Chapter Text
Shikamaru finds her there, on her balcony, when he comes out to feed his cat. He watches her quietly, immediately alert. The clouds wispy streaks on the evening sky.
“Sakura?”
She looks up. There’s a mask on her face already, he can tell, sliding seamlessly into lies. He’s always been observant, like that. Has had to be, being friends with Ino, the best liar in the village. They must make a terrifying pair, he muses. Is slightly terrified to witness them in action on his coming assignment with the intelligence division.
He’s always never quite seen Sakura. She’s always been so convincingly inane, he’d never bothered to look. But Ino - of course Ino had seen.
Clever. Some part of him rankles that Ino had let him believe Sakura to be the self-obsessed girl he’d thought she’d been.
“Shit,” Sakura gasps, lifting her head from her knees, “I must’ve fallen asleep! I’m going to be late!”
He doesn't call her bullshit, just smiles. “You alright?”
“Tired,” She sighs. “Always tired.” Huffs a laugh. “And you’re the Nara.”
(Classic. One of Shikamaru’s own favourite tricks - admit to one vulnerability to hide another. Works every time.)
“Wanna smoke?” Shikamaru raises his packet of cigarettes. She leans over the balcony, hair twisting down her face. Laughs. That fake smile such a quick, beautiful lie. Perhaps not such a lie after all.
“Some other time, Nara,” She says.
Her shunshin sounds like the beginnings of a summer storm in the trees - it’s so fast, it barely leaves a trace.
An old woman talks to herself on the balcony above his. “Ghosts,” he hears her murmuring, “all of them ghosts. Poor souls.”
Shikamaru retreats inside, a badger into its den. Mind churning as always. The noise never stops. The thousands of sparking ideas in his head. Connection after connection. Weaving an unavigable web that not even he himself can always grasp.
He closes his eyes and tries not to think too much.
What a pain this is. Not knowing what is to come. Not knowing the next move.
Minato’s emissary finds her at work. He is much more polite than Genma was, although far less friendly.
“You’re late,” Neji informs her the moment she enters the office. “Minato-sama requests your presence.”
“About what?” Sakura rearranges the reports stacked haphazardly across her desk, vaguely relieved for the bedlam strewn across Ino’s beside her. Ino herself stands across the other side of the room, talking to a group of genin - she’s been horrifically busy since she was promoted to being Inoichi’s aide, so much so that they’ve barely talked all week. Sakura has no choice but to accept Neji’s silence and follow him from the intelligence division and out onto the street.
“You can’t tell me?”
“I would tell you if I knew, Haruno-san.” Neji fiddles with his flak jacket. “The Hokage did not deign to let me know, I’m afraid.”
Either a really good sign or a really bad one. Sakura swallows. Catalogues all the reasons; the most prominent one being Naruto’s escape from the hospital, of course; then all the others - Her new (ultra secret) upcoming mission with T&I, Her insubordination towards Genma, that one time she nearly lobotomised one of his ANBU over the head with a clothes hanger for accidentally catching her changing for a honeypot mission - but as she goes down the list, they grow ever close to the Hokage tower, and further from the safe fortress of T&I’s compound, and the protection of Ibiki, poring over schema and plans and god knows, and Ino and her father. It’s just her.
Sakura will never admit it, but she has always been deathly terrified of Namikaze Minato. Even before Kushina’s death. He’d been too good, too beautiful, too kind to be real. She’d never wanted to believe in him. And now that she does believe- knows he’s a good kage, objectively, that he rules kindly and well despite his own instabilities - she desperately fears that he will cast her out of his paradise if he discovers her enmity towards him, her own faults and failures.
“Stop shaking,” Neji tells her, unhelpfully. “It makes you look guilty.”
“Of what?”
He shrugs. “Something.”
They reach the door of the Hokage tower. Neji flashes handsigns to the guards in an ANBU dialect Sakura can read easily enough, given her T&I training. She doesn't deign to inform them so, of course, not when they’re being so obliging.
Do you even know what she’s here for? Neji signs.
A bored shrug from the crane mask. No. Authorisation to enter?
Neji pulls a tablet from around his neck. Hyuuga Neji.
Otter mask looks up from their poisons kit, where they are dipping senbon carefully into various toxins. A common practice. However - Nightroot, oilflower, giant ant venom - non-deadly paralysing agents - are all Genma’s favourite.
Sakura’s eyes narrow.
Namikaze said something about apologies, Otter signs, slowly and deliberately, hands visible. Hyuuga, I’d advise being kind to Haruno. She seems about to shit her pants.
Sakura hides her scowl behind a cough.
Apologies? Did Minato want her to apologise to him for helping Naruto escape him in the hospital, their terrified flight home? Or something else? For ignoring Genma, for rushing on her own into the woods with the Kyuubi? What if he’d thought she was trying to free it, turn it against the village?
Understood, Neji replies.
Poor thing. She’s nice, Crane signs. Too nice for this damn place, for sure. Dunno why they’ve got her in T&I, though, she’s about as clever as a tree trunk. Isn’t she still genin? Team seven - the genin three, right?
Seems Sakura’s generally projected stupidity still keeps her well protected. She does, however, do her best to stop to correct Crane that she’s actually tokujou, thank you very much.
I’m sure it’ll be alright, Otter replies. The Hokage is in a good mood, too. It can’t be something bad. I’m sure she hasn’t done anything wrong that warrants punishment, anyway.
Ah. So Genma definitely hadn’t reported her for insubordination after she left to calm the kyuubi. She hadn’t quite expected him to but - he had been angry enough that he’d nearly sounded like he was going to.
Entering, Neji signs. Aggressively, like he disapproves of their banter. Sakura swallows her nerves and follows him.
As they pass through the doors, Otter twirls a senbon through his fingers. Sakura swears he winks at her through his mask.
Neji shows her through the hallways and up the stairs. Sakura has always found the Kage tower oppressively spartan - there is no cooling in summer, and no heating in winter, and she can already feel sweat beginning to trace its way down her spine.
Two, sharp knocks on the door. It swings open.
“Thank you, Neji. Return to your duties - I’m sure your clan needs you.”
Neji bows, retreats.
“Sakura-chan,” Minato says. “I wanted to -”
Ask her to apologise? To arrest her? For stopping what he’d been doing to Naruto? To -
“Apologise,” Minato finishes. “My son told me what happened - that he grabbed you in a panic, and ran, to your great surprise and worry. You must have been scared. I am aware that my son’s…unique situation puts him in a situation where even to his teammates he may appear …threatening at times.”
Of course. Sakura nearly sags with relief. Of course. He never knew about Sakura being Naruto’s next of kin, didn’t catch that she was intentionally shielding Naruto. Didn’t understand anything.
“Sir, there’s no need -”
“Naruto cares for you greatly,” Minato says gently, kindly. Smiling again. “It would be remiss of me not to thank you for being so kind towards him.”
Logically, Sakura knows that most teams are not as close as theirs is - had been. They are shuffled around, mixed up more. Don’t form bonds as tightly. Minato has the right to be surprised.
“How is Naruto?” Sakura tries not to sound too desperate. “He - didn’t seem well. Is he recovering?”
“Yes,” Minato replies. “He is nearly recovered. I was worried, but he rebounds fast. He is rather…plagued by Sasuke’s betrayal, however. As you know, they were very good friends. Close confidantes.”
“Will we-” Sakura pauses - “Sorry sir, but will we be receiving a - new teammate?”
At this Minato sits back in his chair. “I’m afraid not, Sakura. With your upcoming assignment at T&I, I am sure you will be busy enough. I am going to have Hatake mentor Naruto in person for a while again, take him under his wing a little. Your team will be…disbanded, for now. You will not need to attend team training - consider it a little holiday.”
Sakura swallows. She needs to see Naruto - to reconcile, to tell him not to do anything rash - and now their team is disbanded, there is no mandatory meeting between them.
Sakura knows Naruto. Once his mind is made up, it’s made. And she does not quite know what he is going to do.
Mind racing, Sakura bows. “Thank you, Hokage-sama.”
“Call me Minato!”
Sakura looks up. Minato softens.
“Please, Sakura.”
“Of course, sir,” Sakura resigns. “Minato-sama.”
The Kage groans. “You’re all the same, you tokujou. Off with you, then. I’m sure you have far better things to do than watch me beg for your forgiveness of my son.”
“I never blamed him in the first place,” Sakura says. Smiles. There’s a dimple in the corner when it’s fake - she knows, because she’s practiced it in the mirror thousands of times. “He is my teammate, sir. No matter whether he has the Kyuubi in his head or not, I trust your son with my life.”
Sakura leaves and doesn't bother look back. Whilst she has reason to be here, she paces to the Hokage tower’s library in search of scrolls on sealing, hands shaking with relief and adrenaline - surely there could be something to identify the seals Minato had been painting on Naruto’s stomach there.
Sakura, Ino, Genma and Shikamaru are gathered late in the evening by Ibiki in the T&I office. His face is grave, as always, but tonight even Sakura struggles to read him.
“I know you have been anticipating this mission for quite a while,” Ibiki says in that quiet, lisping way of his, “And I myself will follow you closely as you go in case of catastrophe. This is a delicate matter and I require the utmost discretion and caution from all of you.”
The little group before him doesn't need to nod in acknowledgement to show their understanding - Ino and Sakura have trained for many years in discretion and caution, and Genma too. Being a Nara, it should come easily enough to Shikamaru. Sakura hopes.
“There is activity occurring in Konoha that appears to be linked to the a number of high-level thefts and kidnappings within Hidden Sound village and along our border,” Ibiki continues, “It is an extremely delicate situation as we suspect that there are connections between the high-ranking administration with these kidnappings, so we must proceed with caution in order to preserve our alliance at all costs.”
“Who are they kidnapping, sir?”
“Children.” Ibiki’s eyes darken. “Only the most despicable prey on our children. They must be eliminated.”
Here, Shikamaru interjects, clearly having been briefed on this mission before they had - “We suspect that they are likely using Konoha as a sort of trafficking hub, but we have no evidence and need to investigate.”
“Are you giving this briefing, Nara, or am I?” Ibiki’s voice remains monotone, but danger jumps in his chakra, tightly suppressed. Shikamaru swallows. Nods.
“Sorry, Morino-san.”
“I need you to find and infiltrate this organisation,” Ibiki continues. “Sakura, Ino - I am relying on you here. Genma, your skills will come into use when we know who we need to target. For now you’re supporting the two ladies in their infiltration. You’ll have a blast.”
Genma huffs a laugh. Ibiki is right - Genma likely will. Although he can be overzealous, Sakura is glad to know he’ll be by their side. The three of them have done infiltrations like this regularly, so work well together, for the most part.
“And me?” Shikamaru asks.
“Thought you’d already been briefed, Nara.” Ibiki is testy - he struggles to trust others outside T&I, and tends to intimidate them to the point of being jumpy and terrified. Shikamaru is… neither jumpy nor terrified, but indignant.
“Sir-”
“Given your clan heritage, you will work with the Sound administration when we know who is cooperating with these criminals. For now, you will aid Ino and Sakura in any way they see fit.” Ibiki smiles now, a horribly menacing thing. “I’m sure they’ll put you to good use.”
They’ll keep a good eye on you, his eyes seem to say. Sakura watches Shikamaru suppress another swallow and almost - almost - laughs but for the pity she feels towards him.
“Ibiki-san,” Sakura says, unsmiling, “Where will we start?”
“You will go about business as usual,” Ibiki says. “You cannot be seen deviating from your schedule in any meaningful way. If you do, your mission will be compromised, as it will be easy to deduce your identities. At T&I, you will transform into your alter egos, and be ushered out one of the passages. I have replacements for you who will play your usual parts - I’ll put them on desk duty, say you’ve angered me, something like that. You must return at the same hour you finish work to take their places and leave as usual. Nara-san, you’re still in the administration as ‘away for mission’, as you’ve already clearly planned, so all you need to do is skulk about in the shadows. Understood?”
“Yes,” Ino replies. Her smile is a deadly thing. “I was really getting sick of paperwork. Let’s fuck these fuckers up, shall we?”
“Language,” Ibiki corrects idly, out of habit, but he’s smiling too.