The Uchiha were swarming the Research Department on a daily basis now.
If Sakura didn't know better, she'd have suspected that they'd all quit their jobs just to dedicate more time to staring at her and her people.
"We are moving as fast as we can," Sakura said. Again. "You just need to wait."
And then the latest Uchiha elder—they all blended together at a certain point—began to ramble, again, about the threat of the byoki.
As if she didn't know.
As if Research was doing absolutely nothing to try to deal with the weird alien substance that had clearly attacked the Uchiha.
She wasn't allowed to throw him out—something about social proprieties—and she couldn't redirect him to her Co-Head—he had the ready-made excuse of being an Uchiha and voiding conflicts of interest—so instead she sealed the papers she was working on, filed them, sealed the filing cabinet, and walked out of the room.
The Uchiha elder didn't take that very well, but it wasn't as if she'd kicked him out—he could stay as long as he wished.
The newest crop of genin were doing very well at getting acclimated to Research.
It had been a few months, now, since they'd started, and the clear difference the new Academy system was making was more and more evident with each new class.
Particularly as so many of the jounin were busy, and most genin were shuttled right to paperwork and backline work when they weren't good enough at fighting to spare the resources to immediately train.
So she was happy enough with most of their progress.
And then there was Genin Takeuchi.
He wasn't from the newest crop—he'd started last winter—but he was… weird.
Unsettling.
Always trying to poke into files he shouldn't have access to.
Always willing to parrot what they wanted him to say, but never with any recognition of why they wanted him to say it.
She'd set T&I on him months ago, but—according to them—there was nothing to find.
But he was still…
Unsettling.
She'd reassigned him to weapons testing, far from the medical work he was always trying to sneak a look at, and then went a step further and had the Division Head only assign him to testing, instead of anything that had to do with paperwork at all.
And then, just because she could, she had her godson set a couple fireflies on him, because Ibiki and the fireflies were considering whether they wanted to be used for reconnaissance.
It hadn't taken long for his first report to come in: the genin was still trying to sneak into places he shouldn't be.
Was still obsessed with the Medical Division.
Something had to be done.
As the Uchiha elder and his cronies trailed behind her, Sakura made her way to the training ground that was being used to test the metal-alternatives to kunai.
(It wasn't going very well, but if they could figure out anything they could use wood or clay or sand instead of metal for, it would save them untold years of debt.)
The boy, as usual, was performing very competently.
He knew he was being watched during his shifts, and never seemed to do anything wrong.
Of course, he also had no friends.
Or nearby family.
Or hobbies.
Or, really, life, outside of work.
Which he clearly wasn't that interested in either.
He was obviously, blatantly, totally hiding something.
But he was a child.
And so Sakura had delayed, looked at other options, considered alternatives…
Until she couldn't anymore.
He was a spy.
And while T&I couldn't find anything on paper wrong with him…
She was a Department Head.
She could, if she wished, demand an employee of hers to be mindwalked.
Given that she was doing that to a child, though (and here her stomach turned once more), it felt only right to do it personally.
"Genin Takeushi?"
"Hai?"
"If you would follow me."
Thankfully, the Uchiha had long since abandoned her, likely to go bother Tsunade's assistant—they were very consistent in their rounds.
Takeushi followed quite willingly… until it became clear they were not headed to the main Research building.
And then came the questions.
"Your questions will be answered later, Genin Takeushi," Sakura said.
He did not seem to like that answer.
She could tell he liked it even less when he was finally able to triangulate where they were headed to.
But she hadn't actually thought he would run.
It was a lucky thing, really, that she'd been trained to prepare for even the most unlikely possibility—her whip, crackling with just the smallest amount of electricity, was around him before he could continue the shunshin (a skill which was, notably, not on his file.)
Today was going to be a very long day.
.
Yamanaka Kenta would have swallowed, but he had no saliva.
The danger wouldn't be gone after today—would only worsen—but this day, today, would be the first.
If he hadn't been sold out.
He could hear shouting off in the distance, but that meant nothing—that was just the docks, ships returning from battle.
He couldn't hear anything else.
He'd spent so long, so so long—
Undercover.
Infiltrating.
And this, today, was the reason.
(If it worked.)
Kenta strained, trying to hear any closer noise, but he heard nothing.
He hoped they'd come soon.
He hoped they were coming.
Then—
A cough.
Muffled, but clearly there.
Yes.
They came in droves.
Silent, slipping into the warehouse in fours and fives and twos, but many.
He'd only managed to figure out a way for one ship to get out, but one ship could hold many, many passengers.
And so it would.
By the time night fell, true night, they were ready.
There were no stars in the sky—the clouds promised a storm—but they couldn't wait.
Everyone was below deck, hidden away.
Those who were sailors, who had sailing technique—they were on deck, looking busy, looking tired.
Kenta, his position as a high noble's chef well-known, was eyed—but the noble had been planning to move to a far-off island for some time, and they accepted his claim that he was to prepare a feast for his Lord's arrival easily enough.
(He was so very lucky that there were no sensors, but then that was rather the point of choosing here, now—every sensor would be busy elsewhere, and Kiri wouldn't have any to spare to monitor the behavior of feckless nobles.)
The ship set sail.
The port Kenta chose had a benefit beyond the sensors being taken off duty once the warships came in.
It was also just off a strong southwest current, a current strong enough that there was absolutely nothing suspicious about them using it to go to an island almost directly to the south of the main cluster.
Still, no one came out.
Kenta was sure it was a misery below.
This was not a ship meant for the travel of persons—this was a ship for the transport of goods, and so there were no windows, no indulgences, however small, for comfort.
But it was worth it.
They sailed into the night.
.
In Konoha, Sakura purchased a bonsai tree.
It was time to try a new hobby.