Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto/Naruto Shippuden! I only own the original characters and the plot.

Chapter 2:

Secrets Revealed: The Uchiha Slaughtering/The Presence

One Week Later

Sakura was carrying a dinner tray that also had Tonbo's "medication" on it, through the hallways, down to the autopsy room. Her frustration with her patient had grown a bit more each day.

Ugh! She never gives me anymore information about what's going on, she avoids the subject completely and just talks about her past! We start the same cycle every day!

As she neared her destination, she saw Kakashi leaving Tonbo's room. He's been visiting her everyday now. I wonder what they talk about. Actually, never mind, they're both in the 'loop', so I'm sure they talk about everything they'll never tell me. She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, hey Sakura," Kakashi waved and gave her a smile.

"Kakashi-sensei, what is with Tonbo?! The first day she came here and we talked, she got more and more open with me, or so I thought! But every day it's like she starts over with me and treats me like a stranger! It's the same pattern everyday, first there are always plenty of awkward silences, followed by me trying my best to break that silence and to get her to talk to me! Then she'll tell me some completely irrelevant story about her and her brothers! Why does she have to do that?!" Sakura panted for a short while after saying so much.

Kakashi put his hands up in front of him as if to defend himself, "Sakura, just calm down, I think you need t-"

She cut him off, "Calm down?! Why should I do that, she's been playing the same game for a week now and I can't just put up with it anymore!"

Kakashi sighed, turning more into Tsunade everyday, he thought to himself.

"Sakura, do you remember who was around you when Lady Hokage told you to keep Tonbo company?" He didn't wait for her to answer, "The first time she mentioned it to you was in the hallway, and I was carrying Tonbo. You didn't seem enthusiastic about it then. The second time was in the room with Tonbo sitting on the hospital bed. You acted like she wasn't even there and you asked the Hokage if you should do something more productive. Do you really think that after that, she would want to talk to you? She saw you being given an order. So when you walk in that room, she isn't thinking about you wanting to talk to her, she's thinking about you fulfilling your duty."

Sakura didn't make eye-contact with Kakashi, none of that had even crossed her mind before.

"I think that the way she's acting towards you might just be her way of helping you fulfill your duty and just that. She doesn't like to get close to people, if she feels that she could be hurt all too easily," Kakashi was stern with her.

Sakura felt bad now. What would she do if she was in that situation? At least Tonbo seemed to be nice to her. Distant, yes, but never mean.

Sakura was looking down at her feet. "Well then, I-" she looked up at Kakashi with new decisiveness written on her face. "I think I'll talk to her."

"Good," Kakashi smiled and step out from in front of the doors. But before she went inside, he continued, "Just remember, if you don't offer her something about yourself, you'll never get any closer to her. Just like with anyone, one-sided conversations never get very far."

Sakura nodded and then opened the door and went inside. The lights had been left on and Tonbo was sitting up with her attention on a puzzle book. Sakura figured Kakashi must have brought it for her to pass the time.

"Hi Tonbo, I brought you your dinner," Sakura put on a smile and walked over to her.

Tonbo set her puzzle book down to take the tray.

Sakura sat down in an armchair, Tonbo wasn't looking at her. It's starts the same way every time. Sakura thought with a sigh.

"Tonbo... I was thinking, maybe we could be friends?"

Hearing this, Tonbo set her chopsticks down on her tray and turned to look straight at Sakura.

At the Hokage's Office

There was a knock on the Hokage's door.

"Come in!" Tsunade hollered.

In entered the former ANBU member Tsunade had met while going to release Tonbo.

"Good afternoon Lady Hokage," the woman bowed politely.

"Oh, it's you. Did you come to tell me about what happened while Tonbo was being kept there?"

"Yes I have," she looked up at Tsunade. "For almost two years, nothing ever really happened. Everything was quite normal. But there was an incident once when she was 8 years old."

Tsunade folded her hands and let her elbows rest on her desk, "Okay, continue."

"It was late in the evening and almost everyone had finished eating their dinners. I was one of the few still eating in the cafeteria at the time. All of the alarms started going off so the first thing I did was duck under the table to be ready for any intruders. I made my way over to the door and heard people in the hallway saying that everything was malfunctioning. That's when all the lights began exploding and going out. It was pitch dark and no one could see anything. But when I looked down the hallway I saw a strange green glow coming from the room Tonbo was being kept in."

"A green glow?" Tsunade intrupted.

"Yes, so I walked slowly down the hallway until I was next to the doorway with my back against the wall. I had to make sure that she was safe, that was my mission. So I squatted down low and peered around the corner. What I saw shocked me."

"What was it?"

"It was her. So I walked into the room to look at her up close. The green glow was coming from what looked like tattoos all over her body. They were all different symbols, I don't remember what they said in particular, but they were all glowing a bright, pale green. The tank had been drained and it was open. She was still in the same position she had always been in and it didn't look like she had moved at all. But what shocked me even more..." she closed her eyes with a sad looked on her face. "was that she was crying. She was completely still, and didn't move at all, but tears were streaming down her face nonetheless."

"She was... crying?" Tsunade seemed surprised.

"When everything stopped, the tattoos that were all over her body, just disappeared as if they had never even been there to begin with. It wasn't until later the next morning that we were told what had happened. The third Hokage himself came to explain everything. It was then that we learned a great deal of top secret information about her. First of all, the pale green glow was actual the color of her chakra and those symbols were a part of a sealing jutsu someone had put on her chakra. That someone wanted her chakra to be sealed away so that she wouldn't be able to use it anymore. But the seal was incomplete and because of this, the symbols were still all over her body. When she uses enough chakra, it leaks out from the seal, resulting in the green glow I saw. In other words, she was the one who caused all of that chaos."

"Is that why they locked her up in the tank down there?" Tsuande asked with a bit of concern on her face.

"I was never told the answer to that. But I don't think that's the reason, but only because of what we were told next. Can you guess what night that was?"

Tsunade only looked at her.

"That night was the night of the Uchiha slaughtering."

Tsunade's mouth dropped open.

"What's even more is that the time that all of this happened was about the same as the estimated time the slaughtering began."

"Impossible," Tsunade whispered.

"So you know what I think? I think that somehow, she knew. She knew exactly what was going on. I think she was desperately trying to communicate with us. I think she was trying to warn us what was going on. But she had no way to tell us. She was frozen, so all she could do, was cry."

Two Weeks Later

Tonbo was sitting up in her hospital bed nearly finished with her third puzzle book. Despite the fact that Sakura came by more often and stayed to talk with her longer, she still would get bored with all the time she spent in the same dark room, staring at the same plain walls.

She heard the door unlock and she snapped her head over to the doorway which opened to reveal Kakashi with two thick books and a folder full of papers in his arm.

"Kakashi!" she beamed at him.

"Yo," he smiled back at her. He sat down in one of the armchairs next to her bed and set the books and folder down in his lap.

"What are all of those?" Tonbo set her puzzle book and pen down at her side.

"Well, this morning I finished looking through all the public records in the library for a record of someone who possesses the same abilities as you."

"So you found something?" she looked curiously at the all the parchment in his lap.

"Actually, I couldn't find anything about such a person. But, I did find somethings that you might think are interesting," Kakashi grabbed one of the thick books and flipped to a marked page. He handed the book over to Tonbo.

She took the book a began reading through the script on the page. "This looks like all the names of the students that were in my class at the ninja academy," Tonbo looked back up at Kakashi for him to explain.

"Yes, it is. Do you see your name there?" he asked without looking up at her.

She looked back down and skimmed the entire page once, twice... three times. "Well I technically never graduated, so it would make sense that my name wouldn't be on the list."

"That list is a list of all the names of the students who were ever enrolled in the academy, whether they ever ended up graduating or not."

"Okay, so the record of me attending the academy is gone."

"Right, but there's more," he grabbed the second book and flipped it open to a marked page.

He handed the book to her. "This is the official village census from the year you were five. You'll find your name isn't in there either."

She searched for her name anyway but to no avail. Her name was no where to be found.

When Kakashi saw her eyes settle after skimming over the page, he continued. "It goes even further than that," he handed her the folder of papers and she opened it up.

"Those are all the hospital records from the night you were born. The record of your birth should have been close to the beginning since you were born early in the morning, but I looked through the entire thing anyway."

She didn't need to search for her name to understand what he was trying to tell her. "So then, you're saying that, on record I..."

"Don't exist," he finished for her.

She looked up at him, "If the village higher ups wanted me to become a secret, the only way for them to make certain of that would be to erase all evidence of my existence. This isn't exactly shocking."

"No, you're right, it isn't. But all we really know is that knowledge of your existence isn't open to the public, but this doesn't mean you would also be erased from all the classified documents that are said to contain all knowledge of the Hidden Leaf."

"Okay, so?"

"This means that someone with your abilities could have existed even though there isn't any record of it in the library. If your records are in the classified documents, then that's where any record of someone else like you existing would be."

"So then, do you have access to classified documents?" Tonbo looked at him hopefully.

"No, I wouldn't have access to something like that. And if I asked the Hokage for permission, I would have to tell her why, and that could cause some problems. It isn't the time for anyone else to know yet."

"Why not?" Tonbo looked at Kakashi with a gentle longing in her eyes.

"Kakashi, I don't want to be hidden away forever. I didn't choose any of this, and sooner or later they'll all find out anyway. So why keep everything from them?!" She looked down at her hands. "Sakura is the first friend I've ever made on my own, and yet I can't tell her anything about me. I have to keep her in the dark, just because someone else decided for me that I can't let anyone know who I really am. And for what?"

Kakashi had known that she never wanted things to be this way, but that's why he had been working so hard to give her answers. Am I doing this the wrong way? He asked himself.

"Tonbo, I don't know all the reasons you were taken away, but I do know that the third Hokage wanted to protect you. Just like he would want for any citizen of his village. He didn't see you the way everyone else did, he saw you as someone worth protecting."

At this, Tonbo shed tears. "I'm sorry, I know you're right. I guess sometimes I just get tried."

Kakashi sighed, "I'm going to ask the Hokage to look for your records for me. If they aren't there, then it's pointless to look for someone else like you. Once we know about your documents, we'll go from there, okay?"

Tonbo wiped her cheeks and nodded.

Later That Day

"You know, you're really doing great with your physical therapy! Pretty soon, you'll be out of here!" Sakura smiled up at Tonbo.

Tonbo smiled back, "Well that's good news."

"Of course for now you still shouldn't try to run."

"Right... I guess I'm still not ready for that yet," Tonbo's face saddened.

Sakura, noticing her change in expression, smiled at her again. "You know what? Tomorrow, I'm gonna take you shopping."

"Shopping?" Tonbo was not sure what to think.

"Well yeah! If your going to leave the hospital soon, you'll need something to wear other than just hospital clothes!" she stated cheerfully. "Plus it's good exercise, so it will count as your physical therapy for the day."

"Well that sounds..." Tonbo started, unsure of herself. "...fun."

Sakura wasn't expected that as an answer and was already prepared to force her, "Com-, really?"

"Well... yeah!" she smiled at Sakura.

Sakura grinned, "Great, and I know just the person to bring along. I'm sure she'll give you plenty of fashion advice, but don't worry, you won't have to listen to her if you don't want to!"

"Who is this person?"

"You can just call her Ino-pig," Sakura told her, still grinning.

The Next Day

Sakura had to let Tonbo borrow some of her clothes because she refused to let Tonbo walk around the streets in just a white robe.

"Hey Sakura!" Ino waved cheerfully from the spot they were all supposed to meet at.

"Hey," Sakura waved back. "Ino, this is Tonbo and we really need to help her find some clothes to wear."

"Hi Tonbo, I'm Ino," she smiled making her eyes close. "So why do you look like Sakura's twin?"

"I had to lend her my clothes for the day. When we find something that suits her she can change out of my clothes," Sakura cut in.

"Oh, I see." Ino looked the girl over. "First thing we'll have to do is find out what your color is."

"My color?" Tonbo asked.

"The color you look best in," she elaborated.

The three of them spent hours going from store to store with Ino and Sakura dragging Tonbo around with them.

Tonbo didn't really care what she wore, but it was clearly important to both Ino and Sakura. She noticed that the two girls seemed to disagree about almost everything and felt they had to bicker trying to get their own way.

This made Tonbo smile, strangely enough. Despite the fact that they would always argue, they still seemed to be having fun. Tonbo didn't quite understand this but she decided she didn't have to.

Eventually, between Ino and Sakura, she had an outfit to wear. It was mostly a pale blue color. The color was one of the only things Sakura and Ino could agree on.

The only thing Tonbo picked out herself was a navy blue band that she put around her left calf. She folded up her handkerchief into a small rectangle and tucked it in the band on the inside of her calf.

Ino thought it was ridiculous, but Tonbo claimed that it was her fault for picking an outfit with no pockets. Sakura only laughed at both of them.

Ino let out a satisfied sigh, "That was really fun!"

Sakura smiled, "Yeah, it sure was. It's getting late, we should probably eat some lunch."

After deciding where to eat, they all sat down at a table at a barbeque restaurant.

"Hey Tonbo, that's a really cute necklace, where did you get it?" Ino asked from across the table, looking at the wooden dragonfly around Tonbo's neck.

Tonbo looked down at it and smiled. "My youngest brother craved it for me, and then one of my other brothers painted it. Of course they both had help from my oldest brother. Without him, it probably wouldn't have turned out this good," she gave a little laugh.

Ino looked at it closer, "It does look pretty good, even the wings are shiny! How did they do that?"

"I'm guess it has a clear coat of paint over the wings," Sakura offered.

"Yeah, that was my oldest brother's idea," said Tonbo.

"Say, you must have a lot of brothers. How many do you have?" Ino asked.

"Just the three," Tonbo smiled.

"Wow, I wonder what it's like to have siblings, neither me nor Sakura have siblings, let alone so many!"

Ino's comment reminded Sakura of Sasuke and his brother Itachi. She never really could understand exactly what he felt. She thought that maybe she could help by bearing his burden with him. But now he was gone, and Sakura was almost lost on what she really wanted.

That night, I wanted him to take me with him. I didn't care where we would go or what we'd be doing. It didn't matter, as long as I was by his side. But now... I've realized a bit more of how much I really didn't understand him. Did I really have the right to ask him to bring me with him?

"Sakura? Hello? Sakura!" Ino was waving her hand in front of Sakura's face. She brought her back to reality.

"It's your turn to order," everyone was looking at her.

"Oh right, sorry." She placed her order and the waitress walked off.

"You know you should really be paying more attention to what's going on around you. How can you expect to become stronger if you can't even focus long enough to order food?" Ino crossed her arms.

"Hmph," Sakura crossed her arms and legs and turned up her nose. "At least by the end of my training I won't be a burden to my team!"

Ino smiled, and to Sakura's surprise, it wasn't a smirk. "I only said that because I care Sakura, I mean that."

Sakura blinked at Ino. She suddenly felt like they could be friends the way they used to be when they were little.

Then came Ino's smirk after the look on Sakura's face. All of the momentary feelings Sakura had, vanished. But Ino didn't say anything, she just went back to talking to Tonbo about various topics.

Sakura couldn't help but smile. She had realized that she couldn't remember the last time she'd heard Ino talk this much without insulting her. Both Ino and Tonbo were laughing and having fun.

You know, maybe we're okay like this for now. Even without Sasuke here. Everyone's working hard to get stronger, so that we can bring Sasuke back home. But it is nice to just relax and have fun for a while. Maybe... this is good. Sakura thought to herself.

At the Hospital: 10:26pm

Sakura's shift was already over, but she had stayed late helping out with other patients. She was getting ready to leave and was almost out the door when she felt something.

It was strange. She didn't know what she was feeling, but whatever it was, it stopped her right where she stood. She turned around slowly.

Everyone in her sight all had their heads facing the same direction.

What is this feeling? I feel... I feel-, like I'm being invaded. Sakura's entire body felt like it was tingling. What is everyone looking at? There doesn't seem to be anything down that hallway.

No one was moving. They were all frozen in place, looking the same way.

Sakura admittedly felt something in that direction. Do they feel the same thing I'm feeling?

She was afraid. She didn't know why or if there was really even anything to be afraid of to begin with. But she began to walk down the hall despite the fact that everything was telling her to turn and run.

As she continued down the hallway, patients, doctors and nurses alike were all staring in the same direction, paralyzed by fear.

Do they all feel it? Not all of them are ninja, which means even normal civilians can sense this... this... presence.

She continued turning corners, making her way to the back of the east wing. All that's here are the... autopsy rooms.

Her eyes settled on the double-doors that were locked shut with a padlock. Her heart rate sped up and she could hear throbbing in her ears.

Trying to keep her breathing as quiet as she could, she hesitantly took a small step towards the doors. Come on, Sakura! You have to make sure your patient is okay, even more so... your friend.

Suddenly, Kakashi appeared out of nowhere with a puff of smoke. Sakura jumped backwards, startled half to death!

"Sakura, get the Hokage now!" Kakashi punched in the padlock combination and slipped inside the room closing the door behind him so fast that Sakura could barely register what he had told her.

She took a moment to realize what she needed to do, but she soon pivoted on her heel and ran to the front doors as fast as she could. She ran all the way to the Hokage's office, but what was frightening was that she could feel that same... presence, all the way there.

When Sakura bursted through Lady Tsunade's door, Tsunade and Shizune were talking about a weird feeling they both had.

"Lady Tsunade, you need to come to the hospital right away!" Sakura hastily spat out.

"Calm down Sakura, what's going on?" came Tsunade's reply.

"I don't know, but that weird feeling is coming from Tonbo's room at the hospital, and when I got to her room, Kakashi appeared and told me I needed to come get you!"

"Tonbo's rooms?" Tsunade started to run out the door. "Shizune, stay here!"

Sakura followed Tsunade out the door and in the direction of the hospital.

When they arrived Tsunade punched the combination into the padlock and hit both doors open.

The presence had vanished only moments before.

Sakura stepped in to see Tonbo on her knees being braced by Kakashi. Blood was spilling from her mouth, down her front and onto the floor.

Tonbo looked up at Tsunade and Sakura with a terrified look on her face.

"I'm sorry," Tonbo whispered.

A/N: This was original chapters 4 (The Uchiha Slaughtering) and 5 (The Presence). I know, I know, even after combining them I still left you guys with a cliffhanger! Read and Review!