Summary/Disclaimer: Time for another chapter of the Merc and the Medic. Enjoy the 2500-word chapter. I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto and a few others do.

(Hidden Leaf Village)

Marmora was up before Sakura. He was more regimented to follow a schedule… Sakura memorized her work day for the hospital and chores, she didn't memorize the rest of her day.

She woke up to a plate of pancakes in front of her with syrup and butter while Marmora munched on cereal at their table.

"Good morning." Marmora said while he finished his food and put the plate away before Sakura blinked at the food.

"You… Made breakfast for me?" Sakura asked, Marmora nodded and washed his dish and utensil.

"You opened your doors to someone who put a crime syndicate on your back. You've been nothing but kind and understanding despite the problems and annoyance I caused you. I would lastly but most importantly, like to point out your willing to teach me your skills for a job. You know such a job would involve killing. Me making you breakfast is literally one of the smallest gestures I could do to repay you." He said with a smile before Sakura blushed at all of the kind gestures he listed. She frowned, he sounded… Like he was mad or disappointed at himself for not doing more for her.

"I… Thank you, but you didn't have to." Sakura said, she turned back to her food and started to eat.

"I wanted to… I also managed to locate one of Kuma's remaining men in the area…. Danuja is coming himself, but sending his bodyguard/enforcer: Yousuke… He's a lot worse than Kuma was or could have been." He said while Sakura wiped off her mouth to make sure that she had no syrup stuck to her face.

"Isn't he a S-Rank Criminal who once tried to poison the Daimyo?" Sakura asked, trying not to raise her voice.

"Yes… Danuja only takes the best. You should know that usually means the worst people." He stated, Sakura continued to chomp on her pancakes before finishing the last one.

"You sure have a very nasty habit of making enemies, Marmora…" Sakura said, Marmora sighed.

"Well, when you're a mercenary, who doesn't want you dead?" He asked, Sakura sighed and took her dish to the sink before washing it.

"Did you want to start training today or tomorrow? I don't want to cut into your job at the hospital… I'd actually like to ask how your directorship came into being." He stated before Sakura hummed and turned towards Marmora.

"I decided to finance it using money from my Jonin jobs… Tsunade named it… It's a lot more than just a hospital for mental conditions… It does deal with regular injuries and such… When I opened it, it gave a lot of medical Ninjas jobs." Sakura said, Marmora nodded before Sakura went to head out of the room and towards her room.

"Is that a no to going training?" Marmora asked before he got up. Sakura locked the door to her room and Marmora blinked before he heard humming and then the doors opened.

Sakura came out wearing a sleeveless red Qipao dress with white trimmings and a white circular design on the back. she wore elbow protectors and a pair of ninja sandals, she had wraps around her right leg and a holster on her leg.

She tightened her gloves while she walked back into the living room.

"Get dressed… I'm not ruining my house clothes for a fight." Sakura said before Marmora nodded and went to go get changed.

(Third Training Grounds, 30 minutes later)

Marmora stretched while Sakura cracked her knuckles.

"I feel bad about this…." Marmora said while Sakura laughed before she looked around.

"It's been years since I've been here…. Man, it brings back memories." Sakura said while Marmora blinked.

"You've trained here?" Marmora asked, Sakura nodded.

"Years ago, with my Sensei… I picked here for the nostalgia…." Sakura said and assumed a fighting stance.

"Oh, I already regret asking for this…" Marmora said and readied himself, Sakura grinned.

"You asked to train… We're going to train." Sakura said before Marmora rushed at her.

He launched into a spinning kick which Sakura blocked with her arms. She slid back before Marmora flipped back and landed in a handstand.

"Water Release: Aqua Salvo!" He yelled as he began to launch water like bombs from his mouth that Sakura backflipped away from.

Every 'water bomb' hit like a train, causing craters every time one hit.

One of them hit in front of Sakura and sent her cartwheeling back.

"How's that? it took me a while but I managed to make my own version of Water Bullets… Still takes a lot out of me…" Marmora asked. He panted for a few seconds before being able to catch his breath.

"Uh… Sakura? I try too hard?" He asked while he tried to locate the Medical Jonin in the smoke.

Sakura lunged forward; her fist wreathed in chakra.

"Oh crap." Marmora said before her fist collided with his cheek, sending Marmora flipping back until he slammed face first into a pole.

"I'm good…" Sakura said, brushing off her hands before Marmora groaned.

"Ow…. Just… Ow…" Marmora said while he climbed to his feet. Sakura saw that he was bleeding from the lip and panting.

"I'm really glad you didn't just make me eat my teeth… Ow, you hit like a damn train…. You really were taught by Lady Tsunade." Marmora said while Sakura smiled.

She frowned while Marmora wheezed and put her hands on her hips.

"Was that too much? I'm not going to keep fighting you if you can't stand, Marmora…" Sakura said, Marmora waved his hand.

"No, I'm good… You know, I heard from some people that you used to think you were a worthless runt from people back in the Chunin exams… I think their all wrong, you're like a rose, your so protective like an angel, yet you have thorns… Sorry, I think your punch knocked my head around a bit." He said while Sakura blushed again.

'did he just?' she thought before Marmora rushed forward again.

Sakura blocked a punch at her chest before kicking at Marmora. He pivoted and grabbed her arm before slamming his right hand on her back in a chop.

Sakura used her free hand to grab his arm before reverse twisting it. Sakura then wrapped her legs around his arm and spun around Marmora, tossing him to the ground.

He spins kicked her while she rushed him, leaping from palm to palm in a handstand.

Sakura recovered and lunged forward. Marmora caught a right hook before she caught his other hand.

"Ok… I might be a Jonin… But your just as good as me at Taijutsu… Actually, I think your better." Marmora said before he tried to headbutt Sakura.

Sakura leaned back before kicking Marmora, throwing him into a pole. Sakura drew her Kunai and threw them at Marmora.

He slammed into the pole before the Kunai pinned the wrists of his training jacket.

Sakura looked at the suspended Mercenary while he panted as a few drops of blood fell from his busted lip.

He grinned and looked through a swollen eye at Sakura who only had a few cuts on her arms and a small bruise on her chin.

"Ok… Your good… Damn, that was fun… Sorry I wanted to use a move I was practicing. I've been trying to get the amount of Chakra right… I used too much." Marmora said, Sakura panted while she walked over and looked at the pinned Ninja.

"Your good… And yeah, that was kind of fun… Sorry for punching you so hard, I guess I'm still working a bit on dialing it back." Sakura said, Marmora chuckled.

"Eh, live and learn…" He said before he blinked.

"Uh… Sakura?" He asked, Sakura blinked as well.

"Yeah?" She asked before Marmora sighed.

"Um… Can you please get me down? You uh… Nailed my wrists so well I can't really move my arms… And if I did, I'd rip my coat…" Marmora said, Sakura crossed her arms and laughed before she nodded.

"Fine… Big baby…" She mocked playfully before she went to pull her Kunai out of the pinned merc's clothing.

(5 minutes later)

Marmora felt Sakura's glowing touch and embarrassingly leaned into it, something Sakura joked at.

Both were eating food; Marmora had packed a sandwich and juice and Sakura rice and water.

"So, how did I do? You impressed yet, coach?" He said and Sakura rolled her eyes again.

"Your skilled, but you need to learn to control your Chakra better… Second, we're learn medical techniques before we sleep… Besides, you're a lot tougher when you're not rushing in… I don't have to babysit you." She teased before Marmora rolled his eyes.

"I got ambushed! What did you expect me to do? Fight off a pair of mercenaries and a guy who used to beat me up….? Then again, I think Kuma might have been just a powerful liar, he died worthlessly and without any fanfare… I think I might have played him up for hype." He stated before he turned to Sakura while his wounds started to heal.

"You, Ms. Haruno, are a much better fighter then the legends I hear…" He said, Sakura blinked.

"How did you know I wasn't much back then?" Sakura asked, Marmora turned to her.

"Well, you said something about it before I said… B. you told me about it just now… I'm not someone who's going to pry at your history… We all have demons lurking in our souls… I mean, not like the Nine Tales and the Hokage, but you get what I mean, right?" Marmora asked, Sakura nodded.

"Hmm… Well, I was like that…. I'm still a bit like that, but I've come a long way from the Sasuke obsessed fangirl I was…." She muttered.

"I… I would like to ask what happened. You don't have to, I'm just curious. I've been thinking about my past, you're the first person like I've said before to not want to kick me in the face for being a merc… Wasn't like I'm super S-rank criminal. They always like to think the worst about mercenaries, like we're kill anyone for enough money…" He said, Sakura held up her hand and slowly turned to look at Marmora.

"I… I've only opened up to Ino and a few others about it." Sakura said and sighed before Marmora went to speak.

Sakura held up her hand again.

"I did love him, and I think some part of me still loves him. He was the first guy I loved; you don't forget your first crush." She said, Marmora nodded and put his hand on her shoulder. Sakura smiled.

"I think after all that we've been through, me endlessly chasing him, trying to change him. I came to the conclusion that it couldn't work. I loved him even after he tried to kill me, I was almost willing to join him on a path of destruction… We talked after the war ended, I forgive him for his crimes. I still can't love him the way I fooled myself, Sasuke will always put his duties, his missions before love. I don't regret all the growing I did for him and my team. I'm not going to just be the support girl of team Seven." Sakura said, Marmora nodded and hummed,

"Hey, it isn't your fault you loved him. I think everyone knows about the Uchiha clan. You're a warrior, Sakura, do you have ANY idea how many decisions I've made back then that I came back to wonder why I did them? I still think my boss who stole from a crime lord was great." Marmora said, he finished his sandwich and turned to her.

"I think one of my former teammates said it the best: 'love is like a waterfall, it's breathtaking and beautiful... But the rapids can smack you around and throw you all the way down...' I think, the guy was kind of insane…" Marmora said, Sakura rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Your team sounds horrible!" She said, laughing hysterically while Marmora rolled his eyes.

"We kind of were. They were better than my crappy parents though, mercs or not. I still consider them family, like you must consider your team. You do have a photo of them." Marmora said, Sakura shrugged.

"You'd probably just fanboy after seeing Kakashi and Naruto." Sakura said, smirking while Marmora elbowed her.

"You know, even if I lost? I did honestly have fun fighting you. I've never been able to go all out. You're a lot tougher than you probably were before." Marmora said, Sakura smiled.

"You're not too bad yourself. I can teach you, but like I said… You're paying half the rent." She said, Marmora turned to the smirking Jonin.

"I got it, Ms. Haruno. You're the boss… Ugh, you're never going to let me live it down that you tutored me, are you?" He asked, Sakura nodded.

"I was beginning to think you hadn't learned anything from last time." They heard and looked up to see Kakashi standing on top of one of the poles with his book.

"Kakashi Sensei!" Sakura yelled, Marmora said nothing.

"I… Do not have any words right now." Marmora said before the Jonin backflipped off the pole and caught his book in his other hand when he landed.

"How long have you been listening to us?" Sakura asked, Kakashi put his book away and walked up to the duo.

"Long enough to see the entire fight and hear everything. Your good at medicine and destroying the battlefield along with your enemy… You're not quiet." He said before he turned to Marmora.

"I'm not a fanboy, I'm just honestly not expecting you to have showed up." Marmora said, he continued to blink and his voice sounded chipped.

"Well, this is the battleground where Sakura failed to get the bells the first time… And the next time had to trick me." He said before he turned to Sakura again.

"I'll talk another time, I have a meeting to go to… Nice to see you again, Sakura." He said and vanished before Marmora blinked.

"I have so many damn questions now." He said, Sakura sighed, smiled and patted him on the head gently while he rolled his eyes and smiled as well.

"C'mon, let's go home… I think we both need to relax…" Sakura said, she helped Marmora up as the pair walked home.

Author Notes

Phew, another chapter done! I want to point out that Sakura is obviously supposed to be better than Marmora in combat as you saw. I also just wanted to add Kakashi because I like him, he's cool. I was trying to show the romance by Marmora and Sakura opening up to each other. Next chapter will be on Saturday or so and will show Marmora and Sakura practicing healing techniques and growing closer.