Authoress' Notes: I didn't forget about this. I just ran out of time to work on it. I really am so, so sorry it took so long. I had planned to get this chapter out during the summer, but I just never had a chance to finish it. I mean, once school ended last April, I spent the rest of the Summer studying for my MCATs and working. Then school started and now I'm busy as ever with pre-med. It's thanks to all of you though that this is coming out at all. The reviews and messages I get telling me to continue this story don't let me ever forget it, even when I'm studying Microbiology, Immunology, and The History and Philosophy of Science – fun times, I can assure you. I will try to work on this story whenever I can.

Chapter 7 - Colours

I know you feel alone, yeah, and no one else can figure you out.

But don't you ever turn away from the ones that help you down?

Well they'd love to save you. Don't you know they love to see you smile?

But these colours that you've shined are surely not your style.

But you should know these colours that you're shining are

Surely not the best colours that you shine,

Surely not the best colours that you shine.

- Colours, Crossfade

Sasuke lay on the bed in his new apartment, the boxes of things from his old place now mostly unpacked. He was actually a little shocked by how his possessions were still in such good condition – in fact, he was amazed that they hadn't just been tossed out when he had left . But he was sort of glad that for whatever reason they hadn't been – it made his life just that much easier.

Now, dishes were hidden in the few cupboards in the kitchen area. The few family mementos he had taken from the Uchiha complex as a child were hidden away in the closet. His old towels and sheets – freshly laundered, he noted – were packed away in the dresser along with his new clothes. Everything had its place.

And the old picture of team seven, which had been buried deep in one of the boxes, had somehow found its way onto the small night stand next to the bed...and now he found himself just lying on that same bed, staring at it.

In the picture, Kakashi wore a grin, so obvious even though it was concealed behind his mask, and both his hands were ruffled in his two male students' hair. Sasuke himself wore a scowl as he glared at the offensive camera. Naruto was also scowling, but his glare was directed at Sasuke and not at the poor cameraman. And in the middle of it all was Sakura, standing before Kakashi, positively dwarfed by the older ninja. Her hair was long in the picture, her smile was bright, and her hands were fisted in obvious delight. In that one moment, Sakura, with her happy attitude, resembled their teacher more than either young man did.

He turned away from the picture and looked at the ceiling.

He had already taken the Uchiha crest off of some of the old shirts he had found among his possessions and sewn it on to the new clothing he had purchased. It wasn't the finest job, but it was more than satisfactory. Now, he was making a list in his head of everything else he would need to purchase soon.

That was when he heard the door of the apartment next to his open.

He had heard Naruto leave a little earlier that evening, so obviously the blond was finally returning to his apartment. He wondered where Naruto could have gone and what he might have done, but he didn't make any move to go next door and find out. What would that accomplish anyways? He wasn't like the blond, able to easily offer comfort to anyone he crossed paths with.

In the back of his mind, a traitorous voice argued that he could at least listen to Naruto...hadn't that been what he had done for Sakura only earlier that afternoon? He ignored it and tried to will himself to fall asleep. It was already really late and Sakura would be by to pick him at quarter to nine, and he had a feeling that he wouldn't get off with such an easy day's work at the hospital again.

Eventually, his eyes fell closed, and he drifted into a dreamless sleep.

Just because Sasuke's chakra was sealed off, that didn't mean that he couldn't do something so basic as sense the chakra of another person in the area. That didn't require active use of his own chakra – and it required nothing more than trained senses when that person was standing right outside his front door. So, when Sakura arrived at quarter to nine, he knew that she was there, and he once again opened the door before she could knock with the raised fist she held in the air. Her other arm was dangling at her side, a bag that looked to be filled with books weighing it down.

"Oh..." she stumbled over her words for a second as the door swung open. Then she smiled and relaxed her tensed shoulders. "Good morning, Sasuke-kun."

He didn't say anything, but he nodded his head in recognition. Sakura seemed to deem this acceptable as she then turned on her heel and immediately headed for the stairs to the ground floor, the bag she held in her left hand swinging with every step she took. He shut and locked his door, and was right behind her in moments. When they reached the street, he took up a position next to her.

When she didn't start talking right away, he was a little surprised. After everything that had happened yesterday, he had thought that she was back to normal. A glance at her face revealed that her brow was furrowed in concentration and that her eyes were a little glazed over as if she were thinking about something far distanced from their walk. He decided to let it go and not to bother her. This quiet was comfortable and not nearly as strange as that of yesterday morning's walk. It didn't really matter though that he hadn't broken the silence, because after a minute, Sakura herself broke it.

"Sasuke-kun?"

He looked at her again, and their eyes locked. Her face still revealed a girl deep in concentration, but her eyes were no longer glassy and unfocussed. If anything, they betrayed a wavering uncertainty.

"Hn," he responded to her. She understood that it meant that he was listening though.

"I'm going to go see Juugo again today and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me," she explained to him.

He held back his question of "Why?" and just looked at her expectantly. She didn't disappoint.

"It's just that he's locked up all by himself. I know that he agreed to it and that given the circumstances it's sort of necessary, but I'm sure that he doesn't want to be all alone all the time. And he knows you and thinks highly of you – I'm sure he'd be happy to see you," she told him, wringing her hands together.

"I thought you were supposed to focus on the hospital," he told her. Hadn't Tsunade asked it of her less than twenty-four hours ago? And hadn't she agreed? Wasn't that the reason Sakura had had for training the night before?

"I'm just going to pop by on my lunch break," she answered him, "and I have a pager if they need me while I'm out. And anyways, focussing my attention on the hospital just means that it'll be my responsibility to keep on top of all the work Tsunade and Shizune have taken care of ever since they've been managing it. I'll be doing paperwork, organizing everyone's shifts, doing consults for treatments with any medic who requires one, and I'll be the primary medic on call if any obscure or extreme cases check in. I had wanted to spend all my time working on curing Juugo, but the little bits I can squeeze in between my other responsibilities will have to suffice for now until everything normalizes around here."

"They have you do all that?" Sasuke asked, maybe just a little dumbfounded, after Sakura's explanation. From her description of the work she would be obligated to do, it sounded like she would be running the hospital.

"After my parents left and I became a chunin, I started to spend more and more time with Tsunade, and it just became natural that I would help her and Shizune with their work. I learned a lot about managing the hospital – things that no one else is presently trained in," Sakura explained pleasantly. "And running the village," she tacked on as an afterthought, a distracted smile coming to her lips, "Naruto will be in for a pleasant surprise when he becomes Hokage and learns how much paperwork it requires."

Sasuke himself smirked at hearing that. It was only belatedly that he realized that Sakura had said when Naruto became Hokage and not if...and that he hadn't even questioned the idea.

Sakura's smile eventually faltered and she turned her attention back to him.

"So?" she asked.

Sasuke said nothing, and Sakura started to fidget, clearly uncertain about her request. Eventually, he nodded. There was no harm in going to see Juugo. That voice in the back of his head seemed insistent on pointing out to him that this way, it would be possible for him to watch for the signs of a sudden change in Juugo's demeanor that Sakura may not notice in time to get clear of him before she was hurt.

His nod was rewarded with another one of Sakura's full smiles – a smile which remained in place for the remainder of their walk.

When they passed through the hospital's main entrance, Sakura offered him a goodbye, telling him that she would come grab him before she headed over to the prison in a few hours. His eyes followed her path towards the elevators before he reluctantly headed over to the front desk where the same nurse as yesterday, Reika, sat.

He didn't bother to say anything when he approached her. He didn't need to. Her eyes were already fixed on him. It seemed that without the shield of Sakura's presence, he could not escape her attention.

"Uchiha Sasuke, right?" she finally asked, her eyes still locked on him. Sasuke was surprised to see that they held no fear or contempt.

Still he said nothing in return, but it was not like the nurse needed his confirmation. She abruptly directed her attention to a pile of papers on her desk and shuffled through them, eventually extracting one and extending her hand for him to take it. He grabbed it, but the nurse didn't let go.

"Tsunade-sama left this for you and told me to remind you that you're not allowed to have any complaints," she told him, her voice strong and a little teasing, as she delivered the Hokage's message before releasing her grip on the sheet of paper.

He heard her, but the words quickly drifted away as his eyes roved over those written by the Hokage detailing his job for the day.

In that moment, he sort of hated the woman.

"No, your course of treatment is exactly right. It's definitely not something that should be healed in one session. The shock to the body would be too great."

"Thank-you for the consultation, Sakura-san. I just wanted to be sure I was doing what was best for the patient."

"You should trust your own judgement more, Seki-san," Sakura told the medic she had just consulted with sternly. "I know I trust in you. I mean you've been here years longer than I have. You have experience on your side."

"Of course," the older man replied, taking her stern tone in stride with a smile.

Sakura couldn't help but smile as well.

"Pfft. You know what I think? I think that you didn't really need a consult and were just fishing for compliments," she accused teasingly.

The older medic just shook his head and laughed before turning and walking back into his patient's room.

Sakura's smile grew as well. She knew it was hard sometimes for those who had been medics years and years to consult with her, especially when she was often half their age. Hell, it had been hard for her to take charge when she had felt so inexperienced compared to them. But eventually, people had come to accept her great memory for the details and her aptitude with the techniques and as they had accepted her, she had accepted her role. Nowadays, a consult with someone like Seki, who was thirty-three years old and had been working as a medic since he was her age wasn't hard to handle. She just took it in stride.

Now, with Seki's patient's situation sorted out, she was done until the afternoon and could go take her lunch break. Which meant she could go grab Sasuke and save him from whatever task Tsunade had set him to. In spite of her mentor's saddened mood, Sakura knew that the woman could still torment others like no one else.

So, first she went up to her office and grabbed the books she had thought to bring for Juugo. Then she took the elevator to the main floor, where she approached the nurse's station. Reika still sat behind it, apparently not having been relieved for her lunch break yet, and Sakura was glad. Reika had been one of the first people she had met at the hospital, and one of the first people who had recognized her skill. Though Reika was already twenty-five, with a husband and a four year old daughter, Sakura considered her a very good friend and was always happy to see her.

"Hey, Reika! How's it going?" Sakura greeted the nurse with a huge smile.

Reika immediately looked up from the papers she had been consulting and brightened as well.

"Everything's going great – here and at home. So well, in fact, that my husband and I have been thinking of having a night out sometime this week. I was actually hoping that if you weren't too busy you might babysit for us again."

"What evening were you thinking of?" Sakura asked. Her evenings for the next few days were currently free, but they would only remain that way as long as she stayed on top of all of her work. The earlier in the week Reika and her husband wanted to go out, the more likely that Sakura would not be behind in any of her responsibilities.

"We were thinking of going out tomorrow night..." Reika suggested, letting the thought trail off.

"I'm free then, and I'd be glad to babysit Mika-chan for you," Sakura answered honestly. The date fit perfectly in her schedule and Reika had perhaps the cutest, most well-behaved four year old she had ever seen.

"Thanks a ton, Sakura," Reika replied, sounding just a little relieved to have her plans sorted out.

"Hey, it's no problem...hmm...but where did that suffix I heard yesterday morning go?" Sakura teased as Reika addressed her informally, like the friend she was.

"You know as well as I do that was only because Uchiha Sasuke was there. Keeping things professional and all that. Just now we were discussing personal business. That being said, Sakura-sama," Reika said, exaggerating the suffix dramatically, "did you need something? I don't usually see you skulking around the first floor during the day when there's work to do."

"Ah, yeah. I was wondering if you knew where I could find said Uchiha. He's supposed to be working somewhere in the hospital today," Sakura explained.

Reika smiled even brighter if that was at all possible.

"Uchiha Sasuke, huh? Tsunade-sama informed me of his situation. Now, if I remember correctly, today's assignment will find him in the basement."

"The basement?" Sakura confirmed.

"Mmhmm," Reika nodded, before letting out a trilling laugh.

"What's so funny?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, you'll see when you get there," Reika prompted, her eyes shining wickedly.

"Okay then," Sakura said hesitantly, before letting out a little apprehensive laugh of her own. "Thanks for the info, Reika-san."

"No problem, Sakura-sama."

They both laughed and Sakura turned to return to the elevator, but just as abruptly, she turned back to the desk. As she had been asking Reika her question, another one had kept coming to mind, and she found that she couldn't leave without it being satisfied.

"Reika. Can I ask you something? As a friend?" Sakura enquired, stepping closer to the desk and lowering her voice.

"Of course," Reika replied, lowering her voice automatically in response to Sakura's whispers.

"Why are you so...okay with the whole Sasuke thing? You didn't even flinch yesterday when you saw him, and even now you seem totally fine with it. I just...I don't understand. Anyone who recognizes him is either calling him a traitor, considering him with extreme caution, or just acting plain stupid. You don't fall into any of those categories. You seem to be treating him...well, just like you would treat anyone else. Not that that's a bad thing...it's just...I mean..."

"Sakura, it's okay. Don't worry about it. I get it," Reika interrupted her.

Sakura was a little stunned by that response, because she herself wasn't even sure why she was asking. It was just something that she had noticed, something that had struck a chord with her, something that had made her maybe just a little bit happy... Maybe because it made Sasuke seem like just another citizen of Konoha – a part of the village.

Reika wasn't finished speaking.

"I know the story of Uchiha Sasuke as well as anyone else from Konoha," she began, keeping her voice low so that they would not be overheard, "and no child should have to suffer through what he did. His whole family murdered...by his own brother...it's so tragic. And though his past doesn't excuse his behaviour, it undoubtedly contributes to it. Even so, the most important factor in my opinion of him is that I know that he has Tsunade-sama's approval, so why shouldn't he also have mine," Reika concluded.

After a moment's silence, Sakura spoke: "Thanks for that, Reika... I wish that more people could be like you."

"Well, maybe I can help bring your wish to life," Reika suggested.

A pleasantly surprised Sakura was all ears.

A few minutes later, Sakura was pressing the down button outside the elevator. Soon, the machine arrived, and once inside, she pressed the button for the basement level. Seconds later, the doors were opening, and she was walking out into a dimly lit hallway.

The hospital's basement was not its most aesthetic floor. Actually, that was putting it mildly. The basement was ugly, and poorly lit with fluorescent bulbs since no natural light could reach its depths. Plus, it was always cold, despite the supposed heating system. Sakura shivered.

What on earth could Sasuke be doing down here? And what was so funny about the situation that it made Reika laugh?

The basement was used exclusively for storage of the hospital's records and supplies, and for laundry. There were fridges where vaccines were stored when they were preparing to vaccinate the populace for a bug. The hospital's main blood bank was also located down here, and it was from there that they stocked the smaller fridges of blood on every floor as often as needed. There was a huge laundry room where all of the hospital's linens were washed. And she knew there were rooms and rooms of filing cabinets that held the records for their patients, as well as rooms stocked with extra supplies like bed sheets, hospital gowns, and tongue depressors... But really, what was Sasuke doing?

As she turned the corner, she learned exactly what Sasuke had been sent to the basement for.

And she giggled.

And then her giggle turned into full blown laughter. But it was not because of what Sasuke was doing. Rather, it was what he was wearing while doing it.

Sasuke was dressed in the orange coveralls that were the trademark of the hospital's custodial staff, and he didn't look the least bit happy about it. The uniform itself was enough to make Sakura burst into laughter – it really looked much too similar to Naruto's old outfit –, but the fact that he also had a mop in his hands, and a bucket of dirtied water at his feet was what prevented her laughter from subsiding.

Now Sakura knew what had so amused Reika – someone didn't even have to know the Uchiha well to understand that the colour of the uniform was pure punishment for him. Sasuke was not pouting or sulking like a normal person would, but his unhappiness was still evident in the set of his eyes and mouth. Sakura really had to congratulate her teacher – Tsunade was an evil mastermind.

When Sakura's laughter abated, she finally noticed that Sasuke had stopped working and was glaring at her in a way she could only describe as comical in the current situation.

"Do you want to change before we go?" she finally propositioned, trying to hold back yet another round of giggles. She couldn't believe she had let herself laugh so openly at Sasuke in the first place...but the situation was just so unexpected...and funny.

She lost all control though when Sasuke immediately stripped out of the orange coveralls to reveal his own clothes underneath.

Sasuke glared at her again but she took no heed.

"Come on," she said through her dying laughter as he dropped his coveralls over the bucket. He would be returning here later after all, but Sakura figured he'd be in no rush to get back.

Tsunade was evil.

That was the thought that had stayed with Sasuke all morning while he had cleaned the damn hospital basement wearing that ridiculous uniform. The letter Tsunade had left with the nurse had been very detailed about his work for that morning, down to the uniform he absolutely had to wear since he would be undertaking the work of a member of the custodial staff. In his opinion, that really made no sense – it was just another weird punishment, like living next door to Naruto. Still, just like living next to Naruto, Sasuke had to abide by the woman's crazy plans if he wanted to live in Konoha.

Even so, her order to don the stupid orange uniform would have been ignored if she had not reminded him in the letter that the hospital had cameras everywhere, even the basement, and that his sentence could be much worse if she found he wasn't complying to her every whim. And so that's how Uchiha Sasuke came to wear the orange coveralls that had apparently amused one Haruno Sakura to no end.

Sasuke watched her now, out of the corner of his eye, as they walked down the streets of Konoha on their way to the prison, which was located right next to the Konoha Intelligence Division for convenience – or so Sakura had told him as they had left the hospital. Sasuke himself had no information on the matter, having had nothing to do with the building before he had left Konoha.

As they walked through the relatively empty division of town where the Intelligence Division and prison were housed, Sakura was humming to herself, and smiling softly, swinging the bag of books she had carried with her to the hospital that morning. She looked so carefree, more like a civilian teenager on a stroll than a kunoichi or medic on business, though the hitai-ate she wore as a headband was clear proof otherwise.

"We're here."

Sakura's words interrupted his aimless thoughts, and it was only then that he noted the discreet sign on the one story building in front of them: Konoha Prison. They got closer to the building and Sakura stopped walking, Sasuke mimicking her actions. He then turned his head to face her so that she would know she had his attention.

"Most of the building is underground," Sakura explained. Then she pointed to a much taller building next to it. "That's the Konoha Intelligence Division building. It connects to the prison through an underground corridor."

After the little lesson, Sakura resumed walking into the prison, and as had become his usual routine, Sasuke followed her. The two of them entered a small room that was bare of any furniture, save for a long counter, behind which a heavy metal door was located. Sakura immediately approached the counter and pressed a discreet black button in the counter's centre. Moments later, the door swung open and a shinobi dressed in chunin gear stepped out into the small room, shutting the door behind him.

"Haruno Sakura," Sakura told him, pulling a letter from her weapons pouch and presenting the man with it. Sasuke assumed that it was written permission from Tsunade to visit Juugo. "I'm here to see the special prisoner," she continued.

"And what about him?" the chunin asked, motioning to Sasuke after he had finished reading the letter and had given it back to Sakura, apparently satisfied.

"I've cleared it with Tsunade-sama," Sakura said, her voice unwavering, "you can check with her if you'd like, though I doubt she'd appreciate the interruption."

As the chunin studied Sakura, trying to see if there was truth in her answer, Sasuke watched the chunin. When the chunin's eyes left Sakura, Sasuke knew that he had accepted Sakura's answer – most likely because he did not want to risk angering the Hokage.

"Follow me," the chunin finally declared, lifting a section of the counter up so that the two of them could get behind it. After that, he opened the door for them and they passed into a well-illuminated hallway off of which Sasuke could see a cafeteria and what were surely the closed entryways of offices.

After the chunin had closed the door behind them, he led them down the hallway to another heavy door. This time the shinobi performed hand seals before the door was eventually bathed in the glow of his chakra. When the chakra faded to nothing, the chunin put his hand to the metal entryway and Sasuke heard a mechanism click before the chunin removed his hand and used the handle to open the door.

"You know where you're going?" he asked Sakura, and she nodded. Seemingly satisfied by her answer, the chunin motioned for them to head down the illuminated staircase the door had revealed upon its opening.

Sakura went first, and Sasuke followed, not even sparing a glance backwards when the door swung shut behind them. The two of them merely continued to follow the winding staircase down until they reached the first landing, where another heavily built door stood fixed in the wall. This one however, Sakura opened with ease to reveal a dank, dimly lit hallway.

"These days, the prison really doesn't see much use," Sakura explained as they travelled through the cold, dark corridor past empty jail cells. "Since the Third Shinobi World War, only the first floor below ground has been used – it's the one connected to the Intelligence Division. For security purposes, the door we passed through to get in here, as well as the door into the Intelligence Division, can both only be opened from outside the cell block, and all the hallways down here are monitored by cameras and patrolling shinobi. One of them will be waiting to open up Juugo's cell for us."

They continued down the hallway, and eventually turned a bend, coming upon a jounin level shinobi. Sasuke could tell that neither Sakura nor the jounin were surprised. Neither was he. Sasuke had sensed the man's presence, and was sure that Sakura and the jounin had done the same.

"Ah, it's Pinky again. Here to see the big guy, right?" the jounin asked lightly.

"Yes. So, if you would please open the door and wait just down the hall like yesterday I would greatly appreciate it," Sakura replied politely, offering the older man a little bow. Her calm demeanor didn't fool Sasuke though – he had seen her eyebrow twitch when the man had called her Pinky. Apparently, that was one name she didn't like, at least coming from this person.

The jounin however, who had either not noticed her irritation or chosen to ignore it, nodded and turned to face the door he stood in front of. He extracted a ring of silver keys from a pouch at his side, rapidly selecting one and sticking it into the lock, and turning it deftly before extracting it.

"You'll know where to find me," the jounin stated before glancing once at Sasuke and then heading further down the hall where a chair was propped against the wall.

While the jounin had strolled down the hallway, Sakura had taken the opportunity to knock on the steel door in front of them. After a moment, Sasuke heard a hesitant voice drift through the small barred opening in it and say: "Come in."

Sakura opened the door to reveal what could have been just another bedroom in an apartment. The room was well lit and its heavy walls were coated by what could only be described as a cheerful shade of pale yellow. The floor was covered by a soft rug, and in the room was a bed big enough for Juugo to sleep in comfortably. Even the little corner meant to serve as a bathroom was hidden from view by a screen. Tsunade hadn't been kidding when she had said a jail cell with all the comforts they could give would be provided for Juugo – this particular cell looked like it had undergone a complete renovation. As for the actual structure of the room, as far as Sasuke could tell, it was solidly built and should be able to maintain Juugo if he snapped and tried to break out – at least until a sedative could be administered.

While Sasuke was still standing in the doorway, taking in the room, Sakura had already strode in and taken a seat beside Juugo on the enormous bed. For some reason, it made Sasuke nervous, and in response he strode further into the room and closer to the pair.

"I brought you some books, Juugo," Sakura was saying when Sasuke tuned into her words, as she handed Juugo the heavy bag filled to the brim with novels, "and I should be able to bring you some more clothes when I come by tomorrow...and hopefully some news of progress. I have a really good feeling about the tests I'm running.

"Oh, and I brought a visitor with me today," Sakura continued, though it was already obvious that Juugo had noticed Sasuke was in the room given that the larger man's eyes were focussed on the slighter Uchiha.

Sasuke decided this was as good a moment as any to speak.

"Juugo," he greeted the former Team Hebi member.

"Sasuke," Juugo replied in the same manner.

Sakura watched the two of them for a moment before hopping from the bed and strolling towards the door.

"I'll give you guys a few minutes to talk. I want to ask the guard a couple of questions," she said as she excused herself from their presence, a little smile on her lips. And then, in a flash, she was gone.

Silence reigned for a minute as Sasuke leaned against a wall and studied Juugo, while Juugo, still seated on the bed, studied Sasuke in turn.

"So how's your community service going?" Juugo finally asked and Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly in confusion. "Sakura told me about your sentence," Juugo elaborated.

Sasuke blinked, accepting the answer before replying: "I'll manage."

Juugo just smiled.

"You seem glad to be home," Juugo pointed out after another brief silence.

"What makes you say that?" Sasuke asked. He was genuinely curious because he didn't think he exuded anything that could make such an assumption valid.

"You're much less tense now," Juugo explained, "and much less angry. Even your chakra has a calmer feel to it."

Sasuke had no response to that.

And so silence ruled again until Sasuke, out of curiosity, thought to ask a question: "Juugo...are you happy with the decision you made to come with me?"

Juugo looked down at the floor and smiled before turning his gaze back to Sasuke.

"Yes, I am," he replied. "If I hadn't gone with you, I would have never met Sakura and your Hokage, and I would never have had this opportunity to rid myself of the curse. I would have spent the rest of my days living in a cold, dark cell with no hope for a future. Or worse, I might have broken out and caused more damage. Following you has given me the chance to have a life."

Sasuke nodded his head and thought about speaking again when Sakura suddenly came walking back into the room.

"Hey guys, sorry to interrupt," Sakura began, a small frown on her face, "unfortunately though, our time for today is already up. Sasuke and I have to be getting back to the hospital since I don't have much of a break for lunch. I'm sorry we couldn't visit for longer, Juugo, but like I said, I'll be back tomorrow...and hopefully with some good news."

"Don't worry too much about it, Sakura. I never expected you to just come by to visit, though it's very nice of you," Juugo told her.

"Hey," Sakura protested, placing her hands on her hips, and giving Juugo a semi-intimidating glare, "I know you agreed to this, but do you really think I'm just going to leave you down here alone all the time? I don't think so. So you better get used to me."

Juugo offered her a happy smile, and Sakura softened and returned the gesture.

Farewells were said on Juugo's and Sakura's part before the two Konoha shinobi exited the room, closing the door behind them. The guard down the hall was already getting to his feet and walking over, the key for the room already selected from his key ring.

"You all done, Pinky?" he asked Sakura, locking the door before he had even heard her answer.

"For today," she replied, "but expect me again tomorrow."

"I'm sure it will be the highlight of my day, Pinky," the guard grumbled sarcastically.

And with that Sakura turned on her heel and walked back down the hallway in the direction they had come. Sasuke was quick to follow her, sparing a single glance back at the guard who was testing the door to Juugo's cell, probably to make sure it had locked properly.

Sasuke then followed Sakura back through the door that led them into the stairwell, and back up the stairs to the ground floor door, where the door swung open immediately to reveal the chunin who had let them in.

"Let yourselves out," he told them, motioning toward the front door.

So they did.

"Why did you need to go talk to the guard?" Sasuke asked Sakura when they had cleared the building. He was wondering what could have caused her to return to the cell with a frown on her face.

"I just wanted to check on how they were treating Juugo and how things were going with Karin and Suigetsu," Sakura told him a little absently, looking into the distance at the faces on the mountain. But then she looked up at him and smiled. "And I wanted to give you guys some time to gossip."

Is Sasuke were a different kind of man, he would have choked on his own spit. As it was, he just glared at Sakura for daring to say something so silly. She just laughed though, like she had when he had glared at her from within the confines of that stupid orange jumpsuit.

Maybe he was losing his touch.

They were just outside the hospital's front doors when a shrill beeping could be heard coming from the vicinity of Sakura's hip.

"Damn," she muttered, while unclipping the pager from her belt to read the message on the screen: Tsunade's office.

"Crap," she mumbled this time, glancing up at her companion.

Sasuke was watching her, his eyes betraying slight amusement.

'Probably waiting for me to swear again,' she thought, pursing her lips tight to prevent that from happening while she carefully decided on the next words that would leave her mouth.

"Tsunade-shishou wants me to report to her office right now," Sakura explained, "so I guess I'll see you lat—"

She was cut off by more high pitched beeping. This time the pager read: Bring Sasuke.

Sasuke was still watching her.

"Never mind," she mumbled. "You're coming too." Sakura didn't even bother to question how Tsunade knew that Sasuke was with her. Her teacher was the Hokage after all, and if she wanted to know where Sasuke was, she would.

Sasuke didn't look surprised either. He just shrugged and followed her as she walked past the hospital and towards the Hokage Tower, where they climbed the stairs and knocked on Tsunade's office door to announce their presence. They were given permission to enter, and walked in to find Tsunade, Kakashi, Naruto, Shikamaru and a girl she didn't know all gathered around the Hokage's desk.

"Hey, shishou," Sakura said in greeting to her teacher.

"Hello, Sakura," Tsunade replied. "Sasuke," she acknowledged the silent young man.

Sakura wasn't really paying all that much attention to her teacher though. Instead she was watching Naruto, who looked so much less angry than yesterday, almost as if he had already come to terms with what had happened. It was a complete turnaround, and one she hadn't expected to take place so quickly, but when he actually smiled and waved at her and Sasuke as they took up places at Tsunade's left side, Sakura felt something inside her uncoil and tension seep from her body. She had been truly worried about Naruto, but now she could relax a little.

Sakura was just about to ask her teacher what they were doing here, but before she could say anymore, the old toad Fukasaku poofed into appearance riding on top of another toad.

"Tsunade-hime," the toad croaked.

"Fukasaku-sama," Tsunade replied in kind. "And now that everyone's here we can continue."

Shikamaru then took up the role of speaker: "We're certain that we've correctly decoded the message that Jiraiya left, but we have no idea what it means." Shikamaru presented a piece of paper to Fukasaku. "We thought you might have better luck interpreting it."

Fukasaku accepted the paper and read the words aloud: "The real one isn't with them."

Well, Sakura didn't get it. Then again, she hadn't been there for the fight with Pain and she figured that someone who had would probably be the only one with any chance at understanding the cryptic words – which was probably why Shikamaru was so stumped.

After a minute of silence, Naruto, who had taken up a position leaning on the desk right in front of Fukasaku, looked like he was about to burst. His foot was tapping against the ground, and his eyes had widened in anticipation.

"So, how about it gramps? Does it tell you anything?" Naruto finally prompted, giving up on remaining silent.

Everyone was watching the old toad, daring to hope. Sakura noticed that even Sasuke was engrossed in what was transpiring in the room. But then Fukasaku frowned and Sakura felt her spirits plummet.

"I don't understand... With only this to go on it's still too vague," Fukasaku stated, and his voice sounded filled with regret for not knowing more.

Shikamaru frowned as well, and Sakura could practically see his mind at work. "Well then... Is there anything else you can think of?" he prodded.

Fukasaku knew nothing more, and as the conversation turned to what they were learning from the interrogation and the autopsy, Sakura could see Naruto growing more and more impatient, a little of the tension and anger from yesterday seeping back into his countenance. Finally, Naruto accepted that it would take a week to get any worthwhile results, and he visibly slumped, looking utterly defeated. Sakura wanted to hug him, but then almost too suddenly for her to follow, Naruto straightened and turned on his heel, heading for the door.

"I'm gonna go tell them to get a move on!" he declared.

And even though she was feeling for him, Sakura couldn't let him interrupt the older woman. He was being rash and he was thinking with his heart, not his head – normally something that Sakura admired, but not in this case. He didn't understand how hard Shizune's work was going to be.

"Hold it, Naruto!" she yelled after him, and he stopped dead in his tracks. "I won't forgive you if you get in Shizune-sempai's way. You want answers. That's what we all want, and interrupting her work won't help you get them any faster."

Naruto's back tensed and then his shoulders slumped once more.

"I'm going to get revenge for that Ero-sennin... There's no way I can just wait around here doing nothing," he told Sakura, sounding defeated.

Silence filled the room. Sakura didn't know what to say even though she could understand the way he was feeling. Doing nothing was unimaginable and left you with so much time to think about what you should be doing...what you could be doing. It was one of the reasons she had thrown herself so much into her training when Sasuke and Naruto had left.

"Naruto-chan," Fukasaku interrupted the hush, "figuring out the code's meaning has nothing to do with you."

Naruto whirled around, looking confused and angry again.

"What are you talking about?" he questioned.

'What is he talking about?' Sakura thought, looking around the room. No one else seemed to get it either.

"Deciphered or not, there's no way you can win against Pain the way you are now," the toad continued. "So... come with me. I'll train you in the techniques of the sage on Myouboku Mountain... If you don't mind learning the same way I beat it into Jiraiya-chan."

Naruto looked stunned.

So was Sakura. Naruto would be even stronger if he underwent the same training that Jiraiya had, and that was hard to imagine. A stronger Naruto... it was almost too much to wrap her head around.

"And I'll really be able to beat Pain that way?" Naruto asked, his eyes narrowing in what Sakura recognized as his determination.

"I don't know," Fukasaku replied, "all I know is that if you stay as you are now, you're no good. So, do you mind, Tsunade-hime?"

"Of course not," Tsunade declared, looking at Naruto with what Sakura could only name as hope, "Naruto, you'd better work hard."

Fukasaku was speaking again, looking right into Naruto's eyes: "Training in these arts are harsher than you could ever imagine. Think you can do it?"

Naruto smiled, and Sakura saw even more tension release from his shoulders. He had a purpose now and that was what he needed.

"That Ero-sennin could do it, couldn't he? Then there's no way I can fail either!" Naruto declared confidently. "I'll do it."

"Well said," the toad murmured. Then louder, "I want to leave as soon as possible, so we'll meet at the gates in twenty minutes."

And with that Fukasaku was gone.

Authoress' Notes: Next time on The Butterfly Effect (and yes, I have suddenly decided to view this as a television show): What did Reika suggest to Sakura? And...cuteness. This chapter was more filler than monumental.