The sounds of the hustle and bustle of the village met her as she stepped out of the little door leading to the alleyway which soon branched onto the main street. It was their front door, given the only set of stairs which reached up to the fourth floor – their attic – could only be accessed via there. It was mainly to prevent guests from accidentally finding their way up to where they were. Though admittedly there was another access, but it was behind a door which was labelled 'Staff Only' which was usually locked after a certain point in the night. Or was it early morning? Sakura tilted her head, humming quietly as Misa led them down the streets.

Her hood was safely up, her hair tied in a horrifically spiky ponytail thanks to her mother's attempts to brush her untameable hair. She blamed Obito in his entirety, and she was going to prank the nearest version of him she could find. Spiky bangs fell over her face, the feeling oddly comforting as she concealed her pink-haired Uchiha-ness as best as she could.

A tug on her sleeve had her looking down, blinking at the sight of her counterpart in the next set of triplets. "Neh, nee-chan," Tora chirped, pointing over at a crowd gathered by a nearby alley. "Why're they all like that?"

"I don't know," she said, frowning at the large gathering. "You would probably have to ask them." Sakura shrugged, frowning as she caught sight of the flak jacket of a chunin, eyes only narrowing when she spotted the Uchiwa stitched on his sleeve. Konoha Military Police? "We should…" Sakura trailed off, blinking at the space Tora had once occupied. "Tora!" she yelled, eyes darting about as she tried to find the pink bowl cut amidst all the legs she could see.

Her mother and Tomoe had already continued on, though there was no doubt they would soon notice their absence – even with the absurd number of her siblings they had to mind. She wanted to find Tora before they came looking. Chewing on her lip, she peered through the forest of legs, almost shouting in relief when she spotted a flash of pink.

"Neh, mister, what's going on?" Tora asked, having tugged on the legs of his trousers to get his attention while Sakura had been busy panicking over her disappearance.

"Nothing that concerns you, brat," the man muttered gruffly, shaking his leg free, turning away from Tora as quickly as he could. Like she was a dirty little beggar.

"Arse," Sakura hissed, reaching for her sister – only for her to slip into the gathered crowd. Her eye twitched, and internally she cursed the apparent curiousness of her sister. Who shared the same name as the blasted cat who was horribly hard to catch. Sakura prayed her sibling never managed to obtain the same level of elusiveness. "Tora!" she whispered-yelled, weaving artfully through the legs of the adults, too focused on that and finding her precious sister to listen to the murmurs of the adults around her.

Maybe she might have been more prepared for the scene her sister was staring at in confusion.

Sakura blinked, taking a few moments to digest the scene in front of her before she was slamming her hands over Tora's eyes and yanking her back into her chest. "Don't look," she hissed, staring at the corpse still in full view as shinobi who could only be the Uchiha Military Police Force milled about.

"Get a sheet to cover this," the one in charge hissed, glancing nervously at the civilian crowd behind him, dark eyes only widening when he spotted the pair of them.

Sakura ignored the horrified man, instead staring at the burnt, blackened head of the corpse, and the single, neat red line across the throat. Though it was less neat with all the congealed blood which surrounded it. His throat had been slit, and then his head had been burnt. Sakura tilted her head, blinking blandly as her view of the corpse was cut off by the same concerned-looking Uchiha. Somebody clearly hadn't want him being recognised. Sakura wondered why – until she quashed that horrible childish curiosity.

It was only the curiosity of a shinobi, or so she told herself moments later.

"This isn't a place for you children," he said, ducking under the police tape holding back the crowd. "Where are your parents?"

"Neh, nee-chan… is he talking to us?" Tora asked rather calmly considering she still had her vision blocked. "Lemme see!"

"No," Sakura barked, tightening her grip on her little sister as she squirmed in her arms – at least until the both of them were swept off their feet and perched on an arm each, belonging to the Uchiha who couldn't have been older than thirty at the most. There were no grey hairs as far as she could see. But then again, Uchiha always tended to age well.

"Izuna-sama!" one of the Uchiha behind them called.

The one holding them Izuna turned his head. "You can deal with things for a few moments. I need to get these children back to their parents – and you, bowl cut, stop looking behind."

Tora pouted. "Why?"

"Because I said so," he muttered, carrying them both through the crowd, eyes peeled for their parents or so it seemed to Sakura. "Now let's find us a pink-haired—"

"Sakura! Tora!" the familiar voice of their mother sounded, and Sakura looked around, a smile on her face as she spied Misa running over to them. "Honestly… didn't I tell you not to run off?"

"Her fault," Sakura declared, pointing at Tora.

"Oh." Misa blinked, taking in their apparent rescuer, pausing in her step.

Izuna frowned. "Misa-chan?"

"Izuna…" she murmured, looking at the ground even as Izuna placed the pair of them on the ground. Sakura's eyes narrowed. There was no honorific to his name.

He smiled then, glancing between the three of them. "I guess this is why you haven't been over lately, then… huh," he said, stepping back, glancing back over at the crime scene where he was needed. "You know you can always drop back, even if you are… attached to someone now. Nii-san loves children, despite how much he says otherwise… plus he might not say it, but I know he misses you."

"I'll… think about it," Misa said awkwardly, watching as he hurried back over to do his job.

Tora turned to peer up at their mother then. "Who was that, kaa-chan?"

Misa smiled, an odd mix of fear and nostalgia lingering in the air as she ruffled their hair. "An old friend," she said, herding the pair of them over towards the park.


The park they visited was different to the one she had been to as a child in her last life. Still, Sakura had barely caught sight of Naruto and Sasuke in her last life when she was the same age as she was right then. So it came as a slight surprise when she spotted a head of blonde spikes, running around the park, disturbing all the red autumn leaves as they went. Sakura blinked, a soft smile pulling at her lips. It seemed she'd found her old teammates, she mused, having spied a familiar head of black hair which matched Seiren's own style. But how was she supposed to introduce herself? Should she even try?

Sasuke already seemed to have a few fangirls watching him even then, and Sakura didn't really want him to mistake her for another. Not when she actually wasn't one of the ravenous horde. Then again, it wasn't like she had to go up to him right away… his brother and his cousin, if Sakura remembered correctly, were standing nearby. Sasuke had told her about them – Itachi and Shisui – and if they were anything like what her old friend had said, then she probably wanted to try and make a good impression.

Not that it would matter much.

Itachi was due to slaughter his clan in a few years.

Her clan now too, the snide part of her mind reminded. Her clan would be dead in a matter of years.

Well, unless Sakura magically managed to change things, but she doubted it would be possible. She was a child of the red light district. She didn't really have much political sway, nor any way of actually influencing the clan or others who came into contact with them. She didn't have influential civilian parents this time around either – only Misa, not that she minded.

She already loved her new mother. Mainly for putting up with the bunch of hellions that were her children. They were a downright curious and oddly cheerful bunch. Anyone else might've thrown them in an orphanage and separated them. Sakura's teeth clenched at the thought. They couldn't be separated. Ever. They were her siblings. Hers. Silently, Sakura reminded herself to keep her overprotective tendencies to a minimum. They were already crazy enough as it was and thinking about them only made it that much worse. Probably the Uchiha blood talking right there. Her shoulders slumped at the thought.

"Saku-chan," Tomoe spoke, flicking one of her new pink spikes, cooing at her as she scowled. She wasn't overly fond of her new spikes, especially not when people flicked them at every chance they got. "What do you want to do, sweetheart?"

Sakura blinked, noting the fact that all of her siblings aside the youngest two had vanished. Her head swished from side to side, eyes frantically searching for heads of pink hair, relief sinking through her as she spotted them dotted through the park.

Sora and Seiren, the troublesome twins, were embroiled in a fight between themselves near the climbing frame – a fight she'd probably have to break up in a few minutes. A head of short pink spikes, and a pink duck butt hairstyle rolling in and out of view as they tussled on the ground. Sakura sighed. Those two had anything but a peaceful relationship, always trying to get ahead of the other, fighting over who got to sit next to her at the dining table. They were so adorable. She looked to the sky, eyeing the odd cloud in the sky. It was nice weather for autumn time, though it'd probably be nicer if her cute sisters weren't trying to throttle each other.

Casting her eyes over to the sandpit, she eyed the other two of her triplet group. Mio and Akira were there in the sand, and Sakura knew it'd no doubt be everywhere by the time they had to leave the park. In the words of the Naras, Akira was troublesome. Mio was the sensible one, as she'd already learnt. Shockingly that little tidbit had only taken her a few minutes to work out.

The two-year-old triplets were nearby, running about in what Sakura guessed to be a game of tag, and after sternly reminding Tomoe to keep a close eye on the rest of her siblings, she went to pry the twins apart.

"Sora! Seiren!" she grumbled, stomping over to them, arms folded, shrinking slightly as she felt the stares of other parkgoers boring into her back. The twins were anything but subtle, and if there was one thing Sakura was hoping to keep at least for a little while, it was anonymity. "Stop fighting, or I'll tell mum not to let you have any pudding later."

"But Sakura-nee—"

Sakura scowled, ignoring the pleading black eyes which seemed to bore into her very soul. She loved her sisters, and they were ridiculously cute, but she had to be strong. Had to defend them all from any and all dangers that might come their way. "Go and play together nicely on the swings or something."

"I can't play with her!" Sora hissed, pointing at her twin accusingly. "She started it."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Play nicely, or I'll make you run laps of the garden when we get home," Sakura hissed, bristling as she glared down at the pair. Obviously it wasn't a true glare – Sakura loved her siblings far too much to subject them to that – but the twins clearly weren't getting the message.

"Fine." Sora pouted. "Come on idiot," she grumbled, kicking her twin in the back, shoulders sinking as Sakura continued to stare at her in disapproval.

Sakura sighed, watching as the pair begrudgingly went over to the swings together. They were going to be a handful. She just knew it. They already had a damned rivalry, and if that didn't bring back memories of a slanted hitai-tai and green spandex she didn't know what would.

"Pink hair?"

Low voices reached her, a sliver of chakra threading its way to her ear. It was slightly more than necessary, but the leap through time space didn't seem to have affected her control that badly – though it would definitely need some finetuning.

"Do you think they're related to that whore in the akasen?" Lips curled in distaste and Sakura froze, not daring to turn around and identify the speakers. They were just civilians. Gossiping civilians. The ignorant kind. The same ones who'd bullied her Naruto, but fortunately or unfortunately they didn't seem to be interested in him at that very moment. "What do they call her?"

"The Angel of the Akasen, if my memory serves." Sniggers sounded, subdued and probably outside the range of any normal four-year-old's hearing, but Sakura wasn't normal. "They say she's the best of the best."

"I wonder which unlucky bastard fathered them—"

"—poor guy probably got infected from—"

Sakura shifted her focus, toes cracking the ground minutely the longer she listened. What gave them the right to judge her mother just because of her profession? She scowled, glancing at the slightly ruined ground, grateful the damage was barely visible. Seemed her fuse was as short as ever. She didn't have patience for fools, and she didn't tolerate idiots who got on her nerves. Then again, there hadn't been any fools around by the end. They were the ones who'd died first.

"Huh? Think they're related to that clan?"

She stiffened, fighting the overwhelming urge to stare at whoever had spoken. There were no doubts her people skills, as well as her infiltration skills were rusty. Those skills hadn't mattered much in the last few years. Not when the survivors had reached the single digits. It was no surprise she'd be having trouble adapting. Besides, her skill in those areas had never been particularly great, so she doubted she'd be able to fool anyone about her advanced maturity. She'd already made the decision not to try and hide it. That would only garner suspicion and even more attention than that she'd no doubt gain when the time to enrol in the academy came about.

"—think he'll want to be brought up to date with this lovely bit of gossip?"

"Most definitely."

Sakura bit her lip. Her instincts were going haywire, shivers racing down her spine. She turned to face Mio and Akira, calming her racing heart as she focused on the sandcastle they were building. Sandcastles were a nice distraction from the fear and worry building in the pit of her stomach. She hurried towards them, a bright smile on her face as she made a mental note not to drop her guard anytime soon. She'd need to ramp up her training too. Whatever happened, she'd protect her siblings to her last breath. She'd also need to visit the library sometime in the future. Knowledge and information was just as vital to survival as her fighting skills would be. She'd have to ask Tomoe where the nearest library was at a later date.

Some buildings had been moved around from what she could tell, the few streets they'd passed on the way having different shops and stalls compared to what she remembered, though the general layout of Konoha was the same. She didn't particularly want to get lost and leave her sisters to their own devices. That would end badly, of that Sakura had no doubts. If Akira, Sora, and Seiren concocted some bizarre prank or plot, then it'd be chaos.

"Nee-chan!" Akira waved her over, grinning widely from around the mound of sand they'd amassed and already started to shape. Her sisters were good when it came to sandcastles, and Sakura was going to use all of her skills to help them, because she was a good older sister. "You gonna help us?"

"Yup."

Childish laughter greeted her ears, her eyes glancing around the park, from the treeline of the small forest behind – it was the Village Hidden in the Leaves for a reason – to the various obstacles and little hutches around the playground area. No doubt she would've enjoyed playing on them if she really had been a child, but she was an adult. An adult who had nine younger sisters to look after. There was no time to slack off. Not after what she'd heard.

A cry of dismay had her spinning around just in time to spy a head of blonde hair and a head of black hair leaping through the sandpit in a game of tag. Sakura scowled, pure irritation shooting through her as two pairs of feet stomped over her sisters' sandcastle.

"Sorry!" Naruto yelled, sparing a second to glance back at her distraught siblings before continuing with his game of tag.

Her hands curled into fists, feet storming after the two idiots she'd called friends in her last life, ignoring her sister's shout.

"Saku-nee, it's OK! We can build 'nother one," Mio called, trying to stop her.

Sakura scowled. "Oy!" she yelled, bringing Sasuke to a stop with a firm grip on his shoulder.

Sasuke had a matching scowl on his face, annoyance at his game being interrupted no doubt. "We don't want to play with you, Pinkie," he grumbled, a frown marring his tiny expression. The traitorous part of her brain called him cute. The other part wanted to pound him into the ground for his careless actions. Her sisters had worked hard on that sandcastle, dammit. He wasn't going to get away with that, cute or not.

"You ruined my sisters sandcastle!" she hissed, pointing at the mess they'd left behind in their game. "I wouldn't want to play with you anyway, bully!"

He stomped his foot, face twisted in outright indignation. "Take that back! 'm not a bully."

"Err," Naruto scratched the back of his head, hesitantly trying to step between them, but a single glare from both of them had him fixed in place with a little squeak. "We can go back and help them…" he mumbled, trailing off quietly when he realised they were too busy glaring at each other to do much else. "I'll go and do that now," he declared, shoulders slumping when neither of them even glanced his way.

Sakura only watched out of the corner of her eye as the blonde went over to the sandpit where her sisters were sitting. Sasuke, meanwhile, was trying to burn her with his stare.

"Bully," she spat.

He folded his arms, attempting to look down on her. "Girl."

"Really? I couldn't tell," she drawled.

Sasuke twitched. "Hn. I'll go and help your stupid sisters…" he trailed off, eyes widening as he stared past her.

"They aren't stupid!" she snarled, pausing only to turn and look at what was holding Sasuke's attention… but there wasn't anything there… aside from her sister who was smiling at them hesitantly. She spun back to Sasuke, eyeing the blush forming on his cheeks, and… oh… "Oh hell no!" she hissed. "You aren't going anywhere near my sister with that stupid expression on your face."

"She's pretty…"

"She's my sister!" Sakura muttered. "Eyes off!"

"Hn." Sasuke stuck his nose in the air, walking towards her siblings before she could stop him. "Her hair is better than your ugly mop. Plus you're annoying."

All in all, she decided, she couldn't really be blamed for tackling him into the sandpit… plus there was also the beautiful friendship she'd somehow managed to wrangle for her sisters, at least.