As Sakura was led through the halls of the Hokage tower she tried not to let her fear show. Thankfully Kakashi-sensei had decided to come along and neither of her ANBU escorts had objected to his presence though she suspected they weren't thrilled with it. She wished she could look at Kakashi to give herself some small reassurance but with her two escorts at either side and Kakashi bringing up the rear that just wasn't possible.

The whole time spent going to the tower Sakura wondered what the Hokage knew and how he knew it. She also couldn't help it as her mind went on a few tangents of worst case scenario things that awaited her in that office. Sakura did her best to compose herself and act like a real Kunoichi as they reached their destination.

Inside the office awaited her a much larger gathering of people than she had anticipated. To her surprise Iruka-sensei and Ino's dad were in the room looking rather serious. Two more ANBU guards were stationed in the corners of the room. The Hokage was sitting behind his desk with the most serious expression she had ever seen on his face and her own mother was seated in one of the two chairs in front of the Hokage's table. As one all of them turned to look at her when she entered the room. Sakura had to fight the urge to turn around and flee.

"Sit down," said the Hokage, his voice even but with unmistakable command.

Sakura gaped for a second before she moved and sat down as fast as she could.

Even though everyone in the room was staring at her she kept her eyes firmly on the Hokage. Finding she couldn't meet his gaze she looked down and kept her eyes on his desk instead. There was complete silence for a long minute and Sakura couldn't stop herself from fidgeting nervously in her seat.

"Sakura," began the Hokage, his voice severe and brimming with authority, "I'm going to give you exactly one chance to come clean about what you have been up to. If I find out at any time that you lied or kept anything from me the consequences will be severe. Do you understand me?"

At this point Sakura started shaking from fright and from the powerful aura of the Hokage. "H-Hai Hokage-s-sama," she said keeping her head lowered.

"Then tell me everything," he said.

And she did. She described everything in as much detail as she could remember so she couldn't be accused of holding anything back. She told him about what happened when Haku and those men died in Wave, about how great she felt afterwards but didn't think anything of it. About how the feelings she called the Hunger got worse and worse and she had no idea what to do about it. How one night she woke up with yellow eyes and a complete lack of morals holding her back.

She told about how and why she chose Konoha Hospice as her target, who she killed and why she chose that particular person. At that point in the story she could tell her mother was growing very upset but she couldn't stop her story at that point. She told the Hokage how she had guessed being near people dying would help and she started spending time in the park behind the hospital. Finally she told him how that had worked moderately well for a whole month until the events of the previous day and her confrontation with her mom. After that her eyes had gone yellow again and she had killed an old lady dying of cancer the night before.

The Hokage took this all in with an unreadable stony expression on his face. When her story was finished Sakura sagged in her chair as if all energy had left her and tears were streaming down her face. Aiko looked like she wanted nothing more than reach over and hold her daughter but being in such a formal setting in the presence of the Hokage stopped her from doing so.

After a long minute of silence the Hokage asked Sakura a question. "Why was it that you didn't come forward after the first time you killed somebody?" His voice gave absolutely no clues as to what he was thinking.

"W-when we were in the academy Mizuki-sensei told us a story about how a drunken Chunnin who had killed a civilian was… executed," she said quietly. That particular statement caused Iruka to curse the man under his breath.

After hearing her response the Hokage's posture relaxed marginally and his gaze softened to something like pity in his eyes. "That was the case of a chronic violent drunk who managed to kill the son of a very important person. In cases of accidents or things out of their control we don't make it a habit of executing our ninja because of unfortunate circumstances," he said, his voice losing some of its harshness.

Sakura just nodded while keeping her gaze low, unsure what she was expected to say.

"I want you to know that at this time, with the information I now possess, I'm willing to rule these two as 'accidental deaths' and let that be the end of it. However my first and most important duty is protecting Konoha and its citizens and steps will need to be taken so this sort of thing does not happen again. Do you understand?"

"Yes Hokage-sama," she said in the same subdued tone. Though inside she felt some relief at hearing she wasn't bound for the executioner's block she didn't have it in her to feel happy about it at the moment. The deaths of those two people still weighed too heavily on her conscience.

"Now," said the Hokage learning back on his chair, "I think it would be best if your mother filled you in on what she told me earlier this morning. It should answer the questions you no doubt have about what is happening to you."

Sakura finally managed to pull her gaze from where it had been glued on the Hokage's desk and turned to look at her mother sitting next to her.

"Mom?" she asked, voice shaking and uncertain and asking for answers.

Aiko took a deep breath and hunched forward a little as if a great weight had settled on her shoulders.

"I'm not originally from Fire Country," Aiko began, "I was originally the third daughter and seventh child of the head of the Saotome clan, Saotome Atsuo. I came to live in Fire Country after meeting and marrying your father who was apprenticing at one of the Haruno clan's holdings in Earth Country." Aiko paused momentarily. It was clear that speaking about this was very difficult for her.

Sakura was stunned. This was completely different from what her parents had told her. "So you're not from northern Fire Country?" she asked seemingly blown away.

Aiko shook her head. "Your father was born in Fire Country but he spent most of his youth and early adulthood in Earth Country learning his trade until we were forced to flee. We were fortunate that his family welcomed us back with open arms once we arrived in Fire Country."

Sakura was shocked at this information and angry no one had ever told her. "Why did you keep this from me? Why did you have to flee Earth Country? And what does this have to do with what's happening to me?" demanded Sakura sounding a little panicky.

Aiko sighed, "The Saotome clan was a powerful ninja clan of Iwagakure. After the end of the last war that ended in Iwa's defeat many of the shinobi were angry at the Saotome clan and accused them of treason. Shortly after the end of the war, on the orders of the Tsuchikage, the Saotome clan was attacked in the middle of the night and they were killed down to every last man, woman and child."

Sakura just sat in her chair looking at her mother, stunned. The pinkette needed to work her mouth a few times before the next hesitant question came out. "How did you survive?"

"I was born with a rare defect that crippled my chakra coils. When I was twelve and it became clear I would never be a ninja my mother faked my death and sent me away to be raised by civilians. It was the best thing she could have done for me, life would not have been good for me in the Saotome clan as a civilian. However it was still too dangerous for us to remain after the order came down that all Saotome were to be killed. It was possible someone would have eventually realized I had been born into the clan."

Sakura mulled this over. There was so much information coming at her at once she was starting to feel overwhelmed not sure what to think or feel. There were so many questions she now wanted to ask but those would have to wait until later. She needed time to process and there was really only one question that mattered to her right now.

"What does this have to do with what's been happening to me?"

"The Saotome line had… has… a bloodline. It's called Santengoku or Three Heavens."

Sakura swallowed thickly. "So it is a Kekkei Genkai…" she said almost to herself.

Aiko nodded. "It is a hated bloodline and with good reason. Iwa never trusted the Saotome clan even though they joined the village almost from the time of its founding. I hate to say it but the accusations leveled against them were most likely all true. The deeper they went into their bloodline the more treacherous and depraved they became."

While it was clear to Sakura that her mother was lost in her memories it didn't ease the fact that her mother was talking about a bloodline that Sakura herself apparently had. It hurt and scared her all at the same time.

"If you knew I could have this bloodline why didn't you say anything?" Sakura demanded.

In that moment Aiko looked lost and guilty. "In men the bloodline tended to manifest well over fifty percent of the time. However for the women it was closer to ten percent. I thought the chances were so small it wasn't worth burdening you with that knowledge. If you didn't manifest the bloodline then there was no chance your children would either. That cursed bloodline would have finally been wiped from the earth."

The occupants of the room seemed a bit uncomfortable as Aiko was seemingly lost in the past and not aware how her words could be taken by her daughter. Sakura for her part tried to be understanding but couldn't help but feel like her own mother was rejecting her because of something that happened that was not her fault.

Sakura decided she could process and be upset later. Right now she needed to get answers while she could.

"How do I control it?" Sakura asked.

Aiko gave a bark of laughter that had nothing to do with joy. "Control it? You can't. That's why I call it a curse."

After that outburst Aiko was embarrassed and managed to calm down some. Except for the Hokage who had already heard the story the woman had a captive audience as she began to talk about the finer points of the Santengoku otherwise known as Three Heavens.

"The Kekkei Genkai is known as Three Heavens because there are three distinct stages to it known as First Heaven, Second Heaven and Third Heaven. After a particular Heaven is achieved it takes at least a couple of years for the Kekkei Genkai to mature enough for it to even be possible to go to the next level. Once enough time has passed specific conditions have to be met in order for the user to advance to the next Heaven,"

"There is a little poem that goes like this,

First Heaven breaks the bonds of society,

All rules cease to have meaning,

And you are no longer constrained by the will of others,

This is First Heaven when you first sample true freedom.

x

Second Heaven breaks the shackles of fear,

Be it for your own body, house or country,

You will not be hampered by the mind killer that is fear,

This is Second Heaven when you become the perfect shinobi weapon.

x

Third Heaven breaks your bonds with all others,

Loved ones, friends and family will no longer hold you back,

All become equal under your eye,

This is Third Heaven when you experience perfect clarity and joy."

"Even that poem was supposed to be a clan secret. As you can see from the description the effects of the Santengoku do very little to inspire trust in others."

Aiko took a deep breath. "The worst problem is that for most people the Heavens become addictive. Even though they might be causing hell to others in their own mind they are experiencing a glorious superior mental state. It doesn't help that the Heavens also grant the user different abilities,"

"First Heaven isn't as bad by the virtue that it turns off automatically when one goes to sleep. It helps you to stay grounded in reality. However in Second Heaven you have to choose to turn it off voluntarily. Many Saotome who entered Second Heaven never turned it off. Third Heaven is the absolute worst, I've never heard of anyone who reached Third Heaven and came back from it except supposedly for the founder of the clan."

Sakura shuddered at that. From her own memories she wasn't sure if she would have come out of First Heaven if she'd had a choice. From what her mother was saying the others were even more addicting and you had to choose to return to normal.

"I never want to reach Second Heaven," she said quietly.

For the first time since Sakura had walked in that morning her mother seemed to perk up a bit and she even gave her a small sad smile. "I hope you don't honey. It's an awful thing. People who reach Second Heaven or above are never the same again."

"Well I think that's enough for now," said the Hokage once again taking control of the conversation. "Aiko-san was considerate enough to bring copies of all the materials she was able to salvage from when her clan was destroyed. According to her they contain detailed information on the Santengoku as well as first person accounts. If you're interested in reading about it you can ask me and I'll make them available to you," he said addressing the whole room.

"Now Sakura you killed somebody yesterday. I take it to mean you won't have any problems for a few days?"

Sakura was somewhat mortified about being asked if she'll be 'ok' for a few days without killing anyone. She simply nodded in response.

"Well then in that case I want you to report to Inoichi first thing in the morning. I expect you to cooperate with him fully. The report he gives me will greatly inform my decision on how we go forward from here."

"Hai Hokage-sama."

"ANBU will escort you and your mother home. You will be watched and be placed under house arrest until I've come to a decision. I would not suggest you attempt to deceive your observers or go outside. An ANBU will escort you to Inoichi's in the morning."

Sakura was a little freaked out at all this. It had sounded at first like she would have been let go without so much as a slap on the wrist. Now they were treating her like she was a dangerous criminal. Well… she supposed she actually was a dangerous criminal, sort of.

"Hai Hokage-sama."

"I recommend you spend some time learning all you can about your heritage and your Kekkei Genkai. If all goes well I'll have made my decision by tomorrow or the day after. Dismissed."

As quickly as she could without being insulting Sakura fled the room, her mother following at a more dignified pace behind her.

Sakura and her mother were quiet as they were escorted home by ANBU. Thankfully being escorted home didn't mean they were walking next to them. Everyone across Konoha would have seen that spectacle. It just meant the ANBU followed close by on the roofs and made little attempt to hide their presence. Since even Sakura could sense them she guessed that was intentional.

When they entered the home they were quiet, not quite knowing what to say to each other. As the silence grew awkward Aiko moved into the kitchen to make tea just to have something to do with her hands. Sakura looked around the room to avoid looking at her mom. Finally Sakura had to say something to break the silence.

"When is otousan supposed to be back again?"

Aiko hesitated before answering. "If all goes well he should be back in ten days."

Well Sakura had thought that's how long it would be but that didn't make her feel any better. She could have really used a hug from her dad right about then. Sakura wasn't sure what she was feeling towards her mother. There was anger sure, and disappointment, and a sad feeling that she didn't know the woman in front of her nearly as well as she'd thought she did.

Aiko seemed to be debating something before she got up and went to her bedroom. She came back out with a fine wooden box and put it on the table. Going over to the counter she grabbed a piece of stationary and a pen. Suddenly unsure what her mother was doing she stepped closer to join her on the counter. Her mother scribbled a quick note and passed it to her.

The walls have ANBU ears by now. I have to tell you something but we can't speak out loud. Play along.

She looked at her daughter who looked at her mother in surprise at her sneakiness. Slowly Sakura nodded that she understood.

Aiko took the paper back and wrote while saying something else out loud.

"Honey I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. It's an ugly part of my past I really just wanted to forget. There were some traumatic things I went through before I left the Saotome compound that made me really despise the Santengoku."

I did not copy everything for the Hokage. I held back some important things that should be for you and you alone. Do you have some place you can be reasonably sure you can hide them without being discovered?

Sakura took the paper back, suddenly finding herself having two very different but intense conversations at the same time.

"Well mom, I mean… what happened? What made you hate your own family's bloodline so much?"

What things? What are they? How big? Need to know.

"I – well it was my older brother Tamoko. My mother loved me but she didn't have much time to raise me or spend time with me herself. My brother was five years older than me and I adored him, he practically raised me. I'm sure you can guess what happened?"

Three scrolls, small size. Two hold secrets for techniques that can only be used in Second and Third Heaven. The third holds instructions on how to get the Saotome clan's summoning contract. The summoning contract is very important. Not sure why but everyone always said so.

"I'm guessing Santengoku happened? Did… did someone kill him?"

If no one knows you have them I think I can hide them safely. But why are you giving them to me? I thought you hated the Saotome from what you've said, and especially the Santengoku.

"No. That might have actually been better. He was considered something of a prodigy within the clan and reached Third Heaven at sixteen, almost unheard of. He-he stopped being my big brother Tamoko then. He became cold and cruel and things only mattered to him in relation to his goals. He became just like father. I always felt the Santengoku killed my brother and turned him into a sadistic, evil mockery of his former self."

Sakura was stunned to hear that story. There was still pain when her mother told the story but it was also heavily shrouded by a sort of weary resignation. It was extremely clear her mother had been hard hit by the loss of her brother all those years ago and even now there was still a resigned sadness to her even if he was long dead. Sakura was so involved in her thoughts she almost didn't notice when her mom shoved the note in her hand with an impatient push when she'd ignored it.

I hated the Santengoku for all the people it ruined and I hated the Saotome for creating a culture that worshipped that cursed Kekkei Genkai. However I was still raised in it and it's still a part of me even if I hate it. At least in memory of my mother I can't let our summoning contract fall out of the hands of the Saotome clan. As for the other two I couldn't be sure the Hokage would allow you keep them if he knew you had them. I hate it but it's still part of me and I still have some pride in it. Do you understand Sakura?

"Don't worry mom," she said pulling her in for a hug, "I have no desire to reach Second or Third Heaven. I'll just have to look in that pile of scrolls to find the 'conditions' necessary to reach Second Heaven and avoid them. Shouldn't be too hard if I know what to look for right?"

The truth was Sakura didn't understand where her mother was coming from when she simultaneously hated her former clan and felt compelled to protect its heritage. Maybe some of her peers who had been raised in clans like Ino or Hinata would understand but Sakura couldn't see herself doing the same thing in her mother's position for the same reasons. Still she was grateful her mother had thought that far ahead and had tried to preserve something like that just for her.

When the tea kettle started whistling her mother pulled away and used the noise for cover as she quickly crumbled up the note and ate it. Sakura's eyebrows flew up in surprise at that. Seeing things like that she really could believe her mother had been raised in a ninja clan.

The Hokage's office emptied out quickly after the two females left. The Hokage wanted Inoichi's and Iruka's input on the girl but he would rather wait until the next day after the psych evaluation before he had everyone put all their cards on the table. As the Hokage had predicted Kakashi elected to stay behind and speak to him.

"What is it Kakashi?" he asked knowing full well what was on his mind.

"I doubt you're going to do anything to her unless her psych evaluation is a mess. Why did you feel a need to pull the scare tactics with the ANBU?" he asked.

"Precisely because she could use being a little scared. Maybe even a lot scared. If the psych evaluation goes as well as you seem to think it will she'll need to be made of stern stuff and make sure to toe the line. Should things go well it is very likely there will be a lot of eyes on her soon."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed a bit. He didn't like the sound of that. "What do you mean?" he asked.

The Hokage sat back in his chair and lit his pipe. "Oh I think I'll keep my own council on that until tomorrow. Until then think about freeing up some time to give some special training to that student of yours. Consider that an order from your Hokage."

No. Kakashi didn't like the sound of that at all.

AN: Dun dun dun! What did you think? For the big reveal chapter it actually turned out to be a lot shorter than I thought. Not every detail of the Santengoku aka Three Heavens was explained and that was on purpose. This chapter was already feeling a little information dump heavy anyway.

Review!