"It was no surprise to me that when I finally did see Sasuke it was for a mission. Tsunade had decided three months was enough and she could finally put him to work. I think she must have been drunk when she sent the two of us to renew Konoha's treaty with Suna."
The children laughed at her dry wit. The Fifth Hokage's drinking habits were infamous.
Sakura did her best to observe her dark haired teammate unnoticed out of the corner of her eye. His skin was a sickly white color and there were purple shadows under his eyes.
Her fingers twitched, wanting to ghost over his skin and see what was wrong.
"Good, you're both here." Tsunade slurred. Sakura broke position, stepping forward to swipe her bottle of sake out of the woman's hand.
The blonde glared at her from under lidded eyes. "I'm sending you two to Suna. It's time to renegotiate the peace treaty."
Sakura bit her lip harshly. She was sending Sasuke to keep peace between two nations? Sasuke Uchiha, the man that attacked Kumo to retrieve Killer Bee on a diplomatic mission. Gaara was going to rip him to shreds twice. Once, for all the pain he caused Naruto and a second time because it would put him in his place. This was going to be a disaster.
"Uchiha, this is your chance to prove your loyalty to Konoha. Show that you've turned over a new leaf." Tsunade pulled out a second bottle from her secret alcohol stash, that Shizune emptied every week, and drank deeply. "Talks will probably take about two weeks."
The Godaime made a motion with her hand, her elbow planted on the desk and hand hanging limply at the wrist and she moved it like she was brushing off a fly, dismissing them.
Sasuke left immediately, sparing the shortest of glances for his pink haired teammate that strode towards the Hokage to take a large pile of paperwork into her arms. Sakura sat at a small desk in the corner and set to work forging her drunken shishou's signature and summarizing mission reports.
The pair set out for Suna before the sun rose, hoping to get most of the way there before the desert heat kicked in. Very little was spoken between them.
Suna's gate guards let them pass right through to a waiting Temari. The kunoichi brought them straight to the Kazekage's office, and Sakura would swear blind that Sasuke was briefly stunned to see Gaara wearing the hat.
Gaara rose from behind his desk to greet Sakura with a hug. She had spent a lot of time with the red head during the war, and thanks to her part in saving Kankuro and her saving his life once on the field, she and Gaara had built a strong friendship.
He handed her a scroll with the suggested new terms and Sakura spent the night pouring over it, crossing out several clauses and adding a few of her own. Most of it focused on trade of food. Konoha had fertile farms and didn't charge the exorbitant rates the Land of Rice because Konoha had other means of generating income.
Sasuke's eyes bore into her as she muttered over the scroll, phrases like "ridiculous demand and they know it," and "Tsunade would never agree to that," and "they must be out of their minds to have included that," fell from her lips.
Dark eyes bore into her back. "You've been avoiding me," he accused.
"I've been busy, Sasuke. The hospital has been in a state of complete disarray and. . ."
"You've been avoiding me. Why?"
"Because you've been irrationally angry with me!" Sakura snapped. "You wouldn't talk to me, wouldn't let me heal your injuries, and generally wanted nothing do with me ever since Naruto let slip that I was a chuunin. It was easier to just stop coming because we'd get nothing done. What does it really matter? It's only on paper and I'm sure you could be a jounin."
Sasuke remained silent. "You're so annoying!" she huffed. His lips quirked upwards.
"Aa."
"Sasuke's easy agreement had thrown me. He was never one to admit his faults. The whole situation had gotten out of hand. Yes, he had been angry, but it wasn't at me. Sasuke was angry at himself and the situation. He had said once during our gennin days that my skills were worse than Naruto's and he had just been proven wrong. And he was angry that he had to wait an undetermined amount of time before he could move up through the ranks.
"And a small part of him was angry at me. For leaving him behind. The night he left I professed my love for him, offered to leave with him."
Many students gasped. "Sasuke saw underneath the simple words, hearing the silent promise to always be there for him."
"So he was angry not because you were a chuunin before him, but because you wouldn't be getting the rank with him and Naruto."
"Exactly." Sakura nodded at the young girl who blushed from the praise. "Sasuke's feelings are complicated. On one hand, he was angry that I didn't wait for him to come back so we could take it together, but on the other hand, he would have been angry if I wasn't a chuunin. As the only member of Team Seven that didn't leave the village, it would have been pretty shameful if I was still a gennin.
"Our two weeks in Suna were much more pleasant with that issue solved. Until he learned that Suna imprisoned Team Hebi."