A/N: Day four. Figured out a way to reply to reviews even if I can't see them on FanFiction itself. Although, I still might not be able to see some like Bloodmoon Goddess because I don't seem to get the email?

Naruto has a sway over the class, his peers gravitating over to him easily as insects to light. They stay a respectable emotional distance away because of his chosen best friend, who's about as socially stunted as Sai. The fortunate part about Sai is that he doesn't have a permanent aura of unease, so perhaps Sasuke is on another level of socially stunted.

The unfortunate part is that Naruto wants to add her and by extension, Sai to the little 'best friend' group. She likes Naruto, but Sasuke makes her uncomfortable. All he does is stare and though he's nowhere near the level of his brother, she still doesn't like it.

It's giving her urges to poke his eyes and then what would happen if she becomes the sole reason why the spare loses his ability to even see, let alone awaken the Sharingan? They'd demand something from her and that's never a good thing from the Uchiha.

"So, Sakura-chan, this is my weirdo of a best friend, Sasuke! Our parents knew each other," he explains, placing his arms behind his head, "so Mikoto-obasan made sure that he and I met. We've stuck together ever since then. Don't know how, but whatever."

Sasuke continues to stare, which is really beginning to ruin her mood. It's a shame that the Uchiha are so attractive, because it's the first step to drawing attention and walking closer into their trap.

"Itachi-nii has photos of you in his room." the Uchiha reveals to her with the smooth monotone of a child, prompting Shion to release an abrupt laugh of surprise. Sakura's expression clearly demonstrates how she feels about that news. Naruto too, shares her feelings as he looks at his best friend with extreme concern.

Sai blinks at her side, pausing in his art to look up. "That is rather concerning. Why would your prodigious brother have photos of Sakura-neesama in his room?" he queries, tilting his head in curiosity.

Sasuke slowly turns his head to stare at Sai, before writing him off and returning his gaze to her. "He has asked me to befriend you, so I will. He did not explain why, so if you wish to understand more it is recommended you seek him out yourself."

No, Sakura doesn't want to interact with his brother any more than necessary. Or ever, if possible. "Are we friends, Naruto?" she questions the blonde, who turns his disconcerted expression over to her.

His expression then morphs into one that informs her the answer should be obvious. "Clearly. I mean, it's uh, sort of nice that this creep wants to befriend you… but you can see he's a little messed up in the head. I'm trying my best to make him somewhat socially acceptable so he doesn't scare everyone he meets away, you know."

"You are doing a terrible job." Sai informs him with a smile meant to imitate Father's pleasant expression. It doesn't work as well, but it has an effect at least.

Naruto rolls his eyes as he scratches his head. "Gee, thanks. But it's not really my fault. His brother is probably the worst of them all in terms of eerie personalities, you know? Sasuke idolises him." he explains, looking at Sasuke who glances at him. But Sasuke isn't all that interested, thinking her more interesting to look at. Shion hums with mild irritation.

Finally, she sighs. "Fine, it doesn't matter. Let's be friends, I'm already too deep in the absurdity. Just never invite over me over to your house, because I won't accept." if Sasuke is an example, then every Uchiha in the compound will stare and that's a terrifying image to imagine. They're not even the worst of the lot, either.

Sasuke's lips twitch until there's a skewed smile on his face. Naruto looks as put off as she feels. "You and I… are going to be very close." he tells her, with an almost affectionate lilt to his monotone. "I will bond you to me."

"Alright! Get the fuck out of there, that's too much Uchiha weirdness, yeah." Shion advises, and Sakura listens without a moment's hesitation. Sai obediently follows.

On the days that Kakashi is free, he trains with her and Sai. The elder shinobi is slowly opening up, the crinkling of his eye becoming more and more of an occurrence. He's still rather solemn, having it soaked too deep into his soul, but he's not beyond the point of no return.

Father has become more busy of late, returning home late in the evening and cradling her if she happens to be awake. She listens to his complaints and uses her knowledge of the human body to help loosen his muscles. Running a shady business underneath the actually legitimate business of tea imports is a difficult task, after all.

They sit in a private training ground together, one with luscious grass yet to be destroyed by abuse. It's a nice day, she thinks. Sai is likely to draw some clouds today.

"Even summons are susceptible to genjutsu…" Kakashi informs her as she holds onto Pakkun, whose nose is twitching and occasionally causing him to sneeze. It's the fault of her higanbana crown, but he has to grow accustomed to it because the genjutsu used in conjunction with the flowers isn't picky with who gets caught. Just in case they fight together in the future.

Shion was once a fuuinjutsu master and genjutsu specialist, so Sakura learns about those two subjects from her. She knows that Shion could pick apart and destroy her mind, thereby killing her and wearing her body. Of course, she doesn't because Shion actually likes her and is fine with the fact that she's basically tagging along for another's ride of life.

Still, as part of Sakura's lessons, Shion is able to mess with her mind. The bird that chirps could be a lie, like the scent in the wind or the length of the grass. They're small things, but she has to actively look for them so subtlety is required. It's to help improve her spatial awareness among other things. Then, when she sleeps…

Shion shows her the ugly truth of the ninja career. She was capable of cruelty, and Shion doesn't apologise with sincerity for the actions that have sullied her hands. Sakura doesn't judge her, nor does she damn her for previous sins. They understand one another.

Sakura learns to understand the human mind in ways are unnerving and invasive. Shion makes her learn of her own fears, and she subjects her to them. Sometimes, she wonders why Shion wasn't more renowned in her lifetime.

"It's harder to trap them though, as all summons have a natural resistance to genjutsu…" Kakashi continues, glancing at Sai who's practising his Chouju Giga technique at her side. This is their break time before training resumes.

"I suppose it's easier to just hit them hard enough, so they pop out of existence." she comments, marvelling over the fact that Pakkun's hair is as soft as it is. Pakkun gives an adorable howl of pleasure as she scratches behind his ear, curling further into her. "But with summons with acute senses of smell, I'd assume the chances of success are higher."

Kakashi considers, then nods. His sharp nose means the strength of the scent is stronger. "The Inuzuka are especially susceptible…" then he looks off into the distance, contemplating.

"The specified amount of time has passed." Sai announces, moving to stand. She follows, cracking her back by stretching it. Pakkun from her arms to the ground and by his summoner.

"Run." Kakashi orders with little inflection, but they listen anyway.

Sakura doesn't mean to, but she takes advantage of her opponent's weakness by grabbing their face. Their vision isn't blocked, but her split-second intention is to slam them down into the ground, and she does so with much more force than she intends.

She realises her mistake the moment Iruka yells for her to step back, Hyuuga Hinata's body lying limp on the dirty ground. Iruka does the wrong thing by picking up the girl up, as she's likely caused a concussion, but he's gone before she can advise him. All that's left is a dumbfounded class that surrounds her and stares.

"Why'd you have to do that?!" a voice three pitches too high demands, grabbing her attention. She turns, meeting sky irises with blending pupils. "Hinata-chan didn't deserve that!"

Yamanaka Ino is a popular girl, but she has a strange fascination with Sasuke that Sakura can't relate to. Sasuke's cute, but… well, his personality is a self-explanatory reason as to why a relationship shouldn't be pursued. It makes her question whether the Yamanaka heiress is mentally unstable.

"I saw an opening," Sakura answers, examining the other girl, "and I took it. I miscalculated the appropriate force, however."

It's a shame that she's not particularly regretful. The Hyuuga heiress seems to have some kind of grudge against her for being closely associated with Naruto, whom seems to be a point of unrequited affection. Perhaps if the girl just talked to the blonde, things would progress.

The outrage of her class is turned into white noise as she approaches the trio of boys whom she has to consider friends. Naruto gives her a thoughtful look, if nothing else before congratulating her on her win and managing to scrounge them some free time. That makes her wonder if he cares about Hinata as another human being.

Sasuke stares. She pokes him in the forehead, with enough force to make him frown and step back. He proceeds to stare at her hand with enough intensity to make her fingers tingle.

"Shall we go get dango, Sakura-neesama?" Sai suggests, shutting his sketchbook to look to her for permission. "I heard they have a new type for sale."

"Yeah, let's go." Sakura replies, before turning her attention the Nara and Akimichi pair approaching her.

Her and her group remain in silence until the said pair stand before them, the Nara's eyes heavy-lidded and his shoulders slouched. "You skipping again?" he drawls in question, looking to her rather than anyone else. His eyes reveal the calculative nature of his clan, and the rest of his body reveals the lazy one.

"You want to join?" she guesses with a tilt of her head. When he nods in confirmation, she shrugs. "Alright."

The inclusion of Shikamaru and Chouji allows Naruto more room for conversation, as Sasuke and Sai aren't particularly great conversation partners for his casual talk. She and Sai have their own way of communication, which works just fine for them even if it discomforts others. She's tried to establish a relationship with Sasuke by seeing points of him that he likes, but it's incredibly difficult to not just say he's pretty and leave it at that.

His way of building their bond is by touching, which reminds her too much of his brother even if the tone of their touch is different. Sasuke's doesn't feel like he's trying mentally going through the motions of taking her apart and finding her core so he can steal it. The way Itachi makes her feel is something she's become intimate with from her genjutsu-laced dreams, and it's nothing pleasant. She's adjusting, though slowly.

It's still disconcerting, Sasuke's existence, because there's a degree of warped affection she's not ready to deal with. Ever. Especially when he once whispered to her that they're going to build a new legacy of the Uchiha together one day, which just sounds incredibly ominous.

In fact, because of the Uchiha problem, Shion taught her how to indefinitely keep her chakra signature concealed in case any other familiar faces visited to see what's up. Since Sakura is still young and their chakra hasn't completely mixed together to create a new signature, Shion's is the most prominent chakra and therefore recognisable to former associates.

Orochimaru is seen around Konoha sometimes, and though he's not a sensor, if they're ever in close proximity… Shion had a fairly positive relationship with the Snake Sannin, which happens to be bad because Orochimaru might want to experiment to see if he can get Shion back permanently. Sakura knows that it would end in her death if that were to ever happen.

Sometimes, she wonders what things would have been like if Shion wasn't with her. Would she be better off… or worse? After all, Shion's existence is a large mix of good and bad. Sakura decides not to think about it too much. There's no need for a 'what if' in regards to Shion.

" ̶ gets lost in her own thoughts, sometimes. Everything becomes white noise to her, but one way to get her back is to just stare at her. Sasuke here does it too much, like a creep, but sometimes I like to stare instead. She's the prettiest girl I've ever seen." Naruto's voice becomes more distinctive, and she thinks she's not supposed to hear what he's just said. However, he's already been straightforward about how he feels towards her appearance.

"Definitely never met a girl like her, that's for sure…" Shikamaru drawls, rubbing the back of his neck. He turns to find her gaze on him, which turns into a moment of thought before he directs her a smirk in acknowledgement before returning his attention ahead.

Sakura feels a strange sensation in her chest, and it's immediately rather bothersome. She's not sure what it is, but Shion seems to know when she laughs. Shion however, refuses to divulge her knowledge.

"Still a girl, even if you're a little different than the rest." she chuckles, like an amused elder sister. A mildly sadistic elder sister. "You've still got to figure some things out for yourself, jelly bean."

Chapter Word Count: 2,293

Total Word Count: 11,991

Targeted Word Count: 1,667

A/N: Just realised that this is basically a chapter dedicated to Sakura's Academy class and that it's really weird. I had an original intention to put Sasuke and Sakura together in a skewed relationship because I low-key hate how canon attempts to make their relationship all sweet and cute in the end, when it's fucked up and it should be acknowledged. But whatever, so far that's changed since the story has a mind of its own and I like where it's taking me so far.

Reviews are love. Reviews are life. It's never ogre.