Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters/places… blah blah blah
A/N: Sorry for the delay… My life got complicated and annoying last week, but I think I've got it under control! Special thanks to everyone who reviewed; it reminds me that I'm supposed to continue writing this thing!
The Page Thief – Chapter 3: For Someone So Observant…
"Kakashi…" Tsunade smiled as they approached. "I trust everything went well."
"Hrm," Kakashi tilted his head backwards to look at the approaching women. He stood and nodded. He eyed the pink haired ninja suspiciously and jerked his head in her general direction.
"It's fine, Kakashi. She's only here to tend your wounds."
"I'm fine," the lazy eyed man responded.
"That's not what the bandages around your arm say. I know you avoid the hospital and myself like the plague. Now let this girl tend to you, and then we can talk. Lets go inside, shall we?" Without waiting for a reply the woman smiled and wandered inside. Sakura followed quickly and sat down inside of Tsunade's office. Kakashi wandered in a few moments later and sat next to Sakura, surrendering his hand to her presence.
Sakura gingerly lifted the cloth and began to unwrap his arm, not knowing what to expect. As she lifted the last layer of cloth, Kakashi hissed. The air was stabbing at the cuts on his arm. It looked mangled and by the look in Kakashi's eye, Sakura guessed that it felt that way too.
Kakashi pulled his arm back in reflex, "Don't do that!"
"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura continued to stare at his arm. She placed her fingers over the open wounds and applied Chakra to his skin.
When she pulled her hands away, Kakashi couldn't even see a scar. "Look at him, Sakura. He thinks it's magic," Tsunade chuckled. "If you spent more time at the hospital, you wouldn't look so surprised. You'd think after training such a talented ninja in the healing arts, you'd be familiar with this sort of things."
"Haha," Kakashi chuckled. "I've never been much for hospitals…" They both stood up simultaneously and began to walk towards the door.
"Sakura, why don't you stay here," Tsunade called as she shut the door.
"Yeah, sure…" Sakura let out a sigh. She hadn't been able to look Kakashi in the eye due to their last encounter, and she sure didn't want to wait for him to come back. She sighed again and began to wander about the room. One of the walls was lined with books, old and new. Tracing the spines of some of the older copies of her favorite works, she smiled. She withdrew to the chair once again, but noticed something that was not quite chair beneath her. She pulled out a book with a green cover from underneath her.
It was one of Kakashi's beloved books by Icha-Icha...
Sakura grinned.
Kakashi was still staring at his arm as he walked outside with Tsunade. It's not like he'd never been healed before, and it certainly not like he'd never been healed by Sakura before. Yet, somehow this time was different. His entire body felt more relaxed as her chakra flowed through his body. He had not wanted the sensation to leave him and inwardly grimaced as she pulled away.
He watched his feet tread through the dirt as they wandered off so they were out of earshot of any passerby. They felt heavier than usual, like each step was a stretch to get his feet off the ground, like he was teathered.
"Kakashi…" a voice caught his ears from behind.
The usually wary man turned to see that Tsunade had stopped a few paces back.
"Let's hear what you have to say."
"Well…" Kakashi began. "I honestly think it's a lot worse than we had imagined…"
"Kakashi, we've planned for the worst. We'll be fine," Tsunade assured him.
Kakashi nodded in agreement, "We'll be fine…"
When they returned to her office, Sakura had gone.
"Where did that girl run off to?" Tsunade mused to herself. Kakashi shrugged as he spotted his book on the chair he had been sitting in. He picked it up and tucked it beneath his arm. "Don't run too far, Kakashi. I'll want to speak with you again… On another topic…"
With a wave of his hand in an ambivalent assent, he left Tsunade's office.
Out on the street, he pulled his book out, opened to the title page and gently touched the signature of his literary hero. He then flipped to the middle of the book and began to read as he wandered down the street.
Sakura was unnaturally happy, giddy even, as she wandered into work the next morning. She had slept seamlessly through the night and awoke to a bright beautiful morning. She grabbed a chart off the wall and wandered into a patient's room to start her day.
Six hours later, still unusually happy, she wandered out of the hospital, receiving strange glasses the whole way out. She began to walk down the street, wondering what to do with her afternoon off. She thought maybe she'd go for a workout and turned to head down to the fields on the edge of town.
Sakura was consumed in her thoughts. In her nineteen years of life, not once had she heard a story where revenge had ended up making things better. Such an act of petty spite rarely crossed her mind now a day, although revenge had been a common theme amongst her antics on Team 7. But during this moment, revenge had never tasted so sweet. In her pocket, she held the most priceless form of revenge imaginable. The thought of repercussions were long gone from her mind. In fact, she was sure that that was the part she would enjoy the most.
A hand grab her shoulder. Without a moment of hesitation, she turned and flipped the offender to the ground.
"OWW, SAKURA!" came an all to familiar yell.
Sakura looked down to see the wide grin of a familiar face. "Naruto! You're back!" She smiled back and helped him back up. "Sorry about that, you just caught me by surprise… I thought you were…" She stopped her train of thought before admitting to anything incriminating. "Never mind, I thought you wouldn't be home for another week or two?"
Naruto grinned again, "You mean you don't know yet?"
"Know what?"
"We've been assigned a mission; me, you, and Kakashi-sensei. Someone else too, but I don't think I really know them." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Apparently, it's a big deal and all… I'm excited!"
"How come no one's told me?" Sakura's eyes furrowed in confusion.
"Probably 'cause we're not going for a few weeks, but Tsunade wanted me back early or something. 'Least that's what Kakashi-sensei told me…"
"Oh, well… Where are we going?"
"I don't know, they haven't told me anything yet, but it's probably really important. Were you going to train?" Sakura nodded. She and Naruto began to head down the fields together. "Hehe, I'm really excited to go on a mission with you and Kakashi-sensei again…"
Naruto's words trailed off into a blur to Sakura. "Did… Sensei seem alright?"
"Haha, yeah. He seemed like he always does, y'know?"
Damn, Sakura thought to herself as her fingers grazed over the pocket her secret was in. Maybe one page was not enough… For someone so observant, I can't believe he didn't notice this yet…
She grinned with delight.
"Uhm, Sakura… you're scaring me," Naruto said, laughing at the generally temperamental pink-haired ninja.
"Naruto… you have no idea."
Thanks for bearing with me! Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter up soon!
