"But really, how have things been?" Ino asks. "Besides the whole soulmate thing." They'd lit up Ino's souvenir from Tanzaku Quarters a while ago—a limited edition scented candle from a specialty gift shop — and now the entire house smells like fireworks, plum blossoms, musky incense and ginjo sake. It's an oddly comforting scent that reminds Sakura of Tsunade.

"Well, Shizune-senpai's not here, so I haven't been going to the hospital lately."

"Oh. Is Shizune-san sick?"

"No, she's taking some time off to visit some friends in the countryside before the first snow falls. And before you ask, no, it's not a boyfriend."

"Awwwww," Ino grouses. "Well, at least she has some time off. She deserves it. Are you still training with the Hokage, then?"

"Nah. Tsunade-sama's been swamped with paperwork for the past few weeks, so she doesn't have time to spare. She's given me some drills to do, though, so I've been doing those and running laps around the training field."

"That's great!" Ino says brightly before doing a double-take. "Oops. That didn't come out well. Sorry, Sakura. But that works out perfectly!"

"What works out perfectly?" Sakura says irritably. "You're losing me, pig."

"You can train with us, Forehead!"

"Huh?"

"Train with Team Ten!"

"…Won't I just get in the way?" Sakura asks. "I mean, you're Ino-Shika-Cho. It's always been like that. There's no room for another person."

Ino rolls her eyes. "Of course there's room," she says. "Since stupid Shika had to go and get himself promoted before the rest of us, we need a third person to qualify for the Chunin exams next year. I was going to ask you if you wanted to train together a while ago, but your training sessions overlapped with Team Ten's, so it didn't look like it was going to work. What do you think?"

"Sure," Sakura says, relieved. "Thanks, Pig. I was worried about what to do, since I don't really have a team. You're a lifesaver. But is everyone else okay with it?"

Ino fidgets.

"Pig?"

"Well, I haven't exactly asked the others about it yet," Ino admits. "But don't worry! We can just ask them in the morning. I'm sure Chouji and sensei will be fine with it. Shika doesn't even have a say in this, since he's already a chunin."

"I don't know, Ino," Sakura sighs.

"Relax, Forehead. Everything will be fine."

They go out to look for Asuma early in the morning, against Sakura's advice.

"Ino, it's six," Sakura protests, tugging on Ino's sleeve. "He's probably sleeping in after getting back. He can't possibly be up at this hour."

"Nah. Sensei likes to follow a set schedule on his off-days, and he usually goes food shopping at this time if he can," Ino says matter-of-factly. "Most people don't know this, but he's kind of a control freak. He's weird like that."

They find Asuma in the grocery store near his apartment, contemplating a row of canned soups. "Corn potage," they hear him mutter to himself, "or miso?"

"Get the corn," Ino advises. "You can always make miso soup at home. Besides, nothing's better than hot corn potage on a cold fall day."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too," Asuma says absently, selecting a can of corn potage. He looks up at them. "Ah. Ino."

"Morning, sensei!" Ino chirps. "Beautiful day, isn't it?"

"Morning, Ino," Asuma replies. "And… Ino's friend?" He looks at Sakura. "You look familiar."

"We fought each other in the Chunin Exams," Ino says, slinging an arm over Sakura's shoulder. "Sakura's my best friend, I'll have you know."

Asuma's face clears. "Oh, I see," he says. "Sakura. Haruno, wasn't it? You're Hatake's student."

"I used to be," Sakura says honestly. "I don't know if I still am."

"…I see," Asuma says, looking a little uncomfortable. He looks at the two of them. "Is there anything I can do for you, lovely ladies?"

"We were wondering if Sakura could join our team for the Chunin Exams," Ino says. "Is it okay if she trains with us? Please?"

Asuma hums. "I don't see why not," he says mildly. "But have you asked the others yet?"

"Well, n-no, but—"

"Ask the boys for their opinion first," Asuma counsels, standing up and stretching. "And then if they agree, bring Sakura along to training."

"We still have training?! But we just came back!" Ino protests.

"You should know better by now," Asuma says reproachfully. "Training Ground #3."

"But sensei—"

"Ino."

"…Fine," Ino grumbles. "C'mon, Sakura. Let's go find Chouji."

Chouji isn't at home, much to their surprise and disappointment.

"He must have left early," Chouji's mother says. "He might be with Shikamaru at the training grounds."

He isn't at Team Ten's usual training grounds, either. After a while, Ino goes back to her family's flower store to open the store in her parents' absence.

"Sorry, Sakura," she says apologetically. "I didn't think that it'd take this long. I'll look for them with you after the morning shift."

"It's fine, Ino. I'll see you later."

"Bye, Forehead!"

They part at the next intersection. Sakura continues searching for Ino's elusive teammate. She scours the other training grounds, the bookstore and the food court with no luck.

She ends up finding him in front of a convenience store, munching on a handful of potato chips.

"Hi, Chouji," she says, sliding into the seat opposite him.

Chouji blinks up at her. "If you're looking for Ino, I haven't seen her," he says shortly. He crunches on a chip, spiraled cheeks wobbling.

"I know where Ino is, it's just—can I talk to you about something?" Sakura asks.

He gives a noncommittal grunt.

"I heard that you and Ino were looking for someone to fill Shikamaru's spot for the Chunin exams, and I was wondering if I could join your team. Do you mind if I train with you and Ino?"

Chouji stops eating. He looks at her with an unreadable expression on his face. "You're not going to wait for Naruto?"

"I'm not."

"Why?" Chouji asks, narrowing his eyes. "He's your teammate. You can't just leave him."

"Because I'll only hold him back if I wait," Sakura says quietly. "But more than that, I…I need to do this for myself." She pauses. "By the way, he's the one who left first. Just for the record."

"...Fair enough," Chouji concedes. "I can respect that."

He hesitates.

"Shika and Ino and I go out for ramen on Tuesdays," he finally tells her, and Sakura knows that it is as an apology. "Do you want to join?"

"I—Thanks, but no thanks," Sakura says. "I'm not a big fan of ramen, but Naru—" She winces. "Sorry," she says instead and falls silent.

"I'm not, either," Chouji says, seemingly unperturbed by the awkward silence. "A fan, I mean. Ramen's pretty over-rated, anyway." After a moment, he offers her his bag of potato chips. "Chip?"

Shikamaru is easier to find than Chouji. After parting ways with the latter, Sakura heads over to Shikamaru's favorite cloud-gazing spot and finds the very person himself sleeping under the shade of a Hashirama tree, eyes closed, hands propped under his head.

"Hi, Shikamaru."

He doesn't respond.

"You probably already know why I'm here, but I'll ask you anyway. Do you mind if I join Team Ten for training? It's just until the Chunin Exams."

"…No."

Sakura blinks. "I'm sorry?"

"No, I don't care," Shikamaru clarifies. He sighs. "Ino will probably kill me if I said no."

"So…that's a yes?"

"Sure," Shikamaru agrees, opening his eyes. "But on one condition." He stares at her, eyes glittering and alive. It's sunny outside, but somehow the air feels stale, heavy. The shadow of the tree besides them seems to loom larger than life.

"Trust is never easily given, especially for the second time," he says. "If you hurt Ino again, I will find a way to make you suffer. You hear me?"

Sakura forces herself to nod.

"Good. Not a word to Ino."

The shadows recede, and the oppressive atmosphere lightens. Just a little bit.

"Welcome to Team Ten, I suppose," Shikamaru says. He closes his eyes.

Tried to finish this before the new year and I did, woohoo! Happy new year, everyone!