At 13 I couldn't write a story to save my life. Let's see if 10 years later I can actually write one.
A little headcanon I've had for awhile now. Takes place after The Great Shinobi War, and obviously before Boruto begins.
THIS STORY CONTAINS MATERIAL REGARDING SEXUAL ASSAULT, PTSD, SURVIVOR'S GUILT, AND MANY SENSITIVE TOPICS
I will make clear which chapters contain more explicit material, but a focus of this story will be there areas. I will include this disclaimer at the top of every chapter, and will note which ones are particularly sensitive. If you have any questions feel free to PM me.
With that… let's begin!
Uchiha Sasuke entered the office of the Hokage, or more specifically, the Sixth Hokage. In front of him he thought he would find the man who mentored him eight years ago.
Instead, he found an empty seat.
With a sigh of exasperation, Sasuke stood waiting for several minutes, which in his experience, could easily turn to hours. A sudden poof occurred, and the masked Sixth Hokage stood at his right side.
"Sorry, I lost track of time helping a lost schoolboy find the Academy-"
"My time is not infinite, Hokage-sama" Sasuke responded curtly, evidently irritated by his former sensei's lack of punctuality.
"Right, well then Sasuke, why don't you sit down? There are a few things I would like to discuss with you." Kakashi motioned his hand to a seat across from the desk of the Hokage. Sasuke could not recall any time that his former sensei had suggested he sat down to discuss something. Both men took their seats and the Hokage folded his hands together.
"Tell me Sasuke, how have you been?" The Uchiha glared, not making any effort to answer the seemingly meaningless question. Several pregnant moments passed and the Hokage let out a heavy sigh.
"My question has meaning, Sasuke. Don't make me give it an order for you to answer it." Kakashi stated flatly, never breaking eye contact. Kakashi was one of the few who did not feel intimidated by the last Uchiha's presence, and as Hokage asserting dominance in conversation was often necessary. Especially with notoriously difficult people.
Sasuke closed his eyes in annoyance. "I am fine, Hokage-sama. I fail to see how my well-being is relevant to this meeting." Although unclear from behind the perpetually covered face, the corners of Kakashi's eyes moved, indicating the copy-nin was smiling.
"Actually, Sasuke, your well-being is what this entire meeting is about. And I was giving you the courtesy of hearing it from me before you heard it from the village police force." Sasuke stiffened instantly. He was hardly in the village to begin with, instead finding threats to Konoha, reporting them back to the Hokage, and responding as the village saw fit. He knew he was on precarious terms with most of the village's population, so why he was of interest to the village police was beyond him.
"And before you get too worried, it does not have to do with the numerous treasonous acts you performed against the village in the past." Kakashi said lazily. Although he tried his best to hide it, a slight release of tension was evident in the Uchiha's shoulders. "This is regarding restoring your bloodline, your clan, and according you the village police the land technically owned by the Uchiha. Which amounts to you."
Sasuke took a moment to process what Kakashi had just imparted on him.
"Why is the village police concerned with land owned by the Uchiha?" Sasuke asked flatly, making every effort to mask every thought and emotion running through his brain.
"Before the massacre, the Uchiha were moved to the edge of the village. For more than a decade we have, for lack of better phrasing, not cared about that land, and more so left it as a memorial. Now we have a high influx of refugees from other towns and villages. The village police have been tasked with dealing with these refugees, and want to reclaim that land as village property. Their strongest reasoning for doing so has been that there has been no effort to re-establish the clan." The Hokage's words lit a fire in the Uchiha.
"I am nineteen years old and the sole survivor of the clan! Do they expect me to have every house filled by now?" Sasuke asked sharply, his temper betraying him.
"The village police, and I do not agree with this whatsoever, claim that you have been of reproductive age for the past seven years, and if you wanted to re-establish the clan you would have done so already." Sasuke involuntarily shivered at the Hokage's words, stopping himself from reliving flashbacks from many years past. Pushing them to the back recesses of his mind, Sasuke regained his composure. To the average shinobi, they would have never noticed a break in his usual indifferent stance. Kakashi, however, was no average shinobi. "Something wrong, Sasuke?"
"Yes," Sasuke answered sharply. "The village seems to think my priority should be creating offspring, not making sure the village does not fall victim to threat again."
"Why can't both reach the same objective?" Kakashi inquired. Sasuke was silent for a moment. "The Uchiha have always been formidable shinobi. I don't need to tell you that. Not only the Sharingan, but their ability to adapt to any opponent is something not seen in any other clan. Individual shinobi yes, but as a clan the Uchiha were the most adaptable. Simply put, it was hard to find an opponent they could not adapt to." Kakashi saw the flare of anger in Sasuke's eyes, despite how hard he tried to suppress it. "Sasuke, I am giving you a choice."
Sasuke glared at his former sensei, eyes narrowing. "I fail to see the choice in the matter." Kakashi sighed heavily.
"If you take a wife now, I can make the argument to the village police that your aim is to re-stablish you clan. I can buy you time. I don't want to see what is rightfully yours taken away from you, but I also have to think of what is best for the village." Sasuke was silent. "The other option is you lose your former home and clan's homes."
"Not an option," Sasuke spat.
"Well then, I suggest you start talking to some of your female friends. There is only so much time I can buy," Kakashi said sternly. He looked down at his notes briefly, and when he glanced up the Uchiha was gone.
Sakura was at the end of a twenty four hour shift. Normally she only had to do a twenty four hour shift every two weeks, but Mizaki got the stomach virus, Toho got the flu, and a supervisor was required to be on duty at all times. Even with the six years of experience, twenty four hour shifts took a toll on anyone.
It was seven in the morning and she was finishing her last set of rounds with a new set of medic nin apprentices. Since The Great Shinobi War, Sakura had pushed for more senior level medic nins to find apprentices, especially those who were either genin or those who had just become chunin. This way students received more practical training.
Sakura and five apprentices approached the bed of a shinobi who had been injured en-route to Sunagakure.
"Daiki, where was this man injured?"
"Uhh… en route to uh… Sunagakure Haruno-san," Daiki stuttered out. Sakura smiled.
"Right Daiki. Aki, what is the reason for his injuries?"
"Genjutsu trap, he is in a state of mental shock. A form of post-traumatic stress disorder, Haruno-san," Aki answered, not missing a beat. Again, Sakura smiled at the group of apprentices. They were eager to learn, and studied patients' charts while off duty. During rounds they never wanted to be wrong.
After all, a medic nin being wrong meant the difference between life and death.
"Right you are, Aki. But it is one thing to diagnose, it is another to treat. Yua, how would you treat this patient?" Sakura asked. Yua has always been a student to hang in the back. At thirteen years old, she was the youngest apprentice accepted by the hospital. Looking at her Academy grades, she was a stand out by all respects. Her confidence, however, required work. Her sensei, Inuzuka Kiba, swore up and down that she would be a great medic nin due to her attention to detail and diligence. But, to be a medic nin, confidence was a must.
"Umm… SSRIs and cognitive behavioral therapy?" Yua responded, her voice wavering. Sakura frowned.
"Is that the answer, or is it not?" Sakura asked sternly. The girl stuttering out an incoherent response. Sakura waved her hand. "Rounds are complete for the day. You all get to your duties, or if you're like me and this is your last task of the day, please go home and get some rest. I assure you the hospital will be waiting for your full health and attention in twelve hours." All five apprentices turned to leave, and Sakura sighed. "Yua, stay for a minute please." The girl walked sheepishly up to Sakura, her head hung low.
"I'm sorry Haruno-san, I should have known the right answer and-"
"Yua, stop," Sakura cut in, putting a hand on the young kunoichi's shoulder. "You gave a perfectly correct answer, one I would expect anyone to give based on just reading a patient's chart." Yua lit up at the praise. "My concern is how unsure of yourself you were. In the field or in the operating room, you have to be sure of your training, your experience, and sometime what your instincts are telling you is right." Yua hung her head again.
"Yes, Haruno-san. I understand. I will try better to… trust my instinct." Sakura smiled and released her hand from Yua's shoulder.
"Good, or else I would have Kiba-kun get on your case," Sakura added with a wink, getting a chuckle out of the young kunoichi.
"If that were the case… I think he would have Akamaru follow me around licking me whenever I got something right!" Both Yua and Sakura laughed. After a moment, Sakura stood up straighter, switching from friend to mentor with seamless ease.
"Go home and get some rest, I promise the hospital will always have plenty for you to do and will require your full attention and energy," Sakura said sternly. Yua nodded sharply.
"Yes, Haruno-san. I will see you soon." Yua turned and walked towards the hospital locker room, no doubt gathering her belongings before heading home to rest after a long shift.
Speaking of which, Sakura realized it had been about thirty six hours since she last slept. And while she had certainly run on longer amounts without sleep, she certainly preferred getting a solid six hours every twenty four if she could help it.
Waiting to make sure all five of the apprentices had either left for the day or moved on to their next task, Sakura entered the locker room to retrieve her things. While she had her own office on the top floor, she preferred to keep the things she needed to leave on the ground floor where most of the patients were. That way she could do one last run through of her patients before she left and didn't get distracted by the endless amount of paperwork that seemed to land on her desk.
Sakura slipped out of her medic gear into her street gear, a simple red dress with the Haruno crest and sandals, she gathered her things to leave, only to realize a dark haired, Sharingan wielding shinobi had been sitting in the corner the whole time.
"We need to chat."