This marks the last of the original chapters I wrote. The last scene is recent work, as are all future chapters. Thanks for reading.
Ambuscade
When she was properly redressed in her own, clean clothes, Sakura opened the door and went out to regroup with Naruto and Kakashi. She had calmed down and was more prepared to be rational about what her former sensei might have caught a glimpse of—in reference to frilly underpants—but she could feel that her face was still hot.
In the moment after Kakashi had admitted to "looking at it all" Sakura had felt her stomach flop over itself. It hadn't been a sinking feeling, not the one she would have offhandedly expected from such a scenario. She felt it more akin to anticipation. He had been tight lipped after that. He hadn't offered any reassurance via an opinion about what he had seen and he hadn't admitted or denied being the one to pick it out for her. Uncertain of how to react to the possibilities chaotically running through her mind, she had frantically shut the situation down. She especially had wanted to keep Naruto from realizing what was transpiring between her and their former teacher. Kakashi, on the other hand, had seemed eager to drag the blonde into it—and maybe Naruto had been right, Kakashi was being weird. Was she weird too, for wanting to know why he had picked the item out, if he had been the one?
Extremely conscious of how the frills and lace felt under her shorts, as the door slid to a close behind her, she pensively slipped her hands back into familiar leather gloves one hand at a time. When she caught the side-eyed stare of a nearby white-haired jounin, Sakura immediately snubbed him by huffing as she turned away, her nose lifting into the air, heading instead for the nearby blonde. She could hear Kakashi chuckling at her in return as he walked over to them, seemingly ignoring her self-conscious trembling at his approach.
Naruto in the meantime was simply grinning, hands stuffed deeply into his pockets while he slowly shifted his weight from foot to foot—as usual, unable to stop moving for a moment. He still had no idea about what had transpired, and though he could see that there was tension, he was choosing to ignore it. "I'm glad to see you looking more yourself, Sakura-chan."
Sakura found herself grunting in annoyance at the jinchuuriki, even though her frustration had almost nothing to do with him. "You might change your mind about that. Looking more myself means feeling more myself, so don't be a jerk." She passed a meaningful glare in Kakashi's direction. "Even just being out of the hospital, I feel full of energy."
"Mm." Kakashi smiled, acting completely oblivious to any hostilities. "Good to hear you feel improved, but you must be hungry. I know Naruto is always starved and he must feel pretty stood up after you never showed up at your date yesterday evening. You two should go back to Ichiraku."
"Kakashi," Sakura drawled. Putting the side of her wrist to her forehead, she grudgingly wiped away sweat, and then turned her hand to also tucked the hair out of her eyes.
It seemed he expected a complaint, or a gripe, because Kakashi straightened, lifting his chin to look down at her over the frown barely visible through his mask.
Sakura allowed her face to relinquish its scowl as she looked down at her gloves, her fingers carefully stretching beneath the leather. "That's a good idea." She looked up into her former sensei's face, not exactly smiling, but looking content and relaxed. "We'll go to Ichiraku."
"You will?"
"Yep."
Naruto took the opportunity to spring forward and hook arms with Sakura. He was beaming. "C'mon, Sakura-chan, no need to waste anymore time loitering with old one-eye."
Sakura touched a hand over the one Naruto had linked with her arm. "Alright, we're going." She paused as they turned, her ears catching words she hadn't anticipated and could barely understand. Kakashi was mumbling under his breath, quickly becoming lost in his own thoughts.
"Too easy. How did that work?"
She felt Naruto tug on her arm, his bright, blue eyes staring back at her worriedly.
"You really wanna go, right? I'm starving."
"Yeah. Let's go." Sakura took a few short steps and could hear the poof and woosh of smoke filling a vacuity as Kakashi used jutsu to transport away behind them. She kept walking without stopping to look back, having already anticipated the sound. She was curious to consider her former sensei's behavior. Had he intentionally set them up on what he thought would be a date? She frowned.
Instinctively, she had assumed it had something to do with orders from Tsunade. Why else would they have left Naruto with her all night instead of relieving him as promised? Or keep her in a room with windows instead of moving her to one that was less accessible? It was both that they were bait and ANBU could watch them more easily if they were together. They wanted to occupy Naruto with watching her instead of letting him get in a fight with the Uchihas. They wanted to discover Sasuke's motives before he finished his business and left. The way Tsunade would deal with this type of situation wasn't foreign to her. That being said, there was an unexpected urgency she sensed coming from Kakashi. It felt less like pressure on her and more like pressure on Naruto towards her. With his typical ambiguity playing into things, she couldn't perceive any truth for certain.
Naruto, beside her, seemed likewise unperturbed by Kakashi's exit, but he was looking at her quizzically, probably wondering why she was so quiet. She offered him a brief reassuring smile and nodded in the direction of the staircase. "Do you want to waste a little chakra and just transport?"
"Nah. I'd rather take a walk with you," Naruto said with a grin.
"Good. Me too."
—
"…So, I'm just saying that I agree he's acting strangely. It's not like him to play matchmaker."
Naruto glanced at Sakura, the chopsticks gripped in his hand meditatively tapping out his thoughts. "Sakura-chan," he began with a frown, "I'm glad you agree, but you might be over thinking things. He's being weird but not towards both of us. We really can't know what he's thinking. He might have wanted to send us off someplace so we wouldn't bother him."
Sakura frowned back, her cheek burrowing its way into her fist and the elbow of the hand leaning into the ramen counter. Her head was tilting and her hair was falling messily all around her face as she looked at him unhappily, her other hand gripping the chair between her thighs. "You mean so that you wouldn't bother him."
"That's true." Naruto laughed after a moment of hesitation. "I do feel like we should be out looking for Sasuke, but I know it's useless. He'll show up again sooner or later when he wants to." He caught eyes with Sakura for a moment, thus witnessing her flash of worry turn to sadness and was finding himself wishing the ramen would grow wings or sprout a mouth—anything to give him something strange to wonder at, rather than have to fight the urge to stare utterly slack jawed at Sakura. She might take insult to his gaze, but if he looked at her, he could not help but pause to admire everything about her. She was so beautiful to him, even just how her mouth curved to smile, or bent to frown, or how her eyes were green and bright and understanding as she calmly looked at him. Slouching was an ugly habit, yet the way she bent over the counter to lean on her forearms, her thighs crossing each other laxly, was like an artist's masterpiece sculpture. He found himself enthralled, his hands ceasing their movement and the very breathe of him seizing in his lungs as he stared, and he would forget she was talking at all. Like now—it was as if her mouth was moving, even though she was not looking directly at him, but he heard nothing. Quite honestly, he felt a bit numb looking at her and as she let her gaze wander back to him he realized she really had been talking and now she was expecting a reply, her brow furrowing at him as he stared dumbly, unaware of anything she had been saying.
"Naruto."
Teuchi came by and picked up Sakura's empty bowl, glancing at the blonde beside her with concern. The hand withdrawing with the bowl was unsure, as he shared a bewildered look with the pink haired girl. She shrugged at him, and nodded for him to continue on his way and ignore the fact that Naruto had stopped eating, mid sixth bowl, to stare blankly towards her.
"Naruto?"
His pants itched, Naruto realized, and he scratched at his thigh before recognizing that it was his own name being spoken with question. "What?"
"Idiot. Did you hear anything I just said?"
"Eh? Sorry. I kinda blanked out." Naruto's blue eyes sought refuge from Sakura's malcontented glare in his steadily cooling bowl of ramen. It was then that he remembered he was still hungry and continued eating; the noodles dripping as he hastily scooped them into his mouth.
Sakura bowed her head a little; her eyes closing as she began to smile and shoulders trembling as she bit her lip to stop the surfacing giggles. Out of the corner of her eye, she looked at Naruto as he continued—somewhat hesitatingly—to finish his ramen. He glanced at her, but with a small grin full of noodles almost releasing into a laugh, he quickly forced himself to put all focus into his food, the corner of his mouth twitching with every bite.
"Can't you pay attention for even five minutes?"
His bowl tipped up at his chin, the last drops of ramen draining into his throat. Naruto half choked, swallowed and burst out in deep chuckles. Wiping his dripping chin with the back of a clutched jacket sleeve, he set down the bowl and gave Sakura a mischievous smile. "I was paying attention." His whiskered cheeks flamed for a moment, and then he coughed into his fist and went on smiling impishly. "Just more on you, Sakura-chan, than what you were saying."
"What?"
For a moment it seemed like when Sakura raised a hand that she would hit Naruto out of shock and embarrassment, but though she was flushed redder than a tomato, she instead used the hand in air to brush hair out of her eyes before quickly looking away. Naruto was satisfied to notice a small pleased expression play across her face. Contentedly, he grabbed the edge of his stool and leaned back, watching Sakura and, as before, admiring everything about her.
As Ayame came by to take his empty bowl, lifting it and beginning to pull it away, Naruto—still grinning—caught sight of a reflection in the ceramic dish that startled him—the face of someone standing behind him he would not have expected, nor until now had realized was there. He did not turn at first, continuing to smile with Sakura for another moment even as he recognized the shadow of a raised sword falling starkly across her back. She must not have sensed anything because she was startled when he swung around, fist flying to strike the would-be assailant. His blue eyes flashed, teeth grinding as they prepared for impact, he realized he was too slow and a foot was quickly rising up beneath his chin to strike him. The force of the kick sent him tumbling wildly over the ramen counter, his shout of pain and the crack of his body hitting the ground bringing Ayame scurrying out from the back room. She, in turn, gave a scream of horror and fled, possibly for help, most likely for cover.
Sakura meantime had gathered herself into a fighting stance, unprepared still for who she was setting up to do battle with.
Again.
Itachi had little reaction to her movements other than to advance upon her retreat, his katana now lowered to his side, but no less menacing. He did not sneer, there was no hatred on his face, but she knew why he was there. When Itachi decided you should die, he did not relent until success in the matter was achieved. He was there for her head whether she wanted to give it or not. Naruto was struggling to stand, his voice rising in panic, telling her to run, then lowering in anger as he finally mounted the counter and poised to spring.
"I'm the one you want. Get away from Sakura-chan!"
Itachi's ears were deaf to Naruto's demands, his blade shining in the sunlight as he continued to approach the steadily retreating med-nin. His stoic look spoke volumes of his determination to succeed and his confidence that he would.
"I'm just not sure what I did to attract your interest and draw you out in the open daylight," Sakura mumbled through gritted teeth, "but I'm sure this can't end well for one of us."
Naruto watched the katana rise and swing in one fluid moment, missing Sakura by centimeters. It did not take a second attack to get him to jump forward, rasengan spiraling in his open palm. It was as if he was a genin again, attacking Kakashi, because, quicker than he could see, Itachi moved and struck, this time with his blade. Blood to spurted from a wound on Naruto's chest. Blonde hair and orange cloth blurred together as he fell again, rolling and tumbling like rag doll on the ground. Sakura waited on abated breath for him to get up, his moans little signal that he would anytime soon, but as Itachi turned back to her, eyes narrowing, she determined she was on her own. She was not worried about Naruto dying because whether or not she was Itachi's prime target at the moment, he still needed the jinchuuriki alive and he was calculated enough to make sure that any wounds he gave the blonde would be non life threatening. So, she had only to worry for her own survival at the moment.
It wasn't as comforting a thought as it might have been.
As if on cue, Itachi raised the sword again and brought it down towards her. She was fast enough to get her hand into her kunai pouch and pull one out. Gripping the handle tightly, it rose above her almost involuntarily. As she watched it move, she blinked, knowing the sight of it, as it passed directly in front of the sun's glare, and the other blade glinting at the same time as it crossed the kunai above her, might be the last thing she saw. It was coming down and knowing it was, it felt foolish that she could not bear to open her eyes even to guide her hand in what could be her final moments—she knew it was close; she could sense it coming. There was no chance of blocking unless she opened her eyes. In the last moment, her thoughts got up to speed, instinct kicking her body into action. She dropped down, collapsing to the ground in a split second evasion maneuver. Rolling in the next seconds, she came up standing a few feet from Itachi's last position, but he was right there with her, already slashing. Sakura stumbled back, her attempts to block using her kunai seeming feeble compared to her enemy's perfect strikes. Yet, she was still alive; somehow what she was doing succeeding thus far. Not that her luck had any chance of holding out for much longer.
A crowd was gathering around the fight, a few concerned onlookers braving to check Naruto as he lay a distance from the battle, still bleeding. He was healing quickly, but not fast enough. It had only been thirty seconds at most since he had been struck and Sakura was rapidly tiring. The recent injury, poison, and late, troubling night had taken their toll on her body. She was barely defending herself and—despite the growing amount of people—no ANBU appeared to be present. Each coming strike seemed to be stronger, sharper, and more concise. Slowly she was losing her ability to respond while Itachi was fast gaining. It was in his red eyes—the satisfaction—this was all his intention. He wanted to break her, bring her to her knees before loosing death upon her. Then it happened.
Sakura stumbled.
Her heel caught a small pebble, a tadpole among rocks, but in her exhausted state was enough to seize her balance and force her down backwards into a compromising position. There would be no quick roll here. If went down on your butt in a fight, your enemy needed only to step forward and pen you in before striking down. His face actually held emotion as he moved in time with her fall, a visage of concern she hadn't expected from him. His motion was nothing except graceful as he attacked in her moment of failure.
This time, she gladly accepted as her eyes closed, blocking her view of the world as it prepared to end.
She let her thoughts wander in that moment, to her life, her friends, and even Sasuke. She questioned why any crowd had gathered at all. They should be afraid to be witnesses. The phrase "life flashing before your eyes" was coming true for her and she knew what people meant when they described these last precious seconds. It was less memories rolling in high speed and more like a collage of stills from her life, the faces she remembered and cherished most all appearing at once in front of her.
Kakashi.
Once teacher, now equal, and something she had not expected; friend. There was so much about him that she wanted to understand. He both frustrated and delighted her, but she was comfortable with feeling those things around him. Talking with him seemed to grow her spirit and she had looked forward to seeing how else their relationship would develop.
Naruto.
Oh. She had grown closer to him than she would have thought possible as a young girl. Would she forget him when she was dead? She wanted to retain everything about him. The bright yellow of his hair was dull compared to the light his spirit had shed on her.
Sasuke.
He had not been the first person to come to mind, surprisingly.
Shishou, Lee, Ino, … there are so many others.
As Sakura realized it had been long enough to be dead, she thought maybe oblivion truly was all there was on the other side. There was darkness and stillness, but that was nearly all. Somewhere there was noise, she realized almost with a start, but it was distant, and the shrieks and murmurs she heard were like those of a distant but loud, frightened crowd. She wasn't sure if she should open her eyes, or if that would be possible—she was afraid to find out—but she felt she had to know if she was truly dead and the screams were emanating from nearby hell or if there was something else going on.
Maybe she was still alive after all.
At first, as Sakura made the initial attempts to force her eyelids open, it was like the stubbornness you might get from trying to enter a thousand-year-old tomb. Every stiff moment was like entering a new world. When a glint of sunlight almost blinded her, she tipped her chin to her chest and found relief in an unfamiliar shadow that was sheltering much of her body. Her eyes followed the shadow to dark, strong legs and a rigid torso standing over her, deeply set in a battle stance with katana forward. She touched a hand to her head, her vision spinning as she looked further up.
The raven hair poking out from the back of the head made her snap to a realization.
Sasuke!
The Uchiha brothers were back to being locked in combat—or perhaps just their eyes were because two pairs of red orbs were now spinning and glaring at each other; tsukoyomi clearly now in play. She remembered quickly—perhaps lucky that it was not already too late—that though tsukoyomi was not aimed at her, it was well known for pulling uninvolved observers into its vortex. She looked away, hands stretching out to push against the dirt and inch her body away from the skirmish even while she still lay flat on her back. She needed to get to Naruto. To heck with Sasuke—he had chosen his path long ago—but she would not let Naruto be lost to Itachi or any other Akatsuki who might be lurking.
Frankly, Sakura was not really sure if the two were fighting or simply glaring. She didn't know what the effect of a double tsukoyomi would be—were it even possible to accomplish—however, that did not make her want to stay and find out. With a simple glance, she could see that even the small crowds, previously gathering, were backing away while ANBU remained missing in action. She continued her escape attempt by trying to bend her legs in a way that would not hamper Sasuke should he need to move. She kept a close an eye on the battle while she pushed herself along the ground, the heels of her shoes digging into the dirt. She did not want to be caught unguarded and get trampled—or worse.
Then it happened.
The staring contest came to a sudden close when Sasuke's free arm snapped around and grabbed Sakura by the waist, pulling her up and spinning her with him as he went through an evasion maneuver at flashing speeds. As her gaze came round in the spin, she saw Itachi was right there with them—literally, right there, his face practically flush with her own—but Sasuke's katana was making short work of Itachi's attack. The elder brother retreat momentarily, no bloodshed made as of yet. The younger brother took that chance to get back into a prepared stance, Sakura still gripped tightly around the waist in one arm.
The kunoichi blinked dumbfounded at her current circumstance. When had she become damsel in distress? She had held her own against Itachi long enough for backup to arrive, so she did not feel coddling was needed. It made her wonder if she was the reason Sasuke had shown up or if he was really only here for Itachi, babying her because she was there and he sort of preferred her alive. The arm around her waist tightened effectively at that moment, making her flush a little as it pushed her more tightly to Sasuke's chest. He still had plenty of power over her emotions, that was for sure—not that it didn't make her face scrunch up in disgust as soon as she realized it.
Stupid Sasuke.
The Uchiha brothers were back to staring the next moment she chose to notice the fight. It took her only that second to realize it was the perfect chance to escape both fugitives. A quick, secret hand sign and she was transported out of Sasuke's controlling grip and into the haven of the ramen booth, her body replaced by a clone. She was aware that both Uchihas would easily recognize the fake, and Sasuke probably already knew, but what else was she supposed to put there? A log?
Yeah, so it could drop on Sasuke's foot and smash it to bits. Not too bad of an idea for later, perhaps, but right now it wasn't in good timing.
When someone grabbed her from behind, Sakura was all too quickly startled, and she turned flinging her fists in every direction. A familiar bushel of blonde hair and a face covered in whisker lines made her stop before causing any bodily harm. "Naruto!"
"Sakura-chan, you need to get out of here. Run to the Hokage's Tower and get the old lady. I'm going to go out there and help Sasuke." Naruto pushed her hurriedly toward the counter and the back door behind it.
Sakura dug her heels into the floor and turned around, grabbing the blonde's jacket and holding on tight. "No! I'm not leaving you here for Itachi to take if he wins."
"He's not gonna win. Teme and I are going to beat the heck out of him."
"Then why do you need, Shishou?" Sakura asked with a frown.
"Just in case."
"No, you idiot! I'm not leaving here without you. ANBU is nowhere to be found. I thought we talked about this? Sasuke has chosen his path. We can't protect him and we can't help him—this is his battle. He'll never be satisfied otherwise."
Naruto glanced over his shoulder to the sword fight that had broken out. "I can't leave him here to lose."
Biting her lip, Sakura reached a tender hand to cup Naruto's cheek and draw his eyes back to her own. "Do you really have so little faith in him now?"
Naruto winced immediately, her words cutting his pride. "Sakura-chan, I don't know how you're always so right sometimes."
Sakura only smiled in response. "Let's get out of here."
—
Tsunade's eyebrows kneaded together as she looked at the three ninja before her. She sometimes really wasn't sure what to make of the trio. Most of the time, they were some of the best ninja in the village. Minus the jinchuuriki business Naruto often dealt with, they spent their days solving trouble the village got into not causing trouble. Lately, however, they seemed to have become magnetic, Sakura the most of all, oddly enough. She wondered who could have foreseen that the Uchiha brothers would someday fight over her. She wasn't the sole reason they were fighting, but she had somehow become a point of interest. The fact that they had no idea why exasperated the older woman. She noted the discomfort her apprentice seemed to be in, fidgeting quietly in her chair between Kakashi and Naruto, and realized this was because she had been staring at her with her irritation plainly on her face. She broke her gaze and turned away from the trio to look out the window.
"ANBU has a fast response time. You all know that, yes?" Tsunade turned back and surveyed the trio's response. Kakashi simply nodded while Naruto and Sakura seemed to glance around, questioning to be sure it was a rhetorical question and not a trick before also nodding. Tsunade bent over her desk, placing her hands firmly to support herself. "Yet, somehow those two had a fight, damaged much of the area of the village they were in and got away before we could respond." She noted Naruto was about to open his mouth so she cut him off, saying, "I wasn't asking for an explanation from you three about this, I'm explaining to you that, as of now, there is really nothing more I can do. Itachi neutralized the unit we had tailing you before they could send a warning. We've scoured the city and we have patrols running constantly, yet somehow he managed to find the lull in our grid where no backup would stumble upon things." She paused frowning. "These two know us well despite having been gone so long. They knew exactly how long they had. It's almost astonishing. We're not sure why they're here or why they are choosing to subject their fight to our interruptions. Did they agree on this as the location for a showdown or did one come here to do something and the other followed? Who started it? What is the motivation Itachi has for trying to kill Sakura? The evidence seems to point to an agreement to do battle but we don't know if that was made before or after they came here. We're trying hard to figure this out because once we know that will tell us what we can expect from the victor. If they came initially with other intentions, that changes a lot of our priorities. For now, we're just going to be operating on the assumption they'll be completing other goals once they finish with each other."
Kakashi's quiet cough announced his desire to speak. "I take it you want these two to stick together so they're not caught alone?"
"No, I don't think it matters," Tsunade said as she sat down at her desk. "I'm assigning three units to each of them from now on. I'd like to continue trying to use Sakura as a lure to find out more information. Sasuke has been willing to divulge pieces of his motives, but not with Naruto around to hear. I'm also not convinced Itachi has any interest in Naruto at this time, he seems preoccupied, but I can't be sure unless we separate them."
Sakura was mildly surprised to see what seemed to register as a scowl cross Kakashi's face. She forced herself to look away and not analyze his reaction. "Shishou," she said it slowly, questioning if she should say anything at all, "I do and I don't understand what this meeting is about. Are you informing us what's going on or is there something you need us to do?"
"Basically, I'm informing you of our movements. You can't really do much beyond what you have been. You fight them off when you can and notify us of their presence when you become aware of it. If Sasuke approaches you again, try to gather what information you can. Other than that, go about your daily business and try to be careful. I wouldn't recommend leaving the village by yourself or spending too much time in secluded training areas, but I think you two are able to make smart decisions in those areas." Tsunade glanced at Kakashi, sensing his disapproval but continuing. "We are initiating a quick alert system, just so you know. Carry some flares. When you see an Uchiha, set one off and every ninja who can see it should come to your aid within the minute. If you see a flare it's the same thing. If you don't have any for some reason, get a few from the supplies downstairs on your way out. Dismissed."
Naruto and Sakura looked at each other as they stood before looking simultaneously at Kakashi. He stared back flatly, hands in his pockets and relaxed in the chair he was sitting in.
"Go on without me. I need to ask the Hokage something."
Naruto's eyebrows lifted, but he shrugged it off quickly. "Alright, Kaka-sensei." He looked to Sakura who mirrored his shrug with a quick cover of false indifference. The two left quietly, the door clicking shut behind them.
Kakashi stood. He was silent for a moment, the only sound in the room the scratching of Tsunade's pencil on her paperwork. He spoke abruptly. "Tsunade-sama, I'm afraid I must question your decision to let them go places alone."
"Of course, Kakashi," Tsunade said with a sigh, "do I get to hear why?"
"I think they should stick together."
Tsunade stopped writing and looked at him from under her brow. "Yes, I got that part. Why should they be together, Kakashi?"
The wording of her question struck him oddly. He had ulterior motives to keeping them together, of course, but she didn't know about his plot to get them together. They were discussing a teamwork and safety situation—right? Kakashi continued cautiously. "They work better together. Irrespective of whether Sakura has been alone, Itachi has located her and attacked. Wouldn't it make more sense to make safety a priority rather than luring him out?"
"I suppose if it were only Itachi we were trying to intercept, then yes. Sasuke on the other hand has shown interest in avoiding anyone other than Sakura." Tsunade set her pencil down and stood. "You're not usually one to question a decision I make, Kakashi. Is there some information I don't have?"
"It's a gut feeling."
Tsunade waved her hand at him dismissively as she returned to her chair. "Well, then keep an extra careful eye out or something. You're certainly welcome to don ANBU gear and join one of the observation units. My decision is final: dismissed."
Had Kakashi been a less controlled man there would have been an expression on his face to clearly pronounce how frustrated he was to be refused like this. However, in his case, there was only a slight eye twitch—if that was even perceivable—and a clenching of his fists deep in his pockets. Normally, when dismissed by Tsunade he would leave without further question but he found himself blurting out something even she found unexpected. "You need to reconsider."
Tsunade looked up as he said it and stared, unblinking. "No." She studied him, focusing on his one visible eye for more than a minute before allowing herself to blink. "Not unless you can give me tangible reasons why I should. I want to take your strange behavior as such a reason but I have a feeling if I made that a habit I'd soon be letting you run the village, Kakashi."
Kakashi evened his gaze with the female sannin's, but said nothing. He was entirely aware this came off strongly as obstinacy instead of cooperation, but he didn't feel like taking the time out of his thought process to nod.
Tsunade frowned at him. "Nothing still?" She turned her attention back to her paperwork quickly. "You are dismissed." Her pencil strokes hit the page aggressively. "No further appeals."
Kakashi left with his hands in his pockets, in a daze, reeling from his own gall. Had the issue with Sakura buried roots this deep? He hoped it wasn't what had made him act the way he had. Requesting an appeal from the Hokage wasn't something he often did; maybe other people—but not him. Still, there was an itch he had to scratch. His footsteps were heavy on the staircase, echoing a kind of regret and dread as he headed out of the Hokage's office. It was wrong to go behind the Hokage's back, but a strange, and very convincing, little voice was telling him that if he did it for different reasons than he had given her, it was a different issue altogether. No matter what, he knew this had to be done.
He wasn't sure if the regret he felt was about his insubordination, or if it had more to do with his niggling desire to protect Sakura with his own hands.
—
"Maybe we should wait for Kakashi." Sakura offered her suggestion with a shrug and an uncertain smile. "I get the feeling this is one of those times when he isn't finished with us, but wanted the chance to complain to Shishou alone."
Naruto nodded glumly. "The old man is stingy like that."
Sakura frowned, her eyebrows twisting dubiously. "He's not that old."
With one finger scratching the inside of his ear, Naruto cocked his head to the side, his blonde hair draping over his hand. He pursed his lips and eyed her narrowly. "When did you start to think that way, Sakura? He feels older than ever to me."
"Oh." Sakura tightened her lips regretfully and stepped to the side as a few people exited the Hokage's tower. "I guess it was after Shishou declared us equals. He's only ten years older, after all. It feels easy to talk to him now, unlike when we were kids."
"But you still call him sensei," he paused with realization, "at least sometimes. I guess not all the time anymore."
At the sight of his befuddled expression, complete with overexerted frown, Sakura laughed aloud. It was one, loud burst, and she bit her lip as she struggled to suppress the nervous giggles that followed after. The more Naruto stared at her with his expression, the harder it became. "That is a little weird," she admitted, the vibration of strangled laughter in her chest easing as she took a breath, "but that's probably because he was always right here. Even though we didn't see each other much, I can comprehend the journey we've both been on."
Naruto gave her a dry, pained expression that indicated his confusion. Sakura looked him up and down, her face lighting up as she thought of how to explain herself.
"For example, whenever you make faces, like the one you just did, I see the old Naruto, but the rest of the time there's a man I barely recognize standing in front of me." She subconsciously leaned onto her back foot, tilting her head to take in his appearance. "Sometimes I feel so far away from you, like you're still on this other journey that I wasn't able to follow you on. It makes you feel distant—like an age difference."
It had taken her nearly the full explanation to recognize that Naruto's face had taken on a serious quality. He had straightened up, chin lowering at her description of him. His hands found the pockets of his orange pants. "Does that bother you?"
Sakura was suddenly self-aware of what she had been admitting so casually. It was one of the things she had seemingly never moved past. She was always quick to distance herself emotionally from Naruto. She offered him a regretful sigh. "No, not really. Anyway, it's nothing you're doing. I can tell how much you've grown up and sometimes I feel like I fell behind. You have all of your lofty dreams, and you've developed them into a vision. I got stronger, smarter, braver, but I have no idea where I'm going."
"You're going to be an amazing ninja, like me, Sakura-chan, as well as a powerful medic." The smile that crossed Naruto's face was cheerful, but not overly so. His bright blue eyes warmed her with his confident gaze, the enthusiasm of his youth missing from his expression. "You've grown up a lot too. There have been so many times already where I thought I was going to be protecting you, but you went ahead on your own two feet. You may not know where you're aiming, but you're running the distance."
Sakura felt her heart warming at his encouragement. "It was only recently that I realized I should stop waiting here for everything to go back to some way it all was in my head. Being declared Kakashi's equal was a huge relief. It finally felt like I had gotten somewhere." She cracked her knuckles with a sheepish grin. "If anything, I'm envious of you. Your confident smile can be hard on me, but I hope you never give up on it." Sakura felt her heart skip a beat, but it wasn't the optimistic, light skip she had expected to feel. It thudded haltingly in her chest. Her face fell as her words—which she had intended to be complimentary—scattered awkwardly into the air around them.
"You say it in that nice way, but I think you mean something else, Sakura-chan." Though he never lost his smile, his blue eyes had scanned out to the road. "You gotta stop living in the past."
Sakura wavered on her feet and took half an apologetic step towards the jinchuuriki. "Naruto-" Her voice trailed as his smile faded.
The pause lingered long enough for the door to the tower to open and Hinata to amble out towards them. As she recognized them, her white eyes creased at the corners with a shy smile, and her long, dark hair wavered about her head with her restrained stride. She nodded at Sakura then stared at Naruto, her index fingers pressing together hesitantly.
"N-Naruto-kun, and Sakura-chan, h-hello!" Hinata fidgeted about, her hands wringing together at her stomach. "I haven't seen you much since you got back, Naruto-kun. I heard you ended up at the U-Uchiha confrontation," she continued anxiously, "are you—are you—both—ok?" She flashed Sakura a more ashamed than concerned look before she focused back on Naruto.
Naruto leaned back onto one leg, both of his hands burying themselves into the hair at the back of his head. "Yeah. It's the Uchiha brothers being annoying as usual. Did you get new orders too, as a result?"
"Yes!" Hinata's voice was like the chirp of a bird. "Most of the Hyuga's are going to help by doing rapid sweeps of the city using Byakugan, but we each got special orders as to location and speed."
"Thank you," Sakura said quietly, nodding her head as Hinata looked back at her. "Be careful."
Naruto chimed in with a hearty, "Yeah!" He took a step forward and grasped both of Hinata's hands in his. "I heard you could see about ten kilometers now. That's amazing! But, like Sakura-chan said; be cautious. I don't want to see either of those jerks hurt you. Itachi especially has no qualms about killing anyone in his way."
Hinata was fidgeting, her breath stopping and starting as she closed and opened her mouth like a fish looking for water. "T-thank y-you," she stammered as her face scrunched up with a bashful smile, "I'll be careful, N-Naruto-kun."
As soon as Naruto released her hands, Hinata appeared to relax a great deal. He scratched his cheek thoughtfully with one finger. "I don't know what the old lady gave you for orders, but they've both been actively pursuing Sakura. If you're on patrol tonight or tomorrow, check by her apartment. Sasuke snuck past us into the hospital twice."
The sleeves of Hinata's purple jacket were begin to wind their ends around her fingers, but she nodded her earnest understanding. "Of course. I'll make sure everyone knows." She began to side step away from them, her head bowing to the pair in turn. "I have to go. I'm sorry. Good-bye!" With that, she turned on a heel and hurried off.
Sakura laid her cheek into one hand, supporting its elbow with her other arm as she watched the shy Hyuga depart in haste. "She's really something else—and getting braver."
"Yeah," Naruto said with a contented sigh. "It's been good to see her."
Sakura felt a pang, like jealousy, but smiled through it. "Ask her to get ramen sometime so you can catch up. I bet she'd like that."
"You shouldn't speak of yourself in third person, Sakura." Kakashi's voice interrupted the sigh Naruto had taken a breath to make. "You guys are going to be spending a lot of time together, so you'll definitely get a chance to make up your Ichiraku date."
"What do you mean, Kakashi?" Naruto sniffed suspiciously, narrowing his eyes.
"I mean, a decision was made up there about what orders should be given to you and it includes you two staying together, at least at night, until this gets sorted out. You need to decide whose apartment you'll be using." Kakashi's eye creased in a way that showed he was smiling, though it seemed lackluster in enthusiasm to Sakura, who frowned.
"Is this what you wanted to talk to Shishou about? What happened to using us to lure Sasuke and Itachi out? Do we still get ANBU units assigned to us?"
"You're also getting those," Kakashi said blandly.
"This doesn't seem like it was Shishou's idea," she continued, crossing her arms.
Naruto looked between the pair, perplexed, while Kakashi's eye lost its cheerful crease. "You're thinking too hard about this, Sakura," her former teacher murmured. He straightened, one hand dropping into his pant pocket as his silver hair rustled with an irritated toss of his head. "These are your orders. I'll check in with you both in the morning."
"Oi!" Naruto lunged for Kakashi, even as he lifted his palm out to them. Devoid of his typical verbal farewell, the older ninja disappeared, vanishing as the blonde grasped for his flak jacket. Hands empty and his target gone, Naruto shook his fist towards a building across the street, the first thing to catch his eye. "Grrr—stupid old man! Don't just give weird orders then disappear!"
Sakura giggled then sighed. "Give it up, Naruto. We'll figure it out." She stepped over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I don't think this order is coming from Shishou, but I think we can satisfy what they both want." She smiled as he looked over his shoulder at her, his mouth set into a pout. Her index finger brushed her lips with a wink. "Besides, my apartment is cleaner."
Stunned, Naruto's face slackened and he followed her walking away only with his eyes, his legs briefly disconnected from his brain. "Your apartment?" As Sakura began to turn the corner of a street, Naruto felt his face reddening. As she disappeared from view he sprang into action, scrambling after her at a jog. "Sakura, wait up!"
