!Disclaimer! Baby, I don't need to own Naruto to write FanFiction.

Penname: LiveLoveLaugh

FanFiction Story: Magical Chakra

Summary: NarutoHP Xovr When Team Seven has been sent to Hogwarts School, they meet up with the Boy Who Lived, experience new wild rides in a new place, and go on incredible adventures of a lifetime.

Chapter Seven:

Loneliness in Her Eyes

"Good morning Haruno-san."

Sakura turned her head to peer over her shoulder to catch a weak smile of one of her colleagues. His tousled brown hair that was shifted over his half lidded eyes and slumped posture could easily tell her of the exhausting working days she took on. She nodded in greeting and returned to the keg.

Her index finger released its hold on the red tap of the gallon keg of bland water at the refreshment table in the outside corner that was surrounded by many cubicles. She bought the big cup of liquid to her pink lips and took several large gulps. Sakura threw the cup away in the trash can with lazy expertise and walked back to her office.

She propped herself down on the chair where she could have an intake of relaxed breaths. She rubbed her fingers on her tired eyes and cradled her hands on her laps. Her emerald green orbs that were dull-colored and weary averted around her shadowed surroundings.

Her desk was neatly polished, everything was set in order in the drawers and tops. The stacks of signed papers and scraps of crumpled balls were placed where they belonged. Her tiny windows had their shades pulled down to block out the blinding sunlight and annoying glares.

Everything around her seemed to be white, black, and gray. It all reminded her of a newspaper. It is the Department of Torture and Interrogation.

Inner Sakura: And IT IS SO DAMN BORING! 'So much for a free day…'

She dropped her head on the desk top.

"Sakura-san?"

"Nani?" Sakura asked in an annoyed voice. She looked up, elbowing the wooden surface and cradling her chin in her knuckles.

"Oh, Ohayo Lee-san…" Sakura smiled, yawning.

There stood in front of her desk was the same old green spandex-wearing boy with the bow-cut and fuzzy eyebrows. He smiled his frighteningly white grin that made his teeth reflect this remarkable signature sparkle. He wore his Chuunin vest proudly with his tightly bandaged fists and orange leggings. His red headband was tied around his skinny hips.

"Is it lunch already?" Sakura said boringly.

Rock Lee stared at her skeptically, dropping a plastic bag of take-out luncheon on her small desk.

Sakura smelled the scents of stir fried noodles and rice with curry, "You didn't have to…"

Lee looked with worry, pulling out chopsticks and napkins. "No, I wanted to, your mother said you went to work without breakfast—"

"Aw man…my mom didn't have to such a tattle-tale!" the kunoichi whined, she pushed her chair back from the Styrofoam boxes. "I'm not hungry…"

"Oh yes you are! Sakura-san, you're getting skinnier and skinnier through the days I've seen you," the Taijutsu Specialist scooped out some noodles on a small plate and pushed it closer to her. The pink-haired girl gave in.

"Thanks, Grandma…" Sakura droned, mechanically breaking her chopsticks and inserting a few chews into her mouth. Lee pulled a stool from the corner of her office and sat across from her, hungrily eating the curry rice.

"How can you work in this place? It's so depressing…" Lee said grievingly, looking around. She glared.

"Hey, I chose to work here," Sakura stuffed more noodles between her lips, angrily, "It separates me from the killing and slaughtering…" she winced at the slight pain when she bit on her own tongue.

"You have to kill sometime soon, Sakura-san," Lee smiled brotherly, pushing a canteen of hot tea to her side, "It's the ninja way…"

She sipped the lukewarm liquid into her system, looking distant. "I'm…just not ready…"

"Why didn't yougo backto beinga medic-nin like Hinata-san? It's just healing patients."

"Because I'm not Hinata," Sakura narrowed her eyes, "I like interrogating. I like being Ibiki-sensei's only female student. I like working in minimum space. And I like when we're not discussing my job."

Lee laughed lightly, twirling his chopsticks in his goopy meal like a playful child, "How long has it been since you last had a real mission?"

"No comment," Sakura groaned, hiding her eyes with her pink tresses.

She decided to change the subject, "How's Tenten? Still hooked on?"

Rock Lee blushed embarrassingly, waving his hands nervously, "Of course we're still going out! She just left for a mission this morning with Kurenai-sensei and the rest of her team."

"Any more news from the outside world?" she asked interestedly.

Lee scratched his chin, looking suspiciously at her, "Well, Gai-sensei is teaching me a really awesome technique! But I can't tell you, sorry. A set of twins are borne in the Hyuuga Estate. They belong to the Main House, actually. Shikamaru-san is beginning to have an 'eye' for a certain female Sand sibling, if you know what I mean. Gaara-kun is doing quite well as Kazekage at this moment. Yamanaka Ino is dating yet another guy, she seems to be interested in anything that moves," he chuckled.

Sakura nodded, smiling.

"Chouji gained a few more pounds, which makes no difference since he's still the new skinny bishounen in Konoha four years ago. Seems like many of the ninjas I still see around have family news, too. Shino-san's single father who is no longer single is going out with a woman in the Aburame clan. Neji's older cousin, in the Branch House, has been made into a Special Jounin. And I think Kiba-san's sister is pregnant, so soon little Inuzuka babies would be barking around. Hinata-san, like I said before, is Shizume-sempai's pupil in the medical field…"

"Does she still have a crush on Naruto?" the kunoichi asked, grinning with glee.

Lee nodded his head in confused bliss, "No kidding. She is still attracted to him like moths to fire. Of course, Naruto-kun is still dense and oblivious to her feelings. But on her sixteenth birthday, Naruto got her an orange-yellow scarf with the kanji for 'Beauty' to wrap around her hips. You should have seen her face! I didn't see that thing come off her ever!" He broke out into giggles.

Sakura averted her eyes to the side, running her fingers through her long pink bangs. She had been wondering about this for a long time. She never did get to ask.

"How's the old Team Seven? The boys, I mean…" She replied quietly.

Lee smiled gently, noticing her loneliness, "Well Kakashi still regains that mysterious factor in and out of him. He purchased a new Jiraiya wonder book called Mischievous Cloud Nine and still wears that annoying mask of his. You wonder if he ever went out with anyone in fact. And Naruto is still training with the perverted Sennin, from the countless rumors I heard everywhere, I think Naruto-kun was seen in local karaoke night bar with Jiraiya."

Sakura snorted, laughing. She couldn't imagine the blonde chorusing with the Legendary Toad Sennin on mike in front of dozens of occupants who were enjoying an after-work drink or a dance with a date.

"I didn't believe it either…" Lee chuckled, loving the happy expression the pink-haired girl had, "But you know that Naruto-kun would do anything and amazingly, he's never embarrassed."

The girl in front of him nodded slightly. Pain dwelled in her glazed eyes. Lee knew the pain. She had not seen any of her teammates for about a year. He could sense the loneliness greatly.

"Sasuke-san is Anko-sempai's new pupil starting last week. Kakashi had too many missions to teach him any more than Chidori or Sharingan techniques. And he had regained many of his fan girls throughout the years when everyone is beginning to trust the ex-missing-nin. You wouldn't be so surprised when Sasuke still wears black and blue, on the exception of his green Chuunin vest…"

Sakura grinned lightly then changing her smile into a frown.

"You miss them don't you?" Lee whispered.

The female Chuunin looked away again and began to talk quietly, "Miss them? Of course, I do. I really miss them, actually. Before Ino and I made up and restarted our friendship, Kakashi, Sasuke, Naruto, and I have been on missions, eating together, socializing together, training and sparring if Sasuke lets us…" she choked out a soft practiced laugh.

"We were inseparable. Only just two years ago, when Ibiki-sensei came to us in the meeting room, he wanted me to be his student. Oh you should have seen their faces. Sasuke was a little jealous but he was happy for me nonetheless. Kakashi was proud of me but hesitant and Naruto wanted what's best for me. I was so egotistical of myself that I accepted right away before I realized what I had right then. I left all those good times for this…a small office and a cup of crappy coffee…" Sakura closed her eyes, rubbing her temples.

She took a while to reminisce and collect the right words. Lee waited patiently, looking like a perfect psychiatrist.

"And all those mental and Genjutsu training Ibiki-sensei puts me through were exhausting and nerve-exploding. The paperwork I'm in charge of were always there waiting for me every morning, afternoon, and evening that I barely had any sleep or food. I had to stamp, get signed, and file every sheet of paper in every envelope and drawer. It drove me insane sometimes. Everyone in the department knew what I was going through so they decided to lay off me for a while until Ibiki-sensei found out and started drilling me back into a machine…do you have any idea how many tests he puts me through? I had figure out every one of them … every one of them. His questions twists and turns as slippery as live fish. Sometimes the answers are right in front of me, or a new riddle pops up and I had to keep it compacted in my stuffed mind."

Lee nodded a little, scratching his chin, "I heard the sadist had cracked tons of his qualified pupils in weeks, it was quite surprising to many of the shinobis that you kept it up for two years already…"

"Congratulations to me," she muttered sarcastically, crossing her arms and staring sternly at the Genius of Hard Work.

"Did you ever get to torture anyone yet…?" Lee asked, disgusted. Sakura shook her head.

"No, I haven't…" Sakura whispered, staring quietly at the empty cartons of lunch, crumpled napkins, placed chopsticks, and a few droplets of green tea smeared on her neat desk. Lee had a look of relief on his face.

"But…I have to, someday," she murmured making Lee twitch in his stool.

"That is nasty work, you know. Like killing, but much worse…so much worse than assassinating," Rock Lee muttered, standing up and began collecting the take-out cartons and trash, throwing them into the plastic bag he brought along.

Sakura folded her hands in her lap, refusing to look at her guest, "I was still fourteen when Ibiki-sensei told me I wasn't ready for interrogating, and anyway…I asked him why not? He told me I was too weak-minded. I stared at him as if he grew another head…" she chuckled, "I began bursting out saying I was ready, that I was ready for anything! And…he told me of some things that scared me…"

"'When you torture someone,' he said...'You have to hurt yourself also to get what you need. You have to bear the looks of utmost pain and the blood-curdling cries of your prisoners, you hurt yourself thinking you're the victim and sometimes,' from what I heard, 'You're too scared to go through the process. You actually have to dehumanize them from equals into animals or pesky flies. You have to pull the wings off, torturing them slowly and slowly for information. And when you're doing this to them, you're torturing yourself little by little too. Sometimes you go mad too in those chambers, sometimes ending up killing them. And some of them are crafty and can easily control you in the process…' I began to become afraid, began regretting my words and began to release this sort of responsibility, then…"

Sakura began tracing small circles on her thigh with her index finger, "He told me to 'stop being a baby.'" She smiled a little to herself. Lee's thick eyebrows rose up.

"He told me that I should stop being so weak and stop being so childish," Sakura laughed softly to herself, glancing at the very still Lee who was sinking back on to his stool, "I was appalled, first of all, his insulting words came flying out his mouth and he kept pressuring me about everything. I felt immature and…I felt as if I was still this, well, a twelve-year-old girl again." She smiled sadly.

"Sakura-san…I-I t-think…well…you sh—"

"I'm not unhappy if that's what you mean," she smiled gratefully. Sakura rolled her shoulders back and yawned behind the back of her hand, grinning, "I'm just a little tired. I can use a vacation."

Rock Lee beamed, "Good, I'm happy to hear that."

"So! Tell me more about everyone! All the gossip I missed throughout these doggone years! About Ino-chan, Naruto—um—Sasuke, Kakashi-sempai—really a new book! I mean there's got to be some dirt you learned from—"

"Haruno Sakura."

The two Chuunins turned their interrupted attention towards the office door. There stood the two shinobis Kotetsu and Izumo, the Hokage Tower's Special Jounin messengers. Their dark eyes bore into Sakura's emerald ones while ignoring the presence of the Taijutsu Genius who was a little startled at the sudden entrance.

"Yeah that's me," Sakura replied, sitting up straight in her chair.

Kotetsu walked in two steps, with an official summoning scroll in his bandaged right hand. He pulled out the flap and read out loudly.

"We have orders to bring you, Chuunin Haruno Sakura, along with Chuunin Uzumaki Naruto, Chuunin Uchiha Sasuke, and Jounin Hatake Kakashi to the Hokage's Tower Board Meeting Room for an emergency conference with the Hokage-sama herself, a guest, the Scribe Shizume-sempai, and the Hidden Leaf Board of Elders. The meeting requirements are confidential only to the attendees of the meeting and it is strictly important that you serve in this matter. And signed by Tsunade-sama, the Godaime Hokage."

"What's the meeting all about, sir?" Lee asked.

Izumo frustratingly shoved the fine print in front of his face, "'Confidential only to the attendees of the meeting', boy. Haruno-san has to attend, on pain of expulsion from her shinobi title and removal of her Leaf headband symbol. Understood?"

Rock Lee nodded hesitantly, not happy of the disrupted lunch break conversation. The pink-haired girl stood up from her chair, walking around her desk and touched his shoulder. She smiled warmly, touched by Lee's visit.

"Thanks, Lee-san, I owe you one," she whispered. The jumpsuit clad boy nodded and smiled. Sakura turned to Kotetsu and Izumo who was ready to leave anytime.

She walked out of the door, "Let's go."

To Be Continued