A/N : reference (brief mention) to naruto shippuden episode #191 (filler) and Shikamaru Shinden 2018. Sorry for some errors, I didn't really edit this chapter that much since I'm in a hurry! But please enjoy!


Gossip traveled fast. No, scratch that. Gossip traveled fast especially in the shinobi circle in Konoha. For example, when Kakashi was spotted walking down the street with one foreign kunoichi, few years back, the circulated gossip varied from 'Kakashi had a girlfriend' down to 'Kakashi impregnated a foreign woman and now had to take responsibility' and 'The woman was eloping with Kakashi because her parents did not agree and so they moved to Konoha'.

The thing is, gossip is fun until you are the subject. It could be ruthless and scary and travel quickly. It dispersed quickly too, but it's not that easy unless there's a bigger gossip looming ahead.

One fine evening, two jounin senseis who had been so cautious for nine years (and counting), always slipping out that they were never been a gossip material, decided to meet up. Usually they would meet somewhere no one occupied, like a dark alleyway, rarely-visited warehouses to talk, okay, just TALK.

Or if they wanted to go eat somewhere, they would invite Konohamaru's teammates along. But then, they would have to talk about not-too-personal topics. Today, they were having such session but only Udon came as Moegi had a mission with her team outside of Konoha.

"Udon-senpaaaii~" Hanabi waved in a cheerful voice to the bespectacled man. She was waiting outside of Ichiraku ramen together with Konohamaru, standing with half a meter distance for safe measure. Konohamaru couldn't help but caught himself casting fond glances here and there on heiress even though he turned away as soon as he realized it. Blushing. It's a public place after all, and they can't be too intimate.

"Sorry, I am late." Udon passed through the crowd and ran up to them. "..um, Iwabe wanted to join because his parents are on a mission, is that okay?" at his words, the couple realized someone was tagging along behind their fellow sensei. A dark-skinned teen with red cap that could be mistaken as turban perked at seeing Konohamaru and Hanabi.

"Konohamaru-sensei, Hanabi-sensei." he greeted each of them with a polite smile. Although he knew who Hanabi was, he could not tear his eyes off her pretty face as quick as he wanted, which prompted a tick mark on Konohamaru's jealous face. It wasn't that Iwabe had a crush on her, but she was just that gorgeous. Hanabi, as oblivious as ever, continued her cheerful attitude.

"Okay, wow it's nice to have you join us, Iwabe-kun." she beamed, and then something flitted across her features. She turned to her adult friends, "Forget Ichiraku, guys. What if we teach him how to handle his sake instead?"

"Hanabi?!" Both men exclaimed simultaneously. They didn't expect her to be so impetuous. As if she didn't know if the student came home drunk, Udon was the one whose head was going to be severed by the Hokage.

"What do you think, Iwabe-kun?" she ignored her two flabbergasted companions and turned fully to the teen, grasping both shoulders. It seemed he didn't have the heart to reject the pretty lady, but knew he would be in deep shit if he followed her suggestion, "Uh...ah...I'm..I'm..."

The Hyuuga heiress laughed hard. "No, no, I'm joking." she winked, wiggling her index fingers to Iwabe's blushing face, straightening up. "We planned to eat ramen, but do you think of something else?"

At this the three men somehow let out a breath of relief. Hanabi was too excitable for their own good. "N-no, ramen is fine, Hanabi-sensei.." Iwabe let out an answer.

Ichiraku Ramen developed quite a lot after the last great war. From a small stall on the edge of a street to a big restaurant decorated in red theme. Actually, Naruto's ascency to a well-known ninja all over the whole world also helped Ichiraku gained its popularity. Now, Ichiraku Ramen was a trademark culinary must-go for visitors in Konoha. Some said, it was the karma of free ramen here and there for a young, neglected orphan (who became a Hokage now).

When their ramen bowls finally came, one man who was pushing his friend's wheelchair, passed their booth. Both were wearing standard jounin vests and chatted in a sedate pace.

"Rokudaime-sama, Might Guy-sama." Udon straightened in the middle of his ramen slurping. The other three who didn't notice, turned sideways and greeted both the past Hokage and his best friend (read : self-proclaimed rival).

"Maa..maa..at ease." The silver-haired Hokage eye-smiled at the group. "..just Kakashi-san, please. I'm not the Hokage anymore."

"YOSH, what a youthful dinner of new generation Senseis!" Guy might as well announce for the whole restaurant to hear. He flashed his perfect teeth complete with his thumbs up. Both Kakashi and Guy did not age too much in the last twenty years, for some reasons….

"Haha..we were just meeting up, after training, 'kore..." Konohamaru smiled back at them. It was a bit awkward as he hardly had close relation with the past Hokage. However, Hanabi who sat next to him beamed, "Yes! I never knew it will be soooo exciting~. Tell me how was it with your team, Guy-san, Kakashi-san."

"WE HAD IT MOST AWESOME! My youthful student Rock Lee, the beautiful flower Tenten and...Neji." he was slightly depressed at the last name as it was still difficult to accept how the Hyuuga branch member died. Kakashi felt a pang of sadness too, but didn't let it dominate the mood.

"Maa, my students have become great shinobi, surpassing far beyond what I am.." the silver-haired Jonin remarked humbly. He was always speaking how he was nothing compared to his students. His eyes flew to distant memories when the three of them were just thirteen, introducing themselves on a training ground. How time flies..

"..all I can say is...guide them to be the best version of themselves..." Kakashi closed his remark with his eye-smile again.

Iwabe gaped, eyes widened. It just downed to him how amazing the advice sounded. He spent three useless years repeating the academy class due to a same standard bar imposed to everyone. He couldn't memorize chakra theories, or past Hokages' deeds like Sarada did, but he was good at regulating chakra to make Earth Release jutsus. He idolized the past two Hokages because he had seen how the village developed and affected his life. However, the academy were having none of it and forced him to repeat the years. Now that he was past that point and he can be the best version of himself? It was-

"What, boy, you looked like you swallowed wrong." the masked man commented casually on Iwabe's gaping face. Udon turned to him to see what happened to his protege. Everyone on the table, maybe except Udon, didn't really catch why he was being so sentimental over a wise comment.

"As expected of Nanadaime's sensei..." He looked in amazement , "Thank you very much, Hokage-sama!"

"Maa..maa, Kakashi-san please. What did I say..hmm.. I guess I'm getting senile..anyway, enjoy dinner and see you." Kakashi's lost-in-the-road-of-life tone bid an excuse.

"Goodbye, oh youthful generation!" and Gai was flashing his shiny smile and thumbs up as Kakashi pushed his chair away slowly.

So it was just four of them left now. The four shinobis were chatting over the tasty ramen, talking about teams, missions, new things on sale until the latest fashion trend. When it was nearing nine at night and people were already leaving, Iwabe excused himself to retire home.

"So, guys, I need to have a second opinion, 'kore." Konohamaru mentioned once Iwabe was out of the restaurant. Both jounin senseis perked up at The Third's grandson immediately. Usually, the four teachers asked each other's opinion when they were insecure about their choices. Of course, everything was a secret not to be passed outside of the senseis circle.

"..I guess you knew what happened with Sakura-san?" the man confirmed before mentioning anything worthwhile. Both spectators nodded understandingly. Hanabi knew from her sister, who had been going to the hospital room everyday. Udon knew because Itsuki asked him to dismiss the team at five hundred sharp so he could bathe and switch over with his mother or something. Sakura had been hospitalized for six days now.

"These past two days, Sarada was really distracted and tired - like she's not having enough rest. She kept spacing out and...and… really, not herself, 'kore." he sighed at the end of his sentence. It wasn't that Sarada was his favourite student. Yes, she was obedient, respectful of him when Boruto just scoffed for no reason, but he loved every single member of his team, with their own unique personality ,talents and flaws. So when she looked that sad lately, he couldn't help but had his heart go too.

"So, what did you do?" Hanabi propped the side of her head to face him, daring herself to place her hand on top of his. They were safely sitting on a booth and no other guests was around. Konohamaru squeezed her hand in an uncertain gesture without looking. He glanced at both of them.

"Today, she did a fatal mistake and almost endangered Boruto and Mitsuki."

At this, Udon's eyes widened. "But, it was unintentional, right?"

"Of course." Konohamaru defended his only female student. "She threw a lightning-enhanced shuriken. You know they were experimenting to make it explode in contact. But somehow, her aim was really off and it almost hit Boruto's face if not for Mitsuki's snake limbs and quick reflexes..."

Both senseis gasped loudly. "Oh no. What happened to my kawaii Boruto? And Mitsuki too?"

"Are they okay?"

"Mitsuki is fine. However, he didn't have the chance to measure his power right, so his snake hand slammed Boruto's head to a tree trunk." Konohamaru explained. At this, the two listeners cringed silently.

"..Boruto passed out for a few minutes, disoriented when he woke up, but I didn't feel any big bump on his head, nor any bleeding. I think it's just the shock. Anyway, it was almost evening too, so I cancelled the team training immediately and brought him to Outpatient in the hospital. The doctor didn't see any concussion on him." the Sarutobi heir paused. "Everybody knew it was accidental and nobody blamed anyone, except Sarada to herself."

"It's unintentional and it happened everyday. We are shinobi." Hanabi wisely said, despite her lovely nephew being hurt."..one quick question, what was Sarada's reaction?"

Konohamaru wasn't surprised to receive such question. Hanabi was on a whole new level to read other people's behavior in clan politics. Unintentional could be means of hurting people with less punishment.

The scarfed Jounin sensei shook his head, "I know her. Sarada is a genuine person, she knows it's her fault. She kept saying sorry, acted insecure and helped Boruto walk to the Outpatient. Without me asking her, of course."

Hanabi shrugged. "Just asking. I didn't know Sarada that much."

"So, yeah, that was the most severe incident. She was sloppy so many times in these two days it could endanger herself and our team. It wasn't like her at all. Obviously it had to do with her taking care of Sakura-san in the hospital..."

"She practically lives there now." Udon confirmed, "..Itsuki implied so."

"Yeah, I guess so too." Hanabi mulled, "With Sasuke-san always away, it's just the two of them in the house."

"To summarize," Konohamaru went back on track, "She can't keep going to training field being distracted and tired. But I can't force her to get enough rest too, not when her mother was sick. I know it isn't like she had any choice.." he trailed off. "I offered her to take a day off tomorrow, but…" he sighed, "..you should see her face. She really thought I punished her and seemed so disappointed in herself."

"You can't keep her off the ground, waiting until Sakura-san gets better, Kono. It jeopardizes the team too." The long-haired heiress reminded him.

"Yeah, I know. That's why I need to ask your opinion. It's an adverse condition and I don't know what to do..." Konohamaru admitted. He looked down at his now-cold ocha, not intending to drink it. The other two teachers were lost in their thought. For a moment, it was just the sound of clinking plates and waiters walking around the almost closed restaurant.

"How about taijutsu?" Udon suggested. He fixed his glass and faced his genin teammate seriously. "I remembered my student, Lee. Taijutsu should not pose big risk and it is tiring the physique that she would have no choice but get some decent sleep at night. You also tend to be less distracted too, because your body moves a lot more. Isn't that right, Hanabi?"

Hanabi, the resident Hyuuga taijutsu master nodded. "Yeah, unless it is the Hyuuga style where you hit the tenketsu of your victim, it should be pretty harmless. Higher concentration..hmm..that's right too."

Konohamaru beamed at the sound suggestion. True, he hadn't give the team many training in hand-to-hand combat.

"Udon, you're right, but how about her mother?"

"Sakura-san was in a hospital full of on-duty nurses." Hanabi explained. "I bet Sarada was keeping awake because of worry, instead of taking care technically - you know what I mean." Hanabi explained.

Konohamaru perked at the two other senseis, grinning widely. "Yeah, you guys are right, 'kore. Thank you so much. You saved my day."


The Next Day

The blonde Hokage stood leaning to the big window pane on his office. From there, he could see the whole landscape of the village he served, from bird view. There, the red and white building was the academy where he spent six years studying pranking Iruka-sensei and his friends. It underwent constructions several times, in most recent memory it was due to some tag-game that destroyed the building and forced Boruto and his classmates to have class on the garden. And then there was that construction site near the shopping mall, a newly-built theme park, which would be finished soon at the end of this year.

To the north was Uchiha compound which used to feel like a separate village on its own. The military police headquarter was just near the entrance. People used to feel awkward when they came inside the compound for no obvious reason (e.g sightseeing) as the residents were a bit 'closed off' from the whole society. However, it changed a lot in the last fourteen years during Itachi's ascency to clan head. He was a pioneer in the clan head line of descent who had humility, tolerance and open view. Itachi was radical enough to disband some meaningless, handicapping traditional rules, but persuasive and cunning enough that he gained support from the idealistic young people in Uchiha clan who wished some change for the good.

Then there was that hospital. Today marked one week of his best friend's hospitalization. He had been visiting Sakura-chan a few times in the past week, but in the past two days, he had no chance as he was getting so busy that he went home just past midnight. Naruto really had to visit today. According to Hinata, Sakura was now depending on blood transfusions to keep her blood count normal. He did not understand about medical practice at all, but he was tempted to call for Tsunade baa-chan to come back from traveling to give high level opinion.

But he didn't know whether it was a sound decision. The slug princess' chakra system had deteriorated a lot due to being cut in two in the last war that she called off her retirement soon and passed the hat to Kakashi-sensei. Her medical knowledge might already be outdated as well, as she had never healed people again.

Speaking of which…

A sharp rap on the door, followed by creaking sound announced his advisor's entrance. Shikamaru wore long coat in the color of light green with his clan symbol at the back. His pineapple hair and goatee was always sharp and neat. Naruto turned and cringed at what he saw; another work! Shikamaru approached his desk, carrying a stack of paper as high as his nose, which meant Naruto had to start working again!

"Naruto, there is an urgent case from the Kaminarimon company regarding their social responsibility. I've put - Huh, what happened?" the genius advisor enquired when he saw Naruto's taut eyebrows and jaw. Knowing he might disclose something important, Shikamaru closed the door behind with his foot.

"Huh? No, it's nothing." Naruto said, but was lost in his thought again. Shikamaru proceeded to explain the top priority cases that need Naruto's attention immediately. When his advisor turned to leave, Naruto called back to him

"Shikamaru, has it been one week since Sakura was hospitalized?" Naruto suddenly asked out of the blue.

Shikamaru smiled inwardly, So that's what was eating him. "Hmm, yes. It's Friday now. Any word from Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto's blond brows furrowed. That was a brilliant question, so it means it's been six days since Sasuke had received the message. He knew so because Gamakero always reported back to him whenever he succeed in meeting Sasuke or not. A few times when Sasuke had already changed dimensions and the frog couldn't locate him, he would ask Naruto to repeat his sensory sage mode and detect his whereabout.

Come to think of it, he hadn't send back another reply yet, had he? Is he okay?

"He said he needed to check about a certain threat..." Naruto mumbled slowly. "I might have to ask Gamakero again, to have him explain his status."

However, Shikamaru suddenly saw something behind Naruto's head and pointed to his window. Sure enough, there was one brown hawk pecking his window glass as though asking to be let in. It was Sasuke's hawk. Talk about the devil…

After Naruto released the paper from its' feet, the hawk flew away as though it couldn't stand leaving its master for too long.

Prepare Decipher team in Konoha. I am coming soon.

Naruto's stomach turned. Yes, Sasuke was going back but he did bring something important then. How soon is 'soon'? What did we need to decipher?

He gave the short message to Shikamaru for a second opinion. The Nara clan head raised his thin eyebrows at the piece of paper and faced Naruto back. "I'll do it."


Meanwhile, in the hospital a few kilometres to the south of Hokage Tower, Sarada was contemplating whether she should go to practice or not. Konohamaru-sensei had given her the option to take the day off after yesterday's mistake, but she was torn. At one side, she knew as a Genin she had responsibility to do missions and train. But at the other side, she was feeling so guilty that instinctively, she wanted to shy away from everyone after her blunder that caused Boruto to be hurt.

She couldn't help but flashed back to when Boruto was slammed to the tree and slid down to the trunk, unmoving. Konohamaru-sensei quickly put him on a supine position and checked for any urgent wounds. It was terrifying how Boruto's half-lidded eyes kept rolling in his head and limbs twitching randomly as though he was struggling to wake up. For a few minutes, she thought she had inflicted severe damage on her teammate.

"It's ok Sarada, I know you never meant to hurt me." Boruto said when they were on the way to hospital, arm slung around her shoulders and leaned on her since he was still disoriented. Sarada couldn't bring herself to see him in the eyes, let alone reply him. She was so, so regretful and-

"Sarada...are you not going?" came Mama's voice from the bed. She turned sharply, not expecting Mama to be observing her contemplation (i.e self-blaming). Although she was used to tell everything to Mama, she didn't tell her mistake yesterday, in fear of Mama getting more stressed. It was so embarrassing too, Sarada told herself.

Mama was sitting on her bed with the head part angled up. She was still wearing the hospital gown with a white blanket draped loosely around her midsection. In the past week she had been hospitalized, she was losing weight, cheeks slightly sunken with dark circles under her eyes. At night, Mama would toss and turn, sometimes whimpering as though she was sore all over, but when Sarada came to her, she would mutter out she's okay or not to worry, although all her taut body and gritted teeth told otherwise. Sarada couldn't go back to sleep after seeing her mother in so much pain. She was fussing around Mama, giving damp rag on places where she was sore, calling nurses on duty to give her painkiller when the pain was tremendous and Mama couldn't even talk. Izumi obaa-san who also stayed there helped Sarada with stuffs here and there. That was why obaa-san had matching dark circles too, but she stubbornly helped Sarada through it all.

"It's okay, Sara-chan. I am a ninja, I've dealt with worse." Sarada was relieved, but somehow felt guilty to cause her auntie extra work when she also had to attend to Sakura during the day, and her own family during the evening. Lately, Sakura was having less appetite that they had no choice but hook her into the IV all the time. Together with her IV, she now had to had blood transfusion. Sarada could deduce even without being a medic that Mama was dependant on her blood supply. After one bag had been given, Sakura could be awake and alert for one day, before she went pale and need another blood bag. And the rashes on her hand were starting to darken too. Sarada wondered if she got them when she fell down the stairs?

"Mama, sure I will go soon." Sarada slid her genin training pack. Izumi obaa-san was gone for a while to meet with Shizune.

"Come here, Sarada." Sakura beckoned with her hand weakly, still with her glazed look. Last night was a particularly bad episode and the nurses had to give Sakura painkiller that finally helped her to sleep.

Sarada approached her bed and put her arms into Mama's midsection tentatively, afraid to crush. She pressed her forehead into Mama's more-than-even sunken ribs, feeling the bones poking harder to her forehead underneath the hospital gown.

"Be a good girl, okay?" Mama said softly, gingerly.

Sarada pulled back to see Mama's expression. Gone was her healthy, pretty face. It was replaced by the older, tired face which somehow struck a chord at Sarada's heart. Her used-to-be brilliant pale green eyes was somehow dulled in to dead moss.

Sarada's lips trembled. And now she didn't know if she was okay to go back training. She couldn't tell Mama or she would get worse hearing her daughter making such terrible mistake. When had everything started to go wrong?

"Sarada…" she felt her mother cup her cheeks. "It's okay...I'm going to be okay..."

"Mama, please get well soon."

Sakura caressed her daughter's head lovingly, putting on a reassuring smile. "Sure. Sorry to make you worry, dear.."

Sarada gave her one last hug and proceeded to go to the training ground.


Thanks for bearing with this fic. Please review and tell me what you think of this story