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Chapter 12- When Your Family Thinks You're Dead

'Konoha really is a beautiful and lively village,' Ryuu thought as he looked around with interest. He was currently being escorted to the Hokage's office, after showing his documents to the two shinobi guards at the gates.

"Here we are. Hey, Shizune! Ryuu-san here has come all the way from Kusagakure. He has something to discuss with Hokage-sama," Izumo told the kind medical ninja.

Shizune smiled at Ryuu, bowed her head slightly and said, "Oh, welcome to Konoha, Ryuu-sama. If you could just follow me to Tsunade-sama's office..?"

Ryuu inclined his head towards her and smiled back. "You have a lovely village, Shizune-san," he said as he followed her. Shizune flushed with pride and smiled brightly. "I'm glad you think so. Hokage-sama is very good at this job, and she puts all her effort and time into running this village," Shizune told him. 'After I hide all her sake,' she added in her head.

She knocked at the door and there was a long pause. After about twenty seconds, the Hokage finally replied with, "Come in!"

Shizune opened the door and allowed Ryuu to step in first. "Hokage-sama. This is Ryuu-sama, from Kusagakure. Our client for that kidnapping mission." Ryuu bowed and Tsunade gestured for him to sit. "It's a pleasure to have you in Konoha, Ryuu-san." Shizune turned and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her.

"The pleasure is all mine, Hokage-sama. I've been here for about twenty minutes, and I like it already," Ryuu chuckled pleasantly.

Tsunade smiled at him and asked, "There weren't any problems with the mission, were there? Did my team miss something?"

"Oh no, not at all. Your team was perfect," Ryuu assured her. "I'm here about something completely different."

"What is it?"

"It's about Haruno Sakura. Your apprentice, I think?" Ryuu said. Tsunade's brows furrowed as she nodded cautiously.

"What about her?" Tsunade asked carefully. Ryuu sighed and reach into his robes, and pulled out two scrolls. "It's about her clan," he said tiredly.

With Sakura, At Ichiraku Ramen

Lunch with Naruto, Sasuke and Ino seemed exhausting, but for Sakura, it was distracting. And that was good. 'I hate Itachi,' she thought irritably.

"Stop calling me a dumb blond! You're blonde too! Sakura, Ino's bullying me!" Naruto cried like a five year-old. Sasuke growled and poked Naruto with his chopsticks when the whiskered-ninja almost climbed into his lap in order to get away from the other blonde.

Okay, distracting or not, they were still annoying. And then, completely out of the blue, there was a tired sigh that came from behind them. "You both are too loud." Shikamaru came and sat beside Sakura. "One Miso Ramen, please," he told Ayame when she came up to take his order.

"Hey, Shikamaru!"

"Hn."

"Hi.." The last greeting came from Ino. Shikamaru looked at her curiously but she avoided his gaze. Sakura wondered if she could kick Shikamaru and make it look like an accident. She wasn't a very good liar.

"Hey, Ino. Fancy seeing you here. And Sakura, it's nice to see you out without Itachi for once," Shisui popped out of nowhere with his lame comments. Well, lame in Sakura's opinion. She glowered at him but had to smile reluctantly when Ino brightened up a little. Naruto must have noticed it too, because he offered his seat (which was next to Ino's) to Shisui and took the stool on Sasuke's other side.

"Hey, Shisui! What are you doing here?" Ino asked, looking pleased. Sakura watched out of the corner of her eye as Shikamaru's eyes narrowed when he saw how Ino lit up as soon as Shisui showed up.

"Well, I was heading to Takeshi's bar, actually. But I saw you, and couldn't pass by without saying hi. So, hi," Shisui said, charming grin in place. His grin became wider when Ino giggled.

"Hi!"

"Hey, do you want to go out for dinner tonight? I'd like to get to know you better, and we could even plot against our idiotic best friends," Shisui winked. Thankfully, Sakura was busy laughing on the inside at how annoyed Shikamaru looked, seeing Ino and Shisui get along so well. But she stopped when Shikamaru smiled slightly and shook his head, reaching for his chopsticks when his ramen arrived.

"Aren't you jealous? Or at least slightly irritated?" she asked quietly.

Shikamaru looked surprised. "No, I'm not. Why would I be?" But when Sakura continued to look suspicious he realized why she had asked that, being a genius and everything. "Sakura, it's been months since Ino and I broke up. She's totally free to go out with whoever she wants to. It's just that, I've known her since we were kids, so I'm a bit worried about her."

Ino, who was on the other side of Sakura, heard everything and bit her lip. She turned back to Shisui and smiled. "Sure, I'd like that." Shisui, who had also heard what Shikamaru said, raised his brows. Ino grimaced and whispered, "I'll tell you later." He nodded.

Suddenly, a masked ANBU appeared behind them. "Haruno Sakura, the Hokage wants you in her office within ten minutes." Sakura, Shisui, Sasuke and Shikamaru knew the ANBU was Itachi, but didn't say anything. Sakura nodded and got off her seat.

"Why does she want her? Is it a mission? I want one too!" Naruto whined.

"That information is classified, Uzumaki-san." The ANBU said flatly. Naruto deflated and even Ino looked disappointed.

"I'll see you guys later," Sakura said hurriedly as she tried to run off without Itachi. But she was unsuccessful. They took to the rooftops as she asked him, "Has shishou asked you to escort me to her office?" Itachi gave a brief nod.

"I need to talk to you as soon as possible," he told her softly.

"Why? That seems quite personal. I thought there was nothing between us," Sakura said sarcastically. Itachi sighed.

"Sakura, please. I'll explain everything to you, I promise. Trust me," he told her in a sincere tone. She frowned but nodded. 'I guess I can give him a chance to explain.'

Hokage's Office

"Ah, Sakura. Good, good. There's something we need to discuss," Tsunade told her student. She looked tired but strangely excited.

Sakura looked surprised to see Ryuu there. "Ryuu-sama, it's good to see you! But…what are you doing here?" she asked, looking worried.

Ryuu smiled at her kindly. "Sakura-san, it's good to see you as well. And don't look so worried, I'm not here to complain about you."

"Oh. Okay, good. But then why?" Now she was curious.

"It's about your clan, Sakura-san."

Sakura looked at him weirdly. "I don't have a clan, Ryuu-sama. The only relatives that I know of are my aunt and uncle, who actually live somewhere in Kusagakure."

"That's where you're wrong, Sakura. You do have a clan. You just didn't know about it because the majority of it is gone, and the only remaining Haruno Clan members are in Kusagakure," Tsunade told her.

Sakura gaped at the two of them. "That…can't be true." She could feel Itachi's gaze burning into her. Ryuu handed her a scroll.

She opened it to see a portrait of…herself. "But…why didn't they contact me? Or, do anything at all?"

"Because they don't even know that you're alive. You see, they think you died seventeen years ago."

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