Chapter 3

Amicable Turmoil

He was already up and slicing bread with a kunai when she cracked an eye open.

"Morning," he mumbled, "get ready, we are leaving in 10."

She groaned and wrapped Kakashi's shirt around her tighter, trying to block out the blinding sunlight. Mornings were always the worst parts of her daily routines, especially with sore muscles after sleeping on the hard earth all night. Her grumbling stomach was what motivated her to get up. She quickly got organized and dragged herself to where Kakashi was eating. He handed her a roll of bread and half a chocolate bar. She raised an eyebrow.

"Where did the chocolate come from?"

"My pocket."

She snorted without fail and stuffed a piece of bread in her mouth. Kakashi smiled to himself.

"So what do we do now?" Sakura said. "I know we are looking for Sai and Naruto, but...how? And you still haven't told me about this mission of ours."

"I summoned Pakkun and Urushi last night before I took a wash in the stream. They've been circling around our perimeter and trying to track down any familiar scents. I hope you didn't think that I would've let both of us sleep without some sort of a watchdog...literally."

Sakura shook her head at Kakashi's lame joke and replied, "Then we just follow whatever trail they find and hope for the best right?" Her doubt in his plan was blatant.

"The girl still doesn't like me, eh?" a deep voice grumbled from a newly appeared puff of smoke.

Kakashi looked over lazily and said, "Oh, Pakkun, how nice of you to join us, did you find anything out there?"

Sakura kept her mouth quiet. She shuddered as she recalled the time that Pakkun revealed that they used the same shampoo. After years of different shampoos in a desperate attempt lose the canine shampoo scent, she still held a grudge.

"It was pretty old, but Urushi got a whiff of Porcelain. He's waiting by the mark right now."

"Porcelain?"

"He means Sai," Kakashi explained.

Sai. She stared at the piece of chocolate in her hands and the few bread crumbs on her lap. He was the most irritating person she's ever met. Yet all she wanted was for him to be right beside her, breathing and wearing whatever fake expression he'd come up with that day.

"I'm going to wash my face," she said abruptly and threw Kakashi's shirt back to him.

When Pakkun made sure she was out of earshot, he pressed his paws on Kakashi's lap and looked up at him through drowsy eyes.

"You told her yet?"

Kakashi patted his head and contemplated it. Everything seemed to be pushing him to tell her. He closed his eyes.

'Fuck no.'

'Kakashi.' She narrowed her eyes at him. 'You are an elite jounin. You were trained for this.'

'But why her? Get someone else to go with me. Naruto and Sai, okay, but-"

"And can that bundle of blonde or antisocial heal your wounds? No, I didn't think so," she snapped, slamming her fist on her desk.

Kakashi avoided her gaze as he tried to wire up a good excuse. The woman didn't miss that.

"Why not Sakura? If you are worried about her then don't; she's been my apprentice for years so I know full well that she's capable for this. She's been your student for ages as well. You should know better than I do."

"I...the mission. It's not her, it's the whole damn mission. Choose another kuniochi for this. Or replace me; I'm not going to be the one to witness her finding out about this."

Tsunade glared at Kakashi.

"Kakashi! I will not explain myself again! Sakura was chosen for this mission and that is final." She paused for a second. In a softer voice, she added, "I don't want to put her through this either. It's just that she needs closure...and this is the best way for her to get it. I don't want to put her into any other shinobi's hands; she knows and trusts you the most. You should be the one to help them."

He shifted his weight from one foot to another. Kakashi looked longingly at the window behind Tsunade for a fleeting second.

"Did something happen between you two?" she asked quietly. Too quietly.

"No."

She scrutinized him, but his years of experience didn't allow him to leak anything on his face; he donned his usual stoic and lazy expression. The seemingly young woman sighed and dismissed him with a flicker of her wrist.

"Just go. Don't question me again."

He turned and headed for the door, his fisted hands stuffed into his pockets.

"And Kakashi..." she called out to his back, "you are an impervious piece of work, but Sakura's an open book to me. I'll find out whatever the hell you are hiding beneath that mask of yours."

Kakashi looked back at Pakkun fondly, rubbing a tender spot behind his fuzzy ear.

"I will."

As Kakashi and Sakura burned calories cruising through the thicket, Pakkun and Urushi constantly kept several paces ahead of them to sniff out Sai's fading trail. Urushi lead the group with his heightened senses and Pakkun...well, perhaps he was there for moral support. Kakashi always had a knack to call on Pakkun, whether he was useful in the situation or not.

The humans of the group fell into a comfortable, rhythmic silence, each leaping ahead of each other. It was just like the old times, but this time, Sakura could actually keep up with him.

"Sensei," Sakura called out suddenly, "Stop for a sec."

Kakashi slowed down to a halt and his ninken automatically stopped as well. He looked at Sakura questioningly while she made her way to where he stood. She kept her face downshifted and reached out to tug at the hem of Kakashi's shirt. Her poorly concealed blush didn't miss Kakashi's eye.

"I need to check your injury. I don't want all my hard work to go to waste," she said curtly.

He smiled and spread out his arms, humouring her.

"Undress me, Sakura-chan," he said dramatically.

She scoffed. Sakura pushed up his layers and pressed her fingers gingerly onto the pink wound. She didn't have thread at hand so instead of stitching up the wound, she had to use a medical jutsu. It healed better, but the injury was a lot more fragile.

"Does it hurt when I press on it?" she asked.

"No."

She narrowed her eyes at him. Since he was the mastermind of denial, she pressed her fingers harder, practically to a point whereas she was jabbing him. His façade faltered and he winced. Sakura smiled with triumph, happy to have 'won' the struggle and that she was able to inflict some pain on him...with a decent excuse, nonetheless.

"Do you know the meaning of the word, 'gentle,' Sakura?" he said, rolling down his shirts. He zipped his vest and stuck his hands in his pockets. Something bulged out.

"Sensei..." the pink haired adolescent squinted at it. "Please don't tell me you still have that ungodly piece of-"

"It's not ungodly, my young pupil, its unrivalled," he responded with a spark of awe, "Jiriaya-san would be rolling in his grave right now if he heard you."

He pulled out the nostalgic, tattered orange book and waved it in front of her.

Kakashi continued, "You shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, everyone knows that. You should give it a try some time."

"Like hell I would! Besides, I'm judging it by it's contents, not cover. It's disgusting..."

"Oh?" he replied keenly, "and how would you know what is inside the book if you have never read it before?"

Sakura's cheeks flushed a disturbingly bright shade of red.

"Intuition. That's all."

Kakashi slid a sly smile onto his face and edged closer to Sakura. He nonchalantly flipped open his beloved paperback and held it in front of him, far enough that it was sure to be in Sakura's view, baiting her.

But of course, she has already read it, having been a curious teenager and smitten with all things Kakashi. It's not like she is a virgin anymore either, so there isn't much hype to it.

She vaguely remembered losing it to a guy about a year ago. He had brown hair and a really nice smile. They were both in Kakashi's platoon and eventually started going out after a year or so. It wasn't overly romantic and sweet like she had always imagined it to be, but awkward and incredibly weird. He was a virgin too, but it made Sakura felt a little better; He was giving her as much as she gave him, though it was worth less in his mind. The foreplay was actually the best part. The sex itself was fumbly and sweaty. It ranged from painful to decent, but her first time wasn't satisfying at all.

"Well it's not very chaste for a girl to daydream about it all the time."

She turned red again and tried to free her hand again. He was enjoying this way too much. She felt like a mouse who's tail has been caught by the cat...dog, Kakashi. She blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Girls get horny too."

She regretted it as soon is it came out. Kakashi's eye widened and she could feel her's mirroring his. She prayed to dear god that perhaps Kakashi would get amnesia from the shock and forget what happened during those last few minutes. The silence was suffocating.

Her breath hitched. "Well, -"

"I know that," Kakashi cutted her off.

He stood and patted down his pants and walked away.

His back was away from her as he called out, "Careful when you tell that to a man. They might get the wrong idea."

She burned with humiliation and something else.

Kakashi stopped, shoulders still facing her.

"Then again, I'm talking to a kid who reads hentai," he continued, waving his innocent paperback in the air.

Just like that the tension was swept away. Instead of relief though, Sakura only felt crestfallen. There was that subtle brush off of her sensei yet again. She hated how Kakashi so easily turned all her muffled, bitter feelings into emotions of disapointment, of aching abandonment.

"We are getting near," Pakkun grunted in his low grumbly voice, "be prepared."

Neither human beans answered. Pakkun sighed a canine sigh and muttered something about the stupidity of human mannerism. It seemed as if all of mankind were closet masochists/sadists.

When the two of them returned to the expectant ninken, sourness was written on Sakura's face and Kakashi, well, he looked like Kakashi. Anyone would have guessed that it was one of those 'teacher scolding the pupil' moments that happened, but the dogs' supreme hearing skills didn't give them that comfort.

As the trees and wood blurred past them like green static and fresh air slapped them in the face, the pack stuck together in a knitted, but loose formation. It was about midday when the sun was the hottest. So it wasn't a surprise when the dogs could smell the site a mile away, pretty much literally. Even a mere human like Sakura smelled it before she saw it. When the branches gave way and the sun finally hit them directly, the best word to describe the bunch would be 'befuddled.'

Sakura threw up on the spot.

It wasn't some horrific, butchered scene though, quite the contrary actually. It wasn't the nonexistent stench of rotting flesh that had Sakura hurling or the blood painted earth that everybody was secretly expecting.

The open space before them looked as if it was deliberately cleaned up with haste. It had a small sort of cave to one side and a couple of scattered logs to another. In the middle of all that was a roughly-made stool and sitting on it was Sai's beloved drawing book of him and his brother with Sai's little finger lying above it like the cherry on top.

Yet again, it wasn't the fact that his finger was displayed in front of them so mockingly that set Sakura off, it was some sort of heavy stink in the air whose source was invisible. It was the incredible stink, the heavy feelings and the killer afternoon heat. She swayed.

"It's his alright," Pakkun wrinkled his nose at the stool, face contorted in pain.

For once, Sakura felt a spark of pity for the dogs. Apparently, they can smell about 100,000 times better than humans, but right now, it only meant that the smell was 100,000 times stronger and more sour.

"Now what?" Urushi barked.

If she wasn't so unwell, she would have laughed at his surprisingly deep voice.

"You two look around for clues on what the hell this is and what the hell is that stench. I'm going to bring her away before she keels over again," Kakashi demanded, taking the reigns again.

She felt gentle fingers clasp around her shoulder and allowed it to lead her off.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly as she numbly followed him, "You've seen worst things in your medical experiences."

"I know, it's just that.." (sigh) "Ugh, I don't know. I'm weird. I'm sad. Teens do that, you know, have weird tantrums and quirks. Apparently mine is throwing up."

He laughed quietly and relaxed his grip as he realized that the stench no longer surronded them.

"18 is technically an adult. You can't blame things on your status as a teenager anymore," he says.

She turned he head and studied his expression. An unexpected swell of pride and jubilance rose up to her throat.

"You think so?" Sakura says softly.

He sat down on a rock and patted the ground beside him cheerfully.

"C'mon. Let me play the medic for once."

She blushed on how close it sounded like 'playing doctor.' God knows they weren't children anymore, but the imagery in her mind made her blush nonetheless. It was shameful.

"Aren't you affected by it at all?" She asked as he pressed a careful hand to her forehead, a classic first action of someone who knew nothing about how to make a person feel better, but won't admit it out loud.

"I am, but I guess not as much as you. I'm a weathered man after all," he says lightly.

Where did that sudden good mood of his come from?

"But...it's like...Sai's finger. All I can think about it how I've watched it move a thousand times before when Sai drew, but now it's lying on top of a book, dead and detached."

"It sounds like you feel sorry for the finger."

"I do."

His hand no longer felt like it was simply taking her temperature.

"Sensei," she breathed.

She lifted her head slightly to face him. His expression was hard and unreadable. Like always.

"Hm?" he responded.

She liked the way his skin felt on hers. It was written all over her face and she knew it. Maybe she was simply craving physical contact that she's been lacking for so long, but right now, Kakashi seemed so...right.

He withdrew his hand abruptly and got up, looking longingly at where he left Urushi and Pakkun.

"When you feel better, you should come back. I need to go and see how things are coming along," he said, patting Sakura lightly on the head.

Shame coursed through her body for being so transparent. She watched his shoulders bob slightly as he walked away. How many times has she found herself in this position before?

"The smell is most likely a mix of old blood from some sort of chemical used to preserve that...finger. It was the strongest around it. "

The crew nodded smartly. Sakura picked at a chipping nail. The roles of nausea were overwhelming.

"Well, clearly, they left it for us," Pakkun continued for Urushi, stating the obvious.

"They are laughing at our faces," Sakura stated bluntly.

Kakashi was the first one to break the semicircle and strolled towards it. He plucked up the finger+book and thrusted them into his pocket, like someone shoving spare change into their pocket before leaving the house. A scrap piece of paper fell out from the book. Slowly, Kakashi reached down to read it.

"It's..."

Sakura snatched it out of his hand, eyes wide with bewilderment. "It's Sai's pen mark."

Instead of a cryptic message, the note were a few hastily drawn waves. It was terribly blotchy as if he folded it up without letting the ink dry.

"He's telling us where they are going next," she exclaimed and shoved the scrape back into Kakashi's face, "See?"

Pakkun snorted at the bouncing girl and the Copy nin simply scratched his head.

"I'm guessing the waves indicate the land of water. What a coincidence."

Sakura frowned. "What do you mean?"

He wiped his hands on his pants and turned his weary eye to his dogs.

"They know what we are after. Perhaps they knew it all along."

"Knew what?" Sakura questioned.

"Why else would they leave a finger for us? It's a child's game, taunting us," Kakashi went on, oblivious to her.

"Knew what?"

Kakashi blinked slowly, suddenly aware of her presence.

"The mission."

The dogs swerved their heads to Sakura. It was like watching a soap opera where every other word had a double meaning.

"This would be when you tell me what the fuck the mission is."

Kakashi stared at Sakura for a hard, long minute. It was miraculous that Sakura, as a well-trained kuniochi, humoured him for so long, not knowing the purpose of their mission, but going along with it just for the hell of it.

"Its to...build relations with other nations again."

Sakura squinted. "The fuck?"

"Remember the long speech I told about the fragile ties of the different villages and yada yada yada? That's what we were sent out to fix. Who better to represent Konoha then it's very own Copy Cat nin, jinchurriki and well, monstrous pupil of the Hokage?"

Kakashi didn't look like he was lying. He didn't even twitch.

"The part about needing to be seen is just to show the others our motives are pure. Better to be seen out in the open then in shady forests. Builds trust. Kills suspicions."

"Huh," was all Sakura could manage. "That's all?"

Kakashi nodded.

"I'm guessing that we were headed towards Kiri."

"Yup, good old bloody mist village."

"And got attacked by...him on the way there." She could feel his disappointment. She had his name on her tongue, but it just wouldn't budge out.

"So we got a little sidetracked, yes."

Sakura looked dumbly at the ground. She rubbed her stomach absentmindedly. "Wait, what? So the mission is to go to the village of Mist. But meanwhile, we are also going there to rescue Sai."

"Sure."

"Okay..."

"Great. Lets move on."

He walked briskly away from her and back to his beloved man's-best-friends.

After heartbreaking goodbyes, the canines disappeared into wisps of smoke and Kakashi convinced Sakura to continue their quest towards the Country of Water. There were no other trails that could lead to Sai so the best thing to do was hope for the best. Naruto was still painfully missing as well.

At least the weather was sweet enough. The forest leaves weren't dappled with sunlight nor birds present to sing their love songs. It was bright alright, but with no sun visible, just a thick blanket of clouds. The air was crisp. Sharp, but not cold. Everything else were banal shades of light blue to bright grey, except bits of metallic green, the kind that made it hard to say if it was warming or simply blinding.

Sakura and Kakashi were weaving around trees for the nth time.

"Is that really all there was to it?" Sakura pestered him again.

"Mm hm."

"Seriously?"

Kakashi grunted.

"Huh," Sakura said, "So the super secret badass mission was just to go kiss and make up with old people."

His lips slid lopsided into a smile, "Yeah."

Kakashi glanced sideways at Sakura who was too busy trying to blow a stray strand of hair out of her eyes to notice.

"Why didn't you tell me in the first place?" Sakura swerved her eyes to Kakashi again so suddenly, Kakashi's rhythmic strides got tipsy for a second.

"Uh...," he cleared his throat, "To nurture your excitement and build suspense. Makes the mission seem more fun and mysterious doesn't it?"

She looked unimpressed. Her eyes were heavily lidded and eyebrows raised.

"How 'bout this," Sakura exclaimed loudly, stepping in front of Kakashi, "You stop using your suffocating sarcasm and I stop..."

"Acting like a man?" Kakashi was courteous enough to finish it for her.

Her fists trembled, but she bit her lips, mumbling, "Whatever to make you stop."

Kakashi grasped it gently, gave a quick shake and snaked out of her hand before it tried to crush his bones. He stepped sideways and jumped to the next branch ahead of him.

"Great. I like this new understanding we have." Kakashi said cheerfully.

"Your false happiness is considered sarcasm as well," Sakura dictated, following his lead.

"Fine. Is there anything else you want to change about me, mother?"

"AHH There! Sarcasm! And actually, now that you mentioned it, yes, starting with that freakishly big mob of hair of yours."

"The ladies love it."

"I don't."

"Then shall I cut my hair for you? To make myself all the more appealing to you?"

Sakura stared at Kakashi, unsure of what he meant. "Hey, sarcasm again. That's already two points deducted."

"So we have points now? I'm deducting two points from you as well because you don't like my hair."

"Who said I didn't like your hair?"

"You did, Sakura. I quote, 'freakishly big mob of -, '"

"Ok, I get it, i get it. I'm just saying that it kind of looks like something lives in it, Kakashi."

She waited awhile for his witty response, but he just kept on going. Was it because she used his first name? Was he offended?

"Sensei?"

She made a lunge at Kakashi and grabbed a fistful of his hair, jerking him to a clumsy stop. They wobbled on his branch for a second before Kakashi turned around to glare at her with surprise. Sakura smirked, glad she finally had his attention.

"Listen to-"

She realized that he wasn't looking at her, but past her. Past her to the splintering crack of the seemingly sturdy tree. He fastened her in his arms and leapt back expertly, making sure she was tucked neatly against his body. Sakura saw the imminent danger, but all she thought about was Kakashi and the way that parts of him tensed and bunched up whenever he moved. The way that she could feel it instead of seeing it. Sakura could smell him from where her nose was pressed up against his collar, breathing in every warm breathe she could take of him. And the soothing vibrations of his throat whenever he spoke. Sakura.

"Sakura."

She snapped up.

"You are getting too careless."

She looked up, past his lingering fingers and right into his eye. The hitai-ate covering the other eye was deeply disturbing. She felt compelled to push it up.

"Sakura," Kakashi said quickly, "What are you-"

His wide crimson eye watched hers carefully. His mismatched eyes were such a sight to see, this close. She'd really taken them for granted.

"Sakura." He seemed panicked.

She wanted a taste of him so badly right then it almost hurt.

"Kakashi," Sakura began, sliding her hands gently up his vest, stopping at where the neck meets the shoulders. It was incredibly warm there, even with the layer separating their skins.

"What were you doing?" Kakashi asked gently.

She realized what this was. What was she thinking? He was her teacher, for crying out loud. And she was just another one of his pupils. Sakura despised so dearly how her heart always betrayed her. First a self destructive mass murderer and now a lazy, perverted teacher.

He slowly reached up and fitted her hands into his. Kakashi gave a quick squeeze. Like an adult comforting a crying child. She wanted to bury her face into the crook of his neck and hid there.

"Nothing," she exclaimed, beaming a smile at him. "I was clumsy, that's all."

He nodded as if he believed her and she grinned as if she didn't feel wretched.

"Thanks for not letting me fall to my death and everything."

She pulled her hands out of his grasp and threw them around his neck, stealing a hug for him. Though Sakura hated how corrupt her real intentions were, she still longed to touch him. He clasped her back tightly before he stepped away.

"How would I even face the Hokage if I merely watched you die, right?" Kakashi joked lightly.

She rolled her eyes and punched his arm playfully. She was disappointed, but still relieved that he let the way she acted slide. Sakura hated how she was hoping for something else.

"C'mon, you are wasting daylight here," she said.

"Wasn't I the one that said that to you before?"

After hours of crippling scouring, Sakura began to slow down. Her chakra supply only held out for so long and she was still very human and very female.

"Can we stop for a while?"

Kakashi nodded briskly and dropped neatly onto the floor within few feet of Sakura.

"I'll be back."

Sakura hastily fled the scene and ambled to the closest bush that seemed big enough to cover her. She crouched down and prayed to dear god that this wasn't happening. Slowly, Sakura pulled down her pants and took a peek at her underwear.

There were smears of deep red blood.

She groaned. After a few seconds of pitying herself, she grabbed some leaves to soak up as much blood as she could and ripped off part her sleeve to use as padding. The odd cramps and emotional moods finally found their cause. She gathered up her pride and marched back to the awaiting Kakashi. His eyebrow was raised, beckoning her to tell him.

Sakura and Kakashi had been on many missions together before and after the war. During the war was when Sakura went through her first cycle, but had many female supporters to guide her along. This saying, she always had the worst cramps. Ino even nicknamed her the 'temperamental monster' during those times. Thankfully, when she went on missions with Kakashi in the platoon, or any male, this has never happened. And now, ambushed and void of vital supplies, it finally comes.

"I got my thing."

He studied her for a long minute and sighed a deep, life sucking sigh. He shifted from one foot to another and stepped closer to Sakura. "Your..."

"Period."

"Are you alright?" he asked stiffly, awkwardly clasping her shoulder.

If the situation wasn't so dire, she would have laughed on how pathetic Kakashi was on consoling girls.

"I will be."

Sakura licked her chapped lips and took a deep breath, burning her dry throat. They've gone without water and food for a long time now. The land was too marshy for food to grow yet the mud was too thick for water to be clean. At least they were nearing the edge of the land.

"I'll try to go find us some supplies. You stay and rest."

She nodded obediently and watched as he blended himself into the woods.

"I can still fend for myself, you know," Sakura said when Kakashi came back with a bundle of branches and insisted she sit and watch.

She grabbed a nearby branch and with a sharp and precise burst of chakra, one of the ends flickered and glowed, bursting into a flame before long. Kakashi smiled as he stacked the wood together. He's being doing a lot of that lately.

"You've really grown up, Sakura," he said softly, "When you were young, you would have been perfectly content with me taking care of you."

"You just noticed?"

"I noticed it during the war. And I'm simply noticing it more right now."

She grinned as the memories. Back then it was just the dirt, the heavy air and fluttering of her heartbeat with every experienced blow. No one cared if you were caked in dirt, smelled funny or had a really high and ugly forehead. It was just the fact that they've fought together that makes everyone closer.

"I'll get us some fish."

Sakura grimaced, "Just get some for yourself; the cramps ate away my appetite."

Kakashi pondered it and nodded.

After an hour or so, the sun was already swept away. It seemed daylight was getting more and more sparse as winter rounded the corner. Kakashi had his stomach full of fish and Sakura a stomach full of boiled plants (Kakashi insisted). Though Kakashi hadn't moved and inch from his rock, Sakura was still painfully awake. Her stomach grumbled from time to time, but out of queasiness instead of hunger. Her knees felt weak and shifting into the fetal position didn't take the ache away. Being a woman sucked.

"Sakura?" Kakashi whispered.

She froze, startled by the sound of his voice.

"You okay there?"

"Mm..humph..." (M hm, yes, I'm quite alright)

"You don't sound so good."

"Ugghhh...mmm.." (Groans of poorly concealed pain)

He picked himself up and crouched beside Sakura. The moon lit up his hair and shoulders, but shadowed his face.

"Shift over."

Sakura was now fully awake. She shuffled over until there was enough room for Kakashi to lie his back on her tree as well. Searing thoughts and situations ran through her mind, playing like paranoid little glimpses of hope. He sat down beside her, shoulder pressed comfortably against her's and settled down in his spot. If Sakura blushed any harder, she would have caught on fire.

"Thanks Sensei."

"Don't thank me yet. Summoning Jutsu!"

And poof came about half a dozen furry bodies, some small enough to squeeze in between Kakashi and Sakura. The nin dogs. Sakura glared at him. What the fuck?

Keenly smiling, Kakashi said, "I find that surrounding myself in warmth always helps me feel better."

"And so you summon your dogs to be used as a living blanket?"

"Well, aren't you warm? Their pelts are always very soft as well."

"Why must you ruin everything."

"Ruin What?"

Back in the lovely Konoha, the land was blanketed in the familiar luminescence of the moon. The streets were quiet except for the occasional jeer of a nearby bar or midnight grill. Though all was sweet and tender, there was a specific blonde who was drowning in her mountainous heaps of paperwork.

"What?" Tsunade thundered.

The soft knock on her door abruptly stopped and from behind it came a timid voice, "There is someone here to see you, Tsunade-sama."

"Who?"

"It's me," came the gruff response.

Tsunade paused her writing and looked up at the open door. That voice shouldn't have been back for another 2 weeks or so.

"Come in."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Sai responded professionally, opening the door to her office.