Weeks pass. The days shorten and the chill slips in between the cracks and tears of the papered doors. Sakura's soulmate evidently feels it too; on especially cold nights, sometimes the phantom sensation of hot barley tea, redolent of sunshine and grass, whispers down her throat. The leaves of the Japanese maple trees begin to blush red, and the produce baskets at the marketplace now burst with fall bounty. The aged oba-sans at the stalls hawk orange-red persimmons and golden ginkgo nuts and dusty sweet potatoes that are still fresh from the fields.
The Hashirama trees preserve their eternal verdant youth, as always, and like the unchanging appearance of the forest, Sakura's life largely remains the same. She still hops between the hospital, the training ground, home, and Ino's house like regular clockwork. The differences lie in the little details.
She gets promoted from lurker to semi-official junior assistant-to-the-assistant at the hospital, so now she occasionally participates in cleaning wounds and prepping tools before Shizune's surgeries. On the days when Shizune is less drained of chakra and more inclined to teach, she teaches Sakura how to stitch lacerations and cauterize wounds. It's still basic training, but Sakura's just grateful to finally be able to get hands-on experience.
She fares a little better in her training sessions with Tsunade, who finally gives a small grunt of approval when Sakura finally manages to lift a 50 pound boulder and throw it across the clearing of Training Ground #3. It's not as magnificent as Tsunade's punt, but it's still an improvement from when she first started out. "Keep it up, Haruno," the Hokage shouts, and Sakura glows inside.
When training ends, she stops at the market for a pint of ice cream and two cups of Japanese purīn before heading towards Yamanaka Flowers. When Ino meets her at the front door, it only takes her one look at Sakura's grinning face to understand what has happened today. Ino squeals and envelopes her friend in a hug.
"You did it! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!" Ino crows.
"Ermf, get off Pig. I'm sweaty," Sakura groans.
"Shut up and take my hug. It's payment for whatever's in that bag, and I'm wearing an apron, anyway," Ino retorts, then squeezes her harder as if to prove her point. "FOREHEAD! I knew you could do it! This is so EXCITIIIIING!"
The front door opens and Ino's mother sticks her head out. "Don't be so loud, Ino," she says reprovingly and then smiles at Sakura. "Come in, Sakura-chan."
"Did I interrupt anything?" Sakura asks Ino as they walk into Yamanaka Flowers.
"Nope. I was just helping with the shop since it's Friday and I don't have training. There's a little more to do, so you can just wait for me in my room. I'll be done in 15."
"I can help. I don't have anything else to do anyway," Sakura says, and in spite of Ino's half-hearted protests, she helps Ino prune the bonsai. After a while, Ino's mom comes in and shoos them out. "Go enjoy yourselves," she tells them.
So they're back in Ino's room, eating ice cream and painting their nails while watching a melodrama.
"So why are we watching Ojou no Hanayome again?" Sakura mumbles around the spoon in her mouth.
"Because it's better than Summer Cantata, which is the only other decent drama that we have in the house because Daddy loves it even if it's super depressing. He makes all of his subordinates watch it for 'training purposes.'" Ino says, rolling her eyes.
"I didn't think Summer Cantata was that bad," Sakura says mildly. "But yeah, if the protagonist wasn't that good looking, this drama would have never made it big."
Ino, mouth full, makes incoherent sounds of assent.
"But why training for T&I?" Sakura asks, curious. Even though Yamanaka Inoichi is in charge of Interrogation at T&I, she's never seen him as anything other than Ino's drama-otaku dad. Still, it's weird that Ino's dad doesn't separate his personal from his professional life.
"Apparently it's helpful training for honeytrap and undercover missions in the daimyo's court," Ino says, digging into her bowl of mint chip. "Being angsty and melodramatic is in fashion among the nobility right now and Bae Yong Jun-sama has it down pat."
"Huh."
"Yeah, I know. Anko can't stand it. That's probably why she transferred to Ibiki's department. Can't blame her, to be honest."
"...Can we just have our weekly meeting with Summer Cantata this time? It's angsty and over the top but at least-OW, PIG!"
"No."
"Why not? At least Yon-sama is better looking than the guy in ONH. This guy just cries all the time."
"We HAVE to watch ONH. It's our thing now," Ino says stubbornly. "Besides, if we put on Summer Cantata I'll get too distracted to talk and I'll probably cry a lot and then DADDY'S going to come in and watch with us and then we REALLY can't talk."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about your dad. Point taken," Sakura says. She shoves away her empty bowl. "Anyway. You start first. Did you find out anything?"
"Not much," Ino sighs. "I asked my parents and they didn't seem to know anything. It's not unheard of, but it's a pretty unusual phenomenon; there've only been a few cases cropping up here and there. I've tried asking some of our friends and nada."
"Who did you ask?"
"Shika, Chouji, Tenten, Rock Lee, Shino and Kiba," Ino ticks the names off her fingers. "Neji's on a mission, and no one's seen Hinata outside for a while."
"Not even her teammates?" Sakura asks, frowning. Out of the Rookie Nine, Team Eight is the most tight-knit, especially ever since Kurenai-sensei had her baby. Even if Hinata never asserted herself, Shino and Kiba always had her back, so she wasn't left out of anything, not like the way Sakura was.
"Yeah. According to Kiba, she's been sick for-wait a second." Ino falls silent, muttering to herself.
"Well, while you're thinking, I went back to Kumohara-sensei," Sakura volunteers. Ino scowls at her.
"Goddamnit, you made me lose my train of thought. What did he say?"
Sakura shrugs. "Apparently, it's a clan thing. That's what he suspects, at least. It's hard to tell when his sample size is so small."
"Then how come this hasn't happened to my parents? They're Clan."
"It's only affected a few clans," Sakura corrects. "And not just in Konoha. Kumohara-sensei's heard of a few patients with similar symptoms who live near the border."
"Well, I guess that makes it a little easier for us to track them down," Ino grouses sarcastically and flops down on her bed.
Sakura doesn't say anything. On the TV in Ino's room, Prince Keisuke mournfully watches the beautiful princess walk away with another man.
"Keisuke, you idiot man," Ino shakes her head at the screen as the prince bursts into tears after his second rejection, "You shouldn't wait for that bitch, even if she is decent-looking."
Sakura just hmms noncommittally.
"You've been quiet for a while, Forehead," Ino says after a moment. "What's going on in that big head of yours?"
"Ino," Sakura hesitates before going on. "Do you really think we should look for them?"
Ino stares at her like Sakura has just said something incredibly stupid.
"Don't look at me like that, pig," Sakura snaps. "I just...what if you find them and you don't like them? Or what if it's someone that hates shinobi because their parents got killed because of the War or someone who'll just despise you for being worthless and weak and-"
"Hey. Sakura." Ino says and Sakura stops, which is a good thing because she can feel the tears starting to well up. She can't stop them or the snot trickling down her nose from coming out and she hates this feeling, hates that she's still powerless, still the little girl left behind. But Ino's arms are around her again and it feels better because Ino's here now.
"I mean, we don't have to meet them or anything," Ino pats Sakura's head. "You don't have to find yours if you don't want to. I just want to see who the fuck my soulmate is so that I can kill them slowly for eating like a heathen and then convert them to a vegetarian diet. By the way, it's not Kiba. Just so you know."
"Yeah, I figured," Sakura sobs out a broken laugh. Ino stops carding her fingers through Sakura's pink hair and looks at her concernedly.
"You good, Forehead?"
"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks, Ino." Ino resumes playing with Sakura's hair.
"To tell you the truth, I'm a little disappointed that it wasn't Kiba. It would have made my life a whole lot easier."
Sakura snorts. "Him? On a vegetarian diet? You might as well tell him to go die. Not being your soulmate probably saved his life." Ino smacks her on the back.
"It's probably not an Inuzuka, anyway," Sakura continues. "Kiba's the only one in his clan who's dumb enough to eat uncooked meat. Besides, I don't think anyone in his clan is part of this."
Ino narrows her eyes. "And what makes you say that?" She asks suspiciously.
Sakura pulls out a storage scroll from her halter pouch. "Kumohara-sensei wouldn't tell me who his other patients are, which is stupid since he told me to go find you. Anyway, he had to leave his office because of an emergency, so I copied his patient files while he was gone. I didn't get to read a lot of the names, but I'm pretty sure none of them were Inuzuka." She makes the sign for release and a huge stack of manila folders dumps itself on the floor of Ino's bedroom.
"Oh. Is that why he came here yesterday to see me?"
Sakura winces and opens her mouth to apologize, but Ino just waves her hand.
"Yeah yeah, you're welcome. I don't think he bought my story, but whatever. Let's see what you got and oh my god that is a LOT of files. How the hell did you manage to copy all of these?"
"Chakra-imprinting copy jutsu," Sakura grins. "Tsunade-sama's always looking for ways to skive off work, so she taught me this. Neat, isn't it?" Ino gives Sakura a high-five.
"Let's divide and conquer. You take this half and I'll take this," Ino says, dumping the top half of the towering stack on her bed.
They spend the next two hours pouring through medical files.
"Forehead?" Ino says after a while.
"Hmm?" Sakura tosses another folder in the rejected pile. She's already 30 files in and she hasn't found anything related to soulmates or weird tasting sensations or anything.
"Why are we only looking through Sensei's files? Wouldn't it make more sense to go through the ones in the hospital?"
Sakura rejects another folder. "Well, nearly all of the Clan-born ninja go to sensei because he's been here for a long time. He's the only one left from the time before Tsunade's return, since Suzume-sensei passed away two years ago. Most ninja don't like the hospital, so Sensei's clinic is a safe alternative."
"Ohhhh. That makes sense. Wait, then how do you know him?" Ino queries. She wrinkles her nose. "I've been going to him since I was a kid and I don't think I've ever seen you around there."
"I used to go to Suzume-sensei before," Sakura says absently, nose buried in another medical file. "Since her clinic was closer to the civilian district."
Ino ohhs again in comprehension and then goes back to reading files.
"Well, I'm giving up for today," Ino yawns and stretches. "You sleeping over?"
"Mmm no, I didn't bring anything to change into, plus I promised Kaa-san that I'd go grocery shopping with her early in the morning," Sakura says. She gathers all of the files into "read" and "unread" piles and seals them in separate scrolls that she tucks into her pouch.
Ino walks her to the front door. "Let me know if anything comes up," Ino says and Sakura nods.
"Bye, pig."
Notes:
Ojou no Hanayome is a spoof of the Princess Bride. Summer Cantata is a riff off the super angsty and overly dramatic Korean drama Winter Sonata.
and yeah, Japanese fans call the actor Bae Yong Jun "Yon-sama."
AN: Thank you for the support! I'm floored by the amount of attention this story is receiving. Can you believe that this has more alerts on FFN than Cherry Bomb, which has 11 freaking chapters? MINDBLOWN. If you're a Kakasaku fan, go read it! Or any of my other Naruto stories!
Anyway, I just wanted to say that I most likely will be taking some time off from writing fanfiction until I graduate and find a job. Hopefully my job search will end within a few weeks (even more hopefully, before I graduate) so fingers crossed! I don't plan on abandoning any of my stories, so I should be back in a month or so with new chapters.
Cheers!