The sound of the heart monitor was slow and deafening. Fresh flowers—sunflowers—sat in a white rectangular vase beside a barely breathing body. Kurenai was dedicated to being there for him as much as she could, cradling her daughter to her chest and whispering how happy her daddy would be if he woke up.

No, when. Because Asuma wasn't going to die.

He was found unconscious and bleeding out profusely near the outskirts of Fire Country. There was a large evidence of an intense battle with enormous craters in the ground and trees uprooted. It could have been one of two possible people who were capable of such damage: Deidara of the Akatsuki or Haruno Sakura.

No one was prepared when they found out that both scents were found amongst the wreckage before all trails of them disappeared. Naruto at to take to the side, stomach churning horribly. Sakura did this? And was with an Akatsuki member? No, she couldn't, wouldn't do this—whatever the hell she was out there doing!

But nearly two years had already gone by.

Sasuke wasn't here so he could look for Itachi.

Sakura wasn't here, but why?

How could she leave without a word?

How could she possibly fight and send Asuma to his death bed?!

Day 7

Observation was both his forte and his hobby.

There was something satisfying about learning about someone you've never met before but only heard great things about. When you first met that someone, you could truly decide if they were really as great as the world said they were. Next, you could carefully dissect the person they appeared to be.

Much of the time, people lied about who they were the first moment you met them. Far too many times that person would be nicer than normal and hold their tongue to keep from gaining a bad impression. It would take a long while before that person slowly melted into who they really were and had easy content to start showing their flaws.

Haruno Sakura was not part of the "most people" he described.

The first day he came to the village, he saw her single-handedly deal with an entire downtown criminal gang.

By gambling.

Zetsu carefully meandered through the large crowd, mixing into the people surrounding the scene. A makeshift table was set up in the middle of the road, cards splayed out on top of it. On one end was a lanky looking man with high cheekbones and brightly calculating eyes. Sakura was sat opposite him with crossed legs and a controlled calm expression. Kabuto, Zetsu saw, looked slightly exasperated at the whole ordeal and took a seat on one of the empty crates tossed onto the sides of the streets. His sharp eye spotted Zetsu's bi-colored body and intrigued expression before he stood and approached him.

"Yakushi-san, I presume."

"Yes, hello, Zetsu-san," Kabuto greeted. "I apologize for meeting you like this. I didn't anticipate your early arrival and well..." He glanced over at the intense card game with the click of his tongue. "... You caught Sakura-sama in the middle of dissolving about 35% of Otogakure's crime rate."

Zetsu's eyes narrowed a fraction. "I beg your pardon?"

Kabuto pointed at the young man at the table. "Twenty-two year old Aihara Arata: leader of one of the most prominent drug rings in the village. Sakura-sama bet that if she could beat him in a game of poker, he would have to break up his gang. If he could beat her, she'd leave him be and also give a small donation to continue his machinations," he sighed. "Though honestly, I don't know why she has to drive this bet out for so long. We're on a tight schedule and we don't have the time to lay two million ryo up for grabs."

Zetsu glanced back over at the card game with a further interest. What a reckless leader, this Haruno Sakura was proving herself to be. There was so much risk she was putting into this bet, and the lack of concern her right hand was showing only piqued his curiosity even more.

"And you are untroubled with this development? With such money on the line and in dealing with a major threat, I'd assume you'd be more anxious at the outcome. You seem irritated rather than unnerved."

The man pushed up his glasses. "That is one aspect of Sakura-sama that differs from her mentor. She doesn't lose all her games."

Arata placed down a four of a kind.

"She wins."

Sakura set down a royal flush.

It was an unprecedented way to deal with a problem, and that in itself was extraordinary.

Today was the day of the Tanabata Festival. Bamboo stalks reached up, colorful wishes hanging down to tickle the heads of the passersby. Zetsu merely came for the sake of discovering what kind of people populated Otogakure, as well as sift through his thoughts about the proclaimed "Otokage." She was a young woman with such a heavy serving on her plate that he didn't quite understand why exactly she rose to this position on the first place.

If she were anything like Gaara, born in the village and soon following in his father's footsteps, he would have understood the situation. If she were still a Konoha shinobi and had somehow managed to become Hokage, he would have been slightly surprised but not think it out of the ordinary. But since Sakura had left on her own volition and willingly stepped up as the leader of a previously broken village, Zetsu had reason to assume that there was something very wrong.

Haruno Sakura was one of the most loyal shinobi Konoha had to offer, even training under the Godaime herself. Nothing should've prompted her to cut her losses and run.

Zetsu turned a corner and saw Sakura among the festival goers. A little girl sat on her shoulders and was tying an orange slip of paper to one of the bamboo stalks.

"Did you do it?"

"I did it! I did it! I tied it, Sakura-sama!"

"That's great! I hope you wrote a good wish!"

Zetsu frowned. "A kind heart like that comes to a place like this? Tch. A kind heart like that would never think of leaving in the first place."

Day 19

"Tell me that one more time, please."

A chuunin gulped, real fear threading through his eyes as the rest of the team bowed their heads and held their tongues. Zetsu was stood in the corner of the office, amazed at the killing intent that surged in the room like a wildfire. Sakura looked more calm and composed than normal with her voice a soft alluring lull. Kabuto seemed like the only person who wasn't off put by the amount of rage in the room.

"Well, you see, Sakura-sama, out on our mission, we ran into an unfortunate situation. We have the scroll you sent for, but taichou told us to leave without him so we could complete the mission..."

Sakura smiled, anger soaring and the temperature in the room dropping to a freezing level. "You left Iori-san by herself?" she questioned. "All three of you left her by herself?"

They glanced nervously at each other.

"Um, yes, we... um..."

"I asked you a question. I expect an answer in return," she commented smoothly. The speaker of the team held his hands tightly behind his back.

"Yes, ma'am. We left her alone."

Sakura's smile widened. "Then what are you doing here? I will only accept the scroll if all four team members are reporting for their mission."

"Yes, ma'am!"

The three of them quickly bowed before scrambling out of the office and shutting the door behind them. Sakura slumped in her seat and brought a hand up to massage her forehead. Zetsu eyed her curiously.

"You're quite scary when you want to be. It's very amusing."

"Hm? Oh. Uh, thanks. I guess."

Day 26

One place Zetsu didn't expect to see her was at the bar in the middle of the night. He elbows were propped up on the table as she set her chin in her hand. Green eyes, bleary from possibly lack of sleep and overwork, stared down blankly at her cup of sake. Her face suddenly scrunched up into a pained expression, making her set her cup down and pinch the bridge of her nose.

"Just shut up..." she muttered pitifully. He raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps she's like us? Talking to ourselves? I doubt it."

He walked over, sliding into the booth seat across from her. Sakura didn't need to raise her eyes to see who it was.

"Good evening. Or, morning, I should say," she sighed. "I'll get you a drink. Don't worry about it, it's on me."

She waved at the bartender and ordered another bottle of sake before downing her cup. Zetsu was silent, taking in the bags under her eyes and the hopeless vacancy that filled a normally warm, determined stare. He glanced behind her, saw the man seated just a couple of tables away, and remembered something he had always wanted to know the answer to.

"I have some questions to ask you if it isn't too much trouble, Haruno-sama. The answer shouldn't be too complicated either, if my thinking is correct."

Sakura raised her head and motioned for him to continue.

"Why in all your right mind would you save Deidara?"

The man tables away froze.

"You certainly didn't know him well enough to risk your life for. He was even the man who killed the Ichibi, a friend of yours, no? Do you hold no hatred? No desire for revenge?"

It was a Sasuke-esque set of questions, and he knew that all too well. The waiter came and set down another cup and a sake bottle before leaving. Sakura sighed again.

"What use would that be? Being angry all the time would be exhausting. Deidara-san had a job back then and he pulled through with it. If I were his leader and gave me the results that he did, I would've been more than pleased. Besides, Gaara-san's alive and freed of his tailed beast. No harm done," she replied. Zetsu considered her answer.

"... Fair, I suppose. But this is Deidara we're speaking of. He's a criminal like the rest of us who's done unspeakable wrongs. But you save his life anyways?"

She smiled a weary smile. "Everyone deserves another chance. It doesn't matter who they are."

Zetsu's eyes flickered back behind her. The man tables away set his beer down and lowered his head, lips pressed into a thin line. He stood and placed his money next to his drink before leaving through the back door. He drew his eyes back to Sakura's small figure that had sagged forward just a little more.

"Then Konoha. Why leave that warmth for here?"

She set her cup down and leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes. "Once I heard Otogakure's cry for help, I couldn't ignore it. It was like a screaming in my head... I have enough of that as it is. I don't think I could've lived to see these people suffer more than they already were," she said.

What a walking contradiction this strange woman turned out to be.

"Is talking to yourself included in that package?" Kuro-Zetsu questioned. Sakura blinked.

"Oh, you heard that? Sorry. My conscious can get irritating too much of the time and sometimes I can't help myself," she apologized. Her eyes opened, revealing a much more worn gaze. His interest raised exponentially.

"An irritating conscious? How bizarre."

"Maybe not irritating, but... What she says is right. Always. Every single thing, mostly bad, is nothing but the truth. She's harsh, mocking, and unrelenting, but at least she says things as it is. It keeps me aware, no matter how much I don't want to hear it."

The rest of the morning was spent in silence, the two of them saying nothing as they drank their sake into the early hours.

Day 31

"Haruno-sama."

Sakura looked up from her paperwork, bright smile returned to her face and eyes shimmering happily. "What can I do for you, Zetsu-san?"

"I'm merely here to inform you that I will not be available to you 24/7. I will spend most of my time under Pein-sama—that I will never change. But if you ask for me, I'll do your bidding. That is acceptable, yes?"

Her smile widened. "Yes, of course. That's more than perfect!"

The corner of his lips quirked upwards in the slightest before he sunk down into the ground. Kabuto waited a few moments before pulling out a report and placing it on her desk.

"Here are the medical files you asked for, Sakura-sama," he informed more quietly than usual. "I'll leave you to read them."

The second he left the room and shut the door, Sakura opened the back of the folder and took one look at the last line. Tears immediately sprung to life as she pressed her palms to her eyes and curled in on herself. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Because just hours before, Kurenai was asleep in a hospital room. Mirai, her daughter, was wide awake, gazing in childish wonder at the dark room that shrouded her. Had she been older, she would've noticed the slowing of a heart monitor.

It slowed, slowed, slowed...

Until her ears were filled with the sound of a flat-line.

::

Tanabata Festival: Writing wishes, sometimes in the form of poetry, on tanzaku (small pieces of paper) and hanging them on bamboo.

::

EDITED 2.19.18