Disclaimers: Nothing's changed since the last chapter.

Author Notes: Erm, I'll tell you my crappy reasoning later.

Things That Cannot Be Fought

It had been a long time since Iruka fought in the field, having been an academy instructor for years now. But with the war, the cadets needed to be protected. Children who had never had even one-on-one training couldn't be expected to fight invaders.

They called it a field trip. All the teachers, all the children and as many chuunin and jounin that could be spared for such a task set out into the wilderness, leaving children in various towns across Fire Country. The idea behind it all was to spread the cadets out thinly in the hopes that other towns would remain relatively unscathed. This had always been a good strategy during war to protect the future ninja, but given that this particular battle was one man's personal vendetta against Leaf Ninja, Iruka had his doubts. There was a very real possibility the cadets would be hunted down.

Because of this, names were changed and families left behind. There was no record of the activity, not even on booby trapped scrolls. If and when the children got wind of the conflict being over and Konoha being safe, they would have to return on their own, or not at all. Iruka hoped when it came to that, there would be kind villagers who would accompany the children. Of course, there were many students capable of making the journey on their own in peaceful times, but there were also many who were not.

Iruka always had trouble letting go of his students, but it was far worse when he knew he was letting go too early. None of them were ready for this.

Emotional turmoil of playing with his students' fates aside, Iruka was not sure if he was grateful to see a beloved face or further worried by said face's expression. Uzumaki Naruto, Iruka's odd mix of favorite student, adopted little brother and surrogate son, was sitting sideways on the swing just out side the academy. His subdued manner was very similar to when he had failed the exit exam about ten months—or was it a lifetime?—ago. He raised his head when Iruka approached, causing the chuunin to wonder just how long Naruto had been waiting for him.

"Iruka-sensei," he mumbled. Iruka was immediately at the boy's side, wondering what had happened in his absence and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Wanna know somethin' weird?" He spoke as though his tongue had suddenly swelled up and became too big for his mouth.

"Naruto." He didn't know what else to say.

"I never thought about my parents. I jus' knew I didn't have any. Af'er the thin' with Mizuki, I guess I jus' figured that I never had any at all. That I was jus' the nine-tailed fox made human. No mom or dad at all.

"Tha's better than bein' abandoned, right?"

Iruka swallowed a lump in his throat. This conversation was somehow many times more painful than tearing all those children from their homes. "You weren't abandoned, Naruto."

The boy snapped. "I must have been! Either that or I'm just the fox! There are no Uzumaki on that rock!"

The stone in which the names of ninja who had died in defense of Konoha were carved.

"A couple days ago," Naruto continued, "I was talking to the old pervert—Jiraiya," he classified because he just knew too many old perverts, "an' the old lady was following us." Naruto swallowed, hard. "Jiraiya told her I'm like my dad." He was crying now and Iruka, not being able to bring Naruto's parents back, held him, letting twelve-year-old fists grip his flak vest. "I should have a dad! Where's my dad?"

"Naruto," the elder orphan whispered, "I don't know what I can tell you."

The Hidden Leaf Hospital was not an impressive building in and of itself, yet when a young girl sits just outside, with her knees drawn up to her chest and all of her hopes and dreams riding on a single person inside, it can be very intimidating indeed. Sakura had left her home that morning with every intention of visiting Sasuke, like she'd done everyday since the incident. As the weeks passed, she was beginning to regret that there were no missions for an inferior kunoichi such as herself in times of war. The shinobi who were qualified to teach where either fighting or tangled in bureaucracy. No one wanted their gardens weeded or children babysat or other suitable genin missions. And it wasn't that Sakura enjoyed the grunt work, she just saw it as a natural stepping stone. Naruto and Sasuke needed bigger challenges, but she was still lagging far behind.

Because of this, she understood Sasuke's need to grow stronger to a point. Sakura needed to grow stronger as well. She didn't have her eye on a specific battle or a certain far-reaching goal, she just needed to be useful in a fight. If anyone needed something explained, Sakura was the person to go to, if a genjutsu illusion had been cast, Sakura could see through it and release it. But battles didn't entail definitions and behind every illusion was an offensive strike.

Slowly, Sasuke had been recovering. Sakura knew soon he would try something. She was just as sure talking to him would do no good. The only thing that would stop Uchiha Sasuke would be to physically hold him down. She have the strength to do that or even be a distraction long enough for someone who could to show up. So she sat, outside the hospital, not daring to go inside and face her inevitable failure. Sasuke had been right all along, of course. If she had time to bother him, she should have spent it training.

Who was he kidding, anyway? She thought angrily. Her chakra reserve just wasn't all that impressive. How much good could training really do?

Somewhere in the back of her mind, a puzzle piece clicked into place and a little voice shouted in delight. With all the pent-up energy of someone who has just had a wonderful idea but couldn't put the plan into action yet, Sakura half-jogged to Sasuke's room, beaming.

The ANBU outside his door never argued with her anymore and after saying a quick hello, she bound into the room with the cheerful "Good morning, Sasuke-kun!"

His reply of "'Morning," was far less enthusiastic, but Sakura hardly noticed as she went about the room, performing her daily rituals. Water the flowers, open the drapes, fetch anything he needed… If he noticed her extra perkiness, he didn't comment. Sasuke had asked for a few scrolls the day before, which she promptly produced today. He nodded his thanks, having been able to sit up for the last week and a half. She'd also been able to dig some formal clothing out of whatever mothballs it had been rotting with for him to wear to his trial, whenever that should be. Sasuke had been planning on dressing normally, but Sakura had lectured him for quite a while on dressing appropriately and speaking respectfully. An arrogant, unremorseful attitude would just get him killed faster, she'd said, and neither of them wished to see that happen.

"Sasuke-kun," she ventured when her self-imposed chores were done, coming to sit on the side of his bed again, "can I get your opinion on something?"

"Aa," he replied, noting that a request for an opinion was rare, compared to say, a request for a date.

"I've been thinking…" That was hardly surprising, unlike her sudden reluctance to talk to him. "My genjutsu's pretty good…" A modest statement, as it was chuunin level at least. "And so is my chakra control…" Also modest. She was at least talking about ninja abilities for once, so she had more of Sasuke's attention than usual. "But in a battle, I never really know how to apply ninjutsu or genjutsu. Do you think it would be worth it for me to try focusing on taijutsu?"

Sasuke was silent for a long moment. Judging by his expression, Sakura was pleased to see that he appeared to be thinking it over carefully.

"Focusing on any one Ninja art isn't a good idea," he began, "but you are lacking in taijutsu. Training in that area until you are equally competent in all three is a place to start now. You should have been training evenly all along. You also need to mediate on why ninjutsu is a problem for you. You could easily do the techniques in the academy, the only thing stopping you from using them in battle is yourself."

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun," she said sincerely. He had given her more feedback than she'd hoped for and that voice in her head was cheering loudly. That he had known what she was capable of in their school days must mean he had been paying attention to her, right?

Sakura stood up, smoothing imaginary wrinkles from her dress. "I was hoping Lee-san could help me with a taijutsu training regime." Something in her voice changed, as though she was speaking to herself, unaware that Sasuke was still listening. "He still hasn't healed yet. Maybe overseeing me would help him take it easy…"

She was startled by the sudden iron grip on her wrist. "Don't," Sasuke said darkly, "listen to what he tells you. No one can become a ninja without genjutsu and ninjutsu."

Though both genins were otherwise frozen, their heads turned to the door as it creaked open and the two ANBU guards stepped in.

"We have been informed," one began in a wooden voice, "that Uchiha-san's audience with the Fifth Hokage will be tomorrow at noon. Tardiness will not be tolerated." The two bowed, exited and the door shut behind them, their posts resumed. Sasuke's grip on Sakura's wrist loosened. She tugged upwards, catching his hand in her own and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

The procession that entered Tsunade's audience chamber marched stiffly. Two ANBU ahead of the Uchiha boy, and two walking behind him. The normally cheerful room lined with long tables and "Do your best!" banners was almost unrecognizable. One of the long tables remained, pushed near the back of the room with the Hokage seated in the center, flanked on both sides by empty chairs. Sasuke was guided by the ANBU to another seat, this one centered between the table and row of benches. He sat and the ANBU stationed themselves at each corner.

Though he was facing away from them now, Sasuke had registered the small cluster of spectators when he entered. He had not seen Kakashi since the day of the attack, which surprised him to some degree as the jounin seemed to take a special interest in the student that most reminded him of himself. The masked man was there now, seated respectfully at attention, for once on time and not reading pornography. Sasuke was beginning to the think the message regarding tardiness hadn't been meant for him.

Sakura was at their teacher's left, twitching and looking generally frantic. Behind him, Sasuke heard her hiss "Naruto's still not here," and Kakashi's hush. The bench was large enough to fit one or two more people, Naruto's seat of honor, apparently.

In the row behind them was a ninja Sasuke recognized from the first portion of the chuunin exam, Morino Ibiki, captain of Konoha's interrogation team. A handful of others dressed in usual Leaf regalia sparsely populated the other benches. Sasuke assumed they were subordinates.

The two chairs on either side of her still unoccupied, the Hokage smiled warmly and leaned forward a tad, resting her chin on interlaced fingers. "Tell me, Uchiha-san, how do you feel about deals?"

"A deal?" he echoed.

"A deal," she confirmed. "You are now just one of many residents of Konoha who for some reason or another have spent time on the inside of Orochimaru's circle. We know his abilities, his fears, and why he's started this war. We have a weapon to use against him and he knows what it is. What we don't know is the movements and plots of his Sound Ninja. In exchange for what information you can give us, we can help you sort out Orochimaru's gift."

"How?" Sasuke demanded, disbelieving. Kakashi had already tried powerful seals and he would hardly accuse his teacher of holding off a real cure.

The smoke of ninja apparition clouded Tsunade for a moment, but when it had cleared, a young woman was sitting cross-legged on the table to the left of the Hokage. Ibiki groaned. The woman grinned broadly.

"Mitarashi Anko," she identified herself, "The only student of Orochimaru."

Next—Confrontations and ..more Confrontations