Here is the last chappie before Christmas. Please enjoy and relax, hm? This is light-hearted, so no stress, drink a cup of warm cocoa or something and appreciate. Until next time, in a few weeks! (Note that reviews are always very much appreciated.) Now, enter my favorite comic relief....(drums rolling in the background)...Jiraiya!
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A few days went on peacefully, during which Sakura trained her team harder than they ever had been before and sometimes saw Minato's team. While her students grumbled that she was killing them, they couldn't deny that her methods were efficient, as they already could feel the changes. Their new weapons, too, were beginning to feel like a part of their body, almost like they were made to be together. Of course, they couldn't know it, but Sakura had introduced them to their preferred style of fighting in her time, so they didn't have to go through trial and error with different kinds of weapons until they found the ones they were most suited for. She had demonstrated to each of them how to use their weapons in the most efficient manner, looking deadly as she danced around the clone she had created to demonstrate the ways in which to hold and use the weapons. While she looked like a graceful lethal kunoichi with the scythe and twin blades, with the puppet, she looked like an artist, seemingly making no move related to the puppet, yet said puppet fought like a fury with each movement of her fingers. It was truly an impressing sight to behold, but Sakura was modest.
"One day, you'll surpass me if you continue to practice. I'm no master of those weapons, I simply know how to use them because I knew people who were deadly with them."
"Oooooh, who?" asked the curious teens.
"My team. Well, it was my team, I can't even be sure they're still alive. You are very much alike and I'm convinced that one day, you'll be just as good as them."
She was happy that Kakashi had warmed up to her, ever since she had saved Obito, and she was hoping that her team would do the same. They were still not that close, mainly because they were still mourning their old teacher, but slowly, they were beginning to accept her in their circle. At least, they didn't question her authority or her teachings, for which she was grateful.
Yet, she felt that something was missing. During her days as an Akatsuki member, she had been accepted as the somewhat unconventional member, for she was the only one who didn't hunt the jinchuuriki because she could not heal herself and she would not be useful to the organisation if she was hurt. Therefore, she alternated between doing very lucrative missions (Kakuzu seemed to have transferred his uncanny ability to land those missions to her, or maybe it was just because people had seen them together and noticed that he sometimes almost seemed to be afraid of her, which was saying something) and healing the various members of the infamous organization. She had adapted relatively well to the life of a missing-nin, probably due to the fact that she had a bunch of men around her who were royally pissed every time someone looked at her longer than five seconds and acted in-between protective brothers and possessive lovers. She had found that to be strange, especially since they did not act that way with Konan, but had decided that it must be because Konan already had Leader to look after her. Now, in the past, she did not have their support (Strange, why am I missing enemies I was spying on? Even if they were not that bad and we were comrades for a while.). Of course, she had Minato and his team and a team herself, but she felt a bit empty. As cheesy as it sounded, she needed a hug. She decided to put that on the hormones. Narabi had nothing to say to that. Throwing up alone each morning was no fun either. Yep, she really needed someone.
That morning, she felt more tired than usual and, after throwing up as she usually did, she went back to her bed, vaguely remembering that a virus was raging on in Konoha. Maybe, as a pregnant woman, she was weaker than usual against those. She did not dwell too long on it, however, as sleep claimed her the moment her head touched her pillow.
On that very same morning, her team members met at their usual training grounds and, after waiting an hour for her to show up, thought that she may have forgotten about them and gone to visit Minato's team, as she sometimes did. Unfortunately, it was not the case, as they found out when they met the trio at Ichiraku, and they were quite certain that she would have warned them if she'd gone on a solo mission.
"Ne, guys, you think she slept in?" pondered Yuu.
"Nah, not her. Besides, even if she did, do you really want to risk setting off her traps?" answered Tetsuo.
"Well, we can always knock," suggested Kyouya.
Thus, they said their goodbyes to Obito, Rin and Kakashi, who unfortunately had a mission and thus could not help them, and left the restaurant, only to bump into a very recognizable shinobi.
"Jiraiya-sama!" cried out Yuu in shock.
"Have you seen Sakura-sensei?" asked Kyouya politely.
"Hello, brats. So you three are the ones assigned to her, eh? Nice to meet you. I haven't seen her yet; I've just come back from a mission and I was on my way back from the Hokage tower. Have you looked for her at her apartment?" said the notorious pervert.
"Iie, not yet. We didn't want to set off the traps."
"Aaah, yes, the traps. Well, then, how about I come with you?" suggested the Sannin.
Before trying to enter, they knocked at her door. Maybe she was just still asleep. They heard a loud thump and the sound of something dragging on the floor and the teens imagined her dragging a mace to conk their heads with as a warning not to disturb her sleep again. Finally, they heard the traps being set off and the sound of weapons whizzing through the air, but they fortunately did not see any pool of blood forming at their feet by seeping through the door. At long last, Sakura opened the door with a bang, dishevelled and eye bleary from sleep. She was clad only in panties and one of Jiraiya's shirts that barely covered her breasts, the tattoos on her arms, face and neck clearly visible, although a blindfold covered her empty eye socket. The four males felt suddenly dizzy from blood loss at the sight of the sexy woman who lounged in front of them against the door and pinched their noses. The three teens had never seen her face before and gaped at her beauty, having imagined that she was old or disfigured.
With a satisfied smile, she grasped Jiraiya by his shirt and tugged him aggressively forward until he was trapping her against the wall.
"Now, that's what I needed," she hummed as she closed the door to her apartment with her foot. "C'mere, 'raiya, wanna go back to bed."
"S-Sakura?!"
The stuttered exclamation of surprise from the notorious pervert was the last thing the teens heard through the door.
Her students were left standing in front of the closed door, shocked beyond comprehension.
"Well…" drawled Kyouya, "looks like we won't train with her today."
Jiraiya slowly extricated himself from the covers, moving carefully in order not to wake up the kunoichi in his arms. She was burning up, he saw, and went to the bathroom to wet a towel that he then pressed on her forehead. He had immediately seen that she was slightly delirious due to her fever and had convinced her to sleep, which had been quite hard, considering she only wanted to get in his pants. She would probably be hungry when she woke up, as he doubted strongly that she had eaten anything yet. Thus, he let her sleep, tucking her carefully, and went to the kitchen in hopes of finding something he could cook. Getting some rice out of the fridge, he pondered that it was the first time he would cook for a woman, usually preferring to take them out to a restaurant, and that he would actually do something for a woman without expecting anything in return. Sakura seemed to bring out new facets of his personality, but he did not think it a bad thing. He rather liked it, in fact.
Ha glanced at the sleeping woman. Her fever was abating, which was a good thing. The worst was done, now it was only a matter of time before she got better. Looking at her peaceful sleeping face, he thought that he wouldn't mind seeing it more often. Maybe it was time for him to move on from his crush on his old team mate.
There was a knock at the door. The sharp sound disrupted his thought process and he left the kitchen. On the other side of the door, he found the last Hatake looking at him from his dark eye, the other, bright green in color, safely hidden beneath his hitai-ate. The young teen observed him for a while, an eyebrow raised inquisitively.
"Err…Enter, enter, Sakura is in bed," blurted out Jiraiya.
"…Ah."
"Not like that, baka!" said the older man while conking the silver-haired boy on the head. "She's sick– nothing too serious, fortunately– but she's sleeping right now."
The Sannin closed the door, ushering Kakashi in the living room, which now fortunately had a couch. The two males observed each other. The silence stretched on, thickening with each moment.
"So…what did you wish to see Sakura-chan for?" finally asked Jiraiya.
Kakashi retrieved a scroll from his pouch.
"This is the mission that she's been asking for."
"A mission? Where to?" asked the intrigued older shinobi.
"Rain. She's to leave as soon as possible."
"Right. Leave it here, I'll give it to her," suggested Jiraiya.
"With all due respect, Minato-sensei told me to give it to her personally."
Jiraiya merely shrugged, not feeling offended in the least. He turned around, heading for the kitchen.
"Sure. You'll have to wait for her to wake up, though. Ya want a bowl of miso soup while you wait? I just made it."
Kakashi, following him, sat at the small kitchen table and nodded.
"Good. That way, at least, I'll know if it's edible before I give a bowl to Sakura-chan," joked the good-natured man. "Be sure to warn me if it's poisoned, ne?"
Kakashi refrained the urge to roll his eye and took a sip of the warm soup. Surprisingly, it was quite edible.
Sakura felt much better than before when she woke up. She did not feel so dizzy and her mind was clear once more. Blushing, she figured she'd have to thank Jiraiya later for taking care of her. She gingerly got up and went to the living room. Two heads turned to her immediately as she rubbed the sleep out of her eye and coursed a hand through her long hair.
"Hey there, beautiful," smiled Jiraiya. "Hungry?"
"Very," she smiled back. "Thank you for taking care of me," she said as she flopped down on the couch next to Kakashi.
"How long have I been out?"
"A couple of hours, you slept most of the day away."
She craned her neck and saw that the sky was dark outside.
"Better say: the whole day," she muttered. "Anyway, Kakashi-kun, what are you doing here?" she asked him as she nudged him.
"Here. It's the mission you wanted in Rain country," he replied as he put a scroll in her hands.
"Good. Let me see…"
She opened the scroll and immersed herself in its contents, humming occasionally or making disgruntled noises in her throat. In the end, she threw it on the nearby table with a sigh and pinched her nose.
"Bad news?" asked Jiraiya as he came back, a bowl of miso soup in one hand and a plate of onigiri in the other.
"Iie, not really. I may be gone a while, though."
"Are you sure it's wise? Don't forget you're pregnant."
"I'm not. It's just that I will go on this mission as ANBU."
"Then you'll at least have a team with you. That puts my mind at rest."
She shook her head.
"Iie, Jiraiya-kun. It's a solo mission. I'll leave as soon as possible."
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Action once again in the next chappie! I know development between Sakura and Kakashi is really slow, but keep in mind that this Kakashi is just a teen who's known her for barely more than a month. I promise they'll still end up together, though. Now, reviews, please? Do I have to pout and make puppy eyes? And don't forget the poll either. Please tell me if you want Jiraiya to end up with Tsunade or not.