The librarian, Fumiro, had come to expect the funny, pink-haired genin–Sakura was her name–that frequented his place of work. She always had the most peculiar book-requests, punctuated by mundane adventure novels that her peers enjoyed. All in all, she was incredibly abnormal yet normal at the same time, a fun puzzle for the Fumiro to spend his time working out.

One particular sunny Saturday, Sakura marched into the library with her typical sense of purpose and belonging. She always walked around the library as if she knew exactly what she was looking for, yet she still requested Fumiro's assistance every single time. Fumiro sat at his desk, brimming with anticipation to hear what fun title Sakura would request this time; maybe it would be another book of Senju clan techniques, or maybe this would be another tragic memoir of the Uchiha clan, or maybe even, she'd be looking for the sequel of the new adventure novel, The Reign of Raiko.

Sakura slumped onto the chair in front of Fumiro's desk dramatically, sinking into its cushions.

"I need a romance novel," she requested. "I've been reading too much heavy material lately. From the historical texts I've been scanning to The Reign of Raiko, which is really quite dark, I've been overburdened with–well–heavy stuff. I need something sappy."

Fumiro raised an eyebrow in amusement. Sakura's little rant was quite dramatic for a thirteen year old. Truly, how burdened could she be? Then, Fumiro remembered Sakura's concerningly tragic reading list and rescinded his previous thought.

"Hmm." Fumiro tapped his chin thoughtfully. Personally, he was a real romance fan, though he'd never admit it to any of his peers. Some of his favorites were a tad too raunchy for someone of Sakura's delicate age, but some of the sappier (and in his opinion, better) novels were perfect for a romantic teenager. "Have you considered Bonds across the Battlefield?"

"Why does every book you recommend for me have an alliterated title?" Sakura muttered under her breath, watching as Fumiro fumbled around the back shelves, looking for the aforementioned book.

"Don't blame me, blame the author!" Fumiro insisted, placing the hefty book on his desk. "Now, I've really come to love this book. And the male lead is so dreamy. My boyfriend is always teasing me, saying that I love a book character more than I love him."

"You're a librarian," Sakura shrugged. "You probably do."

"Hey!" Fumiro exclaimed, feigning offense. "You take that back. I love my boyfriend very much, thank you."

"Are you sure he really exists? You've never told me his name."

"That's because Konoha is small and I don't want a pesky little genin bothering him."

"Yeah sure. Because he definitely exists."

"Anyway," Fumiro sighed, changing the topic, "you've got a month with this book. Come and talk to me about it once you're done. I'm sure you'll love it."

"And before I leave, I need one more book." Sakura's tone was serious now. "I know that I've exhausted all the genin-available books on the Uchiha clan, but there's some information I need to find. I'm taking the chunin exams soon, so could just let me into the chunin section for five minutes?" Actually, Sakura was not sure if she'd be taking the chunin exams at all, given the changes that she made to the timeline. But she needed this information if she was going to actually save the world.

Fumiro let out a sad sigh. "Look kid, I don't know what your fascination with the Uchiha is about, or why you really need information on them, but I want to warn you. Getting wrapped up with that clan is dangerous. I know there's only one boy left, but who knows what could happen to him or what he could do to you."

"Sasuke's on my team. I know him far better than you do," Sakura insisted. "I trust him, so that should be enough. And I need this information for his benefit. I'm just trying to help my team like any good shinobi."

Fumiro shook his head. "You know, when I was a little older than you are now, I was head-over-heels in love with Itachi Uchiha." Fumiro let his name ring out in the empty library for a few seconds before continuing his story. "His mom was a friend of my mom, though they weren't wildly close, given that my family was civilian. Still, I followed this boy around for years, professing my love for him at every turn and insisting that he wouldn't dishonor his family by dating me. Not that I knew anything about that, of course. He was a sweet boy, you know? He never really turned me down. He always replied with something along the lines of 'I'm so busy with training right now, maybe we can talk again after I get back from my mission'. And that would happen after every single mission he took until finally he told me that he 'didn't like people that way'. I understood that. And not even a year later, he killed his whole family."

Sakura sat unmoving at Fumiro's story. She didn't know anyone alive except for Kakashi who had such a close connection to Itachi Uchiha. Paired with her past knowledge, every account she received of the man made less and less sense. How could someone as sweet and gentle as Itachi become a mass murderer? That paired with Sasuke's incoherent claims of 'Konoha being responsible for Itachi's sacrifice' in the days before Sasuke died formed a convoluted web of truths.

"Now, I know you love the Uchiha teammate of yours," Fumiro continued. "And I bet you harbor some feelings for him as well. But be safe around him. He might turn out like his older brother. Now, you can look in the chunin section for exactly five minutes and no more. And if anyone hears about this, I could lose my job, so don't go telling any other genin."

"I won't, I promise," Sakura said solidly, hurrying off to the chunin section while Fumiro turned a blind eye.

Sakura took the roofs home, her bag weighed down by heavy books she had taken from the chunin section. Since she wasn't a registered chunin, she couldn't check out the texts she wanted to read, so Fumiro had to ignore literal theft. Sakura had seen these titles in her previous life, though she had never taken the time to read them, given that her real issues with the Uchiha started long after she would have been meandering about the chunin section of the library. Still, she couldn't sneak into the jonin section, so what she stole would have to do.

Sneaking in through the window of her bedroom, she placed her bag onto her bed before buckling down and reading. Her allight onto the carpeted floor was met with a blood-curdling scream from her mother, who was putting laundry away in Sakura's drawers.

"Sakura!" Her mother chastised, turning abruptly to face her daughter. "Can you please just use the door like a normal person?!"

"I'm sorry, mom!" Sakura assured, putting her hands in the air. "Since I was already taking the roofs, I figured that coming in through the window would be more efficient."

"You ninja and your absurd 'practicality'," Mebuki huffed, putting the last shirt in Sakura's drawer. "I swear, when you're at home, you need to act like a normal person. Don't become that eccentric sensei of yours."

Sakura chuckled at the mention of Kakashi's idiosyncrasies. "Okay mom, I promise I won't become like Kakashi-sensei."

"Now since you're such a big ninja now, jumping on roofs and all that, can you at least do your own laundry?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry mom," Sakura sighed, relieved that her mom hadn't asked about what books she got from the library.

Mebuki rested the empty laundry hamper on her hip and walked out of the room, leaving Sakura alone to read her books. The first memoir she wanted to scan was a recount in the form of journal entries of an old senju soldier. She had married an Uchiha man before the days of their deadly feud and she wrote a short recount of their relationship and its eventual descent into hatred. Sakura cracked open the aged book, running her finger down the yellowed pages. The writing was eloquent and archaic, evidence of an educated young woman.

The first few entries bordered on sappy; the soldier, Himiko, seemed to be head over heels in love with this branch-family Uchiha man, Daisuke. From Himiko's descriptions, Daisuke was not extremely strong or extremely bright, but he treated Himiko with love and admiration; Sakura could see the appeal.

One early entry stood out to Sakura. Himiko's comments on the Uchiha clan's system of succession and rule were quite degrading.

Instead of dining with my family, as I often do, I opted for a short walk by myself this morning, the memoir read. As I entered the Uchiha compound, which remained orderly, quite unlike the bustling quality of Senju land, I encountered a young man selling wares. I decided to converse with him, as I was quite bored and I did not want to return home quite yet. He was called Daisuke. He spoke well, far better than I would expect of a simple merchant. His dress was proper too. I found that strange.

We spoke for longer than my mother would consider proper, and perhaps I indulged him with an excess of personal information. Regardless, I found that despite his lowly profession, he was a first cousin of the Uchiha heir. Perhaps I am partial to the system of the Senju family, and perhaps I am only partial to the Senju because it has favored me, but I found this particular aspect of the Uchiha system absurd. How could one tied so closely to the main family work as a merchant? I learned that the only members of the Uchiha clan with privileged occupations were those of the main family. Everyone else was left with far less honorable professions. Though they could fight for the clan, they could never advance in the ranks.

I will be visiting Daisuke's stand again. I have taken an interest in the man.

Sakura read over the entry closely, noting how little the Uchiha clan had changed over the centuries. So much pressure was put on the main family; everything was left to the heirs. Perhaps Itachi cracked under the pressure.

Sakura decided that part of her mission would be understanding Itachi's fall; with that, she could find a way to save Sasuke and even a way to bring Itachi back to the village. Yes, Sakura knew that he was a murderer, but the details of the event did not sit well with her. Before that night, Itachi was known as a fierce pacifist; how could so much change in a matter of days? Sakura needed to find out and her best sources lay in Kakashi and Fumiro.

Shaking her head, Sakura turned to the end of the memoir, deciding to read some of the final entries. Himiko had lost the composure she held in the first entry. She no longer wrote in a clinical matter, recounting each moment exactly as she experienced it. The last few entries were hysterical, and though Daisuke hadn't died, Himiko seemed to be in mourning.

It's the eyes! Himiko seemed to cry. Daisuke will not tell me what happened that day, that loathed day, the day I first saw those eyes. I never knew Daisuke to be cruel. I did not fall in love with a cruel man. He struck me for the first time yesterday. I am stronger than him. I have bested him in combat many times. I am the soldier out of the two of us.

I didn't see his fist coming. And when I looked to see his face, his eyes were blood red with something spinning in them. I know of the sharingan and I've seen the three tomoe before, but this was different. Daisuke's face was contorted in rage; for the first time since I've known this sweet, sentimental man, I was afraid of him.

I now fear Daisuke's rage. I fear his fist. Because though I know that I could defeat him in combat, I could never harm him. Still, it seems that he doesn't hold the same sentiment.

My days are now uncertain, all because of Daisuke's god forsaken eyes. I don't know what happened on that day, but I will find out. I yearn for the sweet man I once knew.

Sakura was about to tear through the next entry in search for the details of the day Himiko spoke of, but she was interrupted by the telltale spike of Naruto's chakra at the door. Hastily, she hid the book under her bed along with the other ones she took from the library.

"Naruto!" She exclaimed cheerfully, opening the door for him. "What are you here for?"

"Kakashi-sensei sent me," he replied, grabbing Sakura's hand. "He wants the team to meet up. He's got something to tell us, apparently."

Sakura had a strong suspicion about the topic of the meeting. She could only hope, though, that Kakashi had managed to dig enough enough incriminating evidence against Otogakure.

Kakashi greeted the genin from his seat on a low tree branch. He didn't look too worried, in fact, his eye was closed in a form of a smile.

"Now," he started, digging through his satchel and pulling out several sheets of paper, "as much as I love teasing you for being helpless little genin, I know that it can't last forever. I'm not totally sure if you're ready for these chunin exams. In fact, I'm pretty sure you won't pass, but I think it will be a good learning experience for all of you. So here, sign these papers and turn them in by next week. Good luck, but don't expect much!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Kakashi as he grabbed the papers. "Which genin are stronger than us?" He challenged. "We could beat everyone in our graduating class, and I don't think the other genin in the village are much better."

Kakashi chuckled, looking at Sasuke with a patronizing gaze. "You think rather highly of yourself, don't you? Well, to be honest, I don't know if you could beat all of the genin in your graduating class, Sasuke. You may have won the fancy little moniker of 'top rookie', but as you've probably observed from your teammates, standings in the academy mean nothing."

"That's why I said we." Sasuke retorted. "Team seven could defeat the other genin, no problem."

Kakashi's face spread into a smile. "Look at that," he cooed. "Sasuke's becoming a real team player. I'm impressed. Still, I don't think you're going to pass. There are strong genin in every village, and they all have their own 'team seven'. Who knows how you compare to them?"

Sasuke did not take well to Kakashi's condescending attitude. He shot Kakashi one last glare before turning to his teammates. "Well, are you guys ready to turn in the forms?"

"I don't know Sasuke…" Sakura said hesitantly. "We're fresh out of the academy, you know. And though you and Naruto possess pretty impressive skills. I don't want to hold you guys back."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Even you know that you're not the weak link. Don't use that as an excuse for cowardice."

Sakura's eyes widened at Sasuke's response. "I'm sorry for that, but I'm still worried. You must have heard the stories about the chunin exams. People die in them, Sasuke."

"And people survive and become chunin as well." Sasuke shrugged off Sakura's plead. "If Kakashi could pass when he was only six years old and if my brother–" Sasuke clenched his jaw, "if Itachi was promoted when he was ten, we can definitely do it now."

Sakura knew that as soon as Sasuke brought Itachi into the conversation, backing out was not an option. Sasuke was hell-bent on becoming a chunin; he yearned for a way to prove his worth to his family, even if they weren't physically there to accept him. Sasuke knew what his father would have wanted.

"Alright," Sakura agreed, she placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, yet he didn't flinch away. "Pass me a pen then."

A/N: Whoop, I'm back from the dead! Sophomore year has been kicking my ass, so the only time I've really had to write was over thanksgiving break (thus the chapter).

I hope you guys have enjoyed some of the OCs that will be playing minor (but influential) parts throughout the story. I really love Fumiro, okay? I've only outlined him a bit, but I already know he's going to be super soft. Also Himiko is a badass (more of that coming later).

I really hope no one was too surprised by ace!Itachi. I've always head-cannoned him as asexual, and I personally think that it works well for my characterization of him. Also, in my Naruto AU, homophobia doesn't exist. It just isn't a thing. I think that ninja have bigger problems to deal with than who does who.

Finally, I received quite a few comments about how Sasuke didn't struggle enough with medical ninjutsu in the previous chapter and I totally agree with the criticism. I'm considering either rewriting that chapter or throwing a BIG wrench in Sasuke's medical career a little further down the line. Regardless, I've moved some of the medic!Sasuke chapters a little further down in

Whew, rant done! Please read, comment, vote, and enjoy! I appreciate it so much!