Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Warning Contains: Spoilers

Hello There,

It has been a while, eh?

Thank you for taking the time to read and review. You guys are amazing. It is such a joy to write for you all. :)

So today I'm presenting to you chapter four. I sincerely hope it was worth the wait.

So why don't you give it a try and let me know if liked it, or if you saw some room for improvement! Thanks in advance.

~L.H.

Chapter Four: Harmless Musings

She sighed deeply.

She needed this more than he did. She used these precious few moments to clear her head. To push the horrible thoughts from her mind, to repress the fear back into the corner of her brain that it had escaped from. She used this time to gather herself. His even breathing was comforting in that it was a constant sound. It was the only constant, only stability in her life at the moment. And that was ironic in itself, being that he was the very reason why her world was suddenly thrown into uncertainty and now existed in the realm of the unpredictable.

But it was for that very reason she decided it was fitting that he was her anchor. He was keeping her from straying too far into her thoughts. He was ensuring that she did not get lost in her own head because she had to get back to him if he needed her, when he needed her. She still had a duty, a responsibility, to keep him alive and that was driving her to keep moving. As long as he breathed, she had purpose. She had a task, something to do while he was still alive. It was simple really. If he drew breath, she clung to sanity.

She slowly let her eyes roam the perimeter of the cramped quarters. She almost had the room memorized, right down to the careful placement of the lilies near the slightly cracked window. The mere presence of the flowers was ridiculous. He did not care either way. It was the same to him if they were there or not. The question was why did she care enough to put them there in the first place? Why did she go through all the effort to purchase them- from the only other flower shop in the village that was not run by the Yamanakas- in the early hours of the morning? Why did she risk leaving this room for five stems?

What little comfort could flowers ever hope to bring him? How could the white flowers succeed to brighten up the room? It was a small marvel that they simply did not wilt in the stifling air that surrounded them. Sakura clenched and unclenched her bent knees. It was constant struggle. To remain calm, to be the anchor that Tsunade needed. This was her escape. This was her sanctuary.

Here she did not have to think about the fallout that was to come. She was safe from judgment, consequences, and safe from the explanations that she would have to undoubtedly give to all her loved ones. Where was she? Did she not think that she owed them an update? She knew what they would say. Dealing with Ino would be the worst.

She signed again. Even if this place brought her some form of peace, she could not hide out here forever. Sakura was never given such luxuries in life.

The chair scrapped against the cold tiles loudly. It broke the still in the room. She found herself relived at the disturbance of the deafening silence. It was only a temporary thing but she was grateful for it all the same. She stood and without a word, she left the man.

She did not bother with a conventional greeting. She doubted that he would even notice her absence, or her presence for that matter.

The clicking of heels vibrated off the walls.

It was eerie how quiet the hallways were. The lack of noise, movement, life, only contributed to the rapidly tightening knot in the pit of her stomach. She needed to breathe. But again, that was only a short term solution. What she needed was a plan. She needed to understand just what was happening. She would have to be patient for that however, because they were no closer to answers today than they were when he first materialized what seemingly was thin air.

Her mind was in a million places at once. But that was hardly new. She had long learned to function at a high level while balancing a thousand and one thoughts in her head but while the stress was familiar the reason behind it was not. Part of her was sure that she had not fully recovered from her shock. She would be damned if she used that as a crutch.

There were rumblings in the village and had been for quite some time. Some saw her as weak, unfit to run the village. If that was not enough, some even went as far as to call her too old for the position. Never mind that the Third had been a fossil. But she understood what the differences between him and her were. He had been forced to don the hat once the Forth was believed to be dead. He had been asked to resume the position out of need and in a time of instability.

She was leader while the village was going through times of peace. And that was reason enough for the crazies to come out of the woodwork and call for her resignation. Konoha had made massive strides but there were still some backward thinking individuals that did not appreciate that the strongest post in the village was held by a woman. There were not many in number but the voices of an arrogant few were usually louder than the many rational, level-headed individuals.

She would never give her adversaries the satisfaction of witnessing her unraveling. She understood politics. She had to work twice as hard to gain the respect that was given to predecessors without question. She had to have a firm control over her emotions. No one could see her fear, her pain, or her uncertainty. Because if they saw a scratch in her armor, no matter how thin or superficial, their cause would only gain momentum and she would have given them the ammunition they were lacking.

His reappearance posed a challenge but she was never one to run away from a fight. . And the never give up spirit was something that she has passed on to her student. Tsunade was ready to fight to him even if it meant losing everything because he had done the same for her and the village. She cleared her throat and licked her lips before asking the question she already knew the answer to.

"Are you sure?" She asked again, only this time her voice was firmer. Her amber eyes did not miss the deep fatigue on the twenty-four year old face. She looked much older than what her birth certificate read.

It was hard for her. She really did not want to put Sakura through another round of explanations but she needed, absolutely needed, Sakura to be sure before she approached their long lost Hokage. She had to be thorough. The balance of things rested on it.

The corner of Sakura's mouth dipped into a frown. But to the woman's credit she did not show any other indicators of her impatience. Which was promising it of itself, Sakura too would have to deal with others constantly dismissing her overly emotional and irrational because of her gender. She needed to learn not to wear her heart on her sleeve and she also had to figure out with whom she could share her real emotions. Not everyone was trustworthy.

"I'm sure." Sakura said decisively. The pinkette brought a hand to rub her face. She was tired. They both were. She could tell that Tsunade was still not fully convinced. Sakura's eyes traveled and settled on her toes. She was thinking, thinking very hard. It was exhausting just to watch. "He was already healing when I got to him." Tsuande's eyes narrowed at the news. Suddenly the fog of uncertainty was gone from her face.

Medicine, medicine was something that her brain could comprehend, inside and out. Medicine was familiar ground it was almost comforting in her current state of muddle-headedness. Medicine was something that she could always count on to make sense to her. Medicine was safe, medicine was her ally. It was something that she could handle, no questions asked and no matter what day of the week it was.

Sakura could see the question dancing on her mentor's pinched lips. The Haruno beat her to it. She really did not like it when Tsunade- or anyone for the matter- doubted her. "I was only able to get control of the situation because he was already beginning to regenerate some of his damaged tissue. He was already healing from the inside out. I would not have been able to save him otherwise." The pinkette concluded rather unsettled. She understood the weight of what she had just shared.

Tsunade closed her eyes. She knew the unspoken fact that Sakura was alluding to. The situation had just become significantly more complicated. It seemed like an eternity before Tsuande opened them again. Sakura's gaze never left her face. She was searching for something desperately. The pair rounded the corner. They were getting further and further away from the blissfully unaware inhabitants of Konoha and closer to the one and only Yondaime. Only two glass doors separated them now.

The sannin nodded her head curtly at the head medic. "Get some sleep, kid. But don't leave the hospital." Sakura blinked lethargically at the Hokage. Tsunade moved past her with a slight feeling of guilt. But she had long learned to just let it go. Guilt had no place in her profession. Sakura knew what she was signing up for when she asked to be Tsuande's disciple.

But the closer she came to the Yondaime's room and the further she moved from Sakura, she could not quite shake the nagging feeling that no one really knew the magnitude of just what they were signing up for.

Because it all honesty, who could have possibly have predicted this?

His head snapped to the turning of the knob.

If he had been day dreaming before, he was certainly fully alert now. Even the haze of the medication the pink haired medic had injected in his veins could not keep him disoriented for long. The longer he was conscious, the clearer his head became. He needed answers and his gut told him that he was about to get what he was seeking.

His cerulean eyes widened in shock but that only lasted for a second. An easy smile stretched across his nondescript features. Relief coursed through him. 'Finally, a familiar face' the voice of in his head sounded- dare he say- cheerful and hopeful. If Tsunade was here the people in Konoha were in good hands. How many lives did she single-handedly save that others would have deemed a lost cause? He had no doubt in his mind that having the slug princess back after such a catastrophic event meant that maybe, just maybe, Konoha's luck was just starting to turn around.

His eyes crinkled in concern at the tension in her shoulders. Instantly he sat up straighter, he barely even acknowledged the restraints. Tsunade must have her reasons. The far-off look she donned on her face could not mean good news. She did not greet him as he would have expected her. In fact, she was standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. Almost as if she was not fully sure if she wanted to approach him. His dread only grew with each passing second.

Tsuande halted midstride. Her heart seized. His face meant nothing to her. If she allowed herself the luxury of believing that this man was nothing more than her average patient. It would not be such a hard task had it not been for his eyes. His eyes, Kami, they froze her insides. Nothing could have prepared her for this. No amount of steeling herself could have helped make any of this easier. His eyes caused a sudden and aggressive wave of nausea to overcome her. Tsunade pushed her bangs from her face. a thin film of sweat drenched her brow.

His face maybe different by the loose smile was definitely the same. It had faltered some but it was still perched on his lips and it tormented her. Tsuande reached for his chart and read it halfheartedly. She was buying time, prolonging the inevitable. But he did not need to know that. Tsunade cleared her throat but the warning fell on deaf ears. He was studying her, watching her, with his eyes. He was looking at her with Naruto's eyes.

It was funny how a little bit of time changed everything. In the past when she looked at Naruto, his eyes were his father's eyes. But all it took was twenty-five years of the Namikaze being gone for Naruto's eyes to become his own. Now it was the brat's eyes that were looking at her.

"Tsunade," Minato began. Tsuande closed her eyes. It was his voice. It was only now hitting her just how much she missed hearing the clam, reassuring, cadence of his voice. It was only now hitting her just how much she missed having Minato around. He really was one of a kind. This was all wrong. She should be crushing him with a bone rattling hug. But instead she was having her heart be crushed as she continued to drink him in.

"Minato," she smiled lightly at the blonde. It felt good to say his name again. It made all of this real for her. Saying his name out loud was significant. Saying it out loud meant that this was real, it was happening, this was not a fragment of her overactive imagination. This was really happening. His name left her tongue tingling. "How are you feeling?" She asked him more out of habit than out of genuine curiosity.

She could see the pain in his eyes. But he was not one to complain. It was just one of the things that made him who he was. The man shrugged. The gesture was ill advised. He was grimacing from the aggravated injuries.

How easy was it to slip back into their ways, for Minato to be grossly unconcerned with his own wellbeing and for her to chide him for it? He reminded her so much of Jiraiya that it hurt her, it physically hurt. Tsuande clicked her tongue in an annoyed manner. He grinned easily at her as Tsunade checked his bandages.

Sakura had done an impeccable job, not that she was surprised. They were still clean and pristine which was a good sign. "When did you come back?" His voice asked her again. Tsunade flicked her eyes to his visage. She nearly forgot that his voice did not match his face. Her eyes were peering at a stranger. But in her heart of hearts she knew who he was. She hastily brought her eyes back to his chart.

She feigned looking at it to keep from answering his question. He was stable in a physical sense but she had no way to knowing how he was at a mental standpoint. She would have to converse with him longer to gauge his mindset and whether he could handle it or not. Because hurt or not, he was capable of doing real damage and she hoped that she never would have to find out the extent of his new abilities.

She felt his eyes trained on her. Tsunade knew that his patience was beginning to wear thin. Kushina really was a bad influence on him and in more ways than one. "I've been back for a while now. The village needed me." She said candidly. To her relief Minato did not press her too much on the issue. Tsuande signed deeply before lowering herself to the foot of his bed. She clasped her hands together. There was no easy way to do this. She was a trailblazer, really. But what were the odds of something like this ever happening again?

"You gave us quite a scare back there." She began in a light tone. And he did. He nearly scared the life right out of Sakura. It was a miracle that the woman had enough sense in the head to stop his bleeding when she saw him. Sakura was a resourceful enough and for that Tsunade could not be more thankful.

The man made a face. She had to keep reminding herself of just who she was talking to. She had to also keep reminding herself that it had been almost thirty years since she last saw him talking, breathing, living. She could see the worry in the set of his shoulders, the dip of his lips, and the darkness of his eyes. He was worried for the village that he believed had just been under attack.

"I'm fine." He said with conviction. Tsunade nodded her head in agreement. He was fine, for now. "Where's Naruto? How's the village? What kind of numbers are we looking at?" Tsunade pressed her eyelids together. And so it began; the rapid fire questions. They were all loaded. It was like navigating a field littered with invisible paper bombs. One wrong step and it could all be over.

She slowly, gingerly released him from the restraints. They had been placed on him as a precaution, of the off chance he was not someone who he claimed to be. There was no reason for them now. Besides, it was not as if they could hold him if he really wanted to get out of them. He instantly began to rub his wrists. Minato shot her a thankful smile. The action did not reach his eyes. He was in full on Hokage mode now.

"He's fine." Tsunade gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "He's as healthy as an ox." She smiled knowingly at the man. Naruto was the picture of health. Minato's shoulder's dipped with the news. It was the only indication of his relief. But she could tell that only a fraction of his worry was put to rest. "The village is fine too. The casualty rate was much lower than it could have been. Konoha's stronger than ever." The guilt was coming back. She was lying to him, or at least it felt like she was. The words that came out of her mouth were the truth in a sense but they did not reflect the context that Minato was referring to.

But her words seemed to put his mind at ease. The man leaned back in his cot. His brown locks pressed into the pillow creating a halo around his head. Sakura had done the best she could to protect his identity but eyes were always her weak point. She probably did not have enough chakra to mask his eyes color.

'Probably for the best,' she thought to herself. It was the last part of Minato that the world could see. His eyes, his beautiful eyes, would stay. She did not have the heart to blanket them with anything less than extraordinary. It was her small gift for the man. He needed something familiar to greet him when he looked in the mirror from here on out.

"That's good." He said in a disarming manner. "Now Tsunade, can we both cut the act? What aren't you telling me?" His eyes focused on hers. She did not even have a chance to school her features before his gaze pinned her in place. Her palms were beginning to itch but Tsuande, to the best of her ability, kept her emotions in check.

"Minato give it time." She warned in a low tone. "You really need your rest." It was a halfhearted attempt to get him to drop the subject but she really had no hope that Minato would do as she asked. He was a lot like Naruto in that respect. We he wanted something, really wanted something, no one stood in his way. Minato was not the type of man that many people said no to.

He snorted. "I've been resting enough. I need to know. I need to know what I happening to my village. I need to know what happened to my son. I need to know why there's a nurse in here that I've never seen before in my life, and you of all people know that I never forget a face. I need to know why I'm still alive. I need to know why I was restrained in my own village. I need to know, I need to know Tsunade." His eyes were navy. They were closer to black than blue.

She swallowed the lump in her throat. She looked at her hands. Whether he was ready or not he was about to have the conversation of a lifetime, Tsunade licked her lips before opening her mouth. "You fell from the sky." She took in his taken aback expression with an inward cringe. She had just repeated the words that Sakura had said to her not to long ago. 'So much for easing him into it,' she thought humorlessly. She could have played her cards much better. But she figured they did not call her the Legendary Sucker for no reason.

Before Minato could speak she cut him off. She could only do this if he did not interrupt her. If she stopped talking she did not think that she could start again. "You fell from the sky," she began again. Only this time her eyes met his with certainty. She sent a silent prayer to her brother and lover. She needed all the strength that she could get.

Sakura bolted upright.

A thin layer of cold sweat glued her scrubs to her. The short locks clung around her neck almost like a noose. She pawed at them in an effort to free her neck. Sakura looked around and gathered her bearings. She was not in her bed, she was not at home. The pinkette groaned.

She was in the basement. She had collapsed on a battered old mattress. Her nose took in the reek of the material. She was convinced that it was mold but she was too tired to care at this point. Sakura kicked the thin, scratchy blanket from her body. She was overheating. The Haruno rubbed her clammy forehead. She groaned again. It was a fever or the very start of one. She was pushed herself too far again. All her symptoms matched the diagnosis of chakra exhaustion. And the worst part was that she had no one to blame but herself.

She rose to her feet slowly. But no matter how slowly she moved her head was still spinning when she stood upright. If she had anything in her stomach, it would have painted the floors by now. She glanced at the clock in the room. It was three in the morning. She had slept for over nine hours. But she was still exhausted. There had been weeks that she only clocked in nine hours of sleep total overall and she had felt better then, than she did now.

She could have slept fifteen hours straight and still been tired. Chakra exhaustion was not something fun to experience. Chakra exhaustion was one of the most frustrating conditions to deal with. Only time and rest could fix it and she had neither. The pinkette stared at the clock for a moment more before she decided to make the best of her early morning rise.

Chakra or no chakra, she still had a lot to do today.

She gripped the handle of his door.

She could hear his uneven breathing from behind it. He was awake. Sakura pressed her hot forehead against the cool wood. He was awake and that could only mean one thing. Tsunade had told him. He knew. He knew that he had missed twenty-five years of his son's life. He had missed twenty-four birthdays. He had missed so much.

He blinked and nothing would ever be the same again. He blinked and the world had moved on around him but he was still frozen in place. His son, his son was now only three years younger than him. His wife had been dead for over a quarter of a century. They were sure she was dead because there had been a body. They had buried her. She was dead, gone forever.

He was still alive. Sakura counted to three in her head before she gathered enough courage to knock lightly. She waited a heartbeat before entering. Her footfalls were silent. Walking around barefoot had its benefits at times.

He did not acknowledge her presence. She did not expect him to. He was too busy glaring at the ceiling. Anger, it was easier to deal with situations with anger. Anger was better than the alternative. Anger was better than depression, self-loathing. Anger was readily grown, easy to hold on to. Anger was something that made things simple. She understood anger better than most. She was not the forgiving type. It had taken so much for her to stop holding a grudge against Ino and it was over something as cliche as a boy.

It was easy, convenient even to be angry at the fox, to be angry at the masked man. Anger made it possible to blame others, to place blame on someone else. Anger made the situation more bearable. But anger also made it harder to let it go. Anger made it nearly impossible to move on. It consumed all. And she hoped that it would not consume him. She believed that everything happened for a reason. He was being given another chance. Anger was deadly, anger was a slippery slope. Holding on to anger would never resolve anything.

She sat on the foot of his bed. She fixed him with her best smile. She needed someone to talk to and he was not going anywhere. He was going to be her confidant willingly or unwillingly. She needed to get a few things off her chest. His eyes never left the ceiling his mouth never eased from the deep frown. But she knew he would lend her his ear. He did not have much choice in the matter.

Sakura looked around the room before sighing softly. Her eyes filled with her pity. He was scared. He was confused. He was hurt. Her heart went out to him. Sakura down at her clasped hands, it would be up to her to start the ball rolling. She would have to be the one to help him heal. She was the one to find him after all. She could not help but feel responsible for him.

She trained her eyes on the five white lilies and began to formulate her thoughts into words. "The day I was put in my genin team, it was probably the happiest day of my life. I was vein. I had little interest in being a shinobi. I think I joined the academy because my best friend, her name is Ino- by the way-did. She was so cool. I wanted to be just like her. So the day that she signed up that was the same day that I did." Sakura smiled fondly at the memory. Again there was nothing from him but that hardly deterred her.

"I had a huge fight with my parents. They hated the idea of it but after days of not talking to them they finally gave in. I think it was because they secretly thought that I would quit after a few weeks. They did not think I had it in me. Normally that might discourage some kids but it did the opposite for me. It fueled me. I stayed in the academy out of spite. But they were my parents. They eventually came around. The day I graduated the academy I think my parents were never prouder. Except from when I became Tusnade-shishou's apprentice. But I'm getting off track," Sakura exclaimed brightly.

It was white noise. She realized that. She was nervous. She was rambling and she was well aware of that. But it had been days since she had last spoken to her best friend. It had been days since Naruto had listened to her go on and on about the most mundane of things. The man before had been through a lot. She figured he could use some mundane. And besides she needed someone to listen to her words. Ino would never let her get in more than five syllables without being interrupted or mocked.

She did not understand it but something about sitting here next to him made it easy for her to unload. So she rambled. She verbally reminisced until her fever broke. She talked until her heart felt lighter. She mused until his eyes closed and he fell asleep. She spoke until his face relaxed, until her own eyes began to feel heavy. She talked until she was too tired to talk anymore.

And he heard every word.

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