As the loud obnoxious beep of her alarm dragged her back from whatever level of sleep she had previously been enjoying, she growled out about a dozen swears into her pillow that stretched over her face. With a violent swipe, the pillow flew across the room and smashed into the source of her waking. Knocking the clock into the floor but not stopping it's blaring. Grumbling yet again, Sakura forced her way out of bed and over to her downed clock, stomping it repeatedly before the sound finally died out.

Feeling simultaneously satisfied and annoyed at what she had just done. Sakura picked up the remnants of her tormentor and tossed it into a trash bag that had become the cemetery for a dozen others just like it. Sakura pulled the blinds across from her window to see her home still covered in darkness as well as dimly lit stars shining down upon it.

"4 o'clock in the morning. No one should be up this early." She grumbled rubbing her eyes and lightly slapping her face to try and wake herself up.

She should've been used to this by now, she thought, but it looked like she had too much of her father in her. He wasn't a morning person either; evidence being his snores still echoing all over the house that somehow never woke her mother. She'd often wonder how that was possible, but she had other stuff to do today.

After a quick refreshing shower managed to knock the drowsiness out of the way, Sakura opened her closet and looked over her clothes. Gone were her red shirts that reached down to her knees and in their place, crimson combat ready sleeveless vests. An upgrade she had been stubborn to get behind but was nevertheless a fan of now. Without a word she slipped one on along with a pair of knee length tan shorts. With that out of the way, she opened her window and took a deep breath as the night air swarmed into her room. No rain, not too hot, not too cold, a good morning for a run.

In the months that had followed Naruto's departure, life in Konoha had appreciated some much-needed down time. Sure, missions still went out daily, and there was always something that needed doing but at the very least there was no big danger of war or invasion looming over the horizon, and that was more than enough for Sakura. She blazed by a closed Ichiraku and through the streets at a consistent pace, taking care not to slow down or speed up. She'd need to save that energy for the day ahead after all.

To clarify, the days no longer started when she got up. Nor when she took her showers or put on her clothes, or even when she went for her morning run. No, the days now began when she stood just outside the front gate accompanied by two green clothed tai-jutsu experts who had allowed her to join them in their morning exercises. Speaking of which.

"Sakura!" Lee waved over to his pink haired comrade as she charged towards them. His mentor did the same winking at the girl as she arrived next to them.

"Morning guys." Sakura breathed. "Sorry I'm late."

"Worry not, my newest disciple," Guy smiled. "We still have plenty of time. Now then you both know the warm ups."

"Yes sir!" Lee exclaimed. "Two hundred pushups. One hundred squats. One hundred and fifty sit ups…"

"And then a three-mile handstand run." Sakura sighed. Guy's smile seemed to double in size as she said it.

"That's the spirit! Now, let's get started!" He yelled falling to the ground on his stomach. Sakura and Lee did the same and then all at once began to their work out. "And one, two, three, four, five, six…"

Seven o'clock. After the Tai-jutsu training, Sakura's next session was on anything and everything her sensei would teach her, and considering that teacher was the legendary Kakashi Hatake, a man known to have mastered over a thousand jutsu, there was certainly no shortage of material. Today, he had ordered her to try her hand at a signature move of her teammate, and so far, had some rather mixed results.

She pulled herself back up to her feet biting back a low moan of pain that threatened to escape as rose back up.

"You done already?" A calm yet condescending voice called over to her. She narrowed her gaze from her bruised body over to her silver haired sensei who stood comfortably across the field. One hand resting in his pocket, the other wrapped around a famously perverted book. "Sasuke wouldn't give up that easily."

A fire lit behind her emerald eyes renewing her energy as she charged forward. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

One Sakura suddenly became three as the trio moved to surround Kakashi who still gazed lazily into the pages of his book. "You know that's not going to work."

"Won't stop me from trying!" All three of them screamed leaping towards their teacher fists raised. A swift backhand caught one across the cheek, while a strong kick to the gut sent the other flying back. The third, made a lunge for his throat only for the neck of her opponent to disappear. She then felt a strong chop on the back of her neck before her body collapsed on her.

Twelve o'clock. Now things just got sadistic. Almost since the day Naruto left, Tsunade had taken great pains to work around her schedule to teach Sakura, Ino, Hinata, and Tenten anything she could. Whether it be medical ninjutsu, or combat prowess. Today was combat prowess.

"Ladies, today is about consistency." Tsunade yelled out to the quartet of kunoichi who faced her across the field. Each with looks determination, fear, frustration, or in Sakura's case all three. "Ino?"

"Yes?" The younger blonde asked back.

"Are you consistently shit?"

As Ino seethed at the remark, Sakura took the initiative, charging the Godaime head on and throwing her strongest punch her way.

"Yo Sakura? You still there?" A familiar voice said before hitting her across her forehead with her knuckles. Sakura pushed the hand away with an annoyed look over to her friend.

"Quit it." She said biting back a grunt of pain thanks to several sore points on her arms and legs.

"Then stop zoning out." Ino replied matching her friend's annoyance. "You're starting to give Hinata a run for her money."

"I've been getting better at it…" Hinata voiced up not appreciating the jab. "Give me some credit."

"Now, sure." Ino agreed. "Before. W-Well I-I-I…"

Hinata jabbed her now laughing friend on the shoulder. "That's not funny."

"Funnier than that disaster with Tsunade. " Ino laughed, rubbing her shoulder that despite Tsunade's healing, still felt dislocated.

"Agreed." Tenten sighed.

"Yep." Sakura grumbled biting back small explosions of pain that erupted across her body every time she took a step. They stopped just outside the Yamanaka household.

"I mean how are we supposed to impress her if she won't teach us some stuff." Tenten asked rubbing her temple.

"Maybe she wants us to figure it out on our own." Hinata said looking down at her bruised knuckles. It became obvious early on that punching wasn't really her style.

"So, we have to beat up the Hokage before she teaches us anything. Fucking beautiful." Ino groaned. Sakura and Hinata scowled. They still weren't used to the new category of language their friend had taken up since Sasuke's burial. "We'd be better off climbing mountains without arms."

"You know, you've become a lot more pessimistic since we've started this training." Sakura punched Ino on the same shoulder Hinata had.

The blonde laughed. "Blame it on Shikamaru."

"What's he been up to?" Hinata asked. "I haven't seen him in a while."

"Lazy bastard's been in Suna the last few months." Ino replied standing up from the stairs that led up to her home. "Training for Jonin Exams."

"Really?" Sakura raised her eyebrows in shock. "He finally taking life seriously then?"

"As much as that Temari can make him." Ino chuckled.

"So she's doing ok then?" Tenten asked keeping her gaze on the ground. Knowing the history between them wasn't exactly peaceful Ino kept her response short and sweet.

"Yeah. Her and her brothers are doing the same."

"Isn't that something we should be trying to do then?" Tenten asked. "I mean I enjoy being Chunin and all, but I don't want to be left behind."

"You can if you want." Ino replied. "I for one want to enjoy the new title before getting a new one. Besides, taking on multiple objectives at once, that's Sakura's job."

"Ha Ha." Sakura mocked.

"Seriously, I don't know how you're still standing. A year of morning workouts with green freaks, no offense Tenten." Ino said, though Tenten couldn't really be offended after years of being their teammate. "Then whatever you're doing with Kakashi sensei. Then training with Tsunade afterwards?!"

Sakura could do little but shrug. "I wanted to keep busy. I still have time for missions so that's fine."

"Hey it's paid off." Tenten said walking next to her and surveying the new firm layer of skin that hadn't been there the year previous. "You've gotten more muscle than the rest of us here."

Sakura once again shrugged. "Hasn't really helped all that much." Perhaps on the battlefield but in the eyes of everyone who knew her, it had helped paint quite a different picture from the know it all girl from the academy. Where that girl once stood, had morphed into a lean, strong kunoich women who while still having a long way to go, had almost eclipsed her old self twice over.

"Yeah, well at least the body almost matches the forehead now." Ino laughed.

"Oh? Tell us Ino how much muscle you've put on." Sakura asked gesturing to Ino's body frame and how unchanged it was.

"Hey, some of us train the body. Others train the mind." Ino retorted tapping her head and giving a wink. "Speaking of which you guys want to meet up tommorow and figure out another plan?". Sakura, Tenten and Hinata each nodded.

"Sounds good, but what about the rest of the day?" Tenten asked as Ino took the stairs up to her door.

"I'm going to try and relax by slamming my head into a wall. " Ino replied with a noticeable grunt before opening and slamming the door behind her.

"Is that the mind training you talked about?" Sakura yelled out.

"Fuck off Sakura!" Came Ino's reply. Sakura's smile spread to Tenten just before she sighed.

"Right. Well I guess I'll meet up with Lee and see if he needs a hand training." Tenten said waving goodbye to Hinata and Sakura. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

As their friend began to disappear down the road, Sakura finally noticed the small frown Hinata had been showing.

"You ok?" Sakura asked tapping her friend on the shoulder.

"They're taking this a bit hard." Hinata said with concern filling her voice. Sakura had always wondered how the girl could see people emotions so clearly. Was it a by product of the Byakugan or just a gift she naturally had?

"They don't take loss easily." Sakura explained. "And honestly I think they've been irritated by how much they're falling behind her teammates."

"Oh…How can you tell?" Hinata asked.

"It's just something that I picked up. Happened to me when I saw Naruto and Sasuke fight Orochimaru and learned how they fought against Gaara." Sakura said trying to explain the frustration that was eating into their friends. "It takes a toll on you when you realize you're useless to your friends."

"I don't think you're useless." Hinata replied looking at her then to Ino's front door. "Any of you."

"Thanks for that." Sakura said smiling at the seemingly never-ending kindness Hinata was capable of. "You got any plans for the rest of the day?"

"I'm going to be training with Neji and father when I get back home, but I'm free tonight if you want to do something."

"Great. I'll drop by later than." Sakura replied before walking away with a wave. As her Hyuga friend fade from view, Sakura allowed herself to think. Tsunade had the edge over them in almost every area, agility, chakra control, instincts, power, knowledge, and especially confidence. Not once did it look like the three of them had even the slightest advantage and much like Ino demonstrated, it was frustrating.

"You want to become my apprentices, you need to fight me to standstill at least."

"How the hell are we supposed to do that?" Ino chimed up.

"Think outside the box, it'll come to you." Tsunade replied before flicking her on the head.

"Fight you to a standstill… Think outside the box." Sakura put her hand under her chin. Who were the people who had actually stood on Tsunade's level. The Sandaime, Hanzo, Orochimaru, Jiriaya, maybe Kakashi sensei. Two of them were dead, one was going to be if she had anything to say about it, and one was training her friend somewhere out in the world. The other was training her in something completely different and despite not wanting to burden him any worse than she already had, he was the only other option available to her.

"Looks like I'm going to be doing twice the amount of training." Sakura muttered crossing her arms despite how sore they were. "Or I guess three times. Once a day, with Tsunade, twice with Kakashi I've still got the workouts with Lee and Guy sensei…" She bit her lip in frustration; there had to be an easier way. Someone she could talk to who was on Tsunade's level and she wouldn't expect.

Then something happened. A idea popped into her mind. She cast a cold glance to the Hokage Mountain and another figure joined that group. One she had completely forgotten about and one she instantly second guessed it. It was stupid, it was beyond stupid. It wasn't going to work and she shouldn't waste her time trying it.

She looked up to the sky. The sun had yet to dip over the horizon and she had a few hours before it would start, she'd go see what anyone else was doing right now...

"Shino?" Sakura called out knocking on the door to his family's apartment. Once again there was no answer. She shouldn't have been surprised, he had started serious training like the rest of them so it stood to reason he was doing so now. But with Kiba out as well, as well as Chouji, and anyone else she might've wanted to talk to about her crazy idea, he was the last option.

"He's not home." A female voice from behind told her. Sakura turned to see Shino's mom, Suzume Aburame dressed in a yellow blue jacket and white skirt carrying more than a few bags of groceries in her hands. "If I had to guess, he's with Kiba."

"Oh." Sakura nodded rushing over to grab a few of the bags from her hands. "Let me help with those."

"Thanks." Suzume smiled as she moved to unlock the door. She gave a sad laugh when Sakura followed her inside. "Sorry you had to help."

"It's nothing." Sakura reassured placing the groceries on the kitchen table. "You're a mom. You've got your hands full as it is."

"Well, nice to know someone understands it." Suzume laughed. "Still though, I'd never hear the end of it if..." She paused as if she had just remembered Sakura was in the room. "If my old friends knew what I was doing now.

Sakura kept a small smile as Suzume went to the kitchen but thought back to a small conversation she had with Shino a few months back. One where he had one of his bugs 'spy' on his parent's conversation and learned about the history Suzume had with one of the people who had attacked Konoha, her friends, and more specifically her. Her fist clenched as his laugh rolled through her mind before silencing it. She didn't need to hear any more of the man. At least not yet.

"You want a sandwich or something? I got plenty of food here if you're hungry." Suzume called out as she put a few groceries into her fridge. Sakur's hand relaxed as she followed Shino's mother.

"Ms. Aburame?"

"Hmm?" Suzume asked looking through her fridge and rearranging certain items that seemed out of place to her.

"How…How well do you know Kisame Hoshigaki?" Sakura asked.

Suzume stopped her sorting and took a deep breath. "I know him better than most do." She turned back around to look at the pink haired girl. "Why do you ask?"

"I…" Sakura paused, rethinking what she was about to ask. It was still a stupid idea and she didn't really want to be called out on it, but at the same time, it was probably going to be the last thing Tsunade expected. "I was wondering if, he'd be open to teaching me a few things."

Suzume's expression couldn't really be put into words by Sakura. As if the suggestion was so out of left field that she had on earthly clue how to respond.

"Ummm..." Suzume started growing a small hopeful smile. "Is that a joke? Because if it is..."

Sakura slowly shook her head causing her smile to vanish. "No ma'am. This is me being serious."

"No, this is you being stupid." She closed the fridge door and looked back to Sakura with crossed arms. "Why on earth would you want to talk to him for?"

"I..." She took another breath to explain knowing that the idea was still sounding too stupid. "I think he can help get stronger. He fought Tsunade when he invaded the village so I was wondering..."

"If he could give you any tips?" Suzume finished. "Sakura, you do know what he did to you, right?"

"I'm aware." Sakura replied with gritted teeth. "And I don't need you or anyone else reminding me about it!" Her voice grew to a yell by her last word much to Suzume's surprise. Sakura realized her mistake and immediately bowed her head. "I'm sorry. That was..."

A clap on the shoulder stopped her. She looked up to see Suzume standing next to her with a smile that only a mother could make. "Hey, it's ok. I get it. You want to get stronger. And it's only natural to consider all options." She finished with a sigh. "I just wasn't expecting anyone would actually ask about him. Let alone ask him if had any fighting advice to offer."

Suzume took a seat in an empty chair, letting Sakura follow her to the dining table. "You sure you're up for it? Meeting someone who did something bad to you can be rather counter productive."

Sakura nodded, showing no doubt in her eyes to Suzume. "I need to at least consider it."

Kisame hated being bored, and the weird thing was that it was actually really hard to bore him. He had always been easily amused by things. Sitting here in his cell for days on end lit up by a single torch he could count the number of cracks in rocks, think about how many people guarded him and Itachi at all times, sometimes come up with a plan for busting out, in short boredom was never something he had to worry about. Today though, if it was daytime being in a cell sort of hindered his guesses, something had just felt off. Like thinking about the usual things just drained him. It was annoying. Suzume showed up maybe once a week, and that was now several days away, Anko hadn't been back for another beating, and he had given up hope of someone out there actually hearing his taunts and insults through the mountain wall that blocked him from whatever guards were sitting outside. Just when he was debating whether or not to simply take a nap, the wall began to shake as it rose up and Kisame caught sight of a figure standing just outside the light of the torch. He blinked several times as the torches from the outside hallways irritated his pure white eyes. Once he had gotten used to the sight though the walls slammed closed again, and the figure now stood just a few feet away from him.

"Suzume?" He smiled. "You're back a little early. Want to check up on me?"

Suzume chuckled. "No, I'm actually here just to make sure you don't try anything."

Kisame pulled on his chains that still kept him anchored to the wall. "C'mon. You know, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. Why would I try anything with you here?"

Suzume didn't respond and instead moved to the side, allowing him to see another smaller figure who had been standing behind her. Her frame was a bit unfamiliar, but his memory came in full effect when he saw the bright pink hair.

"Pinkie!" He said almost gleefully. "Still up and walking huh?"

"No thanks to you but yeah." Sakura said with an annoyed grunt, stepping forward to see him. Honestly, he looked good for a man imprisoned for a year. He was still fighting fit, even though he had lost some weight, and where used to be a clean shaven blue face was covered now in a think blue beard that ran up to his messy unkept hair.

"Well, actually it is thanks to me but whatever." Kisame said with a chuckle. "So what's up? Here for revenge?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow at his question as well as his somewhat eager voicing of it. "You want someone to come in here and beat you up?"

"Hell yes. At the very least it would alleviate the boredom." Kisame sighed. "And it gives me something to do when I break out of here."

Sakura blinked several times trying to truly grasp what the prisoner was saying. This guy was clearly out of his mind. "Ok, this was a waste of time."

"What was?" Kisame asked confused. "Thinking outside the box?"

Sakura froze and slowly turned back to the chained-up criminal with widened eyes. "How could you know that?"

"What? That you train with Tsunade?" Kisame asked surprised by the question. "Please, if you were half of what I thought you were, and you survived our little brawl, I imagined that's the first thing you'd start doing if you hadn't already."

Sakura looked down to the floor not really sure how to take his words. Was that a compliment? An insult? Neither? It didn't matter. This was definitely a bad idea.

"Honestly if you didn't want me asking about it, you shouldn't fight on top of the mountain."

Sakura was once again lost for words at the man's detection abilities. "Do I even want to ask?"

"She slams her fist into the ground a lot. And when you spend twenty-four hours a day just sitting in a cell, you tend to pick on when someone that strong hits the ground above you. Kisame replied pointing upwards as much as he could. "You've got some punch kid but Tsunade's got you beat by a good amount."

"You don't need to tell me that." Sakura sighed. "Me and my friends can't get a hit on her."

"I'm gonna guess princess and blondie." Kisame chuckled. "Good. Those two definitely need to up their game if they want to survive in the world." Sakura noticed his smile fade under the torchlight. "How's weapon girl?"

"Tenten?" Sakura asked for clarification. "Why ask about her?"

"She got hit full force with a Tsukuyomi by Itachi." Kisame tilted his head. " I've heard most people don't come back from that." He paused yet again looking over Sakura's face for any sign of an answer. "She most people?"

Sakura felt unnerved by the man's façade of concern. It couldn't have been genuine. Not after he attacked her and broke her legs. Not after everything he'd done.

"She's not dead if that's what…"

"I'm not talking about being six feet under pinkie, I'm asking if she's a vegetable now." He interrupted. "Just sitting in a hospital unresponsive to anything. Just waiting for the end, it's a bad way to go."

Sakura tapped her foot a few times before replying. "She's fine. She's been training with Tsunade like the rest of us."

The smile returned to Kisame's face with renewed force. "Atta girl! She took after the green bastard after all."

He knew about Guy sensei? That was a new revelation to her but she needed to get back on track. "Look…" She sighed at herself for the question she was about to ask. "Would you say you're strong?"

There was a small bout of silence before a loud laugh rang out front the room. Sakura's annoyed gaze peered through him until he calmed down. "To answer your question pinkie, yes. I'd say I'm pretty strong."

Sakura nodded. "Ok. How would you go about beating someone like Tsunade?"

Kisame's teeth gleamed under the torchlight. "Well, well. Good on ya girl for coming to an enemy looking for answers, but I think you know that I'm not gonna talk without getting something in return."

"Kisame, she's here as a courtesy." Suzume said speaking up. "Don't go asking for things you can't get."

"I'm not asking for the chains to be gone, though that would be nice." He laughed. "I just need her help with something."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "What could you want from me?"

"Just an answer to my question." A small amount of curiosity suddenly appeared in his eyes. "How's Itachi doing?"

Tsunade missed gambling. That was the thought she often came back to whenever she stared at the never-ending stack of papers sat practically glued to her desk. Gambling was fun, carefree, and no one threatened to start a war if you didn't reply to them within three days…mostly. It also let her always have a feel of things. If she was doing poorly, all was right in the world and she didn't have to worry. When she won, things were off or about to go south real quick. She missed having that ability.

A knock came from the door to her office but before she could even say come in, the door opened revealing a heavily scared Jonin who happened to be Konoha's chief interrogator. "Ibiki." Tsunade sighed knowing a visit was more than likely a sign of bad news. "Anything to report?"

"Yes. Suzume visited Kisame again today and he asked about Itachi's status."

"And we need to give him an answer because?" Tsunade asked back. Ibiki opened his mouth to answer but she immediately held up a hand to silence him. She shook her head knowing she had put off the problem long enough. "You know what, never mind. Let's go see how he's doing." She stood up and motioned for Ibiki to follow.

The Uchiha district had been abandoned since the night of the massacre. Save the sole survivor who had taken it upon himself to keep the district from falling into complete disrepair. According to Hiruzen's notes on Sasuke, whenever he wasn't training or on missions, he was hard at work on keeping his family home in sturdy shape.

For what purpose? The notes noticeably left out that part but Tsunade had a few ideas. To act as a constant reminder for his vengeance was the most prominent, but the second was a beacon of hope. A hope that maybe one day he could have a family of his own in that house, and that the Uchiha district would once again be filled those who gave it the name.

Another wave of sadness hit her as she walked with Ibiki through the streets even though it shouldn't have. The choice to leave had been Sasuke's but Orochimaru had gotten into that poor boy's head. Whoever's fault it was didn't matter, the clan was destined to wither away now, and those were the words of the man who had a hand in wiping them out.

Tsunade and Ibiki stopped at a particularly large house surrounded by her most elite squad of Anbu as a precaution. "Lady Hokage." Their leader bowed. "There's been no activity worth reporting. "

"I understand. We're just here to talk." Tsunade nodded. The leader nodded and moved to the side allowing her access. Once inside, she immediately caught sight of her target. He was sitting alone at a table that once upon a time might've been for family dinners. His already long hair had grown out even more so, and he had grown thinner as the months had passed, yet maintained a somewhat healthy physique despite a noticeable amount of Sake bottles strung along both the table and the floor. "Itachi."

He didn't respond. His head still stat at the table almost lifeless. Tsunade sighed at the sight. She didn't want to bother him anymore than she had to, but the time had come to talk about the elephant that was Kisame. As well as his plans long term.

A/N: Well, Here I am. Little over a year since my last update. I really didn't for the wait to be this long but other stories and life itself took focus away from it. And to top it all off, I hurt my hands a few weeks ago, now writing now trudges along at a snail's pace where it had once been at least turtle speed. So sorry about that.

Special thanks to bh18 for being a badass beta.

Anyway, if any of you out there were eager to see a continuation. Here it is. Start of Part 2

Adittional A/N: Well, I can't say I'm happy about this.

So I decided to read through the old story of mind to see how much time had passed since I started and... I was kind of horrified at how terrible I was. Sure, it's not like I'm a master now or hell, even mildly adequate but holy crap was I way worse off.

So, I decided I'm gonna go through it and give the old girl a rewrite. The story will stay the same for the most part, with no big plot changes in mind. Just gonna try and reorganize this story into a better one. Fix some mistakes, rework some scenes, Just do whatever I can to make the story flow better.

So, as of this moment Consequences is put on hold...again. Don't worry though. Shouldn't be nearly as long as last time... Hopefully.

On a side note, I just really wanted to say thanks again. You guys are just the best