Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Haruno Sakura's first memories were within the dinky, musty walls of the Konoha orphanage.

Her mother, Mebuki, had died during childbirth, leaving her heartbroken father, Kizashi, to raise her alone. It didn't last long - on October 10th, he died during the Kyuubi attack, hit by stray rubble while coming to pick her up from daycare. Apparently, the Yondaime had been able to move the beast in time to minimize the damage to the village, but it had been too late for many civilians. They weren't able to get out of the way, and that meant a lot of children were left parentless that night.

The orphanage was a strange place. Some of the kids around Sakura would disappear, and she didn't really understand why. One time, she asked the matron, a middle-aged and mean-spirited woman called Kimiko, where Kana-chan went, and for some reason, she was shoved into a closet and told to never ask about it again.

So she didn't (Inner appeared for the first time after this incident).

When she was six, Kimiko told Sakura she would be going to the Academy because 'she didn't want to have to deal with her any longer,' and the little girl didn't have a single problem with that. Her life in the orphanage was exceedingly dull, filled with loneliness and ostracization. When Sakura finally began learning how to read and write, she was dizzy from the sheer comfort she felt - this was her escape. The other kids didn't like her for many reasons - she was too quiet, had a big forehead, was dull, and honestly, it didn't matter much because when she was learning, her mind didn't fixate on the bad feelings that stewed in her heart.

Knowledge was a powerful thing, and Sakura found herself wanting to go to the Academy and becoming a kunoichi. The best part about knowing so much was that it never left her brain - curiously, everything that she ever learnt could be remembered instantly, as if there was a cheat sheet in her head supplying the answers for a question asked. Inner was semi-confident in their ability to succeed because of this skill: sure, the voice was a little pessimistic and crude, but that's just how Inner was.

The first day of the Academy started with Sakura remembering the instructions Kimiko had yelled to her this morning as the babies began wailing for milk. She didn't really leave the orphanage often, so she took the time to look at the stalls on the street, watching the villagers interact with each other.

"Are you lost?"

She turned around, seeing a woman with red eyes and black hair look down at her with kind eyes. "I'm trying to go to the Academy," Sakura offered quietly, "am I going the right way?"

The lady smiled, pointing straight down the street. "You are, don't worry. Just follow the road, it'll be on your right."

With a slight bow of thanks, Sakura made her way down the path once again. The tattered backpack sitting on her shoulders was old, much like her clothes - the wrinkled grey shirt and black shorts made her hair and eyes stand out even more than usual. When she finally arrived, Sakura watched the crowd that gathered in front of the Academy in awe, taking in the sight of parents and their children around her. At one point, she would cry about being left alone, with not even a brother or sister who could accompany her - now, she just watched other families for the sake of observing their interactions.

A little boy with black hair stared at her rudely, pointing his finger in her direction. "Why is her hair so pink?"

"Sasuke," the teenager next to him sighed, "you can't say things like that. I'm very sorry, now otouto - apologize."

The boy, Sasuke, flushed. "How am I supposed to apologize when I don't even know her name?"

Sakura lost interest in the conversation, ignoring both of them before making her way into the crowd. The Yondaime was standing at the podium, his wife and child standing nearby as he started quieting everyone down to begin his speech. If she was being honest, the whole thing was pretty wordy - there was a lot of talk about the Will of Fire and loving the village, but she didn't really know what any of this meant.

When it was time for the parents to leave, Sakura didn't have to deal with the fussing of a mother or the reassurance of a father, so she was the first who made it to the chunin at the front desk. "Name?"

"Haruno Sakura."

"Alright let's see...you're assigned to room 2C. Second room on the left, good luck kid."

She followed the instructions, walking inside and sitting in the back near the window. The view from here was nice - Sakura could see a grassy field covered with trees, and for some reason, there was also board held by two metal chains swaying in the breeze (It's a swing you idiot, you're lucky I heard some weirdo talking about it, Inner supplied exasperatedly).

Slowly, children began trickling in, and Sakura watched her peers with curious eyes. Sasuke, the rude kid, sat in the front and immediately grabbed a notebook and pencil pouch out of his shiny new backpack. There was also the Hokage's child, a bright, blonde boy who immediately went up to Sasuke and sat next to him, the two of them arguing vehemently.

When the room was full, Sakura noted that nobody sat next to her, and that was perfectly fine (Inner was being entirely unpleasant about this).

"Quiet down everyone! My name is Umino Iruka, I'll be your sensei for the next few years - before we get started, let's do role call."

Everyone quieted down, and Sakura tried listening to the names to put a face to the people she would be working with.

"Akimichi Chouji?"

"Here!"

"Aburame Shino?"

"Present."

"Haruno Sakura?"

"Here."

"Hyuuga Hinata?"

"H-here sensei."

"Inuzuka Kiba?"

"Here! Akamaru get down!"

"Namikaze Naruto?"

"Here 'ttebayo!"

"Nara Shikamaru?"

"What a drag...here."

"Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Dobe shut up! Here."

"Yamanaka Ino?"

"Present!"

Sakura tuned out of it shortly after, not willing to hear every single person being listed out. She noticed Sasuke turn to look at her briefly, but her mind was occupied with what Iruka-sensei was going to teach them. The chunnin had given them a rundown of the curriculum - every day, they would go over theoretical work followed by a lunch break that then lead into physical training.

"There's a lot you'll learn here," Iruka started writing things down on the board, "but the main topics we're going to cover in the first month is Konoha's history and what chakra is. I'm aware that some of the you are well versed in these subjects, but not everyone is quite up to that standard. Please be patient and help your peers whenever possible - remember, you are all going to be fighting alongside each other one day, so be kind and respectful to one another."

A lot of the kids looked bored by the lecture - Shikamaru was sleeping without a care in the world, but Sakura was fascinated. To think that there was such a powerful tool residing in her body...it was almost nonsensical, but everything Iruka-sensei said about chakra made sense.

Sakura raised her hand. "Sensei, is there a way to increase your physical and spiritual energies?"

"I'm glad you asked..." Iruka looked at his clipboard, "Sakura! Well, the short answer is yes - for example, doing physical activity increases your physical energy. The same thing can be said for spiritual energy - if you study or meditate more, you can increase that as well. However, no matter how hard you train, you can never have more chakra than what your body can handle."

Well, that was certainly interesting - since Sakura had no practice in either category, she figured it was probably a good idea to start somewhere.

Class went on for a while, and she found herself more and more intrigued by everything around her. Konoha's history was fine and all, but what really got her attention was the way chakra could be manipulated. According to Iruka-sensei, you could use chakra to make seals, heal people, perform elemental techniques, and so on. Chakra was quite literally the most important thing in this world because everyone thrived on it - she was left with a thirst to know more about this force.

When lunch came around, Sakura realized quite belatedly that she did not have a bento, but that was a pretty general occurrence in the orphanage. A lot of kids went hungry during some meals because the Kyuubi attack led to an overpopulation of children, and she couldn't really complain considering she had the privilege of going to the Academy.

As soon as everyone left the room, Sakura walked up to the front of the room. "Sensei, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course Sakura," Iruka smiled at her warmly, "what would you like to know?"

"Is there a way I can read more about chakra and the things we talk about in class?" She fiddled with the hem of her shirt, "I don't have access to books in the orphanage, is there a library I could go to instead?"

Iruka's expression was empathetic, and he patted her head kindly. "It's good to see students so interested in what we teach here - there's a special library for Academy students, it's got a lot of texts we will be covering this year. Just walk down the road a bit, you'll see the signs leading to the building."

Sakura bowed lightly. "Thank you sensei, I'll go visit it soon."

He waved, watching her leave the room fondly, and she couldn't help but feel a little warmth in her chest. Nobody ever looked at her that way - Sakura was beginning to like school more and more. With her little backpack strapped tightly, she made her way to the lawn, sitting down under an inconspicuous tree and grabbing the ratty notebook with her notes from the day. It was already halfway filled with her writing, and she made a note in the back of her head to look for more paper in the orphanage.

"Looks like the suckup really did go to sensei for extra help."

Sakura looked up to see a purple-haired girl giving her a mean look. "Can I help you?"

"Don't talk to Ami-chan that way!" the other girl glowered, "Show some respect!"

Ami nodded her head. "It's okay Seiko, no manners could get through her big forehead, right?"

They laughed at her raucously, but Sakura had already returned her attention to her notebook - really, was her forehead that big? "Is that all you wanted to say to me?"

Seiko clenched her fists. "Excuse me? What does some ugly-"

"Hey!"

A blonde girl with pale eyes stood with her arms across her chest, a defiant expression on her face. "The only ugly one here is you Seiko! You have a weird face, and Ami, honestly, that dress is totally out of style. Beat it!"

Seiko and Ami immediately teared up, running far away, much to Sakura's confusion. The strange girl gave her a broad smile, sitting next to her without any hesitation. "Jeez, there's so many annoying people here - my name is Yamanaka Ino! Who're you?"

"I'm Haruno Sakura."

Ino huffed. "Bullies are so annoying, they're so insecure about themselves that they lash out at other people to make them feel better. At least, that's what my tou-chan says, and he's the smartest man in Konoha! He's the head of T&I you know?"

Sakura actually didn't know. "That sounds nice."

"Your hair is so pretty!" Ino grabbed a red ribbon from seemingly nowhere, "Here, let me style it for you!"

Sakura just let her do it to avoid further argument, feeling the front portion of her hair pull back, as if the ribbon was being fashioned as a headband. "Thank you Ino-san."

The blonde pouted. "Mou, call me Ino! We're going to be best friends, I can feel it!"

And with that, the lunch bell rang.

The library was the best place in the world, and within the next few months, Sakura made it her new home.

The orphanage was never her safe place, but she found one among the ink and paper that beckoned her name every time she entered the facility. She greedily ate up all the information she could, finding ways to increase her physical and spiritual energies so that her chakra reservoir could expand. Sakura was a practical child - she wanted to figure out exactly what she was going to do so that she had something to work towards.

"Good idea," Inner suggested, "we need a role model, someone who's strong and fierce. How else are we going to get out of that shithole?"

That was how she found Senju Tsunade, one the most powerful kunoichi in Konoha and a member of the Densetsu no Sannin. She had a multitude of books written about her as well as some self-published medical tomes, mostly centering around the breakthroughs she spearheaded. Regardless, the most interesting thing about Tsunade was that she a combat medic, the first and only one in Konoha to this day. Sakura had dedicated an entire page of her notebook to the rules of medic-nin, adding in her own notations so she could ask the Sannin questions about them later.

1. No iryo-nin shall ever stop medical treatment until the lives of their party members have come to an end.
- What if the injury is fatal? Do you continue treatment if you know the patient won't make it?

2. No iryo-nin shall ever stand on the front lines.
- Why? If iryo-nin can heal others in combat, wouldn't that make fighting more efficient? Why do iryo-nin need to be protected if they can harm others as well?

3. No iryo-nin shall ever die until they are the last of their platoon.
- How can you prevent that? If the chances of the iryo-nin dying are high, do they abandon their comrades and/or the mission?

4. Only those iryo-nin who have mastered the Byakugo no In of the ninja art Sozo Saisei are permitted to discard the above-mentioned laws.
- What does this mean? What makes this rule so important that medics can abandon the other rules listed?

Sakura was fully aware of her growing interest with iryo-ninjutsu, and Inner agreed that they could use this as their goal for the future. She liked challenges, and it seemed like everything about this field was going to be just that: if the rules of being an iryo-nin were this confusing, then it could only be worse when you actually started learning to become one.

One day after class, Sakura decided to ask about the infamous woman on her mind. "Sensei, where can I find Tsunade-sama? I would like to talk to her about the rules she created for iryo-nin."

"Ah, well...Tsunade-sama hasn't been in Konoha for the past decade or so." Iruka scratched the back of his head, "I don't know the details of her departure though, but I do know that Hokage-sama permitted it."

Sakura was stumped. After waving goodbye to him, she went underneath her favorite tree and opened up the notebook she dedicated to iryo-ninjutsu (Kimiko had a stack of them in her office, she may or may not have stolen a bunch of them). If Tsunade-sama wasn't in Konoha, then who was taking care of the hospital? Surely there had to be some medical breakthroughs during the time the Sannin wasn't here, so who was behind those discoveries?

Now, when Sakura was curious, she asked questions. That was exactly how she found herself waiting with Ino after school and asking her if she could speak to her father.

"You want to ask tou-chan something?" The blonde seemed miffed, "Why can't you just ask me?"

Sakura tilted her head to the side in thought. "I have a question about Tsunade-sama, so I thought I would ask your father because you said he was smartest man in Konoha. Is that okay?"

Ino immediately forgot about her anger. "Of course! Just wait here - tou-chaaaan!

She came back to the courtyard with a tall, blonde man with pale eyes. "Ino, what-"

"Tou-chan!" Ino grabbed her hand, bringing her forward, "This is my best friend Sakura - Sakura, this is my tou-chan!"

"It's nice to meet you Yamanaka-san." Sakura bowed her head, "I'm sorry for troubling you, I just wanted to ask you a question."

"Just call me Inoichi," he waved his hand, eyes sparked with interest, "what would you like to know Sakura-chan?"

She pulled her iryo-ninjutsu notebook out, carefully opening it up to a section of her notes. "Iruka-sensei told us that we have to fact check everything we hear with at least two to three reliable sources, and Ino told me you're the smartest man in Konoha. I was doing research on Tsunade-sama, and sensei told me she isn't in the village. Is that true?"

Inoichi's eyes widened slightly. "Yes, that's true. She hasn't been here for a little over a decade, mostly because the Sandaime allowed it."

"Thank you Inoichi-san," Sakura scribbled his words down before putting her book away, "I'm sorry for holding you up."

He smiled. "Not at all Sakura-chan, it's also good to finally meet you - Ino has been talking about you quite a bit."

Ino immediately stomped her foot, blushing bright red. "Tou-chan! You're not supposed to tell her that!"

"Anyways," Inoichi held his hands out placatingly, "Is this research for the project Ino was talking about?"

"Are you doing Tsunade-sama too?" Ino asked excitedly, "We can work on it together then!"

Sakura held her chin in thought. "I haven't made up my mind yet. I want to research someone who I haven't read about in the library, but if I do choose her, I'll let you know."

The blonde hugged her tightly, and yet again, Sakura just awkwardly patted her back. Inoichi left with Ino shortly after, leaving the pink-haired girl to her thoughts. Since she got confirmation from two people, her new inquiry was how the hospital was working without Tsunade-sama. Once she left the Academy, she wandered around the village, half listening to Inner and half paying attention to where she was going.

"Maybe you should ask a shinobi Outer. They would know who's running the hospital since that woman left."

Sakura winced internally. "She's not just some woman, Tsunade-sama is a very respectable person. If we're going to be an iryo-nin, we have to listen to the rules she made."

"Why'd she leave Konoha then?" Inner growled, "Anybody who leaves their village is supposed to be declared a nukenin. Even if she was allowed, her knowledge is invaluable - she's practically letting her comrades die by not being here to help them."

She decided to ignore Inner (who was actually being reasonable for once), walking further down the street and nearing a snack store called 'Dango Shop'. Sakura walked inside, noting that there were a few shinobi sitting and eating at a booth. After a lot of internal debate with Inner, she walked up to them slowly, catching the attention of a man with a senbon in his mouth.

"Can I do something for you chibi-chan?" He raised an eyebrow as she grabbed her designated school notebook out.

"I would like to ask you all some questions if that's okay." Sakura flipped open to the section she was going to use for the project. "I have to do a presentation about a shinobi in Konoha and Iruka-sensei told us that it would be okay to ask other shinobi for help."

"HOW YOUTHFUL!" A man in a green, spandex jumpsuit yelled emphatically, "What is your name young blossom?"

She bowed her head slightly. "Haruno Sakura, it's nice to meet you shinobi-san."

"Oh, you're the girl who asked me for directions to the Academy, right?" The woman with red eyes smiled at her, "It's nice to meet you Sakura-chan. We would love to help you for your project, right guys? Genma, let her sit next to you, don't make her stand."

The senbon guy acquiesced, letting her climb up into the booth. Sakura carefully placed her backpack between them before sitting on her knees, taking her pencil out to take notes. "Thank you shinobi-san. Can I get everyone's names and rankings so I can reference it when I present my project?"

"Of course! I'm Konoha's Noble Green Beast, Maito Guy!"

"Gai, you idiot - she meant your shinobi ranking. He's a jounin, write that down - I'm Shiranui Genma, tokubetsu jounin."

The red-eyed woman shook her head at their antics. "I'm Yuhi Kurenai, a jounin as well."

"Namiashi Raido, tokubetsu jounin." He pointed to the man with spiky grey hair, "That's Hatake Kakashi, jounin. He's not going to answer your questions because he's busy reading that perv-"

"Anyways," Kurenai coughed loudly, "what would you like to know Sakura-chan?"

The pink-haired girl diligently wrote everything down before answering. "I am interested in becoming an iryo-nin, so I read about Tsunade-sama and the things she revolutionized in medicine. Sensei told me she isn't in Konoha and I double-checked with Inoichi-san, so now I'm curious about who's taking over since she isn't here."

Raido picked up a stick that had three colorful dumplings on it. "We're going to be here for some time then - would you like some dango?"

"What's that?"

They all collectively stared at her, and Genma nearly dropped the senbon in his mouth. "You don't know what dango is? Kid, what are your parents teaching you?"

Sakura was confused. "I don't have parents, I live in the orphanage. Kimiko-san has never given us dango, and I've never read about it in a book."

He scrubbed his face awkwardly, and Gai flashed her a small frown. "How unyouthful of Kimiko-san! Dango is a dessert little blossom, would you like to try some?"

"How much was one stick?" She looked at Raido, waiting for him to respond.

He seemed confused by the sudden change in topic. "Er...probably 300 ryo. Why do you ask?"

Sakura fished her wallet out, sadly noting that it was falling apart again. "I think I have enough...here you go. I'll have the pink one if that's okay?"

They all watched dumbfoundedly as she handed over 100 ryo, eating just one of the balls. It was a little interesting to see the little girl's expressions though - she seemed thoroughly surprised by the new treat in her hands. "This is very good, thank you Raido-san. I didn't think I would like sweet foods, it's surprisingly tasty."

Genma gave her a funny look. "Why are you paying Raido? He offered, you could just eat the whole stick."

"I disagree," Sakura answered primly, "chapter 3 in The Art of Trade by Higase Kento states that if a person is freely offering you something, it's implied that you return them with a favor. In chapter 5, he says that it's worse if a shinobi is doing it because the favor in question could be more dangerous."

"If it makes you feel better, I wasn't going you for anything." Raido shrugged his shoulders, "But you can do whatever you want - anyways, we're way off topic. You wanted to know about the hospital, right?"

"Yes. I am curious as to who is taking over if Tsunade-sama isn't here."

Kurenai hummed, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Well, the director right now is Ikeda Aiko. Some of my friends convinced me to take some basic iryo-ninjutsu classes at the hospital, and at the time, she was the one teaching it. Aiko-sensei is a civilian born doctor, but she's very knowledgeable and has impeccable chakra control."

Sakura gave her a wide-eyed stare. "The director is a civilian? I read a book that said that most leadership positions are held by people in a clan."

"Well young blossom, it's more youthful to have people who are fit for the position to serve as leaders." Gai flashed her a thumbs up, "I'm a civilian as well, yet I am regarded as a taijutsu expert in Konoha!"

She immediately wrote this down, ignoring the way Genma was peeking at her notes with a look of disbelief (so what if she had an extended vocabulary, she was smart). "If that's the case, why has Aiko-sensei not received the same recognition as Tsunade-sama?"

Kakashi spoke up for the first time. "Maa, Sakura-chan, you sure do ask a lot of questions. If you really want to know, why don't you ask her yourself?"

"Be nice," Kurenai hissed, kicking him beneath the table, "I think that is a very valid question. Aiko-sensei has done a lot for this village, even if most people don't know about her contributions. If you were to go to the hospital, I bet you could speak to her directly. She's always willing to speak to students who are interested in becoming iryo-nin."

Genma swiveled the senbon in his mouth around as he gave her an appraising look. "Wouldn't your project be easier if you just did Tsunade-sama? Why go through all the trouble to find someone who isn't talked about very much?"

Sakura tapped her pencil against her notebook. "Tsunade-sama is the only person that is ever mentioned when people bring up iryo-ninjutsu. I don't think it's fair to forget about everybody else's achievements - also, a lot of my classmates are presenting about her, it'll be boring to listen to the same thing over and over again. If Aiko-sensei did great things, I would like to shed light about that to my peers."

"How...HOW YOUTHFUL!" Gai immediately started bawling, "Your endeavors are the epitome of the springtime of youth young blossom!"

Raido sighed deeply, eating a bite of his dango. "Ignore him, you get used to these outbursts. Anyways, the only thing I know for sure is that Aiko-sensei pushed for ANBU to have more medical training."

"I see," she wrote it down before closing her notebook, "I think I'll go to the hospital and talk to her. Thank you for helping me and giving me food, it was delicious. I hope to see you all in the future."

Sakura grabbed her backpack, strapping it on before bowing to them and leaving. Inner was pleased, encouraging them to go find Aiko now because it wasn't dark yet, but it had been a long day and she wanted to go rest. So with that, Sakura made her way back to the orphanage, head wrapped in her thoughts about the new things she discovered.

What an interesting day indeed.

Chapter Text

The next day found Sakura filled with anticipation for her upcoming visit to the hospital.

It was probably the only time she ever found herself wanting school to end faster, not that she was even slightly less interested in Iruka-sensei's lecture of the day. It had been quite fascinating actually - everyone was given a leaf and told to stick it to their forehead with chakra. Sakura was able to get it down within minutes, leading to Iruka praising her efforts, and that had made Ami's mocking jeers all but disappear from her mind.

Now, with the day having ended, Sakura waited for everyone to leave the room (it had almost become a ritual of sorts, and Iruka knew to expect it at this point). "Sensei, which way is the hospital?"

He stopped fumbling around his desk, giving her a concerned look. "Are you alright Sakura? Did something happen?"

She tilted her head in confusion. "I'm fine, I just wanted to speak to someone there. My project is going to be about Aiko-sensei, she's the director of the hospital."

Iruka seemed relieved. "Ah, I see - I'm glad you're okay. Once you leave the gates, take a left and continue down the road until you see a sign for the hospital, then take another left and it should be straight ahead."

"Thank you sensei," Sakura waved, "I'll see you tomorrow."

He gave her a fond look she had become used too (unconsciously, she would pretend he had pink hair and green eyes because maybe it would seem like she actually had a family). Following the instructions carefully, Sakura found herself in front of a large white and blue building that had numerous people going in and out. She observed the area silently for a few minutes before going inside, noting that it wasn't as crowded as she expected.

A kind looking old man seated behind the front desk gave her a small smile. "Can I help you dear?"

"I would like to speak to Ikeda Aiko," Sakura pulled out her school notebook, "I want to interview her for a project in my class."

He seemed shocked. "Well, that's certainly a first. Let's see...she should be in her office, it's right down the hall. If you knock and nobody answers, just sit outside and wait for a bit."

"Thank you."

She went around the desk, making her way inside the hospital and taking in her surroundings. Sakura noted that there were sliding doors covering the walls, some of them open and some closed. There were a lot of nurses wearing white uniforms with a small hat, most of them accompanied by doctors, who wore lab coats. There were also some people wearing white shirts and blue pants, a small 'training' badge stuck to the front in bright, red lettering.

Sakura found the office easily since Aiko-sensei's name was in the slot by the wall. She knocked once, hearing the muffled 'enter' before opening the door - the person inside somehow didn't match the description in her head. Ikeda Aiko was a middle-aged woman, her greying chestnut brown hair gathered into a ponytail and her sharp, blue eyes latched onto the new presence in her office immediately.

Aiko gestured her to come inside and take a seat. "So you're the student that Taka paged me about. What's your name?"

"I am Haruno Sakura," the pink-haired girl bowed her head, "I would like to ask you a few questions Aiko-sensei."

The older woman waved her hand. "I don't mind, but I only have-" she looked down at a piece of paper on her desk, "-20 minutes before I go supervise a surgery. Actually, before you start - what is this project about?"

Sakura explained it to her. "Iruka-sensei told us that we had to write a report about a shinobi in Konoha and present it to our class. He said we could pick anyone we want, and since I am interested in iryo-ninjutsu, I did some research about iryo-nin in the library. I found Tsunade-sama, but according to sensei and Inoichi-san, she hasn't been in the village for a long time. Then I consulted with three jounins and two tokubetsu jounins about who was running the hospital and they said it was you. I would like to learn more about what you have done for the village and tell my class about it, is that okay?"

Aiko seemed taken aback, but her expression softened. "I would be happy to help you. What would you like to know?"

She placed the notebook in her lap, readying her pencil. "Could you tell me how you became interested in iryo-ninjutsu?"

"Hmm...well, you have to know the circumstances surrounding my shinobi career. When I joined the Academy, it was during wartime - like most children at the time, I joined when I was four and graduated by the time I was six." Aiko folded her hands under her chin, "Though the First Shinobi War ended shortly before my graduation, there were still heavy disputes going on between Konoha and the other villages. During the peak of the fighting, Tsunade began advocating for a regulation to ensure that there be an iryo-nin on every four man squad to reduce casualties. I started pursuing iryo-ninjutsu well after becoming a genin, and it was for the sake of my team. Knowing that our lives could be in danger every day was a good motivator for me to study hard and learn fast."

She turned around a photo frame on her desk. "This was my genin team - together, we were Team 14. Even with the shaky peace Konoha had secured, there weren't enough hands to go around in the hospital, which meant a lot of us were thrown into the deep end from the start. I had to learn everything the hard way - one day, I brought a fish back to life and the next day, I was healing gashes and burns. I started to enjoy healing, and I found myself wanting to learn more about medicine. When I became a chunin, I was able to stabilize serious injuries, but instead of working in the hospital, I became a full-fledged iryo-nin."

Sakura listened attentively. "Was it dangerous to be working on patients so early on in your training?"

"It was, but Konoha couldn't afford anything else." Aiko's smile held some bitterness, "The main focus at that time was to make sure the patient was breathing, not that they were okay. There's a lot of wounds people can have Sakura-chan, and we only accounted for the physical ones. Some time passed, and before I knew it, the Second Shinobi War began. When my sensei and I came back to Konoha without my teammates, I decided to work in the hospital full-time."

"Were you able to learn more during the Second War?" She flipped to a new page in her notebook absently, "Was the state of the hospital better from when you were a genin?"

Aiko was surprised to hear these questions coming from a child. "For your first question, yes - performing surgeries in a hospital is a different experience compared to treating a comrade on the field. I was the head of the trauma department when the war ended, and I stayed in that position for a decade. As for your second question - it was better in the sense that we saved more lives, but there was still insufficient psychological help for traumatized shinobi. It's very difficult to think about mental health during war because every single person is suffering, which led to a lot of easy-going psych evaluations since we needed people out there fighting."

Sakura nodded. "What happened after Tsunade-sama left?"

"Well, to explain this, you need to know that Tsunade actually retired before the war ended - when I say retired, I mean she left the field entirely." Her expression tightened imperceptibly, "She left Konoha when the Third Shinobi War began. The director at the time was more of a figurehead than anything considering that every medical professional worth their salt looked to Tsunade's teachings for guidance. Her absence led to a lot of chaos, and that's when I stepped in. With leadership passed over to me, I worked on setting up a triage unit - do you know what that is?"

"According to Medical Terminology by Suzumi Kaori, it's the 'sorting of injured or sick people according to their need for emergency medical attention.' Is that right Aiko-sensei?" She saw the surprise flitter across the older woman's face, feeling a bit confused as to what she had said to elicit such a reaction.

Aiko simply laughed, leaning back in her chair. "You're exactly right. You see, before I set up this system, we would separate cases by department - now, by giving patients a label of sorts, we could treat cases by priority and increase the hospital's efficiency. It worked, and that's why the triage unit is still in place to this day regardless of the fact that we aren't in wartime."

Sakura looked up at her briefly. "Would you say this was your first major achievement in the hospital as the director? What did you do after the Third War ended?"

"I would say so, yes. This was the first development I was behind that made the hospital staff trust me." She sighed, "After the war, I tried to push for Tsunade's regulations, but it was slow-going. I was able to set up classes for people who wanted basic training in iryo-ninjutsu, and because it was successful, Hokage-sama allowed me to do the same for ANBU. I'm afraid I can't explain it any further because it's classified, but what I'm trying to do now is standardize the teaching of basic medical knowledge so that shinobi can administer emergency treatment without relying on an iryo-nin."

"Do you think that more shinobi are open to learning iryo-ninjutsu now compared to when you first started out?"

Aiko tilted her head in thought. "There has been an increase in iryo-nin applicants ever since Tsunade became infamous for her medical prowess, but if you're talking about general interest, it's a little complicated. Most shinobi know that having some iryo-ninjutsu knowledge is important, but a lot of them don't care to go further than first aid skills. They expect iryo-nin to help them, but they don't bother to see them as anything more than a healer - when you learn about medicine, you learn everything, such as the human body's pressure points or the different ways someone can bleed out. Iryo-nin are just as skilled as any other shinobi, they just need to be given the chance to showcase their abilities in combat."

Sakura pulled out her iryo-ninjutsu notebook, flipping it to the page of rules she annotated. "Aiko-sensei, if it's alright, can I come in another day to ask you about the rules of iryo-nin? I had some questions about them because I didn't fully understand what each rule meant."

"Let me see what you have, I still have a few minutes before I have to go." She glanced over what the girl in front of her wrote, raising her eyebrows. "I'm impressed. You're bringing up some good points Sakura-chan, ones that some interns wouldn't bother thinking about. I would love to talk to you about this further, here - meet me at five this Friday, I should be free for half an hour. Do you need anything else for your project?"

Sakura bowed her head. "I have everything I need for now. I'll see you later, thank you for your time Aiko-sensei."

She stood up and walked outside, waving to the director before making her way back to the front of the hospital. Inner was excited with how much they discovered today, but what really made Sakura happy was that Aiko-sensei was willing to answer all her questions.

After all, the only other person so receptive of her curious nature was Iruka-sensei.

"So, who did you end up choosing for the project?"

Ino sat next to Sakura during lunch occasionally, chattering away about everything and nothing. "I chose the director of the hospital, Ikeda Aiko."

The blonde pouted. "I wish you did Tsunade-sama, I really wanted to work on it together with you! There's so much to write about, I don't even know where to start. Don't tell anyone, but tou-chan helped me out, he told me stories that my oji-sama told him when he fought with her!"

Sakura felt a little apologetic. "I'm sorry I didn't do Tsunade-sama, but I'm glad it worked out for you."

"Of course it did, I'm the best!" Ino smirked, flipping her hair dramatically, "Anyways, I wanted to invite you to my birthday party this Saturday at three - you have to come Sakura, you're my best friend!"

She nodded. "I should be free, is it at your house? Is there a dress code I need to follow?"

Ino tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Yup, just come to the Yamanaka compound, I'll give you the directions. For the dress code, just wear something nice, like a yukata. Since I'm the clan heiress, my birthday is just an excuse for important people to get together, it's so dumb right? As long as you don't wear purple, you should be fine."

"I don't have a yukata." Sakura frowned, "I have one dress that could be presentable, but it's a little worn out."

Ino gasped. "We have to go shopping! You're in luck, my kaa-chan and I were going to go after school today for my birthday clothes. I think Chouji and Shikamaru are going to be there too, you have to come!"

She was hesitant, but agreed after her friend pouted. "I'll come to look around and see what's there, but I can't promise I'll buy something."

When the school day ended, Sakura grimaced at the amount of money in her wallet. For starters, the orphan stipend she received went to Kimiko, who was technically her caretaker - though the woman was less than nice, she still made sure to give out a weekly allowance to the children. However, the loophole here was that Kimiko didn't have to allot the entire amount to the orphans, she could still withhold most of it if she wanted.

Sakura knew that the other kids didn't care (or know) about this money laundering scheme, but she did. One of the times that she broke into Kimiko's office to look for notebooks was quite fruitful as it led to her finding the orphanage's balance book. She knew that the stipend was 10,800 ryo per month, which meant she should have been receiving 3,600 ryo weekly. Unfortunately, Kimiko kept fifty percent of her weekly allowance, leaving Sakura with 1,800 ryo - this was, overall, a terribly unfortunate situation because she needed money to spend on school supplies.

She discovered this a week into starting the Academy (it's a good thing that we take so many notes, who would've thought it helped out for once? Inner snarked), which meant that she had to be careful with money. Sakura had found a wonderful book called Finance for Beginners by Sasaki Hideki and it taught her some very important lessons in saving up money. She immediately starting putting aside 1,000 ryo each week and stashing it in her notebook, where nobody would bother to look for it.

It was difficult to live off of 800 ryo per week. You could only buy one meal with that much money, but Sakura didn't have other options. She needed to save up until she graduated, which meant she had to live frugally. However, after reading a book about diet and nutrition, she realized that it wasn't a good idea to keep skipping meals. So, the conundrum she found herself in was that she couldn't spend money on food, but she needed to eat more to be a good kunoichi. With some effort, Sakura was able to smuggle some rice and vegetables in a bento for lunch whenever Kimiko didn't give her something.

Now, after nearly four months, she had a whopping total of 10,000 ryo saved up. Unfortunately, she really wasn't willing to blow her money on a dress she would barely wear - Sakura just didn't know how to tell Ino this.

"Come on!" Ino dragged her, running up to a pretty brunette. "This is my best friend Sakura - Sakura, this is my kaa-chan! She's coming with us today kaa-chan, is that ok?"

Sakura bowed her head, "It's nice to meet you Yamanaka-san, I'm sorry for the trouble."

The woman smiled, shaking her head. "Just call me Akari, and really, it's not a problem at all Sakura-chan. I was going to take Shikamaru-kun and Chouji-kun too - do you have something specific you would like to buy in mind?"

"I don't know much about formal clothing Akari-san," she admitted, "I think I'll just listen to whatever Ino says, she has better fashion sense than I do."

Ino huffed proudly. "Honestly, you flatter me too much Sakura! I'll get you the best yukata ever, don't even worry about it!"

Akari was amused. "My daughter certainly has a taste for flashy clothing - don't give me that look dear, remember what you picked last year?"

"How could anyone forget?" A boy with spiky hair yawned (this one is Nara Shikamaru, Inner commented), "Sorry for the holdup oba-san, Chouji couldn't find his chips."

The boy with swirls on his face seemed embarrassed (Akimichi Chouji, Inner snickered, he always has food in his hands). "Where are we going?"

Ino stomped her feet rather petulantly. "Hey! Aren't you going to say hi to us?"

They both turned to look at Sakura for the first time, and she felt a little uncomfortable under Shikamaru's scrutinizing look. "It's nice to meet you guys, I've heard a lot about you from Ino."

"Troublesome woman probably complains about us," he drawled, "you're the one who asks a lot of questions in class, right?"

She glanced at her friend (who raised a fist in anger), opting not to comment on Shikamaru's remarks. "Yes, that's me."

Chouji waved at her shyly. "It's nice to meet you, I think you're really smart. Are you going shopping with us too?"

She nodded, and Akari clapped her hands together. "Alright, now that everyone is here, let's start walking. The store is a across the village, come on kids!"

"What a drag, how much longer do we need to spend here?"

"Just a little longer Shikamaru-kun," Akari viewed the clothes in front of her, "Ino, have you found something you like? This one is quite pretty, isn't it?"

She huffed at what her mother pointed at. "No, it's too plain kaa-chan, I want something with more designs on it."

Sakura had been watching them shop for a while, not even bothering to look around because she knew she wouldn't be able to afford anything. She had privately asked the shopkeeper what the cheapest item in the store was, which turned out to be a plain sky-blue yukata that cost 2,000 ryo. Her budget was 800 ryo, and that was if she decided to forgo buying anything for herself this week.

"Do you see something you like dear?" Akari looked at her, "I think this would would suit you, don't you think?"

Sakura looked at the pastel-pink yukata, eyeing the delicate golden cranes sewn throughout the fabric. "It's very pretty, but I don't think I can afford it."

The older woman shook her head. "I would be happy to pay for it, think of this as my treat for being my daughter's best friend - here, why don't you go try it on?"

"Why do people think we're okay with letting them pay for our stuff?" Inner growled, "She needs to mind her business. We're not a charity case, we can afford things just fine."

"I don't know how to wear yukatas Akari-san," Sakura ignored Inner as she tried to explain her situation, "and I can't let you buy this for me - I won't be able to pay you back."

Akari had a concerned look on her face. "Is everything alright at home dear? Would you like me to speak to your parents?"

She tried to squash her embarrassment away. "I'm an orphan."

Akari seemed horrified. "Sakura-chan, I'm so sorry for assuming...I know you may not want me to buy this for you, so how about this: you can wear the yukata to the party and I'll keep it in my house afterwards. Is that fine?"

"Does that mean I'm borrowing it?" Sakura asked, "I think that should be fine. Higase-san's book said that borrowing is acceptable if both parties agree to the conditions listed."

The older woman seemed relieved. "Well...sure, if that's what you want. Now, why don't you go try it on, I'll teach you how to wear it."

Inner seemed unhappy with this arangement. "She's pitying us, how pathetic. We don't need pity."

Sakura made her way to the changing room, shrugging off her clothes. "Don't be so grumpy. If she's buying it and keeping it in her house, I don't have a problem. I 'borrow' notebooks from Kimiko-san all the time, this is just the same thing expect Akari-san knows I'm borrowing the yukata."

"All right," the older woman closed one cloth flap over the other, "let me show you how to tie the obi. It's a little complicated, but you'll get the hang of it. There, look in the mirror - what do you think?"

The pastel-pink complimented Sakura's hair, and the vibrant red obi highlighted her green eyes. It wasn't a look she was used to - seeing herself dolled up, however, was a surprisingly welcoming sight. "I like it, thank you Akari-san."

Akari grinned. "That's great! Here, I'll go ask the shopkeeper to hold onto this while we find Ino's outfit."

They made their way out the fitting room, and Sakura walked over to where the boys were standing. "Did you guys find something?"

Shikamaru grunted. "Of course, we're just waiting on Ino. She's taking forever to pick something out - someone tell her to hurry up."

She shrugged. "Why don't you just do it?"

"I'm getting hungry," Chouji admitted sheepishly, "maybe I'll just go over and-"

"Kaa-chan!" Ino yelled loudly, "This is the one!"

The three of them looked at each other before making their way to where she was wearing a very...interesting looking yukata. It was lavender, but there were different colors meshed on it, like pale green and light blue. For some reason, it complimented Ino perfectly, and Sakura told her exactly that.

"I knew you'd agree Sakura!" she held a hand to her hip, "What do you guys think?"

Shikamaru groaned. "It looks fine to me, let's just go - we've been here for hours."

Ino looked positively murderous, but Akari cut the argument short, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "It's great dear, let's go pay for everything. Boys - come, give me the yukatas you picked out."

Sakura paid attention during the transaction, noting that her yukata was 2,600 ryo - how did a piece of fabric cost that much money? Akari told her to come over before the party started so she could help her into the outfit, and she easily agreed, not wanting to dirty the yukata in her dinky room. When they left the store, Sakura thanked her profusely, awkwardly accepting a hug from Ino and waving goodbye to Shikamaru and Chouji before making her way back to the orphanage.

As the Nara themselves would say, what a drag.

Chapter Text

"Alright everyone, five laps around the field - don't start with me Shikamaru, get to it!"

Iruka-sensei had been pretty consistent with the physical exercise he made the class do, but that didn't mean Sakura liked it very much. They would start out by running laps around the training field, which then led into a conditioning unit that made her body tremble. It was more exhausting considering how she wasn't eat as much as she should be eating, but that didn't stop her from putting her best efforts into the exercises he gave them.

Usually, Sakura would run beside Ino, who spent the entire time gossiping about the tidbits she heard in the village. It ranged from 'did you know Kanami obaa-san fell off her bed' to 'I heard tou-chan talking about a new prisoner from Iwa' (that was definitely confidential information).

"Are you excited for kunoichi classes today?" Ino panted, keeping pace beside her, "I heard we'll learn ikebana, as if that's challenging for me!"

Sakura glanced at her briefly. "I don't see how ikebana is going to be useful when we become kunoichi."

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Mou, you're not thinking hard enough. If you have the right poisonous flowers, they can take someone out instantly - ikebana is useful if you know what you're doing, and that's coming from someone who works at a flower shop!"

"All right," she wheezed, trying to regulate her breaths, "I'll take your word for it."

They finished their laps, collapsing at the end of the field and greedily drinking from their water bottles. Sakura was pleased with her progress - though she was still scrawny, her muscles were being worked constantly, giving her a baseline to build upon. By the time she graduated, her body would be acclimated to the regime Iruka-sensei was putting them through - apparently, it was only going to get harder from her on out.

"All right everyone," Iruka clapped his hands, "today is going to be a little different than usual. We're going to start the Academy katas - get into five lines, six people in each one! Give each other some space, you'll be moving your arms and legs around a lot."

Sakura stood next to Ino, and from the corner of her eye, she spotted Shikamaru and Chouji making their way to the line she was in. "This is a total drag, why do we have to do this today of all days? I was going to go home and play shogi with tou-san, now I'm going to be too tired."

"You always say that," Ino hissed quietly, "I have half the mind to tell Yoshino oba-san about the stuff you do in class. If she finds out you sleep, you're going to be screwed."

Chouji winced. "That's really harsh, you know how Yoshino-oba is. She'll chase Shika with a broom if you tell her, then she'll yell at Shikaku-oji."

Sakura smiled - it was really funny to see Ino blow up at Shikamaru and Chouji for the smallest things.

"Settle down everybody - now, here's how this is going to work. I'll be doing the katas, and you guys will replicate my movements." Iruka then pointed to the teaching assistant, a man whose hair was tinted blue. "Mizuki and I will walk around and correct your position if it's wrong. There's five basic stances we'll go over - two of them are offensive and two are defensive. The last one can be both, it depends on how you use it. We'll start with the defensive positions."

She watched as he extended a palm, drawing his legs out to balance the weight of his body. Sakura slowly mirrored Iruka's movements, centering herself so that the position felt comfortable. She slipped into each stance as best as she could, with Mizuki gently pushing her foot back or her shoulders forward whenever necessary. Sakura looked over at Ino, noting that she didn't have any trouble with the katas at all.

When the exercise ended, Iruka complimented the class for their hard work. "Good work today guys, from here on out, I highly encourage you all to work on your katas outside of class. Though you may not being using the Academy style forever, it's a solid base that can be built on, so keeping that in mind, try to come up with ways to improve it yourself. Alright, boys, go back into the classroom, and girls, head over to room 5C - your kunoichi class instructor is waiting for you."

Sakura waved at Chouji and Shikamaru before walking with Ino. They made their way to the classroom, sitting in the back and waiting for everybody to come inside. Iruka's class of thirty students had twenty boys, and since there were three other sections for their age group, a whopping total of thirty girls made up the kunoichi class. It was a little jarring that the ratio was so skewed, but that's just how things worked in the shinobi world.

A few minutes later, a woman with shiny, black hair walked into the room, her hazel eyes scanning the sea of students. "Good evening. My name is Nakano Kaoru, you can refer to me as Kaoru-sensei. I am here to instruct your kunoichi classes for the rest of the school year. Before we begin, I'm going to explain how this works - we will meet once a week every Friday from two to four. You will be taking these specialized lessons until you graduate, but each year will focus on a different range of topics. This year is going to be the simplest, where we go over the basics of infiltration. Any questions?"

When nobody raised their hand, Kaoru nodded her head sharply. "Alright, lets get right into it. When you think of someone doing ikebana, dancing, or even singing, most people immediately think of a woman. It's instinctive, and though you may argue about the implications of this statement, kunoichi have to use them to their advantage. For instance, take geisha - can someone tell me why it is unheard of for a man to be a geisha?"

There was a brief silence before someone raised their hand. "Is it because men are clumsy?"

"Not quite. Does anyone else want to guess why?" She leaned against the desk, speaking up when nobody responded. "That was actually a trick question - there were male geishas even before the Warring States Period, and they were known as taikomochi. So the real question now is why female geishas are preferred over their male counterparts? Most of it lies within what their jobs were - taikomochi were entertainers, often spewing fantastical stories and having their clients pay more and more to hear them. Geisha on the other hand, are trained in everything. They learn how to converse, dance, sing, play instruments...the list goes on and on, but that is what made them more appealing to clients."

Kaoru went up to the blackboard. "My first lesson to you is this - do not create a divide between men and women. Whether you are a kunoichi or a shinobi, both have the ability to infiltrate and gather information. The point of these classes is to educate you all about the world we kunoichi live in and teach you how to harness things that have been deemed as 'feminine' into weapons. Just remember that both male and female geishas are effective, but think about the purpose they each had - your understanding of this is crucial."

Ino seemed irritated. "Why are the boys not here then sensei? Isn't it unfair that they don't have to learn about this stuff too?"

"While you sit in here for kunoichi classes, your male classmates are also learning infiltration methods, but they will be instructed how to do so in a different way than what I will show you all." She pointed to the blackboard, "Remember, there's no difference in skill, it's about technique. For example, when you see a woman dressed up in a regal kimono and wearing flattering face paint, some may think she is a flower that needs to be treated delicately. Kunoichi use this to their advantage and gather information, talking to their targets and understanding what is going on before making a move."

Sakura was entranced by this lesson, and she wrote down everything Kaoru spoke, intrigued by the way she explained societal structures in the world. It was fascinating to think about being in the position of a geisha, where you are privy to information that could topple over people in power. She would never underestimate ikebana again because like Ino said, even flowers could destroy the strongest of shinobi.

When the class ended, Sakura had been more than happy to talk to her friend about what they learned, parting with her only because she had to meet Aiko-sensei. She waited outside the office for a bit, taking the extra time to read the annotations she made by the iryo-nin rules. Once inside, the hospital director was happy to answer every single question she had, but there was a glint in her eyes that made the girl wonder if there was something more important about this conversation.

Sakura had been writing more notes than she had ever written before, and she found herself answering some questions as well. Aiko-sensei seemed to want to know more about her thought process, her face betraying none of her emotions as they talked about iryo-nin. Either way, Sakura was learning more about the field, and Aiko-sensei told her that it was a good thing she questioned the rules - it was never a good idea to blindly trust what others said.

At the end, Aiko took a folder from her cabinet and passed it over the desk. "I have to say Sakura-chan, this conversation was eye-opening for me. I admit this was more of a test on my end, and that's mostly because you are so young. I would like to offer you a spot in the iryo-ninjutsu classes offered in the hospital - it's free, and you don't need to know anything before you come in. There's more information inside the packet, just get your guardian's signature and you'll be ready to enter."

Sakura's eyes widened. "I would love to come sensei, thank you for the offer."

"You're a smart and inquisitive child, I think you'll thrive in this field." Aiko gave her a warm look, "I have to go now, but I hope to see you again soon."

The walk back to the orphanage was a little more chaotic. For one, Inner was incredibly upset about getting Kimiko's signature. "Why do we need that stupid woman's permission?"

Sakura sighed. "I don't know, but it shouldn't be a big deal. Kimiko-san signs the forms everyone gives her without looking at them, so I'll be fine."

"Whatever," Inner bit back, "I say we forge the damn signature and go to bed early. We don't need her to know we like iryo-ninjutsu."

It was odd how much of a fight she was putting up - technically, the solution Inner presented was simple. However, Sakura didn't want to risk Aiko-sensei asking Kimiko-san if she had given permission for the classes, even if the probability was low. Iruka-sensei taught them to be honest to fellow villagers, and even if she stole notebooks from the matron, forgery was a little more risqué.

Sakura went inside the orphanage and made her way straight to her room. She shared it with eight other girls, but they mostly stayed away from her and that was perfectly fine - after depositing her backpack, she went to Kimiko's office with the permission slip in her hands. Inner was grumbling away in her head, muttering about how stupid the whole situation was (she could be a real drama queen when she wanted to).

The older woman looked up from her desk, hair frazzled and eye bags deeper than usual. "I don't have time to deal with you right now."

"I understand. Could you sign this paper please?" Sakura placed it on the desk, "It's for the Academy."

Kimiko signed it without even looking. "There you go, now get out."

"See? That was easy, why do you-"

"Don't forget to behave child," Kimiko reminded her just before she went out the office, "I'm sure you haven't forgotten what happens to children who misbehave."

Sakura was utterly confused about what she was talking about, but she nodded her head and quietly made her way to the dining hall. Inner was silent, and that was worrying - usually, she would bitch about Kimiko's attitude, but silence? That was new, even for her. Though it wasn't odd for the matron to make comments like this, she didn't really do anything to warrant such a claim. Sakura ignored it for the time being, focusing on her rumbling stomach and making her way to the dining hall.

It was a bit distasteful, but the food here wasn't inedible. She accepted the yakisoba from the cook, sitting down at a table and eating her portion slowly. A lot of the children here were around her age, but a majority of them were much younger. Usually, people wanted to adopt babies or toddlers, which meant that the older you got, the lesser the chances were of you being adopted. Not that Sakura minded - she liked being independent.

After dinner, she went up to her room and sat on the bed, reading her notes about chakra for the quiz on Monday. Though she knew everything by heart, Sakura liked to read her notes because it was a comforting gesture that made her feel more at ease. It was also a good way to distract her from tomorrow, the day of Ino's birthday party. Sakura had gone to a thrift store on her way home and bought a pair of earrings that the shopkeeper gave her for 200 ryo - it might have been cheap, but it was a present, and that's all that mattered.

Curfew was at eleven, and even though all the girls were settling down for the night, Sakura continued reading her notes. Her bed was by the door, and it was further away from the other cots because she had pushed hers to the window. That way, the moonlight could illuminate the pages and she wouldn't need to squint to read. Unfortunately, she tended to forget how long she would stay up for, which is how she found herself in a sticky situation.

Sakura didn't notice Kimiko's voice, and she startled when the woman entered the room with a frown on her face. "I've told you what happens when you don't sleep during curfew. Come with me child, you know what happens next."

"I'm sorry Kimiko-san," she put her notebook away, "I'll go to bed now."

The older woman glared. "That's what you say every single time, but you still do it. Follow me, you know the drill."

Sakura obeyed, knowing that it was better to follow her than protest - maybe she would get a light scolding, but it wouldn't be that big of a deal. They walked all the way to her office, and for a moment, she thought she saw someone in the shadows. Kimiko acted like nothing was wrong, grabbing her hand and walking to the corner of the room. Inner's voice had been getting louder and louder, screaming all kinds of insults against the matron - Sakura felt dizzy, and then she knew nothing.

Inner was furious. She hated this place, the people, Kimiko, but most of all, she hated the closet. This was where she was born - within these dark walls, where no sound could be heard and nothing could be seen, she waited for the day that Outer would wake up, where she would finally see what was going on.

"Damn this place!" Inner howled, "One day, everybody will know what's happening. When they find out, when they see that this rotten, good-for-nothing woman is an evil hag who gives orphans to weird adults, they'll know they messed up. I'll tell on her and everyone else, I swear it! Outer is smart, we are smart...we'll figure out how to end this."

For some reason, one that Inner hadn't figured out, Outer would never remember their time in the closet, nor would she acknowledge it happened in the first place. Curiously, every time Inner tried to bring it up, she would be shut down immediately, as if something was holding her back from speaking. The whole thing sucked, and it wasn't like she could stop it either - the only time Inner ever got control was when she was in the closet, and she couldn't even leave!

Outer needed to figure this out fast. She didn't even know that Inner was doing this in the first place, along with many, many other things, like taking away her bad feelings and compartmentalizing them. Inner knew she was different, but that didn't matter when Outer was the only one people saw. She was fine with working hard to keep the bad things away, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

Inner sighed, a mean expression forming on her face. She couldn't do much now, she just had to deal with this and sleep - after freaking out for a few minutes (I think it's called an anxiety attack, she mused), Inner finally felt herself falling into a fitful sleep, hoping that Outer would be able to wake up one day.

Maybe when that day comes, they wouldn't be sad anymore.

Sakura woke up in her bed, exhausted - she really had to stop reading so late into the night.

Kimiko-san had scolded her, but she didn't really remember anything past that due to her exhaustion. She couldn't even remember walking back to the room, maybe it was time to start sleeping earlier - she didn't want to ruin her circadian rhythm. Sakura glanced at the clock, relieved to see it was only eleven - after showering and eating breakfast, she made her way to the Naka river with her present in hand, deciding to practice for a few hours before heading to the Yamanaka compound.

Her weekends were mostly spent trying new things out that she read in books or practicing what she already knew, like the chakra control exercises from class. Iruka-sensei had advised them all to train outside of class, but he had emphasized that they shouldn't strain themselves during the process. Sakura knew better than to ignore what he said, so she was careful to not overexert her body.

It was a beautiful day, and since autumn was around the corner, the leaves began changing color already. Families were milling about on the streets while the shinobi took to the roofs - all in all, it was a very typical Saturday in Konoha. Sakura made her way to the riverbank, finding a secluded area to practice her katas - she started by stretching her body slowly, feeling her muscles burn as she moved.

"Well, looks like someone took over my secret training spot." A teenager with dark curls looked at her, an amused smile on his face.

Sakura apologized. "I'm sorry. I can move over to the other side, I'm just practicing my katas."

He grinned. "I'm just kidding chibi-chan, you came here first anyways - where are my manners, I haven't even introduced myself! I'm Uchiha Shisui, at your service."

"I'm Haruno Sakura," she bowed her head lightly, "thank you for letting me practice here." Sakura promptly turned away, getting back into her stretches - she only had a few hours before she had to leave, and she didn't want to waste any more time than necessary.

"Are you training?" Shisui came to stand in in front of her, "you look pretty young - are you in the Academy?"

She moved into a butterfly stretch. "I'm just going to go over the katas Iruka-sensei taught us and yes - this is my first year."

He seemed pleased. "Oh, you're in Sasuke-chan's class then! Hey, want me to give you some pointers?"

Sakura tilted her head - he was wearing a flak jacket, so that probably meant he was a shinobi. "Pointers on what?"

"I'm a chunin, there's a lot I can help you with!" Shisui sat in front of her, flopping down on the grass. "You're going through your katas right? Here, show me what you know right now and I'll see what I can do."

Sakura was hesitant. "Why are you helping me?"

"Well, I'm bored but I'm also interested - not a lot of kids train on the weekend." He seemed to find this funny, as if there was an inside joke in the statement.

She shrugged. "I'm not training for the whole day, I'm going to leave soon for my friend's birthday party."

Shisui straightened up. "Ah, you mean the Yamanaka heiress' birthday right? Sasuke-chan and Itachi are going too, they leave me out of everything!"

Sakura stood up, fiddling with her hair (a nervous habit she had yet to get out of) as she slipped into the positions Iruka-sensei had showed the class, noting that he was watching her very carefully. By the end of her circuit, Shisui clapped his hands and stood up. "Well, that's definitely a start Saku-chan! Here, move into the first position again."

He adjusted her legs, pushing her arms out lightly. "There, hold that - now, try to stop this hit."

Shisui slowly moved his arm forward, and Sakura found that she was able to intercept it without having to shift her body so much. "Oh...it's easier to block now."

"Yup!" He smirked, "Here, let's do that with each of the positions."

For the next hour, Shisui helped her improve her katas, and Sakura was thankful for his help. Sure, it was a little weird that this random teenager decided to be nice to an Academy student, but she wasn't complaining - he was funny and respectful, so she didn't mind his presence. By the end, Sakura felt more confident in her forms and she bowed lightly to Shisui, thanking him for his assistance.

"Saku-chan, you're too kind!" He held his hand over his face dramatically, "Why can't Sasuke-chan be more like you?"

Sakura didn't really know what to say to that. "I'm not really sure - anyways, I have to go now Shisui-san, thank you again for everything."

She grabbed the gift box that she left at the side of the tree, securing it under her arm before waving at Shisui. The Yamanaka compound was near the research facility and the T&I department, which meant it was going to take a while to get there. Sakura didn't mind, she enjoyed the walk - being able to look around the village and take in the sights was a fun activity that she indulged in.

After asking for directions from a merchant just to double-check she was heading in the right direction, the Yamanaka compound was directly in front of her. Sakura informed the gate guards of her purpose, and one of them went to grab Akari, who ushered her inside.

"Welcome dear!" The older woman smiled, "Ino's going to be overjoyed that you came so early - here, let's get you ready for the party."

Sakura nodded, following her to the house and slipping her shoes off at the genkan. Akari led them into a guest room, where she had the pastel-pink yukata and obi draped over the bed. It took a few minutes to put it on, and once that was done, the older woman took a brush to her hair. Sakura sat in the chair patiently, allowing Akari to work through the tangles in her pink locks and style them for her.

When Sakura looked in the mirror, she found that she liked what she saw - her bangs framed her face, but the rest of her hair was tied back into a ponytail that sat in the middle of her head. It felt comfortable, and she immediately decided to wear it like this more often.

Akari was pleased. "You look so pretty Sakura-chan! Alright, let's go find Ino, shall we?"

She nodded, and they made their way to Ino's room - her friend screamed in excitement when she saw her, pulling her inside and giving her a tour of the place. Akari laughed, leaving them alone while she took care of some last minute decorations, reminding the girls to come down soon.

"You got me a present - Sakuraaa!" Ino hugged her tightly, "I'm going to open it right now!"

Sakura was nervous for her reaction, but judging by Ino's wide eyes, her present may not have been bad at all. "These are so pretty! Leave it to my best friend to get me exactly what I wanted!"

The earrings were dainty, the gold highlighting the pretty violet gems that dangled at the end. The shopkeeper said they weren't real, which is why it was only 200 ryo - the way Ino reacted made it seem like she was gifted something invaluable. "I'm glad you like it."

She beamed. "Here, let me put it on and show kaa-chan and tou-chan!"

Sakura helped her put the clasps in, and she found herself being dragged into the backyard, where Ino's parents were placing drinks on a table. Akari cooed over how stunning Ino looked, and Inoichi patted her head fondly.

"My little girl is growing up so fast," he lamented, "try to stay younger for my sake."

Ino blushed, placing her hands over her face. "Tou-chaaaan, don't embarrass me!"

Akari put a hand around Sakura's shoulder. "Come on, let me take a picture of you both!"

They stood next to each other, and Ino held her hand, both of them squished up against one another. She was always surprised by her friend's affections, but she was getting used to it - once the camera flashed, they went over to see the picture. Ino declared that she would frame it, much to Akari's amusement - the older woman said she would give Sakura a copy later.

There was a knock at the door, and Inoichi left to get the guests - the party was about to begin.

Chapter Text

Sakura didn't expect every single clan head to show up to Ino's birthday party.

She had read a book about the clans of Konoha in the library, but it wasn't really specific - it just listed the merchant and shinobi clans along with what they were best known for. That was probably done to ensure that confidential information didn't get leaked, or maybe it was because the village was paranoid about security leaks. Either way, it was a little shocking to see most of her classmates families show up.

It started like this: Ino spotted Shikamaru and his parents first, making a beeline over to them with Sakura in tow as she began boasting about her new earrings. "Aren't they so pretty? It matches my outfit perfectly, right?"

"Yeah it looks fine woman-" the dark-haired lady next to Shikamaru pinched his ear, "-ow!"

The man next to him, probably his father based on how identical they looked, patted her head. "Happy birthday Ino - son, give her the present we got."

Ino opened it immediately, squealing at the expensive looking, lavender deer bracelet. "I love it! Thanks Shikaku-oji and Yoshino-oba!"

"Where's my thank you?" Shikamaru grumbled.

She huffed, turning her head to the side. "You're too lazy to go shopping for presents, I bet you just let your parents get it for me."

"I don't think I've met you before," the woman cut in, "I'm Shikamaru's mother, Nara Yoshino, and this is my husband, Nara Shikaku."

Sakura bowed lightly. "It's nice to meet you Yoshino-san, Shikaku-san - I'm Haruno Sakura."

"She's my best friend!" Ino added on, "See, she got me these earrings!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Sakura's in our class kaa-san, she's the only one who pays attention-!"

Yoshino smacked the back of his head. "Where are your manners! Anyways, it's nice to meet you Sakura-chan! I'm glad my son has friends like you to keep him in line."

Sakura didn't know what to say to that. "Shikamaru is nice."

"That's certainly an interesting way to describe him," Shikaku backed away at the sight of his wife's glare, "err...it's nice to meet you too Sakura."

Ino grabbed both her and Shikamaru's hands, dragging them along when Chouji arrived. Of course, the same pattern followed - Sakura met his parents, introduced herself, and then the four of them went over to a corner of the backyard to sit and talk. Well, it was mostly just Ino talking (as it usually was), she seemed more excited given that she was turning seven.

Sakura tried to start a conversation. "Are you guys ready for the quiz on Monday?"

"Ugh, we are so not talking about school today." Ino complained, "Wait, hold on - let me go greet the new guests!"

She ran away, leaving the three of them alone - Shikamaru immediately sagged in relief. "She's even more bossy on her birthday, what a drag."

"Let her be," Chouji chomped on his chips, "I don't say anything when you talk about shogi."

Sakura heard him bring up the game often, and though she had only read about the rules, she didn't know much about it aside from that. "Is it fun? I've never played before."

Shikamaru gave her a look of disbelief that quickly turned into determination. "Ino will kill me if I get the board out right now, but I'm going to make you play a game with me soon."

"I don't mind," she leaned back on her arms, "it seems pretty interesting."

He nodded in agreement. "It's a strategy game, tou-san usually plays me but he's the Jounin Commander, so it's an unfair matchup. I bet playing you would be pretty fun, you're not as troublesome as I thought you would be."

"Guys!" Ino ran over to them, "Come with me!"

Sakura made to follow her, watching with barely hidden amusement as Shikamaru stood up with a groan, lugging Chouji off the ground before they all made their way to where the adults were. It seemed like a lot more people had showed up, specifically the Hokage's family. She spotted Sasuke and the teenager who was next to him from the first day of the Academy, which meant the Uchiha clan head was here as well.

"Happy birthday Ino-chan!" A woman with bright red hair cooed, "You look so beautiful - here, Naruto has your present!"

The blonde girl gasped at the ornamental hair piece inside the box. "Thank you! I love it, it's so pretty!"

Naruto puffed his chest out. "Kaa-san and I picked it out together!"

"Ah, Shikamaru-kun, Chouji-kun, it's good to see you 'ttebane!" She turned to Sakura, "I don't think I've met you before kiddo - I'm Uzumaki-Namikaze Kushina!"

The pink-haired girl bowed, a lot deeper than she usually did - she really didn't want to offend the Hokage's wife. "I'm Haruno Sakura, it's nice to meet you Kushina-sama."

The woman gawked at her, pulling her up. "Goodness, no need to be so formal! Just call me Kushina, or you can call me oba-san - ugh, you're so cute!"

"Kushina, please don't scare her away," the Hokage sighed at his wife's antics, "Sakura-chan, it's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too Hokage-sama." Sakura bowed lowly, hoping her etiquette was correct.

He tried to hide the grimace on his face. "Just call me Minato, and drop the sama, really - it's good to see you as well Shikamaru-kun, Chouji-kun."

The boys waved to him, exchanging their own greetings before Kushina spotted a woman with black hair, running to her. Minato sheepishly excused himself before ambling over to the adults, leaving the kids alone. Of course, Ino marched them back to the corner where they had been sitting in, clapping her hands gleefully. "Alright, let's get to know each other! Here, I'll ask a question and then then everyone goes around in the circle answering it - hmm...let's see, how about this: what's your favorite food? Mine is chocolate pudding!"

Chouji was right next to her, his expression serious. "Potato chips, the pork rind flavored ones."

"Mackerel," Shikamaru yawned, "I like kelp too."

Naruto grinned. "Ramen - it's the best thing ever 'ttebayo!"

Sakura didn't know what her favorite food was, she didn't have a lot of variety in her meals. "Dango, the pink flavor."

"An excellent choice," she turned to find a familiar teenager walk up to them with Sasuke, "do you mind if we join?"

Ino patted the grass. "Sure!" she pointed to Sasuke, "Hey, you're in our class, right?"

He nodded, making his way to sit next to Naruto. "Hn."

"Sasuke, be nice," the teenager sighed, handing her a box, "I am Uchiha Itachi, thank you for inviting us - happy birthday Ino-chan."

"Thank you!" She took the present from his hands, opening it excitedly. "Oooh! I love it, red is totally my color!"

Itachi's lips tilted upwards. "I'm glad you like it."

Shikamaru pointed to everyone and introduced them to speed things up. "Akimichi Chouji, I'm Nara Shikamaru, Namikaze Naruto, I'm sure you know Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and that's it for introductions. Ino, ask the next question."

She clicked her tongue. "It's my birthday, don't boss me around! Anyways...how about everybody's least favorite foods?"

They went around the circle a few times, answering the questions one by one - sometimes, Naruto and Sasuke would argue about their answers. Sakura knew that they probably fought a lot considering how they both insulted each other in class as well, but Ino was not having it: she yelled at them to shut up multiple times, ignoring Sasuke's glare (which really wasn't that scary).

Itachi was quite pleasant. He was quiet, but Sakura didn't think he was necessarily shy - he only spoke when he had to and he seemed to be comfortable with the game they played. Ino was on a spiel about something, so she turned to look at him. "I think I met your friend earlier Itachi-san, his name was Shisui."

He didn't seem surprised. "Yes, my cousin told me about you before we left. I'm sorry for his eccentric behavior, he's a bit...much sometimes."

"I don't mind," she replied, "Shisui-san was kind enough to help me with my katas."

Itachi nodded, and that was that - the game continued again, but it wasn't long before more newcomers arrived to the circle. "Yo! I'm Inuzuka Kiba and this is my partner, Akamaru - Shino, get over here!"

A boy with a jacket that covered his mouth appeared from nowhere (what the hell, Inner grunted, where did he come from?) "I am Aburame Shino."

They both joined the group, but chaos erupted when Kiba and Naruto started arguing about their favorite animals, which then pulled Sasuke into the mix (he was quite vehement about cats being the best). Then they trampled on Chouji's chip bag, and Shikamaru was attempting to restrain him while Ino screamed at them to stop fighting - Shino was quietly petting Akamaru, ignoring the conflict altogether. Sakura turned to look at Itachi, both of them silently agreeing to remain seated.

"I can ask the next question," she offered, "what's your favorite subject in school?"

He considered it carefully. "I was only in the Academy for a year, and it's been a long time since I graduated. When I was a student, I enjoyed science."

Sakura smiled. "Me too, math is a close second. When did you graduate Itachi-san?"

"I joined when I was six and I graduated when I was seven." He seemed amused by her expression, "I became a chunin when I was ten, and I'm twelve now."

She leaned back a bit. "I've never heard of anyone graduating so early."

Itachi seemed to understand her confusion. "I'm not the first. Hatake Kakashi graduated when he was five, became chunin by the time he was six, and was a jounin at twelve."

"Kakashi-san?" Sakura was surprised, "I met him once when I was at the Dango Shop."

Now it was his turn to be surprised. "You've met Kakashi-senpai?"

She explained how she met a group of shinobi in her quest to understand who took leadership of the hospital. Itachi seemed impressed by her methodology, even if he didn't outwardly show it - before they could go back to the game, Kushina came up to them with a woman with black hair.

"We can hear you guys all the way from the other side, what in kami's name is going on here?"

He straightened up. "Kaa-san, I apologize, I don't know what got-"

"Namikaze Naruto!" Kushina growled, stomping up to her son, "Just what do you think you're doing 'ttebane!"

Currently, the blonde boy was wrestling Kiba, his light orange yukata dirty in several places - curiously, Kushina's hair was floating up in the air, parting into nine sections and making her seem a hell of a lot scarier. "Kaa-san! I swear I wasn't doing anything-"

"Oh?" She cracked her knuckles, "Wanna try again?"

Naruto paled. "I'm sorry! We were just playing, right?"

"Of course!" Kiba was smart enough to go along with him, "We just...err, we're trying to find something in the grass."

"Mou!" Ino put her hands on her hips. "This is my birthday party, how dare you guys fight-"

Shikamaru covered her mouth. "Shut up before this gets any worse, please. I don't want kaa-san to come over here and lecture me too."

"To think Sasuke would act this way too," the woman sighed, turning to Sakura with a small smile, "Where are my manners - I'm Uchiha Mikoto, you must be Sakura-chan? Akari was telling us how well-behaved you are, I wish I could say the same for my youngest son."

Sakura bowed. "It's nice to meet you Mikoto-san."

"Alright, they'll behave now," Kushina walked over to them with a blinding grin, "I wish Fugu-teme saw this! He would blow his lid if he saw his cute little son throwing a tantrum!"

Mikoto hissed. "Kushina! Don't swear in front of the kids!"

They walked away, the redhead gesturing wildly with her arms about something that made the Uchiha matriarch laugh. Sakura looked over at Ino, noticing how her friend was getting more upset by the second. Deciding it was best to do some damage control, she walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, do you want to get some food? I'm a little hungry, we've been here for a while."

"Good idea," Ino brightened up, "guys, come on! We're going to go eat!"

The boys were calmer now, but they still ran ahead of them to go to the little food stand that was set up in the corner. Ino dragged Sakura behind her, running to catch up with them. It wasn't long before they were all sharing some takoyaki at the designated kids table (somehow, Itachi was made to sit there as well).

Ino whispered to her mid-bite, "That girl is in our class, right?"

Sakura turned to see a pale-eyed girl with black hair walk beside who appeared to be her father - he seemed stern, face tight and posture rigid as he shook hands with Inoichi. "Yes, I think that's Hyuuga Hinata."

The blonde was out of her seat in a flash, running over and grabbing the girl's hand, speaking with her briefly before dragging her to where they sat. "Guys, this is Hinata! Hinata, this is Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Itachi, Sasuke, Naruto, and my best friend, Sakura!"

"Hello," she responded meekly, "it's n-nice to meet everyone."

Sakura watched as Ino shepherded her into the seat between them, grabbing a plate of food and some water. "Here, have some takoyaki! I hope you like octopus, it's my favorite!"

"It's good, thank you Ino-san," Hinata replied, nibbling the snack timidly, "I enjoy t-tuna in mine sometimes."

She pouted. "Mou, just call me Ino!"

Sakura smiled, the conversation reminding her of when she met her friend for the first time - she went to take a sip of water, noticing that the boys had mostly finished eating as well. Not wanting to interrupt Hinata and Ino, she turned to Naruto, who sat next to her. "Did you study for the quiz on Monday?"

His eyes widened comically. "I knew I was forgetting something!"

"You always forget dobe," Sasuke rolled his eyes, "sometimes I wonder how you're the Hokage's son."

"Shut up teme!"

Sakura cleared her throat, unsure of what to say. "I don't think it'll be too difficult, you should be fine Naruto."

"I'm terrible at studying though," he sighed, "kaa-san says I'm a visual learner, she said she's the same way too."

"Maybe you can make flashcards?" She suggested, "Iruka-sensei told us to do that early on to remember important concepts easily."

Sasuke gave her a judgemental look. "You seem to follow everything sensei says."

Sakura was confused. "I find Iruka-sensei's advice to be helpful, it's useful for studying."

"You're so smart Sakura-chan, I wish I was more like you." Naruto gave her a pleading look, "Maybe you can take the quiz for me?"

"Idiot, don't make other people fail because of your stupidity."

"What'd you say to me?"

"I think you'll do fine," she tried to diffuse their argument, "I'm sure Kushina-san and Minato-san can help you out."

Naruto huffed. "Yeah, they probably can, but I want to try doing it alone. I can't always depend on their help 'ttebayo, if I'm going to be Hokage, I have to be able to do this by myself!"

Sakura was surprised by his statement. "Is that what you want - to become Hokage?"

"He shouts about it every day in class," Sasuke ignored the look of irritation he received, "I don't know how you haven't heard it yet."

"Sorry," she apologized, "I'm usually focused on taking notes. Good luck Naruto, I hope you achieve your goal one day."

Naruto stopped fiddling with his food, staring at her with hesitation in his eyes. "You really think I can do it?"

"I think anybody can do what they want if they work really hard for it." Sakura looked at Sasuke, "What about you? What's your dream?"

He glanced at Itachi briefly. "None of your business."

"Teme! Don't be mean," Naruto smacked him back lightly, "he wants to be the head of the Police Force."

Sasuke glared at him. "Dobe!"

"That sounds nice," Sakura commented idly, "I'm sure you'll both succeed one day."

They turned to look at each other before looking at her - curiously, both of them seemed embarrassed by her encouragement. "Ne, Sakura-chan, what do you wanna do then?"

"Well, I'm not sure what I want to do specifically, but I know that I want to be an iryo-nin," she smiled at them genuinely, "so let's work hard to achieve our goals together."

Naruto blushed, and even Sasuke's ears turned a little red. Before Sakura could say anything further, Inoichi called everyone to get together, and Ino immediately pulled her and Hinata out of their chairs. Akari had a large sheet cake set up, the purple frosting and flowers contrasting with the bright white lettering that had 'Happy Birthday Ino!' written atop it.

Sakura was glad that Ino was happy, and she caught on to the birthday song they were singing fairly quickly, repeating the words along with everyone else. Among her classmates and hopefully, future friends, she was content with the way things were. Ino made her mother take a picture of all of them for her special day, holding Sakura's hand as they posed for the camera.

She would always treasure this day and the memories it gave her.

The packet Aiko-sensei had given her was surprisingly thick, and that was mostly because it had the content of all the upcoming lessons.

However, the first few pages specifically instructed not to read everything all at once. Sakura noted that the classes were held weekly on Sundays from three to five - it was a eight month long course, resulting in the students final decision to apply for an apprenticeship. It was a bit jarring to think that she would be eventually be able to use her chakra actively, most likely to perform the Mystical Palm technique.

Aiko-sensei seemed confident that Sakura could do it, even if she was considerably younger than most iryo-nin hopefuls. She was ready to take these lessons head on, itching to learn more about the inner workings of medicine. That is how she found herself walking to the hospital the next day, backpack strapped with two extra notebooks inside - Sakura was nervous, but she was more than ready for this.

The class was in a more secluded part of the hospital, near the medical lab sector - as soon as she spotted the room, she double checked with the packet to see if it was the right place before stepping inside. Aiko-sensei was standing at the front, smiling once she saw her. "Looks like you made it - here, I'll take the form from you, go on and have a seat."

Sakura handed the permission slip before sitting in the front, grabbing her iryo-ninjutsu notebook and placing it on the desk. She was a few minutes early, but it didn't take long for people to begin filling the room - every time someone entered, their jaw dropped at the sight of a little six year old child.

"It's been a while chibi-chan." Genma got into the seat next to her, the senbon in his mouth twitching as he smirked.

Sakura waved. "Hello Genma-san, what brings you here?"

He sighed. "I was...encouraged to take this class after I landed myself in the hospital again, and I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea."

"I see," she looked over at his empty desk, "are you going to take any notes?"

Genma waved his hand nonchalantly. "I'll be fine, don't worry too much kid. Anyways, what-"

"Since everyone is here, let's begin." Aiko-sensei surveyed the room, the whispers shutting down immediately, "I am Ikeda Aiko, the director of the hospital and one of the teachers for this class. I won't be here often, but I will be leading some of these lectures - your primary instructor will be Hyuuga Daichi. I hope you have all read the introductory section of the packet, so you should know that this is an eight month long course. If you wish to drop out, you will not be given a chance to enter again - our time is precious, so don't waste it. If you don't pass the assessments we hand out each month, you will be given a strike - after two strikes, you will be dropped from the class."

She began writing on the blackboard. "You will spend a majority of time learning the science behind iryo-ninjutsu, mainly going over biology, anatomy, biochemistry, and physiology. Understanding how the human body works is crucial - if you try to heal someone without this knowledge, you could severely wound them. Since we will only meet thirty-two times, the course will be fast-paced. My best advice is to be patient and ask questions when you are confused."

With that, Aiko-sensei began with biology, starting from what cells are and the different processes they undergo - Sakura found that she liked how information heavy the class was. For the next two hours, the room was filled with the sound of writing, and by the end of it, she was already excited for what they would cover next week.

Genma seemed a little more wary though. "That was certainly...interesting."

They were standing outside, and Sakura peered up at him. "It was, I enjoyed it."

"Of course you did." He twirled the senbon in his mouth innocently, "Tell you what, I was going to grab an early dinner - want to come with me? It'll be my treat, think of it as a thank you for helping me out."

Halfway through the lecture, Genma realized that he actually did need to take notes because there was way too much information to remember, leading to her tearing out several sheets from her notebook for his use (she placed high value on her school supplies). "Higase-san's book said that a trade is an equivalent exchange of goods, so I think this is acceptable - where are we going?"

"Right...well, I was thinking about Yakiniku-Q, have you ever had barbeque before?"

Sakura shook her head. "No, what's that?"

Genma crouched down to the ground. "You'll find out - here, hop on, it'll take too long if we walk."

She was hesitant, but he was a shinobi of Konoha and that meant he would be her comrade. Iruka-sensei told them that they had to trust their comrades, which is why she go on his back without much of a fuss.

"You're way too light kid," he patted her legs, "I'm going to jump now, hold on tight."

It was exhilarating. The wind blew through Sakura's hair, making her pink strands fly in the air - she tightened her hold on Genma's neck, but she wasn't afraid to fall down. He ran so fast that everything around her was a blur, making her eyes sting a little at the abruptness of it all. Sakura didn't expect them to stop so soon, it only felt like a few seconds had passed - maybe this was a bad goal to have, but she wanted to learn how to run like this as soon as possible.

"Here we are," Genma helped her to the ground gently, "you'll see why I love coming here."

They went inside, sitting at a booth and looking over the menus. Sakura didn't know what to get, so she let him order for them - it wasn't long before a selection of meats and vegetables came over to their table, the grill in between them hot and sizzling.

Genma held his chopsticks up. "Here, just put the food on top and cook it for as long as you like. When it's done," he took it off the grill, "you can dip it into this sauce or eat it with rice. Here, try it yourself."

Sakura did what he said, chewing on the meat slowly. "It's really good, thank you Genma-san."

"No problem. So...how's the Academy going?"

"Good."

He sighed, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'mini-Kakashi' under his breath. "You have to give me more than that kid - here, how about this: what are you learning right now?"

Sakura ate a bite of rice. "We learned how to do katas the other day. Iruka-sensei also taught us about nature transformations, he gave us a piece of chakra paper to see what our affinities are. Mine is earth, but I'm not sure what kind of jutsus I can learn with it."

"Earth, huh?" Genma gave her an assessing look, "It's a bit rare for people in Hi no Kuni, but it's very useful for defensive maneuvers. You can use it offensively too, but that takes more work - you need good chakra control regardless of what nature you have."

She nodded, silently grilling some vegetables - it was times like this that she wished she was like Ino, who could make conversation with anyone. "I'll keep that in mind, thank you. Would...would you like to play a game? My friend said it helps people get to know each other, we played it yesterday and it was fun."

He smirked. "Alright, how do you play?"

Sakura explained the rules, and it wasn't long before they went back and forth with questions and answers. It was easy talking to Genma, and that was most likely because of his laid back nature - he was also receptive to her interest in reading. Apparently, he had been on a team with Ebisu, another tokubetsu jounin who was just as bookish as her.

"He was, and still is, a total nerd," Genma rolled his eyes at the memory of his teammate, "now he's become a trainer for elite shinobi."

Sakura didn't see what was wrong with that. "I think reading is fun, I'm sure Ebisu-san thinks so too."

"Gen?"

They turned to find a woman with purple hair walking up to their table, a frown on her face. "This is really ridiculous, are you using a child to flirt with someone?"

Genma's jaw dropped. "Yugao! I am not - kid, tell her how we got here, please."

Sakura bowed her head slightly. "Hello, I'm Haruno Sakura. I met Genma-san a few months ago when I used him as a reliable source for my project in the Academy, and now we're taking the iryo-ninjutsu classes at the hospital together. I gave him some paper for notes and he offered to buy me dinner so that it would be an equal transaction of goods. I'm not sure what it means to flirt-"

"-and you don't need to know, you're a child." He grumbled.

"I see," Yugao seemed relieved, "I'm Uzuki Yugao, it's nice to meet you Sakura-chan. I'm surprised you actually went through with the classes Genma, I thought you would argue with Hok-"

He cleared his throat, interrupting her. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Kurenai's been bugging me about learning iryo-ninjutsu for a while, she said it was helpful - I figured I might as well do it."

"Well, considering how I was the one who made her take them in the first place, I'm not surprised that's how she feels. Aiko-sensei is really great, you're lucky." She glanced behind her briefly, "anyways, I just came to say hello, Hayate's waiting for me. I'll see you soon Gen, please don't corrupt the youth and be more responsible. It was nice to meet you Sakura-chan."

Genma rolled his eyes. "When have I...whatever, go have fun with your boyfriend. We need to leave soon anyways."

Sakura was genuinely surprised by how much time had passed, and she waved at Yugao before turning to him. He had already called the waitress over for the check. "I'll take you home kid, don't stress."

"I can contribute some-"

"I have a permanent discount because I was on Choza-sensei's genin team, I promise it's not as expensive as you think it is." Genma counted some bills before placing it down on the table. "Come on, let's go."

Sakura followed him outside. "Chouza-san was your sensei?"

"You know him?"

"He's my friend Chouji's father. I just met him for the first time yesterday."

Genma crouched down again. "The last time I saw Chouji-chan, he was a baby. Here, get on - you live in the orphanage, right?"

She nodded, getting on his back - secretly, she was excited to travel this way again. Sakura enjoyed it as much as she could, noting how brilliant Konoha was when it was dark - it was pretty, the lights twinkling under the night sky and the moon shining brightly above her head. When they arrived, she slid off his back and thanked him.

"Don't mention it kid," he shrugged, "I feel bad for taking your stuff. I'll see you next week, don't work too hard."

After Genma left, Sakura walked inside the building, making her way to her room and slipping her backpack off. It had been a long day, but she had learned so much - she couldn't wait for what the rest of the year held for her.

Chapter Text

Ino's birthday party led to several changes at school the following week.

Sakura would usually sit alone during lunch, with Ino being the only to sit with her - sometimes, she would drag her off to Shikamaru and Chouji so they could all eat together. For the most part, the blonde was a social butterfly who liked flitting about and making new friends. This week, however, was different - Sakura found herself sitting with everybody she met (sans Itachi for obvious reasons).

Kiba and Naruto seemed to get along relatively well aside from play-fighting every once in a while, but Akamaru would just sit to the side while that happened. The rest of the them would laze around, making conversation about whatever there was to talk about. Ino was glued to her and Hinata's sides, stating that 'the girls have to stick together,' and neither of them went against it. All in all, it was a pretty good arrangement.

Sakura made an effort to get to know her new friends. She knew that Shino liked insects and would regularly interact with his kikaichu, so she asked him a variety of questions about how this worked. It was interesting to learn that his colony was interspersed within his chakra system - who knew that kikaichu only needed chakra to survive?

She also learned that she was the only civilian among the group - every single one of her friends were clan kids, and most of them were heirs. Sakura wasn't sure how she ended up in this situation, but she decided to be careful not to anger anyone important since she didn't have the backing of a clan or a family to protect her.

Currently, Shikamaru had cornered her after school and invited her to his house to play shogi. "My parents won't say anything, come on woman."

Sakura relented. "Well, if they're fine with it I have no problems."

They walked alongside each other in companiable silence. According to her book, the Nara clan were known for their ability to manipulate shadows, making them formidable foes on the battlefield. Sakura wasn't surprised to learn that they were also highly intelligent - Shikamaru might have been lazy, but he was exceptionally smart.

"You live near the forest?" She asked, shooting him a confused look.

Shikamaru nodded. "Our clan tends to the deer, we have a special connection with them - it's nice though, I can watch clouds all day without any interruptions."

Sakura smiled, because of course he would like it for that reason. "Can I meet the deer?"

"They're not so trusting of outsiders, I'll have to ask tou-san." He waved lazily at the gate guards, "Come on, I live this way."

His house was nearly as big as Ino's, if not bigger - she was stunned by the size of it. Sakura was mostly impressed by the fact that the literal forest was Shikamaru's backyard - the trees stood tall, and the vegetation seemed brighter, if that was even possible. Shikamaru led her to the genkan, where they slipped off their shoes and put their backpacks down by the coffee table.

"Oh, we have a guest?" Yoshino came to greet them, "Sakura-chan, it's good to see you again - how was school?"

Sakura bowed her head lightly. "Hello Yoshino-san, thank you for having me. School was good, we practiced-"

"It was fine kaa-san," Shikamaru cut in, grabbing her wrist, "we're going to play shogi now."

Yoshino put a hand on her hip. "Don't play for too long you two, dinner is going to be ready in a few hours."

Sakura didn't get to ask her what she meant because Shikamaru had already dragged her away to the shogi room. She noticed that the walls had some ink markings on them, and when he saw her puzzled look, he explained what it was. "Those are silencing seals - if you channel some chakra into them, nobody can hear us outside."

"So this is fuuinjutsu?" She remembered Iruka-sensei talking about the specialization in class, "It seems complicated."

He shrugged, setting up the pieces on the board. "Hokage-sama made them for tou-san since he's a sealing expert, here - let's play."

Sakura kneeled down, looking at the board with trepidation. "I only know the basic rules, so I probably won't be very good at this."

Shikamaru reiterated that it didn't matter before he made the first move, gesturing for her to continue. From an objective standpoint, she could understand why this was a good strategy game - in order to capture the king, you had to make certain sacrifices, letting go of some pieces to acquire others. Sakura realized that she was definitely unprepared, especially after losing the first match within a span of ten minutes.

"Not bad," Shikamaru mused, "but you hesitated too much. You only focused on protecting the king, which is how I captured both your generals - you have to look at the whole board, not just one part of it."

She understood what he saying, determined to change her approach. Sakura was pleased that each time they played, she was able to last longer - she was even able to trap Shikamaru's gold general and capture it, making him pause and think about his next move for a few minutes. It felt like no time had passed when Shikaku stepped into the room, watching them with his eyebrows raised. "You've been playing for two and a half hours now, I'm impressed."

Sakura turned to him, bowing her head lightly. "Hello Shikaku-san, how are-"

"Pay attention." Shikamaru moved his rook, capturing her knight.

As she tried to figure out how to counter his attack, Shikaku moved to sit beside them, gazing at the board with calculative eyes. He didn't say anything during the rest of the match, only speaking once Sakura lost for the seventh time. "Not bad, she almost got you at the end."

Shikamaru leaned forward a little. "I know, it was troublesome - is it time for dinner?"

"Yes, let's go help your mother set up the table." He turned to Sakura, "I hope you like unagi, we bought it fresh from the market today."

She had originally been confused as to why she was invited for dinner, but after spending so much time playing shogi (a game that Shikamaru clearly valued highly), she thought that the trade-off was fair. "I've never had unagi before."

"Kaa-san makes it really well," Shikamaru yawned, "come on, let's go before she yells at me."

Sakura followed them out to the kitchen, noting that Yoshino had began just finished cooking. "Just in time - Shikaku, help me move the food. Sakura-chan, would you like to set the table with Shikamaru?"

She nodded, moving to follow him - he handed her some utensils, following his instructions for how to place them on the table. Sakura had never done this before, but it was a learning experience, one that she decide to file away when she got her own apartment. After they finished setting the table, Shikamaru sat down, gesturing for her to sit next to him.

Sakura found that she liked the zabuton - it was really comfortable and thick, she could barely feel the tatami mat on floor. Shikaku and Yoshino sat down once everything was brought out - after they said their thanks, she tried the fried unagi that Shikaku had told her about.

"This is delicious, thank you Yoshino-san." Sakura had it with some rice, finding it to be quite tasty.

Yoshino was pleased. "You're too kind, really - so, why don't you tell us more about yourself! What do you want to do after you graduate?"

"I want to become an iryo-nin," she sipped some miso soup, "I went to my first iryo-ninjutsu class yesterday at the hospital."

Shikaku seemed impressed. "You're pretty young, I thought that the minimum age to join was thirteen."

"Aiko-sensei made an exception for me," Sakura explained, "she said that all I needed was to get my guardian to sign a permission slip."

Shikamaru had a look of realization on his face. "Aiko, as in, Ikeda Aiko? The person you presented about in class?"

"Yes, she's teaching some of the classes." She was surprised he remembered her project, but was grateful nonetheless - that meant her goal of spreading awareness about Aiko-sensei's achievements was working.

"That's wonderful dear," Yoshino smiled, "I've heard great things about Aiko-san. I remember seeing her when I was a chunin, she's well-respected by the hospital staff."

Sakura's face morphed into barely concealed admiration. "Yes, Aiko-sensei is amazing - she's very knowledgeable and patient. I hope I can work with her one day to change the rules for iryo-nin."

"Changing the rules?" her friend repeated, "Why would you want to do that?"

As Sakura began explaining herself, Shikamaru listened attentively - Shikaku and Yoshino shared a secretive look because they knew their son. Even if Ino had introduced them to each other, his parents knew that under normal circumstances, Shikamaru wouldn't pay much attention to newcomers. To think that he was open to playing shogi with her, a game he only ever played with Shikaku, meant that Sakura was important to him.

"You bring up some good points." Shikaku was thoroughly impressed by this girl, her intelligence was clearly more developed than other children. "Konoha needs more people who ask questions like you do."

Yoshino agreed. "Absolutely. You know, you should come over and have dinner with us more often dear - it's always nice to meet Shikamaru's friends."

"Are you sure? I don't want to take up your time."

"I'm fine with it," Shikamaru shrugged, "that just means we can play more shogi together."

Sakura didn't really have a problem with it then - as long as they played shogi before dinner, the trade would be fair. She concluded that it was really nice to eat with other people, especially her friends. Shikamaru was a good friend who listened whenever she talked, and that was something she valued highly - after they finished eating, she helped clean up, much to Yoshino's chagrin.

"Here, I'll walk you home," Shikaku began heading to the door, "Shikamaru, do you want to come?"

Her friend lazily moved forward, slipping his shoes on and handing Sakura her backpack. After looking outside and seeing that it was dark, she was thankful that she didn't have to go back to the orphanage alone. Once she had said goodbye to Yoshino, they made their way out the compound.

"When we went shopping for clothes, you went the other way," Shikamaru looked over at her, "is that where the civilian district is?"

Sakura nodded her head. "Yes, it's a few streets away from the Academy."

They walked in silence, and once they were on the edge of the civilian district, the orphanage came into view. She was glad that the lights were still on - that meant she hadn't broken curfew yet. "Thank you for walking me back - I'll see you tomorrow Shikamaru."

Shikaku didn't show any outward reaction, but Shikamaru seemed shocked by the fact that she lived in the orphanage - neither said anything further, waving goodbye to her and making their way back to the Nara compound. Was it really that shocking to find out she was an orphan?

Sakura was too tired to think about that as she made her way to her room before getting ready for bed.

The rest of the week had been pretty uneventful (aside from getting to know her friends more).

When it was finally Saturday, Sakura found herself back near the Naka river - her goal for today's training session was pretty simple. Aiko-sensei had mentioned that in order to use iryo-ninjutsu, you had to have an advanced control over your chakra. That is why she went to the library to look for chakra control exercises, writing down everything she could find.

The part of the library she frequented was for Academy students - there were other levels, but you could only access them based on your rank. So far, Sakura could only learn theory, and that was because the advanced exercises were above her clearance level. She did however, note that one book, specifically A Guide to Water Release by Senju Tobirama, referenced tree and water walking briefly. The Nidaime explained how he used these chakra control exercises as a base to build upon his control over the five basic nature transformations. Tobirama-sama noted that his mastery over water was the result of hard work - it might have been his primary affinity, but being able to pull droplets out of the air was purely chakra control.

Sakura was fascinated by his thought process, and she decided that when she started using earth release jutsus, she would try to hone it by using his principles. One thing she already knew was that the leaf exercise they did in class was a form of chakra control. Iruka-sensei had told them that they had to concentrate in order to channel the chakra needed to stick the leaf to their forehead. Since the object in question was small and delicate, it was important to not overload it with chakra.

That led to Sakura questioning what else she could stick to herself - what if she used a book or a pen? Taking a page out of Tobirama-sama's book, she created a list of probable chakra control exercises, dividing them into ones she knew about versus ones she thought about. When Sakura showed it to Iruka-sensei, he had been pleased to see how creative she was - however, he was also firm about what she could and couldn't attempt.

He had given her a tentative go ahead to attempt tree walking, but he insisted that it had to be done under supervision. That was why Sakura showed up to the secluded clearing she had met Shisui in, hoping that he might be there again.

"Saku-chan?"

She turned around to find a familiar curly-haired Uchiha walking towards her with a smile on his face. "Hello Shisui-san."

He grinned. "Are you training again?"

"I am," Sakura responded, pointing to a tree, "I got permission from Iruka-sensei to try tree walking, but he said I can't do it alone. Could you supervise me while I attempt it?"

Shisui's eyes widened a little. "That's pretty ambitious for your age...but if you sensei said it was okay, I guess it's fine. Go on, try it out for yourself - if you fall, I'll catch you!"

She nodded, standing at the base of the tree. Theoretically, it was a simple task: Sakura had formulated an idea for how this was going to work based on the fact that Genma had run across rooftops and buildings with ease, his feet latching onto the surface to keep him in place. With that in mind, she closed her eyes, concentrating on working a fixed amount of chakra to the bottom of her feet.

Once that was done, she took her right foot and placed it on the bark. Unfortunately, the traction wasn't enough - Sakura focused on increasing the trickle of chakra, enlarging the surface area of her flow so that she could stick to it securely. After tinkering with the amount that had to be channeled to her foot, she tried stepping away, pleased to see that she wasn't able to remove her foot from the tree.

Now came the hard part. Sakura lifted her left leg up, teetering slightly before repeating the same process again - with both legs latched firmly to the bark, she had to start walking up. She was already sweating, the effort of concentrating on her chakra flow taking a lot of energy out of her. Shisui had opted to stay quiet, but from the corner of her eye, she could tell he was waiting to see what she would do next.

Sakura cut off the flow of chakra in her right foot, trying to unstick it so she could move forward. As soon as she was able to lift it up, she lost her balance - though the distance to the ground was short, Shisui still caught her, just like he said he would. "Not bad Saku-chan!"

She brushed off the dirt on her pants and tried again - rather than cutting off all the chakra in one foot, she decided it would be smarter to decrease the flow just enough to lift it off the tree. This time, Sakura was able to walk a couple steps before she fell, determined to make it up to the lowest branch before calling it a day.

"Your channeling chakra to your feet perfectly fine," Shisui commented, placing her on the ground for the fifth time, "but you keep falling because you're not trusting yourself to maintain the flow."

Sakura cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it this way - how do shinobi run up trees so fast? We are capable of channeling chakra to places of our body intrinsically, so once you know you can do it, you have to trust your body to continue the process." He pointed to his eyes, "For example, when I want to activate my Sharingan, I can do it automatically - it's the same idea, you just have to put it into practice."

That did seem reasonable - she turned back to the tree, staring at the branch she was going to climb up to. Sakura breathed in deeply, focusing on her destination, slowly walking up without hesitating. Though she lost her balance once or twice, Shisui's advice stayed at the forefront of her mind - she had to trust she could do this.

"Good job!" Shisui called out to her as she sat on the branch, a blinding smile on his face.

Saura was pleased with her progress, and she climbed back down without much hassle. Though she might not have been able to go all the way up, she had been able to control her chakra and complete an exercise that most Academy students couldn't do. "Thank you for your help Shisui-san."

He smirked. "Of course Saku-chan!"

She went to grab her backpack. "I'll see you later-"

"Sorry I'm late, tou-san needed me for something." Itachi stepped into the clearing, blinking slowly at the sight in front of him. "Sakura-chan?"

"Hello Itachi-san," she waved, "I was about to leave."

Shisui pouted. "Aww, are you sure Saku-chan? You can stay if you want, 'tachi and I don't mind."

Sakura shook her head. "I promised to meet Ino and Hinata today, we're going to work on the homework from our kunoichi class together."

"Perhaps next week, we can all train together at the Uchiha compound." Itachi suggested, shooting his cousin a meaningful look, "Sasuke will be there as well."

"That sounds good to me - I'll see you next week then." Sakura waved at them before walking towards the Yamanaka compound, where she had promised to meet her friends.

Their assignment this week had been very strange: Kaoru-sensei had told their class to go to a shop and listen to the customers conversations. On top of that, she challenged them to gossip and learn something new, no matter how trivial it was. Apparently, the purpose of this assignment was to show them that information is everywhere - by putting yourself in the right position, you could hear anything, regardless of whether it was confidential or not.

The girls were standing right outside the compound when Sakura walked up to them. "I'm sorry if I kept you both waiting."

"You're right on time!" Ino chirped, "We were thinking about going to the tea shop ran by that obaa-san who was a retired kunoichi, I heard that a lot of shinobi go there to relax."

She nodded in agreement. "Where is it?"

"It's near the hospital," Hinata looked away shyly, "I can l-lead us there, if that's okay?"

"Of course! Let's go, we have work to do!" Ino grabbed both of their hands, letting the dark-haired girl lead them to the store.

On the way there, they strategized - the plan was simple. They would grab a booth and order food, laying their notebooks out to 'set the scene.' Under the pretenses of studying, each of them would take turns writing down what they heard - so, if Hinata and Ino were 'conversing', Sakura would be writing things down, and they would switch so each of them got a page of notes.

Kaoru-sensei had advised the class to encrypt their writing - she didn't expect them to have a mastery of it quite yet, but she did want them to use the standard code that pointed out what kind of information was being gathered. In Konoha, the Intelligence Department had different ways of determining whether intel was relevant or not. The Academy taught a basic version of this system under the assumption that each graduate would expand upon this knowledge once joining a team.

The store in question was called 'Tea Shop,' and it was fairly large in size. They shared a look, slipping on their 'innocent student' personas before entering the establishment.

"Welcome," an old woman with sharp eyes greeted them behind the counter, "would you girls like a table?"

Ino, the unofficial spokesperson of their group, beamed. "Yes, thank you-" she glanced at the nametag, "-Miyuki obaa-san! Can we get a booth?"

Miyuki didn't seem to mind the honorific (Ino was really trying to sell the cutesy schoolgirl act). "Of course, follow me." She grabbed three menus, walking towards the end of the store, seating them at a spot that gave them a perfect view of the garden outside. "When you're ready to order, raise your hand - a waiter should be with you shortly after."

"Thank you Miyuki-san," Sakura sat down across from her friends, reading the menu warily.

She began doing calculations in her head - one pot of tea was 660 ryo, and if they were splitting it, that would come out to 330 ryo. However, that wasn't accounting for food - the cheapest snack on the menu was a few slices of yokan, which was 300 ryo, or 100 ryo per person. This meant that she would have to spend 430 ryo, but that was still too much - she only had 200 ryo left out of the 800 ryo she spent weekly.

"I've heard t-that the hojicha tea is very good here," Hinata suggested, "would you like to order it?"

Ino seemed pleased. "Great! Let's get daifuku since it's the house special...wait, we totally have to get the manju plate too, they have so many flavors!"

"Are we going to split this?" Sakura was unsure of whether she would be able to pay for anything at this point. "The total cost comes out to be...1560 ryo, that means each of us pay 520 ryo."

Hinata pulled out her purse. "I s-should have enough, otou-sama gave me money before I left."

"Me too, tou-chan always makes me take extra just in case something happens."

Sakura begrudgingly decided to dip into her savings to cover the rest of the cost, but she was remorseful about this decision. "Perfect, let's order then."

Ino raised her hands, and after a few minutes, a waiter came to take their order. After he left, the girls took their stuff out and placed it on the table, arranging it to be as inconspicuous as possible. Sakura took the time to count out 320 ryo from the notebook she used to stash her savings, lamenting the loss of her funds - this was the first time she had spent over 800 ryo in a week.

Hinata activated her dojutsu. "Byakugan!" She didn't turn her head, noting the locations of the other customers. "There's a group of people behind us...they seem to be shinobi. There's a couple on Sakura's side and a few t-teenagers to the right of them."

"Somehow, our best bet here is the shinobi." Ino leaned forward, "That means this is going to be a lot harder than we thought."

Sakura opened her notebook. "We should be fine, we only need a page of information to turn in."

As soon as the food came, their plan was put into action.

Chapter Text

Sakura decided that she really liked daifuku (maybe not as much as dango though).

The hojicha tea wasn't overly sweet, and it complimented the food they ordered perfectly. She savored each bite, knowing that it would be a long time before she could indulge in something like this again. At the moment, Hinata was taking notes while Ino and Sakura talked - they were trying to discuss topics from class to make it clear that they were studying.

"Mou, Iruka-sensei goes through the lessons so fast," Ino complained, "I have no idea what we're doing half the time!"

She didn't think that was true, but she played along. "What are you having problems with right now?"

The blonde began listing things she didn't understand, and Sakura took the time to glance over at Hinata, who had been writing things down at a sedate pace. Peeking over, she focused on the code, noting that most of the information had been deemed as unimportant. Sakura turned her attention back to her notebook, explaining chakra theory to Ino, but her mind was elsewhere.

"If they're shinobi, then they'll figure out what we're doing."

"So what?" Inner grunted, "If they find out, we just have to tell them it was our homework assignment. Technically, Kaoru-sensei didn't say we couldn't get caught."

Regardless of this fact, she still felt unsure - maybe it was a better idea to listen to the couple behind her, who were already being obnoxiously loud. After nearly twenty minutes, Hinata's page was finally filled and she tapped the table three times, signaling for a switch - it was Ino's turn to take notes.

Sakura took initiative to start the conversation. "Do you think there's going to be a history section on the test?"

"I think so, Iruka-sensei mentioned that we would need to r-review everything we've learned so far." Hinata's eyes widened suddenly, "I...I can probably ask Neji nii-san if the first test is hard - he's three years older us."

"You have a brother?"

She shook her head. "Neji nii-san is my cousin, but we spend a lot of t-time with each other, so I see him as my brother."

"That makes sense." Sakura smiled, "I think asking him for advice is a good idea. Is there anything you wanted to focus on today?"

They talked about the history of the Elemental Nations for a while, with Hinata adding in bits and pieces of knowledge she learned from her clan training. It seemed like Hiashi held disdain towards Kumogakure judging by the way he explained certain events to his daughter, but Sakura didn't press her friend about it - Hinata was already jumpy at the mention of village itself.

This time, it only took fifteen minutes for Ino to finish, and after three quiet raps, it was time for the switch. Sakura and Ino swapped positions, making it easier for her to listen to the shinobi without having to strain her ears. A quick glance to the front of the store showed that Miyuki was busy behind the counter, and it gave her some relief knowing she didn't have to worry too much about their group seeming suspicious. Sakura opened up a new page in her notebook, leaning down and writing whatever she could hear.

Focusing her full attention on the sounds behind her, she first tried to ascertain how many people were in the group. To her surprise, she heard Yugao and Kakashi, shocked that she didn't notice them until now. Regardless, Sakura focused on her task - there were four voices, and from context clues, she was able to make out the unknown shinobis names: the man with a deeper voice was Tenzo and the loud woman was Anko.

Once that was done, she listened to what they were talking about before identifying its relevance and encoding it. Currently, Anko was cursing out someone named Ibiki - she was using a variety of foul-sounding words to describe him. Apparently, he had saddled her with busy work that was 'made for brain-dead idiots' because it was punishment for disobeying him.

She wasn't sure what half the things Anko was saying meant - it seemed violent though. After slandering Ibiki, she moved onto threatening Kakashi, demanding that he put his book away. Of course, he sounded unbothered, and that was when Sakura heard a commotion happen - the end of a dango stick popped in between her and Hinata's seats, withdrawing just as quickly as it appeared.

Ino's mouth dropped open in shock, because of course she had seen that happen. Before she could yell at anyone, Sakura shook her head, reminding her of their objective - they needed to get this done so they could leave, preferrably as soon as possible.

Yugao had shifted the conversation, talking about someone called Hayate, who she remembered was her boyfriend. Apparently, his treatment was going well, and from the medical jargon used, Sakura hypothesized that he was sick. In class, Kaoru-sensei had told them to create inferences based on the information they gathered, which was why she wrote down so many hypotheticals along with what she had actually heard.

Her page was finally filled after twenty excruciating minutes, which meant it was time to leave - she tapped the table three times, signaling that she was done. Before they could pack up, Sakura's heart nearly leaped out of her chest when Kakashi appeared, standing next to their table and eye-smiling at her. "Maa, Sakura-chan, you really shouldn't be spying on shinobi."

Hinata tried to explain the situation. "Ano, shinobi-san! We were just completing an a-assignment for our kunoichi class, we're sorry for troubling you."

"Really?" He still hadn't stopped eye-smiling, "Follow me, let's go over your assignment together."

The girls followed Kakashi to his table, handing over their notes without much fuss. Sakura waved at Yugao, who greeted her warmly - maybe they weren't actually in trouble then (hopefully). Turning her gaze to the other side of the table, she observed the shinobi she didn't know - Anko, unlike Yugao, had dark-purple hair while Tenzo had spiky brown locks that jutted out of his forehead protector.

"I can't believe Inoichi's kid snooped on me," Anko cackled, grabbing one of the papers, "he's going to blow his lid when he finds out!

Ino crossed her arms. "How do you know tou-chan, and what is that supposed to mean?"

"Please be civil, they're children Anko." Yugao sighed deeply, muttering something unintelligible under her breath. "So, you said this was an assignment for your kunoichi class, right?"

Hinata nodded. "Kaoru-sensei told us to listen to a conversation at a store a-and encode it before writing anything down."

"Nakano Kaoru?" Kakashi seemed to recognize the name.

"I don't see anything wrong senpai," Tenzo gave him a pointed look after going through all the papers, "Kaoru knows what she's doing." He turned to the girls, offering them a small smile. "You did a good job, keep up the good work."

Anko groaned, fiddling with a dango stick. "Aw, can't we play with them a little longer?"

"Were you the one who skewered the seat?" Ino asked, a hint of interest in her voice.

"Of course." She smirked, "I am a woman of many talents."

Yugao slammed her hand over Anko's mouth while Tenzo sighed, as if this was a daily occurrence. Sakura, not wanting to stay any longer, grabbed her notes and stowed them away. "Sorry for the inconvenience, we'll head back now."

"Of course," Yugao smiled, waving apologetically, "it was good seeing you again."

Sakura made her way to front so they could pay for the food - Miyuki seemed amused by the scene they had created. Once they left the store, Ino was grinning deviously. "That was fun! Here, let's go to my house and commemorate our success!"

They walked over to the Yamanaka compound, making their way into the main house. Since nobody else was there, the girls sat on the couch and lounged around to pass time.

"Wait a minute," Ino suddenly narrowed her eyes, "how did that guy and lady know who you were Sakura?"

"I met Kakashi-san when I was asking people about Tsunade-sama," she explained, "and I met Yugao-san when I was getting dinner one night."

Ino leaned back into a cushion. "Mou, we're best friends, you have to tell me everything! I can't believe I didn't know this - just for that, I get to paint your nails. You too Hinata, I'll be right back!"

Sakura watched her run off, unbothered by the statement - she had never used nail polish before, but she knew it was something her friends liked. After a few minutes, Ino came back into the room with a little basket, pulling them all onto the floor. Hinata looked at the colors, picking a pretty lavender for herself while Sakura chose dark-green.

The blonde started working on Sakura's nails first, instructing her to hold her hand out. Sakura did it without much fuss, turning to Hinata and asking a question that had been on her mind for a while. "I've never seen you use your dojutsu until today. How come you didn't have to turn your head when you were looking behind you?"

"Wait a minute - she's right! How did you do that?" Ino exclaimed.

"The Byakugan has a nearly 360 degree field of v-vision, that's why I could see them without turning around." Hinata seemed embarrassed by the attention she was receiving, "I could tell tell they were shinobi because I could s-see their forehead protectors and flak jackets, but even without that, their chakra system was advanced. Shinobi usually have well developed tenketsu, that's how I can tell them apart from civilians."

Sakura's eyes widened. "If the Byakugan can see through people, it could probably be used to diagnose injuries, right?"

"I think so, yes." Hinata was to be far away in thought, "Some of my clan members a-are iryo-nin, but only a few work at the hospital. The elders think its better for the Hyuuga to fight rather than heal, but otou-sama and Hizashi-ojisan don't agree with them."

Ino huffed in disdain. "Honestly, the Yamanaka clan elders are the same, they're so stuffy and-"

"You're lucky Asahi-sama didn't hear that," Inoichi walked into the house, "he'd have a fit if he found out."

"Tou-chan!" Ino blew on the wet polish before turning to look at him. "You're back! Guess what - we finished our mission!"

He raised his eyebrows. "Who did you eavesdrop on?"

She recounted the situation, telling her father exactly what had happened - as soon as she mentioned Anko, Inoichi paled. "So you met Mitarashi - I guess this was inevitable. Just...please don't become influenced by her, that goes for all of you."

Ino pouted. "Mou, she's pretty cool though tou-chan!"

That seemed to make him even more nervous. "No, she really, really isn't."

She shrugged, ignoring his floundering and focusing on painting Sakura's other hand. Inoichi retreated into his office, leaving the girls alone for a bit - it was nice to have a girls day, Sakura felt relaxed and comfortable with her friends. She thought that the three of them made a good trio, balancing each other out quite well.

After an hour, Inoichi came back into the living room. "As much as I don't want to cut this short, we have to go to the Akimichi compound for dinner soon. Would you girls like me to walk you home?"

Hinata shook her head, and Sakura followed suit - Ino, seemingly grumpy about her time being cut short with her friends, begrudgingly walked them out the gates and bid them farewell. It was still light outside, the sun just about to set, casting a beautiful orange hue across the buildings.

On the walk back to the orphanage, Sakura looked down at her hands, admiring her nails - she supposed they were rather pretty. This was yet another luxury she had indulged in today, and it was one she was determined to obtain in the future.

That night, she ate the soggy fish and stale rice without complaint, her mind already shifting to tomorrows iryo-ninjutsu class.

"You forgot to bring a notebook?"

"Sorry kid, I'm pretty forgetful - I'll treat you to dinner again like last time if you lend me some paper."

Sakura ripped out some pages from her notebook. "Is that enough?"

"Yup," Genma's lips quirked upwards, "thank you."

It wasn't long before Daichi-sensei came into the room - he looked like a typical Hyuuga, with long, glossy hair and pale eyes. After scanning the room with a neutral expression, he began the lecture, sparing just a few seconds to introduce himself before jumping into the content of the day. Sakura enjoyed his lecturing style - it was clear and concise, leaving no room for error.

At the end, Daichi-sensei told them that next class would be the last class before their monthly assessment, which was a quiz covering the topics they had covered thus far. In order to stay enrolled, you had to get a least 70% of the questions right, which was a high bar to pass - it wasn't surprising, but it was still intimidating.

Once outside, Genma swiveled the senbon in his mouth thoughtfully. "Have you ever been to Ichiraku Ramen?"

She shook her head. "I only know that it's Naruto's favorite restaurant, he talks about it all the time."

"Of course he said that, the Namikazes love ramen." He leaned down, gesturing to his back. "Here, hop on."

Sakura held onto his neck tightly, excited to be traveling like this again. It was almost October, which meant the weather was chillier than usual - most of the villagers were already wearing thicker jackets when going outside.

Genma leaped down in front of a small shop, sliding her onto the ground gently. "Here were are, let's get some seats."

The restaurant itself was small, and the bar top style seating arrangement could only sit a few people at a time. Sakura noted that there were only two people behind the counter, both of them chatting while working in the kitchen. As soon as they sat down, the older man came over, shooting them a friendly smile. "Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen! It's been a while Genma," he turned to look her, "I don't think I've seen you before - I'm Teuchi, and this is my daughter Ayame."

Sakura bowed her head lightly. "I'm Haruno Sakura, it's nice to meet you both."

"Teuchi-san, it's good to see you." Genma waved lazily, "Can you give us a few minutes to order?"

The menu caught her interest, mostly because of how affordable the food was - Sakura decided that she would be frequenting this restaurant whenever she was hungry. "I'll get the miso char sui, Naruto said that was the best flavor."

Genma called Teuchi over. "We'll get two miso char sui's." Genma leaned forward, resting his forearms against the countertop, "So, how's your week been kid?"

Sakura brought him up to speed with what they learned in school, and just as she finished, their food came out. It was delicious, just as Naruto had said it would be - the broth was flavorful, and the noodles were tender.

"So, your kunoichi class homework was to snoop on someone?" Genma picked up on their conversation, "Did you do it already?"

Sakura explained what happened at the Tea Shop. "We listened to Kakashi-san, Yugao-san, Anko-san, and Tenzo-san. At the end, Kakashi-san came up to us and asked to see our notes - we thought we were in trouble, but Yugao-san said it was okay."

He paused mid slurp. "You met Anko? You know what, nevermind - I'm willing to bet they knew what you were doing from the start but let it play out. After all, any shinobi would be able to tell if some Academy kids were snooping on them."

That explanation made sense, but she was determined to become better at this one day - just as Sakura ate another bite of her noodles, she heard a familiar, loud voice. "Teuchi-occhan!" Naruto opened the flaps of the restaurant, barreling into the seat next to her. "Can I get two miso char siu's and a shoyu?"

Kushina stomped inside, her fist held up high. "Namikaze Naruto! Where are your manners? How many times do I have to tell you-"

"Kushina...let's just sit down, okay?" Minato tried to placate her, but he was clearly nervous to do so.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto finally noticed her, his eyes widening in shock.

She waved at him before bowing to his parents. "Hello Minato-san, Kushina-san - it's good to see you again."

The redhead's entire demeanor changed. "Sakura-chan, you're just so cute and well-mannered!" Kushina pinched her cheeks, "I wish I had a daughter like you 'ttebane!"

Genma was trying hard not to laugh, diverting his attention to the older blonde. "I didn't expect to see you here tonight Hokage-sama."

"It was unplanned," Minato quirked at brow at him, "how do you know Sakura-chan?"

"We're taking the iryo-ninjutsu classes at the hospital together."

"Really?" He gave the pink-haired girl a curious look. "How did Aiko-sensei allow you to join?"

Sakura briefly explained how she had passed Aiko-sensei's mock test. "After we talked about iryo-nin, she said I could attend the classes once my guardian signed the permission slip. I met Genma-san in the class, but I actually knew him from before - I used him as a reliable source when I was researching about Tsunade-sama."

Naruto had stars in his eyes. "You're so smart Sakura-chan!"

She smiled at him, which for some reason made his entire face go red. That detail didn't go unnoticed with Kushina, who had a gleam in her eyes, looking back and forth between her son and his friend.

"Here you go - two orders of miso char siu and one shoyu!" Teuchi lay out the bowls in front of the family, "Enjoy!"

Sakura turned her attention back to her food, but one glance at Naruto made her do a double-take: it had only been a few minutes, but he was almost done. "One more bowl occhan-" Kushina hit the back of his head, "-agh, please!"

"Get used to it," Genma was entirely unbothered, "they do this a lot."

"They?"

Kushina had raised her hand eagerly. "Another bowl of miso char siu please!"

"I see," Sakura ate another bite of her noodles, still shocked by how fast they were eating. Minato took this opportunity to ask questions about her interests, talking to her as if she wasn't the same age as his son - he gave her some good advice, pointing out the best books for Academy students in the library.

"Have you ever heard of fuuinjutsu?" Minato continued when she nodded her head, "If you want to improve your chakra control, learning basic fuuinjutsu is a great place to start. Even if it's not something you want to specialize in, understanding the fundamentals can be helpful in the future."

Sakura thought about it for a bit. "Thank you for the advice Minato-san. I'll see if there are beginner books in the library so I can start reading up on the theory."

Naruto stopped devouring his ramen for a moment, turning to her with a grin. "Yeah! Tou-chan and kaa-chan are teaching me how to make seals, I can help you out if you want!"

The general atmosphere of dinner was pleasant, and she lost track of time rather quickly (this was becoming a trend nowadays). As Sakura was patiently listening to Naruto talk about how orange was the best color to exist (Inner vehemently disagreed), Genma tapped her shoulder. "It's getting late, come on - I'll walk you home."

She had long since finished her food. "Okay, let me get my things," Sakura grabbed her backpack, "have a good night Naruto, Kushina-san, Minato-san."

Naruto pouted. "I wish you could stay longer Sakura-chan!"

"You're going to see her tomorrow," Genma slapped some bills down on the table, "thanks for the dinner Teuchi-san."

Sakura waved goodbye, getting onto his back as per usual - once they reached the orphanage, he dropped her off, vanishing as she entered the building. It was nice to have friends like this - though Genma was far older, she thought they had some sort of camaraderie going on, especially since they were learning iryo-ninjutsu together.

It wasn't hard to enter a deep sleep that night.

"Report."

"There are five possible candidates in group A - the most promising one is the girl, but our regular recruitment strategy will not work. She has connections with an alarming amount of higher ups, notably the Jounin Commander and the Hokage's bodyguard."

"Why was this not reported earlier?"

"The orphanage matron claimed she was unaware of the candidate's intelligence - to her knowledge, the girl was quiet and unsociable."

"Unacceptable. Withdraw half a year's payment, make sure this will not happen again. Is the candidate worth pursuing at this time?"

"Yes. She is already enrolled in the iryo-ninjutsu classes at the hospital, taught by Hyuuga Daichi and Ikeda Aiko. We can't ignore her potential - I think it would be best to lure her in through unconventional methods."

"I'm giving you a year to bring her to me. Don't forget that he is still here - your success will determine his life."

"I will not fail you Danzo-sama."

"Dismissed."

Chapter Text

Sakura found herself waiting with Sasuke after school on Wednesday.

Apparently, Itachi had instructed him to invite her to their house, keeping his promise of holding a joint training session with Shisui. She accepted, glad that she had the chance to train alongside two shinobi - this opportunity was rare, and she was determined to make the most of it.

"Sorry I'm late," Mikoto apologized as she walked up to them, "how was school?"

Sasuke shrugged. "It was fine. Is tou-san home?"

"He's at the station right now." She smiled at Sakura, "Hello dear, it's been a while since I've seen you. Are you well?"

"Yes, thank you Mikoto-san. How are you?"

They made some small talk on the way to the house, but conversing with two quiet children wasn't exactly easy. At some point, Mikoto ended up letting them all walk in silence, waving at villagers whenever they greeted her. When the compound came into view, Sakura was surprised to see how big it was - there were walls around the housing sector, but everything else was open.

Mikoto seemed amused by her expression. "This is the Uchiha business district, there's a variety of stores here that offer items unique to Konoha. The restaurants use recipes that have been passed down in our clan from one generation to the next - here, let's get some snacks before we go home."

Sasuke perked up. "Are we going to Seiko obaa-san's shop?"

"Of course," she moved forward, "come on, let's go before it gets crowded."

Sakura went along with them, mostly because she wanted to take in the new environment she was being exposed to. Most of the businesses in the Uchiha district looked like any other store in Konoha, with the only exception being the uchiwa fan that adorned the establishment. This was most likely just to create a distinction - it was no secret that the Uchiha were well-respected.

After reaching the front of the line, Mikoto smiled at the woman behind the register. "Seiko-san, can I get a bag of mildly sweetened dorayaki and five sticks of dango?"

"Of course, Kenji will get your order out shortly." Seiko took the money, stowing it away in the register.

It took a few minutes for the food to arrive, and once they started walking to the Uchiha compound, Sakura looked over at her friend curiously. "I thought you didn't like sweets?"

Sasuke nodded. "The dorayaki here comes in different sweetness levels, Seiko obaa-san started making it that way for the diabetic villagers who came in."

"I think you'll like it Sakura-chan, especially when you have it with some tea." Mikoto waved to the gate guards, "Come along kids, Itachi and Shisui must be home by now."

Sure enough, both the teenagers were sitting in the kitchen when they arrived. Shisui beamed, waving at her enthusiastically. "Saku-chan, Sasuke-chan! We've been here forever, where were you two?"

Mikoto placed the food on the table. "We stopped by at Seiko-san's - I trust you won't eat the whole bag like last time, right?"

"Of course oba-san! I would never dream of-"

"Thank you," Itachi interrupted, cutting his cousin off, "we'll eat after training."

Sakura followed Sasuke outside, surprised to see how large the field was - it was bigger than the Academy's, which was quite a feat. Itachi and Shisui led them to an area that was lined with targets that were stationed on the ground and in the trees. Judging by how worn the wood looked, it seemed like they trained here often.

Shisui clapped his hands. "Alright! You two warm up while we get everything set up."

"We don't need to warm up," Sasuke looked annoyed, "let's start now."

Itachi shook his head. "Otouto, it's important to stretch before exercise - remember what happened last time?"

He blushed, grumbling under his breath before raising his arms above his head. Shisui had the gall to laugh at him, and Sakura dutifully ignored this as she slipped into the warmup stretches Iruka-sensei taught the class. After a few minutes, she stood along with Sasuke, who seemed impatient and ready to go.

"Alright, lets start with kunai." Itachi palmed the blade in his hand, flicking his wrist expertly and landing it in the bullseye. "Since you're our guest, you can go first Sakura-chan."

A quick glance at Sasuke showed that he wasn't offended by this suggestion, so Sakura took the kunai and held it the way Itachi had. With a steady breath, she threw it as best as she could, her movements clumsy and unpracticed. Of course, she missed the mark by a long shot, hitting the outmost circle by a hair.

Shisui went up to the board and pulled the blade out. "Not bad, at least it landed inside the target - Sasuke-chan, let's see if you've improved."

The kunai hit the second inner ring with a dull thud. "Did you see that nii-san!"

"You're getting closer to the center," Itachi smiled fondly, "good job. As for you Sakura-chan, you're technique is good, but you just need more practice. Have you done this before?"

Sakura shook her head. "This is my first time, we're not allowed to use kunais in the Academy right now. Iruka-sensei said that we might be able to start practicing with blunt ones in a few months."

Sasuke's eyes bugged out of his head. "I couldn't even hit the target on my first time."

"Would you look at that?" Shisui grinned, "Itachi, why don't you work with Sasuke-chan while I help Saku-chan?"

Itachi nodded, turning back to his little brother as Sakura walked with Shisui to the tree. It seemed that this target was made for beginners considering how there were only three rings as opposed to the six on the other one.

"Alright, the key is staying focused." He stood shoulder width apart, holding his arm out pointedly to demonstrate the throw. "Keep the kunai in your palm and face the handle outwards, then extend your hand forward."

Sakura watched with interest, copying the motions carefully. "Like this?"

"Exactly. Now try throwing it and see what happens."

She flung the kunai, and though there was minimal improvement between this and the first throw, the progress was still evident. Sakura wasn't too concerned - she had time to improve and there was no need to rush. Shisui handed her another kunai, encouraging her to throw it again, and after half an hour, she was able to get it a little closer to the outer ring.

They regrouped upon Sasuke's insistence to start sparring, but Sakura opted to watch and see what was going on. She knew what a spar was, but Iruka-sensei told them that they would only start hand to hand combat after a few months. Of course, he attacked first, rushing forward with an open jab, which Itachi dodged easily. It was fascinating to watch two people fight like this, even if it wasn't an actual battle - Sakura didn't recognize their movements, but she did note that they were smoother than the Academy katas.

Shisui noticed her confusion. "That's the Uchiha style - most clans teach their members the clan taijutsu since the Academy one is pretty simple."

"I see," she responded, keeping her eyes on the spar, "do all Uchihas learn their clan taijutsu?"

He shook his head. "Only the ones who are training to become shinobi, which is a lot. Even those who don't choose that path learn the basic katas - you can bet that the obaa-san's living here can fight if they have to."

Sakura nodded, refocusing on the spar, which ended in Sasuke's defeat. He seemed grumpy, but a few encouraging comments from Itachi was enough for him to be overflowing with pride.

Itachi was so graceful that it looked like he was dancing, and she was mesmerized by how fast he moved. Though it was clear he was holding back on Sasuke, he was effortless in doing so - every action was planned and calculated, up until the very end. Sakura was secretly amazed - if someone like Itachi fought like this at such a young age, she couldn't even imagine how veterans fought.

"Looks like its our turn Saku-chan," Shisui cracked his knuckles, "don't worry, I'll go easy on you!"

She gave him a pointed look. "I don't know how to spar, Iruka-sensei hasn't taught us that yet."

He waved his hand. "Remember how you went through your katas when we first met and I made you block my attacks? Let's do that again but a little more fast paced. Ready?"

After making the seal of reconciliation, Sakura got into a stance and without much difficulty, moved her body to match the suggestions that Shisui had originally given her on their first meeting. At first, he moved slowly just so she could block his arm or leg to get a feel for it. After a few minutes, she went on the offensive, trying her best to hit him in spots that she had learned were weak points (kudos to Aiko-sensei for drilling that into their heads).

"Not bad chibi-chan!" Shisui grinned, his curls dancing in the breeze. "Let's kick it up a notch!"

Sakura almost fell down, barely blocking the jab that was sent her way. She was only shocked momentarily, hastily focusing on the flurry of attacks that were sent her way. Of course, she attempted retaliating, but none of her hits were close to making contact.

After a couple minutes, she was winded. "Sorry...I just need a minute."

Itachi sighed, shaking his head at his cousin disapprovingly. "That was unwarranted."

"She kept up with me 'tachi!" Shisui defended himself, patting her back soothingly. "You did good Saku-chan!'

Sasuke nodded, eyes glinting with approval. "Hn. Not bad. "

"Now is a good time to go in and eat. Go set the table otouto, and Shisui - don't eat the doriyaki." Itachi led them all inside, gesturing for Sakura to sit down before he began making tea by the counter. With practiced hands, he placed a handful of tea leaves in the kyusu as the water boiled, and she couldn't help but watch the process.

"'tachi's been doing the formal clan business thing for years," Shisui whispered in her ear conspiringly, "he's a natural, isn't he? If being a shinobi doesn't work out he could make a living at a tea house!"

Sasuke scoffed loudly, grabbing teacups and plates for the doriyaki. "At least nii-san doesn't burn tea."

"Hey! That wasn't my fault, those tea leaves were weirdly delicate!"

"Right, because that is somehow supposed to excuse the fact that you burned a liquid." Itachi gently placed the teapot in the middle of the table. "I hope you like sencha Sakura-chan, I think it goes well with the doriyaki."

She watched as he kneeled across from her, pouring the steaming hot tea into the teacups. It smelled a little odd, like vegetables almost - to her surprise, it didn't taste bad aside from some general bitterness.

Itachi smiled slightly, noting the expression on her face with amusement. "Sencha is bitter, which is why eating a sweet snack compliments it well. Here, try a bite of the doriyaki and then take a sip - you can use it as a palate cleanser of sorts."

Sasuke passed her the snack, which she bit into curiously. "It's delicious," she commented, sipping at her tea just as Itachi told her too, "thank you for letting me train with you today, I had a lot of fun."

"You should train here more," he remarked casually, "you're not as incompetent as the other kids in our class."

She didn't catch Shisui and Itachi giving each other looks, nodding her head at the gesture of kindness her classmate was extending to her. "I would like that very much."

"Looks like you guys had fun," Sakura turned to see Mikoto walk through the door with a stern-faced man. "Sakura-chan, I don't believe you've met my husband, Fugaku. Dear, this is Haruno Sakura, one of Sasuke's classmates."

Fugaku's gaze lingered on Sakura for a moment, the barest amount of curiosity flittering across his face before he nodded in acknowledgment. "It's a pleasure to meet you Sakura. Mikoto mentioned that you joined the training session today."

She bowed her head lightly. "Thank you for having me."

Silence ensued, leading Shisui to sigh and rub his hand across his face. "Jeez, you fit in really well Saku-chan. Talk about awk-"

"Tou-san, kaa-san, let me pour some tea for you as well." Itachi subtly dug his elbow into his cousin's side, ignoring his pained yelp and swiftly grabbing two more teacups.

Fugaku nodded approvingly, sitting at the table as Mikoto followed suit. "Thank you, Itachi." The atmosphere in the room remained somewhat formal, and Sakura couldn't help but observe it with curiosity. The Uchiha's seemed to be more put together - in comparison, there was less of the chaos that the Namikaze family brought. She focused on her tea, savoring the warmth and flavor, attempting to maintain her composure.

After the tea had been poured, Mikoto decidedly spoke again. "Sakura-chan, why don't you tell us more about yourself? What do you hope to do as a shinobi?"

Now this was a topic that Sakura could talk freely about. She immediately began explaining how she wanted to be an iryo-nin, the research she did on Tsunade and how she had began taking classes with Aiko-sensei. The more she spoke, the more comfortable Sakura became: this was something she was genuinely interested and curious about, and it was nice to talk about her dreams (Nobody really asks what we want to do, maybe that's why we're so eager when someone does, Inner commented, surprisingly serious).

Mikoto, who had been listening carefully, spoke up. "It's rare to see iryo-nin's who uses their skills in combat outside of Tsunade-sama. Dear, perhaps Keiko obaa-sama's notebooks may come in handy?"

Fugaku's expression remained neutral, as if he was contemplating his next words. "Not many shinobi choose the path you have taken Sakura. As Mikoto was saying, my grandmother, Keiko obaa-sama, was an iryo-nin, a very respected one at that. She had more...modern beliefs about shinobi, and after she passed away, we found several notebooks of hers. They contain quite a bit of information, ranging from her notes when she was first studying to become an iryo-nin as well as her thoughts on the system itself."

Mikoto nodded in agreement. "Would you be interested in reading them?"

Shisui and Itachi shared twin expressions of disbelief: Fugaku's willingness to share such information with an outsider was quite shocking. It wasn't every day that the uptight, protective Uchiha clan head allowed access to their family's historical documents. Yet, Fugaku's tone and demeanor suggested a level of respect for Sakura's ambitions.

Perhaps he saw his grandmother's beliefs replicated in her, or perhaps he just felt like it wouldn't be harmful to share this information: either way, it was a gesture Sakura appreciated greatly. "I would be honored, thank you for the offer Fukgaku-san, Mikoto-san."

Fugaku inclined his head slightly. "You're welcome. Since they are part of the Uchiha family's private collection, I would request that you-"

"-read them in our private library," Mikoto interrupted, ignoring the puzzled look her husband shot at her. "you can come over any time you'd like Sakura-chan. You can train with the boys and eat snacks as well, we would love to have you over more."

Sakura was hesitant - technically, she was only borrowing the books, which meant it was a fair agreement. "Thank you Mikoto-san, I appreciate that."

The rest of the evening went by pleasantly. Fugaku excused himself to his study after inquiring about his sons' days and Mikoto got up to start preparing their meal. Though she had been invited to dinner, Sakura chose to go back to the orphanage, noting that it was getting late and she didn't want to break curfew. Shisui had been the one selected to drop her back at the orphanage, and though Sasuke was quite irate he couldn't go, his cousin and Itachi were firm in the decision.

"Otouto, you'll see her at school tomorrow. Now come on, you have homework to finish tonight."

"Hmmph," Sasuke pouted, eyeing Sakura with slightly reddened cheeks. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Sakura nodded. "Thank you for having me over, I had fun today."

Itachi waved at her, and she soon left with Shisui, who had been waiting outside patiently. He carried her on his back, grinning as he could see the quiet excitement on her face. Sakura loved this way of travelling, explaining to him on the way home that she wanted to learn it as soon as possible.

As they approached the orphanage gates, Shisui glanced around the vicinity, his keen eyes narrowing slightly at the sight of the building, unbeknownst to Sakura. She slid off his back, thanking him for dropping her off.

"Of course Saku-chan," he grinned, ruffling her hair, "I'll see you later, ok?"

With that, she walked inside, unaware that Shisui had shunshined to a tree to watch the area. He already knew she was an orphan - of course, it wasn't really hard information to obtain. Sakura had become friends with a lot of clan kids, and that meant ensuring security for them, specifically Sasuke, regardless of who she was. It wasn't that she was being monitored, it was more of checking her background - of course, she was quite harmless.

Shisui had grown fond of Sakura, so it wasn't that he held anything against her. It was more about the other people interested in her that he was wary of. Namely one person who he knew had an eye for intelligent, young shinobis.

With a frown on his usually cheerful face, he straightened up, Sharingan activated and scanning the area with intensity. He sensed a presence, one that he hadn't felt in a very long time - but it vanished just as soon as it came. Shisui wasn't a fool: he never doubted his instincts.

Something wasn't right, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

Chapter Text

Time passed by quickly after the day she went to the Uchiha household.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, bringing about a noticeable change in Sakura's life. The connections she formed with her classmates deepened, and she found that she liked spending time with the people she considered her friends. Her friendship with Ino and Hinata had never been stronger, the three girls spending as much time as they could outside of classes.

She also had surprisingly found a similar dynamic between herself, Naruto and Sasuke. One day, when Sakura was waiting with Sasuke for Mikoto to pick them up (she was really impatient that day, itching to finish Keiko obaa-sama's journal concerning theories of the brain), Naruto had intervened.

"Teme!" the blonde screeched, getting in between the two. "How come you guys hang out without me!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "First of all dobe, we are training. Unlike you, we don't slack off and-"

"I don't slack off!"

Sakura cleared her throat, catching their attention. "Why don't we all train together today? If this arrangement works out, we can improve as a group. If not, we don't have to."

The young Uchiha seemed opposed, but Mikoto, who had just arrived and heard the suggestion, thought it was a wonderful idea. "I should've thought of this earlier, honestly. Naruto-kun, Kushina is going to pick you up, right? Why don't we wait for her and go to the Uchiha compound together?"

Sakura didn't know that this day would turn into a pivotal moment for their friendship - she hadn't really anticipated how well they would all work together. It was almost shocking: Naruto's brashness and Sasuke's arrogance were dimmed down by her neutrality, forcing them to cooperate. In turn, they helped her communicate better, drawing out the opinions that she usually kept to herself.

On that particular day, Kushina and Mikoto had chose to supervise the training, and it was...interesting to say the least. The famed Red Hot Habanero was deadly on the battlefield, and she was earnest in helping the three out however she could. Of course, this lead to a lot of blabbering explanations that was difficult to comprehend if the Uchiha matriarch wasn't there to interpret it. The two mothers also shared a lot of secret looks and conversations that Sakura didn't really catch - it almost reminded her of herself and Ino's friendship.

It was nice to be guided like this though. Sakura latched onto the maternal presences, paying attention and listening with a closeness than came due to the lack of parental figures in her life. She didn't mind being coddled by Kushina, who would often pinch her cheeks and call her cute - it was something nobody ever said to her, and the contrast of being called dull in the orphanage versus bright with these experienced shinobi was nice.

Their training sessions transformed and became less focused on just physical training; they delved into understanding each other's strengths, weaknesses, and skills. Sakura's presence evolved as she brought out the best in both Naruto and Sasuke. Sometimes, Itachi and Shisui would come join them, and other times, Fugaku would stop by for a bit, nodding his head in approval when he saw something that was noteworthy.

Sakura's schedule shifted as she stepped into a routine of going to the Academy, attending the hospital lessons, and finding time for external training. She felt more motivated than she had ever felt before: she knew that she was capable of achieving her goals, and that conviction only strengthened as she saw the outcome of her efforts.

Anatomy, chakra control, and practical applications of healing techniques became second nature to her. Sakura absorbed knowledge like a sponge, determined to excel in her pursuit of becoming an iryo-nin. On the other hand, learning to perform a henge, understanding the basics of genjutsu, and refining her taijutsu techniques became integral parts of her Academy life. While she wasn't the most outstanding in physical combat, she was certainly ahead of the game in other aspects.

As Sakura immersed into this routine, eight months passed by, leading to the end of her iryo-ninjutsu class. It was a bittersweet feeling at first, but the prospect of learning more as an apprentice to an experienced doctor swept her sadness away. Now, standing at the crossroads of her journey into the field, she was faced with a difficult decision.

Aiko-sensei stood at the front of the class, her expression a blend of satisfaction and pride. "Everyone sitting here today worked hard to complete this course - as you can see, a little more than half of you remain compared to the amount of prospects that were here on the first day. Each one of you has shown tremendous growth, and I'm proud to have been your instructor."

"As you move forward, you'll be faced with choices that will shape your future as ninja. Some of you may choose to specialize in iryo-ninjutsu, following the path of becoming a doctor at the hospital or a going out on the field as a medic-nin. Others might choose to be a front-line shinobi that now has the ability to provide first aid for a comrade. Regardless of your choice, you will remember what you've learned here for hopefully, the rest of your lives." She looked at everyone slowly, pausing on Sakura for a fraction of a second. "For those of you who wish to delve deeper into iryo-ninjutsu, there is an opportunity for apprenticeships with experienced doctors. Remember that your choice should align with your strengths, goals, and personal inclinations."

Genma yawned, but covered it up quickly at Sakura's deadpan stare. "Sorry," he whispered, "I didn't sleep very well last night."

She nodded, not really annoyed with him but more nervous due to the decision she had to make. Aiko-sensei was currently informing them about the different types of apprenticeships they could take, and Sakura was unsure as to what she wanted to specialize in.

"The doctors you will apprentice specialize in various fields such as trauma surgery, medical research, and even field medicine. Choosing an apprenticeship will allow you to gain hands-on experience and refine your skills under the guidance of a professional. I can guarantee that whoever does apply for an apprenticeship from this class will most likely get one, unless there is a special circumstance preventing it."

Aiko-sensei gestured toward a table with stacks of application forms, her eyes scanning the room. "Here are the forms. Take your time to consider your options. Talk to your peers, mentors, or even consult with me if you need guidance. This is an important decision, and it may very well shape the trajectory of your career."

Sakura found herself in a bit of a dilemma. Genma had been nice enough to grab a form for her, scanning is subtly before handing it over. Her gaze lingered on the checkboxes containing all the options she could pick from, and Sakura couldn't help but stare at the trauma surgery section. If she wanted to change the rules and prove than an iryo-nin was more than just a healer, this could be the right step forward.

The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. She could be a formidable force on the battlefield - having so much knowledge about critical wounds and how to heal them would make it twice as easy to inflict them on opponents.

"It seems like you're going to pick trauma surgery," Aiko-sensei made her way to Sakura's side, and the girl noted that the two of them and Genma were the only ones left in the room. The older woman directed a subtle glance to him, and he excused himself to stand outside and wait. "Sakura-chan, I haven't done this since I've become the director at the hospital, but I think your potential needs to be cultivated by someone with the same ideology as you.

Sakura was taken aback, but she met Aiko-sensei's eyes with a mix of curiosity and anticipation. The gravity of the offer settled in the air between them.

"You remind me so much of myself during my early days of learning iryo-ninjutsu," she continued, her voice carrying a nostalgic undertone. "Yet, there's a distinct quality in you that sets you apart: unwavering faith. I've never witnessed you back down from your goals, and that's the very trait I believe will not only lead you to success but also set a new standard in our field. I've contemplated taking on an apprentice for some time, and you're undoubtedly the perfect candidate."

Sakura's eyes gleamed, and her heart was racing so fast she thought she would faint. "Yes. I would love to be your apprentice sensei, I...I don't even know how to-"

"There's no need for that," the older woman smiled gently, "I think the day that we discussed the iryo-nin rules was the day I had made up my mind to make you my apprentice. Now, I think we should discuss what being my apprentice will look like - I'll give you a brief explanation right now, but I would like you to come in tomorrow so we can talk about it in more detail."

Sakura nodded, giving her new mentor her full, undivided attention. Aiko-sensei began explaining her plan, going over the basic steps of the curriculum she would encounter. "We'll begin by integrating you into the trauma unit gradually. I'll assign you to observe less critical cases initially, allowing you to familiarize yourself with the environment. You'll learn to hone your observational skills, a crucial aspect of being an iryo-nin."

"Once you begin to familiarize yourself with the day to day trauma unit work, I will teach you the mystical palm technique - of course, we will use a fish to begin with. This may take some time: it's crucial you understand the intricacies of chakra control and the delicate nature of healing. It's a gradual process, so be patient if you don't get it right away." Aiko-sensei paused, making sure Sakura was on the same page as her before continuing. "I want you to see the impact of our work and understand the responsibility that comes with it. Over time, you'll take on more active roles, and as your skills develop, you'll handle increasingly complex cases. This way, you'll not only become proficient in healing but also learn to use your abilities effectively on the battlefield."

"Shisho, what is the timeline for this?" Sakura asked, scribbling down notes on her paper as hundreds of questions passed through her mind. "Would I be able to be a genin and be an apprentice at the same time?"

Aiko-sensei hummed noncommittally. "That's a good question. We will have to discuss this in more detail tomorrow, I should be free at noon - for now, I would like you to get the paperwork started."

Sakura bowed her head, deeper than she would usually. "Yes, shisho. I'll see you tomorrow, and thank you for making me your student. I won't let you down."

"I know you won't," Aiko-sensei smiled, waving her off. "I hope you're ready Sakura-chan: you're apprenticeship with me begins now."

"You're apprenticing under Aiko-sensei?" Genma's jaw dropped open, his shocked expression quickly being replaced with pride. "Who am I kidding, if anyone could do it, it's you chibi-chan."

He landed in front of Yakiniku-Q, the familiar dinner spot they had been eating at every Sunday. Sakura ducked her head in embarrassment, appreciating his encouragement. "Thanks, Genma-san. I'm really excited about it."

As they entered the restaurant, the savory aroma of meat greeted them. They settled into a booth, and Sakura couldn't help but feel a little sad - since their class ended, it wouldn't be a fair trade to continue eating out like this. After all, Genma had been the one paying for every dinner considering she gave him paper for notes. A small part of her didn't want this weekly arrangement to end, and that was mainly because she enjoyed his company.

After a filling meal and catching up on what they did that week, Genma signaled for the bill. Sakura hesitated, realizing that this might be the last time they had dinner like this. "Genma-san, I'm going to miss having dinner with you every week. I really enjoyed taking this class with you."

He raised an eyebrow. "Who said we can't keep doing this? I've gotten used to your company, chibi-chan."

"I also like your company," she admitted, "and I enjoy this but I can't because-"

"-The Art of Trade written by Higase Kento states that if a person is freely offering you something, it's implied that you return them with a favor and that it's worse if a shinobi is doing it because the favor in question could be more dangerous." Genma smirked at her bewildered expression. "Kid, you've mentioned this book way to many times for me to not look into it. Trust me, I enjoy our dinners and I'm not expecting anything in return. Consider it my way of investing in the future of a promising iryo-nin."

Sakura blinked, tilting her head. "But...I thought you'd want something back. Isn't that how the world works?"

"Well, sometimes the world needs a bit of change. If it makes you feel better, we can still turn this into an exchange. How about you share some of what you're learning in your apprenticeship with me? This course wasn't all that bad, so I guess learning more about medicine wouldn't hurt." He counted some bills and placed them on the table, turning his attention back to her.

Sakura's eyes brightened. "You're interested in iryo-ninjutsu? Why not become an apprentice?"

"Well for one," Genma leaned back in his seat, swiveling his senbon (Where did that come from? Inner mused,) in his mouth, "learning more about iryo-ninjutsu will come in handy on the field, it's why I took this class. My...err, boss made me take it because I was being careless, and let's just say I think I've learned my lesson. As for your second question, well, I don't have time for an apprenticeship, unless it works on my schedule - you see, my boss is pretty strict, I can't just do whatever I want without his knowledge and permission."

That made sense to her, and according to Iruka-sensei, you had to defer to your superiors. "I see. Well, maybe if your boss let's you do a more flexible apprenticeship, I'm sure Aiko-shisho could make that happen."

"Ah, she's already your shisho?" Genma teased her, "I guess that couldn't hurt. You can ask her for me if you want, here - I took an extra form just in case I was interested too. Don't cheat and read it kid, I see everything."

Sakura smiled. "I won't, and thanks, Genma-san. I'll talk to Aiko-shisho about it."

He ruffled her hair playfully. "Good luck with that. I guess we have an agreement then - dinner for medical insights?"

"Deal. It's a fair trade, right?"

Genma grinned. "More than fair, chibi-chan. Come on, let's get you home before it's dark."

As usual, she got on his back and they zipped off into the night, the air taking on a slightly chilly edge. The familiar sight of the orphanage loomed ahead, and as they stopped in the front gates, Sakura was surprised to see Kimiko-san standing there.

The old woman's narrow eyes fixated on Sakura, and her expression soured. "Child, hurry inside. It's late, you shouldn't be out at this hour."

Sakura nodded, slipping off Genma's back before approaching the matron cautiously. "Kimiko-san, I was coming back from training - I'm sorry that I came back late." Sakura explained, aware that she should be on her best behavior to avoid escalating the situation.

Kimiko's gaze lingered on Sakura, and her usual air of authority seemed frayed. "You've been out training, have you?" Her tone was somewhat accusatory, as if she doubted the girl was doing such a thing in the first place.

"Yes," Sakura replied simply. This unexpected change in the older woman's demeanor was nothing short of odd, and it was clear that something was going on.

"Training... yes, that's what you call it," Kimiko muttered, a touch of anxiety in her voice.

Genma had remained silent, observing the interaction until now - the tension at the moment was oddly high. "Is everything alright?" he asked, subtly putting his body in front of Sakura's.

This shook Kimiko out of her daze, and she waved him off dismissively. "Everything's fine shinobi-san. Just a misunderstanding, nothing more - with my old age, I seem to be forgetting things easily. Child, come inside. It's late, and you should be in bed. I'll catch you up on the announcements you missed earlier in the day."

Sakura nodded, waving at Genma, who didn't look entirely satisfied with this explanation - he twiddled the senbon in his mouth slowly before disappearing in a shunshin. As they entered the orphanage, away from prying eyes and ears, Kimiko's demeanor shifted abruptly.

"Everyone's curfew is being cut short," she grabbed Sakura's shoulders, pressing hard enough to make her wince slightly, "do you understand? All the kids are now required to document exactly where they are going. You will write it down in this log book so I can keep track of it, it's organized by age so make sure you write it on the correct page."

Though she struggled to comprehend this sudden change in the matron's behavior, Sakura kept quiet to avoid conflict. "Yes, Kimiko-san. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, I'll go to bed now."

Of course, Kimiko watched as she went upstairs to her shared room, and Sakura was only able to truly relax once she was in bed. As she drifted off into sleep, she thought about the events of the past year.

In this course of time, Sakura had noticed a distinct shift in Kimiko - it seemed that something stressful was going on in her life to affect her physical and mental well-being. Interestingly enough, earlier in the year, the stipend money that was already being stolen from the orphans had cut into half again - the usually 1,800 ryo Sakura was receiving became 900 ryo. Then, without any explanation, Kimiko began to actually give them the correct amount - 3,600 ryo per week, and it hadn't changed since.

Of course, since she did break into her office often to steal notebooks and school supplies, Sakura was very observant of these financial changes. The accounting books kept in the "secret" desk drawer showed that Kimiko's personal funds had actually gone down by a significant amount during the time period that they were receiving 900 ryo a week, but the next month it was almost doubled, leading to the 3,600 ryo allotment the same month. In fact, it seemed like she was making more money per month, which was really shocking considering she wasn't embezzling it from the orphanage anymore.

Sure, maybe Kimiko had another job to work at, but Sakura was doubtful of this. Following this increase in allowance (well, technically it was the amount they were always supposed to have received), the older woman started having a newfound interest in the whereabouts of every child that lived there. Sakura couldn't pinpoint the reason for this change. The routine inquiries had become more methodical and seemed to be standardized, yet she felt an additional layer of scrutiny being added just for her, even if she couldn't prove it.

Initially, the woman had become more watchful, not speaking to her but just observing. Sakura had caught glimpses of Kimiko studying her from a distance, her gaze lingering, as if afraid that she would disappear from her sight. This left Sakura questioning whether it was just her imagination or if there was a purposeful focus on her activities. The other children received routine questions and checks as well, but there was something...strange with the amount of information she had to divulge to Kimiko on a daily basis.

Of course, the lessons she had learned from kunoichi classes at the Academy plus Inoichi-san's basics of intelligence gathering came in handy for noting these shifts. It was not lost on Sakura that Kimiko had become more insistent on knowing details about her life. Inquiries about her training, her friendships, and her whereabouts had become routine, marking a distinct change from the previous detachment she had shown. She tried to be as vague as possible, offering bare-boned information - but lately, Kimiko had become very insistent in details.

Yet Sakura couldn't help but wonder what had triggered tonight's sudden outburst.

"This hag needs to lay off of us," Inner snarked, "she's acting like we're some sort of nuke-nin."

Sakura sighed internally. "I wish I knew. She's checking on everyone, but I have a feeling that it's different with me, and I can't figure out why. I also can't confidently say I'm sure she's targeting me, so I could be wrong."

Inner snarled, her tone surprisingly vicious. "I don't really care, I want her to leave us alone! She's been a major pain, asking us where we're going and what we're doing and why we're studying this and that and I am so-"

"Calm down, this won't get us anywhere. According to Inoichi-san, intelligence gathering involves patience and finding patterns. We can't let her know we're observing her or that we're bothered by her questions," Sakura replied, her voice seemingly steady despite Inner's agitation. The truth was that she too was uneasy - Kimiko's interest in her wasn't like the way her friends parents asked her questions. It was like comparing apples to oranges - if Yoshino or Mikoto spoke to her, they would ask about her day, her studies, and her well-being. Kimiko's inquiries, on the other hand, carried an undertone of something that went beyond ordinary curiosity.

"Easy for you to say. I just want to snap at her and be done with it." Inner huffed irately.

"Kaoru-sensei also taught us to observe behavior, note inconsistencies, and gather information discreetly." Sakura interjected, really trying to push for the safe route. "If we're going to figure out what's going on, we need to approach this strategically. I don't like her either, but escalating the situation won't help us. Let's focus on understanding why Kimiko-san is behaving this way. Any ideas?"

Inner seemed to be deep in thought for a second. "The old hag is probably just nosy. Maybe she's trying to figure out if we're onto her money laundering schemes."

Sakura considered the possibility. "Alright, that's one idea. Another is that this could be personal, maybe related to the orphanage, or even something outside of this altogether. We'll have to gather information without making her suspicious."

Inner, always more inclined towards the direct route, suggested an alternate method, "Why bother with spying? Let's lie to her face and be done with it, like say we're going to the library instead of training. She's not a ninja, she won't know."

Sakura paused, contemplating the suggestion. "You know, that's actually not a terrible idea. I mean, we can't just lie to her directly, but we could start feeding her misinformation. She knows we study and train a lot, but if we start to let her think we're just a regular kid, she might lose interest. Meanwhile, we'll observe her patterns.

"Now you're talking," Inner grinned, "Let's have some fun with her, make her regret pestering us all the time. How do you want to do this?"

And for the rest of the night, the two set a plan in action, unaware of the danger lying ahead of them.

"You know, you're the second person complaining about this specific orphanage."

"Second?"

"Yes, second. the first one is over there." A slight disturbance of chakra could be felt, and a ANBU operative stepped out of the shadows, making his way over to Genma's side.

The blonde man's voice hardened, different from the lightness that was shown when initially speaking. "Knowing my background, I can assure you both that I would never allow these children to be treated poorly. Between repairing relations with the other villages and restoring the rest of the damage done from the Kyuubi attack, we can't expend shinobi without probable cause. The issue is that both of you filed the complaint based on a hunch - for a reputable organization that is checked monthly, this isn't enough of a reason."

"Hokage-sama, I don't know how else to convince you." Genma paused, choosing his words carefully. "There's something off about the whole situation. I understand you have to consider the broader implications, but I have a feeling that Saku—that the kids are not safe there."

The ANBU operative, hidden behind a mask, spoke up. "Hokage-sama, I've been monitoring the situation since I first was alerted to a presence in the area. While I can't provide definitive evidence, we can't ignore the possibility of there being a threat to the children."

Minato sighed heavily, the fatigue on his face evident. "The village is still fragile - we can't afford unnecessary disruptions. Again, I can't initiate a village-wide investigation without substantial cause." He searched for some papers on his desk, pulling one out and handing it to them. "However, I can authorize a discreet inquiry. If you can find more evidence or witnesses, something concrete, I'll reconsider."

Both the men exchanged glances (at least, he thought Shisui was, the mask really didn't make it obvious at all), realizing the weight of the Hokage's decision.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Genma responded, "we'll gather the necessary information. If there's any credible threat, we'll bring it to you immediately."

Minato nodded, his expression serious. "I trust both of you to handle this with discretion. We can't let our guard down, but we also can't create unnecessary panic. The village is still on the path to recovery, and stability is crucial. If you feel like you're going to be compromised, pull back and reassess."

He paused, his gaze shifting between Genma and Shisui. "I'm giving you two weeks for this inquiry. That should be sufficient time to gather information without causing undue disturbance. Keep me updated on your progress, but remember, if you don't find substantial evidence within that timeframe, you need to drop the investigation."

Genma and Shisui bowed in deference to the village leader. "Understood, Hokage-sama."

And just like that, another plan was set in action.

Chapter Text

"There's only a few months left before the year ends. That marks the end of the time I gave you to bring her to me."

"I understand Danzo-sama. But we have a problem."

The air became colder, the tension in the room becoming palpable. "Report."

"Neko is assigned to patrol orphanage D, and he discovered that Shiranui Genma and Uchiha Shisui have been conducting inquiries into the facility. They have connections and resources that could jeopardize our plans - I suggest that Neko stops patrolling for the next month."

The elder's gaze intensified, his visible eye narrowing. "How did they become involved, and what progress have they made?"

"They stumbled upon the situation independently, but the reason behind it was the same." The operative hesitated. "As for their progress, they haven't uncovered anything substantial yet, but we can't risk recruiting her immediately. While the Hokage is aware that ROOT is an active entity, the checks he implemented to ensure that our operations remain within the bounds of legality have forced us to lay low. As of now, he is still unaware of the specific recruitment process that has been maintained. The investigation that is being carried out can easily be dismissed, but we need to be careful."

Danzo's gaze bore into the operative, his expression inscrutable. "Continue to monitor the situation closely. If the investigation poses a threat, eliminate it. Do not forget what our primary purpose is."

"Yes, Danzo-sama. There is also another factor to consider." The figure shifted, handing him some papers. "The girl has recently become an apprentice to Ikeda Aiko. Expediting the recruitment process might alert the Hokage and compromise our plans."

Danzo's eyes flickered with a trace of impatience. "Continue."

"It would be more prudent to allow the girl to undergo training as an apprentice, fleshing out her knowledge is more beneficial for us. This would provide a cover for our activities, making it less likely to attract attention." The masked operative shifted minutely. "As I am in a position to do so, I can ensure she develops the ROOT mindset. The village will see her progress as a natural part of her growth, and any inquiries into her activities can be dismissed as part of her training."

"Your plan only has a chance of working if the people surrounding her weren't a hindrance." He gripped his chair tightly. "I hear she's been training with the clan head's children?"

The operative spent the next few minutes feeding Danzo information about their target's integration into the world of shinobi. Danzo listened intently, absorbing the details, a frown creasing on his forehead. "She's surrounded by influential figures—Minato's family, the Uchihas, even the Yamanakas. This complicates matters."

"Yes, Danzo-sama. We initially felt that her stoic nature would prevent these relationships from forming. It seems that she is more emotional than we thought." The figure hesitated. "May I speak freely?"

The operative took his subtle nod as a means to continue. "I feel as though we should focus our attention and efforts on other candidates. This one is to well guarded, it will become difficult to-"

Danzo held his hand up, cutting them off immediately. "She is gifted, a rarity among civilians. If she is already studying to become a medic, we need her capabilities more: this is an investment into the future of out organization. However...if retrieving her puts our plans in danger, I won't pursue her further. That hasn't happened yet though."

After a moment of contemplation, Danzo leaned back in his chair. "Find a way to isolate her. You have the ability to do so, considering your position. I don't want to hear any excuses from you anymore. Create situations that will naturally draw her to us without raising suspicions. Manipulate circumstances so that she sees us as the solution to her problems."

"Understood, Danzo-sama"

"The plans have changed then - for now, we can follow the rules Minato has imposed on us and wait until she is of the right age. You have until she graduates: do not let sentimentality cloud your judgment. The girl is a valuable asset to our cause."

"I will not fail you, Danzo-sama."

As the operative left, Danzo contemplated the situation. He knew that ROOT's effectiveness lay in early recruitment, conditioning candidates from a young age. Compromising this principle for the girl was a risk, but the growth she had shown was evident of the future ahead of her. He would bide his time, subtly influencing events until the moment was right to draw her into the fold, even if it meant deviating from his norm.

Sakura woke up in the room she shared with the other orphans, tired from thinking so much the night before. She blinked her eyes open, her mind immediately turning to the plan she had crafted with Inner. It was time to enforce her plan, but she had to be careful.

She joined the other children for breakfast in the common area, observing the interactions around her. Sakura had to be subtle, blending in while gathering the information she needed. Kimiko was usually feeding the babies and instructing the helpers for a portion of breakfast, so this was the perfect time to strike.

"Observe, listen, and probe. People reveal more than they intend when they believe no one is paying attention. This is just our test run, the more we do this the better we will get at collecting intel." Inner was surprisingly level-headed, her desire for revenge probably toning down her usually brash attitude.

Sakura nodded inwardly, making her way to a table where a few children were engaged in a conversation. Usually, when she sat with other kids (it was really impossible to be a table alone considering how little space was already there), they ignored her. Of course, the same happened today. She sat down, slowly eating her food while appearing to be engrossed in her own thoughts.

Across the table, two older boys, Hiroshi and Takeshi, were discussing a recent event in the village. Sakura recognized them: they had never spoken to her directly, but she knew they were also in the Academy, just two years above her.

Hiroshi, a lanky boy with unruly hair, leaned in and lowered his voice. "What do you think about the Forest of Death? Some say there's something going on, like experiments and secret missions."

Takeshi, the quieter boy, grunted. "I think it's a jungle with animals that the village doesn't want kids to run into."

"Yeah, but why is there a random, creepy forest near the other training grounds? You know, they say it's called the Forest of Death because strange things happen there—like disappearances and mysterious encounters." Hiroshi glanced around to ensure no one was listening too closely before leaning in further. "Some believe it's cursed."

"Now's our chance." Inner encouraged, "Say something, even if it's dumb."

Sakura's eyes widened with what she hoped was curiosity, and she leaned in, feigning both interest and apprehension. "Disappearances? That sounds scary."

Hiroshi, thankfully, didn't interact with her often, so he didn't flat out ignore the question. "The area is off-limits, and only high-ranked ninja are allowed inside. Some people think it's just a place where rogue ninja carry out shady dealings."

"Hey, you go to the Academy too, right?" Takeshi continued after she nodded, "I thought you seemed familiar."

Hiroshi grinned, his chest puffed out - it seemed like an upperclassman trying to impress a underclassman. "Here's a story about some of the kids in our class. You see, one day, Hideki and a couple others actually went to the Forest of Death, for, you know, some real training. They say you need to be a chunin or higher to enter. We tagged along, but secretly because...you know, we were practicing being stealthy. "

Takeshi glanced at him, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, they thought it would be a cool place to train and we just wanted to see what would happen. But..."

"But what?"

Hiroshi leaned in closer, whispering quietly. "They got through the gates with us just slightly behind...but we saw something weird—there were shadows moving and strange noises. It freaked us out, so we booked it out of there. Haven't been back since."

Sakura's interest was peaked. "What do you think it was?"

Takeshi scratched his head, clearly uncomfortable with the memory. "Hard to say. Could've been some animals, but it felt...like, we weren't alone, you know?"

"Yeah, it was creepy. We thought it might be a nuke-nin or something." Hiroshi shivered. "But here's the weird part – we never mentioned it to anyone, and suddenly, we got a warning from the village. They said we were in a restricted area and could be severely punished if we went back. It was like they knew we were there the whole time!"

His exaggerated gestures and nervous glances around the room betrayed his excitement mixed with a hint of fear. Takeshi, on the other hand, seemed more reserved, his movements guarded and his eyes occasionally darting towards the door as if wary of being overheard.

Sakura's mind raced with possibilities. Takeshi was quiet, as if he was more on edge of them being caught than his more immature friend was. She questioned whether this encounter in the Forest of Death as straightforward as they claimed. Wary of this, Sakura focused her attention on the boy's demeanor. Despite his attempts to appear nonchalant, she detected a faint tremor in his hands as he fidgeted with the edge of his sleeve. His eyes, usually calm and composed, darted around the room with a nervous energy that betrayed his outward stoicism.

"This conversation doesn't seem very promising. Frankly, who cares about the Forest of Death? We've done enough for today though," Inner shrugged, "let's just go, we have more important things to worry about."

Sakura agreed with Inner's assessment, recognizing that pursuing rumors about the Forest of Death wouldn't bring her any closer to her goals of finding out what Kimiko was up to. With a quiet goodbye, she stood up from the table, gathering her backpack and heading to the front door.

Before leaving, Sakura picked up the pen and carefully signed her name in the log book, recording her departure from the orphanage for the day. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Kimiko observing her every move, her expression unreadable. Today, she decided to partially tell the truth, but she was testing the waters - Sakura was certain that she couldn't get away with lying from the get-go, but if she eased into it, there was potential to do so in the future.

"Off to go training again, Sakura?" the matron asked, her voice laced with a hint of suspicion.

She nodded. "No, Kimiko-san. I'm just going to see my friend today, we are going to brush up on some topics before Monday's test."

The older woman's eyes narrowed slightly, but she said nothing more as Sakura made her way out of the orphanage, and with her back turned, Takeshi exchanged a brief, meaningful glance with the matron.

As Sakura left the orphanage, she made her way towards the Nara compound, quickening her pace as to not be late. She had promised Shikamaru a game of shogi, and she intended to keep her word. This was however, not entirely what she was going to do - through some prodding, she had convinced her lazy friend to train with her as well.

Arriving at the compound, Sakura was greeted by her friend, who was waiting for her at the gate. They exchanged some brief small talk on the way to his house, and she found that a board had been set up in the shogi room, as if he had been waiting for this.

He gestured for her to take a seat opposite him. "Ready?"

Sakura sat down, glancing at the board briefly as she thought of a strategy to defeat him. "Let's see if you can beat me this time."

Shikamaru studied the board with a casual yet observant eye. As usual, he made his moves with the ease of someone who played frequently, his movements efficient as he executed his strategy with precision. But unknown to him, Sakura had been practicing, reading strategies in her spare time at the library in hopes that it would come in handy.

She carefully positioned her pieces, setting traps and anticipating her opponent's moves with a keen intuition. After much thought, Sakura moved her bishop diagonally across the board, positioning it in a seemingly vulnerable spot. This was a move she learned from the book Shogi: Strategies and Shortcomings by Nara Shiriko - of course, Sakura doubted this would uncover the Nara's way of thinking, but it certainly helped to know some common ways to beat out opponents.

After a series of calculated moves, Sakura's patience paid off. Shikamaru took the bait, capturing her bishop with his knight, unwittingly walking into her trap. Feigning nonchalance, Sakura seized this as an opportunity to finally go on the offensive, moving her rook and threatening his king, putting him on the defensive.

"Wha-"

"She got you there son." Sakura startled, not realizing that Shikaku had been in the room, watching the board from afar. "That was clever Sakura, you've improved."

"Thank you, Shikaku-san," Sakura replied, slightly embarrassed having not noticed him until now. "I've been studying shogi strategies in my spare time."

Shikaku nodded approvingly, his gaze thoughtful as he observed the board. "It's good to see kids your age taking an interest in strategic thinking. It's an essential skill for any shinobi."

"Tou-san, stop distracting us. Play me back woman."

The Nara clan head made his way to sit down, watching as they finished up the game - much to Sakura's dismay, she lost, but she was a lot closer to winning this time than the previous time she had played.

"Well played, both of you." Shikaku smiled wryly, a glint in his eye. "How about we try a different game this time, one that tests not only your strategic thinking but also your ability to adapt and improvise."

Shikamaru groaned. "No-"

"I'll take that as a yes then."

Sakura was intrigued. "What's the game Shikaku-san?"

Shikaku reached for a nearby shelf, retrieving a board with a map of a simulated battlefield that had an assortment of miniature figures representing shinobi, terrain, and structures. "How about we play a game of strategic simulation? We'll simulate a scenario where you're leading a small team of shinobi on a mission, similar to what you will do in real life."

While this wasn't the training that she expected, her interest was piqued - perhaps this was a good way to stimulate her mental competence. "I've never played this game before."

"Neither have I," Shikamaru chimed in, his eyes surprisingly alert and focused on the map before him. "What are the rules tou-san?"

He gestured towards the board, setting it up and explaining the rules at the same time. "Think of it like a real-life mission, but played out on a simulated battlefield. You'll encounter challenges, and it's up to you to strategize and make decisions to achieve your objectives. As the Jounin Commander, I have walked hundreds of hopeful candidates through scenarios like this: you can't become a jounin based on physical skill alone. It's of utmost importance your mind is up to par as well."

Sakura nodded. "So it's like a game of shogi, but with shinobi?"

"Not quite," Shikaku replied, "unlike shogi, this game has no fixed rules. It's similar in the sense that you'll need to adapt to the situation and think creatively to outmaneuver your opponent, which in this case is me."

Shikamaru couldn't help but show his interest. "How troublesome...let's get started then."

Shikaku's demeanor shifted, his typically relaxed posture straightening as he assumed the role of a seasoned shinobi leader - in this moment, he was the Jounin Commander, not her friend's father. "Listen carefully," he began, his tone firm and commanding. "This simulation is not just a game. It's a test of your strategic thinking and decision-making under pressure. The success of this mission could have real-world implications for our village."

Sakura and Shikamaru's eyes widened as they glanced at each other, sensing the gravity in his tone. They straightened up, ready to heed Shikaku's instructions with the utmost seriousness.

"As Konoha's shinobi, you represent the village's interests abroad," Shikaku continued, "and this also means you protect the interests of clients we serve. Your primary objective is to protect a diplomat from Cha no Kuni and ensure their safe passage to Tetsu no Kuni. The success of the mission hinges on your ability to safeguard this emissary and navigate the challenges posed by the journey."

"You must exercise discretion and diplomacy while also being prepared to defend yourselves and the client if necessary," he emphasized, his gaze unwavering. "Remember, the safety of our village and the success of this mission depend on your actions. Due to the nature of this mission, your squad consists of four seasoned chunin, each possessing unique skills and specialties that will be invaluable on this mission. "

Shikaku handed them both a set of papers for Sakura and Shikamaru to examine. "These skill sheets contain detailed information about each member of your team's abilities and specialties. It's crucial for you to familiarize yourselves with their capabilities to effectively plan and execute your mission. Furthermore, since neither of you have ever read a skill sheet, this is a good time as any to explain what this paper can tell you - it's a shinobi's job to look beneath the underneath."

"First, you'll find an assessment of each team member's awareness and perception skills. This includes their ability to detect danger, sense chakra signatures, and notice subtle changes in their environment. Below that is information about their proficiency in espionage and reconnaissance techniques. This includes their skill in gathering intelligence, tracking targets, and conducting covert operations."

Shikamaru pointed to a pentagon on the right side of the page. "Do these skills correlate to these lines?"

"I'm getting to that," Shikaku explained patiently, "let me finish first. After this section, you'll see an evaluation of their combat abilities, including their proficiency in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu. This will give you insight into their offensive and defensive capabilities in combat situations. Additionally, there's a part dedicated to their medical expertise, detailing their knowledge of traditional and advanced healing techniques, as well as their ability to administer first aid and treat injuries. Lastly, you'll find an assessment of their leadership and teamwork skills, which includes their ability to coordinate with teammates, make strategic decisions under pressure, and adapt to changing circumstances."

"Each of these sections correlate to a letter from A to E, which as you can see, are on different sides of the pentagon." He moved his finger on Sakura's page, tracing the lines. "As you can see, if someone is more experienced in, let's say, iryo-ninjutsu, then the line will be closer to the letter - if not, it's closer to the center of the pentagram. Understood?"

They both nodded.

"Good. I'll give you both ten minutes to go over the sheets, then we will begin."

Sakura and Shikamaru diligently read the skill sheets, taking turns to absorb the information. She already felt the pressure of what was to come: luckily, one thing that wasn't an issue here was memorizing the information. Thanks to her incredible recalling abilities (I think the word is photographic memory, Inner mused), she wouldn't forget what she had read.

"Time's up." They looked up, noticing he had shifted pieces on the board. "As you can see, we are starting in Konoha. Imagine you're on the trek to Tetsu no Kuni, having to pass through dense forests before the terrain changes. The client, growing impatient and frustrated, begins to argue with your team, questioning your abilities and leadership. Your first task is to defuse the situation diplomatically while maintaining the client's trust and cooperation. Remember, a successful mission requires not only the completion of objectives but also the preservation of positive relations with our allies."

Sakura looks to her friend, who nods his head, silently telling her to go ahead. "The first thing we need to address is the client's concerns while also making sure they know our expertise and competence. As team leader, Rei has experience in handling delicate situations like this, and Taka's reconnaissance abilities can help look into the client's concerns to reassure them."

"Agreed. We'll try to reason with the client," Shikamaru continued, "If that fails, we'll have Rei step in to mediate while the rest of the team maintains composure. Kenji is a sensor, so he can remain focused on their surroundings while they sort it out."

Shikaku nodded curtly, acknowledging their plan without giving away his reaction. "Let's proceed. The situation is diffused for now - as you continue your journey, Kenji senses a group of bandits blocking the path that leads you to the road you need to take. He shares this information with the team - how do you handle this?"

"Taka can assess the bandits numbers and their positions since he's the most skilled in reconnaissance." Shikamaru throws out, looking to Sakura for her opinion.

She pauses, thinking for a moment. "If Kenji is a sensor-nin, wouldn't he be able to do that without mobilizing other team members?"

"He can only sense up to 300 feet," he responded, "and that wouldn't give us information on things we need to know, like how many weapons they have and whether they are shinobi from another village rather than regular bandits. Plus, conserving chakra for the trek to Tetsu no Kuni is more important, especially the further we get out of Hi no Kuni."

"Oh," Sakura blinked, "I didn't think about that - well, in that case, if Taka goes to do recon, then Rei should persuade the client into thinking they're going to take a break as to maintain peace. The client can't know there's danger up ahead, or he might become unreasonable."

Shikaku observed them both quietly. "Taka comes back and reports that the bandits appear to be a small group of about six individuals. They're armed with various weapons, mostly swords and kunais. From their attire and demeanor, it seems they're likely rogue mercenaries rather than organized shinobi. How do you proceed?"

Shikamaru furrowed his brows in thought, contemplating the situation. "Engaging the bandits directly could escalate the situation and put our client in danger. But then again, avoiding them entirely might lead us off-course and delay our mission."

"What if we take a detour through the forest to bypass the bandits?" Sakura pointed to the map, her gaze fixated on a small, hidden path through the forest that would ultimately lead back to the main road. "It might take slightly longer, but it's safer than risking a confrontation. Judging by the topography, it doesn't seem to be too mountainous - there's a creek that runs by it too."

"That's a viable option," Shikaku conceded, "but keep in mind the potential dangers of navigating through unfamiliar terrain. The forest could be home to various natural hazards or even wildlife that could pose a threat to your group. What path do you choose?"

Sakura assessed their options. "If we decide to take the forest route, Ayumi should lead the way. Her advanced medical training most likely means she has knowledge of herbalism and identifying poisonous plants. She might even be able to pick edible ones up to replenish the team."

"Agreed," Shikamaru remarked, surprised he hadn't thought of this himself. "They would continue moving along the new path, with Taka covering the rear."

From there on, the obstacles kept coming, whether it was encountering a enemy shinobi or being deterred by an injury. As they navigated through each scenario, Sakura and Shikamaru proved to be a formidable team, their strategic thinking and quick reflexes complementing each other perfectly. Whatever she lacked, he filled in the blanks, and whatever he didn't think about, she provided: Shikaku watched them both with careful eyes, impressed by how sharp they were for their age.

Yoshino stepped in the room, a hand on her waist. "I've been calling for you all for ages now - lunch is ready, come eat it when it's hot!"

Sakura was startled by how much time had passed already, apologizing profusely before she hurried inside to help set the table. Shikamaru watched her for a moment, as if in a daze before immediately following behind and grumbling something about wanting to keep going.

Shikaku watched the interaction, smirking and lazily sauntering back inside.