Papers, papers and more papers. The environment in which Sakura was could have been easily described like this. Her office was stacked with mountains of paperwork, all organized in neat piles. She stopped writing for a few minutes, resting her aching fingers and taking in her surroundings.
By the end of each month, her office always looked like a paper factory exploded inside of it, with requests for new supplies and other paperwork surrounding her. As the director and chief surgeon of the capital's hospital it was her duty to organize everything which would keep the institution working smoothly. Her duties both as director and surgeon increased because of the war and even though they lost in the end, she was glad that no more people are going to die.
"Well… I guess this will be the last time I'm doing something like this." She sighed, knowing far too well, that she'll be living in Konoha by this time next month. A sudden knock interrupted her chain of thoughts. "Come in." The door opened, revealing her surrogate mother. "Oh, hi. I wasn't expecting you." She said surprised, standing up from her seat.
"Why aren't I surprised that you are here, practically covered in paperwork?" Tsunade chuckled.
"Well, I have to smooth out any rough edges before handing the hospital over to Shizune." The pinkette said, removing a pile from one of the chairs, then offering the vacated space to her mother. "Besides, I'd rather immerse myself in paperwork than to break something while staying at the palace."
"Please don't tell me that you insulted the king once again." Tsunade sighed, after sitting down.
"What? No! We just had a little talk in the library yesterday, that's all."
"About what?"
"Um…" She started writing again, trying to hide from the blonde's scrutiny. "About books… ." The pinkette conveniently left out the part where she threatened to poison him. She really wasn't in the mood to witness one of her mother's outbursts.
"I had a meeting with Hatake yesterday." The hand in which the pinkette was holding her pen stiffened. "We had a discussion about where the official announcement of your engagement would be held."
Sakura was already feeling dread in the pit of her stomach. "Don't tell me that they won't let us have the ball here."
"Well, initially it seemed like that… but then Hatake decided otherwise."
"Oh, then should I thank him or something?" The young girl's voice was filled with bile.
"I think that you acting nicely around him would be the greatest reward he could ever receive."
"But I'm trying." She gritted, already feeling frustrated. "But you can't expect me to throw myself at him on a whim and declare my undying love. That'd be just plain absurd, considering who he is…"
"I'm not expecting you to be like that…it's just that you should really try to be nicer…Danzo is ready to jump at even the slightest sign of hostility. We really don't need any more repercussions." Rolling her eyes, Sakura continued her work.
...
Everything was so peaceful where he was sitting. Quietness surrounded him; the only thing that disrupted it was the occasional bird chirping. The light breeze moved the branches above his head, together with the pages of his opened book. He closed the well-worn paperback and pulled out a black velvet box from his pocket. Kakashi opened it, revealing a white gold ring. The small leaves enclosed a rose which was carved out of white jade. The petals looked so lifelike, that one might mistake it for the real thing. Sighing, he closed the box, wrapping his fingers around it. Kakashi rested his head against the tree's trunk, closing his eyes. Yes, everything was so peaceful.
"Mind if I join you?" Kakashi groaned. Looking down, he saw Genma grinning at him, with his hands in his pockets. His brown haired friend was wearing the standard issue Konoha military uniform.
"What do you want?" He didn't even try to mask his irritation.
"Old man Danzo wants to talk to you."
"Sometimes I get the feeling that I'm the one who works for him, instead of it being the other way around." Kakashi grumbled, earning a snicker from the brown haired man. "Could you pretend like you didn't find me?"
"Hm…" Genma tapped his chin thoughtfully. "No. That old geezer would bother me until I won't find you, anyways." Glaring, Kakashi jumped off from the branch he was sitting on.
"What were you doing out here?" Gemma raised a curious brow.
"Reading…it seems like this stupid tree is the only place where I can do that nowadays."
"What about the library?"
"Well, that seemed a good plan until I met up with the princess there."
"And?"
"She pretty much said that she'll poison me."
"Ouch. She's quite feisty, eh?"
"That would be the understatement of the year." Kakashi noted glumly. "You can picture our relationship quite clearly if I tell you that I'd rather participate in a boring meeting than to spend time with her."
"But you should understand her…" The silver haired man raised a brow, urging his friend to continue. "She went from being single to being engaged in the span of a day, to someone who she never even met before…that can put a damper on the chemistry, if you ask me."
"I really tried to be nice with her, but she repels all of my efforts." His voice was full of frustration.
"Did you propose to her properly?"
"Like giving her a ring? I'm planning on giving it to her today." Kakashi gave the black velvet box to Genma. He let out a low whistle at the sight of the jewelry.
"I see you have a few tricks up on your sleeve…planning on wooing her with this? It might actually work." He snickered.
"It was my mother's." Kakashi noted drily, the grin on his companion's face vanishing. "I was thinking about giving it to her or not, but I think I should. My father told me to give it to the woman whom I'm going to wed and I don't think that there will be any other candidate beside Sakura."
"If you give it to her, it should be special, that could help."
"Should I have a candlelit dinner with her and then stand on one knee?" The thought alone made Kakashi feel uneasy. He never was a romantic guy and Sakura won't be the person for whom he'll break this tradition.
"Knowing you, you wouldn't do that anyways." Genma waved his hand dismissively. "I think you should give it to her politely as possible. Ask her to meet you at the gardens or something. Just try to be nice."
"I'll be as long as she's nice as well." He already dreaded the moment.
...
"I can't believe it that we are having a ball!" Ino danced happily around Sakura's room, completely oblivious to the glare her friend was sending.
"And I can't believe that you could be so happy about this!" The pinkette sulked.
"Stop acting like you are the martyr here. You of all people should know that you are not the only person to whom the war brought bad things"
Hearing this, Sakura felt slightly embarrassed, but it didn't deter her from brooding. Sighing, Ino walked over to her friend kneeling down in order to be in eye level with her sitting friend.
"Look. I know that this is really hard for you."
"No you don't! Everyone is telling me that they know, but they know nothing!"
"Did you lose your life because of the war? Did you lose your home because of it? Did you lose one of your beloved ones thanks to it?" Ino asked the questions in a row, not even giving the pinkette enough time to respond.
"Just my freedom." Sakura retorted, desperately trying to win the argument, even though the possibility of doing so started to fade with each moment.
"Oh, stop being a drama queen!"
"It's so easy for you to talk like that!"
"Is it?" The blonde raised a furious brow. "Two of my cousins died in the war, my father barely made it out alive and we are nearing bankruptcy because of the blockade. But still, am I the one who's currently moping? No, because this whole thing could've ended so much worse. We could've been killed or raped by the soldiers, but Hatake didn't let that happen. Don't misunderstand me, I still hate that man and his whole nation, but had it been any other country attacking us, we wouldn't be sitting here right now. I'm not telling you to be all ecstatic however, try to think about this whole thing a bit more clearly."
"Anyways, I have to leave now, I promised mother to help her with clearing out the green house. Most of our flowers went to waste because of the blockade, but no problem, we'll just plant newer and prettier ones." Ino grabbed her bag and headed towards the door. "If you are brought down, then stand up."
Whew... this chapter took some time... I'm really sorry, but I got a little bit busy with university stuff. Anyways, thank you really much to those who reviewed and followed this story or put it on their favorites list!