"Two of us will go in through the front. Sakura, you'll come with me. Risa and Daisuke will wait at the back exit."
The three jonin nod their heads in unison. "Roger."
Sakura suppresses her chakra flawlessly as she follows behind the team captain named Rizo. He's an average height shinobi with tan skin, buff build, and his brown hair spikes up wildly like weeds in a garden. His hazel eyes scan the area before giving her the signal to move forward.
She and Rizo run at top speed towards the entrance of the hideout. Rizo makes quick work of melting off the door hinges with Sakura following up by yanking the giant door frame off. They step through the threshold, guard up, eyes scanning for potential danger. The medical ninja flanks her captain as he peaks around a corner to check if the coast is clear. Her trained ears hear the thwack of metal hitting flesh then a plopping sound. Tan index and middle fingers signal for her to move forward.
The duo run down a series of corridors until they reach their location. Opening the door quietly, Sakura begins to rummage through the desk that sits at the center of the room, she scans the bookshelves and finally checks the floorboards. She finds her target, a thick steel box which Intel told her team housed the stolen scroll from Konoha that contained the secrets of the necessary seals needed to put up a barrier around the Leaf Village. The pinkette opens the box easily with her monster strength and takes the scroll securing it in her flak jacket.
She nods to Rizo and the two of them make their way out the enemy's hideout with ease, only to encounter a wave of opponents already engaged in combat with the two other members of her squad.
"Shit! Sakura, back me up!" Her captain orders.
"I'm right behind you!"
The tan ninja pulls out a kunai running towards the fray. He takes out three enemy shinobi easily, his build giving him the advantage of overpowering whomever came his way. Sakura jumps into the air over her captain as he fights his opponents slamming her fist into the ground effectively stopping anymore people coming their way. The forest floor splits open sending the enemy flying in all directions, many of them get crushed in the debris that flies about.
"Take cover!" One of her team mates yells out.
Seconds later, viridian eyes recognize the hand seals for a katon, she quickly scans the area, flash stepping towards Daisuke and aiding him in taking out his opponent; the next breath has her lifting a wall of earth at the very last second effectively shielding herself and her team mate from the flames. She hears the agonizing screams of their opponents, burning alive from her villages Will of Fire, there is silence a minute later. The smoke clears and the battlefield is littered with bodies, but her team is alive and well.
"Are you hurt?" Sakura asks.
Daisuke removes his hand from his thigh showing the medical ninja his injury. Pink eyebrows furrow with concern, the wound was deep, it was a miracle he hadn't bled out yet. She immediately gets to work, green chakra seeping into his flesh, mending tissue, duplicating white blood cells and healing his broken bones. She hears him hiss in pain, but years of practice allows her to get the job done in less than five minutes. Sakura stands, and gives him a small smile as she extends out her hand to help him stand. He takes it, her small hand almost disappearing in his large one.
"Thank you, Sakura." He says.
She flinches at the words, remembering someone else thanking her. Daisuke puts a hand on her shoulder and it's only then that she realizes how close in proximity they are. Her skin feels hot, goosebumps rising to the surface, and it's a feeling she's been experiencing a lot lately, one that she doesn't want to dwell on.
With another mission success, her team heads back to Konoha. The trees flash by her in sea of different colors. This was her tenth A-ranked mission that she'd been assigned to since being promoted to jounin almost three months ago. Sakura feels a sense of pride whenever she turns in her mission reports to Kakashi as he nods his head and praises her for yet another job well done. In the beginning, it was rather challenging getting used to being the head of the Children's Health Clinic and being a valuable kunoichi of the Leaf, but she was always the type of person that adapted quickly.
Even though she was practically busy six days out of the week with a heavy workload, she was happy.
Her team doesn't arrive to Konoha until after the moon is at its highest peak and everyone is asleep as the night guards nod them hello as they walk through the gates. "Get some rest, Haruno, you did well." Rizo comments before jumping on top of the nearest roof making his way towards the Hokage tower.
She does just that. Entering her one bedroom apartment, she strips herself of her clothes and takes a quick shower and dries herself off before yanking on an a tank top and shorts. Her head hits her barely worn out pillow, as she tries to once again ignore the feeling of a man's skin against hers.
'When are you coming back? There's a new ramen flavor that you need to come try!'
Sasuke reads the almost illegible letter that he received from Naruto. His ancestral brother rambles about mundane things such as his "freaking" boredom in the village, and that Kakashi is handing him off all his paperwork for "Hokage training" and that its "annoying". The Uchiha almost wants to smirk at the last detail, his friend would forever be a lazy loser, but he surmised that he himself wouldn't of enjoyed all the paperwork had he become Hokage.
Onyx eyes look up to the blue sky repeating his friends question over and over again in his mind. 'When are you coming back?' Sasuke doesn't exactly know the answer to that question. Almost half a year away from the village and the ex avenger has seen some different wonders.
His new, unclouded eyes, has seen the mountainous region of the Land of Stone, explored the ruins from a mysterious village that was once known to spin the strongest shinobi thread and seen the constellations from different tree tops. Sasuke has helped a handful of people since the Land of Waves, but his journey has mostly been about discovering the unknown. Despite going on various errands for Orochimaru, the dark haired shinobi never witnessed anything else besides confrontation and death. Traveling has allowed him to discover more to life than fighting and a part of him highly doubts that even if he were a reinstated shinobi of Konoha that he'd ever see any of what he has thus far.
Despite his newly discovered passion for traveling, Sasuke is still troubled. He knows the truth about the Uchiha massacre, he knew that he was the reincarnation of a powerful, ancient being, but he doesn't know what it is to be an Uchiha. He thinks that although he somewhat grew up to be the son of the clan head, he knew little about the history aside from Indra and Madara. What is it to be an Uchiha besides just their curse of hatred? Is that all they are good for? Destruction and murder?
If he thinks about it, Itachi was the purest Uchiha to of ever been birthed. If Sasuke had been born first, he doesn't doubt that he would have probably went through with the coup. His dark eyebrows furrow at the thought. It seems that no matter which way he thinks about it, he'll forever be a man that is easily manipulated if he's told that it's for the greater good. This bothers him greatly, but he tries to not dwell too much on the what ifs and could have beens.
There has to be more to us he thinks to himself. A small throbbing sensation begins to manifest itself at his temples, he tries to soothe the ache by rubbing at it with his index and middle finger. With a heavy sigh, Sasuke leans back against the tree taking that same two fingers and raising it to the sky followed by gently tapping himself against the forehead. His eyes close and his heart constricts a little at the thought of his brother. Steeling himself of his chaotic emotions, the last Uchiha makes the decision to head back to Konoha to find his answers.
He tries to not think about the fact that he could also use some company.
A week later, Sasuke walks through the gates of Konoha. Heading straight to the Hokage Tower, he briefly meets with Shizune who informs him that Kakashi was not in the office. Making his way out, Sasuke expands his chakra looking for his old sensei and idiot friend and he finds them at training ground ten watching a sparring match between Sakura and Sai. Naruto doesn't take his eyes off the combatants, instead just greeting him with a "yo". Kakashi doesn't acknowledge him either, just waves a hand in his direction. It was clear that they were very immersed in the spar.
Dark eyes observe his "replacement" as he fights the pink haired kunoichi, irritation still bubbles in his belly at the site of him. He watches the way Sai dodges kunai and back flips in mid air landing a few feet away from his opponent, immediately drawing snakes that come to life from the scroll and Sasuke is sure that the wannabe drew those just to irritate him. The black and white figures slither quickly towards Sakura, but she is fast and dispatches them easily. What she doesn't notice though is one of the snakes burying itself into the ground. A second later as she is about to run towards Sai, the snake emerges from below and wraps itself tightly around her ankles, tripping her.
Sasuke is surprised at Sai's speed in which he runs towards the kunoichi, but Sakura makes quick work of the binding snakes as she uses her strength to break free and blocks the white washed shinobi's sword. Sakura rolls over and side swipes Sai and seizes his blade as he tumbles to the ground, pointing the sharp object but a centimeter away from his face with a smirk. "I win," she says and Sai raises his hands in surrender.
"HA! Maybe next time, Sai!" Naruto practically yells in Sasuke's ear.
The duo make their way towards the spectators with Sakura not making any sort of eye contact with him. "She beat you just last week dickless."
The loud mouthed blonde sputters, "whatever."
As Sai and Naruto bicker, Sasuke notices that not once did Sakura look his away. Was she really still mad about the last time they saw each other? He notices the new flak jacket she throws on and is impressed with her new promotion. "I'll see you guys later," she announces as she deliberately walks passed him never saying a word.
His dark eyes narrow as they follow her movements and she doesn't bat an eyelash at his intense gaze which has him grinding his teeth together. He turns to his old sensei, "let's spar."
"You didn't have to come all the way here just to drop off these reports," Sakura says.
"Humph! I can't just come to visit?" Ino responds.
Her childhood friend smiles then sighs. "Sorry, I'm just a little irritated."
"About what?"
Green eyes harden and gives her blonde friend the look. "Oh.."
"I don't know what to do."
Baby blue eyes soften as she entangles her long fingers with her best friend. "Just talk to him."
Sakura squeezes her friends hand. "I don't even know how to talk to him."
"Sasuke, stop being such a jerk."
"Ino!"
Her friend giggles. "What? You can't deny that might be effective."
The pink haired woman sighs then giggles. "Yeah, maybe."
"You'll find a way, forehead."
Pink eyebrows furrow, eye twitching. "Thanks, pig."
Ten minutes later Sakura is waving goodbye to her friend. She makes her way to her kitchen table and begins to flip through the clinic reports from the children's hospital. Concern mars her face at one particular file, she'd have to keep a closer eye at one of the kids at her clinic. She's too immersed in her documents to hear the loud knocks on her door. Confused at the sudden intrusion, she gets up and makes her way to the door, opening it and being shocked at her visitor.
"Sasuke..."
"Sakura."
Her eyes close at the sound of his deep voice. Opening them slowly, she moves over and opens the door more in silent invitation. He steps through her threshold, the scent of fire and pine seeping into her core making her belly tight. She closes the door and makes her way back to the kitchen immediately getting to work at making some tea.
Sasuke follows behind her, noticing her tense posture. His eyes scan her house, it was a decently sized apartment with touches of the Sakura he remembers. She'd always been a person of sentimental value, her walls at littered with pictures of herself and friends, most of which he recognizes as the Rookie Nine. There's one picture in particular that he zeros in on, one of herself holding her diploma on the day of her jounin promotion.
He feels a presence next to him, noticing pink hair at the corner of his eye. She looks at the same picture, a small smile gracing her lips. "Those exams are no joke."
Sasuke raises a dark eyebrow at her. "What does it consist of?"
Green eyes widen, not expecting him to actually answer her back in any way, but she composes herself quickly. "The exam is a week long. If it wasn't for my experience as a doctor staying up hours on end, I'm not sure if I'd've made it."
He blinks then stares back to the photo. "You were never soft."
Sakura takes in a sharp breath. Did he just compliment her? Her heart is pounding at their proximity, head getting dizzy. She lets out the rest of her breath slowly, evenly as to not cause too much attention to herself. She turns and hands him his cup of tea which he takes. Their fingers brush lightly, and it sends prickles up her arm. Onyx and emerald connect for a second, Sakura searches his eyes, silently questioning why he was at her apartment.
He sighs, and steps back and away from her a little, sips his tea and stares up to her ceiling. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
Sasuke pins her with an intense stare. "Back at Sound.."
Right. She'd almost forgotten. She hated that he was always able to break down her walls. Her eyes harden and fix him with a mild glare. "Why did you leave like that?"
The Uchiha sighs making him look almost tired. "I just had to."
"You can see yourself out." Sakura bites out as she begins to walk away, but Sasuke's hand grabs her wrist.
"Wait." He grinds his teeth together. "I didn't know ..." Sigh. "I didn't know that you did all that at the Forest of Death."
She doesn't bother turning to face him. "And that surprises you?"
Dark eyes look down to his hand holding her wrist, his eyebrows drawing together before letting go. "...No"
"So what's the problem?"
Sasuke runs his hand through his jet black hair. "I left because I don't want to cause you anymore harm."
It's a good thing that she was facing away from him so he wouldn't see the way her eyes widen. Idiot. "When will you accept that all I want is to make sure that you're okay?"
"You shouldn't care about my well being after everything."
Sakura turns to face him and shakes her head. "You will always be important to me, Sasuke. Let me be your friend."
The words ring in his ears, shaking him to his core a little more than he cares to admit. A part of him wants to reprimand her because she really shouldn't give a shit about him, but then, if that's what he wished then why was he standing in the middle of her living room? Sasuke could have easily ignored her and left without ever acknowledging her attitude towards him, but he didn't. It irritated him that she was giving him the silent treatment, but what irritated him even more was that he cared, and wasn't sure why. Sakura was always annoying, she talked and gave herself too much without ever asking for anything in return. He was always a selfish man, his actions in the past six years could attest to that, but if he thinks about it, Team Seven deserved more. She deserved more.
Could he really accept her friendship? He knows that if he goes down that road with her then certain things could happen. Sasuke isn't sure if he can commit, isn't sure if he could even be a good friend to her. Their relationship was always complicated, but she was always consistent, always resilient and always there. If he admits it to himself, this was inevitable. He's traveled hundreds of miles and somehow his thoughts bring him to her. Sakura wasn't always on his mind, but every now and then he would see something that reminded him of her. Everywhere he went, he's reminded of the people who he has left behind, again, and who are waiting for him to come home.
His time away from Team Seven has taught him to be grateful. Maybe it was time to repay them, to accept Sakura's care for him; it was the least he could do. He thinks back on the image of her wrapping her frail arms around him and the way her small hand held his while he was in agony. The young Uchiha of then hadn't cared about pride or seeming weak, all he was during that unknown length of time was that he needed, perhaps even wanted, someone to be there for him. Shinobi or not, he was still a child at heart in that moment as his mothers face briefly flashed before his minds eye, but she wasn't there. Of course not. She was dead. But Sakura was there. She was always there for him, and it mattered in that one brief period of time. He can admit that to himself as a changed man now.
Sasuke makes his decision, he would try his best to earn a place by their sides again, and he would start with his most difficult, and shattered bond.
Sasuke gives Sakura a gentle smirk, coal eyes softening just a bit. "You're still annoying."
The pinkettes heart beats fast, understanding him. Everything would change from now on. Never in a million years did she think that she would get to this point with the ex avenger, but she's happy nonetheless, that he's finally going to allow her in. This would be a new beginning for them. She smiles at the thought.
"Not as annoying as you."
A/N Hi, I'm sorry for the long absence. Life really caught up with me, and the writers block was serious. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please tell me your thoughts! I purchased tickets to watch the Boruto movie in October and I'm so excited! Go to the Eleven Arts website for a complete list of cities that will be hosting the movie in the U.S.
