Hinata felt ashamed to admit it, but she was a little envious of Haruno Sakura. Don't get her wrong, she had nothing against her classmate. In fact, she really looked up to her as a person. Sakura had amazing amounts of intelligence, was the most physically fit out of everyone in their year, was able to make friends with some of the more difficult cases, and had every ounce of courage to stand up for Naruto when no one else would.

Not to mention that she was really pretty.

She glanced at the pink haired girl in the front row. Sakura was turned around in her seat so she could talk to Chouji and Shikamaru. To her right was Naruto, puzzling over a worksheet on his desk. Sasuke was trying to help him by talking through it step by step.

'It must be nice.'

Hinata didn't have very many friends. Well... not a friend at all when she thought about it. She was sure that everyone else thought she was too quiet and too weird to hang out with. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to others, but it was that it made her too nervous and she didn't know how to talk to other people. The thought scared her. A lot.

Sakura managed to to do it so naturally—like she didn't even try to be friends with them. Hinata straightened in her seat when Iruka called attention to the front of the room.

"Everyone! For the next assignment I'll be partnering you guys up," he said. He picked up a sheet of paper from his desk, "First is Naruto and Chouji."

The list went on with Hinata fidgeting nervously in her seat.

"... Sakura and Hinata..."

Hinata's eyes widened. Was that going to be okay? She was silent when all the other pairs were called out, and stayed in her spot when the class shifted to sit with their partners. At her right, Shino stood to sit next to Sasuke and was replaced with Sakura who greeted her with a sweet smile.

"Hey, Hinata. Haven't talked to you in a while."

"A-Ah, h-h-hm..."

She looked at the assignment placed in front of them, blushing absolutely red in embarrassment. Sakura made no inclination of being bothered at the stuttering and picked up her pencil to point at the first question.

"This one's about probability. You're good at solving stuff like this, yeah?" she asked. Hinata's head shot up. Sharp green eyes regarded her openly, appearing both warm and cold, calculating and lackadaisical. There was something so kind and frightening about her eyes that Hinata couldn't say anything in return, opting to pressing her lips together and nodding.

"Okay, so do you want to split up the work fifty-fifty or work on each one together? I'm fine with either one, so you can choose."

Hinata flustered even more under the pressure of trying to make a quick decision. She stumbled over getting her words out for a couple of seconds, then fell into a shameful silence. Usually at this point, the other kids would start to mock her or move their attention elsewhere. But Sakura looked as patient as ever and waited for her to continue on with what she was saying.

"I... um... sp-split..."

"You can take the first ten and I'll take the last ten. Then I'll turn it into Iruka-sensei for us afterwards," Sakura said. Hinata nodded and set to work. She glanced at her partner's paper from time to time to see how fast or well she was getting her work done.

Sakura was a genius. Ten questions were finished within a minute; all work was shown and all answers were most likely 100% correct.

"You're re-really smart, Sakura-s-san," Hinata found herself saying as she moved onto her next problem. The other girl cracked her neck.

"Thanks. I do a lot of outside studying in my spare time. Sometimes in a group with Naruto, Sasuke, Chouji, Shikamaru, Shino..." A sudden gleam that sparked in Sakura's eyes. "... Actually, we have a study group on Saturday. You should come."

Hinata stopped writing and slowly looked up. Her cloudy white eyes had gone as large as saucers. "M-Me?"

Sakura gave a charming lopsided grin that made the Hyuuga's face a darker red than it already was.

"Yeah. The people who have the most trouble on their work are Chouji and Naruto, but you have to make sure Naruto doesn't get distracted. We've got to keep Shikamaru awake and Sasuke and Shino are always competing to get the most answers, so it's not as bad as it looks. Plus, it gets kind of boring being the only girl in the group and I think you're pretty cool."

Hinata's jaw slackened.

Her?

Being called cool?

By Sakura?!

She couldn't stop the bubble of shock and happiness from bursting in her chest. It only increased tenfold when an arm was slung over her shoulder in a friendly gesture.

"You're a pretty sweet girl too, so maybe the boys would clean up their act a little bit. If you gave a big smile for them, do you think you can get one of them to blush?"

Sakura's sly grin, suggestive words, and physical contact must've been too much for her.

...

Because she fainted.

::

She didn't mean to make a scene out of the whole thing. Really. She was excited to see Hinata again because she hadn't been one of the casualties during the war. Hinata had always an enthusiastic ray on the battlefield, always encouraging others during the fighting and being an optimistic nurse in lifting wounded shinobi spirits. Sakura was always thankful for her helping as best she could around the medical unit. She, regardless of what happened, never lost a bit of hope.

Though she couldn't say the same for herself.

She had given up on herself a long time ago.

But on a happier note, the nurse's office looked really nice. Sakura insisted on carrying her all the way here (it was her fault, anyways) and surprised her whole class by carrying her bridal style like she weighed nothing. The nurse was currently out to restock on some of the medication.

Sakura sat on the stool beside the bed and stared outside the window. Blue skies, rustling leaves, and peace written in the walls... She sighed and rubbed at her tired eyes. How much could she really make things change in this timeline? Say there was no Uchiha Massacre and Sasuke was really saved, say Naruto found a loving home and he no longer had to suffer by himself, say the war would never happened and her and Sasori would never have to live through that hell ever again.

... What would happen next?

"Mm... S... Sakura-san?"

She spun around and greeted Hinata. "Hey again. You fainted."

Not the best choice of words, but she just couldn't help herself. Hinata went just as red as she was before as she tucked her legs beneath herself and bowed her head.

"I-I'm so sorry for cau-causing trouble!"

Sakura raised both hands to calm her down. "Don't worry, it's no big deal. I shouldn't have made fun of you in the first place," she admitted sheepishly. She stood to stretch her legs before walking out the door. "Oh, and Hinata?"

The Hyuuga looked up.

"The study group's meeting in front of the Academy at twelve, then we're going to Shikamaru's. You're coming Saturday, right?" Sakura questioned. Hinata's entire expression lit up significantly as she nodded.

"Y-Yes!"

::

The Academy let out five minutes ago and Sakura was taking a leisurely pace to the T&I building. Genma was a million shades of excited the day before, babbling constantly about a new training regime he was going to try out today as a result of talking with Gai. He actually got so irritatingly happy over it that Ibiki kicked him out of the office.

"Let me talk to my favorite student!"

"Shut the fuck up, Shiranui."

Anything that had to do with Gai was bound to be fantastic. But she wasn't complaining on any part of it. She needed to get stronger as fast as possible to ensure she was capable enough to protect the people she was closest to. There was still a long ways to go, as one could clearly see, and there were still things in this world she had yet to discover.

"You! With the pink hair! Could you please stand right there, no wait—a little to the left, great! Right there! Keep still for a few minutes, please?"

She couldn't believe her luck. Right across the street on a plain wood bench was a miniature Sai. His tongue stuck out the corner of his mouth in pure concentration as he drew in a sketchbook propped against his bent knees. He wore a simple gray shirt and black pants with... an oddly normal emotional disposition.

"What are you drawing?" she asked. He kept scribbling in his book, providing no answer. Sakura narrowed her eyes.

"Oi!"

His head slowly raised, but his eyes were kept on his paper. "Sorry, it's just that the way the light hits your hair's so different! You can move now, I'm done, and it's that I've never seen hair like yours before! Did you dye it? Nah, it looks too nice to be dyed. So it's natural! But how? I—"

Sakura crossed the street after getting over the shock of being attacked by an onslaught of words. She took a seat beside him and let him keep talking until he felt like he said everything. He suddenly paused and offered an apologetic smile.

"Sorry. I ramble. A lot. Don't mean to. But I do." His smile turned into a grin. "I'm Shimura Sai! What's your name?"

There were suddenly images of Danzo in her mind—his arm of sharingan eyes and his constant campaign to remove Tsunade from her seat as Godaime. That man was a poison to the village as a whole and deserved the beheading he received.

In the old timeline, at least.

"Haruno Sakura," she replied smoothly. "Do you attend the Academy?"

"The Shinobi Academy? No, I'm a civilian. Ji-san wanted me to go a couple years ago, and nii-san too, but... I want to be an artist. And they're cool with it, so I'm gonna try my hardest!" he exclaimed. Sakura couldn't help but smile herself and looked down at his drawing. Not exactly professional, but quite impressive for an eight year old. She was relieved to know that she wouldn't have to fuss over him too much this time around and that he'd probably lead a relatively normal life. And not die in that horrific ambush.

"So, what about you?"

Sakura turned her head. "Hm?"

"When you're older! What do you want to be? Or, I guess, what kind of shinobi?"

She was quiet. It was a nice day outside with chirping birds and a warm, calming air. It felt like nothing bad was or never would go wrong again.

"A good one. That's enough for me."

::

She was really late and she hoped Genma and Ibiki wouldn't get on her ass for it. This Sai was more than pleasant to talk to even if he talked a little too much, but everything other than that was just fine. Perfectly, actually. He lived with another boy named Shin and were both adopted by councilman Danzo about four years ago. Danzo was a kind but strict man who wanted excellence in everything they strove for regardless of what it might be. He was a far cry from the man she knew, but at least it worked.

Sakura stepped through T&I's glass doors to see Kotetsu and Raido talking around the receptionist's desk.

"So he finally came back, huh? It's been two or three years since he left."

"I'm just surprised as you. I heard he had no leads again. You think he'd give up on finding Tsunade?"

"You know he won't. But maybe this time he'll take up the spot of Hokage."

Her fingers twitched. The two stopped their conversation to wave Sakura by before going back to what they were talking about. She climbed the stairs to the third floor of the building with gears spinning wildly in her mind.

'Were they talking about Jiraiya?'

No other person came to mind when it came to the topic of Tsunade. As Sakura walked down the hallway, all she could hear were snippets of comments about this stranger and how he'd been trying for so long to find Tsunade even though she was more than a lost cause.

She would have to see this for herself because she also heard that he was in the building. Sakura silently made her way to the office and opened the door. Genma was in and so was Ibiki, but there was a another man standing with his back facing her.

She stilled.

This man definitely was not Jiraiya.

She had never seen him before in either this timeline or the last. Nothing about him was familiar. Not a detail on his person struck a chord within her. And when he turned around, she was even more at a loss at his kind teal eyes and the light-colored hair that swayed against his back.

"You must be Sakura," he said. She had never heard that voice before. Not once. Her brain kept up a relentless search to pinpoint who it was standing before her. But her face was plain and respectful, giving a nod of agreement.

"I am. Nice to meet you...?"

The man smiled and held out his hand. She took it.

"Kato Dan," he introduced. "Nice to meet you too, Sakura-chan."

::

Sasori learned a lot about himself in those eighty or so years he spent in the Void. One of those things he kept thinking about were the state of his parents and every time his grandmother lied to him about it. He remembered how confused he was as a young boy.

Would his parents ever come back?

Were they safe?

Did they... leave?

Did they leave him?

Was it his fault because they didn't want him anymore?

He knew now that it wasn't their fault, or even Chiyo's for giving him the sliver of false hope in his childhood. How does someone approach a small kid and tell them that their parents are dead when he spends his days by the window, waiting for them to come home?

Sasori opened that same window he stayed by and slipped into his own room. It looked just as he left it, save for the layer of dust that collected over everything. Even the picture of him and his parents were still sitting on the nightstand.

He removed it from the frame and pocketed it.

He didn't want to dawdle too much on those memories. There was only one thing he came for and he was going to leave just as quickly as he came. Sasori made his way down the faintly recognizable hallways down to his old work room. Wooden limbs and puppet models suspended from the ceiling as the scent of sawdust filled his nose. He approached the end of the dark room to where the only finished prototypes hung: mother and father.

They looked just like he left them, a perfect likening to their human counterparts. He reached up to the hooks and untied them from their spots.

"No need to keep watch over me," he said. "This is the only thing I came for, I assure you."

Chiyo stood in the doorway, warily watching her grandson take down the puppets. Her fingers flexed over her own scrolls. "... You came all this way, sneaking past village security and around all villagers just to take your old puppets?"

Sasori crouched on the ground and opened a storage scroll. He then took an ink bottle and a brush and wrote down a few notes before sealing the two puppets inside. "Not just the puppets. I'm thinking of visiting their graves and paying my respects. I don't think I have in a while, or even at all."

He rolled up the scroll and tucked it into his belt. Chiyo took a step forward with her arm outstretched. "About your parents—"

"Killed by Hatake Sakumo, the White Fang of Konoha. I know," he interrupted, waving a hand. "I don't blame you for not telling me, you didn't know how."

She blinked. "How did you...?"

"I became more knowledgeable recently. Things happened, time passed, and I came to appreciate things a little bit more. Of course I still hate liars, but there's always a reason, isn't there?"

Chiyo didn't know what to say, and Sasori could see that as clearly as anyone else. He flipped his hood over his head and strode past his grandmother.

"Sasori."

He stopped a few inches behind her.

"I'm... I'm sorry. For everything I ever did to you and every lie I told. I should have never done something like this, and I know I'm too late for apologies. Years-- decades, even. I know you don't have to ever forgive me for it, and I'm sorry. I never meant for it to be this way," she whispered. He took her shoulder and gently spun her around, giving a genuine smile.

"It's alright, baa-sama."

And he was gone.

::

EDITED 1/31/18