hello! as always, thank you very much for the lovely feedback for last chapter! before we begin, i have a couple of notices:
a) this is the last chapter to come out before i start exams - expect the next one late-may to mid-june
b) yes, the anbu in the last chapter were danzo's ROOT division
c) no, i have not forgotten about them, they will be dealt with in the next chapter. this one is a lighthearted filler reunion chapter, so expect a lot of fluff and snuggles
d) yes, the artist in the last chapter was Sai
e) no, i have not forgotten about him either - he and his situation will also be addressed in the next 1-2 chapters
f) the whole Ao-has-a-Byakugan situation was not, in fact, a cheeky plot-twist from me. he is actually a canon character with a stolen Byakugan, i just revealed it a lot sooner than in the manga
g) yuki-san, however, who makes a reappearance in this chapter, is an OC of mine. if you can't recall him, reread the Mist chapter (he's the hunter-nin)
that's it!
thank u very much for your continued support for this story and i hope you enjoy this installment!
When Sakura came to, she was laying on something that felt as soft as clouds, far softer than the rock she recalled falling asleep on, and she sighed –
–then promptly shot up, her eyes snapping open. Her world spun and her eyes stung with the brightness of the room but she blinked through the tears and the nausea and tensed, her muscles' protests going ignored.
Chōjūrō wasn't beside her. She couldn't see him.
Instead, there were three figures standing by the foot of her bed, their gazes trained upon her.
Sakura pulled her lips back in a snarl. "Where's Chōjūrō?!" She demanded, her voice dry and hoarse but her point crystal clear. She glared at the three people by her bed – enemies, her mind whispered – her gaze flickering from the tallest figure, a man who stood at over six foot and took up most of the space, still somehow dwarfing the equally tall, scarred man beside him and the petite blonde who stood a little apart from the two but who Sakura easily dismissed as a threat. "I said, what did you do to Chōjūrō?!" She snarled, her throat burning as her vocal cords strained, but she paid it little heed.
Sakura was vaguely aware that her chakra was rolling off of her in angry, violent waves, nothing like the precise intent she used to be able to radiate before. She saw the smallest of the figures freeze, her eyes going wide, but the other two remained largely unaffected and Sakura wanted to scream.
And then, the door to her room was wrenched open and Chōjūrō hurried through, a paper gown sliding off one shoulder and a hanger with a sack of clear fluid trailing behind him, the wheels squeaking with every step.
"Sakura!" The bluenette called and covered the distance between the door and her bed in three long strides, climbing in beside her and grabbing her hand.
"Chōjūrō!" Sakura almost sobbed with relief, gripping the hand holding her own tightly and letting her body slump into the swordsman's arms. "You're here, you're alright."
"I'm fine, we're safe, Sakura, we did it! We're in a hospital, we're safe, we're back in Leaf!" The teen babbled and the rosette pried her eyes open, the fog slowly clearing from her mind.
"Safe?" She mumbled hesitantly, looking around, then, "Hospital?"
Slowly, things started making sense. The walls of her room were white, the bedsheets too. The drip Chōjūrō was attached to was an IV and the machine hooked up to her own body was a heart monitor that beeped steadily. Her right leg was encased in a thick white cast and completely immobile, and Sakura couldn't even feel it.
"Y-yeah," the bluenette affirmed, and the return of the stutter made something warm bloom in Sakura's chest. "We're safe."
And then, Sakura chanced another glance at the three others in the room with her. The redhead she'd initially tagged as the greatest threat was familiar, as was the raven haired man beside him. The girl–!
Sakura's heart ached.
"Chouza-sama, Shikaku-sama... Ino." She greeted slowly, eyes flickering from each face. "I'm-!" sorry, she wanted to say. I'm sorry. But the words wouldn't come, didn't sound genuine. Because truly, she wasn't sorry – in fact, even now, a small part of her mind was screaming at her to eliminate the threat and protect her and Chōjūrō at all cost because Chōjūrō was hers and everyone else was an enemy. "I didn't recognise you." She settled on at last.
(She adamantly didn't think of the fact that Ino looked terrified, did not think what her Killing Intent had shown the girl.)
Shikaku waved her off, though his eyes were sharp. "We figured, Sakura-chan."
"And the -sama is unnecessary." Chouza added with a smile, his eyes forming little creases that reminded Sakura of someone else (silver Hair, mask, same eye-creasing smile, resentmentangerbitterness-!)
"How did we-?" How did we get here? She wanted to ask, but then the memories started flooding in.
Genma.
"Where's Genma?" She corrected, changing tracks instantly after the realisation settled in, only just realising who was missing, who had never been missing before when she'd woken up in hospitals. And she distinctly recalled Genma being the one to find them and bring them back.
Along with... Kakashi? No, that's not possible.
To her surprise, Chouza smiled. "I sent Genma-kun home." He admitted, and Sakura snapped to attention. "He was exhausted and he refused to leave your bedside for two days straight so I invoked my powers of old jounin sensei and sent him off. Would you like to see him?" He explained kindly, and Sakura nodded before something stood out to her.
"Genma is too stubborn by half to do something when you tell him to, especially when he doesn't want to." She observed bluntly, her gaze momentarily flickering to Shikaku when he smirked. "What did you do?" She accused, and Chouza, instead of being offended, merely laughed heartily.
"You know my old student well." He complimented, but Sakura wasn't appeased and it must've shown on his face because the Akimichi capitulated. "I may have threatened that I'd tell my more exuberant student that Genma had been neglecting his wellbeing. It worked like a charm during their genin days and it worked like a charm now."
Sakura blinked slowly, taking that in. "Green-jumpsuit-wearing man." She said at last, unable to remember the name.
Chouza laughed and even Shikaku snorted, before the Akimichi made to leave. "Yes, it is indeed Gai-kun. I'll go fetch Genma-kun now."
Once she was alone with the Nara Head and Ino, another realisation settled in and Sakura sat up, pulling out of Chōjūrō's arms in alarm. "Shikamaru-! Is he alright? Did he and Ao get here safely? Was he injured? Can I see him?" she shot off, only stopping when Shikaku raised his hand in a placating gesture, though Sakura noted a shadow that seemed to pass over the man's face at the mention of his son.
"Shikamaru is fine. Him and Ao got here a week before you and Chōjūrō -san, though an… issue arose in the meantime, which my son is currently dealing with." Came the answer, and Sakura narrowed her eyes.
That sounds awfully evasive.
Just as she was about to demand more precise information, the door to her room opened and Genma came through. Sakura sat up, feeling a smile bloom on her face as she opened her arms, rejoicing when the same smile was reflected by the brunet.
(she barely noticed Chōjūrō slide off the bed and step away, or Shikaku motion to Ino that they should leave. Genma was here. She was safe. Everything else could wait.)
When Genma finally covered the last scarce metres that separated him from Sakura's hospital bed, the rosette didn't let him settle for anything less than a full-on hug, tugging the tokujo down until he had to sit on her bed or risk losing his balance and sprawling on the floor. She was glad when he chose the former, and scooted over to make room for the brunet to fit. Hospital beds weren't meant for two people, after all.
She let Genma wrap his arms around her and pull her head to his chest, and did the same, surprised but touched when she felt the breath that left him shake slightly in relief. Sakura squeezed tighter, holding on, using the touch to ground herself, to comfort, to assure herself that everything really was alright now.
Eventually, they pulled away, and Sakura smiled, though it quickly dimmed when she realised Genma was adamantly not meeting her eyes. "Is everything alright?" she asked at last, more than a little puzzled.
"Yeah, it's fine, don't worry, I'm glad to see you're feeling better." The tokujo replied, and though his smile was genuine, his eyes were trained a good inch to the left of Sakura's.
"Then why won't you look me in the eyes?" she replied, feeling when he stiffened slightly and felt sharp tendrils of fear and hurt wrap around her heart and squeeze. "And don't lie to me." She added, her voice shaking slightly.
That at least seemed to do the trick and Genma's eyes widened before they finally met hers. What she saw in them was… worrying. There was surprise, worry, but also guilt and… disappointment? "I'm not-!" he began, then sighed, clearly aggravated, and ran a hand through his hair which was, for once, suspiciously free of its bandana. "It's my fault you're here, don't you understand? That you're in this state." He gestured vaguely at her torso and legs which were covered by the hospital issue blanket, before he buried his head in his hands.
Sakura blinked a few times, completely thrown, then, she got angry. "Your fault?!" she parroted incredulously, swatting Genma upside the head. "Genma, you idiot, it's thanks to you that I'm here, and it's thanks to you that I am even alive! I don't think either of us would've been able to keep going much longer if you and Kakashi hadn't come when you did. So get out of here with this guilty bullshit!"
Slowly, Genma raised his head to look at her, and the look in his eyes was torn between tentatively hopeful and amused. Then, the hope seemed to solidify and he smirked. "Mind your language." He chided, but both of them knew it was a weak attempt at lightening the atmosphere than an actual telling off. So Sakura grinned and stuck out her tongue and proceeded to pull the tokujo onto the bed so they were both leaning comfortably against the ridiculously overstuffed pillows.
"But seriously, Gen," Sakura murmured once they both settled into an almost dozing state, the shortened name slipping out completely against her will but as an apt testament to her fatigue. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. So thank you, and don't you dare ever feel guilty about this again. And you'll have to tell me what you did to rope Kakashi into coming-" a yawn cut her off, and she cuddled further into the brunet, "but not today." She added decisively. "Today, we sleep."
And she dozed off in a matter of seconds, making Genma laugh slightly before he too closed his eyes and relaxed for the first time in what felt like years.
"Are you alright?" Shikaku asked the teenager beside him, noting that his best friend's daughter had been unusually silent since they left the hospital.
"Yeah, it's just... Was that really Sakura?" Ino asked and Shikaku paused briefly, not having expected that question. But it seemed Ino didn't actually require his input and just barrelled on. "We used to be friends. She was always the shy, awkward Sakura with a heart bigger than her forehead... but in there, when she woke up, I didn't recognise her, Shikaku-oji. And she scared me." The blonde admitted at last, and suddenly Shikaku understood.
"Was it what she showed you that was the problem?" He asked carefully, somehow knowing the answer even before Ino opened her mouth to reply.
"She showed me my death. Her killing me, more precisely." Ino said starkly, and Shikaku inwardly laughed when he remembered Inoichi's despair at his daughter's bluntness. "But it was the look in her eyes and the fact that although she didn't recognise you, even though she was bed-bound, and even though she clearly booked you and Chouza-oji as a threat, and she was fully prepared to fight you. That's what scares me. Because in that situation, I would've panicked, tried to ask help, get on your good side. But Sakura looked ready to kill you."
Shikaku sighed, wondering why he was suddenly assigned to play the psychologist. This is Inoichi's job, damn it. "People grow up at different rates, Ino-chan." He reassured her quietly, scratching at the scar that ran across his temple. "Their experiences also shape their approach to life. It just so happens that your friend has had a couple of really close scrapes and come out of situations she probably shouldn't have survived, so her outlook changed. You might be better off talking to your dad about that, though I don't know how much patient confidentiality will let him tell you."
Ino nodded, a small nostalgic smile pulling on her lips. "I'll ask dad. Because Shikamaru changed too. And I'm... jealous, I guess. Both of them seem miles ahead of the rest of us Rookies."
Shikaku's lips pulled into a frown when Ino mentioned his son. "I wouldn't envy them too much, Ino-chan. Competence in times of peace comes at a steep price."
Ino sent him an odd look at that, but he almost didn't notice it. He knew she had every right to be puzzled at the rather ominous statement, but he also knew he was right.
His mind went back a few months. He thought of the Shikamaru who graduated the Academy, forever unmotivated, lazier than even the average Nara and unwilling to expend even minimally more effort than absolutely necessary. He skipped a few months, thought of the boy crying in the waiting room of the hospital, unsure if his friends would make it, but whose posture, despite the stress, had changed in a way that only monumental success allowed. He thought of what he'd said then, how crushed and defeated his son had looked, how betrayed. He thought of the jokes Shikamaru had shared with the pinkette during the dinner at Inoichi's, how he had sobered when Ino asked the question about Sakura's parents, how his eyes had darkened and how his hand had instinctively twitched towards his kunai pouch. Even then, he was miles away from the teen who'd graduated the Academy, and Shikaku had marvelled at the steel in his son's gaze, but ultimately dismissed it as protectiveness.
(little did he know that was barely the tip of the iceberg.)
And then he thought of the boy he saw a week ago, the boy who walked out of the T&I cell, the boy who could no longer really be called a boy. He thought of the shadows under his son's eyes, the steely glint in the dark pools so similar to his own, the determined curl to his lips even when the line of his shoulders spoke of exhaustion far beyond simple physical fatigue. He thought of the silence that followed his son, of the Hyuuga and Mist representatives sending him an assessing look before dispersing. He thought of what that meant.
He thought of two days previous, of the first time he'd been able to see his son for more than five minutes at a time, and the first words exchanged between them were "Is Sakura okay?"
He'd felt angry then though he tamped it down – Shikamaru's first thought upon being let out should've been for himself or for his family, not for the pinkette, but then he bit his tongue. There was a desperation in Shikamaru's gaze, something which hadn't been there before, an urgency that Shikaku seldom saw.
"I don't know." He'd found himself replying. "I heard she had to have intensive surgery for one of her injuries."
A pained look crossed Shikamaru's face but it was wiped clear almost before Shikaku could really marvel at its appearance. "I'd visit her, but they're not letting me out yet." He explained, then sighed and forced a slightly more cheerful expression onto his face. "But how are things with you, dad? Is mom nagging you extra now that she can't get to me?" and while Shikaku would've normally smirked then proceeded to tell his son to be more respectful of his mother's wishes, he couldn't quite bring himself to do so this time.
He sighed and lightly pulled at his son's ponytail, "We've been alright. We'd both like you back home, though."
And Shikamaru's façade crumpled, revealing how much he wished for the same thing. But then, a chunin popped out from the doors to T&I, calling out a haggard, 'Nara-san!'
"Yeah?" Both father and son turned around and wow isn't that new Shikaku wondered even as the chunin floundered.
"Ah, the younger Nara-san." He corrected awkwardly, and when Shikamaru straightened, he carried on, "The Hyuuga are trying to seal the prisoner's chakra. Permanently."
There was a second's pause, and then Shikamaru swore, vicious and ugly enough to make Shikaku freeze for a second, then watch as his son moved away from him, back straightening and eyes shadowing over, barking out instructions and there are protocols that they can't just skirt, goddamn Hyuuga I left for ten minutes-!
And Shikaku was left behind, watching his son's back as he disappeared back in T&I, absently wondering how he had missed his son growing up.
Focusing back on the present, he glanced down at Ino, his earlier words echoing in his mind. You don't want to envy them too much. Competence in times of peace comes at a steep price.
He would stick by them.
Because competence had made Shikamaru unrecognisable.
"Genma, my good friend, you seem in brighter spirits!" Gai greeted once Genma managed to make his way to the bar later that evening.
His lips quirking almost unconsciously at his old genin teammate's unending enthusiasm, Genma allowed himself to slump into the booth opposite the man. "I am, Gai, thanks." He agreed, then stole a sip of something strong and alcoholic from the other man's glass.
"I take it your good mood is somehow related with your youthful partner?" the other jounin asked, and Genma smiled, for Gai had always been able to read him like an open book.
"Aa. The kid finally woke up today. Told me I was being an idiot blaming myself and I guess that helped." He recounted wryly, stealing another sip, and watched as Gai grinned, though it was a muted version of his usual thousand-watt smile.
"I am glad. The power of youth shines strongly in both of you!" the taijutsu specialist cheered, inside voice completely forgotten, and Genma sighed fondly then tried for exasperated.
"I am three years older than you." He reminded the other jounin for the nth time, something he had taken to doing since their stint on Chouza's team.
Gai merely grinned, completely unabashedly, and held up a finger, "But no less youthful!" he replied and Genma felt a smile bloom on his face, and wondered, not for the first time, how other people could mistake Gai's quirky kindness for idiocy or incompetence.
He gave up any pretence of 'sipping' and just straight out held onto Gai's drink, or what was left of it, and downed it. "Thanks, Gai. But now I'm gonna stop being depressing and get utterly sloshed before my month of D-Ranks starts."
For a moment, Gai's grin dimmed slightly and he frowned. "I was going to mention your sudden change of attire." He replied, and Genma didn't bother to hold back his snort – of course Gai would refer to being suspended as 'changing attire'. What did he expect? "Is Godaime-sama really suspending you from active service?" he asked at last.
Genma shrugged. "I disobeyed a direct order. The kid did the same thing last year and this was the punishment she got, so I guess Tsunade-sama is being fair. Besides, I would gladly do what I did again."
Both of them refrained from pointing out that making a newly-minted chunin do D-Ranks for a month was a completely different case from suspending a seasoned tokujo and making him do the same job. Genma didn't bother while he supposed Gai was being kind.
"Then I wish you all the best, and I commend what you did. Young Haruno-chan has a good partner and a good friend in you." His old teammate announced solemnly, and Genma didn't bother to restrain himself and patted the other man's head, messing up his immaculate hairdo.
"Thanks again, Gai. I have a good friend in you, too." And he left before the jounin managed to evoke the area-effect genjutsu with his emotions again. He'd seen enough rainbows and flowery fields paired with glossy-eyes while they were going through puberty, thankyouverymuch.
He had a barman to hassle.
The next time Sakura woke up, she was drenched in sweat and shivering, though her throat wasn't sore this time, which meant she hadn't been screaming. Her heart monitor, however, was working in overtime, and she listened to the erratic beat of her heart and tried to relax back into the pillows, the darkness outside indicating the middle of the night.
And then, she jumped and nearly did scream this time, because there was a figure crouched on her windowsill, though only the silhouette was visible.
"Ssh, pinky, relax!" came a whispered instruction, though for all the slinking around and unusual circumstances, the voice was relaxed and amused, and oddly familiar.
"Yuki-san?!" Sakura asked incredulously, and when the figure nodded and stepped into the pool of moonlight on the floor, her suspicions were confirmed. "What are you doing here?!" she demanded, though she couldn't fight the small grin that pulled at her lips at the sight of the eccentric hunter-nin.
"Well," the raven drawled, strutting towards her bed and hopping up till he was sitting comfortably cross-legged by Sakura's feet, "I'm visiting a Leaf chunin I heard got hurt protecting Kiri's little swordsman. Is that really so bad?"
The look Sakura shot him was the most unimpressed she could muster and it must've shown because Yuki laughed, the moonlight highlighting the pale scar that ran across his throat.
"We match now," Sakura blurted out, her hand tracing over the already fading pale-pink scar across her own throat. Yuki stared at her contemplatively then smirked.
"And the person who did it? They alive or not so much?"
Sakura did a slight doubletake at the casual tone, then remembered her palm, charged with chakra as it was, impacting the man's chest, and she winced. "Eh, not so much." She admitted, and Yuki nodded in approval.
"Now we match." He replied, and the rosette didn't bother replying to that.
"Why are you really here though? In Konoha, I mean?" Sakura asked instead, and the grin she got was feral.
"Got tasked with ensuring the pale-eyed Hyuuga bastards don't kill Ao and the negotiations squad. Your shadow-boy has been rather helpful in that regard." He explained flippantly, but Sakura was completely lost.
When Yuki realised she wasn't following, he seemed genuinely shocked. Then, that shock morphed into unrepentant amusement, and he proceeded to explain precisely what had happened while Sakura and Chojuro had been in Hidden Stone, and the more Sakura heard, the angrier she got.
"Let me summarise," she snarled when Yuki was done, a good twenty minutes later, "Ao saved Shikamaru's life using a transplanted Byakugan-"
"A stolen transplanted Byakugan." Yuki pointed out, but Sakura's response was a glare.
"Fine, a stolen Byakugan, but the fact remains that he saved Shikamaru's life," she was almost spitting in her anger, "and the Hyuuga want him to give it back? And they're keeping Ao and Shikamaru in T&I?!"
"Shadow-boy volunteered." The hunter-nin informed her, though his tone was back to being infuriatingly amused. "So you don't think bloodline theft is important then?" Yuki asked, and Sakura only then clocked onto the fact that he was willingly playing devil's advocate just to see her twitch.
But she took a moment to think over her answer instead of kicking the man off her bed with her good leg. "Obviously it's important." She replied at length, though the angry frown didn't fade. "But it was acquired at war-time. Anything is allowed then. Besides, it's not like Konoha is innocent." She sighed, and tried to ignore the way Yuki's eyes shone with interest. "I shouldn't be telling you this. Allies or not, I suppose Village secrets are not to be shared."
Yuki sighed theatrically and lightly slapped Sakura's good leg, the action barely felt through the layers of blankets. "Pinky-chan, I assure you, I am much more interested in what brought that look on your face than any Village secrets. Besides, my job is not even to do the arguing, but to make sure no one dies. So c'mon, spill." And Yuki looked so much like a kid then that Sakura snorted despite herself and gave in, marvelling at just how much the lack of Tsurugi beside him changed the an's countenance.
"I was briefly apprenticed to Tsunade-sama." She began, and Yuki's eyes widened in delight. "In that time, I was allowed to wonder the hospital and shadow nurses and learn as much medical ninjutsu as I could in six months. I dropped out of the apprenticeship," she pointed out when the hunter-nin's eyes gleamed dangerously, "but I did see some things. Mainly that we have an entire wing dedicated to medical research and development. And that includes the study of dojutsu; there are some acquired during the various wars – some from the Land of Demons, some from Suna, the Ketsuryugan of Chinoike Clan from the Land of Lightning, etc. So we're not innocent. And I know that we live in times of peace and all that, but hypocrisy like that just infuriates me. As well as the fact that they're not letting a teenage boy go home or sleep longer that two hours at a time." She finished at last, and the frustration she felt finally left her in an explosive sigh.
Yuki, on the other hand, looked ecstatic.
"What?" Sakura snapped, suddenly defensive, and the man grinned.
"You let go of those last pesky strands of morality. I'm almost proud." He grinned then, and Sakura didn't even wince at the predatory edge to the supposedly friendly expression. "I'd like to see how your illusions changed since you've been to Kiri, little leaf."
Sakura narrowed her eyes at the sudden shift of subject, but there was something within her that itched to comply, to get an impartial evaluation. It had been a year since Yuki had last experienced her genjutsu, and she was curious how she had improved. And the medics didn't say anything about not using chakra…
"Alright."
And before Yuki could say anything more, he was already ensnared in the first layer.
Sakura only created seven layers because she felt an unusually large drain on her chakra and realised she must still be recovering from her and Chōjūrō's stint in the Land of Stone. She promptly stopped once the last layer was done, settled comfortably against the pillows and waited.
She felt a sense of vindictive satisfaction when it took Yuki fifteen minutes to break out of the last illusion, his eyes focusing once more and settling on her with a very calculating expression in them. And then, a slow smirk spread across his face.
"Assassin, hm?" he asked, and Sakura nodded, surprised. "Well, that is a lot better than I expected." He admitted. "Not bad, little leaf. They might make a good shinobi out of you yet." And then, before Sakura had the chance to ask him what he meant or what he thought, he was gone.
Sakura slumped against the pillows, amused, exhausted, and riding the high of recognition.
Sleep claimed her within seconds.
When Sakura next woke up, what felt like years later but was really less than four hours since her conversation with Yuki, there was a familiar and dearly-missed figure slumped in the plastic chair by her bed.
Shikamaru.
Sakura's heart ached when she got a proper look at him – he looked awful, and like he'd aged a decade in the few days they'd been apart. As if sensing her gaze, a single dark eye cracked open, quickly followed by the other once it met her own. The Nara sat up, hands wrapping around one of her own, eyes darting from one bandage to the other and finally settling on her face with something like a mix of frustration and relief.
"Sakura."
Just one word, just her name, and yet it conveyed more than Sakura could've asked for, more than an entire speech would've. Relief, gratitude, frustration, happiness – Sakura heard it all, and saw them all reflected in the brunet's eyes.
So she smiled and squeezed Shikamaru's fingers with her own. "I missed you." She murmured, and watched as her friend's eyes closed momentarily and he dropped his head in relief. Sakura used the opportunity to shuffle over on her bed, grabbing her cast and pulling it over to one side, then using the grip she still had on the brunet's fingers to pull him towards her. "Now c'mon. Yuki-san told me you haven't been getting enough sleep so you're gonna come up here and have a nap or so help me God."
Shikamaru looked a mix between amused and disbelieving but obediently rose and clambered onto the bed, settling beside her much more easily than Genma had thanks to his smaller size. "I'm not even supposed to be here. But when dad said you'd finally woken up I had to see." His voice broke slightly and he averted his eyes, but Sakura didn't care, she just wrapped her arm around his shoulders and pulled his head down onto the pillows. "I'll have to be getting back soon-!"
"-Shikamaru," she interrupted him stoically, "either you shut up and go to sleep or I knock you out. As Ao's official representative, the Hyuuga can't do shit without you. He'll survive a few hours. Now sleep."
Shikamaru let out a quiet snort at that but did shift slightly to get into a more comfortable position, and then, with a quiet muttering of 'troublesome woman' drifted off.
Sakura followed suit, a smile on her face.
'Shikaku-sama, your son is missing.' A Hyuuga chunin had announced, appearing (uninvited) on Shikaku's doorstep.
'What do you mean, 'missing'?' he'd demanded, Yoshino coming up behind him, laying her hand on his shoulder.
'It means that he's not in the T&I building or the Hokage's Office. And we can't legally resume negotiations without him, so we would be very grateful if you could find him.'
And so Shikaku had left in pursuit of his son, going from the Academy to the Hokage's Mountain to the park, all places he knew Shikamaru frequented when he wanted to get away.
And then, three hours after he began, he stood outside Haruno Sakura's hospital room for the second time that week, hand on the doorhandle.
When he stepped in, his eyes immediately zeroed in on the bedbound rosette, her head supported by a particularly stuffed pillow, her left hand holding up a book while her right-
While her right arm was wrapped tightly around Shikamaru's shoulders, his son's face buried in the girl's neck.
"Nara-san." The pinkette greeted with a small smile, closing her book. "Is everything alright?"
Shikaku blinked a few times, noting how Shikamaru didn't even stir at the noise. "I was told Shikamaru was missing from T&I and the Hyuuga are antsy to resume negotiations, which they can't do without him."
"Ah," Sakura murmured, picking up her book once again. "that's unfortunate. Before you ask, I haven't seen Shika since I got here, but if you're stuck for places to look for him, I'd try the top of the Nidaime's head, or the Academy roof. He likes to cloudwatch there." And she looked him in the eye, daring him to deny her words, to point out that Shikamaru was right there beside her.
They stayed in silence for a few seconds, neither breaking the impromptu staring contest while the Nara Head marvelled at the gall of the teen before him. Then, Shikaku sighed and slouched, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"That's troublesome." He conceded. "Would you inform me if you see him?" he asked instead, noting that apart from a quick victorious glint that passed through the rosette's eyes, her expression didn't change.
"Of course, Nara-san. After all, Shikamaru's presence is clearly essential since they're willing to overlook the fact that he's a child who had just got back from a difficult mission and who needs his rest." The mocking words surprised Shikaku, especially since Sakura's tone remained as cordial as ever. He didn't know whether to bristle or to laugh, so he settled for an easy nod and moved back towards the door, turning his back on the rosette and his sleeping son.
"Thanks, Sakura-chan. Sorry for disturbing your rest." And then he walked out the door, pulling it shut beside him and stifling his chakra.
Shikaku waited a few seconds, ears peeled for a sound.
And then, a quiet chuckle came from behind the door, followed by a snort that morphed into a full-blown laugh.
"I can't believe you did that." Came what was undeniably Shikamaru's voice, muffled by the door but clearly rested and happy, something Shikaku hadn't heard for a long time. "Sakura, you bullshitted my dad."
Shikaku couldn't tell how he knew, but he had a suspicion the rosette shrugged. "I did no such thing. I just persuaded him to see things my way. Besides, parents want what's best for their kids, right?"
The Nara Head felt a small smile pull on his face. Indeed, the only reason he went along with the pinkette's game had been to allow Shikamaru some much needed rest. He felt comforted by the fact that his son had friends willing to fight him, a Jounin Commander, to make sure Shikamaru was alright.
And, maybe, some of the protectiveness the younger Nara felt towards Sakura suddenly made much more sense than before.
Back in the hospital room, the two teens slumped back against the pillows, grins on their faces.
"Man, this has been the longest I've slept in one go since Suna. And it's only been… six hours? Huh." Shikamaru mused, letting his shadow slither across the floor and pull the shades down and the curtains closed, blocking out the midday sun.
"This case needs to get resolved soon, or your health will start to deteriorate for real." Sakura murmured, a frown creasing her brows as she regarded the brunet.
"Yeah," Shikamaru sighed, suddenly boneless. "but I'm fresh out of tricks. All that's left is ensuring they don't kill each other before some kind of verdict is reached." He turned his head to gaze at Sakura's profile, a lazy smile pulling at his lips. "Is it too much to hope that you have some miraculous proposition?"
Sakura's frown deepened and she closed her eyes, concentrating. Did she have anything? Could she offer anything? Did she know of anything important enough that would equal a dojutsu? She could potentially argue that she had saved Chōjūrō's life while they were running from the foreign ANBU, but then, Chōjūrō had done the exact same thing to her, and anyway, when she switched places with him and took the Earth jutsu that crushed her leg, political machinations were the last thing on her mind. What would she say anyway – 'oh, hey, yeah, just so you know, I saved the last living and loyal Swordsman of the Mist Kirigakure can lay claim to. Since, y'know, the other ones are either dead, traitorous, or missing.'
And then, she froze.
Dead, traitorous, or missing. Zabuza was all three. And his Kubikiribocho…
"I have something." She announced, and Shikamaru jumped, having fallen into a light daze while she thought.
At her words, his eyes widened and he looked at her hopefully, but Sakura looked around the room, searching for her pack. "I need a map. I don't remember the exact coordinates."
Bemused, Shikamaru dug around his pack and produced a scroll and a marker, and Sakura smiled, grateful when she unravelled it and it revealed a map. She marked out the area where the graves were located and wrote down exact directions of how to get to the hill and, in case it was inaccessible, to ask 'where the two shinobi are buried'.
"What is there?" Shikamaru asked when she was done, and Sakura smirked, victorious.
"That, Shika-dearest, is the location of Momoichi Zabuza's Kubikiribocho. He was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. After my team defeated him, we left his sword on his grave. The Mist diplomats should want to get their hands on that."
Shikamaru stared at her in disbelief, then started laughing. "I can't believe you." He murmured at last, burrowing comfortably into the pillow and pulling the blankets up to their shoulders after pushing Sakura back into a horizontal position. "I came here to see you after I heard you were awake, came here to apologize, and instead, you let me sleep for six hours, lied in my dad's face and solved the problem I'd been coming at for almost a fortnight." He snorted and closed his eyes. "I missed you, too."
Sakura felt a similar smile pull on her lips and closed her eyes. They were gonna kick ass. Even if she had to hobble around on crutches for the next month, she would be with Shikamaru every step of the way from here.
"He did what."
The jounin tasked with reporting on the Hyuuga-Mist trial shifted uneasily under the Godaime's flat glare. "Nara Shikamaru offered the location of Kirigakure's Kubikiribocho in exchange for Ao-san's Byakugan. The diplomats are… in a bit of a frenzy."
Tsunade's glare, if possible, went even flatter, a tic forming by her eyebrow. "And where did the Nara get that information?" she asked calmly, but her tone was frigid.
"H-He cited his mission partner as his source, ma'am." The jounin forced out, wincing when the desk started to splinter under Tsunade's fingers.
"Of course he did. Get me Haruno Sakura and Nara Shikamaru. In here. Now."
The jounin was only too happy to comply.
Twenty minutes later, Tsunade had two chunin standing before her, one clad in the standard chunin vest and Nara Clan jacket while the other was still in the hospital gown, right leg swathed in a thick plaster cast from toe to hip, an IV drip on a metal hanger standing slightly behind her.
"You wanted to see us, Tsunade-sama?" Shikamaru murmured, and there was a surprisingly good-humoured, rested look to his countenance, something that had been missing for over a fortnight.
"Damn right I did, you brat." Tsunade growled, jabbing at the duo with her finger. "The Kubikiribocho mess. Explain. Now."
Sakura and Shikamaru exchanged a look, then the rosette shrugged. "Back when I was a genin, Team 7 encountered Momoichi Zabuza and his apprentice on our first mission outside the Village." By the minute narrowing of her eyes, Sakura realised Tsunade had not known she had been part of that incident. "Momoichi fell, and at the funeral, our jounin-sensei decided to leave his sword by his grave as a mark of respect. The location of the graves was detailed in my mission report, so I thought the Village already knew of its existence." She paused, levelled Tsunade with a considering look, then barrelled on despite the blonde's glare. "When Shikamaru confessed that the situation between the Hyuuga and the Mist diplomats was starting to look hopeless, I offered what I knew as a potential bargaining chip. I didn't realise it would be so effective." She demurred at the end, and Tsunade's eyes narrowed.
"I'm sure you had a fair idea." She pointed out, but the pinkette merely smiled and bowed her head instead of commenting.
"I went to Sakura for help, Tsunade-sama." The Nara spoke up. "As she said, the situation looked hopeless. She is better versed in foreign politics than I, so I thought she might be able to offer a valuable insight. I was right," here, the two teens shared a small smirk, "and, as I had been told I had all the resources the Village had to offer when I took over Ao's defence, I didn't see anything wrong with using what she told me. Unless I shouldn't have?" and here, both chunin cocked their heads at the blonde in almost eerie unison, and Tsunade suddenly felt the air of innocence that seemed to radiate out of the duo. Their words weren't confrontational in the slightest, nor were their stances – in fact, they seemed almost confused, worried. And Tsunade would've been fooled if not for the gleam of victory in their eyes. They were far too clever to be ignorant of the shitstorm that they started up, and she both hated and admired them for it.
"You do realise," she started slowly, "that now this isn't a simple quarry between the diplomats. It went over to the Mizukage. The decision is hers to make, and whatever she decides, shall be." The looks on their faces said they were very much aware of that, but neither spoke. "The swordboy you saved, Haruno, is the last of the Seven who's loyal. You've just given the Mizukage the chance to train up someone to become the second of the Swordsmen to live and serve Kiri. You realise she can't pass that up. The Swordsmen were as much a pride and joy of Kirigakure as the Twelve Guardian Ninja were for the Land of Fire."
At that, a small frown formed on the rosette's forehead. "If the order comes from the Mizukage," she spoke calmly, her voice measured, yet Shikamaru still lay his hand on her elbow above the crutch, "both sides will have to adhere to it. And that will cut out the middle-man, who in this case is Shikamaru. If the Mizukage decides she wants the coordinates and is willing to trade Ao's eye for it, then there's nothing the Hyuuga, nor Ao himself will be able to change. It'll become a matter of inter-Village trade, instead of a small clan versus an entire Village."
But Tsunade read between the lines, and what she heard floored her. "You started this entire shitstorm just so the Nara could go home and sleep!?" she demanded, and she didn't know if she wanted to laugh hysterically, cry, or drink herself under the table.
"Yes." Sakura replied easily, not in the slightest apologetic. "I know that, although the current socio-political situation in Kiri has improved greatly since we established a treaty and it will, no doubt, continue to improve now that Suna joined, like you said, Tsunade-sama, far too many of the Swordsmen are either rogue or dead. The chance to bring a source of the Village's pride back into the fray is too great of an opportunity to pass up. The Mizukage will go for it, and all sides will be happy." She paused, reconsidered, and grinned wryly. "Well, perhaps apart from Ao-san."
By that point, Shikamaru was visibly smothering laughter and the rosette looked amused, though she hid it better than the Nara. Both were radiating pride and a sense of schadenfreude, and suddenly, Tsunade wondered whether she had made a mistake starting them on the diplomat path so soon.
Nobody should be able to create such ripples with barely a word. And nobody should be able to affect the politics of two countries from their hospital bed.
And yet, when she looked upon them, the regret was overshadowed by the pride she felt of their accomplishments.
"I really want to demote you." She sighed at last, which made the two teens stand up straighter, and Sakura's grip on her crutches tightened till her knuckles were white. "The paperwork is going to be a bitch. But inter-Village relations are bound to improve, and the Hyuuga might get off my ass… fine. Get out. Get out before I change my mind. And come back in a week to hand in your mission report!"
The two were out before she even finished speaking.
Back in Sakura's hospital room, Shikamaru collapsed into his chair, breathless. "Can you believe we got away with that?" he demanded incredulously, the trademark laziness nowhere to be seen in his glee. "We got a foreign Kage involved and we're alive to tell the tale!"
Sakura grinned as she clambered back onto her bed, mindful of her broken leg. "I thought for sure she was going to demote us. Or give us a month of D-Ranks like before."
They basked in that feeling, grins refusing to fade, until eventually, Shikamaru had to leave and Sakura managed to drift off to sleep.
Things were looking up.
Finally, after spending a week under observation and being told that under no circumstances was she to remove the cast or do any intensive physical exercise for at least another two weeks, Sakura was dismissed. Over the week of her stay since the situation with Shikamaru, she had visitors come in and try to cheer her up or catch her up on what's been happening – Ino came again and after a slightly awkward conversation and stilted apologies, they agreed to go out for coffee once they were both free. Kotetsu and Izumo showed up, joking and teasing and ribbing her about making one of the Seven Swordsmen a damsel in distress. Sakura had ended up laughing so much with the duo that the nurse came in and threw them out, arguing that Sakura needed rest. (they snuck back in through the window not five minutes later.) Anko showed up too, though the woman's distaste of hospitals was so clear that Sakura made her leave after about ten minutes and promised she'd show her face once she was well and truly out of the hospital.
And then, her and Chōjūrō were finally dismissed.
Seeing as she had a few more days till she had to report to Tsunade with Shikamaru, Sakura made the executive decision to drag Chōjūrō to her house – she nearly smacked him when he said he'd just been planning on renting a room in a hotel as no accommodation had been provided for him.
"You're an idiot if you think I'm going to let you out of my sight any time soon, Chōjūrō-kun." She told him firmly, lightly bopping him on the nose. (she didn't mind the fact that she had to reach up almost as high as to Genma when a rare smile appeared on the bluenette's face).
Once they were finally at her and Genma's house – the journey having taken over five times as long as usual due to the fact that Sakura had to hobble along the civilian paths on crutches instead of roof-hopping like she normally would – Sakura set about making dinner, as Genma wasn't back yet and she was famished. (learning that Genma had to go through the nightmare of a month of low-level missions as well was in equal parts hilarious and horrifying – Sakura was sure that, should the necessity of a retrieval mission present itself again, neither of them would hesitate to go after the other, D-Ranks be damned).
When Genma finally got back, he barely even reacted to Chōjūrō sitting at their dinner table other than a nod of acknowledgement before he grabbed Sakura and picked her up in a fierce hug. But when he started to apologise for not picking them up from the hospital, Sakura merely smacked him and – using the countertop to hold herself up – kicked the back of his knee so he folded into the kitchen chair and pointed imperiously at the bowl of ramen she'd cooked up.
"Chōjūrō and I both survived, so don't worry about us. Your job is to eat and sleep." And, after getting a tired smile in return, she too sat down to eat.
Once night fell and all the dishes had been put away, Sakura offered Chōjūrō her bedroom, noticing that the swordsman had been getting paler over the course of the evening, and knowing from experience that her and Genma's couch was not the greatest place if one wanted a good night's sleep. She waved off the bluenette's protests and all but wrestled him into her room, before she hobbled around through her nightly routine and curled up on the sofa. She stayed up for a few more minutes, chatting with Genma about his week, the people who'd come to visit her at the hospital, the Ao-Hyuuga debacle and other innocuous topics until sleep made her speech too slurred to be easily comprehensible and Genma laughed quietly and turned off the light, heading upstairs to retire for the night.
But it couldn't be so simple. Just as that time her and Anko got back from the Iwagakure mission, hospital morphine had kept the nightmares at bay, but as soon as she was home, as soon as she had to fall asleep on her own, her mind turned against her.
And so, Sakura found herself snapping awake in the middle of the night, drenched in cold sweat and hyperventilating. In the dream, Genma and Kakashi hadn't come. Her and Chōjūrō had been captured, tortured, imprisoned, murdered. She saw the masked faces, expressionless, heard monotone voices mocking them, mocking the alliance, calling her a monster, killing Chōjūrō-!
She forcefully banished the image, but its effects stayed. Sakura's hands were shaking, her breathing was almost painfully laboured, and she knew she would not be falling asleep any time soon. Inoichi's grounding technique helped her get her breathing under control, helped push away the last vestiges of the dream, but the fear and the shakiness stayed.
Before she had really considered what she was doing, Sakura stood up and limped to the stairs, pulling herself up with the railing and not stopping till she stood in the doorway of Genma's room.
It was a testament to how used he was to her presence that the tokujo didn't even stir but slept soundly, and Sakura was reluctant to wake him, but then her hand shook hard enough to rattle the door in its hinges, and she saw Genma's eyelids flutter before he blinked his eyes open and his gaze landed on her.
In a move that made something warm bloom in her chest, the brunet merely pulled at the corner of his blanket and beckoned her over, and Sakura didn't hesitate to hobble towards him and settle on the bed, letting the familiar warmth and smell call her down.
"Nightmare?" Genma murmured, voice sleep-rough and a little slurred, and Sakura nodded. Then, an arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her into the tokujo's side, and the rosette closed her eyes, feeling the last of the shakiness dissipate.
She slept soundly.
When she woke up, she was still perfectly warm and comfortable, and she was almost unwilling to open her eyes and brave the new day. However, feeling the bed shake slightly made her curious and she forced her eyes open to see Genma staring at her and laughing, his arm bent at the elbow as his hand propped up his cheek.
"What?" she croaked out, throwing her arm over her eyes to wade off the unwanted brightness of the room.
"You should've seen your face." The brunet replied, his voice still shaking slightly with barely supressed chuckles. Then, he sobered. "Do you feel like talking about last night?" he asked, and Sakura finally took her arm away and looked at him.
Then, she sighed. "The helplessness got to me. I dreamt of what would have happened if you and Kakashi hadn't found us – our state had deteriorated so bad at that point that we were sitting ducks. And I hated it. I've spent the last year training hard, only to find out that when push comes to shove, all I can do is rely on someone else and run and hide? And I counted on you to show up and save us. I prayed for it. I'm still weak."
This time, Genma actually glared at her, and Sakura paused, unused to that expression on her partner's face. "Kid, you survived almost a fortnight with a debilitating injury in enemy territory, with pursuers who not only outnumbered you but severely outclassed you. Running and hiding was the best you could've done." Then, he smiled, though the expression was far more wry than humorous. "Plus, what with me saving you, well, that's what partners are for, right?"
And Sakura froze, surprised, and felt tears well up against her will. She had gotten used to throwing the 'partners' thing around, but hearing Genma talking of the partnership and realising he was equally as invested in it as her was still surprising and it made a smile bloom on her face.
"Yeah," she murmured, shuffling over till she could hug Genma around the waist and hide the few tears that fell. "yeah, it is."
Then, they heard a timid "Sakura-san?" from downstairs and both suddenly realised that Chōjūrō was up and awake. Sakura sighed, suddenly exhausted.
"Your loverboy really has the worst timing." Genma complained, but made no move to get off the bed or move Sakura downstairs.
Sakura started to complain about the title but Genma shushed her and she slumped on the bed, wondering if she could muster the enthusiasm to show Chōjūrō around the Village without letting up just why she came to Genma. Reading the air, Genma prodded her lightly, and when she looked up, he looked concerned.
"Do you feel up to facing the day?" he asked surprisingly gently, and Sakura sighed. She considered her options, how she was feeling, how the idea of leaving the bed made her feel.
Eventually, she went for honesty, knowing Genma would be able to tell if she was lying. "No." she replied, closing her eyes. "I don't want to go outside. I don't even want to get out of bed." when Genma stayed silent, she continued. "But I have to. Chōjūrō needs a guide to show him around the Village. I need to go check up on Shikamaru, make sure they're not forcing him to stay involved in the case with Ao. I need to make sure Yuki-san isn't killing anyone. And tell Anko I want a month off." the more she spoke, the more miserable her tone became, until she just curled up as much as she could with her broken leg and pulled the blankets up to her chin.
After a few seconds, Genma hand descended on her hair and he patted her head, slightly more forcefully than usual. "You're staying put." He ordered and when Sakura started to protest, he shot her a stern glare. "You can do all that you said you need to do tomorrow. For today, I can show Chōjūrō around and book you another appointment with Inoichi. You are going to rest up and make sure you're ready for tomorrow." And his tone left no room for argument, for which Sakura was guiltily grateful.
She knew she should have protested more, should've argued she was fine, but the relief at not having to face her responsibilities for another day made her far too happy to make any protest genuine. She slumped against the pillows, a tired smile on her face, then craned her neck up and kissed Genma's cheek.
"Thank you. I owe you." she replied and got a hair ruffle in return. Then Genma was pulling on his usual outfit and moving out the door and downstairs before she could say anything more.
The sound of muffled voices reached her from below, then, about ten minutes later, the sound of the front door opening and closing.
Sakura sighed, closed her eyes and slept.
She woke up what felt like hours later, every one of her senses suddenly forced into overdrive.
Snapping her eyes open, she grabbed for the kunai she knew Genma kept under his pillow and pulled it out, only to freeze mid-motion at familiar laughter.
"Not bad! It only took you ten minutes!"
Sakura squinted, a throbbing headache forming in her temples. "…Yuki-san?"
"That's right!" the shinobi in question grinned, hopping down from the window sill he'd been perched on.
(Sakura could've sworn the window had been shut when she fell asleep)
"How did you get in? What are you doing here?" she demanded warily.
"Through the window. It was surprisingly easy." He replied, and Sakura froze.
She knew for a fact Genma kept every window carefully booby-trapped. She couldn't get in through the windows. Anko had tried and failed. Then, Yuki was speaking again and she tuned back in, trying to ignore her unease. "And I'm here 'cause I saw our little swordsman walking around with a distinctly unfamiliar jounin, even though I knew you'd essentially assigned him to yourself." Then, he grinned lecherously and Sakura fidgeted under his gaze, suddenly uncomfortable. "I take it you had a little tussle in the sheets, Chōjūrō got jealous and you couldn't deal?"
Sakura blinked, unsure how to answer beyond a stunned "...What?"
But Yuki just laughed. "The sheets don't smell like you." He explained like it was the most casual observation, and for the second time since she'd known him, Sakura realised just how dangerous Yuki was. In Mist, she'd thought his partner more terrifying, simply for attitude and appearance, whereas Yuki had seemed, if not approachable, then at least more human. But now she knew that he was absolutely terrifying, and Sakura was not for the first time glad that Mist was now their ally and that Yuki had, for some reason, seemed to take a liking to her.
"That doesn't explain why you're here though." She pressed, and got a laugh in return.
"To see what happened to you, obviously." He grinned, "Though the bags under your eyes tell me it was nothing as fun as two person push ups that kept you busy at night?"
At that, Sakura shot him a glare even as she felt her cheeks get hot. "Try nightmares." she hissed, and frowned when Yuki's expression turned delighted.
"I can tell you stories and keep you up!" he offered, and Sakura considered for a moment, then nodded. Yuki jumped from the window sill and onto the bed, stretching his legs out comfortably, the scene oddly reminiscent of the one in the hospital a week previous.
"Alright, here we go." And as he started talking, Sakura kept her eyes open even as she tried to picture the scenes he described. Eventually, her eyelids began to grow heavy and she felt herself slipping off to dreamland.
Surprisingly, she slept peacefully.
Genma spent the whole morning and half of the afternoon showing Chōjūrō around, going off of what Sakura had told him of her time in Mist - shops, library, training grounds, Hokage Monument. Towards the end, right before Genma was about to propose that they pick up takeout and head back home to see Sakura was doing, a familiar signature registered in his peripheral.
"Hatake? What do you want?"
The man in question dropped down from the roof he'd been standing on, signature book in hand and infuriating eye crinkle present. "I thought babysitting the Mist diplomats was Sakura's job." he observed, but Genma noted the twitch to his fingers that, while innocuous to the untrained eye, spelled "situation?" in ANBU sign language.
Genma rolled his eyes. So Kakashi was planning on repenting for years of negligence by hovering? The brunet couldn't wait to see how that would go down with Sakura. Still, he signed. "She's recovering. Didn't feel up to leaving the house today so I didn't make her."
"Aa." And when Kakashi showed no sign of leaving, Genma sighed again, rolled his eyes properly this time and drove an elbow into the man's ribs, ignoring Chōjūrō's wide eyes.
"If you're planning on tagging along, at least make yourself useful and go get takeout. I can't be bothered to cook." He ordered, more as a joke than anything, then almost choked when Kakashi disappeared almost before he had even finished speaking. Still, Genma waited, thinking that the Copy-Nin would chicken out. Yet, after twenty seconds or so, Kakashi reappeard, brandishing four takeout boxes in his hand. Nodding in satisfaction and grudgingly impressed despite himself (Kakashi was almost as well known for being a scrooge as Gai was for his ability to create genjutsu with the sheer power of his emotions), Genma set the course back for his house, ignoring the way Chōjūrō kept shooting glances at Kakashi and almost skittering whenever his gaze was met with a lazy smile.
Genma stifled a sigh and rejoiced when the door to his apartment finally came into view, though he stiffened almost immediately and noted Kakashi do the same. There was a foreign chakra inside, a roiling and untamed energy beside Sakura's familiarly warm, calming one. After carefully opening the door, Genma made his way up the stairs, Kakashi on his heels even though the man tried his hardest to feign disinterest.
When Genma opened the door to his bedroom, he almost snorted, half exasperated half disbelieving. Kakashi, however, froze, the expression on the visible part of his face wary, his hand inching closer to the kunai pouch on his thigh.
Turning his eyes back towards the bed, Genma met the gaze of the smirking foreign-nin who was lounging beside Sakura, with the rosette using his outstretched arm as a pillow. The only problem was that the foreign-nin wasn't quite as foreign as Genma would've hoped.
"Why," Kakashi began, his voice sharp, demanding answers, "is the Terror of the Mist in bed with my student?"
The man in question, a notorious assassin Genma recalled as a flee-on-sight threat from the time of the Bloody Mist, before he seemed to disappear from the surface of the earth a good dozen years ago, merely smirked. His emerald eyes were mocking as they gazed at the two jounin, and he brought his free hand up to his face and put a finger over his lips.
"Ssh," he stage-whispered, jerking his chin at the slumbering teen beside him. "pinky-chan is sleeping." He pointed out, and Genma wanted to pull at his hair at the obnoxious grin he shot them.
But then Sakura stirred, a single eye sliding open and landing on Genma. A second later, it lit up with recognition and she smiled. "Genma!" she called, sitting up. Then, she seemed to finally notice the tense atmosphere in the room and jumped. "Ah, right – Genma, sensei, this is Yuki-san; he's one of the Mizukage's hunter-nin and he's the one who gave me the Hiding in the Mist technique, remember? Yuki-san, Shiranui Genma, my partner, and Hatake Kakashi, my old genin sensei." Sakura introduced, gesturing to every man and seemingly oblivious to the disbelieving air that was radiating out of Kakashi and the shit-eating grin on Yuki's face.
"Sakura," Kakashi finally forced out, and Genma didn't miss the way the teen tensed at the address, and by his slight wince, Kakashi didn't either, "that man is an S-Rank assassin." His tone clearly implied and not a nap partner! Though the rosette frowned, puzzled.
"Yuki-san? Really?" she turned to the raven, a surprised expression on her face, and got an amused nod in response. "Huh," she mused, sending Genma a sheepish smile to which he just shook his head in fond exasperation. Then, she turned back to the Mist-nin with a thoughtful expression. "explains how you could smell my shampoo that time we sparred."
Beside him, Kakashi tensed, radiating disbelief. Genma snorted and he turned on his heel to leave the room. He eyed the Copy-nin before he left, a wry grin on his face, "You really need to get up to speed with all the weird shit that happened while you were busy ignoring her existence." He informed the man quietly and felt a touch of vindictive satisfaction when Kakashi flinched. Then, he called over his shoulder, "Dinner's in five minutes. If the hunter-nin wants something to eat, he's cooking for himself."
Sakura cheered and hopped up, and he heard the tell-tale sounds of her hobbling after him so he waited at the top of the stairs where the rosette joined him a few seconds later.
"Feeling better?" Genma asked, offering her a hand with the stairs, which she accepted.
"Much." She replied cheerfully, then smiled up at him. "Thank you for today. I'm not… 100% yet, but I'll get there. I just needed a day to recharge and then–!"
"–kid," Genma interrupted her just as they reached the bottom of the stairs and found Chōjūrō setting up the table. "you don't need to have everything figured out yet, it's fine." Then, he paused and snorted, drawing a curious look from both teens. "Though next time, if you want to take a nap with an S-Rank criminal, give me a warning beforehand? I trust your judgement, but then, after the events of the last couple of weeks, I'm a bit wary."
That at least made the rosette shoot him a guilty look. "I'm sorry. I genuinely didn't know he was anything other than a scary yet surprisingly helpful hunter-nin." She apologised, and Genma couldn't help but laugh and ruffle her hair.
"S'fine. Though I thought Hatake might just have put a Chidori through his chest if not for how close you were." He laughed, at which Sakura smiled before she frowned.
"I was going to ask about that, actually. Why, exactly, is Kakashi here?" she asked, and Genma shrugged, settling down at the table and pulling open the takeout box while Sakura and Chōjūrō mirrored him.
"Anyone's bet. But he found us in the marketplace then tagged along. And he paid for the food, so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. Unless you're uncomfortable?" he explained, and the concern at the end made Sakura smile.
"Kakashi paid for something? Wow." She mused, then broke apart her chopsticks with a quiet thanks and dug in.
A few seconds later, Kakashi appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "The Terror had an errand." He informed them before sitting down in the only free chair left, opposite Sakura.
"That's rude." Sakura chastised, not looking up from her food. "Yuki-san was very helpful, not a terror."
Genma choked, only just managing to swallow his noodles before he started shaking with laughter while Kakashi shot Sakura the most disbelieving expression a single uncovered eye could convey. Chōjūrō just watched the scene unfold, feeling a smile tug at his lips.
Sakura just shoved more noodles in her mouth, trying to ignore the burning in her eyes and the involuntary smile threatening to break out on her face.
Things were looking up.
here we are!
i realise Sakura slept a lot in this chapter, but give the girl a break! ;)
as always, please do leave comments and feel free to message me with anything that strikes you as odd or you'd like more clarification on!
(i promise that if i dont appear for another month-month and a half, i am not dead, but, in fact, swarmed under revision and exams)
till next time!