Day 1: Quicksilver

→ rapid or unpredictable in movement or change; mercurial

She wore wings on her feet because, God, how could she not when so many years had carved the same lesson over and over into her bones, into her blood, into her spirit. Her DNA was stained with flight long before the Godaime was done with Sakura, but she was fine with that. Sakura was glad for her bird like soul that know above all else it must not let the world touch her.

Sakura was a medic with every last fiber of her person, and during a period where her young self sought a reason for existence, went seeking a place to plant herself, the world began to make more sense than ever before when she dove headfirst into the healing craft.

What she was before Sakura became a medic was something she wasn't sure she wanted to ever see in herself again. The idea of regressing terrified her. Too often she found her worst fears; her friends dying, her teammates failing, her village crumbling, her patients dying under her hands, linked back to the little girl with hair too long and eyes too blind to see anything more than a boy and a silly dream.

Sakura beat out the anxiety snapping the sandbag back on its hook before she realized her mistake and toned it down. She blinked, catching the swinging weight before it could accidentally knock into something. Her mind had wandered again. Usually she came to the gyms to give her over active brain a break. She thought too much sometimes, and she needed to let off some steam after another trying week where she failed to place in an outgoing team.

'They didn't need a medic.'

On reflex her elbow popped out as her fist slammed into the sandbag knocking it off its chain to crash and slide across the floor. Gym members on the other side of the room looked up when they heard the metal snap but went back to their work when they saw Sakura didn't look like she was going to do anything more. Too many had learned that provoking her would be worse than just letting her burn for a minute.

'Rock Lee isn't a medic either, but he's going on the mission.' The thought stung doubly when she remembered the two of them had been training together for the past three months on speed exercises. She couldn't out pace him, no, but she was doing so well. What right did they have to think she wouldn't be able to keep up? She was strong, but she could be fast too.

"Something he said?" a new voice teased, poking a thumb at the limp sandbag.

Sakura eyed the annoying cousin to Sasuke, remembering him from years ago when he would shadow their practices and annoy her childhood crush till it was laughable.

"Shisui, what are you doing in the gym? I thought you just used training grounds?" Sakura asked, pacing to collect the metal links and bend them back into shape so she could rehang the sandbag. At least this time she hadn't punched a hole clean through it. She had held her chakra back that much.

"I heard you were using the new training facilities for the common folk and decided to check it out. What's wrong with our training grounds?" the lanky Uchiha asked over a grin while he hugged a neighboring sandbag.

"And this concerns you because….?" Sakura widened her eyes and forced a look onto her face that she knew he would find funny. As if on cue, he snickered behind the sand bag, hiding his bottom face with his hand.

"Is it against the rules to be curious?"

Sakura fit the links back into place and dropped the sandbag to swing in place, finally secured. "You're just bored because Itachi's on rotation again and Sasuke just left on a mission."

"I was wondering why they wouldn't let you go, you seemed perfect for it."

"They didn't need a medic," Sakura answered, proud of how nonchalant she sounded even to her own ears. She sounded like she didn't care. She didn't care. She didn't care.

"Is it your speed? 'Cause I was talking with Rock Lee about stuff and he said you were training together."

Sakura stilled, turning back over her shoulder to glare at the Uchiha. "You're curious?" she guessed.

"Well, he said you could keep up, but it's no secret the kid's been head over heels for you since the wee days." The damn Uchiha grinned again and he looked too good for how badly Sakura wanted to punch him in the face. It felt like a waste to destroy art, but it would make her feel better.

"You need a demonstration?" Sakura snapped, turning on her heel and feeling aggression roll through her shoulders and strike her spine straight. Shisui was staring at her now, grin gone.

"What?"

Sakura nodded to the outside door. "A race, Hokage monument and back. Simple enough, right?"

"That's pretty far, you sure you have the endurance for it?" he tried to ask with a chuckle, but it came out sounding nervous.

"My flash step is just as good as yours when it needs to be."

Now he did laugh. "I doubt that honey, but maybe you have gotten better, you don't need to prove it to me."

Sakura stalked forward until the sandbag was the only thing between them. Shisui held it like a shield between them. "Yes. I. Do."

Ten minutes later their markers had been placed and a handful of curious members had drifted to the front of the gym to watch the pair stretch and get ready. The sun was low and neither had the worry of needing to be somewhere else so a long run was no problem.

One of the gym members who wasn't a ninja drew a line in the sand and told the pair they would watch for the return. Shisui had called over a clan member to watch the finish line with his shringan to call it if it came too close.

They touched down, faces close to the ground, and someone began to count down. Shisui allowed himself one sideways glance, only one, before he breathed in and held his body like a bullet. The call came and they were a pair of jackrabbits out of the cage, darting like shadows to the roofs with speed most ninja could only dream of.

Right away, shisui could tell Rock Lee hadn't been exaggerating when he praised the medic. In addition to being fast, his mind was a wonder as she calculated on the fly the best trajectory and angled her body to a perfect form, dodging and ducking and rolling and bolting. Yes, she was fast, but the endurance would be what decided their race.

All the way from the civilian sector round the whole of the village straight back to the faces of their former Hokage, the pair were neck and neck, but Shisui planned on a new rout back, so he pushed himself with the speed that made him legendary and edged out ahead of her to strike the rock face and push off into a den of shadows where she wouldn't be able to follow him.

He saw her figure bite into the light overhead before she made her own path through the streets, running in the same direction as the sun sank lower. It was so far, but he wouldn't be outpaced. Shisui had no one around him now, so there was no reason to watch himself. Shisui let his legs burn as everything had had went into making himself sound.

Sakura was fast, but he was faster.

Ahead of him a woman stepped out of her house, a box as big as her balanced on her arms. Shisui was never seen in his avoidance of the obstacle. A cat scurried, but he was faster. Crows scattered on the rooftop, but he was unhindered. Up and over, down and under, he never surrendered a fraction of his speed, knowing Sakura was one of those who would be beaten by nothing less than his very best, but she would indeed be beaten. He was known for many things, but nothing more so than his speed.

Another obstacle fell into his way and he maneuvered, but she maneuvered better. He wanted to choke at the way she fell into his path, twisting as agile as a jungle cat, he knew now why Sasori hadn't been able to touch her with a hundred needles.

He edged up and they were a pair, neck in neck, her shoulders tense as every fiber of her body went into the chase. Her eyes were dead ahead and he couldn't help but feel the temptation to put himself there, in front of her path of sight, not only because he wanted to win and beat her, but because of something else.

More birds and the pair were digging into a veer around the corner before the finish line winked into view. Their actions turned near frantic as more than just their limits were pushed. She was fast and he was fast and they were fast but who was faster?

He was. He was faster. He would be faster. He was-he was-he was struggling to hold onto a lead. Every other fraction of a second she gained on him, before he pulled ahead, and then she was back at his neck, and he was scurrying to pull up again until she threatened his lead again and again.

The banner was up and the crowd had grown, swelled, more than doubled. They were screaming and Sakura was screaming too, only with her eyes as she drank in the sight of her goal.

Shisui pulled ahead and the pair were a crush through the yellow banner that caught them both. Close, too close to call, and he felt his heart clench in his chest at the thought of his loss, or their tie, but his second cousin just shrugged and called it.

"Shisui, by a twelfth of an inch."

Sakura screamed once and then fell onto her back, laying boneless in the sand and gravel.

It took a minute before he could form words. "Oh my god," Shisui breathed, looking back over at her form. His chest rose and fell, rose and fell, just like hers. But she looked so much better breathing. "You nearly did it."

"You doubted me?" her eyes were closed and her body was glowing with sweat. He wanted her to look at him.

"I don't loose, but for a second there…"

Sakura rolled over and the sound of the gravel shifting drew his gaze again. She was standing against the light and it made a halo of her hair. He swallowed.

"Where are you going?" he asked as she began to walk back to the gym. From his vantage point on the ground he saw her back figure too well in too much detail and only a part of him didn't want her to turn around when he called out her name again. The view was too damn good.

"Shut up, I'm going back. I still have time to train."

She burned in the last light of day and it was too much to breath for a moment as he watched her walk away.

When had she changed so much?

Day 2: Kalopsia

→ the delusion of things being more beautiful than they are

Sakura was split between wanting and regretting. Her efforts to better herself hadn't gone as unnoticed as she first suspected, and the attention and recognition she had been pining for, for so long finally came to her in one of the most unexpected of ways.

Sakura ran her hands under the warm water and blood fell off the edges of her wrists in dark streaks. She used soap and dug it under her nails, but it took forever to scrub the red from her fingers and make her hands hers again. They were near raw when she pulled them back and looked them over again. She hadn't seen them glow green in a long time now.

"You did well, Danzo would like to see you now." She looked over her shoulder to see the form of another one of the root nin she had been working alongside for the past month and a half. She hadn't told anyone, but her subtle absence hadn't been noted. It wasn't hard to lie when no one asked.

Sakura readjusted her own mask before slipping on a new pair of black colored gloves. The last pair was less than shreds in the dirt somewhere. There would be no end to bloody hands in his world.

When she stood before Danzo she knew what he was saying was praise, but what came out of his mouth always felt like condemnation. "You're being useful here." You weren't useful anywhere else.

The old scarred man rose from his desk and she knew to follow him without being asked. They traveled in darkness, all of Root was darkness where only a ninja could find their way. The weight of his footfalls and the tap of his unnecessary cane echoed around the chambers and Sakura felt the vibration breach her body with each step. They walked without speaking, but it wasn't silence, and Sakura knew every minute was meant to unsettle her and it was working.

"Most of my faithful do not come to me so old, especially not when they come to me from the nest of our lady Hokage herself." When he spoke his words were slow and deliberate. Sakura felt each one.

"I am thankful and appreciative of the opportunity to serve my village," Sakura spoke, knowing all too well how to kiss up the authority. She had been that model student at the academy for a reason. Funny.

"Root does not have capable medics. Most medics are weak in the field and unwilling to…do what is necessary for their village."He stopped and Sakura stopped to, feeling like her hands were weights instead of bone and flesh. She had cleaned them earlier, but she could still feel the blood cracking and staining the undersides of her nails.

"This is how we serve the great tree that is our village…in the shadows. Crane will retrieve you for your next mission tomorrow after your shift in the hospital. Do not show up in anything less than stellar condition."

"I'm on call for surgery tomorrow."

"Then it is unfortunate for those who will not have the benefit of your unique abilities. I made myself clear." And he had. She could clock in and stand around with the others pretending to be of help, pretending to be useful, but they both knew where her real worth would be proven.

The image flashed behind her mind, the body she broke open with her firsts, the one she pulverized open and open and open again until there was nothing left connected. More than just an assignation, they had been told to send a message. Leaf will destroy those who endanger her peace.

Sakura looked up, pulling her mind away from the memory like it was heavy syrup, only to find herself alone again. Danzo was gone, but his words still remained with her. 'This is how we serve.'

She undid her uniform and traveled the rest of the way to her apartment in nondescript black, slipping through the shadows with ease until she touched down on her balcony. Her hand was on the door when she paused, feeling a body in her tiny apartment. There were only two people that had her key and both were on a mission, but she hadn't taken the care to trap her house so-

She stiffened when she recognized the thrum of chakra and pulled back the glass sliding door to step into her room. She let it slide back shut on it's own while she began to untie her shirt wrap and chuck off her sandals.

"Ugly."

"I don't remember inviting you into my room," she dryly commented, sounding like she didn't care.

"You didn't." Sai was blunt and short with how he talked to everyone, but there was a little more character in his speaking these days. After getting out of root and hanging around Naruto, the humanity seemed to have rubbed off on the artist a bit.

"You should leave, then."

"You should leave."

Sakura paused, stilling with her hand above the handle to her sock drawer when she heard his words. He hadn't been talking about her room, and they both knew it. "I'm not planning on going anywhere else." No one else would take me. Not like Danzo would.

"You should." He rocked a bit on the edge of her bed, swaying forward and than back while his eyes fixed on nothing at all. "You don't belong there."

"What do you know about me or belonging?" Sakura tried to ask with a laugh, but Sai wasn't the type of person sarcasm would work on. Her efforts felt heavy, even to her. She let her hands fall to her sides and Sai's eyes moved for the first time to settle on her new gloves.

"I know that place better than you, and I think…I know you enough to know that place isn't for you."

She curled her fingers into fists. "I am serving my village. I'm doing a good thing."

"Being useful is an attractive feeling, but when you make it your god, be carful you don't make yourself the lamb on the alter."

And then he was gone but Sakura couldn't bring herself to feel his absence. Like his old mentor, Sai's words made a nest in her heart and settled there.

Day 3: Silver Lining

Sakura was a medic that didn't believe in the bluntness of speech for anyone but herself. She had seen patients go into shock, terrorize the nurses around them, or break down into hysterics when the diagnosis they never wanted came in. It was important to break the news to the patient as softly as possible for this reason.

But Sakura was a medic before she was a victim so she didn't need that sort of talk. She needed the damage report and she needed to know what she could do to fix it.

"You're being removed from rotation for the next six to eight weeks." It could of been indefinitely.

The corrosive tissue on the left arm has been removed, but dexterity is minimal until the damage can be treated with new stem cells. 'It could have been an amputation.'

"You are not being called back to Root as they have stripped you from their roster. You ask, they'll say you were never there because you weren't." 'It could have been my headband they took from me.'

But when Sakura opened her eyes and the room remained empty it was hard to see the silver lining in anything. It could have always been worse, but that thought did little to ease the frustration that mounted and spilled over when she tensed against the restraints and screamed into the empty room until her lungs gave out.

She wasn't distraught, she was pissed. She was angry and that heat kept her warm even when the thermostat in the room couldn't.

Autumn had more than settled in, and the nights had teeth that tore straight to the bone. Someone left the window in her room on, but her body was too broken for her to do anything about it. The restraints were more to keep her from moving than to keep her in bed.

Her visitor came to her in the peak of night, when the rest of the staff was a skeleton crew haunting the halls until daybreak. Sakura knew better than to ask who let him in. Itachi let himself in wherever he wished. There were no doors for someone like the clan heir and future Hokage candidate.

"Come to assess the damage," she intoned, voice low.

She knew what he saw, even with the sheets, too much of her body had been stained black and purple from the corrosive disease that wiped out the rest of her team before any of them knew what was happening. It was only because her body was trained to react and self heal independently that Sakura had managed to survive the first minute of exposure. No one else on her team made it out. She returned empty handed, the sole surviver, the selfish living.

The worse of it was centered around her right shoulder, where the black stained her skin darkest. Purple colored the edges of the spread, leaving a trail like lightning down her arm and over her neck to stop under her jaw. A thin fragment marred the skin under her eye like a single whisker, but it was greatly diminished from what it had been when they dragged her from the gates. Half of her face used to be dead and black.

"Sasuke was asking after you. His team returned home this afternoon."

"How touching." Her tone was dry.

Sakura strained against the restraints. She knew she was denied visitors until a cover story could be spun around her condition. Danzo had distanced himself from her, and the seal on the roof of her mouth would keep it that way. Still, none of her friends would be allowed to visit her until the PR team for Root had their go at the council members.

The lone Uchiha regarded her a moment before speaking, and his voice was the smooth surface of a cloistered lake, unblemished and perfectly even like a mirror. "Some would have thought you wiser than to become something so insignificant to someone so untrustworthy."

She wanted to hurt him for those words.

"What are you here for, Uchiha? Take your message back to your brother, you've seen me now." Sakura hid her fury under the fold of her words.

"I did not come on behalf of Sasuke kun."

Sakura quirked a single brow.

"…I heard from Shisui about your race. He was willing to vouch for your abilities as I considered increasing my team once again, and we were jealous for the luxury of a capable medic that wouldn't slow us down."

"You're ANBU," Sakura said, knowing well and good that Itachi had been famously pulled closer and closer to the village as his prominence in the clan grew.

The Uchiha didn't want their best hope for prestige being killed or maimed in an accident far away from the village. Sakura had seen him go from S rank missions on suicide squads to paper pushing and delegation next to the Hokage. It had been a while since his ANBU squad had last been used.

Something clicked and Sakura blinked at the new thought. "It's the only way they would be willing to send you away, is if you had a 'capable' medic on your team." Her grin turned sly. "I'm your ticket out."

"I would prefer to see the arrangement as mutually beneficial." He shifted the weight of his body from one leg to the other, and on anyone else the action would have made him seem nervous. Itachi was anything, but nervous. "Yes, I would prosper, but so would you. I know that in spite of your abilities, you've been denied ANBU states twice now when a team refused to take you on or sponsor your advancement."

"I wasn't ready," Sakura countered, telling Itachi what they told her, even if she believed it to be as much of a lie as Orochimaru's innocence.

"You know that's not true. It was politics. You were being coddled by the same people who replaced you for Sai. His death they would mourn, but survive. However, your demise is something that would break them." Itachi took a step to the side and more moonlight fell over him. "I've seen it well enough in my brother to recognize it in the others."

All the thoughts and feelings she had been harboring in her heart, the resentment she had left to fester reared up with a vengeance. It was as Itachi said. She had been coddled, held back, denied advancement and shuffled off to endless hospital rotation status. Her frustrations were justified. It had been unfair.

"How would you get clearance for such a thing?" Sakura asked, gambling that her hope wasn't as evident in her words or tone as it was in her head. Her mind was screaming out the possibilities, drowning out the doubts. "Tsunade would deny you."

"She had, until your most recent stunt in Iwa. She hadn't known Danzo picked you up. At least with me, she could keep an eye on you, least something worse happen." His eyes narrowed at the mark on her neck.

He had asked for her, asked for her before Danzo took her in. Why hadn't Tsunade talked to her about this, or asked Sakura to consider it? Tsunade knew Sakura had been struggling to make up what she lacked with it came to the power gap between her and the rest of Team 7. She knew of Sakura's desire to serve, to feel that weight of usefulness.

"Why me?" Sakura asked out loud, straightening up in her bed as far as the wrist bindings would let her go.

The question made his eyes flicker with thought. "Why not? You are more than capable in the capacity of field medic and combatant, as well as a boon to any company. My team has already met to approve of you nomination once more."

"Your ANBU team?" she asked, narrowing his eyes at his silvery, shadowed form. She had never been a part of ANBU, but she had tried twice now to make the cut. It helped to have friends on the other side.

"It would be challenging, but you would adjust in time as you have before. I look forward to your favorable reply once you have regained freedom from recovery." He turned once more and became more shadow than man until there was nothing left of him but a silver lining painted by moonlight. The nothing.

In the morning the nurses let her walk on her own and murmured to themselves at the rate her body had self healed since their check last night. In another day the stem cells would have done all the needed to and she would be better.

Once she was discharged, she planned on making her priority stop the ANBU headquarters.

Day 4: Dexterity

→ skill or adroitness in using the hands or body; cleverness

Sakura found more familiar faces in Itachi's ANBU unit than she anticipated. Already expecting Shisui to act as Itachi's right hand, the rest of his team was a surprise until her welcoming dinner. Their sensor was Neji Hyuga, and the lone female who aided as a tracker and patchwork medic was Kiba's older sister Inuzuka Hana.

Needless to say, Hana was overly appreciative to have Sakura come in and take over a field she felt barely adequate for. The older woman had even mentioned thinking about retiring back to her veterinary practice, but claimed it would be too much of a wasted opportunity for her to miss working alongside another talented woman who wasn't as crazy as Anko.

"No," Shisui moaned, trying to pull Hana away from where she leaned on Sakura's shoulders with an impish grin. "You can't have her. Go flirt with the girls on Tenzin's team."

Hana smiled prettily over at Shisui before digging her heel into the toe of his sandal, making his yelp. When he cried about being her superior Itachi and Neji both sighed in synch, moving to hold their head in mirrored images of each other.

Itachi had been gracious enough to rent out a privet room at one of his favorite tea houses, but the hope of quiet and calm being themes of Sakura's welcome party were lost when Hana decided to be antagonistic. If it was only Shisui, Itachi could have managed, but Hana was a storm he didn't dare weather unless it was absolutely necessary.

Sakura found it strange how Itachi's team felt more like a rag tag family than a business group of cold detached co workers. Danzo kept his root operatives perfect in line, but there had always been an air of cut throat within his ranks. At the drop of a hat, one man could turn on his partner should the order ever be given. There was no camaraderie in the shadows. And even in team seven, she had noticed things straining as their ranks progressed. In the back of her mind she doubted the family she had fostered with her first teammates could survive in such a professional environment like ANBU. ANBU wasn't supposed to be a place where people could be human, or friends, or even family.

It was Neji's voice that cut through her thoughts and brought Sakura back to the present. "They're not as bad as Naruto or Sasuke, thought," Neji muttered, sparing Sakura an apologetic sideways glance.

From under Hana's arm Sakura smiled sheepishly. "No, I don't think so, but those two have gotten better. Naruto doesn't take Sasuke's bait nearly as much as he used to when we were chūnin."

"I can only imagian," Neji murmered in reply, sitting himself down at the low table beside Itachi who was already seated.

Sakura swallowed, glancing away. She wouldn't admit it had been a while since team 7 had last hung out. The boys visited her once in the hospital, the day before she was discharged, but hadn't been concerned when she played off her injuries and acted like it was only a precaution that put her in the hospital bed. They believed her too easily, never knowing about Root while Sai watched from the doorway, eyes lowered shoulders drooping.

They had mentioned dinner, but Sakura knew they were waiting for her to plan something or invite them out. They would follow her, and happily, but no one else on that team had the initiative to do anything, and Sakura wasn't willing to be their mom anymore.

"Sasuke has always been childish," Itachi conceded, almost smiling to himself at the thought. He seemed to catch himself and coughed into his hand, earning Shisui's attention. "Cousin, you've done enough agitating. Take a seat and help us welcome our newest member. Hana, let her regain some independence and join us yourself."

The pair of adults who acted like children groaned and whined, but Sakura watched as they both did as they were asked, leaving her to step up onto the platform and take the last seat at the table, directly across from Shisui and Itachi.

"Thank you for welcoming me," Sakura said, feeling their eyes on her.

"We are most thankful for your acceptance of the post," Itachi answered, nodding his head in her direction.

She felt herself starting to curve inwards but caught herself. She forced her body to straighten up and kept her back square with confidence. It had been seeping out of her for as long as she could remember, but now she was guarding it jealously. Itachi seemed to notice, but Sakura pretended she hadn't caught the way his lip quirked up.

"Someone might have mentioned a mission. Should I assume this meeting serves a dual purpose?" Sakura asked, looking to the corners of the room where the Uchiha's seals were placed. No one had come in for their tea yet either.

Hana perked up. "Already?"

Neji's tone was level as he turned from the table and stepped down from the platform to take a position on the mats in front of the tea making set. "It's been a while. You shouldn't be surprised."Sakura blinked when she realized what he was preparing to do.

"Yeah, but …" Hana trailed off, looking at Itachi.

"We have another medic with us and the Hokage has been pushing to send our unit out to Iwa for some time now. She was willing to settle for a trek through Kirigakure at the behest of their Mizukage."

"We're going to be operating inside Kirigakure?" Sakura asked, raising a single brow. "Is that not something their own ANBU can do?"

Itachi managed a polite smile. "I'm sure it is, but they're requesting our aid as it involves the expulsion of a small mafia group consisting mainly of missing Konan nin."

Shisui smiled easily over at Sakura, head on his hand. "It's out of respect that they are allowing us to take out our own trash before it stinks up their yard anymore."

"It will be a good first mission for you," Itachi said, nodding at Sakura. "I'm not too concerned with the mafia group's abilities, however they are slippery and difficult to track."

"Not a problem for me," Hana hummed. Neji just grunted from where he sat, whisking tea.

Itachi eyed the both of them before his gaze returned to Sakura. "I expect to receive word of their possible movement two days from now. Tentatively, that is our expected time of departure."

Two days didn't even last one. Later that night a crow peached on the railing to her bed and she was out like a shot, slipping into dark fabric and pinning up her loose hair till it was hidden under a cowl and mask. The white surface was left blank apart from a pair of whiskers and stripes. The ends of the front made it look like a catn and Itachi had dubbed her Neko, much to the private amusement of Shisui for some reason.

The group was assembled in less than ten minutes and out of the village in twelve, traveling at a pace ANBU was well known for. Occasionally the other members would look back to gauge her endurance, but Shisui was the only one who kept his eyes forward, knowing well and good how impressive Sakura's speed endurance was.

Hana led the chase, and Neji brought up the rear while Shisui and Itachi ran point ahead and behind Sakura respectively, keeping her in the center. She was their medic, she was the most protected.

By the time they reached the drop zone the letter from Itachi's contact had already been destroyed, and their lead was burning on a pyre of assorted bodies. Sakura didn't even have to examine them to know they were beyond saving.

"Hana," Itachi's voice was chilled but the oldest female was already moving alongside her pack of nin dogs, picking up on a trail less seasoned trackers might miss.

"I have it." And they were off again, this time more desperate than before and pressing themselves.

Hours later Itachi called for a rest while he and Neji went ahead to scout from a distance. They returned a handful of minutes later and said they would need to go back out once night set in, but it would be wiser for them to set up camp and rest before pressing forward. A conflict was imminent, and Sakura could taste it in the air when she pulled roots up for brewing and Shisui cooked dinner.

They ate, slept, and let their coils hum with chakra that was meant to replace what they burned on their run over. They got maybe two hours before the tides turned.

Sakura remembered how it felt when Sasori of the Red Sand closed in and her survival hid in the eye of a needle. He was everywhere at once, the same way the missing nin they had been tracking seemed to be as their volley of senbon rained down. It would have been easier to run, but Hana was still climbing to her feet and there were her dogs to consider as well.

Thinking fast, Sakura slammed her fist down at an angle and the earth arched up to catch the bulk of the volley and protect her friends. Hana and her nin dogs fell into form behind Sakura, shouting about how they would have to 'hold the fuckers off until the others came back from their recon.'

Sakura heard a far off explosion and suspected they were engaged in their own struggles. "I'll give us the cover to get to them!"

And for all his horrors, the things Danzo and root taught her became invaluable as she shook the world asunder and made herself a reckoning. Sakura carved a path back to the rest of her team, allowing Hana and her dogs to rejoin the main group and unify their forces.

Shisui spotted Sakura first and carried a tattered Hyuga in his arms to deposit at Sakura's feet. "He tried to play hero with us again," the older Uchiha laughed, seeming too comfortable for such a distraught landscape.

Sakura didn't have time to argue, falling into medic mode as she assessed and healed and mended, all the while trusting Shisui to give her cover.

"Itachi better not look like this too," Sakura huffed from behind a glow of green. Her hands shifted and more of the gash knit back together.

"I could hardly imagine out captain so uncouth," Neji dryly intoned. A moment later he blinked and looked up at Sakura, his expression weary. "You're advancing through the wound faster than expected."

"Cause she's a real medic you asshole," Hana screamed over her shoulder.

Neji pretended he couldn't hear his other teammate while she ran after the figure her dogs had brought down. "It doesn't hurt as much either. Should I be worried?"

"I'm disabling the pain receptions around the wound site. You're not feeling anything because of me, I'm doing that."

From behind her mask it was impossible to tell where she was looking, but even a blind man could guess where her focus was. Her whole body was turned towards Neji's and she radiated attentiveness.

Neji couldn't help but look down and watch the work of her hands with a less than morbid fascination. Gore hadn't bothered him in a long time, but he never enjoyed it or preferred seeing the work of wounds. Still, Neji had to watch her work, see her hands move and track their progress down across his chest till his opening was a scabbed over mound of pink flesh.

"How interesting," he murmured, watching as her hand's glow dimmed. When she made a sound of confusion he pushed himself up and shrugged. "It's not often you see such duplicity. What did that," he nodded to the mess she had made of the earth behind them. "Made this." He pointed to his fresh scar and traced it.

Sakura breathed and it almost sounded like a laugh behind her mask. She touched his chest over the wound sigh and pushed him away, enough to make him stumble. "The Uchiha are going to get all the glory if we don't catch up with them."

Neji nodded, the veins around his eyes bulging as he activated his Byakugan. With celestial vision it doesn't take long for him to see how this will play out. They will pursue, they will win, and they will go home triumphant. He tells Sakura this and she agrees, but adds, "Hopefully with less Uchiha bragging."

It's enough to make Neji pause and laugh. In the distance a man begs for forgiveness and Shisui make an off color joke no one appreciates. Hana berates her nin dogs for decapitating one of the body and Itachi sighs. Neji sees it all, but he watches Sakura. "Welcome to the team."

Day 5: Legacy

Naruto didn't take the news as well as he could have, in Sasuke's opinion.

"She's upgraded us," the blond moaned into the half finished bowl of ramen he had made for himself. It was only the first of what should have been several, but Naruto could hardly bring himself to finish half of it.

"Now you're being ridiculous," Sasuke chided. He wanted to hit Naruto, and couldn't understand why the need was so fierce until he realized that was what Sakura would have done. In her absence he was adopting her habits.

"No, I think dickless has a point," Sai added, staring into the murky surface of his broth.

Sasuke's glare narrowed. "Hn."

Naruto sat up straight like a bolt and waved a finger in Sasuke's face. "She has so! You just don't care because it's Itachi."

"…Hn."

Sasuke hid his agitation well. But not well enough, since Naruto just started blabbing on, disregarding the fact that ANBU teams were supposed to be classified with only a handful of exceptions for special cases. Sakura had told them last night that she had joined ANBU with a team and that she knew and trusted the members. She hadn't told them who else she worked with, but Kakashi had been the dark horse that pulled the strings that spilled the beans for him and his cute little students. They heard Itachi was her captain and the rest of the names came easily enough.

"-And that stupid emotionless white eyed bastard with the artsy hair is there to replace Sai cause they're both equally emotionally shot. Hana is the older pervert to take Kakashi's place with her stupid nin dogs that share the same shampoo and it's terrible because Sakura's too nice to not laugh at her stupid old man jokes when she always told Kakashi he was full of it in the past."

Naruto's face was a blotchy mess as he started to hyperventilate. "Dobe…?" Sasuke would only admit to being a little bit concerned.

"B-b-but the worst part….the worst part is my replacment…b-b-be-because it's not even, he's not even blond! And how dare he take my place with his lame, half assed, second rate pranks. Sakura's only supposed to look after me like that and punch me on the head when I'm being stupid, not your stupid cousin! He doesn't even laugh right, he sounds like a choking bird trying to have sex at three hundred feet."

Sasuke almost smiled at Naruto's analogy of Shisui's ridiculous titter. Naruto wasn't the only one to have noticed and made fun of the older Uchiha for it. Even as kids it had been bad. Only Itachi seemed unfazed by the awful sound.

And Sakura.

The almost smile fell away quickly when he remembered catching sight of his older brother and cousin leading Sakura through the food stalls at the open market yesterday. It had been before Kakashi came back with the news, so the pair of them hanging to Sakura's sides seemed off to Sasuke at the time. He still didn't know how he was supposed to feel about the way Sakura almost chuckled at Shisui's laugh while Itachi watched her with a rare unguarded expression. Now it made sense. They were a team. They trusted each other, the same way she had once trusted them. Itachi's look was one Sasuke had used when watching Sakura go off on Naruto about hygiene or diet or health. Now it was his brother's turn to use that look.

"You're making too big of a deal out of it. It's not like she's leaving us or anything. Nothing has changed."

Sai turned to look at Sasuke, eyes blank and unfocused. Dryly, he commented. "Itachi is obviously a replacement for you, it's an upgrade to anyone with eyes."

Naruto sniffed. "Yeah, Uchiha 2.0 Prime with special Hokage prospect attachment."

"Oi!"

Naruto slumped down onto the counter. "Why couldn't she have just stayed with us?"

Sai blinked, looking at the blond with a question furrowing his brow. "Explain."

Naruto slapped the tabletop. "Sakura's not supposed to be for other teams. She is our team 7 medic. I don't care if we don't need one with the stupid magic healing upgrade I now have. The others can't have her. I'm going to tell Tsunade to give her back."

"Did you forget you were the ones who asked for her exclusion?" Sai asked, sounding genuinely confused. "You change your minds now."

"That was before we thought she would be safe here!" Naruto countered. "And it was only temporary, until the dangerous missions stopped coming in."

"…All out missions are dangerous," Sai said in a whisper, sounding confused.

Sasuke closed his eyes and mentally kicked himself. "We didn't trust her." The image of Itachi watching Sakura came back. "She could have handled herself on any of those missions."

"Then why didn't she ask to coooome?" Naruto whined, eyes still red with tears.

"Baka, Sakura wouldn't say something like that out loud." It was their job to have known, it was their job to stick together as a team. It was their job to watch her back while she watched theirs, and they walked away from her.

Sasuke slammed the money down and stood suddenly. Naruto sniffed and looked up, tracking Sasuks's movements the same way Sai did.

"Come on, I know where she is."

His home smelled extra nice with the meal on the stove. Oddly enough, both Itachi and his cousin Shisui were hovering nearby, watching and helping whenever the need arose while their pink haired friend made the meals. Both Uchiha looked up when they heard Sasuke enter through the front, trailed by his team, minus their former sensei.

"I'm home!" Sasuke called.

Itachi called back, "Welcome home little brother." He then frowned. "What are you doing back so soon with your team mates?"

Sakura's stirring stopped. Seconds later she appeared in the hallway wiping her hands on the apron around her chest. "Sasuke! What are you guys doing here? I thought you said you were eating out."

"Sakura chan," Naruto whimpered, as if the sight of her made him sad.

"Ah, we were actually hoping you would be free for a quick chat, but if you're busy with food…"

"I can take over," Itachi offered from behind Sakura, touching her elbow in encouragement. "They look like they could use a talk."

Sakura nodded before stepping outside, keeping her apron on. She didn't expect it to be a long chat, even when Sasuke led her outside to the porch area. Her hair was knotted and tied up to keep out of the food, leaving her neck bare. "So what's up?"

Sasuke bowed on his knees, touching his head to the floor as Naruto fell in to do the same with a hesitant Sai mimicking the gesture. Sakura gasped, hand to her mouth, not believing what she was seeing.

"You guys…."

"We were foolish and nearsighted. We did not consider your feelings and acted immaturely. Because of that we have lost some of your trust and missed out on your friendship." Sasuke kept his head down, too scared to look up. "But we most humbly ask your forgiveness. Team seven is not whole without you."

"It was our fault Sakura chan, please forgive meeeeee, I don't care about the bastard, but don't forget about meeeeeeeee."

"Baka," Sakura sighed, lightly punching the back of Naruto's head. "What am I going to do with you guys?" The blond winced and rubbed the sore spot, but Sasuke could see how the blond secretly grinned at her contact.

"Come back to team seven and keep an eye on us?" Naruto guessed, smiling openly as he sat up. Sasuke followed along, but didn't stand.

Sakura shook her head and sighed, darting a glance back inside. "You guys…" She looked over at Sasuke and he gulped. "I'm sorry, too. I didn't tell you how I felt about the whole thing, and I wasn't honest when you asked. I wanted to be acknowledged and recognized for my own efforts, so I blamed myself. Its not easy trailing in your shadows."

"You were never in their shadows," Sai added, softly. He knew enough about shadows.

Sakura smiled to herself. "Thank you guys. This means a lot to me, you know. I've missed team seven."

"Yeah, we're the most famous team in all of the land of fire, of course you would miss it with us. You gotta come back, Sakura chan!" Naruto said.

Sakura's eyes slid to the screen behind her and something caught in Sasuke's throat. His chest hurt. "But I'm already a part of something new, and I can't just leave my new team. I'm going to stay with them for now and work hard to grow stronger, and I think that's okay." She nodded to each of them. "But you're right. I'll always be a part of team seven. That's a legacy I'll always have with you."

"I don't like how this sounds like a goodbye," said Naruto.

It was Sakura's turn to grin. "Not goodbye, you baka. No one could ever split us up for long, not even ourselves. But this is a moving on. I wanna see what I can do, so one day you're the ones wrecked with insecurities from watching my back."

"Too late," Sasuke muttered, spotting Itachi and Shisui leaning closer to the doors and exchanging looks with each other that could fill novels. He frowned when his chest pinched again.

Sakura saw his gaze and laughed.

"Until that day comes, you boys better watch out for each other and keep my place warm."

Day 6: Ethereal

→ of heaven or the spirit; extremely delicate or refined; airy

Her hands when she poured tea, her ankles when she turned herself in mid air, and the lines of her back jutting out like the leftover end of filed down wings all made her the perfect candidate for the mission. That and Hana was the only other girl and she refused to do honey pop missions or anything that required parading herself out in front of old men in tea houses and zen gardens.

All she had to be was a distraction, nothing too suspicious or out of place for fear of tipping off their mark, but still bold enough to attract all the attention in a room without exception. Shinobi were weary creatures, even when they were old and settled between friends at a retreat out in the mountains.

"He'll be in the front row on the south facing side of the room," Hana told her the night before, slipping a photo across the table at the bar. To anyone else it looked like a pair of girls in heels and skirts going for drinks together.

Sakura giggled and leaned in closer, taking the photo into the front of her dress before kissing Hana goodbye on the cheek and stumbling out, only for Shisui to pick her up right outside the door and 'charm' her home.

"He's no one terribly important, but we need to keep him distracted enough that he won't notice when Neji and I trip the seal on his vault. Shisui and Hana will be running interference at these two points," Itachi said, pointing to his map. Sakura memorized the points and nodded when he next asked her if she felt comfortable with her role.

"Good, we'll leave in the morning."

Everything from that point on went like clockwork. They infiltrated the teahouse without issue and Sakura took her place among the dancers with a suggestion jutsu Ino had helped her develop. They all recognized and remembered their newest orphan member from the land of snow who danced like one of their Yuki Onna, but with flower petals falling from her hair where there should have been snow.

Hana slipped in and out, refilling sake jars, head down and eyes sharp. Shisui was one of the rookie body guards directly outside the teahouse that liked to laugh too much, much to the horror of his fellow guards who also could not stand the sound of his laugh.

Someone touched Sakura's back and she turned behind her to see the matron. "They're not happy. You'll go out next."

That was not going to work. Itachi and Neji were not in position to advance. She wouldn't be able to hold his attention of make herself a distraction for that long.

"Please, a few more minutes. I-I'm nervous." She just needed seven minutes. The current set would end in one and it would take another thirty seconds to let the room rest before a new image took the stage. Itachi and Neji needed two minutes on the seal, three if it proved tricky. She couldn't see how it would work.

"You don't get nervous. We need yo to salvage this."

Sakura thought fast and saw a white cat mask that reminded her of her ANBU face shield. It wasn't a part of her original plan, but she would have to make it work.

"Fine, but I keep my original set. You'll leave me out there for two sets."

The matron huffed. "I'll yank you if I think I need to."

"You won't need to." Sakura slipped off to apply the mask and hide herself in a headscarf. She dropped a red scarf out the window where Shisui would see it and hoped that would help.

Usually refined guests didn't appreciate a strip tease until there was more wine, but a mask suddenly made lewd things acceptable. Sakura looked different from the other dancers for reasons no one could place right away, but once she started moving no one seemed to care.

Sakura let the scarf fall through the air, catching it and snapping it before it could touch the floor. It was a part of her dance, but more than that, it was a barrier between her and her guests. Men hated barriers and it was terribly entertaining to see them strain for the barrier to come down between her and them.

How long could she tease? Long enough as long as she kept her body in motion. She should be exhausted with it all by the time her first set ends, but no one's asked her leave and the matron is no where to be see. Sakura prays it is enough when she holds up the scarf in front of her face, standing so her body faces her mark. The sound of her mask falling off her face and hitting the floor makes men flinch. Her face is exposed, and once she brings her hands down the scarf will reveal what was only glimpsed before.

The room inhales as one and her fingers uncurl, one by one like the legs of a spider over glass. The scarf falls and she knows the world is watching her as she looks down without smiling at the man who's attention she most dominate. She will not smile for him, but she makes sure he knows she sees him, she's watching him, knows him.

She bends and he follows her with her eyes. A man almost reaches for her and she rotates away, chin in the air. It's a rule not to touch the performers when they are preforming. If they are forgetting this it can only mean she's doing what she needs to. She teases more than ever, coming up to the edges, just within reach, daring them to touch. Some try, but she's something ethereal in silk.

The music is ending and she doesn't know if Itachi and Neji have done what they needed to do. Shisui hasn't laughed once and she had thought he would have to add to the distraction. Hana hasn't spilled anything either. Would it be enough? Was everything set?

She turns her body over and bend backwards enough that her face touches the floor behind her where her mask fell. When she stands she is hidden behind porcelain again.

The next performer is only music, there is nothing to look at and nothing to compare her to. She will linger in their minds for a bit longer.

Hana meets her behind the kitchen and helps her get to their check point without detection. She says they've got the scroll, it was easy, she did what she needed to do and both Neji and Itachi were ahead and waiting. When the two girls cut the corner they both spotted the Hyuga and the Uchiha leaning in the shadows. They stood up and turned to greet the girls.

"Where's Shisui?" Itachi asked.

Sakura felt her heart still. "He was supposed to be here ahead of us."

"You didn't see him when you left?"

Just when Sakura thought she was going to loose her breath from Itachi's question, the Uchiha in question flickered down in between them and snickered at the expressions. "Miss me?"

Itachi didn't say anything, but his look was scolding enough.

"We should move. We need the distance." Neji motioned towards the exit of the property and the group moved as a single unit towards their next safe house.

Only when they were safely hunkered down and fed did they bring up the mission. Neji and Itachi had no issue with the seal and it was an easy in and out, however the scroll with the information they wanted was less impressive than they first suspected.

"Still, you were negligent with your arrival. What detained you?" Itachi asked, looking up at his cousin who sat across from him at the table.

Shisui laughed and waved the question off. "I just wanted to be safe and I left at a time when no one would miss me. I ugh, missed the first opening and thought it best to wait for the second one rather than mess it up."

"Why did you miss the first opening? You were supposed to escort Hana and Sakura out."

Hana frowned. "It's fine, it's all good. We made it, no need for the grilling, captain." She rolled her shoulders and then looked to Sakura. "Great job on your dance, though. It was really good and I forgot I was supposed to spill something until halfway through, but by then I knew you had a better grasp of the situation and that I wasn't necessary."

Sakura grinned, holding up her water cup. "Thanks."

Shisui glanced over her way nervously and then only hummed his agreement. Itachi eyed his cousin wearily. It was Hana that said something, elbowing the older Uchiha in the side and hissing at him to say something nice too, because there was no way he didn't see Sakura's dance with how often Hana caught his face in the window.

Day 7: Freestyle / Happy Birthday Sakura!

It just so happened that her birthday came at an odd time in the year when everyone was celebrating something. The Cherry Blossom festival was a annual tradition that almost always coincided with her birthday, (it was the reason her parents chose the name Sakura for her). But in addition to all that, Tsunade was announcing her retirement, the hospital was going through a change in management to accommodate the older woman coming back to full time practice, and several clan heads were following in the Hokage's example and naming clan heirs as heir apparents with the intention of graduating to the head position after their year of shadowing was finished.

Sakura sat with Hana and Tenten, both of whom were good friends with each other, and watched the tops of the cherry trees as they swayed in the early morning breeze. Every so often she could see people running through the gaps in between branches, rushing to make the grounds ready for the festival.

"So Kiba, huh?" Tenten murmured. "You cool with that?"

Hana chuckled. "He's depressed enough with not being nominated Hokage so yeah, he can have our clan head title. I feel like I dodged a bullet on that one, actually. I'd much rather have the freedom."

Tenten laughed. "Especially now that there's not so much stress being put on you to produce a clain heir, right?"

Hana opened her mouth and laughed with all her teeth before meeting a high five of Tenten's with her own. "Damn straight, girl. Drinks are on me tonight at the festival."

"Are you going, Sakura?" Tenten asked.

Sakura nodded, then paused, and then shrugged. "I think so, I don't know when though. I'm going with Naruto to the Uchiha's to celebrate Itachi's inheritance of the Hokage mantle and Sasuke being named clan heir apparent. I was going to go to the festival after that but…I have no idea how crazy the Uchiha will be with all the celebration."

"Itachi said they cracked open the sake cellar from the founding of the village era. He sounded concerned, but I've never seen a Uchiha sloshed."

"Except for Shisui," Sakura cut in.

Hana nodded, snapping her fingers. "I forget he's a Uchiha sometimes. Yeah, I've seen that."

Tenten snickered. "Now imagine that times everyone in the compound."

Hana's look of horror was swift. "Oh gods, no! Poor Sakura."

Sakura just rolled her eyes and looked sideways at Tenten. "I can't imagine the Hyuga being any less crazy. The stoic ones are always the ones that come undone the worst when mixed with alcohol."

Tenten waved a hand in the air, not knowing Sakura was on Neji's ANBU team. "I've seen Neji with wine, he's fine. He just gets super melodramatic and despondent. It's actually kinda cute. We watch out for Lee, poor kid can't hold anything."

Sakura grinned and bit the side of her lip, knowing exactly what Tenten meant. Last time they went on an away mission and sidetracked to stay at a retreat lodge, Itachi had treated them all to wine and Neji and Shisui were the two who polished off the most. Shisui became a kissing field they had to lock up in the closet and Neji just cried about how touched he was that his friends cared for him and the woman that sells him tofu gave him extra and 'she's just a tiny old lady with too much sunshine in her face and she was nice to meeeeeee….'

Hana stretched her arms over her head and then stood up with her elbows still in the air. "I'll pop in to visit and say hi to Itachi, but I'm sticking with Kiba tonight. If I don't make it over, pass on my congratulations to the whole family." She eyed Tenten next and smirked. "I'll look for you at the festival tonight." And then with a wink and a cloud of smoke she was gone.

Tenten giggled to herself and took off only minutes later to help the rest of her team aid in the Hokage garden assembly. Sakura was left alone and for the first time in a long time, there was nothing for her to do. In a few hours she would be busy visiting so many of her friends, but until then, she had nothing else to occupy her time. She could go home and get ready, but her house was empty again. It had been empty for seventeen months.

Sakura treated herself out for lunch and shopped in the market for foods and teas she didn't need but wanted. She took her time strolling through the village. Watching people, it was exciting to see how happy everyone seemed together. It was a rare moment of highlighted unity that swept through the villagers without discrimination. Itachi was admired by too many to not be a popular ruler, even if he was a Uchiha.

So why wasn't she as giddy as the rest of them?

Sakura let herself into her apartment and kicked her shoes off by the door. She paused when she noticed the other sandals, but walked in without caution. Sai was reading at her kitchen counter. A pot was on the stove boiling water. He turned a page, dog eared it, and looked up to see her walk in.

"Welcome home," he said.

Sakura almost paused, remembering on reflex the greeting and response that hadn't been used in a long time. "I'm home."

"I brought you something." He set down his book and let himself into her bedroom to appear outside a moment later with something on a hanger. He turned it around and Sakura caught a breath between her teeth when she saw the elegant spring yukata. Her mother always bought her bright pink and red ones when she was younger. One had even been tangerine with lime green accents, but the one Sai held was mature with a dark navy blue background lightly dusted with sakura petals that grew more frequent further down the robe.

"Sai…" She didn't know what to say. She hadn't worn a yukata since before her parents died. "It's too good a thing to just give away."

"Well I don't want to wear it."

Sakura snorted, reaching up to slap both hands over her mouth. She hadn't been expecting Sai to crack a joke, not with a face so straight and even. Oh, maybe he hadn't meant to make that a joke. Still, he was hilarious.

"I'm sorry. But it's just a lot for a gift out of the blue. Is that for tonight?"

Sai nodded. "I was hoping I could go with you and Naruto to the festival. I doubt I will want to remain at the Uchiha residence the whole night. Did you have something else you wanted to wear?"

The hot water whistled and Sakura ran to turn off the stove before answering. "No, I…I am not very good at tying myself up in those things so I don't wear them to festivals anymore unless there is someone to help me."

"I'm here."

Sakura blinked, then remembered how stunted all the kids in root had been. No one batted an eye at nudity, all the showers were communal and without dividers, boys and girls intermingled without a thread of temptation in the air. Sai was still a bit like that.

"Are you going to do my hair too?" She teased, feeling more like her old self.

"I'm an adequate hair dresser, and I've been told I do well with cosmetics. I did Naruto's on our last mission."

Sakura raised a single brow. "I'll have to ask him about that the next time I see him. No wonder they didn't want me tagging along." She rolled her shoulders and poured the tea into two mugs, setting out the teabags for Sai to choose from. He didn't move from where he stood.

"They wanted you." Sakura blinked and looked up to see him watching her. "You may think you were always stuck in their shadows but you could never be anything to them but a light to strive for. I…" Sai lowered his eyes to the counter and stared into the staining water of Sakura's black tea. "I was the one in your shadow. They never replaced you."

Sakura reached across the counter and hugged Sai, because that's what she would have done to any other grieving child.

Together they ate a late lunch, drank tea, and Sai did her hair and makeup for the night, taking his time to treat her hair and brush it till it felt like he worked with pink silk. Sakura watched him twist it up and curl it around his hand before pinning it in place with only a couple of pins that held like the devil. He picked up a pair of ornament pins from her jewelry box and decorated the side of her head with hanging, porcelain flowers that looked like miniature lily of the valley.

Before afternoon could melt into dusk, the pair set out to pay their congregations to both Kiba and Hanabi. At the gate Hana greeted the both of them and gushed over Sakura before dragging her in and showing them the grounds. Kiba and Akamaru were both sulking in the shade, upset about all the procession and pomp they would have to endure. When Sakura asked him what he thought being Hokage would be like he blustered and claimed 'that's different.'

Neji came to greet them at the gate and welcomed Sakura without saying anything to Sai at first. It was growing dark so he drew them in where the lanterns had already been lit before showing them around. Things were still getting ready, but the grounds looked extra immaculate.

Hinata came out a moment later and Sakura almost felt underdressed with how many layers the older sister wore to her blue and white Kimino. Hinata only complained about how little she could move and the girls shared a laugh before moving on to the zen garden. Hanabi was too busy, but the cousins said they would pass along Sai and Sakura's congratulations.

On the way out, Neji touched Sakura's elbow and whispered in her ear, asking her to pass on his congratulations to Itachi. In spite of their clans, Neji and Itachi seemed to be good friends that got along well and respected each other. Sakura said she would, but when she turned to go, Neji caught her elbow again.

"You look very nice tonight. Sai is quite fortunate to have you on his arm."

Sakura felt the loss of her balance as she tried to make sense of his words. Neji was looking to Sai who was looking back at the both of them. Neji swallowed and let her go. "I hope to work with you again sometime soon. When the ceremonies are over, we'll see how the teams are reformed."

With a pang Sakura remembered how hard it would soon be to see Itachi, the most important man in the village. No doubt he would take on Shisui as one of his ANBU guards, and it would make sense to ask Neji as well if he wanted to avoid slighting the Hyuga clan. They had only been together for a little less than a year, but it seemed like only a day ago Sakura was numb in a hospital bed, staring down the offered hand of Itachi Uchiha. It was spring again.

She felt Neji push something into her hand and she grasped it discreetly the way she would have if they were on a mission. It was enough to shake her out of her thoughts.

"I look forward to seeing what the future holds," Sakura responded. With a nod, she and Sai turned and headed off towards the Uchiha compound.

Sai curled his nose. "I can smell the wine from here."

Sakura hummed in agreement, stepping under the gate and following the swell of a crowd as it moved through houses to get to the main house where Sasuke, the new clan head, and Itachi, the new Hokage to be, both lived. There were so many bodies, Sakura didn't doubt every Uchiha in the village was trying to pack into the main house. Eventually, Sakura and Sai got through the bottle neck of the crowd and found themselves in the gardens where people had more than enough room to move. Only those with invitation were allowed beyond that point.

"Maybe we should just find Naruto and sneak off the to cherry blossom festival. Sasuke will understand," Sai offered.

A heavy hand fell on either of their shoulders and a dark cloud loomed between them.

"Don't you dare."

Sai didn't flinch, but Sakura squeaked and then laughed at Sasuke's arrival. The younger Uchiha winced at the sound of her voice.

Sakura could only smile at his expression of misery. "You don't look like the man who just became heir apparent to one of the most famous clans in all the known world. Who spit in your rice bowl?"

"They're making me stay the whole night. I wanted to go with you and Naruto. It's not enough that they have Itachi chained down, then have to keep me here too."

"You're important," Sai added.

"You're all important to me though. What's the point of being clan heir if I'm just trapped here like this?"

"At least you have a year to shadow your dad. Itachi starts in a few days."

Sasuke nodded, looking over his shoulder. "Yeah, Itachi said he meant to talk to you about something regarding Hokage work, I guess from when you did paper work with Tsunade, but he can make an appointment. You're my teammate."

"Sasuke…" Sakura's tone was warning, but she never said anything more, on account of the bright yellow blur that landed between her and Sasuke, pulling both of them into a laughing hug. On reflex Sakura reached for Sai and pulled him in alongside her.

Naruto babbled a mile a minute, drawing them in with a familiar warmth that had them all smiling and laughing together in minutes, even Sai. When an older Uchiha started heading their way Sauke winced and braced for the retrieval, but Sasuke's uncle was kind enough to give them a few more minutes before leading the group back to the main pagoda where Itachi and his father stood around, welcoming and greeting guests.

Itachi's eyes grew a fraction when he spotted the group and his smile welcomed the group under the covering. Sakura relayed her own congratulations before mentioning Hana and Neji. Naruto chirped something as well and Sai bowed his head in agreement.

Itachi thanked them all and tried to say something more when someone tugged on his arm and his attention was stolen away. Sasuke tried to sneak away with Naruto and Sakura, but was held back by his father and forced to greet Uchiha and clan friends alike. Later on in the week they would have another party and invite friends from other villages in. Tonight was like a trial run.

"Sasuke kun leaving you cuties?" Shisui laughed, falling against Sakura's side. "What a ungrateful brat." Naruto stiffened at the sight and Sakura groaned, smelling more than enough booze to make the lightweight buzzed.

"Shisui, have you been drinking?" she asked sweetly, taking his arm off her shoulder and holding it out away from her. He grinned and tried to lean down and kiss her, but she held him back.

"What a creep," Naruto whispered in Sakura's ear. Sai hummed in agreement when Shisui began to cry giggle about how pretty Sakura was. He wanted to kiss her and kept trying, but Sakura wasn't shy about using her enhanced strength to hold him at bay. In a flash she had him under her arm and was lowering him to the floor, easing him into sleep with her chokehold. His words were slurred but he laughed with his eyes until they closed. Still, Sakura understood what he was trying to say. It was the same thing he always said to her when he was drunk out of his mind. 'I love you.'

"Is it okay to just leave him there?" Naruto asked as they stepped around Shisui.

"They should know him better than that by now. Just leave him be."

At the gate the trio were about to leave when a dark shadow dropped down behind them. "Sasuke?"

The heir apparent grinned. "Dad said one last night of freedom. Let's go before he changes his mind."

Sakura grabbed Sai when it looked like he was going to lag behind them, and the quad made a bee line for the festival where booths and stalls were packed with food and games and lights and laughter. Naruto lost a lot of money trying to win a goldfish, only to give it away to the first kid he saw. Sasuke treated all of them to food whenever they saw something and wanted it. Sakura attempted to play the strong arm game but was kicked out when they recognized who she was, much to her displeasure. Sai pulled her away, kicking and shouting and Sasuke shoved dango into her mouth to shut her up.

It was when she was coming back from the bathroom that Itachi stopped her.

"I thought you were captivated for the night."

He grinned easily at her. "My clone is keeping them company. Even Uchiha need to take a break to the bathroom after so much wine, right?" He shifted the weight of his body from one leg to the other. "Did Sasuke say you look lovely tonight?"

"He might have mentioned it," Sakura hummed waving a hand in front of her face.

"Well, his words are inadequate. You look stunning."

Sakura noticed the color in his cheeks and laughed. "You have been drinking, haven't you."

"Not as much as Shisui."

"Thank gods for that. Sasuke said you had something you wanted to ask me about the office. Is there something I can do to help?"

Itachi licked his lips and nodded before inhaling and straightening his back. "I am allowed a total of up to four personal ANBU guards with two rotating in and out. I have two of the positions filled but would like to ask you for…if you were willing, to take the third position." He fumbled with something in his hands, it was small and the feel of it made him blink. "And to give you this. "Don't give me your answer right away, think about it."

Sakura took the small box from his hands and remembered she hadn't looked to see what Neji had given her earlier. "What is this?" she asked.

Itachi startled her with a quick kiss to her brow, a sign of maybe brotherly affection. "Happy birthday, Sakura."

It was Naruto and Sasuke who chased Itachi off right before the fireworks lit up the sky. The boys were still fuming when Sai reminded them to look up. Sakura turned her eyes upwards and saw the birthday message explode between the stars. Sai helped her add the hairpin from Neji to her bun and clasped the chain around her neck from Itachi. Under the layers of fabric Sakura let the Haruno clan symbol rest against her collarbone. Naruto kissed the side of her face and she laughed.

"Happy birthday Sakura chan!"

Omake- Wine

"Kisame, you know we always appreciate you taking the time to entertain our Hokage, but is there really no other way?" Sakura sighed, looking around the room at the mess she would have to deal with. Just because she could stack two men on one shoulder didn't mean she liked doing that. And it was really uncomfortable handling her Hokage in such a way.

"You know I was just warming up on those light weights. Everyone knows men in Konohagakure can't hold their liquor." The tall, blue body guard to the Mizukage took a shot off the table and held it out to Sakura for her to take. "But the women..."

The gleam in his eye was hungry and Sakura knew there was no way out if she wanted to preserve her dear Hokage's honor.

"We do not speak of this." She took the cup and sat down.

"Do I ever?" Kisame laughed, pouring her another glass.

Sakura glances sideways at the Hyuga boy thats slumped over the low table drawing a dog with his finger in the spilled rice. Kiba's nin dog had another litter of puppies and Neji claimed he didn't like animals and didn't want one, but once the wine got into him all Neji could talk about was how cute and pure the animals were. He had been crying about something else too.

It was a small mercy that Shisui had already been locked in a closet because the poor kid didn't know how to use door knobs when he was drunk and he was easily the most dangerous one to see intoxicated.

"So, how do you like your post since last I saw you?" Kisame asks, watching her drink and refilling her cup.

"It's fine. Nothing to complain about."

"Huh, not even that?" Kisame asks, pointing to the figure that has crawled onto her lap and pressed himself down into a ball seeking body heat. It was the oddest thing how Itachi seemed to always get cold when drunk. She can feel him shiver through his robes as he snuggles closer.

Itachi Uchiha and Shishu Uchiha had nicknames, secret ones, among their small group of close friends. Itachi was the snuggle monster and Shisui was the kissing fiend.

"Have you been asked it yet?"

Sakura paused, cup inches from her mouth, to make a face at his question before tipping back and downing the shot. She swallows and replaces the glass. "What question?"

Kisame just grins wider and leanes over so he's closer to Itachi, still curled up on Sakura's lap and near purring like a cat. "Hey 'Tachi, remember what you told me earlier?" Itachi stirs but does not respond. "Who is Sakura?"

Itachi mumbles something into Sakura lap and she frowns over his head at Kisame. "Don't wake him up. He'll need to sleep this off, thank you very much." She's tempted to heal him now, but knows it's better to wait till he's awake to start mending the damage of a hangover.

"They're all really different when they're sloshed, you know. Itachi is such a cat, but I know he can murder a village all on his own with his skill. I admire the guy to the moon and back but…oh, oh, I'm sorry, you gotta." Kisame leaned closer. "Hey Itachi, I'm going to take Sakura back to Mist with me, that okay?"

"No!" her Hokage moaned reaching out and pulling Sakura closer to him. "Don't touch my wife."

Sakura sighed, closing her eyes and bracing for the rest of it.

"Nooooooooo," Neji starts to cry. "Sakura has sunflowers in her hair." And then he says something else about sunlight and pretty and love knots before he falls onto his face and cries into the table. Sakura is so thankful Shisui is locked up.

"Kisame, you're not allowed to drink with them anymore."

"Not my fault they can't hold their own."

Sakura huffed, downing another shot. "Speaking of holding their own. I'm nearly caught up to you. Are you sure there is enough sake for this?"

"Princess, I got booze up the wazoo. You think I came here without? No, this is the highlight of my entire vacation and I remember the last time you came to visit the seven swordsmen of the mist." His dark eyes glistened with mirth and memory. "I won't be forgetting that story anytime soon."

Sakura groaned. "Please do. I could live without the reminder of my more infamous traits. Drinking was not something I wanted to be know for."

"Too late."

Sakura took another shot and glared over the rim. "Hn, I know."

Kisame followed her example and knocked back another shot. "Easy there. You're starting to sound like him now."

"Just watch your own stock."

Nearly an hour later and both Sakura and Kisame were red in the face and nearly swaying. Kisame was a monster, but Sakura held her own well enough to impress the man twice her size. Then, Kisame stood to say something and fell backwards into a dead faint. Seconds later she heard his snore.

Sakura groaned, knowing she had taken more than she should of. She drank some, and knew she wasn't any lightweight, but putting so much liquid into her body made her want to lay under a blanket and sleep. Itachi was still on her lap and it looked like he was enjoying herself.

A sleep would be nice.

She let her hands glow green and made sure the hangover tomorrow would be nothing but a fear, and stretched out to lay on the carpet close to the low table. Itachi followed almost instantly, curling around her and pulling her towards his chest like she was the little spoon in their set. Neji found her hand and held onto it while Itachi curled his whole self into her, his face nestled in the crook of her shoulder, kissing her loose hair and breathing it in.

"Just a little sleep," she told herself. The Uchiha owned the teahouse anyway, they would be fine.

AN:/Happy Birthday Sakura!

This was something I did a little bit of each day until Sakura's birthday. If you follow me on tumblr you might have seen it there. I added the last bit this morning after a terrible (wonderful) conversation with thefreckledone (jaylene on ff.) from tumblr. You can blame her for this.

Please review