Disclaimer: A long time gone does not mean I've forgotten who does and does not own Naruto.

Chapter 83: A Welcome Interrogation

Sakura had just finished her second cup of water when the door to the hallway opened. The first person through the door was the boy who shared the same silver hair as her mom, the one Yuki had indicated was named Mangetsu. Unlike her mom's green eyes, though, his were a very pretty purple. Sakura didn't notice his eyes for long, however, because the moment he smiled at her and began to introduce the people coming in after him, her eyes were caught by something else. His teeth. He had pointy-teeth…shark teeth. Sakura couldn't stop the shiver that ran down her spine as she was reminded of a certain hammerhead shark trying to kill her with his overgrown kitchen knife. It didn't help that the man with the bandaged face that had walked in behind the teen had a huge sword attached to his back. From her angle, it almost looked to be part of the silver haired boy's attire. She knew this boy wasn't the shark—he should be Mangetsu, not Juzo—but for a brief moment the two overlapped in her mind's eyes. Strange, she didn't remember feeling this scared when the real Juzo had been running towards her. Maybe she had been too exhausted to be frightened back then.

"Sakura!" Yuki's voice snapped her out of it as the dark-haired girl laid a hand on her shoulder, "What's wrong? Your shaking."

Sakura gave an embarrassed laugh—or she tried to, though it sounded weaker than she had meant it to—as she reassured her friend that she was fine, just…startled. Yuki looked as if she were about to question her further, but was interrupted by the third person to enter the room as he walked around the hulking bandage-faced man.

"Good morning, little miss Sakura. I am glad to see that you are finally awake." Sakura's eyes widened briefly as she caught sight of a familiar face, and then she smiled. It still felt a little off, to be smiling while in the same room with someone who reminded her of the hammerhead shark, but knowing that Yagura was with her, just as he had been when Juzo had attacked, made her feel more secure than before. The hand on her shoulder, however, jerked as Yuki noticed who was speaking.

Turning hastily, Yuki bowed to Yagura, "H-hello Lord Mizukage." She seemed a little nervous, but then again, Sakura belatedly realized, most people would be when encountering the leader of a village like Kiri.

"Good day," Yagura nodded at Yuki politely, if distantly, "I appreciate your willingness to keep the young miss company, however you father was very adamant that, upon her awakening, you were to return to his room so that he could count your fingers and toes." The last part was said with such poorly hidden sarcasm that Sakura's jaw dropped. Yuki, however, did not seem to catch the sarcasm, because she looked terrified. Sakura had just enough time to deduce that Yuki had taken the quip about her father's over-protectiveness to be a threat, or perhaps a warning, a suggestion that remaining might lead to such a disfigurement, when Yuki surprised her by saying anything other than an agreement.

"But Sakura…" Yuki's voice was trembling, as was the rest of her, but despite the fear that led her to backing up until she was up against Sakura's bed, one hand blindly reaching for a hand to hold, Yuki spoke her disapproval at being sent away, "Sakura only just woke up…she needs me!"

Yagura looked annoyed, but before he could speak, Hotaru laced an arm around the dark-haired girl's shoulders. "Don't worry, little Yuki, the Mizukage just doesn't want to break his promise to your father. You know your father worries. All you need to do is show your father that you made it through the night without anything happening. I'm sure after he sees you, he wouldn't mind letting you come back. I'll even go with you, so he knows we're taking good care of you while you're out of his sight."

Yuki's eyes darted between Hotaru, Yagura, and Sakura, as if trying to determine what to do. Her loyalty was heartwarming, and Sakura would indeed feel better if her friend stayed, but Sakura knew what she had to do. She gently squeezed the hand that Yuki had reached for earlier, making the girl's dark eyes settle on her. "It's ok. You shouldn't make your dad worry."

"But—"

Sakura cut off her friend gently, trying to be as reassuring as she could, "I'll be fine." It wasn't even a lie. Yagura wouldn't hurt her. Sakura felt sure of this, even though Yuki clearly didn't feel the same. Sakura was less sure about the man with the sword, and the sharp-toothed teen, than she was of Yagura. Between their combined resemblance to Juzo and the way the bandaged man in particular was looking at her like she was a threat, she wasn't so sure about being safe around them, but as Mist ninja, they had to obey their Mizukage. In addition, Haku was still in the room. Between Haku and Yagura, she knew that no bodily harm would come to her.

Before Yuki could find something else to make her feel like she had to stay, Sakura decided to use her own words against her. "You said he—" Sakura vaguely nodded towards Haku, stumbling for a moment as if she couldn't recall his name, "uh, Haku—you said he was trustworthy, didn't you? I trust you. Do you trust him?"

Yuki's eyes widened, as if this was something she hadn't even realized. Before anyone could do anything more than sigh—Sakura was fairly sure that was Yagura, though her eyes remained glued to Yuki, so she couldn't tell for certain—the dark-haired girl had shrugged off Hotaru's arm and released Sakura's hand as she ran around the bed to grasp Haku by his hands instead. "Promise me you'll take care of Sakura while I'm gone!" She pleaded, "Promise me you won't let anyone hurt her!" Her eyes briefly flicking towards the Mizukage as she added with emphasis, "Anyone!" Sakura nearly sighed in exasperation at her friend's misplaced fear. If Yagura had wanted to hurt her, he would have done so already. Even Mei, who had only treated her kindly, was more likely to harm her than Yagura was. Haku, however, didn't bat an eyelid at being accosted thusly, he merely clasped Yuki's hands back gently and promised to take care of Sakura in her absence.

Only after Yuki was contented and Hotaru managed to lead her out of the room did Yagura pull a chair up to her bedside. "Let me begin by asking about your health."

It was the polite thing to ask, and Sakura could tell that Yagura was big on formalities and politeness, but her earlier annoyance with Yuki had yet to wear off and Yagura was asking a question he already knew the answer to. And so, with a roll of her eyes, she answered both truthfully and snippily, "I'm tired, my body hurts, I have Chakra exhaustion, my arm is broken, and I'm still thirsty…but I'll live."

Yagura made a sound that, had it been much louder, could have been labeled a snort. "I see," was his verbose response as the corner of one lip twitched in what was likely a repressed smile. "Might I ask why you were so willing to send your friend from the room if it was only going to sour your mood?"

At first Sakura was irritated, and she almost made a snappy remark about Yuki's leaving not being the reason she was annoyed, but then she recalled the way Yuki had nearly cried when talking about being kidnapped, and her irritation vanished. "Because," Sakura answered tiredly, "Yuki was already on the verge of tears just from guessing that I'd been kidnapped. I don't want to hurt her, and I'm sure you have questions about how we ended up meeting like we did."

Yagura nodded, "Indeed, that is one of the things I wished to ask about. I fear, however, that thirst is the only one of your previous complaints that we can do much for at the moment. Only time will heal the rest of your ailments. Perhaps while we have our discussion, Mei might prepare you something further to drink. Some light food might be good as well, given how long it has been since last you ate."

This time it was Sakura's turn to nod, her head feeling heavy as she did so. She had a sinking feeling that they might be about to talk about more than just her kidnapping. Mei, the woman who had been kind and keen enough to make sure no one Sakura didn't trust came in contact with anything she consumed, looked between her Kage and Sakura, looking slightly torn, before she too nodded and left the room to prepare food and drink outside of Sakura's sight.

After a few moments of tense silence, where Sakura and Yaugra only looked at each other, Yagura sighed and leaned against the back of his chair. "There is no need to look at me like that, little miss Sakura. I'm not plotting anything insidious or harmful, despite what miss Yuki might have thought. I will be frank with you. I wish to find out more about you, as much as you are willing to give, for reasons I will explain later. If you are unwilling, you need not answer. Neither I nor my men will force you to say or do anything against your will during this discussion. All choices will be of your own making."

Sakura couldn't help but notice that as Yagura said this, the tall man with the sword that was standing protectively behind him was eyeing his Kage as if trying to determine if he had gone crazy. The boy with the shark teeth, on the other hand, had a small smile on his face, as if he felt there was no better way to approach this situation than as his Kage had done. Since Haku was on the wrong side of the bed, Sakura couldn't tell what kind of face he was making, if he was making one at all. Haku, however, was not one of the people whose threat-level she had to determine, so she didn't bother turning to gauge his reaction. Instead Sakura slowly nodded her acceptance of Yagura's words. "So, what do you want to know?"

This time Yagura did smile, though it was void of any true feelings, "Since you fear your friend being triggered by our conversation, perhaps you should expound upon your kidnapping while she is not present." Sakura didn't immediately answer, but instead continued to look at him questioningly. She had already told him a bit about her kidnapping when she had been in Isobu's domain. He could ask her more specifically about which parts he wanted more details on if pure answers were all he was after. Instead he was being vague, and she had to wonder why. It didn't occur to her that me might not want anyone else to know she had effectively been in his mind until he expanded, having noticed her silence and its meaning, "For instance, do you know why you were kidnapped? Where they were taking you? Who they were? How they managed to steal you away, and from where? Do you know if there is anyone looking for you? Things like that."

Some of what he had asked for she had already told him, but if he truly was trying to keep their previous mental-encounter a secret, she saw no need to oust him by pointing it out. Even better, so long as she stuck to the larger picture and avoided smaller details, she wouldn't even need to lie. Before beginning her kidnapping tale, Sakura tried to think of everything they would already know about her, so as not to leave out anything they might find suspicious, while also determining what she had best leave unsaid. Although Sakura would rather not mention Suna by name, if she could, she had a feeling that Yuki would have already told them that that was where they had met. Hiding that wouldn't do her much good. Yuki didn't know anything about her being a Genin, though, and that was something she felt sure she should hide. She had already told Yagura about knowing a bit about poison and healing…now what else was there?

Only after finishing her mental list did Sakura begin her tale. "Well, uh," she began hesitantly, licking her dry lips, "there were three people who kidnapped me…I think. It's possible there were four, but I think there were three. I don't really know what they looked like…I was blindfolded and, well, kind of delirious, since they were drugging me. I thought of them as a wolf, a fox, and a spider, though. Anyhow, I…I think they somehow had slipped poison berries into a gift that someone gave me. They, uh, didn't work on me as well as I think they were meant to…but my friend…he stole one and ate it…I don't really remember much after that. I think I probably ran out trying to get help for my friend, and that's probably when they got me…"

Sakura continued her abbreviated tale of going from kidnap victim to escapee, being careful to leave out mentioning her Kekkei Genkai. She didn't mind Yagura knowing, since he appeared to feel indebted to her and another Hoshi, but she didn't know how the other unknown ninja in the room would react. After all, she had once read about how the Bloody Mist had chased down and killed hundreds of people with Kekkei Genkai years ago. It was better not to push her luck.

After mentioning that she had managed to snap the connection tying her ankles together and then ran while being pursued by the octopede, she was interrupted by rather rough language, courtesy of the man with the sword, asking, minus a few cuss words and derogatory statements, what an octopus had to do with things. She then had to explain, "Not an octopus, an octopede. As in, like, a centipede or millipede, only eight legs. There was nothing fishy about it…aside from the fact that it started as the spider…and then it lost some of its legs during the chase. I don't know what happened to it in the end. I lost it before I reached the river, and then I floated down the river and ended up on a sandbar. I think I fell asleep, because the next thing I knew, Mr. t—I mean, Yagura, was flying towards me." Catching Yagura's eye as he turned away from glowering at the bandaged man, she added, "You should know what happened after that. You were there." Given the brief intake of breath that came from behind the Mizukage, Sakura guessed that he hadn't informed them of meeting her prior to her running onto their battlefield.

Before the silence that followed the end of Sakura's story could turn awkward, Mei returned, a tray held between her hands containing a steaming bowl, a glass of ice water, and a steaming cup of what smelled like green tea. "I've brought you some food, though you'll need to wait a few minutes for things to cool." As Mei passed the bandaged man, moving towards Sakura, she added carefully, as if trying not to frighten Sakura, "If you would like, I could test them for you to—" Mei's words cut off as the Mizukage blocked her from passing the tray on to Sakura.

"That won't be necessary." Yagura stated as he took the tray from Mei's hands and set it on his own lap. If he noticed everyone in the room staring at him, he didn't let on as he instead reached into one sleeve and pulled out two small, folded, paper packages. Holding them up for Sakura to see, he opened first one, then dumped the contents into the soup before doing the same with the contents of the second package and the tea. Both packages, as far as Sakura could see, had contained perhaps a teaspoon of white granules or powder. Using two different utensils, he stirred first the soup, and then the tea, before finally looking up to meet her wide eyes. "I told you I would be frank. One of those was sugar, one of those was not. If, as you had mentioned on the sandbanks, it is true that you knew about recognizing and treating poison, then you should have no problem giving me your opinion on what I've added to your meal."

At first, all Sakura could do was stare at the pink eyed boy in front of her, much like the rest of the room appeared to be doing, not quite sure what was going on. Then, as she realized he was testing her rather than threatening her, she puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. Was he doubting that she had truly noticed the Chakra's Bane and helped treat him for it? Did he think she had been lying just to make him help her get home?!

No, she decided after a moment spent glaring into his calm eyes, he didn't look angry enough to think she'd tricked him. This had to be a test of something else, though what, she didn't know. "Fine…" Sakura said with exasperation. When he didn't immediately hand over the platter, she added huffily, trying, and failing, to reach out to take the tray, "I can't exactly examine it from all the way over there, and," she added, glaring at her unbroken arm that refused to stay lifted for longer than a second or two before her strength gave out, "I think I'll need help. I don't think I'll be able to hold the tray steady, let alone eat off of it."

Before Yagura, Mei, or even Mangetsu could move to help her (the bandaged man clearly had no such intention), Sakura found herself staring at someone's back. It took her a moment of blinking in surprise at the sudden appearance to realize that the long dark hair she was staring at belonged to Haku. She hadn't even seen him move. Although he was silent, Sakura got the feeling from his posture that he was somehow arguing against the Mizukage's test. If not for the fact that no one in the room sounded or acted surprised at his interference, Sakura would have worried for his future in Kiri. Instead, she only worried that he might get in trouble as the bandaged man's voice ordered gruffly, "Stand down, Haku."

To Sakura's surprise, Haku did not do as told, though when he responded, it was with more civility than the situation would have led her to expect, "I apologize, Sensei, my lord, but I cannot." Sakura's jaw dropped.

The large man snapped again, "Haku—!"

This time it was Yagura's stern voice that cut off the angry swordsman, "It's fine. He gave little miss Yuki his word, and is merely trying to uphold it. Haku," he added, his voice losing some, though not all, of its edge, "I did not say she had to consume either liquid, merely that she would give her opinion about them."

For a moment Haku hesitated, but finally he nodded slowly, and when he turned back around, he was holding the tray, which he brought to her side. Sitting gingerly on the edge of the bed beside her, he positioned the tray on his lap before asking, "How might I assist you?"

The next few minutes had Haku holding the tea and soup, doing as she instructed so that she could see and smell the liquids. She had also wished to take a sip after her initial inspection, so that she could use taste as another tell, but Haku completely ignored that suggestion, moving the tea out of her reach when she tried anyhow. She would just have to do without. After a few more minutes spent deliberating over what she had gathered, Sakura nodded to herself, then looked up to meet Yagura's eyes with a grin. "You put the sugar in the tea…and salt in the soup. Neither is poison."

Yaugura's eyes lit up, though his face remained stoic, as he asked pointedly, "So, you would feel secure in consuming everything on your tray?"

Sakura's grin fell, her eyes searching first Yagura's face, and then the contents of the tray. When her eyes landed on the cup of water that had remained forgotten since Haku had taken the tray, they widened, before looking back up with a glare. "No!" Sakura answered with a huff, "Only the soup and tea. If I had to guess, you probably did something to the water while we were distracted with the other two. Since I haven't checked it, I wouldn't know what you put in. Haku, would you please hand me the water?"

Haku did as asked, and when Sakura saw it held up to the early morning light, she noticed a few tiny particles floating. Whatever sleight of hand that Yagura had used to add the component to the water unseen, it hadn't involved mixing the drug in. Between the lack of mixing and the cool temperature of the water, not everything had gone into solution. In addition, there was the slightest, almost oily, sheen in the water, indicating the possibility that more than one thing had been added, or that what had been added had more than one property to it that would need further investigation. When she asked Haku to bring the cup closer so that she could smell it, she noticed that, although very slight, there was a sweet yet bitter hint to the scent of the water. It didn't smell oily, for all that it looked it. After a few more minutes spent analyzing the glass, she had the list of suspected substances down to a handful. Unfortunately, without either diagnostic equipment or the ability to taste the water in question, she couldn't narrow it down any further. She had reached the limit of her capabilities, and it irritated her.

If she had felt stronger, Sakura would have tried to dip her finger in before Haku could take the water away. That small of an amount wouldn't have done her any harm given what the remaining contenders were. Heck, even if she hadn't been able to rule out the possibility of more deadly concoctions, she wouldn't have been afraid to try it out. After all, Yagura wasn't going to hurt her. Whatever he had added either wasn't poisonous at all, or, as was more likely, simply wasn't poisonous in the amount that had been added. Dosage was, after all, the main dividing factor between poison and medication. Even sugar and salt, two well-known and widely used culinary compounds, could become deadly at high enough concentrations.

When she grudgingly admitted as much, unhappy she couldn't exactly name what had been added, though she had a few guesses, Yagura's eyebrows rose. Everyone else in the room was either looking at her like she was crazy or like she was naively trusting, especially after he offered her the same question that had prompted her looking into the water, and she answered in the affirmative. Haku's response to her answer was to immediately set the water far out of her reach, as if he suspected that she might just try to take a sip if he gave her an opportunity to confirm which compound had been placed in the water. He wasn't entirely wrong, either. Sakura was very curious, but more than anything, she was beginning to realize just how ravenous she felt, and so she decided to allow the water issue to slip past her and focused on the soup instead as her stomach's growl announced her desire to the room.

"Very well then, little miss Sakura," Yagura said, the side of his lip twitching yet again in a hidden smile, "if you truly place that much trust in both me and your own skills, then go ahead and eat."

Sakura reached for the spoon with her shaky hand, only to have her hand fall back to the bed before reaching its destination as Haku snatched the spoon up first. To Sakura surprise—though she supposed a moment later that she should have expected it—Haku took the first bite before setting that spoon aside and using the second spoon to test the tea. In the background, Sakura could hear the bandaged man growling under his breath, but from the looks of it, Yagura had stopped him from doing or saying anything else by extending one hand in warning. Sakura, for her part, simply rolled her eyes at Haku's over-protectiveness and waited for him to decide that what she had said was true so that she could finally eat. She also failed to point out that, had the dishes been poisoned with something that would settle over time, his skimming the top just now wouldn't have done the term 'poison tasting' justice. She was too tired and hungry to point out the flaw in his technique.

In the end, Sakura shook too much to be able to feed herself, even though she managed the strength to lift the spoon, so Haku had to do so for her after he was sure it was safe. During this time Yuki returned, followed closely by the Hotaru, looking furious, for all that she tried to hide it with a smile. Her father, it would appear, had ordered her to collect her newly returned ninja escorts so that they could take her to her deportment lessons on the other side of the village. Her father didn't care that Sakura was there or that she needed Yuki to keep her safe (in Yuki's words), she had lessons, and having a friend in the village was no excuse to miss them.

Five minutes after storming into the room to vent her anger and apologize for abandoning her, Yuki left again, taking Mei, Hotaru, and Mangetsu with her. Between Yuki's interruption and the fact that she had to be spoon fed, eating took longer than necessary, even though Sakura's stomach decided that, after so long spent without food, only a third of the bowl's contents and less than that of the tea was necessary to fill her up. And yet, somehow, despite the small meal size, Sakura felt as full (and as drowsy) as she would have if she had gorged herself at a buffet. After the tray was set aside, Haku looked at her with concern—her food-coma must have had her grimacing or something—but otherwise remained silent as the Mizukage came forward to ask her questions.

As the sun moved higher in the sky, warming Sakura like a protective blanket as it finally began to find her place on the bed, Sakura found the courage to pick her words carefully under Yagura's discerning eye. She explained that she was taught about poisons because her best friend was someone bad people wanted to get at any way they could, and they often tried to go through her to do so. He clearly knew she was avoiding saying things, such as who her friend was or why she was the best person to target him by, but for all that his eyes made it clear that he was cataloging every missed detail, he let her speak without interruption. It wasn't until she came to a natural stop that his pink eyes bore into hers as he asked a pointed question.

"That explains very little indeed. Do you not trust me enough to explain more than that?"

"I trust you!" The words, with all their connotations, were out of Sakura's mouth before she realized that there was no accusation in the young man's voice…and that her words had made his eyebrows rise in surprise.

Her words also, however, made the large bandaged man glare, one hand reaching for his sword threateningly as he growled out the beginnings of a warning, something about not being tricked that easily, only to be cut off by a burst of Chakra that made everyone in the room flinch. A moment later Yagura reeled his Chakra back in, but his face was hard as he looked over his shoulder at the bandaged man. "I warned you, Zabuza. Out."

"But—"

"Haku will remain, but since you cannot obey a simple order, you have lost that privilege. Out."

For a moment the room was deadly silent, and the look in the man's eyes made Sakura almost think he would argue again…that, or outright kill her and be done with it. Instead, after a very long and tense moment, he lowered his hand from his sword, bowed to the Mizukage, then turned towards Sakura. It was Haku, who was right beside her, however, that he was clearly speaking to when he spoke, "Don't let your guard down." And with that, he stomped out of the room like a petulant child. For a moment, the man's resemblance to Kankuro when he didn't get his was so uncanny that she went from staring, her jaw hanging open, to actually giggling after the door slammed shut. The scene became even funnier to her when it finally dawned on Sakura that the reason the bandaged man—Zabuza—had been so cranky was because he though she was going to hurt Yagura. Her, a child who was barely a Genin harming someone who not only was Kage—which made it impossible enough already—but had Isobu inside him as back up…it was like expecting a kitten to kill a tiger…the size of a house.

It wasn't until Sakura wiped tears of laughter from her eyes that she realized that the two boys left in the room were both staring at her as if she had gone crazy. Blushing as she realized they might mistakenly think she was laughing at the guy for getting in trouble, Sakura hurried to explain just what was so funny, "He stomped out of the room just like Kan—I mean, a kid I know would have, and he's just a year older than me…and…does that Zabuza guy really think I can hurt you?"

Yagura raised one hand to rub his temple as he responded dryly, "He does not trust you. You appeared under suspicious circumstances, and he does not understand the Hoshi as I do. He believes that your ability to use Chakra could only come about through intensive ninja training." When Sakura only blinked at him, digesting what he'd said, he slowly lowered his hand, his eyes boring into her as if trying to read into her every little movement. "So," Yagura began slowly after the silence had gone on for too long, "have you undergone intensive ninja training to obtain your advanced Chakra skills?"

If he had asked if she was a ninja or did outright ninja training, she could only have said yes or remained silent, but since his question was more than that, Sakura had to think for a few moments before answering just as slowly as he had asked, only with less surety in her voice, "I don't think so…I mean…I'm good with Chakra because Kirsche…well…she's a Hoshi I met when I was…five…I think…and she taught me all about Chakra and helped me get better so that she could teach me about…well…"

Pausing, Sakura glanced around the room, just to make sure no one other than the two people who already knew she had a Kekkei Genkai would overhear before going on in a quieter voice—even tired as she was, Sakura remembered that Mist hadn't always been friendly towards people with Kekkei Genkai, but these two were safe to talk to, she knew, so she continued, "…she had to take me…somewhere…to awaken my Kekkei Genkai…I think we were gone for a few weeks…and she taught me a lot of things in that time before she left again…but there wasn't any 'intensive ninja training'…unless what she taught me were things ninja are taught too. I wouldn't know, though. The academy wouldn't let me enter no matter how often I applied…so I can't really say what they did and didn't teach in their classrooms…if that makes sense."

It was the truth, Sakura's tired mind supplied, perhaps not the whole truth, but enough of the truth to answer the question without endangering herself.

"I see," Yagura intoned slowly, the wheels in his mind clearly still turning over what she had just said. After a momentary pause, he settled in his chair and squared his shoulders, as if preparing himself to ask something difficult, though he began by asking "So, you never went to the academy?" in a tone that suggested that this was more to get rid of any ambiguity than because he was truly unsure of the answer. When Sakura shook her head no, he then asked much more carefully, "Has anyone trained you in…self-defense?" For some reason, the last words felt loaded, though Sakura couldn't put her finger on why. Perhaps because her noticed her silence, or maybe because he thought that she was thinking up an excuse not to need such training, the Mizukage added, "I understand that you have your Hoshi abilities, but as you have doubtlessly realized by now, given how you came to be here, a ninja can easily find a way to get around your abilities if they understand them well enough. Has anyone taught you how to protect yourself in other ways?"

Now Sakura even felt as if Haku had stiffened, but when she turned to look at him, he only smiled as if nothing was wrong. For a moment, Sakura could only blink her eyes tiredly at him, then turn back to look at Yagura, who was patiently waiting for a response. Aside from his slightly stiff posture, which could have had any number of causes, Sakura couldn't think of anything that would…or should…be setting off mental alarms. Shaking off the odd feeling as a side affect of drowsiness, Sakura rubbed both of her eyes in an attempt to wake herself up before answering.

Even drowsy, Sakura knew better than to outright mention being a ninja or ninja training to foreign ninja in a foreign village. As she rubbed her eyes, Sakura thought's blazed through what might be safe to say and what might not, especially regarding who her teacher or rather, teachers were. After all, both Chiyo and Sasori were well known ninja. They weren't exactly names she could drop in casual conversation if she didn't want to stand out as suspicious. But she couldn't hold too much information back for the same reason. It was a difficult balancing act.

What Sakura didn't expect was that, the moment she opened her eyes to tell her first indirect lie about who had taught her, instead of catching sight of Yagura's pink eyes, she caught a face full of visions as a beam of sunlight burned into her eyes from the open window she had ignored up until then. The visions came so quickly, one after another, she barely had time to get an idea of what she might be looking at in one scene before it was replaced by another, but by the end of the flash of visions, she knew there had been an overarching theme. The theme had been summed up quite clearly by two particular scenes that had come one right after the other, the one a scene of Yagura, looking angry, maybe hurt, maybe disappointed, speaking to the man called Zabuza, the words "she lied" on his lips and the next scene one of a blurry future in which Suna was burning.

How all the visions connected, exactly, Sakura didn't know, but as she fell out of the visions that must have lasted but a second, she found herself gasping as tears welled in her eyes and a bout of nausea hit her. Lying was out. What followed was a small mess where, gasping, Sakura breathed in her own saliva, which led to chocking, which led to Haku fretting over her, hastily passing her the cold tea, which led to some of said tea spilling on her night clothes—not that she cared while she drank down what remained, trying to stop the reflexive coughing while also trying not to gag as the tea set off her nausea. By the time that fiasco was over, Yagura was handing her a handkerchief while gently asking her if she wanted to explain what that was about.

Sakura could feel her face heating up as her eyes flicked between Yagura and Haku, who were both staring at her. She truly had made a mess of things. At least she hadn't puked. Unable to meet those pink or brown eyes or reach out to take the handkerchief dangling by her ear, Sakura hung her head and mumbled, "Can I not?" Not only was it embarrassing, but really, how do you explain random visions of the future to someone who only knows about Dream Walking? Even worse, as far as Sakura knew, Haku didn't even know that much, only that she had a Kekkei Genkai just like he did, and that she could make barriers. Where would she even begin? Worse, where was she supposed to safely end the explanation?

Although Sakura had expected someone as kind as both Haku and Yagura to let the matter go, she hadn't expected Yagura to do so with the matter-of-fact words he spoke next, "Of course. I told you at the beginning that you could choose not to answer anything at any time." Sakura's face turned even redder at this as her shoulders bunched up defensively. She had forgotten. And she had almost lied rather than not answer. She really was an idiot.

Clearly sensing her embarrassment, and being unwilling to allow her to wallow in it, Yagura redirected the topic to his earlier question while once again pushing the handkerchief into her range of view. It was only as Sakura took it with her good hand, mumbeling her thanks even as she ignored Haku's offer to take it from her as she started mopping at the spot on her shirt without looking that she realized that, ever since the sun had reached her spot on the bed, her strength had been recovering rapidly. Her hands were hardly even shaking anymore (and even that was mostly due to the Chakra-draining vision-whirlwind she had just had) when not that long ago she could barely hold a spoon. A quick glance at Yagura and his keen gaze as he watched her dabbing at the tea spot on her clothes told her that he had realized that same fact long before her. After all, he had handed her the handkerchief without even asking if she wanted or needed help. He knew she didn't…just like he apparently knew something about who was teaching her.

How Yagura might know who her teacher was—and she really hoped he only knew about the one public teacher and not Aniki, for both Aniki's sake and Haku's—Sakura had no clue, but it didn't really matter. If he already knew, there was no point in hiding it. She would just have to pick her words carefully.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! I hope you have had a good year. I apologize for the long hiatus; I certainly never meant to take this long to update. Last winter and spring were not kind to me health wise. I'm doing better now than I was last year at this time, but I've still been dealing with on and off health issues all year (don't worry, it's nothing major, just irritating and exhausting). I have also had to deal with buying and moving into my first home, and I'm still technically dealing with getting the house situated. Worse yet, because we are short handed at work (and will be for some time) I have to work a lot of overtime, so I haven had much time or energy to do anything creative. I hope you can forgive me for taking so long to update, but I wanted to explain why and express that even if though there will likely be another longer wait, the next chapter will come out eventually.

I greatly appreciate all those who have taken the time to send reviews and constructive criticisms and offer them my heartfelt gratitude.

Thanks to:water goddess 19 (Happy Holidays, and thanks!), moodymel (Well, you get to see her and YAgura interact in this one. Hope you liked it. Sorry it has taken so long to post again), im ur misconception (Yagura is yet another fun character to write. And Merry Christmas to you too (a year later)), jacpin2002 (I hope I write Yagura well enough for you. He's not going to be a romantic contender, but he'll certainly try to look after her in his own mother-hen way), Nanami (Thank you for all your well wishes. May your year be full of health and happiness.), general zargon (Verbal acrobatics indeed. Yagura is very sharp), Dobbyhasnomastr (I hope I don't disappoint), imthepunchlord (Yagura is smarter than his predecessor. He knows how not to overlook power in all its forms. Unfortunately, he also met Sakura with a predisposed opinion about her abilities and personality. He's not completely wrong, but he's also not completely right about how she would take the realities of a ninja lifestyle), & rawrsharpii (Slow burn is definitely true, especially when, after 83 chapters, Sakura and Gaara are still only 9 years old. Character development and world building are key, in my opinion, so I'm glad you have liked it thus far and hope you continue to do so) for reviewing!