Early around 5 in the morning the following day, Sakura and everyone in the house were woken by someone knocking loudly on the door, needless to say the pinkette was not a very happy camper as she leaked killing intent on her way to answer the door.
Something Mangetsu was very surprised at "May I help you Hyuga-san" Sakura literally growled, when she saw that it was a random Hyuga stood outside her house and trying not to fall flat on her face because she was so tired.
"I'm a medic at the hospital, Lady Tsunade saw you volunteering your medical expertise yesterday and wants you to start working there, starting now so she sent me to bring you" the Hyuga informed.
While ignoring the death glare he was receiving "Well it's nice to know that someone at that stupid hospital finally recognized my talent, but I have to decline as I already promised someone else to work elsewhere when the place was ready" Sakura huffed.
Hating to refuse "Unfortunately Tsunade-sama told me to bring you regardless of what your answer was so lets go Haruno-san" the Hyuga sighed, readying himself to physically drag the girl across the village to the hospital.
Verdant orbs narrowed "You so much as touch me I will hit you….neither you or Lady Tsunade has any authority over me, you cannot force me to go, not to mention I only got back home at around 2 in the morning so I'm still exhausted so leave" Sakura grit out.
Slamming the door in the Hyuga's face and storming back to her room in order to get some more sleep "Looks like she's still out" Cee commented as he and Darui appeared in the pinkette's room two hours later.
Darui chuckled under his breath "Though it is nice seeing her sleep without the usual tossing and turning" Darui noted when he didn't see any signs that her sleep was disturbed like it had been for the last week.
Just as they were about to leave, knocking erupted on the door and then Darui heard Mangetsu rushing out of the guest room to answer it "Do not wake her" Mangetsu scowled at the man who had decided to pound on the door.
Fugaku cocked his brow in response "Sakura is still asleep" he asked, ignoring the fact that he didn't know who this man was in his students house and the fact that he'd basically been ordered not to wake the girl.
"Yes…sorry the names Mangetsu, I came back to life and I really just don't want to see her blow up like she did at the other guy at 5 this morning" Mangetsu explained, giving his name as well to the man on Sakura's doorstep.
The brunet frowned "Well it's not like I had anything important to tell Sakura, just let her know I came by and to come to the compound later" Fugaku shrugged, turning on his heel and heading back to his family's compound.
Mangetsu shut the door in confusion and to his relief the next time someone came knocking it was fifteen minutes past 10 and Sakura was awake as she was the one to answer it this time "Kazekage-sama" Sakura greeted calmly.
Rasa nodded in return before swallowing his pride "I take it back, what I said about not acknowledging you as family, my children are fairly displeased with me and they need that connection, will you meet with them in the official capacity as their cousin" Rasa requested.
She froze in response and stared up at him with panic in her eyes "Do they already know" Sakura forced herself to ask, dreading the answer until the Kazekage shook his head, she was about to refuse but realized that her heart wasn't into it.
"You'll do it then" Rasa asked, sensing that she was going to give in and she nodded her head "I'll bring them by for dinner" Rasa announced, vanishing in a swirl of sand a moment after leaving Sakura to make breakfast for herself and Mangetsu.
Before she could head off once she was finished eating Mangetsu stopped her "An Uchiha came by earlier, didn't leave his name just said for you to come to some compound later on" Mangetsu relayed what he'd been told.
"Thanks Mangetsu, anyway I'm going to go visit my idiot friends, teammate and sister" Sakura waved, disappearing out the door of her house and making a beeline to the hospital, well she did make a small pit-stop at Yamanaka Florists to get flowers.
And the first person she visited was Naruto, he wasn't alone Jiraiya and Minato were in his hospital room visiting as well "Hi Sakura-chan" Naruto greeted with a wide smile when she entered his hospital room.
Emerald orbs softened "Knucklehead…how are you feeling Naruto" Sakura smiled kindly back as she came forward and set up a single vase that she put a yellow hydrangea into then filled with a bit of water so it didn't wilt to quickly.
Naruto tilted his head to the side in confusion "Just fine, Granny Tsunade said I should be out of here in a couple more days and you don't have to say it, I know I was reckless, kami knows I've already been scolded enough so you don't have to do it" Naruto rambled.
Jiraiya rolled his eyes "Gaki if Tsunade hears you call her granny she's gonna flatten you" Jiraiya reminded, not really wanting his teammate back in there to try and squish his godson into a pancake with her fist.
"I'm just glad it's not Sakura-chan trying to flatten me, I mean did you even see what happened to the ground during her and Sasuke's match" Naruto shivered, rubbing his arms as the moment flashed into mind and the crater that had formed after Sakura had tried to punch Sasuke.
His Father as had been explained to him lifted a pale brow "Come to think of it you did break out of that rather easily" Minato mused aloud as he remembered the situation he'd happened upon and how easy Sakura had freed herself from her wooden bindings.
Sakura smiled "Well I'm going to go see Sasuke now, rest well Naruto" Sakura informed, deciding to move on before Tsunade caught on that she was in the hospital, she really didn't want to work any for awhile at least.
A few feet later after exiting Naruto's room, she knocked on the door leading into Sasuke's hospital room "Here to bash me over the head I suspect" Sasuke grunted, clearly in some kind of foul mood.
Thankfully Sakura shook her head "No, while I was mad that you got reckless it's not my responsibility to scold you, I'm just a friend checking up on another friend today" Sakura stated simply as she set up a vase and placed a white peony in it.
"That's better than having my skull smashed by your fist I suppose" Sasuke said, foul mood dissipating as Sakura stayed to chat for a few minutes then left once she was ascertained that he would be alright.
With more flowers in hand her next stop was Haku who avoided her gaze the minute she entered his room "Just tell me now Sakura, that you don't want me on your team anymore for letting them endanger themselves like that" Haku pleaded.
Guilt eating him alive, Sakura placed her sack down carefully then sat on the edge of his bed "Haku it's not your fault, those brainless dummies should have had more sense but I don't blame you for their lack of common sense" Sakura assured.
Reaching out to hug the fifteen year old "Your..your right and I did tell Naruto and Sasuke repeatedly that chasing after Gaara was a bad idea, repeatedly" Haku relaxed into the hug as all the tension and fear drained out of him.
Leaving him exhausted because he'd been worrying about that since yesterday when Sakura didn't come to visit him then "All I ask is that you not think poorly of Gaara or Temari and Kankuro, they've had a rough life not to mention their my fifth cousins" Sakura admitted.
Haku pulled away from her at that, searching her face for anything that might tell him that she was trying to prank him but he found nothing "For how long have you known" Haku inquired, getting the feeling Sakura had only mentioned it because she needed someone to talk to.
And Karin was currently still unconscious as far as he was aware "Three weeks, Mifune-dono has a Haruno Family registry and Kazekage-sama was on it, he wants me to meet them in an official family capacity tonight for dinner" Sakura grimaced.
"Roll with it then and enjoy being surrounded by more family" Haku suggested, knowing that out of everyone Sakura deserved to know she had more family out there and that she deserved to get to know them as well.
Sakura blew out a breath "Thanks Haku, I feel better about the whole thing, to bad Karin won't be able to join me, anyway I'm going to go see Nawaki now" Sakura smiled, leaving behind a purple pansy for the effeminate boy.
Earning a chuckle as she left his room "Shizune-san was upset, something about you refusing to work at the hospital, sorry I just don't understand why she's trying to dictate your life like that" Nawaki apologized.
Once she was sat in a chair at his bedside "Could have guessed that, figures it was Shizune-san who'd sent someone to recruit me at 5 in the morning when I'd only been sleeping for three hours, I was not the kindest I could be" Sakura snorted.
A little peeved but not about to kick up a fuss "Yeah I don't doubt that I overheard Big Sis laughing, apparently the medic that got sent refused point blank when Shizune-san told him to go back and he said that he was never knocking on your door again" Nawaki informed.
Making Sakura laugh a bit "I didn't mean to terrify him, I was just extremely cranky and tired from healing patients until 2 a.m." Sakura sniffed lightly if she saw the man though she would apologize to him for being so rude.
Nawaki shook his head and chuckled "Go on I know you haven't seen Karin-chan yet considering the bunch of flowers in your hand" Nawaki waved his hand shooing the pinkette off, before leaving Sakura left him a yellow daisy in a thin vase.
Two minutes later Sakura had reached her final destination "Onee-chan" Karin was awake unlike the last time she'd seen the redhead at 1 a.m. because she hadn't been able to leave the hospital without at least checking on her adopted sister.
"Little Sis" Sakura responded with a giggle, drawing a smile onto Karin's lips as the Uzumaki realized she wasn't mad at her "You don't hurt to much do you" Sakura inquired, seeing the new bite mark on the girls flesh.
Even if it had been Karin's choice "No I'm pretty much okay for the most part, they do sting a bit I guess but try not to be to upset Sakura, if I hadn't used it Nawaki wouldn't be able to walk because there was no time to heal him the other way" Karin rushed out.
Very aware that Sakura was angry "Only because you asked and I'm glad that it was your choice Karin-chan" Sakura sighed, letting all the anger drain out of her as she set up the last vase, which was quite a bit bigger than the other four.
And placed the bouquet of purple, white and pink flowers consisting of hydrangea's, pansies, daisies and peonies into it, Karin oohed and awed over it for a minute then felt Sakura staring at her "Is there anything else" Karin frowned.
Having this feeling that whatever Sakura was about to say was big "Actually there is….uh while gone training I found out I have more relatives, turns out Gaara, Kankuro and Temari are my fifth cousins and Kazekage-sama is my fourth cousin on the Haruno Family Tree" Sakura explained.
Karin recoiled at that "No offense but I'm happy with Mifune-dono, I don't hate them or anything I'm just not to keen on getting to know them at the moment after what happened" Karin grimaced but found it difficult to feel bad about her decision.
"I understand, just let me know if you ever change your mind and I'll explain the situation, anyway Fugaku-sensei wanted me to come by the compound so I'll leave you to get some more rest" Sakura smiled.
Waving then exiting the room followed by the hospital "Hold up there Sakura, where are you off to in such a hurry" Minato caught her as she was about to leap up onto the roof of the house closest to the hospital.
Interrupted Sakura did a little hop and landed neatly on her feet before turning "My sensei he wanted to see me Lord Fourth" Sakura stated simply after giving a little bow as she'd heard it, he'd refused to take back his former position as Hokage.
As if the thought had willed him from the Compound, Fugaku came striding down the street towards her and the 4th Hokage, she turned fully when he stopped right in front of her "Well rested I take" Fugaku inquired.
Jade orbs literally sparkled at him "Of course and I was just on my way….." Sakura nodded, but he held up a hand so she tilted her head up at him in confusion "Did something else happen that I wasn't aware of" Sakura asked after a moment.
Mind jumping to horrible conclusions "No…well yes, I'm afraid the clinic took a bit of damage from a stray jutsu, but regarding those books I've moved them to an even more secure location than before" Fugaku informed.
Chuckling inwardly at Minato's curious expression "Guess we'll be waiting even longer then and thanks I already lost the copies I don't need to lose the originals as well" Sakura sighed softly, feeling a bit bummed.
On the other hand she was also glad of her decision to leave those books in Fugaku's care "Quite, they are extremely valuable after all, is there something on your mind Minato" Fugaku smirked then met the other man's gaze.
"You know I could have sworn that you said that you would never take on genin as they were to much work given you didn't have time to really spare on them" Minato pointed out, reminding the Uchiha Patriarch of what he'd said once upon a time.
Fugaku's smirk widened "Correct I did say that but with my heir now at the age of 18 I have begun transferring some of my duties over to him so that he can learn to take over the clan when it's time with his betrothed….not Sakura, Minato" Fugaku explained.
Tempted to roll his eyes when Minato grimaced at the last bit before he elaborated "Are you planning on marrying her to Sasuke-kun then" Minato asked, knowing that Fugaku was the kind who plotted such things.
Sakura blanched visibly in response and looked at Fugaku again "Fear not I have no intention of forcing your hand like that Sakura, now run along to home" the Uchiha Patriarch assured instantly, speaking the truth.
She sighed in relief "Good I'm not saying that any girl wouldn't be lucky to have him as he is now but Sasuke's not my type, not to mention I'm not ready for any kind of romance when there's still so much I have to do in order to accomplish my dream" Sakura smiled widely.
Then disappeared in a whirl of pink petals "Tell the truth Fugaku, I know the kind of person you are, you plot and scheme, your already in the midst of negotiating with her parents aren't you" Minato wasn't fully convinced.
"Unfortunately Sakura has no parents to negotiate such a thing with not that I would ever force my youngest upon her like that so it was the truth but I won't deny that I am that kind of person, I simply learned not to attempt to manipulate her or my other kunoichi" Fugaku snorted.
Knowing exactly how the two would react, it would be a violent explosion and they'd never trust him again after everything he'd done to acquire their trust "What happened to them, her parents" Minato questioned.
Hurrying forward when Fugaku started walking away "A bandit killed them during a trip and we lost Sakura for over seven years due to amnesia, that's also part of the problem Sakura is extremely cautious and she doesn't trust people easily due to that" Fugaku sighed.
Realizing that he wasn't going to be able to escape "But she trusted you just fine, trusted Ay as well and Mifune, even the Kazekage had some of her trust" Minato pointed out, a little confused, Fugaku was just as vexing as he remembered.
"Didn't start out that way, Lord Raikage admitted to me that it took Sakura over three months to trust him and those in Hidden Cloud when he found her and my other kunoichi at age 8 and took them in to his village" Fugaku shook his head.
"And I know for a fact that she didn't trust me in the least considering Sasuke gave her the wrong impression of me at first, I didn't technically become their official sensei until almost two months ago when she'd been here for about the same amount of time" Fugaku continued.
Minato tilted his head indicating he was listening "As for Mifune, Sakura is his great grand niece but make no mistake she's still wary and honestly I have no clue about the Kazekage" Fugaku frowned also remembering the Mist Nin in Sakura's house.
Prompting the blonde at his side to sigh, before heading back in the direction they'd come from as he disappeared into his clan compound, meanwhile Sakura had returned home "Hey Kitten if your Hokage died what am I gonna do about that trial period he promised" Mangetsu asked.
Watching her tidy up, a duty that she'd neglected somewhat since her return "Uh well I don't know, maybe once a new Hokage is inaugurated you could go speak to them, inform them of what you were promised and work out a better deal probably even" Sakura shrugged.
Basically just saying something that literally had only come to mind in order to get him to stop pestering her "Guess that'll have to do so do you know when a new Hokage is going to take the office" Mangetsu prodded.
Sakura was tempted to throw the boom in her hand at him "No Mangetsu-san, Lord Thirds funeral isn't until tomorrow and the council is still in the process of choosing candidates to vote on" Sakura informed.
Hoping that was the end of his incessant questions, thankfully Mangetsu did silence himself allowing her to clean her house undisturbed for a time "You know I think I'm going to go out and find a job" Mangetsu finally stood.
Tired of sitting around doing nothing but watching Sakura because that's literally all he'd been doing since his return to life "Take a clone, just in case" Sakura called after him, hastily making a shadow clone to follow him around and keep people from attacking him.
Alone now Sakura set to work with a handful of clones on hand to help her until the house was nice and sparkly clean just the way she liked it, even her garden was weeded properly despite someone attempting to weed it and take care of the herbs, vegetables and flowers in it.
"There all that's left now is to come up with tonight's dinner while snacking on something to tide me over…hmm jerky will do" Sakura mused aloud thinking up something that was easy to munch on that she enjoyed quite a bit.
While looking in her cabinets at the ingredients she had before eventually figuring out what to make and got started on prepping by wrapping ten potatoes in foil and putting them in the oven so that they could be cooked.
Next she put a pot on the stove along with all the ingredients got started on making the sauce for the dish that she was making "HI Sakura-chan" Shisui yelled right in her ear a moment later, and Sakura jumped a foot in the air.
Heart pounding painfully in her chest Sakura stopped herself from knee-jerk punching the idiot for sneaking up on her like that "Be more careful Shisui-san I could have hit you" Sakura grumbled, glad that she hadn't been holding onto the pot full of hot liquid.
Shisui flushed in embarrassment and shot her a sheepish smile in response "Sorry it's just been so long since I've seen you and considering that your alone right now I thought you might like some company" Shisui stated nonchalantly.
As he casually took a seat at the kitchen table "I'd prefer silence to be honest but as long as you don't ask me a whole bunch of questions and let me work in peace I suppose I can accept your company for a bit" Sakura answered.
Turning back to her project on the stove to find that it was just starting to boil and quickly began stirring it again only to feel the clumpy mass the liquid had become so had to restart the process of making the sauce with a sigh.
"May I at least ask what your cooking up for yourself Sakura-chan" Shisui inquired, getting curious when Sakura pulled what looked like several balls of foil from the oven only to carefully unwrap each one and take the unveiled steaming hot potatoes over to the sink.
For a few minutes he got no answer as Sakura ran the potatoes under some cool water and tore the skin off of them "Gnocchi, or potato noodles if you want their simpler name" Sakura informed, beginning to grate her skinned potatoes.
"Ooh mind if I have some, Aunt Mikoto to" Shisui requested, looking intrigued by the concept of potato noodles, not something the Uchiha Matriarch had ever cooked, unfortunately Sakura wasn't in the mood to share apparently.
Because she shook her head "Not this time Shisui-san, perhaps if I have a little left after my company during dinner leaves I could give it to you and Mrs. Uchiha" Sakura admitted, inwardly amused at how expressive Shisui was sometimes.
His face lit up like a little kids "So who's eating dinner with you, not Karin-chan or Haku-chan, can't be Nawaki or those two Karui and Omoi, I know for a fact everyone from Cloud is helping with the cleanup but those Samurai already left so I don't know anyone else" Shisui said.
Listing the limited amount of people Sakura allowed close "Kazekage-sama and his children…..I learned while in Iron training that I'm their fourth and fifth cousin respectively and he wants me to meet them in the family capacity" Sakura explained simply.
Preparing the rest of the ingredients to start making the dough for her potato noodles "That's dangerous Sakura-chan, you know what they almost did right, especially Gaara, he tried to kill them all" Shisui frowned.
The girl paused and turned to face him slowly "I'm well aware Shisui-san but I can't push my family away when all I thought I had was Mifune-dono" Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and Shisui realized she was one second away from snapping at him.
"Just be careful then Sakura-chan, I know your the type to think things through rationally so I don't have to worry much but still I can't help it, I worry regardless" Shisui sighed, knowing he couldn't change her mind.
Or force his will on her like that, her features lightened up at that and she resumed what she was doing a minute ago, then cut off a piece of the dough once it was ready only to roll it out "About the only downside of making Gnocchi is the long prep time" Sakura blew out a breath.
Cutting the rolled out dough into little squares, eventually around 2 p.m. Shisui left right as she was to begin cooking the gnocchi and even that was a process so Sakura didn't finish cooking dinner until a little after 4 because she made a couple side dishes to.
She also got done right on time to for the moment she had set the tray with steak, homemade barbecue sauce on the already overcrowded oven knocking erupted on her front door "Father what are we doing at Haruno's place" Kankuro scowled.
When the door opened to reveal the pinkette, Rasa resisted the urge to scuff him over the back of the head "I told you we were having dinner with someone special…..Sakura do you want to do the honors of telling them" Rasa repeated for the third time.
Before directing a look onto the girl "Well no easier way to say this but I'm your cousin hehe surprise, fifth cousin to be exact, so why don't you all come in and take off your shoes, dinners ready" Sakura announced.
Quirking a fuschia brow at Kankuro's choked spluttering "How long have you known we were family" Temari demanded, once they were stood in the foyer, and she'd removed her sandals from her feet.
Green orbs locked with her teal ones "As of today I've known for three weeks" Sakura declared, waving her hand for them to follow her down the short hall, through a living room and into the kitchen where delicious smells were wafting from.
"Do you not hate me, I nearly killed all of your friends" Gaara rumbled in his gravely tone, confused as to why she was letting him in her vicinity even as she gestured for them to take a seat while she made up the plates.
Before she could answer "And why the hell didn't you reach out to us sooner, we would have liked to know we had family here and maybe we wouldn't have even tried to do what we did" Kankuro grumbled.
Irritated that he was just finding out he had more family "No Gaara I don't hate you and like I just said Kankuro I've only known for three weeks" Sakura assured, sensing that Gaara was the one who needed this more than the others as she repeated what she'd told Temari.
Kankuro flushed then stared in awe at the plate she put down in front of him "Okay but what I don't understand is why your parents didn't tell you sooner" Temari chimed in, and as if realizing "Say where are your parents" Temari questioned.
"Dead and buried in the ground….another relative that I only learned about a couple months ago had a Family Registry and I got to take a look at it" Sakura answered calmly, then sliced neatly into her steak.
Prompting the others to do the same "Why did it take you so long to find out this other person was your relative then" Gaara asked next, nonexistent brows furrowed in confusion but at least he was in control of himself thanks to Jiraiya the Toad Sage who fixed his seal.
Sakura blew out a breath "Because for seven years I had amnesia, I couldn't remember so I ended up living outside of Konoha for that time, three years which were spent in Hayashi no Kuni and four which were spent in Kaminari no Kuni, learning to be a Kumo-nin" Sakura admitted.
"So if you were in Cloud, how'd you end up back here in Leaf" Rasa frowned lightly, and waited patiently as Sakura chewed her latest bite and swallowed followed by a sip of her green tea that went well with the food.
Then she took a deep breath "My best friend before I went missing saw me on a mission, recognized me instantly because of my hair and then a stupid Kusa-nin came and tried to blow all of us up with an exploding tag and I subsequently remembered everything" Sakura said.
Holding up her hand because she wasn't finished "Well my sensei at the time asked that we be allowed to go back to Cloud and about two weeks later I became a dual citizen of Cloud and Leaf so transferred here for three years with Karin" the pinkette finished.
Rasa narrowed his eyes at that but decided not to ask for the sake of keeping the peace, he just wanted to enjoy dinner though he did have something to say "How amenable would you be to living a few months out of the three years you have here in Leaf, in Sand" Rasa asked.
And Sakura froze looking up at him with wide eyes "To be honest after the hell I've been through since I got back to Leaf that sounds nice but I can't decide that on my own not to mention I have Karin to think about as well, we're like adopted sisters in a way thanks to Raikage-sama" Sakura stated.
"The Uzumaki girl, I could have sworn she was Naruto's sister considering they both have the same last name" Temari chimed in, while simultaneously enjoying the meal and she wondered who'd taught Sakura how to cook.
Sakura shook her head "Nope, they are from the same clan though" Sakura smiled, kind of glad that Naruto's dad was back, now she didn't have to worry about figuring out something to make him happy surrounded by people who cared about him.
It shouldn't be her responsibility anyway, she was just to nice sometimes "I just realized, your hair is longer than it should be" Kankuro pointed out suddenly, remembering her whacking a few inches off.
"Made a hair tonic that encourages hair follicles to grow with herbs from the Land of Iron and well it worked a bit to well, I'm still deciding on whether or not if I just want to cut it all off really" Sakura grinned.
Eyes literally sparkling "You made" Gaara perked up somewhat with interest in his pupil-less green eyes and Sakura nodded eagerly "Is that the only thing or is there other things as well" Gaara questioned.
Figuring that maybe this whole having more family business wasn't going to be such a bad thing after all "Psshhh course not, I make medical kits, clothes, stuffed animals, hand carved wooden statues, and I wrote a book to" Sakura announced.
Quite proud of herself for her stock of goods "A book about what, how to take care of long hair" Kankuro snorted lightly in amusement, Sakura rolled her eyes good-naturedly knowing that he was just teasing mostly.
"Remedies, medicinal remedies to be precise, I'm not the only one though that makes things, Karin and I run a trading company that's called the Fragrant Blossom, Haku's one of our partners" Sakura elaborated further.
Teal eyes grew wide "Whoa, whoa, whoa you run a business, how are you making everything and I bet it's not all that successful" Temari reeled back, wondering at the oddity that was Sakura, she was more different than she expected.
Sakura smiled "I mostly use shadow clones, Karin and Haku to, but trust me Temari, Fragrant Blossom is a quite lucrative business, we've traded with several merchants in and out of the village" Sakura explained.
Knowing that what she'd said was a shock, its how most people reacted "Perhaps that could your reasoning for transferring to Sunagakure and of course your teammates could come with you" Rasa offered, seeing a chance to bring profit back to Hidden Sand.
At the idea Sakura became thoughtful "Something to think on more once a new Hokage is in position" Sakura decided after several minutes, then polished off her food, thankfully the Kazekage understood as she stood and washed her dishes.
Prompting Temari and Gaara to do the same, followed by Kankuro a little bit reluctantly and Rasa who figured it wouldn't hurt to do something for himself "Can we sit and chat some more" Gaara requested.
Already taking a seat on the comfortable couch in Sakura's living room "Sure have fun you four" Rasa relented, intending on leaving now that his children were acquainted with their cousin and in a whirl of sand was gone.
Leaving them to sit and talk until much later in the evening when Mangetsu returned around 9, they were still there "Left you some dinner if your hungry" Sakura greeted, upon noticing that the man was back after hours of being gone.
Mangetsu grunted tiredly but turned into the kitchen to eat "Who the heck is that guy" Kankuro questioned, much more comfortable now that Sakura was turning out to be a decent person and that he knew her a little better now as well.
"That's Mangetsu, he uh came back to life like Nawaki and the 4th Hokage did, and he decided to become a Leaf Shinobi" Sakura answered, snickering under her breath when Mangetsu groaned loudly from the kitchen.
Even Temari seemed a bit amused "Well thanks for allowing us to stay cousin" Temari stood, followed by her brothers, Sakura showed them to the door and waved until they vanished from sight before shutting and locking the door.
After asking Mangetsu to turn the lights off in the kitchen and living room when he was done eating she told him that she was going to bed early and that's what she did after taking a quick shower, and at around 9:30 she was crawling into her bed to get some sleep.
Only to be woken early again the next morning by Haku and Karin announcing that they were home and that she needed to get changed for the 3rd Hokage's funeral "Also I was asked to give you this from the council" Haku handed a missive to Mangetsu.
Because one of the village elders had stopped by the hospital, given the message to Tsunade who gave it to him to give to Mangetsu "Cool, looks like I'm still on that month trial based period so I don't have to wait for a new Hokage" Mangetsu read aloud.
Just then Karin gasped "What the hell is that on your shoulder" Karin shrieked, seeing Sakura's tattoo for the first time and already knowing what it stood for "You really learned black lightning like Darui-san" Karin asked much calmer a moment later.
When Sakura winced "Only took me like the entire month to learn, Gale Style to" Sakura admitted, straightening out her funerary wear, though the tattoo was still visible as it poked out a little from beneath the sleeve, she didn't care in the least.
It was a testament of her hard work over the course of a month and she was kind of proud to show it off "So how did dinner go with those four" Haku prodded once they'd left the house, and began walking in the direction of the cemetery.
"Better than I expected it to actually….but Lord Kazekage wants me to go to Suna for a couple of months and he extended the offer to the both of you" Sakura explained, adding the rest carefully while watching Karin's expression.
Who'd already told her, her feelings on the matter "Weird, why'd he extend the offer to us as well, I'm not sure I really want to spend anytime in Hidden Sand, it's a desert, though I guess since I'm your teammate I should go along to" Haku frowned.
Rationalizing for a moment before coming to a decision "I told him about our business so I can pretty much tell what he's thinking, we'd bring profit to his village if we went and traded our goods and then did the same for whatever goods they have" Sakura rolled her eyes.
To perceptive for her own good really "In that case I don't mind going" Karin shrugged, really wanting to just get away from Leaf for awhile, even if it was only a few months, it was still better than the nightmare they'd been going through recently.
Sakura let out a sigh of relief "First lets get through Lord Thirds funeral" Sakura grabbed her teammates by the hands and ushered them faster down the streets to reach the cemetery in time where many others had already gathered.
The eulogy of the Third Hokage was long and drawn out, before the funeral conductor asked them to come up and place a flower on their passed leaders casket and Sakura found it in herself to shed a few tears for the wizened old man.
Because she wasn't entirely heartless after all "Brat…go change out of that and meet us at the gates, you as well" Ay ordered as he caught up with the kunoichi but he didn't want those brats to see him and the rest of them off in their funerary attire.
"Huh oh right guess your leaving now to" Sakura dried her eyes quickly, Ay said nothing about her action merely nudged her off and after grabbing Karin's hand exploded into a flurry of pink cherry blossoms.
Earning a chuckle, by the time he reached the gates fifteen minutes later, Sakura and Karin were waiting for him with the others "So I guess we're going back to writing letters to one another" Karui sighed.
Already hating this separation from her best friends "I wish we were going back with you to be honest….everything was much simpler back in Kumo" Karin admitted, but no they still had a couple years and about five months to go.
Which meant that she had to suck it up really "We miss you to Karin-chan, Sakura-chan, Yugito as well" Atsui chimed in, giving the two jaded girls a light hug and fond pats on the head each no matter if they weren't little eight year old's anymore, he still cared about them.
Samui hid a smile "Take care of yourselves alright Sakura, Karin, and if you can at some point, make a visit, you are ambassadors to Hidden Cloud after all" Samui pointed out suddenly, realizing that a visit would have to be made so that Team Thirteen could fulfill their roles.
Illustrious leader smirking broadly at the mention of their titles "Samui's right brats, ambassadors have many duties, including making sure things are running smoothly between our two countries" Ay informed.
Their countenance's brightened with excitement "Leave it to us then" Haku bowed, also a little sad that the Kumo-nin were leaving when they hadn't gotten to spend much time with Karui or Omoi due to preparing for the exams.
"One last thing stay out of trouble would you, I want to be stress free for the next month" Cee grumbled at the trio good-naturedly, Sakura stuck her tongue out at his teasing jab and was about to respond with sarcasm.
When Haku entwined his fingers with hers distracting the pinkette from speaking, Darui lifted an ivory brow at this but didn't comment on it instead he lifted a hand "See ya Kids" Darui waved, seeing that Ay was all signed out.
And just like that the party of seven were gone down the path and hours later after being practically lazy for the whole day, Sakura curled up beneath her blankets and went to sleep for the night unsure of what the future would bring her.