Grace
By: LilyDraken
Sakura was tired. She'd been on duty at the hospital since 0700, and it had been one thing after another in non-stop chaos ever since.
Two members of an ANBU squad just returned from the border with serious injuries that she and Shizune spent the better part of the morning stabilizing. The fact that one of them was Izumo made it that much more difficult.
Not half an hour later, a young genin was brought in by a frantic jounin-sensei that had set off an exploding seal trap that burned a significant portion of his body. It was another two hours to repair the worst of the wounds and dress the remainder.
It was just shy of two o'clock when Sakura dragged herself up to her office to sit. She opened her desk drawer, removed a jar full of ginkgo biloba capsules and swallowed two, returning the jar to its proper place. Twenty minutes and her headache would likely be gone. In the meantime, she lay her forehead down on her desk, letting the cool maple sooth her aching head.
A knock at the door interrupted her. "Sakura-san?"
Sakura looked up to see Yumi, one of the hospital nurses. 'I can't get even one minute to myself…'
"Yes?" she asked wearily.
"I'm sorry to trouble you. Uchiha Sasuke is here to see you. He said you have an appointment. He's in the waiting area."
Sakura groaned inwardly. "Tell him I'll be with him shortly."
She rested her head back on her desk for several long minutes before sighing and rising. On her way to the waiting room, she stopped in to check on Izumo. He was sound asleep, but his vitals were strong. Sakura sighed in relief.
When she reentered the hall, she found another genin covered in bandages. "Sakura-sensei, is Gitou going to be okay?"
Despite her exhaustion, she smiled, "Yes, he's going to be just fine. Why don't you go home and get some rest right now; you can come by to see him later."
"O-okay," he said shyly, "thank you, Sakura-sensei, for saving him."
The little genin took off before she could reply 'you're welcome.'
She made her way to the waiting area to find Sasuke browsing through a medical journal as he waited. Sensing her presence, he tossed the journal aside and stood. "You look tired."
"Long morning."
Sasuke studied her closely, noting the dark circles under her eyes and her pale pallor. "Let's reschedule. You should get some rest."
"I know my limits, Sasuke," she snapped. Sasuke's eyebrow raised. Sakura sighed, "I'm sorry. Perhaps you're right. I'm just exhausted."
"Have you eaten?" Sakura shook her head. "Let's get you some food."
Sakura looked as though she might protest for a moment, but relented. "Okay."
They approached Ichiraku's. Sakura smiled, teasing, "So that painting of Naruto's has really gotten to you, huh?"
Sasuke smirked. "I guess so, something like that. Ramen's okay, right? Or would you prefer something else?"
"Ramen is fine."
They sat at the bar and placed their orders with Teuchi-san. Sasuke turned to her. "About last night-"
"Nothing to discuss," Sakura replied evenly, "no worries."
Sasuke continued, "I just want to make sure nothing is... Look, I don't want to hurt you. And I don't want to do anything that might impede what we're trying to do."
"Sasuke, nothing to worry about," she replied, a little more testily than she'd meant to. "Anyway," she continued, "we can work for about two hours, and then I have to meet Kakashi. He was out yesterday, so he's going to need a session."
"How bad is he really?"
Teuchi-san set down their bowls of ramen with a smile, then turned around to continue bustling about the kitchen, an ear always turned in their direction.
"Itadekimas," they both said, breaking their chopsticks.
"Bad," she sighed. "If I can't find some way of fixing it, he'll be forced to retire. That alone is enough to destroy him."
Sasuke turned and looked at her. "I have complete faith in you."
Sakura stared at him, surprised but grateful. "Thank you, Sasuke."
"You don't use the honorific anymore," he noted softly.
"People change, grow up," she shrugged. "Besides," she said with a laugh, "I'm sure it's a lot less annoying to you."
"It was never annoying," he said, finishing the last of his ramen.
Sakura laughed, not believing a word of that. Sasuke pushed his bowl away, turning fully to Sakura. "You're trying to hide it, but I can see you're tired. Let's skip our session today so you can get some rest and focus your attention on Kakashi tonight. We'll work tomorrow."
Sakura wanted to protest, but knew he was right. "Okay. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It was my suggestion."
Sasuke pulled out his wallet, but Sakura plunked down money first. She smiled, "My treat."
"Sakura-"
"You made me lunch yesterday. I've got this today. Tomorrow is your turn."
Sasuke smiled, "Deal."
Naruto stood at the window in his office, looking out at the mountain. He couldn't help but look from the Yondaime's image to his own; they looked so much alike.
'I wonder what he would do in a situation like this?' Naruto had been briefed on the attack on the ANBU cell, and was receiving regular status reports. And then the near fatal accident with that genin team… that team had been returning from a C-rank mission and it was possible that they just got caught in the traps set for the ANBU cell, but something about it just didn't sit well with him.
A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. "Come in."
Morino Ibiki stepped in, handing a scroll to Naruto. "Hokage-sama, we've just received this report from the Kusagakure north border outpost."
Naruto unfurled it and read. "I see. Thank you."
"Then I shall await your instructions," he replied, nodding respectfully before exiting.
So one of the outposts bordering the secondary land containing the Hidden Village of Grass had been raided. The leaf-nin stationed there had successfully fended off their attackers, ensuring no information was lost, receiving only minor injuries. It definitely didn't sit well with him.
The sun was just beginning to set. Kakashi leaned back against the middle pillar of the training field. His left temple throbbed. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply in an effort to control the pain.
"Kakashi," Sakura smiled as she approached. Kakashi forced out a smile that didn't reach his visible eye. Kneeling down in front of him, she frowned, "You look like you overdid it today."
"I never overdo it."
Sakura sighed as she molded chakra to her hands, pressing her fingertips against his temple and the inner part of his eye. "How bad?"
"Eight."
"I'm going to insist you don't go on any missions for the next week."
Kakashi shook his head. "Not an option."
"It's an order," Sakura replied sternly, "and I'll get the Hokage to back me up if you push me on this. You need rest."
"How are the injured ANBU?"
"Stable." She let chakra flood his overextended doujutsu pathways, gently anesthetizing the area. Kakashi groaned in relief. She continued, "I know there's no one like the great copy-nin Kakashi, but there are more than enough of us to handle things while you recuperate."
"You really know what buttons to push, Sakura, buttering me up like that," he smiled.
"I do know," she said. 'What I need to know is how to start fixing this…' she ruminated. Studying Sasuke's sharingan a little, she could now at least identify the differences between the two. But identifying differences just wasn't enough. 'Please, let me find a way…'
The velvety night sky was punctured with bright, twinkling stars. Sasuke sat in the upper branches of a large tree, content to watch the villagers below taking leisure time to enjoy their evening. It was nice, simple. 'I guess things always were simple here, even when they weren't,' Sasuke thought. There was something oddly comforting about it.
He sensed the approaching presence moments before it appeared beside him. "How are you doing, Sasuke?" asked Ino. She plunked herself down, facing him as she straddled the branch.
"Fine."
"It's been a crazy couple of weeks for you."
"Hn."
"Still as talkative as ever, Sasuke-kun," Ino winked. Sasuke bristled. "How are you really? I want to know."
Sasuke had never, ever had a conversation with Ino that had any substance whatsoever. In point of fact, their only interaction had been Ino throwing herself at him and him ignoring her.
'Though she was the one they sent in to interrogate me,' he remembered. Maybe there was something to be said about it. Still, he wasn't sure how he felt about sharing any personal information with Ino, or anyone who wasn't a part of his team.
"I'm not going to bite, Sasuke," Ino prodded. "Look, you don't have a lot of friends here. In fact, outside of Naruto-sama and Sakura, you have no one. Now I'm Sakura's best friend-"
Sasuke interrupted, "You're friends with Sakura? I thought you two always hated each other."
Ino rolled her eyes. "Just for show. We were rivals, not unlike you and Naruto-sama, except the trying to kill each other part. But even as rivals, we were always friends," she explained. "Getting back to the point, Sakura loves you; Naruto-sama too for that matter. Since you're important to them, I'm going to be here for you too."
Sasuke stared, taking it all in. Ino was nothing if not blunt.
"So… answer the question. How are you?"
"Adjusting. I'm… adjusting."
"Fair enough. We're still going to see you tomorrow night, right?"
'Shit.' He had completely forgotten. But he knew he had an obligation to go, at least if he wanted to fix things with he rest of the shinobi in the village. He nodded.
"Good," Ino replied satisfactorily, "I'm glad to hear it. We meet at Gomatsu's, usually around eight or so." Ino paused, causing a distinct shift in the energy between them. "Can I ask you something?"
"Hn," he replied warily.
"When you first got back… when I first inter-… My ability is pretty straight forward, as I'm sure you've guessed… When I first interrogated you, it's not just that I wasn't able to get anything from you... it's like nothing was there, to be able to get."
Sasuke's brow rose, "So what's the question?"
Ino frowned before sighing, "Nothing I guess. See you tomorrow night, okay?"
"Hn."
Ino disappeared. Sasuke continued to stare at the passers-by down below. 'The reason you weren't able to get anything, Ino, is because at the time, there was nothing to get. I was dead inside… But no longer.'
A/N: I apologize profusely for my tardiness in getting this out! To my reviewers, thank you so much, and please continue to leave feedback. (And thank you for the gentle nudge!) I hope you all enjoy.
~Lily
