CHAPTER ONE
Sakura sat in her office going through the medical file of a patient she'd been treating for over a week, it had been a difficult case but they were finally done with treatment, she was happy everything went successfully, she always had a sense of fulfillment anytime she successfully treated a patient or brought someone back to life. She loved her job, heaving a sigh she closed the file, but there was something wrong…to put it short she was tired and not just the type of tiredness of working from 6 am to nearly midnight almost every day. Her life had fallen into a very monotonous boring routine since after the war and Konoha retained peace.
It had taken a whole year to rebuild and another year for the soil to start bearing fruit again, the land had been in ruins so they had to wait for the land to be fertile again, Tsunade retained her Hokage post which she was thankful for.
Naruto was training to be the next Hokage, and she was happy for him, she knew how important this was to him, he complained about how boring it was though and it made her laugh, she supported Naruto through and through in his journey to becoming Hokage but she's assisted Tsunade in enough piles of paperwork to know that it was, unfortunately, a very boring job and she just couldn't picture Naruto sitting behind a desk for the rest of his life but it's been his wish since forever and she'd do whatever she could to help him realize it.
Sasuke returned to the village after the war but went on his redemption journey a week later, part of her felt like he just couldn't stand to live in Konoha after what happened with his brother and clan and frankly after hearing the truth she honestly understood him better now, they decided to remain friends. She honestly didn't feel bad about it maybe a little… she waited for him for so long, letting go wasn't easy but she was fine now, they wrote to each other from time to time.
She had decided to open a mental health clinic for kids with the help of her best friend Ino while still managing the main Konoha hospital with Tsunade it was a lot of work but worth it.
Sakura was now 19 and feeling more lonely than ever, she'd always been okay with being alone but nowadays it was more draining than usual, she was just depressed …plus seeing her mates pairing up certainly didn't help at all, Naruto and Hinata, Shikamaru and Ino and most shocking of all Choji and Karui, it still shocked her till today how he managed that.
Sakura heaved another sigh, it was not like she didn't try because she most definitely did, but the connection just wasn't there with the guys she met with, even Ino tried setting her up with some of her guy friends, blind dates, you name them but it just never worked out, she never felt that passion like she did with Sasuke and honestly maybe she was scared to even feel that way again.
She seemed to be sighing a lot recently, testimony of how tired she was. She stood up and pulled off her coat, hung it in her arms, and proceeded to lock her office door and head home. It was 11 pm already and she had to wake up early for a board meeting to approve some hospital bills, she hated the meetings the most, she couldn't even remember the last time she went out and had fun, Ino and the girls always invited her but she mostly turned it down cause she was busy with work and on the times Ino got mad and practically dragged her from work she still had to leave early because of work –
"omg what am I doing with my life" She suddenly stopped in her tracks like she had just come to a realization, she had to do something. She ran her free hand through her hair with a frustrated sigh.
The night was super chilly and the evening breeze kept blowing her long hair into her eyes and mouth. She had decided to keep her hair long after the war for god knows what… "Rethinking that decision now though," she thought to herself as she sped up her tracks.
She had finally reached the comfort of her home, her apartment was a modest but spacious one-bedroom apartment, she dusted her legs on the foot mat as she unlocked the door and stepped into the living room, she thought about just flopping on the light green modern couch she had recently invested in and maybe watch some sitcoms, there was this new ninja animated show she had taken a liking to but thought against it.
The meeting by 7 am, can't forget that now, she thought to herself, she dropped her keys on the kitchen counter by the right of the living room before taking her left to her bedroom she then took a hot shower, and as she applied lotion her skin she let the towel drop to examine her reflection, she had a nice figure that's for sure even though she thought her boobs were a little too small, her pink hair was reaching her waist now and she was thinking about that haircut but she liked it long, it reminded her of the current peaceful times… her emerald eyes were still as green as ever, oval face and pretty pink lips she briefly wondered why she was still loveless after a whole 2yrs.
When she was done applying lotion and carrying out her skincare routine she put on her nightie and was currently trying to sleep on her queen-sized bed but her thoughts wouldn't let her.
"Maybe what I need is to get out of Konoha see some fresh faces, change of scene..yup" she murmured as she turned to her other it was like she had suddenly seen the light and she repeated slowly this time 'A VACATION'. She sat up slowly like she was in a daze 'I don't get it, why didn't I think of this sooner. I'm so dumb sometimes''
'Maybe if you didn't lock me away for years you wouldn't be so miserable now'
"For fucks sake, not you…not you" Sakura damn near screamed, it had taken her a lot of time and focus to shut down her inner Sakura years ago,
'yes inner Sakura is back and I'm going nowhere this time'
Now that she thought about it inner never did any harm plus her life had been more fun compared to the shit it is now.
'your life went to shit without me huh?'
Sakura didn't respond but she had a smile on her face and as she lay down this time, sleep came easy.
The meeting had been as she had expected 'BORING' she had almost zoned off but fighting the old heads who always tried to cut down the hospital costs was the number one priority. She didn't understand why Sasuke didn't kill them off especially when they were the main cause of everything that happened to his clan and him, perhaps he forgot about them, she'd make it a note to remind him on his next visit.
'yes I love that idea can't wait till Sasuke cuts off their wrinkled heads and we help him cover it up' inner Sakura snickered...
I agree with you for once… even Tsunade was noticeably getting more heated at them cutting down the money for the hospital cause they believed that there was no need to spend that much money on healthcare when the war already ended years ago. Maybe they forgot that people get injured every day, people get sick, pregnant women, etc
"I can't believe these fuckers" Sakura muttered to herself. After a lot of back and forth about how healthcare would always be important plus Tsunade's scary persuasion they finally settled for something manageable, not enough but manageable, the old heads left the Hokage office while she remained and watched as Tsunade pulled out sake from her drawer and just started chugging.
"Isn't it a bit too early for that" It was still 9 a.m. and her master was already drinking and yet she'd never accept that she had a drinking problem,
The blonde woman laughed as she replied "There is a famous saying that says that it's never too early for sake"
"What? I never heard of that, who said it?"
"ME!" she guffawed loudly like she had made the best joke in all of Konoha.
Sakura was not amused
"HA HA, you're not funny Tsunade sama" Sakura deadpanned.
'Really? cause I'm crying real tears here, did you see your face haha' Inner Sakura added
Her shishou was waist-deep in papers yet to be signed with more surely still arriving and she still had time to drink …
Ugh, she really didn't get it, she had pressing matters to discuss with her master like drumroll…. 'THE VACATION'.
Sakura remembered the events of the previous night that got her to where she is now
A Few Hours Earlier;
She had only been able to sleep for 3hrs and when she woke up she felt more excited than ever so when she checked the time and saw that it was just 4 am she decided to use 2hrs to make plans for her vacation.
So of course the first things first when planning a vacation was where?
"now where would be a nice place to chill for a vacation while working at the same time" she asked herself while tapping on the book on which she had written down a list of villages. She liked to be meticulous about these kinds of things, obviously, they had to have a good relationship with Konoha and she had to know someone there …
"So I guess that crosses out Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure" Sakura muttered to herself as she crossed them out of her list, practically all the villages then except Suna. Good relationship with Konoha, Check, and she had some friends there as well…she wasn't exactly friends with the sand siblings, acquaintances maybe but she had saved Kankuro's life back then so maybe he'd be nice to her…
Temari visited Konoha a lot when she was dating Shikamaru, she usually stayed for a few days before leaving, the Konoha 11 girls always invited her for brunch or a night out at the bar whenever she came so as a result they kind of became acquainted.
Temari was closest to Tenten, it was quite the combination, maybe in some way their fight during the Chunin exams had brought them close?, but then, she and Shikamaru had broken up suddenly and no one knew why.
She had heard the breakup news from Ino and on that day she had to admit her best friend seemed oddly happy when she asked, Ino brushed it off and she had forgotten about it, two weeks later Ino told her she and Shikamaru were dating, she was happy for her friend she knew Ino had always loved Shikamaru even though she always denied it back then, she had tried to hide the pain of seeing Temari and the man she loves by going on countless dates and partying every weekend.
Soon after Temari stopped visiting entirely, she got probably the news about Shikamaru and Ino dating from Tenten, back then she hadn't really looked deep into their whole love square. She was a very busy person with problems of her own, she was just happy for her friend, but looking back at it now the whole thing did seem kind of shady.
'oh lord I hope she doesn't hate me too, I'm only Ino's friend' Sakura cried to herself
'I'm sorry honey but Ino is quite possibly her enemy and you're Ino's best friend not just her friend …you know the saying..the friend of my enemy is my enemy' inner supplied
Now that just made Sakura more nervous, anyways she's not going to judge yet Temari and Shikamaru ended things on good terms and it's not like he cheated with Ino or anything….unlessss…, she shook her head 'Temari probably has someone else now no need to worry'
As for Gaara, she had no relationship with him at all, they've never actually really communicated casually for more than five minutes, she only saw him a bit because he was one of Naruto's close friends and he sometimes visited Konoha to see Naruto or discuss with Tsunade about political things.
Frankly, the longest interaction she'd had with him was during the chunin exams when he'd gone crazy and almost slaughtered she and her teammates, not long after he had rendered Lee cripple too, jeez just thinking about it made her shudder. She had been so weak then.
She didn't think he even knew her like that and if she could use three things to describe him he would be; quiet, stoic, and scary … she was positive she wouldn't see him much during her time there which worked well for her actually
He's Kazekage so he'd probably be too busy throughout, she thought to herself. Honestly, why couldn't she be like Naruto and have lots of friends everywhere, even Killer-bee was his friend …well that was Naruto, his bright light attracts everyone.
"Sunagakure it is!" She had already decided what to tell Tsunade there was no way she could refuse. "I'm way too smart," She said to herself as she jumped down from her bed and stretched.
A/N: I like to think of inner Sakura as Sakura's intrusive thoughts but funny lol