The sun was shining brightly through Sakura's office window, casting a bright glow around her. It was fairly early in the morning and she was looking through the budget of the hospital. It has been nearly 3 months since Hyūga Hiashi announced that his clan will be, indisposed as he put it, and the deadline to get his affairs in order was approaching fast. For the past months the number of Hyūga patients she received has doubled despite no shinobi leaving the compound. It was very telling of the state of Hyūga affairs.
Her door slammed open as the Head of Ophthalmology entered her office. She was a short woman with short curly brown hair, hailing from the Akimichi Clan. Yes, she was Torifu's grandniece if she recalls correctly. "Sakura-sama, we need you in the OR."
"What happened Tsugumi?" asked Sakura as she got up.
Tsugumi began explaining as they walked down the hallway. "We received a new patient, Hyūga because I feel like those are the only ones we receive recently, male around 14 years old, he was brought in by his sister an hour ago. Someone yanked his eye out of his left socket, which made the Caged Bird Seal activate and destroy his right one. We have attempted to reattach it with little success."
"Any other injuries?"
"A few bruises and minor lacerations, his throat was slit, but Dr. Imai healed it."
"Understood. Send for Jiraiya to be brought to the hospital and tell Dr. Nohara I am expecting her in the OR."
"Yes ma'am!"
...
Sakura was furious as she walked down the steps of the hospital. Today had been hell on earth at the hospital. They haven't had this many patients since the war. And almost all of them were Hyūgas. The surgery on the 14 years old had been successful, after 3 hours of struggling, even having to call Kushina and Minato for help, they managed to take down the cursed seal, only to find out, halfway through the operation, that the eye they were implanting wasn't his, but belonging to another child, this one 9 years old, who also had their eye yanked out by vindictive Hyūga elder. After locating said child and shitty Hyūga elder, who got their jaw broken by Sakura, they managed to give both children their respective eye back.
Then, about 6 ANBU Hyūga came in with broken bones. One of them even had a missing arm, that she was thankfully able to reattach. Then more kids showed up, because apparently the Hyūga elders decided the best way to quell the rebellion was to attack the defenseless. And a pregnant woman was attacked by, surprise, surprise a Hyūga elder, and had to go into labor a whole 2 months early.
And as the cherry on top of this clusterfuck, out of all the fucking 14 children that showed up, 3 died oN THE OPERATION TABLE!
Suffice to say, Sakura was very pissed and two seconds away from demolishing the Hyūga compound. But alas, she couldn't do that right now, as they agreed to let Hiashi have his 4 months. But she swears, the second the 4 months are up and Hiashi shows his ugly mug in the council room she will deck him in the face.
For now though she merely elected to destroy a quarter of training ground 44.
...
A week later, Sakura found herself knocking on Koharu's door at 10pm. She just finished another shift from hell at the hospital and was in desperate need of a distraction. "Open up Koharu! I know you're home and you have the 3rd best alcohol stash in the Village and I need it now~"
Koharu opened the front door with a wry look and ushered the older woman inside. "Rough day at the hospital Sakura-san?"
"Horrifying. What do you have for me?"
Koharu rolled her eyes as Sakura took a seat at the kotatsu table in her living room, then went to fetch the best Suna berry wine she had for herself and the strongest Kiri liquor she owned for the founder. "I don't think I've seen you this distressed since Izuna-san attempted to replicate Tobirama-sensei's Hiraishin and left his spleen and right kidney behind."
"Oh how I wish it was something as simple as that." said Sakura as she took a gulp of liquor straight from the bottle. "Have you been keeping up with the recent political climate since you retired?"
"Somewhat. Hiruzen is still keeping an ear out, mostly because Homura isn't allowed within 50 meters of the Hokage tower and someone needs to give him the gossip." Koharu took a sip. "I swear sometimes I think he became a council member just to hear all the best gossip of Konoha."
(A\N: 50m = 164 feet ½ inch)
Sakura snorted. "Yeah, sounds about right. Well in case you still haven't heard somehow, there is currently a coup taking place inside the Hyūga clan. After the revelation regarding that scum, the side branch family realized that the Caged Bird Seal is nothing more than a tool meant for the main branch to abuse them. Thus they are revolting and filling my hospitals."
Koharu hummed. "And I imagine it isn't just the adults filling your beds."
The medic sighed. "No, it is not. The Hyūga elders have resulted to...barbarism. They are attacking children, defenseless ones at that, that aren't part of the academy and pregnant women. Since they realized that, hey the people they have been abusing for generations? Yeah, those guys are not only more numerous than the main branch family but also, stronger than them. So they attack the vulnerable. It's horrifying, like we're back in the Warring Clans Era!" She punctuated that statement with a gulp of alcohol. "I swear on Madara's grave, when Hiashi shows his face again I will rip out his throat!"
Koharu took a sip of her wine. "How about instead, for now, we ignore the political climate of Konoha and I tell you how my grandkids are doing?"
Sakura sighed. "Fine. How's Kouga doing? Hiyama told me he's starting the academy soon."
"He's good, still getting adjusted to no longer being the youngest. The twins are driving him up the walls."
...
It was currently the last month before the Hyūga shinobi will be returning to the fold and the council room at the Hokage Tower was bursting with tension. Everyone knew what was happening in the Hyūga compound and the questions were burning. Something only made worse by the fact that the seat of the Hyūga clan head was still empty during these meetings.
Out of courtesy, Minato and Kushina always gave Hiashi half an hour to arrive before starting the proceedings, but so far he hasn't shown himself. Poor sucker probably knew what was waiting for him, thought Nawaki, as he watched his aunt burn a hole into the empty chair with her eyes alone. Since the last meeting, Sakura had been fuming regarding the Hyūga clan, giving reports over reports of Hyūga injured that had shown up at her hospital and pushing Minato and Kushina to do something. The last remaining founder of Konoha was on a war path and Nawaki was honestly a little scared to find out what she might do when Hiashi finally arrived.
"Right." said Minato once the half hour passed. "Why don't we get started? Does anyone want to address anything specific that is not, the Hyūga clan?" The blonde sent Sakura a pointed look and she huffed.
"Actually, I do." said Sakura. "I want to discuss the budget of the hospital."
"Do you need another expansion?" asked Kushina
"Yes I do. Seeing how we are currently ignoring the Hyūga problem, we can at least deal with one of it's results. Mainly, my hospital beds are filling with patients at a rate similar to that of the Warring States Period, forcing me to cut budget from some departments in order to have money to buy the supplies needed to heal these people. So, in short, either do something about the Hyūga or give me more money so I can do my job efficiently." she gave the Hokages a charming smile.
Minato sighed. "We cannot expand the budget of the hospital again, Sakura-sama. Not without cutting budget from other departments. I understand how important healthcare is, but since we are in peacetime-"
"Are we in peacetime, Yondaime-sama? Because currently my hospitals look eerily similar to what they looked like during the war."
"Well, I think we know what the real problem is..." said Tsume, adding to the fire.
The look on Sakura's face was positively gleeful when she looked at Tsume and Nawaki slapped his face in defeat as the room once more evolved into yelling. Fucking Hyūgas...Even when they aren't here they cause problems.
...
Sakura found herself drinking some rosé wine as she stood on her porch. After the somewhat disastrous meeting at the Hokage tower, she forced herself to return to her home with Fugaku, ranting the whole way about the state of her hospital. By this point the entire village had to know about her opinion of the state of Hyūga affairs. Still, she couldn't do much about it, yet. So she chose to somewhat relax before the shit show starts again tomorrow. She watched from her place on the rocking chair as her clanmates mingled and made their way home after a day of hard work. Some that had noticed her on her porch would stop and wave at her, bringing a smile to her lips as she waved back.
As time passed, the streets became emptier and emptier as it grew darker outside. Only once it was pitch black outside, did she dare enter, but found herself stop as she opened the door when she heard her gate open. Looking back she saw the current bane of her existence, Hyūga Hiashi, holding the hand of his daughter and a bundle of cloth in another. He looked as if he had aged 10 years in the past months and the pitiful look on his face forced her to let him inside. After situating Hinata and the bundle who was revealed to be Hanabi on her couch, she took him to her garden where they could talk without being overheard. They walked in relative silence until reaching the pond that held her remaining goldfish.
"You sure have a lot of nerve, showing your face here." said Sakura.
"I know Sakura-sama. But I didn't come here to you as clan head, or even as a Hyūga. I came as one of the children you took under your wing and let spend their time in your home during their childhood." said Hiashi with a pleading look.
Sakura shot him a suspicious look, before softening. "Alright then, speak. What has brought you and your children to my home?"
"I fear for their safety. With the elders' recent bout of brutality, I fear my daughters may suffer retaliation."
"From my understanding, it is your elders that are brutalizing the innocent, not the other way around." said Sakura harshly.
"Y-yes, however I fear they may frame an attack on my children as something the side branch family has done. I cannot take that risk, so I beg of you to take my kids. Please."
Sakura gave him a considering look. "Very well, they can stay with me."
"Thank you, Sakura-sama. Any expenses will be covered-"
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Please, I am not so poor that I cannot take care of 2 children. If you truly wish to repay me, I suggest you go figure out your affairs before me or the Hokage will be forced to do it for you."
Hiashi's eyes widened and he nodded as he handed her scrolls containing clothing and other necessities for his kids. Sakura then saw him out the door after he said goodbye to his children. Just as he was about to reach her gate, she called back to him. "I know you said you didn't come here for advice, but if I may offer it regardless: quit while you're ahead."
The clan head tilted his head in acknowledgement before leaving. With a sigh, Sakura returned inside and found Hinata staring at her, a sleeping Hanabi in her arms. She offered the girl a smile before taking them to a guest room. It had been a while since she had a baby in her home, but she could manage.
...
Three days later, she had a similar conversation with Hizashi and now Neji was also living with her for the time being. Sakura wanted to scream.
...
A week later, Sakura had invited Koharu and Mikoto over for tea and asked them to bring the kids too, so that the Hyūga children may have someone to play with. Koharu had brought Kouga and Iori with her. Utatane Kouga was a beanpole of a tall child, despite being only 6 he was a head taller than Naruto and Sasuke, with neatly trimmed orange hair and dark brown eyes. His father was Koharu's son, Sasuke. Yes, the old woman had named one of her two kids after her dear sensei. Usagiyama Iori was an exact copy of Koharu when she had been younger, with dark brown hair, almost black and dark brown eyes. She was the only child of Koharu's daughter, Sarada. Yes, the elder named her twins after Sakura's family. She shouldn't be surprised though, the names Sakura and Sasuke had certainly grown in popularity once the village was built. Everyone wanted to name their kids after one of the founders. In fact, the Uchiha clan currently sported 14 men named either Madara or Sasuke and 10 girls named Sakura, with 5 Sarada's thrown into the mix.
Kouga was the same age as Sasuke, while Iori was two years older than him, starting her 3rd year at the academy soon. Under the supervision of Itachi, the kids went outside to play tag while the women stayed inside to gossip. Sakura will forever be grateful for the influence she and Sasuke had on Koharu when she had been younger.
Unlike the Koharu of her past life, who was a hateful woman only interested in power, this one was much more refined and relaxed, interested in gossiping with her or doting on her grandchildren. She only wishes she could have gotten to Homura too before Danzo infected him with his bullshit. Oh well.
"So." started Mikoto, holding baby Hanabi in her arms. "How exactly did you end up looking after 3 Hyūgas? It's all the clan has been talking about these days."
"Please do not get her started on the Hyūga situation, Mikoto-san." said Koharu. "All I have been able to hear from her was Hyūga, Hyūga, Hyūga for the past months. I am sick of hearing it. She showed up at my house almost every week to raid my alcohol stash and I am running out of the good stuff." Koharu took a sip of her tea. "I miss the days when gossip was good."
"You're hilarious, Koharu." said Sakura dryly. "And if you must know, their fathers dropped them here."
"You're kidding." said Koharu.
"Nope. Both twins were worried about the elders retaliating against their kids so they dropped them here. I have been looking after them since, trying to keep their spirits up but...I think Hinata knows something."
"What do you mean?" asked Mikoto.
"She barely said a word since coming here, neither me nor Neji had been able to convince her to talk. I caught her crying a few times at night, but she refused tell me why. Part of me wants to think it was just nightmares but..."
Mikoto raised an eyebrow. "You think it's something else."
"Don't you find it suspicious that Sari-san has been nowhere to be seen? As Hanabi's mother, especially since she is so young, I expected her to come here too." said Sakura.
"You think something happened to her." said Koharu.
Sakura rested her chin on her intertwined hands. "When Hiashi showed up here he told me he was worried the elders might attack his kids and frame the side branch family for it. The entire village knows by this point what is happening inside the Hyūga compound and the elders know it too. The Hokages and the KMP won't be nice to them once time's up. They need something, something big to turn the tides in their favor again."
Koharu and Mikoto's eyes widened as they caught on. "You think they killed Sari. That the Hyūga elders murdered their own clan head's wife in hopes of blaming the branch family." said Mikoto.
"And Hinata-chan saw it happen, so she told her father and he brought them here." continued Koharu. "Sakura-san..."
"If it were a snake, it would have bitten us. I don't have any proof of course, but...the signs are there."
"Poor Hinata..." said Mikoto.
"Is Sari-sama really dead?" asked a new voice and they all turned their heads to see Neji in the doorway.
"Neji, what are you doing here?" asked Sakura.
"I came to get some water. Is Hinata-sama's mother really dead?"
Sakura sighed, but it was Mikoto who spoke. "We don't know sweetie, we were just theorizing. But you shouldn't worry yourself with such things."
"For now you should just focus on yourself, let the adults do the hard part." said Koharu.
Neji didn't look convinced, so Sakura added. "If you wish to help, then go spend some time with Hinata. Distract her with some games and let her know you are there for her."
"And if she tells you anything, tell Sakura-san." said Mikoto.
The boy nodded and left the living room after getting his glass of water. Sakura massaged her temples, this was such a mess.
"Alright, for once in my life I agree with Koharu-chan, enough Hyūgas, let's change the subject. Mikoto-chan I heard you are looking into becoming a jonin-sensei?" said Sakura.
The two women accepted the abrupt change in subject. "Yes, with Sasuke so much older I feel like I am ready to return to work. There is no way I would spend the rest of my life as a housewife, but the ANBU seems a bit too dangerous. I don't want to leave the boys without their mother. Jonin-sensei seemed like a safer option."
The trio then continued talking about mundane things, doing their best to stay far away from the Hyūga issue. Regardless of what happened, the 4 months were almost up and the truth will come to light.
...
The meeting room at the Hokage tower was buzzing. It was the first day since the Hyūgas had been granted a leave of absence and everyone was curious. Even some of their tardier clan heads had show up early. Sakura found herself sitting straight in her chair, looking at the door as if she could will the missing clan head to appear. Orochimaru and Fugaku kept sending her concerned looks, but she ignored them. Both Hiashi and Hizashi had shown up yesterday to pick up their kids, but neither had told her what had happened, making her wait for the meeting. Her curiosity was burning and the cat was long dead, so she needed the satisfaction of knowledge to bring it back.
At 10am on the dot, the door opened and in strolled Hizashi Hyūga, his forehead bare of bandages for once, showing his missing Caged Bird Seal. He took a seat in Hiashi's usual spot, between Tsume and Shibi, like he always belonged there.
"Is um, is Hiashi-san unable to come?" asked Minato, shocked as everyone else.
"My brother will not be returning to these meetings, as I have been named the new clan head two days ago." said Hizashi.
"Did you kill him?" blurted out Nawaki, before covering his mouth.
Hizashi sighed. "No, I did not. After the recent revelations about the Caged Bird Seal brought to us by Shimura's actions, the side branch family has come to the conclusion that the idea of main and side branch family must be abolished, including the seals. I will not bore you with the details of what has been happening these past 4 months, as I'm sure Sakura-sama is well aware of what had transpired based on the state of her hospital and saw fit to inform you."
"So then, how the fuck did you become clan head?" asked Tsume.
"It was Hiashi's idea actually. After our elders made an attempt on his family in hopes of framing us, he came to me and we agreed it would be better for me to become the new clan head and merge the branches into one clan again. We have also taken the liberty to remove our Caged Bird Seals. Right now most of our elders are in confinement and they shall remain on house arrest for the rest of their lives."
"Is Sari-san dead?" asked Sakura.
"Yes, she unfortunately perished at the hands of our elders. By the time Hiashi had gotten to her, it was already to late. So we saw fit to bury her privately and the perpetrator of the attack will be executed in the following days. Hokage-sama, I will come back tomorrow to fill the necessary paperwork for myself and Neji."
"Of course. And send Hiashi-san our condolences." said Kushina.
Hizashi nodded. The rest of the clan heads began whispering amongst themselves, but Sakura was stuck looking at the Hyūga before her. She had no idea what kind of clan head he will become, but she was looking forward to seeing his work. Hopefully with him as leader, the Hyūga could begin to heal.