O Koishii O
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"What a strange thing!
to be alive
beneath cherry blossoms."
-Kobayashi Issa
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O Prologue O
Mikoto glanced out the window, eyeing the pouring rain and gray skies with disdain, before rushing over to the door being bombarded with knocks.
"Coming," she tsked, reaching her chakra out to analyze the person. The signature was foreign and suppressed into a tiny, muffled dot, meaning the stranger was concealing their chakra and was doing a very good job at it.
Mikoto creaked the door open and peered out into the watery landscape, the dreary morning sky, and a very wet mop of pink hair.
"Ohayo," the girl bowed, her strands falling forward and nearly dripping water into the Uchiha house.
Mikoto raised an eyebrow, staring at this new face, "Ohayo," she replied warily.
"Eto," the girl hesitated, shuffling through a couple of papers, "I've come to see Uchiha Sasuke regarding his physical."
Mikoto scrunched her face and sighed. Oh, so it was just another fangirl, she thought as she patted her now frizzing hair. The older woman had to agree though, this excuse was pretty good, she had almost believed the girl.
"Dear, Sasuke is not interested in you or anyone unfortunately, sometimes I wonder if he'll ever..." Mikoto trailed of with an exasperated sigh, "Please leave, have a nice day," she smiled.
The girl blinked, her brow creasing, before a tinkling laugh fell out of her lips, "Oh, oh no. Gomen, I forgot to mention, my name is Haruno Sakura, I am the Godaime's apprentice. I'm really here for Sasuke-san's physical, he hasn't had one, well, for five years now."
The older Uchiha's eyes widened at the name. So, this girl was Haruno Sakura.
After Tsunade became Hokage, there were many rumors about a new apprentice the sanin had adopted, but no one had actually seen her in Konoha until recently. It later turned out that this apprentice, the girl in front of her, had been running errands for the Hokage, trying to fix up the debt the slug princess had around the nations.
"Oh goodness," Mikoto laughed, "I am so sorry, we have so many fangirls come knocking at our door and I didn't recognize you. Please come in."
Sakura smiled, entering the warm and dry house, "No it's my fault, Uchiha-san."
"Mikoto," the woman said kindly, taking the girl's coat from her.
"Hai, Mikoto-san, I should have introduced myself first."
Sakura looked around the wooden house of the Uchiha head family. It was traditional and plain, with photos hanging in one corner of the wall, and a blue large vase underneath it. There were a lot of antique furniture and accessories, obviously many years old. It was tastefully decorated and had a comforting feeling of home.
The older Uchiha grabbed Sakura by the elbow, gently pulling her through a corridor that was parallel to a large courtyard on the left side. She followed Mikoto for a few moments, before turning right towards a bamboo screen door. Opening it revealed the plain and practical kitchen, with a table located in the center for more casual meals. Sakura's eyes immediately rested on the person sitting there.
"Itachi," Mikoto said, causing the boy to look up, "This is Haruno Sakura, Sakura this is my older son, Itachi."
The pink haired girl smiled at the boy, "Hai, we've met before."
He nodded, "It's good to see you again."
Mikoto smiled, gently pushing Sakura to sit in the chair across from Itachi, "Great, then do you mind keeping Sakura company while I go get Sasuke? She has business to attend with him."
Mikoto left the room, leaving the two shinobi alone in the kitchen. He watched as she briefly glanced at some of the open scrolls on the table, surprise apparent in her eyes when she realized they weren't mission reports but actually questions.
Green eyes met black, as the two shared a look, "Strategical exam?" Sakura questioned taking the scroll Itachi handed to her.
"Hn," he said leaning back in his chair, "You should it take it as well."
He knew that Sakura had passed the anbu entrance exam; in fact, he had been an administrator for one part of it. She was undeniably good, with only a small lack in elemental ninjutsu which some training could probably fix.
She would need to expand her chakra stores as well, but from the diamond seal on her forehead, something told him she was keeping her real potential hidden.
She was a low class anbu though, not specialized like himself or even Sasuke. Sakura didn't have a team yet and most of the missions she had gone on were personally assigned to her by her shishou. But Itachi supposed that was alright for the time being, since Sakura was busy fixing up the hospital with Shizune.
"But I don't want to become captain," Sakura said fingering the edge of the paper.
It was time for re-examining in the anbu department, where many shinobi had to retake their tests in order to confirm their position. For captain, he would have to receive a certain score on the strategical exam in order to remain in his station.
But this examining time would also mean chances to be placed in a specialized department; as anbu had no official medical section, with Sakura being the only current medic, her second best option would be the intelligence and strategical division.
"It's not only for that," Itachi said, "If you do well, you can specialize in strategy, Nara is there currently."
With sharp dark eyes he watched as she thought about his suggestion, obviously considering it a good one because of her limited options related to her skill set.
"Where can I get these," she said pointing at Itachi's little pile of scrolls.
The dark haired boy smirked at her choice, handing her a few, "Take these for now. Ask Nara, and search through the library, I'm sure the Hokage has some as well."
The girl looked up at him and grinned, taking the scrolls from his hand and hiding them inside her pouch, "Arigato, Itachi-san!"
The duo suddenly turned to look at the door, their chakra tingling from the new signatures that were arriving in the kitchen. The screen slid open slowly, revealing a very annoyed Sasuke with damp hair and his mother following in the back.
"Gomen, Sakura! He was taking a bath and refused to hurry up," she spoke, sending a glare to her son.
Sasuke sighed, raising an eyebrow at the visitor who had come to see him. He honestly didn't know what this pink head's problem was, she had been badgering him about a physical examination for the past couple of days. He didn't care much for it; medical stuff was useless in his opinion, just a stupid formality.
"Sasuke-san," the girl said standing up, as the boy moved towards the fridge to get a bottle of water, "You've missed all of your appointments with me for your physical examination."
Sasuke tsked, and drank from his water not bothering to look at the girl. Mikoto and Itachi looked on curiously at the situation, exchanging a glance with each other.
"It's a waste of my time," he sighed, looking into the fridge.
"Well, unfortunately, because I didn't have any medical records or information to hand into anbu, I had to deem you unfit for active duty, and you will be suspended until I clear you for service."
The young Uchiha's back stiffened from his spot as he slowly turned around to glare at her with his sharingan activated, "You can't do that. I'm your superior," he said in a low voice, eyes nearly slits and knuckles white from clenching the fridge door.
Sakura indifferently flicked her hair back, "Well yes, in anbu you are. But at the hospital I'm the head, and therefore far out-rank you in areas that actually matter. So next time please don't waste my time."
Sasuke stalked towards her, as Itachi and Mikoto watched on with hidden amusement.
"I'll complain to the Hokage," he said, jaw clenched.
Sakura smiled at him sweetly, "Go ahead."
Ignoring the hovering Uchiha, she bowed deeply towards Itachi and Mikoto, "Thank you for your hospitality," she said before spinning on her heel and leaving the kitchen.
Silence seeped through the room as Itachi and Mikoto regarded the hot-headed Sasuke who had not moved from his spot. Gripping the water bottle tightly, his sharingan threatened to break the black of his eyes.
"I'm going to kill her," he mumbled, extracting a laugh from Mikoto.
The Uchiha matriarch shook her head, hiding a smile behind her hand; the girl was exactly like her shishou, maybe even worse.
"You should probably apologize," she said, looking at her son. Sasuke scoffed at her response, sitting down to glare at the scrolls.
Mikoto rolled her eyes, "I'm serious Sasuke, she has control over your suspension and probably the rest of your career."
The dark haired boy glanced at his mother and then to his older brother who had a smirk on his face, the message clearly understood...
Foolish little brother.
I don't know if I will continue with this or not. It was just a story that kind of popped up.
Lemme know what you think.
QUICK QUESTION
How's summer going?