Partway through the night, everyone in the hotel was woken by a terrified scream, it had them up out of their beds and flying from their rooms in five seconds flat, by the time they'd all made it to the room, the scream had tapered off.

"That's Sakura-chan" Naruto pointed out breathing heavily from his short jaunt down the hall as they burst into the room that was being shared by the only two girls, Hinata was sitting up wide eyed on her chosen bed, while Sakura was in the corner.

Eyes flying left and right in fright "O..One minute s..she's screaming th..then the next she's in the corner I d..don't u..understand" Hinata frowned deeply concerned for her friend, she always seemed so strong and unafraid of anything after all.

Her sensei's features softened as he carefully inched his way forward to kneel before her friend "Sakura-chan it's okay it was just a dream, shh" Kakashi soothed reaching out to pat her head gently, while he looked about for her pack.

Before gesturing to Naruto who went forward and looked through it for the needed items "No, it wasn't just a dream, everyone was dead again, Shisui-ni it was my fault, my fault" Sakura shook her head adamantly tears leaking out the corners of her clenched shut eyes.

Kakashi merely kept patting her head gently in a soothing way "Night terrors…since when" Minato frowned deeply realizing what was going on, her nightmare must have brought on an illusion that had her frightened but he didn't understand how.

"Since the Uchiha Massacre, though she hasn't had one this bad for as long as I can remember" Sasuke slumped his shoulders, of course with the recent events everything she suppressed would come rushing forth, he should have realized it sooner.

Minato paled, and as much as he wanted to ask, he didn't, Naruto finished searching through Sakura's pack and gave a sad shake of the head to Kakashi "Is that why you would always plug in a nightlight back when we were nine on that field trip we took" Shikamaru questioned.

Both Sasuke and Shino nodded "Though it seems that she doesn't have either the nightlight or lava lamp this time and all the shops are closed, why because it's only 4 in the morning" Shino grimaced wishing he could do something more than just stand there like an idiot.

"Do you think it would help if the light was left on Sakura" Kiba offered a somewhat solution to their problem until Shino thought of something much better, his eyes widened behind his sunglasses and he cleared his throat.

Stepping forward "Or we could have Naruto draw her teleportation seal, I know you've been helping her Naruto, then send a toad with a message to Shisui-san to send her the lava lamp and nightlight she uses" the Aburame Heir suggested.

Everyone blinked at him "And that's why you're her perfect match, roger that Shino, I'll get started on drawing the seal immediately" the younger blonde saluted pulling out the necessary things from Sakura's pack.

And starting drawing carefully going off memory alone for the most part, poor Sakura kept her eyes closed the entire time "When Atsui-san cut her, the smell of blood must have really overwhelmed her" the lone Uchiha in the room commented carefully.

Inching forward with Shino on his heels, Kakashi stood back letting the duo sit on either side of Sakura who was as rigid as he'd ever seen the girl "Everything's going to be okay Sakura, we promise, Shisui is fine, he's not leaving ever again" Sasuke soothed gently.

Taking her right hand and squeezing it, knowing this would help her ground herself a little bit "How many of the Uchiha are left" the older blonde questioned when his old student shuffled backwards to stand next to him.

"Only three, Sasuke, Itachi and Shisui, who we all thought for nearly five years was dead, his absence was a blow to Sakura-chan's heart who see's him as an older brother" the silver haired Jonin explained quietly.

Watching how Sakura relaxed at Sasuke and Shino's close proximity and reassurances "Three, what about Fugaku or Mikoto" Minato breathed before holding his breath, those two had been close friends, they just couldn't be gone, they couldn't.

"Gone, Sasuke's been living with Sakura-chan and her family ever since, then for almost a year, Naruto, you wouldn't believe how much that girl cares for those two boys" Kakashi chuckled lightly she'd saved both of them from a life of eternal loneliness.

No one else would have done what she did, not to mention the countless times she'd saved both of them as well, it really was awe inducing watching how she interacted with people to, Minato frowned "So I've noticed, she's almost possessive in fact over them" the blonde pointed out.

Kakashi couldn't argue, Sakura was a little possessive "Because she wants to keep them safe, what with Orochimaru after Sasuke and the Akatsuki after Naruto that poor girl doesn't get a break" the Copy Ninja announced with another grimace.

"Of course that's not all there is to it, those two are practically like brothers to her as well" the silver haired Jonin admitted in a soft tone, eyeing the trio of best friends, they'd been inseparable since they'd all met as children after all.

And a couple minutes later as silence descended upon them Naruto finished his task "Done, now all that's left is to make another, summon Gamakichi or Gamatatsu, send them to Leaf and get your lava lamp and nightlight Sakura-chan" Naruto exclaimed.

Taking an extra moment to look over the carefully drawn seal to make sure it was an exact replica of the one Sakura had come up with, who finally seemed to be coming out of her shell a little, squished between her boyfriend and Sasuke as she was.

In a plume of smoke Gamakichi was before him and then in the next moment he was gone all the way to Leaf, to be more precise the Haruno House "Has something happened" fortunately someone was awake to receive the message.

Even if it was Itachi, he was trusted inexplicably "From Naruto" Gamakichi delivered both note and seal before vanishing in a plume of smoke, leaving Itachi to crease his brow in confusion only to read the note and frown grimly in response.

Before turning harshly on his heel to enter the room he shared with Shisui "Wake up, somethings happened with Sakura" Itachi hissed in his best friends ear, the only thing that would get the stubborn male up to be precise.

For mere seconds after he'd uttered those words did Shisui fly up out of his bed, eyes wide in panic and bloody red at the thought that someone would dare try to harm someone who was like a little sister to him.

Just as he was about to go storming off a note was pushed into his hand "Itachi-chan what's this….." Shisui frowned deeply staring at his friend until Itachi gestured to the note and so with a reluctant sigh he let his gaze focus on the piece of paper in his hands.

~Sakura-chan had a nightmare, we had a situation yesterday where she accidentally got injured and it brought back certain memories, i.e the Uchiha Massacre and her subsequent loss of you, would you please send her nightlight and lava lamp through the seal.

Naruto Uzumaki~

With a long suffering sigh and a guilt riddled heart Shisui trudged wearily into Sakura's most sacred space, her bedroom and quickly located the two items in question "There we are and a quick note to Sakura-chan should help ease her mind" the twenty year old said.

Nodding in a decisive way, knowing that he would probably have to keep reassuring Sakura for a very long time that he wasn't going to up and leave her in the manner he had before ever again, with that both lava lamp and nightlight, along with the note were sent through the seal.

"I've got a mission" Itachi informed, having been sidetracked by the rather worrisome note, though he was glad that he'd been the one awake and hadn't left yet when the toad summons had appeared, Shisui nodded and watched as the Uchiha heir disappeared in a flurry of crow feathers.

Leaving him to sit on his bed and try to catch a few extra z's, even if he knew it would be impossible because all he could do now was worry about Sakura and hope that she was going to be okay until she and the others came back from their mission to Cloud.

~Cloud~

Back in the hotel room where everyone was gathered it was utterly silent as they waited for the appearance of the two items needed to make everything peaceful once again, it was agony waiting to be honest but finally after fifteen minutes both lava lamp and nightlight had arrived.

Along with a hand written note, Naruto smiled when he glanced down at it and glimpsed what was written before handing all three things over to Sasuke, who Sakura was clutching to keep herself grounded and not remembering those horrible nightmares.

"Here Sakura, the lamp and a note from Shisui" Sasuke handed two of the items over and plugged the nightlight in where a socket was conveniently located near Sakura's head as she finally released her death grip on his hand to hold the lava lamp instead.

Though she reluctantly let Shino go as well to read the note that had been written to her by Shisui, she took it carefully in her hands, afraid to see what was written only to let out an extremely relieved sigh as her fears faded into the recesses of her mind.

~I'm here and I swear on my life and honor that I will be here to never leave you again like I did Sakura-chan, it's okay don't let your fears consume you because their nothing but false images, none of it is real and I'll be here when you get home.

Much Love Shisui~

Panic fading away, allowing her to come back to reality after nearly an hour, Sakura crushed the note to her chest, leaned her head on Shino's shoulder and let her eyes close while gripping Sasuke's hand once again to keep him next to her as she fell asleep.

No longer afraid of what she would see now that she'd had full reassurance from the one who had come back to her after five years "Yikes" Kiba grimaced, unsure of what to say really after all he'd witnessed that morning.

"How does she even manage on a day to day basis" Shikamaru rounded on Shino, Sasuke and Naruto, eyes narrowed with a glint of anger in their depths, with how put together she seemed all the time this was a shock to the system.

All three boys sighed "By not thinking about it and therapy sessions with Inoichi Yamanaka, I go to sometimes" Sasuke admitted leaning back against the wall now that Sakura had a death grip on his hand once more.

She wouldn't be letting him go anytime soon "P..Poor Sakura-chan I c..can't even imagine wh..what it's like for her t..to go through that" Hinata stuttered, much to awake to even go back to sleep like Sakura had.

It was five in the morning anyway "Come on might as well get ready for the day" Kakashi pointed and all but two boys filed out of the room, seeing as neither Shino or Sasuke would dare disturb Sakura or wake her after she finally managed to fall asleep.

And a couple hours later when it was the usual time to get up Cee appeared to kidnap the two medics on the team as he usually did "Uh where's Sakura-san and Sasuke-san" Cee frowned in confusion looking to the Jonin.

Who grimaced "Well Sakura-chan had a nightmare last night, four this morning to be precise, we had a devil of a time getting her to go back to sleep" the silver haired shinobi nodded at the door to the hotel room Sakura occupied.

Cee quietly cracked it open to peer within and found who he sought still knocked out snoozing the morning away "Do you know why she had a nightmare" the blonde asked as he shut the door, deciding that he could let the kids rest, they'd done a lot yesterday after all.

"Most likely when she smelled blood the memories of that day that had been buried manifested in her dreams, she thought Shisui was dead again" Kakashi sighed making the other man cringe in response at the answer.

Before he shook his head slowly and headed off, Amai was definitely confused when he showed up without Sasuke and Sakura but Cee just shook his head again indicating to not ask at the moment so they simply got to work.

During this time Kakashi had also decided to give his students a break "Your sure Kakashi-sensei" Naruto asked and Kakashi nodded so Naruto sighed and headed off after his teammates and Minato watched him go with a frown.

"They just fall apart without her" Minato commented seeing them practically dragging their feet, depressed, showing how much they did care about Sakura, despite their answer how Sakura wouldn't need any of them to rescue her.

Kakashi nodded, also a little depressed himself, sue him he cared about Sakura as well like a little sister, and so for the next couple of hours they wandered the Hidden Cloud Village until Ay cornered them "Hatake you better…did something happen" Ay paused mid snarl.

As a weary expression appeared on the visible part of Kakashi's face "Sakura had a nightmare early this morning, it was kind of horrifying to witness really" Kakashi explained "I gave my students the day off, I apologize for not informing you" he added afterwards.

Cursing himself for forgetting "Nightmare huh, eh forget it, that brats done enough, your brat students as well, hell take the next couple of days off to and just enjoy your time here" the Raikage declared, having a soft spot for Sakura and those two boys.

Minato creased his brow "Hold on Ay-san, why do you care so much about those kids anyway" the blonde stopped the other man from turning and heading back to his office to work on paperwork, Ay rolled his eyes.

But turned back around "Listen Namikaze, I know the blonde brat is yours, but he was nearly killed two times when I stayed with him and the other two brats, I watched the pink brat practically toil her life away just to keep those two idiots safe, so of course I care" Ay snorted.

A little irritated that his question was being mocked somewhat "And how do you think Sakura-san would feel if she learned my son was a jinchuuriki" Minato crossed his arms but Ay didn't even flinch at the news.

"She already knows Namikaze and do you know what she said, that the beast wasn't the brat, because to her, he's always been the blonde brat, you know her parents adopted him right" the Raikage raised a brow.

Easily getting under the former Hokage's skin as Minato straightened looking angry before slumping in defeat "There, there Minato-sensei, Mebuki-san and Kizashi-san would understand" Kakashi clapped his former sensei on the shoulder in reassurance.

Knowing the couple that had adopted Naruto "How can you be so sure that they'd understand, and what about Naruto" the former Hokage said not seeing how anything would ever be right again now that the news had come out.

"Cause my parents aren't your average couple Lord Fourth and if explained properly Naruto would be ecstatic" Sakura appeared out of no where looking like death warmed over from her nightmare and Ay's face hardened.

Minato jumped at her sudden appearance followed by the sweet smell of cherry blossoms "Was that the body flicker and you only say that because children are biased by their parents" Minato frowned at the young girl.

Sakura snorted "Yeah sure I'm definitely biased, their crazy, my dad's a loon and my mom's so strict that she hits people with slippers, the point is Lord Fourth, they won't begrudge you the opportunity to be Naruto's Father, but to them and me he'll always be family" the rosette scoffed.

Not up to being holy nice right now "Hits people with slippers" Ay asked in disbelief, sure he'd heard some stories about the couple that he had yet to properly meet, but never had he heard that one before, then again who wanted to tell anyone they were hit with a slipper by a civilian woman.

The girl nodded sagely "Mhm, me, Sasuke and Shisui-ni and Lord Fourth yes that was the body flicker earlier, Shisui-ni taught it to me when I was eight" Sakura answered, looking more and more tired the longer she stood there.

"Silly girl, why don't you go back to sleep for a bit" the Copy Ninja gestured Sakura off and she smiled sweetly at him before turning to Ay who simply raised a brow knowing that she was about to say something important.

Proving him right in the next moment when she held out a scroll "Got this from Katsuyu-sama a bit ago it's from Shishou, why she didn't just send it to you Raikage-sama I don't know but it was meant for you" the pinkette said.

Before rushing off back to the hotel, whether she'd get anymore sleep remained to be seen though, "One would think due to how much she talks about the man, that Sakura-san is in love with Shisui-san, not Shino-san" Minato commented.

Slightly suspicious "Minato-sensei, Sakura loves Shisui-san as a brother, perhaps once she had a crush on him but that was when she was a child, but right now the one who holds her heart is Shino-kun" Kakashi informed.

Ay nodding along because he'd seen how the betrothed couple interacted with one another, they truly cared about each other, then at that he headed back to his office as he'd intended to do earlier and read the letter Tsunade had sent him.

During this time since Sakura had shooed them off to hopefully sleep for a bit more Sasuke and Shino found themselves wandering the Cloud Village together "That was crazy this morning huh Shino" Sasuke grimaced as they window-shopped.

"Indeed, why because I've never seen her have such a violent nightmare before, was that a regular thing back when we were eight" Shino nodded, looking intently for something, for what Sasuke didn't know so simply followed along.

But did answer the question that had been asked "They use to be much worse until we got the lava lamp at the festival in Tanzaku on that field trip, I don't think it's so much the light that helps her, it's something to hold on to that helps her" the Uchiha admitted.

Explaining why he thought the lava lamp helped so much more than the nightlight ever did, though that was a crucial part of keeping Sakura from having nightmares "Hmm" the Aburame heir hummed still searching intently.

Until they came across a shop that sold exactly what he was looking for and who would be inside none other than Darui "Didn't Cee take you for the hospital this morning" Darui raised his brow at Sasuke who shrugged.

Not knowing if Cee came at all since he'd been asleep "If he did show up I must have missed him because I was still sleeping, Sakura had a nightmare this morning and it took an hour to calm her down" Sasuke said.

And the older male blanched at the admission "What on earth would she have a nightmare for" Atsui, one of the shinobi he and Sakura had gone to help and the most probable reason Sakura had, had a nightmare asked.

"The smell of blood overwhelmed her from yesterday and the memories of his clan's massacre manifested in her dreams last night" Shino answered, Atsui paled and Darui tapped his friend on the shoulder and shook his head.

Silently telling the other man that it wasn't his fault really "Is she still asleep" the dark skinned male questioned gently, hoping that she was actually getting some rest and not just laying awake thinking about whatever her dreams had conjured.

"Well she shooed us off so I assume" the ebony haired teenager sighed, taking a look around him only to find Shino had wandered down a different aisle, leaving him behind, so with a wave at the two Cloud Jonin hurried off after his friend.

And found him four aisles over looking at Sasuke did a double take, stuffed toys, actually they weren't toys at all but chakra powered lights in the shape of different kinds of bugs "Do you think she'd like it" the brunet heir asked unsure of himself all of a sudden.

Sasuke couldn't help but grin "No Shino I don't think she'd like it….I think she'd love it" Sasuke teased just to see Shino flustered for once, there a flush rose to his cheeks and he couldn't help but chuckle at the sight and wish he had a camera on him.

Lucky him it seemed as Shino held out a camera "Sakura will most likely enjoy seeing me flustered like this" Shino cleared his throat, embarrassed but willing to do anything to see his most cherished person smile again and never have another nightmare so long as he lived.

Just like that Sasuke pressed the button and took a picture "Now which one are you planning on getting" the third remaining Uchiha in existence asked looking over the different types of bugs they had on the shelves.

One so happened to catch his eye and as he reached for it so did Shino and their heads cracked into one another "Seems we had the same idea" the Aburame heir held his aching head with one hand and the one that looked like a panda ant in the other.

Sasuke nodded and quickly healed himself and Shino of their aching craniums "Lets go" Sasuke said once the green glow had faded from his hands, more than proud of himself, he'd done something that probably no one in his clan would have ever imagined he would do.

"Yes and get this to Sakura" Shino nodded, pleased with the selection that had been made and moments later once the item had been bought they were on their way back to the hotel, where they carefully sneaked into Sakura's hotel room.

And found her tossing and turning, but when they went to switch the lava lamp with what they'd bought, Sasuke and Shino found that easier said than done "Kami even in her sleep she has a death grip" the ebony haired teenager groaned.

Realizing that it would be impossible "Quite, though we should have known that from how hard she was gripping your hand when we woke up" the brunet heir pointed out, trying to figure out something but not thinking of anything at that particular moment.

When they had thought long enough the duo prepared to just leave Sakura to her disturbed rest, before they could turn though the door creaked open "Sa..Sasuke-kun, S..Shino-kun what a..are you doing" Hinata asked as she entered her shared hotel room with Sakura.

Both froze "Well we got Sakura something new, a chakra powered light up panda ant, we were going to switch out the lava lamp, but we underestimated her strength even in her sleep" Sasuke explained knowing he didn't have to feel guilty despite freezing.

Hinata covered her mouth and dissolved into quiet giggles "Oh you t..two are so..something else, h..here let me" the blue haired heiress hurried forward and ever so gently pressed a pressure point that allowed Sasuke and Shino to switch out the lava lamp.

"There, that's much better" Shino nodded in acceptance when almost immediately the tension in Sakura dissipated and her tossing and turning slowed until she was resting peacefully, and he couldn't resist taking a photograph, after turning off the flash of course.

No need to disturb Sakura again now that she was relaxed "Ri..Right, we..well I only came to get m..my wallet so s..see you Shino-kun, S..Sasuke-kun" Hinata waved quietly, leaving the boys to their watch as she grabbed her wallet and quietly left the room again.

It was a couple hours later that Sakura woke alone but feeling more rested than she expected "Huh what's this" Sakura yawned, instantly noticing that she wasn't holding her usual lava lamp instead it was something in the shape of what eerily looked like a panda ant.

And it glowed, which meant it was a chakra powered light shaped like a bug, there were only two people who would get her something like this and she couldn't help the smile that lit up her features as she spread out her senses, intent on finding the duo.

Once she was dressed of course, they were eating with the others in a restaurant when she found them "Kami do you have to do that every time" Kiba shuddered at her sudden appearance, because they'd only just checked on her twenty minutes ago and she had still been asleep.

Sakura grinned much more lively than earlier that morning "Sorry, I don't mean to startle anyone" the pinkette giggled, emerald eyes sparkling with happiness, it wasn't quite what they'd expected after her night terror.

"Okay, so what are you doing here then" Shikamaru grunted, seated next to Kisame of all people, who definitely looked uncomfortable, at the question Sakura's smile widened even more and he couldn't help but be confused.

Across from him, Hinata hid her own smile as she realized why Sakura was so happy "Thank you, Sasuke, Shino-kun" Sakura murmured taking a seat in between the two boys who avoided her knowing looks.

They just couldn't hide anything from her it seemed "Wait what are you thanking those two for all of a sudden Sakura-chan" Naruto asked, scratching his head, confused like Shikamaru, who still didn't understand in the least.

"Ah well these two got me a chakra powered light up in the shape of a panda ant" the rosette explained more than a little happy because for whatever reason the new item had helped immensely, helping her actually rest.

Minato who was sat beside Kakashi looked to his old student who shrugged "Panda ant, I don't think I've ever heard of such a thing" Minato questioned, trying not to ruin the good mood that had settled over them the moment Sakura had appeared.

His earlier statement of how the others fell apart without her rearing it's head again "A species of wingless wasp, when I was eight I found a pair and they bred like crazy, Lord Third gave me a reward for saving them since they were nearly extinct" Sakura admitted.

Practically bouncing in her seat "Sheesh slow down there Sakura-chan, you'll put the knucklehead to shame with your exuberance" Kakashi chuckled teasingly and she had the grace to blush and smile at him sheepishly.

Just as a waiter came around to take her order "But it's go..good y..your doing so well a..after the scare f..from this morning" Hinata piped in when the waiter wandered off to put in the new order and Sakura nodded, relieved herself.

"What do you mean scare from this morning, did something happen Pinky, did those two come back and try to get at you" Kisame butt in and Sakura immediately focused her attention on him, trying to decide whether she wanted to say.

In the end though she just shrugged "Had a nightmare, it was a really bad one is all, nothing to worry about Hoshigaki-san" the fuscia haired Chunin waved his concerns off and Kisame huffed at her and then her order came and she dug in, obviously hungry.

Kiba was full blown grinning "You know I didn't think it was possible for someone to inhale their food like that and still eat with manners" the Inuzuka heir laughed and Sakura rolled her eyes at him and spoke after swallowing her latest bite.

"Eat with my Mom at the table you'd learn real quick Kiba" Sakura snorted lightly, Naruto and Sasuke nodded sagely in answer, knowing how strict the woman was about manners, it was either eat with manners or be whacked with a spoon.

Again Minato was massively confused "Can't be any worse than my Mother, who's very strict and nags your ear off if you don't behave" the Nara heir scoffed lightly, grateful that Sakura was doing well now unlike how they'd all seen her earlier that morning.

Sakura pursed her lips while Sasuke shuddered "I've been living with Sakura for over five years now, believe me anything your Mother could dish out would probably pale in comparison to what Mrs. Haruno could in regards to table manners and she doesn't nag" the raven said.

"Yeah, yeah she whacks you with a spoon believe it" the blonde knucklehead burst out remembering the many times he'd been hit over the head with Mebuki's wooden spoon until he'd finally learned the art of eating with manners.

Shikamaru still looked a bit dubious until Kiba remembered something "Oh yeah that's right, she even got me once when we stayed the night before the survival round of the Chunin Exams" the Inuzuka heir blurted.

Causing Hinata to giggle as she to remembered "Th..That's right, th..though you did earn th..those whacks fo..for being to row..rowdy at the table" the blue haired heiress pointed out, stuttering but not as badly as usual.

Prompting chuckles from the adults or a grimace in the case of Kisame "So when do you think we'll be heading to Leaf" the Shark-nin questioned tired of the previous conversation and wanting to get a solid time frame for when they'd be leaving Hidden Cloud.

Kakashi straightened with a sigh "Probably within the next couple of days, we've done all we could here in Cloud, and I want to make sure we're all rested before we set out for home, also you might need to inform Hokage-sama about Kisame here" the silver haired nin said.

Looking to Sakura who nodded seriously "Which reminds me, how exactly did you come up with your own transportation seal" the former Hokage at the table asked, having wondered since earlier that morning.

Here Sakura grinned yet again "Naruto actually helped me come up with it, we made it together based off your old one but unique enough that it's not a copy" Sakura chattered excitedly, going into great detail about her seal.

Making many at the table supremely confused, while only about five of the occupants actually understood what she was talking about and even following along somewhat "And get this those two will be teaching fuinjutsu to academy students believe it" Naruto admitted.

"Wait what, when did that happen, aren't you a little young" Minato questioned, previous thoughts derailed as he learned yet another strange thing about Sakura, and Sasuke as well, they had to be the youngest academy instructors in existence.

But at his question they shrugged "Doesn't matter so long as we know what we're teaching, plus it will only be one class we'll be teaching indefinitely and we have no idea which one it is until a couple months from now" Sasuke shrugged.

"Though there will be weekend classes and summer training classes, even tutoring should the need arise in the next batch of academy students" Sakura added cheerily, polishing off the rest of her lunch as she did so.

And the finishing touch on the conversation was Naruto chiming in with "Me and Sakura-chan are the ones who came up with the new academy curriculum" Naruto exclaimed, prompting Minato to scratch his head and look to Kakashi yet again.

Only his former student shrugged looking about at shocked as everyone else minus Shino "Pinky your probably the weirdest brat I've ever met" Kisame snorted, also finishing off his food, just grateful that he was not being held in a cell.

He knew the reason though was that the Raikage was fond of Sakura and he somewhat trusted her judgement "What a drag but Hoshigaki is right" Shikamaru drew a hand down his face in response, agreeing with Kisame.

Sakura stuck her tongue out "Different Shikamaru, Hoshigaki-san that doesn't constitute as being weird" the rosette reminded as she grabbed for her wallet only to realize she didn't have it on her for once.

Thank goodness for Shino who paid for both their meals "You can just pay me back later Sakura" the Aburame heir soothed knowing how she felt about this sort of thing, even if it wasn't a date in any capacity.

"Kami" Kiba groaned, glad that his Ma hadn't decided to throw him at the deep end and betroth him to some girl, it was weird enough seeing his classmates all lovey dovey and being an Inuzuka would make those feelings much worse for him.

Naruto fake gagged though as they all paid for their meal and left the restaurant to enjoy their last couple of days in the Cloud Village doing whatever they wanted "Oh hey Sakura-chan do you think Mrs Haruno and Mr. Haruno would like souvenirs" Naruto asked suddenly.

Want to get the couple something nice for all they'd put up with, Sakura perked up as did Sasuke while Shino chuckled "He doesn't call them Mom or Dad" the revived Hokage questioned in confusion yet again.

Brows knitted "Nor does Sasuke-kun, both of them have simply accepted that Mebuki and Kizashi love them without pushing boundaries" Kakashi explained, understanding all this had to be a huge shock to the system for his former sensei.

Minato sighed and instead turned his attention on the teenagers or almost teenagers as they realized that yes they had a break and could do their own thing, followed by scrambling to all corners of the village they were in.

During this time Sasuke, Shino, Sakura and Naruto had gone back to the hotel so that Sakura could get her wallet "Here you go Shino-kun" Sakura smiled, handing over the amount her meal had cost and Shino simply took it without a word.

Until the four of them wandered out and around the village "Oi isn't that the girl Darui, didn't you say she had some kind of nightmare this morning" Karai raised a brow at his companion when they spotted the quartet going from store to store.

Looking for souvenirs if he had to guess "That's the kid alright and more than likely she's trying to put the whole thing out of her mind by acting as normal as she possibly can" Darui sighed, eyeing Sakura from the distance they were at.

Obviously whatever Sasuke and Shino had been looking for earlier had massively helped "It's a wonder how she even functions" the older of the duo frowned, easily able to tell that Sakura wasn't at one hundred percent.

Darui shrugged "Dunno Karai, but I'll tell you one thing that girl once something gets in her head she does everything in her power to accomplish it" the ivory haired Jonin said, remembering how she'd trained during the Chunin Exams.

"Yeah I think I can see that, I mean look at yesterday for example if that goofy blonde kid hadn't of gotten distracted we would have taken the Akatsuki out by three more members" Karai commented, watching as the kids stopped and looked into a stall.

Before Sakura pulled out a roll of light green material and from the distance they were they were able to hear what she said "Might be able to make a weapon out of this, like the wire manipulation technique, you can use it for other things like ribbons" the pinkette grinned.

Probably already thinking over the pro's and cons of such a weapon "And there she goes again, always thinking about what she can do to improve herself" Darui snorted lightly, though he did wonder how she would go about doing that.

It was question to ask some other time as they continued on after the Chunin until the sky started growing dark on them, Sakura was clearly still not a fan of the dark, considering she was the first one back to the hotel.

"Relax Sakura you have the nightlight and the new thing Sasuke and I bought you" the Aburame assured when panic gleamed in Sakura's eyes as they stopped in front of her and Hinata's shared hotel room.

Sasuke nodding along in agreement to what he said "But should you need us, please don't hesitate to come to either of our rooms okay Sakura" the third to last Uchiha in existence offered, even if it meant possibly sleeping on the floor.

They would do anything to erase that fear in her "Me to Sakura-chan, I'm here as well as are Shikamaru, Kiba and Hinata-chan" the blonde Uzumaki chimed in, prompting Sakura to pull them into bone crushing hugs before disappearing into the room.

"Afraid is she, hmm I guess I suppose I would be to, if I had a nightmare like what she had this morning" the Nara heir grumbled seeing the three boys milling about in front of the girls shared room looking awkward and slightly pitiful in Naruto's case.

Who couldn't stand any of his friends being in any sort of pain whatsoever "Sakura will be just fine you guys really stop worrying all the time" the Inuzuka heir snorted, not to sure of himself on that matter but it was all he could say.

Like that Naruto and Sasuke turned into their own shared room after bidding the others goodnight "G..Goodnight" the Hyuga Heiress called out softly and hurried into the room, shutting the door behind her and turned to find Sakura partially dressed, only having her shorts on at that moment.

Before swiftly donning a pyjama top to be more decent and soon all them were in bed asleep, it was halfway through the night that Kakashi got up to check on the genin and Chunin "Kakashi-kun" the former Hokage frowned.

Seeing his former student headed from the room "Just checking on them Minato-sensei, we don't want a repeat of yesterday morning I assure you" the Copy Ninja explained, not want to experience what he had the other morning ever again.

Minato couldn't argue with that logic and also worried followed Kakashi from the room to check on the others, Sakura being the main focus of their check who they found resting peacefully before peeking in on the rest and found them just as asleep before returning to their room.

Kisame snorted in his sleep as they crept back into the hotel beds and laid back down to get some more shut eye until it was morning "We're leaving today right" the blue skinned rogue asked, impatient to get out of the Cloud Village.

To his relief Kakashi nodded as he went around telling the brats to pack their things that after breakfast and one last meeting with the Raikage they were going to leave and head home and once they'd all eaten their filled headed for the Raikage Tower.

And gathered before Ay one last time "Right, I really do appreciate all you brats have done since arriving, so in thanks I give you these, you are now considered Kumogakure Ambassadors and welcome at any time in my village" Ay informed.

Handing over metallic plates with the Kumogakure insignia on them "Isn't that great Sakura-san, Shino-san, Sasuke-san, your ambassadors now" Cee patted each teen on the shoulder, smirking all the while at their stunned expressions.

The only two who didn't get the badges were Minato and Kisame "So long as the next time you come here, it's on a break where you won't be pulled into such an emergency like that again" the ivory haired Jonin snorted.

Patting the teens on the shoulders himself "Agreed" his blonde haired partner nodded before taking up his place at the back of the room again as Ay cleared his throat directing all attention back on to him.

"On that note, may you have a speedy yet safe trip back to Konohagakure" the Raikage said, sending the enlarged group off with well wishes as they bowed and headed for the gates, eager to return home after what seemed like so long.