Chapter Two: The Hang of Things

The setting sun bore down upon them, causing the plastic I.D. card to gleam in the warm light. It was early evening, and they walked down the main street of the village side by side. Though it was still a little strange, seeing Kankuro after years of no contact, Sakura had quickly gotten used to his company, and his light and teasing attitude helped ease her discomfort.

At the moment, he was pointing out different places and landmarks, explaining what they were and why she might want/need to go there. After reminding her where the burial grounds were (they'd buried Lady Chiyo there several years prior), he pointed to a small shabby building that looked like little more than a hole in the wall. "That place right there? It's a great place to eat. Tourists stop there all the time." Kankuro turned his head to look at her, stuffing his hands back into his pockets. "Speaking of, wanna grab a bite? You haven't eaten since you got here."

Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but her stomach chose that moment to let out a loud rumble. Blushing in embarrassment, Sakura looked at the ground. "Yeah, I'm starving."

Kankuro jerked his head in the direction of the restaurant. "Free food is good food. Care to join me?"

Sakura gave him a big smile. "I'll say."

" – And then we had to get out of the way before we were crushed," he finished.

Sakura was hunched over the table opposite of the puppet master currently speaking, chewing on her food before commenting, "brutal," with raised eyebrows. She swallowed before finishing her sentence. "So you're not kidding about just how bad Gaara was as a kid."

Kankuro shrugged. "There were plenty of times where Temari and I could have died. I don't know if it was luck or fate that we survived living with Gaara. But you know, it wasn't really his fault. I never once blamed him or held any grudges."

Sakura rose a brow and looked at the brunette across from her skeptically. "You're telling me you never once blamed Gaara?"

Kankuro hesitated a moment, before relenting. "Well, maybe when I was a kid. I didn't know any better; I didn't know what our father and the other village elders had done to him. The bullshit they put him through. All I knew was that my little brother was psychotic."

Despite the grimness of his statement, Sakura couldn't help but chuckle at his use of language. Kankuro smirked a little before taking another bite of his tempura. The two were currently sitting in a booth in one of the most popular restaurants in Suna - A.K.A. the hole in the wall - and the chef there specialized in tempura. Kankuro seemed like he was about to say something else, when suddenly they were interrupted by a presence at the table. A well-tanned girl with wild red hair bounced up to the table and grinned widely at them both. Her ice blue eyes sparkled with life, and though she was rather short, she seemed rambunctious.

"Kankuro-saaaan!" she greeted gleefully, before lunging in and giving the black-clad puppet user a big bear hug right in the midst of his eating. The scene made Sakura chuckle a little; the distress on Kankuro's face was obvious. He turned pink and pried the girl off of him, clearing his throat.

"Akane! Should've known you'd be here," he said with forced nonchalance.

She flashed him a bright grin. "Tempura IS my favorite!" she responded, before turning her attention on Sakura, as if she'd just realized she was there. The girl's eyes widened with wonder and suddenly a large smile creased her lips and she held out a hand. "HI!" she greeted Sakura excitedly. "I'm Akane! Welcome to Suna! What's your name? Where are you from? Why are you visiting us? Do you like the tempura here as much as I do? This restaurant has the best tempura in the west!"

Sakura tried to clear her head, feeling a little overwhelmed by the girl's sudden stream of questions. "I-I'm Sakura, Sakura Haruno," she replied, gathering herself enough to smile and shake Akane's hand. "I'm a medical kunoichi from Konoha – I'm here to train the hospital nurses and doctors here. It looks like I'll be staying with you guys for a while." Sakura's happy expression faltered at the mention of being away from home for so long, but thankfully the boisterous girl didn't seem to notice. Sakura answered her last questions, saying, "I haven't tried the tempura yet; I wanted to try some of their sweets first!"

Akane blinked a few times, as if a little shocked, before her expression rather indignant. Instead of fussing at Sakura, however, the bundle of energy rounded on Kankuro, hands on her hips. "Kankurooo! How could you bring someone here and be someone's tour guide without getting them to try the tempura?"

The puppet master put his hands up defensively, shrugging. "I just let her pick what she wanted! Come on, Akane."

The lively red-head simply shook her head dismissively. Grabbing a chair, she pulled it up to the table and made herself at home. Sakura thought it was kind of rude to just sit at someone else's table, but she also admired the girl's boldness. When a waitress came by, Akane ordered a green tea, then continued with, "And a large platter of shrimp tempura, please! Can you believe that Sakura-san here has NEVER tried it?"

Knock knock knock.

"Mmmphh…" She grabbed her pillow and pulled it over her head.

"Er, pinky? You alive in there?"

Her eyes popped open. She was suddenly ten times more awake now than she was two seconds ago. What time was it? She threw her pillow off and tossed her blankets aside, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and rubbing her eyes. One look at the small alarm clock by her bed told her that it was approximately 7:15 AM.

"C-Coming! One second!" She called to the man waiting outside the door. Hopping out of bed and rummaging through her bag, she threw some clothes on that included a red qipao top with the clan symbol on the back, some black shorts, and ninja sandals. She'd traded in her boots for something a little bit lighter after the war. Pulling on her elbow and knee protectors, she grabbed her head-band, lesson book, and I.D. card before throwing herself out the door. Sakura nearly face-planted Kankuro's chest on the way out.

Embarrassed, the pinkette pulled back and hastily fixed her I.D. card to her shirt. "S-Sorry about that, I was, uh…"

"… Sleeping." Kankuro had his hands stuffed in his pockets, an amused smile on his painted face. A hood covered up his unruly brown hair, and he was dressed in black, as usual.

Unable to tell him he was wrong, Sakura only pouted. "Have you ever thought about introducing a color pallet to your wardrobe?"

"That was a lame comeback," Kankuro snorted. Leaning off the wall, he turned his back on her. "Come on, Pinky. We've only got a few minutes to get breakfast before you need to be at the hospital."

Instead of making any other comments, Sakura focused on tying her headband into her hair, running her fingers through the pink strands. She hadn't had time to use a brush, so this would have to do for now. A fresh wave of embarrassment washed over her; her first day on the job and she'd nearly overslept? Thank Kami for Kankuro, her saving grace. She glanced up at him as they left the Kazekage mansion, and when the sunlight hit his face, she was nearly awed. She'd never really taken the time to look at him… this was probably the most she'd looked at his face when it wasn't medically required.

He was.. well, handsome. But not a devastating kind, like Kakashi-sensei, a dark kind, like Sasuke-kun, or a regal kind, like… Gaara. Wait, why on earth was she thinking about the Suna brothers like this? It wasn't that time of the month yet, was it? That seemed to be the only time Sakura couldn't stop thinking about guys… usually she had more important things to do. Besides, she was waiting. Well… she had been waiting. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to wait any longer or not. After the war, Sasuke and Naruto had their fight, and Sasuke came back to the village, serving his jail time before being reinstated. Her dreams came true - she'd thought. The Uchiha even seemed happy to see her, which had left her breathless. But then… he left. Again. This time it wasn't in abandonment; he'd called it a journey to "repent of his sins." Who the hell knew what that meant?

He'd promised he'd see her again, and at first she was hopeful… But after a while of his absence, she was just angry. He'd finally realized the error of his ways, and he still left. He fucking left. Every time she thought about it, she felt abandoned all over again. She'd waited, and waited, and waited for him – she'd spent her entire life waiting for him, and he knew it. And he was so selfish that he decided to make her wait even longer.

She wasn't going to wait any longer. The stupid ass had his chance and he –

"Woah, you look mad. Are you thinking about something or are you just that hungry?"

Sakura snapped out of her angry reverie to find herself panting and gripping her lesson plans too tightly, Kankuro staring at her with mildly surprised dark eyes. She blushed hotly, embarrassed. "I-I was just… yeah, I'm hungry," she lied sourly, averting her gaze.

"I don't believe you, but okay," Kankuro commented, shrugging. "Let's see… I would take you somewhere nice, but sleeping beauty doesn't have time for anything but a quick stop."

Sakura punched his arm lightly, laughing. "Shut up, okay? I was tired from running all the way here!"

"Wimp."

She punched him again.

"Bye!" Sakura waved to Kankuro as he left the hospital. "Thanks for the coffee!"

"You must be Sakura Haruno!" Sakura turned to see a tanned woman with piercing silver eyes and long, slicked-back black hair. She had mysterious tribal red markings on her face; perhaps a tradition of her family, or perhaps just shinobi paint. The woman was older, perhaps in her late thirties, but she hid her age well. She looked like a twenty year-old. Her heels clicked on the tile floor as she took a few steps towards Sakura, extending a delicate hand with red fingernails, and smiling radiantly. "I'm Setsuko Hoki, one of the doctors here. We're so, so grateful for your help."

Sakura took the woman's hand, shaking it firmly. "You certainly look the part," the pinkette commented, surprised. "If doctors like you work here, why on earth would Suna need my help?"

Setsuko laughed; an elegant, chirping sound. Sakura could tell just by hearing her voice that the woman was musical, probably a singer. "I am good at what I do, but I focus on musical healing and holistic medicine. Acupuncture, musical jutsu, herbal remedies, meditation. I know a bit of medical ninjutsu, but not nearly enough. I'll be in your class along with many other doctors."

"It'll be very nice to have you there," Sakura said, hiding her true emotions. She wasn't going to tell this woman and hurt her feelings, but the pinkette personally thought holistic medicine was invented by quacks and had no place in a hospital or even medical science. She'd read some journals on acupuncture and thought it did absolutely no good. Taking a sip of the coffee Kankuro bought her, the kunoichi looked up at a clock on the wall, frowning. "Well, it's 7:45. I guess we'd better go. Where is the classroom where I'll be teaching?"

"Follow me." Setsuko turned to leave; passing by the receptionist's desk, she clicked down a hallway. The two were silent most of the way, Sakura being deep in thought. She was, frankly, very worried, and it seemed to show on her face because as they walked into an office, Setsuko asked, "What's wrong?"

Sakura pursed her lips. "It's nothing."

The woman smiled, her red painted lips curving upward. "I can tell when people aren't being entirely truthful… are you worried about teaching?"

Sakura sighed. "I spent most of the night trying to come up with a cohesive lesson plan… I just don't know if I'll do a good job. I've been told I'm a good teacher, but…"

"I'm sure you will do fine, Sakura-san. Here." The woman had grabbed a white lab coat from the small rack in the corner of the nice office space. The room was clean, spacious, and smelled like lavender. It was relaxing and reminded her of home; Sakura could feel the tension draining from her muscles. Who knew simply being in a comforting environment could do so much? Maybe Setsuko's take on medicine wasn't quite as crazy as Sakura had initially thought. Taking the coat from her new coworker, the pinkette set her lesson plans down for a moment and donned the garment, immediately feeling a touch better.

"That looks good on you," Setsuko commented with a wry smile.

Sakura blushed. "Erm… thank you. Lead the way."

On the way to the classroom, the two women said very little to one another. Occasionally Setsuko would point out where something was located, but other than that, they didn't speak. It was only when they arrived at the classroom in the radiology wing of the hospital that Setsuko opened the door and allowed Sakura inside first. The tanned woman was a natural leader, it seemed. As soon as she followed the pinkette inside, closing the door behind her, all of the doctors and nurses straightened in their seats. Perhaps Setsuko wasn't the head of the hospital, but it was clear she was well-respected. Sakura would have to put aside her feelings about holistic medicine and get close with this woman.

"This is Sakura Haruno of Konohagakure, everyone," Setsuko introduced her, making a gesture towards the pinkette. "We've been told she was coming, and she and the Leaf have been generous enough to share with us their broad knowledge of medical ninjutsu and modern medicine. So please, don't be disrespectful. I hope I don't need to explain classroom rules to a room full of adults. Let's be courteous and give her our complete attention for as long as she's here."

With that, Setsuko went to the front row and sat down, pulling out a notebook. Likewise, most of the other doctors did the same. "Thank you, Setsuko," Sakura said kindly, giving the room a broad smile as she approached the desk up front. Setting her notebook down on it, she opened it up and glanced down at her hastily-written notes, before looking around the room. Behind her was a black-board, freshly cleaned, and along one side of the room were examination tables. On the other end were cabinets filled with scientific instruments. A skeleton model sat on the counter next to a sink.

Sakura focused on the classroom, seeing all the doctors and nurses attentively listening, and she leaned against the desk. "I'm going to teach you everything I've learned about medical ninjutsu. We'll start with the basics first and go from there. Even if you know what I'm teaching at the moment, pay attention anyways. You might learn something you didn't know before. I also want to thank everyone for arriving early. Punctuality is important to me." She felt a twinge of guilt saying that, and thought of Kankuro, who saved her ass that morning. She silently thanked him before continuing.

"Now, as you all might know, chakra control is the basis of all medical ninjutsu. If you're terrible at chakra control, you will never make an adept medical ninja. That's the sad truth. Now, I'm going to show you – where is the chalk?" She began searching the desk for some, and found a half-empty pack in the bottom drawer. Pulling out a fresh piece, she began drawing on the board.

"I'm a teacher, not an artist," she said as she began depicting a hastily-drawn diagram of the human body. "Now: Because chakra takes time and a great deal of training to gradually build up, the key to its use is not actually having large amounts of chakra but instead being able to sufficiently control and conserve it. It doesn't really matter how much chakra you have, as long as you know how to control it! This is chakra control, and besides its usefulness in medical ninjutsu, it's a very vital technique to have in any situation. In order to have good chakra control, you should only mold as much chakra as you need to perform a given ability. If you mold more chakra than is needed, the excess is wasted and you will tire out faster from its loss. If you don't mold enough chakra, the technique will not be performed effectively, if at all. And as you know, that's a big problem. If you need to work on your chakra control, there are some training methods for improving one's molding and manipulation of chakra. They are the Leaf Concentration, Tree Climbing, and Water Surface Walking exercises. They're usually taught to ninja as genin, so I'm not going to go over them. If you need help with that, see me after class."

After a brief moment of silence, Sakura glanced at her notes once more. "Precise chakra control is absolutely key to medical ninjutsu, and surgery as well. If you use too much, or not enough, you'll possibly do some major damage to your patient. Example: a few years ago, I used medical ninjutsu to extract a heavy metal-based toxin from one of Suna's finest. With chakra control, I manipulated a saline solution into his body, used it to extract traces of the toxin from his cells, and withdrew it, all while the antidote was being prepared. Once we, as a class, fine-tune our chakra control, I'll have us practice medical techniques on some cadavers."

"You did a wonderful job," Setsuko said after class had adjourned. "Starting from the very beginning like that – It's very useful, especially to some of the nurses who are just learning medical ninjutsu for the first time."

Sakura let out a deep breath as she followed the tanned woman back through the halls of the hospital, towards the front. It was lunch time, and Sakura was ravenous. Teaching took a lot out of her. "Thanks, Setsuko," she said, feeling a little relieved. The two reached the front, and there in a lobby chair sat Kankuro. Tilting her head, Sakura approached the shinobi. His head was tipped back, and as she got closer, she noticed he was… asleep.

He looked kinda… well, cute. The pinkette was surprised to find herself thinking this, but, well, there it was. "Tired?" she asked, curiously moving her face close to his, and his dark eyes opened. He snorted lowly.

"You're a little close there, pinky," he mumbled, his voice raspy. "I didn't know you liked me that much."

Sakura could feel heat rising to her cheeks and she immediately backed away. "Don't flatter yourself," she grumbled. "Why are you here? I think I've found my way around by now. Are you going to keep hanging around?"

Kankuro got to his feet, stretching. Sakura only just now realized, being as close as she was, that the puppeteer was a good head taller than her. After giving in to a yawn, he eyed her, amused. "Just think of me as your new best friend."

Sakura grinned up at him. "Is that a contractual obligation or do you just enjoy my company?"

"I guess you'll never know." The brunette winked. "Now, where do you want to eat lunch? My treat."

"Free food again? I could get used to this." Tossing off her lab coat, the pinkette looped her arm in his and they exited the hospital.