"I had no idea, please believe me. I didn't know until today when he.." the young woman sobbed, her hand fisted tightly in her lap. "Please I can't do this."
Tsunade sighed, silently infuriated for the women's selfishness in regarding her child. "I insist you remain calm. You and your child are both perfectly safe here in the village." The Hokage smiled gently down at the five year old, feeling conflicted.
He resembled an Uchiha, that was for sure. His black hair was neatly combed to the side and his skin was milky white. He wore simple commoners clothes with grass sandals. The only thing that was inherited from his mother's looks were her green eyes. To say the least, it made him stand out.
The boy, Jiguro, shuffled his feet, unsure of what to do. He didn't like it when his mother cried, it made his stomach feel like it was in knots. 'Am I in trouble?' he asked himself.
The woman slowly rose from her seat and bowed. "O-of course. Thank you Hokage." The woman hesitated before turning to her child, "Jiguro, say your thanks."
The child didn't know what he was thanking this old woman for, but he obeyed his mother and also bowed.
Tsunade watched with slit eyes as the woman turned a cold shoulder to her child and walked out of her office. The child trailed after her, still unsure what he had done. The Hokage leaned back in her chair, her hand snaking its way down under her desk. She pulled out one of her last sake bottles.
Sakura tossed all the scrolls into the bag, tempted to light them on fire or throw them out the nearest window.
The young kunoichi distracted herself for a moment as she roamed her eyes around the Hokage's private study, drinking in the beautiful polished floor and the large shelves of neatly stacked scrolls and books. Under normal circumstances, only Tsunade and Shizune were allowed passage, but Sakura would be the occasional exception when the Hokage's workload was starting to overflow.
Her mentor never confronted her about reading the scrolls. She thought Tsunade wouldn't need to remind Sakura that the scrolls were for 'leader of the village's' eyes only, or it was a possibility that Tsunade didn't really care if Sakura took a peek or two.
At first, the obedient teacher's pet inside of her refused to even think about it. But over the course of a few years her curiosity had possessed her to look at a few. A thank to the gods that the Hokage never punished her for it-if she had known that is.
She reluctantly grabbed the satchel and swung it around her shoulders, walking along the towering wooden shelves. "Uchia, Uchia," Sakura murmured, skimming her eyes over the 'U' labels marked on the stacked scrolls. "Ugh, finally," the kunoichi sighed, lazily stuffing the bag into an open spot. She watched with tired eyes as the bag slowly slumped over the shelf and land on the floor, pulling the whole row of scrolls along with it like a tidal wave.
Too exhausted to scream, Sakura simply bent down and irritatingly starting shoving everything back into the shelf. "At least My Lady never asks me to clean in here," she snatched up the last scroll and was about to toss it in with the rest, but stopped. Her fingers traced the label taped to the edge of the scroll that read 'Uchiha'.
'Since when did My Lady have information about the Uchiha Clan?' The young kunoichi's eyelids drooped, reminiscing of her childhood love. "Sasuke." Her finger gingerly started to peel the paper back, but froze when she heard the sound of the front door opening.
Sakura threw the scroll back onto the shelf as if it was on fire. She stepped away and looked down the hall, watching a small boy enter the room. 'The hell? How'd he get in here?' the kunoichi thought, sure that she had locked the door behind her. "Hey!" Sakura called to him.
Jiguro snapped his head toward movement, startled when he saw Sakura approach him.
"Come on, kid. You shouldn't be here," Sakura quickly said, a little embarrassed that a child managed to enter the Hokage's personal study. She ushered him out the door with a hand gently placed on his back.
"My Mother," the boy suddenly said, "have you seen her?"
Resisting to smack her forehead, Sakura sighed. 'Just my luck.' Sakura thought. 'I'll have to look at that scroll another time.'
She turned around and swiftly locked Tsunade's study room, this time making sure she heard the bolt click. "Sorry, I haven't seen another human this entire evening," Sakura muttered darkly.
The boy didn't say anything but stare up at her.
She sighed once again before nodding, "Well come on then, I'll help you look around." Sakura wiped the sleep out of her eyes before stalking down the hall with the little child trotting behind her feet. "Alright, just follow me. This will be over in no time," Sakura said, mostly to herself. "Where was the last place you've seen her?"
Jiguro shrugged, "I don't know. Somewhere outside."
Normally, Sakura would be bitter with such vagueness. 'But this is a child.' She mentally rolled her eyes. 'I wish I was at home, curled under my heated blankets.'
They made their way outside the Hokage Tower and asked the guards if they had any information about missing woman.
"Yeah, sure. Saw a blond lady head down to the shops looking real troubled." One of the guards said, pointing his finger towards the market district.
The kunoichi felt a tug on her skirt, "Mother has blond hair."
Sakura nodded and waved to the guards, "Thanks."
The market always reminded Sakura of a honey bee's nest. She snatched the boys hand before entering into the crowd of bustling people. "So, what's your name?" Sakura said, not thinking at all of the little boy's stare.
"Jiguro."
"Mine's Sakura." The kunoichi looked down at the child, wondering why he looked so familiar. "Do you go to the academy?"
"No." The boy murmured. "I wasn't allowed to."
Jiguro frowned, remembering his Mother's constant lectures about attending the ninja school. He had no idea why she never let him go to academy, all he knew is that whenever he bring it up she would yell at him. Jiguro glanced up at Sakura to see her scanning the area, leading a step ahead of him and weaving through the crowd.
She caught his eye and tiredly smiled down at him, "Why not? I went there when I was your age."
"Did you like it?" the Uchiha child quickly replied. He continued to stare up at her, watching familiar green eyes move back and forth.
Pulling him out of the human traffic, Sakura led him to the side of a food stand. "Well, not really to be honest. I was bullied a lot, but other than that it was fun," she tilted her head upwards, thinking back at all the drama she went through in her youth. "But I'm sure for you it'll be different. You're a cute kid. I think everyone'll leave you alone."
"Cute?" the child repeated, eye-twitching.
Sakura scratched the back of her head, forcing out a few laughs. "Err, well-what I meant was.." The kunoichi glanced at the food stand next to her. "Hey you want something to eat? I'm starving" She quickly said, trying to distract the boy. Without waiting for an answer she pulled Jiguro by his tiny hand like a rag doll to stand in front of the merchant.
"Hello young miss, what can I get for you today?"
"I want two rice bowls and five teriyaki sticks with a side dish of four egg rolls," Sakura ordered, forgetting all about her diet regimen. "What do you want, squirt?"
"I'm not hungry," Jiguro mumbled, puzzled by her friendliness. 'Why is this lady so nice to me?' He asked himself. The child could not help but compare his mother he has known his whole life with the minutes he's spent with Sakura. 'They are opposites.'
"Are you alright?" Sakura, oblivious to the thoughts going through Jiguro, laid a hand on his forehead. Jiguro snapped his head up in surprise. "You don't have a fever. That's good," she smiled warmly.
"I'm fine."
"Listen," the kunoichi suddenly said, "I know you miss your mom, but until we find her you're stuck with me. Let me take care of you."
This only increased the frown on Jiguro's face. He just couldn't understand this lady at all. A low gurgle erupted from the child's stomach, breaking the silence. The child felt the heat rush to his cheeks and Sakura simply chuckled.
"I'm not hungry!"
He sure is stubborn, Sakura could give him that, but so was she. She turned to the patient merchant behind the stand, who was watching the two with a bored stare. "Sorry about this. Could you throw in another rice bowl and a few more teriyaki sticks please?"
"Right away Ma'am."
Hand in hand the two made their way to the outskirts of the market. The kunoichi lead the child over to a wooden bench where they both sat and started to eat. Sakura was halfway through her last egg roll when she surprisingly noticed that Jiguro had finished his meal.
"That was fast. You must have been really hungry, huh?" Sakura ruffled his hair affectionately. "You know, you remind me of someone I used to know."
The boy glanced at Sakura but said nothing. He waited for her to continue and for her to remove her hand from his head. She had matted up his combed hair so many times that it looked as if he had just woken up from bed. He hadn't really minded, he admitted to himself.
Sakura left the sentence hanging in the air. She stood up and threw the rest of the uneaten food into the nearby trash can. "So, Jiguro," she turned to him and kneeled down to look him straight in the eyes. They really were beautiful, they reminded of Sakura of her father's eyes. "What do you want to do? I can take you back to my house and we'll look for your mom in the morning if you'd like."
She had to admit, having Jiguro go home by himself would interfere with her beauty sleep. The gods know Sakura needs it, she has work at the crack of dawn. The simple solution is having him stay at her house.
Jiguro honestly thought Sakura was trustworthy. She had been nice to him, he reasoned, and she had bought him food. He has never been in a situation like this before. His mother was controlling and there wasn't a moment where he knew she wasn't around. The boy's frown returned, still unsure what to do. Despite his feelings for his mother, he did miss her quiet a bit.
He felt his eyelids droop and he yawned loudly. Sakura tried to resist but she yawned as well, "Alright, new deal. How about I take you back to your home and if your mother isn't there you head back to my place to crash?"
Wiping his eyes he reached up and grabbed the pink haired lady's hand. Sakura takes that as confirmation and she leads him to the housing development. "You have to tell me where you live okay? Hey, don't fall asleep on me now."
Jiguro swayed on his feet, unable to find the strength to stand. His feet hurt with these cheap grass sandals his mother had got him. "My house is next to a tree with a blue swing," Jiguro murmured.
Sakura cringed, tempted to give up and take the child to go directly to her apartment. Another yawn escaped her lips, "Do you recognize this place? Can you point me in the right direction?"
Jiguro looked around with dazed eyes. It was dark, but he could still make out the familiar cement side walk and the distinctive looking trees. He had taken this route with his mother many times to go get groceries. He remembered the way as if it had been branded in his mind. "It's that way," he pointed ahead.
When they had arrived, the street lamps where turned on and Jiguro was sound asleep on her back. She felt drool sliding down her shoulder. Due to the child dozing off, Sakura had been walking around the neighborhood aimlessly when she finally spotted the blue swing Jiguro had told her about.
She shifted him gently, in hope of waking him. To no avail she gave up and knocked on the front door. "Uhh, hello? Is anyone here?" Her arms where going numb. "I'm coming inside."
The door was locked, but Sakura took out a hairpin she kept in her pouch and easily picked the lock. She quietly shut the door behind her and turned on the lights. With sleep still in her eyes, Sakura checked out all the rooms in the house-which weren't that many. It was about the size of her apartment, she realized. A bathroom, a kitchen, two bedrooms, and a small living room.
She entered what she assumed was Jiguro's room. Sakura couldn't help but notice his room was very bland. No drawings on the wall or toys scattered on the floor. Very gently, she laid him on his bed and tucked him under the covers. Her hands flew to her temples and a green light emitted from her finger tips.
'Bed. I want to go to bed.' Sakura got up and made her way into the living room where she plopped down onto the couch. Her butt immediately sunk deep into the folds of the cushions, but she ignored it and settled in as comfortably as she could. As soon as her head hit the cushion she was dead to the world.