Disclaimer

K. I'm not sure if I have to write these things but I will. I don't claim any rights to Naruto or the charecters. I give full credit to the rightful owners, blah, blah, blah. Except my story line. I mean I have no problem with them using it in Naruto, but I want credit if they do. lmao.

'Meditation is the tongue of the soul and the language of our spirit.'

-Jeremy Taylor

Sasuke glared into his cup angrily, rolling the tea around to create small swirls with the liquid. Sakura frowned at him across the table, turning her gaze to her own cup in annoyance.

"I really wish you'd stop doing that, Sasuke…" She murmured weakly, her eyes flickering to the corner - where the two Hyuugas were still unconscious. They had considered moving them into spare rooms - the Uchiha district had enough of them - but there was too much risk that they could transform without anyone around to watch them.

"Why did we get stuck watching them anyway?" He asked, following her gaze.

"They might have been hurt in that battle and I'm the only medic here." Sakura responded, waving her hand airily. "And if they transform I'll need someone to help me get them back to that clearing."

He made a 'hn' sound in the back of his throat before closing his eyes and leaning backwards. With a frown he glanced over at her. "What did you mean before? You said that the Jinchuuriki tails don't represent power. I thought Naruto had the most powerful chakra and was the strongest." He said, looking away - clearing embarrassed that he had to ask about something he didn't understand.

"He is… Well, his demon is. If Naruto figures out how to control it properly he could probably destroy the entire Fire country, if he wanted to." Sakura said thoughtfully, moving away from the table so she could lean against the walls. "But that doesn't necessarily mean Kyuubi's the strongest because he has the most tails. It just works out that way, I guess."

"So, Hachibi isn't the second strongest?" He asked, tilting his head to look at her.

"Nope, Shichibi is. Hachibi is third." Sakura said cheerfully, glad that she didn't have to tell him that his demon was a weakling.

He frowned but didn't say anything about his demons strength. "What order are they in?"

"Uh… Strength-wise. Kyuubi, Shichibi, Hachibi, Gobi, Nibi, Rokubi, Sanbi, Ichibi, then Yonbi…" She said, her eyes going slightly distant as she tried to remember the correct order. "Then Chakra-wise. It'd be Kyuubi, Hachibi, Shichibi… actually I think their chakra level is how they decide how many tails the demon has. It goes in order."

He used his elbows to prop himself up. "How do you know all this, Sakura?"

She stiffened immediately and closed her eyes, ignoring his question. He winced when he realized the only answer - the only people who would know this much about the demons: Akatsuki. He mentally swore and averted his gaze.

Is that why she broke up with me? Because of the Akatsuki? He mentally asked, aware that his demon was listening.

Maybe she dumped you because of the reasons she gave, because she doesn't want anything holding her back. Shichibi suggested reasonably, rolling his eyes. If I recall, that's why you said no to her when you were younger, wasn't it?

"Tch." Sasuke muttered, slamming his eyes closed angrily. Stay out of my head, demon!

"Sasuke?"

He jumped, his head snapping forward. Sakura had pushed herself away from the wall to watch him with concern.

"Are you feeling alright? You went really pale all of a sudden and didn't answer to me." Sakura told him softly, slowly moving closer to him. "Do you want to lie down? I can watch these two by myself."

He shook his head and closed his eyes again. "I was just thinking…" He told her quietly.

"Can I ask what you thinking about…?" She asked, tilting her head to the side curiously and falling back into a crouch.

He ignored her question and rolled onto his side. Sakura sighed and walked over to the two Hyuugas. He opened his eyes to watch her carefully. She leaned over Neji, so that her ear was in front of his mouth - listening to his breathing - and watching his chest rise and fall. She did the same with Hinata seconds later. She straightened up and pressed her index and middle finger to the younger Hyuugas neck first, closing her eyes to count. Then leaned over to press her fingers to Neji's neck. She pulled her hand away.

Sasuke snapped up into a offensive crouch when Neji's hand darted out to grab her wrist. The Hyuuga's slowly opened. "Sakura." He greeted softly, letting her pull her hand away from his. He glanced around suspiciously - his eyes falling on the katana Sasuke had pulled out. "What am I doing here?"

Sakura glanced over her shoulder at Sasuke. "I'll let you field this one." She said grinning at him before standing up and flopping into the seat next to Sasuke.

The Uchiha prodigy slowly put his katana away - when he was sure Neji's demon chakra wouldn't slip out - and sat back down.

"We had to bring you somewhere we could watch you." Sasuke explained slowly, shaking his head. "We decided to… play a our guess. It turned out we were right." He gestured at Sakura to continue.

"Yeah, we sent some of our demonic chakra towards you and Hinata. Apparently, Jinchuuriki's demonic chakra activates when it sense another's chakra around, you understand?" Sakura asked, rubbing her chin thoughtfully for a better was to explain.

"You and Hinata reacted to our chakra and lost control." Sasuke finished for her, glancing down at his tea cup. "We lured you to a seal that Yamato set up for us and activated it. We put a weak seal over the ones you already had, so you shouldn't loose control if you feel another's chakra."

"But, we can't make any guarantees!" Sakura added quickly, knowing that he might want to spar with other Jinchuuriki now. "So, you might want to stay away from Demonic fights for a while."

Neji frowned. "So, you're sure that I'm a…demon? He asked in a hushed monotone voice.

Sasuke and Sakura both winced in unison. "We prefer the term Jinchuuriki, actually, Neji." Sakura told him, shaking her head softly.

Sasuke stood up and grabbed his tea cup. "You're free to stay here, if you like. This is apparently a housing for unwanted Jinchuuriki. Although, I can guarantee your family already knows and will want to keep you around for this fact alone. If you have any questions we'll answer them, but for now I'd like you to show me what you were showing Lee yesterday, Sakura." He told him, grabbing her tea cup as well as he headed for the kitchen.

Neji frowned. "We are aloud to stay here?" He directed the question at Sakura - seeing as Sasuke was already in the other room.

She smiled warmly over at him. "Yeah, being a Jinchuuriki's hard enough, we figure. So, since the rest of the world just wants us for our powers, we should help each other out, ne?"

With that, she hurried out of the room and after Sasuke.

Suigetsu, Jugo and Karin were the first to return, they exchanged glances as a delicious smell reached their noses. Suigetsu rushed past them and towards the kitchen, sniffing every few feet to make sure he was headed in the right direction. Karin and Jugo were right behind him, barely sparing a glance to the folded bed mats.

Inside the kitchen, four Jinchuuriki were quietly working on that nights dinner. Sasuke was standing next to Sakura, using his kunai to chop a pile of vegetables, while Sakura used her own to peel them. Neji was standing next to a pot and stirring it in annoyance, glaring down at the contents. Hinata was watching a large amount of meat cook slowly, with her head tilted to the side and a distant expression on her face.

"What's going on?" Karin asked warily - not used to Sasuke cooperating in such 'menial chores.'

"Who cares?!" Suigetsu countered, racing across the room to stand next to Sakura. He reached forward to grab a piece of celery. She slapped his hand with the slid of her kunai. "What are you guys making?"

"Roast Pork." Hinata responded, glancing over her shoulder to answer him. "And vegetable soup. Neji, move that pot closer to the heat."

Karin frowned and walked towards Sakura and Sasuke. "Anything I can do?"

As a response, Sakura gestured at a handful of knives hanging from the wall and the pile of vegetables between Sasuke and herself. Karin complied and took a knife off the wall to help peel vegetables. Jugo and Suigetsu joined them, but - after only a few moments - Sakura told Suigetsu to take a cookie into the other room and leave them alone, so he'd stop trying to eat the food they were cooking.

Karin leaned closer to Sakura warily. "Have you told them, yet?" She asked, her eyes flickering between the two Hyuugas before moving back to her work. Sakura nodded. "How are they so calm, then? You'd think they'd be more…angry, or something…"

Sakura shrugged uncertainly. "It looks like Neji is." She said under her breath. "He's just really quiet about it. He'll stay here until he decides what his options are and what choice will lead to the best outcome. But, Hinata…"

Her voice trailed off as they both glanced at the other girl. She was positively glowing as she watched the meat cook, if she was any happier, she'd be singing out loud - though she was probably mentally singing.

Sasuke leaned towards the conversation. "I'm pretty sure that's she happy she has a Jinchuuriki because it makes her different. It gives her a reason to hold back when fighting so that she won't be seen as weak, just kind. She's tired of people looking down on her, now she has a power that will help her fit in." He told them in a hushed tone, scooping up the vegetables he chopped and dropping them into Neji's pot before walking back to them.

"You mean that she's happy to fit in with the outcasts?" Karin asked in disbelief, rolling her eyes. "That's crazy."

"I don't think so, Karin. We can't know how people will react when thrown into a strange situation." Sakura murmured, handing a potato to Sasuke. "What's that saying? One man's trash is another's treasure? It's a weird saying but it fits our situation, I guess. Most of us hate this power, and would do anything to get rid of it. I - personally - don't mind it as much as others, but Hinata seems to think it's the best thing that could have happened to her."

They all fell back into the silence they had been in before. Suigetsu was yelling some insults about slow cookers in the main room, but they all ignored him without a word. Sakura peeled the last carrot, handing it to Sasuke, before wandering away from the small group.

"What were you three doing anyway?" She asked as she left the room - so that all three of them could hear her.

"Shopping, talking, breathing… living in general." Suigetsu muttered from beside the table. Sakura threw him a dirty look.

"Well, I'm going to be by the pond. Call me when dinner's ready." She said before walking outside and heading for the pond.

She fell into her normal seat and crossed her fingers into the 'tiger' seal, placing them in her lap. She closed her eyes and let all thoughts drift away from her mind. She sent a small wave of her chakra away from the Uchiha District and towards Konoha. She swerved down countless streets, around those she knew to be ninja - she didn't want anyone to sense her sneaking around the village like this - and finally ended up at the Ichiraku Ramen bar. Like she expected, the missing Jinchuuriki were talking about random topics in front of their ramen bowls.

Well, I might as well try this now… She thought to herself.

Sakura controlled her chakra and moved it towards Naruto. He jerked when he chakra touched him.

Shame on you, snacking before dinner.

Naruto bolted out of his seat and looked around in confusion. Sakura…? He asked in surprise.

Wow, you can hear me? She asked in disbelief, a grin flitting onto her face. Okay, good news, bad news… And then more good news, and then more bad news.. Which do you want to hear first?

Uh… the first bad news, I guess… Naruto mentally muttered, a shocked expression still covering his face. Tenten and Lee were watching him in confusion. Then the other bad news, they the good news.

Okay, bad news. Neji and Hinata woke up. Next. Neji's really PO'd about it, might cause trouble later. Good news: Hinata doesn't really seem to care about being a Jinchuuriki and I figured out how to trigger our mental communications. Sakura told him cheerfully, a sudden pain shooting down her spine. Damn, it's a lot harder to talk without having the tails of power around. Come home now, we made food. Ciao for now, ni-san!

Naruto blinked a few times in confusion as Sakura's voice faded from his mind. He glanced over at the other two Jinchuuriki. "I think we have to go home now.