Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
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The dust settled but her heart didn't.
If anything, after the medical tents emptied, after the funerals finished, her heart hardened. War had forced her team back together, it was the glue that helped them defeat the common foe but it only made Team Seven comrades in arms, not in spirit.
Sai noticed the strange dynamic between the original members of the team. He saw that while Naruto happily took Sasuke back, Sakura remained edgy around him after the war ended. Kakashi noticed Sakura's discomfiture too and was equally uneasy. The team wasn't together all that often for those hidden resentments and anxieties to show. Kakashi was busy organizing the village from the Hokage Tower, Sakura managing the hospital, Naruto running around keep up relationships with the other villages, and Sasuke brooding in the Uchiha district. Months past that way.
They decided, well Naruto did, to have a reunion dinner. Like every time before, it was their knuckle-headed teammate that finally looked up and realized they were drifting apart, however accidentally or intentionally it may have been.
Sakura arrived first at Ichiraku. She came during her one hour dinner break from the hospital. Between her and Shizune, they managed to have someone there twenty-four hours a day, at the cost of pulling twelve hour shifts most days. She hoped by arriving early it would mean she could leave first. The dinner break was a convenient excuse.
She ordered immediately upon sitting down and examined the blood caked under her fingernails while she waited for the rest of her team to arrive. The village was returning to normal after the war, Ichiraku was evidence of that, and soon she would run out of acceptable busy time. Missions would resume with time and Sakura wanted to continue her duty as a shinobi but wasn't so sure she could do it as a team with Naruto and Sasuke. She figured Sai and Yamato would return to ANBU and disappear into their own busy and often solitary lives.
His chakra disturbed the air, seconds before the man himself pushed through the curtain and took a seat two over from her.
"Evening, Sasuke." Sakura greeted pleasantly.
"Hn."
She ground her teeth in annoyance. If she could try to be civil despite everything he had yet to apologize for then he could certainly muster more than one syllable. The silence continued uncomfortably until Teuchi-san placed her bowl of ramen in front of her.
Sakura's face lit up at the sight of the steaming bowl and thanked him happily before digging in. She ate with spectacular speed and threw side long glances at her teammate as he drank from a cup of green tea. With luck, she could leave before the whole team powwow.
Sasuke stared intently into the green liquid and she took pity on his tense expression. Without stopping herself she blurted out, "Are you going to leave again?"
His eyes flashed to hers. The question had gone unspoken since the war ended some months ago. Everything was still fresh, the wounds, the dead, and the scars. She noticed how difficult it was to place Sasuke into the village after his long departure and worried how he was coping.
She knew from some of the shinobi that they either reserved cool indifference for the Uchiha or were actively suspicious of him. No matter what side he had been on in the final battle, the truth of the last three years was a heavy reminder of where his loyalties once laid. Sakura found herself waffling harshly between the two but tried for nostalgia's sake and partly Naruto's to approach Sasuke amicably.
"Do you want me to stay?" He said after some time.
She wasn't sure how to answer but was thankfully saved from responding when the obnoxiously loud voice of her other teammate caught her attention.
"But, Kakashi-sensei, that's why we should have shared baths!" Naruto whined.
Kakashi's lazy drawl replied, "Consider it my gift to save it for when you're Hokage."
The two entered the noodle establishment side by side and Sakura finally relaxed at the sight of her human buffers. Naruto excitedly greeted them both and took the seat between her and Sasuke. Kakashi sat to her left without a sound.
"No Yamato or Sai?" Sakura asked.
Naruto's face screwed up in annoyance. "Sai said a meal together was an unnecessary social custom."
"And Yamato sends his regards and apologies from Suna." Kakashi added.
She nodded in understanding and secretly wished she used a similar excuse. Naruto went on to order three bowls of ramen in place of their missing teammates for himself and started right in on a mostly one-sided conversation.
She was content to listen to Naruto animatedly explain his day establishing some treaty with Gaara over something. It was hard to pick out the details with Naruto's speed of delivery but she smiled nonetheless just to hear him talk about something mundane.
Kakashi caught her sanguine expression and nudged her foot with his. She looked up and saw his own eye crinkle smile over their boisterous teammate. They had immense pride in Naruto's journey, not for any role they might have played, but for the adversity he managed to overcome all on his own. He never stopped smiling and he never gave up. Naruto had been a beacon of hope for years and the rest of the world was learning that now too.
"…but you'll see that when all of us train together." Naruto declared.
Sakura's eyes widened and she spun around to the other side of the bar. "Train together? Naruto, what do you mean train together?" She couldn't keep her confusion from her tone.
He looked at her with a wide smile and explained. "Well I thought it would be fun to have a friendly spar so we can learn each other's fighting styles before taking missions."
It was like a sucker punch to her stomach, she was too shocked to formulate some response. He innocently planned for the team to get back together and Sakura paled at the thought. To be on a team with them again was to resign herself to the background and after everything, Sakura refused to move aside for the sake of male ego.
Kakashi saved her from responding. "Mah, Naurto-chan, I haven't decided on team formations yet."
"But Shikamaru told me that he was assigned to the operational defense team." Naruto complained.
"Naruto, with my work at the hospital and Yamato busy with the reconstruction, it might not be possible." Sakura managed to gather herself and contribute. She hoped she didn't seem too eager in her excuse.
Naruto seemed to consider her words and relented on the idea. "We should still train together though."
To that she only had one ace up her sleeve: evasion. "Sure. Oh, speaking of the hospital, my break's almost over. I should get going." She placed a few bills on the table and stood to leave.
Naruto pouted at her early departure but stood and gave her a hug. She didn't bother to look in Sasuke's direction.
"I'll walk you back. There's a few things I wanted to discuss about our medical facilities." Kakashi stated much to her surprise.
"That almost sounded like you're the Hokage." She teased and pretended to be scandalized.
He was unamused but couldn't completely hide his smile. They said their goodbyes again and headed out. They walked side by side through the street towards the hospital in silence.
It was a vastly different silence from the one between Sasuke and her. In Kakashi's presence the silence was comfortable, familiar even. She peeked at him through the corner of her eye and noticed how he stood a tiny bit straighter as he walked through the streets and nodded to the passing shinobi who stood at attention as he passed.
It wasn't so much that he was Hokage that earned him that level of respect but more so for the part he played in the war. He was a living legend and strangely, she didn't feel the slightest bit out-classed at his side. As the person to carry on Tsunade's legacy, more so than Shizune, Sakura was recognized by civilians and shinobi alike.
They walked all the way to the front entrance of the hospital without a word. She couldn't help it when she bowed to him. "Thank you, Hokage-sama for seeing me back to the hospital."
"Not you too." He groaned and pressed a hand to his face.
Sakura grinned. "Sorry, Hokage-sama." She emphasized the formal title and earned a death glare.
She started to walk towards the entrance when Kakashi called her name. Sakura stopped and waited for him to continue. "Naruto was right, I am completing team formations now. I wanted to hear your thoughts."
Sakura stiffened. While she could lie to Naruto about her feelings towards a Team Seven revival, she knew it would be impossible under Kakashi's watchful eyes.
"You're a high calibre ninja, Sakura. Your skills are valued not only by myself but all of the shinobi nations." His praise made her blush and she self-consciously tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "think you would enjoy more time in the field. That being said there are two placements available that would benefit from someone of your capacity."
"One would be for a newly formed ANBU team that is comprised of Yamato and Sai that will mainly take medium to long term surveillance missions. It would include infiltration and under-cover work. The other team would be made up of the former Team Seven, Sasuke and Naruto and will serve diplomatic as well as enforcement functions."
She swallowed dryly. "Is that what Sasuke and Naruto want?"
Kakashi shook his head. "I wanted to speak with you first before approaching them."
"Why?"
He looked at her knowingly. "That team's success would only be possible if you were on it. Without you, Sasuke and Naruto are too impulsive and reckless to work together."
Sakura would've snorted at the truth of his statement if it weren't for the look in Kakashi's eyes. The absence of the Sharingan meant both his eyes were always visible and she found it easier to read his expressions. He was concerned for her.
The choices he was offering were not taken lightly either. She was torn. Yamato and Sai, she had grown to see as two more brothers in her family, she would relish the opportunity to work with them as a unit and could already envision their success.
Working with Naruto and Sasuke was taking a literal step back, to a past she did not remember fondly. Anxiety thrummed through her body at the thought of trusting Sasuke as she trusted her other teammates again. That said, she knew what a let-down it would be to Naruto and possibly doom any future relationship with Sasuke. There was no simple way of saying 'sorry but I can't work with the person who actively tried to murder us for the better part of three years' without hurting someone's feelings.
Sakura sighed deeply and searched Kakashi's face for the answer. He was strangely neutral in expression and that bothered her more than she liked.
"What should I do?" She asked him directly.
Kakashi stuffed his hands into his pockets and leaned back on the balls of his feet. No matter his position he was always just Kakashi when she looked at him. One day she might see him as the Hokage instead of her lazy ex-sensei.
"You've never needed my guidance, Sakura. You are capable of choosing what is best for you." She frowned at his less than helpful words and Kakashi smiled at her obvious vexation. "But for what it's worth, I think you need a break from the past. For at least a little while."
Sakura stared at him then lowered her head in embarrassment. He had read her discomfort long before she said anything about it. She felt a smile tug at her lips at his unassuming way of caring for her.
"If it's alright with you, Hokage-sama, please assign me to Yamato's team."
"Hai, hai, Haruno-sensei." He responded.
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A/N: So this is what I desperately wanted to happen when Naruto finished. And while I always ship Kakasaku, I would've gladly let her set sail with ANYONE except Sasuke. I mean how in the world could she marry the man who tried to kill her, her friends, and treated her like a doormat? Since I can't change canon, here is the story I envisioned instead.
