Author's Note: Sorry for the ridiculously long wait! I have exchanged my full-time school schedule for a full-time summer job, so I have not been able to update as frequently as I had hoped. You'll be glad to know that I have been spending more time developing this story's plot, connecting it to the novels and manga, and doing lots of research in order to make this a better story over all!
Happy SasuSaku Month everyone!
P.S. I mentioned last time that I enjoy the challenge of writing as closely to character as I am able. For those of you want a quick developing romance with unrealistic scenarios, I'm sorry to disappoint you. It will happen, but realistically and through proper plot progression! As always, let me know what you think!
*This fic is tightly adapted to Sasuke Shinden and Sakura Hiden. Please read the novels or refer to the summaries. I'm tired of waiting for their story, so have decided to write it myself. (_signifies time lapse, and . . . . signifies transitions between p.o.v.)
Pairing: SasuSaku
Summary: After 2 years, Sasuke returns to the village where friends anxiously await him. Still troubled by the mysteries of Kaguya and his personal guilt, Sasuke is split between friends and his journey. One specific pink-haired individual has perhaps waited for him with far more dedication than anyone else. Troubled by rising casualties and international dependence on her abilities, Sakura is torn between her love for Sasuke and her duty to her village.
Chapter 4: "Walks with Ninja"
Sasuke remained silent as they walked together towards her home. Sasuke wasn't sure where Sakura was living these days; he knew she probably didn't live with her parents anymore, at least. He let her lead the way.
Sakura also didn't talk and it annoyed the Uchiha to no end. He could tell she was on the verge of saying something, but just as she was about to, she pursed her lips together. She had spoken to him this morning, but now she seemed hesitant. There was a part of the Uchiha that was glad she was quiet, leaving a formality between them. However, there was a part of him that wished she would speak to end the tension that hung over their heads.
She had never been as loud or boisterous as Naruto, but this unsuspecting quiet was beginning to bother him.
He shook his head at the thought. It had been awhile since he had last seen her; there was bound to be a stiff silence.
As Sakura stumbled along, he noticed again how tired she looked.
"You work long shifts at the hospital," the Uchiha said awkwardly, turning away from her redirected gaze.
Offering him a small smile, she replied, "Yes, they often run together."
When she didn't elaborate, Sasuke asked, "What do you mean?"
"There are a lot of demands, lately," she explained. "A team of medical ninja was sent to Kumogakure so I've been a little short staffed at the hospital."
He recalled his more recent conversation with one of the Raikage's right hand men. Sasuke had travelled to Kumogakure when he discovered their missing shinobi on an island in the Land of Water. C had told him that a Konoha medical team was sent to Kumogakure to help assist them in removing Chino's foreign chakra from their shinobi.
He remembered the acute sting in his hand when he reached into the pool of red, the chakra swirling within it cutting at his skin, trying to enter his body. The red pools in Hell Valley were where Chino had kept the ninja as she turned them into human bombs. He wondered if extracting the foreign chakra caused pain for the medic because of the chakra's nature.
"You might be wondering where Naruto is," she offered and Sasuke blinked in surprise. "Tsunade, Hinata, and He are accompanying the medic team to Kumogakure. The Byakugan can see the chakra and after helping me discovering how to remove it, Hinata was an asset to the team. After showing Tsunade how I was able to extract the chakra, she was able to improve upon the method and went in my place."
Sasuke raised his eyes in surprise. She had been the one to discover how to extract the chakra? When C had told him that Konoha had developed a way to do so, he didn't imagine Sakura being the one responsible.
"Naruto wanted to see B, I imagine," she added quickly, interrupting his thoughts.
Ah, Sasuke thought. That made sense. It was odd, knowing his closest friend was now in Kumogakure, just days after having been there himself. He pictured the large Octopus-Bull eight tailed beast and his jinchūriki. He began to recall the battle he had with the self-proclaimed rapper, Killer B. He smiled at the thought of the world's two most obnoxious shinobi as being friends.
Glancing over at Sakura, he thought more carefully about what she said. "You stayed," he said, matter of factly.
"Yes," she replied, "I chose to stay behind, this time." She looked away shyly and Sasuke wasn't sure why. He looked away from her and remained silent.
After a few quiet seconds, Sakura stated, "Kirigakure and Kumogakure have their own set of victims from the exploding humans incident, but so does Konoha. I stayed behind so that I could research and develop a burn solvent that helps speed up the healing process in patients without the necessity of extreme chakra depletion on the medic's part."
She exhaled tiredly and glanced down at her arm. Sasuke snapped his attention to the direction of her gaze and noticed large circular scars running across the bottom of her forearm. His eyes widened as the realization hit him. It was shocking to make the connection between Sakura and the extent she was willing to go to. He recalled other moments of her fearlessness. Most prominently, Sasuke remembered the faces of three Oto chunin applicants terrorizing the girl who fought so desperately to save Naruto and himself. More recently, he could recall her unexpected efforts in the war. She was no longer the teammate who relied on her partners to defend her in battle. Instead, she was becoming a shinobi the ninja world relied on. The Uchiha in him had always admired power and this capable Sakura was beginning to grow in his acknowledgements and respects.
Looking back at him, Sakura offered another tired smile at his silence.
He shook his head and replied lamely, "So not much sleep then?"
"No. Not much."
They stopped at a small little apartment located in a tight alley between the left corner of the hospital and the connecting path that would eventually take you into the Uchiha compound. She reached in her pocket for the key and fumbled to unlock the door. Sasuke wanted to ask her why she had chosen to move so far across the village, but his conversational ability seemed to be exhausted.
"Thank you, again, for walking me home, Sasuke." She turned towards her door to enter but stopped short and turned to face him once more. "Can I see you again, tomorrow? I know Naruto isn't here, but maybe you, Kakashi, and I could go out for ramen like old times and catch up."
He frowned automatically before he could catch himself. He knew he wasn't afraid to be involved anymore, but a rendezvous with his old team wouldn't help the situation at all. They both knew he wasn't home for good. Perhaps this was why she hadn't asked him how long he had been planning on staying. He didn't want her to get used to his company again only for him to leave so quickly. Through his travelling, Sasuke had decided that being home meant bringing danger to the village; in other words, he aimed to eliminate the risk by searching for the biggest threat to the current peace.
If Sakura knew this, she would be devastated.
"I have to continue my training, tomorrow," he said bluntly. It was better to put a limit on their interactions with one another. It would be the best thing he could do for her.
She looked away at his answer, then gave him a small smile. "Maybe another time, then."
He nodded silently and turned in the direction of the Uchiha compound. For some reason, as he walked away, the Uchiha raised an arm in farewell. He supposed Sakura wasn't the only one who had changed. He needed Naruto to hurry up and come back so he could return to his mission and let his friends move on with their lives.
Sakura didn't see Sasuke the following day, or the next, or even the next. In fact, she didn't see him for the first week that he was here. She wanted to seek him out, to tell him he was being unfair by keeping his distance from those who cared about him. Had she not waited, waited, and waited for him to come home? And now, he was here and she was just about sick of waiting.
Sakura shuffled the papers on her desk into a neat pile and pushed them to the side. It was mid-afternoon and contemplating about Sasuke hadn't helped her get as much paperwork completed on her break like she had planned. She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes.
After sitting in silence for a few minutes, Sakura began working again. The pink-haired medic had scheduled checkups for all her burn patients today which had kept her very busy. Working on these select patients within a shorter time frame allowed her to compare results between patients more quickly. Her main objective was to evaluate her burn solvent's short-term efficiency. A week wasn't long enough for severe burns to completely heal, but she wanted to make sure the herbal cast was holding up for her patients.
The first patient was a young kunoichi named Hoko who had suffered third-degree burns across her right shoulder and up her neck and face. Unfortunately, the woman's right eye had been completely disintegrated due to its direct connection with the explosion. Sakura had barely managed to save her left eye and had spent a large amount of chakra trying to heal the rest of Hoko's face. Once Hoko had finally stopped screaming, Sakura had wrapped the right side of her face and kept a medical patch over the left eye, returning later to apply the solvent to her burns. Even though the kunoichi's former face was impossible to return to its previous state, the healing solvent paired with Sakura's chakra was working miraculously. Her skin showed little redness and the ointment was helping the skin regeneratre without major scarring. Hoko's left eye was restored while her exposed right eye socket was now almost completely covered with a layer of puffy skin.
"Does it look bad?" Hoko asked with a hoarse and broken voice, reaching up to touch the newly applied bandages. Her good eye was uncovered now and she was able to move her lips which Sakura was relieved to see.
"It looks better than I originally thought it would," Sakura replied, stretching out her palm to rest on the girl's hand.
The girl frowned despite the good news. She understood why a young kunoichi would be upset and Sakura knew she couldn't offer any heartfelt words that would genuinely make her feel better.
After a long minute, Sakura finally said, "What you did for your village was honorable and brave. I am thankful that we can rely on shinobi like you to rush out onto the battlefield." The girl looked away from her and Sakura reached over and grabbed a mass of blue from the side table next to her.
Placing the forehead protector into Hoko's hand, Sakura said, "You may not have a right eye anymore, but in its absence, I see a badge that declares your bravery in battle and dedication to your village. There's no one more worthy of wearing this headband."
For the first time since the incident, Hoko's lips tilted upward at the edges.
"I couldn't have said it better myself," came a voice from the doorway. They both turned to see the Sixth, displaying the white and red of Hokage. He entered carefully and presented himself to the ninja and took his hat off. Hoko tried to stand but Kakashi raised a hand and she sat back down, offering a small bow from her seat.
"Lord Hokage," Sakura interjected on Hoko's behalf, "what a surprise. We were not expecting you."
Sakura's former sensei turned and nodded in her direction, "Yes, well, I wanted acknowledge these fine ninja."
Hoko looked down respectfully when he turned back to her. The Sixth proceeded to thank her for her assistance in the fight against the exploding humans. She was going to be publicly honored along with the others if she gave her assent. Kakashi offered her a masked smile when she nodded slowly to his question.
This is how it went for the rest of her shift. Kakashi followed her to all her appointments, recognizing each ninja individually and lifting their spirits by honoring their efforts in the battle. Sakura smiled as her former teacher went above and beyond to interact with these ninja. To this day, he continued to surprise her with his performance as Hokage and in this moment, Sakura couldn't help but feel an extreme admiration for this man who once had to drag around three ignorant little ninja who thought they knew so much.
Sakura could honestly say she missed the days where the four of them were a team, Naruto and Sasuke at each other's throats, constantly trying to outdo one another; Sakura feigning after Sasuke and yelling at Naruto; Kakashi hiding in a tree somewhere, ignoring their squabbling altogether as he read Icha Icha Paradise. How much had the three of them really changed?
"Sakura?" Kakashi asked, a few minutes after the last patient walked out the front doors. She just realized he had asked her a question and she had been too lost in pleasant memories to hear him.
"I'm sorry. Did you say something Kakashi sensei?" she asked, turning to face him.
Shaking his head, Kakashi stated, "I asked if you needed an escort home."
Sakura smiled, shaking her head and waving her right arm. "There's no need. I'm sure the Hokage has more important things to-"
"Oh nonsense," he interjected quickly, motioning towards the door. Honestly, Sakura felt obligated to stay for the night shift. She had taken on the most of the day's work herself, but they were still short on staff.
"Come on now," Kakashi called out to her. "Hokage's orders!"
She scowled at him. She hated when he used the "Hokage" card on her.
After being reassured by her apprentice, Kirai, who took charge in Sakura's absence, the pink-haired kunoichi joined her former sensei.
The streets were lit by the glow coming from the many shops and markets who hadn't quite reached closing time. It was hard to escape the attention of many who recognized the Hokage. One marketer even rushed out onto the street to offer the "Honorable Hokage" a free dango, to which Kakashi tried to politely refuse but the kind merchant wouldn't take no for an answer. Kakashi thanked him and smiled largely.
As the two of them walked farther away from the village's center, the night time bustle began to fade behind them. Once they were out of sight from the kind merchant, Kakashi put the sweetly smelling dango in Sakura's hand. She smiled, taking a bite from one of the brightly colored dumplings on the stick. Her team had always known her weakness for sweets.
After a minute, Kakashi removed his hat from his head, allowing it to rest on his back. He inhaled the fresh air loudly and Sakura noticed his usually fixed posture relax slightly. Seeing him this way made the young kunoichi think of the past again; back to the days where Kakashi wasn't in charge of the village. She couldn't imagine the stress he dealt with.
After giving him a few minutes of uninterrupted silence, Sakura asked, "What's this about Kakashi? Why are you walking me home?"
"Hm?" he asked, dropping all previous formalities. "Can't your former sensei assist you home, on a dark and scary even-"
,
"Let me guess," she interjected, pointing an accusing finger in his direction. "You're trying to get out of more paperwork, aren't you?"
He laughed and waved his hands innocently and Sakura knew she had hit the nail on the head.
"That's not my only reason," he defended himself, then placed a palm on the back of his hand as they continued to walk down the darkening path. "I actually wanted to talk to you."
"To meh? 'Bout what?" Sakura asked, just having taken the last bite of her final dumpling.
His former playfulness turned solemn as he asked, "Are you getting the rest you need?"
Rest? Why was he asking her about that? She couldn't just come out and tell him she hadn't slept much since the medic team left for Kumogakure. Not only was she responsible for maintaining the hospital, but ever since Sasuke's return, she had arrived home feeling exhausted but restless thoughts of him kept her from sleeping. It was all she could do to spare the chakra to erase the dark circles from her eyes every morning.
When Sakura didn't reply, he continued, "I understand that your load is heavy right now at the Hospital, but you need to make sure that you are taking care of yourself, first."
"Who told you I wasn't?" she asked, giving him an innocent smile.
The ninja beside her switched from Kakashi to Hokage as he said, "Actually, I have been keeping an eye on your situation since the departure of the medical team last week. I checked your hours and confirmed them with your staff this morning. I can say for certainty that you are not resting."
Annoyed at his snooping, she glared at him, pointing her now empty dango stick at him. "Look, they need me, and I know my own limits."
He didn't look properly chastised. In fact, he gently took her left arm and pulled down the sleeve of her lab coat to reveal her circular scars. "If you knew your limits, these would be properly healed by now."
She pulled her arm away and tugged her sleeve back down. "Look, I'm doing what I have to. My patients need me and I don't have the extra chakra to spare at the moment."
"And this is why I have arranged for you to have the next couple of days off." After seeing Sakura's gawking silence, the Hokage seemed to change back into his sensei persona as he smiled and walked a couple steps in front of her, knowing he had bested her.
"But!" Sakura implored, "What will they do without me?"
"It's all been arranged," he replied coming to a slow walk as the two of them approached her little apartment nestled into the side of an alley.
She inhaled to come up with an argument, but Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder and offered her a tired smile. "So take some time off and leave the rest to me. You do too much, sometimes" he spoke from behind his mask.
As she watched her sensei begin to leave, she called loudly after him, "What am I supposed to do?!"
"Sleep!" he called back, "And, uh, maybe go visit a friend!"
A friend? She didn't have to ask who Kakashi meant. After the white haired ninja disappeared into the night, Sakura turned her head to look down the opposite path, the narrow one that eventually wound its way towards the Uchiha compound.