Sakura's Point of View
I knew I had been staring at him for much longer than I should have, but I didn't care, because he was doing the same. I briefly wondered why that was, but as I remembered the file that I now held in my hands, I dismissed the question. Since Tsunade had conveniently left that particular piece of information out of the report I had read without permission, he was, without a doubt, surprised that I was the medic with whom he would have to collaborate.
It was a mere moment later that Naruto decided it was time to make his presence known, and tackled him to the ground, breaking whatever it was that had been between us in the process.
Any other time, I would have wanted to hit him; now, I silently thanked him—and God.
"Dobe, let me go!" Sasuke hissed, attempting to push him away.
The old nickname, along with their wrestling match, brought back memories that were difficult to handle. I fought back the sudden wave of nostalgia that washed over me, but more came in its wake. For a moment, it was as if we were back in our genin days. Sasuke and Naruto fighting, Kakashi wanting to seem uninterested, but keeping a close eye on them, and me watching them. For a moment, it was as if Sasuke had never left, like he had remained with us the whole time, stayed by our side through thick and thin, like he hadn't made any of the mistakes he'd made. For a moment, it was as if we were back in Konoha, back home, living a normal, happy life, with its ups and downs but none of its complications.
I actually had to shake my head in order to push those traitorous thoughts away. I couldn't allow 'what ifs' to haunt me. I needed to remain strong, especially in a situation such as the one I now found myself in. After all, none of those happy memories mattered anymore; although they were forever embedded in my mind, their significance had, in time, turned to ashes. And there were times when I believed that was for the best. We had all grown up, we had all faced situations we'd never had wanted to face. We'd done things we hadn't wanted to do, we'd seen things we hadn't wanted to see—we'd understood the true meaning of a shinobi life. We were no longer a bunch of innocent genins who thought they could change the world when they grew up. We weren't Team Seven anymore.
So I closed my eyes for a brief moment and drew in a deep breath, willing everything to leave me. In a second, it did. Over the years, I'd repeated the process so many times that I didn't even have to make an effort anymore.
Sighing, I leaned sideways against the desk and crossed my arms over my chest, watching the scene in front of me unfold. Naruto and Sasuke were still wrestling on the floor, cursing at each other—I could hear Naruto telling him how much of a bastard he was and how much he wanted to beat him right then and there, while Sasuke replied with his grunts and insults. Kakashi was leaning against the wall, his precious orange book in his hand, looking as though he couldn't care less if they started a fight right under his nose, but I knew better than to actually believe that. In reality, he was watching them closely—like he had always done.
And then there was Karin, who was staring at them with horror-filled eyes, her mouth nearly hanging open in shock. It was painfully obvious she had no idea that we had been teammates, and I briefly wonder whether I should fill her in. I eventually settled for the negative option; although the idea of inciting her to leap for my throat so that I could have a reason to pull every last bit of her ridiculously red hair out, I was tired and there were guards surrounding the office. So I decided not to test my luck—not tonight, that was.
"I'm gonna kick your ass, teme! You'll see!" Naruto proclaimed loudly, snapping me out of my thoughts.
Both of them had stood up and were now facing each other, with a fairly large distance separating them. Naruto was grinning, his hands balled into fists, determination and excitement shining in his blue eyes. Sasuke, on the other hand, was staring at him blankly, his expression reading among the lines of, "you're a moron"—which, I was sure, was exactly what he was thinking at that moment.
Seconds passed, and he turned his gaze to Kakashi, nodding in a sign of familiar acknowledgement. Then his gaze flickered to me.
And I nodded.