Chapter 1

He first met her when she was put into the care of his friend, Hatake Kakashi, as a twelve year old genin. She had struck him as interesting when he saw her startling pink hair and sea green eyes. Gradually, he began to get to know her through his friend. Several times he had attended Team 7's practice sessions, sitting under the branches of the enormous tree on their training grounds. He watched as Naruto and Sasuke sparred while she and Kakashi refined her chakra control, which was impressive for a twelve year old. In comparison to her teammates, she was definitely the weakest physically, but was the most advanced in chakra control which he suspected frustrated the Uchiha prodigy. As a result, she was largely left to her own devices during training while their mentor trained the two boys.

Through the years, he watched her grow up and he couldn't help but be proud of her. After the Chuunin exams, Sasuke had left the village and left her distraught. However, she made a promise to herself to get stronger so she could help Naruto bring him back. She became the Hokage's apprentice and excelled in her studies, much to the surprise of her teammates and the rest of the Rookie 9. Now, eight years later, she was Konoha's top medic, second only to Tsunade. She had indeed inherited the Hokage's medical talent, but she also inherited her brute strength.

At the age of twenty, Haruno Sakura had become a beautiful woman. Her hair had grown out and reached her waist and swayed as she moved. Her movements captivated males in the vicinity and she would blush and smile slightly at the attention they gave her. When they noticed how popular she had become with the males of the village, Naruto and Kakashi took it upon themselves to protect her from them. After a while, Sai too joined the overprotective pair and Sakura could only laugh at her teammates displays of affection. There was something special about her, something he couldn't quite put his finger on, but he knew it was there. All the men did. The jounin who had known her as a young girl all had a place in their hearts for the affectionate, albeit feisty pink haired ninja.

She worked far too hard, but he had to admit that if it weren't her hard work and determination, she wouldn't have come as far as she has. Sakura was an enigma. She would complain about being overworked, but at the same time defend the people that gave her the extra work. She had never truly acknowledged her beauty, despite being frequently told about it. As he sat there, he realised that she truly was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Both on the inside and the outside. As he thought this, it finally dawned on him that he had fallen for her somewhere along the line. He, Shiranui Genma, had fallen for the little kunoichi.

*-*-*-*-

Two weeks later, Genma walked into a restaurant with Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, Kurenai and Anko in tow. It was 5pm and they had just finished their jobs for the day and decided a rest was in order. They walked in and sat down at the back of the restaurant and chatted amicably while they ordered their food. Kakashi leaned back in his seat and looked towards the door.

"What time is Raidou coming?" he asked with his usual drawl.

Anko shrugged. "He was still talking to the Hokage when I left. She's probably sending him on another mission."

"She sure sends him on a lot of missions," Genma said as he rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. "If she's not careful she'll overwork him."

"Speaking of overworking," Asuma spoke up with a grin. "Look over there," he nodded over to the corner of the restaurant on the opposite side of the room to them.

Several members of the group turned to look in the direction he had nodded towards and Kakashi sighed. Asuma laughed as his friend's expression beneath his mask. Kakashi pushed up his forehead protector and rubbed his eyes.

"Hopeless," he muttered. "Absolutely hopeless."

"What's hopeless?" Kurenai asked in confusion.

"Sakura!" Kakashi said through clenched teeth.

Genma looked up in surprise and then looked over his shoulder to see said woman sitting in the corner of the room. His mouth dropped open slightly as he saw that she was sitting at the table propped up against the wall, facing them. From where he sat, he could see her eyes scanning the book she had propped up in front of her. For once he agreed with his friend and sighed as well.

"She really does work too hard," Anko said quietly as she stared at the younger woman. Her companions nodded. "What's she doing now?"

Kakashi frowned. "She's been reading for days. Every time I've seen her she's had her nose in a book."

Kakashi got to his feet and muttered something to his friends about going to speak to her and left the group to talk. Weaving through the maze of tables, he finally stood at her table, towering over the oblivious kunoichi. After a moment of being ignored, he sat down opposite her and glared at her. She looked up at the sudden movement and smiled when she saw him.

"Kakashi-sensei! Where did you come from?" she asked in a tired sounding voice.

"I was sitting with friends when I saw you." He looked at her with a frown. "You've been working too hard, Sakura."

Said woman sighed and leaned back in her seat, resting her head against the back of her chair as she covered her eyes with a hand. "I suppose lying to you wouldn't help?" she asked with a crooked smile.

"No. You need to stop working so many shifts at the hospital."

She lifted her head and looked in the eye with a serious expression. "If I didn't work at the hospital, who would help Shizune-san? Half of those nurses are incompetent."

"That's not an excuse for you to work so hard. Tonight you're coming to have some fun with us."

He stood up and waited for her to do the same. Reluctantly, Sakura got to her feet and picked up her pile of books before following Kakashi to his table where the other jounin smiled at her as she sat down between Kurenai and Anko. After a moment, Anko leaned over to Sakura and smiled.

"I hear you've been offered a position at the hospital in Suna," she said.

"I have. Gaara-sama apparently asked for me specifically to mentor his staff."

"I bet he wanted your presence for a lot more than just that," Anko said with a wink.

Sakura blushed and looked down. "That's ridiculous, Anko-san."

"But he asked for you specifically," Kurenai said, joining in the conversation.

Shaking her head, Sakura picked up her drink and a brief glance around the table saw that all the men's attention was now focused on her.

"You're going to Suna?" Kakashi asked in confusion.

"I haven't decided yet."

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Asuma asked. "We could've celebrated."

"We still can celebrate," Gai said, speaking to Sakura for the first time that night.

She shook her head. "I'm still undecided. I don't know if I want to go."

Genma looked at her and caught his breath. She looked beautiful in his eyes despite her lack of sleep. He cleared his throat. "Why wouldn't you want to go?"

"I don't know anyone in Suna aside from the Kazekage and his siblings. I don't want to leave my life here."

Everyone nodded and remained silent.

As everyone began talking again, Genma looked across the table at the woman who sat between his two teammates. Sakura was smiling as she spoke to Kurenai and Anko, causing his breath to hitch in his throat. Her long pink hair was tied up in a messy bun at the back of her head and her green eyes looked tired, but still darted from face to face as she followed the conversation. Her face was pale and her hands shook slightly as she wrapped her long slim fingers around the water glass in front of her. He frowned slightly as he considered how little care she took of herself. Looking to the seat beside Asuma, he locked eyes with Kakashi who nodded grimly, almost as though he had read Genma's thoughts.