Much thanks to Tavina, Anita_Magia, and Drowsyivy for beta-reading. As ever, any bits that remain are mine.

"Someone thanked me today," Naruto said, sounding baffled at himself. "Bā-chan had me run something she had signed to the legal office— did you even know we had one of those, 'cause I didn't— and the chūnin at their front desk thanked me even though he had a good look at me."

At least this time I didn't trip over my feet, which was for the better. I had a pack slung over one shoulder, and the holster strapped on my leg and the pouch at my waist were both full.

Sakura took a step ahead at my side to get a better look at Naruto, brows furrowed together. "A legal office? Are you sure? I thought lawyers were just a civilian thing… But why wouldn't he thank you?"

"I think they're really the Daimyō's, but I dunno," Naruto said, shrugging. He dropped his voice to be quieter. "Because a few years back, he was telling his kid to stay away from me, and I dumped a full cup of instant ramen on his head."

I wasn't able to keep myself from snorting.

"That was rude of you, but he was rude first," Sakura answered, frowning. "But back in the academy, you were always doing stuff like that whether or not they said anything. That probably didn't help."

"Maybe not," Naruto admitted, sounding sheepish. "But I got tired of being ignored all the time, and sometimes it felt like I was gonna disappear if I didn't get some attention."

"Oh, Naruto," Sakura said, with a sigh. "But it sounds like the adults aren't seeing you as just being annoying anymore."

"No, they groan now because I'm usually lugging around paperwork they have to look through or have to get from them and it's not my fault but Bā-chan's." Naruto grinned.

"That's one way to solve it," I said.

"Huh?" Both of them turned to look at me.

"Sasuke-kun, what do you mean?"

"It sounds like they're getting reconditioned. Instead of associating Naruto with getting annoyed, it's getting transferred over to the paperwork. They're probably getting relieved to see him if he shows up empty-handed."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Wait, that is what's going on, how'd you know?"

Because I was older and increasingly overeducated. But also... "Because I'm smarter than you."

That got a giggle out of Sakura.

"What— hey! That's not funny!"

I had gotten enough real sleep and had a whole bunch of leftovers in the fridge for tomorrow. I felt in a good enough mood to mess around.

"It isn't?"

Naruto made a face at me, sticking his tongue out. "Well, if you're gonna be like that, it's my turn to pick, and we should go eat at Ichiraku's for dinner tonight."

"Okay," Sakura said. "But only because my parents are supposed to be working late and Shizune's out on a mission for Tsunade-sama so I can't show her how much progress I've made yet."

Naruto frowned a bit. "You gotta give yourself some time to relax, Sakura-chan. This is the first time in a couple weeks you were even able to train with us. It doesn't really count as stopping before I do if you throw yourself right into doing even more training and studying. Even Sasuke's taking it easier than you; right, Sasuke?"

I shrugged.

"Well, I agreed, didn't I?" she said, grumpily. "I have to get the basics down, because if I don't have something to show for myself, Tsunade-sama really won't give me a chance and she'll probably give me a hard time for wasting Shizune's time, too."

"It's still important to have some time to relax," I pointed out. "If you stress yourself out too much, anything you do won't be as effective and you'll just start to spiral." That much I had figured out my junior year of undergrad. It was also something I needed to remember for the rest of my grad program, especially if this continued to make me lose sleep.

There was only so much I could up the caffeine I consumed.

Sakura sighed. "I guess you're right, but what am I supposed to do, schedule things like soaking in a bath?"

I had to resort to exactly that last fall to remember to relax. "If you have to," I agreed.

Sakura looked less than impressed. "Fine."

Naruto gave a full body shake, and bits of shredded paper dropped from his jacket. "We can meet up at Ichiraku's in about an hour, if that's okay?" he asked. "I need a shower, and I'm still shedding bits of paper from the paper shredder Bā-chan punched earlier. I wanna see if Karin wants to join us, too." Naruto's gaze crossed from me to Sakura, clearly evident that he was wondering if we were going to protest or not.

"Fine with me," I answered.

Sakura nodded. "I don't like eating right after we've trained, and I need to drop this medical book off anyways."

I split off from the other two.

The whole walk, I felt uneasy. While I had a solid idea of where Sasuke's apartment was— practically able to get there without drifting off and letting the dream take me there— something seemed off, and I didn't like it.

I felt like I was being followed, but as far as I was able to tell, there was no difference from the usual. The tangle of streets, rooftops, and elevated paths that made Konoha seem fanciful in the show just meant that with the slowly deepening shadows and outdoor lights flickering into being it was impossible to tell what was really around me.

It felt menacing in a way that I was familiar with, but as myself, not in these dreams as Sasuke.

I sped up the rest of the way to get to his apartment before it got any darker. I didn't want to think about it.

I locked the door behind me after I flicked on the lights, feeling silly. While a deadbolt would be more than enough for real life... these dreams were filled with ninja.

I didn't take Sasuke's sandals off, instead heading to the bathroom, flicking on every light on the way. The lights didn't help.

After I turned on the bathroom light and stepped in, I took a look in the mirror.

Sasuke's hair was hitting an awkward shaggy stage, which I had vaguely been aware of from how it felt, but looking in the mirror it just made it more obvious. His bangs were hanging past his chin, not quite ready to graze his shoulders, and the back was long enough that it was starting to weigh itself down instead of fluffing out over the back of the hitai-ate's tie.

It still looked a bit ridiculous, but that was normal for teenaged boys.

To my dismay, I could see the telltale signs of a tiny pimple starting to form.

There was only a single bar of soap- plain white and unscented- on the sink and no sign of anything for skincare, much less face wash.

Besides the ominous ready-to-bloom pimple, though, Sasuke's face was completely clear, and this dumb child apparently used only the same soap he used for washing his hands.

There were so many aspects of this that were entirely unfair.

I turned the tap on for warm water and after washing my hands, splashed some on my face. I only had disdain for the bar soap.

I heard movement as I was drying off and I straightened up.

Someone was in here with me.

My hand slid down to the holster at my side and I gripped a kunai before turning around.

The Sound... Three. Or would it still count as Four? Tayuya was noticeably absent, but one of its members were still twins.

Even with the changes in these dreams so far, it looked like Orochimaru still expected to take Sasuke for his body. There was no way for this to go well if they were supposed to bring Sasuke back whether he wanted to or not, and I doubted this was a friendly visit.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the one with all of the extra arms said as a greeting. He frowned at the flak jacket.

There were three of them and they were supposed to be strong enough to win against Sasuke in the show, weren't there? Every change in the dreams had backfired there. This Sasuke— me— was weaker and had less in his arsenal.

Maybe dreaming about being Hinata would have been better after all. Her kidnapping attempt had been in the past.

The only thing in my favor was that I was dealing with a bunch of teens, and I had plenty of experience in ignoring people trying to get my attention.

I doubted it was going to work but….

I don't want everything to get wrecked in a fight.

"I'm not interested and I don't care," I said. "Get out and lock the door behind you."

I slotted the kunai back into the holster, leaving it uncovered, and turned back around into the bathroom, where I turned the water back on, and started to wash my face with the terrible bar soap.

There was confused silence before it lapsed into urgent whispers that I could still hear.

"What just happened?" the big one asked.

"I told you we should have found Tayuya first," the one who had spoke first hissed at the active twin.

"And deal with trying to find her? The last place she called from was in Earth. She can't even bother to stay put!"

Maybe I should have asked them for their names just to not get them confused. "She's rude, but this mission would still be easier with her."

"I can't believe Orochimaru-sama wants this pathetic excuse of a Leaf-nin..."

My hand gripped the soap tightly in spite of myself, nails digging in as I rinsed the suds away on my other hand.

"Kimimaro would have been better."

"But—"

I launched myself off from the sink cabinet with enough force directly at the face of the one with all of the arms, cramming the suds-covered oap into his eyes as we barreled into the apartment's table and chairs, the wood splintering under the combined weight and force of the impact.

He yelled in shock.

I dropped the soap and dodged one of his arms as he blindly lashed out, as I stood up, yanking the kunai back out. It wasn't fast enough to avoid the lipstick-wearing twins, as the main one— Sukon? Wasn't it something like that?— smashed multiple fists into my side, knocking me against the wall, hard enough that I lost my breath.

He swung in again, and I felt a sharp pain and heard something crack. I gasped for air, which only made it feel worse.

He stood over me and sneered. "Such trash… Is this the best the Leaf is able to offer? I could kill you right now. I should."

Behind him, the big guy was helping the other one up, who was scrubbing at his eyes with one of the arm warmers from his arms. "Orochimaru-sama still wants him alive, Sakon. If you keep it up, you might kill him and then we'll all be in trouble."

"I can't believe he got me with soap… Shit, this stings."

Sakon's visible eye narrowed. He yanked me up by the neck before pinning me against the wall, knocking the air out of me again. He used his free hand to unzip my vest and yanked the collar of my shirt down, ripping the fabric. He was searching for something. "He's supposed to be marked… He shouldn't be able to control it yet."

I kicked out— useless; he blocked it easily.

"Get off of me!" I shouted as loud as I was able to, which only hurt.

"Shut him up before he gets attention."

Sakon's hand on my neck squeezed, cutting off my air and the other one pressed against my mouth.

"Night night, Sasuke-kun," he cooed. "When you wake up you're going to be Orochimaru-sama's problem..."

Sakura finished combing her hair out, frowning slightly at her reflection in the mirror when she lifted up the ends to examine. It had been awhile since the last time she had gotten it trimmed, and she could see the telltale signs of split-ends starting to appear. She had taken the time to straighten her hair for the first time in a couple weeks after getting out of the shower, and it had thrown her off to realize how much time it took compared to braiding it back. It was starting to get tempting to cut it all off, if only to give herself some extra time in the morning and at night.

She had switched to keeping it in a braid a couple days after getting promoted, when she realized just how much work the village was assigning to everyone it could to get things rebuilt. It hadn't escaped Sakura either that she was getting taken more seriously as a chūnin when she had braided her hair and even more again when she started to wear the armored gloves Kakashi-sensei had gotten her as a graduation gift.

She didn't like that.

Instead, Sakura grabbed the lip gloss from its spot on her desk— where it and the rest of her little bit of makeup was precariously overcrowded from the books on medical terms, anatomy, leadership, and strategy that she had picked up from the library— and drew it across her lips, puckering them until she had the right amount of coverage and got the faintest taste of cherry. Just enough to make them look nice and glossy.

"I'm allowed to look cute for me," she declared. That had been in one of the magazines she had picked up on the trip out of the village with Jiraiya and the others. The proclamation made her feel better, at least, even if she wasn't completely sure how she felt about it. It was more like something Ino would say. Or at least, used to.

With that done, she turned off the lights, headed downstairs, left a note for her parents, and went outside.

To her surprise, Ino was on the street outside, visibly hesitating in front of her door. The other girl took a step back. It was one of the many changes in Ino since what had happened during the exams. Just yet another thing to get used to, to ignore and pretend that nothing had really changed with the blond, when Ino used to never hesitate at anything.

"Oh! Ino!"

"Sakura! I wanted to—" Ino blinked as she took in Sakura's straightened hair and glossy lips. The split second of her old assertiveness disappeared as suddenly as it had returned. "Oh… Are you going somewhere?"

"Ichiraku's," Sakura confirmed, apologetic. "Naruto decided we all should go eat out together tonight, and it's his turn to choose."

"I see..."

"Is something wrong?"

"No, I just— I—" Ino's voice quavered, and she took a deep breath before continuing. "I just needed to talk to someone, but it can wait."

Sakura bit her lip. "Are you sure? I can skip out on the boys, they won't mind."

"I'm sure," she said, even though her voice came out thin and unconvincing. "It can wait until tomorrow."

"Tomorrow, then," Sakura said, with all the conviction she could come up with. It didn't feel like it was enough, but it looked like it made Ino feel better, at least. "Let me walk you home though, okay?"

"Okay," Ino answered, subdued.

Sakura hooked her arm with Ino's, and she started off in the direction of Ino's house.

It was in complete silence.

No talk of boys, the clothes and makeup in the magazines Sakura's dad brought home for her whenever his work took him out of the village to any of the bigger cities, or even the D-ranks they were doing. Instead, Ino just twined her fingers around Sakura's tightly and didn't let go the whole time.

The lights were still on in the flower shop on the ground floor even though the closed sign was hung on the closed doors.

Sakura squeezed Ino's hand before checking the door. It was open, and inside was Ino's father, who was standing at the counter in front of the register with a clipboard. He wasn't the only one; Shikamaru and Chōji's fathers were there as well, standing nearby.

Whatever they had been talking about had given way to complete silence, abandoned when Sakura and Ino entered the store, which in Sakura's experience meant that it was probably about jōnin-level things or their clans.

With how things had been between Shikamaru and Ino, and how Ino was lately, Sakura suspected it was probably the latter.

Inoichi set the clipboard down, giving Sakura and Ino a smile. "Sakura-chan, thank you for bringing Ino home. Ino, you missed dinner. Your mother put it away in case you're hungry." His voice was all calm, even though just a few months ago he would have sounded irritated if Ino pulled that same stunt; had in fact been irritated when after they had made up, Ino and Sakura had stayed at Sakura's house until nearly midnight and Sakura's father— half-asleep and with a haori over his pajamas— had walked both girls over to Ino's. Inoichi had been sitting on the counter with an unhappy expression on his face waiting for his daughter to come home. He hadn't been so calm then.

"Ino-chan, Sakura-chan," Shikaku greeted them, casually leaning against the counter in a slouch. He was trying to put her at ease; noticing that was something that wouldn't have occurred to her even a few months ago, Sakura realized with a start. It suddenly put Kakashi-sensei's awful posture into perspective. "Congratulations on your promotion, Sakura-chan."

Sakura felt the heat rise to her cheeks, and she did her best to not stare at the floor. "I didn't really do anything to deserve it," she murmured.

Shikaku scratched behind one of his ears. "Tsunade-sama told you that, did she?"

"I—" She stopped before she denied it outloud. Shikamaru's dad was the jōnin commander. "Yes, she did, Shikaku-sama."

"Don't take it too hard," he said. "Most of it has to do with the fact that the preliminary decisions were made while you all were gone." He raised an eyebrow. "And since when was I 'Shikaku-sama' to you? You were rolling around with the other kids calling me 'Shikaku-ji' just like them. It's still fine off-duty."

"Okay," Sakura said, flushing. "Tsunade-sama said there were other factors for me getting promoted," she said, slowly. Kakashi-sensei had told them after the second exam, after she and Sasuke had found out about the secret that surrounded Naruto, about the punishments that were supposed to be in place if anyone revealed it. While it was obvious the adults knew, Ino wasn't supposed to.

"You know about that part, too, do you?" A smirk played on his lips, showing Sakura where Shikamaru had picked up that annoying habit of his from. "Does it change things if I say I was the first one to nominate you for promotion and it wasn't for those reasons?"

She felt like she had one of Kakashi-sensei's Earth-Style Walls dropped on her. "What?"

"Being a chūnin requires being able to think and do more than just follow orders," he told her, and Sakura felt her stomach ready to drop. "We need more of those, especially right now, even if you need to work a bit more on knowing when the right time is for some of that." He knew.

Chōji's dad let out a grunt, and he elbowed the other man in the side. "If you want to have fun giving some chūnin a hard time, I can give you a whole list of them from Supply. Can't you tell she's ready to go somewhere?"

Shikaku let out a breath in amusement. "I do need to start going over the list of those qualified for jōnin before those nominations start," he agreed.

"I do have to get going," Sakura admitted, and she carefully untwined her fingers from Ino's. "We'll talk tomorrow, alright?"

Ino's eyes met hers. "You promise?"

"I promise."

She managed to escape out the door before she could get teased any further by the grownups, but not before catching sight of the clock in the store.

If she didn't hurry, she was going to be really late.

One of the positives of all the training and missions they had been doing was that her stamina was much better than it had been in the academy, and Sakura pushed for just the amount of chakra she would need to go that little bit faster without exerting herself as much.

When Ichiraku's came into sight, she could see Naruto and Karin outside of the noren, waiting. Sasuke wasn't in sight, but that just meant she had managed to show up a bit early. Naruto spent a lot of time in his own little world when he wasn't going out of his way to annoy others, but the last several months had shown that while he might have been as late as often as not for getting to class in the academy, he always tried his best to show up early for ramen.

Naruto was out of his duty clothes, and Karin was in a long-sleeved blouse and skirt— ones that Hinata had suggested on the day they went shopping. So far, even though it was still more than warm enough for short sleeves, Karin hadn't worn any of the tops with short-sleeves that she had gotten that day as far as Sakura had seen. Sakura hadn't asked yet.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto waved. "Sasuke isn't with you?"

"No," she said, coming to a stop. She frowned. "Why would he be?" His apartment was in a different direction from her house from here. She looked around before spying the nearest outdoor clock; she was over fifteen minutes late from the detour to Ino's, and that was being generous.

Sasuke was never late; whether in the academy, for training, for missions, for when they were meeting up to eat or hang out when they were done for the day, he was always on time, which even Sakura couldn't claim. Even when he wasn't excited about spending time with them, if he agreed, he always showed up, on time. Sasuke kept that kind of promise and went out of his way to say if he wasn't joining them.

Naruto frowned. "Something must have happened." His fists balled up.

She didn't want Naruto to be right, but something was off. "We should give him a bit more time to show up."

Naruto set his jaw.

She glanced at the clock. "It's just a bit before seven thirty. We can wait five more minutes before we go and look for him."

"Fine."

It was enough to placate Naruto, at least for now, and it gave her just enough time to try and figure out what to do.

When— if— Sasuke didn't show up, they could head to Sasuke's apartment.

Naruto spent the whole time fidgeting and pacing until he finally ground to a halt the moment her time was up, with no Sasuke in sight.

"Alright," she said, trying to ground herself. Whether she liked it or not, she was in charge, at least for now. She would have to call the shots. "We'll— you and me— head over to Sasuke's apartment." Sakura did her best to put a smile on her face and look over at Karin. "Karin-chan, could you head back and ask Jiraiya-sama to meet us there?"

Judging from Karin's expression, it wasn't very soothing, but Karin nodded anyways. "I'll let him know right now." She sped off, heading in the direction of Jiraiya's house.

That got Karin out of the way in case something really had happened and would get Jiraiya to meet with them so he could be in charge. He was old, a jounin, and the Hokage's friend. He would know what to do. Sakura wouldn't have to figure anything out from here. She just had to keep Naruto from freaking out and doing something rash. Not under her control.

Without waiting for confirmation, Naruto bolted, and Sakura had to do her best to catch up.

The village was large, but all of the important things had been set up as close to the center and main streets as possible to not be too far from anything else or too inconvenient. Sasuke's apartment was out of the way for the parts of the village where she and Naruto lived, but it wasn't too far away, especially if they were running.

There was nothing odd or strange as they rushed through the village, Naruto taking every shortcut he had ever come across to get them there faster, over the rooftop paths, raised walkways, alleyways, and walls that separated different streets into a gentle and pleasing to the eye maze that was supposed to make it harder for strangers to navigate through the village but only made everything take so much longer.

Her breath caught when the back of Sasuke's building came into sight. The lights for his apartment were on— like some of the others in the building— but the curtains that were near his bed were billowing out the window with the breeze.

She didn't think Sasuke had gotten it into himself to air his apartment out.

Naruto had made the same connection and she barely caught up to him in time before he launched himself to climb up the wall of the building that was directly beneath Sasuke's.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "The door first."

If Sasuke was in his apartment, he wouldn't appreciate them coming through his window.

And if he wasn't or something had happened... The street his apartment opened onto had more light, more room to fight, and more people if they needed help. There was that, and the fact that street they were on was smaller, less lit up, with fewer people around. The only reason she was even on it after dark was because Naruto was with her.

It would be a disadvantage for them to go in through the window.

Naruto reluctantly followed her around to the front and up the steps to Sasuke's door. The door was locked.

Sakura huffed. Another thing she was going to have to try to figure out the time to learn. She gave a reluctant look at the window and started to move over to it, but before she could, Naruto gave her a guilty look and pulled out his keys.

"I'm, uh, not really supposed to let anyone know I have a copy," he whispered, before putting it into the keyhole. It unlocked, and they carefully opened the door.

"Oh no..."

There were signs of a fight.

The table was demolished, the wooden top cracked and splintering, its broken legs splayed on the floor, and so was one of the chairs, like they had been landed on, a bar of soap on the floor. The wall near the bathroom door, opposite the table, showed cracks in the plaster, like something had been smashed against it, a kunai on the floor near the wall.

No one was in sight. The window near Sasuke's bed was visibly broken.

Naruto swung at the wall, before barely catching himself. He heaved a breath. "We need to go and let Bā-chan know. We gotta go, now."

Sakura breathed in. She had to stay focused. That was right but also— Naruto seemed to have forgotten that he had sent Karin to bring Jiraiya here. "We should leave a note for Jiraiya-sama before we go."

"You write it," Naruto muttered.

Sakura walked over to Sasuke's desk, skirting around the broken table and chair. This was the first time she had been so close to his desk; even the night before the second part of the chūnin exam, while they had shared his bed, Sasuke had carefully kept them all away from his desk and the things on it.

The notebook he had gotten on their way back from Wave was out, a pen next to it. Everything else on the shelf above the desk were clearly books. There wasn't anything obviously that would have loose or unused paper in sight.

She would just have to make sure to not actually read anything in the notebook. She didn't want Naruto or Sasuke to think she didn't respect Sasuke's privacy. That would be easy enough to do, she would just take a sheet from the very back. If he was still writing in it, he hadn't hit the back yet.

To her dismay, the back pages had writing in it. There was a different problem, though.

"Naruto...? Can you come over here?"

"What is it?"

"For the boys— when we were doing the kunoichi classes in the academy— the boys just had extra sparring time, right? Nothing else? Like foreign languages or cryptology?"

Naruto gave her a confused look. "No, why would we?"

She lifted the notebook up for Naruto to see the last page in the notebook. "I was going to take the last page but..."

It was obviously in Sasuke's hand, but large chunks of the writing on the page was in alphabet letters, whole words that Sakura didn't know mixed in between kana and kanji. They had seen enough of Sasuke's handwriting to be able to tell that this was in the sort of handwriting he used when he was casually writing something down, but between that and the casual mixing and matching it set something ill at ease in Sakura.

Naruto stared at the page. "I— It probably isn't connected to all of this, yeah?" Even as Naruto said it, it wasn't backed with his usual confidence. "That's just— I dunno." He swallowed.

"I'll leave Jiraiya-sama a note," Sakura repeated. She carefully let the pages flutter open, which let her find a blank sheet. She carefully cut it out with the small knife she kept these days in the shaft of her right sandal, and quickly drafted a note for the older man to let them know where they went.

She took it to the kitchen counter, where she set it on top of the notebook. She glanced at Naruto.

He didn't say anything, which was worse than if he had.

Naruto, who was steadfast on letting Sasuke have his privacy and back off from them since their mission to Wave, was willing to let Sasuke's privacy be intruded on.

They left for the administration building. There were still ninja working in the building at their desks, fewer in number than there were desks available, but still there all the same despite the evening hour.

None of them said anything or tried to make her and Naruto stop, even when they headed for the stairs that lead to the tower the Hokage's office was in.

Naruto didn't bother to knock, just barging straight in. "Bā-chan!" he shouted.

Standing at the desk, Kurenai straightened up, in the middle of packing her things away. "She's not here," the older kunoichi said. "She was summoned to the hospital about a half hour ago. What's the matter?"

"Something happened to Sasuke," Naruto told her.

"He was supposed to meet us for dinner. When he didn't show up, we went to his apartment. There were signs of a fight and one of the back windows was broken," Sakura explained.

The woman frowned.

"I'll send someone there to look," Kurenai promised. "Head to the hospital."

"Ero-sennin should already be heading to Sasuke's apartment," Naruto told her. "We don't need more people looking at his apartment! We need to find out what happened!"

"Which an investigation will help with. It's better to have more confirmation, not less."

"But-"

"Come on, Naruto." Sakura grabbed his wrist, and pulled him back out the door. "Thank you, Kurenai-sensei!"

Naruto was visibly upset the whole way to the hospital, and Sakura didn't know what to say.

A street away, they passed by a grocery store and to her surprise, a figure caught up with them.

"What's wrong, kids?" Gai asked. He had full grocery bags hugged to his sides in both arms, and his attention was on Naruto's grim and serious expression. "This can't be because Kakashi left you three behind, is it?"

"That's not funny!" Naruto shouted. "Something happened to Sasuke and we don't know where he is and—" The whisker marks on his cheeks darkened and grew wider for a split second before he forced out a ragged breath and they returned to normal, and Sakura forced herself to not pull away from him.

Gai frowned. The only time Sakura had seen him make that expression was after Sasuke had tried to set Hinata's cousin on fire on her behalf. It didn't help.

"We're trying to find Tsunade-sama to report to her," Sakura said, trying to keep herself calm. Naruto was already upset. She couldn't fall to pieces even if she wanted to. "Kurenai-sensei said she's at the hospital."

"I'll go with you."

He followed them into the hospital's reception lobby, but hung back when Sakura and Naruto went up to the nurse at the desk, silently motioning to the grocery bags he was carrying.

The nurse looked between them. "How may I help you?" she asked.

"We need to speak to Tsunade-sama," Sakura said. "We were told that she's here."

"Hokage-sama gave strict instructions that she isn't to be disturbed for other business when she's doing work in the hospital," the nurse answered.

"It's important!" Naruto insisted.

"There are many things that are important," the nurse agreed, "And one of my jobs is to make sure that the people doing their rounds in the hospital don't get interrupted, especially when that someone is important and doesn't want to be distracted."

"No, it's—"

"Sorry about the problem," Gai spoke up, setting a hand on Sakura's shoulder. When she looked up at him, he was giving the nurse a bright smile. "We were sent here from the Hokage office. I didn't want to step in, but it looks like I should have to begin with, to not waste your time."

"Oh," the nurse went, in a tone that Sakura embarrassingly recognized from herself just earlier this year. The woman leaned forward a bit in a move that Sakura wasn't able to pull off yet. "You were sent from the Hokage office?"

Gai clicked his teeth and smiled. "By Kurenai." He looked down at Sakura and gave her an encouraging head tilt towards the nurse.

She was supposed to help. More information. "Yes, she said Tsunade-sama was summoned to the hospital about a half hour ago."

"Well, she's in surgery right now..."

Gai nodded, and leaned slightly forward. He was making direct eye contact with the nurse, who was entirely focused on him now. "She wouldn't have told us where she was if it wasn't important. I understand you wouldn't want to get in trouble, after all. What's your name...?"

He motioned for them to go with their fingers.

Sakura grabbed Naruto's wrist and pulled him towards the stairs.

She wasn't sure whether to wait for Gai or not.

Inside the stairwell, Naruto looked back and forth, at the door they had just come through and the stairs ahead. "We don't know where we're supposed to go," he said, voice in a low whisper.

"Yes we do," she answered, just as quietly. "They only do surgeries on the upper level floors, and Shizune showed me where the operating rooms are. We just have to get to the right one."

"There's only three floors!"

"Five," she corrected. "They keep the hospital records and the morgue in basement levels."

Naruto shuddered. "There's dead bodies in here?"

"It's a hospital," she pointed out. "Of course there's going to be dead bodies sometimes."

She eyed the stairs.

If they had summoned the Hokage to perform surgery, and it sounded important...

"We'll try the third floor first," she decided. "If it's important enough for them to bring Tsunade-sama in and for the nurse to be making sure no one can get to her it's probably serious. Which means it should be on the third floor."

She had learned that from Shizune, too. The hospital wasn't organized the same way civilian ones outside of the village were. Security and potential flight risks were prioritized instead, depending on the severity of the issue and the ninja concerned, with some rooms kept for mixed security. Choji and Ino had both been kept on the third floor for that reason, with Iruka up there as well to allay Choji's concerns.

It had given her a strange feeling to know that one of the places in the village with the most security was the hospital's maternity ward.

Naruto charged up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

"Naruto! Slow down!" If anything, it only made him go faster. He was going to reach the door before she would, and if this was anything to go by, he was going to rush right into the corridor without her.

She was a full flight below him when she saw a hint of green pass her by, and Gai grabbed Naruto by the shoulder on the platform below the third floor exit.

"How about we think about this before we charge in?" he said.

"We don't have time!"

It gave Sakura enough time to catch up.

"Hmm, I can see why you might think that, but getting thrown out of the hospital will make the whole thing take longer," Gai pointed out.

Naruto huffed. "I guess you're right."

Gai opened the door out onto the third floor, but unlike before, he took the lead, which Sakura was grateful for. After the nurse at the reception desk, she was sure that she'd have even less luck when they were really not supposed to be there.

"Thank you, Gai-sensei," she said, quietly.

He gave her an encouraging smile.

Gai casually flirted and distracted every nurse doing their evening rounds that they came across heading for where the operating rooms were located, and Sakura felt her stomach drop when they crossed into the hallway and the doors were in sight.

Two masked guards were standing outside of one set of doors. Anbu. They had already taken stock of Sakura, Naruto, and Gai, too, both of them looking in their direction.

They were so close, but there was no way they'd be allowed through.

Gai didn't falter, though, and continued heading over, forcing Sakura to trail in his wake.

"Sorry to bother you, but we have a message for Tsunade-sama," Gai said, casually setting his hands on his hips.

"Hokage-sama has requested that no one disturb her while she's working," the closer Anbu answered. His face was hidden by a cat mask, but something about his voice sounded almost familiar to Sakura. It was just muffled enough that she couldn't identify it.

"Well, in that case..." Gai shrugged expansively, and without warning, Sakura felt something at her back, and she was already through the doors and on the operating room floor when she realized what had happened: Gai had kicked her through the doors.

The floor was covered in ink seals, with medic-nin standing at specific points. In the middle was an operating table, Tsunade standing in front of it with even more medic-nin assisting her. Her back was to the doors and Sakura.

"I thought I said no one else was supposed to enter!" Tsunade shouted, without turning to look. There was a brief swell of chakra through the air, so thick and overwhelming that Sakura could feel it.

Sakura did her best to not shake under its weight, standing up.

"Tsunade-sama, Sasuke's apartment was broken into and he's missing. We think something happened," she said. Somehow, she had managed to say that without a quaver.

"What?" Tsunade's voice grew frosty, and the chakra coming from the woman grew even stronger still.

"Kakashi's students were coming from the Hokage office," Gai confirmed.

"His window was br-"

"Shut up," Tsunade ordered, and Naruto fell silent. "Sakura, come here."

Wordlessly, Sakura walked over.

On the operating table was an older boy. Even under the harsh light of the operating room, he was handsome and noble looking, white hair in a halo around his head and two red dots above his brows, matching the red underlining his eyes. His skin was marred by a black ink tattoo that rested in the middle of his chest, just between the collarbones. The three curved lines that met at one point somehow made her feel uneasy, because they were surrounded by symbols leading outwards written in blood.

It was enough that it almost made her not realize that there was a thin incision running down the center of his chest.

"Shizune's said you've shown progress with using medical ninjutsu," Tsunade said.

"Y-yes," Sakura answered, looking up.

Tsunade's face was covered in a thin layer of sweat, and her expression looked strained in a way that gave Sakura the feeling that it wasn't just because of the complexity of whatever they were doing to the boy on the table.

"Help keep him stable for now. I can't do both things at once."

"I— I'll try."

Tsunade grabbed her hands, and set them on the boy's chest, which stopped moving under her hands and a machine in the room started to beep alarmingly for the brief moment it took Sakura to gather her chakra up.

The books on medical ninjutsu from the library all described the same progression. Practice on fish and other simpler creatures and work from there. Reviving fish was supposed to be the first step in the actual practice of medical ninjutsu.

Instead, from the first day, Shizune had taken her down to the river, and forced her to keep a fish alive and healthy without water from the start for as long as she possibly could, all while making Sakura recite through whatever she had learned the previous day about human anatomy. By the time Shizune had left earlier this week on a mission, Sakura was able to keep the fish stable for the handful of early morning hours Shizune had available for her before they both had to rush off to whatever work they had. Shizune hadn't started her on real healing yet.

There was a world of difference between keeping a healthy living fish alive and keeping an obviously dying boy alive.

Tsunade turned away from the operating table and towards Naruto and Gai, and Sakura forced herself to keep her eyes on the boy's chest, counting the rises and falls, trying to ignore the incision.

"This boy was found inside the village walls not too long ago with a scroll that mentioned he was for me," Tsunade said, voice grim.

"You think he was left behind by whoever it was that stole Uchiha Sasuke," Gai answered.

"It's all but confirmed. The wall guards are on alert and Anbu are scouting through the village. He was left on the hospital roof. The brat's lucky. Whoever dropped him off must have really wanted him to live, because the medics on duty barely got him inside and hooked up on life support in time."

Sakura heard the doors open once more, and two different sets of footsteps enter; one normal, and the other clattering wood.

"Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama and I just came from the Uchiha kid's apartment." Anko's voice.

"There was a fight, alright. And whoever took the brat broke through the window to head out," Jiraiya said.

"What's with the body on the table?" Anko's voice took on a serious edge, which made Sakura uncomfortable. The few encounters she had had with the woman since she had taken over Team Eight to help Kurenai, the woman was always cheerful and flippant.

Sakura was pressed in on one side, and she barely avoided moving when Anko jostled her to examine the boy's chest.

"That's Orochimaru's work," Anko said, frowning deeply. "That boy has one of his cursed seals on him. What's he doing here?"

Orochimaru had been fascinated by Sasuke, all the way back in July.

"I told you," Jiraiya said. "I told you he would come for our backs."

Sasuke was not just the cute boy she thought she liked in the academy.

"It hasn't been that long. Let me put together a team to retrieve him," Anko spoke up, turning back to face Tsunade. "They can't have gotten too far. If I bring a few trackers with me we can trace them all the way—"

"No," Tsunade said firmly. "I need you here more. You're one of the few people in the village who understands Orochimaru's organization system. That's the priority."

"Then who's going to bring Sasuke back?" Naruto demanded.

"I'm putting Sakura in charge of that mission."

Sakura lost her focus entirely. "What?" she asked, before she hurriedly tried to regather her chakra for keeping the boy on the table stabilized. Her voice was joined by Jiraiya and Anko's.

"Tsunade-sama," Gai started, voice filled with careful reproach. "Sakura-chan is a new chūnin. I'm not her commander, but Kakashi isn't here and he wouldn't be happy to hear you're putting one of his students in charge of a mission like this without his input."

"The manning situation in the village isn't bad enough to put a thirteen year old chūnin in charge of a mission where she could wind up dealing with that bastard," Jiraiya spoke up. "What the hell do you think you're trying to pull? Let me go and deal with him."

"No," Tsunade answered. "If this ends up in an encounter with Orochimaru, you'll only make it worse. He's being annoying, but he's not what we need to focus on. We have bigger problems than him." She paused for a brief moment. "This is a challenge for Sakura. Shizune's kept me up to date on her progress. If she wants to show that she truly wants to be my apprentice, she'll take the mission."

"Tsunade..."

"Actions have consequences. I want her to prove to me that she understands what the outcomes can be and that she's willing to make hard decisions if they're necessary."

Hard decisions. If she was really put in charge of this, if anything happened to whoever she chose, if anything happened to Sasuke... It would be all her fault.

"You're gambling on putting a thirteen year old against Orochimaru. Do you know how crazy you sound right now?"

How was she supposed to do anything against whoever had the capability to sneak into the village and kidnap Sasuke?

This was just the punishment she thought Kakashi had taken for her, delivered months later.

"I've told you already, Orochimaru and I have an understanding."

"What understanding leads to this?"

"This boy— Kimimaro— is supposed to be an inauguration gift." Tsunade's voice had turned wry. "For my appointment as Godaime Hokage."

"That's a sick joke, not a gift."

"He's on the cusp of death. Orochimaru wasn't able to figure out what was wrong with him. He has a rare kekkei genkai, and is the last of the Kaguya clan."

"That bastard decided to trade?" His reply was filled with disbelief, and followed by a harsh laugh.

"He's an idiot like that."

None of this was making Sakura feel any better.

Tsunade continued. "She has two options. She can try to catch up with the kidnappers and retrieve Sasuke from them, or she can track them to wherever Orochimaru is hiding and negotiate with him herself. If she accepts, I'll send her with a letter from me regardless."

A letter. She would have a letter and whoever she selected. Not any jōnin or even more experienced chūnin or—

Sakura startled herself to realize she was already thinking of it in terms of having agreed, when Tsunade hadn't even put it like that to begin with.

She took a breath to center herself, to make sure she wouldn't lose track of what she was doing at the same time. "I accept."

"You can't seriously—"

"She's made her decision, Jiraiya." Tsunade stepped back towards the table. The glisten of sweat on her face had disappeared. "I'll take over now."

There was no delay or pause with Tsunade taking over, unlike when Sakura had earlier.

Anko, Jiraiya, Gai, and Naruto were all staring at her expectantly, the faces of the adults all filled with not just concern, but disappointment as well.

If her choices were to catch up and fight or follow and negotiate...

Orochimaru thought she was just meant as a distraction for Naruto if the demon broke loose so Sasuke and Kakashi could subdue it.

His killing intent had been overpowering in the forest. He had played with them there, and could have easily killed them all.

Orochimaru had killed the Sandaime Hokage.

Tsunade and Jiraiya were supposed to be just as strong.

Jiraiya had made it clear that he did not want the responsibility of being Hokage.

Tsunade had been willing to accept it.

Tsunade had called this mission a challenge.

That meant she thought Sakura had a chance to succeed in some way or another.

"If I'm supposed to do this... I'm going to need people who can track, are versatile and can strategize, but also won't jeopardize it if we have to approach Orochimaru," she said, swallowing.

"Tenten has a good head on her shoulders, out of my genin," Gai spoke, drawing out his words. He was giving her a meaningful look.

Sakura didn't reply immediately.

"Am I allowed to pick who I want?" she asked.

"Within reason," Tsunade answered, after a slow delay. She had returned her focus to whatever she and the rest of the medic-nin were doing to the boy to save him. Kimimaro.

'Within reason' probably meant that her selections would be limited. Tsunade had mentioned she would send her with a letter.

Tsunade was expecting them— her— to have to interact with Orochimaru regardless.

Gai was watching her expectantly.

The thought of Hinata's cousin being in a position where he could open his mouth and say something to Orochimaru made her wince, and the same with Lee.

Both boys thought with their fists before anything else.

"Tenten is a great choice if she's willing," Sakura decided. Gai had helped her and Naruto get into the hospital to begin with. He was also obviously Kakashi's friend and was trying to stand in for him. Having Tenten come for his peace of mind was the most she could do in return for his assistance.

"What about me?" Naruto asked.

"Of course you're coming," she answered. Not just because Naruto was obvious, but that if she tried to leave him behind, not only would he probably never forgive her, he'd try to catch up, anyways.

Tracking, versatility, and wouldn't endanger negotiations… Sakura bit her lip. The other genin she had been working with had been an eyeopener to the differences between them and her old classmates, and she didn't know very many chūnin yet. Not well enough to ask for this kind of mission.

Team Eight had a focus on tracking. She had heard Shino talk strategy while they waited on the sidelines for their matches for the tournament and he had his bugs, and Hinata had the Byakugan and none of the foul attitude her cousin had. Kiba and his mouth, though… Kiba would get them into trouble.

And on Team Ten… Sakura didn't want to test her ability to lead against Shikamaru and his attitude, not when he was giving a full jōnin problems. Ino had mentioned as much and complained, when they had made time to hang out and Ino was having one of her good days. He was smart, but that would just make it worse if he decided to not listen to her. Chōji took Shikamaru's lead reluctantly. It would be better to go without both boys.

"And if it's possible… I want Hyūga Hinata, Aburame Shino, and Yamanaka Ino, as well."

Anko crossed her arms, frowning at Sakura. "No way are you going to be taking—"

"Anko, quiet," Tsunade ordered. "You're assisting Kurenai with her students, not replacing her. If their clan heads agree, they can be on the mission, but I'm not going to have a repeat of the exams; I'm not Sarutobi-sensei. Anko, go brief the members of Team Kurenai that she selected. Gai can handle his student."

That left only one set left.

Jiraiya aimed an unhappy glare at Tsunade's back. "You're really going to make me talk to Yamanaka Inoichi over this?"

"And send messages afterwards," Tsunade agreed. "Where will they rendezvous?"

After a delay, Sakura realized that was to her. She and Naruto needed to not just pack, but eat too, and she'd have to give a full briefing on what they were going to do— and she needed to come up with something— when they met up. Even if they would know what the mission was for, Sakura was still going to have to make decisions. "In the main academy yard in two hours," she said out loud.

"Sakura, Naruto, stay here," Tsunade said. "The rest of you go."

Anko left, still visibly unhappy, and Jiraiya after her.

Gai took a long look at her and Naruto. "Just make sure that whatever choices you make aren't ones you'll regret making." He gave them an encouraging smile and then left.

"Take back over while I draft a letter," Tsunade demanded, and Sakura returned to her earlier position. This time there was no skipping in keeping his vitals steady, and Tsunade's face was covered in a light sheen of sweat again.

The amount of writing in blood had increased, as had the incisions, but the earlier one on his chest was gone like it had never been there to begin with.

Behind her, Tsunade called the Anbu inside from their posts, and asked one of them for paper, of all things. After a few minutes of counting— keeping track of heart beats and breaths— there was a sound of fabric being torn.

A rolled up scroll was jabbed into her hands and she was replaced once more. The paper felt warm and stiff under her touch, and it was tied together by a strip of green fabric that she recognized from Tsunade's haori, neatly finished in a bow.

"That will prove it's from me," Tsunade said, voice filled with a kind of amusement that Sakura couldn't understand. Her eyes flicked down to look at Sakura for a moment. "Shizune's mission took her in the same direction. If you don't retrieve him before you reach the border or Orochimaru, seek her out. It won't impact my decision if you do. Now go."

She was stopped before they left by the Anbu in the cat mask, who unstrapped the sword on his back and placed it in her hands. "Don't break it this time."

"Tenzō-sensei?"

Sakura got shoved out the doors without an answer, and right into Jiraiya, who was lurking in the corridor. There was no one else in sight.

He pulled Sasuke's notebook out and held it up to her and Naruto. "I'll take care of this," he said. "Don't bring it up." With that, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving her and Naruto alone.

A shadow clone.

Naruto looked at her expectantly.

"Go pack and make sure to eat something filling," she said. "I think… it's going to be a long night."

He nodded.

They left the hospital in awkward silence and split off at the doors.

Sakura scrubbed the gloss from her lips before she reached the door of her house.

The lights were already on. Her parents had come home in the middle of everything.

She let herself in. Inside, her parents were cuddling on the couch, with the television on.

"Sakura, there you are," her mom said. "I thought your note said you were going to be out still?"

"There was a change of plans," she said, skirting the truth. Her parents were still unhappy about how exams had gone, even though they had invited some of her father's civilian cousins from the capital to come to the tournament. Even with the attack, as far as she was aware, those cousins had been impressed by everything, if scandalized that Sakura, at thirteen, had been part of the defensive forces. "I have a mission. I didn't get to eat, can you make me something before I go? I can't pack and cook something at the same time," she pleaded as she pulled off her sandals. If they hadn't been here, she would have gone up the stairs without bothering to take them off.

"A mission? This late at night?" Her dad frowned, and he moved to turn the television off. "I thought they changed it so underage shinobi don't get missions with late-night starts these days. And is that another sword? I hope you aren't planning on breaking this one, too," he joked.

"I'm a chūnin now," Sakura pointed out. "That limit only applies to jōnin-sensei. Tsunade-sama assigned me to this mission personally. And I'm not going to break this one." The cat-masked Anbu who may or may not have been Tenzō would probably not be very happy if she did.

"Well, chūnin-san," her mom said as she stood up, "I'll make you something you can eat on the move. Make sure you tidy your room before it's time for you to leave. And you left clothes in the bathroom again," she scolded.

Sakura resisted the urge to react, whether to laugh or scream or something. She was being sent off on what was probably going to be at least an A-rank with the expectation that she was going to have to negotiate with the missing-nin that killed the previous Hokage, and she was being lectured on dirty clothes. "I'll pick them up," she promised, and she ran up the stairs before her expression could give anything away.

She was mostly through with braiding her hair when she realized that Gai had been hinting that she should have asked if he would be willing to join the mission. The mission leader was the mission leader, and higher ranking ninja could still be under lower ranked ninja.

"Aaaah! That was so stupid!" She punched one of her pillows, sending up a little spurt of feathers.

She dropped onto the bed and hugged the pillow close as hot tears ran down her face. "How am I supposed to save Sasuke if I couldn't even think of something like that…"

Sakura gave herself a few minutes to feel pathetic before she tied her hair off and finished getting changed. Sports bra instead of the nice one she had put on, and then the mesh armor shirt over that, and finally her dress and armor gloves.

She took the time after that to pick up her room and grab the dirty clothes from the bathroom before she packed, and washed the tears from her face. If she came back alive, her mom wouldn't let her live down leaving a dirty room behind. If she died, her mom would still probably bring it up anyways.

It was surprising how much faster she packed now, compared to their first— and so far only— mission out of the village. She made sure to position everything for a medical kit and water containers at the top, and enough room for the bento. Tsunade's message she made sure went in a different compartment.

Sakura strapped the sword to her back and made sure her pack wouldn't get in the way of pulling it out before heading back down the stairs.

As she stepped into the kitchen, her mom was putting onigiri into the last of three bento boxes. "For the boys, too," she said. While her mom was still uncomfortable around Naruto, she was trying.

Sakura forced a smile on her face. "I'm sure they'll enjoy it." She quickly filled the bamboo water holders before pushing them into her bag, doing her best to make room for the extra bento boxes. It all barely fit.

She hugged both of her parents hard at the genkan.

"I love you," she told them.

"What happened to us being too nosy?" her dad said, and her mom elbowed him.

"Not right now," her mother scolded. "Do you know how long you'll be gone?"

Sakura shook her head.

Her mom misinterpreted it completely. "Remember to ask about that next time. You really did get promoted too soon…"

"Make sure to rest when you can, Sakura," her dad said.

"She'll rest when she's able to, she's not lazy like you are."

She left them still bickering behind her.

To her horror and embarrassment, despite arriving an hour early, she wasn't just the last person to get to the main academy yard, but everyone else's teammates had shown up as well. Instead of the five other people she had expected, there were ten, concentrated around the swings, with Naruto in his old spot, fiddling with something she couldn't quite make out in the dark at first.

"What are you all doing here?" she asked, letting the shock enter her voice now that she wasn't in front of any adults.

"It's not my fault," Naruto spoke up.

Shikamaru let out a grunt. "Our dads sent us to see you guys off," he said, motioning at Chōji.

"That's why Neji and I are here too, Sakura-chan," Lee added. "Gai-sensei let me know."

Judging from Neji's expression which was focused on Hinata, and the fact that Hinata was steadfastly ignoring her cousin, Sakura wasn't sure that was the real reason for Neji, at least.

"Take me with you," Kiba demanded. Akamaru barked. Unlike the others, Kiba had a pack on his back.

"What? No! This isn't going to be fun," Sakura said.

"I know that," Kiba answered. "But you're really going to take Shino and Hinata and leave me behind?"

"Kiba was with me when Anko-sensei showed up," Shino explained.

She groaned.

"Why would I want to take you with me when you aren't even listening to me in the first place?" she asked.

Kiba had no good answer for that.

Sakura let out a breath of air. "I need to give a real briefing, don't I?"

"Unless you want the whole thing to get screwed up, yeah," Shikamaru said. He shoved his hands into his pockets, giving a meaningful look at Ino.

"Shut up, Shikamaru," Naruto said, before Sakura could respond.

"It's just advice," the other boy muttered.

"Stop it," Sakura said. "This is my mission to brief, I don't need your help." This was going awfully and she hadn't even started yet.

"Fine."

"Sasuke was taken from his apartment two to three hours ago by unknown intruders that were sent by Orochimaru," she began. "The goal of this mission is to retrieve him." Before anything could happen to him. "Tsunade-sama believes that it is possible to negotiate with him to retrieve Sasuke."

"She wants you to talk with that guy? Really?" Kiba asked.

Sakura resisted biting her lip and tried to ignore Kiba. "Our priorities will be to track the intruders, identify how much of a threat they are, and follow them to wherever Orochimaru is if they're too dangerous to confront on their own. Our team has permission to request Shizune's— Tsunade-sama's assistant— help if we don't take Sasuke back before we exit Fire.

"Shino, your bugs are able to track scent, right?"

"Not as well as some varieties or Akamaru—"

"See, you need me!"

"—But they'll be able to keep us in the right direction as long as we don't stray too far off the trail, which should be possible if it's as fresh as you say."

Kiba shot Shino a betrayed look.

That was all Sakura needed to know. She had the right idea.

"Then we'll head to Sasuke's apartment first to start tracking from there."

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"What is it?"

"I have a different idea that could get us Sasuke back faster."

He got off the swing and walked over to her, holding up what he had been messing around with in the first place for everyone to see.

It was the tri-pronged kunai he had taken with him on the trip, spending their downtime in the hotel rooms when Jiraiya was gone copying the writing on it repeatedly.

Everyone else slowly gathered a bit closer to examine it as well.

"What's it supposed to do?" she asked, suddenly wary. Suddenly the fact that he had kept it hidden from Jiraiya the whole trip didn't seem so minor after all.

"The Yondaime used it to teleport," he said, voice filled with nervous eagerness. "I'm pretty sure it's just fuinjutsu and—"

"I don't think it's a good idea."

"Sakura-chan, if it can get us to Sasuke right now, just, look, I copied the seal on Sasuke, too, we should give it a chance!"

He held the kunai up.

I was woken up by yelling, a press of bodies, and a knee or elbow pressed into one of my kidneys, and another in the small of my back. I tried to sit up. I couldn't move. I needed to move. Pinned. Dark. Trapped. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Pain blossomed in my bad shoulder from trying to force myself up, angry and hot to the point I couldn't feel my fingers on that arm, just the pin and needle numbness under the pain. "What the fuck—" Where the fuck was my phone? Even in the middle of trying to not have a panic attack, I could make out distinct, familiar voices. No.

"That better not be a hand where I think it is!" No.

"Oh no—" No.

"Chōji, move!" No. No. This can't be happening.

"Naruto, where the hell did you send us?" No. No. No. This can't be real.

"I don't know, it should have taken us right to Sasuke!" No no no no no.

Something— someone— shifted and I was able to move, failing and kicking, ignoring protests, until my head hit the headboard, scrambling and shoving myself into a sitting position where I could actually try to see. The room was dark— not quite pitch at whatever hour it must have been, with the blinds closed— but I could make out figures on the rest of the bed, and a few around it. I wasn't sure I wanted to, even as I grappled for the bedside lamp. One uneasy attempt later, it switched on. The noise that came out of my throat was a strangled laugh.

The Konoha Eleven were, in varied states of disarray and tanglement, in my bedroom, Naruto in the middle, kneeling on the bed with a kunai. Ino was staring at me.

I gripped a pillow. "This can't be happening, this can't be happening..." This was it. I had finally cracked.

Shikamaru glanced at me dismissively as he removed himself from the twist of bedding before turning towards Naruto. "You landed us in some civilian's bedroom!"

"We're so sorry about this," Sakura said, looking as apologetic as she could. "It's okay, we aren't going to do anything."

"Yeah, lady, we didn't mean to end up here!" Naruto chimed in. He stuffed the kunai into his leg holster as he tried to shuffle backwards to get off the bed without standing on it.

"This isn't real, this isn't real, you're just fictional..."

Onwards with Nano! Off I go. So far I'm keeping up with par, and it'd be great to hit a full 50k for the month. For those of you who also use AO3, the fic is being updated earlier there, and has more side pieces uploaded.