Chapter 1. Sake and Little Talks

Konohagakure - Present Day

"All right, Iori-san, you're all set!"

Smiling at the young woman as she withdrew her chakra and removed her hands from his stomach, the senior academy instructor pulled down his shirt and hopped off the examination table.

"Thank you, Haruno-san," he replied as he stood and shrugged on his flak jacket. He waited for the medic to finish jotting notes down in his file before walking with her to the door.

Sakura smiled. "The pleasure is mine, Iori-san. Just try not to take on too many of your students at once next time, okay?"

The older jonin gave a loud laugh and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I make no promises, Haruno-san. After all, someone has to put those brats in their place!"

Chuckling softly at his response, because she really hadn't expected any different from him, Sakura opened the office door and waved him off. "I agree, but please, don't let me catch you here again until your annual physical in six months."

"I'll try my best!"

Shaking her head in amusement, Sakura hugged her clipboard to her chest and turned down the hall towards the nurse's station, her eyes catching a glimpse at one of the wall clocks as she went.

16:45

Perfect. It was nearing the end of her shift and all she had left to do was drop off her patient files and clock-out before she could leave. Then, all she had to do was pick up dinner and drop off the last of the campaign documents with her Shishou and she'd be home free for the weekend.

Smiling to herself at the thought of a nice long bath, Sakura rounded the corner ahead of the nurse's station with a grin on her face and a bounce in her step.

"Reina-san," she called lightly to the unit secretary as she approached the desk and handed over the medical file, "this is the last of my patients for the day."

The middle-aged brunette looked up at the twenty-eight-year-old chief medic and accepted the papers with a smile. Flipping the folder open, she glanced down at the patient name before turning to her computer. "Does he need a follow-up appointment?"

Sakura shook her head. "No, I cleared him to return to normal activity. If we're lucky, he won't be back until his annual physical in six months."

Nodding, the nurse made a few clicks before closing the file and setting it aside in a pile to be returned to the patient records room. It was only when the woman was done with her task that Sakura asked her if there was anything else the nurses needed from her before she left.

Reina gave the young woman a smile and the shake of her head. "No, Haruno-san. Have a nice weekend, and good luck with the campaign."

"Thank you," Sakura said with a smile before raising her voice to address the group. "Shizune-san will be back on Monday, but if you need anything over the weekend, just page me. Otherwise, I will see you all when I get back."

The sun was setting by the time she reached Hokage Tower, a stack of folders tucked under one arm as two plastic bags containing peace offerings for the likely moody Sannin hung from the other. After all, it was no secret that the blonde Hokage hated being cooped up in her office past normal working hours - especially on Fridays.

Case in point, it was no surprise to Sakura that, when she raised her hand to knock on the large oak door, she heard a loud bang from the other side of the door. Judging by the sound of the subsequent thud, Sakura could only guess that her former teacher had thrown her stapler at whichever unfortunate soul was standing in front of her. However… if she was throwing staplers there could only be one of two people with her... neither of whom Sakura felt any pity for if they had incurred the wrath of her shishou.

"HATAKE!"

Ah. So it was Kakashi this time.

"Get. Out."

Taking a few steps back from the door, Sakura waited patiently for the third shout.

"NOW!"

There it was.

And a moment later, there was Kakashi standing in the doorway.

"Good evening, Sakura." He greeted cheerfully, offering her a signature eye-crinkle and a lazy wave.

"Good evening, Kakashi-senpai." She replied with an amused smile.

When he raised his hand and waved her closer, she leaned in to hear him whisper, "She's not in a great mood right now, so I hope that the sake you brought is the expensive kind."

Snorting softly, Sakura shook her head good-naturedly at him - Really, he was too much sometimes – before responding. "Good thing that it is."

"Ah, well then, I best be letting you get to your meeting. Good luck~"

Sakura rolled her eyes as she watched him saunter away and down the stairs. Then, turning her attention back to the disgruntled woman sitting beyond the door, she resigned herself to her fate and hoped for the best.

"Good evening, Shishou."

Not bothering to look up from her mountains of paperwork, Tsunade scribbled her name onto another document and replied, "Whatever you want, the answer is no."

Sakura raised an eyebrow but didn't stop until she was standing in front of her shishou's desk. "You don't even know what I was going to say."

Looking up briefly from her work, Tsunade peered at Sakura from over the mountains of papers covering her desk. Honey-colored eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I don't have to, because whatever it is you want will probably just mean more paperwork for me."

Well, she wasn't exactly wrong.

Nevertheless, not to be discouraged, Sakura lifted into view the hand that held twin plastic bags and shook them gently. "Would it change your mind if I said I brought dinner?"

Tsunade stopped writing. Then, after calming set down her ink brush, she looked up again at her former apprentice. She gently sniffed the air before staring at the bags with wide, glittery eyes. "Stir-fry?"

"From Hikaru's," Sakura confirmed, smirking victoriously as she watched her Shishou pause in contemplation, amber eyes briefly surveying the vast ocean of paperwork covering her desk.

Then, Sakura witnessed her shishou do one of the most outrageous things, drunk or sober, she had ever seen. The blonde Sannin stood from her chair and raised her right arm, then, without a moment of hesitation, and like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum, swept it across her desk, sending the tall stack of documents airborne.

FWISH. THUD.

"Shishou!" Sakura shouted, both horrified and awestruck by the woman's blatant disregard for official paperwork.

"Oh, please," the woman replied with a wave of her hand as she flopped back down into the chair behind her now spotless desk. "Most of those were ridiculous requests from the elders, anyways."

"I'm sure the Council would be thrilled to hear you say that," Sakura replied dryly, eying the many pieces of paper around her still making their descent to the ground.

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Now, bring that stuff here and sit down," she barked good-naturedly, gesturing to the single empty chair across from her desk. "After all, it's been a while since I've had you to myself."

Smiling faintly at her mentor's bizarre way of saying she missed her, Sakura made her way over the desk and began setting out the food and sake. As she did so, Tsunade reached down to unlock one of the hidden compartments in her desk and pull out a pair of porcelain sake dishes.

"Expensive sake deserves fancy dishes," Tsunade explained before pulling one of the plastic containers closer to her and grabbing a pair of chopsticks.

"I couldn't agree more," Sakura said with a small laugh as she poured sake into the Hokage's dish and placed it in front of her.

Grabbing the sake bottle while Sakura opened her own container of vegetable stir fry, Tsunade habitually filled the other sake dish for Sakura before lifting her eyes to survey the meal her surrogate daughter had come to bribe her with.

"You always were a clever girl, Sakura," she complimented teasingly. "Great taste in food, too."

Smiling brightly, Sakura raised her sake dish to her shishou and grinned, "You picked a good one, Shishou."

Tsunade rolled her eyes before tipping her head back and draining her dish. Her gaze danced with pride as she watched Sakura pour her a new cup. "I forgot, humble too."

Sakura simply smiled in return before giving her thanks for the food and digging into her dinner, with Tsunade quickly following suit.

It was after several minutes of comfortable silence, however, that the Godaime Hokage's curiosity got the better of her.

"So, to what do I owe this wonderful bribery?" she began, having already taken the liberty of opening the open of the folder's Sakura had set on her desk while she was arranging their meal.

"What?" Sakura asked playfully, "Am I not allowed to save my dear Shishou from another miserable Friday spent alone and locked up in her tower?"

Looking up from the papers in front of her, Tsunade jabbed her chopsticks in Sakura's direction and gave her a half-hearted glare. "Watch it, girl. I still have the authority to put you on a month of night shifts."

This time, Sakura rolled her eyes and grumbled down at her food, "An abuse of your power, really."

Tsunade smirked. "I'm the Hokage, Sakura. I can do whatever I want."

Sakura scoffed. "Don't tell Naruto that," she warned with a laugh, "Otherwise, the whole village will turn into a circus."

Despite herself, Tsunade blanched at the idea before returning to their previous topic.

"It's nothing big, really." Sakura replied between bites of broccoli and a sip of sake. "I was just wondering if I could get permission to bring an additional jonin on the medical campaign."

Looking up from the files, Tsunade smiled faintly, "I was wondering when you were going to ask me about this." Setting down her chopsticks, Tsunade pulled open one of her desk drawers and removed a small green scroll with the Hokage's seal pressed on it. She then set it down in front of Sakura and returned to her dinner. "He's not supposed to be wandering around without orders, so you'll need this in case you hit any border patrol squads."

Sakura gave the blonde woman an appreciative smile before taking the scroll and stowing it in her hip pouch. "Thank you, Shishou."

Tsunade waved her hand dismissively. "With you gone, he'd either sulk around the village or find a way to annoy me between his missions, so it's really for the best."

Sakura giggled softly before returning to her food. "It's good to know the two of you are getting along so well."

Tsunade scoffed, "Hardly. That man of yours is a menace. If it weren't for you, I'd have put him six feet under by now."

"Oh, he's not that bad," Sakura insisted, hiding her amusement behind another sip of alcohol. "He actually reminds me of you sometimes."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Oh, how so?"

Sakura smirked, "You both put on this tough exterior... but you're really just a couple of softies."

A moment of silence passed before the Sannin threw her head back and let out a howl of laughter. "He's a tsundere... go figure!"

Across from her, the chief medic snickered. "Are you really that surprised?"

Tsunade drained her cup before shaking her head. "No... That whole family is full of them."

Sakura chuckled softly as she leaned forward to refill Tsunade's dish. Then, setting down her own cup, she sighed, "It still feels surreal, though... when I think about how much has changed..."

The Godaime Hokage hummed in agreement as she took her sake and turned to face the large bay windows. Standing, the blonde looked out over their beloved village as the setting sun bathed it in hues of orange and gold. "That's the beauty of life, Sakura... nothing is permanent."

Rising from her seat, Sakura quietly walked around the desk to join her mentor. "How long do you think it will last this time... the peace, I mean?"

Tsunade stayed silent for a while, a faraway look in her eyes as she pondered the question. Then, after taking a long drink, she spoke. "I can only hope it extends beyond my time."

"Shishou..." she said softly, eyes filling with concern as she looked up at her shishou, her chest growing tight.

Amber eyes turned towards the pinkette and narrowed. Then, Tsunade moved and Sakura found herself bent over at the waist, her face inches from the carpeted office floor, with a headache throbbing in the back of her skull. Briefly, she wondered if the blow would have sent her through the window if she had been standing closer.

"Don't look at me like I'm dying, girl." Tsunade scolded, lips twisting into a frown as she glared down at the younger kunoichi. "I may be old, but I'm not that close to kicking the bucket."

Sakura blinked once and then again as she tried to clear the dark spots from her vision before righting herself. She resisted the urge to rub the sore spot on the back of her head, knowing Tsunade would likely scoff and declare that the younger medic was in need of a refresher course in hand-to-hand combat if she was affected by the chakra-less blow.

"Besides, Kami knows what would happen if I died before Naruto was ready to take over," Tsunade added with an annoyed sigh.

Sakura cocked her head to the side slightly. Although she didn't really like to think about the day her Shishou left them, Sakura was curious who the woman would choose to lead the village after her. "Why do you say that?"

This time, Tsunade scoffed before reaching for the sake bottle and taking a swig. "Because that would mean leaving Kakashi in charge... and we all know he'd find every excuse to avoid doing his job."

Sakura chuckled, "Well, he certainly wouldn't be the first to do so." Although, if the need arose for Konoha to replace their Hokage before Naruto was ready, Sakura was confident that her former genin sensei would do an excellent job.

"All jokes aside," Tsunade said after another moment of comfortable silence, "how are you feeling?"

Sakura raised a pink eyebrow and turned to face her shishou, surprised that the older woman had noticed her anxiety.

"I've known you since you were twelve, Sakura," the blonde chastised lightly, "I can tell when you are feeling uneasy." Turning away from the window, she made her way back to her seat and sat down. "Is it about the medical campaign?"

Sakura nodded as she returned to her own seat across from the Hokage. "It's my first year being in charge of it... and it's the largest campaign we've planned to date."

"Twenty of the minor villages between five squads of six, right?" Tsunade asked as she picked up another one of the folders Sakura had brought.

"Yes, a jonin and chuunin medic plus a genin team with their jonin instructor," Sakura replied.

Tsunade nodded, "Give the genin a domestic mission and exposure to medic-nin while also ensuring our medics have protection, smart. And you're planning to spend a week in each village, correct?"

Sakura nodded, "Yes, I wanted to leave time for education and helping the villages prepare for the winter."

Tsunade smiled slightly, "Prevention is just as important as treatment." She flipped through a few more pages. "By the way, flu season has started early this year, I wouldn't be surprised if it's already hit some of the minor villages... do you have a plan to deal with it?"

Sakura sighed softly, "We're packing extra medicinal herbs and tonics to pass out along with the immunizations. We can't do much because it's a virus, but I have discussed with the other medics about doing home visits for ill patients to try and minimize the spread. That way we can use the medical tent for treating the rest of the village during the day."

"Sounds good," Tsunade replied as she reached for her pen to sign off on each of the candidates Sakura had selected for squad leaders. Once the ink was dry, she closed the last folder and slid it back across the table to the chief medic with a smile.

Sakura stared at the files in surprise. "That's it?"

"Were you expecting something else?" Tsunade asked as she return her attention to her food.

Sakura shook her head. "No… I guess I just wasn't expecting it to go this smoothly."

Smiling a rare, sympathetic smile, Tsunade reached out and gently covered one of Sakura's hands in her own. "Relax, Sakura," she said softly, encouragingly, "I wouldn't have picked you if I didn't think you could do this. I have complete faith in you."

Sakura looked up at her mentor and smiled warmly. "Thank you, Shishou."

"You're welcome, Sakura," she said with a smile, patting her hand a few times for good measure before sitting back and glancing out the window at the darkened skies.

Following her gaze, Sakura frown at dark blue sky over Konoha. Eyes snapping to nearest clock, Sakura blinked in surprise.

19:32… Wow, when had it gotten so late?

"Time flies when you're having fun, ne?"

Sakura raised a suspicious eyebrow at her mentor. "Your ability to waste time astounds me, Shishou," she teased, green eyes dancing with amusement when the Hokage gave a nonchalant shrug.

"Why rush when the amount of work never changes?"

Eying the landslide of documents laying on the ground beside the blonde's desk, Sakura reached down and opened one of the abused folders before speaking, "Is this really a request to add more members to the Council?"

Across from her, Tsunade sneered, "They seem to think having more members will make it easier to annoy me into doing what they want."

Sakura blinked, "Will it?"

"No, but it might make it harder to resist murdering one of them."

Sakura snorted softly, flipping the file shut before reaching for another. "Wow... they even want a residence built on the cliffs adjacent to Hokage Mountain."

"I like to think of it as more of a senior home for the crotchety and overly pretentious," Tsunade replied blandly as she took another sip of sake and reluctantly resumed signing mission reports.

"You're not going to agree to them building it, right?" Sakura asked, already knowing the answer but wanting to see her mentor's reaction anyways.

Predictably, Tsunade balked. "Heavens, no."

Sakura snickered and held up another one. "What about this one... arranged marriages for the children of clan heirs and Konoha's elite shinobi." Sakura wrinkled her nose. "I can't believe they are still going on about this."

"Apparently the Uchiha weren't enough of a social experiment for them," Tsunade replied with a sneer, her opinion on the matter obvious. Then she added, "Anyways, I'm planning on hiding that one for Naruto to find when he's Hokage. I'm sure he'll have a field day with it."

"How kind of you," Sakura said sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she picked up a few more documents, skimming through them and commenting here and there, until she had most of the discarded papers gathered in her arms.

"Where do you want me to put these?" she asked, regaining her mentor's attention, as she stood from her chair.

To her surprise, Tsunade frowned at her.

"What? I figured I'd help clean up since it is partly my fault that these ended up on the ground," Sakura said in explanation.

"You aren't my apprentice anymore, Sakura," she reminded her not unkindly. "You don't need to do that."

Sakura shrugged. "It's fine. You've been without Shizune-nee-chan all week and I don't have anything else planned for tonight." Turning to make her way over to one of the filing cabinets at the far end of the room, she added, "I don't mind helping you organize a little bit."

Shaking her head, Tsunade watched silently as the pinkette found the appropriate place for the documents with practiced ease.

"It's okay to admit that you're lonely, Sakura," Tsunade said suddenly, not the least surprised when the younger woman tensed. "After all, he's been gone for 3 months now."

Grabbing another stack of completed files from a pile on the floor, Sakura forced herself to relax as she replied, "I'd just be bored if I went home, Shishou. I want to stay here for bit."

She tried to ignore the glare that was sent her way, choosing instead to quietly tuck away the mission files into their rightful places. However, it wasn't long before she felt the weight of the folders in her arms disappear and gentle hand squeeze her shoulder.

"Go home, Sakura," Tsunade said firmly, amber eyes narrowing as the green-eyed jonin looked up at her stubbornly. "That's an order."

When the pinkette opened her mouth to protest, the Hokage continued, ignoring her in favor of placing the folders for the medical campaign in her hands and turning her in the direction the door, "Enjoy your weekend off, Sakura... you'll be plenty busy soon enough."

Emerald eyes held the Sannin's gaze for a long moment. Then, she relented.

"Yes, Shishou," Sakura said with a reluctant sigh as she held the papers to her chest and walked with the Hokage to the door. "Have a nice evening."

Tsunade waved the young woman off good-naturedly, "Good night, Sakura."

Once Sakura was gone, Tsunade returned to her spot by the window. She chuckled softly to herself as she poured herself another cup of sake and watched her former apprentice exit the Hokage Tower and head off in the direction of her home, her long pink hair swaying with the gentle evening breeze.

Tsunade then lifted her gaze to horizon, her eyes tracing the contours of the village skyline. Despite its recovery, the village just didn't glow as brightly it had before the war. Sure, many of the buildings were newer and the village had expanded beyond the barrier of the rock walls that made up Hokage Mountain, spreading out and around to the other side. But what had been the price of their revival? She gazed off in the direction of the Cenotaph. The war had added far too many names to it.

She had told Sakura that the beauty of life was that it wasn't permanent. She hadn't needed to mention that the losses that came with change could be equally as painful.

"I suppose some things never change," she said with a small sigh, savoring the rich aroma of rice wine before tipping her head back and taking a long drink.

When the early autumn breeze drifted in through the open bay windows, tickling her skin and rustling the pages of official documents, the Hokage sighed. Her eyes slid to the cloaked figure perched on the windowsill across the room.

"Including how you fools refuse to use doors."

Comments and interpretative dances always welcomed :)

~Smash41KMF

- 11.22.2020

Updated: 09/06/2022