The instant Sakura woke up, she could tell she was not in her own apartment. Her bed, which had once seemed huge to an undernourished six-year-old, had over time become more and more cramped as she grew, to the point where she now slept curled up so her feet wouldn't hang off the bottom. The bed she was lying in at the moment, though, was not just softer and more comfortable than her own, but also large enough that she had unconsciously sprawled out in her sleep until she now occupied nearly the entire thing. It was a luxurious feeling, and she took a moment to bask in the warmth of the covers cocooned around her before reluctantly blinking her eyes open and sitting up.

Oh, Ino-chan's room, she thought, immediately recognizing the rather eclectic assortment of objects cluttering nearly every available surface. Technique scrolls shared space on the shelves with books on gardening and flower arrangement, and the vanity table held both cosmetics and a wide variety of ninja tools. There were fewer clothes piled on the floor than the last time Sakura had come over, so she supposed Ino—or, more likely, Ino's mother—must have just done the laundry, but the flowers by the small window appeared to have been neglected for several days.

None of that, though, answered the question of why she had woken up in her friend's bed rather than her own. Frowning slightly as she tried to remember what had happened prior to her awakening, Sakura shook her head in disgust as the memories refused to come to her. She clearly recalled the start of the second part of the exams, and a glance down at the bandage on her thigh reassured her that she wasn't imagining those events, but everything after her team met up with Team Eight was a blur in her mind.

Did I hit my head or something? she wondered. A cautious examination revealed no sore spots, though, so that seemed unlikely. Whatever had happened couldn't have been too bad, or she would have woken up in the hospital—at least, she thought she would have. Surely the medic-nins and doctors wouldn't have refused to take care of her...would they? She felt fine, though, so she stubbornly pushed the nagging doubt out of her mind; there was no point in dwelling on things that didn't, and might not ever, matter.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the bedroom door opened and Ino walked in, her normally cheerful expression downcast. That changed the instant she looked over towards her bed, though, and she almost literally flew across the room and tackled Sakura to the mattress, grabbing her in a crushing hug.

"You're awake!" Ino cried out. "I…they said only a day or two, but…oh, never mind, it doesn't matter. It's about time you woke up, Sakura-chan!"

"Can't breathe, Ino-chan!" Sakura gasped, struggling slightly against her friend's grip, "You're squishing me." She had never seen Ino this excited before—or worried; she could detect that, too, in her friend's voice—and it made her wonder even more what had happened that she couldn't remember. Ino made no move to pull away, though, and when Sakura felt a slight dampness begin to soak through the fabric of the thin nightshirt she was wearing, she knew that whatever had happened, it must have been something bad. She could count on one hand the number of times she had ever seen Ino cry, with fingers to spare.

"Ino-chan, what happened?" she asked, a hint of desperation entering her voice. This accomplished what her previous words had not, and Ino pulled back a bit to look up at her.

Traces of tears glimmered in Ino's eyes, which she wiped away with an impatient swipe of her hand, and her mouth dipped into a frown. "You don't remember?" she asked. "Orochimaru attacking, and then that…and you almost died, but you don't remember any of it at all?"

Sakura was sure she must look like someone had hit her on the back of the head at that moment, as her eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped open. "I…no, I don't remember that at all," she murmured, beginning to understand Ino's behavior. Trying to lighten the mood, she added, "I feel awfully good for someone who almost died, though."

"Not funny," Ino said flatly, glaring at her. "You drained so much of your chakra that Naruto said your heart stopped, and you've been unconscious for twice as long as the medics thought you would be. Sakura-chan, you can't do things like that."

She added something else, almost too quietly for Sakura to hear, but it sounded like, "Not for me."

Before Sakura could ask her about it, though, Ino stood up and, smiling brightly, turned and walked over to the door. "You must be really hungry," she said. "Lucky for you, Mom's home, so I'll go tell her you're awake and get some food for you."

"But, Ino-chan, I feel fine," Sakura protested, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "I can come down and get something to eat myself." When she tried to stand up, though, she felt her head spin and her legs wobble beneath her, and she was forced to sit back down on the bed as Ino smirked triumphantly at her.

"Fine, huh?" the blonde girl asked, sticking her tongue out at Sakura. "You haven't had anything to eat or drink except juice and vitamin pills in four days, so just sit there and let me do this."

Again, she said something under her breath, but this time she was far enough away that her words were completely inaudible. She disappeared through the door after giving Sakura another smile and a promise to return quickly with something to eat, leaving her more confused than she had been when she first woke up. Her first guess had been incorrect—whatever she couldn't remember had obviously been very bad—but she still had no real idea what that had been. One thing was clear, though; Ino obviously felt guilty about whatever had happened to her, and Sakura wanted to know why.

"I just wish I could remember," she sighed aloud, falling back on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. Losing part of her memory frightened her, if she were to be honest with herself, and she hoped it would come back given time. Presumably, her partial amnesia was an aftereffect of the chakra drain she had inflicted on herself, but that didn't make it any easier for her to accept when she didn't even know why she had done so in the first place. Based on what she had noticed so far, though, she was almost certain it—whatever it was—was not something she should regret having done.

A quiet knock on the partially-closed door intruded into her thoughts, and she sat up again just in time to see Ino's mother walk into the room carrying a tray of food. "Ino can be a bit over-enthusiastic sometimes," she said, setting the tray on the table next to the bed and sitting down. "I thought you might appreciate some quieter company while you eat."

Sakura's stomach growled as she smelled the food, and she blushed as she reached out for the utensils. The meal was nothing fancy—rice, a small bowl of miso soup, and some steamed vegetables—but it looked good, and at the moment she was hungry enough to have eaten just about anything. Much to her pleasure, it tasted just as good as it looked, though she was still hungry by the time she finished it all.

"I'll bring you some more later," Ino's mother said, as if anticipating her question. "You don't want to eat too much all at once and get sick." Her pleasant expression faltered after a moment, though, and she shook her head. When she looked back at Sakura, she nodded once, firmly, as though she had made up her mind about something.

"Ino told me you don't remember anything of what happened to all of you in the forest," she said. "Is that really true?"

Sakura nodded, then paused and shook her head. "I remember fighting a team of Rain genin," she said, "and then meeting up with Team Eight. Everything after that, though…" She trailed off, unable to keep herself from frowning. "I don't even remember seeing Ino there, but I guess I must have. And she said something about Orochimaru attacking, too."

The older woman shuddered slightly. "Yes, and I won't presume to ask why genin were even put in a situation where they might meet him," she said, sounding decidedly unhappy. "I don't know exactly what happened then—I've long since accepted that there will be some parts of my husband's and daughter's lives that I'll never fully understand—but I do know that it's because of you that I even still have a daughter. I don't think there are any words to express what that means to me."

I…saved Ino-chan? Sakura thought, not entirely sure she had heard correctly. It felt right, though, as though her buried memories agreed, and for the barest fraction of a moment she thought she might be on the verge of remembering.

Ino, lying on the ground, curled up in obvious pain. An older boy, leaning over her. Concern, shifting rapidly to panic as—

Sakura growled in frustration and pounded one fist half-heartedly on the mattress as the memory slipped away from her again. Still, at least now she had some reassurance that she might eventually remember everything that had happened, and she drew some small comfort from that. If she really had done something to protect Ino, though, then it didn't matter if she never regained those memories. Not having them bothered her, admittedly, but it seemed like a small price to pay for keeping her friend safe.

As if she could read the thoughts running through Sakura's mind, Ino's mother smiled sadly at her. "How could we all have been so wrong about you then?" she murmured to herself, her eyes taking on a faraway look. "I wish…

"Well, that's not important now," she said a moment later, forcing a cheerful note into her voice as she stood and picked up the now-empty tray. "Ino should be just about done preparing the bath, so I'll send her up to get you. I'm sure you must be desperate to clean yourself up."

A long, hot bath sounded like the most wonderful thing in the whole world to Sakura at that moment, with the possible exception of more food, and she nodded. "Thank you," she said quietly. "For the food, and for taking care of me, and…"

She trailed off, not sure how to continue, but Ino's mother seemed to understand anyways—and perhaps, after all, some things were better left unsaid. Giving Sakura another smile, this one not quite as sad as the previous one, she turned and left the room.

- - -

"He's so late!" Naruto exclaimed, kicking a rock into the river. "Just when I thought he might actually be a good teacher, he starts this stuff again! And it's Sakura-chan's first day back with us, too."

Beside him, Hinata leaned on the bridge's railing, happy just to have her other teammate back again. Sakura was still slightly pale, but aside from that, she looked as though nothing had ever happened to her at all—as though she hadn't spent four days unconscious and another one recovering. She had told them that she couldn't remember exactly what had happened when Orochimaru attacked, though she also said that she was starting to recall bits and pieces of the fight. Personally, Hinata was unsure she would want to remember, if she were in Sakura's position, but she knew how much her friend valued her mind.

"So, what do you think it'll be this time?" Naruto asked, jolting Hinata out of her musings. Sakura was leaning on the other railing across from them, laughing at whatever Naruto had just said.

"What what will be?" Hinata asked, though she had a good idea what he meant. He and Sakura seemed to delight in trying to guess what imaginative excuse Kakashi would give for his lateness, and she had a suspicion Kakashi in turn enjoyed coming up with even wilder and more improbable excuses to give them.

Naruto grinned. "Well, Sakura-chan is betting on rabid, amphibious piranhas chasing him up a tree," he said, "but he'd never admit something like that, so I say it's because he fell asleep after waiting in line at the bookstore all night to get the first copy of the new Icha-Icha story."

Before Hinata could cast her vote in with Naruto's idea—really, Sakura might be brilliant, but she had the most bizarre imagination at times—a puff of smoke appeared between them on the bridge. As expected, Kakashi appeared out of the smoke a moment later, but quite unexpectedly, he was not alone. A second man, this one somewhat older, with long, white hair, stepped up next to him. It was obvious, even without using her byakugan to examine his chakra system, that he was an exceptionally well-trained ninja; his every movement was smooth and precise, with no wasted energy, and his hands were callused from decades of taijutsu training.

Then, to Hinata's astonishment, the mysterious man's frighteningly competent demeanor seemed to vanish, disappearing behind a façade of normality with such swiftness that it left her wondering if she had even seen anything in the first place. He now resembled nothing so much as one of the traveling hermit-priests who occasionally passed through the village, and though there was a lecherous gleam in his eyes that somewhat unnerved her, he appeared utterly harmless. It took all of her self-control to keep from activating her byakugan to take a closer look at him, but she knew some people found that impolite, and she had no desire to do anything that might annoy him.

Off to Hinata's side, she heard Naruto give a startled gasp, and she glanced over at him to see his mouth hanging open. "You—you're Father's sensei!" he exclaimed, pointing at the white-haired man. "Mother's told me stories about you."

The man seemed to preen for a moment, and he stuck his chest out proudly. "Well, it looks like I won't have to introduce myself after all," he said. "I should have known your mother would be so in awe of my legendary skills that she would make sure to tell you all about me."

"Yeah! She told me about all the times when you used to peep on her in the bath, and then about how she would use you as a training target when she caught you!" Naruto said excitedly. "Wow, I can't wait to let her know you're here. I'm sure she doesn't really want to strip you naked and hang you from the Hokage's tower."

Hinata did a double-take as she processed his words, then looked over at Sakura, who was studying the newcomer with a look on her face halfway between awe, terror, and wariness. The former and latter were easy enough to understand, assuming Naruto was telling the truth—based on what he had said, the white-haired man must be the sannin Jiraiya, equally famed for his ninja skills and his perverted tendencies—but she couldn't understand why her teammate would be so frightened of him.

If anything, Hinata thought as she watched Jiraiya begin to explain to Naruto how spying on women at hot springs was a valuable training method—something about which her blond friend appeared highly dubious, she was pleased to note—the sannin resembled a less restrained Kakashi. For a moment, she wondered if Naruto's father had been just as perverted as his teacher and student seemed to be, shuddering as she considered the possibility that it was something that could be taught. She had a momentary vision of herself using the byakugan to peer through the walls of bath houses, then grimaced as she wiped the thought from her mind.

"Um…excuse me, Jiraiya-sama?"

Sakura's hesitant question cut through a momentary silence in the spirited 'discussion' between Naruto and Jiraiya, causing the white-haired man to turn towards her. He frowned in thought for a moment, then nodded as if one of his suspicions had just been confirmed.

"You must be the fox-girl," he said, giving her a quick wink. "And in a few more years, that'll be true in more than one way, unless I miss my guess."

Hinata found herself struck speechless by the casual way Jiraiya referred to Sakura's seal, instantly deciding that no matter how perverted he might be, he couldn't possibly be all that bad. Even aside from his near-legendary abilities, anyone who could put Sakura at ease by using the very thing that caused everyone to hate and fear her was someone Hinata could respect. Granted, Sakura didn't appear all that much at ease at the moment, but that seemed due less to her previous fear and more to the fact that she was currently doing her level best to impersonate a tomato.

Instant blush, just add teasing, Hinata thought, grinning at Naruto, who seemed just as amused by the whole thing as she was. Perhaps it was a bit unkind to find such humor in how easily their friend became embarrassed, but it really was too entertaining to pass up. The next few words out of Sakura's mouth, though, abruptly sucked all of the lightheartedness out of the situation.

"You don't hate me for what happened to the Fourth?" she asked in a tiny voice, staring down at her shoes as the redness faded from her cheeks. "I know he was your student, and he's dead because of that seal."

"What happened to my former student," Jiraiya replied, emphasizing his words in such a way that Sakura looked up at him, startled, "was his own choice. What happened to you was not your choice. It may have been necessary, but you're far more a victim than he was. As some people should have remembered," he added, throwing a sharp glare at Kakashi, who had remained silent since they arrived.

Sakura nodded, though she still seemed somewhat dubious. "I…thank you, Jiraiya-sama," she said. "Then…can I ask you some questions, after our practice is over? I've been studying fuuinjutsu for a while now, but there's so much I still don't understand, and I was hoping you might be able to help me."

Kakashi chose that moment to speak up. "Aren't you wondering why I was late?" he asked, and Hinata was sure he was smirking at them beneath his mask.

"Rabid piranhas?" Naruto answered, though it was obviously a rhetorical question. "New Icha-Icha? Um…help me out, Hinata-chan; you never said what your guess was."

Before Hinata could do more than roll her eyes, Jiraiya all but pounced on Naruto. "You like the Icha-Icha series?" he asked, raising one fist towards the sky in triumph. "Ha! I knew Yukie-chan wouldn't be able to keep you from learning to appreciate such marvelous works of literature!

"Let me guess, your favorite must be Icha-Icha Paradise 12, where Asano-kun learns that he's been assigned to an ANBU team along with the two most beautiful kunoichi in the village. Though…you seem to have started a bit earlier than Asano," he said, frowning at Naruto. "It's better if you wait for them to grow up a bit."

Hinata wasn't sure whether to be—very reluctantly—amused at her friend's predicament, or highly annoyed at the sannin's insinuation, though she was rapidly deciding in favor of the latter. A glance over at Naruto showed him looking desperately at her and mouthing, "Help me!" and she couldn't help but giggle at the look on his face.

"Um…maybe we should find out what Kakashi-sensei wants to tell us?" Sakura offered, before Hinata could say anything. Naruto nodded frantically in agreement as he scrambled away from Jiraiya.

"As I told Naruto and Hinata several days ago," Kakashi said, giving Sakura what Hinata would have called a pathetically grateful look, were it to come from anyone else, "I've been temporarily reassigned to head the ANBU detail responsible for the Kazekage's security. That means I won't have time to oversee your training for the next few weeks, so the Hokage has generously assigned another ninja to teach you while I'm busy."

Hinata had a growing suspicion where this was going, and she wasn't sure she liked it. While the chance to learn from one of the legendary sannin was hardly one that came along every day, and Jiraiya had impressed her with his kind words for Sakura, she wasn't sure she would be able to handle nearly a full month of his perverted tendencies. Then again, there was always the possibility that he would settle down somewhat once he actually started teaching them.

"Team Seven, meet your new teacher—the Toad Sannin, Jiraiya. Have fun!"

With that, Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind three highly confused genin, along with one sannin who now had a decidedly evil grin on his face.

- - -

Sakura doubted she had ever worked so hard in her life, even when preparing for the second part of the chuunin exams. Jiraiya might seem to be nothing but a harmless—albeit lecherous—wandering priest on the surface, but as she and her teammates had discovered that afternoon, he could be a brutally demanding taskmaster. He was also, she had noticed, quite intelligent and perceptive despite the 'dirty old man' façade he adopted much of the time, and she looked forward to talking with him about fuuinjutsu.

Even more than that, he was one of the very few adults who didn't appear to care in the slightest about the demon sealed inside her, and that by itself would have won him her undying gratitude. For that, she thought, she could forgive him a great number of his more egregious offenses—most of which seemed to center around trying to convince Naruto that being the sole male ninja on a team of kunoichi was every man's dream come true.

Sakura shook her head and sighed, deciding that the less she thought about that, the better off she would be. Of more immediate relevance, Jiraiya had kept them practicing until well after dinner time, and she was eager to get back to her apartment so she could eat. While her own lesson had not been as physically tiring as what she had seen of Naruto's or Hinata's, she had used up a great deal of chakra; presumably, that had been the point of the exercise, as the sannin had said he would be tailoring their training to what Kakashi had told him each of their weak points were.

And in my case, that would definitely be my stamina, she thought ruefully. Far from the scholastic discussion she had been hoping to have with him, Jiraiya had instead set her to forming ever more intricate patterns using the Wind Engraving technique—while using chakra to hang upside down from a tree branch by the soles of her feet. Though it was undeniably good training in both stamina and control, she couldn't help but wish he had told her to do something more immediately useful, or at least more enjoyable.

Just as Sakura reached the street her apartment building was located on, she realized someone was following not far behind her. Whoever it was didn't seem to intend any harm, or she would have noticed his or her presence earlier, but she couldn't help but feel worried. She could think of very few people who might have good intentions for following her, and while her chakra senses weren't as well-developed as Naruto's, she was sure she would recognize any of them.

"You might as well come out! I know you're there," she called to the unknown person, hoping her voice conveyed more confidence than she felt at the moment. The street was deserted, most people already home for the evening, though the shadows from the setting sun left a number of patches of near-darkness where someone might be hiding. Even if there had been anyone else around, though, she doubted it would have mattered; none of her neighbors would exactly be eager to help her out in case of trouble.

To Sakura's surprise, though, the person who stepped out of one of the concealing shadows was someone she never would have expected to see in this part of the village—or any other part, really. The blonde Sand kunoichi, dressed nearly identically to the first time they had met, had an unhappy frown on her face, though it didn't seem to be directed at Sakura. As she walked closer, she rhythmically tapped the handle of the small folding fan she was carrying, her eyes darting around in alert surveillance.

"Sorry," she said, once she reached where Sakura was standing. "I didn't mean to startle you. I was walking around and got lost, and then I recognized you, so I thought you might be able to tell me how to get back to the inn district."

It was a perfectly reasonable excuse, but Sakura found herself wondering how much of it was the truth. She didn't doubt that the other girl was lost—she was practically overflowing with annoyance, for one thing—but that didn't answer the question of how she got lost in the first place. The Sand and the Leaf might be allied, but even allies would be hard-pressed to pass up the chance for a bit of casual spying. If that was her purpose, though, she had definitely come to the wrong place, Sakura thought. There was nothing in this part of the village except cheap apartments.

"Sure, um…Temari-san, wasn't it?" Sakura said as ingenuously as she could manage. "It's almost on the other side of the village, though. You must have gotten really lost."

To Sakura's surprise, Temari's reaction was nothing like the defensive one she had halfway expected to see. "I know," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "I was looking for the main market district, but I think I took a wrong turn somewhere. For some reason, they didn't seem to want to give us very detailed maps."

Sakura couldn't help but laugh at the sarcasm evident in the other girl's voice, and she found herself relaxing slightly. "I can show you, if you want," she said. "It's pretty easy to get lost, especially in this part of town."

"I was going to ask if it was too late to take you up on your offer of a tour from the first time we…ran into each other," Temari said, giving her a small smile. For a moment, Sakura thought she saw a look of satisfaction cross her face, but then dismissed it as a trick of the twilight. If the Sand kunoichi was hoping to see some of the more secure areas of the village, a guided tour would be the last thing she would want.

Blushing slightly as she remembered how they had quite literally run into each other, Sakura nodded. "I'd be happy to," she said. "Oh! I don't think I ever introduced myself. My name is Haruno Sakura."

"I know," Temari replied as they started walking, gesturing for her to lead the way. "Your friends were worried about you after the second task. Nobody ever told us exactly what happened to all of you out in the forest, but they did say you were forced to kill someone."

Sakura winced; that, at least, she was perfectly happy not to remember. She still woke from the occasional nightmares of what had happened with the Sound ninja, and she had no desire to add anything more to them. At the same time, she couldn't bring herself actually to regret either of the deaths she had caused, not when she had been protecting her friends by doing so. Just because she didn't regret them, though, didn't mean she wanted to think about them.

"It must have been difficult to realize you had been disqualified from the exams for such a petty reason," Temari continued, seemingly unaware of the reaction her words had caused. "Killing indiscriminately is one thing, but I would have thought the officials would have been glad you saved the life of another one of your genin."

"I wouldn't have been able to compete anyways," Sakura murmured, beginning to feel uncomfortable. In an attempt to change the subject, she pointed towards a nearby street vendor's stall she knew extremely well, thanks to Naruto, and asked, "Um…are you hungry, maybe? We could go eat at Ichiraku's, if you want. He makes really good ramen, and—"

Abruptly, she pressed her lips together. And he'll actually serve me, she had been about to say, but her companion wasn't from the Leaf and wouldn't know about that. Sakura hoped she would never find out, either.

Much to her relief, Temari simply nodded. "I'm sure my brothers have already eaten without me," she said. "I doubt they left me anything, either, and I'd rather not starve tonight."

Sakura giggled at the annoyed look on the blonde girl's face, her earlier uneasiness fading as they ducked into the stall. Based on what Naruto and Hinata had said, it sounded like the Sand were far more accustomed to casual violence than the Leaf were, and perhaps Temari had simply been trying to make conversation. Part of the problem, Sakura had to admit, was that she was sure the examiners had been only too happy to seize upon the slightest technicality in order to eliminate her. Despite how she tried to convince herself otherwise, that did bother her, even though it was an attitude she should have grown used to by now—not to mention that she knew she would have had to drop out anyways.

"Haruno-san? Did you want to order?" Temari asked, shaking Sakura out of her momentary melancholy. She realized old man Ichiraku was waiting for her as well, and she flushed under his regard.

"I'll have a medium tempura shrimp, please," she said, causing him to shake his head and smile.

"I should have known," he commented as he turned to start two batches of noodles simmering in the broth. "You're just as predictable as that teammate of yours, even if you only order a quarter as much as he does."

Sakura nodded, unable to disagree with him. If not for Hinata's insistence that they eat something other than ramen sometimes, she had no doubt that Naruto would be perfectly happy to single-handedly fund Ichiraku's operation. Temari, on the other hand, appeared somewhat disbelieving that anyone—let alone a young genin—could possibly eat that much.

"You sound like you're close to your teammates," the older girl said as they sat down and waited for their orders to be ready. There was a strange note in her voice, almost one of wistfulness, Sakura thought, though that seemed strange when her own brothers were her teammates. Surely they must be close to each other.

"Naruto and Hinata are two of my best friends," she replied, unable to keep a smile off of her face as she thought about them. "I've known them since I started at the ninja academy."

Anything Temari might have said in reply was lost as Ichiraku set their orders in front of them. "Have a good dinner," he said pleasantly. "And Sakura-chan, tell Naruto he needs to stop by again soon. I have a house payment coming up, after all."

Smiling at her, he moved away to greet another customer, leaving the two girls to their food. Thankfully, Sakura thought, the other customer was a regular as well, and thus wasn't likely to stare disapprovingly at her, frown in her direction, or do any of the other things most people tended to do when they noticed her. Giving herself a quick mental shake, she turned her attention to her dinner.

"So, Haruno-san," Temari said in between mouthfuls of ramen, "what kinds of things are there to do for fun in this village? Training is great, but when you've got brothers like mine, you'd go crazy if that's all you did."

Sakura blinked, pausing with her spoon halfway to her mouth. Most of her time was spent either training, studying with the Hokage or at the library, or with her friends, and she found herself at a loss for how to answer Temari's question. She knew there were various 'fun' places to go—the movie theater, a number of parks and gardens, the shopping district, and probably several other things to do which she was unaware of—but she also knew that she would not have a very enjoyable experience if she tried to take advantage of them.

"I…um, well…" she began, then trailed off, feeling horribly embarrassed. She had offered to give the Sand girl a tour of the village, and now she found herself unable to answer even the simplest question.

Temari laughed and waved her free hand dismissively, though the look on her face was faintly pitying—and, Sakura thought, understanding as well. She somehow doubted that, though; she barely knew the blonde girl, but she could already tell she was not the sort of person who would understand what it was like to have everyone hate her. On the other hand, at least she didn't seem too disappointed or annoyed by Sakura's pathetic lack of knowledge.

"Don't worry about it," she said. "Trust me, there's not much to do back home, either, unless you like watching sandstorms. Just show me where the shops are, and I'll be fine."

"Okay," Sakura replied, giving her a hesitant smile, which the other girl returned. "And…you can call me Sakura, if you want. I don't mind." Truthfully, she was far more comfortable with that than with the detached formality of her family name. The latter brought up far too many unpleasant memories of people sneeringly dismissing her with a curt, "You're not welcome here, Haruno," or simply, "Haruno, go away."

"Ready to go, then, Sakura-san?" Temari asked, finishing her last few mouthfuls of noodles and standing up. She set several coins on the table, enough to pay for both bowls of ramen. At Sakura's inquisitive look, she shrugged, saying, "If you're going to show me around, I might as well pay for your dinner. It seems a fair price for not getting lost the next time I go out."

Sakura drained the last of the broth from her bowl and stood as well. "Thank you, Temari-san," she said, bowing slightly to her. "It's getting late, so most of the stores will probably be closed already, but I can at least show you where they are."

She still wasn't quite sure what to make of Temari, who gave a cheerful wave to Ichiraku as she exited the stall, but almost against her better judgement, she was beginning to like the older girl. True, her questions had made Sakura a bit uncomfortable at first, but she seemed nice, and best of all, she neither knew about the Nine-Tails nor had grown up being taught by those who knew.

Maybe she'll want to be my friend, Sakura thought as the two of them began to walk towards the market district. I think I'd like that, even if I won't get to see her very often after the chuunin exams are over.

- - -

Author's Notes: Well, it's been a while since I've updated; hopefully, this chapter was worth the wait. Those of you who were hoping for Jiraiya's introduction...well, you got your wish. Updates will probably be coming somewhat slower from now on, as I've been extremely busy recently and will likely continue to be for the foreseeable future. As always, thank you all for reading, and I hope you're enjoying the story!