I have no rights to Naruto.

Enjoy.

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Yamanaka was back and with him his daughter and teammate. Dropping the sign in logbook that was periodically dropped to him throughout the day to check on those entering and leaving Konoha Ibiki quickly strode out of his office and through the halls of ANBU causing many of his Shinobi to move out of the way or flatten themselves against the walls.

If he was right about Yamanaka Ino's character the young Kunoichi would have spent the last hour or so at home before heading off to search for her friends. In this case Sakura, who was working at the hospital as a diagnostic assistant, no heavy lifting, no stress, no use of actual sharp instruments or needles – under Danzou's orders. Ibiki was waiting for the order that would make her a receptionist, not even allowing her to the thing she loved and excelled at. An order he knew Sakura herself knew was to come.

Entering the hospital and taking the Emergency Exit stairs two at a time he reached the third floor in minutes, opening the door and holding it at the sight of Yamanka Ino, blonde hair swinging as she walked up to the pink haired medic.

"Forehead, what happened to you" Ino stammered taking in the large black circles that had taken up permanent residence under Sakura's eyes, the sunken cheeks and high cheekbones, the thin forearms and wrists shown off by the white medical coat, the pink haired medic looked pale, fragile and withdrawn.

"Yamanaka-san."

Clearly taken aback at the cool response she received, Ino leaned against the nurse's station, eyebrows rising. "Wow forehead what the hell . . . . . . . . . seriously what happened?"

"What happened Yamanaka-san is you betrayed me." Sakura spoke, jaw clenched. Ibiki swore he could hear her teeth grind as she reached to shuffle some files on the top of the station, clearly trying to distract herself.

Ino roled her eyes. "Jezz Sa-"

"I am Haruno to you." Sakura bit out, catching the eye roll and turning to face the blonde Kunoichi fully, letting her anger build and hissing out.

"You knew, the last day I saw you, I asked you. I even mentioned the kunoichi being attacked and you didn't say anything"

"I thought my dad was going to-"

Sakura cut across her, emerald eye brightening in her anger as she leaned over into Ino's face. "Bullshit. Your dad told me to take care of myself, no warning. Ten years of friendship meant jack shit to you."

"It wasn't that simple Forehead." Ino pleaded. Ibiki snorted from his viewpoint, even he could see from the slumping of the blonde's shoulder that she was guilty.

"Yes it was – Sakura be careful at night, they think the attacks on kunoichi's are deliberate and we could be next, my Father is getting me out of the way." Sakura spat, wondering why the resistance had never said anything to her if they had told.

"You have no right."

Sakura scoffed at her former friend, the blonde's shoulder going back, long bony tail flinging behind her back in righteous anger.

"No right Fuck you Ino. The only one who cared was Gai-sensei and Lee, everyone else disappeared or walked in the other direction when they saw me. You didn't even leave or send me a note."

Clenching her fists Sakura turned and with angry jerky movements pulled off her white coat and threw it behind the nurse's station turning to face Ino. The blonde's face fell instantly at the sight of Sakura's swelled stomach, her small frame made smaller by lack of eating, making the three month pregnancy look larger than it should.

"Forehead." Ino trailed off at a loss.

"This is what happened Yamanaka-san. I was attacked and raped and by the Hokage's orders I must carry to term."

Catching sight of Ibiki standing at the emergency ex Sakura brushed past her one time friend spitting at her. "Stay the hell away from me."

Taking satisfaction in the way the blonde's face crumbled, Ibiki held open the door, waiting for Sakura to enter the stairwell before letting the door bang close.

Whirling to face him she pointed up at his face, her voice an angry whisper. "Did you know?"

"I brought my suspicions to them." Ibiki grunted taking the young Kunoichi's arm as she faltered.

"Then why-"

"Why didn't I tell you-"

Ibiki interrupted Sakura and she interrupted her in return. "Yeah and Danzou wouldn't have thought that the least bit suspicious, you talking to me. No why the hell didn't they (the resistance) warn me. Danzou's been gunning for me since the start. Hell why didn't I see it myself."

Her voice trailed off at the end, defeat and pain lacing it, one hand reaching up to touch the swell of her stomach only to fall, a scowl covering her face before it was pulled into her usual mask of indifference.

"You heard rumours, but as you said Danzou had you chained inside the hospital." Ibiki said before he admitted. " You should have been told, in hindsight we should have realised you were a high target."

Sakura leaned against the wall, voice small."I thought they were my friends, I healed all of them, helped them, trained with them. They just turned their backs on me."

"To be fair the Hyuuga's have been under house arrest."

Sakura gave a harsh laugh. " I wish someone have put me under house arrest."

Before his eyes he watched as she collapsed into herself, adrenaline fading as exhaustion, stress and lack of food took over. Catching her before she slid to the ground Ibiki picked her up bridal style and set off up the stairs towards the roof. Taking his time he took the roofs landing outside Sakura's with only his own ANBU spotting him and diverting ROOT for him.

Entering the apartment for the first times in weeks Ibiki frowned at the dust gathering on the furniture. He placed the now sleeping Sakura on the sofa, dragging an old blanket over her before quietly checking the cupboards and the fridge, inwardly ahhing as he realised the bare cupboards and empty fridge were a concrete sign of Sakura's own neglect.

With a sigh Ibiki leaned against the kitchen counters, taking in the rooms and lingering on the sleeping Kunoichi, the feeling of possessiveness building as he made a silent promise to keep more of an eye on the pink haired medic sleeping on the couch and to do more to help.

Not knowing why it was so important to him.

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Dia Duit,

So answers and questions and Ibiki is finding his feeling of –hell he doesn't know – growing. Sorry about the ending, I'm not even sure myself if I'm happy with it but it still seemed the best place and way to end it no matter what I did.

Hope you enjoyed.

Lots of Love,

The Rose and the Dagger x x x