"According to the traditional 'best practices' protocol in Konoha…" Sakura always began this way when she intended to give the message I think this is bullshit but I'm supposed to say it. "..the official recommendation for pregnancy weight gain is seven to twelve kilograms. That may work for small-framed civilian women, but kunoichi have such low body fat percentages to begin with that I have to recommend twelve kilograms minimum weight gain. Generally if you eat according to your body's signals and choose nutritious food you will be alright, so I'm not going to suggest drawing up any kind of intentional plan yet. Ginger and small meals as first response to nausea and vomiting, if that doesn't adequately deal with it we can discuss other options. A lot of women I see say they like to eat cold noodles and fruit, and drink tea. It's important to stay hydrated. You'll continue to be weighed at future appointments. If you're on a trend that suggests a final weight gain of over twelve kilograms and it's not me who's weighing you, that person might give you crap. Just look apologetic, nod, and ignore it."
Kurenai-sensei laughs. "I can do that."
"You're already supplementing folic acid, which is good…" Sakura looks at the chart again. "Hmm, I think that's everything for diet. Alright, a lot of women… and men… want to know about sex during pregnancy." Sakura's cheeks tinge a bit pink, but she resolutely continues in her professional medic voice. "For ordinary people it's perfectly fine to have sex or not throughout all three trimesters as long as the position doesn't hurt, there are no cervical complications, and the amniotic sac hasn't broken. However, as an omega bonded to an alpha, you should…" She pauses to take a breath and her cheeks redden even more. "…be having sex as much as possible… because of the chakra sharing done through sex… which should help with all kinds of pregnancy symptoms… which is why bonded women usually have easier pregnancies!" She ends this with an unconsciously triumphant note, that she has managed to get through the topic of encouraging Kurenai-sensei to bang Asuma-sensei without anything worse than a heated face.
Kurenai-sensei smiles as if she wants to say something teasing but is refraining, for which Sakura can only be grateful.
"Alright! I think that's everything for the first visit… I assume you want Asuma here for the chakra visualization. Is he in Konoha?"
"He's almost here," she says confidently.
Sakura frowns and reaches out with her chakra but senses nothing clearly identifiable as Asuma in the crowded hospital and nearby city. But only moments later, she sees his tanned face at the window. Kurenai-sensei reaches over and opens it to let him in.
"Did I make it in time? Did she do it yet?" he asks with more excitement in one sentence than Sakura thinks she's seen from him in all the times she's seen him prior put together, including his wedding (where he looked happy but frozen, like a man who's been told he's won the lottery and he just can't believe it).
"Sakura-chan waited to do it last, don't worry."
Sakura hovers one hand over Kurenai's abdomen and the other over an unfurled scroll and closes her eyes. With the uncomplicated chakra signatures and systems of civilians, this is easy, but kunoichi can be a challenge. "Ninja Art: Burning Yin Reflection."
She sends a pulse of yin release chakra into Kurenai, then instantly recalls it. Now comes the tricky part of mentally perceiving this three dimensional communication of the state of Kurenai's uterus, transforming that into useful two dimensional images, and using the technique to burn these images into the paper. Sakura exhales as her other hand slowly moves over the rolled out scroll.
"This is the baby," she says at last, pointing to the first image. The two teachers crowd eagerly over. "It's enlarged, of course. The fetus is actually smaller than a grape at this point, but if you look closely, you can see the bitty fingers and toes. I always think that's pretty cute, even though they're otherwise pretty funny looking at this stage." She grins. "This dot here will become an ear…"
When she finishes the appointment, she leaves the happy couple in possession of the scroll and reports to Tsunade, who needs to know the medical fitness of her shinobi.
"And what would be your recommendation?" the Hokage asks when Sakura has finished reporting.
"She's perfectly fit to do anything in terms of ability at this point. Risk management is a matter of her choice—and of course yours, shishou," she hastens to add. "I think training and teaching would be the best use for her skills at the lowest risk, but non-combat missions would also be very low risk."
"Hn. I agree. I'll give her another genin team; I'll put together one of all genjutsu types for her. And she can continue working with her previous team and—" She pauses. "You're a genjutsu type. You should squeeze in lessons with her too—in all your copious spare time, I know. She can do that for you instead of the omega training she's been doing. You'll have learned all you can from her on that subject by now anyway."
"I do have a question, shishou…" Sakura hesitates. "When I asked Kurenai-sensei if Asuma was coming, she said, 'He's almost here.' Not 'he should be here soon' or anything like that. And when she said that, I tried to see if I could sense him, but I sensed nothing, and suddenly he was literally right at the window. And I still couldn't identify him. Do I need to work on my chakra signature sensing more?"
"Kurenai is actually a sensor type, not a genjutsu type, but that's complicated and beside the point. Come now, Sakura. I may not explicitly have taught you this, but surely if you think about it a little you can guess?"
Sakura blinks. "Something to do with… the chakra sharing?"
"Yes. Because the bond is…?"
"As far as is known, the bond is chakra from the bondmate stored… somehow… outside of the normal chakra path system, in the other systems of the body… particularly the reproductive system… and sealed with the bond mark… somehow."
"Nice hedging."
Her student frowns. "Well, Tsunade-shishou, no one really knows anything about how it works."
"If we can ever get true peace, Sakura, maybe we'll be able to dedicate medical research to something that isn't a weapon or even a treatment but simply a curiosity. For the time being, that's what we're stuck with. In any event, the lived experience of the bonded is that… somehow…" Tsunade mischievously leans on the word like Sakura did. "…they are able to sense many things about their bondmate. Proximity and physical and emotional state, mostly."
"So you know if your bondmate is alive… but then why doesn't the mark disappear when the mate dies?"
"I'm arguing from results backwards to methods, but it must be the other way around. You have some kind of connection to your chakra in them, rather than their chakra in you telling you something."
"So when the mate dies, how does it—" She stops herself too late, seeing the pain flicker across the Hokage's face.
"I would compare it to an amputation," the woman says simply, and reaches for her sake drawer.
Sakura bows herself out, knowing from experience that when Tsunade has that expression, she will quickly and purposefully drink herself into oblivion.
She has nowhere to be now, really. It's lunchtime, she should eat. For some reason, she remembers how Kakashi-sensei would block her from throwing out a half-finished bento, or even pop out of nowhere to insist that she order something bigger at a food stand, during the time before the trip to the Land of Waves.
"Kunoichi don't need to diet." "Sakura. The noise of your stomach is bothering me. You should order the medium bowl at least." "Your body is your finest tool as a shinobi, do not damage it by starving it or filling it with garbage." That last one directed also at Naruto, who would grin obliviously. Sasuke-kun never needed that kind of scolding…
"Sakura."
Sakura turns around, startled by the very much not intoxicated voice of the Hokage.
With a bright smile, Tsunade says, "That little brat Naruto is back!"
—
On his thirteenth birthday, Kakashi had a charcoal grey left eye and an unmarked neck.
On his fourteenth birthday, Kakashi had a red left eye and a pale blue circle on his throat, but the sources of each were dead.
A little over a month after that, he was standing beside Danzo watching some of the reconstruction happening in Konoha. An ANBU mask was on his face, but the disgust was evident in his voice when he said, "So much destruction and Hokage-sama is prioritizing rebuilding that?"
Even though Danzo was keen to keep him turned against the Hokage, he had surprised the teen by saying, "Men need distractions in times like these."
A bit of paper taped to the door said "Pink Bookstore" with a little hand-drawn heart, and then "over 18 only" under that.
The next day, Kakashi entered the store, still wearing his ANBU mask, rightly guessing that the proprietor would not challenge his identity. That man paused in his work of assembling a shelf.
"Welcome, ANBU-san," said the man respectfully. "Ah, most of our usual merchandise was destroyed, but there were some boxes in the storage room that made it through alright. We received a shipment this morning and should be getting more soon. I'm happy to special order whatever you need if we don't have it in stock."
Kakashi frowned at a box of lime green dildos, then walked over to the only assembled and loaded shelf, which contained a mix of shrink-wrapped manga and light novels. He crossed his arms as he skimmed the covers, then said bluntly, "Do you have anything less rapey?"
The owner's eyes widened a bit at the obviously youthful voice, but still didn't challenge him. "Less… rapey?"
"The girls on these covers all look terrified or miserable." Kakashi pointed to one in the lower left. "That one is unconscious."
"Well, it's fantasy."
"It isn't mine."
Youthful or not, there was a dangerous edge to the masked teen's voice that even a civilian couldn't miss. The owner scrambled to think of something to assuage him. "Oh! I know what you'll like then! It's a new release, but I think it'll be just what you want—very popular—characters are shinobi, even—written by the legendary Jiraiya-sama!"
The teen accepted the softcover book and examined the cover critically. Icha Icha Paradise. The girl was running away from the man, yes, but it actually looked like she was laughing. Without asking permission, he slit open the shrink wrap and opened to the first page.
"Junko—please—you can't—I know I'm not him, but please, please don't leave—"
"It's nothing to do with you, Tadao." His childhood friend's round, creamy breasts bounced as she hefted a full suitcase onto a scroll and quickly performed the handseals to store it away. "I can't stay here another day. I need to move on. You can find someone else to spy on at the onsen."
He had a brief, crazy vision of wrapping her in his arms and showing her just how much he wanted to do more than just watch her… "None of them are as hot as you," he attempted to joke, and ducked just in time to avoid the blow that cracked the wall.
"You ass," she snarled, but with a certain amount of affection in her big brown eyes and a twitch at the corner of her scarlet lips. She actually let the twitching turn into a soft, sad smile, and his heart crumbled. "Tadao. It's not you that I'm leaving. Please try to understand. This place has become my hell. I need to find my paradise."
He bought the book and stayed up late into the night reading it and then going back to reread earlier parts in light of later chapters. Nothing could compare to that first wondrous read—going into it totally unprepared for all the plot twists, the humour, the heartbreak, the emotional climax, and the happy ending. It had action. It had suspense. It had amazing smut.
Kakashi was awakened the next day, still in his clothes and with a ridge in his face from where he had fallen asleep on the book, by an ANBU summons. He stuck the book in his rumpled pocket and pulled on his mask.
He never leaves his apartment without an Icha Icha book from that point on.
And the first read of any new instalment is always a precious experience. He never gets tired of rereading, but only once does he get to enjoy the thrill of surprise.
So when Naruto places Icha Icha Tactics in his hands, only elite ninja skills and selfless devotion to Konoha keep him there, forcing himself to listen to Jiraiya-sama talking about the Akatsuki, instead of whether this book will resolve the love polyhedron from the last book between Princess Yui, her royal fiance, her royal fiance's bastard half-brother, her loyal peasant bodyguard, her shy tutor, and of course Jin, the repentant criminal who switched sides to help Tadao and Junko rescue Yui-hime in the previous book.
"Sexy no Jutsu!" calls out Konohamaru.
Kakashi doesn't even look up. Really, the best choice for Yui-hime is clearly Toranosuke, the bastard, who ought to be inheriting the kingdom instead of his arrogant, cowardly brother—
"Pervy new ninjutsu? Are you kidding me right now?! This is what you do within minutes of seeing me for the first time in years?! What about that warm feeling of admiration I had for you just now, Naruto?!"
Kakashi's eye widens as Konohamaru cowers behind him. Sakura somehow managed to pull off, in the heat of her temper, a precise blow that sent Naruto flying across the road yet did almost no actual damage—the kyuubi's healing powers wiped it away before she had even finished her rant, but even an ordinary person wouldn't have felt it much. Even so, he sighs and speaks up as Sakura shakes Naruto by the shoulders. "Now now, Sakura-chan… calm down, you're scaring poor Konohamaru-kun."
"Jiraiya…" The Hokage says wearily, "don't tell me Naruto has gotten more and more like you…?"
"Beauty, strength, and a killer temper… seems like you've raised your own second Tsunade…" murmurs the Sage, wincing.
"Right, nostalgia time is over. Kakashi!"
Regretfully, he shuts the book and faces his former students. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"
In the pause that follows, undistracted by Icha Icha, he takes a moment to appreciate just how much they really have grown. Especially Naruto, who even in his slouchy posture is now significantly taller than Sakura, who herself is taller than she was when he left.
"You'll be on my team from now on. But it won't be the same as before. We're not sensei and student; we are equals as Konoha shinobi. All the same…" He dangles the bells casually from his fingers, and though he keeps his expression serious, he enjoys the challenging, confident smiles that slowly creep onto their faces. "…it'll be good to see how you've grown. With the same rules as last time… come at me with intent to kill."
—
Sakura gathers her chakra as she looks for Kakashi-sensei. Not to the right… not above… not to the left… not behind… then…
"Below!" Sakura screams, thrusting her fist down and releasing it all in a thousandth of a second.
The field erupts, boulders flying into the air, a fissure opening up from the localized earthquake. She feels a flare of chakra behind her indicating that she's definitely startled Naruto but she doesn't bother to turn and look because she can see Kakashi-sensei.
She can see his face, wide-eyed and sweating.
His frightened face.
She. Scared. Hatake. Kakashi.
The look of fear doesn't last long, of course, but it switches to concentration, which is almost as exhilarating. She's given him something to think about, shannaro!
"Kaka-sensei, I found you," she says in a cheeky voice.
No more omega in distress! Get ready for the OMEGA TSUNADE!
—
Kakashi leans against a tree trunk in real exhaustion, with only Obito's eye open.
He'd expected to have to use the sharingan, but not anywhere near this much.
He'd also expected this to basically be a one on one battle with Naruto, with Sakura only good for attempted distraction. That had swiftly turned out to be a massive miscalculation.
Of course, she ought to have hidden that massive strength to unleash it upon him at a later time, not simply blown apart the ground to find him. If she had waited for his attack and then countered with what would have appeared to be a simple taijutsu punch, he would have blocked, rather than dodged, and then…
…he'd probably be unconscious in the hospital right now with nurses picking bits of Minato-sensei's bells out of his scrotum.
Still. All that meant was that she needed a strategist in her squad to direct her talents… like himself.
Thinking about how he could use her in real battle was a distraction he couldn't afford right now though. Just like the distraction of the book in his pocket. Opening it at all had been a mistake. If only he could have at least finished the chapter.
He leaps up and frowns as he detects their obvious head-on attack. It's such a poor move, that it has to be the cover for something more subtle, but neither of them are particularly subtle, and he can't detect anything—
"Sensei! At the end of Icha Icha Tactics, the surprise twist is—"
"No! No spoilers!" Kakashi claps his hands over his ears and is horrified as his mind translates the movements of Naruto's lips against his own will.
"that the main character is really—"
He squeezes both eyes shut and an instant later feels it.
They've got the bells.
He reopens his eyes, and his students are so happy, simply, wonderfully, adorably pleased. As if this is really all just a game they play together for fun.
Kakashi lets himself feel it too as he laughs.
—
"See you soon, Tsunade-shishou!"
As her master and Iruka-sensei say goodbye, the massive form of Jiraiya-sama suddenly body flickers into existence before them to have hushed arguments with both Tsunade-shishou and Naruto.
Man, it had been embarrassing for her to discover that the weirdo who made that bizarre speech to her on the hospital roof two and half years back, was actually Jiraiya-sama the Sannin.
Aren't there any powerful people who are normal? Even Tsunade-shishou drinks herself unconscious more days than not.
As for the third member of the Sannin… well, at least the other two don't have an insanity that hurts others like his does… an insanity that infected Sasuke-kun like a disease. No, Sasuke-kun was already infected with the insanity from his brother Itachi… Orochimaru just made it worse.
An infection that will prove terminal in six months, unless they can rescue him first.
Team Kakashi discusses the Sasuke situation as they dash to Suna, and Sakura reveals some of the details of the research she did on the Akatsuki and Itachi.
How dare anyone call Naruto a monster when true monsters like Itachi and Orochimaru were out there?
Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-kun, and Naruto have all saved her life before. Now she's become a healer and a fighter, someone the great Tsunade-hime praised.
If her embrace could stop the curse seal in the Forest of Death, then surely with her skills now she can save Sasuke-kun… To save and protect her precious people is the most important thing… no, the only thing that matters at all.
—
Kakashi hunches over in the windswept grass, straining to keep his focus on the similarly hunched figure of Sakura over the Kazekage's body.
The pain in his overused sharingan eye radiates to the rest of his overworked body, but that's not what's most distracting. He can't stop his brain from attempting to make connections, though it seems like even thinking hurts right now.
Gaara's devotion to his village, through Naruto, also devoted to a village that once hated him, also a jinchuuriki, also given this fate by a father. A father who was also a Kage. A father… Kakashi's father, and Chiyo's loss of control when she thought he was the White Fang. Control. One tail. Nine tails. Refraining from killing. Itachi could have killed three years ago but did not…
Sakura says nothing, but her expression as she rises up says it all. The Kazekage is beyond saving.
Sakura… the earth splitting open beneath her fist. The poison rising out of Kankarou's body into her hand. Kankarou, a son of the royal family of Suna. A conservative place—a throwback.
Only members of one family become Kage. Laws about omegas like Sakura are the same as a hundred years ago. Forbidden to become shinobi—restrictions on unbonded female omegas because of the "destablizing influence" of heats—omegas forbidden to head clans due to "passive and easily fooled" nature—
An entire society underestimating omegas… underestimating jinchuurikis… assuming the future based on the past… the difference between Gaara and Naruto was…
Naruto rails against the unfairness of the fate of a jinchuuriki. Against those who chose to seal the tailed beast inside an unconsenting child, and then call that child a monster. Naruto rails against himself, unable to save Sasuke or Gaara.
Sasuke and Gaara. Their match. Chidori. Orochimaru. Akatsuki. Sharingan.
A hum of power from Chiyo's hands manages to break the swirling thoughts in Kakashi's mind.
"Chiyo-baa-sama, that jutsu!" cries Sakura.
He opens Obito's eye.
—
Sakura awakens to the sound of metal scraping on metal. She opens her eyes, blinks, wipes the sleep out of them as she regards Tenten, sharpening her kunai in the the eerie light of dawn.
"Good morning. Sleep well?"
"Well enough." She stretches and throws off the blankets. Her flesh comes out in goosebumps as she hurries to dress. The desert gets so cold overnight.
"There was a note shoved under the door for you," says Tenten, setting aside one kunai and picking up the next. "Not folded. Kankurou wants you to have breakfast with him."
"With me? Why?"
"Dunno. Maybe to thank you for saving his life?"
"Oh. I guess so. He did kinda forget to do that before." She picks up the note off the table and scans it. "Alright. I'll do that. See you soon."
"See you."
There is a spread of traditional Suna breakfast foods, and Kankarou rises as the servant shows her in. "Good morning, Sakura-san. I hope you slept well. Would you prefer tea without milk?" He speaks stiffly, in a formal and old-fashioned way, not in his usual rough fashion. It's a weird reminder that he is the son of the Kazekage, trained in etiquette and diplomacy, and in their past encounters had been choosing to speak to her and the other Konoha ninjas roughly.
"Uh, yes, thanks," she says, taking a seat. "You don't have to speak formally to me, Kankurou-sama."
"Well, if I'm going to speak like this, I guess you should drop the honorific then," he says with an awkward laugh. "These buns have lamb in them and this bread is sesame… cheese… hard boiled eggs… grapes… I mean those you would know… then this is salted tongue, it's a bit of an acquired taste but it's Gaara's favourite so it's always served." He shrugs. "Hope you don't mind eating local. I like foreign food myself. When I was in Konoha for the exams…" He pauses, obviously remembering that this is a touchy subject, but then pushes on regardless. "…I had hamburger steak at a restaurant there, I thought it was really great. And I like rice too."
"This is fine," she says politely, taking a lamb bun and some grapes onto her plate as he serves her a cup of tea, leaving out the milk and salt that is customarily added in Suna.
They eat silently for a few minutes, then Kankurou coughs and says, "Uh, so Temari pointed out to me that I never actually thanked you for saving my life, which… is terrible, so, thank you, and also I'm sorry. I was just so focused on saving Gaara."
Her tongue is still burning from the spiciness of the one bite she took of the lamb bun. She rolls some hard-boiled egg yolk around on her tongue as if it can take away the taste, swallows, and says, "I wasn't offended. My shishou told me my first week that if a medic-nin needs gratitude, she'll never make it a month."
"Aa." He sets an empty skewer down on his plate and starts the process of refilling his tea cup. "Still. The assistance from Konoha… from all of you… it's not something we can begin to repay, so to be ungrateful on top of that…"
"We just want to work towards a future where our villages can assist each other in friendship," she assures him. "Friends don't tally up debts."
"But a friendship where one side always takes advantage of the other can't last."
"I think it's the responsibility of the strong to protect the weak, and to help them to become strong themselves if they can't."
"Hn. The Will of Fire, right?" He shakes his head, though in a resigned rather than contemptuous way, and takes a sip of tea.
"Is there a Will of Wind?"
"Yeah, but we don't carry on and on about it like you Leaf nin do." He sighs. "The Land of Wind isn't like the Land of Fire, right? We have very little arable land, not much water either. Not a lot of spare energy to burn with love or whatever it is you do. The Will of Wind is to always continue, to never stop. Although you could say that we've gone against it by founding Suna in the first place. It goes back to when the people of Wind lived a nomadic lifestyle."
"Sasori said that he wouldn't care even if his own grandmother died. Chiyo-baa-sama said that the traditions and customs of Suna made him that way… "
"Familial bonds are…" Kankarou trails off and laughs awkwardly. "Well. Naruto certainly has changed things a lot already, huh? Wouldn't be surprised if he ends up changing everything."
"Yeah," says Sakura quietly, staring at her plate, thinking of how Naruto could be so stupid and so wise at the same time.
They are quiet again for a while, and then when Sakura is just about to excuse herself to pack, Kankarou suddenly says, "Ah, by the way… could you ah… tell your friend Ino that I said hello?"
"Uh, sure."
"She's doing well?" He had attached chakra strings to a little set of seasoning shakers and was distractedly making them dance around in a circle.
"I think so."
He coughs. "That's good… so… tell her I said hello."
"…right."
She excuses herself and runs into Team Guy, minus Guy, in the hall.
"Good morning Sakura-san!" Lee gives her a thumbs up. "You are blooming like a fresh bud of spring in this ancient desert!"
She resists rolling her eyes with some difficulty. "Thanks, Lee-san."
He leans forward suddenly and she flinches. "Sakura-san! I cannot decide! For your birthday, would you prefer me to wash your floor while doing handstands, or sharpen your shuriken while doing jumping jacks?"
Neither, please! "Uh… I guess the floor one sounds… less… puncture-y…"
A double thumbs up, so he really was determined. "Your floors will shine like… like…"
"Like your teeth?" suggests Neji dryly.
"Like Guy-sensei's smile!"
"Why don't you see if Guy-sensei has worked out the departure details with Kakashi-sensei, Lee?" Tenten says hastily, just managing to avert a flood of tears from her teammate.
"Excellent thinking Tenten-san! I know I can be of assistance!"
Tenten sighs. "When's your birthday, Sakura?"
"Two days from now," she says, "so I guess I'll turn sixteen running."
"You guess wrong," says Neji. "Guy-sensei will make us get there by tomorrow morning."
"Impossible. Not even he would… Neji-kun, Kakashi-sensei is badly hurt!" Tenten objects.
"Tomorrow morning," he repeats firmly. "Just watch. Tenten, we should get to the meeting point."
"I'll see you soon," says Sakura, dashing back to her room for her things.
—
"I'm fine," moans Kakashi.
Guy briskly yanks off his friend's pants. "Nonsense, rival! You cannot give due honour to our determined farewell in clothes you have fought and slept in! You should have called me in last night to assist you. Then we would have had time to shower you!"
At those words, Kakashi immediately flips from feeling sorry to himself to thanking whatever neglectful guardian spirit he has for not abandoning him entirely. Guy drapes Kakashi over his shoulder bonelessly, and hefts his fellow jounin into a fresh pair of pants much like one would bag a very large loaf of bread.
"Oof," groans Kakashi as he is flopped back onto the bed. Guy narrows his eyes at him.
"You have stubble."
"Mask will cover it."
"Ah yes, your so cool mask! You can always present a youthful appearance with it. If only you would give the suit a try, Kakashi! The freedom of movement…!"
Guy has just finished adjusting his mask when Lee bursts in through the door without knocking. "Good morning, Guy-sensei, Kakashi-sensei! I have come to assist you!"
"No need, Lee-kun! The eternal bond of rivalry between us gives me all the strength I need." Guy lets out a ha! as he slaps Kakashi's sandals closed. Kakashi moans again, but cuts it off with a sharp gasp as he is abruptly yanked off the bed with his arm around Guy's shoulder. "Okay!"
"Guy-sensei…! Amazing…!" whispers Lee.
