A couple of days a week, Kisame would be gone in the early hours of the morning only to return if summoned by Leader or be slated for a mission. The newer recruits all noticed it (because who wouldn't?) but no one ever said anything about it. It was either they didn't care or knew better than to ask, and the other members of the Akatsuki were content to leave it alone. Who were they to raise questions?

But when Itachi noticed, he grew interested. It was because he noticed those curious little things about his partner that he began to try to put together the puzzling pieces of a mysterious past.

He noticed the path Kisame took those mornings lead North to the cafes, the old homes, the chocolate shop, the graveyard. He noticed that on those days, he'd come back with wilted flowers and used incense. He noticed the red ribbon tied to Samehada's hilt.

Though through all his curiosity, he never asked.

It was when they were stranded in a cave during a blizzard in the middle of Frost Country that Itachi built up his nerve. He and Kisame sat on opposite ends of the fire wrapped tightly in their cloaks, their hands tucked under their arms. Later on they wouldn't remember what brought about the conversation they had that night, but they'd blame it on the mixture of cold and fire that muddled their brains and seeped it in melancholy.

"Would you have done as I did, Kisame-san?" Itachi asked quietly. His eyes ghosted with the orange that burned with the fire. "Kill the entirety of your clan and leave the place you once called home?"

Kisame tucked his hands further into himself as a particularly chilly draft wafted into the cave. "Home can mean lots of things. For me, it never was a place."

That revelation made Itachi quieter if it were possible. "... Then?"

"Then what? I already lost them." He turned his head to gaze outside. "My little girl always wanted to see the snow." His eyes darkened. "I never got to take her."

Suddenly, a whirlwind of ideas added up—the reason why Kisame had such an even temperament and why he didn't mind those who engaged in such childish behavior. Kisame was—had been—a father.

Blue lips quirked up. "You know, if you wanted to know more about me, all you had to do was ask. No use in lying about who I was."

Itachi tilted his head, ignoring the slight flare of embarrassment that crawled up the base of his neck but no further. "My apologies."

"Eh, no worries. You didn't know so I won't hold it over you."

Silence grew in their reluctance. They didn't know how long it was until it broke, but it was night when Kisame opened his mouth. 

"I'm not gonna sit here and tell you all the things you could've done differently. We're both here and in the Akatsuki. No one's stupid enough to join and not know what they're getting into." He paused and ran a hand over the red ribbon. Samehada rumbled in sympathy. "But you shouldn't have jumped into this kinda life. You should've had better than this."

Itachi shook his head, his pale skin accentuating the horrid darkness beneath his eyes. "I didn't have a choice."

Another draft swept by, and Kisame looked as if he'd lost his home all over again.

"... Everyone has a choice, Itachi-san. It's just that we don't always make the right ones."

::

"Hiya, Sakura!"

Sakura closed the door to her apartment, her key dangling from her fingers as she moved to lock her door. She nodded before they walked side by side down the stairs and to the training grounds. "Good morning, Uzumaki. How's training been? Not too difficult, I hope."

"Nah, we've just been doing exercises with shuriken and kunai, ya know. The bastard thinks he's better than me, but I'll show him, dattebayo!" he exclaimed. She knew just who he was talking about as his and Sasuke's animosity towards each other was near legendary, but she donned on a look of slight confusion and played the part of the bookworm who failed to pay attention to her surroundings. 

"Bastard?"

"Oh, uh, you know Uchiha Sasuke? He's my rival!"

Being rivals implied the two people competing against each other were on the same playing field. While Naruto still had a ways to go in terms of skillset, she still lent him a small smile despite her musings. He riled up so quickly it was almost fascinating. "So when you train, is it mostly weapon based?"

"Not just that, we do a buncha other stuff too! Yesterday we had our first D-rank and I thought it was gonna be super cool and stuff, but all we did was pick weeds from this old hag's garden. She even chased me with a wooden spoon!"

Sakura's lips quirked up at the image. "Sounds like a nice old lady."

"Sakura," he whined. She chuckled softly before smoothly changing the tide of their conversation.

"You were telling me about your training?"

"Huh?" he blinked. "Oh, right! So Kakashi-sensei gave us this bell test..."

It was so ridiculously easy to pluck the information she wanted that she almost grew concerned. Shinobi were liars, takers—insincere by design. She honestly hoped he'd figure that out sooner or later and that she wouldn't have to be the one to show him the truth. But for now, she'd let him babble to his heart's content. There was no rush.

At the fork in the road, Naruto's smile suddenly slipped off his face as a sudden shyness overtook him. He twiddled his fingers nervously and gazed down at the spot by his companion's feet. "Hey, Sakura? Um... thanks."

"For?"

"For... well, you know... not hating me."

She peered at him for a couple of moments. She wasn't blind to the prejudice that surrounded him and, for some odd reason, villagers both civilian and shinobi alike regarded him with pure loathing. He was twelve-years-old and didn't have the capacity to do anything remotely close to deserve what everyone was giving him.

She'd get down to the bottom of the mystery of Uzumaki Naruto one day, but that was a problem to solve at a later date. For now, she'd play it like she didn't know any better.

Sakura shrugged. "It's nothing. You never did anything I'd hate you for."

But to Naruto, her words were everything. His face lit with a million watt grin as his eyes shone as bright as the sun. "So does that mean we're friends? Does it? Really?!"

The sheer force of his exuberance made her rear back. Despite his vigor, she supposed it made sense. They talked every other morning and practically walked each other to their respective training grounds. If they weren't friends then they were certainly acquaintances, but acquaintances never really go on their level of amiability. So that left one thing.

"Sure. We're friends."

What she expected was for him to explode in excitement.

What she didn't expect was for him to launch himself at her, pick her up, and twirl her around. Sakura froze when he finally plopped her back onto the ground, but he didn't notice.

"You're the first person to say that, ya know! I'll be a great friend, I promise!"

She gathered her bearings rather awkwardly and cleared her throat. "... Right. Okay. If that's what makes you happy." He nodded fervently. "I'll... see you later then, Uzumaki."

He grinned. "Bye, Sakura!"

He darted down his own path and she stared after him for a few seconds before turning towards her own training grounds. She couldn't stop the odd look on her face as the image of Naruto spinning her around like that replayed in her head. Was... Was every interaction with him going to be that intense? Or that draining?

She sighed and rubbed her forehead with the tips of her fingers. It was too early for so many emotions.

As Sakura arrived to meet her teammates, it was to a peculiar scene: Shino staring blankly at a solved rubik's cube in Kiba's hands. Slowly, he turned to face the newcomer on the grounds. "He has never seen a rubik's cube until this moment and managed to solve it in five minutes."

That made her pause more than Naruto's quirks did. She walked up to Kiba's side and curiously peered at the cube. "I've never seen you attempt a puzzle before."

"'Cause they look kinda boring and I didn't try to do them," he shrugged. Akamaru whined and he stuck out his tongue before turning back to his friends. "Why're you guys looking at me like that? Does me doing this thing, er, mean something?"

Sakura crossed her arms and thought back to the tests Leader issued when she was younger. She knew now that it was to test her capacity to fit into the Akatsuki slot he'd prepared for her. That slot was also ultimately filled by Uchiha Itachi, and though she didn't know the exact specifications he had, he was a terribly strong shinobi with a bloodline that leaned towards genjutsu.

Her eyes drew back to the cube. Kiba was smart in his own right despite what others thought of him, but mechanical puzzles like those added a new layer of intelligence. An escapist, quick-thinking, problem solving type of layer.

"If I make a couple of other puzzles, will you try them?"

"Sure." Kiba tossed the cube in the air and caught it. "What're the tests supposed to do?"

"I think you have exceptional problem solving skills you can use on the field to our advantage," she replied honestly. "It's similar to the likes of an escape artist."

He grinned. "Cool."

Shino's glasses always hid his eyes, but they both could feel the unimpressed stare he imposed upon them. "You're willing to cultivate an escape artist in Inuzuka Kiba? Ah, I see. This is the part where I'm supposed to say that you've lost your mind."

"Fair enough, but I'll take my chances."

"Hey! I'm standing right here, ass—!"

A plume of smoke and a body erupted from thin air, cutting Kiba off and alerting the team to the arrival of their teacher. The air cleared and her smiling face became visible as she held out a scroll.

"Your first D-rank mission!" Kurenai informed happily. "Work at the daycare!"

::

Aburame Shibi, in the simplest terms, was intrigued. Recently, he hadn't been home in the evenings due to his duties as a clan head and for his obligation to Konoha. But yesterday—the one day he did come home at a reasonable time—Shino wasn't there.

Though when he finally was, Shibi didn't even try to hide his surprise.

Training, he deduced. Shino wouldn't be home all the time anymore and was one step closer to becoming a great shinobi.

About an hour or so later as he read through files in the comfort of his living room there was a small click of the door opening. He expected to hear his son's quiet greeting but was instead flooded by a strange myriad of voices.

"Why do you weigh as much as a stick? Come on, dude, y—"

"My weight is within my personal BMI, therefore your claim is invalid," his son spoke quietly, but indignantly.

"Whatever, a BTM isn't gonna tell me you actually weigh enough."

"BMI stands for Body Mass Index, Kiba," a higher voice informed. "It's a chart that compares your height and weight and shows you a range of acceptable weight classes. Shino's probably right in saying he's in the green, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was on the line with the underweight category."

"HAH!"

"... Traitor."

Three people appeared in his line of sight, each caked in liberal amounts of mud. An eyebrow raised at the curious cluster of kids that stepped into the living room. His disheveled son was supported by an Inuzuka main-houser and a girl with hair browned like the rest of  her. But he could see some pink strands peeking out.

The Inuzuka seemed to notice his presence first and quickly bowed his head. "Aburame-sama."

Shibi tilted his head and watched as that same boy nudged the girl and mouthed 'noble house'. She straightened and gave the same bow and greeting. Not a clan child then, he mused. A civilian born, maybe. Most likely foreign born if her Kiri-esque attire had anything to say about her.

"You're Shino's teammates, yes?" he inquired in kind monotone. At their weary nods, he continued. "Then Aburame-sama is too much of a formal title." Not really, but he was getting excited at the prospect of Shino having people to actually lean on, both figuratively and literally. "You may address me as Shibi-sama, if you wish. Would you two like to stay for tea?"

He watched his son's eyes cloud with confusion even from behind his smudged glasses.

"W-We don't want to impose," Kiba stammered. His grip tightened around the part of Shino's arm draped across his shoulder. "We're really dirty too—we don't want to make your house messy, erm, sir."

He went quiet for a painful few seconds, blank faced and all, before he nodded and gestured towards the stairs. He took note of the way Kiba's eyes flashed (...in victory? For what?) and how the girl's gaze flickered around his home like she was searching for something. "Shino's room is the second door on the left. It's been a pleasure meeting you..." he trailed off meaningfully.

"Inuzuka Kiba, sir."

"Sakura, sir. No surname."

He nodded and dismissed them, and as he watched them slowly make their way up the stairs, he saw tiny black insects crawl over the backs of the kids' shoulders and into Shino's collar.

Shibi frowned at the memory. Placing kikaichu on others was meant almost exclusively for field missions but otherwise for their clan, a sign of immediate trust. Glancing back at the spot he last saw those two strange genin, his frown deepened.

He didn't know whether to be proud or concerned.

::

"I'd rather be subjected to another round of yesterday's obstacle course than repeat this mission."

Kiba howled with laughter as they walked out of the day care center. Sakura's face contorted into one of disgruntlement, and even Shino had to be amused at her expense.

"Dude, you suck at taking care of kids."

"They're small and uninterested in the shinobi arts. What am I supposed to do with them?"

They knew her line of thinking was probably due to the nature of her childhood and they knew they couldn't fault her because of it. It didn't make it any less funny, though.

Shino smirked. "Perhaps you should just play with blocks without lecturing two year olds on structural integrity?"

"If they're so intent on creating buildings they should know the fundamentals of what won't make them fall," she insisted. Sakura huffed as Kiba entered another round of belly-deep laughter, but gave in to a small smile in the end when he and Shino bumped their shoulders into her as they walked down the street and to Kurenai's apartment, where she said she'd meet them after the success of their first mission. 

They expected her to tell them more of the hell training regime she planned for them, but once she saw them waiting patiently on her doorstep, she swept them inside and onto the seats surrounding her quaint dining table.

"How was the mission?" she asked by way of greeting. She bustled about the kitchen, starting a pot of tea, collecting several sheets of paper, and opening the blinds to let some sunlight through. "Not much of a challenge, was it?"

"Sakura doesn't know how to talk to kids!"

"They're small and clueless."

"You just described Kiba, yet you still put up with him, don't you?"

"Okay, FIRST of all, how dare you, SECOND—"

Kurenai smiled to herself as she watched her students dissolve in a friendly squabble. From her peripheral observation, Sakura looked so different than the cold, loose cannon she was first introduced to just days before as she actually smiled and engaged in conversation that didn't involve a burdening weight. Shino was so much open as well, at least more so than what his files disclosed of him. And Kiba, it seemed, was not as aggressive as the six years of behavior slips painted him to be.

"In short, your Archives know nothing about me."

Her smile faltered for a split second.

It would appear that Sakura wasn't the only one the Archives knew nothing about.

Drawing in a deep breath, she resumed observing her team. This was good. They were getting along. It wasn't hard to grow to like them—they were the first group of students she ever had the pleasure of taking care of, and it was turning out to be more unexpected than she could ever imagine. Slightly troubling, but a thrill.

Almost... almost like an adventure.

Albeit illegal, but an adventure nonetheless. And she wouldn't be anyone if she didn't make her team succeed like no one else before them.

As the tea finished she poured a cup for each of them and placed a pot in the center of the table along with a small bowl of honey, a carafe of milk, and a plate of lemon and ginger slices. Kurenai set a snack plate of daifuku buns along with it, to which all three of her students glanced at each other before sharing almost identical questioning looks.

"Uh... sensei?" Kiba started, scratching his cheek with a finger. "You didn't have to get us snacks."

She waved a dismissive hand. "Don't worry. You've just completed your first mission, so consider this a small celebration. Go on, enjoy!"

Reluctantly, they did, and Kurenai silently mused on how she could tell the type of people they were by how they took their tea. Kiba had a lot of milk and honey, Shino added a spoonful of ginger, and Sakura took hers without adding anything. One was sweet and wholesome, one had a bit of a kick, and one was recognizable and blunt. Respectively, of course.

She shuffled back around to hand each of them a small packet of papers before taking a seat at the only one left: the seat across Sakura's.

"The first page is a food list I've compiled," she explained as the peered curiously at the print. "Now that you're fully-fledged shinobi, it's good to have a protein-packed diet while engaging in physical activity and having a healthy lifestyle. You don't have to follow that list food by food, but it should give you an idea of what I expect from you from now on. Fruits and vegetables are always a must and you can fill in the rest of your food pyramid as long as it's in compliance with good habits."

Not long after her words did Kiba excitedly point to the 'snack' portion of the list. "It says here I can eat jerky!"

"In moderation," Sakura commented immediately, not taking her eyes off the sheet. He huffed as he stuck his nose back into the list. Kurenai's smile widened and she continued.

"The second is a list of books on different subjects and theories I thought would apply to your training. As of right now, my aim is to make you an Infiltration/Reconnaissance team," she admitted. She watched the looks on their faces for any averse reaction, but found none. Kiba soaked the information like a sponge, Shino leaned a tad more forward in curiosity, and Sakura had yet to look up from the packet. "You'll have to lie, observe, fall into roles, fade into the background. Meaning, find a way to rely on not being a shinobi."

"But we are shinobi," Shino interjected with a slight crinkle of his brow. She nodded.

"Yes, but it will never be all that you are. Remember that."

But unbeknownst to her, the one moment she took her eyes off Sakura was the moment the girl took the moment to flinch and focus even more on the paper in her hands. Shinobi would never be all that they were? It was the only thing she was going to be, to the death.

She would be an exemplary shinobi, or she would be nothing at all.

Sakura flipped to the last page and glanced at the single, charted schedule presented to her.

Monday: Obstacle Course/Physical Training

Tuesday: Chakra Training

Wednesday: Physical Training

Thursday: Weapons Training

Friday: Water Training

Saturday: Mission

Sunday: Off

Minutely confused, she lifted her head for the first time since receiving the packet. "What do you mean by 'water training'?"

Kurenai's smile transformed into a grin. "Oh, that means we're going to the pool every Friday from six in the morning to two in the afternoon. You'll be performing exercises, swimming laps, and learning to control your breathing. I've already worked everything out with the owner—he's an old friend of mine and pulled some strings," she said. She either didn't notice or didn't pay attention to the resigning looks the three began to dawn. "Shino, Kiba, square leg swimsuits, jammers, or briefs are fine. Sakura, you can pick any one piece swimsuit be it regular, kneesuit, or something of the like. I have goggles for your use as well as caps, but the caps aren't required."

Silence descended the table.

Then Kiba turned towards her incredulously. "What, are you gonna make us compete too?!"

"... That's actually not a bad idea," she hummed. The table shook with the force of whoever just kicked Kiba in the shin, but she didn't know if Sakura or Shino had done it. Their blank faces were suspicious, but their twin smirks after the yelp of pain made it even more so. Either way, if the way Akamaru choose Shino's lap as his next resting spot said anything, it was quite the tell. She laughed. "Though as good as that sounds, there's little chance you'll actually get put in a competition. Don't worry."

Kiba pouted as he rubbed his shin and snagged a daifuku bun, quietly grumbling about how his friends were assholes.

Their faint humor slowly slipped out of the atmosphere then as the original topic of their meeting encroached on each edge of their minds.

"Sakura," Kurenai started. The one in question angled her head up. "Shino and Kiba know about you now... but just how much have you disclosed?"

"All of what you know," the girl said, tilting her head in thought for a few moments. "Among other things you don't."

Kurenai didn't push the cryptic meaning. Sakura would be willing to tell her what exactly she meant once it was time. "I see. Then I believe it's time to let you know that I intend to train you as if you were my jounin equals. I'm not going to go easy on you, but I'm also not going to push you to the point where you feel like you can't do it anymore. I'm here to make you succeed—the last thing I want is for you all to feel like failures." 

Which, in point, she felt was a valid criticism against a lot of current teachers, both against those who taught in the Academy and those mentoring young genin. What was the point of raising a new generation if the one's doing the raising ridiculed them for failing and had them try to stand on their own without providing the foundation? It was simply ridiculous, and Kurenai failed to see the merit in that sort of method. 

"Along with that," she continued, an encouraging smile on her face. "You'll show different fronts to different people to incite confusion among the masses. Nothing too noticeable, just enough to be unsettling."

Shino perked up. Now they were really getting somewhere. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Take Asuma-san's team, for example. They're excellent in teamwork, so use your own teamwork to appear you're on level ground."

"We talked about something like that last night!" Kiba exclaimed. "So like when we go against Team 7, they'll think we won't have good teamwork like them, so they'll never expect it when we band together and BAM! Asses kicked! Never show anyone our true sides, amirite, sensei?"

Sakura turned her head back down to the packet in her hands and flipped to the list of books, paying close attention to the list of theories they offered: elegance and sophistication, deceptive clumsiness, breath control, lock picking, lying, etiquette and customs around the world, hustling, navigating... It was a very broad amount of coursework, but it was enough to get them started.

Something nudged at her ankle and she glanced down to see Akamaru with his tongue flopping out the side of his mouth and his pair of rust colored eyes gazing questioningly up towards her. Her lips quirked up as she reached down to pat his head a few times before returning her attention to the rest of her team.

"—but yes, never showing your true side to potential opponents is always a plus," said Kurenai. "Now that we've got that cleared up, does anyone have any other questions? I assure you that I'll go into more detail as we get to it, but as for right now..." She glanced around the table, searching for inquiry but finding none. "No? Alright." Shuffling around the kitchen once more, she pulled out another plate of sponge cakes that she brandished before her. "Who wants more snacks?"

::

When the blizzard passed, so did their mission. It was quick, efficient, not unlike anything else they'd taken before. The path back to Amegakure had been a quiet one—moreso than usual—with new knowledge pulsating in Itachi's mind and quiet thought flowing in Kisame's. 

They were only a few hours off returning when Itachi, once more, broke their silence. "... How do you cope?"

"Cope?"

"With the things you've done," he elaborated in his smooth, muted tones. "Or, perhaps, with the people you've lost?"

Because sometimes the weight was unbearable like an anvil to the chest, slowly sinking and crushing your ribs one by one before its cool metal smothered your heart. And sometimes he did stop, and consider: Was it all worth it?

"I'm not a good man," Kisame answered, rolling his shoulders easily. "I've come to terms with it and I've learned to come to terms with it. But with my wife and my little girl—my home? I do what I can."

Itachi tilted his head to the side. "And that would be...?"

A sad smile with sharp, white teeth lit up an unnaturally monstrous physique. "I hope and I pray that they'll never be blamed for the things that I've done."

::

Hey guys! I know this is such a late update, but thanks so much for being patient with me!

Now, here are some awesome Stumble [Rewrite] mood boards by awkwardxfreak !

And here's an amazing fanart I've received by SugaNotSalt23 !