Chapter 8
Sakura opened her eyes to the sudden feeling of nausea early the next morning. She sat up in bed quickly, noticing that the sun had not yet risen outside and Gaara was still sound asleep in bed next to her. She stood without waking him, a feat that was nearly impossible, and rushed out of the room and down the hall to the guest room bathroom. She carefully shut the door, as quietly as she could in her haste, before bolting to the toilet and effectively emptying her stomach. She clutched the sides of the seat in a tight grip, retching into the bowl until she was sure there was nothing left for her to expel from her body.
She was shaking and felt horrible, recalling with sudden clarity a mission where she had obtained food poisoning thanks to rancid meat in ramen cooked by Naruto. She groaned slightly, reaching up and flushing the toilet before forcing herself to stand and walk to the sink. She avoided looking in the mirror as she filled a cup with water and began to rinse her mouth out, already healing her throat of the burning sensation and soothing her stomach. Once she finished, she used a disposable toothbrush she found in the drawer and some toothpaste to brush her teeth and tongue to rid herself of the vile taste left behind.
"Ugh you forgot to take the anti-nausea pills last night." Inner commented bitterly. Sakura groaned and scowled.
"I realize that." She thought sarcastically. She really didn't need Inner's comments now. She reached in her pocket and pulled out said nausea pill, swallowing it with a glass of water before fixing herself in the mirror as best as she could. Sakura sighed and ran her hand through her pink hair thinking about how she was going to get someone to do an ultrasound for her and whom she could really trust. Immediately a nice nurse she had befriended when she first came to the hospital popped into her head. "Mari, I remember reading her records saying she used to be an ultrasound technician."
"She'd help you if you needed it. But you know the baby might be nearly three months along already. We were married about three months ago. And then there was the first night, the bath, the couch, the honeymoon…"
"Ok, ok I get it!" Sakura thought blushing. She looked at herself in the mirror and gasped seeing that she had bags under her eyes and her hair was in horrible disarray. She groaned and began to brush her hair, detangling it and fixing it until she looked much less haggard.
Then she got rid of the bags under her eyes with a slight bit of medical jutsu. Tsunade had once chided her for doing this, claiming that she was abusing her powers as a medic but Sakura had immediately called her a hypocrite to which the blonde merely huffed and assigned her extra work.
Once Sakura deemed herself acceptable, she walked out of the guest bathroom and back to her room looking over at the bed to make sure Gaara was still asleep. Seeing that he was, she made her way to the closet in the dark room opening it and walking inside before shutting the door silently and turning on the light. She pulled off her shorts and grabbed her usual medical outfit. She turned to leave and tripped over a shirt that had fallen onto the floor, proceeding to hit the door in the process. She immediately began to curse her klutziness, knowing that Gaara had heard her fall. She opened the closet cautiously and peaked out into the darkness only to see her husband shoot up in the bed and stare at where she was standing.
His face showed confusion and a groggy sort of look that Sakura knew was rare for him. She guiltily stepped out of the closet to stare at her husband.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?" His voice was gruff as he sat up in bed and turned his full attention to her.
"Nothing's wrong, I just woke up early that's all. I was going to make breakfast and see if Shikamaru and Temari were up yet." Gaara took in this information and then slowly nodded, content with her explanation.
"I'll be down in a minute." He slid his feet off the bed as she smiled and nodded, walking out of the room with a small sigh of relief.
When she got downstairs she was met with a warm greeting coming from down the hall. "Hey little sis! You're finally up to make breakfast!" Kankuro greeted her with his usual enthusiasm, cuffing her happily on the arm as she passed him by. His hair was uncovered and he had yet to put on his face paint making him look surprisingly more human than normal.
Sakura preferred this look to his usual cat-like appearance, which she teased him about sometimes. She rolled her eyes and walked into the kitchen noticing that Shikamaru was already sitting down at the table with a rather smug look on his usually stoic face. She raised an eyebrow and he merely smiled.
"It was a yes of course." He mentioned as Sakura laughed and beamed at him. Temari chuckled as she walked in, looking at Sakura with a smile.
"Oh don't act like you haven't known all along. Shika said you were the one who figured it out months ago." She gave Sakura a smile that she returned with a noncommittal shrug before turning towards the fridge and cupboards, pulling out the ingredients to make pancakes.
Temari helped her gather the ingredients as Gaara came downstairs a few moments later and off-handedly congratulated Shikamaru. After a comment about starving to death from Kankuro, and a subsequent smack with a spatula, breakfast was served by Sakura and then eaten with small talk. After breakfast they all lounged in the kitchen for a while talking idly about the trip as well as obligations for the day.
"So I'm guessing you guys have work today." Temari commented, looking at Sakura who was washing dishes that had been sitting in the sink. Gaara sat back down at the table.
"We always have work Temari. Unlike you." She shot him a look that could have been considered scathing had it not been directed at him.
Sakura, however, had stilled by the sink and was staring out the window blankly, her hands gripping a spoon and a washrag. Her thoughts were on something other than the room full of new family. Everything else had melted away from her as she remembered that she needed to get an ultrasound done and now would be her chance.
Temari looked over at her pink-haired sister who was staring out the window frozen in one spot, her face completely blank as she clutched the dishes. She creased her brow a little catching Shikamaru's notice as he then looked to where Temari's gaze was fixed. He noticed Sakura's frozen stance and knew he had to divert the attention away from her. Wanting to draw Temari's attention from Sakura before she asked what was wrong, he scraped his chair against the floor. This created enough noise that Sakura broke out of her trance-like reverie and turned her head to look at him.
"Sakura I'll do the dishes for you, I know you need to get to the hospital for work." Sakura smiled at him kindly before handing him the rag and spoon.
"Yes, thank you. Sorry, I was spacing out again thinking about work. I do need to get going. I will be home soon though then we can all spend some time together." She smiled and walked over to where Gaara now stood. Temari and Kankuro wished them goodbye as the pair left the house and entered the sandy streets.
Sakura walked along next to Gaara, both had decided to walk to the hospital and Kazekage Tower instead of transporting in order to enjoy the morning stroll through Suna. The streets were beginning to wake up and the smell of food cooking wafted in from the market streets as they passed by. The people were beginning to emerge from their houses to pick up newspapers placed on steps and in front of doors.
Some waved as they passed, a few bowed but most were still rather distant, something that struck Sakura as being very different from Konoha. A very little girl gave Sakura a flower before bringing a newspaper back to her mother who was waiting at the door giving them a smile and a wave. Once they reached the doors, they parted with Sakura squeezing his hand and leaving to enter the hospital.
After talking to the secretary, she walked through the halls greeting doctors and nurses before making her way to the ER to find Mari. She found the girl easily enough; she was busy sorting files at a desk.
"Good morning Mari. May I have a word with you? I need you to assist me in something." Mari looked up at her with a surprised and shocked gaze but quickly straightened and nodded giving her pleasant smile.
"Yes of course Sakura-sama. I'd be happy to help with anything you need." Sakura said nothing in return but beckoned her to follow and began to walk down the hall with Mari following closely behind. Once they got to her office Sakura told Mari to take a seat and then shut the door.
"Mari I need you to help me with something personal. It must be a complete secret; absolutely no one is to know about this including the Kazekage. It's a very delicate matter and I am asking you this in the strictest confidence. Should someone possibly find out I will be forced to place you on strictly intern work and have you demoted. You would be stuck teaching the interns and organizing paperwork for the rest of your medical career without hope of ever advancing. Is this understood?" Mari's eyes were wide as she nodded fervently. Sakura's demeanor had completely changed as she stood over the girl, her arms crossed and her face looking very much like the face of one very serious Godaime Hokage.
"Y-yes I understand completely. I will not breathe a word to anyone." Sakura smiled kindly at the worried girl and nodded.
"I know you won't Mari but I had to be sure. Now I say this is delicate because, well, the Kazekage needs to be kept in the dark. It may put serious stress on him and right now, I can't have that happen. It's something that can wait for a while at least. I intend to let him know when I am sure he is not having any issues regarding the safety of Suna or any other dealings. Now Mari, please don't get too excited but I need you to help me using some of your old expertise." Mari looked confused and gave her a look that told Sakura she was waiting for further explanation. "I read in your reports that you used to be an ultrasound technician and I knew you were someone I could trust…" Mari's eyes grew wide again and she broke into a huge grin before jumping up happily, her hands clasped together in joy.
"Oh Sakura-sama! Are you really going to have a baby?! Oh that's so amazing I am so happy for you and Kazekage-sama! Oh this is wonderful news! I won't tell anyone, I know this is really really important, I can get one done for you right now!" Sakura was baffled at the girl's enthusiastic reaction but was relieved to hear she had no reservations about helping her. She followed Mari out of the room and down the halls to one of the rooms that Mari slipped into before shutting and locking the door behind them.
"I really do appreciate it Mari. I'm not necessarily keen on anyone else knowing at the moment, this is serious in my profession you know." Sakura apprehensively stated as she walked over to the examination table to lie down.
Mari waved away the appreciative comment and the explanation with a chorus of "Oh Sakura-sama I am honored! You'll be fine, you're one of the best kunoichi out there you know." Sakura didn't argue or comment on this declaration of devotion but simply climbed onto the table and lifted her shirt as Mari set up the ultrasound machine. Once ready, she looked at Sakura whose emerald eyes seemed as tense as they were worried.
"Don't worry Sakura-sama it'll be fine." Sakura gave a small smile and nodded as Mari put the cool gel on her stomach before touching the probe to it. Sakura's eyes immediately moved to the screen as Mari moved it around until she found a tiny motion on the screen and the sound of a tiny heartbeat filled Sakura's ears.
Sakura felt as if her heart had stopped. There on the screen was a tiny little blob with roughly shaped arms and legs. Her hand gripped her shirt even tighter as the entire picture was revealed to her. It looked only a little like a baby at this point but she knew by the fifth month it would really start to look like one. The feeling of her heart practically jumping into her throat was a sensation Sakura didn't know how to interpret. Things had changed. The ultrasound made it real to her. This was a baby inside of her, a baby that shouldn't have happened and yet, had. She didn't know what to think or what to feel other than the pit of her stomach dropping to the floor as she realized with piercing clarity, once again, exactly what her mistake had gotten her in to.
Mari, however, was in awe. Her eyes were misty with tears, which baffled Sakura as her reaction was the opposite, the emotional girl cleared her throat and spoke.
"Well from the looks of things you're almost 14 weeks along. You'll be showing soon. I mean enough to be noticeable but you already knew that." She smiled at Sakura, who had put on her so-called 'patient face' that she often used when dealing with tough situations. Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes as Mari handed her a photograph of the fetus growing inside of her.
"Mari, I really can't stress how important this is. I'm sure you know the political hoopla that will occur when word gets out and how strictly I will be under protection." Mari nodded as Sakura ran a hand through her hair.
"I'll be taken off the active duty roster immediately and should something happen I won't be able to act as a medic. The tensions after the last attack are very high and though I doubt anything will happen, I can't be sure of anything. I need, for the time being, to be able to help those in need should an attack occur. My place as head of the hospital won't be questioned when word gets out but my place as an on-call medic will. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Mari nodded again, giving Sakura a sympathetic and admiring look.
"Sakura-sama, I will of course be on your side. You always put the lives of others first and I admire that greatly. If you ever need anything, please let me know and I will gladly help." Sakura nodded and patted her shoulder as she dismissed Mari. The girl smiled at her as she left and Sakura finally was able to sigh the deep sigh she had been holding in since she had first seen the ultrasound. Things were just becoming too real.
She stood in the room for a while, staring down at the photograph with a disbelieving look before grabbing an envelope and placing the picture inside. Sakura grabbed a pen and roughly scratched the date onto the envelope before heading out of the room and up to her office.
Much to her chagrin, she was promptly greeted with a pile of paperwork sitting on her desk and a kind nurse rushing out of the room who cast an apologetic her way. Fighting the urge to dismiss the paperwork and engross herself in something else, she sat down at the desk and began furiously rushing through the pages to finish it early and spend some time with Temari.
A few hours of paperwork and two minor emergencies later and Sakura was finished with her work and could clock out. Normally she would have felt guilty leaving the hospital after only being there for a short time, but she had seen Tsunade check in for about two minutes and leave while running the Konoha hospital so she wasn't that worried. Even so she was glad to have gotten the paperwork done and very glad to see that Rai, the pale medic she had appointed to watch over things while she was gone, had taken great care of the hospital.
After saying her goodbyes to the secretary, she stepped out into the warm Suna air. The sky was clear and the winds were low meaning that, for Suna, it was a gorgeous day. As she walked down the sand covered cobblestone she felt the warmth of the sun around her and the soft sand falling lightly on her toes seem to push some of her worry, confusion and frustration away.
The smells of baked goods wafted to her nose from the market stalls and the sound of children laughing could be heard from down the street. The innocent laughter of children was something that she loved to hear. The sounds of children who had never seen war, or pain up close, whose biggest problem was a bump or a scrape, and petty quarrels over toys. It was clear to her that the civilian children were the ones that laughed the most.
The laughter of children destined to be shinobi dissipated quickly after the Academy and even then, many children of shinobi were grown up long before the end of their Academy training. Still, the laughter of any children made her smile because she knew that even when she felt the weight of her life as a kunoichi come crashing down around her, there were still those who knew nothing of hurt or pain and could grow up in sweet ignorant bliss due to her sacrifices.
The civilians were much like children as well; so naïve in their day-to-day lives. They would never have to see someone they knew die right before their eyes in a violent and bloody way or try desperately to heal someone only to have them die anyways.
Yes, Sakura liked knowing that there was still innocence in the world in the form of civilians sheltered from war and children who had yet to experience it.
Sakura was brought out of her thoughts as she realized she could hear a lot of laughter all at once. She turned her head, realizing that she was now walking next to the Sunagakure Shinobi Academy. She could see the students running about in the courtyard while their Sensei lay on a bench, his eyes closed and most likely asleep.
She smiled at this image, remembering her own lazy Sensei who would do the same thing, sleeping with his book on the bridge of his nose against a tree or simply reading his book and ignoring everyone else around him. In hindsight, she knew that often times he wasn't truly asleep, but was simply letting their little team have a bit of a break from his training.
Spurred on by nostalgic thoughts, Sakura walked into the courtyard casually smiling as she watched the boys chase each other in a game of sorts involving a ball as the girls talked and giggling at them with only a few actually joining in. Sakura set down the bag she was carrying and settled against a wall to watch the game, drawing the attention of two of the boys.
"Kazehime-sama!" One squeaked, before bowing a little as another gave her a scrutinizing and rather confused look. The boy who had bowed, elbowed his friend in the ribs, causing him to scowl at the boy and give a slight bow to Sakura. Soon, all eyes were on her and the game and laughter had come to a screeching halt.
"Kazehime-sama, what are you doing here?" A little girl with her hair in buns asked, staring at Sakura with big brown eyes. Sakura smiled and waved a hand slightly in the air as if attempting to simply brush aside the formalities.
"I heard you playing and thought I'd come and see what game it was. Also, you don't have to call me Kazehime-sama, that's just a formal title. Now, what game were you playing?" The boy who had stopped first grinned and proudly placed his hands on his hips in a move that reminded Sakura so much of Naruto it almost hurt.
"We were playing bases! It's like kickball and dodge ball but you have to have at least two people on a base to advance and there are five bases. When you get two people on a base the next kicker up kicks the ball and the people on the base have to link hands and run to the next one or continue to get a run or a higher base. If you get hit with the ball you're out though and you have to go back in line." Sakura smiled. She had played a game like this when she was a little girl and had always enjoyed it.
"It sounds like fun. I have a little bit of time so is it alright if I play as well?" The children's eyes lit up and they all soon ran over in a cluster, greeting her and smiling as the boy who had spoken to her first pulled her up next to him and stated that they were team captains.
"I'm Kinji, by the way, Sakura-sensei." Her smile grew as the term sensei sank into her mind. Oh how Naruto would pout if he had heard the boy call her that! The Academy students in Konoha still refused to call him sensei and instead referred to him mostly with less authoritative titles.
Kinji continued on to say that she would pick first as she was a lady. Sakura had nodded and looked at the large group of excited Academy students standing before her.
"I'll take the girl with the pony tail in the back." She smiled as the young girl opened her mouth in glee and rushed up next to her as Kenji picked his player. As the last kid joined Kenji's team he announced that Sakura's team would kick first.
They all decided she would be the first up to kick and cheered as she walked up to the makeshift plate happily smiling at Kenji. She kicked the ball lightly, but still managed to send it into the back of the field, as the boys scrambled to retrieve it, she ran to the plate and waited as the next child kicked and joined her.
"So we run now Sakura-sensei." The small blonde haired girl with goggles on grabbed her hand and took off running as the ball sailed past them.
They made it to the third base as the children cheered and stopped as the next child kicked. He struck out; as did the next until a boy with blonde hair came up to the plate and kicked the ball over the heads of the backfield players. Sakura and her partner ran for the home base spurred on by their teammate's cheering and the joyful shouts as they made it to home narrowly dodging the ball thrown towards them with extreme accuracy. Obviously, their Sensei had taught them something about aim.
Sakura stayed for the next two rotations until she realized that she really needed to be going. Deciding that she should probably wake their Sensei, she and the students walked over to the sleeping man, still somewhat amazed that he had slept through the ruckus. With a smile on her face, she reached out a hand and shook the man's shoulder hard, making him startle and blink up at her as the kids all laughed and giggled behind her at their Sensei's funny reaction.
The poor man was obviously very flustered at being woken up by the Kazehime when he should have been watching the children. The sat up with a jerk and immediately scrambled to attention.
"Kazehime-sama I-I'm so sorry I meant to be…" She cut him off with a large smile.
"My Sensei read Icha-Icha nonstop from the first day I met him all the way through my Chunin years while he trained my team and we turned out fine. Trust me, I understand. There was no harm done and I was greatly entertained. I may even come back some time to play again if the children would like." She said looking down at the smiling faces around her as they all cheered and begged her to come back.
Their Sensei bowed to her in gratitude and turned to the children, ushering them away from Sakura as he told them they needed to say goodbye and thank you to their Kazehime. The children did so with great enthusiasm as Sakura beamed at them all and gathered her things to leave.
Her smile would not leave her face as she walked down the path waving to everyone that greeted her. She was feeling better, mentally and physically, than she had in a long time, once again all thoughts of pregnancy and the like banished from her head.
As soon as she walked inside her home, she realized that it sounded rather empty. She set her bag on the counter and pulled out the envelope, carrying it to the office that Gaara had given her to use at home. She put the envelope in the top drawer and closed it tight before walking out of the office.
After getting a glass of lemonade, she walked outside to where a large tree stood shading a lover's swing. She walked over and sat on it pulling her feet up as the swing gently rocked. She didn't know where Temari, Kankuro, or Shikamaru were but knew that they would find her here if they were looking for her. She felt happy and light of mind as she enjoyed the warmth of outside and the noises of Suna. A few minutes later, she heard a door open and sat up on the swing, sliding off and standing up with a stretch of her arms.
"Sakura? Are you home?" She was surprised to hear Gaara's voice, knowing he was at work, or at least was supposed to be at work. Her heart leapt a little in her chest as she walked towards the house.
"I'm in here Gaara!" She called as soon as she was in the kitchen. He walked into the kitchen and immediately walked over to her and pulled her into a gentle embrace. She blinked, confused as to why he was home so early and as to why he was showing such affection to her. "You're home early." She said simply as he pulled back from the embrace, his face considerably less happy than she expected.
"I came to find you. There's a meeting I need you to come to. The hospital said you'd left so I figured you must have gone home." She nodded.
"I finished my work early and was expecting to meet Temari here, but that's beside the point, what's this meeting about?" He avoided her glance as if to hide what Sakura had immediately noticed, Gaara was tense.
"Nothing of consequence yet, it's just a meeting. We need to get going." Sakura's brow furrowed but she didn't push the matter further. She simply nodded and gave him a small, albeit fake, smile. The pair walked outside before transporting to the nearest rooftop and running to the Kazekage building.
They didn't usually do this but Sakura assumed Gaara wanted to make it seem less urgent and worrying by taking a longer route. Once inside, they were ushered to a conference room by one of the secretaries. A few people were already present, including Baki and another man on crutches that Sakura recognized as a man who she had treated for a broken leg and other injuries after being attacked on a mission. His presence in the conference room worried her greatly.
Her shoulder grew tense as she took her seat next to Gaara and waited as others meandered into the conference room. Once everyone was assembled, the door was shut and Gaara cleared his throat.
"This was not a planned meeting but it is very important. Keep your minds open to what is being said." He gave a stern glance around the room and then looked at Baki who stiffly nodded. He stood and instantly commanded everyone's attention.
"There has been a distress call received from a village near the border of Rain. There was very little information but they have sent a plea for help to not only us, but Konoha as well." Sakura's attention was immediately on Baki as her brow furrowed. This was a village in Suna, why would they be calling out to Konoha for help?
"As you know this area is a high tension area with a lot of poor residents, rogues, deserters, and illegal practices. This is why the previous mission was so dangerous. We believe these are not Rain shinobi but are rogues from Mist. This man was on a mission recently and came into contact with who we believe to be the rogues." Baki motioned for the man on the crutches to come forwards and speak.
"I was on a mission near the Rain border when my squad was ambushed and attacked. They killed one of our men and injured myself and a fellow comrade. Their tactics were definitely water based and they had a gas expert with them." The man stepped back as Sakura processed the information. Mist rogues in Rain was concerning. Why were they targeting a village? What could they stand to gain from a village in Suna?
Baki crossed his arms and stared at those gathered in the room. "The plan is to only send a squadron to investigate. The shinobi will be under cover as this is a highly delicate operation. We would normally send ANBU and be done with it but the situation became more complicated." Baki's gaze turned to Gaara as the information further served to increase Sakura's confusion.
Sakura noticed Gaara's incredibly troubling expression first. His fingers were running across a scroll in front of him as his jaw visibly clenched before he spoke with almost palpable malice. "They requested a medic for the trip to treat a mysterious illness and a diplomat to discuss a protection act between the village and Suna or Konoha. Seeing as the Lady Kazehime is a medic, diplomat for Suna, and a former diplomat of Konoha as well as the Hokage's student, the mission seemed to be perfectly suited to her. The conditions in which she could embark on this mission are very strict as we agree that this could be a trap putting her in considerable danger. Konoha was made aware of the situation and is sending a squad of ANBU. Due to the circumstances laid out to us, we have no other option but to consider sending the Kazehime." Gaara did not look happy as he said this. In fact, it seemed as if every ounce of his being was screaming for him to not do this. His turquoise eyes held a hatred Sakura hadn't seen in a long while and his hand had balled into a fist.
The room immediately erupted into a flurry of quiet murmuring as the gathered people debated the information. Sakura wanted to say something, anything, but Baki had locked his gaze onto hers as if telling her that her input would not be needed until something had been decided.
Her eyes wandered back to Gaara who had directed a steady gaze onto her. He looked angry and troubled but she knew it was not with her. In her mind she was weighing the pros and cons and knew that the end result would be the same no matter what. She had to go. She was the only person suited to the mission even though it gave her an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had done missions like this before. Missions where the stakes were high and she was needed. Sometimes those were the missions where she felt the most useful, but more often than not they were the ones that left a bad taste in her mouth.
Those gathered in the room seemed to have come to a decision as the chatter came to an abrupt stop. The man sitting to Gaara's right, a greasy haired gaunt man that Sakura knew was part of the council, cleared his throat and spoke in a nasally voice.
"We have come to the decision that the Kazehime is the only shinobi currently suited to this mission and must go to the village to act as a diplomatic envoy and medic." His black eyes shifted to Sakura and she knew that it was her turn to speak.
"I accept the mission. Suna's security and the security of its people are my main concern and a village of people in need is not something I will overlook. I will leave as soon as the ANBU are gathered." The people in the meeting room nodded at the decision as Gaara confirmed the mission with in a disgusted tone of voice. The meeting was adjourned and Sakura stayed behind with Gaara and Baki to discuss mission plans and details.
Four Suna ANBU walked into the room and stood along the wall just as four Konoha ANBU entered the room behind them. Where the Suna ANBU wore clean uniforms, the Konoha ANBU were covered in a thin layer of dust, showing that they had only just arrived in the city.
The squads were briefed on the mission and then dismissed along with Baki. Gaara and Sakura were just leaving when one of the Konoha ANBU members, a man in a hawk mask, approached them.
"Kazehime-sama, Kazekage-sama, I am pleased to offer my support in this mission. I am to escort you home." Sakura's eyebrows immediately raised as the voice turned from a neutral, unidentifiable tone to one that she most definitely recognized.
"Neji?" The man turned his head to Sakura and nodded as Sakura's eyes lit up. "It's good to see you! How's everyone at home since I left?" Neji shrugged a little.
"Mostly the same as usual. Naruto has become slightly more annoying since you left. He has been pursuing training with Lee lately." Sakura rolled her eyes.
"That must be causing some damage to the training grounds. When you return please give everyone my best wishes. They will have to come visit soon; nobody aside from Shikamaru has visited here. Speaking of which, you haven't seen him yet have you? We don't leave until tomorrow morning; you are more than welcome to visit." Neji nodded stiffly, as if he wasn't comfortable with the idea but was simply humoring her. Technically, he should not have revealed his identity, but they both had the clearance.
The trio left the building, taking the quietest route so as not to expose Neji to many people. The conversation was severely stunted as Konoha's coldest current resident seemed intent to live up to his reputation.
From what they managed to squeeze out of him they deduced that Naruto had nearly destroyed a training ground with Lee. He also stated that Ino seemed to be spending more time with her remaining teammate. Other than this, Neji said very little and only nodded or shook his head when asked questions.
Sakura smiled a little seeing that, even though so many things had changed, some things probably never would. Neji would always be that cold stick-in-the-mud and Naruto would always have that same boyish spirit he always had. The group walked up to the house and inside where Temari was waiting for them with a relieved look on her face.
"Sakura where were you? I thought you'd gotten lost or attacked or captured on your way back from the hospital! I went to pick you up but they said you had left early. Nobody seemed to have seen you after that!" Sakura smiled and patted her shoulder.
"I'm alright, we just had a meeting that's all. I'm leaving for a mission tomorrow morning but I'll be back soon. Neji's here to visit as well, he's coming on the mission with me as an escort. Is Shikamaru here?" Temari nodded. Neji seemed to feel slightly violated at the obvious breaches in protocol they were committing as he seemed to be trying his best to blend in with the wall.
"He's in the living room." They walked into the living room where Shikamaru was sitting watching the news with a lazy expression which changed very little as he noticed the ANBU with them.
"I wasn't expecting Konoha ANBU to visit." Neji nodded to Shikamaru who gave him a lazy glance. "This meeting seems to have been important." Gaara gave him a hard stare as the group settled down on the couches to discuss the matter.
End of Chapter 8
