here we are again! sorry for the long wait between chapters, however, I have resigned myself to being able to publish about one a month if that much - school sucks ass, lemme tell you that.

as always, thank you so much for the wonderful feedback from last chapter and all of you who've favourited and followed this story!

hope you enjoy~!

Dear Sakura-san,

I'm sorry that it took me so long to get in touch – Mei-sama has decided that I should try my hand at the next Jounin Exams so I've been training for that the last couple of months. Nevertheless, I hope to find you well. I am pleased to announce that I can already see improvements after Konoha merchants were allowed on our land, so I'd like to thank you for this as well. How have you been since leaving Kiri? Is your guardian well?

Please find enclosed the official emblem of our Village, which will indicate that you are an Ambassador. Mei-sama was going to send it to your Hokage but I requested to send it to you personally. I hope you don't mind.

P.S. I expect that this letter will reach you around the time of your birthday, in which case I would like to wish you a very happy birthday and I hope that you enjoy the gift attached.

I hope to see you again soon,

Yours,

Chōjūrō

Sakura stared at the letter for a few more seconds as the tears that threatened to fall stung her eyes. She handed the letter over to Genma who had been looking curiously over her shoulder as she shuffled through the other contents of the envelope. True to Choujuro's word, underneath the Kirigakure insignia she found small drawstring bag and a rolled up piece of paper poking out of it.

She shook out the contents of the bag onto her hand and was surprised to find an intricate headdress, with delicate silver bells and thin threads which formed a net that connected it all to a small hairclip. It was truly a wonderful piece of jewellery but Sakura wondered what the bluenette was thinking of, gifting something so beautiful and fragile to kunoichi. Curiously, she unrolled the piece of paper attached to the gift and couldn't stop the amused chuckle that escaped her.

I realise this may be seen as a stereotypical gift, or largely impractical for a shinobi, which is why I wrote this as well: the bells will not ring unless you touch them and channel chakra into the metal, in which case they will produce a low-rank auditory genjutsu. I tried to find a compromise between beauty and usefulness. I hope you like what I came up with.

Sakura smiled, unable to believe how thoughtful her friend was. She turned to Genma, excited grin on her face, only to see that he was scowling at the letter.

"Genma? You alright?" she asked carefully, snapping him out of his daze.

"I don't like you interacting with a boy not from Konoha." The tokujo announced, startling the rosette so much she snorted. Genma glared at her for the reaction then his scowl deepened. "Actually, I don't like you interacting with any boy at all."

The absurdity of the declaration made Sakura blink owlishly at the man, then burst out laughing. It took Genma a moment but then the reality of what he'd just said caught up to him and he flushed a bright red, covering his face in embarrassment. "Oh, Kami, Aoba was right I'm turning into an actual mother what the fuck." He moaned, which only served to send the rosette into a renewed laughing fit.

With tears coming out of her eyes and her cheeks flushed a bright pink from her laughter, Sakura calmed down enough to pat his arm reassuringly and grin cheekily.

"I have yet to meet this 'Aoba' you're talking about, but if I ever do I assure you, he'll be the first to know about this incident." She giggled, snorting when Genma shot her a baleful glare through the spaces between his fingers. "Oh, quit your pity-party, I've got a job for you, c'mon." She dragged the brunet over to the sofa and sat him down, then disappeared into her bedroom. She came out with a brush and her hair free of its usual ponytail, then sat down on the floor in front of Genma and held out the brush and the hair pin from Choujuro. "Make yourself useful and put this in for me please?"

She felt Genma hesitate. When he took the brush from her, his fingers were unsure, gentle. "Are you sure?" he murmured, and Sakura felt completely reassured that she made the right decision.

"Yeah," she replied quietly, and then, because their relationship wasn't theirs workout some snark, she added "it's been forever since someone brushed my hair for me, I'm bored of doing it myself."

And Genma chuckled quietly, but obligingly set to combing out the kinks in her hair. Sakura closed her eyes, allowing herself to enjoy this rare commodity; she couldn't remember when the last time she'd experienced it had been. Logically, she knew it was back when her parents had been alive, but it must've been even before her Academy Graduation. She pried her eyes open when she felt a familiar tugging at the side of her scalp. "Genma, are you… braiding my hair?" she asked incredulously, trying to twist round to look him in the eye.

The tokujo urged her still, then sighed. "Sorry, I should've asked. I thought you'd fallen asleep is all." He explained, and even without seeing him, Sakura knew he'd shrugged.

"No, no, it's not that. I was merely surprised you knew how to braid hair." She replied teasingly, and was wholly unprepared when the brunet snorted and shot back;

"Would you believe be if I said I once had longer hair than now?"

Sakura tried to imagine it, but she couldn't master a response more coherent than, "What."

Luckily, Genma didn't begrudge her her poor imagination and merely laughed. "I lost a bet when I was around seventeen, and obviously I was too damn cocky to forfeit it. So, I ended up growing my hair out for six months. Had it down to the top of my shoulder blades before Rai took mercy on me." He lightly tugged at her hair. "I still dunno how kunoichi manage it. Long hair is a pain in the ass for a ninja."

Sakura shrugged, but there was a grin on her face. "Back at the Academy, Ino used to swing her ponytail and smack people in the face with it. It was quite fun to watch." She divulged, and they lapsed into momentary silence before they both burst out laughing at the mental image.

"Alright, alright, stop distracting me, I gotta finish this." Genma grouched and went back to work. A few minutes later, he let out a satisfied sigh and clapped. "There you go." Curious, Sakura was about to run a hand through her hair to get a feel for her new hairstyle, but Genma tutted. "No touching! I'm not redoing it!"

The rosette shot him an annoyed glare but obligingly got up in search of a mirror. She had to admit, Genma wasn't half bad; he'd separated her bangs down the middle and platted them loosely with the hair at the side, giving the braids an appearance of a crown. He'd then gathered the rest into her usual ponytail and gently pushed the hairpin under the base of the ponytail, letting the bells cascade down to her shoulder blades though managing to largely hide them from view.

Sakura had to admit, she was impressed.

And then, she just couldn't resist. "Now all you need is an apron and you'll be a perfect kaa-san!" she called back into the lounge teasingly, then shrieked as one of the couch cushions smacked into the wall just above her head. "Sofa cushions aren't throwing weapons, damn it!" she screeched, then peaked into the lounge when it went suspiciously silent.

"Put that kunai down or I swear to god-!"

Dear Chōjūrō-kun,

Don't worry about the delay! I've been busy as well so I really don't mind! J And wow, jounin exams! That's incredible! You're amazingly talented so I'm sure you will do just fine.

I've been good! I've had to do a month of D-Ranks as punishment by Tsunade-sama, but against all odds, it was actually really beneficial. I'm so so glad you're already seeing improvements; that shows the treaty is working, right? I wonder when we'll be able to see something here. Mei-sama did mention something about a graduate exchange program while we were there, or did I make that up?

My guardian was actually the reason I got the month of D-Ranks, but that's a story for another time. I officially live with him now! Yay~! (I'm looking into selling my old parents' house right now – did you know how many stupid forms I have to fill?)

Of course I don't mind you sending me the headband – if anything, I'm flattered. That brings me onto my question – are you going to be an Ambassador to Konoha, or were you really just our escort? If you are, did you get your Konoha headband already? I'd feel a bit cheated if you did – I wanted to send you yours with a present as well.

That brings me onto your present! I honestly cannot thank you enough! It's beautiful, and practical, and I can't stop playing with the bells; I have yet to test the genjutsu, but you'll be the first to know when I do. (it got to me a week before my birthday – thank you for the wishes though!)

As I was writing this I realised that I don't actually know when your birthday is. Or what your favourite food is. Somehow, that seemed like a gaping hole in my knowledge, so enlighten me, pretty please?

I hope you're well,

Sakura

When Sakura made her way over to the hospital the next morning, a spring in her step, notebook under her arm and a happy smile on her face, she was not expecting to be met outside by the Godaime's assistant.

"It's good to see you again, Sakura-san, especially now that we're in far less pressing circumstances." Shizune greeted and offered her a friendly smile, which Sakura could not help reciprocating.

"I couldn't agree more," she replied, walking over to stand next to the brunette. "Thank you for coming to meet me, I was worried I'd get hopelessly lost." she added jokingly, and decided not to mention how that had been one of her genuine concerns the previous night.

Shizune merely laughed. "It was per Tsunade-sama's instruction. She wants to conduct a 'quick quiz' I believe she called it, before you get started."

Sakura paled. "Quiz? But I haven't even started learning yet!" she exclaimed, but Shizune merely shot her a sympathetic smile.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-san, even I don't know what she has planned."

It turned out that what Tsunade had planned was an on-the-spot test of Sakura's existing medical knowledge. A test conducted by Tsunade herself.

"If you've got a patient who's bleeding out the chest and head, which do you stop first?"

"I don't know, Tsunade-sama." Sakura responded meekly.

"Guess!" the blonde barked.

"Uh, the head? That seems more dangerous."

"Wrong! What good is a healed external head wound if your patient has just drowned in their own blood?"

"What's a more dangerous break for an active shinobi – the patella or the lumbar vertebrae?"

"I don't know."

"Who do you treat first – a burn victim or a near-drowning victim?"

"I don't know."

And so it went on and on for about five minutes. Every once in a while, Sakura would try to actually work out an answer, or she'd recall something from the Academy and answer correctly, but for the most part, the rosette was getting progressively more frustrated while Tsunade all the more smug. Until-

"If your patient isn't breathing, but there's nothing wrong with his lungs, what do you need to focus on?"

"Their brain." Sakura replied, mind going back to the medical texts she'd devoured just after Wave, when she was working out how to better cast her illusions.

Tsunade seemed surprised, but she masked it quickly. "And what part?"

"The brain stem." The rosette recalled, confidence surging. "The medulla in particular, I believe."

Tsunade blinked slowly. "Correct." She mumbled, her eyes narrowing. "And if you've fixed up every wound, but they're slurring their words?"

"Stimulate the temporal lobe."

"A patient came to you from the battlefield. You've patched him up, sent him off home for rest and given him a week's time to report back. He comes back a completely different person, shows evidence of impaired judgement and substance abuse. What did you miss?"

Sakura paused, then stared at her Hokage incredulously. Mood-swings. She's asking about the cause of mood-swings. "There's probably damage to the frontal lobe. In that case… unseen blunt force trauma to the head?"

Slowly, Tsunade nodded. And then, the questions resumed.

When they were finally done, Sakura was very tempted to hang her head and forget about being a med-nin, she felt so embarrassed. But then, Tsunade walked up to her and lightly patted her head.

"Not bad, kid." She declared with a smirk, and Sakura shot her an incredulous look, at which she scowled. "Don't give me that look! You owned up when you didn't know something instead of trying to bullshit an answer, you got a couple basic ones right and you aced the part about the brain. Which is curious, 'cause most greenies get it the other way round – ace the physical, visible problems and cures and completely flunk the part about the brain." in Sakura's mind, that was code for 'what makes you different?'

She shrugged, uncomfortable with the attention. "I'm a genjutsu-type. I read about the brain when I was first looking into illusions. Guess that some of what I read stayed with me."

Tsunade gave her a measuring look, then smirked. "In any case, here's a reading list." She handed Sakura a list of books and scrolls with over thirty titles on them. "I expect you to be ready for a pop-quiz by the end of the month. Then I'll give you the next one."

This is… insane.

"Now kid, are you ready for the real deal?"

Sakura went home that day smelling of fish guts and frustrated as all hell. She didn't even get to actually work with medical chakra! Tsunade had just pawned her off on a nurse and told her to 'observe and do chakra exercises'. The nurse took mercy on her after about an hour, when she saw Sakura essentially fly through the exercises and set her on the basics of a chakra scalpel.

Needless to say, the rosette had struggled, but according to the Shimizu-san, she was making good progress.

And so a week went by, mornings spent in the hospital while late afternoons were spent poring over medical texts, and the evenings with Genma in what had become 'their' time. By the end of the week, Sakura hadn't felt like she'd made much progress – Tsunade had stopped her work on the chakra scalpel and got her started on actually trying to summon medical chakra. While by the sixth day Sakura's hand had the right shade of green chakra around it, the moment she'd let her hand hover over the fish she'd been tasked with operating on, steam rose up and the fish stopped moving, dead, its internal organs boiled. Sakura had been stumped while Tsunade amused; the blonde then proceeded to lecture her on the importance of modulating chakra to the body temperature of the organism she was working on, as well as trying to sync up the 'wavelengths' of her chakra to that of her patient's system, or else she'd do more harm than good, as demonstrated with the fish. Tsunade then revealed that this was what took medics the longest time to learn and was precisely why nothing short of perfect chakra control was required if one wanted to become a successful med-nin. Most people weren't even aware that their chakra ran on a wavelength, much less knew how to manipulate it. Feeling dejected and only just realising that the six months she'd set herself might have been idiotically optimistic, Sakura had nodded and promised to carry on with her reading to hopefully augment her practical work.

Then, on the seventh day, Tsunade had grinned.

"You get tomorrow off – happy birthday, brat."

The morning of her thirteenth birthday dawned quietly. Sakura crawled out of bed as usual, only to snap awake at a familiar sweet smell coming from the kitchen. She stumbled out into the lounge and peered into the room, a smile growing on her face at the scene that greeted her: Genma was standing by the stove which was splattered with pancake batter, still in his pyjamas and with a navy apron tied around his waist, hair pulled back with an elastic band, signature bandana absent. The entire scene was awfully domestic and Sakura could feel her smile grow.

"Morning," Genma called, turning away from the stove to shoot her a cheerful grin and the rosette giggled when she noted that he had pancake batter on his forehead. "there's dango on the table for you." He told her, and Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Dango for breakfast?" she questioned curiously, and a look at the table showed her that, indeed, there was a stick of mitarashi dango on a plate, waiting for her.

Genma shrugged. "It's your birthday – you're allowed sweets for breakfast once a year." He teased and Sakura laughed.

"I don't think Tsunade-sama would agree." She replied, thinking to the woman's surprisingly strict attitude towards a proper diet.

This time, the tokujo shot her a mischievous grin. "What Tsunade-sama doesn't see doesn't hurt her." He said, then added, "Though I am glad that she gave you a day off. Makes it easier to do what I had planned."

At this, Sakura's other eyebrow rose to meet the first. "You had something planned?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah. I wasn't sure what to get you for a present so I decided that we'd just spend the day doing whatever you want. Though, really, we do that every day anyway." He added teasingly, but Sakura couldn't help feeling touched.

Then, an idea came to mind.

"I… I actually have an idea of what I would like from you." She admitted hesitantly, and Genma turned to her with a curious 'hm?' "It would be better if you stepped away from the stove though… it's- it's quite serious." The glance Genma shot her was wary, but he obediently flipped the last pancake and switched off the stove, pulling off the apron before he came to sit down on the sofa, twisting his head up to look Sakura in the eye.

"Go on?"

The rosette took a deep breath. "I have a question for you, before I tell you about the thing." When the brunet nodded his acquiesce, she barrelled on. "What's going to happen to you now that Namiashi-san is on paternity leave?"

Genma looked surprised. "I, uh, I don't know, kid, what brought this on?" but when Sakura shot him a look, he frowned but tried to answer. "As far as I know, I'll still be sent on the missions I used to be sent on after the Yondaime- well. Before Raido became my partner." He amended quickly, and Sakura knew what that meant. "I'll probably deal with more high-profile targets now since I'm likely to get pulled back into ANBU as assassination is not the most popular branch of the shinobi arts, surprisingly. Why do you ask?"

But Sakura had to get something clear before she could answer. "So, more frequent, more dangerous assassination missions?" and at Genma's 'essentially, yeah' she sighed and bit her lip. "And… what would happen if you got a new partner?"

She knew she'd pushed too far when the brunet's eyes narrowed. Damn him and his intuition. "Kid, whatever you're sitting on, just come out and say it. This 'beating around the bush' deal you've got going on is making me nervous."

Sakura snorted at the statement then resigned herself to simply telling him what had been nagging at her.

"What if I became your partner?" she forced out quickly, knowing Genma had understood by the widening of his eyes, but she cut him off before he could say anything. "I mean, I know I'd have to become a jounin first, I've realised that, and I know that I'd have essentially no experience compared to you and I know that it's really arrogant of me to even suggest it, but I just thought, y'know, from all the stories you've told me about your missions and your time in the Yondaime's Guard Platoon, I just thought that I could complement you, I guess? Our fighting styles go together quite well, actually, and if I were your partner then I'd always know what happened to you and we wouldn't have to go through the whole 'trip to the hospital then avoiding each other' fiasco again and you'd be able to do the same for me and I just- yeah." She trailed off when she noticed Genma's eyes have narrowed again, but there was also a small smile on his face.

"That's why you started learning medical jutsu, isn't it? For me?" when Sakura blushed, he shook his head in disbelief. "Just how long have you been thinking about this?"

The rosette fidgeted under his keen gaze. "I… I overheard you, Iwashi-san and Namiashi-san in the hospital after you were attacked by the Sound Four." She admitted hesitantly, wincing when Genma's eyes widened again. "It's been on my mind since then, and after that time when I found you in here, wounded and delirious, I just, I just thought I never wanted to see that again, you know? So I thought – 'what could I do?' and, well. I hope you don't mind."

Genma seemed to assess her for a moment, then, to Sakura's surprise, he smiled in a very familiar, self-deprecating manner, but there was worry in his eyes. "Would you want that, though? You know of the kind of work I do probably better than most. Would you really want that for yourself?"

Sakura squared her shoulders and wondered when her birthday became 'honesty hour'. "What I want for myself is knowledge that if somebody I care for is hurt, I have done everything I could to help them. I want someone I can work and get along with, during and outside of battle. I want someone I can trust. But most importantly, I never want to see you bleeding out on our couch again when I didn't even know you were home." She refused to be embarrassed at her words. "I know that being an assassin is not easy. I know that I'd have to let go of some of my morals in order to be able to fall asleep at night. I know that we'd have to work together a lot before we even went on any missions, if you decided to agree. But I also know that I'd do all that and more to ensure that I'll never have to see that scene again."

When she finished, Genma was staring at her with a mix of amusement and wonder. "You really are something else." He murmured at last, then followed it with a nigh hysterical mutter of 'I must be mad', but he stood up and came to stand right in front of Sakura. He gently laid a hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her. "If you want to get to jounin, I'll help you every step of the way. If, after that, you still want to be my partner, I'll be there too. But I want you to know that there's no rush – I'm not quite ready to die just yet, and it'll take more than what you saw to bring me down. You can still enjoy your childhood, or what's left of it anyway."

Sakura smiled back at him, touched, but then her smile morphed into a grin. "I can't exactly enjoy my childhood if I'm worrying about you the whole time, old man." She teased, and delighted in the way Genma's eyes narrowed.

"You cheeky shit." And then, quicker than she could blink, he flung a bag of flour in her face.

Sakura squawked once the dust settled and zeroed in on his triumphant smirk. Not thinking of much more than revenge, she dashed into the kitchen, grabbed the closest thing she could find, and lobbed it at Genma's head. The sound of an egg breaking and spilling all over Genma's hair was almost enough to overcome her disgust when the tomato thrown in retaliation splattered all over her chest.

"You're on!"

In the afternoon, after they've spent the better part of three hours tidying up the kitchen and fighting for first shower, Sakura went to the Hokage's office. Shizune seemed surprised to see her but quickly wished her a happy birthday and let her in.

When Tunade's eyes landed on her, though, she scowled. "Kid, I gave you a day off from the hospital for a reason. Not so you could track me down to my office to get me to teach you." She rebuked, and Sakura smiled.

"Sorry, Tsunade-sama." She apologised reflexively, then added, "But that's not why I'm here."

At the blonde's raised eyebrow, Sakura smiled wryly. "I wanted to know what I would need to do to get recommended for the next Jounin Exams." She explained with more confidence than she felt, and nearly winced when the Godaime's eyes widened at the unexpected query.

But Tsunade recovered quickly – she eyed Sakura critically then sighed. "From your posture, I'm assuming that asking why is pointless, and trying to discourage you would be an exercise in stupidity. Very well. Before you're even considered for a recommendation, you have to complete a certain number of missions for each rank. Then you have to choose a field of specialisation; most jounin are decently proficient in more than one area, true, but they still have a field they started out with. Then there're references from your superiors you'd have to submit to me, as they will be used to judge whether or not you're suitable for a position of jounin during the next Clan Heads and Council meetings. Then there's the training for the exams, and the actual exams themselves. Shall I go on?"

Sakura shook her head slowly, a calculative look in her eyes; Genma had told her it wouldn't be easy. She could do this. "How many missions?" she asked instead.

Tsunade shook her head and grinned wryly, somehow not surprised the kid wasn't deterred. "Five A-Ranks, 15 B-Ranks, 25 C-Ranks and over 70 D-Ranks. Luckily, your genin days and your punishment recently mean that you're all set on the D-Ranks front and through a weird turn of events you're already 2/5 of the way along with the A-Ranks." Sakura nodded, already aware of the fact that she had two high level missions under her belt, but she frowned when Tsunade smirked. "However, as you've agreed to six months off the missions roster, there is no way for you to catch up the missions you lack for another five months."

Sakura did a startled double-take at the news. "There's no way?! No way at all?" she demanded, shocked.

The Godaime shrugged. "An year-long apprenticeship in the Intelligence, Tactical or T&I division is seen as three long-term B-Ranks or ten C-Ranks, but I wouldn't bother with that – nobody gets into them without the backing of at least two chunin-ranked current members. Best thing you can do is wait till we're done learning medical ninjutsu and then just take up the missions. And you've got to bear in mind that it takes even the best of the best at least a year between the decision to become jounin and meeting all the expectations."

But Sakura had stopped listening; she was working out which of the apprenticeships would be best for her. Izumo and Kotetsu... They're both in T&I. As is Tonbo-san and... I think Iwashi-san? Ino's dad works in one of them as well, I'm sure, he could probably be my last resort… hopefully.

"Kid? You there?" Sakura snapped back to the present and met the Hokage's eyes. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, then voiced her thoughts.

"May I have an application form and… four reference forms for Torture and Interrogation please? Oh, and a copy of my missions record?" she requested and delighted in the Godaime's startled expression. Unfortunately, it didn't last long, and Sakura quickly found herself with an armful of papers.

Tsunade's unusually serious gaze stopped her mid-bow. "Haruno, I hope you realise that T&I is not a place for the faint-hearted. I don't know what you're planning, but I just want you to know that there's nothing wrong with waiting. There are shinobi in their twenties who still haven't tried out for jounin. There's no rush."

Sakura smiled wryly and bowed politely. "Thank you for the forms and the advice, Tsunade-sama. However, for me, there's all the rush. A rush to get to the position where I can keep my most precious person alive."

And so saying, she left the office.

Tracking down Izumo and Kotetsu had been surprisingly easy. Both had hastened to wish her a happy birthday and whine about the fact that they had to work and couldn't come see her in the morning. Izumo then pressed a small wrapped object into her hands and Sakura smiled and obediently stored it away in one of her vest's inner pockets. The duo seemed surprised when she asked them for the recommendations but they smiled and hugged her tightly when she explained her reasoning. They promised to drop the papers off by the end of the day, wished her luck for handing them in to Ibiki and very helpfully gave her directions to find Tonbo-san and informed her that Iwashi had never been a member of the Intelligence division. But she didn't need him. Nor did she need Tonbo, really, but she figured one more couldn't hurt. With that thought in mind, she waved at the Twins one last time and set off.

She found Tonbo sitting at the reception desk in the T&I building, almost buried under piles of paperwork. He must've sensed her somehow because he looked up, a grin on his face when he seemed to recognise her.

"Pinky! Has Shiranui been an idiot and hurt himself again?" he greeted her, and Sakura couldn't quite hold back the snort.

"No, Genma's alright this time. I'm here to see you, actually." She admitted, stepping closer and holding out the papers. "I wish to do an apprenticeship in T&I. I know we haven't really had the opportunity to get to know each other but I'd appreciate it if you could write a recommendation."

Despite not being able to see his face, Sakura got the distinct impression that Tonbo was briefly surprised, then amused. "You do know T&I ain't a walk in the park, right, kid? I know first-hand that you're a decent fighter, but down here it's not just about that. It's not a place for people who just want to get from Point A to Point B."

Sakura startled a bit at how easily he seemed to guess her intention, then felt irritation bubble up at hearing the same thing for the second time. At least Izumo and Kotetsu hadn't felt the need to patronise her. "Tell me about it, then." She demanded, eyes narrowing. "Tell me what makes it so different from everywhere else."

Tonbo smirked and leaned forward in his seat, clearly intent on intimidating her. "Down in the cells, you'll see people who have been there for weeks. You'll need to break them. You'll see them at their lowest, and you'll see them crunch a suicide pill rather than give up information. You'll need to interrogate them, learn every twist and tell of defiance, of fear, of insubordination, and exploit it. Do you think you could do that?" Tonbo's voice had taken on a dark, threatening lilt towards the end, and he sat back in his seat, clearly satisfied with his performance. Sakura could admit to being unsettled by his words, but she found herself thinking that the chunin still had nothing on Yuki-san.

And suddenly, she knew just how to respond.

Sakura smiled politely and stepped closer to the reception desk, getting as close to Tonbo as he had been to her while telling his tale. "I'm a genjutsu specialist, Tonbo-san." She began quietly. "I can alter reality itself." She let her eyes wander over the papers idly, before she focused back on him, voice still as sweet as may be. "I read once that paranoia is the trademark of every shinobi who ever got above genin. You asked me if I think I could do all that you described; I ask you to answer this: how would you feel if, after days of the isolation you spoke of, days of starvation, of chakra suppression, you'd start to feel the walls closing in on you? Or if you saw the chains restraining you turn into snakes, or grow heavier, shorter, hotter? Or if every man who came to interrogate you was faceless, or seven foot tall? If you can't access your chakra, you can't break the illusion. What do you think would happen after weeks of this?" when Tonbo didn't answer, Sakura stepped away and smiled wryly. "You'd stop trusting your own mind. And who can you trust, when you're in the middle of enemy territory and at the mercy of your captors, if you can't even trust your own mind?" absently, she realised that her voice had gotten quieter as she went along, so she cleared her throat and was about to apologise, but then Tonbo laughed.

Sakura startled because the sound was very... sharp. It was sudden and more like a startled bark than a laugh, and the rosette had to wonder how long it had been since the bandaged nin had last laughed.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you, kid!" he chortled, seemingly completely unaffected by Sakura's display and uncaring of the stares his laughter attracted. When he managed to calm down, he grabbed her papers and pulled them towards him. "Alright, I'll fill them in as soon as I get off today. You still live with Shiranui?" Sakura nodded and grinned when the chunin waved her towards the door, a returning grin on his face. She skipped away, and with a cheery 'thank you' was out the door.

She missed the tall figure that had been looming in the shadows of the corner from the moment she handed Tonbo her papers. When she was out the door, they stepped out and stared at the place where she'd disappeared. "Is that Genma's brat?"

Tonbo smirked cheekily. "In the flesh. She's something else, isn't she?"

A scowl pulled at the scars on the other shinobi's face. "You better fill that paperwork out objectively or I'll have you running errands for a month, understood, Tobitake?"

"Of course, Morino-san."

At the end of the day, there were three recommendation letters on her doorstep and Sakura roped Genma into accompanying her to the T&I building to hand them in to the man in charge. The tokujo had whined and complained the whole way, but once they stepped inside he'd helpfully gestured her over to an imposing steel door with a plaque that read Morino Ibiki, Head Interrogator while he stopped to chat with the receptionist who'd replaced Tonbo.

Sakura squared her shoulders and raised her hand to knock, the other clutching all her papers in a white-knuckled grip. The door swung open before she had the chance to actually knock, and she came face-to-face with a large, grey-clad chest.

(she would deny the 'eep' that escaped her at the sight till the end of time)

Craning her head up, Sakura saw the vaguely familiar features of the proctor of the first stage of the Chunin Exams, and realised absently that having all of the intensity of his gaze focused solely on her was beyond terrifying.

"Yes?" he rumbled, his face impassive and judging, and his gaze cold.

"I-I'd like to apply for an apprenticeship." Sakura stammered and thrust out the hand with her documents, hating herself for stuttering.

"And you think you're suited for the role of an interrogator?" Ibiki asked, and though his tone was as flat as ever, Sakura got the distinct impression that he was mocking her.

Or hazing her, she thought when she noticed that despite his words, he'd taken the documents she'd offered.

So, Sakura opted for truth. "Right now, probably not." She admitted, drawing his gaze from the papers and back on to her, but with a hint of curiosity in his eyes this time. "But then, that's the purpose of the apprenticeship, isn't it? To make me into one."

"Hm." Ibiki hummed, then met her eyes. "I'll look over this." And Sakura took that as her cue to bow and get the hell out of there.

"T-thank you!" and then she was walking towards the way out as fast as she could without making it seem like she was running away, and she grabbed Genma by his sleeve along the way and dragged him out of the building after her, only stopping and taking a deep breath once they were back amongst the bustling crowds in Konoha's main street.

"That man is terrifying." She blurted out, shooting a wary glance back at the door to the T&I building.

Genma laughed and ruffled her hair. "Well, sorry to break it to ya, but he might end up being your new boss."

Sakura paled as that realisation settled in. "Oh, no." she groaned. "I'm screwed."

Genma only laughed harder.

A few hours later, Ibiki sat at his desk and flipped open a file that he'd been eyeing since it landed there.

Name: Haruno Sakura

Age: 13

Ninja Registration: 012601

Ninja Rank: Chunin

Academy Graduation Age: 12

Chunin Promotion Age: 12

Clan: N/A

Family: Haruno Mebuki (Mother) (deceased), Haruno Kizashi (Father) (deceased), Shiranui Genma (Guardian)

Missions Completed: 78 D-Ranks, 3 C-Ranks, 0 B-Ranks, 2 A-Ranks

Other: genjutsu type & currently learning medical ninjutsu under the Godaime

Attached were the recommendations from Hagane, Kamizuki and Tobitake and Ibiki briefly wondered when any of those three had had the time to interact with a still fresh-out-of-the-Academy chunin – it clearly wasn't on missions, so how?

And then, he read the references, and suddenly, it made sense.

He also knew just who to place her with. Pressing the button for the intercom, he called; "Mitarashi, to my office immediately." Not five seconds later, there was a familiar 'poof' of the shunshin just outside his door, and it swung open to reveal one of his best, and also most troublesome interrogators.

"You called, Ibiki?" she asked in that impertinent way of hers, smirking at the twitch that formed in his brow whenever he had to deal with the woman.

But this time, Ibiki had something to retaliate with, so he smirked and turned to face her. "I did." Wordlessly, he shoved the file at her then delivered the final nail in the metaphorical coffin. "I've found you a protégé."

"You've done what?!"

A week later, Sakura found a package at their doorstep just as she was coming back from the hospital. Seeing as it was addressed to her, she picked it up, curious, and walked into the house. The grey paper with which it was wrapped wrinkled loudly enough to make Genma pop his head out of the bathroom where he seemed to be wrapping a sluggishly bleeding wound in his side.

"Whassat?" he mumbled in lieu of greeting, but Sakura's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I think the better question is what's that?" she shot back tartly, pointing at the bandage around his midsection.

Genma had the gall to shrug and wave her off. "Raidou got lucky and nicked me with his blade when we sparred. It looks worse than it is, trust me." Then, he grinned and gestured towards the package she was still holding. "Now c'mon, how long are you gonna keep me waiting? Open it!"

So Sakura did. Inside, there was a formal-looking note on top of a folded grey uniform. The rosette focused on the note, plucking it out of the box and unfolding it.

"'Your request for an apprenticeship has been approved'," she read out, aware that Genma wanted to know what it said. "'You will be expected to spend every Monday to Friday from two to six in the afternoon at the Torture and Interrogation HQ, where you shall be taught the art of interrogation and intelligence gathering. As per protocol, every new recruit is assigned a senior member of staff as their direct superior with whom they expected to work together closely for duration of the apprenticeship. Yours is-'" Sakura cut off, eyes going wide and mouth falling open in a little 'o'. "Oh, no."

Alarmed, Genma moved closer to the rosette, in order to read over her shoulder, not at all concerned by his shirtless state. "'Yours is Anko Mitarashi'?!" his voice jumped an octave at the name, incredulous. He sent Sakura a worried glance. "You sure you gonna be okay? You can always try the Tactical Division, I'm sure they'd take you in as well."

Sakura felt touched by the genuine concern in the tokujo's voice, but shook her head, no. "No, I won't knock it till I try it. Who knows, maybe Mitarashi-san is secretly a good teacher?" she offered dubiously and eyed Genma, who seemed to be on the brink of full blown laughter at her words.

Then, he gave in.

"A-Anko?! A good teacher?! I'd pay to see that happen!" he crowed and bent over, hand on Sakura's shoulder to keep himself upright. Sakura couldn't stop her lips from quirking up at the brunet's mirth, but she faked a stern tone and stepped away so that Genma staggered anyway.

"Poking fun at my misfortune? What sort of role model are you?" she berated teasingly, delighting in Genma's amused snort, before she grew serious. "But seriously, do you think I'll be alright?" she asked worriedly, pulling her lip between her teeth in thought.

Genma's eyes softened ever so slightly and he ruffled her hair. "From what I know of Anko, she likes getting under people's skin. She'll most likely try to unsettle you, throw you off, but you shouldn't worry about it – she won't attack a loyal Konoha shinobi, even if she does have a screw loose."

Sakura snorted at the 'reassurance'. "Riiight," she drawled, "so, in other words, I'm screwed."

The brunet tried to keep a serious face, but after a few seconds, he grinned wryly. "Seems so."

Sakura groaned and socked him in the arm again for good measure.

The next afternoon, around an hour after her shift at the hospital had ended, she stood in front of Genma, hair in its standard ponytail, Chōjūrō gift in place, and wearing her brand new T&I uniform. "Well?" she asked the man, "What do you think?"

Genma was torn. It was undeniable that the pinkette looked good in the pale grey of the uniform, but what his eyes were seeing contrasted too much with the image he'd built in his mind of his charge. She looked serious, older, more like an actual shinobi in the garb of the interrogators, and although logically Genma knew that Sakura was a highly competent kunoichi, especially for her age, he couldn't combine the image with his memories. Just two days ago he'd seen her nearly drool over one of the Yondaime's old fuinjutsu scrolls because she'd fallen asleep on the sofa. He'd seen her curl up into a tiny ball on the arm chair during their evenings together, he'd joked and laughed with her and teased her when she dropped a bag of flour on the floor and ended up sneezing so hard that she lost her balance and landed on her butt.

And she'd done the same, teased him about domesticity while making his favourite dinner, curled into his side in the evenings like a particularly persistent cat and pestered him about training till he caved in. All in all, it was surprisingly hard to link the easy going preteen he'd gotten used to with the professional chunin standing before him.

But Sakura must have taken his silence as negative and fidgeted, pulling at one of the sleeves, "Is it that bad?" she asked worriedly.

Genma got up and, ignoring his own words from a few days previous, hugged her. "You look great. Now go give them hell and remember – don't let Anko intimidate you. She can't actually hurt you, so just treat her like a really annoying chihuahua."

Sakura laughed and slapped his arm. "I'm apprenticed to her! I can't just ignore her!" she denied, though the idea of the fearsome woman being reduced to a chihuahua made her giggle.

The tokujo sighed sadly. "Shame. Would've been hilarious." He dodged the next swat and grinned. "I'll take you out for dango if you survive today."

At the mention of her favourite dessert, a new fire entered the rosette's eyes. "I'll see you later!" and then she was out the door.

The way to the T&I building was new to her, but she found it easily enough. It was only after she was in the still-imposing atrium that she realised that the letter had been painfully vague about where she was meant to go afterwards. Resigning herself to her fate with a quiet sigh, she approached the receptionist, disappointed to find that it wasn't either of the Twins nor Tonbo-san.

"Good afternoon," she murmured, drawing the gaze of the receptionist onto her, "I'm looking for Mitarashi-san, do you know where-" she was interrupted by a swish of air and a sharp pain in her cheek followed by a dull thud. Sakura startled, fingers flying to her cheek and coming away smeared with blood as she whirled around to see the hilt of a kunai embedded in the wall behind her. Spinning around again, she saw the very woman she was looking for looming before her, a fearsome scowl on her face and a hand on her hip.

"That's Mitarashi-senpai for you, twerp!" she snapped, then prodded Sakura in the sternum so hard the rosette stumbled back. "Look at you, all prim and proper and put together," she sneered, "you don't belong here – how are you meant to inspire fear if you look like this?!" she demanded, and Sakura valiantly fought the urge to cower and flinch away from her loud voice and dominating personality.

Then, she remembered Genma's words; don't let her get under your skin.

So she took a deep, calming breath, and looked Anko in the eyes, despite the fact that she could feel goosebumps break out on her arms and every instinct within her was telling her to run away while she still could. "There are other ways of inspiring fear than by sight, Mitarashi-senpai." She replied quietly, but she knew the woman had heard her by the slight narrowing of her eyes as well as the sudden kunai at her throat.

Sakura couldn't quite hold back her shiver and instinctive fearful gulp, even as she repeated Genma's words in her mind she can't hurt you, she can't hurt you, shecan'thurtyou! "What did you say?" Anko whispered into her ear, and the rosette closed her eyes and pulled her hands behind her back, forcing her trembling fingers into two familiar handsigns.

The effect was immediate: Anko recoiled, her eyes growing wide as she brandished the kunai aggressively this time, her eyes staring into the empty space over Sakura's shoulder and just the slightest glint of fear mixed in with the anger in her eyes.

And then, she relaxed, put her kunai away, and folded her fingers into the 'kai' seal, her eyes becoming lucid and zeroing in on Sakura with predatory precision. A gnarled, deranged version of a smile twisted her lips, though her gaze was even frostier than before. "Not bad." She commented off-handedly, though Sakura knew it wasn't sincere. "I would almost say I was impressed if not for the fact that you really pissed me off now." She snarled the last bit, then her hand clamped over Sakura's wrist so tight it hurt. "Now come with me."

Sakura followed the woman blindly, letting the other lead her down numerous stairways and corridors to the point where the rosette lost count of the many twists and turns and felt herself become truly, irrevocably lost. She was now utterly dependent on Anko for guidance. Finally, one of the doors Anko pushed revealed a tall, wide room, a good fifty square metres in area, all the walls panelled in grey stone, the ground with beaten earth and only one window up high, leading to what seemed to be some viewing gallery.

It dawned on the rosette that she'd been led to an indoor training ground.

"Why are we here?" she whispered, the first words she'd spoken since Anko had taken hold of her wrist what seemed like hours ago.

The kunoichi turned to her with a challenging smirk, finally letting go of her wrist. "Weren't you listening?" she demanded, taking a few steps back. "You pissed me off. You're here so I can beat you into a pulp."

Sakura got the distinct feeling that Genma was very wrong. Anko could hurt her, and she seemed to plan on it.

That was all she had time to think before the other woman appeared before her and delivered a punishing spin kick to her abdomen, sending her flying a good two metres before she got back on her feet, gasping for breath. She didn't even have a second's respite before she was ducking to avoid a backhand to the temple, then jumping above the leg Anko kicked out to knock Sakura's feet from under her.

Distance, distance, I need distance!

She jumped back the second she managed to pull away from the persistent tokujo, but all that the extra space earned her was a kunai flying at her head and another at her feet. Sakura threw herself to the side, letting the kunai graze her right shoulder instead, then threw out some of her own shuriken to knock aside the second wave that was sent towards her.

"Are you just going to run away?" Anko taunted, throwing another wave of kunai mixed with senbon, making Sakura scowl and think hastily of her options – the kunai's shadows made it difficult to see exactly how many senbon there were, and Sakura could not let any of them graze her; she wouldn't put it past the woman to have coated them all in poison, after all. With seconds to spare, the rosette flashed through the seals for the kawarimi jutsu, switching places with one of her shuriken and appearing behind Anko, just as the jounin began a new wave of taunts. "All this talk during the Exams, all of Genma's gloating, for this?! You're wasting everybody's time!"

Something in Sakura snapped.

Instinctively, she threw more kunai at Anko, giving herself the time to fly through the seals for the nastiest illusion she could come up with, then a technique she didn't dare use in any other setting, but the steady light source of the training room made her decision for her. Distracting Anko with her genjutsu, Sakura coated her body with chakra until she could control how the light reflected around her body, effectively rendering herself invisible.

"Ooh?" came Anko's teasing lilt, and the rosette knew she'd broken the genjutsu. "What's this? You gonna fight back after all?" instead of answering verbally, Sakura layered two more illusions over each other while she thought about how best to deal with the situation at hand: the invisibility granted to her by the technique required too much concentration and was too chakra intensive for her to be able to maintain it for long, but not having to worry about Anko's attacks gave her a much-needed breather. She didn't know enough about the woman to be able to plan effectively, her reserves had still not fully replenished since her shift at the hospital, and she was far too fond of life to try anything too risky on the jounin.

And then, Anko cut her thinking time short by summoning snakes. Snakes, of all possible summons and techniques, Anko had to have snakes appear from the sleeve of her trench coat and slither exactly to the space where Sakura was standing. The rosette was treated to a reluctant trip down memory lane, to a similar scenario and she recalled the sheer fear for her life that took over her during that awful time in the Forest of Death. Now, with Anko, her body moved as if on autopilot – with nary a thought, she dropped the illusion, hand digging into her kunai pouch till it closed around three kunai with explosive tags around the handles, fear making her justify the use of three when one would have sufficed for the significantly smaller snakes and area of the room. She saw Anko's eyes widen in alarm, but it was too late – she'd already thrown the knives, just of a slither of her chakra enough to set the tags alight, and then she was flashing through a final set of seals and melting into the ground just as the explosion from the tags shook the training room.

She stayed underground and moved away from the blast area just in case before she remerged; what she saw made her in equal parts guilty and vindictively satisfied: the snakes were gone, some patches of the dirt ground were still smoking or aflame, and there was a reasonably-sized crater where the snakes had been. Anko herself was patting down the sleeve of her trench coat which had caught on fire, but she was also largely unharmed.

Then, the tokujo's eyes zeroed in on the rosette, and there was a curious glint in the caramel orbs, and the smirk that tugged at her lips was the friendliest of the ones she'd shown Sakura so far.

"That last part was a bit of an overkill, pinky." She said, for once not snarling nor taunting, simply a factual observation. "Though I gotta commend your quick reflexes – normally it takes people a little while to figure out how to deal with the snakes. What gave you the idea of explosive tags?"

And Sakura, sensing that their 'battle' was officially over, allowed herself to relax and she shrugged. "It worked once before." She answered honestly, noting the brief surprise that crossed Anko's face as she realised Sakura was referring to her run-in with Orochimaru, before a grin split her face.

"Well, I have a feeling we're going to get along just fine." She announced, then waved Sakura over. "Now come, Anko-senpai is going to show you around the place."

Sakura smiled hesitantly and obeyed, tensing a bit when the woman threw her arm around her shoulders like they were close friends instead of teacher-student or frenemies at best, but she allowed Anko to lead her out of the destroyed training grounds and back to the higher levels.

"Alright," Sakura replied, then, because it felt awkward to leave at that, she added a quiet, "Anko-senpai." As if testing the words.

When the grin on Anko's face grew, Sakura allowed the smile on her own face to widen into something more genuine.

Genma was right, she concluded, she does have a screw loose. But… I think I like it.

The next month was a blur of new and old, of successes and failures and encouragements and critiques, and overall, between the medical training with Tsunade and the various nurses who took her under their wing, the study of various interrogation techniques with Anko, navigating the delicate rungs of the hierarchy at T&I and her nightly fuinjutsu lessons with Genma, Sakura found herself stretched thin.

It was a relief, then, when Anko let her leave at four instead of six on the last Friday of the month – Sakura could've seriously gotten down on her knees and kissed the woman's feet, she was that grateful for the evening off. Her last errand had landed her at the Jounin HQ, where she elected to wait for Genma in the corner while Anko waved to her and left to sit with some of her friends she'd spied on the other side of the room. She didn't frequent the HQ all too often, mainly due to the fact that she was always running around to someplace or another, but she was content enough to sit down, relax and simply observe the people around her. Her seat at the very back of the room gave her a good vantage point over the whole place, and she was amused to note that even jounin and the odd chunin seemed to be broken up into 'friendship groups'. She spent the time waiting for Genma reflecting on the events of the last month and she found it almost unreal that not even a full year had passed since she graduated from the Academy, yet so much has already changed.

Just then, Genma poked his head through the main door, scanned the room and its occupants and grinned when his eyes landed on her. "C'mon, kid." He mouthed, and Sakura rose from where she sat and made her way through the maze of chairs and tables scattered around the room.

She didn't get very far before she froze – her ears caught the tail end of '-dunno why he keeps her around, I mean, what's a thirty year old man doing with a kid like her? It's indecent' and she slowly turned around to where the voice came from. She was greeted by the sight of two unfamiliar men sitting at one of the tables quite close to the wall by which she had sat, heads bent together and shooting far from friendly looks at where Genma had disappeared. One of them, which Sakura realised had been the one whom she'd overheard, continued:

"I heard they've been living together since the Invasion. Living together. And he seems fine with it as well. What do you think?"

His companion smirked lewdly. "I'd say he uses her to help him out, if you know what I mean." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Sakura saw red. "I wouldn't put it past him, as well, everyone knows he's a bit fucked up-!"

THUD!

Heads swivelled round to the source of the sound, and more than one jounin could be found in a defensive position, weapons drawn, but the hostility towards a presumed enemy was quickly replaced by confusion when they saw a chunin slumped against one of the far walls, a tip of a daito pressing into his jugular as a familiar pinkette stood over him, almost oozing Killing Intent.

"Don't you ever," she began, voice quiet and clearly meant only for the man before her, but in the sudden silence of the room, her words were heard loud and clear, "ever, say something like that about Genma again." She dug her blade into the delicate skin of his neck a little more to make her point and bent over so their faces were closer together as she continued. "You got a problem with our relationship? Fine. I don't care; you're entitled to your opinion, even if it's stupid. But if you wanna smear somebody's name, smear mine. Do whatever, I don't care. But leave Genma out of it."

And then, the man in question popped his head into the room again, a scowl on his face, and the rosette sheathed her blade quicker than he could see it and turned to him with a smile. "Oi, brat, you coming or not? 'Cause I'm not waiting any longer." He grouched, and the rosette only smiled wider and saluted.

"On my way~!" she sang, and Genma's lip quirked upwards before he nodded and stepped outside again.

Quicker than the chunin could react, the pinkette had turned back around and pinned him in place with the force of her glare. "Are we clear?" she asked, enunciating each word slowly and carefully and not budging till the man nodded.

Then, she made her way towards the door, but stopped just a few steps short and turned around, sweeping her eyes over the occupants of the room. "Does anyone else have anything to say about me and Genma?" she asked rhetorically, and when nobody spoke, she smiled and walked out the door, a teasing 'what's got your knickers in a knot? I'm here, calm down' reaching those still inside the room.

Then, the silence broke all at once, the shinobi within the room in equal parts amused, surprised, or impressed. Someone turned to Anko and called out; "Oi, Mitarashi, isn't that your student?"

And Anko smirked, pride shining in her eyes as she nodded, "Damn right she is."

There was a mumbled 'go figure' and then a hiss as a senbon embedded itself in the speaker's thigh.

Kakashi was torn.

This was not what he had planned for his team.

Sasuke's betrayal was a blow right where it hurt, a brutal reminder that, as always, those he cared for always left.

Naruto's departure following his brother-figure's leave was also predictable, though made no less painful by the fact that the last time he'd spoken to the blond, some of that infallible optimism that Minato had always possessed had been dimmed by pain and grief.

So Kakashi had hoped that he'd have an ally in his only female student; that they would be able to use the loss of two of their teammates to bridge the gap that had formed between them during and after the Chunin Exams.

But the gap between them did not grow smaller – no, if anything, it became the size of a canyon.

They hadn't spoken since that time on the roof of the hospital. Kakashi had heard of her diplomatic mission, had been meaning to ask what the hell was she thinking, going over to Kirigakure of all places when she could clearly not suited for the role of a diplomat.

Her success had been a surprise, but her choice to go after Shiranui rather than her own teammate had felt like a betrayal. Kakashi had heard, through the gossip he pretended to be unaware of, that she'd been training and living with Shiranui since after the Exams, but he was not prepared to find out that there was such a level of commitment towards the brunet in his student. He thought her foolish – what could the tokujo possibly benefit from her continued presence? Clearly, he'd only taken her in because he pitied her and the second he could, he was going to get rid of her, and Sakura was going to end up hurt.

He was not prepared, then, to see the two together even after the rosette's return from her mission. Then, a month went by when he hardly saw them, and Kakashi felt smug – he'd been right; Sakura was no doubt saddened and hiding herself away in her room, back at her old house, because the tokujo had finally given her the boot. He decided then, that he'd go over to her house like a knight in shining armour, comfort her and reassure her that he forgave her her foolishness, and they could fix their relationship and he'd be back to the only higher-ranked, respectable figure in the rosette's life.

He was not expecting to find the house up for sale.

And then, news of her apprenticeship at T&I reached him, and Kakashi wanted to grab his student and shake her by the shoulders to knock some sense into her. 'What are you doing?!' he wanted to scream, though he knew he would never voice his thoughts.

When he first lay eyes on her, Kakashi was convinced that Sakura would drop out of shinobi life the second she came across a hard mission and become a civilian. Her performance in the Exams and advancement to chunin was surprising, but he was certain that that's where she would stop – become a career chunin or an Academy sensei. He wasn't expecting to hear that not only was she persevering in her shinobi career, but also stretching herself and joining the least popular Division in the Village; the rosette, with her features and sunshine personality did not belong in the place that hardened shinobi had nicknamed the 'Underworld'. She just did not.

And then, he was treated to the show she put on in the Jounin HQ, and he found himself doubting his conclusions.

Still, hearing Anko call Sakura 'her student' pissed him off.

This had gone on for long enough, he decided.

It was time to reach out and find Sakura.

He was going to have a long talk with his student.

(His, damnit.)

so! despite the long wait, we're here at last! keep in mind this will probably be the last chapter I can publish before Christmas break, so I hope it will be good enough to tide you along till then!

as always, I look forward to hearing your comments and critiques ;) don't hesitate to drop me a line!