thank you for the amazing support for the last chapter! hope this one meets your expectations~! also, i'm delighted to announce that this fic HAS FANART! head over to 'Pulling My Weight Sakura' by NinjaPenguinLover on deviantart, or to my account InvincibleShadow to see a beautiful work one of my readers commissioned~ I got a lotta love for y'all 3

"I'd like for you to teach me medical jutsu."

Tsunade laughed, startled but amused. "Damn, kid, I've got to admit, you've got some guts to waltz in here and ask me like this. But the answer is no, so go pester some nurse – maybe she'll be willing to let you oversee her work." she snorted again at the end, but Jiraiya just looked curious.

Sakura straightened her back and squared her shoulders while she tried to ignore how badly that easy dismissal stung. "With all due respect, Tsunade-sama, I must insist on it being you."

This time, Tsunade's eyebrow shot up and some of the earlier amusement melted into intrigue mixed with irritation. "Oh?" she asked, and her smile grew sharp. "By all means, do share with me your justification for such a claim."

The rosette frowned, trying to remember why she was actively arguing with her Hokage. You're doing this for Genma-san. Don't be a wimp.

"Because I believe that I already have the foundations for medical ninjutsu. All I need is a firm hand to guide me." she explained, trying to will the blonde into seeing her side of things. "A firm hand which a nurse on duty may not be able to spare."

Tsunade scoffed. "That's what they all say." she waved Sakura off, but surprisingly elaborated. "All the hopefuls. And then they realise that a very small margin of shinobi has the control that's necessary to be a medic, much less the precision. So tell me, kid, how good is your chakra control?" she asked, clearly challenging the rosette.

Sakura felt her hands go clammy as she tried to remember back to how Neji had referred to it in one of their spars. "My chakra control is in the 95th percentile." she said at last. Seeing how both Tsunade and Jiraiya looked shocked at her declaration, she hastened to add "And I can prove it."

Unable to find a water source in the Hokage's office, Sakura decided that she'd have to improvise. Mind going back to a trick Neji had recently taught her, she began directing her chakra to her arms and legs. The trick in itself was simple – it merely required that the user channel so much chakra at once that it becomes visible.

So, with a frown creasing her brow, but feeling reasonably confident about her success rate, Sakura concentrated on the action she'd spent the better part of a month practising.

Suddenly, right before the Sannins' eyes, a visible blue glow enveloped her arms all the way from the tips of her fingers to her collarbones, and her legs from the soles of her feet to her hipbones. The chakra surrounding her body seemed to buzz, not unlike electrical energy would. She heard Jiraiya's quiet intake of breath and Tsunade's surprised grunt, then cancelled the chakra flow.

Everything was silent for a few seconds as all parties seemed to digest what had just transpired. Then, Sakura broke the silence with her last, pleading appeal. "It's for Genma." She rushed out quickly. "He's done so much for me over the last few months, yet when I w-walked in and found him bleeding out on our couch, I could do nothing. I can't let that happen. If he's not willing to see a medic whenever he gets injured, I'll just have to make sure that a medic can always see him." She swallowed and soldiered on, voicing the thoughts that had led her to march up and make demands of her Hokage in the first place. "I know I can do it. I know I can learn it. My chakra control is good enough, and I have always been a paper-ninja, Tsunade-sama; the theory will come easy. I just- please. All I need is a chance."

She finished, swallowed noisily to wet her suddenly dry throat, and hung her head, screwing her eyes shut as she waited for the inevitable rejection. As such, she missed the encouraging look Jiraiya shot at Tsunade, and the blonde's answering sneer. A few more seconds passed by, then, at last, Tsunade sighed.

"Straighten up, Haruno." She ordered the rosette, and her voice was sharp. She continued only after Sakura obeyed and met her eyes, "How long do you think you'll need?"

When Sakura merely stared at her, confused, Tsunade scowled. "If you're so confident, I want to know how long you think it'll take you to learn the art of a med-nin. Keep in mind that it takes most aspiring medic ninja about three years to get certified."

Sakura blinked as the gears in her head worked overtime to do the maths. "If I were to be completely taken off the mission roster for the duration of my studies then… six months." She announced confidently.

But when all that met her words was silence, the rosette grew worried. "Forgive me, Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama, but… have I done something wrong?"

Tsunade's mouth opened and closed a few times while the look in Jiraiya's eyes had changed from curious to contemplative. At last, Tsunade seemed to collect herself and snorted, hand coming up to rub at her temples. "I can't decide if I'm dealing with a prodigy or a headcase." She groaned, but eventually straightened out and looked Sakura over critically. "Fine. I'll do it. Meet me at the reception at seven in the morning tomorrow."

Sakura froze and stared at her Hokage for a few seconds, uncomprehending. She… she actually agreed? She thought dazedly. Heavens, she AGREED! Then she sank into a deep, ninety-degree bow. "Thank you, Tsunade-sama! I promise I won't disappoint you!"

But Tsunade merely snorted and waved her off. "Show, not tell, kid. Now shoo, you've already caused me a big enough headache." And she watched, amused, as the rosette straightened up and, with a brilliant grin on her face, sprinted out of her office. "And close the door!" she yelled after the retreating figure.

Finally, when the kid was long out of sight and one of her ever-present ANBU kindly shut the door to her office, Tsunade allowed her head to drop on the desk with a groan.

Chuckling, Jiraiya walked over and perched himself on the edge of her desk. "Interesting girl. Isn't she one of Kakashi's?" he asked, lightly patting his old teammate's shoulder.

Tsunade groaned again and swatted at his hand as she sat up, pulling out a hidden bottle of sake as she went. "Yes. No. I don't even know. Apparently there's some bad blood between the two, and Shiranui has essentially been in charge of her progress for longer than Hatake." She shrugged and poured two cups of sake, offering one to Jiraiya.

The Toad Sannin hummed in acknowledgement and sipped at the drink. "What I do find curious is how she didn't once ask for you to teach her your signature move. It was as if she had a one-track mind; medical ninjutsu this, medical ninjutsu that. Does she not know that with chakra control as good as hers, she could very well become your apprentice?" he asked at last, eyes flickering over to gauge the blonde's reaction at his bold claim.

But Tsunade merely nodded, swirling the sake in its cup with a lazy flick of her wrist. "I wondered too. But then again, it is not curious at all." She paused, sighed, and downed the contents of her cup. "I think it's exactly as she said – the only reason she approached me was in order to be able to repay her debt to Shiranui, in a way. On one hand, I am angry that she would become so blinded as to not see her own potenetial, but on the other…" Tsunade paused and downed more sake. "You rarely see that level of devotion anymore."

Jiraiya seemed to absorb her words before he smiled. "Why don't you make them partners then?"

Seeing Tsunade choke on her sake was worth having to run out of the office and dodging the chair she threw after him.

I'm going to be a medic. Tsunade-sama is going to train me. I'll be able to help Genma-san. Tsunade-sama will train me. The Hokage.

These thoughts were running through Sakura's head like a broken record and she couldn't keep the happy grin off her face if she tried. She gave Genma's hospital room a wide berth, still wary of what Tonbo-san had told her about the former's dislike of hospitals. No reason to end her good mood before she's even had a chance to fully enjoy it. Not knowing where to go but not quite willing to go home just yet, Sakura decided to visit the Terrible Twins.

Kami, it's been forever since I've last seen them. I think the last time was… before the mission to Kiri!? It was with that epiphany that Sakura realised that she still hadn't given them the gifts she'd bought while in Kirigakure. They must still be in my bag!

She all but raced down the rest of the stairs leading out of the Hokage Tower and took the rooftop route to her and Genma's house. She was right – Genma's cloak, the twin kodachi for Izumo and Kotetsu, the hairclip for her mother as well as all her books were still in her pack, which had been buried under a pile of clothes and shoved to the farthest corner of her room, out of sight, out of mind. Looking at her room now, Sakura saw weeks' worth of negligence in the mess that had gathered. She resolved to do the clean-up soon, now that she was (hopefully) off the active missions roster for at least a while, and she could spend more time in her room than just the eight hours when she was sleeping, as she had been doing for the last month. But right now, she had presents to distribute!

Sakura decided to drop off Genma's cloak first. Not only would that give her a chance to see how annoyed the tokujo was with her actions, but also see how he was healing. (she also secretly hoped that he would be more inclined to forgive her with the small gift. She tried to convince herself it wasn't bribery, just… convenient timing.)

The way to the hospital didn't take her long at all, nor did finding Genma's room. What took the longest was convincing herself to raise her hand and knock, damn it!

When she finally did, there was no response. Hoping that it meant that Genma was sleeping and not ignoring her, she carefully pried the door open and stepped in. The brunet was laying on the bed furthest from the door with his back was turned to her, but his shoulders were tense and rigid, his breathing far too choppy to be sleeping.

"Genma…san?" she tried carefully, inching further into the room. At the sound of her voice, Genma stiffened and shifted on the bed, but made no move to face her. "How… how are you?" again, she asked tentatively, feeling as if she was walking on eggshells instead of chatting with the man she'd been living with for the better part of three months.

Only silence greeted her words.

Sakura tried not to let the disappointment get to her. Instead, she made her way over to Genma's bed, pulled out the cloak and draped it over him. "I'm glad you're alright." She murmured at last, then turned around and quickly left the room, angrily wiping at the tears that threatened to fall.

She left so quickly that she missed the guilty glance Genma shot after her, as well as his astonished expression when he realised what the material she'd draped over him was.

Suddenly, Genma felt like crying, too.

Sakura found Izumo and Kotetsu in a little teashop off the main street, only because she glimpsed Kotetsu's unruly mess of hair in the window when she was passing by. As soon as she opened the door and walked in, Kotetsu was on her and she found herself swept off her feet and pulled into a bear hug.

"Pinky! You're alive!" the raven cheered, nearly deafening her. There was a soft 'thwack!' and she was suddenly falling the two feet or so till her feet collided with the ground and the shock of the impact send little jolts of pain up her legs.

"Sakura-chan, I apologise for this idiot." Izumo greeted with a smile, lowering his hand, and Sakura belatedly realised he must've slapped his partner upside the head to make him let go. "But we are glad to see you. It has been a while."

Sakura smiled, falling back into an easy rhythm. "It really has, I apologise for that. Tsunade-sama and Genma had me running errands and training till I was basically dead on my feet." She shrugged, shooting them a wry grin.

"Was that the infamous 'month of D-Ranks' you got after saving Genma's ass?" Kotetsu asked, sending her a knowing grin. Sakura paled, her eyes growing wide.

"What- how do you know about that?" she stammered, glancing between the two chunin in confusion.

Kotetsu merely laughed while Izumo shot her an apologetic smile. "I'm afraid we're not the only ones who know. Some jounin like to gossip when off missions, and, well… you did come up a few times." The brunet explained a bit awkwardly, glancing at her to gauge her reaction.

Sakura took a moment to absorb that. "So then… do they know I live with him?" she asked, hoping against hope that that particular piece of information was not common knowledge. At her words, Kotetsu's grin briefly slid off his face, and though it was quickly replaced, Sakura couldn't help feeling as if it was no longer as genuine as before. That was all the answer she needed. She sighed. "As long as nobody says anything unpleasant to him, I don't care if people know." She admitted at last, startled at how true the statement really was. She really didn't care. Genma was a wonderful teacher, an incredible shinobi and a great person to top it all off. So what if they were going through a bit of a 'rough patch' - there was nothing shameful in admitting that she associated with him.

She stared at the ground for a second, thinking things over, and as such missed the startled but pleased glance the duo exchanged over her head. Then, she remembered why she even sought them out at all and perked up.

"Oh! I nearly forgot, I've got something for you!" she exclaimed, drawing two pairs of curious eyes. But then she glanced around and noticed that they were still standing up in the middle of the café. She frowned, "How about we move somewhere else first?"

And so they left the café, unanimously agreeing to go to 'their' training ground instead. The weather was lovely and Sakura listened attentively while Izumo and Kotetsu filled her in on what happened during her month of 'punishment'. Finally, they arrived at the clearing that marked training ground four, and only then did the rosette notice that Kotetsu seemed to almost vibrate with supressed excitement.

The raven grinned when he noticed her looking. "Okay, okay, I'll bite – what is it?" he asked, bouncing on his heels like a little boy. Izumo merely sighed and smiled fondly, clearly all too used to his partner's antics, and Sakura couldn't help the answering fond smile. Digging through her pack, she pulled out the carefully-wrapped twin kodachi and presented it to the duo.

"I bought them when I was in Kiri, but so much happened after I got back that I actually forgot I had them for over a month." She explained sheepishly. She watched how carefully both of them went about unwrapping the swords, then how their eyes widened in disbelief when they finally revealed the kodachi within. For some inexplicable reason, Sakura felt the need to explain herself. "I just saw them in the shop and thought of you, I don't even really know why. I'm sorry if you don't like them, I just-"

She was cut off by two green blurs tackling her in a hug that swept her off her feet. "'Sorry if you don't like them' she dares say." Kotetsu grumbled into her shoulder. "Pinky, we don't like them, we love them." He stressed, and squeezed her hard one last time before letting go, almost at the same time as Izumo.

"He's right, Sakura-chan." The brunet confirmed gently, smiling at her gratefully while carefully wrapping the kodachi back up. "They are really gorgeous weapons. Thank you."

Sakura couldn't help the brilliant smile that appeared on her face as a result of the words. But then, Kotetsu wouldn't be himself if he didn't ruin the moment. "Yeah, yeah, they're pretty, glad that's established, but how about we break them in?"

Eyes going wide, Sakura took a step back. "You mean spar?" she asked curiously, if a bit hesitantly. At Kotetsu's wide grin and answering nod, Izumo raised his hand up with a resigned smile.

"I'm going to opt out. Still not feeling a hundred percent after that last mission." He announced and perched himself on the edge of the clearing, studiously ignoring Kotetsu's muttered 'wimp'. Instead, the raven turned to her, his grin turning devious.

"Well? What do you say, pinky?" he teased, waggling his eyebrows. Sakura frowned, pulling off her backpack and digging through it; when her fingers closed around a familiar scroll, she let out a victorious cry and produced the scroll with most of her weapons sealed within it. Unsealing her naginata, she threw her pack towards Izumo and settled across from Kotetsu in a comfortable stance.

"Well?" she demanded, smirking when Kotetsu seemed slightly dumbfounded. "What are you waiting for?"

Unfortunately, it didn't take the raven long to snap out of it and rush at her, his teasing grin returning full force. They met in a clash of metal on metal, Sakura's naginata bearing down on Kotetsu's kodachi with its sheer size, but the raven matched each of her strikes with ease, grin never fading. They traded blows back and forth, but the spar was largely at a stalemate. That is, until Kotetsu jumped back and hollered "I think it's been sufficiently broken in, don't you think?" when Sakura merely narrowed her eyes, he sealed the kodachi in a scroll she hadn't even seen him pull out and called out; "How about we get serious?" then proceeded to pull out a weapon that made Sakura's eyes widen in disbelief.

"You can't be serious!" she shrieked when a mace almost twice her size appeared in Kotetsu's hands. That'll squish me like a fly! She wanted to scream but found that she had no time to do so as Kotetsu was already swinging the mace over his head and bringing it down over her head. Sakura barely managed to backflip out of the way, feeling the ground shake with the force of the impact as the mace embedded itself exactly where she had been standing barely a second earlier.

Seeing the split-second window of opportunity and knowing that it may be the only one she'll get in a while, the rosette jumped forward and into Kotetsu's personal space, angling the blade of her naginata towards his side in a downward arc.

She wasn't surprised when her attack was easily parried with a kunai, but she wasn't deterred either; she merely reversed her grip and swung the hilt of the weapon towards the soft meat of Kotetsu's stomach, hoping to at least make him winded. Her strike connected at the same time as something hard and heavy barrelled into her, sending her flying a good ten metres away from the raven. She lay still for a few seconds, her vision swimming and her head pounding from where she'd hit it on the ground. She briefly registered Izumo yelling at his partner from the sidelines, but her sluggish brain refused to translate exactly what was being said.

At last, she came to enough to register that she was on her hands and knees, with her back turned to Kotetsu who was clutching his stomach a good thirty feet away from her and glaring at Izumo. Sakura took a deep breath, wincing when the movement alerted her to the fact that her ribs were most likely bruised, but she could still fight.

Feeling a vindictive sense of motivation, Sakura flashed through a handful of seals she hadn't needed to use in a while, nodding to herself in satisfaction once she felt the telltale chakra shift of the jutsu taking effect. She pushed herself to her feet, wincing when her back throbbed painfully in protest.

"The fact that you can control that goddamn mace even when it's away from you should be illegal." She grouched, effectively cutting off the arguing duo.

"Sakura!" Izumo exclaimed, materialising at her side in an instant. "I don't think you should continue – that hit could've damaged your back quite badly and-!"

"If you think," Sakura interrupted, raising a hand up to stop Izumo from protesting further, "that I'm just going to let him threw me around like a ragdoll, then you really don't know me at all, Izumo-san." She replied, though she sent the brunet a grateful smile. "Thank you for worrying, though. It was very sweet of you." She then hefted her naginata and shot Izumo a meaningful glance, smiling wider when his eyes widened as he saw through the genjutsu.

It took a few seconds longer, but at last, Izumo nodded, sent her a thumbs-up and sat back down at the sidelines.

Sakura turned back to Kotetsu, on whom the illusion still seemed to be holding strong, and grinned when she noted he looked hesitant.

"You feeling okay, pinky?" he asked with a hint of worry in his voice, and the rosette mimicked one of Genma's lazy smirks.

"Okay enough to kick your ass." She shot back, grinning widely when the raven did a doubletake at her words.

But his surprise didn't last long, and soon she was faced with another one of those obnoxious grins. "So, throwing you around unlocks a trash-talking level. What's next? Talking me to death? Drowning me in tears?" he teased, and instead of replying, Sakura jumped forward, naginata raised high in the air.

Her illusion was simple really – an area-effect genjutsu, only that she'd minimised the area to the surface of her naginata, and used it to reverse its ends. That simply meant that when Kotetsu saw the blunt end coming towards him, it would in fact be the sharp blade in real life, and vice versa. She wasn't counting on any of her hits actually making contact, but she was hoping that it would distract Kotetsu enough that she could slip under his guard again.

When she was close enough to the raven, she swung the blunt end of her naginata towards his knee, reassured that her illusion was still working when Kotetsu brought out a kunai to parry it, instead of simply pushing it away. She stopped the swing before it had a chance to make contact, as that would no doubt throw off her genjutsu, and instead swung he real sharp end towards his unguarded right shoulder. She noticed Kotetsu's confused frown before it morphed into panic as he blurred into motion, one hand snapping up into the 'kai' seal while another snatched up his tanto from his belt and raised it to parry Sakura's naginata.

But the rosette had other plans. For the second time in the span of a few seconds, she let the swing go before it had a chance to make contact. In fact, she let go of her entire weapon altogether and jumped straight into the free space right in front of Kotetsu. She dropped low on her bent legs and stepped forward, her arm outstretched and her palm perpendicular to the ground, and then, in perfect mimicry of the Hyuuga she'd been spending a lot of her time with recently, drove her palm straight into Kotetsu's solar plexus.

The raven bent over, wheezing for breath and Izumo was at his partner's side in an instant, calmly telling him to straighten up and take deep breaths and goddamn Ko, you should know better than this.

Sakura felt ever so slightly guilty, but that feeling was quashed when she felt a familiar chakra signature enter their training field. Instead, she froze over, sending a panicked glance at the chunin duo who met her eyes with equally surprised expressions.

"Kid? You here?" Genma's familiar voice called out, and a second later the tokujo himself stepped into the clearing. "Ah," he exclaimed when his eyes fell on the rosette and the duo behind her, before he smiled sheepishly. "sorry to interrupt, I just, uh, I just wanted to apologise."

That was enough for Sakura to do a double-take. "Apologise?" she parroted incredulously. "What for? And shouldn't I be the one apologising? I dragged you to the hospital when you clearly didn't want to go. If anything, I'm the one at fault."

Genma moved closer to her, shaking his head. "No, no, it was about time I got over myself. Do you remember what you told me when Raidou and I landed in the hospital that time? Do you remember what I promised you?"

Sakura raked her eyes over the brunet's face at the same time as she wracked her mind for the memory of what Genma was talking about. When she finally got it, her eyes widened in disbelief and she nearly gasped at the tentative smile the tokujo shot her.

"Yeah, well," he began awkwardly. "I fully intent on keeping that promise."

Before she could stop herself, Sakura launched herself into Genma's arms, squeezing tightly and burrowing her face into his chest, feeling a smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. Genma's arms came round her and squeezed just as tightly, and she heard him murmur, "I'm sorry for being an asshole. And- thank you. For the cloak. And everything else, really." Sakura thought she also heard a weird shutter-like noise, but she dismissed it and instead merely squeezed tighter.

When they finally disentangled themselves, Genma wasted no time in turning around to face Kotetsu and asking, "Why did you look so constipated when I came over?"

Sakura burst out laughing while Kotetsu squawked indignantly and pointed an accusatory finger in her direction. "Because your goddamn kid decided to go all Hyuuga on my ass!" he screeched, ignoring Izumo's murmured 'Kami-sama why me?'

Genma raised an eyebrow and turned to Sakura for an explanation, but the rosette merely grinned. "I've been spending some time with Hyuuga Neji recently – he's been surprisingly helpful."

The tokujo took one look at his charge then shook his head, resigned. "I don't even want to know. Now c'mon, we're going home."

Sakura noticed Izumo and Kotetsu exchange a meaningful look behind her back, but she ignored it; her mind was still viciously stuck on the words 'we' and 'home'. She couldn't help herself – she beamed and skipped over to Genma's side, linking her arm through his.

"Let's go!" she chirped, waving over her shoulder to Izumo and Kotetsu and studiously ignoring their astonished expressions.

Genma merely chuckled at her enthusiasm, but he didn't make any attempts to shake her off.

They were okay.

However, when they got to Genma's apartment, there were two things waiting for them there – one was an envelope on the doormat, Sakura's name written in elegant script and Kirigakure's signature insignia in the corner. The other was a teen from the Genin Corps, a formal-looking letter in his hands.

"Ah, Haruno-san." The man greeted, holding the papers out towards her. "Your house has been rebuilt. You can move back in now." Then he disappeared in a puff of smoke and a swirl of leaves.

Sakura's blood ran cold.

She followed Genma into his flat, her gaze fixed on the documents in her grasp but her eyes were unseeing. Genma shut the door then glanced down at her, his expression unreadable, but at last he sighed and offered what Sakura guessed was meant to be a smile but turned out looking more like a grimace.

"Do you need help packing?" he asked, and the rosette froze.

She stared at the letter, at what it entailed, but the prospect of moving back into her old family home – emptycoldalone – had completely lost its appeal for her. More than that, Sakura realised – she didn't want to move.

"Kid?" Genma asked, a hint of worry creeping into his voice.

"I…" Sakura trailed off, unsure how to proceed. Second passed in silence and Genma's frown only grew.

"Sakura?"

It was like a dam had burst; "I don't want to leave!" Sakura cried, feeling her eyes sting with the promise of tears as her lower lip trembled dangerously. "I don't want to move back, I want to stay here, I want to-! Mmpf!"

The last of her words was cut off when she was unceremoniously pulled into Genma's arms for the second time that day and squeezed. "That's a damn relief," the tokujo mumbled from above her, his voice suspiciously scratchy. "'cause I was just thinking that I don't want you to leave either."

Sakura pulled back to look up at the brunet, though she didn't disentangle herself completely from the hug. "You'll let me stay? Really?" she asked disbelief and hope in equal parts evident in her gaze.

The tips of Genma's ears tinged red. "Of course, kid." He grumbled, then pulled away, gesturing wildly. "Now stop with this, I'm sure we've exceeded our hug quota for the entire year." He pointed at the envelope still clutched in Sakura's hands while he took the property papers away from her. "What's that?"

Instead of answering, Sakura tore the envelope and turned it upside-down. A small, metallic plate with the Kirigakure insignia on it and a letter tumbled out. The rosette bent down and picked both up, a slight tremble in her hands, then unfolded he letter.

She gasped.

"It's from Chōjūrō!"

aaaaaaand cliffhanger again! ;) hope you liked it! as always, if you have any comments or questions, don't hesitate to drop them in a review!