So we're getting closer!
The story will go full-circle and we're heading back to chapter one.
Only a few chapters ahead until we're there!
SquaMata
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44. Recommencement and a Ghost
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Sakura fell back into work at the hospital and she began to help at the ninja academy too. Occasionally she travelled to Suna to examine Gaara and to support the med-school. Tsunade used to kill two birds with one stone, so normally she sent Shikamaru as a companion on Sakura's visits. Temari was always overly happy to see them both. The pinkette kept her close friendship with the young kazekage and his family.
To all appearances Kakashi was avoiding her again. As back then in their genin days he had left her all by herself. It had cut her deep, Sasuke had been gone, Naruto had trained with Jiraiya and he had turned away from her. She knew by now he did that whenever he got too close to people or he got hurt in some way emotionally. As long as they wouldn't have to see each other she was fine with it. It was ok, he was the person he was and nobody would change that. He won't change for anybody and he made sure that nobody would ever get a chance to change that. The kunoichi thought as long as he wouldn't show up with another woman it would be alright.
Sakura had made a decision to never let herself fall head over heels once more for someone who wasn't interested or worth it. Even if she was fooling herself again, he was fooling himself more. She knew that for sure, she had seen him standing there in the alley in Suna trembling, struggling if he should let her break down his last walls or if not. It was obvious Kakashi still cared about her, he had sent her his ninken every night since their arrival, but again he was rather running away than facing his own feelings.
The pinkette was too stubborn and angry to make the first step into his direction or to plainly kill him instead, just like a tight-rope walk depending on her current mood, so she took care to never cross his ways too.
It was easier with time.
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After a few months of banning a certain silverhead from her mind and enjoying occasional dream sequences with Tatsuo she decided to find out what happened to the mysterious ANBU she hadn't seen for so long.
The medic-nin just wanted to know what happened to him. At least he had shown some interest in her earlier, she just wanted to know if he's still alive and maybe in town?
To be honest she could really need a short distraction and his kisses and touches still haunted her dreams in a very positive way. Unfortunately she had heard rumours that Genma and Kiba were sent on a long term ANBU mission together and in fact they were nowhere around, so they couldn't help her in that matter. Of course Gaara would be an option, but after their last encounter she wasn't really looking forward to that experience again. Though they shared a deep friendship and Shukaku was calmer and nicer now, she needed distance between them to deal with their intense past.
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Gingerly Sakura began to ask around about the light brown haired ninja with the wonderful blue eyes. It turned out that he was like a ghost. Either people didn't know him or they didn't want to talk about him.
A friendly but very strange behaving Naruto said he didn't know, he hadn't seen him in a while and he didn't know where he lived. Things were different. Her blonde former teammate was a married man now, he kept her at distance and it was obvious he had no clue how to act in her presence. They would need some time to re-establish a platonic friendship, Sakura noted.
The girls were happy that she was back in Konoha and to prevent the pinkette from falling into old habits they determined to drag her to their girl's night every week. They updated her on the latest news, a shitload of gossip – thanks to a certain long-haired blonde - and bugged her about her Suna experiences, especially the ones concerning a certain redhead.
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At that evening they enjoyed dinner together and were now sitting in a bar. Said blonde poked Sakura's arm, her curiousness clearly enhanced by the drinks. "Spill it forehead! How was he? I bet he is well endowed. Is it true that he has a magnificent body? Sakura, please talk to me!"
Apparently in other thoughts the pinkette asked her instead "I was wondering… Have you seen Tatsuo lately?"
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Ino looked at her totally flabbergasted "You know you were the most envied girl far and wide, who was lucky enough to share a bed with nobody less than the current Kazekage and that for a few MONTHS! And still you're thinking about that mysterious, goddamn ANBU you met once?"
"Twice."
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"What?"
"Tatsuo and I met twice." The pinkette grinned at her.
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The Yamanaka fumed "Is that all you have to say? Are you fucking serious, forehead?!"
Sakura only shrugged and took a sip of her gin tonic.
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"What is wrong with you?" The blonde shook her head in disbelief.
The pinkette pointed smirking at her "You were the one who told me to get back into the saddle."
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Ino laughed. "Okay, forehead. I got it! You're not willing to talk about Gaara to this day. Fine, but please tell me at least one thing."
A giggling Kurenai joined their conversation "Sakura, give that poor starving dog a bone, please!"
The quiet observing Anko interrupted with mirth in her eyes "We all want to know!"
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"Okay, but only if you help me to find Tatsuo." Sakura's voice sounded serious.
"Deal", said the other women in unison.
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"Ok." The young medic-nin cleared her throat and leaned nearer to whisper what wasn't meant for others to hear. "Gaara… Yes, he has a body to die for, yes, he is well-endowed indeed and he is a very passionate lover."
Ino squealed and Kurenai smiled happy for the positive experiences of Sakura. Anko held her glass up grinning like the Cheshire cat "I knew it!"
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Sakura smiled confidently. Whenever people were involved there would be rumours. She didn't create new ones, she just reiterated them and therewith confirmed their fling. Gaara had been proven right, their affair did make him appear more human to the council and Suna citizens. That's why they had agreed they wouldn't deny it.
People didn't dare to ask them why they broke up. Everyone had experienced a relationship where two people just had to admit to themselves that they didn't fit together. Some had been luckier to notice it sooner than others who had been caught in too deep. Nobody would question the how or why, gathering experiences was the only goal in shinobi life.
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During their girl's night Sakura took the opportunity to ask the other ninjas in the bar about the mysterious comrade called Tatsuo, but like her prior inquiries the result had been always the same:
They didn't know him or haven't seen him since that night at the bar with Sakura. She began to think that he had probably given her a wrong name.
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Later Anko told her secretly to ask Kakashi about Tatsuo.
The pinkette's mood lightened up. "Do you know him?"
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"No, but I know for sure that he does." The snake summoner winked at her.
Kurenai watched the sour reaction of the younger kunoichi as the copy-nin was mentioned. "Sakura, you could also ask Tsunade personally. The hokage must know every ninja on active duty in town personally. As her former apprentice I think you two have a deeper connection and maybe she's willing to help you."
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"Yeah, wait for a good day and bring her some sake." Anko chuckled.
"Sake! That's a great idea!" Ino smiled and turned to the waiter "Hoshi, could you bring us a bottle of sake please?"
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The others laughed, their girl's nights had been so much fun. The pink-haired kunoichi had missed her friends and tonight they gave her a new ray of hope.
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So apparently there was only one person left in the whole village who came into question for that matter: The current hokage herself.
It was ten in the morning, she had no lessons to give at the academy today and her nightshift at the hospital wouldn't start before seven. There was a lot of time. The weather was quite mild today and the first birds seemed to return as harbingers of spring.
She will be in good mood! It is a great day to ask her for anything.
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Sakura took a deep breath, then she knocked at the door to the hokage's office.
"Come in!"
Quite friendly. Good!
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"Sakura?" The village leader frowned.
Not good.
"Good morning, Shishou." The younger kunoichi said politely and bowed somewhat.
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In a sharp tone the hokage set the scroll she was working on aside and spoke harshly "What do you want?"
Of course she had figured me out.
Sheepishly the pinkette looked pleadingly at her superior "Shishou, I need your help."
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Tsunade was put on the alert and she stood up from her chair "What happened?"
Sakura waved her hands in defense "Nothing, Tsunade-sama."
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Annoyed the blonde sat back down and folded her hands as she gave her attention to the important scroll on her desk again "Then why are you here, Sakura? I don't have all day."
"I'm looking for one of your elite shinobi. Could you please help me to find him?"
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Raising a brow Tsunade made eye-contact. "Who are we talking about and what did he do?"
"Nothing, he did nothing. His name is Tatsuo."
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The hokage looked like she was about to burst. "Nothing, you say?" then she broke out into hilarious laughter. Sakura didn't know what was going on, she felt like she was in the wrong movie.
Regaining her composure the blonde leader asked her still with tears in her eyes "Why should I do that?"
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Grinning the pinkette recalled she had an ace up in her sleeve "Remember the scroll full of Suna's finest sake brands I brought you as a gift?"
The blonde sannin wiped the tears off her hazel eyes "Yeah, yeah…"
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"You know the high risks and tough penalties for illegal import of such a vast amount."
"Hmm…"
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"I did it just for you." Sakura gave her the prettiest smile she had in petto.
After a while of consideration the hokage smirked "Tatsuo, huh?"
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"Yes. At least he told me that's his name, I don't know for sure." Suddenly the pinkette felt stupid.
There was the motherly concerned look Tsunade had only shown her during their private conversations before, which was a good sign. "Why are you asking me for help and don't go and find him on your own?"
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"I tried to, but he's like a ghost. Either people don't know him or I get the feeling they don't want to talk about him."
The blonde village leader snorted "I'll see what I could do for you."
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"Thank you, shishou!" The younger medic-nin smiled happily.
Grinning mischievously Tsunade reminded her too much of herself when she led a trump.
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Not good!
Definitely not good! Prepare for the worst!
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"Oh and Sakura, one more thing! Could you please stop by at the Hyuuga compound? Hinata needs her monthly check-up."
Oh come on! That's not fair!
"I… Honestly I don't know…"
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"Trust me, it's for the better. You two should start to try to get along at least."
The hokage watched her contemplating. "They emphasized they want the best medic in the village, so I have no other choice than to send you, Sakura." Soft hazel eyes and a friendly smile assured her former apprentice.
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Oh my… That's a huuuuge compliment! Directly from the current hokage!
Watch out!
But…
She's twisting us around the little finger and she knows it.
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The pinkette's mouth fell open in disbelieve.
By all appearances the highest ninja in town wasn't joking and meant what she had said.
"I'll talk to Tatsuo later." The blonde gave her an all-to-knowingly smirk.
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Dammit!
Yep, we lost….
Tsunade got her, she knew her too well and knew which buttons she needed to press.
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Sakura couldn't back off now. "Okay, I'll do it." Then she left the office.
Dealing with a jealous Hyuuga was one thing, but how bad could a pregnant one be…
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"Fine, guess it's time to bring Tatsuo on." She chuckled and smirked at the ANBU standing at her window.
"Should I bring him?" The masked man questioned.
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Tsunade closed her eyes feeling a headache coming up. "Yes, I want to have a serious word with him."