Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The water was icy cold, stealing what little breath was left in her lungs as she plunged off the bridge and into the ocean below, the now-slain henchman’s sword sliding out of her stomach like a hot knife in butter.

Not that it matters, the girl thought bitterly as the darkness closed in, starting at the edges of her vision until it overtook her entire vision. Or maybe it was just because the water was dark.

No, definitely the stab wound.

She used her last few moments to ruminate on things she could have changed in the minuteshoursdaysmonthsyears that lead to her death.

If only I’d focused on training instead of Sasuke.

I should have stayed friends with Ino.

I should have been nicer to Naruto.

I should have-

—-

Haruno Sakura awoke with a gasp, face damp.

Ocean water? No, tears.

When she had taken several deep breaths and calmed her racing heart, she finally was able to take stock of her surroundings. Or, at least, whatever she could see in the room that managed to be illuminated by the half moon peeking through her curtains.

The sight of her desk, laden with textbooks and library books, was enough to assure her it was her room. The soft thing she sat upon was her mattress, far away from any ocean.

“Kai!” Sakura balled up her fist and struck her left thigh as she spoke, knowing that pain sometimes helped in disrupting a genjutsu. Yet, it looked like this was no genjutsu, just plain old reality.

A quick prodding of her stomach informed her that she wasn’t dying of a stab wound after failing to protect a drunk old man who lied about the mission her team was on.

Her team?

Had it all been a dream?

That was a crazy dream, Inner. Sometimes, after a bad nightmare, she had little chats with the voice in her head to self-soothe. It was like an imaginary friend, but also not really. Maybe her next library trip should include a few books on psychology. Inner?

There was nothing but silence in her head, though, and after a few repeated attempts to call out to Inner, an emptiness began to creep in.

If only I’d focused on training instead of Sasuke.

I should have stayed friends with Ino.

I should have been nicer to Naruto.

The thoughts came unbidden to her mind, and only served to add to the turbulence inside her. They were familiar thoughts, in a way, but not. It was unusually serious, with an added pinch of something more real.

Knowing she wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep, Sakura swung her legs out from beneath her blankets and padded as quietly as she could to the bathroom that sat between her room and that of her parents.

It was only after she flipped on the lights over the sink that she realized they weren’t even home. They usually weren’t, now that she was old enough to stay home by herself.

Still, ninja were supposed to be stealthy, so she chose to try and keep her noise to a minimum regardless of the home’s lack of other occupants. The only noises were the squeak of the faucet’s handles, the murmur of water burbling from the taps, and the sound of said water being splashed on the girl’s pale face. By the time she was done, the sticky tear tracks were gone, but her eyes still had a telltale red puffiness to them. The color only seemed to make her green eyes that much brighter.

“Inner?” She whispered aloud to her mental companion as she turned off the taps.

Nothing.

For the first time in many years, Sakura was well and truly alone. And yet, there was still a lingering sense of prompting in the back of her mind. A need to accomplish the tasks her dream self regretted not doing, as she died in a strange land while her teammates didn’t even notice.

None of the ideas seemed overwhelmingly impossible- yes, she thought Sasuke was cute, and she wouldn’t say no if he asked her to spend time with him, but… He’d never reciprocated.

If anything, the pinkette thought as she crawled beneath her blankets one again, a thread of bitterness snaking its way through her heart, he seems to react best to Hinata, and she doesn’t even give him the time of day.

Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to give it a rest. Absence was supposed to make the heart grow fonder, wasn’t it? Besides, there was no way she could mend things with Ino if she was still openly vying for the last Uchiha.

The sudden desire to be kind to Uzumaki Naruto, however, seemed to come from thin air. It wasn’t that Sakura wanted to be cruel to the blond, even though she’d seen plenty of adults do so- it was just his persistence in asking her out and gods above is that what I’ve been putting Sasuke-kun through all this time? The revelation slammed into her like a boulder.

Yikes was perhaps putting it too mildly.

“Okay,” she said in the dark emptiness of her room, determination painted on her delicate features, “I’m going to leave Sasuke alone and ask Ino to forgive me and…” She paused as she racked her brain for what to do in regards to the other blond on her list. “Share my lunch with Naruto?” He never had more than a misshapen rice ball or instant ramen, whenever she saw him at lunch.

Besides, she was going to have to start eating more, if she was serious about training with the extra time she would free up by not focusing her attention on a boy who didn’t want it, so what was making a little extra on top of that?

Mind made up, Sakura was finally able to calm herself enough to drift back to sleep, this time without the bloody nightmares of her own future demise.

The insistent, shrill ring of her alarm clock was the only thing that managed to rouse her. The girl flung one hand out from beneath her blanket pile, groping blindly around the nightstand beside her head until she managed to slam it down atop the contraption, silencing it until the next day.

Bleary green eyes only just made out the time on the clock face as the ten year old swung her legs over the side of her bed, struggling for a moment as her legs became tangled in the covers before finally managing to tug herself free. She was only half-conscious, going through the motions rather than putting much thought into the actions of her morning routine.

It was only after she’d flushed the toilet and stood at the bathroom sink washing her hands that she was shocked into awareness.

There was nothing unusual about her reflection, the same pale face and long, tangled pastel locks she always saw in the mornings, but locking gazes with herself in the mirror brought memories of the previous night, and its night terrors, to the forefront of her mind.

“Inner is gone.” Sakura whispered, not sure if she was trying to convince herself that it was true, or if she was hoping that by saying it aloud, she could summon her… whatever Inner was. She had always been kind of spiteful like that, so maybe it would work?

Silence continued to reign in her head, but was quickly overwhelmed with her racing, panicked thoughts.

She didn’t want to die! She didn’t want to be a useless, weak afterthought that was killed on her first mission outside of the village!

Her resolve to carry out the changes she’d vowed to herself the night before only strengthened as she finished her routine, washing her face, brushing her teeth, and carefully detangling her knotted mass of hair.

Speaking of her hair, maybe she should cut it? If she was really going to try and not care what Sasuke-kun thought of her, it wouldn’t matter what the length was. Plus, it couldn’t hurt to make a visible declaration of that to Ino, since she was determined to repair their friendship.

…She would just braid it, for then. No need to rush into a hasty decision when it had taken her years to grow it out, after all.

Small, dexterous fingers parted her hair into three even sections (or what she hoped was even- she couldn’t exactly spot the back of her head in the bathroom mirror)., twisting and twirling until she had a plait that ran down her back, tied off with a scrunchie that matched the well-loved red ribbon keeping her bangs back. Maybe if Ino saw…

Slipping back into her room to change out of her pajamas, she noted she was making decent time. Usually, Sakura arrived to class obscenely early, thirty minutes or more before lessons started- it had started as a way to avoid bullies, but morphed into a way to ensure she could snag a seat near Sasuke-kun.

Now that she was freeing her time up, she’d put it to use on making a proper lunch, instead of just shoving a half portion of rice and some umeboshi into the smallest bento she owned and hoping her stomach wouldn’t growl. She wasn’t sure if she was willing to risk trying breakfast, yet- it usually upset her stomach to eat so early, and she really didn’t need to add puking in class to the list of her exploits. That was far more embarrassing than some of the things she’d done to get the lone Uchiha’s attention.

Sakura spent so much time by herself in the house, her parents usually off in other villages for business for the Haruno clan, she knew how to cook. More importantly, she knew how to cook well. There had been a time before her endless dieting where she would make a multi-course meal just because (a happier time when Ino would come over and be wowed by her independence).

“Guess I’m putting myself back to the test today,” she murmured to herself as she got a few portions of rice settled in the electric cooker and moved to dig a few pots and pans out of the cabinets. She still wasn’t tall enough to reach them by herself, so Sakura had to enlist the help of one of the chairs positioned around the kitchen table to stand on as she rummaged around for what she needed.

Since she was the only one home often enough to cook, everything was exactly where she’d last placed it, and in no time she was chopping vegetables, depositing them in their respective pot or pan, and adding a dash of mirin or soy sauce here and there. It was a soothing routine, one that she hadn’t even realized she missed in the frenzy to just… belong.

That was part of the reason she went so hard on the fangirling, after all. Everyone else was doing it, and it meant she could fit in a little better. Obviously, there was something genuine to it- Sasuke-kun was cute, that was just part of Uchiha genetics (from what she remembered- it had been a few years since the last time she’d seen one who wasn’t her crush, obviously). She was still a pre-teen girl, after all, and hormones were coming out to smack her in the face in new ways every day.

There wasn’t time to do anything decadent, but it was more than she’d put together for herself in a while. Besides, since she was giving her second bento to Naruto (if he actually showed up for school that day), it wasn’t like she had to impress anyone but herself and the blond boy. And with the sad lunches she’d seen him tote around, on the days when he had anything at all, she doubted he would critique her for not making anything complex.

“Why am I even-” Before she could even finish her grumbling as she tied the two lunchboxes up neatly in a large, decorative cloth. There were just some vanities she wasn’t ready to give up yet, even as her mind decided to dredge up more of her dream from last night. Thankfully less bloody than her initial memories of it.

”Ne, ne, Sakura-chan,” the blond boy was practically vibrating with excitement, “I used some of my mission money to get you a present!”

He wasted no time in whipping the stick of dango out from behind his back, beaming like a ray of sunshine as he did so.

And what had Dream Sakura done? Told him she only wanted gifts from Sasuke-kun.

It was rudeness of the highest order, and she kind of wanted to kick her dream self for acting that way. But it was just a memory… of what could come to pass? It was a little jumbled in her head, but no matter, at least Sakura could assure herself that she wasn’t going to be like that from then on.

Sure, Naruto had started pestering her to go out on a date with him this year, now that they were all starting to approach puberty, but it hadn’t excused the way she’d responded each time.

Once again, she was struck with a sense of horror as she drew parallels between that situation and her own single-minded pursuit of Sasuke-kun.

Was I really that bad? The pinkette thought as she shut and locked the front door behind her, ready to get to class and not have to dwell too much on the dream.

I’ve been even worse, I think. she answered her own question with a wince, drawing a look of concern from old lady Michiko as the woman swept the stoop of her tailor shop. The elderly woman didn’t say anything, though, but Sakura could feel the curious gaze on her until she turned the corner onto the next street.

Chapter Text

Even with the added step to her usual morning routine, Sakura arrived at the Academy early, if only by a few minutes. It was late enough that Ino was already perched in a seat beside the brooding, dark haired Uchiha, looking smug as could be as the pinkette slipped into the room.

Her smirk dropped into a look of confusion once she caught sight of the red ribbon, though.

Stubborn pride dictated the Yamanaka not approach first- Sakura knew that with total certainty. It had only been a year or so since they turned into bitter rivals, after all, and there was no way Ino could have changed that much in regards to that particular trait.

She wouldn’t mind making the first move, not with Ino, at least, but it was a matter of finding the right moment to do it. In front of the entire class definitely wasn’t it, after all. Besides, she had to find a seat before Iruka-sensei turned up, and there were some people she just wasn’t willing to sit next to (Ami, it was Ami she wanted to avoid).

Lucky for her, she spotted an open place towards the middle of the classroom. Her seatmates wouldn’t be bad, either., if they let her join them

“Is it okay if I sit next to you today, Hinata-chan?” The Hyuuga heiress looked startled at being approached by Sakura, but managed to squeak out an agreement anyway.

“O-of course, Sa-sakura-san.” From Hinata’s other side, leaning against the wall was Shino, looking… Well, she couldn’t really make out any emotions with that high collar and sunglasses.

As Sakura slipped into the aisle seat (conveniently right across from the desk Ino sat in), she gave silent thanks to whatever kami would listen that she hadn’t had to sit with her bullies. Even if she was a little creeped out by spiders, Shino’s beetles were different. Pretty, in a way. And Hinata was always sweet, if far too reserved.

“You can just call me Sakura-chan, if you want,” the pinkette offered with a tentative smile, not quite sure if that was somehow overstepping bounds. Clans, especially ancient ones like the Hyuuga, were just plain weird about some stuff that would be innocuous to anyone else, and without a shinobi upbringing herself, Sakura had no good way to know where the boundaries were. She could only go by the manners she had been raised with (when her parents had bothered to pay attention to her).

She didn’t push the matter when Hinata turned as red as a tomato, though. She had enough tact for that much, at least. Besides, Iruka-sensei chose that moment to enter the room, and their attention had to focus on the chuunin.

At no point in the lesson did Naruto show up, though. It looked like her food-to-friendship efforts would be wasted.

…Unless she gave her spare lunch to Ino.

Sakura took a moment to pat herself on the back for adapting the disadvantage to one more step in achieving another of her newfound goals, and then she plunged herself back into the lesson on throwing equations. Math was something Sakura was good at, and she could already do those calculations in her head, on the spot. It was just that her muscles weren’t good enough to follow through on what her brain knew, when they practiced the physical aspects of such lessons.

She could definitely stand to start doing a few pushups, that was for sure.

Math gave way to a history lecture, which was just as interesting to her- Ino always called her a brainiac, but in the most affectionate way possible. Sakura could hardly wait to go back to that familiar ribbing, once she played her cards right. Speaking of which-

“Alright, class,” Iruka-sensei clapped his hands as his students began hastily stowing pencils and notebooks away, “After lunch will be sparring,” raucous cheers from a few (Kiba being the loudest) echoed in the classroom for a long moment, until the teacher could get the noise levels under control again. “So we’ll all meet in the training ground instead of back here. Class dismissed!” The man was almost bowled over by the stampede of (mostly) boys, eager to scarf down their food and get started on the hands-on lessons.

If only she could look forward to it, instead of dreading her inevitable loss against whichever classmate she was pitted against. But that problem wouldn’t be solved overnight, and she had other matters to tend to immediately.

At a far more sedate pace, Sakura grabbed her cloth-wrapped bento stack and made her way towards the Yamanaka heiress, who was slowly packing up her school supplies. It would have been obvious she was waiting for Sakura as it were, since she was usually out the door and trying to find where Sasuke was trying to eat in solitude that day, but the way her cornflower blue eyes continued to glance over at the pinkette only confirmed it.

“Um,” Sakura wasn’t entirely sure why she was suddenly feeling shy, maybe it was the way Ino’s gaze leveled on her once she was finally standing next to the blonde (maybe it was because her father worked in T&I, but Ino had always been able to seem as though she was looking into your very soul, even without the use of her clan’s Mind Transfer jutsu), but she took a breath and tried to steel herself anyway. “Do you want to eat lunch with me today? I packed extra.”

Acting cool and confident as ever, her (former? Soon-to-be current?) best friend crossed her arms over her chest and studied Sakura for a long moment, such intense scrutiny making the girl want to squirm.

“And why would I want to do that, Forehead?” It was a fair question, and Sakura intended to answer it honestly. Or, as honestly as she could without sounding totally nuts (I saw myself dying in the future and not staying your friend was one of my biggest regrets just wasn’t something you dropped on another person when you were trying to get back in their good graces).

“I realized I was wrong,” she knew how to get Ino’s undivided attention with a single statement, and the way the Yamanaka leaned forward slightly, gaze widening, let her know the same old methods were still successful. “Fighting over a boy is dumb, even if he’s the cutest boy in the village. We were best friends, and I should have picked you, and I’m sorry I didn’t and-”

“What do you mean, were best friends?” Ino’s interruption, while helpfully stopping Sakura’s rambling before it could get into full swing, made her stomach drop in dread. Only to have her heart soar in the next instant, when the blonde continued, “As far as I’m aware, it’s still an ongoing thing! As if I’d let a little competition get in the way. Besides, I always knew you’d see the light- Sasuke is much better suited to me, anyway.”

Sakura was so overwhelmingly happy that she couldn’t even get irritated at the little jab. She could only toss her arms around the other girl, trying not to cry or drop the food she was still clutching all the while.

“Ino-chan,” her voice wibbled a little, and while her face was buried in her best friend’s shoulder, she was obviously close enough for the emotion to be heard.

“Come on, Forehead, stop getting all mushy on me. You said you brought food?” It seemed Ino had also retained her skills in redirecting her platonic other half’s attention, because it got Sakura to release the blonde and straighten up with a scoff (though the watery grin on her face gave away her true gratitude).

“Leave it to you, Pig, to think about the food first.”

Both girls couldn’t seem to stop giggling as they stepped out into the afternoon sunshine to find a spot to eat, arms linked and eyes sparkling. Even as they sprawled under a tree, shoving rice and sauteed vegetables into their mouths at a rapid pace (once they were sure Sasuke-kun couldn’t see such unladylike behavior), they traded familiar jokes and lighthearted ribbing, along with the occasional poke to emphasize a point or get the other back for saying something particularly out-of-hand.

“Ugh, I hate sparring lessons, I get all sweaty and gross,” Ino bemoaned as their lunch hour drew to a close and they slipped back into the classroom to drop Sakura’s now-empty bento boxes off.

“At least you can work up a sweat,” Sakura lamented, not even once questioning how easy it was to slip back into confiding in her best friend, “I’m so pathetic I can’t even get that far. I can only land a hit if it’s Ami or Taro I’m up against.” Both of whom were also civilian-borns, like Sakura, and therefore hadn’t been born holding a kunai like the rest of the class who came from shinobi clans.

“Hey, cheer up,” Ino slapped her back lightly once Sakura finished tucking the containers into her school bag. “We can always practice at my house? If dad says we can.” A smirk returned to Ino’s face, this time because she knew her father’s answer would be yes. She was his little princess, after all, and he liked Sakura to boot, so it was all but assured.

“Really?” Jade eyes shimmered with hope, Sakura’s hands clasped together in excitement as she began tailing Ino towards the training ground. “It wouldn’t be too much to ask?”

“What do you take me for, Forehead? A girl who throws out empty promises?” Ino tossed her head back, sniffing in mock offense, before breaking character and turning to grin at the pinkette.

“You’re the best, Pig,” Sakura rushed forward a few steps until she was walking beside the blonde instead of behind her, knocking her shoulder into Ino’s playfully.

“Don’t I know it,” Ino shot back, returning the shoulder bump with one of her own.

“I’m gonna kick your ass, bastard!” The loud exclamation of Uzumaki Naruto’s unmistakable voice reached them as the two girls approached the training grounds. Neither could hear what the Uchiha said (if he even deigned to respond), but there was no way it hadn’t been Sasuke he’d been taunting.

“Geeze,” Ino sighed, shaking her head as they made it to the rest of their class, who were all watching whatever altercation was going on. “As if he’d stand a chance against Sasuke-kun.”

Sakura nodded in agreement, but didn’t say anything. She had only just decided not to focus on the Uchiha heir for the sake of her friendship and training progress, but… he was just so cool.

Just to spite Naruto (it seemed), Iruka-sensei did not pair the two boys up to spar. Instead, Sasuke was paired up with Ami as the first match of the day (Ino was indignant and Sakura felt more than a little sorry for her crush). They were interesting choices, to say the least, and Ino even managed to ease some more of Sakura’s dread about her own match when she leaned over to whisper a comment about Ami being sure to get trounced in five seconds or less.

Considering the purple haired girl had been her biggest bully for years, Sakura didn’t feel wrong in taking a little vindictive glee when that proved to be right, and Ami was sent, teary-faced, to the medic’s office with a badly broken nose in three seconds flat.

Next came Ino’s bout with Taro- which was actually interesting to watch. Ino moved fluidly, like water, and was quick enough on her feet that, after a few minutes, she emerged the victor with a decisive blow to the back of Taro’s head. It had been a fairly even match, though, all things considered, and Sakura didn’t regret cheering for her friend.

Naruto’s match was immediately afterward, with the Akimichi heir. It was… interesting. Chouji was hesitant to hurt a comrade, but he was at least more willing to spar with his male classmate (last week he’d all but forfeited on the spot when he was matched with Hinata). The Uzumaki, with his boundless energy and unconventional moves, was just too overwhelming for poor Chouji in the end, though the boy took his loss well and congratulated Naruto after they’d made the sign of reconciliation.

“Sakura and Kiba, you’re up.” Dread bloomed in her stomach, creeping up through her veins like some invasive vine and trying to strangle her with nerves. Kiba was okay, but he was definitely the better fighter. Ino squeezed her arm in support and told her to “beat dog breath”, drawing glares from both the Inuzuka and Akamaru alike. It helped steady her a bit, despite the inevitable looming over her.

“C’mon, Sakura-chan! You can do it!” Naruto always cheered for her during matches, despite everyone in class knowing she’d lose almost every time (she’d had a stroke of dumb luck once or twice and come out the victor then). Yet, this time? It hit differently, striking a chord that had undoubtedly been left behind by her dream-premonition-thing, and the new motivations she’d gained from it.

She lost spectacularly, in the end. How could she not, when Kiba was near the top of the class in taijutsu? She lasted longer than Ami had against Sasuke, at least, and she did manage to land a hit on his thigh- but she’d been aiming for his stomach, and she hadn’t put enough force behind it to do much damage. Sure, he would have a bruise beneath the leg of his pants, but it wasn’t enough.

In the end, she was still just a weak little girl. Pinned in the dirt with her head being yanked back by her braid, the dull training kunai barely pressing against the slender column of her neck.

A silver-haired man stood in front of her, watching Sasuke and Naruto fight. She heard herself speak up, compelled by a sense of desperation, a need to be recognized by the authority figure.

“Can I go next, sensei?”

“Maa, maybe next time, Sakura-chan. The boys don’t look like they’ll be in any condition to hold back anytime soon.”

She wasn’t sure what stung more: the indirect insult to her abilities, or being so easily dismissed by her teacher that he couldn’t even bother to look her in the eyes as he insulted her.

The bit of her nightmare-future-whatever it was etched itself into her memory as Iruka-sensei called the fight in Kiba’s favor. She wasn’t even sure who the man that was supposed to become her teacher was, but she resented him already. Wanted to prove him wrong, at least enough to make him face her as he treated her so callously.

Sensei won’t pay attention to you if you aren’t strong. The cynical thought made her loss sting all the more, though she was able to keep up a mask of acceptance as she stood, dusting herself off and making the sign of reconciliation with the Inuzuka. You’re just a civilian-born nobody, if you add weakness on top of that…

Sakura hated this new voice- it wasn’t quite sentient in the way Inner had been, and it was ten times crueler than her alter ego. That it also sounded like her (like Inner, too) only made the sting of losing Inner that much worse. Were these her true thoughts and feelings, ones dark enough that Inner had kept them at bay so as to let Sakura retain her innocent world view a bit longer?

But the thing was… She was right.

The very nature of the Hidden Village system, or at least Konoha’s, was to favor clan children to the point of exclusivity. Civilian borns, or even second or third generation shinobi who weren’t attached to a clan, were really nothing more than canon fodder. Unless they could force their way to the top, like the Yondaime had, they died in near total anonymity, only remembered by teammates or family, if they had any.

It was a reality she had willfully ignored for the longest time. In her childish naivety, encouraged by Inner, in a way, Sakura had thought she could… What? Look pretty enough an enemy would wait for her to strike first? In a honeypot mission, perhaps, but she was a ten year old girl, and the thought of strangers touching her body so intimately made her nauseous.

Besides, she’d always assumed, foolishly, that all her primping and loud and unwelcome love declarations to Sasuke-kun would land her the coveted role of Uchiha Matriarch before she would have to face too much danger.

She had been a stupid little girl, in that respect. And, as her newly jaded inner monologue was finally pointing out, stupid little girls are the first to die.

No matter how high her marks were in the academic realm, it wouldn’t save her in the field if she didn’t have at least a tiny bit of physical skill to back it up.

“Meet me by the gates after class.” Ino’s voice broke through her downward spiral of negativity, luckily, and she managed to smile and agree as though nothing was wrong.

“Sure!” Even her voice was steady as she chirped her cheerful response at her best friend, before the two split off to take their respective seats and get settled for the remainder of their afternoon classes.

She received the look in return for her efforts. The one that let her know that Ino knew something was definitely up, and there would be plenty of questions later.

Great.

It was hard to focus on the history lesson with her impending grilling coming up. Ino’s dad was one of the top interrogators of T&I for a good reason, after all, and his daughter had always displayed a similar skill set. No way Ino wouldn’t be the head of the entire department at some point in her career.

In her nervous state, trying not to fidget and therefore call more attention to herself, Sakura let her eyes wander around the classroom as much as she could without constantly turning her head. Maybe if she just observed a few of her classmates, it would help? She wasn’t sure how or why, but it was worth a shot.

That was how she came to understand that Naruto couldn’t read.

Well, total illiteracy was probably incorrect, but he was sitting in the row below hers, so she could see how he dragged his finger down the page of their textbook in an attempt to follow along with Mizuki-sensei. It was probably going to be a short-lived attempt, but the way the pad of his index finger hovered beside most of the kanji that didn’t come with furigana readings…

The girl didn’t want to jump to too many conclusions, especially not one so dire, without evidence first. At least the predicted outburst, in which Naruto proclaimed they didn’t need to learn about some weird old dead guys when he was going to be the Hokage people remembered the most one day, gave her an in to gently probe. And maybe, if he was willing, she could help.

After all, she had vowed to be nicer to him.

Chapter Text

Ino was quick to pack up and sling her school bag over her shoulder the minute Mizuki-sensei dismissed them for the day. The blonde only stopped in her mad rush to get away from the strictures of school in order to stand next to where Sakura was seated and look down in her usual, slightly haughty way at the girl.

“Don’t forget, by the gates! If you take too long, I’m going to leave without you.” Ino jabbed her finger towards the other girl’s chest for emphasis, but the poke that landed on her was light, barely felt through the fabric of her red cheongsam.

“Alright, alright,” Sakura groused, but there was laughter hidden in her tone, “Some of us don’t hate the classroom like you, Pig.”

It was lucky Mizuki-sensei had absconded as quickly as he could after class, because the rude gesture the Yamanaka heiress made would have certainly landed her a scolding if he’d witnessed it.

It was another stroke of luck that Naruto was still there as the room continued to empty, and once Ino had made her exit, Sakura hastily shoved the rest of her things in her bag and approached the boy.

“Naruto,” there was no heat to her voice, no scolding or irritation that usually came with their interactions. Maybe that was why the blond looked up at her in surprise, blue eyes widening as words failed him for a moment. But only a moment- as soon as his brain processed that yes, Haruno Sakura had approached him of her own free will, he opened his mouth to start talking. Probably to ask her to go get ramen. She cut him off before he could start in on any such thing, though.

“Naruto, I couldn’t help but notice you earlier.”

Obviously, you moron. He stood up and shouted nonsense mid-lesson! Her new, mean thoughts snarked at her. Sakura felt her cheeks pinkening from the embarrassment, but Naruto didn’t seem to notice (or at least, he didn’t comment on it). It might have had something to do with how he was looking a bit shamefaced down at his desk, undoubtedly expecting her to start berating him for the outburst.

“I just…” She felt awkward, without Inner or Ino to bolster her confidence it was harder to throw herself out there and say things. But memories of her dream death pushed her forward, and after taking a deep breath to steady herself, she continued.

“Do you,” she hesitated for a moment as she tried to figure out how to phrase it without insult. “Do you have trouble reading?” She winced, thinking it had still managed to come out sounding rude.

Naruto’s head sinking even lower in defeat only made her feel that much worse.

It’s not about me, though… Well, in a way it is, but not this specific moment.

“I’m not judging!” The girl threw up her hands in defense, trying to rush to assure him. “I thought maybe… Maybe I could help? If you want?”

That got Naruto to finally lift his head back up. He looked a little wary, but there was something in his eyes that made her think she hadn’t totally messed it up.

“You would do that for me, Sakura-chan?” Something about the slight waver to his voice made her heart clench painfully. She knew he didn’t get treated the best by most others, but-

No buts, her meaner voice cut off her trail of thought. You’ve been mean to him, too, just because that was what everyone else was doing. The shame that flooded the pinkette was so hot it felt like her stomach was being doused in lava.

“Yeah,” she confirmed, feeling even guiltier for her past actions as he lit up like the sun. “But! I need somebody to train with me, because I’m not really good at our taijutsu lessons.” Naruto wasn’t good at the textbook katas that the Academy taught, but he was both sturdy and good at evading holds- both excellent traits to practice against.

“I can do that!” He deflated a second later, though, meeting her gaze directly as he spoke what was on his mind, “But you’re a girl, Sakura-chan! I can’t hit you!”

That raised her ire enough to ease the guilt.

“Do you think an enemy is going to care that I’m a girl, once we graduate and start taking missions?”

“But you’re so pretty! Who would want to hit you, even if they are and enemy.” His compliment caused her entire face to flush, and she ducked for a moment in her shyness. There was just something so earnest about his words, even if she couldn’t necessarily believe them about herself.

Once she had composed herself enough, she managed to put a more serious look on her face as they locked eyes again.

“If they think I’m pretty, they might try to do worse.” Though she wasn’t sure if he really understood, the grin instantly dropped off his face at that. Sexual assault was something covered routinely in kunoichi classes, but she had no idea about the boys. Still, it seemed the blond had picked up on at least some of the meaning.

“Okay, I’ll help.” He was subdued for a moment longer before a sly grin stretched across his features, making him look a bit like a fox. “Does this mean it’s a date, Sakura-chan?”

The put-upon sigh that escaped the pinkette was force of habit, but instead of a loud, vehement denial, she merely shook her head.

“No, Naruto.” He looked like a kicked puppy, but instantly brightened again at her next (guilt-fueled) words. “But we can be friends?” She phrased it like a question, not entirely sure of herself in that moment.

“Yeah!” The sheer exuberance behind the single word put a smile on Sakura’s face.

“We can meet here before class tomorrow, to start on the reading stuff.” Training would have to wait until after classes, and when the Academy training ground was free. Neither Sakura nor Naruto had the luxury of a private clan training ground, and you had to have a Konoha forehead protector to enter the other ones around the village.

“Okay.” Naruto’s smile was brighter than any ray of sunlight, and Sakura was suddenly struck with confusion over how anyone could hate him. Yeah, his pranks were obnoxious, but nothing warranted getting physically tossed out of shops or spit on.

There was something deeper behind it, and she wanted to get to the bottom of her classmate’s maltreatment.

“We can go get ramen for dinner tonight?” The boy looked hopeful, but even Sakura shaking her head didn’t put him off too much.

“I actually promised to meet with Ino, so I have to head out.” His head bobbed in acceptance, and while he pouted a little bit, he didn’t protest or look quite as devastated as he had earlier. “Show up here at,” Sakura hitched her bag higher onto her shoulder as she paused to think, “Seven-thirty? That will give us an hour or so.” She didn’t want him to feel overwhelmed off the bat, and she also needed to figure out how much he did know, so she could start making lesson plans.

“That’s so early,” the boy whined, but begrudgingly agreed, “But I guess if I get to spend time with you…”

“I’ll bring breakfast,” Sakura tried to sweeten the deal. It worked like a charm.

“Yeah! I’ll get to eat some of Sakura-chan’s cooking!” He pumped his fist in the air, and Sakura had to hide a giggle behind her hand.

She didn’t tell him that he could have experienced it sooner if he’d shown up for lunch that day.

With their plans as firmed up as they could be, the girl took her leave, her pace picking up to a sprint (or as close as she was able to get to one) when she saw Ino glaring at the Academy doors, tapping her foot impatiently as he leaned against the gates, arms crossed.

“It’s about time, Forehead! What took you so long?!”

“I just had to ask someone something, Pig,” Ino’s glare sharpened at the vague words.

“You’re telling me everything when we get to my house.” Sakura was certain Ino could pull every last detail out of her, and that was a problem.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be honest with the blonde- that was a cornerstone to any friendship, especially one being rekindled after a falling out. But Ino would think her dream was just a dream- it would be hard to put into words just why Sakura was so sure it was real, an honest to gods revelation of the fate that would await her if she didn’t change her ways.

Plus, it wasn’t her place to share about Naruto’s struggles with reading.

Her mind was a whirling mess of worries by the time they slipped into Yamanaka Flowers, but the tinkling of the bell above the shop door and Ino’s voice calling out that she was home pulled her out of her own head enough for her to school her face into a small, nervous smile as Yamanaka Anri looked up from the bouquet she was arranging on the counter and did a double take.

“Sakura-chan, how nice to see you again!” The confusion melted off Ino’s mom’s face, giving way to a soft, but broad smile. “It’s been so long since Ino-chan had you over.” Both girls had the decency to flush in embarrassment at the older woman’s statement of fact, knowing that she knew exactly why that happened. The friends’ blushes only deepened as the woman added, “It’s good to see your friendship is stronger than a silly boy.”

“Mooooom,” Ino whined in protest. “Sasuke-kun isn’t just a silly boy!”

Sakura, for her part, remained silent, merely shrugging when both Yamanaka’s turned their eyes to her. Ino looked like she was expecting a certain kind of response, but for once, Sakura wasn’t sure what that was. So, she went with the (partial) truth.

“I mean, he’s cute, but it was kind of silly to fight over him.” That drew a look of approval from Anri-oba-san. Ino huffed, but the pinkette could see she also had a glint of agreement in her blue eyes. “I like Ino-chan better than any boy, anyway.”

She honestly wasn’t sure why she’d added that particular statement on, but it made both girls' faces flame anew, and the blonde snatched Sakura’s hand up and began hastily yanking her towards the back of the shop as her mother chuckled.

Neither of them spoke as they headed out of the shop’s backdoor and into the Yamanaka compound proper, allowing time for their heated complexions to cool down. Sakura took time to admire the scenery- as much as she could with Ino practically dragging her along the winding path that led to her house.

The last time she’d been on the Yamanaka grounds, it had also been spring, so the same things were in bloom, but the girl spotted a new flower that hadn’t been growing the previous year. It wasn’t uncommon for clan members to gather various clippings and seeds when they went outside of the village on a mission, though, so she assumed the bright fuschia blooms were from another country, or at least much further south in Fire, close to the coast.

They encountered a few clan members on their route, but no one gave Sakura any disapproving looks, for which she was grateful. Even if Ino forgave her and they went right back to being the closest of friends, it didn’t mean other Yamanaka’s wouldn’t take offense. Though, they were a far more relaxed clan than, say, the Hyuuga. That Sakura had been welcomed onto clan grounds with open arms on a regular basis was proof of that. Most others would have just called her a civilian upstart and told their child to never speak to her again.

It was only after both girls were standing in the entryway of Yamanaka Inoichi and Anri’s home, toeing off their shoes, that either spoke.

“So,” Ino’s voice was slightly muffled, considering she was halfway in the shoe closet, digging for something. “What’s going on?”

The blonde pulled her head out of the closet, leaning back slightly to lob a pair of pink patterned slippers at Sakura’s head. Sakura dodged on instinct, and the fuzzy things fell softly to the floor just behind her. They must have been a spare pair of Ino’s, because Sakura would have outgrown the ones she’d kept at the Yamanaka place the year prior. She took a moment to slip them onto her feet, noting Ino doing much the same with her chosen pair, before she answered.

“You’re going to think I’m nuts.” You sure know how to start a conversation today, the meaner side of herself snarked.

“Sakura, I already know you’re nuts. Now come on, spill!” Ino once more grabbed her by the hand and began leading her off, more gently this time. Even after such a long time of not visiting the Yamanaka home, she knew they were headed for the kitchen.

“I had this really weird nightmare last night,” Sakura started slowly, still unsure of just how she could explain in a way that would help her friend really understand, allowing herself to be loaded down with a few drinks, while Ino grabbed the snacks.

“Okay?” Ino stopped in the middle of grabbing a bag of spicy prawn chips to level her friend with a wholly unimpressed look. “And? Everyone has nightmares, Forehead.” She then turned back to finish swiping the snacks and begin the trek to her bedroom, this time letting Sakura follow without any extra tugging (which would have been impossible considering how full their arms were, anyway).

“It wasn’t like a regular nightmare, though, Ino.” Sakura protested as they dumped their haul onto the soft lilac bedspread of Ino’s bed. More than the protest itself, the use of Ino’s name, instead of Pig, seemed to grab the blonde’s attention. Still, she waited to see what else Sakura had to say, albeit with a quirked eyebrow.

“It felt like I lived through the next two years.” Ino paused in moving the snacks from her bed to the little table she had near her dresser to glance over at Sakura expectantly. “But it was all wrong. We never made up, and then after we graduated, there was this mission in another country that turned bad.”

Ino’s gaze sharpened as the pinkette lay a hand over the red fabric of her dress, right over her stomach.

“I got stabbed.” Sakura had to take a shaky breath to calm herself down before continuing. “I got stabbed, and no one- no one noticed I died.” Well, she thought she might have heard a faint cry of her name from Naruto as she plunged into the icy water, but maybe that was just her waking mind adding things in to fill gaps or ease the already too-bleak nature of the dream. “I was so weak that my genin teacher didn’t want to train me, and I didn’t try to do anything about it on my own, and I died.”

Her vision swam back into focus, having glazed over at the long chain of unfortunate events that had led to her death. Ino was watching her with a new sort of interest, but it was tinged with apprehension. Before she could say anything, Sakura spoke again.

“It didn’t feel like a dream so much as a premonition.” She took another deep breath, steadier than her last and still meeting Ino’s now-piercing blue eyes as she did so, then added (rather boldly, in her opinion), “You know how easy it is for a civilian born to become the token cannon fodder of a team. No one says it out loud, but we all know.” It was perhaps skirting the line of treason to say it, but even though Ino’s dad was a major player in T&I… she trusted her to keep the secret. Even if she really had no reason to, considering they’d only just made amends after a year of petty squabbling.

Her faith in her best friend was rewarded, though, when the heiress scooped up one of Sakura’s hands in both of her own, pressing it to her chest as she maintained eye contact.

“I’ll never let that happen, okay? It’s a promise!” Once Sakura nodded, jade eyes misting over in relief, Ino tugged her over to the table and freed her hands in order to place them on the pinkette’s shoulders and push her to sit down.

“Now, what really kept you this afternoon?”

Sakura delayed her answer as much as possible by rubbing at her eyes, clearing up the stray tears that had gathered in the corners. That didn’t give her much of a respite, though, and Ino’s finger prodding at her from across the table signaled her time to think about what to say was over.

“It’s… I guess it’s related to the dream? I treated Naruto so badly, and he wasn’t really doing anything wrong-”

“He constantly pulls stupid pranks and he won’t leave you alone!” Ino squawked indignantly.

“I know,” Sakura hesitated, the urge to agree with her friend just to keep their newly reformed relationship smooth nearly overwhelming her. Don’t be such a chicken. Okay, maybe her mean thoughts were good for something, because she straightened her spine and shook her head at the insinuation of cowardice.

“But we’ve all seen how he gets treated by adults, right? For no good reason, too. I guess we shouldn’t really blame him for acting out and being a little clingy.”

The blonde opened her mouth, undoubtedly to protest, then shut it as a thoughtful look came over her. She stopped to twist open the cap on her bottle of juice, Sakura mirroring her actions with her own drink, and took a long sip before finally replying.

“I guess it is kind of weird, how badly he gets treated by most of the village.” She sighed heavily, as though it pained her to say what she was going to say next, then added, “I guess you’re right about some things some of the time, Forehead.”

The blonde crinkled her nose as she added, “But I still don’t see what that has to do with you. I mean, we can just ignore him in class, right? We don’t have to be the moral defenders of Konoha.”

“You stuck up for me, though, when I was getting bullied,” Sakura pointed out, swiping the open bag of cheese flavored pretzel sticks out of her friend’s hand (and receiving a glare for her actions). “Besides, now that I’m serious about training, I guess he’s as good a classmate as any to help- besides you, of course,” she hastily added the last bit on for fear of getting poked, as Ino was wont to do in such scenarios.

“So I’m going to help him with the book work and he’s going to help with my taijutsu stuff. You can join us, if you want,” the pinkette was hasty to extend the offer, even though she wasn’t sure how Naruto would feel about it. “You have to be nice, though.”

Ino wrinkled her nose once more, swiping the bag of pretzel sticks back with one hand and sliding the box of chocolate-dipped mushroom-shaped biscuits over to Sakura with the other.

“Whatever. I already promised I’d help you train, and I guess you guys need someone competent in the actual katas, or else we’ll have two street brawlers in the class.” Even if the comment sounded like a dig, Sakura knew it was Ino’s own special brand of acceptance. That was only confirmed when the blonde blurted out, “I can’t lose my best friend to some twerp, anyway.”

It took a few long moments of silence, in which both girls hastily shoved food into their mouths, to soothe their once-more flaming faces.

Chapter Text

Sakura’s dreams were positively tame that night, and she woke the following morning feeling much more rested than the day prior. Even if she’d set her alarm an hour earlier than usual so she had time to put together both breakfast and lunch. She was still a little iffy about how eating before noon would affect her stomach, but maybe it would be fine since she would be awake for a few hours before putting the first bite in her mouth.

She stuck to simple fare again, not only because she’d taken a little too long in picking out an outfit, but because she was running low on groceries. As the eggplant and peppers sizzled in the pan, the girl rushed back to her parents’ room, dropping to her hands and knees to grope under the bed blindly. When her fingers finally touched cool, lacquered wood, she knew she found her target and yanked the small box out into the dim room.

Mindful of the fact the stovetop was still on, she trotted back to the kitchen with her prize and checked to be sure the vegetables weren’t burnt. Luckily, they weren’t, but they were cooked thoroughly enough that she turned the burner off and moved the pan to the unused side of the stove so they could cool off enough to slip into the freshly washed bento boxes that lay out on the counter.

With that done, the girl turned her full attention back to the box on the kitchen table. Her fingers ghosted over the smooth, dark wood, feeling more than seeing the delicate pattern of vines engraved in the imported mahogany piece. After a moment more of reverence, she lifted the lid up to peer inside.

Bright green eyes shuttered for a moment as the girl took a fortifying breath, trying not to worry at the situation before her.

There were far too few notes in the box, and her parents hadn’t given any indication of when they’d return in their last letter home. That they’d sent her one at all was an unusual occurrence- it had only been because their trip had been suddenly extended, but without any other clue to figure out when they’d be back. Usually, they told her how long they expected to be abroad as they were heading out the door, or if she were at the Academy when they left, a note would be pinned to the refrigerator. They only left enough money for paying the bills, buying groceries, and, if she’d had good exam scores since their last trip, a bit extra for a few sticks of dango.

If Sakura had begun squirreling the majority of the leftover funds away, paltry as they were, for the past few years, well… She thought of it as her own, personal payment for taking care of the house while her parents were away.

Obviously, neither Kizashi nor Mebuki had been able to calculate such a major delay when they’d put the load of ryo in the Treasure Box, as the three of them referred to it, so Sakura had tried her best to make things stretch once she’d received word.

But it had been two weeks since their original return date, and she was growing worried. Rent was automatically taken out of her parents’ bank account, so she at least didn’t have to worry about keeping a roof over her head (for the moment, anyway), but electricity, water, gas? It all was paid in cash.

The pinkette counted five hundred ryo, stomach dropping with each bank note folded neatly into her little pig-shaped money pouch, the one she’d bought a few years ago because it reminded her of her best friend.

It was enough to buy a decent stock of groceries, as long as she was careful to check the sales and hit up the clearance offerings at the end of the day. But it definitely couldn’t cover the bills that would come due next week, nor would she be able to add to her little emergency savings pool. Would she have to dip into it to keep the lights on? She really hoped not, or else she’d never have enough to move out after graduation.

Sakura made sure to tuck the emptied Treasure Box back beneath her parents’ bed after she finished her work in the kitchen, then headed straight for the front door with only a single pit stop to pick up her school bag and the food she’d made. She barely acknowledged the few people on the street who greeted her, her thoughts revolving steadily into a spiral of distress over her financial situation.

It would be better when she had graduated and could take on missions for pay- provided she wasn’t told to move into genin housing by her parents. They’d never supported her desire to be a shinobi, even if they’d let her attend the Academy, so maybe once she graduated and became a legal adult in the eyes of Konoha, they’d make her leave?

“Sakura-chan!” Naruto’s loud exclamation stopped her train of thoughts in its tracks. For the first time she could recall, the girl was thankful for his overwhelming presence, even at the cost of her eardrums.

When she smiled at him, his entire face colored, and his lips remained sealed until she finally reached the Academy gates, where the blond was standing.

“I’m glad you came,” he admitted, still cherry red in the face but managing to be cheerful nonetheless. “I thought maybe you would change your mind, ya know?”

For the second time in less than twenty-four hours, Naruto’s words broke her heart. How well she knew the burning, all-encompassing need for attention and approval. And there she’d been, treating him poorly just because he’d went about his desire for those things differently than her.

“Of course I came,” Sakura put on a stern face to mask her disappointment in her past self. “I made a promise, didn’t I?” And then, feeling particularly sappy, she added, “We’re going to be the top two ninja in our graduating class, after all.”

“Yeah!” Naruto’s grin was infectious, a broad smile stretching her cheeks as the two walked side by side into the classroom. Iruka-sensei was already there, hunched over his desk with what looked like their essays from the past week (on the Founders and their contributions to ninjutsu development).

He glanced up to smile at Sakura and opened his mouth to greet her, as was usual, but then his eyes caught sight of Naruto. Something like surprise entered his eyes when he saw the blond boy walking into class so early, seemingly of his own free will.

“Good morning?” It came out as a question more than anything, and Sakura tried her best not to giggle as she replied.

“Good morning, sensei!” She chirped, her smile wavering a bit in her efforts to not laugh. “Is it okay if Naruto and I study in here until class starts?” Even though she’d always done so, Sakura was nothing if not unfailingly polite (if it gained her brownie points with authority figures, so be it- she needed every bit of goodwill she could get to survive as a civilian-born in the shinobi system).

“Of course, Sakura-kun,” Iruka’s response was instantaneous, a well-rehearsed bit instead of anything he had to think about. And then, some compulsion took hold of him as he saw the two children settle in seats towards the middle of the classroom, in the same row Naruto sat in the day before. “If you need any help, just ask.” He doubted they would- Sakura was so exceptionally gifted in the realm of book smarts that she would have been bumped up a grade or graduated early, had her physical skills not been so lacking.

“Thanks, sensei!”

It was hard for Iruka to focus on his own work after that. He made a valiant effort, red pen touching paper to mark mistakes, write a comment, or add a final grade to each essay in his pile, but he was still a shinobi at the end of the day and eavesdropping was second nature to him.

“That one is ketsu, but here you’ll read it as ki, because it’s talking about the matter of registration numbers being decided. If it was talking about the resolution itself,” she paused, and the older man glanced up briefly to see his brightest student skimming the page of the history textbook, before pointing to another place on the paper, “You’d read that word as ketsui.”

Naruto, to his credit, nodded along, though his brow was still a little furrowed in concentration. The boy asked Sakura how to write it, and then followed up by asking what a resolution was as he took a bite of rice from a bento box that had appeared on the desk.

Iruka nearly fell out of his seat in shock for two reasons. The first was the fact that Uzumaki Naruto, the village troublemaker, was sitting quietly and showing that he was actually willing to learn, with only one or two breaks to stand up and move around. The second was the sudden realization that every teacher at the Academy, himself included, had failed this boy by not paying attention to the signs.

No more essays were graded that morning, though he certainly kept up the act of doing so. Instead, he listened with his full attention as his best student helped his worst learn to read kanji a student two or three years younger would know easily. The guilt of his own neglect sat low in the chuunin’s gut, festering until he had to get out of there for a moment.

Of course, by standing, he drew two pairs of eyes to himself.

“I’m just popping over to the teacher’s lounge for some tea,” he had to use every ounce of deception he had to keep his expression and tone light. “We may have some juice in there, would you two like some?” If there was, it would be either Saori’s or Mizuki’s, and he could expect retribution in the future in the form of his good blend of oolong disappearing.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

“Really?” Naruto’s eyes widened, hope sparkling in the bright blue depths. Iruka let another wave of intense guilt wash over him before he replied.

“Of course. How about you, Sakura-kun?”

“Oh, um,” she also looked a bit taken aback, but more so from being asked directly than anything else. “If it isn’t too much trouble, sensei.”

He assured them it wasn’t, and beat a hasty retreat. He’d bought himself ten minutes at the most, using the familiar motions of putting the kettle to boil on the tiny stovetop and getting out his most energizing green tea blend as a sort of self-soothing method.

He knew, of course, that Naruto wasn’t the Kyuubi- only a container for it. He was close enough to the Third, with his work at the mission assignments desk in addition to being made the Academy liaison to the Hokage’s office, that it was only natural he knew who the village’s jinchuuriki was.

Yet, he’d allowed his own grief and anger about his parents’ deaths to overshadow facts, and while he didn’t treat the last Uzumaki in Konoha as poorly as some… Well, to put it frankly, he’d allowed his prejudice to affect his treatment of the boy, to the point that he’d clearly missed the signs of educational neglect. That wasn’t even touching on the fact he’d witnessed villagers harass Naruto on multiple occasions, and had done nothing to step in.

In a way, he was just as bad as those who tried to hit the boy outright.

But he could change. It might not be enough to make amends, but it could be a start. How could he live with himself if he acknowledged the problem in full and just let it continue on, after all? Obviously, he’d have plenty of scolding for the boy, considering his troublemaking ways, but a fair admonition was different from just shouting vitriol.

Iruka’s mind was made up by the time he returned to the classroom, two bottles of apple juice tucked securely under his arm as he kept a firm grip on his steaming mug of tea. He only made a brief stop to place the aforementioned mug on the coaster he kept on his desk, then made his way over to the two children.

Naruto was busy filling a page in his (extremely battered) notebook as Sakura explained more about the history of the registration and ranking systems of Konoha, what they were currently going over in History class (if Mizuki was to be believed- sometimes, Iruka did not, in fact, believe the man about all the things he managed to touch on in a single class).

Sakura looked up from the textbook to smile warmly at her teacher as he set the two bottles down, thanking him for the treat. Naruto finished writing one last word before doing the same. The chuunin noted the bentos were now empty, not even a speck of rice left.

The guilt he’d only just managed to smother moments before churned anew in his veins, but it was thankfully much less intense than it had been earlier.

“You know, you two are welcome to stay after class, instead of getting up so early.” He knew Sakura typically arrived early, but usually didn’t look fully awake until the chime indicating the start of lessons rang. Naruto… just didn’t show up for many morning lessons, so he wasn’t sure if he could be counted as a morning person or not. He seemed awake enough at the moment, at least.

“We can’t, Iruka-sensei!” The blonde was practically vibrating in his seat as he explained, “We’re gonna train! Me an’ Sakura-chan are gonna be the best!” His enthusiasm was boundless, and it was already obvious that the difference of a single friend was going to make a world of difference in Naruto’s life.

Sakura blushed, head lowering as she murmured a modest denial that she would be so good. It was clear she was self-conscious about her own skill set, but while she may have been severely lacking in the taijutsu department, her new drive to train could serve her well. As long as she kept it up, she could be the top kunoichi in her graduating class. Naruto’s poor academics and graceless, brawler-style taijutsu would never put him in ranking range, unless some sort of overnight miracle happened, but he could at least move from the bottom of the class to somewhere closer to the middle if he followed Haruno’s example.

That being said, he knew the whims of a ten-year-old were fickle at best, most of the time. Especially ones who’d never seen a battlefield. (Then there was the case of Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi, who’d been a whole different level of traumatized by their tenth birthdays. (Iruka would never say it aloud, because he would surely be executed for treason, but he wasn’t necessarily sure if he blamed the Uchiha prodigy for snapping the way he did. Not fully, at least.)

Instead of saying any of that, however, he went for a simpler approach, smile softening and feeling more earnest to Iruka himself.

“If you two continue to work hard, I’m sure you’ll both do exceedingly well.” The smiles he received, blindingly bright from Naruto and smaller, but still dazzling in its own way, from Sakura, were a reward in itself.

Though, he did hear Naruto whispering to his newfound tutor as he got up to take another lap around the classroom and get out some energy, asking what exceedingly meant.

As other students started to trickle in, Iruka saw Sakura store the empty food containers carefully under her desk. He expected her to get up and move, especially when the last Uchiha entered the room and slouched his way into his usual seat across the way and one row up from where she and Naruto were. Yet, she stayed put, reaching down to pull out one of her own notebooks- pink and well maintained, a sight different from her seatmate’s tattered one.

In fact, the pink haired girl only glanced at Sasuke once, right after he’d passed by her seat. Yes, she still blushed a little, and he could practically see hearts in her eyes, but then she just… turned back around in her seat and started pointing to something in her notes as Naruto looked down at the page.

Was he hallucinating? Sakura hadn’t made her usual grab for the seat next to his most dour student yesterday, but he’d chalked it up to a bad night of rest or some other easily-overcome problem. He’d assumed she’d be right back at it with the rest of the poor boy’s fanclub that morning.

Then again, she’d rekindled her friendship with the Yamanaka heiress yesterday, too. Three changes in one day? Red flags started to rise in the back of his mind, and he made a mental note to probe as gently as he could into her home life when he next got a chance. Her parents had never once attended parent-teacher conferences, so Iruka couldn’t make a guess as to the content of their characters.

Merely thinking about the Yamanaka heiress seemed to have summoned her. The blonde came strutting in the room five minutes before class, head held high and ponytail swishing behind her, and proceeded to give her teacher what must have been his hundredth heart attack of the day.

She also glanced at Sasuke, though without as much blushing as Sakura, then proceeded to lock her blue eyes on the other girl and march over to where she was sitting.

“Scoot over one, I’m sitting with you today, Forehead.”

“Whatever, Pig.” Sakura grumbled, looking up from her notes. Turning to face Naruto, she started to say something, but was interrupted by a nervous-looking Uzumaki.

“I can change tables, if you want.” He sounded so sad that both Sakura and Ino had matching expressions of concern for a moment. Ino’s quickly remedied itself, though.

“Don’t be stupid, Uzumaki. If we didn’t want to sit with you, we’d say so. Now budge up!”

Naruto looked confused as he picked up his bag to do just that, but was interrupted once more by the Yamanaka.

“Actually, don’t. If you’re serious about paying attention in class, I guess it’ll be better to have one of us on either side of you. To keep you focused, and all.”

The blonde waited until she’d settled in her own seat, leaning slightly against the wall as she turned to appraise Naruto.

“By the way, I’m joining your training stuff today.” Naruto’s squawk of indignation at the other blonde just inviting herself to his special hang out with Sakura-chan time was covered by the chime signaling school coming to order.

Across the aisle and one row up, Uchiha Sasuke looked on in bewilderment (as much as he was capable of displaying, at least). And, if the chuunin wasn’t mistaken, a twinge of envy sparked in the boy’s dark gaze alongside the confusion.

Umino Iruka braced himself for the remaining ten months of the school year to be an interesting ride.

Chapter Text

There was no sparring that day, thankfully. Sakura wanted to preserve her energy for her after school training… Plus, she really hadn’t wanted to get trounced in front of her entire class two days in a row. Her ego needed at least a day or two of healing. That, and watching Naruto expel all his pent-up energy after he’d finished eating had worn her out.

Instead, they were presented with their very first chakra exercise after lunch was over and they’d assembled in the classroom once more. They weren’t quite to ninjutsu yet, that would come later in the year. They at least knew how to dispel a genjutsu (which had helped Sakura verify what was dream and what was reality the other night). Now, it seemed like it was time for what the older students deemed the leaf trick.

Unfortunately, Mizuki-sensei was leading the lesson, though Iruka-sensei was still in the room to help out.

It wasn’t like Sakura had a reason to dislike Mizuki-sensei, really. If anything, he seemed to give her praise more than any other student in class- which was surprising considering most of her classmates were clan heirs. He’d mentioned to her once before that he’d also come from a civilian clan, though, so that explained part of his interest. Why he’d picked her and not Taro or Ami was another matter, though.

Both of them were more well-rounded than Sakura; their academic scores were lower, trending towards the mid-range, but so were their physical conditioning scores. On paper, it would seem that either of them would have a better chance at rising through the ranks, whereas all of Sakura’s previous reports would have undoubtedly slated her for the paper ninja track.

Then again, Taro was always trying to make nice with clan kids in a way that was obviously meant for his own benefit, rather than any genuine friendship, and Ami? Well, being the president of the Sasuke fanclub, combined with her tendency to bully (not just Sakura, either- a girl dropped out of the Academy altogether at the end of last year because of the purple haired girl’s treatment), hadn’t endeared her to many.

Sakura just had a natural friendship with Ino, even before they’d entered the Academy, and while she’d been boy-crazy over the Uchiha, too… Well, she honestly wasn’t sure what her redeeming qualities were, in the eyes of her teacher.

Regardless, he made her feel kind of uneasy. There were no alarm bells set off by any of their interactions, but there was just something not quite right about the way he talked to her. Compared with how he treated Naruto, now that she thought about it, the difference was startling.

“Are you sure you don’t want to sit somewhere else for this exercise, Sakura-kun?” Speaking of Mizuki-sensei, the light-haired man paused as he deposited a handful of leaves onto the end of Sakura’s table. His gaze slid over to Naruto after he asked, dark eyes narrowing just the slightest bit and causing the boy to shrink in his seat a bit.

Sakura looked up to turn her big, emerald eyes at the man, the picture of innocence.

“I don’t know what you mean, sensei. I like sitting with my friends.” If he was going to insult Naruto for no reason, when he’d mostly behaved himself all day, she wanted Iruka-sensei to be there to witness it. For good measure, she tossed an arm haphazardly around Naruto’s shoulders, trying not to frown at how stiff they were.

She might have been ten, but she wasn’t stupid. She’d watched enough of her parents’ cut-throat dealings in the merchant world to know she needed to cover all her bases, just in case she ever needed proof of his prejudice one day. Unbiased witnesses were crucial.

You have some promise as a shinobi, yet, the mean voice complimented, but immediately fell silent again. It had been nice not to hear much from her that day. Peaceful, even. Though, she still missed Inner and her loud outbursts.

Mizuki didn’t take the bait. Why would he have done so? He was a chuunin, so he probably saw through her attempt to get him to say something bad. You had to have at least some skill in deception in order to make it past genin.

“If you’re sure,” was all he said, shrugging as he did so.

Sakura looked over to the corner, where Iruka sat, hoping he’d been watching. For what, she wasn’t sure- on paper, nothing had been wrong about the interaction, after all.

She was relieved, therefore, to see the tanned man’s eyes narrow slightly at the other teacher’s back, brow furrowed for the briefest moment before he caught sight of the pink haired girl looking on and smoothed his face back into a mask of calm. He even smiled at her, though she wasn’t sure if it was reassurance that everything was okay or just reflex. She smiled back, anyway, finally unwrapping her arm from around her seatmate as she heard Ino whisper something in the boy’s ear.

“Mizuki-sensei isn’t shit, anyway.”

Both Sakura and Naruto turned to look at the girl- Sakura because Ino had just said a bad word in the middle of class and Naruto because Ino had been nice to him (in her own, Ino-like way).

“What?” The Yamanaka heiress shrugged, letting her voice return to a more normal volume level. “It’s true. Now stop hogging all the leaves, Forehead.” She emphasized her abrupt subject change by making grabby hands at the pile, clearly too far out of her reach.

“I didn’t hear a please, Pig,” Sakura teased, falling easily into their routine. Regardless, she scooted the leaf pile across the desk to rest in front of Naruto (who had continued to be worryingly silent since Mizuki’s stop at their desk), since he had the middle seat.

Any rebuttal Ino had was cut off by the two chuunin calling the class to attention and starting to go through the instructions on how to get the leaf to stick to the forehead. Sakura gave it her full attention, even though she’d read about the theory behind it from a book in the Academy’s library. She hadn’t needed to read it more than once- her mother said Sakura had an eidetic memory, which was really just a fancy way to say she could easily remember something in her mind after she’d only seen it once (or twice, if she hadn’t been paying all that much attention). The only thing it really did was help Sakura’s test scores and kata forms, and even the latter hadn’t been able to improve her taijutsu skills that much.

Then again, you might be so bad you’d flunk out of the Academy altogether if you didn’t have at least that much knowledge.

The mean voice was probably right.

The mean voice also, now that she’d been listening to it for a few days, sounded more like Sakura’s honest thoughts about herself than anything.

“Okay, class, Mizuki-sensei and I will circle around the classroom to help out.” Iruka-sensei’s voice interrupted her train of thoughts before she could start dwelling on that particular, disturbing observation too deeply.

“Don’t feel bad if you can’t get it today,” he encouraged, “You all have only been working with chakra for a very limited time, and this exercise requires very precise control.”

Mizuki nodded along, but his eyes kept drifting to Sakura. She had to try hard not to squirm in her seat under the weight of it, even as she broke eye contact to find a leaf to start with.

“I’ll get in in one shot!” Naruto had apparently rebounded from his earlier hesitance, and stood up to loudly proclaim his confidence in himself to the entire class. To the credit of both girls, his two desk mates merely continued grasping their desired leaf and set about to start the task. Well, almost.

“Sit down,” Ino hissed after a moment, free hand tugging the violently orange material of his jumpsuit in an attempt to get the boy to do as she ordered.

He complied, thankfully, but with a muttered rebuttal that Ino was just jealous of his awesome talent. He got a pinch to his elbow for his remark.

Sakura, meanwhile, had her leaf stuck neatly to her forehead already. She tried to concentrate on keeping it there, rather than the self-deprecating thought that of course, she had a lot of forehead to stick it to.

“Good work, Sakura-kun,” Mizuki’s voice was suddenly right beside her, and the combination of that surprise, along with the feeling of the eyes of all of her classmates turning to watch her, caused her concentration to break.

The leaf fluttered harmlessly to the desk in front of her.

“Was that your first try?” She nodded in response to the chuunin’s question. When he glanced over his shoulder to exchange some sort of look with Iruka-sensei, though, she spoke up in a hesitant voice.

“Is that bad?” The logical part of her knew it wasn’t, that it meant she most likely had an unprecedented amount of control, maybe even close to the legendary Sannin, Senju Tsunade. However, the part of Sakura that still yearned to fit in wondered if that meant she had a target on her back, now.

Mizuki said nothing, his dark eyes calculating as he looked down at her as another dream-memory assailed her.

”Your file says you’re a genjutsu type. Good chakra control, but poor reserves. Unsuited for ninjutsu, it says.” There was only a hint of judgment in the silver-haired man’s voice, so slight another person might not have been able to catch it, but she hadn’t spent her entire life reading between the lines to assess her parents’ moods to come away entirely unskilled in that area.

Sakura felt bitter resentment well in her throat over the fact that the man being paid to teach her was so uninterested he couldn’t even bother to read a single scroll on something that could help her in the field.

“Of course not,” Iruka-sensei rushed in to assure her once the silence had gone on for a beat too long, effectively breaking the pinkette out of her thoughts. The resentment lingered.

“Yeah, Sakura-chan, that’s amazing!” Naruto crowed (directly in her ear). He then set about trying even harder at getting his own leaf to stick, the furrows in his brow from such intense concentration probably not helping.

The leaf turned into ash a second later.

“Hehe, oops?” The boy closed one eye, stuck his tongue from the corner of his mouth, and scratched the back of his head in an attempt to look sheepish.

Ino stopped her third attempt at the leaf trick to gawk at the both of them. Then, she noted how uncomfortable the pinkette had begun to look- Sakura wanted to disappear under the table at the continued attention directed their way.

“How about everyone mind their own business?” The blonde girl huffed, making a point to glare at each and every eye turned their way.

Suddenly, the class became involved in their own tasks once more, and Sakura wasn’t entirely sure if it was because Ino was genuinely intimidating, or, as she suspected, no one was willing to put up with the hell she’d continue to raise until they obeyed.

Gods, she’d missed Ino.

Sakura spent the rest of the lesson trying to help both blondes.

“Do you feel your chakra? That little ball right here,” she gestured to the approximate location of her heart. “I just kind of… tug at it until I feel a thread, and then I tell that thread to go to my forehead and make it stick.” It was a matter of willpower, right? And both blondes had that in spades.

Yet Naruto was very obviously lost at her explanation. So, she had to try a different suggestion.

“Or, try to picture your forehead having glue on it?”

Ino gave her a funny look, as though the tip was definitely not going to work.

The pinkette scowled at her best friend and opened her mouth to say something along the lines of: Well whatever you’ve been doing hasn’t exactly worked, has it?.

Her mouth snaps shut as she watches Naruto’s leaf stay put on his forehead.

The victory was short lived though, because the boy hadn’t even had a chance to celebrate before the foliage once more crumbled into ash.

Ino’s jaw dropped. Sakura, on the other hand, beamed at her new maybe-friend.

“You did it!” She only realized how loud she was after the fact, when all eyes in the classroom locked onto her once more.

She didn’t sink lower into her seat in shame as she would have otherwise, though, because Naruto had gone from looking defeated at his growing pile of cremated leaves to sporting a jubilant grin, leaping up from his seat to cheer even as both teachers tried to shush him.

He’s kinda cute when he looks like that. Then, slightly horrified at her own thought, she hastily added on, in a little brother way!

She liked dark, broody types, after all- she had to maintain some standards!

The classroom slowly settled into a normal rhythm again, much to Sakura’s relief. Ino decided to give her friend’s tip a shot after seeing how it had worked for Naruto, and while she couldn’t hold it in place for as long as Sakura, she was still smug at managing the trick faster than most of their other classmates.

Sakura had taken up a personal challenge to keep her leaf firmly fixed on her forehead for the rest of class, no matter what distraction popped up. It was important for a shinobi to be able to multitask, after all (she had been single-minded in watching her teammates fight the majority of the cartoonishly evil businessman’s horde of henchmen, inwardly fawning over how cool Sasuke-kun looked and how even Naruto, dead last in their graduating class, had surpassed her own skills so thoroughly that he was nearer to the Uchiha’s level. And then there was a sword in her gut and the old drunk she was protecting was suddenly only a head without a body and-).

Sakura didn’t want to think about the consequences of being an incapable kunoichi after that. She couldn’t afford to let that dream become a reality, and that was that.

She couldn’t help but shiver at the flashback, regardless, though she was pleased when her leaf stayed put.

By the end of class, her leaf was still there, Ino was able to keep hers on for a whole two minutes, and Naruto’s… Well, none of them had survived, but his last leaf managed to stick for a whole twenty seconds before it started smoking!

Sakura smiled widely at him in congratulations, and even Ino gave him a compliment… sort of.

“I guess you don’t suck so bad at this stuff. Since it looks like you have some freakishly huge chakra reserves already.”

The two blondes dissolved into a petty squabble after that, and missed the sharp looks both teachers sent their table after Ino’s comment.

Sakura, however, caught it. It was only a split second, and in the blink of an eye both men were back to normal, but there had been something.

It wasn’t the first time someone had a weird reaction to a relatively innocent comment about Naruto, either. The Uzumaki clan had been a crucial part of Konoha’s founding, after all, so everyone who paid attention in their history lessons would know it shouldn’t have been unusual for Naruto, who had at least one Uzumaki parent, to have enormous chakra stores. Not like his parents were around to ask, of course.

While she wasn’t able to really do anything about it just then, the pinkette made a mental note to visit the library at some point to see if there was anything she could find.

By the time their last lesson for the day ended, the bickering between the other two had died down. In its place was a strange sort of almost-camaraderie, as evidenced when Naruto got an answer to a question about shuriken trajectory wrong and Kiba scoffed a little too loudly.

“Like you know the answer either, dog breath,” Ino shot back immediately. Naruto and Kiba usually got along, so it seemed like the original offense hadn’t bothered the Uzumaki much, but he’d glanced at the Yamanaka with a newfound light in his eyes for the rest of class.

Sakura tried not to be jealous.

With the chiming bell and Iruka-sensei’s dismissal, the three students hurried to gather their things and get to the Academy training grounds before any other students could monopolize it.

“We should start with stretches,” Ino took the lead from the very moment their school bags were shrugged off their shoulders and laid against the fence that separated the part of the Academy yard where students ate lunch, and the part where students learned the physical side of their chosen craft in a more hands-on way. No one wanted a stray kunai to the arm when you were trying to eat, after all.

“Who made you the boss, Ino-pig?” Sakura harrumphed, before adding, “I believe I asked Naruto to help, after all.”

While the boy’s chest puffed up in pride, Ino’s eyes took on a glint as she rose to the taunt.

“Whatever, Forehead! It’s no good to just jump right into things- even Naruto understands that!” Both girls knew, and knew the other girl knew, that was a bold-faced lie. Naruto only ever jumped right into things, his brashness was just common knowledge by that point.

“Of course I know that!” Naruto’s agreement sounded far too confident for someone who had almost never run through a full warm-up routine in his life. “In fact, that was just what I was going to suggest- stretching first, and then maybe running a few laps?” He grew less confident as he went on, until the part about running sounded more like a question than a definitive statement.

“Exactly!” Ino, unflappable as ever, didn’t so much as hesitate in her emphatic response. “See, Forehead? I was just saying what Naruto was already thinking.”

When the Uzumaki had turned to pick the best spot ever for such a warm up, Ino winked at Sakura.

Yeah, Naruto was definitely growing on them.

While the pink haired girl smiled as she settled onto the dusty patch of ground, undoubtedly dirtying the black pants she’d opted to wear that morning (for practicality’s sake- no use getting her nice dress so sweat-stained!), she didn’t end up smiling for long.

“How many more,” Sakura panted as she started on her fifth lap around the training ground’s perimeter, perspiration already beading… Well, everywhere, really.

“If you can breathe, you aren’t running hard enough,” Ino snarked as she sailed by her best friend with ease.

“You’re one to talk, Pig!” She paid for the vehemence of her exclamation, and had to slow her pace even more to try and wheeze some life back into her poor, overworked lungs.

“You can do it, Sakura-chan!” Naruto cheered, sunny as ever, as he lapped her for the second time. “We can stop after this one and get started on sparring.”

She would swear to her dying breath (which felt a lot more imminent at that moment than it actually was) that it was his promise of the torture ending soon which perked her up, not his enthusiastic words of encouragement.

Both blondes were resting beneath the largest tree on the training ground by the time Sakura finally finished her lap. Ino, to her great pleasure, was also sweating, though not nearly as much as Sakura, who collapsed face-first in a heap.

“You did great, Sakura-chan!” It was a lie- all three of them knew, but she still lifted her head to smile weakly at the boy.

“Just gimme a second to stop dying, and then we can start on the sparring stuff?” She didn’t even wait for an answer before she dropped her face back down, cheek smooshing into the grass.

“Wow, your stamina is awful,” Ino commented as she rolled Sakura’s water bottle over to her.

The promise of cold, clear water actually put some strength back into the pinkette’s limbs, and she managed to roll herself onto her back, not unlike a turtle, then sit up to take a gulp. She couldn’t muster the energy to snip back at Ino, though.

Pace yourself or you’ll hurl, she reminded herself (since the mean voice was growing less mean, it was easier to think of it as herself, rather than a separate entity like Inner had been). It took great effort to slow down and sip, but she managed to summon up the willpower.

“Thanks, Pig.” She capped the bottle before tossing it back to Ino.

The three of them finally stood again, Sakura on limbs more steady than they’d been five minutes prior, when Naruto spoke up.

“Why do you guys call each other names?” The boy had overcome his surprise at Ino’s continuing nice treatment of him that day in order to ask something that had been weighing on him since that morning. “Isn’t that kinda mean, if you’re friends? When people call me names, they definitely don’t want to spend time with me.”

Could a kid adopt another kid? Because Sakura was seriously starting to want to just… bundle her classmate up in a blanket and feed him snacks for the rest of their natural born lives. Glancing over at Ino, though, it seemed like she might have to fight the other girl for the privilege.

“Sometimes, when you’re best friends, something that sounds mean to other people can be a term of endearment.” Sakura saw his brow furrow, and she wasn’t sure if it was the explanation or something else.

“But why would you want to?” Both girls could see the logic in his question clearly- especially since he was verbally abused by so many villagers for no reason at all on a daily basis.

“Well, I don’t know about other people, but for me and Sakura,” Ino explained, stepping up where Sakura had been floundering a moment before, “It’s kind of like… taking back the bad names people called us and making them ours, so they don’t hurt.”

“Yeah,” Sakura found her feet again and nodded in agreement, “I used to get made fun of every day for my big forehead-”

“But your forehead is pretty, Sakura-chan, just like the rest of you!” Naruto couldn’t hold back from interjecting with his own commentary at that, and the pink haired girl was suddenly thankful that she was already red in the face from running, because it masked her blush perfectly. When she smiled at the boy, however, some color tinted his tanned cheeks and he had to look away in a burst of uncharacteristic shyness.

“Anyway,” Ino breezed past the pre-teen awkwardness of her two companions to finish what she was trying to say, “Between Sakura’s perfectly normal forehead and my name that people love to link back to boars, that was enough reason to get teased.” Not like anyone actually called Ino inoshishi after that time they were five and she slugged a kid twice her age in the park for it (Sakura had gone home that day written in her diary that she was going to marry Ino one day, because of that display).

“Oh.” A look of understanding settled onto the boy’s face, his blush dying down as he nodded sagely. “I think I get it now.” He tilted his head in thought for a moment, then added, “But I don’t think I want my friends to call me monster, anyway.”

“Then we won’t,” Ino shrugged, unaffected by the fact she’d just indirectly declared herself the class pariah’s friend. Then again, Ino wasn’t one to care much about that, despite her popularity (or maybe she was popular because of that?).

“Yeah,” Sakura felt emboldened by her best friend’s strong stance, “Friends are supposed to take care of each other, and that includes feelings. So if you just want us to call you Naruto, we will!”

Chapter Text

Just like in the sparring match against Kiba the day prior, Sakura had her ass handed to her.

Multiple times.

By Naruto and Ino.

She’d been flipped over shoulders and into the dirt, kneed in the stomach (Naruto had apologized profusely for that one after seeing it winded her so badly), and pinned to the ground face-first more than a dozen times. Not once had she been able to get the upper hand, even after Naruto had started going a little easier on her.

Yet, she didn’t feel her ego bruise too much. Instead, she tried to keep thinking of her numerous failures as a learning experience.

“Maybe we should work on strength and endurance before getting too into the taijutsu stuff?” Ino suggested as the three sweaty ten-year-olds finally sat to start their cool-down stretches.

“That’s a good idea,” Naruto agreed, nodding along. Then, he looked guiltily at the pinkette. “No offense, Sakura-chan.”

“None taken,” Sakura replied without missing a beat as she sunk into a hip flexor stretch. “My conditioning is garbage right now, I know. That’s why I wanted to start training seriously.” And then, without much thought behind it, she confessed, “I’m just glad you guys are willing to help me, even though I suck so much.”

“You don’t suck!” Naruto protested. “Ino is just being mean!”

“She kinda does,” Ino rebutted, and Sakura hummed in agreement. “But like she said, that’s the point- she doesn’t want to suck, and she has the potential to be good if she tries.”

Seeing Sakura was not only not offended, but outright agreeing with the blonde girl’s comments, Naruto didn’t argue any further.

Silence lapsed over them for a long moment, surprisingly comfortable despite how new Naruto was to the already established Ino-Sakura dynamic. And then all three stomachs rumbled in sync.

“We should get ramen!” Naruto crowed, popping up from his seated position with a broad grin. Ino stood more slowly, then moved to help steady the pinkette as she rose from her almost-split (she could totally get there if she just worked a little harder at her flexibility!).

“No way! I’m already sweaty, you want me to get bloated, too?!” Ino’s indignation masked Sakura’s own hesitation at the offer.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to spend time with Naruto- obviously that wasn’t the case, and Ino only cared about the opinion of Sasuke-kun, so it didn’t matter what anyone but the brooding Uchiha said about the girls’ new association with their loudest classmate. It was the money, or the lack thereof, in the pinkette’s case.

As much as she wanted to go along with the crowd and reward herself for putting in more effort at taijutsu than she probably had in all her previous terms at the Academy combined, she’d been left to fend for herself often enough that she’d already experienced the repercussions of spending grocery money on frivolous things. That her old teachers had bought her excuse of a new diet with no pressing of the matter didn’t speak highly for the quality of chuunin the educational system employed.

She couldn’t help but think Iruka-sensei would have never let it slide, but she’d never had to find out. He’d only just become their teacher last year, and Sakura was a pro at budgeting by then. He was the polar opposite of Suzume-sensei, who led the kunoichi classes; she’d merely told Sakura to carry antacid tablets with her to stop the noise from disrupting anyone sitting near her.

“Why don’t we go back to my house to eat? I can make something with more protein for our muscles.” She focused her gaze on Naruto, looking far too innocent as she asked, “You don’t want all that training to go to waste, right?”

“Yeah! Let’s go to Sakura-chan’s!”

She wasn’t sure whether it was the prospect of more home-cooked food or getting to see the inside of the apartment she lived in that sealed the deal, but whatever it was worked, so she wouldn’t ask questions.

Unfortunately, what had cheered Naruto only roused Ino’s suspicions.

Blue eyes narrowed at Sakura, the familiar lack of pupil that usually signalled friend to the pinkette not hindering the intimidation factor in the slightest.

“When was the last time your parents were home, Forehead?”

Ah. I’ve been caught.

Naruto had thankfully been too busy racing towards the fence, where their bags still lay, to overhear the accusation. That… was something she wasn’t sure she was ready to share with the boy. Ino only found out because Sakura had invited her over after class one day in their second year and caught sight of the note tacked to the fridge before the pinkette had. The blonde had been irritated that her parents thought it was alright to leave a child who could just barely (and with a lot of stretching) reach the stovetop to cook for herself.

When Sakura tried to assure her best friend that it was okay, her parents had deemed her old enough to look after herself for days or weeks on end since her second semester at the Academy, (when it was apparent their best efforts at coaxing her to drop out would never work), Ino was furious.

The number of sleepovers Sakura had been invited to at the Yamanaka house doubled after that, all the way until their friendship broke off the year previous.

And yet, even during the twelve months of bad blood, Ino had kept her secret. Sakura had already shown an aptitude for academics from her very first week of class, and if the wrong people found out she was unguarded at home, unmonitored for vast stretches of time?

Before their split, in a rare moment of outright clinginess, Ino confessed, with tears shining in her eyes, that couldn’t stand to lose Sakura like she’d lost her cousin Fuu, and that promising civilian-borns went missing even more often than clan children. Then, in some strange mixture of trying to put her tough-girl persona back in place while also somehow being even more vulnerable, she’d added that to never have a chance to see Sakura’s stupidly bright hair and hear her annoying know-it-all answers in class scared Ino more than anything else ever had.

It scared Sakura, too.

“They-” the pinkette stumbled over her response as they slowly made their way to the other member of their group, trying to phrase the truth as diplomatically as possible. There was no use lying to the girl who could read her like a book, after all. “It’s been a while. They sent a letter saying they’d gotten held up and would be back later than planned.”

“But they didn’t send any extra money, did they?” Ino undoubtedly received her answer in the hang of her friend’s head, still able to see the downcast expression on Sakura’s face thanks to the way she had her hair tied back in a braid, instead of letting it fall loosely around her face.

Ino said a few words that Iruka-sensei definitely wouldn’t have approved of, and they were loud enough that Naruto turned back to face them with shock written on his features.

“Ino! Those are bad words!”

It was so cute Sakura had to bite her lip to keep from grinning as she looked up from the ground at Naruto. Still, it lifted her spirits considerably.

“Once in a while, you just gotta say bad words. Auntie Kaede says sometimes swearing helps.” Ino settled her hands on her hips at her own declaration, as though whatever her aunt (and, of course, Ino herself) said was law.

“Besides, don’t you call Sasuke-kun a,” Sakura’s voice dropped into a whisper as she backed Ino up, as though their teacher would appear out of thin air at any moment, “bastard?”

Despite the insult to the object of her affections, Ino giggled.

“But that’s different! Bastard really is a bastard!” Naruto stomped his foot for emphasis and Ino’s giggling turned into full-on cackling. The blond boy and Sakura exchanged glances for a second, then burst into peals of laughter simultaneously, joining the Yamanaka.

They left the training grounds, bags slung over their shoulders and still unable to contain a chuckle here and there.

“I have to buy a few things for dinner,” She definitely didn’t miss the hesitation written clearly across Naruto’s face at the mention of shopping, and rushed to add, “But we could go to my place to shower and drop our stuff off first?” Sakura posed it as a question, despite knowing Ino would pounce on the opportunity to clean up. Walking down the street with drying sweat stains on your top just wasn’t a good look, after all.

“What are we waiting for, then? Get moving!” The clan heiress moved herself to the middle of their formation, grasped both of her companions’ hands firmly, and started marching at a determined pace towards the civilian district.

Naruto, who was looking less downtrodden and more confused, quirked an eyebrow at the pinkette once they caught each other’s eyes from their twin positions of being dragged behind Ino.

“Yeah, she’s always like this,” Sakura confirmed, trying to sound resigned to her fate but unable to stop herself from cracking a grin. “You get used to it.”

“Excuuuuuse you, Forehead. I am a national treasure, so the both of you are being graced by my presence!” Even though Ino huffed in indignation at her best friend’s comments, Sakura could hear the waver in her tone that meant the other girl was trying not to laugh.

It struck Sakura suddenly, that interacting with the other two, not just Ino, was as natural as breathing. It was comfortable, in a way she hadn’t expected when the loudest boy in all Konoha joined in.

Gods help her, Sakura liked spending time with Uzumaki Naruto.

“We’re here. Hurry up and get your key out so I can wash all this grossness off of me!” Her startling revelation was cut short by Ino stopping dead in her tracks and making the announcement.

“Have you ever heard of manners, Pig? Would a please and thank you kill you?” The pink haired girl grumbled as she fished her key out of the corner of her school bag she always tucked it into.

“Yeah, Ino, it’s only polite!” Naruto chimed in, a smarmy grin on his face as both blondes trailed up the stairs and towards the Haruno residence on the second floor.

“Oh? You think you have any right to lecture me about manners, mister paint bomb? Don’t think we didn’t hear about that little incident!”

The bickering made for an almost pleasant hum of background noise as Sakura unlocked the door and stepped into the entryway ahead of the two.

Only to stop dead in her tracks at the sight of two familiar pairs of shoes.

Naruto bumped into her, having not been paying attention to the fact the pink haired girl had stopped, causing Sakura to stumble over the threshold and into the apartment.

“Well, I guess that answers the question on when your parents will be back,” Ino murmured into the other girl’s ear as she stepped (far more gracefully than Sakura) into the entryway. Then, turning back to the other blond, she grasped him by the arm and yanked him inside.

“You can’t just stand out there and leave the door hanging open,” she scolded as she dropped his arm and sat down on the ledge that separated the entryway from the rest of the apartment.

“Is that you, Sakura?” The voice of Haruno Mebuki floated from further in the home. Instead of breaking the tension, it only seemed to add to it. Sakura’s muscles seemed to be actively fighting against her as she finally straightened up from her slouch against the wall beside the door to answer.

“Yes, mother. I’ve brought some friends home for dinner, if that’s alright?”

Naruto had always been an orphan, so there was a chance he was wrong, but he was pretty sure your own family wasn’t supposed to make you look so nervous. Then again, any mention of Hinata’s family had the shy girl running scared, but she also just seemed to be scared of most things. Hmm…

“Manners,” was all Ino had time to hiss at him before an older woman with hair a few shades darker than Sakura’s appeared in the hall, behind where the Yamanaka sat.

“Ino-chan, what a pleasant surprise! It’s been too long since you were last over. I hope my daughter hasn’t been so rude as to neglect you?”

Naruto really didn’t think it was normal for a mother to glare at her child like that (like how the shopkeepers- or really most villagers, looked at him if he got too close to them).

“Of course not, Haruno-san!” Ino’s smile was fake, all three children knew that much, but it fooled the civilian woman easily, and Mebuki’s posture softened. “Clan matters have kept me too busy to accept any of Sakura’s invitations, you see.”

Clan matters was an ironclad response, a brick wall that immediately cut off any further line of inquiry. Clans were the gods of Konoha, especially the bigger, older, and more respected ones like the Yamanaka.

“Of course, of course.” The woman’s face looked a little pinched for a moment, but it quickly smoothed out as she continued on with a seamless change of subject. “And who’s this other friend, Sakura?”

Green eyes widened as Sakura’s head snapped up, the pinkette having sat to take off her shoes after passing a pair of slippers each to Ino and Naruto, then grabbing her own.

“This is Naruto, mother. He’s a new friend.” Sakura hoped desperately that the slight edge of hysteria she felt about just how badly the situation could turn out hadn’t crept into her voice.

Through an incredible stroke of dumb luck (though Ino would undoubtedly credit her own warnings about manners), Naruto remained almost silent. The only thing he offered up was a little bow- perhaps not deep enough for a first introduction, but enough, and a brief nice to meet you, please take care of me.

There was a hard line to Mebuki’s mouth by the time he straightened up fully. Sakura didn’t miss the flinch he made when her mother took a step closer to them, as though anticipating a more physical reaction. Without thinking, the girl stood and turned to face Mebuki while blocking the boy from view.

Standing in yellow, daisy-printed slippers, it was less fierce than she hoped it to appear.

Mebuki rolled her eyes at the burst of bravado, but said nothing more on the subject of the Uzumaki. That had more to do with the feeling of Ino’s gaze burning a hole in the side of her head, though. Probably.

“Well, come in and wash up first. Ino, as our guest, you can go first.” The saccharine tone was back. “Sakura and her new friend,” she paused, as though the last words pained her to say, “Will wash their hands in the kitchen and set the table while you get freshened up, yes? I’m sure Sakura has a few things you can borrow once you’re done, unless she’s been as rough and tumble with her entire wardrobe as she has today.” The older woman’s disdain wasn’t very well masked as she eyed her daughter from head to toe.

The second Haruno Mebuki turned her back to head in the direction of the kitchen, the three children exchanged a look.

“Whatever she says, don’t believe her,” Sakura whispered to the still-nervous boy as Ino split off to wander further into the apartment not a home, it hadn’t been a home in years. “She’s just mad cuz I won’t leave the Academy to be a normal girl.” She mocked shoving two fingers down her throat in a gagging motion, which had the desired effect of making Naruto perk up (he might have tried to hide his giggle behind the hand she wasn’t clutching onto like a lifeline, but she caught it!).

The restraint her mother showed when Ino’s presence was in the room didn’t extend to Naruto. That much was evident when she caught sight of the two children’s linked hands and didn’t bother to hide her scowl. Even her father, who was perched on a chair at the end of the table, reading some sort of business journal, did a double take when he saw Naruto before rolling his eyes and returning to his papers.

Sakura hurried to lead the boy over to the sink and start running the tap.

“Given the state of the pantry when we got home, I can’t imagine you have any of the grocery budget left,” Mebuki snipped as she added more slices of beef to the pan, where enough slices for two had already been sizzling away.

“No, mother,” Sakura ducked her head as she lied, miming a sense of contrition she was starting not to feel when it came to her parents and their expectations and opinions of her. She wasn’t going to have enough money to move out when she graduated the Academy if she didn’t save at least a little beforehand, after all.

“All that fancy training and they still haven’t taught you how to manage a household?” The disapproving click of Haruno Kizashi’s tongue against his teeth could be heard even over the noises of food preparation.

Naruto, having just finished drying his cleaned hands on a dishtowel, could no longer restrain himself.

“Sakura-chan’s the best, believe it!” There was a hard glint to his usually happy blue eyes, and while he wasn’t shouting, he definitely sounded stern. Sakura, not for the first time that day, found herself appreciating the Uzumaki more than ever before.

Her father was less impressed with the outburst, though, and scoffed.

“They aren’t teaching subtlety, either, I see.”

Sakura’s own hands were dried by then, so she reached out and snatched her new friend’s hand to signal for him to drop the matter. She really didn’t want him to get kicked out, because he deserved a good meal, and her mother, though not exactly a nice woman, was a fantastic cook.

The gods really must have been on her side that day, because he shot her a look that clearly expressed his unhappiness, but didn’t say anything more.

“Come on, we need to set the table,” the pinkette murmured, leading him over to the drawer where the cutlery was stored. While he took out chopsticks, knives, and spoons, Sakura dragged a chair over so she could reach the cabinet with the plates and bowls. She was one of the lankier kids in class, and with both of her parents being pretty tall, she’d probably stay on the taller side of their cohort, but she was still only ten. Too short to reach anything in the cabinets that hung over the sink without it coming crashing down onto her head.

And if I lose my intelligence to a head injury, I won’t have anything going for me, she reminded herself, bitterness evident even in her own thoughts.

“Thank you for letting me use the shower, Haruno-san,” Ino chirped, all false cheer and smiles that were just a little too wide as she strode into the kitchen, hair still damp and hanging loose.

“Ino-chan, what a nice surprise,” Kizashi’s pale green eyes lifted to look at the girl as he returned her smile, his more genuine than the blonde’s had been.

“I’ll finish setting the table so you can show Naruto the shower.” Ino didn’t even bother to wait for Sakura’s response, snatching the plates right out of her friend’s hands. Once Naruto had placed the remaining cutlery in a neat pile on the end of the table opposite Kizashi, Sakura motioned for the blond boy to follow.

“I don’t think I have any pants that would fit you,” she kept her voice to a murmur, aware of their proximity to the kitchen still. “But I have a t-shirt that would. It came from the boys section of the store anyway, and my parents never let me wear it out of the house. You could maybe tie your jumpsuit off at the waist and wear it like pants?”

Naruto nodded, clearly eager to say something, but waited until they were in her room and the noise of her rummaging in her closet was enough to mask any stray words that could have drifted all the way to the kitchen.

“They shouldn’t talk to you like that, Sakura-chan! Parents are supposed to be nice to their kids- I don’t have any and even I know that.” There was old hurt lurking in his eyes at his own statement, undoubtedly at his lack of parents. It was noticeable enough, intense enough, that when Sakura turned back to face him with shirt in hand, she almost leaned over to hug him.

“Even Jiji says nice things when he comes to visit my apartment, even if he doesn’t get to stay long.”

That one statement grabbed Sakura’s attention. As she handed the plain black shirt over to him and began to lead him over to the bathroom, she tried to probe gently.

“Jiji? I didn’t know you had a grandfather, Naruto.” If he had relatives, shouldn’t they be taking care of him? What’s more, his apartment? They wouldn’t be legal adults until they got their headbands or turned sixteen, whichever came first, so he couldn’t possibly be living alone… right?

“Oh, you know- old man Hokage!” The boy sounded a lot happier as he talked a mile a minute about the military dictator of the entire country like he really was a kindly old grandfather. Sakura only interrupted him to show him how to work the taps that adjusted the temperature and strength of the water flow, nodding along with everything he said as he went. By the time she closed the door behind herself as she left him to shower, though, she had more questions (and a few more concerns).

Chapter Text

By the time Sakura had taken her own shower and arrived back in the kitchen, dinner was ready.

“Make yourself useful and serve the rice,” Mebuki didn’t even let Sakura take a breath before ordering her around.

It was easier to just follow along instead of kicking up a fuss, so despite the fact the pinkette chafed at the tone (no matter how often it was used against her), she did as asked. Judging from the kick Ino gave her shin as she settled herself across from the blonde and next to Naruto, she’d be hearing about how she needed to stand up for herself more the next day at school.

There was a tense sort of silence over the table, even as her parents tried to make nice with the clan heiress. They weren’t very sneaky at all about trying to worm some suggestions that Ino’s illustrious clan might need a contact who could supply them regularly with various soils and seeds from other nations. Sakura only just managed to keep from rolling her eyes.

To her eternal credit, Ino managed not only to keep a straight face, but smile charmingly and make all the right replies while still not agreeing to anything.

Naruto was, once again, disturbingly silent. Sakura moved her left hand, which had been resting in her lap, to grab his right one as it dangled under the table. He turned his head in surprise, ocean blue eyes wide in a sort of cautious wonder that made Sakura’s heart ache. She smiled at him, small and soft, as she gave his hand a squeeze.

He looked a bit more relaxed as he returned his attention to the food, even though the strained silence continued on for the rest of the evening, only broken by little compliments paid to the Yamanaka heiress and a few blithe remarks about how she would have to stop by for visits once Sakura finally smartened up and realized she wasn’t cut out to be a shinobi.

Ino beat the other blond to the punch in rebutting that particular insult.

“I think Sakura is going to be a great kunoichi.” She had apparently reached her threshold for Mebuki and Kizashi’s bullshit. “She’s just as good as I am, and better than most kids in our class. Isn’t that right, Naruto?”

“Yeah!” Naruto perked back up to once again take on the mantle of Sakura’s personal cheerleader. “When I’m Hokage, Sakura-chan’s gonna be my right hand!”

The pinkette wanted to cry at the sheer sincerity in his voice. He wasn’t just being nice to the girl he liked, he really, truly believed in her.

Things were mostly awkward after that, but Sakura hugged both Ino and Naruto as they left for the night. (If Naruto had tears in his eyes as he finally let Ino drag him away from the embrace, neither girl would tell.)

Once she finished shutting and locking the front door, Sakura braced herself for the inevitable fight as she shuffled towards the living room, where her father sat on their mostly-unused couch- the wine red velvet still looked as new as the day they’d had it delivered, days before Sakura entered the Academy. The only thing she wasn’t sure of was which issue her parents would lead with.

“You dare bring that monster into our home?” Ah, so it would be Naruto, then. Her father had been less open with his prickly attitude towards the boy than her mother, but apparently he was going to have more to say.

Sakura’s initial impulse was to shout back at the man that he wasn’t a monster, he was her friend, but self-preservation kicked in before she could fulfill that desire. She didn’t need to find out if, now that the Police Force was a thing of the past it was ashes in the wind like the bodies of all its members, Konoha actually cared about a civilian child being kicked out by her parents. They obviously didn’t care to notice abandonment, so her hopes weren’t high (though, she suspected Ino had a large part in covering her friend’s case of parental neglect up- Sakura sometimes remembered how her older cousin Fuu, who had always been nice to Sakura, went missing one day when the girls were six and no one would talk about it…).

“You are not, under any circumstances, to associate with that boy any further. Your mother and I worked so hard to build our family’s reputation, and I’ll not have you sullying it.” He took a breath, trying to calm himself before he started shouting (because that wouldn’t be in keeping with the kind, jovial Haruno Kizashi he presented to the outside world). Instead of stopping after that, however, he continued.

“It’s bad enough you’re still on about this ninja nonsense, when it’s clear you need to be spending your time learning how to be a proper wife.”

Mebuki, who had just finished with the dishes, emerged from the kitchen to back her husband up.

“We ought to just unenroll you altogether, but keeping the Yamanaka on our side will ensure some good trade prospects. I pity the husband you’ll take in the future, incapable as you are.”

Sakura was biting the inside of her cheek very hard by that point in the lecture, so much so she could taste blood. Just suck it up until you can get out, she had to remind herself.

“You know, you’ll thank us for this once you’re on your own.” The pinkette highly doubted that.

“Yes, the moment you have that garish forehead protector, you’ll be a legal adult, and then you’ll have to fend for yourself. No more of our coddling, you know. That all stops,” her father seemed to take a sort of pleasure in informing his daughter she’d be kicked out at, if her graduation timeline went to plan, twelve (and newly twelve at that- Sakura’s birthday was March 28th, and since the school year ran from April to March, it meant she was the youngest of her cohort).

“You need to think logically about your future, Sakura. No man-”

The continued insinuation that all she was good for was becoming a wife infuriated her, despite the fact becoming Mrs. Uchiha had probably been her biggest goal in life only days prior (but life was sharply divided into Before the Dream and After the Dream now).

“I don’t want to get married!” Okay, maybe that wasn’t exactly true, because it might be nice to have a partner and a kid someday (many, many years in the future. Like, two decades in the future), but she was so angry that she couldn’t properly articulate her thoughts. It wasn’t like her parents would understand, anyway. “I want to be a shinobi and protect people!”

There it was, her old motivation, the one that fueled her before she’d been lost in her Sasuke-crazy phase. She and Ino had vowed to become the best kunoichi to protect each other and the village, but somewhere along the way, Sakura had neglected that goal.

Of course, that had been the entirely wrong thing to say to de-escalate things.

“Don’t talk back to your mother, young lady!” Her fathers pale green eyes had a dangerous edge, matching his thunderous tone. All pretense kept up for the eavesdropping neighbors was lost in the heat of the moment.

“I don’t care! I don’t care what you want! What about what I-”

“Go to your room.” Her mother’s voice was a touch lower in volume than her father’s had been, but it was even more dangerous, like a steel blade wrapped in silk.

Sakura did so gladly, shutting her bedroom door with enough firmness that her father called out with a threat to take the door off its hinges if she didn’t straighten out her attitude.

“And I’m staying friends with Naruto,” she retorted- but only once she had the safety of a closed door between herself and her parents. Then, still frustrated and disgusted with the taste of blood that lingered from her earlier cheek-biting, the girl flung herself face-first onto her neatly made bed, the landing cushioned by her absurdly thick blanket pile. The blankets also had the effect of muffling her drawn-out groan of frustration, which was a bonus- she didn’t need her mother to come storming in complaining about her being too loud and unladylike.

If Inner had still been there, she could have just let her rant and rave and threaten to go live in a tree at the park or something equally ridiculous. But Inner was gone, and it seemed permanent, so Sakura was just going to have to learn to cope with the ups and downs (mostly the downs) of life by herself, which really sucked, because for the past few years of her life, she’d had the nifty, built-in coping (more like compartmentalizing) mechanism, and she had disappeared over the course of two years a few hours of sleep.

Auntie Kaede says sometimes swearing helps, Ino’s words from earlier that day echoed in her ears, unbidden but welcome all the same.

It’s worth a shot, at least. So, with her face still firmly smushed into the blankets, Sakura tried it.

“Fuuuuuuuuuck.” It was still a groan, and she half-expected Iruka-sensei (or worse, her father) to drop from the ceiling and start scolding her.

But she did feel a little better.

Chapter Text

Sakura got up before her alarm, which was good, because she doubted either of her parents would have been pleased at being woken up at five-thirty in the morning to a blaring sound. So, after swiftly disabling the clock, she moved as stealthily as possible through her morning routine. Of course, it was impossible to flush the toilet quietly, but she didn’t hear any stirring from their bedroom as she was washing her hands.

Good, if they were sleeping that deeply, she had a chance at making it through her new routine and getting out of the house before they rose.

After she got changed into her new utilitarian look of plain shirt (this time a deep, forest green) and black capri-length leggings, she paused to listen for any movement elsewhere in the apartment, then tugged the fitted sheet off the top left corner of her mattress, exposing a very tiny, neat row of stitches in a white thread that blended into the equally white mattress. If someone didn’t know it was there, they’d have a hard time finding it.

It was exactly as Sakura had planned when she’d cut the slit there two years ago.

Taking the scissors from the emergency repair kit under her bed, she deftly split the stitches open and fished the wad of ryo out from inside.

Still moving as silently as possible, she fetched her little pig-shaped coin purse from her school bag and added the handful of bills inside to the larger stack before counting it all.

Three thousand one hundred ryo, altogether. Quickly rolling it up and shoving it back in the mattress, she got to work on sewing the opening shut again as she calculated.

Shinobi get subsidized housing, so a studio apartment would probably be… three thousand? But I’d have to double that because I’d need a deposit, and then with utilities…

She had her work cut out for her. Fortunately, time was on her side, since she still had over a year and a half to save.

Tying a knot at the end of the new stitches, she clipped the thread, tucked her sewing supplies away again, and made her bed fully before she grabbed her school bag and tiptoed out to the kitchen.

It was a tense hour and a half, and she’d had to try and muffle the happy little tune the rice cooker played when it finished cooking things by folding herself over the entire machine (she’d had to climb up onto the counter in order to manage it, too). Still, despite the struggles, her self-appointed mission was a success, and she slipped out into the late spring sunshine with a breath of relief.

With each step towards the Academy, she felt the weight on her shoulders lighten.

It wasn’t that her parents were bad people, they just wanted her to be safe.

No, they’re bad people, the voice that was probably just her and not a newer, more cynical Inner piped up. They might not be as bad as other people, but just because they don’t beat me doesn’t mean they’re good.

That was… Hmm. That was fair.

Still, she should have been grateful for-

For what? They haven’t done shit for me since you said you wanted to be a kunoichi. Keeping a roof over your head and feeding me is the law, at least until I graduate.

If she’d been born into a clan, she wouldn’t have had this problem. Then again, there was the case of Sasuke… And whatever all that was going on with the Hyuugas. She might have been shut out of a lot of information because she wasn’t part of a clan (and also because she was a child), but she wasn’t stupid.

It would have been nice to have some sort of security net to fall back on, though. Or just a little support for her chosen career path. But there was no use bemoaning her fortune (or lack thereof) when she was already working as hard as she could to fix it.

Instead, she thought about how she’d like to decorate her first apartment, once she had the money to do so. It cheered her considerably, imagining all the little plants (which could double as sources for poisons) and decorative couch cushions (they could be used to smother an intruder, in a pinch) she could use to liven up the place. By the time she reached the Academy, she was even smiling.

Naruto wasn’t at the gate like the day before, so she decided to wait for a bit, just in case. As she stood, shifting from foot to foot and wondering if Ino would be willing to grow some wolf’s bane for her. It would be good practice at handling more deadly flowers, right?

A flash of white came from the corner of her eye, in the direction of a cluster of trees near her classroom’s window, and Sakura’s shifting became a little more antsy. Hadn’t Ino said there was a person with a white mask near the house the night Fuu went missing?

She stood five more minutes, feeling eyes periodically on her from the direction of the disturbance, until she caught yet another flash of white and could take it no longer, darting inside with the intent to tell Iruka-sensei.

“Sakura-chan, what took you so long?!” Naruto’s exclamation was the first thing that reached her as she slid the door to the classroom open.

“What do you mean? I was waiting outside for you!” She was a little irritated, but surely she was allowed to be! “There was something out in the tree, too. It gave me the creeps.”

Iruka-sensei, who had been sitting quietly at his desk, watching the scene with an amused expression, looked suddenly wary.

“Something in the tree, Sakura-kun?” He sounded just as suspicious as he looked. Maybe he thought she was being paranoid?

“Yes! Sensei, I couldn’t really see because of the leaves, but it was definitely white.” She placed her bag down on the desk where she’d sat the day before, this time opting to sit in the middle seat, since Naruto had taken the end closest to the aisle.

“Oh, that’s probably just one of the Masks,” Naruto interjected himself back into the conversation as soon as he had something to contribute. He sounded far too casual for such an alarming statement.

“One of them? There are more? And why would they want to follow-” Sakura cut off her line of questioning mid-sentence as she saw how nervous both Naruto and their teacher were. “You know what, nevermind. I don’t want to know.”

She really did want to know, because it was very suspicious, but she’d let it drop. For the moment.

It was only the second day of their lessons, so Sakura couldn’t really make a judgment call as to whether her help was making an impact, but she liked to think it was. Especially when, during his break to get up and pace around the room, she quizzed him on what they’d just worked on and he answered each of her questions correctly.

She only wished, when she told him it would have been a perfect score had it been a pop quiz, he hadn’t felt the need to celebrate right by her ear.

Sakura had a feeling she was going to have to learn to live with volume control issues, if the friendship between herself and the blond boy continued. She hoped it did, as much as her before-the-dream self might not have believed it, but her eardrums felt otherwise.

The pinkette smiled at him, anyway, and he looked happier than if he’d won a million ryo.

As others started rolling in (Shino was usually first, then Hinata), Naruto started wiggling around in his seat. It wasn’t an anxious sort of movement- there was no real tension to it, but it seemed more like he just needed to move for the sake of moving.

“Hey, Naruto,” his attention immediately zeroed in on her as he tried to keep himself still, though he was still jiggling a leg. “Do you think having something to hold onto while you’re taking notes would help you concentrate? Like one of those foam balls people use to try and be less stressed out?”

Sakura had read a few very basic medical texts about the brain when she was trying to figure out what Inner was (the pang in her heart at the mere thought of her dead? Alter-ego stung a little less than the day before). There hadn’t been much in the way of helping her, but she had skimmed over something about hyperactivity and concentration, and thanks to her memory, she could remember the tips provided.

“Uhh, maybe?” The boy looked a little hesitant to admit whatever it was on his mind, but pressed forward anyway, “I mean, I do kinda feel like I’m smarter when I’m moving around. Like, just one thing isn’t enough for me to do, so then I can’t focus on anything. Does that make sense?”

Sakura nodded, and actually meant it. She didn’t feel that way often, but every once in a while, it seemed to help her think if she had music playing in the background or could lay on her stomach and wave her legs around.

“Good, you saved the best seat for me. As it should be,” Ino announced herself with the usual amount of pomp, squeezing her way past both Naruto and Sakura to sit in the seat nearest the wall.

The pinkette swiveled her entire body around in her seat to face the other girl, beaming at her in welcome.

“You look disgustingly happy this morning, Forehead,” the Yamanaka tried to mask how flustered she was at the warm greeting by starting off with a backhanded compliment, but Sakura knew her cheeks and the tips of her ears weren’t red for nothing.

“Why are you so red, Ino?” Naruto, bless him, had no compunctions in calling his fellow blonde out, grinning broadly as he did so (not for first time, Sakura thought his self-satisfied grin was rather fox-like).

“Shut up, Uzumaki!”

The disadvantage to being in the middle seat? The pair now bickered over Sakura, instead of beside her.

Apparently it was annoying enough for Sasuke to be glowering at them nearly every time Sakura’s gaze happened to drift that way. Which, considering she was trying to behave on that front, wasn’t often. But still, she wished he was looking at her more… It didn’t matter, not really.

Even if he was really handsome.

“Isn’t that right, Forehead?” Ino’s voice yanked her back into the fray. She only had to turn her head the slightest bit to shift her gaze from the Uchiha to her best friend, her brow creasing in confusion as she did so.

“What did you say? I wasn’t-”

“You were spacing out.” Ino’s eyebrow arched, “In a very specific direction, too.” Sakura had the decency to blush at being caught. “What happened to giving up on him, huh?”

“I’m allowed to look, Pig! Besides, I can still admit he’s cute without wanting to chase after him.” Sakura’s green eyes were narrowed in irritation as she leveled them at Ino, determined not to lose the little staring contest between them.

Until Naruto’s grumbling from behind her interrupted the match.

“I don’t see what’s so great about bastard, anyway.”

The contest was lost in an instant as Sakura had to try and mask a rather undignified snort behind her hand.

It was for the best, anyway, since class was about to begin.

Sakura already knew the lesson presented to them- she made a habit of reading through her textbooks the second she got them, and then each chapter again in the lead-up to its presentation. Besides, it was trajectory math, and Sakura was good at it.

Math came easy to Sakura, just like chakra control and history and all of her other, non-taijutsu classes. She could solve for a variable in her head at the drop of a hat, which, in theory, should have applied to physical activities like sparring. But it was one thing to make her mind do something, and another to get her body to cooperate.

She hoped her added training could at least ensure she was strong enough to not die again. It could help her grow her reserves, too, which could never hurt- as a child from a long line of civilians, she had been born with a much smaller pool of reserves than Ino or Sasuke or most of her other classmates. Even though Naruto had never been able to meet his parents, he’d clearly inherited the insanely large stores that had been typical of that clan.

Not for the first time, she wondered how an entire country filled with skilled sealmasters and shinobi with the biggest reserves in the Nations had been destroyed. Their textbooks were always weirdly sparse about Uzushio’s downfall.

Maybe I should go to the library tomorrow morning, she mused to herself as she whipped through the problems set out on the blackboard by Mizuki-sensei. They were all so laughably easy that she didn’t need to give her full attention to them. In fact, once she was done, she had time to point out mistakes to the blondes on either side of her.

“You flipped the seven and four when you started the second part of the problem,” she murmured to Naruto, trying not to draw attention to their table for once (she was really going to have to grow a thicker skin if her friendship with Naruto was going to continue). Honestly, she’d turned to him first because she’d assumed he’d need much more help than Ino would. That, and Ino didn’t exactly like being told she was wrong, even with cold hard facts in front of her.

To her immense surprise, however, Naruto was actually decent with numbers. Aside from the flip she’d pointed out (he scrubbed furiously at the mistake with the nubby eraser of his pencil as he thanked her), his work was without fault. For the half of the problems he’d done, anyway.

He’d be good at seals, once his knowledge of kanji gets up to scratch. And maybe with some handwriting improvement, too.

Without anything more to suggest, she turned to her other side to look at Ino’s paper.

“Your multiplication is wrong here, Pig,” she pointed to a spot on the page, where the blonde had somehow gotten the answer to seven times eight as sixty-two.

“Shut up,” the girl groused, ears turning pink as she also rushed to fix her mistake. “I’m too pretty to need math, anyway.”

“Oh, does that mean I’m so ugly I need math?” Sakura shot back, pinching her friend’s thigh under the desk in retaliation.

“No, stupid. You’re so pretty you can be a dork who enjoys math and no one will care.”

As the words sunk in, both girls went silent as the tomb and hastily turned all their focus onto their individual papers, faces flaming.

From her left side, Sakura heard Naruto murmur, “Girls are so weird.”

She didn’t look up from her finished paper again until Mizuki-sensei announced that time was up and they’d be going over the answers to the problems. Teacher’s pet sensibilities still ingrained within her, even if Mizuki was kind of creepy, Sakura focused her full attention on the front of the class as she ticked her correct answers off one by one.

“Dork,” Ino murmured as they put away their papers, getting another pinch for her teasing. They had ten glorious minutes to relax between classes, and Natruto had immediately shot up from his seat to… cause mayhem, probably.

“Oi! I can too take you in a fight!” Kiba’s shout, accompanied by a very tiny yipping that was undoubtedly Akamaru, signaled the start of mayhem.

Naturally, Naruto had been the instigator. He had Kiba trapped in a headlock while the little white ninken he’d only just gotten at the start of the school year tried to bite Naruto’s ankles.

“Boys,” Ino sighed theatrically as her eyes rolled skyward.

Yet, it wasn’t the between-class breaks that brought the most distress to Sakura, but the lunch hour.

Ino only waited long enough for all three of them to settle under a tree, far away from any of their classmates, before she started grilling her best friend.

“What happened after we left? I mean, I know it’s been a few years since I’ve seen them, but gods, Forehead, they were really something last night.” As usual, the Yamanaka heiress cut right to the heart of the matter.

“Yeah, Sakura-chan, I know I’m not exactly an expert on parents, but they weren’t exactly nice to you.” It was sweet, how he apparently didn’t care at the offenses Mebuki and Kizashi had offered him, only her. Maybe if she and Ino worked together, they could get his self-sacrificing streak to tone down a little.

But that wasn’t the point, and she had to flounder for a response.

“They just… really don’t want me to be a shinobi. They think I should be learning how to be a wife, and then get married and have my husband take over the trading business.” She couldn’t help the wrinkling of her nose in disgust at the thought- it was such a strong urge that she hadn’t been able to resist.

Ino and Naruto had similar expressions of distaste on their faces. After a moment, though, Naruto looked thoughtful.

“Then why do they like Ino so much? If they don’t want you to do cool ninja stuff, why do they want her to hang around?”

“Because clans are powerful, Naruto,” Ino looked guilty as she spoke. “My dad is head of the entire Yamanaka clan, which not only means that I’ll lead the clan one day, but I can whisper in his ear about stuff, too. Plus, the Yamanaka have been aligned with the Nara and Akimichi since, like, the dawn of freaking time, so that’s two other big names. One of which is a Noble Clan.”

Naruto looked a little overwhelmed, and luckily the blonde girl picked up on it and took a moment for him to absorb it all in silence. The three ate as they absorbed the weight of the words, though there was much more to say on the subject Sakura tried not to be bitter, really, she did.

And then, as the boy finished chewing the last bite of his egg, he spoke in an unusually subdued voice.

“Is that why me n’ Sakura get treated badly by some of the teachers?”

Ino flinched.

Sakura took pity on her, and answered Naruto’s question so she wouldn’t have to.

“Yeah. It sucks, doesn’t it?” He nodded emphatically. She expected it, too- he got treated even worse than she did- where Sakura was often just dismissed outright as a weak little girl, Naruto was noticed, in the worst ways possible.

“That’s why we’re just gonna work harder, okay? Then we can show everyone they were wrong. Ino’s mom came from a civilian family and she can take Uncle Inoichi any day.” To further emphasize her point as Ino nodded in response to the point about her mother, Sakura then pointed in the direction of Hokage Mountain, though it was obscured by the trees. “The Fourth didn’t come from a clan, and some people say he was the best Hokage we had.”

That seemed to perk Naruto up considerably. He brightened even more when Sakura went on.

“Besides, you do come from a clan. The Uzumaki helped found Konoha. Why do you think there are swirls on our flak jackets? You should make sure everyone remembers how essential your ancestors were to this place!”

“Yeah!” Naruto was fired up by that point, hopping up from his seated position to point a finger in the direction of the mountain. “Just you wait, I’m gonna be the best Hokage ever, and then everyone will have to admit I’m amazing!” He paused, then, with a sheepish grin, turned to face the two girls.

“Oh, and they’ll say you’re both super awesome, too, believe it!” There was decidedly less fiery passion behind those words than the ones about himself, but the conviction was still there.

“Gee, thanks,” Ino deadpanned. There was a twitch in the corners of her mouth that gave away her amusement, though. Catching Sakura looking at her, she must have known her secretly developing soft spot for the loud blond was out, and quickly moved to divert the topic.

“Anyway! That’s not getting to what we want to know, Forehead.” Her finger pointed accusingly at Sakura, who rolled her eyes. “We left after dinner, and then?”

Naruto flung himself back onto the ground, this time on his stomach (how did he not get sick from doing that immediately after eating?) to listen intently to her answer.

“They just said the same old stuff- I should be learning how to keep house and help run the family business instead of going to the Academy.” Sakura shrugged in an attempt at nonchalance.

“And?” Ino’s gaze was sharp. “I know that wasn’t everything, Forehead, so spill already! We only have but so long for lunch.” She reached out to tug on the long, link braid draped over her friend’s shoulder for emphasis.

“And,” Sakura dragged the word out as she smacked her best friend’s hand away, “I said I didn’t want to get married, I wanted to stay in the Academy. They, uhh, heavily implied I wouldn’t be welcome once I get my forehead protector.”

“What the hell? Is that even legal?” Ino was more upset about the news than Sakura had been.

Naruto, on the other hand, looked confusedly at his fellow blonde.

“Whaddya mean, of course it is. The orphanage said I couldn’t live there anymore before I started school, so Jiji got me an apartment and gives me an allowance to pay for food n’ stuff. Wouldn’t it be the same for Sakura-chan?”

For the first time in over a year, Ino and Sakura were perfectly in-sync.

“They what?!”

Chapter Text

Naruto didn’t want to show either girl where he lived, his body language alone would have made it obvious, but the weaselly words he’d used for the rest of their lunch break affirmed it. He’d tried everything to get Ino to stop from inviting herself over, but she shot down every argument he came up with.

”I haven’t cleaned up.”

“I doubt you ever do.”

“My landlord doesn’t allow guests.”

“Bullshit. Besides, we’re not sleeping over.”

“I don’t have any food but ramen?”

“I’ll buy snacks on the way. It’s only proper for a visitor to bring a gift, anyway.”

Sakura had wanted to step in, to tell Ino to back off since he clearly didn’t want them there, but her own curiosity kept her mouth glued shut.

And so, that was how they ended up in the most worn-down looking building in all of Akasen after their self-imposed training routine, both girls clutching a bag of freshly-bought snacks and drinks each (they’d had to go into the convenience store alone, since Naruto said the owner probably wouldn’t let any of them in again if he came- but that was another problem to address when they had the time).

“Here we are,” Naruto chuckled nervously as he unlocked the front door.

Sakura doubted Ino missed the giant demon brat someone had spray painted in bold black characters across said door. People walking on the street, six stories below them, could probably see it.

She knew she was prone to violent impulses, wanting to punch Ami or (she barely let herself admit this one) her parents after some of their particularly nasty fights, but this was the first time she could remember wanting someone to actively suffer. In fact, if she could, it would be satisfying to wring the neck of the culprit herself.

Murder, eh? I guess I really am shaping up to be a decent shinobi.

No one spoke again until the door was shut (and bolted, the girl noted with growing distress for her newest friend’s living situation).

“I don’t even know where to start.” Ino spoke up first, swiping the second bag of snacks from where it rested at Sakura’s side as the pinkette finished slipping off her shoes.

“Does,” Sakura took a fortifying breath as she prepared to snoop into Naruto’s life once more, “Does stuff like that happen a lot?” They had the snacks to feed him, now where was that blanket to wrap him up in and shield him from the world?

Naruto didn’t meet her eyes as he walked beside her, towards the kitchen area where Ino was unpacking bottles of tea and bags of chips and candy. His voice was so heartbreakingly meek as he answered that Sakura almost believed she misheard him.

“Yeah. I told you no one really likes me, Sakura-chan.”

Fuck it.

“Don’t say that, Naruto! We like you plenty. Even if Ino’s kind of a jerk.” Her voice was a little muffled due to her face being squashed in the crook of his neck as she gave him the tightest hug she was capable of.

“Hey! I’m a perfect lady, thank you very much!” Ino shouted the comment from over her shoulder, then must have looked back to see the awkward hug going on. “Geeze, you’re such a sap, Forehead.”

A second pair of arms wrapped around both Naruto and Sakura, and finally, the boy’s tensed muscles began relaxing. He even wrapped his arms around both girls (as well as he could, anyway). Sakura felt the tears soaking into her neck as his head took up a similar position to hers, resting in the crook of her neck, and only squeezed him tighter.

“Okay, that’s enough of that,” Ino was the first to step back, moving briskly back to the kitchen to avoid getting sucked into the emotional whirlwind going on.

Sakura stayed put until the boy let go of her. It was something her mother had told her a long time ago, before she’d met Ino and dreamed of being a kunoichi and ruined her own home life.

”You should never be the first one to end a hug, Sakura. You don’t know how much the other person might need it.

There was undoubtedly bad logic behind applying that across the board, but for Naruto? The rule fit perfectly.

She glanced away as they parted, only looking at him long enough to hand him the little pink handkerchief she carried in her pocket. He took it with a murmured thanks, voice swollen with a sort of raw emotion that hurt. She wiped away the tears blooming in her own eyes with a hasty swipe of her forearm as Ino piped up once again.

“If you two are finished with your waterworks, are you gonna tell us who this Jiji guy is? If he’s your actual grandpa, shouldn’t you be living with him? Instead of, you know, in the Red Light district?!” Her voice gained volume as she went, until the phrase Red Light district was an outright screech.

Sakura waited with baited breath to see what her best friend’s response would be once she learned that the mystery man was, in fact, the leader of their entire village.

“Oh, you know, Old Man Hokage!” It was said with such a bright grin that Sakura could almost think of Sarutobi Hiruzen in a purely good, wholesome light. But the reality of the situation quickly overrode that goodwill.

Was it treason to think your military dictator was an asshole? Because he definitely wasn’t incompetent, so this had to have been a deliberate choice.

Ino was unresponsive for a long, tense moment. Then, with a new burst of volume that had the next door neighbor pounding on the wall above Naruto’s unmade bed, she shrieked.

“HE’S WHAT?!”

Which was exactly how Sakura felt the night before when that juicy little tidbit was revealed to her. It was nice to have her feelings validated like that.

“Uhh, he’s Old Man Hokage?” Naruto repeated, sounding unsure. A quick glance over at him confirmed his expression matched his tone.

“No, I heard you,” Ino replied instantly, an almost knee-jerk response. “But like, why? He’s the freaking Hokage, so shouldn’t he have just been able to tell the orphanage to suck it up? Your pranks aren’t that bad.”

Naruto’s nervousness didn’t lessen at her declaration- if anything, he seemed to grow more on edge.

It was suspicious.

“Alright, I think we need to have snacks first, before we get into this,” Sakura took the initiative to interrupt the interrogation (Ino was going to be a menace when she eventually took over T&I in a decade or two).

She could see a few things had already been moved from the plastic shopping bags on the counter to the rickety-looking table that stood in the area between his kitchen and where the bed lay. There wasn’t much apartment, the only other area being a door that led to what was most definitely the bathroom, but she guessed if the Hokage was footing the bill…

As she settled into one of the four (equally rickety) chairs around the table, she spied the massive patch of black mold growing in the corner, above the fridge.

The single ounce of goodwill she was willing to spare the Hokage over the entire situation vanished.

“Okay, after we eat, we’re going to have to try and do something about that.” She pointed out the mold to both of the other occupants. Naruto shrugged, though the tips of his ears turned red in what Sakura assumed was misplaced embarrassment. Ino also turned red, but it looked more like she was about to pop a blood vessel.

“I literally cannot say what I am thinking right now.” The blonde girl bit out the statement as though it pained her to restrain herself from speaking her mind because it probably did.

For some reason, however, it triggered a thought in Sakura, like a lightning bolt to the brain.

“You should just come stay with me whenever my parents aren’t there.”

Ino’s jaw dropped, and Naruto was so taken aback he missed the chair he was going to sit down in entirely, crashing bottom-first onto the floor.

“But- but you’re a girl, Sakura-chan!” the boy protested as he hauled himself up from the floor. The pinkette scowled.

“Naruto, we’re ten. Don’t be gross.”

That seemed to snap Ino out of her shocked state, and the blonde was quick to leap into the conversation again, this time to back the other girl up.

“Yeah, Naruto, don’t be creepy. Besides,” she winked at Sakura before turning her attention back on the other blond, “If you guys pool your money together, won’t that mean you can save more? Or at least cover the cost of the extra food you’re gonna need once we really start training?”

That… was a good point. An excellent one, actually. Sakura had only been listening to her bleeding heart when she extended the offer. Naruto might have been a new friend, but it had quickly become apparent he was going to be a fixture in ber and Ino’s lives for a long time yet.

“But your parents don’t like me, so why would they-”

“She won’t tell them, obviously,” Ino pinched his arm as she finally settled into her seat and cracked open her bottle of tea.

Sakura, meanwhile, felt a vindictive sort of glee at the concept of getting one over on Haruno Kizashi and Mebuki. This plan gets better and better the more I think about it.

There was one issue, however.

“My neighbors are nosy, though. They’d definitely tell my parents if they saw you coming over- especially when they aren’t there.” The pinkette popped a honey butter flavored potato chip in her mouth and crunched on it thoughtfully as she tried to come up with a solution.

“We could learn the transformation technique?” Disguise was the easiest route, probably. “We’re due to start learning it next semester, anyway, once we get a better grip on our chakra. So it would help our grades, too!”

Neither girl stated the obvious:that Naruto needed the most help on that front.

“But no way would Iruka-sensei or Mizuki-sensei let us-” The boy’s protests were cut off by Ino yet again.

“We’re training to be ninja, Naruto. Part of that is learning to be sneaky.” The duh was clear in her tone, and it rankled the Uzumaki.

“Hey! I can too be sneaky!” The pounding of the next door neighbor immediately followed his exclamation, accompanied by a muffled shout of shut up, brat.

There was silence for a long moment as the three children looked at each other. Then, as if on cue, they dissolved into giggles simultaneously.

“The Academy library isn’t restricted by year,” Sakura was the first to compose herself (though just barely- her voice was still a bit wobbly with laughter). “We can just go on lunch break Monday and see if they have any instructions.”

“You would know that, Forehead,” Ino scoffed once she’d finally gathered herself. “Such a brainiac.”

“It’s not bad to be super-smart, Ino!” Naruto was quick to leap to Sakura’s defense. “Sakura-chan knows all sorts of stuff that I bet you’re too dumb to understand.”

As a fresh wave of squabbling broke out, Sakura’s eyes drifted to the single window in the apartment.

She could have sworn she saw another white mask, this one topped by an unruly tuft of silver hair just like the lackluster teacher in her dreams. It was gone in a split-second, but combined with what Naruto had said about Masks that morning… Well, maybe she could find something the next day while she was at the public library in her search for information about Uzushio and Naruto’s clan. Mind made up, she turned her full attention back to the two blondes, who had taken to pinching each other as they traded petty insults.

“Hey.” She was ignored in favor of Ino saying Naruto’s hair was stupid, whatever that meant. So, she raised her voice and tried again. “HEY!”

Silence immediately blanketed the apartment, only broken by the muffled shouting of the neighbor.

“We’ve gotta figure out what to do while we’re still learning henge. And also work on a weekend training schedule, while we’re at it.”

“But won’t we have time to work on the transformation stuff before your parents leave again, Sakura-chan?” Naruto blinked, looking far too guileless, over at the pink haired girl, who traded a look with Ino. The blonde girl shrugged, as if to say, it’s your secret to share.

After a steadying breath, Sakura began finishing the explanation of her home life that she’d started at lunch that day.

“Um, not really? They’re gone way more than they’re here. They usually stay a week, if that, before they head out again.”

Honestly, Sakura wasn’t entirely sure what her parents even did out in the wide world. They’d had a shop when she was small, and her mother and father would take turns going out to acquire foreign goods and establish trade deals for artisans who couldn’t necessarily leave their villages to peddle their wares. But they’d closed the shop in her first year of the Academy, and there probably weren’t so many craftsmen in the nations to warrant such extended absences any longer.

There was something a little suspicious about the whole thing, but since she was trying to get away from Mebuki and Kizashi, she wasn’t particularly interested in prying.

“That sounds so lonely, Sakura-chan.” It hadn’t been the response she’d expected from Naruto. Or rather, it wouldn’t have been had she not been spending more time with him the last few days (had she not dreamed about being his teammate and learning more about his life and dying as he started to glow red in the distance).

“It doesn’t bother me anymore,” she tried to shrug it off, popping another chip in her mouth before saying anything else. “I mean, we fight more than anything when they are here, so it’s probably for the best, right?”

“They’re still your parents, though. Even if I fought with them, I think I’d want to see my mom and dad every day. If they were still here.”

Guilt wracked her at the statement, and even Ino’s eyes held a tinge of remorse.

“But it’s a two-way street, Naruto,” Sakura abandoned her chips to rest on the table in favor of reaching over to rest her hand on his forearm as gently as she could. “If they don’t want to spend time with me, isn’t it worse to make them? Then we’d all be miserable, all the time.”

For once, she was glad of Inner’s absence, because she wasn’t sure she could have been as soft in her response had her alter-ego been screeching in offense in the background. A fresh wave of guilt washed over her at the thought.

“Madara’s left nut, this is getting way too depressing,” Ino must have recovered from her own guilt quickly, because she interrupted the maudlin scene with a roll of her eyes. “Let’s get back to planning unsupervised chakra use, okay? Forehead’s parents are probably going to be gone by the middle of next week, so we won’t have enough time to learn anything if all we do is sit around moping!”

They probably wouldn’t be able to learn the henge before then, anyway, but Sakura wisely chose to keep her thoughts to herself as she rested her hands back on her lap. Ino was in one of her pinching moods today, as evidenced by the constant little tweaks she’d been giving Naruto, and she was keen to avoid them.

Ino’s pinches hurt.

“I think we could sneak you past a lot of those nosy old bats in Forehead’s neighborhood if you just wore a different outfit. Not-” The blonde girl saw Naruto about to interrupt and held up a hand so she could, “That offensively bright orange. Seriously, how are you gonna be a decent shinobi if people can see you from the next village over?”

“Hey! Nothing’s wrong with orange! And I’ll be so strong it won’t matter what I wear!” Naruto paused, then, looking like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to admit it, added, “Only one store will sell me clothes, and this is the only thing I could afford that fit.”

It felt like a sucker-punch landed in Sakura’s gut, hands balling into fists beneath the table.

Ino said more than a few choice words, and hurled some creative threats to the anonymous shopkeepers who were treating Naruto so poorly. The boy was at least partially cheered by her efforts, offering her a weak smile.

“I can alter clothes,” Sakura piped up. “I learned to sew before I even met Ino-pig.” Then, turning to her best friend, she asked, “Do you think your dad has anything he’d be willing to get rid of? Just a pair of pants and a shirt, preferably in black or navy.” He should, considering those were standard jounin colors, even if Yamanaka Inoichi didn’t really go into the field anymore (he was more valuable extracting information within the walls of Konoha). Her own father only possessed civilian clothes, not sturdy enough to withstand sparring or training, so even if she could sneak a piece or two, it wouldn’t last more than a single wear.

Especially not with the antics Naruto enjoyed getting up to.

“I’ll ask,” Ino replied, brown still furrowing as she continued dwelling on their newest friend’s situation. “Is that why you only ever eat ramen?”

“Ino!” Sakura couldn’t help but gasp at the blonde’s boldness. “Don’t be so rude-”

“Yeah,” Naruto seemed to have no issue answering honestly, though his gaze lowered to the half-eaten box of pocky in front of him as he did so. “Sometimes, if a riceball is too squished, they’ll throw it out and I can have that instead.”

“You’re learning how to cook.” The pinkette startled herself with her own bold declaration, snatching up one of Naruto’s hands in her own. “If we’re training more, we’re going to have to eat more, and that means more healthy food. You just leave the grocery shopping to me, okay?” She gazed once more at the patch of black mold in the corner of the kitchen and added, “And you’re not getting out of helping me clean, either.”

He squeezed her hand, and there was hope and something that looked an awful lot like trust shining in his ocean blue eyes as he looked up at Sakura.

“‘Kay.”

Ino clapped her hands, deftly interrupting the moment. Sakura could have sworn her eyes narrowed just the slightest bit when she looked at her and Naruto’s joined hands, but the look was gone in a flash. Sakura moved her hand back to fiddle absentmindedly with the cap of her tea bottle, either way.

“So, training schedule. We need one.” And with that, they spent the rest of the afternoon going through their plans for the following two days. Ino would never voluntarily get up before ten on a day off, so there was no use in meeting up until the afternoon. Naruto was also a late sleeper, apparently, and Sakura needed to go to the library when it opened, anyway, so it worked out perfectly.

“You can spend at least one of those hours doing some extra work, Forehead. We’re working on stamina, but don’t think I haven’t seen you struggling to do a single pushup with those noodle arms of yours.”

Ino got a chip to the head for her comments, but she was right.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll do some push-ups and squats and stuff when I wake up tomorrow.” Sakura paused only for a moment, a smirk stretching across her features. “Like you can do much better on the push-ups, Pig. Your tiny little bird-bone wrists probably have trouble supporting that overinflated head of yours.”

“Hey! If anyone has a big head, it’s you!”

The pinkette was glad to note Naruto looking cheerier with each round of insults he had to referee.

Chapter Text

Sakura woke to find two books on her bedside table. Considering she hadn’t left them there the night before- in fact, she’d never seen either book before in her life, that fact put her on high alert. Sitting bolt-upright, she scanned the volumes with interest. What warranted breaking into her bedroom while her parents were sleeping?

How to Build Better Traps for Civilian-Grade Homes (That Won’t Get You Evicted!) lay atop a copy of a more modestly-sized tome, E-Rank Ninjutsu for Dummies.

Sakura tried not to be offended by the insinuation of the second book’s title.

“I am not a-” She stopped herself mid-whisper as realization dawned.

Apparently I am a dummy if I hadn’t even thought about setting traps before. She didn’t think she stood out enough to warrant special attention, but after what happened to Ino’s cousin… Well, maybe it wouldn’t hurt, after all.

“Hashirama’s balls,” she swore under her breath (Ino really was a bad influence on her vocabulary).

Pausing for a moment, she gently cracked open her bedroom door and pressed an ear against the gap. She didn’t hear her parents stirring in their room down the hall, so Sakura used the opportunity to dart into the bathroom and complete her morning routine before they could start in on her. It was only once she was tucked safely back in her room, door locked, that she let out a sigh of relief.

“Okay. Books later, exercise now.” She set a rule for herself fully intending on focusing on her exercise, but it only took three squats before she reached for the book on traps. No way was she going to make it through such repetitive motions without something to keep her mind occupied. Staring at the blank wall just wasn’t doing it.

Civilian landlords can be ignorant jackasses, we know. Sakura had to free one hand from holding the book in order to stifle her giggle at its opening line. Whoever her mysterious book benefactor was, they must have had a sense of humor.

She made it through the foreword and part of the first chapter by the time she finished her first set of thirty. It was significantly more difficult to read while doing the sit-ups and push-ups, though. Not that the latter lasted long- she could do one and get mid-way down a second before her arms gave out.

Ino hadn’t been wrong to call them noodle arms.

The girl had just finished changing into more appropriate clothes to wear to the library and training (since her frilly white pajamas most certainly wouldn’t cut it) when a single knock landed on her door, followed by the knob twisting.

“Sakura, why is the door locked?” Her mother demanded as soon as her daughter yanked the thing open.

“I was changing, mother.” The prospect of a sense of modesty still lingering within the pinkette, despite what Mebuki thought went on in kunoichi training, must have soothed the older woman just enough for her to drop it with a shake of her head.

“Your father and I are leaving this afternoon, for three months. He’s just gone out to pay up the utilities in advance.”

Conflicting emotions swept through the child: relief at the prospect of being left alone again, dread at whatever lecture was coming (Mebuki’s use of the words in advance didn’t bode well), and, surprisingly, the tiniest bit of longing.

Sakura thought she’d abandoned all the softer thoughts she had towards her parents by then. She never saw them enough to remain attached, and whenever they were under the same roof, there was always conflict.

But they were still her parents. Maybe there had been something to what Naruto said the afternoon prior. Even if they didn’t want her, would she always long for their acceptance and affection? Maybe not to the extent she wanted Ino’s- the one person who had always chosen to be with Sakura (because, in the end, it had been Sakura to break off the friendship a year ago, no matter how much she squirmed at the thought of losing Ino).

The older woman before her, hair a few shades darker than her own, gazed down impassively before turning and striding into the kitchen as she spoke, no doubt expecting Sakura to trail behind her as she had as a toddler.

Sakura followed, but it wasn’t with the same adoration and boundless love she’d had in the days before her career goals came into being.

“Now,” Mebuki was all business, brisk and no-nonsense as she poured herself a mug of tea from the still-steaming kettle atop the stove, “Since you’ve proven so frivolous with our previous allowance,” the woman paused to direct a look at her daughter, every bit as displeased as her tone. “We’ll be cutting back on the weekly rate we allow for.”

A heavy silence descended as she waited for her child to protest. Sakura needed more money for food, if anything. With the planned increase in activity, and with Naruto sure to be staying over on a somewhat regular basis, there had never been a greater need for meat and other proteins, and those were never cheap.

Yet, Sakura remained silent, biting her tongue. The only acknowledgement she gave was a singular nod, strands of bubblegum pink escaping her sloppy braid to drape over her shoulders as she did so.

“You need to learn to budget, Sakura,” Mebuki sighed as she settled at the kitchen table. It was a familiar argument at that point, and Sakura tried not to roll her eyes as her mother pressed on. “We both know you’re just not suited for the life of a shinobi. I don’t understand why-” Mebuki cut herself off, before sighing, resting her head in one hand as the other curled protectively around her mug.

“No, I know exactly why. It’s all the Yamanaka heiress, isn’t it?” She didn’t wait for confirmation, but the older woman did lift her head to lock eyes with her daughter once more (her blue eyes were too pale, too cold to ever hold a candle to Ino or Naruto). “Having a clan on our side is beneficial, yes, but Sakura…” The hand not holding her mug began to reach across the table to where the girl sat, then stopped and withdrew, as though Mebuki thought better of it.

“You’re more attached to her than she could ever be to you. She’s going to lead one of the most powerful clans in the village one day, and you…” Mebuki shook her head as though trying to be sympathetic. “You’re just a passing fancy. She’ll grow up and go through the ranks and marry some boy her family approves of. And where will you be, for having followed her blindly? Dead in a ditch, somewhere.”

Sakura wanted to throw up, to scream, to hit the woman across from her that dared talk about Ino like that. Before she could even open her mouth to protest, however, her mother held up a hand and finished speaking her piece.

“I’m not saying you should end your friendship. It would be beneficial to stay in her good graces, as I said. But Sakura, dear, don’t throw your life away over a girl who won’t spare you a second glance once she’s done with you.”

The pink haired girl was trembling with rage, but with her head bowed, Mebuki must have mistaken it for an incoming onslaught of tears, and hastened to add on the other topic of discussion before her child had a breakdown.

“And cavorting with that Uzumaki boy. We raised you better than that, Sakura. What would the neighbors think? He’s dangerous, a de-”

“Shut up! Just shut up!” Sakura slammed her hands down on the table as she stood, jade eyes lit with rage as she glared at her mother. “You don’t know anything! Ino and Naruto are my friends! And they care about me a hell of a lot more than you do!”

“Haruno Sakura,” Mebuki’s tone was sharper than steel as she finally put down her mug in order to tower over her child. “I am your mother and you will treat me with respect. It’s time for you to grow up and stop pretending. I have half a mind to take you out of the Academy right now. If it weren’t a Saturday…”

Ice pulsed, cold and deadly, through Sakura’s veins at the threat. She lifted her hands from the table and took a shaky step back.

“You can’t!”

“Oh, you think I can’t? That I won’t?” There was something cruel in the tilt of her mother’s lips, the glint in her pale eyes, and it made Sakura shiver. “You’re not too young to have a betrothal arranged, Sakura. You might be our burden for another six years, once you leave this ninja nonsense behind, but perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to give you some extra incentive to re-educate yourself on manners. A husband might not be as lenient as we are, when you go over budget or spend all your time daydreaming. I certainly had to stop my flights of fancy when I became betrothed to your father.”

Sakura’s stomach roiled with nausea, and it seemed her mouth was glued shut. She couldn’t shout, couldn’t make any sort of protest, she could only stand there, trembling, as she fought to keep from crying.

The sight must have pleased Mebuki, because her expression softened just the slightest.

“We’d like to allow you to graduate, to give you time to forge more connections,” the older woman sighed as though it was a burden to her, to have to deal with her own daughter. “But if this rebellion continues…” She paused, looking thoughtful, before speaking again.

“Perhaps it wouldn’t be bad to see if we can find a suitable marriage candidate for you, while we’re gone. It would give you a goal more grounded in reality.”

Sakura did have to throw up at that, turning tail to flee into the bathroom as quickly as she could.

“Next time, say excuse me,” her mother called out from the other side of the bathroom door as the girl hunched over the porcelain bowl. “There’s really no need for such theatrics, anyway. I hope you’ll have come to see the light by the time we come back. Goodness knows your father and I don't want to have to turn you out of the house, but we'll not have a ninja,” she spat the word like a curse, “living under our roof.”

There was no goodbye, no words to soothe the obvious upset her daughter was going through at the jarring prospect. There were only soft footsteps padding back towards the kitchen.

A husband. The thought of a strange man touching her, kissing her, forcing her to have his children had Sakura heaving into the toilet once more. Kunoichi classes had touched on one-off assaults, a result of captivity or surprise attacks, but a lifetime of it? It was too much to bear thinking about.

She slipped back into her bedroom once she finally managed to stand long enough to flush the toilet and rinse her mouth out. A strange sort of numbness filled her as she collapsed, face first, on her bed and listened to the sounds of her mother bustling in the kitchen and her father returning from his errands.

She’s wrong. About Ino, and Naruto, and everything. The girl tried to reassure herself, but there was a sort of hollowness to everything that made her limbs feel too heavy to move. She didn’t even lift her head when, at some point, her mother poked her head in the room.

“We’re leaving now, Sakura. I hope you can come to see our point of view by the time we return.” Mebuki’s voice was deceptively gentle, as though she was the picture perfect loving mother and hadn’t just yanked the rug out from Sakura’s feet.

When the girl didn’t respond, didn’t so much as lift her head to turn and gaze at her betrayer, the older woman sighed.

“You’ll thank us for this when you’re older.” And then she was gone.

Once the front door clicked shut behind her parents, she finally managed to rouse herself enough to tuck her new books into her school bag and fix her braid. Her eyes were puffy and ringed with red, making the green of her irises pop even more than usual, but Sakura had no taste for vanity at the moment.

She wanted Ino. Gods help her, she wanted Naruto, too. To hunker down in a pile of pillows and blankets with the pair of them and cry until she felt better. But a quick glance at her clock told her it was only ten, and while the library would be open and most of the village was awake, she couldn’t burden either of them. Not yet.

Buck up, buttercup, she thought as she met her own gaze in the mirror, straightening her spine and trying to put on a stiff upper lip. No use crying over something I can’t change yet.

That was the keyword that kept Sakura’s flickering hopes alive- yet. She had time, almost two years, to figure out how to get out of her current situation, and now she had Ino and Naruto to help her do it.

Those thoughts had her feeling much lighter by the time she stepped foot in the giant old building that was the Konoha Public Library, and the familiar comfort of being surrounded by all the scrolls and books cheered her that much more. The library was Sakura’s safe space, her haven, and she basked in the feeling of being home whenever she stepped foot in the building.

Since she was there so often, she knew exactly where to go to find the history texts. For a village that had been allied with Konoha from its founding, there was surprisingly little on Uzushio. Yes, they’d been destroyed in the Second War, but surely there should have been more?

Then again, maybe we were ashamed of not being able to prevent it. Even if we had two of the most notable Uzumaki women in the history of the Nations living within our walls… The thought agitated something in the back of her mind. It was so vague, so slippery, that she just couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Maybe going through some of the very few things they had would help her dredge up whatever it was.

Having a mystery to solve helped take her mind off the encounter with her mother that morning, at least. Though, she was thinking of her parents less and less as her parents and more as Kizashi and Mebuki. It helped take the sting away, to add that layer of detachment to their relationship.

But thinking about it wasn’t helping her find out more about Naruto’s lost clan and the land his grandparents (or maybe even parents) came from. So, with a toss of her head to clear out the last of her dour thoughts, she settled into her favorite armchair with the first scroll she’d selected.

Uzushio was fascinating. Sakura knew she was a nerd (Ino loved to remind her of the fact), so history had always been interesting for her, but there was something extra special about reading such new material. Well, new to her- the scroll itself had to be the same age as Konoha itself, if not older.

The village had been founded on a peninsula to the south, surrounded on three sides by the ocean- but not any ocean. No, Uzushio was well-suited to its name, the vicious whirlpools surrounding it promising certain death to any errant wanderers or invaders. To the North, they were buffered by their allies- the Senju clan, who would later go on to found Konoha.

From its founding, the Uzukage has always been an Uzumaki.. Sakura’s heart stuttered in her chest. Finally, something she could take to Naruto- he wasn’t just from a clan, but he was, in a way, royalty! Eagerness thrumming through her veins, she sat up straight in her seat, placing the scroll flat in her lap so she could trace a finger over the next words.

The Uzumaki and their mastery of seals, surpassing even the illustrious Uzuhin clan, were essential in establishing the village and implementing its various technological advancements. These skills, in combination with their legendary chakra reserves, made the Uzumaki perfect leaders for the village. At the time of this scroll’s publication, the current leader is Uzumaki Ashina.

She stopped herself from going further, though she was desperate to read more. It felt wrong, somehow, to learn about people who were related to Naruto without him being there.

That was how she left the library with a loaded down school bag and arms so laden with scrolls she nearly lost a few in her rush to get to Akasen. Somehow, most likely due to her stellar reputation amongst library staff for always returning things on time and in pristine condition, she’d been allowed to check out the entirety of the material she’d found on the land of Naruto’s ancestors. It definitely was against the rules, so she made a mental note to do something nice for Tamaki, the librarian who’d allowed her such liberties.

“Wake up, Naruto!” Sakura had to kick on his door when she finally made it up the many flights of stairs, because she was keeping such a death grip on her treasures.

Silence.

The pinkette was just about to kick again when the door swung open and revealed a pajama-clad Naruto. He was more than half-asleep, as evidenced by the way he was rubbing half-heartedly at his eyes.

“Whaddya want- Sakura-chan?!” It was like a switch had been flipped, and the blond was wide awake. “What are you doing- I’m not dressed- Did I miss training?!” His feathers were so ruffled he had trouble completing a full sentence. It was cute.

The boy was so flustered he nearly shut the door in her face, had her reflexes not been good enough to strike out and wedge her foot between the door and its frame (which, ouch).

“Hey, calm down! You aren’t late, but I found some stuff in the library and I…” She trailed off, flush beginning to creep up her neck and across her face. “I’m kinda just realizing I got a little over excited, maybe.” She couldn’t meet his gaze, not while she was blushing so furiously.

“But it’s really cool stuff, I promise! So can I come in?” Nice save, she snarked at herself.

By some miracle, however, Naruto actually let her in, rushing deeper into the apartment to grab his signature outfit and hastily change in the bathroom.

Carefully, so as not to upset her balance and go toppling, she managed to toe off her shoes (civilian sneakers, which were luckily much easier to get off than some shinobi sandals).

“Is it okay if I put these on the table?” Sakura, face now feeling much cooler than a few moments before, called out to the blond as he reemerged, fully clothed.

“Of course! Lemme take some so you aren’t weighed down,” his speech was still a little sleep-slurred, but somehow his typical enthusiasm managed to burst from every syllable.

“Okay, but be careful. Some of these are really old. Like, older than the village old.” Better to warn him, considering how enthusiastic Naruto could be. Luckily, he got the message and finagled a good amount of scrolls from her arms with a surprising amount of gentleness.

“So, what are all these about, Sakura-chan? Is this all stuff to help me read better?” The blond pressed for information as he dumped his armful onto the worn table. She went to deny it, but then thought better of it, because that actually wasn’t a bad idea. Maybe reading about his family, distantly related as the people mentioned might be, would add a layer of motivation.

“Well, kind of?” Sakura settled for a reply somewhere in the middle. At her new friend’s confused look (and good gods he needed to stop with the head tilts because it was too cute), she explained her logic. “This is all the stuff about Uzushio I could find in the library. We don’t really learn about them much in class, but they were led by an Uzumaki!”

That was all it took. Sakura’s enthusiasm was far outstripped by Naruto’s. The boy’s face broke into a beaming grin that rivaled the sun in its brightness.

“You mean you were serious yesterday? I have a clan and everything?” When she nodded at him, he could no longer restrain himself. The girl had only just finished settling her book-laden bag on the floor next to the chair she intended to sit in, when she was suddenly receiving an armload of neon-orange jumpsuit and a mouthful of blond hair.

She wasn’t entirely sure what to say, or if she should say anything in response. So, Sakura just gave him a pat on the back and let herself sink into the hug. Even though he smelled faintly of ramen and was so malnourished she could feel a few bones poking her from beneath the fabric of his jumpsuit, it was nice.

It felt like what a hug should be.

When Naruto finally pulled back, eager to dive right into learning about his super awesome, badass family, it was Sakura who was reluctant to let go. She tried not to let it show, though. They were still sort of learning each other, as friends, and she was sure with his past, there were boundaries he’d have (even if he didn’t know it yet).

“So, I started reading this one,” Sakura snatched up the scroll that had started her frenzy that morning, recognizing it by the little blue title tag poking out from one end. “I haven’t even looked at the others, because-” She stumbled, wondering if it was weird to admit, then decided to just go ahead with the truth. Naruto wouldn’t judge her. “I just felt like you should be learning this stuff with me, or even before me, because they’re your family and not mine.”

“What are we waiting for?!” Naruto was already dragging a chair to rest right beside hers, then gripped the pinkette’s shoulders and forced her to sit down.

It was slower going, reading aloud, and at some point after the first few sentences, she made Naruto take over reading. It really was good practice, and while he stumbled over quite a few words, he dutifully worked through them, writing down everything unfamiliar in a little spare notebook Sakura happened to have in her bag. He didn’t even seem to mind that the cover had a pattern of little white teddy bears, so eager was he to dive into things.

They were both so engrossed in their discoveries (the wife of the first Hokage was probably related to Naruto! “That makes me some kind of royalty in both villages, believe it!”) that it was only pure luck that they weren’t late to meet up with Ino. Sakura had been allowing her gaze to sweep around the apartment, to give her eyes a rest from the scroll, when they landed on the alarm clock by Naruto’s bed. She couldn’t see the numbers from that far away, but it still provided a reminder.

“Shit!” Maybe Ino’s swearing was rubbing off on her. There was no time to worry about that though. “What time is it?” She was halfway across the room to check by the time she finished asking. Ten minutes till one. “We’re gonna be late if we don’t leave, like, right now!”

The scrolls would have to wait. Carrying only the key to get back into his apartment, the two children hastily rolled the scroll up and raced towards the Academy.

Even though the building and grounds would be locked up for the weekend, it was as good a starting point as any for a run, though Sakura was already panting by the time they made it there. By some miracle, they managed to arrive right as Ino did, so they couldn’t be counted as late.

The Yamanaka quirked a brow at the sight of the duo, Naruto still vibrating with eagerness and Sakura looking half-dead.

“Do I even want to know?”

“Of course you do, Pig,” Sakura managed to get out once her breath started evening out. “You’re nothing if not nosy.”

The pinkette didn’t have any more time to catch her breath, because, with a shriek of indignation, her best friend gave chase. Naruto was quick to follow behind, his boisterous laugh ringing out through the busy streets.

Chapter Text

Between classes, training, pouring over the history of Uzushio (what little they had found), and trying to learn the henge technique without Iruka-sensei or Mizuki-sensei catching on, the trio had a busy schedule. Somehow, Naruto managed to fit pranking into all that (mostly when he skipped class to do so, sometimes even dragging Kiba (and once, a very reluctant Shikamaru) into his exploits).

Sakura even managed to sneak Naruto over to her apartment a handful of times without the neighbors noticing. That was helped greatly by the fact she was the only person with any sort of shinobi training on the entire street, so all it had taken was a change of clothes, some foundation to cover his whisker marks, and telling anyone who asked that he was Ino’s cousin.

It was honestly a little concerning, just how easily the snooping elders fell for the lie (Naruto had pupils, for crying out loud- no Yamanaka had pupils), but she supposed that was in large part due to the fact it involved a shinobi clan. Also, Ino almost always joined the sleepovers, so there was no probing about the fact Sakura was hosting a boy overnight with no supervision.

It didn’t inspire confidence in neighborhood security, and she used her mysterious intruder’s book on traps regularly, to make sure no one got in. Though, if Naruto had actual ANBU following him around, she was at least safe on the nights she let him sleep over (not trusting him to not snoop through her diary, she always gave him her parents room, instead of her own).

One such night, a book on beginner sealing had appeared, along with another book, titled Easy, Chakra-less Disguises. Its subtitle, in smaller script beneath an illustration of a man putting on a navy blue wig, read: Sure to fool nosy civilians!.

Well, this person was definitely understanding of her situation.

The sealing book went straight to Naruto as soon as they finished breakfast that morning. Two months into his tutoring, the blond had a much easier time reading on his own, though it would undoubtedly take a few more months to get him fully caught up to his classmates. Still, his progress was nothing to sneeze at, and it had undoubtedly been helped by the choice of reading material.

Whenever they got a chance- before school, after training on nights he and Ino came over, or at his own apartment, Naruto and Sakura poured over their finds about Uzushio. The pinkette was thankful for the public library adapting to its shinobi patrons by giving extended loan periods, because that meant they still had time before anything was due back.

Their reading also provided even more oddities for Sakura to ponder over. Like why Konoha was glossing over crucial parts of its own history.

“Uzumaki Mito was Konoha’s first… hitobashira…chikara? Ryoku? Nee, nee, Sakura-chan, how do I read this word?” Naruto was hunched over one of the newer books, published in the Second War, while Ino worked on an essay she’d put off till the last minute and Sakura swept in the living room.

“Huh, lemme see.” She propped her broom against a wall and came traipsing over to where her friends sat.

Ino beat her to it, though, her nosiness getting the better of her (alongside her need to know an answer before Sakura).

“Oh, that’s jinchuuriki.” The blonde girl flapped her hand in front of her face while Sakura pouted at having her thunder stolen (she was supposed to be the resident smarty-pants, not Ino!).

“What’s that?” Yet again, the educational system had failed them. It wasn’t entirely Naruto’s fault that he didn’t recognize the term- Konoha didn’t really like to talk about anything relating to bijuu or their containers, after what happened with the Kyuubi’s attack almost eleven years ago. Even Sakura didn’t know much about them, because the information she was able to get her hands on was limited to the names of the previous two kyuubi containers (who were somehow related to Naruto). Maybe once she made jounin…

“They’re the people who hold the tailed beasts, right?” Sakura looked to her best friend for confirmation, receiving a nod in return.

“Do your parents know anything about these jinchu-whatever, then?” Naruto pointed his question directly at Ino, who was grateful for the excuse to put off her homework even just a few more minutes.

Both Sakura and Naruto had learned, by that point, that Inoichi and Anri wouldn’t get all weird and cagey and mean when they asked questions like other shinobi might. Ino’s parents seemed to understand and empathize, better than most other adults, the disadvantages their daughter’s friends faced from simply not being born into an active shinobi clan, and helped bridge that gap to the best of their abilities.

“They might? I dunno, sometimes mom gets all sappy and weird whenever they talk about the lady who took over the job after Mito. I think she was an Uzumaki, too, so you’re probably like, her distant cousin or something. I think she and mom and maybe Sasuke’s mom were all friends in the Academy?” Ino shrugged. “Then again, grownups are just weird sometimes.”

With a promise to ask anyway, the subject dropped and everyone went back to their work.

Ino’s parents hadn’t given them much, but the next time she and Naruto went over to the Yamanaka compound after training (covered in sweat and ready for snacks), they’d both looked equal parts wistful and worried whenever the blond boy came into view.

Adults really were weird.

“We’ll have time to read it later, we gotta make our lunches!” Sakura swiped the sealing text out of the boy's hands when he tried to crack it open and get started on reading right away, lightly bopping him on the head with it before putting it on the table. She appreciated his newfound enthusiasm, though- finding out the Uzumaki had been seal masters had helped give him a less physical goal with his training, and it was something Sakura and Ino were both interested in, too. Plus, it would really help his handwriting, which was desperately needed.

School came first, though, and since they’d have sparring that afternoon, they’d need a good lunch.

Sakura’s strength and endurance had also made good progress over the months, though the July weather they were suffering through made running laps an absolute beast. Especially on weekends, when they tried to make it through one loop around the entirety of the village- Naruto could do it, but Ino and Sakura usually had to tap out with wheezing gasps of defeat a third of the way around.

Still, it was progress, and the more she worked on her taijutsu and stamina, the more her pitiful, civilian-born reserves would grow. After all, without enough chakra to do anything, what good was chakra control in the ninety-ninth percentile? (Mizuki had dropped the testing device when he measured her, and Sasuke had glowered.)

All three had gotten better at target practice, though they could only do so at Ino’s house, since they needed access to sharp, pointy weapons to do so, and the Academy kept their training supplies locked up outside of class. If they were free, either Anri or Inoichi (and one time Inoichi’s cousin, Santa), would supervise and give pointers.

It was helpful in a way Sakura’s calculations weren’t- she knew the trajectory formulas for throwing, and could adjust them in her head at the drop of a hat, but her form had been in dire need of correcting.

With their improvements, Ino even beat Sasuke in a shuriken throwing match in class one day! Sakura bragged endlessly to her best friend’s parents over dinner the next night, cheerful to see the pleased blush Ino sported at the praise. It made her feel all fluttery inside when she made Ino and Naruto so openly happy.

Their henge progress, however… Well, Sakura had no trouble getting her chakra to cooperate to form the technique, but with her still-growing reserves, she couldn’t hold it for long. Ino was decent, though she might accidentally make her eyes two different colors more often than not.

Naruto was struggling the most- he really did have massive reserves, from what both girls had observed (and given his clan history), but with such incredible amounts of chakra came very little control. His body must not have felt the need for any minute direction when it had such raw power available. Still, it wasn’t an entirely lost cause.

“Whatcha thinking about?” Naruto’s voice interrupted her thoughts, and her head snapped up to find they were already nearly at the Academy gates. Had she been that concentrated on everything that had gone on in their lives and training lately? Apparently so.

“Oh, I was just thinking about how far we’ve come with all our stuff, lately.” There was no use in lying to him, not about something she wasn’t ashamed to admit. If anything, she took pride in their combined progress! And so did Naruto, who pumped his fist in the air excitedly.

“Hell yeah! We’re gonna be the best- I’m totally gonna show that bastard this afternoon, too!” As usual, Naruto was fixated on winning against Sasuke. It was kind of funny, and Ino had teased her fellow blond more than once about him having a crush on the Uchiha (which was always denied with much gagging and exclamations of disgust).

“Hey now, it’s his birthday soon, so go easy on him,” Sakura teased as they slipped into the classroom. They didn’t come as early as they would have on a usual day, since they’d been able to do their lessons before breakfast, but they were still early enough that Iruka-sensei had time to slip them a bottle of juice each before anyone else arrived.

Their teacher had started a tradition that first morning without knowing it, and his bank account was probably looking a bit emptier for it.

After thanking the man with beaming smiles, Naruto seemed to realize something.

“Wait a second- how do you know what bastard’s birthday is?”

“Naruto, language!” Iruka’s cry fell on deaf ears as the blond invaded Sakura’s personal space, trying to level her with an intimidating stare. It mostly came off as the pouting that it was, though, and she had to try hard not to giggle.

“I mean, I used to be obsessed with him, didn’t I?” The pinkette shrugged, trying to play it off. The further she got from her days of obsessive, invasive fangirling, the more ashamed she was. It was fine and dandy to have a crush- she still thought Sasuke was pretty, with his dark hair and eyes and porcelain skin, but it was another to act as she had.

Ino had also started coming to that conclusion, apparently. Though, one time she’d overheard Anri-san say to Shikamaru’s mom that her daughter only pretended to like Sasuke to get a certain someone else’s attention. It hadn’t inspired very nice feelings in Sakura, thinking about Ino paying attention to someone who wasn’t her or Naruto, so she’d quickly hurried away and tried to forget.

Their break from fangirling was appreciated by more than just their old target, too.

“I’m so glad you guys got your heads on straight about him,” Naruto announced, tone laced with smugness as he leaned back in his seat and took a sip of juice. “Everyone knows I’m gonna be the top of our graduating class, anyway.”

Well, no one could claim Uzumaki Naruto lacked confidence.

“Says who?” Ino scoffed as she shuffled past the back of Sakura’s seat to make it to her own chair. “Clearly it’s going to be me”

From across the room, Iruka met Sakura’s exasperated gaze with an expression of sympathy.

After weeks of the same morning bickering, the pinkette finally managed to get them to not only stop, but to fall entirely silent and gape at her.

“You’re both wrong. I’m gonna be Rookie of the Year when we graduate.”

A snort of derision came from the doorway, where Uchiha Sasuke had been making his way into the classroom.

“You have to actually be capable of winning spars to earn that title. Not just getting beaten into the ground in two seconds.”

”You’re so pathetic, Sakura. Maybe if you spent time training, you’d be more than canon fodder.”

She could see the two Sasukes: the one from her dream life superimposed on the one standing right before her, both with the same sneer on their faces. It was a jarring reminder of her potential future, since her flashbacks (if they could be termed that) had become sparse over the last few weeks.

At least, that was her excuse for what was clearly a temporary loss of sanity.

“Fuck you, Uchiha!” She slammed her hands on the desk as she stood to stare the rude boy down, ignoring the sting of her palms in her anger. “You don’t know anything!”

There was no reprimand from Iruka-sensei. There was no sound at all in the room for a long, tense moment, in which Sakura could feel her face flush with the heat of her anger even as she continued glaring at Sasuke (who looked positively bewildered at the outburst- as much as he was capable of any other expression than glaring or sulking).

And then, Ino regained her senses enough to let out a low whistle.

“Well damn, Forehead” The pinkette didn’t even have to look back at her best friend to know she was impressed at Sakura’s newfound bravado.

“Leave Sakura-chan alone, bastard!” Naruto immediately followed up by jumping to her defense (quite literally, as he leapt from his seat and started waving a finger in Sasuke’s face). “She’s better than you’ll ever be, believe it!”

“All four of you are staying after class.” Iruka-sensei chose that moment to reassert himself, and when Sakura looked over at him, he was frowning at the spectacle. The twinkle in his eyes told her he might be more amused than anything, though. “And Ino? I’ll be speaking with your parents about your influence on your friends’ language.”

Ino groaned, dramatically throwing an arm over her eyes as she protested unsuccessfully, only stopping her complaints once the teacher’s attention turned to greeting a very hesitant-looking Chouji. The look she then leveled at Sasuke made the surface of the sun seem like an ice cube, in comparison.

If Sakura had still been worried about Ino eventually picking Sasuke over her and Naruto, that look would have cleared up the misconception immediately. She almost pitied the lone Uchiha- Ino’s wrath was terrifying, and she’d never actually been on the receiving end of it. Even during their year apart, Ino had been downright kind, compared to how she treated those she disliked.

Sakura was meanly glad about Sasuke’s future suffering, a sentiment that was only bolstered when Kiba plopped himself on the ground in front of her during lunch, nudging Naruto a little to the left so he could fit.

“I heard you’ve got some balls, Haruno,” his grin was as wild as his hair, already possessing some of that roguish charm Inuzukas were known for. “Good for you, Uchiha’s a stuck-up asshole.” Akamaru yipped in agreement.

“Uhh, thanks?” Sakura flushed as the sudden praise, flustered at the entire encounter.

“It was awesome!” Naruto crowed, looking positively gleeful as he recapped the incident without any further prompting. Similar to Ino, Kiba let out a low whistle of appreciation.

“Wish I’d been there to see it.” He looked a little wistful at the missed opportunity. “Next time you wanna chew him out, make sure I’m there. Hell, I’ll lend a hand.” With a wink at the pinkette, he stood up and went back to wherever it was he came from.

“What.” Sakura couldn’t form any other words as she watched the retreating form of the Inuzuka.

“Hey, if you can kick Kiba’s ass the next time you guys spar, he’ll probably propose. He couldn’t have grown up with a mom and sister like that and not come away with a fixation on strong women.” Ino poked Sakura’s side as she teased, though the blonde’s grin didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“No way, I’m trying to avoid getting married, Pig.” Even if, in the very darkest depths of her mind, she didn’t hate the little mental image of her and Ino in lavish wedding dresses, holding hands with a cleaned up Naruto standing by their sides. The boy really had wormed his way into their hearts.

“Kiba’s gross, anyway,” Naruto pitched in helpfully, sticking his tongue out as he turned to face the last place they’d seen the brown haired boy.

“Yeah,” Sakura hurriedly agreed, in a bid to change the topic of conversation swiftly. “So let’s just talk about something else, okay? Literally anything.”

They had started arguing over which flavor of pocky was best by the time they packed away their lunch boxes and headed towards the training ground.

Clearly, it was choco mint. Naruto and Ino were just heathens who couldn’t understand good taste. Although, Ino’s insistence that the ultimate flavor was the Sakura Matcha flavor that only got put out in spring made her blush.

“Suck up,” Naruto, whose vote had been for the summertime coconut flavor, mumbled under his breath, catching an elbow to the gut from the Yamanaka for his troubles.

“Do I need to separate you three?” Mizuki-sensei interrupted their three-way squabble with a disapproving tone, though his glare was leveled solely on Naruto.

“No, sensei,” Ino batted her eyelashes up at the chuunin as she slid herself in front of Naruto in a not-so-subtly protective stance. “We’ll be good, I promise.”

From behind Mizuki-sensei, Shikamaru made a choking noise that sounded distinctly like he was trying to cover a snort of laughter. When Mizuki turned to ask the Nara what he was laughing at, Ino made a very rude gesture- though, Sakura wasn’t sure if it was being leveled at Shikamaru or their teacher.

The sparring sessions were equally chaotic, with many of the students not paying attention until their name was called, too engrossed in their own conversations to watch (no matter how many times Mizuki-sensei shouted at them to settle down). Sakura was one of the first, which was sort of a relief- she could get it out of the way and spend her time thinking about how to not lose in the future.

And then Ami’s name was called as her partner.

“Kick her ass, Forehead,” Ino whispered next to her, making gooseflesh rise on her arms at the sensation of breath sweeping across the shell of her ear.

Naruto was much more vocal about his support, as always, and honestly? Sakura wasn’t sure if she had a preference anymore. She loved both of her friends, and their support meant more to her than anything.

She wiped the floor with Ami.

It wasn’t as effortless as when some of her other classmates did it, of course, but it felt like her blood was singing as she punched and kicked and blocked. The dulled kunai they were equipped with still left a cut across her cheek when Ami managed to get a strike in, but her momentum in following through left the purple haired girl vulnerable.

Sakura used that split second to lash out, grabbing Ami’s kunai-wielding arm and twisting, causing the mean girl to cry out in pain and drop the weapon.

The pinkette didn’t stop there, though, and followed up by pushing her opponent face first into the ground. She used her free hand to position her own weapon over Ami’s skull, indicating the ease with which a killing blow could be dealt.

“The winner is Haruno Sakura.” Even though he clearly didn’t approve of her association with Naruto, there was still a touch of pride in Mizuki-sensei’s voice as he called the match.

Sakura felt like she was on top of the world, even as she had to form the sign of reconciliation with a very angry Ami.

She won!

Grinning from ear to ear and flushed with exertion, Sakura allowed herself to be enveloped in a congratulatory hug by both her friends as she returned to the sidelines.

She pointedly ignored the way Uchiha Sasuke glared at her the entire time.

Chapter Text

“Let me try a genjutsu on you?” Sakura bounced on the balls of her feet as she asked her two closest friends for permission. “I’ve been reading through that one book on genjutsu I found, and I think I’ve gotten the notice-me-not one down.” She still hadn’t told either of them about the Mask she suspected was leaving her books, instead claiming she found the books.

It wasn’t a complete lie- she really did find them… on her bedside table when she woke up.

Still, she wanted to tell Ino and Naruto, she really did! It was just that the timing was never quite right. Including that particular afternoon, when she was trying to wheedle one of them into letting her put them under a D-rank genjutsu.

“I mean, I guess?” Ino sounded a little hesitant at first, but with one sly look from Naruto (who was almost certainly about to call her a chicken), she hardened her resolve. “Yes. In fact, you can test it out on me first.”

“Are you sure?” Sakura didn’t want the blonde to feel pressured into it, after all.

“Just get on with it, Forehead!” Yeah, Ino was definitely nervous.

Sakura cast the genjutsu anyway, running through the hand signs (boar, ox, hare) and threading her chakra around until it made a very fine net, which she cast over Ino.

“Holy shit, Ino’s gone!” Naruto jumped back from the Yamanaka, gaping at what was apparently empty space to him (since Sakura could still see the girl, as the caster of the jutsu). After a moment, however, his eyes narrowed.

“Wait a second, I can kind of see her? I think? It’s sort of shimmery, like she’s a ghost? Or like, that thing when you’re in the desert and see water when it’s not there?”

“A mirage,” Sakura corrected helpfully as she withdrew the technique from Ino.

“Yeah, that!”

“Okay, I think that means we’re good to go. It didn’t sound like it was supposed to give total invisibility, just a sort of chameleon effect. Thanks, Pig.” The pinkette gave a thumbs up in the blonde’s direction, smiling and pretending to not notice how Ino’s cheeks turned pink.

“Whatever. Now I can stop wasting good foundation on a boy who doesn’t appreciate it.” Not like Ino could wear the shade they’d gotten to cover Naruto’s facial markings- their skin was several shades apart. At least they wouldn’t have to buy another tube of it- even pooling Naruto’s allowance from the Hokage and Sakura’s grocery funds, money remained tight.

That had been the entire point of Sakura learning that particular genjutsu- to sneak Naruto into her apartment without needing Ino to constantly come with them. She had clan stuff to do sometimes, and obviously Naruto and Sakura couldn’t come along, so now they could spend those evenings reading more about sealing or Konoha’s two most notable Uzumaki.

Naruto kind of looked like the one Ino’s mom had been friends with, Kushina, so the three assumed she was maybe a cousin or an aunt. Given how Ino’s dad twitched when the three casually brought it up in conversation at dinner one night, they figured they were probably right.

No matter, it had turned into a kind of fixation for the boy, and learning sealing had proven to be a way to help him feel closer to his family, even if they were all in the Pure Lands.

“Great,” Naruto clapped his hands, hopping from one foot to the other excitedly. “Now can we get started on training? I wanna try this super awesome move I saw that girl with the dango hair use yesterday!”

“Dango hair- Oh, TenTen!” It was a good thing Ino seemed to know who he was talking about, because Sakura had been racking her brain, trying to figure out who might have been in their school that had hair shaped like dango. “She’s in her last year, so she’s gonna be a real shinobi in a few months.”

“She was in the orphanage with me,” Naruto spoke up again, looking far too cheerful for that particular topic of conversation. “She helped me sneak apples n’ stuff from the kitchens when they forgot to feed me.”

Not for the first time, Sakura contemplated murdering the woman that ran Konoha’s orphanage. Ino had a matching expression on her face, equal parts infuriated and sad, undoubtedly considering the same thing as her pink haired best friend.

“Before we start throwing each other around,” Sakura diverted the topic back to training, just for her own sanity’s sake, “Let’s try the henge a few more times.”

Naruto looked like he wanted to protest, but refrained. He’d already gotten one of Sakura’s dangerously pointy elbows to the gut earlier that day, when he’d made a rather crass comment when they went over a famous male seduction expert from the Second War in History class, and he clearly wasn’t looking to repeat the experience.

Sakura had no trouble with it, as usual, executing a flawless copy of Ino with a grin. Ino opted to try her hand at transforming into Shikamaru, and did so with such excellent detail that it threw both of her friends off when she let out a little cheer- enthusiasm and the Nara heir just didn’t go together!

Naruto… Well, he tried to turn into Sakura, and he mostly did a good job! There was only one glaring mistake.

“You don’t have the right skin tone for that particular shade of blonde, Forehead,” Ino commented, still wearing Shikamaru’s face.

“Dammit!” Naruto swore, returning to his normal appearance with a growl of frustration. “I really thought I had it this time!”

“Hey, that was closer than you’ve ever gotten before,” Sakura encouraged as she reverted to her natural appearance. “So you’ll get it down soon!”

“You really think so?” He stopped looking quite so droopy when she nodded.

“We’ve got the genjutsu to cover you now, anyway, so the henge stuff is just advance practice for next term,” Ino added helpfully. Then, finally, she broke her own technique and looked like herself once more. “We could always try tree walking? If you can walk up walls, then you can just sneak into Forehead’s place whenever.” She paused, then grinned slyly, “Of course, you have to be quiet to sneak around.”

“Hey! I can totally be quiet when I need to!”

“I’d like to see you try,” Ino challenged, still grinning. “Bet you can’t stay quiet through our whole exam tomorrow morning!”

The Uzumaki had never backed down from a dare before, and he wasn’t about to start then. So, the challenge was set- the loser had to take over dishwashing duty at Sakura’s for a whole month (or until her parents returned, since they were due back at some point in the latter half of August).

And then they set about trying to curb stomp each other into the ground, temporarily forgetting their tree walking idea.

Sakura was learning to pack more of a punch, lately. It was a point of pride for the pinkette, who was starting to make it her personal goal to become a heavy-hitter, or at least a close-range combat specialist. She found using her fists (on training posts only, for now) helped her get her built-up aggression out. Especially when she pictured her father or mother’s faces on whatever she was hitting.

By the time they stumbled into the Yamanaka flower shop, Ino had a split lip and Sakura was sure she had a concussion from her head being knocked into a tree (there was also blood trickling from somewhere above her left eyebrow, and she had to keep swiping at it so it didn’t get in her eye). Naruto had a black eye when they left the Academy grounds, but he looked completely unscathed as he opened the door for his two friends.

That was typical for Naruto, though- they all just chalked it up to his absolutely ridiculous chakra reserves.

“You three are lucky I took a field aid course at the hospital before Ino was born,” Anri fussed as she came bustling from behind the counter. “Sakura, you first, since it looks like you hit your head pretty hard.”

The girl closed her eyes as Anri-san’s hands, lit by the soft green glow of healing chakra, came closer to her face. The sensation of it entering her body was soothing, warm and ticklish like a flame dancing near her skin, but not hot enough to burn. Considering Ino’s mom had fire-type chakra, it wasn’t surprising.

“Mmhmm,” the older woman murmured, “That’s definitely a concussion. Just a mild one, though.” That meant she wouldn’t have to go to the hospital, like Ino had once, when she slipped on their Sunday afternoon run and smashed her head against the side of Hokage mountain. Sakura had never been so scared before- the thought of losing Ino was just something that she couldn’t think about.

When it was finished, and the soft, warm chakra left her head, Sakura received a gentle pat on the head before Anri moved on to her daughter. Ino, on the other hand, grumbled a little at the show of affection when her own healing was done.

Naruto looked put-out, not having any injury to heal and therefore thinking he wasn’t going to get any affection. He should have known better, having been coming over to the Yamanaka’s for two months by that point. Still, he looked equal parts surprised and ready to cry when he was given a brief little squeeze by the woman.

“Alright, you little troublemakers, go on to the house.” Once the little displays of affection were over, the Yamanaka matriarch shooed the trio away with a wave of her hands. “Your father got it in his head that we should have hotpot for dinner tonight, and he’ll need help chopping the vegetables.” The woman looked a little exasperated at her husband’s insistence on eating such a warm dish during the hottest time of the year, but her voice was laced with affection.

That she used your father in reference to Inoichi with all three of them made something go soft and mushy within Sakura, and judging from the look on Naruto’s face, he felt similarly. Perhaps it was because of that, Naruto was the first to burst through the Yamanaka’s front door, grinning wildly.

“We’re home!” The boy got right down to taking his sandals off and tugging on the slippers that had been gifted to him by Inoichi and Anri a few days after his first visit there. They were a more subtle navy color, far more toned down than the jumpsuit he wore, and there was a little Uzumaki spiral embroidered on the top of each.

Naruto had cried a little when the couple presented the slippers to him, and it had somehow ended in a giant group hug. Neither girl had complained about being pulled into it- it was about time he had a family that treated him right, after all.

“Welcome home!” Inoichi’s voice filtered down the hall as the three children finished lining their outdoor shoes in a neat line (so as not to get lectured by Anri when she finished her shift at the shop).

He waited until the trio came crowding into the kitchen, making a beeline for the sink to wash up, before he spoke again.

“How was school? Tomorrow is the last test before you guys get a month of freedom, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s math,” Ino flopped into a chair with a dramatic groan as her two friends scrubbed their hands clean. “That’s like, the worst ever! Only brainiacs like Shikamaru and Forehead enjoy it.”

A soft whap interrupted the blonde girl’s grumbling, Sakura having taken the time to smack her in the face with the dishtowel the pinkette had just finished drying her hands on.

“It’s true, though- back me up, Naruto!” The heiress huffed, snatching the offending linen from Sakura and marching over to the sink to start washing her own hands.

“Well,” Naruto looked a little guilty, turning away from Sakura to take up a knife as Inoichi directed him on which vegetable to start chopping up. “You are kinda the smartest person in school, Sakura-chan. That sort of stuff has always been super easy for you, right?” He hastened to add, “But it’s a good thing, right Uncle Inoichi?”

The boy paused in his slicing to turn a pleading gaze up at the high ranking T&I official.

The man cracked as easily as an egg.

“Of course, Naruto,” he reassured with a nod, then looked to the blond boy’s other side in order to meet Sakura’s gaze. “Having analytical skills is an asset, Sakura, both on the field and off. Raw strength can only get a person so far.”

Both Sakura and Naruto beamed up at the man, pleased with his replies.

“Whatever. You’re still a nerd,” Ino pouted as she started setting the table.

“Oh, so you don’t want me to help you study, then?” The pinkette looked over her shoulder at her best friend, quirking an eyebrow.

“I never said that!”

The kitchen filled with banter as dinner preparations continued, with Inoichi even joining in once or twice.

Anri came home just as the pot of broth began to bubble on the table. She acted as she normally did, handing out smiles and hair ruffles and little one-armed hugs, but Sakura couldn’t help but feel like the older woman was waiting to say something.

She was proven right, halfway into the meal.

“Do you want to tell me why Iruka-sensei just stopped by the shop as I was closing up, Ino?” The older woman’s voice was deceptively calm, and a shiver ran down Sakura’s spine despite the fact it wasn’t directed at her.

Both Ino and her father stopped in the middle of dropping slices of beef into the simmering broth to look up.

“Uhh, not really?” Ino was given the look for her answer, and slumped in her seat for a moment. Her mind was hard at work coming up with an excuse, though, because she popped up a moment later, blue eyes snapping with energy as she spoke again.

“It was Sasuke’s fault!”

“Yeah!” Naruto was, as usual, quick to jump in to lay blame on the Uchiha. Though, the impact of his agreement was lessened as he tilted his head and added, “But I don’t really know what’s his fault this time.”

“Ino has apparently been teaching her classmates to swear.” Irritation was plain on Anri’s face and in her tone, but it was directed at her husband. “I told you to talk to Morino and Mitarashi about their language whenever she’s around!”

Inoichi had the decency to look sheepish, slowly laying his piece of cooked beef down in order to give his wife his full attention.

“But dear, telling Anko to do anything is just an invitation for her to do the opposite,” the man protested weakly.

Sakura had met Anko once, when Ino had taken her along to T&I to deliver lunch to her father. Just from that encounter, the pinkette was inclined to agree with Inoichi. There was something wild and unhinged and spiteful about the woman in the trench coat… but Sakura liked it. Inner had scoffed, at the time, but Inner was dead gone and Sakura could like what she liked without getting ridiculed in her own mind.

“Oh, that! That really was Sasuke’s fault, Anri-oba!” Naruto jumped in to stand up for his friend, tossing a not-at-all-subtle thumbs up to Ino.

And then he proceeded to give a play-by-play of the entire incident which had landed them in trouble last week (and, apparently, the current week as well).

Knowing she was the root cause, Sakura tried to make herself as small as possible in her seat as Ino’s parents turned to face her.

“Is that true, Sakura?” Anri’s voice was soft, like before, but without the edge of danger it had taken when asking Ino about their teacher’s impromptu visit. Not that it made the pinkette feel any better.

Miserably, she nodded her head, unable to look up from the table at either of Ino’s parents.

“I take it you haven’t told your parents, then?” There was no judgment in Anri’s tone, but the feelings of shame continued bubbling up in her gut regardless.

“How could she? Sakura-chan’s parents haven’t been home since-” Ino reached across the table, through the steam rising off the pot in the center, to slap her hand across Naruto’s mouth. The damage was already done, though, and the blonde girl retracted her arm to sit down. Sakura couldn’t see her face, since the pinkette was still looking fixedly on the table, but she had a feeling Ino would have something approaching sympathy in her eyes.

“The Harunos haven’t been home since when?” Inoichi was using his interrogation voice- probably not the one he used at work (Sakura had never seen any actual torture or interrogation, or even any of its aftermath, when she visited with Ino. Just the too-clean hallways and Inoichi’s own pristine office, kept intentionally depersonalized in case of an escaped guest). No, this voice was the one he used to get Ino to tell the truth when she was trying to weasel out of trouble.

Sakura chanced a glance up, hoping against hope he was directing the question at a now-silent Naruto, but instead saw the man looking directly at her.

All that hard work she and Ino had put in to hide the truth of her situation, ruined.

Still, she couldn’t be mad at Naruto for his slip-up. She’d only asked him not to tell Iruka-sensei, so he couldn’t have known it was being kept from Ino’s parents. Besides that, it meant he finally had two adults in his life that he felt fully safe enough around to talk openly without fear of repercussions. He trusted they would keep Sakura safe because he trusted they would keep him safe, and that made all the difference in how she viewed the situation she was in.

“Um, not- not that long,” the pink haired girl tried to play it off. “Since they’re merchants and do a lot of trading and stuff, they have to leave Konoha sometimes.”

“How long, Sakura?” Anri’s tone was firmer than before, but when Sakura’s green eyes met the older woman’s brown, there was something sad in her gaze. It felt exposing, as though she already knew the answer to her own question.

“...Two months.”

Sakura was still looking at Anri, but the room was so silent that it would have been impossible not to hear Inoichi’s heavy sigh.

“And how many more months are they supposed to be gone?”

From beneath the table, Naruto squeezed her hand in an attempt to comfort his friend as she answered the Yamanaka matriarch’s question.

“Just one more.”

Inoichi sighed again, and this time, Sakura chanced a glance over at him as she squeezed Naruto’s hand a little tighter. He didn’t look angry at her, just… a little frustrated, maybe. So, ever the peacemaker, wanting desperately to avoid causing trouble, she hastened to ease his agitation.

“It’s fine! They do it all the time, so I’m used to doing all the chores and cooking and-” She cut herself off in the middle of her descent into full-on babbling as a new thought struck her.

“I’m sorry Ino came over without any adults to supervise?” It came out as more of a question, like she wasn’t quite sure if it was the right thing to say (because she wasn’t very sure of anything by that point, if she were honest with herself).

“Do I even dare ask how many years they’ve been leaving you alone just overnight, let alone for weeks on end?” Inoichi sounded like he probably didn’t want to hear the answer, but was asking anyway- adults seemed to really like asking questions they didn’t want true answers to.

“Umm…” Sakura wasn’t sure if she should give him the truth- maybe it was like when the shopkeepers in her neighborhood asked how she was, but they didn’t want to hear anything other than I’m fine, and you? from her.

“We’re not mad at you, Sakura,” Anri spoke once more. Naruto gave her hand another squeeze, as if to encourage her.

“Since I was six?” Once again, she was so unsure it came out as a question.

A burst of something sharp and paralyzing flared out of both adults, something Sakura was pretty sure was killing intent, but it was over in a flash. Still, it hadn’t exactly felt great, and to her immense horror, the pinkette found herself bursting into tears when it was over.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Sakura kept apologizing, even as Naruto launched himself out of his chair to wrap her in a hug. She didn’t even know which of her imagined transgressions she was apologizing for at that point, she was just so overwhelmed. At some point, Ino rushed around the table to join the hug, unwilling to be left out, and Sakura let herself be soothed by the familiar warmth and scents of her two closest friends.

“It’s not Sakura-chan’s fault!” She heard Naruto exclaim, the boy pulling back just far enough to address the adults that the pinkette noticed she’d gotten his jumpsuit covered in tears and a bit of snot.

“No, sweetie, of course it isn’t. I’m sorry you had to feel that, we should have had a better handle on ourselves.” Gently, so gently it made Sakura’s throat close up, Anri pried the other two children away and swooped down to wrap her arms around the still-crying girl. “We care for you and Naruto, Sakura, so we want you to be safe and happy. It upset us to find out you’ve been having a hard time like that.”

Anri leaned back to wipe a thumb over the girl’s cheeks, trying to clear up the tear tracks. When Sakura felt brave enough to look up at the older woman, she received a soft smile in return.

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” With that, she led the pinkette away from the table and towards the living room, where the stairs were.

“You’re really not mad?” Sakura was aware she sounded pitiful as she asked, very un-kunoichi-like, but she felt drained, far too weak to put on a tough front. And she was safe with the Yamanakas, safe in ways she wasn’t even with her own parents.

“We could never be mad at you for this, Sakura,” Anri squeezed the girl’s shoulder as they ascended the stairs. “But we are upset with your parents. I take it that was why you asked me to teach you how to cook when you first entered the Academy? It wasn’t for a Mother’s Day surprise, but to feed yourself?”

The woman looked like she wanted to cry when Sakura nodded in confirmation.

I wish she was my real mom, the pinkette thought- mostly sullen, but with a tinge of longing for a truth that could never be. Even if the Yamanakas weren’t her real parents, they certainly fit the bill of guardians better than Kizashi and Mebuki. Naruto wasn’t alone in feeling an unwavering sort of trust towards them. That was probably why she said what she did next, the confession slipping out as they entered Ino’s bedroom so the girl could get her spare set of pajamas.

“Mother says she wants to pull me out of school and make me get married. But I… I don’t want to. I want to become a great shinobi, like you or Tsunade-sama or Yondaime-sama!”

If Anri was flattered to be lumped in with two of the greatest shinobi to ever come from Konoha, she didn’t show it- she was too focused on Sakura and her situation. Having come from a civilian family herself, Anri surely understood more than anyone else in the house just what kind of fate awaited Sakura if she didn’t play her cards exactly right.

“You will be, sweetie. I have no doubt that you and Naruto and Ino are going to have your names in the history books one day. But I don’t like the thought of you staying all alone, even if you’re a capable girl.”

“Naruto stays over, too, sometimes,” Sakura tattled on herself. And then, turning the tables on the blond boy, she volunteered more information. “He lives alone, too, only it’s all the time. And sometimes people break into his apartment and take his stuff, or write bad words on the door. So if he’s with me, it’s… it’s safety in numbers!” Of course, being all of ten years old, she thought her logic was flawless. In fact, Sakura was so proud of her argument that she missed the twitch of a muscle in Anri’s cheek at the explanation of Naruto’s living condition.

“Two wrongs don’t make a right, Sakura,” the woman gently chided as they stood outside the bathroom door. “But don’t worry, Inoichi and I will fix things, okay?”

Instead of calming her down, it made a spike of panic shoot through the girl.

“Please don’t tell my parents, Auntie Anri! Then they really will take me out of the Academy, and I’ll never get to see Ino and Naruto again!” She clutched her pajamas to her chest like a lifeline, voice soaked in desperation.

“No, no, I know how tricky it could get if I did,” Anri soothed, patting the top of the child’s head. “But you can’t keep staying alone all the time- Naruto can’t, either. You both need an adult in the house, at least until you graduate. But we’ll talk more after you wash up, alright? I’ll make us that lavender chamomile blend you like so much, and we can just sit and relax for a bit.”

It sounded nice. Calming, even, which she supposed was the point of offering her favorite herbal tea. So, meekly, Sakura nodded and slipped into the bathroom to take a shower.

Chapter Text

It was safe to say there had never been a dinner quite so eventful in the Yamanaka main house. At least, not one that Ino could remember. For one, Iruka-sensei, or any other teacher for that matter, hadn’t ever come to pay her parents a personal visit. For another, her best friend had never had the truth of her home life put under the microscope.

She was honestly a little relieved Naruto had spilled the beans, because it hurt to see Sakura struggle so much. How many times had she vowed, in the privacy of her diary and her mind, to marry Sakura one day and take her away from the Harunos forever?

“Please don’t get mad at Sakura-chan!” The boy started pleading with her father the second her mother and Sakura left the room, seemingly unbothered by the fact his eye-wateringly orange jumpsuit had been used as a tissue by the pinkette.

“We’re not mad at her,” her father tried to settle Naruto’s nerves, but Ino knew better- he might not have been mad at Sakura, but he was definitely mad. Probably at Haruno Mebuki and Kizashi.

Serves them right, the bastards, Ino thought smugly. Being on Yamanaka Inoichi’s bad side wasn’t a place anyone wanted to be, and she was sure the Harunos wouldn’t escape unscathed from the situation.

And being on her mother’s bad side? Well, her mom didn’t talk much about her civilian family- they’d been much the same as Sakura’s, from what she’d gathered, but whatever sort of struggles she’d gone through because of her childhood had made her a force to be reckoned with. She’d overheard Ibiki-san asking her more than once if she’d reconsider coming out of her quasi-retirement to work in T&I.

Even though she was a bit of a daddy’s girl, Ino was so very proud to be her mother’s daughter.

So, with the knowledge Sakura was safe with her mom upstairs, the blonde tuned back into the conversation between her father and her other best friend (Naruto had really wormed his way into all their hearts over the past few months) as they set to clearing the remnants of dinner from the table.

“But I’ve lived alone for as long as Sakura-chan, and Jiji said it was okay.” Oh. They were about to have that come to light.

Where was the popcorn when she needed it?

“Jiji? Naruto, who are you -” Her father sucked in a sharp breath as understanding filled his gaze. Yep, there it was.

“You mean Hokage-sama, yes?” The older blond already knew the answer, but a muscle in his face twitched as his jaw clenched once Naruto confirmed it.

Like father, like daughter- Ino was almost entirely certain her father was thinking some things that could be considered treasonous if uttered aloud. And it wasn’t a good look if one of the head interrogators of the village got locked up (or worse) for saying bad things about their military dictator.

No matter how true those bad things were.

“Ino-” Her father turned his attention from Naruto to look at her, trying to appear stern, but Ino interrupted him.

“I promised not to tell, dad! You know how stubborn Forehead can be,” she had to pause her protests to lean over and pinch Naruto when he snorted at the statement. “Anyway, it’s not like anything could be done, right? The Hokage doesn’t care about civilians, not really-”

“Ino.” Her father’s tone was warning, and she flushed in embarrassment. It wasn’t a reprimand for her words, so much as a reminder that some things shouldn’t be said aloud. She couldn’t help it if she got worked up- it was Sakura’s safety on the line! And Naruto’s, too.

“If Sakura’s parents got wind that anyone knew, they’d take her out of the Academy and make her marry some random old asshole!”

“Ino, did your mother not just get a visit from your teacher about your language?” Her father sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, but let it go. It was mostly his fault she’d picked up the habit, anyway.

Satisfied she was off the hook, Ino started filling the sink with hot, soapy water to clean the dishes.

“And what’s this about marriage? Has Sakura said anything?” Her father’s tone was suddenly sharp again, with an underlying wariness. It was understandable- her mother had nearly been married off by her own family, though Ino wasn’t sure of the details. Maybe soon, she would ask, especially if it would help Sakura…

“Yeah,” Naruto answered for her as he started scrubbing a plate. “They weren’t very nice, when I met them, so I kinda think they’re serious. But we won’t let them do it!” He glanced sideways at Ino, grinning at her as she gave a single, resolute nod.

“Her parents really want to establish ties with our clan, so she can use that to manipulate them into letting her graduate, at least. And then she’ll be a legal adult, so she doesn’t have to stay!” Ino had thought long and hard about the situation, and how to rescue Sakura from it, and that was the best she had been able to do. It was much better than what she’d come up with to sort out Naruto’s situation, which was… essentially, nothing. With the Hokage involved, it pretty much tied everyone’s hands, right?

“Alright, just… Just let your mother and I worry about it. The only thing you kids need to focus on is school and training.” Ino’s shoulders slumped in relief at her father’s words, and she started putting the scrubbed and rinsed dishes onto the drying rack as Naruto handed them to her.

“But don’t think you’re off the hook, young lady.” Ah, there it was. Ino pouted, but she knew it was a fruitless endeavor. Indeed, her father ignored her reaction and started addressing Naruto, instead.

“You and Sakura will be staying over indefinitely. I don’t care what anyone else has to say about it,” Inoichi was carefully picking his words, Ino could tell. He needed to give himself enough wiggle room for plausible deniability if there were any eavesdroppers. Yes, the house was sealed for privacy, but nowhere near the level T&I or Hokage Tower were, so there was always a possibility…

After all, Fuu had been kidnapped from right under their noses, within the supposed safety of the compound. (No one who knew him believed it was anything other than a kidnapping, despite the note her older cousin had left.)

“But I’m okay, Uncle Inoichi! No one’s broken in and stolen my stuff for a few weeks, so it’s getting better. ‘Sides, Sakura-chan needs the help more, right?”

Ino felt white-hot anger pulse through her, but it was only when Naruto cringed away from her that she realized she had finally managed to form and release a bit of killing intent- the first time she’d ever been able to do it, but unfortunately timed.

“Sorry,” she murmured, handing him another cleaned dish. “But you’re wrong, Naruto, you both need help.”

“Ino’s right, you’re both equally important. It’s not a contest.” Her father was using his serious business voice, stern with no room for any argument. “And while it’s important to learn how to be independent, you shouldn’t have been left without any supervision at such a young age.”

The hostile environment Naruto was surrounded by was also not ideal, but that went unsaid.

“But I don’t wanna be a burden,” the boy protested weakly. There was hope glimmering in his eyes, though, and Ino would have hugged him if she wasn’t elbow-deep in soapy water.

“You’re not a burden,” Ino and her father spoke in unison, Ino’s own declaration louder and more emphatic, but her father’s no less sincere.

“You could never be a burden, Naruto.” Ino didn’t have to look over her shoulder to know her mother had rejoined them. She did, however, catch sight of the woman coming over to ruffle Naruto’s already messy hair.

“Since tomorrow morning is your last exam, why don’t we all go out to lunch to celebrate? And then we can move a few of your things into the guest room, yes?” It wouldn’t have been obvious to anyone but Ino and her father, but Yamanaka Anri was almost certainly angling to see the exact living conditions of the Uzumaki.

Sweet, naive Naruto fell for it, too.

“Can I really? I’m not a Yamanaka, so is it really okay to stay here?”

Hashirama’s balls, if her parents didn’t adopt Naruto, Ino would file the damn paperwork herself!

“They wouldn’t ask if they didn’t mean it,” she couldn’t hold back from replying, beating her parents to the punch as she handed the last dish to Naruto and pulled the stopper from the bottom of the sink. “Besides, dad’s the head of the clan, so no one’s gonna go against him. Right, dad?” She turned to look at her father straight-on, dripping soap suds on the floor as she moved.

“It’s a bit more complicated than that, Ino,” her father smiled as he replied, though, so she knew she was right (no matter what he said). “But I doubt we’ll get any complaints from other members.”

Yes,” her mother agreed as she draped a dish towel over Ino’s head, obscuring the girl’s vision. “And next time, dry your hands before you start tracking water all over the floors.”

Ino hurriedly did so, then whapped a snickering Naruto in the face with the towel, receiving an indignant squawk of protest from the boy in return.

“So, what about Sakura? Her parents never stay long, but they do kind of show up randomly. And the neighbors are a bunch of nosy old biddies.” It would be obvious if the pinkette didn’t come home for weeks on end, right?

Though she wanted to ask, the blonde refrained from voicing her other burning question: And what about the Hokage?

“That’s something none of you need to worry over. Leave it to the adults, okay?” Her dad then switched gears, shooting her a sly look. “Besides, don’t you have a math exam to think about? Those trajectory formulas won’t learn themselves.”

For the second time that evening, Ino flopped into one of the kitchen chairs, dramatically throwing an arm over her eyes as she bemoaned her fate.

“Why can’t we just learn to eyeball it? Isn’t that what most people do, anyway?”

“Not if you want to be sure of stealth,” her mother teased, ruffling Ino’s hair in a bid to rile her daughter up. As always, it worked like a charm.

“Moooooom,” Ino complained. “You’re messing up my ponytail!” She was going to take a bath later, once Sakura was done, so it was kind of a moot point. Still, it was the principal of the thing!

“I’d say it was already messed up- what were you kids doing before you came home? Wrestling someone’s bird summons?”

“Hilarious, mother.” The blonde girl sniffed in offense, but dragged herself out of the chair to go help her mother with making tea. She’d been about to suggest the lavender chamomile her best friend loved so much, but saw that was what the older Yamanaka woman was already fetching.

“We were practicing our super awesome taijutsu moves!” Naruto jumped with eagerness as he put the last dish away, then proceeded to give a (very exaggerated) play-by-play of everything that had gone on. Minus the chakra stuff- even he knew to keep that a secret without being told.

As her father listened to the Uzumaki with no small amount of good-natured amusement, Ino took the chance to whisper to her mother.

“Is Sakura going to be okay?” It was serious, so using Forehead just felt wrong. Too flippant for the tone that had been set. “I don’t know what it’s like, to have bad parents…” But you do, was the implied end to her sentence. There had to have been a reason Ino had never met her maternal grandparents, though since she didn’t know their names, she hadn’t been able to do any investigating to see if they were still even alive and in Konoha.

“She’ll be fine, Ino,” Her mother rested a gentle hand on her shoulder, giving it a single squeeze before moving around her daughter to grab the kettle. “But she’s going to need you more than ever, especially if her parents are anything like mine were.” It was a rare glimpse into Yamanaka Anri’s past, and Ino couldn’t help but probe a bit more.

“What… What were your parents like, then?” A wave of self-consciousness washed over Ino as she asked, feeling both unusual and unwelcome- the feeling only grew when she noticed Naruto and her father had stopped talking and were looking at her.

“You don’t have to tell me, it’s okay-”

“No, you’re old enough to hear it now, and to understand.” Her mother shook her head as she turned the stove’s burner on and moved to sit at the kitchen table, in the seat Ino herself had occupied moments before. “But I think Sakura would benefit from hearing it, too, so why don’t we wait until she joins us, alright?”

Ino saw Naruto nodding just as enthusiastically as she was, then moved to finish getting mugs for the tea. She made sure to save the one with a pattern of cosmos on it for Sakura- it was her favorite, and it always made something warm burst from Ino’s chest whenever the pinkette picked that particular mug to drink from, like a fresh reminder of that time she said Ino was prettier than any flower, cosmos or otherwise.

“What’s with that weird look on your face, Ino?” Naruto interrupted her trip down memory lane as she settled the mug gently onto the table, right next to the one she was going to use (purple, with a delicate spray of sakura blossoms).

“What weird look? You’re the one with a weird face, anyway, mister whiskers!” Deflection like that always worked on Naruto, and that time was no exception.

By the time the kettle whistled, signaling it was done, Inoichi had broken up the squabble and made the two children settle down with their textbooks to attempt studying. It was so dull that Ino found her mind drifting, eyes glued to the page but not really seeing. Her ears strained to hear any sort of noise from the direction of the stairs, hoping Sakura would rejoin them soon and give her something else to focus on.

Plus, her mom would finally talk about her own family!

She had to keep up appearances, though, so when the pinkette finally walked into the kitchen as the tea finished steeping, slippered feet dragging in hesitance, Ino had to comment.

“Took you long enough, Forehead! The tea’s ready!” She bounded out of her chair to grasp Sakura’s forearm in her hands and drag the girl over to the seat Ino had assigned her. Naruto was running his mouth in the background (as usual), clearly unable to read the mood and already launching into complaints about the math work.

Sakura’s meek murmuring of thanks made something unpleasant twist in Ino’s gut. She hated seeing her best friend feel bad about herself, whether it was because of Ami (that bitch) or the Harunos (she wasn’t sure there was a swear word strong enough). Sakura was beautiful and smart and perfect, so the fact that some others not only refused to recognize it, but turned the tables and made her feel bad about herself? It made Ino want to hit something, but it also made her want to wrap the pinkette up in a hug and never let go.

That was why her hand slipped down once both girls were seated at the table, her long, slender fingers lacing with Sakura’s for a long moment. Neither of them looked at the other, but the blonde could feel her cheeks heat as her father sent a look her way, winking before turning his attention to Sakura.

“Do you feel a little better, Sakura?” He smiled warmly at her when she nodded, then turned his attention back to Naruto in order to redirect the boy’s attention from focusing so intently on the girls and back towards his practice problems.

Sakura’s hand squeezed Ino’s, right there on the table for anyone to see. She wasn’t letting go, and the heiress wasn’t about to pull away. Not until Sakura herself was ready.

“You know, Sakura,” Ino’s mother started, brown eyes soft as they rested briefly on the girls’ hands, before flicking upwards to look at the child she was addressing. “My own parents were quite similar to yours, when I was growing up.”

From across the table, Naruto fell silent again, pencil still poised atop his paper but no longer moving. His entire attention, and her father’s as well, was on her mother.

“Did they… Did they not want you to be a shinobi?” Ino watched as Sakura’s jewel-toned eyes widened in surprise.

“No, in fact, they had a betrothal contract set up for me before I graduated from the Academy.”

The hand holding Ino’s squeezed tightly, but the blonde could still make out the slight tremor to it.

“How did you get out of it? My mom said she could take me out of the Academy and then I’d have to get married, wouldn’t I?”

Ino would sooner fight the Shinigami with her bare hands than let anyone take Sakura away from her. Her own hand squeezed back as anger at the mere thought started bubbling in her veins.

Sakura is mine! She hastily amended, well, ours. I guess Naruto and mom and dad can be included. But she couldn’t deny there was something possessive that the pinkette always stirred up in her.

“I was lucky that one of my best friends was in a position of power- Sasuke’s mother, Mikoto, was set to become the Uchiha’s matriarch since she was born.” Ino faintly heard Naruto lean towards her dad to ask what matriarch meant, and bit back a smile- it was time to be serious!

“So this Mikoto girl protected you?” Ino looked over at Sakura after she asked, grinning. “I was already going to do that-”

“Not quite, Ino,” her mother interrupted, bursting her bubble, but there was nothing harsh in her words. “The Uchiha weren’t exactly fans of most other clans, civilian or not, and she wasn’t the direct heir but the heir’s intended. Being friends with Mikoto bought me some time, but it wouldn’t have allowed me an absolute out- it was a little different from your own situation.”

“But if I have more power than she did, doesn’t that mean it will be easier?”

“Not necessarily,” her mother corrected. “We were freshly out of the Second War, and things were still unstable. Civilian families were…” She paused as she searched for the right word, before settling on, “encouraged,” there was a poorly-hidden snort from Inoichi, but he quickly schooled his expression when four pairs of eyes focused in on him.

“Sorry, must have been a sneeze,” the man tried to excuse himself, but Ino saw the way her mom gave him that one look that said he better not say anything else or there would be trouble. Though, she had a feeling it wasn’t because of what he said, so much as who was listening. It was a thought for another time, though, since her mother picked back up on her story.

“As I was saying, civilian families were encouraged to keep their children enrolled in the Academy, if they were already there, or to sign them up if they weren’t.”

“But wasn’t there a conscription during the Second War? So doesn’t that mean-” Sakura halted mid-question when both of Ino’s parents shook their heads. It wasn’t a you’re wrong shake, but a this isn’t something to say aloud, for your own safety type of gesture.

Ino knew, because she’d gotten that particular gesture directed her way more than once over the past few months, once she’d started really understanding how unfair the village was towards Naruto.

Sometimes, she wondered if that was what had happened to Fuu- if he’d said something a little too bold, and been carted away in the middle of the night, to a place where even her father couldn’t find him. She missed her cousin terribly, even if she wasn’t allowed to talk about him anymore.

“I loved the Academy by then, and wanted to be a strong kunoichi. Mikoto and myself and Uzumaki Kushina vowed to be the next sannin, even.” There was a wistful note to her mom’s voice, and the underlying tone of sadness made her heart squeeze. In an attempt to alleviate it, she squeezed Sakura’s hand again.

“Civilian and shinobi law don’t agree on everything, though, even in a shinobi village. As I’m sure you know, Sakura, sometimes the pressures of living side-by-side can make things worse, especially when civilians have a very different outlook on what’s appropriate for girls, in particular. So I had to either petition the civilian council for emancipation, which they certainly wouldn’t have granted since I couldn’t support myself yet. Once a civilian-born graduates from the Academy and takes on the mantle of genin, they fall under shinobi council rules and are considered a legal adult. But in the Academy, it’s a bit trickier.”

Everyone was listening raptly by that point, even Ino’s father (who most certainly knew all the ins and outs of the situation).

“Since I was under my parents’ jurisdiction until I graduated or turned sixteen, whichever came first, they could pull me out of the Academy at any time. Even if it was discouraged, it was their right.”

“How did you get away from them?” Sakura was still gripping Ino’s hand, leaning so far over the table she was halfway out of her seat. “How can I stay with Ino and Naruto?”

Ino felt a little hum of satisfaction that her name was said first. Then, she returned to hanging onto her mother’s every word. If this would help Sakura, she’d do anything.

“I met Inoichi,” she laughed as she said it, but her eyes flitted back to the way her daughter’s fingers were laced with Sakura’s. For what felt like the millionth time that night, Ino felt her cheeks growing warm. She still refused to let go of the pinkette’s hand, though.

“But you always said you guys didn’t fall in love until you were chuunin!” Ino protested.

“We didn’t,” her father finally pitched in, then added, “Well, she didn’t. My first year after graduation, I used to get in trouble with my genin teacher for stopping in the middle of D-ranks to watch your mother training with her team.”

He didn’t even look a tiny bit ashamed to admit it, either.

“I was too busy beating my teammates into the ground to notice him watching. I had a terribly arrogant cousin of Mikoto’s that needed frequent attitude checks,” her mother laughed at the memory, but there was another note of sadness. If that teammate had been an Uchiha, well… It wasn’t too hard to figure out they had been killed too young, either in the field or a few years ago in the massacre. Since Ino had never been introduced to the person, she assumed it was the former.

“But,” the woman clapped her hands, interrupting the moment to get back on track, “We were friends- Kushina hung out with Minato a lot-”

“The Fourth?!” Naruto’s eyes were shining brightly.

“Yes, and he was friends with Inoichi, so we all spent a fair amount of time together.” That explained why both her parents always looked so sad whenever either the fourth or Naruto’s possible aunt were mentioned.

The boy looked like it physically pained him to keep the multitude of questions he had to himself, but he somehow managed. She and Sakura were clearly good influences on him.

“So the Yamanakas… adopted you?” Sakura was trying to piece it together, but couldn’t quite manage. Ino, however, knew where the story was heading.

“You got grandpa and grandma to sponsor her!” Ino lost all sense of volume control as she slapped her free hand onto the table and stared intently at her father. She totally got it right, she just knew it!

And then, upon realizing just what that entailed, she sobered.

“But that means you had to leave your parents and take your name out of their family register, right?” It made sense- there had been no last name on her parents’ marriage certificate for her mother. It would have meant her mother lived without any means to get an ID or set up any bank account or housing for herself, at least until she was a genin.

“Yes, and I was lucky enough that Kushina let me live with her- and that the Hokage allowed it. I could have moved here, but it would have been a little awkward, since I didn’t know most of the Yamanakas at that point. I still came over every night for dinner, though, and your grandmother trained me in the greenhouses.” It was a little strange, to think there had been a point in time where her mother hadn’t been one of the most knowledgeable plant experts in the village.

“So can we just do that with Sakura?” Hastily, as though it would help her case, she added, “Please?”

Then, after a pause, Ino’s brow furrowed.

“Hey, wait a second, doesn’t that mean you lived alone and unsupervised before graduation?”

Chapter Text

Sakura was bursting with nervous energy the next day. It was all she could do to sit still and actually focus on her exam.

The Yamanakas were going to sponsor her! She was going to get away from her parents!

And Naruto said Ino’s parents were going to let him move into the guest room, so he wouldn’t have to stay in his awful apartment anymore!

It would have been nice if they could have sponsored him, too, but Ino’s dad said something about not rocking the boat too much right away. Apparently there was something special about Naruto’s situation that none of the adults were allowed to talk about, but maybe one day, they could bring it up to the Hokage. Naruto looked just as lost about what was so special about his situation as she and Ino had been, though, so that gave her some consolation.

Privately, Sakura kind of hoped the Third retired and let someone with better sense about child welfare take the hat. But saying that out loud would definitely be treason, so she kept her thoughts to herself. Ino would probably start practicing her family’s mind transfer jutsu soon, so she would undoubtedly be privy to those thoughts. Especially now that Inner was gone, and there was no one to protect her mind from an intruder.

It always made her feel a little guilty, whenever she realized how much happier she was on a daily basis without Inner there to watch and judge. Inner had been a crutch- useful, even necessary, to get her through her early childhood and that brief period of time she’d been fighting with her best friend. But when she had Ino, and now Naruto, it was like she was constantly bathed in a pool of sunlight. She was warm and comfortable and loved, and she never wanted to go without either of them ever again.

She liked to think they felt the same way about her.

Lucky for her, despite her decreased ability to focus, the exam was still laughably easy. She spent more time with her test paper flipped over and ready to be collected than she did actually working on the problems. Ino let out a sigh of relief once she flipped her paper over, ten minutes until the end of the exam period, but Sakura didn’t dare risk turning her head for fear of getting in trouble (the teacher’s pet habit was hard to break).

From the corner of her eye, she watched Naruto work doggedly on the last question right until the clock struck noon and Mizuki-sensei made them hand their papers forward- hopefully he would at least get partial credit for it. If Mizuki was the one grading, though, she doubted it.

“Finally!” Both Naruto and Kiba wasted no time in leaping from their seats and cheering as they celebrated the official start of summer break. Sakura felt a bit like cheering, herself- one whole month to do as she liked with her friends! She vowed to be able to beat more of her classmates in sparring sessions by the time they returned to class in September, and having more time to train would definitely help her goal.

There was a mad rush for the doors as everyone finished packing their bags, and Mizuki’s calls to be careful and orderly fell on deaf ears as a horde of ten and eleven year olds stampeded past him.

“Freedom!” Ino gave out her own cheer the minute they stepped out into the sunshine, and Sakura and Naruto joined her in her cheering. That they had homework (a report on an influential figure from Konoha) didn’t phase them at the moment- that was a problem for later.

As a single unit, the trio rushed towards the gates, picking up the pace as both Inoichi and Anri came into view. The couple were chatting with each other, but they were also making some weird sort of gestures with their hands - it didn’t look like KSL (Sakura had a neighbor that was deaf once, but he’d moved away with his family when she was five, so she didn’t remember most of what she’d picked up).

Before she could get a really good look on what they were doing, though, the couple spotted them and abruptly stopped their movements.

“Well, look who survived their math exam!” Inoichi teased, ruffling Naruto’s hair. The man received a bright smile and enthusiastic agreement in return.

“I almost finished every question!” Sakura assumed that meant he’d never been able to do so before, which, given his reading level a few months ago, she wasn’t surprised. There were always a ton of word problems on the tests, after all, and if he hadn’t been able to read them…

“Good job! Now, where do you kids want to eat?”

“Naruto wants ramen,” Ino answered before the blond boy could get a word in, but instead of getting upset, he just nodded frantically. “Forehead could eat the world’s supply of tempura and still not get sick of it-”

“Hey! Not in one go, I couldn’t.” It was the only defense the pinkette could raise for herself, because she most certainly could eat that much of the fried food and ask for more the next day.

“And I want curry.” The blonde spoke as though it was only natural they all go along with her to get curry… until she looked over at Naruto.

Exchanging glances with Sakura, the two girls nodded at each other and spoke in unison.

“We should get ramen.”

“After all,” Sakura added, excusing their change in opinion, “I’m sure you’re going to go way up in the class ranking now, Naruto. So it'll be like an early celebration.”

Even though it was a sunny day, her friend’s smile shone brighter.

“You really think so, Sakura-chan?” He bounced excitedly as they all started walking towards the part of the village that contained Ichiraku’s (the only ramen place, as far as any of them were concerned).

“I know so- I may have peeked at Iruka-sensei’s grading book,” she paused to look sheepishly at Ino’s parents, who winked at her and proceeded to pretend they couldn’t hear any of the conversation going on, “And you had a seventy by your name for the history grade! Kiba only had a forty, and I think Chouji was a few points behind you, too.” Her own grade had been one hundred, but she didn’t feel the need to share that- it was about making Naruto feel good, and she wasn’t about to diminish his accomplishment!

It was impossible to calm Naruto down after that. He wove his way in and out of their little group for the entire walk, flitting from how amazing his exam grades were going to be to their training plans for the summer to how much he couldn’t wait for the next time he got paired up with that bastard so he could show him just who the strongest in their class was.

He was so excited he didn’t notice the glares and murmured comments tossed his way from villagers as they passed.

It helped, of course, that each incident was met with a look of warning from Ino’s dad. The man had a reputation, even among civilians, and he didn’t hesitate to use it that afternoon.

It made something warm unfurl in Sakura’s chest, to see Naruto had adults actually on his side. The Third didn’t count, because he most definitely wasn’t interested in Naruto’s happiness. What it was the old man was interested in was still a mystery, but she always felt a little sick at the thought of the highest ranking person in the village using Naruto for something unsavory.

“Hey,” Ino jabbed her side with a finger as Ichiraku’s came into sight. “What was my grade? I already know you got some stupidly high score, but what about me?”

“Eighty-six,” Sakura whispered. “So I guess there’s hope for you yet, Pig.”

She got another jab for her teasing, but it couldn’t wipe the grin off her face. Auntie Anri sneaking up behind them and leaning down to stick her face between the two girls, however, was.

“Do I need to separate you two girls?” The woman teased, unable to keep from laughing as her daughter and the pinkette jumped in shock.

“You totally do!” Naruto answered for them, cackling.

“Shut up, Naruto, she does not!” There was no bite to Ino’s retort, though, so the boy just continued laughing as he turned his attention to greeting the man that ran the stand.

“You’ve brought your friends again, Naruto-kun,” the old man greeted the blond boy warmly- Teuchi? Sakura was pretty sure that was his name. He was always really nice to them, whenever Naruto weaseled his way into convincing them to get post-training ramen, and anyone who was nice to Naruto was okay in her books.

The chef also seemed to know Ino’s parents, greeting them by name and commenting on how long it had been since the last time he’d seen either of them. Sakura tuned out the adults as they traded niceties- she was busy hoisting herself up into a seat between Naruto and Ino’s respective stools.

“So, we’re gonna try making a storage seal tonight, right?” Naruto’s voice dipped to a conspiratorial whisper, that fox-like grin of his stretching his cheeks.

“We don’t have the supplies, though,” Ino pointed out. “We need chakra-infused ink, and I don’t think we have any at home.”

“Oh, we do,” Inoichi interrupted, trying not to laugh as the trio nearly tumbled off their seats. “But sealing can go very wrong, so we store it in a place little hands can’t get to.”

“Daaaaad,” Ino protested, “We’re not little! We’re practically genin already!” Both of her friends nodded earnestly.

“Oh, my mistake,” Inoichi teased. “Here I thought you all were still a year and a half away from graduation.”

“A year and a half is nothing, Uncle Inoichi!” Naruto exclaimed, somehow managing to stay in his seat despite his excitement. “We could totally take the exam this year and pass, anyway. If we wanted to, I mean. Which we don’t.” He ended his sentence sounding far more nervous than he had during his initial declaration.

“I’m sure you could,” Inoichi ruffled the boy’s hair in good humor, moving to sit on the empty stool to Naruto’s left as Teuchi and his daughter served up everyone’s first bowls.

For a few minutes, there were no sounds but those of noodles being slurped (or inhaled, in Naruto’s case) and compliments to the chef being murmured. It felt nice, like how a family meal out should be- Sakura had been taken out to eat by her own parents before, when she was younger, but it was more to show off how pretty and well-behaved their daughter was than to actually treat Sakura to something nice.

It felt so odd, to look back on how eagerly she’d lapped up their attention on such occasions. Now that she knew better, now that she wasn’t so desperate for any little scrap of affection they afforded her, it was as though a veil had been lifted from over her eyes. It wasn’t something she particularly liked dwelling on, though, so she focused herself wholly on savoring the pork ramen before her (they’d even included an extra egg, just as she liked it).

Naruto was uncharacteristically shy as he finished his first bowl and turned to ask Inoichi if he could order a second, like he was afraid of overstepping a boundary by asking for more food (despite the fact he was always offered second and third helpings when they had dinner at the Yamanaka home). Sakura thought she understood, though. She didn’t want to be a burden, financially or otherwise, on anyone else. So even though Naruto most definitely was not causing trouble by still being hungry, his logic made sense to her.

She and Ino would just have to work harder at making him forget such nonsense.

Of course, Naruto got his second bowl, plus a third that he didn’t even ask for. There was no way Ino’s parents missed just how skinny he was, despite the baggy orange jumpsuit, and Sakura got the feeling they would rather take a trip to the Shinigami’s intestinal tract before they let him go without. That was at least part of the reason they headed towards his apartment once lunch was done and paid for, after all: to move him into the Yamanaka main house so he could do things like eat three meals a day and sleep through the night without worrying about a break-in.

“Naruto, are you sure this is the right way?” Anri’s brow was furrowed when Sakura looked over at the woman, who was walking closely beside the boy as they entered Akasen. She and Ino, who were on the woman’s other side, glanced at each other.

This is going to be interesting, both their eyes seemed to say, though they didn’t dare speak such thoughts aloud.

“Yeah! I live in that building over there,” Naruto remained blissfully unaware of the rapidly growing concerns of the two adults, pointing out his building with an energetic jab of his finger.

Ino’s parents both managed to school their expressions, for the most part, when they finally made it up to the sixth floor and spotted the graffiti on the door Naruto opened. But Sakura could recognize the twitching muscles in Inoichi’s jaw and the pulsing vein on Anri’s forehead.

Their moods didn’t improve when they saw the interior of the apartment.

Since Naruto didn’t have any slippers (apparently they’d gotten stolen every time he bought a pair, so eventually he just stopped wasting the money after a while), they all padded barefoot across the wooden floors as the boy laughed nervously.

“Ehehe, sorry it’s so messy. I wasn’t really expecting you guys to visit.”

It was a little disorderly, though Naruto didn’t have enough stuff to truly make a mess (it certainly wasn’t like the state Ino’s room sometimes got in).

“It’s fine, Naruto,” Anri waved off his words and moved to rest a hand on his shoulder. “What all do you need on a daily basis? And don’t worry about things like soap or a toothbrush, we’ll buy you all new ones.”

They went around collecting things and placing them in sorted piles- not that there was much to take. With his school bag packed and resting in the entryway beside Ino and Sakura’s own bags, he really only had his pajamas, some underwear, and a spare jumpsuit. His ramen supply had been entirely depleted the other day, so he couldn’t even bring that.

As Anri laid out a storage seal, ready to seal the tiny pile of items, Ino poked her best friend in the side. Sakura turned sharply to face the blonde, ready to hiss at her for the gesture, but was met with Ino holding a finger up to her lips. Then, she jabbed the same finger that had gone for Sakura’s ribs a moment earlier towards the window.

Inoichi was standing there, facing the outside and making those weird hand gestures again. Even though neither girl could see his face, there was a definite tension to his shoulders that indicated anger.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out he was talking to someone. And who else would be in a tree outside of the Academy and somewhere outside Naruto’s apartment, managing to look into a sixth-floor window?

Sakura leaned so close to Ino that her lips brushed the shell of the blonde’s ear as she whispered as quietly as possible.

“A Mask.”

She felt Ino shiver, and had to quickly crush that weird, fluttery feeling in her stomach as she pulled away.

“What are you two girls whispering about?” Anri’s voice stopped Ino from making any sort of reply, while also alerting Inoichi to the fact there were some wandering attentions in the room.

“Uhh, boys?” Sakura couldn’t even convince herself with the way she replied, and from the quirked brow she received in response from Anri, it definitely hadn’t fooled the older woman.

“Right. Which ones?” The Yamanaka matriarch decided to play along, rather than show any mercy.

Ino, a true goddess among mere mortals, had found her footing again by that point and jumped in.

“Shikamaru- he’s so lazy he didn’t even finish any of his exams! He’s almost as smart as Sakura, so he could get all perfect scores if he just stopped being such a bum!”

Sakura’s face flamed at being compared so favorably to a boy who came from a clan full of actual geniuses, and she couldn’t stop a bashful smile from spreading across her face.

“I dunno, I guess he’s pretty smart,” Naruto piped up, looking thoughtful for a moment before beaming at the pinkette, “But no one’s even close to being as smart as you, Sakura-chan!”

She was sure she’d die blushing, at that point.

“Maybe you should try your hand at playing shogi with him, Sakura,” Inoichi suggested as he moved away from the window and finished sealing Naruto’s belongings. “Having a rival could possibly give him some motivation. Now that you and Ino are friends again, the position is open, isn’t it?”

“Oh, but I don’t know how-”

“Hey! We can totally still be rivals and best friends! We,” she gestured between herself, Sakura, and Naruto, “Are going to make each other become the best. Not some lazy, daydreaming jerk.” The fact that Ino would inevitably be placed on a team with Shikamaru seemed to slip her notice at that point in time, but her parents (and Sakura) were too polite to remind her just then.

“Going for the next generation of Sannin, eh?” Anri had that wistful look on her face again, but it made much more sense to the children now that they knew some of her life before she’d become Ino’s mother.

“We’re gonna be even better than they were, believe it!” Nartuo leapt to his feet, pumping his fist in the air at his own declaration. He was so sure, not just of himself but of Ino and herself, too, that Sakura had no choice but to believe him.

“Well, you have the whole summer to get a head start,” Anri replied as she began corralling the children towards the door, where Inoichi was waiting with the storage scroll. “After you finish your summer homework, that is.” Ino opened her mouth, but her mother pressed on, cutting her off. “And don’t try to tell me Iruka-sensei was feeling generous and didn’t assign any, I know for a fact there’s a five page report and some math problems due your first day back.”

Ino deflated.

Naruto, on the other hand, latched onto the new topic and started babbling as they headed out of the apartment complex and away from Akasen.

“I’m gonna write about an Uzumaki, like me!” He paused, then admitted, “But I dunno if I should pick Mito or Kushina, they were both so awesome!” He turned big, pleading blue eyes up at Anri. “You knew Kushina, so if I pick her, can you maybe help me?”

Hook, line, and sinker- the woman was visibly holding herself back from scooping Naruto up in a bear hug as she agreed to his request. Sakura wasn’t sure why Inoichi shook his head at her, though.

As usual, adults were weird.

“Have either of you picked a person to write your report on?” Ino’s dad took his turn to probe, trying to distract the girls from asking any questions about his behavior, which they definitely wanted to.

“I think I’m going to write about Tsunade-sama. Or maybe the Yondaime? He was a civilian, like me!” Sakura puffed her chest out with pride, as though she were the one to have taken the highest office in the country and not a man she’d never met (one that looked kind of like Naruto, no less).

“I still haven’t decided,” Ino admitted, though she didn’t look too concerned about it. It was only the first day of break, after all- they had over thirty more.

“Why don’t you do Senju Touka? She was really cool, and really strong!” Sakura was quick to offer a suggestion, and the blonde visibly brightened.

“Yeah! She was a total badass-”

“Ino,” Inoichi didn’t sound upset, so much as fondly exasperated.

“Sorry, dad.”

Chapter Text

None of the trio were privy to the clan meeting Inoichi called the next day. It was only natural, since the meeting was about Sakura and Naruto (who weren’t Yamanakas… yet), and Ino told her father right to his face that she would just tell her two friends everything if she were allowed to go.

“I probably shouldn’t have said that,” Ino’s remorse was muffled by the spoonful of ice cream shoved in her mouth as she spoke. “I really wish I could hear what’s going on. Even though it can’t be bad- some of my cousins like you better than me, Forehead, and no one can help but love Naruto once they get to know him.”

The boy in question was too busy trying to do a backflip in the hot, sunny yard to hear the two girls as they spoke under the shade of a tree and worked their way through an entire pint of strawberry ice cream.

“I still don’t get why so many people hate him. And the whole thing with the Masks following him, and-”

“And my parents get all weird and mushy when he says stuff, sometimes?” Sakura nodded at Ino’s addition.

“Yeah, it’s all adding up to something, but I just don’t know what. Also, have you noticed he looks a lot like the Fourth? Hair like that isn’t exactly common, and his eyes are pretty much the same color, too.”

There was a rustling of leaves from above their heads that alerted Sakura to the fact a Mask was listening in. While she was willing to ignore it and act like there totally wasn’t a grown adult in a weird mask (that was almost definitely an ANBU agent) lurking around the Yamanaka property and spying on a group of pre-teens, Ino was a bit more direct.

“Oh for crying out loud, will you bastards just come out already?!” The blonde tilted her head back to look directly up into the boughs hanging over their heads. “It’s not like we don’t know you’re there, might as well make yourself useful and like, teach Naruto how to do a proper backflip before he snaps his neck or something.” Her piece said, the blonde returned her attention back to the ice cream.

There was a long moment of quiet, only interrupted by Naruto’s grunts of exertion. Then, so silently that it was frightening, a Mask dropped down from the tree. Had they not landed directly in Sakura’s line of sight, she never would have known they were there.

A bone white mask, carved with the symbol for Kiri, appeared in front of her team as the behemoth of a man (and his equally giant sword) went down.

“Thanks for distracting him- we’ve been tracking the Demon of the Mist for far too long. I’ll take it from here.”

The figure, androgynous in voice and stature, hoisted their now-dead opponent over his shoulder like it weighed nothing, and vanished back into the dissipating mist.

Something tugged at the back of Sakura’s mind, something very off about the situation, but then sensei collapsed and-

Her widening eyes must have tipped off Ino, who glanced over her shoulder with a look far too smug for a ten year old.

“About damn time.”

“We should keep you showing yourself a secret, right?” Sakura blurted out her question immediately after Ino’s statement, abandoning her spoon into the now-empty carton of ice cream on her friend’s lap.

In another adults are weird moment, the masked person’s shoulders shook with repressed laughter. Sakura didn’t think it was very funny, and neither did Ino, if the blonde’s scowl was anything to go by.

“Hey, so if you’re ANBU, you have one of those voice-changing seals on your mask, right? So you could technically talk to us and still keep your identity a secret…” Ino gave a wicked grin as she leaned forward in her seat. “But I have my suspicions already, Shiranui-san.”

As the man’s shoulders tensed, the girl jumped out of her chair and towards the house, practically dancing the whole way there.

“Uhh,” Sakura broke the silence with no small amount of awkwardness. “I have no idea who you are, but I’m sorry Ino probably broke a rule? Please don’t kill her or anything!”

“Hey! Who’s this weirdo- Oh! Hey, I’ve seen you before!” Naruto had come bounding over, flopping down into Ino’s now empty chair (and ignoring the one that had been set up expressly for him). “You’re one of the Masks! You made that guy in the park pee his pants one day,” now beaming, he turned to make a weird sort of half-introduction to Sakura.

“Before I got to go to the Academy, I went to the park a lot, ‘cuz I didn’t really have anything to do. And one day, this old guy got real mad and grabbed me so hard it hurt, but then this guy,” he jabbed his finger over his shoulder, “came outta nowhere and the old guy just dropped me like that.” Naruto snapped his fingers for emphasis. “Anyway, mister Mask left, but the old guy couldn’t move he was so scared, and I saw this big old wet spot on his pants!”

The boy was cackling like it was the funniest thing in the world by the end of his tale.

Sakura, on the other hand, exchanged glances with the Mask (who was probably named Shiranui?). She couldn’t see his expression, because duh, mask, but she was pretty sure he looked just as exasperated as she did.

“Hey!” Ino re-emerged from the back door, hands on her hips as she stared at the group huddled under the tree. “I thought you were gonna teach Naruto how to do a backflip!”

“Really?!” Naruto immediately stopped his laughing to look up hopefully at the Mask. “I’m gonna be a super awesome Hokage, the best ever! So I needa learn how to do super awesome moves, like flipping and shooting out fire jutsu at the same time an’ stuff!” He nodded to emphasize his own point, only breaking his more serious expression to squawk indignantly when Ino shoved him out of the chair he was using.

“That’s my seat, doofus. Now,” she turned her attention back to the elite Black Ops Agent, making a shooing motion with her hand, “Go on, get to teaching.”

“Cheeky,” the man finally spoke, and even though Sakura knew (thanks to Ino) it wasn’t his real voice, it still sent a thrill up her spine. She wasn’t sure if tone really transferred over through the seals, but she could have sworn there was a note of amusement in the modulated voice.

“Come on, kid. Let’s leave Blondie to her girlfriend.”

An egg would have fried on both girls’ faces, and when they looked at each other in an attempt to find sympathy, it only made their blushes intensify. Naruto, for one, couldn’t stop cackling, even as he was led out into a sunny patch of yard by the Mask.

It took several long, uncomfortable minutes for either one of them to speak up.

“Um. I, uhh, I guess we should try and learn how to do that, too?” Sakura nodded towards the utter chaos going on in front of their eyes.

“Yeah.” Ino’s voice came out as a squeak at first, but she quickly pushed past it to fake a more confident voice. “Yeah, we can’t let Naruto get ahead of us!”

Still, neither of them looked at the other, and Sakura was pretty sure Ino’s face was still just as red as hers.

“Finally had enough canoodling?” The Mask teased as the two girls approached. Then, perhaps in fear their faces would explode from sheer heat, he held up his hands in defense. “Alright, alright, I’ll stop.” Somehow, Sakura knew there was a for now implied in that sentence, and she squirmed a bit.

Thankfully, he really did stop teasing, and set to teaching all three children how to not only backflip, but walk on their hands and cartwheel one-handed. For someone so tall, it was really impressive how easily he moved through such exercises. Since Sakura had two tall parents, it was likely she’d end up on the taller side of average, so it was good to know it didn’t have to be a hindrance.

In the middle of watching Naruto successfully execute a back handspring, a thought struck the pinkette, so exciting that she had to blurt it out before she lost the nerve.

“Can you teach us how to tree-walk, Mask-san? We can use our chakra already, and I’ve read a book so I kinda know what to do, but…”

“Dad says we need adult supervision for training with chakra until we’re genin. And you’re an adult,” Ino sniffed, probably remembering the teasing from earlier, “I guess.”

“We’re really fast learners, so it won’t take long at all!” Naruto’s contribution came immediately after he stuck the landing to his move. Ino and Sakura offered him a smattering of applause for a job well done.

“Yeah, Forehead has almost perfect chakra control, so she’ll probably get it in one go and can help you teach us.” Just when her face had finally started cooling down, Ino’s compliment brought the blood rushing to her cheeks once again.

“That true, Pinky?” The Mask looked intrigued- which, considering his face was blocked by a mask, just meant his head tilted the slighted bit to the right.

“She got the leaf trick in one try in class,” Naruto offered, ever eager to praise his friends. “And when we all got tested for our control levels, hers was ninety-nine! That’s gotta be good, right?”

The Mask looked frozen for a moment, head returning to its usual position before he spoke again.

“You were in the ninety-ninth percentile?” At Sakura’s nod, he leaned over to look her eye-to-eye. He spoke… not exactly slowly, but there was definitely something deliberate to his words. “Does anyone else outside of your class and Blondie’s parents know?”

“I mean, probably? Mizuki-sensei kind of likes to brag to the other teachers…” But his bragging about her didn’t feel good like Ino’s or Naruto’s. It made her feel gross, in a way she didn’t know how to put into words, especially when he turned around and insulted Naruto in the same breath.

“Don’t let anyone else know, okay?” There was something serious in his voice that made Sakura agree instantly, nodding as though her life depended on it.

“Will she get taken away like Fuu?” Ino’s question triggered a sharp intake of breath from behind the man’s mask. He didn’t even bother to tease when the blonde folded herself protectively over the pinkette, nor when Naruto added himself to the pile, not understanding any of what was said but still offering support..

“They’d have to get through us first, believe it!”

“No one is taking anyone else away,” the Mask sounded a little like he was reassuring himself, more than the kids. And then, he tried diverting their attention back to the original topic.

“I guess I could teach you brats to tree-walk. But!” He held up his hand to stop the trio from bursting into cheers. “You can’t use it outside of this compound, okay? And only when your parents,” he pointed to Ino, “Myself, or the masked woman with purple hair is here. Got it?”

“Got it!” They students echoed in unison, saluting their new teacher.

There’s no way we won’t be at the top of the class, now that we have a cool ANBU teacher! Sakura was wholly distracted from her earlier worries about how the Yamanaka clan meeting was going by that point, which was for the best.

The pinkette listened intently to Gecko-sensei, as he insisted they call him after he got sick of hearing Mask-san, while he explained the principles of chakra adhesion. It was the same thing as the leaf trick, really, just in reverse. Instead of sticking another object to themselves, they were the object being stuck somewhere- namely, a tree.

While Naruto ran straight for the tree to make his attempt the second Gecko-sensei stopped talking, Ino took a moment to observe, and Sakura stood with her eyes closed to think it through. Not even the sound of the blond boy making impact with the ground broke the pinkette’s concentration.

She turned inwards, feeling along her main chakra pathways and tentatively trying to tug threads of chakra from her center, right above the heart, towards her feet. When she tried to lift her foot to take a step forward and found she couldn’t, Sakura knew she was ready.

Opening her eyes, she found Naruto and Gecko-sensei staring at her expectantly, and Ino turned away from her, pressing one foot against the bark of the tree to no apparent avail.

“Okay.” She wasn’t sure who she was talking to, really. After another deep breath, she repeated, “Okay,” then moved forward.

When she was close enough to the tree, standing shoulder to shoulder with Ino, she mirrored her best friend’s position and lifted a foot to press against the bark. And then she lifted the other, only to promptly fall on her ass when her core muscles decided they couldn’t support her weight.

Her feet were still stuck to the tree, though.

“Damn, I guess Blondie was right,” Gecko-sensei whistled a long, low note, clearly impressed. Then, taking on that serious tone again, he added, “But seriously, don’t tell anyone else.” He paused to look at the two blondes in turn before adding, “Any of you.”

“But why?” Naruto, who hadn’t yet been told about Ino’s cousin and his suspicious disappearance a few years prior, looked questioningly up at Gecko-sensei as Sakura freed the bottom of her shoes from the tree and rolled into a sitting position. “Isn’t it good that Sakura-chan’s so awesome with chakra stuff? I know you said she could get taken away, but isn’t that why we have super strong Mask guys like you?”

“As flattering as that is,” the man’s tone was flat, and Sakura just knew he was rolling his eyes at the attempt at buttering him up, “We can’t be everywhere, all the time. We get regular missions from the Hokage like everyone else, you know.”

There was more to it that Gecko wasn’t saying- or maybe it was that he couldn’t. And, just like when she or Ino had to bite their own tongues, it was probably because it had to do with criticizing the Hokage.

“But who would want to steal her? Someone from Iwa can’t just come waltzing in and snatch kids, right? Someone would definitely notice! They caught that guy from Kumo trying to steal Hinata-chan, after all.” Sakura beamed like a proud mother upon hearing Naruto referencing a historical event (or was it still recent enough to be a current event?), but quickly sobered up as it sunk in that oh yeah, that was a real, traumatic thing that happened to the nicest girl she knew.

“There are some things adults can’t talk about,” Ino spoke up, though she leveled their new teacher with a suspicious look all the same. “Lots of things, really. It's a wonder the teachers at the Academy can tell us anything at all.”

“Cute,” Gecko-sensei snarked.

Ino stuck her tongue out in return.

“These bad guys are from Konoha, aren’t they?” Sakura was living up to her friends’ compliments on her intelligence by rapidly putting two and two together. “And it’s something people in power know about but won’t fix?”

A gloved hand muffled any further attempts the pinkette made to talk.

“Now Pinky, you’re smart enough to know better than to say some things out loud.”

Jade eyes widened into saucers as Sakura realized just how close she’d been getting to the line that crossed into treason. Implying your Hokage, or at least the Council of Elders, condoned the kidnapping of children, was obviously a shade too far. Even when the Mask’s hand pulled away, her mouth seemed to glue itself shut out of pure fear at the repercussions.

“You gotta keep her safe, then, Geko-sensei! Like you kept me safe!”

“Why do you follow Naruto around, anyway? I mean yeah, his pranks can get kinda wild sometimes, but nothing that bad.” Ino didn’t give the ANBU agent time to come up with an answer to Naruto’s question, immediately springing her own question on the man. Naruto beamed at Ino for her willingness to stick up for him.

Sakura felt distinctly uncomfortable with the line of questioning, especially as the silence stretched on between their little group. She began fiddling with her chakra pathways, trying to see if she could somehow direct it to her core while she kept some in her feet. If she could solve that problem, then she could probably walk up the tree-

“If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” Gecko-sensei joked, his tone light, but Sakura knew there was more truth to that than the man probably wanted to admit. And then, after glancing at the frustrated faces of both blondes beside her, she couldn’t help asking a question.

“But if we just… happen to find out on our own?”

Ino and Naruto perked up immediately, and it emboldened her further.

“Because it’s definitely weird that Naruto has a whole team guarding him, and he kinda looks a little like the Fourth, and-” The hand went over her mouth again, but she bit at the glove in retaliation. She must have caught skin, because there was definitely more than leather between her teeth, but the man didn’t even flinch (which made sense, given he was part of the most elite group of shinobi in the village).

“No more questions for today. And definitely don’t ask anyone else.” Ino opened her mouth, but was quickly cut off. “Not your father or mother, either. You don’t want to put them in a tough spot, do you?”

Oh yeah, the treason thing.

“But mom and dad told me if a stranger says to keep something secret, they’re bad,” the blonde girl bounced back, fluttering her eyelashes with all the innocence she could muster. “Does that mean you’re really a bad man, Gecko-sensei?”

“This is why I don’t have kids.” With that groaning complaint, their newfound teacher vanished (probably back up into a tree).

Ino was still cackling when her parents strolled into view moments later.

“Do I even want to ask?” Inoichi questioned, grin playing about the corners of his lips.

“No, because you have to tell us how the meeting went!” Ino snapped out of her laughter to try and attempt leveling her father with a piercing look. Sakura thought it looked more like a pout than anything, but wisely kept her thoughts to herself.

Besides, she was just as eager to learn how things had gone. She didn’t think the Yamanakas as a whole disliked her, but there was a big difference between having fond feelings for the civilian-born best friend of your clan’s heir and accepting that civilian-born almost entirely into your clan. She would never have access to the Mind Transfer jutsu, of course, but having such a connection afforded other privileges that many clans were keen to keep exclusive.

The pinkette’s worries were put to rest almost immediately, though, when Anri walked over and gently took Sakura’s hand in her own.

“The Yamanaka will support you, Sakura.” The woman tapped the pad of her index finger gently against the tip of the girl’s nose as she started leading the pinkette towards the house. “And that means the Nara and Akimichi will, too. So you can rest easy.” There would be the matter of her parents to deal with, but it went unspoken for the moment- that was a problem for later, after the petition had made it to the Hokage.

A little thrill of satisfaction ran through her at the prospect of surprising her parents with that particular piece of news when they returned. Or maybe, she’d never have to see them again. She could live her life the way she wanted, and there was nothing Mebuki or Kizashi could do to stop her. Especially not when she took herself off the family register.

No matter what else she had to do to help Inoichi and Anri with the process, she was free.

Chapter Text

Hound was having a weird year. Though, in all fairness, he wasn’t sure what a normal year would look like.

It most definitely wouldn’t involve disobeying his Hokage’s direct command in order to spy check in on his sensei’s son, then taking a shine to a little pink-haired academy student who had befriended the aforementioned son. The Yamanaka girl was alright, too, but since Naruto seemed to be more attached to the pink one...

His first thought upon seeing the little trio tucked away in the run-down apartment was: pink, how in the name of Butsuma’s chest hair is she supposed to be stealthy when her hair is just so pink? (And hearing Minato-sensei and Kushina-nee’s son call her Sakura? Gods above, how much did her parents hate her?)

And then she’d managed to spy him, spying on them, and he'd promptly started working on his biased opinion.

After watching and listening to the entire encounter (uninterrupted- whoever was on jinchuuriki-watch that afternoon was neglecting their duties big time), he came to a conclusion: He was going to make sure the pink one survived. The Yamanaka heiress, too, he supposed, and obviously Naruto was a priority, but there was something about the girl called Sakura that intrigued him.

After piecing together that she was a civilian-born, that resolve strengthened. As did the resemblance to Yugao that had been floating around in the back of his mind since he saw that petal-bright hair. To be fair, his teammate’s hair was far more subtle, but still a non-traditional color- and she had also been raised in a civilian family.

She had broken past all the boundaries and restrictions placed on her to rise to the top-ranking team in all of ANBU by fifteen, and now Fox was one of the leading agents in the entire Black Ops, falling somewhere in the top ten as far as body count. Hound was number one, but he didn’t like to think about that.

Instead, he focused back in on the more pleasant sight of three children taking their first forays into plotting.

That evening, he followed the pink haired girl home- something he would never admit to under any circumstances, because when combined with his past history… Well, he didn’t have a good public image, as it were, but there were some types of rumors that just didn’t need to be spread.

He watched from a neighboring rooftop as her parents made clipped, harsh commentary towards what appeared to be their only child. It was sort of admirable, how she’d decided to continue to forge her own path at the Academy despite the obvious resistance she faced at home. It wasn’t a struggle he necessarily understood, given he’d come from a shinobi clan (albeit a dying one), but Yugao had explained to him once how difficult it could be at home for a civilian child who wanted to become a shinobi. Doubly so for kunoichi, since civilians still held some rather antiquated views on what activities women could and couldn’t participate in.

In fairness, there was still a general sentiment that kunoichi were weaker than their male counterparts, but he’d seen Fox rip out a man’s throat with her fingernails once and quickly started revising his opinion. So in theory, he shouldn’t have been so caught off guard by this Sakura girl’s ability to catch sight of him.

While he’d never admit the incident to anyone, he could still allow himself to feel a sort of fondness for her, and for the Yamanaka who’d also claimed Naruto’s friendship. He found himself wanting Sakura to be more than cannon fodder, as so many from her circumstances were confined to. Wanting all three of the noisy little twerps to not only succeed, but thrive.

That was why he went out and bought the books, and why he slipped into the painfully unguarded window of the girl’s bedroom as she slept.

He left no note, allowing the books to speak for themselves, and was gone in an instant. Not even a swirl of leaves in his wake- he needed to be stealthy, after all, and leaving evidence was most certainly not.

Hound returned to his apartment and became Kakashi for the next few weeks, exchanging his porcelain mask for one of cloth, but still he tracked the trio.

Seeing sensei’s son start to discover things about his heritage on his mother’s side was painful, but also, in a way, cathartic. His appreciation for Sakura grew the more he watched her start to piece things together, dragging her two blonde companions into her theories and half-wishing he could just… interrupt them and tell them the truth. Take on the big brother role to Naruto that he was always supposed to have.

That Sarutobi Hiruzen stole from him.

Kakashi had never dared to look in on Naruto after he’d left the orphanage (every instinct in him screaming to take his pack member, his little brother, and kill the monster of a woman who’d treated him so poorly for years). So he’d never had a chance to see the boy’s apartment, the one he’d heard through the grapevine that the Third had arranged.

”He dotes on the boy,” the voice of Magpie drifted through the locker room where Kakashi was finishing his preparations to go out on his next solo mission. There was a note of distaste in the agent’s voice that made something unpleasant flare up in the Hatake’s chest. “Gave him a place to live and an allowance and everything. Wish we could all have it so easy.”

Hound went out into the field that day seeing red, and his targets suffered more than usual for his temper.

He had assumed such an arrangement meant Naruto was well-provided for, despite the little pranks he pulled on villagers.

To find him in a mold-ridden apartment with outright slander painted on the door, though…

“You look like you swallowed a lemon.” Genma observed as he dropped onto the tree branch beside Kakashi. Even though he had donned his Gecko mask, the silver-haired man knew his friend was sporting a shit-eating grin beneath it.

“Oh, just re-thinking some life choices.” He said it casually, flippantly even, as though he were merely lamenting about picking tonkatsu for lunch over nasu dengaku. Certainly not like he was thinking about how much he’d wished Sarutobi Hiruzen would pass the hat onto someone actually deserving of the Hokage title, instead of letting himself continue to be corrupted by Shimura Danzo.

Hatake Kakashi was nothing if not a loyal tool of Konoha, after all.

“Your brat is doing better in school,” the senbon user breezed past the reply, obviously not wanting to dig (and knowing he wouldn’t get far if he tried, anyway). “Pinky is a miracle worker, and those books you keep leaving her are helping her help him. That Yamanaka kid is funny as hell, too. I was on watch earlier today and she just looked right up at my hiding spot and called me a bastard.” Genma would find that funny.

Then, the brunet grew more serious.

“They’re starting to piece things together, though, and Pinky…” Kakashi couldn’t help the way his head snapped up sharply- so many weeks into observing from the shadows and he’d grown attached to the little miscreants. “She’s good, Kakashi. Her chakra control is probably on par with Tsunade.”

Kakashi had held some idea of her talents before then, from the snippets he’d gotten to see of her in action- she’d picked up a nearly flawless henge technique in what, a week? Sooner than either of her companions, that was for sure. But to hear it from someone else was concerning. He trusted Genma, obviously, but it was who else was on Naruto watch that concerned him. Yugao was the only other member put on regular rotation (when she wasn’t running missions with Team Ro) that he knew with absolute certainty had the interests of any of the kids at heart.

Once again, Shimura Danzo was at the forefront of his darkening thoughts.

“Yamanaka clan’s gonna sponsor her,” Genma spoke again after the silence stretched on a bit too long, easily able to understand how quickly Kakashi could get lost in a spiral of what-ifs. “Dunno how it’s gonna play out with her piece of shit parents- heard they got detained in Kusa a few months back for some shady deals that were linked back to an underground cult in Ame- some kind of religious freaks, y’know? Talking about gods and angels and shit.”

That… certainly was concerning. Kakashi didn’t particularly believe in anything, spiritually speaking, though he hoped in his heart of hearts that the Pure Lands really did exist so he could see his most precious people again and apologize profusely. But he usually didn’t care if others had more faith- Hayate was a regular temple-goer, not just at New Years’, and he got along swimmingly with the man. A cult, however?

“Inoichi and Anri’re gonna take Naruto in, too, but you didn’t hear it from me. As far as I know, he’s still living in that little shithole of an apartment, got it?” Kakashi gave a noncommittal hum, still processing everything Genma had just dumped on him. He was still getting used to allowing himself to feel actual human emotion again, instead of just being a ruthless killing machine, and there was quite a range to parse through at all the updates he’d just received.

It kind of put an end to his book-gifting, didn’t it? Oh, he could break into the Yamanaka compound and continue leaving things for Sakura, but the clan as a whole had a higher number of sensors than the other clans combined, so it wouldn’t go entirely unnoticed. And he really, really didn’t want to have to explain to Yamanaka Inoichi why he’d snuck into the bedroom of a sleeping preteen.

He’d rather throw himself off the top of Hokage Mountain than have Anri catch him. There really was truth to the saying that a mother’s wrath was the most fearsome and terrible of all, and if Yamanaka Anri didn’t already see the pinkette as a daughter, he’d wear one of Gai’s jumpsuits for a month.

“So you’re going to play sensei with them, then?” Shaking himself out of the disturbing mental image he’d conjured of himself in bright green spandex, Kakashi immediately jumped on the fact that not only had he been coaxed out of hiding by one of the ten-year-olds, but had likely witnessed Sakura’s chakra control up close. It was easy to put two and two together- he wasn’t called a genius for nothing, after all.

“You sound a little too smug for someone who’s spying on a bunch of kids against Hokage’s orders,” Genma retorted, peering around before slipping his mask up. It got hot under those things, and in the intense, humid heat of a Konoha summer? The ANBU captain was surprised it had taken Genma that long to break protocol.

Rather than get offended by his friend’s comment, Kakashi snorted.

“I’m just saying, it sounds like you were awfully willing to take on the job for someone who told Lord Third he’d rather take a year-long mission to Numa than get assigned a genin team.” The masked man gave one of his crinkly eye-smiles as he effortlessly dodged a hail of senbon from the brunet.

“Oh, fuck off, Hatake. Like you wouldn’t be doing the same thing if you weren’t literally banned from making contact with the kid.” There was a pause, then, so quietly Kakashi himself could barely pick it up, the other man murmured, “Which is pretty fucked up of the old man, y’know.”

Something in Kakashi’s chest ached.

“Yeah.” It was all he could really say, because wasn’t he just as much at fault? He hadn’t protested the rule after a perfunctory bid at adopting the newborn that had been immediately shot down due to Kakashi's age, hadn’t done anything but rolled over and let himself be used as the village’s most prized killing machine. He’d excused himself, once he’d emerged from the near catatonic-state he’d fallen in after his sensei’s death, that he was too young to care for a baby. The orphanage would be a better place, and didn’t the Third know better? He wasn’t only the Hokage, but had been a father himself, so surely he knew the needs of a baby better.

It was really only after he’d spied on Naruto and his new friends that day two months ago that he began to emerge from the haze he’d sunk himself into.

It was his fault. His fault Naruto had been so mistreated, his fault the boy hadn’t known real, genuine love until a little pastel civilian and a mouthy Yamanaka took him under their wings.

It had always been Kakashi’s fault, and-

“Hey, no moping. For one, it’s depressing as shit, and for two, it’s not your fault- whatever it is you’re blaming yourself for.” Genma could read him like a book sometimes, and it was mildly disturbing for a man who’d always kept his emotions close to his chest.

“Yugao’s probably on board for some mild disobedience, and I kind of want to see what sort of menaces they’ll be once they get swords in their hands.” The brunet had a maniacal gleam in his eyes, grin reminiscent of Anko’s when she was recounting using a new toy at work. “They’re gonna be a bunch of little baby badasses. Or lose an eye. Maybe both.”

He didn’t look too disturbed by the prospect of children losing limbs or eyes, but then again, they’d both been kids in the Third War, and no one got through that alive without being at least a little messed up.

“Anyway, gotta give my report to the old man. Just give me whatever books you want Pinky to have, and I’ll get ‘em to her.” Genma slipped his mask back over his face, then turned to face Kakashi a final time. “Can you believe her parents named her Sakura? With that hair? Madara’s left nut.”

And then, he was gone. If Kakashi was smiling more genuinely beneath his mask, well, no one was around to see.

He took his time to lounge, stretching out on his chosen tree limb and whipping out his trusty copy of Icha Icha, though he didn’t actually take in any of the words on the page. No, his mind was sifting through possibilities.

There was a lot to be said for the Third. He’d been the most beloved student of his predecessor, Senju Tobirama, and had a reputation for acquiring knowledge as easily as breathing- Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn’t nicknamed The Professor for nothing, after all. With his discipleship under the Second, however, came a friendship with the most dangerous man in Konoha.

Shimura Danzo had a knack for corrupting any chosen target, as evidenced by the brutal efficiency of the (allegedly disbanded) Root program. He’d turned that talent onto his friend, the man who he undoubtedly believed had stolen the title of Hokage from right underneath his nose. While it had been a much longer, drawn out process than what was used on his paramilitary group, it was becoming clearer and clearer to those around the aged man that he wasn’t as forthright and honorable as he had once been.

In all honesty, Danzo was the one running the show by then, albeit from the shadows. Kakashi had just been too mindlessly loyal, too wrung out from all his losses, to care.

But now, Kakashi was waking up from his stupor. All thanks to a bunch of loud-mouthed ten-year-olds, no less. It was time to do something, before any other innocent lives were ruined. He’d have to be careful, more so than ever before, but with Genma on his side, it wouldn’t be quite so hard. He also knew his fellow Team Ro member probably wouldn’t be averse to getting in on any plans, even before Genma said anything.

Yugao harbored a very well-hidden desire to retire from ANBU and take a genin team, after all.

So, he interrupted the woman’s leisurely breakfast with Hayate the next morning by appearing in the window of her kitchen, getting a pancake to the face for his troubles.

“I have an idea.” His opening was, admittedly, rather lackluster, but he’d been busy pinching off a piece of his gifted pancake to come up with anything flashy. (There had been legitimate fights, with kunai and everything, over Uzuki Yugao’s cooking while Team Ro was on extended missions, and he wasn’t about to waste the chance to eat some without having to put anyone in a headlock for it.)

“You know how you’ve always wanted a few little bratlings to teach?”

Hayate tried to choke down his laughter, earning a glare from his girlfriend. It didn’t last long, though, and with a sigh, she slid the last pancake onto a plate and settled into her seat.

“Alright, I’m listening.”

Since Yugao was usually put on Naruto-watch at least a handful of times during any mandated break from ANBU missions, such as the one Team Ro was on at the moment, she was familiar with the odd trio of jinchuuriki, Yamanaka heiress, and brightly-colored civilian-born. And, just like Genma and Kakashi, seemed to have developed a soft spot for them.

She pretended to hem and haw over the prospect, but the silver haired man knew she’d agree in the end, when he mentioned how well he thought the pink one would do with a tanto and her dark eyes lit up.

“As long as we keep it off-the-record, I suppose…” Of course, it could only be when she had Naruto-watch, and when others weren’t around. But even two or three sessions a month would be better than nothing. The Academy didn’t teach true survival skills anymore, relying instead on shinobi parents to do most of the work at home.

In the case of orphans or civilians, it left an ever-widening gap. There was a good reason people thought of such students as future cannon fodder, and it wasn’t for any lack of effort on the end of the children.

“Great, we’ll just keep this our little secret, yes?” Eye crinkling shut in a smile, he gave the couple a salute. “Well, see you around. Thanks for the breakfast!”

He was gone in a swirl of leaves before his teammate could lob the frying pan at him.

Now, time to pick out some more books.

Idly, he wondered if he had that old copy of Kushina-nee’s sealing notes from her Academy days. The young man was pretty sure it had been in the stack of papers willed to him by the couple almost a decade ago- the ones that had actually been given to him, instead of destroyed or hidden away by Hiruzen.

Maybe… maybe it wasn’t treason to think ill of his Hokage, if Kakashi realized he was intentionally making his life, and Naruto’s, miserable. Maybe it was just common sense.

But what was he going to do about it?

Chapter Text

“Hey, Sakura-chan, what did you get for number seven?” Naruto rolled on top of Sakura as she lay stretched out on the floor of the Yamanaka’s living room, trying to peek over the pinkette’s shoulder at the math worksheet she’d just finished. Sakura’s only response was a soft oof as the air was pressed out of her lungs by the boy’s body weight.

“Oi, if you’re cheating, I am too!” Ino flopped down next to her two best friends, pressing her side snugly against Sakura’s as she stuck her head right underneath the other girl’s, intent on doing exactly what she’d said.

Sakura was left with a mouth full of ponytail, and an inability to move. She was, quite literally, trapped by the two blondes.

“I think you’re suffocating Pinky.”

Naruto’s weight instantly vanished from atop her, accidentally jabbing a foot into what she was pretty sure was her kidney, right as Ino’s head knocked painfully into her chin.

“Gecko-sensei!” Naruto and Ino chirped in unison, enthusiastically rushing to greet him as he peered into the house from the open window.

Sakura, still in pain, only let out a groan. It drew all three sets of eyes onto her pitiful form, now lying boneless with her face pressed into the carpet.

“Oh shit! Are you okay, Forehead?!” Ino returned to her side in an instant. Naruto swiftly followed, and then, Gecko-sensei was right there looming over her as well.

“Just,” Sakura paused to try and make her voice sound less wheezy, “Just gimme a second.” Weakly, she lifted a hand and fluttered it in Gecko-sensei’s direction, trying to bid him to start explaining what they’d be doing that day.

“Well, after that display of everyone’s lack of spatial awareness, I’m not sure about what I had originally planned.” The man saw Naruto’s mouth open in preparation to ask a question, and headed him off, “It means you don’t understand just where your body is in a given space- like your foot trying to pop Pinky’s spleen when you got up just now.”

Naruto’s mouth snapped shut, and he looked down at Sakura apologetically. She gave him a smile and a thumbs up in return, trying to say all is forgiven without interrupting their teacher. Slowly, she rolled herself onto her back and into a sitting position, then stood up.

“Anyway,” the Black Ops agent continued, after pausing to allow Sakura time to get up, “Since you’ve mostly got tree-walking down,” his mask turned to face Naruto, who still had the occasional hiccup with getting his feet to stay stuck instead of just… blasting through the bark, “I was thinking we could move on to some more advanced weapons stuff. But after that display, I’m not entirely sure-”

“Aww, come on, Geko-sensei!” The blond boy protested loudly, looking to his two friends for backup.

“Yeah, we’re totally responsible enough. Dad lets us practice all the time!” Ino, of course, neglected to mention that it was only under strict supervision, but the pinkette knew that Genma already knew that. If he’d been assigned to watch Naruto (for reasons the trio still hadn’t figured out), then he’d definitely seen more than one session of Yamanaka adults trying to make sure no one lost an eye.

“Please, Gecko-sensei?” Sakura finally added her plea in, clasping her hands together under her still-tender chin and batting her eyelashes up at him, just like she’d seen Ino do a million times with various authority figures through the years.

“Weeeeelllll,” he stretched out the word in deliberation, tapping his chin in a gesture that indicated thinking. “If you brats finish whatever homework you were doing, and get through the warm-up routine, I suppose we can try.”

A chorus of cheers rose up from the children, all of them rushing back to their work in haste to finish it.

Sakura’s, of course, was already finished- she’d been waiting for the other two to announce they were done when Gecko-sensei had appeared. While she didn’t necessarily condone cheating on stuff like homework, since the formulas were going to be useful to them in the field, maybe just this once… Besides, wasn’t a good ninja able to cheat without getting caught? And the faster they all finished, the faster they could get to training!

Their teacher nipped that idea in the bud, though, as if he were able to see into Sakura’s thoughts.

“No copying Pinky’s work, either. All that stuff is going to help you with what we’re learning, anyway, so the faster you understand it, the faster you’ll get good at it.” He snatched the pinkette’s worksheet up from the floor, then gestured for her to come stand before him.

“Your strength and stamina still need a lot of work,” he observed, “And your reserves are still nowhere near where they should be.” Then, seeing her head hanging in defeated understanding, he patted her head, careful not to disturb the long strands from their braid. “But you’re getting there, Haruno. So while the less academically gifted of us try to puzzle through their homework,” he pointedly ignored the two shouts of offense that rose from Ino and Naruto, “You’ll be doing some circuits.”

He promptly set her to doing pushups, crunches, planks, squats, and all manner of calisthenics that were supposed to help strengthen her noodle arms, as Ino dubbed them.

The pushups and planks got suspiciously easier mid-way through her fourth circuit, but the pinkette just assumed that was part of getting stronger. Until her teacher launched a decorative cushion from the couch at her head, making her arms give out beneath her mid-pushup.

“Hey, no chakra enhancement! You’re earning those muscles naturally.” He tilted his head thoughtfully, then added, “For now, at least.”

“Isn’t chakra enhancement what Lady Tsunade does?” Sakura paused in resuming her set to look at Gecko-sensei. “But that’s supposed to like, crumble rocks and stuff, isn’t it?”

“Hashirama’s saggy- You were doing that without knowing?” There was something to the masked man’s voice, something higher pitched and a little hysterical.

“Uhh, I guess so? I mean, I could feel some stuff with my arms getting easier, but I didn’t really think about sending my chakra to them or anything.” Emerald eyes filled with worry. “Is that bad?”

Gecko-sensei muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, “Fucking baby prodigies,” and Ino, who was sitting closer to the man, snorted, but Sakura couldn’t quite hear him.

“Right, just… just finish up that set while I sit here and rethink my life.” The man proceeded to flop back dramatically onto the couch, one arm tossed over his eyes in a carbon copy of Ino’s usual dramatics.

It took a few minutes for the three children to get their giggling under control and finish their assigned tasks. Naruto managed to pull their teacher out of his funk by waving his worksheet in front of the man’s mask and pointing towards the last question he had to finish- the dreaded number seven, which he’d been asking Sakura about earlier.

“Since Sakura’s not allowed, can you help me with this one, Gecko-sensei?” And so, the trained, elite assassin moved to sit on the floor beside the tiny blond child in order to walk him through the finer points of kunai trajectory in windy conditions.

It gave Sakura a chance to take a break, once she finished her set as instructed. Just a moment or two, but she moved to collapse gratefully on the floor of the kitchen, the cool tile a welcome relief. Ino abandoned her completed homework to plop down next to the pinkette. Neither girl spoke for a moment, just enjoying the background noise of Naruto asking a million questions of an increasingly harried Gecko-sensei.

“You think the stuff tomorrow night is gonna go okay?” Sakura pulled herself into a sitting position as she spoke, using it as an excuse to delay looking at the blonde for as long as she could. Eventually, however, she had to let her gaze drift to the cornflower blue of Ino’s. She knew the other girl could see her nervousness, and welcomed the hug she got tugged into.

“Of course it will! Mom said so, didn’t she? Plus, Chouji’s dad is super nice, and since you’re smart, Shikamaru’s dad will probably think you’re useful enough to go along with it. You might get roped into playing shogi, though. Ugh.” It wasn’t the first time Ino had made her distaste for that old man game known, and it definitely wouldn’t be the last. It did manage to bring a smile to Sakura’s face, though, even as she pulled back from the hug so they could help each other up from the floor.

As long as Sakura had been friends with Ino, it would be her first time going to an official Ino-Shika-Cho event. Naruto didn’t seem to be nearly so nervous, but he wasn’t the one about whom a sponsorship petition was being discussed. Not yet, anyway.

“Yeah,” the pinkette sounded unsure at first, but after a (thankfully light) pinch to her arm from Ino, she firmed up her tone. “Yeah, you’re right. I guess I’m just nervous because my pa- Because Mebuki and Kizashi are due back soon.” It was the second week of August, and she had anywhere between one to three more weeks before the inevitable fallout.

“You’re damn right, I’m right,” Ino sniffed, tossing her head back in feigned indignation for a moment, before grinning over at her oldest friend. “Besides, we’re gonna finish getting your stuff tonight, and then you won’t have to see them.” She dropped her voice to a whisper, leaning in to speak her next words directly in Sakura’s ear and butterflies once more erupted within the pinkette.

“Mom and dad would probably fight the Hokage himself to keep you and Naruto safe, anyway.” She straightened back up, voice returning to normal as she added, “And me, too, of course.” May the gods have mercy on any fool who tried to lay an ill-intentioned finger on Yamanaka Ino- Inoichi and Anri would raze the entire village to the ground.

It felt strange, but in a pleasantly warm way, to finally experience that all-consuming, protective love of parents that Sakura hadn’t known before. She knew Naruto felt similarly, because the boy wore his heart on his sleeve in a way that was far more intense than Sakura’s own inability to hide her emotions.

“Alright, let’s head out.” Gecko-sensei stood from the couch, slinging a delighted Naruto over his shoulder and heading towards the front door. “A whole lap around the village-” He put his laughing cargo back onto his feet, ignoring the pout from Naruto to hold a hand up towards Ino.

“No complaints. Unless you want to make it two laps?” Sakura just knew he was smirking underneath that mask.

“But we’ve never finished a full lap before, sensei!” Sakura stepped in to back her friend up. “Well, Naruto has, but not us,” she gestured between herself and Ino. The two girls had made it to three-quarters of the way the last time Gecko-sensei visited, but had to spend the rest of the afternoon lying under the shade of a tree and sipping their way through a staggering amount of electrolyte-replenishing drinks.

“You’re not going to run the whole thing,” he said, as though it should have been obvious. “My wallet can’t afford another incident like Wednesday.”

He then instructed them to alternate between walking and running- not just running until they made themselves ill and collapsing. It was a strategy both of them should have known to use long before- they were smart girls, after all. It was just that their competitive streak, against Naruto (who ran the entire thing and only breaking a miniscule sweat) and each other, ran strong. So they tended to get caught up in outdoing each other rather than getting to a sustainable training level.

Gecko-sensei was apparently going to fix that problem immediately.

“Sunscreen first, though.” He snatched Naruto by the collar, pulling the boy away from the front door like a mother cat with a misbehaving kitten, and used his free hand to lob a tube of SPF 50 at Sakura.

By some fluke, she caught it.

“Nice save, Pinky.”

“Thanks.” She opted to just take the compliment instead of protesting. Not having Inner or the Harunos around had done wonders for her confidence, though there was plenty of work left to be done.

Once the last of them- Naruto (who had finally been set back on his feet but bounced around impatiently the entire time), was slathered in sunscreen, they were set loose with instructions to meet outside the fence cordoning off the Academy training grounds from a copse of trees that stood between the future shinobi of Konoha and Training Ground Eighteen.

Both Gecko-sensei and the Uzumaki disappeared in the blink of an eye after the go-ahead was given, a contrast to Ino and Sakura’s slightly more sedate pace (they had to reset the traps by the front door, after all, minimal as they were considering they were in the heart of a clan compound). When they could put off the inevitable no longer, after exiting the compound by a side gate rather than through the shop where Ino’s mother was, the two girls reluctantly started their torture lap.

To pass the time, they took up one of their favorite hobbies- gossip and wild speculation, with a side of complaining. The topics ranged from their summer homework to what sort of weird, uncomfortable stuff Suzume-sensei would try to teach them in kunoichi classes once they returned to school, then, inevitably, to boys. Well, one boy in particular.

“Gods, Sasuke was such a jackass the other day, I can’t believe you ever liked him, Forehead.”

“Me?” Sakura tried to sound indignant, but they’d just started jogging again after an all-too-brief period of walking and found herself unable to add much emotion to her voice. “The only reason I bothered giving him the time of day was because of you, Pig! I mean, he’s pretty and all, but he’s totally not my type.”

Thankfully, the pinkette realized she was about to blurt out something she really didn’t need to, as emphasis for her point, and stopped herself in the nick of time.

Glancing sideways, she saw Ino’s face was vivid pink- but it was definitely just from exertion. Yeah, that was it.

“I only liked him because you liked him!” Without the ability to modulate her voice due to their run, Ino’s exclamation came out as a screech, causing Sakura to wince.

“Then I guess we’re even?” It was an olive branch, a way to get out of the conversation so they could focus on staying upright and breathing- they were so close to beating their record from two days prior and actually finishing a full lap, so it would be foolish to hinder themselves by talking.

Ino seemed to be of the same opinion, and just nodded as best she could with her feet beating a steady rhythm on the narrow dirt path that made up the village running track. The next noise she made was a groan of frustration as the fence came into sight, and with it, a positively radiant Naruto.

“Fuckin’... Uzumaki…” The blonde ran straight into the fence, unable to stop herself in time, panting out the curse as her cheek met the chain link material.

Sakura, for her part, walked up to the fence with more control, then proceeded to lace her fingers through the holes so she could grip it enough to stay upright. She knew the second she sat down, she wasn’t getting back up for a long while.

“You made it, you guys!” Naruto was unphased by Ino swearing at him, undoubtedly used to it by then, and beamed at the two girls. “I told ya we wouldn’t have to go get ‘em, Gecko-sensei!” He shouted, victorious, into the boughs of a tree that leaned over the fence, half its branches dipping onto Academy property while the trunk remained firmly outside of it.

“So you did,” Sakura didn’t look up at the source of the voice, somewhere over her head. She just needed a minute to catch her breath, that was all!

“Alright my little hooligans, time to climb over the fence.” She wasn’t going to get that minute. “Using the same technique as tree climbing!” Gecko-sensei was trying to kill them. And he sounded far too happy about it, from underneath his mask.

In an attempt to just… get it over with, Sakura let go of the fence, took a step back, then flung herself up the thing with what Ino called her sickening abundance of chakra control. When she collapsed on the other side, face first in a heap on Academy grounds, she found her limbs didn’t want to cooperate.

“Nice job, Pinky.” She heard the compliment from the ANBU agent, but didn’t have the strength to so much as lift her hand in acknowledgement. Instead, she just lay there in an unmoving heap, listening to the sounds of her best friends’ much slower attempts. Considering chain link was more hole than fence, and therefore much harder to adhere to, she wasn’t surprised they were struggling.

“Well, I guess Hound wasn’t kidding when he said one of the kids had crazy chakra control.” A new voice, that of a female, broke the silence that had previously only been filled with the sounds of two blondes struggling to tree-walk- or, in their case, fence-walk.

Gecko-sensei scoffed.

“Yeah, and I was the one to tell him. I think she’ll do the best with kenjutsu, of the three. Blondie has a knack for senbon,” there was something like pride and appreciation in his voice at that statement, “And whiskers over there doesn’t really need a weapon with as much chakra as he has.” He paused, then added thoughtfully, “Wonder if he could learn a few of Minato-sama-”

The newcomer made a warning noise low in her throat, and Gecko-sensei stopped his speculation.

The intrigue was enough to rouse Sakura from her heap, just as Ino finally launched herself over the fence and directly into the ground beside her (with a few choice words upon impact).

“Do you guys always get weird talking about the Fourth and Naruto because they look so alike?” Ino immediately stopped any further swearing to focus on Gecko-sensei, blue eyes widening as they spotted the woman in the cat-like mask (or maybe it was a fox?).

“Yeah, they get real quiet and don’t let us ask anymore questions when we bring that up. Or the fact his face is like, a carbon copy of Uzumaki Kushina’s.”

Naruto, now standing on the top of the fence and sending every alarm bell about safety blaring in Sakura’s head, chimed in.

“It’s okay, I know Kushina was probably like, my aunt or something. We do look alike, and we’re both Uzumaki’s, so my dad was probably her brother or something, right?” The boy hopped down to help Ino finish standing up, then took up a position standing on Sakura’s right side, while Ino stood on the pnkette’s left.

The two Black Ops agents had grown more tense with each word out of every child’s mouth, until they were both standing rigidly on their neighboring tree branches. They were so stiff, in fact, the pinkette worried they might topple over with a light breeze.

“What.” The woman, who had very pretty purple hair, now that Sakura was able to focus on things other than her breathing, sounded stunned. It had the effect of breaking Gecko-sensei out of his stupor, though the tension remained in both of their shoulders, visible even from the vantage point of the children.

“Okay, remember how I said if I told you why people in masks like me have to follow Uzumaki around, I’d have to kill you?” Three little heads nodded in unison. “Yeah, same principal. It’s an actual state secret.”

“You also said that if we found out ourselves, it wasn’t illegal!” Ino protested, stomping one foot for emphasis.

“I can see why she’s your favorite,” Sakura could just barely make out the older woman’s amused whisper. Looking over at Ino, something hot and distinctly jealous flared up when she saw the blonde’s pleased grin. Ino should only be that happy when she and Naruto complimented her, dammit!

“What, it’s not like that Minato guy was my dad or anything, he has a totally different last name!”

A pin dropping would have proved as loud as an explosive tag detonating, the silence that followed Naruto’s offhand comment was so thick.

“Hashirama’s balls, the Fourth hokage is your father, Naruto.” Sakura couldn’t help but swear, because what the actual fuck, the greatest Hokage in Konoha’s history was Naruto’s father!

Ino, standing beside her, had been stunned into silence.

Gecko-sensei was in front of Sakura in a flash, gripping her shoulders and bending over to look her directly in the eyes (his were black, or a very dark brown, from what she could see through the slits of the mask).

“Sakura, listen to me,” she knew it was deadly serious because he used her real name, and not his favored nickname for her. “All of you, listen. You cannot, and I mean, under no circumstances, tell anyone about those suspicions. Not a soul.. Do you understand?”

Three heads nodded in unison.

“Promise me, swear on your little friendship bracelets you all made the other day or something, that you won’t even think about your little discovery from now on.”

The kids all nodded again, able to tell just how serious it was.

“But does that mean my mom is-”

“Nope, no more talking about this. Leaking state secrets is punishable by death, or at least a long stay in T&I.” Gecko-sensei looked over at the newcomer, and Sakura just barely caught the miniscule nod she gave before both adults hopped down from their respective branches to land in front of the children. Whatever that nod signified, it made their teacher bold enough to add, “Correct as those assumptions may be.”

“What the fuck,” Ino broke her silence with a whisper. “What the fuck?”

“Okay,” Gecko-sensei ignored the blonde to clap his hands, “We’re going to be steering as far away from the last few minutes as humanly possible. This,” he jerked a thumb in the other Mask’s direction, “Is Fox. She’s going to be helping with our sharp, pointy object training. Specifically, swords.”

As it turned out, the lure of real weapons, not just kunai and shuriken, was enough to get the trio back on track. At least, mostly. Despite the whole state secret under pain of death thing, the pinkette knew there would be discussions that night.

“Will you really teach us?” Sakura’s bright green eyes shone up in amazement at the purple-haired woman. On either side of her, she knew her friends’ eyes were looking just as longingly up at the newcomer.

“Why do I feel like I’ve walked into a trap?” When no one offered an answer (but Gecko-sensei’s shoulders were trembling slightly with what had to have been suppressed laughter), the woman sighed. “Yeah, kid, I’ll teach you.”

“Yeah!” Naruto’s exclamation, accompanied by a rather enthusiastic fist-pump, startled a flock of birds from a nearby tree.

“But maybe we should work on your stealth first.”

“Hey!” The kunoichi’s words had clearly offended Naruto. “I can totally be stealthy! Why does everyone think I can't be?!”

Ino snorted, and when Sakura turned her head to look at the blonde, she wore a smirk of satisfaction. Her trademark I told you so expression. Which, yeah, she kind of had told Naruto he was lacking in the sneakiness department, so hearing it from an elite shinobi must have been very vindicating.

“You’re about as subtle as a boulder to the head, kid.” Gecko-sensei chimed in again to gently rag on the boy, and Sakura had to muffle a giggle behind her hand.

“Betrayal!” In a move he’d picked up from Ino, Naruto tossed one arm dramatically over his eyes in a show of theatrics.

Idly, Sakura wondered if Fox-sensei really understood what she’d just signed herself up for.

Chapter Text

As it turned out, the offhand comment made by Gecko-sensei to Fox-sensei predicting Sakura would be the best out of the trio at kenjutsu wasn’t wrong. At least, it looked that way an hour into their very first session.

As much as the pink haired girl liked using her fists to hit things, despite the pain it caused her knuckles, there was something about the katas Fox-sensei taught them that felt so natural to her. Sakura had never been a dancer, nor had she ever considered herself particularly graceful (that was all Ino), but as they slid through the various movements and positions with their bokken, something just clicked.

The ease with which her muscles were able to shift and flow like water, even with such basic moves, gave her a second wind of sorts. Her arms and legs stopped shaking from the torturous run, and she found herself feeling, for the first time, wholly secure in her own skill set. Despite the fact she still sometimes saw the end of that dream some nights, sword pulling free of her abdomen as she plunged down, down into the icy water.

“Damn, should have made a bet out of it,” she heard Gecko-sensei mutter as he observed his little trio of baby ninja. And then, so faintly she wondered whether it had just been her imagination, he whispered for the second time that day, “Fucking baby prodigies.”

“Man, Sakura-chan, you’re so pretty when you do the moves. Like a dancer!” She lowered her bokken at the sound of Naruto’s voice, looking over to discover the boy had abandoned his training sword altogether in favor of watching her. A quick sideways glance revealed Ino had done the same thing, though she was less open with her gawking than the blond boy.

A flush crept up her neck and face, but it wasn’t from embarrassment.

“Um.”

“Just take the compliment, Pinky, come on.” Gecko-sensei drawled, standing up from where he’d been lounging beneath a tree. “Now, Blondie and Blondie, pick up your pieces of wood and hop to it, instead of gawking at your little girlfriend.”

“Senseiiiii,” Ino whined, cheeks pink. But she didn’t protest any further, and actually did as she was told. Naruto, on the other hand, sported a goofy grin- he was far from subtle about his sidelong look at the pinkette, too. He opened his mouth to say something, probably a comment about how of course Sakura-chan is our girlfriend, but was interrupted by Gecko-sensei.

“Any day now, Uzumaki.” The boy’s sly look instantly transformed into a pout, and he picked his bokken back up with the greatest of reluctance. “Can you at least tell me about my-”

“What part of state secret did you not understand?” Though his tone was clipped, one look at Fox-sensei and his shoulders began relaxing. “We don’t have a privacy seal strong enough to risk it, kid.”

“Oh! But Sakura-chan found a book on sealing, and we’ve been reading it!” The boy sighed, sounding rather put-upon, “But Uncle Inoichi hasn’t let us practice with real sealing ink yet. He said we all had to get our exam grades back first.”

“That’s because that ink isn’t exactly cheap, ya know,” Ino huffed as Fox-sensei adjusted one of the blonde’s arms to raise up just a bit higher.

“Also I’m pretty sure he thinks we’d start by making explosive tags, and wants us to have some adult supervision.” Sakura didn’t mention that Inoichi was almost certainly correct in that assumption. What kids didn’t want to try blowing something up, though? Even Hinata, the shyest person that ever existed, probably wouldn’t turn down the opportunity. Probably.

“Regardless,” Gecko-sensei sounded suspiciously like he was trying to hide laughter as he spoke, “You all need to focus on the task at hand. However,” there was something distinctly mischievous in his tone, and it reminded Sakura of Ino when she had figured out a loophole in a rule, “I’d be very surprised if one of the most elite interrogators in the village didn’t have a room in his house that afforded the right level of privacy.”

The pinkette immediately picked up on the suggestion, and her emerald eyes slid over to Ino as the three children shifted into the next stance Fox-sensei wanted them to practice holding. The blonde’s mouth formed a perfect O as the realization set in.

Of course she got it, she’s always been smart. Something in Sakura’s mind tingled at the thought, but she pushed it away as Fox-sensei moved to stand in front of her. There was a long pause, in which the older woman made a complete circle around Sakura, examining her stance from every angle. Then she nodded, seemingly satisfied, and moved on to Naruto.

Naruto, who took a moment longer to pick up on the hints Gecko-sensei dropped, but understood in the end. Contrary to what so many villagers (including most of their former teachers) thought, Naruto had always been clever. He was not, however, subtle- as had been pointed out to him many times, by many different people.

“Oh! Because Auntie and Uncle knew-” The blond at least managed to cut himself off before Gecko-sensei had to muffle him again.

And then he switched topics entirely, satisfied (for the time being) with the resolution.

“So why do we hafta learn swords? I mean, they’re okay, no offense Fox-sensei!” The woman made no response other than a slight incline of her head, gently tapping the boy’s foot with her own until it was in the proper stance.

“You want to be Hokage one day, yes?” Their newest teacher hadn’t spoken much during their brief time together, so it was still a little jarring to hear her speak up.

“Of course! I’m gonna be the best Hokage ever, believe it! But I’m gonna use a bunch of super cool jutsu, not swords or anything.”

“And what would you do in a situation where you weren’t able to access your chakra, or had to conserve it so you wouldn’t die from chakra exhaustion?” The purple-haired woman asked so casually, as though she were inquiring about the weather and not a life-or-death scenario. Though, that was par for the course in their chosen line of work, the pinkette supposed.

“Uhh, use taijutsu, I guess? Everyone says I have a lot of chakra, though, since I'm an Uzumaki, so I don't think that would ever really happen.” Naruto spoke as though unsure, and his expression shifted from resolve to some form of understanding. “But if a bad guy has a weapon, or can still use jutsu, it’s better to have something as backup?”

“That’s right,” with a nod, Fox-sensei moved back to Ino, taking in her stance in that same slow, measured way as she had with the other two children. “Though you were also correct in thinking that chakra exhaustion isn’t likely to be a problem in your case. Uzumaki were historically feared because of their large chakra reserves, and the skill with which they used it.”

Ino’s stance got a nod of approval, and the trio were set another position.

“Plus, if you really want to understand all your shinobi, as the Hokage, you’ll want to spend time in every rank- including ANBU.” Gecko-sensei spoke up again, ruffling the boy’s hair just to get a rise out of him. Instead, Naruto looked thoughtful once more.

“And all the Masks carry those little swords, right?”

“Tanto,” Fox-sensei corrected, “And yes, that’s standard-issue for ANBU, and you’ll need to know how to use that or a chokuto before you join the ranks. Though I’d say you have plenty of time to do so. Seven or eight years, at least.”

The adults that had taken a real interest in Naruto’s life lately seemed to want to let him stay a kid for as long as possible, including not wanting him to rush through the ranks, and Sakura was grateful for it. Naruto had waited ten years to finally enjoy his childhood fully, and both she and Ino were willing to try and fight anyone who would take that from him .

Fox-sensei had to be a miracle worker, because her words actually got the Uzumaki to concentrate until they had finally gone through all the katas they needed to learn that day, and were about to be shuffled off to Shiranui Gecko-sensei. Sakura lingered, hanging back just enough so that she would be the last to return her bokken to the woman.

“Um, Fox-sensei?” It seemed both her best friends hadn’t quite beaten her innate shyness around authority figures just yet. But she was trying and that had to count for something!

“You have promise,” the masked woman responded without prompting, probably taking pity on the nervous girl. “The mutual friend Gecko and I share seemed to think you’d be good with kenjutsu, if properly trained, and I’m inclined to believe it based on what I saw today. Would you be interested in extra lessons?”

“Yes!” The pinkette blurted out her response loudly enough that she drew the attention of the other three people in the little clearing. “I mean,” she began to fluster, cheeks flushing pink, “Yes, please. If it wouldn’t be too much trouble?”

“I won’t be available with any sort of regularity,” Fox-sensei warned. “I’m still an active field agent, and could get called away for an extended mission at any moment.”

“That’s okay, I understand!” Sakura was practically vibrating with hopeful anticipation at that point. She could learn to use a sword! It was gonna be amazing!

“Well, if Gecko doesn’t have any objections, I’ll just plan to drop in on his training sessions until you all have the basics, and we can set up further training once you’re all ready to move on.” The Fox mask turned to face Gecko-sensei, who shrugged.

“That’s alright with me. I’ve been wanting to test Blondie One on whether senbon would be a good fit,” he gestured to Ino. “And we’re going to pull Hound in for Blondie Two’s seal stuff, eventually- whether he likes it or not,” there was definitely a smugness to Gecko’s tone at the promise of strong arming this Hound into giving Naruto special training.

“All three of you should still learn the basics in each, though. Better to be over prepared than dead,” Gecko-sensei said it far too cheerfully, but he was right.

Sakura wasn’t about to let her nightmare come true, not if she could help it, and she would claw her way to competency even if she tore all her fingernails out in the process.

“Alright, I’m heading out.” Fox-sensei took the training sword from Sakura’s hands as she spoke, sealing all three away before disappearing into the trees.

“Wow,” the pinkette breathed out in awe, even as she walked over to join Gecko-sensei and her friends. “She’s so cool!”

“And I’m not?” The older man sounded miffed, but she knew there was no real offense there. “That’s fine, I see how it is. Old Gecko-sensei isn’t good enough anymore.”

“Senseiiiii,” Sakura protested, though she was unable to hide her giggle. “You’re still really cool! Right, guys?” She turned to look first and Ino, then Naruto, seeking their agreement.

“Yeah! Even if you keep secrets, you’re awesome!” Naruto jumped towards the man, though Sakura wasn’t sure if it was for a hug or to try and start a fight. Either way, for the second time that day, the blond found himself hanging by the collar of his jumpsuit, pouting as he realized he’d been foiled.

“You’re okay, I guess,” Ino, on the other hand, tried to play off any admiration for the man, despite the fact she’d gone starry-eyed when he’d mentioned wanting to train her to be proficient in senbon. It made sense- Ino’s knowledge of plants could certainly allow her a future as a poison specialist (something she knew Ino’s mom dabbled in), and when combined with senbon? The Yamanaka heiress could become a truly formidable assassin.

“So,” Gecko-sensei didn’t rise to the blonde’s bait, causing the girl to pout over being thwarted, “Sparring. I’ve seen you three squabbling like a flock of chickens over a worm,” Naruto snorted with laughter at the comparison as he was placed back on his feet, though the girls were less amused. “But we’ve been focusing more on individual skill and less on hand-to-hand. That all changes today.”

Sakura couldn’t help the groan that escaped her. Ino patted her firmly on the back in reassurance.

“C’mon, Forehead, you’re already way better at that stuff than you were a few months ago! You even took that bitch Ami down the other day!” The words were followed by a muffled laughter from Gecko-sensei- no surprise, considering he always found Ino’s penchant for swearing so casually endearing.

“Yeah! You’re gonna be a Mask in no time, I bet!” Naruto chimed in helpfully. It always brought a smile to Sakura’s face, to hear him refer to the ANBU agents as Masks no matter how many times Gecko-sensei and Ino tried to correct him. That particular moment was no exception, especially because, as the boy returned her smile, she knew he’d been doing it solely for her sake.

“Let’s hold off on the aspirations for ANBU,” Gecko-sensei stressed the word, but in an exasperated tone that made it clear he’d already given up that particular battle, “until we’re a little more well-rounded, yes?”

Emboldened by her friends’ attempts to cheer her up, Sakura grinned slyly at the man.

“I dunno, sensei, you already seem pretty well-rounded. You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself.” To Sakura’s delight, her companions burst into laughter beside her.

“Haha, you’re all a real bunch of comedians,” Gecko-sensei grumbled. “Now can we get to the sparring? If it suits all your royal highnesses?”

It was a free-for-all, last kid standing setup- three hits and you were out. Sakura knew she’d likely be the first to get ejected from the game, but that didn’t mean she didn’t give it her all. With only her best friends and the teacher that had proven his trustworthiness over the past week and a bit, she didn’t hold back. Not like she did in class sometimes, when they were practicing katas and she could feel gazes hot on her back and the side of her face (expecting excellence from her, in Mizuki’s case, and waiting for her inevitable failure, in Ami’s).

Of the trio, Ino was the fastest when it came to dodging, but Naruto was, of course, much sturdier. Sakura had improved in both fields over the past few months, but it would be an exercise in futility to lie to herself and pretend she wasn’t still the weakest member of their group.

So, when she landed a hit on Naruto, fist clipping his shoulder and causing the blond to wince, she was so shocked it left an opening for Ino to strike. The Yamanaka, however, landed a blow directly to the pinkette’s gut, winding her long enough for Naruto to get a retaliatory move in. The boy used his leg to sweep Sakura’s out from beneath her, and the contact her back made with the ground only exacerbated her breathlessness.

Somehow, though, she was able to roll away from the next blow Ino tried to land on her.

“Madara’s saggy ball sack!” The blonde cursed at the pain of her fist impacting the ground, shaking out her fingers as she dodged an attempted strike from above by the Uzumaki. It was her mistake that when she did so, she moved closer to Sakura.

“That’s a strike, Blondie One. One for Blondie Two, and Two for Pinky,” Gecko-sensei took a moment to announce their running tally. “Oh, make that two for Blondie Two,” he corrected as Ino managed to twist away from Sakura and punch her fellow blond in the thigh.

Naruto took it as a personal slight, and immediately launched another attack at Ino.

Sakura might not have been the fastest or strongest, but after years with the Harunos, she was certain she was the sneakiest. She used that to her full advantage as the two blondes duked it out, using both her fists to land twin hits on them (if her punch for Ino landed in the exact same place she’d been hit moments before, well, turnabout was fair play).

Unfortunately, it also meant she got in between the two, and only just leaned back in time to not get her head punched. Naruto’s fist landed on her shoulder, instead, which hurt significantly less.

“Alright, that’s three strikes for Blondie Two and Pinky. Congrats, Blondie One. You won, but just barely. You underestimated Pinky, and that could have gotten you eliminated.” He next addressed Sakura, “Nice sneaking ability, Pinky. I know those were probably acquired through some unfortunate circumstances, though, so also, uhh… Sorry?”

Having made himself feel awkward, Gecko-sensei was quick to address Naruto, who was pouting at losing the match.

“Attacking from above was smart- if we can work on your stealth,” Naruto made a rather undignified noise of protest at once again being called out for his inability to be less conspicuous, but Gecko-sensei ignored it in favor of finishing his assessment, “you could be a good combat specialist.”

Naruto stopped complaining to beam with pride, puffing out his chest in satisfaction.

“I’ll put together some more individualized training for you before the next session. Now, start your cool-down stretches so we can scram.” He paused, tilting his head thoughtfully, then amended, “Except you, Pinky, c’mere for a second.”

With a confused glance at her friends, she walked over to the spot their teacher indicated, facing a rather large tree. Once she got there, he handed her a pair of fingerless gloves.

“Okay Pinky, put those on. I wanna see if you can do something with that insane chakra control of yours.”

She tugged the gloves on, flexing her fingers but not hearing the leather creak as much as it probably should have, which was unsurprising considering the gloves were clearly meant for adult-sized hands.

“Now, you’re a fan of Tsunade-hime, right? You’re gonna write your little paper on her for class-”

“Actually, I think I’m gonna switch to the Yondaime. For research purposes,” she turned around for a moment to give Naruto a thumbs up, matching his grin with one of her own. Then, turning back to Gecko-sensei, she amended, “But yeah, Tsunade-sama’s pretty cool. Why?” In truth, Sakura already had a suspicion- it wasn’t just medical feats the Sannin was known for after all, but monstrous, chakra-enhanced strength.

She was proven correct in her hunch a moment later.

“Because you’re gonna learn one of her tricks. At least, as much as I can teach you. You’d have to train under her to really perfect it, obviously.” Gecko sensei then redirected her attention to the tree, tapping a spot at eye-level for Sakura.

“There’s a reason why people know the theory, but none can actually practice it on the field, even those with Sharingan.” And so, Gecko-sensei began his explanation on chakra-enhanced strength.

It was more than just reinforcing muscles, which is what Sakura had been doing earlier with her pushups, but also releasing a tiny burst of chakra at the exact moment of impact. Too soon would waste chakra, and too late would result in broken knuckles, and she wanted to avoid both outcomes. In short, the chakra control required was so precise, only one person, Tsunade herself, had ever been able to master it.

By the time Gecko-sensei finished his explanation, the other two children had finished their stretches and drifted closer, listening just as intently as Sakura.

“This is much harder than tree walking or sticking a leaf to your forehead, kid, so don’t be hard on yourself if you don’t get it on your first try, or even your fiftieth. You have the control, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be instantly good at it.” The man’s words were reassuring, as though he’d been able to read her mind.

Not being good at something on her first try with other watching had always been shameful for her, growing up. How many times had she heard her father tell her if you’re going to be bad at something, don’t embarrass your mother and I by doing it in public. Even though she had made many strides in reversing the harm her parents had done over the years, that was another thing that couldn’t be done in one go. Seeing Naruto fail so openly at some things, but still keeping his eternal optimism and trying over and over, without fear of judgment, had a large part in helping her reevaluate her emotions around failure.

That was why she plunged in without fear once Gecko-sensei gave the go ahead. These people cared about her, wanted her to get better, and wouldn’t think less of her when she wasn’t immediately good.

“Madara’s left nut,” she swore, cradling her right hand to her chest. After a moment, she tried with her left, but she already knew she released her chakra too soon when a blue glow lit up a split second before her knuckles made impact.

At least, she thought, rearing back once more, it doesn’t hurt as much when the chakra releases too soon. Her right hand was still smarting too much to try again on that side, so, despite the fact her left arm was non-dominant and therefore a little weaker, she tried again. Once again, however, she was a second too late.

“Fuck!”

Well, that was both of her hands out of commission. Sakura moved to peel the gloves off her hands, only to be stopped by a few words from Gecko-sensei.

“What do you think you’re doing, Pinky? Just because it stings a little, you’re giving up?” He made a tsk-ing noise. “What would Tsunade-sama think? What would the Yondaime think?”

It was enough fuel to spur her through several more attempts, but after the last, where the sound of bones in her right hand cracking filled the air, the man stopped her.

“Alright, broken knuckles is definitely where we can draw the line. Don’t take those gloves off, save it for the medic- you might jostle something even more out of place if you try yourself.” He proceeded to tuck her under his arm, mindful of Sakura’s now-broken hand, and moved back towards the fence.

“I’m giving you a pass for today, since it’s your first time breaking a bone during training,” he spoke up as he easily cleared the fence, landing neatly on the other side before setting her down, “next time, you’ll have to climb it without my help.” He paused, then amended as the two blondes scrambled over the fence to join them, “Unless it’s a foot you’ve broken. But don’t go breaking it on purpose, Pinky.”

Sakura huffed, but nodded.

“I can’t go with you, since this training is most certainly not happening,” Gecko-sensei emphasized the last words, though he was facing Naruto alone the whole time. “But I trust you all know where the hospital is, yes?”

“Yes, sensei,” they chorused, trying to look like perfect little students (and failing miserably).

“Good. Now scram.” He was gone the instant he finished his order, leaving the trio to make their way to Konoha General.

It was a quick in and out, really, with only a minor lecture on training unsupervised from the attending medic. It took longer to fill out the intake paperwork than to have the actual healing session (Ino had to do it, since Sakura wasn’t ambidextrous and Naruto’s handwriting, while improving, was still largely atrocious).

Things immediately looked up once the trio exited the building, stepping into the bright afternoon sunshine with renewed vigor. Naruto even used some of his allowance from the allowance he'd started getting from the Yamanakas to buy her a stick of dango on their way out, and Ino promised they would all paint their nails that night, after they finished getting all of Sakura’s stuff from her parents’ place (even Naruto, who had never before painted his nails, but looked thrilled to be included).

Yeah, she’d failed at her first attempts at a technique, but hope wasn’t lost. She had friends and a teacher who believed in her, and a year and a half to get it down, before they graduated and went into the mission field where she might need to, say, punch an enemy’s head into a pulp.

All in all, life was going very well for Sakura.

Chapter Text

It was almost anticlimactic, how easily Sakura and Anri got in and out of the Haruno household with the last bit of Sakura’s things. There had hardly been anyone out when the two had walked through the civilian-only neighborhood, and the handful of people they’d passed in the street barely gave them so much as a passing glance. Sakura left her key behind on the kitchen table, and Anri had the foresight to pen a quick note about just where Sakura would be staying (they never said it outright, but the pinkette knew both of Ino’s parents were keen to have words with the Harunos).

And then they left.

Just like that, Sakura left her old life behind. Hopefully for good, but it would depend on whether the Yamanaka clan could get the Nara and Akimichi (and possibly the Aburame) on their side when the petition for sponsorship went before the Hokage and his council. That was the biggest source of her anxiety about the get together the following afternoon- she needed the backing of the other two clans, because she was afraid it would fail without any additional support.

Another part of her nerves, however, came from a far more mundane source: being put in a new social situation. The girl tried to focus on that as she got ready the next day, rather than the more serious consequences that could follow if she left a bad impression.

She also had the helpful distraction of Naruto frantically going through his newly purchased (blessedly non-neon) clothes, trying to figure out what to wear. Being so kind and charitable, Ino and Sakura headed over to his bedroom to assist him after they finished tugging on their own outfits- Anri had gotten them matching sundresses while she had been out shopping for Naruto the day before, and the girls had hardly been able to wait to show them off.

“What about the blue shirt and black shorts?” Ino suggested as she sat on the boy’s bed, fingers deftly working Sakura’s ever-growing locks into a fancier braid than what the pinkette usually made for herself. “That shirt matches our nails, anyway.” All three children had hunkered down after breakfast to paint them a sparkly, ocean blue that the Yamanaka heiress had just purchased (and, coincidentally matched the exact shade of Naruto’s eyes- that she’d acquired a similarly glittering green in the same emerald as Sakura’s eyes hadn’t gone unnoticed, either).

“Isn’t that too… I dunno, shouldn’t I dress up more? I wanna make a good impression, and most adults haven’t exactly heard good things about me, y’know?” Maybe she and Ino should start keeping a list of villagers they needed to pay some friendly little visits to, once they were older and stronger (and taller).

“Nah,” Ino reassured, “It’s literally just a barbecue, super low-key.” She tied off the end of Sakura’s braid before tugging on it gently. “Actually, we’re gonna have to be really careful not to spill on our dresses, because this new teahouse opened down the street and I wanted us all to go one day when we’re not all sweaty and gross from training. These dresses would be perfect for it, and I'm sure mom bought something cute enough for Naruto, too.”

“I mean, it’s not ramen but okay, I guess. Anyway, I gotta put the shorts on, so get out for a second. Please.” Naruto shooed the girls out of the room as nicely as possible, careful to shut the door gently after them- he was so cautious in his new home, still obviously afraid that if he damaged anything, the Yamanakas would kick him out (despite numerous daily reassurances from both of Ino’s parents that it would never happen, and, trying to lighten the mood, that Naruto was stuck with them forever).

“Well damn, he even said please,” Ino noted as she and the pinkette headed downstairs. “Never thought I’d see the day.” Sakura poked her in the ribs for her comment, and received a retaliatory jab in response.

It didn’t take long for the blond boy and Ino’s parents to join the girls downstairs, and they all set off as a quintet through the streets of Konoha. It felt nice, it felt right, like she was a proper member of the family instead of just a tag-along. Glancing to her right, she caught the same emotions playing out on Naruto’s face, and something in her ached, and it didn’t abate until she laced her fingers with his, doing the same on her left side with Ino’s hand until they made it to the entrance of the Nara compound.

The trio separated from Inoichi and Anri after they crossed into the clearing where the Ino-Shika-Cho parties happened, located in a section of the Nara forest that bumped up against the Akimichi compound. The Yamanaka, ever protective of their plants, had opted to locate their own clan grounds away from the Nara deer and closer to the Aburame grounds when they settled in Konoha (and if some of the Aburame bees, the ones not for shinobi use but for honey production, happened to help with pollination, well, neither clan was about to complain). So, whenever there was a get-together, it was usually the Yamanaka who made the trek across the village, instead of the other two visiting their compound.

“What are you guys doing here?” Shikamaru apparently couldn’t help himself from blurting out the question when he saw Sakura and Naruto flanking Ino as the three children approached the picnic table he sat at. It was enough to catch Chouji’s attention, who looked up from the worksheet he was busily completing.

“Hey guys!” The chubby boy was positively nonchalant about seeing two non-clan members at an official clan function. If anything, he seemed to even perk up a bit at the new arrivals.

“We’re here,” Ino stretched out the word in exaggeration, “for the party.” And then, wrinkling her nose at the genius, added, “Duh,” for good measure. Naruto snickered from beside her, but Sakura at least tried to hide her grin as she settled herself across from the Akimichi heir, who was now focused back on his homework with a furrowed brow.

“Oh, is that number seven you’re working on?” Naruto rushed around the table to peer over Chouji’s shoulder. “It’s really hard. I had to have help to get it!” And then, plopping himself down beside the other boy without a care in the world, he began pointing out all the things Gecko-sensei had told him to help him understand the calculations.

The three other children watched for a moment before returning to the initial topic.

“You know what I mean, Ino,” the lazy boy grumbled, his favorite word, troublesome, muttered under his breath as Ino took her place beside Sakura at the table. That the blonde chose to sit close enough that their legs pressed against each other didn’t go unnoticed by the pinkette, who couldn’t help her little flush of satisfaction.

Ino chose her. Just like Ino always had, and just like Sakura always chose her. And, lately, like they both chose Naruto, too.

“Is that really any of your busi-” Ino started to retort, but was swiftly interrupted by a beaming Naruto.

“Uncle Inoichi and Auntie Anri are gonna sponsor Sakura, and also kinda-sorta adopt me, but not like, officially. I heard someone,” Gecko-sensei, of course, but he was a secret that Shikamaru and Chouji weren’t privy to, “say it was cuz the Hokage wouldn’t let them if they tried.”

The shift from Naruto referring to the Third as Jiji to a more distant Hokage didn’t go unnoticed by Sakura (and, though she didn’t look over at Ino, she’d bet money the other girl registered the shift).

Good. Sarutobi Hiruzen was a shitty man for letting an actual five year old live alone and unprotected in the Red Light District. No matter how nicely the dressed-up nee-sans, as Naruto called them, had treated him. The pinkette was sure that was a common opinion in the Yamanaka house, but obviously it couldn’t be said aloud.

It didn’t stop any of them from thinking it, though. Yamanaka only mind walked with consent, or on an enemy, so they were all relatively safe from being caught out, anyway.

“They… what?” Shikamaru looked downright flabbergasted, and Chouji paused his efforts in using Naruto’s tips to tackle his math work in order to gape.

“Not that it’s any of your business,” Ino huffed, “But yeah, what Naruto said. Got a problem with it?” She directed her intense stare solely on Shikamaru, as though itching for him to pick a fight over it.

“No, but-”

“Okay, then let’s all move on and talk about something else.” Ino’s word, as usual amongst groups of her peers, was final.

“Aunt Anri said you might be willing to teach me how to play shogi?” Sakura broke the silence with a hesitant suggestion. “I know you’re really good at it.”

It was the olive branch needed to break the tension between the two clan heirs.

“Yeah. Dad brought a board so he and I could play a few games later on.” He nodded his head in the direction of the adults, “It’s over there, though.”

“Oh,” Sakura looked over at the congregating adults, all chatting away happily, then to Ino. “Is it… they won’t be mad if we go over there, will they?”

Ino plucked the pinkette’s left hand up in her right, standing up and dragging her off the bench they’d been sitting upon.

“No, we only sit over here because they always talk about boring adult stuff. You guys coming?” The blonde looked over at Chouji and Naruto to extend the invitation. The Akimichi had cracked open a bag of his favorite chips by then, and, in a show of gratitude for the help with his math work, was sharing the snack with Naruto.

“Yeah, but we gotta finish the homework first,” Naruto answered for the both of them before popping a chip in his mouth. Chouji merely smiled and nodded in agreement, before both boys turned back to the worksheet.

Sakura could feel the stares as she, Ino, and Shikamaru approached the table that had a game board resting neatly atop it. As much as she tried to ignore it, she couldn’t help but allow the self-consciousness to creep in. She was already a guest, but what if the other families didn’t want her there, what if they argued with Uncle Inoichi and Aunt Anri because of her and Naruto, what if-

“Stop that,” Ino whispered, giving the pinkette’s hand a squeeze as they finally reached their intended destination. “Just because they’re surprised doesn’t mean you’re not welcome.”

“Okay.” It was all Sakura could manage around the lump in her throat.

Gradually, the adults started returning to their own conversations as the trio settled down at the table- Ino sitting next to her best friend, who was across from Shikamaru. She didn’t dare look up from the board as the Nara heir began laying out the pieces and explaining which piece did what (and how it was allowed to move), but she couldn’t shake the feeling that one pair of eyes kept moving back to her.

She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know who it was, though her suspicion pointed towards Shikamaru’s father.

He’s just taking interest in his son’s game, that’s all, the girl tried to reassure herself as she focused on Shikamaru’s first move. The piece clacked softly on the board as it came down, and then, to her dismay, it was her turn. Hesitantly, she hovered over several of her pieces before choosing one and making her move.

She proceeded to lose in fifteen moves. Being wholly unaware of anything regarding shogi, minus what Shikamaru had explained to her earlier, Sakura thought it was a rather pathetic showing on her end. That was why his question caught her off guard.

“You’re sure that was your first time?” Emerald green eyes looked up in shock to meet calculating brown, and she could only nod, as her tongue felt too leaden to move.

“Of course it is, Shika,” Ino stepped in for her, tone flippant as it always was when dealing with the lazy genius, “Who else plays this crusty old man game but you?”

“I dunno,” Sakura interjected, trying (as usual) to play peacemaker, “I think it’s kind of interesting.” And then, once more making eye contact with the boy, she asked, “Would you mind playing one more time? I think I’m starting to understand the rules better.”

For the first time in all her years knowing the Nara heir, he agreed to something readily, and even took the initiative of resetting the game board.

Chouji and Naruto joined them just as Shikamaru was finishing up his task, for which Ino looked immensely grateful.

“Thank the gods you two are here. These nerds are apparently just going to keep playing their boring game over and over, and I needed some more interesting company.”

Ever used to her little barbs, neither Sakura nor Shikamaru acknowledged the blonde’s insults, and merely set about starting a second round.

The pinkette hadn’t been lying when she’d claimed she had a better grasp on the rules after the first game. She was sure she wouldn’t have a real chance at defeating her opponent, not when he played daily with his father (one of the most brilliant tacticians Konoha had ever seen), but that didn’t mean she would go down without a fight.

Sakura was tired of being a doormat for other people to walk on, and while there were some people (like the Hokage) she couldn’t give a piece of her mind to, she could at least start asserting herself more with her peers. Baby steps, leading up to the emancipation she was hopefully about to get from her parents.

She still lost, but it wasn’t quite as sound a defeat as the first game. In fact, she was rather proud that she’d managed to give Shikamaru a proper run for his money, for the thirty-seven moves it had lasted.

“You’re a quick learner.” The sudden addition of a voice, similar to Shikamaru’s but much deeper, clearly an adult, spooked her, and she jolted in her seat. Looking up, she saw Nara Shikaku standing at the end of the table, beside his son, staring thoughtfully down at the board. “Inoichi and Anri said you were smart, but I seemed to have underestimated you, anyway.”

He must have seen how terrified she looked when he finally stopped looking at the shogi board and met her gaze, because something in his already relaxed face softened.

“Shikamaru could use a partner other than me, so he’s not used to only one type of strategy-making. You kids are welcome to come home with him after school, whenever you’d like.” The head of the Nara clan extended the invitation so casually, as though it were nothing. As though he hadn’t phrased it in a way that wouldn’t single out Naruto and herself, who were the only two at the table who didn’t already have such a standing invitation.

As the children watched the older man turn and rejoin Ino and Chouji’s parents, Sakura decided she liked him.

Shikamaru, for once, offered no complaint. He merely muttered that he supposed it wouldn’t be too troublesome and moved to set the pieces back to their starting points once more. When he finally chanced a glance up at the pinkette, Sakura beamed at him, trying to hold back a giggle when she noticed two little pink spots on his cheeks.

“Hey, stop flirting with Sakura-chan!” Naruto protested, reaching over Chouji to try and poke the target of his ire. A glance to her left, at Ino, confirmed that Shikamaru didn’t only have the Uzumaki’s ire to deal with.

The warm, fluttery feeling she always got around the two of them returned in full force, causing her own blush to form as she listened to Shikamaru protest the accusations leveled at him.

“Alright kids,” the comfortingly familiar voice of Inoichi broke the tension, though one look at the blond man and his knowing smirk made her cheeks heat up even more. “Time to eat.”

A chorus of cheers rose up from the children- except Shikamaru, who probably found the effort expended to shout too much trouble... Sakura could see why Ino always complained whenever she had to go to his house for playdates when they were younger. Regardless, even the lazy boy found the motivation to get up and head towards the food-laden tables. The pinkette had a feeling he was accustomed to Chouji dragging him, but the Akimichi heir was busy scrambling towards the line with an equally eager Naruto in tow, telling the blond all about how amazing his family’s barbecue was.

Sakura’s own hand itched to grab onto Ino’s, but while the two girls walked very closely (at a far more sedate pace than the boys), her hand remained depressingly empty. Lately, she liked it best when she got to hold both Ino’s hand and Naruto’s.

The adults made sure to leave half of the table free for the children to sit at the table- since it was just the three clan heads, their wives, and the children, it was nearly an even split in numbers. Chouji’s father smiled at the two newcomers in particular as he loaded their plates up with the most delicious-looking barbecue Sakura had ever seen in her life. The smell was just as good- so mouth-watering the pinkette couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so excited to eat something that wasn’t tempura or dessert.

She was ashamed to say she had been so focused on the food that she could barely focus on the introductions extended to her and Naruto by the Nara and Akimichi adults, but she managed to get through with some measure of grace. She really liked Maimi, Chouji’s mom, because she made sure to compliment Sakura by saying she’d heard the girl was the top in academics for her class- usually people went straight to making over her hair, so it was a nice change-up.

Maimi-san also looked like she gave amazing hugs, but Sakura wasn't sure if she'd ever have a close enough relationship to the woman to test that theory.

Sitting between her two best friends, she tried very carefully not to inhale her food. Not only was she trying to put on a show of good manners, but as Ino had mentioned, they needed to keep their dresses clean. The boys, however, had no such compunctions, and dove into their food fearlessly.

“You’ve outdone yourself, Chouza,” she heard Ino’s dad compliment after a few moments of concentrated eating. It broke the hush that had descended upon the table, and soon enough, casual conversation had started up amongst the adults. Everything from how wrong the weather forecast had been that week to some of the interpersonal gossip going around at jounin headquarters (albeit heavily censored for the little ears listening in).

With such good food and such a pleasant buzz of conversation, Sakura found the knot of tension in her stomach unwinding, enough so that she was able to finally join in the conversation amongst the other four children about their progress on summer homework and whether they thought they’d get to work with sharper weapons during spars next semester. The general consensus was that no one had finished their history report, but everyone except Shikamaru had gotten math out of the way. Chouji took an extra moment to thank Naruto for his help on working through the last few problems earlier that evening, at which she saw Chouza-san turn his head to smile approvingly at his son before turning back to whatever Yoshino and Inoichi were debating.

It was so nice, surrounded by her two best friends and eating good food in the warm summer air, that she could have stayed forever and never gotten sick of it. Yet, when more than a few eyes started drooping, the adults made the call to pack it in for the night and go their separate ways. Much to Ino’s glee, Shikamaru was ordered to clean-up duty by his mother- he was still sighing miserably as the Yamanaka group left the clearing.

Sakura tried to be patient as they took a leisurely pace through the streets, Naruto chattering away about how much fun he’d had and how good the food was- she even tried to add her own two ryo to the conversation, but it was very hard not to start fidgeting with her dress or braid as nerves began to set back in. With each step towards the Yamanaka compound, the dread that she had somehow failed to make a good impression, that she had somehow fallen short in the eyes of Akimichi Chouza and Nara Shikaku, grew until she could finally no longer hold herself back.

“Did… did they agree?” Ino tensed beside her, before immediately snatching the pinkette’s hand in her own again and giving it a squeeze.

There was the briefest pause, as the quintet entered the Yamanaka compound and began traipsing their way down the familiar path to the main house.

Anri broke first, smiling widely down at the girl as she ruffled her pink locks, mussing the braid Ino had worked hard on earlier. Ino didn’t complain as she usually would have, though, because she seemed to be just as worried as Sakura over the outcome.

“They did. Your shogi game with Shikamaru seems to have impressed Shikaku quite a bit- I hear he even invited you over to the Nara compound to play his son again?” At Sakura’s meek nod, the older woman’s smile softened into something more indulgent. “You’re a good girl, Sakura, and you’ve shown real promise, enough to make the Jounin Commander take note. You should take pride in that.”

As Inoichi closed the front door behind the group, everyone crowded in the entryway to swap sandals for slippers, the man added his own take.

“Yes, you should be as proud of your accomplishments as we are, Sakura.” And then, “Anri and I will file the initial paperwork with the Hokage tomorrow, and get the formal meeting scheduled. You’ll have to come with us for the meeting itself, but that might not be for a few days.”

Sakura couldn’t help herself- in her defense, she’d always been a bit of a crybaby. That was her excuse, at least, when she flung herself at both Yamanakas in a potent mixture of relief and gratitude and sobbed while she thanked them both profusely.

Chapter Text

It was supposed to be a nice morning. The paperwork for her sponsorship through the Yamanakas had been filed the week before, the official meeting with the Hokage was set for the next day, and it was a beautiful, if sticky, Konohan summer day.

Even though Gecko-sensei was off on a mission (super secret, as all ANBU missions obviously were), Fox-sensei was still in the village for another few days, and had agreed to keep up kenjutsu training until her squad was sent back into the field the following week. The only catch was that the children were responsible for their own daily conditioning.

That was fine, they had been doing that before Gecko-sensei, and still were on days when Naruto had a Mask that wasn’t himself or Fox-sensei assigned to watch him. Naruto could run a whole lap and a half around the village without getting very winded by then, and both Sakura and Ino were proud to know they could complete one full lap themselves without feeling like they would drop dead the second they finished. Gecko-sensei had been right in making them alternate their pace between walking and running until they built up enough stamina- but the pinkette was sure Ino would rather eat ramen every day for the rest of her life than admit that.

The girls were almost finished with their lap, panting (but not wheezing) as they tried to pick up the pace for the final hundred or so meters. In the far distance, they could see a blur of blond hair and red t-shirt moving at a rapid pace to rejoin them- Naruto always got so far ahead that he had to double back to meet them at the finish line, so it wasn’t an unusual appearance.

What was unfamiliar was the sight of Uchiha Sasuke sitting under the exact tree that marked the finish line, reading a library book about the Founders. He glanced up as he heard the loud approach of the girls, and his previously neutral expression morphed into a scowl.

Ino didn’t have the breath for sassing him until both she and Sakura had flung themselves onto the ground just past where the dark haired boy was sitting.

“What,” the blonde leaned back on one hand as she sat and stared at Sasuke, the other shielding her eyes from the morning sun, “Are you lookin’ at, Uchiha?” Each word was punctuated by a gasp- maybe they shouldn’t have tried sprinting the last leg.

Sakura wasn’t particularly interested in his answer, and spent her time dragging herself into the shade of a tree two down from the boy. When she reached her destination, she flopped bonelessly against the trunk and turned her attention to Naruto, who was growing ever-closer by the second.

“Tch,” Sasuke scoffed, “Just two weak little girls, apparently.”

“Oh, fuck right off, Uchiha,” Sakura’s head snapped to face him, green eyes sparking with irritation. “Just because you’re athletically gifted enough to skate by doesn’t mean the rest of us are any less worthy.” She stopped to catch her breath again, ignoring his scoff in favor of reveling in Ino’s approving grin. “You know, there’s gonna be a point where you have to take training seriously, too.”

Whether it was when he tried to make the jump to chuunin, jounin, or even ANBU, there would come a time when his natural gifts wouldn’t be enough.

“Yeah!” Naruto had finally joined them, sprawling in the sunny patch of grass beside Ino. “We’re gonna be the rookies of the year by the time we graduate, and there’s nothing you can do about it!”

“Hn, between your stupidity and their inability to even run properly, I doubt that.”

“So, like, what’s your problem?” Ino’s tone was level as she asked, causing both the blond next to her and Sakura to immediately begin eying her warily. Nothing good came of sudden calmness in the middle of an argument, especially not with a Yamanaka.

“Besides the fact my entire family was murdered?” Sasuke looked like he immediately regretted his reply, like he felt he’d overshared (despite the fact that everyone, even shinobi in foreign countries, knew about the Uchiha Massacre).

The other three looked regretful for an entirely different reason.

“Shit.” Ino, in particular, looked mortified. So much so that she actually apologized. “Fuck, Uchiha, I’m sorry, I didn’t- I didn’t think.” She paused, no doubt assessing whether it would be alright to say what she was about to say. The answer must have been affirmative, because she continued speaking. “But, like, that doesn’t mean you have to be a dick to us in particular, does it?”

“I mean, I could see if we were still part of your fanclub,” Sakura added helpfully, drawing a groan from Naruto at the reminder of the two girls’ previous attitudes, “But we’re not. I would like to take the time to apologize to you properly for my previous behavior, though,” the pinkette figured it was as good a time as any. “I… had a realization that it was really cruel to try and force my affections on you, whether or not I genuinely felt that way about you.”

Sasuke looked hesitantly intrigued, and Ino looked… well, sort of like she’d swallowed a lemon. But Sakura wasn’t sure why, because she’d really always been in love with-

No, she wasn’t quite ready to admit anything. They were all still kids, there was still time yet.

“I guess I’m sorry, too,” Ino mulishy added her own apology. “I didn’t actually like you, anyway, I just got so caught up… But Forehead’s right, mom and dad always say consent is the most important thing in a relationship, even acquaintances or classmates.” And then, unable to help herself, the blonde added, “But! That still doesn’t excuse you being mean to Sakura after she stopped fawning all over you!”

“Hn.” It was a decidedly softer sounding noise than a full-on scoff, but it seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back in riling Naruto up again.

“You’re such a jerk, Sasuke! They’re being nice, and you can’t even pretend to be less of an asshole?” The blond had dragged himself up from his resting position to glower at the other boy.

“Just because they apologized doesn’t mean I have to accept it.”

“Why you-”

“He’s right, though, Naruto,” Ino pulled her hand away from shielding her eyes so that she could rest it on his shoulder. “I mean, it’s a different situation, but would you be okay if Sakura accepted an apology from her parents?”

“Hell no!” He glanced over at Sakura, looking a bit nervous as he asked, “You would never do that, though, right?”

“Nah,” Sakura flapped her hand dismissively. And then, feeling particularly cheeky, she added, “Fuck ‘em.” Gods above, how she wished she could tell Mebuki and Kizashi to fuck off right to their faces. If they had any faces left, after Ino’s parents got a hold of them.

Sasuke looked mildly scandalized, in that weird, stilted way he showed facial expressions, at least. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard her swear, obviously, but something about it must have-

“At least you have parents.” His tone was more than bitter, it was bordering on spiteful, and there was a deep scowl lining his features once more as he continued, “What, did they ground you one too many times? You’re so-”

“You don’t know shit, Uchiha,” Ino was suddenly right in the boy’s face, jabbing a finger into his chest. “And it’s none of your business, anyway!”

Sakura took a deep, steadying breath, trying to roll her anger back from its boiling point to something more manageable. As always, she would have to play peacekeeper. Only this time, it wasn’t just getting between Ino and Shikamaru after a few half-hearted barbs. It was Ino and Naruto, angry over the Uchiha being a thorough asshole- and Sakura herself was, naturally, none too pleased with the dark haired boy.

“Okay, okay,” the pinkette held her hands up placatingly, before using them to push herself up from the ground. She felt a bit more confident when she was towering over everyone else.

“Let’s all just… take a deep breath, and stop talking for a minute, okay?”

“Or, you could just leave. I was here-”

“Madara’s saggy ball sack, Uchiha, I am trying here! Now all of you, shut up!” Sakura could hear her voice getting more shrill with each word, her face beginning to flame not from her earlier exertion, but irritation.

How did I ever think this jackass was worthy of fawning over?

Blessedly, however, her outburst shut Sasuke up at last. He even looked, dare she think it, a little chastened.

The only thing that broke the tense silence was Naruto’s muffled snickers, which ended abruptly with a particularly painful looking pinch from the blonde next to him.

Both she and the Yamanaka took the opportunity to finish catching their breath, forcing their breathing into a deep, steady rhythm that Inoichi’s cousin, Santa, had initially taught them as a trick for calming frayed nerves when he came over for dinner one night. The man did a lot of work with shinobi mental health- as much as he could, at least, considering the Hokage apparently deemed it unnecessary and frivolous and continually tried to get Santa to take on more hours in T&I instead. No matter, the older Yamanaka knew what he was doing, and the Sakura felt her ire begin to cool with each passing moment.

Minutes passed in that glorious silence, as the tension seemed to bleed from the atmosphere.

“Sorry, Sakura-chan.” Finally, Naruto broke the silence, having lay back on the grass again, “But I’m gonna go to sleep if I sit here any longer.” Sasuke looked like he wanted to make a comment, probably a derisive one, but Ino beat him to the punch.

“And this is why everyone bets against you on the staying quiet thing.” Her words were accompanied by a poke, but her tone was soft, clearly teasing and almost indulgent.

“I resent that remark,” the Uzumaki grumbled.

“No, you resemble it,” Sakura teased, unable to stop grinning even as her friend gave an offended harruph.

“You are too loud to be a good shinobi,” Sasuke finally said his piece, but he seemed a bit more hesitant.

“Hey, you don’t have the friend privileges to be making comments like that,” Ino shot back, eyes narrowed. There was less venom in them than earlier, though.

“We’ve gotta go, anyway,” Sakura reminded, trying to stop the brewing second round of arguments before it started. “But uhh, we’ll see you around, I guess?”

And then, some wild streak of foolishness softened her enough to extend an invitation.

“Naruto needs someone who can match his pace, when we run. So I mean, I guess you could join us tomorrow, if you wanted?” The only reason Naruto didn’t immediately start complaining, the pinkette noted, was the fact Ino had a hand lodged firmly over his mouth.

For a second, anyway.

“Oh, gross, Naruto!” The blonde pulled her hand away with a squeal of disgust, wiping the palm of her hand on her shorts, “You can’t just go around licking people! My hand was just on the ground”

Naruto seemed largely unconcerned, and shrugged her words off.

“Eh, I’ve eaten worse.”

The lone Uchiha was observing the scene warily, like they were a pack of wild animals ready to pounce and drag him into their mayhem. One day, they probably would

“That’s… that’s really not the point.”

“I’ll pass,” Sasuke interrupted the squabbling with his rejection. With such a showing, Sakura wasn’t sure she could blame him.

“Alright, but if you change your mind, we usually get here at six-thirty.” Getting either of the blondes out of bed before then would result in her murder, probably. Besides, she was still sharing Ino’s room and found laying in the early dawn hours, listening to the other girl’s slow, steady breathing to be calming.

“Hn.”

That’s as good as it’s gonna get, I bet. Also, she had a feeling the boy had not only hit his limit for noisy social interaction, but surpassed it by a few hundred kilometers.

“Okay, we’ve gotta go. See you around, I guess?” The pinkette didn’t wait for his answer, if he bothered to give one. She merely grasped an arm attached to each best friend, and began walking away. (It was getting harder to drag Naruto- Auntie and Uncle were definitely succeeding in their goal of putting some much-needed weight on the blond boy.)

Ino, at least, had the decency to wait until they were definitely out of Sasuke’s earshot to complain.

“Ugh, he’s such a prick.”

“Yeah, but you guys were the ones that kept mooning over him for years,” Naruto pointed out, rather unhelpfully. Sakura took the opportunity to let go of both their arms before she finally chimed in.

“We all make mistakes,” the pinkette protested. “Besides, we didn’t really like him- we were just… going with the crowd. Right, Ino?”

For the second time that day, Ino looked like she had the world’s most sour fruit in her mouth. She couldn’t even speak her agreement, just nodding.

Sakura didn’t ask. And she didn’t dare hope.

The bantering went back and forth as they made their way to the copse of trees that obscured part of the Academy grounds, the trio ribbing each other on everything from the snacks they’d chosen to eat yesterday (“Senbei are old man snacks, Ino!”) to fashion choices (“Forehead, you cannot tell me you thought wearing hot pink with your hair color was a good idea?” “That shirt is comfortable and the only people who saw me were you guys!”). Even as they ascended the fence with chakra-laden feet, now practically second nature to them, they continued trading their little barbs.

“You three bicker like an old, married couple.” Fox-sensei waited until they were safely on the other side of the chain link fence before teasing them, at least. Gecko-sensei would do it just as they crested the top to see if they’d fall on their ass.

“We-” Ino immediately started to protest, but then paused, looking thoughtfully at the other two before shrugging. “Actually, yeah, we kinda do.”

Fox-sensei kindly didn’t mention the three children all sported blushes at that, opting instead to get straight to the training.

Sakura tried to avoid feeling too proud of herself, not wanting to get an overinflated ego and then failing to be capable of putting her money where her mouth was in a fight, but… She was good at the sword stuff, just like she was good at chakra control. And Fox-sensei said that, in a few years when she’d made chuunin, she would teach Sakura how to channel chakra through her blade. It was, the older woman said, an exercise in chakra control, of a fashion, so it was a perfect meshing of the pinkette’s skills.

When Sakura, starry-eyed at the prospect, said she hoped her elemental affinity would be lightning, because how cool would a freaking lightning sword be?, their teacher made a funny little choking noise that the kids had all come to learn meant she was trying really hard not to laugh. The girl wasn’t really sure what was funny about her aspiration, but marked it up to just another example of adults being weird.

She couldn’t wait to be a badass kenjutsu master! One day, when she could get an actual tanto (or whatever Fox-sensei thought would suit her best).

For the moment, however, the trio were still stuck wielding bokken. And, according to both Fox-sensei and Gecko-sensei, they’d be doing so until graduation. No amount of whining and wheedling had persuaded them from that rule- Gecko-sensei had outright said he wasn’t about to have Yamanaka Anri hunt him down for letting one of her kids get impaled on a real sword. Which Ino had said was a very fair assessment, a particularly mischievous grin splitting her face as she did so.

Apparently, Ino’s mom could be terrifying- Sakura’s had already heard rumors, but she’d never actually seen anything but overflowing love and kindness from the woman. Still, when Morino Ibiki was asking you to come in as a favor, to help with a particularly difficult guest in T&I… Well, the pink haired girl just took comfort in the knowledge she was on Auntie Anri’s good side.

“Sakura,” Fox-sensei’s voice broke her train of thought as she moved seamlessly through her katas. Green eyes snapped to attention, focusing in on the masked woman and waiting for instruction. “You’ll be sparring against me today. Only kenjutsu, nothing else.” She only waited long enough to see Sakura nod in understanding, before turning to the two blondes. “Which means you two will be going up against each other. But only after me and Sakura. The last thing we need is the two of you trying to poke the other’s eyes out and succeeding.”

Considering how sheepish both Naruto and Ino looked, that had most definitely been their plan. As much as Ino claimed to hate getting her clothes dirty, she certainly gave as good as she got when she tussled with the Uzumaki. She even looked like she enjoyed it.

For once, Sakura didn’t denigrate herself by asking if their teacher was sure she was good enough to be the one paired up with her in a spar. Fox-sensei was obviously the far superior shinobi, with years of experience, but the pinkette was becoming more comfortable in her own skin when it came to the art of kenjutsu.

So, she settled into position as her two best friends backed away to watch from a safe distance, already cheering her on despite the match not having started yet.

“Ready?” The older woman’s voice reached her from across the clearing, and Sakura nodded. “Begin!”

The girl knew, of course, that her teacher was tamping down her skill to be a more even match for Sakura. She would still win in the end, but it would give the girl an opportunity to grow by facing an opponent that was only slightly stronger and more skilled than herself, rather than just getting curb stomped from the very beginning.

The clack of wood meeting wood echoed rapidly across the glade, Sakura’s arms sometimes straining with the force of meeting a blow with one of her own, but never so much that she gave up. They twisted and turned in a sort of dance, training for dealing death while maintaining an elegance that Sakura appreciated even in the heat of parrying and striking.

Even though she knew she wasn’t being tested against her mentor’s full strength, she couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride when one of her strikes landed on the woman’s upper thigh. And then, after receiving a blow to her own shoulder, she struck another body part- this time her teacher’s side.

The feigned blow to her heart, though, ended their match.

As the pinkette hunched over, sweating profusely from her efforts, the purple-haired woman patted her gently on the back.

“If I had been a real opponent, you would have won.” She waited until Sakura straightened up to answer the quizzical looks on all three little faces. “Sakura, your first strike on me would have cut into my femoral artery.” Ino and Naruto still looked confused, but understanding dawned in Sakura’s eyes, and the woman gestured for the pinkette to explain.

“The femoral artery leads right to the heart. Also, since it’s an artery, it’s big enough that a person would bleed out in a very short time, unless they had a medic heal it right away.” Which, it went without saying, would be very unlikely in the middle of such a fight.

Both of the blondes’ mouths gaped for a long moment.

“Well? Aren’t you going to congratulate her?” Fox-sensei’s prompting spurred them into action again, and Sakura found herself suddenly squished in a very tight hug.

“You’re amazing, Sakura-chan!”

“That’s pretty cool, Forehead.”

Both pieces of praise made her stomach flutter pleasantly. She was thankful, though, that she could write off her red face to exertion.

“Okay, you guys, I’m sweaty and gross. You don’t want to keep hugging me,” she protested, though her attempt to struggle out of the hug was half-hearted at best.

Chapter Text

Sakura couldn’t stop fidgeting. Her fingers twisted in the fabric of her purple shirt ceaselessly, until Aunt Anri took pity on her and snatched one of her hands up.

“It’s going to be fine, Sakura,” she reassured, giving the hand a squeeze as she spoke.

“But what if-” The girl cut herself off, unable to give the horrible thought voice.

What if he says no, and I have to go back?

“It will all work out,” Uncle Inoichi promised, patting her head instead of ruffling that time, if only so she would still look as presentable as possible for the Hokage. There was a lot of work that went into the presentation of a sponsorship case, beyond just paperwork. Appearance was also crucial.

It was why Sakura was sporting one of Ino’s shirts, with the Yamanaka clan’s symbol stitched into the back where her Haruno symbol had once rested (before she stopped wearing the unwieldy cheongsam in the days after The Dream).

Neither Yamanaka had time to say anything more, as the Hokage’s secretary strode out of the Third’s office and announced their leader would see them. Instead, Sakura had to take a deep, slow breath as the three petitioners walked into the next room.

“Ah, Inoichi-kun, Anri-kun,” the old man greeted familiarly, and Sakura felt very proud of herself for not displaying the mild nausea she felt. Whether that nausea came from the Hokage’s tone (he sounded far too gentle for a man that had allowed a child to be abused by villagers daily), the patronizing use of such diminutive suffixes, or from her own nerves on the entire situation, she wasn’t sure. It was all she could do to not throw up, so her focus was solely on that task, rather than any speculation.

“You’d like to sponsor Sakura-kun here, from what I understand?” His gaze fixed on her, and she had to fight every instinct in her body to shiver. Even through the haze of tobacco smoke, she could easily make out how calculating his dark eyes were. Somehow, possibly due to the sheer desperation she felt to get away from the Harunos forever, forced her muscles to stay (mostly) relaxed.

“Yes, Hokage-sama. And I believe Chouza and Shikaku submitted their clans’ endorsements for this sponsorship a few days ago, if I’m not mistaken.” Inoichi sounded smooth, at ease while still respectful as Sarutobi Hiruzen’s gaze focused back on him. It was truly a masterful performance, though that was to be expected of an elite shinobi.

She would have to ask him to teach her how to lie better, one day.

“Yes, as well as Shibi-kun. He mentioned that young Shino thinks she performs admirably in the academic realm,” the Hokage’s eyes once more rested on Sakura, but she was proud to note she didn’t lock up nearly as much as the first time. She felt more secure, as time went on- Anri and Inoichi would never let anything bad happen to her, after all, and that fact had her brain switching into a more rational mode.

“I saw your test scores from the Academy, and I must say, I’m inclined to agree with the boy. You could make an admirable addition to the Intelligence division one day, Sakura-kun.”

“Thank you, Hokage-sama.” She even managed to bow! A full, proper thing, and she didn’t lose her balance and faceplant into the carpet or anything! Though, she did wonder why a man who most certainly had blood-covered employees traipsing through his office daily would opt for anything but tile- he was probably putting some poor cleaning staff through the ringer.

“And you’ve also been helping Naruto-kun with his work?” It felt like a trap, and Sakura knew she wasn’t prepared to finesse her way out of any trick question from a man who’d earned the nickname the Professor. So, she had to go with the truth.

“Yes, sir. He had a little bit of trouble with kanji, and sometimes it helps me remember things if I explain them to someone else,” It wasn’t a lie, of course, but it wasn’t the whole truth either. Obviously she wouldn’t divulge all their secrets.

“Well, I thank you for being so willing to lend a helping hand to your comrade, Sakura-kun.” With that, he simply dropped the matter and moved back to the main topic. It was almost suspicious, but then again, the meeting was about her and not Naruto, so maybe it was okay?

“Now, I’d like to hear your opinion on this sponsorship. Your honest opinion. If you don’t mind stepping out for just a moment?” When the Hokage directed his last question at the two Yamanakas, she panicked. She didn’t want to be all alone in a room with the man who watched Naruto suffer for years and did nothing- who wouldn’t let good people like Gecko-sensei and Ino’s parents tell him about his parents.

“No, uhm, no thank you, Hokage-sama,” she fumbled a bit, more nervous than ever. Was it even legal to say no to her military dictator? Would he make Inoichi take her to T&I? She tried to smooth things over further as the wrinkly old man raised an eyebrow at her, and thankfully he seemed more bemused than irritated.

“I’m not being coerced or anything,” she had just learned that word, coerced, the other day when she was reading a book at Uncle Inoichi’s cousin Santa-san’s house while the trio waited for the man to finish baking cookies, and she’d been itching to try it out. She only hoped she’d used it correctly.

“I would pick Uncle Inoichi and Aunt Anri over my parents any day.” For some reason, that was her breaking point, when tears, shameful and hot, began welling up in her large green eyes. “So please don’t take me away from them, sir. Please.”

She felt two hands, one from either side of her, come to rest soothingly on her shoulders.

“No, no, certainly not. I’ve had reports not just from the Yamanaka, but from a few of your former neighbors, about the neglect. I just want to make sure you understand the extent of this agreement, Sakura-kun. You’ll be a part of the clan, in some ways, but you’ll not have the full advantages of being born or married into the clan.” He paused then, and Sakura realized he was waiting for her response.

“Yes, Hokage-sama, I understand. I also know I’ll have my name removed from the Haruno family register, and be unable to place my name on another until I graduate to genin.” The man nodded, a smile playing about his lips and something deceptively soft in his gaze. The pinkette could see how some people would be fooled.

“Yes, I had little doubt you’d be prepared, since Anri-kun went through the same process herself. Also with the Yamanaka, funnily enough.” He looked amused at his own commentary, and Sakura was so eager to get the meeting over and done with that she couldn’t even begrudge him that.

“Of course I’ll grant the sponsorship. I would trust no one more than the Yamanaka to treat a sponsored child fairly and kindly.” There was definitely a but hanging off the end of that sentence, though the dread at what the stipulations could be were overwhelmed by the sheer joy the girl felt. It took all her effort to stand still and actually listen to what the Hokage said next.

“I had Matsunaga-kun pull the Haruno register from the archives before our meeting, so we’ll just go ahead and make it official, yes?” She nodded eagerly, not trusting herself to speak just yet.

And then the other shoe dropped as the man signed three copies of the sponsorship contract and handed one to Inoichi.

“I would appreciate it, however,” ah, there it was, “if you could help us with a few things regarding your,” he paused again, then tried as tactfully as possible to word things as he struck her name from the tiny Haruno family register, “former guardians. I’ve had reports of a few troubling transactions and contacts they’ve acquired around Ame and Kusa, and there may be something you know that could help.”

Oh.

Maybe the Third wasn’t so bad after all, if he was going to put her parents in jail.

…Nah, he was still a wrinkly old bastard who had no business even looking at Naruto, much less pretending he cared about the boy’s welfare. But Sakura didn’t say that, of course.

“They were never home long enough to really say anything, but I’m happy to serve the village however I can, Hokage-sama,” was what came out of her mouth, instead of her true thoughts.

“Good, good. Inoichi-kun can do the interviewing himself, if you’d be more comfortable that way.” She nodded feverishly, drawing a chuckle from the old man. “You don’t mind, do you, Inoichi-kun?”

“Not at all, Hokage-sama. Do you need the report by any certain day? I believe the Haruno’s are due to return this week or next.” Inoichi’s hand squeezed her shoulder lightly again as he spoke.

“Yes, if you could have it to me by the end of the day tomorrow, I’d appreciate it. I’d like to err on the side of caution, in case their business,” he spoke the word with a tone of voice that made Sakura realize he didn’t think Mebuki and Kizashi were doing anything of the sort, “concludes earlier than anticipated.”

“Of course, Hokage-sama.” The blond man took his hand off Sakura’s shoulder in order to bow, low and respectful as was expected (though perhaps not warranted).

“Excellent. Well, I think that concludes our meeting for the day. I’ll make sure your teachers at the Academy are updated on your name change, Sakura-kun, so you don’t need to worry about any awkward explanations when classes resume.”

“Thank you, Hokage-sama.”

And then, with final, deep bows, the trio left.

Sakura was in a daze. She could feel Ino’s parents gently leading her out of Hokage Tower and out of the administrative district, but she didn’t really see where she was going. Only the smell of cooking food broke her from her trance.

The three of them had come to stand outside of a popular family restaurant in Konoha, Mori no Shokudou. Sakura had eaten there once before (with her former parents), and knew they had some of the best tempura in town. Green eyes turned to look up at the two Yamanakas questioningly.

“We thought a little celebration was in order, Sakura,” Anri explained, smiling down at the pinkette as they slipped into the restaurant and Inoichi spoke with the host about a table for three.

“Are… are you sure it’s okay? That Ino and Naruto aren’t here, too?” Sakura asked, almost hesitant, as she peered between the two adults. The server leading them to their table had given her a quizzical glance, as though pointing out the fact she obviously wasn’t the natural born child of the two adults accompanying her. Some of her old self-consciousness began to slip back in at that.

“Of course it is,” Inoichi took his turn to reassure her as they settled around the table, not seeming offended in the slightest when the pinkette glued herself to Anri’s side, instead of sitting on the other side of the table with him. “This is a very special occasion, after all.” Then, he leaned across the table to whisper, as though he was hiding a big secret though not as big as Naruto’s parentage, which she knew the boy was planning to ask about later that afternoon, “It was actually Ino who suggested it be just the three of us, and Naruto agreed.”

Sakura felt like her heart would burst from her chest upon hearing that confession. She’d felt it before, in the Yamanaka house, but something about that particular coming-together of the other four members of the household made her feel well and truly loved.

“Thank you,” her voice came out a little wobbly with emotion, hastily wiping a few tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.

Thankfully, she’d managed to stop crying by the time the server returned to take their order. This time, however, instead of shrinking under the weight of the stranger’s judgment, she boldly met his gaze with a challenge in her eyes. He quickly averted his attention to Inoichi after that, and didn’t even look at her once he delivered their food to the table.

It was the best tempura the pinkette had ever eaten. She was so satisfied with the meal she’d consumed, combined with the high she was still riding of finally being free from her parents, that she almost didn’t notice the little glances the two adults were trading as they entered the clan compound.

Almost.

They weren’t worried or angry looks, though- it was more like the looks they exchanged when Ino mentioned something she hoped she was going to get for her birthday and the very item was sitting in the back of their closet, wrapped and waiting.

Still, the burning desire to know what they were hiding had to wait. Though, she ended up not having to wait for long. As the trio stepped into the house and exchanged sandals for slippers, her best friends, plus Santa, popped out from around the corner of the hall.

“Surprise!”

Ino immediately marched her way to Sakura and grabbed her hand before dragging her in the direction of the kitchen.

There, on the table, rested a lopsided cake, frosted in chocolate and bearing the messily piped word Congrats!.

“We made it ourselves,” Naruto crowed excitedly, chest puffing up with pride. “Santa-san only had to make sure we didn’t blow up the house when we used the oven!” His broad grin, directed up at the Yamanaka man in question, was returned with a softer, more indulgent one.

“Yes, and you both did a very good job at not causing any property damage.” From behind her, she heard Inoichi try to smother a snort of laughter at his cousin’s compliment. Anri’s back was to the children, rummaging through the silverware drawer for a knife to cut the cake with, but Sakura could still see the woman’s shoulders tremble a bit with repressed laughter.

While the adults were distracted, the pinkette tugged both blondes close to her and pressed a swift kiss to their cheeks. All three were still blushing as they settled down to the table with plates of cake, but (much to Sakura’s relief) none of the adults commented on the changes in their complexions.

Chapter Text

Neither Sakura nor Inoichi forgot about the added stipulation of her freedom from the Harunos. The cake had been a wonderful distraction, as had the water balloon fight they’d all gotten tangled in after the dishes had been cleared away- even the adults! Still, as much as Sakura wanted to end her day with dinner and reading the one of the new books Gecko-sensei had left with her before he’d gone off on his mission (Create Your Own Storage Seals would be promising if they could get an adult to supervise, and Basic Field Aid for Genin would undoubtedly come in handy, too), there was an axe hanging over her head.

“Uncle Inoichi?” She approached him as they all lined up to take towels from a stack Naruto had thought to bring out before the water fight got underway- he had used water balloons in so many pranks, remembering to dry off was like second nature to him at that point. Only Santa left without grabbing one, instead opting to go home to towel off. Once the man was out of earshot, Anri said she’d love to see his wife’s reaction when he got water all over the floor they’d just had refinished the previous month.

“Hmm? What is it, Sakura?” He turned to focus on her, towel slung over his shoulders like a terry cloth cape.

“Can we… Can we get the interview out of the way? About my parents?” She paused, then added, “Please?”

“Don’t want to lay away all night thinking about it?” His eyes, already gentle, seemed to grow even softer. At her nod, he smiled. “I think we have enough time to get it over with before we have to start dinner. Do you want Anri to be there, too?”

Sakura knew that probably wasn’t allowed, with such sensitive subject matter being discussed, so to offer such a thing purely for her comfort… Not for the first time that day, her heart seemed to swell with an outpouring of gratitude. She was loved, she was respected, and for once, the adults in charge of her home life actually cared about her as a whole person.

Instead of saying any of that, however, she just shook her head.

“That’s okay, Uncle Inoichi. I think she’s gonna have her hands full, anyway,” both Sakura and the blond man turned to observe the chaos that was Ino attempting (rather unsuccessfully) to wrangle Naruto into a sitting position so she could try to towel some of the moisture out of his hair.

“Mm, I think you’re right.” With a little chuckle, he extended his hand to the pinkette, who took it without hesitation. They only paused once on their trip into his office, so they could tell Anri where they’d be. Once more, the offer was extended for the older woman to sit in, but when Sakura politely declined, her choice was respected with a gentle squeeze to her shoulder.

“So… do you have to mind walk, or am I just supposed to try and remember anything they’ve said about business deals?” Sakura got straight to business the moment she settled into the chair across from Inoichi, only a desk separating the two of them.

“Well, it depends on what you’re comfortable with. I would never use the mind walking technique on any of you kids without consent, of course.” That there was no but to that sentiment, no caveat of unless you went against the state, didn’t go unnoticed by the girl, and she offered him a knowing grin in response.

He winked at her, a playful grin of his own appearing.

“I don’t mind, really. You know all the bad stuff anyway.” The pinkette had to immediately amend herself, though. “Well… not everything, I guess.”

A look of understanding crossed his features, and Inoichi held up a finger to stop her from speaking for a moment. He reached for a picture frame on his desk, the one of him and Anri on their wedding day twelve years ago, and flipped it so the back faced him.

It’s the privacy seal. Sakura was blown away by the ingenious location, and watched as the man pushed in enough chakra to activate it. The air in the room seemed to, well, not exactly ripple, but Sakura didn’t know how to put it into words. It was like, for an instant, a buzz had passed over her, on a mission to coat the entire office in its own energy, but it was also somehow inaudible. Maybe like a whistle that only an animal could hear?

She didn’t have time to fully ruminate on it, though, because the sensation vanished entirely and Inoichi placed the picture back down to turn his attention fully onto her again.

“Is this about your new teachers, Sakura? Gecko has been keeping me informed of all your progress. Chakra adhesion on the first try is very impressive.”

She flushed under the praise, but shook her head.

“No- well, that was part of it, but um…” She really didn’t know how to say it, and instead blurted the whole thing out in one rapid, unintelligible sentence.

“YouseewefiguredoutNaruto’sparentsarereallytheFourthandUzumakiKushinabutGecko-senseitoldusifwetoldanyoneitwouldprobablygetuskilledand-” She stopped to take a breath, allowing Inoichi to hold up a hand and interrupt her.

“Okay, okay, can we slow that down by a bit. Or a lot? Don’t worry about anyone overhearing- not even the Third’s crystal ball can get past this seal.” The blond paused, then added thoughtfully, “Though I’m not sure if he knows that.” There was a devious glint to his eyes, one that reminded her of both Ino and Naruto.

“I won’t tell if you won’t,” Sakura grinned. Then, sobering, she started again. “So, um, we- Naruto and Ino and I, all kind of accidentally stumbled onto who Naruto’s parents really were. Honestly, I’m not sure why it took us that long- he looks exactly like Aunt Anri’s friend and the Fourth in equal parts.”

All the humor fled from Inoichi’s face by the time Sakura finished her confession. He sighed, heavy and sad, before he finally spoke again.

“That’s because their marriage, and Kushina’s pregnancy, was a secret. Minato had a lot of enemies from the war, and so did Kushina, so if any of them found out they could use one to get to the other…”

“But why would the Third make it a law to keep it a secret from Naruto? He was so happy to find out he belonged to a clan, to know he had relatives who were important to Konoha! And since the Fourth and Kushina-san are… are gone,” Sakura tried to phrase it tactfully, but still winced at her own words, “Then what’s the harm?”

“There’s more to it than that, Sakura- that doesn’t mean I agree with the Hokage about it. To be quite honest, there’s plenty he’s done in regards to this village, to Naruto, that I don’t agree with. But, at the end of the day, his word is law.”

The girl looked glumly down at her pink slippers, nodding miserably. Just because she understood, though, didn’t mean she had to like it!

“However,” Inoichi’s voice had a note of something she couldn’t quite pinpoint, but it caused her to look up and meet his gaze. “As I’ve said, this privacy seal is something not even the Third’s crystal ball can see through- it was actually a housewarming gift from Kushina. So if Naruto were to wander in here, say, tomorrow after your training session with Fox, when Anri and I just happen to be looking through some photo albums...”

“Really? You mean it?” Emerald eyes sparkled with joy. “I promise we’ll keep everything a secret, Uncle Inoichi. Everything.”

“I mean it,” the man confirmed, face softening once more. “But first, let’s get this report to the Hokage out of the way, yes?”

With the big secret out of the way, Sakura had no reservations about letting Ino’s dad into her mind. She knew he wouldn’t judge her for any embarrassing moments he witnessed. Plus, he was a seasoned professional, so the man was able to sort efficiently through her mind, pulling out the needed memories with ease, and in a way that was painless to Sakura.

Still, the technique took a lot out of caster and target, and on a smaller, weaker body such as hers? Sakura could only slump in her chair, exhausted, once the walk was over.

When he was finished reorienting himself in his own body, Inoichi frowned thoughtfully at the pinkette.

“Who was Inner?”

Oh shit.

Sakura froze, like a deer facing down a fire jutsu, as her mind blanked on just how to explain Inner. It was only because she trusted the man across from her, a man more her father than Haruno Kizashi had ever been, that she felt comfortable enough to just… tell the truth.

“Promise you won’t think I’m crazy?” She hated how small her voice sounded, but it was Uncle Inoichi, it was okay to show weakness around him.

“I could never, Sakura,” he assured her gently.

“It’s… She’s kinda hard to explain? She was like me, but only in my head? Not like normal thoughts,” she hurried to add, “Like… I could see her in my head, if that makes sense? But she wasn’t a real person, just… sort of like an outline of one?”

The girl was sure she was explaining it poorly, but honestly, how else could she explain Inner?

“She was just kinda there, which was good when something bad happened, because she could do this thing where she would take the memories and shove it in a drawer, so I didn’t have to think about it unless I specifically went looking for it. But also she made fun of me a lot, so that really sucked.”

“That’s… Hmm.” Inoichi looked equal measures concerned and puzzled.

“It’s not great, right?” Sakura asked warily.

“Honestly? I’m not sure,” the man still looked confused. “I can honestly say I’ve never heard of anything quite like it, before. Alter egos, dissociative identity, things like that, yes, but this sounds more… unique. But she’s gone now, from what I gathered?”

Sakura nodded.

“Do you think,” he paused, hesitating to ask. After a long, tense moment, however, he continued, trying to keep a neutral, even kind, expression. “Do you think it had anything to do with the dream you had about your death?”

“I- Well, yeah, because I went to bed with her complaining about me not punching Ami for something she said to me in class that day, and when I woke up…” Sakura tried to look unaffected as she shrugged, but there was a slight furrow to her brow. “I don’t miss her, not anymore. She was mean sometimes, and then I would be mean to other people because she made me think it would help me get stronger.” Green eyes fixed guiltily on a patch of desk, where the wood was scuffed particularly noticeably.

“I know it didn’t excuse me from being mean, though.” She had apologized to Naruto, to Ino- she’d even apologized to Sasuke! But sometimes, she couldn’t help the guilt.

“No, it didn’t. But you’ve apologized since Inner… left?”

“Died. Inner is dead. But yeah, I apologized for the stuff I said and did.”

She finally looked up again after a familiar, warm hand ruffled her still-damp locks, hanging loose and stringy after the earlier water balloon fight.

“Then that’s what counts. And you know, you’re not going to get hurt on your first mission out of the village. You’ve taken steps to get stronger, and you’ll keep doing so- by the time you graduate, all three of you will be dependable shinobi, a credit to the village and your teams.”

Sakura flushed under the weight of Inoichi’s praise, and a small smile finally turned the corners of her lips upward. Until a thought struck her, that was.

“But wait a minute- Ino said the Yamanaka technique couldn’t see dreams? Just memories?”

The blond man looked more concerned than ever at that, even as he nodded.

“Yes, that’s right. It may be because the dream was so traumatic for you,” he suggested, but there was still a note of hesitance. “Would you be willing to have another Mind Walk done, specifically to figure out the hows and whys of that?” He must have seen some measure of alarm in her eyes, because he rushed to assure, “Not today, of course. You probably need a nap before dinner, if anything. We can go at whatever pace you decide- if you’re comfortable with it, that is.”

Sakura tried to pause, tried to seem like she was really mulling it over. But she had always wanted to know when and where Inner had come from- she was pretty sure Inner hadn’t been there since her birth, after all. Then again, maybe she had? And why had the dream killed her? Either way, the pinkette already knew her answer before Inoichi had even finished asking the question.

“Yes,” she nodded vehemently. “Please. I lived with her for so long in my head, and for her to disappear all of a sudden because of one nightmare… I just want to understand, even if I don’t want her to ever come back.”

The man nodded, brow smoothing out once again as a spark of sympathy entered his gaze.

“Then that’s what we’ll do. But we can decide when to start on that another day, alright? You need some rest, and then a good meal. And I should go ahead and write up this report.”

Oh yeah, he went in there to look for stuff about Mebuki and Kizashi, didn’t he?

“Did you find anything? They never really talked about stuff at home, only to tell me how long they were gonna be gone- once or twice they boasted about deals, but I kinda tuned it out because that stuff is boring.” Her words drew a chuckle from the man.

“Nothing really of note, I’m afraid, other than saying they were going to Ame once, and Kusa a few times.”

Sakura was largely unconcerned by the lack of help she’d provided to the Hokage. She had warned the leader, after all.

“‘Kay. I think I’m gonna go take a nap, like you said.” She brightened, even as she stood on slightly wobbly legs. “Thanks Uncle Inoichi! For everything,” she wiggled her eyebrows, causing the man to laugh hard enough he had to calm down before he could deactivate the privacy seal.

“You’re welcome, Sakura,” he called out, tone still full of mirth, as she left the office.

She was ambushed the second she stepped into the bedroom she shared with Ino.

“What happened? Mom said you had to go with dad to do something, but she couldn’t tell us because it was secret Hokage stuff?” Ino paused to take a breath, undoubtedly intending on launching right into more questions. It allowed her to really look at Sakura, though, and upon seeing just how exhausted the pinkette was, she gasped (much to the confusion of Naruto, who rolled himself into a sitting position on the bed, which he’d been draped across).

“He used shintenshin on you?” The blonde sounded positively scandalized, and Naruto just fell off the bed entirely in shock.

“Isn’t that like, only for bad people?!” He hadn’t grown up watching it performed, like Ino had, or even like Sakura, who hadn’t ever really seen a Mind Walk in action, but who’d heard enough details often enough that she wasn’t wholly unfamiliar.

“Weeeellll,” Ino dragged the word out, even as she gripped Sakura’s shoulders and steered the pinkette to sit on the now-empty bed, “That’s what most people know it for, but Uncle Santa says it can be used for therapeutic purposes, too.” Her pronunciation of the unfamiliar word was a little hesitant and unsteady, and she looked to the now-sitting Sakura for confirmation she’d said it right, grinning broadly when she got a thumbs up.

“What does that mean?” Naruto asked, bouncing back to his feet to fling himself once more over the bed, careful to avoid knocking into Sakura, though he did press the side of his torso right up against her leg, taking advantage of the closeness that had developed between the three of them over the months. “Is that what Uncle Santa was talking about with coping…uhhh… with coping with stuff like stress?”

“Coping mechanisms?” Sakura parroted the phrase automatically, not truly thinking about it.

“Yeah! That one. Like, petting a dog or taking up painting an’ stuff?” When both girls nodded at his question, the blond beamed, proud of himself. And then, his brow furrowed, frown marring his usually sunny features.

“But isn’t that technique like, not comfortable? If they use it for bad people?” He craned his head up and to the side, so he was staring right at Sakura’s face. “It looks like it made you feel sick?”

“I’m just tired,” she reassured. “It’s fine, I agreed to it and everything- it’s part of the news I have!”

Sakura felt more than a little self-satisfied at having the entire, undivided attention of both of her best friends. If she paused a bit dramatically, to enjoy it for longer, who was to say?

“Well, the reeeeally important stuff first.” The pinkette gestured Ino to come closer, then lowered her voice to a whisper. “So, the privacy seal plan is a go,” she held up a finger to her lips, to try and silence Naruto before he yelled excitedly and blew their cover. Though, there wasn’t really a cover to keep.

Then again, who knew what Mask was on duty, and if they were watching despite the presence of Yamanaka sensors within the clan’s compound?

“Tomorrow after we finish up with Fox-sensei, you’re supposed to accidentally wander into uncle’s office.” She was trying not to give out anything that could incriminate Ino’s dad, but she couldn’t help adding, still in a whisper, “He’s got photos!”

Naruto looked like he’d been told he was being appointed Hokage effective immediately. His eyes widened into saucers, hope making the blue sparkle like light reflecting on the ocean.

“You mean it?!” He winced at his own loudness, sheepishly apologizing before repeating in a whisper of his own, “You really mean it?”

“Mhmm.” He looked so cute like that, Sakura couldn’t help but card her fingers through his hair. Just the once, but it was accompanied by a soft smile. Her heart fluttered when he blushed, grinning up at her even though he had to have known his cheeks were red.

“Hey,” Ino interrupted, sounding grumpy. “No funny business!”

“You’re just jealous, Ino!” Naruto immediately rebutted her, but then, a sly grin spread across his face, “Come here and I’ll do it to you!”

“No way!” The fact Ino’s entire face and neck were rapidly turning a violent shade of pink suggested her protest was all for show. Plus, she sounded distinctly less upset and more flustered when she added, “I just finished fixing my hair.”

Chapter Text

It was the last day of break, and Naruto was not ready to have to go back and sit in a stuffy old classroom for hours on end.

At least, for the first time ever, he’d finished all his summer homework. His report on his mother (his mom!), though he couldn’t claim her as such outside of the company of a handful of people, was probably the most well-written thing he’d ever produced. A regular masterpiece, if he said so himself (which he did- it was totally awesome, believe it!). Ino’s paper on some old Senju woman was pretty cool, too, he guessed, but it was Sakura’s that really took the cake in his eyes.

The pinkette had poured herself into researching his dad (his!) and the resulting report on the Yondaime, Namikaze Minato, was one of the best things he’d ever read. It was definitely a close second to his own paper! The blush on Sakura’s cheeks when he told her that right to her face, once he’d read all the way through it the night she’d finished, made him feel all tingly inside. It was clear she’d worked hard to make sure she got a lot of information, and that it was all stuff that couldn’t be traced back to the Yamanakas’ personal knowledge.

That had been, by far, Naruto’s favorite part of the vacation: holing up in Uncle Inoichi’s office and having the two adults share all the pictures and stories they could about his mom and dad. Sakura and Ino often joined, too, but only after the adults had asked him if it was okay if they joined him. Like his feelings and opinions mattered. He’d been so overwhelmed by that concept that he’d started crying, and had to explain, through tears, that he definitely wanted Sakura and Ino to join, he was just so… He hadn’t been able to put it into words, and he still couldn’t, but Uncle and Auntie seemed to understand, anyway.

They hugged him more often, after that, and promised to let him be in charge of dinner every Monday night from then on (with heavy adult supervision, of course). Ino teased that it meant there would be ramen in their future every Monday when it was announced, but she didn’t look upset. She got assigned to Wednesday nights, and Sakura to Fridays, so they would get to have their say, too.

That bastard Sasuke never once joined them on their runs, though he’d continued to show up under that one specific tree between the start of their warm-ups and the end, which irritated him. Sakura-chan had been so nice, even though the pale boy had been nothing but a jerk to her before. Yeah, he usually didn’t say much when he saw them (and the Uzumaki could have sworn he’d even nodded at the girls when he’d looked up at his book on the Second the other day). But it was the principal of the thing!

Actually, he was pretty glad that the bastard hadn’t taken the offer of training up. He trusted Sakura-chan and Ino at their word, that they didn’t really like the Uchiha anymore, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have plenty of other reasons to not want him around.

Especially when Ino started telling him about how Senju Tobirama and his ancestor, Uchiha Madara, had totally been in love with each other, and Sasuke looked more interested than disgruntled (even as he tried to call her on her bullshit- once Sakura started going along with the blonde’s story, though, the dark haired boy stopped protesting and started looking eerily thoughtful, like it made sense).

So, when they started out on their usual morning run (Sakura and Ino were up to a whole lap and a half around the village, and he could do two!), he hoped, as always, Sasuke would stay away.

Ino and Sakura-chan were his friends, and he wasn’t going to let anyone try to change that!

“What are you thinking so hard about?” The two girls buffered him, Sakura-chan on his right and Ino on his left, as they jogged out of the Yamanaka grounds. His fellow blonde was looking right at him, quirking an eyebrow to emphasize her question.

“Oh!” He fumbled a bit, embarrassed flush creeping up his neck at the realization he’d been caught. “Just, uhh, just hoping we don’t get interrupted, ya know?”

He turned from Ino’s confused expression to look at Sakura, who had a tiny smirk on her face.

She knew.

“Don’t worry, Naruto,” she was kind as she reassured him, unable to reach over and grasp his hand or arm as she would have usually done, due to their running. “If Sasuke hasn’t joined us by now, I’m sure he won’t today. Besides, he’s probably finishing up his essay about Lord Second and his great Uchiha lover.”

He heard Ino burst into giggles on the pinkette’s other side.

“I can’t believe he bought that!” The blonde exclaimed, then, giggles dying away, she took on a more thoughtful tone. “Although, y’know, as much of an asshole as the Second was to the whole Uchiha clan… maybe there really is something to it?”

Naruto cackled, even as he started outstripping his two companions.

When he passed the spot they’d last encountered the Uchiha, he was pleased to note the other boy wasn’t there. While the assurances of his friends soothed that ugly little snarl of irritation, seeing that Sasuke definitely wouldn’t join them with his own two eyes gave him the final bit of confirmation he needed.

He was in high spirits by the time he made it to the Academy fence, scaling it with a confidence that only repeated practice had been able to drill into him. Fox-sensei mentioned that maybe, when he returned from his mission, Gecko-sensei would start them on water walking, but he’d been back for a few days and hadn’t said anything yet.

It sucked.

How was he supposed to learn a bunch of super cool jutsu if his teachers were still making him walk up a fence and spar with practice swords?

Still, it was way more than he could have expected to get before Sakura and Ino. That was how he divided his life, now: before their friendship, and after. He much preferred the after, of course. So, maybe he should try to be a little more grateful…

But really, would it kill Gecko-sensei to teach them how to do the water bullet trick or something?!

“Thinking about me, squirt?” As though summoned by the blond’s mere thought, the white masked man emerged from the canopy, right above Naruto’s head.

“When are you gonna teach us water walking, sensei?” Never one to hold his thoughts back (when it came to training, at least), he just went right for it and asked.

“I dunno,” the older man feigned thinking about it, one hand scratching the part of his mask that hid his chin. “Do you three hooligans think you’re ready to learn?”

“Of course we are! We’re the best!”

Immediately after his exclamation, the brightly colored figures of Sakura and Ino came rushing towards the fence, panting so hard it bordered on wheezing.

“What did I tell you two about pushing yourselves too hard? Especially in this heat?” Gecko-sensei’s tone was sharp, but Naruto knew he was actually worried. Still, after that one day, near the start of their training under the ANBU agent… well, Gecko-sensei wasn’t exactly loaded, so he probably didn’t need a bunch of ten year olds draining his bank account because they threw their electrolytes out of whack (Naruto had just learned about electrolytes from Anri-oba and Sakura, the other day, and he was glad he had the knowledge to help his friends, if he needed to).

The girls flung themselves up the fence, clearly wanting to just get the tail end of their run over with before they had to address their irritated teacher.

“We saw,” Ino panted once they finally landed on Academy grounds. “We saw,” she held up her hand in a motion to ask for some more time to catch her breath before she went on, but Sakura, breathing hard and looking terrified, finished for the blonde.

“We saw Mebuki and Kizashi!”

Naruto, for his part, started seeing red. He could have sworn he saw Gecko-sensei turn to look at him in alarm, and tried his best to tamp down his flaring, angry chakra.

He would kill the Harunos, if they’d touched a hair on her head.

It was such a dark thought that it startled him, and all at once the bubbling, angry feelings drained away. Instead, he looked at Sakura in concern, hoping the focus on her would ease the sensation of being thoroughly spooked by his own emotions.

“They didn’t hurt you, right?” His tone was small, almost afraid, because if the answer was yes, he wasn’t sure if he knew how to actually help her feel better.

“No,” she reassured both males, shaking her head. She was still trembling, though, so Naruto launched himself at the pinkette, wrapping his arms around her in a hug. They were all sweaty and gross by then, except their teacher, so he wasn’t concerned about anything other than making her feel better.

Sakura immediately burst into tears, sinking into the hug like it was a lifeline. Naruto tightened his arms around her, unwilling to ever let her go.

“They didn’t see us, but…” Ino trailed off, sounding much less out of breath and much more worried. She didn’t have to finish her sentence- even Naruto could piece it together.

But the damage was done.

“You think your parents would let me bury a body or two on clan grounds, Blondie?”

“I think they’ll help us dig the holes,” Ino replied, and the grin she wore had something sharp, something dark to it that Naruto found he not only resonated with, but liked. It seemed Naruto and Ino weren't so different when it came to protecting what was theirs.

“If they don’t get dragged to T&I first. Something isn’t right about all those business trips they took, and since the freakin’ Hokage asked dad to get more information about them...”

“Well,” Gecko-sensei sounded a little too cheerful as he clapped his hands, “We can plot murder later. For now, we have something new.”

The boy perked up as much as he could while still holding tightly to the pinkete in his arms. He could no longer hear her sobs, but there was definitely a wet patch on his shirt. He would kill the Harunos with his bare hands one day, and Ino could help.

“Is it a jutsu?!” His arms squeezed a bit tighter around Sakura, excitement thrumming through him.

“Not really.” Gecko-sensei immediately shot that idea down. “But!” The man held up a finger to halt any complaints from either blonde. “It’s useful. Plus, you have to know it for graduation.”

While the blond boy deflated for a moment, the words seemed to perk Sakura up again. Seeing her lift her head, eyes red-rimmed but sparkling with interest, made something in him feel all squiggly. Sadly, though, her renewed interest had the effect of pulling her out of his hug.

“Stop pouting, Whiskers,” Gecko-sensei teased, not missing the put-out expression the younger boy was wearing. “Time to get serious. You good now, Pinky?” His words were casual, but there was genuine concern in the voice behind the mask. A line of tension in their teacher’s shoulders relaxed when the girl nodded, wiping hastily at the sticky tracks of tears on her cheeks as she moved closer to the man.

And that was how they started learning the clone jutsu.

Naruto thought he’d have an easy time, making and maintaining clones- he was an Uzumaki, he had tons of chakra to sustain them! Plus, with the practice he’d been getting under Gecko-sensei, Fox-sensei, and the Yamanakas, he was learning to control his chakra better. Sakura had tried to help, but her control was so far and above everyone else’s that she couldn’t seem to bridge the gap. Even Uncle Inoichi had looked a little helpless when she’d explained that she didn’t have to think about sticking stuff to herself with chakra- her body just did it automatically, at that point, as though it could read her will.

It wasn’t just Gecko-sensei who thought she was a baby prodigy after that.

Still, the pinkette could help him with his academics, and he would be forever grateful. A few days ago, they’d gone to check their summer exam scores once they’d posted on the announcement board right outside the school gates, and Naruto had scored at least twice as much in every subject as he had ever done before.

Those scores had finally gotten Uncle Inoichi to agree to let them start supervised sessions of sealing practice with him, on Sunday evenings after dinner. Their first foray would be that night, and he couldn’t wait!

But first, he had to figure out the clone thing, because it turned out more chakra, no matter how adequate his control was, didn’t make for a successful clone. He tried again and again, only able to form single, misshapen lumps that looked more like a pile of garbage than another person.

He paused to look at the girls, to gauge their progress, and was a little pleased to see Ino couldn’t manage to get arms on any clone she made.

Sakura’s, of course, were flawless.

“Stop showing off, Forehead,” the Yamanaka heiress whined, clearly pouting as she dismissed another armless copy of herself.

Gecko-sensei, who’d been observing without laughing too much, suddenly turned towards a tree right above Naruto’s head. From the way his posture tensed up, he was probably glaring daggers from behind his mask as he looked up at the canopy.

“Why don’t you handle the baby prodigy, Ha- Hound, if you’re so fucking amused?”

The blond boy had grown leaps and bounds in his observational skills over the months he’d spent with Sakura-chan and Ino, so he definitely didn’t miss the slip-up. Whatever this new Mask’s real name was, it started with Ha. But he didn’t have time to puzzle it out. If anything, seeing the shock of silver hair sent a jolt of recognition through his brain.

He’d recognize that unruly mop of silver anywhere. He’d tried to memorize the faces and names of all his parents’ most precious people, when Uncle Inoichi and Auntie Anri had flipped through the photo albums with him.

“Hatake Kakashi!” He leveled a finger at the newcomer, who froze mid-taunt of Gecko-sensei, then vanished in a swirl of leaves.

“Uhh… oops?” He turned to look sheepishly at Gecko-sensei, and maybe apologize for running the man’s friend and fellow Mask off, only to find the teacher laughing so hard, he was having to prop himself up against the trunk of a tree with one arm. The other was wrapped around his stomach in further support.

“Tobirama’s matted back hair,” He managed to finally speak once his howling died down to guffaws, “I love you little gremlins.”

“I’ve heard that name!” Sakura announced suddenly, and without the usual volume control she prided herself on (and looking a little uneasy, for a split second). “He had one of the highest graduation exam scores in the history of the Academy! And he was only, like, six.” She added the last sentence with a tone that was a mixture of admiration and jealousy.

Naruto kind of understood- being smart had always been her thing, what set her apart from a class full of clan heirs. His own had been, of course, causing endless amounts of trouble via pranking. But he’d always wished he’d been even half as smart as the pinkette, instead- it had been like a dream come true when she’d first offered to tutor him, and he started actually understanding things that no one had ever bothered to help him learn.

“Six?” Ino chimed in, tone incredulous as she continued to eye Gecko-sensei with open amusement. “Gods, if Fox-sensei wouldn’t beat him into the ground for trying to steal her favorite student away, he’d make a great teacher for you. Two nerds doing weird nerd stuff.”

The blonde’s smile widened when her commentary sent Gecko-sensei into renewed peals of laughter. If he took his mask off, Naruto was sure they’d be able to see tears streaming down his cheeks.

“Hey, if you’re Gecko-sensei’s favorite, and Sakura-chan is Fox-sensei’s, shouldn’t I get to be someone’s favorite?” Naruto couldn’t help but pout, voicing his complaint as it occurred to him.

“That’s fair- plus you…” Sakura glanced around the clearing before speaking again, “Have a personal connection to that old guy, right?”

At the words old guy, Gecko-sensei started laughing so hard he had to bend over, hands on his knees as he practically wheezed with laughter.

“Uhh,” Naruto took a step sideways, putting at least one more tree between himself and the man. Adults were so weird. “Yeah, I guess so? But he didn’t seem to like me very much, just now.”

That, at least, sobered Gecko-sensei up.

“No, it’s not that, Naruto,” he reassured, voice a little hoarse from all the cackling. “He’s just allergic to human emotion. If anyone can break him out of it, kid, it’s gonna be you.”

“I can’t do that if he keeps running away from me like a big coward,” Naruto protested. Part of him hoped the taunting would magically summon the man again, but he didn’t really expect it to happen. Therefore, he wasn’t let down when there was no more swirling of leaves or other grand entrances.

The trio quickly resumed their practice after that, though the blond could still hear Gecko-sensei snort every so often, no doubt remembering the earlier scene.

Naruto, much to his pleasure, won the free-for-all sparring match that day, with a well-timed kick that swept Sakura’s feet out from under her- Ino had been eliminated first, and had been sitting on the sidelines bugging Gecko-sensei (probably trying to wheedle him into finally starting the senbon practice he’d mentioned to Fox-sensei a few times). That was his excuse for why his encouraging cheering was extra loud, when he and Ino were set to do their cool down stretches while Sakura tugged on the too-big leather gloves of their teacher and set to work trying to punch a hole in one of the many trees around them.

She’d made a dent, the day after Gecko-sensei had come back from his mission, but she hadn’t made it past that. Naruto still thought it was really impressive, though.

Halfway through a hamstring stretch, there was a loud cracking noise, and a slight rumble to the ground. The blond boy’s eyes, which had drifted to Ino as she was talking about what they could get for snacks on the way home, snapped to the pinkette.

“Tajima’s third nipple, Forehead!” Ino’s eyes, upon glancing over at her exclamation, were just as wide as his. And, just like his, they were filled with pure awe.

Right there, in the center of the tree trunk, was Sakura’s arm, lodged up to the elbow.

“You did it!” Naruto dropped his leg and, together with Ino, went rushing over to wrap her in a hug. They had to interrupt themselves midway, in order to help her get her arm out of the tree, but it didn’t dampen any of their spirits.

“Gecko-sensei! Did you see that?!” The girl’s emerald eyes were sparkling as she looked to their teacher for his praise.

“Yeah,” the man’s voice sounded funny, sort of wobbly and strained, “Yeah, I saw that, alright. Fucking baby prodigies.” He didn’t say it with any sort of anger, though, more like… he was giving up on fighting destiny.

“But like, didn’t you teach her how to do that?” Ino prompted, still sucking up in the hopes of the ever-elusive senbon lessons. “So don’t you get at least some credit? Even though most of it was Forehead,” the blonde quickly amended before starting to fuss over the pinkette’s arm.

Naruto could see the skin of her right arm, the one that had been lodged in a tree trunk moments earlier, was pretty badly scratched up, and even bleeding in some places. Since the protection of the gloves only extended up her wrist, and the oppressive heat of Konoha during an August afternoon meant everyone opted for short sleeves or sleeveless tops (except for some of the masks… they had to be dying in those long sleeves!), the delicate skin of Sakura’s arm had been at the mercy of the tree.

“Didn’t you get a book on first aid?” Ino spoke again, “Couldn’t you-”

“Nope,” Gecko-sensei interrupted. “I am not about to let a ten-year-old without any formal training try to heal herself with chakra. You are going straight home and seeing if Anri-san can fix this, because the last thing we need is for prying eyes and ears at the hospital to learn about an Academy student who can actually apply Tsunade’s chakra strength.”

That… was a really good point. Naruto still didn’t fully get what Gecko-sensei and Ino and pretty much everyone seemed to know- about kids getting stolen if they were too talented, but he at least grasped the basics that Sakura would be in danger if word got out.

“Do you need me to carry you, Sakura-chan?” Naruto offered helpfully.Uncle and Auntie fed him so well (three whole meals a day! With snacks in between, whenever he was hungry! And they gave him an allowance on top of that, so he could go to Ichiraku’s sometimes!), so he was bigger and stronger and could totally carry her while walking up the fence. Even if she was still taller than him.

Gecko-sensei didn’t shoot his idea down, though he’d said that after the first time, when she broke her knuckles, Sakura would have to walk herself home (or to the hospital). The older man simply waited for the pinkette’s response.

“Um, I think I can manage getting over the fence myself,” though Naruto was a little disappointed, he nodded in acceptance. She had the easiest time with all that stuff, anyway. He did brighten a bit when she added, “But could you wait on one side of the fence, and Ino on the other? In case I do lose my grip?”

She must have really been in pain if she was calling Ino by her real name instead of Pig, a fact that didn’t go unnoticed by the Yamanaka.

“Of course we can!” She puffed her chest out proudly, then rushed out of the clearing, in the direction of the border fence.

“That’s a good call, Pinky. You show better judgment than some jounin, asking for backup when you think you might need it.” Sakura flushed under the praise, and something unpleasant and jealous twisted in Naruto’s gut.

He didn’t like feeling jealous, because there was always something else that seemed to get mixed in. Something dark, and, when it came to Sakura and Ino, possessive. He didn’t want to see his friends as objects, though, so it upset him greatly whenever that feeling snuck in.

Sure, he felt it was warranted when it came to the pinkette’s… former parents? He still wasn’t quite sure how to refer to them, on the rare occasion when he had to think about those pieces of human garbage, and he didn’t want to ask Sakura for obvious reasons (if seeing them from across the street had upset her that much… Best to leave the subject alone unless there was good cause to bring it up). But the actual feeling of pure, raw anger that coursed through his veins sometimes was still new and still very unsettling. It almost felt like it wasn’t himself, having those feelings, but someone else entirely.

Naruto tried not to think about it anymore, tried not to dwell on the burning hatred kept locked behind… something deep within him. Instead, he kept his blue eyes fixed on Sakura as she scaled the fence, wobbling for just a second before slowly and steadily making her way up and over. It was only once she was safely on the ground, Ino supporting her with a firm grip on her good arm, that he gave in to his desire to compliment her.

“That was so cool, Sakura-chan! Even though it must hurt a lot, you didn’t even slip once!” The blonde practically vaulted over the fence as he cheered, pleased to note the small smile on her face once he landed.

“Yeah, that was pretty shinobi-like of you, Forehead. In the field, you can’t let an enemy see you’re in pain, so I guess this is good practice.”

“Bingo,” Gecko-sensei’s large hand came down to rest on Ino’s head, ruffling the blonde locks mercilessly. “Anyway, you three skedaddle while I hunt down Hatake. I’m pretty sure he had some new books for you, Pinky.”

Their teacher was gone before Sakura’s shout had time to leave her throat.

“He’s the book-leaver?!”

Naruto and Ino then made Sakura explain just what that meant on their way home, trying to shield her injured arm from any curious onlookers as they went.

“You mean,” Ino sighed, as though she was talking to him after he’d done something reckless and stupid, “You knew someone, a grown ass person, was sneaking into your bedroom, while you were sleeping,” her voice reached a shrill note at those words, “And didn’t think to mention it to anyone?!”

While her volume and tone garnered the attention from passersby they were hoping to avoid, Naruto was actually in full agreement with her.

“Yeah, Sakura-chan,” he backed up the blonde girl as they turned onto the street with the entrance to the Flower shop, “Even I know about stranger danger. You could have gotten hurt! Or stolen!”

Sakura seemed to take the twin scoldings to heart, and bowed her head in shame, still trying to keep her damaged arm from brushing against the fabric of her shirt.

“I just… I thought it was my chance to get better. To help all of us get better. The books were always useful, and stuff I could understand, and so I just thought-” Whatever she’d been about to say (probably something along the lines of but I thought this strange, faceless person had to be good), she cut herself off. “I guess it doesn’t matter what I thought, because it was dumb to hide it. You’re both right.”

“Well,” Ino said as they came to a stop outside the entrance to Yamanaka Flowers, “I guess no harm, no foul. But! No more secrets, okay? We’re all gonna be totally honest with each other from now on.”

“Are… Are we gonna tell Auntie and Uncle?” Naruto hated to ask, especially when Sakura seemed to curl in on herself at the question.

“Only if they ask.” Ino nodded decisively at her own answer, and the pinkette relaxed, standing a little straighter as they finally entered the shop.

“Oh, hey kids, how was- Sakura, your arm!” Inoichi had been the one behind the counter, on a rare day off from T&I duties. At the note of distress in her husband’s voice, Anri came rushing out from the back, still donning a green apron and a stray clipping stuck in her brunette locks.

“What’s the matter- Sakura!” The woman wasted no time in stripping her gardening gloves off and immediately calling up the soft green glow of healing chakra to her hands. “What on earth did you three get into?” Her eyes quickly swept over Naruto and Ino, checking for any obvious injuries either of them may have had as her hands focused on healing the pinkette’s arm.

“Tell her, Forehead,” Ino was grinning broadly as she encouraged her friend, and Naruto couldn’t help but mirror the expression.

“Yeah, Sakura-chan! It was so awesome!”

From the corner of his eye, he saw Inoichi activate the little privacy seal he knew was under the counter. By that point, the man must have known some crazy new talent of theirs was about to be discussed, and wanted to prevent any eavesdropping from happening.

“I, uhh, may have made more progress on Tsunade-sama’s chakra strength.” She looked sheepish as she explained, but the boy couldn’t understand why. It was the coolest thing ever! She would be able to just… punch a hole in someone, one day! Or like, take down a mountain!

“You…” Anri paused, thinking carefully about what she was going to say as she finished up her healing, allowing her hands to return to their normal state as she ran a finger gently over the healed skin on Sakura’s arm. “How much progress? It looks like you just punched straight through a tree!” The older woman said it with a touch of humor, but the amusement died off as the trio remained silent.

“You managed to punch a hole in a tree?”

“Yeah,” Sakura nodded, “But I, uhh, haven’t quite figured out how to reinforce the skin past my hand. It’s still a work in progress.” She could be modest all she wanted, but Naruto and Ino knew just how awesome the pinkette was!

Inoichi looked a little like all the air had been sucked from him, and Anri looked paler than usual.

“We’re very proud of you, Sakura,” the man sounded a little shaky as he began speaking. “I’m sure you know this has to be kept a total secret, though, right?” Three heads bobbed, nodding. “Just the people in this room, and Gecko, can know.”

“What about Fox-sensei?” Sakura asked a bit shyly.

“You can tell her, too- chances are Gecko will tell her the next time he runs into her, anyway. Fox is a good woman, and she cares for you three.” Anri made the assessment without hesitation, though she leaned up against the counter to support herself after the jarring news of Sakura’s new skill, and her husband nodded in agreement. “But no one else. Not even Iruka-sensei, okay?”

“Okay,” the three children chirped in unison. They would do anything to keep each other safe, after all.

Of course, immediately after agreeing to telling no one else but Fox-sensei and those who already knew, Naruto remembered the other person who was probably already informed.

“Oh! But we met Hatake Kakashi, the Yondaime’s student,” he knew he couldn’t say the words my father aloud outside of the highly secured office in the Yamanaka house, “and I think he knows how smart Sakura-chan is, too! And Gecko-sensei trusts him.” After a pause, however, he added, “But he was kind of a jerk,” brow furrowing as he spoke.

Both Yamanaka parents looked sad at that.

“He’s gone through a lot of struggles,” Anri gently laid her arm atop Naruto’s messy blonde locks, not ruffling so much as just… resting her hand there. “Don’t you think you should try to be a bit understanding? Considering he lost his teacher when he was so young.”

There was something more that was going unspoken, something other than the loss of a beloved teacher, but the boy couldn’t figure it out.

“Will you tell us later?” He asked, turning his pleading gaze over to Inoichi.

“Most of it isn’t our story to tell,” the man gently rebuffed. “But considering he checks in on you whenever he’s in the village, I don’t think it will be too hard to arrange a second meeting. Maybe somewhere a bit more private.”

Naruto was so floored, he couldn’t speak.

Chapter Text

“Why don’t any of you have eyebrows?” While the handful of other students who’d arrived to class so far had been too polite to ask (as had Iruka-sensei), Inuzuka Kiba had no such tact.

From the corner of her eye, Sakura noticed Uchiha Sasuke lean forward just so slightly in his seat, undoubtedly eavesdropping. It irritated her, because he’d been so hostile towards them and their aspirations. What right did he have to take interest in anything they did now? Gods, they’d even offered him to join them (not for everything, of course, but at least for some stuff), and he’d acted like they were a burden. Though, he'd sort of started cooling off after their first run-in with the dark haired boy that summer, even more so after she and Ino had started the Madara and Tobirama were totally lovers thing. Still, he certainly couldn't be considered friendly just yet.

“None of your business, Kiba,” the pinkette snapped, feeling unusually waspish over the Sasuke situation.

“Ooh, you got even more bite over the break.” Kiba wiggled his (intact) eyebrows at her. “Hope you can put your money where your mouth is the next time we spar.”

She stuck her tongue out at him, childishly, and he laughed all the way to his seat in the back of the room. On either side of her, Naruto and Ino shifted in their seats to glare at him the entire way, only turning back to face the front of the room when he sat down.

“Ugh,” Ino made a noise of disgust, “I wish he’d stop flirting with you. It’s super gross.”

“Yeah! Why does he think you’d ever be interested in him?” Naruto agreed, reaching over the pinkette to fistbump the Yamanaka heiress in solidarity.

“I really don’t think-” Sakura started to protest, and was immediately shot down by Ino.

“No, because you’re oblivious to stuff like that, Forehead.” She rolled her eyes for emphasis.

Naruto, in a stunning show of betrayal to the pinkette, nodded solemnly.

“Wh- I-,” Sakura stumbled over her words, wanting to protest but not knowing how. Finally, she settled on good old fashioned evasion. “It’s not like it matters, anyway. Now, can we please just focus on something else?”

“You’re no fun. We were gonna fight for your honor and everything, right, Naruto?” The blonde girl was pouting at being shot down so quickly.

“Yeah!” The boy paused, then hesitantly patted the pinkette’s shoulder. “Not that we think you can’t defend your own honor, of course!”

“Thanks?” She wasn’t quite sure how to feel at the conversation they’d just had, so she tried to just… shove it all to the back of her mind. She could deal with that later- for the moment, class was getting ready to start.

Both Iruka-sensei and, unfortunately, Mizuki-sensei were leading class that day, so both men did the rounds to collect homework. Mizuki-sensei looked positively flabbergasted when Naruto handed over his math worksheet with a sunny smile, turning it over several times in an apparent need to assure himself that no, he wasn’t hallucinating- Uzumaki Naruto had really, truly done the entirety of the work.

With the way his eyes narrowed after the fact, though… Sakura and Ino exchanged knowing glances, able to communicate with only their eyes on that particular matter. They would both be keeping a very close eye on how any of Naruto’s work that was graded by Mizuki scored.

On the other hand, Iruka-sensei offered a broad, warm smile as he stood at the end of their row to collect their history reports a few moments later. That smile faltered for a moment, replaced with a mixture of shock and concern, when he saw just who the blond boy had chosen to do his paper on. And seeing Sakura’s choice immediately afterward? His normally tanned skin lightened several shades.

Oops.

“Ahh, those are all very- uh, very good choices, you three.” Was all he managed, sounding very weak, before he hurried to the row behind them. Ino failed to mask a snort of laughter as a sneeze, but their teacher didn’t call her out on it. He was too busy choking as he read the title of Sasuke’s essay, which had just been handed to him by the stoic boy.

“Senju Tobirama, huh? That’s a very interesting choice, Sasuke.”

It was a struggle to not die of laughter. None of the trio looked back at Sasuke, even though Sakura could feel his questioning gaze burning into the backs of their heads, for fear of losing that particular fight.

That was their only excitement for the morning, though. Once the two teachers finished collecting all the summer homework and managed to get the class under control, they went right back to business as usual. Unfortunately for Sakura and Ino, business as usual meant the lesson before lunch was with Suzume-sensei.

Kunoichi classes were the bane of their existence- or at least, of their school life. While the boys got what amounted to a free period (which they only found out courtesy of Naruto), both girls were shuffled off with the other few girls in their year to a classroom on the first floor. They then had to sit still for an hour and listen to a bunch of lectures on applying makeup and arranging flowers and flirting their way into information. Ino had overheard an older girl from her clan mention that the final year before graduation, Suzume-sensei started teaching more intense seduction tactics, in addition to going into more detail about recovery from sexual assault in the field.

When she’d shared that juicy tidbit with Sakura, a few days prior to break ending, she’d immediately had to try and calm the pinkette down from what had probably been a panic attack. In theory, Sakura knew there was nothing to be ashamed of- the memories of Mebuki’s threats were still fresh in her mind, and it was only a natural reaction to being told you would be forced into… that when you weren’t ready for it. Still, Sakura couldn’t help but feel like a bad shinobi, if she wasn’t willing to do everything for her village.

Despite her internal struggle, the only thing that had soothed her in the end had been assurances by Anri and Fox-sensei that shinobi outside of ANBU were rarely tasked with seduction missions unless they went for specialization in it. Both women had also mentioned, if the Third ever tried tasking her or Ino (or Naruto- seduction missions were less common for male shinobi, but not unheard of) with such a mission and they didn’t want it, to come to them first.

The not-so-subtle implication that they’d fight their own military dictator for the safety of the trio was a bigger comfort than Sakura thought they understood. That she managed not to burst into tears of relief at such reassurances was also a personal victory for her, since she was trying not to be such a crybaby anymore.

Still, there were some useful things. Ino was good at the flower arranging bits, and since Sakura had learned so much about plants through sheer osmosis due to their friendship, she wasn’t horrible at it, either. She also aced the cooking part of things, considering she’d been making her own food for years.

Unfortunately, they were doing neither that day.

“Today, girls, we’re going to be talking about keeping an attractive figure while maintaining physical strength, something you will likely need over the course of your careers as kunoichi.” The woman’s eyes landed on Sakura before adding, “It seems some of you may have been a bit careless about such things over break.” The pinkette could feel Ino’s anger rise sharply, just as her own was doing.

Suzume-sensei was her second least-favorite teacher- she’d taken top spot for a few years, but once Sakura had noticed the way Mizuki-sensei treated Naruto… Well, Ino was right whenever she said he wasn’t shit. But to suggest Sakura’s increased weight, both from muscle and and yes, some fat, was just low of the woman.

Anri told the pinkette as gently as she could, after the girl had moved in, that she’d been treading into a dangerous level of underweight from malnutrition. Ino had also been a little underweight, though that was mostly from hitting a growth spurt a few months back. Neither girl was nearly as bad a case as poor Naruto, but the fact remained that all three needed to gain a few kilos. She’d been so proud when she was on the floor doing situps the other night and realized her spine didn’t hurt from digging into the wooden planks that lay beneath the rug in the living room.

If she’d been a different Sakura, the old Sakura, who cared about what authority figures said regardless of whether they were important to her, it would have been a devastating blow. Probably made worse by Inner making a rude comment in agreement with the woman.

Fortunately, however, she wasn’t that girl anymore, and she had a better grasp on her worth and just whose advice she could trust.

So, she met the teacher’s eyes fearlessly, a bit of anger sparking in her emerald gaze as she did so. Daring the woman to say anything else.

To her pleasure, Suzume-sensei looked away first.

The lesson continued as planned, but Sakura and Ino spent most of it murmuring to each other over their ill-fated sealing practice the night before, and what could be done to improve their work. Ino’s dad had been supervising the whole time, so they hadn’t really been in danger (he also laughed uncontrollably at the sight of his three eyebrowless children each time one of them tumbled down the stairs that morning for breakfast). Still, they wanted their explosions to be made farther away from their faces… And also by means of explosive tags. Not sealing ones, as they’d been trying to make the night before.

Naruto had actually gotten it down, in the end, but she and Ino needed a bit more work. Naruto said he’d try and explain it to them at lunch, but both girls had a feeling his words wouldn’t make much sense to anyone other than him. He seemed to have this inborn knowledge of how to make seals- almost certainly due to his lineage (the Yondaime had also been a seal master, though his Uzumaki wife had been better, of course).

Still, he was willing to try and help, and they appreciated it.

By the time lunch rolled around, both girls had safely ignored everything their teacher tried to drill into them because if Ino and Naruto thought she was pretty, which they did, she didn’t particularly care what other people thought of her looks, a sentiment Ino shared.

“Hey guys!” Naruto excitedly leaned over the desk as the two re-entered the classroom and began collecting their bento boxes to head outside. “What kinda stuff didja learn today?”

The two girls were brutally honest about the stuff Suzume-sensei said, and his cheery expression morphed into a look of concern, then frustration.

“That’s bullshit!” At that exclamation, Iruka-sensei gave a warning cry of Naruto’s name from down the hall. The trio ignored it, though, continuing to head for the exit and out into the sunshine. “You’re both like, ridiculously pretty no matter what you weigh.”

Sakura was a little pleased to note Ino blushed just as much as she did at the compliment. Just because they knew they all thought each other as attractive, didn’t mean they weren’t flustered when one of them told the others aloud! Ino tried to recover from her own red face by agreeing vehemently with her fellow blond as they burst out into the hot sunshine of the early September afternoon.

“Yeah, but Suzume-sensei is just a massive bitch. She’s probably just jealous- she’ll never make it past chuunin, but Sakura and I are gonna be, like, ANBU captains one day, I bet.” One of her goals was to be just as cool as Fox-sensei, though she hadn’t quite taken to kenjutsu like Sakura.

“Oh, that makes sense.” Naruto nodded sagely, then added, “But if she’s gonna act like that, why bother teaching?” It was a good question, but one that neither girl had an answer for.

They were soon distracted by other topics, anyway. Namely, the sealing lesson from the night before. As the trio settled under the shade of a tree and cracked open their respective lunch boxes, however, Sakura caught a glimpse of dark hair and pale skin from the corner of her eye. She only turned her head the slightest bit, as though she was looking at Ino, on her right, but she managed to see enough to confirm her suspicion.

“Hey, doesn’t Sasuke usually sit… somewhere else?” The pinkette kept her voice to a whisper, trying to be subtle as she lifted a slice of sauteed eggplant to her lips.

Of course, with Naruto, there was often no such thing as subtle (he was improving lately, though).

“What are you doing sitting so close to us, bastard?!” The blond decided to just confront the other boy directly.

The Uchiha bristled at being called out, but for once, it wasn’t Sakura who stepped in to play the peacemaker.

“Ugh, just come sit with us already, you weirdo,” Ino rolled her eyes. “Not like we didn’t notice you spying on us on our morning runs all last week. Just say you want in and stop being a big baby.”

Okay, so Sakura hadn’t noticed that, and judging from the look on Naruto’s face, neither had he. The pinkette thought her observational skills had been improving under the tutelage of two ANBU agents, but apparently not. She’d definitely be asking Fox-sensei for extra lessons, on top of the special kenjutsu training she’d been promised.

“Tch,” Sasuke scoffed, but the tips of his ears were unmistakably pink. “Why would I want to sit with you losers?”

The girls ignored Naruto’s indignant yell, in favor of answering the rude boy.

“I dunno, Uchiha-san,” Sakura teased, smirking. “Why don’t you tell us, since you seem so keen to join in?”

Not for the first time that school year, it seemed Sakura stunned the lone Uchiha into silence with such a bold response to one of his comments.

“I don’t need friends-” Sasuke’s protest was cut short by Ino snorting derisively. Naruto stopped any rude comment he was about to make in order to watch what he probably assumed was going to be one of his best friends chewing the dark haired boy a new one.

“First of all,” the blonde girl started, wagging her chopsticks in his direction (had he… had he scooted a little bit closer? Sakura swore he’d been two trees away earlier, whereas now he was almost within arm’s reach of the Yamanaka). “We all need friends. That’s just, like, basic mental health.” The duh was heavily implied in her tone.

“That’s-” Sasuke tried to interrupt, but Ino was already on a roll, and simply shushed him before continuing to voice her thoughts.

“As I was saying,” she lowered her chopsticks back to hover above the food in her lunchbox, but her tone remained full of the same unshakable confidence. “We all need friends. And since you have that stick lodged so far up your ass it’s practically giving you a lobotomy,” Sakura and Naruto couldn’t physically restrain their snorts of laughter at that comment, earning them a glare from Sasuke and a smug grin from Ino, who then proceeded with her monologue. “I’m pretty sure we’re the only ones who could tolerate you enough to become friends.”

“Why would I wanna be friends with that bastard?” Naruto grumbled around a mouthful of rice and vegetables. “He’s just a-”

“You’re lonely.” Sakura’s solemn observation was met with silence- stunned on the part of her best friends, and wary on Sasuke’s. She met his dark eyes without hesitation, and suddenly, there was something like understanding that passed between them. Still, the Uchiha denied it.

“No I’m not. I don’t need anyone. I can’t rely on anyone,” a note of hesitance had begun to creep into his voice, though. “It’s a weakness.”

“That’s bullshit.” It was said in unison, three voices joining in sync to refute the boy’s claim.

“Look, we’re not about to rip open fresh wounds,” Sakura tried placating, ignoring the way Ino leaned across her to give Naruto a warning pinch, “But asking for help when you need it, from people you trust… it can make all the difference.”

“You don’t know what I’ve been through,” Sasuke turned hostile once more, scowl etching deeply into his features. “Your parents-”

Sakura really, truly couldn’t help the bitter laugh that ripped its way out of her, even though she could see a flicker of what looked like regret blooming on the boy’s features.

“Don’t even go there, Uchiha. We’re trying to be nice. And yeah, what happened to you was a godsdamn tragedy, way worse that a case of assholes who didn’t have any business being parents, but it’s not a contest.”

The two groups, the trio and Sasuke, were just glaring openly at one another by that point. Clearly not the direction things needed to move in, but Sasuke obviously wouldn’t like being reminded of the massacre of his entire family, and Sakura still couldn’t help but feel a little sick at the thought of the Harunos (even if Uncle Inoichi told her last night that Mebuki and Kizashi had been taken into T&I the night before).

“Look, just eat lunch with us tomorrow,” Ino stepped in once again, clearly trying to smooth her facial expression into something more neutral as she picked up where the pinkette had left off. “I’ll invite Chouji and that lazy ass Shikamaru, too, if it would make you feel better about being in the presence of two of your old fangirls.” She snorted, “Hashirama’s saggy balls, I can’t believe we used to be like that.”

Sakura couldn’t help but murmur in agreement, cheeks tinting pink from embarrassment at before-the-dream Sakura’s actions. Even if she’d already apologized to Sasuke about it, it was still painful to think about! Especially since her type was clearly blondes.

“Whatever.” Sasuke’s grumbled response was as close to an enthusiastic agreement as they were likely to get. It was progress, though, and nothing to sneeze at.

After such an intense back-and-forth, there wasn’t time to go over the sealing stuff (and they couldn’t be sure if they wanted to let Sasuke in on that yet, anyway), only to shovel down their respective lunches and head back to class.

Having ninjutsu theory lessons right after lunch was an interesting choice on the part of whichever teacher made the class schedule for the semester (her money was on Mizuki-sensei). After eating lunch in the warm sunshine of Summer’s last weeks, most of them were a touch sleepier than they’d been before the meal. The announcement that they would actually be applying their knowledge starting later that month seemed to wake everyone up, though, and loud cheers echoed through the room.

“We’ll start with the henge technique,” Mizuki-sensei called out over the din of excited whispers. “It’s one of the three you must know in order to graduate, and while that won’t be for another year and a half, practice will make perfect.”

Sakura tried not to give away the smugness she felt inside, knowing she, Ino, and Naruto had already gotten it down pat. Their grades for the semester were going to be incredible, especially Naruto’s!

The pinkette was still riding the high of self-confidence when the class was led out to the training grounds by Iruka-sensei. The last hour and a half of their Mondays would be spent sparring and focusing on taijutsu, apparently.

“It feels weird to be in this part of the training grounds,” Naruto whispered as they stood towards the back of the group, waiting for names to start being called.

“Yeah,” Ino agreed, tone equally hushed, “I kind of feel like Gecko-sensei is gonna pop out and tell us to start going through katas.”

Sakura didn’t have time to contribute her two ryo of agreement, because Iruka-sensei called the first match-up.

“Uchiha Sasuke and Yamanaka Ino.”

Well, that was one way to start the sparring matches.

Since she sparred with Ino and Naruto almost daily, Sakura wasn’t able to gauge just how much any of them had improved over the past month. Yet, it was clear from the reactions of some of their classmates, as Ino managed to block many of Sasuke’s blows (and even land some of her own), the increase in skill was noteworthy. She still went down, blunted kunai hovering over her neck as she lay face-up in the dirt, but it had taken a good while to reach that moment.

Honestly, Sakura thought if she and Ino only worked on their endurance some more, they could beat the Uchiha in a one-on-one match by the end of the school year in March.

So, even though the blonde lost, the pinkette and Naruto cheered enthusiastically for her as she finished making the sign of reconciliation and walked back to where they stood. Sakura thought she looked especially pretty with her ponytail mussed, cheeks flushed with exertion, and blue eyes sparkling with satisfaction.

The next match was far less interesting, and that was even without Sakura’s bias for her friends. Chouji and Hinata had been paired up for matches once before, and just like the last time, both children seemed to take issue with the concept of hurting one another.

In the end, Hinata won, but only because she was willing to make a move, and Chouji clearly didn’t want to run the risk of hurting her. Sakura knew the other girl had the potential to be amazingly powerful, especially because she had a kekkei genkai, but she seemed too afraid to actually explore that concept.

The pinkette’s complimentary thoughts about the heiress vanished, however, when the first person Hinata looked to was Naruto. And she was blushing! A wave of jealousy rose up within her- even though everyone but the Uzumaki himself knew about Hinata’s crush since their first year in the Academy… Naruto was theirs, he belonged to her and Ino just like they belonged to him and to each other.

She let her jealousy carry her through her own match-up with Shino.

The Aburame was quiet, even withdrawn, but he wasn’t afraid to put up a fight as Chouji had been earlier. He’d obviously been training over the break, too, because he put up an impressive fight. Sakura tried to focus on her opponent, only allowing the cheers of her two best friends to act as background noise while she dodged and punched, kicked and blocked his kunai with her own.

In the hot afternoon sunshine, she could feel the sweat beginning to roll off her, sticking her t-shirt to her back. Ugh.

She could feel herself beginning to wear out, to start losing steam as she finally hit her limit. But, thankfully for her, Shino was in a similar state. She only figured that out when her sweeping kick landed, knocking his feet out from beneath him and allowing her to pin him to the ground, face-first.

“I concede.” The bug user’s tone was neutral as ever, but when they made the seal of reconciliation, his grip was firm.

“I wouldn’t mind having another match with you soon, Sakura-san.” He admitted as they both made their way towards the mostly flabbergasted class (the weakling civilian kid had beaten the heir of one of the Noble clans? How?). “Why? Because you have become an opponent whose skill level matches my own equally enough to present challenges for the both of us.”

“Oh.” Sakura was taken aback, stopping in her tracks as Naruto and Ino continued rushing over to congratulate her. “Um, that - that sounds nice. I think I’d like that. Your clan lives next to the Yamanaka, right?” The boy nodded. “I don’t think it’ll be too hard for us to visit each other to spar every once in a while, then.”

She couldn’t see his mouth from behind the collar of his trench coat (how was he able to wear that in the heat they were suffering through?!), but Sakura was pretty sure she could hear a smile in his voice as he agreed to try out such an arrangement.

“Oh!” As the boy turned to take up his usual spot beneath a tree that was some distance from where she and her friends gathered, the pinkette remembered to add something she’d been meaning to say to Shino since they came back from break. “I just wanted to say thank you, to you and your dad, for the help on the sponsorship stuff. He didn’t have to give that recommendation, but he did and I’m so grateful. To you, as well, because you’re the one who told him about me.”

With one last, beaming smile and a, “See you later, Shino-kun,” Sakura returned to her two favorite blondes, with a new addition.

“Uhh, hi?” Sakura tried not to gape, really she did, but it was so hard when loner-extraordinaire Uchiha Sasuke was, for the second time that day, willingly joining their little group. Still sporting the black eye Ino managed to give him during their match.

“Hn.”

Oh boy.

Chapter Text

One lunch. That was all he had to endure.

Honestly, he hadn’t even promised, so he didn’t need to do that much, if he didn’t want to.

But Sasuke was lonely.

He’d rather die than admit it, because that meant he was still capable of getting attached to other people. Given how that turned out for him previously, he wasn’t keen to ever experience it again.

Not until his older brother that man was dead.

There were still bloodstains on the tatami and ghosts in the kitchen that couldn’t hold him when he woke up sobbing from the weight of memories pressing on his chest in the night.

He thought he hated Uzumaki and Yamanaka and Haruno. All three of them were loud and obnoxious, and the two girls had been the ringleaders of his fanclub- the textbook definition of annoying.

And then, one day last semester, as spring was beginning to give way to summer, something had changed with Haruno. She walked into class in the middle of May… Well, not exactly a totally different person, she was still frustratingly a know-it-all who beat him in every academic subject. But she was somehow more mature, as though she’d aged a few years overnight.

He’d been on edge for weeks, remembering the sudden shift in Itachi that man in the weeks leading up to that night. The night he’d lost everything. He still wondered if the loss of Shisui had been what drove his brother over the edge, if attachment had been what drove Uchiha Itachi to madness.

But then, he’d observed a line of tension ease out of her shoulders- something that had apparently been there since she started the Academy, or maybe even before. He watched the Yamanaka heiress pay compliments and flirt with a natural ease to it that he hadn’t seen since Shisui. He saw the boy who was bright despite his hurt, the polar opposite to his own response to being an orphan, become somehow softer, more considerate.

Sasuke yearned for the luxury of being able to have bonds like them. The jealousy in his gut sat growing, watered daily by seeing the trio interacting from his seat nearby, until one day, he lost his usual reserve and made a scathing remark in response to their declarations of becoming the best.

And then Haruno shouted at him. Swore at him! In front of a teacher, no less, which he assumed she would have rather died than do only a few months prior.

A tiny flicker of respect began mingling with his jealousy.

So, while he may have made a few rude comments when he encountered them during the summer break, he didn’t push them away. He’d been just as surprised as Naruto the idiot when Sakura extended an invitation to join them on their conditioning circuits, honestly. And then Ino and Sakura had given him tips for his paper on Lord Second (who was actually a pretty cool guy, even though he vaguely remembered Uchiha elders using his name as a curse- maybe they still held a grudge about Madara never having kids because of his love for the Senju man?).

When he saw the two people he vaguely remembered as being Sakura’s parents getting dragged across Konoha, towards the direction he knew T&I to be in, things started to click. When he crept closer and heard their shouting about their ungrateful bitch of a daughter, before the ANBU agents escorting them to their final destination placed silencing seals on them, he felt something close to understanding.

Sasuke’s mother had loved him with all her heart- he could admit, in the safety of his own thoughts, he’d been a mama’s boy. A mama’s boy with a big brother complex, but look at how that turned out. Regardless, Sasuke had always been able to know, with every fiber of his being, that at least one of his parents loved him unconditionally (and his mom always tried to reassure him that his father cherished him, adored him- carried a picture of Sasuke in the pocket of whatever top he was wearing in the location closest to his heart).

So it seemed unfair, that Uchiha Mikoto was laying cold in her urn while the people who created Sakura were walking around, alive and whole and unappreciative. Yet, it suddenly all made sense- the pinkette’s outbursts, her insistence that he didn’t know anything.

He wondered if maybe, before she’d found Naruto and rekindled her friendship with Ino, she'd been as lonely as him. It had always been obvious to him that her part in his fanclub had been solely to get the blonde girl’s attention- even if she didn’t know it yet, nor that the blonde had been similarly motivated.

Sasuke went home that night to the same empty compound, filled with deafening silence and memories that made him feel raw inside, and he thought.

He still wasn’t sure how he felt by the time he woke in the morning, but he did realize he hadn’t needed to train until he dropped from exhaustion- his sleep had been uninterrupted by nightmares simply from pondering something as inconsequential as the chaotic trio of Yamanaka, Uzumaki, and Haruno (who hadn’t been called by her last name when Mizuki-sensei took the roll for the morning, just Sakura).

They were all weird, there could be no doubt about that, but there was also something magnetic about their personalities. Even just sitting in class, waiting for his summer homework to be collected, he couldn’t help but allow his eyes to drift over to them, teasing and toying with one another like it was as natural as breathing.

Sasuke wanted that. Not necessarily with the three of them- they were too loud, too abrasive, their bond already so tightly knit it would be impossible for anyone else to ever truly become an equal member of the group. But maybe someone-

Not until Itachi that man was dead, though. He couldn't watch anyone else he loved die like he’d been forced to see his parents slaughtered overandoverandoverandov-

Iruka-sensei’s strange reaction at his history paper served as a little bit of a distraction, at least. Maybe the Uchiha’s distaste for Madara and Tobirama’s love was well-known? Sasuke didn’t let it bother him too much, though- he had lessons to focus on. (This would be the year he beat Sakura’s scores in the final exams, he could feel it.)

When the girls were dismissed for kunoichi class, Naruto wasted no time in moving over to stand beside him, shoving an accusing finger in his chest. Not even Sasuke grabbing it tightly, a clear threat to break it, deterred the blond.

“You jerk! Sakura-chan and Ino were super nice to you and were gonna let you train with us and you just blew them off!” The usually sunny boy was outright glowering, which usually had the effect of making him look like a puffed-up kitten, but that morning, there was something… a tiny little spike of sinister intent, that made Sasuke’s spine straighten in alarm as his grip on the poking finger went lax.

Something was wrong with Naruto.

It was gone as soon as it came, though, and as the Uchiha scoffed dismissively, he tried to convince himself it had never been real in the first place. A trick of his mind, clearly.

“The offer was to go running with you, idiot. Are you telling me you would have wanted to spend an hour with me every day?” At least that seemed to spark some understanding within the other boy, who yanked his finger out of Sasuke’s grip.

“Oh.” Realization dawned on his features, and his shoulders slumped. “I mean… I guess? You run pretty okay, though, so maybe it wouldn’t have been the worst.” Then, shrugging as though he hadn’t just dropped a bombshell on Sasuke, turned and started walking away, towards where Inuzuka Kiba sat.

The lone Uchiha’s confusion about the (sort-of) compliment lasted until lunchtime.

He hadn’t meant to sit so close to The Trio, as he was starting to refer to them in his mind, but he just sort of… naturally settled there. Yet, even when he felt Sakura’s gaze slide onto him, and the girl leaned to undoubtedly whisper about him to the other two, he still didn’t move. He just popped a cherry tomato into his mouth and chewed, awaiting the inevitable call out.

“What are you doing sitting so close to us, bastard?!” Ah, there it was.

Despite his best attempts at continuing to play aloof, he lost a bit of his prickly facade when Ino called him out so openly (so she had noticed him watching more closely the past week, after he no longer had the excuse of working on his history paper at that one spot along their usual route).

Sasuke protested with his words, of course, trying to say he didn’t need friends, the whole nine yards. But he ended up sitting somewhere between the two blondes, in the end.

It felt… he wasn’t entirely sure, but he didn’t hate it, when the trio teased him about being his only options for friends. It felt like an echo of the familiarity with which the trio addressed each other, and made a little part of him feel like he actually belonged.

Then he had to go and ruin it by sticking his foot in his mouth.

Sasuke felt like he was having an out of body experience, when the pinkette danced around the issue of the bloodbath he’d come home to that afternoon three years ago. He couldn’t physically stop himself from lashing out, the need to use her own weak point against her like she was using his.

It was only once he’d started to mention her parents aloud, not really knowing what he was going to say but needing to claw at her wounds like she’d just done to his, that he felt his stomach twist violently, as though he’d be sick.

I didn’t mean it! He wanted to shout to scream Don’t give up on me! Don’t leave me!, but he could only sit and suffocate in his regret and the rightfully upset responses he received for his words.

And then Ino invited him to sit with them at lunch the next day, and something inside him broke a little even though he’d thought everything in his soul had already been smashed to pieces.

Maybe, just maybe, after all the terror he’d experienced, the loneliness that had been draped over him, the weight of judgment and expectations of the Hokage and the village at large… Maybe the gods were cutting him a break.

Something that felt like hope welled up in his chest and stayed lodged in his throat for the rest of lunch, making it hard to swallow the rice and uncooked vegetables he’d shoved hastily in his bento box that morning. Even back in class, the promise of finally getting to practice the henge technique couldn’t seem to steady him (ninjutsu wasn’t new to him, anyway- how many days had he practiced the Uchiha fireball technique until he was so exhausted he nearly dropped in the clan’s lake?

It wasn’t like there was anyone to tell him when to stop pushing himself, not anymore.

Sparring, however, did help Sasuke rediscover some sort of inner balance. That he was paired up with Ino only made him assured of his victory- he’d definitely be able to keep his place at the top of the class if he kept getting paired with the weaker students.

The Yamanaka heiress promptly made him eat his disparaging thoughts.

He still won the match in the end, of course, but he had a black eye and a new respect for the blonde girl by the end. So much so that, while Sakura was fighting Shino (and winning, what the fuck kind of training program did they do that summer?), he sidled up to hover near the two blondes.

Naruto scrunched his nose up, but didn’t say anything. Ino, on the other hand, winked.

“Bet you wish you would have taken Forehead up on her offer now, huh?”

Yeah, yeah he did. But his pride wouldn’t allow him to admit it, so he just hn’ed and focused in on the spar itself.

He’d never thought Sakura was going to amount to anything other than cannon fodder, until that moment. She’d always been too wrapped up in Ino, and then in her fangirling (and thank sweet baby Amaterasu she’d stopped that). Plus, he knew that civilian born kids didn’t get extra training like clan kids- obviously, since their parents wouldn’t know the first thing about holding a shuriken of channeling chakra. So she had started at a disadvantage and proceeded to do nothing about it, and it grated on Sasuke.

The pinkette was smart, so much so that she could maybe hold her own with a Nara, but she refused to apply herself on the physical side of things. She could be the rookie of the year, or at least come second to him, but she let herself slack off, and that just rubbed him the wrong way.

That he’d thought she had two loving, if clueless, parents to come home to until recently had just added fuel to the fires of his irritation. He wondered, after seeing the Harunos getting hauled off the day before, why his parents had been taken from him and hers allowed to live. It seemed cruel for both children.

After that switch had flipped a few months ago, though… Well, he wasn’t quite as frustrated with her (or with Ino or Naruto, who seemed to have been dragged into the girl’s self-improvement kick). He just hadn’t been sure if she was capable of making up for all the lost time on the physical side of things.

After watching her pin Aburame Shino to the ground, kunai hovering over the back of his neck, Sasuke found his opinion changing yet again.

If she kept up the progress, and stayed away from the obsessive fangirling… Sakura would make a good teammate, one day.

He locked that thought away tightly in the recesses of his mind as the pinkette approached, trying to keep a neutral expression as she greeted him with a confused glance.

“Hn.” Elegant, as always, he snarked at himself.

The rest of the matches were uneventful- Taro against Ami and Kiba against Shikamaru. Both were so predictable (and, quite frankly, boring), that the Uchiha turned his attention instead to thinking about the sort of training he’d undertake when he got home. Probably target practice with kunai, because his shuriken skills were already above-average for his age, but he’d also have to spend time sharpening his weapons, and that meant sitting down for a long period of time in his house, which was always something he tried to avoid.

He ended up checking out another book from the Academy library on Nidaime, and propped it open to read as he worked that night. It wasn’t enough to keep the nightmares at bay, though, and by the time he settled beneath a tree at lunch the next day, between a drowsing Shikamaru and an eager-to-eat Akimichi Chouji, he felt like he was ready to join the former in napping.

But he always had to be on guard in case he came back.

Sasuke settled for digging into his lunch of plain white rice, raw carrots, and a whole tomato. Feeling like he needed some sort of motivation to keep himself awake, the boy went for the tomato first.

When he finished taking that delicious first bite, careful not to drip juice on his clothes (because laundry day wasn’t until Sunday), the pale boy caught Chouji staring openly at him, eyes widened in… was that shock?

“What?” Sasuke snapped, ignoring the way his cheeks were flushed in self-conscious embarrassment.

“Oh!” The other boy quickly lowered his gaze for a moment, righting his expression to something a bit more neutral. “I just… I’ve never seen anyone eat a tomato like that. Wouldn’t it be easier to cut it into slices? And then you could saute it or-”

“I don’t-” Sasuke bit off his sentence, looking around to make sure the trio that had dragged him into this little social experiment were still cheerily picking on Shikamaru. Content, he looked back to Chouji and finished his thought. “I don’t really cook.” Chouji was pretty okay, a little weak and unwilling to train seriously with friends or girls, but he wasn’t terrible. It might be okay to talk to him.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.” Hesitantly, as though afraid to offend, he extended an offer. “Do you… do you want to learn?” The boy rushed to add, “I’m learning, too, so it wouldn’t be any trouble!” He must have been able to see the conflicted look on Sasuke’s face, and made his own conclusion about his hesitance.

Could he afford to get attached to Chouji? To any of the other kids he was sitting with? What if he found out and took them away, like he took-

“Okay, I guess.” Even as Sasuke felt his thoughts spiraling, he heard himself agree to the offer. It shocked his brain into blissful silence.

“Really?” The Akimichi heir looked just as flabbergasted as Sasuke felt. When the paler boy nodded, however, he perked up. “You could come over today, if you want?”

Did he want to? Well, it wasn’t like he had anything else to do… So, Sasuke shrugged.

“Sure. If that’s okay with your,” there was another lump in his throat, but he managed to choke out the next word, “Parents.”

“Yeah, they like it when I bring friends over,” Chouji looked away at that, too shy to see how his sudden proclamation of the Uchiha as a friend would be taken. It was for the best, because Sasuke felt such a strong mixture of emotions that his face had trouble sticking to one expression. He had to fight with all his control to put his usual mask of indifference back on despite something tiny and soft and warm fluttering in his chest.

“I don’t know where the Akimichi compound is, though.”

“Oh! You can just come with me and Shikamaru after school.”

Suddenly, there were four other heads turned to listen in to the exchange.

“At least you aren’t troublesome like Ino,” Shikamaru snorted, then took the opportunity to stretch his body out in the sun, looking for all the world like he was getting ready to take a nap (which he almost certainly was).

“Hey! The troublesome one is you, you jackass,” Ino threw a mushroom from her lunchbox at the Nara, who merely stretched his neck up to catch it in his mouth, one eye cracked open to make sure the food landed where it needed to. That seemed to only irritate the blonde more.

The four non-combatants watched for a moment as Ino’s fussing at the Nara renewed (only this time she was complaining about stupid old man games and why did you have to teach Forehead). When it became clear it would last for the rest of their short lunch break, they diverted their respective attentions back to topics that interested them.

“So, you like tomatoes, right?” Chouji was really trying to connect with him, and even though Sasuke felt like he was floundering with how to respond in a manner that wouldn’t drive the other boy away, he appreciated it. “My dad inherited this really good tomato bisque recipe from his great uncle. It’s pretty simple, so maybe we could start with that?”

The Uchiha’s entire attention had been captured by the prospect of a tomato dish, and he nodded in agreement. Some of his enthusiasm must have shown on his face, because when he met Chouji’s gaze again, the boy was beaming.

It was the same expression he made when introducing Sasuke to his parents a few hours later, once the school day was over and the duo had arrived at the Akimichi compound.

Sasuke tried to remember some of the manners his mother and Itachi other relatives tried to instill in him as a boy, bowing respectfully at the couple after Chouji took care of the verbal introduction. It was a relief he’d done so, because Sasuke was certain his tongue had been turned into lead at that point.

There was a sympathy in the man and woman’s eyes that he tried not to bristle at- he felt his shoulders stiffen, anyway, and tried not to wonder if they’d kick him out for the offense.

“I told him about the tomato bisque, dad,” Chouji went on, oblivious to the body language of his classmate shifting into a mild discomfort as the clan head and his wife exchanged knowing glances.

“Well, I’d be more than happy to pass Great Uncle Tora’s recipe on to the next generation!” Akimichi Chouza was huge, probably the tallest man he’d ever met (or second tallest- his mom’s brother, who was Shisui’s father, might have had a centimeter or two on the man). His voice wasn’t as booming as such a big size would indicate, though- if anything, it was gentle. Like Chouji’s.

Sasuke liked it.

Chapter Text

The cake was a godsdamn masterpiece, if Sakura said so herself. Which she did. And Naruto said so, too. Even Aunt Anri and Gecko-sensei, who’d been supervising their oven use while they drank tea and played mahjong, agreed it was very well done.

The two children didn’t know if they were more excited to see Ino’s reaction to her birthday cake, or the reveal that Gecko-sensei was, in fact, exactly who the blonde had suspected him of being.

Shiranui Genma was no different with the ANBU mask on or off, personality-wise. Though his habit of chewing on senbon, which he couldn’t do with the mask on, was definitely gross. And probably dangerous, because Sakura was absolutely certain the man poisoned his needles. He probably had a tolerance built up.

…Hmm, there was a thought. Maybe he could-

“Pinky, I can see the thoughts rolling off you. I’m not letting you three poison yourselves.” He looked over at Aunt Anri, then, grinning as he dodged a flying game tile, added, “Yet.”

“Not for another year at least, Shiranui,” the woman scolded, clearly ready to throw more tiles if needed. “And I’ll be supervising, too.”

“Why would we wanna-” Naruto’s face, scrunched up in confusion at the exchange, smoothed out as it clicked. “Ohhh, to build up im- immu… That thing you talk about sometimes, Auntie Anri?”

“Immunity,” Naruto nodded happily at the correction as the older woman spoke, “And yes, it’s useful to be at least partially immune to certain poisons in the field. It might even save your life, though I would hope it never came down to that.” Ino’s mom was a realist, though, and had to have known they’d be poisoned on a mission at least once in their careers. It was better to be safe than sorry, anyway.

“Uncle and Ino should be back soon,” Sakura noted once she was content enough with the promise of future tolerance building. The two adults nodded, then made quick work of cleaning their game and mugs from the kitchen table.

“C’mon, Naruto, we have to go get the present!” Content that the (beautifully frosted) cake was safe under the watchful eye of Aunt Anri and an active ANBU agent, the pinkette grabbed the boy’s hand and tugged him towards the stairs. Both of them trying to ignore Genma-sensei’s question to Aunt Anri as they went, the man’s tone packed to the brim with dry humor.

“So, you and Inoichi thinking of a spring wedding for those three?”

At least Sakura wasn’t the only one who flushed bright pink when Auntie laughed delightedly in response.

“Why are grown ups so weird,” Naruto complained as he rummaged around the back of his closet, where they’d stashed the wrapped box.

“I dunno, maybe we’ll be weird, too, once we’re their age?” Sakura carefully didn’t mention that she wouldn’t exactly dislike it if Aunt Anri and Genma-sensei’s prediction came true, and she and Ino and Naruto were married once they were adults. She honestly wasn’t even sure how that would work, with three people, but they had plenty of time to figure it out. For the moment, they had a birthday present to take downstairs.

“Nah,” the boy pushed back against the sentiment. “We’re gonna be cool. Since I’m gonna be the Hokage and you and Ino are gonna be ANBU captains and stuff. I gotta have the two best shinobi for my right hands… right and left hand?” He shook his head in an attempt to physically chase his confusion away. Why was he so cute, though?

“Yeah,” Sakura cheered in agreement as the two of them re-entered the kitchen, drawing the attention of both adults. “We’re gonna be the best of the best.”

“Not if Whiskers can’t learn some stealth,” Genma-sensei retorted, but there was something soft and indulgent in the tone of his voice as he smirked at the two children. It still drew the usual squawk of protest from Naruto, though (proving the point exactly).

A minor tussle broke out, only interrupted when their teacher paused suddenly in the midst of putting the blond in a headlock and giving him a super noogie as he deemed it.

“They just entered the compound.” The words were directed at Aunt Anri, who nodded.

Genma-sensei then proceeded to finish his punishment on Naruto, only releasing the boy once his usually messy locks looked like they’d been struck by the world’s strongest fuuton technique. Sakura tried not to giggle too hard, especially when Naruto was pouting so hard, but she couldn’t help but let herself slip up as she asked a new, burning question.

“You’re a sensor, sensei?” That was brand new information, but also somehow obvious. How many times had he popped up mid-lap, as though he’d been running alongside her and Ino instead of waiting at the Academy training grounds? Then there’d been that time where he said Fox-sensei was out on a mission, only to amend himself immediately by saying or maybe not anymore.

“Sure am, Pinky.”

“Whaaaat? That’s so cool, sensei! How come you never told us?” Naruto immediately forgot the slight he’d been paid moments before, in order to try and start an interrogation. Luckily for their teacher, Sakura was focused on the more important goal of the day, and reached out to grab the blond’s hand.

“Come on, we’ve gotta get ready for Ino!”

They had only made it a few steps out of the kitchen when the sound of the doorknob turning reached their ears.

Made it just in time, the pinkette congratulated herself. It would have been so embarrassing to get caught unaware, and ruin the surprises for their best friend.

“Surprise!” Naruto and Sakura leapt from around the corner the second they heard the front door open, not even waiting for the father and daughter to announce their return.

“Wait till you see the cake!” The blond boy was practically vibrating on the spot, so excited to show off their hard work to the birthday girl. “And your present! And Gecko-sensei!”

Sakura wasn’t quite sure which of the three provided the most allure, but either way, Ino set off like a streak as soon as her indoor slippers had been yanked on. The other two friends, plus Inoichi, were left to take a more moderate pace towards the kitchen, smiling the entire way.

“I knew it!” Ah, Ino had finally caught sight of Genma-sensei… or should she keep using Gecko-sensei, instead? Sakura was sure they’d probably need to stick to the codename while in public. Just in case. Though, if someone with less-than-great intentions saw Shiranui-san training them… Well, it wouldn’t relay matter what they were calling him, would it?

“Yeah, and you nearly gave me a heart attack when you used my real name the first time you saw me.” While Genma-sensei said it with a touch of humor, Aunt Anri took on a more stern expression.

“Ino, you know better than to reveal an agent’s real identity.”

Ino ducked her head, chastened.

“I know. Sorry, sensei.” Her apology was muffled due to the fact her head was still tilted down, towards her feet.

“No harm, no foul, kiddo,” the man took the opportunity to thoroughly ruffle her hair, making the somber mood give way to something more lighthearted as Ino squeaked in surprise and offense. (And when Genma-sensei smiled at her and Naruto, needle still firmly between his teeth, Sakura understood it had been an intentional move- her heart swelled with even more appreciation for their teacher at the gesture.) “Now, don’t you have some presents to open and a cake to eat?”

The girl immediately finished perking up at that.

“Presents first! This cake is so pretty, I don’t wanna cut it just yet.” The smile she turned on her two best friends when she handed out such high praise was brighter than the sun. Sakura could have basked in that moment for the rest of her life, it made her feel so warm and fluffy on the inside.

On the other hand, she and Naruto really wanted to see if she’d like her gift. Luckily for them, Uncle Inoichi was already on it, handing his daughter the carefully wrapped package.

“Ooh, what is it?” Ino’s eyes were sparkling as she took the offered gift with enthusiasm- she tried, but couldn’t quite manage, to not rip the small box out of her father’s hands.

“Open it! Open it!” Naruto was squirming as he shouted the demand. For once, Ino didn’t push back, or complain that he was too loud- she was too busy ripping into the soft lavender wrapping paper and training off the lid of the box to get to its contents. When she finally revealed its contents, a gasp escaped her.

“You guys,” she breathes, putting the box down on the kitchen table, far enough away from the cake so as not to risk knocking into it. “You guys!” And then both Sakura and Naruto were getting a mouthful of blonde ponytail, Ino’s arms trying to squeeze the very breath out of their lungs with the ferocity of her hug.

The pinkette spotted Genma-sensei peeking into the box and looking very puzzled.

“She’s been asking for that hair oil for months,” Inoichi explained to the confused man. “It can only be made by one particular manufacturer in Suna, so it’s hard to come by.” Too expensive for everyday, were the words he left unsaid.

She and Naruto received allowances just like Ino, now, but they’d only had a limited amount of time to actually save their money to pool for the 1000 ryo bottle. Naruto had gone without ramen for weeks, in order to make sure he was contributing his fair share. In the end, however, Sakura had to ask Aunt Anri to pull out some of the money from her bank account (another gift, courtesy of the Yamanaka parents) in order to have enough.

When Ino finally pulled back to fawn over the tiny glass bottle, one look between the pinkette and the boy confirmed it had all been more than worth it. They’d give up all their allowance money for the rest of their lives if they could make Ino happy like that.

“I gotta try some right now,” the heiress wasted no time in taking her hair down and screwing the cap off the bottle, making sure to dole out a sparing amount before placing the glass container down safely on the table and rubbing the oil between her palms.

As she massaged the liquid through her ends, Sakura used the time to bring up some of the other things they’d seen while out buying the gift.

“The same vendor had these cute nail stickers, shaped like different flowers and animals and pretty patterns.” She paused, then added, thoughtfully, “I wonder if we could make nail sticker seals one day? Like, to harden your nails enough to use them as weapons, in a pinch?”

To rip out an enemy’s throat with my bare hands, is what she was too tactful to say aloud. The adults read the message loud and clear, though, and while Aunt Anri and Uncle Inoichi nodded approvingly, Genma-sensei whistled lowly.

“Damn, Pinky, you’re gonna get a Flee on Sight ranking in the Bingo Book one day, I can feel it.”

Sakura flushed from the high praise, trying not to preen as a now-disgruntled Ino cleared her throat.

“So? How does my hair look now?”

“Like starlight,” Naruto’s voice was solemn with awe as he responded instantly, eyes fixed on Ino. Once Sakura turned her attention away from their teacher, she became just as transfixed. Suddenly, she felt too stupid to form words.

“Beautiful,” was all she managed, breathing the word out like a prayer. Naruto had been totally correct in his assessment- the pale blonde locks, free from their usual ponytail, were long and shimmering and looked just like the tresses of a goddess.

“You look very nice, Ino,” Aunt Anri’s voice broke the spell that had settled over the trio- Naruto and Sakura enchanted by Ino, and Ino by the two of them. Faintly, she heard the click of Uncle Inoichi’s camera, and Genma-sensei snickering and making another comment about planning a spring wedding.

“It’s supposed to strengthen hair so an enemy can’t stab you in the head or anything,” Ino chirped, still flushed from the praise.

“Well, I’d hope it did something useful, with how hard it was for these two to get,” Uncle Inoichi teased, setting the camera aside to hand his daughter the present from himself and Aunt Anri.

“Daaaaaad, were you taking pictures?” Her complaints didn’t stop her from opening the gift bag and pulling out two beautiful ornamental hairpins.

The combination of decorations hanging from the thin silver chain extending from each pin were interesting, a little swirling disc that was definitely the Uzushio symbol with a single blue gem in the middle on one, and a single cherry blossom with a green gem at its center on the other.

The symbolism wasn’t lost on anyone in the room, and Inoichi picked up his camera to snap yet more photos as the trio of children turned violently pink. The color in their cheeks only deepened when Ino hurried to sweep her hair up and use the pins to hold it in place, eager to start showing the hair ornaments off.

“Alright, squirt, time for my present. If your family is done embarrassing you, that is,” Genma-sensei teased, pulling out a little package from seemingly thin air. The box was mostly unadorned, plain white and only sporting a messily scrawled to Blondie, from the world’s best teacher on it. The note drew a fond scoff from Ino, but she thanked him regardless as she opened the gift.

“Is this-?” Ino turned big, blue eyes up at the man, who nodded.

“Your very first poisons kit. Minus the actual poisons, because I’ve been informed that won't be happening until next year,” he looked pointedly at Aunt Anri, who sighed in exasperation as her daughter proceeded to pester her.

“If you prove you can be responsible, we might revisit that timeline in a few months. But only if you show you’re ready.” The woman’s gaze turned to the other two children. “All three of you. Understood?”

“Yes!” The trio chirped in unison, their accompanying innocent smiles fooling no one.

“Good, now, I think it’s about time for cake, yes?”

Cheers went up immediately, echoing around the kitchen. Even the adults looked a bit eager to dig in.

The first slice, naturally, went to Ino. She clutched her dessert plate tightly, as though she’d need to fight off others from trying to take her piece of cake, even as they all received plates of their own. It honestly made Sakura feel a little prideful (they had made that cake- her and Naruto, just the two of them!).

The duo waited with anticipation, holding their own plates tightly, as the birthday girl took a bite of the decadent strawberry and vanilla confection. She chewed thoughtfully, and then, after finally swallowing the first bite, announced her verdict.

“If you don’t make this again for my next birthday, I’m gonna be so mad.” Had they not been holding their own plates of cake, Sakura knew she and Naruto would have been doing little victory dances.

That was the cue for everyone else to start eating, and they all settled in around the kitchen table to sit and enjoy the treat.

“We must have done a good job,” Sakura pointed out to Naruto in a whisper. “She's doing her good food dance.” Sure enough, a quick glance at Ino confirmed the Yamanaka heiress was wiggling in her seat, smiling with each bite of cake. It warmed the pinkette all over again, to see their hard work so appreciated.

And everytime the afternoon sun, which was shining brightly through the kitchen window, glinted off the gems in Ino’s hair sticks? It just boosted Sakura’s mood all the more. She was downright giddy by the time the dishes were cleared away and everyone was relaxing in the living room.

“So, how does it feel to be eleven?” Ino was the oldest of the trio, so she was entering new territory! At least, that seemed to be Naruto’s line of thinking, with such a question. “Do you feel older and wiser?” He shot his fellow blonde a sly grin, earning him a pinch to the thigh from under the coffee table the trio was crowded around.

“I feel like I’m full of cake,” she shot back. Then, with a haughty sniff, she added, “But since I am older and wiser, now, I guess that makes me the boss of you.”

“Hey! I’m gonna be eleven, too! In like,” Naruto swiftly counted on his fingers, pouting the whole time, “Seventeen days! So there.” He stuck his tongue out at Ino for emphasis.

Sakura, who wouldn’t have her own eleventh birthday until the end of March, kept her mouth shut. From across the room, where he was once more playing mahjong with Aunt Anri, Genma-sensei winked at her before adding his two ryo.

“Sounds to me like Pinky is the most mature of the three of you, so maybe she should be the boss.”

Uncle Inoichi definitely saw the rude gesture Sakura made towards her teacher, because he choked on his tea. Thankfully, though, he didn’t rat her out to Aunt Anri. He was too busy trying to hide his smile behind the rim of his cup, anyway.

“No way!” Ino and Naruto protested in unison. Then, they both looked at each other and lapsed into a thoughtful silence for a moment, as though trying to come up with a reason Sakura shouldn’t be recognized as the most mature of the trio. Rather than admitting their teacher was right, however, they proceeded to change the topic entirely.

“Anyway, when are you gonna make Hatake Kakashi drag his sorry butt over here?” Both Ino and Naruto had found the silver haired man’s reaction to his full name during that initial face-to-face meeting so amusing that they refused to call him by any other combination- not Hatake-san, not Hound, only Hatake Kakashi.

“Or,” the blonde girl smirked over at the senbon wielder as she continued, “You could start us on senbon training.” She wiggled her eyebrows (now thankfully regrown in their entirety) at him for emphasis. “You know, Fox-sensei gave me a pack of them for my birthday, and she also told me that maybe if a certain Kato Shizune-”

“You’re a bunch of miscreants and I’ll gladly unload you on Hatake,” the brunet man interrupted Ino’s blackmail attempt but everyone could see how pink the tips of his ears were.

Sakura, for one, found herself a little wary at the thought.

On one hand, he’d been her mysterious book giver, providing her with essential knowledge for her chosen career path.

On the other hand, he was the man who’d let her training stagnate so badly she’d died. No, not just let her, he’d actively deterred her, whenever she’d asked to learn.

Then again, he’d taken some sort of interest in her in reality, right? Genma-sensei specifically mentioned the silver haired man had been the one to leave all those books on her nightstand (and, once she’d left the Haruno apartment, handed them directly to her two ANBU teachers). So maybe… maybe Uncle Inoichi was right, and she’d already taken enough steps to prevent her dream from coming true.

All she could do was wait and see.

Chapter Text

It had taken a while for Genma-sensei to coax his target into meeting with Uncle inoichi and Aunt Anri. The trio knew this because the brunet complained about it several times since the incident, in which the silver haired man had been confronted with his own name and fled in a cloud of leaves and smoke.

It had only been an entire month later that he’d finally succeeded, a fact which he’d shared with no small amount of exasperation as he readied to leave the Yamanaka house after Ino’s birthday celebration.

”It’s like herding a cat,” Genma-sensei groused as he helped Aunt Anri pack up the mahjong tiles. “Only I’m pretty sure a cat can be reasoned with once in a while.”

Uncle inoichi snorted with laughter, but didn’t disagree.

So, after sitting down with the Yamanaka heads at some point when the trio was at school or training, a day and time was decided upon. It had to be inUncle inoichi’s office, for security reasons (and probably also because the privacy seal would prevent Hatake-san from poofing away, the children theorized), but it also needed to be during a time when either Fox-sensei or Genma-sensei was assigned to Naruto-watch, so nothing would be reported back to the Hokage.

They’d settled on the Saturday after Ino’s birthday, but hadn’t managed to do so until the day prior.

The trio had come traipsing in from an after-school visit to the Nara compound, where Sakura and Shikamaru were teaching Sasuke to play shogi (roping even more nerds into that old man game, as Ino put it), when Aunt Anri announced it. The pinkette had been flush with pride over her first ever victory against the Nara heir and intent on asking if they could order in tempura that night for dinner, but those thoughts went flying from her head in a potent mixture of excitement and dread.

The next twenty-four hours turned into a sort of hazy trance for the girl, after that. She vaguely remembered Ino prompting her to ask for the dinner she wanted, and physically lifting the fried pieces of shrimp and vegetables to her mouth, but nothing else.

Everyone understood, though. By that point, the entire household was privy to her dream, and the complications that had arisen from Uncle inoichi being able to see it in the mind walk he’d done to get any sort of information about her former parents’ dealings within Ame and Kusa.

That particular issue was something Sakura tried not to think about too much- how she’d sentenced the two people who’d raised her, if it could really be called that, to torture and death. Even though they definitely earned it, if they were in league with the bad sannin. Even Sasuke, in a rare moment of genuine kindness (he started having them more often after beginning to hang out with Chouji every day), told her that he thought she was in the right for not caring about her parents after the way they’d treated her.

More importantly was the matter of her brain itself: Three mind walks in and they still hadn’t figured out what was going on with her brain. It was a long, slow process to sort through the memories of an entirely different life- two years of those memories, at that.

Naruto suggested she’d unlocked some new kekkei genkai, but Uncle inoichi said that didn’t feel quite right. He was trying to avoid having to revisit her dream death if at all possible, but it had started to look as though that would be the key to unlocking the mystery.

Being aware of many of the details of Sakura’s lives, both real and fictional, meant that the rest of the family was also privy to what Hatake Kakashi had done in her dream life- or rather, what he hadn’t done. His neglect had caused her death, in a way, as failing to properly train her in any sort of skill useful to battle left her defenseless.

Even though it was clear that he’d never do that in reality, what with his intense need to turn her into a book hoarder and sending Genma-sensei and Fox-sensei in the trio’s direction for training purposes… Well, Sakura had felt everything so keenly, as though she’d really lived through it, so the emotional wounds were still there. She would try not to take it out on him, though, because he couldn’t exactly be held responsible for what a fictional version of himself did.

That stance still didn’t stop her from taking a bit of pleasure in the ribbing the silver haired man got a few minutes into their meeting after dinner on Saturday.

“So, let me get this straight: you were spying on Naruto through his kitchen window, saw Sakura, and thought, oh yes, I’ll just start breaking into this ten-year-old girl’s bedroom at night and leaving her books.” Aunt Anri sounded a little amused, rather than upset. And when she phrased it like that, well… Sakura couldn’t help but giggle.

“I, ah, perhaps didn’t consider the optics,” the man scratched the back of his neck, somehow looking sheepish even with most of his face covered. “To be honest, I was hoping not to be seen at all, considering the orders I was breaking.”

“So you didn’t stop to think that if you were caught, a man who reads… a certain series of books entering a young girl’s room in the dead of night would come off as concerning?”

“Is Hatake Kakashi a pervert?” Ino stage-whispered to her best friends as they remained in a huddle in the corner of Uncle inoichi’s office, listening to the adults talk. All three children dissolved into a fit of giggles, their laughter only worsening when the man in question slumped into his chair.

“Ino,” her mother’s tone was scolding, but not sharp. The blonde girl ducked her head quickly.

“Sorry,” she murmured, before adding, “I guess.”

“Ino,” Inoichi’s voice came out a bit more strict than his wife’s, which was understandable considering it was Ino’s second offense. Still, he didn’t wait for a better apology from his daughter, instead focusing back on Hatake-san (who was still slouching in his seat) with a mischievous glint to his blue eyes.

“You can’t actually read that trash, anyway, Kakashi-kun,” Uncle inoichi teased. “Surely you know how… unrealistic it is. And that’s to say nothing of the author,” his tone shifted to disapproval at that, and the children were thoroughly disappointed when Aunt Anri cleared her throat and nodded towards their corner, effectively shutting off that particular line of conversation.

They didn’t want to hear details about some gross perverted book, obviously, but if Uncle inoichi had some opinions on the author… Well, there had to be good reason!

“As it were,” Aunt Anri pressed on, volume raised a bit in a clear sign that the particular vein of conversation they’d been spiraling down was over and done with, “I’m sure it’s going to be more efficient to just speak to the children directly.”

Naruto took that as his cue, leaping up from his seated position on the floor as he started making his requests.

“Yeah! Even if you’re a pervert, we can fix you.” That only seemed to make Hatake-san slump further, though Sakura could still make out the way his spine stiffened at the blond boy’s next words (even through the renewed giggling she’d succumbed to). “‘Sides, you gotta tell me all about my mom and dad! I’ve seen pictures, and you were totally like their first son, so it’s pretty much your job as an honorary big brother to do stuff like that, right?”

“Exactly,” Ino agreed, nodding vehemently as she managed to choke back the last of her laughter. “It’s so dumb that it was made an official state secret, anyway, but you have big brother privileges so the rules don’t matter.”

“That’s not exactly-” The ANBU agent made to protest, but was cut off again, this time by Sakura.

“The Hokage made a dumb choice and we’re gonna ignore it, okay?” She was backed up by her two best friends exclaiming their wholehearted agreement. Thank the gods for the seal on Uncle inoichi’s office.

“That’s- You can’t just-” The man seemed to be malfunctioning, unable to get a complete, coherent sentence out due to the shock of hearing what was essentially treason from such a tiny, pink-haired human.

“She can, because she’s right,” Uncle inoichi backed her up, and Sakura gave the blond man her broadest, most thankful smile in return. “You know it’s true, because you wouldn’t have started checking in on Naruto regularly, or leaving books for Sakura, or sending Fox to help Genma train these three if you didn’t feel the same way. You certainly wouldn’t have agreed to this little meeting, either.”

And then, as Hatake-san began uncurling from his slump, sighing in defeat, Naruto delivered the final blow. Approaching the man cautiously, like one would a damaged explosive seal, he waited until they were looking right at one another and close enough to reach out and touch before saying anything.

“Please, Kakashi-nii?” His blue eyes were sparkling with pure hope.

The newly dubbed Kakashi-nii let out a harsh exhale, and when Sakura looked towards the man’s hands, she saw that not even the death grip he had on the wooden arms of the seat managed to fully hide his trembling.

If we press him too much, he’ll run away for sure, and then he might never come back. She wasn’t about to let Naruto lose the closest connection he’d ever have to his parents!

“Wouldn’t you like it much more, if you could actually share all your memories of them?” The wince that question drew made the pinkette immediately rethink her approach, and she hastily shut her mouth.

“Please? I know I look just like my mom, and I’m gonna be Hokage one day like dad! But I wanna know everything! And since he was your teacher and kinda like your second dad, so he had to have left you some super cool jutsu, right? Or you could teach me sealing- Auntie Anri says you’re really good at it!”

No one, not even a man who’d been in the village’s elite assassination squad since he was fourteen, could resist Naruto’s puppy dog eyes. Ino and Sakura knew firsthand, considering how many times they’d been conned into giving him the last of their snacks when that same look had been turned on them.

“Fine.” It was wheezed out, rather than said, as though agreeing to take a walk down memory lane was physically painful. Or maybe it was the iron grip Aunt Anri had on his shoulder, probably trying to make sure he couldn’t take a swan-dive out of the window (since the seal was definitely preventing him from poofing away).

Sakura didn’t feel bad for him at all. He knew what he was doing when he agreed to walk into the home of one of Konoha’s top interrogators. What he couldn’t know was that Uncle inoichi had been in her head, had seen his possible future actions, and was intent on avoiding those mistakes.

That was a problem for the following weekend, though, when they would take yet another deep dive into her brain. For the moment, the focus was entirely on Hatake Kakashi and her best (male) friend.

“So!” Speaking of Naruto, the boy was thrilled at the silver haired man’s agreement to actually become a part of his life (though in what way remained to be seen). “I wanna hear all about mom and dad! From your point of view, because I know some stuff from Auntie and Uncle already.”

Hatake-san looked at the Yamanakas, probably trying to wiggle his way out of it (considering his current track record), but Sakura couldn’t tell because of how covered up his face was.

“Why don’t you start by getting to know each other?” Uncle Inoichi suggested, using that same gentle tone he took whenever he had to ask Sakura about something he saw in a mind walk that he knew would make her uncomfortable.

“‘Kay!” Naruto chirped, beaming brightly as he settled himself directly in front of the silver-haired man- standing, so they would still be able to see eye-to-eye.

“I’ll start! I’m Uzumaki Naruto- but you already knew that. I like ramen and sparring and my best friends Ino and Sakura-chan! And Uncle inoichi and Auntie Anri, of course,” he added the last part with a sheepish grin, probably embarrassed for having left the older couple out in the first burst of likes. The pair in question only smiled encouragingly at the blond boy, though, so he continued. “I also think I like sealing? But I dunno yet, because we’ve only had a few lessons with Uncle inoichi. Will you teach us? I promise we won’t blow our eyebrows off again or explode the house!”

Hatake-san looked a little less intimidated and a little more sad. There was probably a lot to unpack, but it wasn’t any of Sakura’s business… yet.

There was a long silence, only broken after Aunt Anri gave the masked man a soft nudge to his shoulder.

His introduction was a little weird, sort of patchy and stilted, as though he hadn’t interacted with many other people in his life. Given what was available in public record, and what she knew from little tidbits given out by Genma-sensei, Fox-sensei, and the Yamanakas, that was probably true. You didn’t get slammed into ANBU at fourteen without some sort of damage to your social skills and emotional health after all, Sasuke’s older brother apparently made ANBU at twelve, and look at how that turned out.

“Hatake Kakashi,” he started, slowly. “I like… reading? And dogs?” It came out as more of a question than anything, and there was something sympathetic in Aunt Anri and Uncle inoichi’s expressions. “And I suppose I could teach you sealing, if your guardians are alright with it.”

Once it was done, he looked a bit like a flower that had wilted; as though just that little introduction of name had sapped every last bit of energy from him.

“He brought some of your parents’ old sealing notes, Naruto,” Aunt Anri added gently, smiling at the odd pair before her. The boy’s eyes widened, until they were round as a pair of saucers. He couldn’t stop glancing between the woman and his newfound brother for a long moment.

“You did?” There was a distinct note of awe to his voice as he asked the man for reassurance it was true.

“Mhmm.” The silver haired man was still tense, but slowly, he seemed to be recovering from the shock of Naruto’s initial Kakashi-nii drop. “It’s not everything, though. Lord Third took most of their work after…”

He sounded pained, and not for the first time, Sakura wondered just what Sarutobi Hiruzen had put him through. Especially when Uncle Inoichi moved around the desk to place a hand on the younger man’s shoulder in the same comforting way he did for her and Ino and Naruto.

“You were fourteen and traumatized, Kakashi,” the blond man reminded him. “He took advantage of that.” The disapproval was practically dripping from Uncle inoichi’s tone, and Sakura found herself nodding along in agreement. Despite the fact she had no idea what exactly went on in Hatake-san’s past, it clearly hadn’t been good.

Also, given the Sandaime’s track record with Naruto… Well, the pinkette was inclined to believe their military dictator was at fault for quite a few cases of child neglect (and a fourteen year old would totally count as a child, even if he’d been a jounin by thirteen).

“I asked,” Hatake-san started off hesitantly, as though worried, as he addressed Naruto, “To adopt you, after I found out sensei died.”

“You were still a boy, Kakashi,” Aunt Anri comforted him, but Sakura’s eyes were trained on Naruto. “Mikoto-chan tried, too, and she was the obvious choice.” She didn’t explain why Sasuke’s parents would have been a better fit, though, which left Sakura (and she was sure the other two, as well) with some unanswered questions. It wasn’t the time to voice those questions, though, so the pinkette remained silent.

“Inoichi and I should have asked, ourselves, but-” The woman sounded ashamed of her own inaction, but could she really be blamed? If the Hokage turned down the matriarch of one of the Four Noble clans, what hope would there have been for the Yamanaka?

But Sakura was still focused intently on her best friend, and couldn’t tear her eyes away from the boy to look at the older woman.

Naruto looked devastated.

“You… you wanted me?”

She couldn’t restrain herself any longer at that comment, and neither could Ino, because in the next instant, both girls flung themselves at Naruto. He went down in a mass of flailing limbs and tears.

“We want you, Naruto!” Ino exclaimed, squeezing her arms tightly around the blond and Sakura.

“Yeah! We love you so much!” Sakura’s voice was muffled, her head buried in the boy’s neck as she remained stuck to her two best friends like glue. Despite that, and the crying she was doing, the pinkette could still make out the distinctive click of a camera shutter.

“Daaaaad,” Ino detangled herself from the pile just enough to pull back and look her father in the eye as she whined, “Didn’t you take enough on Sunday?”

“Nope,” Uncle inoichi answered back confidently as he took another photo. “And you’ll thank me when you’re older. And of course we wanted you, Naruto. So did Mikoto and Fugaku and,” Sakura could hear the mischief in the man’s voice, “your nii-san over here.”

As Kakashi choked at being referred to by such a title once more, Ino made a noise of discontent at the camera still being used. In the end, however, she turned back to the task at hand: smothering Naruto and Sakura with hugs.

The adults in the room started whispering about something after that, and while Sakura couldn’t make out exactly what the topic of conversation was, she definitely heard the words ANBU, quit, and Danzo. She was pretty sure that last one was actually the name of one of those crusty old guys on the Hokage’s council, and had to add yet more questions to her growing list.

But that would all be dealt with after she and Ino finished snuggling the life out of Naruto. All their crying (okay, it was mostly her and Naruto that had turned on the waterworks) had wound down to mere sniffles by that point. So when the Yamanaka heiress finally extricated herself from their pile, Sakura knew it was time to get back to the real reasons they were all sealed up in Uncle’s office.

“So,” Naruto still had drying tear tracks on his cheeks, but he was grinning at his two best friends, “You guys love me, huh?”

“Shut up,” Ino immediately shot back, grumbling. It didn’t phase the blond boy one bit, though. If anything, his grin grew broader as he replied.

“Looks like it’s true~ With that blush you’ve got an’ all.”

Ino was, in fact, as red as a tomato… but so was Naruto, and Sakura could feel her own face flame hot.

The camera stayed thankfully silent and unused, giving the trio time to get their blushes under control as they stood and brushed invisible dust off their respective shirts.

“Hey, so do you really have a summoning contract?” Ino burst out at last, changing the subject entirely as she moved to stand in front of Hatake-san. “Genma-sensei said so! But he also said we’d have to find out what it is for ourselves.”

To the Yamanaka heiress, Genma-sensei was the end-all, be-all. He was her idol, besides her mother, and the second she picked up senbon usage and poisons? She’d be the deadliest assassin the shinobi corps had ever seen, no doubt about it.

But Sakura was invested in hearing the answer to her best friend’s question.

“I do.” Hatake-san didn’t elaborate, eliciting heavy sighs from all three children.

“Well? Are you gonna show us?” Naruto rested his hands on his hips, bunching his blue t-shirt the slightest bit as he did so. “Is it something super cool? Ooh, I bet it’s like, tigers or dragons or something, right?”

“Not quite.” The man looked like he was perking back up, and there was even a bit of humor in his voice instead of the serious tone he’d had when the trio were involved in their hugging. “You might get to meet them, one day. If you’re good.”

“Aww, come on!” Ino complained, one arm draping over her eyes in her usual fashion. “You can’t just leave us hanging like that!”

Her theatrics suddenly ceased, the blonde getting her own face a little too close to Hatake-san’s masked one (but Ino had never been the best at personal space, so Sakura wasn’t sure what she expected).

“Hey, did Naruto’s parents have summons? I bet they had totally awesome animals! And Naruto can take the contracts one day!”

“Yeah!” Naruto and Sakura agreed excitedly, the blond boy emphasizing his exclamation with a fist pump.

“Well…” Hatake-san was still tense, but the humor stayed in his tone. “Your mom didn’t have a summons,” the three adults exchanged a look, but Sakura couldn’t possibly figure out what it was for. Just one more instance of grown ups being impossibly weird, she supposed.

“But actually, your dad had one of the most difficult to sign contracts.”

That immediately grabbed the attention of all three children again. Sakura joined her best friends in crowding around the silver haired man, each of them leaning close in intense interest.

“What was it?!” Naruto thankfully managed to modulate his voice that time, given the proximity to Hatake-san’s face (and ears), but he must have had pretty sensitive hearing, because he winced a bit anyway.

“Toads.” He said it like he was expecting a grand reaction from the trio, some ooh-ing and ahh-ing. That was not the reaction he got, though.

“Aww man, who wants a buncha gross old frogs?” Naruto voiced what the other two were thinking.

“Wait, wasn’t that one of the sannin’s summons?” Sakura recalled, looking thoughtful. “Yondaime-sama trained under Jiraiya-sama for a bit, right?" The knowledge she gained from her summer report came in handy once more. "So it makes sense. But I think the snakes or slugs would be cooler, especially the slugs. Imagine your summon just… spitting acid in someone’s face!”

“Or getting a snake to bite your enemy! They could drop dead before they even knew they’d been bitten!” Ino’s eyes were sparkling in excitement at the thought.

Uncle and Auntie were trying not to laugh too loudly, on the other side of the desk.

“The toads can spit hot oil?” Hatake-san offered, sounding a little unsure. “And your dad could summon the big boss, taller than the walls of the village.”

Naruto’s nose crinkled.

“I mean, if it’s giant, I guess it could be useful. You could drop them on a bad guy or somethin’. Seems kinda lame, though, ‘specially for a Hokage.”

The man made a choked noise that wasn’t quite a laugh, but it wasn’t quite a sound of despair, either.

Chapter Text

”Sakura, guard Tazuna,” the voice of her teacher barked out at her through the encroaching mist. He didn’t look at her as he gave the command, having to keep his eyes (one bright red with multiple black pupils spinning like a pinwheel) on the Demon of the Hidden Mist and the veritable army of civilian thugs behind him.

Sakura knew she was going to die, with all the certainty she’d known Momochi Zabuza hadn’t really been killed by the fake hunter-nin days prior.

She knew, and yet she did as she was told, positioning herself in front of the drunken old bridge builder. Haruno Sakura had nothing to go back to in Konoha, anyway, just the tiny, run-down studio apartment she’d barely managed to afford after she’d gotten her headband and had been disowned.

Better to die a loyal dog than be put down as a rabid one. She knew well enough she didn’t have what it took to be a missing-nin. Kakashi-sensei had made sure she couldn’t survive on her own in the field, after all, whether that had been his intention or not.

She wondered if he’d give her any thought when he visited the Memorial Stone, or if she would fade out of his memory as soon as his report on their failed mission and her subsequent death was turned in.

In the distance, on the other side of where Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza’s battle was beginning, she could hear Sasuke and Naruto fighting the fake hunter-nin (Haku, her mind supplied), and she hoped desperately that they’d both be okay.

She should have treated them both better, she was only just realizing.

Yeah, and instead you’re just whining about it like the sniveling little bitch you are, Inner groused. And then, the outline snapped to attention.

Watch out!

There was a coldness in her abdomen for the briefest of moments, and then sharp, hot pain bloomed in her gut. For once, her shinobi instincts kicked in, and the kunai she’d been gripping like a lifeline slid through the throat of the grubby hired hand like… well, like a hot knife through butter.

Sakura made sure to spit the blood bubbling up from her stomach in the dead man’s face as she fell back, off the side of the unfinished bridge and into the icy water below.

Her regrets started playing through her mind once more, but with the grounding force of Inoichi there, she was able to think about things a bit more clinically than before. When she had the dream, not the flashbacks, she’d never given thought to Inner after her possible alter-ego had shouted the warning.

Now, however, she could hear her voice shouting, scolding but with a note of true desperation.

Nonono, not today, you useless bitch! I can’t believe you couldn’t even- and then there was a flash of light, and a feeling of faint tingling sweeping over her skin, a sort of buzzing that was increasingly familiar with each instance of Uncle Inoichi or Aunt Anri activating the privacy seal in the man’s office.

It felt like a seal being activated.

Sakura came back to consciousness with that thought (and the demise of her dream self), gasping as though she’d just been yanked out of the icy water of Wave Country’s ocean.

Across from her, the instant the connection ended and Uncle Inoichi was back in his own body and capable of sitting up from his slouched position, the blond man held up a single finger.

“Just give me one moment, please,” he began hurriedly scratching a pen across paper as he asked for Sakura to refrain from speaking just yet. Not like he needed to- despite it being her third mind walk, she was still so disoriented upon being released from the technique that the concept of forming words was entirely foreign to her at the moment. The fact she’d been able to understand and process the man’s request was a sign she was making progress on her recovery time, though.

It had been especially taxing, having to relive her death, even if it was all fake.

By the time Uncle Inoichi finished his scribbling, Sakura felt well enough to lean forward in her seat and look at what he’d drawn.

“So I wasn’t just feeling things- it really was a seal?” The pinkette was becoming more familiar with what complex seals look like, since Kakashi-sensei (what she and Ino had decided on calling the silver haired man) had brought over Kushina’s sealing notes for Naruto a few nights ago, after the initial awkward meeting. They were safer in Uncle Inoichi’s office, apparently- a fact none of the kids doubted, and the Yamanakas didn’t argue with.

“I think so. It was on your… on Inner,” neither one of them really knew how to refer to her yet, though it didn’t matter in the end since she was dead.

“But I don’t remember seeing that before?” She’d only ever just seen the chalk-like outline of a body that was identical to her own.

“It was just for the instant of activation, right before…” Uncle Inoichi trailed off, looking sad.

Right before I died, then. Sakura didn’t say it aloud, but nodded in understanding.

“I’m nowhere near as versed in seals as Kakashi, or the sannin, Jiraiya,” his nose wrinkled with distaste at the latter’s name. “So I’d like to wait for Kakashi’s next visit to go over it. Would you mind if Naruto sat in? It would be good practice, but the choice is entirely up to you.”

“Of course he can,” the pinkette assured with a smile. “We don’t have any secrets from each other, plus he already knows about the weird dream stuff. And, he has those cool Uzumaki seal master genes, right? So maybe he’ll be able to figure it out if you and Kakashi-sensei can’t!” She paused, then added, “Can Ino and Aunt Anri be there, too?”

“Yes, if you want them to,” Uncle Inoichi reassured her. “But Sakura… Will you be alright with taking lessons from Kakashi? Now that we’ve gone over everything, I can only imagine there must be some trust issues there.”

Sakura grimaced, nodding as she straightened up in her seat.

“Yeah. I still have some moments, but I know this Kakashi is much better than the one in my dream. He’s been giving me books, and told Fox-sensei I’d be good with a sword, and he agreed to teach us all sealing, not just Naruto. That’s like, a million times more effort than the fake Kakashi put in.” She paused, then added a bit shyly, “Besides, if you and Aunt Anri and Genma-sensei and Fox-sensei trust him, I know I can, too.” It would just take a bit longer to get there.

“Alright,” Uncle Inoichi still sounded a bit hesitant as he agreed. “But if you ever need to take time away, or stop lessons with him altogether, you’ll tell Anri or myself?” The line of tension that had crept into his shoulders over the course of the discussion began relaxing once she nodded in agreement.

Not that she ever would, of course, but he didn’t need to know that. Sakura had been useless, weak and a bit of a coward in her dream, right up until her last moments. Though, even that had been an act of self-preservation in the end (dying a loyal shinobi was better than dying a traitor, in her dream self’s eyes). But as with many aspects of her life after The Dream, the pinkette was determined to change.

So, she wouldn’t run away from spending time with Hatake Kakashi, no matter how much the fear of his abandonment made her skin crawl. Instead of the worst case scenario that could happen, but likely wouldn’t, she tried to focus on the facts before her.

“It looks…” Uncle Inoichi paused, sounding doubtful of his own thoughts as he flipped through one of the more complicated texts that had belonged to Naruto’s mother, about space-time seals. “It looks like a space-time seal, but more so dealing with the time aspect?” He stopped on one page in particular, tilting his head back and forth as though a change in physical perspective would reveal the true answer to their problem.

“But time travel has never been possible,” Sakura protested, sounding a little weak. “Aunt Kushina would have figured it out for sure, if there had been a way, right?” Either she or Uncle Minato would still be here with Naruto, if she had. That particular thought went unsaid, but she knew the blond man was probably thinking the same thing.

“Mm, you’re not wrong. But there’s just something about the way this thing is laid out…” He shook his head to clear his thoughts, then tucked the sketch away carefully within the pages of the book. “I guess we won’t know until Kakashi comes back over. He should be here Wednesday, for Naruto’s birthday, but I think it’s best to just let you kids enjoy the day without getting tangled up in any of this. Maybe Friday night, or next Saturday…”

He and Sakura let out twin sighs of frustration at the dead end they’d just hit. It cheered the pinkette up considerably, though, and she noticed Uncle Inoichi’s lips lift into a smile as she giggled. It helped her to keep her mind off the fact she would soon have to prepare for the multitude of questions that would all involve her less-than-pleasant memories, both real and from the dream. As did the reminder the blond man gave as he deactivated the privacy seal and they both headed for the door.

“So, what movie do you think the others picked?” Earlier, the family had decided to have a movie night, but the stress of reliving her own death (that she now had to worry wasn’t actually a dream, but a memory) had already wiped that particular plan from her mind.

“I hope it’s one of those cheesy old samurai movies,” the girl replied, grinning.

“Oh, so you can turn the volume all the way down to make up your own conversations?” Uncle Inoichi chuckled. “Just like old times, huh?”

Sakura and Ino had done that a lot during sleepovers before their big fight, and the pinkette couldn’t deny that it would be fun not only to take up the tradition once more, but to include Naruto in it.

“Come on, hurry up!” Ino shouted from the living room the second Sakura and her father-figure were out on the second floor landing, the office door shut securely behind them. “The popcorn is ready and everything!”

She must have been listening for us, an increasingly familiar, warm, happy sensation filled her chest at the thought.

For the entirety of the film (Naruto turned out to be fantastic at providing funny voice-overs) and her bedtime routine, Sakura never lost the feeling. If anything, when she and Ino bunked down for the night, the warmth within her grew as the blonde snuggled into her while they drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

“Wake up, sleepyhead! It’s your birthday!” Ino crowed as she and Sakura flung themselves onto the still-slumbering boy. His blankets were in a tangled mass on the floor, not even the chill of an October night able to make his body stop giving out its furnace-like heat.

All three children let out soft oomphs as their bodies made impact with each other. The two girls quickly rolled to either side of the blond boy, though, to let him catch his breath (and so they could catch their own).

“Whazza?” Naruto uncurled from his lump and cracked two bleary, ocean blue eyes open. “Whassa matter?”

There was only a second of pause, as Ino’s words finally sunk in, and then he was suddenly wide awake.

“It’s my birthday! Now we’re the same age, so you can’t be the boss of me, Ino,” the two blondes stuck their tongues out at each other before dissolving into a fit of giggles. Sakura watched on with fondness.

I love these two doofuses. The thought didn’t startle her a bit- if anything, it would have been unusual for a day to go by without thinking something along those lines. She’d even said it out loud, that night they’d had their first meeting with Hatake-san (whom the pinkette and Ino had taken to calling Kakashi-sensei, if only to see the man shudder in discomfort).

Since it was a Wednesday, they were, in theory, supposed to go to school that day. However, once the trio stumbled down the steps and into the kitchen for breakfast, Naruto was given the option to take the day off.

Only Naruto.

“But we should get to stay home, too!” Ino protested. “How is he gonna have a good birthday if he doesn’t have anyone to spend it with?!”

“Your father and I were planning on spending time with him, until school lets out.” Aunt Anri turned to the blond boy before adding, “If you want to stay home, that is.”

“You really wouldn’t mind spending the day with just me?” Naruto’s voice wobbled a little, hope shining in his ocean blue eyes.

“Of course not,” Aunt Anri ruffled his already messy hair, managing to muss it up even more. “We wouldn’t offer if we didn’t want to.”

The boy turned pleading, puppy eyes onto his two best friends, and Sakura heard ino heave a sigh as she gave up her argument.

“Just save some celebrating for when we get home, okay?”

Naruto’s answering smile was blindingly bright, and after he tugged them both into a long hug, both girls left for school blushing.

It took far too long to get through the school day, though Sakura and Ino couldn’t help from preening a lot just a bit when they both aced their first attempts at the henge technique Mizuki-sensei led the class in. Though, they obviously had the unfair advantage of practicing under the supervision of multiple ANBU agents.

Hey, they had to take their wins when they could get them. Especially when their last lesson of the day was with Suzume-sensei and they both had to try their hardest to stop rolling their eyes before the woman noticed them doing it.

Both Sakura and Ino knew they didn’t ever want to do seduction missions, so it was mostly all useless information, anyway.

The walk home cheered them up, at least, and they had additional company. Shikamaru, Chouji, and Sasuke (who was all but officially living with the Akimichi clan by that point) tagged along, having been invited over for cake. Their three usual teachers were all out of the village on a mission, but they’d promised to come over for their own little party once they got back, which was probably for the best, since the three boys still weren’t privy to Genma-sensei, Fox-sensei, or Kakashi-sensei.

“Man, Naruto’s so lucky. The only reason I got to stay home from school on my birthday was because it was on a Saturday this year,” Shikamaru complained.

“Like that’s a hardship,” Ino snarked, pinching the part of his bicep not covered by his sleeve. “You just nap through all the lessons, anyway, you lazy bastard.”

Sakura, Chouji, and Sasuke had to try and disguise their snorts of laughter as sneezes. Judging from the stink eye they were all given by the Nara, it hadn’t worked.

As though summoned by the prospect of leftover birthday cake, all three teachers were waiting for them in the Yamanaka’s living room when the trio returned from school the following afternoon.

Ino teased Genma-sensei about it, saying he’d hurried up because he could smell the chocolate cake from the next country over. She got a light tug of her ponytail and a fondly exasperated eye roll in response, before the brunet proved the girl’s argument by shoveling a forkful of cake into his mouth.

“Well, since Shiranui did his face reveal on the last birthday we celebrated, I guess it’s my turn.” Fox-sensei mused as she placed her own yet-untouched plate of cake down, and Sakura could hear the smile in her voice.

“Does that mean Kakashi-sensei will show his whole face on Sakura-chan’s birthday?” Naruto asked rather saucily, shooting one of his trademark foxy grins over to the masked man.

“Maybe on her hundredth birthday,” the man in question commented airily, totally unphased by the sounds of three children groaning in protest.

“Well, I bet Genma-sensei is much prettier than you, anyway,” Ino stated haughtily. “Fox-sensei, too!” That had the effect of redirecting the children’s attention back to the purple-haired woman, whose hand was on her bone white fox mask.

“It’s just Yugao-sensei, now,” she said as she slipped the piece of chakra-infused porcelain off her face.

The trio's jaws dropped.

“You’re beautiful, sensei,” Sakura blurted out. Beside her, Ino and Naruto nodded frantically, still too stricken to speak.

“Thank you,” Fox- no, Yugao-sensei smiled at the compliment. Somehow, she got even more beautiful when she did that! If she could just be half as pretty when she grew up, Sakura would be thrilled.

Besides her looks, their purple haired teacher’s real voice, no longer modulated by the seal on her mask, was just as lovely as her face. Really, it wasn’t fair that all the good genes in Konoha went to one person!

“Hey, how come I didn’t get praised for my good looks on Blondie’s birthday?” Genma-sensei stopped his laughing at Kakashi to pout.

“Because you’re already so full of yourself, even the kids can see it. Clearly, they didn’t want to contribute to inflating your ego that much more,” Aunt Anri snarked, causing Kakashi, Yugao-sensei, and Uncle Inoichi to snort.

“Ooh, she got you good, sensei,” Naruto giggled, finally recovering from the shock at how pretty their female teacher was behind her mask.

“I think Hayate’s got some competition now,” Kakashi teased his fellow agent as he placed his empty plate down, causing Yugao-sensei to blush (again, very prettily- what was she, a goddess that was incapable of ever looking bad?).

“Who’s Hayate?” Ino crossed the room to stand in front of the purple haired woman, tilting her head up to level her with what Ino probably thought was a very serious look. To Sakura, it looked more like pouting, which was cute. “Is he your boyfriend?”

“He is.” Yugao-sensei laughed, and reached out to ruffle Ino’s hair, ignoring the complaint at how such an action messed up the blonde’s hair. She also ignored how Sakura and Naruto pouted, though Sakura was pretty sure neither of them knew exactly which party they were jealous of in that scenario- Ino for getting special attention, or Yugao-sensei for attracting all of Ino’s attention.

“He’s also a kenjutsu specialist, so he may join us one day, once you’re further along in your lessons.”

The prospect of getting to meet the man who’d managed to snag their teacher wiped the jealousy from the blond and pinkette, both of them turning their own sparkling eyes towards the woman.

“How am I supposed to top my cute little kohai when she has a boyfriend to parade around?” Kakashi bemoaned jokingly.

“I’d suggest you bring Gai, but the property damage alone-” Uncle Inoichi began teasing the silver haired man, but stopped when Kakashi-sensei shot him a look (he must have been learning from Aunt Anri on how to give an effective glare).

“Alright, alright,” Inoichi held up his hands in surrender as the trio moved as a single unit to plop down on the floor in front of Kakashi-sensei, ready to pry into who this mysterious Gai person was. “I know it isn’t like that, I’ll stop teasing.”

Sakura couldn’t help herself from asking, as a thought entered her mind.

“But what about Iruka-sensei? Everytime we see you hanging around during sparring lessons, you’re always mooning over him.”

Naruto and Ino’s twin chorus of agreement echoed loudly in the room as the other four adults turned questioning gazes and quirked eyebrows at the silver-haired man.

“I do not moon over anyone. And how did you know I was watching your sparring sessions?” He hastily tried to divert the subject towards the observational skills Sakura apparently acquired.

“Oh, Naruto pointed you out one day, he felt your chakra. And then I could feel it when you were in a close enough tree, because it kinda feels like that static that comes off the tv screen?” The pinkette wrinkled her nose as she added, “Tastes like it, too.”

“Yeah, it’s kinda tingly, but the taste is gross,” Ino agreed. “But more importantly, you should probably just go ahead and ask Iruka-sensei out. Then maybe Suzume-sensei would stop sexually harassing him.”

As the trio nodded sagely, the adults all had to take a moment to simply be flabbergasted. Adults were kind of slow on the uptake with stuff like that, so Sakura understood why they needed to do it.

Finally, Kakashi-sensei managed to speak once more.

“How about I show you my summons?” Sakura had a sneaking suspicion he was just making a last ditch attempt to divert the subject, but none of the children were going to call him out on it if it meant finally seeing his summons.

So, after enthusiastic nodding and shouts of excitement, the man set about… well, Sakura couldn’t exactly see what he was doing, because he angled himself in such a way none of the trio could see his face. But that didn’t matter, in the end, because with a poof of smoke, her entire attention was captured.

“Puppies!” The exclamation slipped out of Sakura before she could stop it, and she immediately held out her arms to the small horde of dogs, all varying wildly in size but equally adorable. “Hi!”

“This the pink one you’ve been talking about, boss?” The cutest one, in Sakura’s opinion, turned his head to look up at Kakashi-sensei. All three children gasped at the revelation the dogs could talk!

“I’ve never met a summons that could talk before!” Ino said in awe, allowing one of the bigger pack members to bowl her over from her seated position to lay flat on her back.

“You’ve only seen Shikaku’s and Maimi’s,” Inoichi reminded his daughter with a laugh. “Two is hardly a good sample size.”

Neither Sakura nor Naruto could tease their friend for being called out, too engrossed in giving out head pats and belly rubs. The cutest one, a pug, was even letting Sakura rub his little toe beans!

It was the best day ever... Or at least, second only to the day she was freed from Mebuki and Kizashi.

“You give pretty good paw rubs, kid,” the pug complimented. “I’m Pakkun, by the way.” Sakura nodded eagerly, afraid she’d squeal and hurt the dogs’ ears if she opened her mouth. In fact, it took several minutes for her to calm down enough to register what Pakkun said before his introduction.

“Kakashi-sensei mentioned me to you?” Her head cocked, braid swinging to brush against her left shoulder as she did so. “I knew he talked to Genma-sensei and Yugao-sensei, but…” Her emerald eyes swept up to the man in question, who was studiously ignoring her.

She kept her gaze pinned on him until he finally gave in, though. Lone eye crinkling in a smile that was definitely forced, the man chuckled awkwardly.

“Ah, I may have mentioned you once or twice-”

“You wouldn’t stop brooding over these three for the entirety of the trip back home from that thing in Kusa,” the pug cut in as he rolled over to allow Sakura belly access.

Three of the other four adults tried their hardest to muffle their laughter in the corner, but they didn’t quite succeed (in Sakura’s opinion, at least). Genma-sensei, on the other hand, was laughing openly, senbon bobbing around as it hung from his lips.

“Finally got called out, Hatake,” he teased.

“Oh, shut up.”

“Can we keep ‘em, Boss? Pleeeeeease?” The one with the character for shinobi on his forehead interrupted his summoner, stopping mid-wrestling match with Naruto to do so.

“They’re not puppies, Bisuke,” the silver haired ninja reprimanded. “And where would they fit in my place?”

“That’s not a no, though!” Ino grinned broadly after pointing out the slip-up.

“No.” Kakashi-sensei looked her dead in the eye as he shot the blonde girl down, causing her to pout.

“Spoil sport.”

“I dunno, I like it here better than some weird maybe-pervert’s place, even if he is my kinda-sorta brother” Naruto chimed in with his observation, managing to stay solemn for a whole second after his proclamation before breaking into giggles. Genma-sensei started laughing in earnest at that, clapping the silver haired man on the shoulder.

“Owned by your teacher’s kid- your own little brother,” the brunet gleefully pointed out. Kakashi-sensei grumbled, but didn’t look as defeated as that first night in Uncle Inoichi’s office.

“You’re all against me,” the bullied man whined in complaint.

“You have no one to blame but yourself,” Aunt Anri teased, patting the mass of unruly silver hair as she walked past the couch that Kakashi-sensei was sitting on and towards the kitchen.

“So when are you gonna teach us sealing stuff, Kakashi-nii?” Naruto bulldozed past the feigned hurt feelings and onto his intended topic of conversation as he disentangled himself from his new canine friend. For emphasis, he then flung himself onto the man in question, who could do nothing but let out a soft oof as the air was forcibly ejected from his lungs.

“‘Cuz Sakura-chan’s got her thing to look at, and then I got this thing on my stomach that totally looks like a seal!” He stood up and hastily lifted the hem of his orange t-shirt to display his stomach. “Uncle let me read a little of the notes and stuff you brought, but I didn’t see anything that looked like this!”

Sakura had never seen the blond boy without his shirt, so getting flashed, in essence, was so shocking that it took her a moment to register it wasn’t just smooth, tanned skin beneath the fabric.

There was a seal.

“Well, I mean, some parts kinda look like the seal Mito-baa-chan used to seal the Kyuubi, but mom was the one who…” The boy trailed off, comprehension dawning on his face as well as Sakura’s and Ino’s.

The adults’ expressions were more akin to shock.

“What… what really happened to the Kyuubi after mom died? It couldn’t have just been destroyed like they said in our history book at school, right? It had to have been sealed into someone else?”

Silence rang throughout the room for a long, tense moment.

“Is that why your chakra feels so hot when you get really upset?” Sakura asked, looking thoughtful. “Like when I was crying because I saw those people and you had to calm me down?”

“You felt the chakra burn you?” Kakashi’s single eye widened in alarm.

“Well, it didn’t hurt,” the pinkette tried to explain as she crept closer to Naruto, who had dropped his shirt and started looking at her in horror. “Don’t worry, Naruto, you’d never hurt me. Or Ino, or anyone else you care about.”

“Yeah!” Ino finally found her voice again, chiming in to agree with her best female friend. “And all of us feel a little murder-y about the Harunos, so it’s understandable, y’know?”

That seemed to break Genma-sensei out of his trance, the man snorting once more before trying to switch subjects from the possible reveal of just what the hell was in that seal on Naruto’s stomach.

“Heard that problem was already taken care of, though, eh, Inoichi?”

“Everyone in the office. Now.” Uncle Inoichi had finally been shaken from his stupor and had the strongest furrow in his brow that Sakura had ever seen. Maybe he was right when he joked that the three of them would give him wrinkles before he turned forty.

Yugao-sensei made a pit stop to grab Aunt Anri from the kitchen as Kakashi unsummoned his ninken, and then, the group of eight crammed themselves into the Yamanaka head’s office as instructed. It wasn’t exactly a comfortable fit, but obviously it was a matter for the privacy seal. (Secretly, Sakura wondered if the thing had ever been used as much since it was first gifted to Uncle Inoichi and Aunt Anri as it had been in just the last few months.)

“So,” Naruto ventured once the tingle of the privacy seal activation passed over him, “Is this one of those state secrets Genma-sensei mentioned? ‘Cuz I thought that was just about who mom and dad were.” He squinted at the aforementioned man before adding, “Just how many state secrets are there, exactly?”

“If I knew all of them, they wouldn’t exactly be secrets, would they?” The brunet shot back teasingly.

“Yeah, but you obviously know some,” the boy pushed back. “Especially about me.”

He had a point, honestly, and Sakura felt herself nodding along.

“So Naruto’s a jinchuuriki?” Ino, as was her usual style, cut straight to the point. Both girls were hovering on either side of the blond, standing so close their arms pressed against his. Sakura couldn’t see what Ino was doing in any great detail, what with the entire person between them, but the pinkette herself entwined her fingers with Naruto’s, giving a squeeze in an attempt to prevent him from even starting to think they would suddenly love him any less for the new discovery.

With a heavy sigh, Uncle Inoichi took it upon himself to answer for the other adults in the room.

“Yes, Ino. And I don’t think it needs to be mentioned again that because of this information’s… delicate nature, you should try not to even think about it outside of this office.”

Three heads nodded in unison.

“But what does it mean?” Naruto asked. “I have the kyuubi in here,” once more, he lifted up the hem of his shirt after disentangling it from Sakura’s hand and pointed with his free hand at the seal on his stomach, “But how am I s’posed to be a jinchuuriki? Shouldn’t I be protecting the village and stuff?”

He paused, dropping his arms back to his sides once more, before asking his next question in the increasingly tense silence.

“Is that… Is that why everyone calls me a monster?” His voice cracked a little on the word monster, but he didn’t have time to start crying in earnest. Sakura and Ino flung their arms around him, sandwiching the boy in the tightest hug they could muster.

“You’re not,” Sakura whispered in his ear, feeling him shiver in response. “You’re ours and we love you forever.”

“Yeah, and we’ll kick anyone’s ass if they call you that again,” Ino promised. Aunt Anri didn’t scold her daughter for the swearing, for once, probably because she was in agreement with her daughter. Even Yugao-sensei made a little noise of agreement in the back of her throat as she stood beside her captain and watched the scene unfold.

They would do anything to give Naruto a happy life.

Chapter Text

After the bombshell of Naruto’s jinchuuriki status had been dropped on the trio in October, there was a subtle shift in their dynamics.

They’d been tight-knit before, bonded by best friendship and training and dreams, but now? They were joined at the hips, inseparable and vicious in their defense of one another when an outsider tried to say anything even slightly off-color.

Ino and Sakura shouted at a man in the park until he cried one Sunday afternoon, when the adult had been stupid enough to glare at Naruto. He hadn’t even said anything, but just that look had been enough to set the duo off.

Naruto was reluctant to see them leave whenever they had kunoichi classes- he even told Iruka-sensei to the man’s face that he thought it was stupid that only girls had to learn it, while the boys got let off the hook. To his credit, Iruka-sensei readily agreed, though he wasn’t able to do anything about it. Shikamaru, Chouji, and Sasuke could usually distract him for the hour or so they were gone, though, and Kiba would also often help, if unintentionally, by starting a roughhousing session with the blond.

It wasn’t just Genma-sensei joking about having a spring wedding anymore, either, as Kakashi-sensei joined in on the occasions he came over to help training sessions (and to try and decipher what the fuck that seal in Sakura’s dream-memory had been). The tables were easily turned on both men, however, as just the mere mention of that woman Yugao-sensei told Ino about, named Shizune, sent Genma choking on his senbon. Kakashi would mostly just pretend like he was deaf whenever the topic of Iruka-sensei was brought up, though, and set them to training even harder, which made teasing him decidedly less fun.

Such punishments weren’t entirely without benefit, though. As November began creeping ever closer to to December, the morning air changing from crisp to positively frosty (for Fire Country, at least), the trio were bounding ahead in their progress on not only the Academy three jutsu, but in their kenjutsu and sealing studies, too. In fact, the only thing that stalled was Sakura’s progress on chakra-enhanced strength, but that was only due to the group’s need to not attract any undue attention by leaving craters where they didn’t belong.

Well, that and Naruto’s progress on clones, but now that they knew he not only had the stupidly huge chakra reserves of an Uzumaki, but also the chakra of the Kyuubi (even if he couldn’t access it), it was understandable.

Kakashi-sensei said it might be worth it to teach him the forbidden Shadow Clone technique as a substitute, since it required much more chakra and would probably be easier for the blond, but none of the other adults seemed very keen on it. Genma-sensei seemed the closest to coming around to the idea, but for the time being everyone was doing their best to help him work on his chakra control.

“I wonder if I could swap with something smaller than a leaf,” Sakura mused aloud as she eyed the nearest tree in the Yamanaka head’s private training ground one Saturday. They were due to leave for Shikamaru’s house in a few hours, some sort of Ino-Shika-Cho meeting that Uncle Inoichi and Aunt Anri were being kind of cagey about.

Ino joked earlier that morning that they were probably planning to overthrow the Hokage or something, which had caused Genma-sensei to nearly choke on his senbon before sharply telling her to never say anything like that out in the open, even as a joke.

But he hadn’t denied it.

Then again, he almost certainly wasn’t involved in the meeting, and was more immediately concerned with his favorite student’s safety should the Sandaime catch wind of such a joke.

But dwelling on that wasn’t helping the pinkette try her luck at what she wanted to pull off. So, turning her back on Genma-sensei and Ino as they got to work on their one-on-one senbon practice.

Since Naruto was up in Uncle Inoichi’s office looking through his mother’s old sealing notes with the man, and Aunt Anri was holding down the fort at the flower shop, that left Sakura to her own devices.

Emerald eyes swept over the area, looking for anything that would be a reasonable step down in size from the leaves they’d been practicing their substitution with for the past several days. She didn’t want to jump straight to, say, a grain of sand, though that was the eventual goal (how useful would that be if she ever had a mission go wrong in Wind Country?). Maybe a pebble?

In the end, she had to settle for a small rock, a bit larger than the size of a traditional pebble, but still a definite step down in size from the leaves. She brought her hands together to form the seals for the substitution jutsu after moving the rock to a more visible location in the grass, and was just getting ready to give her chakra a final push, when a voice spoke up from right behind her.

“If you get that on the first go, I’ll take you on as an apprentice after your birthday.”

Kakashi-sensei’s voice startled her so badly that she ended up tripping over a rather sizable branch that was at least a full meter to the left of her intended target.

“Ah, that’s too bad. Maybe next year, Sakura-chan.”

“That shouldn’t count as my first try! You snuck up on me on purpose!” The pinkette grumbled as she made her way back towards the man.

“Yes, well, I’m a shinobi, and it’s sort of in the job description to be sneaky.”

Sakura let out a wordless screech of frustration in response to his teasing. It only served to make the man’s visible eye crinkle in satisfied happiness.

“Senseiiiii,” the pinkette whined once she was finally able to form coherent sentences again, “That’s not fair!”

On the other hand, she wanted to become that sneaky, too- and becoming his apprentice would definitely put her on that track! The fact it was even on the table was an exciting prospect, though she was sure he wouldn’t follow through until after she became a chuunin (which was like, an eternity away).

“Now now, don’t pout,” his hand came out to pat the top of her head for a moment, before he pulled it back and switched subjects as he was so skilled at doing.

“Have you grown again? I could have sworn you were only this tall,” he gestured a solid few centimeters lower than the crown of her head, “last week before Yugao and I left for that mission.”

“Yes!” Ino, who had apparently paused the senbon training to eavesdrop alongside her favored teacher, answered for Sakura. “Mom measured and Forehead’s like, six whole centimeters taller than me and Naruto now!” The blonde followed up her huffy declaration by giving her friend the stink eye.

“What do you want me to do, Pig? Chop my legs off at the knee?”

“Of course not, idiot! Just… just save some height for the rest of us!” Ino’s cheeks were suspiciously pink as she finished lodging her complaint, though, and Sakura shot her a knowing grin.

With her growth spurt had come another wave of hormones, and that meant no longer being able to deny (to herself, at least) that Ino was pretty and Naruto was cute, in that sort of way that made it obvious he’d be ridiculously handsome one day. So if the blonde wanted to fawn over her, in her own weird, prickly way, well… Sakura wasn’t about to protest.

“Alright, you two, stop flirting and get back to work.” Genma-sensei was laughing as he interrupted the staring contest between the girls, and when Sakura looked over at Kakashi-sensei, she saw his shoulders trembling with repressed chuckles.

“Hey, you get to laugh when you nut up and start writing Shizune,” Ino told their brunet teacher as they turned to go back to their senbon training.

All Sakura had to do was give Kakashi-sensei a sidelong glance after that, and the ANBU agent was suddenly eager to stop laughing at Genma-sensei and start handing out pointers to the pinkette on keeping concentration during a kawarimi. Anything to keep from talking about Iruka-sensei.

“You’ve gotten faster over the past few months,” Kakashi started out with a compliment, only to immediately cut her down to reality by adding, “But it’s still not up to the level that could fool a jounin. Even if you hadn’t been distracted, you wouldn’t have been able to swap with your little rock without my notice.” Kakashi-sensei patted her head gently.

“Since you can already substitute yourself with something larger, why don’t we just work on getting your speed up to scratch for now?”

It was as close to the apprenticeship she’d been teased with as she would get for the moment (and now that the option was even on the table, she intended to pursue it to the fullest, even if she was still working through the last dregs of her trust issues). So, with a nod, Sakura steeled herself for some unpleasant cardio.

“Is she dead?” The pinkette felt a finger poke her in the back, as she lay face down in the dead grass of the Yamanaka head family’s training ground. Judging from how soft the poke was, the finger belonged to Naruto.

“Not quite,” Kakashi-sensei answered a bit too cheerfully, and Sakura tried to make a noise of disgusted protest.

What came out was more of a wheezing grunt.

“Come on, Forehead, you need a shower before we go to Shikamaru’s.” She could hear the judgement in Ino’s voice as she added, “And I mean you desperately need one.”

Sheer spite was the only way Sakura managed to finally roll over and level a glare up at the blonde for her commentary. Even if it was true.

“I’ll carry you, Sakura-chan!” Green eyes softened as she turned her gaze to Naruto, managing to hold her arms up to accept his offer despite the fact they felt like they were made of lead.

“You’re the best, Naruto,” she managed to say as the boy hoisted her up into his arms. She was too tired to even be embarrassed over the fact he had her in a bridal carry, though she tried to savor the princess treatment regardless.

“I know,” he replied with his usual foxy grin, and the pinkette couldn’t help but laugh (even if it came out slightly more airy than usual).

Ino harrumphed in the background, and she heard Genma-sensei teasing her as Naruto began making his way into the house.

Sakura was pleased to note how much her recovery time was improving, because she’d all but regained normal use of her lungs by the time Naruto placed her back on her feet just outside the back door of the house so he had his hands free enough to open it. Her legs still felt a little jelly-like, but she was able to make it in the house with Naruto’s arm only wrapped around her for support.

“You… certainly look like you were training, Sakura,” Inoichi commented as delicately as possible as the duo traipsed past where he sat on the couch and towards the stairs.

“We have to be the best if we’re gonna be Naruto’s joint ANBU commanders,” Ino replied for the trio, having finally breezed into the house behind her two best friends with a still-amused pair of sensei trailing in after her.

“That’s true,” the blond man conceded with a nod. He didn’t laugh, but there was definitely amusement glittering in his eyes as the trio made their way up the stairs.

Sakura nearly had to clutch onto an arm once or twice, but forced herself to work through the weakness of her legs. She had to get better, good enough she wouldn’t die alone and unnoticed and-

No. The pinkette scolded herself as she slipped into the bathroom for a much-needed shower. I’m not going to die like that. Uncle Inoichi said I’m already stronger than that other Sakura, anyway. And Kakashi-sensei wants me, this time.

It was a reassurance she had to keep repeating to herself until the very moment they all reached the Nara compound, though, only stopping when a very grave-looking Nara Yoshino answered the door to the Main House.

That… didn’t bode well for the secret meeting, did it? Not that Sakura could do anything about it. All she could do was follow behind her two best friends as they made their way towards the living room, where Shikamaru’s mom told them the other kids would be.

“Hey you guys, Uzumaki Naruto has arrived!” Naruto burst into the room with his usual exuberance. Ino and Sakura were a bit more sedate with their own entrances, calling out a more subdued greeting before moving to sit in their preferred seats- Ino on the couch with Naruto and Chouji, and Sakura at the little, low table that contained a shogi board.

Shikamaru and Sasuke were already in the middle of a game, but with the way the former was smirking and the latter scowling, it probably wouldn’t last much longer. When the girl took a closer look at the board, it only confirmed her suspicion. Though, in defense of Sasuke, it was stupidly hard to beat Shikamaru (especially as of late- having two new partners to play against, instead of just his father, seemed to have sparked some actual motivation in the Nara).

Ino, who had been talking to Naruto and Chouji about something related to the test they’d had a few days ago Sakura caught the tried and true phrase, Mizuki-sensei isn’t shit, being tossed out during the discussion, causing both boys sitting beside the blonde to snort with laughter), decided to speak up and involve the whole group in a new topic of conversation.

“So, what do you think they’re talking about?” It was the fifty million ryo question, and had undoubtedly been on all their minds since the impromptu meeting had been announced the day before.

“My guess is nothing we can say aloud,” Sakura teased. Yet, there was truth in her words, as evidenced by Shikamaru and Sasuke nodding in agreement.

“Yeah,” Chouji conceded, before hesitantly offering some more information. “Mom and dad were pretty upset about some stuff the other day.” He looked nervously over at Sasuke as he spoke, further piquing everyone else’s curiosity. Chouji would really need to work on his tells before graduation, though.

The Yamanaka heiress wasted no time in pouncing.

“Spill, Uchiha!”

“It’s none of our business, Pig-” Sakura tried to fend the other girl off (because hadn’t they spent enough of their lives making Sasuke uncomfortable?), but was shot down.

“If it’s gonna affect us, it absolutely is our business.”

“Maybe it’s another state secret, Ino,” Naruto pitched in, trying to be helpful and diffuse the situation.

“Another state secret?” Shikamaru proved to be ridiculously perceptive, as usual, and immediately latched onto the topic. “Just what state secrets do you know?”

Sakura didn’t miss the grateful look Sasuke sent the Nara heir. It didn’t surprise her that Shikamaru had lended a hand, really- he was a good, loyal friend, even in spite of his extreme laziness. If he had to put his Nara brand of sneaky diplomacy to the test to help out a comrade, well, it was good practice for his future career.

“Uhh… none?”

Ino sighed in exasperation, then reached down to pinch his arm through the sleeve of his black and orange jacket.

“Stop talking before we all get in trouble,” she hissed as the blond boy yelped in protest at the tweak.

“But they’re about me, if anyone’s got a right to tell ‘em, it’s me!”

“That’s… I mean, logically, yeah, but that’s just not how that stuff works, which you already know.”

“The rules are dumb,” Naruto pouted.

Sasuke finally spoke up, looking mildly amused at the familiar bickering.

“I moved in with the Akimichis.”

“Oh,” Sakura didn’t have much to say in response (because shehonestly thought he’d already been living with Chouji and his family. “Congratulations? If that’s, um, the right thing to say?”

She let out a relieved breath when the pale boy gave her a nod of acknowledgement.

“But weren’t you already living with them, bastard?” Naruto, though he’d been improving in the realm of asking things tactfully, couldn’t seem to help but ask what most of them had undoubtedly been thinking.

There was a pause, just long enough that the pinkette opened her mouth to start apologizing, when Sasuke finally replied.

“I mean, I guess so,” he admitted with a shrug. It was a testament to how good an influence Chouji was on him, smoothing out some of his former, knee-jerk harsh replies. “But I had to keep going back to the Compound to get changes of clothes and stuff every few days-”

“Hold on,” Ino interrupted. “You were still living there? After everything that happened?”

The blonde looked absolutely horrified- when Sakura realized just what she was referring to, and the implications of Sasuke’s admissions, her own expression also shifted to one of shock.

Sasuke looked supremely uncomfortable as he nodded once, sharp and short and more of a jerk of his chin than a full bob of his head.

“What the actual fuck?! No wonder your parents were pissed, Chouji, I am, too!” There was a spark of pure anger radiating in the pupilless eyes of the Yamanaka heiress, and Sakura knew her own gaze held a similar emotion burning in their green depths before she slid her focus over to Naruto.

Over the last six months, the blond had acquired at least some thoughtfulness when a situation was obviously delicate, but there were clearly some questions floating around in his head about what exactly was going on. It was also a testament to his budding friendship with Sasuke, that he was so reluctant to risk hurting his feelings.

Still, Sakura had a feeling what most of those questions would be, and thanked whatever gods were listening that he hadn’t just started trotting out inquiries about what, exactly, had happened to the Uchiha clan.

“Yeah,” Shikamaru agreed with Ino’s sentiment, shifting Sakura’s focus back to the conversation at hand instead of the hypothetical future one with Naruto. The genius moved a shogi tile as he spoke, winning the game that had been neglected for the past several minutes in the excitement. “Pretty messed up. Glad you got out.”

“Thanks,” Sasuke grumbled, clearly not pleased to have lost, but starting to help move the tiles back to their starting positions anyway.

The rest of the evening was blissfully normal. Ino and Naruto ragged on the shogi players for being so into their old man game, Naruto and Chouji tossed around ideas about a homework assignment that was giving them both trouble, and Ino speculated about the young man the trio had spotted in Ichiraku’s the other day (flirting with a very flustered Ayame).

The latter turned into a game of creating increasingly ridiculous background stories for the man, until all of them were in stitches (well, Shikamaru and Sasuke weren’t laughing, but they were smiling, and that was as close to a deep belly laugh as the two were probably capable of).

“Are we interrupting something?” The voice of Akimichi Maimi broke through the peals of laughter, sounding rather amused herself. When the group of children turned to look at her, they found all six of their guardians peeking into the room with varying expressions of fondness.

None of the trio asked about the meeting for the entirety of the walk home, instead fielding questions from IUncle Inoichi and Aunt Anri about what they’d gotten up to for the time they’d been left to their own devices.

“Forehead beat Shikamaru at shogi again,” Ino supplied, sounding as proud as she would if it were her own accomplishment.

“Yeah, and she beat that bas- uhh, Sasuke,” Naruto hastily corrected himself before Aunt Anri could catch him swearing. “Twice!”

“That’s very impressive,” Aunt Anri praised, gently resting one hand atop Sakura’s pink locks as Uncle Inoichi opened the front door of the house. “You could have a promising career in Intelligence one day, if you wanted it.” The woman smiled down at the girl knowingly as she removed her hand from her head before adding, “But I think you’d also do quite well as Kakashi’s apprentice.”

“You really think-?” The pinkette cut her own question off as she traded her shoes for her new blue house slippers (having outgrown the old pink ones), but she hadn’t been able to curb the hopefulness in her tone.

“Nothing is one hundred percent until paperwork is filed, but I’d be willing to bet he’ll have all that filled out and ready to go by the time you take the chuunin exams for the first time.”

Chapter Text

The adults wouldn’t budge on giving out any hints about what happened during the meeting. To be fair, Sasuke hadn’t been open about his prying (and knew Shikamaru was being similarly sneaky about his intel gathering), and Chouji had dropped it after his mother rebuffed his question the first time. The trio, that cohesive unit of Sakura, Naruto, and Ino, spent weeks wheedling and trying to guess. All of it amounted to nothing, until finally they had to admit defeat.

There were more important things to concern themselves with, anyway. As the year inched towards closing, the Academy amped up their lessons, and sparring matches were becoming more frequent. Watching Naruto lay that girl Ami out flat after the purple haired fangirl spent the morning aiming a stream of snarky comments at Sakura had been the amusing highlight of a particularly interesting Tuesday.

More importantly, when it came to training, Sasuke, along with Shikamaru and Chouji, had been let in on yet another secret: The trio were getting private training from a group of jounin that he highly suspected were, in fact, ANBU agents.

Shikamaru wanted nothing to do with the extra physical training, but he never turned down the little logic puzzles Yugao-sensei always had tucked into her thigh pouch, nor did he grumble too much when she’d review the completed ones and give him a congratulatory head pat.

Chouji was more neutral at first- he appreciated the trio and their three teachers being willing to invite them into what was obviously a very tight-knit relationship, but he wasn’t necessarily interested in any of the weapons specialties offered by Yugao-sensei or Genma-sensei. Not that it stopped him from joining Ino in senbon-throwing lessons once the blonde mentioned that the older man was a poisons expert.

He hadn’t known Chouji had an interest in poisons until then, but upon further consideration, it somehow fit the boy perfectly. Just his clan affiliation would give him an alibi, should he ever take to assassinations- no one would suspect an Akimichi of wasting good food by poisoning it, after all.

Sasuke, on the other hand, formed an immediate appreciation of Yugao-sensei and her swordsmanship. To her eternal credit, the woman seemed overjoyed to have another interested pupil- Sakura had, it appeared, been stolen from the purple haired woman by Hatake Kakashi (the name tickled something in the back of Sasuke’s brain, but he hadn’t worked up the nerve to ask just yet).

Speaking of the pinkette, now that she’d stopped fawning over him in a weird attempt to get Ino’s attention, she made for a good training partner. She was still weaker than he was, but the gap was closing rapidly. Never was that more obvious than when they crossed (practice) blades.

Sasuke was more than a little embarrassed to admit that she won far more than he did the first few weeks he’d started training with her under Yugao-sensei. It was his response to his own feelings of being weak that showed him just how far he’d come over the past few months, though. The conversation he’d had with Chouji several nights prior helped him start to see he didn’t need to be perfect at everything immediately.

He didn’t need to be just like that man in order to defeat him.

It was a hard lesson to learn, though, when even before that night, the elders of his clan had always pressured his parents to turn him into the second coming of Itachi him. Especially when he still hated himself over not being strong enough to stop what had happened, despite the fact his logical side understood that an almost-eight-year-old should never be reasonably expected to stop a once-in-a-generation prodigy from going on a rampage.

The Akimichi and Nara and Yamanaka clans were helping him to unlearn the guilt, but Uncle Santa said that recovering from trauma isn’t a straight line and that had certainly proven true. He liked Uncle Santa, and wondered often whether having him around could have prevented that night altogether.

The focus of that night, however, wouldn’t be training or brooding, as Ino always phrased it (he kind of wondered if he should turn the tables on the blonde and start pinching her for being a nuisance, sometimes). No, it was New Year’s Eve, and Sasuke was currently bundling himself into his new, warm coat alongside Chouji and Uncle Chouza and Aunt Maimi, so they could go to the event pavilion in the center of the Akimichi compound for the three-clan celebration.

Sasuke remembered thinking New Year’s was boring, when he was a child- the Uchiha elders never allowed fireworks, and his cheeks were always pinched to incredible soreness from all the older clan members as they handed over little red packets of money to all the young children of the clan. So, even though he would naturally have traded a little discomfort for having his family back… Well, his new family was pretty great.

Plus, there would be actual fireworks, and lots of good food, and his friends would all be there and he wouldn’t have to worry about keeping them safe because all the adults were going to be there, too. So maybe it would be okay to just be an eleven year old kid for the night, and not worry about watching the backs of everyone he held dear from his murderous older brother fellow Uchiha.

That prospect relaxed the pale boy enough that, when Uncle Chouza smiled at him as they left the house and asked if he was excited for the party, Sasuke managed to offer a small smile in return as he nodded in confirmation.

As their little group of four made their way to the party’s location, other Akimichi who were also heading towards the pavilion called out greetings. Some even kept pace with Uncle Chouza and Aunt Maimi for a few minutes at a time, in order to catch up with the clan heads.

Sasuke and Chouji mostly kept to their own conversation (about a new manga series set in a fictional version of Iron, where a high school girl fell down the well of her family’s shrine and into a time that was a little before the Founders’ era but with various demons and a severe lack of shinobi), but whenever they overheard someone asking about how their two boys were doing in school, the Uchiha tried not to let any heat rise to his face.

It didn’t stop him from exchanging little smiles with Chouji, though a part of him felt a little guilty that he thought he was more at home among the Akimichi clan than he’d been with most of his own clan before That Day.

He didn’t have time to dwell on those emotions, though, because no sooner had he stepped foot in the event space, decked out with streamers and lanterns that showed their many beautiful colors as they shone in the darkening December evening, he heard a very familiar voice shouting from the direction of the compound’s entrance.

“Can that idiot not be quiet for one night?” Sasuke’s grumbles were met with chuckles from his best friend. The pale boy heaved a sigh in return, but didn’t say anything. Chouji and Naruto got along well, and helped each other with homework and studying when he and Sakura couldn’t figure out a way to explain their thought processes on subjects that came so naturally to them.

That didn’t mean the volume control issues weren’t annoying, though. He was improving as the months went on, but there was so much room for improvement that Sasuke wasn’t sure the Uzumaki would ever be allowed to take a stealth-intensive mission.

“Hi Chouji! Basta- Uhh, Sasuke,” Naruto corrected himself before Ino's mother could scold him. Why she bothered when Ino’s penchant for swearing had rubbed off on all of the kids, albeit in varying levels, was beyond him.

The Yamanaka parents gave Sasuke and Chouji warm greetings, slipping them their respective red envelopes without much fuss before heading off to where the other adults had started congregating. The boys shoved the packets of money into their coat pockets before traipsing over to join the trio so they could all wait for the Nara head family to finally arrive.

“You look nice in your kimonos,” Chouji complimented the girls, who grinned broadly and thanked the boy before four sets of eyes turned expectantly on him.

Sasuke managed to mumble out an agreement (because the trio really did look nice, in their outfits that were very obviously color coordinated), but before Naruto could start complaining about how it wasn’t good enough, his eyes spotted something in Ino’s hair in the glow of a nearby lantern.

“What are those?” Sasuke couldn’t help but blurt the question out the moment he caught sight of the charms dangling from Ino’s (very fancy looking) hair pins, which were keeping her long blonde locks piled neatly atop her head for the party.

“Aren’t they the best?” Naruto

“A whirlpool and a cherry blossom? A little on the nose, don’t you think?”

“Oh, fuck off, Sasuke.” Ino’s words had significantly less heat to them than they might have otherwise, and were accompanied by a blush on her part (and two wide grins on the faces of the other trio members).

“Ugh, you guys are gonna be insufferable in a few years,” Shikamaru groused as he slumped into their little circle, wasting little time in stretching out on the bench of the nearest picnic table. Ino leaned over to pinch him in retaliation, charms swinging wildly in her irritation.

“It’s not our fault that no one will ever love a lazy ass like you,” the blonde said smugly, blue eyes watching the Nara rub the newly sore spot with a gleam of satisfaction.

“Like I want any of that hassle. No thanks.”

“I dunno,” Chouji piped up, cheeks flushing pink as the attention of the other five focused on him. “I think it would be nice to have someone like that one day.”

Sasuke gave the tiniest nod of his head as his best friend looked to him for confirmation, and the other boy relaxed once more.

Chouji was right, though- one day, in the very distant future, after that man was dead, he wanted to get married and have a family. But he was self-aware enough to know he needed to do a lot of work on himself before he thought about things like that. He wouldn’t pressure his hypothetical future children like his own father had done to him.

Like a shark smelling blood in the water, Ino picked up on his newfound softness and zeroed in all her attention on him.

“Since when are you interested in romance, Sasuke? How could you resist my charms all these years and then drop a bombshell like that?”

Sasuke looked helplessly at Sakura and Naruto, resisting the urge to hold his hands up in defense at their glares. Having seen (and felt) what she could do with a wooden practice sword, Sasuke was increasingly convinced he should never get on the pinkette’s bad side.

Luckily, Shikamaru came to the rescue with a snort of amusement.

“Everyone knows you were only chasing Sasuke to get Sakura’s attention, Ino. You can give it up any day now.” The boy received a smack to the shoulder for his troubles, but when he cracked one eye open to look at the Uchiha, he was rewarded with a small, but genuine smile of gratitude.

“Whatever,” the blonde tried to feign nonchalance despite her entire face and neck being a vivid shade of pink. “These two are better than you, anyway. But that wasn’t my point!” She then hastened to explain her reasoning. “You’ve had your mister broody act for a while, and while I’m thrilled you and Chouji are best friends forever now, you never really struck me as a dedicated husband type? More like a lone wolf.”

“Or a neglectful husband,” Naruto teased, but there was no real malice in it, so Sasuke just rolled his eyes.

“It’s not that simple.” The pale boy glanced around furtively, trying to make sure no adults were eavesdropping. This, of course, had the effect of drawing the other children into a tighter circle around him, leaning in so as to hear whatever juicy secrets he was about to divulge. Even Shikamaru got up from the bench to stand between Chouji and Naruto, so as to better hear.

Am I really going to do this? He’d shared bits and pieces, over time, with Uncle Chouza and Aunt Maimi and Chouji, but to lay it out for his other friends?

He was already damning them by association, if he ever came back to finish the job. Would he also force the burden of knowledge onto four otherwise innocent Academy students?

Chouji squeezed his elbow, warm and comforting even through the thick wool coat, and Sasuke had his answer. Taking a deep breath to steel himself, he finally spoke.

“The Uchiha are all dead because of my brother.”

A pin dropping could have been heard in the hush that instantly fell over the other children (even, to Sasuke’s surprise, the two blondes).

Then, with five pairs of eyes and ears focused intently on him, Sasuke finally told the entire story of what he’d come home to that horrible day three and a half years before. He left out the part about seeing the body of a month old infant he would never be able to forget how tiny, how fragile she’d been, laying in a pool of her father’s blood with large, unseeing eyes. Some scars weren’t meant to be shared, after all.

He finished by explaining that he’d woken up in the hospital to an interrogation of sorts by the Hokage himself, a village elder named Shimura Danzo, and two ANBU whose masks weren’t quite right in that they had no markings at all (he knew because Itachi had been in ANBU for a year by that point and Sasuke had seen the red stripes of his Weasel mask, had seen Shisui’s own painted Swallow mask before he threw himself into the Naka River).

All five of them, even Chouji, looked like they were moments away from hunting down the Hokage himself to seek retribution. Sasuke hastened to get the subject slightly back on the track of talking about his hypothetical future spouse.

“So I have to wait to have a family until I hunt Itachi down and kill him.”

It sort of worked, in that Sakura and Chouji looked sad and Shikamaru and Naruto nodded in some sort of understanding.

Ino, however…

“That’s… that’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard, Sasuke. No offense.”

Sasuke glared, and opened his mouth to rebut her rudeness, but the blonde pressed onward without giving him the chance.

“No, think about it for a second. After the hell he put you through, you really want to follow his plans for your life? Wouldn’t the best fuck you you could give him be to live happily and ignore his existence altogether?”

Sasuke’s mouth opened once more, but then, after a second of trying to come up with what to say, he shut it again.

Ino was right. He was just having trouble wrapping his mind around it and fully accepting it.

“He tortured me, Ino. He made me see-” He cut himself off when his voice cracked, and leaned just the slightest bit into the hand Chouji placed on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort the boy.

Contrary to what he’d assumed when she’d been in her boy-crazy phase just last year, Ino wasn’t dumb. Far from it, she was probably one of the smartest kids in class, just under himself, Shikamaru, and Sakura. So her look of shock and sadness meant she obviously pieced together at least some of what Itachi’s Tsukuyomi had made him see.

Sakura and Shikamaru looked equally horrified at the realization Sasuke had been genuinely tortured and just what the Hokage pressing him for answers immediately after he’d woken up from his genjutsu-induced coma meant, and while Naruto and Chouji couldn’t grasp the whole subtext, they still looked pained at the fact their friend had suffered so much just weeks before his eighth birthday (or at all).

“Then we’ll all get stronger together,” Sakura offered up, reaching a hand out hesitantly, hovering in front of him without touching him. “We’re all gonna be super strong jounin and ANBU one day, and then we’ll take him down as a team. You’re not alone, Sasuke. We’re your friends and we want to help you. We want to see you happy.”

He would deny it until his dying breath, but her words motivated him to reach out and grab her offered hand. It was just for an instant, and the second he realized it, he dropped the appendage like a hot poker, but Sakura’s responding smile outshone the sun itself.

He had friends, he had the Akimichis who loved him, and even those weird ANBU guys that hung out at the Yamanaka house sometimes said they would protect all of them.

“Yeah, bastard, we’ll all get super strong together and then go kick his ass right to the Shinigami!”

For once, Sasuke was thankful for Naruto’s tendency to kill a mood with his exuberance, because the Uchiha’s eyes had begun blurring with a mist of tears, and he just… didn’t want to cry in front of people. Or at all, really.

“We will, but you’re still in the bottom half of the class rankings, idiot.” It was easy to fall back into their usual bickering. He felt his own lips quirk into the tiniest smile for an instant, just as Naruto flashed him a mischievous grin and took the bait.

“That’s no way to talk to your future Hokage, ya know!”

“Tch, I have a better shot at being Hokage than you, moron.” Sasuke did not, however, have the desire to take the hat one day.

Besides, he and Shikamaru shared the same sneaking suspicion that there would be a new, younger Hokage in office in the next few years. Even if they hadn’t been able to figure out what exactly had been said at the meeting weeks ago, well, they were both geniuses in their own right.

The prospect terrified Sasuke. He’d only just allowed himself to become part of a family again, and if Uncle Chouza was on the losing side of any attempts at overthrowing the Sandaime…

He loved the Akimichi clan like they were his own and his friends that stuck with him even though he was a standoffish asshole most of the time, and he didn’t want any of them to ever be hurt.

Naruto, thankfully, took the bait, and the atmosphere lightened as the two boys got into an argument about who would be the better Hokage. Shikamaru, with a very knowing glint in his eye, decided to add fuel to the fire by reminding the blond boy that Kiba had also mentioned wanting the role one day.

“Oh, as if dog breath could ever do that,” Ino huffed, jumping to her friend’s defense. “He can’t even win a fight with Naruto now, and the gap’s only getting bigger as time goes on. Especially since Kiba won’t stop flirting with Forehead.”

There was an annoyance in both her and Naruto’s expressions that none of the remaining three boys were willing to touch with a ten meter pole. Sakura must have been used to that complaint, however, because she dragged a hand down her face in exasperation.

“Not this again.”

Chapter Text

“Well, we know it’s definitely a time travel seal, at least,” Kakashi-sensei sighed, rubbing his visible eye in an attempt to clear it of the strain it was undoubtedly suffering after hours of comparing Aunt Kushina’s notes to the seal Uncle Inoichi sketched months ago.

“But that leaves the question of who put it there in the first place. You said you never learned sealing, not even the basics. And this… it was inside your mind, not on your physical body. Only a Yamanaka could have put it there, surely.”

“But I was still fighting with Ino in that life,” Sakura still felt a little queasy just thinking about the entire situation, but pushed through it for the sake of getting to the bottom of things. “And she couldn’t have done any sealing work like that, and I don’t think Uncle Inoichi could have, either. No offense,” she directed the last part to Uncle himself, who was looking just as flummoxed as Sakura felt as he sat in his office chair.

“None taken,” he waved her off, but his voice was a little faint.

She really needed to stop contributing to his skyrocketing stress levels.

“Uhh, you guys?” Naruto, who had still been pouring over the sketched seal and his mother’s notes, interrupted. The pinkette didn’t like how hesitant he sounded- nothing good was happening if Naruto was anything less than exuberant.

She scooted closer to him, until she was practically sitting in his lap as they remained seated on the floor of the office. It helped ease her nerves, being so close to his warmth (seriously, the kyuubi must have made him a human furnace- no one ran that hot naturally).

The blond paused to offer her a small smile, far too demure compared to his usual sunny grins, then continued.

“I don’t think it was Sakura-chan that came back? The way this line here,” he pointed to a particularly squiggly line on the paper Uncle Inoichi had scratched the seal replica onto, “Is curved like that? That deals with spirit- it looks like something mom had about a sort of ghost ritual thing she saw in Uzushio as a kid, before she came here. And those hooks branching off of it,” his finger pointed to the miniscule little curves that were branching off of the squiggly line, “definitely have something to do with separation. So combining the two would make it separate the mind into two?”

Kakashi-sensei stood from his chair in order to plop down on Naruto’s other side and peer intently at the line in question. Wordlessly, Naruto then pointed to the sketched seal in his mother’s childhood diary, where, sure enough, there was an identically curving line. She guessed the man was just taking the bit about the hooks in good faith, because Naruto had proven himself so intuitive at sealing so far.

How Sakura had been able to distinguish it from the general mishmash of tangled lines was a miracle in itself. She was definitely glad the sealing stuff came so naturally to Naruto, because clearly someone needed to be good at it. If a seal could send a mind, or part of one, back in time, then what else could it do? It was no wonder Kiri and Kumo felt Uzushio was such a threat that it had to be wiped off the map entirely, if there was an entire clan of people with such innate genius.

The pinkette thought she’d better stick to the simple things like explosive tags and storage scrolls, for everyone’s safety.

Still, her own lack of sealing prowess was the topic of the afternoon. Or rather, her other self’s sealing prowess. If a Yamanaka hadn’t put that seal on Inner, then only she could have, right? And there was the question of intent, too.

“So the seal just sent Inner back, not the real me?” That… kind of made Sakura’s head hurt, and she was one of the smartest kids in class! “So when Inner came back in time…”

She was hoping one of the other three occupants of the room would fill in the blank, but they only waited silently, gazes focused intently on her.

Well, a little baseless speculation isn’t the worst thing that could come out of this.

“Do you think… I mean, is it possible that the Inner from the future sort of crashed into the Inner from the present- err, past? And the impact killed them both, like a meteor crash or something? But the memories stuck around like some weird sort of debris?”

It sounded absolutely crazy, and Sakura definitely did not like the way all three males looked to be seriously considering the prospect.

“This is the part where you tell me I’m out of my mind,” the girl prompted. “Please.”

“It’s not a bad theory, actually,” Uncle Inoichi said slowly, still considering. Then, his face softened into something more apologetic. “I know that’s not what you wanted to hear, Sakura. But it’s as good a working theory as any.”

“The how is a little more concerning to me than the why, at the moment,” Kakashi-sensei added, still sounding troubled. “That seal was on a piece of your mind, which meant you either had knowledge of sealing that you don’t remember, someone had access to your mind and you didn’t know about it, or Inner wasn’t really an alter ego. Which. Hm.” He paused, then sighed.

“That last option is the most worrying, I think. That could go in several directions and none of them are very comforting.”

“At least she’s gone now?” Naruto offered up, trying to break the dark cloud that had settled over the group. He got a kiss on the cheeks from Sakura as a reward, and his flustered squawk and flailing arms were enough to put a little smile on the two adults’ faces (Sakura could tell when Kakashi-sensei was smiling by then, even under the mask, and he most definitely was).

Unfortunately, they had grave matters to get back to.

“Could- could it have been you, sensei? Maybe you managed to get a Yamanaka to place the seal for you, somehow? Maybe while I was sleeping?” Sakura offered. She really didn’t want to bring up his past, not when she knew he’d finally been convinced to visit Uncle Santa for the first time. But maybe it was important for this!

“I reminded you of someone, you said it once, before that mission. So maybe you wanted to make sure I’d be okay?”

The small section of Kakashi-sensei’s face that was visible looked a little green, and he definitely wasn’t smiling under the mask anymore.

“I suppose it’s possible. Before you took up swords, you reminded me a little of a teammate I’d lost when I was around your age.” He clammed up after that, however, and she wasn’t going to try and pry it out of him. Who he’d lost wasn’t as important just then as making sure he was okay. The details could be shared when he was ready, if he was ever ready, and not a moment sooner.

Naruto opened his mouth, undoubtedly wanting to ask who Kakashi-sensei was talking about, but Sakura managed to catch his eye. With a short, jerky shake of her head, the blond shut his mouth again, looking rather put out.

“Well, the intent and the how are both very important,” Uncle Inoichi said, sounding entirely too sad. “But I think that’s enough for the time being. You’re safe and healthy now, Sakura, and that’s what really matters. If we look at these notes for too much longer, we might all go cross-eyed.”

The blond man clapped his hands, standing from his seat.

“Now, you two go ahead and head downstairs to help with dinner. Kakashi and I will pack these notes up and be down when we’re done.”

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other, but didn’t say anything. They merely nodded and excused themselves from the office, only pausing in the doorway to make Kakashi-sensei promise to stay for the meal.

“They’re definitely talking about whatever those monthly meetings are about,” Naruto whispered as they descended the stairs, hand in hand.

“Yeah. I still can’t believe that not even Shikamaru could figure out what’s going on- his dad tells him way more than the jounin commander should probably be telling an Academy student.” Not that Shikamaru ever divulged that information- something would happen and only after the entire village knew would he casually drop an oh yeah, dad mentioned that last week.

It absolutely infuriated Ino but she was cute when she pouted, so it was really more like a bonus than anything.

Sakura hoped they were planning to overthrow the Hokage, for all the suffering he’d put Naruto and Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei through. She knew better than to say it aloud, of course, and tried not to even think about it outside of the house, but the desire was always there, lurking just beneath the surface. Luckily, the pinkette had a lot going on in her life to distract her from considering actual treason.

“Aww man, didn’t we have tonkatsu last week?” Naruto made his complaints known the second they stepped into the kitchen. Ino shot him a glare from over her shoulder, the look only intensifying when her eyes dropped to observe the way his fingers entwined with Sakura’s.

“Just for that, we’re gonna have it next Wednesday, too!” She huffed, turning her head sharply back to the stove as she rolled another piece of pork into the panko crumbs. “And you two need to stop canoodling and start helping!”

Yep, definitely jealous.

“Like you don’t hold our hands on the walk home from school every day, Pig.” Sakura’s muttering was met with a wooden spoon being shaken at her as she slipped an apron over her head.

“Yeah, Ino,” Naruto decided to add his two cents in as he carefully tied his own apron on, still afraid to ruin all the clothes Uncle and Auntie got him (he’d need new ones soon, though, because he was definitely catching up to Sakura in height).

“Besides, aren’t we all going to the new Princess Yukie movie on Sunday? For a date.” He wiggled his eyebrows for emphasis, and received a dish towel to the face for his troubles.

Not that Ino could hide how very pink her cheeks were, or the little grin that stretched across her face.

“Shut up and start slicing the vegetables.”

Something about the domesticity was, embarrassingly, what tipped Sakura over the edge. She’d been trying so hard to take things in stride, to act like the grown up the village would view her as in just over a year when she graduated. But she was still a month and a half away from turning eleven, and she was scared.

Big, ugly, heaving sobs burst forth from her mouth as she washed her hands in the kitchen sink, startling both blondes into dropping their respective cooking utensils.

“Sakura!”

“Sakura-chan!”

“I’m so-o-orry,” she manages to get out around the lump in her throat, the word punctuated by little hiccuping gasps. “I don’t- I can’t-!”

The pinkette isn’t sure who grasped her shoulders and gently steered her away from the faucet and into the nearest kitchen chair, but through the watery mess that her vision has become, Ino’s face swam in front of her. The blonde’s hands were gentle on her shoulders, and even though Sakura had a hard time making out the details of her best friend’s expression through her tears, she felt it was a safe enough bet that there was just as much concern there as was in her voice.

“What’s wrong, Sakura?”

Sakura didn’t say anything, opting instead to lean into the other girl and stain the shoulder of her purple turtleneck with tears.

“Sakura-chan?” Naruto’s voice, just as worried as Ino’s, sounded from somewhere behind the Yamanaka heiress.

The pinkette could only shake her head, not trusting herself to be able to put the problem into words just yet.

Naruto took the opportunity to whisper something into Ino’s ear, but she couldn’t catch exactly what with the sound of her blood pounding in her ears. Then, more loudly for the pinkette’s benefit, he spoke again.

“I can finish all the dinner stuff, Ino. Maybe you and Sakura-chan should go sit on the couch?”

It was only due to her emotional state that the pinkette didn’t fully register that Ino took the opportunity to just scoop her up, like she was a princess in a fairytale, in order to follow Naruto’s suggestion. Of course, it was significantly more awkward than a fairytale, considering the pinkette was still dripping tears (and probably snot) onto the blonde’s shirt.

Thankfully, Ino didn’t press her for an answer once they were settled onto the couch, curling protectively over the crying girl in her lap.

Sakura sank into the embrace, letting her sobs trail off into more manageable sniffles, until she was finally able to pull back and look at Ino. To the Yamanaka’s eternal testament, she didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow at the frightful sight that must have been the pinkette’s puffy, tear-streaked face. Instead, she sat and waited for her friend to speak up first.

“I’m scared, Ino.” She hated that, even after all those months of training to become strong, she sounded like a weak little girl in the end.

I am a weak little girl. Her more cynical side tried to restart her downward spiral, but Sakura used every ounce of willpower she had to force those thoughts away. For the moment, at least.

“Everything with the seal, and how it got there and Inner and-”

“Okay, slow down, Forehead.” Ino must have been able to sense the other girl was feeling a little better, if she’d started whipping out the nicknames again. “I was busy playing housewife down here, remember? So you guys definitely figured out what the seal in your weird dream was, and maybe some other stuff?”

Sakura nodded miserably, curling a little further into the blonde, who tightened her grip as though it was a reflex as natural as breathing.

“It’s a lot to take in, huh?”

“Yeah.”

Ino gave her a squeeze.

“We’ll talk about it whenever you’re ready, Forehead. All three of us, okay?”

“‘Kay.”

The two girls sat in silence after that, listening to Naruto fussing over the food not cooking fast enough. It helped immensely, and by the time they heard the front door open and Aunt Anri announce her arrival home, Sakura was certain she’d gotten herself under control enough to refrain from bursting into tears again that night.

Of course, that didn’t stop her mother-figure from noting her red-rimmed eyes and stuffy nose the second she entered the living room. She had nearly the same reaction as her daughter, making sure to settle onto the couch beside the two girls before speaking in a soft tone, low enough that no one would be able to hear from another room.

“Do you want to talk about it now, or later?” As the brunette asked, she brushed a stray lock of pink from where it had stuck to Sakura’s cheek, tucking the long strands behind the girl’s ear.

“Later, please.” The hoarseness of her voice made her earlier outburst that much more obvious, and she couldn’t help but wince. It wasn’t very shinobi-like of her, to have an emotional outburst, was it?

I’m always the weakest link.

That single, miserable thought was all she could dwell on as their little group of three rejoined Naruto in the kitchen.

The blond dropped a finished pork cutlet onto a platter with two already-cooked pieces and immediately flung himself at Sakura, wrapping her in one of the tightest bear hugs she’d ever had the pleasure of receiving. Thankfully, he didn’t stab her with the long cooking chopsticks he hadn’t managed to put down in his need to make physical contact.

“Are you okay?” He whispered the question into Sakura’s ear, giving her a further squeeze when she nodded into his shoulder.

“We’ll talk later,” she managed to whisper as they separated, earning an adorably determined look from Naruto as he nodded. For good measure, he used his free hand to mime zipping his mouth shut, then promptly turned to brag to Aunt Anri about his marvelous work on the tonkatsu.

The evening proceeded in an almost suspiciously normal manner from there, though Sakura didn’t miss the concerned glances both Uncle Inoichi and Kakashi-sensei shot her as they all settled at the table to eat. Thankfully for her, they didn’t ask.

She appreciated being cared for, it was such a nice change from her home life under the Harunos, but if she heard are you okay or some variation one more time that night, she feared she would have another outburst.

She wanted to share her thoughts and feelings and everything else with Ino and Naruto, though, so she ended up spending the majority of the meal in silence, trying to encourage herself for what was to come later. Even while washing the dishes, she only gave distracted agreements or noncommittal hums as she tried to piece together how to explain the absolute clusterfuck (to borrow one of Ino’s new favorite words) her emotions were just then.

“We’re gonna have a sleepover in my room, okay?” Ino’s voice broke through the dull haze her mind had slowly morphed into- or maybe it was the way her best friends had grasped an elbow each as soon as she finished wiping her hands dry. Either way, she barely had time to hear the trio of adults remind them to have lights out by ten before she was unceremoniously yanked out of the kitchen and hauled up the stairs.

“Baths first,” Ino declared once they made it to the top. “We’re all gonna need to be comfortable for this.”

“Hey, what did I say about you not bein’ the boss of me?” Naruto complained.

“What, you want to go to bed all gross and dirty- and on the floor, because that’s where you have to sleep if you don’t take a bath.”

“No,” he pouted. “I was gonna take one anyway, but it was my idea, believe it.”

It was a funny enough scene to draw a burst of giggles from Sakura, and she found herself the recipient of two very pleased grins from her favorite blondes.

The trio parted only long enough to go through with their plan, forgoing the usual long soaks they all preferred in favor of regrouping as quickly as possible. It probably took longer to arrange themselves to all fit in Ino’s bed, honestly. All three of them were growing, and it was becoming very obvious that either one of them would need to get a bigger bed, or any future sleepovers would have to be done in the living room.

No matter, as long as they stayed together, it would be alright.

In a stunning show of patience for both Naruto and Ino, they waited for Sakura to speak first, keeping her sandwiched between them as they sat with their backs propped against the pillows lining the headboard.

She still wasn’t sure if she could string her thoughts together in a way that made sense, but Sakura forged ahead regardless.

“So, someone was probably in my head.” Ino opened her mouth to interject already, but the pinkette didn’t give her the time to say a single word as she pressed on. “Not Inner.” She paused, then amended, “Well, kind of Inner?”

She had to rope Naruto in to explain the exact details of the seal, especially what he’d theorized about the spirit splitting. He’d also had to go back and talk about the time travel aspect, but it was clear he was just so naturally gifted with seals that Sakura and Ino would never understand on as deep a level as he did.

That was perfectly fine, too- honestly, Sakura was just glad to have the person who would probably revolutionize the world with sealing arts as one of her dearest people. Ino must have been of a similar mindset, because she not only stayed quiet throughout Naruto’s explanations, but she even leaned over Sakura a few times to listen even more intently than she already was.

It was only when Sakura finally jumped back in to add her two ryo about what she thought could have happened, about the two Inners colliding and canceling each other out, that Ino spoke up.

“Wait, okay, back up. I was so impressed with all the sealing stuff that I forgot to ask about the fact that someone put a time travel seal on a piece of your mind?”

“Yeah. I…” Sakura trailed off, still feeling unsure and more than a little worried. “I don’t know what that means, honestly. Someone was able to get in my head, but when? Uncle Inoichi took a look before we really started breaking down what the seal was to make sure I didn’t have another one somewhere else in my mind, but-” She didn’t really want to speak the terrible thought aloud, but forced herself to anyway (a shinobi needs to be brace).

“Did that person already get in my head? Or was the seal put there later?” Her voice wavered a little with thoughts of the unspoken follow-up question: Does someone still have access to both a sealing arsenal and my brain.

The other question she had, however, she voiced.

“What did they want with me, anyway?”

The trio lapsed into a heavy, brooding silence as they absorbed just how helpless they were in such a situation, just how many answers they were missing. At least, until Ino couldn’t hold back her commentary any longer.

“Well, fuck.”

Chapter Text

Kakashi should have known something was going to go terribly wrong. Whenever he got attached to anyone, it always did.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t about to fight his fate. Though, in all fairness, that wouldn’t have been the case a year ago. Before he finally broke the Sandaime’s orders and peeked in on Naruto, before he got a little too attached to the three gremlins that were the blond boy, a civilian girl with shockingly pink hair, and the Yamanaka heiress.

He also wouldn’t have been planning on handing in his resignation to ANBU once some business was taken care of, that was.

Still, even with Inoichi and Anri practically adopting him (despite the fact he was only a decade younger than the couple), and the newfound sense of direction he was experiencing because of the new relationships… Well, the infamous bad luck of Team Seven members seemed determined to haunt him for the rest of his life.

So he really shouldn’t have been all that surprised when his bright little future apprentice came bursting into the flower shop, where he’d been catching up with Anri and Genma after returning from a particularly brutal solo mission to the border of Kumo. Anri even let him try his hand at making a bouquet, and while it was shoddy at best, he found he didn’t feel like flying apart at the seams as his fingers worked.

Ino was hot on Sakura’s heels, and both looked absolutely terrified as their gazes immediately locked onto him.

“Kakashi-sensei! Mizuki-sensei took Naruto!” He was out the door before anything else could be said, murder on his mind. He could feel Genma leave the shop behind him, shouting a few profanities at being left in the dust, but Kakashi was already so far ahead, summoning his pack and making for the Academy to get a scent trail.

It was Bisuke who picked up the trail first, only needing a single whiff of air around the Academy gates before he swerved and started sprinting towards the wooded area that separated a section of the nearby training ground Eighteen from the external wall of the village. Given how fond that particular member of his pack was of Naruto, Kakashi wasn’t surprised.

He didn’t have time for trivial things like reflecting on how well his ninken got along with the boy, though. The only thing he seemed able to grasp onto as he flung himself over the massive village wall and into the forest surrounding Konoha was the single goal of the entire shit show his afternoon had turned into: find Naruto and bring him home safe.

Bisuke let out a little yip a few dozen meters in, and the whole pack, including Kakashi, went silent as they followed the little tan ninken. Still, when the man was able to clearly sense the chakra signature of his little brother teacher’s son, he dismissed his summons altogether.

He could bring them back if needed, but absolute silence and concentration was what he required in that moment. It was difficult to slip into his emotionless Hound persona with such high stakes, and he needed to put his entire energy into focusing on the task at hand.

He slunk onto a branch overlooking the clearing where Naruto’s chakra was flaring hot and erratic in distress, all the silent efficiency of a veteran Black Ops captain as one hand moved to yank his forehead protector off of Obito’s eye.

Kakashi’s heart promptly plummeted to the forest floor when he took in the scene with all the crystal clarity the Sharingan provided.

Iruka’s body, unmoving, was slumped protectively over Naruto. It was all too obvious the brunet had put himself between the boy and the fuuma shuriken that had been aimed at the blond.

The culprit behind the horrific scene in front of him, the no-talent chuunin Mizuki, was looming over the duo, laughing. The glint in the man’s eyes was wild, making him look unhinged.

Which, you know, he was. Naruto and Iruka being (relatively) innocent aside, it was downright suicide to commit such treason as to make an attempt on the village’s jinchuuriki.

Just like the most cliche movie villain, the white-haired chuunin was waxing poetic about the inane bullshit that drove him to murdering one of the nicest men in the village and attempting to take out Naruto.

“Your teacher wouldn’t have needed to be put down like a dog if you just died already!”

The red Kakashi saw wasn’t from his transplanted eye as he leapt from his tree branch and into the tiny gap between his little brother Naruto and his favorite Academy teacher. His hands, scarred from over a decade of assassination missions, shoved Mizuki so violently that the man’s spine and skull made a sharp cracking noise as they made impact with a tree on the opposite side of the clearing.

It was really a service to the village that Agent Hound performed in the next instant, hands flying through seals so rapidly that only a Sharingan would have been able to keep up.

That rat bastard of a man didn’t even have time to register what the combination meant before Kakashi was upon him. The sound of birds chirping was the only noise around them, a deathly silence looming over the clearing like an executioner’s ax.

“What-”

The traitor died without finishing his question, confusion overtaking the pure hatred in his gaze in his final seconds.

Kakashi kept his hand in the man’s chest cavity for several long moments after his chidori fizzled out.

There was no guilt, no overwhelming, all-consuming hole opening up within him to drown him in grief, as there had been with Rin. But he could still feel the slick, hot blood coating his hand even after wiping it on the leg of his black, standard-issue pants.

Why was he always surrounded by so much blood?

“Are you alright?” The weak, shaky voice broke through the haze of rage that had wrapped itself around the silver haired man, and he swiveled around to face its direction immediately.

Umino Iruka was alive. And looking directly at him.

It would have been a dream come true, had it not been for the fact the younger man was quite probably dying, and, with where the shuriken embedded itself into his back, almost certainly paralyzed.

“It’s not my blood.” Kakashi managed to croak. “Naruto?” He asked his pseudo-brother, wanting to gauge his condition, but his eyes couldn’t seem to rip themselves away from Iruka.

“I’m okay, Kaka-nii.” Naruto’s voice was far too small and scared, which was what finally spurred Kakashi back into motion. In two long strides, he had moved away from the rapidly cooling corpse of Mizuki and dropped to his knees directly beside the (still living) Academy teacher and the blond. He could see the way Iruka’s muscles twitched as he tried to lift himself off Naruto, to let the boy wiggle free.

Kakashi was having none of it.

“Don’t move,” he ordered, trying to use his authoritative Hound-taicho voice but failing to keep a few notes of pure concern out. “Someone should be here soon and we can get this out and get you to the hospital.” Naruto immediately stiffened into a motionless board at the words, afraid to injure his teacher any further.

Gods, where was Genma? He had more field aid knowledge than Kakashi, and Iruka desperately needed it. The silver haired jounin felt a tinge of hysteria begin to creep into his veins, a wholly unfamiliar sensation - he really had started to go soft.

“You know,” Iruka chuckled weakly, as his cheek remained pressed into the dirt, “This wasn’t how I imagined our first real conversation.”

“Oh?” Kakashi could feel Genma’s chakra signature suddenly appear in the area, and felt some of his growing fear turn to a sort of manic relief. “How did you imagine it, then?”

“Gods,” Genma, with his impeccable timing, interrupted whatever the teacher’s answer was going to be, sounding as horrified as Kakashi had felt (well, maybe a little less, given his own… aspirations for Umino Iruka). The senbon user quickly snapped out of it, though, and put on a jovial mask. “Let’s get this thing out of you, alright, Umino? Mizuki is-,” he cut himself off with a glance to the culprit’s lifeless body, then corrected himself, “was one sick fuck.”

Genma immediately set to work, and Kakashi lent a hand however he was directed, just wanting everything to be okay again.

“That’s one big damn shuriken,” he commented as he handed the thing, now freed from Iruka’s back, to Kakashi to seal away for evidence. Not that Mizuki could be brought to trial, considering he was a lightning-charred lump on the forest floor. At least his name could be kept off the Memorial Stone, though.

Watching his friend get to work on patching up the Academy teacher enough to get him to Konoha General, Kakashi made a mental note to ask Sakura if he could borrow that field aid book he’d given her months ago. It wouldn’t kill him to learn a few more things, clearly.

“Alright, mister hero,” Genma teased as he rolled Iruka over carefully, leaving Naruto to scramble up to his feet with wide, teary blue eyes. “I hope your masculinity isn’t too fragile, because I’m gonna need to carry-”

The senbon fell from his lips as Iruka slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, and then, onto his knees.

He wasn’t paralyzed.

“I think I can walk- but I wouldn’t say no to a shoulder to lean on while I do.”

Kakashi was standing beside him, reaching out his arms immediately (knowing full well he’d be getting plenty of shit later from… well, probably everyone who knew about his feelings).

“Genma, can you take Naruto home? If the Sandaime is going to get involved,” which he would because there had been an internal threat against the village’s jinchuuriki, “I want him to have backup.”

“Aye aye, captain,” Genma winked, giving a mocking salute as he did so. And then, because he was a menace to society, he added teasingly, “Sorry your first date is going to be in a hospital, you two!”

With that, he scooped Naruto up in a princess carry and hopped away through the trees.

“I- uh. Hospital?” Kakashi could have kicked himself. And had his voice just cracked, like a teenage boy?

“Mhmm,” Iruka sounded far too amused. As they started hobbling their way out of the forest and towards the gates, he spoke again.

“We don’t have to count this as a first date, you know. I’d actually prefer dinner.”

It took every last ounce of shinobi reflex training for Kakashi to not drop the other man in shock.

“Yes. Yeah. We can- we can do that. If you want to. With me.”

If the shinigami could just pop out and strike him down right then and there, it would be a mercy.

“This is more how I imagined our first conversation, you know. Less of me almost-dying and more of you asking me out.”

Alright, maybe the shinigami could hold off on those death plans.

“So, were you the one who told Naruto about the Kyuubi?”

Chapter Text

The entire Yamanaka household seemed to be holding their breath as they waited for any sort of news about Naruto. Every second seemed to drag on into its own eternity, and Sakura couldn’t help but wonder if it had maybe been her fault, somehow.

She’d changed the future, after all. Even though it wasn’t her fault, it was whoever placed a seal on Inner (and also the man who’d killed her in her other life, for making the seal activate). In her old life, she hadn’t been friends with Naruto, so maybe by doing that, she’d set in motion what Uncle Inoichi had mentioned was called a butterfly effect.

Naruto was alive in her old life, but maybe now she’d sealed his fate at the hands of Mizuki-sensei.

Everyone else was so caught up in their own worries for Naruto that they wouldn’t have been able to see the spiral Sakura was throwing herself down. Not that it mattered, if Naruto was hurt, she’d never be able to forgive herself.

“Honey, we’re home!” Genma-sensei’s voice rang out, shocking Sakura out of her haze of negativity. She’d been so caught up that she hadn’t even sensed his chakra signature approaching!

All that was forgotten, however, when Naruto came into view, trailing behind Genma-sensei with his clothes torn and very clearly stained with what she could only assume was blood. She didn’t even think as she launched herself across the room and straight into Naruto, crashing into him at the same time Ino did.

The three of them managed to stay upright despite the sheer force of their collision and the tears blurring their vision, not even paying attention to Genma-sensei, Uncle Inoichi, or Aunt Anri (even after the latter two joined in the group hug for a moment). Instead, once all three of them had managed to get their sniffles under control, they stumbled over to the couch while still clutching onto one another. It would have been funny, like an extreme three legged race gone terribly wrong, had the circumstances not been so serious.

Sakura heard Genma-sensei mention that Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei had gone to the hospital to treat a few little injuries as he settled around the kitchen table with the other two adults. She was still so focused on Naruto, though, that she didn’t think much of it past relief that both men were okay.

Instead, she snuggled deeper into Naruto’s side, feeling him shift a little as Ino did something similar on his other side. None of them speculated on what the adults were discussing for once, too consumed by the need to just hold each other. No matter how upset the voices in the other room seemed, all that mattered in that moment was Naruto.

“Are you okay?” Ino asked, then scrunched her nose - Sakura could tell because Ino always sounded like that when she did. “No, that’s a stupid question, of course you aren’t. Our piece of shit teacher snatched you and ran and tried to- tired to-” There was an audible clack as Ino’s mouth snapped shut, and Sakura lifted her head from Naruto’s shoulder to see her eyes start welling up with another round of tears. Since Ino had already cried once that day, she was no doubt desperate to avoid doing it again.

Naruto took the opportunity to wiggle his arms free from where they’d been pinned to his sides by the weight of his best friends, and wrapped them around Ino.

“It’s okay, Ino. I’m fine, believe it!” He was loud enough that Sakura could hear every word despite the fact his face was turned away from her and he was speaking through a mouthful of Ino’s ponytail. “Iruka-sensei protected me, and then Kaka-nii came busting in and just kinda shoved his whole hand into Mizuki-sensei’s chest. But with lightning!”

He managed to turn his head enough to level a cheeky grin at Sakura, though she noticed his complexion was several shades paler than its usual deep tan. She really hoped Uncle and Auntie would sit down and talk to him about everything he saw that night. From personal experience, she knew it was a lot to process.

“You would look so awesome doing that move, Sakura-chan! And if you’re already gonna have a cool lightning sword, why not a lightning fist?” His cheeks finally started to fill with color as his blue eyes sparkled in anticipation of all the ways Sakura could be, to borrow a phrase from Ino, a certified badass in the future.

Sakura was just so relieved to watch him perk up that she couldn’t help the grin that stretched across her own face.

“Well, I guess if I’m going to be one of your ANBU commanders, I’ll need to have a few really impressive moves.”

“You still won’t be as cool as me, Forehead.” Ino pulled her head up from where it had been nestled in the crook of Naruto’s neck in order to deliver her snarky comment. It fell a bit flat, what with her eyes now puffy and faintly rimmed with red, but Sakura played along for the sake of Ino’s pride.

“Oh yeah? Just watch me! I’m going to have a bunch of amazing lightning techniques and a sword, and you’ll only have little needles!”

“Hey, those little needles can do a lot of damage! And it’s way more subtle than a freaking lightning sword!”

“Maa, Ino-chan, what’s wrong with lightning? I’m starting to feel a little hurt.”

“Kakashi-sensei!” Ino and Sakura exclaimed in unison as Naruto shouted his own, “Kaka-nii,” at the sudden appearance of the man. He’d somehow managed to not only sneak in the front door, but move to stand right behind the couch where they were sitting. “And Iruka-sensei!”

“We need to work on your awareness again, my little zashiki warashi,” Kakashi-sensei teased.

All three children groaned in protest.

“That’s rich, coming from the man who wasn’t aware Iruka-sensei wanted you to ask him out,” her eyes locked onto something between the two men. Sakura’s focus immediately moved to where she was looking, and found their hands joined.

Aww.

“Ino!” Iruka-sensei scolded, but his neck and ears and the apples of his cheeks were far too red for any of them to take it to heart.

“Anyway,” Kakashi-sensei smoothly interrupted to divert the subject as Genma-sensei, Uncle Inoichi, and Aunt Anri emerged from the kitchen with varying levels of concern in their expressions. “Our esteemed Hokage is going to be stopping by any minute now, and I thought you’d like the heads up.” The way Kakashi-sensei said esteemed Hokage was definitely off, but it wasn’t as sarcastic as it could have been. Probably because Iruka-sensei was there, and he didn’t know all the bad stuff the Sandaime had done.

To be fair, even Sakura herself didn’t know the full list, but she knew enough from reading between the lines whenever the orders around Naruto were discussed in Uncle’s office.

As though the mere mention of the Hokage was a kind of summons, a knock sounded on the door a moment later, and all five adults moved from the kitchen to answer it. Only Uncle Inoichi actually made it to the entryway to open the door itself, though- there simply wasn’t enough room for all those people to fit in such a small space, after all.

Sakura hadn’t seen the Hokage since the meeting to get her sponsorship with the Yamanakas approved. He looked much the same as he had then, in her opinion, but there was a sort of fire in his eyes and a stiffness to his posture that made her want to squirm.

Instead, she squeezed Naruto’s hand as they continued to sit on the couch and watch the gaggle of adults disappear back into the kitchen, this time accompanied by their military dictator. Immediately after the last chair finished scraping its way across the tile and the last person was settled in their seat, the tingle of a seal swept over her skin. Undoubtedly, it was meant to keep the three of them from listening in.

Like they wouldn’t just be told the second the Hokage was gone. Still, the Sandaime couldn’t know that, so it was better to keep up appearances.

“Is… is that a bad sign?” Naruto asked, but neither Sakura nor Ino had a definitive answer. Not that it stopped Ino from speculating.

“Probably for Mizuki’s family, if he had any, that rat bastard.”

“He’s not,” Naruto paused, looking so sad that Sakura’s heart ached in turn. “He’s not gonna make me leave, is he?”

Both girls wrapped him in a tight hug for the second time that day, as though they could simply squeeze the worries out of him.

“No. He can’t.” He could, because he was the freaking Hokage, but Ino clearly wasn’t about to face that reality. Sakura didn’t want to burst her bubble, either- or Naruto’s, since the words got him to stop the tears that had been about to occur.

They needed a distraction while they waited for the adults to finish talking, though. Being the queen of spiraling thoughts, Sakura knew all too well that once they started thinking about all the what-ifs that could come from this meeting, it would only lead to tears. And really, hadn’t they all cried enough for one day?

“Want to play cards?” It would give them all something to occupy their minds and their hands, which was definitely something Naruto in particular needed to keep him settled.

And so, they ended up sitting in a little circle around the coffee table playing Go Fish until the seal was deactivated and the sounds of chairs scraping across the kitchen floor were heard.

“Naruto-kun, I’d like to talk to you for a moment,” the Hokage made his request while still standing in the doorway leading to the kitchen. “In private.”

“Can Iruka-sensei come, too? ‘Cuz a lot of it happened so fast I don’t think I could remember it.”

The question seemed to take the elderly man off-guard, but he quickly recovered and nodded his assent. The smile he directed at Naruto didn’t quite reach his eyes, though, and Sakura tried not to shiver or wrap herself around Naruto protectively.

Anyone who said Naruto was stupid could go kick rocks- Sakura knew his question, while posed innocently enough that even the Sandaime couldn’t find fault in it (even if he was suspicious of it), was for his own protection.

Naruto didn’t want to be alone in a room with the man he used to trust wholeheartedly, to the point he’d called him Jiji, because he was afraid of him now.

As the trio disappeared into the kitchen and the silencing seals activated once more, the rest of them had to play a waiting game.

“So, you finally snagged your man, huh loverboy?” Genma-sensei broke the silence first, smirking as he stared down Kakashi-sensei.

“Shut up.” It was an uncharacteristically childish retort from Kakashi-sensei, enough to make all three children break out into giggles.

“We knew you could do it, sensei!” Ino congratulated him with a sly grin as she and Sakura gave him identical thumbs up gestures.

“Yeah, we totally had faith in you!”

“You’re all a bunch of menaces.”

Their bickering eased some of the tension that had been building in the room. It didn’t totally go away, because Naruto was still trapped in the kitchen with only Iruka-sensei for backup and-

Huh.

Sakura wondered when she stopped thinking of the Hokage as the slightly shady old man who led the village (but was still capable of doing nice things like letting her escape the Harunos) and started thinking of him as an actual bad person.

Probably when she found out he’d made Sasuke live in the house where he’d watched his parents be murdered. Thank the gods the Akimichis had enough sway to keep Sasuke from going back to that situation.

“So, which one of you two hooligans is going to be kunoichi of the year this time next year? It’s some girl from the orphanage this time, from what I heard.” How exactly Genma-sensei had heard that before it was announced at the graduation ceremony the next day was beyond her. But that was the least important part of his question.

“Obviously all three of us are going to tie for shinobi of the year.” Ino beat her to answering Genma-sensei, exuding a level of self-confidence that Sakura could only dream of. She was much more sure of herself than she’d been a year ago, yes, but she still had a long way to go to get to Ino and Naruto’s level.

“The kunoichi of the year is TenTen?” Naruto had pointed out the brunette a few times before, when the older girl’s class had passed by theirs on the way to sparring practice. She was pretty, though not as pretty as Ino, and had been nice to Naruto during his short time in the orphanage. So, even though they’d never actually met before, Sakura liked her.

Ino gave a little huff of discontent from beside her, and Sakura knocked their shoulders together in retaliation.

“Jealousy isn’t very cute, Pig.”

“Shut up, Forehead! As if I’d be jealous of anyone!”

“Ah, a lover's quarrel. See what you have to look forward to, Kakashi?” Genma-sensei, it seemed, was determined to get on everyone’s nerves but Uncle and Auntie, who were looking more than a little amused.

Before the room could delve into any more petty arguments, the tingle of the privacy seal being broken washed over Sakura’s skin, and all the attention in the room turned towards the kitchen.

The Hokage was smiling as he emerged, leading the other two, but just like before, it didn’t reach his eyes. Iruka-sensei came next, looking serious, but not unhappy.

Naruto, however, looked positively shaken. He was even paler than when Genma-sensei had brought him home earlier, and his usually vibrant blue eyes were fixed on the floor as he shuffled his way back to the couch to sit between Ino and herself.

They wasted no time in taking his hands into their own, one for Ino and one for Sakura, and scooching as close as they possibly could to provide a buffer on either side of him.

Sakura had thought she hated her parents, but what she felt for them was nothing compared to what she was currently feeling for the Sandaime. It took every last ounce of self control to keep her expression neutral, and even then she could only manage by leveling her gaze at the spot where her right leg was pressed snugly against Naruto’s left.

“If you wouldn’t mind coming by my office for a meeting next week, Inoichi-kun, Anri-chan?” Naruto’s hand squeezed as the Hokage addressed the Yamanakas. It rankled Sakura even more, how the man was so patronizing to her parents Uncle and Auntie, but her focus had to remain on keeping her face from showing what she really felt. She squeezed Naruto’s hand in return, not only to give him as much comfort as she could, but to try to keep herself calm.

“Let’s leave the family to their evening, then.”

Sakura’s head snapped up just in time to watch Genma-sensei, Iruka-sensei, and Kakashi-sensei trail out after the Hokage. Because of course they had no reason to stay, now that the incident had been discussed.

As far as Sarutobi Hiruzen knew, this was the first time Kakashi-sensei (and probably Genma-sensei) had interacted with Naruto.

There was silence for a long moment after the front door shut behind the four men, no one daring to speak until they could be sure the Hokage and his hidden ANBU guard were gone for certain.

Uncle Inoichi was the first to crack, letting out a long, weary sigh before raising his hands up to massage his temples.

“I’d hoped…” He trailed off, still apparently unwilling to say exactly what he was thinking. Aunt Anri reached over to give his bicep a gentle squeeze of comfort. It was such a familiar gesture, because it was used so often amongst herself, Ino, and Naruto.

It made sense, given how common it was for children to pick up habits from their parents.

“We’ll all talk about it later. Dinner first.” Aunt Anri put her foot down, voice kind but firm. “Would you like Ichiraku’s tonight, Naruto?”

It was a testament to how truly shaken he was, that he didn’t answer with an immediate and enthusiastic agreement. Instead, he turned his head to look first at Ino, then at Sakura, before returning his gaze to Aunt Anri.

“Can… can we eat it here? I don’t think I want to go out again today.”

Sakura was certain that hers wasn’t the only heart that shattered at how vulnerable Naruto sounded.

“Of course we can,” Uncle Inoichi assured him. “I’ll go get it right now. Does everyone want their usual?”

A chorus of agreements went up throughout the room.

“I’ll go with you, dad! You’re gonna need help carrying it all, right?” Ino volunteered herself readily, which was certainly a change. Then again, it was for Naruto, so perhaps it wasn’t that unusual after all.

“Well,” Uncle Inoichi paused, giving a considering glance to all three children as they remained huddled on the couch. “It would be nice to have an extra set of hands. Are you sure you don’t mind leaving the house for a while?” Are you sure you don’t mind leaving Naruto for a while, is what he was really asking.

“You better go, Ino,” Naruto supplied when she looked at him, clearly conflicted. “If Uncle drops the ramen, that would be the worst!”

“Besides, Pig,” Sakura chimed in, now that she knew Naruto was going to be okay, “If you stay, you’ll have to help set the table.”

“Ugh, you make a good point. Well, I guess we’ll be back soon with dinner?” With those parting words and a final squeeze to Naruto, Ino bounded towards the front door, stopping only long enough to swap her slippers for sandals.

“Naruto,” Aunt Anri said once the father-daughter duo had left, “Why don’t you go wash up and get changed. Don’t worry about those clothes- we can just get rid of them.”

They were a little torn up (and very dirty), it was true, but Sakura had a feeling it was more the fact they would have such bad memories attached to them that made Aunt Anri tell him he could throw them out.

“But you just bought these for me, Auntie!”

“And I’ll buy you more this weekend.” She moved to crouch down in front of where he sat on the couch, hands reaching up to rest gently on his shoulders. “You’re ours, Naruto, and we love you. Taking care of you is a privilege, not a burden.”

Naruto cried so hard that Aunt Anri had to carry him upstairs, while Sakura was left to set the table.

While she placed everyone’s cups in their respective places, she contemplated how long she would have to train before she would be capable of killing a kage.

Chapter Text

Immediately after the Hokage had left and the all-clear was given by Uncle Inoichi, Naruto informed them that the Sandaime told him that since he knew he was the village jinchuuriki now, it was up to his discretion to let his peers know.

However, the old coot Sandaime had not-so-subtly hinted that it possibly wouldn’t be in the best interests of Naruto’s friends’ safety for them to learn his secret.

So that was why Naruto had looked so shaken.

Of course, everyone else in the family had plenty of opinions on that, but none were spoken aloud. There was a good chance they were being watched in some way, whether it be through the old man’s crystal ball or more traditional ANBU surveillance, and they weren’t about to give Sarutobi Hiruzen anything to work with. They’d already taken a risk in letting Naruto tell them what had been said.

Of course, that meant no disappearing into the office to talk about it, either, because if they were being put under a magnifying glass, something like that would definitely bring the hammer down on them.

So, they had to pretend everything was normal, which was exceedingly difficult for both Ino and Sakura when they had murder on their minds.

Nonetheless, graduation for their seniors was the next day, and they showed up to the ceremony with their best fake smiles plastered on, trying not to flinch when the Hokage took to the stage to make his usual congratulatory speech. Though, when Naruto rushed up to the girl with buns, TenTen, to congratulate her and introduce Sakura and Ino, their smiles became a little more genuine.

“I told them all about how you helped me at the orphanage and stuff!” Naruto enthused. “And we see your class training sometimes and you always look so cool!”

Sakura didn’t even have time to be jealous, because TenTen grinned right back at them and started telling them about how she was hoping to become a weapons mistress one day.

“So you’re gonna specialize in a bunch of different types?” At TenTen’s nod, all three sets of eyes watching her lit up.

“That’s so cool!”

As they continued talking about their future hopes and dreams, it became evident that everything about TenTen was cool. She wasn’t only the kunoichi of the year, beating everyone else in her class at both shuriken and kunai throwing, but had been the first student in several years to get bonus points on her written exam for the detail she’d provided for the handful of questions about weapon care and maintenance.

The trio weren’t the only ones in awe of TenTen, though. Eventually they were joined by Chouji, Shikamaru, and Sasuke as their parents mingled with the other adults, and Naruto gave the newcomers both an introduction and an enthusiastic run-down of all the older girl’s accomplishments.

“That’s really cool,” Chouji complimented, though he still looked a little bashful. “Um, my dad is quartermaster, so I could introduce you if you-”

“You would really do that?!” Now it was TenTen’s turn to look impressed.

“Yeah, he’s starting to think about taking on an apprentice sometime, because I don’t really want to specialize in it like you do.”

“Thank you so much!” She rushed forward to give him a quick hug, after which Sakura and the others politely ignored just how red Chouji’s face was (even Ino had tact sometimes, after all).

The rest of the day was remarkably normal- the only difference was Uncle and Auntie announcing that they’d be spending the afternoons during their break at the Nara house.

So you kids can train together, was the official excuse from Aunt Anri, but something was definitely fishy. Still, it wasn’t like they could discuss it, because while the Hokage was still mingling with parents and students pretending like he wasn’t looking at the handful of civilian-born children and orphans as nothing more than cannon fodder, anyone else could be eavesdropping.

The six children had to just keep their theories to themselves while they waited for a chance to talk in privacy.

The sound of wooden swords clashing violently echoed through the secluded clearing.

Shikamaru’s parents had volunteered a section of the forest that was off-limits to anyone but the Main Family of the Nara clan, as well as heavily sealed for privacy. It worked well for hiding the three teachers who rotated among them. Plus, with three new additions to training, the space behind the Academy training grounds wasn’t big enough to hold everyone comfortably.

That particular morning, only three days into their break, Sakura and Sasuke were having an all-out spar with both Yugao-sensei and Kakashi-sensei as judges. Both children had long outstripped their other friends as far as swordsmanship skills went, so they’d increasingly turned to one another to test their skills.

Sasuke swung low, trying to land a hit on Sakura’s thigh (a move he’d picked up from her, thank you very much). She twisted away, blocking his sword with her own and feeling the vibrations of wood meeting wood run all the way up her arms.

“You can’t get me with that trick when I invented it, dummy!” She taunted, using the opportunity to try and land her own hit on Sasuke’s neck.

She missed, because he was just so unfairly good at dodging, but her sword did make impact with his bicep. Two points for him, two for her. They were supposed to go until one of them hit five points, but that would take until sundown at the rate they were going.

“Are you guys still not done?” Naruto’s voice echoed through the clearing, judgment lacing his tone. Both Sakura and Sasuke stopped what they were doing to stick their tongues out at him.

“I think we can call it a tie, this time. It’s getting close to lunchtime, anyway,” Genma-sensei offered, still rolling up a wad of senbon that he’d been training the other four children with. “Right?”

“But Sakura-chan was going to win!” Kakashi-sensei pouted.

Sakura puffed up with pride, right as both Yugao-sensei and Sasuke started protesting. Kakashi-sensei was totally going to make her his apprentice one day, just like Aunt Anri said!

Of course, with how much she’d had to exert herself, she quickly returned to sucking in lungfuls of air.

Sasuke was really fun to fight, though- she was so glad they were friends now, and they were able to see each other as equals instead of how they used to be.

“I’m going to beat you in less than ten minutes next time,” Sasuke murmured as they headed in the direction of the Nara house. Sakura couldn’t help but snort.

“In your dreams, Uchiha.”

And then, they were smiling at each other like they’d always been good friends, though Sasuke tried to wipe his grin off his face once he realized what he was doing. He couldn’t quite manage, though, and had to settle for avoiding eye contact with Sakura once they were all seated in the Nara’s dining room.

The three teachers quickly left them in favor of joining the other adults in the kitchen. Probably to scheme, because something was definitely going on. There wasn’t time to brainstorm about what had been going on with the grown-ups, though, because Naruto started whispering the second Yugao finished disappearing into the other room.

“So, uhh, I have something to tell you guys.” His blue eyes darted between Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Chouji. “But you gotta promise to not freak out, okay?”

“This sounds like you’re about to say something that’s worthy of freaking out over,” Shikamaru pointed out, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “It’s not about finding out who your dad is, right? Anyone with two brain cells and a look at Hokage mountain can work that out.”

“Oh,” Naruto looked a little sad that some of his secrets had already been pieced together. He quickly bounced back, however, and leaned forward with a conspiratorial smile. “I’ve got something even bigger.”

Sakura was pretty sure none of the other three knew exactly how literal that statement was.

“Does it have to do with Mizuki-sensei?”

“Sasuke!” A soft whap could be heard throughout the room as Ino reached across the table to smack Sasuke’s arm..

“What? I’m not saying it’s his fault our teacher was a psycho.”

“It’s bigger than that!” Naruto interrupted before a squabble could start, still trying to keep his voice low but failing. A silence descended on the group as they all stopped to see if any of the adults would come to check on them.

Sakura felt her nerves flare up as they waited, even though it wasn’t her secret that was being shared.

Sasuke, Chouji, and Shikamaru were her friends, and she trusted them, but she didn’t trust them in the same way she did Naruto and Ino. Maybe one day, but not yet. Plus, with everything she, Ino, and Naruto had been told about the Kyuubi incident and the general public’s reaction…

Especially Sasuke. The adults wouldn’t tell them much, but they did say that blame had been unfairly placed on the Uchiha clan for the attack, despite Sasuke’s mom and Naruto’s having been so close. Aunt Anri, being the third member of the group, was the only one left alive to know, with every fiber of her being, that something else had happened.

That the Third might have had a hand in it.

She didn’t say it out loud, not in front of the children, at least, but Sakura could read between the lines. Kakashi-sensei had taught her to look underneath the underneath after all. And if Sarutobi Hiruzen was willing to threaten Naruto with the safety of his loved ones over sharing the fact he was the village jinchuuriki? Who knew what other kinds of monstrosities he was capable of.

That was a problem for the adults to handle, though. For then, she just had to be there to support Naruto as he started telling the other three boys just what he carried inside himself. It was a risky move, but Uncle Inoichi had not-so-subtly informed them that the homes of clan heads tended to be better protected by privacy seals than other homes. Nothing would top his office, as far as security, but it would have to be good enough.

“You’re the what?!” Shikamaru, though obviously alarmed (and looking wide awake for the first time Sakura could remember), managed to keep his voice to a very strangled whisper after the figurative explosive tag was released.

“What’s a jinchuuriki?” Chouji asked, sounding just as confused as Naruto had been when he’d first come across the term in that scroll on Uzushio the year before.

Naruto, for his part, seemed thrilled at the chance to explain it to Chouji. If he could ever get to a place where he stopped having to take movement breaks during long periods of studying, Sakura thought he could make a good teacher one day. Just like Iruka-sensei.

“So you have a big chakra monster living inside your stomach?” Chouji seemed more intrigued by the concept than afraid, and Sakura couldn’t help but feel relief wash over her. Shikamaru hadn’t spoken up since his initial outburst, but he was sitting rigidly in his seat beside Chouji, across from Sakura. He was slowly relaxing as Chouji eagerly asked about how that would work with his organs and if he knew anything about seals and their effects on the body.

She gave him the stink eye for good measure, anyway, before glancing further down the table at Sasuke.

A stark opposition to Shikamaru, he was sagging so much his body practically slumped over the tabletop. Ino was shooting concerned looks at him, but seemed hesitant to say anything. It was understandable- they hadn’t gotten as close as he and Sakura had. Ino would undoubtedly feel more at ease handling the situation if it had been anyone else at the table, but Sasuke was still a new connection for her, their bond not quite fully tested yet.

Sakura didn’t want to call attention to Sasuke, though. Attention was the last thing he’d want when he was in such a funk.

Unfortunately, Naruto hadn’t quite been able to pick up on interpreting all of his so-called rival’s body language yet, and spoke up the instant he noticed the other boy’s position.

“What’s wrong, Sasuke?” It was a very soft sentiment coming from him, but then again, both boys had made such huge progress in dealing with emotions that it shouldn’t have surprised Sakura. Just like it shouldn’t have surprised her when Sasuke was honest with them.

“They blamed my clan for the attack. The whole village did, especially the civilians. They said a tailed beast can only be controlled by someone with the Mangekyo Sharingan.”

Sakura was rapidly adding people to her ever-growing hit list.

“Take it from someone who was raised around civilians,” she looked Sasuke dead in the eyes as she addressed him, “They’re all a bunch of gossip-hungry morons.”

“Hey, old man Teuchi is nice!”

“Okay, most civilians are a bunch of gossip-hungry morons. Except the guy who runs Ichiraku.”

Thankfully, that managed to draw a little smile from Sasuke, and Sakura felt some of the weight lift off her shoulders.

“Besides,” Naruto, trying to be helpful, added, “Our moms and Auntie Anri were like, best friends. So no way would you mom let that happen. Auntie Anri said she was a force to be reckoned with.”

Ino must have caught the stricken look that flitted across Sasuke’s face at that, because she finally was able to pitch in.

“I’m sure mom would tell you more about your mom, if you want. She’s already shown you pictures and stuff from when they were in the Academy, right?” Sasuke nodded. “But I don’t think she’s gotten to the wedding pictures, yet.”

“Of course I’ll show you, Sasuke-kun.” As though the mere mention of her name summoned her, Aunt Anri came bustling out of the kitchen. “You can come early to Sakura’s birthday party tomorrow and I’ll tell you about the time we went on a little girl’s night to celebrate the end of the war and ended up catching the most infamous art forger in all of Fire.”

She smiled wistfully at the memory for a moment, then snapped right back to business.

“Now, you kids start helping set the table.” No one needed to be told twice. Even Shikamaru had the fear of the gods put in him by Aunt Anri, though he was still the slowest to shuffle into the kitchen.

No one felt much like sparring right after the meal, they were so full and sluggish, but it presented an opportunity for Sakura and Sasuke to each finally play a game of shogi against Shikamaru’s dad on the wrap-around porch.

Sakura didn’t expect to win, and she knew Sasuke was enough of a realist to feel similarly, but it was still exciting to finally play against the smartest person in the entire village. Plus, Shikaku-san pointed out their mistakes at the end of their games and then let them try again as a two-against-one match!

It was so immersing that Sakura didn’t bother to notice what her other friends were doing until after Shikamaru’s dad left her and Sasuke to go back to where the adults were talking in the kitchen (again).

“You two ready to stop letting Shikaku-san kick your butts and come back to training?” Kakashi-sensei was suddenly standing behind them, and Sakura prided herself on not jumping out of her skin like she wanted to. (Sasuke, however, jerked hard enough to knock a game piece onto the floor with his elbow. Sakura felt rather magnanimous in choosing not to tease him over it.)

“Are we doing sealing, like you promised?” Sakura turned on her best impression of sad puppy eyes as she tilted her neck back far enough to look up at her favorite teacher.

“Yes, so you can put away the sad eyes. Bull is better at them, anyway.”

Sakura scoffed as she stood up, but she could feel an embarrassed flush rise to her cheeks.

“Sakura-chan is much cuter than Bull- don’t listen to him, Sakura,” Yugao-sensei ambled over from the direction of the clearing where the others most likely were, grinning.

Their quartet had barely made it off the porch when Sasuke decided to drop a bombshell.

“One of the village elders has been following us. Shimura.”

The very air around Kakashi-sensei seemed to crackle as the woods grew deathly silent, allowing Sakura to catch the very uncharacteristic gasp of shock from Yugao-sensei. It felt as though the temperature around them plummeted far past what was normal for the mild spring day. Sakura tried not to squirm in discomfort from the sudden mood shift, peering curiously between her friend and her teacher, but not daring to break the tense silence by asking questions.

“How do- Are you sure?” The man’s visible eye was focused entirely on Sasuke, who nodded one. It was a sharp, short motion, more a jerking of his chin than a proper nod.

“Shit.” Kakashi-sensei ran a hand over his masked face as the two children and Yugao-sensei looked on with varying degrees of concern. Kakashi-sensei almost never swore, so it had to be really bad.

“Shit,” he repeated.

When no further explanation seemed forthcoming, the Sakura finally couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Sensei?” She ventured, tone laced with hesitance. “Is- What’s wrong?” She nearly asked is everything okay before realizing how stupid a question that would be.

“I need to know where you’ve seen him.” The silver haired man’s tone was serious as it addressed Sasuke, ignoring his usually favored student’s questioning. Sakura tried not to let any twinges of unsavory emotion creep in, because it definitely wasn’t the time. Kakashi-sensei sounded more grave than she’d ever heard before, and that included the first time he learned about the seal that probably sent Inner crashing two years into the past (and directly into Sakura’s brain).

So, she didn’t press the issue, and simply kept her mouth shut as a solemn Sasuke began listing off encounters. When he mentioned seeing him outside of the Academy gates with increasing frequency, both adults in the room tensed. Yugao-sensei’s hand came to rest on the Uchiha’s shoulder, offering him at least some support.

“He’s a bad man, isn’t he?” Sasuke asked as soon as he mentioned the last time he saw the councilman (earlier that morning on his walk with Chouji to the Nara compound, since Chouji’s parents had gone ahead of the boys for some reason).

“Shisui mentioned him once or twice, and so did,” he paused only for a moment before forcing out the name, “Itachi. But they’d always stop talking whenever I came in the room, and then Shisui was dead and-”

And Itachi went crazy.

Sakura couldn’t have stopped herself from hugging the boy if she’d tried, especially not with how broken he still sounded when mentioning his family. To his eternal credit, he didn’t push her away as he would have a year prior. Instead, after a moment of stiff surprise, he relaxed. He wasn’t quite at reciprocating such a gesture yet, but-

A single hand, small and a little calloused, rose up to give her two brief pats on the back.

To her own credit, Sakura didn’t tear up.

“You’ll protect Sasuke, won’t you, Kakashi-sensei?” Sakura asked, voice a little muffled from her mouth being filled with Sasuke’s hair.

“Of course. We all will.”

Sakura barely caught the look that passed between the two teachers as she tried to focus on Sasuke, since his needs were definitely more important just then, but she had caught it. Both adults caught her stare and shook their heads in tandem, warning her with another type of look not to say anything.

Man, I’m really getting good at reading body language.

Sasuke, having had enough hugging for the moment, pulled back and immediately looked to Yugao-sensei.

“You two go with Kakashi,” she smiled, ruffling Sasuke’s hair and pointedly ignoring his scowl (like he didn’t love the special attention from his favorite teacher). “I wanted to ask Anri-san about helping me with some shopping for Hayate.”

Sasuke didn’t look convinced in the slightest, but followed Sakura as she began trotting off towards the clearing they’d spent the morning in. She didn’t even have to turn around to sense Kakashi-sensei coming to walk behind them a moment later.

Whatever the adults were going to do about the creepy council guy was definitely above the skill level of any eleven year old.

Chapter Text

Kakashi-sensei missed her birthday. It couldn’t be helped- he’d been summoned on a mission with Yugao-sensei just a few hours after they’d all gone back home from their day at the Nara compound.

Still, it stung a little.

So, when she woke up in the middle of the night days later to creep down to the kitchen for a glass of water and saw him standing in the living room with Uncle Inoichi, Aunt Anri, and the biggest man she’d ever seen in real life besides Chouji’s dad? The urge to be a little petty and ignore him flared up in her.

It couldn’t defeat her innate need for his approval, though, and she was flying down the stairs and flinging herself at him in a heartbeat.

“Sensei!”

And, to his eternal credit, he let her. He even returned her hug for a brief moment, before pulling back and ruffling her already very sleep-tousled locks (which were barely contained by a braid running down her back).

“Maa maa, no need to get so excited on my account, Sakura-chan,” he teased. It was still dark in the room, but in the faint glow of the only lamp that was on, she could see his eye was crinkled in one of his truly happy smiles.

“You weren’t kidding about the pink hair.” The newcomer’s voice interrupted their moment, and Sakura pulled out of the hug to level a glare at the man.

“It doesn’t matter what kind of hair you have if you’re a good enough shinobi,” she rebuffed. He was one to talk, with his long white locks.

It was only then she realized who he was.

“That’s true enough.” Jiraiya of the Sannin laughed at her indignant reply, even as he agreed. Then, turning to the other adults, a touch of something sad entered his tone. “She reminds me of Kushina at that age.”

Sakura was successfully placated by the compliment, and said nothing more until Aunt Anri asked her what she was doing up at such a late hour.

“I was thirsty,” she excused, but even though her throat seemed to be growing drier by the minute, she didn’t want to let Kakashi-sensei out of her sight.

Something serious was happening if one of the most legendary shinobi of all time was in their living room. And she’d cobbled together enough of how self-destructive Kakashi-sensei could be. What if he was about to put himself in serious danger, more than what he usually would on a mission?

She couldn’t just ask him to go with her to the kitchen, though. She wasn’t some baby who needed her hand held just to get a drink of water.

“Well, don’t stay up too long, alright?” Aunt Anri reached over to give her messy brain a gentle tug. “You have a fun day planned, and you don’t want to spend it being sleepy. We’ll be in the office.”

It was a clear, if gentle, dismissal. All Sakura could do was nod and reluctantly move away from the group of adults and into the kitchen. When she shot one final look over her shoulder, her gaze met Kakashi-sensei’s, and he gave her one of his soft, crinkly-eyed smiles and a thumbs up.

It was as good a reassurance as he could give without saying anything outright.

She grinned and gave a double thumbs-up of her own, then turned back to finally get her glass of water.

Sakura barely had the time to sit down at the kitchen table with her drink when Naruto and Ino came thumping down the stairs.

“What’s going on, Forehead? We heard voices and then you weren’t in your room.” Ino’s tone was sharp, clearly irritated at having been dragged into the land of the waking hours before she’d intended to get up.

“I was thirsty, Pig.” Sakura lifted her glass to illustrate her point. “But Kakashi-sensei was here talking to Auntie and Uncle.” She wasn’t sure if she should be disclosing what she did next, but the three of them had promised never to keep secrets from one another.

Still, she couldn’t help but begin to nervously fiddle with the tri-colored friendship bracelet that wrapped snugly around her left wrist. The combination of purple, red, and orange was eye-catching even in the dim light of the kitchen, and the feel of the embroidery floss against her fingertips was soothing.

“He brought a guest. One of the sannin, Jiraiya.”

“The one who taught my dad?” The last bit of sleep fled Naruto’s face as he leaned in, nose nearly bumping against Sakura’s.

“Uhh, yeah? He seemed…” She sought for a good adjective, coming up short. “Complicated. But he’s supposed to be great at seals, right? So maybe he’s here to stay and teach you more stuff, since you’ve kinda learned everything Kakashi-sensei can teach you.”

“Or, he’s here to help with whatever weird stuff the adults have been planning.” Ino chimed in, tugging Naruto by the back of his shirt until he wasn’t crowding Sakura quite so much. She looked a little less grumpy and a little more intrigued by that point.

Sakura couldn’t help but agree with the sentiment.

“Yeah, it did kind of seem like whatever it was was top-secret. They wouldn’t have gone into Uncle’s office if it wasn’t right?”

Not like they would ever know what was going on. When even Shikamaru couldn’t get any information, it was pretty hopeless.

“Whatever,” Ino grumbled, not really able to put up a good argument. “Let’s just go back to bed. Hurry up, Forehead!”

“I wanna wait and see this Jiraiya guy,” Naruto protested.

“If it’s as serious as we think it is, they’ll probably still be there by the time we wake up again, anyway,” Sakura pointed out after downing the last of her water. Rinsing her cup out and placing it on the rack to dry, she added, “Remember how long they were holed up the other day at Shikamaru’s house?”

Naruto scrunched his face up in frustration.

“Yeah, well, they should at least give us a little clue!”

“Come on, Pig needs her beauty sleep and we might as well use her bed.”

“Don’t just invite yourself over, Forehead!”

“Oh, so you don’t want us to-”

“I didn’t say that.” Ino pinched Sakura’s arm in retaliation, hard enough to make Sakura flinch.

She got her revenge soon enough, though, by shoving her cold feet onto Ino’s bare calves once they were all snugly under her soft lilac comforter.

Sakura got another pinch for her troubles, but having the comfort of Ino and Naruto being within reach meant she was able to drift off faster than she would have expected to otherwise. She was so cozy that it wasn’t until she heard Naruto scramble out of bed that she finally got up.

“Wake up, you guys!” He stood, bouncing on the balls of his feet, at the foot of the bed. “We gotta go see if Kaka-nii and that Jiraiya guy are still here!”

That was enough to light a fire under Sakura, and she hastily detangled her legs from Ino’s and rolled out of bed as quickly as she could. Ino, however, wasn’t quite ready to leave the warmth of her bed, and tugged the comforter over her head with a groan of protest.

“Come on, Ino! Aren’t you at least a little curious?”

Another grunt came from the lump of blankets, but then, finally, Ino tossed them back.

“Fine. But both of you are paying for my food this afternoon.”

“Okay, okay, now let’s go!” Naruto hastily agreed to the demand before yanking Ino out of bed by the hand.

Sakura followed behind a little more calmly, though she couldn’t keep the hope from fluttering in her chest. She wished Kakashi-sensei decided to stick around after his midnight meeting, even if he hadn’t gotten her a present for her birthday. Knowing he was home safe was enough for her (though she was really hoping for a sword).

When the trio finally tumbled into the kitchen, Sakura took quick stock of the room’s occupants. Just Uncle Inoichi and Aunt Anri. Her shoulders slumped, even as she mustered up as cheerful a good morning as she could.

Naruto, bold as ever, plopped down in his seat beside Uncle Inoichi and started asking about Jiraiya’s whereabouts. (Privately, Sakura thought that if she’d been standing closer to him, she would have been able to see another hair of his turning grey.)

“Why so glum, Sakura?”

She spun on her heel to launch herself at the source of the voice, wrapping her arms snugly around him.

“Sensei!”

“Yo.” Kakashi-sensei patted her head and let her hold onto him for a moment before gently grasping her shoulders and pushing her just far enough from him that they could look each other in the eye.

“It’s come to my attention that I missed your birthday,” he teased.

“Yeah, you were s’posed to let us see your face!” Naruto chimed in as he started heaping his plate with food at the kitchen table.

“I said that would be for her hundredth birthday,” Kakashi-sensei reminded him. “You’re about eighty-nine years off.”

He turned back to Sakura and produced a long, thin box out of seemingly thin air (Sakura knew it was actually just a cleverly hidden storage seal on the inside of his jounin vest).

“Happy Birthday.”

She tried to keep her hands steady as she took the box in both hands and placed it on the table.

“I bet it’s a sword,” Ino speculated as she shoved a bite of rice into her mouth.

Naruto mumbled around a mouthful of fish, but Kakashi-sensei didn’t make any indication he heard the theory. His gaze was fixed on Sakura, waiting patiently for her to open her present.

Helpfully, he hadn’t bothered to wrap it, so all she needed to do was lift the lid.

A gasp left her, unbidden, as the sounds of Naruto and Ino simultaneously dropping their chopsticks echoed in the room. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from what was before her in order to see what Aunt and Uncle were doing, at least until she heard the sound of Uncle Inoichi’s camera shutter.

“Is this a real sword?” Sakura hovered one finger over the blade within the box, hardly daring to breathe. It was beautiful, clearly crafted by an expert (even to her novice eyes), and polished to perfection. The tanto was everything Sakura wanted in a weapon, and she couldn’t help but look up at her teacher in awe. “For me?”

“For you,” Kakashi-sensei nodded, visible eye forming a half-moon shape as he smiled down at the pinkette. “You’re going to need something sturdy if you’re going to be my apprentice one day. Something that can, say, channel lightning chakra.”

The girl’s chest felt like it would explode with all the excitement at that single statement.

“You really mean it?! You’ll take me on as your apprentice?” At his nod of confirmation, she set the box containing the tanto gently down upon the table, then flung herself at the man for the third time that day.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou,” she babbled into his chest as she squeezed her arms around him. “I promise I’ll be the very best apprentice ever!”

“Maa maa,” Kakashi-sensei’s tone was clearly amused as he patted her head, giving the braided pink locks a ruffling for good measure. “No need to thank me- I’d be a fool to ignore talent like yours.”

The girl gave a slightly watery giggle at the irony of his statement. He must have realized his choice of words, because he let out his own chuckle after a moment.

“Well, the Kakashi of that reality was a bigger fool than I am,” he winked at Sakura when she pulled back from the hug to grin at him. “And that’s really saying something, isn’t it?”

The girl didn’t bother holding back her giggles as she dove back in for another hug.

“You’re the best, sensei!”

“Mm, I’m sure you’ll change your tune soon enough, once we really start training.”

“Man, your lightning sword is gonna be so cool, Sakura-chan!”

“Has Genma-sensei said anything about taking me on as an apprentice?” Ino must have been directing her question to her parents, but Sakura couldn’t pay attention to their answer. She was too busy looking at her new weapon.

Her first sword.

“I’ll have to show you how to take care of it before we actually start training with it.”

Sakura nodded vigorously.

“After breakfast- and I don’t think steel is nutritionally sound.”

Taking the hint with only a tiny bit of an embarrassed flush to her cheeks, Sakura put the lid back on the box and gingerly carried it to rest on the table in the living room. When she came back, someone had helpfully filled her plate for her, and she dug in with enthusiasm.

She was going to be Kakashi-sensei’s apprentice! That it wouldn’t be official for another year or two, until she either graduated from the Academy or made it to chuunin, didn’t dampen her enthusiasm. In fact, she was in such a good mood she couldn’t help but ask him a rather cheeky question as all six occupants of the Yamanaka house ate.

“Does this mean I should call you shishou from now on?”

The jounin’s eye widened in shock as he spluttered and tried not to choke on the sip of water he’d just taken.

Got him.

From the other side of the table, Aunt Anri tried to mask her chuckle as a cough, but her brown eyes were sparkling with humor as she winked at Sakura.

Both Kakashi and Sakura invited Ino and Naruto to sit in on the sword care session after they’d all finished breakfast and been shooed out of the kitchen by Uncle Inoichi, who was on dish duty that day. Neither of them were interested, though.

“The kenjutsu stuff is your thing, Forehead. Why would I bother learning how to take care of a special sword when Genma-sensei is teaching me to be a senbon user?”

“You’ll have to use one if you join ANBU someday,” Sakura pointed out.

“But that’s ages away. You can just teach me later, when it’s important.”

“Yeah,” Naruto chimed in, “Sakura-chan’s a good teacher, so it’ll be fine, believe it!”

Sakura and Kakashi-sensei looked at each other and shrugged. It was their loss, if they didn’t want to join.

So, Naruto and Ino got dressed in training clothes and slipped out to help Aunt Anri in the greenhouses while Sakura got her first lesson as Hatake Kakashi’s unofficial apprentice.

She wasn’t able to hold in the questions that had been plaguing her all morning, though. The second the front door shut behind Uncle Inoichi, who was supposed to be running the flower shop for the rest of the morning, the words burst forth.

“What happened to Jiraiya-sama?” She also wanted to know why the sannin was there, when he presumably hadn’t been to Konoha since before Naruto’s birth.

She knew better than to ask that, however, especially when they were already putting themselves at risk by Kakashi being there.He was flouting the order to stay away from Naruto, and with the increased risk of surveillance from the Hokage after Naruto’s near-death experience at the hands of Mizuki… Well, having Kakashi-sensei over wasn’t exactly playing it safe.

Kakashi-sensei seemed to read her mind, though, and put her fears at ease with his reply.

“He’s with the Hokage. The sannin were Lord Third’s genin students, right?” Sakura nodded, easily remembering that tidbit from her history textbooks. “Well, it would be a little suspicious if he didn’t check in with his teacher as soon as he got back to Konoha after such a long time. Besides, I’m sure Jiraiya-sama has plenty to talk about, and maybe a few suggestions to make. The Hokage may just be occupied for the rest of the day.”

His smile was its usual eye-crinkling affair, but Sakura knew there was more to it. He’d given her some sort of information in that statement, and was expecting her to read between the lines.

She puzzled over it for the rest of their lesson, keeping to questions about all the sword maintenance tasks her mentor explained. It was only when the tanto was tucked safely back in the box, with Sakura promising to not practice with it except under Kakashi-sensei or Yugao-sensei’s supervision, that she hesitantly broached the subject of Jiraiya’s visit again.

“It has something to do with what the adults have been talking about, right? But you can’t tell me what it is?” He didn’t give any acknowledgement other than a noncommittal hum, as if to say I wonder.

“You can’t even tell me if I’m right or not, can you?”

Kakashi-sensei inclined his head so slightly that Sakura nearly missed it.

“It’s dangerous.” She wished to take the words back as soon as she spoke them, and clapped a hand over her mouth. If whatever was happening with the adults was dangerous, which it almost certainly was, then she definitely shouldn’t be talking about it!

“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I didn’t mean-”

His hand ruffled her hair, and she was still so mortified that the further mussing of her hair didn’t even phase her.

“Why don’t you finish getting ready and go help Naruto and Ino?”

Friendly as the words were, they were definitely marching orders, and Sakura was eager to please her new mentor (and still thoroughly embarrassed by her careless slip-up). She nearly forgot to grab the box with her new sword in her scramble to get upstairs.

Soon enough it was tucked safely in the back of her closet, hidden as best as she could from any prying eyes, and Sakura was heading back downstairs with brushed and braided hair and clothes that were more suitable to a greenhouse than her red, bunny-print pajamas.

Kakashi-sensei was gone by the time she passed through the living room on her way to the front door, but that made sense. He probably had to go train or do something at ANBU headquarters, since he was such an important shinobi. The fact he’d picked her, a civilian-born nobody, as his apprentice was still registering in her mind. It was especially difficult to accept because of how the Kakashi-sensei of her other life had treated her. Surely she wasn’t that different from the other Sakura, right?

She pondered over it until she reached the greenhouses, though she never reached any solid conclusions. The only thing she knew for sure was that whoever had put that time travel seal on Inner had done her a huge favor.

Chapter Text

Sakura was roused from a deep sleep by a hand gently pressing on her left shoulder. Since she was in the safety of her room, deep within the Yamanaka compound where sensors abounded, she wasn’t on high alert as she would need to be on a mission after she was given her forehead protector the following year. In fact, she’d been intending to sleep late that day, because there was no training scheduled.

Instead, she, Ino, and Naruto were going on another date. Even if Yugao-sensei said they were a little too young to be thinking about such things, and even if they'd only just gone out for ice cream together the day before.

“Sakura-chan,” Naruto’s voice swam through the haze that was her mind in its not-quite-awake state.

“Mmph,” she grunted, still unwilling to fully wake.

“Sakura, wake up.” Now that got her to open her eyes. Naruto using her name without the affectionate suffix only ever meant something serious.

“Something’s going on.”

“What?” She yanked back her covers and nearly tumbled face-first onto the floor. Luckily, Naruto was there to steady her. “What do you mean?”

“I had another nightmare, so I went to ask Auntie and Uncle if I could sleep with them, ‘cuz I didn’t want to wake you or Ino up.” That wasn’t an unusual occurrence, after the Mizuki incident. Though both Sakura and Ino had told him multiple times that he was always welcome with either one of them, neither girl had been able to fault him for feeling more secure with two jounin-level adults than a fellow maybe-genin level Academy student.

“They weren’t there?” Sakura could fill in the blanks easily enough, and his nod confirmed it.

“Maybe there was an emergency clan meeting?”

“Maybe…” Naruto sounded unsure, and Sakura couldn’t blame him. Not when there was something so unnatural about the stillness in the house.

“Let’s just go to Ino’s room, okay?”

Sakura only stopped to fish the box with her sword from the back of the closet where she’d tucked it away just hours before.

“Just in case,” she excused herself upon seeing Naruto’s eyes widen in concern.

Ino was already awake when they opened the door to her room. Her pale face was squashed against the panes of the window that overlooked the path to the compound’s gates. Not peeling her gaze (or face) away, she addressed her two best friends.

“Uncle Santa and Aunt Kaede just left. They must be going wherever mom and dad went.”

“It’s gotta have something to do with all those weird meetings, right?” Naruto moved to stand beside Ino, pressing his nose against the glass and immediately fogging it up with his breath as he spoke.

“Yeah, I think so.” Ino pulled away from her watch post to look over at Sakura, who was standing by the bed and clutching her sword box like a lifeline. “I heard Aunt Yoshino mention Fuu the other day, at your birthday party, but then she saw me and stopped talking.”

“Do you think another kid’s been taken?” As soon as Sakura asked, her heart stuttered and squeezed painfully. “Sasuke-!”

That finally got Naruto’s attention again.

“What about bastard?”

“Someone’s been following him, one of the village elders. I didn’t tell you because Kakashi-sensei told me not to say anything.” Shimura Danzo was definitely a dangerous person, from everything Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei had said, even if Sasuke didn’t know how, and Kakashi-sensei wouldn’t say. “You don’t think-?” She couldn’t say it aloud, for fear of speaking it into existence.

You don’t think they’ve taken Sasuke?

“No way.” Ino and Naruto denied her suspicion in unison. Ino followed it up by adding, “Aunt Maimi and Uncle Chouza would kill someone before letting them lay a finger on Sasuke.”

The rational part of Sakura’s brain knew Ino was right, but…

But what if? Sasuke could be so stubborn, though he was starting to soften up the longer he stayed with the Akimichi clan. Still, what if he’d gotten so fed up he ignored reason and went charging over to confront the man when he caught him spying again?

An explosion rocked the house, making all three children stumble in shock and putting a halt to Sakura’s catastrophizing about Sasuke (for the moment, at least).

As soon as they found their footing again, they rushed back to the window to try and spot anything that could clue them in to what was going on.

Another explosion, less jarring than the first, lit up the sky just above Hokage Tower.

“We have to go check it out! What if-”

“We’ll get ourselves killed, Naruto!” Ino’s voice was sharp, sharper than she’d ever used with Naruto before, and Sakura could tell by his wince that Ino’s grip on his shoulders was so tight it was painful. “We could get mom and dad killed, too, if they have to waste time trying to protect us from something we clearly have no business getting involved in!”

As much as it hurt to feel so powerless in the face of uncertainty, Sakura could only nod in agreement with Ino when both of them turned to look at her.

“Ino’s right. We might be a little more skilled than regular academy students, but anyone below chuunin-” A loud rumbling noise and the sound of an adult man shouting in pain (still thankfully nearer the Tower than the Yamanaka compound) interrupted her, and she quickly revised her opinion. “Jounin level. Anyone below jounin level will only get in the way.”

“Do you think they’ll be okay?” Naruto’s voice was much smaller and far more hesitant than it had been moments before. Ino’s grip on his shoulders loosened enough for her to pull him into a hug, which Sakura quickly joined in on after placing her sword box gently on the ground beside the bed.

“If Aunt Anri can get Morino Ibiki’s respect, she can definitely handle herself. And Uncle Inoichi has a pretty high rating in the Bingo Book, right?”

“Yeah, Ino agreed, moving back to flop down on top of her rumpled comforter. “Mom and dad are like, really good. And if the clan is involved, so are the Nara and Akimichi.” It was like a built-in insurance policy.

The three of them lapsed into silence after that, the only sounds in the room the soft thwump of Naruto and Sakura simultaneously collapsing into bed on either side of Ino.

There were no more explosions after that, nor any indication that the disturbance was moving closer. There was only the soft sound of three children breathing, until Sakura was lulled into a hazy, half-asleep state.

That was where she stayed, too nervous to let herself drift off, until Naruto’s snores began. That roused her enough to break into giggles, muffling them with a hand hastily clapped over her mouth.

“He’s such a knucklehead,” Ino whispered, but her voice was wobbly with barely-contained laughter.

“At least one of us will get some sleep tonight, Pig.”

In the darkened room, Ino’s hand groped around blindly for a moment until it found its target, wrapping securely around Sakura’s.

“It’ll be okay, Forehead.” It sounded more like she was reassuring herself than anything, but it still helped ease some of the tension in Sakura’s chest. “If something really bad happened, we’d already know, right?”

“Yeah.”

Seconds dragged into minutes, then hours, until the pale light of dawn began creeping into Ino’s other window, the one that faced Southeast instead of Northeast. The birdsong of the doves and robins that liked to nest around the Yamanaka compound started up in earnest, and Naruto’s snoring had died down to the occasional snort.

“We might as well get up,” Sakura suggested, still whispering so as not to wake the slumbering boy on Ino’s other side up. “Neither one of us is going to be able to sleep until Auntie and Uncle get home.”

As though the gods had been eavesdropping on the conversation, there was the unmistakable feel of chakra approaching the house at a rapid clip. Both girls shot up, the motion causing Naruto to rouse from his slumber.

“What’d I miss?!”

“Someone’s home- I think it’s mom. The chakra feels like hers.” Sakura suspected Ino was a sensor-type, because there was no way she would have been able to pinpoint Aunt Anri’s chakra like that. (She could do it with Kakashi-sensei, but that was because his lightning chakra sort of made her skin tingle when he was close.)

The trio crept towards the stairs as quietly as they could, trying to compress their chakra like Genma-sensei taught them. They had mixed results- Naruto’s sheer amount of chakra made it nearly impossible, and Sakura just had better chakra control than the other two. In the end, however, it didn’t matter, because as soon as they made it to the landing, they spotted the source of the new chakra signature.

“Mom!”

“Auntie!”

They tumbled down the stairs in unison, tripping and stumbling over one another in their haste to get to the woman. They were so relieved and excited to see her that it was only after they’d pulled away from the bear hug she scooped them into thar Sakura really looked at her.

“Are you okay, Aunt Anri? You should probably sit down. We’ll make tea, okay?”

It was a testament to just how exhausted Aunt Anri was, that she only nodded and allowed herself to be herded to the couch. She was wearing the standard jounin uniform, something Sakura had only seen her wear in photos, but it was torn and stained with dark patches of what could only be blood.

“Are you hurt, Mama?” Ino hovered in front of her mother with wide, watery eyes. “Is dad-?”

“Dad’s okay, don’t worry. I’m fine, too.” Aunt Anri cracked a smile “I’m no Tsunade, but I can patch myself up pretty well, when the occasion calls.”

Naruto took that as his cue to glue himself to her side. Ino looked at Sakura, who gestured for her to take up the spot on her mother’s other side.

“Come sit down, Sakura. You look like you didn’t get a wink of sleep last night.”

“I’ll just make some tea and then come back,” she promised. Aunt Anri seemed reluctant, but after a long pause, nodded in assent. Sakura had barely stepped over the threshold into the kitchen when she heard the questioning start.

“What happened?”

“Yeah, we woke up and you were gone, and then there were all these explosions!”

“Let’s all just wait until we have our tea, okay?” Sakura didn’t need to look into the living room to know Aunt Anri was directing some pointed looks at the other two- her tone was enough.

“We’ll go help! It’ll be faster that way.”

Ino wasn’t really right- the water boiled at the same pace as always, but it was easier to carry the tea tray out when it only had the teapot and Ino and Naruto followed behind with two mugs a piece.

“Should we get a fifth for Uncle Inoichi?” Sakura asked as she poured the hot chamomile blend into the four mugs.

“I’m afraid he won’t be home for a long while yet.” Now that only made all three children lean in intently, Sakura having to lean over Naruto to get closer to her aunt. No one was even thinking about touching their still-steaming tea.

“Well, there’s no easy way to put this.” Aunt Anri sighed, plucking up Naruto’s hand in her left and Ino’s in her right.

“The Hokage is dead.”

The silence that followed was tense, more suffocating with each passing second. But how were they supposed to process such a shocking piece of information?

“The old man is really-?” Naruto cut himself off, looking more conflicted than Sakura ever remembered seeing him. It was understandable, though, given his relationship with the Third. Looking upon him like a grandfather for so most of his life, only to realize he wasn’t as kindly as he tried to portray to the village at large within the past year.

If Naruto had hoped for any sort of closure one day, the chance was gone.

“What happened? If you can tell us.” Sakura knew there was a good chance things would need to be kept as close to the chest of those who’d been there as possible, but it didn’t stop her from wanting to know.

“A few things have come to light over the last few years, “Aunt Anri began. “A lot of which you don’t need to know just yet.” Upon seeing both Ino and Naruto opening their mouths to protest, she held a hand up. “Your father and I want you three to enjoy childhood for as long as you can. One day, we’ll tell you, but there are some things even I wish I hadn’t learned.”

That was all the assurance Sakura needed to know however bad a person she’d previously thought Sarutobi Hirusen to be, it was actually much worse.

“Is everyone else okay? That councilman was following Sasuke around, and wasn’t he friends with Lord Third?” Kakashi-sensei definitely would have told Auntie and Uncle all about that situation, as well as Chouji and Shikamaru’s parents. The more trusted adults that had their eyes on Sasuke, the better, right? But the Akimichi and Nara compounds were much closer to the Tower than the Yamanaka grounds…

That was how the trio learned Sasuke, Chouji, Shikamaru, and Kiba were having a sleepover at Shino’s without them.

“They’re next door, actually, at the Aburame compound. Kiba-kun from your class is there, too. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind a visit once it’s a more decent hour.”

“Dog breath?! Why did he get to stay at Shino’s before us?” Ino demanded, but there was too much relief seeping into her voice for her to sound genuinely offended. “Shino said he’d show me the new bees they were breeding the next time I came over!”

“Did his father give permission?” Aunt Anri quirked an eyebrow, clearly amused. Still, she raised a good point- if the bees were going to be part of an Aburame’s internal hive one day, they would be considered a clan secret.

Ino had the decency to look sheepishly at the ground, ears, neck, and cheeks flushing bright pink.

“He said he would ask!” She still couldn’t look Aunt Anri in the eye as she spoke, though.

On the plus side, everyone finally seemed relaxed enough to start drinking their tea. The silence in the room only lasted long enough for Naruto to take a sip and settle his fox-patterned mug (a purchase he’d made just to rile up a particularly grouchy shopkeeper while out with the whole family) back on the table.

“So, now that the Hokage is dead, what’s gonna happen?” The last time a Hokage had been killed in office, it had been the day of his birth, after all. That reminder couldn’t have been nice for Naruto, so Sakura gently bumped her shoulder against his in solidarity. The second she placed her own mug down, he snatched her hand up in turn.

“Well, there’s going to be a village-wide funeral, and then the Fifth will have to be chosen. Jiraiya-sama would be the ideal choice, but he doesn’t want that responsibility.”

It was like a lightbulb flickering on above Sakura’s head.

This is what the adults were planning for so many months.

“That’s why Kakashi-sensei brought him back to the village, isn’t it?”

Aunt Anri turned to meet Sakura’s gaze.

“Yes.” That was one of many things Sakura appreciated about her guardians- they gave their best efforts to make sure they weren’t exposed to too much of the darkness of the shinobi world before they were either ready or could no longer avoid it, but they were still honest about even the most complicated of topics.

“We’d hoped Lord Third would listen to reason and step down, if his student was the one asking it of him.” She sighed, taking another small sip of her tea before adding, “But sometimes things don’t turn out the way we expected. Do they?”

Three heads nodded solemnly. And then, Naruto had another question.

“If Jiraiya won’t take the hat, then who’s going to be in charge?” It made sense for him to be so interested in the process, considering he was going to be Hokage one day and would need to know what he was facing.

“Well, according to the founding documents, there should be an interim Hokage. Someone whose face won’t go on the mountain, but who’s just as capable of leading the village as a regular Hokage would be.”

“So who’s it gonna be this time?” Ino was clutching her cherry blossom mug tightly, eyes round with interest.

“Well, it’s a little complicated. No one suitable wanted to be the sole person in charge, so it was decided amongst the clan heads to make your father, Shikaku, and Chouza as joint Hokages.”

Three jaws dropped in unison.

“Dad?!”

“That’s awesome!” Naruto was obviously thrilled. “He can totally help train me for when I become Hokage!”

Sakura squeezed his hand, then untangled their fingers so she could take up her mug once more. She was happy for Uncle Inoichi, on one hand, but…

“That seems like a lot of responsibility when he’s already so busy.”

“That’s true,” Aunt Anri conceded. “He won’t be able to spend much time at home, at least until things settle down a bit more. But with duties split between three people, and with us supporting him, he’ll be alright.”

“What’s Jiraiya gonna do, though? If he’s here, but he doesn’t wanna take the hat, will he just go away again?”

“Well, eventually. He does some very important work for the village and needs to get back to it, if he’s not going to become the Fifth. But he wants to meet you, Naruto.” It seemed like there was something else Aunt Anri wasn’t saying, but Sakura wasn’t going to pry. That situation was about Naruto and the sannin, and she didn’t have any business sticking her nose into it without Naruto’s permission.

Sakura had a question of her own, though, one she’d forgotten in the excitement of finding out Uncle Inoichi was going to be (temporary) joint Hokage.

“What happened to Shimura-san? If he’s still alive, isn’t Sasuke in danger?” Sakura had only just started considering Sasuke as best friend material, not as close as Ino and Naruto, but someone she could trust with her whole being. She wasn’t about to lose him to some creepy old guy!

“Shimura Danzo fled the village last night.”

Chapter Text

“Are you sure you want to go? You can change your mind, you know, and no one will think any less of you for it.”

“‘Course I’m sure, Auntie! It’s good practice for when we’re real shinobi next year, right, Chouji?” Chouji, who’d been allowing his father to fuss over him nearby, nodded.

“Right! And if we can get Lady Tsunade to come back, maybe her apprentice can train me!”

“Oh yeah, Shizune.” Naruto wiggled his eyebrows while looking directly at Genma-sensei, who had been all too eager to volunteer as extra muscle for the trip.

“This is why I’m never having kids,” he grumbled. His cheeks were suspiciously pink, though.

“Anyway, the old man said he was gonna teach us some cool tricks, too!”

Ino watched her mother shoot Jiraiya a suspicious glance. It was warranted, in her opinion, considering the old man had attempted to teach Naruto how to power up his explosive seals enough to level a city block in an attempt to get on his good side. Luckily, mom and dad had both put their feet down.

Knowing Naruto, he would manage to find a way to make such a thing even more destructive, after all, even if he didn’t mean to. Still, Naruto had warmed up to the sannin eventually, despite the bad start their first meeting had gotten off to.

“You were dad’s teacher?” Naruto’s eyes narrowed, looking the man up and down suspiciously. “The one with the gross frogs?”

Jiraiya looked offended. It was pretty funny, but Sakura did her best not to burst into giggles.

“And aren’t you supposed to be my guardian? You never came back to get me, or sent a letter or anything!” Naruto pressed on, looking more irritated than sad. He had a family now, and two parental figures who loved him dearly, but Sakura knew that some small part of him was hurting at the perceived rejection.

“That’s a deler- A deree-'' His brow furrowed as he tried to remember how to say the word he was going for (which Ino suspected was dereliction), then finally settled for something simpler. “That’s abandoning your duties!”

To his credit, Jiraiya looked at least a little ashamed of himself. Mostly he looked sad, though.

“I know, kid. There were,” he paused for a long moment as he tried to come up with the right words. Then, finally, he went on. “There were some extenuating circumstances.” Seeing Naruto’s mouth open, ready to protest, he held up a hand. “I can’t give you all the details yet, but one day.”

“How soon is one day?”

“I don’t know yet. Before you graduate, hopefully. You’ve still got a year left, right?”

“Yeah.” Naruto didn’t look thrilled at the prospect of having to wait so long, though.

Jiraiya moved to either pat Naruto’s head or ruffle his hair (maybe both), but Naruto swiftly sidestepped the man’s hand and stuck his tongue out.

“Hey! Touching my hair is a friends-and-family only privilege. You gotta earn it, first, ya know!”

Now, Naruto was abandoning them to go hunt down the woman they hoped would be the Fifth. Almost immediately after the coup (no one said that was what it was, but Ino was eleven, not stupid), there was talk about getting Lady Tsunade to return to Konoha and take the mantle of Hokage. Of course, the adults discussing it seemed to be ignoring the cold hard fact that Tsunade was a missing nin in all but name.

Privately, Ino thought it was just one more way the Third had shown his corruption: favoritism on such a level was unheard of in any other nation.

Still, if they could get her back, then Chouji could hopefully snag an apprenticeship and be one step closer to his goal of being a medic. Plus, Tsunade’s apprentice (Genma-sensei’s girlfriend) was supposed to be the best poisons expert outside of Suna. Even mom had said so, and Ino thought she was the best there was.

Either way, Ino was hoping to get a leg up on her own intended specialization. If it provided even more reasons to tease Genma-sensei, all the better.

Yeah, she was upset that Naruto was leaving for the entirety of their early May break from school, but she couldn’t be truly angry at him. He was finally getting to bond with his dad’s teacher, the man who was supposed to be his guardian.

Ino and Sakura privately agreed they wouldn’t have forgiven and forgotten the Jiraiya not bothering to make contact with them for their entire lives, had they been in Naruto’s shoes, but that was one of the many things they loved about him: his capacity to love freely.

Both girls had wanted desperately to tag along, to have their first out-of-village mission before they even got their forehead protectors, but they’d been refused. They were trying to keep the group as small as possible, so as not to attract attention, and while Sakura made a good candidate since she’d been reverse engineering Tsunade’s chakra-enhanced strength, she hadn’t wanted to leave Ino all by herself.

Ino’s stomach filled with butterflies whenever she thought about it.

Anyway, they weren’t the only ones with a best friend missing during the festival week. It was too dangerous for Sasuke to go, even if he’d had a good excuse, what with the creepy old councilman guy on the loose on top of his psychopath brother. Though, Sasuke had made a convincing argument that going on the move would be where both of them would least expect him.

Jiraiya had been the one to axe that idea. Better to have a whole village as backup instead of just me and Genma,, he’d said. But when Sasuke had asked if he was worried more about running into Danzo or Itachi, none of the kids had missed the subtlest shift at the older Uchiha’s name.

Once again, the adults were keeping secrets.

So, Sasuke, Sakura, and herself had agreed to spend their week trying to figure it out. Shikamaru hadn’t wanted to get involved, but Ino still knew how to strongarm him into going along with her plans. After all, if she was going to be forced into an Ino-Shika-Cho team with him in a year, she needed to flex those muscles.

While they kept their secret hunting operation to just the four of them, their training plans expanded to include Shino and, much to Ino’s chagrin, Kiba. Sakura had even swallowed her possessiveness over Naruto (something Ino herself hadn’t managed) and extended an invitation to Hinata, but her dad made her turn it down.

As much as Ino was always a little irritated about Hinata’s crush on her and Sakura’s Naruto, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for the girl. While her own parents were obviously the best in the world, she knew from Sakura’s experience that having unsupportive parents majorly sucked.

But there was nothing a bunch of kids could do against Hyuuga Hiashi. Thankfully, he was the only one who’d been against the temporary joint Hokage position of the major clans, but just knowing he’d given her dad grief made Ino feel less-than-friendly feelings about the man.

Tenten also seemed to hold a grudge against him, though she was so busy with her new team and trying to set up her unofficial-till-chuunin apprenticeship with Uncle Chouza that she almost never got to talk to them.

Sasuke said his parents had never been fond of the Hyuuga, but he chalked it up to some weird old feud. Apparently the Uchiha had a lot of those, back in the day.

No matter, they had goals for their week off, and also two different festivals to attend. The latter also meant yukata shopping with mom and Yugao-sensei, which Ino was very excited about. She was so thankful she’d finally had enough of a growth spurt to require new clothes, because her old maple leaf patterned yukata was so out of style.

She was hoping to find a cherry blossom print this time.

It was a shame Naruto wouldn’t be there with them, but as the mismatched quartet headed out of the village gates, Ino managed to find a little bit of goodwill. She would try to be glad that Naruto was getting the experience before graduation, no matter how jealous she was.