Three: Opportunities
Sakura frowned as she left Kakashi's. She'd wanted to gauge his reaction to her if she asked him to train her if she joined ANBU, but she left with the distinct impression that he would have no part in it.
In fact, he had all but told her she wasn't up to the task as she was leaving. He hadn't come out and said it, but her former sensei had made it perfectly clear that he didn't think ANBU was the place for her.
But why not?
ANBU needed medics. In fact, they probably needed medics more than any of the other teams. And she was certainly qualified in that regard. Hell, she was a jonin. They all were. After the war, all of her friends had gained that status. She snickered, remembering that Sasuke and Naruto had technically skipped being chuunin.
The thought cheered her up, and she pushed Kakashi's reluctance out of her mind. He probably just had a hard time seeing her as not the twelve-year-old girl he had to baby when he thought of her doing something as crazy as joining ANBU. He'd get over it.
They'd all become closer after the war—even their old sensei—so Sakura knew he didn't think she was weak. Far from it. If anything, he was the one who thought she was the strongest.
She sighed, thinking of a conversation they'd had years ago.
Team Seven—all of team seven, including Yamato—had been out drinking, and Naruto had unwisely challenged Sakura to an arm wrestling competition. He had soundly lost, but had gotten over his defeat and quickly and was currently trying to get Sasuke to wrestle him next.
"And here you always thought I was the weak one," Sakura snickered, sliding in next to Kakashi to let Sasuke take her spot on the stool across from Naruto.
Her old teacher looked at with a strange expression. Sakura couldn't quite read it. "I never thought that."
"Oh yeah?" she teased, keeping her tone light despite his sudden seriousness. "Then why'd you like totally ignore me as a kid?"
Kakashi's eye narrowed, and she knew he was thinking.
"I'm just joking," she said, slapping his shoulder. "We both know I was a little bit hopeless at that point in my life."
"Well," he said, his voice lighter already, "I'd maybe say more than a little."
"Hey!" She slapped him in mock outrage, but couldn't help her own laughter when she saw his signature eye smile.
His face grew serious again, and he turned back to her. "Sakura, I never gave you the attention I gave the boys because I knew you didn't need it." He shrugged. "You didn't need me. You were stronger than that."
She frowned, wanting to point out that no, she probably had needed the attention, because she'd been pretty useless in her genin days, but she figured it would have ruined the moment.
Besides, she appreciated the sentimentality. Kakashi may have been out of his element as a genin teacher—there was a reason, she assumed, he had never taken another team—but he had tried his best to teach them in his own way.
Sakura flashed back to the present, smiling again. In a roundabout way, it had worked. She'd been left behind on the original Team Seven, and that had only served to motivate her to work even harder than ever before with Tsunade.
It was the same thing that was keeping her going now. Kakashi would get over his hesitation about ANBU. The boys would be surprised at first, but they would support her and understand why she needed to do this.
Reassuring herself that she was solid in her decision, she made her way to Hokage Tower to talk with her former mentor.
"You asked to see me, Lady Hokage?"
Tsunade looked up from the information Lord Sasaki's messenger had given her. She and Jiraiya had spent countless hours pouring over it, but there was nothing that stood out to the two remaining sannin.
"Yeah, an hour ago," Jiraiya mumbled, but Tsunade ignored him.
"Yes. Come in, Kakashi."
The silver-haired jonin shut the door quietly behind him, wondering what this was about. As far as he knew, there hadn't been anything to disturb the peace that still held between the villages of the former Allied Shinobi Forces.
If he were honest with himself, he thought that peace would hold until long after Naruto was Hokage, since that kid had been the catalyzing force behind everyone's friendship. Yes, as long as Naruto and Gaara were around, the chances of peace were much higher.
Tsunade looked at him for a long time, appearing to study him. Kakashi was starting to get uncomfortable, but she soon turned her gaze elsewhere. Namely, to the paper in front of her that Kakashi could only assume contained the details of a mission.
"Three weeks ago," the Hokage started, fixing him with her intense stare again, "you put in your request to take ANBU missions again."
"Yes, Lady Hokage."
"Despite the fact that we are at peace, and there really is no need for you to take any of these missions."
"Yes, Lady Hokage."
"Cut the crap, Kakashi. There are plenty of ANBU Black Ops willing to take the missions that we have, so there is no real reason for you to feel like taking these missions again is something you have to do." Her voice grew quieter. "We're at peace Kakashi. Don't you think you've earned a little peace?"
"That's just it!" he said, a little more urging than he normally would have liked in his usually stoic voice. "We've got the peace that we all fought so hard for, that I was willing to die for, and that's great, but now that we've got it, I don't know what to do with myself.
"I was a child during the Third Great War, Tsunade! A child! And given my past…" He trailed off, but nobody spoke. It wasn't like the Copy Ninja to openly discuss the people he'd lost.
"Well, let's just say that peace is never something I've known how to deal with."
"Then learn," Tsunade urged.
She knew she was out of line here, showing favoritism to the white-haired ninja, but she couldn't help it. He was Jiraiya's student's student, and the student of her predecessor. And he'd always been one that she knew she could count on during her time as Hokage. She couldn't help it if she had a special liking for the Copy Ninja.
"Tsunade." Jiraiya laid a hand on her shoulder. "Sometimes a man just needs to get away. Not all of us were made to be cooped up here, you know."
She turned to Jiraiya, focusing on the far away look he was getting in his eyes. Had he felt like Kakashi? Was that why her fellow sannin seemed to understand?
She sighed. "Alright. I'm putting you back on the ANBU duty roster. Here is your first assignment."
Kakashi frowned as he looked over the scroll that was handed to him. His eye met Jiraiya's questioningly.
"The Land of Silver?" He was surprised to hear that they were having any sort of problems. After all, it was the one land that had never found itself getting embroiled in any of the Great Wars.
"That's why this is so troubling," Jiraiya said. "Why would they start having trouble now, after the war and when everything is finally at peace?"
"You think something more is going on here." It wasn't really a question.
"Yes," Tsunade said. "And we want you to check it out. This would be a simple recon mission. Just information gathering. Find out what the royal family requested, then report back to me."
"Yes, Lady Hokage." He turned for the door, but was stopped by the sound of her voice.
"And Kakashi?"
"Yes, Lady Tsunade?" he asked, turning back to face her.
"Be careful."
He nodded. "Of course."
Tsunade laid her head down on her desk as soon as he left.
"It's not a dangerous mission, you know." Jiraiya said, moving behind her to massage her shoulders.
"I know," she sighed. "I'm just worried about him. I just wish he'd stay put and be safe for a while. I suppose I'm just like him with his teammates in that regard."
"Yeah, well, you're not the only one," Jiraiya said. "Let me talk to him. I think I know a few things to say to the boy."
Sakura knocked on Tsunade's door, quietly at first, afraid she would be disturbing something. That had happened once before, and Sakura decided that was a site she never needed to see again.
"Come in!" Tsunade called, sounding surprisingly sober for that late in the day.
"Shishou?" Sakura asked, hesitating before walking over to her desk. She was suddenly nervous to give Tsunade her request.
"What is it, Sakura? Spit it out! You've never been shy with a request for me before. I assume that's why you're here?"
"Well, I do want to ask you something…"
Tsunade waited. "Yes?"
"Do you think I'm capable of joining ANBU?" the pink-haired girl blurted out, before looking back down at her feet.
"Sakura?"
"It's just…" Sakura trailed off, not wanting to admit to Tsunade that Kakashi had basically told her she wouldn't make it.
Then she shook her head, brushing away those thoughts. After all, she'd never actually asked him. Maybe he didn't mean she couldn't join ANBU, maybe he'd just meant that she wasn't ANBU-level without going through the training.
She held her head high, shoving her doubts out of her mind. Sakura knew herself better than anyone, and she knew she could do this.
"Nothing, shishou. It's nothing. I would like to join the ANBU Black Ops."
Tsunade stared at her protégé, wondering where this request was suddenly coming from. It made sense from someone like Kakashi, a former ANBU, but she hadn't received any new recruits to the program lately, with everyone enjoying their hard-won peace.
And of those in the younger generation that Tsunade would have thought might show interest in ANBU, Sakura hadn't even made the list.
"Is something wrong, Sakura?"
Tsunade wondered for the second time that day if there was something going on with Team Seven. Maybe she really should have sent them out on more missions.
"No, Lady Tsunade. This has just been something I've been considering for a while now. I want to close the gap between me and my teammates when it comes to fighting, and I feel that ANBU is the best way for me to do this."
"So you don't wish to become an ANBU medic?" the blonde questioned.
Sakura hesitated. "I want to use my medical skills, but I want to fight, shishou. I want to get out there on the front lines and not have Kakashi or Sasuke have to get hurt saving me. I don't have a kekkei genkai, but that doesn't mean I can't get stronger."
"Sakura, you're already strong."
"I didn't mean physical strength, shishou."
Tsunade fixed her with the same stare that she'd used on Kakashi earlier. "I didn't mean physical strength either."
She paused, and for an awful moment, Sakura thought her shishou was going to say she wasn't ready.
"But I understand. If you still want to go through with this, I can't deny you. You make an excellent candidate."
"Thank you shishou."
"The paperwork is over there," Tsunade said, nodding toward a mostly untouched pile across the room. "Fill it out and bring it back in the morning."
"Yes, Lady Tsunade! Thank you!"
Sakura grabbed the application and ran from the room, hardly able to contain her excitement. It was only after she was out the door that she realized one of the spaces allowed her to request a mentor from among the current and former ANBU agents.
Tomorrow.
Sakura had until tomorrow to decide whom she wanted to request to train her.
~A/N: I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who followed/favorited/reviewed this story! I enjoyed talking to you. It's nice to know people find this story interesting enough to read.
I've got the next couple chapters planned out, so hopefully I'll have another update soon. I'm going to try to work ahead on this story while I've got a ton of free time this summer.
Until next time!