- K -
Thursday morning arrived none too soon for Kakashi. He had grown irritable in his restlessness during the trip. Naruto had filled his time with harassing Gaara, Sakura had been working in the hospital sun up to sun down, and Sai was, well, being Sai. Staring at nature without emotion on his face while sketching was his thing no matter where he was. Sasuke had stayed close to his chambers, knowing he would likely be unwelcome anywhere without his world renowned teammates.
Kakashi tightened the straps of his pack while everyone said their goodbyes. He'd added Sakura's bed roll to his pack so she could accommodate the collection of herbs, poisons, and notes she had compiled during their trip. He had realized early into the trip that she must have a side assignment from Tsunade related to poisons, but he was of no use in that type of work and didn't care to press for detail while she did her work.
However, he did ask her when they set up camp the first night of their return travels. "What do you intend to do with the research on poisons?"
She still stiffened at the question and he mentally noted this odd reaction. Being anxious to discuss village secrets with another Kage? Reasonable. Being anxious to talk to him? Odd. Does she have something to hide?
"Like I told Gaara, Tsunade and I are researching non-lethal poisons to improve our ability to bring enemies back for interrogation instead of having to kill them. I'm specifically under orders to look at poisons relevant to paralysis that can enact psychoactive torture while the individual is unconscious." She was obviously holding back for one reason or another, so he decided to let it rest. Sai took up watch while the rest of the ninja settled into their bed mats.
- N -
Naruto was deep asleep when he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. He felt Sakura's chakra signal and opened his eyes to find his pink haired teammate leaning his way. "Can I tell you what I found in Suna?"
He sat up rubbing the sleep from eyes. "Does it have to be tonight, Sakura-chan?" Her face fell for a moment and he found there was some kind of need for her to tell him now. "Never mind, I'm up. What did you learn? I'd love to see you teaching Tsunade something for one, I bet the old lady is a terrible student." Sakura chuckled in response, washing away the disappointment on her face.
"She's actually very patient when sharing medical information. As long as it's not related to the dangers of alcohol consumption." They both fell into quiet laughter, trying not to wake their teammates. "So, it's a very delicate balance when picking ingredients and poisons that will paralyze the body without killing the target. The mobility of the individual needs to be impaired, but their organ functions can't be paralyzed to ensure it's non-lethal. Kazumi-sama hypothesized…"
In a brief communication of eyes with Naruto, Sai headed to his bedroll. The artist could tell they were going to be up for some time talking about Sakura's work and there was no point of staying up to take watch while they were going to be awake. Naruto let her continue talking, not interrupting her to say he didn't know the very basics of the terms she was using let alone the complexities of whatever experiment she was doing. However, he wasn't dumb enough to believe she had just woken him to talk about her work. Her behavior was off, and she usually knew to not waste her time trying to teach him medical jargon. "In one ear and out the other" was how Kakashi had put it once.
It was obvious she was evading sleep for some reason or another. Why won't she just tell me what's wrong? Pangs of sadness hit him every time he felt she was hiding something important and whatever this was had her waking up in the night and trying to avoid sleeping. Naruto hadn't missed how she held her throat and responded to Sasuke approaching her. It was understandable to still dream of that day, especially with the Uchiha having returned. But why start all of this now? It had been years since that fight, and they had shared in their pain over it. But suddenly Sakura was now throwing herself into work related to the poisons – potentially linked to the poisoned kunai she'd used, not sleeping, and not talking to him.
If the most she would let him do is be a distraction, he would do it happily. I just wish she'd let me do more.
- K -
Listening to Sakura and Naruto chat lowly every night in place of sleeping only added to his frustration with his female teammate. Yes, she was passionate about her work. But she didn't talk during the day and it seemed she was saving the conversation for night with Naruto so she could have a way to stay awake. She was not only keeping herself up, but Naruto too and they couldn't afford to have half of the team exhausted during a mission – even if they were on their way back and the mission was low risk.
On the last day of travel when they returned to the village, Kakashi stopped Sakura when they entered the gates. He glared at Naruto and Sai, signaling for them to go on ahead. "I think we should practice your fighting skills. You're not getting to spar enough because of all your time at the hospital and observing Naruto and Sasuke." She looked pissed at the comment, but they both knew she had been spending more time as a medic post-war. As he'd expected, her temper flared and her constant need to prove herself led to her taking the bait of training with him.
"I'll be happy to show you just how competent I am," she seethed. "Tomorrow at 7?" She asked dryly. Clearly his comment offended her, but he didn't particularly care. There was obviously some personal issue going on, one it seemed she had shared with Tsunade he suspected due to the side project on their mission she wasn't sharing, and it was affecting the team.
"7 is fine." He departed for the hokage tower behind his male teammates to deliver his report, leaving behind the flustered kunoichi.