Waking Up at September's End
Author: PiperDreamer
Adopted by: Dragon'sHost
Slant means thought.
Bold means Inner.
Slant and Underline meaning dream or nightmare
Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own Naruto.
Hi, Dragon'sHost here. While I did adopt this story from PiperDreamer, I have left the first two chapters mostly intact. However, I did add a few scenes of my own and change a couple of things (such as giving the Mizukage a heavier accent). I do plan to keep the original format for the story as it is. My personal notes will be in bold italics at the beginning and end of each chapter. Enjoy!
16 year-old Kisame began to wonder if saving that pink-haired girl on a whim was the greatest or dumbest thing he had ever done.
One thing was for sure, he was going to get her back for breaking his arm.
Chapter 1
Sakura stared glumly at the guard at the gate, reminding herself that she needed to stay civil since she was in a neutral country, and that punching the guard for being a rude asshole would not go well with the new, extremely paranoid Mizukage.
She had been waiting here in front of the Mist Village gates for over an hour in the freezing January weather because they just had to search everything in her and her teammate's packs.
A week ago, Tsunade-shishou had sent her and Team 3 (a trio of jounin who all had been teammates in their genin days) to heal a third of the council and find a cure to an epidemic that had recently broken out all over the village.
Tsunade explained that their medics had done the best that they could with the disease, but had at last swallowed their pride and humbly turned to Konoha for help. They had then requested Sakura due to her reputation: she'd nearly surpassed her sensei the Fifth Hokage at the age of fifteen, had a track record of finding remedies to even impossible ailments, and could heal near any wound.
Some days Sakura just plain hated her reputation.
It often led to B-class or higher missions which, even though she was grateful to get them, were often just for her abilities as a medic instead of a ninja.
She honestly couldn't remember the last time she had dealt with an opponent of decent stature, Sasori of the Akatsuki non-withstanding.
"Are we ever going in there?" the dark haired teammate garbed in regular jounin's uniform, Masashi (who Sakura had a strange urge to be both respectful of and strangle for causing all her problems, something that really bothered her since she was sure that she had never met him before this mission) whispered to Akira, a round faced man with glasses wearing a orange gi (another man she felt she needed to be respectful of yet wanted to beat into a bloody pulp. Weird).
"Quit complaining you two," growled Rumiko, a dark haired woman wearing glasses and sporting a lovely red mandarin shirt and blue pants with slippers (Sakura was wary of this one who, when they came across a traveling miko and her companion—someone who reminded Sakura of a Inuzuka only with white hair—somehow turned the two against each other and then managed to throw a teenage girl—who bared a striking resembles to the miko—into the mix and seemed to enjoy the resulting fight far more than she should've).
The guard eyed their papers suspiciously, glancing up at the Konoha ninjas every once in a while. His gaze wandered over to the various weapons discovered in their packs, and then returned to the team with even more trepidation than before.
Oh come on! Sakura internally berated the man. We're shinobi! Even if we are medics, of course we're also going to have some weapons on hand in order to protect ourselves! You should know damn well who we are, as we sent a message to you about our arrival several days ago!
Oblivious to her mental rant, the guard continued with his agonizingly slow search. As he pulled out some poisonous herb bundles from her pack, he narrowed his eyes at her in a manner that did not bode well with the kunoichi.
Sakura tried her best to curb any facial tics that would give away her current homicidal state of mind by smiling brightly. "Those are native to Konoha," she supplied helpfully, hoping to get the process to go faster and smoother. "They have many medical purposes."
"I'm sure they do," he hissed back, entirely unconvinced.
It probably didn't help that Team 3 was starting a miniature brawl behind her, complete with hair-pulling, name-calling, and (judging from the yells) biting.
Sakura could only pray that the man would hurry up and finish soon; she was really tired and listening to these three bicker cheerfully (her standards for good-naturedness were admittedly a little odd) made her wish her own genin teammates had been even half this happy. It made her a bit jealous and being jealous of her temporary teammates was probably not a good thing.
As if Kami had heard her prayer, the rude guard confirmed that they really were here on the orders of the Mizukage and allowed them entry. A nervous looking chuunin then guided them through the village to the tower, while Sakura took in her new surroundings.
For the most part, it appeared as though the village was in a constant state of fog (this was the Village Hidden in the Mist but really, how the heck did these people even know where they were going if some areas she passed through couldn't even allow her to see her hand in front of her face?).
And worse, when she did see people they only took one look at her and either looked extremely shocked or confused. It was mostly elders that did this, though, whereas the younger ones looked more guarded than anything else.
Oh come on, her pink hair wasn't that strange!
Crazy old farts.
After what felt like an hour, Sakura finally saw the blurry outline of the tower. It almost freaked her out, how such a large building could sneak up on her so fast.
Thank Kami! Sakura was about to speed up when a hand reached out of the mist and grabbed her arm. Quelling the sudden impulse to stab the owner of the hand (and the aforementioned appendage), Sakura swiftly turned and came face to face with a Mist kunoichi.
It was a plain looking woman in her late twenties, with long dull blonde hair half hidden by a purple hat and garbed in the standard Mist chuunin uniform. She looked as though she had just seen an old friend if the grin (showing a row of sharp-looking teeth) on her face was any indication.
"It's you! You came back!"
Sakura stared at the lady oddly. She was pretty sure she had never met this woman before. Maybe the lady was mistaken?
The woman's expression was one of pure delight, full of an almost innocent happiness rarely found in shinobi. "It's been a long time, Sakura-san!"
Nope, she wasn't. Sakura began to wrack her memories for anyone who looked like this. A former patient perhaps?
"Man, I haven't seen you in forever! You…you haven't… aged a day…" The purple-hatted woman trailed off, sounding confused.
"Sato-san, I believe you are needed at the hospital." Sakura's guide said frostily.
The woman let go immediately, giving Sakura an apologetic grin, and then burst into a fountain of water.
I gotta learn that, Inner Sakura commented as she moved away from the clear liquid.
"Crazy woman," the guide muttered. Upon receiving looks from everyone on Team 3 and Sakura, he explained, "Sato Anzu-san is a medic-nin. She's one of our best but she's also a bit…eccentric."
What shinobi isn't? Sakura thought, her mind going immediately to Anko, Kakashi-sensei, Gai, and Lee.
After that weird run-in, Sakura soon found herself in the building being ushered by the secretary to the Mizukage's office, while being scolded the whole way about being late.
It's not our fault that retard at the gate took so long going through our stuff! Inner yelled. If breaking his nose would have gotten us in sooner, we would have done it! Sakura point-blank ignored her and kept her face as neutral as possible.
The layout of the building itself didn't seem too different from the Hokage tower Sakura was used to, and it made her wonder if they were all made from the same blueprint. The shinobi in her blanched at the thought since it would in fact be a huge security risk.
After a few more minutes of being almost-pushed to their destination, Sakura and company entered the presence of the Mizukage.
Sakura blinked before sweat dropping; the room was so full of paperwork, she almost couldn't see the Mizukage.
Do all Kages suffer from paperwork? Sakura asked herself as she watched the man behind the desk stare maliciously at the offending tree-product, like he was about to set the whole thing on fire and laugh manically while dancing around it.
The secretary gave a short cough, causing the man in question to snarl back rather fearsomely, without removing his gaze from the hated stack in front of him. "If ya 'ave 'nother load of paperwork, I swear I'll rip yer damn arms off an' beat ya ta death with 'em!"
Yes, they do, Inner deadpanned, reminding Sakura of a similar threat made by Tsunade.
"Um… sir, the team from Konoha is here," the secretary replied meekly, looking as if he wanted to be anywhere other than the Mizukage's office.
It was only then did the Kage look up.
He was easily the tallest man Sakura had ever seen (if the fact that he easily towered over the huge mounds of paperwork was any indication), with a full head of gray hair that seemed to defy gravity, high cheek bones, one blood shot hazel eye and the other an empty socket (that showed out even more thanks to his pallid skin being heavily scarred), and sharp triangular teeth that seemed to be a natural physical appearance of the residents of Water Country that showed through his snarling face.
"'Bout damn time ya showed up! Th' 'ell took ya so long?"
"One of your guards at the gate took pleasure in delaying us for as long as possible," Akira quipped, not noticing the secretary giving him pointed looks that screamed, 'Don't say anything that'll piss him off!'.
Sakura almost winced at the decidedly tactless statement, but kept her outward composure. A talk on tactfulness with Akira was in order, but now wasn't the time to lecture. Instead, she turned her attention to studying the Mizukage further, using her knowledge as a medic to her advantage.
The man was easily in his late fifties, and he looked as though he hadn't slept properly in days judging by the large bags under his eyes. He twitched slightly every once in awhile, as if he had been sitting for a very long time and was suffering from cramping. In an all-around bad mood, he looked very close to going nuts and killing everything in sight. A conspicuously huge pot of coffee sat on the desk within easy reaching distance.
Wow, change the coffee to sake and we'd have a male version of shishou! Sakura thought in amazement.
Then she noticed the large broadsword propped against the desk, also well within the grasp of the Mizukage, and easily long enough to decapitate them all from his seat.
That is easily the biggest sword I have ever seen, and that's including Zabuza's, Sakura thought, remembering the missing-nin's weapon and its destructive capabilities clearly.
The imposing man looked them over, judging them on their status and reputation and ignoring Akira's comment. When his gaze reached her, Sakura thought she saw a flash of something gleam in his one eye but dismissed it as a trick of the strange lighting produced by the fog outside the windows.
She was exhausted and it was already 11 pm. It wouldn't be too much longer before she crashed completely.
"Ya three will be 'ssigned a partner an' 'elp with some o' th' sentry posts 's a good amount o' our men 'ave fallen ta th' ailment," the Mizukage addressed Team 3, all of whom nodded in acquiescence. "You, Haruno," he pronounced carefully, "will begin work at th' 'ospital at six o'clock tomorrow mornin'. I know yer all tired an' whatnot from yer little trip 'ere, but I can't spare ya 'nymore time than tha'. I'll provide ya with a guide fer th' duration o' yer visit 's well 's yer livin' expenses." He paused a moment to let that sink in, and then commanded, "Wolf."
An ANBU appeared, his mask that of a wolf. "Escort these four ta their 'otel," he ordered before going back to his paperwork.
And with that Sakura and company walked out of the tower, following the ANBU very closely to prevent themselves from losing sight of him.
It wasn't long before they came to the quaint—if not a bit old—hotel.
Upon seeing the ANBU, the owner, a rather old looking man whose name badge said Hiroshi, practically threw the keys at Team 3 but hesitated for the barest of moments when he saw Sakura.
The pause didn't escape unnoticed by the tired kunoichi. Why was he looking at her like he knew her? But as quickly as he started he stopped, gingerly handing her the key with the number 13 engraved on it instead of tossing it at her.
This place is weird, she concluded. Inner wholeheartedly agreed with her.
As far as hotels went, this one had a fairly standard interior that looked in better shape than the outside. After a short trek up the staircase, the four Konoha ninja reached their respective rooms. Sakura entered her own temporary living quarters without truly examining the inside and, immediately dropping face-first onto the bed.
Though her body was tired, sleep danced out of her grasp. There were simply too many thoughts swirling around inside her skull.
Why were the older people in the Village acting like they knew her? It was as if they were surprised to see that she was alive or something!
Plus, what that Sato lady had said really bothered her.
What the hell did she mean she hadn't aged a day?
Honryuu Kasamaru looked up from his paperwork-bound desk, and stared out the window into the constantly moving mist.
The new Mizukage had almost jumped out of his skin when he saw her.
He knew it had to be the same person—who else was a medic trained by the Slug Sannin, had pink hair, and emerald eyes?
Seriously, why hadn't he noticed this before? Who else could it be?
So she really wasn't lying back then, he mused, remembering the last time he had encountered the strange and unique girl.
It had been during their last major epidemic, slightly over seventeen years ago.
Heaving his body out of his chair, he strolled over to where an old cabinet stood with large letters on it stating: MIA.
He pulled one drawer open and leisurely skimmed over the files until he found the one he was looking for.
The thing was old and starting to turn yellowish, having sat there for nearly two decades. He didn't bother to read anything other than the name: Uzutake Sakura.
Taking care with the fragile paper, he slowly pulled a little picture out from its paperclip and held it closely to his eye. It was her I.D picture, probably her official Tokubetsu Jounin photograph.
It was a perfect match. The only difference was that the Mist hitai-ate was absent, being worn around her waist if he recalled correctly.
Then he grinned when he found another photo wedged between the papers: the one he dubbed 'Team Ass-pain'.
In the center stood Sakura, who hadn't changed at all as she rubbed the hair of an annoyed looking ten-year old Momochi Zabuza. She was being teased (rather unmercifully if he recalled) by a seventeen year-old Hoshigaki Kisame with a younger, two-eyed version of himself hiding behind them, choking down various pills.
Ah, he remembered those days well, mostly because when he had been assigned to them he'd had to take prescription drugs just to deal with the insane lot.
She had only been there for nine months, but she had left a large impact on the place and was probably the main reason Kisame went rogue.
Not that he was ever going to tell anyone that.
Looking at the calendar, Kasamaru couldn't help but grin.
Tomorrow was the day.
Kisame stared emptily out the window of his hotel room, looking above the treetops at the perfectly clear night sky above Fire Country.
Itachi found it strange that his normally jovial partner looked so… blank. Or rather didn't have his usual grin on his face. It actually worried him, not that he showed it (or ever would).
Kisame pretty much ignored everything as he continued to gaze out into nothing, not seeing the sky at all but a pink haired girl smiling happily at him, her jeweled eyes glittering with glee.
Tomorrow, he thought.
Tomorrow marked the anniversary of when he met the crazy girl that had, without ever meaning to, turned his world on its head.
Uzutake Sakura.
That took a lot longer to finish than I thought!
Please review!
