Scene 7

No fangs.

No fangs, no claws, no tail, no slit eyes- not even a seal on his belly. There was nothing particularly fox-ish about Naruto before she knew of Jinchuriki. Even with her new, unwanted, knowledge, there was nothing that screamed 'here was a blood thirsty killer barely restrained from finishing the work he started 13 years ago housed in the body of your best friend.'

Which meant that either she and Ino both had independently reached the same, incorrect conclusion from the same, incomplete evidence or the marks of Naruto's sealing were more subtle than she'd realized.

Sakura wanted to be wrong. She had never wanted to be so wrong about anything before in her life- not even during the month when all the girls were convinced that Sasuke liked the green haired girl in the class below them.

But the evidence was there!

Naruto, just a baby- the perfect vessel for the terrible Nine-tail, who had vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Why? Naruto- as a toddler, forgotten, ignored, neglected- even hated! Why? Naruto- the genin, who had more chakra than anyone she had ever met. Why?

Maybe she was wrong. Maybe there was another explanation that she just couldn't see. Ino's fear could have influenced her conclusion- led her down the wrong direction. How could Naruto be the nine-tail? He'd never mentioned it! Never told her. And he told her everything.

Which meant there had to be something else. The nine tail could have been killed or sealed into someone else or-

"Ow-" Sakura paused in mid step, rubbing her forehead. Glancing down, she saw the small rock which had just bounced off her forehead. What in the-

The answer materialized in the form of Sasuke, stepping out of the shadowed alley way with another rock between his fingers. Wonderful- another mystery solved. Sakura sighed. Honestly, she couldn't deal with Sasuke and his lectures right now. Not when-

"You were supposed to dodge that." Sasuke accused and scowled as though her distracted walk through her own, perfectly secure village was a direct affront to his sensibilities. Sakura matched his frowned and kicked the pebble to the side of the road.

"Yeah- well- I was busy thinking." She answered. Apparently, incorrectly as his scowl deepened into a frown.

"If that had been a kunai, you would have died."

"Well, luckily it wasn't," Sakura snapped, "And luckily we're in our home village and safe."

"Tch." Sasuke clicked his tongue and looked away, shoulders tense. Sakura realized belatedly that the village might not feel as safe to the boy whose family was murdered within its very walls and that maybe the village might not actually be as safe as she imagined. Not if they let a nine-tail seal run around as a genin. Maybe Sasuke's constant vigilance was not always unwarranted.

With a sigh, she picked up the pebble and threw it at him. Naturally, he dodged.

"Bravo-" She mock clapped, "You won this round."

"You're upset," Sasuke said with uncharacteristic insight. "Did Naruto do something?"

"Nar- what- why would you think that?" She sputtered. Damn. She hadn't meant for Sasuke to pick up on her suspicions. The last thing Naruto needed was both his teammates acting awkwardly towards him! Especially since she couldn't confirm what she knew. Well, thought she knew.

"You were ignoring him today." Sasuke continued.

"Wasn't!" She protested. She had worked very hard to treat Naruto as she would any other day. And had succeeded. Mostly. Maybe. Or maybe that effort had been noticed instead.

Sasuke ignored her protest, folding his arms across his chest as he continued to glare at her. "What is going on?"

It suddenly occurred to Sakura that Sasuke was also Naruto's teammate. If what she suspected of Naruto was true, Sasuke needed to damn well know about it as well. Naruto- well, even if Naruto had complete control of the Kyuubi and wasn't a threat to anyone one- as a Jinchuriki, he suddenly had a huge target painted on his back. People killed for access to the tailed beasts- she'd overheard a whispered conversation between her parents about it. And, as Naruto's teammates, she and Sasuke would be immediate collateral damage.

"Sakura." Sasuke flicked her forehead sharply, right on the bruise from the pebble he'd thrown. "Tell me."

Damn, Sakura cursed again. First her effort and now her silence was giving her away. Maybe talking would help get her head on straight.

"There is something," She said slowly and Sasuke radiated smug superiority, "But we need to go somewhere private to speak about it."

. . . . . . .

The Uchiha compound had remained intact and untouched since the Massacre. Despite the desperate need for more and better housing for civilians and unaffiliated Shinobi, the sprawling estate had been designated a monument to the heroic ninja who had helped found Konoha.

But walking through the slowly decaying buildings, Sakura couldn't help but wonder if the compound served another purpose- a warning to the other clans. Watch your children, stay in line, or this could happen to you.

Sakura glanced at the dark figure ahead of her and tried to imagine growing up in such a place. Where once the streets had been lively and the shops had been bustling, now leaves gathered in the corners and dust on the windows. Where once the small estate rang with the sound of voices, training exercises and children, now there was only silence.

If the emptiness bothered Sasuke, it didn't show. He wove through the overgrown paths with practiced ease, dodging around sprawling camellia bushes and through bamboo thickets as a second nature.

It had once been a beautiful estate, Sakura realized. Konoha was notorious for its gardens and parks and even the fire affiliated Uchihas had seemed to embrace the idea. Nine years ago, the compound would have been magnificent. But Sasuke had been too young and then too busy to maintain such a large place on his own. Even Naruto, with his army of clones, might not have-

"Don't step there." Sasuke instructed, and Sakura gingerly passed over the innocuous clump of dried bamboo leaves. No, not so innocent, Sakura realized. The dead leaves concealed a trip wire.

Suddenly the garden transformed. It was overgrown, but all the better to hide the poison darts there. That slight turn of the dirt concealed a trap pit. Those were explosive tags hanging from that window. For nine years, the compound had become the staging ground for a genius level ninja desperate to feel safe in his house again. If anyone came here without his permission. . .

How many years had she and Ino gossiped about being invited back to Sasuke's home? They had spun stories out of barely remembered images and historical pictures- sprawling mansions, immaculate gardens, sparkling streets. An entire estate managed by invisible servants with Sasuke as its lord ad master, eager to open its doors to the right girl. They had imagined he lived in a palace

They had been wrong. He lived in a tomb.

Sakura rubbed the edge of her arms, feeling as though the air was inexplicably colder here than it had been five minutes ago on the road. No wonder Sasuke didn't relax in their village. No wonder he distrusted the normal security systems.

Sasuke either ignored or didn't seem to notice her discomfort as he approached the only house that didn't sport broken shingles or torn rice paper walls. Pausing before the front door, he flared his chakra and relaxed the warding system on the house. Still, when Sakura passed through the front door at his beckon, she felt the tingle of chakra over her skin.

Inside the house was little better than outside. The air had the quite, muffled feeling of a long abandoned room. While the hallway was meticulously clean, most of the rooms were closed off and dark. Sakura removed her shoes and, feeling a little selfconcious about her sweaty feet from her sandles followed Sasuke into the kitchen.

His kitchen, Sakura realized, then quickly amended her thought when she saw the family portrait on the wall. This was Sasuke's old kitchen. Where his family had lived. One of the faces had been scratched out and sported a buried kunai, right where the eye would have been. That must have been-

"Tea." Sasuke said, and made it sound like a threat, rather than a hospitable question. Sakura nodded and then took a seat at the large table in the middle of the room when Sasuke pointed impatiently. Unlike the rest of the house, the kitchen seemed lived in.

The warm glow from a lantern gave the place a homey feeling and Sasuke's bustling between the kettle and the cupboards seemed inappropriately domestic. Soon a cup of fragrant tea and a severely outdated tin of tea sweets were slammed in front of her.

"You didn't have to-" She muttered the usual empty phrase but Sasuke interrupted. .

"What is going on with Naturo?" He had the basics of tea making down, but hadn't mastered the small talk that usually accompanied it. Sakura debated opening one of the cookies, but a glance at the expiration date – more than ten years ago- left her with no choice but to come clean about her suspicions.

To Sasuke's credit, he remained quiet during her entire, rambling explanation of her hypothesis. Even when she finally reached the conclusion, Naruto is a Jinchuriki, he only nodded.

"That makes sense." He finally said. Sakura almost spat out her tea.

"What? No it doesn't!" Sakura protested, "We don't have proof- nothing real-"

"When you almost died on the bridge and we were fighting Zabuza, I noticed something," Sasuke interrupted her, "Naruto went berserk. His chakra output went insane- more than I had ever seen before. Also, it wasn't human chakra and it took shape around him."

"A fox," Sakura whispered. Sasuke's description had prompted a memory that she had forgotten- the bright red, angry chakra that even her limited sensing abilities picked up when she approached the bridge. In the center of that whirlwind had been Naruto. And after wards, hadn't his eyes been different?

"So Naruto's the host of the Nine tail." Sasuke confirmed and Sakura felt in equal parts dread and relief. Dread because her worst fears were true- her best friend was a danger and in danger. Relief because at least someone else knew. At least she wasn't insane. At least she hadn't been doubting her best friend for nothing.

Sakura glanced at the cup and realized that she didn't even have the space or time to feel this relief. "So what do we do?" She asked quietly

"Do?" Sasuke gave her a confused look, "We don't need to do anything. It's not our problem."

"Like Hell it's not!" Sakura cried, before she could stop herself. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her outburst, but Sakura continued. "He's our teammate!"

As Sasuke's questioning gaze didn't falter, Sakura flopped back and ran a hand through her hair. Obviously, this was their problem. Naruto was their friend, so he was their problem too. But how to make Sasuke see that? How to formulate her pre-verbal anxiety into something Sasuke understood?

"What if the Kyubbi escapes?" She finally asked. "What if-"

"You just said there was a seal."

"Seals can be broken Sasuke." Sakura snapped, "They can be rewritten. They can be overpowered. They can be altered. They're not infallible."

"Then I'll just use the sharingan." Sasuke shrugged and took a sip of his tea. Sakura blinked for a moment. Yes, it was true, Sasuke would inevitably gain the Sharingan. It was his family's heritage- unwelcome as it was to some of the villagers. Sakura wasn't sure if it came at a certain age or was unlocked through certain meditations or skills, but that didn't matter.

"Yes, but what if Naruto's seal get tampered with before you gain the Sharingan?" She asked.

"I have it." Sasuke said and picked at one of the cookies with a frown.

"You- wait. You activated it?" Sakura stared at her teammate in astonishment. "When? Where? Why didn't you tell me?"

"At the fight with Zabuza," Sasuke said irritably, opening the cookie packet. "On the bridge. The Sharingan activates when you lose someone precious to you. I thought I lost you. I thought you knew."

He glared at her and Sakura was struck dumb for a moment. The fan girl in her head having gone ingloriously into cardiac arrest at the line that sounded like it had come from one of Ino's favorite romance novels.

"Wait- why does that matter- I mean, congratulations on the Sharingan- but how was I supposed to know? No. Don't answer that. How do they help with Naruto?" She asked, leaning forward to pluck the expired cookie out of his hands before he could take a bite. The last thing she needed was to be found with the cooling corpse of the last sharingan holder trying to explain to ANBU that he died from food poisoning.

Inner Sakura wailed and gnashed her teeth at the sudden loss of a romantic mood, but outer Sakura was more curious about this previously unknown ability of the Sharingan. Romantic moods can wait. Naruto's wellbeing was at stake!

"The sharingan can summon and control a tailed beast." Sasuke glanced at her, and then looked away, clearly embarrassed, "At least, I think it can. The ancient texts mention-"

"Thinking isn't good enough," Sakura snapped, "Sasuke. The Nine tails destroyed half the village. Hundreds of ninja died! It took the Fourth Hokage sacrificing himself to even seal the beast. If the Sharingan can control it, why didn't any of the Uchiha step in to help?"

Sasuke didn't have an answer and clearly didn't like that he didn't have one. He transferred his glare to his now empty cup. "It was just a suggestion. What do you think we should do?"

Sakura tapped her fingers on the edge of her cooling teacup. What could they do? They weren't even supposed to know this information about Naruto, much less help him. But now that the cat- well fox in this case- was out of the bag, they couldn't not do anything.

"I think we need to focus on the seal." Sakura decided after a moment, "If we can understand that, we can protect Naruto. We can use the Sharingan as a backup." She added, because Sasuke was looking downright murderous.

Though clearly displeased that his suggestion of the Sharingan was not the final solution but somewhat mollified by her addition, Sasuke nodded and Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. Sasuke could have argued, could have insisted that they rely on his abilities, which would have left Sakura squarely without a role in this new endeavor.

"Ok. Sealing. Fine. What do you know about it?" Sasuke finally asked, "The Uchiha never dealt with them. I haven't found any on the compound."

"Not much," Sakura admitted, "Even the library doesn't have much. Konoha focused more on nin-jutsu and doujutsu than the sealing arts."

Sasuke's frown deepened, "Then what's the point of focusing on the seal if we-"

"I've found someone who knows about sealing," Sakura interrupted before her teammates irritation could build. "I have a lesson scheduled later this week."

Sakura wished Sasuke's grudging acknowledgement of her prescience was deserved, but Sakura honestly had had no idea that her hand waving attempt to improve herself would become so important. That was, of course, if anything Tenten had agreed to teach her could be applied to Naruto.

"Who did you find?" Sasuke asked, leaning forward with real interest and Sakura couldn't help but wilt a little.

"Do you remember Tenten from the year above us?" She asked. Sasuke's expression didn't shift, but it didn't need to. Sakura could feel the disdain from across the table and rushed to defend the kunoichi. "She makes her own sealing scrolls. From scratch. She learned how to do it at the Academy without any teachers."

"And you think sealing scrolls are like sealing Jinchuriki?" Sasuke asked. Sakura reddened further under his disbelief, before realizing that Sasuke was asking a genuine question. In this instance, all of Sasuke's clan background couldn't help him. They were on the same footing.

"It's a start." She admitted. "She knows more than we do and can at least point us in the right direction. But she's only willing to teach in exchanged for learning a new jutsu."

Maybe Sasuke wouldn't want to share anything, Sakura thought. Maybe she'd be the only one with the sealing knowledge. Would that be enough of an edge to keep her on the team? But Sasuke only nodded in approval.

"I'll find something," He promised, "Do you think Naruto should come?"

"No, I don't think that is a good idea," Sakura said slowly and filled Sasuke in on her experience of asking Team Gai to let Naruto train with them. Even if Neji and the rest didn't know about the Jinchuriki status of her teammate, they were still biased against him. And learning to seal or manipulate the seal was a lot more dangerous than just training a genin in taijutsu. What if he learned enough to unseal himself? Sakura could almost understand the paranoia.

Finally, Sasuke agreed to the date and the discretion. Sakura stretched out her back, feeling the pops and crackles from a spine kept too long in one position and then flopped back on the tatami mat. For the first time in three days she felt at peace. She had an ally, they had a plan, this whole thing was going to be solved.

Now, if only every other problem was solved as easily. At the thought of her house, a jolt of nervous energy ran through her system. The last thing she wanted to do right now was go home and face her mother, or the boxes, or the decisions about which parts of her childhood she was going to keep.

"Hey Sasuke- do you mind training with me for a bit?" Sakura asked, sitting up, "I need help with my taijutsu practice." There, an hour- maybe two at most- and she'd be too tired to care about anything when she went home.

It was almost funny how quickly Sasuke agreed. It was less funny how quickly Sakura regretted him accepting.

. . . . . .

Sakura was limping badly from a pulled hamstring by the time she left the Uchiha compound. It was only after multiple assurances that she was fine, yes really she was, she was literally walking four blocks, and no Sasuke couldn't come with her, that she had been allowed to leave the estate. Even then Sasuke had sent her off with a pack of specially prepared herbal plasters and a packet of medicine that he promised would help restore her energy for the next day.

Half way home Sakura realized that dusk had fallen, the night lamps were on and she had completely blown her mother off from their plans to clean out the attic. Maybe her plan to train herself into exhaustion worked too well: she didn't much care about the inevitable fallout from this mistake.

Serves her right, a bitter part of her muttered, forcing us to sort through out things. If she's so desperate to leave, she has to do the work herself.

Her house- well, not hers for long- was dark as Sakura slowly made her way down the street. Rather than risk waking her parents, Sakura let herself into her room through her window. Her room was as it always was, but no longer had the comforting and safe feel she had come to expect of home. In the middle of the floor was a basket of old clothes with a note pinned on top.

Since you were too busy to help this evening, I hope it's not too much trouble to sort through these and let me know what you want us to keep and what we can get rid of. You can leave a note.

Mebuki

P.S. This came for you this evening

A letter was tucked underneath the note and Sakura held it at an angle to catch the glow of the street light. The handwriting wasn't familiar, but quite elegant. There was a feminine delicacy to the lettering without being fussy. Sakura stared at it for a moment in an exhausted stupor.

Had her future self resorted to sending more direct notes? Was Sakura not supposed to have learned about Naruto like this? Or was she not doing enough to help Hinata?

Sakura slowly unfolded the paper but didn't see any sign of the flower.

Dear Sakura-chan,

Your request for more Genjustu training has not left my mind these past few days and I believe I may have an idea of how I can help. Perhaps you can help me with another issue as well.

Would you be willing to meet me at the Lily pond on this upcoming Colt Day to discuss it further?

Kurenai Yuhi

A/N: In which things continue slowly. Thank you to everyone who follows, favs, and reveiws. You guys are absolutely the fuel that feeds my fire to write and publish.

In that note, I am considering looking for a beta for this and other stories, but am not sure what I'm looking for exactly yet. If you have beta'ed or have had a beta, would you mind dropping me a line about what you did, how it worked, and the like? Thank you!

12/18- edited to 'Fourth Hokage' from 'Fifth Hokate' per Anon's reminder.