A/N: Oh man, this has been the longest since I've updated. So sorry for the delay! I was traveling for some time then came back to hecticness at work and home, which didn't help with the creative writing process at all, ugh. And now we are all hunkering down at home because of the whole coronavirus situation. Maybe I'll be able to find some extra time to write and update sooner, since I can barely go anywhere. Everyone stay safe and healthy!

Chapter 23

She smoothed out the lapel of her white coat for the fifth time, needlessly. The skin of her palm grew clammy where it gripped her binder. Before the doors to the conference room, she stood and waited, still and patient. Yet her racing heart betrayed her calm outward facade, for it thudded excitedly in her chest, enough to hurt.

For Sakura, full of confidence in knowledge and practice of her profession, nervousness had no place in her current setting; but traces of it had managed to make her night before a sleepless struggle, no matter how much she tried consciously to will it away.

Today was the day. She'd flung the covers aside and swung her legs off the edge of the bed long before her alarm. In the early hours of dawn, she got herself ready: Freshly washed and dried hair twisted into a bun, a professional outfit made up of neatly ironed red blouse and black skirt topped with the hospital's standard uniform jacket, and her fair complexion kissed with a light touch of cosmetics. Kicking into her tall heels, Sakura headed out of her apartment just as the rising sun colored the morning sky with golden hues.

Today she was to project her best image, as she was expected at a high-level meeting at the Hokage Tower. On top of her work portfolio at the hospital, she'd volunteered to oversee the emergency medical services for the Chuunin Exams, which were now only days away from commencement. And she was due for a presentation to the top officials from other great nations to familiarize them with the event's medical services and safety procedures.

Behind the doors sat the five Kage of the allied villages, all gathered because of their stakes in this year's Chuunin Exams as co-sponsors. Their arrivals to Konohagakure have been welcomed with much fanfare, with media outlets giving their visits considerable coverage and civilians and shinobi alike flooding the streets eager for sightings of these prominent figures. It was indeed a rare, important occasion.

But Sakura wasn't nervous because of her presentation. Well-researched and rehearsed, she was fluent to the point of being able to recite the information backwards. It was for a different reason that her heart agitated, despite her reasoning with herself that her emotional conflict was unmerited and unnecessary.

Behind the doors also sat the man with whom she'd shared her most intimate moments at one point, the very man who'd once melded his lips so deliciously into hers, among other things... But she could no more call him names meant for their time alone together than she could call him a friend.

It'd be the first time Sakura saw him after a long while. Under this situation their reunion felt odd, especially since she'd let his last departure from her happen rather curtly without a proper exchange of goodbye. There was no closure, only the real question what they were to each other now. And how she should interact with the person who used to be her source of comfort and cheer, who... had become someone she couldn't even bring herself to say "hello" to if she saw him in the streets.

But their history was a thing of the past, and none of it should matter anymore. During their time apart, she'd set goals and focused hard on improving herself. In pursuing her passions, she found strength to move on from the passive role she'd fallen into for entirely too long—always accepting what circumstances handed to her as opposed to paving her own road forward. Diligently and unceasingly, she worked, striving in her capacity as a medic-nin to make a difference in not only her life but also others' lives. As the Chuunin Exams drew near and her daughter's training with her team intensified, she was spending all day everyday in the hospital, far removed from the hubbub of activities among the public surrounding the congregation of the Kage. At night, when Sakura laid her tired body down, she found reward in remembering the progress she made in her research and the smiles of her patients as they left the hospital with their loved ones. Many mornings when she woke up in yesterday's clothes on the living room couch, she found encouragement in seeing the blanket draped over her and Sarada's note next to a plate of fruits on the table reminding her to eat breakfast.

And through all this, she would like to think she'd become a better person.

So she placed a hand over her jittery heart, telling it to obey. It was neither the time nor place to dwell on the memories she'd promised herself time after time not to revisit. She was a professional; and right now, she ought to show professionalism in her conducts.

"Sakura." One of the double doors to the conference room opened. Sakura perked up her head to find Shikamaru appear from behind it.

"We are ready for you."

With a small smile, she nodded back. Taking a full breath, she exhaled discreetly, careful not to give rein to her nervousness as she moved a decisive step forward.

Her scene changed, once she crossed over the threshold of the entrance to the large room. She heard the door shut behind her, as Shikamaru walked over to join Sai by the group seated on the other side of the room. Behind one long end of the tables lined familiar faces, faces that popped up on the TV screens often these days, faces of those Sakura called comrades in the last war. Sakura felt a unique nostalgia, as she rested her attention on the leaders of this new generation… But her brain made her eyes sharply halt on the blond-haired Hokage from across, not daring her to look to the right of him where a head of red vaguely intruded her peripheral vision.

Another quiet, deep inhale and exhale had her able to speak up.

"Honorable Kage." With a slight bow, she paid her respect to the VIP attendees of the meeting. Out of every achievement Sakura could be proud of in her lifetime, she shouldn't be proud over the fact that her voice didn't start with a stutter; but she was.

"I'm Uchiha Sakura." Her words of self-introduction came out faint, though not on purpose. She kept her expression neutral, despite cringing inwardly to herself as she sounded in public the surname that fell from her lips no longer with pride. She was impatient for the day when she could rid herself of the title and the association it carried, as she was eager to reclaim her own identity. But it was a thought she expelled from her head quickly, as she pulled all her focus to the presentation at hand.

Leveling her gaze to meet a few pairs of surveying eyes, she articulated her agenda for the meeting, her tone clear and certain: "I am in charge of the emergency medical services for this year's Chuunin Exams. Today, I will be briefing you on our EMS protocols and operating procedures for the duration of the exams."

Following her opening statement, Sakura moved to the prepared podium and inserted her flash drive into the computer. The projector screen behind her soon lit up. She opened her binder over the tabletop, and her delivery began.

Slide after slide, Sakura narrated through each part of her presentation deck, accompanied with facts and instructions that earned her repeated nods and hums of approval from some of her audience. From resource management to the operation and communication plans, she left no detail unaddressed. Amid flipping pages of the document before her and pointing to the graphics on the projector screen, her speech flowed smoothly and naturally from her, just like how she'd practiced a handful of times. This was her territory. Though with Naruto from directly across offering his most supportive smile to her, it was easy to gain that additional boost of confidence imagining that he was her biggest fan.

Uninterrupted, she made it to the end of her presentation, yet a sense of vigor continued to energize her even as she gave her concluding remarks.

"Questions?" Naruto swung his head left and right to his counterparts on either side of him, checking for any unsure looks. Foolish as Sakura would later think of herself, she emboldened herself to copy the blond's gesture, chancing a glance out of irresistible curiosity at what she'd been avoiding up to this point.

She saw him then.

That all-too-familiar shade of turquoise locked onto hers for a moment—and she was the first to sweep her eyes away, to the other faces in the room. The spirit in her evaporated.

The round of quietness and head shakes in response to the Hokage spoke to the comprehensiveness of the information she'd provided, but Sakura couldn't care to take a minute and cheer over the success of her performance. Naruto nodded her dismissal and before he could finish mouthing a "thank you" to her, she'd already gathered her materials and turned toward the exit, practically sprinting to the double doors.

Closing the door after her, Sakura sighed, letting out the breath she didn't know she was holding and feeling the sensation of a suspended heart fade. Her mouth tightened into a thin line, as she freshly recalled her eye contact with that high official from Sand, now separated from her by the walls behind her. It was that brief second earlier when she felt the distance between them in the room stretch beyond grasp, with the way he stared at her in his dispassionate calm. The gentleness, the warmth she used to see in those jade pools when he looked at her not even that long ago, they weren't there to be found in his impassive gaze at her. She couldn't help herself and instead wondered if he now reserved that tender side of him for someone else...

Biting and releasing her lower lip, she shook off her train of thought and quietly chided herself for letting her old bad habits resurface. This wasn't the progress she'd aimed for in the time she worked to better herself. If she were regarded as a stranger by the other person, it was the treatment she deserved after all, and she shouldn't be affected. Drilling this mental reminder into her head, Sakura forced her downcast eyes up and to the front. Her feet started forward. She proceeded to leave, and she didn't look back.

...But even as Sakura believed that there shouldn't be any more instances for her to interact directly with the very people she felt the need to avoid, and admitted irrational relief over that assumption...

It was so her typical luck that she should run into those individuals.

Two figures with instantly recognizable features appeared opposite of her, and Sakura regretted having stopped by the records office after her presentation to obtain an updated roster of the examinees. From steps away, the Hokage was flashing her a grin, one she couldn't pretend to overlook in the otherwise single empty hallway that snaked around the structure of the administrative building. But her shoulders had already tensed before that, at the first sight of the red-haired walking companion next to the blond. She was getting head-on into an awkward position.

Sakura clutched the paper files and her binder at her side, as she maintained her natural walking pace and refused to let it grow unsteady.

"Hokage-sama, Kazekage-sama." These strange titles fell out of her stiff mouth, once the gap between herself and the two taller males became smaller. She used the formal address with intention, detaching herself from any feelings of personal connections in such situation. It was also her signal to her lack of enthusiasm to engage in cordial chats. Her unsettled glances shifted from one man to the other in front of her, and she wished nothing more than to be allowed on her way out of the Kage Tower.

"Sakura-chan, your presentation was great!" Naruto gave her his compliment, voice bright and unreserved, while shining his beaming blue orbs on her. To his left, Gaara too looked at her, coolly. Again, his emotionless visage was what she took notice of.

"Thank you," Sakura replied. The corners of her lips weakly lifted, because she found herself short on the authenticity to form a full smile.

Before her blond friend had a chance to say another syllable, she made her quick retreat. Awkwardly, she bid them goodbye, "I have to get going now. Have a good day."

Dropping her gaze and ducking her head from the duo, Sakura walked past them, not stopping even when Naruto made a little throaty noise of protest from behind her. With her heels clicked briskly on the floor, she continued down the hallway. And she didn't make herself look back...

Like his counterpart from Leaf, his eyes followed the movement of the departing figure, watching as the ends of the pristine white coat flapped lightly and gracefully behind the slender body. Unlike him, his body was only half-turned, while his companion had fully rotated to trail his gaze over the back of the pastel-haired representative from the medical corps. Naruto kept to this manner, but he himself had naturally withdrawn his focus as soon as the person disappeared from the edge of his vision.

"Gaara..."

From the corner of his eye, Gaara fixed his gaze on his friend at the call of his name. Cyan eyes continued to focus on the corridor before them.

Without warning, Naruto caught him off guard with his simple question, in place of what he initially expected from him as the next line of their business.

"Do you really love Sakura-chan?"

Shock rocked through his core and he went motionless, all of a sudden having to pay attention to the air that flowed through his nose. He felt exposed, even without the other pair of eyes on him. But more than anything, those startling words, vibrating in the quiet empty space surrounding them, were loud on his ears. They sent his brain immediately racing to process the situation and searching for answers to his own "how" and "when" questions that boomeranged in his skull.

Then he was left surprised yet somehow not surprised that Naruto, out of everyone and anyone, was aware of his relationship to Sakura. But for a moment he decided that there was no reason to dwell on events long past, meant to be forgotten... So his shock didn't break through his controlled exterior. His posture remained unchanged, as he replied in an unruffled voice:

"Naruto, I'm here in an official capacity." His gaze narrowed a fraction on the profile of the blond-haired man. "What you are inquiring is not within the scope of our business."

The other head turned. Eyes as clear as the sky outside met his then, and his companion said to him, evenly, "I'm asking you as a friend."

There was sincerity in the statement that begged for his honesty, but all Gaara could return was his silent stare. His lips stayed taut at their seam. He wouldn't entertain this ask.

Undeterred by his lack of responses, Naruto went on, revealing more surprise than what he was mentally prepared for. "You know, Sakura-chan has been seeing family counselors. She's getting a divorce from Sasuke."

All he could do was listen, digesting the news thrown at him piece by piece, marveling to himself at the turn of events that took place during his time away. But once again, he chose to mask his surprise behind the feigned disinterest in his expression and suppressed that most insignificant part of him that thirsted for more information. None of this should matter to him.

"What she does in private is not of concern to me," he declared, indifferently.

"However—" Yet, for a split second, he couldn't exercise the tight control he asserted over himself. Too late to stop the pettiness rising from the shadowy depth of his heart, he wondered if the words of green sarcasm sounded out as bitter as they tasted on his tongue. "I do commend her on finally being sensible enough to rid herself of the bane in her life."

"Hey! I'm not advocating for what Sasuke did either. But he's still my friend and you don't have to talk about him like that." The offense Naruto took was equally evident on his face as in his tone.

Even if his off-handed comment didn't align with his usual character, Gaara made no attempt to walk it back. Regardless of Naruto's dedication to the man they spoke of, he too was stubborn as concrete in his criticism of Sasuke Uchiha, his personal opinion having been influenced by too many factors to count up until now and too entrenched for him to be convinced otherwise.

"Being a friend doesn't mean you sugarcoat the truth."

"You are right..." Naruto suddenly yielded, looking away, his hushed admission to his own jagged remark startling Gaara for the third time in the short span of their conversation.

The Hokage no longer rested his attention on him but to the courtyard a few stories down below through the window. Curious, he imitated the blond, dipping his head down until his sight traveled to the ground at the entrance to the Hokage Tower, where a dot of pink and white moved along a linear line through the gates and into the busy streets of Konoha.

"I thought..." Naruto still wasn't looking at him, when his sentences came out fragmented and unsure. "Sakura-chan would be the happiest... with him. I thought… that's all she ever wanted…"

"But I was wrong..."

The unprompted confession, with enough meanings under meanings, made Gaara shoot a strange glance his way; only to discover something in Naruto's ruminating expression that was reminiscent of how he used to look at his pink-haired teammate, when they were young, when they were in the midst of a war—when she wasn't looking...

And it reminded him that, at some point then, he'd wondered why his friend never pursued—

"Sakura-chan really cares about you."

Briefly distracted by his own thoughts, Gaara refocused to find vibrant eyes on him again, the blueness touched by emotions unfathomable.

"I know I shouldn't butt in. I was wrong to try to get involved before." The smile Naruto tried to offer didn't translate, given how his bunched eyebrows have yet to loosen. "But… I don't want to see both of my best friends suffer. And I can tell Sakura-chan sees you as someone important to her."

To Gaara, he was speaking puzzles.

"What are you getting at, Naruto," he pushed, growing tired and miffed and not wanting to prolong a conversation that he believed was heading nowhere.

His friend sighed, "What I'm trying to say is that… I think she deserves a second chance."

Steadfast blue eyes wavered from him not even once.

"And you do too."

...He didn't like how Naruto's words lodged themselves in his brain, turning into murmurs at his ear side, that his situational awareness suffered from his own absence of mind.

"Gaara-ojisan!"

It wasn't until a raised shout penetrated his hearing that Gaara stopped in his track and listened to his name being repeated from behind him. Naruto's voice vacated his head. He wheeled around, now conscious of his place in the pedestrian-filled street. Dark eyes peered up at him through red glass frames.

"Sarada."

Her attempt at a smile turned instead into a semi-pout, and she frowned. "How come you don't visit us anymore..."

He considered her for a moment, tucking away thoughts that would otherwise contribute to a bitter honest answer. The excuse he furnished was perhaps more lies than truths. "Time hasn't been at my liberty."

The girl only wrinkled her forehead further, uncertainty in her voice as she asked again, "Are we not going to see you anymore?"

He was slow to give a response, undecided on how to best deliver the monosyllable answer that he already knew, that the black-haired kunoichi seemed to sense from his lengthened silence.

"Just like…" Her dejected eyes fell to the side, cheeks puffed and deflated, as Sarada mumbled under her breath petulantly, "just like Pa—"

"You will," he interjected, stopping her from making that comparison. He wasn't like him. Once again, Naruto's words flowed into his consciousness: News about Sakura's asking for a divorce. At Sarada, he softened his gaze. He contemplated the impact of the potential breakup of family on the child at this stage of her life, but maintained his neutrality on the matter. Because none of this should concern him as an outsider, an uninvolved third party.

"Under one condition…" He gave the young Leaf-nin a gentle pat on the head. Sarada blinked back.

"That you do your best for the exams." He told her, though careful to avoid any appearance of a promise.

Her mood swiftly transformed in a way that reminded Gaara of her mother. Light returned to her expression, and she showered him with a wide grin that naturally made him want to mirror back.

"Yes sir!"

And he wore his smile as he received the immediate slew of updates from Sarada—told with animated gestures—about her progress in her training until someone called for her with an air of discernible impatience from their background. The Uchiha heiress stuck her tongue out sheepishly and waved her goodbye to him, jogging back to her friend who wasn't shy in sizing him up and down from afar while eating from a bag of snacks.

The girls continued in the opposite direction, soon blending into the crowds of villagers. And Gaara simply looked on, eyes tracing down the sunset-lit path before him, and thinking back on the last time he was in Konoha.

It has indeed been six months...