Sakura found that feeding the Nara deer was one of the most relaxing and yet vexing ways to spend one's free time in the whole wide world.

They got all cute and trusty after seeing you around their forest enough times, and they'd let her touch their soft fur, but some of them would bite her fingers when she 'd try to give them apple slices or vegetables to eat.

Ungrateful little monsters. You're lucky you're so pretty.

Shikamaru was napping under a tree a few feet away, leaving her to fend off her hand 's possible mutilation all by herself.

Lazy

bastard.

Having had enough of the deer, she walked over to her friend and nudged him with her foot. 'Get up! I thought you wanted to play shogi today. '

'Ugh, fine. And it 's not like you didn 't pester me about petting the damn deer. '

She huffed, breath coming out in a small cloud of smoke in the freezing morning air. 'Okay, Shika, now can we please go inside? I 'm cold! ' she complained, even though she was already circulating her chakra to heat her blood and skin. Winter was

so

not her season, and she 'd always been sensitive to cold temperatures.

It seemed that Shikamaru shared her sentiment and was happy to get up and lead the way to his house, where his mother planned to serve them hot tea and snacks. Yoshino-san indeed greeted them excitedly, threatening her son to bring some small blankets for himself and Sakura before they caught a cold.

Sitting across from each other on the tatami floor with their blankets snuggly arranged around them, the two children tried to outsmart one another on the shogi board. Sakura, unsurprisingly played well, relying on her seventeen-year-old memories from all the times she'd played against her father, Shikamaru, and even Shikaku-san, but nonetheless, the young Nara surprised her.

He was quick to pick apart her strategies and when he wasn 't, which normally resulted in him losing a round, he'd simply ask her to play again. That was a level of determination she had seen from Shikamaru only a handful of times when he had been young. His mother refilled their cups two more times, before the front door shut with a soft call of '

Tadaima '

.

'Ah, tou-san is back. '

Sakura blanched. Sure, she liked Shikaku-san, they had met multiple times in the past few months, but the way he looked at her sometimes,

observed

her, was unsettling. She was worried he had already made his own assumptions regarding her, and it filled her with an odd sense of dread.

Shikaku-san was kind and lazy, much like his son, but Sakura

knew

him. She knew the man outside of his home, she had worked with him more than once. He could be unforgiving,

brutal

to those who posed a threat to his village, and quite honestly, there were times when she had caught that same glint in his eyes that he, in another lifetime, had reserved for traitors and spies. Only this time, it was directed to her.

Well, if push came to shove, she would just come out with the truth. To him and Inoichi-ji-chan. And pray to the Sage they wouldn 't lock her up in T&I, or somehow involve the Council, because then, she 'd be royally screwed, and Shisui would be too.

Faintly, she heard the Nara couple exchanging greetings, but she kept playing, acknowledging Shikamaru 's statement with only a small smile. A few minutes later, the Nara Head made his way into the room and approached the young pair.

'Hello, Shikaku-san, ' she chirped after her friend had greeted his father.

He smiled faintly and sat down to watch their game. 'Yoshino said you two were out in the forest, ' he said, looking between them, before lowering his eyes to examine his son 's next move.

'We fed the deer. '

Sakura scoffed, '

I

fed them, and apparently they found my fingers flavorful too.

You

just made yourself comfortable under a tree. '

A low chuckle rumbled from Shikaku 's chest, while Shikamaru yawned away the '

troublesome '

rant Sakura unloaded on him. Huffing, she moved her rook after realizing Shikamaru 's mistake in his previous turn, promoting it to Dragon king.

'You 're leaving too many openings, Shika. '

They resumed their match with acute concentration, even after Shikamaru 's mother brought some tea for her husband. In the end, Sakura won, but the young Nara did manage to trap her in a tight spot once or twice.

'You play well, for a child, ' Shikaku-san told her after his son left the room to get more water.

Sakura bit her lip, but held his gaze steadily, 'My tou-chan gets ruthless when we play strategy and trivia games. ' That wasn 't a lie. Kizashi had once been the strategist of his genin team, and was generally smarter than he liked to let on. Even if she had never noticed that before, she certainly had in this timeline.

'Yeah, ' the older man groaned and shifted to sit more comfortably, running a hand over his scarred face. 'I used to play with your dad when we were younger. '

'You did?! ' she all but yelled, eyes widening in disbelief at his nod.

'We 're a couple years apart in age, but I knew him even before the Academy. Our family supplied your grandfather with our medicinal deer antler powders and other herbs we grow here in the Nara forest. ' Focusing back on Sakura, he gave her a smirk, 'Kizashi always bragged about how he could beat any Nara at shogi, so we would arrange for some matches every now and again. '

Sakura whistled lowly, 'Tou-chan was cocky, huh? '

'Still is, ' Shikaku-san said, with an indecipherable slant to his lips. 'Thing is, he was the only person aside from my father that ever beat me. Like father, like daughter, I guess? '

Blushing slightly from the compliment, because it was an A-class acknowledgment coming from Nara Shikaku, for both her and her father, she smiled and quietly told him that:

'One day, I too would be honored to play against you. But I think I have much more to learn before that day comes. '

She had the mind of a seventeen-year old, of course, and yes, she had played against Nara Shikaku

before

, but that was after he had met her as her shisho 's apprentice and recognized her worth, both intellectually and as a shinobi. She hadn 't quite reached that level yet in her new life.

He merely nodded, and she could feel his probing gaze. 'You 're a lot more interesting than you let on, Sakura-chan. '

Blinking her confusion and anxiety away, she gazed up at him. 'Excuse me? '

'Ah, it 's nothing. I 'm glad Shikamaru-kun has found interesting friends. '

An Uchiha heir, Konoha 's Jinchuriki

and

a civilian-born prodigy

went unsaid. So, Sakura gave him her biggest and brightest smile. 'I 'm glad he 's friends with us as well. Shika 's a little lazy, but he 's super intelligent and kind, even if he tries to hide it. '

'Well, cherish your friendship now, kid, 'cause once you graduate from the Academy, you 're all going to have too many responsibilities. '

She read between the lines. The implications of the cruel shinobi life and Shikamaru's status as a clan heir were hardly unfamiliar facts to her, but she chose not to address them.

'No matter what, Shikaku-san, ' she started, with a little too much heat in her words, 'I feel that the bonds we 're creating will last, even as we grow. My dream is to keep my precious people happy and safe and Shikamaru

is

and

always will be

one of those people. '

For a moment, the Nara went still, gaze lingering on the small girl in front of him in surprise. Then he hummed, and a pleased grin made its way to his lips. 'Alright, Sakura-chan. But tell me, ' the grin quickly morphed into a faint frown, 'what about your village? What would you put first? Konoha, or your family and friends? You seem to possess a great deal of awareness and strong opinions on justice, having seen you defend Naruto-kun so fiercely, so enlighten me. '

Ah, now that was a trick question, wasn 't it? Too bad for him: Sakura had already thought about that very thing for far too long.

'Isn 't it one and the same? If I can protect my village, I can protect them as well, along with everyone living inside Konoha 's walls. And yes, I don 't like the way people treat Naruto, so I 'll do anything I can to prevent him from being hurt. I 'd do the same for any of my friends and even people I don 't know well, if they happen to be in need of me. '

He nodded, mulling over her answer. 'And what if your friends ' interests run against those of your village? '

A sudden weight pressed onto her chest. She had never thought of betraying Konoha, not even when she had been twelve and told Sasuke she 'd leave with him. Even then, she could and would have chosen her teammate, but never truly forsaken her village. Now, though, it was a different story. In a way, she herself was the traitor. She knew her village was corrupt in ways too dark and twisted for most to fully comprehend, but she was prepared to walk through Hell 's fires just to shed some light on the Elders' abominable deeds.

Would that make her and Shisui traitors, legally speaking? Possibly.

Would they be working against her village 's interests, though? Absolutely not!

Minding her words, she levelled him with a serious stare: 'I 'd never allow myself to act for anything besides the benefit of Konoha's people and my Hokage, ' she wanted to put some emphasis on whom exactly her loyalty lay with, but refrained from doing so. 'Despite what my parents may think, I do understand what a life as a shinobi entails. I will be at my Hokage 's disposal as they see fit, but I 'll never turn my back on my comrades. And if my Hokage is a good Hokage, a Hokage worthy of their title, then they would never ask that of me. They'd never ask their subjects to harm their people. Is that a clear enough answer, Shikaku-san? '

'Indeed, ' he said, after only a moment 's pause, 'it is a clear and impressive answer, Sakura-chan. ' When Shikaku 's expression melted into something softer, her tension dissipated entirely. 'I really am glad Shikamaru has forged these bonds, as you called them, with you and your friends. I do hope your resolve stays unchanged in the future. '

With a smile, genuine and determined, she vowed both to him and herself, 'It will. '

Dropping low to the ground, Sakura kicked her leg out, trying to trip Shisui, but he was impossibly fast. Jumping high, he sent half a dozen shuriken her way, which Sakura managed to avoid, taking a page out of his book and employing a shunshin to escape far to the left.

Feeling the cobwebs of genjutsu weaving around her senses, she dispelled it before it had the time to set in. Shisui still avoided using his Sharingan to induce hallucinations in her, but his unassisted genjutsu skills were still uncommonly formidable. Forming hand-seals, Sakura turned his way, flinging a blast of water bullets at his back.

With the way her pathways and reserves were at the moment, she could perform basic D and a couple C-rank jutsu. Still, Shisui thought it important for her to train in ninjutsu and genjutsu as much as possible, since it was something she had never used much before, having settled mainly on taijutsu and offensive medical ninjutsu.

Frustration settled in when, once again, he shunshined right out of her range, and she wanted nothing more than to smash the ground and level it to dust. When she sparred with Shisui alone, she would unleash her full skillset on him, but since Itachi was with them now, observing from atop a tree nearby, she had to keep a lower profile.

A moment of stillness had her shivering, as her heated, sweaty skin was overcome with the coldness of the night. When Shisui reappeared in front of her, she engaged him in a taijutsu bout, hiding under the earth when his fireballs came hurtling at her, and then reemerged behind him, throwing her kunai with perfect precision. He shunshined again, pushing her to move, react, think faster through her every twist and turn.

When their spar finally ended, her legs wobbled like jelly and her breath came out in short gasps. It occurred to her that it might be wise to lose her weights during their fights, but she still hadn 't reached her end goal, so she squashed the thought as quickly as it came.

'Good job, birdie. Your ninjutsu is coming along well. '

'Indeed, ' Itachi 's sleek voice came as he leapt to the ground beside them, dropping his midnight-blue cloak over Sakura 's shoulders. 'I have brought a new scroll for you. C-level Doton jutsu. I want you to study it, and we 'll help you perfect it during our next meeting. '

She gave him a thumbs up as she greedily gulped down her water.

Kami, just

when

would her body go back to what she was used to...?

Shisui hummed, sitting down on a fallen tree log. 'I also think it 's time to teach you my shunshin. '

'I can already do that, ' she scrunched up her brows. 'Granted, you 're way, way faster, but with some practice, I 'll get better. '

A light chuckle escaped him, and he clarified: 'Well, I haven 't really shown you the extent of my shunshin, but when I use it, ' he smirked, looking down at her, '

for real

, I create some afterimage clones and move between them. '

'Shisui leaves no trace of chakra to indicate his presence, or his next appearance spot, and the clones work to confuse his opponents. '

Sakura was left staring between the two. Of course, she had of about Shisui 's legendary take on the technique, but she had never thought that what he was doing was in fact so complex. It was her belief that he was simply extraordinarily fast. It made her wonder if she would actually be able to pinpoint his chakra, as, apparently, that was one of her biggest aces nowadays.

Thoughtfully, she said, 'Your chakra control must be incredible, then. Anyone can use the body-flicker technique, but what you're describing would require immense control in stabilizing, moving, and, as I imagine, masking or stopping the flow of your chakra as soon as you shunshin away. '

'You caught on to that pretty quickly, Sakura-chan, ' Shisui winked. 'I do stop the chakra flow when I flicker. Not entirely, but I keep it in an almost dormant state until I reappear. And yeah, my chakra control is quite good, Itachi 's too. '

A smug smile made its way across her face. She had guessed as much. 'That 's great, ' she said, 'because I 've been thinking of teaching you medical ninjutsu for some time now. '

'Medical ninjutsu, ' the younger Uchiha repeated in ill-concealed curiosity, and moved to sit on the cold ground. 'Why? '

'I 've noticed your interest in it every time I heal myself or either one of you. Also, ' she paused to bring her hand over his and squeeze, 'I think it 's better suited to your belief system. '

It wasn 't a secret that both boys were heavily inclined towards pacifism. They had plenty of times told her, in the confines of their private training sessions away from the village walls, how it had been the thing that had ultimately cemented their friendship, as no one else in their clan shared their yearning for non-violence. Sometimes she could feel their reservations before missions, the light gone from their eyes when they returned, and she knew of Shisui 's nightmares and Itachi 's will to protect his little brother from this blood-paved life, even if he could only achieve that in part.

She hoped for peace as well, no matter how utopian an ideal that was, considering what the burden on her shaking shoulders meant for her future.

A hand landed atop her head; Shisui 's grin was full of pride. Itachi 's small smile was as hopeful as it was nervous. 'I don 't believe otou-san will approve. '

'Come on 'Tachi-chan, what Fugaku-oji doesn 't know can 't fall under his objection. '

With his hesitant nod, Sakura flipped on the switch in her head, projecting her medical expertise in the same way she had before, when Tsunade-shisho had instructed her on how to teach less experienced medics.

'Alright, let 's start with the basics: and that is chakra. Medical ninjutsu uses either Yin or Yang release, but I find using Yin chakra most effective, since I have a larger quantity of it. As you may know, chakra can actually micro-heal some injuries, even if the patient has no training in medical ninjutsu. Mostly, their chakra works to regenerate blood cells and that is the main reason shinobi heal faster than civilians, even if they aren 't treated by med-nin. '

Both boys were staring at her in the utmost concentration. She had no doubts they would pick up on her teachings without a problem, so she continued, unfazed.

'Not everyone can become a properly licensed medic ninja, but anyone can refine their chakra enough to at least somewhat heal themselves until they can get proper treatment. '

ANBU had very few professionally trained medic-nin in their ranks, but from what she knew, almost all masked operatives had to at least take a few lessons in first aid, so that they could prevent their and their comrades ' deaths, if possible.

She shook her head and took one of her kunai out. It was probably wiser to demonstrate this on dead fish as she had learned, but at this time of year she simply didn 't want to get herself wet when the weather was this awful.

Making a shallow cut on her forearm and ignoring Shisui 's protests, she made the ox and tiger hand-seals ' which she didn 't need, but it would be best if they learned to use them until they became proficient enough ' and brought a glowing mint-green hand over the slash on her skin.

'This is called the Mystical Palm Technique, an A-rank medical jutsu, but with the proper control you won 't waste much chakra. Basically, I am sending chakra to accelerate the body's natural healing process. Just like with any other jutsu though, if your chakra input is too intense, it could cause extra damage. '

To demonstrate, she let more chakra seep into her skin, resulting in chakra burns on her palm and the wound reopening, blistering and turning bigger than it had been moments before. Noticing both pairs of activated Sharingan, she lowered her chakra volume until her wound closed up and her hand 's surface was smooth once again.

'It can be difficult to find the exact frequency your chakra should operate at in order to bring out healing chakra instead of offensive chakra, and it 's best to work on dead fish to get used to that. '

'Dead fish? ' Shisui asked incredulously, watching her wipe the blood away.

She nodded, 'Surprisingly, their pathways are quite close to humans ', and you don 't need to waste too much chakra because of their size. Also, it 's best to avoid working on living subjects, be they humans or animals, at least at first, since it could lead to additional injuries. '

'That 's understandable. If you don 't mind, Sakura-chan, could you perform your technique again? '

Shisui hummed, ' 'Tachi 's right. Our Sharingan can pick up on the way your chakra concentrates in your palm. '

'Okay, ' she went through the seals again. 'But neither of you will use it on yourselves or anyone else until I give you the green light. '

'Oh Kami, you 're turning into tou-chan!'

Inner cackled.

Ignoring her, she let both of them observe the flow of chakra engulfing her palm, and even the way she transferred it to her skin, to further fix her closed wound, until they were satisfied.

'If you 're not busy tomorrow morning, you can come by my house while my parents are away. I 'll teach you how to do this on some fish and lend you my scrolls and books on anatomy, poisons and herbs. '

They agreed to come over if they weren't called away on any missions, and they all packed their things, ready to go. Under the cloak of a simple concealment genjutsu, they made it back to the village, and the two dropped her off near her house before heading for the Uchiha district.

Sakura wasn 't prepared for Itachi to grab her shoulder and smile down at her. 'Thank you, Sakura-chan, ' was all he said, but she understood in the softness of his voice that maybe, just maybe, tonight had given him hope for following his dreams of a more peaceful future.

Hugging his middle, she smiled back. 'Anything and anytime, Itachi-kun. '