Sakura was officially nominated as the next Research Head after the turn of the new year.
It was not a popular decision.
It wasn't so much that it was unexpected—Research Head Aburame had made his choice clear for some time—but…
It was more a boiling over of tension, than anything else.
It started, really, with Namikaze Minato's nomination. He was young, he was a no-name, he wasn't someone that any of the Elders or Heads had put up.
And then the Police Department began accepting more non-Uchiha, and the Elders especially began arguing that that 'expanded' the Uchiha's power too much.
And then the Yamanaka began pushing for Academy reforms.
And that, in and of itself, was systemic of a greater trend, one that also included Sakura specifically: people Researching outside of Research.
Sakura, obviously, had her Office 40 group.
The Ino-Shika-Cho Heads had their own too.
The Uchiha Head had gotten very involved with the body clones, while the Aburame were pushing for approval to expand Konoha's official land area and transform more into consistent farmland.
The Akimichi and Mitokado were both deeply involved with the economic regulations, now, having both positive and negative opinions of Sakura's many, many changes.
Research, too, had expanded—become a more popular career choice as the Department's results had become increasingly obvious.
And all of it, the totality of the effect of the new generation coming into power, had culminated in this:
"No."
"This wasn't something your vote was asked for, Danzo."
"There have been too many changes—"
"I am not retiring until the end of the war—" Head Aburame spoke up.
"And who knows when that'll be?! Put an existing Deputy Head into the role; Orochimaru more than deserves it. Why have you not selected him?"
"Orochimaru would not be a good fit for the role—"
Elder Danzo snorted, genuine anger flashing across his face. "These young people will drive our country into the ground. Too much change, too fast—that is a recipe for disaster, and they do not have nearly enough experience to cope. She is a child! What is she? Ten?"
"Eighteen, Elder." Sakura said—her first words since he'd shot up in his seat, standing alone in the room.
It was true that she… didn't quite fit in.
Every other (visible) body in the room was quite elderly, had dozens of years of experience in their roles.
But they'd been young, so young, when they'd gotten those positions.
It was clear that Danzo had forgotten that.
Or just didn't care.
The Hokage had a different view.
"Do you remember how young you were when you were first charged with running a Department? Sixteen, Danzo. Sixteen. She is eighteen, and—unlike you—has had training in specifically being the Head of Research. She's had multiple missions, both internationally and to the Capital, to use her theories to push forward Konoha's interests, she has submitted—"
"I. Don't. Care! The same can be said about Orochimaru! The same can be said about most of the other Division Heads too! You—"
"Enough!" Danzo's jaw snapped shut, slapped back as it was by the weight of the Hokage's killer intent. "Research Head Aburame, Future Research Head Yamanaka, dismissed. Elders Mitokado and Utatane, you are dismissed as well. Elder Shimura and I need to have a… chat."
Sakura left.
She didn't expect that the chat would be much help, however.
Elder Danzo had already been found to be running a treasonous rumor mill, and allowed to get away with it.
This? Questioning her? Elder Danzo wouldn't even miss an hour of sleep over the possibility of punishment.
Research Head Aburame, given by his (very, very quiet) snort as they exited, agreed.
Danzo's focus on Orochimaru, though…
The Weapons and Materials Research Head Uchiha was the most experienced of the division heads, and the most practiced in leadership—he was arguably the more convincing choice, particularly because Orochimaru had far more demands on his time; a Sannin could never abandon the front entirely.
She'd have to keep an even greater eye on the two of them.
This felt too alike her dreams, her memories of the future, to brush aside.
Such became even more true the next day.
Yamanaka Inoichi grinned as he looked around at the other Yamanaka in the room. "What do you think?"
"It's quite expensive…" One of the elders said.
"I think it's worth it, obviously." Sakura said, rolling open a blueprint of the new Academy project. "But I agree—the Yamanaka funding this exclusively feels too burdensome. Not to mention the other clans likely feeling we have too much control."
"That's the beauty—anyone can 'donate'! The elders are just preventing us from using the money from existing taxes. I figure I'll go around with Academy Head Shimura and elicit funding from most, if not all of the clans, likely in exchange for this or that taught in schools. I just—there's no way to expand the Academy without the funding, so I think this it the best way to go about it."
Former Head Inoto coughed. "Is Academy Head Shimura on board?"
Inoichi winced. "Soon, I'm sure. I'm talking to him. He just needs a bit more convincing."
"I wouldn't be so sure." Sakura said. "Elder Danzo was… very upset that I am the next Research Head, instead of Orochimaru, and the Shimura Clan tends to be very good about acting in lock-step."
"…Right."
"We'll support the plan, of course," one of the elders said, "but only if you can prove that you can get the Academy Head on board. Otherwise, it feels rather like throwing paper money into a fire."
Inoichi… looked far less pleased than he had at the beginning of the meeting.
Still, it wasn't the most unreasonable barrier—it was hard to argue with.
He agreed, and the meeting was dismissed.
.
It was clear by the next day that Danzo had not been discouraged from his campaign.
Fifty or so shinobi were crowded into the room—Clan Heads, Department Heads, Future Department Heads, Elders— as a Jounin read out the reports from the condor scouts.
The chakra detection scheme seemed to be runic, which was both a surprise and not; Sakura had certainly expected that they'd turned to fuinjutsu, but many others had thought that the relative dearth of fuinjutsu experts made that too unlikely.
Now, however, they had descriptions of dozens of two-by-two squares, covered in tiny writing and doused in chakra, surrounding every town and dotted up and down every railroad.
Still, that was—for all that it still mattered—at best a more detailed out description of an already known danger.
It was the railroads themselves that were more problematic.
They'd been around for a few years already, of course, were purportedly already becoming a backbone of Kumo's northern infrastructure, but until now they hadn't had much effect in the war—lower Kumo's high mountains and deep valleys seeming to act as a natural barrier.
Now, however, now they were building mountain tunnels.
They were building railroad bridges.
They were building south.
Directly to the front.
"This will sharply reduce their transport times." Head Uchiha said. "Food, medicines, even weapons…"
"Means they won't have to use as much manpower on transport wagons too. No need for guards, no need to feed horses—"
"They weren't using horses much to begin with; they don't deal well with the mountains. This—this will completely transform their reinforcement capabilities."
"They could ship their injured miles away, have only a couple medics anywhere near the frontline and everyone else at one fallback center so that more specialized care can be more quickly provided."
"In terms of weapons—" Sakura started, and Danzo hissed. "—I'm most interested in knowing about who invented their fuinjutsu chakra detectors, and what else they're going to come up with."
"You're not more interested in the danger of one of their jinchuuriki suddenly appearing on a battlefield without warning?"
"Their chakra-enhanced running already gives them comparable speeds, so no more than I already have been."
"Can your Department replicate the trains?" The Hokage said. "I would very much like to match their attempt with our own."
"We have prototypes, of course, but it is a surprisingly difficult—" Head Aburame started.
"It's a wagon with chakra pushing it forward!"
"It isn't, though." Sakura said.
"Isn't it?"
"No. Kumo isn't using chakra—chakra, as useful as it is, is actually a relatively costly resource. We think they're using fire, steam perhaps, and some of our prototypes along similar lines—"
"So just chakra with extra steps, then?"
"Burning coal, actually." Head Aburame smoothly stepped in. "Just as our own homes are heated by woodfires, instead of us constantly expending our own chakra supply through the winter."
"The time to begin work, Head Aburame." The Hokage said.
"…two, three months? There is a large team, but the variables are many."
"And when are Kumo's railroads supposed to be extended to a militarily relevant distance?"
"One month, Hokage."
"Get it done by then, Head Aburame."
The Head nodded.
Danzo had yet to take his eyes off Sakura.
The meeting ended.
.
Tsunade rolled out a long, long, long scroll—all of it filled with meticulous but cramped writing, and Kushina gaped. "You heard me when I said I was being sent to the frontline tomorrow, yes?"
"Then we'll have a busy night."
"How many measurements do you need?"
"Do you want a child or not?"
Sakura leaned over, glancing down the paper to note the many small blank spaces left to be filled in.
"We have none of the measurements already?"
"Oh, sure—I've already filled in height, weight, things like that. There's just more that aren't. Do you want to start by measuring each symbol in your seal or by measuring range of motion for your arms, legs, neck, jaw, fingers, toes, and torso?"
Kushina groaned.
.
Ibiki, having finished complaining about his newest classmates—the classes had shifted again, and Ibiki's new desk-mates were, apparently, far too interested in combat and far too uninterested in anything else—leaned over to stare at Sakura.
"Can I visit Kamui's baby tomorrow?"
"You want to visit Kamui's baby?"
"He doesn't." Juro said. "He just wants to get out of dinner with the Head."
"I thought you liked Inoichi?"
"I do, but I don't like having to sit and eat all proper like, and that's all Inoichi and Aunt Kohana do anymore."
"I agree." Himari said. "It's so boring."
"Well, it's something you're going to have to get used to." Sakura said. "The both of you."
Himari made a face. Ibiki copied her.
Juro sighed.
Some hours later, after Ibiki had been put to bed and Juro went back to work, Sakura watched as the latest packages of medical bandages were walked past the compound, on the way to the front.
Life was pushing forward inexorably, and she had the sinking feeling it was happening too fast to stop all that she needed to.
She needed more memories, soon.
She needed to prioritize, soon.
She needed everything soon, but would she get enough soon enough?