Sakura tilts her head in wonder.

Lazing around the coffee pot early this morning is a green chameleon. It blinks at her.

"Oh, hello. Aren't you adorable?"

It flicks it's tongue at her and blinks again.

Somehow she understands this.

"I'm sorry. I meant handsome. You are very handsome." The little guy purrs like a cat when she rubs the underside of his chin. She's not sure what sounds chameleons are supposed to make but she's pretty sure it's not a purr.

Though it's still not the weirdest thing she's ever seen—She might leave that to Pakkun, the first talking animal she met, who also who used the same shampoo as her.

It only feels slightly pathetic when she's disappointed she couldn't find a smell quite like Floral Green in the department store.

Currently, she uses one with a cherry blossom motif. It's really cheesy but—Who cares?

Sakura misses her old life so much some days, even everything that used to anger her. To experience everything even once more...

She shakes the thought away, she needs to move forward.

Crouching to be more eye-level with him, she asks, "What do you want, little fella? Coffee?"

The chameleon proceeds to transforms into a coffee mug.

She stares uncomprehendingly. "...What the hell?"

There are eyes on the side of the mug. It blinks at her.

It's also green.

"Ah... Is that a yes?" She takes it as a yes.

She moves to grab the instant coffee but the chameleon has other ideas. He pukes up a jar of coffee beans, surprisingly slime free. Examining the jar, she immediately whistles. "This is fancy. It probably costs more than everything in my room..." she muses.

"It's Reborn's, isn't it?"

The chameleon flicks his tongue in agreement.

After that, the chameleon leads her into making coffee for the three of them by changing forms into precise tools and measurements. The chameleon doesn't talk but he's a surprisingly good teacher. He's adamant on three cups, though Sakura knows she's signed her own death warrant for touching Reborn's coffee. She's also pretty sure chameleons don't drink coffee. They eat bugs or something, right..?

Point is neither of them are suppose to be drinking this coffee.

She's pretty sure this would be the reason Reborn decides to finally kill her.

But... She hasn't lived this long playing safe.

Considering she's died once and almost died a considerable amount of other times, she knows her logic is unsound.

Maybe she should rethink her actions..?

Whatever.

She is adamant to try this coffee—Even if it leads her to run around the neighbourhood in her underwear. Anyone who has any sense knows better than to get in between a medical personal and their coffee.

When she finally has three steaming cups of wonderfully smelling expresso, Reborn has deigned to come into the kitchen. Her window of opportunity of coming out unscathed shuts.

It also almost entirely eliminates her chances of trying the coffee she made.

"I see you've met my partner, Leon. He's finally stopped hiding." Reborn takes a cup and sits at the dining table like normal.

Sakura doesn't let down her guard. She might have her shinobi weapons but he too has guns on his person. If it came down to it, he'll reach his faster than she would. They both know where the kitchen knives are located and Leon... would take his side now that she thinks of it.

Damn, she really wanted to try the coffee.

"He doesn't like strangers," Reborn continues, ignoring her assessment of her chances of living.

Hint: it's still zero.

Sakura blinks waiting for more but he doesn't say anything about the other two cups of coffee—or specifically hers.

"Well, that's normal, isn't it?" Sakura says, busying herself with pulling a frying pan out of the cupboard. "Do you prefer pancakes or french toast? I was thinking about cooking something simple for breakfast." She cracks two eggs into a bowl before mixing in some milk from the fridge. Either way, both recipes have similar ingredients.

"Pancakes."

Sakura grabs the rest of the ingredients, her chatter covering her nerves, "Kaa-san is out now, there's a special offer at the farmer's market across town. She'll be back in an hour or two. She rarely takes too long but until then we'll have to fend for ourselves."

Making breakfast is quick work and Sakura tries not to fiddle with the handle.

A peek over her shoulder shows both Reborn and Leon drinking their coffee without care.

Her cup sits full, untouched, calling out to her.

She doesn't dare take a sip.

Reborn is content to ignore it but Sakura is not. "Leon wanted coffee." Tsunade didn't teach cowards so Sakura forges on, "I'm sorry. He was very picky about the coffee beans."

Reborn only sips his cup of expresso. For the first time since she's known him, he doesn't check it for poison. "It's acceptable. Drink before it gets cold. Wasting good coffee is the ultimate sin."

Sakura's smile is a mix of relief and anticipation, relaxing completely for the first time that morning. Taking a sip of her coffee, she melts.

Damn, she's ruined forever now.

"Today, we'll be working on your speed and reaction time." Sakura plates up two pancakes each for the three of them. Leon flicks a tongue in gratitude. She rubs a finger down his head before grabbing utensils.

"Leon likes you," Reborn observes.

Sakura hums. "I like him too." She takes savouring sips of her expresso before digging into her meal. Reborn has already half-finished his cup. She wants to do the same but Sakura knows she'll never get another cup of this. "Do you mind if I invite Gokudera-kun? I want to check if he's been working on his speed."

"What about Yamamoto?"

"What about Takeshi? I'm sure he's busy helping his dad or something. Oh yeah, Kaa-san has piano recital later so she'll probably cook dinner early in case that runs late." Leon is the first of them to finish, entirely cleaning off his plate. "Where did you get him? I want one."

"The pet shop."

Sakura raises an eyebrow. Reborn doesn't expand anymore.

"Does he talk?"

"No. He can morph into anything he has seen before in his own size."

"Why is he green? I thought chameleons change colours."

"He likes being green."

"And he's not a robot?" Sakura asks, to be sure.

"He's a chameleon."

"...Are you sure?"

..

..

"Gokudera-kun, L-Lentamente! Non capisco..."

But Hayato either cannot hear her or too busy going on a tangent, he keeps babbling Italian while flinging bombs at her.

Damn it.

There's a test when all this is over and at this rate, she'll fail. She can barely hear herself think over the sounds of explosions and gunfire, much less hearing Hayato's quick babble and then translating that to something she could understand.

She's pretty sure he's talking about the Italian prime minister? Maybe..?

She doesn't know how he got on this topic. All she asked was how was his day.

She planned to ask how speed training was going (if he was doing any) but it very quickly derailed from anything her limited knowledge of Italian could comprehend.

Sakura ducks when more bullets are shot at her. She doesn't understand why she's always the target. Surely there are other ways to train.

Those two mafioso are having too much fun trying to kill her.

Sensing a trap under her being activated, she rolls out.

Unfortunately into incoming bullets.

You think Reborn could have warned her that he already booby-trapped the whole area.

It's only polite—He's already shooting at her!

The activity abruptly ends. No more bombs nor bullets. Just the hazy cloud of smoke, dirt and dust.

It's got to be a trap.

"You've failed to dodge a bullet to the shoulder, mid-drift and thigh. By now, combined with your previous sustained injuries, even if you could move through the pain, you would've bled out. You have died, Sakura." Reborn's voice rings clear, cutting through her doubts and ending training effectively.

Sakura flops on her back, groaning.

Her muscles ache and she can feel the bruises forming on her skin. She only allows herself a brief reprieve before getting up to stretch, hating every movement of it.

It doesn't matter what she thinks now. It's simply not worth the pain later.

"You lasted 5% longer than last week. Though your reaction time and speed went down around the same. This is probably due to the incorporation of the Italian language. Compared to last week, you were hit with 5 more bullets."

"You did great, Jyuudaime!"

Reborn ignores Hayato. "What was the last point Gokudera said?"

"Ah..." Sakura searches her mind desperately. "The longest-serving Italian prime minister was almost... 15 years?"

"Wrong."

Sakura doesn't have the energy nor skill to dodge Reborn's subsequent attack. Once more, she is on her back groaning in pain. She doesn't get up this time.

"It was almost 21 years. Besides, Gokudera wasn't talking about that. Don't project your wrong information onto other people's words. Assumptions like that can lead to misunderstanding which can have disastrous consequences."

That's true but—What was Hayato talking about then?

"You should have paid better attention," Reborn says.

She closes her eyes, giving up.

Sometimes Reborn is impossible.

"It's okay, Jyuudaime. I can explain—"

But Sakura's tunes him out, sensing another figure heading over to their area. She might not be able to sense chakra or dying will flames but she'll always know when there are unexpected eyes on her person.

One didn't go through hell without a feel for such things after all.

Turning her head, she sees a familiar figure jogging closer.

"Takeshi!" Sakura sits upright, a nervousness entering her limbs.

She ignores Hayato's not so quiet 'tch'. Even from a distance, she can see the athletic boy's wide smile. His outfit is casual, suiting the spring season they are in.

"Yo!"

"What are you doing here?"

"The kid told me to come." Of course, he did.

Meddlesome brat.

Takeshi scratches his chin. "..Though I didn't know you guys were already busy hanging out..." Takeshi is a very expressive person. But his eyes are the ones that speak most honestly. Currently, there's a fragile quality to them that Sakura doesn't like.

"It's Vongola training," she explains quickly, "I'm aching everywhere. It's not fun—you didn't miss out on anything."

But his eyes don't lighten up and so instead Sakura distracts him by throwing her water bottle at him.

And if her throw is a little desperate, Takeshi still catches it expertly.

"Do you want to join my morning run?" she offers instead. "You can if you want, though Reborn likes to use me to practise his shooting and once there were vicious dogs..."

"Haha, sure, sounds like fun!" He offers her a hand up, eyes shining, and she takes it.

Sakura sighs. "You'll regret that later. I'm not exaggerating when I say its training from hell." Sakura pops her back. It's a satisfying bad habit, one of the more harmless ones. Her clothes stick to her body with sweat. Her body is uncomfortably warm but soon she'll feel the cold. "I want a shower. I stink. Let's hang out at my house, okay? Kaa-san should be home already and she loves having company."

She shoos the company to her house and they follow easily enough. She leaves Takeshi with Nana in the kitchen as she speeds through her shower, knowing neither Reborn nor Hayato would bring mafia as a subject of interest in front of her sweet clueless mother.

Surprisingly, when she returns, it's not to an argument. She watches as her mother bustles around doting and chattering with the boys. Hayato doesn't scowl in Nana's presence, eager to please. Takeshi laughs freely, a naturally friendly person. Even Reborn is subdued in his usual outlandish mannerisms with Leon sitting on the brim of his fedora.

It's really cute how all of them are on their best behaviour.

"Sa-chan, right on time! I need to get ready for piano recital," Nana says before bouncing away upstairs.

Sakura too drags the boys upstairs to Reborn and her's shared room. It's more comfortable than the living room and it's clean. Nana probably wouldn't care.

Well... She would say if she did.

Sitting them down she notices Hayato's sickly complexion. "Are you okay, Gokudera-kun?" Placing her hand on his forehead yields no answers.

His face pinks but he waves her off. "I'm fine."

"So this is your room," Takeshi pronounces, sitting on the ground leaning against her bed. "It looks nice." She sees him take in her study desk, bookshelf and bed. She shrugs. "What's that?" He points over to the hammock hanging in the corner.

"That's where Reborn sleeps."

"It's a pretty cool bed."

"You know what else is cool?" Reborn interjects. "The mafia."

Sakura chokes on air, barely hearing Takeshi agreeing blindly.

Calming herself quickly, she needs to divert what could be a catastrophic conversation. "I FEEL SICK."

"Jyuudaime!?"

"Yes—So bad. I might fail all my classes bad." Hayato is alarmed and Takeshi is confused but Sakura's sight is on Reborn.

Reborn's eyes narrow dangerously.

"You won't fail your classes," Reborn refutes.

Try her. She will sleep through all her tests if he continues speaking about the mafia.

Reborn's mood blackens his surroundings. A frisson of fear straightens her spine in response. Her home tutor does not handle being threatened well—or at all.

If it is possible, his glare alone would take pleasure in slowly and painfully killing her.

But Sakura is made of sterner stuff.

She will not cower.

"..I'm sure you won't fail..?" Takeshi interjects, going for casualness, though both Sakura and Reborn can see the sweat lining his brow. Hayato too is pale but he knows better than to get in between an angry hitman and his target. "Ah.. You tutored me last year, remember?"

Sakura's eyes soften when they turn on him, further encouraged with the tight furl of Reborn's death aura. "Yeah, I remember. Do you still need help? I don't mind tutoring."

"That'll be great. I remember you explained things really well. They were really easy to understand. We weren't even in the same class but it helped a lot!"

"Takeshi, it wasn't anything special. You would've been fine if you read your textbook." Sakura relaxes partially on Takeshi as an apology for the rollercoaster that was today. Takeshi doesn't mind. He's a very physical person, thriving on physical touches and friendly gestures.

For now, Reborn drops the mafia issue but Sakura is not naive enough to believe that would be the last she hears of it.

"I can tutor him, Jyuudaime!"

Sakura turns bewildered eyes on Hayato. "You?" Just managing to reign in her scepticism. It wouldn't do to make him think she doubts his ability.

There's a determination in his eyes that fuels his enthusiasm. "I'm highly qualified! I've looked up the material until the end of high school and it's a breeze. No worries!"

It's not his qualifications that she's worried about.

"Maa maa, then all three of us can just study together? We can coordinate when answering homework questions."

"Stop wasting Jyuudaime's precious time, baseball-freak! She has much better things to do than—"

And so begins another argument.

She's this close to banging her head against the wall.

She's tired. She's stressed. Why couldn't they behave as they did for her mother?

A knock interrupts the one-sided heated argument. As if summoned, Nana appears at the doorway dressed in a nice white blouse and an ironed navy blue knee-length skirt. Touched up with a little makeup and simple earrings, she looks very pretty. "Are you children okay? Do you need anything? I can whip something up before I head off."

"It's fine, Maman," Reborn says.

"No, thank you, okaa-sama," Hayato says.

"We're good," Takeshi reassures brightly for good measure.

Nana ruffles Hayato and Takeshi's hair. "Such sweet boys," she coos.

They both blush.

Sakura bites down on her snicker before it could leave her mouth.

"Sa-chan, you left your phone downstairs. A Sasagawa Kyoko invited you to a cake outing." Nana tosses the phone to Sakura for her to catch.

"Oh!" Sakura says, opening the email and then sending a reply.

"How exciting! An outing to the new cake shop nearby sounds wonderful."

"I'm not going. I said no," Sakura corrects, quickly checking the rest of her emails before tossing the phone softly on her bed.

Looking back up to her mother's face only reveals narrowed eyes and thin lips.

It is clear to all that Sawada Nana does not agree with this decision.

Sakura almost groans, she's forgotten amidst her lifestyle change.

"My cute Sa-chan," Nana starts and Sakura has heard this a thousand times before, "Takeshi-kun and Hayato-kun—" Sakura notices their face pink almost in tandem, "are great wonderful friends. Perfect.

"But there are some things you can only talk to girlfriends about, you know?"

"I don't have anything to talk to them about," Sakura says.

If she assumed that Nana had any tact, Sakura is wrong.

"How are you going to talk about boys then?"

Sakura straightens, no longer leaning on Takeshi, snapping, "I don't want to talk about boys!"

"Okay. How are you going to talk about that special someone you like then?" Nana offers instead.

"I don't like anybody! So there's no point!" Her cheeks flush with annoyance, wishing this conversation to be over now.

"You're just getting through late puberty. There's no shame in being a late bloomer."

"Kaa-san!" Sakura yells indignantly, "You can't say those things in front of my friends! Don't you need to go? You'll be late!"

Nana checks the time. "Oh! So late already? Take care. Dinner is on the stove. I made enough for everyone, in case you boys want to stay over. We would love the company—"

"Kaa-san," Sakura says exasperated.

"Okay, I'm going. Be nice to your friends." Sakura huffs. Her mother leans down to kiss her head before heading out.

It's only when she hears the front door closing that she groans, covering her face.

Takeshi pats her back in sympathy.

"Please let me die in peace."

"Why don't you go?" Reborn asks, breaking her out of her shame.

No remorse, Sakura responds, "I'm busy."

"You won't be doing anything then," Reborn counters.

"I won't be doing anything with friends."

"Haha, I think you should go," Takeshi adds in his opinion.

This, of course, offends Hayato. "Don't tell Jyuudaime what to do."

The pair of boys fall back into an argument like Nana never appeared to interrupt.

Sakura sighs, wondering why this occurs every time they hang out.

They have to argue about everything, not just about her, she's just the topic this time.

Sakura doesn't understand.

Truly, she doesn't.

Why couldn't she understand?

..

..

"Giotto formed the Vongola in response to corruption in Italy. 400 years ago, when Vongola first started, they protected the people of the slums from the aristocrats that were taking advantage of them.

"Vongola wasn't a mafia famiglia then, instead a vigilante group. They actively fought against corrupt mafia famiglias for the benefit of the people.

"Vongola Primo accepted anyone into the Famiglia, regardless of background. This is seen through his guardians who while having incredible combat prowess are also immensely loyal to him. Though he has the shortest reign of any of the bosses—7 years after Vongola is officially formed—it is an uncontested fact that Giotto was strongest Vongola Sky throughout history."

"But why? I mean.. Didn't you say.. That he abdicated before retiring to Japan? If he loved the people, why stop?"

Seven years wasn't that long of a period, especially if it was just a group starting out.

Reborn's eyes stare her down, a black abyss where secrets go to disappear. "He stepped down due to internal strife. That is all that is known."

Sakura wonders if that's really true.

..

..

Sakura breathes. Then, breathes out.

Thoughts filter through her and she does her best to observe them from a distance. Letting them come and letting them go.

She ignores the bed under her. She ignores the sounds of nightlife falling through her window. She ignores the hitman across from her also meditating.

It's a nightly ritual now. She's no longer surprised.

She tunes in to her flecks of dying will flame floating throughout her body. Just taking her time to observe them and making no move to direct anymore to her seal.

Even now, at the end of a long day, there are enough flames heading there. A constant flow, which she dials back further.

It's not a sprint but a marathon. She can't afford to use it all up at once.

She thinks she knows what Reborn means.

When he says that the Sky flames characteristic is harmony.

It is not anything she could describe out loud but there's a pleasing note to this power within her.

That doesn't disappear even when manifesting the flame physically.

She scans her body head to toe, cataloguing aches and bruises. She finds it very curious that dying will flames congregate in those areas, almost bathing them completely.

It is extremely difficult to separate what she knows she needs from the harmony aspect of itself. Difficult but not impossible. Her body flashes hot then cold and she uses her breathing to settle herself, before attempting to soothe the smallest of aches, the littlest of bruises.

Managing to heal those if not perfectly then at least with no trace.

It is both a great leap forward and too little achievement all at once.

Once again, she uses her breathing to centre herself. Her breathe is neutral. Her breathe is not fire, calm up until the moment it fights against her.

Her breathe is safe.

This time she ignores the body that she cannot allow to shake.

She ignores the blank abyss on her forehead greedy to suck all her dying will flames.

She ignores the fire in her body that begs to be heard.

She shouldn't have reconnected her Byakugou seal prematurely. Her control is nowhere near as sharp as it used to be. If she's not careful it'll do more harm than good.

Sakura's not an idiot. She knows Reborn has been healing her if she pushes too hard like he did that first time she woke up from a nightmare. It's a boon, though he probably doesn't know to what degree.

Without his healing abilities, she would have needed to disconnect the Byakugou seal.

Tsunade only let her form the seal after she proved her exceptional control over and over again. The difficulty to achieve the seal is no joke.

Shizune's path to achieving the Byakugou almost ended disastrously after all; It almost backfires onto her chakra coils. It was a mix of luck and skill that saved her. Her senpai never tried again. Sakura doesn't know if Shizune comes to regret or thank that decision later in the war.

Sakura's path to achieving the Byakugou the first time started before she even knew about the seal. Tsunade had her sharpening her control like a knife. She augmented her strength only as necessary. She had to excel in performing high-pressured surgeries with maximum efficiency but only just enough focus.

For Sakura, Tsunade allowed no room for error.

Sakura found that her shishou was right to do so.

The period between connecting and achieving is long and arduous.

This is just the beginning. In another life, Sakura remembers adjusting and readjusting her day to include more naps and the occasional faints after surgery. Shizune fretted borderline pleading with her to take it easy.

But Tsunade understood.

With a careless wave and serious eyes, she said, "Do whatever you want, brat. It's on your head."

Then and now, those are the words she keeps close to her heart.

Sakura knows—she knows—this isn't the smartest way to go through it.

But she also knows this is the way she doesn't regret.

This is the path where she gives her all and then some.

Anyway, it is not much longer now until (near) perfect control. A few weeks at most. With near-perfect control, the flow to her seal will only be a background thought. She can handle the time between now and then of being hyperaware and extra careful.

To safely reverse it now, sharpen her control and then reconnect her seal would be a waste of time.

What if these few weeks are the difference between frontline and side-lines once more? She was right to push herself in her previous life. The Hokage knew it, the Head of Medical Corps knew it, the Head of Strategic Operations knew it.

Sakura, seal-blazing proud on her wide forehead, made a difference before Naruto could return. She had to believe that.

She focuses once more on controlling the flow of dying will flames into her seal.

She had to believe that.

..

..

"Lackey. Go fetch those papers for me."

Sakura briefly closes her eyes, patience coming slowly, overpowered by her second-hand feeling of chagrin.

Takeshi though, has a level of good sportsmanship that rises above her own, manages to smile as he brings over the paper from her desk to Hayato's working desk. It is only 5 metres away, highly unnecessary, and farther for Takeshi to get to her table then to Hayato's table than for Hayato himself to get to her table and back. Hayato though, cares not about necessity nor speed, only that he has an excuse to boss Takeshi around.

If she knew this is what it would have come to by assigning Takeshi's 'punishment' as helping out the Student Council she might have reconsidered.

But Hayato is gleeful and Takeshi shows no sign of resentment, seemingly content with lazing around doing odd jobs and working on his homework.

In those terms, Hayato's various astounding uses of Takeshi as a glorified assistant is harmless—probably.

Anyway, it is nice to have another set of hands preparing for the Sports Festival.

Maybe by then, she should let him compete with the baseball team?

Sakura watches as Hayato then orders Takeshi to grab his bag from across the room. (That Hayato placed there purposefully.)

Yeah, as a reward for... that.

"So, Takeshi, I'm pretty sure I saw a sword at your place the other day."

"Oh, that, oyaji uses that for the dojo I think."

"He goes to a dojo?"

"No, he owns the dojo! He likes teaching, though he likes cooking more which is good since TakeSushi is bringing in the money."

"Where did he learn then?"

"Hmm? I don't know. Guess I never asked. It's a long time ago though before I was born." Takeshi goes back to his homework in peace, genuinely unknowing.

Sakura wonders if she has stumbled upon dark secrets, maybe a hidden past. Tsuyoshi could have studied to be a samurai, or had been part of the yakuza, or even another mafia famiglia.

Hayato's eyes too are alight with conspiracy theories. She can almost see the frantic racing of his mind.

Sakura is this close to pushing the matter but instead, she pushes such thoughts away as (possible but not probable) fancies.

Hayato might not realise but they are all currently on Hibari territory. And the Yamamotos has lived peacefully on it for years.

If there was a dark secret or hidden past, it has long been resolved. The Hibaris are nothing if not thorough.

She cannot fool herself into thinking she's not disappointed.

She is. A little.

Only a little.

...

...

1. It's Sakura (out of all the Team 7) that's a product of her environment. We all know the rest of the boys would have been great regardless. Kakashi prodigy Hatake. Naruto Kyuubi jinchuuriki Uzumaki & Sasuke i'm an Avenger Uchiha. (Even in non-massacre its Kakashi prodigy Hatake, Naruto son of 4th Uzumaki, Sasuke biggest brother complex ever Uchiha.) But Sakura wouldn't have gotten half as far if she wasn't surrounded by such bigger than life people. Sure she might have eventually bucked up on her own & became a pretty good but standard jounin but its the whole clusterfuck that was Team 7 that pushed her so hard she routinely faints after surgeries. She could've easily gained that seal in 5 years but pushing herself really got the seal completed in time for the war. So Sakura in a civilian environment? She's a civilian. She's a scarred civilian but she's civilian. But now there's mafia! flames! prodigy home tutor! Being a civilian gets thrown out of the window. So bitch get ready for mafia Sakura.

2. Hayato is having that outsider syndrome when your other friends have known each other longer. Sakura is having that outsider syndrome that comes when boys have a rivalry. Takeshi too is having that outsider syndrome due to not being mafia.

3. This originally wasn't a chapter until I noticed that I was doing that Harry rule where everything you do is for Harry but nobody actually talks to Harry, which on principle is the wrong thing to do. So have some Takeshi interaction. Surprisingly, there's still a lot of plot? (It's because of the title) Also I have yet to show Hayato as chaotic helper & SHAME ON ME

4. I'm sure you're like what is the point of the chameleon-coffee scene? & shame on you Leon is a beloved character in KHR, we have to introduce him. For real though it took forever to introduce Leon? If Sakura can think slugs are cute, chameleons are no biggie. (The pacing of this chapter is pretty bad no lie)

5. If you guys notice, the format for the first 7 or 8 chaps are a bit different than the current & it's due to my brief time with my beta SorakoMizumi. I wish you all the best wherever you are.

6. My beta lightreader1, was like Reborn doesn't really act cute. The contradiction between his blunt & serious demeanour to his cute appearance is what is funny—& I was like... That's true? Now, I'm a bit paranoid that this Reborn is ooc. My other beta wistpossessed, was like don't worry too much about Reborn now. At this point of the story, he's primarily a plot device—& that's also true but I LOVE HIM. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL. (Btw, I'm still looking for betas)

7. Pakkun & Sakura uses Floral Green. Pakkun is a highly qualified ninken with a really sensitive nose. Floral Green, if nothing else, must be a calming (not irritating or invasive) scent. It probs smell like leaves. Meanwhile, Sakura with her hair trauma is hypersensitive to doing too much to her hair or being perceived as vain. She would be looking through the store for a smell that wouldn't stand out. Floral Green is great to blend into forests. But now Sakura is in a period of industrialisation. A forest/leaf scent won't make her blend in nor would any of the flowery/vanilla scents. Nobody is going out of their way to scent mask. You keep clean, you don't smell, you good. Adapting to her civilian life, she'll pick up some normal shampoo (out of convenience if nothing else) & you know what she is irrationally attached to cherry blossoms okay!

8. I almost went Generation Cross (by Luki) route. Such a good story. If you're heading over tell them I sent my love (or hi or whatever). I don't remember if I ever commented actually...

9. Sakura said "Slow down. I don't understand." Or so Google Translate tells me. Hayato was babbling about the climate of post-WWII Italian mafia. Sakura was way off.

10. Pop Quiz! What's your favourite chapter of the last 10? (I'll probs ask ev 10 chaps.) (We made it to 10 chaps I might cryyyyy) (Might change this chap later, it's been hectic first week of uni & all, I barely got this done so this is technically first draft. We'll see what the betas think.)