensei or any of his 'acquaintances' either; all I lay claim to are the various relatives I've stuck Sakura with.


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Now You See It

Chapter 8: Joy


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"Haruno-san?"

Sakura turned from where she had been thumb-wrestling Kiba over who got to choose what they would order for lunch to find Shi waiting for her. "Oh! Hello again." She offered a bright smile, even as Kiba scrabbled desperately to free the thumb she was still crushing down. "Good work today."

They had actually made progress, this time; leaving the matter of leadership aside for the moment, they had began hammering out the true logistics of maintaining an army: food, medical supplies, and weaponry. It was a bit like pulling teeth, getting each party to hem and haw and reluctantly put down a number in regards to what they felt their village could provide, but even if it was slow it was still a step in the right direction.

Not for the first time, Sakura envied Tsunade. Her leader got to work on simpler issues with the other Kage and Mifune-dono, namely how the disciplinary structure of the combined forces would be administered and maintained.

"You as well," he said, smiling kindly. "I hope you'll forgive the imposition, but you see, my little brother has currently stopped by to deliver a message to Raikage-sama…"

"Eichi-kun is here?" Sakura released Kiba, sending her feral teammate sprawling, in order to clasp her hands in front of herself excitedly.

"He is," Shi affirmed patiently, his eyes warming in amusement. "He doesn't know that you're here, as far as I can tell, but I think I know my younger brother well enough to say that he would enjoy seeing you." He paused, a touch of mischief creeping into his voice as he continued. "He always looks forward to your letters."

"I'd like to see him too!" Sakura said. She felt a flutter of pride at how… brotherly Shi sounded at the moment. Her advice to Eichi over the years had obviously been applied well. "Is he at the Yukimura Estate, or still with the Raikage, or—"

"He's waiting in the lobby," Shi cut her off. "Technically for me, but somehow I don't think he'll mind a surprise before we catch up."

"Thank you!" Sakura squeezed his hand and positively beamed up at him, before letting go and darting for the door. She saw Ao and Chojuurou meet up with the rest of the group as she was leaving it, but paid no mind as Kurenai took over and began making introductions. She had a penpal to catch.

She peered over the bannister once she was out, searching the ground floor for pale blond. She found it several times over, before finally zeroing in on the right head and heading down the stairs. She slipped through the different knots of delegates, messengers, and other political footmen, bowing and murmuring her excuses as necessary.

And then, creeping up from behind, she threw her arms around Eichi's shoulders and drew him back into a tight hug. "Eichi-kun!"

He was carefully limp in her arms, likely as a result of killing all his retaliatory instincts. He turned his head slightly, catching sight of her as best he could with his back caged against her front, and carefully smiled. It was small and a little clumsy, but warm all the same. "…Sakura-san."

Sakura squeezed him tighter before letting him free enough that he could turn around, but she kept her wrists draped loosely around his neck. At thirteen, he made it up to her shoulder; given a few years and using his brother as a reference, he would likely be taller than her. Aside from that, he was largely the same, kitted out in a similar white and black outfit to what Shi and the other Kumo-nin wore, still with his hair in a long, loose pale tail.

He ran his fingers through her own long, high ponytail, humming with interest. "You were not exaggerating, in your last missive," he said, at length. "It has gotten quite long."

That was her Eichi. No smooth, socially adjusted conversational starters for him, no sir. Sakura beamed down at him fondly. The last time she had seen him in the flesh was about a year after she made chuunin and by pure coincidence; their squads had chosen the same out of the way inn as a pit stop. Since then, they had both grown a lot, and not just physically. She glanced over his shoulder.

"Is this your team?" To say that she had been surprised to hear he would be becoming a teacher when she first got the letter last fall would be an understatement, but she couldn't say she didn't like the results. Being around children his own age had obviously loosened Eichi up. She rested her chin on his head and smiled at the staring genin. "You should introduce us."

The squad was composed, unsurprisingly, of two boys and a girl. The former pair were comprised of a dark-skinned boy with orange hair wearing a strange bandolier and a tanned, green-eyed brunette. The girl was pale, with curly, scarlet hair and dark eyes, and was glaring death at Sakura.

She knew what that meant, and hid a smile as Eichi turned around in her arms. "That much is permissible." He nodded first to the brown-haired boy. "Meet Usui," then to the dark-skinned boy, "Karai," and then finally the girl, who had schooled her expression into something much sweeter once he had looked her way. Sakura remembered those days, with a little second-hand embarrassment. "And Akarui. Team H, this is Haruno Sakura, an accomplished jounin of Konohagakure." He paused, and his voice warmed from its formal plateau just the tiniest bit. "She is also my… friend."

The group of genin gaped. The younger kunoichi looked as though she had been sucker-punched.

It was Karai who recovered first, shaking his head. "Holy crap, teach! Nice going!" He flashed Eichi an impressed grin and a double-thumbs up. It seemed as though he was more towards the Kiba end of the spectrum. And that Akarui wasn't the only one getting the wrong idea here.

Sakura tried to see it from their perspective: an older, pretty (if she did say so herself), foreign kunoichi had all but tackled Eichi and done her best to smother him in affection, and then intimated that they had an amicable history together.

Usui, the tanned boy, jabbed his teammate hard in the ribs. "I'm sorry, Haruno-san!" He bowed sharply. "He really didn't mean to imply anything!"

"Yeah!" Akarui finally chipped in, her voice dripping honey and poison in equal doses. "Sorry, Karai can be such a crude idiot, sometimes. It's so nice to meet one of Eichi-sensei's friends!"

"Well 'one of' might be stretching the truth of the matter a little bit," Shi cut in, moving up to rest a hand on Sakura' shoulder. He flashed them all another flawless smile. "She's he's oldest friend, at least. Er," he squeezed her shoulder apologetically. "Chronologically, at least. Despite the rumors about Konoha, most of their kunoichi really are as young as they look."

"Careful." Kurenai patted him on the back none too gently as she approached as well. "If you make those sorts of comments too loudly, Tsunade-sama might hear." She beamed gently as he paled and dropped his hand, before turning to her student. "Sakura, we'll be having lunch with some of the other delegates."

"With oden," Sakura said firmly, because she had undeniably beaten Kiba into submission on that front. She hadn't even needed to watch in order to beat him. Akamaru and Shino were her witnesses. She was so sick of eating grilled meat every time it was Kiba's turn to pick what they would eat, and besides which, Ogifu didn't even have a barbeque restaurant like Konoha did.

"With oden," Kurenai agreed. "And a few other options." For the foreigners, Sakura filled in mentally. She hadn't thumb-wrestled them into submission, after all.

Speaking of foreigners…

She squeezed Eichi in one last hug, then bent down to press a quick kiss to his cheek. "I'm so happy I was able to catch you while you were here," she told him warmly, glancing back up at his brother briefly. "Thanks for letting me know, Shi-san."

"Any time," he told her, inclining his head modestly."

"I'll send another letter the next time I have a chance okay?" She turned back to Eichi, ruffling a hand through his bangs. "Take care of yourself."

"I shall," Eichi promised, bringing one hand up to gently grip her wrist before she could fully pull away. "Please maintain your own health and good standing as well. And, should anybody threaten either of those states—"

"I know," Sakura sighed, squeezing his hand with a smile. "I can always count on you to give them hell for me. Thanks, Eichi-kun."

She withdrew with a little wave of good-by to the still shell-shocked genin, and followed her teacher back towards the staircase.

Sakura sighed deeply, cracking her back. "Ahh, that was nice." She hefted a fist and grinned at Kurenai. "I feel recharged!"

"Good," the older woman said, her voice a little too mild to mean anything good. "You're going to want to hold onto that feeling."

"…we're not just eating with the Mist group again, are we." It wasn't a question, technically. But really, it didn't need to be.

"No we're not," Kurenai agreed as they stopped in front of the same conference room they had commandeered for their previous, private negotiations. She opened it, and beckoned Sakura in. "You remember the Kazekage's teammates, don't you Sakura?"

Sakura beamed at the pair sitting ill at ease near the curtained windows of the room, practically oozing sugar. "Baki-san, Sabaku no Temari and…" Her eyes skipped over the former squad leader, the brunette girl she didn't know, and the blonde to rest on the young man in kabuki paint. "Kankuro, right?"

Her eyes drifted to his left hand. It was crafted from something painted to look like flesh from a distance and dully lacquered. She remembered its fleshy predecessor, twitching even as the fractured metacarpals stuck out and drenched his fingers in blood, sending a puppet careening her way to slice her one last time with its poisoned blade.

Her smile grew more radiant. "How could I possibly forget?"


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Chapter Word Count: 1,705

Total Word Count: 16,445

Targeted Word Count: 13,334


I've updated my profile with a few things; a couple images to help you picture Sakura's outfits, new models for her aunts, and an updated family tree for anybody who needs a little help keeping all of those Haruno clan members straight.