I actually wrote this in a period of two hours which is pretty crazy for me because usually it takes a lot longer. By the way this is rated M for language.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
"Sakura! Sai! In my office now!" Tsunade didn't have time to deal with this right now. There was a mountain of paperwork sitting on her desk just staring her down, taunting her with its immense size. Who the hell signed her up for this goddamn job? Oh yeah. Her eyes narrowed at the blond-haired ninja seated before her. He'd grown physically, but mentally not much had changed. He had his arms crossed and was frowning in the same way he used to whenever one of his little pranks had been discovered, but she'd deal with Naruto later; right now her focus was on the other two.
Sakura and the new replacement for Sasuke, Sai, stood before her, neither one of them looking sorry for what had happened. Apparently the old team hadn't exactly hit it off with their new member, which, of course, was to be expected. Teams take time to work and flow smoothly, but this was just ridiculous.
They were standing about as far apart as the room would allow, Sai's face and shirt, were covered in drying blood, and Tsunade also noticed red spots of it splattered across Sakura's front. She leaned back in her seat, taking in the two bloody youths. She took a deep breath, she would be needing it.
"Sakura, I expected something like this from Naruto, but you," Her glare sharpened fiercely toward Sakura. "I thought you would be able to handle the situation." Sakura remained silent, but her rage had not yet cooled, evident in her clenched fists.
"Excuse me Lady Tsunade." Her gaze drifted to the pale boy. He was smiling despite everything that had happened, which, Tsunade couldn't deny, was a bit creepy.
"Yes, Sai?"
"If ugly here doesn't wish to play nice, that's okay with me, I won't either."
"Ugly?" Blood was rushing to her face, turning it an angry red. "I was playing nice with you, bastard! Had I not your whole face would have been broken instead of just your damn nose!"
"You know you look even more like a charging bull when you're angry."
"What! You better take those words back before I shove my fist down your throat!" Sakura would have decked him again if not for Naruto grabbing her arm in the nick of time.
"Don't waste your energy on that prick, Sakura." Naruto said trying his best to calm down the medic ninja.
Sai's smile still hadn't budged; it was as if it had been drawn onto his face with ink. "I'm surprised you have enough strength to hold back that monster, dickless."
Naruto's eye twitched and then he released Sakura. "I'm done. Kill him Sakura! Punch his lights out!"
"Having a girl fight your battles I see? Very manly."
"Enough!" Tsunade's yell shook the entire office. "I will not have fighting in my office, do you understand me?"
Naruto and Sakura's head dropped. "Yes, maam."
Tsunade linked her fingers in front of her and looked over the three Shinobi once again. "We will all agree that Team Seven will not be able to go out on a mission like this. Good team members must rely on each other and trust each other with their very lives."
"Please Granny Tsunade, then reassign him," Naruto cast a dark look over to Sai. "We were doing just fine with only three members."
"Naruto's right," Added Sakura. "Our team will never work this way."
"For once I agree with them." Sai said, nodding towards the others.
"Then we all agree." Tsunade said. She collected a few scattered papers into a small pile. "Team Seven will not be able to function as is." Out of the corner of her eye she saw smiles begin to rise on Sakura and Naruto's faces. "Which is why I order you three to spend one month living together and bonding as a team."
"What, you've got to be kidding me, Granny." Naruto whined. Sakura groaned as well and even Sai's smile had dropped to a thin line of disappointment.
"Enough." Tsunade dropped the stack of papers into a drawer signaling the end of the conversation. "Yamato will be overseeing the operation, and I expect you all to put forth real effort or the consequences will be severe. Naruto and Sakura both shivered at the thought of Tsunade's consequences. That could mean anything from a heel kick to the face or an entire month of missions exclusively targeting to helping old ladies carry home their groceries. It was hard to decide which one was worse.
"You may enter Yamato." Tsunade announced to the air, which was soon filled with their stand in team leader, who was looking way to cheerful.
"Tomorrow we will begin, you three better get a good night's sleep, you're gonna need it."
Sakura and Naruto both trudged out of the Hokage's mansion, despair striking them both silent. The sun had already begin to set which meant a minimal time to wallow in self pity before they were forced into living within ten feet of the guy they both hated. A whole month. The thought of spending a month with Naruto might have killed Sakura in her early years, but now it wasn't so bad. He could be loud, yeah, annoying too, but never as bad as that arrogant, son of a bitch, motherfucking, asshole, shit face Sai. And teambuilding activities with him, Sakura swore to god if Yamato makes her do a trust fall with that douche-
"Sakura."
"Huh?" She glanced behind her where Naruto had stopped. He was staring at the ramen restaurant like it was a gift sent from god. "What Naruto?"
"I think I'm gonna have some ramen before I go home, you wanna come?" That was just like Naruto. Drowning his sorrows in ramen. Unfortunately it wasn't that easy for Sakura.
"Thanks, but I think I should be getting some sleep like Yamato said." She gave him a smile and a wave before continuing on.
She'd almost reached her home when she stopped at a particular intersection. South was her house, but east was Sai's, she remembered seeing him go off this way after a mission before. Her body was pulling her to the south, but maybe going over and sorting out this whole nose breaking problem would benefit her in the morning when they would be living together, might even keep him from letting the back of her head slam into a hardwood floor. Yeah, east sounded like a pretty good idea.
Sakura groaned loudly to herself. After five minutes of searching to street she still couldn't find any hint of Sai-ness on the plainly identical houses. How did these people even figure out which was theirs? She sure as hell wouldn't be able to. "Stupid Sai and his stupid face and his stupid house and his goddamn stupid half shirt." She muttered under her breath as she started again to make a third round. Three was her limit after this it was back home.
"What creative insults you have there, ugly." Sakura looked up to the source of it. Sai leaned against the rail of a balcony, that pleasant smile still on his face. It was so fake it was hard to look at.
"Oh there you are Sai, I've been looking all over for you." Sakura fought to keep a smile on her face as well. If he could fake smile then so could she.
"It's late." He said. "A woman usually shows up at a man's house after hours to get in his pants? Isn't that right, ugly?"
A few men who had been walking past overheard Sai and were whispering things Sakura knew were aimed at her. Her face was beginning to grow hot with both embarrassment and anger. Her hands had to stay tucked behind her back to keep Sai from noticing the fists they were forming.
"Actually, Sai, I have something I wanted to talk to you about, please can we continue this inside." The effort from smiling was starting to hurt. How could he keep that fake smile up for so long?
"Persistent, aren't you. Do you usually get men by forcing yourself on them?"
Her thin smile ripped like tissue paper. "You arrogant little-agh!" Sakura was at a loss for what word to call him, nothing seemed to illustrate exactly how much she disliked him. Maybe learning some new insults would help. "I shouldn't have even come here in the first place. A waste of my time." She mumbled and stomped off toward her own home.
Sai watched her with ink black eyes, wanting to know what she'd come to say, but with no words to bring her back.
Author's Notes: Hope you liked that and continue to read. I'm looked for a beta reader too, so if you're interested send me a story you've betaed, or written, preferably something Naruto and we will see what happens. As always thank you for reading!