"What do you think Kizashi, do you think she'd like pink or maybe red or green or purple" Mebuki whispered to her husband as they began clearing out one of the spare rooms and started turning it into a bedroom.

All this was done while their son was at the academy "Mm if it's Sakura-chan red definitely" Kizashi finally chose a color to paint the room, the reason they were doing this, was because it was finally time for their daughter to be returned to them.

There was only a month left and within the next two weeks Sakura would be arriving, it was the day they'd been waiting twelve long years for and soon the academy graduation exams would be upon the academy students.

Mebuki bit her lip harshly tears in her viridian orbs "Oh Kizashi what if she hates us for allowing the family tradition to continue" the blonde burst out in tears, mind whirring at all the possibilities, ranging from her hating them to something much worse, what if she refused to come home.

Kizashi grimaced "Now, now Mebuki, at the very least she'll give us a chance before making any sort of decision" the pale pink haired male patted his wife gently on the back assuring her that their daughter would be smart about this whole thing.

Unknown to them, their son had returned from the academy without his four friends for once and had heard the whole conversation between his parents "Dad, Mom, who's this she, why would she hate you, what family tradition, is there a reason your clearing out that room" Asagao asked.

Both of his parents froze in shock and surprise because they thought they would have a little more time to come up with a proper explanation, a few seconds later, they both decided that there was little point in hiding the truth any longer.

So gestured their son into the living room where they took seats on opposite couches "I'm waiting" the pink haired preteen narrowed his dark blue eyes getting the feeling the explanation he was about to get would be like nothing he'd ever heard before.

And he was right as his mom took a deep breath and let loose "Your sister, that's right Asagao you have a twin sister named Sakura, Terumi family tradition dictates that twins spend the first twelve years of their lives apart" Mebuki began.

"That's your mother's maiden name, your aunt's last name, the reason you never got a response for the letters, because it was forbidden to have correspondence, especially if Sakura was to accidentally find out before it was time, so the letters were never sent" Kizashi continued.

For a whole minute their son was eerily quiet "Sister, I've got a sister, forbidden, never sent" Asagao couldn't believe anything, his entire life he'd had a sibling and he'd never known until it was almost time to graduate.

It clicked in his mind the next moment the reason for his parents clearing out that room, she was coming home "We're sorry Asagao-kun if we'd had any choice in the matter, you would have grown up with her" the emerald eyed blonde admitted sadly.

Eyeing her son critically, he'd never shown them he had a temper, but with the newest revelations, new things might be revealed "D..Does she know, is she going to come home" the pink haired preteen asked quietly.

Kizashi winced "No way to know for sure if she knows just yet, but at the very least she'll come home and give us a chance to be a proper family before she makes any sort of life altering decision" the pale pink haired male said.

No more questions came forth after that as Mebuki and Kizashi watched their son lose himself in his thoughts, he didn't speak another word to them for the remainder of the evening as they continued clearing out the spare.

And the next morning after breakfast he was gone to the academy "Whoa what happened to you Asagao, you look like someone in your family died" Sasuke stared in horror at his friend, who looked like hell and like he hadn't slept at all not with the deep black bags beneath his eyes.

Dark blue bloodshot eyes focused blearily on him as he took his seat in the middle like he was use to "Caught my parents clearing out a spare and talking about some girl, turns out this entire time I've had a sister and because of some stupid family tradition we were separated" Asagao stated.

Sasuke choked on spit at the announcement "Holy crap that's not cool you know, why did they wait so long to tell you" Naruto slid into his seat not a moment to soon, because he definitely didn't want to miss this explanation.

His friend let out a long suffering sigh before shrugging, indicating he didn't really know why "That's not right separating siblings, I know I'd go berserk if someone ever tried to take Mimori away from me" Mamori frowned.

"Yeah, yeah, but wait if they were clearing out a spare does that mean your sister is coming back" Mimori caught on to the subtle hint, Asagao turned around in his seat to look at the Senju twins before quietly nodding.

By the time he got home that day once academy let out the spare had been turned into a proper bedroom "C..Can you tell me more about her" he asked nervously when they all sat to eat dinner in the dining room.

It worried him when they flinched "She has pink hair like me and you, but has your mother's green eyes" Kizashi admitted because truthfully they didn't know anything else beyond her features because it was forbidden.

Their son frowned "I don't mean her features, I meant her personality, what's she like, is she smart, what of her grades, has she been faring well all this time away from us" Asagao questioned further wanting answers.

For a moment it didn't hit him until his mother finally spoke "We don't know sweetie, like you we don't know anything other than her location" Mebuki sighed and Asagao stared in horror before quieting, he ate the rest of his dinner in silence before going to bed.

Not that he got much sleep that night either as he tossed and turned until the wee early hours of morning where he finally, finally drifted into sleep only for two hours before his alarm blared annoyingly in his ears indicating it was time to get up and go to the academy.

~Meanwhile~

That very same morning in the Hidden Mist Village a very special event was happening, a new Mizukage had been decided on "Good luck Auntie" Sakura smiled proud of her Aunt who'd finally accomplished her goal in becoming the Fifth Mizukage.

Her smile and encouragement earned a bone crushing hug "Thank you Sakura-chan, remind me after this to have a very important talk with you once I'm officially inaugurated" Mei said then vanished to get her inauguration over with.

Sakura frowned in confusion but pushed it to the side as she went to find where her friends were "Oh there you are Sakura" Suigetsu latched onto her like he usually did making her forget all about what her Aunt had said.

"Why do you always do that Suigetsu" Haku was to this day still very confused over his friends antics, it was like the boy thought the only girl in their group was going to up and disappear on them if he didn't keep hold of her.

Suigetsu flushed in embarrassment "Haku's not teasing you Suigetsu, merely asking a question" Kimimaro assured and the flush from the preteen's cheeks went away just as quickly as the redness had appeared.

Before he cleared his throat "Cause if I don't keep hold of her, she'll disappear on me, she's done it before and I don't ever want it happening again" the pale blue haired preteen admitted quietly, he'd been worried out of his mind that one time.

Sakura rolled her eyes "We were playing hide and seek, it's not my fault you couldn't find me and panicked" the pinkette snorted, peridot orbs twinkling with her amusement as she wriggled free of her friends grip and darted forward.

Heading towards the Mizukage Tower because she didn't want to miss out on her Aunt's inauguration "Hey wait up for us Sakura-chan" the doe eyed teenager called sprinting after his only female friend.

Making the other two boys do the same "Like that will work, you know out of everyone in class besides the four of us, she's the fastest" the snowy haired teenager stated simply as they ran down the winding streets.

Until they'd finally reached their destination "Bout time you four got here, was about to go looking for you" Mangetsu was already within the crowd, purple irises scanning around for any funny business, he wouldn't allow for anything to go wrong on this very important day after all.

This statement earned a grunt of annoyance from his little brother before he once again latched onto the only girl in the group "Clingy much" a white brow raised but the preteen skillfully avoided the inquiring look, without an answer he let his line of questioning drop.

Just then they were joined by another familiar person "S..Still c..can't be..believe she ch..chose me as one of her per..personal bodyguards" Chojuro said to the group of academy students and his senpai in the Legendary Swordsmen group.

Eyes widened at the news "A..Anyway have yo..you noticed a..anything suspicious M…Mangetsu-senpai" the blue haired teen lowered his voice to a whisper but the man he was speaking to shook his head in answer indicating no.

Then their attention was arrested as the doors to the Mizukage Tower opened and out came the Mist Village elders "On this day we inaugurate a new leader to our village, welcome Mei Terumi the Fifth Mizukage" they announced once the volume of the crowd had died down.

She came forward in in the official Mizukage Robes, smiling a beautiful smile as she looked over the crowd of villages and shinobi that had come to see her inauguration, unable to truly believe that she'd managed to accomplish her goal.

That's where good things came to an end as Mei caught sight of her niece waving happily from her spot between her three friends, it was time to tell the girl the truth and with Sakura's temper it was going to make for a hellish month.

Before she knew it she was being ushered into her new office to get started on paperwork, she barely saw anyone throughout the rest of the morning until it was almost dinner time when a quiet knock resounded on her office door.

"Come in" Mei called not looking up as she finished reading through some official reports on several missions that had gone wrong, it was up to her to find a way to fix that to ensure a better successful mission rate.

Her door opened then closed with a click, followed by the smell of her favorite curry "Auntie Mei, oops I mean Mizukage-sama you said you wanted to have a very important talk with me so I brought curry, dango and raspberry tea" came the quiet voice of her niece.

Who was already calling her by her official title, making her tremendously sad "Now, now Sakura-chan you can still call me Auntie, no need to be all stiff and proper" the auburn haired woman tried to smile like she use to while gesturing to the empty seat before her desk.

Sakura quickly sat down not noticing the tension building in the air yet as she opened the box and distributed food and drink between the two of them evenly "Okay then Auntie Mei, so what is it that you had to talk with me about anyway" Sakura asked after taking a sip of her tea.

Missing the grimace as she looked down to scoop some curry and rice onto a spoon "Well about that, you see, Sakura…you have a twin brother" Mei admitted and closed her eyes waiting for what she knew was coming.

The sound of a spoon hitting a plate was her first response "What, what do you mean I have a twin brother Auntie Mei, why didn't you tell me sooner, where is he, can I meet him" the anger she was expecting never came and Mei opened her eyes in shock.

But that was the beginning of the long conversation she had to have with her niece and she was sure her niece's temper would soon make it's appearance "Leaf Village, with your parents, Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno" the auburn haired woman said.

"Leaf Village, you mean the Leaf Village that we're not allies with, but why, didn't they want me" the pinkette frowned deeply looking sad, had her parents given her away because they didn't want her or was it because of something else.

Now, now came the hard part "Family tradition, you see in the Terumi family we have a tradition that dictates if any women have twins, the twins are separated for the first twelve years of their life and forbidden from knowing about each other until it's time for graduation exams" Mei explained.

It hit her then "Because my mom had the maiden name Terumi you took me away from my family, did you not think of the heartache it would cause your own sister or brother in law, my parents, what about my brother, we never got to grow up together" Sakura spat.

There was the temper she expected coming to the fore "Just like I said Sakura-chan it was family tradition and your parents agreed to continue it when I approached them about it" the auburn haired woman sighed softly.

Sakura stared in horror as the reason for the conversation taking place finally clicked "Why are you telling me this Aunt Mei" the pinkette narrowed her viridian orbs on her aunt, afraid of what the woman was going to say next.

"Because it's almost time for graduation exams, which means you'll be transferred to the Hidden Leaf Village to become a genin there" Mei announced in a resigned sounding tone of voice, which finally got to her niece.

Who looked heartbroken "Transferred, that means I ha..have t..too leave Suigetsu-kun, Haku-kun, Kimimaro-kun, Mangetsu-san, Chojuro-senpai and you behind" Sakura cried as realization hit her, she was going to be forced into leaving.

Mei nodded quietly "Yes Sakura to be with your parents and brother, I'm sorry but you better start saying your goodbyes and packing, we'll leave a week and one day from now once I settle everything" the auburn haired woman admitted.

Sakura shook her head in denial "How could you let me make friends if this was what was going to happen in the end" the pinkette said and without letting her aunt answer her question, left her aunts newly acquired office.

"Everything alright Mizukage-sama" Ao poked his head into the office less than a minute after her niece had left, his teammate looked up then shook her head "I'm sure she understands, give her time" the hunter nin grimaced trying not to involve himself to much.

The woman sighed and forced a smile onto her lips as she delved deep into her paperwork, wanting to get it all finished so that she wouldn't have to rush through her visit with her sister, brother in law and nephew, family that she hadn't gotten to see for twelve years either.

During that time Sakura had found the second adult she'd come to trust "Sakura what happened why are you crying" Mangetsu questioned when he saw tears in her emerald orbs, he'd thought the girl would be happy considering what day it was.

He was severely confused until the girl explained "I..I ha..have to leave an..and go back t..to the village I w..was born in" Sakura sobbed hiccups interrupting her explanation, Mangetsu froze before remembering that Sakura wasn't truly from the Hidden Mist Village.

Now understanding why she was so upset Mangetsu grimaced "Everything will be alright Sakura just have faith" the white haired male pulled the preteen into a soothing hug, all the while she cried her heart out.

Because she didn't want to leave them "B..But wh..what w..will I tell Suigetsu-kun, H..Haku-kun and K..Kimi..Kimimaro-kun, how d..do I even explain th..that sort of thing" the pinkette sniffled feeling a little better but not a whole lot.

"Look I can't presume to know how you or those boys are feeling or will feel, I do know that no matter what happens the four of you will always be friends, just tell them and by the time it's time for you to leave everything will settle down and they'll see you off as your friend" Mangetsu said.

Tear filled peridot orbs peered up at him sadly "Okay thank you Mangetsu-ni" Sakura took a deep breath, wiped her eyes dry and marched off to find her friends, Mangetsu chuckled under his breath because it had been forever since she'd called him that.

When Sakura did find the three males, she'd lost her nerve a little bit especially when they all greeted her with smiles and her best friend latched onto her like he was prone to doing "Hi, so how did your talk with Mizukage-sama go" Suigetsu grinned using her aunts new title.

Haku and Kimimaro narrowed their eyes though "Your eyes are red and puffy, have you been crying Sakura" Kimimaro completely directed the conversation, because he wanted to find whoever made his friend cry and teach them a lesson.

Suigetsu's purple eyes widened in response and leaned back to get a good look at Sakura, noticing what the other two boys had "Tell us Sakura-chan so we can go kick their ass" Haku frowned deeply wanting to know what was wrong.

Now with no choice but to tell the truth Sakura inhaled deeply, steeling her nerves as best she could before answering "I..I have to move to the Hidden Leaf Village, I have a brother and my parents are there as well, I w..want to get to know them" the pinkette said.

Feeling like she was about to burst out crying again because this was the hardest thing she'd ever done, Suigetsu openly gaped at her while the older boys paled slightly and shared a knowing look, before they could get in a word though.

The preteen boy burst out "But Sakura-chan does our friendship mean that little to you" the pale blue haired boy scowled not liking or taking the news imparted on them very well, just as she'd sort of expected.

He always threw a tantrum when he was told things he didn't like or want to hear "Now Suigetsu at least let Sakura explain her reasoning, look at her, does that look like the face of someone who wants to leave" the white haired teen frowned again.

"Yeah, plus I think she's earned the right to get to know her real family, who hasn't once come to visit…they must have had a reason….right Sakura-chan" the ebony haired teen trailed off hoping that he wasn't wrong.

Glad that at least two of her friends were understanding she nodded quietly and her first friend just looked torn "Family Tradition, it was forbidden to know about my brother and my parents couldn't send letters to find out how I was doing" Sakura sighed.

Realizing that it wasn't her fault and he couldn't really be mad at her for it, the purple eyed preteen groaned "Kami couldn't do anything the simple way could you Sakura-chan, even if we're apart, we're still friends and I expect letters to be written every single day" Suigetsu looked away as he spoke.

Missing the way her emerald orbs lit up in response and filled with tears "Agreed, we expect letters Sakura and maybe someday we'll get sent on a mission to whatever village your moving to" Kimimaro nodded.

"Exactly so do you need any help packing, that way we can spend whatever time we have left doing lots of fun things to send you off on a good note" Haku piped in and Sakura nodded her head eagerly.

With that they all traipsed off to the house she'd lived in for twelve years to pack all of her belongings in storage scrolls before neatly arranging them in a backpack, when they were done they headed out into the village to find things to do that were fun.

By the end of the week Sakura had also told Chojuro and her academy sensei that she was moving to the Hidden Leaf Village and now she was getting ready to set out with her aunt and her two personal guards.

They'd all gathered at the gates for one final farewell between the kids "Hope your trip is safe Sakura-chan and I'm definitely expecting a letter by the end of the week even if Mizukage-sama isn't back yet" Suigetsu huffed crossing his arms over his chest.

She smiled as brightly as possible "Of course goofball like I'd be able to concentrate on anything" Sakura snorted flicking Suigetsu lightly on his forehead before the boy pulled her in for a bone crushing hug that had tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

"Your gonna make your cry, I for one want Sakura to be smiling when she heads off to meet her family for the first time" Kimimaro took his turn hugging Sakura, who bit her lips and squashed the urge to cry.

And then it was his turn "Good luck and may you be happy, give them a chance and I know your parents and brother will love you like we do" Haku murmured softly lightly squeezing the girl who hadn't once judged him for his abilities.

"We'll meet again Sakura just hang in there until we do" Mangetsu ruffled the girls long hair carefully, truly gonna miss the kid because he was so use to watching out for her that it was gonna take a long time before he was use to her absence.

Sakura blew out a breath "Ready Sakura-chan" Mei asked when her niece turned to face her, it had taken all week for them to reconcile and come to an understanding and she was glad that they were setting out on a good note with their relationship in tact.

"I believe I am Auntie Mei, I'm ready to meet my parents and little brother" the rosette smiled brightly, Ao snorted, Chojuro shook his head lightly and just like that they were gone headed for the port to board a boat that would take them to the mainland.

Leaving behind the Hidden Mist Village, the village she'd grown up in and made three wonderful friends and come to see someone like an older brother to her, but she'd face her unknown future with her head held high.