DISCLAIMER:
I do not own Naruto and never will. That privilege belongs to Kishimoto.
Warning. This does not take place in Mangaverse. Non-massacre because I honestly do feel that it is really tragic and is the turning point for many events. So allow me to present to you my take on the events that might have unfold should that tragedy not strike. Enjoy.
I dream of smelling coffee in the mornings when I wake up
Because I know that you will be there
-Yours truly-
Sakura was walking along the Konoha Market stalls, enjoying her long-awaited weekend as the morning sun shone on her. She held up her hand in front of her eyes, This is great she thought as she breathed in the fresh morning air. She had always relished in shopping for groceries in the market, preferring its hustle and bustle as opposed to the cold metallic atmosphere in supermarkets.
"Sakura-san, these white daikon radishes just arrived early this morning so they are very fresh", the elderly hawker holding them out and smiling at her.
I suppose I can make tempura(1).I haven't had those in ages, she mused as she checked the radishes. "Baa-chan, I'll take those, a packet of miso, two cloves of garlic and some spring onions please"
"Alright. Here is fresh ginger as well, it's on the house" winking as she passed the bag of vegetables to her favourite customer.
"Eeee! Sakura-chan!"
Sakura turned around to see Naruto jumping and waving at her from a distance with the rest of Team Seven as she waved cheerfully back.
"You guys smell" she wrinkled her nose at the unmistakable odour of their sweat, evidence that they had morning training without her, again. Her eyes scanning them for any injuries while shooting them daggers from her eyes when Naruto piped up "We did not spar today because you were not there"
"Maa, stop glaring at us", Kakashi tried to placate his former student. "It is the first Sunday since your promotion as we thought we'll give you a break"
"Congratulations, Sakura" Kakashi's lone eye crinkled at her.
"Congratulations, Sakura-chan!" as Naruto flung him arms around the pinkette.
"Congratulations, Sakura" Sasuke stoically wrapped his arms around her as he patted her back.
Sakura beamed at them. This is my team, my boys she thought, happy that they are all proud of her and sharing her joy with her.
Team Seven had gone a long way from the fresh behind the ears genin team they used to be. The once loud-mouthed reckless and self-proclaimed 'Number One Unpredictable Ninja' is now one of the most respected Jounin in the village and even made it into the ranks of ANBU. Having matured immensely since his training trip with Jiraiya, he quickly rose up the ranks together with his best friend/rival Uchiha Sasuke, even forming a formidable ANBU two man squad together. No longer wearing his trademark orange jumpsuit, Naruto had toned down to wearing a simple black shinobi outfit with admittedly garish burnt orange streaks.
Sakura turned to look at her onetime crush clad in navy blue with his trademark Uchiha fan proudly on his back. His face was still handsome as ever, but with the serenity that she wished he had back when Sasuke was a broody and angsty genin with a huge brother complex. Sasuke had stepped out of his older brother's shadow and made his own name as a phenomenal shinobi, not known only as Uchiha Itachi's brother but as a powerful shinobi in his own right.
Kakashi-sensei on the other hand, was exactly the same. He is still obnoxiously late, giving the most ridiculous excuses and read his Icha Icha novel wherever he goes. Of course now he insists to be called 'Kakashi', citing that he is much too young to be their sensei now that they have all made Jounin. After his stint as a Jounin Sensei, he returned to an ANBU life, carrying out mostly solo missions. Forming an ANBU three man squad with Naruto and Sasuke on occasions, made sure that the three of them remained close even after Kakashi had tearfully announced that they were no longer his darling students.
As much as Sakura enjoyed her work at the hospital, she couldn't help but wish that she had been part of their ANBU team after all when she glanced at the apparent camaraderie her boys had. Naruto and Sasuke were bickering quietly, shooting insults at each other while Kakashi walked alongside them trying to placate them but was obviously amused, his eye crinkling in amusement.
"Come on, Sakura. You're lagging behind" said Kakashi who paused to wait for her then walked to her side.
"So Kaka-sensei, any black cats crossed your paths lately?"
We are still Team Seven, she reminded herself as Kakashi low baritone voice washed over her, telling her how unavoidably late he has been recently with the number of black cats he seen.
A melancholic sigh slipped out as she couldn't help but to recall how things had turned out.
Flashback
"Yosh! My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen and what I like even more is when Iruka-sensei pays for my ramen. What I dislike is waiting 3 minutes for ramen to cook. My dream is to surpass the Hokage and have the people of this village acknowledge my existence. I'm going to be the next Hokage, dattebayo!"Naruto exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Alright emo-boy, You're next" Kakashi said, crouched on the rooftop railing.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are lot of things that I dislike and not many that I like. I like training and tomatoes. And I can't really call it a dream, but I do have an ambition. I want to surpass my aniki one day and have my father's acknowledgement"
"Your turn,pinky"
"My name is Haruno Sakura. The thing I like is well..the person I like is well.." as Sakura shot sideway glances at Sasuke besides her, blushing as she did so. "My dream is to" she squealed at the thought of spending time with her beloved Sasuke-kun and one day be Mrs Uchiha.
Flashback ends.
Sakura face-palmed herself at how embarrassingly she used to fan-girl over Sasuke.
"Let's have a Team Seven dinner tonight to celebrate Sakura's promotion" suggested Kakashi. "And no Naruto, we're not going to Ichiraku Ramen tonight" just as Naruto opened his mouth.
"How about letting Sakura decide? It is a celebration for her after all" Sasuke stepped in between Naruto and Kakashi, blocking the former's death glares.
"You're right, teme" Naruto's shoulders slumped in defeat.
"Dobe"
"How about the newly opened yakitori restaurant in town then? They are having an all you can eat promotion" Sakura added.
Naruto's eyes lit up at the prospect of the meat galore and nodded furiously as he nudged the others to agree as well.
"Okay, great! We can meet up at around seven then" Sakura grinned, delighted to finally have the chance of meeting up with her team. With her hospital duties and their ANBU missions, it was rare that Team Seven were able to spend much time together.
As she turned to leave, "Right, the tomato plant" she muttered.
"Remember to water the tomato plant, Sasuke!" she yelled at his retreating figure.
"Hn"
"Sho, yhu are shaying dat yhu haff been resiffing inshovting letters?" Naruto asked, his mouth full of meat as he stuffed another slice of pork into his mouth.
"Eat, chew and swallow, dobe. I don't fancy seeing bits of half eaten meat in your mouth" Sasuke said pointedly as he flipped the sizzling slices of pork on the barbeque grill.
Naruto shut his mouth promptly before chewing hard and swallowing.
"So, you are saying that you have been receiving insulting letters?" he repeated clearly.
"Mmhmm. Offensively written haikus on some really expensive paper, according to Hinata" she replied absent-mindedly as Sakura continued eating.
"Did you bring them with you?" Kakashi asked suddenly, looking up from his Icha Icha novel.
Sakura pulled out the letters from her bag in reply, "I wanted you guys to help me figure out the person behind them"
"Hmm, she is right. This is indeed top quality paper and definitely cost a lot. Whoever is behind this spared no expenses in sending them. Do you see this ink?" Sasuke pointed out, his slim finger pointing at her name on the second envelope.
"See how there are gold flecks in the ink when you move the paper back and forth?" he added. "That is actual gold added to the ink when it is produced. This type of gold ink(2) is rare and very costly"
"Let me see that" Sakura took an envelope back from him as she observed the word Haruno Sakura emblosssed on it. "You're right. I did not notice that"
"Do you think that I can track down the culprit by checking the shipment record? I can always ask Tsunade-sama for them" she asked hopefully.
Kakashi shook his head solemnly, "I have seen these kind of ink before. They are generally not for sale. The inkmakers who have the knowledge and skill to make it, have patrons to whom they provide this ink for and only those patrons have access to them"
"Can't we investigate the inkmakers instead? Find out which of them are capable of making them and track down the culprit through that" said Naruto, waving his chopsticks in mid-air.
"We can't do that either" interjected Sasuke. "Those patrons guard the identities of their inkmakers very jealously to prevent rival families from obtaining their secrets. It is a craft passed on from generation to generation, with the inkmaker family attached to the patron family hence usually only noble families can acquire their services. But at the very least we know that the culprit has to be of noble background. " he concluded.
"That, or a wealthy merchant who gotten his grubby hands on some. It is also possible that the ink is given out as a gift or even part of a dowry" Kakashi wagged his finger as his former apprentice.
"So that is pretty much a dead end then since there is no way to find out who gave who the ink. Assuming it was a noble family member, is there no way to find out which family?" Sakura frowned.
"Each family generally has its own custom made ink made with a secret formula and infused with the family chakra. As for those civilian noble families, they tend to patronise inkmakers who have chakra to infuse the ink. However, this particular ink dos not have any chakra residues so any inkmaker could have made it", said Sasuke, examining the ink with his Sharingan.
"I suppose that I can ask my contacts whether any gold ink has been in the black market recently" offered Kakashi who received a grateful nod in reply.
"Let me see that" Naruto snatched both the letters from Sasuke. He barked out laughing as he read them, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement.
"I like this person's sense of humour already" he announced.
"Hear hear. Haiku number two" Naruto cleared his throat as he stood up, puffing his chest as he did with his arms in a dramatic motion and face in a schooled expression.
"You are like coffee to me
Bitter
And diarrhoea inducing"
The edge of Sasuke's lips twitched uncontrollably just as Naruto broke his poker face by laughing hysterically.
"It's not funny, Naruto-baka!" Sakura landed a fist on Naruto's head, smashing his face onto the table as he cried out in pain.
"Itaiiiii!" he cried, rubbing his head indignantly. "I don't know why you're so worked up about this. Just send him an even ruder letter back then if you are pissed at him"
Sakura's fist paused in mid-air, "You're a prankster, Naruto" she said, looking at him.
"Of course I am. I am the Number One Prankster in Konoha" Naruto leapt to his feet, his teeth gleaming as he brandished the Nice Guy Pose. "I'll think of something even more offensive than this as a reply", he grinned mischievously
"Dobe, you're supposed to be witty as well. Considering you have none, I will generously lend you a hand" Sasuke sniffed haughtily.
"Maa maa, you can't leave out your beloved sensei like this" Kakashi added, the smirk of his lips apparent through his mask.
"YOSH! A Team Seven mission" as Naruto pumped his fist in the air energetically.
"Though I have to admit, the person had made two rather accurate observations of you, Sakura" Kakashi lips curving into a smile.
"Kaka-sensei, you're paying" Sakura retorted in sugary voice. "Right?" as she glanced menacingly at Naruto and Sasuke who nodded right away.
"Another serving of pork please!"
"Maa maa, you awful awful students"
Author's Note:
Since calligraphy brushes are used in the Naruto universe, I would think that they use inksticks(3) as muse has been very demanding lately. Though I suppose the rain pouring outside my room did contribute to me sitting down in front of my laptop to write a new chapter. I hope that you all enjoy reading this chapter. Suggestions in form of reviews are welcome! Thank you.
Written at 3:36 PM
Note:
Tempura- Grated daikon radishes are used to cut down oiliness of food like tempura
Gold Ink: There is actually such ink in China, made by adding gold paper into the inksticks. It is traditionally made by placing a piece of gold paper on the 'inkclay' then pounding it in order to incorporate the gold before forming inksticks
Inkstick: A type of solid ink used traditionally in East Asian cultures for calligraphy and brush paintings which is mainly made out of soot and animal glue. Ink is made from inkstick by continuously grinding it against an inkstone with a small quantity of water to produce ink. It is traditionally hand made by pounding the inkclay 10,000 times with a hammer or 30,000 times with a metal pestle and mortar before slowly dried.