THINGS WE LOST TO THE FIRE Chapter3
Things we lost to the flame
Things we'll never see again
All that we've amassed
Sits before us, shattered into ash
Years later, living alone in the woods with half a dozen dogs, questionable reading material, and crippling attachment issues, Sakura realizes she turned into her teacher. Agebent Sakura Sensei
The nights were cold and when the nights were cold the second best thing to do was get an extra blanket. Sakura rarely needed extra blankets though for as long as she had the bodies of her pack insisting on curling around her as she slept.
Sakura had naturally gravitated to the center of her bed in a ball that mop curled around, that Souta encircled from behind, that even Dango laid againsts. Chainsaw insisted on making himself into a ball behind her knees, keeping her pinned in place under the toasted covers.
The cold never bothered Sakura much, but on those nights when it was especially cold or especially dark, Waffles would slip in from outside, tracking mud through the wood floor halls to settle down at the foot of her bed.
She used to be small enough to fit, but as the months grew her bones, the wolf dog grew beyond the bed's she would lay down and only rest her head on the bed, looking like a decapitated wolf beyond the edge of the covers. Only on the very worst nights did she still try to crawl in around her partner and handler.
Sakura woke in the middle of the night without screaming, but her body was vibrating and her breathing was unsteady. Mop tried to drag his body closer to her, press her face into his fur and smother her in his familiar scent. He whined low and locked at the elbow.
She reached up and curled her fingers into the long grey of his coat, catching a patch of weak tangles she could pick apart. By the time his coat was perfect the nightmares had finished sinking back into the furthest corners of her mind.
Dango watched her in the night without speaking, but Mop was vocal in his own way about pressing Sakura for reassurance that she really was alright. Out of her entire pack, Mop, with some of the strongest jaws and keenest instincts, was the softest of heart.
"Come here" she whispered, reaching for Mop and dragging herself closer to his side.
He adjusted so that her head was beside his front legs and his head was folded over her body. Behind her Souta crawled closer, making sure his body was a crescent moon of white around her. Chainsaw stirred, but settled back easily without complaint.
"Was it because of Danzo?" Dango asked in the dark.
Sakura looked up and saw the outline of the doberman highlighted by filtered moonlight. His eyes were shimmering discs of antique glass staring down at her from on high. He blinked once and she remembered herself.
"There is no reason for the ghosts we grow within ourselves. They come and go as they please."
"Only if we let them."
Sakura kept her eyes close and inhaled the musk of Mop's rain dried coat. He smelled like the earth, like the soil, like the trees, like the rain that douses all of it. He smelled like home and it helped ground her in reality.
She wasn't lost between the islands of a far away country, or slipping through cracks in the rocky terrain that shifted and swelled at the behest of a jutsu expert far more skilled than she. She smelled home and knew she wasn't in danger anymore. Her nightmares were tied to too many places for Danzo to take all the credit.
"I'm fine," Sakura lied.
One day she would be able to believe herself. She just needed to say it again another hundred thousand times and maybe it would become true. Maybe she had that sort of power over reality. Maybe.
Sakura ducked her head, pressing her chin to her chest and let her breathing even out. She sank back into a sleep that was blissfully free of dreams this time around.
This time.
"Oh hells no," Sakura muttered under her breath when she saw who it was that had Chainsaw scratching at her ankles.
She bent down to scoop the dog into her arms and then jump up into the branches of a tree that did a fair enough job of hiding her. She crouched there and waited.
Sasuke, the younger Uchiha son, stalked forward with his head bent over something wrapped up in his arms. Sai followed close behind, calm enough that Sakura doubted he was actually causing any annoyance in the Uchiha. Behind them trailed the scruffy Jinchūriki, looking like he had tumbled through a thorn thicket.
'Or he was kicked into one,' she thought snidely.
Chainsaw whined and looked out behind them and Sakura sensed it too, after a moment to focus more intently. There was an ANBU guards trailing a a distance. Whoever it was stopped short and stayed put while Naruto and the others trekked on.
Sakura thought it odd that the ANBU didn't follow Naruto into the forest, since he was likely the guard the Hokage had issued to be on Naruto duty for the day.
As the thought occurred to her the chakra flickered and the ANBU dashed out of range, heading back down into the village. It wasn't that different from the incident last week, when Naruto was at her door with Sai, begging for help in locating Sasuke. No ANBU had been tailing him then.
Why?
"They're heading towards your house," Dango said, kneeling down on a branch above her. His ears twitched as he listened to the chatter of the younger academy age children.
"I figured. My guess is that Sasuke is bringing leftovers." Sakura pointed to the box in his hand. It was pastel colored and decorated in flowers. "His mom gave him the least Uchiha bento box they had."
Dango snorted. "You could use it. You're almost out of ramen, though heaven knows how you're not sick of it yet."
"It's an acquired taste." At least it wasn't rations or soldier pills.
"It's disgusting."
"Shut up, it's not like I make you eat it."
Sakura jumped away to another tree closer to the kids. With the better vantage point she could see where they headed and there was no doubt about it; there was no place other than her house for a dozen or so good miles of course they were on the pathway that lead to her front door. She wondered what they would do when she didn't answer for them.
Sasuke knocked and waited, shifting from one foot to the other. After a minute he knocked again. When Sai said something he turned back and snapped at the boy. Naruto groaned loudly and pushed both boys aside to bang on the door. Even without chakra Sakura could hear him screaming for her to open up.
"What a monster," Dango huffed.
Sakura winced at the tone but looked up to address Dango. "You're telling me. No wonder the ANBU aren't tracking him this far out. They can still hear him from wherever they are."
Sai said something that made Naruto stop and as one, all three boys leaned in to listen to something on the other side of the door...or something missing from the other side of the door. There was no barking, no dogs, and no sign of life.
Sai then pushed the two aside and tried the door's handle. On a whim Sakura suppressed the trigger jutsu that would have sprung a light flash bang in their faces. The seal hidden under the welcome mat shivered but Sakura forced the energy back down and saved it to trigger for another time.
Sasuke looked panicked as Naruto hollered in delight to race inside. Sakura wasn't surprised. The blond was loud, annoying, and somewhat rude with his titles and addresses of others, of course he would be a nosey snoop.
Sai must have said something to convince Sasuke, something that had to do with the leftover food he pointed to. Sasuke made a face, hesitating before ducking his head and following Naruto into the house. Sakura held the trigger for the trap down as Sai stepped over it as well.
"What are you going to do now?" Dango asked. "Mop and Souta want to know if they should come back."
"Did they find anything?"
Dango shook his head. "The perimeter is all clear. Waffles also said the interior was bare of intruders. She wasn't able to find any sign of anyone new."
Sakura huffed but closed her eyes and channeled a light flow of chakra into her ears, amplifying their sensitivity. She pushed aside the sounds of nature, the rustle of life in the trees and along the forest floor. She filtered it all out until only the sounds and voices in her home rang true.
"What if she comes back?" She guessed that was Sasuke, since it sounded most like him. His voice wavered on a whisper.
"Then we tell her the truth, we're here to deliver food as a thank you for her help when you were lost."
Sakura wasn't sure, but she was willing to bet that the voice she heard belonged to Sai. It was smooth and practiced, like he had taken his words to a sanding stone and kept them there until they shone like polished pieces.
"Where are the doggies?"
Sakura winced. She didn't need chakra to know it was Naruto's voice she heard hollering through her halls. He was loud enough all on his own. Unlike Sasuke he didn't whisper and unlike Sai, his natural tone wasn't soft and smooth.
"We're not here to look for her dogs, and they're not pets, I told you already," Sasuke hissed.
"They're doggies, of course they're pets," Naruto retorted.
"They're ninken, they're like, ninja dogs," Sasuke supplied on a mutter. "Dad said some of them could even talk if they wanted to, like a summon."
"Are they summons, do you know?" Sai asked, sounding too keen to not be interested.
"No, I don't know that. I-I didn't ask dad any more. He didn't look like he wanted to talk any more about it the other night, okay."
"When she gets here can we ask her that?" Naruto asked.
"You want to stay here that long?" said Sai.
There was almost an undertone of amusement there, but it didn't feel genuine. It was almost… unintentionally condescending. He was such a stiff kid, Sakura wondered if he wasn't being groomed for ROOT already. He was young, but Sakura knew they started younger sometimes.
Sasuke spoke up next. "What if she's mad we snuck in here? Even if the door was unlocked, you're not supposed to go inside someone's house without being invited. It-it could even be trapped."
"If it was trapped there would have been a discharge of chakra and some sort of reaction by now. Did you see anything like that or hear any sort of explosion?" Sai waited for an answer from either boy and when nothing came he went on. "There's nothing to worry about."
"He-hey dobe, why are you going in there? That's not the kitchen."
"Shut up Sasuke teme, I didn't get to see this room last time. I think it's a bedroom. Ugh, look at all the dog hair. It's going to make me sneeze. You think she keeps weapons in here or are her dogs like her only weapons."
"We should go," Sasuke urged.
"Calm down, teme, we just got here. I want to look around a bit more. We can be fast. In and out and no one will know any different, okay."
"You can't deny you aren't curious, two faced," Sai added. Sakura remembered that his nickname for Sasuke was something like two-faced, but didn't know why.
"Shut up, you," Sasuke hissed, an edge to his voice. "Don't talk to me like you know me any better than the moron over there."
There was a tense moment before Sai exhaled. "Sure, if that is what you want to say. But may I at least say that I am also curious about this person who is so well connected with your father while still living so far away from the village. She's not from a clan, you said so yourself. We don't know that much ourselves, but we should if she's really important. Didn't you said your brother knew her."
Sasuke growled in what Sakura assumed to be irritation. "I said my brother knew of her. They met before but he didn't say anything more about it. Besides, my brother is super busy. He has a lot of important people he has to talk to and I'm sure he knows most of the people in the village."
"Yeah, your brother is already a shinobi," Naruto added. "Maybe they go out on missions together sometimes and he can't talk about it cause all the ninja are super secret with their mission stuff. Like, Iruka sensei doesn't tell us anything about the old missions he has been on or stuff like that which is borning!"
Sakura almost slipped on the tree branch, but cover it up by looking like she was adjusting herself. Dango eyed her knowingly but she refused to look at his face and give herself away.
"They're in the academy already," Dango hummed.
"Shut up, I figured that much out myself. Classes just started this past week." She recalled hearing that over her shoulder at the dinner celebrating Itachi and Iruka's promotion.
"It would explain why we haven't seen them until the weekend."
Sakura snorted. "Did you miss them that much?"
Dango laid down, resting his head on his paws. "A little. It can get boring with just you and the pack for company all the time. We don't even take missions anymore so don't blame me for what I say."
Sakura turned her attention back to the house and refocused her efforts on channeling her chakra into her ears. She hadn't missed much, but they were talking about school and classes. She listened to them go on about their classmates until one of the exclaimed about finding something interesting. One of them cursed and said to, 'put the panel back, dobe!'
"They found your weapon stash."
"One of my weapon stashes," Sakura corrected.
The one they stumbled upon likely had the most useless items, all her really important weapons were sealed away, but she did like to keep some things on display. Still, the fact that they had managed to locate the spring panel was impressive. Either someone had good instincts or they got lucky.
"I don't know how to put it back, teme! Help meeeeee."
'Lucky,' Sakura decided.
"What if they hurt themselves on something?" Dango asked, climbing to his feet. He lowered his head and looked to her, waiting for a signal.
"Fine, I guess it is time I show up and scare the shit out of them," Sakura grumbled.
"Please don't be excessive," Dango whined.
Sakura reached into her vest and scratched Chainsaw behind the ear. He licked her fingers in appreciation. "You can call the others here. I don't care if they hear."
In the next moment Sakura was a flicker on the tree branch that reappeared on the mat of her front door. She passed over the trigger seal without incident and deactivated chakra triggered traps as she went. None of the kids, not even Naruto, were a threat to trigger any of them. Also, the tykes were so short they skipped over a whole cluster of them.
None of them heard her as she slipped into her bedroom behind all three of them. Sasuke hung back, still gripping the bento box to his chest as Sai tried to help Naruto push a piece of the wall back into place. Behind it were the decorative blades that were more ceremonial than useful. She doubted they would be able to hurt themselves on dull blades.
"You have to line the bottom piece up with the track," Sakura calmly stated, leaning over Sasuke's shoulder and pointing to the bottom where the two pieces go together.
Sasuke went stiff, refusing to turn around. Sai face her, stilling when he saw her. Naruto was the last to notice her presence. He actually grunted a thanks while he tried to do as she instructed before he realized who he was thanking. When he did he dropped the wood panel and screamed, pointing at her.
"You!"
"Me," Sakura mutely echoed.
"You!" Naruto hollered once more. "What are you doing here?"
Sakura looked at him through narrowed eyes. "I….live here? Shouldn't I be asking you what you're doing here, in my house, in my bedroom, in my weapon stash?"
"We didn't break it," Naruto rushed to say. "It was like this when we found it."
"Idiot," Sai sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "As if anyone would be that stupid."
Sakura just hummed before bending down over Sasuke and pointing to the box in his hands. "Is that from your mother?"
Mutely, he lifted it up like an offering presented to a bloodthirsty god. The fear in his eyes was funny and she hated to admit it, because that meant Dango had a point about it being boring with just the pack and no missions for a year.
"It smells good," Sakura commented, taking the bento from his stiff fingers and lifting it to her nose. "I'll have to thank her next time I'm local."
Sakura didn't say or do anything more in the room, but took the bento box to her kitchen and found room for it in her refrigerator. It wasn't hard since there wasn't much left. She was running low on supplies.
Maybe tomorrow she would go down into the village for food and groceries. While she was down there she could also ask about the status of her retirement. She thought she would have received word on the status change by now.
"You're not going to report us to the Hokage for breaking and entering?" Sasuke asked, coming into the room after her. Naruto was hiding behind him and Sai trailed in after the duo, looking less afraid and more blank.
"Why would I do that? The door was unlocked, wasn't it?" Sakura asked. "It can't be breaking and entering if you didn't break anything."
"What about your closet door?" Naruto asked in a voice that sounded more like a squeak.
"That's less broken and more...just in need of being put back. It's all beside the point, though. And it's not like it matters that much to the hokage what a bunch of kids are doing on their day off."
"How did you know it was our day off?" Naruto asked, pushing forward a little more now that he wasn't so afraid of being reported to the Hokage.
"Simple." Sakura raised a single finger waiting for them to lean in before she answered. "I'm not an idiot."
Naruto literally fell forward. "Oi, what is that supposed to mean?" he screamed.
"Literally what I just said. Everyone knows the academy is closed on the weekends and you're all the perfect age to start classes."
"Wow, auntie is smart then," Naruto hummed, smile back in place.
"Don't call me auntie, please," Sakura groaned. She thought she might get whiplash from all the moodswings this kid went through.
"Where are your dogs, auntie?"
Sakura groaned to herself, already tempted to kick the blond kid out and go back to the quiet. Even if she was bored to tears, at least her ears were not bleeding.
"Getting ready to eat the trespassers," she dryly commented.
"Where?!"
Naruto dramatically crouched and looked around in each direction. Sakura wasn't sure if he was searching for dogs or trespassers or if he even knew himself. Sasuke and Sai both looked as tired as she felt.
"How do you keep up with him?" she whispered, looking to Sasuke.
The young Uchiha stared up at her for a minute before Sai pushed forward and raised a finger.
"You can punch him. He usually heals really fast and he doesn't seem to mind it as much. It's what we do," Sai answered in place of Sasuke.
"I guess that would work for you, but if I did that it would be child abuse."
"Nah, the adults at the orphanage beat Naruto all the time. No one notices though because he heals really fast and he always is super dirty."
Sakura felt a frisson of discomfort race up her spine. "The adults beat Naruto. Why?" She kneeled down to be eye level with Sai. "Explain this to me."
Sai stared at her with wide blank eyes and then his head started to tilt to the side like a bird's. She waited for him to speak but didn't rush him. "Naruto is annoying. The only one who doesn't mind is Nonō Yakushi san, but she is often gone. When the other caretakers are in charge Naruto will be hit if he does something bad, like a prank, or yelling too much in the house. It is called child discipline and it is not illegal."
Sakura hated how this felt familiar. "When you say he gets hit...is it like a spanking or do the adults use force that causes Naruto to lose his footing?"
Sai thought about it a moment before answering. "Both. It depends on who is disciplining Naruto. Yoko san will hit Naruto with a stick until he can't get up again if he does something really bad. Nonō san only spanks Naruto."
"I'm pretty sure the first example is too serious and severe to not be child abuse… which is illegal especially for students enrolled in the academy because the village views them as an investment." Sakura looked away from Sai to Naruto who was still searching for 'doggies' in her house. "Naruto, here I have a pup."
"Where?" the blond hollered.
Sakura pulled chainsaw out of her jacket and held him up. When his back legs danged he wagged his tail and kicked at the air. Naruto squealed and raced over to take the smaller dog out of her hands.
She let Chainsaw go but lightly grabbed Naruto's shoulder to steady him. Without his notice she pushed her chakra into his system for a diagnosis. There were places where bones had been broken and mended with scars of extra calcium crisscrossing most heavily around his arms. Sakura recognized these as self defense wounds. Several more fractures had healed on his legs. She pushed more chakra through his body and felt more cause for concern. There was the issue of how his hemoglobin, the substance that carries iron in the blood, felt stimulated like it had been active recently. She tugged at his jacket and saw yellow spots up and down his arms, hidden from the jacket sleeves.
"Sai, come here too."
Sai didn't resist, but he did give her an odd look as she reached for him the same way she had with Naruto and pushed her chakra into him. He tensed, likely more sensitive to it and expecting it maybe, but didn't fight it.
His body was not as bad as Naruto's but there were also the fingerprints of bruising and bone fractures. Far less than Naruto, but in each case she found the injury was a bit more pronounced.
If the rumors were true, Naruto had the nine tailed fox to thank for his fantastic healing ability on top of his Uzumaki heritage, so bruises that took weeks to heal were gone in days, and bones that needed months to heal fixed themselves in weeks.
Sakura pulled away and looked Sai over without the chakra. "Sai, do they hit you too?"
"Only when I fail or do something bad." He inclined his head. "It is never without just cause. We are training to be shinobi, we need to be hardened for the battles to come."
"You're an idiot," Sakura muttered, reaching up she flicked his forehead.
Sai looked offended and touched his head, as if he was expecting to find a mark left behind from where she flicked him. "I am not an idiot. Naruto is the idiot. He gets disciplined more than I do."
"You're both idiots, how about that?"
If he could Sakura thought Sai would flush.
"Where is the bog doggy, I want to see the big wolf doggie," Naruto pronounced, stepping in between Sakura and Sai.
He held out Chainsaw for her to take and Sakura accepted her dog back. Chainsaw squirmed so she let him down to run around as much as he pleased. He went straight to Sasuke to yip once and then bite at the Uchiha's ankles. Sakura yanked on Chainsaw's tail to get him to cut it out, growling when he turned back to look at her. He understood but didn't look happy about it.
'He's not like the other Uchiha, I don't care how much they smell alike, it's not the same idiot.'
"If I show you my big dog will you go home? I have business down in the town I need to get to before too late."
"Dad said we weren't supposed to make any trouble for her," Sasuke hissed, yanking on Naruto's arm. "Don't be a dobe just because you don't want to go back again."
"It's no trouble, really," Sakura sighed, sounding a bit too much like her lazy sensei from years ago when she actually had enough excess energy to be annoying. She mentally catalogued Sasuke's comment about Naruto not wanting to go back for later.
Sakura reached into her shirt and pulled out the thin, long whistle and fit it to her lips. She blew once and then dropped it back into her shirt.
"I don't think it worked. You need to blow it again cause I didn't hear anything," Naruto said.
Sakura brushed past them and then waved to the group when they stayed behind in the kitchen, likely waiting for explicit orders. "Come on, let us see if it worked or didn't after going outside."
The tree of them trailed outside after her and clustered around her when Souta, sleek and white, appeared first. Dango dropped down from a tree next. In another minute Mop came bounding out of the forest between the trees with a joyful bark. He wasn't content to stop but ran into a circle around her, rolling onto his back in front of her and barking for a pet.
"That's not really professional," Sakura grumbled, bending down to give his belly a rub. Mop reached up to lick her face anyway and behind her Naruto giggled at the sight.
She knew Waffle had stepped into sight when she heard the gasp behind her. When she looked up Waffles was there, slipping between the shadows like she had always been a part of them.
"It's the big one," Naruto whisper shouted. It was impossible for him to be quiet and Sakura was starting to worry about his career as a ninja.
"Waffles, you mind showing off a little for the fans before I trek down to Hokage town for a follow up?" Sakura asked, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder at the kids. Naruto had stars in his eyes and even Sai looked eager to run his fingers through her fur again.
The big black wolf dog came up to Sakura and licked the side of her face before resting her head on Sakura's shoulder. Waffles leaned into Sakura and she understood what the ninken was trying to say.
"I'm fine, girl. It's okay."
With a huff Waffles walked over to the boys and circled them once before sitting and then laying down. Even when she was laying down, she was so big that she was still taller than the boys with just her head and neck.
"Where are we going?" Dango asked, sitting beside her. He was watching Sasuke who hadn't moved to pet Waffles like Sai and Naruto had. Sasuke was still glancing sideways at Sakura.
"I need to check on the status of my retirement and maybe buy some food while I'm down there. It's nothing major."
"And it's nothing planned," Dango grumbled, leaning into her hand when Sakura reached down to pet him behind the ears. "When did you decide this?"
"I don't need to plan all my life out and run it by you, okay."
Sakura waited until the boys were satisfied and then saw them on their way down the mountain. Naruto whined and dragged his feet but went wherever Sai went. Sakura only broke away from their trio when she noticed the ANBU picking up Naruto's tail.
'I wonder if I can charge the Hokage babysitting fees,' she thought to herself.
Her pack left her to wait outside the various checkpoints as they had weeks ago. The receptionist eyed Sakura critically when Sakura admitted she had no appointment. It was half an hour later when the Hokage sent down notice that he would be able to meet with her briefly.
"Key word being brief, he has an appointment with someone in fifteen minutes and that appointment is scheduled."
Sakura mentally flipped the receptionist off in her head and let herself in.
The Hokage was moving papers to the side when she walked in, but he looked up and smiled as the door slid shut behind her. She bowed at the waist and only straightened when she heard him gesture to her.
"Haruno kun, so good to see you again."
Sakura didn't know if he was being honest but decided it didn't matter. "The kid has been visiting me. Why don't the ANBU follow him onto my lands?"
"Straight to the point. Is that really such a deep concern that you must come directly here?"
"Kakashi was my sensei, I can see what's underneath the underneath. Why will the ANBU not follow him onto my lands?"
"I don't need it, but I want you to give me a reason why I should answer. I am your Hokage, after all. What I do and how I do it are not for you to question Haruno kun, but still, I would like to hear what is in your heart. Why do you care?"
Sakura felt the tension draw on her and knew that the Hokage, for as kind and forgiving as he could me, was still not a pushover. He owed her nothing.
Sakura ducked her head and cast her eyes down, to his chin. "I don't care about the ANBU, I just want to know why they were not following them onto my property."
"What do you care about, Haruno kun?"
Sakura forced her eyes up. "Did you know Naruto is being abused at Danzo's orphanage."
"Naruto's condition is heavily monitored. As you know he can be a wild sort of child and injuries are not uncommon when training to be a shinobi. Even if he looks a bit ruffed up that doesn't exactly mean that-"
"Sai told me to my face that they beat the kids at the orphanage because they're disobedient." Sakura didn't care that she cut him off. Her words came out rushed and tasted hot in her mouth, like she couldn't help but spill them.
"Sai?"
She looked up and saw he was smiling. He didn't seem annoyed that she cut him off, only somewhat amused.
"Sai lives at the orphanage and comes to visit along with Naruto and another child, the Uchiha as I'm sure you know. Sai explained to me where their bruises were coming from but there was also evidence of self defense injuries that date much older."
"Naruto hasn't been at Danzo's orphanage that long. If you are talking about years ago then the matter is one to take up with the previous caretakers."
Sakura heaved a breath and felt it rush over her teeth. "Hokage sama, do you know that the kids are being abused or do you really not think that's possible?"
"And what would you have me do if that was all true?"
"Move Naruto somewhere else, transfer him to a different facility, adopt him out, something! You can't just leave him in an environment like that. You can't do nothing when you know it's a problem."
"You can if there is nothing that can be done. You underestimate the willingness of others to take in Naruto once they know what he is. This is the seventeenth prohanage that has taken him in. There is no one who wants to adopt him and fewer still who hold clearance to interact him, let alone take him home." He leaned forward on his desk and pressed his hands together. "Even if it is an issue, it's not one that can so easily be fixed."
"Kushina's son deserved better."
Something passed behind his eyes and Sakura felt cold in her bones for a moment, like she had said something wrong even though she knew in her heart that she wasn't. It was what she truly believed. Kushina, Minato, and their son deserved better. She didn't lower her eyes.
"A lot of dead people deserved better, but we are here and we are alive in a peaceful village because of those dead people who deserved better. Their sacrifice made the building bricks for the foundation for this peace."
"With all due respect, Naruto isn't living in peace."
"Maybe he can't because of what he is."
"I don't believe that, sir."
He stared at her for a while and then leaned back in his seat. "Maybe then the will of fire hasn't been snuff out of you yet." A small smile curved up his lips. "I have a platoon you can join for a while in ANBU. When you get back you'll be fitted into jounin status."
Sakura felt turned around and suspected his words were less of a distraction and more a reward, like she had passed some secret test that-
Her thoughts derailed when she remembered the ANBU dropping away and the unsupervised time she had with the children. She remembered what people said about her after her accident, about her will of fire being snuffed out, and she remembered she said back to those people.
"ANBU, uh, thank you, which platoon?"
"Don't thank me just yet, you don't know which platoon for a reason. I don't want you rejecting my offer just yet." He waved at the door. "It's political protection for the most part, but with recent developments I've felt the need to heighten security around the Fire Dignitaries."
It wasn't a perfect fit. She really wasn't suited to hanging around someone rich and fancy for hours on end just waiting for an attach. She was usually more preemptive by nature, liked charging at her problems like during the war, but maybe that was the reason the Hokage was giving her this sort of work. The war was over and there was less need for soldiers like her. She needed to adapt, to grow, and to change.
"That-it sounds like it will be a long term mission if it is contingent on dignitaries working political matters out among themselves," she said. "The kids-"
The Hokage laughed loudly at that, real tears coming to his eyes. He wiped them away with the palms of his hands then regarded her again.
"Oh, that is true indeed. It has been classified as an A rank mission lasting between one to four months. Any longer and they will have to apply for an extension which would mean more money." He steepled his fingers. "But you could opt out at that point if you felt it was too much or too long for you and your pack."
"Thank you, sir, but I'm still worried about Naruto and the others at the orphanage."
He waved her words away. "I will update the surveillance to be more vigilant. They will do what they can. Thank you for sharing your heart's concerns with me, Haruno kun."
There was a knock at the door and Sakura bowed out, turning to leave just as another member dressed in armor and animal masks walked in, followed by another ANBU who was a head shorter. She recognized the ponytail right away but refused to look his way. In the hallway she allowed herself a private little smirk. They had given him a weasel mask.
'How fitting.'
AN:I was really pissed how last week the site was having issues so there were a tone of people who never saw this was updated until days later or not at all. Very frustrated with that, but I think I've moved on enough to enjoy looking over this chapter. Yes, it is a little shorter than the other two chapters, but enough still happened that it's not too short-I think?
I've been pleased and surprised with how many readers have enjoyed agebent Sakura and the plot of this series. It was written as a break from all the other work I'm consumed with, but also for Sakura week coming up.
Who else would you like to see more in the story? What characters do you think would be most fun to see Sakura interact with. I heard about several readers favoring the Uchiha, and I really just got to say, you know me too well. I've got my personal preferences but I still would love to hear from you. (I am actually really excited to hear what people think of the Uchiha clan in this version, especially after the next few chapters when stuff goes down.)
Also, who would you not want to see next?
Thanks for reading and reviewing~
Sakura's Pack!
Mop- Irish Wolfhound He's the teeth of the pack
Souta - Borzoi (Russian Wolfhound) He's the speed of the pack
Dango- Doberman pinscher- He's the voice of the pack
Chainsaw- Jack Russell Terrier He's the sensor of the pack (and the baby)
Waffles- Wolf She's the terror and the stealth of the pack