"Okay!" Kushina said brightly. "Say cheese!"
Sakura smiled stiffly, blinking as the instant camera's flash stung her eyes. She passed a dazed Itachi back to his mother, who at once hurried off to join Kushina to see how the photograph had turned out, while Fugaku turned to attend to their other guest— the future Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, whom Mikoto had invited, together with Kushina, for an unforgettable luncheon.
"Good, nobody blinked this time!" Mikoto said brightly, watching the photo develop before her eyes. "Konan-chan, be a dear and slip this one into the album, will you? Just there, by the bookshelf. It's not every day we welcome a new clan member, after all! It's a pity we couldn't identify your real father today, but so long as you're under our roof, you're family— so don't you worry about a thing."
Mikoto held the newly printed photo by its edges and handed it to Sakura.
Sakura stared at the photograph, lips pressed thin. There she was, standing between Sasuke's parents, cradling his big brother in her arms. Itachi's little face was still unlined, innocent, poor little thing… Turning from the others, she crossed the living room to the bookcase. Ashen‑faced, she slid the photograph into the album, the only one to know that within a few short years, everyone in that room would be gone.
Herself not included, she rather hoped.
Though Sakura longed to warn everyone of the tragedies that lay ahead, she was painfully aware that speaking of the future came with the risk of erasing herself, and Sasuke and Naruto along with her, from existence. She had already failed to avoid leaving traces of herself in the past; the least she could do now was making sure her friends did not end up unborn.
"Dinner's ready, everyone!" Mikoto called from the neighbouring room.
Sakura forced a smile as she slid the photo album back into its place. She could always come for the picture later; for now, she had to make an effort not to look too melancholy. This was, after all, meant to be her welcoming party. So, she trudged into the dining room and drew up a chair beside Princess Sāra, who looked rather taken with the blond man seated opposite her.
"So, you're Queen Sēramu's daughter, then," Minato said pleasantly, making small talk. "I've never been to the Land of Lōran myself, but I hear she's quite the ruler."
Sāra's cheeks blushed, and she nodded timidly. She then glanced at Kushina. Was that his wife? So, he liked red‑haired girls, did he?
"Sāra was just telling me how you appeared in a ventilation duct," Minato said good‑naturedly, watching as Sakura sank into her chair. "I'd be very interested to hear how one of Lady Tsunade's pupils ended up in the City of the Future's aeration system."
Sakura jumped at the word future, her pulse quickening… only to realise that Minato had been referring to the Kingdom of Lōran's nickname. Phew, she told herself, he hadn't guessed she was actually from twenty years in the future…
"It's a long story," Sakura said dismissively. "I wouldn't want to bore you…"
Sitting in his baby chair, Itachi yawned, and Kushina imitated him.
"Oh, not at all!" Minato said quickly. "It's just that the way you arrived is rather like how the Land of Lōran's Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism seemed to appear from out of nowhere, so I merely wanted to satisfy my curiosity. I had my theories, but it seems they were mistaken, after all."
Sakura gulped. Where had Minato heard all that? Did the Leaf have spies in Lōran? Why was he so interested in Anrokuzan? What did he know!?
She really needed to stop thinking of Minato as just another pretty face. Beneath that easy grin and goofy, aloof demeanour, he was far sharper than his guileless manner suggested at first glance. He was a genius shinobi with a brilliant mind; nothing like his son, Naruto, who could be crafty when it mattered, even quick‑witted and cunning in his own way, but whose intellect had clearly taken a knock from inheriting Kushina's rather…smooth‑brain genes.
"Oi, you," Sakura said, tapping Sāra's shoulder.
"For the last time," Sāra hissed as she turned to face Sakura, "my name's not oi, you, it's…"
The princess's voice faltered as she met Sakura's hypnotic gaze, and a heartbeat later, she slumped back into her chair, unconscious. Minato frowned but raised a steady hand to stop his indignant wife as she reached for Sāra's shoulder. Fugaku, who was sitting in the seat of honour at the end of the table, leaned in and glared at Sakura.
"I imagine," Fugaku said evenly, "you had a good reason for doing that?"
"Apart from escorting her daughter, Queen Sēramu entrusted me with another mission, one she didn't want her daughter to overhear," Sakura explained quickly. "She suspects Anrokuzan is plotting to overthrow her, so she asked me to forward her request for assistance to the Hidden Leaf."
It was then that Mikoto came back from the kitchen, balancing a tray laden with bowls of miso soup and white rice, and she began serving everyone in turn.
"That's… not good," Minato said, frowning. "The Land of Lōran is home to the Ryūmyaku. If such power fell in the wrong hands… no, even worse, if its power were to run wild…"
Evidently, Minato had more than just a passing interest in the Land of Lōran if he knew this much. He stood up abruptly.
"Where are you going, my honey?" Kushina asked, tugging at Minato's sleeve. "We haven't even started eating yet, ya know?"
She blushed in embarrassment as her stomach growled loudly… or maybe because she'd just called Minato my honey in front of everyone. Then again, it was probably a bit of both.
"To speak to the Third Hokage," Minato said abruptly. "He needs to learn about this as soon as possible."
And with those words, he vanished… before Sakura could even ask if she might join his team on the expedition, which is why she had brought up the subject in the first place. Sighing, Sakura snapped Sāra out of her trance, and the dinner party resumed with her none the wiser.
For the next hour, Sakura kept stealing glances at Fugaku, wondering whether he had awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan yet. If he hadn't, she was already thinking of using her Kotoamatsukami to nudge him, ever so gently, into taking her away from the village, back to the Land of Lōran. Leaving on her own under martial law would only bring pursuers on her heels.
"You've been staring at my husband an awful lot tonight," Mikoto said, smiling. "He wouldn't happen to secretly be Konan-chan's real father, hmm?"
"T-t-that couldn't possibly be the case, dear!" Fugaku spluttered, his stoic mask cracking. "I've never so much as looked at another woman in my life! Flat is justice, I swear it on the very justice I uphold as head of the military police!"
"Hah?" Mikoto said coldly. "You think I'm flat?"
Kushina sniggered as she watched her best friend's husband squirm… until she remembered that she was flat too. She glanced down at her meagre bust and sighed, feeling a bit deflated. Maybe her twins would fill out a little more once she had a baby in the oven— though if Mikoto was anything to go by, that wasn't exactly guaranteed. Motherhood didn't seem to have done her any favours up top…
"Why do I get the feeling you're thinking something rude too?" Mikoto said, turning to Kushina with a dangerous glint in her eye. "Hmm?"
"Y-you're imagining things, ya know!" Kushina said hastily, flailing her hands in the air in alarm. "I wasn't thinking about what it'd be like at aaaaall, not being able to see my own feet!"
Mikoto nodded.
"Oh, I see," she said, patting her stomach. "You were curious again about what it feels like to be pregnant."
A bead of sweat rolled down Kushina's face as she forced a strained smile.
"Yeah, that's right!" she babbled, trying not to sound too relieved. "That's exactly what I was thinking about, and nothing else, ya know!"