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"This is not part of the mission."
It was a whisper in the back of her head, a cold reminder from Inner, even though Sakura could feel how Inner was struggling to keep a tight reign on both of their emotions.
She hadn't had this much trouble in a long time, and Sakura would be scared about it if Inner wasn't holding that back too, trying desperately to keep her cold and detached and rational.
Sakura watched the blonde mute with blank eyes, and twitched.
"This is not part of the mission! " Inner repeated, almost desperate, and Sakura felt it for a moment as Inner slipped for the first time in years- Righteous fury, an urge help, a fear of what will happen if they do, a resentment that nestled deeply and was woven into her very being-
Inner screamed in frustration, and Sakura didn't flinch as she went numb again. Blank. Rightfully cold.
She didn't care about the Jinchuuriki. She didn't. She just...She was observing it. It and the Uchiha, as her mission demanded. She was to monitor them, make sure they stayed loyal to the village. Eliminate them if they showed a hint of disloyalty.
Don't draw attention to herself.
But...standing by as the Jinchuuriki was tormented? That could serve to make it disloyal. She should stop that from happening at least, right?
"No." Inner snapped, though Sakura felt the other soul ache to deny it, underneath their sudden panic. "No. He isn't disloyal, and he isn't going to be, and we don't suspect he will. Because we aren't supposed to help it if he does- we're supposed to eliminate him." Inner reminded her, and Sakura didn't flinch that time either. She curled her lip and looked away from it.
Right. Okay. But still.....
(The first time she met the Jinchuuriki, she had sat besides it in class. She hadn't known it would be seen as abnormal until every pair of eyes in the room was suddenly staring at her in shock. She had stared blankly when a kid demanded that she sit somewhere, anywhere else other then next to it, and her expression didn't change as she tried to find a single reason they would think they have the authority to tell her what to do.
Besides, it was concerningly hard to pay attention to her surroundings, as the blonde shot her a smile, bloodied by a busted lip, that was brighter then anything else she'd ever seen. On reflex, before Inner could snatch the urge away, she closed her eyes and smiled back, just a little.
Of course, she did not sit next to him- it again. She was not to draw attention to herself. But-
Despite the fact that she ignored it completely, it still approached her after every spar she forced herself to flunk for the sake of appearances with a- second-hand? Stolen? Cobbled together?- medicine kit, and it warmed something inside of her. Even the brothers were rarely this caring for her.)
"We....Are going to be on a team with him, yes?" Inner suggested carefully. "Perhaps it would be wise to run...periodical skill assessments. As long as we're subtle about it, it wouldn't interfere with the mission." Inner almost-encouraged, and Sakura felt a shiver. She tasted something like spite in the back of her throat before Inner fell silent and she fell numb again.
Nonetheless, Sakura began to write.
---
There was a small setback.
Ok, maybe not small, she could admit in the mostly-private confides of her own head. It was more like huge, really, something that she noticed far later then she should have.
(She tried not to lie to herself when she could help it. Inner was overworked as it was.)
The Jinchuuriki couldn't read. Not well. It could barely write.
How was she supposed to fix this? She couldn't approach it- that would be clearly suspicious behavior! She was- slightly- invested in this minor side project of hers that she wanted to use to keep herself entertained and informed, she didn't want to just give it up, but- was there anything else she could do?
A soft squeak, impossible to hear if she hadn't been doing a Chakra exercise to expand her senses and reserves, alerted her that someone had entered the classroom, and Inner turned thoughtful.
"We should be doing this for the Uchiha as well, right?" Inner pondered, and she nodded. It wouldn't do, to have incomplete data.
Sakura pulled out another piece of paper.
---
The Second setback almost sends a flash of annoyance through her. She watches The Uchiha walk into the classroom, look at the letter, and immediately discard it.
What could she do, with that? She didn't know. She didn't know anything about interacting with her peers, much less her targets.
She ponders the problem for days, to the point where she starts to loose sleep thinking about it, before Inner forcefully rips the thoughts from her.
Sakura makes a displeased noise, but Inner pushes the thoughts deeper into their brain then she can really follow, especially when she's already tired.
Sleep. Inner orders. I'll try to turn this into a dream, and you will be well rested.
Sakura didn't argue. Sakura never argued with Inner. Sakura was good for one thing, and it was taking orders. Inner rarely had a problem giving them.
--
Her third plan is a little more complex. She takes a few days to learn The Uchiha's hand writing, first, which is ultimately pretty easy. She was good at Calligraphy- Inner hugged the nugget of pride at that skill close to their center, far away from Sakura's reach- and she only sat a row back from The Uchiha, anyway. Close enough that people assumed she liked him, like most girls did, without her actually having to participate in much of the harassment.
Next, she wrote a letter to The Jinchuuriki, this time in The Uchiha's own handwriting. Then she put it in an envelope with Take to Sasuke written on the top, and hoped for the best.
It takes a few minutes, but The Jinchuuriki walks to its desk before the bells ring, which is honestly better then she hoped for. Maybe this would work out. It takes it a few minutes, staring at the characters and mouthing them, before it jumped up from its seat and stormed over to The Uchiha's desk.
The room fell silent, fear threading into the air, and the class seemed to hold it's collective breathe. Near the door, one of the girls stumbled out of the class, squeaking something about getting a teacher.
The Uchiha looked up slowly, raising a single unimpressed eyebrow, and The Jinchuuriki shoved the letter right under his nose.
This time, given the strange circumstances, the letter captures The Uchiha's attention. She couldn't help but wonder if he was more intrigued by the letter being in his own handwriting or by it coming from The Jinchuuriki, or something else she hadn't accounted for.
Inner sucked up as much of her interest and nervousness as she could, and Sakura mimicked the scared-curious look from the girl beside her.
He opened the letter, looking bored to all the world. Then he started to read, and his eyes widened a little.
"Dear Naruto," He said, out loud but quiet. It was a good thing Sakura only sat a seat back. "I've already written you a letter, but noticed you were unable to read it. Given this, I have elected to have someone else read it to you. I hope you do not mind." The Uchiha read, looking entirely mystified. The Jinchuuriki perked up, curious and nervous in equal turns. "I know that people do not like you or talk to you, so neither can I. Still, I think you are admirable, nice, and surprisingly observant. I think you will make a great Shinobi. Sincerely, your friend."
Somehow, the room was even quieter. She swore she could hear leaves shift through the wall. More importantly, though, Naruto was all but glowing. He had a smile that covered his entire face, and Inner completely melted at the sight, going softer then they had in....years, maybe.
In Sakura's chest, something felt like it was floating. It was an odd sensation, but not an unwelcome one, and she was almost disappointed when Inner eventually tampers it down.
The Uchiha scowled. "Who talks like this? And why do they write just like me?" He demanded, eyes scanning the room and slipping right past her. No one answered. "Well?" He demanded, harsher.
The girl sitting beside her shifted, and Sakura saw many girls wearing conflicted expressions.
Oh. Inner hummed, amusement rippling softly, Oh that's delightful. They're all trying to decide if Sasuke's attention is worth claiming to be Naruto's 'friend'.
The amusement brushed against Sakura's mental walls softly, and faint traces of it threatened to dance in her eyes as she understood, before Inner noticed and pulled back into themself.
Noise was crawling through the room, now, whispers and giggles and still far too many eyes on her future teammates. The Jinchuuriki was bouncing in place, and The Uchiha was studying the doctored handwriting closely.
Iruka-sensei walked into the classroom, then- a few minutes late, actually, which seemed to happen sometimes. She wondered how busy an academy school teacher could really be, to be late to class at least once a month.
The Jinchuuriki noticed and its hand darted out to grab the letter from The Uchiha's hands. It succeeded, but The Uchiha responded by standing from his seat with a loud screech!
"Give that back." He demanded, voice low. The Jinchuuriki shook its head in response. clutching the letter tight enough to crinckle the paper, and backed away.
"Naruto," Iruka-sensei's voice rang out in warning, and The Jinchuuriki flinched but did not loosen its protective grip on the letter. "Give Sasuke his letter back."
The Jinchuriki shook it's head more frantically, giving Iruka a pleading look and pointing at itself, urging the man to understand. The Uchiha continued to glare, but didn't say anything else. Sakura made sure that other people were still paying attention, so it didn't look like she was paying too much attention. Iruka scowled and marched over, holding out an expectant hand. The Jinchuuriki hesitated, but eventually raised its arm to give the letter to the teacher.
"Tch." The Uchiha scoffed, grabbing The Jinchuuriki's wrist. The Jinchuuriki scowled, shifting its weight and preparing to fight, but The Uchiha made no move to grab the letter. He just pushed its hands back to its side. "It isn't my letter, Sensei. It's Naruto's."
The Jinchuuriki's eyes widened in surprise at the defense, but didn't take long to bobble his head in agreement. Iruka furrowed his eyebrow, probably still able to tell there was something off between the two of them, but ended up shrugging.
"If you say so, Sasuke. Naruto, back to your seat." He backed up, striding back to the front of the classroom and watching The Jinchuuriki scurry to the back of the room. "Alright then, class. I'm sorry I was late this morning, thank you for your patience. Now, if you'll open your history books to chapter four, we'll continue going over the Warring States Period."
As easily as that, most people's attention fell from The Jinchuuriki and The Uchiha, so Sakura opened her book and followed along. Inner was a low murmur in the back of her brain, declaring this approach to her plan as a success and planning their next move. Sakura left her to it, relaxing into one of the few emotions she was familiar with; the slightest sliver of satisfaction-relief at a job well done.