Shikamaru looked at the shogi board, waiting for his opponent to make the move he knew she would. There were only a handful of options available to her, after all, and he knew her well enough to know her preferred method of attack. She was a defensive player, normally, but sometimes she thought she could trip him up by going for the kill. It hadn't worked in years, and even then she still hadn't won the game, but it served as an insight into her state of mind.

"Something's bothering you," he said as she finally moved her lance right into the trap he'd laid for it. "Just tell me."

She sighed through the mask on her face, the black fabric bringing out the red rings under her equally black eyes. She brought up her one hand—"don't you dare mention it, Shikamaru" his mother's nagging voice resounded in his mind—to brush her brown hair out of her face. It was longer than she usually let it get and he filed away the possibility that she was growing it out. She placed her hand on Momiji's head, the dog accepting the affection stoically, brown eyes locked on Shikamaru's face like she was searching for something. It was always harder to tell with non-human faces, but he'd gotten pretty good with dogs.

"I have something to show you," she said quietly, gaze averted in an uncharacteristic display of nerves. "But I'm not sure if I should."

He leaned back, pulling his legs out of seiza and into a more comfortable crossed position. His mother would yell if she saw him like that, but Hanako didn't mind. "Then why bring it up? You're not the kind of person to do things without thinking about it first. Unless," he pressed his fingers together as he looked up at the sky, watching a fluffy white cloud drift past. "You're on a schedule of some kind. Whatever it is, it's obviously important, but you don't have the time to properly weight the pros and cons of getting other people involved. That you'd choose me, specifically, when my dad's your sensei means it's something he already knows about and you're defying orders to tell me or it's something he can't know about and I'm the next best thing. Going by your expression, I'm gonna say it's the latter. You told me you weren't sure," he said over her amused huff about him not even looking at her. "Which means it's something that will affect me beyond just showing whatever it is to me, maybe even negatively. But, you still need my help. So," he lowered his gaze, meeting her round eyes head on. "Here's what we're going to do. You're going to tell me the pros and cons of showing me whatever it is, and of not showing me. Then we'll decide how to proceed. Deal?"

She shared a glance with her dog, telling him that the summons knew about whatever was going on. There was a reason she'd brought Momiji with her when she usually didn't, after all. In fact, she'd timed this visit almost too perfectly. His father was at the Hokage's office, working with her father to try and keep the village in one piece(ish) after the invasion. His mother was out working with other women in the clan to feed those who'd lost their homes to the violence, leaving Shikamaru alone with his father's student with a stern warning not to upset her in any way as she was 'sensitive' and to help her however he could since she was 'injured'. So far, however, their day had gone exactly as any other might have, with the one exception of her using only her right hand.

And this weird conversation, of course.

She sighed, the sound laden with emotions he could probably name if given enough time. "That's the problem, Shikamaru. If I tell you, there's no going back."

"Just tell me," he insisted. "You've come this far, already."

"Yeah," she huffed a small, humorless laugh. "But if I stop now you'll be bothered by what it might have been, but you'll get over it. If I keep going, you won't."

She really wasn't helping her cause there. Honestly, he really wanted to know, now. His curiosity was piqued. It was too late to go back, no matter what he might say. She could leave right now and never speak to him again and he'd still dig up whatever it was on his own. It was just better to get it from her.

"Tell me."

She quirked a straight dark brow at him, making her feelings about that order perfectly clear. She still obeyed it though, so he dismissed the rebuttal he had planned to squash any further resistance.

"Pros of not knowing," she began, clearly still trying to convince him not to pursue the issue as her voice took on that annoying quality it had when she thought she knew best. "Include, but are not limited to: living a normal child's life, not committing treason, and plausible deniability for when I commit treason."

She paused. Ah, so she thought he would react to that. He smiled and waved a hand. "Go on. What are the cons?"

Her brows furrowed and he just knew her face scrunched under her mask. She was obviously not happy that he wanted her to continue. Too bad. "Cons of not knowing include, but are not limited to: not being included in my decision making, dealing with the consequences of my decisions, and probably hating me in the process."

He looked long and hard at his friend, a look she returned with equal aplomb. "So, you're basically saying that you're going to do something—something potentially treasonous—and you're going to do it with or without my help." He shook his head with a sigh of his own. "Well, now you have to tell me."

"I haven't listed the pros and cons of knowing, yet."

He glared at her. "Oh, please. I'm not gonna let you go off and become an enemy of the state all on your own."

"It'll be a lot of work." He was tempted to take offense, but her serious expression told him she wasn't making a 'lazy' joke. "It'll be so much work, Shikamaru, and we'll be all alone for most of it."

He shrugged. "Better alone together than alone by yourself."

That was the thing that got to her. She slumped, the tension visibly leaving her as she looked at Momiji. The dog had sat quietly through the entire exchange, solidifying Shikamaru's theory that she knew what her human was talking about.

"I will keep watch," the summons said. "If someone comes, I will interrupt the genjutsu."

Hanako nodded sadly. "Thank you, 'Miji."

She turned back to Shikamaru then, eyes closed as she took in a deep breath, likely to calm her nerves. When she opened them, all his theories fell by the wayside as he stared into a red sharingan, two tomoe spinning in her iris. He'd seen Sasuke's, as well as pictures in textbooks during his academy days, but looking straight into one was an entirely different experience.

"This is a secret," Hanako was saying, voice trembling just enough for him to notice. "I know it doesn't look like it, at first, but it's a sharingan. Including you, there are only eight people in the village who know about it. I know keeping it a secret doesn't make sense yet, but it will after you see. I promise."

"It looks like a normal sharingan, to me," was the first thing out of his mouth, his thoughts spilling unfiltered from his mouth in exactly the way his father warned they might be when caught off gaurd. The way her eyes widened told him she wasn't expecting this and he took the moment presented by Momiji confirming that, yes, they were red, to regain control of himself. Her face crumpled, her hand reaching over to grasp at her left elbow.

"I see." Her voice was little more than a whisper and Shikamaru felt the first bits of panic set in as tears welled up in her eyes. "So that's what he meant about the color."

He didn't understand what was going on, at all, but he wasn't so invested in figuring it out that he'd ignore her obvious distress. Chouji was always getting on his case for trampling people's feelings in his pursuit of answers.

Luckily, Hanako knew him well enough not to leave him hanging, even as she sniffled. "They were blue," she explained. "But it was probably because of the seal."

Ah. That made sense. With her arm gone, the seal array was incomplete and the seal itself unusable. It turned her eyes blue when she used it, he knew, so it affecting her dojutsu made perfect sense.

"It doesn't matter, though," she said with a shake of her head. "They work just fine whatever color they are."

"So, you're going to use them to put me in a genjutsu."

It wasn't a question, but she answered him like it was.

"Yes. That's the best way to pass on the information."

He nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. "Alright. Do it, then."

Those red eyes met his and he was gone.

Hanako busied her hand by painstakingly braiding a flower crown as she waited for Shikamaru to process the information she'd dumped on him. They'd moved from the engawa to a wide open field with deer grazing along the edge of the forest. Shikamaru was laying on his back, hands behind his head as he watched the clouds roll by. To any random observer, he looked like he always did, but Hanako knew he was thinking long and hard about the things she'd shown him in the genjutsu.

It was much improved since her first try with Momiji. It looked far less like an anime and more like their actual lives which, while horrifying to look at, certainly helped press the fact that it was really a possible future.

She still felt awful for showing him, at all. Momiji was right that he was one of the only ones who could actually help. As much as she loved her sensei, he was too entrenched in the system to subvert it effectively. His first instinct would be to involve more people, to try and use the law to bring Danzo to justice, never mind the entire secret army the man had amassed. Besides, he wasn't a main character. Shikamaru was, and he was closely involved in the lives of the other main characters, and so could effectively enact change on the level that needed changing. He was still a child, though, only twelve years old. He didn't need to have her troubles dropped on him like that. She could have managed on her own, she was sure. She'd done it so far, and the things she'd changed looked pretty ok.

"You haven't told anyone else about this?"

She shook her head without looking at him, adding another wildflower to the crown. "No. Just Momiji, though she told a couple of the elders in the summoning realm."

The dog had poofed back to her world after making sure Shikamaru believed her. It was just them, now, and Hanako wished the summons had stayed, if only for the buffer she'd provide.

"Are you planning on telling anyone else?"

That she did pause her braiding for. "Yes."

"It wouldn't be one of the Kumo nin still in the village, would it?"

Curse the boy for being so smart.

"Yes. It's Killer Bee."

He hummed. "That's a good choice. The Eight Tails can probably let the other Bijuu know what's going on, then."

That had been her reasoning, too. It was why she'd risked so much to bring herself to the jinchuriki's attention in the first place. Of course, that was before her 'fight' with Orochimaru. She was sure he and his brother were growing impatient waiting for her to make good on her promise to explain, and she no longer had the convenient excuse of a hospital stay to keep them at bay.

"I was going to tell them tomorrow," she said, resuming her flower crown as if they were discussing the weather. "Naruto said he visits Gaara with him and offered to take me with him the next time."

It was...nice to talk about her plans with someone other than Momiji. Weird, but nice. The guilt was still clawing at her like a particularly ornery cat, but she felt much lighter now that she wasn't the only one stressing over the future of the village.

Was that bad? Was it wrong of her to take relief in sharing her burden? She was an adult—for all she really didn't feel like one very much, anymore. She was supposed to the one relied upon by children, not the other way around.

Shikamaru sat up, bits of grass and flowers falling in his wake as he propped his elbows up on bent knees.

"So," he said. "We need a long term plan, but first, Orochimaru. If he behaves like the one in your vision, then he'll be coming for you, soon."

Yeah...She was kind of hoping he wouldn't, since her arm was gone. The seal was the only thing she had that Sasuke didn't. Without it, she shouldn't be as enticing.

Unless he didn't know it was broken, now. He also knew about her sharingan, if she understood his cryptic words properly. He'd already bit her, so going after Sasuke at that point made no sense.

"Probably," she agreed with a sigh. "We should plan as if he will."

"Right." Shikamaru pushed himself up to his feet, reaching down to her. "I have an idea, then."

She let him pull her up, her flower crown discarded in the grass. Yes, this was why she told Shikamaru. Planning wasn't her strong suit, not when those plans immediately fell apart on contact with actual people. Shikamaru was much better at thinking on his feet and adapting to changing circumstances. The moment someone threw her a curve ball, she panicked and made bad decisions. i.e., her arm. That is, the lack there of.

"What do you have in mind?"

Shikamaru rubbed at the back of his neck. "How do you feel about telling someone else?"

Um, what?

"Do you think that's wise?" She asked after a long moment. "I don't know who else can help."

"I know you don't want to involve too many people," he said, gesturing for her to follow him as he began walking back to his house. "I understand that, I do, but there's only so much the two of us can actually hope to accomplish. If Orochimaru were the only thing we needed to guard against, we might be enough, but he isn't so we aren't. If we want to bring down the advisors and guard against the Akatsuki, we're going to need some more help. There's one person I can think of who will be a valuable asset. From what you showed me, she'll be able to do things we won't and is already in a good position to help us change things."

"Really?" Hanako ran through her memories, the once hazy images made sharp after a month of refining them for use in the genjutsu. "Who?"

"Sakura Haruno."

That brought her up short. She wouldn't have been Hanako's first choice, but...why was that? Sakura was incredibly smart, even now when she lacked many of the skills necessary to apply her intelligence. She would eventually surpass Tsunade as the greatest medic ninja in history and would master the Byakugou seal faster than anyone had before her. Her taijutsu would one day be among the most deadly in existence, and, most importantly, she would save so many lives during the war.

How many more could she save if she knew what to prepare for?

Hanako reached over and pinched herself, angry over how easily she'd dismissed the other girl. Had the negativity in the fandom really stuck with her through an entire rebirth? It wasn't Sakura's fault Kishimoto had no idea how to write female characters.

Sakura wasn't even a character, anymore. She was a real, human girl. Hanako still overlooked her, basing her opinion on a series whose canon was officially defunct—because of her actions, no less! Really, she should have known better.

Shikamaru said nothing, simply leading the way off the Nara compound as she gathered her thoughts.

"You're right," she finally agreed. "Sakura is perfect."

He threw a smug smirk at her over his shoulder, clearly expecting her agreement. "Great. So you'll show her?"

Hanako bit at her lip under her mask, the sharp point of her cuspid slicing through the delicate skin and flooding her mouth with the taste of blood. "If you think I should. You're right that she's in the perfect position to help us, but she's...innocent. In a way we aren't, you know?"

He grunted in reply. "I know what you mean, but she's a shinobi. She knows what that means."

She could only hope he was right. Standing in the road ahead of them, her red qipao dusty and smudged, was Sakura. She was helping with the rebuilding efforts, carrying buckets of material to a recently erected tower of scaffolding. Her short hair was pulled up into a little ponytail, her Konoha hitai-ate on proud display on her forehead. This was a different Sakura to the one she'd built in her head—indeed, to the one Kishimoto had built in his manga. Had there even been any word on what she was doing while Sasuke and Naruto were running around Tanzaku-gai? Not that Hanako could remember. It was an injustice, really. One she'd almost fed into.

"Yo, Sakura-chan." Shikamaru wasted no time, raising a hand in a wave to catch the other kunoichi's attention. "Can you spare a minute?"

She looked at them, green eyes wide with surprise. "Yeah, sure. Let me finish this, really quick."

"Take your time. I might have lied about the 'minute' part."

She looked confused but nodded, leaving Hanako and Shikamaru waiting for her in the road.

It wasn't too late, Hanako mused, once again worrying at her bottom lip. She could just go, leaving Shikamaru to deal with Sakura. He would respect her decision...maybe. What was to point in telling him if she didn't trust the decisions he made using the information she gave him? She already knew he was right about Sakura, so why was she being so hesitant?

She didn't have time to dwell on that. Sakura came up to them with a questioning smile.

"Can we go to your place?" Shikamaru asked, once again taking the lead. "This is a little sensitive."

Sakura's green eyes hardened, the expression not one Hanako had ever seen on the other girl. "Sure thing. Is there anyone else we need to get?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Nah, it's just us."

Hanako was confused, but only for a moment. She'd completely forgotten that, while she was busy biting off more than she could chew, Shikamaru and Sakura had both been sent after Gaara and Sasuke. Sakura had experience taking orders from Shikamaru and likely thought this was a similar situation, if her tense posture was anything to go by.

Well, she wasn't wrong.

Sakura's home was small, but Hanako knew her expectations were a little skewed from living in a clan compound for the last five years. It was likely average sized, if not a bit big, but it felt small. Hanako left her boots in the genkan and followed the other girl up a narrow flight of stairs. Sakura let them into her room with little hesitation, closing the door behind them with a sigh.

"So," she said, looking from Hanako to Shikamaru with narrowed eyes. "What's going on? You guys rarely hang out in public, so it must be important."

Did they really? Huh. She hadn't noticed.

"It is." Shikamaru leaned against a wall, pressing his fingertips together in that familiar thinking pose of his. "Sakura-chan, you're the only one who can help us with this—."

"Wait a minute," Hanako cut him off. "You should at least give her a choice!"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Hanako, we don't have the luxury of letting her choose."

"Well, make the luxury," she demanded, knowing full well that didn't really make sense. "There's no point in deposing a tyrant if we just become one ourselves."

He opened his mouth to respond and Hanako wished they'd taken the time to talk this out before looking for Sakura. At least then, she might have had a chance of winning.

"Hold on," the kunoichi in question said, pink brows furrowed. "What's going on."