The group rushed downstairs to meet the guests: the rest of Sakura's friends with their parents. The kids greeted Sakura, hugging her tight as if they hadn't bonded with her for the last two days. Even Akamaru was nuzzling her legs as if he would miss her terribly. The rest of the hour was spent watching the children play one last game of hide and seek; the adults in the dining room having tea and talking about how things would hopefully work out for Sakura.
A call from someone on the porch of the house ended the games and the conversations.
Fugaku and Minato stood up to meet the new guests – Obito, Kakashi, and Sakura's social worker.
"Welcome," Fugaku greeted them, bowing to the blue-haired woman clad in a moss green button-down blouse and white slacks. A white flower clip adorned her short bob and her lips smiled with her amber eyes. "You must be Tenshi-san," he said offering her his hand.
"Good morning, Uchiha-sama. It's a pleasure to finally meet you," she said, shaking his hand and bowing to him in respect which Fugaku returned. She had contacted him by phone before hand to coordinate the schedule and arrange anything they might need to make Sakura's transportation comfortable. "Hokage-sama," she greeted Minato, shaking his hand with a bow next.
"Tenshi-san," Minato greeted, smiling at her as he returned the bow. "It's been a while. How are Yahiko and Nagato?"
She blushed slightly, smiling proudly at the Hokage. "They're still busy working in Amegakure," she answered. "You know how Yahiko is as a Hoshikage. Nagato's doing his best to keep him from overworking himself. I hope you can visit us again sometime."
"Oh yes, it's been years since I last visited," Minato said recalling the visit he did three years ago to Amegakure. He was with his Genin Training mentor then to celebrate Yahiko's promotion to Hoshikage. The three of them, Yahiko, Nagato, and Yahiko's wife Kanon, were three orphans his mentor adopted while he was working on some projects in Amegakure. They had become good friends with Minato since then. "I'll bring my wife and child with me in my next visit."
"That would be wonderful!" Kanon said.
"Shall we move inside?" Fugaku said. "It's a bit cold out at this time of the year."
"Oh yes, indeed. I'm excited to meet Sakura-chan," Kanon replied.
The group walked into the living room with Kakashi and Obito on their tail.
After exchanging pleasantries with the parents and having a quick introduction with the kids, Kanon asked to speak to Sakura alone. Fugaku guided them to his office.
"So Sakura-chan, how are you feeling today?" Konan asked, sitting across from the girl in front of Fugaku's office table.
Sakura smiled shyly at her. "I'm okay."
"Nervous?" the woman smiled sadly at her.
Sakura nodded.
Konan took her hand in hers. "It's okay. You're going to be in a new place so it's normal. I'm an orphan too," she said. "I lost my parents when I was around your age. I was also sent to the orphanage where I met lots of good people. They made me feel at home until someone took me as their daughter. Now I'm one of the people running the orphanage to make sure kids like you also feel at home there. Do you know we have different classes there? We have Science classes where kids get to do cool experiments, sports events where you can play lots of different games, and even art classes where you can learn how to sculpt or paint or make things out of paper!"
Sakura's green eyes widened slightly with a hint of interest. "Make things out of paper?"
Konan excitedly nodded. "Like this one," she said, motioning to the white flower tucked in a patch of her blue hair. She fished out a piece of pink paper from her pocket and folded it into a pink cherry blossom. Sakura's eyes sparkled with amazement, surprised that the paper turned into an intricate flower in Konan's hands.
Konan chuckled and gave the flower to her. "My gift to you," she said.
"Thank you," Sakura answered, holding the flower gently so that it didn't crumple in her stubby hands.
"Before we leave I need to ask you a couple of questions, okay? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone what we talked about. You're safe with me," she said, patting Sakura's head.
"What are they talking about?" Naruto asked, frowning at the door to Fugaku's office as he crouched beside the couch; the rest of the kids behind him.
He and his friends stopped their game when Konan arrived. They didn't want to like her because she was taking Sakura away from them, but she was so…likeable. And she seemed to genuinely like kids.
"Maybe she's conducting a psychiatric evaluation," Shikamaru said.
"A psychic marathon?" Naruto asked.
"Evaluation," Sasuke answered as Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "A test."
"You mean they have entrance exams for the orphanage?" Chouji asked.
"If Sakura fails the test, will she stay here?" Kiba asked.
"I don't think that's what they mean," Shino answered.
"What the hell does it mean then?!" Naruto snapped.
"I think she's checking to see if Sakura's really okay," Ino replied. "Doesn't psychic mean something with the mind?"
"So she's trying to see if she's insane?" Chouji asked.
Shikamaru sighed, slumping flat on the floor and grabbing a throw pillow from the couch to cover his annoyed face. "Troublesome."
"And if she fails the test, they'll take her to a mental hospital instead!" Kiba exclaimed.
"No freaking way!" Naruto snapped. "This was not what my father and I talked about. I'm telling my father about this!" he angrily said turning to head toward the dining room where the adults were.
Sasuke grabbed Naruto's collar before he could get away. "No, idiot," Sasuke answered. "That's not what's happening."
"Then what is happening?!" Naruto asked Sasuke.
Sasuke took a deep breath to calm himself. He was sure his parents wouldn't like seeing him punching some sense into Naruto especially with the Hokage and his wife there. "She's checking what kind of care they need to give her in the orphanage."
The rest of the kids apart from Shikamaru stared curiously at Sasuke.
"You can know that from a psych marathon?" Naruto asked.
"Evaluation, dobe," Sasuke irritated corrected. "Read some books sometime, will you?" He sighed, taking a seat on the floor next to Shikamaru.
Naruto crossed his arms over his chest. "So you're saying they don't know how to take care of her?"
"They know how, they just want to know how to exactly do it," Sasuke answered. "In detail," he said trying to find the best words to explain that the evaluation made sense somehow.
"We know Sakura-chan better though," Naruto argued. "We don't need to ask her how to take care of her – we already know it. So why are we letting this…nice woman take her away?"
"Because your father ordered it and the adults agreed to it?" Kiba replied.
"Because it's the law and this really is the best for her," Sasuke bitterly said, glaring at the polished wooden floor.
Shikamaru moved the throw pillow away from his face to look at Sasuke. The Uchiha suddenly seemed utterly convinced that putting Sakura in the orphanage was the best way to help her.
"What do you mean, Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked, sitting next to Sasuke.
"There are things she needs that we can't give her," he answered. "Things only experts can give her and the orphanage has experts." He had been reading the book he borrowed from the Uchiha library every night for the past two days and he realized there were words he couldn't quite understand – jargon that no dictionary could help him comprehend. There were simple things, sure, and he understood them. But there were also complex steps and processes and rehabilitation and tests…syndromes…pathologies…medicines… "But I'm not letting her stay there for good," he muttered.
Shikamaru smirked. "Well it's impossible to break her out of the orphanage after the stunt we pulled at the hospital," he told him.
"You're such a pessimist, Shikamaru!" Ino reprimanded.
"I wasn't thinking about that," Sasuke hissed, glaring at Shikamaru.
"What then, Teme? We're just going to wait for someone to adopt her?" Naruto asked, taking a seat across Sasuke.
Sasuke bitterly looked away. "No," he defensively muttered.
Shikamaru snorted knowing Sasuke didn't have a plan. "Let's just see how our punishment goes," he said. "Maybe we'll think of something then."
"And hope for the best, huh?" Chouji asked, opening his second bag of chips since he came to the Uchiha house.
"I don't think I can do that," Naruto complained, crossing his arms over his chest.
"N-Naruto-kun," Hinata said, touching his shoulder. "Maybe we can visit her or send her letters until we figure something out."
Naruto turned to Hinata sighing. "Yeah, I guess we can do that."
"You can do what?"
The group turned to see Sakura standing next to the couch. She had finished her talk with the social worker.
"Are you really leaving now, Forehead?" Ino asked, rushing to her side and grabbing her hand.
Sakura smiled and nodded. "I'll see you again, Pig."
Ino only frowned, her blue eyes on the verge of tears.
"Sakura-chan, I'll make sure you get out of the orphanage!" Naruto said, suddenly in front of her.
Sakura laughed. "It's not a jail, Naruto. I'll get out of there when I'm eighteen if no one adopts me, and when that time comes I'll definitely visit all of you again. So please don't forget me?"
"What kind of request is that?!" Ino snapped. "Of course, we'll never forget you! A girl with a huge forehead isn't that easy to forget, you know." She then caged her in a tight hug to keep her from seeing the tears streaming down her cheeks. The pink haired girl patted her back to soothe her. Hinata gave Sakura's free hand a squeeze which Sakura gratefully returned while the rest of the group watched them sadly.
Sasuke turned away, folding his arms over his chest. If he was the expert that Sakura needed, would his parents convince the Hokage to make her stay?
A hand patted his head. He looked up to see Itachi smiling sadly at him before turning to the group in front of them. "I know you're not ready yet but it's time."
Ino wiped her eyes and let Sakura go. She then took a place beside her and hooked her arm around hers. They then walked with Sakura to the porch where the adults were already waiting for them. Ino hugged her tight one last time before she let Hinata do the same; followed by Shino who patted her shoulder and telling her to be careful; Kiba who hugged her and had Akamaru lick her cheek; Chouji who gave her chips to eat on her way to the orphanage; and Naruto who hugged her tight and attempted to kiss her cheek but failed because Sakura hit him on the top of his head with her clenched fist.
Sakura then stepped away from, sensing that Sasuke wasn't planning on giving her a goodbye gesture other than the stare he was giving her. She looked at each of their faces memorizing them before giving them a grateful smile. Sakura then turned to the adults who she thanked and received hugs and kisses from.
When she turned to say goodbye to Mikoto and Fugaku, she couldn't help but let the tears fall from her green eyes. Mikoto, who was holding back her tears smiled at her and pulled her tight against her chest, whispering comforting words against her pink hair. Fugaku hugged her next, brushing her hair as she buried her face in his scent. He kissed the top of her head before handing her over to Itachi, who was on his knees and smiling at her. Sasuke's brother dried her tears with the back of his fingers before pulling her into a tight embrace. He kissed the side of her head before letting Kio hug her next.
Again, Sasuke remained still and quiet as he watched them.
"Shall we?" Konan asked holding Sakura's bag.
Sakura smiled at Kio before turning to nod at Konan. She turned around and waved goodbye to all of them, earning a wave of goodbye from her friends except from Sasuke. It hurt her a bit, the lack of gesture from Sasuke, but she still smiled at him – grateful for the books she kept in her bag and for all the times he spent with her.
Konan led her out to the compound, Kakashi and Obito on their tail. The rest of the Uchiha relatives were there. They gave Sakura a hug, kind words, and a kiss on the forehead. Just as they were about to ride the car they would drive to the orphanage, Sakura heard Sasuke call out to her.
"Sakura!"
She paused, turning around to look at him. Sasuke stood apart from the rest of his clan, huffing as if he had just ran out of the house to catch her at the last minute. She blinked, wondering if she was imagining things but decided to walk toward him to be sure.
"Sasuke-kun," she began.
"No goodbye," he said, earning him a confused look from her. "I'm not saying goodbye."
She stared at him for a moment before smiling. Her heart swelled with pride. It meant he would definitely see her again, right? He was hoping they would meet again somehow.
He then raised two fingers and tapped her forehead, a smirk on his face.
She blinked, unsure of what happened. "U—Um…"
Obito loudly cleared his throat. They turned to look at him and noticed that he seemed to be trying to hold back a grin. "Let's go?"
Sakura glanced back at Sasuke who held her gaze for a moment, before giving him the smile he longed to see on her lips. She turned around and followed Konan into the car. Sasuke watched them drive out of the compound; his fists clenched tightly in an attempt to remain calm and composed.
"Well done, Otouto," he heard someone whisper against his right ear. He jumped, snapping his head to see Itachi and the rest of their relatives smiling wryly at him.
"W—What..?!" he mumbled, his cheeks flushed.
A snort came from his left. He turned to see his father frowning at nowhere in particular, his arms crossed over his chest.
"Oh Fugaku," said one of Sasuke's uncles who was there with them. "Cut the boy some slack. You were just like him with Mikoto when you were his age." It earned snickers from the rest of the clan, even from Itachi.
Fugaku sighed, bowing his head and walking toward the house followed by Itachi who was still smirking playfully at him. The rest of the clan went back to their houses leaving a baffled and flushed Sasuke in their wake.
Shisui watched the car drive out of the Konoha gates as he sat on a branch of a giant old tree. He wanted to say goodbye to Sakura like the others did but he couldn't face her, not when he was the reason why she was going to the orphanage.
He took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air of Konoha village, before sighing. He would need to take his leave too if he was to meet Kakashi at the border.
"Sssent her as ordered, I sssee," hissed the snake perched on the branch that shaded him from the bright sunlight.
"Like I have any other choice," he bitterly muttered as he stood up, the branches swaying in the sudden breeze. "At least Danzo won't get to her that easily."
"But he issss there," the snake said, flicking its tongue against the tip of his right earlobe as it slinked down to perch on his shoulders.
"A small price to pay," Shisui muttered.
"Leaving her at the handsss of the murderer isss a sssmall price to pay?" the snake teased.
Shisui narrowed his eyes on the horizon. "Don't remind me."