Author: oh my god… it's been a year,,, no… 2 years? (=.=) … wow. Sorry, I've been focused on my books. Lol.

…

Sakura stood in front of the Hokage.

Well… he was a sight for sore eyes.

The third Hokage sat in front of her in all his glory, white robe and hat and everything… a crystal ball lay in front of him as he sat with his elbows propped on his desk with his boney but powerful fingers entwined.

She had agreed to follow Kakashi along with a few escorts with them, said Shinobi stood in the very room with her, and even Iruka was included, and she could sense more of them outside the office.

This wasn't looking good for her.

But let's face it: It's either fight Shinobi and be an enemy of the village, or Go with the flow and get to stay.

Any sane person would choose the second one, right?

The old man eyed her up and down, his eyes calculating her appearance, "None of us recognize you and you do not hold record as a fellow ninja, yet you are wearing a leaf Shinobi's uniform. We caught sight of you a week ago, locals say that you were in a state of shock and caused quite a havoc" the Hokage started, his voice hard and grouchy, Sakura fought back her embarrassment with a sigh through her nose, "After that you ran out of the village, but then came back, and one of our Shinobi managed to meet you" he continued, his eyes flicking over to Iruka for a second but then back at Sakura, "and you told him that you are given missions and don't show around often, which obviously wasn't true, but then we had lost track of you until today;"

Okay… maybe the security wasn't as lousy as she thought; but she still felt smug at the fact they hadn't caught sight of her until today.

"Now I will ask this once and I suggest you tell the truth, who are you?"

Sakura wasn't sure how to respond, telling them the truth was OUT OF THE QUESTION; they would lock her up in an asylum, that's for sure, but telling them lies would be difficult as well… 'THINK SAKURA!' inner screeched in panic.

"My name is Sakura" she started, "I do not have a last name, I am an orphan since young" she said, noticing from the corner of her eye Kakashi lift his headband to reveal the Sharingan, she was being interrogated and Kakashi was there to make sure she wasn't lying.

Well, shit… she's going to have to sound and look as truthful as possible.

"I am a rogue ninja" she added, which was, at the moment, pretty much true, "I had been trained and learned a few techniques from a woman named Tsunade, and from then on I had been training myself" she added, which was also true but since Tsunade was in hiding, they wouldn't be able to find her and ask yet, at least not for a long while.

The old man's eyes glinted at the name, recognizing it, "Tsunade? One of the 3 sages?" he asked and Sakura nodded.

"Interesting" he murmured "So why are you here, Sakura?" The Hokage lifted a brow.

"I need a place to stay" she said, the old man's eyes narrowed at that, "And you fake your identity by representing yourself as an honorable leaf Shinobi? I could lock you up for just doing that."

Sakura bit her lip, she couldn't explain this; she didn't know how… either way she would get locked up.

"My most sincere apologies lord Hokage" she bowed low, she can't believe she's doing this… she had fought for this village… and now… "I understand the consequences and I know that you are right, but I was just trying to find a place to stay… I have no home… and I want to find one… I would have gotten to another village, but… well…" she paused for a moment, giving him a small sincere smile, which sort of surprised the old man, "I like this village the most." She stated; which made all the ninjas in the entire room look at her, ANBU included. She placed her headband on his desk, giving a small longing look at it, she let it go and looked at the Hokage, who had caught her expression with a trained eye, "I didn't cause any damage to your village or people, and I am not a spy" she said truthfully, "So… I accept the punishment, but may I… become a true leaf Shinobi of your village when my punishment is over?"

Emotional talks always swayed the Hokage, especially when he caught no lie… yes… she WAS being truthful… I mean, who wouldn't like their hometown the most out of any other town? Or country, or region… or whatever.

Kakashi furrowed his brows, but as the Hokage looked at him, he nodded.

He caught no lie in her words.

The Hokage stared at her for a long moment, "You believed that if you presented yourself as a leaf ninja, we wouldn't notice you?"

Sakura sighed, "No, I knew you would eventually, but until then I was hoping to blend in with the crowd, maybe you would lose track of me and stop the suspicion if I stayed hidden long enough."

"I see…" The old man muttered, his brows furrowing, since apparently he knew she had told the truth and she came quietly… he wasn't sure what to do with her. Sakura knew he was a softie on the inside… so far, luckily, she had managed to gain his pity. The pinkette only prayed for the results to be good enough.

"Very well then… if you so desire to become a Shinobi of the hidden leaf… and you had Tsunade as your tutor… one of my best Jonin have not spotted any sort of lie coming from you, and you have not inflicted any sort of harm towards any local or Shinobi, then your punishment will not be serious." The Hokage said, which made Sakura inwardly sigh in relief, "However…" he added.

Oh no… there's always a 'However' isn't there?

"I am compassionate, but not a fool… you will be supervised, and if you sneak away out of my Shinobi's sight, we will hunt you down without mercy." The old man said, his black eyes narrowed.

'Well, shit.' Inner groaned, and Sakura inwardly groaned with her. She HATED being supervised! It was SO annoying! I mean—come ON! It was like you had your own stalkers! It—it's CREEPY! Like—what if one of the ninjas is a pervert and decides to 'supervise' her while she was taking a freaking shower?! OR GOING TO THE BATHROOM?! Disgusting people! DISGUSTING!

"As long as my supervisors are females!" She said, frowning and crossing her arms, which made the ninja stare at her for a short while. The Hokage blinked, placing his pipe back in his mouth and inhaled some smoke before puffing it out again. He could at least say that this pink haired girl was… odd… "Why?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"Because males are perverts!" She exclaimed; though the entire room fell silent. The Hokage lifted a brow at her, and the pinkette frowned at him, "How do I know that some guy won't decide to 'supervise' me while I'm taking a shower?!" Okay this talk was NOT for a lower rank Shinobi, she SHOULD have more respect, she was talking to the Hokage after all, and pretty much insulting the male sex as a whole for accusing them for being perverts… this wasn't her shishou and certainly not companions but she had temporarily forgotten that they were basically strangers, plus this was a perfect excuse to yell at someone.

"Young woman, I assure you that you will not be that closely supervised. We will simply know where you will be and what you do." Kakashi said simply; which made Sakura side-glare at him, "You're probably a pervert too… I can see that pervy glint in your eye… Shishou had taught me how to spot these kind of men… perv." she stated, which sort of made the man's eye widen almost comically, 'Oh I KNOW you, grass-headed sensei… you're almost as bad as Jiraya…' Inner growled, annoyed with him, but Sakura said nothing about that. "Females." She insisted, which made the Hokage sweatdrop, "Very well… females it is…" He sighed, nodding at her, which made Sakura smile, "Good~" she smiled, nodding her thanks to him. Kakashi just cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Oh… but Hokage-sama… I would like to have a word with you alone…" Sakura said, which made the man tilt his head and breathe in and out some more smoke, he nodded to the other men in the room, and they slowly started to fill out.

"I have been staying with a young girl named Sakura Haruno… I have befriended her, and she has been giving me a place to stay. I train her, since she is going to become a Genin in a week… do you mind if I continue with her training?" Sakura asked, knowing that, since the Shinobi are going to be stalking her, she should at least let the Hokage know before they start sending in reports that she was hanging out with a 12 year old and starts getting questioned again...

Thank Kami she wasn't sent to Ibiki… that bastard was sadistic, even if she did spill all the info.

At this, the Hokage narrowed his eyes, "You have been training a soon-to-be Genin? Why?"

"Because… I like kids?" Sakura replied, blinking at him twice.

'OH MY KAMI SAKURA; THAT SOUNDED SO WRONG!' Inner screeched, but was punched at the disgusting reference.

"I mean… I befriended her… it's kind of like… a repayment for letting me stay… giving her some extra tips doesn't hurt, right?" The pinkette added, "She is not harmed in any way, and besides… your Shinobi will be watching over us."

"Do her parents know?" The old man asked and Sakura just shook her head.

"I will give you an apartment to live in, at least until you manage to buy your own." He said and as he wrote down on a piece of paper. Soon enough, the Hokage ripped off another piece of paper and wrote down the address, giving it to the pinkette, "here's your address" He said and the kunoichi took it without hesitation, "That's nice to hear… thank you."

"You may go."

"Alright." Though the woman then paused, "…will you tell the girl's parents?"

"No, I do not want to cause distress amongst the locals and I don't want anyone spreading rumors." He said which made the girl nod. Well… her mother WAS a little bit of a gossiper… NOTHING gets passed her.

And so… the pink haired ninja left…

...

A raven head walked down the street towards school, stance more relaxed than usual… he didn't know how or why… but he's been feeling much more relaxed lately… he no longer had nightmares every single night; he no longer saw those bloody corpses of his parents nor the red eyes of his brother; he was lulled into dreamless sleeps… it was nice. His mind no longer felt that ugly and horrible pressure and stress. For once, Uchiha Sasuke's eyes weren't strict, annoyed or hateful; they were naturally calm, careless; instead of burning black coals, there were steady pools of ink. It was quite surprising for himself. There was no pressure in which only a tortured mind would understand. He wasn't mad, or tense, or rigid, or blank. He was… actually enjoying his walk across the streets of Konoha. Sasuke wasn't thinking on how to get stronger, or how to do his best to impress the teachers and earn the headband and maybe get on an even higher rank than the rest, nor was he thinking about how to find and kill his brother in the near future... he wasn't thinking about anything…

It was… it was very weird…

This has been happening for the past week… and he had to admit that he was content.

The 12 year old boy gave a small sigh, wondering how and what was going on… it had always felt cold and dark in his house… lonely… but no… not now. It now it felt like someone was there giving him a source of comfort. It was actually pretty nice; and he had briefly wondered if the ghost of his mother was haunting him. But no, ghosts don't exist; so he shrugged off the thought.

However, his thoughts were cut short when he bumped into someone, and he looked up, "Sorry…" he mumbled; though he blinked, when he spotted green eyes and pink hair.

"…."

"…."

"….."

"…Hi…" the pinkette said.

Sasuke blinked at the awkwardness the woman was embedding; he looked at her up and down for a second, taking in her appearance. Black pants, dark blue long-sleeve shirt, black gloves and trademark Shinobi sandals. Her hair was up in a bun, her green eyes staring blankly at him before she awkwardly greeted him. His brows furrowed in slight confusion and recognition, but he didn't say anything… she looked like an annoying classmate of his… Sakura Haruno was her name? Yeah… she must be her older sister or something.

"You want something?" the dark haired teen finally asked, his casual bored expression on his face, which made the pinkette blink twice as if she was trying to process what he just said, "Uh… no…" she said after about 10 seconds and just walked passed him as they weren't staring at each other for a full 3 minutes.

Sasuke scrunched his nose in slight annoyance, looking back at her for some seconds before he just turned and continued his way.

However, his walk was abruptly paused when suddenly, something hard crashed against him, which caused him to fall back in shock since his guard was completely down for once. "…URK!" he yelped, falling on his back with something on top of him. He grimaced in slight pain and cracked his eyes open…

What the—

Blue eyes met his sight.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, Teme!"

Sasuke's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, recognizing that voice anywhere, and his eyes narrowed in anger.

"Dobe!" he yelled, pushing him off, "What the heck are you—"

"NARUTO!" another voice yelled and the boys turned to see an angry-looking 12 year old pink haired girl running towards them, but not stopping as she quickly ran past them, "I AM GOING TO GET IN TROUBLE CUZ OF YOU!" she exclaimed. Naruto immediately got up and started running in her direction as well, ignoring Sasuke.

Sasuke blinked, his expression twisted into a 'WTF?' expression before he stood and dusted himself off, however he looked up to see Chunin ninja jump down, running in the same direction Naruto and Sakura were running.

"GET BACK HERE YOU TWO!" Iruka hollered, which made the raven head blink.

"….."

Oooohhhhh….

That again… though he was slightly puzzled; not because of Naruto, I mean, that's natural for him to be causing trouble. Why was Sakura with him? It was sort of… weird… he's known her as a goody-two-shoes and smartest in class to try and impress none other than the Uchiha himself.

However, he just shrugged it off… walking back to the school.

Today was the day he'd earn his headband…