"So Sakura, what do you want for breakfast?" Tobi asked as the two walked into the kitchen. She eyed him suspiciously as she took a seat at the island counter.

"You... cook, Tobi-san?" she asked slowly. He pulled on a yellow apron and turned towards her.

"Of course I can cook. I've just never done it because no one ever asked. So, what do you want to eat? Eggs? Toast? Miso soup?"

Sakura stared at him levelly.

"Ne, are you sure it's safe for me to eat? I don't want to be accidentally poisoned, you know." she said. Tobi's eye twitched from behind his mask as he walked over and flicked her forehead.

"How rude. Has Hidan been rubbing off on you?"

"Maybe~" she grinned. Tobi's lips pulled upwards in a short smile before he pinched her cheeks and turned to enter the kitchen. Sakura watched him work with a full interest and was surprised that he actually looked like he knew what he was doing. Apparently she had voiced that out loud and he threw her an irked glare through his one eye hole. She smiled in return.

As Tobi whisked the eggs for the *tamagoyaki, he looked up at the little girl to see her carefully picking apart the broken eggshells.

"Sakura."

"Hm?"

"What are your plans for the future?"

She raised her head, eyebrows knitted with the bits of eggshells between her fingers.

"... Plans... for the future...?" she repeated questioningly, "What are you talking about, Tobi-san?"

"I take it that in a few years you'll be training to become a shinobi, correct? I'm sure your father expects at least that much from you. What type of shinobi do you plan on becoming?" he questioned. Sakura dropped her gaze back to her hands. She had never really thought about it before. Actually, she never really thought about it because she didn't think she had the need to.

"I don't know. If I become a shinobi, I would wanna be a medic so I can heal all my friends and teammates." she replied. He paused in slicing a block of tofu to give her a strange look.

"... If?"

"If."

Tobi refrained from commenting and continued to make Sakura's breakfast. Not much later, a plate of tamagoyaki, a bowl of rice, and a bowl of miso soup was laid out in front of her. She picked up her chopsticks with uncertainty.

"Are you sure this is safe to eat?"

"Just eat it."

Sakura broke apart the chopsticks with a pout.

"Itadakimasu."

...

...

...

"Uwa! It's surprisingly good!" she exclaimed in horror. Tobi's eye twitched a second time. Just what was that supposed to mean? Cheeks full of food and a wide smile creasing her face, she popped another piece of tofu into her mouth.

"Than' shu for sha' food, Tobi-shan!"

Kisame walked into the kitchen with an impressive bedhead and greeted the two with a yawn.

"Mornin'. Whatya' eating?"

"Tobi-san made me breakfast!" Sakura chirped. Kisame raised an eyebrow at the masked man dressed in the ridiculously house-wife looking outfit.

"You cook?"

"Of course I can, Kisame-senpai~! I can make a lot of things!" Tobi exclaimed, reverting to his child-like facade.

"Hah? What do you mean 'of course I can'? You've never once cooked when you came to the Akatsuki! If we knew you could cook we wouldn't have to eat damn take out everday!!"

Sakura continued to happily munch through her breakfast despite the growing chaos around her.

-

After breakfast, Tobi slipped out of the kitchen and strode purposely through the halls until he came across Pein's office. He walked in without knocking and stood in front of the desk with his arms crossed over his chest. Pein looked up.

"Can I help you?"

"Just recently, I had spoken to Sakura about her possible study of the shinobi arts. She told me that if she became one, she'd become a medic. If."

Pein exhaled through his nose and set down his pen.

"That's right. If." he replied.

"I like to keep track of future assets to this organization, big or small. You know that." he said, "Tell me, Pein, why both you and Sakura dare say, 'if'."

Pein opened a drawer at his desk and pulled out a beige folder with the name 'Haruno Sakura' written in thick black letters on the tab. He handed it over to Tobi who scanned the contents with a critical eye. After a minute or two, he looked up, a hardened red eye gleaming through his mask.

"If." Pein said.

*tamagoyaki: rolled omelette