Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Story Rating: T

Summary: In order to restore the Uchiha clan to its former glory, Sasuke is given a special permission by the impatient elders. Part 4.

The Perfect Candidate

Part 4

"Tell me, how do you envision your future? How will your life look like in two, five, ten years?"

The question took the young woman – a girl still in her teens, really – off balance. The elder's perceptive, shrewd gaze noticed every minute detail, the uncomfortable, protective stance with hands clasped in the front nervously, the slight widening of eyes – they were too expressive for a kunoichi of her caliber – and a surprised inhalation. But in the next second, the girl took a hold of herself and adopted a blank look of consideration.

Koharu inwardly smiled in approval. All was not lost with the new generation, it seemed. Konoha would stay strong and grow safely as long as they had talented shinobi such as young Sakura to protect it. This conclusion only reassured the elder that she made a right decision to confront the Hokage's apprentice.

"My future? What do you mean, Koharu-sama? What is this really about?" Sakura asked slowly, weighing every word carefully. She was trained to look underneath the underneath and never take the other ninja (especially the village elders) at the face value. The situation was all the more suspicious given the fact that the old woman paid her an unannounced visit here, in the herbal gardens belonging to the hospital. Sakura was on guard and rightly so.

"I'm merely curious. Answer the question, dear." Despite the endearment used, Sakura knew she shouldn't ignore the command hidden in there.

"Well, I see myself working as a ninja, eventually becoming jonin, training my own genin team and probably retiring when I would get too old for staying on active duty," she supplied a textbook answer. Not that she didn't have all those things in her plans, anyway, but she didn't want to share anything too personal.

"Every kunoichis dream life... I see..." the elder contemplated for a moment, letting her gaze slide away from the pink-haired medic and rest on the greenery surrounding them. The intense smell of various herbs was supposed to soothe but instead irritated her nostrils. Koharu ignored the slight discomfort with ease coming from years of experience.

"What about family? Husband and children? You probably wish for those, too?" she struck unexpectedly, catching Sakura from the blind side.

The young woman blinked and blushed heavily, embarrassed and uneasy with this course of questioning. "Umm... the thought crossed my mind..." she admitted.

"I married young," Koharu told her bluntly. "He was a fellow shinobi and I was in love. It was right after a war. He died on a mission a few years later and I returned to active duty."

"I'm sorry," Sakura said, unsure what the old woman wanted to impart to her through this.

"None of that needed," Koharu waved it off. "In a way I'm thankful it happened when it happened. I was lucky I could return to the ninja lifestyle without much repercussions. It was hard, retraining myself while taking care of my son at the same time," she smiled wistfully at some private memory, the lines around her eyes and mouth crinkling, then continued. "Motherhood makes you soft and pliable, but a kunoichi needs to be the opposite – hard and unyielding. Most never come back from the maternity leave and for a good reason. That is the reality of our profession, Sakura."

Wordlessly, the medic nodded and in return received another crinkly smile.

"Do you think it's selfish? Turning your back on the village just so you can raise your own children?" the old woman asked.

"I believe... it's not selfish when you can have both," Sakura replied pensively.

"That's the youth in you speaking," Koharu pointed out calmly. "Shinobi lifestyle is busy and motherhood is already a full time job."

"But you managed to do both," Sakura countered.

"I said that I took care of my son when I was retraining myself. Only in the beginning period. After that I left him with my husband's clan and visited from time to time. He scorned me for putting the village first and never got over it," Koharu sighed. "There was always another war, another crisis, another job and being the Third's teammate basically had me co-running the village with him and Homura."

"And Danzo," Sakura couldn't stop herself from adding the name of the infamous councilor.

"And Danzo," Koharu repeated, unfazed, then lapsed into silence.

Sakura mulled over the elder's words, trying to make sense of what she was meant to learn from them.

"With full respect, but is there a reason we are having this conversation?" she finally went for a straight-forward approach.

Koharu gave her a thorough look. "You tell me," she replied cryptically.

Sakura scrunched her brow in deep thought. "If you are worried about me retiring, it's not going to happen any time soon. I'm still too young to seriously think about raising my own family. There's a lot I can still do for the village. And I guess Naruto will desperately need my help when he becomes the Hokage," she grinned, imagining the chaos her teammate would undoubtedly wreak in the office. Quickly subduing the amusement, she continued her train of thought. "I love being a kunoichi. It's hard and demanding job, but I don't think there's anything else I would rather do. So, you can rest assured, I'm not suddenly going to throw this away."

Sakura nodded to herself, pleased with how it had come out. She had worded her thoughts perfectly.

"I'm glad," Koharu responded evenly. "I had my doubts but I see Tsunade-hime chose well to take you as her apprentice. You possess a strong sense of responsibility and a good head on your shoulders, something sorely needed when young Naruto will take the Hokage office."

"Thank you, Koharu-sama," Sakura accepted the praise with a gracious smile, though there was a lingering wariness that while genuine, it was not a real point the elder wanted to make.

"I guess I took enough of your time," the old woman noted. "I just want you to remember one thing – any woman can become a mother. But only a select few become a kunoichi. And you are the only one among them who is capable of continuing the legacy of your master. Always keep that in mind."

"Of course, Koharu-sama," Sakura replied faintly, feeling touched and a little overwhelmed. She knew she was pretty special because of her particular talents but to get an open acknowledgment from the strict village elder who even dared to scold and correct her scary shishou – that was definitely something she could take pride in.

Koharu nodded to the medic as she made to leave. "I'm very relieved my worries about you and the Uchiha were entirely unfounded," she said offhandedly, as if in the afterthought. "But I see you're wise enough not to fall into his trap."

She couldn't have made a bigger impact had she tried. Sakura, who was just opening her mouth to offer a goodbye, froze, eyes round and jaw slack in disbelief as her mind came to a screeching halt. Her earlier wariness was finally validated. What did Sasuke have to do with this? Was the elder spying on them? Why? What was going on?

"Koharu-sama, wait!" Sakura called out, sprinting to catch up with the unnaturally spry old woman who, in the time she took thinking it all over, almost reached the exit. "What do you mean? What trap?"

"Ah, it's nothing. I shouldn't have said anything," the old woman evaded explaining, but Sakura insisted.

"Please, tell me. What is it about my teammate and a trap?" the medic asked, the polite wording barely enough to blunt the demanding edge in her tone.

"It's a clan matter. Nothing that should concern you," Koharu expertly withheld the information, hiding it behind the curtain of clan secrecy. Sakura gritted her teeth, knowing how seriously such things were treated in Konoha. But she still had to try.

"You wouldn't mention it if it wasn't important so maybe you could..."

"Sakura!" the old woman cut her off sharply. "I'm not at a liberty to discuss this with you." Then, her expression softened. "But I can advise you this – beware of men who are interested only in your womb. That's all. Have a good day, dear." With one last nod, Koharu walked away.

Sakura could only nod back automatically, her mind working into overdrive even as she went back to gathering herbs. In the end she found herself fairly alarmed. While some level of equivocalness could be expected from any encounter with the elder, this one had raised uncertainties and doubts she still had to properly address. Sakura recalled Koharu's parting words and frowned.

The implication that Sasuke was a man she should look out for was painfully clear and her mind wandered to another piece of information – that accursed candidates list she had found the previous day. The picture she got from connecting the two was downright nasty and made her feel nausea.

Sasuke had in his apartment a list of women, which all were confirmed in the last two weeks to be healthy and fertile. Sasuke was looking for a wife. Koharu all but spelled it out to her, too, saying that it was a clan matter. What clan? Sakura suppressed a bubbling, hysterical laughter. There was only one person in the Uchiha clan! And so, for intents and purposes, it was obvious that he finally decided to restart his clan!

What did she have to do with this? Sakura realized the question was rhetorical as soon as it came to her. After the events of yesterday, she had not a shred of doubt that Sasuke at least included her in the list, at most – made her his primary interest. And while it was both a flattering and exciting prospect, she meant what she had told Koharu – she was not ready to quit being a kunoichi. Nowhere near ready.

And if she told that Sasuke... well, he had other women on that list...

Any woman can be a mother. Only select few can become kunoichi.

And she was the only one to success her shishou.

Sakura's knees hit the gravel path and she stared down blankly at the blood flowing from the gashes, her mind churning with jumbled, disorganized thoughts, memories and impressions. Internally, she argued with herself, back and forth, viciously, aggressively, but the shouting match in her head brought only more misery and despair to the troubled medic.

But the hope wouldn't leave her that easily. If she treated Koharu's warning with a grain of salt – because the elder was always biased against the Uchiha, and more so against Sasuke, despite his reformed ways – if she didn't presume anything, but acted reasonably, then maybe it all could turn out with a happy ending. Facts were facts, not riddles and ambiguous evidence that maybe meant something different than what it looked like.

Sakura stood up and effortlessly healed her knees with a swipe of a green-glowing palm. She had duties to attend first, no matter how much internal turmoil she was going through at the moment, so she used every bit of her training to put a solid clamp on her emotions and concentrate on her job once again.

But after that... she would take action.

Sasuke didn't like interruptions in the morning, especially the ones of the unpleasant kind. Normally he would just ignore the unwelcome visitor or quickly change a training ground, but this time he couldn't exactly afford to implement this tactic. Sasuke knew the elder was persistent and it would be better in the long run to hear him out than risk being bothered by the old coot all the time in the future.

"What do you want?" he asked irritably and sheathed his sword with a loud shlink. He didn't feel like pleasantries were necessary in this situation.

Homura, however, didn't seem to take offense. The elder approached the young ninja, taking measured, unhurried steps across the field. Sasuke grit his teeth and crossed his arms, his posture telegraphing impatience, which of course Homura didn't take note of.

"How are you doing, Sasuke?" he inquired in a neutral tone.

"Fine," Uchiha replied grudgingly. "Now, what is it you want?"

Homura gave him a long look, then nodded. "Very well, I'll be brief. How is your search coming along? Any candidates caught your eye?"

Sasuke scowled. "If you mean that list you sent me, I don't need it."

"Then you have someone else in mind?" Homura asked mildly.

Sasuke looked away. "Maybe."

"Does she meet the criteria? Is she willing to dedicate her life to your cause?" Abruptly, the young shinobi turned his head to gape at the elder. This line of questioning threw him off completely as he expected the inquiries solely about the woman's identity. However, Homura wasn't finished yet. "I'll have you know that all the candidates we proposed for you are loyal, healthy and eager, they also don't mind sharing a husband. And, most importantly, they are civilian women. Do you even know why we didn't include any kunoichis on the list?"

Sasuke stared mutely. He was vaguely interested why, so he shook his head, prompting the elder to continue.

"There aren't many kunoichis in Konoha and they are invaluable assets to the village. Also, the ones most available are already in their thirties, so they're too old and wouldn't be able to birth many children, which is essential to recreating your clan."

"If I had chilren with a strong kunoichi, they would be stronger," Sasuke argued.

"That's a marginal difference," the elder calmly deflected the claim. "It's your genes that will give them the strength of the Uchiha."

"Just what is your point, Homura? Shouldn't it then really not matter who I choose to marry?" Sasuke asked irately, his intolerance for bullshit apparent in the disrespectful tone. He was incensed enough that the elder had the gall to come and try to push on him some women he didn't even know and had literally no interest in and that was already on the top of the fact that he generally couldn't stomach that old coot for too long.

"My point is that the village will not give up its best kunoichi to you when it's not strictly necessary."

Sasuke's glare sharpened as everything came into focus. So this is what it was really about. The elders had been spying on him. "It's her choice, not yours," he bit out venomously.

"Yes, it is hers," Homura replied non-confrontationally, but his expression was irritatingly smug. "And she knows what's right, doesn't she?"

The Uchiha's glare intensified as he had no good answer to that.

"But it's your choice, too," the elder added. "I'm sure you know from experience that if you want to reach your goal there are things that need to be done, regardless of feelings pointing to the contrary. If you truly want to succeed in restoring your clan... you realize which option is better to take. Think about it carefully, young Uchiha."

Homura turned to leave. "Oh, I would've forgotten," he said over his shoulder. "We'll send you a message where the first marriage interview will take place. Do show up on time."

Sasuke clenched his fists tightly, his incisors biting the lower lip until it bled as he fought to control the fury which demanded from him to skewer the retreating old man on a blade and gut him like a fish. When the young ninja was finally alone, he punched a tree with a roar of anger, releasing the pent up emotion.

What was the worst was that the elder made a lot of sense. Sasuke had a hard time admitting it, but it was true. There was a part of him, the logical, cold-blooded one that only looked at costs and results, and this part insidiously whispered to him about the clan and the duty that bound him. He didn't want to marry this early in his life, but he would do it if it meant ensuring the continued existence of his lineage.

He was the last of the Uchiha. There was no escape from that.

And Sakura... she was not as easy to sway as in their genin days. He would not force her, that was beneath him, but for unexplainable reasons he yearned desperately for her agreement, which was not really guaranteed to happen given their shared history. She could refuse him on the same principle he would've used under less dire circumstances – they were still so young, in their teens.

Sasuke leaned against the sturdy trunk of a tree and took a large, cleansing breath. He needed a clear mind to think of an acceptable solution. It had been so much easier when all he had craved for had been revenge. Now, he had to decide about matters he couldn't resolve by fighting and killing.

Sasuke sat down comfortably in the shade and closed his eyes to meditate.

No matter what, he would find the solution, he swore before immersing himself in the inner thoughts.

Yamanaka Ino was bored out of her mind as she manned the counter at her family's flower shop. All the flowers and other plants were already properly watered, the orders from the previous day were picked up by happy customers and she had finished the last crossword in her magazine. There was literally nothing to do and she just wished something exciting would happen.

It seemed like some good spirit heard her prayers, because a bell chimed, signaling someone coming in. In a flash Ino drew up from her slouch and smiled widely in greeting.

"Welcome to the Yamanaka Flower Shop! How can I help you today?" she asked professionally, then did a double take upon recognizing the client.

This is perfect!, she thought gleefully as she went to assist the customer. Sakura would owe her for the news, Ino was sure of it. Now, let's get to work...

To be continued...

AN: The elders made their move!

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think! :)