Sakura woke up raring to go the next morning "Hospital or T&I work today" Jugo asked, seeing the pinkette rushing to get things done, fuschia hair fluttering about as she cooked breakfast for the lot of them.
"Hmm not exactly but I'm sure Tsunade-shishou will be pulling me into the hospital at some point today" Sakura answered, making some omelets filled with diced red peppers, diced onion, salt, pepper and garlic powder.
To go along with the pancakes, bacon, sausage and hash browns that she'd already made, Ohnoki looked up at that, remembering what had been suggested the day before, only to be distracted a moment later as Sakura put a plate full of food in front of him, with a cup of green tea.
Kitsuchi was next followed by Madara, Jugo, Kimimaro and finally herself "Efficient, by the way I feel I should warn you, once Kagami returns, he and I will be moving into our own houses" Madara announced.
Deciding not to put that off any longer "Good for you Madara-san, Kagami-san to" Sakura smiled brightly, Madara sighed inwardly to himself, still wondering about how the rosette had turned out the way she had.
Even though he knew, it was still baffling to be honest "Hokage-sama might also declare it a training day just to cover all angles" Kimimaro pointed out, Sakura rolled her eyes in mock annoyance at him.
But couldn't stop the small smile that lifted up the corners of her lips when he smirked in amusement, Jugo chuckled softly and shook his head at their antics "So what are you going to be doing until Tsunade calls for you then" Kitsuchi inquired.
Verdant orbs focused on him "Probably work on designing a new puppet or go buy groceries of things that I saw we were running low on" Sakura shrugged, polishing off her breakfast in record time before standing to get started on washing the dishes.
Jugo and Kimimaro graciously helped her and when she was done an anbu showed up to summon Ohnoki to the Hokage Tower, Madara also coincidentally disappeared from the house and like Sakura said she sat and began drawing up the schematics to a new puppet.
"You really were trained by Sasori of the Red Sands weren't you, why else would you know puppetry" Kitsuchi commented, making the common mistake of thinking Sasori had taught the pinkette all she knew about puppetry.
Until she shook her head "Sasori-ni didn't teach me, I taught myself and it was a pain in the ass" Sakura admitted, Kitsuchi scrunched his brows together in confusion but the pinkette wasn't paying him much attention.
Considering that she'd focused her attention on her sketch "Are you going to go buy groceries now, please allow me to accompany you" Jugo asked when Sakura set her sketchpad down, stretched her arms high and stood.
After sitting for about an hour "Of course Jugo, you good to stay here Kimimaro" Sakura glanced to the other silent male in the living room, who'd absorbed himself into a book apparently but he did manage a nod for her sake.
With that she and Jugo headed for the door, then down the streets of the nearly empty compound and out into the village "One thing that has always bothered me, why is the Uchiha Compound on the outskirts of the village" Jugo frowned.
Having noticed, not only that but the Anbu HQ was literally next to them "Dunno, I never thought to ask actually" Sakura adopted a frown of her own, probably going to wonder now until she ended up inevitably asking.
A few minutes of roof leaping later the two of them reached the market "Sakura-chan" Ino squealed seeing her best friend when it felt like it had been ages since she'd last seen the rosette who was always busy nowadays.
"Ino-chan I've got a souvenir for you from Iwagakure" Sakura spun and captured her first friend in a bear hug, Ino oommphed in surprise then regained her bearings a second later in order to return Sakura's hug.
They were rare after all so she wanted to savor this one for as long as she could "You went to Iwa this time wow, by the way Asuma-sensei's entered me and Choji into the exams that are being held in Suna, it'll be just the two of us, Hokage-sama's making an exception" Ino informed.
Sakura smiled "Yep and good luck Ino, I know you'll pass, oh may I ask a small favor, can you put together a bouquet, one that represents good wishes, ever lasting friendship and all that, two of them and I want to pay the full amount so no discount this time" Sakura requested suddenly.
Releasing Ino at the same time "Like you even need to ask Sakura, of course I'll do it, now about that souvenir" Ino scoffed before a grin took over and she held out her hand feeling excited like a little kid.
As Sakura rifled through the pouch on her hip then handed over a book and a unique Iwagakure weapon "Thought you'd like to know what kind of flowers there were in Earth Country, one last thing can you hand deliver say around dinner time to Tsuchikage-sama and Kitsuchi-san" Sakura asked.
One would think she was going overboard but Sakura really just wanted their guests from Iwa to have the most pleasant time in Leaf that they could "Sure you can pay then" Ino nodded, watching Sakura bound off, Jugo on her heels.
Half an hour later they were back at the house, and Kimimaro helped them put away the groceries "And once again you have me at a loss, how can you three simply live together" Kitsuchi commented from his spot on the couch.
There was an open book in his hand indicating he'd gotten up to grab one from the bookshelf "What doesn't make sense to you, makes sense to us Kitsuchi-san, we've all had terrible lives, Sakura kicked both our asses so we want to stay near" Kimimaro said.
Being blunt like he usually was "Kicked both your asses, I find that a little hard to believe" Kitsuchi said in a disbelieving tone, sure Sakura had those bat summons, but he hadn't seen her do much else, not even chakra enhanced strength.
"It wasn't like I beat them up or anything, though I did land a couple hits in on Kimimaro before getting him with my chakra strings and Jugo I utilized an ability that I can use from my bat summons to knock Jugo out" Sakura huffed in mock annoyance.
Kimimaro snorted while Jugo merely smiled in amusement, a couple hours later Madara returned briefly to grab some things in order to head out on a mission "I'm backup for Shisui and Kagami" Madara explained.
And then he was simply gone again, about an hour later Ohnoki returned to the house for lunch "Tsunade says to be at the hospital after we're done eating" Ohnoki informed, confirming Sakura's suspicions from that morning.
Tsunade wouldn't waste much time and get the issue with Ohnoki's back all sorted out "Father why do you have to be at the hospital" Kitsuchi frowned, beginning to tense up only to pause as a hand settled on his shoulder.
"Shishou and I are going to heal his back, if you want Kitsuchi-san you can come watch" Sakura assured, making an offer to appease the man, she didn't blame him for getting easily wound up, they were after all in the heart of what had been enemy territory to them until now that is.
Kitsuchi relaxed some "You know I think I'd like that" he nodded so a purple and white slug, Nasu the name Sakura addressed the slug with after it was summoned, gave a message to the creature and it was gone in a poof of smoke.
Five minutes later it was back with confirmation from Tsunade that Kitsuchi was more than welcome to tag along if he wanted "We'll be here waiting for you to get back" Jugo said once they'd finished eating lunch.
Which meant it was time to leave and the two left behind decided to clean up the kitchen by making sure all the dishes were washed, dried and put away "How do you suppose it's going" Kimimaro asked at the two hour mark.
"It went just fine actually Kimimaro, Tsuchikage-sama's back was out of alignment so it took a bit to straighten that out, remove the calcium build up and re-align everything even straighten out the slight curve his spine was beginning to develop" Sakura appeared in a burst of purple petals.
Making Kimimaro jump because of her unexpected return "Will they be coming back to the house or staying in the hospital" Jugo questioned, following Sakura into the kitchen who began prepping things for dinner.
Him helping where he could "Yes, it's not like we performed surgery or anything but he did lose a bit of blood during the procedure" Sakura explained, concentrating as she cut meat or chopped vegetables, clearly having something special in mind for dinner that night.
Eight minutes later the door opened and in walked Kitsuchi, Ohnoki floating along at his side to avoid straining his newly healed back while feeling as if twenty years had been returned to him in the span of only a couple hours.
As he got comfortable in a chair to wait for supper, imagine his surprise when forty five minutes after his return to the house, the door swung open again, shuffling was heard, then the former international rogue Sasori Akasuna walked into the living room.
Sasori quirked his brow "Ah Sasori-ni welcome home" Sakura greeted from the kitchen and the former rogue smiled "How are your students, your not being to tough on them are you" Sakura inquired when Sasori joined her, Jugo and Kimimaro in the kitchen.
"Those little brats will be the death of me, except for Nadia, the other two have been consistently pestering me to enter them into the Chunin Exams even though I know their not ready for it, cocky little punks" Sasori grunted.
Sakura bit back a grin of amusement "Don't deny that you haven't come to care about them though even if they do try to drive you crazy like me, Sasuke and Naruto use to" Sakura snickered, unafraid to be mouthy.
Light hazel orbs snapped to her then rolled upwards "What are you talking about, you still drive me to literal insanity sometimes" Sasori snorted, crossing his arms over his chest and sporting a smug expression on his face.
Chartreuse irises glittered with laughter at him when he met her gaze "Love you to Sasori-ni" Sakura smiled brilliantly, the smirk on Sasori's face softened into a genuine smile, even if she had threw him off for a moment at her declaration.
Their conversation seemed to be over as well when Sakura turned back to the stove and focused all of her attention on cooking it looked like her hands were flying everywhere trying to get things done for all of them.
And just as supper was declared ready there was a knock at the door that Sakura vanished in less than a second to answer only to come back with a blonde, carrying bouquets "I didn't realize we'd be having one of your friends over for dinner" Kitsuchi frowned.
Wondering what was going on until he was approached "Kitsuchi-san for you, Sakura set all this up earlier to deliver bouquets to the both of you to express the warmest welcome possible, and these represent the strength of our alliance and comradeship" the blonde explained.
Before turning to the Tsuchikage and handing the second bouquet over "Why are you trying so hard" Ohnoki frowned himself, though he did accept the gift that he'd received but he couldn't help but wonder if she had an ulterior motive.
Sakura faced him with a kind smile "This is how I am Tsuchikage-sama, compassion is in my nature, I can't get rid of it, nor can I stop myself from doing my utmost to make sure your comfortable here in my village" Sakura explained.
Ino bumped her hip gently and it was then that the two seemed to finally understand the kind of person she was on the inside, despite not showing it all the time "Escort me out Sakura-chan" Ino asked hopefully.
"Sure Ino, I'll be back in a bit" Sakura relented and the two girls disappeared from the house, Sakura paid for the bouquets and walked Ino all the way to the gates of the compound, waved before heading back to the house.
Where she deftly made a plate then sat to eat like the others had already decided to do "Seems you really went all out on the meal tonight huh Sakura" Jugo commented, noticing the different flavors and enjoying them greatly.
Kimimaro was to as well considering the way he savored each bite "Intentional, I'm no slouch at cooking either, though Mikoto-chan is way, way better than me and I could never hope to compare, my mom's cooking is amazing to" Sakura informed.
Ohnoki inwardly felt like groaning outwardly in frustration because the girl in front of him was so un-selfish that it was inconceivable to him "By the way didn't the Raikage say something about you owing him" Kitsuchi questioned.
Remembering when Ay had come to Iwa and said that "Yes, it will probably be something likeā¦..get rid of any other bases that Orochimaru has in his country or help out in his hospital" Sakura nodded.
Having a good guess at what the Raikage would want her to do "Good thing we also owe him right alongside you then isn't it Sakura, considering I was in Orochimaru's inner circle and know exactly where each and every base of his is" Kimimaro smirked.
"I think I missed something here, how did you end up owing the Raikage" Sasori interjected, a little confused about conversation until it was explained to him that it was one of the things Sakura, had, had to do in order to gain the Tsuchikage's trust.
Get him a treaty with Kumogakure in the process, making him smirk at how Sakura was able to do things easily with more tact than either of her teammates "On that note I'll be retiring to my guest room" Ohnoki floated upwards.
To Sakura's awe, amusing him somewhat as he left the dining room, Kitsuchi on his heels, leaving the cleanup to their hosts "Let Kimimaro and I, Sakura" Jugo stood seeing the exhaustion on the pinkette's face.
Of course she'd be tired, she poured so much of herself into everything she did that it wore her out constantly "Thanks Jugo, Kimimaro" Sakura smiled tiredly at the duo, having worked her ass off that day.
Kimimaro brushed a hand along her shoulders as he passed her "Go rest Sakura, we'll take care of cleaning up and locking up the house" Kimimaro urged, Sakura yawned but nodded and did as he bid instead of arguing like she was fond of.
And soon Sasori was the only one left downstairs, as he was wandering the living room, Sasori spotted Sakura's sketchpad on the table next to her favorite chair so sat and flipped it open to see what kind of puppet designs she had in the works.
He flipped to the last page upon seeing that most of the designs wouldn't work, they had probably just been rough drafts to the ones that did and saw what Sakura was designing now, made a few tweaks to it being the expert that he was then set the sketchpad back down.
In the same exact spot because Sasori didn't want Sakura to know that he'd been snooping and just as he was getting ready to head up to his own room there was a knock and Sasori rushed to answer it "Akasuna, where's Pinky, Morino needs her" Anko said.
"Asleep for the last half hour, can't it wait until tomorrow" Sasori frowned, hazel eyes narrowing, ready to argue if the woman insisted on bothering Sakura who deserved the rest due to all the hard work she'd been putting in lately.
Anko scowled but nodded and was gone in a poof of smoke a second later, so he locked the door and hurried up the steps to his room, where he sat on his bed and tinkered with his own puppet collection, of the regular variety and not his special human puppets.
Until morning dawned bright and early as he heard movement out in the hall, signaling Sakura was awake "Just to warn you Mitarashi might come by to kidnap you" Sasori said when he joined the growing girl in the kitchen.
In the midst of preparing breakfast "Thanks for the warning Sasori-ni" Sakura smiled warmly at him obviously not to bothered about what she was needed for down at T&I, Sasori rolled his eyes but settled at the table anyway.
Watching Sakura cook, during which all the residents in the house, even the guests, had been lured awake by the delicious smells wafting through the house "Heading out so soon" Kitsuchi frowned when mere moments after they'd finished eating breakfast.
His Father having already been escorted to the Hokage Tower, Sakura stood leaving clean up to Jugo and Kimimaro as she headed for the door "I'm sure I won't be to long, I just don't want her to show up and tie me up in snakes again" Sakura shuddered.
Knowing it was better to go herself, Kitsuchi scrunched his brows together in confusion "She's talking about Anko Mitarashi, which means Sakura's needed down at T&I for something" Jugo explained for the Iwa-Jonin's sake.
Once Sakura had left "What I want to know is how she ended up in the Torture and Interrogation unit in the first place" Kitsuchi frowned, but looking at the two before him share looks told him they didn't know either.
"The Commander took a liking to her as a child, reserved a spot for her when she became a genin and that's about it, Sakura could have quit long before now if she'd wanted, but being the Hokage's apprentice means she has to involve herself to prove she's worthy" Sasori informed.
Being the only person in the house at the moment who knew everything about Sakura "Worthy of her title as being Hokage-sama's apprentice you mean" Kimimaro said, feeling a bit uncomfortable with that thought.
Sasori nodded and half an hour later Sakura was back "Ibiki-sensei just wanted to let me know that I'll be providing security for the Chunin Exams held in Sunagakure, in two weeks" Sakura grinned as she took a seat in her favorite chair.
Grabbed up her sketchpad and flipped it open to the last page she had been on only to pause "Very subtle Sasori-ni" Sakura met his gaze from across the room, catching on immediately that he'd snooped in her book and tweaked the puppet to make it doable.
Jugo chuckled at the antics of the two when Sasori scoffed and went back to reading from the book he'd pulled from the shelf, a comfortable silence descended upon them until Ohnoki returned for lunch and dinner.
And four days later the treaty between Leaf and Stone was drawn up "Thank you for the wonderful hospitality during our stay and we hope to see you in the near future" Kitsuchi nodded his head at the Chunin who wouldn't be escorting them this time back to their village.
"Of course, the same goes for you Kitsuchi-san, Tsuchikage-sama" Sakura bowed her head, pleased that everything had gone well during the two's visit to Konohagakure, in return Jugo and Kimimaro also bowed their heads.
Mostly letting her do all the talking, Kitsuchi turned, beginning to head down the street towards the exit of the Uchiha Compound only to pause as he realized his Father wasn't following him "Father what is it" Kitsuchi asked.
Seeing the look on the elder's face "I can admit to making many mistakes during my lifetime, I can only hope that I can rectify them with the new alliances, on that note I've left you something in the guest room I was using, if you can find it, it's yours to learn" Ohnoki informed.
Before turning and floating off, Kitsuchi hot on his coat tails "Wonder what that was about" Jugo commented, Sakura shrugged but headed for the guest room the Tsuchikage had stayed in for about a week.
Kimimaro was quiet as the pinkette searched "You don't think he actually left you the hand signs to learn one of Iwa's jutsu's do you" Kimimaro asked as Sakura lifted the bed up with chakra enhanced strength.
Only to quickly set it back down "Perhaps before I search I should clean, ugh that was disgusting" Sakura shivered in disgust, disappearing briefly to retrieve cleaning supplies "And I don't know Kimimaro, but that does certainly seem to be what he was hinting at" Sakura said.
Upon her return where she immediately got to cleaning, making sure to be thorough she scrubbed every inch of that bedroom before finding a scroll in the small closet buried under a mountain of rubbish that she should really throw away.
"Is that it Sakura" Jugo noticed the scroll in her hand instantly as she withdrew from the closet, finally finished after an hour of searching and cleaning, curious he stepped towards her as she sat down on the bed and unraveled the scroll.
Seconds after Sakura began laughing hysterically "I can't believe he gave me the hand signs to the Lightened Boulder Jutsu" Sakura snickered, knowing that if she mastered the jutsu, she would be a pretty rough opponent for any enemy.
Jugo shook his head while Kimimaro looked amused "Lets get to training then" Kimimaro suggested, knowing that Sakura still had a few days off, which was more than enough time to start practicing the new Earth Release jutsu she'd been given.
Not taught unfortunately because it proved to be difficult for even Sakura whose chakra control was in the 97th percentile and before they knew it, after Kagami and Madara had moved out upon their return from their mission, it was time to head to Sunagakure for the new Chunin Exams.
