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46. Recommencement - Finally a Jounin
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*clack * clack * clack * clack*
She was late.
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*clack * clack * clack * clack*
Dammit!
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*clack * clack * clack * clack*
Hahaha! Other nins are late all the time!
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Nope, only one can allow himself that and he won't come anyway!
Yep, probably not.
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*clack * clack * clack * clack*
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A few months after her last encounter with Tatsuo Sakura had inquired Tsunade into his whereabouts discreetly. The hokage would have rather preferred to convey her former apprentice a better message, but with no single sign of life of the strong ANBU in weeks she had no other option than to declare him MIA. Combined with the worried look of the blonde sannin it had hit her hard, but inside she was glad that they had at least one secret night of passion together.
Due to the strange behaviour of the younger kunoichi it had been certain that something had happened between the two nins, but the kind village leader had decided to not broach it. Tsunade was pleased to see that Sakura had been back to normal and she had seemed so much more content than before her departure to Sunagakure. She was working hard at the hospital and the academy, but she also enjoyed a functioning social life. Whatever it had been it had brought back the shimmer in the pinkette's wonderful green eyes. The hokage was glad she had back the daughter she had sadly never had herself by fate.
Everything had gone back to normal.
Naruto's wife had been still pregnant and against all expectations Sakura and Hinata had gotten along pretty well. The two girls had talked a lot about their past and the kind Hyuuga had developed a big heart for her and her current situation with Tatsuo. The pinkette had also told her about her infertility and they had become a kind of friends after they had finally cleared the long forgotten frontline. Naruto had changed his view of his ANBU comrade, he had told her that Tatsuo had often asked him about her and that he had changed for the better. The blonde jinchuuriki was trying to re-befriend her with the support of his wife.
Kakashi was travelling around most of the time now. He was sent as ambassador for Konoha to the different kages and countries occasionally. The copy-nin was seldom at home and according to rumours he had joined ANBU again. Others speculated he had probably found a woman to settle down somewhere outside of the village while others said he was deeply caught in some preparation time to accept the position of hokage eventually.
People and their rumours.
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*clack * clack * clack * clack*
Hurry up!
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It had been a long time now that the legendary shinobi had still been avoiding her successfully. Sakura knew he still cared for her, at least one of his ninken was always there for her and she had talked a lot with Pakkun. It seemed that Kakashi had a lot to do and could not afford to let someone get too close now. The intelligent pug had told her how afraid his boss was of losing her, because he had always lost the ones who had been close to him and he had sworn to protect her. The silverhead told himself every day that he was avoiding her to save her.
Pakkun had said his summoner would need some time. Although he was a legend in battle for his quick-thinking and wise decisions, however in social interaction especially with the other gender he was such a dumbass and an unbelievingly idiot sometimes.
Sakura had informed his ninja pug that she thought she was over him, that it had been just a simple crush caused by their intense training and the weird mission.
"If you say so, Pinkie!"
Since then his response was still ringing in her head occasionally.
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*clack * clack * clack * clack*
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One day Sakura got promoted to jounin even though the mission had failed, she had absolved her training and seduced her first target, the current kazekage, successfully. Tsunade had been the one who presented her with a new flak-jacket and the degree at the hokage's office one day. The pinkette hadn't been prepared, but she had been very happy with her former sensei's surprise, though sadly another former sensei hadn't been there to congratulate. She told herself it had been for the better.
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*clack * clack * clack * clack*
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Finally she arrived in front of the bar.
It's only quarter past eight, that should be tolerable.
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If she would have put off her heels she may had been able to get there quicker by running over the rooftops, but that would have certainly ruined her nice appearance.
Sakura opened the door and went inside.
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Apparently the jounin's night was well underway, the bar was full by now. Everyone was there and for the first time the pinkette had been invited to celebrate her upgrading officially.
After greeting the other jounins and getting involved in a few chats the happy kunoichi sat down at a table with her closer friends. From time to time someone came to her to congratulate or even give her a small present. Even the hokage had managed to spare some time to celebrate Sakura's upgrading with them all.
Ino gifted her a little sakura bonsai, Anko and Kurenai had a dancing pole for her, Tsunade gave her new combat sleeves made out of incredible soft, but very tough leather.
Sai and Naruto presented two kunai with sakura blossoms engraved on the handle.
"It's from Sasuke too," said the blonde man winking at her.
She frowned in disbelief, but before she could retort anything she got hugged by a very pregnant Hinata. The cassis-haired woman wrapped a dark-green scarf around her neck in the process.
"I hope you like it!"
It was a pretty self-knitted scarf perfectly made for the upcoming winter and it had a very eye-catching ring with the kanji for strength on a pendant around the middle front. Sakura was happy that the two women had made such a progress the very personal present was a sign of their newfound friendship.
Sadly Tsunade had to leave pretty early to continue her workload and the heavily-pregnant Hyuuga heiress went home with her very supportive husband too.
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It was around eleven as a black haired jounin in ANBU gear appeared. Usually it was not well-received to show your elite status to the outside world so openly.
Sakura giggled inwardly. He could be glad Tsunade's already gone!
Yep, she'd probably rip his head off.
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Another ANBU walked in with his mask hanging from his belt.
Maybe it's allowed in the jounin bar?
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Sakura got caught in a conversation with the black-haired ANBU. He told her it was no big deal because civilians weren't allowed in this bar and they wore their masks on the streets anyway. His name was Akio and he had been a few years her senior.
"Why is it I've never seen you here before?"
"I just got promoted. It's the first time I got invited to the jounin night."
"Congratulations! That's awesome! Welcome to the club!"
They chatted for a while and he brought her a Pina Colada in a flirty mood. It had been the first time that a man chose a drink for her since Kakashi had done back in Suna. Sakura smiled on the outside while she felt disappointed on the inside that he hadn't shown up to celebrate the upgrading of his former student.
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Again it took her by surprise as none other than the great copy-nin himself showed up later as Akio was still trying to charm him into her pants or in that particular case into her little black dress. Genma bubbled over with party mood and Kakashi was forced to join Sakura's table with him.
Suddenly the black-haired ANBU went pale and right in the middle of his sentence he stormed out of the bar with his comrade in tow. Sakura had to laugh. It reminded her of Tatsuo's reaction as he had seen the pictures on her bedroom wall.
Well, seems like Tatsuo told the truth!
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Genma took the seat next to her where the ANBU had been sitting before.
"My, my, pretty! Seems like you've scared that poor boy away!" The bandana-head smiled cockily at her. "You're lucky I'm here to replace him."
His overly confident and playful nature he was wearing on the outside made her chuckle and reminded her of a certain night.
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Sakura and Genma talked a while, he asked her about her mission and they laughed about some jokes. The pinkette was completely unaware of how the copy-nin reacted to their closeness, but the jounin with his trademark senbon in place was very well aware of it.
I've never seen him like that. He's still in denial. I should try to push him a little into the right direction and see what happens.
Genma put an arm around her without being obtrusive and smirked challenging at Kakashi. The silverhead killed him with his looks and the brunette knew he had gone too far, he needed to back off now before Kakashi would snap or bolt. The last one was more likely and he wouldn't want that for Sakura. He had seen her suffer silently from his absence.
The bandana-head retreated subtle and sat down next to Shizune who had just returned from ordering the next round. Sakura smiled at the two, they had been seen together quite a lot lately and according to unconfirmed rumours they were dating. The mood lightened up again, though she noticed there were only couples around her. Unintentionally Kakashi took the now free seat next to her, still beaming at Genma.
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She noticed the bandaged arm of her former sensei. "What did you do?"
"Nothing." He didn't look her in the eye.
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"Yeah, this looks like nothing. What happened?"
"I slipped."
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"You slipped?"
He nodded.
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"Did you slip and fell down a cliff or something?"
He chuckled. "Something like that." Then he took a sip of his beer with an amused smirk underneath his mask.
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Sakura raised a brow in suspicion, but she wouldn't press him. For now she would just let it slip and she was too caught up in many conversations with the others sitting at the table.
The others noticed something was going on, the two acted very different and distant with each other.
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The evening turned out to be great fun though all of the couples retired one after the other without being obvious. Kakashi and Sakura were the last two standing.
He offered her to seal all of her gifts into one of the empty scrolls he had left in his flak-jacket and walked her home.
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She took off her shoes and walked barefoot through the streets.
The older jounin pondered if he should ask her playfully why she had been wearing such uncomfortable shoes with no benefits for a ninja in disguise, but he recalled the female art of seduction and so he cancelled that thought quickly.
They strolled down the streets in silence, which became unnerving.
Had they really nothing to say to each other anymore?
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Sakura decided it was time to talk eventually.
"Why have you been you avoiding me?"
Kakashi knew he couldn't back off, she needed some answers. "I've promised Kankuro to keep the bad guys away from you, remember?" He chuckled unconvincingly.
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"You're not bad, you're just an idiot." She smirked at him from the side.
"Mhm, if you say so." He looked at her apologetically with his hands buried deep in his pockets, then he gave her the eye-crinkle she had missed so much.
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The pinkette chuckled and shook her head. Impossible man!
He tried to shrug, but winced and hissed barely audible at the excruciating pain. Please do not notice! Please do not notice!
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The pinkette stopped in her tracks and raised a brow at him.
Of course she has.
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Sakura stepped near and she let her chakra flow to asset his injury. She didn't look happy with the result. "Let me guess: you did not go to hospital, right?"
"No." He looked at her sheepishly.
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"You were that hurt and did nothing?" She looked worried and angry at the same time.
"No, I did stop the bleeding. There was no hospital around." The legendary ninja murmured dryly.
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She was certain he had not gotten proper medical care except for his basic medical jutsus. "Why didn't you go to a medic as soon as you've returned?"
Once there was a time when he had come to her apartment whenever he had been wounded like all of her former teammates used to do.
"There was no time. They dragged me to the party literally."
Of course he would never go to a hospital consciously and it made sense that he hadn't come to her celebration willingly.
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"Here, let me help you."
Her green healing chakra invaded his arm and she shuddered as she felt the full extent of his injuries. They had to be very painful and he had carried them around for quite some time now. There was a deep incision followed by a stab wound inflicted by a kunai, which had led to a broken bone. The fracture had started to grow together again but in a slightly wrong angle. Also there were many contusions of several nerves and blood vessels and bad bruises of different colours plastered all over his arm.
"You didn't slip. Mind to tell me now what really happened?"
He contemplated for a few moments before he continued in a sincere calm tone "I got captured in a rare moment when my attention had slipped. It took me a while to finish my task and escape."
The look he gave her confirmed he was telling the truth.
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During the healing progress he relished in the feeling of the pain ebbing away continually and he closed his eyes unintentionally. In deep relaxation a soft moan escaped his throat. It was the wake-up-call they both seemed to need. Right at that moment their eyes met again, both suddenly very aware of their closeness and the intensity off the moment.
"If you say so, Pinkie!" Pakkun's statement swirled through her mind once again.
The skilled medic-nin noticed his arm had been healed by now, but something buried deep inside of her didn't want to let go. Instead she asked him "Do you have any other injuries?" and tried to scan his body, but he stopped her by taking two steps backwards and waving his hands in front of him.
"Thank you. I'm fine now."
She was pretty sure he was hiding other injuries from her, but it was clear he wanted distance between them and she was glad he had taken control of the situation. Sakura wasn't sure what had happened, but she suspected the high amount of alcohol had something to do with her reaction.
They had finally reached a basis of discussion again and he wasn't running away, she didn't want to destroy that. So she decided to continue walking and change the topic, but he pre-empted her.
"Finally a jounin now. My, my, time goes by!"
She smiled at the man walking beside her with his hands in his pockets again. Kakashi was acting like nothing had happened. Good.
"How does it feel?"
"What?" He looked at her questioningly.
"I mean now that all of your students have reached jounin status."
The alley they were currently walking down was too dark, she couldn't make out his facial expression. "Well, pretty good actually. Seems like I was not that a bad choice for the teacher's post." There was a small chuckle.
Sakura contemplated if she could risk it to throw back a joke if he had to train her other two teammates in seduction skills too, but she doubted it would be beneficial for their fragile approach.
"To be honest I didn't expect you to join the party, but it was nice to meet you again."
"It was indeed. Well, as I mentioned I got dragged here, but I've planned to come and congratulate you."
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"I hope our next meeting wouldn't have to wait that long."
"I've been hardly ever in town, I had to travel a lot lately."
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"I heard so. Rumour has it you've found a woman outside of Konoha."
"Really?" He furrowed his brow. "Interesting. Must be some very reliable source, when even I haven't known that before." The older jounin pointed his index-finger up and acted dramatical.
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Sakura was relieved and couldn't keep the corners of her mouth from twitching upwards.
Dammit! Please tell me he didn't notice!
Of course he did! It's Kakashi we're talking about.
Better change the topic.
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The skilled kunoichi cleared her throat. "Rumour has it you've joined our elite again?"
The silverhead chuckled. "Rumours, huh? Don't you think I'm a little too old and rusty for ANBU?"
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"Yeah, that's exactly what I told them!" She laughed full-heartedly at his reaction, though she knew it would have been the perfect explanation for his recent injury.
He pouted and answered with dramatic gestures. "I'm not old, I'm experienced! I might be a bit rusty, but you know I'm still a highly capable shinobi!"
Sakura was still laughing and at some point he joined her.
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As she had regained control, she wiped away her tears of laughter and continued speaking. "Talking about rusty, I haven't had a good spar in a while now, let alone being engaged in a fight. What about sparring together sometime?"
His eyes moved away to stare into distance. "We'll see. I've just returned from a long journey."
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Maybe it's too soon.
Maybe he just needs time to recover?
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They'd reached her apartment complex eventually.
"Thanks for walking me home. Goodnight, sensei."
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Sensei? Why is she still calling me that?
Kakashi frowned at her for a moment before his look lightened up again. "By the way thanks for the pink fluffy thing. It's definitely my colour." He joked with an eye-crinkle as he turned and walked into the direction of his own home waving her goodbye.
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The new jounin shouted "Hey, if you don't want it anymore, you could give it back. Konoha's a cold place during winter you know."
"Nah, I don't think so. First it's not winter yet, it's autumn. Second gift is gift." Responding over his shoulder he poofed away.
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Sakura chuckled and shook her head.
There he's back again!
Our good old sensei.
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Then she went inside of the building and upstairs to the second floor where her apartment was.
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On her bed waited another gift for her.
It looked like a short sword with something other dangling from the leather straps.
The pinkette eyed the small item with burning curiosity. It was a fine silver necklace with a tiny sakura blossom pendant. It was nothing striking, instead it was so delicate that it would probably be barely visible even from a short distance, but it fitted her and her personality perfectly. Whoever picked it out had to know her taste very well.
She examined the tanto next. It had a simple sheath made from black leather. The knob on the hilt looked like a traditional protection amulet. Sakura unsheathed the tanto and looked at its fine blade of Damascus steel. There was a delicate engraving of sakura flowers dancing in the wind on the blade.
Oh my, look at that!
Customized manufacture!
Sakura tested its cutting ability by gently brushing the tanto over the outside of her under arm. According to the tiny pink hair falling down it was sharp as a razor blade. It was obvious that somebody had imported it, no armourer in Konoha could produce such an amazing sword.
Who would give her such a carefully selected present?