Author's Note: Thanks for those of you who reviewed! I added a little more to chapter one so you might want to go check that out. I'm trying to get these out as fast as I can! Enjoy!


Impulse

Chapter 2: Of Convenient Excuses


Tsunade will understand, right? She couldn't be that mad?

Sakura was supposed to be at the hospital an hour ago and hoped her shishou's wrath wasn't going to be that bad today, but then again when you're woken up by the Hokage's personal ANBU that never spelled out good fortune. It must have been urgent for Tsunade to want her.

Sakura had never showered so fast in her life. She almost hopped out of bed and made a beeline for the door, but then she saw her appearance in the mirror. Sakura looked awful- eyes still puffy from all the crying, her hair an intangible mess of pink knots, and grass stains smudged on her pretty face. All in all, she looked like shit.

And she certainly couldn't smell too good either. She must have smelled like dirt, sweat, and, oh god, …sex. That thought made her stomach twist in sickening knots. It made her think of the night before and fresh tears threatened to spill. Sakura took a deep breath to calm herself. She didn't have time to think about that right now. She had more important things to worry about-like getting to the Hokage's office before Tsunade had her hide.

With that thought in mind, she hopped off her bed and softly padded toward the bathroom to shower. She figured Tsunade had already been waiting an hour so an extra ten minutes couldn't hurt, could it?


This was actually extremely unlike her. She was never late. Sakura was notorious for being on time, if not being an hour early to get some extra work done. Many referred to her as a workaholic, but she considered herself to be very dedicated to her work thank you very much. Sakura had a rigorous schedule and stuck to it.

This type of late behavior was typical of the Copy Nin. Team Kakashi was lucky if Kakashi arrived an hour late. That was considered early for him. Maybe she was finally picking up this bad habit from him.

Sakura snorted and shook her head. She had no time to diagnose her late behavior. She had to get to the Hokage Tower asap before her shishou let her wrath out on the whole village. She was not a patient woman when it came to important matters. Neither was Sakura for that matter. Tsunade's temper, some said, could be rivaled to her apprentice's, if not worse. Sakura gulped.

After that thought, she pumped more charka in her legs and headed even faster toward the Hokage Tower.


Sakura had been waiting outside the Hokage's Office for about twenty minutes now. By the time Sakura arrived, it was already 10:30. She had been an hour and a half late. At first, she was extremely nervous for what was in store for her, but now she was getting irritated.

'What was the point of Tsunade sending an ANBU to wake me up? She made it seem sooo important. It must not be that urgent if she's taking her sweet time to talk me!' Inner Sakura seethed.

Sakura agreed with her inner self, but at the same time she couldn't really expect Tsunade to just clear her whole morning and wait for her now could she? She was the Hokage after all.

About another five minutes went by and finally the doors to Tsunade's office opened.

'Finally!' Inner Sakura said exasperatedly. Sakura hushed her inner self and stood up.

Some very important figures seemed to shuffle out of the office. Oh, shit. Sakura's insides dropped to the pit of her stomach.

She had completely forgotten that she was supposed to be here helping Tsunade delegate this meeting that was just being let out. Usually Shizune helped Tsunade with this stuff since Sakura was mostly at the hospital now, but Shizune was out on a mission and Tsunade needed an extra hand.

She looked at the men and women that filed out of the room. They were representatives from the Hidden Sand Village. Sakura remembered Tsunade mentioning that Sand was coming to update their treaty with the Leaf Village. There was so much paperwork involved and that was one thing her shishou hated dealing with. It gave her migraines because she let it pile up. That's why she enlisted help from Sakura.

Over the years Sakura had had a good portion of the Hokage's paperwork pushed onto to her that something like reading, writing, updating, organizing, and filing something of this magnitude would be a walk in the park for her.

As the last few people filed out, she noted that Gaara, the current Kazekage, Temari, and Kankuro had attended the meeting. This didn't surprise her seeing how revising and updating a treaty didn't happen often and required the attendance of the respected kages. Finally, Tsunade and her advisors filed out of her office. Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro said their goodbyes to Tsunade.

"Everything is agreed upon then. We will continue our alliance with the Hidden Sand Village. What was outlined in today's meeting will be documented and finalized into a treaty for both Hidden Villages to review and sign. We shall reconvene in one month," Tsunade affirmed.

Gaara shook his head in agreement. "Advisors from both villages will work together to write the treaty and the Hidden Leaf Village and the Hidden Sand Village will meet on 20th of November at 9:00 a.m. in the Hidden Leaf Village for reviewing and signing. Any further questions?" A Leaf advisor asked.

Both parties shook their heads no and said their pleasantries before leaving. After that, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, and the rest of the Sand advisors started to leave and walked down the long corridor to the main entrance. They then took note of Sakura.

Gaara and Kankuro nodded their heads in her direction to acknowledge her and continued walking. Sakura did the same. The beautiful fan mistress regarded Sakura with a smile and quickly took in her appearance.

"The Hokage was right. They must have really needed you at the hospital because you look exhausted. It looks like you haven't slept in days. That must have been one hell of an injury to heal if you look like this." Temari stated boldly.

"She said you were up all night working on a patient with a critical injury. You shouldn't have come here. Everything was taken care of. You should be at home resting."

Temari was known for being blunt and downright rude at times, but was that concern in her voice? Sakura gave her a confused look and then looked to Tsunade to figure out what the hell Sand nin was babbling about. Tsunade gave Sakura a 'you better go along with it look or else.'

Then it dawned on Sakura. Tsunade had covered for her ass. Her appearance must have proved it because even after her shower she still felt like shit. Did she really look that bad?

Sakura gave Temari a wary smile. "Yes. I was at the clinic all night. The patient had a critical kunai injury near the abdomen and it just missed some vital organs. Everything's fine now." Sakura stated.

That wasn't necessarily a lie. She did work on a patient with that injury, but that was two nights ago. Thank the gods for her renowned skill of being a medic-nin. This little mishap of an excuse had saved her hide from embarrassing Tsunade and herself in front of some very prestigious leaders.

"That's good to hear. Just be sure to get some rest. It was good to see you. I'll see you at the next meeting then?" And with that, Temari nodded her farewell to Sakura and jogged to catch up with the rest of the Sand nin.

Sakura sighed her relief. That was semi-awkward. She didn't know why Tsunade had gone to great lengths to cover for her, but then again it was an important meeting. Sakura was thankful to have someone who cared for her like Tsunade did. She smiled at that thought.

Lost in her own musings, she almost didn't hear Tsunade snarl, "In my office, now."

Sakura's stomach sank and she took a nervous gulp. Tsunade may have cared deeply for her, but there was nothing worse than a facing a fuming Hokage. Yup, her shishou was definitely beyond pissed at her.


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