AN: Sufficient Velocity and Space Battles are super far ahead, and the Pa tre on is on CH 113. You can find the link on my profile if you wanna just get there.
I'ma update this more often than normal for a couple of weeks to catch it up, but you know, go elsewhere if you want the chapters now.
As good as it feels to be a long way from shouting 'boom headshot' as she woke up in his office, Sakura can't help but feel like she misses the simplicity of her life back then. It's very unlikely the Hokage knew her by name when she did that, let alone was he willing to sit here and listen to her talk with an attentive smile. He doesn't brook pauses, he slowly and systematically makes her tell him everything. Not that he needs to prod her, she's never had any intention of leaving things out from the scariest man alive. Kakashi made it very clear to her previously that surprising or lying to the Hokage was a bad idea. She'd die before she finished lying, and she wouldn't even have enough time to regret her actions. Fierro was right about one thing, she is scared of the person that signs her paychecks, he has her loyalty and she's not sure why besides that she wouldn't have enough time to scream before her lungs filled with blood if she decided to take that loyalty elsewhere.
He isn't much more intimidating than Kakashi, but he is a lot more lethal. The truth is that once someone is suitably stronger than you, you're already as scared of them as you can get. It's why she barely cared about how dangerous that lady in the salt cave felt like, she spends a great amount of her time surrounded by people that could end her on a whim. Kakashi could accidentally kill her, Gai could have mistaken her for a dumbell or something, even Lee could probably have one tapped her if he decided to strike out at her. Naruto's probably an unstoppable force should he truly want to hurt someone, and that's not even getting into people like Inoichi that could end her with a flicker of his mind.
She wonders if intrusive thoughts in a Yamanka ever accidentally cause deaths of weak genin and civilians. Does strength matter? Could a suitably technical Yamanka kill the Kage with a thought? Just how powerful is that clan, and why isn't the answer 'secretly ruling?'
The Hokage's is very thorough, prodding her even when she struggles and has to take a sip of the tea that was forced upon her for a moment to catch her thoughts. She opens up about everything, she tells him about Fierro, about the other world, about salt and the dungeons and even her gaming habits. She feels like she could have left that last part out, but he seemed very interested, and suggested she play with his grandson sometime. Apparently Konohamaru is an avid gamer, but has very few if any friends.
He's a kinder man than she gave him credit for, but that doesn't stop him from being a leader of a nation of killers. He's nice because it benefits the village for her to feel at ease with him, she has no doubt in her mind that if he detects even a hint of treason he'll rip her spine from her body mid sentence and use it as a backscratcher. The image doesn't make her any less nervous, nor does the fact that he could absolutely do it without moving. She knows he has some kind of spine removal Jutsu, it's just a few hand seals away. It'd be just a flicker of movement she can't even track and spine-be-gone-no-jutsu would be activated. He's totally got a closet filled with spine-be-gone-no-jutsu'd genin spines.
The most remarkable thing though, is the lack of surprise. Even while she regales him about other worlds and reality warping game mechanics, he seems comfortable. She tells him about her own death that might or might not have really happened, and he gives her a solemn nod. He obviously doesn't think she's lying either, as she's not presently dead or in interrogation. He sits there patiently, drinking tea with her, and nodding along to her story like he has full confidence in her..
When it's all over, he thanks her for her time, and reminds her to get her bounty for Fierro's death on the way out. He even says he'll arrange transport for her to go to the Daimyo and get her reward from him, whatever it may be.
She's left with more questions than answers, but three words ring in her ears. He says them over and over again, and she's not quite sure what they mean but she likes the sound they make. "You are valuable," she repeats to herself as she stops at the bounty office, "I wonder if he means that… Um, Sakura Haruno, I should have a bounty to collect here?"
"That'd be the traitor with the rebellion…" The clerk is quick to hand over a scroll to her, "you know how to open a storage scroll right?"
"Yes, thank you." She takes her prize and is quick on her feet to leave, she has so much to think about. She needs to get home and open this on her desk, that way if it's a trap or something she's not covered in paint in the middle of the street. It'd be a fairly elaborate prank, one which involves the Hokage, but Naruto's pretty well connected and she wouldn't put it past the two of them.
No one gets that old without growing a sense of humor, and Naruto grows on people.
While her questions weren't answered by the Hokage, they were answered by the library. An A rank secret is any secret that requires you be a Jonin rank or of sufficient political power to access. You do not have to be an especially powerful Jonin, and Hinata counts for the political power while Ino does not as while Ino is still an heiress, she's not one of Konoha's big three. Funnily enough, this means Sasuke could get her secret, but Naruto couldn't. She wonders if Hinata bothered to research her, or if she went into that engagement blind.
Whatever the case, Hinata sure was stiff. She bets the girl practiced that conversation, it'd make sense if it was that important to her.
If you have permission to access A rank secrets, you are alerted to any A rank secrets a ninja you will be dealing with might have pertaining to them, but otherwise you specifically have to request access. This means that any Jonin she goes on a mission with will likely immediately know her deal, but the other Genin will not.
Ideally, when an A rank secret is shared, the Hokage explains it, but in reality A rank secrets are mostly traded from Jonin to Jonin to avoid wasting time. This means Kakashi likely told Gai, and Neji wasn't important enough to be told so he just got told her secret is A rank and he should shut up until further notice.
It's with that thought, that she finds herself standing outside of her home. Her parents are standing outside too, giving her a very firm look. Good, they rejected Hinata and want to scold her for pushing her problem onto them. She can deal with that. She prefers it that way, at least that simplifies things.
"You should go inside and meet our guest," her mother says very suddenly as her feet touch the grass, "he needs a hug."
"Uhhh, guest?" Sakura gulps, playing a little dumb and trying to step back-
"Nope!" Her father got behind her somehow in the moment her eyes were locked onto her mother, the jerks know her too well and planned it! She's rather mad her eyes didn't pick up on the movement. What's the point of having red eyes if they're not special and cool! Sasuke got all the luck, well, er, besides the dead family and stuff.
"I swear I told her no!" Sakura shouts, trying to wriggle out of her father's grasp like her life depends on it, "then I had to meet with the Hokage, I wasn't avoiding this or anything!"
"Sakura, shut up and go hug him," Her father places a gentle smack on the back of her head, "he looks like he hasn't slept in a week and he's refusing to rest until he thanks you… Maybe leave out the part where you said no."
"But-" She spins on her heel to glare at the man that raised her, "you said no more inviting people in without saying so, of course I said no!" Her shaky finger points right in her father's face.
"Do you have any idea how much money the Hyuga clan is paying us for this?" Her father lowers a brow, crossing his arms to look at her, "this is totally different."
"No it's not!" Sakura shouts.
"It's not, dear." Her mother backs her up at least, "but still, don't tell him that, he doesn't need rejection right now." It's the tone in her mother's voice that catches her attention above all else.
Her head snaps to look at the woman that birthed her, worry taking over her entire countenance, "he's that bad?"
Mebuki doesn't say a word, she nods with pursed lips, and Sakura's forgotten the entire argument before her next step hits the grass.
She spots him across the table, sitting there in a chair, looking half dead. He lacks bruises, the Hyuga not believing in leaving marks, but she can tell he's been through some very brutal 'training sessions.' The look in his eyes reminds her of some of her time with Kakashi, but that was different. Kakashi was trying to help her and abused the mechanics of her ability to supercharge her training.
This was malice, someone tried to hurt him and so help her given enough time, she'll make them pay. Itachi can wait.
She doesn't so much run around and grab him, as she jumps over the table mid launch towards him. There's food there, there's cups, there's a tablecloth. She wipes it all out in her effort to get to him, and as gracefully as a genin in pink can manage, she slams into him and forces them both to the floor. He doesn't catch her, or scold her, he's too slow and cognitively shut down for that.
They don't have the kind of relationship that justifies a full on glomp, and yet she finds he doesn't shy away from it when she wraps her arms around him and holds him close. He just lays there next to her, staring at the ceiling, blinking in confusion. "Is this normal here?" He asks.
"It is now." She groans, there's a fork in her side, and hot soup, she's actively channeling fire chakra to avoid burns.
"That doesn't answer the… fine." He sighs slowly, staying there. Like skittering creatures, the rest of the household slowly encroaches from all directions, and before long Neji finds he's in the world's largest group hug on the floor. Some call it a pile, she's calling it a puddle because of all the soup.