Arc One: Seed

Maito Gai was a man aware of himself. Aware of his strengths and weaknesses, aware of his personality quirks and idiosyncrasies, aware of his own capabilities and limitations. One thing not many would know is that he is also aware of how people perceive him.

He knows not many share the same sentiments as him when it comes to his heartfelt dedication, but just having his pupil Lee share the same passion was worth all the odd stares and confused mutterings. It was more important to Gai that he was helping a few than to be free of scrutiny by many.

He knows his methods were seen as eccentric by many and how he drove his students to reach for near impossible feats was not the standard for sensei’s and resulted in him not being assigned many students. But the students he was blessed with could never fail him, seeing them grow and flourish, trusting his process and being rewarded with their remarkable progress into becoming exceptional shinobi. He may not have many students but he treasured the time he spent with his wonderful few.

He knows many people see his optimism as purely naïve. Which was not true. Maito Gai was an optimist in a realist sense.

Striving to push further than his own limitations didn’t mean he was ignorant to them. Pushing his students to reach their full potential meant he knew them capable enough to reach them. Believing the day was going to be good meant nothing if you yourself didn’t do everything in your power to make it good.

It was true that he hoped for the best in every situation, but that didn't make him blind when the evidence suggested otherwise.

A day prior was the perfect example.

Kakashi had left immediately upon escorting Shizune into Gai’s care but the kunoichi had briefly seen the location he must have investigated. After Shizune had successfully cured the townsfolk without needing much modification to Sakura’s existing antidote blueprint, the group trekked home, all knowing they were going to make a brief stop.

“Here…” Shizune came to a stop. Her steps slow but her eyes frantic as she scanned from the ground to the trees.

Gai and his students slowed their own steps to assess the scene themselves.

Neji was quick to activate his byakugan and reported, “I see nothing out of the ordinary within a thousand kilometre radius, just standard trees and the pathway with no noticeable irregularities.”

Gai asked, “Nothing small like seals or stray kunai?”

Neji shook his head, “nothing.”

Lee, who had moved in a straight line directly to the one tree with a noticeable indent near the base, dropped to a crouch and brought careful fingers to rest at the point of impact. He knew he needn’t be so gentle with his touch, only a strong force could bend and shape the tree around it. A force they all recognised.

“Sakura-san was here, she struck this tree.” He said.

Tenten stood by the tree and assessed it with a finger to her chin. “This is certainly her handiwork, but if she was in a fight then she’d surely throw more than one punch.”

Neji contributed, “she may have been ambushed.”

Tenten gestured with a hand to the punch's impact, “ambush or not, she clearly had the reaction time to fight back and her strength isn’t something so easily shrugged off.”

Neji returned without much pause, “we don’t know the number of opponents she may have faced. Strength is an asset but numbers can be overwhelming.”

Tenten cocked her head and pinched her lips, mulling over the thought. “I guess, but even if she was outnumbered I’m sure she would put up more of a fight than just one punch.”

Gai’s sole jonin student continued, “I’m not saying she didn’t put up a fight, but taking into account the unknown number of ambushers, their skillset, and how both those factors being unknown to her, leaving her at an immediate disadvantage; she may have simply been overpowered.”

Neji’s next pondering unsettled something deep in Gai, “regarding the lack of evidence of a struggle, we can’t rule out the possibility that she went willingly.”

Tenten frowned, her eyes jumping from detail to detail around the area, her mouth pinched as if she wanted to argue against the notion but didn’t quite know how to articulate it.

Shizune shook her head. The woman had been noticeably quiet, her expression stern but her eyes gave way to her worry. “She wouldn’t have gone willingly,” she said.

Tenten nodded. Neji countered, “not even if these ambushers had something she wanted? If she was a deliberate target then they may have had information to sway her.”

Shizune met his eyes with a stare that bore no arguments, “she had a mission with lives on the line. Nothing could have led to her voluntarily abandoning that mission.”

“Besides!-” Tenten cut in, “what information could ever sway her to willingly leaving the village?” She gestured with arms wide.

“What about information regarding Sasuke?” Neji’s tone was even, he truly wasn’t trying to accuse or incriminate his fellow leaf shinobi. But he was a boy who knew all theories should be presented. Yet his words gave the group pause.

Tenten worried her lip, “I don’t… I still don’t think she’d leave.”

Shizune’s posture noticeably tensed as her mind raced. She stood firm.

Gai silently mulled over his clever students' suggestions and theories, he was quiet whilst he surveyed the scene for how a fight could have happened. Unfortunately his silence was not taken well by Lee.

“Stop talking about our dear friend like this!” Lee sprang to his feet, his fists shaking with how tightly he gripped them. “Sakura-san is not weak and we would be disrespecting her by implying she did anything other than fight her hardest no matter the number or strength of her opponents!” He breathed harshly through gritted teeth, “not only that - but there’s no way Sakura-san would ever abandon the village! We should be looking for a way to help our friend, not accusing her of being a traitor!”

His tone was harsh, cracking on words in his desperation to be heard. Lee never did anything in halves and that included defending a close friend. Like always, the boy's pleas pulled at Gai’s heart.

Neji furrowed his brow and attempted to explain in his usual rational tone of voice, “Lee, I’m not trying to accuse her-”

“Yet you just said she may have willingly defected!” Lee pointed at his teammate accusingly.

Tenten used her crossed arms to hug herself and pleaded on Neji’s behalf, “that’s not what he’s saying Lee. You know we’re only looking at every angle because we’re all worried about her.”

That was true. Gai had noticed since arriving at the scene that only Lee had referred to Sakura by name. This was because he knew his students, Neji and Tenten’s worry was being exemplified by them trying to distance their personal connection to the scene. By calling Sakura ‘her’, they were able to erect a comfortable wall around their hearts to keep them guarded.

After all, it felt easy to speculate about a missing person, it would hurt anyone to impose their friend onto that person.

However Lee could never distance himself like that. His heart was in everything he did. He couldn’t listen idly and unaffected as these speculations were made not about a faceless person, but about Sakura .

“Sakura-san is missing .” Lee emphasised, “our friend is missing. We should be out looking for her! Not calling her a village traitor!”

“Lee!” Gai interrupted, demanding his students' attention. “No one is accusing Sakura of being a village traitor.”

Lee’s eyes pleaded for his sensei’s understanding, “but - but Gai-sensei, Neji suggested Sakura went willingly.”

Gai held up a finger, “he did, but nothing was said about Sakura’s possible motivation.” He made sure to say her name, after all, he too was a man who’s heart was in everything he did. “No matter the speculation, we all know who we are talking about. If Sakura were to ever leave the village, it would never be for malicious reasons. It would be for reasons that would help someone, wouldn’t it?”

Lee’s eyes lowered, his sadness and frustration clear on his expressive face. “It… It would…”

Gai reached out and held Lee by the shoulders, offering the boy a comforting touch. “Lee, it would be irresponsible of any ninja to not consider any possibility. The reason your teammates are even speculating these thoughts is because they wish to be thorough. They’re just as worried as you.”

Gai felt the tension slowly ease from Lee’s body, his eyes still lowered. “I… I understand, Gai-sensei. But should we not be looking for her?”

Gai’s own expression saddened. “It pains me to say this Lee, but no.”

Lee’s eyes snapped up to meet his mentors, shock evident and it ached Gai’s heart to disappoint him. Gai spoke before Lee’s words could further hurt him. “Our mission is to escort lady Shizune and report our findings. The sooner we do that, the sooner our Hokage can pursue the next course of action to bring Sakura home.”

Lee’s eyes began to shine that familiar sheen of sadness. Gai rubbed his shoulders soothingly. “Do you understand what I’m trying to say Lee?”

The boy took a moment before nodding. “I do, Gai-sensei… I’m just worried about my friend.”

Tenten approached, releasing a hand from her abdomen to rest it against Lee’s upper arm in a unifying sign of solidarity and understanding. “We’re worried about Sakura too. Sorry if it felt like we sounded like assholes.”

Lee shook his head harshly, his hair bouncing with the effort. “No, Tenten, I’m sorry for assuming the worst of you both.”

Neji remained quiet, his arms crossed, not in anger but in discomfort at the situation. His prodigious student always had been uncomfortable in overly emotional displays, but Gai didn’t fault him for this. He understood Neji’s silence was him reaching the same understanding as his teammates without the need for the verbal affirmations.

Shizune remained quiet for a moment before speaking, “we should go now. Like you said, the sooner we report in, the sooner investigations can be done.”

Gai nodded, “alright. Let’s go, team.” When Lee and Tenten agreed, the group took off.

By the time they arrived at Konoha, night was creeping in.

It wasn’t easily accepted, but Gai had dismissed his students. They were to return to their homes for dinner and rest while Gai escorted Shizune to Tsunade along with their report.

He kept pace behind the woman who’s steps quickened the closer they got to the Hokage office. Clearly eager to speak with her mentor, yet she still held herself with manners so rigidly instilled, she knocked on the door.

“Come in, Shizune.” Tsunade called. Shizune wasted no time and Gai followed in behind her.

Only to freeze at the unexpected presence standing in the room with the Hokage.

“Bushier-brow-sensei! Wow, you haven’t changed at all.” Naruto grinned. He stood between the legendary sannin toad sage Jiraiya and Gai’s close friend Kakashi.

His shock was momentary and he recovered with a smile and arms stretched wide in gesture to the boy as they approached the desk. “I can’t say the same! Look at you! Why Naruto, you've had quite the growth spurt.”

Said boy chuckled through his wide toothy grin. “Hehe yep! Had to get a new uniform and everything.” He pulled his jacket out at the base to show it off. His curious eyes peaked passed Gai to the woman he’d entered with.

Shizune offered him a small smile, “it’s been a long time Naruto, it’s good to see you again.”

“Yeah, you too.” His words trailed off as he looked past her.

Gai felt his gut drop as the boy furrowed his brow and asked, “isn’t Sakura-chan with you?”

Shizune’s smile visibly tightened “ah-”

“No, Sakura’s still indisposed like I told you.” Tsunade emphasised. Gai took notice of her rigid posture, her hands resting on the paper crowded desk with fingers so tightly interwoven that her knuckles were white. She was choosing her words carefully.

Naruto made a displeased groan, “now I’m back, I wanted us to go on a mission like the good old days.” Gai’s eyes flickered to Kakashi who was making a point to say nothing and held gaze with Tsunade.

“Even when she comes back, I just told you that seeing how you never graduated to chunin you wouldn’t be getting any missions together, certainly not the kind of missions you’re looking for.” Tsunade levelled Naruto with a look he turned away from, arms crossed behind his head.

“Not my fault the exam was interrupted…” he muttered.

Tsunade sighed, leaned back in her chair and crossed her long sleeved arms. “Anyway I was trying to tell you that usually the case would be that you’d have to wait until the next chunin exam to enter.”

Naruto groaned loudly “that’s in like months-”

Jiraiya smacked him lightly on the back of the head, “stop interrupting and maybe you’ll stop complaining.”

Tsunade continued, “but out of the kindness of my heart and with input from Jiraiya on your training progression, I’ve managed to arrange an individual test just for you. I’ve scheduled it for the day after tomorrow so you and Jiraiya will have at least a day to prepare.”

“Seriously!? Tsunade-baa-chan you’re the best!” He beamed, fists pumped at his sides.

“It will last for a couple days purely because I can only allocate a few proctors for a single person's exam but be grateful I could even make this happen just for you.” She pointed to the eager ninja.

“Thanks a million!” He spun to smile at his mentor. “You too, Ero-sennin. Did you talk me up? Huh? Did you tell her how strong I’ve gotten? Huh?”

Jiraiya rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “that, and I told her you were so desperate to finally get out on the field that it was getting real pitiful seeing you cry about it.” His thoughtful expression morphing into a cheeky grin.

Naruto sputtered. “I didn’t ! And that was one time!”

Jiraiya lowered his grinning face to be more level with Naruto’s reddening one. “Really? Because I remember at least five occasions with you in tears about it every time I forbid you from mission work.”

Naruto’s ears reddened as he puffed up, “you’re just such an old fart that your memory’s starting to go!”

“Who’re you calling old fart-”

“Enough!” Tsunade interrupted, massaging her temples with her fingers. “It’s late and you’re loud. Both of you are excused for the night, Jiraiya you have the details of what Naruto needs to go over tomorrow. Out.”

Jiraiya gave a barely there nod of acknowledgement, “roger on that. Let’s get some dinner, kid.”

Naruto breathed his embarrassment out in a puff. “Bye Tsunade-baa-san, see ya later Kakashi-sensei.” Kakashi nodded and gave a slight wave in response. He bid Gai and Shizune a quick goodbye as he caught up with Jiraiya.

Naruto’s mood began lightning with every step he took alongside the toad sage out the door.

“I’m gonna ace this exam, then team 7 can finally go on missions again.” He pumped his fists.

Jiraiya replied with a good-natured tease, “you’ve actually got to ‘ace’ the exam first, kid.”

The door closed behind them though Naruto’s voice could be heard muffled as they got further and further away.

Tsunade remained silent for a while still, either to collect herself through the mounting stress she was no doubt experiencing or just to make sure a certain blonde loudmouth was far away enough to be safe.

The other three adults in the room respected her silence and waited.

Eventually the Hokage leaned forward with elbows on her desk, linking her fingers and resting them against her mouth. She spoke in a tone so serious it sounded like she was closer to negotiating with enemies than speaking to her own allies, “report.”

Shizune relayed what Gai and his students had observed from the incident site and Gai handed his scroll report of the mission to her offered hand. Tsunade nodded along with Shizune’s words as she unclasped the scroll and read the report.

She was silent as she read and listened. Eventually rolling the scroll closed and returning to her previous posture.

Shizune, being the closest person to Tsunade, braved the silence. “Tsunade-shishou…”

Said woman looked down at the papers and scrolls at her desk, then slowly blinked and raised her eyes to meet her worried apprentices. Her words were heavy, sinking in the hearts of the three in the room. “Sakura has been missing for eight days. The elders and village council want to label her a rogue-nin.”

The three jonin’s spines snapped straight and their muscles tensed rigid. “That - that can’t be-” Shizune stammered, a frantic tone to her voice paired with wide eyes.

“Surely they must reconsider! Our findings include evidence of a fight, that alone should bar her from being a rogue-nin.” Gai also pleaded, using his open palms to animate his point.

“-You know that means nothing to them.” Kakashi’s tone was harsh, his voice snapping like a whip.

Tsunade spoke, “as much as it pains me to say this, the elders and council are being more than lenient. The standard is that the second a shinobi abandons their mission it’s seen as an immediate defection and they are a rogue-nin.” She levelled them with a hard stare.

They all knew the weight that title carried. To defect from your village was seen as not only an ultimate act of disgrace as a shinobi, but one couldn’t leave their village without taking valuable information in the form of their teachings.

Rogue-nin were dangerous because they carried village secrets that could be shared to other villages and enemies, leaving their abandoned village in danger and at an incredible disadvantage.

Most if not all who carried the title of rogue-nin also came with the caveat of kill on sight, and specifically dangerous ones were ordered to be hunted down.

“I managed to negotiate with them to delay officially labelling her until the initial investigation report came in.” Her eyes drifted down to the reports. “All reports match.”

Gai wanted to protest more. Excuses, rationalisations and justifications finding no way to form into a convincing defence that they congealed on his tongue leaving his mouth twitching in aborted silent pleas.

Shizune fared no better, her eyes glassy and imploring.

Kakashi found the words to say, “what’s the plan for our next move?”

Tsunade’s glare was as harsh as her words, “there is no ‘our’ here. You will have zero involvement from here on out.”

Gai had more of a visible reaction than the man those words were aimed at. “What?! But this is Kakashi’s own precious student!”

Tsunade continued, “precisely, it's a conflict of interest that leaves him emotionally compromised.”

Gai sputtered, “ ‘emotionally compromised’ - it’s his student! If one of my own went missing, I would be fighting tooth and nail to get them back.”

“ If it were you-! ” Tsunade’s palms slammed on the desk and she shot to her feet, “-this would be different.”

Her finger pointed to the silent shinobi, her words sharp as knives. “If this investigation proves Sakura did abandon the village then that would make her the second of three shinobi you had under your care to become rogue-nin!

With how much pleading it took on that last old man Hiruzen’s part to get you into a teaching position whilst many in the council were against it - and including how many students you rejected in the process, it’s a small miracle you came to mentor a team at all.

This coupled with the last Uchiha under your care abandoning the village for Orochimaru…” her teeth grit against the name, grinding it like gravel under her boot.

Gai pleaded further on his friends behalf, “even removing their teacher student connection, Kakashi is one of the villagers best shinobi and with a tracker summons no less! If Sakura’s disappearance is truly of such a high priority to the village then it would be imprudent to not assign him.”

She paused for a moment, a deep breath rising her shoulders before allowing it out. Once collected and calmer, she spoke.

“Look at this from another perspective.” She said slowly. “A prodigious student, one whose skill led him to becoming anbu at such a young age, one who seems to have parted on less than ideal terms from that organisation full of personal potential to become a mentor.”

She lowered herself back into her seat, “one who the Hokage and the Hokage’s personal right hand have conflicting opinions about but despite one's cautions, he is assigned a teaching position. Imagine the concern it instilled in the council when that prodigious shinobi not only limited his mission assignments for that position only to reject every student presented to him over the course of three years. ”

She leaned forward slightly. “Imagine how suspicious it looks when the team he finally accepts -a team containing the last Uchiha and the nine tails jinchuriki- who after hardly a year of mentoring, begin to defect from the village. One into the arms of one of Konoha’s worst traitors.”

Gai’s expression did something horrific, the mixture of denial, shock, and outrage leaving him in a frozen state of being, one desperate to fight for his comrade. His tone was even but deep, his respect for the Hokage pulling him from speaking unsavoury but his offence left him angry. “What are you implying?”

Kakshi’s fists only tightened at his sides, already prepared for the words though unable to protect himself for the sting they left behind.

Tsunade’s tone was kinder, not much, but enough to be noticeable. “I don’t agree with it either. But these factors and concerns have led to the council deciding to put Kakashi under surveillance until Sakura's situation is confirmed.”

She met the man's eye, her own stern yet sad. “As of right now the council suspects that you’ve been feeding these students with propaganda against the Leaf village and encouraging them to defect.”

“Tsunade-shishou!” Shizune gasped.

The Hokage held up a hand, “as I said, I don’t agree with it either.” She then rested her hands against the table, along with the conversation it seemed. “Regardless, my word can only do so much against the word of others, some who have known you longer and have watched your career far more closely.”

Gai was growing more outraged at the mere implication of Kakashi being a conspirator. It didn’t help that said man was saying nothing in his own defence.

Instead his words only admitted a defeated acceptance, “what are my restrictions and conditions?”

Tsunade listed off, “you will be assigned no missions and are to be kept out of contact with Naruto, the council doesn't want to risk him defecting if their suspicions of you are correct. You will have constant surveillance and any suspicious activity will bring the immediate attention of the anbu. Finally until Sakura’s situation is brought to light you are forbidden from leaving the Leaf village.”

Gai’s muscles were as tense as a spring, ready to jump into action, wanting to physically block Kakashi from the words spoken. But he remained where he stood and said, “so many restrictions. Is he just supposed to sit in the village and wait for Sakura to be found and his name to be cleared?”

Tsuande levelled him with a glare, the kindness reaching its understandable limits. “That’s exactly what he is to do. This isn’t just a student missing, this is a comrade of the last Uchiha who defected, a student of the legendary copy ninja and my - a sannin’s - apprentice!

If it’s found that Sakura was taken against her will, then his name will be cleared, the restrictions lifted and he will return to shinobi work. But if it’s found that she did defect from the Leaf, he is to be arrested and disciplined accordingly . Furthermore, anyone assisting Kakashi while under these conditions will be treated as a co-conspirator.”

Gai’s eyes flinched and looked away. ‘Disciplined accordingly, ’ under such grave accusations that could only mean either a prison sentence or a death penalty.

‘No,’ Gai thought, ‘Kakashi is too skilled a shinobi for the village to be put to death. Too valuable an asset. He would certainly receive a prison sentence… But for who knows how long?’

He grit his teeth, nails digging into his palms. ‘Kakashi has already lost so much. If he were to lose all his precious students to rogue-nin and village defectors… It could break him..’

Gai’s thoughts trailed off, unwilling to consider what Kakashi might do to himself in a cold lonely prison cell. Gai was one of the only ones to speak up to Hiruzen and convince him that giving Kakashi a teaching position, students to care for, that it could be the only thing left to mend the grieving man's heart after so many losses in his life.

If Gai’s attempt to reach out and help his dearest friend by giving him a team whose abandonment of Kakashi was the final thing to push him over the edge…

Gai was shaking that horrifying thought away when Tsunade directed her words once again to the silent shinobi.

“Considering the weight of the situation at hand, the restrictions and conditions assigned, and how you are to behave until we finally have the clarity of Sakura’s situation discovered. You are to comply with the orders set. Do I make myself clear?”

Kakashi was under the eyes of all in the room. Tsunade’s hard glare was appropriate for a person in her position discipling a shinobi. Shizune’s deep black pools glistening with concern, her caring heart bringing her close to tears but her professional demeanour keeping them from spilling. Gai… The silence of his friend further increased Gai’s concern tenfold with each second that passed.

Tsunade said again, “do I make myself clear, shinobi ?” She emphasised his title.

This pulled Kakashi from his self consuming thoughts and he visibly tightened. “Yes, ma’am Hokage. I understand.”

Tsunade’s stare was unwavering as she assessed the man standing before her. Under the weight of all these accusations, the man wore sadness like a well worn coat, time wearing the seams and weighing his shoulders down. With a practised ease only born from repeated wearing's, he appeared the picture of a proper shinobi standing at attention and in complete agreement of his commanders orders.

Only Gai could see the tiredness in the angle of his eye. The sadness provided little comfort and no protection from the knives that dangled overhead.

Tsunade closed her eyes and let out a low breath, “you’re both dismissed.”

The two men bowed, Gai following closely behind his friend as they left.

He made quick strides to catch up with the man, needing to grasp his shoulder to slow him down enough to talk to him. “Kakashi wait!” said man slowed his pace, clearly by reluctance.

Gai struggled momentarily for the right words to say, what could he say? “This - These restrictions are ridiculous. The Hokage herself said she doesn't believe them! What are you going to do?”

Kakashi’s shoulder was like lead, unyielding in Gai’s grip. “What do you mean?” His tone was rumbled, straining under the effort to make it calm. “There’s nothing to do. Believe them or not, you heard her, her hands are tied.”

Gai longed to ease his friend's pain, but even speaking the words, he knew nothing he could offer now could help. “Kakashi… please know you can always talk to me.”

Kakashi turned his tired eye to meet Gai’s own, the exhaustion clear in them making Gai’s chest squeeze painfully tight. “You shouldn’t associate with me for a while.” 

The dismissal was clear and Kakashi pulled from Gai’s grip and strode away, vanishing once the point had been made clear enough.

Gai remained, stuck staring sadly at the place his friend once stood. He understood why things were the way they were and why those decisions had been made. He also knew there was nothing he could do, nothing he could offer right now.

All he could do was have faith in Tsunade and the actions she would choose to take. Hope he could be of use should she ask him. Until then, he should make sure his students are alright, and hope Kakashi will take care of himself.

❀

Sakura accepted with an air of despondency that winter was beginning to sink its teeth in the landscape. The chill that could once be shrugged off with another outer layer of her yukata had become so insatiable in its demand for her warmth that she now guarded herself with purple woolly socks and a thick black comforter wrapped around her shoulders.

Said comforter and socks of course gifted by her best friend Konan.

Sakura had begun the day like she had the last few since her unorthodox healing of Kisame, Itachi and Deidara. Demanding check-ups of said men in the morning then switching from desk to desk as she went over the data.

The trio were symptom free and by all accounts cured, but it was always best to err on the side of caution until she was completely satisfied in their recovery.

Though it was only three days after administering the antidote, Kisame and Deidara were practically fighting fit. Deidara because his affliction wasn’t dire enough to even begin showing symptoms, and Kisame because as Sakura observed his body was naturally righting itself now the poison was removed and his chakra system was calmed.

However, Sakura would only be convinced they were out of danger after a week of check-ups supporting their recovery.

Itachi was the main reason she remained hunched over her desk.

While the antidote had worked as intended, his chakra network had returned to normal and presented no danger to himself, but that now left her with his prior ailment. She had prescribed him medication to keep things temporarily under control while she worked tirelessly trying to figure out just what illness he was suffering from.

Her current theory was a form of vessel vasculitis but not all the data was adding up.

But for now the man was stabilised which meant in her down-time Sakura would work to figure out precisely what ailment he was suffering from. This allowed Sakura to focus on her current patients that were in more concerning states.

Sakura would put Itachi to the side for now, never out of mind, as she still wanted to keep an eye on him at all times.

Sakura flipped her notepad to the main patient points she had circled.

Kakuzu; still low danger as all Sakura needed to do was figure out where she would get a fire chakra based heart.

Sasori; low danger. He was more annoyingly inconvenienced by his predicament and his inability to fix it himself . Sakura would need to brainstorm more on exactly what she could do to get him able bodied enough to mend himself as he pleased.

Hidan; moderate danger. Through loud complaints and vulgar language only pacified by Kakuzu throwing his head around, Sakura had given Hidan another check up and he was somehow still in a healthy condition. Sakura longed to study his body and learn just how his jutsu was keeping him alive while in pieces.

Deidara; high danger. While not life-threatening, his arms discolouration had worsened to a vulgar pale red with a deep purple hue. The limb responded to Deidara's commands even slower and weaker than before, and control of the mouth on the palm completely gone which left the lips sealed shut. By Sakura’s analysis, the limb would be completely dead weight and the body would reject it - meaning the limb will be dead and thus begin the postpartum stages of death - in give or take ten days. 

As Deidara’s main concern was that he needed an arm capable of having his chakra flow so that he could still be the powerful shinobi he was, Sakura needed to do one of two things.

Either heal the dying limb. Or attach a new one.

Both options came with their own complications.

“...whatcha working on?”

The hairs on the back of Sakura’s neck rose in alarm as she startled, body jolting in her seat only to catch her breath and sigh upon seeing the familiar spiralled mask eye level and perched on her shoulder.

“Tobi! Don’t make me jump like that!” She admonished though she was smiling.

“Tobi’s sorry, please accept this lunch as a heartfelt apology!” He held a tray and though Sakuras stomach hadn’t been bothering her too much despite the time she hadn’t noticed just how much had passed, she’d admit the onigiri was making her mouth water.

“Apology accepted, thank you, Tobi.” She cleared a space on her desk and accepted the meal. She couldn’t find herself too upset as her friend had the habit of either appearing soundlessly to startle her from her work, or his presence was revealed before even stepping into the room with loud footsteps and a happy tune.

“So how’s medicine-ing going? Did you win?” He bent practically in half to look down at her work on the desk. She let his childish wording roll off her shoulders as he began picking up her notes, turning the pages and angling his head this way and that, as if the angle would help him understand what was written.

“I’m trying to figure out what to do about Deidara’s arm situation. I need to figure out either how to heal his own dying arm or I need to attach a new one to replace it.”

“Heeeh…” He hummed, now holding a note sheet upside down with his head angled to the right. “If you’ve got two solutions then why not just pick one and do that?”

Sakura took an onigiri, the fluffy rice hot on her tongue so she puffed out the steam to cool it down. Once swallowed could she answer. “It’s not that simple, Tobi. Both of these solutions have gaping issues.”

“Then explain it to Tobi!” He righted his head and switched the paper in hand for another. “Why can’t you just heal the dying arm?”

Sakura sat back in her seat. “Well I guess calling it a ‘dying’ limb isn't exactly accurate.

Look at it like this; once a limb has been severed there's a brief window where it can be safely reattached, that being somewhere between four to six hours if it's not being kept cold. But Kakuzu-san used his thread jutsu to attach it much later, and from what I’ve inspected his stitching just connected the flesh and not the nerves.

Reattaching a limb requires microsurgery to mend and connect bone, tendons, muscle tissue and skin. This is why his arm isn’t exactly dying but rather that it’s already dead.” She took another bite of her onigiri, revelling in the salmon filling that delighted her taste buds.

Tobi seemed to follow along well, “so Kakuzu basically skipped all the little steps and jumped straight to the end. The arm’s on but nothing inside it is connected.”

Sakura nodded, “precisely.”

“But then how’s he moving it?”

Sakura continued, “well notice how when I listed the things that would need to be mended and connected, I didn’t mention the chakra network?”

“Oh yeah! Can’t you stitch that?” He inquired as he turned to lean back against the desk, arms crossed so as to not further disrupt the papers.

“Chakra networks don’t like to be meddled with, the only real way to interact with them is accessing chakra points, severing them though…” Sakura sighed, “while tendons and nerves can be reattached, the chakra network is vastly under researched as it’s incredibly difficult to research. It’s been discovered that when a chakra vein is severed, it seals itself almost immediately, hence why we don’t bleed chakra when we lose a limb.

So while attaching a limb or replantation as it’s called is a doable procedure the problem faced is that with those chakra points sealing themselves it means the attached limb wont have chakra flow through it.”

She raised up a pointed finger, “however recently there's been developments in the medical world thanks to leading researchers at Petrichor centre, a device they’ve been working on called a chakra loop. It’s attached to the severed limb and acts as a loop, similar to how the phantom limb sensation makes it feel as though the missing body part is still able to be controlled, the chakra loop acts the same for the chakra points. This is in hopes to keep the chakra veins alive in the time it takes to attach the limb.”

Tobi nodded along, “so why didn’t you ask for one of those from the old rich guy?”

Sakura replied, “a few reasons. One; the chakra loop is still in the early development stages, meaning it’s not available nor safe enough for purchase. Two; it’s designed to be applied immediately upon separation, the chakra vein seals itself after only two minutes and even that is pushing it, so already it wouldn’t work. And third, the success rate is less than desired, so far the chakra loop is successful in keeping the chakra points active and open once they connect to the newly attached limb, but after a period of time the limb is rejected and the chakra refuses to flow. This means the reattached arm works but its chakra network remains dead.”

She tapped her notes with a pen in her hand unoccupied by her onigiri, “since I doubt Kakuzu-san’s threading jutsu has had much research regarding its medical properties when applied to others, my theory is that the attached arm is acting as a chakra loop. The chakra being looped is operating the limb, like chakra threads puppet-ing a separate appendage.”

Tobi nodded solemnly, his arms crossed as he hummed. “Tobi understands,” he concluded with a final nod before looking into Sakura’s eyes head-on. “Do you know what this sounds like to Tobi?”

Sakura’s brow furrowed in inquiry, she ate the last bite of her onigiri, cheeks puffing until she swallowed and asked, “what?”

“Sounds like someone hasn’t been outside this room all day.” With each word spoken, he lowered his head until their faces - hers to his masked one - were a breath apart.

“Wha- what does that have to do with-”

Tobi cut her off by rounding the desk and pulling back the chair she sat on, “you’ve been doing so much reading and researching and theorising that you’re gonna worry your pretty little head off. It’s been days you’ve been cooped up in this room! You need air .”

He hauled her up to her feet by her shoulders, the comparison between her and a misbehaving kitten being held by the scruff of their neck made Sakura’s cheeks flare a warm red. “Tobi, I need to do all this work! People’s lives and futures are on the line!”

Tobi placed her on the ground and began directing her to the door with a hand on the centre of her back, and his voice was completely at ease he replied softly, “and they’ll live,” as if that would be all she needed to calm down.

“ They won't! ” Sakura flailed, unable to wriggle from Tobi’s push and her woollen feet offered her no resistance on the wooden floors, “or at least not as well as they should!”

Her warm comforters left on her chair and against her protests he managed to get her out the door, “you’ve done a lot of thinking already and your desk isn’t going anywhere. Tobi doesn’t want you sitting alone and stressing yourself out.”

Sakura wanted to argue more, but she rubbed her eyes as they adjusted to the hallway light and began rapidly approaching the main living area.

“So Tobi’s giving our doctor some doctor's orders!” He squeezed her shoulder comfortingly before rounding her and tapping Sakura’s nose with a finger. “Tobi’s prescribing you an hour of socialising a day.”

“But-” He cut her off with a wag of his finger.

“-nuh uh! As a good senpai, Tobi’s looking out for your mental health. Just an hour will be good for you.”

Sakura sighed, she rubbed her eyes. She didn’t want to admit it but the continuous work had begun to make her eyes sting with the beginnings of a pressure headache. The lunch had helped but just breathing the air outside her room was doing wonders.

Also unfortunately Tobi’s words were sound, she really should take a break for her own sanity.

Taking the easing of her posture and deep sigh as acceptance, Tobi perked up and gave her a couple pats atop her head as a reward before allowing her to follow behind him.

Deidara’s voice was the first thing to greet them, “Tobi! Hurry up!” he sniped. The masked man bowed his head good naturedly as he held aloft the empty food tray that had only moments ago held Sakura’s lunch.

“So sorry, but Tobi’s side mission is now complete!” He said, raising the tray triumphantly and ducking into the kitchen.

Sakura pulled her fists from her eyes, temporarily blinded by the hanging lights of the main room where the couch lay empty but the dining table sat full. Resting in the surrounding chairs sat Deidara, Kisame, Itachi and Kakuzu.

Kisame’s grin wasn’t malicious despite being full of sharp teeth, “hey there doc, decided to join the land of the living?”

Sakura stretched her arms, feeling the satisfying pull of her muscles, and retorted, “I should be asking you that, how’re you feeling today?”

Kisame rolled his eyes, grin still intact, “m’fine and check-ups not for another couple hours anyway. You really can’t turn it off can you?”

“ She can’t! ” Tobi yelled from the kitchen. Sakura pouted, feeling goosebumps pebble up her forearms, she shook the chill off and approached the table.

Now closer she could see what the group were doing; playing cards stacked by Deidara who sat at the head of the table, handfuls of ryo clumped into piles in front of each person along with drinks and assorted snacks.

Taking note of the two face up cards in each person's hands except for Deidara who held one up and one face down, Sakura came to the understanding, “blackjack?”

“Yep,” Deidara popped the ‘p’ and looked irritably in the kitchen's direction. “Once someone hurries up we can get back into it.”

“You play?” Kakuzu spared a look from his cards to study her with lidded eyes.

Sakura gave pause, her step stuttered and the headache she had been nursing stung her eyes, she spared a thought on how to answer. Kneejerk politeness almost speaking for her, but Sakura held her tongue.

She couldn’t explain how she knew, but she felt the question was a test, and that her answer was important.

Sakura came back into herself with a shrug of her shoulders and a deceptively nonchalant tone, “maybe I do maybe I don’t.”

Kisame chuckled through his teeth, clearly liking her answer as he looked from Kakuzu to her and raised his eyebrow. “Do you wanna?”

Taking it as a challenge, Sakura wanted more information first, “depends, what are we playing with? Money, food, favours?”

Deidara snorted a laugh, “if we weren’t playing with money then Kakuzu wouldn’t be here.”

Said man didn’t appear offended, instead amusingly enough he nodded once in agreement and used a hand to rise and drop a stack of gold ryo in order to show off his winnings.

Only now since entering the conversation did Sakura feel she came up short, she itched her cheek with a finger and sheepishly admitted, “ah, I don’t have any money.”

Deidara sucked in air between his teeth and flicked the tips of the card stack, “yeah that makes sense.”

“Oh!” Tobi poked his head back into the room, “you can use mine!”

“Come on, Tobi! You said after this round you’d deal!” Deidara barked, “you know I hate being the dealer and no way am I letting Kakuzu! ” he threw an arm in the larger man's direction.

Tobi dismissed this with a handwave and sped through the room. “Tobi will still deal, just a sec!”

“Tobi no-” Sakura protested, “I couldn’t use your money, you don’t even know if I’m any good!”

The masked man peaked back into the room from the hallway, he cocked his head with an ease to his posture and mirth in his eye. “That’s ok, I wasn’t doing that good anyway.” Then he was gone.

True to his word, when Sakura turned to the chair half pulled out, with ryo coins, cards and a bag of sweets collected on the table - ‘how does he eat those without everyone seeing his face?’ - Sakura shook the thought away, and she noticed the ryo pile sat significantly smaller than the others.

As the dealer, Deidara’s pile, representing the ‘house’, sat full. Stacks stood together in an abundance of gold, decorated with a stray pile of cluttered new winnings. Whilst Kakuzu boasted a proud stack of ryo, his earnings stood organised, with a smaller pile to the side for him to fiddle with.

Kisame’s winnings were nothing to scoff at either, certainly a comfortable amount of ryo that his smirk confirmed his pride in. He was also accompanied by two bowls, one full of oranges and the other half full of orange peels. Sakura felt a proud smile growing upon seeing him following her prescription of water-rich food to help with his hydration whilst easing his appetite; though he would soon be cleared for regular meal portion sizes.

Likewise, Itachi was accompanied by a small bowl of strawberries. Sakura spared a thought on if such a grim and serious man possessed a sweet tooth before she noticed that in contradiction with the others at the table, his winnings sat a dejected meagre pile. Granted Tobi held less but Itachi was in the running for the smallest pile.

With Deidara seated at the head, Itachi and Kisame on the right table-side, an empty seat then Kakuzu on the left, Sakura accepted her friend wouldn’t be changing his mind and took his open seat.

Deidara grumbled to himself as he kicked away from the table, “about time.” He swiped an orange from Kisame’s bowl as he circled to his new seat beside the much larger man.

“Oi, get your own.” Kisame voiced, though making no effort to retrieve the fruit as Deidara was making a gross show of how his hand licked the orange and grinned in satisfaction when that got an eye roll in return.

“I only licked the skin, you wimp.” Deidara leaned back, legs crossed against the table so he could rock on the chairs' two back legs.

Kisame began peeling his own, “and I’m about to be cleared for proper meals again so don’t think I’m risking that because I caught anything from you, carrier.”

Deidara snapped, “ I caught shit from you! You’re patient zero!”

“Yeah, your arm’s looking real healthy from where I'm sittin’.” Kisame smirked.

“I’m injured, not sick, moron. You’re not gonna catch ‘arm-falling-off-itis’ from my spit.” Deidara retorted.

Sakura piqued up as she counted the ryo she was to play with, “actually diseases ending with ‘itis’ are characterised as inflammations.”

 Kisame turned to listen to her as she spoke, then grinned further at the new verbal ammunition she had unknowingly provided him.

“Yeah dumbass, get your diseases right.” He prodded.

Deidara dramatically rolled his eyes, “oh fuck off, like you know about diseases and infections and ‘itis’s and shit-”

“Both of your stupidity is equally infectious now will you shut up.” Kakuzu rumbled, seemingly always unamused by the antics of the people he shared a roof with. He seemed to get his wish as Tobi sprang back into the room.

“Tobi’s back!” He sang, taking the dealer's seat. “Okay! Let's have a nice, fun, clean game, yeah?”

The group threw him their two cards for him to shuffle into the deck.

Kisame grinned, “o’course, it’s always fun when you’re the dealer.”

Sakura peaked at Deidara to see the blonde expectantly roll his visible eye then unexpectedly mutely and briefly nod his head. From the handful of interactions Sakura had witnessed between the dramatic artist and her eccentric masked friend, it seemed anything and everything Tobi did grated on Deidara’s nerves, leaving one perpetually irritated and the other aloof bordering on oblivious.

So to see Deidara, albeit non-verbally, communicate an agreement regarding a praise of Tobi, it was weird to say the least.

Sakura focused on her friends’ gloved hands as they effortlessly cut, stacked and shuffled the deck. ‘He must be a really good dealer then.’

“A single ryo is worth a thousand. We play until we tap out.” Kisame clarified so Sakura wouldn’t have to ask. Each player threw in their customary bet, Sakura read the room and threw it two ryo; the same as Kisame and Itachi whilst Deidara and Kakuzu threw in three.

A little daring considering she was working with just thirteen ryo - representing thirteen thousand - but she didn’t want to come across as ‘playing it safe’.

Likewise with her fighting capabilities and her medical experience, Sakura didn’t know how, but she knew she was familiar with games.

Tobi slid a face up card to each person and himself, then circled around sliding another face up card to the players and finished with a face down card for himself. Thus beginning the first round.

The thing about blackjack, it wasn’t a game where you were competing with the other players, it was the table versus the dealer. So while it wasn’t necessary to pay attention to the other bets nor their cards, Sakura did so anyway.

Sakura held a nine and a five, giving her a total of fourteen.

The goal was to get a hand totalling as close to twenty-one without going over whilst getting closer than the dealer. You place an initial bet, receive your cards then estimate the benefit of either standing with your current hand, or hitting - asking for another card.

Sakura looked at her cards lying face up on the table, she would have to hit due to another rule. That being, if the dealer's hand equalled sixteen or lower, they would have to draw cards until they hit seventeen or higher. With fourteen, it would be foolish to stand on a hand that’s lower than what the dealer was permitted to have. 

The only way Sakura could win with a hand less than the dealer's standard seventeen was if the dealer’s second card was low, thus forcing them to draw another card and that card was too high, leading them to bust - have a hand totalling twenty-two or more.

Tobi sat with a nine. A high number and with each face card - the jacks, queens, and kings - all equalling to ten, it was very possible he ended with a high number hand.

Only once the players had gone around and decided to stick with their hand would Tobi flip over his face down card to see what his total was.

They agreed to start with Kakuzu at Sakura’s right.

His initial hand was two sevens.

“I’ll split.” He said, taking the two cards and separating them on the table. Splitting was when a player’s starting hand was two matching cards, you separate the cards and start a second hand, placing a bet of equal value on both of them. This essentially allowed the player two separate bets; you could win both hands, lose both hands, or negate any winnings at all by losing with one, and winning with the other, high risk, high reward.

He placed two ryo by the second hand and received a new card to pair each seven.

One hand held a seven and an ace, the other held a seven and a six.

How lucky! An ace in blackjack equals to either a one or an eleven, depending on what the person wanted, hence why the only way to get a hand totalling twenty-one was an ace and a card that valued ten. This meant his hand either totalled eight or eighteen.

“I’ll stand on eighteen and hit the other.” Kakuzu spoke with a small wave of his hand.

Tobi slid a card to his second hand, it was another six. His other hand totalled nineteen. Sakura did her best to keep her expression stoic, yet couldn’t quite keep her eyes from widening.

His first round he was able to split his cards into two fantastic hands!

The only way he could lose his two bets was if Tobi had a twenty which was possible or a twenty-one which was unlikely. Even if Tobi got eighteen, one of Kakuzu’s hands would still win so his loss would be acceptable.

For the payout on winning hands, usually for a blackjack you’d receive your original bet with an additional 1.5 amount from the house, so ten ryo bet would get you twenty-five ryo back.

But they were playing with only gold ryo, no silver to represent half, Sakura estimated this meant they were playing a different kind of game where a blackjack hand would get you an additional two times your bet. So ten ryo would become thirty.

Whilst a hand that beat the dealers but didn’t equal twenty-one would earn you a double of your bet. Meaning ten ryo would become twenty.

“I’ll stand with nineteen.” Kakuzu finished his turn, Sakura nearly jumped when eyes turned to her.

“Oo, not a great starting hand.” Kisame grinned at her.

She gave a mild shrug, “it could be worse, I’ll hit.”

She received another five. “Nineteen, I’ll stand.” She smirked back, almost challengingly if Kisame wanted to read it that way.

Itachi was next, curiously enough the man had remained silent despite the table's antics and conversation before the game had even started, he spoke up now.

He held a seven and a nine. “Stand.”

Sakura couldn’t stop her brow from furrowing. ‘He’s standing… on a sixteen? Why would he do that?’ The only possible reason he could think that was a winning move was if the card after Tobi’s nine was a low number totalling a sixteen or lower and he was essentially betting on the second card being high, forcing Tobi to bust.

But… That was seriously unlikely, was he truly thinking that far ahead? At the very least you should stand on a seventeen but a sixteen? Sakura wondered just what Itachi was thinking.

Nevertheless, next was Kisame. He held a five and an ace, totalling either six or sixteen.

“That’s worth a hit,” he said and received another card. “Oh hell yeah,” his grin was full of satisfied teeth as he received a five.

“Kisame got blackjack!” Tobi clapped, “or an eleven if you want it to be.”

“Of course I’m standing with the twenty-one, Tobi.” Kisame chuckled, amused by the obvious answer.

He would be moronic not to, the only way for him to not win with blackjack was if the dealer drew one also. But Tobi already sat with a nine so it was unlikely, not impossible but unlikely.

Lastly was Deidara who had an ace and a two, giving him either a three or thirteen.

“Hit me,” he was thrown a queen.

Queens, valued at a ten, meant he would have to count the ace as a one or his hand had busted. He pouted at the number two card that hindered him from getting a natural blackjack.

Kisame chuckled, and jabbed Deidara’s side with his elbow, “just a two too much,” he taunted. Deidara shot him a stink-eye, then cockily waved his hand with a confident smirk.

“Hit.” His confidence melted from his expression as he was presented with another queen. His hand went from thirteen to twenty-three.

Kisame barked a laugh, “just a two way too much!” He gripped his stomach, Sakura fought to stifle a snicker, Kisame’s roaring joy infectiously warmed her chest.

Deidara glared at his two like its existence personally offended him, then switched to glare at the still snickering man beside him. “Alright calm the fuck down, hn! It isn’t that funny!”

Kisame tamed his laughter, slipping out between chuckles, “it is to me with my winning hand.”

Deidara crossed his arms. “I want you to know I’m going to laugh so hard when you lose all your winnings.”

This only made Kisame chuckle under his breath as Tobi clapped to get their attention, warily avoiding Kakuzu’s next outburst. “Time to see how Tobi did!” Tobi sang

Picking up his nine, Tobi used it to flip over his face down card; it was an eight.

The dealer had seventeen and per the rules it meant he had to stand.

“Seventeen! That’s a win for Kisame,” Tobi plucked four ryo to pair with the two that was Kisame’s original bet.

“For Kakuzu,” six ryo, three for each of his winning hands. Sakura briefly marvelled at how Kakuzu, despite not getting a blackjack like Kisame, had managed to get more money from the house than the other man.

Kisame’s two was tripled to win him four and totalling to six ryo back, but Kakuzu’s two bets of three were doubled to win him six ryo which meant he received twelve ryo back.

“...and for Sakura!” Her initial two ryo was doubled, earning her four in total. Now she was working with fifteen ryo.

“Better luck next round everybody else!” Tobi’s chipper tone was met with Itachi’s dismissive hum and Deidara’s bitter “deal us!” 

The cards were thrown back and stacked into a separate pile while the players threw in their next bet.

This time Sakura bet three ryo, the same as Kakuzu and Deidara, while Kisame and Itachi bet two.

The next round was dealt.

Tobi held a seven.

Kakuzu held a three and an ace, so either a four or a fourteen. “Hit.”

He received a ten, he’d have to count the ace as a one so his total was fourteen and not twenty-four. “Hit.

A six, “stand with twenty.”

Sakura may be only two rounds into the game, but Kakuzu was shaping up in her eyes to be the best player amongst them so far.

Sakura held a king and a ten, “I’ll stand,” she looked across to Kisame and smiled, “a pretty good starting hand this time.”

He snickered, “I’ll say, happy to trade if you want.” He held a four and a queen, trading hands wasn’t a thing in blackjack so Sakura matched his teasing with her own.

“What?” She cocked her head, “last rounds winner lost his confidence already? Need some help?”

He raised his brows, grin unfaltering, “cocky now the little medics got a win under her belt, can you back it up?”

“Can you? Do you need a loan as well?” Sakura grinned. Her snark earned her a laugh from the large man.

Itachi’s voice spoke up, “I’ll hit.”

Sakura’s grin melted from her face when she turned her attention to him, Itachi held a nine and a ten which gave him nineteen… Why would he hit? Twenty was a comfortable number to stand on, the risk outweighing the need for another card, but nineteen was also a pretty safe number!

‘What kind of game is he playing? Is he really betting on getting an ace or a two?’

His risk was not rewarded as he received a three, totalling his hand to twenty-two. “Oo so close!” Tobi chimed.

“Closer than Deidara’s last hand at least,” Kisame earned a hard jab to the arm from Deidara’s elbow for that.

Itachi merely hummed, resigning himself as his hand had busted.

It was as Sakura was analysing the man's neutral expression, searching for any glimpses into his thought process that she noticed something.

Her brow furrowed. “...I thought your eyes were red…?” The second the words slipped past her lips she felt a throbbing behind her eyes. She blinked harshly.

“Hm?” Kisame followed her eyes to the man at his side. “Oh no he’s not allowed to use those when we play.”

Itachi’s expression remained blank but his eyes hardened and shot the larger man a glare. Sakura’s thoughts raced. Her head throbbed.

‘Not allowed to use them?’

“You mean that Itachi-san - that you have an optical type of jutsu? One that you use so frequently that I’ve not seen you without them activated? - oh my god - could this be aggravating your condition? What kind of strain are you putting on your eyes?-” Sakura’s words were cut off as the throbbing in her head began pounding harsher, forcing her to scrunch her face, drop her head and press her palms roughly against her eyes.

Sakura had just assumed Itachi’s eyes were always red. Throb . What kind of ability was this optical style jutsu capable of? Throb . He was already so secretive, what else had she missed? Throb .

“Sakura.” She cracked an eye open to see Tobi sliding her a cup of tea. She gave her eyes a final rub before smiling gratefully and accepting the cup.

“Thanks Tobi, it's just a pressure headache, don’t mind me.” She took a sip.

“I will mind! It’s because you’re talking about work! None of that at the table, you’re here to have fun .” He scolded her with a wagging finger, Sakura’s smile was small against her cup.

“Sorry Tobi, I’ll stay out of work mode.” She conceded and looked to Kisame, the man’s expression may have been mildly concerned but had since been tamed neutral.

Taking the initiative to continue the game, he said “I’ll hit.” Kisame gestured to his four and queen. He received a three, totalling his hand to seventeen.

He hummed for a second before deciding, “hit again.”

Deidara snarked, “Now who’s cocky?” He then lit up when Kisame was dealt a ten “hah! Twenty-seven!”

Kisame proved to be a better loser than the blonde as he shrugged, “eh, can’t win ‘em all.”

Deidara rolled his eyes, “diplomatic answer only a loser could give, hit me!”

Deidara sat with a two and a ten so of course he would hit on a twelve. He however froze in place when he received a king. “Hah!” Kisame immediately roared followed by clutching his gut in laughter.

“Hey! Twenty-two’s closer than twenty-seven so I at least did better than you.” He objected.

“There’s no ‘doing better’ when your hand busts, face it you did just as bad as me this round!” Kisame continued to laugh.

“Whatever! Tobi, your move!” The fuming man crossed his arms.

Tobi obliged and flipped his face-down card with his seven card to reveal a two. “That’s nine so Tobi has to hit.”

He drew a five, “fourteen, hit again.” A two this time. “Sixteen, wow Tobi’s drawing a lot.” He finished with a nine. “Boo! Tobi busts with twenty-five!”

He plucked a handful of gold from his stack and deposited them to the two winners. Both Kakuzu and Sakura received three ryo each along with their initial bets. “Next round!” Tobi collected the cards and the players threw in their next bet.

As Sakura threw in two ryo along with Itachi and Deidara while Kakuzu and Kisame bet three, she picked up her warm cup of tea for another sip. The contrast of the hot beverage with the brisk air around them made her shiver briefly.

As if mirroring her, Deidara sneezed and shivered as well, “god I hate winter.”

Kisame snarked back without missing a beat, “sounds like a ‘ you’ problem.”

The blonde sneered back, “I’m wearing three pairs of socks and literally everyone else at this table has at least two layers on but you. You’re the one with the problem.”

Sakura mutely longed for her warm comforter left abandoned in her room but quickly latched onto the interesting turn in the conversation. Kisame was indeed only wearing sweatpants and a black singlet, his large arms entirely on display with nigh a goosebump in sight.

“Do you not feel the cold, Kisame?” She asked.

He shrugged but turned to give her his attention over further antagonising the artist. “I feel it, it just doesn’t really affect me too much.”

Sakura brought a finger to her chin and pondered out loud, “that’s interesting considering bull sharks are known to prefer warm waters over cold though they have been found in either.”

“Oh I prefer warm weather too. It just has to be cold enough to freeze my ass off to really get me feeling the cold.”

Deidara squinted at the man, “that’s not the flex you think it is, big deal, you run hot.”

Sakura smiled and gestured with a finger, “oh he wouldn’t-”

“I don’t run hot.” Kisame interrupted and grabbed the back of Deidara’s neck.

The reaction was instantaneous, Deidara shrank his neck down, hissing and sputtering, smacking the larger man's hand away with his good arm while his bad one had tensed completely still. He yelled “put on some fucking gloves or something! You’re colder than ice, oh my god!” Deidara rubbed furiously at his neck to heat the skin while Kisame laughed.

Sakura spoke up, “sharks don’t run hot, rather they regulate their body temperature to suit their environment.”

“Heard it from the doctor herself,” Kisame took a swig of his canned drink, “you won't hear me complaining about the cold, good thing too since that’s all you’ve been doing this month.”

“That’s because it is freezing - damn! ” Deidara moaned, rubbing his sweater-covered upper arms harshly and shuffling in his chair to get comfortable. “Why can’t we get a kotatsu? That would solve so many problems.”

Kakuzu, suddenly interested in the conversation, interjected. “You got kotatsu money? ”

“ How is a kotatsu considered an unnecessary expense?” Deidara complained.

“Because you have clothes you can wear and we have enough tea stocked, if you’re cold then either get yourself a drink or buy your own shit.” Kakuzu said, leaving no room for argument though Deidara continued like the man would care to listen.

“What’s even the point of being so good at making money when you refuse to spend it?” Deidara grumbled.

Kakuzu didn’t miss a beat, “can’t have a lot of money if you spend a lot of money -I’ll stand.” All attention abruptly shifted to the cards lying face up in front of the man revealed that he had been dealt an ace and a jack, leaving him with a twenty-one.

Deidara threw his hand up, “oh come the fuck on! You can easily afford a kotatsu!”

“I’m already not buying one with the organisations money so why the fuck would I buy one with my own winnings?” Kakuzu levelled the fuming blonde with a flat look.

“Because I’m freezing my ass off and you can afford it!” Deidara whined.

Kakuzu lounged back in his chair, completely unaffected, “Kisame’s right, that does sound like a ‘you’ problem.”

A loud snort erupted from the table and it took Sakura a second to realise through her heaving laughter that it had been her. She couldn’t help it. The back and forth of the people around her had her gripping her gut and trying to hide her wide open laughing mouth behind a hand. She wanted to apologise for her laughter but she needn’t as when she peeked through her teary eyes she was met with Kisame who had erupted in his own laughter.

Kakuzu hid his mouth behind a hand, his posture as relaxed as a man who seemed to never let his guard down would allow.

Itachi looked visibly unaffected by the whole ordeal, whether he truly was detached or his self control was second to none, Sakura didn’t know him well enough to tell.

Deidara fumed, red in the cheeks and arms crossed, but either lacking the ammunition to argue with or realising there was nothing else he could say that wouldn’t embarrass him further, this left him making grumbling and whining noises.

Tobi had giggled before clapping for Kakuzu in celebration for his winning hand “yay! A blackjack!” which consequently made Deidara let out high pitched frustrated and unpleasant sounds.

Sakura felt deafened by her own laughter and echoed by Kisame’s, they laughed until their sides hurt and that wide almost painful smile stayed on her face as they continued their game.

Rounds past, time went unnoticed, ryo was earned and lost, and Sakura had fun.

Kisame, possibly coloured companionable by his improved health, was easy to banter with and Sakura found their teasing back and forth truly entertaining.

Deidara had always been friendly with her but Sakura had usually witnessed the man enjoying the company of his own devices, sketching or moulding clay and the like, but in an activity he had no full control over, it seemed to bring out his emotions in full. Flipping from elation at receiving a good hand, frustrated ire upon cards not going his way, and a competitive fire lit in joy by Kisame’s taunts, Kakuzu’s dismissals, Itachi’s nonchalance, or even Sakura’s own teasing.

Itachi seemed to remain detached throughout, Sakura wondered if he was even having fun or if he was unbelievably good at hiding it for whatever reason. Regardless of his enjoyment, Sakura had come to the conclusion that the man was abysmal at cards. This contrast of seeming apathy with some of the most inane plays Sakura could feel she’d ever seen, it brought a smile to her face, as if seeing a fault in this statue of a man had somewhat humanised him in her eyes. A crack in the stone to reveal flesh.

Kakuzu, while also seeming to be a similar man in control of himself, clearly was interested in the game at hand and was the best player at the table. Any losses he made were minimal and almost immediately won back, Sakura spared a brief thought that she was thankful this was blackjack and not poker because he would be a nightmare of an opponent. He also only seemed to engage in the conversation when it interested him, usually when it focused on their winnings or money in general.

Tobi, while being an energetic and fun presence at the table, to varying degrees of success as Deidara seemed to find any word from the man's mouth annoying, had proven he was quite the unlucky dealer. His hands busted more often than not and Sakura wondered if when in control of his plays he must also not be that much better of a player.

She also suspected those at the table knew this and that's why they were so eager for him to deal, as his money lost as a player meant nothing to them but his ryo lost as a dealer meant frequent winnings for those with decent hands.

Regardless of the game, Sakura was grateful that Tobi had forced her out of her room. She spared a thought for the others in the house and asked for their whereabouts whilst they played their next round.

Kisame answered, listing the names off on his fingers, “leader and Zetsu don’t play, Konan’s usually way too busy, and let’s just be thankful Sasori and Hidan can’t play with how they are right now.”

Sakura cocked her head, throwing in her initial bet of four ryo alongside Kakuzu while Kisame and Deidara threw in three and Itachi settled with two. “Are they bad players?”

Kakuzu huffed, “Sasori is one of the best, but he’s never interested unless it's poker.”

Kisame chimed in with a grin, “because he’s an asshole that only plays when he can make sure there are losers, never just satisfied to win with him.”

Sakura thought back to that ego she had argued with, the attitude of a man who revelled in being the smartest one in the room, she felt her eyelids lower and a corner of her lip pull up, “yeah that sounds about right for him.”

Deidara hummed, “you can say that again, hn , that and his poker face should be considered cheating.” Sakura snickered, mood lightening.

“But if you thought Deidara here is a sore loser, that's nothing on Hidan.” Kisame gestured to the blonde with his thumb earning an indignant “hey!”

“ That bad is he?” Sakura earned herself another affronted “ hey! ”

Kakuzu spoke up in a tone that suggested that even talking about the absent man was getting him annoyed, “he’s a sore loser and even worse winner. If I have to hear about how his winning hand is all thanks to his faith in that bullshit god one more time I’ll start sewing his mouth shut.”

Sakura’s laugh paired well with Kisame's snickers. Kakuzu continued, “hit.”

He held a seven and an ace, leaving him with either an eight or eighteen, a comfortable enough number but Sakura wouldn’t question Kakuzu’s decision. He received a queen.

“Hit,” one would think that after being dealt a possible eighteen then testing fate and now being stuck with an definite eighteen you wouldn’t try for another. But Kakuzu’s decision paid off as he received a three.

“Blackjack!” Tobi clapped, “wow that was super lucky!”

Deidara booed, Kisame rumbled his fist on the table in agreement and said “leave some lady luck for the rest of us.”

Their words and jeers rolled off Kakuzu like water, the man completely unaffected, shrugged and said “then play better.”

“ Play worse! ” Deidara squawked, Sakura giggled and said “hit.”

Deidara levelled her with a glare upon seeing her cards and Kisame let out a low whistle, “feeling lucky?”

Sakura did, she held a ten and a nine giving her nineteen, by all accounts it would be safe to stand. But Sakura had reason to feel lucky and by the ever so slight glance Kakuzu slid her way, he understood why.

Blackjack was indeed a game of chance, a test between complacency and hubris that relied on the luck of the draw. That being said, there were strategies one could use, the one with which it seemed both Sakura and Kakuzu had been using was card counting.

It was as difficult as it was straightforward. One simply keeps track of the cards that had been played prior - and in a deck made up of three sets of cards totalling one hundred and fifty six cards - to determine how probably a high or low number was likely to be drawn next. It was a strategy of narrowing down probability to sway the players decision.

Keeping track so far, Sakura and Kakuzu had counted many high number cards, this explained Kakuzu’s decision to draw on an eighteen and it paid off with his winning hand.

Sakura sat with a nineteen and she was dealt a two.

“Another blackjack!” Tobi cheered while Deidara threw his head back with an over-dramatic groan.

Sakura let out a quick relieved breath - strategy or not it was still a gamble she was thankful had paid off - before throwing a smirk at Kisame, “pretty damn lucky I think,” she taunted. 

“Hit,” Itachi said, holding a five and a nine, and he received a three. Being left with seventeen, Sakura briefly wondered if he too was card counting or just felt lucky as he said “hit.”

“Oo~ six, that’s twenty-three!” Tobi said sadly for the man.

“Yeah, more lady luck for us.” Deidara smirked, delighted in Itachi’s poor hand.

Sakura spotted Kisame briefly patting the back of Itachi’s chair before he laid his hand out flat, “I’m gonna stand.” He held a queen and a jack, leaving him with a comfortable twenty.

“Wimp,” Deidara muttered before looking down at his own cards and saying “hit.”

His king and two were then met with an eight, giving him twenty. He fell silent, chewing his lip and furrowing his brow. He mused hard over his decision.

Kisame rested his head in his palm, “tick tock blondie.”

“Shut up! I’ll stand.” Said blonde crossed his arms.

Kisame rolled his eyes and his grin widened, “oh but I’m a wimp? What happened to ‘more lady luck for the rest of us’?”

“Well she’s fickle and I’m not tempting fate! Tobi flip your card.” Deidara hmphed.

Tobi did as he was told and revealed his ten was paired with an eight. Deidara cheered, enthusiastically pumping his good fist in the air and Kisame thumped his fist on the table equally as enthused. “Tobi busts!” he said.

He handed out the winnings, Sakura and Kakuzu gaining a sizable amount thanks to their blackjacks and Kisame and Deidara happily accepting their own rewards.

“Oh that feels good,” Deidara beamed, receiving his ryo, “that’s going straight to my own kotatsu fund, screw the rest of you.”

“As long as you’re not using organisation funds I don’t care what you waste your money on.” Kakuzu said flatly.

“Besides you don’t have any missions coming up ‘cause of your whole arm situation so you won't be buying anything any time soon.” Kisame said.

“I was curious about that,” Sakura piqued up, “I was wondering if we were playing with mission funds or personal, since you just let me use your money, Tobi.”

He nodded, “it’s personal funds! When we’re assigned missions we get a total budget for food, accommodations and whatever else we need! Any leftover money goes back to Kakuzu since he’s in charge of accounting here.”

Kakuzu continued, “I then either distribute that money to necessities for the group, or it goes into the dealers funds so we can have these games.”

Sakura nodded along, “then that dealer's money can be won for personal use.” She finished.

“Yep,” Kisame said, “and since we only leave for missions, that’s when we can spend it. Which is why we wanted a game today.”

Sakura eased in her chair and reached for her tea. “Oh? Is someone going on a mission?” Perhaps Kakuzu? He and Tobi were the healthiest amongst the group but Tobi didn’t get to keep the dealers winnings so he would probably use the money Sakura had earned for him.

Kisame cocked his head in Itachi’s direction and grinned as he said, “yeah, us.”

Sakura choked on her tea, the hot taste catching in her throat making her eyes tear up as she fought to swallow it down. Coughing into her fist briefly, she scraped her voice together enough to wheeze out an indignant “-what!?”

Kisame, entertained by her reaction, continues easily, “yeah, since you fixed us up, leader’s got a mission lined up with our names on it. Are we leaving tomorrow or the next morning? I can’t remember.”

Itachi’s voice was as calm as usual as his words devastated Sakura, “tomorrow morning.”

“What!?” Sakura’s voice was louder, her palms flat on the table as she had sprung to her feet. “I’ve only just barely cleared you! I still want at least a week to monitor your recovery and that’s not even touching on the research I need to do with you, Itachi-san!”

Kisame relaxed into his chair, “dunno what to tell you squirt, leader’s orders.”

The chair hit the floor as Sakura made quick strides around the table in a single minded determination to the hall. “I need to talk with Pain-san about this.”

“Ah,” Tobi got up from his chair and raced after her, “are you sure that’s a good idea?
“

“These are my patient’s lives we’re talking about Tobi,” her words were as unwavering as her steps while Tobi caught up to her.

“Yeah but if the leader wants them on a mission then that’s what they’re gonna do.” Sakura’s eyes didn’t falter as the two rapidly approached the leaders office where he and Konan must be.

“Tobi,” Sakura said sternly, “you said it yourself, I’m a self respecting medic who will work my hardest to heal my patients and not let anyone push me around. I respect Pain-san and his decisions but as the only medic here, my opinion at least in this is invaluable.”

They came to a stop at the door and Sakura looked at her friend hard in the hole of his mask, hoping her conviction was evident from her posture to her words to her expression.

He took a moment to come to the conclusion that she was truly serious and slowly he nodded. “I understand,” Sakura was about to thank him but he stuck up a finger to silence her, “but let Tobi talk to him first, just wait out here a sec!”

With that he gave the door two quick raps and slid into the room before he even heard a response. Sakura sighed, thankful that Tobi would introduce her plight to Pain first, her concern as a medic had confidently brought her to the door but she still didn’t want to get on Konan’s boss’s bad side.

She waited there, hands behind her back so she couldn’t fiddle with them, until moments later the door was opened and Tobi peaked out. “Ok, come on in and plead your case.”

Sakura swallowed her nerves down, she steeled herself and entered the room, passing Tobi as he held the door open and closed it behind them.

Sakura had only briefly been in this room once so she allowed herself this moment to take it in.

The office seemed to refuse light, the walls bare and reflection-less, the bookshelves messy packed to the brim with papers sticking out in odd places, three desks circled the room at each wall in varying states of neatness. One main light source being the dull bulb hanging from the ceiling centre which took up more space than it did cast light, while the real power keeping the room aglow in random spots was a series of candles illuminating atop enough of the desks to work with and the odd ones lining shelves and walls.

The room swallowed light as though both repulsed and starved for it.

Sakura met the dull eyes of the office's two residents. Sakura wondered briefly if the lack of shine in their eyes was due to the faintness of the candles, but it flickered away quickly in Konan as she smiled.

“Sakura, Tobi said you wanted to speak with Pain about Kisame and Itachi's health regarding their mission.” She said, a soft encouragement for Sakura to follow.

Sakura took the verbal offered hand, she bowed to Pain briefly then spoke, “yes, I wanted to bring my concerns to your attention.”

Pain who had been seated behind the centre desk, scroll in hand, spoke. “I was under the impression you had healed them of their ailment.”

“I have, but I’m concerned that sending them back out onto the field so soon could be  detrimental to their recovery, especially Itachi-san.” Discussing her work had Sakura gaining the confidence she needed to not find the intimidating presence of the leader as standoffish as usual.

“Itachi reports that any and all symptoms have been eradicated and he feels ready to resume missions.” Pain spoke calmly but his words unnerved her.

Sakura didn’t want to be blunt but she found herself saying “just because he says he’s ready that doesn’t mean he is and we as his leader and medic must be prepared at times to step in for him.”

Sakura froze the second she finished, feet rooted to the floor and back stiffened at how she had just addressed the leader. Yes, she wanted to assert herself to keep the lives of her patients safe no matter what, but the last thing she wanted was to openly oppose the team's leader.

Sakura was left to stew in her panic for only a moment, though it felt like a long silent age to her, it was cut short with Pain’s unexpected response.

“Do not equate my decisions with negligence. I assigned those two this mission in confidence that from Konan’s reports you had seen them through recovery. If they require further care then explain to me the extent and your concerns and I will hear you out.”

“I-” Sakura swallowed, she bowed again, “yes sir. I want to apologise for my curtness.”

Tobi giggled from his reclined position on the couch by the door, his lax posture a stark contrast with how tightly Sakura was holding herself, “I don’t think our dear leader minds! You probably appreciate the bluntness don’tcha?”

“Tobi!” Sakura whispered harshly.

Pain held up his hand, effectively silencing her, “He’s not wrong, I have little patience to entertain pointless drivel, speak your mind and I will listen.”

Sakura straightened her back, though Pain had said he would listen, that didn’t mean he was completely agreeable to what Sakura had to say. She needed to hold her tongue so as to not test the leader's patience.

“Thank you sir.” She then went on to explain her concerns, from wanting to monitor Kisame for a further week in order to feel comfortable giving him the all clear, to her apprehensions regarding Itachi’s situation.

Pain listened throughout it all, predominantly silent and only speaking up to say “elaborate,” when needed.

Upon hearing her concerns regarding Itachi, he said, “I spoke with Itachi before assigning him this mission, he confirmed he was well and felt back to normal. Explain to me why you believe he isn’t ready.”

“That’s just the problem. By my assessments Itachi-san has been suffering from an auto-immune disease for over a decade, he may feel normal but his sense of normal is horribly skewed.” She held up her hands, palms open as she explained. “If you stick a toad in boiling water it would immediately jump out due to the discomfort of the heat. But if you put a toad in cool water then gradually heat it up, the toad would stay put and slowly boil, not noticing the problem as it creeps up on them.”

Tobi gasped behind her, “Itachi is a boiling frog?!”

“Exactly,” Sakura nodded, “he’s come to see his current state as normal when I believe if left alone it will become incredibly life-threatening.”

“I see.” Pain unlaced his fingers and lifted up a stack of papers Sakura recognised as her total medical reports on Itachi she had given Konan. Seeing them on-hand at the leaders desk gave Sakura a mild sense of comfort to know the man truly was taking her reports seriously. “I understand your concerns, Konan informed me that you were working on a cure, is this progressing well or not?”

Sakura bit the inside of her cheek. “It’s progressing slowly. My main problem is that I’m not entirely sure just what specific auto-immune disease he has and there is both an enormous gap in his medical history only littered with single sheet ‘answers’ provided by individual diagnosers who were not in communication. So I’m trying to work backwards essentially from scratch to re-diagnose him and treat him accordingly.”

“Do you require anything specific to do so?” Pain’s voice was as even as it had always been since she entered.

“Just time. I refuse to cut corners just to get him out onto the field sooner.” She fisted her hands at her sides and hardened her expression. “I don’t want Itachi-san to feel normal, I want him to feel healthy .”

With her piece said, she stood in silence. Pain had done as he said he would and had listened to her, she held her breath so as to cut off all that could distract her from his verdict.

He blinked to the papers, silence, then looked at a scroll at his side and wordlessly picked it up. Konan seemed to immediately understand and from her place at Pain’s side, she spoke for him.

“We understand your concerns, Sakura. The issue is that while you need time, this is a time sensitive mission that requires both men as soon as possible.”

“If I may ask, what is the mission?” Sakura asked.

Konan looked at Pain, he gave a brief nod and she explained. “A small mining village has been losing workers due to an influx of savage animal attacks, however not wanting the attention of the land's capital to look poorly upon the village, the owner has contracted us to discreetly solve the issue. He has agreed to a plentiful monetary reward for our services that will greatly help the group.”

Sakura thought back to her card game earlier, how strife for money the group seemed to be and the winter chill making the base’s poor cold resilience and their depleting pantry supply stand worryingly prominent in her mind.

Sakura broached, “and why are Kisame and Itachi-san the only ones who could complete this mission? Tobi and Zetsu-san are in good health.”

“Nuh-uh,” Tobi chimed in, “Tobi’s good but Zetsu-chan’s off on their own thing right now and we can’t operate alone.”

Konan spoke, “not to mention Itachi will be an invaluable asset for locating these animals and Kisame refused to entertain the thought of not accepting the mission once we revealed the details.”

Tobi’s voice was chipper, “yeah he looked really excited! Probably itching to get out again.”

Sakura could see she was losing this corner, her hope that she could keep the two under-roof slipping between her fingers so she latched onto the only solution she could grasp.

“If my patients are to go then could I please request to accompany them? I won’t interfere with the mission and I’ll solely be there to monitor their health and continue my research on Itachi-san.” She bowed again, holding her position.

Pain hummed and though Sakura was looking at the floor, she imagined his face remained a blank mask. She heard a shift that she assumed was him looking in Konan’s direction as she said seemingly in response.

“If Sakura believes this is the right decision for their health then I believe her.” Sakura felt her cheeks warm upon hearing her friend's praise.

“Yeah!” Tobi joined in, “and Tobi said how happy he was with her on his mission, she’ll do just fine with those two! Though it would be fun if Tobi could come too…”

“You know you’re needed here.” Konan said and he hmphed in reply.

Their words and encouragement were nice and Sakura cherished her friends' thoughts deeply, but she remained silently waiting for their leader's words.

When he spoke his tone was low, “I expect results. You will be assigned along with Kisame and Itachi. Prepare for departure tomorrow morning.”

Sakura snapped back up, trying to tame her smile, she nodded. “Yes, thank you, sir!”

“You’re dismissed.” Sakura turned to the door, Tobi unceremoniously rolled off the couch and followed alongside her.

Only once the door closed behind her did Sakura let out a long breath she had been holding for who knows how long. Tobi patted her on the back, “there, there, you did great in there.”

“Tobi, I have no idea how you’re able to talk to Pain-san like that.” She all but sagged into her friend's side. He accepted her presence happily, moving to rub her back encouragingly as they stood in place for the moment.

“Leader’s the leader for a reason, I guess.” Tobi shrugged, “he’d be a pretty bad leader if he didn’t listen to his team, especially when one’s an expert at something he’s not.”

Sakura elbowed him, “will you shh! We’re not out of earshot yet!” She whispered.

He wheezed and allowed himself to be dragged, arm in arm, by Sakura down the hall.

“Thank you, though.” Sakura’s expression softened. “I really appreciate what you said to help convince Pain-san to let me on the mission. So thank you Tobi.” Her hold on his arm tightened ever so slightly.

He slowly began matching her steps and drew himself up to full height. Sakura’s cheeks pinkened as she felt a gentle hand pat her head. “Tobi knows that leader’s decisions are leaders' decisions. But I’m happy to help.”

His steps then overtook hers and he pumped a fist with that energy she was growing so very fond of. “Now let's go win you some more money for the mission.”

“Wha- Does that mean you’re-”

“Yep!” Tobi cheered, “you can have my winnings as spending money. There was no way I’d have been able to win all that on my own anyway so it’s really your winnings.”

Sakura’s laughter bubbled in her chest, her cheeks warm and her smile pinched. She could hear the sounds of Deidara and Kisame’s jovial bickering along with a brief assertion from Kakuzu which only led to Kisame’s laughter. Despite the chill, Sakura felt nothing but warmth as she was led by Tobi back to the liveliness of the dining room.

 At that moment, she felt truly thankful to her friend for dragging her from her room.