AN: Hey y'all, Cinnabunnbunn here.

So, I'm not dead, yeah I know, shocking. SO I've been on a bit of a time crunch lately going back and forth between this chapter and the next chapter of Roses of Gold. But I hit a wall midway through that chapter, so this one goes first. I haven't updated that one in a while.

Another thing is that I'm kind of stuck with this one, specifically about the amount of chapters. A few chaps ago, I said how the story kept on getting longer and how there are now like 30 different plotlines and 7 new characters, and I don't want to abandon any of those sideplots but I also don't want it to drag. So I've been trying to fit all the events in 20 to 25 chapters because anything over just feels unnecessarily draggy.

So I've been trying to space out the events so that all of them are getting equal importance but it doesn't feel needlessly long. I don't know why I'm ranting about this but I just wanted to let y'all know how the process of writing this fic has been going.

Anyway, onto the chap-

The night sky outside was dark and angry, and it reflected how Tsunade was feeling right now.

"Are you actually serious or is this some kind of sick joke?" Tsunade ground out with her face twisted in a scowl as she looked over the letter she has just received from her messenger. The words weren't legible, and they weren't supposed to be to anyone but her.

"What happened m'lady?" Shizune peeked from around the bookshelf she was dusting off. Tsunade read the letter once, then read it again before she angrily threw it away in the nearby lamp, letting it get reduced to ashes at the bottom.

"The princes have started working separately to divide their own army for the civil war." Tsunade muttered under her breath, one hand reaching for the bottle of sake on the other side of the table. She is not drunk enough to deal with this kind of nonsense. "One thinks that the other hasn't started their preparation yet and they're both weakening the military this way. Danzo wants to limit rations to the quarters under his management to recruit more men in the army of the princes."

"But he didn't take your permission for that."

"The three quarters under him are wholly made of poor economic families. They rarely ever rebel against power." Tsunade leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes when she felt the faint throb behind her temple. "If he offers them extra rations for their names in the military, they will hardly refute him."

Danzo has always been a slinky bastard and only the pressure from the other council members kept him in her court. If it was up to her, he would've 'accidentally' jumped off a bridge a long time ago. She has tolerated him since he was not making too much of a fuss in the court, but now, he was just unbearable.

"What do you want to do now then?" Shizune closed the drawer of the shelf shut, leaning against it as she watched the queen lull back in her seat. "He seems dangerous to be left alone anymore."

"He is." Tsunade straightens up, opening the drawer behind her and pulling out a piece of parchment, much thinner and flatter than the normal kind. "Isn't there an old men's gossip party coming around for Danzo to attend?"

"A congregation of the fire nation's older council member, yes there is." Shizune giggled a little at Tsunade's naming for the congregation.

"The same thing." Tsunade dipped her brush in the ebony ink, slanting and curving them in the same barely legible characters as of the letter that came to her. Shizune saw what the blonde was doing and opened the panes of the window, letting the night breeze blow in.

When the ink had dried, she rolled it up until it could fit under one finger and dug in her table's drawer again. Her hands searched inside until she felt the cold smoothness of metal and pulled it out, resting the small object on her lips.

And with a long blow of breath through her lips, the whistle rang high and clear, unheard by any human but the sharp gust of wind that shot through the open window answered her call.

The cry the resounded in the room was sharp and shrill Tsunade felt her lips tug in a slight smile as the talons gripped the sleeves of her outstretched arms. "Hello there Kaito." She rubbed a finger on the soft feathers of the kite as it tutted its beak in pleasure.

She hooked the rolled parchment under the bird's neck feathers, concealed away from immediate vision. "Take it to Tiger, will you." With another cry the bird took off again, ready to take her orders to the designated soldier.

"What are you planning on doing m'lady?" Shizune asked as she pulled the panes shut letting only the moonlight stream inside.

Tsunade shrugged off her haori, resting it beside the sake bottle before she cast a glance toward one particular drawer on the shelf. Every drawer on the wall shelf had a lock but that was the only one that was actually locked.

"Well, someone needs to get rid of the pests."

Sakura felt her eyebrow twitching as she reread the letter clutched in her hand. 'You've got to be kidding me…'

She received a letter from her queen the day after the banquet, asking her how the banquet went, asking for her latest report and telling her to get checked up. That she cannot do.

I don't care what you have to say about that. I've already informed his majesty to appoint a court physician to check up on you because I know you will not heed to my words. I better be hearing of you taking medications.

Sakura grumbled under her breath before shoving the letter inside the box where she kept all her reports. The blonde has been nagging her for quite a while to get checked up by another doctor for her… situations. Because even though Sakura is a competent medic all on her own, there are fields that she does not excel in treating, especially her own. The mental stability being one of them.

She's not crazy, she knows that, but Tsunade just refuses to listen to her.

A long sigh went out of her as she slung her satchel around her shoulder and stood her from her seat on the engawa, shutting the door behind her and walking into the courtyard. She checked for the reports and notes in her satchel again and hummed when she found them intact. She will get the king to meet her today, it cannot wait anymore.

It yet wasn't the time for the king to start his court session so she instead rerouted her feet toward the second set of stairs that led to the highest floor where his private office was located.

She rapped her knuckles against the door, waiting a beat before the gruff voice from inside told her to enter. She slid the door open and then shut it behind her. "Greetings, your majesty." She bowed to her waist before straightening up again.

Fugaku glanced up at her before looking back down at the scroll he was reading. "Sit down." Sakura sat down a respectable couple feet away from the chabudai. After a while of silence, Fugaku finally put away the scroll and folded his arms on the table. "I would've preferred if your checked with my schedule before barging in mere minutes after the sun is up."

Sakura tried to look apologetic as she dug inside her satchel. "Forgive me for my behavior, your majesty, but this really could not wait anymore."

Fugaku minutely raised an eyebrow before giving a nod to her. Sakura walked up to his table to put down the scroll before taking her previous seat. He opened the scroll, eyes flitting across the words and she could see his eyes expression changing as the words registered in his mind.

"Are you sure?" His voice was both measured and grave when he spoke again, rereading the paper before looking expectantly at Sakura. She nodded, "Yes, your majesty."

"When?"

"Almost a week ago."

"Why didn't you inform me as soon as you found the vial?"

"I wasn't sure." Sakura took out the notes from her satchel, looking through the pages to find the papers with the written summary and result. "I wanted to be sure of what was in it before I gave you the report. It wouldn't have been great to start another mass hysteria if it turned out to just be one of the children's games."

"And now you're sure?"

Sakura handed her experiment noted to the king, letting him look through the conclusion report since she doubted he would understand what she wrote in her notes other than that section. It takes at least a week to do the necessary tests and get accurate results.

"Yes."

Fugaku read over the conclusive again before handing her the notes back, keeping the report scroll on himself. He looked down at the scroll in thought, hand playing with the fan he kept tucked in his sleeves. "I'll look into it." he spoke up after a while, "You can keep up your work… whatever it is you're doing around the kingdom."

Sakura took his dismissal of her, bowing once again before pocketing the notes in her satchel and walking out of the office.

"And Haruno."

Sakura paused with her hand on the door, turning back around to face the king. "Yes, your majesty?"

Fugaku was once again sifting through the paper of all the reports and his eyes stayed down, but his words were for her to listen and heed. "I received a letter from your queen about your… situations. I've appointed the junior mental physician from my court to help you with that." He glanced at her while still keeping his face toward his papers, "Visit him when you have the time."

Sakura knows she should be grateful for his help, but she felt humiliated. Other people didn't need to know about her sleepless night and demons of her dreams. She swallowed down her incoming snarl of humiliation and bowed once again at the man.

"I'm eternally grateful, your majesty." Before shutting the door finally.

She huffed out a long breath, relieved that another task is done before taking off again down the corridor toward the courtyard. She was a little tired from the banquet still and what better way to relax than destroy her body in training until she was too tired to move and then proceed to pass out on the grass.

How fun.

But before that, she'll need to visit the nearby lakes again to collect all the samples again. If someone was contamination Lake Karasu, she would not put her money on rest of them being safe.

As she turned the corner of the corridor to go down the stairs, she almost tumbled down to the ground when her body slammed into something, or someone.

"Oof!" She grunted when her balance tilted and the air was knocked out of her. Whatever collided with her was incoming at a pretty fast rate with how much it made her stagger, but thankfully, she managed to blindly grasp at the nearby pillar before she could topple to the ground.

"Ow…" She hissed under her breath, rubbing a hand to her head where she butted first. She slowly opened her eyes, seeing the person she collided with also in a hunched position, but rubbing his chest instead of his head. Sensing her, he turned around and Sakura was first met with a shock of silver hair.

Strangely, she couldn't see his face with all the black wrapping his had nose down.

The strange man straightened up but she was sure she saw him wince a little in the process. He might be smiling, she wasn't sure but his eyes creased into crescents so he must be.

"Ah, I'm sorry Miss. I didn't see you coming."

Sakura blinked out of her observation of the man, bowing shallowly in return. "I'm sorry as well. I should've been paying more attention to my path."

The man 'smiled' again and continued his path by going around her. Sakura too continued down the hallway but took a moment to throw a glance over her shoulder to the stranger. He was even dressed weird; black training pants, a dark fitted shirt without sleeves and a long scarf that wrapped around his neck draped down his chest. His gloves too went past his elbow.

He was not dressed like the palace guards, or the knights, or even civilians. But she definitely has seen attire like this.

But where?

Sakura shook her head when she realized she was spacing out, resuming her walk outside. The day was bright and chirpy and Sakura groaned when the sun stung her eyes. Sunny days were good, but not her favorite. She liked the downcast days that looked like the calm before the storm. Gray skies, windy air and empty roads that promised a shower later. She loved it.

But right now the sun was making her scrunch her nose and shield her face from its warm rays. She was already overheating under all her layers of shirts and haori, she did not need more warmth.

Just as she was walking toward the regular stable path, a call from a voice she hasn't heard in a while made her pause in her steps.

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura felt her lips pulling into a smile even before she turned around to face the caller. But when she did, she saw the familiar round cheeks and happy dark eyes.

"Tobi-chan." She greeted the little prince as he threw his arms around her waist, his face only able to reach up to her abdomen. "Hello, good morning."

"Good morning!" Tobi laughed loudly, jumping up and down with his arms still wound around her midsection. He smiled wide with his teeth, eyes shining sunnily. "You're still here! I thought you left, I was looking for you everywhere!"

"I'm sorry I didn't check up on you again." She chuckled under her breath, ruffling his fluffy hair but didn't push him away. She should've gone to check on the little boy again but she had been so busy tirelessly working around the town and with her own research that it totally slipped her mind. Tobi ceased his jumping but his excited vibrations didn't die down.

"I didn't see you for so long." Tobi pouted apologetically, his wide eyes shining "I just had to meet my friends and my tutors were making me do so much studying. I wanted to come meet you but you were always busy and I just couldn't-"

"Okay okay okay." Sakura shushed the boy, sensing his incoming apologetic, or maybe complaining, rambling. She smiled down at him, patting his puffed cheeks softly. "I'm sorry I didn't come to meet you. I was very busy."

When he kept looking at her with wide eyes, she canted her head a little to the side. "I'm going to the town, I have so much work to do." She said apologetically, preparing to leave despite his pouting and whining when the prince suddenly perked up, mouth stretching into a wide grin.

"Can I come with you?!"

Sakura blinked in surprise before thinking over his question. Is it safe for him? Will he be alright with her? He had slipped out on his own many times, from what he had told her, so he should be okay just wandering around the town with her.

"Okay." Sakura smiled again as Tobi threw his hands up, cheering loudly. "But-" she held him down for him to listen, "But I want you to stay close to me and not wander off on your own. Okay? Do you understand?"

Tobi nodded seriously, like a soldier taking orders. "Hm hm I understand." Sakura nodded at him, giving a soft pat on his head.

"Let's go."

Tobi hopped along with her, skipping merrily to keep up with her longer strides. Tobi continued his long summary of what he did the past weeks they didn't see each other, from playing with his friends who he wasn't able to meet when he was sick, to chasing down a cat and scaring off a squirrel that somehow managed to steal all the nuts they were collecting for their birdfeeder.

Soon they were at the stable and the page boy that handled the stable was already darting inside to fetch Kouro at the first sight of the pinkette. By the time Sakura reached the white fence, Kouro was already getting saddled. Sakura stopped the boy with a shake of her head when he was putting on her regular saddle.

"Put the bigger one. We'll need space for two."

He put away the smaller saddle, pulling out the bigger one instead and settling it on Kouro. Sakura nodded at him, tossing a silver coin toward him before she was leading Kouro out toward the gate with his reins. "You should hop on first." Sakura motioned toward the saddle, bending down on one knee to help Tobi get up to the seat.

"No." Tobi shook his head vehemently, folding his small arms over his chest and puffing it out. "A prince should be helping the lady first."

"Oh." Sakura raised an eyebrow while still kneeled down. At that position, Tobi was about at her eye-level. "Is that so?"

"Uh huh." Tobi nodded sagely, holding up a finger and keeping his eyes closed as if he was some great prophet bestowing his unformidable knowledge to the masses. "A true man always helps his lady onto the horse first before he gets on."

Sakura hummed thoughtfully. "But this lady needs to lead the horse out. The prince must get on first."

"Nuh uh."

"Uh huh."

"I'm not getting up before you." Tobi stood defiantly, nose turned away from her and arms crossed. "I'm a true prince, and I will not go before-"

Before he could finish his justifications, Sakura picked him up from under his arms, lifting him up much like a stuffed toy and settling him down on the saddle.

"Sakura-chan!" He cried indignantly, clutching onto Kouro's mane in urgency when he felt himself sway from disbalance before steadying himself. "How could you?!" His eyes shone with absolute betrayal, lips set in a deep pout.

Sakura smiled at him apologetically, grabbing the reins of Kouro to lead him outside. "I'm sorry Tobi-chan, but we need to leave."

Tobi stubbornly continued his wriggling, trying to get off of Kouro before a strong neigh from the horse made him cease his struggle and sit still until Sakura was out of the compound gates with the horse.

She took the usual route toward the town, passing along by the full green trees and summer flowers. It was summer high time when the nights were hot and the days hotter, and she always hated these times back home. But since Kuroshima is nestled perfectly between mountains away from the tropic altitudes, it's perfectly delightful in the summers.

But still, while the days were going better than they did by the seaside, she still hated the sun. She has started wearing her lighter cotton shirts and training pants and just ditching her cloak altogether, even for longer travels. But she still wore her haori to keep some semblance of modesty. The light cotton shirts exposed more and without the haori would surely award her some stares.

She tugged on the light cream haori and her light red yukata shirt underneath it, tying the waistbelt a bit more securely. She could hear Tobi humming a merry song from his place on Kouro's back and when they were past the incline that led to the compound and onto the plane muddy road, Sakura mounted onto Kouro too, keeping Tobi in front of her and bracketed in her arms securely as she held the reins.

Tobi kept swinging his feet childishly, sometimes pointing various things out to Sakura if he saw something that caught his attention. A butterfly, a pretty flower, a gray squirrel. Kouro trotted leisurely along the muddy path, in no real hurry to get anywhere and after a half an hour slow ride, they could see the bustle of the kingdom.

"Wow…" Tobi hung his mouth open in wonder and Sakura could see him pointedly looking at something. When she followed his line of vision, she saw one of the various stalls but lined with glass like candy sticks instead of jewels and produce. She looked at the prince again, finding his attention entirely captured by the enticing sugar rocks.

They were nearing the thick of the crowd and Sakura patted the side of Kouro to signal him to stop. The animal trotted to a halt and Sakura dismounted his back, circling her arms around the prince's midsection to pick him off the horse's back. Tobi let out a delighted squeak as she picked him up like he weighed less than a bag of apples, setting him down carefully on the ground.

"Wait for me, okay?" Sakura told the boy before she went toward one of the trees where an old lady was sitting in its shade with an assortment of crystals and rocks on a mat on the ground. Sakura tied Kouro's reins to the trunk of the trees, holding an apple to his mouth. The animal gobbled it up in less than a minute, neighing in delight and Sakura put down three more apples on the ground near his face for him to chew on while she does her work.

"What are you looking for, child?"

She looked at the woman sitting under the shade with her back against the tree, legs folded under her and face wrinkled. "What are you selling oba-san?" Sakura kneeled down in front of the woman. The woman looked at her with eyes that looked almost closed under her heavy wrinkles and when she spoke, her lips pulled inwards over her missing teeth, voice aged and cracked.

"Would you like some? It could help your fortune."

Sakura wanted to laugh at the thought of a rock helping her fortune but just for laughs, she entertained the idea. "What would you recommend me?"

The woman leaned forward, looking over the assortment of pretty and polished rocks to find the perfect one. Her frail hand hovered over a lot of them before they settled on one of them. Shaky hands picked up a small purple crystal, holding it up to Sakura.

"This will bring you great fortune." The old woman declared with confidence, thin lips pulling in a secretive sort of smile. "Amethyst brings you healing, it brings you wealth, and it brings you love. Soon, you will find the man of your dreams that will sweep you off your feet."

Sakura smiled in amusement, finding the prophecy more funny than hopeful. But regardless, she took the piece of amethyst from between the woman's fingers. The stone felt cold and smooth against her palm and the purple gradient looked really pretty, she'll admit.

"Huh." Sakura hummed in wonder before giving the woman a smile and pocketing the stone in her satchel. "Well thank you, oba-chan. I'll hold your words." She handed over a bronze coin to the woman, really generous for a small crystal but she didn't bother with that.

She walked away back to where she left Tobi and found him standing in front of a lady selling flower, looking through various garlands and bouquets. She was about to go up to him but then paused mid-step, looking to the side to where she saw the stall of spun sugar.

"Oji-san, what are these candies like?" Sakura asked the man shaping a flower shaped sugar strip on a stick. He looked up and pointed to the rock candies that looked that glimmering crystals.

"Red ones taste like rose, the orange ones are honey and lemon. They're really popular with the kids." Sakura could smell that rose flavor from the red candies that looked like garnets and the honey-lemon candies reminded her so much of ambers.

"Weigh two-fifty grams of each please. Put them in separate bags." She'll keep the rose ones for herself.

The man handed her two folded pouches of paper and she kept the red one in her satchel. She handed the vendor his owed amount and walked back toward Tobu who was still watching the woman weave garlands of jasmine with utter fascination. His wide eyes followed the needle as it went through the small flowers and let it slide down the thread to join the other ones.

"Found something interesting?"

Tobi let out a surprised shriek, caught off guard by her sudden presence. "Sakura-chan! You scared me!"

Sakura chuckled under her breath as he stood up. "I've been standing here for a while." He was so engrossed in what was happening that everything else faded to blur. She tilted her head toward the deeper parts of the market, patting Tobi on the shoulders. "Let's go."

Tobi skipped alongside her as they ventured deeper into the marketplace, slowly making their way toward the other side of the market. Tobi swung his small arms back and forth, wide eyes looking from stall to stall in wonder before he found something thrust in front of his face.

Sakura held out the pouch to him, "Here." She didn't say anything else as they were nearing the end of the market and instead of going further, she rerouted them toward the trees that led to the forest. "What's this?" Tobi asked as he clumsily opened the pouch, gasping in delight at the amber colored sugar crystals. "You got me candies!"

"Uhmm." Sakura hummed in conformation, watching him dig in for one such crystal out of her eyes, gleefully sucking on the honeyed and tangy sweetness. She looked back toward her path, hearing the faint chirrups of Herons birds that signaled the presence of the stream being nearby.

Tobi ran up ahead toward the stream that provided water to the majority of the kingdom, if not all. It was wide, the water clear and lined by water hyacinths. Occasional Herons stood on the large floating leaves of the purple flowers.

"Someone needs to clear out those Hyacinths, they spread really fast." Sakura mused to herself, digging inside her satchel for a vial. Tobi was hopping around from flower to slower, chasing the dragonflies that buzzed above them. "Tobi-chan, don't get into the water."

She stepped forward, dipping the vial into the water at the edge and corked it shut, wrapping it inside a handkerchief and putting it back into her satchel. "Tobi-chan, let's go!" She called to the boy running around the river bank, waving him over to go back. He nodded over to her, before darting toward the trees again.

'That boy…' Sakura shook her head with a sigh, waving away a dragonfly that kept flitting in front of her face. We kept her eyes on the prince to make sure he didn't run into trouble as they walked back toward the marketplace. Maybe she should visit the apothecary to check on the progress of the medicines.

The kingdom was pretty much healed and the manpower was slowly getting back to its former glory, but there were still quite some patients that still needed her care. She didn't need to personally care for them or look over the medicine batches anymore but still liked to check up on the apothecaries and town physicians once in a while.

They were back in the marketplace and she signaled Tobi to walk with her to the apothecary. "You can walk around her but don't get too far." She told the boy when she saw him tapping his feet restlessly. He had so much energy in such a little body that it always gives her a whiplash. She has never seen him sitting still since he got better.

Which was a good thing, she supposed. Kids should be active, and active means happy.

Tobi absentmindedly nodded to her before running off to a street performer juggling eight bangles.

The bell above the door rang when Sakura creaked it open and was immediately hit with the smell of brewing tonics. No matter how many tonics she has made, the smell of it cooking is not something she will ever miss. There were two other middle-aged women near the counter chatting away.

"Hello?" Sakura called for the old man that is usually handling the pharmacy. "Sakome-san?"

Scuffling rose from behind the bamboo door off to the side, and a minute later, it creaked open and in walked the owner of the store. "Ah, it's you." He slowly trudged behind the counter, rubbing his shaky hands on a rag. "Here to check up on the medicines?"

Sakura nodded before digging inside her pants pocket for something. "Also," she produced a small paper to the owner, "I'm going to need these things."

He took the paper between his fingers, squinting his eyes to read the words written on the paper. "Basil, liquorice, heart-leaved moonseed, wild ginger… we're out of wild ginger." Sakome-san slowly moved around the various drawers and cabinets to weigh out the things she asked for.

Sakome Ukara was a strange fellow to the general public, always grumpy and never wanting to talk about anything out of business. But Sakura never cared about making small talk with strangers, so they got along perfectly fine. Maybe that's why when he discreetly threw in a bundle of wild turmeric even when it wasn't on the list, she pretended not to notice and he didn't mention anything. She'll only embarrass him by thanking.

"How's the tonic coming along?"

Sakome grunted, tying up the bundle of moonseed into a girth thicker than she asked for. "It's alright. The people are getting better."

Sakura hummed, "You said that your joint balm wasn't doing as well as it used to." Sakura leaned against the counter, looking around the room as new customer came and went by. "I have a balm for joints that I haven't tried on anyone yet. Do you feel like trying?" This was how their regular conversations went, short and seemingly curt but the underlying partnership seemed hidden somewhere in their questions and responses.

There was a silence behind her for a few moments before a short response came from the owner.

"Bring it over the next time."

Sakome went behind the bamboo door to get some of the tonic for her to take back and Sakura took the moment of silence. There was no one else other than the same two women and herself in the room and she couldn't help herself when their voices reached her. If someone is gossiping about someone else, one would assume that they would want to keep their voices down, but the women seemed to not mind their volume levels.

"-I heard that Masashi-san's wife was over at the banquet too!" one of the women exclaimed out, trying and failing to keep the scandalous tone out of her voice. "I heard she was wearing that blue robe that her lover got her."

"The audacity!" Though the other woman said it like it was bad, her voice was gleeful, "Makono-san told me that she was also wearing those earrings that her lover gave her. With her husband right there!"

A giggle rose from the pair and Sakura found herself strangely invested in whatever scorching gossip they were sharing. She has never thought of herself as someone who took part in such juvenile activities, but she couldn't help her curiosity.

"What's more is that someone from the royal family commented on that!"

"What?!"

"Yes, the bastard-prince. Leave it to him to call her out in front of everyone."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the words the lady chose to describe one of the princes. She started speaking again, "-he said 'Lady Tamashi, really beautiful earring you got on. Whoever gifted them has a great eye, so they're definitely from your husband'! He said that in front of everyone!"

They rose in another fit of giggles. "But that boy is sure a trouble, to say that kind of thing in front of everyone. No wonder the king doesn't even want to claim him."

"One of the palace maids said that his majesty tried to have him… removed once. That surely didn't work."

"That boy is wicked. I would not blame his majesty if he decided not to have him be in public. He tarnishes everything he touches, no wonder he killed his mother the moment he was out of the womb."

Sakura's eyebrows creased in a deep frown, something bitter festering in her stomach. How could someone talk about someone like this, with such disdain and bitterness.

The ladies started moving out of the store and Sakura pretended to be busy with looking around as they passed by her and she caught the last few words shared between them before they went out of her earshot.

"-I pity the queen, to have to raise the demon that isn't even your own. His majesty was young, everyone makes mistakes. That boy was better off where he came from."

Sakura stayed leaned against the counter with the frown on her face, her lips straining as she resisted the urge to scowl. She herself might not like that prince, but to talk about someone like they are a curse to the earth is downright evil.

If this is how two random townsfolk talked about the prince, what do the more noble placeholders say about him?

The bamboo door opened again and Sakome walked in again with two small bottles of the tonic. He slipped them in the bag with the other things and silently held it up to her. Sakura slipped him the amount owed and with a slight bow, she walked out of the door she came in.

Tobi was still in front of the street performer. Well, at least he didn't run off anywhere.

Not two minutes after the pink haired doctor had left Fugaku's office, another knock resounded against his door.

He laid down the report he was studying, letting out a sigh before resigning to let the intruder in. "Enter." The door slid open, but the presence that greeted him was not someone he was expecting.

A mop of silver hair bowed in greeting as the man kneeled on one knee a few feet away from the table, one arm to the ground, the other on his thigh. "Greetings, my king."

Fugaku blinked for a moment before clearing his throat, dissolving his surprise at the sudden presence. "Kakashi. You're back."

"Yes, my king." Kakashi sat down with his knees tucked, removing his scarf but keeping his mask on. "I have brought news."

"You better have because you were gone for quite a while." Fugaku put away the reports, folding his arms on the table. "So what is it?"

Kakashi pulled out a report scroll from his belt, passing it on to the king from over the table. "There were three more attacks on the border of Kumogakure and Iwagakure, one more on the border of Kuroshima and Kumogakure, and one attack on the border of Shirokawa and Muroshiki."

"So these attacks aren't just between empires, but also kingdoms." Fugaku wondered out loud as he looked at the stats between the attacks. "Is there any lead to who might be doing this? It seems too… well timed to just be a coincidence."

"No, my king." Kakashi replied, "All the town locals only say that this is from rogue bandits. These attacks are causing another mass hysteria of mysterious attacks. Kumogakure and Iwagakure are especially exposed because of these attacks and their alliances are suffering because of this. The import of salt has been halted indefinitely."

Fugaku pursed his lips, nodding and putting away the scroll. "I'll look at it. Anything else?"

"There is something else, actually." He could hear the smirk in Kakashi's voice even if he couldn't see it. The silver-haired man stood up, but didn't make a move to go out of the room. "I managed to capture one of the rogue bandits that had been wreaking havoc."

Fugaku felt his eyes widen, looking at the man for confirmation. "Are you telling the truth?"

Kakashi slid the door to his study open, motioning for him to come with him. "See for yourself."

They both knew where they were going as they passed by the courtroom and away from the guest rooms somewhere deeper in the hallway where only the armory was present. They passed by the armory before the guard that patrolled the iron doors on the end of the hallway bowed on the sight of the king, heaving the heavy doors open just enough for them to slide in.

The door started a winding set of stairs that only went down deeper underground. The stairs were dangerous enough on their own and only led to a place where not a blink of light reached and only the stench of dust and rot permeated the air.

Fugaku didn't care enough to hold a cloth to his nose and Kakashi led him past all the tight cellars toward one singular room at the end of the dark corridor. Even before he got near it, he could already hear grunting and sounds of painful squelches piercing through the air.

Kakashi opened the other heavy iron door and the room was just as dark as a place would be fifty feet underground, only lit by two torches on the either side of the room. The floor was splattered with blood, old and new, and the stench of dried blood was potent. Fugaku saw Itachi standing on one side of the room, arms crossed and face blank and Shisui standing with a fist drawn over the prisoner shackled to the wall.

Shisui looked back as Fugaku entered the room, taking a few steps back as his eyes on the bloodied knuckles of his nephew. "Did he say anything?" Fugaku asked, keeping his eyes on the man. He looked dirty and pathetic with his arms chained to the wall, face bloodied, could barely open one eyes and his legs pretty much looked broken.

"I didn't let him. Wanted to warm him up before the interrogation."

Fugaku gave Kakashi a nod and the man stepped forward, crouching a few feet in front of the prisoner. "So, you're going to talk?"

The prisoner only gurgled incoherent noises before he was silenced when Shisui drew another punch to his face. He groaned loudly, head lulling to the side. Fugaku only watched with blank eyes as Kakashi grabbed the man by his jaw, not minding how his blood stained his fingers.

"Want to try again?"

No luck this time either, and the same process repeated until Shisui got frustrated and delivered a sharp kick to his face. His head slammed against the wall, ricocheting off the surface from the sheer force, but he still somehow managed to not get knocked out.

This time Itachi made a move to join them too, pulling on some gloves on his hands and taking out a small pouch from his pocket. Kakashi tried again, for the last time.

"Who do you work for?"

This time though, the man whispered out something. With a gesture from Fugaku, Kakashi asked him again.

"What?"

The man still had the gall to glare up at Kakashi from the edge of his vision.

"Go fuck yourself."

It was silent for a moment before Fugaku sighed, giving Itachi a nod. Shisui and Kakashi stepped back as Itachi opened up the pouch, pouring some type of powder on his palm.

"One last chance." Itachi doesn't speak much during any kind of interrogation, but when he does, it's enough to send chills down one's spine. "Who do you work for?"

The prisoner only glared at him before letting a ball of bloody spit out of his mouth, perhaps intending for Itachi's face but only managed to land a few inches away from his foot.

"You chose your fate then."

Shisui grabbed the man by his hair, painfully shoving his face upright before Itachi plastered the powder in his hand right on his nose. The man tried to grunt and scream, tried to wrench his head away from the hand tightly clasped on his nose. And before long, his body settled down, his breath turning erratic dangerously before abruptly calming down.

Fugaku watched the whole process before looking toward his son. "What now?"

Itachi wiped his hand on a rag before throwing it away toward a corner. "We'll check in a few hours later. He either tells the truth, or he dies because of the drug overdosing if he can't handle it."

Fugaku nodded before turning around and walking right out of the room, leaving only the other three men behind. Kakashi looked at the prisoner again, writhing and shaking against the floor with his arms still chained to the wall. "What a bother." He murmured to himself, wiping his bloody fingers on his pants.

Itachi sighed under his breath as he watched Shisui attempting to wipe his sandal on the man's pants. "Oh, by the way," He glanced at Kakashi, giving a slight nod, "Welcome back. You were gone for long."

"Mahh, why thank you Ita-chan." Kakashi smiled with his eyes creased. "It really has been long, but I thought I would stay away for a bit since the illness going around. Thankfully, everything seems okay now."

"Oh, yes. It's the new doctor from Hiraisumi that came here to help us."

Kakashi hummed in stride, "I heard about a help coming from Hiraisumi. She really did a lot if she was able to make everything well in such a short time."

"Oh trust me, she is." Shisui joined the conversation, a grin stretching on his lips. "She's a real help. A bit uptight, but really great."

Itachi sighed at the lecherous grin on his cousin's face. "Shisui, stop it." He truly sometimes felt more like a parent to the older prince than a cousin. "Just because she rejected your advances does not mean you have to be bitter about it."

"She rejected your advances?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the information That's new, someone rejecting the younger prince's blatant flirtations. Most young ladies seemed to enjoy his interest.

"She did, multiple times." Itachi deadpanned.

Shisui groaned under his breath. "She's just shy-"

"She's fed up."

"That's not true." Shisui seemed agitated the more Itachi reiterated his words. He seemed strangely troubled by the thought of the new doctor not wanting his attention. "She'll come around. She's just been working so much and has been under stress. She'll come around."

Kakashi watched the interaction between the two cousins with vague interest. There seems to be some kind of disagreement between the cousins regarding this one woman who always seemed so tight knit. "Huh, I'll try to greet her if I run into her." He might, he might not. Niceties have never been his thing. "I'll go take some rest."

The two cousins watched Kakashi shut the door behind him and Itachi cast Shisui another firm stare. "I mean it, Shisui."

Shisui huffed, folding his arms behind his head. "Whatever." Itachi could see the pout on his face even as he nudged the lain prisoner with his heel. "This uninvited guest really soured my mood today. I'll go and try to do something to make myself happy."

Itachi had an idea what Shisui might do to make himself happy, and those activities do not help his reputation of a petticoat chaser. He only sighed before walking out alongside Shisui, letting the shackled man suffer alone in the rotting cell.

Shisui went off on his own to some clanswoman's room and Itachi wandered away toward the garden. But as he was passing by the courtroom, he saw someone entering the main gates of their compound. What caught his attention was the flash of pink in the corner of his vision.

He looked to side, eyes recognizing the rosy locks twisted in a bun and the light red yukata shirt. Sakura walked with her horse's reins held in her hands, leading the animal towards the stable. What he didn't expect was the small figure squirming on top of the horseback.

Itachi followed their steps with his eyes until they were by the stable. Sakura picked up the small boy from the horse's back, setting him down on the ground with ease. The stable boy came out to receive the horse, and Itachi decided to make his presence known.

"So this is where you were."

Sakura and Tobi both looked back where the voice came from. Sakura didn't say anything until Itachi was close enough but Tobi kept jumping up and down, arms waving above his head.

When Itachi came to a halt a few feet away from the pair, Sakura bowed to her waist. "Good morning, Prince Itachi."

"Greetings, Doctor Sakura." Itachi smiled at his youngest brother, ruffling his hair when he continued jumping around. "Out so early?"

Sakura nodded with a slight smile on her face. "I was out for some work and prince Tobi wanted to accompany me." Tobi nodded fervently in agreement before he picked up a pouch he had tied to his belt, holding it up proudly like a prize.

"Sakura-chan got me candies!"

"Did she now." Itachi chuckled under his breath, giving a glance to the pinkette standing a bit stiffly. Tobi seemed to have found something in the distance to steal his attention and he went running away, leaving only the two of them alone.

There was a bit of a tense silence for a moment before Itachi awkwardly cleared his throat. "How have you been?" He asked doubtfully, almost not sure whether he should even say anything.

"I'm good." She responded with a stiff smile. "How have you been?"

"Well." And that was that as they dissolved into another silence. Should he even say something, or should he just take the leave. He knows Sakura doesn't expect an apology from him and they would probably be okay going forward even if he just ignored the matter altogether. But still, it doesn't feel right.

"Doctor Sakura." He called her again, watching her tilt her head toward him in question. "About… yesterday. I would like to apologize for my cousin."

She gave him a smile, but not a genuine kind of smile but a smile that told him that she knew what he was talking about. "What about your cousin?"

"I'm sorry about my cousin." He said again, hands fidgeting slightly behind his back. "He has been inappropriate towards you. I have tried talking to him and he says he will leave you alone." That was a lie, and Itachi wasn't proud of lying, but if it gives her any sort of comfort, then maybe he won't feel too bad. "He has a tendency of not handling rejection well, but he should know when to put an end to things."

Sakura smiled that same unsettling smile again where the light didn't reach her eyes. "I don't think that is going to happen." A humorless chuckle left her lips, "But regardless, I appreciate your apology, my prince." She gave another shallow bow to him.

Itachi nodded unsurely, "I just wanted to let you know that he didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, he's just… not used to this."

Sakura just silently nodded, as if his words were just going above her head and not in. "Okay."

Itachi nodded awkwardly, this is the second time they've had this kind of conversation and he's never felt so squeamish ever, not even when the noblemen were trying to set him up with their daughter. He could feel annoyed with them, shrug them off, make excuses to get out, but he didn't have the grounds of his innocence to stand on when interacting with the doctor.

"Did your cousin sent you to say this?"

Itachi blinked in surprise. "I'm sorry?"

Sakura pursed her lips slightly but the rest of her face stayed blank. "Did your cousin told you to say this? Did he sent you to apologize on his behalf?"

Should he lie and say yes, or tell the truth and defeat the whole purpose of this conversation. "Yes. Yes, he did." He doesn't know when he stopped being the truthful knight and started making excuses on his kins' behalf.

"Oh okay." Sakura smiled that same smile again, "I probably would've appreciated it more if it came directly from his highness, but thank you for taking the trouble."

Itachi just nodded when he couldn't find what else to say. He has never been great with words if it didn't involve a political arrangement, and apologies were surely not his strong suit. So he just smiled and waved as Sakura passed by him toward the residential unit. But the last words from her made him whip his head back.

"I just hope you would stop making excuses for your brothers, my prince."

Itachi darted his head back to look at the pinkette but all he was the back of her red shirt and unstopping feet. She didn't look back or even gave an indication that she said anything to him.

AN: so yeah, it's done. I know not much happened in his chapter, I know. But take this as the calm before storm. Treasure it.

Anyway, see y'all next chap.

Bye bye!