"Don't lie to me, Sarutobi," Inoichi hissed, eyes focused on the relaxed form of his former leader.
"I'm not," Hiruzen said. "There was no one else. Asuma, Tenzo and I took Danzo down. Plain and simple."
"Oh really?" Inoichi asked, raising a brow in sarcasm. "Then why is it that our sensors spotted ambient kyubi chakra where the battle was held?"
"I said," Hiruzen spoke sharply, firmly, "that there was no one else."
Inoichi sighed, slumping into his chair. He knew Naruto must've been involved in the final fight somehow but Hiruzen refused to budge and with no solid proof he couldn't confront his new protégé about it. It was best to let this go anyway, there was no point in digging into a matter already resolved.
"Fine, you win," Inoichi grumbled. "What are you planning on doing now? Your last official mission is over."
"This and that," Hiruzen waved an idle hand. "I want to pick up some hobbies. How does singing sound?"
Inoichi blinked. "I can't deal with this. Please, ex-Hokaga-sama, get out."
Hiruzen chuckled, standing up.
"As you wish," he walked towards the door. "Good luck, Inoichi."
Yes, luck was exactly what he needed to deal with the aftermath of Danzo's downfall.
"You need to stop sulking," Sasuke said, lightly kicking Sakura's side.
The kunoichi glanced upwards, expression vacant and dull.
"I'm not sulking," she replied blandly. "I'm contemplating strategies to impress Tsunade-sama."
"No," Sasuke sat himself on the grass beside her. "You're just sulking."
Sakura elbowed him, huffing, "Yes, fine! I'm sulking! So what? If you want me to stop, come up with some great idea that can convince the Hokage to train me or get lost!"
Sasuke stared at her for a minute before standing up again. He outstretched his hand,
"Let's go."
"Where?" Sakura said even as she accepted his hand and got to her feet.
"Somewhere," Sasuke said, walking away with purpose. Sakura followed, albeit reluctantly.
In another ten minutes, it became abundantly clear where they were headed.
"The Kage Tower?" Sakura asked, halting.
"Shut up," Sasuke's reply was just a tad exasperated, "and keep walking."
Sakura held her ground. "I won't. I don't want to bump into Tsunade-sama by mistake. I can't deal with that bullshit right now."
"Sakura," Sasuke said in a whisper, turning towards her. "If you don't walk, I swear to kami, I'll carry you to the tower."
Sakura blinked at him. Was that... was he flirting with her? Knowing Sasuke, he probably wasn't, or atleast if he was, he'd done it unintentionally.
"Alright," Sakura acquiesced, if only to get out whatever this situation was building up towards. "But if anything happens, I'll poison your food."
Sasuke hid a smirk as they resumed their short journey. "Thanks for the warning. I appreciate it."
The moment the two step into the tower, Sasuke held Sakura's hand way too firmly and pulled her towards the stairs.
"Hey!" Sakura yelled. "What the fuck are you doing?"
"Something I should've done weeks ago," Sasuke replied, increasing his pace.
Sakura contemplated striking her friend in the back or tripping him or running a chakra-infused fist through his skull. In the end, though, she just went with the flow. She was a little curious to see what Sasuke had in mind and it wasn't like she couldn't pummel him after all was said and done.
They reached the Kage's office and Sasuke knocked twice on the door, quick and loud.
"Come in," a bored voice came through the other end, and Sasuke almost threw Sakura inside, himself entering right behind her.
Tsunade looked up from her current signing work and raised her brow at Sakura's startled appearance and Sasuke's purposeful staring.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" she asked, her honeyed tone conveying her annoyance.
Sasuke kicked the door shut, once again pulling Sakura towards the chair. The kunoichi wrenched her hand free, glaring at the Uchiha.
"I know how to walk," she whispered furiously, a little angered that the person she admired had to witness her stumbling around like that.
Sasuke shrugged, and took a seat. Sakura did too, if only to prevent the other chunin from forcefully pushing her onto a chair.
Tsunade kept staring at the two, tapping her foot lightly under the table. She really needed to get this paperwork sorted lest Shizune keep her away from drinking tonight.
"Sakura is a great medic," Sasuke said abruptly yet with a very calm and expressionless face. Tsunade gave him a small frown.
"... and?"
"And," Sasuke repeated, "she's responsible, mature... atleast most of the times. She's self-assured, so she doesn't make blunders even while healing gruesome injuries. She's not afraid of blood or gore. She's not queasy. She's trained in defensive genjutsu but her taijutsu is in no way lacking either."
Sasuke stopped, taking a breath. He turned towards Sakura and found her staring with mild bewilderment at him. He supposed it was expected - never before had he so much as indicated that he thought of Sakura as competent, let alone in so many words.
"I..." Sakura said, blinking and looking away. "I'm not that great. He's just... he's just exaggerating," she turned to look into Tsunade's assessing eyes, "so you'd take me on as your apprentice."
"Oh?" the Hokage commented, relaxed but serious. "And why do you not consider yourself all that? I've seen you've got the skills, you yourself have shown them to me."
Sakura stayed silent for a bit, fidgeting with the edges of her battle-tunic. She sighed then, letting her feet idly kick the wood of the desk lightly.
"Because those are just my positives. And there's more to me than that. I'm clumsy, sometimes. When I'm worried or agitated. My input of chakra is always a little less which is why I take longer to heal a wound then the average certified medi-ninja. My punches break tile but not stone. I'm easily startled. I take really long bathroom breaks on missions," she huffed a laugh, pulling free a strand of her hair. "It's whole list, ten pages long and even that's when I'm being generous. So no, I'm not some perfect little kunoichi with big aspirations. I'm just a kunoichi who wants to get better at her area of specialization and who might snore a little too loudly in her sleep."
Feeling a tad self-conscious, she switched her gaze towards Sasuke. He was looking at her with a weird expression, the edges of his face appearing a bit softer. Sakura didn't know what to make of it so she just kept her eyes fixed on his hair till she heard Tsunade's voice.
"That was quite the monologue, I must admit," the older woman said, finally some amusement seeping into her eyes and words. "Sakura, look here."
The pinkhead did, some confusion marring her features.
"I see potential in you, I truly do. You've got the guts, the knowledge, the mind, the strength to make a wonderful combat medic," Tsunade lingered for a bit, and Sakura could see the but coming.
"But before today, you were too perfect, too polite, too compliant. You really wanted me to see you that way, huh? You know what though? This Sakura, this real you? With rough edges and ragged lines and so many flaws? That's real and authentic and very much human. A medic understands what it means to be human, what it means to be such fragile creatures."
Tsuande cut herself off, and stood up. Placing her hands solidly on the table, she leaned forward, piercing through Sakura's gaze with her own.
"I ask you again, Sakura," she began. "Why are you interested in medical ninjutsu?"
Sakura gulped, unsure of what to say. On one hand, she still agreed with her previous answer, she really did want to heal people. She really wanted to help them. To challenge that thought, she had some other feelings that ran deeper, that she herself wasn't sure about. She sighed, figuring it was worth a shot, to be a bit vulnerable than she'd allowed herself to be.
Firmly ignoring Sasuke's presence, she returned the intensity of Tsuande's stare.
"Because I want to...prevent the grief and loss I'll suffer if I let an injured person die, especially if that person is close to me. I want to heal, so I can feel...useful, in a way. I don't have alot of chakra or skill. But one thing I'm good at is control and that's why I make a good healer which means something to me. That I'm an important member of any team I'm put in. That I'm not some... airheaded, bubbly kunoichi who's too full of herself. It's my way of proving myself, I suppose," she paused, exhaling a rushed breath. "Huh, my motivations are alot more selfish than I thought."
Tsunade kept silent for another few seconds before sitting back on her chair, all rigidity gone to leave behind a plain, blank visage.
"Okay," Tsuande said. "You two are dismissed."
Sakura bit her lip. It was done. Nothing could impress Tsunade. Not skill, not bravery, not competence, not honesty.
Sasuke frowned, looking at Tsuande's unimpressed face.
"Come on," Sakura said, standing up and smoothing out the creases on her clothes. "Thank you for your time, Hokage-sama."
Sasuke reluctantly got up, feeling a bit guilty for putting Sakura through all that.
"Sakura," Tsuande's voice reached them just as they were about to step outside. "Be here at 1 pm tomorrow with wrist guards and lots of water."
Sakura stopped, blinking, completely uncomprehending of what she'd just heard.
"Pardon?" she asked, and saw Sasuke's face break into a smug smile from the corner of her eyes.
"Water and guards," Tsuande repeated. "You'll need it to to get through the hell I'm about to put you through."
Sakura's face lightened, finally understanding what this meant. She nodded her head in a daze and didn't protest when Sasuke pulled her by the arm again.
Tsunade watched them go with a spark of mirth and beginnings of fondness. That girl was definitely something–to open up about her true feelings that underlied so many of her insecurities was brave and unexpected. She was sure she'd have fun teaching Sakura, and maybe, if Hinata was ready to show the same spirit and determination, then her too.
She sighed and looked at the documents overflowing inside the file.
Time to get to work again.
"Pass me that box," Shikamaru asked tiredly.
"It's literally two steps away from you," Naruto said, scrutinising the rusted kunai in his hand. "How old is this stuff anyway? Everything's practically garbage here."
Shikamaru made a frustrated sort of sound, "Box. You. Pass. Me."
"No," Naruto said, only because it was funny to watch Shikamaru be so lazy. "Use your legs and get it yourself."
"I don't have legs. They're two blocks of wood that refuse to budge so give me that chunk of cardboard already!"
Naruto hummed, moving farther away from said box, wandering into the storage rooms in the basement of T and I.
"I said no," the blond replied teasingly. "Y'know we should prank Inoichi. I've got a way to cut his hair without him realis–"
"Naruto," Shikamaru called out, arms crossed, expression suddenly stern. "I know exactly what you did the other day, by the way. When you ran right into Danzo's battle and left a clone behind who kept avoiding using his chakra, lest he poof away."
Naruto laughed nervously, placing the kunai on an old table nearby.
"You're not mad?"
"Oh I am," Shikamaru drawled. "But I won't do anything about it on one condition."
Naruto raised a brow, "Oh? And what is that?"
"Pass me that box and we're sorted."
The blond gave out a short, startled laugh. Dragging his feet, he picked up the box and almost threw it at Shikamaru.
"You're a fucking wonder, you know that?" Naruto asked, huffing as he lifted yet another heavy-looking thing.
Shikamaru nodded, peering inside the box to find some old, expired food supplies.
"I'm aware," he said, then softer, a whisper -- "but so are you."