"Typical. The one time you said you'd pay for the food is the one time you end up not having to pay at all." Sakura grumbled slightly. Her sensei always had the tendency to disappear when the prospect of bills came up.
The silver-haired shinobi peered up from the novel he was reading, "That's not my fault, Sakura."
The two shinobi sat at one of the private back booths of the restaurant, waiting for their food. Ayame, now the owner of the restaurant, had excitedly sat them down and gave them their menus, declaring that it was on the house because of Sakura's miraculous return. As much as she was grateful for Ayame's generosity, a part of Sakura wanted Kakashi to actually treat her to something.
Despite having a private back booth, the pair still drew attention to themselves from civilians and shinobi alike. They all seemed to be watching. Sakura dismissed it as admiration for Kakashi the legendary Copy Ninja and the Sixth Hokage of Konoha.
Ha. Her lazy sensei, the Sixth Hokage. She was surprised that Konoha was still standing.
She studied the man across from her. He had grown older as was expected. More wrinkles here and there, but he still looked young. His body seemed relaxed, but to her trained eye she could see the stiffness in his posture, the slight twitch of his hands ready to grab a kunai at the moment of danger. His black eyes were alert and aware despite the fact that he was reading his book. Wait. Two black eyes. What happened to his Sharingan?
Kakashi heard her unspoken question, "Lost it in the battle with Madara. Naruto somehow replaced it with my original eye."
Her face contorted in confusion, "How is that possible?"
He chuckled, "I think you'll have to ask, Naruto."
There was a lot that she had missed in the conclusion of the war. She made a mental note to ask later at a more secure location. Speaking of location, her gaze shifted to the place they were eating at. The restaurant had really grown since the last time she'd been there. The image of a tiny ramen stall that could barely serve 15 customers was replaced with the current five star building with all the new technological advances. Yet, another change to add to her list. Over to their right was a television set that was reporting something about a transcontinental railroad that would connect the five shinobi villages.
"Ichiraku really has developed, huh?"
"Hmm," Kakashi lazily drawled, "I suppose so."
The conversation ended there. Silence fell upon them. Kakashi marked his place and set his book down on the table. His experienced eyes piercing into her soul, giving her his undivided attention. Something that was rarely given to her in her genin days. Something that she had craved for. Yet, now that she had it. She found that she didn't exactly like it.
They hadn't address the elephant in the room, yet and the silence and attention made Sakura unnerved. She nervously fiddled with the new red armband tied around her left arm.
Luckily, Ayame skipped in with their food. "Okay! Two hot Miso Ramen Speciality for you guys." She set them down gracefully. "Anything else?"
The pink-haired kunoichi shook her head with a smile. "No, thank you, Ayame-san."
Warm and welcoming steam rose from her bowl, wafting the wonderful scent of ramen at Sakura. Even though it wasn't her favorite food in the world, anything was better than the soldier pills they had to eat in the war. She snapped her chopsticks in two, and began mixing soy sauce and some spices in her dish.
"Sakura."
His voice was firm and authoritative, absolute. His casual tone foregone and in its place an almost threatening one. The sudden change caused her body to stiffen. Her eyes snapped to attention.
She set her chopsticks down. "Kaka-sensei." She returned, her tone just as even.
Her fingers twitched in the direction of her own kunai pouch. She did find it suspicious that Kakashi's first response wasn't to attack her. She'd thought she needed to fight to prove her validity. Instead, the Sixth Hokage had smiled and invited her to lunch. Was he really going to attack her now? Instinctively, she glanced around the room. Silently noticing that some of the civilians had shifted their positions and if she looked hard enough a glint of steel showed underneath their cloaks. Undercover Shinobi. She mused. The visible shinobi continued to casually eat, but their rigid posture gave them away.
Smart. Rather than attack her on the spot, lure her into a place with several intentionally placed shinobi to lower the risk of her escape. The "civilians" and shinobi weren't staring at them because Kakashi was a famous Hokage. It was because she was the target.
And here she was just wanting to eat her ramen.
Sakura laughed, "I must say, Sensei. I wasn't expecting to be surrounded by ten chunin and five undercover jonin."
The way his eyes widened told Sakura that he didn't expect her to notice and that her suspicions were correct.
"I'm just taking some precautions, Sakura." He sounded like someone who had been tricked too many times. His eyes suddenly looked tired and weary. "I really want to believe it's you, but the safety of the village comes first."
"Well, it's a good thing Naruto actually thought ahead." The pink-haired jonin reached into her medical pouch. Suddenly, all the shinobi unveiled their weapons, ready to throw the sharp projectiles at her if she made a move. She promptly raised her hands in the air. "Woah, Woah! I'm just reaching for a scroll, alright?"
The shinobi looked to Kakashi, who in turn nodded his head. They went back to their original positions.
Sakura quickly dug through her pouch and grabbed an official-looking scroll. She handed it to Kakashi who unraveled it.
DATE: August 21, XXXX
I, Uzumaki Naruto, the Seventh Hokage of Konoha declare that Haruno Sakura is reinstated as a shinobi of Konoha. I confirm that Haruno Sakura is alive and order all Konoha shinobi to abandon any capture and interrogation procedures as the said person has already passed all tests given to her, considering the validity and reliability of her person.
JUST ACCEPT IT ALRIGHT! BELIEVE IT!
Signed,
Uzumaki Naruto
The Seventh Hokage
P.S Please ignore the ramen stains.
It sure sounded like Naruto. But he couldn't eliminate the fact that the scroll could be forged. There was one way to find out.
Kakashi sent some of his chakra through the document. If the scroll was legitimate, then the personal stamp of the Seventh Hokage would appear in response to his chakra. Sure enough, Naruto's seal reacted and became visible.
Before he could say a word. The Hokage's advisor busted through the doors. Several pairs of eyes fell on him, but the Nara ignored all of them except one.
"Sakura!"
The urgency of his voice concerned her. "Shikamaru? Wha-"
"No time to explain. Ino needs your help. C'mon meet me at the hospital as soon as possible." As soon as he came, he left.
Sakura glanced solemnly at her still untouched ramen. It looked like duty called her away from a nice meal again.
A scroll was suddenly chucked at her. Reflexively, Sakura's hand reached out and caught it before it smacked her in the face. She glared in annoyance at her sensei. You were aiming at my face!
Kakashi only smiled in response and ruffled her hair once more, "Go, Sakura. We'll catch up later." He stood, his ramen bowl already empty-When did he pull down his mask to eat? He hesitated for a moment, then suddenly pulled her in for an uncharacteristic hug. "Welcome home, Sakura...For real this time."
Sakura's face lit up, and she grinned. "You owe me another lunch meet," she paused and glanced at all the extra guests, "and next time try not to bring extra shinobi with you."
The Sixth Hokage laughed.
When Sakura arrived at the hospital a few minutes later-thankfully the hospital still resided at the same location as she remembered- she wasn't expecting such an emotional reception. Sure, she had worked there for countless of hours during her apprenticeship with Tsunade and everyone there respected her skills as a medic, but she wasn't expecting all the staff to miss her that much.
"S-sakura..Sakura-sama!" Ami, the receptionist sobbed. Several of the other doctors and nurses who worked alongside Sakura sixteen years ago cried as well. Tears comically dripping down their faces. Ami tackled Sakura into a hug.
Sakura sheepishly grinned, "Aah, Ami-san, don't cry. It's okay."
Kai, one of Sakura's assistants, a doctor now, joined Ami in squeezing Sakura, his old mentor, to death.
"Kai!" Sakura barked. The force of his tackle made her lose her balance and the three of them crashed on the sanitary floor.
Several of the new doctors and nurses just stood there whispering amongst themselves.
"Is that Sakura-sama? The apprentice who had the potential to surpass Tsunade-sama herself?"
"It can't be can it? I thought she died."
"Amazing!"
Sakura ignored the whispers and gently pushed her friends off her. "Ami, Kai, as much as I love to stay and catch up, I heard that I need to heal Ino."
"Sakura!"
The crowd parted for their superior, the head of the hospital. Her heels rhythmically clicking on the tiled floor. She stopped at the human pile on her hospital floor.
"What are you all standing here for? Get back to work!"
The staff parted quickly even Kai and Ami scuffled out and returned to their post, leaving Sakura alone with a familiar face.
Sakura pushed herself off the floor, and found herself face to face with one of the scariest faces she had ever seen.
"S-shizune-san." Sakura stuttered, addressing her senior apprentice. "I-I'm back." The face Shizune was making was void of emotion. Sakura herself had only seen it once when Tsunade refused to do any paperwork and insisted on drinking the whole night. Needless to say, Tsunade's sake was tossed out the window and Tsunade was forced to do double the paperwork.
The black haired girl didn't move nor did she look surprised. In fact, if Sakura didn't know any better it looked like Shizune was expecting her. Shizune's eyes flickered to Sakura's diamond seal on her forehead.
They stood there. In a stalemate. Neither moving.
Then, Shizune moved.
"I'm sorry!" Sakura yelled quickly, hoping her plea placated the beast within.
Shizune didn't attack her like she expected. Instead, Sakura found herself wrapped in a hug.
And then promptly pulled towards one of the hospital rooms.
"Aah! Shizune-san!" Sakura tried to tug her hand free from the older kunoichi's grip, but it was too strong. Deciding not to use her chakra enhanced strength, Sakura opted to be pretty much dragged along.
"Naruto informed me of your arrival." Shizune informed, answering why she wasn't surprised at her fellow pupil's appearance. "But we'll talk later, Sakura. The patient comes first."
They were heading towards section D of the hospital. Her green eyes narrowed as she knew this corridor to be part of the trauma recovery center.
On the right side of them were tall green lockers. Shizune motioned to one of them. "You know the procedure."
Sakura did what she was told. She took off her kunai and medical pouch, storing them in the locker. She untied her old-scratched forehead protector and placed it gently on top of her pouches. This was to prevent any unstable patients from grabbing a weapon from their medic and intentionally hurt themselves.
When she was finished, Sakura followed Shizune as she led them through the corridor. As they continued walking, Sakura started to hear hysterical sobbing along with several voices trying to soothe the person
Inside one of the rooms came an anguished, and strangled cry, a plea. "SAKURA!"
In response, Sakura sprinted to the room where she heard the cry.
She threw the door open. Her eyes widened at the sight.
"Ino…"