Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Warning: Mentions of (not quite) underage drinking, blood and death themes.

Perhaps Sakura should have expected the chair that was launched with her head as the clear target the moment she stepped into the house. After all, it was no secret that Tsunade had been particularly pissy during their last meeting earlier that afternoon. 

“Do you have any idea what kind of red-tape rabbit hole you and your brother want me to go down?” Shishō’s voice boomed as a vase full of primroses flew past Sakura’s shoulder. “Not to mention I’ll have to involve the Diplomatic Corps in this, inform the Village Council, and potentially destroy our already shaky relationship with Kusa! All this while Orochimaru is still breathing down our necks, no less!” 

To her credit, Sakura refused to cower when Tsunade grabbed a second chair and instead walked calmly into the washitsu. “Well… I was going to wait until after the exams were over, but Naruto’s sentimentality and righteous-o-metre went gallivanting hand in hand again,” she tried to explain.

In all honesty, Sakura had indeed been planning to bring up this situation to Tsunade at a later date, but she hadn’t expected to run into Karin and her team on the way home with her brother. The blatant disrespect and cruelty the boys had exhibited towards Karin-san had been enough to make Naruto march right up to them and restructure their facial features; he then took Karin by the hand and led her to the Hokage Tower, begging Tsunade to arrange for a permanent residence permit for their mutual relative. 

Naturally, Sakura had backed him up and even coaxed Karin into sharing the full extent of her mistreatment — listening to the girl talk about how she and her mother before her had been exploited by their village, to the point where it had resulted in her mother’s untimely death, was truly horrifying — which did pluck at Tsunade’s heartstrings. Still, making citizenship an option for Karin wouldn’t be an easy feat. She was, after all, a full-fledged shinobi of Kusagakure, regardless of her being only a genin. If Karin left Kusa, she’d be branded a missing-nin, and if the Hokage were to “harbour” her, the alliance between Leaf and Grass could suffer. 

“Isn’t there anything you can do? Any ancient clan laws to invoke, or something in that vein?” Sakura asked, taking a seat next to the chabudai. No matter the geopolitical relations, old clans’ laws generally transcended borders and were universally respected, especially among allied Nations. 

(Plus… her parents had taken a liking to Karin in the small amount of time they’d spent together after Naruto had dragged the girl to the store following the meeting with Tsunade. 

Which meant Sakura was probably getting another sibling.)

Shishō pinched her nose but ultimately sighed her ire away and sat down as well. “I’ll have to look through the records, although not many of the Uzumaki texts have survived into present day. And it’s not like the clan still exists and is able to request Karin’s assimilation within its ranks.” 

“But you and Naruto—”

“Let me rephrase,” Tsunade cut her off as she reached for the sake. She poured two cups and slid one towards Sakura, without asking if she’d like one. Sakura was most grateful. “The Uzumaki clan has no legal representation in Konoha, nor in any other Hidden Village or Nation.” 

Sakura swirled a sip of sake in her mouth, enjoying the burning numbness it brought. “The Senju clan didn’t have representation while you were away due to those still sharing Senju blood with you having married into other clans.” Like Ino’s mother, for example. “Now you’re back, though, and you’ve adopted Tenzō into the clan; you’ve added me and Shizune-senpai as honorary members as well. Naruto was, obviously, too young to be appointed as Clan Head at the time, but he’s a genin now. Under village law, an adult.” 

“Yes,” Tsunade-shishō drained her cup. “If he agrees to it, I could bring this up at the next Clan Head meeting. And the Council meeting. There will need to be a vote in order to reinstate the Uzumaki clan so that Naruto can participate in the assemblies and whatnot. I still can’t promise that Kusa will agree to let Karin-san go, though.” 

Shrugging her shoulders, Sakura replied that it was worth a shot, then fell silent, nursing her drink as her mind travelled to other matters. Namely, Orochimaru, and whether he would indeed launch an attack against Konoha this time around. So much was different now, so Sakura couldn’t be sure of it, but she didn’t have the luxury of dismissing the notion as an impossibility. Then there was the issue with Suna. Orochimaru had killed Rasa in her previous timeline, hadn’t he? What if the Snake Sannin’s disappearance from Konoha meant that he had already made his way south, impersonating the Kazekage?

And of course, she couldn’t forget about Konan. She was still in the village, and for the life of her, Sakura couldn’t guess why, nor predict the kunoichi’s next move. Shisui wasn’t much help either, since he hadn’t even been aware that Konan would travel to Konoha in the first place. Was she here to observe Naruto? Kidnap him, or convince him to accompany her to Ame by taking his family hostage? 

Plausible, but wouldn’t she have brought other Akatsuki members with her if that were the case? Konan was no fool, much less an arrogant one; she knew she wouldn’t survive if she attempted to put such a high-rask plan into action on her own. 

As her thoughts started running in circles again, Sakura shook her head and grabbed the sake bottle to top up her cup, ignoring Tsunade’s raised eyebrow. If there was ever a moment in the past seven or so years she’d spent back in time that merited Sakura muddling her brain with the aid of alcohol, it most definitely was now. 

That was how Shizune and Itachi found them half an hour later; already two bottles in and still going strong. Unlike their master, however, Sakura made sure to metabolise the alcohol faster so she wouldn’t get drunk. 

“Look who decided to show up at looooong last~” Tsunade greeted, flipping two more cups.

The look Shizune shot them was utterly unimpressed, but she didn’t refuse the offered drink. “We had to attend the meeting with the heads of the Sensory Division, didn’t we?” She replied, and it almost sounded like a jab at their shishō. Which meant it most definitely was.

“And all the invitations to the Nations’ leaders have been sent out,” Itachi reported as he sat down next to Sakura. “Congratulations, by the way,” he told her with a small smile. 

Sakura raised her cup at him. “Thanks. It was unfair going against my best friend, but here's hoping that next time I face off against Ino, it’ll be much harder to beat her.” 

“She has great potential indeed. However, I was referring to your future fight.” 

That made them all exchange similarly sadistic smiles, before Tsunade levelled her with a stern look. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t kill Yakushi in front of an audience. Especially an international audience. Fuck him up in any other way you like, though.” 

Shizune hummed at that, ignoring Sakura’s pout. “I’ve been working on a new truth serum I’d like to try on him before his trial. Not to say that I’d mind too much if he were to perish before that.” 

“Agreed,” shishō said. “Still, it would reflect badly on a Kage’s close associate, were they to be seen taking the life of one of their own shinobi in cold blood. Aside from us four, Jiraiya and Shin-kun, no one else in the village is aware of his true loyalties. So, do behave.”

“Fine,” Sakura grumbled. That didn’t mean she couldn’t rip off his limbs one by one though, did it? “Speaking of, where is Jiraiya-sama?” 

Tsunade gestured for everyone to give her their cups so she could pour another round before she answered: “Beats me, but he wanted to see your parents tonight. Told me he plans to take Naruto away for some training before the finals. Konan’s presence in the Village has put him on edge, I think, and he doesn’t want our little fox running around while she’s here.”

Sakura blinked slowly at that. She wasn’t opposed to the idea, although her brother might not agree with the plan. There was still some lingering anxiety whenever he was separated from his team for long, and given their parents’ weird behaviour as of late, Naruto might not want to leave Konoha for two whole weeks. 

Which reminded her… “Shishō, what’s the reason behind holding the final rounds so soon?”

“I’ve been meaning to ask as well,” Itachi piped in. “Wouldn’t the month Sakura’s peers originally had at their disposal give us more time to strengthen our defences?” 

“I raised the alarm before the Exams even began. Another full month of our shinobi in a state of constant vigilance could have detrimental effects on what we’re trying to achieve,” Tsunade explained, sitting up straight as she stared out the window. “Everyone’s already scared and tired. I have ANBU, the police, and every able jōnin and chūnin from all divisions on guard, and on Orochimaru’s tail. This whole matter needs to be resolved sooner rather than later. Besides…” she gave them a little smirk, “I’m hoping that a shorter time frame might prevent some of the Nations’ leaders from attending. I simply have no desire to entertain more of them than I can handle — or have them die under our care.” 

Chuckling a little at that, Sakura nodded and didn’t push. For the most part, Konoha was ready even if the invasion were to happen that very night. An additional fortnight wouldn’t really tip the scales too far in either direction. They all knew that if the attack occurred as it did in Sakura’s first life, they couldn’t completely avoid casualties or destruction — it was Orochimaru they were dealing with, after all — but they had taken every possible precaution to minimise the chances of such a crisis debilitating them as it had once before. All they could do now was hope for the best. 

Jiraiya-sama walked into the house a few minutes later, sporting a henge that made him look a good decade younger, with dark brown hair, blue eyes, and fuller lips. He had also made sure to slightly alter his physique and chakra signature, just enough to fool even the best of sensors. 

Sakura was impressed. Mainly because she realised she had to try hard to even register the use of the henge. 

“Tell you what, pinky… if Kizashi hadn't been here tonight, I’d have seduced Mebuki-chan, no joke! Try calling me daddy, just once!” Was the first thing he told Sakura, and she couldn’t help the bile rising to her throat, nor the way her face blanched. 

“ Ew ! What did we even do to deserve hearing that come out of his mouth?!” Inner bashed her head against an imaginary wall in their mindscape. Outwardly, Sakura levelled him with a sizzling glare and simply stated: “If you’d like to keep your prick attached to your body, you’d do well to never even think of my mother in that way again.”

Raising his palms up in surrender, he gave a hearty laugh, but wasn’t fast enough to avoid Tsunade’s punch to the gut. “Sit down , you horndog,” shishō barked, and once he had, she brought out Konoha’s blueprints. “If you’re quite finished embarrassing yourself, Jiraiya, we have business to attend to, no? Tomorrow, I’ll call for another meeting with the Council and the heads of every division. I’ll have ANBU hiding in covert locations throughout Konoha, as well as around the Stadium,” Tsunade explained as she pointed at the map. “The police will be in charge of guiding the civilians through the tunnels when the attack commences, but I want some of our strongest Uchiha in the Stadium to aid with the genjutsu, if that’s how it’s going to play out this time too.”

“What are you going to tell the Council regarding the attack?” Itachi-kun asked. “My father will demand to know the exact reason you’re requesting our clanmates’ presence there.”

“That I’ve only very recently gleaned some vital intel regarding our old teammate's plans,” Jiraiya-sama replied with a side-glance towards Tsunade.

Shishō nodded at him. “I’ll still maintain it’s more of a precaution, but putting forth Jiraiya’s spy network as a source will highlight the gravity of the situation substantially.” 

“We’ll need to be careful with the medics’ mobilisation. Kabuto hasn’t requested to be taken off the hospital rota,” Shizune revealed with a grimace. 

“That’s true. Make a list of your most trusted colleagues. Itachi, you and several other medics will be assigned duty at the Stadium anyway, but we’ll need some in the tunnels as well.” Tsunade’s amber gaze fell on Sakura, then: “The two of us will have to summon Katsuyu-sama together. Just in case anything unfortunate befalls either of us. If the Ichibi gets loose—”

Sakura gave a curt nod, “I’ll go after Gaara if history repeats itself. Tenzō has taught me the Hokage-Shiki Jijun Jutsu — Kakuan Nitten Suishu and the Foo Dog Heads Technique; I’ll be able to suppress his chakra.”

“Good. Be quick about it; I want all three of you in the impact zone, shoring up the frontline ranks and the medical response team. Jiraiya and I will have our hands full with my teammate, grandfather and uncle, if Orochimaru’s own plans do not undergo any unexpected changes. Sensei will likely jump into the fray as well.”

After an entire morning spent training, the genin widely known as the Konoha 15 had planned to meet up in Mayu-baa’s dango store to relax and gossip. Of course, Naruto also wanted to stop by the ryokan Karin was staying at to invite her to join them, but on their way there, Team 7 ran into some familiar faces. 

“Fish-breath!” Sakura called out, her cheeks hurting from how wide her smile got when Zabuza turned around to greet her with an icy glare. Completely undeterred, she launched herself at the man, and in doing so probably caused Ebisu-san to suffer a small heart-attack. 

Zabuza grabbed her by her haori and held her up in front of him before Sakura could properly attach herself to him. “Get off, shrimp, or I’ll cut you in half,” he threatened, but his gruff words were largely drowned out by Naruto’s equally animated greeting to Haku-kun. 

“Listen here, threatening a shinobi of Konohagakure could land you—” 

“Oh, Ebisu-san,” Sakura acknowledged the jōnin. “There’s no need for that. It’s just how Zabuza-san shows his love!”

Sasuke rolled his eyes and deadpanned: “He’s just shy around strangers. Usually, Zabuza-san is a very cuddly person.” 

“You little fuckers…” Zabuza grumbled, but it appeared that Ebisu had been giving him and Haku a hard time before Team 7 had come upon them, so he refrained from saying or doing anything else. “Now that we’re under the careful watch of more Konoha shinobi, you can piss off, can’t you?” 

The jōnin bristled and opened his mouth to (probably) refuse, but Sakura didn’t let him. “Of course he will! I must thank you for taking care of my guests, Ebisu-san, but I’m under strict orders from our Hokage to show them around. They’re quite VIP, you know?” She stage-whispered, enjoying Ebisu-san’s sputter and red face a bit too much. “See you around, then!” 

Without waiting for a response, Sakura and Naruto dragged their kind-of-friends away. As Haku started telling them about what he and Zabuza had gotten up to after Wave, Sasuke moved over to walk slightly ahead of them, mainly as a buffer between the two Kiri-nin and every shinobi or police member they encountered on their way. 

No one seemed particularly enthused to see them. 

“Oh, how was Iron?” Sakura asked, reinserting herself into the conversation. “Did you get to meet the old lady I mentioned? The one who makes the snowglobes?”

Haku faced her with a warm smile and a nod. “I did; you were right. Mifuyu-obaa-san is a relative of mine that managed to escape the Land of Water when bloodline limit wielders were being persecuted. I’d like to visit her again sometime soon.”

“You’re free to do whatever the hell you want,” Zabuza shrugged, but they all knew he’d never part from Haku unless somehow forced to.  

“Gee, it’s so great you got to reconnect with a family member! Actually, I got to meet a relative of mine too, because of the Chūnin Exams. It’s so freaking surreal, dattebayo!” Naruto rushed to say before he began gesturing ahead of them. “That’s where we’re going now. To pick her up and meet the rest of our friends. You’re coming along, aren’t ya?” 

Before Zabuza had the chance to decline, Haku spoke up: “It’ll be an honour to meet your friends and your relative. Thank you for inviting us.” 

“Speak for yourself. I have no—” Zabuza’s complaints were instantaneously replaced by a muffled groan when Sakura’s elbow introduced itself to his side. 

Smiling up at him, Sakura mimed a zip-lip and continued walking. “Unless, of course, you would prefer Ebisu-san’s company?” 

“You little bi—” 

Zabuza’s words were once again cut off, this time by Sasuke. “Being around the Hokage’s apprentice, the Police Chief’s son and Konoha’s jinchūriki is literally your best bet to remain unbothered while in the village. Now quit yapping and try to appear at least a little less threatening. And for real…” Sasuke looked over his shoulder with a grimace. “Will you please put on a fucking shirt?” 

Huffing as Naruto, Sakura and Haku began snickering, Zabuza kicked his leg out at Sasuke’s unsuspecting butt, but promptly found his limb held hostage by an unrepentant Uchiha with a shit-eating grin. 

Oh, they were going to have great fun. 

When they finally reached the ryokan — miraculously, with no casualties — Naruto was the one to run inside in order to fetch Karin. In the few minutes they had until he showed up with her, Sakura widened her sensory net to the surrounding area. Konoha held many inns, most of them located in the Suburban District, so Konan would most likely stay there if she wished to avoid unwanted attention. 

And there she was indeed! In Ginsen Ryokan, along with the chakra signatures of half a dozen or so shinobi from Ame. The rest might have left even before the preliminaries. It truly made Sakura ponder the reason behind Konan’s extended stay. 

No matter. She could lurk around as much as she wanted to. Unless Konan and her pals caused any real problems, Sakura (probably) wasn’t going to lose her mind over them. 

The eventual meeting between Karin and the two Kiri-nin was… interesting to say the least. It was clear from the get-go that Karin was intimidated by Zabuza’s presence, slightly star-struck by Haku’s beauty, and still completely smitten with Sasuke’s… everything. Even though Karin had been born and brought up in Kusa, she was still an Uzumaki — a person of the Adamantine Isles, oceanborn and zephyr-kissed as much as Zabuza and Haku were. A weird little kinship was quick to form, just as it had with Naruto. 

Sasuke and Sakura largely observed the four of them interacting — a bit reluctantly on Zabuza’s part, of course — and she had to wonder if her fellow forest-sprung and fire-forged teammate felt the same way she did, just by virtue of lacking the same strangely breezy attitude to life. 

Those kinds of musings, as entertaining as they were, came to a stop when they made it to the heart of the marketplace and approached Mayu-baa’s shop. Much like the past couple of weeks, it was packed with people enjoying a variety of tea and desserts, and the rowdiest group was of course the one consisting of their friends. 

Sakura glanced at Sasuke, who was already rolling his eyes at the sight; Kiba and Hiroto were at it again, even if the latter still looked rather peaky. At least Lee and Hinata appeared to be trying to mediate whatever they were arguing about — without much success. 

Silence fell suddenly once Team 7 and their guests walked up to the connected tables, a dozen pairs of eyes scrutinising the new additions tensely. “For fuck’s sake, Forehead,” Ino sighed, recovering fast from the collective daze everyone was under. “You’re twenty minutes late. We have serious matters to discuss after you introduce us to… whoever these people are.” 

“Oh?” Sakura drew an empty chair from the table next to theirs to sit between Ino and Neji. “And what would those matters be?” 

“Our spa appointment,” Tenten replied in her best friend’s stead in a mocking tone. Somehow Sakura knew that they were actually being serious, though. 

Nodding sagely, Sakura placed her hand on Ino’s shoulder and said: “Don’t worry, bestie, you’ll have your facial soon. Now,” she clapped and turned towards their new friends. “Everyone, say hi to Zabuza-san, Haku-kun and Karin. If you play nice, they will too.” 

“We’re not freaking toddlers,” Kiba snapped, quickly melting when Hinata-chan squeezed his wrist. “Yeah, whatever, sit down y’all. What’s your story?” 

And that was how Sumiye-chan almost choked on her dango when Team 7 revealed how they met Zabuza and Haku. Karin’s identity garnered an entirely different set of reactions, though. Most of them had heard about Naruto finding his long-lost distant cousin already, so everyone welcomed her rather like an old friend returning, instead of a stranger newly met. 

Sitting back to chew on her anmitsu, Sakura smiled at the odd assortment of people that made up her friend group. For a fleeting moment, Shisui crossed her mind, filling it with warmth and longing. He’d love to hear about this, and if he were here… 

Well, if he were here, he’d jokingly give them all hell, and probably be the only one who’d manage to charm a whole nice sentence out of Momochi Zabuza. 

“He’s criminally cute, pun intended” Ino leaned in to whisper in Sakura’s ear. “Haku, I mean. Even prettier than Neji.” 

Said boy raised an eyebrow when he overheard his name, but didn’t seem keen on engaging with whatever Ino was talking about. Sakura let out an amused huff, “Isn’t he? Want me to set you up or something, Pig?” 

“As if I’d get with someone more attractive than me,” she flicked her ponytail behind her shoulder and shrugged. “I’m just saying. Hina-chan may be getting some competition.” 

Brows furrowing, Sakura observed Haku, who was conversing with Naruto and Shikamaru. Her brother was fully facing the older boy, literally hanging onto every word he said to Shika; then Haku shifted his focus from the Nara heir to Naruto, giving him a cheeky smile that made him sit up straight and start rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Oh, my dear Sage,” Sakura mumbled, reaching out to grab Ino’s knee. “You may not be as delusional as I’ve always thought.” 

The sting in Sakura’s arm barely registered, but she had to give it to Ino; her grip strength was improving. “Bitch.” 

“Language, Ino-chan.”

Shifting in her seat, her friend looked up with an utterly angelic smile, “It’s Kiba’s fault, Mebuki-oba! You know he has a dirty, dirty mouth.” 

“How ‘bout I shove your perfect face in some actual dirt, see how you like it, eh?” 

Sakura’s mother cut a glare to the boy that had him dropping his chin and quickly muttering his apologies. Kizashi laughed, managing to balance his crate of goods on only one arm as he patted Kiba’s head. “Now, be nice to one another or I’ll request a mission for you all to clean the stables, yeah?” 

“Tou-chan!” Naruto exclaimed, “Why do we all need to be punished with shovelling shit for the shit Kiba specifically says?” Before Mebuki could grab his ear, he also smartly apologised, then asked: “What’s up with that? Where are you going?”

“Back to the store. Since I decided not to make my usual trip this month, I had some friends pick up our merchandise.” 

Ino shot up from her seat and leaned over the table, “Is it clothes? Jewellery? Can I see?” 

Chuckling, Kizashi nodded. “Sure. You guys can come over later and stake your claims — Hina-chan, you asked about a music box last time, so I think you’ll be interested in the goods. I’m afraid there are no weapons this time, Ten-chan. Your old employer, Kyōgo-san, is bound to be getting a delivery soon, though.” 

“Thanks, oji-san! I’ll go ask him later.”

Sasuke placed his cold mugicha down and quickly wiped his hands, “You need any help with that?” 

“Enjoy your free time, Sasuke-kun,” Mebuki said then, raising the smaller case she was carrying a few times to prove it was rather light. “Arata-kun is also at the shop; he’ll do the sorting.” As if only then noticing the pair of Kiri nin (Sakura had a sneaking suspicion the strangers’ presence beside the kids was the only reason her parents had stopped by in the first place), she regarded them coolly, before she gestured for Sai to help her hold the case up. 

From inside, her mother fished out a cobalt-blue shirt — was it silk? — and unceremoniously dropped it on Zabuza’s lap. “On the house. Although we’re a rather progressive village, indecent exposure can still get you arrested in Konoha.” 

Inner’s cackles joined those of her friends, and Sakura couldn’t really hold her own back either. Oh, gods, she hoped Sasuke had his camera with him to capture Zabuza’s face!

“Don’t mind him, kaa-chan. Zabuza-san is just used to being on the road a lot. He’ll get used to being around civilization, too,” Sakura said once she was able to breathe normally. 

“Right!” Naruto slapped his hands on the table. “Mom, dad, you’ve already met Karin, but these are Haku and Zabuza-san. We’ve told you about them! Guys, meet our parents.” 

Haku-kun left his chair in order to give them a proper bow. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, sir, ma’am. My name is Yuki Haku, and this is my shishō, Momochi Zabuza. We are travelling ninja, formerly of Kirigakure, currently seeking temporary asylum in Konoha.”

Another one of those odd, loaded looks was swiftly and silently exchanged between her parents, and Sakura was certain that her brother had noticed as well. Their chakra was doing weird things again, but not bad -weird , so far as she could tell. Their father crouched to put his crate down and extended his arm for a handshake. It was their mother, however, who spoke, emotion welling in her voice: “My, my, what a distinguished young gentleman you are! It’s nice to finally put a name to the face, Haku-kun.” 

“What?” Sakura asked, becoming increasingly and embarrassingly befuddled with every passing second. 

Kizashi cleared his throat. “Slip of the tongue, isn’t that right, love?” He nudged Mebuki, who only smiled absentmindedly. “But yes. it’s nice to put a face to the name, of course; our children have told us all about Wave! It’s great to meet you both,” he said, finally tearing his eyes away from Haku to regard Zabuza. “Thank you for making the right choice in the end.” 

“I’m still unsure if it was the right choice,” Zabuza said, with a pointed glare at Sakura. She simply waved him off. 

“No matter. It’s nice having you here. Why don’t you come over for dinner later?” Kizashi asked. 

Mebuki nodded, still staring at Haku, “Karin-chan is joining us as well. We’ll be expecting you around seven-thirty. I’ll need some time to prepare something after we close the store.” 

“We’d love to! Right , Zabuza-sama?” Haku simply smiled, and Sakura knew in that moment he was the furthest thing from an angel. The man in question sighed, picking up the shirt to put it on as a substitute for verbally accepting the invitation. 

After her parents took their leave — with a final request from Kizashi for Neji to meet him and Mikoto-oba the following afternoon — Naruto turned, wide-eyed, toward Sakura. 

Chōji was the one to voice what her brother and probably everyone else was thinking: “Are Mebuki-oba and Kizashi-oji alright?”

“I don’t know,” she said, yet again. As always, nothing in their chakra had indicated an illness, injury, genjutsu, or discomfort of any sort. 

At this point, she really had no damn clue, and not even the thought of Orochimaru worried her comparably.

After the emergency Clan meeting’s ruling that Naruto could and should be proclaimed Head of the Uzumaki Clan, Tsunade helped him draft a missive to Kusagakure’s council regarding Karin’s reinstatement into the clan, then sent him off with Jiraiya for their training trip. Sakura had no idea where they were off to — Jiraiya-sama had only told shishō of their destination — but she wholeheartedly hoped that Konan had missed any mention of their departure and wouldn’t end up somehow tailing them.

For a woman that had routinely popped up in Sakura’s path lately, she was exceptionally hard to track down when she didn’t want to be found. 

Not that Sakura was actively chasing after Konan; her days were plenty busy as they were. Her training sessions with Kakashi-sensei had begun the morning after the preliminaries, and she was supposed to train with him for the rest of that week until he took over Sasuke’s preparation for the finals — they were going to perfect her teammate’s Chidori, although Sakura couldn’t fathom why Sasuke would want to use a Lightning technique against the Wind expert that was Temari, when he had a perfectly passable arsenal of Fire jutsu already. Until then, however, Sasuke was under Itachi and Fugaku-oji’s combined and merciless tutelage, learning super-secret Uchiha kinjutsu and whatnot. 

Sakura, on the other hand, was learning straight-up assassination techniques. 

“Everyone knows you’re Senju Tsunade’s apprentice; out of all those she’s taken under her wing, you are who they call her second coming, and you alone; genin status be damned.” Those had been Kakashi-sensei’s words when they first met up after the preliminary rounds. Surprisingly, he had beat her to the training ground that day. “Perhaps predictably, it has a lot to do with your chakra-enhanced fighting style, and although it suits you well in combination with the Wicked Dance of the Whistling Needletail , you must learn how to win in silence. Let your opponent think you’re losing, then turn their whole world on its severed head.” 

Sakura blocked the kunai he was trying to shove into her left eye and ducked under his arm to land a kick in his side. “That would only work on opponents who have no idea who I am; it’s not hard to get someone to underestimate me. Kabuto knows me, though. He’s been stalking me for years! At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s even aware of my Mokuton.” 

Well, if he’d already gotten the chance to have a little chit-chat with his sneaky-snakey master, he most definitely was. A log appeared where Sakura was just about to drive her wakizashi into sensei’s thigh. “Be that as it may, what do you know about Kabuto?” Kakashi asked, now behind her. The moment Sakura felt the air charge with electricity, she willed herself to sink into the ground. 

Kakashi-sensei’s Sharingan was spinning wildly when she emerged, and he was onto her, trying to wear her down with rapid-fire taijutsu. Sakura let out a short breath and caught his arm, using a small amount of chakra to spin and then throw him like a flying disc. 

“Well? I expect an answer today, Sakura-chan!” 

Resisting an indignant huff, Sakura glared at him while she thought of how to even begin addressing his question. The truth was that she knew a gods-damn great deal about the little traitor, and not much she could reveal. Like the fact that he was precisely that: a traitor . 

“He’s probably the strongest out of all the contestants — aside from Gaara, of course,” she went with. “He’s proficient in ninjutsu, especially in Earth, Water, and Wind Release, and there are similarities between our styles, as we both employ an offensive form of medical ninjutsu. And he’s smart . Genius-level smart, sensei.” 

“So are you,” Kakashi casually replied as he stepped down from the tree branch he had perched on. It seemed that their spar was on pause. 

(Sakura wasn’t foolish enough to drop her guard.)

Despite the little swell of pride that warmed her chest, Sakura couldn’t control the incredulous chuckle that slipped past her lips. “No,” she shook her head, “I’m talking more the Itachi and you kind of genius. Kabuto can use his brains and acquired knowledge to plan around an opponent's abilities and deploy appropriate countermeasures in combat like that ,” Sakura swiftly brought her hand up and snapped her fingers in front of her face. “There’s a good chance I’m stronger than him skillset-wise,” actually, she was pretty certain she was; had to be, if she had genuinely suspected she could take his master on and win, “but he’s… sensei, he’s Kabuto .”

“And you are Sakura ,” he retorted, staring at her as if she had sprouted an extra head. Kakashi heaved a sigh behind his mask before approaching her position. When he made to reach for her, Sakura instinctively raised her wakizashi, ready to slice his forearm. “Okay, time-out,” sensei called as he slapped the blade away with the metal plate on the backhand of his glove, then smushed the tip of her nose with his forefinger like she was one of his dogs, or a baby. “Chopping sensei’s arm off is not cool. Let’s take a seat, Sakura-chan.” 

“We’ve barely even started, sensei.” 

Giving her his now-commonplace double-eye smile, sensei insisted that, “It’s not up for debate. Sit.” 

“Fine,” Sakura huffed. So she was truly getting the ninken treatment; joy of joys. 

They sat cross-legged across from each other; sensei squinted at her comically, then spoke: “First of all, who the fuck is Kabuto? I haven’t seen you doubt yourself since you were an itty-bitty, super-gritty sprout. You routinely refuse to even flinch in the face of opponents you acknowledge are stronger than you; you faced down and scared away Orochimaru just last week , yet you’re somehow suddenly intimidated by a fellow med-nin who has failed to get a promotion each of the last six times he’s tried? Why ?” 

And wasn’t that the billion-ryō question? In all honesty, Sakura wasn’t sure either. For years she had been craving the chance to squash that bespectacled worm, and now that fate had handed it to her on a silver platter, she couldn’t help but think of the threat Kabuto actually posed. 

Logically, Sakura knew that her memories of Kabuto’s skills and actions during the war were playing with her perception of the present; this early on, his prowess was still significant, but nothing to feel daunted by. But it wasn’t like Sakura could disregard him, either. Kabuto, no matter the point in time, always made sure to keep his cards close to his chest, so Sakura knew effectively nothing about his current abilities, other than what she had already noted during the preliminaries and the few things she had picked up on here and there throughout the years and disclosed to Kakashi mere minutes ago. 

Kabuto was more of an enigma to Sakura than anyone else she had ever met in either lifetime, except for maybe Kaguya , and when the Rabbit Goddess was a point of comparison for you, that said something; Sakura wasn’t sure what, but it couldn’t be anything good.

“I don’t know,” was her only answer. “It’s just… have you ever felt like someone is enclosed in so many layers of bullshit and deception, you literally, physically can’t glimpse even the tiniest amount of truth in any part of them?” 

“Indeed I have,” sensei replied with an unreadable look in his mismatched eyes. “Is that what worries you about him?” 

Sakura nodded. “I’m not sure who Kabuto really is, nor am I sure about his skillset. Not fully.” 

Kakashi-sensei hummed, staring off into the distance with a pensive expression, before his whole body started shaking as he snorted and snickered. “Sorry,” he leaned forward once he noticed Sakura’s glare. “This is all so odd . At age six you were hell-bent on taking down Danzō and the entirety of his organisation — and you did . You turned one of Kiri’s most ruthless missing-nin into your verbal chew-toy, not to mention that you’ve managed to hold your own against multiple Sannin, and yet it’s Yakushi Kabuto that scares you.” 

“First of all, sensei, I had loads of help when dealing with the Traitor, as you well know,” Sakura reminded him hotly. “Shisui and Itachi and Shin… you and Team Ro, for the most part, and then shishō and the Clan Heads, among others. And I never actually fought him. You did most of the fighting with Zabuza-san too, the fights shishō schedules with me are training bouts , and the Snake?” She shrugged, “He’s one of the Sannin, as you said; I never said I wasn’t afraid of him, I simply sort of already knew what to expect, courtesy of the aforementioned training bouts.” 

‘And that's the problem, isn’t it?’ Inner’s voice loomed in her head. ‘We knew what to expect from Zabuza and Orochimaru because we’ve lived through encounters with them once before. We never went against Kabuto, though, unless you count that ten-second face-off during our mission to retrieve Sasuke, and our worst memories of him are from when he was a literal monster controlling an army of reanimated corpses.’ 

Well, clearly. The realisation that she had become too dependent on her knowledge of her past — or future — hit her at once, and terribly. Perhaps that was the thing she so feared, now.

There had always been unknowns in her journey back in time and Sakura had learned to face them head-on from the very beginning. Kabuto was just like that, wasn’t he? She would only have to view him as a nameless, obscure stranger, and perhaps… 

“You clearly neither like nor trust this Kabuto guy,” sensei’s voice brought her out of her thoughts. “Whatever the reason, I’m with you on this; I’ve learned to defer to your judgement when it comes to people, maybe even more than I do my ninken’s instincts. Still, you can’t let that, or your irrational unease, interfere with your fight. He’s your opponent, and you’re aiming to win.” In one smooth move, Kakashi was standing again, and the effect would have been cooler had his waist not popped twice when he twisted his torso. “You say he’s smart? Well, you’ll just have to be smarter. Thankfully, you’ve been blessed with damn near divine observation skills and quick thinking that could put a lightning strike to shame under stress, so you’ll have to pay close attention during your fight. And here is where my earlier words of wisdom come into play.” 

Rolling her eyes, Sakura stood as well and raised an eyebrow: “Win in silence?”

Kakashi-sensei nodded. “If he’s as good as you think he is, let him overpower you. Not from the beginning. After all, you were right; he probably knows more about you and your skills than you do about him and his. Let him think he’s wearing you down, outsmarting you while you watch out for a weakness.” Gesturing for her to pick up her blade again, he drew out the tanto Sakura knew he’d used while in ANBU. “Once you find it, you strike. And then you strike again faster, be it with a fist, a genjutsu or ninjutsu, your sword, or an iryō technique. Make sure to leave him no time to retaliate, and if you want to start some rumours about you being a bastard Senju or whatnot, have your friendly trees lend you a branching hand.” 

That made Sakura bark a peal of laughter out, and like the adorable shit sensei was, he used her distraction to slice her shoulder open. 

The rest of her week of training with sensei went along the same lines. They met up early to spar, and while the Copy-nin used his entire godsforsaken range of stolen or invented techniques, Sakura’s objective was to counter them, predict his next moves, zone in on his weak spots, and ruthlessly capitalise on them in the middle of the fight. 

After her second day, he had her continuously cast and maintain the Silent Blossom Dance , or completely suppress her chakra even after their sessions ended to follow him around the village with clear instructions to catch him off guard. Sakura only managed to do so twice: once when he was mid-challenge with Gai-sensei, and then again after she had lulled him into a false sense of safety, feeding him the false impression she wouldn’t keep up the charade at night.

Unfortunately, startling a paranoid ex-ANBU awake equaled a rather strong reaction. 

(Sakura had to spend the dark hours reassuring Kakashi-sensei that no, he hadn’t hurt her all that bad , and yes, she wouldn’t hate him for it. They both promised to pretend that the incident had never occurred, but Sakura had the inkling that sensei would continue to beat himself up for grabbing her by the neck and managing to get in a good squeeze for a solid second before she had kawarimi’d out of his reach.) 

The day Kakashi-sensei was supposed to take over Sasuke-kun’s training, he asked her to show up at the training ground at their usual time so he could introduce her to a new ‘sensei’ that would help her with her preparation for the finals, and Sakura obeyed. She didn’t have to wait long to sense his chakra signature approaching, but her eyebrows shot all the way up into her sizable forehead and remained there when she took notice of who was accompanying him. 

Out of all the people Sakura would have expected sensei to recruit into training her, Momochi Zabuza was perhaps the most unlikely, if only because she’d been fairly certain sensei would have to drag him kicking and screaming into compliance from the bottom of her list of potential instructors. Perhaps he and Haku were just strolling by and had popped over to say hello? 

Haku was definitely nice enough to do so. Zabuza-san, on the other hand… 

When they got close enough to enter her view, Sakura stood up to meet them half-way. Kakashi-sensei and Haku were chatting amicably and Zabuza was trailing a few steps behind them, glaring at everything around him. Alright then… this was going to go great ! 

‘I wonder what kind of bet sensei won,’ Inner hummed, and it took everything out of Sakura not to start giggling. 

“Ah, Sakura-chan! Bright and early as usual!” 

Sakura poked her tongue out at sensei before she beamed at the pair of missing-nin, getting a warm smile back from Haku. “Good morning!” she greeted them and cut to the chase, “May I ask what’s going on?” 

Kakashi patted her head twice, “Of course you may, my cute little genin. I told you you’d be getting some training done with someone else while I focus on Sasuke for the week. Well, Zabuza and Haku have offered, and I have magnanimously accepted.” 

“We did not,” Zabuza immediately denied, ready to start spilling Killing Intent. 

“I don’t mind,” Haku said then. “It’ll be fun training together, Sakura-chan. Kakashi-san has already filled us in on the situation with your opponent and the fighting style you’ll be going for. I think I have the perfect technique to show you, if you’d like.” 

Well, why not? Sakura told Haku that she’d love to learn anything he was offering to teach her, but when she faced Zabuza, she only raised an eyebrow at him — and it wasn’t because she was surprised he was actually wearing a proper shirt today.

“Yes, me too, I guess,” he gruffly allowed. “Not like I have a choice in the matter.” 

Okay, now Sakura was truly curious. “Sensei… what have you done, exactly?” 

Kakashi-sensei’s chakra and whole countenance screamed smug amusement. “I did absolutely nothing, pup. Tsunade-sama was my first choice when it came to who you could train with, given she’s your shishō and all that,” he waved his hand around, before he gestured for everyone to follow him to the middle of the training ground, “but she’s quite busy these days, as you already know. Then it occurred to me that our new friends may like something else to do aside from sightseeing all day.” 

“You had your Kage order us to help your shrimp in exchange for our peaceful and prolonged stay in your village, you bastard!” 

“Now, now,” sensei nudged him in the side, “my mother may have been an illegitimate child, but I assure you I was not. Besides, look at my adorable student,” he pointed at Sakura. “How could you possibly deny the opportunity to turn such a cute-looking kid into a killing machine up to your standards? You’ve already done it once with Haku-kun; it won’t be much of a challenge.” 

Zabuza-san let out a huff of grudging amusement before his gaze pinned Sakura down. “She does have potential, I’ll give you that. Tell your shishō that I expect some kind of payment for this though, alright kid?” 

“Eh, sure,” Sakura replied before she turned to Kakashi. “I definitely won’t tell my parents you’re basically fast-tracking me into ANBU or some shit.” 

“I am doing no such thing,” he told her seriously. “But who am I to hinder the sprawling progress of your talents? Anyway, yes, Kizashi and Mebuki should most certainly stay oblivious to all of this. That is why…” out of seemingly nowhere, he produced a plastic box and offered it to her, “I brought some dango for later.” 

Sakura scoffed at his weak-ass bribery attempt, but before she had the chance to say anything, sensei spoke again: “I better go before Sasu-kun starts rioting. Have fun!” And just like that, he was gone, leaving behind only a cloud of smoke and leaves. 

Sakura stared dumbly at the spot the Copy-nin had vacated, before she cleared her throat and focused on the pair of Kiri nin. “Thanks for doing this, despite being coerced by shishō and Kakashi-sensei. Shall we start, then?” 

Muttering about how he hated his life, Zabuza got comfortable under a tree and instructed Sakura to spar with Haku before they started teaching her any of their jutsu. Their spar was relatively short, as neither Haku-kun nor Sakura used their signature jutsu to outplay each other — although Sakura was terribly tempted to resort to the Mokuton several times. 

Haku-kun was the one to call their fight off and have Sakura sit with Zabuza as he displayed a secret technique that was apparently known and used by Kirigakure’s hunter-nin. Watching with rapt attention as he wove a series of hand seals, Ram — Dog — Rat , Sakura instantly felt the change in the atmosphere around them. Thin mist started to form, while the smell of petrichor permeated the air as rain began falling. 

“You have an affinity with Water Release, don’t you, Sakura-chan?” 

Sakura nodded and approached the ring of cascading rain, wondering what was so special about it. The moment she spread her hand and came in contact with the cold droplets, she understood all too well. 

“What—?!” 

Haku-kun smiled, moving the rainfall away from Sakura. “ Kirisame ,” he said. “It absorbs the chakra of anyone the water touches, besides the original caster’s, of course. You seem to enjoy locking your opponent’s chakra with your cherry blossom petals, so I thought you’d find this technique interesting as well.” 

“I do,” Sakura agreed, facing Haku with a feral lint in her eyes. “What happens to the chakra it absorbs?” 

Humming, the older boy formed a few more hand seals,“It really is just a way to weaken your enemies. You could, however, change the properties of this jutsu and turn it into another with more… potency, if you will.” The raindrops then paused, becoming sharper before Haku waved his arm and launched them like senbon into a nearby tree, cutting a thick branch right off. 

Sakura winced at that but couldn’t help her little whistle of admiration. “Can you show me the hand seals again?”

By the end of the second day of training with Zabuza and Haku, Sakura had mastered Kirisame , although she decided to forego the initial mist the jutsu generated, and named her modified version Shun’u — gentle spring rain. Zabuza-san had also decided to start pulling his weight, and trained with her in kenjutsu, using his famed Silent Killing approach while hiding in some mist of his own. Taking inspiration from that particular technique, Sakura carried on her recent trend of reinventing the classics to suit her needs: Kasumi . 

It was a simple mist-creation jutsu, only she manipulated its temperature to make it warm enough to almost suffocate anyone caught it in. Well, that mostly happened when she willed the vapour in the air to enter her opponents body, collect in their lungs, and fill them with water.

It was while she was demonstrating that jutsu to Zabuza-san the following day — safely, of course; Sakura had no intention of actually drowning him — that a whole bunch of chakra signatures materialised in the training ground. Sakura had been so focused on maintaining a tight grip on her technique that the sudden appearance of more people startled her so badly, she involuntarily made Zabuza start coughing up water. 

“I almost killed him!” She shouted at some nearby trees, and had half a mind to send a few kunai flying, when Shō-san came into view, grinning from ear to ear as he attached his ANBU mask to his belt and combed his fingers through his ashen-blond hair. 

The entirety of Team Ro dropped behind him, not one of them appearing anything close to concerned. Shō shrugged, “Meh, we would have disposed of the body and covered for you, kiddiewink.” 

Sakura rolled her eyes at him, “You’re rotten.” 

“Aye, I am,” he agreed and flash-stepped behind her to mess up her hair, too. “You, however, are breaking poor Tenzō’s heart!” 

“Dear Kami, give me strength,” Tenzō sighed under Yūgao-san’s chuckles, but he was quick to approach as well, offering a handshake to both Kiri-nin. “Don’t mind him; Shō-taichō is an idiot. Pleased to meet you.” 

Haku was quick to return the sentiment; Zabuza, on the other hand, looked like he’d rather be literally anywhere but here as Sakura did a flash-round of introductions. 

“Is this going to be a thing during the entire duration of our stay here?” Zabuza almost growled. It was a rather disturbing tone. “If your Kage didn’t trust us, she could have declined to give us permission for entry in your village.” 

“What are you on about?” Yūgao cocked her head to the side as she observed the man. 

Shō placed his elbow on Sakura’s head as he leaned forward — she rather wished she had thought to pin her braid up with her trusted poisoned senbon that day instead of Shisui’s kanzashi — and said: “To be honest, Tsunade-sama most likely doesn’t trust you . We’re not here because she sent us, though. You see, you’re taking up all of our little mascot’s time lately, and Tenzō-kun’s jealous.” 

“First of all, get off ,” Sakura snapped at the blond as she manoeuvred his weight off her. “Secondly, you guys were away on a mission as far as I could tell,” she gestured at their ANBU uniforms, and besides that, she had been aware that Tenzō had not been home for the past week or so. It wasn’t much of a stretch to imagine his absence was mission-related. “How the hell did you even find out about my training?” 

“We just ran into Miyo and Tenten. They’re having a girl’s day out or something, otherwise Miyo would have joined us as well,” Shō replied, and was clearly going to say more, but Tenzō cut him off.

“Just to be clear, I’m not jealous, Sakura-chan.” 

The whole lot of them — even Aika-san — burst into laughter before Iwao reached over to flick Tenzō’s ear. “Weren’t you just going off about how Hatake-senpai decided to entrust your mutual student’s training to some people they only met once under a bridge?”

“We met multiple times; and we fought on the bridge, dumbass, we may be politically homeless but I ain’t some hobo —” No one paid Zabuza any attention.

“I think he was mostly hurt because he wasn’t Kakashi-senpai’s first choice.” 

Tenzō’s cheeks began to burn bright red at Iwao-san and Yūgao’s words, and to spare him any more humiliation (despite how adorably awkward he looked) Sakura scowled at them all. “Yo! Don’t be mean to Tenzō-sensei.” Then she grabbed the edge of Tenzō’s gloves and gave it a couple of tugs, “I’m sure if you’d been free, Kaka-sensei would have asked you first. He knows you’re my favourite!” 

“It really is quite alright,” he tried to assure her, but his blush refused to wane. Looking back at the Kiri nin, he gave them a tight-lipped smile and carried on: “I mean no offence; Sakura-chan is as good as family to me at this point and I have been one of her instructors since before Kakashi-senpai’s team was even formed. I just want to make sure she’s in good hands.”

Awwww, cute!

“That is completely understandable, Tenzō-san,” Haku agreed pleasantly. “Right, Zabuza-sama?” 

When Sakura tilted her head toward Zabuza, she did a double take and almost recoiled at seeing his expression. “Hey, stop that… you’re freaking me out!” She exclaimed, and was not at all exaggerating. No sane person could call that thing on his face an actual smile . 

“I’m just thinking… Does this mean Hatake will be sleeping in the doghouse?” 

Everyone made a valiant effort to keep a straight face at that, although Shō didn’t bother and quite literally doubled over in hysterics, completely oblivious to Tenzō’s death glare. “Not in the way you mean it, unfortunately,” he finally managed to say, once he had calmed down, small giggles still escaping him from time to time. “Man, I quite like you. Let’s get a drink later, huh?” 

At that, every single member of Team Ro (and Sakura) reached out to smack or pinch him. “You’re a married man, you ass !” Tenzō reminded him sternly. 

“Ow, you fuckers, I wasn’t flirting ! I just want someone to make fun of Kakashi with. Genma’s been all over Shizu-chan again and Miyo… well, actually, I have to introduce you to Miyo,” he addressed Zabuza again. “She doesn’t pull her punches!”

Sakura let out a long sigh and rubbed her temples. If they carried on like that, she wouldn’t be getting any training done that day… which actually gave her an idea. “So… since you’re all here,” she began, placing her hands behind her back and putting on her best puppy-eyes; from well-documented experience, she knew that at least Tenzō and Shō-san wouldn’t be able to resist, “why don’t you practise with us?”

“I would love to, Sakura,” Aika spoke up first, her grey eyes swiftly cutting from Zabuza to Sakura as her whole face relaxed noticeably. Ah, so she didn’t trust her new friends either, huh? “Your opponent, Yakushi-san, is a fellow Rootlet, if I remember correctly. Although his fighting style has evolved over the years, we all retain parts of our former training since it was imposed on us during our formative years. I noticed he reverts back to it whenever he uses medical ninjutsu offensively.” 

“Does he?” Sakura asked, eyes widening at the information. In all honesty, during the preliminaries, Sakura had paid closer attention to the ninjutsu and medical techniques he’d used to gauge his proficiency, rather than the way he’d moved. That had been a mistake, apparently, because now that Aika-san had mentioned it, Inner was able to bring up similarities in his style to Shin-kun, Torune, Fū and even Sai’s. “Could you go through the style you were taught while in ROOT for me, Aika-san?” 

Her curly blonde hair bounced on her shoulders as she nodded, “Of course. It’s better if I show you, actually.” 

“Hold on a moment…” Shō raised his hands in the space between Sakura and his teammate. “Are we seriously going to coach Sakura-chan in ROOT and ANBU techniques?”

“Why the hell not?” She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Zabuza-san and Haku-kun have been teaching me Kiri’s hunter-nin jutsu, you know!” 

That had Shō, Tenzō and Yūgao exchanging a loaded look. “And Kakashi-senpai is aware of this?” Tenzō-kun asked. 

“Clearly,” Zabuza smirked. “He quite literally gave me permission to turn her into a killing machine.” 

Well… not exactly ? Sakura was pretty sure sensei had been joking, but he had left her in Zabuza’s care, so maybe ?

“That walking pile of dogshit doesn’t even allow me to be around the genin, but of course he has some random missing-nin turning our squad’s mascot into a mini-ANBU,” Shō-san muttered, shaking his head in clear irritation. “Now I realise what you feel, Tenzō…”

“Now, now, don’t be so salty, taichō,” Yūgao-san clapped his shoulder once and smiled sweetly. “Although… I guess it says something about you, doesn’t it? I mean Kakashi-senpai recruited Miyo-senpai, Tenzō and I for their priming from early on.” Another round of chuckles escaped her when Shō emptied the contents of his weapon’s pouch on her, yelling about ‘the blatant disrespect!’ all the while. 

“They’re a fun lot,” Haku-kun commented as he watched the two ANBU running around, exchanging sharp words and even sharper weapons. 

Iwao-san rubbed one ginger eyebrow and stepped away when a stray shuriken flew by his ear, “It’s only fun when the teasing is directed at someone else. Anyway,” he smiled at Sakura then, making the long scar across his cheek stretch, “I saw your mist technique earlier. Nice touch, combining it with your extensive anatomical knowledge to make your opponent literally choke on air. Are you still into poisons, Sakura-chan?” 

What a dumb question. “Of course I am.” 

Iwao-san hummed then, and his eyes, a shade remarkably similar to Sakura’s own, sparkled . “Any chance you could incorporate poison into the mist?” 

“Oh, that’s not bad,” Zabuza whispered, only realising that he had indeed paid a Konoha-nin a compliment when Iwao-san gave him a dramatic bow. That had him frowning again. 

“Seriously?!” Shō-san called from across the training ground, still trying to get his hands on Yūgao. “We’re really doing this? Have you any idea how scary Haruno Mebuki can get?” 

Sakura fiddled with her pinned braid and removed the tama kanzashi Shisui had gifted her many, many years ago. The secret compartment held the perfect amount of the powder she had created for her sleeping gas bombs. “Don’t worry, Shō-san. We’ve kept a sizable amount of secrets from my mother all these years; what’s one more?” 

From the moment Team Ro joined her training sessions, Sakura’s days turned into literal hell. Not that she wasn’t grateful for the time they’d dedicated to her — of course she was. She just wished the whole lot of them would one day bother to familiarise themselves with the notion of ‘breaks’.

Surprisingly, it was Zabuza who always called for them to ease up, or end a spar so Sakura could take a breather. 

He wasn’t quite appreciative of her gratitude in the form of a hug, but whatever. Sakura had found out — thanks to Haku — that Zabuza-san enjoyed tempura just as much as she did, so she’d just treat him to some food one of these days.

Maybe even later that afternoon, because Sakura sure as hell deserved a good meal. And maybe an ice bath. 

A fat and glad yes to that last one, most definitely. 

After a long series of one-v-one spars with the whole lot of them — except for Iwao-san and Yūgao; the two had been called off to see the Hokage before noon and hadn’t returned since — Sakura was back to facing Aika-san’s ROOT-moulded fighting style, which combined swift movements with deadly ninjutsu, or, whenever weapons were in use, pure killing intent. 

Thanks to her speed, Sakura was able to avoid most of the attacks directed at her, but Aika-san had been in ROOT for longer than Sakura had been alive (in this time), and was exceptional at maintaining her composure and stamina. Not to mention that she fought dirty . 

Sakura had been tripped and blinded by fistfulls of soil enough times to truly wish to drown Aika in the river behind them. 

Well, no matter. At least she had learned to anticipate everything an ex-Rootlet could throw at her — literally. 

Zabuza-san called the fight off eventually, and Sakura gulped down the water Tenzō-kun offered her like it was her last drink on earth. “Good job, Sakura-chan,” he told her warmly. “Two more days until the final rounds. I think you should take tomorrow off and rest.” 

“Yeah, I guess I should,” she sighed, although the chakra signature that had been hovering at the edge of the training grounds and still hadn’t left like it usually had the previous couple of days was probably going to mess up her plans for that evening. 

For fuck’s sake, would she ever catch a break? 

Shō stood up and stretched his long limbs as he brought her attention to the setting sun. “We’ll be cheering for you from the viewing boxes, kiddo. Don’t embarrass us by losing.” 

Thankfully, Aika-san kicked him in the shin, because honestly? Sakura was too tired to even muster the energy to glare at him. “That’s quite enough, taichō. She will do as phenomenally as she always does, and we all know it.”

“Oh, you know I’m jesting,” he reached down to pinch Sakura’s cheek. “That guy, Kabuto, won’t know what hit him. Nor will the other poor soul you’re gonna face after him. Want us to carry you home, princess-style?” 

Sakura, who couldn’t stop smiling at his supportive words, waved him off. “It’s alright. I’ll stay here for a bit, do some stretches and then probably go find Sasuke-kun and Kakashi-sensei and pester them to unwind. Thank you all for helping me out these past few days.” 

“Don’t mention it, Sakura-chan,” Tenzō told her as he too got ready to leave. “You’ve got this. I’ll probably see you around at the Senju compound tomorrow?” 

Responding with only a tired smile, she nodded her head at him and waved as the three members of Team Ro took their leave. When Sakura turned her attention to the pair of Kiri-nin, she noticed Zabuza-san was subtly eyeing Konan’s hiding place.

“Don’t worry about it. I don’t think they mean trouble,” Sakura whispered. 

With a shrug, Zabuza picked up his enormous sword and tilted his head towards Haku, “We’re off too, then. Let’s hope I don’t see you until your fight.” 

Haku snorted at that, but refused to acknowledge Zabuza’s glower. “Have a good rest, Sakura-chan, and give it your all on your big day.” 

“Thanks! See you both soon!”

“ Hell no,” Zabuza called as he turned around, causing both younger shinobi to laugh at him. 

Sakura took a few more sips of water as she watched them go, her right hand instinctively resting close to her wakizashi, which was laid out against a rock jutting out of the ground right next to her. She wouldn’t be the one to make the first move; Konan had chosen to stay behind until everyone else was gone for a reason, and Sakura was indeed curious as to what she was planning to do. 

Making it seem as if she felt even more worn out than she actually did, Sakura casually leaned back against the grass with a deep sigh and closed her eyes. Inner was eerily quiet in her mind, she too holding her breath, as they waited for Konan to approach, or launch a sudden attack.

A few more minutes passed, in which Sakura immersed herself into the wordless conversations nature was having around her. The trees were murmuring about enemies arriving in their dwelling — the shifting winds had apparently brought word. A nearby ginkgo tree urged Sakura to leave for some far-flung place in order to stay safe; Sakura told it she couldn’t. 

Konan’s presence in her vicinity registered like the first rainfall after a heatwave, her chakra cool and strangely refreshing; an aura almost touching Sakura’s skin. Refusing to play the surprised fool, Sakura opened one eye and stared up right at the kunoichi. “I wondered if you’d come out to say hi,” she stated calmly, before she leisurely pulled herself up into a sitting position. “What did you think of my performance?” 

“You are a sensor,” Konan replied instead; it wasn’t a question. Sakura nodded anyway. “Don’t you feel concerned that I have been spying on you?” 

“What makes you think I haven’t been doing the same?” Sakura flashed her with a cutting smile. “There are very few things that happen inside this village that I am unaware of, Konan-san. You have been residing somewhere else, away from Konoha, on the nights you’ve not been… moonwalking around my house, the Hokage Tower, and the outskirts of the Uchiha Clan Compound.”

For the briefest of moments, Konan’s body tensed. Then her lips twitched and she sat down next to Sakura, keeping her movements slow. “You did not raise an alarm. Why is that?” She asked. 

“You pose no danger to me or anyone I care about, at least for the moment,” Sakura shrugged. “Truthfully, Konoha has bigger things to worry about right now than an Ame jōnin-sensei who’s too curious for her own good. All the same, if you don’t wish to find yourself in the middle of an attempted raid, you may want to take your students and comrades back to your village at the next available opportunity.”

“Is that a threat, Haruno-san?” 

Sakura huffed through her nose, “To you? No. But it is what the near future will bring to Konoha. Safety measures have been put in place, of course, but we’d rather avoid any casualties we can. You understand that foreign shinobi being injured or killed during what everyone expected to be a peaceful event would put a strain on our Villages’ relationship — not that Konoha and Ame’s dealings with each other have ever been particularly peaceful, but I digress.”

Amber eyes examined Sakura’s face for any sign of deception, before Konan asked: “Who is going to attempt an attack against your village?” 

“Oh, Orochimaru, naturally . He has allies, here and there and practically everywhere at this point, and they’ve been a pain to weed out…” Sakura let her words fade without offering more details. “Somehow I rather believe Ame does not count herself among them, though.” 

“You would be correct,” Konan looked away, taking in the trees and clouds, head lifted to the sky. She had likely rarely seen it so clear for so long, considering the place she had called home for most of her life. Or perhaps she was sensing the perimeter, or searching for a specific chakra signature. “Orochimaru was here, during the Second Stage. Word on the street is that he killed one team and harassed two more while inside the Forest of Death.” 

Humming in agreement, Sakura couldn’t help but joke: “Konoha’s gossip mill has always been a prolific one. It is rather unfortunate Orochimaru got away from our encounter unscathed. I’m not one to usually go for that particular animal print, but skinning the Snake would have been a dream come true for this little girl, believe you me.” 

“You seem to detest him quite a lot.” 

“I detest all traitors,” Sakura shrugged. “This one just so happens to be uniquely vile, and closely connected to another, much-hated Traitor I did manage to help bring down. Years ago, and at great cost.” Sakura did not have to fake the crack in her voice there; she never did, when it came to the mention of Shisui’s sacrifice, and all it had meant to and for her.

A moment of stillness passed between them, and Konan did not disappoint when she next spoke: “Shimura Danzō.” It was only a name, yet it apparently made Konan instantly aware of how quickly Sakura’s chakra could be sent out of control. 

“I see the source of our greatest shame has reached your borders. No other person has ever made me wish to revive them simply so I can taste the satisfaction of watching them die all over again.” And wasn’t that the ugly truth born of the seething hatred in Sakura’s soul? Out of all of them — Obito, Kaguya, Madara, Orochimaru — it was Danzō whom she could never excuse, never forgive or show an ounce of mercy to.

“What was his crime?” Perhaps it was a genuine inquiry. Shisui could have told Konan and the rest of the Akatsuki much, but not everything. They’d never spoken about it at length; Sakura realised that would have to change soon, if she was beginning to encounter and interact with their members already.

Swallowing a laugh, Sakura stared right at the Ame kunoichi. “Too many to count and too wicked to forget. I could tell you about the decades-long butchering of a Noble Clan in order to get his hands on their dōjutsu — which Orochimaru aided him with. I could tell you about all the times he and his fellow Elders went against the Hokage’s orders and Konoha’s best interest for nothing but their own benefit. I could introduce you to the dozens of children and adults he abducted, brainwashed and used as his personal, disposable army.” Pausing for a moment, Sakura stared away, then offered: “I could even tell you how he got himself involved in your own village’s dirtiest secret.” 

After only a second of hesitation, Konan asked: “What do you mean by that?” 

“You must have been only a little older than me during the Third Shinobi World War, but you’ve surely heard the story? There used to be an upstart group in Ame with dreams of ending the war and establishing a more stable socioeconomic environment there — Akatsuki, I think?” Sakura thankfully managed to keep a straight face as she spoke the words, but Konan seemed quite startled by them. “In time, your leader Hanzō started to view them as a threat to his horrid rule, and Shimura simply couldn’t resist the opportunity to insert his influence into the situation: he decided to ally with Hanzō to fuck them up and see them off into an early sunset and get that sweet, sweet political clout as repayment.”

Konan was shaking her head, “It was Konoha’s troops that slaughtered the Akatsuki.” 

“Danzō’s self-serving actions should not be confused with Konoha’s , considering that he was explicitly acting against the Sandaime’s orders , and without his knowledge,” Sakura hissed. “Hanzō approached the Akatsuki with pretty promises of cooperation and had them meet a shinobi named Kanzō, who was none other than Shimura himself. Your leader’s men and Danzō’s ROOT agents set the meeting up as an ambush.” Sakura let her companion mull over the truth as she closed her eyes again and let the slight breeze cool her down. “It’s rather fortunate Hanzō-sama has elected not to attend the exams. I have a bone to pick with him by association, you see.”

A bone was the only thing she could pick with him by now, of course, since the dude was very, very dead.

Konan ignored Sakura’s last comment. “What do you know about the Akatsuki? How sure can you be that it’s the truth?” 

Sakura placed her hands behind her as she rested her weight on them and stretched her legs. “I only found out about them when a series of secret diaries were confiscated from a ROOT hideout by shishō and Jiraiya-sama. Danzō was an avid writer despite knowing how detrimental such a hobby could prove to his schemes, and his journals were gruesomely explicit about what truly transpired in Ame, as well as the rest of the atrocities he had committed over the years, across our own Nation as well as many others.” 

Inner then prompted her to go for the final nail in the coffin, so Sakura faced the woman again.

“You asked me what the Traitor’s crime was. I just listed some of his worst, yet not one of those is the reason I despise him even in death.” Sakura thought back to the moment she had felt half of her heart tear away in a blast of wind and water off a cliff’s cataclysmic edge; it never failed to fill her eyes with tears, time and distance be damned, and she told Konan: “Not even his demise can grant me any measure of solace, because the day Shimura Danzō died, he took with him my first, oldest, and dearest friend, took him away from me and everyone else who loved him. And we loved him beyond anything words can hope to express.

“My friend was an amazing person, the most wonderful I ever knew. Gentle, generous, brave, brilliant, beautiful inside and out. He made his precious people smile through tears and laugh through fear and grow into something an existence without him could never have shaped. He shared with us his time, triumphs, knowledge, home, food, and heart. We always had his support, as a shinobi but also as a man, without complaint or hesitation, day and night, up close and from afar. He defended me and all I knew and loved with his life every waking hour of every damn day of every agonising month for two whole years against that monster in human skin. He took care of me when my family couldn’t, and did the same for my brother, for all our friends who were too little to get by without help. By the time the end was near — not that any of us knew it — my parents had practically adopted him. And all the while, he never asked for a single thing in return, save for our health and happiness. It was his joy to love us. It was ours to love him back. After we lost him, the world never turned the same way again.”

Around them, the trees, bushes and grass blades shivered. Konan’s chakra drummed madly for only a moment, before she willed it into calmness once more. “Shimura killed your best friend…” she said quietly. “And even now, years later, you still mourn him as though he were freshly dead.” 

Not in the way one typically mourned the departed, because Shisui thankfully did not actually number among them, yet he had been gone from her side for far too long regardless, so Sakura nodded. She indeed mourned. 

“Danzō had sought to recruit him and his cousin into ROOT. Then, when they repeatedly refused, he threatened my brother and I. It’s a rather long story, I’m afraid, and not one I wish to rehash so late in the day.” Sakura removed the kanzashi from her hair and passed it to Konan. “Uchiha Shisui wanted to bring down Danzō as much as I did, for he had stolen his mother’s eyes; but the bitter truth is, I brought that whole mess to his doorstep in the first place, and involved him in it, and it cost him his life. This was the first gift he ever gave to me. Such a pretty thing, isn't it? I wear it all the time, along with his hitai-ate — the only thing of his they found after he fell into the Naka River. A piece to remind me of what happiness felt like when Shisui was here, and a token to never let me forget my complicity in his absence. Ah, I don’t know if that makes sense.”

“It does,” Konan replied with a faraway look. “Years ago, I failed my best friend too, and lost him for it. I understand what you feel, and why, completely. It is why I’ve dedicated my life to seeing his dream come true one day.” 

Trying to keep her expression blank, Sakura decided to exploit that little sentimental moment and drop the hook. “What was his dream?”

“To create a world of peace.” 

Line . 

“Peace?” Sakura pretended to be genuinely shocked. “That’s what Shisui wished for as well. That's what I’m fighting for now.” 

Konan’s amber eyes returned to Sakura’s, and it was as if the older kunoichi was hoping for a glimpse into her soul. “There are some of us who actively try to turn this dream into a reality. To make this world see no land, religion, ideology, or grudges. You might even find good friends among us.”

And sinker.

Shifting to her knees, Sakura stared at the kunoichi. “In Ame? You mean a group like the Akatsuki used to be? Are you in touch with delegates from other Nations for permanent peace treaties?”

“Nations…” Konan chuckled, before she stood to her full height. “They only care about their own interests. They use their resources, their power and human weapons to prevail over smaller countries. No. We could never hope to make them see reason…” Turning away from Sakura, Konan’s body began shedding and disappearing in hundreds of paper butterflies. Sakura had heard she could do it from Jiraiya and Shisui and, once upon a time, Naruto, but had never seen it with her own two eyes. From this close, it was mesmerising. “One day, you will realise that as well. Come find us then. We will be waiting.”

“ Where ?” Sakura was suddenly shouting, but Konan was no longer here. Extending the full range of her sensory net, Sakura tried to find her, to no avail. Konan had left Konoha.

‘Well…’ Inner began. ‘Does that mean we just got recruited into Akatsuki?’ 

Surely not? Surely Konan would know better than to extend such an invitation to the sister of one of Nagato’s intended victims? Surely Shisui’s “friendship” with them could not have made her think Sakura was “like him”, so devoted to their shared ideal that she’d be willing to sacrifice something — someone — unspeakably dear for the partial furtherance of a “greater” goal? Surely that wasn’t the impression Sakura gave off with her words, actions and motives…?

Oh, kami .

Shisui was going to laugh, and then kill her.

On the day of the finals, daybreak found Sakura already awake and wandering the streets of Konoha restlessly. It could have just been the nerves, or the general knowledge of what that day was going to bring and mean for not just her but the entire village, yet the bad feeling coiling in Sakura’s stomach and drenching her very bones somehow went beyond that. 

So, instead of sitting at home, slowly being driven to madness by her wandering thoughts, she chose to take a nice leisurely stroll… and be driven to madness by her wandering thoughts with a better view. 

Konoha was still shrouded in a waking hush, with only a handful of shops open in the early hours. There were very few people out on the streets, and every unfamiliar face was marked as a potential enemy in Sakura’s mind. In the shadows, however, her fellow shinobi were just as tense and alert as she was, their silence a mere tool of necessity. Aika-san was among them, and other than a quick glance at her hiding spot, Sakura pretended not to have taken notice of her. 

It must have been around seven o'clock when Sakura finally heeded Inner’s advice and stopped at a café, ordering some pancakes and the strongest tea they had. She ate without really tasting her meal and realised that the more she remained stationary, the more her anxiety was threatening to send her into a panic. Perhaps they had made a mistake pretending to be sitting ducks for the invasion; perhaps they should have focused on taking out Orochimaru from the beginning, as quickly as they could. 

‘They did try to go after him. And we lost one of our informants, remember?’ Inner reminded her, but Sakura wasn’t having it. If she had tagged along with a squad, or Yūgao-san, maybe even Inoichi-oji or Kurenai-sensei… 

Sakura shook her head to dispel those thoughts. What was done was done, and Konoha’s forces were prepared. Besides, even if they had somehow gotten hold of Orochimaru specifically, there was nothing guaranteeing the Invasion wouldn’t take place if his entire menagerie of freaks was not rotting in the ground alongside him.

Without realising how she even got here, Sakura found herself in the Suburban District when the raised voices of a group of tourists jolted her back to reality. With a polite nod their way, she took a left turn, hoping that some time in one of the nearest training grounds would help partly expel her pent-up stress. Or, she could head to the Uchiha Compound — Itachi-kun was bound to be up as well, and his usual calm conduct in times of crisis would be a most welcome balm at the moment.

Sakura didn’t make it far before she detected a pair of familiar chakra signatures. Taking a deep breath and willing her facial muscles to freeze into a pleasant smile, she walked on until she came upon Temari and Baki-san. Her pace faltered slightly when she noticed they seemed to be in heated conversation with each other in the native language of Kaze.  Unfortunately, Sakura didn’t have time to turn tail before Baki-san noticed her. 

“Good morning!” Sakura called out, unable to do anything else as his gaze caught hers. “You’re up quite early as well, I see.” 

With a violent, full-body flinch, Temari spun around to face her, wide-eyed. “Sakura! W-What are you doing here?” She stammered. 

Trying her best to hide her surprise at Temari’s highly uncharacteristic reaction, Sakura merely pointed in the general direction of the Uchiha Compound and said: “I was going to pay my respects to my best friend’s memorial; I always do on big days because I think he’d like to be kept updated.” Well, that last part wasn’t really a lie — which reminded her, she’d need to contact Shisui later through their necklaces or by summoning either Mari or Kazuki. “How about you? We’ve over an hour before we’d need to show up at the Stadium.” 

“Just taking a walk around the village,” Baki-san replied quickly and coolly, but his chakra buzzed strangely, as unsettled as Temari’s. 

Okay then… 

“Oh?” Sakura cocked her head, “Going anywhere specific? Do you need directions?” 

Temari and Baki-san began speaking at the same time, giving her completely contrasting answers. Sakura merely raised an eyebrow at that. “You sure everything’s alright?” She asked. The feeling in her gut squirmed.

“Yes,” the older shinobi replied. 

Temari stared at him before she turned to Sakura, looking rather ill. “Whatever is happening is not alright,” she finally whispered. 

“Temari-sama, that is enough !” 

“Well, you agree with me!” She cried out. “You said it yourself that something feels awfully wrong about all this! Otou-sama would never go against the Council like that! He would never agree to the attack!”

Starting to understand what all of this meant, Sakura pressed: “What are you talking about, Temari?” 

Her friend hesitated when Baki-san’s hand fell on her shoulder, but eventually she blurted, “Father has been acting absolutely irrationally ever since we returned home after the preliminaries. He’s ordered our shinobi to join Oto and Kusa’s forces in an attack against Konoha. Today ! Of course, Suna’s Council voted vehemently against this — we’ve been allies for years!”

Oto and Kusa . Really, now? When the fuck had that happened? Could it somehow be all because of Karin , because Konoha was trying to, in their eyes, “suborn” her? They were not prepared to fight against the joint shinobi forces of three different Villages!

“And he’s been with— spending so much time with Gaara lately,” Temari continued, her words getting jumbled by the speed she was forcing them out at. “He asked to see him this morning too. Kankuro followed them… I don’t know why—”

Baki roughly pulled her away from Sakura. “Even if we don’t agree, this is treason , Temari-sama. Stop talking!” 

Taking a calming breath, Sakura closed her eyes and tried to locate Gaara’s chakra signature. No sensor worth their salt could possibly miss the Ichibi’s overwhelming presence, and in Sakura’s case, the blood-chilling song the tree roots carried, all their calls translating to one name: Orochimaru . 

“Well, good thing you’re not actually going against your Kage’s orders,” she said as she opened her eyes to pin Temari and Baki-san with a look that spoke volumes. “The man who is currently harassing your brother is not Rasa-sama. It’s Orochimaru. In fact,” Sakura sighed, and closed her eyes again, “I can’t sense the Kazekage anywhere within the village.” 

A horrified gasp left her friend’s lips, but it was Baki-san who interrupted: “That’s impossible. Kazekage-sama would never allow Orochimaru within a mile of his children.” 

“I’m afraid you misunderstand,” Sakura tried again. “Orochimaru is parading around as the Kazekage, just like he infiltrated Konoha all those weeks ago by borrowing the face of a Kusa genin. And if you say he’s been acting strange ever since you returned to Suna, then that just means Orochimaru must have been impersonating the Kazekage for a while now.” 

“We need to find them, Baki-sensei!” 

The older shinobi held Temari tight with a stony expression. “Are you certain it’s Orochimaru, Haruno-san?”

With a clenched jaw, Sakura replied: “I would know his chakra signature half-dead. I fought him off myself during the Second Stage, that was no mere rumour. Baki-san, please be honest with me. What is the invasion plan?” 

Taking a look around them, Baki-san leaned in closer, “The attack is supposed to start after everyone has settled in at the Stadium. There is going to be a distraction.” 

“What kind of distraction?” 

Sighing, he said, “Kazekage-sama never specified.”

Temari reached out to grab Sakura’s hand, her blue-green eyes starting to well up, “ Gaara !” She exclaimed. “Oh gods, that’s why he’s been talking to him alone… he’ll have Gaara turn .”

Sakura nodded firmly, “That would indeed be quite the means of distraction.” And destruction. “We’ll have to lead your brother away from the Stadium when or if that happens,” she told Temari, squeezing her hand.

Baki’s sharp stare remained glued to Sakura. “You don’t seem particularly surprised about all this,” he commended. 

Well, no.

“Rasa-sama confided in Tsunade-shishō a while ago that Orochimaru had approached him, but your Village had refused to ally with him,” she revealed. “For a while, we were worried the Snake was going to retaliate against you just to be petty, but then nothing happened so we put that concern on the backburner. And if you’re talking about Gaara turning… need I remind you who my brother is, or that I’m the best sensor Konoha has seen since Senju Tobirama?” Sakura dropped her voice again, “Ever since that traitor showed up here, we’ve been preparing for something like this, although we had no reason to believe Kusa would ally with Oto against us. I need to inform the Hokage immediately.” 

Temari gave a short nod and let go of her. Now Sakura had a clear view of her shaking hands. “And I need to find my brothers. Tell them that Orochimaru is pretending to be our father.”

“ Don’t ,” Sakura ordered. “Orochimaru can’t find out that you’ve figured him out. Find any of your comrades that are also against the attack, clue them in on what’s going on, but be subtle . Orochimaru needs to believe that everything is still going according to his plan. Otherwise, he’ll just kill the whole lot of you to get rid of any dissenters and incite even more violent panic among the assembled Nations.” 

“You’re suggesting we let the attack progress?” Baki hissed: “ People will die .” 

As if Sakura didn't know that already! “People will die regardless. You will all die if that Snake gets so much as a whiff of a hint of treason on the wind! I’m sure Orochimaru’s forces are already lying in wait; following the plan at least gives us a timeframe to work within,” she tried to reason. “If I get a different response from Tsunade-sama, I’ll come find you. Temari, make sure to keep your brothers close after they return. I’ll see you at the Stadium in one hour.” 

And then Sakura was running like a demon, uncaring of who stood in her way, or the squad of ANBU she freaked out when she barged into Tsunade’s office, taking the door off the hinges because she couldn’t be bothered to control her strength.

Shishō looked up from her paperwork and gave a signal for the ANBU, Fugaku-san and Shikaku-san to stand back. “What is it?” She calmly asked. 

Sakura took in the room and decided that everyone in it would learn exactly how hard shit was about to hit the fan within the hour anyway, so there was no point in dallying or sugarcoating a thing: “Right. First of all, Orochimaru is wearing the Kazekage’s face. Secondly, he’s ordered Suna’s forces to aid in an invasion and is currently meeting with their jinchūriki under the pretence of some quality father-son time. Thirdly, Kusa has decided to bend over for him, because they’re spineless bastards ,” she couldn't help but spit that part out. “I found Temari-san and Baki-san arguing about what to do in a quiet little alley downtown mere minutes ago, and Suna’s princess herself told me the riveting tale of this not-yet-Odyssey whilst fighting off hysterics. Their Council has tried to veto the attack, but fuck if Orochimaru will let that stop him. I performed a sensory sweep just to be sure. It’s the Snake. Rasa’s dead.”

The moment her word-vomit came to an end, Sakura actually needed to lean against Tsunade-shishō’s desk and take a few deep breaths. She should have known by now that trying to get everything out in one breath would leave her lightheaded. 

To her left, Shikaku-san took that moment to sit down, “Jiraiya-sama’s spies were right after all, then. There has been no word of Kusagakure allying with Oto, though.” 

“A new development, apparently,” Tsunade replied, before tossing whatever papers she had been signing away to lean back in her chair. “Will Suna’s forces join the invasion?” 

Sakura nodded, “At least some of them? I told Baki-san to inform his most trusted comrades of the reality of the situation, but if they don’t pretend to follow along with the Kazekage’s— Orochimaru’s orders, he’ll know that something’s up, and likely kill them.” 

“Did he give you a number concerning their total available soldiery, Sakura-chan?” 

Staring at the Nara Clan Head, Sakura had the strongest urge to bash her head against the desk. “No, and call me an idiot, but at the time it didn’t cross my mind to ask. Orochimaru has not given Suna’s shinobi too many details, from what I could gather, probably fearing they’ll betray his plans since their Council was against going through with them from the start. What Baki-san told me was that the attack will unfold sometime after the final round of the exam begins, with a distraction that will very likely involve the unleashing of Suna’s jinchūriki.” 

“Bloody hell,” Fugaku-oji swore and brought his smoking pipe out. “So, we’ll be dealing with not only Orochimaru and his forces, but Kusa’s, maybe Suna’s, and a Tailed Beast for dessert. We should start evacuating our citizens at once.” 

“Agreed,” Tsunade said, stone-faced. “As soon as the Stadium fills, the Police will start taking away any civilians through the tunnels. There is no way of knowing whether or not our enemies will be hiding in plain sight, however, with so many tourists within our walls. We’ll maintain our original plan; do not raise the alarm. Shikaku,” she turned to him and gave another order: “Find Baki. Get him to tell you everything he knows and then return here.”

With a solemn nod, Shikaku-san strode through the empty door frame and left. Fugaku-san exhaled a large cloud of smoke before asking: “What are we going to do about the jinchūriki? Perhaps we should isolate him before the matches begin. If the boy is not there—” 

“Orochimaru will get suspicious,” Sakura reminded him. 

Tsunade opened her palm for Fugaku to pass her the kiseru. “Don’t worry about that,” she said after taking a drag. “Sakura and Tenzō know what to do in case Gaara-san turns.” 

“You can’t be serious, Hokage-sama!” 

“Oh, I absolutely am, Fugaku. Trust me on this; they will do their duty.” 

Sakura would. To her village and her friend. “Of course, shishō.”

By the time Sakura made it home so that she could change and arm herself, there were barely thirty minutes left until she and Naruto had to report to the Arena staff. Her parents and brother were already waiting for her in the kitchen, and after spinning a tale about having gone to visit Shisui’s memorial, she sat down to have a cup of tea with them. 

“How was your training?” Sakura asked Naruto; there hadn’t been a chance to discuss this with him last night, since he and Jiraiya-sama had returned rather late, and her brother had barely had the mind to hug their parents before he’d passed out on the couch.

Turning to her with a brilliant smile, he said: “I learned to call on the Fox’s energy of my own free will, and you won’t believe it! Ero-sennin gave me his summons ! He said my otou-san was able to summon them as well.” 

“You signed the Toad Contract, son?” Their father asked, and when Naruto nodded proudly, Kizashi ruffled his hair. “You’ll have to introduce us to them after the Exams are over, then.” 

“Sure will! I’m not sure that kaa-chan will like them hopping around her house, though,” he snickered. 

Mebuki leaned over the table to stage-whisper: “Better than Slugs.” When that failed to elicit any negative reaction from Sakura, their mother cleared her throat. “You know I’m kidding! Now, you should both run upstairs. We need to leave in a bit.” 

“You’re sure you’re coming?” Sakura only got identically incredulous looks in response. 

For the entirety of her walk on the way back, she had brainstormed and discarded various slapdash plans to discourage her parents from attending the final stage. Were Sakura to tell them the real reason she wished they would head straight for the safety tunnels, however, she was certain they’d decline on principle, or “accept” and devise a strategy to slip past any appointed guard detail to reach their children and help them in whatever capacity they could — even if that meant they could only do so by acting as meat shields in the chaos. There was no way in any conceivable hell they’d agree to lie low once they learned a whole host of life-threatening dangers was coming for the people they loved most.

She’d have to take a chance on instinctual fear and peer pressure dissuading them from attempting anything risky amidst the panic of the first attack: most of the Clan Heads were bound to be there as well, not to mention the rest of the ANBU, Police and regular jōnin and chūnin forces; her colleagues and friends and their families, people her parents cherished and trusted, with far more authority than Sakura currently (publicly) possessed. She had to hope that they would all come out of this safe and sound, somehow. 

Draining the rest of her tea, she followed Naruto upstairs and walked into her room. Sakura shed the sage-green haori she had shrugged on to shield her from the early morning chill and traded the rest of her comfortable clothes for a long, high-necked, sleeveless pale peach shirt that flared at her hips, and a pair of plain, coral-coloured shorts underneath. Rummaging through the closet, Sakura located a wide baby-blue belt with special kunai and sword compartments and secured it over her top. Her weapons and medic pouches were already loaded with everything she’d need and then some, so she set them on the bed before taking a seat at the edge to braid her hair.

It was longer than she could ever remember it being in either life, and felt rather brittle under her touch. Not that Sakura cared, but it gave her something simple to think about instead of catastrophizing, what with all the changes she’d just been made aware of. 

“No matter,” she whispered to herself, or Inner, as she continued interlacing the strands of hair. “We’ll play with the hand we’re dealt. It won’t be the first time.” 

‘Hell yes!’ Inner grinned, holding her fist up in the air. ‘Whatever happens out there, we’ll do what we’ve always done best; give it our all, take names, kick ass, and make Shisui proud!’ 

Nodding at her own reflection, Sakura stood and approached her dresser. She pinned her braid in a bun, slid her wakizashi in its sheath, then arranged her pouches around her thigh. 

It was time to face one of her worst memories come to life anew. 

From the moment the contestants walked into the Arena, the crowd began cheering and calling out names. Sakura did her best to ignore the shouts — it was practically impossible to do so with her father’s, though; he was going to lose his voice at this rate — and instead focused on pinpointing any suspicious chakra signatures in the viewing boxes. 

If one were to disregard Orochimaru’s, then she truly couldn’t be certain who was a friend and who was not. Not all ninja present were fellow Konoha shinobi, but then again, some were bound to simply be here to enjoy the show. 

Probably. 

Inner marked them down as potential enemies all the same. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed guests,” Tsunade-shishō’s voice rose above all others once more, courtesy of the enhancement seals she had taken to employing for that purpose, “it is my honour to welcome you to the final round of this year’s Chūnin Exams! I promise not to bore you with chatter like last time; we will now signal the start of the matches between the twelve contestants who advanced in the preliminaries. Are you ready?” 

That was a question clearly directed at the genin in the Arena, but the whole Stadium roared “Yes!” with them regardless. Hayate-san held a sheet of paper up. “There have been some last-minute changes in the order of the matches, as you can see. Nara Shikamaru and Gaara will go first.” 

Sakura’s blood ran cold like Haku had just encased her in one of his mirrors. The fuck? Why?! Tilting her head back to hopefully catch her Master’s gaze, she put all her energy into conveying her question. Why on earth would Tsunade make Gaara fight first ? Logically, his turn in the Arena would trigger the countdown for the attack. 

Just why —

“Everyone else, up to the gallery, please! Gaara-san, Shikamaru-kun, you guys are up.” 

It seemed Sakura wasn’t the only one unwilling to move. Temari looked as frozen and horror-stricken as she felt, one hand shaking as it rose in her brother’s direction. Sakura swallowed and stared at Hayate-san, who was pointedly looking at the gallery and absolutely nowhere else. Cursing under her breath, she grabbed Temari’s wrist and spun her to face the stairs. 

“We can’t let them—” 

“Be quiet ,” Sakura whispered back. “There’s nothing we can do now. Only wait. Listen to me,” she looked the older kunoichi in the eye as they began a slow ascent up the steps. “You need to pull yourself together; we’re among snakes here as well. Do you understand?” 

Paling, Temari nodded and squeezed Sakura’s hand before she exhaled sharply. 

By the time they’d joined the rest of the genin contestants in the gallery, Gaara and Shikamaru had already begun the first phase of their fight: an utterly eerie stare-off. 

Sakura’s best guess was that Shika was trying to come up with a strategy that would get him out of the match (mostly) unharmed, knowing that beating this particular opponent in a typical fight would be impossible. Gaara, on the other hand, was probably waiting for Shikamaru to make the first move. At least until his patience — or the Ichibi’s — ran out. 

It seemed like everyone was watching with bated breath, most of them having witnessed Gaara’s savagery in the preliminaries. Naruto had joined Asuma-sensei and Temari, almost hanging off the railing, and from the viewing boxes, Ino and Chōji’s anxiety wafted down in titanic waves. No one could really blame them; Sakura was just wondering how Yoshino-san had managed to stay in her seat for so long. 

“Bet?” Sai asked as he leaned on the wall next to Sakura, effectively hiding her from Kabuto’s view. Bless his heart.  

From her other side, Neji shook his head. “I can’t say with this one. Gaara-san is the most likely winner, but since Shikamaru has surprisingly decided not to immediately throw the match, I shall refrain from losing faith in his ability to weasel his way out of this one. He might just surprise us.”

That was a good point, and one Sakura had herself been considering — why hadn’t Shikamaru given up immediately? Surely that would be the easiest course of action for him, the (arguably) least suicidal member of the Konoha 15? And even if by some extremely unlikely miracle the thought had not occurred to him already, why would Shikaku-san not put it in his head, or outright order him to do so?

If Shikamaru surrendered before the match could truly begin, Gaara would have to transform without provocation, likely after getting called back up to the well-guarded gallery, which would prove much harder, irrespective of whether or not the Snake had tampered with his seal. Maybe neither of his parents had had the time to see him since this morning, busy as bees with the evacuation effort? Was Shikamaru even aware of what was happening beneath the feet and amidst the rows of spectators? He was still staring at Gaara, not raising his hand.

Again that question: why ?

Shino barely turned in order to address Neji: “One hundred ryō on Gaara. Why?” Sakura snorted, “Because I think Shikamaru will eventually admit defeat, lest Gaara-san kill him.” 

“He won’t,” she interrupted, and carried on when the boys’ attention was on her: “Kill him, I mean. At least I think not.” 

The truth was, however, that Sakura barely watched as the match unfolded. From the spikes in their chakra levels, she could tell Gaara was using his sand and Shika was blocking it by trapping the flurry of attacks in condensed shadows, yet Sakura’s eyes remained closed the entire time. Using Sai as a physical barrier between herself and Kabuto (and his creepy-ass sensei), she kept forming the hand seals for the Kakuan Nitten Suishu technique, in order to be ready to suppress the Ichibi’s chakra at the slightest indication that Gaara was letting the Tailed Beast take control.

And in the meantime, she kept track of them through chakra, and noticed something interesting: Shikamaru wasn’t relying on just his shadows, but also the Academy Three, as well as several cleverly concealed scrolls stocked with seals containing Fire, Lightning, and Water jutsu, like the one she knew he’d once upon another time successfully employed in his fight against Kakuzu and Hidan, despite not having mastered any of those elements. Their natural properties made them effective annoyances to Gaara’s own elemental weapon of choice, what with how Water weighed it down and Fire and Lightning turned it to glass, but it was not the same as casting an active jutsu at the appropriate level of skill. At best, the advantage they lent Shikamaru was temporary, which was further illustrated by the fact that one would eventually, inevitably, run out of scroll space for seals, and scrolls altogether, and Shikamaru had apparently brought one per chakra nature.

His shadows and the Academy Three were his primary tools of choice in between the bursts of calculatively unleashed ninjutsu, and while not versatile in essence, they were precisely that in the way he wielded them, relying on so many dodges, faints, and surprise stunts that he seemed to be sending Gaara’s instincts for a spin, if in brief intervals. He was taking the Nara heir seriously, but failing to land so much as a scratch on him, even with wide-range, mass-devastation techniques; a kawarimi was all it took, perfectly timed at each turn. Shikamaru was measuring his every step, sprint and roll with atomic precision, not wasteful with his movements in the slightest, and appeared intent on trying out as many angles and plans of attack as he could in the fastest succession possible, not letting Gaara’s shields catch a break. It was shocking to witness him be so physically involved in anything . Once Sakura realised that, she also realised what the answer to her question was: this was a test .

Not merely of Shikamaru’s skill against Gaara’s, but of Gaara’s as a whole on its own, and of his condition, his state of mind, his response to strategy; Shikamaru was searching for an answer of his own. And for him to be going to such lengths of effort to find it, he must have known something was wrong from the start, since at least this morning. Which he wouldn’t need to test if his parents had informed him of anything substantial, which meant they hadn’t, which meant he likely got an inkling from how they’d been acting or from overhearing something he shouldn’t have, which meant his original intention had probably indeed been to give up from the start, and whatever he’d learned had proven dire enough to change his mind and send his scroll supply and body into overdrive. Great .

As if in answer to her thoughts, her favourite Nara’s voice carried across the Stadium then, breathlessly calling out his surrender. Sakura almost doubled over with relief. Gaara had not turned; neither had he injured Shikamaru at all (though he had certainly exhausted him), nor had Shikamaru managed to catch him in his shadows even once, but that was alright. Both were alright, and in that moment nothing mattered more.

It wasn’t time yet. Tsunade’s scheme had worked. 

In front of her, Sai and Neji were handing some ryō bills over to Shino-kun, who sure as hell appeared rather smug for someone whose face was about 90% covered up. Sakura paid them no mind; her gaze travelled to the central viewing box, where her shishō was sitting next to the ‘Kazekage’. What wouldn’t Sakura have given to spend one mere minute inside Orochimaru’s head, to unravel the strings to all his schemes…

She’d never wished she’d been born a Yamanaka more than she did today. The actual Yamanaka of their group began shrieking at the top of her lungs, praising her teammate for his uncharacteristically dynamic performance, uncaring of his loss. Next to her, Chōji was brandishing a banner with Shikamaru’s face and unmistakable pineapple-esque ponytail on it with the same gravity one would afford a labarum — due to the rather… atrocious ( Sakura was being lenient with her word choice) art style, she was certain Sai had not helped Chōji with it. Sakura found it in herself to smile at the sight.

“We’re up next,” that weird hunched guy broke into the space Sakura was sharing with her friends to address Shino. Glaring at him — seriously, it looked so lame; no one could master the singular stink-eye quite like Kakashi-sensei — Dosu(?) vowed, “You’re going to pay for what you did to Zaku. Say your goodbyes to your precious little clique while you yet possess the chance to.” 

Glancing only momentarily at him, Shino spun on a sandaled heel towards the stairs, “I will not. Why? Because you’re full of crap.” 

“ You fucking —” 

Gai-sensei moved before anyone else could, effectively trapping Dosu’s raised arm in an unmoving grip. “Careful, kid. You’re meant to save a swing like that for the actual show,” he jutted his chin at the arena. “If you can’t abide by this one simple rule, what you can do is bid this competition a fond farewell.”

Yanking his arm back, Dosu moved away quickly to join Shino by the stairs. After a moment of complete silence in the gallery, Naruto heaved a dramatic sigh, “Good grief! That guy’s a little…” moving his finger in a circular pattern near his temple, Sakura’s brother whistled before he leaned closer to her. “Serious question, sis. Where the hell are Sasuke and sensei? What if they disqualify the teme?”

That… was actually a serious question indeed. They had shown up fashionably late last time too, hadn’t they? Letting her sensory net extend beyond the Stadium, Sakura searched for their chakra signatures until she located them on the outskirts of the village. “They’ll be here soon,” she whispered back. “I’m next, once Shino wipes the floor with that bag of dicks, and I bet they don’t wanna miss that. If they do miss it, I’ll help you prank them.”

Giving her a crooked grin, her brother punched her shoulder playfully before settling back on the railing to watch the match. Dosu seemed to have paid attention to Shino’s fight with his teammate, because he immediately went on the offensive, sending out a barrage of sound waves to keep Shino and his insects away. 

Too bad that Shino-kun had anticipated precisely that. Sakura couldn’t pinpoint when her friend had planted his kikaichū on his opponent, but the moment they started flying out of Dosu’s hideous straw raincoat, they managed to make him lose his concentration. That was all Shino needed to use his Hijutsu: Mushidama , forming a churning sphere around Dosu as his swarm of little buddies began gorging themselves on the poor sod’s chakra. 

“Showoff,” Shikamaru murmured under his breath, but the smirk on his face informed Sakura just how proud he was of their friend. 

“You’re one to talk, you gave up on your match after literally fifteen minutes of blast-farting a bunch of Academy-level attack patterns and overrelying on a grand total of three scrolls stocked with jutsu you were too lazy to actually learn.”

Raising an eyebrow at Sakura, he popped one of Chōji’s booster pills in his mouth and grimaced. “And with a grand total of three scrolls and those Academy-level attack patterns , I was able to keep a jinchūriki off my tail for fifteen minutes . Also, I rather like myself alive, thank you . Most days, anyway. Besides…” he stood up straighter and placed his arm around Sakura to pull her closer, “I have a feeling I’ll need to save my more typical arsenal for later, no?”  

Trying to maintain her composure, she played along and returned the embrace. “Have you been eavesdropping on your father’s private conversations again? Your mother’s?” 

“That’s beside the point,” he whispered sharply. “Just what is going on? The whole Stadium is brimming with undercover shinobi and you’ve been acting sketchy for days now, but you’ve been real funny today.” 

Sakura grit her teeth and swallowed. “Be on guard, stick as close to Asuma-sensei and your teammates as you can, and get ready to fight for real. For real for real, I mean,” was what she chose to go with. “Trust only those you’re indisputably certain I would trust with this information.”

“Is something nasty about to bite us in the ass before we can get our pants on? Snake Sannin levels of nasty?” Shika rushed to hiss, “Sakura, what the fuck —”

But he never got the chance to finish, as Naruto came to stand next to them and cleared his throat rather loudly. “Let my sister take a breath, yeah?” 

“Yes, Shikamaru-kun; let Sakura-chan breathe. Preferably now.”

Sakura exchanged an utterly unimpressed look with Shikamaru, but they did let go of each other. Ignoring her brother, she turned her attention to the two people behind her friend. “Ah, sensei, Sasuke-kun. About time you joined us.” 

Sensei only smiled sweetly at her, but Sasuke nodded. “It’s your turn, isn’t it?” Even if he was asking her, his stare was still fixed on Shikamaru. 

Sakura was unspeakably done with adolescent boys and the poorly concealed side effects of their mismanaged hormones! As if her own weren’t enough — she truly couldn’t bother with Sasuke’s jealousy or her brother’s (and Kakashi-sensei’s) unsolicited overprotectiveness. Especially with everything else going on.

“Wish me luck,” was the only thing she said. She then jumped right over the railing, sticking a perfect and perfectly silent landing despite the ridiculous height, like she had all those years ago in the starlit forest, when she’d met Shisui for the first ever time. 

Among the shouted and whistled well-wishes of her teammates and friends, Izumi-san’s words rang down from the gallery the loudest — at least to Sakura’s ears. “You don’t need luck, Sakura-chan!” Looking up at her from afar, Sakura winked and turned to face the little rat that had materialised in a puff of smoke and leaves next to her, clearly not to be outdone in dramatics.

“Ready, Kabuto-san?” 

With a grin that threatened to make Sakura’s skin break out in some sensory equivalent to literal hives, he gestured to the centre of the Arena. “Let’s walk together, Sakura-chan. How do you feel?” 

Keeping a deliberately slow pace, she smiled serenely and shrugged. “Alright, I suppose. I must admit I’d rather not have to fight yet another fellow Konoha shinobi. It’s always harder to go against friends and comrades.” 

‘Oh, kami. Oh, kami, I can’t breathe because I’m going to barf. HUUUUEERGGHH .’

Inner wasn’t wrong; Sakura’s skin remained hive-ridden in spirit as she forced herself to utter those words, but the masks had not come off yet. She’d have to play pretend for just a teeny-tiny bit longer, much like Kabuto was doing.

“I agree,” he said, and even the sound of his voice was getting on her nerves. “Although, I must admit I’m glad you’re my opponent, Sakura-chan. I’ve been curious to explore the full range of your abilities for a while now.” 

Okay, well, if he wanted to kick the hornet’s nest first, maybe Sakura could tilt the mask just a hair? “Oh? Hasn’t he told you enough?” She asked sweetly, relishing the faint fracture in his expression. 

Kabuto could evidently recover from emotional slip-ups at a truly expert speed, she had to give him that. “Whom are you referring to?” He spoke as if he were rightly clueless. 

“Itachi-kun, of course! You two spend so much time together in the hospital I sometimes envy you, and he’s been my training buddy since forever .” 

“Ah,” he nodded, and although it was barely noticeable, Sakura did discern the way his chakra ran just a smidge more smoothly; a telltale sign of relief. “I don’t think it’s ever come up, to tell you the truth. Itachi-san is really not one to shoot the breeze while at work.”

Sakura hummed pleasantly as she walked around Hayate-san to stand opposite Kabuto. She was done talking, and would rather have her fists carry on their conversation from this moment until the end of Kabuto’s very strictly numbered days. 

The older shinobi nodded in greeting before he asked them: “Are you ready to begin?” 

“Yes,” Kabuto pushed his stupid glasses up. 

Letting a smirk curl across her face, Sakura stared right into the little snake’s inscrutable eyes. “Oh, I’ve been ready.” 

With nothing save an eyebrow tilt, Hayate-san looked between the two of them before he coughed in his fist. “Alright then,” he took a couple steps back, “You may start.” 

Sakura took the moment Kabuto took to size her up to quickly glance her sensei’s way, as well as to find the Kiri-nin and the members of Team Ro who had aided in her training. Keeping all of their teachings and words in mind, Sakura decided to go straight on the offensive. That’s what Kabuto would expect from her for now, anyway.

With a steady stride and ready fists, she began this fight the same way she had the match with Ino: leveraging her Chakra-Enhanced strength to augment the Wicked Dance of the Whistling Needletail. Her rat of an opponent parried her attacks with some effort, while also trying to unsuccessfully slow her down with Chakra Scalpels. 

As Shikamaru liked to say, what a drag . 

Still, Sakura decided to feed him the delusion that healing herself in the middle of a fight was an arduous task by leaving some of the superficial wounds he inflicted on her untreated. 

Within the first couple of minutes, Sakura came to two realisations. Firstly, Aika-san had been correct; Kabuto’s ROOT training was still deeply ingrained in his fighting style. The second? Well, he appeared to be even more observant than Sakura had anticipated, as he was able to swiftly call chakra to the area of his body where he expected her attacks to land, preemptively starting medical treatment in the injury’s general vicinity and effectively minimising the damage received.

On the one hand, Sakura was tempted to exploit that. If she were to focus all her hits on several specific parts of his body, he’d eventually hit a wall and reach a limit in regards to the accumulation of chakra there, the cells and chakra pathways themselves rebelling at the overflow of intrusion, and the areas would be left vulnerable. Given his proficiency with medical ninjutsu, however, that could take too long for her liking.

Still, it didn’t hurt to try, did it? Of course it didn’t — she could heal herself even better than he could, after all, and it would lull him into a false sense of security.

Summoning even more chakra to her fists, Sakura was able to deal the desired damage without even physically touching Kabuto, but by expelling the impact of her attacks like a ballista arrow in chakric form. And he was one resilient cockroach, alright… Most opponents’ organs would have exploded instantly.

When Kabuto finally tried to sever the connection between her pathways, Sakura knew she had to stop playing around. Thinking she should show off just a bit — the Chūnin Exams were a type of pageant, after all — Sakura gave him some space in order to engage in ninjutsu. Kabuto smiled when a dozen spikes of hardened earth rushed to skewer him, creating a few one-handed seals before Sakura’s own jutsu turned against her.

No matter. Kabuto had backed away quite close to a tree. 

The zelkova’s branch twisted at her request before it shot out, landing in Kabuto’s side and practically slapping the entirety of him away. Startled exclamations sounded from the viewing boxes; Sakura only had ears for Kabuto’s pained grunts. 

“Are you alright, Kabuto-san?” She called out, tone dripping with honeyed concern. It probably contrasted startlingly with the feral smirk on her face. 

Kabuto stood again, holding his side as he hurried to heal it. He gave no reply, but something had changed in the way he stared at her. If Sakura were to guess, he was probably pissed off, and certainly surprised. She wasn’t sure why he would be, though; surely Massssster dearest had informed him of his own unfortunate encounter with her in the Forest of Death, and thus Kabuto had been made well aware of her abilities.

His next attack came in the form of a Great Waterfall , which Sakura welcomed, rooted to her spot until it threatened to wash over her. Under the cover of the water, she phased through the droplets and the ground and lurked under the surface, sensing the extent of the damage her opponent had sustained so far.

If she could land just a handful of extra hits...

Although, Sakura didn’t really have to wait, did she? Joining Inner in her manic laughter, she pulled herself out of the ground and was glad to see Kabuto’s Suiton jutsu still at play. Weaving through the hand seals Haku-kun had taught her, she transformed the little snake’s Waterfall into a gentle drizzle and her chakra sang in glee when his eyes widened at the realisation that the rain was suddenly absorbing his chakra. 

With one more hand seal, Sakura submerged the entire arena in a warm mist. ‘You know what to do, yeah?’ 

‘Oh, I sure do! It’s my time to shine , SHANNARO!’

Allowing Inner to take over the reins of her genjutsu, Sakura stayed back to prepare for her next, and hopefully final, attack. Tsunade-shishō may have made her promise that she wouldn’t kill Kabuto, but she’d never said Sakura couldn’t kill his chances at a career , now, had she?

While Kabuto languished in the illusion of Inner emerging from the mist as a punishing angel ready to reap the soul of its victim, Sakura unleashed the senjutsu chakra she had been gathering in the seal on her Solar Plexus Chakra Point. Letting go of the genjutsu to better focus on maintaining her tight control over the natural chakra, she shunshined to Kabuto’s location, wisps of mist flying up behind her from the rush of movement, and up into the air like strings of cloud.

Where Inner’s spectral hand had been “shoved” inside Kabuto’s “chest” to rip her “reward” out, Sakura now assumed her place, mirroring her attack on his already prone right side, and began transferring the senjutsu chakra into Kabuto’s very real flesh, blood and bones. Soon, his organs would be stone. 

The scream that tore from that smartass mouth was pure music to Sakura’s eager ears. Eyes bulging comically, all colour draining from his face, Kabuto fell to his knees in front of Sakura as the mist began clearing and the whole Stadium listened and watched in utter silence. 

When she pulled away from him at long last, he no longer had anything to physically support him and sprawled on the ground like a broken doll, gasping for breath. As Hayate-san was proclaiming Sakura the winner of the match, she gathered the natural energy back into her seal, deactivating it immediately, all the while gazing at the central viewing box, even if she knew she couldn’t see the proud smirk on her mentor’s face from this far. Next to the Hokage, Orochimaru made no move to acknowledge the end result of the fight, but even with the distance between them, Sakura could practically smell his fascination.

After leaving Kabuto in Itachi’s capable hands — not that he’d ever bother going above and beyond to reverse the damage done to the traitor’s innards, but still; the Uchiha heir was nothing if not a consummate professional — Sakura returned to the gallery to a clamour of hoots and applause, mainly led by Shō-san and her father. Sasuke and Naruto were the first to reach her, lifting her up between them on their brushing shoulders to congratulate her. 

“What did you do to him?” Sasuke asked, strangely bright-eyed. “He sounded like a dying seal.” 

Ignoring the disturbingly terrifying comparison, Sakura tapped his and her brother’s arms to be let down. “A word to the wise: never mess with senjutsu chakra unsupervised, Sasuke-kun. That ,” she pointed at the little rattlesnake currently surrounded by half a dozen medics, “is the least that could happen to you.” 

“You’re wicked!” Naruto grinned in a way that made it clear he didn’t know if he should also be afraid. 

“Your sister is a monster ,” Sai corrected, but the pleased smirk he shot Sakura told her he wasn’t particularly averse to the consequences of her actions against Kabuto. 

That particular word had all of Gaara’s attention then, and he quickly slid next to Sakura after she exchanged a proud fist bump with Kaka-sensei. “Why not simply kill him?” He asked as casually as one would perhaps ask her why she preferred mitarashi over anko dango. 

“Why did you not kill Shikamaru?” Sakura posed her own question, because she couldn’t quite tell him it was an order from her Hokage with so many ears around. 

Gaara briefly tilted his head to watch as Shika conversed with Neji-kun before his pale blue-green eyes bore into hers. “Shikamaru-san proved a decent opponent, but he posed no real threat to me. Besides, I think you and Naruto would not appreciate me killing your friend. Your opponent, however, was challenging,” he stared down, past the railing, at the medics’ backs. “He made you nervous. More than that, he made you want to kill him.” 

What ? Had Sakura started leaking Killing Intent during her fight? Or was this just the Ichibi at work? Could Shukaku sense emotions like Kurama?

At her baffled expression, Gaara decided to be merciful and explain himself: “I recognise hatred when I see it, and you simply reek of it when you look at that man.” 

Unable and unwilling to come up with a convincing lie, Sakura shrugged and dropped her voice, “I harbour an immense, irreversible dislike for Kabuto and have for a long time, true enough. Soon, you’ll find out the exact reason why, but until then, that’s all I’m going to share.”

“So be it,” he acknowledged with a brief nod and averted his attention to his brother and Sai, who were the next to take their places in the Arena. 

Sakura, however, was starting to panic. Kabuto’s “sensei” was no longer up in the gallery. Which wouldn't be that big of a deal on its own, considering his only remaining genin in the Exams had been seriously injured only a couple of minutes ago, yet the man had not gone downstairs to check on him, of that Sakura was certain. He’d disappeared off to somewhere else .

Shin-kun and Anko-san were probably correct in their assumptions. He was most likely one of Orochimaru’s spies as well; after all, the entirety of his team consisted of traitors. It wasn’t so far-fetched to presume he was one too.

Reaching out to tug at Kakashi-sensei’s flak jacket, she tore him away from his conversation with Asuma and Gai. “Have you seen Kawata-sensei?” She whispered.

“Hm? Yeah, he’s just over…” Kakashi twisted half his body around to point next to Kurenai-sensei, but the corner was now occupied only by Baki-san, who was watching Sai and Kankuro’s match like a hawk. “...there. Or not.” 

Okay then… Sakura would just have to rely on her tried-and-true methods. Closing her eyes, she sent her chakra out and began filtering through the signatures within and beyond the Stadium. The amount of people was staggering, but Sakura and Inner had thankfully gotten a lot better at not becoming adversely affected by irrelevant concentrations of chakra over the years.

A small azalea bush was the one to give her a location. Kawata-sensei had passed by it not long ago, squashing some of its flowers in his rush. Following the directions it gave her, Sakura found him in the underground tunnels, despite the array of concealment fūinjutsu.

Her eyes shot open, probably reflecting the dread coursing in her veins, because Kakashi-sensei tensed at once, asking if everything was alright. 

‘No, nothing is fucking alright!’ Inner’s shrieks echoed in the chambers of their mindscape, and Sakura was one breath away from screaming herself. ‘That godsdamned — how? How ?! There are so many patrols down there they’re practically bumping buttcheeks!’

“Sensei,” Sakura began in a hoarse, low voice, her eyes immediately flying to her shishō, but she knew she couldn’t inform her of her findings with Orochimaru literally sitting beside her. “Listen carefully, please . I want you to find Fugaku-oji-san and tell him the tunnels have been compromised. I need a minute, somewhere private, so I can send a message to the ANBU located closer to the—” 

“What do you mean compromised ?” Sensei leaned in closer just to hiss at her. “The evacuation — of which I’m sure you’re fully aware — has already started; our civilians are meant to be—” 

Sakura tugged at his sleeve, and hard. “Yes, I am aware and I’m telling you that there are enemy forces inside the tunnels, where our civilians are too ! Find Fugaku-oji and cover for me if anyone asks!”

“Fine,” Kakashi huffed as he straightened up. “Tough luck, Sakura-chan. Go to the bathroom, I’ll ask Izumi and Kurenai if they have a pad on them and bring one to you as soon as I can, okay?” He drawled rather loudly, the jackass. 

Well, it was a convenient cover…

“Thanks, sensei,” Sakura grumbled and didn’t look back as she dashed from the gallery and into the hallway leading out of the Stadium. Sai looked like he was winning, anyway, so she wouldn’t let herself feel bad about that. 

Not that she had any time to consider the idiotic competition at the moment. The foreign chakra signatures she could sense were spread out across the tunnels, although thankfully had yet to reach the largest congregation of civilians in the safehouse under the Hokage Mountain. 

The moment Sakura’s shunshin brought her behind the building, she bit her thumb and summoned the lynxes; all of them besides Akira-sama, Reina-chan and Akari, as the latter would certainly have raised many eyebrows for her conspicuous size. “Sakura-sama,” they chorused. She lost no time filling them in. 

“Remember the locations and chakra signatures I’m sharing with our mental link — they’re enemies threatening Konoha. Find my comrades closest to those locations and inform them of the danger, tell them the Hokage herself has authorised her apprentice to verify and disseminate this information. Make sure to keep your minds open to me so I’m aware of the situation. One of you should—”

“I will stay with you, Sakura-sama.”

She shook her head. “You’re the fastest runner, Haruto; I need you to travel at the speed of light now. Miyako can pass as a cat when she shrinks down and can even enter the Stadium to stay close to me. The rest of you need to go , now ! Keep Konoha safe.” 

“As you say, Sakura-sama,” Yūma growled and took off, prompting the rest of the lynxes to follow suit. 

Miyako and Sakura spared only a moment to watch as they disappeared from view. Answering Miyako’s unspoken question, Sakura turned to her right and began walking down a grassy path. “Now, Miyako, we’re going to find a traitor. Another traitor.” It didn’t take long to reach the trampled azalea, but Sakura didn’t stop there. About twenty metres to the south was a manhole that led to the tunnels. The same one Kawata had used to sneak underground. 

Uchiha Kosuke, Hiroto and Aya-chan’s older brother, was the Uchiha guarding that particular point of entry, and it only took one look at Sakura for him to understand that something was very, very wrong. Without uttering a word, he helped her open the manhole and slipped in after her and Miyako. 

That’s when Sakura asked him: “Kawata-san came through here a few minutes ago, no?”

From behind her, Kosuke made sure to keep his footsteps and tone light. “He did; said he’d been ordered to help oversee the branch of the tunnels leading to the gates.” 

“He is a traitor gladly slaving for Orochimaru !” She hissed. Miyako, able to see the graphic details of her thoughts, hissed back at her . “Do me a favour, Kosuke-nii-san, and arrest him when we find him before I or my esteemed Master can get our hands on him. It won’t be pretty.”

Perhaps wisely, he chose not to respond, but Sakura didn’t detect any doubt in him as to her revelation. Metal clanged off metal as Kosuke withdrew his weapons after Sakura signed to inform him that Kawata was nearby, down the left fork of the tunnel system. Sakura, however, swiftly made another gesture, prompting him to stop. 

“What is it?” He whispered, but as he soon started pulling her backwards, Sakura realised he had activated his Sharingan for better visibility in the dim light. And Kosuke had apparently seen what had swallowed Sakura’s attention in the first place, if the urgency in his voice was any indication: “We need to go. Now .” 

But Sakura had no intention of running away. If she didn’t find Kawata, if she didn’t stop him, they were going to land in far hotter water than she had initially anticipated. 

So, using a tiny amount of chakra to aid her in shrugging off her companion, Sakura managed to take precisely three steps forward before she was back in someone’s arms. She threw her elbow out to hopefully only slightly bruise Shō-san in the midriff. 

“I knew something was amiss when you ran off like your ass was on fire after your epic win, Sakura-chan. And Kakashi broadcasting you’re on your period? Obviously a diversion; he’s not really that crass,” Shō began in a low voice as he walked back to stare at the seals on the wall, dragging Sakura with him as if she were a ragdoll. “Some type of explosive, ain’t it? Modified and probably connected to a series of these to stretch them out for a chain reaction.” 

Walking between Shō’s legs and expanding her size so she could act as a barrier between Sakura and the ANBU captain, Miyako purred: “Indeed. As far as I can see, the tunnels seem to be lined with these all over. Sakura-sama, you should know there is also a dead body close to the location of your target.” 

“Probably one of our guards,” Kosuke commented, tone impassive. 

“Fucking brilliant .” Sakura exhaled a sharp breath from her nose before she wriggled in a demand to be released. “As I said, Kawata’s thrown his lot in with the Snake. We have to find him before he detonates this trap. That tunnel,” she pointed at the fork Kawata had gone down, “circles back to the Stadium, doesn’t it?”

Shō and Kosuke exchanged a look before the latter nodded. It was all it took for the picture to paint itself in Sakura’s mind. The “obvious” distraction was nothing but a smokescreen for Orochimaru’s actual plan; it all made perfect sense now. It was never going to be a genjutsu and Gaara turning, but a genjutsu (probably; maybe ?) and a series of catastrophic explosions that would cause the forces stationed around the Stadium to scatter, so they could help the vulnerable evacuees. He’d gone for the option that would serve as his best means of mayhem and destruction.

And if Miyako was correct, the entire system of Konoha’s underground passages was covered in explosives. How could they have been transported and applied so quickly without anyone catching wind of it? Cargo scrolls? Genjutsu? Summons? More traitors? All four at once? Sakura had no clue, but the fact that she and Tsunade had known this was coming for years and their security measures had still proven this insufficient rankled and unbalanced her like so few things could, anymore.

Although the tunnels were designed to shield passengers from outside attacks, nothing guaranteed they’d remain intact if those seals went off. And there were now rows of them criss-crossing the underbelly of the village, so not only would the very foundations of Konoha collapse, but the people already evacuated to the safehouse under the Hokage Mountain would be buried alive . 

‘Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT! How did this get past all the guards?! We had entire squads stationed here precisely for this purpose! What the fuck is ANBU doing?!’

“There are more enemies around and ahead of us; they’re spread out. I’ve already sent the lynxes to inform our shinobi of their locations. You understand we—” 

“ You ,” Shō-san grabbed her shoulder and pushed her back, “need to return to the Stadium and warn as many people as you can. Uchiha-kun and I will find Kawata, and I’m sure more of our comrades will make it in time thanks to your summons, and arrest whoever else is down here.” 

Sakura was already shaking her head, suddenly feeling the air in the tunnels had grown too thin for her to breathe. Kosuke was talking, telling her something about how most of the civilians were already in the safehouse and the only other “hot spot” in Konoha was currently the Stadium, but Sakura heard him as if underwater. 

Staring up at Shō, she couldn’t keep her voice from breaking: “Kakashi was your captain. You know his rule.”

He gave her a painfully gentle smile as he tilted his head to the side, his ashen-blond hair obscuring his left eye. “You’re not leaving us behind, kiddo. As your higher-ranking official, I am ordering you to go.” 

“And as a concerned brother, I am begging you to keep my younger siblings safe.” Kosuke wasn't looking at her.

With glistening eyes, Sakura looked between the two as her heart beat like a drum. Logically, she knew they were right; they were running out of time and if those explosives went off with everyone in the Stadium unaware and unprepared, the casualties would mount in seconds. Logically , Sakura agreed, but… 

‘No buts. You have your orders.’ 

‘Inner…’

Snarling and slamming both hands into an invisible wall, Inner yelled: ‘Everyone at the Stadium is doomed if we don’t warn them! There are civilians there as well! Lords and officials from other Nations!’

Her friends were there, their families. Her parents . 

‘Go!’

With a jerky nod at Shō and Kosuke, Sakura ran like the Hyakki Yagyō was on her heels, Miyako tailing her. Her tears didn’t get the chance to dry before new ones replaced them, for she knew she might as well have sealed Kosuke-nii and Shō-san’s fates. 

When Sakura reached the Stadium, she didn’t bother with taking any stairs and simply phased through walls to get to the gallery where the genin contestants and their sensei were located. Ignoring everyone’s surprised — and worried — exclamations, and only sparing a moment to locate Sasuke and Temari down in the Arena, Sakura addressed them all, keeping her gaze focused on Baki-san. 

“We were wrong. The distraction isn’t going to be Gaara.” Once again, Sakura ignored her friends’ questions and searched for Kakashi-sensei’s familiar, frightened eyes. “There’s going to be an explosion— multiple . Potentially across the entire village. We need to evacuate the Stadium at once.” 

“Orochimaru—” 

Sakura immediately cut off Baki-san with a snarl: “Is sitting next to my shishō wearing your Kage’s face! And screw him! The whole Stadium will collapse with all of us still in here if we don’t signal the start of an official evacuation effort, now !”

It seemed that the gravity of her warning dawned on them all then, and their questions returned with cacophonous force. Squeezing her eyes, Sakura reared to scream at them to be quiet, but couldn’t.

The first blast had sounded, and the ground shook.

Hello! So, darkaiyo very wisely pointed out in a comment that they wish there was a list with the lynxes' appearance and powers, and I thought I'd add one here (I'll also add this to the chapter in ToC where we're first introduced to the summons), so here you have a...

Lynxes description (listed by age): 

Akira, “Keeper of Secrets” : (female) white fur w/ dark spots; oldest of the lynxes and considered their leader; mother of Akari & Yūma. 

Natsu : (male) beige white fur w/ dark spots, right ear completely cut off and has a scar running down his neck; sensor. Sora’s mate, Kazuki & Mari's father.

Sora : (female) yellowish brown fur w/ dark spots; venomous fangs and claws. Natsu’s mate, Kazuki & Mari’s mother.

Hibiki : (male) buff-grey fur w/ dark spots, one grey eye due to a scar that starts above his left eye and goes all the way across his muzzle, the other is blue; voice/sound manipulation

Yūma : (male) brown fur w/ dark spots; ~170cm tall, brute force.

Miyako : (female) beige fur w/ dark spots; size manipulation. Kaede’s mate, Haruto & Reina’s mother. 

Kaede : (male) light brown fur w/ dark spots, green eyes; elemental jutsu. Miyako’s mate, Haruto & Reina’s father.

Akari : (female) reddish brown fur w/ dark spots; ~3m tall, enhanced strength. 

Haruto : (male) golden brown fur w/ dark spots; fastest runner.

Kazuki & Mari : (male and female twins) dark beige fur w/ dark spots; mind connection & transmission. 

*Reina : (female) beige fur w/ dark spots, green eyes.

General abilities all of them share : their eyes can see past matter, any type of genjutsu and can even see chakra in close range. They can tell truths from lies & peer into a person’s mind and soul. 

There are more lynxes who are not part of the 'pack' and thus not current summons in Shisui and Sakura's contract, so I haven't listed them here.

*Reina’s individual powers will be revealed in the future.