Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sakura’s team was haunted. 

If she were any weaker, she might’ve collapsed at the maelstrom of energy circling the three. Instead, she stayed far from her new teammates and sensei, curling inwards on herself while the gray haired Jonin lectured them only a week after passing their initial Genin assessment. Surprisingly, he’d only kept them waiting for an hour rather than the three on the first day. 

One might wonder what deity she’d pissed off in a past life to be assigned to the type of haymakers that comprised Team Seven. Her eyes flitted to the two phantoms behind her sensei, one a girl slightly older than her with cropped brown hair and purple markings on her cheeks. The other a much older silver-haired man with blood dripping from an open wound on his stomach. The girl had a black void in her chest, with faint involuntary twitches moving her limbs without her own accord. They hadn’t paid her any mind, instead focusing on the boys, and for that she was grateful. She could feel her own grouping of ghosts moving about behind her, poking fun and laughing at her torment no doubt. 

Some of the ghosts that followed her childhood spoke of Hound and his prowess in battle; with the son of the Hokage and second heir to the Uchiha clan, it wasn’t surprising that a former ANBU would be pulled from his station to be their teacher. She only wished that she had been left out of the team makeup. Maybe Hinata might’ve made more sense, but the bad blood between the Hyuuga and the Uchiha would be overwhelming for the girl and only end in disaster. In the long run, Ino-Shika-Cho’s team wouldn’t be broken up, so Ino as a replacement would be out as well.

Her mind ran through the different profiles of the budding kunoichi in her pre-Genin classes, swiping imaginary folders away at the different fangirls that would only cause problems. Cursing internally, she scowled and hoped the gesture was hidden behind the knees that were drawn up to her chest. 

Sakura fiddled with the long sleeves of her haori, the fabric splayed out behind her like a waterfall of swirled reds and purple. It was the only color on her outfit, easy to discard in battle, but a compromise of her own internal nature. The dark standard issue pants and tank top were tucked into each other, tight on her small form with bandages sealing away any exposed skin on her ankles. She cracked her neck and tilted her head side to side, feeling the long edges of her ponytail tickle her back. 

“Bored, Sakura-chan?” Kakashi-sensei hummed from in front of her, pausing in his lecture to give her a cheery smile. She looked behind him towards the ghosts again, frowning slightly. 

She shook her head, curling even tighter in on herself. 

“She’s just spacey, Kaka-sensei. And weird,” Naruto muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. The spectral form of orange chakra behind him twitched in irritation. “Just ignore her and get on with it.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat as one of the tails of chakra reached out towards her, but was quickly batted away by a ghost. 

She resisted the urge to look towards the second Hokage that took a liking to her rather quickly in her youth. His water-like presence often kept the more malicious spirits at bay, and his hissing of disapproval at her teammate and his ghosts were enough to settle her rattled nerves. 

Sakura knew that the blonde didn’t like her, not that many of her classmates did. Busu-yokai followed her all throughout the academy. It was hard to focus on her education when the wails of children long lost and argumentative dead parents frothing at the mouth at the quality of ninja being produced often overshadowed Iruka’s lectures. If it weren’t for Tobirama providing her answers, she probably would’ve failed early on. It also didn’t make for a good environment for making friends, as many of the clan kids in her class kept to themselves or pre-determined groupings for training. 

Civilians for one reason or another avoided her, and with her parents often out of town, her only friends were the ghosts that gravitated towards her. 

“I just didn’t sleep well. I’m listening, I promise,” she replied, voice croaking a bit. Tobirama settled behind her, his legs splayed out on her sides and his body a calming force on her back. She relaxed a little, sitting more cross legged as her hands settled in her lap. 

He nodded, eyes narrowing slightly but acquiesced and continued his lecture. “Tree walking is one of the essential lessons of a Leaf shinobi. Konoha is protected by leagues of trees that extend to the furthest reaches of the nation's borders. While we won’t be traveling by tree-hoping this early, being able to use your chakra to walk on trees, and later water, will be one of your first lessons.” 

Naruto whined, “But that’s boring. I thought we were going to learn one of your cool jutsu’s, not something lame like tree walking.” 

Kakashi-sensei shrugged, “I must’ve forgotten who the sensei was in this arrangement. If you want to walk everywhere and be leagues behind your teammates, then you can skip this lesson and tell your mother why you were sent home early.” 

Sasuke snickered to the right of Naruto and she held back her own amusement at how quickly Naruto clammed up at the mention of her mother. She’d seen the red headed woman a few times when she came to pick Naruto up in the earlier days of the academy before he and Sasuke took to walking home together alone. She would shut up as quickly as he did at the thought of upsetting her, mother or not. 

Kakashi stood up from where he sat on his haunches, before stretching slightly. Taking out three kunai, he threw it at their feet, gesturing for the pre-teens to pick them up. Walking over to the grouping of tall redwoods at the edge of the training grounds, he slowly placed his feet at the base and briskly walked upwards before settling on a branch high above their heads. 

“I’ll explain this once before seeing if you’re smart enough to figure it out on your own. Simply circulate chakra to the soles of your feet, matching the frequency of the tree and using that to stick yourselves to the wood and walk upwards. Use the kunai to mark how high you get. First one to get to the top gets to decide where we’re eating for lunch, if you make it that far of course.”

Sakura doubted the incentive was a true one, since Naruto and Sasuke looked way too excited at the prospect. She’d only known Kakashi-sensei for a few days, but the familiarity between the three boys was impossible to ignore. She’d bet that he knew they wouldn’t be able to complete the exercise before noon, especially with the cracking of the bark and yells of Naruto as he tumbled to the ground. 

Sasuke, distracted and laughing at his friend's misgivings, immediately joined him on the ground as the chakra he’d managed to stick to the tree easily faltered at the distraction. 

She pried the kunai from the ground and walked to the remaining tree next to the two boys, touching her hand to the base and feeling the hum of natural energy radiating from the wood. She pulled chakra up from the tight ball in her stomach, reveling in the rush of power coursing through her veins. She could sense the thrum and spirits locked deep inside the wood, the energy calling out to her in hymns and whispers. 

Tobirama leaned against the tree next to her, arms crossed over his armor. “This is child's play. They should’ve learned this years ago, not as Genin.”

Sakura hummed, wondering if she should request tempura or barbecue for lunch and she softly tapped her hand against the bark. She couldn’t deign Tobirama with a response this close to her team, but she nodded in agreement, thinking back on fond memories of crawling up and down her bedroom like a spider. 

“Hey, he said to walk up the tree, not play patticake with it.” Naruto taunted from where he’d jumped off the tree, comparing his new mark with Sasuke’s. 

The Uchiha glanced at the lower mark and smirked. “Maybe if you stopped staring at the civilian for a change, you might actually be able to beat me.” 

“Shut it, you bastard.” Naruto yelled back before rushing at his tree again. 

Sakura brushed off the taunts and dropped the kunai in the ground, knowing that no mark needed to be made in the poor tree. Placing her feet at the base, she slowly walked up the tree, almost mockingly so. Making it to the highest branch that would support her weight, she hung upside and smiled at them from above, relishing in their shouts of indignation. Small victories were important. 

From up here, they wouldn’t be able to hear her talk to Tobirama as well. “I fear my new team doesn’t like me very much,” she confessed when he joined her. “I don’t know how to make it better.”

“Your team is composed of idiots. The standards for the Uchiha must’ve fallen if this is what passes for heirs these days,” he replied, sneering at the boys below her. “This is not your fault. Teams very rarely stay together once the students reach Chunin. You shouldn’t have to deal with them for too long.” 

“It can take up to three years to become a Chunin, especially if my sensei doesn’t think we’re promotional material,” She huffed, running her hands through her ponytail and pulling out any knots along the way. 

“We both know you’d be fine as a Chunin, and with those two on your team, it’d be nothing for you to goad them into an early examination spot,” Tobirama countered. “They can barely walk straight, but they’d fall over each other's feet if it meant outdoing one another. You can use that.” 

She frowned, forehead reddening as the blood rushed to her head. “I don’t know how I feel manipulating my teammates like that. What if something bad happens.”

He rolled his eyes at her, “Uchiha’s may love deeper than others, but they are stupid and fool hearted. Manipulating one to do your bidding is well within your caliber. Wherever he goes, the other idiot will follow. Anything bad that happens is on them for not being prepared.”  

“Not everyone has you, Tobirama,” She reminded, “If their parents chose not to teach them something like that, it was probably for good reason. We are still children after all, and we're not actively at war.” 

Children that used to bully her in the academy was left unsaid. War was always on the horizon also echoed behind it. 

Sakura spotted some of the ghosts that littered around Sasuke’s perimeter, most not of any notoriety besides Izuna Uchiha, who often glared at Tobirama with ferocity. He and Sasuke bore a striking resemblance, which might explain why the ghost often followed his descendant around. He might’ve heard Tobirama’s comments with the way he joined them on the branch almost immediately. 

Tobirama scoffed and Sakura sighed, hoping the fight wouldn’t be too annoying to deal with. She crawled around the brand and stood upright, staring at the two ghosts. 

“I couldn’t help but overhear your misgivings, you white-haired bastard. What did you say about my family?” Izuna bit out, glaring at the two. 

“Oh, did I not say it loudly enough? Control your spawn and maybe he can make something of himself. If your main branch can’t even walk up a tree at this age, maybe it’s the end of the Uchiha as we know it.” Tobirama taunted. 

“I don’t see any Senju around here? What’s left of your clan? A drunk and a few oba-sans across the country. At least my clan is still around and thriving.” 

Sakura groaned, scrubbing at her face with her hands. “Enough, the both of you, please. I’ve had enough fighting for one day.”

“Shut it you brat, the adults are talking.” Izuna snapped. 

Sakura fumed, careful to keep her voice down as she bit out a retort. Tobirama immediately stepped in front of her, blocking Izuna’s view, sensing the rising hostility from the ghost. 

“If Madara could see you now, I’m sure he’d have words to remind you on how you should be treating a young lady,” Tobirama smirked, easily sidestepping the ghost that rushed at him. Sakura rolled her eyes at the two. Not even death would mature the actions of boys in the bodies of men. 

“It seems the one with the best control is our little kunoichi,” Kakashi-sensei finally commented, looking upwards while blocking the glare of the sun with an orange book. “Are you able to get down in the same manner or do you need help?”

She shook her head at his offer, happy to leave Tobirama and Izuna to argue above the treeline. She steadily walked down the tree, landing softly on the ground before looking up at her sensei. She handed his kunai back to him, unsure of what to do next. Kakashi-sensei looked at her expectantly. 

“I want barbeque for lunch,” she decided, nodding happily to herself. Kakashi seemed to be pleased with this answer, patting her on the head akin to a ninken. She could smell the scent of wet dog on his head, along with a few pieces of fur left on his clothes from where he must’ve pet the dogs before leaving for the training grounds. Unless he had a secret Inuzuka girlfriend she knew nothing about. A couple of Inuzuka ghosts used to follow her old classmate Kiba around, but the clan was surprisingly more of the lesser haunted lot. 

“Wait, no Sakura, we should get ramen for lunch. If Kakashi-sensei’s paying, we should get the best bang for our yen, don’t ya agree? All you can eat barbecue is too much of a cop out,” Naruto pleaded, rushing over to the two. 

She was struck at how quickly his attitude changed towards her, and she resisted the urge to scowl again since his only motivation to get on her good side involved where they were going to eat for lunch. Sasuke was steadfastly ignoring them, and she could hear Tobirama and Izuna’s argument growing louder and louder. At this rate, they’d attract the attention of more and more ghosts, and the ones already haunting the training grounds were more than enough for her. She could feel the beginnings of a migraine taking hold, the pressure building at her temples. 

“Barbecue,” she repeated, crossing her arms over her chest. She’d be damned to back down from someone that had been so quick to insult her only moments ago. 

“Ramen,” Naruto mocked, getting in her space. 

“I won the contest, and Sensei said that I could pick where we ate. I want Yakiniku. You can pay for your own bowl of ramen if you want it that bad,” Sakura replied. 

The orange tails behind Naruto flickered with irritation, one coming close enough to lash out towards her, the energy coursing through her senses like burning electricity. She took a step away from the blonde, but he followed her almost unconsciously. 

Despite the tails itching at her senses, she refused to back down. Her eyes flickered up towards Tobirama’s location, hoping the white-haired Hokage would intervene and help her out. Kakashi-sensei didn’t seem impressed at their display, but refused to intervene and instead watching the interaction play out. 

“But how often is he going to pay for our lunch? He’s such a cheapskate. You should be a good teammate and make him take us to Ichiraku instead.” He pleaded with a gleaming look in his eye. 

“You can be an even better teammate and see that I won fair and square. It’s not nice to try and manipulate me,” she hissed, “I’m not one of your fangirls. You and Sasuke can’t bully me into getting what you want.”

Maybe that was the reason she was placed on this team. Naruto behaved like a feral magpie, bouncing from sparkly object to sparkling object, easily distracted and even easier to offend. While her interactions with the Hokage were limited, she imagined Naruto took after his mother since she only knew of the calm, collected nature of the Fourth Hokage. 

Sasuke behaved like any Uchiha would; haughty with a holier than thou outlook on life. She knew of his older brother, and had even seen him a few times with his and Sasuke’s mother in the marketplace. Itachi was polite, courteous, and the complete opposite of Sasuke. Being stuck with the childish counterpart of the two brothers is an insult when she’d seen how proficient the heir was. She was on Tobirama’s side with the amount of unchecked attitude that littered the Uchiha Clan. 

It could’ve been the reason why Sasuke was so jaded, so easy to irritate, and so quick to clash with Naruto despite being his best friend. The two butted heads as much as they agreed to help each other, often paired in spars as they took it too far with any other partner. Naruto couldn’t hold back his punches and Sasuke chose not to. She’d seen many a civilian academy student break a limb or two at the force of the punches or the Uchiha kata’s that Sasuke learned, often resulting in them dropping out of the academy altogether. She couldn’t find it in her heart to blame them, if she was being honest. 

“Now, now. Sakura wants barbecue, so we will get barbecue. If you practice enough, Naruto, maybe you can beat her when we move to water walking.” Kakashi soothed, pulling the blonde away from Sakura’s personal space. The boy cried crocodile tears, shooting her a seething glare. Sasuke only snickered in the background, using Naruto’s distracted state to go higher and higher on the tree. 

Against her better judgement, Sakura took a few more steps backward and placed one foot and then the other on the lake that took up a large portion of their training ground. The sound of offense that Naruto made was well worth the sigh of indignation that escaped Kakashi-sensei. 

-----

At the sight of Team Ten, Sakura briefly wondered if she should’ve just agreed with Naruto and had ramen for lunch. Even more so when their sensei waved Kakashi-sensei over to join them. Naruto was quick to greet the table, making space for Sasuke to sit next to him despite Ino’s cry for Sasuke to sit next to her instead. 

Sakura eagerly sat next to Choji, who gave her a pleasant smile. It was unfortunately located across from Shikamaru, who barely spared her a glance before resuming his conversation with his teammate. She picked at a few pieces of pork that sizzled on the heating element in front of her, savoring the taste and hoping no one tried to interrupt her small moment of peace. While the workouts that Kakashi-sensei has had them do in the morning weren’t the most labor intensive, the pleasant ache in her muscles was a far cry from how the academy prepared them only a week prior. 

Unsurprisingly, the members of Team Ten were not as haunted as her team. Asuma-sensei, she learned his name was, had one older woman that fretted over him and his smoking habits as he lit a cigarette in the middle of the restaurant. She curled her nose at the smoke that wafted towards her, wondering at how someone could be so audacious. Their team seemed to mesh well, much better than hers. 

Ino-Shika-Cho were groomed for this , she mused, raised from babies with gifts and clan techniques that intertwined and ran together like a well-oiled machine. Their sensei being the son of the third Hokage might’ve been a coincidence, but they moved with the familiarity of years, not just a few days. Asuma-sensei loaded up Shikamaru’s plate before Choji could steal the more choice meats, and pushed vegetables onto Ino’s, ignoring the blonde's refusal to eat more than a few morsels of food. 

Despite Naruto’s initial reluctance for eating at Yakiniku Q , he and Sasuke were engaged in a voracious eating contest with Choji. Sakura looked down at her plate, hoping that they’d be dismissed after lunch instead of continuing training. Tobirama had promised to work on her kenjutsu post graduation, and her time with the Nidaime would be more valuable than playing fourth wheel to her team. 

She figured there would be two ways of going about being free of her team; either being promoted almost immediately or falling back and letting her team be promoted without and fading into obscurity in the Genin Corps away from her graduation mates and expectations from higher military power. Sakura didn’t know which fate would be more kind. She sucked on her chopsticks as she watched her beef cook in front of her. The expectations of a civilian born shinobi, especially the daughter of merchants, were low. 

If she did decide to make it past Chunin, she would be expected to take on more unsavory missions that clan members were able to avoid. Seduction missions, assassinations in foreign countries with loose treaties, or undercover operations where she’d be away from the village for months or years at a time. While that seems preferable, the amount of ghosts she’d accumulate would be cumbersome. 

“So, Sakura, is it?” Asuma-sensei interrupted her musings with gentle prodding. 

Startled, she nodded, pulling the burnt pieces of meat from the grill from where she’d accidentally let them grill for too long. She apologized to Choji softly for ruining some of the meal, but he paid her no mind and ate the other pieces with the same ferocity as the rest of his plate. Sasuke and Naruto both looked green around the edges at the pace of food, and even Ino watched in slight horror at how they still tried to compete with the Akimichi. 

“Haruno Sakura,” She replied, smiling softly. 

“Haruno? Your family is from Iron then, right?” Asuma-sensei gestured with the hand not holding his chopsticks, hopeful that the quiet Genin would join in the conversation. She could see Ino frowning out of the corner of her eye, upset at the attention she now had on her. It was oddly reminiscent of her childhood, the blonde quick to brush her off when she started to get more attention when her confidence had the chance to grow. This was right before she’d gotten to know Tobirama or the other ghosts that followed her. 

She looked around for the former Hokage, who was walking along the perimeter of the restaurant with affronted interest. Someone who grew up in war times didn’t seem fond of an all you can eat establishment. 

“Yes, well, they were from Iron. They both passed a few years back,” was all she offered. Most people were uncomfortable with her orphan status, and it was easier than explaining the fact that she saw them when she returned to her motherland every year for the holiday season. Both had passed during a harsh winter one Christmas, where the illness left them too weak to travel home. They remained in Iron, rather than returning to Konoha with her. It was a small mercy, since they weren’t technically gone. Not for her at least. 

“I’m so sorry for your loss. They weren’t shinobi, were they?” The question of whether or not they passed away on a mission was left unsaid. 

“No, sir. They were merchants, but it’s just me and my aniki. I have a few cousins that were ninjas in the Land of Hot Water before it was demilitarized, but they joined my family's proceedings on retainer after the fact.” It was the most she’d spoken about herself, but it was also more questions than she’d been asked about herself in a long time. At least from people that were still alive. 

Ghosts loved to talk, loved to learn, and were eager to share what they knew with those that were willing to listen. 

Sasuke scoffed at that, and she quickly averted her eyes back to her plate, eager to get the attention off of her. Civilian was a favorite taunt from him, despite being incredibly untrue and unoriginal, it was a consistent one nonetheless. 

“Don’t let her fool you, Asuma-sensei. Behind that pink exterior, Busu-yokai can’t be trusted,” Ino mocked, pointing her chopsticks at the other end of the table. “I can’t believe we’re desperate enough for fodder that you managed to make it to Genin.”

Asuma-sensei seemed shocked at how cruel Ino sounded, but Sakura had grown up with the type of bullying that Ino had perfected. 

“And I can’t believe that farm hasn’t called you home for slaughter, you pig. Mind your business,” she barked back, glaring deeply into stone cold blue eyes. 

“Ino, behave ,” Shikamaru hissed, waving a hand in front of the two girls to break up the sparks flying between the two girls. “Honestly, enough with the names. Just ignore her, Asuma-sensei was just being nice.” 

Sakura scrunched her nose at the Nara, refusing to be placated and brushed aside from a clan kid. 

“She doesn’t deserve Asuma-sensei’s attention. She’s going to hypnotize him and steal his soul with those beady green eyes of hers,” Ino pulled down her lower eyelid and stuck her tongue out at Sakura. “You remember Ami. She had to quit the Academy the next day because of Sakura. I’m just protecting him.” 

Naruto laughed alongside Ino, mirroring her gesture at Sasuke who rolled his eyes. 

Sakura’s chopsticks snapped in her hand and she pushed away from the table, eager to escape the bullying with her appetite suddenly lost. “Thank you for lunch Kakashi-sensei, but I think I will take my leave. I will see you for training in the morning.” She bowed to her two elders, quickly vacating the restaurant with Tobirama in tow who gave the table a vicious glare despite them being unable to see it. She could only hope the two teams didn’t notice the tears threatening to escape as she rushed out. 

“Ino, you have about two seconds to explain yourself before I make you run laps until you puke ,” Asuma threatened, waving away the waitress when she came to take their order from another round. Choji cried out, upset at the prospect of food being taken away from him. 

“I don’t see what the big deal is, Asuma-sensei,” she pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. “She started it.” 

“And I’m ending it. You do not treat a fellow shinobi like that, especially not in public. And especially not in front of me, or her sensei.” He commanded, brushing off her whine with a glare. “I better never see you act like that again, and you will be apologizing.” 

“You’re being a bit harsh, Asuma-sensei,” Naruto laughed cautiously, hoping to diffuse the tension at the table. “It’s just harmless teasing.” 

“Her and Haruno have always fought like that,” Sasuke added, “It’s just a girl thing.” 

Kakashi frowned from behind his mask, taking a long sip of tea through the fabric. “It’s not a girl thing, you both don’t give her the courtesy she deserves. So start talking.” 

Ino rolled her eyes, leaning back against the wooden seat at her back. “We used to be friends. She used to be normal and then she came to school absolutely crazy and feral. Not even the sensei’s could calm her down. And then at recess, I look away for two seconds and Ami and her friends are just wailing like they’d been stabbed. She wouldn’t even look me in the eyes or tell me what happened. I only found out from my parents that Sakura did something and Ami had to be shipped off to live with her grandmother in the countryside. Ever since then she’s just been weird. She’s a freak, okay. Back off.” 

“Yeah, she didn’t participate in class spars because no one wants to have their soul stolen. Didn’t do team building exercises, and our sensei’s just let her do whatever she wanted because her test scores were good. She just stares off into space and it takes you like three tries before she answers any of your questions,” Naruto exclaimed. 

Asuma rolled his eyes and focused on Shikamaru, who groaned when he noticed his sensei’s attention focused solely on him. 

“I don’t know anything,” Shikamaru said, looking skyward. “She’s just as Naruto said, just spacey. She’s good at theory, and she’s smart. I’m just surprised they’d assign her to Team Seven is all.” 

Choji nodded, eager to get back to the lunch and order more meat. “She’s just shy. She’s nice if you get to know her.” 

Ino seemed startled at that. “You’ve talked to her? Recently? Consistently?” 

He nodded, “Loads of times. I didn’t know you guys were fighting like that; you were always off with Hinata or the other girls, and Shikamaru naps a lot, so I got bored quickly. Shino probably knows more than me, since they usually sat next to each other. Says the sensei’s didn’t want her sparring the clan kids and the civilian kids always conceded if they got paired together, so she stopped participating. Not her fault,” he shrugged. 

Naruto leaned across the table, poking at Choji’s cheek with a scrunched face, “And your souls intact? You’re out in the daytime so I don’t think busu-yokai turned you into a vampire. Choji, how many fingers am I holding up?” He asked, holding out three fingers and waving it in the boy's face. “Can you hear me properly? Do you feel safe at home?’

“Naruto, enough,” Sasuke interrupted, shoving the blonde back in his seat. “Leave him alone, you’re getting your sweat over the grill. Can we order more food, please. Enough about Haruno, I want to keep my appetite.” 

“Actually, I think we better be going,” Kakashi said, getting up with a soft groan from where he was sitting next to Asuma. “And you boys better be on your best behavior from now on. Sorry for interrupting your lunch, Asuma.”

Asuma waved him off, “It was bound to happen. Kurenai’s been pushing me for a team spar, so I think the best course is to have all three teams do some post academy sparring, especially since it seems an attitude adjustment is in order.” He gestured towards the server to bring the bill, despite Choji’s groan of displeasure. “You guys, however, will be running laps for the rest of the afternoon while you recite the shinobi rules and remember your Will of Fire. It’ll be a long day in hell before you treat a fellow shinobi like that in my presence again.” 

-----

In the safety of her apartment, Sakura collapsed to the ground against her bedroom door and bemoaned her situation in its entirety. She’d managed to hold back tears the entire walk back home, but now they refused to fall, especially with Tobirama staring at her from where he sat on her bed. He looked ridiculous against her pink bedding, with the armor of his shinobi regalia settling awkwardly against his frame at how plush the mattress was. 

“I hate them,” she muttered, knees drawn close to her chest. “I hated them in the academy, and I hate them now. Maybe I should’ve become a merchant or a baker or a librarian. That’d be easier than dealing with whatever this is.” 

She didn’t mean it, and Tobirama knew she didn’t mean it. They both knew chakra flowed through her veins and itched to be released in the most vicious way possible. Very few people could claim they were taught by a Hokage, especially one as prestigious as Tobirama Senju. He’d invested too much time and energy into training her up to his standards, and she would be damned if she’d let an offshoot Uchiha and a spoiled brat ruin it. 

“Yamanka doesn’t help now, does she,” he prompted, giving her a teasing look. 

She rolled her eyes and banged her head against the door, grateful her older brother was out of the country on a mission. “If that girl somehow manages to make it past Genin, I’ll be surprised. No muscle tone, in a bright purple outfit with her stomach just exposed and waiting to be gutted.” 

“Yet you still let her get to you."

Sakura sighed, getting up off the floor and shedding her haori and weapons pouch, resigning herself to an afternoon of theory and ice cream for dinner. Or a nap. Probably a nap. “Despite what you may think, I’m still a teenage girl. I have emotions, and big ones at that.” 

She pulled her hair from its ponytail, scratching her itchy scalp and sighing in relief at the lack of tension pulling at her neck. It’s hard to place exactly why Ino affected her in the way that she does. It could be a combination of things really; egged on by her teammates and how much of a disaster the last few days of team bonding had been or because Ino always knew how to get under skin best. The falling out of their friendship, of Sakura’s earliest and truest friendship, still stung deep in her psyche. The taunts, the cruel comments, the lack of camaraderie and after school invites were noticeable now more than ever. 

Sakura walked into the adjoining bathroom, shooing away some of the flies that flew in from the opening vent window. “I get sensitive, and I’m working on it,” she frowned, taking a wet washcloth and rubbing away some of the dirt and sweat that clung behind her ears and the back of her neck. “It doesn’t help that my stupid team joined her so easily. Who does she think she is? Bringing up old shit and rehashing it in front of our sensei’s.” 

She clung to the basin of the sink, fingers tightening against the porcelain as she watched the dirty water swirl and disappear down the drain. Sakura didn’t know how long she stood there, just wishing for something to burst from the drain and take away her worries. It was only the cool brush of energy on the back of her neck that pulled her from her detached state, the blinding smile of the Shodaime easily soothing her troubled state. 

“Your first mistake was coming to my brother for your troubles, Sakura-chan,” he said, pushing Tobirama aside to take his place. The two large ninja overtook her twin bed, and she was quick to join them, shivering as her legs kicked through their stomach and legs to rest on the mattress. 

“The only issue is that he’s right,” she noted, staring up at the ceiling, unwilling to look them in the eyes. “I let my emotions get the best of me and now I seem weaker for it.” 

“Weaker is good, we can work with perception,” Hashirama soothed, ever the people pleaser. “The only person you need to prove yourself to, is you. Everyone else is irrelevant, even Tobi and I.” 

“Until she’s denied promotions and missions because they think she can’t handle it,” Tobirama interrupted, shoving his brother to the side. “She must be as strong and unbreakable as your trees. The Will of Fire runs strong through her veins, and I will not let the disillusioned offspring of Madara break her spirit.” 

“He wishes I held him in a regard high enough to break me,” Sakura scoffed. 

“And you’re here, in your bed, pouting like a child because of a few mean words.” 

“She is a child, and you’re being much too harsh,” Hashirama pushed Tobirama to the side, joining Sakura in her prone state. He traced the cracks in the ceiling of her rundown apartment, frowning at the air conditioning that puttered away in the corner of the room. “When is your brother set to return?” 

Sakura shrugged, turning on her side and refusing to look him in the eyes. “Dunno, maybe this month? He said he’d return in time for graduation, but I guess not.” If she were better, and if she were in the presence of a therapist, she might acknowledge the reasoning behind her more emotional state is the lack of familial presence at graduation. The crowd was rife with living and dead alike, cheering their offspring on for taking the first steps in their hopefully long shinobi journeys. Sakura was the only one alone that day, with Tobirama on one side and Hashirama on the other. She’d held the shiny headband with a tight hand, feeling the metal corners dig into her shaking hand as she bit back tears of frustration. 

“I’m sure he’s doing everything he can to get home,” Hashirama soothed, running phantom hands through her hair, the motion only half as soothing as it should be. “And then you can show him your terrible team and make them regret being mean to you, just like old times.” 

She rolled her eyes at that and then closed them, letting the ministrations of the former Kage lull her into a fitful bout of sleep. The world was heavy on her shoulders and her lunch turned to ash in her stomach, but at least she wasn’t truly alone.

Chapter Text

Sakura floats sometimes. Dissociation is a vague medical term that pops up in the back of her mind, but she finds it hard to focus on anything but the swirls of natural energy that guide her throughout the village. 

The episodes come and go, more frequent around Obon in the summer. The three day festival is the hardest to get through, with ghosts appearing from all reaches of the world to receive gifts from their families and loved ones. 

Tobirama and Hashirama follow her closely during these episodes, cool hands guiding her along the routes she’s expected to follow. The academy students were used to her nature, so the extra mental blocks went by without much preamble. Being a Genin, however, makes it much more difficult to skate by unnoticed. 

Hashirama pushed her gently towards Team Seven’s designated training ground, stopping her before she walked off the grassy plane of the field and into the sparkling water of the lake. 

She blinked owlishly at him, taking a deep breath before she drew her legs close to her chest. Hashirama squatted down, brushing the hair from her face out of habit. The hair doesn’t move from his touch, but she was quick to follow his movements with her more tangible hand. 

“Maybe her sensei will take it as a form of meditation,” Hashirama bargained, “The boys haven’t even come close to the top of the tree. She’s already proficient in water walking, she can take a small day of rest.” 

“Rest at the hands of the copy-ninja is as unlikely as it seems,” Tobirama countered, “She should've stayed home. No good will come to her like this.” 

“It’s not a big deal,” she breathed, green eyes taking in the clouds decorating the sky above them. “I just feel a bit overwhelmed. The spirits are restless this year more than they have been previously. The streets are loud, but the forest is a good reprieve.” 

“Does she get like this often?” a female voice interrupted, and Sakura spared her a second before flopping her head back down on the cool grass. It was the female spirit that followed her sensei, but she couldn’t sense any of the members of her team approaching nor the other ghost that she was next to the day prior. 

It was just Tobirama and Hashirama with her today as well, blissful coexistence even if the brothers tended to argue over what she should be working on more often than not. If it were up to Tobirama, she would be practicing the Hiraishin in open water, flitting across the lakes of Fire Country with reckless abandon. If Hashirama had his way, she’d be meditating deep in the forest, working on circulating her chakra and natural energy to become one with the trees. Neither sounded like the correct choice for her mood, though she yearned to practice the Hiraishin more now that she received her Genin headband. 

Propping herself on her hands, she smiled softly at the girl who was quick to grin back. The purple markings on her cheek stretched with the grin, and her eyes turned into upside down u’s not unlike her new sensei. 

“I’m Rin,” she smiled, hand twitching to offer it for Sakura to shake out of habit. “Is it a kekkei genkai, or have you always been able to see ghosts? It’s nice to talk to someone other than Sakumo or some of the obaa-san’s at the market.” 

Sakura shrugged, but patted the spot next to her for Rin to join her. “It’s… complicated. My aniki knows more than me, but it’s just something I’ve always been able to do. See, really. Spirits, ghosts, malevolent beings. It helps with chakra sensing too,” she jutted her chin slightly towards Hashirama, “It’s how I met Hashirama since I ended up following his signature across the marketplace since our natures are so similar.” 

“Well, I’m happy all the same. You all seem good for Kakashi, he’s been getting so serious lately. I think he’s starting to feel old. ” She giggled that last part. Age to a ghost must seem hilarious, since she looked perpetually eleven to Sakura. “He’s always been a serious kid, but now more so than ever.” 

“Maybe it has to do with us,” Sakura mused, “He seems a bit high strung whenever the boys are around. It hasn’t been that long, so maybe he will improve with time.” 

“That’s because Minato was our sensei. He’s teaching his sensei’s kid and the baby brother of one of his kohai. He’s probably worried he’s gonna mess it up. He probably will knowing him. Oh I have so many stories that I could tell you.” 

Sakura giggled at that, and Rin was quick to collapse into her own laughter. “Wait till you can ask him about his time undercover in the court of the Lightning Daimyo. Or the first time he met Jirayia-sama after reading Icha Icha Tacts. If he gets drunk enough, ask him about his seduction missions in ANBU. He once had a girl so in love with him she almost compromised his mission!”  

“So you spend your time with him a lot, then? I know sometimes ghosts like to wander. Sometimes Hashirama disappears for weeks at a time, Tobirama not so much.”  

The former Hokage waved her off from where he’d been talking to Tobirama about the state of her training, at least she assumed that was the topic of discussion with the way the former became more and more animated as the conversation wore on. She was grateful for the tutelage, truly. The feats her age were near unheard of, with Senju-patented techniques to stretch her chakra reserves to mirror a newly minted Jonin alongside a pouch full of spiral kunai marked with her own personal Hiraishin seals. To be in a class with so many clan heirs was unheard of, as if their births were pre-determined. The son of the Hokage and seven different children all from clan heads all in the same class. Without them, she would’ve been lost. 

“I do. I worry about him sometimes. The matters of my death were not the easiest for him,” Rin grabbed at the gaping hole in her chest, the fabric around the wound burnt to a crisp. “If it weren’t for Minato-sensei, I don’t know what would’ve happened to him.” 

Sakura knew better than to ask the circumstances behind such an egregious wound, but the question still danced at the tip of her tongue regardless. It was only with practiced ease that the question turned into an affirmative hum. “I’ll try to be a good student, then. If he matters that much to you.”

Rin smiled at that, Sakura couldn’t remember the last time someone her age regarded her with such overwhelming positivity. The students at the academy tended to give her a wide berth in the classroom. Shino and Choji could technically be called her friends, even if the comradery was born out of a respective introversion to their otherwise boisterous classmates. Neither boy readily handed out smiles and hugs in the same way that Naruto or Kiba were inclined to do, so it was a nice change of pace. 

“It’s only been a week so don’t stress too much about it. He seems to be focusing more on conditioning than anything else. I think he’s doing it on purpose, both Naruto and Sasuke are such handfuls,” Rin flopped on the ground next to Sakura and stared at the passing clouds hanging low in the sky. The humidity was thick in the morning, with the scent of petrichor flooding Sakura’s senses. It would no doubt rain heavily later once the sun was high in the sky. “But he really is a great shinobi, so you have a lot to learn.”

“Tobirama and Hashirama have been handling my education since I was young, but is it true he knows over a thousand jutsus?” 

Rin rolled her eyes and turned to her side, her chin propped on a thin hand. “Yes, technically . You wouldn’t know it by watching him fight, however. He spams the same three or four until the enemy is dead. I think the moniker is more for marketing sake than anything else. Just because you saw one enemy somewhere use an earth jutsu a year ago, doesn’t mean you really know it, ya know?” She snickered. 

“What did you do, when you were alive? If Kakashi-sensei was your team's ninjutsu specialist?”

“Oh, he wasn’t our ninjutsu specialist. I think he was more kenjutsu inclined back then; he used to carry two tanto’s everywhere. He stopped by the time he became a Jonin, and then took up the whole ninjutsu crazed mantle. I was our team's medic.” Rin punctuated her statement by flexing her bicep, a wide smile on her face. 

Sakura blushed, the amount of smiles the ghost offered filled her with a sense of childish glee. For the first time since she was assigned to Team Seven, she was grateful for the placement. If it took dealing with two pre-pubescent boys to gain friendship with a girl her age, then it would have been worth it. 

She sat up at that, sitting cross legged across from Rin who was quick to mirror her positioning. “Can you teach me? Hashirama isn’t the best at explaining something he used to do naturally, and none of the med courses at the hospital would accept me until I became a genin.” 

The other girl nodded, gleeful. “I am not the most experienced teacher, but I’ve seen the doctors at the hospital explain the Mystical Palm technique more than enough times over the years. It can involve either Yin or Yang energy since you’re basically accelerating the body's regenerative tissue in order to heal someone. I know Tsunade-sama was experimenting with regrowing limbs and organs, but I don’t know how that has fared over the years.”

Sakura sat rapt as Rin explained the way she needed to circulate her chakra through her body alongside the handsigns required to activate the jutsu. “Of course, as you get more comfortable with the formation of medical chakra, you can do it without the hand signs. Don’t be upset if you don’t get it at first, it can take someone months to be able to do so. Maybe you can take some anatomy or first aid classes at the hospital now that you’re a Genin. ” 

She nodded, following the way Rin moved her hands through Rat, Snake, then Ram over and over again. The swirls of her chakra fought against her machinations for a moment before they whirled in the correct direction, guided heavily by sheer will. It was tough, forcing her chakra to change the output to something that would heal rather than harm, but after a few more tries, a soft mint green glow emitted from her palm. 

Sakura grinned and looked up at Rin with childish glee who stared at her stunned. She tried to grab Sakura's hand but frowned when her spectral form just phased through it. “That…was quick? How?”

Tobirama and Hashirama decided to join them by that point, with the latter barking out a great laugh. “First time?”

Tobirama huffed and smacked his brother on the back of his head, “You are as prideful as you are stupid.” 

Hashirama pouted and sat next to the girls, his hand moving to cup Sakura’s whose hand was still encased in the green glow. While he wasn’t corporeal, she still allowed him to go through the motions of feeling the chakra through his spirit. “What I mean to say is, isn’t Sakura-chan amazing? She’s like a sponge, anything you say gets memorized and cataloged into that little brain of hers. Techniques mastered in a matter of days, theories perfected in hours. She’s our little prodigy.” He grinned like a parent, showing off their child's accomplishments as if they were their own. 

Sakura rolled her eyes but pulled her hand closer to observe the fluctuations in chakra up close. It was unusual to see this particular color of chakra; blue she was used to, the icey-white of lightning almost as familiar. While her affinity was more inclined to Water and Earth, much to the glee of Hashirama, she could wield lightning almost as proficiently thanks to Tobirama. 

“Far from a prodigy, the applications for the technique are just similar to what we’ve been doing with meditation. The chakra feels different, smoother, much more calm than what’s required for offensive techniques.” 

“Neh, Yokai-chan, what are you doing?” Naruto interrupted her musings as he entered the clearing with Sasuke in tow. The two were rarely seen without each other these days, which shouldn’t make her heart clench as much as it did. “You sick?”

Izuna was right behind him, and Naruto’s whisps of bright orange tails curled around Naruto’s form almost protectively so. The Uchiha did not offer anyone of the spirits a passing glance, instead choosing to scoff at the comradery. 

Sasuke scoffed almost the same, directed at Naruto however, not Sakura. “With the amount of times you’ve landed us in the hospital, you think you’d recognize medical chakra when you see it.” 

“I know what the chakra she’s using is, you bastard. I’m just wondering what she’s doing.”

The two walked over to where Sakura sat on the ground and positioned themselves next to her, with Naruto sitting cross legged like her and Sasuke against the post lording over them. Team Seven’s training ground was spacious, and the two often sat as far as was socially possible if given the option. 

Sakura eyed them suspiciously, unused to their proximity. She glanced up towards Tobirama, hoping for some semblance of social ques to follow from her mentor. Unfortunately he just shrugged. 

Rin, thankfully, was much more helpful in her ability to understand the boys. “They’re trying to be nice. Kakashi and Asuma railed into your classmates and told them to be better teammates. Asuma is the son of the Third Hokage, so he values the Will of Fire more than most. Kakashi has been teamwork focused since my death, so the combination of the two was pretty scary.” She giggled as she stood up from the ground, arms stretched high above her head.  

She nodded minutely, lips pursed in a small ‘o.’ She glanced between the two boys, head tilted to the side as she contemplated what to do next. Shino was not much for conversation aside from discussing the highs and lows of entomology and Choji tended to offer snacks in lieu of talking whenever they were paired together during class activities. Naruto and Sasuke moved around each other like planets orbiting the sun, even if she didn’t know what the sun was supposed to be. 

“So, Yokai-chan, you can do medical ninjutsu? When’d you learn that?” Naruto prompted after Sasuke kicked him subtly in the back. As subtly as a teenage boy could. “I guess outside of the introductions, we don’t really know what you’re trained in huh?” He glanced back at Sasuke, eyes unsure. 

Sakura, for reasons unknown, took pity on the blonde. He was trying to get to know her, that much was true, even if the motive behind it wasn’t his own. 

“Kakashi-sensei has been more focused on running us ragged with drills than I guess maneuvers or skills.” 

Naruto groaned in agreement, “Tell me about it! I went to my otou-san to complain, ya know? Why give us Kakashi if he’s not gonna do so much as teach us a single jutsu. We haven’t even gotten a single mission, either! There are princesses to rescue and nobles to protect.” 

She blinked, and looked skyward towards Tobirama and Hashirama who looked at the blonde with moderate disgust on their faces. 

“This is what has become of Mito’s spawn, eh Hashi?” Tobirama asked, arms crossed over his chest plate. 

“I don’t know if they’re directly blood related, but it’s certainly… something. His mother is related to Mito, if that hair is anything to go by, but he’s not one of my ancestors. Thank the Sage for that.” 

Naruto snapped his fingers in Sakura’s face to gather her attention and it took all her might to not bite at the digits. 

“You really space out sometimes, huh? What’s going to happen in a battle? Your eyes are gonna go all pale and then what?” 

Sakura cleared her throat and hoped the slight irritation she felt wasn’t showing on her face, “Sorry. I don’t mean to do it on purpose.” 

He nodded and crossed his arms, a pout stretching his tan cheeks downward. Her eyes traced the curvature of the whiskers on his cheeks and she glanced up at the orange tendrils behind him like the tails of a kitsune. She frowned slightly, but apologized again, hoping to appease the blonde so as not to upset their newfound truce. 

“So, you can do medical ninjutsu? Do you want to be an iryonin?” 

Sakura shook her head, and curled her knees close to her chest. “No, it’s just something I read about in a book. I like taijutsu and bukijutsu, like my aniki. I usually use a Bō in combat.” 

Sasuke seemed to perk up at the discussion of older brothers, something Sakura would file for later. 

“Your aniki wasn’t in the academy, was he? I don’t remember hearing about another Haruno in school.” Naruto asked. 

“No, he was already a Genin by the time we immigrated to Konoha. Genin in Yugakure, where he’s from, are a bit younger since there’s not - or were - a lot of shinobi around so they signed off on ages as young as nine.” She replied as she fiddled with the hem of her haori. “He works in T&I under Morino Ibiki, but he’s been out of the village on a mission for the last few months, so I haven’t seen him since.” She tried not to sigh too heavily at that last part, as disappointing as it was, it was good for him to be trusted with this type of mission, even though her heart ached at the separation. 

She could understand Sasuke’s hero worship of older siblings, not that she would readily admit it to anyone's face. 

“Your older brother is in T&I?” Sasuke asked as he joined them on the ground, finally intrigued enough in the conversation to include himself. “So he’s an interrogator?” 

Sakura shrugged, “He does a lot in T&I, but he’s done a fair share of interrogation. You could ask him when he comes back. Aniki loves telling work stories, it’s gotten us kicked out of plenty of restaurants.”

Naruto looked at her with something akin to delight and awe, something that made her violently uncomfortable and a bit unsure of how to react. This was the longest conversation the three of them had ever had, since the two usually engaged in arguments the second their laps around the village started, often leaving her behind to her own musings.  

“Wait, Yokai-chan, I never knew you were so cool.” 

She resisted the urge to curl her lips into a snarl in immediate annoyance, instead shoved her head in her knees and hoped the blush that followed one his words settled didn’t reach her ears. She let out a muffled ‘thank you,’ and hoped it was enough for her teammate. 

Sasuke frowned and nudged Naruto who seemed to flail at the thought of how flustered Sakura had become. Naruto kicked him back and the two erupted into a mock battle of not so subtle jabs and taunts. 

“It’s like watching a toddler tie their sandals,” Tobirama remarked. “I think I liked it better when you didn’t interact with your peers in the academy, it saved us so many moments of young pre-teen angst.”

“Sakura-chan was angsty enough on her lonesome,” Hashirama teased, “Poor Tobi having to deal with emotions. You would think he forgot what it was like to be a child. It’s good that she’s getting along with her team, it’s important for missions and the like.” His spectral hand passed through Sakura’s hair, the temperature of which caused her neck to light up with goosebumps. She subtly moved out of the way and hoped her teammates wouldn’t notice. She gave the former Kage a small glare from the corner of her eye, and he grinned in response. 

“Well, isn’t this nice,” Kakashi-sensei interrupted, his orange book in one hand while the other waved at them from his spot across the training ground. “Getting along now, are we?”

“Kakashi-sensei, you’re late!” Naruto scrambled from the ground to tackle their silver-haired sensei who was quick to dodge the orange blur. “Did you know Sakura’s older brother is part of T&I? Did you ever interrogate people? We have got to invite him to a training session. I bet he’s stronger than Itachi-nii.” 

Sasuke scoffed at that, “No one is stronger than my nii-san. Not even Kakashi-sensei.” 

Kakashi rolled his eyes at that, but didn’t offer a rebuttal. 

Sakura followed her teammates up off the floor, but was quick to bow slightly towards her sensei in greeting. Despite the other two’s comfortability with their sensei, she wouldn’t dare be as impolite or familiar, especially with Tobirama and Hashiramam watching. Despite this, she couldn’t help but poke at Sasuke, eager to keep the conversation between the three flowing. “I don’t know. My aniki’s pretty strong.”

He glared at her with a petulant frown, “ My aniki’s in Anbu. He’s the future head of the Uchiha and could be Hokage if he wanted to. What’s your nii-san done, hmm?”

Sakura opened her mouth to reply, but the soft tap of the spine of a book interrupted her. She glanced up at Kakashi who gave her a crinkle-eyed smile.

“Your aniki’s are both strong, very pretty, and love you very much. I’m sure we could set up a spar in the future so that we can settle it the shinobi way.” He ducked to the side as Naruto attempted to tackle him once more, the blonde immediately colliding with Sasuke as a result. “I couldn’t help but overhear some complaints about conditioning? Maybe some team spars are in order since you’ve been such good Genin today.” 

Team Seven’s eyes sparkled as they all stared up at their sensei, and his heart clenched at how excited the normally spaced out pinkette was. He couldn’t help but think back at how he learned that she was unable to participate in spars, something that would have to be remedied immediately next time he was near the academy. 

“You mean it? No more laps?” Naruto said as he grabbed onto Sasuke and Sakura in disbelief.

“For today, no laps. I want you to give these spars you all. I have a bet set up with the other sensei’s and the team with the most wins gets free drinks next payday, and I aim to collect. I need to see what we're working with so I can better pair you together with the other team's Genin.”

Rin, from where she sat next to Sakumo when he arrived with Kakashi, laughed aloud at that. “He’s such a cheapskate.” She remarked to the older Hatake who nodded in agreement. Sakumo had yet to strike up a conversation with her, but Sakura couldn’t find it in herself to be offended. She wouldn’t be a good Konoha shinobi if she didn’t know the downfall of the White Fang and even if the historian in her yearned to know his side of the story, she would let him come to her. 

Tobirama and Hashirama joined the two across the training grounds and even Izuna was eager to see the three Genin hash it out. A temporary, ghost truce seemed to have spawned between him and the Niidaime, which Sakura was delighted to observe and dissect. Her upbringing was marked with Senju influence, with the occasional dead Anbu at her disposal whenever they left their post. 

The Spider and Chameleon masked ghosts were her favorite, but were rarely seen since they continued their patrols in the afterlife. If anything interesting happened in the village, they were quick to report back as if she were their Kage and they were still alive. There wasn’t much she could do with the findings, but if it made them feel better, she was happy to play along. 

Naruto’s fingers snapped in front of her again, and she hoped that it wouldn’t become a habit. This time she did accept her urges and she bit at the blonde finger tips, blunt teeth digging into the soft flesh. 

“Ouch, Yokai-chan! That hurt,” he whined as he pulled his hand back and put his fingers in his mouth to soothe the wound. She couldn’t taste any iron on her tongue, so she didn’t draw blood. “I was just tryna help.”

“Like a bunch of puppies,” Kakashi muttered, before he nudged Sakura and Naruto forward. “Since you both were so kind to offer, how about you spar first and the winner spars Sasuke. We’ll keep going until one of you passes out, okay? Taijutsu only for now.” 

Sakura nodded and walked over to the clearest expanse of the training ground alongside Naruto who gave her a thumbs up in response. 

“Now, Seal of Confrontation you two. We’ll go until the other gives, but try not to break any bones, please.” 

“Neh, Sakura-chan, I’ll try not to go too hard. Just let me know if it’s too much?” Naruto offered his curled fingers towards her, and she clasped them in response. 

“You are my teammate, any kindness you show me in spars will not be shown by our enemies. Please treat me seriously.” 

If he was surprised by her request, he didn’t show it besides a wide grin. “Then get ready to get your ass kicked.”

She grinned and moved into the first form of her kata. While the Academy kata’s weren’t terrible , they were quickly overshadowed by the teachings of the Senju brothers. She’d seen from Naruto’s spars with Sasuke that he favored a more brawler style of taijutsu that he could use in combination with the shadow clones he heavily used in battle. She’d been taught that jutsu by Tobirama early on, but the ability to create hundreds in the way that her teammate did would be lost to her. A dozen on a good day was easy for her, but her limit was nowhere near his. 

Despite the lack of other bodies, the blonde still fared well in taijutsu at the academy, so she would take it seriously as she would any other fight. 

Kakashi’s hand chopped down to begin and Sakura moved . 

Dealing with Naruto move for move was easy, easier than she expected. She flowed around him like water, deftly batting away Naruto’s punches like one would shoo a fly away. She blocked his kicks with her shins, not even grunting at the force behind them. 

It was odd, after only fighting blocks of wood and earth clones, how effortless it was to fight someone her size and skill level. Naruto had been trained by the Fourth Hokage and sparred alongside the main family of the Uchiha clan, and somehow she was winning.  

The force behind his hits easily showed while he was only allowed to spar with Sasuke in the academy because the ones that did hit her, hit her hard . She moved nimbly to avoid them since she didn’t know how many it would take to take her down and she was actively getting excited at the prospect of sparring with Sasuke. 

Despite having stamina in spades, he was quickly becoming frustrated with how unfazed Sakura was in their battle. Her eyes stayed on his chest and used his wide movements to predict where each hit was going to come from and where its target was. 

His punches became sloppier and when his roundhouse was a bit too high for his guard, she deftly moved under it and hooked his opposing leg with her knee. She flipped him upside down and onto his back where she sat on his chest in order to subdue him. Sakura grabbed onto his arms when he moved to punch her off and instead slammed them to the ground in a dominating move. 

Her chest heaved as she stared down at Naruto who stared up at her with amazement. She tightened her hold around his chest with her thighs when he tried to buck her off before he relented and called the match. 

She rolled off of him and offered her hand to help him off the grassy floor. His orange pants were covered in grass, but he didn’t seem to mind as he shook off the dirt and grime. 

“That was insane! You moved like water, it was so hard to hit you. Where did you learn to fight like that?” Naruto asked as they performed the Seal of Reconciliation and walked over to the remaining members of their team. “They didn’t teach that kata at the Academy did they?”

Sakura shook her head softly and looked up at Kakashi with uncertain eyes. He merely patted her on the head and praised her for her win. “No, it’s a form from the library. It’s old, though, so I didn’t know how useful it’d be in spars since I’ve never used it on someone before.” 

Lies, of course, since she learned it from the man who made it. While the particular brand of martial arts wasn’t popular anymore, especially since it was designed to move around heavy Warring States era-esque armor, it was quickly adapted to her smaller size and speed when she realized how well it fit her machinations. 

“Your older brother doesn’t spar with you?” Naruto asked as he pulled out a small water bladder from his pouch. “Even my dad spars with me whenever he has the time.”

“He does, but we usually use weapons. I use a different form with my bō, and he gets bored if there’s nothing sharp in his hand.” She replied and accepted the water bladder with a soft smile when it was offered to her. “What’s it like to spar with the Hokage?”

Naruto rolled his eyes and flopped on the ground next to Kakashi, careful to keep his chest open so as not to restrict his breathing as he cooled down. “Ugh, it’s the worst. He doesn’t hold back, which is great, but then when he uses his Hiraishin it becomes impossible to hit him. Mine isn’t good enough to fight back yet, but just you wait! I’ll get him good one of these days.”

“Has Minato started teaching you Hiraishin, then?” Kakashi asked, before he nudged Sasuke forward to spar with Sakura. 

He grinned at that and pulled out an orange colored three pronged kunai from his pouch. “He has, but he says I can’t use it in battle yet. I’m gonna get him to teach it to Sasuke too. Oh, and I guess Sakura-chan now. Wouldn’t it make sense that all three of us could use it? We’d be unstoppable! The Yellow Flash means nothing to the Flashing Team Seven!”

Sakura resisted the urge to pull out her spiral kunai from her pouch to compare the seals on the handle from Naruto’s Hiraishin kunai. Maybe later they would be able to compare notes, especially if he held true to his word and got his father, the Hokage , to teach them his signature jutsu. Tobirama seemed eager at the prospect, especially since he was eager for her to be able to use it in battle now that she was officially a shinobi. 

The soft breeze that blew through the training ground washed over Sakura with a blinding sobriety. She moved towards the other end of the training grounds with practiced movements, unsure of how to take Naruto’s comments to heart. His entire personality towards her had taken a full one-eighty and it was almost blinding the way his smiles mimicked the sun. 

It was easy to see how he had leagues of fangirls that followed him and Sasuke throughout the school. If she were any younger and less jaded, she might’ve been one of them. The smiles he gave her, the surety in his comments, the unfounding positivity that exuded from every pore was addicting. 

She blinked those thoughts away as she stood across from Sasuke, who regarded her with affronted interest. It wasn’t degrading, just more wondering what to expect from her. She didn’t think that he was expecting her to win a spar against Naruto, and maybe that is where the look came from. 

Sakura glanced over to where Tobirama was watching them with rapt interest and Izuna in poorly disguised glee. She met Tobirama’s red eyes from across the clearing and understood what was passing through his mind. While the comradery from Team Seven was nice, she wouldn’t dare be distracted enough to lose this spar. 

She moved into a different form this time and grinned at the way Sasuke curled his lips in annoyance. The first taijutsu style belonged to Hashirama, designed to move around his opponent like whirling leaves in the air or a rushing current around river rocks. This one, however, was purely Tobirama. 

Uchiha kata’s were strong, powerful, and had lasted the test of time over the last century. Sasuke definitely mastered his katas in a way that Naruto hadn’t. He moved like a viper, no Seal of Confrontation in sight as he struck without waiting for Kakashi to officially begin the match. Sakura was more than prepared for this as she met him blow for blow, this time not letting him get a lick of a hit in. 

Every kick was met with an opposing one that directed the force away from their body and into the ground. Every punch was directed into the air by one hand and followed by a strike towards the open guard with the other. She twirled on her heel to deliver a jab towards his cheek with her elbow, the sound of bone on bone echoing in the clearing. 

He jumped back from her hold and cupped his injured face, the pale skin of which was reddening with ferocity. He snarled and attacked her with newfound aggression and she was more than happy to meet his guard in the middle. 

No words were exchanged between the teens but Sakura’s ears perked in ernest when Izuna finally picked up on the kata she was utilizing. She tried not to let the argument distract her, but she grinned when the tail end of Izuna’s shriek of displeasure was as clear as day. 

“-only a petulant child would create a mirror counter of the Uchiha style. Even in death your prejudice knows no bounds.” Izuna yelled as he swiped at Tobirama with a strike of his own. 

While her taijutsu style wasn’t used much by the Senju when he was alive, before he’d met Sakura, it was developed posthumously to perfectly counter the Uchiha descendents should he ever need it. Try as Sasuke might, unless he changed the taijutsu style was most comfortable in, she would be able to perfectly counter the strong kicks and blows time and time again. 

Like Naruto, he soon became frustrated at the difficulty in their spar and that’s where she knew she was able to end it with a strong punch directly in his face. While no chakra was channeled into her limb, she knew that she was stronger than most and the Uchiha stumbled back at the power behind the throw. Also like her spar with Naruto, she immediately tackled him into submission with a hook of her heel around his unstable limbs. 

Sitting on his stomach, she pulled his hands close to his chest and requested the yield but blinked as instead of onyx orbs staring up at her, Sasuke’s eyes were a brilliant scarlet. His cheek was bruised a violent purple, but there was an unmistakable smattering of red blush across his cheeks as he stared up as Sakura with an unfamiliar look in his eyes. 

Green met red as the girl cocked her head and stared down at her opponent, unsure of how to handle the dazed Uchiha. She let his hands drop and she sat back on her heels on top of the teen. 

“Kakashi-sensei, I think I broke him.” She called out, ending the spar in her eyes. Sakura met his gaze again and Sasuke couldn’t help but count the amount of freckles that decorated her cheek bones or notice how green her eyes were. 

It wasn’t until Naruto tackled the two teens that the spell was broken as he cradled Sasuke’s head in his hands and pulled him close to observe his eyes. Sakura steadied herself on Sasuke’s lap and moved over slightly to accommodate the blonde.  

“Holy shit, bastard, Sakura punched your Sharingan on! Shisui is gonna flip when he hears this.”

Sasuke slapped Naruto’s hands away and cursed when the pain of Sakura’s blow was exacerbated by the movement now that the adrenaline of their spar was winding down. “You will tell him nothing of the sort or I’ll kill you in your sleep.” 

Sakura giggled at that, and watched as Rin skipped over to the three alongside Kakashi. 

“You should try healing Sasuke’s cheek, Sakura-chan! Maybe fix his personality while you’re at it,” Naruto goaded. 

She curled her nose and looked up at Rin who shrugged. “Couldn’t hurt to try. Just focus on the muscle and keep your chakra flow steady. You picked up the Mystical Palm so quick, I don’t know how else you’d train. Not unless you want to go fishing.” 

Sakura didn’t know what she meant by that, but she moved her hands through the required signs in quick succession and held her hand up to Sasuke’s cheek when it began to glow a minty green. She furrowed her brow at the sensation and hoped she wouldn’t do more harm than good as she urged the broken capillaries and blood vessels to repair themselves. She didn’t break his cheekbone, thankfully, but the bruise would’ve definitely been there for weeks had she not healed it. 

She pulled her soft hand from where it cradled Sasuke’s head and observed as the brilliant red and purple became a soft yellow against ivory skin. 

Naruto gasped in awe and crowded the teens again, “You actually did it. That’s incredible.” 

A few moments passed as Sakura observed her handiwork and it wasn’t until another voice broke through the clearing that she realized the precarious position she was in. Somehow Sasuke hadn’t bucked either of them off of his lap, but the arrival of two taller Uchiha’s were quick to snap him out of whatever haze he’d been under. 

“I’d hoped you weren’t going to ruin my little cousin with your perversion, Kakashi-senpai, but this looks straight out of one of your novels.” The taller one joked as he waved at Team Seven. 

“Shisui, please don’t be so crass in front of the children.”

“Oh, please Itachi. If they’re old enough to kill then they’re old enough for some harmless fun.” 

Sakura scrambled up off the floor and was quick to bow in greeting at the newcomers, eager to make a good first impression. Behind the two however, Sakura couldn’t help but stare in awe at the imposing figure behind Itachi Uchiha. 

If Izuna followed around Sasuke like a cackling imp, then Madara shadowed Itachi like a warlord on a battlefield, arms crossed with his Sharingan engaged as if he were locked in battle. He stood over Itachi and sneered at them with great disdain, only to have his image broken by Hashirama who was quick to greet the ghost with the same vivacity she’d come to expect. 

“Madara! You’ve been hiding from me, you old dog,” Hashirama said as he pulled the Uchiha down into a headlock. Madara was quick to beat the Senju away with a snarl but the former refused to relent. 

“Get off of me you insolent Senju. I haven’t been hiding, I’ve been blissfully enjoying my afterlife away from you and your bastard brother.”

Hashirama pouted but didn’t seem offended and Sakura wondered if this is how she would treat an abusive relationship if she was ever in one herself. 

She turned towards Kakashi-sensei as he joined them and hoped the look in her eyes was enough to encourage the adult to be an adult and ask questions for her. He sighed in response and put his telltale orange book away in his pouch. She could see some of the words in the book at his angle, but the motion was too fast for her to see more than an incompressible sentence or two. 

She’d asked on the first day of training what was in the book, but neither he nor Tobirama nor Hashirama nor any of the other ghosts in the clearing would be honest and tell her. Sakura hadn’t had the chance to go to the bookstore near her apartment, but the second she got her first missions pay, she was buying that book. 

“You’re interrupting our sparring session kohai, I hope you have a good reason to do so. It’s the first day they’ve been able to talk to each other without insulting one another.” Kakashi drawled. 

Naruto rolled his eyes and grabbed Sasuke into a headlock not unlike the one Hashirama had Madara in. “Well their timing is perfect, because Sasuke just unlocked his Sharingan. I think this calls for a celebration of the ramen variety.” 

“But if it’s Sasuke’s celebration, shouldn’t we eat the food that he wants?” Kakashi teased, eyes crinkled behind his mask. 

Sasuke turned the headlock around and pulled Naruto into a chokehold, the blade of his forearm held tight against his trachea. “And we definitely won’t be getting ramen that’s for sure.”

“First Sakura-chan with barbecue and then you not wanting ramen as a reward. How could my dad stick me with such a terrible team?” Naruto complained with a gasp around the hold. 

Itachi walked over to Sasuke and crouched down, long fingers grabbing at his younger brother's chin to tilt his head upward. Those same fingers then tapped Sasuke’s forehead lovingly as a smile graced his face. His eyes were kind as Naruto explained what happened with the spar between Sakura and Sasuke since neither were willing to offer up an explanation on the circumstances that occurred between the two. 

Sakura could feel her cheeks heating up at Itachi’s beauty as the older brother complimented and praised Sasuke for unlocking his sharingan. With Hashirama engaged in an argument with Madara, Tobirama had put his attention on Team Seven and the newcomers and was quick to step in front of Sakura to distract her from the brothers. 

“Not on your life, Haruno,” he hissed. His hands blocked the view of her team with ease, the icy nature of his spirit cooling down her heated skin. “One Uchiha is bad enough.” 

She wanted to ask what he meant by that, where it extended to the Uchiha on her team, the one Hashirama was so enamored by, or by Izuna who stared at them with a glinted look in his eye. Moved slightly out of the way, she returned to stand closer to Kakashi-sensei who was quick to tuck her into his side as he joked around with Shisui. 

“Speaking of. Sakura-chan, these two interrupted us to extend the invitation for family dinner. I’m sure it’ll be a bigger one now that Sasuke has unlocked his Sharingan, so we’ll postpone the spars for now while he gets looked at by the family doctors.” He said. 

“Family dinner?” She questioned as she looked up between the two. She blinked at the way Shisui stared down at her, a soft blush blooming across his cheeks. 

Shisui squealed and pulled her away from Kakashi’s hold to lift her in the air as if she was much smaller than she was. It was unwise to attack someone so close to the Uchiha main family, but it was also too familiar of a motion to lift her so casually in the air. She hung limp in his grasp and observed the ease in which Shisui was able to hold her body weight alongside the weights attached to the seals on her sandals. 

“Where have you been hiding this little blossom, Kakashi-senpai? Are you sure you want to be a shinobi? You might as well be a little doll.” He cooed as he pulled her closer to take in her features. While Sakura may not be used to human contact, her nose curled at his audacity. 

This time she did retaliate and she lodged a swift kick to his temple which was quickly blocked by the man. Her lips curled in response when she realized she’d walked right into his trap as he grabbed her by the ankle and held her upside down away from his body. 

“And so violent too. You better shape up your manners before dinner, otherwise Mikoto-obaa-chan is gonna make you stand in a corner.” He taunted, shaking her slightly as he did so. 

“I’m pretty sure she only does that with you, Shisui-nii,” Naruto replied before he tackled the Uchiha to defend Sakura’s honor. She placed her hands on the ground and tucked her legs forward to roll upright once the hold on her ankle had relinquished. 

Itachi sighed at the grappling brawl between Naruto and Sasuke but was quick to offer Sakura his hand as a greeting. “Family dinner will be at the Namikaze house with Sasuke and I’s family at seven. We’d hoped you’d be willing to join us, but Kushina-obaa-chan didn’t trust Naruto enough to remember to extend the invitation, so that’s why we are here.”

“Oh right,” Naruto said from underneath Shisui’s foot, voice muffled between the sole of the shoe, “I forgot to tell them that.”

Kakashi-sensei sighed and clapped his hands to gather the group's attention. “With the mood ruined, why don’t we reconvene at dinner tonight and we’ll continue sparring tomorrow morning. After your laps around the village of course.” 

Sakura grinned despite the promise of conditioning and looked towards Tobirama and Hashirama with childish glee. 

“Seven, at the Namikage house. I’ll be there,” she nodded and left the clearing along with the rest of the group. Rin was quick to follow her and the Senju, and waved off Sakumo’s questioning glance.

“Why don’t we make a pitstop and I’ll show you where Kushina-chan’s favorite nerikiri spot is in the Uzushio district? There’s also some mizu shingen mochi that is to die for that I know she’ll appreciate. Oh I wonder if she still likes kani zosui, you should find out and ask. I used to make it for her all the time. I’ll teach you the recipe.” Rin babbled as they walked through the marketplace towards Sakura’s home. 

Sakura offered her a grin and nodded in response, for once uncaring at how unusual it was to be seen talking to herself. She missed the way Tobirama and Hashirama exchanged glances behind the two teen girls, the brothers happy at their young charge for experiencing a brief moment of camaraderie for the first time in a long time.

Chapter Text

Societal interactions had never been Sakura’s strong suit. She took after Tobirama in that manner. Minato’s reserved greetings, the way he regarded her like a scientist observing a specimen under a microscope, unnerved her. To Naruto, Minato Namikaze was a doting father. To Sasuke, he was a supportive uncle and a figurehead of strength. To Sakura, he was a militant dictator whose whims could decide her entire career and livelihood. Her bow was polite, her smiles pleasant, but the lump in her throat wouldn’t go away no matter how many times she swallowed. 

Kushina was another mystery entirely, especially with the way her emotions swung back and forth from one end of the spectrum to the other. She greeted Sakura so enthusiastically she almost dropped the delicate box of sweets she’d brought her as a gift. Kushina then cried at the sweets, exclaiming loudly at how much favoritism Sakura had earned by the offerings. The nerikeri cost more than she’d like to admit, but were purchased at the incessant encouragement of Rin. The small confectionery was formed into different shinobi-esque shapes alongside swirls of the Uzushio crest that decorated different flak vests around the village. 

According to Naruto’s mother, the gift was incredibly appreciated and it wasn’t until the tears had subsided that the older woman told her why. 

“You have to forgive me, Minato always makes fun of me for how quick I am to cry over silly things. I haven’t been to this bakery in years, not since,” she glanced over to Minato with a far away look in her eyes, “Not since Rin died. I used to take her there for a girls day whenever the boys got to be too much. So thank you . It’s been too long since I’ve enjoyed these treats.” 

Sakura glanced up at Rin and blushed, cursing the ghost internally for putting her in this position. Rin only grinned and waved her off, before announcing she was going to walk alongside Kakashi and would return later with the Jonin in tow. If she were alone she would’ve given her more vexing comments because now Naruto’s mother refused to let her go. 

The older woman was very energetic and she could see where Naruto got half of his personality from. She pulled Sakura into a tight hug at random intervals as she gave her a tour of the lower portion of their home. Sakura could feel the Hokage’s eyes on her as she obediently followed Kushina throughout the home, complimenting where appropriate. 

Naruto was quick to intervene, thankfully, and pulled Sakura up the stairs once he got tired of Kushina hogging her attention. He exclaimed they’d be waiting upstairs for Sasuke to arrive, whenever the Uchiha delegation deigned to grace the household with their appearance. Sakura arrived earlier than she anticipated because of how anxious she was at being late, but thankfully no one seemed to mind. Naruto’s home, despite her earlier stipulations, was warm and inviting with pictures lining the walls with reckless abandon. His mother definitely cared for the place, as it was clean and well loved. 

Despite Naruto having curls of malevolent energy surrounding him, their home was free of all ghosts besides one. 

Mito Uzumaki was not an unfamiliar name, especially with how much Hashirama loved to regal tales of their marriage when they were alive. Despite it being a political marching, the brown haired Senju greeted Mito with the same lovestruck look she’d come to expect and the two quickly absconded away from the masses to catch up. Tobirama only stared in disgust at the two and wouldn’t tell Sakura why. 

Naruto’s room was surprisingly clean but still smelt so distinctly of boy and it made her nose curl. Posters of different shinobi decorated his walls and the shelves held a myriad of trophies from different throwing competitions that were held in the summer when school was out of session. Sakura had never participated in these, but the amount of 1st and 2nd places that littered the shelves let her know that it wouldn’t have been much to care about. For every 2nd place, she figured Sasuke had the 1st and vice versa. 

The desk in the corner of the room was free of books, but instead held the same orange kunai he had held up earlier in the day. She couldn’t resist picking up the metal weapon and observed the sealwork in awe. 

“Neat, isn’t it? I had to beg dad for months to teach me how to make my own seals for the Hiraishin. He made me do calligraphy scrolls for days before I even got the chance to use chakra infused ink for practice.” 

Sakura nodded along, only half listening as she mentally compared his work to her own. Tobirama stood over her shoulder and offered his own comments on the penmanship. 

“His fūin brush is too long for his hand, so the matrices on the edges of the wrappings are sloppy. He’s probably using a cast off from his father and should be remedied before he actually tries to teleport long distances.” He said. Sakura parroted the comments, eager to be of some use. 

“What? No way, where?” Naruto crowded her space almost immediately and she pointed to the part of the wrappings where the seals blurred together. 

“Aw man. Thanks for telling me! If my old man saw this he’d never let me hear the end of it. We haven’t even gotten to the trial run yet, he said I gotta make sure I have a dozen perfect kunai before he takes me out to the forests to try it.” Naruto leaned in close and lowered his voice in a way that Sakura didn’t even realize was possible for the teen, “But don’t tell him, the bastard and I were gonna try it next time Kaka-sensei blows us off. It’s only a matter of time before he tells us to meditate while he goes off with the other Jonin.” 

Sakura nodded along like she understood the familiarity between her team captain and her teammates. He turned to his kunai to peel off the wrappings and fix the mistakes she pointed out, so Sakura used the moment to look at the rest of the secrets hidden in his room. 

It wasn’t as if Sakura was neglected by any means, far from it in fact. As the sole inheritors to her parents' savings from when they were alive, and the steady paycheck that came from working in T&I, she and her brother were more than comfortable. The apartment they resided in was on the nicer side of town, close to the hospital and academy. She avoided at the hospital at all costs, too many ghosts and wayward spirits, but the walk to the academy was the most important part of choosing their home even if it caused her brother to have to roof-hop for longer than it would’ve been if he’d lived in the shinobi district alongside the other Jonin. 

Her room was spacious, the fridge always full, and she never went without. Here, however, it was clear to see how outclassed in wealth she was compared to her teammates. Sasuke’s clothes were tailor made, and Naruto’s were no different. His closet was full of ornate kimono and yukata and he had hoards of weapons to replace any that were lost during training. 

It wasn’t until she got to the grouping of pictures along his window sill that she felt like a true interloper going through his things. He didn’t seem to mind, in fact encouraged her to go through the few books he did have when she came across them. They were definitely hand me downs from his parents, fūinjutsu books with notes all across the margins with two different handwritings arguing over different theories and interpretations. 

The pictures, however, made her heart ache . 

It wasn’t surprising to see different pictures with his parents, either on vacations or during the festivals that were held around Konoha seasonally. Little Naruto sitting on the Hokage chair with the hat nearly covering his entire face, with only whiskers pulled into a large grin peeking out from the brim of the hat. Another of a baby Sasuke and Naruto engaged in a wrestling match, somehow their rivalry was born while still in diapers and remained just as aggressive into their youth. On the other end of the lineup was the unexpected; pictures of different birthday parties across the years, all including her classmates. Some pictures as young as seven and as old as last year. 

She held the most recent photo and traced the faces of her classmates with trepidation, fingernails following the grins of excited children with bellies full of cake and party favors. It wasn’t just pictures from Naruto’s birthday, there were also photos from Sasuke’s, Shikamaru’s, Kiba’s, and Choji’s birthday if the change in party hats were anything to go by. 

She resisted the violent urge to throw the photo she was holding against the wall, it would do her no good to lash out in such a childish way. 

Every photo was the same, her classmates having fun at a birthday party that she wasn’t invited to. 

She’d been invited to only one birthday party in the entirety of being a member of the academy and it had been such a disaster that it wasn’t surprising that she wasn’t invited to any events subsequently after the fact. Hinata Hyuuga regarded her with the same disinterest as the rest of their class, but never acted with outright cruelty like her peers. When Hinata’s mother was still alive, it’d been an invitation extended out of pure politeness rather than a desire to have her attend the party. 

Like a fool, she’d been excited to be invited and it had ended so terribly it haunted her to this day. The Hyuuga household was full of ghosts, packed to the brim with members of their clan with burnt out eyes and regretful screams of terror that echoed in their traditional home. She’d all but collapsed into sobs only twenty minutes into the event and had to be escorted home when the spiritual energy got to be too much for her little body to handle. 

It was easy, almost too easy, to forget that only a few months prior that her teammates were her childhood bullies. While they had kept to themselves in school and never out right started the jeers that plagued her in the hallways, they didn’t really step in to stop them either. Sasuke didn’t consider her a person until a few hours ago, when she beat him in a spar, and Naruto had readily joined Ino in taunting her at dinner the day before. 

Kakashi’s interference aside, they didn’t ever actually apologize either. 

Not once did either boy say ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry for bullying you. I’m sorry for thinking you were a demon in human form. I’m sorry for making your life a living hell. I’m sorry for letting Yamanaka tease you at lunch. I’m sorry for refusing to train with you last week when we realized you were our teammate.’

She placed the photo back on the window sill and glanced up at Tobirama who looked down with a small frown. He’d always been able to read her better than Hashirama, who was still off with Mito doing Sage knows what. She wasn’t able to converse with the ghosts in front of the public, so they’d picked up on subtle cues and interpretations early on to save her a diagnosis or two. 

“If you wanted to go, now would be the time.” He offered, and she blinked back the tears that threatened to escape their ducts. “Especially before the Uchiha got here. That Shisui doesn’t seem like the type that would let you escape so easily.” 

Sakura turned away from Naruto so her back faced him as she pressed the palms of her hands to her eyes as subtly as she could to stop her emotions from getting the best of her. She shook her head minutely and knew that leaving would only cause more problems then they would solve. Her teammates seem hellbent on bulldozing over her boundaries despite the walls she’d built up and them following her home would only lead to disaster. 

Tobirama rolled his eyes but relented, instead peering out the window to alert her of the upcoming grouping of Uchiha on the horizon. She informed Naruto of as much and the two stumbled down the stairs, the former happy to leave the depressing photos far behind her. Naruto jumped onto Sasuke with more excitement than she thought possible, seeing as they just saw each other only a few hours ago. He also proceeded to pull her into the hug and she stood shocked between the two boys, face flush and muscles stiff from the unfamiliar notion. 

She also heard the click of a camera shutter in the background and she could only bury her head in her hands in the hope that no one noticed her flustered state. When they released her she was swept up into another hug, the gruff scent of vetiver and brimstone flooded her senses. She curled her nose and tried to push Shisui away, but the older boy refused to relent. 

“Sakura-chan, you’re so mean to me so early on. Is this all Sasuke’s fault? Did he try to poison you from me?” Shisui whined as he nuzzled her cheek like one would a kitten. A near mimicry of him smiled fondly behind him and she watched as Tobirama greeted the Uchiha with an unfamiliar kindness. 

“Kagami,” Tobirama said, “You look well. This is your descendant?”

He nodded and moved to ruffle Shisui’s hair despite his intangible spirit, “Tobirama-sama, it is great to see you. This is Shisui, my grandson. I’ve enjoyed his journey as a shinobi, despite his more unconventional personality.” 

Sakura observed their interaction with mild interest and didn’t notice that Shisui had kept her tucked into his side as he moved with the group to the dining room table in the adjoining room. She curled her nose and pushed off of him to join her teammates on the opposite side, happy that Naruto and Sasuke seemed to understand her reasoning. 

“Stop perving on my teammate you nuisance,” Sasuke hissed, “Itachi control him.” He nudged his brother with his foot. Shisui intercepted the foot with a solid hand and yanked him over, the teen nearly tumbling over were it not for the grip that Sakura had on him. 

“Shisui, we are guests in this home. You will behave,” Sasuke’s father interjected with a frown. His wife laughed alongside Kushina as they sat near their husbands together on the longer side of the table. 

Sakura was quick to bow towards the adults once the group and ghosts had settled. Izuna and Madara sat near Tobirama and Kagami, with Hashirama and Mito finally joining them once the group had arrived. She sat between Naruto and Sasuke, and she assumed the seat across from her was reserved for Kakashi whenever he decided to show up. Despite his flighty behavior, Naruto was a well practiced host and piled her plate high with nikujaga and tempura. 

She savored the salt of the meat as the conversation flowed freely between the two families, the familiarity clear as day. Tobirama moved from the Uchiha to settle behind her and she leaned back slightly to have his form anchor her slightly. Her ears burned between the two conversations, the ghosts recounting the days of old and their personal input on the current state of Konoha politics as they added onto the adult conversations as if they were able to be heard. 

Sakura sucked on the end of her chopsticks when Madara began to argue with Hashirama, the Senju relaxed despite Madara’s irritated posture. 

“The taxes in place are your doing Hashirama. Had you not focused so heavily on the medical system, we wouldn’t need to cut border patrols in this manner.”

Hashirama waved him off, “The border patrol budget is the best place to cut from. We are not actively at war with any of the nations and it’s either this or cut shinobi pensions. It wouldn’t be worth upsetting those that do make it to retirement age, so few make it that far anyway.” 

“Where would you have them cut it from, Madara? The education budget? Raise taxes in times of peace? Should war come, we would need to raise them to accommodate the need for more supplies and if we bleed them dry now we’d only have a revolt later down the line. Border patrol missions are basically vacations at this point,” Tobirama interjected, his tone final. 

She found it amusing that they spoke as if they had the power to change things from beyond the grave, but kept the comments to herself since it kept them happy. She tuned in on the argument brewing between Naruto and Sasuke, and dodged a piece of shrimp tail that was being utilized as a projectile. 

“Sasuke, you did not just throw food at the table,” Mikoto called out, “Apologize to Kushina right now.”  

“The idiot started it!” Sasuke yelled back and Sakura moved backwards from her seiza to avoid Naruto’s retaliation. 

“And I am finishing it. Apologize. Now.” 

Sasuke grumbled out an apology and Sakura decided against telling the adults of the shrimp tails that were being tossed almost immediately after the adults attention were turned away again. 

She looked up at a disgruntled Tobirama who nudged her forward to pay attention because Itachi was staring at them. At her really. 

Sakura glanced over at Hashirama who gave her an excited wave, happy to be amongst his friends for the night. With the two normally around her at all hours of the day, it must’ve been a treat to be reunited amongst the families once more. 

Sakura gave Itachi a small smile and took another bite of her tempura. She also ignored the way Naruto took the tail from her plate to use as ammunition against Sasuke. 

“So I’ve been told by Sasuke that my presence is requested for training,” he began and Sakura watched Sasuke blush from the corner of her eyes. “Something about defending my honor as an older brother?” 

“I did not say that,” Sasuke hissed, pale skin flushed with irritation. 

“I said that,” Shisui interjected. “Sasuke-chan is so protective of Itachi, a classic case of Younger Brother syndrome. I try to check him into the hospital all the time but they won’t take him for some reason.” 

“The only one that needs to be checked into the hospital is you , you nuisance.” 

“Are you sick?” Sakura questioned with her head cocked to the side, “Why do you need to go to the hospital?” 

She felt Tobirama sigh behind her and Naruto snickered at her side. 

“Don’t worry about it Sakura-chan,” Naruto said as he added a few more pieces of tempura to her plate, “The cure for what’s wrong with Shisui hasn’t been found yet. Don’t worry, though, it’s not contagious.” 

“Yeah, there’s no cure for stupid,” Sasuke muttered. 

Shisui flash stepped around the table to smack Sasuke on the head and returned to his seat before the adults noticed. Minato frowned and threw a shrimp tail at Shisui despite this, “No shunshin at the table. It’s impolite and we have a guest.”  

“So he gets to throw tempura, but I can’t?” Naruto questioned. 

“He’s the Hokage, you brat,” Kushina retaliated as she threw her own shrimp tail at her son who caught it in his mouth. 

“And I’m the future Hokage,” he exclaimed as he crunched the chitin between his teeth. “I should be able to throw my shrimp tails at whomever I want.” 

Sakura watched Sasuke flick a shrimp tail through the air and held back her own giggle as it lodged itself deep in the blonde mane. The rest of the table seemed just as amused and no one said anything as Naruto was told to sit back down. 

“So, about that spar,” Shisui interrupted, his elbow propped on his thigh while his hand cradled his head, “Maybe I should come along too. Just in case I need to defend Itachi’s honor. Who is your older brother anyway? I don’t know any other pink haired shinobi.” 

Sakura opened her mouth to reply but it quickly turned into a smile when she noticed Kakashi standing awkwardly in the doorway. Kushina was quick to get up and pulled him over to sit across from Sakura in the remaining empty seat. She doted on him with maternal familiarity, piling his plate high just as Naruto had done for her. 

“Ohayo, Kakashi-sensei,” Sakura greeted with a smile, her grin widening at Rin and Sakumo behind him. Rin sat on the opposite side of Kakashi, with Itachi and Shisui seated on his left side across from Sasuke. Sakumo joined the older ghosts on the opposite side of the room, sparing just a glance in her direction before he settled into a discussion about Kumo politics. 

“Ohayo, Sakura-chan. I hope the boys haven’t been too much of a handful,” he poured himself a cup of tea from the pot on the table and she frowned as he drank the liquid through his mask. 

“Don’t even try it, Sakura-chan. I’ve been trying to see his face for years. The second you look away he’ll eat that entire plate,” Naruto whispered, “Sasuke and I are gonna ambush him one day and pry that mask off his face one way or another.”

“I heard that,” Kakashi sang, “A good shinobi should know better than to announce his intentions.” 

If Kakashi-sensei looked anything like Sakumo, he was probably quite handsome. His father had a strong jawline but a soft disposition, with the same silver hair only longer. With Naruto in her ear, however, she wondered if he had buck teeth or fish lips just like the blonde theorized. 

Sakura looked up again at Tobirama, who’d taken to yelling across the table at Hashirama’s incessant comments about Kumo nin. 

“And they better hope I never come back to life. The first thing I will do is to find Kinkaku and demand a rematch. To use tailed beast chakra so haphazardly, and to use it to kill me? Unforgivable,” he yelled. 

“They’ve been dead for decades brother, you’d have a better time finding them in the pure lands than being brought back from the dead.” Hashirama replied with a laugh. 

Tobirama scoffed, “Then to hell with the entire country. We should’ve taken care of them when we had the chance.” 

Madara rolled his eyes at that, “But when I say it, I’m a cold-hearted killer.”

“Because you are a cold-hearted killer,” Mito commented, picking off an imaginary piece of lint from her kimono as she did so. 

“And you are a hellion sent from the great beyond to torment little children,” he hissed back. 

Mito rolled her eyes and leaned against Hashirama who looked between the two with a mirthful look in his eyes. From the stories Tobirama had told her from when Mito was alive, hellion was almost too kind of a statement. 

A piece of shrimp tail hit Sakura between the forehead and she frowned at the culprit, Shisui, who didn’t even have the decency to look embarrassed. 

“Shisui,” Itachi scolded, “Not you too.” 

“I called her name like four times, ‘Tachi. I had to get her attention somehow.” Shisui waved him off with the hand not holding his chopsticks. “She’s ignoring me. It’s rude.”

 “Don’t mind her, Shisui-nii. Yokai-chan just gets distracted easily. You don’t gotta hit her though, we’re trying to be nice, ” Naruto emphasized with a pointed look. 

Sakura’s lip curled up but Kushina was quick to recover the situation. 

“What did you just call her?” Kushina screeched, “Naruto Namikaze you are in so much trouble.” She got up from her seated position and placed one sock covered foot on the dining table. Minato just sighed and moved their bowls out of the way, seemingly familiar with the aggression between the two. 

“It’s just a nickname! Sakura-chan doesn’t mind it, do you? It’s not even the full thing, Yamanaka is the one that made it up, not me.” 

Sasuke sighed from her right and she buried her face in her hands, completely abandoning her chopsticks. “Now you’ve done it, dobe. We’re never gonna hear the end of this.” He said.  

“The full thing? There’s more?” Shisui questioned and dodged the nudges that came from Itachi and Kakashi from both sides. 

Sakura shook her head and tried to will the anxiety that crept up her spin away. She pulled her head up from her hands and blinked up at Hashirama who’d moved towards her the second the fighting started. Kushina continued to scream from across the table at Naruto, red-hair wild from the excitement. She would’ve been in awe at the redhead were she not so embarrassed. 

Hot discomfort crept up her neck and the placations from Hashirama and Tobirama did nothing to dissuade it. Even Rin seemed a bit uncomfortable at the argument, the mood of the table almost immediately turning sour. In the chaos, Kakashi had taken pains to clear his plate and were she not so mortified, she would’ve been impressed at the speed in which he ate his food. 

“It’s okay, Kushina-sama, really. I don’t mind it,” she finally interjected, hoping to calm the irritated woman. 

Kushina made her way over to the children and grabbed Naruto by the neck to force him into a deep bow, “It’s really not. He should know better than to use that word around me. He should know better than to call someone that as well. If he says it again, you tell me. He’s on double chore duty for the next month. ”

Naruto whined from his place on the floor, voice muffled from where his mouth was squished against the hardwood floor. “S-sorry Sakura-chan. I won’t call you that ever again, ‘ttebayo. I promise.”

Sakura shook off the bow and hoped the look in her eyes wasn’t too watery. Between the urge to leave earlier and now being the sole bearer of attention on the table, it was quickly becoming overwhelming and the need to escape doubled without an exit to take advantage of. 

She bit back a pout and sighed in relief when the conversation resumed to normal. Hashirama stayed on this side of the table, however, and joined on the other side of Rin who was quick to move over to accommodate him. The rest of the Uchiha ghosts had ceased their conversations as well and regarded their kin with a peculiar look in their eyes. 

“So, Sakura-chan. Pink haired shinobi.” Shisui interrupted again, an easy grin on his face but a wary look in his eyes. “What rank is he? Genin? Chunin? Jonin? ANBU?” 

“His tenacity is astounding,” Tobirama muttered. “Was he dropped on his head as a baby, Kagami?” 

“You would think, but no, somehow he is just like that. He seems very enamored with Sakura-san. It’s not unusual behavior, he might just be interested because she’s his cousin's teammate.” Kagami replied, his gaze solely on his descendant. 

Sakura blinked to clear her head and steadied a shaking hand as she re-grabbed her chopsticks from where they’d fallen on the table. “Aniki’s a Jonin, but he doesn’t have pink hair. It’s silver.” 

“Like Kakashi-sensei’s?” Sasuke asked, “Are you related?”

She looked at Kakashi with a steady gaze before shaking her head. “I don’t think so. He’s got pink eyes and Kakashi has black eyes.” She then pointed at her eyes, “And I’ve got green. My papa had blue and my mama had green as well.” 

“D-did you say, pink eyes?” Shisui asked, eyes twitching. “Silver hair? Pink eyes?”

Sakura nodded as she sucked on her chopsticks. “Uh-huh. He works in T&I with Ibiki, but he’s on a mission right now. Sasuke got offended that he’s not the only one with an older brother, so that’s why he wants you to come to training.” 

“What’s your brother’s name, Sakura-chan?” Kushina asked from across the table, a frown pointed at Minato who had the decency to look a bit sheepish. 

“Hidan,” she replied as she popped a stewed potato in her mouth. “Haruno Hidan.” 

Shisui’s face turned an ashen gray, as did Kakashi’s. Itachi managed to not let his emotions show, but Sakura spotted a twitch in the corner of his eye. 

“What kind of name is Hidan?” Naruto muttered, “And what’s with you guys anyway? You’re creeping me out, Shisui-nii.” 

“Your older brother is The Butcher? You put the Butcher’s little sister on Sasuke-chan’s team?” Shisui pointed his chopsticks at Minato who pointed his right back. “If anything happens to her, we’re dead. You’re gonna get us all killed.” 

“More like get me killed. I’m the one responsible for her,” Kakashi-sensei muttered, grey face turning green. “We are never going outside of this village, not while she’s still a Genin.” 

Sakura frowned and looked at both Sasuke and Naruto who had similar looks of confusion. 

“She was top Kunoichi in the academy, it made the most sense,” Minato said defensively, “She had great recommendations from her sensei’s at the academy. Highest marks in every class.” 

She smiled at that, thankful that Iruka gave her such high praise despite the lackluster treatment from her peers. She didn’t quite understand what the fuss was between the adults, but Naruto and Sasuke didn’t seem quite bothered, as did Tobirama. 

“So, is he super strong or what?” Sasuke asked, stealing some of the remaining pieces of meat from Itachi’s pushed plate. “Nii-san you’d still win right?” 

“ My nii-san will win,” Sakura said matter-of-factly, if only because Sasuke puffed his cheeks at her comment. “That is, if he gets time to participate. Ibiki-san is so demanding with his schedule. He barely had time to spar with me for the last year of the academy and he missed my graduation.”

“I’m gonna call in so many favors to make sure this spar doesn’t happen,” Shisui muttered to Itachi, who nodded in agreement. “So many favors. I’ll do anything Anko asks, I swear. Genma, Raidou, anyone.” 

“I think that’s enough excitement for one night. Maybe some dessert and tea while we clean up? I know Minato and Fugaku had some council business to discuss.” Mikoto cut in with a nervous laugh. Minato and Fugaku were quick to agree, the two men absconding away from the dishes and responsibilities almost immediately. Madara and Izuna were quick to follow, the two looking back towards Tobirama and Hashirama with a presumptive glance.

“Are you going to be alright if we leave you alone?” Hashirama asked. 

Sakura nodded minutely and straightened her back from its slumped posture. The two Senju took that as good of a sign as any and the men closed themselves in the sealed office to discuss Sage knows what. If anything were worth knowing, she trusted the two to tell her eventually. 

Kushina waved off her attempts at helping clean, instead instructed Naruto and Sasuke to clean up while she gathered the myriad of sweets she had assembled for dessert. The red-haired woman carried a tray of sweets with great enthusiasm and only relinquished the treats to the boys once the three of them had taken their fill. 

“Minato and Fugaku hate sweets, but that just means more for us. I have half a mind not to give the boys anything, but I just know he’ll sneak some later if I don’t give Naruto something,” Kushina said, sharing a look with Mikoto who giggled. Sakura moved closer to the women at their request and sat politely as they shared pleasantries over the sweets. She took a bite of the nerikiri she bought Kushina and savored the sweet anko on the inside. 

“So, Sakura-chan, how are you enjoying being on Naruto-chan and Sasuke-chan’s team?” Mikoto asked, “Is Kakashi treating you all fairly?”

She looked over to where her sensei was engaged in a hushed conversation with Itachi and Shisui at the other end of the table. “Kakashi-sensei has been great. He yelled at the boys to be nicer to me, so for that I’m grateful.” She took a sip of the jasmine tea and savored the floral taste on her tongue. “I didn’t have many friends at the academy, so I am happy my team is so nice. I was worried about who I would be paired up with during graduation.” 

Sakura took a bite of the Uchiwa shaped castella cake that Mikoto brought and hummed in awe at the sweetness of the buttercream. “This is really good, Mikoto-sama!” 

“Please, Sakura-chan, call me Mikoto-oba-san,” Mikoto insisted with a wave of her hand. “We alternate who hosts dinner every week, so I’ll make sure to bring some more of the Uchiha bakeries' desserts next time.” 

Sakura licked at her spoon and contemplated asking for second helpings. She figured the two women would give it to her, but she didn’t want to seem too greedy. “If my nii-san is back by then, can he come?”

If Mikoto looked surprised by the comment she didn’t let it show, but she was quick to recover and nodded. “Of course. Your family is a part of ours now, I want you to feel comfortable.” 

She nodded and glanced up at the arrival of the Spider-masked Anbu who scuttled across the ceiling like his namesake. He bowed slightly towards her and observed the room with guarded interest. Besides Spider, the only other ghosts in the room were Rin and Mito. It was unusual to see her without either Senju, but she could hear the ghosts across the hall, so it wasn’t as if she was truly alone. 

“Sakura-sama, you’ll be pleased to know that your older brother has returned from his mission and is at home awaiting your arrival,” Spider reported. 

She grinned and scooped up the last bit of the cake and gathered her plate as quickly as she could. She ignored the surprised looks in the womens eyes and was quick to bow in thanks. “This was truly a delight, thank you for inviting me to your home. I need to be heading home now, I hope that’s alright.” 

“O-of course it is! So sudden. Do you need someone to walk you home? Itachi? Shisui?” Mikoto offered which Sakura was quick to disagree with. 

“No, thank you ma’am. I wouldn’t want to interrupt their evening,” she bowed again, deep and respectful. “I will see you at training tomorrow, right, Kakashi-sensei?” 

He coughed around a mouthful of tea and nodded with an eye-crinkled smile. “Seven in the morning, Sakura-chan. Please be safe walking home.” 

She waved at the remaining members of the table and allowed Sasuke and Naruto to walk her to the foyer to gather her sandals. She also blinked a goodbye at Rin who gave her a quick wave and a smile but didn’t get up to move from the table. 

“Is everything okay, Sakura-chan? You’re not leaving so suddenly because you’re upset, right?” Naruto asked, his blue eyes wide and uncertain. 

Sakura was struck by how bright his eyes seemed and she could feel a flush crawling up her chest. “No, it’s nothing like that.” She got close to the two boys, who eagerly leaned in, and lowered her voice to a whisper. “I have a good feeling my aniki is home, and I wanna see if my gut feeling is right. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? We have some scores to settle! Let’s see if I can punch your Sharingan into a second tomoe?” 

Sasuke blushed and scowled at her and shoved Naruto to the side once he started laughing. 

“Oi! I forgot Sasuke-chan unlocked his Sharingan. Wait, Sakura-chan, you can’t leave now, we need you to tell the adults the story of how it happened.” Shisui called out and tried to get up to stop her but was quickly yanked back to the floor by Kakashi. 

She waved the boy off and allowed Spider to guide her home, a pep in her step and an unconscious smile across her face. 

Chapter Text

Try as Shisui and Itachi might, the first thing Sakura did was introduce her teammates to her older brother. The lack of supervision in the mornings played in her favor as she arrived at their customary training grounds on Hidan’s back. 

The older sibling had spent the entire walk recounting his mission, the people he’d killed, and the sights he’d seen. In gruesome detail. Even Tobirama looked a bit ill at some of the fights he’d engaged in, especially the ones that caused such a delay on his return home. 

“-and so I took my remaining kunai and drove it so far into his eyeball that it went down his throat and through his spine!” Hidan exclaimed, hands tight around her knees as he readjusted her position on his back. 

“What did you do next?” Sakura asked, cheek pushed up against his back and she observed Tobirama to her left, the ghost paying close attention to Hidan’s story. One her right, Spider walked a few paces behind them, the Anbu spirit content to keep them company in lieu of an imaginary border patrol. 

“Well, then I had to apologize to the pansy jōnin I got assigned to work with for ‘violent use of force against enemy ninja.’ At this point, I think Bibiki-baka sets me up for failure on purpose. What kind of ninja can’t handle being splattered with brain matter?” 

“Most shinobi cut their enemies. Blood and viscera aren’t the same thing. Also, you did replace his bandanas with doilies on his birthday this year. I don’t think Ibiki-san likes you,” she reminded him. 

“Well, it was an improvement on his looks. Between the bald head and the scars, no wonder he doesn’t get any.” 

“Get any what?” she asked. 

Hidan stiffened and coughed into his bicep, “-of the good missions. Because he’s so ugly. It’s a bad look for the village. Gotta keep him inside like a yokai in a pot.”  

Sakura frowned and looked at Tobirama who avoided her questioning gaze. 

They arrived to the surprised gazes of both Naruto and Sasuke. She usually arrived before them, so this was a first for the boys. She waved as a greeting and kicked off her brother before tugging him over to her team. 

“Sakura-chan! Who is this? This your nii-san?” Naruto asked as he scrambled off the floor to meet them. Sasuke wasn’t far behind him, also eager to meet her brother, even if he hid his excitement better. “And where’s his shirt?”

Sakura looked over at her brother's outfit, the flak jacket he wore unzipped to expose his pedant proud against tan sin. “He’s wearing a shirt?” 

“Yeah, you brat! This counts as a shirt. The name’s Hidan. I came to check out my imouto’s team now that I’m back home,” he leveled them with a menacing glare. “-and I’m not impressed.”

Sasuke scowled and met his glare with one of his own. “You’re not so impressive either looking like that.”

“Oh, yeah? You wanna say that to my face, brat.”

“I just did,” Sasuke replied, arms crossed. 

“You’re not supposed to be here yet, you gotta be here when Itachi-nii and Shisui-nii come this week. You and Itachi-nii gotta spar and figure out who is the strongest between you two,” Naruto informed him. He poked at the exposed muscles on his arms and revelled in the firmness. 

Hidan set her down on the plush grassy floor and she’d walked a ways away to sit down with folded knees to her chest to watch the scene in front of her play out. Tobirama was quick to settle behind her, the Senju also eager for her teammates to be put in their places. Spider scattered to the treelike for a higher vantage and she smiled fondly at the glinting of white and red against the green brush. 

“Well, since they’re not here, I’ll tell you what,” he righted his flak jacket where it’d come askew, “Why don’t we spar and if you win, I’ll tell you the story of the mission that earned me the title of ‘ The Butcher. ’ If you lose, then you brats gotta be my assistant for a day and I’m scarily behind on paperwork.” Hidan proposed with a glinting look in his eye. 

Naruto and Sasuke shared a look, both torn between the possibility of getting their butts kicked in a spar and getting to hear a gruesome story at the hands of an esteemed jōnin. 

Sakura sighed and set her cheek on her knee as she watched the boys agree to her brother's conditions. When he promised to take care of her team, she thought he’d talk some sense into them. Not beat them to their senses. “Aniki is gonna get us in trouble,” she mumbled to Tobirama.

“When they accepted those headbands, they became adults in the eyes of Hi no Kuni. Being an adult means understanding when to take fights and when to understand you’ve been outclassed and should concede defeat. Your teammates are lucky they are learning this lesson from the safety of the village and not at the hands of nuke-nin,” he lectured. 

“But one’s father is the Hokage and the other is the second son of a clan head. If they get too hurt, they might file a formal complaint.” 

“The blonde one can barely write his name in a straight line and his seal arrays are inept at best. I don’t think they even know how to file anything at the tower that doesn’t have to do with requesting more weapons from the quartermaster.” 

Sakura rolled her eyes but huffed out a small laugh regardless. She used her position to hide the fact that she was talking to Tobirama, but kept her eyes focused enough to make sure she didn’t miss a moment of the fun. Naruto was the first to engage in combat with Sasuke close behind as they took a page out of Kakashi-sensei’s books and teamed up against her brother in the hopes of taking him down. 

Hidan had left his scythe at home so he pulled one of the curved blades attached to his back to fend off their kunai and shuriken with. Thankfully, he used the blunt edge of the blade whenever he got close to their guards so he didn’t slice her poor team to ribbons. 

Her team . 

She frowned and looked at Tobirama again. Before graduation, she’d been unsure of the idea of being assigned to such a squad. The genin corps would’ve suited her fine, maybe, if this team hadn’t worked out. 

Hidan was not the first to offer the suggestion, and had informed her that plenty of vacancies existed with T&I should she need an alternative placement. While she’d kept most of her bullying under wraps during her time at the academy, alongside the fact that he was banned from parent-teacher conferences, he at least knew that she didn’t have much in terms of companionship from her peers. The lack of birthday invitations hadn’t gone unnoticed, but thankfully he wasn’t one to pry unless she asked for advice. 

She’d asked him, once they were in pajamas and tucked together on his single futon in his room last night, on how she should handle her team. He’d suggested a more physical approach, simply beating the respect into them. Which she supposed she’d already done. 

Sakura glanced at Sasuke's crimson eyes that blinked from across the training grounds, following her brother's movements in the hopes of finding an opening. 

Then he’d suggested, in a surprisingly mature manner, that her teammates were kids. As was she. Kids made mistakes, didn’t know the weight behind their words, and often followed the crowds in an effort to fit in with each other. Naruto and Sasuke moved in tandem with one another, whether they realized it or not, but seemed receptive to allowing her into their fold. 

Inviting her to family dinner had been the first step. 

She winced at a particularly violent kick that sent Naruto across the clearing. 

It didn’t mean her brother would fully forgive them though; not until they begged mercy from his machinations. 

Her inner musings were interrupted by Kakashi-sensei’s abrupt presence. The jōnin had picked her up by the scruff of her haori, not unlike a puppy. Unlike Shisui, she didn’t protest, and instead smiled up at him. He mirrored the look, lone exposed eye closed in greeting. She glanced around him to make eyes with Rin and Sakumo who waved at the group.

“Sakura-chan, good morning,” he greeted before he looked over at the groaning forms of Naruto and Sasuke as they tapped out against Hidan’s dual chokehold around their necks. Her brother hadn’t even broken a sweat from the exertion, but her teammates looked as if they’d spent the morning rolling around in dirt and were ready to keel over from exhaustion. “I assume this is your brother?” 

She nodded. “Nii-san wanted to meet my team since he has a few days off before he has to return to T&I.”

“And the early morning spar?”

“Naruto and Sasuke started it. They told him that he didn’t seem like much. Aniki is easily offended.” Sakura shrugged and tapped his forearm in a request to be put down. He complied and patted her head as he whistled to gather the boy's attention. 

“I’ll have to have a talk with the boys so they understand when and when not to pick fights with jōnin who could easily kill them,” Kakashi mused. 

“Told you,” Tobirama said. 

Sakura’s eyes flickered towards Tobirama and she tried to hide the twitch of a smirk from Kakashi. He wasn’t necessarily wrong, but she did find satisfaction in the fact that her teammates looked spent so early in the morning. 

Once Hidan had released them, the boys rushed to greet Kakashi-sensei with the enthusiasm she’d come to expect. How they had so much energy, she wasn’t quite sure. 

“Well, it seems like you had an exciting morning. I hope you keep up this pace with the laps you promised to complete this morning. I met up with Asuma and Kurenai after dinner last night and decided that now was as good a time as ever to have to set up some friendly rounds of sparring. So, if you get started now, maybe we’ll have time to grab lunch before we head over.” Kakashi smiled at the genin who groaned in response, “Quickly now. Unless you’d like now to be a proper introduction to how fast my ninken can be?” 

With matching shakes of their heads, the three genin set off almost immediately, falling into the triangle formation instilled from their week of training. Sasuke took the front with Sakura behind him on his left and Naruto on his right. 

Hidan brushed off some of the grass that had settled on flak jacket before he stood next to Kakashi in the clearing with his hands in his pockets as he watched the kids run off towards the edge of the village.  

“Hound,” he greeted with a wide, teasing grin. “Fancy seeing you here.” 

"Butcher,” Kakashi acknowledged, “I had no idea you had a little sister.”

Hidan shrugged and waved his hand in the air, “It was strictly on a need-to-know basis. Children are so portable these days, easy to pick up, easy to lose, easy to use in a hostage negotiation. You understand.”

“Sakura’s only mentioned an older brother, but with the way it was worded, you were made out to be a civilian. Your file, however, had your last name completely redacted. Had she not told us who you were last night, I might’ve never known.” 

If possible, Hidan’s grin grew wider. He personified a Cheshire cat, pink eyes playful around a mouth full of porcelain teeth. It unnerved Kakashi, despite his years in Anbu. How someone could be so casual, yet so callous. 

“I didn’t know you cared, Hound. Careful now, I might start to think you have a crush on me.” 

Kakashi scoffed but forced the tension in his shoulders to dissipate. “Not for you. This is the first team I’ve ever passed, and I intend it to be the last. I have helped raise Naruto and Sasuke from when they were infants. Sakura is under my care and something like you should’ve been included from the get-go.” 

“Why? So you could refuse the assignment?” Hidan questioned, unsure of where the man was going with it. “Scared?”

“Don’t flatter yourself. It would take more than you to intimidate me. I’ve raised plenty of ninken and these kids still are barely whelped, let alone ready to kill or fight against anyone but their peers. The more I know, the better equipped I am to make sure they can stand on their own outside of these walls.” Kakashi crossed his arms and leveled Hidan with a cool stare. 

“You shouldn’t baby them, Hound. Treat them like Anbu and you’ll see more prosperous fruits of your labor. I wouldn’t have put her in the academy if I didn’t think she’d have the makings of a strong shinobi. You don’t have to coddle her.”

“Genin and Anbu are different, and I would never subject them to the ways of the mask if I could help it. In times of peace, I will ‘coddle’ my genin as much as I want.”

Hidan barked out a laugh and clapped Kakashi on the shoulder, the older ninja wincing at the comfortability of someone that unnerved him in the same way that Anko did. That any member of T&I did really. The special kind of intimidation born from someone who knew how to make a seasoned ninja sing the secrets of their village like a canary. “You and I are going to get along just fine. My imouto is strong, if a bit shy, and may surprise you. She’ll outgrow her hesitation when she gets her first kill.”  

Kakashi grimaced and shrugged off the friendly gesture. “You shouldn’t seem so excited at the prospect.”

“I was raised by monks and watched my village fade into obscurity so they could become a tourist destination. Jashin be damned if I let the same thing happen to Konoha. Jakuniku-kyoushoku, Hound. Don’t forget.”  

❀❀❀

By the time Team Seven had finished their laps around the village, Hidan was long gone and the tension from Kakashi’s shoulders had faded. Sakura gave her sensei a questioning glance as she settled into familiar stretches as a cooldown. 

“Your nii-san was summoned to give his final mission report, so he had to run,” Kakashi lied with ease. In reality, the idea of spending his day off at the Rusty Kunai with his fellow jōnin on payday was too enticing to ignore. After the team spars, Kakashi hoped to join his comrades in the same manner, his bill paid for in full by the likes of Asuma and Kurenai. 

Hidan wasn’t wrong in his assessment of Team Seven and Kakashi could see the makings of legends that formed itself in their shadows, despite being so small and oh so eager. While he’d been nervous at the thought of training such beasts, as he looked down at their sweaty faces, he couldn’t help but smile fondly. 

“Kakashi-sensei, why are you looking at us like that,” Naruto questioned, “You’re kinda freaking me out.” 

“Oh, nothing. Just reminiscing. Come now, we’re only thirty minutes late to meeting with the other teams and I think that gives us just enough time to grab a snack from the convenience store down the road.”

Sakura pouted and swallowed a mouth full of water from her canteen, “I thought you said we were meeting at noon? Does that mean we’ll be arriving an hour late to the spars? Isn’t that a bit rude?” 

“It’s incredibly rude,” Tobirama sneered, “Your sensei should learn punctuality if he is to be in charge of your education. It’s bad enough he makes you all wait in the morning. To do so to his fellow comrades is an insult on their character.” 

“Did I say noon? They might’ve said eleven, or ten. Who knows these days?” 

Whether the shrug was due to Tobirama's remarks or Kakashi’s blasé nature, she wasn’t sure. She followed her team down the main road back to the village and couldn’t find it in herself to be too upset at the prospect of eating after such intense cardio. 

“I’m surprised we’re sparring with the other teams so soon, Kakashi-sensei,” Sakura commented. “Are you sure that’s wise?” 

“If the other teams have been wasting time, then it’s better to get it out now then later,” Sasuke replied around a mouthful of onigiri. Like Naruto, he somehow had less than desirable eating habits when he wasn’t around his family. “I for one am eager to beat up the mutt.” 

“What did Kiba ever do to you?” Naruto asked. 

“Exist. Same crime as you, idiot.” 

Sakura laughed and allowed herself to be led towards Team Ten’s assigned training grounds as Naruto berated Sasuke for his cruelty. She held out her rice covered hands to Kakashi when prompted, who proceeded to pull out a small package of napkins for his genin. 

“Kakashi, you’re late,” Kurenai deadpanned from her spot next to Asuma. His and hers team were both stretching on the grassy plane, with Shikamaru asleep at the edge of the field. “We explicitly said to meet at eleven.” 

“My mistake. We ran into some trouble down at the market and had to take the long way, but then got lost. We’re here now, aren’t we?” Kakashi smiled and ignored the way their eyes lingered on the small plastic bag he held in his grasp. “Better late than never."

Asuma sighed and clapped to gather the three teams' attention. Kakashi was more than happy to let him take the lead as he took his place beside Kurenai and pulled out his customary orange book. The woman only sighed and tried not to blush as her red eyes zeroed in on a particularly romantic passage. 

Sakura mimicked her team as they settled on the grass, taking care to sit far from where Ino and Hinata sat huddled together. The blonde gave her a cruel smirk and Sakura rolled her eyes and secretly hoped they’d be paired together in a spar. 

Were it not for her brother or the ghosts, she wondered how her combat skills would’ve developed by only being able to spar in the academy. Amongst the children of clan heads and main branch members, they’d all grown up accustomed to learning katas from family figures and private tutors. 

The only reason they needed to learn the academy kata was so they could get a passing grade, not because it was all that was afforded to them. 

Surprisingly, Naruto and Sasuke stuck close to her. She couldn’t keep the satisfied smile that washed over her face and she hoped it wasn’t noticeable. At Yakiniku Q, they’d sat as far away from her as they could, but here they unconsciously joined her in her spot next to Shino. She murmured a greeting to the Aburame who accepted it in kind. 

“We’re going to keep it clean and friendly. Taijutsu only, no family techniques. This is an assessment, not a beatdown. Any excessive use of force will result in punishment, okay? ” Asuma commanded, following the last part with a pointed look in Team Seven’s direction. Sakura scrunched her nose and realized that she was included in that warning. 

Thoughts of the fact that she punched her teammate so hard that his dojutsu activated flittered over her mind and she realized that the warning wasn’t wholly unwarranted. Seeing as she was also planning on beating Ino black and blue should they get paired in the spar meant that Asuma might know more than he let on.

She glanced at the old woman that stood next to Asuma and she accepted the warm smile that the ghost offered with one of her own. She knew briefly, from history lessons at the academy, that the Third’s wife was named Biwako and passed away a little over a decade ago. She could see the family resemblance in the furrow of Asuma’s brows as he surveyed the teams and decided who to pair first. 

With the way Naruto vibrated next to her, she hoped that he had the foresight to choose him first so he could work off some of the liveliness. After a spar, with her brother of all people, and laps around the village, the blonde still seemed to have energy in spades. Sasuke’s stamina must’ve grown alongside him as the Uchiha seemed just as excited. She looked over at Shikamaru’s prone state and the way Choji relaxed against a tree next to him and almost envied the way Ino’s team had a more lackadaisical outlook on life. No one ever asked her if she wanted to speed the afternoon cloud watching. 

Tobirama would never allow her to waste time on such a thing, but Hashirama might in the name of meditation. She wondered where the brown haired Senju was, not that it wasn’t uncommon for him to disappear at times.

“Kiba, Naruto. You too first.” Asuma decided and Sakura almost agreed with the matchmaking. 

Kiba was Team Eight’s chosen combat specialist, even if the team didn’t look like much of a frontliner squad. Hinata’s Byakugan allowed her to see over vast distances and observe the way chakra flowed through someone's body. Shino’s Kikaichū and their ability to travel near undetected and relay information to their host meant that they excelled in infiltration. With Kiba’s heightened senses and ninken partner, the team was made with tracking and infiltration in mind. Still, as she watched him grapple with Naruto in the same wildish manner, he had strength behind him. He was a good match for Naruto, even if some of his movements were more beast than man. 

Hinata would do well to spar with Sasuke, if Kurenai allowed it. However, she didn’t doubt that the Hyuuga would be paired with Sakura. 

She frowned at the thought. 

Not that she would be disappointed at the prospect of fighting a member of one of the main clans, something she wasn’t able to do at the academy; she still hoped for something a little bit more gratifying. The quiet girl wasn’t a bully, but she was a bystander, and a weak-willed one at that. 

She watched the blush overcome the pale girl's face as Naruto gave a particularly voracious roar. A weak-willed kunoichi with interesting taste.  

Shino and Sasuke would probably fare a bit better, since she knew both would match each other in size and speed. Shino could be surprisingly fast if he wanted to be, and she’d never know him to back down from a challenge. 

Team Ten’s members would be a bit more challenging if she got paired against them, mainly because they were the only team that knew each other beforehand. Their tactics had been developed for generations and they already knew how to move as a unit under a strong hand. Even in one-on-one spars, they had confidence in spades from the comfortability of  being told how to fight and what to do with their clan techniques. Choji would be fun to spar, if only because she knew how well he could tank a hit. Shikamaru would probably decline the proposal and based on the affectionate look in Asuma’s eyes, she figured he’d probably allow it. 

With the teams distracted, she allowed her eyes to focus on Ino Yamanaka from across the clearing. Asuma’s warning of excess force bounced in her mind, and Sakura knew it would be a bad idea to succumb to her urges; despite this, she secretly pleaded with the fates to pair her together. Surely, if Hinata had to fight against Sakura, then it only made sense for her to be paired with the remaining girl amongst the teams. 

“Your bloodthirst is showing,” Tobirama teased, “Try to be more subtle. Your sensei hasn’t taken his eyes off of you.” 

Sakura caught Kakashi-sensei’s eyes from where he’d been watching from across the clearing and she allowed her eyes to flicker towards Ino and then back at him, almost like a request. His lone eye narrowed and his head cocked to the side as if to say, are you sure?

She nodded and curled her knees close to her chest, the front of her hands around her calf in a prayer motion. Please. Please. I can be trusted . 

A small part of her knew this was false, but Kakashi didn’t need to know that. Just this once. 

It had somehow escaped both Kurenai and Asuma’s notice as Naruto and Kiba’s spar came to a close, the former winning against the Inuzuka with glee. Akamaru had stayed far from the spar, since the dog could technically be considered a clan technique, and he trotted over to his owner to both physically and metaphorically lick his wounds. 

Naruto joined Sasuke and Sakura as well and exclaimed loudly, “That’s one for Team Seven! You guys don’t stand a chance.” He pointed at the other teams and laughed at Kiba’s rude gesture. 

Sakura offered him some water while he cooled down and grinned when Kakashi cleared his throat. Sasuke nudged her encouragingly, having noticed the interaction between his teammate and their sensei. Naruto’s blue eyes flitted between the two and he allowed Sasuke to whisper in his ear to explain the situation. A fox-like grin overcame his tan face and he too became excited at the prospect of seeing their teammate in action. 

She tried not to blush at their support, but couldn’t deny it felt good for them to have her back. Take that Ino. 

“As exciting as that was, I think it was a bit too much testosterone for my taste. Ino, Sakura, would you be willing to spar next?” Kakashi smiled at Asuma’s brief noise of protest before the Sarutobi relented. 

Sakura nodded, unwilling to voice her agreement on the off chance she sounded too excited. Ino, not one to back down from a challenge, sneered in her direction. 

“You’re on, Busu-Yokai. Try not to cry when I bash your face in,” she taunted. 

“ Ino ,” Asuma reprimanded, voice made of steel. “That’s a lap.”

Sakura kept silent and merely moved towards the blonde in the middle of the sparring ground. The chakra underneath her skin vibrated and she allowed herself to glance at Tobirama who seemed eager at the spar. She wondered, should she drag out the spar or end it immediately in the most humiliating manner? 

She’d gotten her fill of stretching her limbs with her kata when she sparred with Naruto and Sasuke the day prior. The Yamanaka weren’t known for their taijutsu skills, so anything the blonde threw at her would be rudimentary at best. Stalling and prisoner capturing, sure. Hand to hand combat? Not so much. 

The two formed the Sign of Confrontation and Ino didn’t hesitate to forcefully rip her hand away so that they could start the spar away from each other. 

She cocked her head to the side as she kept her eyes on Tobirama, the Senju contemplative in his spot next to Rin and the other ghosts. He shared a glance with Sakumo who mimed slicing open his neck with his thumb. She flickered her eyes to Kakashi who gave her a supportive nod. 

Quick then. 

It was pathetic, but also gruelingly satisfying in the way Sakura flickered with pure speed from her place in front of Ino to then immediately be at her side. She delt one punch to her gut, the blonde immediately doubling over in pain. Quick as lightning, she crouched slightly to get the angle right and all it took was one chakra enhanced kick to the temple to send her careening into a nearby tree. The thunk of her body echoed in the clearing and Sakura hoped she hadn’t killed her. Only slightly. 

Asuma was quick to recover his female genin and proclaimed her alright but unconscious. 

“I said no excessive force, Sakura. That’s a lap for you too. Kakashi, at least try to be responsible in front of the genin.” He propped her form next to Shikamaru who groaned but sat up to monitor her condition. “Hinata, Choji, you’re next. Gentle, please. The both of you.” 

Hinata blushed and Choji handed his bag of chips to Shikamaru with a smile. Sakura agreed the match making was the best course of action while tensions abated. They both had a calm spirit and seemed uncomfortable at the idea of team spars in the first place. 

Sakura didn’t offer an apology to Asuma, however, and merely mimed the Seal of Reconciliation on her own. 

Kakashi sighed and shook his head, berating himself for giving into her wishes. Kurenai whispered her own indignation in his ear and he shrugged off her comments with a lazy look.

Despite being properly chastised, Sakura gave her sensei a proud thumbs up, not unlike the way Naruto would. “I think that’s two for Team Seven,” she offered. She blushed at Naruto’s supportive cheer and resumed at her spot next to her team, bloodlust satiated. For now. It wouldn’t do well to ruin a relationship with the other teams so early on, so she vowed to hold back against the others in the future, if only to keep her sensei happy. 

Chapter Text

へのへのもへじ

Kakashi

The pay structure for the shinobi of Konoha goes as follows: 

Genin are paid once a month, at the end of the month, like clockwork. Thanks to times of peace and a promoted effort on the Fourth Hokage's part, most of the graduating class over the last few years has had at least one parent or guardian caring for them to help offset the costs of being a budding shinobi. No orphans in sight. Since their missions paid the least and their focuses were on teamwork rather than being sent out of the village to risk their lives, their pay schedule wasn’t as dire and thus less frequent. 

Chūnin and adult members of the Genin Corps were paid biweekly. Most of these ninja were career shinobi and either assigned to desk jobs supporting the village or courier missions to where they were most likely expected to return home safe and sound. Border patrol, academy teachers, and iryo-nin usually fell into this category as well. 

Jōnin and Anbu, however? They were paid weekly, since they were less likely to return home and even less likely to know how to budget around fractured psyches and murderous tendencies. It wouldn’t do well to be caught without a specific weapon or armor because you couldn’t purchase it due to insufficient funds. 

This also meant the well known establishment, The Bent Senbon, was packed to the brim like clockwork every Friday night. 

This particular evening was a special one, since it was the first paycheck for newly established jōnin sensei to take advantage of the well known promotion offered at The Bent Senbon. It was a tradition, of sorts, to offer your team photo to be tacked to the wall behind the main counter at the back of the bar. Kakashi’s own photo was a bit higher up, but he couldn’t help but smile fondly as he handed a copy of his team's photo over in exchange for an hour's worth of free drinks. 

He wondered if they should retake it, now that his genin had worked through their initial awkwardness after being assigned to his team. Sakura stood in the middle, as was tradition for any team, but unlike Naruto’s fox-like grin or Sasuke’s smug smirk, she merely stared bewildered at the camera, looking far past the camera lens and into the horizon. Kushina had promised him copies of the photo she took of his team the day prior, the likes of which were much more his style. Sakura shoved between the boys with a soft smile on her face, if not a bit antagonized at the abruptness of the embrace. 

“Don’t think this gets you off the hook from paying for my bill,” he sang towards Asuma and Kurenai with a mask-covered grin. “My team won fair and square.” He accepted his drink from the heavily tattooed retired Kunoichi with a slight bow. 

“Your team is a bunch of hellions,” Kurenai muttered around a mouthful of sake. “I’d gladly sacrifice my paycheck if it meant I never have to watch them in my spare time.” 

Asuma laughed and Kakashi tutted in mock offense. The three took a seat at their customary booth halfway to the door, the back of which afforded them a wide viewing angle of both the bar and the doorway. 

He clinked his glass against Genma and Raidou who moved to accommodate the trio. They left space for Itachi and Shisui who were bound to show up once Sasuke was tucked safely in bed with a clone watching over him. As Itachi was accustomed to doing, not that he would ever admit it to his cousin or senpai's face. 

Gai promised to arrive as well, at some point. He’d have to see if the man would be up for team spars next week. 

“What’s this about hellions?” Genma asked, tongue flickering over the senbon in his mouth. “Don’t tell me you’ve already ruined perfectly good children, Hatake. Kushina-sama will have your head if Naruto shows up reading porn or wearing an eyepatch.” 

“Maah, they came to me like this. I’ve been running drills and making sure they can be trusted not to kill each other when left unattended. Kurenai’s just a bit sensitive since she and Hiashi-sama are now best friends.” 

Kurenai banged her head against the table and kept her forehead to the wood as Asuma rubbed her back. “Don’t remind me,” she groaned, “I can barely get the girl to string together a sentence without stuttering and I’m supposed to have her chūnin ready before she turns sixteen or I can kiss my career goodbye.” 

Asuma laughed at her misery, softly, so as to not anger her. “You could have it worse, really. I have the next generation of Ino-Shika-Cho and I barely know what to do with them. One’s a gentle giant, couldn’t hurt a fly! The other is lazy as can be and the last one has been spoiled rotten by Inoichi. I can barely get her to do stretches let alone complete laps around the training ground .” 

Kakashi hummed in acknowledgement, satisfied that his team was doing laps around the village with minimal complaints. He informed them as such. 

Asuma rolled his eyes and Kurenai let out another sob before shooting back another tin of sake. “First and last time we include Team Seven in our spars, not until I’m sure they know what the proper end of a kunai looks like. I should’ve never agreed to your bet.” 

“Don’t tell me…” Raidou trailed off, “Spars so soon? How did they go?” 

Kakashi smiled again, proud as can be. “My team won every round they participated in. Of course, Asuma was at a disadvantage because his Nara refused to participate and Kurenai’s kunoichi passed out when paired against Naruto.” 

Genma barked out a laugh and shook Asuma in support, “A Nara who refuses to spar, how original. Should’ve brought a shogi board! Then you might’ve had a chance at not picking up the tab.” 

“Kakashi’s tab,” Asuma emphasized, “Not the tab. You’re on your own for drinks Shiranui.” 

“Killjoy,” he muttered. 

“Fiscally responsible,” he reminded, “Sensei pay is nice, but it doesn’t compare to an S-rank pay on its best day.”

“Like your time as a guardian could be counted as an S-rank,” Raidou scoffed, “The daimyo is more interested in getting his dick wet than running the country. All you had to do was secure the brothels and reap the fruits of your labor,” he kicked Asuma's calf with a grin, “I’m sure the pay isn’t the only thing you miss.” 

“Children, children. In the eyes of Jashin, jealousy is a sin,” a voice interrupted, “I had hoped when I’d come to greet my imouto’s new sensei, he wouldn’t be involved in a conversation about fucking prostitutes. I suppose it must be hard to teach an old dog new tricks.” 

Most of the shinobi at the table stiffened, having not noticed the silent approach of Hidan, a small tray of shots secured in his hand. 

“I wasn’t aware you had a little sister, Butcher,” Asuma deadpanned, “Please tell me she doesn’t have blonde hair.” 

“Or that you’re magically a part of the Hyuuga clan?” Kurenai questioned, pale skin turning gray. 

Hidan set the tray of shots down on the table, a peace offering. The ninja were not ones to turn down free alcohol, though they sniffed it with speculation before knocking it back. 

“Hello, Hidan,” Kakashi greeted, eyes closed in a smile, but back stiff, “Fancy seeing you here.” 

“Calm down, Hatake. I won’t encroach on your evening,” he looked back at where Anko and other members of T&I were taking turns pouring sake into each other's throats from across the bar, “I have some plans of making an honest woman out of a special someone.” He yelled at that last part. 

Anko looked over at him and lifted one manicured hand in a rude gesture as she finished off the bottle in her other. “In your dreams, Hidan!” She called out. 

“Every night for years!” He replied, a lovesick grin on his face. He sobered and gave the team a glinting look, “A truce, Hatake. Sakura is already fond of you, you need not worry about me. She has plenty of tricks up her sleeve for when she grows tired of you. Which she might. Who knows?” He winked, “Gentlemen, and lady, try not to have too much fun.” Hidan laughed and returned to the members of T&I, a strong arm around Anko’s shoulders who stabbed at him almost immediately when he did so. 

“Nevermind, Kakashi. You win. I’ll take the spoiled brat and lazy bastard,” Asuma said, taking a long chug of his drink as he did so. “Won’t even complain next time they skip training to go shopping or eat through my wallet.” 

“Agreed. Hiashi-sama isn’t so bad,” Kurenai echoed, eyes twitching. “Hinata has potential. Or the potential to have potential.” 

Kakashi smiled and nudged Asuma forward as he shook his empty glass at him. “If I die in the next year, you know who to arrest. Who knew something so cute and pink could be related to such a monster?” 

“A cute, pink bundle of bloodlust that got bullied,” Asuma bemoaned, “Ino is lucky she’s alive . No wonder the spar went the way it did. Never again. Could’ve had us all arrested and stripped of our rank if she decided to settle the score. At this point I’m wondering if Sakura being barred from academy spars was because the sensei’s knew and were trying to protect the kids.” 

“I’ve never known Iruka to be so biased,” Genma interjected, “Or seen a genin pass without sparring their peers. Keeping them from practicing techniques is dangerous.” 

Asuma shrugged, “I only have the information second-hand, but what’s done is done. The sensei’s at the academy are getting too comfortable. The graduation exam is a joke.” 

The jōnin tapped their glasses against the table in agreement, especially since most at the table had achieved their status much younger and at times of war.

“Doesn’t mean I’m gonna let your kids train with mine till I’m sure they can protect themselves,” Kurenai leveled Kakashi with a glare. 

Kakashi snorted into his drink but didn’t disagree. Between Naruto’s penchant for overwhelming his opponents with pure tenacity, Sasuke’s malicious intent, and Sakura’s bloodthirst, he might have to scrounge up old Anbu contacts to keep his kids entertained. 

A rush of chakra at Kakashi’s side prompted him to move over to accommodate Shisui Uchiha who carried another round of drinks in his arms. Kakashi might have to cancel training at this rate as his nose picked up the faint scent of ethanol and paint remover. Itachi was not far behind him, hands curled around a bottle of water with a content look on his face. 

Or, he figured, see how much he can manipulate the Uchiha duo into bending over backwards for him. 

“Shisui. Itachi. It’s good to see you both,” Raidou greeted as he greedily took a drink from the former's grasp. “Truly, men of great renown.” 

“If you’re flirting with me this much for alcohol, I’d hate to see what you’re like when someone buys you dinner, Rai,” Shisui joked. “A little birdy told me the new rookies had some spars today. Tell me, how did Sasuke-chan fair?” 

Itachi looked just as inquisitive, a soft tilt of his eyebrows in Kakashi’s tortured direction. “Spars so soon, Kakashi?” 

Kakashi held his hands up placatingly, “It wasn’t even my idea, I was just extended a courtesy invite. It’s not my fault my children were eager to please.”

“Eager to please is definitely a word for it,” Asuma muttered. “Itachi, reign in your little brother. Kid almost broke Choji’s arm today.” 

Itachi frowned, “My ototo has done nothing wrong. Is it not admirable that he tries his best against his peers? Better in a friendly spar than against an enemy.” 

“The only friendly part of that group is Minato’s offspring, and he’s definitely hiding something behind those big, blue eyes,” Shisui said, “No kid’s that positive all the time.”

“Same thing could be said about you,” Kakashi reminded him, “Are you saying you’re hiding something?”

Shisui held his hands over his heart, a hurt look on his face. “Kakashi, the only thing I’ve been able to hide is my deep infatuation for you. If this is how it comes to light, then so be it.” He leaned forward and laid a kiss on his mask-covered lips. 

Kakashi rolled his eyes and pushed him with the hand not guarding his drink when he noticed the Uchiha reaching for it. “Flattered, but I’m not interested. My hands are gonna be full until all three of my kids make jōnin.”

“Not chūnin?” Itachi asked. The rest of the table nodded in agreement. 

Kakashi smiled and an eerie look befell over his lone, exposed eye. “I’ve obtained special permission from Minato-sensei himself to keep my squad together for as long as I deem it necessary. I think you and I both know if I submitted these kids for the chūnin exams, they’d devour the competition. Milk teeth or not, I think we’ll stay a unit until they have a ‘Flee on Sight,’ in at least two major countries. Maybe three.”

“Nepotism,” Raidou coughed around his glass, “Abuse of power.” He coughed again. 

Genma patted his friend on the back and sighed, “Enough talk of the babies and how suspiciously good at murder they are. The night is young, we just got paid, and I plan on making sure all of you sensei’s have to cancel practice tomorrow from your hangovers.”

“Here, here!” They cheered and knocked back their drinks before they scrambled to get another round before the bar got too crowded and the dancefloor overrun with drunks and miscreants. 

❀❀❀

へのへのもへじ

❀❀❀

Sakura found herself awake, still in her pajamas, and lazily reading before needing to head to training for the day. It was earlier than she anticipated, having woken up due to Hidan stumbling home when the sun started to peek over the horizon. Her pajamas were too comfortable to change out of this early in the morning. They consisted of stolen articles of clothing from her brother that were too worn to be considered decent outside of the confines of their apartment. The shirt had holes in the armpits and hung off of her shoulder if she slouched too much, but it smelt so distinctly like him she refused to allow him to throw it out. 

She sipped at a steaming mug of tea and poked at Hidan to make sure he wasn’t going to keel over from where he laid on the floor in pain. He groaned at her prodding and waved her off, “Either use that new medical technique you’ve been learning on my head or fuck off, Sakura.” 

She flipped through the medical textbook she’d borrowed from the library and stopped on the diagram of the bodies tenketsu points and their general locations. “Rin-chan says I shouldn’t use it on anything more intricate than a bruise until I’m more confident in my abilities. If I use too much chakra, I might melt your brain. The accelerated regeneration of someone recovering from a wound is different from soothing inflamed blood vessels or optic nerves.”

Hidan moaned and shoved his face into one of the throw pillows on the furniture that he’d grabbed before he dropped to the floor, “A melted brain might be an improvement at this point. My head is killing me.” 

“I thought Jashin wanted his followers to experience pain. It’s more like the production of acetaldehyde is doing its job,” Tobirama muttered, “You should ask him why his head hurts so bad, Sakura.” He sat next to her while he read the textbook over her shoulder with a bemused look on his face. 

“Tobirama says I should ask you why your head hurts,” Sakura parroted. 

Hidan lifted his head from the pillow and glared at the empty spot next to her in the hopes that’s where the Senju ghost was. “You should ask him if the stick up his ass belongs to his brother or one of the Uchiha bastards.” 

Tobirama stiffened next to her, “Your brother better hope I never get the chance to lay my hands on him.” 

“Don’t be mean to aniki, he’s in pain,” she chastised, but also berated her brother in the same breath, “-and you shouldn’t be mean to Tobirama. He’s only concerned for your health.” 

Both Hidan and Tobirama grumbled under their breath and Sakura assumed it was a muttered form of an apology and shrugged off the action. She took another sip of tea and lost herself in the blend of lemon and ginger. 

A knock on the door interrupted their moment of peace and Sakura abandoned her cup and brother to peer out the peephole. The nervous faces of her teammates greeted her and she threw the door open in surprise. 

“Naruto? Sasuke? We don’t have training for another hour.” She questioned as she opened the door wider to take in their appearances. Naruto gave her a sheepish grin and adjusted the chest high stack of books he was holding in his grasp. Sasuke seemed just as embarrassed with the small box he had in his arms, the likes of which held a suspicious amount of metal sounding objects on the inside that clinked as he shifted. “Is everything okay?”

Without asking, Naruto shoved his way in and kicked off his sandals, leaving them askew in her doorway. Sasuke rolled his eyes but followed the blonde in any way. “Kakashi-sensei is ‘sick,’ so we’re on our own for training today and we figured your place was the best to do it.” 

Sakura frowned but didn’t protest as she locked the door behind her teammates. 

“Hidan-nii-san is sick too, I hope there isn’t a bug going around.”

Tobirama scoffed and looked down at her sleeping brother with disdain, “The only bug is the unbecoming nature of overgrown children and not knowing their limits.” 

“Not that I’m not happy to see you, but, how did you guys find out where I lived?” Sakura asked, confused. 

“Naruto looked up your address when we stopped by the Kage tower to see nii-san off on a mission,” Sasuke replied, “I distracted the Hokage while he snuck into the personnel room” 

“I feel like that’s a violation of privacy,” Tobirama said, “As well as an abuse of nepotism.” 

Sakura frowned and looked up at him, unable to reply. “So if we don’t have any training, what are you guys doing here? Our landlord said no more weapons practice because it damages the walls too easily.”

They weren’t dressed in their typical training gear; instead, Naruto had on soft black sweatpants and a dark orange shirt with an Uzu swirl on the chest. Sasuke also looked to be in lounge clothes, with his long sleeved shirt a touch too big for his frame with the sleeves rolled up several times around his wrists. She figured it was a hand me down from Itachi and fingered the hem of her own stolen shirt as well. Sasuke was the tallest amongst the three, with Naruto being the shortest. Despite this, Hidan’s shirt tickled her knees in length and she wondered if he had Itachi’s hemmed before he stole it. 

Naruto grinned and adjusted his hold on the books to pull out a familiar looking orange kunai. “Sasuke’s compound is riddled with snitches, and my mom wouldn’t dare to let us practice without my dad. He’s in meetings all day, so I’m gonna decide for him and teach you two the basics of Hiraishin.” 

Sasuke frowned but didn’t protest. “The idiot might get us killed, but we did take all of the books over and we can probably figure out the final steps between the three of us. If he can learn it, we definitely can.”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” Naruto shouted, offended and loud . 

“Idiot children,” Hidan moaned from the floor, “-get out of the living room and go as far away from me unless you want to die. If you yell one more time I’m shoving you bastards in an interrogation cell and sicking Ibiki on you.” 

Sakura giggled and led her teammates up the stairs towards her room, the two oddly uncomfortable at the fact. They stood awkwardly in the middle of the girlish room until she rolled her eyes before she shoved them on her bed. “Let me change and then we can compare notes.” 

Eager to finally be up to speed on fuinjutsu with her Uzumaki teammate, she quickly changed from her pajamas into shorts and a soft, red sweater. She rolled socks onto her feet to escape the chill that seeped in from the windows from the early morning air and flopped onto her bed next to her teammates. She sat cross legged as she dragged a few books from her nightstand and smiled as Tobirama walked in to sit next to her. 

Sasuke’s box contained a small towel alongside a myriad of kunai, fuinjutsu ink, and a brand new pack of brushes. Naruto must’ve picked up a new set at her feedback a few days prior and she was oddly touched that he actually listened to her. 

While Naruto’s books were handed down from his parents, Sakura’s books were stolen from different ninja outposts scattered across water country courtesy of her brother at her request. While he wasn’t often sent out of the village, a mission too close to Uzushio’s borders was too tempting to pass up. Tobirama had given her a list of topics that were essential for understanding and adapting the Flying Thunder God technique and drilled into her that she needed to grasp the basics before teleporting over mass distances. 

“As long as you promise not to share this with your parents,” she began with a pointed look at the two, “I can show you guys what I know.”

Naruto ooh’d at the books and even Sasuke seemed a bit dazed at the worn tomes. They were battered from years of reading and notetaking (and being smuggled across several borders) but the texts inside were more than enough to teach even an infant the concept of seals. A part of her yearned to travel to Uzushiogakure to see if there were ghosts able to teach her on a more intricate level, but she couldn’t even walk through a civilian graveyard without being overwhelmed at times. 

“I don’t even think some of these concepts are covered in my okaa-san’s books.” He lifts one of the thinner books and squints as he reads the tiny text, “This is like ancient stuff. Barrier arrays, extraction techniques, protection seals…Stuff Konoha doesn’t even use anymore.” His blue eyes raked up and down the pages as he drank in the information. 

Sasuke stopped from where he was unloading the ink as he got close to read from the passage Naruto paused on. “Where did you get these? There’s nothing like this in the jōnin archives.” 

Naruto snorted and ripped the book away from the Uchiha, “Yeah, like you would know.”

“If you’re with a jōnin then you can visit the jōnin archives, idiot. Aniki has taken me plenty of times.” 

“Yeah, to return Shisui’s love novels,” Naruto taunted back, “Not to get books on forbidden techniques.” 

“The Hiraishin isn’t a forbidden technique, it’s just a difficult one,” Sasuke grit out and stole the book back. “I’m surprised your dad thinks you’re smart enough to hold a pencil, let alone a fuin brush.”

“Hey! I don’t have to teach you this, ‘ya know! I could just kick you out and Sakura-chan and I can be the Flying Duo!” Naruto said as he kicked Sasuke in the ribs, unable to get the book back from where it was held above his head. 

“Are you sure you can trust them with these books? The blonde one's hands are…sticky and the Uchiha is too rough with texts that are older than him.” 

Sakura nodded minutely and pursed her lips in thought, “Careful, please. Aniki gets them for me when he goes on missions. Just old stuff so it’s not worth much, but you can’t tell anyone, please,” she pleaded with a wide look in her green eyes and a soft pout.  Naruto and Sasuke agreed almost immediately, twin blushes flush against their cheeks. 

She grinned and opened the small red book she’d been cradling in her lap. “Your dad might’ve popularized Hiraishin, but it was originally a technique of Tobirama Senju. I found this book buried in the library. They didn’t even have a barcode for it, so the library let me just have it!” A truth within a lie, seeing as she technically stole it from where she found Tobirama’s secret stash of books in the back of the building. Left behind for any ninja crafty enough to find it. It wasn’t her fault that no one noticed the misplaced brick behind the shelves. 

“Your dad definitely made it a lot easier, if you look at the different between his kanji and the seals the Nidaime had to use, it’s a lot easier to adapt to the specific person,” she opened the book to an example array that Tobirama drew in the back of the book and laid the ‘borrowed’ kunai from the Hokage next to it. “The technique is a form of fuinjutsu that allows the user to know where to target their chakra before they teleport. You can use it on anything! Kunai, arrows, paper tags. Kunai just makes the most sense in battle because the hilts are long enough to hold the seals.”  

“What’s the kanji even mean, anyway? Doesn’t look like anything that would help with teleporting.” Sasuke asked as he lifted Minato’s kunai and held it close to his eye. His Sharingan activated almost subconsciously as he twisted the kunai in his hands, the lone tomoe spinning. “I can see chakra coating the handle, but that’s about it.” 

“It’s not really about the kanji for him since he imbues the ink with his chakra and has the teleportation seals written on the inside of the wrapping instead of the outside. At this point, it might as well say ‘if you can read this, it’s too late.’ He has me reverse engineering Tobirama’s version, which is why mine are a bit more complicated and external,” Naruto replied, voice proud. 

Sakura hadn’t realized just how much perfecting the Hiraishin meant to the blonde and blushed at the thought of being included in something so paramount. 

“His handwriting kinda sucks though, doesn’t it,” Sasuke commented, “Looks like yours, dobe.” 

Naruto shoved him off the bed and Sakura laughed as they grappled on her floor. She leaned over the bed and snorted in amusement, which caused both boys to still and look up at her. Her long, pink hair fell in a waterfall around her face and she offered the boys her hand to help them up. 

“We can fight later you two. If we want to get Sasuke his own set prepared, then we better hurry since the ink takes hours to dry.” 

“What about you, Sakura-chan? I brought enough kunai for you to make your own ‘ttebayo. I snuck the order in when my dad wasn’t paying attention,” Naruto said as he allowed her to help him off the floor. 

Sakura smiled and walked over to the hip pouch that lay on her desk next to her headband and other weapons holsters. She pulled out the collection of pink, spiral kunai from its secret pocket on the interior. The blade twirling around itself akin to a unicorn horn and the metal heat-treated a soft, fuchsia. “I already made my own,” she grinned, “I haven’t had the chance to test it out, so let’s see who’s seal arrays are better, yeah?” Test out large distances, went unsaid.  

Tobirama stood next to her like the proud sensei he was at her teammate's dumbfounded faces. If only he had access to a camera to preserve the memory forever. 

Naruto laughed and grabbed the kunai from her hand to compare it to his orange one. “You gotta catch up, bastard! I’m telling ‘ya, the Flying Team Seven is gonna catch on! I just know it!” 

While Team Seven didn’t get the chance to break the laws of time and space without adult supervision, they were able to dye and seal up the rest of Naruto’s kunai and provide Sasuke with his own matching blue set. Alongside this, they also promised their first missions pay would be dedicated to visiting the blacksmith on the seedier part of town to craft individual shapes of kunai to better differentiate between them. It wasn’t because Naruto and Sasuke were jealous of Sakura’s spiral kunai, it wasn’t. 

It was also there that both boys were struck with matching twin thoughts as the sun began to set and an orange glow began to illuminate the room. 

Sakura had moved from her bed to the lounge bench attached to the window sill once her pink bedding had been taken up by painted kunai. Sasuke sat at her desk with Naruto cross legged on top of it as they sharpened their newly minted weapons. Tobirama sat in the corner, arms propped on his knees as he watched Team Seven from afar, a melancholic look on his face. 

She’d taken to lecturing them and her theory of having all three of their signatures attached to one kunai, in the hopes it would allow them to either teleport together with one kunai or teleport to each other when needed. They would need Kakashi-sensei’s help, of course, and maybe they could work with the jōnin to get him his own set of kunai as well, but wanted to surprise him once the three had mastered the initial technique.   

There, when Sakura sat with her pink hair lit ablaze and a soft smile on her face as she drew out a matrix in her notebook, was when Naruto and Sasuke both wondered at the same time why they would ever consider someone like her deserving of the name busu-yokai. 

Chapter Text

Sometime after the last kunai drying and Sakura falling asleep alongside her two teammates, Naruto and Sasuke’s family had both come to collect the boys. She was the last to fall asleep, keeping careful watch out of habit. She promised to wake them before it got too late, despite the idea that they both had curfews being a bit laughable. Unfortunately, she fell victim to the warm bed and comfortable clothing, so she’d fallen asleep moments after Sasuke did. 

When she’d woken up, it was to the rustling of Itachi gathering Sasuke from her bed. Unconsciously, the three had found their way against each other, huddled for warmth like the penguins in the Land of Snow. Naruto was flat on his back, snoring deep into the night, with his arm underneath Sakura's head as a pillow. She and Sasuke were curled around each other, her front to his back.

She’d brushed the sleep from her eyes and turned when she felt a cold brush of air at her front and then pouted at losing one of the two space heaters next to her. Shisui had come along with Itachi and took Naruto almost immediately after helping secure Sasuke to Itachi’s back. He was careful in lifting her head off of Naruto arm and brushed her hair to the side from where strands had fallen in front of her face.

Neither boy had woken up in the motions, something she figured Kakashi-sensei would beat out of them in the coming months before they left the village for the first time. Sakura couldn't find it in herself to care much in the moment, exhaustion weighing her down at the time of night. 

Tobirama and Hashirama were nowhere to be found, which she was grateful for since Madara was right next to Itachi. There was no telling how excitable the Senju might’ve been, despite the promises of Sakura’s attendance at the Namikaze-Uchiha dinner the following day. 

She blinked blearily at the two shadowing figures and gave Madara the slightest of nods. Itachi interpreted that as a greeting towards him and shushed her back to sleep in a way only an older brother would be familiar with. Content that her Aniki had let them in and they weren’t imposters that had broken in to steal her teammates, she turned over into the warm spot Naruto had left behind and drifted off into dreamland once more.

❀❀❀

The next time Sakura would run into Team Ten was not on the training field, but instead in the bustling morning market the following Sunday after their disaster of a team spar session. The only surprising part was that they were without Ino, leaving the two boys with their sensei at the mercy of bargains and stressed civilian mothers. 

Choji was the one who initiated contact, unsurprisingly enough, and called out to Sakura from a few feet away. “Sakura! Good morning!” 

She looked up abruptly and smiled, something Shikamaru hadn’t been expecting. “Choji! Shikamaru-san and Asuma-sensei as well. Hello to you all. On your way to training?” Sakura had been trying to be more open to members of her generation, and without Ino being amongst her teammates, she found it a bit easier than she expected. Both Hashirama and Tobirama were with her this morning and all three revelled in the domestic chaos of the early morning market bustle. 

Choji shook his head and offered Sakura a piece of tamagoyaki from his paper bowl. She took it with glee, piercing the egg with a toothpick and savored the taste. “You’re my savior. I hate shopping on an empty stomach, but I didn’t have any choice today. Nii-san forgot to get groceries yesterday.” 

“No problem. Our training grounds are under some renovations, so Ino is off with her dad doing some clan training. We’re on our way to Shikamaru’s for some training of our own,” Choji said with a grin, his plump cheeks emphasizing the spirals on his skin. 

“Does Kakashi have you training today, Sakura?” Asuma asked, curious. 

She shook her head at the man, “No. Sundays are technically our day off, but we are expected to have a team dinner later tonight. It’s technically a Namikaze-Uchiha dinner that was established before the team, but the invitation has been extended to me and Aniki as well.” She smiled up at the jōnin. 

Tobirama called for her attention and pointed at a sale on Satsuma Mandarins towards the back of the market, so she added a few to her basket as she answered a few more questions that Asuma-sensei asked about their training regime. She was more than happy to reply, especially if her willingness to do so would afford their teams the chance to spar more often in the future. Especially since she vowed to be a bit nicer to Ino next time they sparred. By nicer she technically meant she wouldn't end the match in one move, but nicer nonetheless. 

Shikamaru sighed and avoided looking Sakura in the eye at Asuma's questions and instead tilted his gaze upward to look at the passing clouds, “Such a drag. It’s all your fault, Haruno. If you hadn’t beaten my teammate so badly she wouldn’t be so obsessed with training now. She’s been berating Asuma to set up another team spar so she can get her revenge.” He admits with a coarse look up at their sensei who’d lit a cigarette in response. A nearby vendor cursed at him and waved away the smoke with a bundled up newspaper in his hand. 

Asuma’s mother was with him this morning as well, but she’d walked away once a gaggle of other ghosts called her over. Biwako Sarutobi gave her a small head tilt as a greeting, but she did not speak to anyone in the group. She looked as regal as Sakura had to admit when she was alive, and not for the first time, she found herself curious at how human some of the spirits seemed. To still meet up with friends and the ability to keep track of loved ones that were still alive seemed like a privilege to an otherwise devastating situation.

Sakura shrugged and abandoned the tomatoes she’d been inspecting - neither would pass Sasuke’s standards and she wouldn’t waste her time with subpar vegetables. “I would apologize for the extra troubles, but I find that it wouldn’t be fair to do so.” Her eyes flickered towards where Hashirama was bent over some bok choy and walked over to grab a bushel at his insistence. The two boys followed her, to which she softly rolled her eyes. “It’s expected for all of us to begin D-ranks soon. If you are sent out of the village unprepared, it would mean the difference between life and death. I am glad she is taking her training seriously now, at least?” 

She didn’t really know what response Shikamaru was looking for, if she was being honest with herself. This seemed like the type of situation that Rin would better know how to handle. Rin had encouraged her the last time she saw her to make friends her own age, something about hundred year old Gods of Shinobi not being the best influences for a teenage girl. Whatever that meant. 

Choji looked at the budding argument between Shikamaru and Sakura and steadily intervened. “Say, Sakura! You like Shogi, right?” 

She paused and furrowed her brow, “I do. Why do you ask, Choji?” She hadn’t been expecting that type of olive branch from the two, but she assumed there was a reason they called her over. 

Shikamaru perked up at that, “ You play shogi? Are you any good?” He asked skeptically. 

Sakura nodded, choosing her words carefully. She was relatively good at Shogi, that much was true. Tobirama however, was a true master. Between the two of them, they hadn’t lost against any of the oji-san’s at the park when she still had time to challenge them to matches. “Would you like to play sometime? I don’t have a Shogi board at home, but we can go to the park and see if there’s a free one open.”

He shook his head, “Now. We will play Shogi now. We can do it at my house.”

With newfound tenacity, Shikamaru paid for the rest of Sakura’s groceries and led the two genin towards the Nara compound. Sakura tried to argue that she could pay for her own food, but was quickly brushed off as he grabbed the sleeve of her haori to direct her towards his clan grounds. 

Asuma sighed and followed them reluctantly; he’d tried to leave the three alone once his team had abandoned any pretenses of training, but Choji grabbed onto him with a look and refused to let go, not willing to be alone with the two geniuses. 

Sakura, not one to back down at the potential to make a new friend after all this time, swallowed her anxiety at their arrival in the Nara forests. Surprisingly, however, there was no malevolent energy to be found. Her brow furrowed as she took in the ghosts that littered amongst the trees, their movements slow and practiced. Unlike her time at the Hyuuga compound, the spirits that littered around the Nara were at ease in the afterlife. 

“It’s very… peaceful here. I’ve never visited the Nara compound before,” she complimented as they came up to what she assumed was Shikamaru’s house. “You have a very nice home, Shikamaru-san.” She looked over at Choji who smiled encouragingly for her to keep going. 

Her friend, she figured she had the right to call him that, hadn’t ever invited her over to the Akimiji estate, not that she could fault him for it. Being kind to her in class was one thing, but even if he had invited her, she couldn’t say for sure that she would’ve gone. She was still avoiding the Uchiha compound with a vengeance, and had committed to spending the better part of her day to think of an excuse to omit herself from the aforementioned team dinner tonight, unsure on if it was safe in such an old and well established clan. 

There was something malicious about the Hyuuga, and while every Uchiha that she met had eventually shown her kindness, she was afraid of what would happen if she visited Sasuke’s home. 

She tried not to think about how hurt Mikoto-obaa-san would be if she were to notice that Sakura would only attend the weekly dinners when they were held at the Namikaze-Uzumaki house. Especially since tonight's dinner was to be held at the main family's household in the belly of the beast. 

Shikamaru led her and the members of his team to a living room where there were two  Shogi boards already set up. One was in the main area of the living room, secured against the Tatami mats as a permanent resting place. The other was in the corner attached to a shrine with small sticks of incense lighting the way. 

She wanted to laugh as she’d never seen the Nara so determined before as he motioned for her to take a seat. They rarely, if ever, interacted at the academy. With Shikamaru claimed by Ino early on into their education, she wasn’t even sure if she was allowed to talk to him. Choji technically had been claimed as well, but his societal standing wasn’t as high as Shikamaru’s, so Ino didn’t give him as much attention until their genin assignment. 

She sat across from Shikamaru at his gesture, her knees pulled to her chest and arms folded around her limbs. Her hair was down her back in two pigtails, but she decided to put it up into a high ponytail to focus better since strands of pink usually found its way to brush across her face when she wasn’t looking. The look of determination on his face meant she might actually have to pay attention. 

Hashirama and Tobirama had been decidedly silent as they explored the Nara grounds, but as Shikamaru got comfortable, they sat on either side of her, both excited at the prospect of the game. Not for the first time, she wished she could speak aloud to them, if only to tease them. 

“It’s amazing how much these forests have grown since the Nara were first established,” Hashirama commented as he sat down. “They clearly take good care of the trees and wildlife.” 

“When the village was founded, the Nara and Inukuza worked together to establish the deer herd’s home with Shikahime, who was the contract holder at the time. Hashirama offered to mold the forest to their liking so they would have a more agreeable ecosystem to live in,” Tobirama added with a familiar lecturing tone. 

She nodded minutely and marveled, not for the first time, at how rich the history of Konoha was despite not even being a century year old.  

Sakura’s eyes flickered as an older man with striking resemblance to Shikamaru manifested next to him, arms crossed over his chest as he observed the board in front of him. She perked up and glanced over to Hashirama with a soft smile on her face. Not that she didn’t trust Tobirama or Hashirama in their abilities to help her, but a little extra ammunition never hurt. 

He sighed and looked at the Nara ghost, “Shikazaku, it is good to see you again. This is Sakura, and she’s been swindled into playing a few rounds of Shogi with this one,” he nodded towards where Shikamaru was waiting patiently, “She’s wondering if you’ll help her cheat against the boy.” 

Despite the gruff look on his face, the ghost laughed and relaxed considerably. “You want me to dishonor a Shogi game against my grandson? Do you even know who you’re talking to?”

“When’s the last time you were able to play a full shogi match, hmm?” Tobirama bargained, his silver tongue the sharpest between the two brothers. “Wouldn’t it be more exciting to see how your kin fared to your techniques?” 

Shikamaru’s grandfather weighed his words but agreed nonetheless. Sakura noticed Shikamaru was starting to get a bit impatient, but thankfully Choji was used to her mannerisms and smiled encouragingly. The boy had pulled out a packet of shrimp chips and was quick to offer her one. 

“Shikazaku Nara,” he introduced himself to her. He scooted closer to the middle of the board and resumed his cross armed posture. “Shikaku is my eldest son, who is Shikamaru’s father. The boy could lose a peg or two I suppose, but he was just like Shikaku at that age. Brings me back, I’m being honest.” 

“Such strong progeny! I am glad to see the Nara had continued to be a steady presence in Konoha. It seems like just yesterday your mother agreed to our treaty, right Tobirama,” Hashirama nudged his brother's shoulders, “She must’ve been six months pregnant with your sister, if my memory serves me correctly.”

Shikazaku smiled fondly at the Hokage, “That she was. My father used to say nothing was more troublesome than a pregnant Nara with too much time on their hands. She used to trap him in their room to talk war strategy long after the battles concluded, just to keep herself occupied.” 

“Sakura, it's your move,” Asuma gently prodded the girl, “Are you sure you’re feeling up to this? Don’t let Shikamaru pressure you into playing if you don’t want to.” She wanted to comment that it was a bit too late for that, but kept it to herself. 

She nodded and blinked back into focus from where she’d been distracted with the men reminiscing on times long past, not unlike her time spent spaced out during Iruka’s lectures. She moved her pawn forward in a familiar opening and let the game play out in a four versus one with an oddly captivated audience. 

Shikamaru was terrifying at Shogi, this much was true. He didn’t compare to some of the oji-san’s at the park by a mile and she was happy she had his grandfather to compare tactics to as the game wore on. Her movements were slow to accommodate the men's input, and thus less intuitive than his. This allowed Shikamaru to come up with half a dozen more counters to her moves with the extra time afforded to him. 

Shikazaku paced as the game wore on, strides eager and true, the soft echoes of his feet firm against the tatami mat. “I regret dying when this boy was merely a babe. What a Shogi master he’s become,” he complimented as he motioned for Sakura to sneak and capture his Bishop, leaving a General exposed. Shikamaru hadn’t seen that opened and cursed underneath his breath. “In three moves you’ll win, but knowing him, this game might continue on for another half hour if you’re not careful. What a formidable opponent!”

Hashirama had long since abandoned the game in favor of lying beside Asuma, and didn’t hold back his comments on how many cigarettes had been lit inside the living room since the game had worn on. Sakura couldn’t help but agree with him, however as the hours passed, she’d come to enjoy the way the smoke seemed to fill the room with the scent of spiced tobacco. 

Choji had come back and forth from the kitchens several times now, each time returning with a plate of snacks more elaborate than the next. He’d explained at her questioning look that Shikamaru’s mother, Yoshino, had returned home and was preparing them a late lunch. Sakura’s groceries looked sad from where she’d propped them up next to the door and resigned herself to the fact that she still had more food to buy for her and her brother. 

Shikamaru tapped his fingernail against the Shogi board to bring her attention back to the game, not unlike the way Naruto snapped his fingers in front of her a few days ago or the way Sasuke grabbed at her wrist to gather her attention. She was working on it, but Shikazaku was quite distracting with how animated he could become during a Shogi match. 

True to Shikazaku’s word, she’d won in three moves; Shikamaru having gotten increasingly more and more flustered the more her victory came into fruition. She hadn’t noticed it initially, but Shikamaru’s father had joined them some time ago, and she blushed as the man clapped once his son’s King had been claimed by her in a vicious checkmate. 

She bowed towards Shikamaru and gave what she hoped was a friendly smile. Tobirama, who had settled himself behind her in the same familiar grounding she’d grown up with, seemed just as smug as Hashirama looked at her victory. His cold hands brushed against her shoulders and she tilted her head back just so in acknowledgement. “Thank you for the game, Shikamaru-san. I hope that we can play again sometime. I had fun.” 

If Rin were here, she might seem proud at Sakura attempting to establish a connection, but at the frown on Shikamaru’s face, she wondered if she said the wrong thing. 

“You changed strategies half-way through, but I didn’t notice till you captured my general,” he muttered beneath his breath as his hands folded, “You opened with a double wing attack but then sacrificed your own lance to change your hand.” 

Sakura propped her fist on her cheek and sighed, knowing that she’d dug herself into a fanatic hole when it looked like she might be here for a moment. “I think you rely on the climbing silver approach too much, but because you moved first, I couldn’t go for my normal opening and had to adapt till I reached a good pinch point to swap. The lance was a gamble, since you would have captured my knight if you noticed the exposed opening nearby. It was just my luck that you didn’t.”

Shikazaku seemed smug and stood over his son, Shikaku, with a fatherly expression. “You know, I gave my son that same advice over two decades ago when he played me for the chance to ask Yoshino to marry him. Like father, like son.”

“Alright, alright, Shikamaru, shake her hand and accept defeat,” Asuma interrupted his mutterings as he got off the floor, “It’s been two hours and I’m starving. I want to get some shopping done before I have to have dinner with my otou-san and we’ve taken up too much of your parents' hospitality.” He finished that with a pointed stare at the boy. 

Choji nodded in agreement and offered his hand so that Sakura could use it to get up from her position. She winced as her knees ached in protest since she’d sat still for so long, completely enrapt in the game in front of her. She wasn’t lying when she said it was a fun game, but she might have set his expectations too high as a result. 

She offered Shikamaru her hand and he took it after a few moments of staring at it. His hand was warm, soft, and she was surprised to feel calluses in his palms with the way he admitted to hating training in nearly every interaction she’d had with him. 

Her father came by next to introduce himself and shook off her attempts to bow and thank him for allowing her into his home. “I haven’t seen someone play like that against my son for ages now, I should be thanking you for the entertaining match. I’d love to play against you as well one of these days.”

She could feel Shikazaku as he tried to ruffle her hair from where she stood next to the Shogi board. She stood stunned and could only nod her head. 

“Now that will be a match for the ages. I look forward to beating my son in the afterlife, Sakura-san,” he said with a grin. Neither Shikaku nor Shikamaru smiled so freely, so it was jarring to see a facsimile of both Nara’s faces so happy. 

She grabbed her bags from the door and allowed Shikamaru to lead her out of his home and the Nara forests after waiving off attempts to keep her for lunch citing she had to get home to her brother before his hunger got the best of him. 

Without Ino breathing down his neck, she found him to be much more agreeable to her presence, despite how downright mean he seemed only a week prior. She told him as much, having bit her tongue in front of his father when he praised her Shogi skills. 

He had the decency to blush, but unlike her teammates, he apologized . “It’s my fault for letting Ino do all the decision making on the team and at the academy. I hope you can forgive me,” he swallowed a bit and looked away from her amused faze, “You play a good game of Shogi.” 

She accepted his apology with a blush and waved back at him as she walked back towards the marketplace, groceries in hand. 

“I wonder if that’s code for something,” Hashirama whispered to Tobirama and Sakura waited until they walked away from the Nara forest to ask him what he meant by that. 

“Nothing, Sakura-chan. Nothing at all,” Tobirama assured her with a glare towards his brother. 

❀❀❀

Chapter Text

It wasn’t until she’d put the finishing touches on a tomato and avocado salad that she realized she didn’t actually know where the Uchiha Compound was. She knew vaguely where it was supposed to be, but not the actual location. It hadn’t ever occurred to her to care. 

Her Aniki had begged off the night, refusing her extended invitation with a lackadaisical grin. She didn’t know how to press him to join her since she was terrified of what might happen at the compound, so she relented. She’d taken to avoiding clan compounds for years now, but her experience at the Nara family house had given her some semblance of hope. Not every family seemed as haunted as the Hyuuga’s, but she imagined the Uchiha’s would be a close second. 

Hashirama hadn’t been much help, and Tobirama had also disappeared for the evening when he realized her night would be taken up by Uchiha’s and her teammates. Not even the thought of bothering Izuna seemed to entice him into staying.  

“This village has a completely different layout from when we originally designed it, Sakura-chan,” Hashirama said, “The Uchiha and the Senju were meant to be at the center with the adjoining clans around it. Some of the families, like the Nara and Inuzuka, preferred to be closer to the forests, so after they moved in, we were a bit more lax on where everyone settled. I know the Uchiha moved after the Kyuubi invaded, but I fear I am not much help since my otouto is the more Uchiha obsessed one.” 

Sakura didn’t correct him, even if the words were heavy on the back of her tongue. “Is that why you seemed so excited to see Madara-san last week?” she asked instead. 

He nodded and folded his arms over his chest while he rubbed at his chin in a familiar thinking pose, “Quite so. I had worried when we weren’t immediately reunited in death that he had either been dragged somewhere into the Pure Lands or completely forsaken me and was hiding from me.”

Sakura hummed in agreement, familiar with Hashirama’s childish antics towards his Uchiha counterpart. If Tobirama were here, he’d be sure to make fun of his older brother. She wasn’t quite sure she was up to the task, especially with how frayed her nerves were as the clock ticked closer and closer to the time she needed to leave the safety of her home. 

“As such, I have been trying to hunt him down more often. A handful of interactions over a decade isn’t enough for friends like us. It doesn’t help that your teammate's older brother seems to be run ragged with missions time and time again. Madara might be having too much fun and we can’t have that.” 

“Will you have as much fun when my team starts their mission rotation?” She couldn’t help but ask. 

Hashirama waved a hand in the air, “I think the missions Madara is lording over will be much different from the babysitting and grocery delivery you and your team will be spending time on.”

Sakura frowned but didn’t correct him. “I figured as such. I hope we won’t be doing mundane tasks for too long. Babysitting seems like a waste of time.”

“You’re starting to sound like the blonde one,” Hashirama teased. “D-rank missions are important to the fabric of the village. Skills or not, you and your team are just babies. You grapple with ham fists and use more chakra than necessary. Fence painting teaches patience, something you need in spades.”

Her frown turned to a pout, “Tobirama would never let me ham fist anything, let alone while fighting.”

Their conversation was swiftly interrupted by a sharp knock on her door followed by a more excitable tapping when she didn’t immediately open it. The solution to her Uchiha dilemma came in the form of her teammate's older brother and his shadow. 

She opened the door and smoothed out the folds in her knee length dress, having gone a bit more formal for the occasion. She brushed a thick strand of hair out of her face and met Itachi’s soft smile with one of her own. 

“Sakura-chan!” Shisui cooed as he bent down to pinch at her cheeks, “You didn’t have to dress up for me. You look so pretty!”

“His touch is too familiar!” Hashirama hissed out in a Tobirama-like fashion, “Too familiar indeed!” 

Behind Itachi, Madara and Kagami stood a ways away, hoping to be unseen by Hashirama. Unfortunately for them, Hashirama noticed the duo immediately and bound away from Sakura to greet the two with enthusiasm.

She wanted to laugh at the way Madara’s hair spiked up like an angry cat in the back as Hashirama pulled him into a one armed embrace. 

When a second hand came to caress her hair, Sakura finally slapped Shisui’s hands away with a grimace before ignoring him in favor of greeting Itachi. “I assume you’re here to get me? I only just realized I didn’t know where you and Sasuke lived.” 

He nodded and asked for permission to enter. She blushed and let the two men inside after remembering her manners. Her brother was nowhere to be seen and she should probably be grateful for the fact. She’d yet to see Itachi, Shisui, and Hidan fully interact with each other; however, she was like her teammates and was looking forward to seeing her brother beat Sasuke’s in a spar. 

The salad she prepared wasn’t as elaborate as the nerikeri she’d procured for Kushina, and she hoped Mikoto wasn’t the type to be offended as such. After leaving the Nara forest and returning to the market, she couldn’t help but find inspiration from a bushel of tomatoes and hoped the sentiment would be shared amongst Sasuke’s kin. 

“Sasuke figured as such. I hope you don’t mind us coming so abruptly. We can wait if you still need time before we head out,” Itachi politely offered as he took in her home with lazy sweeps of his charcoal eyes. 

Sakura shook her head, “No, I am okay to leave when you are. I got ready early just in case I was going to need extra time to find the right area. Where do you all live, anyway?” She’d half expected having to walk in circles around the village till she came across a wayward military police member on patrol that would be able to lead her in the right direction. She knew the police station had relocated to be near the hospital, separated from the compound itself. 

She grabbed her wrapped container off of the counter and ignored Shisui’s coos as she slid her sandals on her feet in her entryway. Her ninja sandals contrasted heavily with the dress, but without the comfort of her haori or her weapons pouch, she needed something familiar on her person. Neither Itachi nor Shisui looked like they had weapons on their person, and she didn’t want to seem rude by insisting on bringing some form of gear into their home. 

“For an interrogator, Hidan and you have a surprisingly cozy apartment,” Shisui commented as he poked at a picture frame on the wall. It’d been a candid taken in Iron during a family reunion, Hidan and her hidden amongst formal kimonos and blankets of snow. Their hairs stuck out like sore thumbs amongst the more muted members of the Haruno clan that resided in iron, but traces of red and white could be spotted amongst the crowd. 

She brushed the minor insult off before she looked around her home and took in the brown leather couch with soft green pillows that were complimented by the smattering of plants in the corner. The books she and her brother had been reading this morning were still cracked open on the coffee table in front of it. She didn’t mention that they had a spare room where the majority of the shinobi accents were contained, so she just shrugged. “Most of the stuff is left over from when we lived in our old home. After our parents died, we moved closer to the academy so my commute wasn’t as bad in case he couldn’t walk me to school.” 

She pointed to a north facing window where you could see the barest traces of the academy building in the distance. 

Shisui cringed at the mention of her dead parents and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes at how uncomfortable the two seemed to become. She locked the door behind her and blinked expectantly at the men, “Which direction are we walking in?” 

They shared a look and Shisui got on his knees with his back half-turned towards her. “We figured we could roof hop and get there quicker. I can carry you, Sakura-chan,” Shisui proposed with a grin. She weighed his offer in her mind with narrowed eyes before she shoved her bowl into Shisui’s hands and walked closer into Itachi’s waiting arms. 

Hashirama seemed to find this hilarious and commented as such. Madara and Kagami seemed to have left them behind, no doubt heading towards the Uchiha home.  

“I have leggings under my dress,” she offered as Itachi scooped her up with brotherly familiarity. She and Sasuke were around the same size at this age and built similarly enough. Itachi must’ve been adept at carrying his brother because he instinctively tucked her comfortably into his side with her legs across his chest. Hidan usually shoved her over his shoulder when he needed to move her or across his back, so she wasn’t used to this type of gentleness. 

Shisui whined but didn’t protest as he guarded her bowl close to his chest as they trapeized through the city proper. 

“I would’ve thought that you would’ve been closer to the Hokage tower since the Uchiha were a founding clan,” she said as they settled into a comfortable pace. “At least, that’s what the academy textbooks seemed to hint at.”

Itachi looked down at her and exchanged a glance with Shisui again before responding, “We’ve actually moved a few times since the village's founding. After the Kyuubi attacked the village, our compound was forced to relocate to the edge of the village to assist with civilian rehabilitation.”

Sakura tightened her hold around his shoulders as she looked around at their surroundings. They were more towards the eastern sector, far from the training grounds, where the buildings were newer and more advanced than some of the more traditional homes on the west side. “The training grounds are on the opposite side of the village, though?”

If she hadn’t been holding onto such a telling body part, she might’ve missed the way his shoulders stiffened slightly. He didn’t let anything show on his face, however, but she figured he was too professional for that. Hashirama bounded next to them, easily keeping pace with the trio, but he even frowned at her question. 

“Unfortunately, that compound burned to the ground in an accident about five years ago. Minato-sama was kind enough to offer us a temporary clan ground closer to the center on this side of the village while we rebuilt, but I believe our clansmen are much more at home here so I doubt we will be moving again.” 

They came across an imposing wall with a familiar uchiwa embolden on the front of the alabaster stonework. The shingles along the traditional stonework were a brilliant blue-black complimented by scarlet prayer tags. She could hear children shrieking in excitement from behind the gates as well as sense the warm fire-natured presence of the adults accompanying them. 

Itachi set her down gently but Shisui kept the salad bowl despite her incesstants that she could carry it. The guard at the front of the gate nodded before allowing them to enter, seemingly familiar with the two men. 

Paper lanterns seemed to be a running theme throughout the compound and they glowed even though the sun had yet to set over the horizon. The cobblestone path was surprisingly smooth underneath her feet and the buildings seemed to fit perfectly next to one another. She was used to the adaptable infrastructure near the tower, where buildings had to force extensions as the city's population grew. The construction around the compound seemed to have more purposeful decisions being made. 

“It’s much nicer over here, anyway,” Shisui added with a characteristic smile, “A bit smaller land wise, so I moved in with Mikoto-oba-san and Fugaku-oji-san so that other families wouldn’t have to split up.” In the same manner he had earlier, he moved to pinch Itachi’s cheek this time, “Much to the chagrin of Sasuke-chan, of course. Makes me so reluctant to move out when it would mean I wouldn’t wake up to these beautiful faces every morning.” 

Sakura blinked at their antics and took in the compound with a much lighter chest and calmer spirit. There were a few spirits, of course, that lazed on engawa’s or gathered together in front of the shops at the front of the entrance, but nothing like the malicious presence she’d expected. The Uchiha were a founding clan, with a history dating back much further than the village's inception. She’d expected the same tortured ghosts or wailing souls that gathered around the cemeteries in the south side of the village. 

Instead, she noticed as she was led by Itachi’s strong hand and Shisui’s erratic presence towards the main family's home, the Uchiha’s ghosts seemed much calmer and more at ease here than Sakura ever expected. Hashirama seemed to agree as much as he greeted some of the older Uchiha ghosts that recognized him with a friendly grin and a nod of his head. 

❀❀❀

Not for the first time since Team Seven’s formation, she wondered if the fates were playing a cruel trick on her. It wouldn’t be the first time seeing as being able to see ghosts was more than enough karmic intervention for one lifetime. Her teammates were strong, her sensei extremely competent, and their skill sets suited each other in the same ballistic formation as any other frontline combatant squad was expected to uphold. 

However, she wondered why she had to deal with the brunt of the expectations of the world. 

Several weeks into training, Naruto and Sasuke had moved on from tree climbing to water walking. While Sakura knew this was the more advanced technique, she couldn’t quite understand why it was taking her teammates so long to grasp such a basic concept. 

A concept that Kirigakure academy students learned. 

She held onto Naruto’s hands as she stood on top of the shallow bank in the still pond on their training grounds, gently coaxing the blond to feel the ebbs and flows of the water around them. He’d abandoned his sandals after falling in the third time, then his jacket, and now just stood in his base shirt and underwear after his pants had gotten soaked to the bone. 

Sasuke was faring much better with their sensei’s tutelage, but Kakashi had enlisted Sakura’s help with teaching her teammates to water walk as a patience exercise. Blowing a lock of hair off of her face as she repeated the instructions for the nth time to Naruto, she wondered if maybe it was punishment for her cheek. She’d grown much more comfortable with her team the more time went on, but it also meant she’d forgotten how hard it was to bite her tongue in between sentences. 

Naruto wobbled in front of her and she re-focused her attention to make sure he didn’t stumble as they walked closer to the center of the lake. 

“Remember, it’s not like tree-climbing. You need to have two different outputs adapting with one another; one to stick you to the surface and the other to adjust your buoyancy as the water moves around you,” she reminded. 

He nodded with his tongue clenched through his teeth with a fierce look of construction on his face. She readjusted his hands in hers, lacing their fingers together for a better grip. He wobbled again and this time fell hip-deep into the lake with a shout. She sighed and let him fall in the water before she got soaked. She’d already shed her haori to save the seals woven into the fabric from becoming completely waterlogged, leaving her in just her under tank and cargo pants. 

She wiped the sweat forming on her brow and looked over to where Sasuke and Kakashi were also practicing, the Uchiha doing marginally better than Naruto. 

“Kakashi-sensei, can we switch? I don’t think I’m a good teacher and Naruto isn’t improving no matter how many times I explain it,” she asked with an apologetic look on her face. Naruto managed to climb back onto the bank and shook his legs free of water and sand. 

“Sorry, Sakura-chan! I’m trying, ‘ttebayo. You’re a good teacher, I swear,” he exclaimed before shooting Kakashi a glare, “I’m learning a lot with you. Sasuke-teme probably needs more help from Kakashi-sensei anyway.” 

“Of course, Sakura-chan. Why don’t we switch and you give Sasuke a hand. He’s almost got it anyway,” Kakashi-sensei replied.

Sakura missed the glare the two shot behind her back as she took in Tobirama’s lounging posture across the grass, having posted next to Sakumo and Rin to watch her teammates flounder in the lake with the budding summer heat. She closed her eyes to feel the warmth on her face for just a moment before walking over to where Sasuke was waiting for her. 

In the same manner she’d taught Naruto, she offered her hands for Sasuke to hold onto while he balanced precariously on the water. His grip was strong as he wobbled in the same way Naruto had only moments ago. She frowned contemplative before looking over to where her sensei and teammate were. 

Kakashi had walked over to where Naruto was with a deadpan expression and picked him up by the scruff before walking to the middle of the lake, the blonde limp in his grasp muttering under his breath. He shook Naruto like a rag doll before he dropped him in the water where he was somehow able to stay afloat. 

She raised one hand to cheer him on before quickly offering it back to Sasuke before he fell in the water without her assistance. “Wow, Kakashi-sensei! I don’t know what you said to him to make it click, but good job Naruto!” 

He waved at his little kunoichi with an eye-smile before walking back over to where she and Sasuke were, his posture promising punishment if the Uchiha hadn’t gotten his act together by the time he made his way towards them. Sasuke grumbled underneath his breath and the flow of his chakra stabilized, allowing him to be more eye level with her. She took her hands away with a smile and beamed up at Kakashi while he ruffled her hair with pride. 

“Well, look at that! Looks like all three of you have this down, finally, ” he commented with his lone eye focused more on his male genin who stared sheepishly up at him, “Just in time for us to grab some D-ranks to fill out the rest of the afternoon.” 

Kakashi pulled out his customary orange book as he waited for Naruto to re-dress himself in his fatigues before they made their way back to the village. 

“My, my, Izuna. First tree-walking and now water-walking. Maybe he takes after you more than I thought,” Tobirama said with a smirk, “After all, you were always so slow on the uptick.” 

Izuna scowled and leveled a kick towards the Senju’s torso which he swiftly dodged. It became a game of cat and mouse as they hopped across the trees in a mock battle. Sakura blinked as she watched them move around each other in a familiar dance and it was only with Kakashi’s interference that she didn’t run into his back when he stopped just before the entryway of the village. 

“Not tired, are you Sakura-chan?” he asked, “The boys didn’t wear you out too much right? I think Naruto’s asked you the same question about six times now.”

She raised an eyebrow and shook her head softly before focusing on her team, “Sorry. What did you ask me, Naruto?”

He waved her off with a grin before he put his hands behind his head as they resumed walking, “No worries! We’re used to it, yeah. If you’re tired, maybe I can carry you the rest of the way,” he offered with a sly grin. 

She curled her nose and watched as Tobirama stiffened at his offer, “My stamina is up to par with my rank. My reserves aren’t so depleted that I’d need to be carried.” 

The Senju resumed his place at her side as she moved closer to Kakashi to accommodate his space, unconsciously moving further away from her teammates as a result. She took in Naruto’s heartbroken look with one of confusion that was elevated by Sasuke’s smug smirk. Kakashi tilted his book down a bit to laugh at his genin and an idea sparked in Sakura’s head. 

They’d yet to be paid by the missions office, but the first of the following month was rapidly approaching. While she was technically given an allowance by her brother, she figured it made more sense to use that money on things to further her ninja career rather than literature. Since they’d spent the better part of the last couple of weeks painting fences and catching lost kittens, what better way to spend her soon to be first paycheck on a copy of her sensei’s mysterious book. 

She tugged at Kakashi’s sleeve and he stopped to look down at her again with a questioning gaze. “Yes, Sakura-chan?” 

“I actually am tired, Kakashi-sensei. Can I ride on your back on the way to the mission office?” she asked, her green eyes wide and sparkling. Tobirama rolled his eyes and muttered underneath his breath. 

“Sakura-chan,” Naruto whined, “You would ride on Kakashi-sensei’s back, but not mine?”

“You’d probably drop her, idiot,” Sasuke said as he shoved Naruto forward to continue walking. “You can barely walk straight without tripping over your own two feet.”

“I would not! I am tripping because you keep attacking me!” Naruto exclaimed, “Sakura-chan, let me carry you to prove it.” 

By that point, she’d already scrambled onto Kakashi’s back at his prompt and the jōnin was quick to secure her legs around his waist with a lone, firm hand. Kakashi didn’t quite call out her bluff, but he also figured they were only this small for so long and he had to appreciate moments like this while he still could. 

His other hand held Icha Icha close, but the book was closed with a finger being used as a bookmark almost immediately. It was as if he was contemplating on whether or not he could still read it with Sakura so close. Her fingers twitched from their hold on his shoulders and she tried not to scowl when her sensei tucked the book into his front pocket after a few moments of thinking. 

With her plan foiled, she wrapped her arms around Kakashi’s neck and resisted the urge to grab at the orange book so close to her hands. She knew the moment the jōnin caught on to her personal mission, it would be all over. Still, she enjoyed not having to walk across the village, laziness a strong trait as the sun continued to beat down at them overhead. According to the angle of the nearby shadows, it was approaching mid day, and was bound to get hotter as time wore on. Summer was right around the corner and she briefly wondered if it was cruel or kind to have them graduate in the spring.

She’d hoped Kakashi didn’t notice too much when she wiped some of the pooling sweat on her forehead on the back of his flak jacket while the boys tumbled over each other in front of them as they approached the Hokage tower. The small chuckle that escaped his breath let her know she wasn’t as sly as she’d intended to be. 

“It’s hot ,” she grumbled as she slid off of his back once they entered the lobby, “I think we could’ve spent more time at the lake practicing.” She lifted her long hair off the back of her neck where it’d hung limply on the skin in an effort to cool off. 

“Now, now, Sakura-chan,” he said with a smile, “I don’t think water walking is productive for someone of your caliber anymore. Maybe we look elsewhere in case you get bored?”

Sakura rolled her eyes and kept her grip firm on her sensei’s sleeve while they trailed behind their teammates up the central staircase towards the mission desk. “Like what? Can we do more spars with the other teams? I promise I’ll behave this time, I swear.”

Kakashi sighed, “Unfortunately the other sensei’s are a bit reluctant to do so this early on into their training after you beat them into the ground. Maybe after another month or so I’ll see if I can goad them into another session. I have another team that is interested in sparring with you three, but they don’t return from their mission for another few days. They’re genin like you, but they graduated last year so they’re a bit more experienced.”

Sakura nodded and peered up at him questioningly, “Then what should I do until then? Not to sound like Naruto, but I’d like to learn some jutsus eventually. ”

“My cute little genin, so bloodthirsty. I was thinking of signing you up for med-nin lessons at the hospital actually,” he admitted. “I know Itachi was thinking of stepping back from missions and he wanted to see if he could supplement some instructional time with some of his own. Minato-sensei has been the same since Naruto completed the first step in his Hiraishin training. I figured it would be a good use of time when we have days where we’re separated.”

Sakura’s eyes flitted to where Rin was walking at Kakashi’s side, the brown-haired girl grinning at his words. She frowned but didn’t outright disagree because she didn’t know how to not offend her sensei or the ghost. “Separated? Why wouldn’t I just spend the time with you? I don’t want to be an iryo-nin sensei. I don’t like hospitals, either.” If her team did have to spend mornings apart, she could always fill the time with Tobirama or Hashirama if her sensei didn’t want to spend time with her. Something that upset her since he assumed he wouldn’t be the one she would be spending extra lesson time with. 

Kakashi stopped and Sakura did too. Neither Sasuke nor Naruto noticed them fall behind as they raced to the top and Sakura couldn’t keep her eyes off of Rin’s now frowning self. “You have amazing chakra control, Sakura-chan. It was noted in your file that I should direct you towards the entry level classes eventually. Becoming an iryo-nin would make sense, especially since you already showed some prowess with the Mystical Palm Technique. You said you learned it from a book, imagine what you could do with an actual instructor.”

“But you’re my instructor. I want to learn from you,” Sakura pouted, “I don’t want to be a medic. I want to be a frontline fighter. They’re going to make me stay at the hospital and clean bedpans and heal scrapes and give shots and not take missions with Team Seven. Nii-san says iryo-nin very rarely leave the village once they’re fully trained, not unless they’re in Anbu or on special squads.” She resisted the urge to tell him that the hospitals were littered with the broken and battered bodies of civilians and shinobi alike and she’d taken too much care of herself to make sure she wouldn’t have to step foot in the place unless she was actively dying herself. 

“Being a medic is not a weak thing to be, Sakura-chan,” Rin commented from beside Kakashi and Sakura could only look at the girl with a pained expression. “You have a knack for it.”

As if Kakashi could hear his deceased teammate, he echoed her statement and this time Sakura took advantage of her sensei’s undivided attention. “While your brother is experienced, I don’t think he fully explained why the decisions that are being made are the way that they are. Do you know why Konoha treats iryo-nin the way that they do?”

She shook her head. 

“Because very rarely do individuals with the control that you have end up becoming shinobi and it’s not often they’re paired with the intelligence that you possess as well. If Tsunade were still in the village, she might’ve snatched you up while you were still trying to figure out how to disarm traps in the academy. Yes, we keep their medics confined to the village because of the scarcity, but I wouldn’t let them do that to you. That’d be a waste of your talents.”

Sakura blinked back frustrated tears and looked away from Rin and Kakashi to instead peer down at Tobirama’s twitching hand. As if sensing her gaze, the Senju knelt down on his haunches to be eye level with the teen. 

He didn’t quite brush off Rin, but he didn’t look her way either as he put in his own input, “Hashirama was a great healer, you know this. But, the circumstances of his position in the village are much more different than what would be yours. You are well within your right to turn his request down and if anything, your brother would be happy to step in for your sensei.”

Kakashi tilted her chin upward and forced the now melancholic girl to look back up at him, “Sakura-chan, I’m being serious. There will be a time where you and Naruto and Sasuke are off on your own, without me, and one of you will get hurt. Badly. When your skills end up saving one or both of them, you’ll think back on this moment and thank me for this push. You don’t have to be an iryo-nin if you don’t want to, but you can’t deny the skills would be useful. You’ve already taken to reading medical textbooks right? Don’t you find the information interesting? What’s the harm in an official program?” 

Sakura frowned but didn’t break eye contact with Kakashi as she weighed her next words. 

“I don’t see what the big deal is, Sakura-chan,” interjected Rin, tone surprisingly cruel, “Just take the lessons and stop giving Kakashi a hard time. You let me teach you the Mystical Palm Technique. Do something with it!”  

“Quiet, girl,” Tobirama hissed, “You don’t know the full extent of Sakura’s situation and your input is unnecessary at this time.”

“Don’t try to silence me! Kakashi is trying to help. I was our team’s medic and it’s the only reason Kakashi has two functioning eyes! He’s right. If something happens to Naruto or Sasuke and they die when their lives could’ve been saved if she just took a few medic courses, she’s going to regret it.” 

Sakura grabbed onto Kakashi’s sleeve and looked away, wishing not for the first time she could tell her ghosts to shut it . She pressed her palm into one of her irritated eyes and tried not to seem too childish in front of her sensei. 

He waited patiently, something he seemed to have in spades when it came to her. 

She didn’t want to disappoint him, but the resentment she felt for being pushed into a box that she had no interest in being checked into by both Kakashi-sensei and Rin was building inside her. 

“Only the entry level classes?” she proposed. 

Kakashi sighed but didn’t argue, “Only the entry level classes. If you are still interested in the techniques after that, please let me know. It’s not that I don’t want you to become a frontline fighter, Sakura-chan, but I also don’t want you to be biased towards a field you’d excel in.” 

“Sasuke and Naruto have to take them too. If I get hurt, who is going to help me? Sasuke has good chakra control and if Naruto’s with us, they might actually learn something together.” 

His eye twitched but his posture relaxed and he agreed just as easily, “I suppose it’s hard to argue with that logic. You can be the one to pitch the idea and I’ll talk with Itachi and Minato-sensei about how to adjust our schedules. You might not have as many days off from now on, just to make sure it all fits.”

Sakura nodded eagerly and then quickly wrapped her arms around Kakashi’s waist into a tight hug. In the same manner she did her older brother, she rubbed her cheek into his flak jacket in appreciation. Kakashi stiffened but then wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, tighter than she expected but it wasn’t unwarranted. 

“I want you to do well, Sakura-chan. I know it may seem unnecessary, but stabilizing wounds in a fight can be the difference between life and death, okay? Just try for your sensei, please,” Kakashi said as his hand moved to pet her head. “I won’t always be there to save you guys, and it’s only a matter of time before Naruto bothers his father enough for a C-rank and I want you all to be prepared. Even if I want to keep you running ragged with D-ranks until the end of time.”

Her affirmative reply was muffled, but even as Rin loured at her side she agreed wholeheartedly at his reasoning and she even laughed a bit at how serious he seemed with wanting to keep them on such mundane missions. With Naruto and Sasuke with her, the prospect of going to the hospital for lessons seemed much less daunting than if she had to attend the classes alone. 

Chapter Text

Sakura awoke to the small tapping on her window and it was only with a pulse of chakra and practiced grace did she manage to stumble out of bed to greet her sensei.

The sun had yet to rise over the horizon and she didn’t even realize her sensei knew how to be awake this early. 

“Yo! Sakura-chan, good morning,” he greeted with a smile. 

She yawned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes with the sleeve of her pajama shirt. Kakashi resisted the urge to coo as she blinked into awareness before looking up at him with a questioning glance. 

“Not that I'm not happy to see you sensei, but what are you doing here so early?” she asked with another yawn. 

He settled himself more comfortably on her windowsill and she backed up to let him come in. 

“Time for some training of course! Itachi and Minato-sensei have decided to monopolize Sasuke and Naruto’s time, so I thought what better than to spend the morning with my favorite female student.” 

She eyed him suspiciously, “I’m your only female student.” She blinked towards Sakumo just behind Kakashi, the ghost smiling softly at her. It was the first time she’d interacted with him outside of Rin and she smiled just as kindly. 

“Making you my favorite! Get dressed, be prepared to sweat. You’re going for a run,” he said cheerfully, taking her smile for one geared towards himself. 

“Don’t you mean we’re going for a run, sensei?” Sakura asked as she gathered a standard training outfit from her closet. She narrowed her eyes when he only hummed noncommittally but relented nonetheless. 

She did make him carry her on his back to the training grounds under the guise of eating breakfast, even if breakfast was a mealy ration bar from the stock they have in their pantry. She’d brought her haori, but with the thick heat in the air, she doubted she’d want to wear it longer than necessary and almost regretted bringing it. 

Surprisingly, they weren’t headed towards Team Seven’s customary training grounds and instead ended up at one of the ones on the village closer to the north sector wall. He placed her gently on the floor and waved towards the green blobs stretching on the unfamiliar training grounds. 

“My eternal rival!” the large one greeted with a grin as he stood up from a forward fold, “You’ve brought one of your youthful genin as well! What a surprise! I had not been expecting you till later in the day.”

Sakura suddenly realized what Kakashi meant when he said that she was going to be going for a run. She nervously shuffled behind him as the two bounded closer towards them, a ghost in a matching green jumpsuit just behind them. 

Sakumo was quick to greet the ghost and a gesture towards her had the man introducing himself with a shout. 

“Sakumo! How have you been? For your son to bring one of his students is truly a momentous occasion. It’s nice to meet you, young one. My name is Might Duy,” he said with a flourish. 

He seemed to relax around the Might Duy in a way she hadn't ever seen before and it allowed Sakura to ease her own posture as a response. She still dug her fingers nervously into Kakashi’s flak jacket and realized the smaller one had been talking to her for the last few minutes. 

She blinked up at Kakashi when he put his hand on her head and brought her forward to greet them. “Sakura, this is Lee and his sensei Gai. This is the team I told you about a few days ago. They kindly agreed to have you train with them today.”

She brushed a strand of hair from her eyes as she took the offered hand in front of her, “My name is Sakura. Please treat me well. I apologize for intruding on your morning.”

It seemed to be both the right and wrong thing to say as Lee got on his knees in front of her with tears in his eyes, all while keeping a firm grasp on her hand. Gai was behind him just as enthusiastically, tears also in his eyes. 

She peered up at Kakashi curiously, green eyes bright and worried. 

“Are they okay, sensei?” Sakura asked, confused. 

“Yes, Sakura-chan, don’t you worry. Would you mind if Sakura worked on her endurance with you? You’re running laps today right?” He reminded them with a smile. “Better get a move on.”

“Right you are, my rival! Sakura-kun, please join us on our morning routine as we race to complete one hundred laps around the village!” Gai-sensei said enthusiastically. 

Even from the brief introduction, she wondered if he knew how to do anything un enthusiastically. 

“You’re not joining us, sensei?” Sakura asked as she tugged on the sleeve of his shirt when he shoved her gently forward. 

“I will not be. In fact, I already completed my laps this morning. I made it to one hundred and one laps around the village before I came to pick you up, Sakura-chan,” he said cheerfully. 

Gai-sensei burst into tears once more and pointed southward in a lunge, “Of course you have! Lee-kun, Sakura-kun, we must make haste. We will complete one hundred and two laps so as not to be out done by my youthful rival!”

Sakura furrowed her brow but didn’t outright call out her sensei on the lie, something he’d been banking on. He offered her a pink hair tie from around his wrist for her troubles and she relented to spending the morning following the two around the village. 

As enthusiastic as they were, Sakura admitted she found it quite fun to try to keep pace with Lee and Gai-sensei. She could tell they kept a slower pace for her benefit, and while she tried to circulate chakra through her legs and muscles around the thirtieth lap, a well placed kunai at her feet let her know that cheating wouldn’t be allowed for this leg of training. 

By the fiftieth lap, she’d abandoned her haori all together and readjusted her ponytail to sit higher on her head to get the flyaways off her neck in the summer heat. 

By lap seventy, the sun began to rise over their heads, causing Sakura’s pale skin to redden with both exertion and sun exposure. She immediately regretted her earlier thoughts on this form of exercise being fun. Never before had her body seemed so sore. 

On the ninety-fifth lap, she’d begun to plan her sensei’s mysterious disappearance. Her aniki would help, she just knew it. Naruto and Sasuke would understand. They weren’t the ones subjected to this cruel form of punishment. They were probably still asleep in their comfortable beds, dreaming of the cool jutsu’s their family members were going to teach them that day. 

At their final lap, one hundred and two just like Gai-sensei promised, Sakura found herself dead on her feet with a scowl permanently on her face. Half her pink hair had escaped her ponytail around the finishing point, the strands limp and slick with sweat. She’d used the bottom edge of her tank top to wipe away the sweat that pooled on her lip and brow, but more seemed to drip in its place no matter what. 

Lee wasn’t one to be deterred despite her tired disposition and offered her an electrolyte beverage from his backpack on the floor, one that she took greedily with thanks. It tasted faintly of lime and soothed the burn in the back of her throat. 

Kakashi-sensei jumped down from the tree he’d been reading his book in and for once Sakura didn’t try to peek between the covers as she focused on stretching out the lactic acid build up in her muscles. Never before had her limits been pushed and next time her sensei tapped on her window in the morning, she was going to scream for her brother. Probably. 

“Sakura-kun! Your endurance truly speaks of your dedication as a shinobi!” Gai-sensei praised as he dropped into a lunge in front of her to stretch out his own muscles. He didn’t even look fatigued.

She could only nod in response, not trusting her lungs to escape her body if she opened her mouth to reply. She dropped in a forward fold not unlike Gai-sensei had been earlier and whimpered at the stretch in her hamstrings as a result. 

“Truly, Gai-sensei!” Lee agreed in a matching lunge, his hands postured on his hips as he proudly mimicked his sensei. “Sakura-kun, thank you for joining us on this youthful morning! I hope to see you join us tomorrow as well!”

She gave up on the forward fold and dropped to the grassy floor in a whoosh of exhaustion. Sakura then forced the heels of her feet to meet in a butterfly stretch as she focused on relieving the tension in her hips and lower back. She grimaced at the extension, having not realized how much she’d neglected her flexibility training. 

“You do this every morning?” she finally asked after another mouthful of her beverage. She looked towards Kakashi-sensei as he moved to stand next to Gai as the jōnin used her sensei’s shoulder to stabilize into another stretch. From now on, she refused to complain about the measly few laps they normally did as a warmup. Though now that her sensei knew she could do a hundred, she doubted that she could get away with the five or ten they were typically assigned. 

“Every morning we are in the village! My other two genin are not as enthused about cardio training, so they join us a little bit later! You will meet them shortly. My rival has requested our youthful teams to engage in some friendly spars after your team did so well against your peers,” Gai-sensei said with another blinding grin.  

Sakura hummed in response and tilted her head to the side to look at Kakashi-sensei’s relaxed posture next to Gai-sensei’s. Then she looked where Might Duy and Sakumo were engaged in their own version of stretching. The ghost had joined them on every lap around the village, often shouting words of encouragement at her when she started to falter. 

Like Kakashi-sensei, Sakumo had hung back, but had appraised each lap she completed with an eye of approval that had its own form of motivation in it. He wasn’t the most talkative of ghosts, but since both Hashirama and Tobirama were so spirited, she wasn’t quite complaining. He seemed to be warming up to her as well, so she found herself grateful for the presence. 

Normally the Senju brothers would’ve found her by now, so she hoped they’d find their way to her soon. She doubted they’d want to miss out on such a training occasion, especially since neither had been able to have her abscond into the woods on her days off like they originally planned. 

With so much of Team Seven’s time being taken up by perfecting the Hiraishin, she had basically neglected Hashirama’s efforts to teach her the Mokuton. A technique that needed space, energy, and long bouts of meditation to understand. 

Something she didn’t have at all when it came to Team Seven. 

If they weren’t slaving away under D-ranks that had the tendency to go wrong (either Naruto and Sasuke got into a fight or Sakura scaring the civilian with blanks stares causing them to be shooed away from the job site or were so grueling that none of the teens wanted to do anything but take a shower and pretend like they hadn’t spent the day covered in muck and scum) then they were forced into conditioning training at the hands of Kakashi-sensei. 

It wasn’t as if she was complaining, in fact the total opposite, since with each passing day she found herself fitting in between the grooves of her team better and better. However, she missed when it was just her, Hashirama, Tobirama, and the quant thrum of natural energy in the surrounding woods. She also missed spending time with her brother, who had taken up shifts at T&I with a vengeance now that she was a genin under jōnin supervision. 

She frowned as she moved into a pigeon stretch, and tried not to let her despondent look crush Lee’s excited one. She then bit her lip as she looked at Lee in front of her, who’d waited patiently for her to reply to a question she hadn’t realized he’d asked. This time she couldn’t even blame her spaciness on a ghost, not that the boys in the clearing would be able to tell the difference. 

Sakura blinked as her eyes moved back and forth between the two generations of Hatake’s and green clad shinobi before finally settling on Lee again. Her heart began to race as she realized what Kakashi-sensei had done. Might Duy and Sakumo’s relationship looked scarily similar to Gai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei’s.

He obviously trusted her to keep up the tradition that his predecessor set up, more so than the boys despite Sasuke being the obvious choice. He was as stoic as Kakashi-sensei and Sakumo, even if he seemed easy to fluster and anger when Naruto was involved. She wondered if she would have to adopt something of Kakashi’s to wear so they could match like Lee and Gai-sensei. 

She didn’t quite know how to process her emotions, but acceptance seemed the right choice. She nodded to herself as she came to her conclusion. 

“Lee-san,” she spoke softly, gathering the group's attention as she brought her back leg forward to sit back on her haunches. 

“Yes, Sakura-kun?” He asked, confused. He’d asked her several questions about herself, but all had gone unanswered as she stared off into the training grounds. Briefly he worried they’d overworked the girl into a comatose-like state. 

“I hope that we will be good rivals,” she said as she gave the boy a tentative thumbs up. If Kakashi wanted her to be rivals with the boy just as he was with Gai-sensei, then she would do her best to uphold tradition. Tobirama had instilled this into her from an early age, since many of Konoha’s livelihoods were at risk of being forgotten by time. 

“Wait Sakura,” Kakashi said limply as he reached out a hand to stop the girl from agreeing to a life of torment. “That’s not what this was. You were supposed to just go for a run with the two.”

Unfortunately, Kakashi’s words were overshadowed by the excited shouts from both Lee and Gai, the latter of which grabbing onto Kakashi in a bone-crushing embrace. 

“Look at this, Kakashi! Another generation of Eternal Rivals blossoming amongst the budding youth! Truly a sight to behold,” he cried with his fist in the air. 

Lee grabbed Sakura in her own embrace which she returned with a few soft pats on the boy's head as he cried into her shoulder about her ‘youth.’ They flopped onto the grass and Sakura looked as two looming figures stood over her and Lee with twin looks of exasperation. 

She recognized a Hyuuga almost immediately, body proud with a blue wraith around his neck like a noose. She held back a wince at the malevolent energy around him, but thankfully neither had ghosts following them around. The girl she vaguely recognized from the Academy, but since Sakura had spent her time hiding from bullies and avoiding clan kids like the plague, she doubted they’d interacted much at the time. 

Kakashi-sensei had mentioned they had graduated the year prior, so she doubted they would’ve ever had the chance to spar together. Not that Sakura sparred at all in the first place. 

She rolled out of Lee’s emotional grasp and pushed off of the ground, dusting off blades of grass as she rose to her full height. 

“Neji! Tenten! Please come meet young Sakura, one of Kakashi’s genin,” Gai-sensei shouted at the other members of his team as he wiped the tears from his eyes to greet the rest of his team. 

Tenten raised a hand and smiled at Sakura, “Yo! Nice to meet you. I’m Tenten, this one is Neji.”

Sakura raised her hand back and blushed, unused to being greeted in such a friendly manner. This generation of genin treated her much kinder than some of her peers. 

Kakashi placed his hand on Sakura’s head while Gai did the same, despite it being immediately brushed off by Neji who scowled up at his sensei. 

“Are Naruto and Sasuke meeting with us? Or will they be with their families for the rest of the day?” she asked Kakashi-sensei. 

“Not right now. I figured it would be more fun to have you monopolize their time before introducing them to the terrible twins,” he replied. 

“So the Uchiha isn’t even going to be here? What’s the whole point?” Neji scoffed as he looked up and down at Sakura’s ragged appearance. 

Immediately she stood straighter than she had been and met his look with a frown of her own. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Lee placed himself in front of Sakura and Neji with a determined look on his face. “Neji! My previously most youthful rival! You must give Sakura-kun the respect she deserves as she is Kakashi-sensei’s pupil and has shown herself to be worthy of being my new rival!”

Neji rolled his eyes and brushed off Lee’s hand on his chest, “I don’t care, idiot. Gai-sensei, you said Hatake’s team was going to be here and I heard he got an Uchiha and the Hokage’s son. I didn’t show up early to see a pink-haired shrimp.” 

“All I see is an asshole with a bad attitude! Go away if you’re going to be mean to me,” Sakura bit out. So much for a positive first impression. 

Gai-sensei frowned and crossed his arms while he observed the two before nodding to himself, “Neji! I had not expected you to be so cruel right off the bat, but fear not! I know what this is about. Neji is obviously upset that my previous student has found himself a new rival. Neji! Sakura-kun! A spar is in order so that you may fight for the right to be Lee’s ultimate eternal rival.” 

“Gai-sensei! You always know just what to say!” Lee agreed with a tearful look in his eye. 

Sakura turned around to fully face Kakashi with a confused look in her eye, not quite understanding the dynamic of the team in front of her. All he could do was give her a shrug with little to no explanation. 

“You wanted some kids your age to spar with, and I’d thought you’d appreciate some time away from the boys. Otherwise we can see if the hospital will let you start those medical lessons early since they’ll be with Itachi and Minato-sensei for the rest of the morning,” he told her with a raised eyebrow.

She wished Tobirama were here, or even Hashirama. She’d probably take Rin at this point, even if she was still a bit miffed at the ghost for being rude to her a few days prior. She couldn’t quite fault her for wanting Sakura to take medic lessons, but after their stand off in the Hokage Tower, she didn’t get the chance to explain why she was so reluctant to visit the hospital even if the reasons were for the benefit of her team. 

Sakura wiped away some of the sweat on her brow and shook her head at Kakashi’s offer to head to the very place she wanted to spend as little time as possible in. She released the rest of her hair from her pathetic ponytail and ran her fingers through the tangles while she looked at Sakumo who’d walked up to the two. 

Gai-sensei was berating the Hyuuga about his ‘unyouthfulness’ in his own version of a pep talk, so she figured the best way to work out their immediate differences was a spar. Sakumo voiced his agreements as much in a low, dulcet tone. 

“The Hyuuga learn best by having their faces rubbed in the dirt, much like dogs,” he said with a smile that looked awfully like Kakashi’s with his eyes closed. Were Kakashi not wearing a mask, she figured that’s what his eye-closed smile would look like. 

She faced Neji with a new look of determination on her face. “A spar seems like a perfect way to spend our morning together, Neji-san. Please treat me well.” All previous notions of exhaustion seemed to burn itself from her body at the idea of putting someone in their place. 

“I would ask if it was taijutsu only, but that’s because I figured your sensei hasn’t taught you much. You’ve been out of the academy for what, three days now?” He asked with a sneer. 

“Almost two months. I know ninjutsu, but I will let our sensei decide on the parameters of the spar,” she replied as she slipped on her haori and fastened it around her waist. With her long hair tangled free, she quickly braided it down her back to keep it out of her face. Neji had similarly length hair, if not a bit shorter, but it ended in a bulb at the small of his back. 

His pale eyes narrowed but he didn’t disagree as Kakashi and Gai shared a look between the two. Tenten sighed and pulled Lee over to the tree Kakashi had been resting in a few moments prior, resigning herself to being forced to watch egos battle it out yet again. 

“Weapons and taijutsu only, no ninjutsu,” Kakashi said with a nod, “Didn’t you say you fight with a bō, Sakura-chan?”

Tenten seemed to perk up at that, “Weapons? Gai-sensei, maybe I should fight Sakura instead.” 

Sakura whipped her head towards the girl in surprise, “You practice Bukijutsu? What do you fight with?”

“Everything! I am planning on being the best weapons mistress in Konoha! Kusari-fundo, kusarigama, bō, nunchucks, shuriken, kunai, you name it!” Tenten explained with a grin, she shoved Lee aside and ran over towards Sakura in the middle of the training field with a sparkly look in her eye. 

“I use a bō, but I can use a katana just as well. My aniki used a scythe in battle, so I know my way around curved blades if need be,” she said as she loosened her haori to show the seals inlaid at the bottom of the hem, “I have everything that I need sealed here!”

“You like fūinjutsu as well?” Tenten asked as she lifted the haori and inspected the seals, “These look immaculate. I’ve never seen threads woven so intricately in fabric like this.” 

Sakura looked up at the older girl, green eyes shining bright at the compliment. “I love fūinjutsu! I’ve been experimenting with my own seals since the academy. This one holds my weapons but I have some for when we start to take missions out of the village.”

Tenten dug out a few slim scrolls from her pouch and showed them to Sakura with vivacity, “I hold my weapons in these! A shop owner in the Uzushio district showed me how to make my own in exchange for working at his shop on the weekends. You have to show me how you added them to your clothes.”

Sakura nodded and met Tenten’s excited smile with one of her own before being reminded that there were other people in the clearing. 

“Sakura-chan,” Kakashi interrupted them with a cough, “Neji is waiting so patiently for the spar.”

Sakura looked away from Tenten to give Neji an unimpressed once over, much to the boys chagrin, before Kakashi cleared his throat again and nudged her forward. 

“You girls can bond over weapons and murder techniques later. We still have a few hours before we meet up with the boys for lunch, okay?” He said.

“My youthful new rival! I look forward to see you battle Neji!” Lee called out from his place against the tree, unperturbed by Tenten and Sakura’s bonding over fūinjutsu techniques and weaponry. Sakura found herself coming to like the two more and more, even if the Hyuuga on their team seemed to look at her with a heavy feeling of disdain and disappointment. 

She was technically the most apt fighter on their team, even if they weren’t outright brawling when they did spar. Kakashi refused to let them try experimental ninjutsu on each other in the name of safety, so most of their team exercises were taijutsu based. She still had the best winning score in comparison, even if Sasuke and Naruto were catching up to her as they adapted to her unfamiliar kata’s and crushing blows. 

She sighed and agreed readily enough, before biting her thumb and running the edge on one of the seals woven into her haori. A green tipped bō popped into her other hand while she sucked the remaining blood off the digit. It was slightly shorter than regulation to make up for her grip and height, but it would do well enough in the spar against Neji’s shuriken and kunai. 

Sakura stood across the clearing and waited for Neji to make the first move, a bloodthirsty glint in her eyes shiny with excitement. She’d spent years watching Naruto and Sasuke fight each other on academy grounds, Hinata as well, but she knew this genin would fight differently than her previous Hyuuga classmate. His muscles were more toned and his stance more confident than Hinata’s. 

He lashed out first, barely waiting for Gai-sensei to begin the spar before he invaded her guard with a sharp kunai. She met him blow for blow with the hilt of her bō, the staff firm and comfortable in the palm of her hands. 

Neji jumped back to avoid a wide swing before throwing handfuls of shuriken at her with a determined look in his eye. She bat away the ones aimed for her face and throat before sidestepping the remaining ones in a dance of grace. He was immediately in her guard again, a palm aimed for her exposed chest. 

She swiped her bō upward to bat away his left hand before jumping up to drive her knee into his jaw. He hadn’t expected the upward movement and had to bend awkwardly back to prevent the brunt of the blow from hitting his chin. 

Sakura immediately directed the knee kick to aim for the side of his head with her shin in the same move she tried to take Ino out, but Neji had predicted this and grabbed at her leg with the same hand she bat away with her bō. 

Using the other end of the staff, she stabbed it down towards his foot and used the momentum to flip away from his grasp. In the same manner, he jumped back to prevent his foot from being crushed but in the same moment she swiped up dirt and grass towards his eyes having known he’d be able to avoid the hit. 

Crouched low, Sakura twirled the bō into her opposing hand and aimed the weapon towards Neji's ribs while he moved to rub some of the dirt out of his eyes. He managed to deflect the hit with his elbow, wincing at the force behind the staff. 

For every move she had, he had a near perfect counter move. A few moments into the spar he activated his Byukugan, but Gai-sensei had barked out that his trigram technique would not be permitted against her. She didn’t quite appreciate the handicap on his part, but kept quiet as she focused on the spar itself. 

It was unlike battling with the other members of the Rookie Nine, where they grappled with unfamiliar family techniques in the same way a child tried to hold a too big weapon. It’s what Hashirama meant by ‘ham fisting techniques,’ since Neji’s proficiency in taijutsu was much more profound than Hinata’s had been. 

Even before she passed out against Naruto, the girl fought meekly against those against her. It’s probably why Asuma-sensei had chosen her to fight Choji after Sakura had knocked Ino unconscious. She figured the girl would eventually grow out of her shyness as a clan heir, especially since Neji was a near opposite force. If all Hyuuga’s fought as viciously as he did, she would eventually have to adapt to catch up to them. 

With a particularly brutal overhand swing towards Neji, she managed to crack her bō onto the crown of his head. He seemed particularly rattled and she winced sympathetically at the thunk that seemed to echo in the clearing. He took advantage of her moment of weakness and landed a chakra-less palm directly into her nose with a similarly ruthless crunch. 

Blood spewed from the injury but Sakura didn’t let it deter her as she used his horrified look to land a furious swipe of her bō to his nose for the trouble. The jerk. Later, she’d remember that it was quite rude to keep aiming for dojutsu users' faces in the way that she did, but since she was pretty sure her nose was broken, it’s exactly what the boy deserved. 

Neji bent over in pain once the wood had bounced away from his face and that was when Kakashi and Gai called the spar, the former with an exasperated sigh and the latter with a concerned shout. 

“Are you alright, Sakura-chan?” He asked with a worried look as he held a tissue up to her face once Sakura resealed her bō into her haori.

She could taste the blood on her lips and winced as he gently prodded the area with the fabric. 

“I’m fine,” she said nasally, “I can fix it, I think.”

“Maybe not quite. How about I set it and then you heal the bruise? We might need to go to the hospital if not,” Kakashi-sensei said as he tested the sensitive flesh around her cheeks. His fingers were light in their touch, even if she could still feel the cut of his calluses on her flesh. 

Gai-sensei echoed his statement and Sakura shook her head causing tears to pool in her from the strain. Immediate regret on her part. 

“My youthful rival! What a glorious spar indeed! Had Neji not acted the way he did, I’m sure you would’ve won!” Lee shouted encouragingly. Tenten nodded in agreement with the same sparkle in her eye from earlier. Sakura doubted the girl would’ve aimed for her nose in such a cheap shot, but she’d only known her for less than an hour, so whos to say that the other members of Team Gai weren’t hiding their own form of sadistic tendencies. 

“Yeah right,” Neji objected from underneath Gai-sensei’s cautious hold, “She got lucky.”

“You’re lucky I used my nice bō on you. I would’ve kept fighting if you weren’t such a baby about getting your nose broken,” Sakura retorted before yelping as Kakashi reset her nose once she was fully distracted. 

She immediately held her nose with green palms and glared at her sensei for not warning her he was going to reset her nose so easily. 

“Kakashi,” Gai chastised, “This is not a battlefield. You can’t just reset fragile bones and tissue like that. Fear not, Neji-kun! We will be headed straight to the hospital so a healer can reset it for you.”

Neji opened his mouth to protest before shutting his mouth with a snap at the look in Kakashi’s eye. 

Her sensei shrugged and patted Sakura on the head, “Our team is going to be taking an iryo course over the next few weeks. Better to learn now so she can show off and make me look good, right?”

Sakura glowered at her sensei but didn’t respond as she focused on soothing the inflamed capillaries and blood vessels around her nose and cheekbone. Despite not having chakra behind the blow, Neji hit hard . Kakashi had reset her nose nearly perfectly however, and she briefly wondered how he knew to do it so instinctively. 

She took one of Kakashi’s offered tissues and blew her nose, nearly gagging at the mess of blood and snot pooled together. She crumbled it together and bowed towards Neji, unwilling to forget her manners even if she was annoyed at him. 

“Thank you for the spar, Neji-san. Even though you fight like a-” her mouth was covered by Kakashi’s hand as he laughed off her indigent shout of offense. 

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” Neji said with a glare, but since his nose was still bleeding heavily into his bandaged hand, it wasn’t as intimidating as it could’ve been. 

“Why don’t we take an early lunch while Gai and his team head to the hospital and I’ll make sure next time you and Tenten can spar together? No doubt Naruto and Sasuke will be upset that they missed all the fun,” Kakashi said as he lifted her by the scruff of her haori and flopped her on her back. 

“Sakura-kun! I hope to see you tomorrow morning for another set of laps around the village!” Lee called out as Kakashi shunshinned them away from the clearing. She didn’t get the chance to reply, thankfully, since she wasn’t sure she was going to be able to move in the morning. 

“They seemed nice,” Sakura commented as Kakashi hopped towards the village center, “I like them.” 

“Even Neji?” he asked jokingly. 

“Maybe not Neji. But I liked Lee and Tenten. Gai-sensei seems fun. I can’t wait to see him and Naruto together. Do you think I can get him to wear that jumpsuit? Should I wear a jumpsuit? Lee and Gai-sensei weren’t even sweating in theirs.” 

Kakashi shuddered underneath her hold and she giggled against his neck at his response. 

Chapter Text

Sakura didn't quite know the difference between the ghosts that looked as if they were in their prime reincarnated versus the ghosts that couldn't (or wouldn't) move past the circumstances of their death, but the hospital would always be full of the latter.

Ghosts like the Senju brothers or even most of the Uchiha that she'd encountered seemed to have their pride follow them into the afterlife. Ghosts like Rin, however, kept their wounds like badges and didn't seem to mind that it was unsettling to look at a gaping wound in their chest any time she wanted to hold a conversation with her.

It's not as if Sakura had a weak stomach, far from it in fact. Years with an older brother who performed ritualistic sacrifices has cured her of any weakness she might've had in that regard. Skinning a rabbit and slitting a throat were essentially the same motion, so there wasn't much difference in the Haruno household.

Which is why Sakura's adversity to the hospital wasn't stemmed from the fact that the gore and viscera that coated the white walls seemed to drip onto her clothes and soak her shoes in an abundance of gore, but rather the fact that the overwhelming cries of shinobi and civilians mourning their own deaths drowned out the sound of her own heartbeat.

Her soul seemed to sync with theirs, her body just a vessel for their grief and torment and she could do nothing but sit through their tribulations and wails until she was able to escape the confines of her prison and run far from it. Sakura was a fairly healthy child, and since she was never invited to practice with the other kids or participate in spars, her interactions with the hospital were minimal at best.

It only took one visit to get her shots and immunity boosters to know that they didn't need a repeat performance in this lifetime or the next. Realistically, Sakura knew eventually she'd have to venture to the hospital, willingly or otherwise. Despite this, her reluctance only grew the older she got and it was in moments like this that Sakura regretted her career of choice.

Both Senju brothers were with her, a steady presence in front of her and behind her, fiending off wayward spirits with ferocity. She'd refused to step foot in the building without Sasuke or Naruto, and thankfully both boys were fine with her latching onto them as they wandered through the halls towards the Tsunade Education Wing in the back of the hospital.

She should feel proud in this moment, especially since it was a stunning display of teamwork on their part to all show up for their lessons without much preamble. If this had been proposed when they first formed, she knew neither boy would give these lessons the time of day. As far as she knew, the only medics in the Uchiha Clan were married into the family, not born from it. So someone like Sasuke taking the steps to be educated in a field medic first aid class was unheard of.

It was Naruto, however, that she held onto the tightest. Sasuke was fine with her holding onto his sleeve, the arm guards making it easy to do so, but since Naruto was usually the one initiating contact anyway, he seemed like the easier choice. Sakura made it three steps into the hospital before her ears started to ring and she let Sasuke lead the way as she shoved her face into the blonde's shoulder and followed based on feeling alone.

By the time they got to the room assigned for the field medic class, she was completely shivering, but neither boy thankfully questioned it.

They were seated together in the back, the room practically full of shinobi of all ages ready to take an introductory exam to test their knowledge. According to Kakashi, they'd be spending two afternoons a week for the next six weeks in this room.

Sakura watched as a spirit crawled from the ceiling vent to scream in front of an unaware chūnin in the front of the classroom, moving from desk to desk in an effort to be seen. It took everything in Sakura not to flinch when it got to their desk before being sliced away by Hashirama.

"This place is hell," Tobirama hissed, "Never before have I seen such vengeful souls."

"It's a hospital, brother. The circumstances of their deaths are not always the easiest. Souls lost in surgery, mothers dying in childbirth, babies taken before their time. The afterlife is different from those that have passed in battle," Hashirama said solemnly.

Sakura shuddered as a ghost passed through her to sit closer to the front.

"Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, concerned.

Sakura nodded and forced herself to sit attentively as the instructor handed them an informational packet along with their assessment quiz.

"I just don't like hospitals," she mumbled, resisting the urge to dry heave in front of her team.

"Neither do I," Sasuke admitted next to her, "I stayed overnight once when aniki got injured on a mission and I swear this place is haunted."

Sakura nodded, unwilling to voice just how true that statement was.

"So her abilities don't just extend to ghosts, it's all manifestations of the afterlife?" Izuna asked as he leaned against the desk next to Hashirama. Whenever it was just the three of them, Sakura found it amusing how often he used a buffer so as not to be directly next to Tobirama.

“Yes. Places like cemeteries and hospitals keep their spirits contained, but stepping foot on ground such as these results in a reaction like this,” Hashirama replied as he gestured towards Sakura. 

She frowned but couldn’t necessarily correct him. 

“A gift and a curse,” Izuna mused, looking at her with new eyes. 

“If her sensei had bothered to think twice about it, we wouldn’t be in this situation. She’s learned enough, I’d say. This is just unnecessary torture,” Tobirama said with a frown. 

“Healing is an important skill to master, one well within Sakura’s skill set. Her sensei is attempting to be an impartial party in this regard.” 

Sakura forced her head down once she noticed the rest of the class had begun their assessment. Their sensei already seemed a bit peeved to have the son of the Hokage in their classroom, if by the way she gave Naruto his packet were any indication. His penchant for disrespecting authority would follow him for awhile it seemed 

Despite the lack of formal training, the questions weren’t the most difficult compared to the topics she’d spent her time reading. 

'What is the name for the primary opening at the base of the skull where pressure can be released in the event of an emergency?'

'Skull fractures that transverse the full thickness in the skull, typically inflicted by blunt force trauma.'

'If your teammate has CSF dripping from their nostrils and ears, what should be your next assessment?'

'What is the best treatment for an ocular extrusion? What is an ocular extrusion?'

Sakura dutifully filled in the responses, humming in thanks when a nearby ghost happened to notice a wrong answer as they passed through. She wondered if she was an instructor when she was alive, since she mirrored their current teacher walking up and down the aisles to answer any questions that might arise.

"Psst, Sakura-chan," Naruto whispered from underneath his breath, "What the hell is a spleen?"

"It's an organ produces and removes blood cells and it's part of our immune system," she said back.

She answered a few more questions under her breath before Sasuke nudged her thigh with his, "What should we look for when our teammate has hollow organ damage?" He whispered, much quieter than Naruto.

"If the contents have spilled into the peritoneal cavity and if they're responsive to visual or physical stimuli," Sakura replied back.

Focusing on her test helped with the nausea brewing in her stomach, especially since Sasuke and Naruto were both steady presences on her side. Naruto seemed to be ready to abandon his test, having given up a third of the way through with a grumble. 

Sasuke was right behind him, content to watch the rest of their temporary classmates struggle to fill out the quiz. While Sasuke had been the Rookie of the Year, Sakura remembered he and Naruto often had to be separated during benchmark tests for that exact reason. 

Sakura couldn’t help but giggle once they started to pass notes behind their instructors back. 

Briefly she wondered if this was what her life might’ve been like at the academy, shoved between Naruto and Sasuke without any regard for grades or classroom conduct. 

After an hour, the instructor called for the tests to be passed forward and Sakura sighed in relief as a recess was called while she graded them.

Sakura followed her teammates out of the classroom and into one of the greenery areas, blissfully free of the majority of the wailing spirits that roamed the halls. The chūnin and jōnin seemed just as excited as Team Seven, but didn’t show it in the same way the teenagers did. They quickly commandeered a spot in direct sunlight, the warmth a stark contrast to the chilly classroom. 

"Wow, Sakura-chan! I didn't know you knew so much about medicine," Naruto exclaimed as he stretched out on a picnic table. “Makes the class seem like a waste of time. Let’s just ditch the rest of the afternoon and call it a day.” 

Sasuke shook his head, “Kakashi-sensei will find out for sure. I’m surprised he didn’t walk us to the hospital with how serious he was about us taking this stupid class in the first place.” 

Sakura figured it was rude to take up a whole table, but most of the older shinobi were giving her team a wide berth. They seemed to be the only genin really involved in the field medic class, and she briefly wondered if there was a reason why. Hinata had been the only student in their class that had any interest in medicine, but she figured it was mainly in the forms of balms or pastes to help with bruising.

Since Sakura was more confident in her usage of the Mystical Palm Technique, it wasn't as if she needed balms to heal her teammates' bumps anymore.

"Kakashi-sensei has been kind enough to source medical scrolls for me to read in my free time. Aniki also has plenty of textbooks on the human body and the brain for work," she replied. “The introductory course is to make sure we’re prepared in case we are injured and separated on the field. It’s better if we just do what sensei says.” 

“You can barely stand being in the room, Sakura-chan. Who knows how prolonged exposure will affect you,” Hashirama said as he scratched his chin. 

She was inclined to agree, but the more she focused on the class, the more her shakes seemed to subside. If it was a matter of exposure therapy, there might be merits to the class, even if she wanted to throw up at the thought of walking back inside. 

"The brain?" Sasuke asked as he stretched upward towards the sky. “What a weird topic to collect books on.” 

"It's easier to break something when you know how it works," Sakura shrugged as she laid her head in her arms to stop her head from spinning. “Nii-san knows a bunch of human psychology and he uses them in interrogation techniques when they won’t allow him to get physical. It doesn’t happen often, since I think they usually have him slated for physical interrogations because of the Yamanaka clan.”

"Gruesome," Hashirama said, fascinated, "Your brother really shines in T&I doesn't he, Sakura-chan?"

Sasuke shuddered and then groaned when the intercom called them back inside far too soon for their taste. "How many more weeks of this?"

"Six. Twelve classes, plus each class has a test at the end of it," Naruto whined, "We could be training right now. The sun is shining and my Hiraishin kunai is calling my name. Our names.” 

Sakura nodded in agreement, "Kakashi-sensei said once this is over we don't have to do it ever again. Plus, maybe we can use this to get some more interesting missions outside of the village. I hear we’re slated next for the Tora mission and Shikamaru has said it’s a ‘drag.’ I still don’t want to go back inside," she admitted as she stopped just before the class doors.

Naruto and Sasuke shared a look before nodding to themselves, both looking oddly serious. "Don't worry Sakura-chan, we know what to do. Plus, Shikamaru thinks everything is a drag. The mission can’t be that bad," Naruto said as he held the door open. 

Sakura eyed them suspiciously but followed them inside nonetheless, the looming threat of Kakashi-sensei’s ire in the back of her mind. Her sensei had patience for their team at that moment, but if he was hellbent on making sure she was field ready, then she would at least give it her best shot.

The instructor was nice enough, she figured, and seemed excited at the prospect of teaching the class once they all settled back into their seats.

"Well, class! I must say this has to be one of my promising courses yet. Your overall test scores were much higher than average, and one student even got a perfect score! Anyone that didn't do well, don't worry, as this was more to gauge lesson pacing and the rest of the six weeks," the instructor, Doctor Nakamura, said with glee.

"The main goal, as previously designed by Tsunade Senju herself before she went on sabbatical, is not to perfectly heal your teammates, but instead make it so that they can arrive at the village as stable as possible before being triaged in Konoha General. While Medical Ninjutsu has come a long way since the Warring States Era, there is still a long way to go when it comes to the general shinobi population."

Sakura, very much like how she'd been in Iruka-sensei's class, immediately became distracted by the Senju brothers.

"Tsuna really set this place up for success, huh Anija?" Tobirama asked as his fingers raked themselves through Sakura's hair. The cold feeling was quite grounding in her opinion, especially since the migraine that had been forming in the base of her skull started to work its way towards her temples. The lights weren't helping, and Sakura wondered if it was too late to start taking up wearing glasses like the Aburame clan.

"It would be more efficient if these skills were included in the academy assessments. Children are more likely to stab themselves with their weapon than adults. At least if they know how to patch themselves up, they might be more careful," a ghost at the front of the room remarked.

"Are you finding the curriculum lacking?" Tobirama asked, offended. "I designed it myself!"

The ghost scoffed and waved away the Nidaime with a bloody glove-covered hand, "Your curriculum and the one they teach now couldn't be more night and day if they tried. This generation has gone soft with peace."

"I wouldn't call a decade and a half after the Kyuubi invading this section of the village peacetime," another ghost replied, this time from behind Sakura. She had to resist the urge to turn her head to see who was talking.

"Psst, Sakura-chan, the instructor lady asked you a question," Naruto whispered as he jammed his elbow in her ribs, "Now's probably not the time to zone out."

Sakura jolted in her seat and dipped her head apologetically, suddenly aware of everyone's eyes on her. "Apologies, sensei. Would you mind repeating the question."

If the instructor seemed annoyed, she didn't let it show, but she did tell Sakura to stand up when responding to questions.

"In a standard kit, what might a shinobi need to have on hand should their teammate be at risk of bleeding out before being able to be transported back to the village?"

Sakura bit at her thumbnail before replying, heading pounding underneath some fo the older shinobi scrutinizing gaze. "Tranexamic acid is typically used to reduce mortality rates to help stimulate blood clotting in affected areas. If the cut is to one of the major limbs, shinobi are expected to carry tourniquets to help stop extreme bloodlost in the case of amputation."

The instructor nodded but stopped Sakura before she sat back down, "Not yet, Haruno-san. What are the primary goals of combat casualty care?"

Sakura furrowed her brow, "Completing the mission, preventing additional ally casualties, treating the wounded before transport."

"How many soldier pills can a shinobi weighing eighty-four kilograms consume before the body goes into shock?"

"One soldier pill has the equivalent chakra output of seventy-two hours per sixty-eighty kilos. At eighty-four kilos, a shinobi can consume three pills in a 8 vs  day time span before the body rejects the artificial chakra source and the body goes into shutdown," Sakura replied. She fiddled with the sleeve of her haori, heart racing as the walls seemed to begin closing in. The entire class seemed to be weighing her very existence, and even the ghosts in the room that ignored her had given her their full attention.

Sakura sat back down at the instructor's silent dismissal and she brought the sleeve of her haori up to her nose once she felt a dribble of moisture on her lip. She sucked at her teeth in surprise when it came back bloody, but her reflexes managed to cover Naruto's jolt of surprise before the rest of the class noticed.

"It's just the hospital air," she quickly explained, "it's too dry. I think."

Sasuke didn't seem quite convinced, but offered her a folded up handkerchief regardless. The fabric was dark blue, just like his shirt, and she tried to avoid getting blood on the uchiwa stitch onto the corner. 

“I don’t think you’re going to make it eleven more classes,” Izuna observed, “You look like you’re about to pass out.” 

“Astute as always, Uchiha. A true testament to your upbringing,” Tobirama growled out, “Would you like to comment about the color of the sky as well?” 

“Maybe I’ll comment on how much of an asshole you are after nearly a century,” Izuna barked back. 

“Silence, both of you. Arguments won’t be tolerated when Sakura is like this,” Hashirama interrupted as he knelt in front of her desk. “Only an hour left. You can do it.” 

Sakura resisted the urge to groan out loud and instead kept the handkerchief on standby while she focused on ignoring the masses of brutalized spirits decorating the room and halls. 

The next class is just as terrible, the wails seemed louder the longer class went on. Even Tobirama seemed disturbed, but neither brother backed down in their support. She didn’t want to think about how it may be affecting them, even if some of the more coherent ghosts didn’t seem as bothered by the malevolent spirits around them. How they could choose to spend their time learning to heal in this classroom instead of doing anything else, she couldn’t quite understand. 

“I think I’m going to throw up,” she murmured to Naruto, who looked as green as she felt but for different reasons. 

There was a tub of water at the front of the room, the water rippling with the movement of one lone fish as it swam around after being revived by the Doctor. Next to it lay a pile of dead fish, the hum of preservation seals making the scales glow. 

Naruto’s eyes were on the photos projected behind the professor however, as she catalogue different wounds made by different weapons across the nations.

If this were any other setting, Sakura would find the topic fascinating. Seeing the difference between tessen knives slicing through arteries versus senbon was right up her alley, but the amount of malevolent energy in the hospital was starting to weigh on her. 

The sooner she got off the hospital grounds, the better. It was only the first week, but Kakashi seemed so proud of them, she figured the endurance aspect could be considered training in her own right. Sakura didn’t know how the long term effects of having her skin itch or nose bleed for this long of a time period would affect her. 

Sasuke slumped in his seat next to her, having grown just as tired as Naruto. He seemed somewhat interested in learning the Mystical Palm Technique, but had grown bored since their sensei seemed to like to hear the sound of her own voice more often than not. 

The scrolls in front of them were something she’d seen before in the amateur iryo-nin textbooks, but with the fish in front of her, she now knew what Rin meant when she’d asked Sakura if she was interested in fishing to prove her skills. 

“If I get fish guts on me, I’m going to vomit on the sensei,” Naruto vowed as he took the fish from one of the other students that offered to help Doctor Nakamura distribute their lesson. 

“The goal of having you learn the basics of the Mystical Palm Technique is to see which of you amongst us have the capacity to do so along with being comfortable with cauterizing wounds on the battlefield. Follow my hand seals and focus on recirculating your chakra in order to try to have it emit a green glow. Once you think you’ve got it, you’ll try to circulate your chakra through the fish in order to revive it,” Doctor Nakamura instructed. “Some of you are already familiar with this technique, so feel free to help the person next to you if they’re struggling.” 

Sakura rolled out the scroll in front of her and laid the fish on the seal array, but didn’t follow her classmates' footsteps immediately and instead watched the other students test out their proficiency on their dead fish. 

Sasuke seemed a bit frustrated that he didn’t get it immediately, as did most of the other students in the class. One of the older jōnin seemed familiar with the technique and revived their fish almost immediately, but he’d been one of the only ones that had been willing to respond to the questions being asked to the class, so she wasn’t quite surprised. 

A gray haired teen to their right was the next to showcase their skill with a sheepish smile as he held the flopping fish in his grasp. The fish gave a violent jerk and landed on Naruto’s desk, who jumped into her lap with a shout. 

Sakura flinched with a lapful of blonde and stumbled into Sasuke with the force. The three of them collided with the ground, a chain event of clatters ruining the back row that had Doctor Nakamura running over with a scowl on her face. 

“What do you think you three are doing?” she asked with a frown. 

Thankfully, the gray haired teen intervened as Naruto and Sasuke helped Sakura off the ground, the girl woozy on her feet. 

“It’s my fault, Doctor Nakamura. My fish jumped out of my hands on accident, I’m sorry about that,” he said as he gathered his fish off of their table where it flopped pathetically. 

“When you’d signed up for this course as a refresher, I’d hoped you wouldn’t cause any issues. See to it that this doesn’t happen again or I’ll have your accesses revoked, Kabuto,” the doctor said as she surveyed the genin with a sneer, “You three better get your act together or I’ll have you removed from my class. One more toe out of line and that’s that.”

“Jeez, what crawled up her ass?” Naruto remarked as the three of them sat back down and tried to avoid the classroom full of stares directed towards them. It seemed to be a running theme with Team Seven. “We didn’t even do nothing.”

“Probably just pissed that if she does anything wrong you’ll report back to your dad,” Sasuke said as he poked his fish with his pointer finger. He’d been watching some of the other students with his Sharingan on, something Sakura figured was a bit rude since he hadn’t asked for permission first. 

“I bet you I can get this before you, bastard! Here watch this,” Naruto exclaimed as he placed his hands on the fish and shoved as much chakra as its body could handle into it. 

“Naruto, wait!” Sasuke said but it was too late, eyes horrified as his Sharingan watched the output shine against his hands.  

Sakura flinched as she was suddenly showered in a rain of guts and scales, the scent of which burning itself into her senses. She buried her face in her hands and groaned as the Doctor instructed them to get out of her classroom, which she was more than happy to do. 

Kakashi-sensei would not be happy that they were kicked out of the class so early, especially since Doctor Nakamura hadn’t given them any indication as to whether or not their expulsion was for the class or from the program. 

“That’s one way to take care of a problem,” Tobirama said as he followed them out of the hospital. 

“Your teammates reacted a bit quicker than I would’ve given them credit for. I’m sure the doctor will realize her mistake later on when she gives her report,” Hashirama added. 

Sakura looked up at the two from behind her teammates, her hand a steady presence in both Sasuke and Naruto’s as they pushed through the crowd of people waiting to be checked into the hospital. 

“Your teammates conspired to get you all kicked out of the classroom, but Naruto’s idea was to prank the teacher into banning you. Sasuke’s idea was to do so poorly that they had no choice but to fail you,” Hashirama informed her with glee, “It’s just their luck that one of your classmates irritated the doctor enough to push her over the edge.”

The realization of Naruto and Sasuke saying they’d handle their problem dawned on her and Sakura looked at them both with new eyes. She blushed and tightened her hold on their hands and then immediately paled at the cross-armed Kakashi-sensei that waited for them outside of the hospital. 

Naruto and Sasuke both stiffened and Sakura realized that their plan might’ve backfired almost immediately in their faces. 

“Where do my cute little students think they’re going? Your class doesn’t end for another four hours,” Kakashi-sensei said as he checked the watch he wasn’t wearing on his wrist. 

“Were you waiting for us?” Naruto asked as he crossed his own arms and gave Kakashi a glare, “You creep! Maybe our class let out early.”

“I highly doubt that,” Kakashi sighed as they walked closer to him and out of the way as a trio of shinobi limped past them. “Tell me what happened.”

“Naruto made a fish explode and the doctor banned us from the class, forever,” Sasuke said with a shrug, “We should go get some lunch and then you can train us for the rest of the day since our afternoon is free now.”

“Great idea bastard! Ichiraku Ramen here we come,” Naruto said as he grabbed Kakashi’s arm to lead them towards the center of the village. Kakashi didn’t move from his place and instead picked Naruto from the back of his jacket and placed him back next to Sakura and Sasuke. 

Sakura had the decency to look a little bit embarrassed, even if she had been so pleased a few moments prior that her teammates took her inability to be in the hospital so seriously. They were definitely incurring Kakashi’s wrath upon them along with the risk of so many D-rank missions they were going to never see the outside of the village. 

She had to think quickly, especially since Tobirama and Hashirama seemed so amused by their antics. Sakumo and Rin were behind Kakashi, per usual, but even Rin seemed interested as to where this was going. 

“It’s important to me that you three take that class. Why is it that you three seem so dead set against it,” Kakashi said with a frown. 

She saw Rin flinch behind Kakashi and the dots started to connect themselves in her mind. In any other instance Sakura would feel bad for her sensei, but seeing as her flesh finally started to feel like it wasn’t going to peel itself from her bones now that they were out of the room, she was at a crossroads. She could still smell the bitter iron in her nose from a dried nosebleed and the pounding in her head barely subsided. 

“We’re sorry, Kakashi-sensei,” Sakura said as she looked up at Kakashi, eyes wide and mournful. “The doctor was so mean to Naruto and it wasn’t even our fault, another student ran into us and the doctor just took it out on us.”

“Yeah, yeah! She’s just mad that Sakura answered every one of her questions and made her look stupid because of it, she’s just jealous . I bet Sakura would ace every one of her tests if she took it now, the class is basically a waste of time,” Naruto added on with a nod. 

“It doesn’t help that I don’t like hospitals either,” Sasuke said as he narrowed his eyes at Kakashi, “I copied the Mystical Palm with my sharingan, so if I need to, I can use it in case one of us gets hurt. I don’t want Naruto anywhere near me with a needle and he doesn’t have enough control to be able to learn it anyway. If we get hurt, Sakura can heal us.”

“If Sakura gets hurt? Then what? What if one of you hurt her? What if you’re out of chakra and need to rely on basic first aid to do so?” Kakashi asked, lone eye looking serious. 

“We learned basic first aid at the academy, and the doctor covered it again in the first class. We’ll protect Sakura with our lives, believe it! Nothing bad is going to happen, Kakashi-sensei, we promise,” Naruto vowed. 

Sakura looked up at her sensei and then towards Rin behind her who was quick to avoid her gaze. She could see the brewing lines of tension in her sensei’s shoulders and did the only thing she really knew in this instance, especially since it was a page out of one of Hidan’s psychology books. 

She grabbed her sensei around the middle and didn’t let go, even when he seemed to flinch at her doing so. She wasn’t short enough that she couldn’t reach around his shoulders, but he seemed the type that needed his arms free at all times. He needed a physical reminder that she was here, in front of him, and okay.

“I will memorize every book you give me and master every technique you can find, but please do not make me go back into the hospital,” she pleaded, laying her proverbial cards out on the table. “If Naruto or Sasuke or you get hurt, I will heal you. I will be so strong and so quick, I won’t ever have to have you guys heal me. I’m sorry we got kicked out from the class, but it wasn’t on purpose, I swear.”

Her sensei looked down at her, shocked at her proclamation before the stress bled out of him with a sigh. 

Kakashi gathered Sakura in his arms and then pulled Naruto and Sasuke into the same hug. He groaned a bit at their combined weight, and she knew that they looked a bit funny to passerbys, but the three of them snuggled into their sensei regardless. 

“Fine, fine. Doctor Nakamura did give your test results to Minato-sensei and said you would do better in the advanced class anyway, but that doesn't mean I’m not still upset at you three. You directly, or indirectly disobeyed me, and there will be consequences,” Kakashi vowed as he tightened his arms around them before setting them gently on the floor in front of him. “I am also not paying for lunch.”

Naruto jumped on his back despite the fact, “Then we’re getting Ichiraku Ramen! It’s my turn to pick.”

“No it’s not you idiot,” Sasuke said, “It’s my turn to pick and I want to get some onigiri.” 

Sakura smiled as the three walked ahead of her, Kakashi readjusting Naruto on his back when the genin tried to swing at Sasuke for suggesting onigiri over ramen.

“Your team is quite a dedicated sort, Sakura-chan,” Hashirama said with a smile. Tobirama made a noise of agreement, the normally stoic Senju surprisingly mystified at how quickly they accepted her into their fold. 

“I like them a lot,” she admitted under her breath with a smile, a mere whisper that was only picked up by the two ghosts next to her. 

Chapter Text

With all things considered, Sakura is pretty satisfied with the way her life has been so far. With the looming threat of spending her summer at the hospital behind her, along with Kakashi’s punishment in the form of endless d-rank missions, luck seemed to shine on Sakura for the first time in a long, long time. 

Her team and their budding skills were a work in progress, but with the way Shikamaru recounted his own training during their weekly shogi sessions, they seemed to be progressing far above their peers in comparison. According to him, Asuma-sensei and Kurenai-sensei have their own rivalry going, so while it wasn’t as rigorous as the training Team Seven seemed to undergo, it was still (for lack of a better word) troublesome. 

Sakura had no doubt that Team Seven would continue their running streak of beating their year members into the ground if Kakashi could convince Asuma-sensei and Kurenai-sensei to do another round of sparring in the near future. 

Her early runs with Lee and Gai-sensei, sans Kakashi-sensei, continued with a vengeance and became the highlight of her mornings more often than not. 

Sure, the laps she had to do with Team Seven later on felt infinitely more miserable if she and Lee got caught up in their own challenges and pushed themselves far behind their self-imposed limits, but she wouldn’t trade the muscle strain for anything in the world. 

All in all, the only thing that really weighed on her at night was what was in Kakashi-sensei’s mysterious orange book.  

Not a single ghost, not a single adult, not even Shisui would be persuaded to tell her what lay behind the bright cover. 

So, on her next free day with her brother, she resigned herself to spending her hard earned genin paychecks at the nearest bookstore. 

It wasn’t uncommon for her and her brother to spend their off days together, it’d just been so long since they were both free enough to do so. She’d also had an ulterior motive in requesting privacy from both Tobirama and Hashirama, with the promise that she would spend the next day off from Team Seven practicing their respective techniques now that the dust had settled. 

With both Senju brothers out of the way, it meant that she could safely sneak off to the section of the bookstore they often pushed her away from. 

On Hidan’s back, she mapped out her plan of attack. They’d grabbed breakfast from the convenience store underneath their apartment and walked to the bookstore down the block, onigiri in hand. Later they planned to head to the training grounds to spar, so now was the perfect time to get some shopping done.

Her brother would be eager to check out the medical section of the store, especially since there were rumors of a new volume installment on the psychology of dojutsu users. She’d go all the way back to the secret section of the bookstore and make her purchase before her brother noticed she was gone. 

Simple, really. 

Except the seller refused to give her the plastic wrapped book when she put it on the counter to pay. 

“Kid, I don’t think you realize what you’re trying to buy,” he said as he propped his head in his hands and looked down on her with a curious look on his face. 

Sakura scowled and pushed her ryo further up on the counter. “I have a hitai-ate, which legally makes me an adult. Let me pay for it.”

He shook his head and slid the book behind the counter before pointing at the magazine stand to her right. 

“Those are more up your alley. I have the right to refuse purchase to any patron that comes through those doors, and I doubt your parents want you reading that stuff. Come back with an adult and I’ll let you buy it.”

“I came in with an adult! I don’t even know what that stuff is! All the more reason for you to hand it over,” she protested. 

He shooed her off and she stomped over to the magazine stand to grab some an issue of Teen Kunoichi so her brother didn’t question why she was so incessant on coming to the bookstore in the first place instead of going directly to the training grounds first thing in the morning like normal. 

She’d hoped that if she entered with her older brother that it would be easier to make the purchase, but she couldn’t outright hand the book over to Hidan since he’d laughed in her face when she asked if he’d buy her a copy last month. 

“‘Top ten senbon hairstyles to slay your enemies and the catwalk.’ Sakura what the fuck is this?” Hidan asked when he grabbed it from her hand to pay. He dropped several thick textbooks on the counter alongside her girly magazine, causing the counter to rattle under the weight. 

She just shrugged and glared at the seller behind the counter who laughed at her when he noticed she didn’t mention the orange book in front of her brother. 

❀❀❀

Tobirama and Hashirama very rarely joined her for her morning runs with Lee, so she used the following day as a backup to head to a different bookstore on the opposite side of the village before she headed home to prepare for the rest of the day. 

The only issue is this bookstore didn’t seem to have anything by the writer named Jiraiya except for the book ‘The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi.’ The cover was the complete opposite of the one she’d seen Kakashi reading. It was plain, with a dark sand border and only the title on the front. Not a picture in sight. 

She flipped through it and tried to to seem too upset, especially it was only her and one other person inside this book store. 

“Have you read that before?” 

Sakura looked up, startled, from the book to come face to face with a pale boy around her age. If she hadn’t known better, she would’ve guessed he was a member of the Uchiha clan but she couldn’t spy any uchiwa’s on his clothes nor had she seen him in the academy. She couldn’t even see a hitai-ate anywhere on him. Just plain dark clothes with a sketchbook in one hand and a small satchel across his body. 

“Oh, uh, no I haven’t,” she admitted, “I was actually looking for a different book by this author, but I can’t seem to find it here.”

The boy nodded in understanding, “That’s how I found that book too, actually. I was looking for books on love and someone told me to look for the ‘Icha Icha’ novels, but no one would sell them to me. My older brother, Shin, won’t tell me what’s in them either.”

Sakura’s eyes widened. Someone who knew her plight! She’d not been expecting someone else to be in the same predicament as she was. 

“My aniki is the same! My sensei spends all day reading these books but he won’t tell me anything about them. Are they self help books? Why would you need a book on love?” She asked with a furrowed brow. 

The boy looked to the side and adjusted the book in his hand nervously, “I am unfamiliar with how to make friends as I was homeschooled for my education. I have been reading books to better understand relationships better, and I was curious as to what love felt like.”

Sakura blinked at how timid the boy became and suddenly remembered her own adversity to friendships and stuck out her hand in front of her. “I’m Sakura! I hope we can be friends.” 

He obviously wasn’t prepared for her to say that but quickly recovered and grabbed her hand with his own. “Sai. It is nice to meet you, Sakura.” 

❀❀❀

Maybe Sakura was going about this all wrong. She’d tried twice now to acquire the book on her own, but obviously she needed to use teamwork in order to complete her mission. 

It was easier than she expected to get both Naruto and Sasuke on board, but not impossible since she offered to share the book with the boys in exchange for their help. 

“I’m all for it! Dad got rid of his copies when Mom caught me trying to read them back in the academy. Said they weren’t ‘age appropriate,’” Naruto whined as they walked through the village towards the bookstore Sakura scouted earlier in the week. She knew they had it on hand, but she didn’t want to risk the lax security tightening by trying to buy it on her own again. 

“If they’re not age appropriate, then what can we read?” Sakura asked frustrated, “I can kill a man but I can’t read Kakashi-sensei’s book? What’s up with that!”

Sasuke crossed his arms and voiced his agreement, “Shisui has those books but Itachi spotted them right after I did when I grabbed his laundry one day and hid them away. Adults are weird like that.”

“If Shisui has them then they gotta be good,” Naruto said, “We’re definitely going to succeed in this mission, believe it!”

Sakura hummed and then pulled the boys into a nearby alleyway so they could henge away from prying civilian eyes. They knew that they couldn’t go in as themselves, but if they used people they were familiar with, it would be easier to skate by without being noticed. 

Sakura transformed into Shisui while Naruto changed into Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke into his older brother. 

She figured the more cheerful Uchiha was easier to manage, especially since it didn’t look like their sensei had many friends outside of those in the jōnin corps. She would’ve transformed into Hidan, but sometimes they weren’t always treated the best by the civilian population. 

They walked in together, confident and sure of themselves while ‘Itachi’ looked through some of the poetry books at the front of the store as ‘Shisui’ leaned against the counter waiting for ‘Kakashi’ to grab the book from the back and make his way to the counter to pay. 

“Shisui-kun! Is that you?” A shriek from the employee section behind the counter nearly broke Sakura’s technique as her arms were suddenly full of a soft blonde in an apron. “You never called me.”

Sakura gulped and held her hands on the girl's waist as she encouraged her to loosen her arms from around ‘Shisui’s’ neck. She had a tight grip and was choking her as a result. She nearly had her leg around Sakura’s hips, her calf trailing up and down her own in an unusual manner. She’d never been hugged like this before. Is this what people were supposed to do when they met someone they knew? 

Thankfully neither Senju brother was around, as Izuna was able to distract Tobirama while they made their slip from prying eyes. Hashirama seemed determined to locate Madara before Itachi and Shisui joined them for training that afternoon after Kakashi promised to return with lunch. 

Team Seven only had so much unsupervised time left in the day and Sakura could only imagine how cross both would be with her once they were done laughing at her torment should they happen to come across her. 

Her eyes flickered towards the girl's name tag once there was enough room between their chests and she hoped the lazy grin that passed over Shisui’s lips was convincing enough, “Akari-chan, hello. It is nice to see you again.” 

The girl cooed and ran her arms up and down Sakura’s as she rubbed her cheek against her shoulder. Sakura tried not to stiffen under her ministrations, but she was three seconds away from teleporting away from the girl's hug and blowing the whole operation up. 

“Akari-chan, huh? We’re close enough for that, Shisui-kun? You know I get off in an hour and maybe we can pick up where we left off,” Akari simpered as her hand trailed from Sakura’s shoulders down her back. “I bet you’d be able to make it up to me since you left me wanting last time.”

Sakura stiffened and cringed because she had know clue what Akari meant by that, and she had no interest in wanting to know what Shisui had done to this poor woman to make her act so deranged. 

‘Kakashi’ came to her rescue as he set the book down on the counter with a handful of ryo, albeit a bit louder than necessary to draw the attention away from Sakura. 

“Excuse me miss, I’d like to buy one book please,” he said, voice deep and monotone.

Sakura tried not to wince at how un-Kakashi it sounded, but the girl didn’t seem to mind as long as she was able to hold onto ‘Shisui’ while she rang up his purchase. She didn’t even ask for identification before she counted Kakashi’s change and waved him away without a second glance. 

It took several minutes, and promises she knew Shisui would not be able to keep, before they were able to shake off Akari and escape back into the same alleyway to shed their henge’s with stifled laughter. 

“Oh man, Shisui-nii’s gonna be so pissed,” cackled Naruto as he ripped off the plastic from the book and handed it over to Sakura. “I can’t believe you promised her a date, Sakura-chan!”

“I didn’t know what to do! She had her nails embedded in my flesh, I’m surprised she didn’t break my technique,” she shivered because Akari did not seem like the type of woman that would appreciate being stood up. “Who knew a civilian could be so strong.”

She quickly grabbed the book from Naruto and grinned as she studied the book from the outside to make sure it matched the one Kakashi carried around with him at all times. 

Sasuke nudged her along and she took in a deep breath before opening the book towards the middle to reveal its contents to her teammates. 

Except the book was completely blank on the inside. 

“Wait, what?” Sasuke asked as he took the book from Sakura and held it in the light to see if that would make the words magically appear. “Naruto, you idiot! Did you grab the wrong book?”

“What! No, I grabbed the right book I swear. It was right next to some of the manga that mom swears she doesn’t read. It was in the right section and everything.”

“Then where are the words, dobe?” Sasuke gritted out as he shook the book at their teammate. 

Sakura stiffened when she suddenly noticed a curious Kagami and Madara looming over them and groaned once she realized what had happened. 

In the same breath as her ‘kai,’ a blurry figure snatched the book from Sasuke’s fingers and held it over the teens while another one dropped next to him with his arms crossed and a frown on his face. 

“Nii-san,” Sasuke exclaimed, horrified at being caught by his older brother. “It was Naruto’s idea, I swear.”

“Hey! Don’t blame this all on me,” Naruto shouted. “The henge’s were your idea!”

“Naughty, naughty Sasuke-chan. You too, Naruto and Sakura. For shame even! Pretending to be someone you’re not so you can buy such salacious material. I ought to tell Mikoto-obaa-san immediately,” Shisui mocked as he tucked the book into his vest. “Imagine what your parents would say.”

“Otouto, you should know better too. That is not for your eyes to see,” Itachi scolded, “You are much too young for that.”

“But what is it?” Sakura whined as she pawed at Shisui to grab the book back, “We paid for it fair and square.”

“Technically Kakashi paid for it, and he’ll be getting the book along with your explanation as to why you felt the need to use your free hour in such a manner. To the training grounds, Team Seven. Your punishment awaits!” Shisui said as he grabbed Sakura and Naruto to throw them over his shoulders to jump across the roofs towards the training ground. 

Itachi was not far behind them with Sasuke securely on his back, the teen refusing to look her or Naruto in the eye. 

‘Not a word,’ Sakura mouthed at Kagami and Madara as they jumped next to them, twin looks of amusement on their faces. 

❀❀❀

Sakura pouted as she stumbled home, body sore from the amount of running Kakashi had them do as punishment for using the jōnin’s likeliness to purchase the book. He didn’t seem upset at getting a brand new copy of the book, however, and used it to taunt Team Seven from the treeline as he watched them try to capture Shisui in order to end their punishment. 

Catch the Shisui was not Team Seven’s strong suit, not until they could all confidently get the Hiraishin down without splinching themselves. While they could all perform the shunshin at will thanks to his tutoring, they still had leagues to go. 

For all Sakura’s efforts, she still wasn’t any closer to knowing what was written behind the taunting orange cover. 

She was not looking forward to heading home, especially since she all but ran away from the founding ghosts in embarrassment. Hashirama had missed the bulk of the lecture from Itachi, but Madara seemed more than happy to catch him up to speed after the fact. The one time she needed their rivalry to work in her favor, it obviously worked against her. 

It wasn’t until she heard a loud laugh coming from one of her favorite dango stalls that the idea struck. She’d heard that laugh before and almost immediately her feet were making their way towards a large table in the back littered with dozens of plates of dango. 

Maybe what Sakura needed for her mission was a woman's touch. 

She stopped in front of the table and waited patiently for Anko to finish chewing her dumpling, the older woman glaring at her with a puzzled look on her face. 

“How do I know you?” she asked as she pointed at Sakura with a dango stick. “I know you, but I don’t know you.”

“Hidan is my older brother,” Sakura offered tentatively as she resisted the urge to fidget in front of her eerie gaze. “You’re the lady that he’s in love with. Anko, right?”

Anko barked out a laugh and kicked a chair next to her away from the table in order for Sakura to sit down, which she happily did. She curled her knees close to her chest as she looked at the different types of dango Anko was choosing to eat for the evening. 

“Don’t tell me your brother has you doing his bidding for him now?” Anko said as she pushed a plate of dango towards Sakura. “He’s tenacious, I’ll give him that.”

Sakura shook her head and frowned in confusion, “No, he’s not why I’m here. I just need your help actually.”

Anko seemed interested in that and leaned in. “My help? You need me to hurt someone for you? Some guy being weird towards you? Tell Anko what’s wrong.”

Sakura pursed her lips and looked around to see if anyone, or anything, was listening. She had managed to avoid most of the ghosts in her life thus far on her way home, and now was her chance to get what she wanted. 

“Nothing like that. Do you know my sensei, Hatake Kakashi?” She asked. 

Anko shrugged, “I might have heard of him. Why do you ask?”

“Do you know the book he reads all the time? Icha Icha Paradise? What is it? No one will tell me anything about it, not even my brother! He bought me my first tanto but I can’t read this one book? I don’t get it!” Sakura lamented as she took another bite of dango in front of her. “Itachi won’t tell us, not even Shisui will tell us. It’s not fair!” 

Anko laughed obnoxiously in Sakura’s ear and nearly fell out of her chair. 

“That’s what's got you in a tiff? Kakashi’s porn? Jeez kid, why didn’t you say so. It’s nothing they shouldn’t have covered in your kunoichi classes. I don’t know why they’re like that either. Here,” she finished as she dug into her trench coat to bring out a worn copy of Icha Icha Paradise, the cover a dull orange compared to the bright one they purchased earlier. Clearly it had been read cover to cover religiously. Just like Kakashi’s.

Sakura took it tentatively, nervous in case the woman decided to change her mind. She cradled the book softly in her hands, feeling the softened leather binding between her fingertips. 

“Well, I technically didn’t even attend kunoichi classes. The other girls in my class wouldn’t let me and Suzume-sensei didn’t care if I skipped as long as I passed the end of semester assessments. I don’t know what’s so special about flower arranging in the first place,” she admitted. 

Anko’s hand twitched as if to take the book back before she sighed and waved her hand at Sakura to open the book regardless, “It’s not just flower arranging kid. Kunoichi are expected to know how to do the finer side of shinobi life, the shit they can’t trust the men to do. Seduction missions, poison, infiltration, and diplomacy. Kunoichi stuff. Kurenai is better at it than I am, though.”

Sakura curled her nose up at Anko, “But the tests were just about the shinobi nations and flower arranging. I never got a test that had anything like that on it. Maybe poison making, but that’s it.”

Anko sighed and leaned back against her chair, “Who knows, kid. You definitely shouldn’t have been allowed to skip those classes, especially since that’s where they covered sex education. Have you even been given the talk yet? Do you even know what porn is?”

She shook her head and opened the book about a hundred pages in and ignored Anko’s flustered look as she began mindlessly reading through the first third of the novel. 

“No, not really.” Sakura didn’t know what this talk was, but she’d agree to anything if she could get this mystery over and done with. 

“Arata-kun, please, you have to believe me. I promise I would never betray the man I loved,” Junko cried as Arata tried to push her away from his loving embrace but she pulled him in tighter with her thick thighs wrapped around his muscular hips. His pulsing member was deep inside her, just how she liked it. 

She grabbed his hands to cup her plump breasts, encouraging him to continue to pluck her peaks like an archer with his bow. She squeezed her thighs together in anticipation, knowing that for as angry as Arata was at her, he would never be able to resist her womanly charms. She ground her womanhood against his groin when he stayed silent.

“No, Junko. My brother, Takeru, admitted that you slept with him on your last mission, and I can’t stand by while your body yearns for another,” Arata cried as he buried his face in her shoulder, refusing to look at his lover despite their proximity. 

“My love, he lies to you. Takeru means nothing to me. He only wishes to take you from me, I swear,” Junko promised as she encouraged him to look into her eyes.

Arata gasped, tears in his eyes as her proclamation, “Junko, do you speak the truth?”

“I do, Arata-kun, I do. I am a one man kunoichi, and my body yearns for only you,” she said as she let out a moan, “Let me show you just how much I can sing for you.”

Arata groaned as he thrusted into Junko in earnest, the pounding of his heart extending all the way into his groin. “Junko, my heart. I can feel your love for me deep inside you. Come for me.”

“It’s only for you, Arata-kun,” Junko mewled, “Only ever you. Please come inside me so I never forget how much you love me. Takeru could never take me from you."

"Junko!"

"Arata-kun!"

A flush overcame her features and Sakura blinked up at Anko as the chapter ended, the woman looking down at her with a smirk. “Kakashi-sensei reads this? In public? Around us?” she asked, horrified.  

“In meetings, during training, at funerals . He’s shameless,” Anko lamented. “These books aren’t even that good, you know.”

Sakura looked at the tabs running through the book and raised her eyebrow. Anko didn’t even have the decency to blush, but she did look at Sakura sheepishly. 

“Well, some of the positions are worth trying, but if you ever see Jiraiya in person, you stab him real good for being such a pervert. With the way the Hokage is, you’d think he’d put a stop to the peeping in the bath houses, but no, it’s still just as bad,” Anko muttered as she finished the last stack of dango with a satisfied sigh. “It’s only a matter of time before your teammates find their dicks and then you’re in real trouble. Don’t try anything in this book until you’re older, either. Like way older. Otherwise your brother might actually kill me.”

Her eyes widened as she realized the error of her ways. If she showed this to Naruto and Sasuke, she didn’t know how they’d react. She didn’t even know how she was supposed to react. She’d never read such literature, if the book could even be called that. Despite this, however, she didn’t want to give the book back, so she was grateful for Anko’s donation. 

“Thank you, Anko-san,” Sakura bowed her head. “I owe you one.”

“Anko-nee-chan . Get it right. You keep that safe for me, alright kid? When you have questions, come find me. No kunoichi classes my ass.”

Chapter Text

When three identical blushing faces greeted each other the next time they met for training, the genin of Team Seven vowed to never speak of their weekend mission ever again. At least, not until they were much older and able to understand the writings of Jiraiya the Toad Sage. 

Unbeknownst to Sakura, both boys had received their own version of Icha Icha Paradise from Shisui and Minato respectively along with a very long, very awkward talk about the shuriken and the kunai. 

The gifts of course were given with explicit instructions to not let anyone else know that they were in possession of such delicate information. 

Shisui knew Itachi’s fondness for him would end the moment the nineteen-year-old found how he’d given his younger brother a copy of some of the raunchiest smut carried in Konoha’s bookstores. 

Minato also knew that not even his Anbu guard would save him from the wrath of his wife should she find out about Naruto’s new collection of literature. However, as the student of said writer, he couldn’t help but weep in nostalgia at how grown up his son had become. 

Thus it made the beginnings of their super secret morning training session all the more awkward. This was quickly negated by Naruto holding up his Hiraishin kunai with a fox-like grin as a reminder of why they were meeting in secret. 

Sakura had skipped her morning running session with Lee and Gai with the promise to make it up to the two at a later date. She only had Tobirama with her this morning along with Spider to keep an eye on the perimeter while they tested their skills. They’d chosen a training ground on the far edge of the village, the furthest they could get really without risking Anbu patrols from coming across the group. 

“Perimeter secure, Sakura-sama,” Spider murmured from her left and she nodded in thanks while giving the two boys a sleepy smile. “We should be fine for the time being, but I will keep a watch out in case that changes.”

“Hiraishin time!” She exclaimed as she pulled her long pink hair into a high ponytail to concentrate. It’d been too long since they’d initially made their kunai in her bedroom, with some minor modifications, they were finally ready to test it over longer distances. Sakura had some of hers inlaid in the seals along the sleeve of her haori, tucked away as needed. The extras were scattered throughout her standard issue pouches since she figured she only needed a few at a time. While she hadn’t had much practice with them in battle, there was only one of her anyway, so it was impractical to expect to need dozens of kunai at any given time. 

“Hiraishin time!” Naruto echoed as he dumped out his kunai haphazardly from the holster on his thigh. He’d added it to his opposing leg to mirror his initial one on his dominant thigh. Since they weren’t for stabbing he was fine using his left hand for when he needed to draw his teleportation knives. 

Sasuke muttered his own statement as he gently grabbed his own from the bottom of his pouch at his hip, all three in the same sentiment of keeping their secret techniques hidden from prying eyes. 

It wasn’t as if they weren’t explicitly told they couldn’t practice the Hiraishin, especially since Naruto was the son of the Yellow Flash. However, it seemed their older generation had instilled a sense of protectiveness over their children, for no fault of their own. Their tutoring would move at a snail's pace if it were up to the adults, and that just wouldn’t do for any of the budding genin. 

To Team Seven, it was wholly unnecessary to put such a damper on their training. They already dealt with enough grueling d-ranks and prying eyes.

Kakashi-sensei experimented with lightning jutsu much younger than they were currently, and Itachi was running Anbu missions around Sasuke’s age. Hidan wasn’t quite as limiting, but since he wouldn’t dare be up this early to ‘babysit’ as he could call it, they were on their own. With the supervision of Tobirama, and Izuna to an extent, they were the safest they could possibly be whilst manipulating time and space.

“The hardest part of the technique is already over and done with, so I commend you all. With the jump points keyed within the fūin sequence that is imbued with your chakra, it is just a matter of focusing on the correct pathway when you’re ready to teleport. You’ll teleport exactly as you are, with whatever you are carrying, but it is limited to the amount of chakra being used at the time. The more chakra you use, the more mass you can teleport. It’s instantaneous, so expect to be disoriented until they get used to it. Since this is a longer distance than you’re used to, you might also need adjusting,” Tobirama instructed as Sakura repeated his statements back towards Naruto and Sasuke. 

Sakura tossed her kunai in the air and allowed it to settle in her hand over and over again while she focused on the swirling pool of energy inside of her at Tobirama’s insistence. It was not her first foray into the Hiraishin technique, but, like meditating with Hashirama, it had been put on the metaphorical back burner while she adjusted to her training schedule. 

Morning cardio with the Green Beasts of Konoha, daily D-ranks, followed by chakra conditioning with Team Seven along with formation drills and minor jutsu training. By the end of the day, she barely had enough energy to allow the Senju brothers to pass along their teachings now that she could freely practice ninjutsu. More often than not, the team found themselves passed out at each other's homes, too lazy to make the treks to opposite ends of the village at the end of the day. They rotated dinner spots with nightly and Sakura found herself a steady presence in both the Namikaze-Uzumaki house and Uchiha compound. Naruto and Sasuke were both extremely familiar with the Haruno household and even her brother had started to regard them with some form of fondness one way or another. 

Sakura had already apologized to them both, but with the recent and reignited connection to the other half of the founders, they were often distracted in their own right. Sakura had already noticed the animosity between Tobirama and Izuna snuffing itself into burning coals rather than the licking flames of hate that it had been previously. 

She pursed her lips as she spun the kunai in the hole of the hilt and then tossed it across the training grounds before letting out a burst of chakra to catch it mid-flight on the other side. 

She stumbled a bit, shocked at the distance since they’d only been able to teleport across her room thus far, but then looked over at her teammates with a grin. 

“Like that!”

Sakura tossed the kunai back over to where Sasuke and Naruto were and teleported back at their sides, both arms reaching over to catch her just in case. The spiral pink kunai held tight in her grasp and she blinked away the minor vertigo. It was not as damning as she expected and already the second jump felt easier than the first. 

“Me next, me next!” Naruto grabbed one of the many kunai on the ground and chucked it across the training field, eyes closed in focus as he keyed in on the kunai and disappeared before their very eyes. He appeared much quicker than Sakura expected, but definitely less graceful as he hadn’t expected to arrive at his destination so quickly. The blonde tripped over his own sandals, the kunai tight in his grasp away from his face as he found himself embedded into the grassy knoll. 

Sasuke huffed next to her with his Sharingan ablaze and she sighed, nudging him to try. Even if it wasn’t perfect, which she figured it might be, it was still worth the effort. 

Not to be outdone, he only stumbled slightly as he appeared next to Naruto, a small satisfied smirk on his face as he looked down at Naruto prone on the floor. Naruto, slightly flushed from embarrassment, kicked out Sasuke’s legs from underneath him and teleported back to one of the kunai on the floor next to Sakura to escape the backlash. 

Then, it became a game of furious tag for Team Seven, teleporting across the training grounds in bursts of chakra to avoid swipes of loose fists and light kicks. Sakura had never laughed so hard and she knew Tobiirama was just as amused because he allowed Izuna to settle next to him while they offered commentary. 

Eventually, Naruto pulled out a page from his fathers book and tagged both Sakura and Sasuke’s clothes with his own Hiraishin, causing the two to gang up on him when he tackled them to the ground on his turn as ‘it.’

“That’s cheating, you idiot!” Sasuke yelled as he grabbed Naruto into a headlock before the blonde disappeared. “This ink won’t come out in the wash.” 

Unfortunately Sakura had prepared for him to teleport behind her and she whirled around, grabbing onto him like a spidermonkey to bring him into her guard to choke him just as furiously. Her haori was ruffled from the amount of times Naruto and Sasuke had pulled on it to frustrate her and her ponytail was askew from the grappling they’d done. 

“The Uzumaki are known for their deep chakra reserves. If it’s a battle of stamina, you both might not come out on top,” Tobirama called out from his spot underneath a tree in the clearing. 

“One genjutsu from the Sharingan and the battle would be over. No stamina needed if the fight ends as soon as it begins,” Izuna retorted from his spot next to him. 

Tobirama scoffed and crossed his arms, “How well did that work out for you, hmm? Your sharingan wasn’t helpful when you bled out from my sword.”

“A rematch is in order since you want to be full of talk,” Izuna jumped from his relaxed state to kick at Tobirama who swiftly dodged it. Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the two men. 

“Brother! Izuna! Always so quick to fight in front of the children. You both have absconded without us,” Hashirama scolded as he jumped into the clearing. “Keeping Sakura from me when it was my turn to work on her meditation and Mokuton.” 

“Apologies elder brother, but it seemed Sakura needed to accommodate the requests of her team first and foremost. It will be on her schedule to make it up to you,” Tobirama diverted easily, placing the blame on Sakura entirely. 

Sakura blinked as she watched the founders interact, her eyes finding Spiders who confirmed that no one else was around. She was worried that Itachi, or even worse Shisui, had come across them. She could not spy Kagami or Madara anywhere, so she relaxed slightly. It wasn’t as if she didn’t want to be around the elder Uchiha cousins per say, but it was nice when it was just Team Seven, if just for the moment. 

They’d all been so busy adapting to their own familial expectations that it was hard to forget they were still just genin. Even when the chūnin at the missions desk loved to remind them of their lower status when being assigned to sweep up cobwebs or deliver groceries to some of the elder citizens of Konoha. While Shikamaru had claimed that their team's training had taken on a more rigorous schedule, she wondered if Team Ten were on the same path intensity wise as they were.  

Naruto gurgled from the hold she had on him and she relaxed, allowing her legs to unhook from their triangle hold.  

He heaved in precious air, flopping down next to Sakura as Sasuke tossed a kunai to teleport next the two of them as they stared at the sun rising above them. She scooted over to allow Sasuke the room to settle down to avoid a dirt patch slick with morning dew. 

“I would say this was a success, wouldn’t you?” She offered as she focused on calming her racing heart rate. 

Naruto and Sasuke groaned in agreement, bodies sore with the reminder that they still had to meet Kakashi-sensei at their teams training ground once the sun was fully in the sky. 

❀❀❀

For once, Sakura let her teammates work out their energy on each other, content to just bask in the morning summer sun while they practiced sparring on water. 

Kakashi had taken once look at their windswept faces and figured the amount of cardio they subjected themselves was enough for a warm up, no laps around the village needed. It was at the moment that Sakura vowed to protect her sensei to the ends of the earth since it meant that she could relax with her head on his thigh while she recovered her chakra reserves before her turn to battle the victor. 

His hand was heavy on her head while he raked through the knots in her long hair while he read his book. If it were anyone else, she might be offended at how he seemed to treat them like one of his ninken. But, he’d also greeted them with rice balls from the corner store for breakfast, so she was content being pet and fed like a dog for the time being. 

She hummed when a sunbeam tickled her cheek just so, cheeks flush with heat despite the sun not at its full peak just yet. Her eyes were half-lidded as she watched the blue and orange blurs dance around each other with the occasional shouts of offense and laughter. 

“Did you know the Hiraishin has a specific scent to it?” Kakashi murmured, low so as not to shock her relaxed state. 

She stiffened regardless before relaxing when she realized he wasn’t upset, just curious. 

“I did not,” she mumbled back, nuzzling her cheek more into the meat of his thigh as penance. 

“At first I thought it was just the way Minato-sensei smelt, since he’d sooner use a seal to grab a snack from the pantry than walk to it, but I later realized it was the smell of chakra and ozone mixed together from space teleportation. Especially since you all have such unique chakra signatures. Wake your poor sensei up next time you three decide to train that early behind everyone’s back.”

Sakura groaned and curled her nose, annoyed they’d been caught so quickly by their sensei. She had to hand it to the jōnin, he refused to let them get away with anything since they’d gotten kicked from the field medic courses. It must be a part of their punishment, to be scrutinized under a microscope with their actions fielded with a fine-tooth comb. 

“We were plenty careful,” she protested slightly, but didn’t outright disagree with his request. “Our seal arrays are perfect and no one got hurt.” 

“I’m sure you were very careful,” he patted her a bit more surely on her head, “but you’re still my cute little genin and space teleportation at this age might not be the safest thing for your growing bodies. What happens if Naruto uses too much chakra and his arm lands in one place and his body lands somewhere else? Or maybe Sasuke gets goaded into trying to go further than he can handle and then ends up unconscious and chakra depleted and you don’t know where he ended up. Or you , my clever little student, decide on how quickly you can bounce between jump points and end up brain scrambled.” 

Sakura rolled onto her back to glance up at Kakashi’s inquisitive gaze, eye playful with a raised eyebrow. She tilted her head towards Tobirama lounging next to her, prompting him to answer Kakashi’s question with a blink. 

He sighed and shrugged, “While none of that has happened to me before, this is probably not a battle worth fighting. Your sensei means well, even if it’s unnecessary. I checked your arrays myself, no harm would come to any of you.”

Rin nodded furiously, “You should already know that like it or not, he’ll keep tabs on all of you if you do it without him again. He at least hasn’t said anything about telling Minato-sensei or Sasuke’s parents.” 

Kakashi tilted her head back towards him when she took too long to reply and she pouted, “We will wake you up next time, I promise.” 

He let go of her chin with a smile, smoothing out the strands of hair that had fallen into her eyes with a brush of calloused fingers. “That’s my girl. I already knew you were the smartest out of the three.”

She puffed her cheeks up at him and then whined when he shifted out from underneath her when a hawk screeched above them.   

“Come back you two, it’s time for our mission,” Kakashi called out as the green ribboned hawk flew lower before returning to the aviary. She pouted and stretched like a cat before jumping on Kakashi’s back without prompt. He huffed from the abrupt weight but didn’t shake her off like she half-expected. Especially since Naruto barreled into them to also be carried to the Hokage tower. She scooted over to accommodate the blonde, but Kakashi’s eye roll was enough to discourage Naruto from hanging like a limpet off of his arm. 

Sasuke scoffed in front of them and Sakura gave him a knowing look, green eyes bright with mirth. He blushed as he looked away, not one to admit that being carried to the Hokage tower seemed more fun than trekking there on foot. 

Once they were more comfortable with their technique, Sakura vowed to have their Hiraishin arrays spread through the village. Laziness or not, the tower was far and she was tired. 

And she was going to remain tired it seemed as their Hokage was all too eager to assign them their dreaded Tora mission. She knew it was coming and she didn’t quite understand at first why a cat wrangling mission would be the talk of the town amongst genin. 

However, with her shoes muddy and her hair tangled from being caught in laundry wire, she finally figured out why Shikamaru had called the mission a drag. Repeatedly. 

“Orange in position,” the staticky voice of Naruto rang out in her ears from the comms mic around her neck. 

“Blue in position,” Sasuke replied a few moments after him. 

Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat as her eyes narrowed in on the brown cat with a telltale ribbon around its ear. “Pink in position, eyes on target. Moving on your word, Blue.”

Hashirama snickered next to her only to be shushed by Tobirama as the two brothers and Izuna watched from above. 

“Cease your laughter, elder brother. Any mission is an important mission for a shinobi of Konoha.”

“I can’t help it, Tobi. They’re just so serious. They grow up so fast,” Hashirama cried as he wiped faux tears from his dark eyes. “You would think they were going to war with their callouts. Naruto-chan nearly fell off the roof of the academy when the cat evaded him. Truly a sight to behold.” 

Sakura rolled her eyes and snapped into attention at Sasuke’s command. Pale arms reached out and grabbed the cat by the scruff, a yowl of protest echoing in the alleyway where the cat had taken refuge. 

For all of their training this morning, the damn cat had evaded them for an entire hour before they came across it by chance in the civilian district. The cat seemed to know just how to evade sensory networks and climbed better than any jōnin she’d seen. 

Sasuke had taken a rough tumble a few streets over and was slightly bleeding from a gash on his thigh that she had yet to be able to heal. Naruto had lost the bottom half of his pant leg underneath his knee from a grate that hadn’t been shaved down. He’d somehow managed to not be cut, at least not from where she could see, so the only one she had to tend to was her Uchiha teammate. 

She resisted the urge to shake the feline into submission, instead pinching harder on its scruff in the hopes that nature would subdue its errant behavior. 

“Good job, team! Not quite the record, but you somehow did better than Team Eight,” Kakashi praised as he dropped down next to the three of them. “Team Ten has a better capture rate, but Ino-Shika-Cho is known for that.”

“I bet the Yamanka is right at home in the mind of an animal,” Sasuke grumbled as he poked at Tora with his finger. 

Sakura flinched as the cat dug its claws into the meat of her wrist, but she refused to let go while Naruto grabbed its cage from one of his sealing scrolls. 

“Actually, Naruto, do you have a fūin brush on you?” She asked with a wide grin. Sensing her energy, Tora stilled as Sakura grabbed its collar from around its neck and tossed it to the blonde. 

“You’re so smart, Sakura-chan!” he cheered as he dropped to the floor in the alley to draw on the inside of the collar. “Give me some light, you bastard.”

“Don’t tell me what to do you idiot!”

Kakashi sighed as he leaned against the alleyway, “You know, I think this counts as cheating. I don’t think the daimyo’s wife would take too kindly to branding her cat with an S-rank technique.” 

Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes and held up Tora to his eye level. The cat hissed in indignation and Kakashi had to bite back the growl in the back of his throat. 

“If she didn’t want us to brand the cat, then maybe she shouldn’t keep losing the thing,” Sakura whined. 

“This is the first time you’ve gotten the Tora mission, don’t tell me your careers are over due to one measly cat,” he teased. 

She pouted and nudged his rib with her shoulder, soothing the cat’s yowl with her other hand. It didn’t do much, but she had to admit that the fur was soft to the touch and pleasant to run through her fingers. It twitched again under her ministrations before finally relaxing once she reached a spot on its hind leg. 

Sakura cooed as Tora settled, not quite trusting it to not lash out against her but trusting it enough to settle into her arms with her grasp firm on its scruff. 

“Not over, but we’re looking underneath the underneath, ya know! Using our techniques to the best of our abilities,” Naruto said as he waved the branded collar in the air. He’d written an impressive array on the underside of the collar, hidden from sight and small enough that most civilians wouldn’t look twice at it. “That’s what being a ninja is all about.”

“The quicker we catch it, the quicker we can go on actual missions too,” Sasuke added as he snatched the collar from Naruto to secure it around Tora’s neck from where the cat was settled in Sakura’s arms. “No more D-ranks, I mean it.”

“Agreed, bastard! It’s time for us to move up in the world, Kaka-sensei.”

Sakura peered at him through thick lashes, thanking him once the collar was tight around Tora’s neck. “Thank you, Sasuke. Naruto, you want to test out the seal now?”

He nodded and motioned for Sakura to let Tora go. Against her instincts, she allowed the cat to leap from her arms. It glared suspiciously at them, unsure of how to proceed before running down the length of the alley. Tora wasn’t able to get far as Naruto disappeared from their view and reappeared with Tora in his arms on the other end. 

The cat screamed in protest, his grasp definitely tighter than the hold Sakura had on her. 

“Yosh! Works perfect,” Naruto cheered as he walked back towards the team and deposited the angry cat in the carrier given by Madam Shijimi. He held up his hand to high five his team, which Sasuke brushed away and Sakura cautiously met in the air. She noticed the Uchiha wincing and she sighed before igniting her palms in a mint green glow. 

“Come here, Sasuke. We can't have you bleeding all over the village,” she said as she sat on her haunches next to him. He stiffened before shuffling closer, allowing her to place a cool green hand on his wound. 

“Good job, Sakura-chan. However, you three have officially taken the fun out of the Tora mission,” Kakashi sighed as he closed Icha Icha with a ‘snap.’ “What will I tell the other sensei’s?” 

“How great we are?” Naruto said as they walked out of the alley once Sasuke was healed up and towards the Hokage tower, Tora in hand. “How we’re your favorite genin in the whole wide world?”

Sakura hummed in agreement, smiling at Kakashi and then grinning wider when she caught the proud looks of Tobirama and Hashirama to the side. 

“How much better we are than their students,” Sasuke smirked, “Don’t forget how much stronger we are too.” 

“And more handsome,” Naruto said. “Or pretty, in Sakura-chan’s case.” He blushed at the end of the sentence, nearly tripping over his feet at Sasuke’s kick towards his ankles. He apologized to one of the shopkeepers he nearly stumbled into before cursing at his teammate for embarrassing him. 

“What does that have to do with being a ninja?” Sakura asked in confusion at the compliment. She swiftly took Tora’s cage from Naruto as he jumped to attack Sasuke for his rudeness. 

Kakashi sighed again and ruffled her pink hair with his hand, “Don’t worry about that. I’m sure you three will get plenty of chances to rub it in the other teams faces later on in the summer. This does win me another bet since you all will no doubt have the best Tora capture time next time around.”

Sakura beamed at his praise and bowed slightly at the armed guard waiting for them at the Hokage’s office. Madam Shimijji cried with joy and quickly took her leave with Tora tight in her grasp. She’d freed the beast from the cage and grabbed her by the scruff with a quickness Sakura had not been expecting from a civilian. 

“My darling Tora! Thank you three for getting her in such a timely manner,” she cooed as she pinched Naruto’s cheeks since he had the unfortunate luck of being the closest to the woman. “I knew I could trust you all to save my precious baby. No doubt she’s been so scared since she accidentally got out.”

Minato-sama snickered from behind his hand at Naruto’s transgression and Sakura was surprised to see how easily the man allowed his son to be manhandled by her. Womanhandled technically. 

“Team Seven, congratulations on completing the Tora Mission. It’s a right of passage one would say,” he complimented as he accepted Kakashi’s mission scroll. “I’ll expect a written report later this week, but feel free to give me a verbal report now.” 

Naruto glared at the closing door once Madam Shimiji and her guards left and then ran across the office to tackle his father in his chair. “You better give us that mission every time, dad! We’re gonna be pros by the end of it.”

“I hadn’t expected this reaction,” Minato admitted, “What brought this on?”

Naruto shrugged and Sakura took that as a sign to not mention the Hiraishin sealed into Tora’s collar. Sasuke rolled his eyes and nudged Sakura to start the report, forcing her to come up with the deception on the spot. 

She groaned internally, knowing Naruto’s presence was enough of a distraction for the Yondaime but he was still a Kage at the end of the day, one she was forced to lie to. Kakashi was no help as he settled on the ledge to the left of the genin, his book open and posture relaxed while his genin fumbled for their lives. 

Sakura wasn’t quite sure what the Hokage’s reaction would be in finding out their unconventional methods, but if Naruto wanted to hide it, then hide it they would. 

“Lying to a Kage’s face,” Izuna tutted, “Exactly what I’d expect from your protege Tobirama.” 

“Your descendent is going along with it and is cowardly enough to make other people do the lying for him,” Tobirama reminded with a vicious point at his chest. “If he were a real man, he’d have taken point and given the report without prompt.”

A touch on her inner wrist pulled away from the impending argument and Sakura relaxed as she bowed slightly to give her report. “Team Seven cornered Tora in an alley in the civilian district behind the masonry on twelfth street. Due to Naruto’s sensory network, we were able to track the target for the majority of our time assigned, but she did manage to evade us for about six minutes in the marketplace downtown. We used a low level chameleon genjutsu to sneak up on Tora before caging her successfully. We would like to request this mission going forward to work on our tracking skills,” Sakura finished as politely as she could. 

Sasuke and Naruto both seemed satisfied at her report, but she could see Kakashi-sensei from the corner of her eye resisting the urge to mock them. 

Minato seemed impressed at her professionality before giving the team a soft smile with a knowing edge to it. Suspicion pooled in the bottom of Sakura’s stomach before being confirmed with his next words. “The request has nothing to do with the Hiraishin sewn into Tora’s collar and everything to do with your tracking skills, correct?” Kakashi laughed from behind his book as Naruto scrambled to recover from being found out so quickly. 

“How did you know!? Kakashi was with us the entire time, he wouldn’t have had the chance to blab on us,” Naruto cried as Minato-sama dug his knuckles into Naruto’s head. 

“I’m the Hokage and that’s my technique. You think I wouldn’t recognize it from a mile away,” he replied as he grabbed Naruto closer before he could escape. “You have years of training before you can pull the wool over my eyes.”

Sasuke groaned and Sakura leaned against him, eyes closed into his shoulder at how the fates seemed to be against her at every turn. All she’d hoped for was a normal team, but seeing as their Hokage was in a wrestling match with his son, she figured that wouldn’t be the case any time soon. 

“He most likely is using Tōmegane no Jutsu to keep an eye on his son while he does missions,” Izuna said, “It is a known sensory observation technique favored by Hokage’s.”

“Does he not trust his son to complete missions?” Rin asked from beside Kakashi. 

“Not trust, more of an overtly protective parenting style,” Tobirama replied. “I don’t doubt he means well, but he does seem to baby him more than most parents with genin do. I’m sure the other teams aren’t as heavily monitored as Team Seven is.”

“We are in times of peace, brother. Let the man keep his son safe for a moment longer.”

“Not when it impedes Sakura's growth as a shinobi, Anija. They are no doubt the best in their year and their time is being wasted on D-ranks,” Tobirama replied. 

“Where is this coming from?” Izuna asked, curious. “Don’t tell me you’re changing your tune so quickly. I thought all missions were important in the eyes of Konoha.” He mocked. 

“Not a change in tune, but if the Hokage is going to spy on his children, then I think they can use the extra security to stretch their legs.”

“Bored already, Tobi? I’ll admit, I’m jealous of the missions Madara gets to follow Itachi on. We should go with him one of these days!” Hashirama added.

“Elder brother would figure out a way to revive you just so he could kill you if you did that,” Izuna replied, deadpan. “It would not bode well for you at all.” 

Sakura blinked her eyes open to watch the Nidaime roll his red eyes at the two. Sasuke shuffled slightly to adjust his stance, but didn’t shake her off as they both watched Naruto and Minato chase each other around the office. 

“Do you think they’ll tire each other out?” Sasuke murmured in her ear. 

She shook her head and blinked back the sleepiness now that the adrenaline from chasing Tora had worn off. “Someone better stop them before it gets out of hand.”

“Dobe, didn’t you have something to say about our next mission,” Sasuke interrupted as he tripped Naruto over from his right. Sakura was jostled off his shoulder at the movement, but the Uchiha was quick to settle her back into place. She stood up straight again regardless, figuring she might need to actually pay attention if they were to get something productive out of this meeting. 

Naruto gave his team a suspicious look before the realization brightened his blue eyes. “Oh yeah! I think it’s time you give us a higher rank mission, old man! We’ve earned it.”

“Who are you calling old?” Minato-sama asked, offended. “Higher rank mission for what? You’re a bunch of genin, I’m not going to give you an S-rank any time soon. You are at the bottom of the barrel for missions. Genin and the corp are typically assigned D-ranks while you get familiar with your team. These allow you to support the village in its entirety and they are also the most abundant missions avai- Are you mocking me?”

Naruto mimed his father talking with his hand before he placed his arms behind his head and yawned. “We know all this already. Kaa-san also said that genin teams can be sent on C-ranks when they’re experienced enough! We’re the best team in our year, Kakashi-sensei said so.”

“Don’t bring me into this,” Kakashi piped from his spot on the windowsill. He turned another page in his book and Sakura resisted the urge to blush once she remembered what it was exactly that he was reading. “You’re on your own.”

“The idiots right. We can be trusted with a C-rank just fine. Kakashi is the strongest jōnin in the village and has taught us more than enough for us to be able to handle ourselves if we run into any bandits. It does us no good walking around delivering groceries when we haven’t even had the chance to use our techniques in real life situations yet,” Sasuke said as he crossed his arms over his chest. “We could grow stagnant if we don’t know where our techniques stand in battle.”

“What about you, Sakura-chan? What are your thoughts on this matter? I won’t give you a mission if all three of you aren’t on board,” Minato replied after some time. His warm blue eyes focused on Sakura and she resisted the urge to fidget under his gaze. Something about him unnerved her sometimes, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he was such a high figure in the village, and she wasn’t used to interacting with him so casually. 

“I would like to experience a C-rank as well,” she said. “It would be good for the team.”

She agreed heavily with her teammates, but didn’t want to seem too eager under his watch. She wanted to use her techniques in battle just like Sasuke and she almost pitied any sort of trouble they’d run into along the way.

Minato leaned back in his chair and sighed, relenting even though he didn’t have to. “Alright, alright. If it will get you off my back and to behave, Naruto , then a C-rank it is. Send in Tazuna!”

Chapter Text

The send off towards Wave was more embarrassing than she had expected and Sakura had never been more thankful for deceased parents than now. One would think with the way Mikoto and Kushina were fretting over Sasuke and Naruto that they were off to go to war and not a town a day or so’s walk from their village. It was their first mission outside of the village for Kami’s sake and the two older women were in tears over their children leaving for the week. 

Sakura wondered if Mikoto-obaa-san had acted the same when Itachi had been promoted all those years ago. According to Sasuke, he’d become an Anbu by the time he was their age. If Mikoto hadn’t cried then, she briefly wondered what about this mission was so worrying to the older woman now. Sasuke was the baby in the family however, and Naruto was an only child. That might have something to do with it.  

Hidan had come too after having begged the morning off to help her pack for her first C-rank so last minute. He’d been uncharacteristically solemn as they weighed the different packs in mind before settling on a small cross body bag that would carry enough rations for the journey alongside several changes of clothes. The standard issue black tank top and cargo pants were easy to replace and folded tight enough that clothing shouldn’t become an issue. She’d also packed several extra rounds of kunai and shuriken, her side pouches full but not overwhelmingly so. 

If she’d taken the liberty to shove an oversized stolen t-shirt to use for pajamas instead of just sleeping in her shinobi clothes in case of an overnight attack like her brother insisted, then who was to judge.

Despite being a shinobi, it was also one of her first forays outside of the village alone dammit and she would miss her brother. Not that she’d admit the moment of weakness to his face. Hashirama and Tobirama had kept quiet when they noticed her shoving the shirt behind Hidan’s back, their amused smiles hard to miss but impossible to comment on in the moment. 

As they came across her team waiting for her at the exit gates of Konoha, Sakura had to bury her face in her aniki’s shoulder to hide from the second-hand embarrassment over the maternal figure's actions in such a public area. 

“Oi, brat, show some decorum,” Hidan muttered under his breath, pale face a bit green at the displays of affection, “You’re a shinobi, not a school girl. Get your face out of my neck.” 

Sakura pursed her lips against the skin of his neck, resisting the urge to bite into the tender flesh knowing the consequences. She wrapped her arms tighter around his neck in response. It was technically her idea to ride along on his back towards the village gate and she didn’t want to lose those privileges just yet. 

“Mikoto-obaa-san and Kushina-obaa-san are really amped up,” she observed as she hooked her chin over the meat of his shoulder. “I wonder why they’re so nervous.” 

“It’s your first mission out of the village. Something’s bound to go wrong,” Hidan replied, rolling his shoulders a bit as he adjusted her form on his back, “First kill, first ambush, first client to use themselves as bait for a bigger fish. It’s all a right of passage.” 

“It’s a privilege as well to be able to see your children off in such a manner,” Hashirama reminded her, “Not long ago your previous generations were away at war and children much younger than you were forced into situations they were not prepared to handle. Let them coddle.” 

“If it helps, Kushina-chan has always been like this,” Rin added as she greeted Sakura with a smile. “It’s not necessarily the first mission, it’s just any mission.”

Sakura hummed in response before waving enthusiastically at the disgruntled and well-kissed forms of Naruto and Sasuke once they got closer to her team. Kakashi stood with Tazuna off to the side away from their group, the older man looking dead on his feet but sober. For now. 

A far cry from how it’d been when Team Seven had met him the day prior. 

“Easy, brat! You’re knocking my fucking balance off,” Hidan cursed before releasing her legs so she could walk the remainder of the way, “Carry your damn self next time.” 

She grabbed loosely onto his arm to tug him over to her team, missing the strained smiles of her teammates parents as Hidan filled in for the role of a maternal sendoff. Sakura couldn’t see the Hokage or Fugaku anywhere nearby, which she expected, but she was surprised to see the missing figures of Itachi and Shisui.

As if sensing her thoughts, Sasuke shrugged as he nudged her shoulder with his own in greeting. “Nii-san and Shisui were sent out on a mission this morning. He told me to tell you good luck if it makes you feel better when he helped me pack last night. Okaa-san tried to get me to pack bentos for the entire week so he had to intervene.”

Sakura resisted the urge to giggle, choosing instead to bow towards the matriarchs with a show of respect. 

Hidan walked over to Kakashi and Tazuna to give them his own special greeting. If she hadn’t spent so much time around her sensei, she might’ve missed the way his shoulders stiffened as her aniki enthusiastically engaged their client in conversation. She didn’t feel too bad for Tazuna, especially since he’d been so quick to insult them upon meeting them. No doubt he was not-so-subtly threatening their client to be on his best behavior if the way the blood drained out of his face was any indication. 

“Good morning, Kushina-baa-chan and Mikoto-baa-chan. It’s nice to see you today,” she smiled politely. “Thank you for being kind enough to send us off on our mission.” 

Kushina cooed as she gathered Sakura into a tight hug, whining about how unfair it was they were being sent on a C-rank so early into their careers. Sakura decidedly stayed quiet about how old she felt in comparison to the parental figures in their group from when they’d accomplished their first C-rank. 

“Minato-kun is so mean to take you three away from me so soon! What about our family dinner? You guys will miss it and the dinner table will be so lonely without you four,” Kushina cried. “I’m going to make so much food and no one will be around to eat it! Maybe it’s not too late to have this mission re-assigned.” 

Mikoto sheepishly patted her friend on the back, offering her a small napkin for her tears. The red-headed woman immediately blew her nose into the fabric, the sound loud and pitiful to Sakura’s sensitive ears. 

“It is nice to see you too, Sakura-chan. Have you packed enough food for the trip? I brought some extra bentos so you three won’t get hungry, but neither boy has any room left in their back,” she offered with a curious glint in her eye as she looked at Sakura’s small bag on her back. “I’m sure you have some room just to make an old woman feel better, don’t you?”

Sakura looked over at Hidan for help from the woman’s arms but he merely laughed at her torment as he finished threatening Tazuna-san. 

“We’re all good with food, Mikoto-baa, don’t you worry. We will be back before you know it, Kaa-chan!” Naruto cheered as he saved Sakura from the tight hug to push her towards Kakashi-sensei and their subsequent freedom. “Thanks for bringing Sakura-chan here, Hidan-nii-san but now it’s time for Team Seven to go .”

She sighed as she allowed the blonde to manhandle her towards the two Chuunin amusedly waiting for their shinobi ID and mission papers. She couldn’t blame the teen for being eager to leave but she also felt bad for how frantic Kushina and Mikoto looked at their departure. 

“Don’t forget to stick close to Kakashi, okay guys! If you see any trouble, you turn around and run right back to the village,” Kushina called out, fingers clenched over the damp handkerchief. 

“Yeah, right,” Sasuke muttered as he gathered his documents back into his tactical backpack. The edges looked slightly frayed, but the canvas was in good condition. Sakura could briefly spot the stitched kanji of Itachi woven into one of the straps on the back and she smiled at how brotherly her teammate was. “Maybe we take the long way home just in case.”

Hidan watched the figures of his sister and her team disappear on the horizon with his arms crossed next to the two matriarchs. He subtly observed the two consoling women with a keen eye, a smirk splitting across his pale face. 

“Weasel and the idiot went ahead to make sure the road was safe for travel, didn’t they?” He asked, already knowing the answer. 

Kushina wiped away a stray tear with the edge of her apron, suddenly looking every bit the semi-retired kunoichi he knew she was. “I would have never allowed Minato to send my precious boy on such a dangerous mission otherwise. Honestly, what was he thinking? Being so close to Kiri, they were being set up for failure! It was the least he could do.” 

Mikoto nodded furiously, sharing a mischievous look with Kushina, the weeping mother act peeling itself away from her like a bug shedding its cocoon. “It was technically Itachi’s idea, but don’t let him know that you know. Or Fugaku. Especially Fugaku. As far as he’s aware, it’s just a coincidence that both of our sons are out of the village at the same time.”

“But what about you, Hidan-san? Aren’t you a bit worried about Sakura-chan?” Kushina asked, lips pursed. “It is their first mission out of the village, safeguards aside.”

Hidan sighed and then looked up to the circling vulture above them that dived down to peck at his ear before taking flight once more towards Wave Village. He barely had the decency to look ashamed at the summons acting so brazenly in front of the two women. 

“I see. Why don’t we get some drinks to celebrate our kid-free vacation?” Kushina slyly offered. 

“Kushina-chan it’s nine in the morning,” Mikoto replied deadpan. 

“I didn’t hear a no.”

“Finally, a chance to see the outside of the village,” Hashirama remarked as he walked in time next to Sakura at the back of their travel formation. “It’s been so long, hasn’t it, Tobi?”

Tobirama crossed his arms and leveled his older brother with a dry glance, “We can leave whenever. You just choose to haunt the village incessantly.”

“I wouldn’t call it ‘haunting.’ Just… co-parenting. Right Sakura-chan?” Hashirama grinned as he ran phantom hands over her long hair. Sakura smiled softly but didn’t give the two much attention as they flitted about the formation, commenting on the different fauna that lay on the outskirts of their village borders. 

“Co-parenting but you leave whenever your pet projects distract you. Or Madara.”

“I don’t complain when you and Izuna go off doing Kami kno-”

“Enough,” Tobirama commanded, red eyes narrowing at Hashirama who drooped like a wilted flower beside him before perking back up almost immediately as they passed a particularly large tree off the side of the dirt road. 

Sakura sighed and wished she could at least tease the brothers for how quickly they riled each other up. Izuna had the decency to stay next to Sasuke, choosing instead to engage in conversation with Sakumo while Rin stayed close to Kakashi oddly enough. She’d hoped the girl would be a good distraction on the journey towards Wave, Sakura already becoming slightly bored at the civilian pace they were forced to keep for their clients sake. 

The jōnin had taken the front with Tazuna while Sasuke and Naruto were a bit back to keep an eye on their surroundings whilst Sakura kept guard at the rear. She preferred to be able to keep her eyes on the entire team whilst Sasuke and Naruto worked better in tandem with one another. She eyed the twinkling kunai dangling from their hips, the three having done a full exchange of each other’s kunai to keep the ability to teleport to each other at whim close at hand. 

She narrowed her eyes further to spy the three kunai also hanging by Kakashi’s hip, just to make sure they were still present from when they’d tackled him into submission in order to get him to accept their ‘gift.’

Satisfied that her ducks were in order, she allowed herself to relax slightly, right hand fiddling with the seals on the inside of her haori in case she needed to summon her Bō at a moment's notice. It was almost anti-climatic with the way Team Seven journeyed to Wave, pockets of silence only broken with Tazuna’s grumbling for a break or when Naruto and Sasuke’s fights got out of hand. 

She had to switch formation with Sasuke only once in the journey, when Naruto had tripped over a dried out puddle divet and blamed it on Sasuke despite the Uchiha being nowhere near him. She’d taken initiative to pull Sasuke out of the way of one of Naruto’s kunai and eased their fight with a tired look. 

“Whipped,” Izuna muttered as he watched Sasuke take the rear. 

“Pot,” Tobirama retorted. 

Sakura raised her eyebrow at the two, unsure of how to interpret their jeers. 

“Say, Sakura-chan! Why don’t you practice your honing sensor range since the road seems a bit calm?” Hashirama interrupted. “I’m sure it’ll be a big help to your team since we’re almost at the coast.”

She minutely shrugged, keeping her eyes focused on the road as she slowed her breathing like Hashirama instructed. Sakumo watched with a curious eye as she stepped in time to her heartbeat, chakra flowing through her limbs to bounce into the ground and out in a wide net. She noticed Kakashi’s ear twitching when her chakra touched the edges of his own range, but he relaxed with a near body heavy eye roll. 

Sakura smiled softly to herself before allowing her swirling chakra network to expand even further, the fine-tooth comb of her control raking through the dew tipped blades of grass and soggy moss that was rife in this area of the country. Squirrels chittered overhead and burrows of nocturnal animals fluttered undisturbed from her poking and prodding. Sasuke didn’t quite notice her expanded range, but Naruto couldn’t help but relax at the cool wash of her chakra that tickled his senses. 

“Neh, Sakura-chan, that’s a pretty cool trick,” he commented, “Where’d you learn that?”

She shrugged, “A book. It’s an older technique, kind of lost because it needs a high level of control and focus to use it.” 

“Who better than our chakra control master over there,” Kakashi-sensei praised with his typical sing-song tone. “And you were worried about not being taken care of, Tazuna-san.”

The older man grumbled under his breath, instead taking an instinctive swig of his flask that he’d refused to give up. “Don’t even know what you shinobi are talking about. Keep your magic secrets to yourself, just make sure I get to my daughter and grandson safe and sound.” 

Kakashi hummed non-committedly, his hands shoved into his pocket in a lazy manner. “Of course, Tazuna-san. Let us know if you need another break. We should at least reach the port by sun-down.” 

“What happens at the port? Are we done?” Naruto asked, “That can’t be the entire mission right? We barely did anything.” 

“Not quite, idiot,” Sasuke interrupted, “Weren’t you paying attention to the mission brief?”

Naruto was silent for a beat too long and it caused even Sakura to sigh. She didn’t want to break the focus of her sensory range but she allowed a chuckle to escape before she re-tightened her hold on the technique. 

“I was paying attention, bastard! I’m just making sure you were listening to otou-san,” Naruto bit back before rubbing the back of his neck after a bit, “So, uh, when is our mission over again? Just to make sure you know, ‘ya know.” 

Sasuke rolled his eyes but didn’t reply, choosing instead to ignore Naruto’s dejected whine. 

“We’re going to escort Tazuna to his home in Wave, we’ll be spending the night, and then returning back to Konoha the following morning. It’s a standard mission, Naruto, nothing to worry about,” Sakura replied for her teammate, “But quiet, just in case someone decides to sneak up on us.”

Naruto nodded enthusiastically before dramatically whispering in her ear, “Of course, Sakura-chan. I’ll make sure the bastard keeps quiet for you.”

Sasuke somehow didn’t rise to the bait, which surprised even Izuna at that. 

Sakura focused back on the tightly wound bundle of chakra inside of her now that her teammate was placated for the moment. Chakra sensing wasn’t a new technique, not by a longshot, but by connecting her chakra with the being around her, she was able to widen her net further than most her age would be able to grasp in understanding. The trees, the plants, the animals, life itself . She felt connected to all, able to use their own personal chakra points to widen the range as long as she kept her focus. 

Her brow furrowed at the soft ping at the edge of the net, closer to the docks where they were to meet a boat able to take them the remainder of the journey over to Wave. She hummed as she zeroed in on the ping, tendrils of chakra snaking through the sand to lick at the ankles of the familiar shinobi whom she’d come to know and respect. 

Sakura frowned and then pouted, looking up at Hashirama. 

“What is it, Sakura-chan? Enemies?” He asked. 

She shook her head and chewed at the edge of her thumbnail, wondering how to convey her irritation without letting her team know about their assigned guards. No wonder they hadn’t run into any trouble on the way to Wave, they weren’t allowed to face any enemies. The forest was calm, too calm, especially being this close to the main port between Water and Fire country. Sakura left her point in the formation to walk closer to Kakashi, her hand slipping around his wrist to tug his attention towards her. 

“Isn’t it weird we haven’t seen anyone, Kakashi-sensei?” Sakura asked. 

He shrugged, feet tapping softly on the ground as the dirt changed from pure brown to a soft mixture of soil and sand as Team Seven arrived at the shipping port. If she strained her eyes and focused chakra to her senses, she might be able to make out the peaks of a distant island amidst the fog. For now, it was just an endless wash of blues and white. 

“Neh, Sakura-chan, you’re a bit too young to be this paranoid, but good instincts. This is one of the quieter roads towards Wave, which isn’t necessarily known for their tourism industry. Neither is Mist. Just some good old fashioned luck that we were left alone,” he replied with a smile, “Don’t you worry about anything, okay? Leave that to your sensei.”

He looked back at the sneaking figures of Naruto and Sasuke, who’d gravitated towards each other now that Sakura wasn’t around to be a physical barrier to their mischief. 

“Boys, go ahead and grab some firewood so we can make camp for the night. The boat Tazuna arranged will arrive early in the morning, so we will get some rest before finishing our journey.” 

“And then the mission will be completed?” Naruto whined, “Just a boat ride and then we turn right back? Aw, man, I was hoping we were going to fight some sort of bandits or even a missing-ninja. Kiba’s gonna make fun of us if we don’t have a good story to tell.” 

“Why would you care what dog-breath thinks? I doubt they’ve done half the training we have, just remind him how easily his ass can get kicked in a spar,” Sasuke shoved Naruto aside as they scrambled to gather firewood from the drier patch of mangroves near the beach. “Or maybe focus your energy on not being such an idiot.”

“How about you focus your energy on not being such a bastard, bastard!” Naruto shouted as he tackled Sasuke into a pile of dried seaweed that had washed itself ashore. Sakura giggled at the shriek that escaped Sasuke before averting her eyes so she wasn’t dragged into their argument. 

Sakura set her pack down at her feet, taking care to avoid some of the wetter patches of sand near the camping area of the docks. The area was devoid of most traffic, the ships having long set off for the evening. A couple of larger boats were anchored further outward, with only a small dingy allowing some merchants to and from as needed. They kept away from the small grouping of shinobi as they toted wares back and forth. 

She breathed in deeply, smelling the ocean air as it wafted over her in rippling waves of summer heat. Despite the sun setting, it was still quite warm out, though she expected the temperature to drop drastically when the final rays disappeared over the horizon. The breeze was strong and the moon would be high in the sky, so a soft part of her was excited to fall asleep to the sound of crashing waves. 

With Hashirama’s squeal of delight at spotting Madara and Kagami across the beach, she knew Itachi and Shisui were nearby, even if she couldn’t sense them at the moment. Her sensor range wasn’t that good, unless she was as focused as she was on the road. 

“Madara! Kagami! Hello!” Hashirama greeted with a surprised yell, “Did you miss us?”

“Keep it down, Hashirama! We’re on a mission,” Madara hissed, “Show some decorum.”

Sakura eyed some of the random seaborn ghosts that drifted around the beach, their souls lost to the waves long ago. Most didn’t pay their group any mind, but some looked at the yelling founders with minute interest. 

“Decorum is for the living, my friend. A mission, you say? Could it happen to do with why our team hasn’t so much as seen a branch out of place on the way over here,” Hashirama replied as he tugged the two Uchiha towards Sakura and Tobirama. 

Kicking over a log to use as a makeshift stool, she worked to get a small fire going, even if she figured they’d be consuming Mikoto-baa-chan’s bentos rather than having to fetch their own dinner. 

“I think you already know the answer to that.” Kagami nodded towards Sakura in greeting, “Minato tasked Shisui and Itachi with making sure the road was free of any sort of deterrents or unsavory folk so that your first mission would be a success.” 

“Not so much a success as it is a glorified field trip on a silver platter,” Tobirama muttered. 

Sakura was inclined to agree, slightly dejected at the chance of action being pulled away from them so easily. 

“For once, we agree on something, but Itachi did have to deal with some rogue chūnin lying hidden for who knows what on the way here. There might be some merits to this intervention, but what better way to learn than a forceful intervention like a strong opponent,” Madara sighed, “This generation is truly a soft one.”

“I’m so used to an Uchiha on fire duty,” Kakashi said as he sat down on his own log next to her, interrupting the ghost's conversation, “It’s kind of nice to see it done the old fashioned way.”

She pouted as she sparked embers with her flint and steel, “I am water and earth natured, not fire. ‘Sides, I don’t know any good fire jutsu. Not one to not burn down the camp, anyway.”

“I’m not making fun of you, it’s just nostalgic is all,” he relented, reaching over the small flames to pat her on the head. “Reminds me of my first missions with my team. One of my teammates was an Uchiha, but Minato-sensei always put me on fire duty after a few too many accidents.”

“Accidents?”

“Let’s just say we had to request fireproof sleeping supplies from the Quartermaster after a particularly disastrous mission near Frost. It was too cold and someone thought it would be a good idea to make the fire bigger rather than just sleep together like the mission brief recommended.”

“Have you ever been to Mist, Kakashi-sensei?” She asked after a moment as she blew onto the ashes delicately, coaxing the flames to consume the twigs and dried leaves so that the fire would grow. “Or Wave? I’ve never been this far East before.” 

He stared down at the licking flames with a far-away look in his face and Sakura couldn’t help but let her eyes wander to where a somber Rin stood a ways away, thin fingers grasping at the cracked hole in her chest. The girl had been quiet, uncharacteristically so, but none of the ghosts paid her any mind aside from Sakumo. 

“I have, yeah. Once,” he murmured, “It’s been awhile, though.” 

She left it at that, choosing instead to poke the flame with a nearby stick, content to let the sounds of the ocean and the cheers of Naruto and Sasuke’s competition wash over them. 

❀❀❀

Nothing could ever be easy for Team Seven, of course, as the early morning wake up call forced everyone to be groggy and only mildly alert as they quietly rode through the heavy mist towards Wave. 

Sasuke had all but taken to keeping his hand permanently over Naruto’s mouth, his arm around him in a tight headlock when the ferryman had threatened to throw them all overboard after one too many loud complaints from the blonde. Sakura couldn’t quite blame him, especially since he and Tazuna looked too green at the prospect of returning to Wave. 

It wasn’t until they were dropped off the far side beach of Wave and began their trek towards their final destination that she asked the budding question in the back of her mind, “Tazuna-san, you seem a bit heavy on your feet. Are you alright?” 

“Yeah, yeah. You look like you’re about to throw up, what gives?” Naruto asked, face scrunched in confusion. “I thought you would’ve been excited at getting home so quickly.” 

Tazuna swallowed another mouthful from his flask, this time stumbling far more than he had before. Sakura’s eyes narrowed in on the pooling sweat around his temple and the way his hands shook despite him trying to hide it. 

“I-I am plenty excited, brat! Just a bit seasick from the boat ride, that’s all,” he stuttered, eyes flitting around the forest as if something might jump out and attack him. 

“Oceanborn aren’t usually the type to get seasick,” Sakumo commented, surprising Sakura with his input. 

Sakura agreed. She figured he would’ve been more relaxed since they were so close to his home rather than the bundle of nerves he seemed to be all but collapsing into. She watched as he took another swig, this time tipping the remainder into his mouth down to the last drop. 

“I don’t like the sound of this,” Tobirama warned, suddenly on edge in front of her, “There’s something about this that seems off.” 

“Tazuna is hiding something,” Izuna added, the ghost walking closer towards Sasuke as if he would be able to offer a modicum of protection. “I think your sensei thinks so too.”

Sakura looked at the now tense figure of Kakashi, his hands out of his pockets and digits twitching towards his kunai pouch in anticipation. Naruto and Sasuke sensed it too, the way the chittering of wildlife ceased almost completely. The air around them seemed to narrow and drop dramatically in temperature, goosebumps rushing over Sakura’s arms almost immediately. 

She bit at her thumb and summoned a red-topped Bō, grasping it with both hands as she dragged Tazuna away from her sensei and behind her so that the jōnin would be able to move freely in case they were attacked. 

“Formation six. Guard Tazuna and make a run for it if I go down. We don’t know what we’re up against,” Kakashi commanded, kunai slipping into his grasp with practiced ease as he lifted his hitai-ate up off of his left eye. “Come out and show yourself.” 

She felt Sasuke and Naruto finish the protective triangle around Tazuna, the two on edge as they held their own weapons in front of them. She could only focus on what was in front of her as a mysterious wisp manifested in front of their sensei, body tense and posture aching for a fight. Itachi and Shisui were nowhere to be found and she hoped something hadn’t taken them out. 

She didn’t know if she was ready to face an enemy capable of distracting them both from keeping them safe. 

“My my, what do we have here? Some lost birds far away from their nest?” The voice warbled, body distorted amongst the building mist around them. “But you’ve been kind enough to bring me a gift, so maybe I should thank you instead of killing you .”

“I won’t ask you again. Only a coward fights an opponent without introducing themselves,” Kakashi snarled as he threw several kunai towards the origin of the voice. 

Sakura’s blood chilled as the mist thickened and a laugh appeared directly next to her right ear. She swiped towards the voice with her staff, the wood slicing through the air missing its imaginary target. 

“Stay on guard, Sakura,” Hashirama warned, “Kirigakure’s signature technique distorts the senses so that the user can kill their target without being spotted. We’ll keep an eye on Naruto and Sasuke, don’t worry.” 

She nodded, eyes steeling in determination as she laid out her sensor net once more. It was hard to pinpoint the malicious attacker's origins amongst the thick cloak of chakra, the whirling maelstrom of energy flooding her senses. 

“A coward you say? You know all about that, don’t you, Friend Killer Kakashi. It’s been so long since you’ve deigned Kirigakure with your presence. I don’t suppose there’s a reason for that,” the voice taunted, this time sounding from Sakura’s left. 

She jutted the Bō towards the voice once more, moving back closer to Tazuna when it missed its target once more. 

Kakashi stayed silent, but the killing intent leaking from in front of her meant the mysterious shinobi had struck a nerve. 

Naruto yelped from behind her and Sakura didn’t hesitate to teleport to his side, slicing her Bō upward and hitting the wrist of their assailant with the tip of her staff. He hissed in pain before disappearing once more, this time heading for Sasuke who was quick to fire off a Katon before he got too close. 

Sakura knew he’d activated his Sharingan, the dojutsu able to see through the mist with ease. Sakura kept close to Naruto’s side, trusting her other teammate to be able to hold his own while they kept Tazuna said. 

She heard the piercing cry of birds in front of her as the shinobi engaged in combat with their sensei, flashes of light showcasing a flurry of limbs exchanging punches and kicks quicker than she thought possible. 

“Sakura, it might be time for you three to leave,” Hashirama warned. “He won’t be able to do much if he’s worrying about making sure you stay safe.”

“We can’t,” she whispered, “Not without Kakashi-sensei. He doesn’t need to worry, we can keep ourselves safe.”

She hoped Naruto hadn’t heard her plea, but it sounded muffled to her own ears as her heartbeat furiously in her chest. 

“Now’s not the time to play hero,” Tobirama echoed. 

Her lips curled as her sensory net caught onto the mysterious shinobi who’d made a grab towards Tazuna’s throat with a slash of a black-bladed katana. She pulled the bridge-builder down with a yank of his tunic, jutting her Bō straight to jam itself into the shinobi’s diaphragm. She immediately became soaked to the bone as the ninja exploded in a wave of water. 

“Water clone,” she cursed.

“What a smart little genin you are,” the voice praised, this time appearing right in front of Sakura, their noses nearly touching. His eyes were bright blue, almost icey, and manic as they stared into Sakura’s very soul. “Not smart enough to flee when you had the chance.”

The katana met her Bō blow for blow as she tried to signal to someone, anyone, for assistance. She didn’t know if the shinobi she was fighting was the real thing or another clone, but Tazuna’s life was in Naruto’s hands as she could hear Sasuke dealing with his own version of their enemy. 

A carefully placed explosion tag, no doubt from Naruto, disrupted the battles as the heavy mist dissipated leaving the area finally clear and visible. Sasuke seemed just as confused, the water clone he’d been fighting dismissing itself at the same time as the bomb had gone off. Tazuna looked visibly distraught, vomit down his chest as he shook from where Naruto had shoved him to the ground and onto his knees to avoid what would’ve been a decapitating blow. 

Sakura couldn’t sense the man anymore, but she didn’t allow the grip of her Bō to slacken just in case. 

Sakura teleported to Naruto’s side to help stabilize the blonde, his forehead leaking a vicious amount of blood from where the edge of the katana had caught his temple. 

“Naruto! Are you okay?” She cried, hands glowing green as she cauterized the wound and encouraged the skin to knit close. This is what Kakashi had meant, she realized with sobering clarity. A head wound that deep would’ve killed a civilian, especially since she doubted Wave had the resources to keep infection at bay in such a moist environment. Her eyes caught Rin’s from across the clearing, the ghost’s eyes wide and frantic as she took in the chaos in front of her.  

“Y-yeah, I’m fine, Sakura-chan. Don’t worry,” he assured her, wiping away the blood that had dripped over his brow and onto his eyelashes. “Barely nicked me, promise.”

“Idiot,” Sasuke commented as he regrouped with the two, pulling Tazuna up from his near comatose state on the floor, “Are you sure you’re alright.”

Sakura pulled her hands away from where they were cradling Naruto’s face, eyes washing over his tanned whiskered skin to make sure she’d rid him of any lasting damage or blemishes. 

“Didn’t know you cared that much, bastard,” Naruto joked before perking up at Kakashi-sensei’s arrival, “Kakashi-sensei, are you okay? Did you see that guy?”

“No, I didn’t see him, but I have a good idea on who it might be,” Kakashi huffed, grabbing Tazuna by the shoulder to turn him around, “But first, start talking. That was an S-ranked shinobi that almost killed my genin and you’ve been hiding something all day.

“I-I don’t know what you mean,” Tazuna stammered, attempting to back away from where Kakashi’s fingers dug into the meat of his shoulder. 

Sakura scowled and stopped his retreat with the tip of her Bō at the small of his back, “My brother is in the Torture and Intelligence division of Konoha and I promise Kakashi will be nicer to you than he will be once he gets wind of you hiding something from us.”

“My dad’s the Hokage, old man,” Naruto reminded him with crossed arms, “You could’ve gotten us killed!”

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this, I swear! You have to believe me, I wouldn’t endanger your lives if I could help it. Please hear me out,” he pleaded. 

“Then start talking,” Sasuke commanded with a glare, his own Sharingan spinning in irritation. Sakura didn’t want to point out that the lone tomoe wasn’t as intimidating as the swirling mixture in Kakashi’s eye, but the gesture was enough for the civilian to all but collapse into tears.  

With all four members of Team Seven glaring down at Tazuna, the bridge-builder immediately folded, whimpering about Gato the evil business man that threatened to kill him and his family over the completion of the bridge that would connect Hi no Kuni to Nami no Kuni and in turn strengthen their crippled economy. By the end of his tale he was back on his knees and pleading with Kakashi for forgiveness, especially since the man had yet to recover his spinning Sharingan. 

Sakura didn’t feel too empathetic for the man, especially since his omission of the truth had gotten them killed. She was also a bit upset at how complacent she’d gotten; the knowledge of Itachi and Shisui as a safeguard hadn’t encouraged her to keep her guard up. They were lucky that the shinobi was toying with them, but she doubted that the man wouldn’t be back to finish the job. Him being scared off by an explosive tag would’ve been curious had she not spotted the irritated looks of Madara and Kagami appearing on the edge of the roadway. 

He hadn’t gotten scared off from the tag, he’d been terrified of the still hidden figures of Itachi and Shisui. Whatever had kept them occupied had worn off and he probably couldn’t handle three pissed off S-rank shinobi, especially since she doubted the latter would care much for Tazuna after lying to them. 

“Madara, please tell me you have an explanation for this bout of trouble,” Hashirama asked, his hand heavy on Sakura’s head. 

“I know as much as you do, Hashirama. We can not see through the Mist as ghosts, but whoever was engaging Itachi and Shisui is long dead by now.”

“Which is why their assailant had disappeared so suddenly,” Izuna realized, “His partner had fallen in battle and he had to regroup.”

“Just their luck,” Kagami cursed, “Their opponent was strong, but couldn’t stand up to Shisui and Itachi both. I don’t think they realized who was going to be protecting the bridge builder. Wave is destitute and the fact that they could afford a C-rank like this meant that their coffers must’ve been scraped bare.”

“If this team lives to tell the tale, they might have more to worry about than a shady businessman.” Hashirama frowned, “Are you alright, Sakura-chan?”

The question was echoed by the concerned look on Kakashi’s face and she realized that her sensei had stopped their journey towards Tazuna’s home to assess her condition. She blushed and nodded, apologizing for zoning out while she focused on the ghosts deciding what to do. 

She immediately wanted to take her assurances back as they arrived in Tazuna’s home town, the streets littered with wayward spirits and devastated ghosts. She stumbled a bit, catching onto Sasuke’s shoulders who looked at her in alarm. Her hand tightened on his shoulder as her green eyes took in the starved figures of children long gone due to food shortages and the decapitated figures of men made an example of. 

“Sakura, what’s wrong?” He whispered, dark eyes darting between her and their team leading the way. 

She swallowed the lump in her throat, unsure of how to respond. “J-just, just tired from the fight is all.”

His eyes narrowed like he didn’t believe her and Sakura mentally begged him not to press any further, eyes already wide and frantic when a begging spirit got too close to her group. She looked down at the skeletal spirit, hands outstretched and mournful as he pleaded for food he could not taste or money he couldn’t spend. 

Kakashi noticed their halted figures almost immediately, brows furrowed at the petrified state Sakura was in. 

“You must continue on,” Tobirama urged, “Don’t let them know anything is wrong.”

Sakura breathed in deeply through her nose and encouraged her heavy limbs to put one foot in front of the other. Sasuke deemed her motions too slow, however, and immediately scooped her onto her back. She didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around his shoulders and bury her face into his neck, not unlike how she’d done to her brother earlier. 

“Just chakra exhaustion, Kakashi,” Sasuke called out, “She’s fine.”

His hands tightened around Sakura’s thighs and she squeezed around his hips in thanks. 

Kakashi didn’t seem like he believed them, but with Tazuna all but begging to finish the journey home, he had no choice but to leave them be. 

Chapter Text

They were stuck in Wave for the indefinite future while an unsavory storm passed over the coast line. Sakura frowned as she observed the errant waves and darkening horizon, Hashirama and Tobirama by her side with equally displeased looks on their faces. 

“A bad omen,” Tobirama muttered, “First the mysterious shinobi and now an ill timed storm making it unsafe for boats to travel to and from the mainland.” 

“Another reason why this bridge is so important for the town, brother,” Hashirama remarked, warm eyes trying to convey a more positive outlook, “A day's delay in this weather could be life or death to some of the islanders.” 

Sakura peered around to make sure her team was sufficiently distracted. Kakashi offered to do a ‘perimeter sweep’ of their area, which Sakura figured was code for regrouping with the still hidden Itachi and Shisui. She had to hand it to the two men, she hadn’t heard or sensed their presence since arriving on the island. She still itched to know just who their enemy was, especially since he was now without an associate.

Naruto, ever the Hokage’s son, was quick to agree to help Tazuna with his perpetual economic problem. They’d nearly died (not really), facing against a criminal high above their caliber that had only let them live because of chance. Sasuke, quick to support his best friend and potentially test his skills against said criminal, agreed. 

She shoved her face in her hands as she scrubbed at the irritation building in her cheeks. Her team was going to get her killed. 

“Bridge or not, why are we the ones dealing with it?” She whined softly, happy to be left alone to figure out how they were going to come out of this alive. “We couldn’t have just turned around after the fact. Let him walk home on his own and call it a day.”

“I’ll say,” Izuna muttered, arms crossed while he watched the two Senju brothers argue over the next steps in their plan. Madara and Kagami were no doubt set to join them once Kakashi’s meeting with Itachi and Shisui was over. She could feel the faintest hints of Naruto and Sasuke’s chakra on the edge of the property, the two boys competing with each other with another training challenge. She might’ve joined them had she not been so stressed. 

“Be that as it may, Sakura-chan, you are the ones assigned to this mission and it’s up to you to complete it,” Hashirama reminded her gently. 

“Our mission was to escort the bridge builder home. We are now at his home. No more escort needed.” She scrunched her nose up at him, irritated. 

“Not your direct mission, your overall mission. Konoha’s Will of Fire runs strong within you. It’s up to you as a Konoha shinobi to help those in need. Tazuna and his family, this entire island, is in need of help. It is well within your capabilities to succeed,” he replied. 

Sakura sighed as she eyed the ocean’s horizon once more. “I can’t help a town I can’t even walk through. Sasuke had to carry me to this stupid house yesterday. What good am I in this scenario?”

“You are everything in this scenario, malevolent energy or not. You have intel, an insight on the enemy that no one else has,” Tobirama reminded her. “The dead do not keep secrets.”

She pursed her lips and leaned back against her forearms, legs spread out in front of her. Another rush of petrichor washed over her as the wind picked up, waves crashing against the surf. 

“Where is that anbu of yours? Chimera?” Hashirama asked. 

She rolled her eyes, “Chameleon and Spider are at home . Because I didn’t think they needed to be here for a simple escort mission, especially since the Hokage assigned two live anbu to follow us. At this point, they’ll probably handle it themselves.”

“Not likely,” Madara interrupted, arriving in the clearing with Kagami in tow. 

“Madara!” Hashirama greeted with a smile, “Kagami. Hello you two.”

“It’s been an hour, anija, control yourself,” Tobirama hissed. 

“What do you mean by ‘not likely’? What have the three of them decided,” Izuna asked with a frown. “Don’t tell me they mean to abandon the family as well.”

“It’s the logical thing to do,” Madara said, “but no, they’re not abandoning the mission. Or the family of the bridge builder. The rogue shinobi that Itachi and Shisui killed was a part of a small trio of shinobi left over from the Bloody Year era of Kirigakure. They killed a genjutsu specialist, but the two that remain are unknown variables.”

“Bloody year?” Sakura asked. “What’s that? We didn’t learn that in the Academy.”

“It’s an afterthought in most textbooks, but we do not often interact with Uzu or Kiri ghosts in the first place, so it’s unsurprising you’d be unaware of such. Yagura, the current Mizukage, went mad for a period of time before you were born. While most records have erased the existence of it, it still remains a blight on their history as several dozen clans were slaughtered in the meantime. A large grouping of shinobi left, and while some did return after Yagura recovered, many still remain at large and act out against Kiri and the surrounding nations as a result,” Madara explained, his arms crossed over his chest. “Itachi and Shisui have been assigned to many missions on this side of the country for recovery purposes, which is why I believe your Hokage was so comfortable with adding them as backup for Team Seven.”

She dug her heels in the sand, contemplating the older Uchiha’s words alongside Hashirama and Tobirama’s. It wasn’t as if she didn’t want to help the bridge builder, especially since many of the civilians in the Land of Waves have lost their lives due to the throes of capitalism. Children starving in the streets, completely ignored as adults wasted away and forced to stoop to unfavorable means in order to survive. It was deplorable. All at the hands of Gato. 

“What do they know about the other two shinobi that Gato hired?” She asked Kagami. 

“Not much unfortunately, Sakura-chan. Kakashi seemed to be familiar with one, a shinobi he encountered in his youth but he refused to elaborate,” he said. “Neither Itachi nor Shisui pressed, which is another thing. I was not able to gather much else from the conversation. It seems they mean to wait out this storm and then decide after the fact.”

“That’s certainly less than ideal,” Hashirama muttered, “Perhaps Sakumo or Rin would know something. Especially since she was acting quite odd earlier.”

Sakura stiffened at the approaching chakra of her sensei, hoping he hadn’t overheard her talking to herself before he shunshinned next to her lounging form. He loomed over her with a cheery disposition, smelling faintly of hints of smoke and ash. She could tell he’d been around Itachi and Shisui, but she doubted he knew she could pick up on that. If she focused, maybe she could sense the presence of the two, but their confirmed existence was enough for her. 

“Sakura-chan! Enjoying the weather?” He greeted with a smile, offering her a hand to help her off the sandy beach. “Slacking off on a mission, perhaps?”

She eyed the rolling clouds, dark and heavy with the budding storm. “Not slacking off, sensei. How was your perimeter sweep? Did you learn anything?” She shook the clinging sand off her pants and haori, sandals thankfully clean as she’d abandoned them on the grass behind her. She grabbed them as they walked back to the house, the shouts of her teammates growing louder as they drew closer. 

“Not quite, but with this storm brewing it’s hard to sense much outside, but I believe we’re in the clear for now.” He settled his hand on her head, fingers ruffling her hair out of its ponytail. “What are you doing out here all by yourself?”

She looked up at his inquisitive stare, not suspicious but instead appraising her wellbeing. She bit back an appreciative smile and instead nudged her head harder into his hand. “I’ve never seen the ocean before. I wanted to watch the storm roll in.” 

“Let’s go make sure the boys haven’t hurt themselves and we’ll assess our next steps as a team, okay?” 

The boys were quick to gather on the engawa, roughened up by a spar that had quickly turned from calculated to childish almost immediately. Naruto had torn Sasuke’s sleeve right off and Sasuke had turned one of Naruto’s pant legs into shorts as a result. While Kakashi relayed the rest of their mission information, he’d forced the boys to mend each other's clothing articles as punishment. 

It was a bit humorous seeing Naruto’s frog printed underwear in question or the way Sasuke curled in on himself to cover his chest, especially since both refused to look her in the eyes at the state of their undress. Sakura was reminded of Anko’s warning of her teammates and couldn’t help but snicker at how bashful they’d become. 

“Your sensei might be a pervert,” Izuna muttered before dodging a swiping from Tobirama. 

“They are kids . Keep your comments to yourself,” he spat. “Especially in front of Sakura.”

Madara rolled his eyes, “Don’t tell me this is still continuing. You would think after the business with that orange novel they’d grown up a bit. When Hashirama was a bo-.” He was swiftly interrupted by Hasirama’s pitiful glare. 

“What orange book? That orange book?” Tobirama questioned, pointing at her sensei with a shaking finger. “You let her read that filth? Anija tell me this isn’t true. You kept this from me?”

“Now, now Tobi, it was simply a misunderstanding. Sakura didn’t even read it! Itachi and Shisui made sure of it, didn’t they Madara?” 

“Keep me out of this. Like these brats parents, you two are overprotective and it’s grown tiresome,” Madara replied, “The girl could gut a man like a fish and you’re worried over something as biological as sex.”

“Is now the time for this?” Kagami interrupted, “You are all childish and are interrupting a meeting that could get Sakura killed if she doesn’t know all the details. Get a handle on yourselves.” 

She was thankful for the level-headed spirit, especially for as un-Uchiha-like as he came. Her lips twitched into a grateful smile, hoping the movement went unnoticed by her team. 

A touch on her knee interrupted her focus, Naruto’s bright blue eyes looking at her concerningly. “Does that sound like a good plan, Sakura-chan?”

Sakura nodded, unsure of what she was agreeing to but a bit too ashamed to admit the fact. 

Sasuke sighed and shoved the blonde over, “You’re going to accompany Tsunami-san to the market for last minute supplies while we finish preparing the house for the storm. Kakashi is going to chat with Tazuna and some of the other builders down the road for any information about Gato’s hideout. After the storm passes we’ll investigate the area. He’s also written to Konoha for backup, at any rate to assist with this mission.”

“The backup in the form of the two sneaking anbu already circling this island,” Izuna muttered. “What a clever story.”

She was still peeved at how they’d been given babysitters for their escort mission and even more upset that the mission had actually warranted backup. 

“Understood,” she murmured, nodding her head towards Kakashi who gave her another smile. She was a bit confused as to why she didn’t spot Sakumo or Rin around the man, especially since she’d grown used to their presence. Tobirama seemed to have the same idea as he eyed her sensei with trepidation. 

“I will accompany Sakura to the market. Alone,” he added, eyeing an eager Hashirama who immediately wilted under his stare. “We can’t afford for her to be distracted.”

“I will come with you, Senju,” Madara added, “If only to free myself of the excitement. Izuna and Kagami will work well to gather intel, anyhow.”

“This isn’t a mission,” Hashirama whined, “Why are we splitting up? Why do you want to be on Tobi’s team?”

“While it isn’t a mission, we are still inclined to provide support. With Sakura here, it’s advantageous to provide our tutelage and insight. We are splitting up because it’s the most logical thing to do,” Madara replied, eyeing Hashirama’s form, “You will be fine without your brother suckling at your teat.” 

“Harsh,” Izuna muttered before separating with Kagami who waved goodbye to Sakura. 

“And graphic,” Kagami agreed. 

Sakura got up from the engawa, brushing away the remaining sand on her person, “I will return shortly.” She readjusted the orange and dark blue kunai at her hip, making sure the glinting metal was in full view of her team for reassurance. “If anything goes wrong, I will flare my chakra.”

“Good girl,” Kakashi praised, “We’ll see you soon, but still, be safe. Boys, I hope you’re done mending those clothes, it’s time to finish boarding up the windows.”

❀❀❀

While she was used to Tobirama’s solemn nature, the eerie quietness of both men at her side was more humorous than she’d like to admit. Why Madara offered to accompany them, she couldn’t quite say. However, the spirits seemed to shy away at their combined presence, so she was able to hold the basket for Tsunami-san while she rifled through aged produce and bargained at the market for supplies. It was a stark contrast to her home market in Konoha, the stalls shuttering against the strong winds and the citizens eyeing her with contempt. 

The storm had come on quite suddenly according to the woman, so much of the town wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of weather. 

“Of course, it’s not quite monsoon season just yet, but if we’re getting storms this early, it’s no doubt going to be a rough one,” she commented as she weighed radishes in her hand. “It seems every year they get stronger and stronger. When I was a girl, you’d have to wait till the late summer for the worst of it.”

“Konoha gets some storms, but it’s mainly snow that we worry about seasonally. What are your storms like in Wave?” Sakura asked politely. 

“Rough, with more water than we know what to do with. It sometimes helps with the surf farms, since it brings different fish to the tides, but if you’re not careful most of the rainwater will go to waste and just ruin the surrounding buildings. Our home is on the side of the island that receives the least harsh direction of rain more often than not, but no doubt we’ll need to have some funds set aside for the repairs,” Tsunami fretted as she bit her lip. 

Tsunami grabbed the radish bundle in her left hand to give to the vendor, frowning at the price as a result. Declining the purchase, she walked away whilst replying to Sakura, seemingly at ease with forgoing her decisions. Sakura was quick to dig into her own pockets for coins, refusing change as she dropped the radishes in her basket while the woman prattled on about the summer season. 

“I hadn’t realized the economy could still be so rough in the modern era,” Tobirama commented with a frown, eyeing some of the beggars that got too close to Sakura’s space. The marketplace was the least crowded spiritually, nothing compared to the towns square Sasuke had to carry her through. However, it was still rife with sorry souls. 

The pink haired teen paid him no mind, slipping a few ryo to a woman nursing a baby in an alcove. Her aniki had provided more than enough to cover the team's missions expenses and this was worth more than any amount of trinkets money could buy. The woman’s form was thin and frail and covered in a tan tarp as makeshift clothing. She doubted the town had proper rain shelters in place and she hoped the woman and her child would be safe in the meantime.  

She eyed some of the boarded up stores that no doubt once housed things like toys and tourist wares, the merchants long abandoned the place in favor of more lucrative endeavors. Sakura couldn't necessarily blame them, but it was still a poor sight to see.  

It continued on in the same manner, thankfully the woman hadn’t noticed her growing collection of vegetables and meat. Pork belly, eggs, thin sausages from a friendly butcher with a threadbare stall. Things many of her village members took advantage of, no doubt. Tsunami had only been able to purchase rice, dried fish, and some roots comfortably for use, alongside some discarded fish heads and bones for stock later. 

When she noticed Sakura’s own basket, she stopped, curious and then bashful. “Don’t tell me you’ve been doing that all morning.”

Sakura toed a cracked shell buried in the dirt path, sheepish and just as embarrassed. “The boys eat a lot and their okaa-san’s complain about it all the time. It’s the least I could do.” 

Tsunami laid a warm hand on Sakura’s cheek, tilting her face up to thank her properly. “Your parents did an excellent job of raising you. I am sorry my father dragged you and your team into this mess, but I am forever grateful. This means so much to me, you don’t even understand.”

Sakura blushed even further, nodding fervently out of her hold. “It is no problem, honestly. Konoha helps those in need,” she said, echoing Hashirama’s earlier sentiment. 

The older woman eyed the store behind her before gathering Sakura’s basket out of her hand, “Why don’t you go see if there are any sweets we can scrounge up for dessert. If you can find some anko paste, I have plenty of rice flour at home for dumplings. I’ll finish up and then come collect you.”

“We’re not supposed to be separated,” Sakura frowned, “I’m the one escorting you to the market.”

Tsunami pointed to the last stall, only a few paces away from the store, “I’ll be within shouting distance, don’t worry. I did just fine before your team. Most of these citizens know better than to mess with me.” 

Sakura eyed the stall before relenting. She bowed slightly before turning around to head into the small store, one of the few places in the market with a proper entrance and exit that hadn’t been damaged or broken into.  

There was no one there to greet her, but she hadn’t quite expected it since most of the citizens in Wave weren’t the hospitable kind. The most smiles she’d received had been when she refused change from some of the vendors, their niceties coming from her willingness to give rather than her character itself. It was a wonder that Tsunami was as kind as she was if many of the citizens were as callous as the sea. Tazuna fit right in amongst the lot.  

The shelves were mostly bare, a few canned goods and staples remaining after being picked clean. 

“Truly a wonder they’ve survived as long as they did,” Tobirama murmured, glancing behind the counter to peer at the crossed out inventory sheet and business notes. “No ships can get into the harbour without increased tariffs, so merchants have completely avoided the place. Citizens have disappeared if they speak out against Gato, so many have chosen to just wither away as a result.”

“This is a land of civilians, Tobirama. They can not fight back, especially if a man like Gato was able to hire not one but three different S-ranked shinobi.”

“Allegedly S-ranked. We still don’t know the extent of their abilities,” he countered, “One was genjutsu based, the other I believe kenjutsu, which isn’t uncommon for Kirigakure shinobi, so the last one is an unknown variable.” 

“With Itachi and Shisui patrolling the area, they’ll no doubt be the ones to handle it. I find it unlikely Kakashi will put genin in harm's way,” Madara added. 

“There’s still the storm,” Sakura whispered, unsure of where the shopkeeper was but not quite willing to be caught talking to herself, “It’s not like Wave has a hotel for them to board up at. Unless you think they’re hunting for Gato now .”

“They’ll probably arrive as soon as you get back,” Tobirama theorized, “An interception of a plea for help. Especially since your sensei told your team that he’d written to the Hokage for a mission update. In a proper scenario, this would’ve been handled the day prior. I imagine he is still nervous with how green you three still are.” 

Sakura rolled her eyes at that, “Do you think my teammates are foolish enough to fall for Itachi and Shisui being conveniently close by?”

There was a pause before Sakura sighed. “They probably will fall for that. Sasuke is inclined to believe anything Itachi tells him.” If Hidan had told her the same information, she also might’ve been convinced of the circumstances. 

She eyed the plastic container of anko paste on a bottom shelf, pleased to have found her prize. She grabbed the small box in her hand, looking around for the shopkeeper once more. She walked through every isle of the small store, wondering if she had missed someone in her perusal. 

“Hello?” She called out, “I’d like to check out, please.”

No one answered. She curled her nose and grabbed a kunai from her pouch, fearing the worst. Her skin prickled underneath her haori, body tense once she realized she hadn’t sensed any presence, civilian or otherwise, in the store. Tobirama seemed just as suspicious, placing himself in front of Sakura as she eyed the back door to the staff only area. Madara strode through one of the back doors, checking around the corner for signs of life. 

“I believe it’s best you leave,” Madara advised, blocking the door, “Quickly, in fact.”

Sakura backed up, nodding furiously at the look in the Uchiha's eye. 

A presence appeared behind her suddenly and she whirled around, kunai slashing at her assailant. A flash of red hair flooding her vision as a paralysis tag was stuck to her forehead, limbs locking as she tipped onto the cracked linoleum. Her kunai clattered to the ground, falling a ways away from her form. 

“Such a foolish child” the voice tutted as he stepped over Sakura’s prone body to admire her features, “with such lovely hair. Oh don’t look so upset, it was going to happen one way or another. At least this way, the bridge builder's daughter gets to live another day.”

“Sakura!” Tobirama shouted, unable to do anything but watch in horror as her limp body was thrown over the tall, red haired shinobis shoulder. 

“An Uzumaki,” Madara hissed, recognizing the fuinjutsu on the seal, “The last assailant is an Uzu refugee. We should’ve known.” 

The man eyed the two kunai hanging limply at her hips before ripping it off her form, along with her haori and headband. 

“You won’t be needing this, don’t worry. I’m sure your teammates will find it eventually,” he mockingly soothed the pinkette as he left her in just her standard tank and cargo pants. “It’s time to go now. Before those wretched shinobi catch on to what I’m doing. My clone won’t be able to distract them for long.” 

Sakura could only watch in abject horror as the shinobi shunshinned from the corner store towards the edge of the marketplace and then bounded towards the forest, jostling Sakura with every step. She watched as Tobirama and Madara struggled to keep up, the Uzumaki speeding towards a shining chakra barrier. 

She shivered as the seals washed over her, skin prickling and stinging at the sensation. Her muffled screams echoed in the clearing once she noticed Tobirama and Madara unable to follow, the ghosts stuck at the edge of the ward. 

“Hush now, it’s just a simple barrier seal. Something from the old maiko of Uzushio taught me, you know, before my home was destroyed after Konoha refused our call for aid,” he explained, adjusting Sakura to the other shoulder as he slowed to a stop at the base of an imposing concrete building. The guards stepped aside nervously for the man, averting their eyes as he sneered their way. 

“Keeps everyone not keyed into the wards out and keeps everything else in . There’s no escaping, so don’t even try it, okay? I’d hate for something to happen to that pretty face of yours and ruin your resale value,” he added on, whistling as he walked deeper into the belly of the beast towards the sound of weeping children. 

From her limited view, she could see piles of weapons laying about the compound, along with crates from nations all over the shinobi world. It was big, damp, and littered with unsavory beings. Some of the other sell swords spewed unsavory comments at the man carrying her, but were quickly silenced by a glare. She couldn't sense the other shinobi, the one that had attacked them the day prior, but she knew he had to be somewhere. She just hoped he hadn't taken his chances at attacking her team. 

She only hoped that Tsunami was quick enough to alert Kakashi of her kidnapping and that he knew how to get around that barrier seal. She'd never seen anything like it, and there wasn't much she could do until the paralysis tag was taken off her face. 

Sakura spewed out muffled curses, mouth refusing to open against her will. She could only focus on her breathing, hoping her internal clock and compass would help her before anything else happened. She was without her weapons, without her chakra, and without her ghosts. She’d never seen such a tag before, her eyes trying to peer through the thick chakra paper to make sense of the seal work. 

“I’m sure that wasn’t going to be a nice comment,” he chastised, “What are they teaching you in Konoha? Or maybe it’s because of that wretched Copy Ninja. What were they thinking, putting him around kids with how many enemies he has.”

He walked into an empty cell in the heart of the cries, the bars well oiled and strong. They were completely bare, no bed to even lay on, not that she could think of resting in a time like this. He dropped Sakura onto the concrete floor before crouching down, leering down at her with distaste in his brown eyes. He secured additional chakra suppresing tags around her arms, each one suffocating her more than the last, before tying one hand in front of her and one hand behind her. 

“Enemies like me,” he continued, grinning with broken teeth. From this view she could see the curling wrinkles around his eyes and the scars littering his face. He was not a good looking man. It was hard to believe something like this could be related to someone like Kushina or Mito. His red hair hung limply around his pale face, his Kiri headband secured around his forehead with a slash running through the middle. "While you're just a kid, I want to make sure one of these other idiots get the wise idea of trying to help you escape." He yelled the last part as he punched the iron bars of the cage, the structure rattling as the cries of the surrounding children grew louder. 

Sakura could do nothing but glare up at him, itching for the chance to dig a knife into his smug face. 

She could hear the quickening breaths of someone in the cell next to her, terrified as she was. Another child on the other side cried harder with the distinct smell of urine flooding her senses. 

“Also, like Isao, who I’m sure is just itching to get a few licks in, literal or otherwise.” He grabbed at her chin, tilting her face around as he eyed her features like a jeweler would eye a gemstone. “I’ll really have to make sure he doesn’t mark up that pretty face of yours, of course. No kekkei genkai according to intel, so not as much as your teammate might’ve been, nor are you that spawn of that bitch relative of mine, but beggars can’t be choosers. Getting the lone female of the copy-nin’s team is more of a karmic boon than it is a financial one.”

Sakura let out another muffled scream, lungs heaving and throat aching at the release. 

“Ooh, that did not sound nice, you really need to work on your manners. Funs only just begun, kid, rest up,” he spat, standing up from his squatted position before kicking his boot into her cheek knocking her over. 

She could only stare at the curled form in the adjoining cell, the body turned away in fear from her assailant as he abandoned her and the others in the dark. 

Chapter Text

Sakura 

Never before had Sakura’s life been so silent. It was eerie, the way she was so alone but also not at the same time. The paralysis tag had worn off several hours ago, the paper lazily falling off her face and onto the grime coated floor of her holding cell. She’d watched it flutter dimly, sneering at how a piece of paper could’ve gotten her killed. 

Or worse. 

She’d let her guard down and was now paying the price for it. Even if she didn’t quite know what that price was just yet. 

It was late in the evening now, the barest sliver moon high in the sky. If she focused hard enough, she could maybe hear the howling of hounds on the outskirts of Gato’s compound. Though it might’ve been due to the storm raging outside. It was hard to tell over the pounding in her head. 

Most of the sniffling from the children around her had ceased, leaving behind whimpers of nightmares and soft snores. It was hard to focus on much, really, with the way her head throbbed and eyes stung. 

Her arms were sore, one contained awkwardly bent behind her and the other strapped to her chest, making it impossible to form hand signs. Not that the chakra suppressing seals would allow her to do so. If Tobirama were here, he’d have a better chance of reading and understanding how to work around the suppressors. 

She rolled over onto her stomach and pushed upward with her shoulder, core straining at the awkward angle. The cell is tight, barely long enough for her to fully stretch out in, obviously meant for smaller fodder. She gagged, nausea tipping the world sideways. 

“I wouldn’t make too much noise,” a melodic voice whispered to her right, “They get… vicious at night. The storm isn’t helping.”

Sakura turned, eyes squinting in the dim moonlight as the form of her fellow captive drew closer. There were four of the figure, then two, and finally the shadow solidified to one shape to focus on. 

They had long, dark hair and a heart shaped face. She could briefly see the outline of a choker around their neck, plush and pristine despite the dirt and blood caking their kimono. His form was masculine though, but still slim and delicate. 

“Where am I?” She croaked, already knowing the answer. Her throat burned and her head ached . 

“Gato’s compound, but specifically in his ‘treasure room.’ It’s where he keeps the children he sells on the market,” he replied, as if he was discussing the weather. Sakura could taste the hint of an Eastern accent in his dialect, calm like the ocean. Nothing like the chopped, excited verbiage of Naruto or the polite proper tone of Sasuke. 

Sakura hissed, scooting closer but keeping her voice as low as possible. “Human trafficking?” 

He nodded, “Gato controls many shipments in this part of the country, but most on this side of the world will pay for an advantage in combat that only proximity to Kiri and Konoha could provide.” 

Kekkei genkai theft then. 

Sakura sniffed, her nose clogged with irritation. She eyed the boy in front of her, tracing the muscles that peaked out through their clothing and the subtle way his hands twitched for weapons that weren’t there under her gaze. He moved a bit more forward, the subtle glint of a headband illuminating itself.  “You’re a shinobi.” 

“Not a kunoichi?” He asked, a smile tight lipped like he'd been expecting a punchline of an inside joke. 

“I am surrounded by pretty boys almost every day, you would be surprised at what I can see,” she replied, lips twitching to match his smile. He did take the cake though, beating out Neji for prettiest shinobi. Not that she’d admit it to the Hyuuga’s face, or her new friend. The way he smiled at her however made her wonder if she’d said that last part out loud. 

“I’m sorry you’ve been dragged into this mess,” he apologized “My team and I were supposed to have handled this but there was a delay and I was separated from my sensei and teammates. It seems we're in the same boat.” He shuffled even closer to Sakura, the same chakra suppression wrapped around his wrist. “I’ve been here for several days now, but it is near impossible to get past the Uzumaki’s barrier seal.”

Sakura tried to remember the etchings on the fūinjutsu she’d seen, but it was hard to focus around the pressure in her skull. She frowned, unused to not being able to rely on a second or third party to provide their input. How did people live without constant support from those around them? 

The man had mentioned maiko seals, strong and holy in nature. Able to keep ghosts and malicious spirits at bay. Uzushio was of the old country, so it wasn’t surprising to see the sort of ancient ruins in use, but to use them to keep children contained to be sold and raised as weapons. Sakura's lips curled into an involuntary sneer. 

“I think I have a concussion,” she admitted, “with no access to my chakra, I won’t be much use in escape. Not now at least.”

He shushed her, reaching forward as if to stroke her head before remembering he was as restrained as she was. He grimaced as a result. “Sleep then. In the morning they distribute rations and reapply seals. Gato hired the three nuke-nin to assist with the operation and take out the bridge builder. The Uzumaki, Ashino, has been providing the seals while Isao and Hidari intimate the villagers.” 

“Hidari is dead, I believe,” she supplied hopefully, “My genin team was provided an escort of sorts and Hidari did not survive the fight with them. If that was the Genjutsu master that is.” 

The boy nodded before furrowing his delicate brow, “A genin ? When did you graduate from the academy?” 

Sakura shrugged, “A few months ago. This was supposed to be our first C-rank as a team. Tazuna, the bridge builder, hired our team and lied to us. Almost got us killed. Then my stupid team voted to help him with his Gato problem. I was walking with the bridge builder's daughter in the marketplace, to gather supplies for the storm, and then I was attacked.” She eyed him suspiciously and realized how loose lipped her concussion made her, “I shouldn’t have said that, probably.” 

He chuckled, “I mean you no harm. I am a genin as well, but not quite that green. Not like you anyway. My name is Haku, if that helps gain your trust. Don’t be afraid, my sensei is very strong and will know what to do. My teammates too, sometimes.” He said it so assuredly that Sakura was inclined to believe him and briefly wondered if this was what she sounded like when she talked about Kakashi-sensei or teammates. “I am not so helpless myself.” 

Sakura thought of him, quick to praise and even quicker to draw his weapon. She also considered the addition of Itachi and Shisui in the equation, the latter trigger happy in regards to his brother’s wellbeing (and lately by extension hers) and the former one of the best assassins running around Konoha at the moment. Barriers wouldn’t contain them for long, not that she wanted to stick around and wait to see what would happen. 

She wanted to get back home, back to her brother, back to her ghosts . She swallowed the lump in her throat, suddenly reminded how alone she was. 

While Haku might’ve stated he wasn’t helpless, he also had supplied a plan of escape. 

“I am not afraid,” she answered honestly. “But I will not wait around and rely on others to save me. No offense.” 

Haku reared back, not offended but pleasantly surprised at her attitude. He nodded in agreement. 

“I have been here long enough, we need not waste anymore time.” 

“My name is Sakura, by the way,” she added after, wishing again she had met the very pretty boy under any other circumstance. “I look forward to working with you.” 

❀❀❀

Kakashi 

If Kakashi never returned to the Land of Waves, it would still be too soon. He’d long outgrown his nail biting habit, but his fingers still longed to be anxiously chewed at as his tracking team reported being unable to fully locate the compound. Not for the first time in his life, he found himself thankful for the mask covering most of his face. It was easy to keep a calm facade when all his students could see was an eyeball. 

He’d be initially skeptical of Team Seven’s tail, almost offended that Minato-sensei didn’t trust him to keep his team safe even if knew it was more Kushina and Mikoto’s doing. Then he’d encountered a face he hadn’t seen in decades and he’d lost one of his genin. Now he looked at the solemn faces of Shisui and Itachi with newfound appreciation, even if they were stuck inside for the foreseeable future while a heavy omen of a storm raged on outside the bridge builders home. 

Sasuke and Naruto had done a good job at boarding up the windows, nary a crack left unsealed or a wooden plank out of place making the house much darker than was comfortable. However, he’d run out of ways to keep the boys distracted and not even Itachi could soothe his brother's outbursts, not that he could blame him. Small candles littered around the living room, Tazuna and his family safe upstairs. Not that he truthfully cared. 

Tsunami had come back from the market, arms clutching at her baskets like a lifeline, hysterical and reduced to tears. Kakashi had felt a piece of him die in that moment, fearing the worst for his missing pink haired student. An errand, a simple errand had turned this mission from bad to worse. He’d been so careful working with Itachi and Shisui so that their appearance would make sense, so that his team wouldn’t lose their confidence in a high stress situation, and he’d made a mistake. A deadly one. 

“Sakura could be dead and we’re waiting around for a stupid storm to pass!” Naruto shouted, not for the first time that night. He didn’t bother to keep his voice down either, not caring for the civilian family at the root of their problems. “We need to stop waiting and go find her.” 

Sasuke tensed under Naruto’s proclamation, biting at the already gnawed lip as he eyed his brother and cousin with newfound (and misplaced) distaste. Mistrust even. Itachi grabbed at Sasuke’s shoulder, keeping his brother seated in case he moved to follow in Naruto’s footsteps, but was quickly shrugged off. While he didn’t outwardly seem upset, Kakashi had worked with Itachi long enough to see the signs of misery in the teen. 

“If you want to face a Kiri storm, then by all means brat, at least you’ll stop hogging the air with your whining,” a gruff voice from across the room barked out, shushed by the two smaller companions at his side. 

Kakashi tensed, not having quite forgotten his new found allies. Temporary business associates? Bloodthirsty shinobi sharing the same goal? Not fully trust worthy, but likeminded enough that they could put aside differences until all of this was said and done. 

Tsunami had somehow returned with a jōnin, a Kirigakure jōnin , with two genin in tow but minus his student. The one that he had so foolishly assigned as protection detail. The marketplace was less than three kilometers away and she’d been taken so close, so suddenly, that she hadn’t had the chance to Hiraishin back to one of the kunai still hanging by the boy's side. Who knows how the shinobi had gotten past his students' guard. 

“I don’t want to hear it from the likes of you. What’s the point of all these jōnin being around if no one could do anything,” Naruto shouted again, this time his voice cracking a bit at the end. “Isn’t this your home turf of something? Shouldn’t you have handled this already? Why did we get brought here to clean up your mess?” 

This time Shisui intervened, pulling the boy down from his frustrated pacing to settle across his lap, blonde face shoved in his neck in a consoling manner. Kakashi couldn’t even fault him and wished he could’ve done something similar in support. Unfortunately, like a dog backed into a corner, his hackles raised every time Zabuza spoke in that harsh voice of his so he’d taken to placing himself in the middle of the two respective teams to be of some use. 

“ Finally, ” one of Zabuza’s students muttered. Suigetsu, if Kakashi remembered correctly. “All this whining and it’s getting us nowhere. You don’t see Chōjūrō and I bitching, do you? Our teammate was taken too ‘ya know and they’ve been missing longer than your teammate has.”

He was quickly cuffed over the head by Zabuza, his form turning into water before he solidified with a whine.

“Sensei!”  

“Quiet, brat. Or I’ll spill to the birds about how you were the one that cried when we realized Ha-,” he was swiftly interrupted by his genin, the slim form tackling the jōnin in embarrassment. 

The last time Kakashi had seen Zabuza, he’d watched the man cleave several grown Kumo shinobi in half like they were slices of paper whilst laughing about it. A venerable frenzy alongside a just as murderous blue skinned companion. The enemy's blood and viscera had soaked into the famed executioner’s blade; the same sword that was leaning domestically against the wall behind the shinobi like an umbrella. Now, he was allowing a teenager to roughly wrestle him into submission, his eyes softening when looking at the white haired boy. His other student, blue haired and timid but held onto a katana with a samurai eye, watched them fondly.

In Kakashi’s own merit, the last time Zabuza had seen him , he was shoving his chidori down a different Kumo shinobi’s throat. Now he was reduced to a glorified baby sitter that had lost one of the babies. Even if Zabuza was technically in the same boat, he still felt ashamed at how easily he’d relaxed his guard in enemy territory. When they got home, and the ‘when’ was forcibly louder than the ‘if’ that threatened to bubble to the surface, he’d figure out a way to etch trackers into their skin so that he’d never lose one of them ever again. Reverse summoning seals too. 

“Senpai,” Itachi murmured, voice low and steady, “When the storm passes, what is our final decision?” 

“My crows were unable to pierce the barrier keeping them contained and it spanned several kilometers wide on the opposite end of the island,” Shisui reported, his hand a heavy presence on the back of Naruto’s neck keeping him in place while he calmed down. If he focused his enhanced hearing enough, he could make out the muffled sobs that were slowly dying down. “It’s definitely Uzu made, old Uzu by the looks of it. Would we have time to write back to Kushina or Hokage-sama?”

“Unfortunately, time is not on our side. I know enough about fūinjutsu that I could possibly recognize some of the seals in place, but if Gato is after the bridge builder, then they will have to leave eventually,” Kakashi replied. 

“I can come,” Naruto warbled, voice watery, “I can read the seals. You know I can, Kaka-nii. Let me help.”

“No,” Sasuke barked, “You’re not going alone. Not with them.” He jutted his chin towards the Kiri trio, who didn’t even look offended at his accusation. 

Kakashi rolled his shoulders back, looking skyward at the cracked ceiling where the bane of his existence was sleeping soundly while his team bent under the weight of potential loss. It was up to him to keep the team together, and he couldn’t risk putting Naruto in harm's way on a prayer. He had to trust his female student, arguably the one most suited for being taken into enemy territory. Even if he loathed to admit it. While he hadn’t taken many missions with Hidan, he knew of his skills in the underground chambers of T&I, and had heard stories of the ways he’d made even the most seasoned of war dogs crack under pressure. He was in the chain of command amongst the likes of Ibiki Morino and Inoichi Yamanaka. If anyone had prepared their kin to be tortured in a hostile situation, it would’ve been him. 

“It’s not safe,” he said, voice firm, “It’s not that I don’t trust you. I don’t trust the nukenin. Stealing Sakura and not the bridge builder's daughter was a choice, one that we don’t know the reasoning behind yet.” 

“But we have to do something ,” Naruto pleaded, “We can’t stay in this house just waiting. We have to go out and get her..”

“It is going to be okay , Naruto. Sakura will be fine,” he affirmed, hoping that by saying the words out loud that some Kami out in the ether would hear it for the prayer that it was. “Her brother is one the most esteemed torturers in T&I, he has no doubt taught her to withstand being captured behind enemy lines. If the shinobi had wanted to kill her, they would’ve done so in the marketplace. The storm will be over by mid day and Itachi and I will go along with Zabuza to the barrier my ninken were able to sniff out before the rain got too heavy. You will stay with Shisui and guard the bridge builder alongside the other genin.”

“Fuck the bridge builder,” Sasuke viciously spat, “If it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t be in this mess. He’s the one that lied to the Hokage, lied to us. I don’t care if he dies. We should go with you to rescue Sakura.” 

“You will not and that is final as your captain,” Kakashi commanded, “The mission is not over yet, and we will see it through. After we get Sakura we will go, you have my word.”

“What about Gato?” Naruto asked tentatively, “What about the town? The whole reason they’re suffering is because of him.”

“We’ll handle the bastard,” Zabuza interrupted, “He’s on Kiri territory and the whole reason we are here. Had the bridge builder done the correct thing and contacted the Mizukage and requested aid, this all could’ve been avoided. We know a thing or two about squashing corruption. He was the one that selfishly tried to combat against a man with more money than sense. Even if Yagura-sama hadn’t commissioned us for peace work, a payment plan could’ve been established. Instead he’s wasted our time and endangered our genin and he will pay for it. One way or another.” 

If Kakashi were a lesser man, he would’ve flinched at the glint in Zabuza’s eye. 

“Gato has stolen too many children from Kiri and the surrounding villages and we finally have enough intel to intervene. Haku is a Yuki, a very good one, who had underestimated his opponent. It’s a good teaching opportunity,” Zabuza continued, “One would hope that he would have enough sense to complete the mission objective from a better vantage point. If the enemy is as dumb as I predict, they probably won’t be able to look past his face and it’ll be their downfall.” He seemed embarrassed by the last sentence. 

“His face?” Naruto asked, face scrunching in confusion. 

“Haku is very pretty,” Suigetsu preened, fluffing his gelled hair in a feminine manner, “Gets him into trouble with all sorts of clients. Just two weeks ago we had to forgo our mission pay because his ass got grabbed and he gave the client frostbite. Or the time before that where his chest got groped by a baby we were sitting because he wanted milk. Or the-,” The teen was hit again, this time by Chōjūrō. 

“You are so annoying,” Chōjūrō muttered, "embarrassing us in front of the leaf nin because you can’t keep your mouth shut.”

“That’s it!” Suigetsu shouted, moving to pounce on Chōjūrō before being yanked back into a seiza by Zabuza. 

Kakashi heard Shisui snicker next to him and if it were any other situation, he might’ve found their actions amusing. 

“I pity the mercenaries that Haku faces once he is done playing with them,” he said, clapping his subdued genin on the back who echoed the bloodthirsty look in his eye. “Calm your pups, Copy Ninja. It will be just fine. If your kunoichi is as prepared as you say she is, we have plenty of time for action.” 

Kakashi looked over at the now serious forms of his students, Naruto’s face pinched and focused in the same way Minato-sensei’s was and Sasuke’s Sharingan unconsciously activated. He bit back a sigh and relaxed slightly, things would be fine. They would have to be. 

❀❀❀

Sakura

In the dim morning light, Sakura eyed her chakra suppressing seals with a much clearer head. She was the only one awake, mind quick to rise when some of the morning jeers got too loud from down the hall. From her vantage point, she could see windows around the treasure room, not quite as underground as she expected. The faintest hint of the storm raged on, but enough light was awarded through the cloud cover for her to plan her next steps. 

Realistically the smartest thing to do was to play it safe and await a rescue that was no doubt en route with a swiftness. However, she loathed playing victim to whatever half-banked attempt at revenge Ashino or Isao had planned for her. Her kidnapping seemed personal, more concentrated and tailored than the gathering of children or odd young shinobi around her. 

She flexed her shoulders, trying to get any sort of relief from the tension in the muscles. Her head felt miraculously better and for the first time since she’d been kidnapped she could think . 

The Uzu survivor possibly hadn’t seen her Hiraishin kunai for what they were and instead had left them behind to rid her of any weapons, not just the pretty decorative knives that hung around her hips. Her pockets were emptied of anything that might’ve assisted in escaping, and her hair had been freed of any ties or senbon that might’ve been hidden in its tresses. 

Her haori was left behind in that wretched store, and when Sakura escaped (when not if), she would burn it to the ground. Villagers be damned. Right after that, she’d make her own anko dumplings alongside some proper Iron grown tea and wouldn’t look twice at leaving this accursed village behind. 

Maybe she’d take Tazuna out before she left. Make it look like an accident. If she explained the situation to her brother, he might do it for her. Save her the trouble of worrying about things like diplomatic immunity or consequences to bloodthirsty actions. 

Sakura frowned, oddly homesick. A wave of anguish washed over her and she wished the Senju brothers could see her now, in this miserable situation. They might’ve been able to cook up a plan with more finesse than the half-baked plan she was improvising in her head. 

It wasn’t the first time she’d woken up restrained without her chakra, she knew how to handle this. She just had to goad them into torturing her, alone, and preferably away from the children. She recognized some of the seals on her skin, a theory only confirmed by Haku’s words from the night prior. Their chakra suppression seals weren’t permanent, not like proper cuffs that could be found deep in the confines of most villages. Ashino had to manually reapply the seals within a certain time period, otherwise it would be difficult to contain the shinobi he had captured alongside the children. 

“Wake up, brats,” the subject of her ire barked, slamming the door open with a vengeance as he and two other sellswords carrying wrapped rations stormed in. “The sooner we get this over with the sooner you can go back to crying for your parents.”

Sakura sneered at the sight, hands clenching into a fist as she tested the restraints once more. Her legs were slowly being kicked free, the rope not as enhanced as the ones looped around her arms and wrists. 

The three men passed around the crumbling bars, throwing them onto the grimey floor without a care in the world. Some kids curled away from the treatment, not trusting the food despite the hollowness of their cheekbones. Others scrambled for the meager sustenance, choking on the dry texture and begging for water as a result. Even the best Akimichi rations wouldn’t make them palatable, so she knew whatever expired shit they’d brought in was a miserable eating experience all around. 

Ashino stopped in front of her cell, eyeing both her and Haku with a dangerous expression. “Hadn’t realized I’d put you two so close together. Don’t tell me you’ve been making friends, Yuki?” He kicked the bars of the cell, shaking the frame from the force. Despite this, they held true. “Don’t give the Konoha brat hope now, you know better than that.”

A Yuki. A shinobi with an ice kekkei genkai if she remembered correctly. In the light, she could see the same chakra suppression seals on his wrists, subduing his chakra to the bare minimum like hers. Sakura shuttered to think about what kind of sensei he’d been assigned to hone him to the type of killer that could take advantage of a technique like that. 

“Hadn’t realized you were so fucking ugly,” she spat, goading him and channeling every bit of Naruto she had absorbed over the last couple of months. “It’s no wonder you had to resort to using cheap tactics to kidnap me.” It was embarrassing but effective. The words flew off her tongue in a vicious manner, even if her natural born instinct was to stay silent and lie like a snake poised to strike. 

His lips curled in amusement, stretching his face into an unsightly amalgamation of emotions. “Didn’t realize I’d kicked you so hard you became as dumb as you look. What kind of shinobi has pink hair? Don’t tell me you’re this cocky from being the Copy-Nin’s student. What’s he even taught you? How to slaughter your comrades and leave them for dead?”

If she had time to really hone in on those words, she might have questions about the history between her sensei and the shinobi that had taken her. Instead, she had to get him as close to her guard as possible. One arm behind her, the other in front of her, but her leg restraints were now loose enough that she should be able to pull him close enough to kick him off balance. 

“You have red hair, you’re one to talk and stupid is what you are. What’s the plan when my sensei comes and kicks your ass? You were too scared to even fight him and now your teammate is dead because of you,” she smirked, “Don’t tell me you’re hiding behind a corpse now, are you? Fitting.”

Haku was fully awake at this point, hissing at her to stay quiet and behave . She silently apologized to the boy, not having run her plan past him and hoped he had half the mind to improvise. She allowed her eyes to catch his dark ones just for a moment before refocusing on her target. 

Those seemed to be the right and the wrong words to say as his minions had ceased passing out rations and instead were snickering at her words. 

“Ashino, don’t tell me this girl is getting under your skin that much,” one mocked. “She’s gotta be eighty pounds soaking wet. What’s the issue?” 

“Ashino- sama ,” the man harangued, “Ashino- sama. How many times do I have to remind you idiots to treat me with respect!”

Sakura laughed, the sound soft and enticing, drawing his attention once more. “I’ve seen a dog from the Inuzuka compound garner more respect.” Her grin widened, this time channeling her brother, as he rapidly moved forward and unlocked her cell. A small part of her seized in terror but was quickly tampered down. 

“I was going to wait for Isao to rise from his beauty sleep, but it seems you need a bit of roughening up,” he glowered, “Maybe Gato will be understanding if I break an arm or a leg to teach you a lesson. You don’t need all your fingers or toes to fight. What’s a pinky or two in order to get you to shut up .”

Sakura remembered his words about selling her. The kekkei genkai theft, the children young enough to be raised as assassins without village allegiance, to be sold like cattle to the highest bidder. Whatever Gato was doing, whatever half-brained scheme involved hiring someone like this , would no doubt cause issues amongst the other hidden villages, not just Mist or Kiri. An Uzumaki like Ashino was still an Uzu born shinobi, even if the village no longer existed. Gato had clearly hired his group with a protective goal in mind. 

However, Ashino was clearly sensitive enough to let her words get to him, and Sakura would be quick to take advantage of it. 

She waited for him to come closer, her back flush against the adjoining bars that she shared with Haku. He took one large jaunt forward, hand outstretched to grab her by her hair before she tensed and lashed out, loosened leg restraints catching around his pant leg and knocking him forward. 

Haku was quick to react as the man toppled over, head clanging against the bars as he grabbed his red hair as tightly as he could, yanking him repeatedly into the metal. Sakura rolled on the ground, cutting the leg restraints on the unsheathed katana hanging by his hip. 

“Shit,” the one that had mocked him cursed, dropping the supplies in his hand to reach for the wakizashi strapped to his back, “Alert Isao! Ashino fucked up. Stay in your cage or you’ll get it!” 

Sakura quickly darted out of the cell, shoving the one that made a run for it into a nearby cell, another mental apology aimed at the child contained in it who had immediately started crying. Her heart broke at the sound of the defeated whimpers, the noise furthering her resolve to make her captures pay. 

Her arms were still restrained, but Sakura’s kata’s were well suited in adjusting to the handicap and her mornings with Gai-sensei and Lee had only strengthened her muscles. She kicked out at the remaining man, her bare foot catching him in his kneecap and crunching it with the force. 

He quickly crumbled under the pain, clutching at his joint as he called for help while limply attempting to slice her open with his sword. She wasn’t quick enough to silence him as she stomped on his temple with the heel of the same foot, wincing at the bone collapsed under her kick. 

That same icy presence from before, the same one that had attacked her team in the mist appeared just as suddenly, but this time no paralysis tag was used to subdue her. Instead she found herself suddenly being dangled by her throat a foot in the air. She quickly held her breath and kicked at his exposed abdomen, his chest only covered by a thin layer of shinobi mesh along with a layer of bandages. 

Unlike his partner, his reflexes were fast and he’d grabbed her foot with his other hand, bending it at the reverse angle and threatening to snap it under the pressure. 

“Ashino,” he hissed, “You can’t be trusted to take care of one measly hostage? Must I do everything around here?” 

Ashino was quick to recover from the grip Haku had on his hair, his eyes unfocused from the force at which his head had met the metal bars. Sakura wished she had the foresight to snap his neck with her legs while she had the chance. 

“Who…the fuck… are you?” She gasped out, using her other free leg to kick at him in the same manner. The man was quick to abandon her throat and instead yanked her upside down, her head snapping against the concrete floor. He dropped her legs and left her flat on the floor, harshly kicking her in the stomach while commanding her to remain quiet.  

Black spots clouded her vision and she attempted to off the floor, wincing as she was quickly kicked back down. She could taste blood on the back of her tongue where her molars had accidentally bit into the muscle. This man was more vicious, more concentrated than his older counterpart. His eyes were that same terrifying electric blue, his white hair cropped close to his scalp. His clothes were Kiri, but worn down, obviously the life of a missing-nin had not been kind to his bank account. 

“Isao, you don’t understand sh-,” Ashino was quickly interrupted with a well placed kunai at his feet. The blade sliced through the skin at the edge of his pinky toe, a red bead welling up against the pale skin. He flinched but didn’t back down under Isao’s glare. 

“Shut. It. Hidari is dead, Gato is growing increasingly on my nerves, and we’re nowhere near closer to our goal. The last thing I need is you causing an issue this early in the morning. You had one job and it seems that was too much to ask of you.”

“But we have the girl,” Ashino hastily reminded him, “The student of Kakashi Hatake. What more could you want right now? Forget the bridge builder, we should hit Konoha where it hurts.” 

Their dynamic was clear to Sakura. Partners they were not; instead Ashino was quick to grovel under Isao’s leadership. No wonder he’d been so pressed for the hired men to call him such a prestigious title. One of the last remaining Uzumaki and she’d never seen a more pathetic sight. She said it as much, keeping her comparisons to the likes of Mito and Kushina to herself. Another kick made its home in her stomach and she curled inward from the pain. 

Her legs were quickly restrained by Ashino, but Isao was the one who picked her up by the hair in order to drag her out of the treasure room and into the main entryway of the compound. Sakura made eyes with Haku once more as she struggled against his hold, pointing subtly at the left behind kunai within his reach. In the fuss she’d made, Ashino hadn’t reconsidered repainting the chakra suppression seals around their wrists. Even if hers were reapplied, Haku’s were not. It was as much of an opening as she could give the Yuki and hoped he had enough of a proficiency to be able to save as many kids as he could and get out of here. 

Sakura mentally counted the men Gato had hired to harass the citizens in the Land of Waves, each more pathetic looking than the last. Nuke-nin weren’t new to this area, but it seemed he’d gone for quantity over quality. Even with her subdued reserves, her sensory abilities were able to see just how little chakra each man contained. No more than an academy student, so their weapons were their only defense. Against civilians, it was more than enough. To a ninja worth their salt, they would quickly fall no matter the rank. 

She gnawed at the inner corner of her lip, worrying the cut on the flesh as she unconsciously looked to her left and right, expecting Tobirama or Hashirama to tell her what to do next. Not for the first time that day, her heart clenched. 

Isao dragged her through the compound, small cuts quickly littered her skin from the debris and offshoots of liquor fueled nights. More and more mercenaries were rising for the day, their forms stumbling and eyeing her with intent. 

Sakura winced as the hold on her hair tightened, his jagged nails cutting into the sensitive flesh of her scalp. They stopped suddenly, her form knocking into his side. He shook her for the trouble, arching her neck to face her forward towards a short, rotund man. His glasses were small, covering just enough of his eyes that she couldn’t get a read on his emotions. 

“What’s all this noise about?” He sneered, “Dragging merchandise through the hall when she should be in a cage like the others. Explain.” 

“Forgive me, Gato-sama,” Isao placated, voice slimy and persuasive. “One of the newer placements is causing a bit of trouble and she needs to be made an example of. You need not worry, the others are taken care of and fit for the market.” 

The man rolled his eyes, tapping his cane on the ground in a dissatisfied manner. “The sooner we’re done with this bridge builder nonsense, the better. My associates in the village have reported he has returned alive.” He pointed his cane towards Ashino and then at Isao. “You are down one man, the whole reason I’m paying you is walking around the village, and now I find you damaging one of my things. We’re already in enough trouble as it is with the Mizukage breathing down my neck, I don’t need you fucking with my stock. Waraji and Zōri will be accompanying you later to the village to tie up your loose ends.” 

Sakura bit back the retort that she didn’t belong to him, instead watched the interaction play out. He looked her up and down, from the cuts decorating her feet to the way her restraints dug into her pale flesh. 

“As you wish. Trust, not even the Mizukage himself could break down my barrier, Gato,” Ashino soothed, “It’s keyed to my livelihood. As long as I’m alive, and as long as you pay us , no harm will come to your business.” 

Kill the priest and the temple falls. Sakura resisted the urge to turn towards Ashino and instead kept Gato in her direct line of sight. She wouldn’t dare ask him for help, she knew it wouldn’t come from the likes of him. 

Gato relented and limped passed them, his cane clacking against the concrete floor as he addressed the others in the building to prepare themselves once the storm abated. Sakura couldn’t focus fully on his words, the tones muffled as adrenaline coursed through her veins as she was unceremoniously dragged into a room at the far end of the hall. 

“I’ve been waiting a long time to get back at the Copy Ninja little girl. Longer than you’ve been alive,” Isao began, slamming her into the lone chair in the middle of the room. A small metal table was propped next to it, little knives and surgical tools laid out alongside it. 

Sakura had seen torture chambers before, helped prepare them in the off season of the summer months, but this one paled in comparison to the ones she’d grown up around. It was simply a makeshift room in a shipping warehouse, sterile but elementary.  

She would not break. She just had to keep him talking. Sakura eyed the seals on her wrist under the guise of closing her eyes, hoping they’d take the action as one of terror. They’d have to wear off eventually. She’d just have to hold off until then. Some of the seal work was already starting to fade.  

Her head was quickly yanked back, forcing her to look directly into his crazed blue eyes. Ashino grabbed her arms and secured them to the arm rests, his grasp leaving little bruises in their wake. She bit her tongue to hold the yelp threatened to escape and he tutted at the action. 

“Here’s the plan, kid. You’re gonna listen really closely and when you’re ready to spill your guts about your team's weaknesses, maybe we’ll let you go back into the room with all the other brats.” Isao picked up a senbon needle from the pile on the tray and lightly traced her restrained hand and down her fingernail before gently resting it at the base of her nail. 

“Just not the face, Isao,” Ashino reminded him, “Gato was clear about that.” 

“I don’t give a fuck what Gato wants,” Isao hissed, “when we get our funds, he is dead right after the bridge builder. I’ve waited long enough.” 

His other hand grabbed her cheeks and pulled her attention towards him again. He looked her dead in the eyes as the senbon pierced through her pointer finger, splitting the nail across the bed. 

Tears welled up in Sakura’s eyes involuntarily and her hand flinched from the searing pain. 

“I was amazed that your sensei even recognized me,” he admitted, picking up a second senbon to rake down her pinky nail. “It’d been so long since he ruined my life, I figured it might’ve been an everyday occurrence for him with how callous he was that day. How easily he’d cut down his own teammate for the sake of the mission.” 

Ashino leaned back against the wall, hand grasping the sword at his side like she might be able to do something to his partner. She tested her leg restraints, minutely wiggling against the binds as he stabbed her through the middle finger this time. 

“What’d he do? Steal your pony?” She asked, sucking at her teeth through the pain. 

“Killed my entire team. Him and that other shinobi of his. Half fell to his lightning blade and the others were ripped apart and slaughtered without mercy,” the man croaked, slapping her across the face for her cheek. “A dozen men, gone in an instant.” 

Sakura glared at him, wondering why he of all people expected mercy. 

“It was during the war,” Ashino supplied, “when Hatake made an enemy of us all.” 

Us being Kiri? The grouping of nuke-nin? She still couldn’t find it within herself to care for their cause. 

“If your comrades were slaughtered, how are you still alive?” She asked. 

A third senbon went through her thumbnail, this time she barely flinched at the now familiar pain. 

“Don’t interrupt me,” Isao warned. 

“Fuck. You,” she spat. 

He let go of her cheek to backhand her across the face, teeth rattling in its wake. Sakura glared up at him, spitting out the blood and saliva that had pooled in her mouth, the liquid painting his cheek. 

“I’ll interrupt you all I want. Clearly you just like hearing the sound of your own voice because this doesn’t concern me. All I’m hearing is the story of a coward who is taking his frustrations out on a genin ,” she continued. If Hashirama were here, he’d tell her to quiet down, to cease her mocking words to save herself. 

If Hidan were here, he’d encourage her to keep going. An interrogator fueled by emotions wouldn’t make smart decisions. It was that line of thinking that kept her focused from the pain shooting up her hand. 

A fourth and then a fifth senbon pierced through her fingers, blood staining the chair and dripping onto the floor beneath her restrained arm. 

“Is it not the nature of shinobi to pay for the sins of our predecessors? It’s why I left Kirigakure in the first place. War, pain, anguish. Mission after mission after mission. Stab this country in the back. Collect intel from that client so that this higher paying client can have an advantage. Over and over and over again I watched my friends and family sent out on pointless missions and lose their lives because of it,” he took handfuls of senbon and stabbed them individually up and down her thighs at every pointed phrase. 

Sakura gnawed on the inside of her cheek, breathing through her nose and focusing on the wall behind him. 

“I was a teen in the war, young and naive and promoted well past my expertise. Still hopeful that our Mizukage would lead us to victory. Konoha was advancing on our border after defeating Iwa with their hairbrained plan at Kannabi bridge and we knew we had to do something,” Isao continued. 

“Isao,” Ashino warned, “you’re slipping.” 

A handful of senbon embedded itself behind him, Isao cursing in its wake. “I will do as I please you half-witted Uzumaki!”  

He turned back towards her, stabbing a senbon thicker than the others into the meat of her other hand and held onto it. Sakura’s vision blistered, black dots dancing across the room as she eyed the needle in his grasp. 

“My team and I were assigned a simple mission, to ensure the bijuu bomb would make it over the Hi no Kuni border and towards Konoha to win us the war. But then your previous sensei intervened and I was the only survivor. I was punished for the failure when I returned home.” He tightened his grip on the long needle embedded in her hand, jostling it roughly, “So when I left my village, I made sure that one day Kakashi Hatake would pay for the pain he caused me.” 

In his other hand, he made a one handed ram sign and Sakura sensed the budding electrical current coursing through his veins. She tensed, knowing what was coming next. 

“Gato may think you’re going to earn him a pretty ryo with your pink hair and green eyes, but let me tell you a secret little kunoichi. First, I’m going to break you. Then I’m going to parade your broken body in front of your sensei. Finally, I’m going to rip your heart out through your chest and make him feel every bit of pain that I did that day, when he and that wraith killed my comrades and ruined my life.” 

Sakura seized as lightning chakra coursed through the different senbon embedded in her skin, the longer senbon acting as the perfect lightning rod to electrocute her system under his control. 

This time she let out a scream, unable to keep it contained as she fought against the restraints to escape his technique. Her back arched as far off the chair as it could before bending back, attempting to flee the electrical current. 

“Do you feel it, little girl? The pain? The suffering? All because of your sensei ,” he taunted, releasing the hand sign to allow her to catch her breath.  

Sakura shivered as her muscles twitched involuntarily, lightning still jolting itself in her system despite the release. She could taste the ozone and metal on the back of her tongue and hoped she hadn’t cracked any teeth from the clenching in her jaw. 

She breathed harshly through her nose, forcing her subdued control to gather the remnants of chakra in her system and forced it towards the seals on her wrist, letting it gather against the ink. 

“I-if y-you c-c-couldn’t t-take hi-im t-then, w-what m-makes-s-s y-you th-i-ink y-you’d w-win n-n-now,” she stuttered out, tongue heavy in her mouth as her nervous system threatened to shut down. It was hard to focus on the man in front of her, the barely healed concussion from the day prior definitely wasn’t helping. 

He rolled his eyes at her cheek and grabbed onto the needle again, chakra igniting her insides once more. 

Her eyes rolled in the back of her skull, somehow able to stay conscious as her veins lit up in agony. She focused on what distractions her mind could conjure up. The smell of her and her brother's apartment. The proud look on his face when she’d tell him how well she stood up against the man’s half brained technique. The relief Kakashi-sensei would feel when he found her alive and well. Reuniting with her team after she killed these bastards. Tobirama and Hashirama’s encouraging faces in the face of adversity. 

A knock on the door interrupted Isao and he groaned, upset at being forced to stop playing with his new toy. Sakura twitched in her seat, blood trickling out of her mouth where she’d bitten through the meat of her cheek. Bile burned her throat but didn’t escape as she forced it back down.  

“What do you want?” Isao gruffed out, opening the door with a furious expression. “We’re busy.” 

Through hazy eyes, Sakura could see the worn expression of the mercenary eyeing her tortured form with something akin to pity. 

“It’s the Yuki, sir. There’s an issue in the treasure room. We need your assistance,” the mercenary pleaded, the clinking of his sword colliding with the door. “Quickly.” 

Sakura could’ve cried in relief, proud of herself for staying conscious under his raiton. Isao eyed her immobilized state, not questioning the man’s request but not complying immediately either. 

Ashino rolled his eyes and gently nudged Isao forward. “Go, it’s my turn with the girl before you fry her brain. You never know your limits.” 

Isao shoved back before slamming the door behind him and leaving Sakura alone with the man. She stayed silent, eyes unfocused as she slumped forward in relief. The lightning chakra she’d managed to scrounge from the remnants in her system burned at her wrist as she forced the foreign energy to comply to her whims and burn through the seals drawn on her flesh. Haku’s had clearly worn off, or he was proficient enough with his taijustu that all he’d needed along with the window of opportunity. 

Ashino slowly stalked towards Sakura, sucking his teeth in mock sympathy. “You know my head still hurts from your little stunt this morning?” 

Even with her fingers still pierced from the senbon, her fingers could still form handsigns if needed. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the fūins seals burn away. 

She mentally begged him to get closer, watching with shaking eyes as his sandaled feet inched closer and closer. She stayed silent, chest heaving and lungs still burning from Isao’s frustration. First she’d kill Ashino, then she’d go for Isao. Kill the priest and the temple falls. 

“No apology? Don’t tell me you’re silent after all that? Is your will that easily broken? The fabled Will of Fire snuffed out this young,” Ashino cooed, the sound sour like expired milk. 

She couldn’t hear any commotion in the halls, so she hoped Haku had done his part well enough that Isao wouldn’t interrupt her while she lashed out. He was only a few inches from her now. Sakura tested the restraints, the metal digging into her flesh but loose enough for what she needed. She subtly curled her thumb under her fingers in a fist mindful of the senbon jutting out of the nail bed. They were obviously designed to hold someone much beefier than her, so even the tightest loop gave her slack. 

Ashino didn’t spot the movement, his eyes raking over her defeated form with a malicious smile on his face. 

Sakura waited for him to grab her hair with one hand, the other holding a kunai eye above her head as his jeers grew in depravity. Mocking her livelihood, her family, her team, her sensei. She sneered, looking him in the eyes with disdain as she dislocated her own thumb to slide through the restraints and grab a weapon from the tray next to her stupidly placed within her reach, knife embedding itself in Ashino’s throat. 

He immediately released his hold on her hair, kunai clattering into her lap as he held onto his bleeding wound with both hands. He gasped around the blood pooling in his mouth, choking him with no reprieve. 

The remainders of her chakra suppressors burned away, blissful energy once against coursing through her veins. She released herself from the remaining restraints and immediately slammed her hands on the ground, crying out in pain from the movement of the senbon but still focused her chakra quickly enough for her jutsu. “ Doton: Sando no Jutsu!” 

Two balls of concrete wrapped themselves around Ashino and Sakura lurched sideways to vomit up bile as her world tilted sideways. He screamed from the pressure, limbs snapping like twigs between the earth. 

She carefully peeled the senbon sticking out from her body, mindful not to yank the weapons too harshly as medical chakra flooded the wound in the aftermath. 

“I am going to kill you,” Ashino vowed, struggling against the technique. 

“Wrong,” she corrected, letting each senbon clatter to the ground as she shook off the pain. “ I’m going to bash your skull in, decorate the walls with your blood, escape this kami forsaken compound, and then kill your friend. All because you underestimated me, twice. ” 

Ashino stilled, finally realizing the danger he was in. 

With the last of the senbon out of her body, she picked up one of the cleavers that both men had neglected to use. It was heavy in her hand, but well balanced and sharpened. Not that it would matter in the long run. 

She lifted it high above her head, embedding it in the thick meat of his skull that was sticking out of her earth technique. It sliced through him like warm butter, a bit of chakra behind the blow. For good measure she embedded it in his flesh again, over and over just like friend had done to the meat of her thighs. 

Immediately she felt the wards crumble as the life faded from his body. His soul briefly flickered into existence before limply dissipating into the Pure Lands. She wiped the blade on his shoulder, flicking the remnants on the wall behind him. 

Mercenaries ran past her room, shouting in alarm as chaos reigned below. No matter how much she wanted to just leave and return to her team, she couldn’t just leave the kids behind. She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, willing the ringing in her ears to go away so she could focus on her next steps. There was nothing left in her system to throw up, but her stomach still flipped within itself. 

She lifted her tank from where it was half tucked into her pants, wiping her face free of sweat and blood with the edge of the fabric before tucking it back into her bottoms. She still had no shoes to protect her feet, so she wrapped stolen bandages from Ashino around the soles of her feet. 

“So long asshole,” she spat, knocking over his corpse with a swift kick. 

“Brutal,” a voice behind her observed. 

Sakura whirled around, cleaver poised to attack, expecting a mercenary but instead looked into the serious eyes of Sakumo. It wasn’t the ghost she wanted, but she was somewhat grateful Tobirama or Hashirama wasn’t there to see her covered in blood and brain matter. Against her own volition, tears welled up in her eyes. 

“I’m happy to see you,” she croaked, “I’ve had a really bad day.” 

“You and many others,” he replied, stepping delicately around Ashino’s corpse. “Kakashi and your team are listless and preparing themselves for war. Both the Senju and Uchiha have run themselves ragged trying to pierce this barrier, going as far as to search for Uzu ghosts along the shore.” 

“As long as he was alive,” She pointed at Ashino’s cooling corpse, “no spirit could enter or exit the barrier. It was a temple seal, which is why it was able to keep you all out of the compound. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Sakura rubbed at the pooling tears threatening to escape, willing them back into her ducts. 

“Your mission isn’t over,” Sakumo reminded her, hand reaching over to rest gently on her head, oddly reminiscent of Kakashi-sensei. “You have a choice to make. Either flee the compound and regroup with your team so that the jōnin may handle it, which I believe is what the Senju would recommend.” 

“And my other option?” She asked, already knowing the answer by the look in his eyes alongside the stories of The White Fang. 

“The bridge builder may have been escorted safely to his home, but that home is not safe. As long as Gato is alive, the village will always be in danger.”

Sakura thought of the children, scared and far from their homes, all at the hands of the business man that hadn’t even flinched under the weight of her impending torture. There were a dozen children in the treasure room, who knows how many others had fallen to his whims in exchange for a quick buck. Haku might’ve been able to cause a distraction, but she wouldn’t leave him to deal with the rest of the objective alone. 

“Will you watch my back?” She asked, picking up the abandoned wakizashi at Ashino’s hips. 

“Always.” 

Chapter Text

Sakura

At that moment, all Sakura knew was chaos and pain. Her body still ached from Isao’s frustration and she focused on conserving her chakra for the battle rather than healing her pains. Whatever preparation Gato and his men had been establishing for was nothing compared to a furious Yuki who had been held captive. The temperature in the compound had dropped several degrees, so much so that Sakura could see the brief twinges of her breath if she focused hard enough. Her feet ached around her makeshift wrappings, ice seeping through the fabric as she skid across the hallway. 

It was a massacre, one that she wouldn’t be proud of looking back on it. The wail of children in the treasure room was enough for her to sustain her wrath, especially with Sakumo barking orders behind her. 

Hatake Sakumo, the White Fang of Konoha, was a gentle war dog, but a war dog nonetheless. Stories of his prowess in battle extended to even her generation and despite not being able to fight himself, the twitches of anticipation in a fight was more than enough for her to go off of and improve in battle. After they were off this forsaken island, she’d sit down to actually get to know the ghost. Just as she had done with Tobirama and Hashirama years prior. 

They’d yet to appear once the barrier had fallen, but she knew it was only a matter of time before they were reunited. She hoped they were keeping an eye on her team, whose signatures were far outside the bounds of her normal sensing range. Haku spoke of his own team preparing themselves for the mission that had put him in harm's way, so she wondered which village would get to the compound first. 

Another slice of the borrowed blade severed the head of a mercenary clean off, his body collapsing like a puppet without its strings. She flinched only momentarily before looking towards his partner, who’d attempted to flee after the man had fallen. Sakura sneered and shunshined in front of him, the momentum causing the man to impale himself without reprieve. 

“Sakura!” Haku called, his voice melodic but frantic. A wash of ice covered her exposed flank, freezing more attackers in their tracks. “The children, we have to get them out of the compound. I’ve managed to give us a window, let’s go.” 

He knelt around a dozen children, each more scared than the last but eyes bright with underlying hope. Now that she could see them clearly, her fury struck hotter even more. Most were in sleeping clothes, having been stolen from their families in the dead of night. Some held faded bloodstains, with most being barefoot and exposed to the damaged ground below. 

Sakura slammed her hands on the ground, calling up a fierce protective wall a meter taller than she was. “ Doton: Doryūheki!” She took cover behind the earth wall, chakra singing at finally being able to defend herself against her captors. The men in the compound were not ninjas, a mistake on Gato’s part. 

She skidded on her knees towards the group, pulling a pink eyed child close to her when a blade flew around her barrier. He whimpered with terror, burrowing his face in her sweaty neck. She placed a comforting hand on his sandy tresses, shushing him as she pulled Haku’s attention away from the fight. 

“Take the kids and go to your team, or mine. I will cover you so you can escape,” Sakura commanded, “The bridge builder's house is on the edge of town, through the market near the village square. There should be two anbu and a jōnin that can help, if they haven’t made contact with your team already.” 

“You can take the children, Sakura. You’ve done enough, let me finish the battle for you,” Haku protested lightly. His eyes flickered behind Sakura before raising his hand to encapsulate another sellsword in a coffin of ice. Sakura could see the strain on his face, no doubt feeling the weight of incarceration more than she was. She still had her chakra and residuals from actual sustenance; he’d been in this compound surviving on minimal rations and water.  

“To hire this many men for an island of civilians,” Sakumo commented with a frown as he kept a careful watch on the edge of the barrier, “Where is the man of the hour? Decide quickly, your window is closing and we don’t want a child to fall while you argue.” 

Sakura couldn’t sense Gato or Isao in the compound, which worried her. The man was terrifying in battle and able to sneak up on even her sensei. If he was lying in wait for them to be separated, she trusted Haku to protect the children more with his bloodline than her without her arsenal of weaponry. He may be weakened, but the ice was the perfect defense. She wished she had Hashirama to lean on, and wished the Mokuton sprouted as strong as Haku’s ice. 

“Your ice will protect the children more, but I don’t think we both can make a run for it,” Sakura countered, “There’s over a dozen men left in this compound, but I don’t want to expose the children to more bloodshed than needed. I can clean up.”

Haku opened his mouth to argue but closed it at the look in Sakura’s eyes. 

“I will be right behind you,” Sakura promised, the lie a bit sour on her tongue, “it’s not about how you feel, it’s about making sure the children are safe. I appreciate you for trusting a stranger this far, but please trust me a bit longer and listen to me.” She looked behind Haku at the crumbling wall of the treasure room, easy enough to break with the right amount of force from his kekkei genkai. 

“You Leaf shinobi are a self-sacrificing lot,” Haku frowned, but relented. “Try not to get yourself killed.” He didn’t offer empty promises of sending backup, but she trusted him to direct it her way regardless. 

She nodded and steeled her features, refusing to let an ounce of fear escape. Sakura let the small child in her arms go, pushing him towards Haku’s awaiting ones. He was the youngest of the lot, and would definitely need to be carried. Haku eyed the same spot on the wall as she did and a whip of ice struck it clean. A hole big enough for them to escape through, but not enough to make the building collapse, opened up for the group. Sakura could see the forest through the opening, with plenty of coverage for the group to escape. 

Some of the older children were able to help Haku with the size of the group, their arms straining with exertion as they held the youngest ones in their grasp. Sakura ushered them out quickly and readjusted the weight of the wakizashi to prepare herself. It was a shorter reach than she preferred but it would be fine for offensive attacks, especially since it seemed unlikely that any of these men would have a naginata or bō for her to commandeer. 

Sakura focused on Haku’s icey signature as they hurried through the forest, begging for whatever grounds they made to be enough to find help. She had no doubt that the fallen barrier would bring salvation, so she just had to make enough time for it to arrive. 

“My chakra is at a little over half,” she reported to Sakumo who jutted his chin towards the door, “I should be fine to finish this fight. If Gato isn’t here for me to take down, I can cripple his forces from the inside.” Even if she figured the men left behind weren’t necessarily the creme of the crop. They weren’t shinobi and were low level bandits at best, since Gato had gone for quantities sake in his preparations. 

Sakura let her doton wall crumble, coming face to face with a battering ram that she quickly ducked to dodge. She would thank Tobirama till the end of time for his evasion practice since she was forced to run on instinct and the callouts of a ghost amidst the battle. 

“Where are the children?” A mercenary asked, jamming his sword haphazardily towards Sakura who rolled out of the way. “Gato’s going to be pissed!”

“Who cares what Gato thinks? That fucker abandoned us to clean up his mess,” another argued, but continued to attack Sakura into a corner. “We’ll get the kids later, they couldn’t have gone far.” 

Like a spider, she scrambled up the wall and over the group, jumping from the rafters onto a burly looking man in the middle of the group. He was quick to fall to her blade, the metal slicing cleanly into the top of his skull with the weight of her gravity. She pulled it out with a grimace, rotating it behind her to cut through another man. 

It was like training, only ten times worse. The members of Team Seven sparred with barely concealed bloodlust, but in the face of a real battle with her life on the line, it was nothing like she’d experienced. Kakashi held his punches and Shisui would never strike them in a manner that would grievously harm them. Her brother was the only one that took her seriously aside from her teammates but even then, the wild look in his eyes didn’t match the loathing of the ones in front of her. 

Eventually, they fell to her blade. They might’ve been strong enough to intimidate the townsfolk, but they were nothing to her rage and practice. Her katas were well oiled and even when the blade was knocked out of her hand, her fists were still enough to fight with. 

It was not without sacrifice as the longer the fight wore on, the more sluggish she moved. Her limbs were heavy, her clothes soaked with sweat and blood, and her chakra dragged through her system like syrup. 

“Sakura!” 

She could’ve cried in relief at the thundering arrival of Hashirama and Tobirama, their forms a welcome sight after being without them for so long. Her eyes raked over their familiar garb, not a hair out of place. She knew she looked a sorry sight, her hair askew and stained with a torn shirt and ripped pants. This was the filthiest she’d ever been on a mission and she was only a genin. She only hoped that her fate with hygiene was kinder in the future. 

The men around her wouldn’t live to see another day, so she let the smile cross her face and her greeting slip past her lips. “I am so happy to see you two.” She ignored the look of confusion on the man closest to her and she moved to attack alongside the distraction. 

“I am never letting you go anywhere without me again,” Hashirama cried, his form sliding through Sakura’s in a poor attempt at a hug. She shivered at the familiar coldness, this time without complaint. “Tobirama and Madara had reported back how you’d been separated and I feared for the worst.”

“I’m fine. The Uzumaki is dead. I hope Mito will forgive me, and Kushina-obaa-chan,” Sakura reassured him, wincing as a knife sliced through her shoulder. She quickly grabbed it and threw it back at the man who attacked her, the force of which embedded it deep in his skull. She leaned against a column, looking at the chaos and devastation around her. She would’ve preferred to have seen them in a different state, especially due to the pinched look around Hashirama’s eyes. “Maybe I can offer the seals as penance. Thank you for worrying about me. I’m okay.” 

“You won’t be once I’m done with you,” Isao gritted out, his black katana tense in his hand. He looked worse for wear, the edges of his clothes torn from whatever battle he’d been dealing with. Gato was nowhere to be found, but since he’d taken a handful of men with him, she figured he must’ve headed towards the mainland. “I should’ve killed you when I had the chance, you brat.”

“Yet you didn’t. That was your mistake,” she taunted. 

Sakura had no more weapons at her disposal, but her eyes flickered towards an abandoned katana a few meters away. She quickly ducked for it, but was kicked away from the blade due to Isao’s surprising speed. The way he was able to just appear , like a rolling mist of impending doom. His chakra was silent but she could sense the thrum of power in his veins, just like his movements. The man that she’d experienced before was nothing like the man in front of her now. 

He was vicious, cruel, and clearly over her antics. She hadn’t realized the monologuing beforehand was his form of mercy, now she was faced with the cruelty of an oceanborn shinobi with nothing to lose. The blade of his katana was sharper than anything she’d gone against and the marks on her skin bled with a vengeance. She put her arms up to cover her face and cried out as the katana cut into the meat of her forearms. 

“Gato is threatening to pull my payment if that bridge builder isn’t dead by sundown, threatened to cut it into a third because my ‘associates’ seemed to be unable to measure up to you and your little team. I’m going to cut you down and then kill that fucking sensei of yours while covered in your blood,” Isao vowed. 

“Big talk from someone who-” she was immediately cut off. The black katana embedded itself in her arm seized with lightning from his hand and down the blade. She dug her free hand into the wall behind her, forcing whatever strength she had to not collapse under his technique. She tried to yank it free, but her limbs refused to cooperate. 

“The blade, it conducts electricity,” Sakumo cursed, “focus your chakra, shunshin away from him. Don’t get distracted.” 

It was easier said than done. Sakura's eyes rolled in the back of head in pain, the technique refusing to relent as Isao cackled in glee. Her body was waning, exhausted from fighting a battle with no reprieve. She couldn’t focus hard enough to sap some of the lightning chakra like she did before. Senbon pierced through her fingertips were nothing compared to the blistering chakra that ripped through her muscles. She thought of Haku and hoped he’d somehow avoided Isao’s quest for blood and was able to direct some sort of help her way. She wasn’t going to go down without a fight, but she wished someone was able to tap her out and get him away from her. 

He pulled the blade from her arm, all power and no technique, only to embed it in her stomach just as viciously. 

One hand grabbed onto the blade, the edge slicing into the palm of her hand causing it to stain red with blood. Try as she did, she couldn’t get it to budge from where it was lodged in her stomach. Isao pulled it out, yanking her forward and onto the battered floor. She rolled away, crying out in pain as she scrambled towards any sort of blade to defend herself with. Blood splattered across the floor, soaking the concrete with a river of anguish. 

Isao stabbed a katana in her thigh, not his black blade, but one a man had used to attack her with before she’d killed him moments prior. The weapon kept her in place, the chakra behind his blow forcing it to bury itself deep in the ground. 

She looked up at him, threw watery eyes and coughed out a wash of blood, her hands enclosed around her stomach in an attempt to keep the wound from bleeding out. 

“I’m going to kill your team and your bastard sensei. I’m going to kill that fucking bridge builder. I’m going to get my money from Gato and then when this is all done, I’m going to light your corpse on fire and use it to keep warm after this awful town burns to the ground,” Isao spat, saliva splashing on the concrete next to her. “A slow death is exactly what you deserve, ruining everything with your ‘Will of Fire.’ You’re more trouble than you’re worth.”

Sakura sneered up at him, a pitiful sight as blood seeped around her from his attacks. The salt of her sweat stung as it seeped into her wounds, her mind blanking as she watched him step onto her hands and crush the gash from where she was pressing on it. 

“Sakura, just hold on,” Tobirama said, his voice pained in a tone she’d never heard before. She looked over at the Senju brothers, neither able to turn away from her state. She offered them a watery smile as Isao finally let her be, his presence disappearing as painfully as it had arrived, leaving her amongst the bodies of his comrades. 

“I’m fine. I’m fine,” she repeated like a mantra, willing her chakra to flicker into her hands on top of her stomach. It took several tries, reminding her of when she first tried this technique under Rin’s watchful gaze. She wondered where the ghost was and how she was faring facing someone from her past. It all made sense now, in this moment of near religious clarity. She tried to pull the katana up from the concrete and out of her thigh, but Isao was stronger than she was and it refused to budge. “I’m fine. I’m going to be fine.” 

Hashirama knelt at her head, his hands on her forehead to push her hair out of her face in a consoling manner. Not a single strand moved, but it was welcoming all the same. Time and time again he seemed to forget he couldn’t do much for her physically.  “You’re going to be okay. Your teammates have dispersed and they will find you.” 

“I’m okay,” Sakura repeated again, holding onto the words as she looked away from his warm brown eyes and down at her stomach. Her chest gasped with precious breaths as she focused on his gaze. “I’m okay. You guys came for me.” 

Green chakra finally flickered in her shaking hands, the Mystical Palm technique a boon as she pressed on the stab wound in her abdomen. She ran through the textbooks she’d been encouraged to read, running through the procedures in her head as she encouraged the cells to multiply and grow under her energy. She hated and loved Kakashi-sensei in this moment, especially since he would no doubt be preparing the biggest ‘I told you so.’ 

She hated being wrong. 

She hated iryojutsu most moments, but not this one. She’d gotten what she wanted, to fight in a battle on the front lines. She hadn’t been left behind to pick up the pieces while others risked their lives. 

She watched as some ghosts materialized from the bodies she’d left behind, their forms wispy and broken. Some looked at their bodies with a forlorn look on their face, others looked at her with disbelief as she sneered at them. Sakura had little sympathy from those that bent to Gato’s coin. 

“My body,” one whimpered, trying mournfully to stuff his spirit back into the shell. “I wasn’t supposed to die here.” 

“You had the chance to run, you made the wrong decision,” Sakura hissed out, “Now leave this place.” 

“Sakura,” Tobirama chastised, only lightly.  

“You did well,” Sakumo praised, much calmer than the Senju, “one of the finest shinobi in your generation. The children are safe because of you.” He sat crossed legged at her feet, arms folded in his lap as if he was afraid to touch her. His mouth was pulled into a frown and she briefly wondered if it was what Kakashi-sensei would look like when he came across her in the compound in this state. 

Sakura shuddered and nodded at his words, thanking him for the praise and blinking the tears from her eyes. She’d done a lot of good today, more so than she expected when she set out on the mission. She looked over at the silent Tobirama who had moved to kneel opposite of his brother at her head. She would be fine, the brothers would see to it. 

❀❀❀

Kakashi

Kakashi had been a part of many battlefields in his lifetime, each more gruesome than the last. This was the first time that he felt he might collapse under the weight of what was expected of him, however. He kept having to reassure himself that his kids were safe, under the watchful eye of Itachi who would rather die than have anything happen to his brother or Minato’s son. 

They had a plan and the plan had gone to shit as the town had been overrun by bandits calling for the bridge builder's name. They’d been forced into a hostage situation, something that could’ve easily been handled with the speed and prowess of assasination techniques had Gato arrived with a man covered in Sakura’s blood. 

His fingers twitched into the familiar hand signs of his chidori, itching to unleash his prized technique through the chest of the man that had claimed vengeance against him for something he’d been a part of a decade ago. How long would he be paying penance for Rin’s death, a piper of uncertainty and anguish at the hands of Kirigakure during the war that overtook his youth. 

“Hand over the bridge builder,” Gato commanded. As if his words had any weight or merit in Kakashi’s mind. “With his death, the town will be saved.” 

“Saved from whom? You seem to think you’re in the place to make demands,” Shisui retorted from across the half-built bridge, their figures distorted with the weight of a fading Kirigakure no Jutsu. “Your reign of terror on this town ends today.” 

“We should kill them and get this over with, Copy Ninja,” Zabuza said from his side, his hands twitching behind his back as he kept them firm on Kubikiribocho’s handle. “There’s no time to waste.” 

“Where is my genin?” Kakashi asked instead, keeping a tight grasp on Tazuna’s shoulder so that the man wouldn’t run away at his next words, “Give me her and I’ll give you the bridge builder.” 

Gato seemed to mull over those words, eyeing the large grouping of ronin to his right before turning to the man with electric blue eyes that hadn’t blinked once since he’d arrived to the fight. “ You’re not in any position to make demands, but very well,” he gruffed out, but continued nonetheless, “The girl, Isao. Where is the girl?”

“Dead,” he said calmly with a sneer, “I left her bleeding out in the compound as she cried for your help, Hatake Kakashi. It’s best we just kill them all and get this over with.” 

Kakashi’s blood chilled. It couldn’t be. In fact he refused to believe it. Sweet, innocent Sakura with her big green eyes and soft disposition. Her gaze that looked through Kakashi as if she was seeing beyond him. Something as pathetic as this man wouldn’t be able to take something like her from him, not again. 

Shisui stiffened next to him, a kunai sliding into his hand subconsciously. “You’re lying. That’s a kid, you monster. You leave her out of this.” 

“Monster? I’m the monster,” Isao laughed, the sound cruel and relentless. “You Konoha shinobi are the monsters. You think winning a war is without consequence? My team is dead because of you. Even if I die here today, I’ve paid back your karma tenfold Copy Ninja.” 

With his declaration, Kakashi lashed out, shoving the bridge builder behind him into Shisui’s arms. He no longer cared for the old man's life. Whatever happened to him happened to him. He should’ve turned around after the encounter in the forest. Storm be damned. He shouldn’t have let his genin talk his sensei into leaving the village before they were ready. He knew they were strong, but the world was stronger. That was proved again and again and now he was paying another heavy price for it. 

Isao was fast and ready for the blow, meeting him in the middle with his own lightning blade. Kakashi ducked beneath it, nose flaring as he caught the underlying scent of plum blossoms and pain. Isao may have been older than him, may have trained for this moment, but Kakashi was through pulling punches. 

He raised his chidori higher, catching Isao on the edge of his shoulder, just barely missing his mark. He pulled out a kunai from his pouch and threw it towards Gato but it was deflected by the ronin at his side. He’d let Zabuza deal with the other enemy then. He grabbed another and launched it at Isao who deflected it with his sword. 

“Your pathetic student begged for her life, Copy Ninja. Babbled to herself in her final moments,” Isao taunted, “Can you smell it? Can you smell her fear? Do you feel what I feel?” He sliced towards Kakashi’s neck, missing it by mere inches. “I can now avenge my fallen comrades from all those years ago.”

How long would he pay for his actions from the war? This man was nothing to Kakashi, but Kakashi was everything to him. He hadn’t seen him in over a decade, but he thought of Rin almost every day. He was just as vicious as he was the day he lost his beloved teammate and awoken his Mangekyo from the loss.

“You call this vengeance? Do you think they’d look fondly upon you for killing an innocent genin? A child,” Kakashi spat. He hoped Isao wasn’t telling the truth. For all that was on him, all the anger and hatred and killing intent, fear did not cling to his skin. Maybe she was fine, maybe she had gotten away. She could heal herself, he had made sure of it. 

Seeing that Mystical Palm flicker in her hands months ago was like seeing a poltergeist of his past, vengeful and loud . 

“The life of a Konoha shinobi is worth nothing in the eyes of Kirigakure,” Isao screamed, “ You are nothing.” 

He couldn’t focus on Zabuza or Shisui or the battle they’d engaged in behind him, but he hoped they would finish their fights so they could subdue this shinobi and end it once and for all. If Sakura was dead, he wanted him alive to hand over to Ibiki. To Hidan. 

A vulture swooped down and caught Isao in the shoulder, its talons digging into the meat before flying off through the mist that had accumulated. He could barely see its movements with his Sharingan, but he was as confused as Isao looked. 

“Backup? You think a bird is enough to save you,” Isao sneered, “Release your hounds, call in that other shinobi that killed Hidari. You die here today.”

“Big words from someone who hasn’t managed to land a hit on me,” Kakashi replied back, eye lazy but focused. He was waiting for Isao to get sloppy and it seemed he was on his way to revealing an opening for him to take advantage of. “You just are the type of person that likes the sound of his own voice to me.” 

Isao screamed, it was a nasty thing, and lunged before stopping his tracks. 

Kakashi jumped back and watched, confused as Isao convulsed in front of him. He hadn’t managed to hit him with another chidori, despite the chirping of birds preparing to gather itself in his hands. He thought back to the vulture and looked around for answers. Shisui and Zabuza were still engaged and he could briefly make out Gato’s form through the mist.  

Isao clutched his chest and looked at Kakashi with confusion and despair. “What did you do to me? Is this your Sharingan?” A glob of blood expelled itself from his mouth, running down his chin and chest. “My chest, my heart, what is happening?” 

“Getting real tired of cleaning up your messes, Hound. You were taking too long,” a voice called from across the clearing as Isao collapsed in front of him, like a puppet without its strings. His body seized before stilling, now nothing but a body without a soul. “Where’s my fucking sister?”

A red scythe swung itself through the mist and caught Gato on the edge of the blade, digging into the meat of his shoulder with a cry. Another swipe of the three bladed weapon and his head rolling at Kakashi’s feet. 

Zabuza had cleaved through the ronin hired by the man to protect him, with Shisui finishing up alongside him. They both were sweaty and bloody, but without harm. 

The mist dispersed, revealing Hidan with a sneer on his face. His hair was no longer slicked back, but wet and shaggy not unlike Kakashi’s. His jōnin vest was open at his chest, with the bare minimum of scrolls and hip holsters at his side. Blood dripped down his torso, but he walked as if there wasn’t a wound healing itself on his skin. 

“Hidan?” Shisui asked incredulously. “What are you doing here?”

“Can it, Uchiha,” he snapped, tugging his weapon by a metal cord back into his hand before pointing it at Kakashi. “You. Where is Sakura? Matter of fact, where’s the rest of the kids? Don’t tell me you lost them all. Can’t be trusted to deal with one businessman, can’t be trusted to deal with one lousy nukenin.” 

“The other kids at the bridge builder's house along with Zabuza’s genin. They’re safe with Itachi,” Shisui assured. “We boarded up there during the sto-.” 

“I said, can it! Shut the fuck up. You lost my sister,” Hidan barked back. A vulture swooped down from its perch on the edge of the bridge, its talons read with Isao’s blood. It flapped its wings as it settled on Isao’s corpse, kneading on his back like a kitten. It’s beady eyes glared into Kakashi’s soul, judging him like the omen it was. 

“We know where she is,” Kakashi said, standing straight and leveling his gaze at Hidan while re-covering his Sharingan. “There was a barrier on the edge of Gato’s compound, but it must’ve fallen by now.” 

Zabuza stayed silent, his arms crossed as he watched the three ninja stare each other down, arguing over a common goal. He observed the bridge, eyeing the way the bridge builder seemed to fold in on himself like a child despite his age. 

Hidan curled his lips at Kakashi, looking his weary form up and down. “You look like shit.”

Kakashi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation. “Is now the time?”

“It is. You lost my sister and I told you if she returned worse than she’d left, I’d have your testicles to feed to the dogs.”

“She was kidnapped,” Shisui informed him with a frown of his own, “but we are wasting time. I can take you to the compound. Itachi and I ran the edge of it, but we couldn’t get past the seals left by the other shinobi.” He looked at Gato’s cooling beheaded corpse and over at Zabuza. “What of the rest of Gato’s men?” 

Zabuza sighed and shrugged, “I’ll find my own wayward genin and regroup soon enough. This is all too melodramatic for my taste. At least I got a good fight out of it. Knowing Haku, he’s probably on his way here if Gato and his men left the compound. I can sense their presence on the far side of the island, so they must’ve split up.” 

“Are they near the kids?” Kakashi asked, feeling his own sensory range expand. 

“No, but let's not waste anymore time. Come now, Copy Ninja, I think you owe us all a drink once this is said and done,” Zabuza gruffed out, cracking his neck in irritation. “Kiri is thankful for the help, but we could’ve done without the monologues.” 

❀❀❀

Sakura

The hissing of a vulture snapped Sakura back into awareness, her eyelids heavy as she stared blankly up at Hashirama at her side. The blood loss was not her friend, making it harder and harder to concentrate. Her stomach wound was mostly healed now, but she had expended the bulk of her remaining chakra to make sure the brewing infections from the had been burned away. The wound on her thigh still wept and stung. 

“Zencho,” Sakura murmured, lifting her head weakly to whistle a familiar tune. “Through here.” 

Vultures didn’t screech like hawks or caw like crows, instead they sounded like bursting taps and strangled beasts. 

Frantic steps skidded towards her, two sets of sandals rushing through Hashirama’s pacing form. The Senju had been unable to stay still while they waited for help they weren’t sure would come. She hadn’t been able to sense much amidst the pain and bloodloss, but Tobirama and Sakumo made sure she stayed conscious. 

She looked up at the two, sighing in relief now that help had finally come. She raised a hand above her to reach out in greeting and it was quickly snatched by Shisui as he knelt by her side. 

Shisui seemed more distressed than Hidan did, who stared down at her like a parent waiting for a child to stand up after they took a fall. 

“Aniki… Hi,” she whimpered, moving to lay more comfortably but immediately wincing in pain because the blade was still lodged in her thigh. She looked up at him expectantly with a small smile. “Hurts.” 

“Sakura-chan! It’s going to be okay,” Shisui cried, lifting her head to lift her heavy neck off the floor. Her blood seeped through his fingers and he struggled with the knots in her hair. “I’m sorry we’re late, just hold on a bit longer.” 

Sakura curled her nose but let him manhandle her anyway, even if it aggravated her wounds as a result. Hidan snapped at his movements and Shisui profusely apologized for hurting her even further. Tears sprung to her eyes but she didn’t let them fall, instead she watched as her brother set his scythe to the side and kneel beside her. She could smell the sweat and blood mixed with his normal homey scent. He must’ve ran from Konoha and trekked through the remnants of the storm. 

She blinked as water landed on her cheek and looked up at Shisui, who she’d never seen so emotional. Playful yes, but never frightened. She didn’t think the man had the capabilities to feel fear. “Why are you crying?” She asked with a frown, lifting a shaking hand to his cheek. “I’m okay. I wasn’t scared.” 

“Why am I crying?” Shisui asked incredulously, “Sakura, we thought you were dead.” His hand came down to cup her cheek, as if he wasn’t quite sure she was still in front of him. 

She couldn’t see Kagami or Madara anywhere, but she figured it was only a matter of time before the spirit group was reunited. She internally groaned at what was going to unfold, but she didn’t deny that she wasn’t a sorry sight. Her hair was matted, the long tresses tangled and sticking to her skin. Her outfit was in ruin, with cuts littering her skin and blood staining the dark fabric. She looked down at her feet, wiggling her toes and frowning at the way some of her toenails had been split in the battle. No wonder Shisui had shed a few tears. 

Hidan ripped the sword from her thigh and threw it behind him, quickly replacing the blade with his hand for pressure. “Some ninja you are. If you’re going to weep, go away. You’re pissing me off.” 

Sakura cried out in pain but quickly stifled it, instead curled towards her older brother who shushed her motions. A few pills were shoved into her mouth and she reflexively chewed and swallowed with a grimace.

“I wasn’t scared, Aniki. I wasn’t,” she said, her cheek pressed against his shoulder as he hoisted her off the floor. “Not even for a second.” 

He looked down at her with a frown before sighing, “I knew you wouldn’t be.” He was here regardless, he’d come and cleaned up her mess. Zencho croaked behind him, pouncing on his shoulder to peer down at her pathetic form. 

“Got yourself into a mess, chick,” she clicked, “Big mess. Big mess.” 

“Begone you overgrown parrot,” Hidan snapped, “Go tell the Hound and that fish we’ll regroup shortly.” The vulture quickly flew off, nipping at his ear in retaliation. 

“You’re being too calm,” Shisui whispered, “We can’t move her in this state, she’ll bleed out.” 

“It’s a wonder they pulled you for anbu and not the academy with the way you coddle these brats,” Hidan replied with an eye roll. “You Uchiha may fall to a papercut, but not us.”

Sakura waited as she felt the rush of whatever Hidan shoved in her mouth work through her system, wincing at the artificial chakra coursing through her system. Without prompt, she pressed her Mystical Palm technique to her thigh, willing the wound to close underneath their watchful eye. 

“You can’t give a soldier pill to a kid, especially not one that’s been captive,” Shisui hissed before offering Sakura a sip of water from a flask.

Hidan rolled his eyes. “You gonna complain about learning iryojutsu anymore?” He asked as he let her replace his hands with her own. “You going to go off on your own again and do dumb shit too? Make me leave in the middle of a prayer session to come save your ass.” 

“No,” she said, puffing out her cheeks, “No more complaints. I had it handled.” 

Hidan scoffed with an eye roll. Shisui seemed unsure of how to handle their bond, his hand raking through Sakura’s hair. 

“You people are not normal,” he finally said, “I thought the Uchiha were bad. Can’t you show a little bit of sympathy? I thought you were going to kill Kakashi because he lost Sakura. At least act like you care!” 

“I care plenty,” Hidan snapped. “You gotta nip the self-sacrificing behavior in the bud early. I’m not going to leave the village every time Hatake fumbles as a teacher. If I hadn’t seen him masked myself, I would question if he was even anbu. When I heard he’d become Sakura’s teacher, I expected a different result.” 

Once the wound closed, he lifted her off the ground, cradling her gently to his chest despite his words. Shisui scrambled up with them, pressing his jacket close over her chest. The compound was still cold with the overgrowth of chakra infused ice, and she didn’t realize she was shivering until he’d covered her with the fabric. 

“I can’t believe you’re mad at me for getting kidnapped,” Sakura whined, looping her arms around his neck as she pressed damp eyes to his neck. “I did a good job too. A really good job.” 

Hidan adjusted his hold so her legs worked their way around his waist, holding her secure as he re-covered her back with Shisui’s jacket. He held her face close to his neck, rubbing the back of her head soothingly. “I know you did. Didn’t doubt you for a second, kiddo. Just try not to do it again, okay. You don’t have anything else to prove.” 

“Yeah, Sakura-chan. Maybe pick up a different habit of Kakashi’s,” Shisui joked with a nudge at her hip. “Just not the books, please.” 

Sakura let a few tears fall, but kept the sobs contained as she finally relaxed after being in enemy territory for so long. She focused her breathing as they left the compound behind, keeping a close hold on Hidan as they bounded through the forest and towards the main village. 

She hadn’t realized she’d nodded off until she heard the cries of her teammates waking her from her stupor and she was quickly pulled from Hidan’s arms with great reluctance. 

Blue and orange clouded her vision as she was pulled into a constricting hug by Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto wept against her chest, orange tails flickering behind him. Sasuke didn’t let the tears in his eyes fall, but his lip quivered like he might and his hands shook as he pulled her close. 

“I’m fine,” she reassured them, “I’m okay.” 

“You’re not okay!” Naruto cried, “You could’ve died, Sakura-chan. We didn’t know if you were going to come back. Itachi-nii and Shisui-nii couldn’t get to you and there was this storm and Tazuna’s stupid family needed protecting and we couldn’t find you.”

Sasuke pressed his lips to the back of her head, uncaring for the way it dripped with the blood of Gato’s men. She knew some of her blood was mixed in with it, and she was grievously reminded of how much she wanted a bath at that moment. Neither boy seemed to want to let her up, and Hidan was quick to pass her off to the two as he eyed their surroundings. 

She couldn’t find it in herself to care for the insults sent towards Tazuna’s family's way, even if she knew it wasn’t Tsunami or her child's fault Team Seven was in this mess. Tazuna however, she wouldn’t forgive, not anytime soon. 

“I’m okay,” she repeated. She pulled Naruto up from where he was buried in her chest and forced him to look into her eyes. “I’m fine.”

His face crumbled and he shoved himself closer, the weight of them both all but collapsing on Sasuke behind Sakura. 

“You know, when we reunited with Haku, I don’t think we were this weepy,” a voice behind Naruto said, his hand on his hip while he observed the pile of genin on the ground. He loudly slurped from a cup of water in his handle, playing with the straw between shark teeth. 

“Shut up, Suigestu, I saw the tears in your eyes. I know you missed me.”

“Haku! You’re okay,” Sakura breathed, “I was worried.”

“You shouldn’t be worried about me. I think you’re the woman of the hour with how you sacrificed yourself.” Haku smiled down on her before offering delicate hands to the members of Team Seven. Sakura was quick to grasp it, tugging Naruto and Sasuke up with her. 

She smiled at the boy, looking behind him at the two genin standing next to a man wrapped in bandages. Children were around them, some slumped over in exhaustion while others were huddled near Tsunami who was passing out snacks and blankets. Hidan must’ve carried her to the bridge builder's house. 

She was happy to see the group all in one peace and hoped their nights of terror were over. The house seemed lighter with the weight of oppression off of the town, the sun shining overhead while the grass sparkled. The ocean still crashed with erratic waves behind the house, the wind strong but not overwhelming. 

“Sakura,” Kakashi-sensei whispered and Sakura whirled around to face him. His arms were at his sides, but his palms faced forward, almost like he wished to gather her in his arms. Rin was next to him, as was Sakumo, who looked at her like Sakura was the ghost and not her. She would get the full story of her death once they returned to Konoha, the girl owed her that much. The gaping wound in her chest, right where her heart was supposed to be, started to make sense. 

Like most decisions with her sensei, she took the initiative and ran into his arms, breathing in the scent of ozone and musk. She wrapped her legs around his waist and tried to burrow in his hold, his arms coming around to keep her close. 

“Kakashi-sensei,” she greeted with the same held back watery voice, “I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“You’re sorry? I’m the one who is sorry. I should’ve never let you out on your own, not with a man like him so close. That was my mistake and I’m sorry you had to pay the price.” He pulled back to push her hair from her face, his lone exposed eye weary and drained. “I’m so, so sorry.” 

“I’m okay! I’m okay. I’m fine,” she repeated, hoping that if she said the words enough they would be true. She’d held up to torture, killed a score of Gato’s men, and had lived to tell the tale. She’d been separated from her team but it was okay now, she had her ghosts and she smiled at the relieved forms of Kagami and Madara behind him. She could barely sense the malicious spirits on the island and she wondered if the death of Gato had relieved them of their burdens somehow. “I missed you guys.” 

She felt Naruto and Sasuke at their sides and she reluctantly let herself go from Kakashi’s hold, suddenly reminded it was not just Team Seven in the clearing but instead members of Haku’s team who she knew their first impression of her was an embarrassing once. She was still covered in Shisui’s jacket and was surprised to see that Itachi was the next to greet her. 

She only came up to his diaphragm, but just as she had the other boys, she wrapped her arms around him in greeting. 

“Sakura, I am glad to see you are okay,” he murmured before kneeling before her to assess her wellbeing with his own eyes, Sharingan raking down her frame. “We were very worried.”

She smiled and hoped it showed in her eyes. “I’m sorry for worrying you. I’m here now.”

The rest of their trip went without fanfare thankfully, but she didn’t have time to catch up with the ghosts like she wanted. She knew there were questions on the tip of their tongues, with Madara most excited amongst the group to hear of her time in battle. Sakumo retailed what he could, but he decided to give her the honor of the full story once they were back home. 

Haku’s team was as eccentric as Sakura’s and she enjoyed the way Zabuza doted upon his team. Other Kirigakure shinobi came for backup, along with a legion of well dressed guards around a short, sandy haired man. 

One of the children she’d saved, the pink eyed one, that had been taken belonged to the Mizukage Yagura. He’d personally come to his child, having been unable to undertake the mission himself. Briefly she wondered why he’d put something so important at the hands of a genin team, but then she’d witnessed the way most curled in on themselves around Zabuza and realized just what type of sword lay on his back. Haku hadn’t been lying when he said his sensei was strong. 

Sakura blushed when the short kage personally thanked her for her contribution to keeping the children safe and offered her a favor and safe passage to Kiri should she need it in the future. She was sad to see the team go, and pulled Haku back for a goodbye before they fully disappeared on the ships. 

“I am sad we weren’t able to get to know each other more, Sakura,” Haku said with a smile, looking more like a princess than a shinobi. His form was covered in an elegant battle kimono, with a thick black choker around his neck. “Should we ever come to Konoha, I hope you’ll entertain me with a spar or two.”

Naruto scoffed behind Sakura and Sasuke did the same, neither pleased with his proximity to their teammate. “Not likely,” he muttered. Sasuke hummed in agreement. 

“My home is open to you and your team,” Sakura promised, “Thank you for trusting me in the compound, I know it hadn’t been easy but I couldn’t have done it without you.” She didn’t want to think what would’ve happened to the children had he’d not been there to shoulder the burden. 

“Thank you, Sakura,” Haku emphasized, lips pulled in a grateful smile. His eyes sparkled as he grasped Sakura’s shoulders, ignoring the cries of outrage behind them.  

Sakura furrowed her brow and looked up at him in confusion, “For what?”

“For this.” Haku pressed his cold lips to hers and his eyes flickered behind her before he shunshined away from a valley of kunai. 

Zabuza laughed as he pulled him onto the boat, pointing Kubikiribocho at Naruto and Sasuke should they try to follow. “Getting me into trouble with the birds, Haku. Keep it contained.” Suigetsu and Chōjūrō, she later learned, laughed at Team Seven as they left them behind. 

Sakura pressed her fingertips to her lips in confusion, looking up at Hashirama who had tears streaming down his face. 

“My precious Sakura-chan, you’re too young for a boy like that. Kill him next time you see him so we can be done with it. Matter of fact, let your brother do it,” Hashirama cried, biting into the palm of his hand. 

“Sakura!” Naruto pulled her close, turning her away from the fading view of Team Zabuza. “I can’t believe he took your first kiss. That was supposed to be ours!” He rubbed his whiskered cheek against hers, Sasuke coming in close behind him. 

“You what?” Hidan gritted out, pulling Sakura from their grasp. She scrambled onto his back and looked down at her teammates with confusion, “Say that again so I can better hear you, brat.”

Naruto stilled and looked towards Sasuke, who shoved him towards Hidan before jumping behind Itachi for protection. 

Sakura buried her face in Hidan’s neck and laughed, tightening her arms around his shoulders. “Let’s go home, I’m tired.” 

“Sure. Right after I kill your teammates. We can get you a new team when we get home. The Hokage can always have more kids,” Hidan vowed, pulling his scythe closer from where it was stuck in the ground. “Don’t even try to stop me, Kakashi, I’m still pissed at you.” 

Chapter Text

If Sakura thought the goodbye party was embarrassing, the welcome back to Konoha after having your mission gone to shit party was ten times worse. She didn’t know what was more preferable; always being away from the village on missions to escape the parental smothering or just never leaving again so as not to upset the adults any further. 

The return trip was infinitely quicker than the slow, drunken civilian pace set by Tazuna a week prior. Safe on the backs of the ragged jōnin, the genin of Team Seven were nothing more than cargo to be transported across country lines. 

Sakura buried her face further in Hidan’s neck, the irritation of not being left alone from any member of their group was starting to drag on. 

“Aw, man,” Naruto whined as he tugged on Shisui to be put down. “You would think we went away to war. Why’s my old man here?”

The Hokage stood by Kushina’s side, the red haired woman weeping as they dropped down a few feet from the greeting stall at the gate. She quickly gathered Naruto into a tight embrace, dragging Minato alongside her. 

Mikoto and Fugaku were right next to the two, less teary eyed and more serious but no less excited to see their family members safe and sound. 

“Is it too late to defect to Mist?” Sasuke muttered as she dropped from Itachi’s back with a light blush covering his cheeks. He was quickly pulled into a tight hug by Mikoto while Fugaku laid his hand on Sasuke’s shoulder while he greeted Itachi and Shisui. 

“I trust the return trip went as planned?” He asked gruffly.

”Yes, Father,” Itachi replied with a slight bow, “We apologize for the stress.” 

He nodded and crossed his arms, letting out a small sigh. “Welcome home, then.” 

Sakura puffed out her cheeks and looked away from the parents greeting her teammates and kicked at Hidan to be let down. Her brother relented and brushed off the lint from his shoulders. 

“Home, please,” she requested, grabbing onto his sleeve and pulling him towards their apartment. “I want to go home.” Hashirama seemed just as put out as her. 

“Not quite, Sakura-chan,” Minato interrupted with a small frown, “First we need to go to the hospital to get you all checked out. It’s standard procedure.” 

Sakura curled her nose and looked at Kakashi who gave her an encouraging one-eyed smile. “No thank you, I’m okay.” 

Kushina let go of her son to gather Sakura in her arms to greet her in the same tearful manner. “Oh, Sakura-chan! I was so worried. When Hidan reported something had happened, I feared for the worst. You three are never leaving the village ever again!” 

Sakura frowned as she was shoved into Kushina’s chest, nearly smothered despite the woman’s insistence, “I’m fine. I’m sorry for worrying you, but can we please go home.” She didn’t know how many times she’d have to repeat it, but she felt like a broken record at this point. Kakashi-sensei, her teammates, Itachi, and Shisui kept coddling her and asking her how she was doing. It was becoming too much. 

Behind the parents, Mito welcomed Hashirama home with the same worried look Kushina had on her face Sakura could see the family resemblance in the crease that formed in their noses. She watched the Founders interact with each other with familiarity and relaxed at how at ease they seemed to look compared to being outside of the village. It had been the first time she’d left the village with the brothers since being taken under their wing and it wasn’t the best experience. She hoped to make it up to them once the fanfare was over. 

Minato pulled his son over and knelt in front of Sakura to address her wellbeing. Mikoto joined in the crowding while Fugaku stood to the side, something Sakura found herself thankful for. 

“I’m sorry you were put in such a position dangerous situation before you were ready. Had I known the state the Land of Waves was in, I wouldn’t have assigned your team the mission.” He looked over at his son with a frown on his face, “Of course I will also be thinking twice about any future mission demands going forward.” 

Sakura shook her head and sighed, “I’m okay, I am not upset.” She frowned and looked at Naruto and Sasuke who quickly banded around her in support, “We had it handled…?” They nodded furiously. 

Hidan smacked her over the back of her head and then lifted her by her tank top, her haori had not survived the struggle and would have to be replaced, before slinging her over his shoulder. “Handled my ass. To the hospital with you idiots. I’m not going to hear any more complaints from you.” 

Sakura quickly scrambled upright and tried to escape Hidan’s iron-clad grip. Naruto and Sasuke let out similar squawks of capture behind her. 

He hissed in her ear underneath his breath, “The less questions asked by the fucking Hokage the better.”

Sakura looked over at Minato who had marched his son and Sasuke with the same seriousness towards the hospital and realized the situation was beyond her. The other adults were not far behind. They’d acquired a small entourage and Sakura’s embarrassment continued. Seriously, would it kill them to be less suffocating? Itachi and Shisui, with the former tapping Sasuke’s forehead as penance, disappeared now that their job was officially over. Madara and Kagami stayed, the two seemingly vibrating with anticipation. 

“It’s best to just bare it, Sakura-chan,” Hashirama said as he joined her team. “We still have much to discuss after the mission and if you put up too much of a fight it might draw unnecessary attention to yourself. Protocol already demands a psych evaluation after your first kill and you spent time behind enemy lines. If a psychologist hasn’t already been assigned to your case, I would be surprised.” 

“I could do without the extra fanfare, however,” Madara remarked beside him, watching Sasuke’s parents with the utmost interest. “It’s unbecoming. I take it that the Hokage doesn’t actually know about her abilities.”

”As he shouldn’t,” Tobirama said. “He may be a gifted leader, but we decided early on that Sakura’s secret is best kept between limited parties. Aside from Hidan and her parents, who are deceased, no one else knows.”

”Hospitals and gravesites are best avoided for that reason,” Hashirama added on, “But if visiting the hospital is mandatory for this team, which I am beginning to see the disadvantages of this placement, there might be other issues at hand.”

The walk to the hospital felt more like a death march and she avoided looking either teammate in the eyes as she focused on her breathing to prepare for the hallowed grounds. Naruto grabbed at her ankle despite this and squeezed in comfort.  

She was greeted with the same sight, the walls covered in wailing ghosts or those in the afterlife unwilling to part with their demons. Some sat patiently in the waiting room alongside living counterparts. At the sight of the Hokage, Team Seven was quickly ushered into a private observation room. She kept her head up high but quickly folded into her brother's embrace once they were seated on patient beds. 

“Well if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were never injured,” the nurse eventually told the group as she let her Mystical Palm technique fade from Sakura’s back. An Anbu stood guard at the only entrance to the room, so Minato stood next to his son to play the doting parent. The room had no windows to speak of, so the majority of the lighting was provided by the glaring fluorescents overhead.  

Kakashi hummed in response, his hand on Sakura’s head while she buried her face in Hidan’s shoulder. Not a single adult had protested her accommodation. Even if she had to be in the examination room, it didn’t mean she would make it easy for any party involved. Naruto was treating his nurse just as candidly, pushing away diagnostic tools and crying over how cold the stethoscope was. Under his parents watchful eye, Sasuke stayed as silent and stoic as possible, not wanting to emanate the same fuss as his teammates.  

“I’d hope when the rumors turned out to be true, Kakashi-san, that you’d passed a genin team that you also hadn’t passed off your aversion for hospitals,” she added on, writing in Sakura’s chart as she walked around the sibling duo to lift Sakura’s head from her brother's shoulder. “It makes it very difficult to treat the next generation in ninja and prevent further injuries. You should know better, Sakura-san. We are here to help you, not hurt you.” 

Sakura flinched as she shone a flashlight in one eye and then the next before returning to muffling out the sounds and sights of the spirits in the observation room. Team Seven had refused to be separated, so the room they were in was larger than most. She could hear Naruto whine as Kushina and the Hokage fretted over him, something she would’ve found amusing in any other circumstance. 

“She came like this,” Kakashi lightly protested, “for good reason.” He yelped as the older nurse hit him with a clipboard. “Minato-sensei did you see that?” Kakashi lightly rubbed at his now aching bicep.  

“I refuse to get in the way of Midori-sensei, you’re on your own,” Minato said with a grin, “I’m convinced she could run this village better than I could.” 

Midori grumbled before circling back around to Sakura to run a diagnostic once more. “I commend your healing prowess for being so young. Not a scratch left on you. You sure you’re not interested in furthering your career as an iryonin?” 

Sakura shook her head and refused to look the woman in the eye, “Nuh-uh. Don’t care. No more hospitals.” She rubbed her nose into the meat on Hidan’s shoulders and screwed her eyes shut. “Just wanna go.”

“Don’t be so rude, brat,” Hidan snapped before shifting so she was better situated on his lap. “Mind your fucking manners or I’m going to make her give you a bunch of shots.”  

“I’m tired and I want to go home please, Aniki. Can we be done?” Sakura whined, shivering as the diagnostic jutsu ran through her system once more. ‘Kakashi-sensei can’t we do this tomorrow?”

“Yeah! Let’s go home! I want some actual food. Maybe we can stop by Ichiraku Ramen?” He asked. Sakura could hear the rustling of his clothes as he re-dressed himself. “I’m starving.” 

”Not quite,” Kakashi said, “We still have a mission report to do like good little ninjas and then after the debrief you can go home.”

”Tomorrow you will be seeing a genin psychologist as well,” Kushina added, “We’ve already set up the appointments.”

Sakura heard tentative footsteps to her left and realized Kushina had walked up to her. Not to be rude, she looked up to see the woman who had unshed tears clinging to her eyelashes. Not for the first time, she could see where Naruto got his emotional side from. Sakura hadn’t realized the statement was mainly directed towards her. 

Hidan did interrupt at that, “No need for her appointment, I’ll be the one handling it, I’ve already filed the paperwork.” 

Kakashi seemed surprised. “Is that even allowed? You’re an interrogator.”

“Like most of T&I, I’m technically also a licensed psychologist,” Hidan grinned, “Went through the genin certification program last summer. I’ll charge extra if you need a session, Hatake. I have a laundry list of things I’d love to officially diagnose you with.” 

Kakashi shuddered and looked at Minato again for support who took the cowards way out. 

“Fine,” he relented, “Just, Sakura, please feel free to seek additional help if needed. From an actual therapist maybe.” 

”Not that I don’t think you’d be a good psychologist Hidan…but wouldn’t Sakura need someone with a more feminine touch?” Mikoto trailed off, more awkward than Sakura had ever seen the normally graceful woman. “Just in case…?”

Sakura frowned and gripped a bit harder onto her brother's jōnin flak jacket, “What for?” 

Hidan sighed and shoved her face back into his shoulder, “Worst come to worst I’ll get Mitarashi as her kunoichi sign off.”

”Anko-nee-chan?” Sakura asked, voice muffled. 

“Please don’t call her nee-chan, Sakura-chan. Sensei’s heart can’t handle it.”

Minato clapped his hands to gather their attention, suddenly looking every bit the Kage he was. Sakura looked up from Hidan’s shoulder and settled next to him. She could pretend to be a functioning human being for a bit longer. 

❀❀❀

Sakura all but collapsed on their couch once their hospital session was said and done. She rubbed away some of the dried blood caked on the inside of her nose, thankful to have hidden it from the nurses with too keen eyes that had been assigned to Team Seven. Naruto and Sasuke bid her goodbye with great reluctance, with promises to come over at the soonest possibility of escape. This of course being said away from the burning ears of their parents.  

Hidan slouched on the couch next to her before pulling her up to settle in his arms. She blinked blearily at him before bursting into tears, the stress of the mission finally catching up to her. 

Having been waiting for the shock to hit, he rocked her gently, looking around at the ghosts that he couldn’t see but was aware of. 

“Tell me what happened. What actually happened,” he requested. 

Sakura sucked in heavy breaths, trying to burrow into his skin as a reminder that she was home and she was safe. “There was an Uzumaki and he had these seals and I didn’t have Tobirama or Hashirama or my team and then there were these kids and they needed my help and…and…” She let out another sob and clawed at his back, “I was such a good ninja nii-san I swear. Even when I was being tortured I wasn’t scared at all.” 

Hidan rubbed her back and sighed before rubbing at his face with his free hand, “By Jashin’s name, you kids are so much more fucking trouble than you are worth. So fucking ridiculous,” he muttered before wiping her tears away. “I know it’d take more than a pansy torture session to take you down.”

“There, there, Sakura-chan,” Hashirama consoled, “You have nothing to be worried about. We’re back home, aren’t we? You did a great job.”

”But I didn’t even know that was an option,” Sakura wailed, “You’ve always been with me. I’ve always seen ghosts around me. I didn’t know what to do.”

”You did know what to do,” Tobirama said, “you took initiative and completed the mission. Just like we taught you. We are very proud of you, Sakura.”

Sakura wiped her leaking nose on the back of her hand, letting out a few hiccups before letting another wave of tears escape. She pressed her face further into Hidan’s chest, feeling the cool medal of his pendant underneath her cheekbone. It thrummed underneath her skin. 

“It’s one thing to be taught how to be a shinobi, Sakura-chan, but it’s another thing to use your skills in practice. You are all young and strong but you lack battle experience, something that will only come with time,” Hashirama said as he knelt next to the couch. “You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself.” 

“There is nothing to cry over.” Tobirama drew her gaze from Hashirama’s to his. “You did better than most in your age group would’ve done.” 

“But I still got captured,” Sakura mumbled, “I was a liability. I was caught off guard.” 

Hidan scoffed, “You’re a kid, you’re always going to be a liability. That’s the whole point.” 

“He’s correct. You’re given a jōnin sensei for a reason. Kakashi made the wrong call to send you out on your own, but no one knew what we were up against.” Hashirama frowned. “It was a learning experience for all.” 

Sakura sighed as she willed her tears to calm down, “I guess.” 

“You are a genin. Yes you have all this knowledge and talent stored in that forehead of yours, but you’re still a kid. You all were due to be knocked down a peg or two.” Hidan racked his knuckles against the side of her head. “Stop trying to act like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. You got captured, you got tortured, you got stabbed, and you got out of it. All on your own. Well… Almost all on your own.” 

Sakura pouted as she cradled the side of her head. “How’d you even know I was in trouble anyway?” 

He rolled his eyes and refused to meet her wide eyed gaze, "Maybe I had Zencho follow you all because I figured something like this was bound to happen. For good fucking reason. Hatake hesitating the way he did. I want a shinobi for a sister, not a fucking pussy.” 

The stress drained out of her body as she fully relaxed into her brother's embrace. “You’re so mean to Kakashi-sensei.” 

“If you knew what he was capable of, you’d be mean too. Enough coddling, I got a mountain of paperwork to fill out now because of you. Go scrub the hospital off your body and get some sleep.” He grumbled. “If your sensei asks, you’ve been prescribed an actual coping mechanism or two. Maybe a hobby.” 

Sakura hugged him a bit tighter despite his attitude, "Thank you for saving me aniki.” 

“Don’t mention it, imouto. Seriously.” 

❀❀❀

Team Seven was banned from missions and training for the remainder of the week. This left Sakura bored but also allowed her to finally catch up with the ghosts. 

It would be comical in any other scenario to see Madara on her pink bedding alongside Tobirama and Hashirama, but the man was so serious she had no choice but to steel her features and keep her thoughts to herself. 

“Maiko seals are impressive,” Tobirama said as he scratched his chin in a familiar thinking gesture. “I knew Uzumaki refugees were scattered across the shinobi nations, but I always thought them to be a more honorable bunch.” 

Mito hadn’t joined them, so Hashirama was the only one able to give actual input. 

“It’s not that they’re not honorable, it’s that their sense of honor can become distorted,” Madara countered, “He truly believed what he was doing was the correct course of action. This is not uncommon for the group.” 

“There were children involved,” Sakura frowned, “Gato kidnapped kids to sell. That’s what Haku and his team were originally sent to destabilize. No one keyed in could get in or out, he said.” 

“I’m not defending him, little one. What’s done is done as well.” He looked around as if expecting him to turn up alongside his comrades. “Though the manner of his spirit is another guess. Uzumaki’s are a hearty bunch, with deep reserves and an even deeper nindo. There aren’t many left.” 

“Even fewer now,” Sakura muttered as she curled her knees towards her chest. “Do you think Kushina-obaa-chan would be mad at me to find out I killed her cousin?” 

“Most definitely not,” Rin piped up, “Uzushio falling was devastating, but I don’t think she has any relations with any of the refugees. She spent time in the district but I think the memories are too painful. She’s been in Konoha longer than she ever was in Uzu.”  

Sakura looked in surprise and then smiled at the teen and the older Hatake alongside her, the girl obviously in better spirits. “Rin. Sakumo. Hello. It’s nice to see you.” 

Rin rushed at Sakura and then yelped when she fell through her, “Oh, Sakura. I’m so sorry all of that happened to you, I know it must’ve been scary.” 

Sakura ignored the heavy lump in her throat. “It’s all over now. I know it must not have been easy for you, especially since Isao was there at the time of your death.” 

Rin grabbed at the hole in her chest and met Sakura’s frown with one of her own, “I don’t remember him personally, but his group and the acts of his village are something I’ll never forget. Kakashi and I were separated and I was taken by this masked man who sealed the Three Tails in me with an unstable seal. I was meant to return to Konoha to unleash the beast during the war and I forced Kakashi into an impossible decision. I was in Limbo for I don’t know how long before I found myself like this.”

Hashirama’s breath hitched, “Who would do such a thing? The Tailed Beasts were meant to be an offering of peace, not to be used in a war.” 

Sakura watched as the Founders discussed amongst themselves, a heavy frown on all their faces. “Kakashi-sensei is the one that killed you, then?” 

“Don’t think less of him,” Sakumo said. “War time decisions are often acts of great sacrifice and this was no different.” 

She shook her head, “I wouldn’t do such a thing, but, what a terrible burden to live with.” 

Rin sucked in a breath but didn’t disagree. 

“I’m sorry Rin, I didn’t mean it like that.” 

“It’s not your fault and you didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. I don’t know if I would’ve changed my decision knowing what I know now, however. It was my life against the lives of Konoha’s civilians. It’s what I signed up for.” She gave Sakura a saccharine smile, “Besides, I can still be with my team even like this. I'm also never alone or lonely.” She nudged Sakumo at her side who gave her a fond smile. 

Sakura smiled and relaxed against her window sill, cheek propped up on a fist as the conversation turned towards more positive and less melancholic. 

❀❀❀

While Sakura may have been banned from team training, she still snuck out in the early morning hours to become reacquainted with Lee and Gai-sensei who were more than enthused to see her. 

“My Eternal Rival!” Lee cried as he tackled Sakura into the ground, "You have returned safe and sound. A hundred laps around the village in celebration! If we don’t complete them by sunrise, then we will do another hundred on our hands and knees!” 

Sakura allowed herself to be consoled by her friend before the two were picked up into an even fiercer hug by Gai-sensei. 

“Oh Lee! It warms me to see the spirit of Youth burn so brightly in you both. Kakashi has filled me in on how your mission took a turn for the worse, so it is great to see you Sakura-kun,” he said with a blinding smile. 

Sakura smiled easier than she had in days. “I am very happy to be home.” 

“Don’t tell me this is where you run off to every morning, Sakura,” Tobirama said with an eye twitch. 

“It’s charming… in a way.” Hashirama looked between Might Duy, Might Gai, and Rock Lee all in a line on the training field. “Traditions are important to uphold no matter their backing.” 

“Her stamina and cardiovascular health has improved as a result!” Might Duy said as he mirrored Gai’s stretches. “Make no mistake, my son and his protégée are excellent sources of training for Sakura.” 

While neither brother joined her during the run, they waited for her at the training ground all the same as they concluded their laps, thankfully before the sun rose over the horizon. 

“As much as I would love for you to join us, young Sakura, Kakashi has already warned me that your training is put on hold for the week while you recover,” Gai-sensei informed her as he dropped into a deep lunge. “Next week however, you and your team are more than welcome to join us.” 

Sakura waved him off from where she was bent over trying to catch her breath. She grinned at Lee in thanks as he handed her an electrolyte beverage, this one raspberry flavored. “That’s alright, this is just what I needed. Thank you for letting me join.” It was unfortunate she couldn’t see Ten Ten or harass Neji, but it was nice to see Lee and his sensei at least. 

A quick change out of her sweaty clothes and with the early morning sun, she returned to the village, taking the civilian path through the market and towards a small bookstore. 

“Maybe we pick up something light hearted,” Hashirama advised, “Something not shinobi related to comply with your brother’s instructions.” 

She hummed in agreement and settled towards the novelty fiction section, crouching down as she rifled through manga volume after volume. 

“It is nice to see you choosing a more appropriate title to peruse.” 

Sakura looked up in surprise before smiling at Sai, who had joined her. She hadn’t sensed his approach, but his posture seemed open and inviting. She hoped Tobirama hadn’t noticed her guard being let down in such a state so soon after she’d been kidnapped. He’d joined Hashirama towards the historical fiction section, so she was in the clear for now. 

“Sai-san, hello,” she greeted as she tucked her chosen book into her arms, “Good morning.” 

He had a small stack of books in his arms, the indents making faint pink lines on his pale skin. “Good morning. I take it your quest to find the other works by Jiraiya went well?” 

Sakura blushed, having remembered how they’d met in the first place. “In a way. Definitely would recommend the Gutsy Shinobi over Icha Icha. What are you picking up?” 

The two walked over to the counter where the sleepy associate took their purchases. 

“Geography books alongside some zoology texts. I wish to diversify my art and I am looking for inspiration,” he replied as he shifted his satchel towards her. The black back was overflowing with inks and paint brushes. “I am village bound for the foreseeable future, so I am using the books to fill in the gaps.” 

Sakura took her lone volume and kept the paper bag close to her chest, “I didn’t know you were an artist.” 

“We have not had the chance to fully discuss our likes and dislikes, as is customary amongst friends,” he stated with a soft smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I hope you still mean to be mine.” 

“Of course! I have training with my team normally, but we are off this week. I’d love it if you would join me in the park sometime?” Sakura said with a soft blush, “Maybe you can meet my team too. They’re really nice once you get past their eccentricities." 

“More friends…?” Sai tilted his head to the side before nodding at her. “I would enjoy that.” 

Sakura waved him away as they went down separate streets, clinging to her book with a near skip in her step. 

“What an odd child,” Tobirama observed. “Very subdued. Not like the unkempt behavior of the children you surround yourself with.” 

“He seems nice, just a bit awkward,” Sakura whispered, the streets still bare but not rolling to speak out loud as she walked towards her next destination. “I am excited to get to know him.” 

“More friends are good!” Hashirama exclaimed, “Good for your mental health, good for broadening your horizons and exchanging of resources. We are on a roll, today!” 

“Good for distractions, you mean.” 

“Tobi, don’t be so mean!” 

Sakura smiled as they came across their next destination, the flower shop having just opened for the day. She didn’t quite want to be in Yamanaka territory, but the soil and seed selection was too good to pass up. Thankfully Ino wasn’t manning the counter, instead an orange haired teen a few years older than who waved her in with a guarded politeness. 

“Good morning, please let me know if you need anything.” 

She nodded her head as she walked towards the seeds in the far corner of the store. The seeds were in small, homemade bags with delicate labels strung around the satchels. 

“Maybe some lavender? Or marigolds? Something easy to grow, like mint or rosemary.,” Hashirama said. 

“Flowers? Herbs? Why not something useful like a tree or produce.” Tobirama pointed towards the selection of bonsai behind the seeds. “Or possibly some cacti.” 

“Flowers are easier to grow. Perhaps you could grab some Mountain Laurels? Could also grab some Nightshade to delve into poisons.” 

“Much more preferable, Anija.” 

Sakura grabbed several watchers of seeds, figuring the low price would outweigh the decision making process since she couldn’t give the brothers her thoughts on the matter. 

She grabbed a small bag of soil and a few pots next to the counter, placing them as gently as possible in the tall counter. She had to flash her headband to purchase the poisonous plant seeds, but the teen didn’t seem all that concerned with her existence. 

“Otou-san! I’m heading out to train with my team. Cousin! Do you need anything while I’m out? Oh-” 

Sakura stiffened as she took the bag from the teen. 

“What are you doing here, busu-yokai?” Ino frowned as she crossed her arms over her chest. “We don’t serve demons.” 

So much for a good morning. Her lips curled into a sneer, “I was just leaving.” 

She turned on her heel and marched out of the store, fingers digging into the bag in her arms. She ran into Choji and Shikamaru in her haste and cursed as she tried not to let her bag spill over the two. 

“Sakura! Welcome back. I heard your mission was a doozy,” Choji said as he shook a bag of chips at her. “Consolation BBQ chip?” 

“Good morning, you two. Thank you.” She grabbed a folded chip from the bag and smiled at the boys. “I am fine, it was nothing to worry about in the end.” She didn’t know the protocol for the mission having gone as wayward as it did, but she figured the gossip must’ve trickled through enough channels to tickle the ears of Team 10. As annoying as Ino was, her father was still the head of the Intelligence division of the village. 

“That’s not what I heard,” Shikamaru said with a frown, “Are you sure you’re alright?” 

Ino chose the moment to interrupt, not content with the attention being away from her. “Come on you two, we don’t want to keep Asuma-sensei waiting.” 

Sakura rolled her eyes but smiled at them regardless, “I appreciate you worrying about me. We’ve been given the week off from training and missions, so I can tell you more over a game of Shogi?” 

Ino scoffed but Shikamaru shut it down with a look. “That would be great, Sakura. Come on Ino just give it a rest.” 

“I do hope your sensei sets up another round of spars, soon.” Tobirama frowned. “It might be a lesson best repeated to curb her ill intent towards you.” 

Sakura shrugged and carried on, having one last stop to make before she returned home. Hidan had been called back into work, since he’d left in such a quick state, so she took it upon herself to get her list of chores done before Naruto and Sasuke eventually found their way over to her apartment. 

“Sakura-chan!” Shisui called out, “It must be fate!” 

She was quickly lifted into the air, purchases and all, and cuddled against the Uchiha’s chest. She grumbled but didn’t fight back, something Tobirama hissed over. 

“She’s probably just thankful for his help on the mission.” Kagami smiled at Sakura before greeting the brothers. “Shisui hasn’t stopped talking about the mission.  He’s quite proud of the kids. Apparently Naruto and Sasuke had their own set of trouble defending the bridge builders family.” 

“He must be the reason why everyone seems to know how the mission went awry.” 

“For an Uchiha, he doesn’t know how to shut his mouth quite well,” Madara sighed. “Embarassing the family name despite his prowess.” 

“Hello, Itachi,” Sakura greeted from where Shisui was rubbing their cheeks together, “Help?” 

She was gently lifted from Shisui’s arms, her purchases commandeered to be carried as penance. She brushed the wrinkles out of her day dress. “Thank you.” 

“Shisui you have to be careful,” Itachi chastised, “We just came back from a mission. They are all on medical leave.” 

“She’s just so cute, Itachi! Your pretty dress with little ribbons in your hair. You look like a doll, Sakura-chan,” he tucked her underneath his arm as they walked through the market. He glared at any adult that came too close to the trio despite his jovial nature. “I much prefer you like this.” 

“Compared to being covered in my own blood…?” Sakura supplied, smiling as Shisui’s gesture became a bit pained. “Thank you. What brings you to the market?” 

“Picking up some tomatoes for Sasuke-chan! Mikoto won’t let him out of the house, or her sight, so we’re escaping while we still can.” 

Sakura hummed in response, weighing the options between continuing her shopping or escaping the two and just going home. Itachi decided for her, instead pushing her towards a dango stand. 

“For breakfast? Itachi,” Shisui scolded, “She needs protein and vegetables.” 

“Six sticks of dango please. Three kinako and three Mitarashi. Sakura, what would you like?” 

She sighed and relented. “Anko, please. Some tea as well? Jasmine if you have it.” 

He nodded and gave the attendant the bills before leading them towards a small table on the outside of the restaurant. 

“What’s in the bag, Sakura-chan?” Shisui peered into the paper bag at the soil and satchels of seeds. “Taking up gardening?” 

“Aniki said a hobby that isn’t Shinobi based would be good for decompressing after missions. I am going to attempt to grow some flowers.” She didn’t mention that the choices were to be used in poison making after harvesting. Baby steps. 

“Surprisingly astute,” Itachi remarked, “I shall push the recommendation towards Sasuke as well. He is so serious with his training.” 

“I wonder why that is,” Shisui muttered as he eyed him up and down. “Couldn’t tell you where he got that from.” 

Sakura giggled and watched the two bicker back and forth, not unlike the argument Madara and Hashirama found themselves in. She let the two regale her with stories of their own first C-rank missions where it wasn’t uncommon for something to go wrong. Most of the brass was in agreement that their team's issues were definitely high up on the unfortunate factor. Overall it was exactly what she needed. 

❀❀❀

At home, Sakura sat on her bed with a small pot in her lap, the soil soft and damp with the barest hints of a suiton. Hashirama was cross legged in front of her, the jovial man serious but excited. 

“It is exactly as we practiced. The seeds already know what to do, you just have to encourage them. Empty your mind, feel the nature of your chakra in your coils. The earth is steady beneath your feet, the water flows in an endless stream around us. Together they meet time and time again to create life.” 

Sakura closed her eyes and breathed slowly, in and out, focusing on the energy deep inside her. Her hands were cupped around the pot, the terracotta warm in her grasp. 

In. 

Out. 

In. 

Out. 

“The mokuton is not a kekkei genkai, it is the encouragement of life. It takes the perfect balance of earth and water, the building blocks of the world around us.” 

She could feel the thrum of energy between her hands, the nutrients in the dirt, the delicate shell of the lavender seeds encased in the earth. She could smell the plants they would become, could sense the roots that begged to dig and grow. 

In. 

Out. 

In. 

Out. 

“Combined with natural energy, you can feel life and the chakra of the world around you. Everything has its own source and together they work in harmony with one another. The Will of Fire and the roots of the great Tree of Life come from this practice.” 

In. 

Out. 

In. 

Out. 

In. 

Sakura opened her eyes as the terracotta crumbled beneath her hands, the dirt spreading all over the pink comforter. She couldn’t find it in herself to care however, as in her lap lay a fragrant bushel of lavender. The roots were soft and woven between her fingers. The scent was sweeter than anything she’d smelt in any plant shop, the petals of the flowers soft to the touch but thrumming with life. Just as Hashirama said. 

The Senju clapped joyously, the sound of which was the most beautiful thing Sakura had ever heard. Madara sucked in a deep breath from where he sat along her wall, having joined the two alongside Tobirama. 

She looked up at Hashirama, eyes bright and a large grin cutting across her face. 

“That is the secret to the Mokuton, dear Sakura. Balance and encouragement. With this, you will be extraordinary.” 

Sakura looked down at the lavender and shoved her face in the petals, breathing in the life that she helped grow. It was nothing compared to what Hashirama could do in his time, but it was only the beginning. She could feel the rustling of the leaves in the trees around her apartment, she could feel their curiosity and excitement alongside hers. The world seemed brighter and bigger in this meditative state, her senses ablaze with new life. New life that she would now be able to nurture alongside Hashirama. Alongside her team. 

Chapter Text

“Heard your mission went to shit,” Anko asked as she stirred an obscene amount of sugar and creamer into her coffee. 

Sakura blinked at her until it registered that Anko was in her apartment, specifically in her kitchen, in her brother’s shirt, acting as if nothing was wrong. She looked underneath the table and noticed she had no pants on either. 

“It’s too early for this,” Tobirama muttered, “I will join you for training in a bit.” 

She watched him leave before turning back to Anko. Sakura shrugged in response to her question, sitting down across from her and making her own cup of much needed caffeine, unsure of what to say. The pot on the table was cold, but not unbearable. 

“Reminds me of my first C-rank. Got any good stories?” Anko asked again, “You kill a guy?”

Sakura sipped her coffee, “A few, I think. I wasn’t keeping count.”

“How’d you do it? Garrote? Fishing spear? Suffocation?”

“I stabbed them…?” Maybe it was a good thing Tobirama had left so quickly. She doubted he’d want her around the woman, even if Sakura found her charming. 

She nodded as if satisfied by Sakura’s answer. Sakura wondered if somehow Anko had killed her brother and she was next. She then remembered Mikoto’s insistence on seeing a professional and wondered if this was planned by the women in her life. 

Would Anko technically count as a mental health professional in these standards? She was technically the woman Sakura was closest to besides Mikoto and Kushina. 

She sipped at her coffee again, close to cracking under the expectant weight of Anko’s gaze. She didn’t know what she wanted, or what she was expecting. Maybe gossip about her sensei? Some secret intel that Sakura had kept from her mission report and would be used against her? She curled her knees to her chest and laid her cheek on her knee cap while Anko stared at her expectantly. 

“A boy kissed me,” she finally blurted out, wondering how Anko’s gaze was just that good. 

She cackled, satisfied with Sakura’s answer. “One of your teammates?” 

She shook her head, “A boy from Kiri. We were held captive together and I guess it was his way of saying thanks.” 

“How did that make you feel?”

She was definitely tasked with checking on Sakura’s mental health. Now she was sure of it. She resisted the urge to narrow her eyes at the woman.

“It was nice? He was a Yuki so his lips were cold, which was weird. Sasuke and Naruto both run really warm. Kakashi-sensei too. Most of the people from Kiri were cold to the touch.”

Anko nodded and leaned back in her chair. Sakura could see the mental list she was running through in her dark eyes. 

“No one else…touched you inappropriately? Right?” She finally asked.  

Sakura blinked at her, “I got stabbed?” 

“Did anyone try to fuck you?” 

She shook her head. 

“Do you know what fucking is?” 

Sakura shrugged. 

Anko pinched the bridge of her nose and got the pad and pen attached to the fridge to draw a crude diagram on while the rice for their breakfast cooked. With large hand movements and then a far away blush on her face, Anko explained as much as she could before Hidan came into the kitchen from his dehydrated state. Sakura had a similar blush on her face by the end of the discussion, however this one was born out of embarrassment not fond memories. 

“All in all, if anyone tries to touch you without consent, you cut their fucking hand off. If you can’t cut their hand off, you tell me and I’ll cut it off for you. If I can’t, or if Ibiki or your brother can’t, you tell the Hokage’s wife. Very few people will live after that,” Anko emphasized, drawing a totem poll next to her drawing. “This includes your teammates or your sensei, you hear? Doesn’t matter who they are, if you don’t want them touching you, cut their hand off.” 

Sakura grabbed the paper and studied it closely with a furrowed brow. “But people do it for fun of course? Like in Icha Icha. It’s not just biological or needed for procreation.”  

“I forgot I gave you that… Thanks for not ratting me out to your brother. That is not a guidebook but pretty much yes. Even if it was written by a pervert, sex is very normal and definitely nothing to be ashamed of. When and if you start to get curious, you tell me first.” 

“I get it now.” 

Satisfied, Anko resumed sipping her coffee. Sakura looked at her for a few moments and then down at her cup. 

“So does that mean you’re fucking my brother?” 

Sakura relished the way Anko choked on her coffee and gave her an innocent smile in response. 

❀❀❀

What was once Tobirama Senju’s hiden technique became Minato Namikaze’s claim to flame which then became Team Seven’s plaything. 

As part of a training exercise, Team Seven was on a scavenger hunt of sorts. More of a personal mission set by Kakashi-sensei now that they’d gotten the approval from the Hokage to use the Hiraishin in combat. Weeks of prep (and a bit of showboating) had confirmed that all three were able to successfully teleport without splinching themselves. They were tasked with hiding said seals around the village for ease of access while also trying to find the whereabouts of their sensei. 

All in all, Konoha was terrorized with shrieks of glee and damaged roof stops as they chased each other around the village with glue and red herring “Konoha Military Police” information posters with their Hiraishin’s scrawled on the back. 

Kakashi took pride in the fact that he was hiding in the jōnin lounge, away from his menace to society, as he and his fellow sensei’s discussed their teams training regimes. 

“So that’s a no on another team sparring session?” Kakashi asked as he flipped through Icha Icha. “My team has been getting bored always going against Gai’s genin, I’m sure your teams have improved in spades by now.”

“I’m not going to be goaded by you, Hatake,” Asuma said as he lit a cigarette, apologizing slightly at the irritated look Kurenai sent his way before he shifted in his chair so the smoke didn’t blow in her face. “I get enough of that from Ino-Shika-Cho senior. If I get invited to one more dinner disguised as a training regime overview I’m going to defect.”

Kurenai sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I won’t say no, but only if Asuma’s team is there. Kiba has been asking for sparring sessions as well, but with Hinata still being so timid, there’s only so many times I can watch Akamaru chase Shino’s kikaichu around.” 

“Then it’s definitely a no,” Asuma said dryly, “Nice try. How about you head to the prison for chew toys for your pups? Leave my kids out of it, I actually like them.” 

Kakashi sucked at his teeth but gave his friend a smile regardless. It was only because he sensed the blip of chakra on the edge of his radar that he moved his arm up in preparation for the pink haired menace to appear at his side. 

“Sakura… you’re sticky,” Kakashi-sensei complained as he wrapped his arm around her. She fit perfectly at his side. “Where are the boys?” 

Sakura leaned her cheek against his shoulder with her knees curled to her chest and watched the jōnin in the room eye her with varying levels of amusement. Some were startled at her arrival and took cues from her sensei in how they should react. Sakumo chuckled from beside his son, their postures polar opposites of each other. Kakashi-sensei’s was more relaxed and open while Sakumo was guarded even in death. 

Unlike the hospital, the jōnin lounge was full of fully formed ghosts that lazed around not unlike their living counterparts. Discussions of missions and politics bounced off the walls, even if some of the discussions were a bit dated and no longer relevant. Like the fabled fight between the Second Mizukage and the Second Tsuchikage. 

“Naruto threw glue on me and Sasuke so Sasuke threw him off the water tower,” she said. “He landed on someone’s food cart so now they’re picking up the pieces and carrying it back to their shop.” 

He sighed and closed his book with a ‘snap.’ “Looks like my break is over. Head over to the boys and we can get lunch.” 

Sakura beamed at him as she brushed the hair from her face. “Yes, sensei. It’s my turn to pick lunch, right? I want tempura!” She grinned and immediately disappeared with a wisp of chakra. He scrubbed at the dried quick glue patches left on his skin from the close contact. 

“That wasn’t a shunshin was it?” Asuma asked dryly. 

“Nope!” Kakashi smiled at him. 

He took a deep drag from his cigarette, the white tip burning halfway in one inhale. “Monsters, Hatake. You are raising monsters.” 

“But, they’re so cute!” He lifted his vest to showcase the three kunai attached to his hip, “They’re so worried about their poor sensei they even made me a matching set.” 

Asuma shuddered, “Kami help us all.” 

“Does that mean this year's Chūnin Exams are going to be a fun one?” Izumo asked as he kicked a chair from a table to settle in. Kotetsu joined him a few moments later, setting down two bentos side by side. “Just got done with the proctor meeting with Hokage-sama about it. According to some of the desk chūnin, we’re going to be seeing a lot of participation from the other nations. Makes me nervous to be honest.” 

Kotetsu nodded as he broke apart his chopsticks, “We’re going to be a part of the first round alongside Ibiki-senpai. You gonna be entering them, Kakashi?” 

Kakashi shrugged, “If I didn’t, I’d never hear the end of it.” 

“If you’re doing it that means I have to do it,” Asuma groaned, “Ino’s only gotten more ramped up as time has gone on. It’s driving me and Shikamaru wild.” 

“You’ve been hanging around your Nara too much,” Izumo pointed out, “I would’ve thought you would be excited to try and get rid of them so early.” 

Asuma stared him down with a blank look, “I like them, which also means I want them to live . What’s the point in submitting them into the exams before they’re ready? They just graduated from the academy, anyway.” 

“Shouldn’t motivation to train harder be a good thing?” Kurenai asked, “I’m struggling with getting my team to do anything outside of what’s required by the missions desk. Even if they’re not ready, it might be worth the experience.”  

“Fancy a wager then?” Kakashi proposed with an eye squint. 

“Oh count me in,” Izumo scooted his chair closer, “Genma’s definitely going to want to be a part of this.” 

“Gambling instead of teaching Sasuke-chan! Say it ain’t so, Kakashi,” Shisui cried, taking up Sakura’s previous spot next to him on the couch, “After I just spotted my cousin and his team waiting patiently at a restaurant near the market.” 

“Hatake’s going to be putting his team into the Chūnin Exams,” Kotetsu said around a mouthful of noodles, “We’re deciding on what to bet on.” 

“Well then count me in,” Shisui said, fishing out his wallet. “I got 20,000 ryo on one of Kakashi’s genin winning the damn thing. Extra 10,000 if it’s Sasuke.” 

“You know Kumo’s participating right? Maybe even Iwa? You think the kids are that strong?” Kurenai asked incredulously. “It’ll be Kirigakure for sure to win. Half of the Seven Swordsmen have genin teams according to Anko. No doubt they’ll be here since the next exams are expected to be in Suna. Better a humid climate than a dry one.” 

“Kumo’s participating?” Shisui whistled, “Is Hokage-sama sure?” 

Izumo shrugged, “He’s called back a lot of heavy hitters to beef up the security for the final round.” He kicked Kakashi’s knee with a wink. “Your guess is as good as mine on why he’s taking the risk. 5,000 ryo on Asuma’s Nara giving up in the first round.” 

Asuma slouched in his chair, “Leave me out of this.” 

“Let me know when the final pool gets drafted,” Kakashi said as he stood up from the couch, “I’ll be sure to buy a round or two in your wallet's honor. I have a team to feed and leave with the bill.” 

“Cheapskate,” Shisui coughed. 

“Says the one who doesn’t pay rent,” Kakashi reminded him before opening up a nearby window to leap from. 

Shisui didn’t even have the decency to flush, “He’s not even the one that pays rent either, the moocher.” 

“Shisui do you even have any bills to speak of? Don’t you still owe me money for covering your tab last week?” Kotetsu asked, pointing his chopsticks at the man. 

Shisui truly lived up to his name in that moment and flickered out of sight before the chopsticks could be used as a weapon against him. 

❀❀❀

Between the feedback from the ghosts and the sensor abilities from the Mokuton, Sakura found herself floating a bit more often. The only reason she’d made it to training that morning was because she and Sasuke had fallen asleep at Naruto’s house, the three piled onto the blonde’s too small bed after spending the night helping him with his newest fuin project. 

“My head hurts,” she mumbled, closing her eyes and digging her forehead deeper into Sasuke’s thigh. “Make the lights stop.” The trees pulsed around them, their roots creeping towards where she was laying down. 

He bit into his tomato and looked down at her and then up at Naruto who was currently battling it out with his own clones while they waited for their sensei to show up. “What’s with you?” The juices from the tomato dripped onto Sakura’s hair and he brushed away the stain under the guise of combing her hair. 

“Woke up with a headache. It won’t go away,” she mumbled, wincing in response. Even the sound of her own voice was too much. She shivered, arms prickling with raised flesh in the early morning sun. She’d yet to replace her haori, leaving her arms and the tone muscles exposed to the elements. She envied Choji in that moment, the layer of flesh providing him warmth year round. 

She scooted closer to Sasuke who leaned back to give her room to do so. 

“It’s been awhile since you were like this.” Hashirama frowned down at her. “Perhaps you worked yourself too hard.”

“I should’ve known you had something to do with this, Anija,” Tobirama scolded. 

“Sakura-chan! Did you see that?” Naruto yelled as one of his clones exploded from an experimental explosion tag. “Oh that’s definitely going in the kit. Otou-san’s gonna freak.” 

She let out another moan of pain, “Naruto, please be quiet.” The vowel at the end of his name elongated and hissed out. “Sit down and eat your breakfast.” 

Naruto scrambled over to the mentioned bento, apologizing profusely. “Sorry Sakura-chan, I forgot. You’re not getting sick are you?” 

She shook her head and opened her eyes to see Naruto peering over her concerned. He stuck out a chopstick with an omelet hanging on the end. She opened her mouth and thanked him even if the nausea in her stomach said otherwise. 

“I don’t get sick. I just think I’ve been using too much chakra lately,” she admitted, thinking back on how her apartment was now wall to wall covered in plants from where Hashirama kept encouraging her to practice her skills. Tobirama was the easier of the two to placate, heavy on theory and experimenting before practicing new skills. Hashirama, however, preferred to dig into the problem and brute force his way through things. Sakura perfecting the Mokuton was no exception. “I didn’t even wake up in time to be able to run with Lee and Gai-sensei this morning.” 

“Good,” Sasuke gruffed out, “I don’t even know why you hang with those freaks anyway.” He’d never admit that he was the one that turned off the alarm in the first place.  

She pouted up at him, grabbing his hand to lower the tomato in it to take a bite out of, “You’re so mean to Lee. He’s my friend and he’s really nice. My taijutsu has improved sparring with him too.” She dried her mouth with the back of her hand where the juices had dripped out. “Plus I haven’t seen Tenten or Neji in a while. They’ve been out of the village on a mission to Kawa.” 

Sasuke’s eyes followed the motion and he quickly swallowed the rest of the tomato to avoid responding right away. 

“Those bushy brows don’t creep you out, Sakura-chan? Or the jumpsuit,” Naruto quickly henge’d into her friend before striking a pose. “I’m Lee! I’m full of youth and vigor! Come with me while we run a thousand laps around the sun!”

Sakura eyed the way his arms and legs were fully covered and she rubbed her exposed arms in response, “I like the jumpsuit. Maybe I should ask him where he got his. I need some new clothes anyway.” 

Naruto popped out of the henge and both he and Sasuke looked at their teammate stunned. 

“Never. In fact, let's get you a new haori later today,” Sasuke said as he snapped his bento closed, “Maybe something bigger with longer sleeves. Something that covers you entirely.”

“Even better, just take my jacket Sakura-chan,” Naruto said, suddenly aware of her exposed collarbone and shoulders, “Wear it forever, ‘ttebayo. Just don’t ever put on that jumpsuit.” 

“Look at my cute students!” Kakashi-sensei greeted them as he jumped down from the treeline, three small papers in hand. “Should I ask why you’re taking your clothes off, Naruto?” 

Sakura winced as Naruto shouted at their sensei, taking Sasuke’s offered hand so they could get off the grassy floor. She kept Naruto’s jacket however, sliding it on backwards to keep mainly her arms covered.  

“Sensei! We have to go shopping otherwise Sakura is going to ask bushy-brows where he got his jumpsuit,” Naruto hissed as he jumped on Kakashi who held him up. “People will be able to see her legs . We have to stop it.” 

“She does have legs, yes Naruto, and arms. Fingers too. I’m glad you’ve been working on your observation skills,” Kakashi confirmed with a smile. “If we go shopping then you won’t have time to bother me before I release you monsters into the wild.”

Sakura scrunched her nose up at the papers Kakashi was waving in the air, holding her hand out expectantly to receive one. “What’s this? A mission?” She gasped in surprise at the thick writing at the top. “Chūnin Exams? Really?” 

Naruto dropped from where he was hanging around Kakashi and quickly shared the papers with his team. “Chūnin Exams? Chūnin Exams! No way, Kakashi-sensei, are you serious?” He yelled. 

“Is it that time already?” Izuna asked as he looked at the paper over Sasuke’s shoulder. “So quickly too. Your team's barely been out of the academy for six months.”

“Fitting for their team,” Tobirama said as he gestured for Sakura to flip over to the backside of the paper. “I’ve seen war promotions go for less and even if they’re lacking in mission experience, a chūnin vest will allow them to take harder missions further from the village. They’ll adapt.”

“I’m a bit worried,” Rin said nervously, “Is Kakashi so sure about this? You all just got back from Wave not too long ago.”

Sakura looked from Rin up at Kakashi who was watching the Sasuke and Naruto debate over what the exams would look like. Naruto seemed to think it would be an all out brawl between the five nations with the strongest being the only ones being promoted. 

“The majority of the jōnin are excited to see your team participate,” Sakumo informed her. “When you left the lounge, they were quick to set up a bidding pool.”

“Gambling you say?” Hashirama grinned, “What a great opportunity for your brother and his paramour to take advantage of. I say we find out what the pool is and rig it in our favor.”

Sakura curled her nose up but couldn’t deny the chance for extra pocket change did sound enticing. Still, it was a bit too soon for their team. Even if not too long ago she’d been excited at the prospect of being rid of them. 

“What do you think, Sakura-chan?” Kakashi asked, his head tilted to the side. “You three don’t have to go for it, you are still pretty new. It’s all of you or none of you.” He quickly wrapped his arm around Naruto’s mouth to silence his protests. “I just figured I should get ahead of the curve before you found out and entered yourselves anyway.” 

Naruto cried in outrage but didn’t quite disagree. 

She looked down at the paper and at the expecting faces of her team and the ghosts around her and shrugged, “I guess. It’ll be fun. Besides, what’s the worst that could happen?”

Naruto cheered and jumped from Kakashi’s arms to lift her in excitement. She held onto his upper back and tried not to vomit up her pitiful breakfast while those around her tittered in excitement. She urged the trees around them to call back their roots, hoping no one noticed the way one had broken up from the ground and was reaching towards Naruto’s ankle enticingly.