AN: Note that I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or any of the characters from either Anime. This work is a fanfiction written out of my love for the series and not in any attempt to make a profit.
Proofread by: Author
Oh boy. I said the last chapter would be the last one, but guess what? I realized I forgot to resolve the issue concerning Sakura's promotion, and the last chapter just didn't feel like a proper end. This chapter on the other hand turned out pretty great in my opinion, despite actually being written after the first chapter of the sequel. Oh well, you'll get to it after this chapter I imagine.
Chapter 127: The Farewell
Sakura tried her best not to think about the "care package" her mother had left her lying at the bottom of her backpack, safely stored in a sealing scroll, away from prying eyes. Heikō hadn't made it easy, teasingly reminding Sakura whenever she could to get a reaction out of her while making a small effort to try and convince Sakura that she should just get over it. The topic didn't bother their mother, or even Heikō herself, why should the topic of sex bother her?
Still, adamantly, Sakura refused to think of the subject or try to argue with Heikō on the point, afraid that if she gave Heikō an argument, she'd end up on the losing side in the end, something she'd rather avoid until she felt ready and collected to face the topic head-on.
Fortunately, Sakura, after having finished packing, finally found a decent distraction, as another Genin showed up on the doorstep to their home, delivering a missive from Tsunade that Sakura had been summoned, and that it was rather urgent.
Glad for the distraction, and the opportunity to get away from her mother for a bit, Sakura gladly headed out, shouting over her shoulder that she had been summoned and would be gone for a bit to see what Tsunade wanted.
It was the day before their planned departure, and as Sakura closed the door behind her, she took the roofs and was about to rush to the Hokage tower, only to see the setting evening sun cast its dying light over Konohagakure. It hit her that this would be the last time she'd see such a sight for a long time, which made her pause and take in the scene, remaining rooted to the spot until the sun disappeared behind the horizon, plunging Konohagakure into darkness.
With a sigh, Sakura snapped out of her trance, and dashed over the rooftops, using the body flicker technique when she saw an opportunity to do so without any obvious risks. While they had figured the technique out using a shadow clone, they had yet to fully master it, so using it whenever they could, was what they ended up doing to master it as quickly as possible.
In no time at all, they landed on the roof of the Hokage tower and tensed as they felt the few ANBU surrounding the tower stir, only to relax as they deemed her a non-threat. Heikō and Sakura both chastised themselves for forgetting about the still rather jumpy ANBU. After all, even the ANBU that used to trail them had stopped doing so, suggesting their manpower was low or their numbers thinned out after the Konoha Crush as everyone seemed to call it, so body flickering into their range without warning wasn't one of their brightest ideas.
Finding herself free to act after being recognized, Sakura made an effort to relax, before jumping down in front of the building and entered the front, nodding to the receptionist on call who nodded back. "Tsunade is expecting you." He informed her, and Sakura acknowledged him with another nod as she headed towards the stairs leading up to the Hokage's office.
Stepping inside of Tsunade's office, Sakura saw that the Hokage wasn't alone, both Shizune and oddly enough, Iruka were present as well, both of them seemingly helping out with the paperwork. "You took longer than I expected. Not catching any bad habits from your Sensei I hope?" Tsunade joked as Sakura entered, before chuckling slightly as Sakura shook her head in response.
"Just took the time to watch the sunset. I won't be seeing it set in Konoha for a while after all." Sakura explained, and Tsunade nodded in understanding.
"Understandable. Although, before leaving, I thought you'd like to know what will happen concerning your consideration for a promotion." Tsunade told Sakura, before smiling and taking out a scroll, holding it out for Sakura.
Anticipating the answer to be positive, based on Tsunade's behavior, Sakura took the scroll, trying to contain her giddiness before unfurling it and looking over the document that declared her a Chūnin.
"Congratulations, Sakura Haruno. From today onward, you're a proud Chūnin of Konohagakure, we look forward to seeing you continue to excel in the future." Tsunade told her, sounding all political, before chuckling mischievously, prompting Sakura to stop looking at the document and lower it in favor of looking at Tsunade questioningly.
"Apologies, I just find it entertaining to imagine the faces of the Clan council once I tell them I gave you a field promotion," Tsunade informed her, making Iruka and Shizune stop their work and stare at the Hokage in surprise, alongside Sakura.
"Wait, this is a field promotion?" Sakura asked, confused, before looking over the document and confirming that she had indeed been handed a document for retroactively acknowledging her as a Chūnin.
"Indeed. The old farts were dragging their feet with the talks about who we should promote. Since we, however briefly, were technically at war, I decided a field promotion wasn't out of the question. Danzo had been hoping to prevent you from being promoted on the grounds of not benign in the village for the official ceremony, which we can't hold until we've reached a decision concerning all of the contestants. I won't bore you with all the details, but he's been pissing me off, and I didn't want you to worry about something stupid like this." Tsunade explained, and Sakura felt touched at Tsunade's concern for her, even if her field promotion could come into question upon her return, although they doubted it would.
"Thank you," Sakura responded, bowing as she couldn't think of anything else to say.
"You're welcome. You brats shouldn't have to worry about politics at such a young age, now scram and make sure to be ready for tomorrow. I want you out of the village for when this all blows up at tomorrow's meeting." Tsunade told Sakura with an amused smile, which Sakura couldn't help but mimic. They'd have to make sure to warn their dad about it.
Intending to return home, Heikō suggested they take the scenic route this time to see the village one last time, and maybe say goodbye to some of their friends while doing so. Agreeing, Sakura did just that, only to find that no matter where they went, finding Ino, Karin or Sasuke was practically impossible, as neither of them was home or anywhere Sakura and Heikō could think to look for them. Resigned to having to resort to hopefully seeing them the next day, or having to settle for leaving them a note or message, Sakura decided to look for Naruto instead, who proved predictable as ever, as he had decided for his last dinner in Konohagakure for a while to be at his favorite Ramen stand.
Sitting down next to Naruto, Sakura wasn't able to help a smile from forming on her face at the sight of Naruto enjoying himself, despite his disgusting eating habits. It was rather unbelievable just how much Ramen he could eat in a single sitting.
"Sakura!" Naruto greeted them happily after finishing his mouthful of noodles, which at least proved there had been some improvement to his eating habits at some point. "Are you here to eat ramen as well?" He asked them, and Sakura took a moment to consider it together with Heikō, only to shake their head.
"No, I was planning on sharing one last meal at home with my parents," Sakura explained, regretting telling him as a sad look crossed his face for the briefest of moments at the mention of her parents.
They knew Naruto was an Orphan, and that he didn't know who his parents had been. Taking another look at the bowls stacked up high on the counter, she counted five of them, which by their estimation was about halfway to naruto's limit, which spurred their next action.
"Would you like to join us?" Sakura offered, certain their parents wouldn't mind. They had accepted Naruto long ago, and rather quickly for how much discrimination Naruto suffered through. She felt lucky that her parents had overcome their hate for the Nine-tailed fox, or rather the idea that Naruto, as its Jinchuriki was the one they should direct their hate at.
Naruto was clearly surprised at her offer and took a moment to respond, before sheepishly shaking his head as he declined. "I'd love to. That sounds great, but I uh… I kind of already made my order here, and I'm also waiting for Gramps, he wanted to meet with me before we set off tomorrow." Naruto admitted. Sakura nodded in understanding and smiled at him.
"Maybe when we get back then." She offered, before standing up, intending to get back home to the mentioned dinner.
"Y-yeah, believe it!" Naruto shouted after them, making Sakura chuckle slightly at Naruto's excitement.
Sakura couldn't help but scowl slightly as while on their way back home, Heikō decided to take control, claiming she had the right for some preparations of her own, which confused Sakura until they entered a bookstore, and Heikō's gaze landed on a certain series of books known as Icha Icha, which immediately started a mental argument between the two of them, as Sakura didn't want to be caught dead in public with any of the books. Heikō's reveal that they were just going to buy one volume, as she already owned the rest, did not help in Sakura's opinion, but in the end, she lost and was convinced to let Heikō buy it under a Transformation Technique.
Even so, Sakura was unable to tell where the rest of Heikō's books were hidden in the end, as she didn't hide their new purchase or let Sakura know where she hid the rest until they went to bed. Undoubtedly intending to add the book to her collection while Sakura was asleep. Something Sakura couldn't be bothered with trying to prevent, as she had already given in and let Heikō buy the book in the first place. She decided that as long as she wasn't forced to read any of them herself or have to hear Heikō talk about them, she didn't care anymore.
The rest of the day before heading to bed was spent meditating, trying to find the next tenketsu for them to unlock, something that after their previous success, now suddenly seemed almost impossible, but Gai had warned them, so their only option was to keep trying.
Eventually, to get up early, they went to sleep, summoning the Gochi twins before doing so, as they had decided that sleeping together was a great bonding experience in itself, showing trust and letting them find comfort in each other.
Waking up early the next day, Sakura and Heikō went through a decent warmup and did some light morning training with the Gochi twins, knowing they likely wouldn't get the chance to really work out during the day besides walking or running with Naruto and Jiraiya. After breakfast, they let the Gochi twins return to the Kōdaina Meadows meadows and got dressed, putting out their new outfit with the mesh underneath it then set out to meet Jiraya and Naruto at the gates.
Sakura and Heikō weren't all that surprised to find that they were the first ones there, benign greeted by the two Chūnin guarding the main gates, Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane who were eager to make small talk and congratulate her for finding tutelage under one of the legendary Sannin while still just a Genin, at which point Sakura proudly provided them with the scroll, proving her new rank of Chūnin, which then prompted them to congratulate her for that as well.
Eventually, Jiraiya arrived as well, although he wasn't alone, and Sakura and Heikō found themselves a bit overwhelmed by everyone that ended up showing up in the end. Still, with a smile, they felt that despite how they were about to leave the village for years, if this was their farewell, then they shouldn't worry about or fear their return. They would be missed, and that was enough to calm some of their trepidation on going through with this trip.
AN: And so, this time, we have a true end, as well as the first chapter of the sequel up on fanfic.
Make sure to check out "Teenagers, on The Golden Path." for the continuation of this story.
