"This... Is an interesting place." Danzo murmured as he stepped in the building.

Chi gritted her teeth and stubbornly made her way to one of the rickety chairs without falling over. The building was like every other one in the Ketsueki district. It had a red roof and plain wooded walls. Lanterns, once blazing gold and red, now hung neglected from hooks at the curved edges of the roof. The interior of this building consisted of a single room with chairs spread around in no particular order. There was a shallow pit in the center of the floor, carved out of the wooden panels. The pit was empty. There were no windows and no lamps. Chi sat down and fixed her gaze on Danzo, who had not yet moved from the entrance.

"Are there no lights here?" he asked, when it became obvious that Chi was not planning to move.

"Do you see them?" she ground out.

"No."

"Then sit down." Chi snapped.

Danzo stepped closer "You should remember who you're speaking to, child."

Chi's hand clenched around the seat of her chair. She didn't speak, busy biting her tongue. Her muscles spasmed despite her efforts to control them.

"Tell me."

"I need to read the scroll, you know." Danzo said, as light as he could.

Chi was pretty sure a man as paranoid as this one had memorized the whole thing. He could beg and cry, but she was not going to move out of the chair. Not while he could still witness her crumpling down in an undignified heap.

"I can read it."

She couldn't.

"In the dark?"

Hard no.

"Of course."

Nope. Chi could only hope to steal the scroll and replace it with a boulder and then run away before he noticed. She took a moment to reflect and realized that while the information could be very important and interesting, she could not care less for now. Her mind was still reeling from the loss of the Hokage, from the hate in the villager's eyes. The panic in Shikamaru's eyes when he saw her in her element. Chi swallowed her grief down and glared at Danzo.

"Tell me or leave."

She could also just leave him here but she didn't want to risk him escaping and stabbing her in the shower. Danzo sighed and moved to sit on a chair. Chi hoped he'd at least stub his toe but the man moved as fluid as ever. He sat down and held the scroll up. Despite everything, Chi felt her mouth run dry at the sight of the Ketsueki crest. It was a shapeless thing pressed in red wax with a stamp that had seen better days. The original design and meaning of the triangular symbol were forgotten some generations before Chi.

"You're bloodline, Chi, is unique." Danzo began, balancing the scroll on his knee. In the darkness she could make out the white outlines of his bandages. "You have near unlimited possibilities. Controlling blood-"

"Cut to the point!" Chi snarled. She had heard these things before. Everyone was always quick to admire her abilities, not realizing how disgusting they actually were.

Danzo paused, probably to stop himself from killing her, and he moved the scroll until it pointed at her.

"This... This illness consumed your clan. No one could figure it out. Your mother had it worse. Your father was convinced that she just had some bad luck. It was your grandmother who raised the alarm. You see, she found her daughter-in-law holding an axe over her little baby."

Chi's world fell silent. Danzo's voice echoed around her.

"Your mother was detained and held in prison until one of your elders brought this." There was a rustle of paper. Danzo unfurled the scroll. "It contains information about this insanity that became the norm for the Ketsueki's."

Chi could name a couple of reasons, but she had never hear the science behind it. Her hand tightened around the wood of her chair. Her broken ribs forgotten, she leaned forward. Her eyes began to turn yellow.

"Blood, gives you more than a... bond. It's more than a link to draw chakra from. It gives you a piece of that person. Memories, certain habits and illnesses. Every time you drink someone's blood, you give up a piece of yourself in order to make room for a piece of that person. Do you understand, Chi?" Danzo's smile could be heard. "Your mother was not your mother at the end. She was a hundred different people, stuffed into one body."

There was a loud, agonizing cry outside. Chi didn't react to it. They sat in silence for a long time. Eventually, Danzo got up and turned around.

"As long as you're out here, you will soon become like your mother. Chi... I can train you and protect you from this."

Chi licked her lips and reached for a thin thread behind the legs of her chair. It was barely visible and so old that spiders had begun to build their own village around it. She pulled it with one finger, and the thread snapped. A howl echoed through the district, reverberating against the walls.

"What did you do, child?" Danzo spoke quietly.

Chi slumped down and looked up at the ceiling. He would find out soon. Or not, it didn't matter.

"We live so far from the Hokage Tower..." She licked her lips. 'We had to establish some sort of connection. You have five minutes before the alarm reaches the city."

A senbon pierced her shoulder and Chi clenched her fist. The door closed. Danzo was gone. With a grunt she pulled the needle out and threw it aside. Her left arm was numb and she suspected it would remain like that. It might last longer than it would take Danzo and his minions to discover that the alarm was fake. It was build as a first line of defense, a bluff to throw the intruder off. It didn't matter. Chi leaned back again.

Dawn arrived minutes or hours later. The first ray of sun hit her face, having slipped through a tiny gap in the walls. Chi stirred and looked around, dazed and bone-weary. Her joints popped as she got up and her knees buckled as she stumbled outside. The air was not fresh, not now or ever, but she took deep gulps of it anyway. When the nausea had subsided to a minimum, she went to her house.

Village Gates, one week later ~

Sakura watched with mixed feelings as Naruto checked his backpack for the third time that day. Not for the first time did she thanked Chi for teaching him how to seal his weapons, and for the third time she banished that thought to the back of her head. Her throat still hurt from crying all day at the Third's funeral. Now Naruto was leaving with Jiraiya and Sasuke was going to continue his training with Kakashi. Sakura surprised them all yesterday by announcing her new goal to become a medical ninja. Kakashi even treated them to an ice cream, though it was mostly to collect stamps on his card. Five more and he got a free book.

Sasuke stood next to her, hands shoved in his pockets. Bandages peeked out underneath his clothes and his shoulder slumped as result from the painkillers. Sakura could feel her stomach churn, still not used to the proximity of her crush. Even half unconscious he looked like a dream. His personality had loosed up too, which made her Inner Voice less prone to lectures on how she could do better than him.

Sakura sighed and rolled her painful shoulder. She had been slammed into a wall sometime during the battle and the ache just wouldn't leave.

"Time to go!" Jiraiya's voice snapped her back. Naruto jumped a few meters in the air, filled with nervous energy.

"I'm so ready!" He shouted into the sky. Jiraiya rubbed a hand over his weary face. Kakashi pitied the man.

"Well, enjoy your trip and come back safely." He said, mostly to Jiraiya. Naruto was too busy vibrating on the spot to notice.

Sakura stepped forward and raised her hand. "Good luck, Naruto. Hurry up and bring her here." Don't die. The words died in her throat and she managed a smile. "Don't eat too much ramen."

Naruto grinned bashfully and nodded, before turned to Sasuke. He stiffened at the attention but gave a curt nod. "Don't die, idiot."

Sakura could count the emotions race by on Naruto's face until they landed at 'How dare you' and she groaned.

"Wait until I get back, I could take you with one hand behind my back, you- you charcoal head!"

"Who's a charcoal head? You look like a bleached tomato!"

Naruto was, indeed, bright red. Sakura shook her head and turned away. Those two would continue to bicker for at least fifteen minutes, no one would notice her leaving. She walked alone for a couple of streets, enjoying the gentle breeze and the quiet, before she realized she had a tail.

Naruto's trio of minions ducked behind the potted plant they had brought along. She should have known. Without their 'master' those three had no way of entertaining themselves.

"They're quite good." Kakashi said.

Sakura's heart skipped a beat and she was by the wall in a second, kunai already in her hand. Her teacher had his eyes on his book and one hand up in a salute.

"Sensei for goodness sake." Sakura clutched her chest and sighed. If her being a shinobi wouldn't kill her, having Kakashi as teacher certainly would do the trick.

Her teacher walked on, pausing only to let Sakura reluctantly fall into step besides him. The trio behind them were still staring at the spot Kakashi appeared in.

"How are you doing, Sakura?" Kakashi asked, sparing her a glance.

Sakura mulled it over. It hadn't escaped her that Kakashi been watching her more closely these days. Since the end of the second exam, he had began to pop up at random times and places where Sakura would be. Most of the time he simply read his book, causing Sakura to turn beetroot as everyone else backed away. Sometimes it was like today and he actually seemed to have a goal.

"I'm alright." she said, realizing she had been silent for so long, Kakashi started to look at her. "It's going to be quiet now that Naruto's gone on adventure."

"Indeed, I fear for the village's supply of ramen. It might all go to waste now." Kakashi acknowledged with a hum.

"It's really important, right?" Sakura asked, unable to resist. "Their mission, I mean?"

Kakashi crinkled his eye at her. Sakura wondered about the other one. Was it moving along?

"Maybe. It's mostly dangerous for them."

"Huh?" Sakura's stomach dropped. 'But the Sannin-"

"Jiraiya is strong, I'm sure he can protect Naruto." Kakashi intercepted her train of thought. "It's just that neither really have the ability to talk to someone like Tsunade. It requires a certain... diplomacy."

Sakura raised her eyebrows. "It's just us, sensei. You can say 'intelligence'." The few moments she had been in the presence of Jiraiya had involved lingerie, breasts and food. She had a vision of Naruto's future.

Kakashi chuckled and turned a page in his book. Sakura looked over her shoulder and saw the trio of idiots hide behind a pregnant lady.

"It's going to be an interesting few weeks regardless." he murmured, looking up at the bright blue sky. There was no way he was going to tell his precious students about the nightly meetings that kept the Jonin and ANBU of the village awake. His eye darkened and he looked back at his book. Between the worn pages was a pressed rose. The stench had long faded but the stem had left a large stain on the pages. The signature rose of the Ketsueki clan he once received as a young boy from one of his classmates. He didn't know why he kept it.

Team Gai's regular running route, evening~

Let it be noted that Sasuke Uchiha was not tired. He was also not biting through a nasty cramp in his calf and most definitely not jealous of his idiotic friend going on a super cool mission.

Wait.

Let it also be noted that Naruto was not his friend, no matter how often they ended up eating dinner. Let it be specified that most of the time it was Sakura's idea, Naruto's hunger and his own lack of better things to do. Let it be forgotten that last time Sasuke used his Sharingan to intimidate a jerk who threw a stone at Naruto.

But for now, let's focus on the not cramping situation. Sasuke gritted his teeth and worked his fingers into the offending muscle. Pain shot up his leg as if to mock him. He had been running for the passed two hours despite having trained with Kakashi just this morning and his body paid the price. The late sun burned on his back as he tried to massage his leg. All that went through his head was the pain and how to solve said pain so that he could continue to train.

It was why he never saw Chi coming.

Her tall shadow fell over him and made him spin around on one foot. His jaw tightened. No one had seen Chi since she fled the scene after the battle and everyone got so distracted by the death of the Third, that no one had looked for her either. Team 11 had been following Ibiki everywhere as he tried to get the city back on its feet, but Chi had not been there. Some villagers spoke of dragging Chi out of her district and bring her to a judge, but no one dared to enter the Forest of Death.

It had been a week since the funeral, ten days since the battle ended and if this was how Chi looked like right now, he couldn't blame people for not looking. Her haori was stained and wrinkled, falling open without the belt. Her braces were gone and replaced with black, fraying bandages, tightly wrapped and tied off. The mesh armor had gaping holes in it, the small metal rings torn open and twisted.

Her face was gaunt, with dark bruises under her eyes. It was as if she hadn't even bothered to wash the blood off. Crumbling patches of something dark were spread over her face and hands. Chi's eyes were the ugliest shade of muddy red he had seen. She looked him over and he felt the sudden urge to wash himself. Her eyes stopped on his leg and Sasuke had to fight to stay still.

"Cramp?"

Her voice was so hoarse, it took a full minute for Sasuke to comprehend the word. He narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Chi's eyes were dead, he noticed. Her whole attire screamed 'zombie' and he suddenly had a morbid vision of Chi breaking skulls open.

"Cramp in your leg." she stated tonelessly.

It was either his pride or his curiosity. He swallowed and shifted to lean more on the tree. "How did you know?"

She blinked slowly and shrugged. "I could- I can feel it. In my leg."

"Because of my blood?" Sasuke still didn't know why he gave her his blood that day. Maybe- definitely- it was the overwhelming desire to win no matter the cost. Anything to become more powerful and finally defeat- He shook himself to the present. Chi was still looking at him.

"Yes." she said.

"Can you do something about it?" he asked. His words were taken away by the wind. Countless scents were swept along and he suddenly felt very alone.

Without warning, Chi dropped into a crouch, pressing one hand into the ground to steady herself. Her other hand grabbed his calf. Sasuke hissed at her icy touch. Without doing anything other than briefly closing her eyes, she got back up. She looked weaker than she had ever done before.

"It's not blood related. It's your muscle." she said. "You need to stretch."

Sasuke wanted to strangle her. Nodding curtly, he walked away. He took a deep breath and began some simple stretching exercises. Chi watched quietly from her place. Despite her being as lively as a statue, Sasuke felt the prickly sensation of her eyes on him. Chi somehow brought up his worst feelings and memories and he hated it.

"What do you want?" he snapped, turning his head to glare at her.

"Nothing." she said and turned away.

Sasuke convinced himself that it wasn't regret that he felt in his chest, as he saw her thin figure walk away. Any second now, she was going to fall over. He could see her knees threaten to give in. The bandages were wrapped so tight, he could see bruises form on her skin. She was going back to that forest again and maybe never come out again. Just like Naruto and him, there was no one to welcome her home. Damn it Sakura, you're rubbing off on me.

"Hang on." he called.

Chi froze in her steps. Sasuke got up from the ground and jogged up besides her. Chi's eyes followed him.

"What's wrong with you?" he said. Great going, Sasuke. That's the way. "I meant, what's wrong with your..." Everything.

Chi didn't seem offended. "A lot of things, but you know that already."

How did he die? It burned on Sasuke's tongue, but he swallowed it down. "What happened to the braces?" he gestured at her hands.

"They broke." Chi raised her hands and moved her fingers. They shook, despite the wrappings.

"Can you still fight?"

Chi sighed and her shoulder slumped. She didn't look twelve at all, Sasuke realized. She looked ancient.

"I don't think so, but I have to." she replied wearily.

There was one more question Sasuke had always wanted to ask her. If he had been older, more versed in diplomacy or empathy, he would've scolded himself and kept the question for a more appropriate time. Alas, he was twelve and an idiot.

"Your clan. What happened exactly?"

Chi's eyes widened and snapped towards him. The wind picked up and tore leaves from the branches. "You can't ask that. "

"What do you mean?" Sasuke leaned forward.

Chi's jaw ticked but she didn't answer anymore. Sasuke looked away, annoyed at ruining the opportunity.

"Remember what you said about my- brother?" he began. "I need to know what you meant."

"I don't know everything. Just forget what I said." Chi replied quietly. "Nothing is what it seems here."

"I can't forget." Sasuke heard himself say. "Can you... Can you look? You have access to the files, right?"

"Not all." Chi stretched her neck. Her voice seemed to come from within his skull. "Be careful, Sasuke. You're wrong if you think you want to learn the truth about everything."

"I have to." Sasuke said, bitterly. "It's my goal, my purpose. I have to..."

Chi rubbed her eyes and fell to the ground. "Why ask me?"

He shrugged, sitting down besides her. "Why not?"

The sun was setting behind the treetops. Sasuke massaged his leg. Chi pushed herself up. There was a hint of yellow in her eyes. "Because I'm a monster. Because I drink blood. I've killed more people than you'll ever know. My own team hates my guts. I was never meant to survive." She took a deep breath. "Because I watched the Hokage die and didn't do anything."

Her eyes were glowing, but the yellow faded quickly. Sasuke willed himself to not move, to not show anything. He just looked. Chi gave up first and leaned forward to bury her face in her hands.

"I don't care. I need to know." Sasuke said quietly.

They stayed in silence until it became too dark for Sasuke to see her anymore. When he moved his hand, he met the air. He dropped it and got up. After a final glance at the shadowy line of trees, he flickered away.

Unknown forests, noon~

Two figures dressed in black cloaks wandered through the forest. They walked in companionable silence. The smaller one walked with purpose, yet no sound came from his footsteps. The taller one carried a massive sword on his shoulder, the blade wrapped in bandages, with little effort. It took a squirrel crossing the road for them to break the silence. It was the taller one who began.

"Konoha is further than I thought."

The sentence hung between them, a question wrapped in a throwaway line. The smaller one lifted his head, revealing his tired face with eyes too old for his age.

"We're almost there."