Summary: What if you woke up to a role so completely unfitting and with a future already made? With a contrasting mindset, knowledge in a convoluted mess and ambitions steered a different direction, this only completed the odd assembly that was the new Haruno Sakura. Welcome to her life. OC Self Insert.

Authors note: As there seems to be some confusion, Anko is on the lookout for genin that wants to spy in on the chūnin exam. If there is some other explanation, Sakura did not stay long enough to confirm it.

And while I'm at it: For all those authors out there studying in Uni that I used to side-glance, you have my sincerest sympathies and apologies. For the readers that are quietly patient no matter the situation, my utmost gratitude.

Enjoy!


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Chapter 29

I went back to the drawing board. Barring access to the most immediate source of knowledge did not mean that I couldn't devise a plan. It would just have a larger risk of inaccuracy, and while that would be devastating, I would prefer that to the alternative of none at all.

My hand dug into the desk drawer impatiently.

Hard, but doable.

First of all, the worst case scenario letter to the Hokage about the invasion. I wasn't under any sort of suspicion, so the letter should be safe in my home until the month had passed. I might even hide it under Naruto's bed among his lost socks. He probably wouldn't mind. He would ask about the reason though, so I simply wouldn't tell him it was there in the first place. Again, he wouldn't mind and it would be an appropriate compensation from his secret keeping.

I firmly ignored any sort of hypocrisy in that thought and went on with crafting the letter. It would have to be coded, not impossibly so, but more of an in between state to show its urgency. Simple and to the point after being decoded would in all likelihood be best. Anything complicated could snare a noose around my neck and magically produce a neon sign pointing to me as the writer. I would rather like for everyone to overlook me as much as possible. Some things couldn't be avoided, like the chakra sense, and considering the team I was in, expectations were high anyway. It would be more suspicious if I didn't have something going for me.

Being pointed at for being an oracle though? I imagined it, and a violent shudder rushed through me at the mere idea.

No thank you and please disappear from my head.

I went through several drafts before I was satisfied with the wording. Taking out a new paper from the middle stack of common ones and wearing gloves while I did so, I wrote out the letters with both my hands to steady the writing. It got a bit lopsided at times and while I would normally scrap the whole thing, it fit the idea of the urgency I wanted to convey. Folding and then slipping it inside an envelop that I then wrapped a new shawl around that was perfumed with a common scent named 'Nature Oak', I placed it in a inconspicuous part of my room.

The clothes drawer. It was so cliché that I doubted anyone would bother to look.

Great.

I stood beside the window for a moment, lips pursed. At this point, was there anything I could tangibly control? The past was already fixed, my present ever elusive, and future wobbly. The one thing I knew would always be under my control – myself. With the test by the sensor department over and done with, missions temporarily halted by Kakashi and no significant event this week, I finally had time to further hone my own abilities.

I looked down at my left hand, momentarily flexing it. Small and light, it's size nothing to my former life. For some reason a clear image of another girl sitting at the piano popped up and I was suddenly reminded of my piano lessons so long ago, the pure memorization and flexibility training of my joints that had been necessary. Nothing was easy to gain in this world.

I clenched my hand.

It was about time I did something about my melee weakness.

Shikamaru had once told me that overconfidence would fell any man, enemy or no. While he had spoken about the hypothetical Ten Point Countries, the reason still stands that preparation and usage of everything in one's disposal was a good thing.

I was terrible at long distance battle. That was the unavoidable truth.

While not great, my close contact battle was my strongest point.

An exercise back in the Academy had been to pair up and try to push the other to the ground all the while standing inside a tight circle. It was one of my best lessons, because although Shino was efficient at avoiding a strike, I was better at shifting my meager weight to my advantage. It might have been my former acrobatic lessons speaking, but allowing my body to naturally take the route with least resistance was as easy as breathing to me.

However, back to what Shikamaru had warned, I couldn't rely on this.

Knocking lightly on the shop's door and slipping in, I tried to soften my face from the tight expression it had become. From the look the weapon seller gave me, I wasn't overly successful.

I dropped the politeness.

"I need a specific weapon." Offering my wallet, I leaned forward and said firmly, "And I need it to be tailored to my weight."

If I was going to this, I was going to do this correctly.


The day slipped by without my consent while I was busy training. I was pretty sure I had felt Gai and some ANBU skirting the edges, but since none had lingered I forced my thoughts from likewise lingering on the letter stuffed into my drawer. My parents neither noticed nor cared that I had been gone all night. They were too stressed while rushing about at home and work to mention my absent self with more than a "Good to see you, kiddo," murmured in passing. So when the next day went past just as quickly with training after getting the special ordered weapon, I wasn't surprised. Blisters decorated my hand and I was pretty sure my sleeve was ripped up, but I was almost satisfied when the third day greeted me with a knock on my window.

Almost.

The scarecrow visage of a merrily smiling Kakashi outside my second floor bedroom window was not something I constituted as satisfying.

Slipping out of my bed, I opened his dubious choice of entrance. "Morning, Kakashi-sensei."

"Ah, I don't get a 'Good' morning?"

Pointedly not glancing at the incriminating letter that I suddenly had second-thoughts about, I glanced outside and raised an eyebrow at him. "Sorry. I must have been too surprised by your once-a-year matutinal arrival..." Letting that statement hang, I stepped back and allowed him to come inside with a polite smile. "Good morning, Kakashi-sensei. Feel free to take a seat."

"Brat," he tsked fondly. While I blinked, he dropped inside and leaned his hip against my desk. "And here I was nice enough to come and personally inform you of our resumed mission-taking today." He paused, eyes sweeping over my room. His face pulled down, looking oddly disappointed as he sniffed. "Your room really is neater than than my two other brats. I thought it was a fluke of the graduation day. I can't even tease you about a pen out of order."

I stared at him. Did he just admit to stalking?

He seemed to catch up to it too, because he straightened. "Wait," he winced. "Don't tell them that."

Tilting my head, I shrugged casually after a moment. "What? That our teacher usually visits prepubescent children before meeting them for the first time? What might be strange about that?" I paused while his eye narrowed. "Ah, wait. Maybe because they never got the chance to do the same to you." I nodded knowingly. "Better watch out for Naruto. He will booby-trap your apartment in a heartbeat. The chalk will follow you everywhere, and this time, he will add itching powder to the mix." I shuddered. That was a nasty combination.

A startled chuckle at the image followed. It didn't come from me.

I blinked at him, surprised. His eye squinted suspiciously back at me. Raising my hands, I shook my head slowly. I wouldn't tell on him.

He nodded curtly.

"Was that all...?" I shifted a little, reminded that I was still in my pajamas.

"No," he shook his head. Kakashi paused again, eye locked on something behind my shoulder. "I got the memo; going to get more solo missions from here on, right? You found your own niche. Congratulations."

No matter how hard I stared at him, I couldn't figure out his angle. I settled on a polite smile instead. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

"Continue like that, and you might not even need little ol' me." His eye curved up and he tutted at my bewildered expression. "Don't go getting a big head on me though. You're light years behind me." He made a firm pat on my head that I actually had to press up against to stop myself from falling over. "Now if only everyone learned as quick as you, I would be out of my job."

As I continued to stare, he made a jaunty hand wave and was a blink away from exiting my window when I snagged his sleeve without a thought. Panic flared at the thought of missing my one opportunity. "Wait," I gasped out.

Kakashi stilled.

Craning his head back to me, he waited.

Embarrassment coiled around my stomach and I pulled my hand back. Firming my stance, I looked imploringly at him. "Talk to Sasuke about the Sharingan. I know it must be sensitive, and that we never managed to get into the chūnin exam, but Sasuke deserves to know." I lowered my voice slightly, almost pleading with this man that I had known only for a few months. "He's bothered by his family and I think he might... He might feel better about hearing something about his family from you. Please."

I looked steadily into his eye, hoping that I could transmit some of the frustration I felt at this entire situation. As deaf to feelings Ino so often reminded me I was, I knew that Sasuke hadn't come back with all of his pieces intact. His knuckles was more often than not red when we met and I knew that he had been out and about the last two nights. Coupled that with possible Orochimaru sightings, I wasn't confident it wouldn't blow up in our faces.

However loath as I was to admit it, I needed to utilize all of my resources. And that included our reluctant teacher.

Kakashi relaxed back against my window frame. He took a deep breath and: "I thought you'd never ask!" He chirped.

Patting my head again, he left in a swirl of leaves.

I closed my mouth.

After staring at my opened window for a few minutes, it occurred to me that maybe he was doing this all to confuse the wits out of me.

Shooting one last glance outside, I had to admit it was working.


The kitchen table at home was almost overflowing with papers. They were crisply laid out side to side so that I could see their content with a glance, but a map was haphazardly peaking out of the corner while I tried to pull out a few more documents from the seat beside me. A trustworthy calculator was at my right side for the simple fact it could make arithmetic solutions in half the speed it took for me to mentally trudge it out.

It also forced me to write it down and not skip a step because of impatience.

Hopping out of my chair with one of the documents in hand, I walked to the door and leaned my back on it, pushing the door handle with my elbow and lightly kicking the door open with my heel. Turning a page and reading further on the dry language any clerical job seemed to embrace, I greeted absently, "Good morning, Naruto. Want to come inside?"

I sensed him nod, so I retreated into the kitchen to grab a pen and note down a curious case of increasing taxes on office supplies. Meanwhile, Naruto closed the door behind him and cautiously stepped inside, head swinging to take in the sight of the sun-lit kitchen.

"Hey Sakura? How did'ya know I was out there – nevermind," he laughed. Walking closer, I felt his chakra ripple slightly as he continued his head swiveling.

"My parents are at work, I'm the only one at home." I waved a hand through the air to reassure him, most of my attention going towards calculating the long term affect an increased budget on writing paraphernalia would have on the Haruno Bank. "Please don't sit there," I added, and Naruto recoiled his hand as if bitten from the seat he had been eyeing. I pushed out another seat with my foot, this one without any copied documents on it, and I nodded when he turned questioning to me. "Go ahead."

He sat down on his hands, his legs twitching forward and back in a restless manner, but he didn't say anything.

Not minding the presence of my teammate in the least, I continued my task at unraveling the present condition of the Haruno Bank economy. Some files on various important clients were on the seat next to me, and I sporadically opened one up, trying to see any inconsistency with what the files told me.

"Err, what'cha doing, Sakura?"

"Helping my parents organize, and hopefully, cut away unnecessary costs."

He wiggled a little more in his seat. "Huh. The Haruno Bank, right? I didn't know... I mean..."

"You didn't know this is what I spent my team-free days on, you mean?" I supplied helpfully to him. My head still bowed in concentration, I pursed my lips at the different End Of Years reports spread out on the table. Grabbing a clear paper without any lines, I quickly sketched out a graph to perhaps make sense of the information.

"Yeah." He squirmed. His foot started tapping a rhythm on the floor, halting at the tenth tap and returning with two more taps before Naruto crossed his ankles and sunk down deeper in the chair. "Anything I can help with?"

His voice had an odd tinge to it, almost hopeful and almost something else that I couldn't quite figure out. It drew my head up so that I looked at him the first time this morning. He brightened when our eyes met.

"No."

His face fell.

"Client confidentiality," I offered as an explanation. Glancing down at the notebook full of calculations from this month alone, I shrugged and gave him a small smile. "I doubt you like mathematics this much anyway."

He scrunched his nose. "No, and you shouldn't either."

"Some things can't be avoided," I replied with another shrug. When he set his countenance to halfway mulish, halfway curious, I returned to my work.

My father had asked me too look through the paperwork his assistant had been processing for a pair of fresh eyes. He had complained about almost belligerent purchases processed through the bank, and I could see it now. A large part of the civilian population in Konoha used our bank in various transactions, and that included the merchants who filtered the money through the bank when large quantities was involved. While I didn't have a copy of the reports from the few banks outside Land of Fire, I knew that something had been driving up the price everywhere.

Our export in particular...

I tapped my pen, unconsciously mimicking the rhythm Naruto had begun tapping out once again. His noise of impatience snapped me out of it. I mentally noted down that I should probably take a closer look at the time frame when I had been in Wave, but that would have to wait until later. Arranging the papers to be stacked on top of each other, I stood from my seat with the bundle in my arms and stepped away from the table. "Mind taking the other stack? And the calculator?"

Naruto grinned. "Nope!" Quickly scooping them up, he followed after me while I headed upstairs, past my bedroom and to the far side of the hallway to my father's office. Nudging the door open, I settled the files on his desk. Naruto placed them down a few seconds after me, the calculator he had balanced on his head dropping neatly on top when he made a show of bowing elegantly. "Anything else, m'lady?"

My lips twitched. I barely stopped myself from dropping into a western curtsy, and instead I inclined my head. "That will do, m'lord," I replied haughtily. "Or maybe you want to scrub my floors, too, while you're down there?"

He bounced back up, his grin wide enough to show his gums. "Hah! Good one."

We left my father's office, and I closed his door with a click. Naruto's expression had reverted to that puzzling combination of curiosity and solemnity in the split second it took for me turn and push the door towards me. I blinked at him. "What?"

"This is my first time in your house."

Huh. I suppose it was. Looking around and trying to see what he might observe, at the bland hallway with a few paintings, I had to admit it wasn't terribly exciting. "So it is," I agreed.

"It looks... nice." He folded his hands behind his head. "You don't talk about your family that much. Or if at all. So I guess, I'm happy to hear you being so close."

"They raised me," I smiled fondly at my younger years. While I might have been too old for mental dependency, they had tried to raise me with the standards of this world. I learned a lot from them. Maybe not the things they wanted to pass on, but with the new child on the way, they could try again. I said as much to Naruto. "I'm glad that I can pass on the torch of the bank though. It's a lot of work being the heir. I'm sure Sasuke can attest to that..." Or he will on the other hand get violent if we bring that subject up, so maybe not. "Either way, I'm just happy that my new sibling will get to deal with this instead. Being a shinobi really isn't something you retire from, and the Haruno Bank needs supervision from, well, a Haruno."

I turned my head to Naruto, confused as to why his mouth was gaping and several different conflicting emotions were bouncing through his expression.

"Naruto?"

He let out a huge whooshing breath when I cautiously poked his shoulder. "You're having a baby?"

"... Not me, exactly."

His cheeks reddened but he doggedly pursued the subject. "There's a tiny little you coming soon? Why didn't you tell me?!"

I... hadn't told him? My mind cast back for it, but I came back up empty. There hadn't been a need for it, really. The child wouldn't come for a few months yet. My mother was showing, the chakra in her stomach growing stronger for every day that went past, so I figured the little sibling would greet us in the late autumn.

I shrugged at Naruto. "Sorry."

He made a noise eerily resembling the whistle of a teakettle before he threw his arms over me and thumped his forehead against my shoulder. "Sakura," he said, voice strangled and muffled. "You're killing me here."

I tapped his shaking shoulders awkwardly. "Sorry?" He made another noise that fluttered my vest with warm air. An image of a taller boy draping himself over another girl in another world appeared in my head, and without thinking about it, I copied her following action. I pinched the underside of his arm.

"Ye-ouch!" He sprang back from me, eyes wide in a comically owlish fashion. "What was that?!"

"What was what?" I immediately returned. The smile was back up and hiding the inward frown I had. Was it because I was tired? Why were memories trying so hard to come back now of all times? Shaking my head, I nudged Naruto forward. "I got visited by Kakashi-sensei this morning."

"I – really?" Derailed from what he was about to say, he cocked his head to the side. "Like, this morning morning? Huh. I only got a stinking letter with... wait," he dug through his pockets and with a triumphant whoop pulled out a crinkled piece of paper.

Holding it out to me, I read Meeting at mission board, in two hours! And a crudely drawn figure with a giant unnerving smile and pointy hair decorated the corner of it. It was probably supposed to represent our teacher in question.

I tilted my head. "Huh. If only I was so lucky. He came by to say the exact same thing. Except the location. And time." When Naruto made a face, I added, "He also stopped by to pat my head. That's apparently a thing now." Dawn did it too, annoyingly enough. "Don't," I barked when his hand moved slowly behind my back.

He blinked innocently at me. I frowned harder.

"Yeah, yeah," he grinned at me and pointedly stuck his hands into his pockets. We went down the stairs and I let Naruto go in front of me for an extra security measure. "It's been two hours already since I found the letter in my shoe, so I figure we have time to stop by Sasuke's place before heading over there. Whatcha think?"

"I think..." Pausing at the bottom step with Naruto looking up at me, I felt my lips twitch. "Maybe it's payback time for your chalk bombs."

A horrified expression crossed his face and he lunged backwards, but I was already on his arm and with a yank I forced him to collide into the wall, rattling some paintings over his head. Darting forward, I ruffled his hair.

I smiled.

Before he could do more than blink dumbly, I was tearing out of the house with my shoes barely hanging from my toes and running from the howl that followed. I had to double back after a street or so to lock the door behind me, and I nearly got caught doing so, but my speed didn't fail me. The stitch in my side after the laughter was what failed me in the end. Wrestling me to the ground, his bright blue eyes was crinkled from the force of his grin.

"I yield!"

"Ohoho, no," Naruto showed his canines. "Not this time." With his knees digging into my spine and a hand lightly pushing against my neck, his left hand began to vigorously mess up my hair. I flopped around awkwardly, a leftover sense from the Academy that forced me to lay still when he technically had me 'killed'.

"Wait, wait, Naruto, stop!" I tried to roll, but he laughed at my halfhearted attempt. "Just –"

"Do I even want to know?"

We both stopped. Naruto leaned back and allowed me to see our wayward third teammate. Sasuke's expression was deeply disturbed, and I understood that, I really did. Sand was pressed against my face and making my eyes teary while the back of my head probably looked like something straight out of the eighties. Naruto's hair on the other hand looked like he had rolled straight out of bed and decided to freeze dry it. Relatively normal for him, then.

Naruto and I glanced at each other. Offering a hand to me, I took it gracefully and sat up. We both looked at Sasuke.

Dread quickly filled him with the sort of quick wariness that proved he knew the intricate language of nonverbal paybacks.

"Cowlick!" Naruto shouted.

His grip on my hand tightened the second before he twisted and pulled my entire arm while I jumped, almost soaring by the force he had taken. I wasn't prepared for it. Neither was Sasuke by the sound he made when I crashed into him.

"Off!" He twisted his whole body and very nearly escaped if it wasn't for me flipping over and holding his shoulders while Naruto dove down and took his legs.

"Cowlick!" Naruto crowed in triumph.

"Don't you dare," Sasuke hissed.

I couldn't stop laughing.

What a time to be alive, huh?

I grinned down at him and his arms flung up to hold my head away from his. He glared up at me with intense hatred that abruptly transformed into a yelp when Naruto pinched him. Taking advantage of this, my head came straight down onto his forehead and I began to rub our hair together for a few seconds before I was forced to flee when Sasuke kicked Naruto off him.

It was a battle to be remembered for years to come.


The mission we got when we finally arrived at the mission board an hour later was another Catch The Cat. For once, we only had to wait for Kakashi ten minutes before he arrived. He took one long look at our wet hair before shrugging and walking inside the room with us. It had been Naruto's idea to duck our head into the river to maybe save us the fate of it permanently sticking up. We got some strange glances, but none worse than what we would have gotten with polarized hair, I'm sure.

Iruka was there to greet us, and with a conspiratorial wink to me, he handed out two mission scrolls. One with The Cat, and the other for my chakra teaching job. It was nice to add to my funds, but, and I can't stress this enough, I could happily have done without another Catch The Cat mission.

Similarly, I was mostly content by being back into the Team Seven routine, but the next D-rank mission of the day only made me sneeze, so the library mission would have been gladly skipped without any woe from my part.

We hadn't even gotten close to the Forest of Death, so I couldn't keep my eye on the events happening within without another run-in with Anko. It made my nerves dance and I'm sure Sasuke and Naruto noticed. They didn't comment though except with a nudge when I lost my concentration too much.

The missions next day went approximately the same with a late teacher, miserable D-ranks that Naruto complained long and loudly about, and a steady stream of passive grumbling from Sasuke.

One thing made it differ from normal.

A pulse of chakra spread out, almost dry as it drifted across my skin. I barely took notice. The following awareness I sensed waking up from different parts of the village made me stiffen. Birds flew above and jōnin glanced up grimly, some quickly excusing themselves. Kakashi only glanced up briefly before he returned to flipping his book.

It was a very abnormal day in that it was very normal outwardly.

No matter how I tried to wheedle the surrounding people or stretch my senses, I couldn't catch anything else. It had been there, and then it was gone. Was it Orochimaru? Gaara? Someone else because screw it, my life wasn't complicated enough? The low whirring feeling of operative ANBU didn't abate in the least, but then again, I hadn't expected less activity from the chūnin exams.

The uncertainty gnawed at me.

What happened?

The longer it went without any sort of answers, the more it felt like my stomach was simply going to pop out and take a walk of its own. The missions didn't stop, nor did the training and helping of the bank, but despite filling my time, I never stopped feeling on edge.

Any day now, and the second part of the exam would be finished.

Any day now.

I continued to think so even when it had finished, proven by Rock Lee back and running across the village. It was a shock, sure, but more to the point it proved that I was allowed to flex my hand every minute.

Any day now. A month from now.

I flexed my hand.

Two weeks left until the tournaments was to its end and tourists were flocking in the streets. The Haruno Bank was busier than ever and every Konoha shinobi were politely wary of the crowd. No deaths had yet to be reported, making me more confused about the entire Invasion Arc. One week more and I would post the letter no matter what, but it would be nice to know I wasn't calling for unwanted attention for something that might not even happen.

"Man, I'm so jealous of you, Sakura." Naruto glanced a the Academy building with a certain fondness that was odd to see on him. "All the pranks you can put them through as the teacher..." He sighed.

Ah. That was what he meant.

Sasuke elbowed Naruto in the ribs for me. I nodded at him. "Don't look so glum. You get to go on patrol."

He perked up. "Yeah? Do you think we get to go outside the walls?"

"I sincerely hope not. Remember last time?" Sasuke rebutted instantly.

Naruto waved his hand. "Eh, past's the past. We're better now and I don't know about you, but I'm itching for a real mission."

Sasuke huffed at him, only rolling his eyes dismissively when Naruto grinned back. "Good luck," he nodded at me. Naruto echoed the sentiment and I gave a slight wave.

"Good luck to you too."

We separated at the crossing, the two of them heading down to the main gate to help with the overflow of entrants that a small group of chūnin had to handle. It was an interesting mission for them. However as it was still D-rank, I'm sure they were going to get saddled as errand boys, but I would nevertheless exchange our assignments in a heartbeat. Getting close to the wall at this time of the year seemed like a spectacularly bad decision for the last scions of the Uchiha clan and Namikaze family.

Bundling up all my worries and placing it in the back of my head, I greeted Iruka for the start of my mission.

"Sakura-chan! It's good to see you. Happy and well, I hope?"

"No complaints," I murmured. Smiling at the folder he passed me, he directed me to another colleague of his who stood near the door.

She smiled. "Haruno Sakura, I presume? Hello, I'm Arishima Kana and you'll be working with me. I hope we'll do good."

"Please take care of me, sensei," I returned the platitude easily.

Arishima directed me down the hall and up the stairs to the classrooms at the top floor. She motioned at the folder I had in my hand. "This is all the information you will need about the children and what their corresponding levels of knowledge in this area will be. For this first hour I want you to prepare yourself." The woman ushered me inside the classroom at the end of the hall. "This is where we will be. Any experience with supplementary teachers?"

I thought about it and fought hard not to grimace when I remembered the instance. "Yes, Iruka-sensei brought in a genjutsu specialist for a week."

"The genjutsu veteran? I remember him." She hummed lightly as she gave me a curious glance. "Must have been awful for you. Though you are quite correct: the mission parameters will be the same in this instance. A week, one lesson every day coupled with some guest appearances with other classrooms, and then we'll let you go. We might hire you again in the future, depending on how it goes."

My polite smile slipped seamlessly on. "Glad to hear it."

While teaching children was hardly anything I wanted to do, a mission was a mission even if it involved weeding gardens or catching cats. And since it was only a week, it was hardly going to interfere with anything I had planned.

Arishima prompted me to open the folder while taking a seat next to her as she continued to talk. "It should be no problem managing this class for two hours every morning. I will introduce you, take roll call, and then leave. There's some things I have to prepare, so I won't be back before the last few minutes. Think you will manage?" She waited for my nod before she continued. "See that?" She peered over my arm and pointed at a certain name. It was very familiar. "That's the Hokage's honorable grandson. I want you to take particular note of his progression. He has a tutor of his own that will want a progress report after the week. His friends," she pointed at Udon and Moegi respectively, "is worth keeping an eye on too."

I stared at the names, barely stifling a sigh. Ashirama continued to fill me in with the basic knowledge I need and where I should start, and so on, but I only listened with half an ear. I had been schooled for longer than I had lived in this world so a reminder of my duty was quite unnecessary.

After she was done, I took the time to cross reference her knowledge with the rough plan I had made. The mission scroll had basic information about the class attached, like that they were eight- soon to be nine-year-old, and that the mission demanded a demonstration, a lecture on how to apply it, basic team formations possible with chakra sensing and daily life with it.

The first lesson rolled around and nothing much had to be changed it turned out. Except that I should watch my head and try to not sit on any tacks that had spontaneously appeared on the seat.

Konohamaru and his Naruto worship. Right.

"Sarutobi-kun," I waved for him to stay behind for the short break they were allowed before the next class. Ashirama nodded knowingly to me before exiting the classroom with the rest of the students.

He scowled up at me, pudgy cheeks red in defiance. Udon and Moegi followed his march forward to the desk. "What?" He snapped.

I looked at him for a moment. Then I sighed. "Honestly, I expected better from you." If possible, his face got sourer and his friends managed to match it in intensity. "Naruto spoke so highly of you that I just assumed you would jump on the chance to learn more about chakra."

Confusion colored his face. "You know Naruto?"

"I'm his teammate." I raised an eyebrow. "He didn't say?"

"... Oh! It's her!" Moegi burst out suddenly. She jumped up before spinning around to her two friends. "Pink hair? Remember?" She waved vaguely at her hair.

I twitched. "Yes. Pink hair. Me."

And suddenly my lessons went so much smoother. The next day after Ashirama bowed out and left me alone, I didn't even need to duck from a paper ball thrown. Konohamaru radiated a eager happiness that was quick to spread when I began again with my lesson on chakra.

While not my intention, throwing out the name Naruto had made my life quite a bit easier.

I wondered absently how it would become when he became Hokage. Maybe I would get to sleep in?

Ah, that would be nice.

Since my mission only occupied three hours of my time, if even that, I had plenty of time left to spend on training and other necessities. Naruto and Sasuke could only join me at right about dinner though. Their mission was a lot longer, and despite how my mission rank was higher, they earned more. Again, I wouldn't mind swapping.

The days passed quickly, almost blurring from its monotony. A regular Thursday was no exception. What happened on Thursdays, really? It was close enough to the weekend to begin longing, but far enough away that disappointment filled the students instead. This particular Thursday was also eleven days and counting from the Monday that the tournament was supposed to start.

And yet.

It was something big. Something that made all the hairs at the back of my neck stand up and the sort of chakra that slid softly into my skin like a sharp knife.

My voice trailed off as my head began to spin.

More than one week left.

One week left until the tournament.

And yet. Yet.

My hand flexed.


A hush finally descended on the class when they saw what had made me transfixed. The children gathered around me and the window, nervously drawing closer while watching the looming figure in the distance.

"What is that?" Someone finally broke the silence. The voice belonged to one of the girls, and her hand pressed firmly over her mouth in horror the second after the words were out. It was as if by recognizing its existence, she had willed it to life.

I couldn't precisely say she was overreacting.

Because at the edge of the city, above the Hashirama trees that intermingled with the residential area, a great beast could be seen knees up. It was red and boiling, crackling fire licking across its skin and a maw that pulled back to show pointy teeth. It's chakra was malevolent, bursting into the visible spectrum and curling over the trees and filtering out like fog.

If I concentrated, I could almost see the boy that must be within it. The tails sprouting out from it was unmistakable, as was the ears set above a hateful glare.

OhBloodyWhatIsThisWeAReSoScrewedPleaseHelpFu–

I forced my mind away from anything resembling panic, but an insistent throbbing at the back of my head deterred me. A name, endlessly repeated. It made my stomach churn. My hand flexed once more before it curled into a tight fist, my arm trembling.

"Kyuubi," I breathed out, giving voice to it.

The Kyuubi was here.

"... Sensei? Is that –"

The boy fell silent the moment the beast turned unerringly towards the Hokage monument, the exact spot the Academy happened to be next to. It roared, chakra rushing out like a missile locked onto its target.

I choked, stumbling back from the window alongside the startled students. It hadn't been a direct attack, but it felt all the same like getting punched in the kidney.

All over my chakra sense, nearby shinobi called for action, rushing out to meet this new threat. Their chakra spiked all over the place. Alarm, hesitance, determination, fear, pride and wariness. The emotions I could sense scrambled my visions, too many colors floating past me.

I took the cue from my student and pressed a hand over my mouth, desperately trying to control myself. Now wasn't the time for a meltdown.

"Okay," I gritted out. "Here's what we'll do. You're all under my protection until another teacher comes by to release me of my duty. We'll try to get to a safe zone. Everyone knows the drill by now, right?"

I got nods all around, flickering eyes the only thing betraying how out of their depth they were.

"Sensei?" She waited for me to nod before she continued, "This... Isn't' a drill, is it?"

I did not glance out to see the fight that had broken out. Konoha shinobi were trying to subdue the jinchūriki only to be met with sudden force from foreign shinobi jumping out of their hotels. It was all too much and I couldn't pick up more than the fact that the clash had happened and chakra was being pushed against chakra.

"This isn't a drill," I confirmed instead.

"But! My father! He's a civilian, we live alone, he can't..."

"My sister too! I don't think she knows the drill yet. She's too young, so–"

"My clan –"

Their voices added to the crescendo that was beating into my head. Completely squashing the concern about my own everything they had invoked, I allowed my voice to turn into steel. "The drill is set out to get you all to safety. Your family will follow on their own feet or with the help of shinobi. The sooner I get you all to safety, the sooner I can help them too."

That made them go quiet.

"Line up," I ordered them.

There was brief confusion on who would stand where, but the drill that was worked on endlessly in cases like these soon sorted them out in order of who sat where, two lines that barely touched each other. If it had been any other school, I imagined they would hold hands as they scrambled for the fire exit.

Completely ignoring the battle playing out behind my back, I moved forward, prepared to fight anyone in our way. We were closest to the roof, a strategic point for escape but also an excellent entry. And in this case, the safe place was located underground next to the large painting of a Hashirama tree with the symbol of Konoha on its trunk. The door wasn't meant to be inconspicuous after all.

"Stay behind me at all times. We will need to move quickly, straight down two stairs and then a sharp left. Everyone got that?"

"Yes!" Was the chorus I got. While they looked uncertain, they were ingrained to follow orders from teachers.

"Excellent. Then we mo –"

I whipped around, eyes wide at the sudden explosion of chakra I could sense in the distance. My mind too cluttered, I didn't know if it was a jutsu or just a shock wave of pure chakra. I couldn't take the chance.

"Everyone down!"

They ducked instinctively at the command, almost pushed over like bowling pins when the wave hit us. Only halfway down, I was completely bowled over and I fell to my knees, choking. The air had turned into cement. Immovable chunks of stone lodged in my throat. Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the next next wave hit me and I whimpered when the world began to burn. It licked my skin, searing into my veins as I bit my lip bloody.

A distant part of me noted how much it sucked to have chakra sensing. Another was screaming at me to block it out, clawing at my throat and screaming to be let out. I heaved for air.

I barely noted the hands that pushed me up until I was stumbling onto the desk, the hard edge digging into my stomach.

For a breathless moment, I remembered how it felt to die.

Then another wave of pure agony rippled out from some distant point and I screamed.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

A/N This is proof to myself that while I have trouble keeping a chapter schedule, I do have it in me to make cliffhangers. This part should have gone into the chapter before, so now you must all wait for the extra long chapter 30. Breathe, my readers, and tell me what you think. I promise the next chapter will come. Probably with a point of view shift too, because I'm evil like that.

See you all later!