Sakura stared at the Uchiha.

The Uchiha stared at Sakura.

"This… is a lot." The Uchiha said. "I thought you were in Communications?"

"I dabble in everything, actually." Sakura said. "I'm technically in Efficiency right now, but I regularly work for all Research branches."

The basement of the Police Headquarters was just on the edge of musty, and she resisted the urge to clear her throat; it wouldn't help.

"This tactic to test blood… it requires minimum chakra usage?"

"Yes." Sakura said. "And it means you do not have to enlist the help of sensors every time you want to compare samples. It's a sort of watered-down version of the Uzu seal. I want it to eventually be able to tell you what was in the person's system and who they were, but we are not quite to prototype testing yet."

The Uchiha grunted. She knew that that was what they'd focus on—with the Uchiha-Hyuuga relations, and the current reliance of the Uchiha police on the Hyuuga for chakra identification, a new tool would be very helpful indeed.

"And what do you want from us?"

"It's quite simple, actually—if you look at the fourth scroll, you'll see my insights on the importance of diversity in a law enforcing institution."

"You want us to hire more Yamanaka."

"I want you to hire more everyone—more from other clans, and more from civilians too."

"The Police were given to the Uchiha at the founding of this village."

"The running of the Police was. And there is no reason that would have to change."

Another grunt. "I will run it by my boss." The Uchiha said. "We will send a message to coordinate a meeting later."

A few customary goodbyes later, Sakura was back outside.

She hoped she was doing the right thing.

She hoped all of her plans worked out, actually, and now it was time to tackle another.

"Sakura!"

"Hey, Doi!" Sakura said. The man… well, he didn't look good, but he didn't look as bad as he initially had after his niece had been kidnapped either. An unhappy medium, she supposed.

Nara Taro's head popped up, went to say hi, then realized it was full of rice. He waved instead.

"Hi Taro. Lunch break?"

"Yes." Doi said. "I'll have to get back to work soon, though. I've finally gotten the first set of prototypes for the artificial bladder that Taro's helping me with, and it takes a lot of work to approve any medical device."

"I remember." Sakura said. "Unfortunately, what I need your help for is a bit more difficult. In a manner of speaking, anyway."

"That doesn't sound ominous at all." Taro mocked. Then he leaned forward. "What is it?"

Sakura leaned forward. "Okay, so you and I both know that one of the largest handicaps to current medical research is the lack of Uzumaki false bodies. I want to recreate them."

"Oh, just that? Certainly not like we've spent months trying for that already."

"Couldn't we just search Uzu? See if we can find some sign of the false bodies there?" Both Doi and Sakura stared at Taro. "What?"

"If it was as simple as that, wouldn't you think we'd have done it already?" Doi said.

"Oh."

"Anyway, I know we've tried. A lot. Um, but I have an idea."

"An idea."

"Yeah." Sakura swallowed. She needed this to work—needed Orochimaru's theoretical experimentations to never have a reason to occur (her memories, vague as they were, still painted a horrifying picture)—but there was a reason that it hadn't yet. That it didn't even happen in her memories of the future. Still, she did have an idea…

"Um, so, the Hokage is very against actual human testing that may lead to death."

"Yes."

"But what about shadow clones?"

"Shadow clones. Do you know how much chakra those take? And how they burst at the slightest injury?"

"Yes, I do. But I also think that starting from that angle, or at least the angle of one of the other clones, might be more effective than continuing to try to replicate Uzu's work directly."

"So what do you want from me?"

Sakura gritted her teeth. "This is the part that's unpleasant. Um, so you know… you know, um, Tsunade. And what happened."

"Yes." Doi's face dropped, went blank.

"Which means… you have leverage. Against the Hokage."

"Which is necessary because…?"

"Because we're at war. And, as you say, shadow clones are so chakra intensive that only the very powerful can help, and… we're at war."

"A matter of the distribution of resources."

"Exactly."

"And you want to… you want to employ my emotional torture to extrapolate the necessary resources?"

"…Yes."

Taro winced.

Doi's face was still as expressionless as any Mitokado.

Sakura waited.

"Alright."

"Really?!"

"Yes. The false body replication has gotten nowhere, we are in desperate need for any substitute, and for all that it's not possible now I can see how a derivative of Shadow Clones could absolutely be used as a false body substitute if properly done."

Sakura threw herself at Doi.

After making plans and booking an appointment with the Hokage in some number of days (the Hokage's office was notoriously vague about when appointments would actually occur and even whether they would be kept) Sakura went off to her next task.

"Hey Inoich—wow that's a lot of paperwork."

Inoichi gave Sakura a wry look, standing up to welcome her as one of the paper piles began to slip onto the floor. His hand reached up to still it without so much as a glance. "How would you feel about trading places? Lots of benefits to being clan heir."

"Lots of responsibilities, too. I'll keep the ones I actually chose, thank you."

"Inoichi grinned, then leaned over to clear one of the chairs. "It's not usually this bad, I promise. Shika brought a whole bunch of this stuff yesterday without the slightest explanation and I haven't had time to sort it into storage seals yet."

Sakura's eyes had already moved past the papers and towards what Inoichi had been working on at his desk.

"Planning on leaving soon?"

Inoichi sighed. "Don't tell your sister—I'm planning on taking her out to dinner to break the news tomorrow."

"I thought heirs were exempt from mandatory frontline combat?"

"We are, but Namikaze Minato—you know him?—asked us to act as a sort of shock force, so to speak, to leave an impression. That's also a secret, by the way, S-rank, so… don't tell anyone."

Sakura mimed clamping her lips.

"So what is it you wanted help with?"

"Oh, right." Inoichi turned, stared at the papers, then sighed. "Well, I did have the notes I wanted to give you set out, but… give me a second."

Sakura nodded, leaning over the nearest pile to examine it as Inoichi commenced his search. It looked to be an examination of causes of death over the past decade.

"A-ha!"

"That looks large."

"Well, I've mentioned I want to reform education? Make it more… more?"

"Yes."

"One of my ideas is that we introduce fuinjutsu."

"You didn't take fuinjutsu, did you? Because, you know, it was a course. I took it."

"I know that. I just don't think it should be entirely voluntary. Everyone should at least be able to learn the basics. And this is a summary compiled fourteen years ago by one of the Yamanaka archivists of all the things fuinjutsu can do. Could you, um, you know—"

"Rank them by difficulty?"

"Exactly!"

"I've never been very good at fuinjutsu, you know."

"You're a researcher."

"Doesn't mean I'm good at fuinjutsu." Sakura grabbed the scroll, unrolled it. "Yeah, I can do this. Might have to ask around to get an idea for the more advanced skills—and many of these were exclusive to the Uzu—but sure. Can you do a favor for me?"

"Yep. What?"

"Heir Nara is working on healthcare reform, right? Well, Researcher Doi and I have set up a meeting about that topic with the Hokage. Would you mind having him contact Doi or I? See if he'd be willing to participate too?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll talk to him tonight."

"Thanks. And don't put off telling my sister too long. I'm going to be pissed if you leave her heartbroken. I know you, and you better not just try to avoid what needs to be said in person for your own comfort."

Inoichi flushed. "Noted."

After spending the rest of the workday alternately working through Inoichi's list and assisting another Researcher with the upgrade he'd suggested on the telephone line—it would, theoretically, allow multiple calls to occur simultaneously when complete—Sakura made her way to the last set task of the day.

The parent-teacher conference.

Ibiki, nearly five now, had officially completed one semester year of schooling—which meant it was time.

Juro met up with her just before the school's entrance.

"Do you remember your mother ever talking about these?"

"Only to say she was going to one. She never talked about anything discussed inside. Yours?"

"Nada. I didn't even know they existed until I was like seven when I overheard some other kids talking about it."

"We should have come better prepared."

"Too late now."

They entered.

Ibiki's classroom was full. Not every parent came—not every parent could come—and Sakura was sure that when there wasn't a war the room was even more crowded, but it was still a room meant for children that was instead holding many, many adults.

(Sakura and Juro were, noticeably, the youngest there. They ignored the stares from some of the more out-of-the-loop civilians.)

"Hello, my name is Sensei Sizuki, and I have been most of your children's teacher for the past year. As you see, each table has a folder with the name of a student on it. Please pick up the folder correlating to you."

Sakura and Juro picked up the folder.

"Inside you will find an analysis of your children so far. There are four possible rankings: exceptional, acceptable, needs improvement, failing. Please peruse. If you have any questions about any category I would be happy to explain."

Juro opened the folder. The first section—which covered actual skills—was fairly brief and they bypassed it quickly—despite being one of the youngest in his class he was ranked exceptional on each one, though there was a warning to expect grades to drop as the teacher began focusing less and less on catching those students who hadn't been previously trained up and started focusing more on the skills themselves.

Then came the 'vaguer' sections.

In Work Habits Ibiki did fine in everything but listening, where he earned a Needs Improvement.

In Attitude his scores were even worse—Needs Improvement for teamwork and accepting personal responsibility, and Failing for self-control, courteousness, and respect.

"Alright, I will now be calling each child one by one. When you hear your child's name being called you may join me in the hall if you wish to discuss things further or leave immediately. Sarutobi Asuma."

The Hokage's wife stood and exited with the man.

Juro and Sakura waited.

Many of the other parents were talking—alternately proud and frustrated tones combating in the small space despite each individual keeping their voice hushed.

Juro and Sakura… well, the scores hadn't been a surprise.

Between each name the Sensei spent exactly two minutes in the hall. With about fifty students to get through…

They waited forty-six minutes exactly—Sakura, for lack of much else to do, kept track—and then went into the hall.

"Ibiki is fundamentally a good child," The Sensei started. "He works hard, and has never intentionally tried to bully another student—which is quite exceptional, given the behavioral problems he entered with. But he is incredibly stubborn, refuses to compromise, and regularly displays signs of not working well with others, though I will admit he is putting in the effort to at least try to get along with his peers."

Juro and Sakura nodded.

"I will continue working to improve that in the classroom, as I am sure you will continue to do the same at home, but now is the time to start steering him towards careers which do not rely as much on being personable. Some months back we brought in a series of guest speakers, and Ibiki showed the most interest in the police force, medicine, diplomacy, research, and T&I. Given all but the last two require at least some people skills, I'd start steering him towards the latter as soon as possible; his skills are unlikely to improve sufficiently in time to apprentice at any of the former."

Juro and Sakura nodded.

"Any other questions?"

Juro and Sakura shook their heads. It was like being back in school, really—being told what to do, told how to behave, by a Sensei who always seemed older than they actually were.

"Alright, see you next year."

Juro and Sakura left.

"Pretty diverse set of interests."

"The Research, Diplomacy, and Medicine interests he clearly got from us. T&I is pretty endemic in the Yamanaka, and he spends most of his time at my clan. I wonder where the police force came from, though."

Juro shrugged. "No one really pushed any of us towards our interests, except Diplomacy—you and I just chose what we wanted and stuck with it no matter what."

"True."

"Any idea how we're supposed to push him to Research and T&I?"

Sakura shrugged. "I'm just going to ignore it. If he wants to join the force, or join Shin or you in your careers—let him. He's smart enough to know that that means people skills, and smart enough to decide whether or not it's worth it for him to pursue because of that."

"True."

And then it was dinnertime.

Sakura's eyes hurt by the time she actually made it to bed—Ibiki had wanted to practice his kata after dinner, and she'd wanted to spend time with him—but she knew that sleep would make little difference. She had an equally busy schedule the next day, and the next, and the next, and so on. Making sweeping changes to the world, as it took out, took a substantial amount of time and effort.

Who knew?

.

The Hokage stared down the three of them.

They stared back.

Doi and Shika towered on either side of Sakura, trusting in the power of their emotional blackmail and position of clan heir to back up the hard facts they'd just covered and summarized in the scroll now in the Hokage's hands. Sakura tried to do the same, relying on her own history of inventions to carry her idea to the finish line.

"Well, you certainly came well prepared."

"Yes, Hokage."

"And you certainly haven't hesitated to use all tools at your disposal."

"No, Hokage."

The Hokage sighed, then smiled. "Alright, here's what you're going to do. Nara Shika, you will be headed to the front as planned. As long as you and your team continue to perform well, I will hold back at least one ninja—in addition to myself—who can reliably perform the shadow clone and other clones to attempt to create a less chakra intensive and more effective medical jutsu. In addition, I expect you, Kato Doi, to stop reporting your niece missing to the Police every day, and head up this effort. Yamanaka Sakura, we have been reliably informed that Kumo has put in place a series of transportation improvements to better supply their front lines. You will be infiltrating the enemy in order to observe and replicate these improvements for Konoha. Understood?"

All three hesitated, the weight of his orders weighing on them.

While Shika wasn't being required to do any more than what he had already planned, that didn't make his task easy, and now he had the added pressure of knowing that any hiccoughs in his role would lead to the project being, at the very least, put on pause.

Doi's daily trips to report Shizune missing was his ritual rebellion against the man who refused to retrieve the girl and her kidnapper; giving it up would mean he would have to find a different outlet for his justifiable rage, not an easy thing to do.

And Sakura…

Well, infiltrating a country one was currently at war with was considered, hands down, one of the deadliest tasks a ninja could undertake, and that was even without the rumored chakra detection technology which Kumo might or might not have.

One by one, each answered.

"Yes, Hokage."

"Yes, Hokage."

"Yes, Hokage."

It was, Sakura reminded herself, for a better world.

She just had to make sure she survived long enough to see it.