_A Different World_
So, I don't really have an excuse for my inactivity on this account. I honestly feel really bad that I'm starting a new story without having finished the other ones yet. I seem to still have a steady amount of readers who check out "Little Spirit" and I would truly like to continue with it. So, I have decide that for every chapter that I post for this story I will not post another until I have update one of the other two stories already on my account. By doing this hopefully I'll eventually finish them both.
Enough of my talking. I know this is a short chapter but I just didn't want to make it super long. So, please forgive the length for now. The following chapters will definitely be longer than this. Enjoy and let me know if you think I should continue with this or not.
Chapter One:
It had been such a long time since she had last seen the village's gates. Looking up at the imposing red pillars Sakura couldn't keep the nostalgia from clouding her senses. The last time she had seen these gates was when she was looking back at her team. She remembered Naruto being an emotional idiot as usual. Kakashi-sensei had his nose buried within his dirty orange book. Then Sasuke.
He hadn't even bothered to show up. She had latter received a letter from Naruto apologizing for Sasuke's behavior. He had said Sasuke's brother, Itachi, had come back home the night before from a yearlong mission and Sasuke had completely forgotten about coming to see Sakura off on her journey. She knew that it was a lie in order to keep her from feeling sad, but she knew. Sasuke hadn't forgotten to come see her off. He simply didn't want to.
It has been eight long years since that day. Wondering the country with Tsunade-sama has been the best experience of her life thus far and she wouldn't trade a second of it. She had seen so many interesting places and has made friends with so many interesting people. Even so, she could honestly say she was only partly sad knowing her journey was coming to an end.
It had honestly surprised her the day her mentor decided it was time for her to return to Konoha. They had been sitting at a bar in a rinky-dink town somewhere in Rain country. Tsunade-sama had just badgered her into another drinking contest. During their fourth bottle of sake Tsunade had admitted to Sakura that it was time for her to return home. There was nothing left for her to teach.
After her mentor's confession she had just sat there in stunned silence still trying to decide if the alcohol hadn't already affected her mentor's judgment. Alas, it wasn't just a fluke from alcohol consumption. The very next day had seen her and Tsunade-sama finishing any remaining business within the little town and off on the road leading back to home.
Three days later and here she was. Standing before her home's entrance.
"Well." Tsunade said impatiently. She couldn't understand why her apprentice found it necessary to stand outside the gates. It was time for them to go in.
"Gomen, Tsunade-sama." Sakura blushed, embarrassed that her mentor had caught her distracted by her thoughts. Shaking her head in order to get rid of her distracting thoughts Sakura walked through Konoha's entrance.
Looking to the guard station on her left she saw the slightly surprised but smiling faces of Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane.
"Lady Tsunade-sama." Kotetsu called.
"It's nice to see you safely back from your travels." Izumo finished for his longtime friend.
"Good afternoon boys." Tsunade answered the ninja on guard duty smiling in return.
"We'll go ahead and let the Hokage know of your return Tsunade-sama but we will need your traveling companion to sign-in in order to enter the village." Izumo stated while trying to hand the forms over to Sakura.
"Ummmm…." Sakura couldn't keep the uncertainty from her voice as well as the confused expression slowly creeping its way over her face. She heard her mentor snort in exasperation from behind her.
"Izumo it's not required for Konoha shinobi to sign-in at the village gates or have you hit your head so many times that you have forgotten such standard protocol." Tsunade smartly said unable to believe what she had just heard.
"What do you mean Lady Tsunade?" Kotetsu asked in confusion trying to help his comrade who was too busy floundering in embarrassment after getting scolded by the sannin to be of any more help.
"My traveling companion is none other than Sakura Haruno. A Konoha shinobi just as yourselves." Tsunade said with a slight tick beginning to form on her temple due to her attempt at restraining her legendary temper.
"Not meaning to sound rude Lady Tsunade but we don't recognize the woman standing behind you and trust me. I think I would remember someone as beautiful as her." Izumo admitted causing Sakura to blush in embarrassment as well as in anger.
Getting frustrated with the entire situation Sakura reached inside the collar of her shirt and pulled out the forehead protector that she had received from her parents as a parting gift. The metal of the plate shined with a rose-gold hue and the ribbon in which it sat was of a black silk material. A little fancy but she loved it anyway. It was her proof that her parents had finally accepted the path she had chosen for her life.
Walking closer to the guard station she leaned forward towards Izumo and Kotetsu to allow them a better view of her forehead protector.
"Well…" Izumo said as he leaned closer squinting his eyes.
"Looks legit." He finally stated after a few minutes had gone by of nothing but him looking intensely at the forehead protector wrapped around her neck.
"Sorry for the misunderstanding." Both Izumo and Kotetsu said while bowing at the waist to show how sorry they really were.
"No big deal. I suppose it's been a while since the last time you guys have seen me." Sakura says. Looking back to see Tsunade's frustrated scowl still present on her face even though the confusion was now over. She made a calculated decision to turn away from the gate guards to show that she was ready to leave.
"Bye Lady Tsunade, Sakura-chan." The pair stated waving as the women began walking down the village road towards the Hokage tower.
"Wow." Kotetsu said. Sitting back in his chair while looking over at his friend completely stunned.
"I'll say. I never would have thought that Kakashi-sempai's student would have ever grown up to look like THAT!" Izumo exclaimed still happy that neither Sakura nor Tsunade appeared to notice that he had been staring into Sakura's cleavage the entire time he had been pretending to verify her forehead protector.
"I wonder…" Izumo stated while leaning back in his chair. Kotestu raised his eyebrow inquisitively towards his best friend.
"I wonder if Sakura-chan would go on a date with me if I asked." Izumo finished getting a silly grin on his face.
Kotetsu couldn't help the scowl that claimed his face at his friend's statement as well as the red flush taking over his face and partly creeping its way down his neck.