hello special people!

thank youuuuu for the reviews! don't even stress if your first language isn't english, i love it. i always forget to mention the comments in different language - thank you for commenting! google translate is my friend and I appreciate hearing from you so much!

here are three little extra stories for you! i hope you like them, i kinda had a heart melt at some of the cuteness. the main story has been a bit sad and heavy, so i wanted to give a little more fluff and lightness here.

working on some other extras and chapter 8 to post in a few days!

:)

alex xx

EXTRA #1:

HEART BANDAGE

Sakura was glad that Matsuri had introduced Shouta to her. It meant that there was someone close by to check on her when Yuri was out of the village - something that was happening more and more frequently.

Yuri had been named one of the jonin leaders, one of the elite. The way Sakura heard it, he'd had a very intense battle against Tobirama to earn that position. Sakura was sorry she'd missed it. His position was important, and he was given a lot of responsibility in training up the shinobi under him. It meant that as the missions came into the village, he was often named as a team leader. Yuri had the kind of disposition that meant he got along with others easily, yet was authoritative enough to demand respect. While Matsuri was pregnant, him being away so often wasn't ideal, but there wasn't anything they could do about it.

Shouta had brought both Matsuri and Kagami into the hospital when he'd arrived. She was having a bad day, so Sakura had set up a room for her to rest in, and taken Kagami around the hospital with her to give Matsuri a break. It was almost lunchtime. Sakura had sent Hikari off to shadow one of the other doctors, and Shouta was reading through the medical scrolls from the clans.

She was in her office with Kagami, who was tiredly laying on her chest, his little arms wrapped around her neck. Sakura smiled at him, feeling affection so strong it might have overflown. He was the cutest little thing. He suddenly wriggled out of her hold and plodded across the room. Sakura looked at the papers on her desk and sighed. She really needed to fill out the reports for the Hokage, but until Shouta was finished with his work, she needed to keep watch over Kagami. He came back around her desk with his hands full.

"Up." He demanded, an unusually serious look in his eyes.

Sakura held back a smile and pulled him back up on her lap. He looked at her with an amusingly serious look. She saw bandaged in his hands and asked him what they were for. He stuck one of her chest, just where her heart was.

"Mama say Kuku hurt here."

Sakura looked down at it in surprise. He took his hand away and the bandage fell, and Sakura took the adhesive off it and helped him stick it back on.

"No hurt now, Kuku."

He looked at her with determination and Sakura kissed his forehead, and hugged him too her. Matsuri must have said something about her heart hurting, and seeing her put some bandages on patients… he was a smart boy.

"I love you, Kagami!" She squealed.

He wriggled in her arms.

"Kuku better?"

Sakura smiled. She sat back and tapped his nose, which he scrunched up.

"Kuku better," she said.

He gave her a bright beaming smile and planted a sloppy kiss right on her lips.

"Love Kuku," he murmured, settling down on her chest and hugging her again.

Sakura felt warm and happy, with a slight pang of sadness and longing. Even if it didn't work and she couldn't have her own children, she could always love Kagami and his little sibling, and all the children in the village. She could be content with that.

Kagami twitched, falling into sleep. His hand resting over the bandage on her chest, and Sakura smiled. Well, maybe she'd love Kagami just a little more than anyone else.

EXTRA #2:

SMILE

Hikari frowned and pursed her lips the moment she saw Shouta Uchiha. He looked so dreadfully boring. His hair was way too long, he looked like he never smiled and he barely talked. It was the worst luck that Sakura had somehow decided to take him on as her second assistant, so Hikari was going to have to spend so much time with him. She huffed and leaned on her elbow, her chin in her palm and looked at him across the table. His head was stuck in the books in front of him. They were studying the make-up of the human body. Hikari was moving from basic anatomy into more complex organs, but because of his stupid sharingan, Shouta was already at the same level as her. She huffed again. She definitely wasn't jealous of that moody guy and his annoying blood-limit.

He sat back and let out a sigh yawn, pushing his hair back from his face. Hikari watched him. She could see the red, scarred skin creeping from his arms to his hands and it made her feel odd, a little angry and a little sad. The hair he pushed back fell forward again, and she let out a burst of giggles when she saw his pout of irritation.

"What?" He asked, glaring at her.

Hikari reached her hand to her on hair and removed one of her clips. Part of her hair fell out and she sighed as she handed the clip to him across the table.

"Use this," she said. "It'll keep the hair out of your eyes."

He seemed reluctant, and she grew annoyed.

"Fine. If you don't want it."

She took her hand back and put the clip on the desk, a little closer to her than him, so if he wanted it he'd have to reach and get it. She ignored the irritated look in his half-covered eyes, fixed her hair, and went back to reading, ignoring him. Why did Lady Sakura tell her to be nice to him? He was just so... ugh. After a few minutes, he reached over and took the clip. Hikari smirked and looked up at him as he clipped his hair back. Now, with his hair not covering his face for the first time, Hikari noticed that he was actually… not ugly at all and it really annoyed her for some reason.

"Thank you," he mumbled.

Hikari pouted, annoyed.

"You're welcome," she replied.

Her eyes kept flickering over to him as he read. She noticed that every so often - far more often than most people - he'd itch at some part of himself. She frowned. It was probably going to make his burn scars more irritated if he kept doing. She tried to think of what Sakura would do. After another particularly long itch of his arm, Hikari sighed and closed her book.

"Wait here," she ordered him.

Shouta raised his eyebrows in surprise and question, then shrugged, going back to his reading. She went to the hospital garden, took some things from a store cupboard and then knocked on Sakura's office door. Sakura listened to her request and then she grinned and nodded, telling her that she'd make sure it was all good when Hikari was finished. Hikari went about her work on the floor, seriously questioning why she was doing it at all. With Sakura's approval and a compliment that left Hikari glowing, she went back to Shouta and dropped the jar on the desk in front of him.

"Here," she said.

He picked it up, eying it carefully.

"What is it?" He asked, some doubt in his voice.

"Salve," she replied shortly, going back to her book. "For the itching. Put it on before you sleep."

She tried to act like she didn't care. She could feel him staring at her, and she tried really desperately not to go red under his gaze. From the corner of her eye, she saw him slide the jar to the side, and go back to his reading. They sat quietly for a few more moments. Hikari wasn't really reading. She was just staring at the words on the page, telling herself she really didn't care and she was just doing what Lady Sakura would've wanted her to do.

"Thank you," he said.

She looked up and saw that he was giving her a little smile. Hikari couldn't help the flush of embarrassment and pleasure that came from seeing it. It was the first real smile she'd ever seen from him.

"You can smile," she said, clearing her throat and teasing, trying to recover from her blushing.

"I can laugh too," he replied, his smile growing a little wider.

Hikari stared at him, her heart hammering in her chest, thinking that maybe she'd like to hear that one day. Then she grew annoyed at herself again.

"Whatever," she said, sinking into her chair. "We need to study."

He went back to his books without another word, and Hikari peeked at him from over hers. Despite herself, she couldn't help but feel a little happy that she'd managed to make him smile. She didn't realise that she'd been smiling to herself about it until Sakura pointed it out later and teased her for it.

EXTRA #3:

FATHERS AND SONS - PART 1

Mito stood in the door and yawned tiredly. She watched as her husband handled their almost six-month-old. Hashirama was so awkward. She smiled fondly at him. Tsumo whimpered tearfully in his father's hands as Hashirama attempted to calm him, nervously rocking him and making him even more scared. Eventually, she relented to Hashirama's wide and terrified eyes took her place beside him, rested her hand on his bicep.

"Mito, he keeps crying when he looks at me," Hashirama pleaded with her. "What do I do? Take him, please."

Mito shook her head.

"No, darling. He's your son, you need to learn how to soothe him. It's important."

Hashirama looked so distraught she had to laugh a little.

"Don't hold him away from you like that," she instructed gently. "Hold him close to you, by your chest."

Hashirama did as she said.

"Make sure you're supporting his neck, darling. Why don't you sit down."

She led her boys over to the chair in the nursery. Hashirama carefully sat, holding their son like he was afraid to break him. Mito kissed Hashirama's forehead.

"He's not glass. If you feel anxious and hold him nervously, it will make him nervous too. That's why he cries."

"But he's so small."

Hashirama looked at Tsumo, who was trying to suckle at his father's chest.

"I mean, he's bigger than before, but he's still so small."

"He's strong," Mito said. "You're going to protect him, aren't you? You'll never let anything happen to him?"

Hashirama looked slightly scandalized.

"Of course not," he replied. "He's my precious child."

"That's the feeling you need to convey when you hold him," she said, lightly poking Tsumo's cheek. "He's going to grow up looking at his father as the man who will stand by him, and darling, you're the Hokage, all the village are your children. So you need to make sure to give our own children a little extra love and care."

Tsumo had settled, and Hashirama was looking down at him with a mix of love and affection and awe that had Mito's heart wanting to burst. She quietly slipped out of the room, leaving the pair to bond together and laid on their bed, quickly drifting into sleep. Sometime later, she woke up to find Hashirama laying beside her and Tsumo between them. She felt blissfully loved and content.

FATHERS AND SONS - PART 2

Shikaru Nara watched his son with a high amount of amusement. Shikata fidgeted as he sat on the cushion outside, the shogi board prepared, but the opponent missing. Sakura wasn't expected to arrive for another fifteen minutes at least. When he told Shikata, his son snapped that he wasn't waiting for her, with an immediate flush in his cheeks and clear childish denial in his voice only served to further Shikaru's amusement.

As he got older, Shikaru discovered the joy in poking fun of others. He pushed into dangerous territory with Madara Uchiha, but the young man was just so easy to tease. Anyone who had seen him in a room with Sakura could see the man was in love with her, they'd have to be blind to miss it. Shikaru glanced back at his son and wondered how he'd react to hearing that. It would be fun to find out.

"I think Madara Uchiha has designs on Sakura," he said.

Shikata stiffened slightly and Shikaru kept his face clear of the grin he felt.

"Really?" Shikata tried and failed to not sound interested.

"Mmm," Shikaru hummed. "Well, she's a beautiful young woman. She's well-regarded in the village and a friend to the Hokage. She's bound to be attracting many powerful shinobi."

Shikata turned to his father fully.

"What about you? You're a powerful shinobi, and you're a clan leader."

There was some kind of a challenge in his eyes. Shikaru barked a laugh.

"Well, I can't deny she's a beauty and she intrigues me."

The reasons why were ones he couldn't share with his son. Sakura's secrets seemed to be known to the Hokage, and while it was becoming a hobby to figure them out, Shikaru wouldn't risk speculation.

"But I don't think she cares about clans and all the titles. Besides, I'm an old man and she's barely older than you."

"She just looks at me like I'm a kid," he pouted. "She's only four years older. I'm fifteen now."

Shikaru grinned.

"So you do like her then?"

Shikata flushed red.

"No way."

Shikaru remembered the atmosphere around Sakura and Madara the night of the party, the way all the Uchiha's actions seemed to be unconsciously staking his claim. Sakura was more of a mystery and harder to read. There was something there, but who could say what would happen. If he had to guess, any woman would find it difficult to deny the kind of devotion Madara displayed.

"I won't discourage a little admiration, Shikata," Shikaru sighed. "Wouldn't let it go to further, though. There's only one place I can see her looking in the future, and I doubt it'll be the Nara house."

Shikata looked down and was quiet for a few minutes.

"But she can still come and play shogi."

Shikaru smiled, his mind wandering back into the days of his own youth when he used shogi to woo Shikata's mother. Or, more like she used shogi to woo him. After all, she was the genius of the pair of them.

"Yeah. I'm sure she will," he said.