Chapter 4
The bag of azuki beans in her kitchen cabinet caught Sakura's eyes, as she stared at it interestedly. Something in the back of her mind nagged for her remembrance. Something about the burgundy color of the content attracted her attention… Slowly, it dawned on her:
"I forgot to give Gaara his shirt yesterday!" she exclaimed to no one in particular.
For the very reason of returning his belonging, she had specifically invited the red-haired man to her apartment. And she walked him back to his hotel. Yet she still managed to fail her mission. Hanging her head low, she grumbled about her own forgetfulness. It was unlike her, but it seemed that Gaara had missed it too. At least, on the other hand, her conscience was free of any baggage after she let that overdue apology out of her system.
"I'm sure there's always next time." Sakura gave herself a pass. She figured it wouldn't be the last time she'd see Gaara. Gently pushing the packaged legumes aside, she reached for the jar of rice she needed for dinner.
"I'm home!" Came the ritualistic announcement, but the glee within was discernible.
Sakura backed out of the kitchen to see Sarada hastily kicking off her sandals and bouncing into her field of vision. She frowned at the carelessly strewn footwear behind her daughter in the hallway. Now in her adult life, Sakura finally empathized with her own mother when the elder Haruno used to badger her about her messiness around the house.
"Welcome home." Sakura remarked, "You are back early, Sarada."
Her daughter chirped in between her audible pants, "I asked Konohamaru-sensei to let us off a little earlier today." She conducted a quick 360-degree scan of their living room and asked, "Did Kazekage-sama stop by yet?"
Right… the training. Sakura remembered.
"No, not yet."
"Oh. What about our training session…"
She noticed her daughter's shoulders slouch.
"Sarada, I told you. The Kazekage is a very busy person. Maybe he will not have time to train you today. Why don't you go freshen up and help me prepare for dinner?"
Her daughter was not having it. She rolled her eyes. "Ugh, you are so annoying."
Sakura blinked. The corner of her lip twitched. Is this the teenage rebellion phase? Shannaro! Dealing with an adolescent sure was challenging sometimes, especially having to do it alone. She chided, "Hey now, that's no way to speak to your mother."
"Hmph." Sarada crossed her arms defensively, refusing to back down from another impending battle of the will between mother and daughter, in the usual form of a staring competition.
"Sarada…" hands on her hips, Sakura warned.
It was then a staccato string of knocks that ended their contest prematurely.
Sarada was the first to break away from their eye lock. She rushed toward the entryway. At the creaking of the door, her elated cry was heard. "Kazekage-sama!"
Sakura trailed after her daughter. Falling into a stop next to Sarada, she smiled at the tall figure that occupied the entrance to her apartment. There he was, unmistakably, the renowned leader of Sunagakure.
"Hello, Gaara."
"Good afternoon," Gaara greeted the duo. He then brought his focus to Sarada, "Shall we begin your training session?"
"Yes!" Her daughter was already in the middle of pulling her sandals back on. Jumping to her feet, she plastered a wide smile on her face. "Let's go!"
Sakura smiled in defeat at her daughter's antics. As Gaara and Sarada turned to leave, she couldn't resist her maternal instinct from surfacing.
"Be careful!" she called out, lingering by the doorway well until after the two have disappeared into the distance before retreating inside.
Sarada Uchiha. Sasuke Uchiha's daughter.
Gaara surveyed the young girl before him. Her physical traits were strikingly characteristic of her father, but she bore resemblance to her mother in her enthusiasm and expressive attitude. She also reminded him of Naruto in those nostalgic years when he would declare his lofty aim for the seat of the Hokage to anyone he crossed path with. For her ambition, he commended Sarada similarly.
Capabilities notwithstanding, the zeal that the young kunoichi exuded alone was a harbinger of great things to come, Gaara predicted. Hence, let it be his service to Konohagakure to assist in the development of her potential.
Although the role of a training instructor was not his specialty, it was not the first time Gaara mentored a fledgling shinobi. His experience in and out of the battlefields translated into insightful lessons he could pass on to those less seasoned than him. But first, he needed to assess the Genin's foundation.
"Sarada," Gaara began, as he settled into the center of one of Konoha's outdoor training grounds. "I want to get a read of your baseline first."
The girl's dark eyes were intently fixed on him, as she anticipated his next line of imperatives.
"I will be on defense; and you, offense. Your objective is to utilize any skills or techniques to attack me." Gaara stood unmoving, needing no physical or mental preparation for the imminent attacks that he just called for.
"Nothing is off-limits. Are you ready?" he added, lastly.
Feet staggered, abdomen tucked, Sarada shifted into her combat position; her expression, calculating.
"Ready!"
Before the last syllable of her word was even fully enunciated, she swung her weapons forward. Several shuriken sliced through the air toward her target. Bare inches away from Gaara's nose, the metal blades cut into a wall of sand that proudly stood to defend its owner. He remained unfazed, while his attacker was in awe.
"The Ultimate Defense in action. Incredible…"
The mass of sand fell into a mound on the ground and buried with it the previously lodged shuriken. Gaara noted, "Sarada, you did the right move to gauge your opponent's capabilities first while maintaining distance. You possess high accuracy with your aim."
The kunoichi nodded at his feedback.
While the girl paused, Gaara urged, "I understand that this is a practice, but I want you to continue your offense without intermission. Avoid creating an opening for your adversary to exploit."
"Yes sir!"
As prompted, Sarada charged at him without hesitation for her second round of offensives. She pelted Gaara with her kunai. In an instant, the shield of sand rushed to his protection. The weapons dove into the dense structure, the attached tags detonating instantly. Explosions erupted near Gaara. His sand sprang to contain the threat, without him moving so much as a muscle.
"Chaa!" A cry roared from the sky. A chakra-enhanced fist tore through the smokes and punched into the swiftly forming dome-like barrier above Gaara. Its force agitated the sandy surface, creating thin lines of cracks but no further damage.
At the failed attack, Sarada withdrew and landed a safe distance back. She pressed her lips together into a thin line. Her forehead furrowed.
Using his sand was hardly fair, Gaara knew. However, it was necessary to push the Genin's limits so to measure her aptitude.
"Kazekage-sama," Sarada started.
He angled his head toward her. A Cheshire cat grin gradually crept its way across the girl's face.
Adjusting her red-rimmed glasses, Sarada mouthed her next words slowly with intent. "You said nothing is off-limits, right?"
Noticing her roguish expression, Gaara regarded her with mild interest.
She closed her eyes. When they reopened within a split second, the black of her irises instantaneously gave way to red.
By sunset Gaara had delivered Sarada back to the Uchiha household. The front door opened to Sakura's ready welcome. She donned an apron with cherry blossom prints, a ladle in one hand. Her eyes sizing up the two, she said, "Welcome back. How did it go?"
"Great!" Sarada replied, as she skipped into the apartment.
At her daughter's cheerful tone, Sakura paralleled her mood with a content smile of her own. She looked up with appreciation at Gaara, who remained at their doorsteps. "Thank you for taking the time to train Sarada."
Gaara shook his head in modesty. "No need to mention it."
Before he could bid her a good evening and retire for the day, Sakura was quick to stop him with a request of her own. "Gaara, would you like to have dinner with us? I'm just about done with cooking."
The offer came unexpected. Gaara supposed it was an act of politeness. He appreciated her proposal but thought it inconsiderate to oblige them with his presence.
"I'd rather not impose," he told her.
"Not at all! There's more than enough food," Sakura discounted his message, slightly swinging the ladle in her hand as if for emphasis. To her side, Sarada eagerly chimed in. "Yeah. Kazekage-sama, join us, please?"
The mother and daughter's insistence was somewhat compelling. Gaara saw no valid reasons to object. From a practical standpoint, the invitation from the Uchiha household saved him the time and effort to explore dinner options on his own this evening. As much as he was grateful for his own sister's generosity, he couldn't possibly stomach another bowl of the homemade Kenchin soup that Temari specially concocted for his every visit.
"Very well then," he agreed without any further need to be convinced and was rewarded with pleased looks from the two females.
Gaara followed the two inside. Upon reaching the living room, Sarada excused herself to her room to change while Sakura settled him at the dinning table.
"Make yourself comfortable. I'm just doing some finishing touches on the food." Sakura smiled at him warmly. She then withdrew herself into the kitchen. The open kitchen layout allowed Gaara to see his host from his vantage point. Although her back was presented to him, the thumping of the knife against the cutting board was an obvious clue to her activity at hand.
"I hope Sarada didn't do too bad during the training session." Sakura's voice carried over to his ears.
From where he sat, Gaara stared at her back as he spoke, "Sarada's foundations as a Genin are solid. She demonstrates mastery of basic to intermediate ninjutsu techniques."
His mind replayed the earlier training session on cue, as he gave additional feedback. "But her use of the Sharingan is still in its infancy. Its activation impacted her coordination. She also depleted her chakra reserve at an inefficient rate. I believe Sarada should benefit greatly from doujutsu-specific training from her father."
Sakura's chopping stopped.
"I see… That's too bad then. Sasuke is away most of the time," she said, sounding noticeably sullen.
Just then Gaara remembered that Sarada had mentioned the same about her father. Through Naruto, he was aware that Sasuke was on a long-term mission, the details of which he did not know, however.
"When will he return?"
"I don't know." To him, the manner in which Sakura shrugged her shoulders bordered nonchalance.
"How long has he been gone?"
"Several years." Her answer again came out curt.
At the present, he found Sakura's brusque mannerism strange.
Previously, she also showed apparent vexation at Sarada's inquiry to him about Sasuke. Gaara didn't miss the tension in Sakura's form, when she signaled her daughter to steer clear of the subject with little subtlety.
Twice now, the mentioning of Sasuke seemed to evoke negative reactions from her. Intentionally or unintentionally, Sakura was leaving him hints to her puzzle through her words and actions, Gaara thought.
Perhaps there was a connection here. He had sensed her melancholy from their recent interactions, as well as from her overall disposition. She seemed troubled. Her words from yesterday confirmed so. She was stressed about some things, she had said; and that was her claimed justification for her over-indulgence in alcohol many nights ago.
Surely there could be a handful of other reasons to Sakura's troubled state, but Gaara decided to venture his conjecture.
"It takes a toll on you, Sasuke's absence."
He had intended it to be a question, though it somehow came out as a statement.
From the way Sakura's head perked up, it was apparent that his abrupt input startled her. For a while she stayed silent, until she finally relented with a heavy sigh.
"I'll be honest. It's hard at times. I manage though." Without turning to him, she affirmed his speculation through her response.
Although Gaara was single, he was not ignorant of the challenges associated with raising a family. He had witnessed firsthand Temari's struggles with Shikadai's upbringing. At least his brother-in-law, despite his often lackadaisical attitude, gladly shared the undertaking.
The fact that Sarada professed that she knew scant about her father, as Gaara recalled, indicated to him that Sasuke has been gone for "several years" was likely an understatement. So he could only imagine the hardships that confronted Sakura while caring for her daughter alone.
"But it's okay, really. Whenever I think about him working hard for the good of the village, I know I have to try my best too." Despite her earlier confession, Sakura sought comfort in her own words of encouragement. But the faintness in her voice made Gaara question whether her self-assurance was truly effective.
By then, Sakura had resumed her chopping.
"I am starved!" Sarada, who had disappeared into her room earlier, marched into view.
"Sarada, come and help me set up the table."
He saw Sakura turned around to beckon her daughter from the kitchen. The smile that she wore appeared rather controlled. As Gaara continued to contemplate his exchange with Sakura that took place just now, he chose to say nothing more in that moment.