Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Sakura walked alongside Itachi as the two left to get lunch for the rest of the sparing group. Behind them, Sasuke was struggling to stick more then one leaf to his body while Shisui fought a no-holds-barred match against Izumi and Anko. While the younger pair were talented, prodigies even, so was Shisui and he was far, far more experienced then either of them. Izumi could only match his speeds for brief periods of time before her sharingan sapped away her stamina. Anko was slower then both of them but made up for it with her summons, wielding them in ways both similar and yet more refined than her traitor of a shishou.
“Everything alright?” Sakura asked, turning her attention to Itachi who was bizarrely tense. It was like he was on edge, growing ever more wary as they approached the village proper. She knew that the clan and the rest of Konohagakure weren’t exactly on good terms at the moment but to see Itachi this tense off a mission was rare.
“Shisui trusts you implicitly. He sees you as a little sister, he’s never been that attached to anyone who wasn’t family.” Itachi’s eyes fell on Sakura and she could see curiosity and something else she couldn’t name within his onyx gaze. Something was definitely wrong though, Itachi’s chakra was circulating in the sluggish way that indicated he was warming himself up for a fight. “You’ve also got the ear of the ANBU commander. You have sway in the village as a prodigy, the youngest ever to reach chunin.”
“Itachi, I might be a child but I know you want something.” Sakura gave the Uchiha a look and Itachi took in a sharp breath. He glanced around, shoulders taught and eyes almost afraid. She’d never seen him openly scared before, not even when she’d run missions as his team’s medic.
“If something where to happen to me, please take care of Sasuke. He’s dreadfully foolish and endlessly energetic but if I can’t-” Sakura cut Itachi off with a look. The Uchiha prodigy looked pale and now that she was paying attention, Sakura could see bags under his eyes.
“What’s going on?” Sakura asked, stunned into silence when Itachi gave her an utterly helpless look and shook his head. Leaning her head back, Sakura pinched her nose, her eyes sliding shut because this was now officially her problem. Something was eating at Itachi and not only was he a friend, unlike most of the modern Uchiha, she considered him to be family. She would protect him, even if she had to move mountains. “Itachi.”
“I can’t, but just promise me alright? I’m not planning on dying.” Itachi’s voice sounded almost strangled and his throat fluttered as if someone had briefly gripped it. She watched his mouth move oddly as if he was flexing or moving his tongue in pain, rubbing it against the roof of his mouth in an effort to sooth it.
“Fine, but you’re family. If you can’t tell me I’m going to find out.” Sakura promised, ignoring Itachi’s stricken look at her words. If he didn’t want her digging around, he shouldn’t have gotten into trouble in the first place. After all family came first.
“Don’t-Sakura it’s fine, just a worst case scenario. If a mission goes wrong or something happens, we’re shinobi…” Itachi’s normal calm mien cracked visibly and the thirteen year old’s face twisted with pain before it smoothed out. Sakura took in a deep breath before letting out a tired sigh and then gave Itachi a nod. His eyes lingered on her face for several long seconds, a clear indication that they both knew she wasn’t going to listen to his request to stay out of whatever had him worried. Still he dropped the topic, pretending to believe her just as Sakura pretended to concede.
The walk to town was tense, an awkward silence settling over the two. Sakura could tell that something was going very, very wrong in Itachi’s life. Judging by the storm clouds constantly choking out the sunshine in Shisui’s chakra, it wasn’t just the younger of the two Uchiha prodigies suffering. She hadn’t pressed Shisui for any details yet, though it was obvious she was going to have to start looking into whatever had her modern Uchiha spooked.
After returning with lunch for the group, Sakura settled down between Izumi and Anko as they ate. Itachi sat beside Izumi, the two almost shoulder to shoulder and their chakra reaching for each other almost subconsciously. It was still subtle, just the beginnings of something between them so Sakura kept her mouth shut and curiosity to herself. Fortunately Sasuke was too busy staring at her with wide eyed awe to notice his brother’s affection drifting towards someone else.
“So I’m thinking about applying for ANBU.” Anko admitted after they had finished most of their food. The purple haired girl brushed her hair back and shifted slightly, clearly nervous. She was weaker then Shisui and Itachi but stronger then Sakura or Izumi. In a straight up fight, Sakura gave her a decent chance of beating Hawk but she would lose to Bat, on account of their respective styles favoring the Nara’s shadow techniques.
“You’d have to kill people on most missions. ANBU take combat missions, not missions with a chance of combat.” Sakura, due to her age, rarely took part in any of the fighting when she went out on missions. Since she’d received her tiger mask, she’d been almost permanently attached to Shisui’s team and they hadn’t left the village once. They’d constantly been on night patrols, Hokage guard duty or Naruto duty, which was fun but they were literally being assigned the only non-combat jobs besides border patrol.
“I’m okay with that, I just, I’m not going to torture people. Not after what I saw Orochimaru do to people.” Anko grit her teeth, her lips pulling back to reveal her fangs. She had elongated incisors, a side effect of her contract and all of her teeth were just slightly too sharp these days as her bond with the serpents grew ever stronger. Her goal was to eventually become a snake sage, something Orochimaru had never achieved and then she would try to hunt down and kill her former shishou.
“We have specialist teams for capture and field interrogation. I can’t tell you much but I can say that you won’t have to torture anyone if you pick the right specialization. Considering your summons you’d be able to qualify for assault or sabotage missions and you’d probably be able to get onto the seduction track if you’re interested.” Sakura knew theoretically about seduction missions but she’d never been on one and didn’t quite understand them. She knew Anko was beautiful though, much like those who actually went on said missions but beyond that she didn’t know what would or wouldn’t be useful in that particular field.
“Well, I think I’ll avoid the seduction branch thanks.” Anko said diplomatically and looked over at Shisui.
“Sakura-chan, promise me you’ll never develop an interest in seduction. Stay innocent forever okay?” Shisui asked and Sakura glanced back and forth between the older Uchiha and Anko. Both of her friends were giving her imploring looks, practically begging her for her word.
“Um alright I promise I’ll never do seduction work?” Sakura’s voice pitched up into question and Izumi let out a tired sigh, drawing everyone’s attention. Even Itachi was paying attention now, as he’d been focused on his dango in an attempt to escape whatever stress he was feeling.
“She’s got no choice.” Izumi said softly and closed her eyes. “She’s a civilian born, even if she’s a prodigy, she’s not a clan heir or important in the village. Every kunoichi who doesn’t have a clan backing them up will have to take on seduction missions eventually and with Sakura being, well, there are probably already requests.”
“Bear’s been ignoring them.” Shisui informed the group casually. “He’s been making sure her missions are above board and nothing unexpected happens.” Sakura had suspected that Bear or rather Tsukiko was looking out for her but to hear it confirmed was comforting. Itachi gave Izumi a troubled look and she shook her head, dismissing his concern.
“I’m a clan heir now and before that I was on a genin team. I got lucky.” Izumi whispered and Itachi’s hands curled into fists, his knuckles turning white with rage.
“I thought the Yondaime banned those missions.” Itachi stated calmly, his voice terrifyingly blank and Izumi grimaced. She’d been mentally preparing herself for said missions until she realized that being the next Senju heiress actively barred her from taking them. It had been a relief but the crushing realization that Sakura had nobody to do the same for her had stolen any happiness she might have felt over it.
“Easy solution there, just have Sakura develop her healing knock off mokuton and adopt her. Anyone argues about it, just have her reveal the mokuton, boom problem solved.” Anko drawled, reminding everyone present that for all her false insanity and impulsive behavior she was a genius. She rarely used her intelligence, instead cruising through life and never taking things too seriously but when she did put her mind to work she always came up with unconventional but effective solutions to whatever they were facing.
“Sakura,” Itachi gave the rosette a look and Sakura ducked her head in acquiescence. She might not be able to make a combat effective mokuton but at the very least she’d find a way to imitate it. Of course she’d need to read up on the Shodaime’s techniques. Fortunately her ANBU seal would open up the archives for her.
‘Perhaps I could help.’ Inner mused in the back of Sakura’s mind. Inner was more active now that Sakura was stressing constantly. Flipping between a war-zone at night and her suddenly tense Uchiha friends during the day was pulling her mind in two separate directions and she was barely keeping herself oriented amid the mental chaos of it all. Without Inner, Sakura was certain that she would have been reduced to tears and tantrums by now.
“So, now that’s over how about a spar between Itachi and Sakura? Our two prodigies showing off their skills.” Shisui said cheerfully and Sakura looked over at Itachi and raised a pink eyebrow. She like fighting Itachi because while he was older, he wasn’t an adult yet and had only just hit puberty. It was the closest thing to a fair fight she’d ever get aside from training against her teammates and Itachi was better then her by a wide margin so she always learned something.
“Alright,” Itachi agreed and the two stood up, meals finished and the trash packed away for easy disposal. Sakura pulled a sealing scroll from one of the many pockets in her haori and unsealed her scythe, twirling it around her body dramatically before resting the haft across her shoulders.
“Wow! She has a scythe! That’s so cool!” Sasuke gushed as Itachi drew a katana from a similar storage scroll he kept in one of the many pockets that dotted his cargo pants. The two faced off for a moment before they both exploded into action. Sakura was physically faster then Itachi thanks to learning Shisui’s shunshin technique directly from the man himself. Itachi had the advantage of his sharingan and she couldn’t use her own without her mask to hide them.
The two danced around the clearing, Sakura’s shunshin after images attacking with tangible force or tanking attacks as if they were shadow clones, though they only lasted a fraction of a second. Itachi easily took them apart, his crimson eyes allowing him to track the true Sakura’s position even as she moved about, trying and failing to get the drop on him.
In the end, Itachi simply picked up the pace, his superior skill and coordination allowing him to move faster then Sakura was capable of reacting to. Sure she was faster but her eyes couldn’t process at the speed she was moving and her brain couldn’t think fast enough to take advantage of her own speed. It had been a good fight but Sakura knew Itachi hadn’t been taking her seriously, even though she’d given it her all.
“You’ve gotten faster. You need to work on a way to perceive at speed. Izumi has the same problem.” Itachi stated, looking between the two girls. “You should work together on a solution since speed is a key part of both your styles.”
“I’ll look through the ANBU archives for something.” Sakura knew that it was possible, after all the Yondaime and Nidaime had both been faster then sharingan wielders and the Hiraishin had nothing to do with it.
“Will you recommend me for ANBU?” Anko asked and the three ANBU members all exchanged glances before nodding as a group.
“I guess I should start training with ANBU in mind then.” Izumi grinned when Anko gave her a surprised look. “You think I’d let you run off to the shadow ranks without me? Hell no, you’re stuck with me you silly snake.”
“You think Naori would be interested in being out taichou?” Anko asked and then grinned over at Sakura. It was common knowledge that ANBU teams had between 4 and 6 members, depending on their role and rank. The snake summoner’s intent was clear, a Team 7 reunion in ANBU.
“Hey, I’m not giving up team’s mascot. You can have Itachi.” Shisui replied and Itachi raised an eyebrow.
“I’ve just been promoted to captain.” Itachi commented, his tone blank but everyone could tell he was teasing Shisui. Shisui blinked, processing the fact that his thirteen year old cousin was now an ANBU captain before letting out a strangled scream.
“How?! No, you know what I get it, you work hard, you’re a genius but you’re thirteen! When do you sleep? How do you even have time to spar with us? Gaaah!” Shisui shouted and then shook his head, genuine concern hidden behind his theatrics. Konohagakure had always asked far too much of its children and Sakura wondered just how it had all gone so wrong.
***
“I am not happy you took such risks.” Tajima looked between the two children and saw regret and defiance on both of their faces. Their chakra was honest and they hadn’t progressed far enough in the teachings of Ninshu to hide their feelings, at least not from him. “Sakura, you said you recognized this chakra?”
“Yes, someone I trust.” Sakura answered and Tajima watched her fingers brush over the seal on her left hand. It was a silent signal, a way to inform him that this was somebody she’d know in the future, which was odd but perhaps they were an elderly mentor of some kind. Regardless, Tajima understood what she was telling him, that at least one Chinoike could be reasoned with even if they were currently a child and that specific child would have to survive.
‘What a headache.’ Tajima thought, wishing that Sakura hadn’t informed him at all. Time was the realm of the gods, beyond the comprehension of mortals who merely had to live within its tyranny. Even Sakura was bound by it, traveling backwards and forwards at the behest of the Kami with the full knowledge that whatever history is recorded is what would happen regardless of the actions she takes. It was cruel, brutal even but Tajima would do what he could for the child he’d taken in as his own.
“I see, and I’m assuming you’ll use your summons to get into contact with them.” Tajima stated, because he knew the girl well enough by now to understand her next move. Sakura nodded, her bangs fluttering with the motion and Tajima shifted his attention over to his son. “Madara, we’ll use your summons instead. Tigers showing up at their compound might send the wrong message.”
“Alright, when will we send the letter?” Madara asked and Tajima looked out of the tent towards the border of Chinoike territory. They were near the ocean here, with the smell of salt and sea sometimes carrying up the valley to the war camp.
“After lunch have an eagle drop it into their camp. I’ll write it.” Tajima knew they wouldn’t get a reply quickly but it was a start and if the Uchiha could get a new ally out of this, all the better.
***
Sakura opened her eyes and immediately pulled on her ANBU uniform. Anxiety clawed at her chest and only Inner’s presence soothed the panic threatening to overwhelm her. The Chinoike hadn’t replied by the time she and Madara had fallen asleep, not that they expected a reply so quickly but it was still nerve wracking. Her morning shower had done little to calm her mind and for once Sakura was thoroughly feeling her age. She was just a child, what could she possibly do to help either situation?
‘Outer, we can do this. We find out what’s bothering Shisui and Itachi and if we need help we can talk to Naori or Tsukiko-sama.’ Inner advised, forcibly gripping Sakura’s train of thoughts and focusing them. It was an odd sensation, like her emotions had been halted in their tracks and then vanished, pulled away by her other self. ‘You can do this.’ Inner promised and Sakura believed her, because Inner wouldn’t lie, not to her.
Sakura knew that there wasn’t likely to be a threat in the village but something told her to be prepared for danger. Shisui was stressed and their team hadn’t left the village since she’d gotten her mask. Itachi was nervous and he hadn’t left either, they were both Uchiha. Naori, Izumi and Anko hadn’t left the village in the last half month and something told Sakura that Naori was filling the Senju district with enough traps to hold up an army based on Izumi and Anko’s idle comments.
In short, something was very, very wrong in Konohagakure and it involved the Uchiha, her clan. They were her responsibility, she had a duty to protect them even if they didn’t realize that. Sakura slipped the storage scrolls containing her scythe into her holster. She looked around her room, eyes searching the area before they landed on the familiar chest that she’d gotten from Shisui all those years ago.
Pushing the lid open, Sakura saw a scroll sitting atop the others with today’s date scrawled across it. With a flare of chakra, she activated the privacy seals that lined her room and broke the wax seal on the scroll. A burst of chakra rippled over her before swirling back into the scroll and Sakura unfurled it to reveal a summoning matrix.
Biting her finger, the rosette fed her chakra into the matrix and watched as a handsome Kitsune with long crimson hair and bright green eyes appeared in a puff of smoke. He had two tails and wore a traditional men’s kimono. A pair of swords were threaded through his Obi and his Hakama pants were clearly made of lightweight material to allow for ease of movement.
“Hello Sakura-dono, it is a pleasure to meet you at last.” The Kitsune smiled, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth as he bowed slightly. His accent was rustic, older even then what the ancient Uchiha used and he moved with a fluid grace that spoke of a mastery over his body. “I am Nishi as in west, a swordsman and the one bearing your next gift.”
Nishi didn’t reach for a scroll but instead took a seat on Sakura’s bed, arms crossed and eyes moving over her with obvious consideration. Somehow she felt like he was weighing whether or not to actually follow through and give her whatever he was meant to deliver. Apparently she passed his check and he reached into his shirt and withdrew a necklace that was made up of a simple leather cord with a small glass bead attached to it.
“Give it to someone you consider family. Not the Uzumaki boy though, that would end poorly.” Nishi stated and placed the necklace into Sakura’s hand. The glass bead carried wisps of chakra within it, though not enough for a sensor to detect. It was warm to the touch, though not hot and Sakura’s fingers curled around it protectively. “Summon me when you need someone to fight at your side, though I caution you not to do so until you’re older. I require twice as much chakra as Ichirin to make the journey to this realm.”
“I understand,” Sakura nodded her head and pocketed the necklace. Leaving her room, Sakura quickly made her way to her team’s locker room and found the others getting ready for another day of guarding Naruto. Shisui’s chakra was controlled, but utterly despondent. So much so that Sakura felt like she’d walked into funeral. “Shisui?”
“I can’t say,” Shisui answered bitterly and shook his head. “Come on, everyone ready?” The rest of the squad all nodded and Shisui pushed himself upright. “Good, let’s go guard Naruto-chan for the morning.” The team quickly filed out of the room and Sakura felt Shisui’s hand on her shoulder. “Sakura, could you do me a favor?”
“Sure, anything.” Sakura said quickly and found she meant it. If Shisui asked her something, she’d do her best to make it happen. His face worked its way through several emotions, his chakra ricocheting between anxiety, exasperation and familial love.
“Don’t make such an open ended offer, not even to me. Promise me that okay?” Shisui asked and Sakura let out a tired sigh before nodding. She felt a twinge of apprehension because Shisui never lectured her so this must be serious. “I just, I want someone to be waiting for me tonight alright? At our usual training grounds, right near the Naka falls. Could you just be there?”
“Yes, that’s easy enough.” Sakura promised and Shisui let out a relieved sigh. She wasn’t sure what had him tied in a knot but she recognized his chakra patterns. He was preparing for a life or death battle. Pre-combat nerves created very distinctive jitters in the chakra network and Sakura knew it well from her time in the past. “And Shisui?”
“Yeah?” Shisui looked at Sakura and she caught the scent of makeup. He’d done a professional job in touching himself up but her senses were starting to change thanks to her summoning contract and this close she could just barely smell the carefully applied shinobi grade concealer that likely hid pale skin and bruised eyes.
“Here, it’s a good luck charm.” Sakura offered him the necklace she’d just received. She didn’t know why Shisui was preparing for battle, but she needed something to tie him to her. “You can give it back when we meet up tonight.”
“…You’re really too observant Sakura-chan. I’ll be fine though, promise. I’m just nervous.” Shisui deflected though Sakura saw right through him. Something was very, very wrong and he wasn’t about to give her any insight on what it was. “Come on, you can spend the morning playing with Naruto, Kagetora-chan.”
“Alright Shisui-taichou but if you end up getting into a fight without your medic, I’m going to be very, very upset. I’ll cry, I’ll really cry you know?” Sakura threatened because she wasn’t about to promise violence, not when Shisui looked like he was made of glass, like he’d shatter at the slightest touch.
“Well we wouldn’t want that. I guess I’ll be on extra good behavior today then.” Shisui winked, though the light in his eyes was dull and resigned. Whatever was going on, she’d been too late to discover it before things became serious but hopefully not too late to intervene.
The trip from ANBU HQ to Naruto’s apartment was a silent one and as usual, Sakura dropped down into an alley to swap into her Kagetora disguise. The previous ANBU guard rotation, one Sakura instantly recognized as Hatake Kakashi’s Team Ro were grateful to finally be replaced. ‘Odd they’re in the village for a mission like this.’ Sakura’s mind noted as she knocked on Naruto’s door. Guarding the blond jinchuriki was a job for low or perhaps mid-level ANBU units on a rest rotation. Team Ro was Konoha’s most powerful ANBU team with six members and Konoha’s only active S rank shinobi. It made no sense to have them watching the blond boy so regularly.
“Tora-chan! Hey, what’s up?” Naruto asked and Sakura raised a white eyebrow, her electric blue eyes focused on the blond who blinked slowly. “Am I forgetting something?” Naruto asked, slowly realizing that Sakura was giving him a rather expectant look. “Tora-chan, stop staring at me like that and just tell me what’s on your mind dattebayo!”
“You’re a half hour late for the academy, Naru-chan.” Sakura drawled, grinning to reveal sharp teeth. Naruto blinked, slowly processing her words before looking at a clock hidden within his apartment. The boy’s face slowly drained of color as his eyes widened.
“Oh man, Iruka-sensei is going to kill me ‘ttebayo!” Naruto groaned and Sakura chittered happily while ruffling his blond hair.
“No worries, why don’t I escort you?” Sakura asked and Naruto’s eyes locked onto her as she pointed at her chunin vest and hitai-ate currently tied in its proper place over her forehead. Naruto gave her an awed look and Sakura put on a smile that would make Anko proud as she showed the boy all her teeth. “I’ll tell you sensei you got held up getting breakfast.”
“But I haven’t eaten yet.” Naruto mumbled and Sakura tilted her head towards the street.
“My treat, get dressed we’ll eat and get you to class.” Sakura’s words lit a fire in Naruto and he rushed back inside, slamming and bustling his way through his apartment before reappearing fully dressed and ready for the day. The two children quickly made their way through the akasen before ducking into a small somewhat run down eatery that wouldn’t turn the boy away. Behind the counter an older man with stout features, slate gray hair and matching eyes worked a griddle, cooking up breakfast for the geisha and other sex workers that filled the district.
“Two bacon and egg sandwiches with cheese.” Sakura called out and ignored the looks sent her way. She was obviously a shinobi with her armored standard issue ANBU pants and shoes, her black form fitting sleeveless top and chunin vest left unzipped. She looked like a child soldier, practically screamed it to the heavens with how she walked and moved.
“Alright, two sandwiches for the little tiger and fox, coming up.” The old man rumbled and quickly threw together a pair of omelets, cooking the cheese and chopped bacon into the egg along with grilled onions and peppers. Naruto frowned at the vegetables included but after taking a bite, his eyes went wide in shock. It was painfully obvious he wasn’t used to eating much of anything aside from ramen and Sakura felt her chakra crackle, flames of rage burning briefly in the back of her mind before she smoothed it away.
“This is really good ‘ttebayo!” Naruto shouted, earning a grin from the man who’d cooked their food and a few nods of agreement from the sex workers they were sharing the small seating area with. Sakura took a bite of the greasy egg sandwich and had to agree, it was delicious and perfect for a day of hard work, whether that be training to become a stronger shinobi or physically entertaining those who passed through the akasen.
“So, what are you learning in class right now? I didn’t go to the academy for very long.” Sakura asked and Naruto chuckled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. It was an obvious display of guilt, in this case guilt over not paying any attention in class. “You’re not paying attention in class then.” Sakura let out a small sigh. She couldn’t blame him, his teachers sucked from what she’d gathered on guard detail and the academy was so painfully basic it was almost an insult. “Well so long as you’re learning how to fight.”
“I know how to fight, only Sasuke-teme beats me.” Naruto huffed and Sakura rolled her eyes. Somehow she could see the two of them never getting along.
Naruto and Sasuke were incredibly similar and yet so completely, wildly different that they’d have to hate each other. Their personalities were both boisterous and cheerful, mischievous and immature yet Sasuke had a loving family, a warm home and a role model to chase. Naruto had her and that was about it. The Hokage would visit him from time to time, a few of the geisha in his apartment building checked on him occasionally and the father daughter pair of Ichiraku Ramen often fed him for free but none of those were the stable, long term relationships that a child needed.
Once they were done eating, the pair made their way through Konoha to the academy. Sakura lead the way with Naruto falling in behind her and almost hiding in her shadow. She was taller then him, even without her henge and Sakura knew that was because he simply didn’t get enough to eat. His clothes hung off his bony frame, making it even more painfully obvious that he was uncared for and unwanted in a village filled with plenty.
Sliding the door to Naruto’s class open, Sakura’s electric blue eyes swept over the room, landing momentarily on Sasuke before she glanced over the rest of those present. ‘This would have been my class.’ Sakura thought, counting the number of clan heirs and frowning. The chances of her, a civilian born and child of Mizu no Kuni, seeing any kind of success in such a class were slim to none. She’d have been shoved off to the side while the teachers focused on the precious heirs. Any accomplishments she made would be swept under the rug so as not to embarrass the golden eggs surrounding her. It would have been hell and Sakura was grateful she’d skipped the experience.
“Hello, can I help you kunoichi-san?” Iruka asked, his eyes moving over Sakura’s chunin vest and then to her hitai-ate. It was rare that someone so young graduated and rarer for Iruka not to know them, since he made sure to memorize every student that came through the academy.
“I’m here to drop off Naruto-chan. Sorry he’s late, it’s my fault. I just came back from border patrol and wanted to eat breakfast with my favorite little brother.” Sakura explained and Iruka frowned, looking between the two children with obvious suspicion. Sakura gently pushed Naruto forward and nodded towards an empty seat in the back of the classroom. “I trust he’s not in trouble since this was my fault?”
“He’s not in trouble, no.” Iruka frowned and Sakura could feel him trying to puzzle her out. He had started last year, which meant her current disguise would have had to graduate sometime around the age of nine for him not to know her. Such a graduation would have created some ripples but the only recent child graduate was her true identity. “I never caught your name, chunin-san.”
“Nagao Kagetora,” Sakura grinned, showing off her teeth and flicked through a few quick hand signs out of sight of the rest of the class. It was a simple pass code, a statement of rank and verification of identity.
“Very well, try not to make Naruto late in the future. His grades-”
“I don’t think you need to insult a student’s grades in front of the whole class. Naruto do your best, I’ll be busy after school but hopefully I’ll have some time to hangout again soon.” Sakura said to the blond who shot her a thumbs up. She grinned at him before flickering away, leaving without even a puff of smoke and absolutely wowing the eight year old students. Landing outside on a nearby rooftop, Sakura slipped her disguise off and slid her bone white mask over her face. She couldn’t guard Naruto from inside the academy but she’d watch him and use his antics to keep her mind off of her evening rendezvous with Shisui. Worrying wouldn’t make the time pass faster after all.