Arc I, Cardcaptor Sakura II; IV
Sakura is approached by a familiar face and makes some friends. Kero-chan muses about the new Sakura and his situation. He isn't very happy, but for now he'll place his trust in his Sakura's choice.

"You suck." Kero-chan informed her as soon as she collapsed into a heap on the floor.

Sakura blew the bangs out of her eyes and sent him a glare. She knew that but did he really have to be so blunt about it? She might night be a civilian but that didn't mean she could go from zero to hero in a span of five days! She, unlike the magical alien floating above her, is very much human.

"But you're getting better. I think." He drifted out of her reach in case she tried to smack him again.

"You think?"

He shrugs. "I've been sealed away in a book for centuries, cut me some slack. I'm new to all this shinobi and chakra business and the books you gave me can only explain so much."

The young girl eyed him with grudging respect. Despite the short time he's spent in her world, the Guardian has pretty much inhaled any book he'd come across. He always claims it's because he's bored (he's still sour about the whole video games situation), but Sakura can see that he genuinely enjoys reading and learning about shinobi and her world in general. He especially likes the Icha Icha series, but for some reason he never lets her read it. Says it's not for girls like her to read.

That didn't go over so well with the new Cardcaptor, but Kero-chan still remains unscathed and not budging.

"Well, sorry I'm not a kunoichi yet." She rolled her eyes. "I promise I'll get you more books on chakra and all that when I graduate. But for now, stick to the romance novels. Since you seem to like them so much."

He coughed, a blush staining his cheeks. Looking at the sky instead of her, Kero-chan grabbed the current book he was reading and tossed it to her.

"Hey!" She yelped and caught it with a minimum amount of fumbling. Her arms ached from moving, but in all honesty, Sakura's gotten somewhat used to it by now.

"C'mon, kid. I'm betting it's about lunch right now so we should head into town to eat." His face adopted a silly grin that spelled trouble for her purse.

For such a small being, he had quite a considerable appetite. It somewhat reminded Sakura of Naruto when it came to his so-called 'sacred food'; ramen

"Oh, all right then, but no more than two cakes. I know I said I have money but not that much." With one last warning look she opened the new pouch she had bought pointedly.

For a second there he looked like he wanted to protest, but then he remembered where they were, and not exactly wanting to become government experiment, settled into the bag. Sakura smiled briefly before heading out towards the Hot Springs District.

While Amaguriama wasn't exactly a shop that a person would go to for lunch, it still offered its customers delicious sweets that both Sakura and her hidden companion would enjoy. Yakiniku Q was her first pick, but she had a feeling that if she went there, she'd come across Ino. Her former friend frequented that place rather often, didn't she? And Sakura didn't… She just didn't want to see the Yamanaka heiress anytime soon. Why would she? They weren't friends, haven't been for quite some time now.

A small part of Sakura wonders why they even ended their friendship, but the larger part brushes it aside.

Sakura ended up buying three sticks of syrup-coated anko dumplings for herself and some matcha manjū for Kero-chan. She's quickly come to realise that the Guardian Beast would eat anything as long as it was sweet and delectable. She crept over to a secluded corner of the shop and settled down, perfectly content with her choice for lunch. If her aunt had been there, she would've surely killed the rosette, but she wasn't so ha! Sakura had eaten a bigger breakfast in preparation for training, so it wasn't like her sweet lunch mattered.

Making sure no one was paying attention, the kunoichi-in-training propped up a menu so no one would see her very inhuman tagalong. Kero-chan looked delighted when he saw his lunch. After a quick (almost inaudible with the way he started to stuff his face) thank you from him, Sakura dug in herself.

Her eyes shut in bliss at the sweet, heavenly taste of honey-drizzled dango. It's been a while since she last enjoyed the treat, though once again she wondered why she ever resisted. Sakura could deal with being fat as long as she could eat her favourite foods every day.

"Excuse me," a soft voice snapped her out of her dango-induced euphoria.

Sakura's first thought was that she was lovely. This was immediately followed by a mental heart attack, because Kero-chan.

With wide eyes she scanned her table, but there were no signs of the alien anywhere. Well, except for the plate of manjū which, bar the plate, seems to have disappeared.

Oi, oi. Her eyebrows rose in incredulity. Did he really manage to eat all of them?

No answer.

Not that she expected anything. Inner's been subdued ever since the training started, claiming a headache. Sakura doesn't think that's all there is to it, but there wasn't much she could do. It's not like she could go up to a Yamanaka and start complaining about the voice in her head disappearing. That'd be a fast track to the end of her career, and most likely freedom. She might be a civilian born, but she was a smart civilian born.

A delicate cough drew her attention again.

"Sorry!" She squeaked, a blush rising to her cheeks. "I was, uh…"

"It's alright." The lady – a kunoichi from the looks of it – waved her apology off with a kindly smile. She was really pretty and really familiar. Sakura took in her appearance and realised why that was.

"Oh, you're the lady from before!" She then covered her mouth, wide eyed. "S-Sorry. That was rude of me, nee-san."

"No harm done, Sakura-chan." The kunoichi giggled, waving a hand. "And feel free to call me 'Natsu'. Hyūga Natsu, actually. But you knew that already, didn't you?" At Sakura's guilty nod, the older girl just shook her head. "No, it's alright. My eyes make it obvious."

"Um, excuse me Natsu-san, but how do you know my name? If I recall, you also knew it back at that restaurant…" Did Sakura's Hyūga classmate – Himawari? Hanami? Er, no… – happen to mention her? She doubted it, but there was no alternative explanation for why the kunoichi knew her name.

"An educated guess." Natsu-san smiled, gentle and wistful. Sakura's grip on her precious dango sticks loosened, pink staining her cheeks. The older girl was beautiful, as expected of a Hyūga. But there was something softer about her, made much more apparent with the kimono she was wearing.

"Oh, wait!" The Hyūga suddenly turned around, hand snatching at the sleeves of some monk. Or at least what Sakura assumed was a monk; he had the shakujō and the robes to prove it, but he wasn't the slightest bit bald. In fact, he had vivid red curls that made Sakura's mind immediately jump to Naruto's mother. White bandages covered his eyes. Odd.

"Wha—Hey!"

"Can my friend and I sit here, please?" Natsu-san smiled, a curious expression on her face.

"S-Sure!" Sakura squeaked, face as red at the blind monk's hair.

"Thank you!" She cheered and dragged her companion into a chair across from the rosette. Sakura wearily folded the menu as Natsu-san did so.

"Oh, come on, Natsu! I'm blind, not an idiot. I know how to sit down." The only male – well, if you didn't count the sentient plush lion – complained. He pouted, and it struck Sakura at how young he looked. Something at the back of her mind nagged at her but she ignored it in favour of observing the duo.

"You do?" Natsu-san looked so genuinely astonished that it made a giggle slip from Sakura's mouth.

"Fuck you." The redhead huffed, turning towards Sakura. Huh, he must've heard her giggle then. "I'm Hiniku Kaito by the way. Just Kaito is fine. That annoying woman's," he jabbed a finger in Natsu-san's direction. "Unfortunate companion. Pity me, child, for there is no hope left for my escape."

Sakura snorted on her dango. There was a small sound, almost like a snicker, from her pouch. Probably Kero-chan.

"Rude," Natsu-san huffed and swatted at the back of Kaito-san's head.

"So is beating on a homeless and helpless blind guy." He squawked, rubbing his head. The kunoichi sent him the most unimpressed stare Sakura had ever seen, but said nothing. It was almost as if she didn't believe a word he said… But that was odd. Sakura had a feeling Kaito-san wasn't as helpless as he appeared to be, but still. He was blind. In a world of shinobi and samurai, that was a pretty big handicap.

"Wait, homeless?" The older two peered at Sakura, startled at her sudden question.

"Er, yeah?" Kaito-san nodded slowly as if she were the stupid one between the two.

"If you don't have a place to stay you can stay at mine. My guardians won't mind." Mostly. They'd be a bit upset but as soon as she explained the situation Kizashi-ojisan would help Kaito-san get a place. Her uncle had a soft spot for the disabled, especially if they were civilians. "My uncle might even help you find a place."

"There's no need for that, kid! Really." He protested a little two quickly for Sakura's taste. He scratched his cheek, looking sheepish. Get it, looking. So maybe Inner's love for puns wasn't just all her. "It's not like I'm in any danger or anything. I can take care of myself and I like to travel anyway. I'm only in Konoha because of that flower incident a few days ago."

Sakura froze momentarily. The flower incident? Oh, well it's not a surprise that it would draw attention to Konohagakure. Though she is surprised that the news spread so quickly. She had believed that the Council would keep everything hush hush for the time being. The whole incident basically put a target on Konoha's back since others would think that the village's security is lacking. Which is wrong. Konoha had great security. It just didn't cover magical creatures and aliens is all. Neither did any other village security.

Sage, she really fucked up by scattering those cards, didn't she?

"By the way Sakura-chan, I must simply compliment you on your speed. It'll be useful on missions." Natsu-san smiled, making Sakura forget where she was for a second longer. The Cardcaptor hated pretty people and their pretty smiles – they were just so distracting!

"Speed?" She blinked.

"The manjū. You ordered some, didn't you?" At Sakura's nod the older girl continued. "Well, you just sat down when Kaito and I came in and by the time we came over the manjū was gone! Speed eating is a useful skill for a kunoichi to have, you know. Less chance of letting your guard down or attracting an enemy with the smell."

"Yeah, speed eating. Real useful." Sakura felt really uncomfortable at Natsu-san's stare, so she averted her eyes to her dango. She didn't like lying, but for the sake of her continued freedom it would be a necessary skill to master.

Kaito-san snickered a little as he munched on some roasted chestnuts. He hugged the bag of chestnuts as if they were some precious treasure instead of food. It made him look even more ridiculous than he already was. Seriously. Sakura knew the man was blind but red hair and those robes? What was Natsu-san thinking letting him walk around like that?!

Sakura, because she was a polite young lady, did not voice any of her less than polite thoughts about the monk's choice of outfit. Instead, she turned to Natsu-san who was nursing a cup of tea, and out of the blue: "By the way… thank you, Natsu-san."

"Hm? What for?" The kunoichi smiled. There was something oddly mischievous about it.

"That day at the restaurant. You probably weren't even aware of it, but you helped me out quite a bit there. I was on my way to, uh, help a… friend," at least Sakura thought FLOWER was her friend. "But I got waylaid by some jōnin. It would've ended badly if I wasn't there for that friend of mine, so thanks a bunch!" A grin crawled onto her lips as she inclined her head.

She didn't notice the older kunoichi blinking in surprise, nor did she notice Kaito-san's careful smile. By the time she looked at them, the man was back to eating his precious chestnuts and Natsu-san was smiling.

"Is that so? Well then, I was happy to help you since it earned me that adorable grin." Kaito-san choked on his nuts while Sakura's face turned red. Natsu-san continued smiling as if she hadn't just dropped that into the conversation so suddenly. "Hm, how about this. If you ever need some more help with anything – and I mean anything – feel free to ask me. I'm usually here or at the other Amaguriama around this time of day."

Sakura gaped at her rather unattractively. Who could blame her? This pretty kunoichi just came and offered to help her with whatever. It was so out of the blue! Shinobi did not just offer help to civilian born Academy students! The clan kids; sure. But the civilian born? It simply doesn't happen. Ever. And yet Natsu-san did. And to Sakura, of all people. There were dozens of other Academy students with much more potential than her, and yet…

"Why?" She blurted out in her surprise. "Er, I mean…"

Natsu-san continued to smile at Sakura despite her rudeness. "Just an old promise I made."

A promise? What did that mean?

Sakura opened her mouth to voice her befuddlement, but before she could Natsu-san stood up. Her cup was empty.

"Come on, Kaito. We have things to do." She grabbed her friend's arm and dragged him up. He almost dropped his bag of chestnuts, which made him utter a few choice words that had Sakura's ears turning red. Sakura could've sworn she heard a 'we do?' uttered somewhere between other… less innocent words. "Later, Sakura-chan. I hope you come to seek my advice one day."

"Whoa! Hey! Natsu, let go of me you annoying pale-eyed wench! You almost made me drop my babies!"

With a final smile, Natsu-san left the shop while brushing off Kaito-san's threats and insults like a pro. She must have experience with the way she was man-handling and subsequently ignoring the protesting monk.

Sakura stared at the door long after the two exited, utterly bewildered with this turn of events. She hadn't expected to run into the kind kunoichi again, let alone gain her – what was it, friendship? Help? She had absolutely no clue what the older girl's end goal was. She also had no idea what the Hyūga meant by 'an old promise'. Why would a promise involve her, for Sage's sake? She was just a civilian nobody! Er, a nobody with magic and a magical alien Guardian, but in this world she was cannon fodder at best. So why…?

"Well, that was weird." Kero-chan commented from her lap. He snuck out from his pouch soon after the duo had left, and since he was in no danger of being spotted, Sakura let him stay there. His face was covered in green crumbs. She could only hope the pouch wasn't in the same state. "You have any idea what that was all about?"

"No, sorry. The first time I met her was during the FLOWER incident." She shook her head, absentmindedly finishing her final stick of 'lunch'.

"Weird." Kero-chan shrugged. "Anyway, we should get back to training." An unnerving glint entered his eyes. Sakura shivered. She's learned to hate that glint. It usually meant running suicides until she dropped.

"Y-Yeah…"

With that the two magical being left the establishment with full stomachs and a lot on their minds. Though, Sakura couldn't help but feel that she was missing something important.

"Heh, I gotta admit, that girl really is something."

"I know. That's why she's Kinomoto's Successor. She's a lot like her, but also very different. Less innocent, for one thing."

"Yeah," a snicker. "Oh Sage, her face when you flirted with her! I could barely contain myself. Almost ruptured a lung from how hard I was trying not to laugh."

"Hmph! I was not flirting with her. First of all, she's almost a decade younger than me. And I like boys. You should know that with how much we gush about Hatake's behind and Shiranui's abdomen."

"Don't be such a prude, Natsu. You can say ass you know."

"I'm cultured, unlike you." A pause. "And don't think I didn't catch that slip up back there."

"What slip up?"

"Don't play dumb. That innocent expression didn't work on me even when you had eyes. Back there you said you came here because of the flower incident, yet you were here long before that. Were you trying to clue her in, hm?"

"Erm, your expression there is pretty scary… What if I was? That kid deserves to know that there are people here looking out for her. Especially with how things are looking."

"And here I thought you didn't like her."

"I don't, at least not yet. Maybe in the future I will. But either way she's still a kid. Like that person used to be, a very long time ago. Bright, and innocent, and hopeful."

A sigh. "So were we."

"… Were we really?"

"…"

Kero didn't know what to make of one Haruno Sakura.

For one, she was training to be a fucking ninja for Clow's sake. And from what he's deduced, she's been doing it since she was six. What kind of sane person let's a kid do that? One that's been fed military propaganda apparently.

And yes, despite what the kid thinks, Kero has learned a lot about the world he's found himself in. And he doesn't like it. Like, at all. Sure, the shinobi world has nothing on his world's wars, but they can still cause so much destruction and death (Clow, he hopes they never find out how to create nuclear weapons). A single man wipes out a whole city with just one 'cool' 'ninjutsu', and no one even blinks. The just think about learning that ninjutsu because it'd be useful and that's that. Holy shit, the people in this world have some seriously screwed up morals – and priorities (holy Clow their priorities what the actual fuck).

(Okay, so he might've snuck out at night to steal some books. But could you blame him? This is a whole new, rather murderous world with flipped morals and no qualms about massacring whole towns. He'd be an idiot not to learn what he can about this new world.)

(And in spite of what Yue tells you, Kero is not an idiot dammit!)

(But still, the more he reads about this place the more he swears Sakura is pulling some kind of sick joke.)

(What the actual fuck Sakura. What the actual fuck?!)

In the span of five days he's learned about more bloodshed than he ever did back in Japan. Sure, his world had nuclear weapons. But this world had human weapons. And in some sick, twisted way, that was a hell of a lot more terrifying. His mind is still boggling over the fact that some people could kill thousands and not give a flying fuck about it. Some even praise it. What is wrong with these people?

Take the Yellow Flash for example. He utterly eradicated Iwa's forces, and the people here in Konoha see him as a hero for it! He killed hundreds of people and—and—fuck.

What the fuck was Sakura (his Sakura, not this pink haired brat) thinking when she chose a girl who wanted to become a murderer as her Successor?! Sure, the kid gave a good speech about protecting her village, but that was all propaganda. She probably didn't even know it and believed all that.

But the kid wanted to become a killer for hire, and he couldn't allow that. He's killed people before, but only to protect his Masters and his family. The kid might think she's protecting the village while killing those people, but would that even be the truth?

Though on the other hand… That girl does have some morals at least. Even though she's training to be a killer she's bright and kind and determined. And has remarkably short temper, and that's saying something. It's almost comical. That kid wants to protect, and Kero can respect that, baby murderer aside.

The way she dealt with FLOWER surprised and impressed him. It must've impressed her and WINDY too, from the way their magic reacted. For all her ambitions (he's never going to let the baby murderer thing go, how could he?), she's charismatic and… innocent, in a way. Not innocent like Sakura, never like her, but there was an innocence in her nevertheless. She actually believed the propaganda she spouted and almost made him believe it too. Almost.

He's read the books; history, chakra, fiction. From them he's managed to gleam that shinobi were tools for war. And not sex or romance, despite what that Jiraiya chap writes. (The plot is horrible yet the 'other parts' so good.)

(Fuck, the Jinchūriki. Bijū. Just—fuck.)

What he's also managed to gleam from those books is: chakra can heal, medics can't fight, and medics can save lives instead of taking them. And maybe, if he gave the girl the right books and made the right comments, she'd become someone capable of saving lives. Medics are supposed to have good chakra control, and the girl said she had it, didn't she? So there you go, something for him to work with.

But until then…

"Oi, hey! Alien guy! You alright there?" He's thrown out of his thoughts because of a loud voice screaming into his ear. Holy shit, she's sure got some lungs on her.

"YE—OUCH!" He howls his pain for the world to hear, flying out of that evil girl's reach. He sends her a glare, though he knows that in his false form it's pathetic. "Why'd you do that for?"

She huffed, her green (no fair, they're her eyes) eyes practically lit up with annoyance. "I've been calling your name for, like, five minutes. You didn't react at all." She suddenly frowned. "Are you alright?" Her voice is careful, and kind, and so alike to Sakura's that it hurts.

"Er, yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking." He ignores the ache in his chest and pushes on, because Sakura would've wanted that. Besides, he's gotten used to masking his true feeling by now. He's a freaking pro.

"'Bout what?"

"Nothing important." It's not like he could tell her the truth. She's too young to understand even half of his feeling at this point. Maybe when she's older, then he'd tell her. Maybe. If she lived that long.

"Oh…" She didn't look like she believed him, but let it slide. Instead she picked up his book (Icha Icha – once again, horrible plot but the porn isn't so bad, actually a bit addicting) and returned it to his pouch. Yes, his. It's his now. His and FLOWER's and WINDY's. "Well, we should get going Kero-chan. It's getting late and Mebuki-obasan will kill me if I'm late for dinner tonight."

Kero-chan. His heart aches for a different girl with green eyes to say those words. But alas, his chance is long gone. And so is she. He has to move forward, for her and for the Cards and for Yue. After all, he still has hope. Hope for answers, hope for a future, hope for his family.

"Yeah, yeah, coming kid. But you better sneak me some of your aunt's desert or else." She laughs and picks him up. Her hands are delicate and small and nothing like a ninja's should be. It's a relief.

"Of course, I wouldn't dare forget your precious desert. However, earing it…" Her grin widens.

He snorts (this kid, honestly) but then quickly flies after her. "You wouldn't dare, you little BRAT!"

The best option for him would be to sit and wait. He'll observe the girl and see what she'll do, and if it goes against what Sakura believed in… Well, his former Mistress surely chose an alternative Successor, right?

For now, he'd sit and wait and observe, hoping to all the gods that the girl didn't disappoint, that there was a reason she was chosen.

(This time, he'll be the First Judge. He'll see if the girl can make it as a Cardcaptor. Screw Yue.)

(And then maybe, someday he'd be able to call her by her name and mean it. Later, if she earns her name.)

(If she earns the title of Cardcaptor Sakura.)

(Kero hopes Sakura will forgive him if the girl doesn't.)

(He's never seen someone fail Judgement, but there are firsts for everything.)

While I wrote this I listened to Itachi's theme 'Senya'. It's probably my favourite.

But ANYWAY - two updates in one months? I might be pretty inspired... Anyway, I hope you like this. As a follow-up note, we probably won't get to the Academy until... what, two chapters? Probably.

Thanks for all your support, by the way. Glad you like this.