"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed. He wrapped his arms around his friend and pulled her close, like an apology or something of the sort. Sasuke stepped up to her with angrily blazing eyes.

"He didn't say nothing else, did he?" he asked. She shook her head as she patted down Naruto's unruly blonde hair.

"No. He just mentioned the parent teacher conference again," she replied. He let her go, taking on a disgruntled expression as he looked down at the ground. She tousled his hair a little harder and gave him a smile, silently assuring him that he didn't do anything wrong and slung an arm over his shoulders, gesturing to the other two.

"Alright, whose house are we gonna go to first? Because it's getting kinda late and I want to make sure you guys get back okay," Sakura said, instantly earning her protests that she didn't need to fuss over them. "I think we'll go to Sasuke's. It's closer to the Academy. Then we'll go to Chouji's place and drop him off, then I'll take Naruto back."

After receiving murmurs of consent, Sakura ushered them in the direction of the Uchiha compound. There was an ulterior motive behind this route, and she was thankful the three of them weren't sharp enough to be suspicious. She had insisted that they walk each other home many times before so it wasn't too strange that she'd do this. They just had never been to the compound before.

Sakura looked at Sasuke as he started to speak and thought to what Sasori told her. The Uchiha Clan was on good terms with Konoha and Uchiha Itachi was far too pacifistic to be of any use to the Akatsuki.

And she wanted to see that for herself.

::

Fugaku heard rumors on a daily basis and, contrary to popular belief, quite enjoyed listening to them. He learned things about people he never heard of and little secrets from other members of the clan, something catching wind of drama and scandals within the ranks. He was drinking his afternoon tea out in the backyard when a few Academy students passed the front of the main house.

"... didn't think Sasuke would get detention."

"Right? Like he'd stand up for that freak."

"Chouji did too."

"Sakura started it. Man, she's scary!"

He placed his cup down on the low table to his side and stared down at the koi pond before him. Mikoto informed him of his youngest son's new group of friends—the village pariah and an odd girl who was to grow under Ibiki's tutelage, according to Obito. Admittedly, he was more curious about her and her potential more than anything else.

He stood up as he picked up his tea and teapot and walked into the house. It was empty. His wife had probably gone to visit another family in the compound and his eldest was out on a month long mission—his first one since becoming a jounin. Eleven years old and already someone of such high status... He was proud. Of course he was. But he couldn't help but think that Itachi was just a little too young to be in such a position. As the pride of the Uchiha, he had to be a powerful symbol of Konohagakure.

Though...

... A child is just a child in the end.

Fugaku raised his head when the door clicked open and a flood of voices washed in. He straightened himself before quietly pacing towards them. He was met with the sight of his son, first and foremost, with the widest smile he had seen in a long time.

"That's not fair, Sasuke!" the little blonde boy growled. "Rematch! I'll even kick this stupid rock in ya' head!"

"Dobe."

"Wha—?! Sakura-chan! I'mma punch him!"

Sasuke laughed then looked ahead of him. The boy's face dropped as he quickly met his father's gaze and tried to make a neutral face. "O-Otou-sama," he said. "Sorry I'm late, sir... I won't be next time."

Fugaku inclined his head and moved his eyes to the three standing behind him. The other two boys bowed their heads in fear, but the girl reflected a sheen of coldness in those green irises. He tucked that bit of information away for later. "Are these your friends?" he asked.

Sasuke nodded and half turned to introduce them. "Yessir. Uzumaki Naruto, Akimichi Chouji, and Haruno Sakura."

Naruto forced out a timid hello while Chouji stuttered out a greeting that one could barely hear. Sakura was the only one to keep her calm. She lifted her chin, pridefully but respectfully, and put on a child-like smile that completely covered her whole demeanor before it. Fugaku raised an eyebrow.

"Nice to meet you too, Uchiha-sama."

There was no fear in her voice, nor a trace of the jaded individual he was sure he saw moments before. Sasuke bid her friends goodbye and Fugaku watched them go with a keen eye. He'd have to keep a closer eye on them from now on.

::

"Oh, aren't you two just darlings!"

"K-Kaa-chan!"

Akimichi Chiharu, Chouji's exuberant mother, bent over both Naruto and Sakura to pinch their cheeks and tell them how cute they were. Naruto flushed positively red with embarrassment as he tried to find some cover behind his pink-haired friend.

"Uh, k-kaa-chan! They gotta... um... gotta go real s-soon so they can't stay long!" Chouji exclaimed. Naruto threw him a look of utter gratitude, his cheek squished against Sakura's shoulder. Chiharu pouted and drew back.

"Alright, Chouji-kun. Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan, come by anytime you like. We'd love to have you over!"

::

"Final stop."

"Thanks for walkin' me, Sakura-chan."

They stood in front of Naruto's apartment. The sun was still up, but was starting its move downwards this Friday evening. Naruto fished his key out of his pocket and opened his door, twisting around to give Sakura one last apologetic look.

"About what ya' said ta' sensei..."

"Don't worry about it, okay? You're more than worth it."

Naruto pursed his lips and nodded mutely. She told him goodnight and began her trek to the T&I building. Still, she needed to find someone for him. Civilians were off the list. There were a few good ones out there, but none were strong enough to protect him if something went awry. In turn, there were barely any shinobi sympathetic to Naruto's cause to be accepting enough to take him in.

But she had to keep looking no matter what. He was going to get out of there before it came time for them to graduate the Academy, and if she had to sneak into the Hokage's office and dig around for candidates, she would.

Sakura walked through the glass doors she was so accustomed to, noting that the reception desk was empty. She then took the already memorized route to Ibiki's office.

"You're late."

"Mhm."

She hopped onto the couch to the left of his desk, sprawling out on the pillow-less leather like a cat. Genma was gone on a mission and would stay absent for the next couple of weeks. Usually, he'd be the one to accompany her to the training grounds to help her improve on her taijutsu and the use of her wrist blades. Ibiki would stick to the intelligence portion of her internship and teach her more advanced algorithms and strategies, sometimes things on seals.

Sakura pulled out a pink sheet from her pocket and tossed it on his desk. He held it open with one hand and scanned through it casually.

"Detention already? I'm not surprised," he said. His eyes trailed down to the bottom, "and a parent teacher conference tomorrow... Kid, I will make you run a hundred laps around Konoha if it's because of some dumbass reason."

She scoffed. "It was all in good faith, old man."

"Cheeky. Do these warm-ups and tell me what happened."

Ibiki handed her a clipboard without moving his eyes from the pink sheet. She took the pencil that was linked to the clasp and recounted her story, unconcerned by how rude or irritated she probably sounded. Sakura knew he wasn't a stickler for those types of things. When she finished, he took up a thoughtful look. "Aren't your parents out of town?"

"At the border to visit some friends. Won't be back 'till the beginning of next month."

"... Huh."

::

Yashamaru blearily pried his eyes open, feeling a dulled pain ripple through his body. He moved his eyes to the side and saw an IV drip hooked up to his arm.

'Where am I?'

It took him a few moments of staring at the ceiling to realize that he was in the hospital and nowhere near being on the brink of life and death. Everything came rushing up to him in that moment, making him remember what he'd done. The mission. The explosives. Gaara.

"He's fine."

The Kazekage was leaned against the window with his arms crossed and his eyes closed in a serene-like manner.

"Rasa-sama...?"

"A part of the building blew off from the explosion, but no one was killed. Apparently, they were taken off your body and projected upwards to divert the intensity of the blast, ultimately sparing your life. Gaara was there but ran off and locked himself in his room once reinforcements came," Rasa informed. He was 100% sure his son wouldn't be capable of holding his own against psychological attacks like Yashamaru had inflicted, but he begrudgingly admitted that he was impressed.

The demon didn't make its appearance, thus assuring that Suna could now use him as a weapon if they wished.

Yashamaru shifted himself to an upright position. "May I see Gaara-sama?"

"That wouldn't be the ideal move at the moment. He may not have released his monster, but his emotional state is fragile. It will be a while until he'll talk with anyone," he said. Yashamaru clamped his mouth shut and looked down at his sheets.

He was supposed to die and fulfill his mission.

When did Gaara-sama grow enough to save his life...?

Rasa moved to leave the room through the window, unaware of the flash of red and black in the midst of the sandstorm that arose the previous hour.

::

Sakura angled her clipboard to shield her face from Ibiki's view when she felt something crawling on the back of her shirt. A scorpion crawled over her shoulder and down her arm to place a small scrap of paper in her fingers. She wrote 'Thank you, Yori-san' on her worksheet before he went back down behind her and disappeared in the cover of her body. After unraveling it with her thumb and forefinger, she read the single line Sasori presented.

The Godaime Kazekage will be fine.

::

EDITED 1/30/18