CHAPTER ONE
Sakura sat in her office reviewing the medical file of a patient she'd been treating for over a week. It had been a complex case, but they were finally done with treatment, and she was happy everything went successfully. She always had a sense of fulfilment anytime she successfully treated a patient or brought someone back to life. She loved her job. Heaving a sigh, she closed the file. She loved her job, but why did she feel like something was wrong? She was tired, not just the tiredness of working from 6 a.m. to nearly midnight almost daily. Her life had fallen into a very monotonous, wearisome routine since after the war, and Konoha retained peace.
It had taken a whole year to rebuild and another year for the soil to bear fruit again. The land had been in ruins, so they had to wait for it 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 constantly complained about how boring it was, and it made her laugh. She supported Naruto through and through in his journey to becoming Hokage. Still, she's assisted Tsunade in enough piles of paperwork to know that it was, unfortunately, a very dull job. She couldn't picture Naruto sitting behind a desk for the rest of his life, but it's been his wish since she knew him, 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 understood him a lot better now. Their relationship got better, too, and 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. Still, she was okay now. They wrote to each other occasionally.
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 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 just scared to feel that way again.
She seemed to sigh a lot recently, a true testimony of how burnt out 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 p.m. 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 realized she had to do something. She ran her free hand through her hair with a frustrated sigh.
The night was chilly, and the evening breeze blew 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 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. Dusting her legs on the foot mat, she unlocked the door and entered the living room. As she made her way inside 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 then she waved the thought away.
The meeting by 7 a.m., 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 leaving for her bedroom. Sakura had just taken a hot shower, and as she applied lotion to her skin, she let the towel drop to examine her reflection. She had a lovely figure, that's for sure. Even though she thought her boobs were still a bit too small, her pink hair was reaching her waist now. "A haircut would look good," she thought, 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 tried 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, and have a change of scenery," she murmured. It was as if she had suddenly seen the light, and she repeated, this time slowly, "A vacation." She sat up slowly on her bed as if in a daze and said, "I don't get it, why didn't I think of this sooner? I can be so dense 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 just as she had expected, "BORING." She had almost zoned out, but fighting the old heads who constantly tried to cut down hospital costs was her number one priority. She couldn't fathom why Sasuke hadn't just killed them off during his whole avenger thing, especially since they were the primary reason behind all the suffering his clan had endured. Perhaps he had forgotten about them. She made a mental note to remind him during 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...
Well, inner, 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 people," Sakura muttered to herself. After a lot of back and forth about the importance of healthcare and Tsunade's persuasive efforts, they finally settled for something manageable. It wasn't enough, but it was a start. The old heads left the Hokage's office, leaving Sakura alone with Tsunade. She watched as Tsunade pulled a bottle of sake from her drawer and started chugging it down.
"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 managed to sleep for three hours, and when she woke up, she felt more excited than ever. Checking the time, she realized it was just 4 a.m. With the extra hours on her hands, she decided to use the next two hours to make plans for her vacation.
So, of course, the first thing when planning a vacation was where?
"Now, where would be a nice place to chill for a vacation while working simultaneously?" 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 off her list. That left practically all the villages out except for Sunagakure. She had a good relationship with Konoha and Check, and she had some friends there as well. While she wasn't exactly friends with the sand siblings, they were more like acquaintances. However, she had saved Kankuro's life back then, so perhaps 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 became acquainted.
Temari was closest to Tenten. It was quite an unusual pairing. Perhaps, in some strange way, their fight during the Chunin exams had brought them close. But then, she and Shikamaru had suddenly broken up, and no one knew why.
She had heard about the breakup from Ino, and on that day, she had to admit her best friend seemed oddly happy when she asked about it. Ino brushed it off, and she had forgotten about it. Two weeks later, Ino told her that she and Shikamaru were dating. She was genuinely happy for her friend, knowing that Ino had always loved Shikamaru, even though she had denied it back then. Sakura always knew that Ino would always try to hide her pain anytime she'd see Temari with the man she loved going on countless dates and partying every weekend.
Soon after, Temari stopped visiting entirely, possibly after hearing the news about Shikamaru and Ino dating from Tenten. At the time, Sakura hadn't delved deep into their love triangle. She was a very busy person with her own problems, and she had simply been happy for her friend. But looking back at it now, the whole situation 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 not just Ino's friend but her best friend. You know the saying, 'The friend of my enemy is my enemy,'" Inner supplied.
Now, that just made Sakura more nervous. Anyway, she wasn't going to judge yet. Temari and Shikamaru had ended things on good terms, and it's not like he cheated with Ino or anything... unless... 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 had never really communicated casually for more than five minutes. She had only seen him occasionally because he was one of Naruto's close friends and sometimes visited Konoha to see Naruto or discuss political matters with Tsunade.
Frankly, the longest interaction she'd had with him was during the Chunin Exams when he'd gone berserk and almost slaughtered her and her teammates not long after he had rendered Lee crippled too, jeez just thinking about it made her shudder. She had been so weak back 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 much of him during her time there, which worked well for her.
"He's the 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 personality attracted everyone.
"Sunagakure it is!" She had already decided what to tell Tsunade, and 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 lo