Summary/Disclaimer: Time for another chapter of the Merc and the Medic. Enjoy the 2000-word chapter. I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto and a few others do.

(Hidden Leaf Village)

Marmora turned to Sakura, clearly nervous. He hadn't expected to be talking to Sakura's friends… Not her best friends, not so soon.

"Hi…" He said while Sakura rolled her eyes and cleared her throat.

"He's shy, I was just showing him around like I said… He's from Amegakure." She stated while Marmora playfully elbowed her.

"Maybe because I didn't expect to meet such Legendary Shinobi, Ms. Haruno… I'm sorry, all of the ninja in Konohagakure are pretty big deals back home… You go there, your get crowds of people talking about all of you." Marmora said and then he turned his head.

"Also Ms. Haruno forgets that I'm not going to be able to help pay her bills if she keeps downplaying me… That hurts…" He said and Sakura elbowed Marmora before he rubbed his arm playfully.

Ino noticed the slight familiarity with each other. They might not be fully attracted to each other, there was still signs of a bond.

"So, your living together, hmm? You didn't tell us that you had a roommate, billboard brow." Ino said with a smirk before Sakura turned, embarrassed and blinked at not only being caught off guard, but the use of her former insulting nickname.

She knew Ino would never use it to insult her, however.

"He's paying half my…. I don't have to explain my decision to you, INO PIG! We are living together, I asked if he would like to live with me since he has nowhere else to go, it's called showing hospitality!" Sakura yelled and Marmora chuckled before Sakura elbowed his arm and he grunted in pain.

"It was nice to meet you, Marmora, be sure to drop by my shop if you need any supplies… We're leave you both for now, hope you have a nice stay here." Ten-Ten stated with a bow before Marmora blinked and took a moment before he returned to the gesture.

"Thank you, Ms. Ten-Ten, I will… I was meaning to stop in while I was here… Heard nothing but praise for your weapon making skill." He stated with a smile before the trio started to walk away. Marmora realized that Choji had stayed silent throughout the entire talk. He mentally shrugged at this.

Sakura turned to him with anger while Marmora smiled.

"Don't. Say. A. word…" Sakura hissed, jabbing her finger into his chest and he shrugged.

"You 2 seem like you argue all the times… What? You said no secrets, I wasn't going to lie to your friends." He said and Sakura continued to glare at him.

"I heard Ino has a great floral shop. I've also heard about Ten-Ten's shop… Much better weapons then the weapons where I come from… Then again Amegakure is good at underwater operations and assassinations…. And their short tempers." He said, Sakura elbowed him again.

"I hate you sometimes… But yes, Ino does make such wonderful flowers, it's been in her family in years. We were friends. We are friends, we've been friends since…" She started to say before Marmora hummed.

"You were kids? I can tell, I started making friends when I was in training. I'm glad I got to meet her; I might swing in to say hi when I get a job here… I have no idea what job that is, but I'll get one… Hmm, I actually think I might become a hunter nin." He said, Sakura turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"You could be a teacher, a fruit vender, a courier. A bodyguard… And you want to be a rouge ninja assassin? Your something else." Sakura stated before Marmora elbowed her playfully.

"One, I don't know what people eat around here, I know where the Hokage eats… I'm sure everyone knows that Ramen store. Second, a courier does nothing but run mail back and forth, that's fine, but I don't think it makes enough money. third? You know how many people I've bodyguarded? You have to put up with people you don't like, have to make yourself look spruced up at gatherings…" He said before Sakura held up her hand.

"A Hunter Nin literally hunts and kills rouge ninja and then erases their body so they never existed. You would need both assassination skills, fine, you got them…." She said before she rolled her eyes and smirked.

"But you also need medical training to be effective… And you don't have it, you would have needed it for when you got hurt and all that." Sakura said, Marmora sighed and brought a hand to his face.

"You have to make everything difficult… Ugh, I'll make you a deal, if I can go the entire week, the entire week without messing up… A list of chores you made." He said while he started walking away from Sakura before turning to her.

"You have to teach me the skills to apply for the job… Sakura, I don't like having to play 'carry the head around' but I'm not that much good at regular work. I'll try those jobs… If they don't work out, can you at least consider tutoring me to learn to be a hunter ninja?" He asked, Sakura turned to the side while sighing.

The Hunter Ninja bothered her, they reminded her of…. No, Sasuke had chosen his path. He was away on missions and Sakura chose her duties as a medic and to pass on Tsunade's teachings.

"I… we're talk about it tomorrow. We need to get to the market; we've been here for long enough." Sakura said, Marmora nodded and let Sakura lead him towards the market.

"I've been meaning to ask, what happened to Lady Tsunade after the war? I know she's stepped down as Hokage, but not much else." He asked. Sakura opened up her bag and put a can of soup into it, she started to put fruits like apples and grapes, berries and then more soup and water.

"She's been hanging around town and helping to keep Naruto in line… Not many people can keep his eye on the ball…" Sakura said and hummed while she looked over a peach before she put it away.

"I wonder if their doing ok at the moment. I'm still wondering about the issue…" He muttered while Sakura paid the merchant and smiled.

"I'm sure he's fine… He's very busy at the moment." Sakura stated, Marmora nodded and walked back towards Sakura's home with her.

"Well, I don't envy him… Least he's better than Hanzo. All I heard about him was fear and suffering… Then again, Pain was another type of leader for our village." He said, Sakura turned to him and he said nothing.

He knew what Pain had done, the Amegakure had cried out for retribution after he had killed Hanzo.

"You left town because you wanted a new job if I remember?" Sakura asked, trying to steer the topic back out of awkwardness.

"Hmm. I believe I can't escape my past." Marmora muttered while he turned to look at her and the basket she was holding.

"I can carry your groceries if you want." He said, Sakura shook her head and smiled.

"I can carry them… But thank you. Your get this guy off your back, it isn't your problem to deal with, though. Dagger is the reason that you've gotten a target painted on your back." She said while Marmora folded his hands behind his back.

"Dagger might be a bit trash, but he's the closest thing I've had to a father, Sakura. I might hate his garbage plans and schemes, but I can't forget all the nice things he and the rest of the group did… I'm sure you can relate?" He asked, Sakura blinked and looked down.

She remembered stringing Naruto along to make sure that nobody hurt Sasuke, her lies and deceit… Her decision to throw everything away for her obsessive crush on Sasuke.

But Team Seven was always her family, she had photos of them as a group. She cherished those memories.

"Yes… I can." Sakura said with a smile, he sighed and put a hand near his shoulder. She turned to him but didn't stop him from putting his hand on her shoulder.

"We've both dealt with a lot of losses. You seem like you used to be angry a lot, but mellowed over the years. I'm a hired blade, I've seen a lot of death, Sakura… I don't want to live my life seeing a lot more." He said before both arrived at Sakura's front door. He pushed the door open with his shoulder and then held it open while Sakura smiled and walked inside.

Marmora and Sakura kicked off their shoes and put them down next to the door while Marmora opened the cabinets.

"I'll get some tea made, you want your usual?" He asked and Sakura nodded before she set the groceries down on the counter.

"I'm going to watch tv, you want to watch it." Sakura said and Marmora nodded and started to help Sakura put the groceries back away.

"I'm surprised technology has advanced after the war so much. i remembered when people were surprised, we had rebreathers." Marmora said before Sakura sat down on the sofa.

He sat down next to her before Sakura absentmindedly stretched her legs out and her feet hit Marmora's legs. She blinked and Marmora looked at her feet and he shrugged.

"Comfy? You still mad at me for joking around talking to Ino?" He asked, Sakura blushed and then smiled while the duo turned their heads back to the tv while Sakura turned it on.

"I enjoyed today." Marmora said, Sakura turned to her friend and smiled.

"I'm glad to hear it. I enjoyed talking with you, I was wondering when we'd bump into Ino and the others..." Sakura stated before Marmora turned towards her.

"Sakura?" He asked and the medical Jonin turned to him with amusement.

"Hmm?" She asked and Marmora looked to the side nervously.

"Will you… Allow me to live here with you….?" He said, whispering most of it.

"I'm sorry?" Sakura said before Marmora cleared his throat.

"I would… Like to live here with you…. As your roommate… If that's ok with you. I enjoy going around town here with you. You know the town better than I do. I know it's only been a few days… But I am enjoying living here. I don't really know where else to go?" Marmora said, he turned to look to the side.

"I understand if you think its sudden and early or…" He started to say before Sakura turned to him.

"Ok, that's fine." She said, Marmora raised an eyebrow.

"I like the company; I've been dealing with work and I like the talking… But our rules still stand, I pay for the house… You can make some rules when you get a job... Deal?" Sakura asked, Marmora blinked and went to open his mouth.

"Deal… Thank you, I'm glad I got that off my chest." He said and both started watching tv.

"It was still funny watching you get caught off guard by Ino." He said and Sakura started kicking his arm and both started to laugh.

"Your terrible, your just terrible…" Marmora heard Sakura said in-between laughs.

"You said no lies… I'm not lying…" He said and both looked at each other.

"We can deal with those mercs tomorrow…." Marmora said before Sakura nodded and they turned to the tv set.

Author Notes

Phew, another chapter done! I want to point out that Marmora isn't supposed to be super best friends with Sakura. Both are partners for now. Next chapter will be on Tuesday or so and might be a bit shorter, but will begin the romance and show Dagger and Danuja and then after that will be Sakura and Marmora training. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!