"Falcon."
"Sir."
Sakura was in her uniform standing in the office of the supreme ANBU commander, Lion.
This was it.
It had been two weeks since that encounter between herself and Tiger and she had finally gotten her request for an audience with Lion granted.
Immediately after leaving the locker room that day she had returned to her supervisor and had put in a request to leave ANBU.
It had been instantaneous.
Sakura had always known that she wouldn't be able to do it without Tiger. She couldn't even make herself try. He was ANBU for her and she knew that even if she wanted to make it work, the memory of them would never go away. Trying to work with others would simply make her miss him more. So, the decision had been easy, a no brainer.
Unfortunately, it wasn't that simple. ANBU currently owned her and so she couldn't just leave. She had to apply to leave and have a good reason for it too. Which is why she was here now: the final step in her application. Sakura needed Lion's approval.
Lion was a large burly man. Beneath his uniform she could almost taste the muscles teeming with power. His presence was overwhelming, his large frame took up twice the size of a regular man. Upon his face lay a large ANBU mask with the design of an orange and yellow lion.
He sat behind an enormous desk littered with papers and was leaning back on his chair with his feet propped up on the table. Though his posture was relaxed she doubted he ever truly let his guard down, even deep within the ANBU compound.
Sakura stood at attention, both hands behind her back and her face forwards. Though she was tense and nervous, she hoped her posture did not betray her.
She had come up with a plan, a reason for leaving that she hoped was good enough. She knew many ANBU that had left, and they hadn't had much trouble leaving.
Yet, she also knew that in a world where killers were highly sought after, great killers were in even higher demand, and though she didn't want to brag, she was pretty good. Capable of murder so subtle she fooled all but the very best.
Which also made her wonder how Tiger had been able to leave ANBU so easily. He was just as good as her, maybe not specialized in assassinations, but that didn't mean he wasn't good. If anything, he was even better at ensuring the death of his enemies in battle.
How had they let that weapon go so easily?
The reason behind his departure left her with an uneasy feeling. It was such an unusual situation and she couldn't understand how or why it had happened so fast. One day he told her he was leaving, the next his name was completely off the roster. Fully dismissed from service.
A deep cough brought her attention back to reality.
Lion had shifted in his seat. He was leaning forwards with his elbows on the table and his hands intertwined together. The papers on his desk crunched as he crumbled a couple of them with his large elbows.
"So, you want to leave?" He began, his deep voice rumbling in the small room, softly echoing off the walls.
She straightened her back and nodded her head forward into a low bow, "Yes, sir."
He leaned back in his chair and picked up a file off the cluttered table, opening it he continued, "You wrote in your application that you believed you'd served your time with us here and you wanted to return to being a regular Jounin in order to run more medically inclined missions. To be specific you stated, 'With the increasing lack of interest in medical justu, the demand for medic-nin has increased. As a leading figure in the medical world my presence on medical missions will provide the exposure necessary to inspire a larger number of shinobi to learn medical-justu. Unfortunately, this will require my full attention for the enforceable future, therefore, I implore you to release me from by ANBU service.'" He paused for emphasis before continuing, "Is this correct?"
"Yes, sir." She answered honestly.
He titled his head to the side and if he wasn't wearing a mask, she knew she would see him looking at her with undisguised interest, "Operative remove your mask."
She almost stumbled over her words, "Sir?"
That was highly unusual. They never removed their masks.
Today, she had forgone her usual contact lenses and had only wore a short black wig over her pink hair. She wore no heavy cosmetics and she knew, in this half-assed disguise, her face would be highly recognizable.
Not that Lion didn't know who she really was, he was in charge of ANBU and he had access to the full roster and true identities.
He cocked his head forwards and crossed his arms over his chest, "You heard me, I want to see your face."
She schooled her facial expression into one of neutral boredom, the one Kakashi always implored, and reached back around her head to remove her mask, "Yes sir."
Even with his mask she knew he was analyzing her face for any hint of emotion, good or bad. She strained to keep herself from grimacing in discomfort from the intense scrutinizing and clenched her hands together behind her back to ease her irritation.
"Is this really why you want to leave?" He inquired with a hint of disbelief in his voice. When she nodded in acknowledgement, he leaned forwards to rest his elbows back down on the desk and she could feel the smirk behind his mask as he asked, "This has nothing to do with Tiger's departure?"
Sakura's breath almost caught in her throat as his words hit home.
Did he know what had happened between them?
Her clenched hands grew even tighter as she struggled to remain emotionless. Her mind was racing uncontrollably. There was no way for Lion to know what they had done, had he somehow clued into the ANBU gossip that they were together? It made no sense, why would he be concerned about the actions of his subordinates when it didn't affect their mission performance. She strained her hands together squeezing so tightly she felt her fingernails pierce skin.
Struggling to reign in her spiraling emotions she ground out through her teeth, "No, sir."
"Neither of you broke code 3?" Lion asked casually, his head still tilted slightly, as he assessed her.
At that question she could no longer remain emotionless and her mouth fell open into a large gasp as she ran scrambled forwards.
She dropped to her knees in front of the desk and with her head bowed down in submission and she cried out, "Gods no! Never! I would never do that."
Code 3 was the rule indicating that no operative should ever reveal their identity or risk severe punishment and forced retirement from the ANBU corps.
Though she had only wanted to tell Tiger her real name twice, during the ambush and the time in the locker room, she had never. She had always been a rule follower and that hadn't changed. The fact that Lion even suggested that she would completely astonished her.
Why would they ever? Did this have something to do with who he was?
Lion stood up behind his seat and looked down at her. With his arms crossed across his chest and full height towering over her she felt unbelievably small.
Please believe me, please believe me. She chanted silently; her head still bowed down.
She had heard horror stories of the punishments given to those who broke the most sacred ANBU rule. The rule was there for their own protection and for the protection of the entire ANBU association. ANBU shinobi were notorious for performing the gruesome and necessary missions that were either too risky, too secret, or too damming for the public eye to know. Regular missions given to shinobi in the main force were released as public record, apart from the few regular missions that would become classified due to unforeseen circumstances. So, in order to protect the shinobi who murdered and maimed various public figures or destroyed alliances their identities were kept secret, even from one another. She also knew that once someone left ANBU their true identities were removed from the database leaving only their code-name as reference for their actions. This way no one would be able to dig up a specific shinobi's murderous past. Imagine if someone found the 4th Hokage's dirty ANBU past (if he had one) and aired it out for everyone to know, the public outcry would be unimaginable.
"Stand up." Lion commanded roughly.
Sakura scrambled onto her feet, almost tripping, as she returned to her previous position. Her back and shoulders straight, her hands behind her back, and her face wiped of emotions.
Lion sauntered around his large desk. With his arms still crossed he scrutinized her, looking her up and down so visibly she could see his masked face tilt. She swallowed shallowly as he began to pace around her.
Finally, he stopped a few feet in front, "I believe you." Was all he said, and her heart soared.
Staring at her slightly he paused for a second before he turned back around and picked up her file off his desk.
"You are officially dismissed," he decided and handed her the file before turning back around and marching back to his chair. As he sat back down, he looked at her once more, "You know what to do with that, yes?"
"Yes, sir" She replied instantly. Shock still hampering her movements.
"Well then get out of here!" He bellowed waving his hand towards the door.
She clutched the file tightly against her chest as she bowed down once more before turning around and practically sprinting out of the room.
With the file in hand Sakura returned to the ANBU women's locker-room for the last time. She cleared out her things and with one last glance towards the men's room she left the compound for what she hoped would be the last time.
It was only once she was in the safety of her own bedroom did she take a look at the file. She knew without it having to say so that this was her file. When she opened it she wasn't shocked to find her real name written in large bold letters slightly above her code name, Falcon. Below that was a detailed account of her various abilities ranked in order of most effective to least. The second page held the list of missions, both successfully completed and failed, though she was proud to note that there was a much larger amount of successfully completed missions.
This file was essentially her whole ANBU career on paper and she was given the final task of burning it. This ensure that no one but herself, the current supreme ANBU commander and the current Hokage would know which member of the elite ANBU she had been. Sure, some of her close friends would likely find out that she'd been in ANBU on account of accidently showing them her ANBU tattoo, but they would never be able to find out what she had done, which was exactly the point. In fact, she knew for sure that Kakashi had been a part of ANBU at one point, but she did not know, and did not want to know, what he had to have done for them.
Sighing in exasperation Sakura got up off the bed and walked into her bathroom, the file in hand she stood in front of her sink.
Time to let everything go, she thought as she readied herself to perform her only fire Jutsu.
As the file in her hand slowly burned away, she almost felt relief. The weight of ANBU was finally off her shoulders. She no longer had to hide and lie to her friends by making up excuses and reasons for not attending birthdays or holiday celebrations. She no longer had to worry every-time she left without telling anyone if she was going to make it back.
The only thing that kept her from shouting out in joy was the fact that it also meant the end of Tiger and her. It's not like she hadn't known, it had been two weeks since that time, but yet, the final act of burning away her ANBU past allowed that reality to finally set in.
She was never going to see him again. She was never going to be with him again. She was never going to hear his laugh, his voice.
It had only been two weeks, they had spent longer periods of time apart, yet the fact that they would never be together made her heart positively ache.
Gods she missed him.
She missed him like the sun misses the moon and the sky misses the earth.
The file had completely disintegrated and had left her bare on the inside.
She clutched the sides of the sink as her emotions finally burst. A dam breaking apart letting the waters crash outwards, finally free. Her tears fell into the sink washing away down the drain as she cried for the hole in her heart that could only be filled by him.
As she wept, it was only then that she realized the true depth of her emotions. She had secretly hoped that what she had felt when they'd shared that moment had been skewed, heightened only by the pure trill of the act. Yet, now as she stood in her bathroom, her body aching from the loss, her mind empty and her heart utterly shattered she knew what she had felt had been real. What they had shared together had been true and perfect in every sense of the word. She had known then that they had been made for each other as surely as she knew now that she would never find anythinglike it again.
Forcing herself out of the bathroom Sakura climbed into her bed and curled up around her pillow. She fell asleep with tears still gently rolling down her cheek.
A loud startling sound awoke her from her sleep. Her hand instinctively went to the kunai hidden beneath her pillow before her mind caught up.
The knocking was loud, obnoxious and accompanied by a familiar female voice, "SAKURA! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE. I CAN SEE THE LIGHT, OPEN UP!"
Sakura sighed and leaned back down onto her pillow placing the kunai back. It was still light out, the golden glow coming through her window indicated it was late afternoon. She heaved herself off the bed and walked towards her door if only to stop the banging that was giving her a massive headache.
Slamming the door wide open she growled, "WHAT?" clutching her forehead in her hand.
Ino stood on her deck garbed in a slim navy-blue halter-top dress that reached her mid-thigh. On her feet she wore black heeled boots and she clutched in her hands a beige purse. She looked like she was going-somewhere and inwardly Sakura groaned as she then knew why Ino was there in the first place.
But before Sakura could tell her she wasn't interested Ino blurted out, "Woah, you look like shit!" and pushed her way into the house.
Closing the door behind her, Sakura waved her hands dismissively, "Yeah, yeah. I know."
Ino stalked into her bedroom and called out to Sakura, "Well come on, lets fix it."
Following closely behind her Sakura groaned, "Not tonight Ino. I have a massive headache and I really don't feel like going out with you. Maybe tomorrow night."
Stopped in her tracks Ino turned around to push her hand against Sakura's forehead. A light green glowing light appeared beneath her hand and the pressure in Sakura's temple eased considerably.
"There, and what to do you mean? Don't you know?"
Crossing her arms across her chest Sakura stared at Ino as she flopped herself down on the bed. "Know what?"
"Naruto's party. Didn't you get the invite? I'm sure you did."
Sakura thought back on the stack of unopened letters on her kitchen table. She'd been a bit busy these past two weeks organizing her ANBU dismissal application that she hadn't really had the time to do much at home other than sleep. She hadn't even seen any of her friends or teammates choosing to spend her time in the hospital in order to make sure everything was set in place and realistic. She'd even added in graphs and data to support the conclusions she'd come to regarding the lack of up-and-coming medic-nin. Everything she'd written had been true, and she was even planning on following through with her plans and spending more time to promote the craft.
"I must not have seen it." Sakura simply shrugged.
"Well it says its important. So, you have no choice, you're coming!"
"What do you mean it's important. What could be important about one party?" Sakura groaned and fell onto the bed beside Ino, "I really, really don't feel like going Ino. Today has just not been my day. I want to just stay in and eat ice-cream."
Ino leaned to the side and stared at Sakura with a serious expression on her face, "It might not be your day. But it will be Naruto's. The invitation said that he had an announcement to make."
Ino wiggled her eyebrows and Sakura finally understood.
"Oh… OH! He's going to become Hokage!" Sakura jumped up off the bed and laughed. "OH MY GOD! It's going to be official!"
Ino smiled, "I think so."
"Okay. Okay! Well, what are we waiting for! Let's go!"
Sakura was suddenly ecstatic. Her earlier depression almost forgotten. Naruto was going to be Hokage she beamed inwardly. She was so so proud. She had to go congratulate him now!
She went to get up off the bed and rush out the door but before she could get far Ino grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Not looking like that we are. Get your shit together, then we'll go."
Staring down at herself Sakura had to agree. In her stained T-shirt and massive sweat pants, she was not wearing appropriate clothes for a Hokage Announcement Party.
Grudgingly, with Ino's persuasion, she ended up settling on a lacy-white opened-back shirt with gold detailing and an emerald green skirt with a chiffon layer. Quickly brushing her hair down and washing her face, Sakura was ready to go.
Ino led her to a large restaurant and bar with an open floor plan. It seemed that the entire restaurant had been reserved for their party. As they arrived shortly after 8 there were already a number of people mingling around.
"Are we late?" Sakura whispered to Ino as they stepped through the doors.
"Well the invite said 7. But everyone knows that really means 8."
"Ino!"
"What? It does."
"What if we missed it?" Sakura nervously looked around the room noticing how full it was. It looked like they were the last to arrive.
"We definitely didn't miss it." Ino sighed, exasperated, as she continued to drag Sakura towards the bar, which Ino claimed was supposedly serving free booze.
"How can you be so sure!?"
"Do you even think Naruto would even make the announcement without you there? He'd wait for sure."
Sure enough, as soon as soon as Ino said his name the man in question burst through the crowd with a large beaming smile lighting up his handsome face.
"Sakura!" he exclaimed before wrapping her up into a large bone-crushing hug, "Thank goodness you're here! I've been waiting for you."
Behind his shoulder she could see Ino raise her eyebrow in a gesture that said I told you so.
Naruto glanced back at Ino in greeting before putting his arm around Sakura's shoulder and leading her back to where he'd come from.
"Naruto." She whispered into his ear as they walked, "Is this announcement what I think it is?"
His arm tightened around her shoulders and he looked down at her with an even bigger smile than before, "You'll have to wait and see." He winked, and it was so boyishly charming she couldn't help but blush.
Ever since the end of the Fourth Shinobi War Naruto had really grown and matured into one hell of a man that sometimes, even she found herself admiring him. He was no longer obnoxiously loud, and he had a serious side that she saw come out more and more often, likely linked to his increasingly large role in village politics. But Naruto was still Naruto and when he was happy and free, like tonight, it reminded her a lot of the older days. His personality had evolved in the best way possible, he had the maturity and seriousness of an older man with the playfulness and righteousness of his youth, he truly would be an amazing Hokage.
As he led her to the front of the crowd, she saw that they were indeed the last ones to arrive.
"I still think you need to work on some close combat," Sasuke insisted looking at Sai, "What if you run out of ink one of these days or get caught off guard… Again."
"That was a special circumstance and you know it." Sai groaned quietly crossing his arms.
"Wouldn't you rather be safe then sorry?" Sasuke prodded, staring pointedly at him.
Sai smiled icily, and gave Sasuke a weak glare, "Isn't it so nice that you're worried about me?"
Sasuke looked away bitterly, though Sakura could still see the teasing twinkle in his eye, "Well obviously, this is for the team. I don't actually care what happens to you. But if you die, then my left is wide open for anyone to attack, obviously."
"Obviously." Sakura agreed, finally drawing their attention away from one another, though she was sure they knew she had been there the whole time.
"Sakura." Sasuke greeted giving her a small barely-a-smile smile.
"You're late." Sai simply pointed out.
"Ino." Was all Sakura said pointing her thumb general direction Ino had run off to.
That seemed to satisfy Sai as he chuckled lightly before replying, "That explains it."
"Explains what?" drawled a sweet voice, coming up behind Sakura.
Ino stood with an angry expression on her face and a hand on her hip, indicating she knew exactly what they had been talking about.
"That you're the reason Sakura's late," Naruto jested lightly a grin donning his face, he rested a hand on her arm. "I mean, I should have known that this would happen."
Ino huffed slightly turning her head away from him, but Sakura could see the small smile on her lips. They all laughed heartedly as Naruto continued to tease her. Even Sasuke cracked a smile as their old teacher was mentioned as comparison for tardiness.
"About being late," Sakura began, "When are you going to make this announcement of yours?" she teased.
"I was waiting for someone to show up." He grinned heartedly giving Ino an eyeful before winking at Sakura, "Now that she's here I guess I can do it."
Sakura nodded expectantly and as Naruto left them to go stand on the bar to get everyone's attention, she went to stand beside Sasuke.
Naruto called everyone to silence in the restaurant, and as her hand clasped Sasuke's, she knew he was just as proud of Naruto as her.
Standing together, hand in hand, they stood united, a team, as Naruto announced to the crowd that he was going to be the next Hokage. Leaning her head onto Sasuke's shoulder they both stood back as Naruto was accosted by everyone. Without speaking to one another they stood together and let him get the attention and congratulations he deserved.
"I always knew he would do it." Sasuke whispered into her hair. "I always knew."
She squeezed his hand and nodded, "I'm so happy."
"He's a great man and he's going to be a great Hokage."
"Yeah, he will." She sighed quietly.
Sakura and Sasuke stood together in silent observation and before long Sai joined them standing silently beside her. For all his faults in the past 8 years Sai had become a true member of their team.
Kakashi came to stand behind them moments later mumbling something about missing the announcement, but Sakura knew he was lying. If she knew Kakashi at all he had likely been hiding out somewhere to listen in alone, afraid his emotions would betray his carefully crafted persona.
Together they stood apart from the crowd a group of individuals so different from one another. Yet they had been brought together as part of a team and had learned to care for one another so deeply that they had become family. With her brothers in arms, and heart, around her she cried out a few tears from the shear emotion of the event and how far they had come together.
It was only a half an hour later that Naruto approached them. Grinning wildly and with his large arm span he pulled them all into a group hug. Only Sasuke let out a small sound of protest before it died out as Naruto began to speak, his voice breaking with emotion.
"Thank you so much for being here. For supporting me. You are my best friends, you each hold a piece of my heart and I couldn't have done it without you. Everyone out there is thanking me, congratulating me, but they really should be thanking you too."
He pulled back and took Sai into his arms. "Sai you've showed me a different part of being human and how much many of us still have to learn. You've taught me patience and creativity. Thank you."
Sai smiled sincerely as Naruto let him go and turned to Kakashi who was scratching his head nonchalantly. "Kakashi you taught me that it's okay to rely on others sometimes and the true meaning of being a team. You taught me the importance of loyalty and I thank you." He went to pull Kakashi into a hug and but then changed his mind and simply saluted him with a tearful grin.
Turning towards Sasuke, Naruto hugged him fiercely. "Sasuke. You were my first friend, believe it or not. You taught me to never give up hope, no matter how dark it seems. You taught me the determination and fearlessness a leader needs. Without you leaving I would never have learned about sadness, devastation and anger. I will keep those lessons with me forever. Thank you." Behind Naruto's back Sakura could see Sasuke's eyes shined with unshed tears that he tried helplessly to reign in.
Finally, Naruto turned towards her and he gripped her shoulders roughly before pulling her into a tight hug, his warm hold familiar and comforting. "Sakura." He breathed her name into the top of her head, and she let his scent warp around her, lemongrass and blue cypress, "You are my rock. You've been with me, by my side through it all. You taught me the resilience and strength I needed to stand through it all, unchanging, always strong, always powerful. You also taught me how to love... I love you so-o much." He stammered, and tears slipped out of her eyes, "I love you all." He said looking up to the rest of his team, his family. "Thank you for being here. For loving me too." He kissed her forehead and let her go. The absence of his arms around her leaving her cold and craving warmth, while his sent lingered for a second longer, filling her softly.
"Naruto we are so proud." She croaked tears still in her eyes. His beautifully expressive eyes shinned with delight and if she didn't know him as well as she did, she'd have missed the hint of sadness deep in his expression.
"I know." He murmured. Clasping his hand onto Sai and Sasuke's shoulders he shouted out in celebration, "Now, let's get drunk!"
Kakashi had the one shot that Naruto forced all of team 7 to take before bowing out a silly excuse on his lips. The rest of the night passed with a lot of happy screaming, dancing and drinking.
Sakura stood back at a booth in the corner and observed, a drink in her hand, as Ino made a fool of herself by trying to convince Sai to dance with her. Sasuke sat at the bar beside Shikamaru as he let girls get him drink after drink. She laughed inwardly as she watched thinking about how much his opinion on women's attention had changed. Not that he relished in it, but he now admitted it had its advantages, one of them being free booze. Naruto flitted from group to group letting everyone have a chance the hang out with the future Hokage.
As the night grew late and more and more people left, she found herself in a booth along the back of the room across from a passed out Ino. Almost everyone was gone, and she just wanted to finish her drink before carrying Ino home. As she was halfway through, Naruto slid into the booth beside her. His large frame causing her to shift down to make room for him.
"Hey." He said softly. Leaning his head back on the bench.
"Hey." She replied, resting her head on his shoulder. They sat in comfortable silence as she slowly sipped her drink.
His breathing evened out and she wondered if he'd fallen asleep before his deep voice broke the silence. "Have you ever been in love?"
Her thoughts came to a startling halt not at the question itself, but at the tone of his voice. He sounded heartbroken.
She didn't know how to answer. Her younger self would say she had been in love, many times. First with the puppy love she'd had for Sasuke, then for the young medic-nin named Lin who she'd shared her first time with. But now, with more experience and time she knew he was talking about true love, a love so powerful it hurt.
She should say yes, deep inside her she knew what she felt for Tiger was exactly what Naruto was talking about, but she barely wanted to admit it to herself. It would be the same as admitting that she would never have that kind of love again, and that thought terrified her.
Finally, through the ache in her heart at the thought of Tiger she answered, "I don't know."
"I think I have." Naruto admitted quietly, "I still am."
"Tell me…"
"She's amazing. So fierce, so strong. When I'm with her I feel like…. I feel like she was the missing piece. I didn't even know I was missing a piece," He laughed, "but my-god with her I realize how wrong I was. She reminds me a lot of you." He grinned and poked her.
She blushed onto his shoulder, if she was anything like what he'd just described she'd be happy. "She must be a lucky woman to get someone as amazing as you to love her." Sakura smiled sadly.
"… Amazing?…" Naruto whispered hoarsely testing the word on his tongue, "I'm not sure. I couldn't even tell her that I love her."
At the tone of his words she froze. The only time she had seen him in such a state of utter vulnerability were the nights after their encounters with Sasuke, back in their teens. They would sit together and share a bottle of alcohol whispering quietly back in forth words of comfort and love, making sure they were both still there, that they both still had each other. She remembered his voice when he would tell her that he wasn't giving up, that they would get Sasuke and bring him back. His voice would crack back then but nevertheless it was the same now. His anguish was the same.
Who was this woman that made Naruto feel so much? Why didn't he tell her? Was he scared?
She had so many questions for him, yet she knew she couldn't ask, it wouldn't help. He was seeking comfort in her and she would let him. He could rest his heart and soul in her palm and she would protect it with her life.
She leaned forwards and looked back at him as he stared up at the ceiling. His eyes shining with unshed tears she knew he was trying his damned hardest to keep in.
She stood up from her seat and moved slightly back to sit herself right on his lap. When he looked down at her in shook and confusion, she simply wiped his damp eyes lightly with the pads of her thumbs before leaning forwards on his chest. There was no need for words, she understood.
His arms wrapped around her and he mumbled a thanks into her hair as she rubbed slow circles on his back. He took in all the comfort she provided, and she secretly hoped it was enough. She couldn't fix his problems, but she could be his rock. When he wanted to lean on her she would be there, routed into the ground.
Naruto liked to act like he had everything together, most people wouldn't recognize the man in her arms right now. But their team was close now, and her and Naruto even closer. He knew he could come to her, no judgements, no questions, just support, and much needed love. He sought it out today, likely only because he'd had a lot to drink, but nevertheless he was hurting on the inside and Sakura wanted to do everything she could.
He didn't cry once as he held her in his arms in the dim almost empty bar. She'd long forgotten her drink on the bar table and it was warm by the time Naruto lifted his head from her shoulder and told her he was ready to go.
She untangled herself from him and wiggled out of the booth. Leaning over she picked Ino up and used her chakra enhanced super strength to ease the strain. They left together, Naruto with one arm nonchalantly draped over her shoulder and Ino in her arms.
He walked with her all the way to Ino's house, watched her as she placed Ino her back into her bed.
They walked to her house in silence. Her body curved naturally towards his from the cold bite of the night wind. When they finally reached her house, she couldn't stop herself and asked him the one question that had been bothering her all night, "Naruto." She started quietly, turning towards him with her back to her front porch.
He took his arm away from her shoulder and placed them into his pockets. Looking down at her, his face blank, he mumbled, "mhm?"
"Are you okay?"
The question hung in the air between them. His eyes opened slightly in surprise before softening. He gave her a sad smile, "I don't know."
Her already broken heart, broke a bit more at his words. She sighed unhappily and reached up to brush back his hair in endearment. Glancing up at his face she studied the hard lines of his jaw and the small clusters of freckles that covered his nose and cheeks. He was so handsome. As she stared up at him, she found herself imaging Tiger's features. His forehead was about the same with small frown lines etched into the skin, his nose just as straight, his cheeks clear of freckles and his jaw similarly sharp. Startled with where her mind was wandering, she glanced up one last time to look into Naturo's eyes and realized how strikingly similar their eyes were, a deep ocean blue full of life and yet full of death.
Shaking her head in confusion she turned away from him, "Good night Naruto." She called back as she climbed the stairs of her porch and made her way towards her door.
"Good night Sakura."
For the next week Sakura dreamed of Tiger every night.
Some nights he would run his hands along her body, sending tingles up her spine. His deep rough voice whispering her name, her real name. He would kiss her tenderly letting his tongue dip into her mouth lightly stroking, caressing. His fingers roaming her stomach, her hips, her thighs sending hot shivers up and down her body. But as soon as they dipped to the juncture between her legs, she would wake up drenched in sweat and uncomfortably aroused.
Other nights she would dream of them on missions together, of their casual interactions. She yearned for his presence and her brain concocted scenarios of the two of them. None of them real, all fantasies in which he always ends up professing his love to her. Those dreams were the worst because when she awoke, she always felt a deep ache in her chest. Sometimes in those moments after waking up it felt like the hole in her heart was growing.
This morning she awoke to a pleasant ache between her legs and sweat smeared across her body. Begrudgingly, pulling herself out of bed she hopped into the cold shower and tried her hardest to not think about her dreams.
Tired as hell and frustrated with the way the last week had turned out she made her way towards the Hokage tower for her first official day back as a full time Jounin.
Her walk was slow, almost sauntering, subconsciously she was dreading going back to work. The past week had been a bit of a vacation for her. She'd spent every day in the training grounds working out the frustrations of her dreams and polishing her fighting skills.
As a medic-nin when on missions it was strongly discouraged to take part in any fighting. However, she also knew that not being as capable as possible got someone killed very easily, either herself or her teammates. If she died or got severely injured everyone else was at stake. Many in the shinobi population see being a medic-nin as an easy job in which you don't need a lot of fighting skills to succeed in, though that might be true for those who prefer to spend their time staffing the hospital. The medic-nin that get field missions are just as well trained as regular shinobi, sometimes better, they have to be if they want to keep themselves and their teammates alive. It doesn't help that enemies will often target the medic-nin first in fights.
After training all week her fighting abilities were back in tiptop shape. Though she mostly wanted to continue to bash out her frustrations in the fields, another part of her subconscious was hoping that there would be a mission. Maybe she secretly wanted a real enemy to maim and not just a rock.
Walking up the stairs of the Hokage Tower she strolled in to the main lounge room and spotted Kurenai in the corner manning the regular missions' desk. Walking up to the table she smiled at Kurenai, "Morning. Got any available missions for me?"
With a coffee cup in her hand Kurenai smiled back at her sweetly, "Are you asking as a regular Jounin or as a medic?"
Technically, given her rank Sakura would be eligible to take any missions requiring a Jounin. But those were few and far between as most Jounin were leaders on a team of Genins or Chunins. The only missions available for someone with a simple Jounin rank and no team would be a fill-in mission if a team was missing a member or a solo mission and Sakura was uninterested in both.
"Medic mission of course."
"You're lucky there are a couple here this morning. I was just about to assign them to the available medic-nins, but since you're here you get your pick." Kurenai swirled in her chair to open a filing cabinet and pulled out 3 folders. "They're all C ranked, so should be easy. One's just a day long, another's 4 days and the last one is at least 1 week. Any peak your fancy?" She smiled sheepishly waving the folders in the air in front of Sakura.
"I'll take the 4 day one, might as well get out of the village for a bit." Kurenai placed the red folder down on the table for Sakura to grab. "By the way," Sakura started, "I'm not sure if you've gotten it yet, but I'm now available for any medic missions. You'll probably get something from the Hokage, but I'm trying to get more medic-nin recruits. This is part of it, showing off my talents to the shinobi population you see." Sakura winked at Kurenai as she emphasized the last part of the sentence, "So make sure you assign me lots of missions when I'm back!"
"Sure." Kurenai laughed as Sakura made her way back out of the room folder in hand.
Finding a vacant bench in a park a short walk from the Hokage tower Sakura opened up the folder to read the details of her mission.
She was to accompany a team of two Chunin and one Jounin as they had to solve a crime in Keishi. The city leader had requested a skilled team to help their law enforcement solve a series of gruesome murders. They had yet to get a lead to who was causing the deaths of theses citizens and they hoped that the shinobi would have better luck. So far two men and four women had been found dead. The city leader had requested that a medic-nin come along as well since one of the women had been found seconds before her death and their civilian doctors had been unable to save her. He hoped that if they were able to save the next victim, they may be better able to figure out who was killing all their people.
She was supposed to meet her team at the village entrance at noon. Packing all the information back into the folder Sakura stood up off the bench and made her way home to prepare herself for the upcoming mission.
She was the first to arrive it seemed, though this wasn't unusual as she was exactly 30 minutes early. She planted herself down on a nearby rock, off to the side of the entrance and watched the various citizens trickle in and out of the village.
Two visible shinobi manned the entrance asking for papers, names, and reasons for visiting. Normally, you had to request, in advance, admittance into the village, and if your request was accepted it was on the list that the shinobi carried with them and you were easily ushered inside. Otherwise, those not on the list were always taken aside and questioned profusely. It was very rare to be allowed into the village without having placed the request weeks in advance.
As Sakura watched one of the Shinobi refused an old man likely because he hadn't been on the list. She felt bad for the man and was instantly happy she had never been stuck with gate duty. To keep the village safe the guards had to follow the rules and sometimes that involved sending back someone who likely would cause no harm.
She watched as the old man made his way back down the main road away from the village until he turned a corner at was lost from her eyes.
Minutes after the man disappeared behind the trees a middle-aged shinobi with graying hair walked towards the entrance. He was garbed in mission gear and when he saw her, he smiled shyly and changed his direction. Sakura got to her feet to greet him.
"Sakura Haruno," He began, a toothy grin still displayed on his face, "You're the medic we've been assigned?"
She nodded and began to take out the papers to show proof.
"Oh no!" He gestured wildly, his cheeks reddening with embarrassment, "I'm not the captain. Touma Itsuki, Chunin, nice finally to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you as well." She gave him a small smile before placing the mission details back into her backpack. "Sakura Haruno, though you already knew that."
"Yes, sorry about that. It's hard not to know who you are. Though I'm glad I finally get to go on a mission with you. I've heard great things!"
"Ah thank you… I hope I live up to your expectations."
Sakura was always a bit uncomfortable interacting with people like this. They always thought they knew all about her simply because they knew who she was, what she looked like, and what she did in public. She always felt like she had to put on a show for them, a different face, just so that they wouldn't be disappointed with the real her. The majority of the village thought they understood who she was, but only her friends did.
And Tiger…
"Nonsense" Touma exclaimed, "You'll be great!"
The next to arrive was the other Chunin, a black-haired woman in her late 30s named Sara Niko. She greeted Touma warmly, the two clearly close friends, before gushing about Sakura just like Touma had. Sakura plastered a sweet smile on her face while secretly wishing she had taken the single day mission instead. Though both Sara and Touma seemed nice, she didn't want to be stuck with a couple of suck-ups for the next four days.
"I was stuck in the village through the whole war! It was dreadfully boring, guarding the wall day in and day out. I'm sure you had tones of interesting fights, right Sakura? Will you tell us a couple? It must have been so cool to be out there fighting with all the other villages." Sara rambled, and Sakura nodded along uncomfortably.
Both were clearly Chunin for life, and if the way they casually discussed the last great war was anything to go off, neither Sara nor Touma had ever been in any serious life-threatening battles.
Sakura sighed inwardly as Sara continued to ramble on with Touma interjecting comments here and there.
This was going to be long mission.
"How was it like being on the team of the future Hokage? It must have been so cool. Did you know he was going to become Hokage when you were younger?" Sara asked looking at Sakura expectantly.
Realizing she actually had to answer Sakura stammered slightly, "Uh, yeah, I guess."
"OH! That's so cool!" Sara shouted and Touma smiled brightly nodding along.
Sara began to open her mouth, likely to ask another question, but was interrupted before she could get anything out.
"Itsuki, Niko."
Sakura turned along with the others towards the sound of the voice. Standing off to the side was the team captain. He was an average looking man who looked to be in his late 20s. His hair was a caramel brown and fell to his shoulders in soft waves. He had a strong, yet lean build and his skin was darkly tanned from the sun. When his gaze fell onto her, she noted that his eyes were a deep dark brown.
"Sakura Haruno?"
The questioning tone in his voice brought her back to reality. "Captain, sir." She scrambled up towards him pulling out her papers. "I've been assigned as the medic for this mission." She handed him her papers as per protocol.
He looked them over briefly before placing them into his own travel bag. "My name is Reo Yuuto, welcome to the team." He looked them over briefly before flashing them all a smile, "Shall we get going then? We've got a crime to solve."
The room was dark and small. Torches hung along the wall emitting an eerie golden glow. The walls were painted in black and in the place of the normal white trim, red dominated. The dark hardwood floor added another layer of mystery to the room. Yet the most unusual was the black casket that lay uplifted and open in the middle of the chamber.
There were only two men. One stood right in front of the casket his head hanging low staring unblinkingly at the figure that lay beneath. The other was kneeling, his head bowed. He knelt behind the other man as though awaiting a command.
"The physician claims it was a heart attack." The standing man began, his voice powerful echoing in the small room. "But he was healthy, young. He had his whole life ahead of him. I don't know how, but I know that girl was somehow involved in his death. When I looked into her eyes that night, I felt my gut telling me something. I had a feeling something wasn't right, I should have listened." His hands clenched around a piece of clothing, a blue silk robe.
In the light of the dim room his eyes shone wide with anger and frustration. He clenched the robe tighter between his hands before smashing a fist on the side of the open casket. The wood groaned but did not break. Slowly he turned towards the kneeling man who was still motionless, head bowed down.
"Go to Keishi, use this." The standing man threw the blue robe at the kneeler but before it could hit him his hand snapped out and caught the fabric, his head still bowed. "Find the girl and bring her back to me." In the dim room the standing man's sinister smile shone wickedly. "I have a couple of questions for her."
The kneeling man got up to his feet and bowed once more, "Lord Jun."
As he turned to exit the room the light of the torches caught on his gleaming yellow eyes. Once turned he smiled maliciously and stalked out the room with only one thought in his head.
I've got prey to catch.
