Quotes:

Sakura: "I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will."― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

Hinata: "You are not broken. You are not a problem to be solved. Solving your "problem", whatever you perceive your problem or problems to be, is not the key to happiness." ― Golda Poretsky

As soon as they got on to the bus, Rin pulled out her phone, guiding her to a seat and punching a number out in fluid, practiced motions.

"Hello, Haruno-san? Yes, this is Tezuka Rin here. No, there's nothing wrong with Sakura, don't worry. I just wanted to clarify something. Are you acquainted with a man named Yakushi Kabuto?"

Rin listened to the reply, her expression darkening with every word. "I see. So you don't know his relationship with your daughter? Ah. A previous cause for concern. No, I understand. There's no problem, I just need to speak with Sakura this week. Is that alright? Thank you. I'll speak with you later."

Hinata sat next to the older woman, her stomach churning as the bus lurched along its route, cars scattering in its wake.

"Sakura told me Kabuto works with her mother, but she insists she's barely spoken to the man and has previously been worried about his association with Sakura. And he works with Orochimaru," Rin muttered, chewing on her thumbnail thoughtfully. After a moment she raised her phone again, "I'm sorry Hinata, I need to make another call. Don't worry about getting off at the right stop, it's the last one so everyone will get off at once. OK? Good."

Hinata watched the outside world zip past as a blur of trees and houses, the window streaked with dust and grime. Rin shifted, raising the phone to her ear once more.

"Hello, Shizune? Is Tsunade-sama there?" She asked politely, "Just an inquiry regarding a few students and a possible connection to Orochimaru."

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Rin spoke again, "Oh, Tsunade-sama? Yes, I suppose on its own that does sound rather alarming. I am not certain yet. Two students appear to know Yakushi Kabuto personally, one named Gaara who was very antagonistic towards him and seemed to know him well, the other called Haruno Sakura, a client of mine who is very vulnerable to manipulation, she seemed wary and afraid. She lied to me regarding their relationship. Yes, I am worried about her. Oh, that Gaara! Of Sabaku Inc? I see the connection now. He is friends with Sakura. No, another of my clients provided her with a means with which to get home, so she didn't have to go with Kabuto." Then, Rin flinched as though being scolded, "I understand that, Tsunade-sama, but Sakura is free to make her own choices. Yes, I understand your reluctance in involving Chiyo in this, but… Well, good. Sakura's a good girl and I don't want her caught up in all this mess. Sarutobi-sama left a space on the market and it seems like Orochimaru will do anything to fill it. Jiraiya? I'm sorry, it just surprised me… I thought for sure you would –"

She held the phone away from her ear for a second. Hinata heard a woman's laugh ringing out through it.

"You don't have to be so incredulous," Rin grumbled, "It's not completely out of the realm of possibility, you know. Hm? Konoha High, I think. Is that a good idea, Tsunade-sama? I don't know, I just never pictured you as a – well, I guess. Alright, but if you say anything to offend her, Shizune will have your head. Seriously. Right, I'll speak to you later."

Hinata looked at her, a silent question in her eyes.

One of Rin's shoulders raised in a careless, half-shrug, "Tsunade. She knows Orochimaru. The guy that Kabuto works for? I just wanted to let her know I was a little worried."

The bus shuddered to a halt.

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"Right," Sakura said, easing herself into a creaking wooden chair, finding herself opposite the man named Sasori, Chiyo on his left and Gaara standing to the side. She grinned, always happy to have an audience, "You wanted to know about me and Kabuto, right? Well, here you go. I met him in the hospital. He offered me a job when I mentioned how awesome I thought Orochimaru was,"

Sasori's brow furrowed in confusion and Chiyo gave a dirty cackle.

"Yeah, I know, scourge of the earth, soulless, bastard hell spawn of Satan, I get it. So I worked at his lab for a while. But then… Gaara made me doubt that Orochimaru was all that. The only reason I even liked the bastard is 'cause I had a very good friend, Kimimaro. He really loved Orochimaru, told me great things about him. Died suddenly," She swallowed, aware of Chiyo's sharp eyes fixed upon her, "All I knew about him was what he told me about Orochimaru. So I leapt at the chance of working for him. Then, when Gaara told me stuff about his dad, I broke into the employee records and I found… details of Kimimaro's job. He was li – like a hitman, I think. He was caught, went to prison, but he had cancer so they confined him to a hospital room. That's where I met him. But one of Kabuto's little underlings caught me after I trashed the room and he locked me up. He went to get Kabuto but I managed to call a friend to come get me. Hinata. She came and saved me, but I fell down some stairs and hit my head, landing me in hospital. That's when…" Sakura shifted, Gaara staring at her just as intently as his grandmother, "That's when Kabuto came to see me. He didn't know anything about me trashing the lab, he was… very angry at Zaku for hurting me. He – he made it clear that he liked me and when I tried to quit he – told me he would get my mum fired if I didn't keep working for him. I couldn't do that to her… not when I've already hurt her so much…"

Chiyo's clothes rustled as she moved, but Sakura did not look up from her lap, tears welling in her eyes. A dry, wrinkled hand patted her arm.

"And how, may I ask, have you hurt your mother in the past?" She asked, her voice croaky and stained with age.

"Grandmother." Gaara said warningly.

"No, it's fine." Sakura looked up, wiping her eyes. Sasori had one aristocratic hand cupping his face, his mouth slightly open as he focused on her. His face was bare of all expression.

Chiyo's wizened face was grim, a startling change from the cackling, batty old lady she had been only minutes previously.

Sakura took a deep breath, then spoke the words that had been rattling around her head since Ino had reminded her what she had done, "I tried to commit suicide."

The words lay heavy in the air, followed by a crushing silence. Sasori's brows had jerked upwards once in shock, then settled in a mildly quizzical expression. But Chiyo did not seem surprised, only weary.

"Ah," She said, "I see. Orochimaru's filth snakes its way further than even he anticipated, I'd wager. He is a foul, evil creature with no comprehension of the value of life, no limit to the harm he can inflict, and he is completely without compassion. This is not a man one should follow lightly, nor blindly. He killed my son, resorting to medieval tactics to deprive my company of heirs. Gaara was already troubled, one might say, so I took it upon myself to place him under my protection." Chiyo leaned forward in her chair, watery eyes shrewd, "Would you be happy to live under similar circumstances?"

"What – what do you mean?" Sakura stammered, unsure of where the old woman was going with this.

"I take certain steps, and you and your family will be within my care." Chiyo smiled, "Are my terms acceptable?"

"Are you… are you like, gangsters or something?" Sakura asked suspiciously. Sasori huffed a little, but she glimpsed a small smirk on his face.

"No, not at all. But my company is rather wealthy and Orochimaru is a business rival of mine. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, hehe… so if I can wipe the smug grin off his right-hand man's face by interfering in his plans, I'd be happy to help." For such an old, frail-looking woman, Chiyo was quite good at looking sinister.

"How charitable," Sakura replied dryly, "But I don't see how you can help me anyway. Orochimaru owns the hospital my mother works at and Kabuto can get her fired any time he likes. If I don't keep working for him…"

"Why would Kabuto go to such lengths to keep one girl working for him?" Sasori spoke up, his eyes sharp and calculating. Sakura felt dissected by his gaze, as though he was reading her thoughts with every move, "Is there anything particularly special about you? Your family, perhaps?"

"Nope," Sakura said cheerfully enough, but faltered when his gaze hardened, "I guess… Well, he sort of implied that he… liked me. I said it before, right? He kissed my forehead and bought me a new cane when one of his workers broke it, and he threatened them over the phone… he was joking, obviously but –"

"Threatened his worker?" Chiyo straightened up, her rheumy eyes alight with interest. Gaara was silent. "How so?"

"Well, he made out that he was calling a hitman over Zaku attacking me –"

"Zaku." Sasori closed his eyes, his expression thoughtful, "Abumi Zaku?"

Chiyo made a soft noise of understanding.

"I don't know his last name. But he's the one who found me trashing the place and locked me up."

"Zaku died recently," Sasori said quietly, watching her closely. Sakura felt her gut clench, something dark twisting inside her. Dread. "He's just one of the many workers under Orochimaru who have disappeared under suspicious circumstances, but of course he has the money and power to cover it up. But Zaku's body was –"

"Kabuto was joking," Sakura said faintly, her fists clenching so hard her knuckles ached in protest, "He wasn't serious."

"What did he say during the phone call?"

"He called someone called Tayuya and when I asked if she was like Kimimaro he said I was too clever for my own good. But even if he wasn't joking, he cancelled the hit when I asked, I heard him!"

Sasori sighed.

Sakura itched all over, a cold sweat breaking out on her forehead. She wanted a hot shower more than anything. Zaku was dead. She'd never liked him, but she never wanted him dead either… and it was because of her –

"I think I'm gonna throw up." Sakura said in a strangled voice. Sasori grimaced and pointed to a door behind him. As she fled the room, she caught sight of Gaara's sympathetic face.

By the time Sakura left the bathroom, Sasori and Gaara were deep in discussion about something mundane (she swore she heard 'paper towels' at some point) and Chiyo (the nutty old bat) was writing on a crisp, pristine piece of paper in careful, arthritic scrawl, the letters cramped together and wavering across the lines.

In the hall, the phone rang. Gaara got up and dashed off to answer it. Sakura gave Sasori a sarcastic salute when he looked up at her questioningly.

"Hello?" Gaara asked, his voice telephone-polite. Sakura found it a little adorable, but then his voice changed, becoming lower, more serious, "Oh, I see." He came into the room, offering the phone to Chiyo, who looked at it as though it was a rabid animal with its teeth bared.

With more than a little distaste in her wrinkled face, Chiyo held the phone up to her ear, "Yes? Who is this?"

Sakura couldn't help snorting when Chiyo's expression changed drastically, her eyes flashing, jaw tight in agitation, "Tsunade," She snapped the word like an insult, "What do you want?"

Chiyo fell silent as 'Tsunade' apparently replied. Just as Sakura was wondering who this woman was, Chiyo looked straight at her.

"Haruno Sakura?" Chiyo said, her voice lilting as though she was repeating the words back. Sasori stood up, a wrinkle between his brows, "I know her, yes. Why?"

Huh.

Gaara stared at his grandmother.

"I am already aware of the situation." Chiyo said grandly. "I'm taking care of it as we speak. She's right here. What, you – excuse me, I'll have you know this is my – fine, fine."

She shoved the phone at Sakura, looking like a bulldog chewing a wasp, her face screwed up in annoyance.

Sakura took it gingerly, "Hi?"

"Is this Sakura?" A woman asked, her voice cool and careful.

"So I've been told," Sakura shrugged, "Who're you?"

"Tsunade," The woman replied, sounding as though she expected Sakura to make a noise of recognition or something. Sakura stayed pointedly silent, "I am one of the Sannin."

Sakura frowned, trying to figure out why that sounded so familiar.

"The Sannin are what Hiruzen Sarutobi's three students are commonly referred to," Tsunade continued when Sakura failed to respond, "Up until his recent death, Sarutobi-sensei owned almost all of this city. That is not an exaggeration. He was once the mayor, and a very, very successful businessman. He took me on as a student because I am related to one of his predecessors. That means –"

"I know what predecessor means, gimme some credit," Sakura grumbled, "I just don't pay attention to politics."

"Clearly not," Tsunade replied, sounding amused, "if you became involved with Orochimaru."

Sakura chewed on her lip, avoiding Gaara's gaze. Tsunade's voice was loud, but not loud enough for the rest of the room's occupants to hear.

"Well, someone put their sassy pants on today. What makes you think I became involved with Orochimaru, at all?" She asked, wondering if she was in some kind of trouble. The whole history lesson on the Sannin, surely that was some kind of threat? Like, I'm so important I could make you disappear –

"I have my sources," Tsunade said smugly, immediately confirming Sakura's suspicions with the familiar spy movie phrase, "Are you aware Orochimaru was once one of the Sannin?"

Sakura remained silent.

"That's a no, I suppose? Sarutobi-sensei's three students were myself, Orochimaru and a man named Jiraiya. When Orochimaru began to experiment on humans, our sensei disowned him. Orochimaru never forgave him. He is a very cruel man. He is also, unfortunately, a clever one, which means he has only ever been accused of his crimes, nothing has been made to stick. One of his crimes," Tsunade said, her voice lowering to a hushed whisper, "is said to involve children."

Sakura's chest ached, like an old wound had been pricked again. Kimimaro had been an orphan when he had met Orochimaru. He loved him still when he was a young, dying man.

"What kind of crime?" Sakura asked, her voice calmer than she felt.

"He's been accused of many things. Inappropriate behaviour around children being only one of them."

"Did you know someone called Kimimaro?"

Tsunade paused, "No, I don't think I ever did. Why?"

"He's why I started working for Orochimaru. He told me all kinds of stories about how great he was, how amazing and revolutionary his research was and how much I would like him if I ever met him. Then Kimimaro died. I met Kabuto, a guy who works for Orochimaru, by a coincidence, I think, and he took me on as a sort of – I dunno, lab assistant? It was a bullshit job, to be honest. I just wanted to meet Orochimaru."

"Wanted to?" Tsunade repeated, her voice still carefully modulated, "Not anymore?"

"Not since I found out what exactly Kimimaro's job was and just how illegal Orochimaru's company is."

The rest of the conversation was long and mostly consisted of Tsunade repeating things carefully, as though she wanted to make sure she'd heard right, and at one point Sakura swore she heard the sound of a pen scratching against paper (was she taking notes?). Throughout the conversation, Gaara paced up and down, filled with a restless energy that had him tapping the backs of the chairs frenetically.

Finally, Tsunade seemed to run out of business-like phrases to quote and cut straight to the point, "Right, my source was concerned about your relationship with this 'Kabuto' guy. Has he ever touched you, or…?"

"Ew, no," Sakura said automatically, screwing her face up in disgust, "I think he's, er, held back. But he does want to, I think. I mean, he won't let me quit. And he bought me a new cane, a really nice, expensive one."

Tsunade hummed thoughtfully, "Honestly, Sakura? He's not got a legal leg to stand on if what all you've said is true, but prosecutions and accusations seem to slide right off Orochimaru's inner circle. We could maybe get him to court but he would never actually be charged with anything."

"The only thing I'm worried about is that Orochimaru owns the hospital my mother works at and Kabuto's threatened to fire her if I stop working for him."

"Hmm… By any chance, can you remember much of the contract you were made to sign?"

Sakura smirked, met Gaara's eyes, and recited the entire contract word for word. Even if she couldn't understand what she was reading, her memory was good enough to keep the words locked away in her head. She'd left the contract with Kabuto as a show of good faith, confident that she would remember everything anyway. She had been right, evidently.

"Do you have it on you?" Tsunade asked, sounding surprised.

"Nope," Sakura shrugged, "I've got a pretty good memory."

"Well, it sounds as if Kabuto has broken several employment laws. He made you work during school hours, for starters. No decent employer would even consider that. Perhaps confronting Kabuto with the knowledge that his contract is meaningless…" Tsunade broke off, clearly thinking.

"I don't think it matters," Sakura shrugged, "At first he made me lie to my friends about our relationship, but then he told me he didn't care if I told the truth or not. I think if I talked to him about my mum, he'd leave her alone."

"Yeah, you're not going near him again," Tsunade sounded firm and unyielding, "Do you think your mother would want you talking to him for the sake of her job?"

"She doesn't have to know." Sakura muttered sullenly.

"It's not happening, Sakura. You're what, fifteen, sixteen? He's got you tied to some mocked up contract, he seems to have a thing for you, and you think I'm going to let you talk to him?"

"At the risk of sounding like a teen cliché," Sakura said, idly kicking at the table leg, "you ain't my momma."

Gaara snorted.

"No, but I can tell your actual mother exactly what has happened," Tsunade said sweetly, "and she could stop you herself."

"Please don't." Sakura said quickly, her stomach tightening unpleasantly at the thought of her mother's reaction. Of the worry, the pain, the loss of the new trust she had earned…

"Sakura, this is serious," Tsunade said, not unkindly, "I know what Orochimaru and his subordinates can do. I've seen the pictures. I don't want you to end up a statistic."

"I'm already a fucking statistic," Sakura drawled, her voice low and dangerous, "This is my life, you know? I only get this one. I've only had it sixteen years and I've already fucked it up. I'm a statistic. I feel like a freaking, useless failure and it's killing me. And that's the thing. I couldn't kill myself. I tried and it didn't work and all I managed to do," She felt herself begin to tremble, her voice thick with unshed tears and seething anger. Anger at herself, self-hatred for being so dumb, for trusting Kabuto, for signing the contract, for getting in the car and – she took a deep breath and continued, "I hurt my parents so badly they've never treated me the same since. And now they are just, finally starting to trust me again, to not worry I'll screw up or break something or someone and I can't let my mum suffer because of me again, I won't."

Silence stretched out through the phone line. She couldn't even hear Tsunade breathing. Gaara's eyes bored into her back like a physical weight. Sakura knew she couldn't turn around, if she looked at him, she would crumble.

"Promise me you won't go to see him," Tsunade said finally, "And I will handle the situation with your mother."

Sakura breathed in and out, once, twice, and felt her hands steady once more, "Handle how?"

"Orochimaru may have a slight interest in medicine due to his experiments on the human body, but I have always been known as the medical specialist between the three of us. He owns a couple of hospitals in his hometown? Big deal, I invented half the stuff they teach in medical school. I've got people in every form of health care including acupuncture and psychiatry. Trust me, if one of my hospitals offers your mother a job, she will take it. I like the idea of poaching one of his nurses from right under his nose anyway," She sounded as though she was smirking, "Should be fun."

Sakura felt her own mouth twitch upwards in response, "So basically, he can fire her all he likes, she's still guaranteed a great job?"

"Shizune – that's my PA - has your mother's records up on the computer right now. She has twenty plus years of experience and managerial training," Tsunade said approvingly, "I'll take her."

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"See anything you like yet?" Rin asked, running a hand down a dress, checking the quality of the fabric.

Hinata shook her head, peering at a swivelling rack of jewellery. It was constantly moving to display all of the bracelets, rings and necklaces, but whenever Hinata saw something promising, she would reach out to grab it and nearly lose a finger as the rack pivoted.

Rin looked over her shoulder and grabbed a bracelet easily, "This is nice," She said, holding it out for her to inspect.

It was a pretty charm bracelet made of pearls. The charms that could be bought for it sat on cushions behind glass, along with all the more expensive jewellery. A silvery butterfly charm with platinum-streaked wings was placed next to a golden sun charm. Hinata resisted the urge to shove her face against the glass and stare at them longingly.

Then she heard her name being shouted very faintly in the distance. She turned around to see Naruto waving from the other side of the mall, hanging over a balcony precariously. An older woman with tomato-red hair yanked him back up and knocked her fist against his skull reproachfully.

"Um, you know him?" Rin sounded amused.

Hinata's stomach was doing cartwheels. She could only nod, half-shocked, half-thrilled to see him out of the blue.

She and Rin watched him run around to an escalator, the woman in tow, speed down to their floor and race over to the shop they stood in.

"Well, he's energetic, gotta give him that." Rin laughed.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto stood in the doorway, panting, beaming like a maniac. Several people stared in alarm. An old woman clutched her handbag tightly.

The redheaded woman came to stand next to him, clearly too out of breath to scold him.

"Na-naruto-kun," Hinata said happily, moving forward, "Hello."

"Hey! This is my mom," He gestured carelessly at the older woman. She glared at him, "Is this yours?"

Rin sounded agonised when she said, "I'm twenty-eight."

"Uh, sorry. Hey that's pretty!" He bounded over, tanned hand circling her pale wrist and gently turning her palm to face him. He examined the bracelet for a moment before a wide grin spread across his face, "It suits you."

Hinata felt her face flush red with happiness, and she allowed herself the smallest of smiles, "Thank you." She managed to say.

"My idiot son failed to introduce me properly," Naruto's mother said curtly, a sly smirk on her face as she glanced at their joined hands, "I'm Uzumaki Kushina. You must be Hinata. Naruto's told me pretty much everything about you. In fact, you're the only thing he talks about these days."

"Mooooooom," Naruto whined, a dark blush on his cheeks, "Shut up!"

"Hinata-chan's so nice," Kushina continued gleefully, "She likes ramen just like me and she has this cute way of breathing, like little –"

Naruto cupped his hands over Hinata's ears, his face pained. Still, she could make out what he was hollering at his mother, "Shut up, you are the worst mom in the world. You are like a child!"

Kushina's response was delivered to quickly for Hinata's eyes to catch, but she had a feeling it was laced with profanity.

Naruto took his hands away and sound returned to the world, "If you don't stop talking," He warned, taking the bracelet off Hinata, "I'm gonna use my birthday money to buy Hinata-chan this pretty bracelet!"

Kushina looked incredulous, "You think I care what you blow your money on? Just don't come whining to me when you're out of cash and you're hurting for ramen."

Naruto blanched at the thought.

Hinata held up her hands, "No, please don't." She insisted. She could buy a dozen of those bracelets if she wanted. She had no desire to Naruto waste his precious few coins on her, "I'm fine."

Rin seemed a little confused by the events unfolding (and the Uzumaki family's general steamroller-like behaviour), but she was staying quiet, allowing Hinata to deal with it.

Naruto flashed a dazzling grin her way, pulling out a frog-shaped purse – she was distracted by how endearing she found it, how utterly ridiculous and just like him it was – and charged over to the counter.

A heavily pierced youth sat at the cash register, their gender uncertain thanks to their short hair and generally neutral clothing. They were liberally covered in tattoos, mostly of birds.

Naruto slammed the bracelet down on the counter, "I'll buy this, please," He said magnanimously, shooting a glance at Hinata to gauge her reaction. She assumed a happy face and he beamed even brighter, "It's a gift."

The tattooed youth looked as though they didn't care if it was a heap of gold, heavy-lidded eyes drooping in acknowledgment of the purchase, "That's way too much," they said, looking at the notes in Naruto's hand, "try a twenty."

Naruto's entire being seemed to light up, "Is that all? Wow, Hinata-chan, how cheap is this?" He waved the bracelet her way.

"How often do you let him out of the house?" Rin asked slowly, amused.

Kushina seemed to give the question some thought, "We tried not to because he scared the neighbours, but apparently that's child abuse."

Hello again my darlings!

Have been awfully horribly terribly busy as of late, I'm really sorry about the general lack of updates or activity :( I suck.

Here's a biggie – For those of you who sent me letters, there is a problem with the address. If you haven't sent one yet and intend to, PM me for the correct address. If you've already sent one and are peeved I've not got it, I'm really sorry! If none of this affects you, I'm sorry I made you read all this because it's bold and looks important!

So many things happened in this chapter that I should comment on but it's late at night and I'm about to faceplant onto my keyboard so maybe later.

Oh I ought to mention that Sakura's quote is a reference to a comment Kabuto once made about her. BECAUSE I CAN

Byeeeeeeee

Quick poll for fun: Have you ever been sucked into a fandom from the depths of which you will never escape?

-paraphrased poll- You ever really liked a show/book/film, like, a lot?

One day I will run out of questions.

On that day, the world will end.