AN: Sorry it took so long for this to get out. Like I keep saying I have 3 part time jobs and go to school so whenever I get a free second I sleep THEN I try and write. Sorry I work horribly when I have no sleep. I also had problems trying to flesh out Ino's half. I wanted to do two halves from both their perspectives but Sakura just had more going on. Anyway I hope you enjoy for as long as it took me to get it out.
Chapter 7: Spring
Sakura sighed as she looked down at her mostly uneaten lunch and wrapped up what was left and put it in a take out lunch bag to give to whoever to eat back at the hospital, her mind and apatite were gone at the moment. Her lunch shift at the hospital had only just begun, and she'd wandered out to a small restaurant for some lunch sitting at the bar for quicker service, and she still had almost a whole hour left. The warm mid-summer air was broken by a slight breeze, a few clouds dotting the sky. The weather was fine, she only had a 10 hour shift today and most of her patients today were small things like minor cuts and sprains, nothing wearing at all. She should would normally be enjoying a day like this and be planning on going out or just going to enjoy the good weather with a night stroll. Unfortunately her mood was damp and she felt lackluster, as it was this had become the norm for her the last week, ever since Ino had left.
It was only two days after their last date and they were supposed to go out the next night, when there was a knock on the door waking her out of her light sleep. She looked over at her clock before pulling her bedsheets back and grudgingly pulled herself out of bed wincing as her feet hit the cold floor. 'It's almost two in the morning, who is it? Crap I hope it's not Kakashi-sempai again coming in at all hours ripped to shreds. I swear one day he's going to try coming here and I won't be here and when someone finds him and drags him to the hospital shishou is going to rip him a new one.' Even though the war was over and most countries decided to make peace they were still at ends with Iwa and every now and then something came up. Then there were always skirmishes between villages that ninja were pulled into. Even after the world almost ends some people still held grudges, thankfully the times her teammates showed up on her doorstep was much less frequent and seemed to be a thing of the past. Still exasperated she sighed and made her way to her door not even bothering to read the chakra signal on the other side. She opened her door and was surprised to see instead of her former sensei, Ino. The girl was dressed in full gear including flack vest. Even though she looked fine she could tell Ino had also probably been woken up not to long ago and told to get up.
"Ino what are you doing here?" It wasn't just the fact the kunoichi was on her door this time of night, but also her field gear and her awakening in the middle of the night. 'What's going on?' She was instantly awake.
"Sorry I know it's late but I didn't want to just leave a note." She rubbed the back of her head almost bashfully and smiled though it didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Ino?" 'What is it,' she begged the girl to tell her with her eyes.
"I got a mission, shouldn't be long, a week, two at most. But I'll be out of the village and wanted to let you know." She looked Sakura in the eyes so she could tell Ino wasn't lying, but she also wasn't telling her much. She felt a little worried and felt the fear squeezing down on her heart. Even though they had gone to war together, and even though she knew the fear behind having a teammate or good friend run into unknown danger, the fear seemed to sneak up on her when she wasn't expecting it.
"But why, and where? Don't tell me you're going to I-" Ino quickly covered her mouth and looked back and forth, even though you didn't see anyone out and about, they were in a ninja village.
"Sorry confidential, that's why my team is going in." If anything Sakura seemed even more worried. "I can't tell you much but I promise it's nothing to worry about, I'll be back in no time ok?" The way Ino looked at her, her eyes were begging her to not worry and when she smiled at Sakura this time it did reach her eyes.
"Ino...please...be careful." While they were both ninja and this was nothing new, the war was still in the back of their minds and thinking of everyone they had lost, how many good byes were said this way only to never have a welcome back...
"Promise, and when I get back I'll make sure to take you out, no matter what." It might have been a gut reaction, it could have been nerves or worry, but without a second thought Sakura leaned up and pulled Ino's face to hers sealing their lips. Ino almost fell over in shock but quickly recovered and leaned into the kiss. It was slightly off center, wet, and hasty, but it was also warmth, hope, and raw emotion. This was the closest they'd come to a public display of affection even though they were only in the hallway outside Sakura's apartment, and it made her heart ache. It was only a moment before they both pulled away, and then Ino nodded.
"Good night."
"Be safe."
"For you, always." And then she was gone...
It had been eight days since then. She had tried to fool herself into thinking Ino might be done earlier and come home before the week was up to surprise her just to set up some kind of surprise date when she got home. She had tried to keep up the though but last night she gave up on that idea, and her hope was now slowly slipping to worry. Even though she had said it might be two weeks at the most, it was now slowly moving that way. And if it was over two weeks then it would still be a week before they sent another party after them if it was anything less then A-rank. She didn't even know what rank it was, but for it to be confidential it would have to be fairly high ranked. 'I should have at least asked that she might have been able to tell me the rank. But would she? If it was a high rank she might have lied just so I wouldn't worry. But would she do that?' She had one hell of a headache, she held her head for a moment before fishing out a bottle of aspirin she'd taken to keeping in her coat as of lately.
She popped a couple of tablets before finishing the glass of water. It was so odd something this simple seemed to be making her a wreck. She had to keep reminding herself the war was over, there didn't seem to be any real concern or extremely dangerous missions as of late so it didn't seem like fighting was even brewing. As it was before and during the war she had more important things to worry about like her teammate being harvested for the nine tailed fox inside of him, or being killed by the enemy masquerading as their allies, or worse the unknown status of one Uchiha Sasuke. It might have just been the fact this was the first time someone she was dating had left on a dangerous mission. 'Well potentially dangerous, I don't know a damn thing about it.' It was probably something stupid like a new formula for an ultra-potent sake or something the hokage had to have. She snorted out loud, as stupid as it was it was plausible. 'You have got to chill out,' she thought as she sipped on her soda, the ice clinking as it melted and hit the glass. 'Ino is a medic nin, as well as a damn good chunin, and she has Shikamaru and Choji on her team, there's no way they'll let anything happen to her.' She was fairly surprised to hear someone calling her name and turned around in her seat to see a blonde coming her way, not the blonde she was hoping for, but one she loved nonetheless.
"Sakura-chan, man it seems like it's been forever since I saw you," he said and easily sat on the stool beside her at the bar. His sunny personality seemed to finally help lift her happier mood even if only a bit.
"You mean three weeks Naruto?"
"It's only been three weeks since the party?"
"About."
"I swear it was longer then that."
"Maybe it's because you're so busy you can't buy a calender."
"I have plenty of calenders."
"Do you use them."
"Kind of..." The way his face was turning pink made her giggle. The easy banter between them helped put her nerves a bit more at ease. They paused for a second as the waitress came to get his order. She snuck a glace at the clock watching the time, she had actually been late coming back from lunch the other day because she was zoning out and let the hour and a half fly by before she knew it, she had to be more careful. She turned back to her friend as the waitress left them.
"I get it, the calenders, they're at Hinata's right," she asked picking up where she left off. For once he was quiet which was all the answer she needed and laughed as his face turned a light shade of pink.
"Sakura-chan," he whined.
"Oh come on it's just too fun to tease you. How are you guys anyway? Should I be getting ready to be an aunt?" The look on his face changed instantly from embarrassed to plain fear.
"Aunt? Oh hell no! What are you thinking, her father would kill me if it happened before marriage!"
"Oh so you're getting married?"
"No! Yes! Not yet! Errr maybe eventually." The stuttering blonde's face was now a deep red and Sakura was laughing her ass off on the stool next to him.
"Calm down, calm down, I'm just teasing." He actually 'hmphed' at her. "Sorry it's just so fun when I can actually tease you. Anyway how is Hinata? I haven't seen her much recently at the hospital." Hinata wasn't specifically a medic-nin but with her byakugan she was very talented and she was trying to convince the girl to work a few shifts a week at the clinic to learn more.
"Yeah right now she's organizing everything for when whirlpool gets started and the branch house moves out there. She's also trying to call in some favors to help get more financial backing."
"Really? I thought with Tazuna and Inari and pretty much their whole town backing you it wouldn't be so much of a problem. I mean to have two of the best carpenters in wave volunteer to help with the construction for nearly nothing, I bet a few villages are pretty jealous."
"Even so we still need a lot of money. I don't want to half ass it and just make an outpost and then make a village. I actually already have the plans drawn up for the whole village, including stores, government buildings, schools, and even a clinic, well at least to start. I want a hospital but it might not happen for the first couple years. I even started talking to some of the store owners here about them moving or building branch shops. I'm still trying to get Ichiraku, but the old man isn't sure he wants to send Ayame out there." Sakura had to giggle at that, the thing is he would come all the way back to Konoha for their ramen if they didn't move. Hell he'd probably invent a jutsu to instantly teleport him there.
"Well I guess that is you,it's all or nothing."
"Damn straight!" It was then his own food came and in Naruto fashion he started gulping it down like a starving man, Sakura pulled out her own barely eaten lunch and nibbled on it a bit. She had no doubt her friend would really do it just like he said. The enthusiasm in his voice as he talked about the plans and everything they were achieving, it was amazing. They would do it and she had always hoped to be by his side but now, she wasn't sure, she was being pulled in another direction and she didn't know if she should stay her ground or go. She felt herself starting to drift off again when Naruto, already finished with lunch, called her attention back.
"Ne Sakura-chan, can I ask you something?"
She hmmmed in acknowledgment as she popped another piece of food in her mouth.
"Are you seeing someone?" ...and she promptly choked. It took her a minute to hack up the obstruction to her lung and look over at him with her eyes watery.
"What? Naruto you're seeing Hinata!" He jumped back afraid she was going to deck him if he stayed within her vicinity.
"What! No! No! Not me! I just meant lately...you've seemed really...well...happy. Not that you weren't before, but it just seems like something changed, so I thought..." He was fishing for the right words and kind of just let it trail off. She wasn't sure how to answer that, she wasn't really ready to go public about her thing with Ino, but if even Naruto had noticed a change in her...without her knowledge her cheeks became a dusty pink as her silence seemed to speak louder then words.
"Ne Sakura-chan don't worry about it, if you don't wanna say anything that's fine."
"Nah it's fine it's just kind of funny and a bit embarrassing." He stared at her waiting to continue as she cleared her throat again still feeling a tickle. "Tsunade-sama had a talk with me after the war about figuring out what's important to me, I happened to walk by the flower shop..." She didn't notice it herself but she was staring out in space again like she was earlier kind of drifting and Naruto had a feeling something was going on. "I realized even though we're on good terms Ino and I haven't been friends since we were kids and so we started our friendship back up, no more name calling or anything like that, it's really nice. After all the war took a lot from all of us I guess our friendship has become all that more important..."
She didn't have to say it for him to know what they were talking about. Many of them had lost friends and comrades during the war. Kiba had lost his older sister, Shino his mother, though the one that hit them all closest to home was Lee. Lee had been trying to hold a couple hundred of the zetsu's at bay while they got the wounded back to the medical tents. But somehow...he was cut off and surrounded, Gai went to help him and they ended up opening the 'Gates.' They defeated them, after a body count almost 1,432 in total, but at a high cost. There was no way to heal them after opening all of the gates the way they did, they had forced them, and there was no helping them. Gai died on the field before any of the medics could get to him, but Lee...died in Sakura's arms. She tried so many different methods and all kinds of transfusions and medicines but nothing could help him, all she could do was stay with him in the end, even if she was professional about it and continued healing after he was gone, Naruto knew later that night and probably many after it affected her. He shook his head trying to dismiss the thoughts, they had to keep living for those who they lost trying to protect their home.
"Anyway I gotta get going, Tsunade-sama wants to talk to me about a mission, first real high rank in a while." He laid money on the bar and they both stood leaving the building.
"A high ranking mission?" 'Ino.' A pair of blue eyes and blond hair automatically popped into her head. "Do you know where? I haven't heard of anything major going on." 'Is something starting again? Does it have to do with Ino's mission?' She mentally slapped herself trying to get a hold of herself. Ino was a ninja, she could take care of herself, and Sakura felt like some kind of civilian worrying about her like she was. It hadn't even been two weeks yet!
"Hmm I'm not sure, I only heard a rumor from Kakashi-sensei but I think it might be some crap in Iwa, I swear those guys are just mad for no reason. The kage fought with us and is trying to get a treaty signed but the whole rest of the country is still sore about the 2nd ninja war. Some people know how to hold a grudge."
"Says you, they have a long history with Konoha and not much is good. You should really know this kind of stuff if you're trying to be a kage." He gave her the same look he gave Iruka-sensei in the academy when he was being lectured. She in turn sighed but gave up, he would learn somehow, though probably the hard way. They made it to a crossroad in town, the hospital to the south, his destination apparently to the west as they went to part ways.
"Anyway I'll see you later Sakura-chan!"
"Later, tell Hinata hi for me." He took off quickly taking to the rooftops to avoid civilians. She still had 15 minutes before she had to be back for her shift, so she just walked the streets to the hospital. 'I really need something to distract me, it feels like my head is going to explode if I keep thinking nonstop and in circles.' She sighed and stopped to look up and see a small path leading off the main road. 'A temple.' That's right, there was a small temple this way, nothing very big and barely kept up, but...
She made her way up the slightly overgrown rock path leading up to the small temple. It was wooden, old, and looked like it had seen better days. She walked up the few steps, the wood groaning in protest until she made it to the top, she went up to the alter outside and closed her eyes clapping her hands a few times throwing up a silent prayer, 'please keep Ino safe.' She felt the warm breeze wash over her and for the first time in many days she felt a little bit of peace.
"Hmmm?" Ino hummed and turned around to look to the dark woods behind them looking back and forth and seeing nothing. The breeze shifted, warm against her skin, but light enough to feel good. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to meet the bored gaze of her teammate.
"Something up Ino?" She shook her head back and forth in the negative. She felt stupid for letting him sneak up on her.
"No, just..." She looked back down the empty forest path. "I thought I heard my name..." More specifically she thought she heard her call her name. He continued to give her a blank look before pulling out his pack of smokes and pulling one out to light up.
"We just got done with a break about an hour ago, we don't need to stop again already do we?" She gave him a scathing look. She walked around him and didn't wait for him, but heard him walking behind her and eventually beside her. Their mission to Iwa seemed to be taking longer then they wanted but they had to be thorough. The Leaf village was on good terms with the kage but his people were another story altogether. They felt cheated since after the war the Leaf got more jinchuriki then any of the other countries and thought they were trying to prepare for some kind of fight, maybe even try to take control of the five great nations. Or so the rumors were spreading amongst some of the people of Iwa who were still holding grudges from the war before. It was ridiculous but some of the villagers who were more gullible were eating it up and according to rumors were trying to get a people's army together to try and take on Konoha, or worse, kidnap the jinchuriki.
At this point all of the containers except Naruto and Bee were all infants or toddlers, and the beasts were divided among the villages but all of the containers were children of their villages. They would be kidnapping Konoha children. And really one of the main reasons Konoha had two wasn't because they wanted more power but because when looking for containers it happened to be a pair of twins who were compatible. There was always the belief that twins sometimes have special almost psychic connections so they thought to try and balance out the power and burden one had to bear they would have they both become containers for the 3 and 4 tails respectively. The kages all knew this information and were fine with this but with so much misinformation few villagers knew the truth and even fewer believed it. Which was why they were trudging around the outskirts of Iwa with permission from the kage to try and pick up on any rumors about this supposed army and any threats to Konoha.
"I'm not tired, I must have just been hearing things. Jeez, as a shinobi we're supposed to be alert and I was making sure there really wasn't anything following us." He gave her a wry smile, she might have been a good liar when it came to anyone else, but not him, not them.
"How troublesome. Anyway we're almost done, once we confirm the info tonight we can head home and be back in three days. You've been really wanting to get home haven't you?" She controlled her blush thankfully but couldn't meet his eyes, not when all she could think of were a certain pair of green ones.
"Maybe." She couldn't lie but that didn't mean she had to tell him the whole truth. She didn't have to look at him to know he had that amused look on his face like he did when figuring out a puzzle.
"I don't mind if you don't tell me as long as you're not lying to yourself." She couldn't help the smile that graced her lips. If she was into guys she might actually have went for her teammate, but she couldn't see him as anything more then a brother. 'He can read me like an open book. But I guess someone in this world needs to be able to.' She fell into step behind him as they continued down the narrow forest path and saw the outline of their third teammate waiting for them to come into view before he turned and walking ahead to scout.
"Anyway the village we're heading to, it's supposed to be a rural farming village with a small amount of fishing from a river nearby. So no shinobi, no hired mercenaries, so anyone threatening should stick out like a sore thumb. I really hope it's nothing because if it's not..." He didn't have to continue and she stared ahead all joking aside.
"If it's not then it smells of a trap." She sighed and closed her eyes before looking over at him. "Really though who would want to be picking fights already? We just helped save the world less then a year ago and someone's already starting shit."
"I'm not going to say it's not true." He took to take a puff from his cigarette before continuing. "But we don't know if there is anything to this mission or just people overreacting. But the thing is regardless of how happy we are that there's this kind of peace going on right now, there are plenty of people though who want to take advantage of this because no one's expecting it and no one will want to go right back to fighting. This peace is only temporary, eventually the world will go back to how it was, though maybe with a little more understanding, if we're lucky." She sighed and glanced around again not detecting any other chakra but still keeping a look out. Something in the back of her mind was prickling and something seemed off, but she couldn't put her finger on what. 'Man I just really want to get home already. This mission is starting to get to me.'
"Is it really so much though to want to keep it peaceful just a little longer?" Shikamaru stopped walking and ground the butt of his cigarette on the ground before picking it up and putting it in his pocket.
"That's why we're doing this isn't it? To try and keep the peace just a little longer."
"It would just be nice if we could enjoy a bit of what we're fighting for."
"We can, when we get home, so come on."
"I can't believe you are telling me to hurry, the irony." He didn't say anything and took up a slightly quicker pace placing himself in the middle of the three man group with Ino taking up the rear. Talking with Shikamaru seemed to help her a bit. It sucked to be thinking about fighitng starting up so soon again, but if that's what it took then that's what would have to happen. 'I guess maybe I've just been taking my time off for granted, if this was a year ago I wouldn't even have time to think about dating.' She smiled to herself and stretched her limbs above her head hearing a crack in her shoulder. 'I guess I'm just really lucky, and I gotta make sure to come back on time or Sakura's going to have a hissy fit. She might even be mad enough she won't go out with me, and I'll have to do something to make it up to her. Hmm, maybe I should get her a gift just in case on the way home, to preempt it.' She stopped for a second, and turned to scan behind her, still no chakra, but the feeling she had was different. Earlier she thought she'd heard Sakura's voice and felt a calmness over her. Now...she had goosebumps and the hair on the back of her neck was on end. But no matter how much she scanned or watched nothing jumped out at her. Except...'There's no chakra...anywhere! Where are the animals?' She felt her heart tighten like it was being squeezed. 'But what if...'
"Hmmm..." She put her hands together in the boar sign and channeled her chakra. "Kai!" In an instant she felt her stomach drop and her voice stuck in her throat. She felt her heart leap in her throat and it was all she could do to signal her teammates before her yell was cut off.
AN: I hope you enjoyed and I hope I can get the next one out sooner.
