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A/N: If they have wireless radios on missions in the Naruto universe, a medic can have a pager. Spoiler warning! No flames!
Tomorrow's Promise
Chapter 10: Future
The next morning Sakura and Naruto awoke to the sound of Sakura's pager going off. Sakura dressed quickly and left him with a quick kiss on his cheek. The blond was disappointed, but knew that if she had been paged, it was an emergency and she had to go. He stayed in bed a little longer thinking about recent events.
A month ago if someone had told him that he would be regularly spending the night with Sakura, he would have laughed at them. Yet that was the situation he had found himself in quite often during the past fortnight.
He had also never thought that he would fulfill his promise of a lifetime the way he had. He had killed his best friend. Sasuke was dead. However, thinking rationally, the Sasuke that he had known died years ago at the Valley of the End. The Sasuke he had killed was a soulless monster. Still he missed his friend and that friend he would remember at the grave site.
He dressed quickly and walked the too familar path to the cemetary. He quickly found Sasuke's grave as it was the only one in the Uchiha plot that was still well-kept. A pile of decaying white tulips were scattered over the fresh earth. They were from the funeral. He had been barely able to remain standing without Sakura's help, yet she had allowed him to cling to her the entire time.
"I miss you teme," he said to the gravestone that read "Uchiha Sasuke". He now understood why Kakashi-sensei spent so much time at the memorial. The bittersweet nostalgia for the past overwhelmed him. Not for the first time, he wished that he could have done something to change the past.
"Naruto-kun," called a familar female voice. He turned to see Kurenai-sensei nearby in front of Asuma-sensei's grave.
"Where is Hotaru?" he asked, noting the absence of her daughter.
"I left her in Hinata's and Kiba's care. Those two are more than capable of keeping her out of trouble." The older jounin smiled at her commentary and the dumbstruck expression on Naruto's face at the mention of her two former students together.
"Those two have been joined at the hip lately. It's not surprising really. Hinata gave up on you and Kiba's liked her since I first taught them that it's no surprise they got together." The blond smiled.
"I've always been a little dense," he noted sadly. "Sasuke used to call me 'dobe' for good reason."
"I see you were visiting his grave," noted Kurenai. "Letting go of the past is never easy, but it is only once you do that you can embrace your future. When Asuma died I wanted nothing more than to join him in the grave that day. However, if I hadn't moved-on, I wouldn't have been able to be a proper mother to Hotaru-chan."
Naruto nodded, understanding the lesson she was attempting to teach him. In order to persue his future as Hokage, he could not allow the sorrow that clung to his soul to overcome him.
"I understand. Arigato, Kurenai-sensei. I have to go meet Kakashi-sensei soon." The brunette jounin nodded.
The Academy was much the same as it had been during his student days. From his advantage point on the swing outside, he could see Kakashi-sensei proctoring a test. He was sitting at his desk, his infamous orange Icha Icha book in hand. Naruto wondered what subject Kakashi-sensei was teaching. His skills as a ninja were well-known and varied from the msot basic taijutsu to advanced genjutsu. He was a veteran of two wars and thousands of missions. He would have to ask him once school was dismissed.
No sooner than the thought crossed his mind than the bell rang. The students all ran outside, happy to be doen their classes for the day. Kakashi collected their papers and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto jumped instinctively to avoid a kunai soaring towards him.
"Yo," said Kakashi who was now behind Naruto. The older jounin was still reading his book.
"You know why I'm here, right?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah, my long day of teaching doesn't end when the Academy brats go home. I have to teach a certain new jounin how to use water release." The jounin led Naruto to the part of the school grounds where there was a pool where the ninja-in-training were taught to swim.
"The easiest form of Water Release is to manipulate an available water source. Concentrate your chakra and try to shape a sphere of water using it."
"How do I do that?" Naruto asked.
"It works the same way as the Rasengan, except you're shaping the water, not your chakra." That explanation was more than enough for the blond. Almost immediately he made a several clones and the pairs began to attempt the task. After a few hours, a single pair consisting of the original Naruto and a clone managed to raise a single perfect sphere of water from the pool.
"Dispel the clones." Naruto followed Kakashi's orders.
"A few more days of this and you'll be able to use basic water-based ninjutsu in battle. We'll meet the same time tomorrow."
"I have one question Kakashi-sensei." The silver-haired jounin raised his eyebrows.
"What are you teaching at the Academy?"
"Advanced Ninjutsu and History. There's more students than Iruka and Kurenai can handle by themselves."
"Kurenai-sensei teaches? I just ran into her when I visited the cemetary."
"Yes, Tsunade-sama decided to give her a more perminant assignment so she has time for her career and Hotaru-chan. She teaches the special kunoichi and advanced genjutsu classes. Today was her day-off." There was a short pause.
"You visited him."
"Yes. I'm beginning to understand why you do the same visiting the memorial."
"It is only when we awknowledge our mistakes that we can learn from them. However, at the same time, we cannot afford to dwell on those errors forever."
The jounin was still young, but at this moment Naruto realized that he had seen more of life than most old men just as he himself had. Shinobi life stole their youth. Suddenly Gai-sensei's bizarre lectures were starting to make a tiny bit of sense; youth was indeed valuable.
Sakura wondered if the hospital charged frequent patients less simply due to the amount of business they gave them. As she left the operating room for the first time since she arrived, she found Rock Lee in the outpatient ward for the second time this month. This visit was for a broken arm. He had been training with Neji and Tenten and had hit a tree attempting to avoid their combination attack. She healed his arm and it in a light cast. He had joined her in the cafeteria as she took her first break in ten hours.
"So how is your relationship with Naruto-san?" he asked. He was thrilled to see his former crush so happy even if she wasn't with him.
"Pretty good. We spent last night together." The male's face turned a bright red.
"No need to share those details Sakura-san!" he commented. She laughed.
"We didn't do anything of that variety Lee-san," she said. "So...is there a particular kunoichi in your life?"
"Not really. I'm just going to focus on my ninja career for now."
"That sounds like a good plan. If you change your mind, I know a few junior medics I could set you up with."
The green jumpsuit-loving ninja smiled, noting how many a medic had checked him out lately with the obvious exceptions of Ino and the stunning kunoichi before him, both of whom were taken.
"Thanks for the offer, but I actually have a new someone in mind."