She wasn't exactly what you would call a morning person.
The light of the early sun gently caressed her closed eyelids, and she squinted in her sleep once before flipping over and promptly shoving her head beneath her pillow. It was far too early to be alive, as far as she was concerned, and she could feel the edges of a legendary hangover pressing in on the sides of her head.
Her alarm clock came alive seemingly moments later though, and she groaned, squishing the pillow closer to the sides of her head.
She told herself mentally that she could only put of the day for so long. Pulling herself upright and yawned, she ran a hand through a rats' nest of tangles that had made themselves home in her tresses last night. Typical.
It was her day off today. No work, no missions, no boys. Her jaw clenched at the thought of the latter. She ordered her body to move to her washroom, yanking a brush from her nightstand quickly through her coral locks as she did so. She roughly turned the faucet of her sink on before impatiently shoving her hands in the still cold water. Patience was not exactly her forte.
Pulling her head upwards, she found verdigris eyes staring back at her, slightly droopy with a barely-there consciousness. She had always hated her eyes, she decided. Not quite green but not quite blue, like they couldn't make up their mind.
How fitting.
She shoved herself away from the sink, hastily shutting the water before stomping into the kitchen part of her flat, yanking a box of strawberry cereal off the top of the fridge. She put together her breakfast quickly, opting for simplicity over taste. It wasn't uncommon for her to be in a bad mood before noon, but usually her irritability was attributed more to the sun's position than anything else.
Clearly some training was in order.
She breezed through the streets semi-aimlessly; she had a set spot in mind but was in no particular hurry to arrive.
The main streets were bustling today, probably due to the sheer cheerfulness of the weather. The heat was balmy, but not overly so, and the sky was blue- not a cloud to be seen. She chuckled a little at the thought of Shikamaru having none of them to distract him from his office work, and she didn't feel the least bit sorry for the new hokage.
Mothers shuffled about the various markets with fidgety children and babes in tow. Academy brats ran around playing shinobi, and she hoped that was as close to the profession that they would ever have to be. So many people in the village recognized her now. Before the age of 13, she could have been invisible. However, the longer she walked, the more strangers smiled and gave little waves in her direction. She smiled and waved back of course; she didn't save all the people in world just to ignore them later.
It was a quarter of an hour later when she arrived at her destination, the newly replaced shingles of the shop reflecting light like all of the other reconstructed buildings on the street. A large purple sign stood on the roof to the right side of the building. From the street, one could barely make out the purple flags that ran across the ceiling just inside the entryway, all stamped with the telltale white circular emblem of the Yamanaka clan. Lined outside the shop were various shrubs and bonsais for sale, and the windows and doors were pushed open to let the sunshine and occasional breeze.
She let herself into the little shop, perusing the varied and vases all filled with flowers. Lilies and gardenias gleamed and shimmered next to each other, and as her eyes caught sight of some daffodils in a pot to the right of the front counter, she felt the smallest of pangs land in her chest.
It had been years since she'd picked out that particular flower to give to Sasuke after he recovered from his first fight with Itachi. He'd been so broken then, letting her hug him without putting up a fight-
"Forehead!"
Sakura snapped up from her thoughts to see her friend prancing around the counter with her arms outstretched, long pony-tail and bangs bouncing. The blonde threw her arms around her best friend, and Sakura hugged her back tightly, more for her best friend than herself. The loss of her father in the war had left Ino more than a little depressed, despite his last message's sincerity. And while the blonde had surely gotten stronger in the process of the war, Sakura had found Ino crying by herself several times since. Sakura had seen her spending a lot of time with Choji's father lately, swapping stories of the late Yamanaka clan head over countless grills of meat and hot pots.
Maybe that was why she spent so much time at hokage tower lately too. Maybe talking to Shikamaru about their shared experiences helped her cope. Regardless of the reasons, Sakura was glad Ino had someone to confide in besides her.
"Hey, Ino-pig."
"What are you doing here! I swear to god, I only ever see you at the hospital now!"
Sakura grimaced, "Don't remind me," she said sourly.
"Do they ever let you out?"
"It's not that they wouldn't if they could. Maybe if some med-nin stitched their teammates up a little better, it wouldn't be an issue."
Ino rolled her eyes elaborately, "Oh, please. No-one's had to heal any of my team since I was fifteen and you know it!"
"Yeah well, you can't expect much action for chun-nins, can you?" Sakura winked at her best friend, "I mean, it's not like you get anything higher than a B-rank mission every once in a while," she teased.
"Well, we can't all save the world, can we?"
The two girls burst out into giggles, playfully knocking at each other.
After Ino gained her composure, she straightened up a little, "So what brings you in? Looking for a splash of color for your dinky apartment or…" she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, "...Do you want some get-well flowers for a particular patient that caught your eye?"
It was Sakura's turn to roll her eyes, "Neither. I came looking for you." Ino tipped her head to the side in question.
"Do you want to spar or-" but Ino was already shaking her head. She moved away from Sakura to the far side of the shop and busied herself with arranging several flowers in a jade colored pot, positioning them this way and that to make them seem more appealing for sale.
"I'm not much of a fighter these days, Sak. Call me crazy, but I think I've seen enough of it in my lifetime. I mean, I'll go out on missions as a med-nin every once in a while, but with Shikamaru being promoted, Ino-Shika-Cho is kind of nonexistent nowadays." She turned to Sakura and smiled her brightest, "Besides, we're in peacetime now. Why are you constantly going out to the falls and forest to hone skills you shouldn't even have to use? You're already in a three-way tie for being the strongest in the village."
She had a point, but Sakura was really hoping Ino would agree to a mock battle. Without her, her training would probably amount to punching trees and knifing fish only to bring them back to life again. But even that was preferrable to dragging an uncooperative Ino to the fields.
"No, you're right. I guess I'll just walk around today then, see ya." The strawberry blonde turned on her heel and started to walk out, but a firm hand caught her wrist.
"Wait, no. You came here for a reason, and you don't ask to train with someone else unless you need to blow off steam. What's wrong?"
She gritted her teeth, "It's nothing, Ino. I'll figure it out," she pulled forward again, only to be pulled back again.
"Don't give me that. What is it?"
Sakura could break out of her grip if she wanted to; it would have been so easy, just like blinking, nothing more than a hair's length of strength. Something was wrong with her face. Her eyes started to get hot and watered.
A fraction of a second later, Ino was hauling her best friend by the wrist towards the entrance, untying her own shop apron, pulling it off of her head and throwing it behind the counter with her free hand all the while.
She called over her shoulder, "Mom! I'm taking off for a bit! Take care of the shop when I'm gone, 'kay? Come on, forehead, a new shop opened up down on the east side. They've got this new drink from Kirigakure called boba tea that I've been dying to try!"
The pinkette let out a little laugh at her friend and pulled her arm free but otherwise followed her down the street, returning the smiles and greetings they got from various townspeople and fellow shinobi on the way.
The shop was cute, pastel colors hung everywhere, and the tea was pretty tasty. But it wasn't long until Ino started her interrogation. The blonde was so intense, her questions so acute that she wondered whether interrogation methods were hereditary in the Yamanka clan.
"So what is it?"
Sakura sighed. She could tell her, she supposed. Shinobi relations weren't exactly for civilian ears, but the shop was pretty desolate, and Ino was as close to Shikamaru as it got. Still, she was hesitant to broach the subject. Sakura was sure her best friend's affection for the Uchiha had simmered down into mere appreciation for good looks, but whether or not the blonde still held a grudge against him was an entirely different matter.
"Shikamaru wants me to take a mission."
Ino's eyebrows came down in confusion, "And? It's not like you haven't had one of those before."
Strawberry blonde locks shook back and forth with the movement of her head, "No. He wants me to go on a mission...With the rest of team seven."
Ino continued to stare at her with a puzzled expression, still not quite catching on, "Did something happen between you and Sai? or Naruto?"
Sakura let out a breath and raked a hand through her hair before placing it back on the cold sides of her tea, a tiny "baka" came out under her breath. But before Ino could protest, Sakura spat out,
"Not Sai. Sasuke. He wants to reunite the original team seven. With Sasuke-kun."
Ino rarely grew quiet, but this was one of the few exceptions.
"Oh," she finally muttered the syllable, "Wait, isn't he on probation!?"
Sakura nodded, "but apparently he's getting antsy. He approached Shikamaru on his own."
Ino let out a low whistle, "Kid's still got guts, I'll give him that. What did you tell Shikamaru?"
"Didn't give me a chance to say anything. He said it was my choice whether or not to go and then split."
"And do you want to go or not?"
"Yes. . . No...I don't know, Ino. It's complicated."
The blonde rolled her eyes again, "Yeah, well I could've told you that."
"You know the sarcasm? Really not helping."
"Sorry," Ino paused and sat back in her chair, grabbing her tea and swirling it with a straw, "Well, if you ask me, I don't think you should have to go. Sasuke dug his own grave. No need to take you down with him, if you know what I mean."
Sakura nodded glumly, "Shikamaru said the same thing."
"So do what we say!"
"I wish I could, Ino. I just...I can't help but feel like that wouldn't be the right thing, ya know? He's my teammate, and he needs something only I can give. Wouldn't it be wrong to turn him away?"
The blonde reached a comforting hand to her best friend's and didn't speak until the pinkette looked up at her.
"Not if it means jeopardizing yourself," she squeezed Sakura's hand once, "Look, if you want to go because you think it's right then you should go.…If only to get some closure." Ino smiled gently at her friend and was happy to see the gesture reciprocated.
"Thanks, Pig."
"Whatever, Forehead."
"I'll do it."
Shikamaru cracked a smirk, not having to look up from his paperwork to know it was Sakura Haruno standing before his desk, out of breath, chest still heaving slightly with effort. His all-but-useless guards tationed by the front door of his office looked up helplessly at the hokage, torn between their duty to apprehend any and all unexpected intruders and their natural instinct of self-preservation, all too aware that they wouldn't last .4 seconds against the new-age sannin.
"You know, somehow that doesn't surprise me," he continued as he stamped another hokage approved seal onto another document and placing it into its respective pile before finally dragging his eyes to meet the strawberry blonde's.
"When do we start?" she said, the words sounding more like a statement than a question.
The hokage quirked an eyebrow. For someone who was in tears at the prospect of this mission, Sakura seemed to have no reservations in the way she carried herself. It wasn't unlike the kunoichi, but, while he'd come to understand her feelings for the Uchiha in the recent years, he'd also become accustomed to working around her at times when she'd proven useless in curbing her affection for Sasuke.
"Whenever you see fit," Shikamaru pulled the top right drawer of his desk, withdrawing a scroll and tossing it in her general direction. Sakura unbound the parchment and pulled it apart, skimming its contents,
"You're going to Sunagakure. You'll be exchanging hard to find medicinal herbs and anti-toxins between the villages as an act of goodwill toward the village hidden in the sand,"
The hokage rolled his eyes, as if such formalities were remotely necessary. Naruto was absurdly chummy with the Kazekage, and Shikamaru had acquired various networks within the upper ranks of the village hidden in the sand. Not to mention that Sakura herself had saved the kazekage's brother from certain death during the war.
He sighed and continued, "On paper, it will look as though I am sending you in particular for your prowess in medicinal affairs. And Naruto by default will have to go because he's the hero of Konoha and the Kazekage's best friend. Of course, we can't send our two biggest assets in the village without-" he made little imaginary quotation marks with raised fingers, "-'body guards'"
So that's how he's justifying bringing Sasuke and Kakashi. That was just like Shikamaru, appeasing the council or anyone else that might oppose him by telling them what they want to hear, while pushing his own agenda from the sidelines- the perfect way to simultaneously shirk responsibility in addition to getting the higher-ups off of his back. Genius.
Sakura started rolling up the scroll again,
"I can be ready in a week. I need to time to make sure the hospital won't fall to the ground if I'm not there."
"Great. I'll notify the others," the hokage raised his right hand disinterestedly. An ANBU member flashed stepped into his vicinity on the Nara's right side.
"Yes, Hokage-sama?"
"Go round-up Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke. I would like to speak to them immediately."
If the ANBU member was surprised, his feline porcelain mask failed to show it.
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" He was gone just as quickly as he came, and Shikamaru glanced back at Sakura, but all he saw was her back as she breezed through the massive door on the way out, effectively startling the guards again as she did so.
The hokage sighed again.
He had to get some better staff.
He was at the docks by the Uchiha grounds when the ANBU member sought him out. His feet barely scraped the edge of the water as he watched a blood orange sun sink below the horizon line, and he flinched when he felt the almost imperceptible, but undeniable presence of someone behind him. Who'd be stupid enough to-
"Uchiha Sasuke. The Hokage requests your immediate summon to the tower."
He pulled himself up with a little more effort than a normal person should need, not exactly excited to answer to anyone. Rather than respond though, he decided to just head straight there, launching himself into the air with as much grace as anyone. The ANBU member was never far behind, and as he cut through the city lights of the village, he entertained the thought of attempting to lose the man, potentially putting the man's credibility at risk if he did end up losing his charge, but Sasuke figured he'd better tolerate his assigned follower if he wanted a decent chance at ever leaving this place.
When he arrived at the Hokage's office, he found that Naruto and Kakashi are already there, The sixth hokage sat behind his desk, elbows on the wood and fingers laced in front of his face but not hiding his critical expression.
"Hah, Teme! I beat you," Naruto cried, forever finding a reason to be proud of himself.
Sasuke rolled his eyes at the blonde's petty attempts to one-up him, and Kakashi briefly wondered whether Naruto would have flourished better under Guy's teachings and not his own based solely on his affinity for picking fights with his "rival."
Naruto continued, regardless, "So what is it, Shikamaru? Got a mission for us, huh? Are we in trouble? Because if this is about the accident in the training fields last week, I-"
The hokage held up a hand disinterestedly, "Can it, Naruto. We're still waiting on one more."
As if on cue, Sakura breezed through the doors before coming to a stop next to Naruto, throwing him a little wink before facing the Nara heir and giving him a curt nod to which he returned.
If Sasuke was surprised to see her, it didn't show on his face, though that didn't mean much. Truthfully, he was surprised to see her, given the awkwardness of their last encounter. Had this meant she'd agreed to the idea of a mission? Or was this Nara's way of asking her?
His questions were addressed a moment later though when Shikamaru continued once more, "Right. Well, it has come to my attention that it might benefit the entirety of the village if someone-" his eyes cut pointedly to Sasuke, "-got a bit of fresh air. Lucky enough, the head of medicinal affairs has put forth a mission notice that corresponds, more or less, with team seven's respective skills and connections," the hokage tossed the mission scroll in the senior officer's direction before continuing, "There's been a high demand for medicinal anti-toxins found in the southwest as of late, and we're running short. You'll cross borders, meet the liaison, acquire the anti-toxins, and exchange valued medications, and return- all underneath Kakashi's command. Does anybody have any complaints?"
The Uchiha heir's breath held for a second, and it did not escape his senior's notice. As it was, Kakashi had already glanced towards his former-female student, gauging for any possible reactions that would give away her hesitancy, but she simply just looked unperturbed. Did that mean Shikamaru had gotten to her first? Why would he send them to Sunagakure, a much farther and more difficult journey than someplace like Kirigakure.
Shikamaru took another second to glance at each of the ninja in turn, waiting for any to voice their distaste. When none came, he spoke up again, "You have seven days to give our medicinal department time to do an inventory check and arrange supplies. If no one else has anything to add, you are free to leave," he cracked a knowing smirk before returning to his paper work.
"Hell, yeah! What are we waiting for!? Let's go pack! Team seven! Just like in the old days" Naruto threw his fist up in the air in excitement.
Sasuke actually cracked a small smile. He turned to where Sakura was standing, to do...what, exactly? But as he did so, he only caught a glimpse of her back as she left, giving a half wave to Kakashi as she went. He would've thought on it further, if it hadn't been for Naruto jumping on his back,
"Woo, Teme! Welcome back!"
The raven-haired man's temper flared immediately at the intrusion of personal space,
"Tch. Get off, Dobe," he threw a half-hearted elbow towards his teammate, and the blonde complied willingly enough, yielding to the demand only to walk and talk excitedly about his former teammate about the 'good 'ole days.'
Sasuke stalked off towards his female teammate despite this, walking quickly through the door and startling the guards just outside it. But as he looked forward for the pink-haired kunoichi, he saw she was already down the length of the massive hallway in just moments. When had she gotten so fast?
His pride bit back at him from the recesses of his skull. He'd be damned if he let her get away without saying something. She was fast, but he was faster by far. He set a pace after her, suppressing the temptation to just flash step by her side.
The remaining two members of Team seven gazes fell on each other in question, eyebrows raised, before turning to the hokage in a similar fashion. Shikamaru's head was still in his paperwork, but Kakashi doubted the hokage had just missed his students' exit,
"Don't look at me," the pineapple head clipped, "I saw nothing."
Back in the hall, Sasuke set his focus on the tell-tale emblem on his female comrade's back, a simple white circle that had marked her through her childhood. He'd never asked about it- was it just a fondness of design, a fledgling clan marking? Not likely. His footfalls fell heavier than usual as he pressed into the jade ceramic tiles, wanting to catch her but not wanting to expend too much effort to do so.
The pinkette turned sharply, walking out where the floor length, open air windows met the slanting orange shingle-covered awning surrounding hokage tower. She jumped lithely downwards, her feet making a little tap on impact, before shooting forth again. The Uchiha's anger spiked into rage. She knew he was behind her, and if her behavior during their youth was any indicator, she was not one to use windows as an exit, preferring to stick to the same stairs and doors that civilians used, probably more out of politeness than anything. Unless she'd had a change in heart in terms of social norms and etiquette in the past few years, she was clearly avoiding him. An inference that set the raven haired man's blood to boil. He took off after her, foregoing the awning altogether and landing on the ground again from a farther height before stalking after the pink-haired kunoichi. She was only a few feet away now, and hey had garnered the attention of a few civilians in the local street on which they walked.
"Sakura," Sasuke ground out under his breath exasperatedly. Sakura continued to feign ignorance though, continuing to stalk off with the Uchiha trailing behind her.
He probably wouldn't have done it if she'd said something. At least, that's what he told himself. And Sasuke didn't do too well with being ignored. He threw his arm out, catching the edge of her hand in his.
She froze. Her feet planted in place, and he had to stop himself short to avoid running into her. She would definitely make it a point to start walking with her arms crossed, as apparently her normal gait was not enough to stop her friends from grabbing her extremities on a regular basis.
He blinked in surprise at the sudden cessation of her movement; he wondered if she would to punch him as she'd always done to Naruto when he'd incurred her wrath. But as he felt her fingers underneath his, absent-mindedly cataloging the calluses on her hand as he did so, he watched goose-pimples raise up on her arm. She continued to try to pull at her hand in short yanks, but his hand held fast to hers. If she wanted to, she could break away with chakra, and he'd let her, not exactly excited to prompt a panic within their civilian onlookers if he attempted to overpower her. Instead, she stilled, and turned to look at him.
Was that...fear laced into the corners of her eyes? His gaze fell downwards again, as embarrassed as Sasuke Uchiha could manage to be. He'd taken off after her with the goal of catching her. Now that he was here though, he wasn't sure what to say.
You saved my ass back there…? I probably would've found an excuse to blow my brains out if you hadn't accepted….?
"...I-" The syllable came out of his mouth but the voice wasn't his own; it was a struggling voice, one that was strangled with effort. He preoccupied his immediate mind with staring at where their hands connected, counting the calluses on her fingers.
One. Two. Three. Four.
"A- Arigatou gozaimasu, Sakura."
He met her gaze then, watching her jaw drop in surprise. Her thin, slightly dry pink petal lips parted, and she blinked a few times, eyes pried wide. She pulled her hand back to her person, gently this time. He let her fingers slide out of hers, leaving a trail of fire and tingles in their wake that traveled up his arm faster than the sparks of the chidori.
Her expression changed, the corners of her mouth pulling out and not up in a full smile. A pleasant expression, but a fake one.
"No problem, Sasuke-kun. See you in a week."
Back at her apartment, she pulled the covers over her head and sunk into her mattress.
And she thought life was hard when she was twelve.
Hello, everyone, and thank you so much for reading~
I'd started this story in hopes that it'd be in line with canon, but if you're keeping up with the manga (and I'm guessing you are), you've probably realized that the actual ending of Naruto is not going to line up perfectly with this story. Lame, I know. It's not a huge deal, as I think 90% of the content could be plausible post-canon, so I'm not too worried about it. I might go back later and tweak certain ranks of certain individuals, but other than that, I hope you can enjoy this piece as it is, and I will continue to write it as I had planned to. Again, thanks for the read and any comments/reviews you feel the need to leave (and you know I love it when you do).
Amy