Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.
Kakashi arrived at the training ground bright and early. In reality, he was a little over two hours late - in his book, it meant he was right on schedule. With a casual air, the tall copy-nin leaned against the rough bark of a conveniently placed tree. One of his hands delved into the confines of his vest and pulled out the small book. The Icha-Icha books were nearly as much of a trademark as the mysterious mask covering his face.
The white-haired ninja's keen senses were already mapping out everything that was happening on the extensive training grounds. Although most of the major war was finished, none of the Hidden Leaf shinobi stopped their training. The whole community was quite dedicated to never becoming as vulnerable as they had in the past.
In the training grounds to the right of him, nearly fifty feet away there were chakra blasts. Concentrated, swift, powerful chakra blasts in sporadic yet careful movements. 'Must be Neji training with Tenten.' Kakashi mused, turning a page in the story he was reading. 'Wonder who has baby-sitting duty.'
His training partner was late. Kakashi was going to have a talk with his former student, Hokage or not. The whiskered man had shown up at his home yesterday, in the middle of the afternoon, rubbing the back of his head and muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "Women."
After cheerfully inquiring as to what the blonde was doing sprawled on his couch, Naruto had fixated his ocean-blue eyes on Kakashi with an irritatingly familiar glare. Staring at the finger pointed in his face by the equally tall man, Kakashi asked coolly, "What?"
"You and I are going to spar tomorrow old man!" The spiky-haired blonde shouted exuberantly. Just as quickly as Naruto arrived, he left.
'Hokage or not, he's rather close to being a victim of my One Thousand Years of Death.'
A startled gasp broke his reverie. Though still penetratingly aware of his surroundings, Kakashi hadn't noticed the training grounds to his left were occupied as well. The gasp had been no more than a breath, yet it was audible to his extremely keen senses.
Still holding the well-worn book, Kakashi swung his gaze to the origin of the sound. There, in the clearing were two figures sparring. No chakra was coming off of them, and the recognizable green bodysuit marked the training as taijutsu. Rock Lee was had become a master of the art of taijutsu, and as such was very sought after for training. Villages from all over sent pupils to the bushy-browed master, yet this didn't seem to be a usual class.
Lee leaped and kicked his leg, swinging it in an arc towards his opponent. The pink-haired woman dodged back, crossing her slim arms in an X in front of her. Immediately Kakashi felt his interest peak. Closing the book, he watched his former student with a intensity that even he didn't quite understand. Taijutsu had always been her weakest point - Kakashi could remember with vivid clarity all the complaints the kunoichi had made while younger. Her fluid movements and graceful kicks, dodges and punches made him want to retract that statement.
Sakura was beautiful. In the fury of her attacks, her long locks of pink hair would sway with the movements. Her body glistened with sweat, and his eye watched as a droplet fell between her heaving bosom. The emerald-eyed beauty's lithe body flipped, jumped, and lashed out at her instructor. He was hypnotized by her movements, by the spark of concentration in her eyes, by the bunching of her toned muscles, by everything she did.
Lee's fist swung towards Sakura's face, and in a burst of energy she made a back flip to dodge before launching off of her feet. Racing towards her instructor, Sakura arched her leg into a kick towards his head. Lee's left palm came up, blocking her furious kicks. Sakura jumped away from him, her eyes catching the sight of a messy white-haired figure in the distance. Lee pelted towards her, instantly catching Sakura's full attention. His fist nearly caught her, but she moved just in time.
"Sakura, have you had enough?" Lee asked kindly, his big eyes fixated on the kunoichi.
Looking to the spot that had distracted her before, Sakura chewed her lip in puzzlement. There was no one there. Clearly she wasn't tired enough if she could still daydream about her future sensei.
"No Lee, let's go at it again."
Sakura held back a grimace and rubbed her left thigh. Lee had gotten her good earlier, with a solid roundhouse kick. They had practiced for nearly three hours before her instructor stopped them. With his normal cheery attitude, Lee had pronounced her taijutsu was remarkably improving. Sakura smiled at the memory, pride rushing through her.
The tired ninja was on her way to the Hokage's office. An idea had been forming in Sakura's mind, nagging at her constantly. She wanted to make a difference in other's lives, as well as create a purpose for her. The jounin rarely took on missions anymore, and even hospital work wasn't inspiring her. Sakura hoped that this would work.
Nervousness shot through her as she approached the door. 'Relax, this is Naruto. You've known him forever, he'll give your idea the consideration it deserves.'
With new determination, Sakura pushed the heavy door open. The room seemed to be empty, and the large desk was buried under paperwork. A smile curved her lips at the thought of Naruto dodging all of his paperwork. 'Some things never change.'
The sound of snoring echoed through the room, and Sakura had to fight back a giggle. Using all of her skills as an elite ninja, Sakura steathily moved so that she was directly behind the large chair. She rushed the sleeping man, using chakra to enhance her vocal chords.
"NARUTO!" She shouted, directly into the whiskered man's ear. With a start he jerked awake, falling out of his chair. Sakura couldn't help it this time - she doubled over with laughter.
The orange and black clad man glared at her ruefully as he stood. Unlike his normal self, Naruto waited patiently with an amused expression on his face for her to finish.
"Are you done?" He asked calmly, once she had managed to quit laughing at his expense. Sakura smiled cheekily at him.
"As glad as I am to see you out and about," the Hokage started, folding his arms across his chest, "What's the occasion?"
Settling her features into a more serious expression, Sakura moved to stand formally in front of the Hokage's desk. No matter how close of friends they were, this was a serious matter and she wished to broach it properly. Naruto raised a questioning eyebrow before nodding, and sitting in his large chair. With a deadpan expression on his face, he pushed aside the mountain of paperwork that obscured Sakura from his view.
Sakura met his blue-eyed gaze and began. "During the Second Shinobi war, your predecessor and my mentor made the request for medic nin to be on teams that were unable to use such jutsus to reduce casualties," she began, noting the slight sadness in his eyes at Tsunade's name. "While the Leaf Village is at peace now, I would like to do something similar."
Naruto steepled his fingers and nodded for her to continue. Sakura took a deep breath and dared to hope. "This generation has numerous medic nin as you know, but I want the process of being able to find those with the capabilities of such jutsu to start while they're younger." Sakura paused a moment, noting the interested look on the Hokage's face. "I think medic classes should begin at Academy level, and continue while the shinobi are still genin. If any have a talent for it and so choose, they would be instructed by a medic-nin. If they aren't," Sakura shrugged, "they will at least have rudimentary knowledge about healing."
The silence seemed almost defeaning after everything she had said. Sakura tried to read what Naruto was thinking, but his expressive face was closed off. Finally, almost to himself, the blond nodded his head slightly.
"I will consider your request. If it is approved, you will be notified and consulted about the best way to put this into place." Naruto intoned, then looked at her and smiled. "Don't worry Sakura. You know I'll give your idea all of my attention."
She smiled at him, trying not to feel too grateful. "You were right. I haven't been myself lately."
The taller man grinned down at Sakura. "Don't worry to much about it, you just needed a little push. You've always been that way."
With an effortless ease that he had always possessed, Naruto diffused the serious conversation. "So want to get some ramen? I keep trying to feed Kichirou some but Hinata catches me every time." He said glumly.
"Naruto.. Babies can't eat ramen!" Sakura exclaimed, looking shocked.
"Yeah yeah, she said the same thing." He grumbled, as they made their way out to Ichiraku's.
Author's Note: Okay.. I don't know if any of you actually like this story yet. Don't worry, I swear it's going somewhere! I just think Sakura needed to do something for herself before anything else. Also, it took me forever to write that teeny tiny section about fighting. Hope you all enjoy Kakashi's pervy peeking!