Title: Dream On (Dreamer), Part II
Rating: T
Words: 12, 210 (6,300~ in this post)
Summary: It really was too bad that prescient dreams didn't come with a guidebook. AU. KakaSaku.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishi does.
Notes: This fic fills hukomuyo's prompt for Wishlist 2012. It also fills the "planet destruction" square on my Hurt/Comfort Bingo card, the "safe" square on my Cotton Candy Bingo card, and the "matchmaker" square on my Trope Bingo card.

Sakura listened to the chuunin, one of the ones who took care of intra-village safety (which the Uchiha used to do, though no one called it a police force any longer) numbly.

Nothing in her mother's home, the home Sakura had grown up in, was out of place. It was dreadfully empty without her mom in it.

"No," Sakura said absently, in response to a question about if her mother had been acting differently. "She was great."

The only reason people had noticed her missing so soon was that Haruno Miki was not known for missing work—especially not when she had an important client coming in that day to discuss matters. That client had raised the alarm. Sakura didn't know who it had been and she didn't care.

She was just grateful they had.

She answered more questions, but her heart wasn't in it. (She was the last known person to have spent significant time with her mom, outside of the wait staff.)

Her heart was busy breaking into a million pieces.

They'd been stupid, so stupid. Her visions had told her something was going to happen, something that would chance destroying the world. (Herself.)

Sakura knew, now, that they'd focused too much on the obvious source of tension (Kakashi and Ino) and not enough on the other things that could break her just as easily.

They took my mom!

Under the numbness, anger boiled.

"Hey there," Ino said, her voice bright and cheerful and as cutting as a winter's storm wind. It was directed at the chuunin. "I'm taking over here on orders of the Hokage."

The chuunin didn't argue with Ino, after one look at her face, and disappeared.

"You need to calm down," Ino said.

"I am calm," Sakura said, leaning against the kitchen counter. "Absolutely."

"No, seriously," Ino insisted, catching Sakura's arm. "Look, you're so angry that I can't trace her. You're obliterating my attempts. Calm down. Being angry won't help."

Sakura stared at Ino for a long moment, feeling like she'd either been doused in ice water, or kicked in the gut, and unable to decide which she preferred. Then she closed her eyes and began counting backwards from a thousand in fives.

Ino let go of her arm and stepped away. Sakura could feel her wandering through the house, Ino's chakra an icy, electric blue—sharp and deadly and gorgeous—against her senses. Sakura breathed deeply and tried to let the anger go.

It wasn't easy.

It was easy enough to say, but every time she tried and got close to damping down her helpless rage and tangled guilt for having been wrong, the fact that her mom was missing just made everything come crashing back down around her ears.

Eventually (Sakura didn't know how long) Ino came back downstairs.

"Better," she said approvingly.

"I don't feel better," Sakura admitted.

"Well, no, and your anger hasn't gone away-but you're thinking about it now," her oldest friend said patiently, "rather than it doing the thinking for you. I can work with that."

Sakura swallowed, told herself to pull her shit together because she was a kickass kunoichi and whoever took her mom was going to die, and asked, "Do you really think you can find her?"

(Ino had never lied to her.)

"It's not that easy," Ino said. Her voice was gentle. "If I just drop my shields, I'm going to be hearing everyone in the village. That's almost impossible to tune out entirely. However, given that I'm good friends with you and your mind will resonate with your mother's, I'll find her. It's just going to take a while. I will find her."

"But she'll be scared," Sakura said, grasping at straws. "She's probably upset. Wouldn't that help?"

Ino's expression went peculiarly closed off. "A lot of people are scared and upset all the time," she said, when the silence ached. "It won't help at all to focus on that."

Sakura wondered how much pain Ino heard every day. She'd never thought of that before.

(Maybe she should have.)

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked, instead of apologizing. Ino hated apologies. "To make my mind resonate with my mother's more?"

"Think about her," Ino said. "That's all."

"Do you… can you…," Sakura hesitated then asked all in a rush, "Can you tell if she's still alive? Even if you can't locate her?"

"You still resonate with her," Ino said quietly. "That means she's still alive. I'd notice if you didn't. Picture an elastic band snapping—that's what it would be like, if she died. You wouldn't feel like that but it'd be noticeable to my family."

"Okay," Sakura said as her eyes filled with tears. "Okay."

"Yo," Kakashi said from the door. "What's—Why is Sakura crying?"

"I'm not," she protested, dashing away the few tears that were making a liar out of her.

"Haruno Miki went missing sometime between six and seven last night," Ino answered.

When Kakashi slung an arm comfortingly over her shoulders, Sakura leaned into him, ignoring all the dirt and grime and dried blood that were the proof he'd been out on a mission.

"Ino's going to find her," Sakura said.

Kakashi looked down at her for a long moment, then at Ino speculatively.

(They weren't friends. Sakura knew that.)

"Need a hand?" he asked.

(And she wondered if maybe that was changing.)

Haruno Miki woke up in the dark, alone, and cold. She was shaken, bruised, and worried.

She was not, however, confused.

Her own dreams had told her something was coming. Miki looked around, barely making out the shape of a door in the lightless room, and knew this was the beginning of both her dreams and Sakura's.

Miki gathered her serenity around her, marvelled that she wasn't tied up, carefully stood, and began looking for a way out.

She didn't expect to find one that she could exploit—she'd never had any shinobi training at all—but that was no excuse for not trying.

"You sure?" Ino asked coolly.

Sakura hoped.

Kakashi nodded.

"Well, alright," Ino said, and relief and fierce, bright gladness explosively bubbled up under Sakura's anxiety for her mother. "I suppose your dogs have to be good for something."

It should have been insulting. Sakura was fairly certain that it was insulting.

She glanced up at Kakashi, only to find him smiling, very slightly.

It wasn't that insulting, apparently.

"They do," Kakashi said mildly, in a tone of voice Sakura had never heard before. "Of course, they do real work, unlike you. What sort of ninja just stands around and thinks things over getting stuff done?"

Ino grinned at him. It was a tight, sharp grin. It was also (genuinely) amused. Sakura felt like she'd missed a page out of a book that both of them had read. "The best kind of ninja, duh." Then she made shooing motions at him. "Go let your dogs earn their kibble. Chop chop."

"Don't be ridiculous," Kakashi said, pressing a quick kiss to Sakura's hair. She tried to smile up at him, but it came out weak. He kissed her hair again, squeezing her tight, before letting her go.
"Everyone knows that you give dogs treats if they do good. Kibble is so they don't mutiny because I'm starving them."

"Whatever," Ino said dismissively. "Just be in touch."

He glanced at them both, shrugged, and said, "That's your job, isn't it?"

Then he was gone, in a swirl of leaves and smoke. Ino scoffed.

"What was that?" Sakura demanded.

Ino blinked at her. Innocently. "We always talk to each other like that."

"Why?"

That just earned her a shrug. "It's the closest thing that works to for us," Ino said, tilting her head slightly. "You should just be glad it works, Forehead. Come on, sit down, and I'll try to find your mom."

Sakura willingly dropped her questions for that. She sat down at the dining room table, swallowing hard at the thought that her mom might not ever have another meal at it, and sternly told herself that she wasn't allowed to cry.

Not until it was over.

Ino waited for her to get settled. She made no comment on her thoughts, though Sakura knew her oldest friend was undoubtedly hearing all of them.

"Is it going to hurt?" Sakura asked quietly.

"A bit of a zing, maybe," Ino replied, her voice just as quiet. "My chakra… well, you know what it feels like."

Sakura smiled faintly. Like a lightning storm. She had always suspected that if chakra had a smell, Ino's would carry a sharp tang of ozone. "Got it," she said, bobbing her head as Ino stepped around behind her. "I can handle that."

"You can handle anything you decide to handle," Ino scolded, smacking her head, but gently, so that Sakura barely felt it.

When Ino's fingers touched Sakura's temples, she felt that. "Your hands are cold," she complained.

"Sorry," Ino said, not sounding sorry at all. "You won't notice that for long."

What was she supposed to notice then? She thought about asking but Sakura trusted Ino. Whatever happened, it would be okay—at least, for her it would be.

"Just think about my mom, right?"

"Yeah," Ino said, her fingers burning cold against Sakura's skin. "Ready?"

Sakura breathed in deeply, closed her eyes, and began thinking of her mother. It was easy to come up with things to think about. First, the panic and aching fear that left her feeling brittle inside. Those were the foremost emotions, right now. She prayed her mom was alright. Alive didn't mean healthy, but she hoped it did.

She thought about the way her mom had looked the day before. Her mom had been happy and the smile she'd left Sakura with had been one that Sakura had seen every day for most of her life.

Thinking about her mom's smile opened a floodgate of memories. Some of the memories were very old, some of them far more recent. Sakura remembered her first day of school at the Academy. She'd been scared but her mom hadn't been scared at all even though she hadn't been a ninja and most of the parents there had been.

She remembered her mom wrapping her up in a tight, breathless hug, when Sakura had come home crying after Naruto and Sasuke had nearly managed to kill her on the roof of the hospital—and hadn't even noticed what they'd almost done.

Ino's fingers no longer felt cold. Sakura hardly noticed them at all, being too deep in her memories to care about what happened outside of them.

Halfway through a memory of her mom treating a skinned knee in a playground and her mother soothing her tears away, the memory twisted and faded away sharply.

Sakura looked around.

She stood in what looked like a dark room, though Ino's chakra crackled and burned the air around her, providing illumination. Sakura reached for the doorknob and frowned. Her hand was much smaller than usual. An inspection of the rest of herself proved that she was smaller than usual.

No, Sakura thought, not smaller. Younger.

It meant Ino was getting somewhere. This had happened before, back when she'd let Ino practice on her.

Good. Sakura took hold of the doorknob firmly, turned it, and pushed it open. She stepped into what looked like a hallway and, seeing nothing she could interact with, followed the brilliant trail laid down by Ino's chakra.

Sakura wandered aimlessly, following the electric blue that was Ino's energy, and opened more doors and walked more hallways. There was never a way out but, then, she wasn't looking for one.

And neither was Ino.

Several times she climbed stairs, both up and down, and made sure to think of her mother while doing so. When she did, Ino's chakra glowed more feverishly.

She didn't know how much time passed when, abruptly, Sakura blinked and found herself seated at her table again.

Ino stepped over to the nearest chair and sank down into it.

Sakura struggled with herself, then blurted out, "Did you find-?"

Ino hesitated a long moment and Sakura's heart dropped like a rock. "You didn't, did you?" she asked.

"No," Ino said, glancing at her. "But I found something."

"What?"

"I need to think about it," Ino said, almost gently. "I'll let you know when I know."

"But I could-"

"No."

Sakura took a deep breath, reminded herself forcibly that Ino wouldn't say no without having a good reason and that she wasn't going to be a child about this. It didn't help much. She took another breath and asked, "Why?"

(She was proud of the way her voice held steady.)

Ino stood and stretched. "Because I don't think it had anything to do with her," she said, frowning thoughtfully. "I need to go look into a few things but, if I'm right-"

Sakura flinched at the sound of a knock on the door. She stood hastily. "I'll get it," Sakura said, "but don't you dare leave without finishing what you were saying."

"Would I do that?"

"Yes," Sakura said. "So don't you dare."

Ino muttered something under her breath that Sakura didn't catch as she hurried to the door, hoping it was someone with news—good news.

No one was at the door.

She frowned and looked around. No one looked like they were paying any attention to her. No one looked like they might have come near her door. Stepping outside, she froze at the sound of paper crinkling.

Sakura picked it up and, with another wary glance at the usual crowds, brought it back inside. Closing the door behind her, she leaned against it, and with shaking fingers, unfolded the note.

In block letters it read:

If you want her back, you'll say no.

Say no to what? she thought desperately. Was she supposed to pretend she didn't want her mother back?

Ino snatched the note out of her hands, reading it in a glance. "Bingo," Ino muttered. "I thought that was going to happen."

"That's what you meant?" Sakura asked, taking the note back. "That it wasn't about my mom?"

"Ransom's never about the person kidnapped," Ino said absently. "It's always about the person who they're important to."

"Do you know what this means?" she demanded. "Ino, tell me! What am I supposed to say no to?"

"Did both of you have to touch that?" Kakashi asked, walking down the hall to join Ino. He levelled a look at Ino that was unfriendly. "That's what you called me back to track, isn't it?"

"Get to it, dog," Ino said pleasantly. "I've got my own trail to chase."

"You know better than to touch things you want someone to track," Kakashi retorted. "I'm not an Inuzuka."

"Should I fetch one of them, then?" Ino wondered. "If you're not up for the job?"

"Would both of you shut up and tell me what's going on?" Sakura snapped. "This is my mother's life you're playing around with."

They looked at her, then at each other, before Ino sighed. "We're not playing, Forehead. We're not even really arguing either."

"I hate to say it," Kakashi said, slipping past Ino to stand by Sakura. She noticed that he'd taken long enough to change clothing and no longer smelled like a corpse. "But I agree with Ino."

"None of this is helping," Sakura said. "You're either going to help me find my mother, or get out of my way."

"Like I said," Ino said, "I've got a train to chase down. You good for taking over here, dog?"

"I've been doing this since before you were born. Get out."

"We'll find her," Ino promised Sakura. "I'll see you in a bit."

"What—"

But Ino had already gone. Sakura turned to Kakashi, crossing her arms over her chest. "Are you going to explain anything?"

Kakashi reached for the note and plucked it out of her hand. She let him, since he'd be able to do more with it than she could. "What's there to explain?" he asked, sniffing the note and making a face at it.

"What does the note mean I've got to say no to?"

"A Christmas present you're getting," he said, blinking at her with one eye. "Ino's not really supposed to know, but it doesn't surprise me that she does, come to think of it. Yamanaka are a pain in the ass."

"How am I supposed to say no to something I don't even know I'm getting?" Sakura demanded. "That doesn't even make sense."

"They probably can't believe you don't know it's coming," Kakashi mused. "I'm sort of impressed you haven't heard anything about it, actually."

"About what?"

He studied her. "I know several people who will be very put out with me for telling you, since it was supposed to be a surprise, but in this case… it's important for you to know now. Tsunade-sama is planning on announcing her successor on Christmas Day, Sakura. You're it."

Sakura blinked as her mind stuttered to a halt. "What?"

"Unless you refuse, you're going to be the Rokudaime Hokage," Kakashi said, smelling the paper again. "Let me be the first to congratulate you."

She stared at him. "What—I thought, I mean, Naruto's always the one who wanted it. And Tsunade-shishou loves him. I thought it would be…"

"Naruto is still a genin," Kakashi said, his voice not giving away what he thought of that. "Furthermore, he is rarely in the village, and while he is a powerful asset in battle, he lacks the necessary qualities to be a good Hokage. Besides, Tsunade-sama loves you too, Sakura. Is it really that hard to believe? You're strong, clever, and well-liked."

Her mind raced.

"Not well liked by everyone," she said, her eyes blazing. "Not if they're going around taking my mom before I even find out about my… my… promotion."

"Well… no."

"I will destroy them," Sakura said furiously. "Can you track them with that?"

"I'll try," he said. "But there's a lot of other scents that'll complicate matters."

She nodded, thinking hard. "We can't afford to make a big deal out of this, can we?" Sakura didn't wait for him to answer her. "That's why Ino showed up so quickly and got rid of the chuunin. And that's why no one else has shown up."

"Probably," Kakashi agreed. "Though I'm sure they didn't plan on my showing up either."

"But you're okay," she said, sure it was true. "We're engaged. No one would think anything of it if I'm walking the village with you. Or with Ino."

Was this the best help that Tsunade-shishou could send her?

"What sort of message would it send if the Hokage's successor couldn't even keep her mother safe?" Kakashi asked dryly. "That's probably what your detractors would say if a big deal was made out of this. You could raise a fuss, but…"

She scowled. "I get it."

Sakura didn't like it, but she got it. She'd been watching Tsunade-shishou play political games of one-man-up-ship for years. This was more of the same, though it hurt worse, now that it was personal.

"I'm coming with you," she said, taking a deep breath, "and we'll go looking for mom. There's no point in raising a fuss. They probably won't do anything to her until I'm formally asked, right? They'll wait to see what I'll say then."

"Most likely."

"And Ino will be looking for them too," she said, though she wondered what Ino had gone to track down in such haste. Sakura tilted her head up at Kakashi, eyes narrowed. "Not to mention, you and she hanging out with me would draw attention. Especially since you two can't stop bickering. I'm not a toy to fight over."

"We don't think that," Kakashi objected.

"Really?" she asked dryly. "Then stop acting that way."

"We can never please you," he muttered, then shook his head. "Shall we go walking?"

Sakura weighed asking him what he meant by that with her mother's life. Her mother's life won easily. (She could always ask later.) "Alright," she said grimly. "But if we find them, I get to pound them first."

"Naturally," he replied and tucked the ransom note away.

They didn't find her that day or the next, though Sakura was increasingly surprised (though perhaps she shouldn't have been, given how many ninja lived in Konohagakure no Sato) at the number of obscure hiding places and false trails and sheer difficulty that Kakashi had in tracking anything down.

The streets and people and hiding spots blended into a strange mosaic that, even on reflection, made very little sense. When Kakashi suggested a rest, Sakura agreed only reluctantly, and only because she didn't want him to be unable to track out of exhaustion.

When she slept, she didn't dream.

When she woke up, she felt betrayed by her visions. Shouldn't they help her, now that things were so serious? But Sakura suspected that she'd received all the help that she was going to get from them and would have to make do.

She re-read her journal entry, stared at the calendar, and was quietly unsurprised, though discomfited, when Ino's voice rang in their heads on December 21st.

Found her, Ino said, her voice bright. Am I good or what?

Where is she? Sakura asked eagerly, new energy brushing away hopelessness. Kakashi rubbed his hands through his hair and tilted his head to the side, listening but saying nothing.

Transmitting coordinates now.

Sakura grimaced as information flooded her mind, feeling for a moment like she was being shattered and scattered to the wind, before the sensation faded and she was left with the indelible knowledge of her mom's location.

Thank you, she said. Can you get her out?

… do you really need me to answer that? Ino asked.

Just do it, Kakashi said, before Sakura could retort. We'll go and pound their faces in while you get Haruno-san to safety.

Is she hurt? Sakura added anxiously.

Bored, Ino replied, and tired, thirsty, and wishful of a bath. She's fine, Sakura. Dog, don't you dare screw this up.

Never.

Then the sense of Ino being present in their minds was gone and Sakura blinked at Kakashi before flinging herself at him with a giddy laugh. He scooped her up and kissed her gently.

"Come on," he said, "let's get this over with."

"Yeah," she said, a little breathless as he set her down. She tangled her fingers with his. "I'm calling dibs."

"Dibs?"

"On destroying them," she said helpfully. "You can stand back and watch."

"I do like to watch," he said mused. "In several different ways, even. Try not to kill them though. It'll be a hard sell to get you as Hokage if you go around murdering your people before they're even yours."

"Don't be stupid," she said. "I've got to lead them towards harmonious integration. My dreams say so." Sakura grinned at him. It was a mean grin. "Nothing says I can't help it along with my fists though."

"I do love you," he murmured. "Lead the way, O glorious smasher."

Ino's coordinates led them to what, at one point, had been an ANBU supply warehouse. It was on the outskirts of the village, nestled up against the wall and it looked both decrepit and utterly abandoned.

Sakura knew, from Ino, that both impressions were dead wrong-and enhanced with genjutsu.

She crouched in a tree, observing the building. Kakashi was perched a few trees down, on the other side of the door. She probed the defences carefully and grimaced; they were a complicated tangle of security jutsu.

Far more Ino's thing than hers.

I'm going in, Ino said cheerfully, like thinking of her had summoned her. Try not to start anything until I'm out. I'd be fine but let's not put Haruno-san in more danger.

Sakura was in complete agreement with that.

Let us know when you're out, she ordered crisply, tugging on her gloves. Then we're going to get a little wild.

Ino slipped through the wards easily.

Amateurs, she thought dismissively, spooling her chakra through a trap jutsu to convince it that she was supposed to be in the building. Impressive to look at, but shoddy. This is full of holes.

She found that reassuring as she padded silently down hallways, dodging other ninja, and homing in on Haruno Miki.

It meant that they hadn't been planning this for too long.

Probably just a couple of weeks, she mused. I'd wager they heard it not long after I did. But who did they hear it from?

That was going to be the real question, after the dust cleared. She couldn't wait.

Another hallway, a set of stairs trapped to catch the unwary (or the stupid or the untrained), and Ino cheerfully knocked out the man guarding Haruno-san's room before he even realized someone was there.

"Pathetic," she announced. "Ivory tower losers. I bet not a single one of you are anything above chuunin. If you're jounin, everyone in the village should be ashamed of themselves for letting you get that way."

It took her a few seconds to get the door open. "Haruno-san," she greeted cheerfully. "How would you like to relocate to a nicer establishment?"

Miki looked up.

It somehow didn't surprise her at all that Ino, ever impractical and chatty and in your face, would also be the same way while working.

"I would like that," she said. "Though aren't you taking this a little lightly, Ino-chan?"

Ino shrugged, kicked the unconscious man out of the way of the door, and grinned at her. "Oh please," she said, "Academy students could take these losers. I don't have to get serious here."

Miki wondered what serious, to Ino, looked like. She also wondered if Ino even realized the insult implicit in her words. (After all, Miki could not have taken out the people who'd kidnapped her and Ino was talking about small children being able to do it.)

She chose not to say anything, instead getting to her feet and brushing skirts straight, though they remained rather rumpled after being worn for several days.

"You're not hurt, are you?" Ino asked. "I told Sakura you weren't, since your thoughts didn't mention any pain."

"I'm not hurt," Miki said, touched by the consideration and creeped out by the invasion of her privacy at the same time. Ninja. "Is Sakura here?"

"Oh yeah." Ino herded her up the stairs, never too fast for Miki to keep pace but faster than she would have walked on her own, after several days of captivity. "She and her dog-"

"Ino-chan."

Ino sighed. "Fine, she and Hatake, are waiting until we're out to make these losers very, very sorry that they touched you."

Miki's stomach tightened. "They're not going to kill them, are they?" She didn't want all of those deaths on her conscience.

"No." Miki tried to ignore the way Ino sounded disappointed. Ino gave no sign of noticing as she continued with, "Hatake convinced Sakura that it would be a terrible publicity move given why you were taken hostage in the first place."

"Why was I?" she asked, focusing on that instead of on the hallways that seemed to twist and waver in her vision. They made her feel sick to look at for long. She didn't know how Ino was making her way so carelessly through the building, never pausing or seeming disoriented. Miki swallowed hard, bowed her head, and followed doggedly.

"It's a secret," Ino said brightly, "but since Hatake, that jerk, already told Sakura, I can tell you."

Miki had the strangest feeling that, in a way, Ino was settling some sort of score in her own mind by agreeing to tell. Since she wanted to know, she didn't complain.

(Not that complaining would stop Ino; even when she'd been a child that had been impossible for everyone but Ino's father.)

"They kidnapped you because they wanted Sakura to refuse her upcoming promotion."

"Her promotion?"

"As Rokudaime Hokage!" Ino shoved a door open and, to Miki's relief, it led outside. "Stay here for a moment."

Miki stayed, then winced and turned her face away as Ino engaged in a brief but vicious tussle that ended with Ino untouched and three more shinobi on the ground unconscious.

(She hated violence, even though Ino moved with so much grace that it was like she had wings.)

"Moment over," Ino called.

Miki gingerly stepped outside, wincing at the bright sunlight. She carefully skirted the people Ino had so casually taken out. "Was this really necessary?" she asked, with a note of censure in her voice.

"Yes," Ino said, giving her an incredulous look. "Look, they're still breathing despite that I disagree with Hatake that Sakura shouldn't kill them. I think her killing everyone who did this would send a message loud and clear that you aren't to be touched."

Miki shuddered at the very idea. "I don't want her killing anyone on my behalf."

"So point goes to Hatake," Ino said absently, looking around the area though Miki had no idea what she was looking for.

"This isn't about points," Miki said, appalled. "It's about life."

"That sounds like a civilian response."

"I am a civilian."

Ino blinked at her and smiled crookedly. "Too bad."

"Ino-chan, you're being rude."

"Sorry," she said unapologetically, "now come on, let's run." Ino grabbed Miki by the arm and towed her across the yard, angling away from the wall.

Miki stumbled and nearly fell. Ino didn't even pause, just pulled Miki up onto her back and kept running.

Ino wasn't even breathing hard as she first hopped a fence and then hopped up onto a building.

(Miki had never realized how strong Ino was.)

"There," Ino said, "Sakura's making her move."

"And me?" Miki asked. "Can I get down now?"

"Nah," Ino said, forming a few seals too fast for Miki to see what they were. "I'll take you home first. You know, you're calm enough that you probably could've made a good ninja, back when you were young enough to be trained."

They disappeared in a hair-raising swirl of smoke and leaves.

Miki had never wanted to be a ninja less.

(She didn't think Ino would understand.)

Got her! Ino's voice carolled through their minds. Sakura straightened. We'll be out in a few. She's having a few issues with the genjutsu in the halls but other than nausea, she seems fine.

Sakura sighed, deeply relieved. She glanced over at Kakashi's tree and saw him give her two thumbs up.

She grinned.

The next few minutes passed in agonizing slowness. Sakura held her breath as much as possible, like that would speed up Ino and her mother's passage through the building and out. It didn't help and it didn't really make her feel better either.

Ino would kill to protect her mom, Sakura knew that.

She also knew how dangerous a stray kunai could be in a messy fight.

And we're out! Heading to your place. I think she's in shock-she hasn't said anything about you becoming Rokudaime, Sakura.

Sakura snorted.

There will be time to talk about that later, Pig.

I know, Ino sounded unconcerned. Go and kick ass, Forehead.

The fight, more accurately described as a rout, was short and Sakura left the building, and the unconscious shinobi who'd dared to take her mother hostage, feeling distinctly unsatisfied.

They hadn't been even remotely a challenge. She hadn't expected much but, somehow, they'd been worse than she'd expected.

(Kakashi's lascivious leer, as she'd pounded faces in, was a balm to her dissatisfaction.)

Kakashi had stayed behind to make sure no one altered the scene.

Sakura took her gloves off, tucked them away, and hesitated for a long moment before grimacing and making her way to the administrative officers rather than home. She wanted nothing more than to talk to her mother, to hug her and cling just a little.

To make sure she was safe.

But Ino had her mother and Sakura trusted Ino. That meant she had to do the right thing and go talk to Tsunade-shishou and inform the Hokage that there were a number of shinobi who needed to be seen to.

And that they needed to talk about a present she was going to accept.

A week later, Haruno Miki sat across from her daughter, in her airy kitchen. They sipped tea in contented silence until Miki broke it.

"No more dreams?" Miki asked curiously.

Sakura shook her head. "Nothing important," she said. "One about my veil for the wedding. Something about the lace… which, if that's all that goes wrong with my wedding, well, I'll be in good hands." She smiled sunnily. "That's all."

"Are Ino-chan and Kakashi-kun getting along?"

"I don't know." Sakura's smile faded slightly, her face becoming pensive. "I don't think I'm ever going to understand what they've got going on between them."

"You could ask," Miki suggested.

Sakura snorted. "I have, but neither of them answers anything they don't want to answer. I try and they give me a circuitous run-around." She stared into her tea, and then looked up, a bit ruefully. "I suppose it's not any of my business, like you've told me from the start."

"As long as they're not dragging you into it," Miki amended. "If they are, then it is your business."

"No," Sakura said, "they're not. Well, mostly."

"Mostly?"

"I know why they don't like each other now," Sakura sighed. "I can't believe I didn't see it before. They both share terribly and I'm their favourite person."

Miki hid a smile. Yes, that was what she'd noticed a long time, years, ago. "You feel stuck in the middle?"

"I am stuck in the middle," Sakura laughed. "But they're very good at not dragging me into their spats, though god knows what they say and do when I'm not present. I overheard something about points yesterday and made the executive decision that I'm better off not knowing."

Miki did laugh at that. "I can't believe you're appointing them your advisors once you're formally installed as Rokudaime. They're going to drive you mad."

"Mmmhmm," Sakura hummed. "Maybe. But they're both absolutely devoted to me, and dead clever and relentless. No one will be able to sway them."

"Not even if they try and capitalize on their mutual dislike of one another?"

"No," Sakura said, green eyes steady, "not even. Oh, they'll play games and annoy each other and bicker like children, but over the important things? They'll never be corrupted. Never."

That sounded accurate to Miki, though she pitied the councillors who had to deal with Ino and Kakashi in the same room on a regular basis. She strongly suspected that those positions would be seeing a high amount of turnover until everyone got used to the new way things were.

Which, that reminded her. "Have you told Naruto-kun yet?"

Sakura shook her head. "He was supposed to be back weeks ago, but you know him… I sent him a message, but he's still out in Suna. He'll get back when he gets back." She made a face. "Honestly, I'm not looking forward to his reaction. It will hurt his feelings and then again when he finds out that he's not being appointed advisor. It's usually the Hokage's teammates who are appointed, but…"

"But Ino-chan and Kakashi-kun will do a better job?"

"They'll do the best job," Sakura said, looking slightly uncomfortable. "And I'll tell Naruto that. I love him, but he'd be a disaster as an advisor. Maybe in thirty years… if he settles down."

They both silently considered the idea of Naruto settling down. Miki doubted it would happen. She'd never met anyone with more determination to not mature than Naruto.

Sakura perked up. "Oh! Speaking of things unlikely to settle down—did I tell you that Ino's heading up the investigation about who instigated the plot to kidnap you?"

Miki grimaced. She tried not to think about the whole experience. "Is that… wise? Ino-chan was very blasé about the lives of…"

"Oh, that," Sakura said, "it's nothing. Harmonious integration, remember? The ones that actually kidnapped you have all been interrogated and investigated and are very, very repentant now. I think that part of it'll be okay. The world hasn't ended in disaster at all." It pained her to dislike anything about her daughter, but Miki did not like the hardness in Sakura's smile just then. "Ino's after the people who ordered the kidnapping. How they're dealt with will depend on a lot of things."

"You don't sound very concerned," Miki chided gently. "Shouldn't you care about the lives of all your people?"

"It's complicated, Mom," Sakura said, her voice just as gentle. "It's a ninja thing. We'll deal with it."

Miki poured herself another cup of tea and stirred honey into it slowly. "You'll do what's best for your world," she said finally, though she had many misgivings about the treatment the perpetrators would receive. "I have faith in you."

She did.

"Care for a toast?"

Sakura blinked at her, and then smiled, raising her tea cup up to clink against Miki's.

"To your world," Miki said.

"To me," Sakura agreed.

They drank.