The Bank II
"A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it." - Jean de La Fontaine
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters contained therein, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto who is kind enough to let fans write fiction. I make no profit from this nor do I intend to.
A/N: Unbeta'd. I will attempt to post every other week. I think I'm going to need to do more rewrites on the remaining chapters than in previous chapters so I can't make any guarantees.
Enjoy.
Chapter XVI
Tsunade cursed silently as she rounded the corner. She recognized the woman waiting by her office door. Though she had no idea what the Council may want, she did know that it probably didn't bode well – it never did.
With a false smile, she greeted the messenger. "Good afternoon Yui, I take it you bring news from the Council?"
The exceedingly petite woman turned and bowed politely and with enough grace to put any professional ballet dancer to shame.
"Yes, my Lady. The Council sends their regards."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow as she unlocked and opened the door to her office. "I see, do their regards come with a scroll?" she asked as she entered her office, knowing that Yui would follow her in.
"No, my Lady," Yui responded as she carefully followed Tsunade into her office.
"Really?" Tsunade turned with some surprise as she reached her desk. It was rare for the Council to choose to send Yui without a scroll.
"No, my Lady, they come with one question."
"Of course…" Tsunade waited for the question as she settled herself at her desk, gesturing for Yui to take a seat if she should so desire, though knowing that the younger woman would never sit in her presence. After a few moments passed, Tsunade realized she would have to actually ask if she wanted to get to the bottom of Yui's visit and suppressed a sigh. "And, the question would be?"
"Ah, rumors have recently reached the ears of the Council about a possible Hatake heir, my Lady."
"I see. Their question?" Tsunade asked carefully keeping her emotions under wraps, she'd hoped this wouldn't come to pass. Worst case scenario she would say or do whatever she had to in order to protect Sakura – she'd taken precautions but they weren't quite in place yet so she'd need to be careful.
"They would like to know if there is any truth to the rumor, my Lady."
"Ah," Tsunade exhaled with some relief. "No. As far as I know, at this time, there is no truth to that particular rumor." Truth by omission. There had been a Hatake heir on the way. But, not any longer, not after the accident at the hospital at any rate.
"I see. Thank you, my Lady. I shall let the Council know." She turned to leave but paused before returning her gaze to Tsunade to make an uncharacteristic observation. "I fear they shall be greatly disappointed. They had hoped…"
Tsunade shrugged. "Not all rumors turn out to be rooted in the truth. Kakashi's in the Bank, it'll all sort itself out in time."
"Yes, of course. Thank you, my Lady." Yui nodded and bowed before once again turning and letting herself out of the office gracefully.
Tsunade heaved a sigh of relief and focused her attention on the paperwork she'd left on her desk, absently deciding that she would not tell Sakura about the Council's belated interest in her lost pregnancy. Unless the Council's interest persisted, it would serve no purpose to inform Sakura aside from likely upsetting the still healing kunoichi.
Tsunade barely knocked before entering Sakura's office.
Startled by her mentor's entrance, Sakura glanced up from her paperwork to find her boss with a thundercloud reflected in her expression. Knowing what that meant Sakura held any comment she may have otherwise made.
"Those idiots want to demo the North Wing," Tsunade answered the unasked question as she plopped herself in Sakura's non-Kakashi guest chair.
Sakura sat up straighter in her chair. "They want to what?! You just assigned me to the oversight committee for the North Wing rehabilitation project!" Sakura rummaged around on her desk, pulled out an annotated set of architectural drawings and gestured with them. "I thought they saw the light, found the money for it in the budget after all?"
Tsunade shook her head angrily. "Someone decided to go over the numbers again. They now think that since we're not currently using it, we don't need it after all. Too expensive to properly maintain the thing without actually having it in use is what they said." Tsunade made a rude noise with her lips.
Sakura's forehead creased in confusion. "But, it's not currently in use because it hasn't been properly maintained… Someone decided that it was too expensive, not enough money in the budget to keep it operational, and so it's just been sitting empty for the past ten-plus years. That's why it needs to be rehabilitated in the first place. Regardless of all that, we need the room that wing provides!"
Tsunade slammed a fist down on Sakura's desk in frustration, causing Sakura to scramble to keep everything from falling to the floor.
"Yes! That's it exactly! We need that wing! Even with the medic shortage, we still need the space."
"We were going to renovate it and then move the Maternity and Pediatric Wards to the North Wing – I have the plans right here!" Sakura gestured with the plans again. "What are they thinking? We need to free up more space for more specialized Serious Care Wards – they've been overcrowded for years now. We almost lost three patients when we overloaded the electrical system just yesterday!"
"All true, and we're going to need expanded maternity and pediatric spaces soon if things keep going at the rate they have been – even taking into consideration the recent…" Tsunade trailed off not wanting to remind Sakura of her loss.
Sakura took a quick moment to suppress the flash of regret the unintentional reminder of her loss caused. It was getting easier but she knew she still had a ways to go.
Tsunade cleared her throat and hastily continued. "Anyway, population projections such as they are, we will need that wing. I made my arguments, same as yours, now we will have to see what those idiots have to say – more unnecessary delays is what it is since it won't be easy for them to overturn the earlier decision." She exhaled angrily. "All we can do now is wait and see."
"That's such… nonsense," Sakura responded, censoring herself though she really had no need to do so. She huffed in indignation at the thought of getting rid of perfectly good hospital space. "Classes at the Academy have been increasing steadily over the past few years as well – more shinobi, especially students, will definitely mean we will need more room at the hospital."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow.
Sakura chuckled nervously, she'd done a lot of research during the brief period she'd been pregnant, the expected pang of guilt hit but not as strong as she'd expected – progress, slow but mostly steady.
She cleared her throat before responding. "The perpetual medic and kunoichi shortages made me curious…"
Tsunade stared at Sakura for a moment, guessing another reason Sakura may have been interested in Academy class size projections, before deciding it would be best to leave it be and chuckle as Sakura likely intended.
"You wanted to know if there was any relief in sight?"
Sakura raised a hand to the back of her neck. "Yeah, uh, something like that… Have we always been stretched this thin?"
Tsunade took a moment to actually give the question some real thought, it was an issue she hadn't had time to think about for some time. "Well… we've always had less kunoichi than male shinobi…"
"Hmm… Less interest or less effort recruiting?"
"Both if I'd have to guess. Doesn't help that most medics are also kunoichi. Less kunoichi would of therefore mean fewer medics…" Tsunade's expression turned thoughtful. "That's something that will need to be addressed now as well."
"More career days? Sakura suggested dubiously."
Tsunade laughed. "Career days are usually too late. No, we'll have to do a better job than that."
"Incentives for even more kunoichi to have kids? Higher likelihood of them attending the Academy?"
Tsunade snorted. "The village is too cheap to go for that – would be an extremely expensive program to make work and make it worthwhile for kunoichi to consider participating. The Bank program is expensive enough as it is – granted, that one is much too important for the village to quibble over money. Far too many powerful bloodlines could be lost if that program was cut, or if any substantial changes were made to it."
"But… aren't the kunoichi and medic shortages just as important?"
Tsunade shook her head slightly with a disapproving frown. "Depends where you're sitting – Bank program participants are known shinobi, those who will likely have children who will follow in their parents' footsteps. Some of them, the ones for whom the program was initially created, are of course the ones who are proven elites, those with powerful bloodlines, or the last of their lines. Only one way to get more of them. Kunoichi and medics on the other hand…" Tsunade shrugged unhappily. "Well, they can come from anywhere. The village wouldn't see why it should have to pay for more when any civilian or shinobi couple could conceivably produce a kunoichi or medic." Tsunade grimaced, unpleasant as it was, it was the current reality of their situation.
Sakura sighed, though it was wrong, her mentor was right. Baby steps. That they had the program at all was progress, never mind that it had been opened to all shinobi, not just those the village wanted to ensure didn't die out. They'd just have to keep pushing but until then… She sat in silent thought for a few moments before picking up the conversation once again.
"Must be something we can do, right? Other villages don't have this problem… or do they?"
Tsunade shook her head slightly before slowing to a stop, clearly losing herself in thought. As she lapsed into silent contemplation, Sakura recognized that Tsunade wouldn't care to be disturbed. Figuring the safest option for her would be returning to her paperwork, Sakura bent her head once again to focus on the reports in front of her.
Several minutes later, both women were interrupted by a knock on Sakura's door. Together they turned to see who was intruding on their currently silent meeting.
"Sakura, you missed your usual coffee break – I thought-" Itsuki halted midway into the office as well as midway through his greeting. His focus shifted from Sakura to Tsunade and he felt the color drain from his cheeks. "Oh! Um, I see why you missed your usual coffee break…" he trailed off awkwardly.
Sakura shook her head slightly doing her best to ignore Tsunade's silent laughter. Kakashi was not the only one who was well aware of Itsuki's unwanted interest. Though, Tsunade merely found it amusing rather than objectionable as Kakashi did.
"Thank you for your concern, Itsuki. But, as you see, I'm in a meeting."
"Yes, o-of course!" Itsuki stammered as he carefully eased backward. "I'll just…" he nervously shifted his gum from one cheek to the other before continuing, "I-I'll um, I'll see you later then."
The office door closed quickly but quietly behind Itsuki as he beat a hasty retreat.
As soon as the door was closed, Tsunade let out the chuckle she'd been suppressing.
"That a regular occurrence?"
Sakura grimaced. "Unfortunately, though honestly, that was the first time in a while."
Tsunade sobered immediately. "I see – his presence is unsolicited then?"
"You might say that."
"Worn out his welcome?"
Sakura sighed. "I didn't want to but… I gave him a chance. I really did try my best to give him a go."
"Ah… so that rumor was true, then? You two did date?"
"Yes. And, as expected, it just didn't work out."
Tsunade eyed her speculatively, not bothering to suppress a knowing smirk. "What'd Kakashi have to say about that?"
"Kakashi's opinion on my love life hardly mattered..."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow and maintained her skeptical expression.
Sakura threw her hands up in irritation, knowing that Tsunade wouldn't let it go until she'd gotten enough details to satisfy her curiosity. "Fine. Of course, he was unhappy about it. And, he took every opportunity to tell me so."
Startled, Tsunade laughed, she hadn't expected to hear that Kakashi had gone so far as to express opinions on Sakura's love life – he certainly never had done so in the past. Granted, what he was currently doing with Sakura was also something he'd never done in the past, so she supposed she shouldn't be surprised.
Choosing to ignore Tsunade's amusement, Sakura decided to continue as though she'd heard nothing.
"As much as I want to say I gave Itsuki a fair shake, I'm sure I didn't. I never wanted to date him in the first place. But, I saw it as a polite, easy way to finally get rid of him. Dumped him, with immense relief, after three dates – told him it's just never going to happen the way he wanted it to and that I was just wasting his time." Sakura sighed.
"Let me guess, that was about the time Kakashi came back from his mission with Minako – wasn't it?"
Sakura nodded, she didn't feel it necessary to add that it was also around the time that Kakashi started hanging around more regularly.
"He's let me be since then… more or less."
"I see." Tsunade thought for a moment. "Kakashi's only been out of the village for two days now…
Sakura rolled her eyes and sighed again, unable to comment on the obvious.
Itsuki carefully closed the door and started upon turning and finding Kumiko there.
"Oh! Are you looking for Sakura?"
Just as surprised to see Itsuki as Itsuki was to see her, she pulled out a hasty smile. "Er, yes – I need to discuss some paperwork with her…" She eyed Itsuki hovering by the door. "It's," she coughed a little to clear her throat, "it's, uh, something that has fallen through the cracks… I'll need to get her to fill these forms out right away, you see."
Itsuki shook his head and frowned sympathetically as he shited his gum from one cheek to the other. "She's in a meeting with the Hokage right now."
"Oh!" Kumiko responded, suddenly feeling as though she'd dodged a kunai. She wasn't looking forward to facing the music, so to speak, with Ms. Haruno's belated paperwork, but to have to do so in front of the Hokage… that would never do. Having Ms. Haruno think of her as a flighty ditz was one thing, the only way she could find to gracefully play off deliberately holding back important paperwork, it was quite another to have the Hokage think the same thing.
"I-I see. Well, I'll just have to try again another time."
Itsuki nodded. "Probably for the best." He eyed Kumiko from the corner of his eye and mentally shrugged. "I'm on my way to go for some coffee. Care to join me?"
Surprised, Kumiko took a step back. Everyone knew Itsuki was after Ms. Haruno. That he should ask her to get coffee was more than surprising. Then again, as she pondered she realized that since he was after Ms. Haruno, there would be no harm in her getting coffee with him…
For just a moment she wondered if she could somehow team up with him and arrange things so they both got what they wanted. But, reality in the form of plain common sense warned her off the idea. That ship sailed long before she'd known it was even at the dock. Her time was better spent looking for another ship.
"Sure. Let me just drop these," she gestured to the papers on her clipboard, "off at my desk and I'll be happy to join you."
Sakura absently took a sip of her coffee, unaware that she was out until no delicious caffeine responded to her attempt to drink it. Surprised that she'd already finished her coffee, Sakura checked the clock and was startled to find that she'd lost a few hours. No wonder why she was out of coffee!
With a sigh, it was a popular time to get coffee, she collected her wallet and cafeteria approved giant coffee mug before exiting her office.
Upon arriving she was pleased to see that it wasn't nearly as crowded as she'd feared and even better, they'd just brewed a fresh pot of the highly caffeinated variety. Absently she assumed that she must have just missed the usual mid-morning rush. Sakura quickly made her way through the checkout line and headed into the seating area on her way back to her office.
As she stepped away from the register her gaze was immediately drawn to a table in the corner. Her eyes widened and she tried to find a way out of the dining area without attracting any attention, those were the last two people that she wanted to see.
Before she could make a discrete exit, Itsuki turned his head and saw her, drawing the attention of his companion to her as well. With a silent sigh, Sakura made her way over to the table.
"Itsuki… Kumiko – nice to see you," she greeted them as she approached the table, silently hoping for a quick conversation.
"Oh! Ms. Haruno!" Kumiko waved at Sakura as she approached and stood to offer Sakura her seat, collecting her coffee mug as she did so. "Coming to wish Itsuki well?"
Sakura shook her head slightly and remained standing – sitting down with Itsuki was the last thing she wanted to do. Kumiko shrugged and took this moment to grab a refill on her coffee.
Temporarily setting aside Kumiko's suddenly friendly mien, Sakura shot Itsuki a puzzled glance. "Going somewhere Itsuki?"
Itsuki ducked his head a little. "I got into a new training program – it's in Suna."
Sakura's eyebrows shot up in surprise. She could sense Tsunade's hand at work and could only be thankful for this type of meddling – never mind how quickly she'd managed it, Itsuki's ill-timed office visit had been a little less than a week prior.
"That sounds like an amazing opportunity, congratulations!" Sakura exclaimed truly happy for him.
Itsuki fought a light blush rising on his cheeks at her praise and adjusted his glasses, for once he wasn't chewing a wad of gum. "I leave tomorrow and will be gone for a couple of months."
Unable to believe her luck, Sakura felt her smile widening. "Wow! That must be one thorough training program."
"Well… yes, I guess it is. It's more of a medical program than a medic program. I'll be one step closer to a doctorate once I complete it. Eh, heh. So I guess I'll move up a bit in the world when it's done, at the very least."
Sakura nodded, absently wondering when she could get away and celebrate in private. "I see – I don't think I've heard anything about this program. But, if it's more medical in nature," she shrugged, "that might be why."
Itsuki nodded. "Since I hadn't made up my mind to apply until the deadline had just passed," his blush returned even stronger as he shifted his gaze away from Sakura.
He'd harbored hopes of getting Sakura's attention again, once she'd had a chance to think things over a bit more. She was an intelligent woman, she'd eventually see that he was a better choice than Mr. Hatake. The brief time they'd been dating had been some of his happiest days, and he'd thought that giving her some space would also give her the opportunity to miss him. And, since he'd been keeping his distance he had thought that it might now be a good time to see if her feelings had changed. However, his hopes that she might soon return her attention to him had been dashed by a few offhand comments made by Kumiko when they'd first had coffee together. And, by then, the deadline for the program had only just passed.
He suppressed a sigh and continued, "I figured I had missed my chance."
"Oh?"
"Turns out my supervisor thought it would be a good experience for me so she applied on my behalf – she figured I could just turn it down if I got in and didn't want to go. Win-win." He shrugged. "Especially since I did want to go after all."
"How lucky for you!" Sakura pasted on a fake smile, sensing that Itsuki wasn't as happy about it as he may have wanted people to believe. Absently she chalked it up to the fact that no matter what he said, there was no real way he could have turned the opportunity down, especially if he wanted to advance within the ranks at some point.
"Yeah… very lucky…"
"Well, I need to get back to my paperwork…" Sakura started to inch away, she did still have a lot of work to get done. "This sounds like it's a great opportunity for you! I wish you the best of luck! Make sure you take the time to enjoy the local food and sights while you're there, you won't get another chance like this one anytime soon!"
She turned to see that Kumiko had returned with fresh coffee and gestured for the woman to take the seat she had not taken.
"He leaves tomorrow, at first light," Kumiko stated as she took her seat once again. "My favorite line of beauty products comes from Suna and I've been having trouble getting a few of them."
"Oh? Which one?" Sakura asked idly, not exactly interested but feeling obligated to ask.
"Desert Oasis Beauty. They make the best mud and aloe masks. Itsuki has promised he'd send me some once he's settled."
"I see…"
"I-I can send you some too if you like?" Itsuki offered, suddenly brightening at the possibilities.
"Uh…" Sakura trailed off, looking for a polite way to refuse his offer without somehow offending Kumiko, the woman seemed genuinely friendly for once. However, she didn't need to give Itsuki any excuses to insert himself back into her life. "I really couldn't ask you to go to the trouble."
"No trouble, no trouble at all!" he hastily assured her, a hand absently digging in a pocket for a piece of gum. "I can send extras of anything you like when I send things to Kumiko. It wouldn't be any trouble at all!"
"Er, thanks for the offer but I've been experimenting with a different line made locally – Breath of Fire. Think I'll wait and see how their products work out for me."
Itsuki nodded, his enthusiasm fading, a last-ditch chance to get back into Sakura's good graces fading before his eyes. Probably for the best for him to leave the village for a while – maybe an even longer absence would make Sakura's heart grow fonder…
Kumiko on the other hand inhaled sharply. "Oh! I've heard their products are good! But…well, pricy…"
Sakura shrugged. "They are more expensive than I'd like but if the quality is as good as people have been saying…"
Kumiko nodded her agreement. "That's true… you'll let me know if they're worth the price?"
"Sure, I'll keep you posted." Sakura agreed, once again wondering what was up with Kumiko, it was unlike her to be so friendly.
"Well, uh, I don't want to keep the two of you…" Sakura started edging away again. "Good luck Itsuki, I'm sure you'll do great! And, I'll see you around Kumiko."
Before either of them could react, Sakura waved and beat a hasty retreat back to her office. Already planning on hitting up her favorite coffee shop on her way home the next day, when Itsuki would well and truly be gone, to celebrate Itsuki's departure.
A hesitant knock disturbed Sakura's hurried gathering of her things and the setting her desk in order. Feeling slightly irritated, she was so close to finishing up for the day. Any interruptions now would absolutely keep her later than she'd hoped. Granted with Kakashi having been gone for almost three weeks with no return date in sight, it wasn't as though she had anything better to be doing.
Still, it was Friday and she had every intention of leaving on time and fully enjoying her weekend – the first one she had entirely off in months. Some of her friends had given her a spa day that was due to expire soon. Consequently, she'd booked everything included in the spa day on Saturday. And, luckily for her, her favorite intimate apparel shop was having a big sales event that weekend with extra special deals for kunoichi on Sunday. Sakura had already earmarked a nice chunk of money to be spent on those sales and couldn't wait to see what she could find.
In her opinion, her underthings were getting pretty tired, it was time to get rid of some things and buy new. Kakashi certainly would be pleased when he returned… Not that he'd complained, quite the opposite, he was pleased to see her in whatever she decided to wear. However, she had noticed his clear enjoyment whenever he'd found that she'd gotten something new. She could tell by the way he had always taken the time, and his time, to appreciate anything different she may have for him. To that end, she'd hoped to spend a lovely evening in with delivery for dinner, perusing some of the books Kakashi had especially recommended to her as his favorites, for ideas for her shopping list.
A second hesitant knock sounded on her office door.
Suddenly recalling where she was, Sakura hastily called out, "Come in!" She found herself hoping that whoever it was, they would be quick.
Kumiko hesitantly stepped in, a clipboard in hand. "Ms. Haruno, do you have a minute?"
Sakura sighed, sensing that this would definitely take longer than just a minute. "Is it urgent?"
Surprised, Kumiko took a step back, this was not what she expected to hear. Maybe it was a good thing to have put this off for nearly two weeks and to have waited until the end of the day.
"Ah, well…" She glanced down at the clipboard nervously, trying to decide what the best answer for her purposes would be, before shaking her head as she realized that if things played out correctly, she may just have been given the chance she needed.
"Um, not exactly, no."
"Okay, then can it wait until I come in on Monday?" Sakura asked with a hint of hope in her voice.
Seeing her chance, Kumiko hastily nodded. "Oh, yes, I'm sure it can. I just need you to fill this paperwork out – new hospital policy... Monday should be okay. Um, if you do it first thing?"
Absently Sakura nodded. "Sure, just leave it in my inbox, there," she gestured to the empty box on the wall by her door. "I'll grab it when I come in Monday morning and take a look."
"Uh, right. Um, if you have any questions, you can uh, just ask me on Monday. Enjoy your weekend!"
Hastily, before Sakura could change her mind, Kumiko dropped the papers in Sakura's inbox and hightailed it out of the office. It had gone unexpectedly well – perfect timing to not have to actually go over any of it with Sakura… or explain why it was so late…
Monday morning Sakura grabbed the heavy sheaf of papers from her inbox as she made her way to her desk and sighed. Judging by the thickness of the stack, it had been liberally added to over the weekend via the slot on the wall outside of her office. More likely than not, Tsunade had slipped some of her more tedious paperwork in while no one was looking. Quite unexpectedly Sakura was pleased to have had a wonderfully relaxing weekend as it looked as though it was going to be a brutally busy week.
With one last sigh for the amount of work she'd need to do to catch up, Sakura settled herself at her desk to get started, setting a timer to alert herself in a few hours so she would take a break and get some coffee. Without Kakashi hanging around or Itsuki poking his head in when he was least wanted, she was finding it harder to remember to take breaks than it once had been.
Suddenly, Sakura felt her office shake almost before she heard the deafening boom, which had its own sort of movement through the air. In an instant, she was on her feet and running out of the hospital and toward the yelling and screaming. She couldn't be certain where it had come from but she was sure that a bomb or some sort of explosive had been detonated nearby. Upon making her way out of the building, Sakura was better able to pinpoint the area affected by the blast. It was much closer to her office than she'd realized, far too close for comfort. All three floors of a significant chunk of the currently unused North Wing had been reduced to rubble – fires already spreading to the rest of the wing. Unable to prevent it, she shivered, it had been a close call.
Maybe it was good for the village to have so abruptly pulled the funding they were going to use for the North Wing rehabilitation after all. Since the wing wasn't currently in use and with the renovation funds pulled so abruptly, the scheduled work had had to be postponed, there was no reason for anyone to have been in the North Wing. Granted, that just left them in a much worse position as it would now have to be demolished. There was no way that it was still structurally sound – another moment's thought made her realize that a portion of the main block of the hospital building, the part directly adjoining the North Wing, would likely have to be structurally evaluated before it could be used again. Losing a chunk of the North Wing had possibly rendered some of it structurally unsound.
Still assessing the situation, Sakura noted that the screaming seemed mostly to be coming from scared pedestrians who had been walking in or around the area affected by the blast, no noise aside from that made by the fires seemed to be coming from the rubble. Automatically Sakura began to jog closer to the source of the explosion. From where she was, she couldn't see anyone seriously injured. Those who were hurt were already being treated – the advantage of falling victim to an accident at the hospital, immediate medical help. As she continued to survey the area, trying to decide what her next steps should be, Tsunade appeared beside her.
"Sakura."
"Tsunade, what happened?" Without waiting for an answer, it seemed fairly obvious, she continued, "Where do you want me?"
Tsunade grimaced. "There was nothing explosive being kept in the North Wing."
"I see…" Sakura trailed off, reading between the lines. This would be treated as an act of either terrorism or war until it could be proven otherwise. Though the Council had wanted that wing demolished, there was no way they'd stoop to arranging something like this.
"While the wing is likely damaged beyond repair, the firefighters still want to go in.. We're assembling two teams of combat medics to go in with them – until proven otherwise, we're assuming this wasn't an accident."
Sakura nodded, knowing that she would be on one of those teams. She was one of the highest-ranking combat medics currently in the village.
"I'm assigning you to be second in command on Akihiro's team, he's had experience with this sort of thing before. He was on location when we had that terrible earthquake in Suna a few years ago and did a good job finding survivors."
Sakura glanced sharply at Tsunade. "Survivors? You think there were people in there?"
Tsunade shook her head. "No one should have been in or even near the North Wing… but, you never know. Especially in this village. It's entirely possible that at least a few people were in the wing before it blew."
Sakura inhaled sharply. "That's… not a good outlook…"
Tsunade shook her head. "No, it's not but it is what it is. You're to coordinate with Akihiro – he'll search for possible survivors, you'll search for signs that this is an act of war and you're both to protect the firefighters if necessary."
"Right."
"His team is assembling on the other side of the blast – in the empty lot next to the hair salon – go meet him there. They'll be waiting for you and he should already have a plan of attack ready to go. Firefighters are eager to go in."
Sakura nodded and took off.
"Right – we're taking the lead on this one. Nakamura's team will hang back and go in with the second wave of firefighters from the north-west. We're heading in from the south-east and will try to meet in the middle. Let the firefighters do their job and secure each room or area as the fires are controlled and put out." Akihiro paused to wait for his five medics to nod their understanding before continuing.
"Half of you will keep an eye on the firefighters and look for possible survivors the rest of you will be looking for signs of deliberate tampering… and if you see something we've missed don't hesitate to act." He raised a hand to his chest. "I will take the first group – Imai and Matsuda that's you – in to protect the firefighters and look for survivors. Haruno will lead the second team – Hara and Sano that's you – checking for signs of malicious intent." He nodded his head in Sakura's direction before continuing. "We don't think this is terrorism but on the off chance that it is, we'd like to be prepared – this would be an ideal cover for something more sinister. Other teams are mobilizing around the village and once we're done here we will be joining them." He surveyed his team and nodded, it was a good team – they should make short work of this.
"Any questions?"
Less than ten minutes later found Sakura along with Hara and Sano, cautiously entering the building, using a path cleared by the ever-industrious firefighters and Akihiro's half of the team. Sakura kept her eyes and ears open for any possible survivors – highly unlikely but still possible – as well as any signs of an enemy attack. Since nothing had happened immediately following the blast she had to wonder if it had been an accident after all. As Akihiro had said, they should make short work of this and then join the other teams that needed medics around the village and await further orders.
As Sakura moved through the remains of one of the larger rooms, her team had spread out to cover more ground, she suddenly heard an ominous sound from above her. Quickly she glanced up, just in time to see a segment of the ceiling with a dangerously twisted spiky metal mass that had once been a lighting fixture, give away. The chunk of the ceiling was too large and falling too fast for her to dodge. As it fell, Sakura felt rather than heard a second blast.
Kakashi saw his chance and took it – his support team had done a dry run the same morning they had been called away and their prep work was still good – and, against all odds, he somehow managed to survive. How he managed to pull it all off, he still couldn't quite explain. If he had to guess, Kakashi would have attributed it to a combination of incredible focus, awesome skill, sheer dumb luck, and the skillful use of an excellent bargaining chip unexpectedly paying off far better than he could ever have hoped.
Never before in his entire life had he ever been so intensely focused on not only achieving a mission goal but on getting out alive. Tsunade had clearly given him the out he had been expecting for years. And yet… He found, shockingly enough, he just couldn't seem to bring himself to take it. He had unfinished business.
No. Instead he'd return to the village. As Tsunade spelled out in her note, he hit his mission cap with this last mission but that didn't mean he had to retire. They'd find something for him to do – they always did. Or, given the proper stimulus, they'd find him a loophole. If Konoha was at war… The village would surely find some sort of use for him.
Though, from what he could see on his long slow journey back, no immediate conflict had broken out, at least not yet. The longer Kakashi traveled, the more inclined he became to believe that if Konoha was indeed at war, it was the of the cold variety since he'd seen no signs of any hostilities, impending or otherwise.
However, the complete lack of any signs of war – even cold wars had indicators – made him lean more toward the explosions being the result of terrorism rather than that of war. To his mind, the hospital would make a better target for terrorists than for someone looking to start a war. The attacks made more sense viewed through the lens of terrorism – at least, they did with what little information he had on them. As he'd been staying entirely out of sight while traveling, he didn't have any additional information aside from what the ANBU had given them when he took Kakashi's team back to the village.
Regardless of whether the village was at war or coping with a terrorist threat, Kakashi was certain something would be done to prevent him from retiring. And, even in the unlikely event that the village decided that his services were no longer needed, he had already made peace with his choice – no matter what the outcome, he was reconciled with his decision. Until his career was sorted out, Kakashi would be content to spend his time in Sakura's office with a good book and the pleasant, if mostly silent, company of the woman who would, one day, have his children.
As he made his way back to the village much more slowly than usual – though he had managed to survive, he had not escaped unscathed – his brain wandered off to contemplate what he would do once he returned to Konoha. Kakashi had managed to make quite the to-do list while waiting in that ANBU safe house. And, with no missions on the foreseeable horizon, he was fairly certain that he'd be able to cross off most of the things on his list fairly quickly – well, depending on how busy Sakura was, of course… and, how adventurous she was feeling...
Absently, Kakashi had to wonder if he could get away with just doing takeout or delivery that evening. Or, if she'd expect him to take her out first? At the rate he was going, he'd probably arrive back at the village sometime in the afternoon. But, he was also fairly certain that he'd have to spend an inordinate amount of time reporting in (and proving his identity) which would mean it would definitely be evening by the time he was free to go in search of Sakura. Would she expect him to take her out after being away on his mission – before she allowed him to address his list?
Sakura had allowed him to get away with take-out that last evening they had spent together. But, he suspected that that was something she considered to be a bit of an unusual occasion in that the mission he was leaving for the next day might have been his last. Kakashi had to wonder if he'd get the same leeway for returning from a mission that might have (should have) been his last. Turning this new wrinkle over in his mind he continued on to the village, mind lost in all the pleasant possibilities of what his evening could hold.
Kakashi abruptly came to a stop. The village gates suddenly appearing on his horizon. His eyes riveted on the landmark, knowing that this day it would mark more than just the ending of a mission. He let out a long slow breath and moved to the side of the path – on the off chance that someone else came along. Kakashi knew he would need a few minutes before he would continue on and into the village. Not because it was likely going to be the last time he made this trek in full ANBU gear. Nor because entering the village would be the final nail in the coffin that was his career – without him in it. Not even because they would likely try and force him to take a desk job, there was one for which he was probably qualified but that he had never wanted.
No, none of these reasons were why he felt the need to pause for a few moments before completing his journey. No. Now that he was within sight of the village it was time to give up the dream – the fantasy – that had kept him going and had likely played a key role in him making it through his suicide mission alive. Just as slowly as he had exhaled, Kakashi inhaled held the breath briefly before once again releasing it slowly – his breath hitching only a little as he let reality wash over him.
Sakura was dead. She would not be waiting for him in her apartment or in her office or anywhere else in the village for that matter. All the time he had spent daydreaming about how their reunion would go had been just that, daydreams. Something to keep him occupied and moving forward once his mission was complete. Deep down he had known, how could he not? And, yet, he had continued to imagine how their future would unfold once he returned – fantasize a whole new bright future for the two of them. One that very likely would involve kids. A few of those dreams, he just knew, were directly responsible for pulling him through the long painful journey home.
But now Kakashi knew it was time to face reality. Tsunade's note had said it all. Or, rather, it had said nothing – which, in turn, said everything. That she had not found the time to include any small mention of how Sakura would fare or the impact of this last mission on her future, once he was gone, spoke volumes. Nor had she tried to guilt him into doing the impossible: to return home alive. Instead, she had let him go.
Kakashi stood stock still, his gaze still fastened to the gates – a part of him wished he didn't have to pass through them. So long as he was outside the village he could pretend that Sakura was there, in the village, waiting for him. But, he knew that he would have to face reality and that he had quite a lot to do now that he was back and she was gone.
While the forefront of his mind had spent its time dreaming of his nonexistent future with Sakura, the rest of his mind had continued to work. Kakashi had found the strength and determination to carry on with the mission, more focused than he had ever been before. The stakes, he found, had suddenly been raised beyond his own life.
Kakashi's first stop, after checking in, would be Sakura's apartment. If he was in luck, everything would be just where she'd left it. He'd grab what he needed and then head down to the courthouse the next day. Necessary documents in hand he'd then go see Tsunade again. Hopefully, they had not yet buried Sakura – unlikely since it'd probably been nearly a month since the explosions. He didn't want them to have to exhume her but would have it done if necessary. He needed for her to be buried in the right place and under the correct name. She needed to be there when he brought their children to pay their respects to the Hatake ancestors.
Taking one last deep breath, his eyes closing briefly as he did so, Kakashi once again exhaled – doing his best to let go so he could move forward and into the village.