Stumble [Rewrite]

Conference

He honestly didn't know what to make of this situation. All he wanted was to speak to Sakura's parents about her recent behavior, not be stared down by a man he knew could kill him in the most terrifying ways possible.

Morino Ibiki, clothed in his trench coat and all, sat against the table closest to the teacher's desk in the painfully empty classroom. His arms were crossed over his chest and his face stayed wholly unamused at the ordeal. Sakura was in the chair behind and to his right, seeming bored and a tad bit irritated.

"Tou-san and kaa-san aren't in Konoha right now. So he's here instead," she supplied.

"Kizashi-san and Mebuki-san are civilian citizens and not too well versed in shinobi activities. They've entrusted me to manage her education, as I'm the overseer of her studies," Ibiki said. The teacher gulped and sorted some papers. That explained a lot, actually. Her smarts, intimidation, and rage... Maybe being under the head torturer didn't make her into how she was now, but it sure gave more insight to her background.

"I-I see... well, um, I suppose I'll get right to the point, then. Sakura does exceedingly well in all aspects of Academy, curriculum, though the only problems are her disruptions in class, especially when it comes to Naruto."

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Nothing's wrong with him."

The teacher sighed. "Sakura—"

He snapped his mouth shut when Ibiki reached over and clonked her at the back of the head. She rubbed at her pink hair and mustered up the audacity to glare at him.

"What the hell, old man?!"

"You've got that cheek again, and I got enough of that yesterday. Now go and stand out in the hallway. I have a few things to say to your sensei," he said. Sakura grumbled as she hopped off her seat and strode out the door while closing the door behind her. The teacher stared after her for a few moments before some sick feeling dropped in his stomach.

He was alone in a room with one of the most dangerous men in Konoha. He then turned his head to see a pair of black eyes piercing through him.

'... Shit.'

::

Sakura patiently waited outside the hallway with a bored glint in her eyes. She appreciated Ibiki coming down in place of her parents, but he really didn't have to. Her plan was to make clones and henge them, though once more, the trouble was saved by this twisted timeline.

Speaking of her parents...

"Konoha was attacked!"

An uproar spread through the medical unit like wildfire, but Sakura kept her mouth uncharacteristically shut as she continued her duties. The war had reached the middle of its fifth year and Sai had just been killed. When told of it, Sakura looked blank-faced despite the despair that surged through her body.

Hands down, she was hopeless. This wasn't a war any longer, this was a worldwide graveyard and everyone she held dear were dying off one by one.

It only made her wonder when she'd be next.

"Haruno-sensei, the casualty list!" a shinobi informed, presenting her with a thick collection of papers. She sat down at her makeshift desk and scanned through the list. She would have to make a distinction between shinobi and civilian to account how much of their forces they'd lost. It was near the end of the stack when she noticed two names that only tacked onto losing Sai.

Haruno Kizashi

Haruno Mebuki

Sakura stared at the names a little longer than the rest before highlighting the names in yellow and continued on her task.