Sakura walked through the busy morning streets of Konoha just taking in the sights and smells of home. Her dress floated gently around her in the light breeze and she felt content for the first time in years, this was her home and where she was meant to be. That unflinching belief etched itself into her bones and the very core of her soul. She watched the children smile brightly running throughout the village, the old keeping up with their daily activities, and those like her in a rush to be somewhere other than where they were. For the first time she seriously wondered if she could have given up this life for Sasuke, could she have walked away from her home, her family, and the people she had fought desperately to protect. Maybe it had been for the best that he turned away from her so many times because she now understood the life of a rouge ninja was not meant for her, she was ordinary and she didn't see that as a bad thing but the things she wanted from life were born from the normal life she was able to have. Sakura would never be able to truly understand the heartache of being alone because she had never been, never truly felt the sting of being an outcast because she had Ino, and the great void that would be a part of the lives of all of her teammate's lives. She seriously wondered if placing her in the most dynamically dysfunctional team was some sort of cosmic joke.
Sakura saw silver tendrils ahead of her past a crowd of people trying to get a hold of half priced produce. With the grace and agility only ninja possessed Sakura move seamlessly through the crowd of swinging elbows and feet, the old aunties that were so sweet could be quite vicious when it came to a sale. "kakashi-sensei!"
Turning around with his orange book in hand Kakashi took in the appearance of his pink haired former student. The yellow dress glowing off her pale skin and the sun shining on the her obscenely pink hair made her look quite ethereal, he made a mental note to tell Naruto though it would be more merciless teasing for missing this rare site. The young Haruno without her signature red and family crest was like spotting a unicorn people believed in it but it was hard to prove it exists.
"I see that your finally taking advantage of the gift your parents sent." Eyes twitching Sakura looked at Kakashi aghast and bewildered.
"How did you know this was a gift from my parents?" Kakashi evaded her glare and focused instead on the few clouds deciding to dot the pristine blue skies.
"Someone had to make sure there wasn't a bomb in that package, what better way to disguise it then in a package from your dotting parents, eh?" Sakura thought about it briefly and remembered that Kakashi had been assigned to package receiving for a month or so after things had calmed. It was possible that those villages not allied would try to take advantage of the devastated shinobi nations and try to claim land and resources that they normally would have been too afraid to. But the other reason Kakashi had been chosen was to take advantage of Pakun and his team as well which meant Kakashi was just feeding his own curiosity.
"My former sensei is just as perverted as Naruto it seems."
"Now Sakura, how could you take my bonds of teacher and student and turn it into a twisted perversion?'
"Simple. You're the one reading porn in broad daylight, it isn't too far of a stretch sensei." Kakashi slumped over in defeat and felt more defeated as Sakura belted out boisterously with laughter. Taking him by the arm Sakura began pulling Kakashi towards the direction of Yamanaka flowers.
"As payment for your curiosity sensei you get to accompany on my errands." Sakura smiled devilishly at her defeated sensei, he realized that today the great Kakashi was going to be nothing more than a bag boy to a pink-haired fox demon. Walking through the doors of Yamanaka Flowers Sakura's eyes began to seek out her blond haired friend. It didn't take long, off in the far corner sat a small class of girls learning the language of flowers which was a great asset to kunoichi. Soft green met crystalline blue in a moment and both shared in a private smile before Ino shot up. "Ah, billboard brow your just in time, come with me." Abandoning her class and dragging Sakura back behind the counter Ino pauses and tosses her apron at Kakashi.
"Finish up the lesson would you Kakashi, Sakura and I have something important to discuss." Pulling Sakura through the flower stock doors Ino exits, but just before shutting the door she pops her head back out. "Don't even think of flaking out on me or you'll be in your birthday suit doing the rumba for the whole village to see." Kakashi wondered what he did in his past life to deserve a day like this one. Kakashi stayed not because he was afraid of the threat but to avoid a young Yamanaka Ino from running around inside his head, the headache from the aftermath would be like binge drinking for 48 hours before the kidneys gave up.
"Pig, what did you want to talk about?"
"How are you and Sasuke doing?' Sakura clasped her hands in front of her fidgeting slightly on the stool she was sitting on. Ino looked on at her, tense as if using every bit of restraint not to release her irritation on the girl.
"We're fine, I guess. I mean you know Sasuke isn't much for words unless it's an insult being thrown. It's just nice to have him home you know." Ino just stared at Sakura with a face of stone.
"Ino, seriously what's wrong with you?" Sakura watched as the last reigns on Ino's fury snapped.
"How dare you forehead, how dare you not tell me that you and Sasuke were already at that level. You guys have probably already done this and that, and you didn't even think to tell your bestfriend about it."
"Ino-pig what the hell are you talking about?" With her hand on her hip Ino jabbed the other into Sakura's chest.
"Don't play clueless with me Haruno, why don't you explain what Sasuke was doing over at your house all day?" Blinking Sakura felt her fury simmer down to a cool pool of water as she was rocked by hysterical bouts of laughter. Ino looked on worried that her friend had totally lost it.
"Ino seriously you think something like that would happen and I wouldn't tell you about it? We're best friends Ino and you know everything about me, and to tell you the truth Sasuke was at my place yesterday but it was because I was sick and I passed out." Ino deflated immediately and felt woeful for accusing Sakura of withholding information.
"I'm sorry Sakura, but isn't this great Sasuke actually took the initiative to come to you and take care of you on his own."
"About that, I don't think Sauske did it completely on his own, I think he had a push." Ino just looked at Sakura confused, Sakura sighed.
"Naruto was over earlier yesterday, he heard I wasn't feeling well… and he wasn't too happy about having to leave. I think he may have told Sasuke to check up on me." As Sakura thought about the kiss with Naruto heat began to rise to her face with a clear head she realized that there was something different about that exchange, it felt as if a line was crossed but what it meant she didn't know.
"So are you getting all hot thinking about your time with Sasuke or did something juicy happen with you and Naruto. Though I never thought Naruto was your type with all that energy I can see how he may have started to grow on you."
"What are you talking about Ino, Naruto and I we're just…" The kiss and the hug played again like a movie in Sakura's mind, the way she wanted to cling to him longer, how she missed his warmth instantly when they'd parted, the slight pang of jealousy knowing that he was meeting with Hinata. Wait did Sakura just admit she was jealous that Naruto was seeing another girl, she told herself she must still be sick because it was impossible, she and Naruto. "Naruto and I are just friends Ino. There is nothing going on between us and there never will be."
Rushing out of the room that suddenly felt too small Sakura ran out into the flower shop taking a deep breath happy to distance herself from the all too perceptive Ino. Looking to locate Kakashi and get out of there before Ino could corner her again the sight before Sakura was amusing and horrifying all at once. In the midst of the young class sat Kakashi with pastel rainbow colored bows pulling his hair in all different directions, one of the girls sat on his lap finishing up a flower necklace and placing it around his neck, on his other lap a girl drew butterflies around his eyes.
Kakashi walked assuredly with the massive amounts of bags and boxes he totted behind Sakura he'd been tagging along with her for hours and though the thought had crossed his mind to flee to a high tree and read he'd noticed that Sakura had seemed shaken since her meeting with Yamanaka. He'd known when she'd bought the bouquet of flowers where their little adventure would lead them eventually. The place that was like his home truly the place where the world made the most sense to him. Standing in front of the memorial stone he watched as Sakura placed the flowers in front and placed her hand to the names engraved sending out a silent prayer.
"So many people have died Kakashi-sensei fighting for what they believed in and to protect what they loved. I want to live to see the day that the sacrifices they made would not be in vain, the day when the world truly knows peace because that's what we've all been fighting for in our own ways." Kakashi smiled realizing just how much Sakura had grown from the girl that wanted to be a strong kunoichi just to impress a boy to a woman with a heart filled with compassion that wanted to heal the world and would fight to achieve that goal. He may have failed in many ways but Sakura was not one of his failures, she became strong in spite of all he was lacking to teach her. In this moment he wanted to teach her something he, Obito, and Ren never got a chance to discover.
"Sakura you've grown a lot since the youthful days spent in team seven, now I wonder what you would tell me about yourself today." Smiling thinking back on that first day they sat together as a team with their odd sensei for the first time.
"My name is Skaura Haruno, I'm the best damn medic second only to Shishou herself, I want to watch Konoha grow and improve my skills so I won't have to watch those close to me die by anything more than old age you know." Grinning like her orange clad teammate Kakashi ruffled her hair.
"So have you decided then?"
"On what exactly?"
"On who it is you want to watch Konoha grow and improve with, and by whose side you want to watch their dreams be fulfilled? It seems to me that you all are in limbo
and the decision maker to start moving forward is you Sakura."
So there are probably some spelling inconsistencies and I apologize, really wanted to get this chapter out of my head
Really Looking forward to Sakura's choice
also I apologize if this isn't the most well written chapter