New chappie! Big thanks to all of you who have followed/reviewed! It's extremely appreciated!
Disclaimer: I do not own "Naruto" or any affiliated characters; all such belong to Masashi Kishimoto. :)
Chapter Three
"Thanks for walking me to work, Naruto." Sakura gave her friend a brave smile, something she was beginning to do more often since the previous month of Moegi's death. After the initial shock and grief experienced at the news of the sweet little girl's passing, Naruto had continued to comfort Sakura that night, making sure she was taken care of and had promised to return to work the following day before he had gone home. It had been just over a month since the incident and Sakura seemed to be faring well enough; she was working her usual shifts and had begun to train again on a regular basis. Naruto had taken up walking her to work in the mornings, at first to ensure she actually went before it simply became an enjoyable habit.
"No problem," he answered, glancing at the Hokage Tower. Sakura's gaze followed his and she inquired, "Got a new mission coming up?" Naruto shrugged, his thoughts obviously elsewhere. Sakura smiled to herself before she touched his shoulder to get his attention.
"I'm heading in now. See you later."
Naruto smiled for her as she turned and entered the hospital to begin her day. He turned towards the Hokage Tower, walking along the crowded streets deep in thought.
As terrible as the situation was with Moegi's death, he had found himself growing closer to Sakura because of it. She had vented to him that night, telling him all of her anger, guilt and grief over not being able to save Moegi; he had listened patiently, knowing his own grieving would have to come after he left her. It was the first time she had seemed to trust him so completely with her thoughts and feelings, trusting him to be there with a comforting shoulder and patient ear. It made him happy to see her finally starting to talk to him honestly.
'I'm hopeless,' he thought with a sigh, frowning at his feet. He couldn't help that he was in love with Sakura; he had been since their days at the Academy. Her newfound comfort and trust in him only caused his feelings to intensify while hope swelled in his heart. But he knew the truth, the ever constant truth.
She still loved Sasuke.
His frown deepened, crinkling his brow under his forehead protector. Jealously had long since diminished from his feelings toward the subject of Sakura's affections; now, only confusion came to the forefront of his mind when he happened to think too deeply about it. He just didn't understand what drew her to Sasuke so passionately; sure, the guy was good looking and girls tended to dig the mysterious-bad-boy-with-a-haunted-past thing, but besides that, what was so special?
Naruto blew out his breath in a huff, causing the bangs over his forehead to flutter. He just needed a nice, solitary, thought-consuming mission to distance himself from the useless hope that swelled whenever he was around the pink-haired kunoichi too long. His feelings had deepened over the years, especially recently as he witnessed the various strengths Sakura possessed, the proof of how much she had grown; it made him want her all the more. That want, the undeniable yet still suppressed yearning for her, had been making it increasingly more difficult to deal with while hanging out with her. It had been building for months, yet since that night Tsunade had sent him to Sakura's apartment to help her it had become nearly all-consuming. It was difficult to repress the urges to finally, finally, just make a move and do something about it, so much so that walking with her, training with her, talking with her were almost physically painful.
'I just need a mission to get some distance and regroup,' he decided with a firm nod to himself. Finding himself having arrived at the Hokage Tower, he quickly ascended the stairs and made his way to Tsunade's office, walking in without bothering to knock as per usual.
"What's up, Granny?" he greeted her with a grin, which widened when she growled "brat!" in response. He plopped in a chair in front of her desk, stretching his legs out and resting his hands behind his head, the epitome of relaxedness. His eyes twinkled with mischief and he demanded, "Oi, so when's my next mission? Give me a hard one! I need some adventure."
Tsunade rolled her eyes at him, putting down her pen to steeple her fingers in front of her mouth while she studied him, making him wait for her to answer; it didn't take long before he began to fidget impatiently, anxious to receive a new mission.
"Granny!" he whined, pouting at her as he crossed his arms over his chest. She grinned behind her fingers, but relented and said, "Well, it just so happens I did receive an interesting request recently. Might not be your cup of tea, though."
Naruto's eyes widened slightly in interest, as she knew would happen simply because she had suggested he likely wouldn't enjoy it. He sat forward, waving a hand at her in denial, saying earnestly, "As long as it's not a C or D-rank, I'm game!" Tsunade snorted, only adding to fuel his determination to go. He couldn't have Tsunade-baa-chan underestimating him!
"C'mon, Granny, cough it up! Let me hear the details of this mission!" he insisted.
Pausing heavily, just to irritate him, Tsunade waited until he looked ready to burst before continuing, "It's a request from the Grass Country. It appears that their neighbors, the Rain Country, have been slowly moving in on the Grass's lands, crossing the border and gaining political control over many of the larger villages to benefit the Rain Country financially. This has sent the majority of the Grass Country residents into a bit of a financial hole, especially some of their smaller villages. One village in particular is about to hit bankruptcy, and due to the Rain's hold over most of the Grass's purse-strings, they're unable to receive the proper finances needed to pick themselves up. To make matters worse, much of the village is very sickly and, again, due to lack of finance, they are unable to afford a suitable doctor. With half of the village down for the count, it's been difficult for them to get to their feet again; those of the Rain controlling the money have agreed to give them a suitable amount to keep the village from collapsing, but they're still in dire need of outside assistance."
Naruto's excitement had seemed to dwindle a bit at the less than adventurous mission, though he did still look willing to help those in need, regardless. Tsunade smiled to herself; that was one of the things she admired greatly about the boy: his desire to help those unable to help themselves.
"Typically I wouldn't do this," she mused, tapping a pen against her lips thoughtfully. "Kakashi is busy with his own assignment and you've yet to gain a new teammate. But they need assistance and you're available…so I guess there's not much decision. Besides, it's not a hostile situation, and the remaining of Squad 7 are more than capable; with Sakura taking on the role of Captain due to her Chunin rank, the two of you are officially assigned this mission. Her medical skills will be needed excessively. Depending on how much needs to be done to get the village back on its feet, as well as how long it takes for those who are sickly to heal, this will be a long-term mission. I won't expect you back for a several months unless you're desperately needed. The two of you can leave tomorrow morning, since Sakura's shift at the hospital won't end until mid-evening. Oh, and pack warmly; I hear autumn is hitting the Grass Country a bit early." Finished with her orders, Tsunade dismissed Naruto and began working once more on the paperwork covering her desk.
Naruto left the office in a daze, making his way back to his apartment to begin packing the essentials that would be needed during the mission. Once done, he set about making sure his apartment would be secure while he was gone and then cleaning out any food or drink that might spoil during his absence. Finally complete with all such tasks, he made his way towards the hospital; it was close to time for Sakura's shift to end. Of course, she'd likely go straight to her office to work on that never-ending pile of paperwork.
'Incredible. I go to Granny Tsunade in hopes for a mission to get some space and leave with a long-term one with the exact person I need space from! What the hell am I going to do now?' he thought darkly, a frown marring his lips as he walked into the hospital lobby. The secretary greeted him warmly, which he absentmindedly returned, asking for Sakura's whereabouts. Sure enough, the little brunette pointed to the hall that led to her office and Naruto thanked her before moving away.
He knocked on the door, entering before Sakura could answer. She lifted her gaze from a pile of papers, locking jade to cobalt. For a moment, neither looked away or said anything, too focused on each other to interrupt the other's thoughts. Finally, Naruto lifted a hand in greeting and smiled, saying, "Hey. Got some news." Sakura lifted her brow, something he had noticed she did often when she felt it unnecessary to ask or say the obvious.
"Granny Tsunade is sending us on a long-term mission together to Grass Country." He proceeded to explain the situation, reminding her to pack warmly before suggesting they meet at eight A.M. sharp to head out. The trip to the Grass Country would take a good number of days itself. Once he had finished, Sakura gave him a smile and agreed to meet him at the gates the next morning at the agreed time. Nodding in satisfaction, he bid her a good night and turned to walk out the door. Pausing, hand on the knob, he turned to look back at her.
"Want me to walk you home?" he asked, startling her again from her paperwork which she had just refocused on. Sakura smiled again and shook her head.
"Thanks, but I'll be fine. I just want to finish this up and then I'll head out." At Naruto's skeptical look, she huffed and said with a touch of irritability, "I'm a big girl, you know." That caused Naruto to grin and chuckle, rubbing the back of his head.
"Okay, but I'm telling your secretary that if you're still here in an hour to get in touch with me; then I'll drag you back to your apartment." Sakura stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed again before exiting the office to head home himself.
Hope you enjoyed!
I'm really horrible with anything mildly 'political', so I hope the big ramble of why they have to go to Grass Country makes some semblance of sense. XD
Apologies to those who might have liked to have seen Naruto's reaction to Moegi's death; the first few chapters were moved along relatively fast to get to the main plot quicker.
Thanks for reading! As always, reviews are deeply appreciated! ^^
~Miah-Chan